Chronicles_EA: Second-pass Signup and Discussion

[Wrana]

I'd say that first turn is usually good enough at 48hr - and there is usually not much to write about at this moment.
MA game now in progress uses 48hr throughout, with extensions when somebody has no time. Of course, we don't write every turn - but then, not every turn has something worthy to write about at the beginning...

[Ruminant]

Alright, cut it down to 48 hours. 72 at the start does seem a tad long, now that I think about it.

[Tifone]

Yep, 48 is fine. Not less plz! :)

Wow, what a map. That's enormous.

[Ruminant]

Yep, it should prove quite epic ;)

[Darkwind]

48 hours for the first turn, huh.

Well, I know I had an idea for a story, but now I don't quite remember. Though, I have an idea now. :happy:

[Darkwind]

I hate to double-post, but my wiki-fu is weak, and the Turn 1 page isn't up yet, so I'll post it here. Enjoy! :)
---
The people of the Basalt City lined the procession, cheering. Inutho struggled to get a look at what was happening; there wasn't a holiday today, unless the new god had declared some day sacred in remembrance of an old battle or an old awakening or something-or-other that had nothing to do with Atlantis. The old shamblers were certainly up and about, cheering with the younger Atlantians and, strangely, quite a few shallow-dwellers.

The Basalt City had a few immigrants from those who had left it for sunnier waters after Critias had entered power--often due to his rise to power; Critias was quite a controversial fellow--but they mostly stayed to their own ghettos with their queer practices. One major exception was Inutho's neighborhood priest, who was raised by shallow-dwellers but returned to the Basalt City after an epiphany when Critias ascended. Interestingly, he was absent from the crowd; he loved the celebrations and, being quite old and large, was not hard to spot.

Inutho fought a while longer to get a good view, or any view at all, and finally pushed his way past a few reef dwellers to the front of the crowd--right next to a Deep One shambler dressed in shallows garb. And, right next to him, another Deep One shambler in identical clothes, and another after that, and another, and another. Interspersed between the shamblers were coral priests from the shallows, giving out their blessings to the shamblers.

And then a voice rang out. "Welcome, people of the Basalt City," the Queen said, her voice booming throughout the old, dark city, "Welcome, those who have returned from the shallows to mark this auspicious occasion. I have been tasked by the Prince of the Deeps, Critias, to act in his position here while he is away. Today marks the melding of our old ways with the bright new direction our god is tending us towards. Today, the first of the Coral Guard, our elite of both old and new, is appointed. Cax Kulu, repeat after me the Oath of the Guard:

"I will serveour God, and our City, to the best of my ability." An almost-inaudible murmur drifted towards Inutho. He strained to see the Basalt Queen, but realized too late he was far, far away from her. "I will lay down my life if need be to protect the Basalt City and to expand the power of the Prince of the Deeps." Again, the far-away voice. "I will serve with honor, and distinction, and I will uphold the Pillars of the Basalt City. I will be to my God true and faithful, and will not question his divine mandate. I will do all of this, not for personal glory, but to further the Atlantian people and my God.

"Cax Kulu, arise. You may don your armor. Congratulations, First Commander of the Coral Guard."

The people clapped, and Inutho clapped with them, thinking to himself what he could have done instead of listening to a long speech to create a useless title. As the shallow-dwellers began to leave to return to their small towns, and the others returned to their homes, Inutho began back to his own home. His children would be waiting for him, probably expecting food he hadn't caught. What a waste of time.

"Sir, come with me. Now." A large, dark hand reached out of the small, dark alleyway and dragged Inutho inside.
---
Dear Mrs. Craywalker,

We are sorry to tell you that Mr. Inutho Craywalker is deceased. The cause is currently unknown; it seems that he fell asleep at the Basalt Queens' speech and died peacefully. Our condolences, and to try to help make up for your husband's death we have enclosed compensation.
---
Inutho stared at the vast slope up, towards the lighter sea, and eventually land. He had always wanted to explore, but not under these circumstances--leaving behind a family, for a god he didn't like. All the exotic princes and princesses in the world couldn't distract him from his family.

Better now than never, he thought, and started up the slope.
---
Hey, turn 1 is longer than the prologue.

[Wrana]

Very good, sir. Probably I should think of something, too... (And you can probably just copy it to the wiki - or, say, Ruminant will do it)

[Darkwind]

I try to add in the post and it says I can't, due to not being a user. :(

I'll probably join sooner or later.

[Wrana]

Well, I did. Mind, I'm not happy about this, too, but...

[Ruminant]

First hosting is postponed by 24 hours to let everyone get their turns in.

[Wrana]

It seems everybody is already sent them some time ago - except Mictlan. Maybe it would be better to just PM them?

[Ruminant]

Already sent one, just had to postpone otherwise it would've ticked over already ;) It's on quick-host anyhoo so shouldn't be too long a wait.

[Wrana]

I wouldn't be so sure, considering... :mad:

[Ruminant]

There was a little confusion regarding CBM versions so I'm going to have to delay a few more hours, sorry all!

[Ruminant]

And we're off.

Edit: Got rid of the stupid. At least the visible parts.. *shifty eyes*

[Darkwind]

So I'm the only one to post a story on turn 1? Shame on you all! Especially you guys who didn't even post a prologue! :mad:

[Incabulos]

didn't want to write anything until I knew something about my surroundings. Will post it within the next 24 hours :P

[Ruminant]

I've posted something for turn 1, although I seem to have messed up the code so it only appears on my nation page. Actually it seems when I click the turn 1 link on my page it goes to the MA Chronicles turn 1. I'd better go fix that :p

And I can't seem to find yours, Darkwind. What cunning hiding place are you using :shock:

[Darkwind]

You are too kind. The forum (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=673879&postcount=256) itself, one page back, is surely not the best place I could have hidden that post. But I accept your accolades with grace :p

Edit: "Midnight symphony"? Sounds beautiful. Also, I doubt that Pale One liked what probably looked like a little child running under his (her?) genitals. :p

Edit2: Just submitted my story to the wiki after signing up. That's some very confusing code you have there. Hopefully I didn't butcher too much, though. Huh, it looks like I messed up the turn 1 page.

[Mithras]

Hey I managed to get a story on to both pages of the wiki without completely destrying the site! I'll just pat myself on the back and ignore the bit at the top thats evidently not supposed to be there...

[Darkwind]

By the way, Mithras, paragraph 6? is a little weird. A quote mark is missing and the tense switches to present and back. In paragraph 8?, there's a bit of confusion at the beginning between singular (Androphag) and plural (their swords), and yet more tense confusion. Paragraph 9, it's enmity not enemity.

