[Spoilers - Flauros (sunrise089 and darrelljs)]

[Krill]

That's because you don't like Losha Valas . I think getting her out 3 turns early is worth the extra chop I need.

Darrell

Well, no, I appreciate what LV does, I just don't see how it helps you with uber vampire armies that are already, well, vampires?

[darrelljs]

She's stronger than the average Vampire though, and don't underestimate the Immortal promotion. Plus she has cool audio. And a cool background story.

Three generals sat in the antechamber, awaiting their summons to the throne room. One, a battle-hardened veteran, sat cold and stoic while the second man, younger and newer to his position, fidgeted nervously. The woman yawned and gazed out the window. Soon the doors opened and they were ushered in and arrayed themselves before the dual thrones. The guards left, leaving the three alone with Alexis and Flauros.

Alexis arose at once, walking swiftly towards them. “You three were ordered to hold our new settlement of Pavu’nar! Yet before you even returned to me, like beaten dogs, my scouts have informed me that our city is ruined! Tell me what happened and why I shouldn’t consume—why I shouldn’t have you killed.”

“Sheol, your report first,” Flauros interjected. He still slouched on his throne but his gaze narrowed upon the younger man.

“Yes Master, Mistress. We… on Perdion’s orders we split our command into three upon reaching the town. I took charge of the hunters. We headed for the hills and forests, finding the enemy well before they neared Pavu’nar. My, um, I broke my units into small groups to harass the enemy as they marched, and dispatched the scouts with information on their numbers and makeup back to Losha and Perdion. I continued to pick off the enemy through the month as they laid siege to the town. Then, the gates of the town opened! I had not force enough to beat the enemy, Masters… I must report that it was Losha and Perdion that failed you.”

“You all failed, fool,” Alexis snarled. She stomped back to her throne and sat, withering Sheol with her glare.

“Perdion, pray continue the tale,” Flauros said.

“It is as Sheol said, Masters, though I must place the blame squarely on Losha’s shoulders. I took the shock troops and left her the archers and the settlers to arrange defense of the town. She should easily have been able to hold out all season, though the number of the enemy turned out to be larger than we expected. I returned to nearby Acaia to gather more forces, and was on my way back when I received the news the settlement had been razed. I left my men garrisoned there and returned when summoned. So clearly Losha cost us the battle,” the general finished, stepping back and bowing his head.

Flauros smiled. “Losha, it appears as I have often told my sister: the weaker sex lacks judgment as well as strength. But please, tell your story, and we shall see.”

Losha calmly began. “It is as they say, my prince and princess, though they underestimate the numbers of your foes. They had many times the number we set out with. In a battle we might have taken them, but the deaths of our troops would have been a great loss. So I decided that the loss of the settlers was preferable to battle.”

“How dare you! You were ordered to hold the settlement!”

“My Mistress, I have the orders here with me. It says, ‘stop the invading army when they reach our town of Pavu’nar.’ That is what I did.”

“Losha, you just said that you lost the settlers.”

“Oh did I forget to mention? Before I abandoned the town—and its annoying inhabitants—to the enemy, I poisoned the food stores, and the wine, and the water.”

Alexis blinked; Flauros sat upright in his throne. “Sheol, Perdion, you may leave, your orders will be forthcoming. Losha, stay.” The young man skittered out, and the older man followed, but not before giving Losha a cruel smile.

“So have I angered my Masters?” Losha asked.

“Dear Losha,” Alexis said with a smile, “you have redeemed yourself utterly. Come, we have a gift for you.”

Darrell

[Krill]

Just go kill someone with her please?

[darrelljs]

There will be blood! Rivers of Blood!

Darrell

[Krill]

What, you're going to build Birthright regained?

[NobleHelium]

[Ranamar]

What, you're going to build Birthright regained?

Rivers of Blood at this stage in the game would be very funny but probably inconsequential once people have recovered from the blight...

[darrelljs]

I took Horus last turn...no time for a detailed report right now but I'll try and get one done today.

Darrell

[darrelljs]

Okay, so I open the save and find Hyborem demanding I cancel all deals with uberfish. Uh...no. He has enough on his hands right now, and uberfish is his worst enemy. He's also down to cautious with me for trading with uberfish . Well, at least I have this left over from begging cash from him:



I'll need to send a few vampires down there now anyway, to help uberfish out in case of a war declaration. I'm not technically obligated to do so, but what kind of war ally would I be otherwise? Ilios, surprisingly, has left his stack inside Helios. He's built quite a force there, I am not sure if he is thinking last stand or what. He's added an Archer in between turns, so this is the situation I face:



I am not 100% sure what he's thinking, but he definitely has my puzzler puzzling . I believe he wants me to expose my stack to counter attack, so I plan on taking things nice and easy. This turn uberfish has let me know that he's pretty gassed, and not in a position to counter attack En-Kai unless Ilios empties it. In any case I have no plans to put my Vampires at risk. No Haste, no Engineering, so I have to stay 4 tiles away. The correct answer, therefore is to move my vampire stack SE of Horus. It is safe from the stacks inside both Helios and En-Kai, and even better I can move my Spectres over the river before attacking, removing the penalty. So that's what I did, taking the city out:



I was able to garrison the city with nine Spectres. On the green circule I left 22 Vampires, along with a Ritualist and Hunter, safely out of harms way. The blue circle is a Spectre pair that pillaged the farm and road (yes, apparently Spectres can even pillage). I'm trying to cut the approachs to Horus, which only benefit Illios. Along those lines the pink circle are the old Skeleton stack. They will pillage next turn, then move to pillage the Copper (assuming they aren't killed, which is pretty likely). Green circle was just a mistake. I've been doing some serious MM on my troop movements to the front, and then I go and auto move this set thinking they can haste and make it. Of course...they can't. In theory Ilios could plow through the Skeletons and kill them, but then he's exposing some units himself so I doubt he'll take the opportunity. Here's an updated body count:



Thank the maker for disposable summons . It has been a while since I've done an updated city screen dump, so here you go:

































Darrell

[NobleHelium]

What happened to your map? It looks a lot less...dark.