[Let's Play] Fall from Heaven II - Chapter 7

Valkun

First off, what is Fall From Heaven II? Probably the best total conversion for a game I've ever seen and something that turns Civilization 4 into one of the most indepth amazing fantasy turn based empire simulations this side of Tolkien. The theme itself is based on a truly epic custom Dungeons and Dragons campaign and adds a ton of features that Civilization does not have: magic, different civilizations actually PLAY differently, all sorts of unique units, units that stay useful for longer than ten turns after you finish researching them, and much much more. Not to mention that the music for it is absolutely outstanding.

Chapter 0: A long, long time ago.

Alright, we've got our very first choice lined up and it's a doozy. What civilization are we going to play for the rest of the game? There are a ton and they all play differently. I'll try to summarize them the best I can into short synopsi. With some help from the FfH2 forums, of course. Although alignment can be shifted, it has a huge effect on diplomacy with other civilizations.

Good Races:
Bannor - Lawful Crusaders. These guys like to be at war removing evil from the face of the planet. They seem to spawn a bunch of special units from towns when crusades start or an enemy invades. Leaders: Sabathiel (Organized, Charismatic, good), Capria (Spiritual, Industrious, good)

Malakim - Desert People. Unsurprisingly, they get bonuses for being in desert tiles and have a focus on being flexible. Leaders: Varn Gosam (Creative, Adaptive, good)

Elohim - Spiritual Monks. Demon hunters with a slant towards defense. Leaders: Einon Logos (Philosophical, Defender, good), Ethne the White (Creative, Defender, good)

Luchuirp - Dwarven Tinkers. The first of the truly different races. Instead of normal units, these guys build golems to do all their dirty work. A lot of their techs and civilization specific upgrades deals with these mechanical monstrosities. Leaders: Garrim Gyr (financial, Defender, good), Berri Bawl (Spiritual, Organized, good)

Kuriotate - Child King leads Cities of outcasts. I'm not sure I get it, but it seems you're severely restricted to the number of cities you can found with this civilization. Leaders: Cardith Lorda (sprawling, adaptive, expansive, good)

Neutral Races:
Ljosalfar - Nature Elves. They can build improvements on forests and ancient forests. This mixes really well with one of the religions in the game, The Fellowship of Leaves. Leaders: Amelanchier (Raiders, Defender, neutral), Arendel Phaedra (Spiritual, Creative, good), Thessa (Expansive, Arcane, neutral)

Khazad - Dwarves. These guys gain huge bonuses or penalties depending on the amount of gold in your coffers. They also get a number of unique dwarven units to replace the normal ones. Leaders: Kandros Fir (Aggressive, Financial, Ingenuity, neutral), Arturus Thorne (Industrious, Organized, Ingenuity, neutral)

Lanun - Pirates. The sea based civilization, have a ton of abilities typically associated with your typical pillagers of the sea. Leaders: Falamar (Expansive, Creative, neutral), Hannah the Irin (Financial, Raiders, neutral)

Sidar - Detached immortals. Bonuses for specialists in cities and experienced units can be turned into specialists. Sandalphon (Industrious, Defender, neutral)

Grigori - Forsaker of the Gods. Cannot adopt a state religion, all great people are automatically Adventurers which can be upgraded into any unit and are heroes. Leaders: Cassiel, (Adaptive, Agnostic, Philosophical, neutral)

Hippus - Horse-borne Mercenaries. Even having played this civilization before, I'm quite sure what to make of them. They're probably generalists more than anything and have the least exotic playstyle. Leaders: Tasunke (Aggressive, Raiders, neutral), Rohanna (Expansive, Financial, neutral)

Amurites - Magical Society. Super powered mages and even some of their normal units gain spells. Valledia the Even (Organized, Arcane, neutral), Dain the Caswallawn (Philosophical, Arcane, neutral)

Evil Races:
Doviello - Chaotic Barbarian Men. A lot of units are geared towards rapid militaristic expansion and Charadon's Barbarian trait gives you peace with the barbarian units which spawn all over the place. Leaders: Charadon (Aggressive, Barbarian, evil), Mahala (Raider, Ingenuity, evil)

