Legendary Ordeals - Isokron Wins!

[Burnsaber]

Game is up on llamaserver (http://www.llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=LegendaryOrdeals)!




I have sent this message to the most powerful of my servants. I hereby declare that I'm growing weary of ruling this creation of mine. I'm going to leave this plane for another place of being and create a new and better world.

However, as rotten and dreadful this plane is, I will not leave it without a guardian. You are now pretenders and will compete against each other to be next Pantokrator - ultimate ruler of this realm. The stakes are high for losers will be thrown into Tartarus for eternal suffering! However, I know that you just might have what it takes to sit on the Throne of the World and saw you fitting of receiving this message.

As you slay each other in the fields of battle, you can request boons from me, if you feel that you're worthy enough! I'll also test your mettle from time to time by ordeals. Do you have the strenght to win the Arena? Or are you pure enough to avoid the judgement of my Maidens of Vengeance? Rise to power! Muster your minions! My throne awaits!

THE ASCENSION WARS HAVE BEGUN!


Okay, time for another one of my "crazy" games. In this game, I'll be playing the role of a Pantakrator, looking for a successor. We will be playing with a special mod that gives the Pantokrator player all sorts crazy tools to affect the game (within certain limits). I'll give an extensive list below;

PANTOKRATOR:

-> Will start in a island in the middle of the map with no neighbours
-> Attacking Pantokrator's provinces is not allowed unless otherwise stated
-> Will have the "Eyes of God" casted from turn 2 with ridicilious amount of gems. Casting the "Fate of Oedipus" is forbidden


ORDEALS

-> Ordeal will come each 5 turns. These ordeals can be nearly anything. Commencing of Arena, Demands for sacrifice, castings of certain globals (like Ghost Armada or the Kindly Ones) or the release of wild beasts. Some ordeals can be positive. These events will be annoying, but not gamebreaking. I'll also be sure that the events are fair, in the sense they will either affect all players equally or have an equal chance of affecting of each player (in the case of an ordeal that hits a random province).
-> I will give a RP description of the Ordeal in-game, but post a "gameplay" version using metagame terms here in this thread.


GENERAL

-> Because there is a hard-coded limit on messages that one is able to send per turn, I will keep in-game messaging to a minimum. I'll inform of Ordeals with the "Message all command", thought. So I'm forced to do a lot of my diplo through these forums. So remember to check your PM's regularly!

-> I'd like everyone to note that I'm playing two roles here. I'm Burnsaber, the game admin, but I'm also Pantokrator. Note that these are not the same thing. Pantokrator has no grudges that Burnsaber has, for example. In return, you should not hold grudges against Burnsaber for what Pantokrator has done. When I'm talking as Burnsaber, I'll just use this regular text. But Pantokrator speaks like this:



I'm the Pantokrator, bow before me you worm!


-> I know that the most devious of you are planning to attack Pantakrator in the game, perhaps just for MP reasons. Let's now just agree that it REALLY is forbidden. Not because I'm on a power trip of some sort, but it will make my life a lot simpler. My investment in this game will be rather large, since I need to micro up the ordeals and deal with a lot of diplomacy. I just won't have time to strat microing combat scripts to boot. This is the first game like this and I want to keep it as simple as possible, perhaps in Ordeals II "defeating Pantokrator" will be a victory condition (or even remotely plausible).


BOONS

-> Boon is a numeric value between 1-12. Starting boon values in this game are between 4-10.

-> Players can only request one boon per "event cycle" (aka 5 turns), this is to prevent a player suddenly jumping in power because they used 5 boons in one big swoop.

-> There are five (now six) types of boons (more will be introduced with ordeals, thought):
1. Items
2. Gems
3. Gold
4. Information
5. Casting of a Ritual Spell
6. Starting Arena Deathmatch (enabled since turn 13), this costs two boon and can only be used once per event cycle.

-> The more specific the reguest for a boon is, the less gems/items/gold will be given or more boon will be penalized. For example;

"I'd like magical items as a boon to defeat my foes!"

- Will get a bunch of randomized items. Something like 2 trinkets, 2 (con2) items and 1 (con4) item + a chance for a con6 item.

"I'd like items that give fire resistance to defeat Abysia!"

- Will get some FR items, but less items than the above example

"I want Rings of Fire!"

- Will get his Rings, but it will cost more boon because of his insolence. How dare he demand something from Pantokrator!

-> Once per event cycle, I will roll for a random player and grant him a boon. This "extra boon" does not count towards the limit stated above. This will make it harder to be "safe" with just 1 boon.

-> If player reguests for a boon or would get one due to the RND roll, but has no boon, he will be warned. Should this happen again, he will be smitten by appropiate measures (nothing too dramatic thought, getting smitten will be annoying, not game changing)

-> The tables I use to determine the amount of gems/items/gold for each boon will be upgraded every 20 turns to yield out more stuff.

-> Due to message limit, I'm only able to send 20 messages (a'k'a instances of items/gems/gold) per turn. If I'm going to hit the message limit, I'll leave the rest to be sent the next turn.

-> If the request for a boon is too outrageous (like requesting for a RoW's and other high end items or high end remote rituals), I will grant a random boon instead (with the penalty boon normally associated with "specific requests"). "Insolent Fool, you know nothing! Here is what you shall receive!". Note though that I will upgrade the boon tables every 20 turns. A reguest that would be "outrageous" on turn 16 might be reasonable on turn 66.

ARENA

-> We are using "Mark of the Champion" mod, which changes the Champion's Tridents into a special helmet, this will make it a much more worthile item. Also having control over the Arena Champion is worth one conquest point, if the champion in question has no magic picks (holy magic does not count as "magic" for this purpose).

-> Winning the arena is always worth 1 bonus boon.




Settings

Era: All

Players: As many as possible, hopefully at least 9 land players and 2 water player. We can fit 10 land and 2 water players (not counting the Pantokrator)

Settings: Renaming on, HoF 15, otherwise normal for MA

Mods: Compilation mod from this post and the single-age mod. (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=608870&postcount=41)

Diplomacy:
1) Machievellian. The Pantokrator will be pleased by blood and (in-character) drama.

Map: Land of Ordeals, downloadable from this post.

Other rules
1) Don't be an smartass and attack Pantokrator. It will not end well.
2) No filling of enemy labs or copying Bogus orders. Everything else is free game.
3) You can contact Pantokrator by forum PM's, e-mail to "burnsaber (at) hotmail (dot) com" or occasionally in IrC.
4) Fight to the bitter end! Or at least try to find a sub if you're not having fun or have the time anymore.
5) Upon sign up, you must write the word "Pantokrator" in your sign-up post (no context needed) or your sign up will be ignored until you do so. Consider this as a test for me to know that you have read the rules and understand what you are signing up for.


Hosting:
hosting will be slower than normal for this game, to give me the time I need to prepare for events and to deal with reguests for boons.

30h for turns 1-25
48h for turns 26-60
72h after turn 60

Delays granted on request.

Victory Condition:

1) Holding control over 5 "Conquest Points" for 3 consecutive turns
- Each capitol you control is worth a Conquest Point
- Having control of the Arena Champion is also worth a conquest point, if the champion has no magic picks.
- Conquest points can also be awarded from ordeals
2) Concensus from other players



------------------Players and their Conquest Points------------------


1. Burnsaber -- Pantokrator (admin) -- 0, cannot win
2. Trumanator -- LA C'tis -- 0 (IN TARTARUS)
3. Gregstrom -- MA R'lyeh -- 1
4. slMagnvox -- EA Ulm -- 0 (IN TARTARUS)
5. pyg -- EA Hinnom -- 0 (IN TARTARUS)
6. Aethyr -- EA T'ien C'hi -- 1
7. Lingchih -- MA Shinuyama -- 0 (IN TARTARUS)
8. Meglobob -- MA T'ien C'hi -- 3 (three capitals)
9. Kianduatha -- LA Jomon -- 1
10. Isokron -- EA Lanka -- 5 (five capitals)
11. Baalz (AI) -- LA Atlantis -- 1 (one capitals)
12. Sensori -- MA Ashdod -- 0 (IN TARTARUS)
13. GameExtremist -- EA Panganea -- 0 (IN TARTARUS)



Special thanks to vladikus and Agema for the mod and the idea. (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=43628&highlight=watcher)

[Gregstrom]

Oh great and lordly Pantokrator, this humble one pleads admission to this mighty contest as lord of the Ilithid hordes of R'lyeh, custodians of the Fallen Star.

If I might be so bold, could I also beg that the mods Holy War and Magic Sites be included?

[slMagnvox]

This amuses us, Pantokrator!

Please include Enigma of Steel Ulm to the rolls!

[pyg]

I'd like play. This sounds really cool concept wise and pretty crazy in terms of the modding.

I'd be happy to play with any/all of the mods suggested. I particularly like CPCS, Holy War, and Thugs.

I'd like to play Hinnom, because currently I'm just in love with this nation. I think Hinnom is one of the heavywieghts and am aware that just by choosing it I will probably invoke the wrath of the Pantokrator, or at least not his favor.

If all the players agreed to it, it might be interesting to post one of the Pantokrator's .trns (several to many turns old) every so often. This might be interesting to non-players as well.

[Aethyr]

Interesting idea...hard to resist. I'll play. I'll choose a nation in a bit and inform the Pantokrator.

[militarist]

I want Ashdod.
It will be my 3d MP, 2 others are just started as well, so it will not be hard to balance :)

[Lingchih]

Hinnom and Ashdod in the same game? How odd. How will they work out their differences.

But no CBM? That seems foolish.

[Burnsaber]

Also, I'd like to specify a bit what the "boon" system entails. I'm currently in the process of creating charts which will state how many gems/items or gold I will give in each boon. Since I'm a tabletop RPG veteran, many different kind dice will be rolled to determine the final amount and type.

The more specific the reguest for a boon is, the less gems/items/gold will be given or more boon will be penalized. For example;

"I'd like magical items as a boon to defeat my foes!"

- Will get a bunch of randomized items. Something like 2 trinkets, 2 (con2) items and 1 (con4) item + a chance for a con6 item.

"I'd like items that give fire resistance to defeat Abysia!"

- Will get some FR items, but less items than the above example

"I want Rings of Fire!"

- Will get his Rings, but it will cost more boon because of his insolence. How dare he demand something from Pantokrator!

I'll also document each boon I give and release the charts & information at the end of the game.

I'm also going to make a plan of what each ordeal entails before the game starts. This is for fairness's sake, so that the events in the game won't affect the ordeals.



If all the players agreed to it, it might be interesting to post one of the Pantokrator's .trns (several to many turns old) every so often. This might be interesting to non-players as well.


