[SPOILERS] Sleets of Gold, the Illian Revelation

[Ravus Sol]

In the 15th year of the 4th age, a young Auric Ulvin and his companions were trapped in the Shadowed Vale and accused of stealing from the elves. Varn, a prince of the elves, believed Ulvin's denials, although his fellow elves did not. When Varn tried to sneak them out of the vale, his brother caught them and an elven warband was sent to catch and kill the companions. Auric was just growing into his affinity for magic at the time and as the elven warband set upon them he reached through the vale for any source of magic he could find to use.

The faint source he felt through it was the Sun, when he pulled its power through he destroyed the barrier between the worlds and flooded the perpetually dark vale with light. The elvish warband was blinded, but Varn underwent a transformation, he saw Lugus in that light and was rewarded for his commitment to the truth (by trying to save the children) by becoming a priest of Lugus.

-

History would have had him flee from the Shadow Vale into the Cold Wastes of Creation. But in this world it was not to be. Instead of ending up leading Desert Nomads he stayed with Auric... the young God-King. Varn eventually convinced the Illians that just because they worshiped the cold frost. Did not mean they could not let the warmth of the sun into their hearts.

And so the Illians were opened to the joys of Polytheism. Some to the strength of the earth, the balance of nature or the choas of the waters. But many never forgot the words of their new Spiritual Leader. That although the land may be Cold, the Sun was forever Warm.

(Written by Riuros, in the 20th year of the 4th age, at the founding of Haven)

[Ravus Sol]

[SIZE="5"]The Illian History[/SIZE]

The World of Fall From Heaven has been through many ages...

First there was the Age of Dragons. Where the gods fashioned these beasts as tools to make war on each other. Man was a passing concern in these days. Hiding in fear as colossus beasts clashed in the sky. Eventually one of the Gods Said "ENOUGH". Thus a compact was signed. Limiting the Gods actions upon the world of Fall From Heaven. Erebus. To secure this all the Gods put a little of their power in a weapon that could slay one of them. This Godslayer was then scattered.

Second was the Age of Magic. Humans quickly rose in power. The Empire of Patria expanded across the land. It was a veritable Golden Age. One can thus understand wy it came to an end. When the gods are engaged in a eternal cold war a empire at peace would only end badly. So it came that a horrible ritual was made... one to call a God back to Erebus. As it would be cast by mortals it would not break the Compact. Allowing one God to rule alone. This Ritual ended up in the hands... of the Illians.

Third was thus the Age of Ice. Before this age Mulcarns Priests of Winter had been welcomed in most lands. They were coldly logical. But no-one would instantly assume they were 'evil'. That was then. Turning the whole world into Ice tends to annoy people. Eventually however. The old Immortal leader of the Patrian Empire united the scattered tribes of man. Reforged the Godslayer! And Slew the God of Ice and Stasis.

Now is the 4th Age. Auric Ulvin has set of to reforge the power of his slain God. Varn Gosan has felt the tough of Lugus the Sun God. Together, could they be unstoppable?




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[SIZE="5"]The Illian Nation[/SIZE]
The Illians have a lot of special things going for them.
For a start they get +2 food to Ice terrain. Also all their units starts as winterborn and get a bonus on ice.

Stasis
This is the worldspell of the Illians and is instantly available... it is broken. It stops all enemy production, research and commerce. Everything. It's overpowered normally but on a rampaging barbarian world map it is even more broken then usual. It I was harsh i could pop this of at the very start of the game and probably win. Thankfully someone chose Jonas who is friendly with barbarians and would be immune to this act of utter evil. So now i don't have to contemplate using it in that manner. Instead another way it to stop a "victim" being able to build protection once i have an attacking force ready.

Samhain
This Ritual is available from the start of the game. It summons a random amount of Frostlings. Ice favoured goblin creatures. It also summons a barbarian hero called Mokka.
This can make a early Stasis pop even more powerful. Combine a large increase in barbarian activity with the inability to create a defensive force? Sick.

