[SPOILERS] Tales from the Enchanted Forest - Thessa of the Ljosalfar

[Nyktorion]

Turn 134

Foreign news: Irgy founded his ninth city, Niddhoggstad. WarriorKnight has researched Warfare (Are Monks draftable? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised about it), and Mardoc got Sanitation.

Domestically, Hyll offers the most news this turn. A goblin has moved up to the city:



Hyll just finished the settler for Berk, my fourth (and last) city on Teldrassil. Since a warrior only takes a single turn with overflow, I switch production to it in order to avoid a dice roll for Hyll.

My caravel continues its exploration along the northern coast of our landmass. Looks like Thoth still has space for one (though marginal) city up there:



I haven't really pushed my army strength during the last turns, a few adepts were all I got. What I think is: for the early turns of our NAP, it's better to strengthen my economy, and get some units which take time to develop (adepts). On the other hand, I can still whip out archers and more priests once NAP deadline draws closer.

I pushed up my research rate to 90% this turn, which ate up almost all of my gold, but cut down research time for Deception to 1 turn.

After hitting EOT, I get a free spread of the Order into Eaca:

[Nyktorion]

Turn 135

Foreign news: Irgy got Optics this turn, as mentioned in the diplo section below. No other techs were researched by any rival this turn. So Thoth has not completed any research for two turns now; this means he must be going for something larger (Religious Law, for instance? Or maybe Sorcery?)

Deception is officially in! My free nightwatch arrives in Hyll, where the goblin is still waiting outside:



I simply used the nightwatch to kill him at 99.5% odds.

I'm still using my two hawks in their traditional roles: one of them watches the area west of F.Destination, and the other one does scouting flights around Kabhalg and Teldrassil. The western hawk spotted a few new Malakim units this turn:



Some news from the event log:



Thoth's switch to undercouncil was as expected from WarriorKnight's description; good thing I'm ready for a switch myself. I'm a bit surprised that Thoth switched out of Arete though; shouldn't he be using every hammer he can get if he wants the Mines of Gal-Dur?

The order shrine explains where WarriorKnight's great prophet went, and I'm glad that he got Corlindale out. That snowfall spell might be quite handy in the upcoming Malakim war.

Since I have Deception now, it's time to switch civics again:



After hitting EOT, I notice that the switch to Consumption yielded about 30gpt; my income at 50% research grew from 17 to 49. Nice!

Diplo:

Irgy sent me this list of requests:

Hello

Hope all is well. Sorry to come to you with a bunch of requests like I'm about
to but that's the state my game seems to be in at the moment.

Firstly, I'd like at some stage to borrow the air mana, to give myself a bit
of a better shot in the naval battle against Thoth's cultists with Fair Winds.
I'm happy to work out something in the mana trading schemes to compensate.
Also, if you have any privateers you feel like sending my way it would be
greatly appreciated. I have Optics myself now, so if done correctly they could
easily be disguised as my ships. It's good for all of us to take down these
cultists. I don't know whether this is practical for you, but I thought I'd
bring it up anyway. You probably weren't expecting me to have optics, but I
need it so I've grabbed it.

Do you have an ETA on Metamagic? Not that it matters particularly, but I'd
love to get some mage eyes so I can see what's coming my way.

I've got some spare copper by the way, like WarriorKnight I popped some from a
mine recently. So let me know if you want it.

One other thing, I'd like to free my gems back up to trade to Mardoc. Is it
possible for me to switch the Gems-Cotton trade to Wine-Cotton at some point
in the future? Or let me know if there's something else you might want. You
can cancel the corn trade as soon as you're able to by the way, WarriorKnight
has his set up now.

I think that's about it. Hope all is well for you. I'm getting a little
screwed by the NAPs everyone else has, but at the end of the day he can't get
land units to me, so a little harassment on the water isn't going to kill me.

Best Regards,
Irgy Arbandi

I simply respond with the truth, including my tech plans.