It's possible. Anyways, I'll be sure to document my .trn files. I also might give a player acceess to one of my older .trn files as a boon (heavy intel).

I want Ashdod.
It will be my 3d MP, 2 others are just started as well, so it will not be hard to balance :)

You might want to read the first post again. There is a "magic word" you need to write in your sign-up post. I know it's sort of stupid, but some while ago we had a problem with players signing up for games before reading the rules, hence the password system.

[Burnsaber]

Hinnom and Ashdod in the same game? How odd. How will they work out their differences.

But no CBM? That seems foolish.

*Cough*


Mods: Compilation mod with all the necessary mods will be made. So far, it will include CBM 1.6, DBS (mod that disables game-winning bonus sites) and a GM mod.

[Lingchih]

Gack!. Give me Shin. I don't have time for this game, but I can't resist it.
Pantokrator be damned.

[Burnsaber]

Gack!. Give me Shin. I don't have time for this game, but I can't resist it.
Pantokrator be damned.

Well, the hosting times are slightly longer than normally, so that I can deal with the reguests for boons and prepare Ordeals.

[Meglobob]

Should resist joining but unusual settings too tempting...:doh:

Oh great and mighty Panktokrator can you grant your humble servant MA T'ien C'hi?

I like all your mod selections except banning spells, why bother when playing with CBM?

[militarist]

Pantokrator :)

[Aethyr]

I'll take EA TC. Thanks

[kianduatha]

Now this is just getting silly. To continue the trend of people picking earlier/later ages of the same nations, I'll go for Jomon.

Most honored Pantokrator, would you be so kind as to use CPCS?

[Burnsaber]

Now this is just getting silly. To continue the trend of people picking earlier/later ages of the same nations, I'll go for Jomon.


I too have noted this trend. I will include Streamers & Standards in the compilation mod to avoid the presence of two nations with the same flag.

[Aethyr]

Thank you o wise and powerful Pantokrator, we would not want to be confused with our inferior followers from a later age.

[Isokron]

To avoid giving our hardworking pantokrator any more multiage confusion I will take Lanka.

[cleveland]

What a neat idea. All kinds of cool ordeals come to mind, with varying levels of cooperation needed from neighbors/Pantokrator:

Walk Upon Burning Coals
Win a battle under the Heat from Hell BE.

Leap of Faith
Cloud trapeze/teleport a commander into a specific province and survive the ensuing battle.

Wrestle a Gator
Have an un-equiped commander kill a Bog Beast in melee combat.

The Ring of Fire
Conquer a province using only Fire Bolas. No damage of any other kind is permitted.

Tame a Lion
Obtain a Kithaironic Lion by whatever means possible.

Swim Shark Infested Waters
Have a non-amphibious commander survive combat under the Shark Attack BE. Oh, and he's gotta kill at least 1 shark.

Baptism by Fire
Kill a Fire Elemental with an indy priest.

40 Days and 40 Nights
Defeat an enemy army with nothing but starving units.

Vision Quest
Traverse a lone commander to a distant province, and have him return safely home.

Climb the Highest Peak
Obtain a fortress in a true mountain province.

Save a Virgin
Defeat an enemy such that at least 1 of his blood slaves is left on the field.

Slay a Dragon
Self explanatory. Drakes don't count.

:D

[Baalz]

Arr, I reckon its about high time for LA Atlantis to rack up a win for the hall of fame and these be pirate toads. Hide yer booty boys, as I'm taking to the seas and none of your holds or womenfolk are safe. I intend to be the next Pantokrator and shall build fresh ships from the bones of these presumptuous giants. At the risk of sounding like a boot licking land lubber I must say I'm impressed with the Pantokrators cleverness, this will be a contest to remember!

[kianduatha]

Something tells me the seas are going to be crowded.

[militarist]

Where is my Ashdod, o , Mighty Pantokrator?

[militarist]

Burnsaber... I'd like to notice that Holy War, idea of which is really great (it's so painful to have ) rebalance the game quite strong ,and some nations which have best priests get a really good boost by this mode. If all games you boon base on, would be played with this mod, we would have a very different statistics. What do you think?

[Lingchih]

I'm not Lingchic, btw, Burn, I'm Lingchih.

[sansanjuan]

"...we sing the funniest love songs
to everyone we meet....
HEY HEY we're Bandar Log
People say our PD sucks
we're too busy-a sing'n
to put anybody down..."

Bandar please (but don't tell the wife I joined another game)
-ssj

[militarist]

And I vote for CPCS, btw, would be fun to try it. The game is going to be quite Crazy anyway, so it will just add some new feelings :)

[GameExtremist]

The forests are the natural place for the next Pantokrator to be born and thus EA Pangaea shall take part in this contest of Pantokratoredness.

[Burnsaber]

"...we sing the funniest love songs
to everyone we meet....
HEY HEY we're Bandar Log
People say our PD sucks
we're too busy-a sing'n
to put anybody down..."

Bandar please (but don't tell the wife I joined another game)
-ssj

As hilarious as your song was, it lacked the "magic word". I'm sorry about that, better luck next time!


Okay, the game is full. As soon as I get home on Monday, I'll finish up the list of Ordeals and then start working up the finishing ouches to the map and mod. And, since we only got 1,5 water players, I'll set four UW provinces as "low population" (and #nostart). This should give the UW players less of an ecomonic advantage.

Also, I decided to incorporate the "Mark of the Champion" mod into this game. It basically changes the "Champion's Trident" into a helmet, making it a lot more worthwhile item to have. I'm also thinking of enforcing a rule of "no-mages" (priests okay thought) when it comes into arena fights, to prevent obvious chassises from dominating it. Opinions?


On the mod front, this the current tally up (with 12 players a mod needs 6 or more votes for it. Negative vote counteracts a positive vote):


Holy War +(pyg) +(gregstrom) +(Meglobob) (+++)
CPCS +(pyg) +(Meglobob) +(Kianduatha) +(militarist) (++++)
FW Thugs +(pyg) +(Meglobob) (++)
Magic site mod +(gregstrom) +(Meglobob) -(Trumanator) (+)


If you want use your boon to get two votes on a single mod, just PM me.

Burnsaber... I'd like to notice that Holy War, idea of which is really great (it's so painful to have ) rebalance the game quite strong ,and some nations which have best priests get a really good boost by this mode. If all games you boon base on, would be played with this mod, we would have a very different statistics. What do you think?

Hmm. I guess that you mean that the HoF wins are not accurate if we bring a HW into account, since a all of the HoF wins were played without Holy War? I kind of see your point, but the boost that HW gives is not that extreme as to affect nation balance so much (since it also considerably boosts the H access of many only H1 priest nations).


The current scheducle of the game:

Monday: Ordeals Done, present final rules.
Wednesday: Map and mod done, game up on llamaserver.
Saturday-Sunday: Start, if all pretenders are in..

[sansanjuan]

"...we sing the funniest love songs
to everyone we meet....
HEY HEY we're Bandar Log
People say our PD sucks
we're too busy-a sing'n
to put anybody down..."

Bandar please (but don't tell the wife I joined another game)
-ssj

Alas.. I did forget the magic word. I will have to swear-off drinking and posting (again). Have a great game all. The monkeys will have their day another day..
ssj

[Baalz]

The salty dogs oh Atlantis be requestin some bottles o' grog as a boon from the Pantokrator, fer we're ready to hit the waves in search oh booty. We be needing some fresh hold slaves and seems giants would pull a fine oar. Or old Crusty Pete's been nagging me to get him a lizard cabin boy for years so maybe we'll be visitin the swamps. Then again, I have quite a taste for pickled squid monsters, I wonder what kind of bait to use on that hook...

[Gregstrom]

Squid bait? Use clams. The squids are suffering serious withdrawal symptoms.

[Aethyr]

I would like to add my vote for the following mods:

Holy War
CPCS
FW Thugs
Magic site mod
Standards & Streamers

[militarist]

Mark of the Champion DBS (mod that disables game-winning bonus sites) and a GM mod

-links to these mods pls?

[pyg]

Well Mister Pantokrator, if your passing grog out the fellas here in Hinnom could stand a drop. The weather has been a bit hot lately and little grog would be fine... sure do appreciate how the slaves dress this time of year. We are not so sure about our abilities at oar pulling but we got Ed practicing right now with arms and legs. Speaking of, it's dinner time!

[Burnsaber]

I would like to add my vote for the following mods:

Holy War
CPCS
FW Thugs
Magic site mod
Standards & Streamers

I moved the mod-vote "tally up" counter to the first post. All of you have until wednesday to vote.

Mark of the Champion DBS (mod that disables game-winning bonus sites) and a GM mod

-links to these mods pls?

I added link to the Mark of the Champion mod to the first post. As for the other mods:

DBS: Just disables some sites so that they cannot be randomly generated. If you want to download it, just follow my signature link. From the mod description:
"This mod disables vanilla school bonus sites, which possess at least one of the following: Alteration or Construction bonus of any level, Conjuration or Blood bonus of over 20, or other school bonus over 30."

GM mod: Is a special mod that grants the Pantokrator player free wishes, obsence summons and the like. It only affects me, so it's not that important for testing.

[militarist]

Holy War -
CPCS + (said earlier)
FW Thugs -
Magic site mod -
Banned Spells +

[Lingchih]

Holy War - yes
CPCS - yes
FW Thugs - yes
Magic site mod - yes
Standards & Streamers - yes

[Lingchih]

The leaders of Shinuyama were gripped by fervent fevers, when last they posted. Of course we do not damn the Pantokrater, but embrace him, and all that he does while he remains in this world.

[Burnsaber]

Okay, I've listed up the Ordeals. If I find willing 3rd parties, I might show them off to make sure that they are "fair".

I also updated the rules in the first post. I've put everything new below;


ORDEALS

-> Ordeal will come every 5 turns. (One in 1st turn, one in 6th, one in 11th, and so forth)
-> I will give a RP description of the Ordeal in-game, but post a "gameplay" version using metagame terms here in this thread.


GENERAL

-> Because there is a hard-coded limit on messages that one is able to send per turn, I will keep in-game messaging to a minimum. I'll inform of Ordeals with the "Message all command", thought. So I'm forced to do a lot of my diplo through these forums. So remember to check your PM's regularly!

-> I'd like everyone to note that I'm playing two roles here. I'm Burnsaber, the game admin, but I'm also Pantokrator. Note that these are not the same thing. Pantokrator has no grudges that Burnsaber has, for example. In return, you should not hold grudges against Burnsaber for what Pantokrator has done. When I'm talking as Burnsaber, I'll just use this regular text. But Pantokrator speaks like this:



I'm the Pantokrator, bow before me you worm!