Balseraphs - Mad Clown. Illusionists, carnival folks, and human depravity. One of their leaders is insane and will constantly change his traits, the other is geared towards magic. Leaders: Perpentach (Insane, evil), Keelyn (Creative, Summoner, evil)

Clan of Embers - Barbaric Orcs. Play as orcs which have a completely different unit set then the rest of the civilizations. At least they're at peace with the other barbarians that spawn. Leaders: Sheelba (Barbarian, Organized, Aggressive, evil) Jonas Endain (Spiritual, Expansive, evil)

Svartalfar - Shadow Elves. At a glance, they just look like an evil version of the Ljosalfar right down to their forest building ability. Leaders: Faeryl Viconia (Arcane, Raiders, evil)

Calabim - Vampires. Muahaha, these guys play so differently from every other race it's crazy. A lot of their unique units and techs revolve around vampirism. What can vampires do that is so special? They can EAT cities to gain a ridiculous amount of experience depending on the city size. This gives you incredibly powerful units while dealing with overpopulation. In my last game, I had a hero that could clone itself by merging with other units and resurrecting itself. Those clones could take over entire civilizations by itself. Leaders: Alexis (Philosophical, Aggressive, evil) Flauros (Financial, Organized, evil)

Sheaim - Bringers of Armageddon. Summons tons of demons and tries to bring about the Armageddon. Leaders: Tebryn Arbandi (Arcane, Summoner, evil), Os-Gabella (Spiritual, Summoner, evil)

First civilization to get three votes will be the one I play.

Chapter 1 - The Awakening Dream

Chapter 2 - The Creeping Taint

Chapter 3 - The Ashen Veil

Chapter 4 - Death and Destruction

Chapter 5 - Dusk Approaches

Chapter 6 - Preparations for War

Chapter 7 - Flawless Victory

Zombiemambo

I vote Sidar. Also I want this mod so baaad.

Wembley

That's a lot of civilizations to choose from, but I'm going to have to cast my vote with Khazad.

fmz65

If I may cast two votes,
1. Vampires
2. Pirates

Wibod

If you're playing anything other than Pirates you are doing it wrong.

enlightenedbum

Kuriotate as I remember them are limited to 3 or 4 cities but instead of a two square radius big fat cross, they get a three square radius big fat cross. They can also build outposts that can only make a limited set of buildings (walls and maybe one culture building? I forget) and no units to get needed resources.

It's an...interesting experience and way different than usual Civ. So I suggest them.

Calabim are too easy mode to let you have them, as awesome as they are.

JamesDM

Lanun or Khazad, mostly Lanun though.

Valkun

Lanun: 2
Sidar: 1
Khazad: 1
Calabim: 1
Kuriotate: 1

Wow, that was fast. Alright, whichever race has the most votes by the end of the hour can have it.

Morkath

Amurites
or
Sheaim

depending on if you want good or evil.

Teriferin

I'll cast my vote for Sheaim. Bringing about the apocalypse sounds like a good time.

Zombiemambo

Sidar! Sidar! Immortals are awesome.

Fireflash

Amurites, because I like magic!

Zombiemambo

I'm changing my vote to Amurites because they were my second choice and this will push them to three votes.

Obs

I thought this was going to be about a game where you are literally falling from heaven, dodging shit on the way down

Josiah_9

Sidar sounds great!

Zombiemambo

Josiah_9 wrote: »

Sidar sounds great!

fuck you.

Josiah_9

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Josiah_9 wrote: »

Sidar sounds great!

fuck you.

What ever Benedict.

Zombiemambo

Josiah_9 wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Josiah_9 wrote: »

Sidar sounds great!

fuck you.

What ever Benedict.

well I voted for Sidar but oh no no one wants those guys so I go ahead and change my vote to the Amurites since they also look cool and have a chance to win the vote

and then you vote Sidar you Godless son of a bitch.

Core

I vote for the Luchuirp I wanna see some dwarven golems wreckin some stuff up.