Hi Irgy,

* Air Mana: I'm sorry, but that will be a problem in the near future. I agreed to borrow my source of Air mana to Mardoc at T137 for the free fair winds promotion, and after that, I'd like to have two of them myself when I upgrade mages. However, after the round of upgrades (which should be shortly after T150).

* Privateers: now that privateers could plausibly be yours, too, that is a very nice idea! This is a good opportunity to start some cultist hunting. After my current turn anarchy (I revolted to undercouncil; by the way: have there already been any votes in the undercouncil? I guess a head concilor should have been elected by now), I will be getting Bronze Working in 2 more turns (my own copper is already mined and connected). A borrowing of copper by you would of course help me to start working on privateers already 2 turns earlier. Still, I fear that this borrowing of copper might tip off Thoth (except for a few token warriors, I'm not using any other bronze-using units at the moment); with BW coming in quickly and slavery speeding production, I should be getting out the first pair of them quite fast with my own copper, too

* Metamagic mana: I'm currently in the process of building the settler to claim my second raw mana node, so the limiting factor will be Sorcery tech. My current tech plan is Bronze Working -> Sanitation -> Sorcery, so I expect Sorcery to come in shortly before T150 (and thus, meta mana should be coming shortly after that).

* Switching the gems/sheep trade into a wine/sheep one is completely fine with me. Feel free to switch this deal as soon as you like.

best regards,
Nyktorion

One more comment: that privateer plan is a really nice idea to get a shot at some of those cultists without really having to fear about my own safety

[Nyktorion]

Turn 136

The turn began by a popup of Mardoc requesting my Air mana 1 turn earlier than expected:



I told him before that any starting date before T140 is essentially the same to me, and starting one turn earlier doesn't conflict with any of my plans, so I just give it to him.

Foreign news: as you can see in the above picture, Mardoc founded his thirteenth city, Dark Dante; so he might really become another runaway threat some time. For now it's a good thing balance-of-power-wise. Mardoc also researched Mind Stapling this turn, so we might see Saverous soon. Some actual military involvement from his side in the upcoming Malakim will be quite nice balance-of-power-wise, too. More news are shown in the event log:



The location of the mines is Golden Igloo! If we can indeed win the war against Thoth, this will be a very nice bit of booty, indeed! This also explains why Thoth switched out of Arete, and it also suggests that he isn't working on any more wonders.

The great merchant is already Thoth's third naturally born great person, so I don't expect many more of those soon.

Concerning city management, I'll mention Evermore, Hyll, and Kabhalg this turn. I am planning to try to snatch the Great Library in Evermore if I can; the current building time is 14 turns. So I don't have any hope to win it in a real race. Still, with nobody having built it up to now, Thoth switching out of Arete, and everyone probably fearing that someone else is certainly faster, I figured that I could just give it a try. In the worst case, this means some bonus gold which will be helpful for unit upgrades around T150. I started by 2-pop whipping the priest that is currently being trained, resulting in a whipping overflow of 18h, plus an additional overflow of 17h from my base production, giving the library already 2 turns of hammers:



In Hyll and Kabhalg, I am currently preparing to build some privateers once Bronze Working comes in. In Hyll, I prepare by training two hawks, giving me some more intelligence and 2 additional hammers of overflow when I start training the first privateer. In Kabhalg, I've started another adept, which will receive a 2 pop whip with plenty of overflow (similar to Evermore) next turn.

[Nyktorion]

Turn 137

Foreign news: Golden Shanty got a smuggler event this turn. Thoth researched Fanaticism (I wonder what he plans to do with that?), and WarriorKnight researched Alteration (for enchantment mana).

I see the result of the first undercouncil vote, but did not have the opportunity to actually vote there:



Thoth has two new mana sources (body and enchantment):



My hunter in the south east finds one of Thoth's cultists who are harassing Irgy:



I plan to park him somewhere out of the cultist's sight, and do some hawk scouting with him there. That should give my privateers a good opportunity to strike the cultists without suffering from tsunamis.