-> I know that the most devious of you are planning to attack Pantakrator in the game, perhaps just for MP reasons. Let's now just agree that it REALLY is forbidden. Not because I'm on a power trip of some sort, but it will make my life a lot simpler. My investment in this game will be rather large, since I need to micro up the ordeals and deal with a lot of diplomacy. I just won't have time to strat microing combat scripts to boot. This is the first game like this and I want to keep it as simple as possible, perhaps in Ordeals II "defeating Pantokrator" will be a victory condition (or even pausible).


BOONS

-> Boon is a numeric value between 1-12. Starting boon values in this game are between 4-10.

-> Players can only request one boon per "event cycle" (aka 5 turns), this is to prevent a player suddenly jumping in power because they used 5 boons in one big swoop.

-> There are five types of boons (more will be introduced with ordeals, thought):
1. Items
2. Gems
3. Gold
4. Information
5. Casting of a Ritual Spell

-> The more specific the reguest for a boon is, the less gems/items/gold will be given or more boon will be penalized. For example;

"I'd like magical items as a boon to defeat my foes!"

- Will get a bunch of randomized items. Something like 2 trinkets, 2 (con2) items and 1 (con4) item + a chance for a con6 item.

"I'd like items that give fire resistance to defeat Abysia!"

- Will get some FR items, but less items than the above example

"I want Rings of Fire!"

- Will get his Rings, but it will cost more boon because of his insolence. How dare he demand something from Pantokrator!

-> Once per event cycle, I will roll for a random player and grant him a boon. This "extra boon" does not count towards the limit stated above. This will make it harder to be "safe" with just 1 boon.

-> If player reguests for a boon or would get one due to the RND roll, but has no boon, he will be warned. Should this happen again, he will be smitten by appropiate measures (nothing too dramatic thought, getting smitten will be annoying, not game changing)

-> The tables I use to determine the amount of gems/items/gold for each boon will be upgraded every 20 turns to yield out more stuff.

-> Due to message limit, I'm only able to send 20 messages (a'k'a instances of items/gems/gold) per turn. If I'm going to hit the message limit, I'll leave the rest to be sent the next turn.

ARENA

-> We are using "Mark of the Champion" mod, which changes the Champion's Trident into a special helmet, this will make it a much more wortwhile item. Also having control over the Arena Champion is worth one conquest point, if the champion in question has no magic picks (holy magic does not count as "magic" for this purpose).

[Belac]

I would be interested in being a willing 3rd party in reviewing some of the ordeals.

[Baalz]

I'm wondering if it might be good to have a limited set of rituals that can be requested as there are some really, really game changing stuff that otherwise opens up - like calling for an earth attack as you see somebody's pretender out site searching turn 5, or volcano eruptions on peoples cap or undoubtedly dozens of other nasty stuff that people will think of which are really not balanced to be dropped early.

Also, as you've implied that its possible to request specific items it might be a good idea to restrict a few of them like rings of wizardry, robe of the magi, elemental staffs, um maybe staff of storms. Even some lower research items might be a problem like soul contracts. Basically seems like boons should add some flavor but not really be game changers. Might be easy enough just to play it by ear and have the big guy fairly arbitrarily deny any request that seems likely to foul the whole contest he's running. Foolish peon! You must win this contest on your own strengths!

[Burnsaber]

I'm wondering if it might be good to have a limited set of rituals that can be requested as there are some really, really game changing stuff that otherwise opens up - like calling for an earth attack as you see somebody's pretender out site searching turn 5, or volcano eruptions on peoples cap or undoubtedly dozens of other nasty stuff that people will think of which are really not balanced to be dropped early.

Also, as you've implied that its possible to request specific items it might be a good idea to restrict a few of them like rings of wizardry, robe of the magi, elemental staffs, um maybe staff of storms. Even some lower research items might be a problem like soul contracts. Basically seems like boons should add some flavor but not really be game changers. Might be easy enough just to play it by ear and have the big guy fairly arbitrarily deny any request that seems likely to foul the whole contest he's running. Foolish peon! You must win this contest on your own strengths!

Right. I had notes of that sort, but forgot to write them. Added following to first post:


-> If the request for a boon is too outrageous (like requesting for a RoW's and other high end items or high end remote rituals), I will grant a random boon instead (with the penalty boon normally associated with "specific requests"). (Insolent Fool, you know nothing! Here is what you shall receive!)


Note though that I will upgrade the boon tables every 20 turns. A reguest that would be "outrageous" on turn 16 might be reasonable on turn 66.

Maerlande has looked over the Ordeals and agreed with them once I did some small changes.

It is my sole intention that the boons and ordeals will be a "spice" in this game, not the main course. They alone will in no case determine the winner.

[Isokron]

Wouldn't it be better for a arena victory to grant an extra boon instead of a conquest points? Otherwise the first tournaments wouldn't be worth very much but the later might decide the game.

[Gregstrom]

How about both, then? It'd be quite fun to see the arena properly contested.

[Baalz]

Hmm, also seems like winning via holding the arena champ would necessitate winning with him, then winning again as someone almost certainly would use boon to call for another arena fight in the 3 turns you've got to hold him. Still, winning while holding just 3 extra caps is a fairly low bar that might end the game just when things are getting interesting, maybe one more VP required for the win since it seems likely the winner will have the arena champ.

[militarist]

Some ideas....

ORDEALS can be like quest, and as reword for it's completion, you can get direct - item, etc or indirect (boon points, which reflect how Pantokrator treats specific nation and then how it affects all future boons to this player) benefit. And they could be of different level of complexity ,and reward will be different.

In this case, Pantokrator would be able to give larger range of boons , for example HINNOM asks for HARD ORDEAL, saying I need something to swim for my army. That can be pretty good for Hinnom, if his capital has 2-3 water provinces around, and some dimoplacy...Anyway it can be gamechanging to give him that. So, understanding it (or just to improve quality of items, for example completed Easy ordeal gives lvl 0 item, normal lvl 2, hard level 4, impossible level 6 an it should depand on how easy or hard this ordeal for THIS SPEcific player, and how useful could be such iem for him). Rejection ot inability to complete it (for example - impossible ordeal can be - to get by war some provinces which are belong to stronger neighbor) can have or not have consiquences, regarding of Pantokrator decision.
Anyway, having a connection between ordeals and boons and ability to choose between levels of complexity would be good. It shouldn't be like negotiations, though.
Just player prays for what he wants - gift? Gift with easy ordeal(hoping to get better gift)? just ordeal to improve relations with god? For example, I finished a war and would like to devote the next war to my god, what should I do?

[Burnsaber]

Wouldn't it be better for a arena victory to grant an extra boon instead of a conquest points? Otherwise the first tournaments wouldn't be worth very much but the later might decide the game.

Good observation about the early game reward, getting a boon from winning from the Arena makes sense.

I'm not even sure if anyone will ever recieve the conquest point from the having the champion, because of the no-magic restriction. You only need one guy to bring along something like a Tart, Rudra or national high end mage to make all Bane Lords and the like simply evaraporate.

Also, after a certain point, players will be able to use boon to start the arena deathmatch (sorry about the spoiler, but it is necessary for this discussion). So basically, it will be very easy to take someone's Arena VP away. (reguest for the Arena and decimate the winner with a mage)

Although, I must say that I'm not the most experienced player in this game, so I might be missing something here in my logic. The conquest point from Arena can be replaced if players feel that it should go.


Hmm, also seems like winning via holding the arena champ would necessitate winning with him, then winning again as someone almost certainly would use boon to call for another arena fight in the 3 turns you've got to hold him. Still, winning while holding just 3 extra caps is a fairly low bar that might end the game just when things are getting interesting, maybe one more VP required for the win since it seems likely the winner will have the arena champ.

I'm not really worried about the game ending suddenly. There are very very few conquest point ordeals and they are really really hard. This game won't end like Dramatica, mostly because of the map. The ports make it relatively simple to reach all points of the map and ganging up on someone is really easy. Although, once again, I might be missing something.

[Burnsaber]

Sorry for not responding sooner, but I wanted to read your post with tought, been busy lately.

Some ideas....

ORDEALS can be like quest, and as reword for it's completion, you can get direct - item, etc or indirect (boon points, which reflect how Pantokrator treats specific nation and then how it affects all future boons to this player) benefit. And they could be of different level of complexity ,and reward will be different. In this case, Pantokrator would be able to give larger range of boons , for example HINNOM asks for HARD ORDEAL, saying I need something to swim for my army.


Intresting idea, but IMHO you should always strive to keep the rules as simple as possible, especially for a format already cluttered with rules such as this. Also, each ordeal that I have to design is more work for me and a potential balance problem (because each easy/hard/ etc.. ordeal would have to balanced against each other ordeal of the same type of the each nation).


That can be pretty good for Hinnom, if his capital has 2-3 water provinces around, and some dimoplacy...Anyway it can be gamechanging to give him that. So, understanding it (or just to improve quality of items, for example completed Easy ordeal gives lvl 0 item, normal lvl 2, hard level 4, impossible level 6 an it should depand on how easy or hard this ordeal for THIS SPEcific player, and how useful could be such iem for him). Rejection ot inability to complete it (for example - impossible ordeal can be - to get by war some provinces which are belong to stronger neighbor) can have or not have consiquences, regarding of Pantokrator decision.


Well, there is a reason why I designed the Ordeals before the game even started. There is a variable that I want to eliminate and that variable is me. That's why I have made all these charts where I randomly roll for the stuff granted, that's why I will release all data I used at the end of the game. The fewer decisions I make on the spot, in the game, the less chance there is for me to favour some nation over another. It's very easy, for example, to grow symphatetic towards the underdog and favour him more. That would not be fair, it would the equivalent of that effing "hit-the-leader" shell in Mario Kart.

Hence, I rely on charts and dice instead of me. Charts and dice are fair 100%, I'm like only 90-95% fair at best. My years as a tabletop GM have taught me it's really easy to subconsiously make decisions that favour some player more than another, no matter how fair you are determined to be.


For example, I finished a war and would like to devote the next war to my god, what should I do?

Your suggestion is quite thematic, but there is a problem with a player deciding what his ordeal would entail. Like in your example, what if the player is going to wage war in any case, but just wants to get some free favour while he's "at it", so to speak. Sure, the pantokrator could tailor it to be something more intresting, but see the problem of making a lot of "on spot" decision I detailed in the above paragraph.

[Burnsaber]

Game is up on llamaserver (http://www.llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=LegendaryOrdeals)!

Mod is downloadable from first post. Only CPCS made it through the voting. If you are not familiar with it, see this thread for complete list of spells it adds (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=42113).