We want these to look as good as possible for the viewers right? :D

Just in case you feel angered by my instinct to edit the writings of others, in the honors english classes I've been in many people were far, far worse than you, switching tense all the time, forgetting that commas and even periods exist, and just in general making large, silly oversights. I won't claim I'm free of them either. :)

[Mithras]

I'm not annoyed in any way, constructive criticism is good. :D

I'm looking into the tense switch but I did leave Androphag as it is on purpose. Androphags just sounds wrong to me and I haven't seen it used anywhere so Androphag is going the way of sheep for this write up. (Feel free to chide me when I inevitably begin to use Androphags)

There fixed, I think. Anyways I don't even have the excuse of not being a native so thanks for that.

[rdonj]

Androphagi? Androphages!

[Wrana]

First variant is almost right, I guess... Probably Androphagoi, though... ;)

[Mithras]

Probably what Arco would call them? Or even the Ermorians...

[Wrana]

Yes, the term is clearly of that origin - and his Prologue had also drawn upon Arcoscephales' connections. Of course, it's possible to come up with something more authentic - if we have here some player from Iran or at least someone who knows that language (close enough to Sarmatian iirc). ;)

[Mithras]

Hmm duly noted, expect to see some the ois soon(when I can be bothered to go through and edit the text :D)
Hmm I always just assumed that the thematic inspiration for Sauromatia came from the Dacians (west/north? of Byzantium and completely wiped out by the Romans, also some contact with the greeks... My classical history isn't as good as I wish it was) but I can't remember any referance to stepped culture, and apparently the amazons were supposed to be around Russia. Ah now I'm thinking about it, maybe I should just keep taking it for granted and add the ois... any names with historical reference seem to be greeked (grecinised?) anyway :P

[Wrana]

Yes, they were "around" Russia - namely, in the lands where Russian state would later develop. :) Sauromatian/Sarmatian (both names are used, sometimes interchangebly) tribes were of Indo-Iranic origin and had beaten Scythians from these steppes, partly assimilating them. They are considered to be inventors of stirrups and normal lances. AFAIK, the only thing they had in common with Dacians was that both fought Romans. But Sarmatians were far more successful in this... :)
Still later, they were absorbed into Hunns' empire, providing main heavy cavalry (though some served Romans by the time). After the fall of Hunns remaining Sarmatian tribes moved to the south-east, to the edge of Caucasus Mountains. And some of them at least took part in the beginning of a gathering of Slavic and other tribes which later turned into a Russian state (language, though, took only a few words from them - mostly horsemanship-related afair).
And yes, they are considered to be the base for the Amazons' legends due to both map placement, the fact that Sarmatians had a tradition of women taking part in fighting and hunts and the likeness of Amazons' depictings to the Sarmatian dress (though Scythian was also close enough). :)

By the way, some troubles with wiki remain, too. And possibly it would be good for turns beyond the 1st to be accessible... ;)

[Darkwind]

As always, the forums get first dibs on my stories, then the wiki. :)

----
Neriglissar
Hafeg Klah
Khreshaal the Traitor
----
Cax Kulu sat with a shadow. Though, he thought, it's more of a blur than a shadow. An indeterminate blob of darkness floated next to him in an already dark world of basalt and night. He shifted on his basalt chair, waiting for the shadow to speak.

"So," came a noise from the shadow, "You say there is urgent news. Urgent enough to call me. What, pray tell, is so urgent you would drain my currently-weak powers to have me conjure up a form?"

"Ah, well, it's somewhat hard to breach. You know of the isles to the north?"

"Of course."

"Well, to the north of those isles, there is a sea. The Sea of Moonshae, they call it. Our forward scouts call it a quiet place, calm and serene."

"Cut to the chase! I cannot stay forever."

"Yes, of course. Briefly: This Sea of Moonshae is occupied by Atlantians. Not any Atlantians, but renegades. Some offshoot of our Basalt City that broke off after hearing you ascended."

"Many did that. One of these rebel groups was bound to find little enough opposition to set themselves up."

"Of course, my lord. But this group is different. It is large, powerful. And commanded by a Basalt King--Khreshaal, they call him, the Traitor King of Moonshae."

The shadow paused for a moment. The room became noticeably darker and colder than the already dark and cold sea of the Basalt City. "The Traitor King of Moonshae. Very well. He will fall. I shall control all the deeps, and this Traitor King's lands are no exception."

"Ah, my lord, it is worse. Many of the Coral Guard trainees have defected after hearing of this Khreshaal--they owe allegiance to the shallows, not the deeps, and this Khreshaal promises control of the shallow waters. Even the Living Pillars are restless, his spies are numerous and he spreads his word everywhere."

"Cax Kulu." The words were spoken softly, and the Coral Commander strained to hear. "Traitors are not to be allowed. Any man that follows this Khreshaal is to be put to the death. I don't care if the entire city revolts, burn it down. Treason against your god is a great crime, and it carries great punishment. As to this Khreshaal, we shall see what happens to him. We shall see."
----
I was at my post, yeah, and me an' the guys were jokin' around. You know how it goes, heh. So, we're on the wall 'round the city, yeah, an' a Basal' Queen comes 'round. An' we think, we think it's weird, since you know them royalty. They don' come out of their palace no way, no how. They just sit there an' stare at that cryssal of theirs an' order us 'in the name of your god'. He ain't our god, huh? But anyways, so this Queen comes around. Says she's inspectin' for troops to conscript for that god's army. Not in those words, o' course. So, we're gettin' inspected. She pulls out a couple guys at random, jus' guys, some good an' some bad, heh, an' Black Taum for whatever reason, he can' hit a Monster Fish right in fronta him, but anyways. So I get picked, right? I'm thinking, I'm thinking what? I'm no soldier! I do this 'cause I get pay an' it's easy. So, we're walkin' along, wondering what this queen just got us into. She falls to her knees, all of a sudden, just falls down an' screams. We rush to help her, o' course, like any group of gentlemen, heh, but she's back on her feet before we get to her, yeah? S, she turns to us. I got a good look at her eyes, an' man, they scared me. Those eyes were differen', tat wasn' the same queen there. So, she looks at us an' she says, "Spread the word. Critias has chosen his prophet, and her name is Hafeg Klah, the Basalt Queen." Stop laughin', I wasn' that far off! But, she tells us that an' runs off all formal-like. Turns out, Miz Hafeg Klah and her poor bastard of a husban', some Neriglissar, are tha' first to sign up to the god's army. No, no, guys. I'm telling the truth. Wha', you don't think I'm tellin' the truth? You should hear Lefty Yuul's stories...
----
Inutho tasted the strange thing's drink. Man, it called itself. The drink was quite tasty--cider, they called it. He wondered for a moment whether it could be made at the Basalt City, before moving on to more pressing matters.

