Bearing the flag proudly, Sabathiel of the Bannors [SPOILERS]

[Mr. Yellow]

With the revolt done i've decided to research Animal Husbandry. The big reason is the sheep tile near the border city (and soon to be the copper city).

Nothing much to do in the last 2 turns, so i'll gonna take a quick overview.

First though, this image.



Thoth settled his 4th city not so many turns ago and i've found it, on the western coast.
More importantly though, he entered the well and what did he get? More gold!
Just plain ridicolous, made me send a spitefull message to him.

Another gold? This is getting ridicolous.

Which isn't exactly the best move i've done now that i think about it and kinda regret it now.

Eventually Thoth replied in equal tone.

[COLOR="Yellow"]Not really. The first time Sciz popped that lair it cost him 3 warriors before t40. That gold tile won't be worked

until around t100. Not a great tradeoff IMO.

Ridiculous is the people who managed to get starts with 2+ happy resources nearby or the people who started with wet

Corn vs dry Wheat as food resources for their capitals.

Thoth (Minister of Agricultural Development)[/COLOR]

*sigh*
Whatever.



Discovered the barb city Nyktorion mentioned many turns ago. Also look at all the green. Quite the different flora compared to the western parts.
Anyway i've changed my mind about reaching Nyktorion. I'm still missing one contact and i'd like to get in touch with Irgy to finally have all 5 within reach.



I changed my mind about the position again. I need to get copper soon and i don't have the time to build a monument. There's been a big military build-up from both sides and i get the nasty feeling that i'm about to face an invasion.
Besides food can be gained from sheep, which the border city doesn't need since the flood plains are in my grasp. Also the sheep is the only tile being overlapped (excluding peaks).


So, how is it looking overall?







It's pretty clear i'll eventually be one of the minor powers in the game, with almost every civ running away. What worries me though is the food stagnation, which i have to do something quick about. While the capital is fine and dandy the rest of the cities are in need of some serious work if i'm going to still hang on.
However, all civs are currently on 4 cities, so i'll eventually be the first one get my 5th.

WK have been revolting 3 times and is currently running Aristocracy, Apprenticeship and Agrarianism. He managed to reach Code of Laws fast and get Aristocracy pretty early. The time he revolted to it his GNP shot up. He's been the clear leader of it since then.

Both Nyktorion and Thoth have been building a substantially larger military than the other civs.
Nyktorion i believe is doing such a build-up to eventually capture the barb city to the south, while Thoth might have been doing it in preperation for another big baddie once the well is popped another time.

Actually i'm a little puzzled why Thoth has been building up. If it's not for monsters then what? There is the barb city to the south i've been badgering to get or he could possibly try to attack me.
His production is by far the largest currently so there's possibly more to come.
At this stage i'd would have expected him to compete with WK on GNP. Yet so far it has been mingling among the rest of us, even after he switched to Finiancial several turns ago (Adaptive trait). So could that be cause of bad terrain compared to the apparently green lands of WK? Still he is not in Aristocracy yet and he might be sacrificing commerce for hammers.

Mardoc there's not much to say about, though i've expected him to be better off however. He mentioned jungle in his messages so maybe that's what currently denting him. He just topped off in food however and his GNP seems like it's about to increase rapidly.

I know i could have analyzed it closer, having the scores and it's messages noted each turn included. But i just don't feel like spending the time to do that.

[Mr. Yellow]

This was a pretty tough turn to do.

I sent Thoth another message yesterday trying to get him back to the negotiation table, yet has gone silent despite the large activity in his thread.

Furthermore i discovered copper in Thoth's newest city.



And that he curiously has withdrawn his warrior from the gold city.



Which means he is trying to hide that his warriors just got bronze weapons.
Add this togheter and it's pretty clear he is going to attack me.

I'm far from prepared for an attack from Thoth, especially with a city that was made solely to eventually get trade up in the first place.

Secondly there's this going on in the east.



Big warrior escort + 2+ workers can mean 2 things. Either he roads up to move a larger army from the fog right next to my city or he's getting a farm up.

Then i see this in the event log.



Nyktorion just got Gilven Silveric, the elven hero and just researched Way of the Forest for Fellowship of Leaves. His power i 1st by far now.
However it's possible all just a build up for taking the barbarian city, though i'm expecting the worst here.