Map is downloadable from first post. I added fixed starts that are relatively fair (or at least more fair than random ones). I also fixed one port which seemed to lack port connections.

Arena rules & the amount of CP's needed for win are still contested, but otherwise the rules for the game are quite final.

[Burnsaber]

I had to revise the mod and the map, twice, in order to work around the retarted version of single-age mod that llamaserver is using. If you downloaded any older versions, please download the new version and delete the old ones.

Basically I had to make my modded "pantokrator" nation overwrite Ma Man before llamaserver could accept it.

[militarist]

Yes, Burnsaber it would be harder to manage. The idea of such quests was taken from Warlords games series. Yo Could select Complexity level there. I used to play a lot many years ago.

So when we Can ask Pantokrator ? from turn 1, each 5 turns or..when? What's mechanic? Starting Conditions Can be really unequal because of having neighboring to Capital water provinces. It would be Cool if there was a possibility to ask for something for fighting under water - with army, or even solo, when it will be possible to ask? And what are the Chances to get?

[Burnsaber]

So when we Can ask Pantokrator ? from turn 1, each 5 turns or..when? What's mechanic?


You can start asking from the start of the game. With the maximum of one request per event cycle (see the first post for more details).

As for how, you just PM (personal message)/e-mail (my e-mail is in the first post)/IrC me up and state your request.


Starting Conditions Can be really unequal because of having neighboring to Capital water provinces.


We are playing with fixed starts. No one is going to start right next to R'lyehs capital.



It would be Cool if there was a possibility to ask for something for fighting under water - with army, or even solo, when it will be possible to ask? And what are the Chances to get?

In that case, you should reguest for items that allow you to go underwater. It would a be "semi-specific" reguest and you would get some UW breathing items.

[militarist]

If I would ask "I'd like magical items as a boon to defeat my foes!", is the selection of item for me will have some sense in a context of nation , or it will be absolutely random (in this case it could be that items will not bring much chance to defeat foes, for example ,horned helmet for micltan in turn 1 :))? Would Pankrator care to give something which can bring at least some use in defeating enemies? Any item has a nation, for which it's absolutely useless :).

[Baalz]

Arr, methinks them thar pansy giants be too worried about courting the Pantokrator's favor. Better to be spending yer time worrying about these here giant sized harnesses my ice crafters be working on. I done been hearing ferever that Ashdod be too strong, lets see if they be strong enough to haul my plunder around.

[militarist]

Yes, Baalz, I've already asked him earlier in this tread about water breathing staff. You will see underwater giants this game when I'll clear my island.
P.S. And I asking Pankrator here, because I want my questions /his answers to be known for all, to be in the same conditons.
P.P.S..And I really dream about some staff :) your are right. I bet you too.

[Burnsaber]

, or it will be absolutely random (in this case it could be that items will not bring much chance to defeat foes, for example ,horned helmet for micltan in turn 1 :))?


It would be completely random. Go.. Excuse me, Pantokrator works in mysterious ways. If your puny mortal mind can't the see the mad combo of Bear Claw Talisman, Black Steel Helmet and the Spectre of Authority, it's hardly the Pantokrator's fault, is it? The advantage of getting random items is that you get a lot of them, so at least one of them is bound to be useful (or at least something you can sell to some other nation).

But anyways, it seems to me like you are overthinking this a bit too much. Boons will be useful, sure, but they will not decide anything. You should think of them as a bonus, not as a stragedy in themselves. (You especially should not *count* on getting a specific item/certain amount gold/ certain ritual spell/ certain information from a boon, life is full of suprises, you know?)

[Lingchih]

The goblins of Shinuyama will have their pretender in by Saturday. Sorry.. been a bit busy of late, and have several other games going on. And, I need to study a nation I have never played.

[Aethyr]

Burnsaber,

Could you please clarify for me which mods have been compiled?

[Burnsaber]

Burnsaber,

Could you please clarify for me which mods have been compiled?

CBM 1.6
CPCS
DBS
Mark of the Champion
Streamers & Standards: Llama edition
Pantokrator nation placed over MA Man

[pyg]

Well I think Ed got into the hard stuff again, which means we are probably having BBQ Avvite tonight. Hopefully he doesn't overcook it, but that's not very likely. Anyway, that's not really important except to say that Ed has been feeling more irritable lately and I'm worried. Soggoth hasn't been around for a long time and Ed has been holding down the fort, so to speak, except lately he hasn't been holding much of anything except his jug (and sometimes... nevermind). This might all turn out all right as the Rephaite Lords have planned a campaign of military expansion in order to find more interestingly flavored people. Ed seemed pretty excited about it and hopefully it will work out OK.

[Lingchih]

The Bakemono, under the leadership of Shung the Magnificent, assert their claim for the soon to be vacated throne of the Pantokrator. You other would-be rulers should keep an eye on your backs. We goblins are a sneaky bunch.

[militarist]

The Ashdod, under leadership of Burn, Baby, Burn!!! sympathize this idea with intention, and assert their claim for the provinces of the Bakemono, which rush so much to find themselves on Heaven, and, probably will not have time and attantion for down-to-earth business. And, so be it, takeover commadment over those sneaky goblins. Among us there are a lot of those who, though not as old as Pantokrator, still remember how first creatures of Bakemono were created.

[Lingchih]

Your English is horrible, militarist. We hope it is not your native language. But, we have gotten the gist of your message. May the Pankrator decide that we do not live adjacent to each other.

[Burnsaber]

Okay, I'm leaving for work now. I'll return Sunday and if the last pretender is in, we will start the game then.

I added statement to the OP how arena is worth one boon to the winner. since I didn't get any more opinions about the Arena rules, I decided to keep them as is.

As a recap, the rules for arena in this game;
-> Instead of the trident, the reward is a helmet that gives you quickness, extra trident attack and extra 3 prot.
-> If the Arena victor is a commander with no magic picks (holy magic does not count), holding the arena winner is worth 1 conquest point. (the commander must have won the arena, not pick up the helmet as a loot)
-> Winner of the deathmatch gets one bonus boon.

[Burnsaber]

The game has begun! Remember that there can be only one!

To start off this grand competition, I will grant each and every one of you a personal ordeal, to allow you a chance to prove yourselves in my eyes. And since I'm in a good mood, I have also granted each one of you a boon, to start off your quests for godhood.


->
Each player will receive a personal ordeal within this evening (by PM). Completing this ordeal will always grant some favour in the eyes of the Pantakrator and great tangible rewards. The Personal Ordeals differ in style and difficulty, but so do rewards.

The boon granted for everyone is not free, is random, and counts as the "boon" for this event cycle. All requests for boons I have so far recieved will thus be moved to the next event cycle (starting from 6th turn).

[Trumanator]

Post!

[kianduatha]

This is the best ordeal <3

[slMagnvox]

Enigma of Steel Ulm is pleased by this challenge, Pantokrator! You may count on the Ulm to see your will done.

[militarist]

Burnsaber, if ordeal have no time limitation specified, does it have it or can be completed any time during the game?

[Lingchih]

Burnsaber, if ordeal have no time limitation specified, does it have it or can be completed any time during the game?

Yes, what he said. Any time limit?

[Burnsaber]

The Personal Ordeals can be completed whenever one wants to do so or is able to do so. I will not take away this opportunity to prove yourself in future ordeals.


However, wise pretender would note that the rewards are set in stone, so they will not be upgraded during this competition. So, the earlier you compete your ordeal the better the rewards will relatively be. Also, some Ordeal rewards have low-powered artifacts that will only be awarded if they are forgeable at the time of completion (if they are not, they will be replaced with lower-construction items).

[Burnsaber]

However, wise pretender would note that the rewards are set in stone, so they will not be upgraded during this competition. So, the earlier you compete your ordeal the better the rewards will relatively be. Also, some Ordeal rewards have low-powered artifacts that will only be awarded if they are forgeable at the time of completion (if they are not, they will be replaced with lower-construction items).

Just a disclaimer in the name of common sense:

Although completing ordeals fast is an advantage, surviving is even bigger advantage. If you had a game plan, you should follow it instead of spending all resources on completing the Ordeal.

Also, you are allowed to do certain "backroom dealing" with other nations in order to make it easier to fill certain criteria within the ordeal. It should be noted though that if your neighbour wants to give you something in order for you to do something odd "(could you build a temple on that province and not mind it when I capture it? I'll give you X/Y/Z in return)", you should be damn sure to get paid for it appropiately.



In the following three turns, I will capture some provinces from your mortal realm, in order to fill the world with my eyes and see which one of you is the greatest. Two land provinces will be taken along with one marine realm. In my infinite wisdom, I will make sure that these provinces are of low value as possible to you mortals, and that no military losses will come to any of you as a result of these actions.

You are not allowed to attack these provinces until the tasks I need them for are complete. You will be specially informed when I'm ready to relinquish them.


->
Pantokrator will conquer one land province on turn 3, one uw province on turn 4, and another land province on turn 5. These provinces will be of low population and will not blocakade any nations important strategic routes. Pantokrator will also make sure that no expansion force could even theoretically bump into my servants who are capturing these provinces. If Pantokrator cannot conquer a province within these criteria, he will not do so.

One of these provinces will be relinquished in year 1, another in year 2 and third in year 3.

[pyg]

Barbarians! Wow, what a suprise! They are actually pretty good if you can get all the hair off. For some reason Ed stayed home this month to "say goodbye" to his favorite Qedesim.

[Baalz]

Arrr, the Dungeon Ma...er Pantokrator has taken the island I had a mind to use as me personal retreat and whisked it off into another dimension. Hmmm, maybe I'll just have to rope off the eastern continent now fer me alone time, we'll have ta see if there are any locals what need to be run off. Meanwhile them lubbers in Jomon done stuck their toes out where the big fish swim. I do so love the jumbo shrimp, but I hear squids got a taste for them as well so the boys dun made a wager with me to see who's gonna get that appetizer first. We'll have ta carve up a mighty large snake first, but Old Pete says he's got a recipe for that to.

[Burnsaber]

Arrr, the Dungeon Ma...er Pantokrator has taken the island I had a mind to use as me personal retreat and whisked it off into another dimension.

Well, I had mentioned it in the first post, but I really could have been more clear about the island being that two province island in the middle. Sorry about that.


PANTOKRATOR:

-> Will start in a island in the middle of the map with no neighbours


(also sorry for not responding in character, but I really can't mention any gameplay terms or refer to the OP as pantokrator)


On other news, I have bumped into some unexpected issues, but luckily nothing too major. Details below:

It seems that my rampant cheati... My more than adequate researchers have made the research graph pretty useless. But we can still use the llamaserver "show score graph" (http://www.llamaserver.net/showScores.cgi?game=LegendaryOrdeals) command to get that info (unfortunately you won't be able to see research from previous turns).