"This is a land of magic," the stranger in the cloak had told him, "a land of the elements. Our gods are the seasons, our prayers hard work. Myrloch Vale has not succumbed to these pretenders before, and will not. We have been ignored, and gone on as we will, most of the time. But, should some foolish god decide to attack us, our defense is our Great Mother who commands the seasons themselves.

"Tell, this to your god, one from the deeps. Tell him to leave us be." He had disappeared afterwards, simply gone without a trace of who he was or how he knew Inutho and the god he served.

Inutho pulled out a shell and began to scribble a letter to Critias.
----
Oh my. Another wall of text.

[Jybalbyle]

Hi guys,

Well... I can't remember how I managed to get the Ulm prologue on the DomWiki page, so I'm gonna do a Darkwind and post below. Enjoy...


When Adwulf returned to his village, there was a great commotion. A hunter on the fringes of the village had quickly spotted and sent word to the chieftain that his son had returned. Einric had merely nodded, downed his mead horn and strapped on his sword. He called the master Smith of the village to his side, cradling the brutal hammer of justice in his hands. If Adwulf had returned empty-handed, or worse, with an unworthy trophy, the hammer would strike out justice upon his skull. There was no mercy for the weak, not even the son of a chieftain.
They waited for him at the old and twisted oak at the centre of the village which represented the great Irminsul at the heart of the Lethyr forest. Alone, Adwulf strode forward. Some of Einric’s warriors were taken aback by the gleaming black armour he wore, but Einric faced him impassively. “You have returned to me, my son.” He said. “But have you returned a man?”
Adwulf looked his grizzled father in the eye. “I have.”
“And what trophy do you bring your chieftain?” The old Smith spoke, hefting his giant hammer.
Adwulf drew his sword in one swift motion. The warriors at Einric’s side flinched as the blade was drawn. “This is but the first of many gifts.” Adwulf said. “A sword of the Forge Lord himself!”
The old Smith cursed. “What nonsense! A fine blade it is, no doubt, but you’ll face the hammer’s judgement if you jest again before me.”
“Call me a liar, Smith, if you dare!” Adwulf growled, pointing Gelberic’s sword at him.
The hammer’s judgement fell not on Adwulf that day. The old Smith, trusting in his own steel, was no match for the craft of Gelberic. The hammer swung downward and Adwulf’s sword sliced upward to meet it. The blade cut through steel as easily as flesh and bone. The old Smith dropped to the earth among the old oak’s roots, the stump that had been his right arm spurting blood. He did not live much longer after that.
“Hear me!” Adwulf turned on his father’s warriors. “I have seen the Forge Lord and he has given me his blessing. Who else doubts my word?!” There were no voices raised against him. “Father, I have not returned a mere man. I am more that that! I will lead our tribe to conquer this land and with the aid of the Forge Lord our warriors will be invincible.”
“You lead?” Einric said. “You forget yourself, Adwulf. You are still my son and you will obey me! Give me this sword and the armour and I will judge your passage to manhood complete.”
Adwulf could see it in his eyes… That glimmer of greed when his father asked for his armaments. Next he would demand that Adwulf show him the cave and the giant within. Then he would be nothing again. Nothing but a warrior among his father’s household. Well Adwulf would not give up his prize so easily. It was more than mere chance that brought him to Gelberic. It was his destiny. And as Einric stretched out his greedy hand to take all that Adwulf had achieved, something inside him made him act.
The sword plunged through Einric’s chest, snapping through the links in his chainmail and bursting from his spine. Then Einric’s warriors fell upon Adwulf, their swords ringing on his armour. But this jet black steel, moulded by the very hands of a god, would not be broken so easily. Three of Einric’s best were dead before the rest backed off. Then there was a shout of “Adwulf! Adwulf!” and the warriors began fighting amongst themselves as the young men saw an opportunity to side with Einric’s son. The elder warriors who had fought beside Einric since boyhood were loyal to the end, but faced by treachery from the young bucks and the deadly sword of Adwulf, they did not stand a chance. They fought bravely and died with their weapons in hand. What more could a warrior ask for.
When the red mist faded from Adwulf’s eyes, he could hear the young warriors chanting his name. His father and his supporters were dead. Nothing now stood in his way as chieftain of the village. But for Adwulf, that was not enough…

[lch]

Well... I can't remember how I managed to get the Ulm prologue on the DomWiki page, so I'm gonna do a Darkwind and post below. Enjoy...
Edit your nation's article page. I added sections up to turn 8 for all the nations in the game now. As to how to use them, see my post for the other game (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?p=675243#post675243). In short: "put text between curly braces, duh." :fish: I know that the code can look daunting. As always, it's best to observe and copy from others. Learn by imitation! Just edit their article pages to find out how they did something. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

[Darkwind]

Because a backup is always nice, here is my story(s) for turn 3. For the records, the battles and such were resolved on turn 4. It's a bit confusing with the stories always being a turn behind the game, though. I'll live I guess.
----
Divine power raced through her. Hafeg Klah felt alive as she never had before; looking beside her, she saw Neriglissar in a state of bliss--their god was giving him power, as well. With a single phrase, Hafeg created a divine insurance--any heathens who attacked her would feel the wrath of Critias, Prince of the Deeps.

In front of the couple ranged a small army, a militia hastily assembled from the people of this strange, bright land. They marched forward, wary of the great club Hafeg held, but unwilling to desert. Even armored, she knew they would be no match for a King and Queen of the Basalt City. But they marched onward, keeping their spears carefully between them and her.

She ran forward to meet them as her husband did, and the battle began. The spears grazed Hafeg and Neriglissar, while their attacks laid waste to the enemy force. The lighter force was quickly destroyed, and Hafeg could see even the veterans about to--

A spear forced its way into her upper arm as she was bashing a spearman. Hafeg roared, and the spear snapped as she rammed the militia, sending him flying into a tree. The rest turned and ran. Hafeg ran after them, knocking even more into the ground. As the last few fled the scene, Hafeg calmed and groaned--the wound that spear had given her was deep, and would not heal well.
----
Eios watched warily as the dark things walked through the gates of the small fort. His father and king had deserted him, and now he was left to attend to the Kingdom of Corwell. Though, from the size of those menacing beasts, he would not be king for much longer.

One of them made a garbled sort of sound at him, followed by the other. The first one, with the staff, made a disgusting sort of coughing noise, and then, "Hello," in a slow drawl.

"Hello?"

"Are you the...king?"

"I am the king's son. But my father has fled, so I suppose I am now."

"Where is this place?"

"This is the White Keep. It's a fallback for when the palace seems under pressure, not that this place is much safer."

"Where is this place?" The one with the club spoke now, in a barely-intelligible accent.

