[Spoilers] Noble Intentions: Thessalonica of the Elohim starts her quest!

[Northstar1989]

OK, in an effort to improve save turnaround times (because Kragroth is getting on my case about that- and they have been slow, even if not as bad as he thinks they've been...) I'm going to try and cut back on images here so I can get to the other games/duels...

First of all, Dreylin decided he wanted Open Borders after all:



I want that World Map though if I'm going to make the deal (I have nothing to gain from Open Borders now- I don't have units near his territory like he does near mine...) I only offered Open Borders before because I thought it would dissuade him from attacking my Zealot...



I re-positioned the units defending my eastern border, but of course the Lizardmen wanted to simply move around my units rather than attacking...



Here's the Score Graph:



Top 5 Cities:



Demographics:



Should have more to report next turn when I finish Heron Throne! (unless somebody beats me to it...)


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Another turn, same old drama...



Really, though- I think I know how to defend my cities best...



Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices...



For the greater good...



However there is strength in mercy, even when it was bought at great cost... (as these enslaved Lizardmen my Warriors so gracefully spared the lives of now know...)


Although, the threats of tomorrow slumber today...



There is strength in faith, piety, and honor.



If only the rest of the world could see this...



Rather than look only at numbers...







We might experience the kingdom of heaven, today...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Dreylin offered Open Borders again. I'm really not sure why he wants them, considering he has no way to trade with me that I know of...



I answered with my usual counter-offer:



My Workers, meanwhile, are busily trying to build up my lagging economy:



The Worker pictured here will partial-build the Farm again (it's really too bad I didn't know about partial-building when I started this game or I could have already finished this Farm for FREE!) after which he will proceed to hook up the Sugar to my trade network so that I will have continued access to this luxury resource after Q inevitable cancels his current deal offering me Ale and Sugar for Open Borders... (and I think the two can be cancelled independently- so he doesn't have to give up Open Borders to stop sending me Ale+Sugar, LURKERS correct me if I'm wrong about this...)


My military continues to attempt to corral this unusually-clever Lizardman, meanwhile. He seems to always know the best place to be to disrupt my economy (or threaten to), and promptly moves there. In this case, he's forcing the capital to work a Lake tile instead of a Forest/Grassland (technically a better tile if I wasn't currently working on a Wonder with +200% production and desperate for foodhammers to build up my military...)




After I ended turn I captured this screenshot from my 2nd city:



The city will soon grow to size 6, made happy by the witch-hunt and soon access to Incense and Sugar by trade network. The city will then safely be able to grow up to size 7, and soon after that size 8 when I set up a Gold mine... So I'll finally be able to prioritize food and let this city grow wild into a truly productive size range...

Too bad that Reliquary is going to make health an issue as the city grows (much like at my northwest city- which prompted me to produce a Zealot with Conquest civic there partially to prevent the city from growing into an unhealthy size...) Q really ought to have considered my suggestion to give Reliquaries +1 food/turn- it would have stopped them from being a net detriment to city growth (which is really kind of silly for a building that's supposed to be attracting pilgrims, and even more so form a balance perspective for one of the weakest civs in the game...)


Also, the Dwarves apparently completed Form of the Titan:



This certainly isn't helping my strategic situation, considering the Demographics...



Bone Palace and its Golden Age will soon help me catch up in hammers (and to a lesser degree Commerce) production. But there really isn't much I can do to make up for the huge lead the Clan and Dwarves currently have over me in population...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so Imgur was not failing to upload my screenshots a while, and even though I was passing along my saves, I wasn't able to post anything about my progress... But it's back to working now!


So, first of all, Dreylin offered me Open Borders again:




I countered that I want to trade World Maps as well again:





My workers finished chopping down the Tundra forest near my capital, thus cutting a turn off the time until Bone Palace completes...




I moved my disciple units to continue providing defense against the Lizardman:




After which the Lizardman moved onto the one tile I wasn't able to defend:





Also, Top 5 cities:




Demographics:





By the way, Q, when you're reading this after this game is over, I just wanted you to know I converted these to {screenshot} format for you, since I know you prefer that... I may not be the happiest with all your decisions in balancing EitB, or even think they're fair and unbiased, but I do want to make life easier and more pleasant for you where I can...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Another turn...




As usual this darn Lizardman is going EVERYWHERE but where I want him to go...





Demographics:




Top 5 Cities:




I'm going very heavy on the Gold production right now because I am going to want to spend a considerable amount of Gold on creating Drown if I am invaded- and if this not happen in the near future, I will spend it on expansion, deficit science, and random events... (I have no great desire to swap to the Arete civic immediately either: I don't have enough Mines yet to justify the lost Quarry production and slave-capture chance from Slavery- and I also don't want Q to know I have Arete until I'm ready to begin on the Mines of Gal-Dur at my capital, for strategic reasons...)


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

When I saw the start of this turn, I was almost literally fuming behind the ears:



The Clan beat me to Bone Palace by one turn- and in actuality, not even that. The ONLY, and I repeat ONLY reason Q completed the Bone Palace exactly a turn before me was because he came first in the turn-order, only confirming the FACT I have been saying all along- going last in NOT an advantage, and it is much better to go first...