Also, my servants that have been conquering these provinces that I need seem to get into HoF. Luckily we have HoF 15 and I have 5 guys in the HoF so that evens out, like we'd be playing with HoF 10. I'm not using those servants anymore and I was planning on drowning them, but that would just make them more famous, so we will just have to wait until they drop out.

Also, major props for everyone for making their turns as soon as possible and making this game move at this pace!

[Baalz]

No worries your lordship, truth be told me boys got plans fer every province and there be plenty oh room once I run off some of these squatters and the taste of the lash gets the others to work.

[kianduatha]

I shouldn't be surprised that you Lovecraftian horrors are allied in spirit; I am rather astounded, though, that R'lyeh is content to let you take half the ocean with nary a fight.

As to who's a squatter...aren't you pirates merely because the aforementioned illithids drove you from your homes? Meanwhile, the peaceful(and civilized) Shogunate is merely expanding the palaces of the Dragon King, under the protection of our ancestral kami(not those dirty goblins, the real ones).

[pyg]

Well, Ed wants to thank Ashdod for the snacks, but really those Anakites are so big you don't have to send so many... also the triple bless makes them chewy.

Ed really wanted to say something so:


RRRRRrrrrrrrrr!!!

[Burnsaber]

Ordeal for turns 6-10



I have grown weary of this children's play I seem to see on this divine competition. I want prove that each one of you is here to become the next ME! I DEMAND SACRIFICE!

Before mid winter, I want each of you to send me a sacrifice in the form of either gold, gems or an magical item. Those who give the most, will have more worth in my eyes and those who are greedy will be looked upon with scorn by my divine eyes!


->
Before mid winter (turn 9), each one of you must send me either gold, gems or an magical item. The following rules apply to the sacrifice:

-> You can only send either 1)Gold, 2)Gems or 3)Magical Item. No combinations
-> If you sacrifice gems, they can only be of one type. Blood Slaves "count" as 0,5 gems each.
-> Pantokrator does not accept regifts: you cannot send gems or an magical item that you have received as boon at any point of the game.
-> The three players who have sacrifed most gems/gold and the most valuable item receive one boon to their total. The three players who have sacrificed the least gems/gold and have sent the most worthless item lose one boon from their total.
-> If a player fails to send anything, he will lose two boons from his total. I will post a reminding in-game message for turn 8 to avoid this thought.

-> The value of items is judged upon two criteria;
1) Gem cost
2) How hard the item is for the nation in question to forge (item that had to be forged by your pretender is worth more than one forged by a national mage)

[namad]

btw the way this sounds really cool... count me in if you wanna do another wacky game in the future :)

[militarist]

Tripple bless..yeh, it works well on them :). Hinnom has much more diversity in strategies - I agree with Baalz blood fountain/good scales idea. If you wanted to do bless, as you did, you could take Ashdod, they are more cost-effective, and they have no alternative strategies unlike hinnom. No high-end blood summon, no tramplers for fast expansion, no healers, worse mages...I think Ashdod is much weaker..unless they are tripple blessed :)

And your wimpy Melqart, with 6 hitpoints left, was very fast in what he did the best, showing his back side...Lucky him, that Ashdod is not crazy to waste it's affords on your crazy PD and there are still a lot of empty lends around. Beware though! Ashdod vs Hinnom is funny. Some moment it can happen.

[Burnsaber]

btw the way this sounds really cool... count me in if you wanna do another wacky game in the future :)

Well, at this point I'm pretty confident that there will be "Legendary Ordeals II". I've gotten a lot of in-character posts and the turns have just been flying by, showing the the players are also excited too. My turns also take less time than I anticipated (it also is good that my micro won't basically increase much as the game progresses, although some complicated late-game Ordeals will be a bit time intensive occasionally).

Although I already have ideas for improving the next game (like modding a unit with ridiclious fear to conquer indy provinces without getting into HoF). The ordeals I have planned are pretty diverse, so that I can see which kinds of Ordeals people like the most and which kinds can be cut.

Well, to make it short, this game is an experiment and I'll likely keep these games up and polish up the format as I go along. One thing I'd like the most would be a custom-map for this kind of game, with a badass mountain in the middle for the Pantokrator's throne and so forth.

[militarist]

I would also suggest to have the world round..It creates better balance in case someone grows to fast. And being in the corner of the map, though not always better, but it's not so bad to have your *** covered just by map limitations.

[slMagnvox]

Oi! The Ashdod expand recklessly and trespass onto Ulmish heartland. Ashdod, immediate withdraw is your only course of action lest blood be shed. Crom, give us strength! Mighty Pantokrator, bless our cause! Ulm will fight in defense of her sovereign territory.

[Lingchih]

The pirates of Atlantis have landed on the holy isle of Shinuyama. We met with misfortune when attempting to take the southern port, but drove all the knights from the field, and apparently the pirates came in and mopped up the dregs of defense.

We give you leave to depart from there Atlantis, for that is our southern port, and we will not let it be inhabited by you.

Shung has spoken.

[pyg]

I gotta say, you just haven't lived until you've had sweet and sour beer batter fried Kohen. Ed really does it right. I'm a little worried that Ashdod won't be sending more snacks soon, but Ed seems pretty sure about it. Anyway, I made Ed promise to write down his recipe so everyone can enjoy. Here is Ed with a nugget of culinary wisdom:


Ya **** it and then eat it... The order is really important here.

[militarist]

Ashdod is not interested in Ulm land. It was just a giant's morning cross by the road with a good view on smiths and that lazy Iron warriors, smoking in capital.

[militarist]

Yes, small and pink. You are right. We are coming, and we are hungry. You can start boiling water, some of us will become a dinner very soon.

[militarist]

Or some of yours.

[Baalz]

Ho ho! Listen to mister big for his britches! The boys don't back down from blow hards without any hair on their chest. You think long and hard about the implications of that long coast ye be sporting. One province worth the absolute guarantee that we make to any of your neighbors that you'll be hamstrung if any of them are so inclined to take a bite? You play nice and the lady can be a good friend to you, but you swing yer tiny pecker around like that and it'll end up nailed to the yardarm.


The pirates of Atlantis have landed on the holy isle of Shinuyama. We met with misfortune when attempting to take the southern port, but drove all the knights from the field, and apparently the pirates came in and mopped up the dregs of defense.

We give you leave to depart from there Atlantis, for that is our southern port, and we will not let it be inhabited by you.

Shung has spoken.

[KissBlade]

btw the way this sounds really cool... count me in if you wanna do another wacky game in the future :)

Well, at this point I'm pretty confident that there will be "Legendary Ordeals II". I've gotten a lot of in-character posts and the turns have just been flying by, showing the the players are also excited too. My turns also take less time than I anticipated (it also is good that my micro won't basically increase much as the game progresses, although some complicated late-game Ordeals will be a bit time intensive occasionally).

Although I already have ideas for improving the next game (like modding a unit with ridiclious fear to conquer indy provinces without getting into HoF). The ordeals I have planned are pretty diverse, so that I can see which kinds of Ordeals people like the most and which kinds can be cut.

Well, to make it short, this game is an experiment and I'll likely keep these games up and polish up the format as I go along. One thing I'd like the most would be a custom-map for this kind of game, with a badass mountain in the middle for the Pantokrator's throne and so forth.


Please let me know when you decide to run another one of this as well. =) I was sad that I missed this one too.

[Lingchih]

So be it.

Ho ho! Listen to mister big for his britches! The boys don't back down from blow hards without any hair on their chest. You think long and hard about the implications of that long coast ye be sporting. One province worth the absolute guarantee that we make to any of your neighbors that you'll be hamstrung if any of them are so inclined to take a bite? You play nice and the lady can be a good friend to you, but you swing yer tiny pecker around like that and it'll end up nailed to the yardarm.


The pirates of Atlantis have landed on the holy isle of Shinuyama. We met with misfortune when attempting to take the southern port, but drove all the knights from the field, and apparently the pirates came in and mopped up the dregs of defense.

We give you leave to depart from there Atlantis, for that is our southern port, and we will not let it be inhabited by you.

Shung has spoken.

[kianduatha]

We do so hope that Shinuyama will not back down--for that would show the Bakemono as honorless curs, worthy only to be spit upon and replaced by more civilized peoples.

[Lingchih]

Shinuyama will not back down. Shung commands with ultimate authority.

Anyone intruding on the isle of Shinuyama, faces the wrath of Shung.

[Baalz]

Alright then! As the limp wrist goblin king sees fit to not only assert his sovereignty over independents he lacks the strength to conquer, but then also very publicly thump his chest like the pubescent boy who's hormones are out of control the Pirate Queen sees this as an opportunity to make friends. The fleet will be moving to just of the goblin coast, if there be any of you lubbers interested in easy plunder send a messenger this way. The dagger is posed to find his kidney.

[Lingchih]

After his latest conquest, Shung has thought more on the matter, and has come to a decision. Why not let the pirates have that port? We are not sailors. And, it is a good neutral ground province betwixt our goblins and the hordes of Ulm, of whom we know nothing of their intentions.

So, by all means, the Pirate Queen can have the port town. We look on them as good neighbors now. Perhaps you could send some Rum our way, as a token of goodwill.

[Baalz]

Ah, good news indeed for there be plenty o' fat lands for the reavers to visit. The Pirate Queen welcomes her new friend and indeed would like to very publicly sign a 3 turn NAP so that none may doubt our fresh friendly relations! What say ye goblin king?

[pyg]

Ed had one of his dreams again.


Well in teh spirit of happy times and freindlyness all around Lord Soggy has a speshal massage for Burn,Baby,Burn!!! we will eat you and then kill you and eat you agian so their!!!!!!

[Lingchih]

Any NAP pacts, Shung thinks, would anger the Pantokrater. He wants us all to fight for supremacy. The goblins will not anger the Pantokrater by signing any NAP pacts. But, the port is yours, Pirate Queen.

[Burnsaber]

I would also suggest to have the world round..It creates better balance in case someone grows to fast. And being in the corner of the map, though not always better, but it's not so bad to have your *** covered just by map limitations.

Yeah, but the problem is that the wraparound maps seem to be either ridiciliously huge or 2-6 player maps.
I decided to go for the land of Milk and Honey because the ports make the world a bit rounder. A nation on the top right corner can have access to the player to player in the bottom left corner. It's not perfect, but a tad prettier than the other options I had for a map of this size.




My divine ears heard of a claim that' I'd be somehow opposed to NAP agreements. The truth is opposite of that claim.