Walrus Pete

Dwarves are the correct answer.

Core

Yeah come on people rock the vote for some dwarven golems.

Maximus

Vampires

TheKoolEagle

lanun or balseraph are the best.

i me some perpentach insanity

Valkun

Khazad: Wembley
Calabim: fmz65
Kuriotate: enlightenedbum
Lanun: JamesDM, Wibod
Amurite: Morkath, Fireflash, Zombiemambo
Sheaim: Teriferin
Sidar: Josiah_9

It looks like we'll be playing the magical civilization of the Amurite.

The Amurites have no ancient history, no glorious empire in the Age of Magic to harken back to or trace their lineage from. In terms of civilizations, the Amurites are newcomers on the world stage. Nevertheless, they are a force to be reckoned with, feared by some, and respected by all. Part of that respect stems from the tremendous magical power the Amurite armies command, but no small part of it stems from the incredible story of their genesis.

The Amurites call themselves the Children of Kylorin. According to their own legends, the arrival of the archmage Kylorin saved the Amurite people from obscurity, or possibly extinction, during the Age of Ice. Not even the Amurites know exactly why Kylorin picked these people as his chosen folk, but they maintain that it was because of a particular strength of character.

Whatever the reason, when Kylorin appeared he changed the fortunes of the tiny, struggling clan that had been the Amurites. For years he lived in their midst, taking new wives as his old ones died of old age or in childbirth, leading the Amurites to a level of organisation and advancement unrivalled by any other nation in the Age of Ice. Generations came and went, but Kylorin remained a constant, working towards some arcane goal with the Amurites as his willing and joyous tools. Whether through magic or sheer force of will, he remained young throughout.

Until, one day, Kylorin strode out of his home. His face had aged many years, terrible purpose shone in his once soft and kindly eyes, and a magnificent blade hung faintly glowing by his side. With no farewells and no apologies, he went forth into the icy wastes and never came back. Soon after, the Thaw began.

He had, however, left behind a powerful gift: his children. Through the years there had been quite a few, and they all carried latent magical abilities. Though the advancement made during the guardianship of the immortal wizard started leaking away during the Thaw, Kylorin’s powers remained. Throughout the years, the children of Kylorin intermarried with the rest of the Amurites, and the abilities spread, making the Amurites the civilization that is most magnificently in touch with the magical currents of Erebus.

This link has affected every aspect of Amurite life. They run their nation like a great magical school, training as many of their young as possible in, at the very least, basic magic skills. Their schools are so famous, they even attract those with magical abilities from other corners of the globe to join their ranks. The Archmages and Headmasters of the Schools and Universities act like an aristocracy in a nation that does not really have one, wielding great political power beyond the walls of their institutions.

As with any large collection of scholars, the Amurites are mired in scholarly bureaucracy, the most insipid form of administrative quagmire known to man. The Archmages, like professors, are frequently involved in petty squabbles over obscure matters that develop into personal feuds. Positions and knowledge are jealously guarded and hard to obtain; potential rivals are stonewalled at every turn. It is easy to become a mage in the service of the Amurites, but it takes a shrewd, powerful and unscrupulous practitioner of magic to rise to the apex of magical power. Above all, the Amurites have come to worship magic for its own sake. Their fascination with all aspects of magic is so deep that they do not feel hindered by petty alignments and concepts of "good" and "evil". Any avenue of magic can be explored, but some branches, like necromancy, are governed by strict laws and regulations, in order to prevent abuse and disasters. Justice for a mage who ignores these laws and starts dabbling in the regulated branches without obtaining the necessary permission is merciless, final, and in keeping with their fascination with the uses of magic, rather spectacular. No possibility is left for a repeat offence.

Since the Amurites do not feel themselves confined by the alignments most nations follow, they are treated with a healthy amount of distrust by good and evil civilizations. Evil civilizations dislike the regulation of the dark and chaotic spheres, good civilisations are worried that they are not forbidden entirely. While not specifically hated by any, they have trouble making truly close allies. However, they don't feel they need any. As long as they are left in peace to conduct their magical experiments, they are happy, and wise rulers respect that. Those few who have crossed the Amurites and felt the fire of their arcane might have no desire to repeat the experience. Many have not been left the option.