So what can i do?



First of all i just settled my 5th city and immedietly started mining the copper. It's gonna take 5 turns to get a mine up, 2 for a road, 1 turn to move and another 2 for the final road. Totalling 10 turns. That's the same amount of time to finish researching AH and Bronze working.
Honestly though that takes just way to long.
Anyway, i decided to move my only warrior from the capital to reinforce the border city. A road connection was just made this turn and got access to Cotton, so i'm only suffering 1 angry face here. Right after the worker i'll start spamming warriors. The newly made copper city is on warrior duty as well.
I didn't switch production to warriors in the border city though, which might be a mistake. However hammer production is too poor currently and i'm better off just getting many warriors from the capital.

In the east however i'm not sure how to face a possible invasion. Vallus and Trinity just finished getting their buildings up and will go straight to warriors from here. The hill warrior was put in garrison as well.

And the latest discoveries from the east.


Anyway, i really hope i can have at least 10 more turns of peace before an invasion happens. Though i expect that to happen to be pretty slim.

[Mr. Yellow]

Ok, time to stop mucking around and get some real work done here.

Thoth is obviously a major power and Nyktorion kept warning about them. However at that time i looked at them as an oppurtunity for cooperation. Now that it's clear they are going to point their sword against me i've started to rally up some support.

I've just sent Nyktorion a mail seeking aid and were willing to give up the dispute and even concede the northern area.
Further on i'm going to contact WK about this and hopefully they are willing to aid me in the coming war.

[icewolf34]

Yeah, it seems like a lot of the early diplomacy was kind of prickly. Hopefully Thoth's scoreboard position will help swing people in your favor. It really is looking a lot like a two-front war at the moment, though. If anything, organizing a backstab against Thoth by some third party might be the most plausible option. You should definitely mention to WK that Thoth was trying to organize a coalition against him, and maybe spin that your refusal led to this war. Although people might be reluctant to fight him directly, someone could get some free pillaging in while his forces are tied up in your lands.

I have a hard time figuring out relative military strengths here, but basically I think you'll need to rely on playing kingmaker somehow.

[Mr. Yellow]

Nyktorions power shot up with the elven hero and is by far the strongest force at the moment, though Thoth has the highest current production.

Here's what i sent.

To Nyktorion:

[COLOR="Cyan"]Hello Nyktorion.

While we have had our dispute regarding our borders, another issue is brewing from the west.
During talk with the Malakim they have suddenly gone silent and have been building up for something.
I've tried to get any response from them, but to no avail. They have just hooked up copper and have curiously hided their warriors from my view, all a sign of an invasion.
For that reason i'm willing to swallow my pride and no longer contest the river between us. Furthermore i'll even concede the northern area where the pines are.
What i'm asking for is military aid on my western border to reinforce against a possible runaway power. I've yet to talk with the monks about this and will contact them at a later time.
I've researched Cartography a while ago and can get an Open borders agreement up to allow passage through my lands.

I hope you are willing to let go of recent hostilities and unite against an empire that is increasingly more obviously looking for lesser powers top dominate.

Sir Yellow, Chief Advisor of the Bannors.[/COLOR]

Though so far, no replies despite the recent activity in his thread. Not looking good.

To WarriorKnight:

[COLOR="Cyan"]Hi there how is it going?

Anyway, i'm in quite a pickle currently, with Thoth suddenly going silent and curiously backing his troops off as soon he hooked up copper. His power rating have been steadily rising and i'm expecting an invasion soon.
I and Thoth were in a heated discussion regarding trade. I've approached him with several approposals, which he decided to ponder further on. He hasn't made any decision though and i've been sending him repeated messages regarding it, which i've had no replies on. By the way, one of the things he wanted to take up was to form a coalition against you (which i bluntly refused to, might have been a mistake).

Now i'm expecting an incoming invasion of copper troops at any time and i'm not prepared for it.
I've also been trying to seek the aid of the elves, which we've been in a border dispute with (that i believe Nyktorion have told you of at some point) that i'm willing to be done with at this point. So far however i've heard nothing from them.

So yeah, if i'm gonna survive this i really need support from other civilizations. I am willing to offer you pretty much whatever (reasonable) you want for military aid.
I got Cartography as well so opening borders and map information shouldn't be a problem.