For it will not be only strenght that will decide on who will take my place! Let those who are clever and possess silver tongues take advantage of those traits, for the next Pantokrator must be strong like the cosmos itself, clever enough to trick the horrors of unreality and possess charisma like a thousand Seraphs to get the loyalty of the celestials.

Anything less will be a failure and only worth of my wrath.

[Baalz]

No worries yer Pantokness, we just be makin friends in a rough and tumble way. I be sure the goblin king won't need ta be taught that hiding behind yer skirts aint gonna help none, this here be what I like ta call a self correcting behavior. We have sent many barges laden with gifts for a big party in honor of our our new friendly relations, so he can learn what a good friend the Pirate Queen can be to those who treat her so generously. We just be waiting for the goblin king to start the music.

[Meglobob]

Oh great Pantokrater who art up above, do we get to know the results of the recent ordeal or is that information for the Pantokrater's all seeing eyes only?

With Utmost Respect,

MA T'ien C'hi.

[Burnsaber]

Oh great Pantokrater who art up above, do we get to know the results of the recent ordeal or is that information for the Pantokrater's all seeing eyes only?

With Utmost Respect,

MA T'ien C'hi.

->
Here you go.



I especially pleased by the gold sacrifice from the giants of Hinnom and the magnificient hoard of death gems from Lanka. They will gain more worth in my eyes.

But, I was utterly insulted by the insignificant bits of gold by EA T'ien C'hi and Ulm's meagre "sacrifice" of nature gems. They will be worth less in my eyes.

No magical items were sent as a sacrifice and Atlantis failed to send me anything. They will be worth less in my eyes.

[Lingchih]

And, you see, the Pirate Queen had nothing to fear. Shung holds true to his word. Do others do the same? We shall see.

[Baalz]

Oh no yer Pantokness, we done sent a barge loaded with all kinds of loot! Gold, gems and two different magic items of great value. We sent it...oh. On a boat captained by that scoundrel Jack. If I be ye I'd be lookin fer yer sacrifice in some non-Extradition nation like Shinuyama, fer it's surely yers.

[GameExtremist]

To the demonic interlopers of our forests,

Why do we see the banners of the nation Lanka cutting, burning and slaughtering our free spirited maenads, satyrs and other fair and noble creatures within our fair and peaceful realm?
The Pans of Pangaea only wish to revel and have great festivals in honour of a great pantokrator, remove your armies from our former lands immediately or face your doom.

The bear shall awaken from its slumber very soon.

You have been warned.

The regency moot council of Pans of Pangaea.

[Burnsaber]

Ordeal for turns 11-15



Although I greatly enjoy the fights my eyes are spying as we speak, I want to see something way more intresting. To make this be, I have begun the preparations to once more start the Arena Games.

Prepare your champion and be sure to send a combanant to the following match, I do not admire the qualities of a coward!


->
On this turn (11), Pantokrator will wish for the Arena Deathmatch to take place. You will be able to send combanants on turn 12 and the fight itself will take place on turn 13. All nations who do not send a combanant will lose one boon from their total. The winner of the Arena will get one boon to their total.

[Isokron]

The demons of Lanka must protest against these baseless accusations, although some of our more backward half-ape cousins might cook their meat a real demon eat it raw and definitely not burned. In fact we will probably banish this fire stuff altogether when we ascend to pantokratorhood.

This bear thingy sounds interesting though, we might even save some choice parts as a gift for the pantokrators own table.

[Lingchih]

Shung of Shinuyama looks forward to drowning the Pirate Queen in the icy blood of her pathetic minions. Her cowardly attacks on the isle of Shinuyma have already cost her one army, and nearly her prophet.

[Lingchih]

When can we ask for a boon again, Burn?

[Burnsaber]

When can we ask for a boon again, Burn?

You can ask for one boon per "event cycle". So if you have gotten no boon for turns 11-15, you can ask for one. After that, the next time you can ask is 16-20 and after that on turns 21-25 and so forth.

So basically, one boon request per Ordeal.

[pyg]

Ed is really drunk again. Our ugly cousins from the south are giving us a hard time and the world has turned its back on our feud. We are however pleased to announce that we are sending a mighty champion of Hinnom to kick butt in the arena... I mean to honor and win the favor of the Pantokrator. Ed wanted to go but he is way too drunk. Hopefully our sissy cousins will send something tastier than an Edomite.

[militarist]

Ed, I сan imagine your Melqart with arena prize amulet...wow :) We hope to be сompetitive now, but what to do you with your melqart equipped with the prize from first arena :) ? I wish you good luсk and fair fight!

[Gregstrom]

The happy squid-folk of R'lyeh would like to thank Lanka for the light snack - while cooling off between rounds, our champion mentioned that Bandarajas are really rather tasty. Unfortunately the Bandarajas seem to be pastured in a bad location, as shortly afterwards Glaah came down with a fatal case of Wyrms.

[kianduatha]

HAHAHAHAHA! Is that all you have? Sending patsies to face ME?

Ahem. The most civilized nation of Jomon extends its condolences to the others, who apparently have such feeble Pretenders that they dare not show their faces in the arena--unless, that is, they are so lazy they have not yet even woken up.

[Baalz]

Har! And thus end the chest thumping of Shung methinks. He be cursed, diseased, limping and sporting a wound that looks like it won't heal...which might actually mean something if he weren't more than a little decapitated. All praise to the Pantokrator, whose wolven winter contributed in no small part to the humiliatingly one sided crushing of the goblin's main host. Now, onto the capital and the last handful of holdouts what need to be taught manners. Let it be known that the Pirate Queen extends her sovereignty to all provinces flying the goblin flag and anybody foolish enough to try and snatch them will have committed an act of war against Atlantis. We be by shortly ta change the flags.

Ladies, ye'll have ta look pretty closely as it's shriveled even smaller than what it started, but the little worm hanging from me yardarm be the fulfulment o' the promise that be made three short months ago.

[Burnsaber]

Yes! This slaughter pleased me greatly. All hail the champion Nobunaga, who appeared himself to fight and risk his life just to entertain me, his courage pleases me and he is worthy in my eyes! Although, I wonder what kind of opponents will the courageous pretender face in the next deathmatch?

Yes, that is right. There will be more arena matches. All of you can now request me to organize the deathmatch if you feel that you have the greatest champion!

My divine eyes spy many wars and soon the first nations will fall and tartarus will open up its hungry endless maw to enfulg the first contestants. Only the best shall remain, fight to the bitter end for death is the only other option!

I also announce that I have no further need for my province in Monherboa(56). Contenstants are free to conquer to it, if they feel like they can defeat my champion who I set to guard the province.


->
Jomon's Pretender won the Arena. Since the unit has no magic picks, Jomon now has 2 conquest points (I'll eventually add a CQ point tally up in the first post). Probably should have added a clause that disabled pretenders from contesting, but I'm not going to change the rules mid-game (besides, I'm pretty confident that the Wyrm will eventually go down). All in all, clever build kianduatha, congratulations.

->
Players can now request for the arena match to take place, updated the rules of the first post;


There are five (now six) types of boons (more will be introduced with ordeals, thought):
1. Items
2. Gems
3. Gold
4. Information
5. Casting of a Ritual Spell
6. Starting Arena Deathmatch (enabled since turn 13), this costs two boon and can only be used once per event cycle.


-> Baalz;
Yeah, that wish for a Wolven Winter was a very good choice (and exactly the reason why I made "specific" boons cost more).

->
Also, a note for everyone; I now have modded spies (with extremely ridicilious stealth) in every province of the map. It's pretty fun to watch the battles and if your personal boon involves certain terms to be achieved within a battle, you don't necessarily need to send me a .trn file (note thought that I can't see assasinations and other special battles).

[Isokron]

What kind of trickery is this, that was a carrion dragon and not a bear. We demons have quite a refined taste and wont eat rotten meat like that.

[Lingchih]

Yeap, it do be true. The big guy is deader than a doornail. Seen it with me own eyes. Ran right up to the frontlines, and I be thinkin' he cast stoneskin on himself while the cold balls were rainin down on em. Kind of stupid if you ask me, but who be I to say.

Anyways, I guess I be the one in charge now, and I don't see no point in surrendering to the pirates, cause they'd just kill us anwyays. Anyone wanting our other provs is welcome to em. There ain't anbody in em to defend em anyways.

Gimpy the Goblin Chief

[Burnsaber]

Work. Hectic. Overtime. Tired. Next shift... 10 hours.

Sleeeepy... Put up extension.

[Lingchih]

Wasn't there going to be further elaboration on the new ordeal here, Burn?

[Lingchih]

Gimpy here agains,

I had a dream, in which Shung the very large but dead pretender, asked me to call out to you all for voting for him. Heck, can't hurt eh, pantokrater knows he needs the help.

So vote for Shung, and set him free.

Gimpy the Goblin Chief

[Burnsaber]

Ordeal for turn 16-21


Wasn't there going to be further elaboration on the new ordeal here, Burn?


Yeah, but if the turn is going to host around 2-3 am in the morning, I'm not going stay awake until that moment just to post something in the interwebs. These things come with certain delays.

On another note, I added Conquest Point tally up in the first post.



It has come the time test your skills of intrique and politics for the future pantokrator does not only need strenght but also a silver tongue. Because if your court consists of Sepraphs, Chayots and Asmegs, one has to be completely in control or face their wrath.


->
Before turn 20, each one of you must vote for an another nation. You are free to vote whoever you want and whatever criteria you want to use (a'k'a you can sell your vote for the highest bitter, buy them, strongarm other players for them "Vote me or else!", etc...). Following rules and prices apply for the voting:

->
Any player who still is in the game can vote, but a player who is not in control of his capital is not eligble for a win.
->
Players can also "court" me to boost their vote count, but this counts as a request for a boon. (a'k'a you can trade your boon request for this ordeal for a single vote for you) -> NOTE that doing this does NOT count as your vote, you still need to vote for an another player.
->
If a player does not cast a vote by turn 20, he will be penalized by two boons from his boon count.

The prices for the Ordeal are as follows (ties are broken by the boon count of the nations in question):

1st place: Mantle of the Divine Servant (very powerful magical item, gold, gems and the ability to see the boon count of each nation upon request)
2nd place: Treasure of the Lord of the Rings (magical items, gold)
3rd place: Legacy of the Hoburg Hero (magical items)

[Lingchih]

Ordeal for turn 16-21


[
Any player who still is in the game can vote, but a player who is not in control of his capital is not eligble for a win.



That's Bullsh

[Burnsaber]

Ordeal for turn 16-21


[
Any player who still is in the game can vote, but a player who is not in control of his capital is not eligble for a win.