"It's, err, it's in Corwell."

"Corwell?"

"Yes. Corwell. That is the name of the kingdom, the Kingdom of Corwell."

"The Kingdom of...Corwell. This place is ours now. You bow to Critias, the Prince of the Deeps." The one with the staff moved towards the door into the throne room, and Eios nervously ushered it inside.
----
It was my first battle, really. It wasn't supposed to be such a bloody start to my career. I positioned my better-armored troops in the front. They still crumpled. They were fighting Ichtyid militia! But the nets entangled the men, and their weapons did the rest. I should have given them shields, I should have gone out there myself. I never got the chance to fight, even. I ran behind the Deep Ones loping towards the Ichtyids. My men died like flies. I suppose I should be glad the enemy died faster.

At least the Deep Ones ate well.
-Cax Kulu, shortly after the Battle of the Nelanther Sea
----
Zhigg was attended to by a Basalt King flanked with Living Pillars. Zhigg looked uneasily at his own men. His Shamblers were no match for the Pillars, and the Basalt King was both physically and magically more powerful than Zhigg.

"So, you consider yourself a commander?"

"I am leader of a small band of Shamblers, from the deeper caves below the Basalt City. My lord."

"And?"

"My magic has shown to me that my tribe is doomed to destruction if I do not follow Critias. I took what men would follow me and lead them here. My lord."

"Very well. I will take one of your men to lead me down to the rest. You may join our armies, you and your tribe. Go."

The Basalt King was in the door already when Zhigg asked, "And what shall I do?"

The King turned. "You said to the guards outside the city that you yourself made that staff of yours. Did you not?"

"I did."

A hint of greed came into the King's eyes. "Then make me a weapon..."

[Ruminant]

Ooh. I just noticed Ulm and Pangaea stalled last turn. Unfortunately its probably too late to roll back the turn now unless everyone agreed, people have already written events into their storyline ;) It's partially my fault for not monitoring the turns closer and adding extra time, but please don't hesitate to ask for an extension if you don't think you'll be in on time, it's a simple request to grant :D

[BigandScary]

I just messed up my email, I can deal with it.

[Jybalbyle]

My bad. I'm sure it will not affect my chances of winning the game...

[Darkwind]

Guess what Heroic Ability Neriglissar got. :(
----
The whale moved towards Fraal, its blubber rippling as it swam past the smaller, crippled Atlantian Queen. Fraal noticed the arms and realized that it was another Atlantian, though an especially large and fat one.

Fraal continued his charge, slamming into it with full force with his comrades. He even managed to tear a gaping wound in the thing's stomach, though it didn't seem to care. As others tore in, he noticed that both the Atlantians regenerated unnaturally quickly.

He ducked as a vast quarterstaff appeared from the rolls of the thing's thick chest and slammed right past him into his friend. He stabbed again, but the thing ignored his trident and carved a path of destruction through his friends.

One of the survivors, a triton Fraal couldn't recognize, turned tail and retreated. Fraal followed, and soon the whale-with-arms was far behind them, huffing and puffing as its cheeks turned a strange color of purple, struggling to catch up to an army of Tritons in their element. Fraal was already trying to decide where to hide--go back to his village? Join a mercwenary band prowling the waters? Or perhaps with mysterious Khreshaal who had promised the commander riches?
----
Cax Kulu glanced nervously at the Basalt King. He had suggested the try out the new formation on a smaller target first, but the King had insisted on attacking the prestigious Amber Clan. The soldiers were clearly agitated as well, though the Deep Ones seemed to still be excited about the prospect of fresh meat. The rushing sound told him before he even looked that the Tritons were charging, and the battle was on.

The well-defended Shamblers and Spearman took up the first wave of Atlantians, charging forwards with their shields ready to take the tritons' tridents. The Amber Clan elite tore through them like butter, aiming at the poorly-defended heads or simply smashing through the thin shields. The survivors put up a meager attack as the second wave attacked.

The Deep Ones loped towards the tritons on all fours, jumping and clawing and biting at them. The armor simply withstood all but the most fierce attacks. Cax Kulu pushed and shoved, desperate to get to the front where he might do some good, but the Atlantians resisted him with as much vigor as they did the enemy. Looking for the King, the noticed the vast monarch was simply standing back and admiring his sword.

The counterattack was vicious. The unarmed and unarmored Deep Ones gave no resistance to the enemy tritons. The few men remaining took a look behind them and ran full-speed for the hills. Looking with them, Cax Kulu saw that bastard King running away, already farther ahead than any of the others. Not wanting to be left for dead in a rout, he followed the lead of his men.

The tritons swam past him, crushing the Deep Ones. A whole group went after the Basalt King; the fool simply continued to run even with the tridents speared through him. Cax Kulu gave himself a moment to--

A trident slammed through the back of his head, through his eye. He fell with a soft crash, the spikes on his armor breaking as they touched the ground.
----
I give the good-for-nothing a sword. A fancy, shiny sword that's supposed to make him more awesome. What does he do? NOTHING. :mad:

[Baalz]

Farbaute flung a half eaten haunch of pig aside and belched. Reaving had been good to him and it would be time to let out the greaves of his cuirass again. Tales has spread throughout the land of his blazing trail across the countryside, his men looting and burning, eating the finest of the foods and drinking the finest of the wines before burning and spoiling the rest. The Shadowdale militia had hardly put up a fight, they’d obviously been fearing the day his banner appeared and had no heart for fighting the scourge of north.

Meanwhile, in the western deserts another hero feared throughout the land gazed down the hill at something new. Gudrod studied the banner flapping atop the pole in the village center. It would appear his reavers had finally cut a path to one of the more organized nations of man for this was the banner of Marverni. Eager for blood, his warband prepared to put another nest of vermin to the sword, but Gudrod held them. He had special instructions for dealing with Marverni. “Bring me their mayor. Alive, and kill no one.”

This surprised his lieutenant, but his wishes were carried out immediately. Glamoured raiders crept into the mayor’s house and spirited him up the hill to attend Gudrod. “Listen well human, you do not have leave to speak. You will bring a message to whoever styles himself your king. The Master Druid Zanbarth has declared a cleansing and the nation of Helheim it’s instrument. Your encampment sits upon ancestral Helheim lands, we claim the whole of the Anaurch under our banner from The Sword to the High Ice. Master Zanbarth has fond memories and old friends on your council of druids and has instructed us to spare your people if possible. Yet order must be restored and the overgrown bush of humanity trimmed. If you yield the Northwest Anaurch and Western High Ice we will compensate you for displacing your people and sign a treaty leaving everything west of this to you. These lands are barren and of little benefit to your nation, yet important to Helheim. If you prove yourself a friend of the Vanir we will protect you from the more barbarous and vicious nations of your ilk, there could be much benefit to you as we clear the land of those of your kind less willing to restore the land to balance. You have one fortnight to consider and accept this treaty and begin moving your people.”