Regarding the elves, while i've tried to seek their aid i've heard nothing from them. Have you been talking with them recently? They've been building up for something and i fear that i'd get attacked from them, forcing me into a 2 front war. I'd rather have them stopping the coming waves from Thoth and wonder if you could help me convince them to assist me, if we can come to an agreement.

Sir Yellow, Chief Advisor of the Bannor[/COLOR]

Which i just sent.
Maybe should have cut off the "might have been a mistake" part, it was there just to show what could have possibly triggered the sudden hostilities. Would have been better to say "which could be the reason war is about to happen".

[Mr. Yellow]

Still quiet in the west, although Thoth just created another warrior from the gold city.



Still no sign of invasion, though i think he might go in at turn 85. What really worries me though is the fact they are the Malakim. All their units have the nomad promotion that gives them a strength bonus and an additional move point on desert tiles. Meaning Thoth can cross the desert and attack me in just 2 turns. I only have 2 warriors ready at the city then (Hogwood needs 3 turns to reach it).
Have i ever mentioned that all the sand is making me a LITTLE INSANE?!



Nyktorion just revealed that the workers are simply farming. Guess he isn't prepparing to attack. A hawk however was spotted in Yonna (so he got a pretty nice view of my eastern front), forgot to mention he must have had Hunting when getting Way of the Forest, also he revolted to that religion last turn.

Anyway this let me loosen out a bit and work on more important tiles. No response yet though.

Ending turn finishes AH and reveals horses.




Not that i'd get much use of them right now.

However, soon after i ended turn, i finally got a reply from both WK and Nyktorion.
WK sadly can't offer much, which was expected. Nyktorion however have decided to indirectly support me and are about to finish the first part of agreements.
I'll go into closer detail next time.

[icewolf34]

Well, that's good news. Eager to hear the details on that, definitely.

[Mr. Yellow]

First of all, the reply from WK.

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Hi Sir Yellow

It does indeed sound like your in a pickle. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot that I can do right now. Even if I had troops to spare, nyktorion blocks the route into your lands and it would take me several turns before I can get to your borders. All I can do is advise you to get some copper of your own somehow, although I'm sure you know that already.

As for the elves, I haven't had any recent contact with them so I don't know what they're planning.

Regards,
Einion MonkKnight[/COLOR]

Again, quite expected. Although i'm considering catching him on steam later to see if there is something else to do.

And later, the exchange with the elves:

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Dear Sir Yellow,

The news from the west is certainly a heavy development in global politics, thanks for telling me about it! Indeed, it would be a quite bad development if one of the top powers swallowed a neighbor already now.

Still, I think that the distance between our empire and your western border would make aid in the form of military units rather inefficient. I have gotten a hawk into Yonna last turn, and from what it has revealed yet, I judge the west-east distance between your borders to be quite huge.

We see some possibilities, though: we are already quite close to getting trade routes, so maybe those could open up some deal that would help you? Also, as I have mentioned, I do already have hawks, for which large distances are much less of a problem than for ordinary military units - I could imagine having a deal that involves me relaying some scouting information from the west of you, as well.

I hope that any of those suggestions can help you, but of course, I am open to other ideas, as well.

best regards,
Nyktorion[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]For now we can get a NAP and an open borders agreement up (i'm letting your units in on permission). The city that i fear will lose soon is 14 tiles to the west of Vallus and it would take around 10-11 turns of travel time to reach (road network not fully optimized yet). The capital is 7-8 turn traveltime away.
I'm also up for additional trade agreements and have resources to spare.

What i'm currently looking for here is a few extra units for defence. Although the distance and time might indeed be too much and not worth the trouble. Hawk support would be apprechiated.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Dear Mr. Yellow,

for now, getting an NAP and open borders up for about 20 turns (say, until including T105) would seem fine to me. OBs would get the clause that units may only pass into the other's territory with specific permission. Further, for the duration of this treaty, neither Vallus nore Yonna excessively generate culture (for instance, not more than 5 per turn). You grant the right of passage to one of my hawks, I will order it to do scouting toward the Malakim lands, and I will send you screenshots of the results (note that this will show Thoth's movements with a delay of one turn, since he moves after me and before you).