That's Bullsh

Likely a misunderstanding, let me clarify. When I say "capital" I mean the fortress in your capital province. If your capital is under siege, you are still in control of your capital and can still get the rewards for this ordeal.

This rule was implemented to prevent no-brainer "vote dumping" to the nation that is likely to be gone by turn 25. I mean, you need to have access to a laboratory in order to get the items and to get use out of the gems that are rewarded. If the top prize would just almost automatically go to the guy with one province left, it would render the whole voting process and all of the politicing involved pretty meaningless.

Of course, as per rules stand, you can dumb your vote to a nation that's obviously a goner, but if that nation is not eligble for the win on turn 21 when the votes are counted, the win might go to the nation that you *really* don't want to win.

[Baalz]

The boys'll be happy to toss their vote to the highest bidder.

[Isokron]

Are the votes cast publicly or how can someone buyi^w ehrm campaigning for votes see that he succeeded ?

If they are public we would like to offer 5 nature or death gems per vote, limited to 4 votes per gemtype so vote fast.

Also as a one off offer we offer a vote for a vote.

[militarist]

If publicity or deal control will be possible somehow, ASHDOD offers 10 GEMS for vote, or vote for vote exchange.
The type of gems will be determined by us, or during negotiations.

[Burnsaber]

Are the votes cast publicly or how can someone buyi^w ehrm campaigning for votes see that he succeeded ?


:doh:

Teaches me to write an Ordeal post from school (and away from my notes).

Votes will be made public on turn 21.

(don't worry, the next couple ordeals will be quite simpler)

[Gregstrom]

R'lyeh are willing to offer a vote exchange and/or buy votes with gems. For that matter, if you don't want a land-based neighbour to get a big chunk of treasure then cast a vote our way.

In addition, we freely promise that any nation voting for us won't be first in line for sudden and seemingly random outbreaks of insanity and extremely unpleasant nightmares among the populace.

[Trumanator]

You know, there's something incredibly amusing about being sandwiched between EA and MA TC. :p

[Meglobob]

You know, there's something incredibly amusing about being sandwiched between EA and MA TC. :p

Just plain bad luck! Cousins just could not fight each another.

[GameExtremist]

Alas the Age of Revelry is over (it had barely just started) with our short lived Carrion Dragon and dreams of hordes of Maenads and Carrion creatures lost forever amidst great banquets of Lanka Palankashas eating everything.

Well done Lanka we were ill-prepared for your early onslaught you will be a force to be reckoned with.

Twas fun!

[Burnsaber]

Alas the Age of Revelry is over (it had barely just started) with our short lived Carrion Dragon and dreams of hordes of Maenads and Carrion creatures lost forever amidst great banquets of Lanka Palankashas eating everything.

Well done Lanka we were ill-prepared for your early onslaught you will be a force to be reckoned with.

Twas fun!



The first pretender has been devoured by the demonic beasts of Lanka and sent to the depths of Tartarus, never to return again! The Age of Revelry showed promise, but *promise* alone is not enough in this grand contest.

Goodbye, Decay, the God of Panganea. May your suffering be less soul-shattering than those of the lesser gods of that realm. So wishes the Pantokrator and so it shall be!


Yeah, I watched most of your combats with Lanka. You really gave him all that you got. It was also suprising to see that the spell songs were *almost* useful, I have always placed them in the "absolutely useless" category.

If you want to, you can send me your e-mail address, if you want to see the material I have for this game (detailing what boons have I given and how do they work and what ordeals will come up and so forth + my turn files).

[pyg]

Well, Ed is on a secret mission and left all ofhis boooz e here. YEAH! Unfortunately the Qedesim he left in charge of capital defense has performed rather poorly. On the other hand, he was last seen in the clutches of a grinning Anakite. We think everyone should vote for Hinnom just because we have to be nice to our ugly cousins.

[slMagnvox]

The God Queen Red Sonja is at war with the Jomon. We implore the allies and friends of Enigma of Steel Ulm to ride to our aid and share in the conquest of the Jomon!

Also, vote for Ulm!

[kianduatha]

Begging for help already? Unfortunately, there are a few inaccuracies in some of your statements. You imply that you have allies and that you're winning. I would posit otherwise.

[Burnsaber]

ORDEAL FOR TURN 21-??


Oh no yer Pantokness, we done sent a barge loaded with all kinds of loot! Gold, gems and two different magic items of great value. We sent it...oh. On a boat captained by that scoundrel Jack. If I be ye I'd be lookin fer yer sacrifice in some non-Extradition nation like Shinuyama, fer it's surely yers.



A crime most fould has been inflicted upon my realm! This scroundel, 'Jack' Togrim, who took the sacrifices of the Pirate Queen stole my spheres of great power that fueled my divine sight. I was quick to find and smite that fool, but so great was his greed and utterly vile his spirit that he just rose again to attain greater riches by pillaging the coasts of this realm.

Of course, I could just will hid annoying existance void, but it pleases me more to see you do it. If you want to be gods, handling one pirate should be an easy task, right? Jack still carries my spheres of divine sight and the one who defeats him will gain a sight of a true god.

If no one of you so called 'pretenders' manage to defeat and catch Jack Togrim within the span of one year, all of you will be only worthy of my scorn!


->
I have dispelled the "Eyes of the Pantokrator" global enchantment. Because I now have spies in every province, I don't need it anymore. Also, from this point onward Pantokrator always will use only one global slot (so if Pantokrator has one up, he won't cast a new one until the old one is dispelled).

The one who defeats Togrim will gain access to one .trn file of mine from the turn the Admiral was defeated. He will also get one boon to their total. If admiral is not caught within a year (by turn 33), all players lose 1 boon from their total.

I will post the results of the Ordeal of the Silver Tongue tonight, once I get home and get access to my notes. Although I can say that Ashdod won by a landslide.

Burn, baby, Burn! Is now a divine servant of Pantokrator, and will receive the trappings worthy of such a task:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/picture.php?albumid=34&pictureid=449

(No, I did not suddenly invent item modding, it is just a renamed "Robe of the Sorceress")

[Isokron]

So the pantakrator was who had stolen Satinas robe, she seemed mightily upset to have to go to battle without it. She was so ashamed that she run away before I had a chance to kill her though, so i guess it doesnt matter.

[Burnsaber]

So the pantakrator was who had stolen Satinas robe, she seemed mightily upset to have to go to battle without it. She was so ashamed that she run away before I had a chance to kill her though, so i guess it doesnt matter.

The Pantokrator steals whatever item of clothing that happens to please him!

On the same vein, if you happen to meet Solaris, he's a bit of a pushover now.



I have counted the votes and the results are as follows:

Ashdod: Voted by Atlantis, MA T'ien C'hi, EA Lanka, LA Jomon, EA T'ien C'hi

R'lyeh: Voted by Shinuyama, Hinnom

Hinnom: Voted by LA C'tis, Voted by R'lyeh

MA T'ien C'hi: Voted by Ashdod

Ashdod has earned the right to be my Divine Servant and riches belonging of that position will be made to be his!

R'lyeh will receive the treasure of the Lord of the Rings, one glorious ring for each tentacle.

Hinnom will be granted the Legacy of the Burgmeister hero, so that they can remember that even the small ones can achieve big deeds.


--->

I also Have updated the boon tables with following changes:

Items: Con6 items can now be awarded.

Gems: One additional die will be rolled to determinate the amount of gems

Gold: 10 additional dices will be rolled to determinate the amount

Information: Once Admiral is defeated, players can request to see my turn files from previous turns.

Ritual castings: Two rituals can be casted. The list of allowed rituals has been expanded.

[Burnsaber]

Nobunaga the great Wyrm has lead the people of Jomon into glory! They have proven to honor their ancestry and now wield the collective will of the millenia long history of their clan. Nobunaga has thus completed the divine ordeal presented before him and proven his worth before my eyes.

I have showered him gifts and riches to make it be as it should be! Long will live the ancients of Jomon, for so states Pantokrator and so it shall be!


->

Jomon has completed his personal ordeal.

(note that ordeals between nations are not on the same difficulty curve, but that the rewards are set based on the difficulty. Some are easier with smaller rewards some are harder with better rewards)

On other news, I'd like to restate that Monherboa (56) can be attacked, but it is guarded by a champion of Pantokrator called "Thunderer". The province has also been fully searched for magic sites. (although I just got a pd event there, so beware!)

[Isokron]

Jack Togrim will plague this world no more after he unwisely decided to pick a fight with our mighty markatta warriors, with a little help they easily defeated his pirates. He died a death fitting for a traitor when one of his mage underlings phoenix pyre went of beside him.

[Meglobob]

Jack Togrim will plague this world no more after he unwisely decided to pick a fight with our mighty markatta warriors, with a little help they easily defeated his pirates. He died a death fitting for a traitor when one of his mage underlings phoenix pyre went of beside him.

Damn!

Why didn't that mage kill Jack the last 2 months when he invaded the lands of MA T'ien Ch'i?

Loads of lucky free stuff from the pantrokrator involving no skill at all and blind luck sounds really good.;)

[Burnsaber]

Jack Togrim will plague this world no more after he unwisely decided to pick a fight with our mighty markatta warriors, with a little help they easily defeated his pirates. He died a death fitting for a traitor when one of his mage underlings phoenix pyre went of beside him.



Good Riddance! You will be rewarded with a glimpse of what it is to be like god and have proven your worth before my eyes!




Loads of lucky free stuff from the pantrokrator involving no skill at all and blind luck sounds really good.;)

I take it that this wasn't your favourite Ordeal?

Well, in Isokron's defense, he really put up some coastal defences up to protect his porvinces and maxime his chances of capturing him, so he definately earned that price, although it's not that special.

[Burnsaber]

ORDEAL FOR TURN 26-30




A misfortune of great prportions has befallen upon this realm. The constellation of the Slumbering Elders has now appeared on the sky! Planetary misfortune will fall upon us all and fill the hearts of men with madness, raising them against you, ushering heresies with every breath they take!

We must endure for 5 months before the sign will disappear behind Jupiter. The cause of this phanomenom escapes even me, for my sight cannot pierce the edge of reality to the horrific Void.


->
Each capitol has been struck by a "Baleful Star" event. For turns 26-31, a random province on the map will be hit by "Imprint Souls" (however, the same nation will not get struck consecutively twice, I will reroll if so happens. Also, capitols will not get struck). Provinces captured by these casting CAN be attacked and it is also advisable, since if the heretics are left alone for 4 or more turns, they will start getting reinforcements.

Defeating the heretics will earn the player information about the future and some minor magic items.

[Meglobob]

Wondered why everyones income took a nosedive, well at least my lab didn't burn down for third time...:doh:

Also is it just me or do we all reckon astral corruption will appear at some point in the future?

