Dude, where's my civ? [spoilers]

[Ellimist]

There is one great city in hell and it dominates this entire world of Mammon. The wastes of Mulcarn’s realm lead down into it and eventually the souls will be drawn to the city. As they get closer to the city they are transformed from ethereal spirits to a physical manifestation similar to their body in life.

As each petitioner enters the city he is given a coin, and the only way to progress through the city is to give seven coins to the Balors that guard the gateway at the cities heart. As such the entire plane is a trial to gather the seven coins needed to escape (little do they know that only worse lays beyond). Balors guard the city and maintain some illusion of order. This keeps wars from breaking out and makes for some safe areas where you can’t simply attack people to take their coins.

The point of this realm isn’t to teach the petitioners how to effectively get the coins, but to have them spend years, decades and centuries wanting them. Getting them to the point where they are completely subject to their greed and unbound by any morale constraints in getting them. They will lie, they will steal, but mostly they will become ruled by their desire in a city full of lies, false hope, and degradation.

Some few never leave this stage of hell and intentionally become permanent citizens of this city. They occasionally rise into powerful positions, slave traders, dream merchants, cult leaders, etc. Mammon may take those that seem stuck and wipe their memories, forcing them to restart their entry into the city, but sometimes he leaves them be. Mammon is quite proud of his city, and one of the few (along with Esus) who views it as something more than just a part of a great machine.

Oddly the city features a long street full of various temples. There are hundreds of gods represented, and temples are regularly switched from one religion to another. Most of the “religions” are unique to this city. Some worship various demons that may or may not be in the city, some worship petitioners pretending to be gods. All of the gods of Erebus are repre- sented except one are represented, though most in blatant parody of the real religion. There is a temple to Lugus, for example, that claims that Lugus is dead and they worship hideously disfigured statues of their fallen god.

The only god without a temple is Mammon. Mammon believes that the entire city is his temple.

[Ellimist]

Reserved

[Ellimist]

Reserved

[Ellimist]

Reserved for leader summaries.

Play order:

Ellimist: Decius(ORG/RAI) of the Calabim
(Tech: Exploration. Mana: body, law, shadow)

HidingKneel: Thessa(ARC/EXP) of the Ljosalfar
(Tech: Exploration. Mana: air, life, nature)

Selrahc: Auric Ulvin(ARC/CHA/AGN) of the Illians
(Tech: Exploration. Mana: enchantment, ice, law)

Mardoc: Perpentach(INSANEx3) of the Balseraphs
(Tech: Agriculture. Mana: air, chaos, mind)

gtAngel: Shekinah(ARC/CRE) of the Sidar
(Tech: Ancient Chants. Mana: shadow, enchantment, spirit)

[Serdoa]

Culture win

[Ellimist]

Okay, I'm not sure what civ I want because I'm not sure what the settings are. More on that later.


I really hope we don't do that stupid "compensation for stasis" thing. I would have strongly preferred an outright ban to the Illians if that was the alternative, or else preferred no ban on stasis. If we do that, then the Sheaim and Svartalfar and probably others ought to be compensated for having a crappy worldspell, and barbarian leaders should be compensated for huts being turned off(especially if lairs are on. Part of the reason I objected to the intervention in XX was because huts are an important part of what makes the barbarian trait viable.)

FFH inherently can't be balanced, and that's one of the things I like about it. Game settings are always going to affect different civs differently, and deliberately preferential treatment for any civ is a terrible idea.

(I've refrained from posting more on this topic in the setup thread because I feel strongly about it but want to avoid another drama-damaged game)

[Ellimist]

Culture win

Ha! I wonder how fast the Kurioates can get there with foreign trade enclaves.

[Tasunke]

Cool

[Tasunke]

So why the post about mammon's vault?

[Ellimist]

So why the post about mammon's vault?

I'm probably going to change it, but it's an interesting bit of lore that some people may not have seen before.