The Temple of the Hand
This replaces the Pagan temple of most other nations. It covers a cities BFC with Ice. This is usefull as a grassland facimile, the bad news is that it removes the commerce bonus from river tiles. It also means all mines will be equivalent to grassland mines. The benifit of this land is that Ice is impervious to the spread of Hell terrain. It also makes the idea of conquest a bad one for other players as ice is useless to everyone but myself.

The Priests of Winter
These three priests are given power via a ritual which can start production with the Philosophy tech. For how soon you get them, they are insanely powerful. If you ever get to upgrade them they are even more powerful. This is just with Auric leading the illians... with Varn with the spiritual trait the Priests will start with Mobility for an extra movement. Varn will also get more out of going down the tech path to upgrade the priests as he can worship other religions.

The Deepening
This Ritual makes the world COLDER. It decreases most of the terrain. Grassland>Plains>Tundra>Ice

It also summons some Blizzards to the map. This can decrease the production and food of all my enemies.

Wilboman
This Frost Giant is a heroic Champion that can't pass onto deserts. It isn't too amazing but it is useful if you are heading up the metal line anyway.

Stir From Slumber
A Ritual that wakes the Ice Dragon. You must have completely destroyed and eliminated another human player to summon this beast. It is insanely powerful. Even if it starts with 0exp it can kill armies alone. As their is a barbarian Fire Dragon on the map... well... it would be nice to see a face of between these two.

The Draw/Ascension
These two rituals are linked. The Draw needs to be completed to Ascend Auric to God-hood. The Draw will cause all other players to declare war on you and FOREVER stay at war. But it allows to to start on the Ascension. Which gives you a God. A strength flying death machine. It's spells can kill whole armies of units. The bad news? The Strongest rival gains the Godslayer... which you have to keep an eye on as it can one-hit-kill your god. So hopefully it ends up in the hands of the slow moving dwarfs and not the speedy elves.



[SIZE="5"]The Illian Leader[/SIZE]
Varn Gosan
This is the chosen leader of the Illians. He starts Spi/Cre and on turn 70 i will change him to Spi/Fin for the rest of the game. The important bit is his Spiritual nature. The illians can now worship other religions making the possibilities for them blossom. It also has the fun fact of giving all priests mobility. Increasing the speed that they gain EXP and also stopping Anarchy...

His aims? Get the Priests of Winter and get an early Religion!

The Creative trait will help with initial expansion. The game only gives us two settlers to start with and disallows us to build more... interesting. But also meaning those settlers are precious. With Creative i COULD technically risk founded both cities at the start. I would have to spam warriors and not get any workers for awhile though. Which is good as i wouldn't be going for any worker techs initially.

When we hit financial i will be able to get a real economy up and going. I think for this game i will be pushing Agristocracy. The Combination of Agriculture and Aristocracy. This gives all farms +2 Commerce -1 Production. Financial boosts that to 3 Commerce. If i build a temple of the hand all tiles become +2 Food. Meaning my Farm Economy could have 3 food, 3 commerce and 0 Production. If i get Sanitation that boosts farms an extra food. Meaning if timed right you will have a much stronger middle game then town economies.

Game Plan
The first part is to rush for the priests. The Religion i'd LIKE to get as mine would be the Runes of Kilmorph. this religion gives MONEY and would support my expansion with the priests. Stasis should probably be popped at some point here... perfectly timed it would stop the others from fielding their own expansion force. Obviously then i would need to keep an eye on scores and do some C&D... which i'm not to sure how to do.

The Middle plan is to get the Economy up and running. That will support my expanded empire and also let me grab techs for powerful units. I think i'd also like to pick up another religion from the better ones. With only 4 religious players in the game we have our pick really.

The End game is to get theology. Upgrade those bad boy Winter Priests. Upgrade the other priests i have then Kill everybody.

