Not another elf chick? HidingKneel beats a dead horse. (Spoilers!)

[UnforcedError]

Ouch...

[HidingKneel]

That giant has a lot of promotions, but it's also "held". There are some other giants in the area too, also "held", but not as tough. A hunter would probably have odds on them (given the +50% vs animals and the fact that the giants don't get defensive bonuses).

Also of note: King Thorgrim is standing on a portal. Would be nice to get a look at what's behind that portal. But although we were the first to find him, I doubt we'll be the first to muster up the firepower to kill that unit in a cost-effective way (I'll bet that's the Illians with their PoW).

Played another turn. No elimination between turns. Predictably, the Calabim (who play immediately before us) got a tech (probably agriculture? I forget what tech the Calabim start with.) We finished agriculture and our worker at end of turn.

Also, southern scout found this:



Will explore next turn. Cross your fingers for something awesome, like free Hunting.

Also of note: there's a bit of symmetry with the desert up north: both have incense, oasis, and gems in close proximity to one another. If the space between those deserts is roughly the space between our different civs, then this is really, really big map.

[Merovech]

The Calabim start with Exploration in EitB; I do not know if they start with Agriculture or Exploration in base FFH, as they started with Agriculture in the vanilla civ 4 version of FFH (which is an interesting, albeit unfinished game)

[UnforcedError]

The Calabim start with Exploration in EitB; I do not know if they start with Agriculture or Exploration in base FFH, as they started with Agriculture in the vanilla civ 4 version of FFH (which is an interesting, albeit unfinished game)

They start with Exploration in base FFH2 as well.

[HidingKneel]

Another turn played. My luck finally ran out: popped that graveyard for a spectre. Fortunately, it's far enough from my capital that I don't think it's a big worry (7 more turns until my first warrior, but the spectre would take 7 turns to get there even if it beelined, longer if spectres are slowed by rough terrain (not sure about that). My scout moved out of harm's way (at least this turn). Maybe the spectre will chase it, or maybe it'll go after someone else: probably that desert is in someone else's backyard.

In other news, nobody aside from us and the Calabim got a tech last turn. Not surprising for the Balseraphs and Illians: they both started with agriculture, so are probably teching towards calendar. But odd for the Sidar... maybe they're going mysticism first? But if so, I'd expect them to have grown by now (everyone's still at size 1).

[HidingKneel]

First Contact

It had been three days since they saw any signs of giants. The snow-covered hills were giving way to lush forests, and their morale began to lift once more.

Volantis woke his companions on the morning of the fourth day. Holding a finger to his lips, he gestured to the sky, where a faint tendril of smoke meandered lazily over the horizon.

It was mid-morning when they found the empty campsite. But whoever had abandoned it was no Ljosalfar ranger, and left a trail that was easy to follow. By early evening, they spied a small party of men dressed in thick furs. Volantis watched them from a distance, trying to judge whether or not they might pose a threat.


Who wants to live forever?

Gesturing for his companions to remain hidden, Volantis stepped out from his position of concealment to approach their camp.

[HidingKneel]

Sent the following message to Selrahc:

Greetings from the Ljosalfar people!

We were starting to grow concerned that we would find no one but savages in this new world. So a civilized face is a welcome sight! Let me offer the friendship of our people, in hopes that this marks the beginning of a mutually beneficial partnership between our peoples. As a show of good faith, I offer warning that the land to the northwest of our meeting is home to a fearsome clan of giants.

Volantis, First Ranger of the Ljosalfar and Envoy of Archmistress Thessa

I'm hoping to find a friend, here. The Illians are the least dangerous of our opponents in the long term, with no scary late game toys (except for Auric Ascended, who comes too late in the game to actually matter). And the possibility of an Ice Mana loan is potentially awesome. (Did the Kuriotates get their Ice Mana from Selrahc in FFH I, or was it the Letum Frigus?)

Another possibility is that he takes a swipe at Volantis. I'm thinking he probably won't, though. His scout is unpromoted, so he'd only have 25% odds. And if he loses, Volantis will promote.

Also: mystery solved! Selrahc is the one sporting the 4k power rating (another reason I suspect he won't want to risk his scout). Given his post in the EitB forum, I'm guessing that he's being camped by a mistform. Ouch.

In other news, gtAngel finished a tech which I assume was agriculture (came in one turn later than ours, probably just because he wasn't working any commerce sources (agriculture = 92 beakers = 10 turns at 9bpt). And Ellimist got himself another tech, presumably from a dungeon or something.

[HidingKneel]

Suspicion confirmed:

Hello.

I'm being ripped apart by Mistforms. So this will probably be a short acquaintance.

Volantis got a look at the total of the Illian military:



Selrahc must like to live dangerously. I moved Volantis NE after that, hopefully steering clear of trouble. Thinking I should have just backed up, though. Selrahc plays after I do and before the barbarians. If he gets a bad lair result (say, a bunch of tigers) which spawns to his north, Volantis could get killed between turns. Hopefully that won't happen.

What else? Demographics were interesting again:



Rival power average 14500 means 58k total, which breaks down to 19k + 19k + 16k + 4k. Someone lost their starting warrior between turns. Another bad lair result? Could be looking at some early eliminations.

Of course, the Ljosalfar have wisely avoided this sort of trouble by not having any warriors .

[Merovech]

Now, if you had picked the Khazad, you would have started with two warriors!

[HidingKneel]

It was sunset when the cambion answered Thessa's summons.

Averax was not well-liked among the Ljosalfar. His prowess in the ways of war had earned him a place in New Evermore, training former sailors with the sword and bow. But even among his charges, his strange appearance brought stares and scowls. Even after several months, he had earned no friends, and took his meals alone.

Two young elves stood guard at the entrance to Thessa's dwelling, at the heart of New Evermore. They glared at him as he approached, but made no motion to stop him. The archmistress had summoned him, after all.

He found Thessa on a small observation deck, high among the branches of the tree around which she had built her home.
She was facing away from him, her eyes intent upon the red comet slowly bleeding across the sky.

"Tualor believes this to be a sign, sent to us by Cernunnos." She gestured toward the heavens. "But Ulios tells me that those are an old sailor's superstitions. Who is right?"

"Neither."

"Explain." Thessa turned in his direction.

"It is a sign of gods moving upon Erebus, but not your Cernunnos." Averax met her gaze. "At least, not anymore."