As the terrified mayor was pushed back to stumble into his sleeping village Gudrod ordered “Send word to Farbaute and Afe that I require support on the western front. Word has it that the Hangadrott Siguard has ridden out at the head of his own personal army, send word to him as well. This human king may require blood to flow if he believes we are bluffing. Meanwhile, let us take position inside their lands. We will merely observe for now.”

[Ruminant]

Many apologies guys, I have rolled the turn back. Several factors including some drama regarding my uni enrolment and a stray dog of all things resulted in me forgetting to submit my turn. I wasn't the only one who didn't quite manage to get it in on time so I've decided to roll back the turn this time. I sincerly apologise for any inconveniance I might have caused.

[Baalz]

I'd like to suggest that rollbacks be reserved for really critical things like for instance a server hiccup causing the turn to host early with half the nations not having turns submitted. Rollbacks have caused problems in every game I've been in when they were used. It's extremely frustrating to have a battle you "won" turn out differently, and double plus extremely frustrating when your neighbor does something differently than the first time after having seen the result of a battle. I think they're particularly frustrating in this game where people are writing storylines. I've seen a lot of bad blood created from rollbacks, with accusations of cheating, people quitting the game in a huff etc., probably best to just suck it up and accept a stale here or there when real life causes you to miss a turn.

[Ruminant]

Good points, Baalz. We've already run over that turn so I'm guessing I can't undo the rollback? But rest assured I won't be arranging any more in the future simply because I missed a turn.

[Vanslime]

Helheim has made demands, and Marverni has answered.

Give the wiki a look sometime.

For your benefit, here's the short version.

Go to Hel.

[Darkwind]

If I forget to chronicle turn 7 tomorrow, remind me. I don't have time now, unfortunately.

Also, the game is getting interesting! I've met (through Inutho, my poor conscripted scout) a new nation, who you'll only learn about should you pester me into writing a story.

[Wrana]

He seems to be enjoing his life. "Go to the army - see the world" seems to actually work! :D

[Darkwind]

Deep Ones are not smart.
----
It was a hot fall day in the Llyrath Forest, one of the last until winter. It was a day where lizards would lazily bask in the sun and ignore even the flies that settled near their face, a day where the bears sat in the shade rather than catch fish in the sunlight. It was a day where Nature herself seemed to take a day off to est and enjoy the last remnants of summer. But on the edge of the forest, something stirred.

A lizard raised its head, tasting the air and feeling something wrong. It smelled...wet. The lizard rose to all fours, grabbing its trident and staring intently at the forest around it. A far-away rustle, and then another, and soon the south was alive with sound. The air was hot and humid, now, and the stench of fish drifted from the south and the noise. A single glimpse of something blue, and the forward scout was scurrying back to its home to report to the elder shaman.
----
It was a satisfying sight. My Atlantians were charging forward, the Deep ones loping madly forward for the flesh they could smell, as the lizards ran tridents-forward, perhaps hoping to smash through our shields.

The lizard-men hit my shamblers at full speed. A few were knocked back, but for the most part the lizard-men only wounded them. I could see bursts of intense fighting, both my men and theirs falling, as I jostled the crazed Deep Ones to get to the front. The lizards' faces were bright--it seemed they thought they could win, since the mighty Shamblers were falling to their tridents.

And then the Deep Ones slammed into them through the gaps in the ranks, just as I had planned. The thick hides of the lizards proved to be nowhere near as tough as kelp to the Deep Ones' jaws and fists. The lizards were unprepared, and the Deep ones flowed over their sides and surrounded them--the cowards retreated, their primitive king running tail between his legs, faster than any of them. I left the lizards to disperse and the Deep Ones to their latest meal.

I was curious as to what the lizards tasted like; the Deep Ones found them appetizing enough. They are a stringy sort of meat, and tough, with very little taste. These creatures are certainly warriors, not livestock, however poor warriors they may be.
-Kosuth, on the Capture Llyrath Forest
----
spikeman say longbrownfish is enemy, say they taste good
longbrownfish look tough, smell tasty, good prey
longbrownfish kill big ones, then longbrownfish die
claws tear longbrownfish, mouth eats longbrownfish
littleone scratch, and littleone bite, and longbrownfish shout and littleone scratch more
longbrownfish run, longbrownfish chase and die
longbrownfish taste good, strong fish to make strong littleone
-Thoughts of a Deep One
----
The men of Stone Bridge are an uncreative lot. Inutho rode towards the east, where his escort promised him lay a god. The Stone Bridgers were rather confused when a talking bipedal fish showed up on their doorstep asking for safe passage. At first, they had thought to breed him, but Inutho had been able to convince the conceptually poor men that he was not the kind of fish you bred, ate or kept as pets--another barbaric practice of these people in particular. As he had learned from the Elder Rider of Stone Bridge, this people had a long and proud history of aggressive raids to control the nearby territory, and a long history of being stupid enough to be defeated by every reasonably intelligent invader that came their way. They held on to what they had with a vengeance, and what they had was skill with the horse.

Fortunately one of their gods is a fish, Inutho thought; the fish-god Dagon had saved him by 'granting his representative the finest horse in the land'. In truth, stupid people are greedy and stupid Elder Riders even more so. The 'Prince of the Fish' had been assigned an escort to bring him to the false god to the East where Inutho could perhaps parlay with civilised men.

"The godless! Prepare yourselves!" Inutho grimaced at the rider's words. Every tribe on the Sword Coast, as they called it, shared the same language. He readied his pike--stolen from a wandering knight who thought he was a representative of some god or another--and prepared for battle.

But the only hooves he heard were that of the escorts. There were no footsteps, no sounds to tip off the Stone Bridgers. "Wha--"

A star hurdled out of a patch of dirt. It crashed into one of the riders, engulfing both horse and man in flame, only to run to the next. The Stone Bridgers almost simultaneously charged at it.

Improvising, Inutho threw the pike like a javelin at the star-man and ran away before he died of dehydraton from the heat. Looking back, he saw a messy blaze of fire and people and people made of fire. Inutho charged far forwards, up to the to the top of Secomber Hill--which marched the beginning of the Secomber tribes' lands--and looked back.

A single escort rode towards him. "We go quickly--magma men come in big numbers, they come with armor. Fish not do good with them, huh?" Inutho resisted the urge to suggest that nine out of ten escorts killed was not excellent odds against a single scout. He rode forwards with the escort into the land of the living stars.