If you accept, offer me OB ingame at your next turn, and grant passage to a second hawk, I might (depending on the arrangement of Torrolerial, Tentatio-onis, and Astrum) already be able to do the first such Malakim scouting flight from a city close to your western border city next turn.

What do you think of this?

Concerning further trade agreements, a road on any of the tiles east of Vallus should suffice to give us trade routes.

best regards,
Nyktorion[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]I thus accept the following proposals:

NAP to turn 105
Open borders with permission
Culture output of Vallus and Yonna must not exceed 5

However i would like to already extend the NAP to turn 120.

Anyway, Thoth just revolted to Conquest. It's clear he got murder in his eyes and his power is spiking hard (Clear leader of the demographics).
For that i will grant permission not to just a few hawks, but also to additional military units for defence if possible. I've seen no move from him yet, but his production is the highest by far and fully focused on military.

Also for trade i got Cotton up (as you've probably seen), in addition to Sheep and Corn later as well.

- Sir Yellow
[/COLOR]

I also sent this later to Mardoc, since i no longer have any business left to deal with Thoth.

[COLOR="Cyan"]Hi there Mardoc.

Since recent discussions with Thoth regarding trade and other stuff has crashed and that he is clearly geared for war, i see no reason to continue dealing with him.

Because of this, i'm giving you free stuff! Or more accurately, a map of the entire western part of the continent i've explored. With the reason that he clearly needs some competition for the land there.

Hope that helps!

Sir Yellow, Chief Advisor of the Bannors

PS:

Don't tell Thoth. [/COLOR]

and i sent a whole slew of pictures of the western lands (including all 3 gold tiles within Thoths reach )


------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, still no sign of invasion, but Thoth just revolted to Conquest and his power is rising at a ridiculous pace. Pretty sure i'll lose a city or 2.



Currently getting my western scout to get some info on Thoths southern borders. Meanwhile...



I've managed to be the first to get contact with all players!
We finally meet the Sheaim that i've been screaming my ears off the entire start.
Gonna send him a message pretty soon....ish...maybe.

With a NAP up, i no longer need that large garrsion at Vallus, so the entire batallion got ejected.



Think Nyktorion is gonna have a chuckle or 2 with the sudden emptiness.

Finally, i've started researching Bronze Working. Gonna be a loooooong while till i get that though.

[Mr. Yellow]

As mentioned earlier i finally met Irgy. Although i waited till he posted cause i got confused by the mail be posted in the tech thread, which shouldn't be an issue cause the mail was blatantly in front of my eyes everytime i recieved the turn!

[COLOR="Purple"]Hello!

I'm obviously more excited about contact than you, since you found me on your
turn but I'm sending the first email. I chalk that up to the fact that so far
I have met only one other player so far. Mostly because our empire is
basically completely hemmed in by Mr Unrushable with his 20 turns of
can't-touch-this. I've heard there are elves to the northeast, but the
explorer I sent that way was eaten by a spider. We had a scout that found a
vast desert, but it died not far from the Pyre of the Seraphic. There was also
a named hill giant in the area, you don't happen to know where it might have
come from?

I am eager to hear any news of the rest of the world. Who else have you met?
I'm happy to share what little information I have at least.

Just so you know, passage beyond the mountain the pass south of your scout,
where my pyre zombie currently stands, is blocked by a recently added city.
You're welcome to look around, as long as I can be assured you won't hassle
the workers in the area, but you won't be able to get through to anywhere. I
have no idea what you'll find to the east.

Best Wishes,
Irgy Arbandi[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]Hello there Irgy.


With you in the box, i've managed to reach to every civilization out there! You're the kind of guys i've been fearing the whole time, though the situation is quite different now.
Speaking of the desert, it's covering the entire northern and western part of the continent and has been annoying me the entire game. Anyway, i'm located on the north part, surrounded by that cursed sand and with the Malakim to the west and the elves to the east, the pirates are apparently directly west of you. Oh and the named Hill Giant (Dagan-Gannd) was released from the pyre by the nomads. Me and the nomads are located pretty close to the pyre right now.

Anyway war is approaching. Thoths been turning his production to max on military and have by far the largest army currently. All attention is focused on west now and expect either me or Mardoc to be attacked pretty soon.

- Sir Yellow, Chief Advisor of the Bannor[/COLOR]

I've had some small exchanged with Mardoc too after giving him the maps.

