[spoilers] Ia! Ia! Com'h'dor fhtagn!

[Commodore]

Help. I'm so very lost and confused. This place is pretending to be my empire, but I don't believe it. Whoever was in charge was clearly smoking vast amounts of because he was heading towards a bulb of Theology. Look at this! Four of the most aggressive players on the website surround him! He's lowest in world power despite massively spiking upward in the last few turns!


I put an end to whatever retarded was going on. Horseback Riding! Then Construction! He needs horse archers and war elephants and catapults!

[Rowain]

and

[Commodore]

Seriously though. I have a fever. And the only solution is more cowbell.

Cowbell:

[Commodore]

...although I can certainly see the appeal of something to boost culture. This planned city is going to be a bit awkward to get culture in to; I might just say screw optimizing with a Maddrassa and chop in a monument day one. It needs to claim north; those wines and that rice will be pretty important.


The other rice option looks even grimmer. Fridge popped borders, so the Blasted Heath might be frankly untenable; but moving it back makes feeding it hard. Incense is mine though; Calendar is the next economy tech for sure and certain. Spices, banana, silk, incense, and sugar all in my sphere of influence.


It's expensive. The capital needs to grow just to keep the economy running; I'm adding more cottages, but I can't work them without happiness. Calendar fixes that too. I'm now running an internal debate between the prophet chain or first* getting an academy here in Arkham. The academy is the right direction...but I'm not sure if the slider rate will make it worthwhile short-term.


Clearly, I need a Calendar bulb.

[Commodore]

Okay, that's a lot better. Still lowest, but not a third of the neighbors.


We're orienting ever more eastward...

[Commodore]

Trying to balance growth/teching/expansion all very carefully here. Next time please remind me to choose the right leader for the job; Genghis would be running cheaper and wider and better in every way, and I can barely afford to run my lovely Phi specialists. Ah well...I will push out a quick Academy scientist at size six; I just hope to avoid fighting any pitched battles and maybe I can run a prophet or three out next.


It's going to be a pitched something if I head for the Blasted Heath spot. Fridge is a fine city even without the cows, but Scooter has very strong units and I doubt he'd be happy for me to take anything from him peacefully.


It's stressful, but actually pretty fun too in ways. I just hope others are this pressured on all fronts too.

[Commodore]

Okay, I chickened out and so the Blasted Heath will be settled more defensively. The good news is that I should be able to hit the wine/rice spot up here without too much issue, I think I'll call it "The Mound". I'm going to be in a weird little turtle stance for a while here; breakout might be gobbling up the reachy extensions of Serdoa and/or Scooter while they fight for cores. It's a long shot, but this is about all she wrote for peaceful expansion.


Kingsport is finally coming up to speed, and how. She'll never really be a science or commerce monster, but hammers are here aplenty, so I'll actually just pop borders using a barracks. Then it's horse archer(x10), maybe maybe with a stables in there. Only break will be for war elephants and then eventually camel archers.


Economy better not crash...

[Commodore]

Economy better not crash...

...she's totally gonna crash. Carefully balanced for high commerce, I'm breaking even at 40%. And I'm about to settle two more cities. Now it's not hopeless; Arkham is getting a fair few villages soon and once she can grow she can shoulder a whole lot of economy pain. But the growing is problematic too...I wonder if horse archers can cut it long enough to go Sailing->Calendar first? +1 health, +4 happy for one tech...


I have some room to grow up the further-out cities. Kadath is about to get a village too, by the way, and it's an elf one at that. I'll finagle an MP archer in time to get this sucker up to at least size six, maybe seven...need to grow the capital fort cottage that it can and keep up with the running of the scientists. Much as I like the bulbing CS plan, I might need to simply run scientists to get out of my economy hole instead.


Here's a bit of news; Confucianism fell in America. Looks like Scootwyn is the third big boy with Novice and Krill; no idea how he's researching with all those cities.

Oh wait, Aggressive...

[Commodore]

I came upon a wretched and huddled land as I finally headed deeper into the hills. The Blasted Heath is stinking waste of a place, its inhabitants ill-favored and hunched. Twice a week a sulfurous wind falls down from the volcanic peak that looms foul and forbidding southeast of the town, and nothing wholesome grows in its path. The town is largely present only for lumber and incense trade further back to less benighted country. Blasphemous and horrid yellow fruits are all that grows to feed men in the town's province. Such food is better suited for apes than men.


I could not stay in the town long and nor did I wish to, for the Miskatonic Maddrassa system had sent me to survey the ancient and unworldly volcano. Besides the sulfur blasts the mountain seems largely dormant, but a light can from time to time be seen in the tumbled scree far overhead. The worst of all is the light's color; not the hellish red flames of a normal volcano, but a stranger hue not of this world. I sought to investigate this mystery, for an eruption would blight out the town and kill thousands.

How indeed I wish I had found the signs of an impending doom of fire and ash. It would be better by far...

[Hashoosh]

Spooooooooky