[Ruminant]

Not that I'm applying any pressure, noone is under any obligation to write stories if they don't want to, but I notice some people haven't posted anything on the wiki yet. I know it's tough to find time and I know the wiki frightened me to death when I first tried to post, so I thought I'd offer to post your stories onto the wiki if you PM them to me with what turn number their supposed to be. Note this offer doesn't apply to those who've already posted stories :p Speaking of which I need to catch up on my backlog of writing, it's been a busy couple weeks..

[Wrana]

A good idea, by the way. I mean, publishing stories which are just sent to you. And I seem to remember that there were some which were just posted here, but not in wiki... ;)

[Tifone]

I've made a point of honour to write a couple of chapters myself this weekend ;) sorry, university is somewhat killing me, but I'll do :smirk:

[Darkwind]

I meet another nation that begins with an A, and the plot thickens. :D By the way, whoever it is that owns the High Moors (because men made of fire that march in heavy armor is clearly very ambiguous in the world of Dominions), you might want to get on that province defence. Inutho is getting antsy. ;)

If I only do one turn next time, bug me to do the other one too. I don't have the time right now, sadly.

[Ruminant]

Weeell, someone has now staled three turns in a row and aren't answering PMs. I've postponed the game for 24 hours, hopefully they'll get in touch.

[Wrana]

Aaarrrrgh. :mad:

[Darkwind]

My computer died! I lost my email! And dom3! :mad: I'm stuck in the unfortunate situation of being unable to retrieve any of the turn files to actually do any turns or any stories, it seems. :( At least I can keep my email so Llamaserver will continue sending me new turns.

[Ruminant]

Man, that must suck :doh:

At least your uptodate for this turn so you won't lose any momentum ;) Just hollar if you need more time to take this next turn.

Still waiting to hear from NKIcan in case any of you see him in the IRC room. Guess I'll postpone another 24 hours then consider hunting down a sub. He hasn't posted anything yet and he -has- taken every single turn up until 3 turns ago so maybe someone can be tempted into taking the role of the lizards.

[Darkwind]

What's happening with the turns? I could've sworn on Thursday (or was it Wednesday? If so, add another link to this chain)I should have the .trn file. I check my email and I don't. I check Llamaserver and the turn seems to be postponed to Friday. So I check my email on Friday, then Llamaserver, and now it's postponed to Saturday. When will this turn end?! :mad:

:p

[Ruminant]

No, the game is not trapped in a never-ending timeloop. I've just been busy this past couple of days so I've been postponing every 24 hours. No replies yet and still no turns from Pangaea/C'tis so I'll start looking for possible replacements. With luck we should be on track to resume within a week.

[BigandScary]

I haven't been able to access this site or dom3 for a week, I was on vacation and had some issues with my home computer. While I am back now, I don't think I have time for this game anymore, so you should probably still look for a replacement.

[Ruminant]

Aw, are you sure? Sorry to see ya go BigandScary, but I understand completely. It can be hard enough finding time for regular games without all the writing involved. In other news, looks like Llama server crashed on Sunday, though it doesn't look like we'll be setback or anything. Actually kind of fortunate because I forgot to postpone the game another 24 hours today so we would've hosted if the site had been up :p

[Baalz]

I would like to politely request that an effort be made to keep the game on track. We're about a week and a half since the last turn, and 4 months(!) since people signed up while we're only on turn 10. Big breaks tend to derail games as people loose interest and have other things come up in life. Stales suck, but there's not really many reasonable reasons not to take 5 minutes to handle the critical parts of your turn, we're not even out of year one yet.

Again, don't want to sound like a jerk, just a gentle reminder that pacing is an important part of the fun of the game.

[Darkwind]

First--why'd you have to go, BigandScary (well, I already know, but still)? I'll miss your, well, your prologue I guess.

Also, I agree with Baalz--this game was supposed to be slow originally, but at this point it's getting a bit (only a bit! We're not at the 'laugh-at-a-decade-from-now' or 'try-desperately-to-forget-ever-happened' stage yet) comical. At this stage (for me at least) doing my turn and writing a huge, giant story (the kind I'm prone to posting) could probably take at most three hours, and that's for a really big story with a writer's block larger than Austria.

Edit: Also trying not to sound like a douche. Hopefully I succeeded.

[BigandScary]

With a creative writing class and poli-sci I have more writing to do than I can deal with. Any extra time is put into learning latin. I have been able to do the turns, but the writing has simply eluded me. I'm already so far behind, and I seriously doubt that I could catch up, which is why I think that a replacement is a good idea.

[Darkwind]

Ah, so your excuse is having more important things to write. :p It's fine. A prologue is better than nothing, at least (and I think there are a couple nations still out there with nothing, due to real life, laziness, or perhaps both).

[Incabulos]

My apologies, I have the best intentions but lack in follow through at the moment.

[Ruminant]

I know Baalz, the sooner we get moving again the better.

BigandScary is out for personal reasons, can't argue with that I guess, and NKIcan is AWOL so I've posted looking for replacements. If we don't get any bites in a few days to a week then I'll consider taking over Pan/C'tis, just so their not free food for surrounding nations. I doubt I'll do any writing for 'em. Unless I find myself particularly inspired by what I find ;)

[Baalz]

I would like to politely request that an effort be made to keep the game on track. We're about a week and a half since the last turn, and 4 months(!) since people signed up while we're only on turn 10. Big breaks tend to derail games as people loose interest and have other things come up in life. Stales suck, but there's not really many reasonable reasons not to take 5 minutes to handle the critical parts of your turn, we're not even out of year one yet.

Again, don't want to sound like a jerk, just a gentle reminder that pacing is an important part of the fun of the game.

I'm having trouble understanding this delay. It's been 10 days since I posted this, is this game dead? I think it may be even if it resumes this second....

[Darkwind]

The game is set to resume today, I think. The whole people-dropping-out thing, plus the Llamaserver going crazy, was quite a bit.

Plus, Ruminant never managed to get those two subs he (?) needed. So yeah, this game is in fairly dire straits right now.

Edit: Hmm, it was due for today yesterday I think, but now it's due for Saturday.

[Ruminant]

Terribly sorry for the delay.

I'd like you all to welcome Agarthan Raider, our new sub for C'tis! Three cheers for him :p

I will be taking over Pangaea for now. As soon as Raider sends me his email address the game will be back on track.

[Darkwind]

Three cheers for C'tissian Raider of Agartha (or is it Agarthan Raider of C'tis? :p )!

Hopefully no one else has dropped out after this long wait :p

[Ruminant]

Alright, soon as me and Raider finish our turns the game is back on. Hope the break hasn't left any of you too dispirited ;)

[Ruminant]

Story up for Pangaea, by the way ;)

I think this sabbatical was exactly what I needed to let my creative juices marinate for a while.