Intelligence to Come
I will have to look into both the map details (DRAGON!). The Rivals (The Necromatic Dwarf, The Barbarian Orc, The Arcane Atheist, The Dark Elvish Fallen Angel)

There is also the actually players leading these nations and how they think and act.

[Ravus Sol]

[SIZE="5"]Rivals[/SIZE]
It is amusing to me that all of the other nations on the map are those i considered myself. Natural i suppose as having Archeron and unrestricted leaders opens up possibilities that occurred to all of us.

[SIZE="4"]Kandros Fir of the Sheaim[/SIZE]
With the Barbarian world on the map one can't take advantage of a Barbarian friendly Sheaim leader. Or one would be limited to the initial 2 cities.

Kandros Fir on the other hand emphasises the power of the Sheaim Pyre Zombies. Aggressive to give a boost and Inguentity to decrease the upgrade cost of making all the warriors.

Financial boosts their economy mid-game and will allow them to either go for a magic or religious finish. From intel on Selrahc I surmise he would go for the magic route. However a religion is still possible.

Late game the Sheaim get a lot of use out of their planar portals. These give free units based on the Armageddon Counter an the buildings within the city. Eventually they could also built their own Black Dragon. Which combined with my own White and the Barbarian Red could be an amusing free-for-all.

His world spell Is also related to the AC and causes damage to EVERYTHING based on it.

Summery: Keep an eye on when he gets Bronze working. He may rush for it. He may also try to get the Runes religion to help this expansion phase. But long term the Sheaim gain the most from Overlords and Veil. Late Game it will benefit him the most to Raise the AC. Both for Planar gates and the free units and the Armageddon.

Counter Actions: Stasis Pop before he gets Bronze Working and Get Runes myself to secure it. Late game make sure i have Temple of the hands to stop the spread of Hell terrain.

[SIZE="4"]Cassiel of the Svartalfar[/SIZE]
The Dark Elves on this map will have the best economy for awhile. The nation is however a gamble. If they go for the traditional nature religion to improve their forests then they give up on the better military expansion units.

The beginning game may be a gamble... but middle and end game is where the Dark Elves will shine. The Main lure is their Sinister trait that increases the attack of all recon units. Combine this with the Nature 2 spell which increases the attack and defence of recon units and the Dark elves can have powerful Recon units. This obviously shows itself most in ASSASSIN's. Those evil marksman units. But i think perhaps the main lure in this game will be the fact that recon units can tame BEASTS.

I am fully convinced that one of the aims of the dark elves this game is to capture the Red Dragon for themselves. They could pull it of too... the only one that could challenge them with this aim would be the Grigori.

Cassiel as a leader gives Phi/ind then Phi/Fin. I don't think the Industrious is meant for much. But the powerful Phi/Fin will let them surge ahead in economic terms. They will rule the game if left unchecked.

Summery: They HAVE to go for the elvish religion. Afterwards they will probably surge up the arcane and/or recon lines. For the prize of taming the Dragon.

Counter Actions: An economy built on trees is allways susceptible to fire. Either by pointing this out to the orcs or by helping raise the AC counter. Once high enough fires will break out naturally. Hell terrain also instantly destroys forests. The only counter to Assassins i have available will be the Royal Guards.

[SIZE="4"]Jonas Endain of the Clan of Embers[/SIZE]
The orcs have it good. Very Good. While the rest of us scramble for a defence against the raging hordes he can build up and make plans in peace. His hero unit, available at Bronze Working also still allows him to expand. If this hero is the strongest unit in a barbarian city then he can flip it to the Orcs.

Jonas is another nation that may try to beat me to the Runes religion. Mid-game they get an awesome building that DOUBLES the units built. Yes you heard me. This includes priests, workers, military units. EVERYTHING. Mid-game the Orcs WILL go on the offensive.

End game the Orcs can get a lot out of the Veil religion. As the four horsemen of the Apocalypse won't harm them.