Domestically, I basically proceed as planned. In particular, Evermore, Hyll and Kabhalg are executing their overflow plans. Evermore has started on the Great Library, and Hyll and Kabhalg will overflow into privateers next turn. Here's a picture of my core empire:



My scouting caravel has found a city of Thoth, Golden Shanty:



Thoth is fortifying a cultist on Maenalus. I plan to pop it with my caravel sometime later; the optimal time would be T150, right before declaring war, but something like T149 or T148 (where he doesn't have the time to retaliate by stretching our NAP on his own) would be nice, too.

Last, I connected my body mana source on Teldrassil this turn, so after consulting with WarriorKnight through chat for a bit, I sent it to him. Speaking of the WarriorKnight chat, we're not completely finished yet. I'll post the chat log later.

[Nyktorion]

...and here's my finished chat with WarriorKnight:

10:47 Ich: Hi
Just a short question this time
10:48 WarriorKnight: hey
question?
Ich: I'm currently playing my turn
almost finished
10:49 I've hooked up my body mana now; seems like I overestimated the time I need to get it
If you like, I can send you the body mana (which I agreed to send you in return for your water mana loan) already now
10:50 But if you're not ready to use it yet due to planning with my initial estimation, I can also wait 1-2 turns more
what option would you like?
WarriorKnight: i don't really mind tbh, havent thought too much about what to promote my adepts
10:51 so if you don't need it, it might be best just to send it this turn
10:52 dont really mind either way though
Ich: I don't need it right now - all adepts that I want to have Body I for now have been promoted this very turn
so I don't mind either
10:53 WarriorKnight: alright, could you send it this turn then?
i should get enchantment myself within a turn or two
Ich: Okay, I'm doing that right now then
10:54 WarriorKnight: ok, thanks
10:55 have you heard from irgy recently?
10:56 (you can finish the turn first before answering)
10:57 Ich: yes, he talked to me a few turns ago
btw, turn is finished, and Body mana sent off
10:58 While Irgy is safe from land attacks due to your territory being between Thoth and him
he's getting harassed by cultists right now
10:59 He asked me for two things
he wanted Air mana, which I had to decline due to an already agreed deal with Mardoc
11:00 and he asked me to send some privateers to help; since he has Optics too, it should be plausible to Thoth that those privateers might be Irgy's rather than mine
I plan to fulfill that request
WarriorKnight: hmmm, ok
Ich: Just got the necessary bronze working this turn, and prepared some overflow in two coastal cities
11:01 So if you see some hidden nationality privateers passing by Garryvoe soon, please don't mind them
they're probably mine
WarriorKnight: well, as long as you dont pillage my seafood or anything, ill be fine with that
11:02 Ich: I don't plan to do that
11:03 And being destructive towards you right now would hurt my actual goals anyway, since it would just increase Thot
Thoth's chance of winning
WarriorKnight: well then i have no problems with privateers then
speaking of thoth, he got fanaticism recently which is certainly interesting
Ich: Yes, I wonder what he got it for
11:04 he got it this turn, didn't have it last turn yet
is HE going for Basium?
WarriorKnight: the best reason i came up with is that he plans to go for AV
Ich: or does he want to do something with a tower of divination?
Or does he just like Paramanders, now that he has Iron?
WarriorKnight: basium? maybe but allying with AI's is kinda wierd
nah, i think he wants the inferal grimoire for malevolent designs
11:05 Ich: Hmm, as disciple units, those paramanders could start with quite a nice amount of XP...
WarriorKnight: then he can use his iron for eidlons, which his cultists can upgrade to
plus the beasts and mardero
Ich: Well, or he wants righteousness for paladins, which would essentially be the same
ah no
he's not good anymore
but him getting the infernal grimoire before Irgy?
interesting idea...
11:06 WarriorKnight: well, i doubt irgy would plan to build it while cultists are harassing him
Ich: Though, THoth could turn good at a whim, he already has Order spread into one of his cities
WarriorKnight: evil > good