[Darkwind]

I'm not sure I'll have the time to get everything I want down, but I have time to get the two 'big' stories down, I hope. Also I need to save the name Zukkekon.
----
Cyy Coth walked upwards through the beach. He broke through the waves quietly, concentrating on stealth. Ahead of him lay a dense jungle. Behind him lay the Sea of Lantan, recently annexed into the domain of Atlantis.

There was a crash as the Triton Knights charged into Cyy. Their long spears and lances did nothing to him. He batted idly at the Knights as his wife moved in from behind him to begin helping him to provide the beating. In a few minutes, the Knights were scattering wildly as the main part of the defense rolled in. The triton militia stabbed into him, but by Critias's divine power their spears did little and, though he could feel their poison running through him, he felt divine magic keeping it at bay, even repairing his body. They fared even worse, scattering fear after facing the gargantuan Atlantian royalty.

The dense jungles were reported to be home of the Lanka, a race of monkey beings, and their demonic masters. And, he knew, these demons ruled over themselves by a pretender to the throne of Pantokrator. This pretender claimed to be King of All Sources of Water, he claimed to be the Turner of the Flood. And he demanded territory in the sea. I could walk into that jungle right now, Cyy Coth thought, and destroy the Lankan rabble defending it. I could put an end to this farce of a god. But, he knew, he could not. He would fall in the end, he knew it.

"An officer will be coming soon to investigate, regardless of how stelathy we are. We must be off soon. We can't fight the entire Lankan Army--or an entire army, dear. We are not gods, that is why I serve Critias." Zukkekon's voice was slow and heavy. She began her descent to the sea floor and home, or close to it than this strange world.

Cyy Coth threw the inscribed shell on the ground and turned back to the sea.
----
"We been under their rule a while now. Ain't too much difference, under them or those bastards afore them. At least these Abyssians care enough not to rape our daughters when they get drunk, not that they'd get anything but a burnt corpse." The barkeep barked and spat on the floor. "But enough about us in Serpent Hills. What news d'you have, stranger?"

Inutho considered his words carefully. "These Abyssians, the ones that conquered you? They're expanding. I've been travelling the conquered territories, seeing what's there, what they do. They swoop in, destroy the local guards, instill a couple of loyal Abyssian officers, they move out for new lands."

"Hah! That's not news. So where does a frog-man like you, runnin' around an' spyin' on everyone an' all, come from, anyways? Men on fire, that I can believe-some crazy bastard of a wizard got angry, cursed a poor guy. But a frog-man? What sorta ugly guy was your dad, he went out with a toad?"

Inutho stood up. "Consider your next words carefully. I suggest you apologize for the insult."

Another short bark. "You ain't gonna do nothin' to me, you twisted little mutant, you freak o' nature."

When the barkeep was sufficiently gutted, Inutho dragged the body behind the saloon--that was what these barbarians called them, it seemed--and lit it on fire to hide the method the man died. Who it was would be obvious, in a small town like this. Inutho's only hope was to get away as fast as possible. Always on the run, always trying to be one step ahead of his pursuers. A scout is supposed to stay stealthy and gather information, but Inutho had never made a very good scout--he left a trail of blood wherever he went.

"Hey! What you doin'?" The low, deep voice was brimming over with poorly-concealed rage. Inutho already knew he was dealing with one of the worse specimens of Abyssian.

Inutho swerved and began running full-speed to the east.
----
And I only get to the two. Oh well. Better than none.
Edit: Also, isn't it turn 11, not turn 8?

[Ruminant]

Good point ;)
I'll bring the wiki up to date.

[Darkwind]

Well, I haven't heard much about what other people are doing, though I myself have been giving away tons of stuff regarding my location, what I'm doing, and who I neighbor in the Name of the Story(tm). So, ahem, what's up with everyone else? I know Helheim is at war with Agartha, but not too much else. I, myself, will soon have a rousing story of sweet victory over an ancient enemy (or a bitter defeat that increases the enmity) quite soon. :) Cax Kulu shall be avenged!

[Ruminant]

Having a little bit of trouble getting in contact with Ulm, Marverni and Arcoscephale so I might have to delay a day or two. Hopefully they'll be back in touch soon.

[Incabulos]

I am dabbling about some huge moorland with the coast to our West; sending my pretender off to survey his lands. Apparently there are elements here rthat are not happy with our rule and they have incited the local primitives to rise up against us on several occasions. We have found a local group of water mages who have agreed to work with us, as our opposing elements offer ample opportunity for experimentation. We have also found some sort of portal that reeks with conjuratuion magick but have yet to find a use for it.

We have seen another nation traverse the lands to our North, we believe they are Marverni or some similar ilk but we have not made contact.

[Darkwind]

I've been surfing the wiki (:cool:) and I've noticed a few people don't have any updates, on the wiki at least, specifically Tifone (who plays Oceania), C'tis (though Agarthan Raider hasn't had much time to get together a reasonable update) and Soyweiser(of Abysia; by the way sorry for Inutho's trail of blood :D). Even fewer people have updated their pages past turn 8. So, I ask, what's up? Do you guys just not know where the wiki (http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Chronicles_EA) is or how to use it? I know Tifone is separated by a language barrier (Tifone is from Italy, right?), maybe some of you other guys are? Is there just some sort of prevaling current of apathy or massive e-flu keeping you from being able to write stories? The world demands to know!

The world being me, of course.

EDIT: For the truly e-ignorant, click on the word 'wiki' to get to the Dom3wiki page for Chronicles EA.

[Wrana]

Sorry for not making texts, but you are the only other nation I had contact with so far. And there is only so much I could write about conquering independents... :(
I suspect that one of my potential neighbors was Mictlan...

[Wrana]

Apathy is closer to target, I think. :( I still hope to catch up when (if) something interesting happens, but... :(

[Darkwind]

Fighting independents is about all the early game has to offer. :o You could consider it a chance to practice your writing skills, to make the big battles that much more epic. Or experiment :p Try different viewpoints, styles, etc. Have a blast while you can!

@your second post: If nothing interesting is happening, MAKE something interesting happen. Write about a vast parade in your god's honor to celebrate some victory or another. Or perhaps two of your commanders have an, ahem, interesting history. Perhaps a commoner is challenging one of your senior officers? Go wild! Make Lanka come alive!

This applies to pretty much everyone, by the way. Even I could use a few more updates--sure, they might be long, but I haven't hit every turn like Caelum in Chronicles MA. :)

[Ruminant]

I've just been swamped lately so I haven't had time to get as much writing as I'd like done. Got a bit of breathing room at the moment though, so I might get down to polishing off those turns I haven't finished writing..