Elections!


Valledia the Even (Organized, Arcane, neutral)
Organized

• Able to build Command Posts
• -50% Civic Upkeep
• Double Production Speed of Courthouse and Lighthouse

Arcane

• Increase the rate Arcane Units gain experience points.
• Double Production Speed of Mage Guild

"Is it done?"

Sammuel offered only a painted shell as proof. He wasn't the most talented of Valledia's wizards, but skilled enough in the magic of the mind and soul to do what was required, and particuarly unhindered by morals that can conflict with such a task.

Valledia nodded and excused the wizard from the chamber, he bowed and slunk out, seeming a jackal to her eyes. But she was no better, her hands were just as bloody for ordering him to the task as he was for completing it. She sat and considered this while she waited for the Caswallawn to arrive. He was ever late, and as undisciplined as he was talented. When finally he arrived he was rushed, as people who cannot keep time always are.

"You have released Sammuel from the prisons? He was convicted of unapproved necromancy, of sustaining a creature's life past natural means!"

Valledia didn't answer.

"He should have been killed for his experimentation, there is no balance in what he was doing, he threatens to incur the wrath of the gods on all of us. First you order him spared, now you let him go. What were you thinking?"

"Incur the wrath of the gods?"

She knew Dain wasn't religious, he had been listening to the priests ramble on. He started again.

"He broke the law, why shouldn't it apply to him? What is special about this man that he should flaunt our restrictions while others are punished justly for them?"

"His life is mine to give or take, as is your counsel. Go on to other topics, you won't receive anything that will satisfy you with this one."

Dain began to argue back, but he sensed a gravity in her that he didn't understand. She wouldn't be moved on this matter, and Valledia had her reasons even if she wouldn't share them. She was as stubborn and logical a creature as he had ever met.

"Fine, to this truce then. The priests say that the Elohim are withdrawing from their war with the Infernals."

"And?"

"The Infernals are not as weak as some suppose, if they are agreeing to peace with the Elohim then it is only because they wish to carry on battle somewhere else. The Elohim are a powerful force and they must see easier targets to feed upon, the Bannor, the Lanun or us."

Valledia waited to see if he would continue with his logic, but for all of his arcane skill he had a disappointing inability to anticipate the future.

"The priests are right, at least on this, the Elohim have already agreed to peace. What would you have me do about it?"

"We need to go to Cahir Abbey and meet with Einion, to talk him into resuming this war."

"Do you think that we could convince Einion to go back on his word? To forfeit a signed deal because if he doesn't sacrifice Elohim lives we might have to sacrifice Amurite ones? Or do you think that even attempting to do that will not only fail but draw the Infernals wrath at our attempt, and we will have the war you fear so much."

Dain began pacing. Although shortsighted at times he was an Amurite and once presented with a logical arguement he would consider it carefully. He reached out to a burning brazier that hung in the chamber and his finger cut the smoke into twin plumes. At Dain's silent command the smoke gathered and formed itself into two images, one of Hyborem and the other of Einion. He studied both of them, looking for some sign of their nature in the fabricated images. He spoke slowly as he thought through each statement, trying to see if there was anyway to work around it and finding himself trapped by them.

"Einion won't break his truce. Hyborem will attack another civilization. If that civilization is us, we will likely die. Do we have something Hyborem wants, something we could trade for peace if we needed it?"

"What would a demon want except to kill?"

"Is there a reason you suspect that he will attack the Lanun or the Bannor instead of us?"

"No, like most predators he will go after the weakest of his targets, that is us. Ready your wizards for war, it will come to us. Slip the firebows from the coastal borders to those we share with the Infernals."

Dain nodded, understanding the situation. Understanding that diplomacy was lost, he turned hs mind to war.

"I will begin to train adepts to sanctify the land, no doubt we will be facing the taint. We may want to consider a show of support for the Order, they could be strong allies soon."