despite my own alignment
11:07 the only other i came up with was stygian guards, so that means probably OO or AV
Ich: oh, and did you see? Thoth got body and enchantment mana now
WarriorKnight: saw that, nothing we can do about it really
11:08 Ich: Well, just good to know that his chariots can now move 4 tiles, essentially
WarriorKnight: well, 6 with mobility 2
Ich: right ^^
WarriorKnight: just keep a good hawk sentry net up, and it shouldnt be too bad
11:09 but i dont think thoth is getting empyrean in the short term
Ich: Yep, and I essentially have only one border to thoth anyway
thought with 6 movement and raider, they'd be able to strike from outside hawk visibility range
11:10 WarriorKnight: if he's upgrading to chariots now, i doubt raider would be much of an issue
although it still is possible
Ich: right, just the newly built ones
concerning Thoth's units
I saw a hunter of him already
WarriorKnight: he has a hawk on my border
Ich: and 1 or 2 soldiers of kilmorph
11:11 WarriorKnight: meh, tier 2 units aren't going to be good for much longer
7/5 chariots are what we should be worried about
11:12 Ich: yup, though it's not so much the 7/5
but rather their extreme mobility
7/5 on its own can be handled by monks or archers
WarriorKnight: barely
Ich: And I'm still not sure about his religious plans
if he plans to go through with OO or AV
11:13 WarriorKnight: monks are 6, only bless lets me equal him
Ich: that means no rathas or chalid any time soon
WarriorKnight: yep
although if he goes AV, ritualists aren't that nice either
Ich: well
11:14 ritualists can still be equaled by our own siege weapons
other than cultists who walk on water
WarriorKnight: siege weapons? you mean our own magic right?
11:15 Ich: well, for me Air magic
for you Corlindale
and on the defensive, also catapults
WarriorKnight: nah, collateral magic obsoletes cats
11:16 Ich: okay, but you don't go for collateral magic that much, except for corlindale
WarriorKnight: maybe if im desperate though, but they get 1 move max
Ich: in your own lands, where you have roads, that's still something
11:17 WarriorKnight: btw, that reminds me, since mardoc has contact with irgy now, we should really start up a email chain with the 4 of us
so we're all on the same page about everything
Ich: so he can't just walk over your cities for free with ritualists, I'd say
Ah right
WarriorKnight: well, initiative is everything, im not going to let him to that
11:18 if possible
Ich: Now that almost everyone's in undercoucil
WarriorKnight: (but me)
got the free sage yet?
Ich: Hmm, with Valin Phanuel requiring to stay in Order, I think you won't get into the UC soon
no
no free sage yet
11:19 this turn, the head councelor vote finished
WarriorKnight: nah, someone got to be the good guy
10 turns between resolutions or something right?
Ich: Leading candidate: Irgy Arbandi (1 Votes - required 2 of 4)
WarriorKnight: lol, thats due to the turn order
11:20 Ich: yup, Thoth and I nly joined this turn, so we got no chance to cast our votes
WarriorKnight: you know what? im not even sure if you can start resolutions without enough votes for secratery
Ich: last turn, I mean
But the important thing is
now Thoth won't get a free sage without everyone else getting one, too
11:21 sorry, almost everyone else, so stil 3 other people
WarriorKnight: ...
oh well, hopefully PHI will help make up for it
Ich: Still much better than if just Thoth and one other civ got him
WarriorKnight: true
30 Minuten
11:52 WarriorKnight: btw, can you figure out why thoth would want enchantment mana? if he's not using melee or archery then it only helps the happiness
11:53 Ich: well, he still has some swordsmen
in particular, general martok
WarriorKnight: nah, hes been upgraded too
11:54 besides, they dont keep melee only magic promos when upgrading
Ich: ah, general martok is a chariot, as well?
okay
WarriorKnight: i think so, hes down south clearing up a goblin fort
but thats just off memory
11:55 Ich: I saw him there earlier too
but he was still a swordsman at that time
11:56 he even got plagued
he got cured quickly by a nearby priest, though
(I don't recall whether that priest was a stonewarden or a cultist)
11:57 WarriorKnight: doesnt matter really
11:58 anyway, i gtg now, ill start up a email chain regarding the dogpile sometime
cya
11:59 Ich: bye bye