With this nonsense, I can see pretty much no way I can win. The cards were all stacked against me from the start. Q was able to bully the other players around in the setup until he got the settings he wanted. He was allowed to choose the Clan even though they are ridiculously overpowered. He was given the FIRST slot in the turn-order (if I had gotten a spot before him, I would have beat HIM to Bone Palace by exactly one turn). And then, as if that wasn't all enough, both him and Dreylin decided to come at me on exactly the same turn, and while a Lizardman had my military forces spread thin- forcing me to fire off Sanctuary or face dire consequences... Talk about unfair odds.




The only thing I can really do at this point is pray- because it's going to take a miracle (or two, or three) for my forces to win at this point, and for the righteous (Elohim) to triumph over the wicked (the Orcs)... Of course, that really never is a bad option in ANY situation- so I can only hope for a small bit of Divine Intervention to help my noble people out... Sanctuary will only keep them safe for so long...




I do have a trick or two up my sleeve, as always, though. No matter what arrogant player like Q and Bob think, I'm not a bad player. A bit inexperienced, yes, but I have an understanding of the true meaning of strategy and tactics they could only dream of (if not the understanding of the true significance of certain choices in Fall From Heaven 2, due to lack of experience). Like what this little fellow here is up to:



The Orcs may dream themselves safe, having been kicked out of my borders by Sanctuary- most likely precisely as they planned. But on just the other side of the Mountain lies hidden a Thane of Kilmorph, ready to slaughter their Orc Warrior before he takes any promotions if he doesn't bother to get back on the Galley IMMEDIATELY. And there's no possible way Q could know about it (since I moved the unit AFTER firing Sanctuary), unless he were cheating, of course...


Meanwhile, my Workers are busy hooking up my second city to my trade network in the southeast:



I should get the city linked up *just* in time to keep the populace happy as the witch-hunt ends and the city grows... I also have a concoction to Sugar that will be completed in the nick of time as well (this is *NOT* by accident- I made a lot of micro plans/calculations to figure out how to make this work...)



My Zealot has returned from his journeys. I'll need him to help harass units lurking just outside the edge of my borders, and possibly to raid stacks Q might start piling up there, now that he knows I finally fired Sanctuary off...


The nice thing about where Sanctuary kicked units out is that it forced the Lizardman who had been pestering my borders to fight the Axeman that the Dwarves had likely sent to invade me...



If that wasn't enough, there's another Lizardman to the north ready to take another shot at killing those Dwarves. The odds certainly aren't in the Barbarians' favor, but one can always get lucky... Or maybe, it'll prompt Dreylin to go and clear out those Ruins for me- he will do it out of greed for the benefits of clearing the Lair (although it is risky- and could kill his unit just as well as help him- which I'd probably be better off if it does...), but I will benefit from not having to worry about further Lizardman attacks from that direction if I survive much past the end of Sanctuary...


Here's a look at the Demographics- which I can never hope to catch up in now, thanks to Q being able to beat me to the Bone Palace thanks to the darn loaded turn order (I know for certain the turn-order was *not* random, no matter what the people who determined it say. They *claim* they used a RNG, but I have no proof of that- and I also got "randomly" slotted last in my other PBEM *and* the worst possible slot in the duel-tournament at about the same time, even though a much more fair arrangement of the fuel tournament turned out to be easily possible with just a little minor adjustment- which adds suspicion why that plan wasn't used in the first place...)



And here are a look at the Top 5 Cities- which from now on will be a constant reminded of the unfair setup of this game and how I "randomly" got stuck last in the turn order and then had to listen to people falsely try to claim that going last was actually an advantage (which this particular scenario PROVES to be false- and is exactly what I was saying all along, that losing races for Wonders and religions is MUCH worse than any potential ability to easily identify Hidden Nationality units- which see virtually no practical utility in Multiplayer games anyways...)


I'm bitter about this, as the whole situation was and always has been unfair- but I'll have to let it go. I'll be praying about all this (both in and out-of-character) and deciding whether I even want to continue playing this loaded game, or should hand it to Old Lion, since I'm sick of Kragroth and Q's drama about turnaround times anyways... (where I always get blamed- even if it's not my fault or if somebody else is causing much larger delays)


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Old Lion, I want you to to take over for a while. I've got some important real life stuff to deal with, and on top of that I'm just too enraged by Q's continuing antics (he just initiated a blockade THROUGH Sanctuary borders, for instance, which he HAS TO know is an exploit that shouldn't even be allowed...) to want to keep playing against him... He doesn't play fair, and the rage he triggers is not good for my health...

I sent Dreylin a copy of the save which should have the password removed. Please try and play that (and let me know if I botched removing the password).


Regards,
Northstar

[Old_Lion]

OK, I'm done reading. Playing now

Does any lurker know how long the sanctuary spell will last with the current settings ?

[Mardoc]

Sanctuary, I haven't checked it myself but Kragroth did.

From PBEM XXXXII:

Yeah.....the game pop says 30 turns. I just checked and it's 15 including the turn you used it: Meaning you only get full use of the turn if you are 1st in the order.

[GermanJoey]

I do have a trick or two up my sleeve, as always, though. No matter what arrogant player like Q and Bob think, I'm not a bad player. A bit inexperienced, yes, but I have an understanding of the true meaning of strategy and tactics they could only dream of (if not the understanding of the true significance of certain choices in Fall From Heaven 2, due to lack of experience).