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]I'm sorry to hear about the situation - hopefully you can weather the storm. I'm assuming you have a lot of Stonewardens coming at you, then?
There's no chance I want him to succeed - is there anything I can do to help short of getting into war myself?

Thanks for the maps, though! I'll do my best to poach the land out from under him while he wars. Although, that's a LOT more desert than I was expecting to find. And of course, I'd really rather have the coasts than the desert.

- Mardoc

PS - no way I'll be telling Thoth. And I'll be building up my military, too - I just found him last turn, and told him where I am, so there's always the chance he'll decide I make a better target than you do.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]On a side note, I'm pretty sure Thoth doesn't have Bronze yet; I found a Str 3 Warrior of his. Not sure it really helps when it's the Priests that are his main weapon, but I thought you'd like to know.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]Nah, Thoth does have bronze working. Recently hooked up copper and i've been seeing str. 4 warriors from here on.
Also Thoth has a rather experienced batallion of warriors, one of them with the axe.
[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Ah, I must have run into one on his way home for a weapon, not on his way out.

Sounds like one or both of us has their work cut out for them! I do, fortunately, have Bronze myself, so if he doesn't have any collateral I should at least be able to defend in cities. My real frustration is that nice wide desert highway straight to my empire, though.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

The good news is that Thoth now has 2 targets to choose from, still i consider the possibility of him choosing Mardoc over me to be slim due to distance.

Anyway, little to report about. The realm is going about predictably, have managed to get a few more warriors out and the capital is now adjusted to spew out warriors every turn.
Nyktorion have hawks on Trinity and Torrolerial, he sent me another message regarding where he'll use the hawks next.

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Dear Mr. Yellow,

[COLOR="Cyan"]I thus accept the following proposals:

NAP to turn 105
Open borders with permission
Culture output of Vallus and Yonna must not exceed 5[/COLOR]

I thus accept, too.

However i would like to already extend the NAP to turn 120.

Sorry, but I don't want to extend our NAP to such a length at this time. In the current state of the game, where the pace is really picking up, almost 40 turns is just a huge time, particularly at quick speed.

[COLOR="Cyan"]Anyway, Thoth just revolted to Conquest. It's clear he got murder in his eyes and his power is spiking hard (Clear leader of the demographics).
For that i will grant permission not to just a few hawks, but also to additional military units for defence if possible. I've seen no move from him yet, but his production is the highest by far and fully focused on military.[/COLOR]

The buildup of the Malakim is indeed frightening, I just saw their graphs myself.

As announced, I flew one hawk into Trinity, and it revealed Torrolerial from there. Thus, my second hawk used Torrolerial for its scouting flight, which gave me visibility of the first Malakim city, Golden Shack. Please find a picture of the second hawk's scouting run attached. While this will probably not help too much yet, the base for next turn's scouting run will be Tentatio-onis (rather than Torrolerial), which should reveal more of the Malakim territory.

Also for trade i got Cotton up (as you've probably seen), in addition to Sheep and Corn later as well.

While I do not really have need of sheep or corn, I would be quite interested in your cotton. In return, I could offer you my silk. (My other surplus resource would just be sheep.)

best regards,
Nyktorion[/COLOR]

There was a pic attached, but it pretty much just showed what i already knew. However, i don't want him to place his hawks near the border city as it is visible to Thoth.

[COLOR="Cyan"]Actually i rather you did it from Astrum instead of Tentatio-onis, since i'm pretty sure Thoth knows i don't have Hunting yet and that he won't expect hawks to scout out his positions. He has visibility over Tentatio-onis and would see the hawk parked there. Besides Astrum is close enough to provide good grounds for scouting.

Also, been talking with Mardoc (who borders Thoth from the south) a lot and he's gearing up his defences too. He clearly opposes Thoth as well, so the nomads are pretty isolated from the rest of the world.[/COLOR]

Finally, Thoth just settled his 5th city. Dunno where, but i think it's pretty likely he settled near the south coast. Will se later.

Oh and here's an overview of the current power.

[icewolf34]

Whoaaa.

Anyways, why don't you want Thoth to see Nyk's hawks in your city? If anything, you would want him to think that you guys are working together more closely than you actually are, right? That way maybe he'll rethink his plans or maybe settle for less?