[Nyktorion]

Turn 138

Foreign news: Mardoc researched Mathematics (for Taxation?), and Thoth got Corruption of Spirit. So, the theory I discussed with WarriorKnight about Thoth possibly going for Infernal Grimoire -> Malevolent Designs -> Eidolons may be true, after all.

Irgy has traded his Chaos mana to Mardoc; fair enough, so I'm not the only one doing those double-mana deals.

My exploring caravel has discovered Lanun territory:



Not only the Eidolon theory, but also the paramander theory from my chat with WarriorKnight seems to be true:



Berk, the last city on Teldrassil, has been founded. In the interturn, it even receives another auto-spread of the Order.



The settler for claiming my second raw mana node is on his way, too.

Finally, Bronze Working arrived this turn, immediately hooking up the copper north of Kabhalg. This also enables privateers, which I start building in Hyll and Kabhalg now. The next tech will be Sanitation for the obvious food benefits.

[Nyktorion]

Turn 139

Foreign news: Irgy researched Priesthood (so now he has all prerequisites for Ritualists), and WarriorKnight and Thoth both got Optics. So things might become quite complicated privateer-wise as soon as Thoth decides to send out some of his own.

My exploring caravel takes some picture of Lanun lands (or rather, Lanun seas):



Thoth accumulates more paramanders; note: Gilden's Shock promotions won't work against them.



Hyll whips the first privateer; Kabhalg will finish another one naturally next turn.



My hunter at the Sheaim borders has finally taken up a hawk. The picture taken by it is probably the most interesting one of this turn:



I expected to see Thoth's cultist somewhere around here. Instead, I just see two wounded (obviously Sheaim) privateers. Looks like that cultist is dead! Hovering the mouse over Niddhoggstad also reveals something:



So that adept has a healing salve, an item which can be consumed in order to fully heal its carrier.

WarriorKnight is attacking Spilan now; there only one archer left. The attacking stack is small, but seems sufficient:



With what I've seen from my hawk, and my first privateer finishing at the end of this turn, I decide to message Irgy about this topic:

Hi Irgy,

first off: my hunter has seen a cultist next to Skadistad a couple of turns ago. Now that he has a hawk with him, I can't find the cultist anymore, but two damaged privateers in Vargstad, instead. From that, I conclude that your privateers have killed him - congratulations!

I finished the first privateer of my own at the end of this turn, and the second one will follow (in a city further to the south than the first one) at the end of the next turn. Do you still have some use for them (I assume there are more cultists further south)? If so, I'll happily send them to help (longshoremen crewed).

Of course, my privateers won't do any attacks/pillaging/blockading against you as long as you extend the same courtesy towards me Since we are the only ones who can build privateers at this moment (Mardoc gets pirates instead, and WarriorKnight and Thoth don't have Optics yet, it should be easy for the two of us to recognise each other's privateer for now.

best regards,
Nyktorion

I wrote this message before I analysed the tech screen. Thus, I sent some more text:

Oops, I just analysed the foreign advisor's tech screen, and noticed that both WarriorKnight and Thoth researched Optics this turn. Of course, this might make distinguishing each other's privateers a bit harder.

So, I have another solution: when I send privateers down to you for helping against Thoth, I'll just let you know explicitly which of them are mine.