[Mithras]

I'm experiencing minor technical difficulties which will stop me from getting turns in and, because I'm bone idle, it may take some time to fix. Taking into account the nature of this game I'd like to keep going, which probably means quite a few stales. Since I have no neighbors and the likelyhood is I'll get back in a couple of turns it shouldn't be to unbalancing. But if you get a willing sub I wouldn't mind, especially if it looks like a neighbor is about to roll over me.
Thanks and sorry.

[Ruminant]

Alright, Mith. Fair enough. I'll take over your turns until we can get a temp sub. Hope to see you back in game ASAP ;)

Unfortunately Maverni and Ulm are still AWOL : /

Let's wait until Monday; if they haven't submitted turns or contacted me by then I'll look for permanent subs for them.

[Wrana]

I may drop out of the game. No neighbors and slow turns are bad for keeping interest. :( Please, include Lanka while looking for subs (if the game will continue, that is).
In case of voting for who'd written the best texts in this project, I vote for Darkwind.

[Darkwind]

I don't want to give up on this game just yet. :D And you have me for a neighbor!

But, I do agree we might want to speed the turns up a little. Stopping half a week for every person who starts dropping out isn't going to help the people-dropping-out problem. Maybe set the turn to early Sunday and try to keep on track after that (obviously if something big comes up we won't be able to, but it's a slow game anyways so there's not much need otherwise to keep people from staling (unless they chronically procrastinate like me, in which case they (and me) should break the habit))(that was an excessive use of parentheses ;)).

[Ruminant]

Alright, we're hosting in just under four hours and we're gonna keep on every 48 hours. No more stoppage.

I'll try to find subs for Ulm/Maverni and tentatively start looking for a Lanka sub, though I hope you change your mind once the turns start rolling past Wrana ;)

[Ruminant]

Phew. For a moment there I scared myself into thinking Mictlan was still a human player; ignore this post people, it's merely a by-product of a late night :o

Will edit the wiki in the morning.

[Baalz]

So, after a quarter of a year playing we're on turn 14 of this game, have 12 nations left, 3 of whom need subs, and we're playing on a map with 466 provinces. Sorry, but I'm going to have to suggest that this game is dead. Is there any strong sentiment to keep playing by many people?

[Incabulos]

I think it's dead Jim. :(

[Wrana]

I've already voted for winner. ;)
I'd also say that the following are things that went wrong:
1. We started this project at the same time as MA game. It would be better if we looked how it would turn out first.
2. Some confusion with game threads at start. Maybe it was insignificant, but still...
3. The time spent to set up wiki. I don't see that it added particularly to this project, but it took time and took still more while we learned something about wiki (the latter may still prove useful, but it was still time...)
Maybe some other things I've missed?

[Darkwind]

Well, I'd like to keep on playing, but if the overwhelming sentiment is that the game is dead then I'll live. That is a rather large number of dropouts, too.

Plus, I haven't been keeping up with AARS lately (though I've been meaning too), sine I've been spending my time messing around with the falling sand game.

[Ruminant]

Yeah, as much as I enjoyed the game at the start I have to admit my enthusiasm is lagging too after all the crap that's going on. We're down to 8 active players on a 466 province map and it's the kind of game that's going to be hell finding subs for. Let's take this thing off life support and let it fade gently away into the night... *sniff* Poor EA Chronicles, you were too beautiful for this world.

Kudos to everyone who participated, and especially those who wrote on the wiki ;)

Edit: And to Agarthan Raider, sorry to make you come in for the last two turns of the game. Thanks again for the sub.

[Darkwind]

Well, majority opinion seems to be that the game is dead (plus only Tifone and Baalz have turned in their turns at this point) so I suppose it's tie to end this game. It was fun while it lasted :o

So, with the game ending this early, is there a winner?

[llamabeast]

Gosh, that's a shame. Chronicles games seem to be a bit of a struggle it seems.

[Wrana]

Well, majority opinion seems to be that the game is dead (plus only Tifone and Baalz have turned in their turns at this point) so I suppose it's tie to end this game. It was fun while it lasted :o

So, with the game ending this early, is there a winner?
You, as a majority of myself determines (it seems nobody else wantes to vote).
And yes, it was a fun initially. Did anybody else noticed any mistakes we should avoid? :confused:
Sometimes at autumn I would like to think about something similar... though probably a game by like-minded people without writing requirement could generate no less texts (as it would run faster).

[Ruminant]

I thought Maverni started out interestingly and I really liked Baalz's concept but for pure quality and consistancy it's all yours Darkwind ;)

As for mistakes made, I -really- shouldn't have made all those turn postponements. The slow pace was what just devestated interest in the end. Also we didn't quite end up with enough players for our map after all the initial dropouts. Some people had interesting clusters, Maverni for instance was in between Helheim/Pangaea/Abyssia and somewhat close to Agartha and, according to Darkwind's stories ^^, Atlantis. Agartha's capital was only a few provinces away from Oceania's and I bordered with Helheim really early on. Sauromantia on the other hand hadn't seen a single neighbour by the end of the game.

[Agarthan Raider]

Edit: And to Agarthan Raider, sorry to make you come in for the last two turns of the game. Thanks again for the sub.

no worries.

sorry i wasn't able to get anything written on this. i was just sort of juggling everything in my head, trying to figure out what angle i wanted to take, it was kind of hard coming in cold like that.

i would love to do another one of these from the beginning, if the kinks can get worked out.

[Wrana]

Yes, too few people for such a map, too. I agree. Especially as the only other nation I met was Atlantis - the perfect case of peace due to absolutely different interests!

[Darkwind]

Well, since this thread has been bumbed, I might as well post that I actually didn't have any intention of attacking Lanka. I was planning on building up to some heat-resisting spells and throwing cold water (Hah!) on Abysia's fire with buffed Deep Ones (100% fire resistance, hah! Again!) Not to mention, my start was rather nice because I don't think I had any competitors for the sea and I had easy land access. I could slack off and still survive reasonably well (I actually only had one fort by turn 14, though I had plans to get another; I simply didn't have the money).

I wasn't sure what to do with Arcoscephale on my border, though. They never contacted me. I guess they took my short message as a warning. Deep Ones only want friends :( (well, and food, but don't remind them of that or you might lose an arm).

[Wrana]

Well, I had no intention for war with Deep Ones either - I could win on land with my sacreds, but I would need to make a horde of water-breathing items to actually invade you. Of course, I gained access to water mages just in case ;) - but this is what I meant by completely different interests above!
On the other hand, it was a pity that I had met nobody else at all - I was planning to either invade someone or entrench some turns before... Having all southern landmass to myself was actually pretty depressing - even if I'd won, it would be mainly due to luck of placement... :(