Ginguelito Descend into Madness

[Ginger*]

Yeah there are a few ways to pop borders, but why bother if we don't have to. This first ring-ing dot map looks like it gives up very little for the privilege, I like it

[RefSteel]

Note that our dear mapmaker placed a pasture on that deer to do exactly nothing. Now if he thought he'd be trolling us, I can only say RAIders baby, and+100% pillage gold.

That was intentional, but not exactly trolling; it's up to you whether it's an old, long-abandoned sheep pasture where the sheep have all been eaten and deer now graze instead, nimbly leaping the fences, or whether it's a deer pasture invented by a crazed Balseraph that ... doesn't work terribly well ... or one once used by elves who kept the deer there more through their bond with nature than through the physical fences themselves, or something else entirely: I created special stories for the major landmarks I added to the map that would have developed their own halo of myth, but minor Torusland-style random tile improvements like this were meant just to function as story seeds for those who want to use them that way - and potentially to be pillaged for a little gold, as you observed! (Plus, they block forest and/or jungle growth to their tile where relevant until pillaged, for better or worse.)

[Qgqqqqq]

Settled freaks also give happiness.

[Miguelito]

Oh wise elders, does this do anything (for MP) ?

[Jabah]

I am not even sure it does anything in SP

[RefSteel]

As Jabah implies, the event does nothing in MP. In SP, it's possible it has some effect on AI "negotiations?" I'm not sure; I haven't particularly noticed if so, obviously.

[Miguelito]

thanks.
Yeah, I figured it might give diplo boni or some such.




After some back and forth we resolved to tech Fishing and settle on the coast with our first settler. With the marblecoast and wine the city adds more decent commerce tiles plus some cottages (eventually). It seemed better than the foodless gems or the dry foodhammer places.
We have a lot of basic tech needs, which I'm not too happy about. Fishing, Education, Sailing, Hunting, Calendar, Festivals are all probably due before we get anything serious military wise. Now the map is large and we are Barbarian, but still...? And I still don't even really know what military to aim for? Puppet mages? Raider horses? Silly Balseraph recon line (no)? Octopus Overlords / Ashen Veil priests (marble calls for Bone Palace)?

Also pretty unsure at this point if Mining first was smart. Agri or even non agri farms maybe would have been an acceptable replacement. Oh well, I'm just the caretaker here

[RefSteel]

Nice overview shot! Also, I know you saw this last game already, but in case you don't remember or just want to see it again without digging the old thread up, here's the brief legend about the landmark it looks like you found:

Rumors are spreading about the site of a terrible battle between the living and the dead that took place soon after the glaciers receded from an ancient vault. Many died and rose again to do battle against life, and the master of the undying army was only thrown down and destroyed when one who dared stand alone against it in the face of the deathless hordes transformed the power of the vault itself. Tales vary with the tellers and the audience and with time, but it is said that Syraethe, the mysterious general who led the living army, ultimately gave her life to effect the transformation in a last and desperate stand. Some say her courageous spirit still watches over the site where the vault once stood, but all agree that afterward, when the corpses were carried away - some perhaps still restless - and cairns or tombstones raised above them all, then whatever became of Syraethe's spirit, her body was never found.

[Miguelito]

Oh yes Ref I recognized it fondly.And here's a new one:



Auror's sea marble has no quarry but an ancient forest instead.



Here's where we're at back home. Just researched fishing. We can now work the marble but don't get the resource. Does that change when we research Masonry? Would make Heron Throne appear sensible, although this is not the city to build it, but maybe on the island?

Sadly, we have not one but two polar bears roaming around my preferred next dot at the pigcopper. Will see ifwe can achieve something with a sac warrior and C1 scout. Sadly we haveno animal catcher yet. Hunting is really not looking too bad, but Edu comes first.

Both coldrain and Auror have no second city yet (but size 6 caps)

[RefSteel]

And here's a new one:

So it is! And indeed, the locals tell...

Not far from the mouth of the bay, the sea waves break across a stony coral reef so ancient that it features in many creation myths: Some say that the marble deposits shaped by Kilmorph near the shore were made in imitation of it or even out of parts of the reef itself in the long-forgotten past - while others claim the world itself, land and sea floor alike, are just overlays of rock and dust and soil on a framework of primordial coral. Ocean life abounds across the coral reef, and the upper and outer reaches of the stony coral can be harvested as building materials, but the foundations of the reef are impervious to even the most powerful sorceries and enchanted tools. It was known to the ancients that any ship that tried to navigate the breakers across the jagged shallows created by the reef must do so with extreme caution, taking it slow, for even the strongest hull can be torn apart when striking the barely-submerged coral - and consequently, any ship that successfully navigates the reef and establishes itself there with the coral to cut off enemy lines of attack would be extremely difficult to dislodge by other ships at sea.

Here's where we're at back home. Just researched fishing. We can now work the marble but don't get the resource. Does that change when we research Masonry?

Yes, once you have Masonry, the marble from Athalan's Barge will be connected immediately (exactly as the Fish will be connected once you have Fishing and net them.)

Good luck with those ridiculous FfH warm-weather Polar Bears! (I suppose they were stranded by receding glaciers with the sudden end of the Age of Ice...)