-- Nyktorion

[Nyktorion]

Turn 140

Sanitation is researched. As planned, I'll get Sorcery now, so some mages will hopefully be ready by T150. I currently have 2 adepts at 7XP, and one at 8XP.

My caravel is continuing the exploration of the continent's northwestern edge:



I have founded Khandar, the city claiming my second raw mana node, this turn. This completes my settling plans for now. I think any sensible future expansion will require conquest now.



Diplo:

Irgy has responded to my privateer message:

Hi, yes I was going to mention the dead cultist to you but as you might
know I've been a bit busy. All up I've killed the one that was harassing
me in the east, and one of the two (got unlucky with the other) near
Grottiburg, for the loss of just one privateer. I'll (suggest that my
replacement should) ask about any privateers I (they) see in Sheaim
territory before attacking them. Assume any privateers you see in our
area are ours, because if they're not we'd have asked you if they were
yours already.

All in all then I only know the location of one cultist, who is
currently hiding back on land, west of Grottiburg. If I had Rosier he
wouldn't be able to hide on land, but there you have it.

Best Regards,
Irgy Arbandi

Quite some four-way discussion about war preparations against Thoth has started between Mardoc, WarriorKnight, Irgy/Heisenberg and myself. Here are the messages:

Hi all

Since the four of us have full contact now, it seems that we should start discussing the attack on Thoth with the whole group instead of having 6 different conversations so that we're all on the same page. I'll start by sharing this:

I can report that Thoth has switched back to OO last turn, so since he also has Fanaticism we can expect to see some Iron Stygian Guards from him. He did manage to build a few Paramanders to go along with his Iron Chariots, plus he can now build Cultists again. (also remember since Thoth also has Optics along with Iron, he can build Frigates). nyktorion, Irgy and I will need to build some Caravels/Privateers for naval defense. Mardoc, since your in OO yourself you have more options, but since Thoth clearly wants to control the seas and you are his main competition, you'll need to prevent him for achieving that as much as you can (we will of course help you to the best of our ability, but we won't have anywhere near as much naval power as you or Thoth).

He did research Corruption of Spirit a few turns ago, so there's a possibility of him switching to AV. Since he doesn't have a source of land collateral yet (to my knowledge), I indeed expect him to switch into AV (or Empyrean) at some point.

Thoughts/Comments?

Regards,
WarriorKnight

Hi,

something that might be of interest: the mines of Gal-Dur are located in Golden Igloo (formerly: Torrolerial), which happens to be Thoth's border city towards me. I don't know if I'll be able to take or raze it - it also contains the Bone Palace, which makes my collateral (fireballs, maelstroms) less effective - but if I can, that may help us in our efforts.

Anyway, even if Thoth's navy is considerably strengthened by iron Stygian guards and frigates, I think we must match it (privateers could still be somwhat suitable for that, having good odds when attacking a frigate or Stygian guard 2on1), otherwise our backlines will become very vulnerable. Of course, when Mardoc's own OO armies (and the black wind?) can join in, it will be a great relief on that front.

I'm a bit puzzled by Thoth's decision to research corruption of spirit, but adopt OO. Maybe he is planning to get out some cultists/stygian guards first, and then upgrade some to Eidolons after switching to AV, building the infernal grimoire, and taking malevolent designs with it? Irgy, if there is a way you can get the grimoire before Thoth, I'd of course be quite happy about it

best regards,
Nyktorion

Yes, I expect to construct the Black Wind in the near future, and
combine a navy with OO to take the sea for myself. Cultists on ships
ought to be able to take out anything he has, so long as I have the
initiative; a Tsunami will weaken just about anything to a point where
it can be killed without problem.
Because initiative is so important at sea, I would greatly appreciate
you sharing coastal Hawk flights with me when the time comes, so that
I can figure out how to hit him without him being able to retaliate.
Seafaring and Fair Winds ought to help with that, but ultimately
information is king. Unfortunately, I can't put a Hawk on a Hunter on
a ship due to game mechanics, so I'll need to rely on your
information.