"You are right, I will handle the Order, stay to your mages."

"I should go, I have much to do."

Valledia noded and Dain turned to leave. She stopped him before he left the chamber.

"Dain, I have forseen this war and moved to save us from it. Though the night will be long, morning will come. The Elohim will rejoin the war, as they have borne a great enmity against the Infernals and wont be able to watch us fall to them. When the Infernals have taken our border cities and march toward our capitals we will go to them, talk of those we have lost, and they will break their truce and join us."

"They bear no love for us. Their hated for the Infernals must be greater than I imagined."

Valledia only nodded.

Dain the Caswallawn (Philosophical, Magic Resistant, neutral)
Philosophical

• +100% Great Person Birth Rate
• No Upkeep Cost for Education
• Double Production Speed of Elder Council, Library

Magic Resistant

• Double the Chances that Ring of Warding Will Destroy Attacking Summoned Creatures
• Free Promotion (Magic Resistance) to Recon, Archer, Mounted, Melee, and Disciple Units

He fiddled with the pieces of clockwork mechanism, shuffling them around the tabletop, lifting a cogwheel and mounting it on a pin, then giving it a little tip to make it spin. Technology was fascinating stuff, although Dain had never really had the time to learn anything beyond the basic tricks of how it functioned.

Although he was greatly impressed by the men who could use mechanics to do such amazing things, he did not see the point. Why build these elaborate things to work your way around the the laws of nature when it was so much easier to simply manipulate the laws themselves?

He did realise, however, that magic and its practitioners were something of a rare commodity, making these toys and parlour tricks necessary. Magic could solve everything, but it was often easier to do without. Just press a button, or pull a lever, and it happened. No need for great feats of concentration, time-consuming runes or incantations. Dain remembered the time he had spent as a siege-mage - as human artillery, he corrected himself - in the wars. It had been sheer misery. He remembered the smell of blood, and sweat, of soiled garments and fear. The wails of the wounded, the clamour of battle all too close, and the cold, squalid, wet camps where the Amurite mages, weak as they were in hand-to-hand combat, huddled, waiting to be made use of where no device man's ingenuity would suffice. Above all, Dain remembered the unease, the overhanging feeling that they would never get out of the whole mess alive. Still, Dain would not have things differently. Advanced war magic with extremely well-trained mages wielding it meant the Amurites had the luxury of foregoing cumbersome and time-consuming heavy siege engines. It provided the their edge in wars and allowed them to survive and prevail in fights with much more powerful foes. Sometimes, their magic was all that was keeping them alive.

You couldn't expect to go anywhere in the Amurite magical hierarchy if you did not have the courage to spend time in the wars. It was a form of... job requirement. And so, Dain had fought, killed, suffered and survived, survived the wars, and survived his colleagues. He had labouriously struggled to the top, and now, at the end of it all, he sat playing with the bits of a clockwork astronomical device. The dwarves were exceptionally good at making these knick-knacks, Dain knew. The Khazad powered their mines with them, the Luichurp combined them with magic, to give them life, of a sort.

Could this mesmerising object, this soul-less, functional bit of cunningly-fashioned metal, bound by laws stricter than any of man's imagining, constitute a threat to him and his people? Even the most lowly Amurite was, to some extent, above the law!

He shook his head. He was becoming distracted and distant. He had become so used to losing his concentration like this that he was no longer sure it whether it had started as an affectation to lull his opponents or a handy personality trait that he had deftly exploited. Looking around the scantly-furnished room, he realised that the sun was a lot lower than it should have been.

Feeling a pang of regret at dismantling the time-piece, he swept from his chamber. That, at least, was one thing at which cogs and gears would always best him. Keeping time.

Gotta go hang out and play Battlestar Galactica for the rest of the evening. I'll probably have the first update tomorrow.

Morkath

I vote for valledia, as dain looks like a dirty goth.

Wibod

Valledia as she looks like she'll stab someone in the face.

enlightenedbum

Valledia because Arcane is way more interesting than resistance.