Summery: They will rush to Bronze Working to be able to expand and then build up for a mid-game rush. End game they have a potential alliance in the Sheaim as both have something to gain from raising the AC.

Counter Actions: Not many. A Stasis Pop will slow down their tech rate and also stop them building their hero. If i was really cruel and oppotunistic i could attempt to kill their unit in the field with the Priests of Winter. They could then declare war on the barbarians to expand. Loosing their peace with them. It would slow them down but make them my enemy for life.

The Orcs are a force i fear the most. I've used them enough to know their war potential. Best bet is to kill them. Kill them quick.

[SIZE="4"]Dain of the Grigori[/SIZE]
The Grigori have one thing going for them. Adventurers. These Everyman Hero units can become anything. The downside is the Grigori's lack of Great people and also the lack of a religion.

But those hero's can still be powerful as they can upgrade as they go. While other nations hero's could be stuck with a weaker unit with a ton of EXP. The Grigori hero will get stronger as you go up the tech tree. This can give a powerful early rush. Especially if they get horses or bronze.

It's obvious from the leader pick that he intends to be magic/arcane in some way. This is strange to my own way of thinking as i think the Grigori work best in a rush capacity. But the Arcane line means we can expect the Grigori to head up to Archmages quite quickly to get the most out of their magic users.

Summery: Little is known about the Grigori. Their nation is so open that they could head in many directions for economy and so on. The only certain thing is that they will make use of Arcane users.

Counter Actions: Forge Diplomatic ties. They have no instantly obvious weakness. But if they plan to go up the arcane line they may realise that the map could make it hard to gain mana. This is thus an opportunity for trade and thus closer bonds.

[SIZE="4"]Myself; Varn Gosam of the Illians[/SIZE]
One should never forget that how you see yourself is not how others see you. One should allways be aware of how you are percieved... My rivals will know enough to fear both Stasis and a Priests Rush. However after that opening they will not make too many assumptions. My choosing Varn could hint that i plan on getting Empryean (it is a good religion). I hope that mid-game i can set myself up as enough of a middle-man while the Orcs and Sheaim bring about Armegeddon and the Elves and the Grigori peacefully build. Optimistic? Perhaps.

[Mist]

Your starting position. Stacks with settlers circled.

[Ravus Sol]

[SIZE="5"]Long Overdue update[/SIZE]

Overview of Western Land

Overview of Eastern Land

The land is pretty much me backed into a corner by the sea... which is partly useful and partly annoying. Being surrounded by barbarians means i need to beef up my cities defences but gives me obvious cities to conquer for myself. More incentive to get an early philosophy and Priests of winter rush? Perhaps.

I believe i shall make the Western Settler found my capital, Haven. The extra culture will allow me to push back against the barbarians quicker as that area is surrounded.

The Eastern Settler will found Valhalla. This city is tempting me to build a temple of the hand for an early Great Prophet. It won't loose as many river tiles as the capital and it also gets a Ice-Oasis which would become 5f 2c quite early. (+1c when i get financial)

The eastern city as the least likely to be attacked will build a worker first, this can connect my cities up with roads for trade routes and easier redeployment. The Capital will pump out warriors untill i feel safe. By then i should have researched Mysticism allowing a nice few changes and boosting my research with elder councils as well as the temple of the hand building for my great prophet.

At that point i will have to make a choice... philosophy for the priests and a rush. Agriculture and Calendor to boost research and growth. Or Mining and Runes for production and religion. All are tempting options. I would like to secure the religion but if ALL of those barbarian cities start sending out x4 warrior city attackers each it could get hectic. Priests of winter would change a defencive war into a bloodbath in my favour.

Potential Technology Path =
Ancient Chants/Mysticism/Agri/Cal/Phi/Crafts/Mining/Runes/education/Code of laws

That should technically get me into a nice middle game position. Good economy and military.