I think I'm going to have to focus on just naval/coastal warfare, and
play defensively otherwise; I just don't have the production to match
Thoth in anything but one category. Still, with every city of mine
having an OO temple, and most of them having Sea Havens for bonus
naval production, I ought to be able to handle that category, at
least.

Is Golden Igloo coastal? I might be able to get a Cultist or two up
there to help. For that matter, do you have a good idea how much of
his civ is coastal vs. inland?

- Mardoc

Something to note, the Bone Palace only prevents (or help prevents) spells with a resist chance. So that just means spells like Rust, Charm Person, Blinding Light are less effective (anything that can be resisted basically). This doesn't apply to summons or maelstrom, so unless you plan to rely on several resistible spells than Golden Igloo won't be too different to take than any other city.

A Malevolent Designs grab would definitely be possible. The only good news is that since it takes 10 turns to switch between religions (does it apply to religions as well as civics?), it will be T150 at least before he can get in AV and will need to get Infernal Pact and build the Grimiore for the grab while fighting us off. Whether he can get it by T170 is questionable, but hopefully he would at least be too distracted by then to complete it.

I would be happy to help you with coastal hawk flights Mardoc. I can get naval visibility on everything east of Golden Cabin, but not much else. Golden Cabin is the only coastal city on the south that I can see (his inland HE city Golden Yurt is on a lake though, it's a bit far away from my front but a nearby cultist could make taking it easy).

BTW Irgy, I know your limited in time and requesting a replacement, but how likely is it that you'll have Death2 mages by T160? The 'fear factor' could be invaluable if Thoth neglects Spirit mana, and I'd like to know how likely it is that you'll have them by then.

Regards,
WarriorKnight

Hi all, and please welcome Heisenburg to this email thread. I'm partly
replying just to forward all of this conversation on to Heisenburg.
Heisenburg: please look through the quoted text below as it's all recent and
stuff I haven't posted.

Because I can't help myself I'll answer a few of the more direct questions.

We have two adepts already well and truely up to mage level, so as soon as we
have Sorcery we'll have 2 death 2 mages. Sorcery will be in certainly before
T160 at least (subject to an unwanted ~6-turn detour to Infernal Pact, which
I'll get to below). So, we'll have probably exactly 2 mages on T160. However,
this is about the time that the rest of the adepts will start to catch up, so
we'll get a trickle then a flood of more from around T160 onwards.

I am indeed concerned about Thoth taking the Infernal Grimoire. Thanks to the
10 turns it would take him to switch to AV (are you completely sure about that
btw?), we could easily beat him to it, but not if we wait to see whether he's
switching to AV himself. It's something we need to figure out, anyway.

Irgy

Irgy, do you want to continue to be included in these messages? I suppose it doesn't matter too much Heisenburg is playing for you now.

Anyway, a lurker has confirmed that it's a 5 turn wait between religion switching, so it might mean that he'll get there a bit faster. It would mean though that Thoth only spends 5 turns in OO, but I guess that's Spiritual. (BTW, his Adaptive switch is coming up, we'll soon know what his next trait is)

Regards,
WarriorKnight

Mardoc, I'll happily assist with scouting where I can, as well. My hawks can cover the northern coast of our landmass from Golden Igloo eastwards (the starting point would be further west in case I manage to take Golden Igloo and not decide not to raze it).

About Thoth's ratio of coastal cities: a caravel of mine (which you have certainly already spotted at your borders, Mardoc) has recently explored the entire northern coastline of our landmass from starting from my borders until the city of Electron. I currently see exactly two Malakim cities along that coastline: first, the already mentioned Golden Igloo, and second, Golden Shanty, whose culture is touching Electron's culture from the north.