Josiah_9

Here is another vote for Valledia

Rami

Is this downloaded separately or did it come with BTS or something? I know FFH came as a custom scenario in vanilla Civ IV.

Vic

It is a separately downloaded mod Rami.

This mod ruined vanilla Civ4 for me. It is such fun, and I'll probably have to play through a game as Sidar now that I have read this.

Wembley

I guess magic is cool and all but you guys are still going to feel silly when Khazad dwarf stomps the puny mages.

Morkath

Wembley wrote: »

I guess magic is cool and all but you guys are still going to feel awesome when Khazad dwarf's are turned into chickens.

Bremen

Having played this game, I suggest you play with barbarians off. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but they always seem to wipe out most of the AIs early in the game (and sometimes me as well).

Also voting for Valledia because Arcane is awesome.

Ah_Pook

whoa this looks really awesome, how had i never heard of this thing

Arcus

I definitely need to try this mod. As if Civ IV wasn't addicting enough :P

I vote for Valledia, because as Van Damme says, offense wins the glory!

fmz65

Boo, seeing as how vampires were foiled...

I'm voting for Dain, suck it all you Valledia lovers.

jothki

Bremen wrote: »

Having played this game, I suggest you play with barbarians off. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but they always seem to wipe out most of the AIs early in the game (and sometimes me as well).

Yeah, I just started a quick game, and they're completely nuts compared to the normal game, to the point where it isn't safe to allow workers to roam around within your own borders. Next time I have a go at it, I'm probably going to have to build a bunch of warriors and station them around my borders.

Wembley

It seems unnecessary, but I'll vote for Valledia as well. If we're going to do this magic shit, let's do it right.

Valkun

History of the Amurite Sultanate Volume I - The Awakening Dream
Historian Baltus Eridith

Timeline:

Year 1: Cevedes Founded
Year 2: Burrow Destroyed
Year 3: Hut gave 50 gold, Burrow Destroyed
Year 4: Hut teaches Agriculture
Year 8: Hut Gives 38 Gold
Year 9: Borders of Cevedes Expand, Met Auric Ulvin of Illian,Hannah the Irin of Lanun
Year 12: Cevedes grows to 2 population!
Year 13: Discovered Innsmouth
Year 20: Cevedes grows to 3 population!, Scout attacked and defeated Wolf Pack
Year 21: Met Mahala of the Doviello, Met Cassiel of the Grigori, Promoted Scout with Combat I
Year 25: Scout built in Cevedes
Year 26: Cevedes grows to 4 population
Year 30: Mysticism Researched, Adopts God King
Year 31: Warrior found in Hut
Year 32: Met Amelanchier of the Ljosalfar
Year 33: Warrior defeated Baby Spider, Gained Combat I and Poisoned
Year 34: Cevedes grows to 5 population
Year 35: Hut gives scout experience.
Year 36: Scout given Combat I and Shock I, Met Alexis of the Calabim
Year 37: Met Cardith Lorda of the Kuriotates
Year 39: Hut teaches Education, Met Sheelba of the Clan of Embers
Year 40: Met Tebryan Arbandi of the Sheaim, Warrior Healed
Year 41: Scout kills wolf
Year 43: Warrior Kills Wolf, Met Varn Gosam of the Malakim
Year 45: Worker Built at Cevedes, Met Tasunke of the Hippus
Year 48: Met Morgoth of the Sidar, Ethne the White of the Elohim
Year 49: Warrior killed by Hill Giant
Year 54: Elder Council built in Cevedes, Cevedes grows to 6 population!, a revolution begins. Adopts Agriculture and Apprenticeship
Year 55: Traded world maps with Cassiel
Year 56: The Revolution is over.
Year 58: Met Kaelyn of the Balseraphs
Year 65: Completed farm near Cevedes
Year 67: Scout killed Wolf, Met Sabathiel of the Bannor
Year 70: Settlers Built at Cevedes
Year 71: Met Kandros Fir, Cevedes builds a Warrior
Year 74: Udenarat Founded
Year 75: Scout killed by Wolf Pack
Year 78: Scout Kills Wolf Pack
Year 79: Met Faeryl Viconia of the Svartalfar, Knowledge of the Ether
Year 87: Hut gives 70ish Gold
Year 88: Mage Guild Completed in Cevedes
Year 91: Udenerat Grows in Size!
Year 99: Morkath the Wizard founds the Guild of Magickery. Learns Charm Person and Haste.

