The Kuriotates: A Tale of Centaurs, Hubris, and Unbridled Enthusiasm

[HidingKneel]

Turn 66 played. Let's have a look at Bob:



Still turtling in Cauldron Lake. Hyborem's got another drill promotion. You can also see that Bob used his sage to fire a golden age. I'm having trouble seeing how that can possibly be a good play. I mean... he could work all specialists and maybe generate another great person? Or work all tiles and net himself an extra 54 hammers, 27 beakers?

Anyway, he hasn't moved, which means I'll continue to ignore him. Our Bob-spying centaur took some damage this turn, though... lizardman came at him from the ruin. If that happens again we'll probably lose him.

Selrahc produced another two marked warriors this turn. I killed two warriors, bringing the AC down from 38 to 34. Will be getting another centaur up there next turn, and three more the turn after, so I think there shouldn't be a problem keeping him contained.

And having a preimproved capital for Commodore will be very handy

Well, we've got ten workers on hand, which is more than enough to build improvements for Commodore and a road to Selrahc (and to finish improving Avelorn, which we're mostly on top of). Killswitch will be prime real estate by the time Basium arrives. But for now, it's serving as a field hospital:



It says five turns to heal, but a thane will arrive next turn, so I'd expect quite a bit less. When this crew is ready to take the field again, we ought to be able to put Selrahc out of his misery.

In other news, my portal centaur located Ilios:



I renamed him to try and dissuade Ilios from attacking (the C2/S1 promotion and defensive terrain should help with that, too), and offered open borders. If Ilios accepts, I'll sprint through his lands towards Selrahc. If he declines, I might declare war and do so anyway, maybe stopping to pillage a bit.

At end of turn I got the following:



Hmm.... how long does that last? Looks like it means I'm not paying any maintenence in Avelorn; are there any other effects?

[NobleHelium]

One turn. No maintenance is the only effect.

[HidingKneel]

Hmm... what triggers it? I assume it's related to the fact that we're way, way below the happy cap?

[NobleHelium]

It randomly occurs if the city is both happy and healthy. I'm not sure if the chance increases if you're happier and healthier.

[HidingKneel]

Turn 67 played .

So, first I wanted to take a look at Bob. But unfortunately, there was a warrior in my way:



Weird. I thought the barbarian AI never left a lair without a defender, if it could help it. Anyway, I figured our centaur only had two promotions and was wounded anyway, so I used it to explore the ruin. I can't even remember what I got out of it; nothing exciting either way, though. Anyways, that centaur ended turn surrounded by three barbarian warriors, so don't expect to be seeing him again. I'll promote another mobility centaur to resume keeping tabs on Bob. Hopefully he hasn't gotten moving in the meanwhile.

What else? Well, you may recall that we ended turn by Ilios's borders, which I asked him to open to us. Unfortunately he did not see reason, forcing me to declare him an agent of the apocalypse and an enemy of the Kuriotate people. Look here:



That southwest tile is a bronze warrior defending two workers. I declared on Ilios, killed the warrior, and deleted the workers. This left me kind of a vulnerable spot, so I sprinted further into Ilios's land. Here's where I landed:



Well, I might lose that centaur next turn, too. But that's something like 40 hammers for me, more than a hundred for Ilios.

What about Selrahc? Well, he produced two marked goblins this turn. I only had one centaur with good odds, so I killed one marked warrior, bringing the AC to 36. If he builds another pair of marked units next turn, blight will strike again. As long as we're doling out the blight selectively, we can give Selrahc, Ilios, and Thoth a taste of it. I've got three fresh centaurs in striking range for next turn, so we should be able to control it before it hits us.

In other news, Ilios had a scout posted on a hill near Selrahc's city. My mobility II/C1 centaur didn't have good odds on the city, but had excellent odds on the scout. So I killed it and found this:



So that's what Loki's been up to. I had another centaur without good odds on the city, but close to a promotion. I figured Loki's puppet would make for a good training dummy. So I declared on Plako and killed the puppet for another centaur promotion. Not wanting Thoth to feel left out, I declared on him too. The Kuriotates are at war with the world!

Built a centaur in Naggarond. Avelorn was about to have more improvements than it could work, so I started in on a courthouse and it grew a size at EOT. Kwythellar produced a second thane (this one will spread Kilmorph to Avelorn), and will go back on centaur duty next turn.

[Commodore]

Yikes. Um. Did you perhaps send out any peace offers as well?

[NobleHelium]

What kind of odds did you have on the Ilios Warrior in the forest?

[Gaspar]

Yikes. Um. Did you perhaps send out any peace offers as well?

When Commodore is the rational one, you know you're crazy.

Bravo, sir.

[HidingKneel]

Yikes. Um. Did you perhaps send out any peace offers as well?

Hah! There can be no peace until the world is saved!

What kind of odds did you have on the Ilios Warrior in the forest?

Don't remember exactly, but very high (maybe around 85%?) The centaur was C2/S1, and the warrior only had a mobility promotion IIRC.

[Mardoc]

You sure you want Spiritual next, and not Aggressive? Or Raiders? :neenernee