Speaking of Golden Igloo: if in any way possible I'd of course like to try taking it as fast as possible. However, if you can assist me in the battle for Golden Igloo (for instance, because Thoth's army forces my to stand back until T170), I will of course appreciate your support

WarriorKnight, thanks for letting me know that the bone palace won't hinder my mages in any way! I did not spot the difference between "+50% resistant to magic" and "+50% resistance against XXX damage" myself.

-- Nyktorion

Finally, WarriorKnight approached me bilaterally about some new resource trading:

Hi nyktorion,

I just managed to connect a surplus source of wines, and checking the trade screen it appears that you don't have any yet. Do you want to trade something for it? You don't seem to have any duplicate luxuries to trade in exchange AFAICT, but maybe we can work something else out.

BTW, 10 turns have passed on the nature mana deal, so I canceled that. Can you let me know a few turns in advance when you'll be requesting my Nature mana in exchange? Otherwise I should be able to lend it to you whenever you want.

Regards,
WarriorKnight

Hmm, I don't really know what to offer him for the wine. On the other hand, I'm currently not too badly pressed for happiness either; even my worst city (Kabhalg) still has a surplus of 2 happy faces, while the average is 4-5 pop away from their happy cap. My responses:

Hi WarriorKnight,

indeed, I can't offer you any other luxury resources for your wine; I could offer you some health resources, instead. While you already have your own sources of my current surplus health resources (corn and sheep), I should be connecting a second source of fish pretty soon. Would the additional health be useful to you?

best regards,
Nyktorion

P.S.: about the nature mana: I'll probably request somewhere around T150. I'll only be able to give a more precise answer once my adepts start hitting 10XP.

Are you having any specific plans of your own with the nature mana for that time, or are you rather flexible with the exact timing of that loan then?

[Nyktorion]

Turn 141

Foreign news: Thoth researched Mathematics this turn. WarriorKnight canceled my nature mana gift (as announced), and got a great prophet:



Some domestic info: I have 2 privateers now; I'll send them down to Irgy's lands, and keep any following privateers to protect my northern coasts. I also upgraded one of my Galleys to a caravel, and I'll try to snatch Maenalus around the end of my NAP with Thoth. That way, my other caravel remains free to explore Mardoc's coasts. Speaking of Mardoc's coasts, I found the ring of carcer, with two Brigits inside:



My best candidate for entering that ring would be Gilden Silveric. However, even he is only level 10 at this moment (if I distribute all promotions), so considering that he will stop auto-gaining XP once he has 100, there's still a long way to go until Brigit will become relevant to me.

Concerning development, I am almost finished with foresting and cottaging/mining/etc my main land cities. Only Khandar needs some more actual work there. On the other hand, Teldrassil is still quite underdeveloped:



In particular, Dendrom's growth is rapidly exceeding the good tiles it can work, since it has three food specials. Anyway, I have slavery, so I put that excess population to good use by 4-whipping a priest. That priest will found a temple in Eodd, which is the last city without the fellowship of leaves.

Diplo:

Message by Mardoc to our alliance of 4:

So that puts Thoth at a total of 3/13 cities as coastal, then? Not
nearly as much as I'd hoped for, but so be it. I will definitely try
to hit all three of them if they're still Thoth-owned when the time
comes.

- Mardoc

Message from WarriorKnight to me concerning our trading ideas:

Sadly I already have a deal for fish negotiated with Mardoc, thus wine for fish wouldn't work out. Perhaps we'll just have to wait and see if there are any future opportunities.

I'm rather flexible regarding the nature mana loan, and indeed around T150 is fine by me. My only concern is that your not the only civ who's interested in my nature mana, but cross that bridge if we come to it.

Regards,
WK

My thoughts in both cases: "hmm... okay"; however, nothing to be really answered.

[Nyktorion]

Another note to anyone who happens to only have seen my spoiler thread, but nothing else of PBEM3 yet: as announced in the general forum, I am looking for a temporary replacement from saturday until next thursday. If you'd be able to take over the rules of the Ljosalfar for that time (and thus prevent it from pausing for that time), I'd be quite happy about that