Overview of randomly still revealed land

I assume this is the area i was originally supposed to start in... thus i'm saying it was the sight of the old Illian capital! It is my mission to reclaim this land no matter the cost!

Fire Mana

You can see the spire of the seraphic just peeking into the land i can see... This is a nice unique feature that gives fire mana.

Death Mana

This is another unique feature that provide mana. For some reason... the city is guarded by an elephant... sure.

I was tempted to go down the metal line for my main military... supported by religious units. But all this mana is tempting me to make some kick ass mages... There is allready a raw mana node i can see to the west and current scouting reveals another to the north. That's allready enough to get the tower of elements to boost my Ice Elementals.

These extra cities also tempt me to turn myself into a naval power... I'm not even sure what type of map we have...

Current Military
A warrior has been kept back for each city as it founds instantly. The other two warriors are going on escort duty. I do like up to date information and i would love to know if there are another 3 close by barbarian cities hiding in the north that i have to defend against. plus i want to be able to open dialogue as soon as possible with the other nations of the land.

[Square Leg]

Good to see you are back Ravus! Enjoy the game and sorry for the random land... That wan't intentional.

[Ravus Sol]

Note
Has just occurred to me that the Pyre unique feature with the fire mana could be a narratively apt place for the barbarian fire dragon to be placed near... A worrying thought.

Names
So far i'm going with religious/mythical places for the names of the cities. So Haven and Valhalla. Then perhaps Asgard, Olympus, Hell, Purgatory, Elysium, Tartarus, Asphodel, Nirvana, Atlantis, Avalon. Any others that anyone can put forward would help.

Names of units i was thinking gods and goddess. Although the exact methodology could get complicated... only Norse gods built from Asgard and Valhalla? or just all gods of war/death as warriors and name the units based on the aspect of the divine being? meh, i'll figure it out.

[Ravus Sol]

Good to see you are back Ravus! Enjoy the game and sorry for the random land... That wan't intentional.

No worries. Anyone that is interest i issued my most humble apology and explanation in the tech thread. The random land is fun :-p it is now my mini mission to claim it... and no one will know but me!

[Mr. Yellow]

Hey Ravus, sorry for spoiling myself before getting a response from you. But i wish you good luck.

[Ravus Sol]

[SIZE="5"]Turn 10 Overview[/SIZE]

This is a turn overview from awhile back. I thought I should do this before the speed session starts.

Demeographs - 1st in GNP

So were you wondering who had the top GNP? Well if you were lurking all the threads you would know by process of elimination that it was me! I was really happy about that untill i remembered that culture is added to the GNP. *sigh* either way i'm still above the pack. Which is good as i think i'm solidifying in my Priest rush strategy.

I was contemplating wether it was more efficient to get some other techs first but with this amount of barbarian villages and stuck on what seems to be an easily defendable island with a choke-point land bridge... well i guess we will rush away.

Full Map

Lovely view isn't it. The "stuck on a island start" seems to be becoming more likely. To the north is a chokepoint land bridge connecting my island to the mainland.

The plan at the moment is to try take those barbarian cities. Best bet is to wait untill they send out a raiding party then counter attack while they have minimal defence. Stasis would lock those cities from being able to build reinforcements.

To make this even more crazy i'm going to try and aim to activate the priests, Sanheim and Stasis all on the exact same turn... might not work, but the responses from my rivals should be amusing afterwards.

Time Guess
Current turn = 10
Mysticism = 7 turns
Philosophy = 24 turns (with current tech rate. Added in growth and elder councils brings this down to around 15)
Building Priests = 268 Hammers (God-King in capital and 6 growth... average 12 a turn) 20 turns to complete

Priest rush on around turn 50. Hopefully a bit less. Once Philosophy is claimed i can fill in worker techs and aim for the Runes religion or Festivals to add some positive cash flow. Workers should be built before Philosophy and then concentrate on the capital for a quick revolution.

Cities
Capital - Warrior Pump

Valhalla - Worker Pump