The beginnings of our great nation is as humble as the junior student before his master.


From the scattered tribes that inhabited the area, people seemed to be drawn to this oasis of fertile land where the wheat grows as high as a man. It was at that time that the city of what was known as Cevedes was founded.



Surprisingly, the oldest organization within the realm, the Circle of the Sextant was created in the same year, with its headquarters in Cevedes. The expert trackers of this organization left home to scour the world creating the most accurate map known to mankind. The early days of civilization were dangerous as monsters and huge beasts would roam the untamed wilds. It was not long before other cities were discovered. With survival as their primary concern, war was an unheard of concept in these times. These early adventurers sent back many discoveries and riches, including among them the secrets of farming and formal education.



The early Amurites were nothing if not perceptive. They recognized early the effects of ether that permeates everything in creation. A discovery that other civilizations would not make for quite some time. Of course, their understanding was quite primitive in comparison to the theories in place today. Not long after, the immortal Valledia was formally declared as the god queen of the Amurites.



Life was simple then. Most people were simple farmers, living on the edge of the city, producing just enough food to feed the populace. But it became clear that the area could not support the growing population and a second city was started nearby. In the Year 74, what was called Udenarat, drew people to what was an infant mana mining industry.



In the Year 79, High Mage Morkath as he became to be known completed his treatise on the first laws of Magic. Providing only crude and limited control, the Amurites had become the first nation to gain mastery of Mana. Students of his were often invited to far off kingdoms to perform simple parlor tricks, light shows, and wild levitations that excited the foriegn courts. But this was not enough for the Lord of Wind, by his own records he toiled endlessly perfecting his theories. In the Year 88, the High Mage established the first school of Magery in Cevedes, although over the years it has been expanded and remodeled so often that it hardly resumbles the humble institution it once was.



At the time, the formal hierarchy we know today was non-existant and the founder of the school was known only as Morkath. Unsettled by reports of goblinoids appearing in the wild and sometimes seen near the border, Adept Morkath took it upon himself to defend the realm with his newly invented magery and lead the way for the generations to come. It was around this time that the Circle of Jade Fists began to form garrisons in the twin cities. But with such thick vegetation and non-existant roads, those in the countryside had to fair for themselves.




Amurite Empire - Circa AC 100

--

Starting with the people who voted for this particular civilization then everyone else that posts in the thread, all the mages produced by the Amurites will be named after forumers. If you want, you can specify what kind of magic you'd like to have.

Although it's discussed briefly in the screenshot, the way mages work is quite different then normal units. They can gain experience by killing things but this is unlikely because they tend to have very little strength. However, every turn they automatically gain experience so it's unnecessary to endanger them. Spells are unit promotions and which ones you gain access to depend on the school of magic, what mana you have available, and the level of the school.

For example, Morkath has Channeling I and we have Body, Fire, and Mind mana. These combine to give the following possible spells:
Channeling I + Body = Haste - All Living Units in the same tile get +1 move for the turn.
Channeling I + Fire = Scorch - Turn a plains into a desert.
Channeling I + Mind = Charm Person - Target unit cannot attack for a turn.

Nothing terribly useful yet, but we do have access to that mana node by the second town. I'm not sure what mana we'll have available to use on it.

Edit: If there's any way you'd like to see the game go from here, let me know. Unfortunately, almost all of the races play the same in the early game. Explore, find huts, expand a bit. With two flood plains and the oasis, we started with plenty of food for our capital city.

fmz65

That "God King" skill looks awful nifty.

Can my mage be called "The SensAZN"? :P and fire would be nice. :winky:

Yorker

BRB, downloadan mods.