[militarist]

Need any items with siege bonus,my friends.

[Meglobob]

I staled even through I sent my 2h file in, notice 2 others staled as well, some sort of problem?

[Burnsaber]

I staled even through I sent my 2h file in, notice 2 others staled as well, some sort of problem?

Hopefully not. However, I've extended the scheducle as per OP states.

If anyone has any furhter troubles with the game, contact me immediately.

[Lingchih]

Gimpy, formerly captain of Shin here. Well, I guess that's it. I'm looking for a nice cave in the mountains to live out my days.

Nice job Baalz.

[Aethyr]

I staled even through I sent my 2h file in, notice 2 others staled as well, some sort of problem?

No, I just had a long day at work and did not get my turn in on time. :(

[Meglobob]

I staled even through I sent my 2h file in, notice 2 others staled as well, some sort of problem?

No, I just had a long day at work and did not get my turn in on time. :(

Ok, thanks.

I definately sent my turn (recorded in my outbox), oh well one of those, 'things' I guess...:re:

Good reminder for me to check llamaserver to make sure it registered in future.

[Burnsaber]

ORDEAL FOR TURNS 31-??



The Sing of the Slumbering Elders will finally pass and the madness in the hearts of men will pass. However, your Ordeals are far from over. My dear Pet has fallen to the strange madness spread by the eldritch constellation and is becoming more unstable day by day. As much as I love playing with him, he needs to be put down. To make it intresting, I'm going to let you contestants do it. If you want to be gods, you certainly can handle one lousy pet of mine?

I will still have control of the "Destroyer", as I like the adorable thing, for some time. Because it amuses me, I will let my faithful servants suggest of who would be most able to defeat the beast and move him to face that contestant. One would be wise to note though I will reward the slayer of destroyer with great treasure as I crown the beastslayer as my Divine Warrior.



The Pet of the Pantokrator, called "Destroyer"* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM01Ljsh-oI&feature=related), is currently placed in the Sea of Vastness (14). Here he is!

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/938/mypet.png

Ain't he just adorable? Who could slay such a precious little thing? If you don't have the heart to do the deed, you can use a boon to request the Pantokrator to allow you to move him. All orders to move him have to be simple, like "move him towards province X" or "Move him towards nation Y". It will calculate the fastest route to that province/nation (if several paths are both as "fast", he will choose one in random) and move towards that province one province per turn.

You can choose to use two boons to move him "two" provinces each turn. Sure, he can only move one, but it can be useful, since if two players move him in opposite directions by the same amount, he will ignore both orders in confusion. If the orders are to move him in different directions, he will vector the directions and go between them for the best of his ability (if he can't vector the directions, he will stay still).

He is constantly fed thanks to his Bane Venom Charm producing corpses for him, but Pantokrator has not yet received the warning message of him "getting out of control" so he will likely be controllable for few turns at least.

The Slayer of the Pet will receive the following items and get one boon to their total as they are crowned as the "Divine Warrior". If the beast is not slain by turn 41, Pantokrator will kill it himself and all players will lose one boon.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/picture.php?albumid=34&pictureid=460

Before anyone calls BS on it's starting location (which is admittely disadvantegous for some nations), I randomized the starting location from the three provinces I conquered at the start of the game, so the event really could have (and still can) affect anyone.

Also from all this point onward, all provinces under the control of the Pantokrator can be attacked without special permission, with the exception of the central island. So if it is outside the island, it's free game.


*=You really thought that I could get through this thing without at least one Heavy Metal reference? At least this one is somewhat thematical. The thing has a theme song :P

[Burnsaber]

I got a rather sudden chance to go into a boardgaming event* this weekend, and I've decided to go test my mettle in this noble sport of minds.

I have done my turn for the turn 31 and I'll the extend the next turn from within this event to host on Monday evening. I hope you fellows don't mind. Take this small break as an opportunity to do some diplomacy or something.


(Twilight Imperium! Twilight Imperium!)

[Meglobob]

Pet the Destroyer is slain by the valient folk of Ma T'ien Ch'i before it could cause too much damage, the world is safe from this fearsome beast.

This was not the only large beast to beset the fair folk of Ma T'ien Ch'i, the bloodlust fuelled giants of Ma Ashdod fresh from there utter destruction of Hinnom have now decieded to add the lands of the east to there empire. Those giants with a W9 E9 and N6 blessing are nearly unstoppable on the battlefield and well Ma T'ien Ch'i will do our utmost to resist them, without help, we will surely fall. Then will anyone be able to stop this juggernaut?

I urge the remaining strong nations/gods to act against this serious threat to us all before its too late. Only a strong alliance of nations can stop the giants/god of Ma Ashdod now.

[militarist]

The nation of Ashdod is ready to confirm the sad massage of Ma T'ien Ch'i.
These giants eat so much that we had to get rid of them, to let them eat someone who at least is not of their nation. We have nothing against the nation of T'ien Chi, but those stupid giants just have to be somewhere. And keeping them in motherland was prohibited after the last fight with Hinnom. Ashdod now is the most peaceful nation with awful research and other scales and has no much of perspective in endgame. If someone wants to help us to deal with T'ien Ch'i, who shown first their aggression, having send huge army to our West land few turns ago, we will be glad to share the lands. Fortunately, Protectors of the Western continent eat horses as well as their owners, so now we fight only at the "wild wild east".

[Burnsaber]

The Pet has been slain! Long live the beast slayer, the glorious Rolling Thunder of T'ien C'hi!

He now is my Divine Warrior and has been gifted with trappings worthy of such a task.



->

(Whoopsie. Propably should have made him a touch more difficult to defeat. Well, if I make this ordeal happen again in Ordeals II, I'll be sure to slap him some form of damage prevention. Anyways, well played by meglobob.)

[kianduatha]

Listen round for the story of glorious Katsumi, the best ninja to ever have lived. Katsumi was neither well trained nor well equipped, but his endless fervor for blood has almost singlehandedly destroyed Ulm. Killing over half a dozen Antlered Shaman, Katsumi was still not content.

One dark night last month, Katsumi crept alone into the Ulmish camp, singling out the largest tent--that of their dark Pretender, Red Sonja. After ambushing the enemy god, Katsumi weathered foul magic and a dozen phantasmal wolves before finally slaying his marked foe.

Truly will his name be remembered in song forever.

[Burnsaber]

Ordeal for turn 36



The time has come for me to test your souls. I have called forth my three maidens of vengeance and see which of you suffer from the weight of sins. For the one who takes my place cannot be wicked, for he or she would place this beautiful realm of mine in ruins.

You pretenders can prove yourself righteous by turning your backs on the vile lure of the blood magic and sending me one hundred blood slaves to prove your intentions. If you kill one of my maidens in fair combat, you will also prove yourself innocent in my eyes and gain more worth.

If even one of the maidens is still spreading vengeance upon this realm after a year, all of you wicked sinners will lose worth in my eyes.


->

If The Pantokrator receives sacrifices totalling over 100 blood slaves, he will dispel the Kindly Ones. These sacrifices do not have to come in one turn and if several nations send sacrifices, they will be added together.

If the commander targeted by a Erinyes kills it in melee combat by him/herself the nation targeted will gain boon to their count (the commander proved himself innocent in combat, like in a judicial match). Kills by bodyguards or by spells do not count, only a melee attack by the targeted commander.

If the global is still active after a whole year, all players lose one boon and it is dispelled.

[Burnsaber]

I'm currently planing on a update for the CPCS mod that is in use in this game. If someone has any feedback or a even a problem regarding a spell in the mod, now is your chance to say something and get it fixed.

You can use my sig to get into the mod thread. You can also PM me if you don't want to spread any details concerning the game.

[Baalz]

Oh my, tha legendary toughness o’ them Ashdod giants sure aint exaggerated. That province defense requires quite a mighty mallet ta smash, thankfully tha boys be up fer it. We’d a mind ta freeze out some o’ them with unfrozen but that be a hard proposition when thar be more giants than undead! Tha unfrozen be fairly tough by most standards, but them heavily blessed giants pretty much split them in half with each blow. Still I think if thar had been just a bit more o’ them ice cubes then tha giants might oh got a fatal amount of frostbite. Fortunately tha boys be much more inta raidin than those pitched battles so we’ll go ahead and take yer country while ya scrape tha unfrozen of yer huge swords. Oh, I did so hope that cuddly creature we sent ta visit yer pretender would bring him back, but ya had a fine bit o’ luck there, I think one more turn and he’d have had the important part of yer face in his mouth.

Ta Jomon I be sayin’ wait yer turn! Thar be plenty o’ spaces in the gallys and plenty o’ oars ta go around. Ye be sadly mistaken if ye hoped ta find the boys strung out and easy pickins as we go giant hunting, and now I think yer’ll find ya’ve bitten of a bit more than ya can chew. 2 on 1 aint be but a bit o’ warm up fer the boys, they be rather hard ta nail down and stop from making off with what they will. They be coming fer yer girls and yer booty now, and I do hope that big snake can come out ta play. Them ghost generals may have been a bit spooky ta the children yer used ta playin’ with, but we be tha masters o’ undead, and o course have a priest or three left over from preachin yer younger brother out. I think we be havin ta come kill all them necromancers ya been recruitin ta keep ya from getting ideas about who the undead serve. I do have a good belly laugh at ya figgerin ta take tha water away from Atlantis. Crabs and shrimp sound mighty fine, mighty fine indeed. Bring some lemons!

[Burnsaber]

Month by month I become more pleased upon what I see on this realm. Only now has the game truly begun! The bloodshed! The courage! Seeing it all pleases me so. Only the greatest of you have survived this far, but only the best of the best will be worthy enough of my place.

Fight Pretenders! Fight for your life! For there is no other place for the losers than the torments of Tartarus.



->
(I'm having a blast watching all these battles)

[militarist]

Burnsaber,set me please to AI, I send turn and killed it.And it appeared like I sent a wrong file. Thanks everybody for the game, especially Baalz :).

[kianduatha]

Alas, for the cruel overlord e'en of Jomon's God has stricken him down at the most inopportune time, thwarting all plans to fight off the cruel invaders.

(Boss kept me an hour later at work, causing me to stale...sorry all, I'll try to make the best of it)

[Lingchih]

Congrats Baalz. You played this one very well.

Of course, there is always the next one.

[Baalz]

Game's not over yet, just the giants.

[Burnsaber]

Ordeal for turn 41: The Four Horsemen




As most of you know form the common prophesies, the apocalypse was originally intented to be performed by the Four Horsemen. Death, War, Pestilence and Famine. But as I desided to leave this realm to a new ruler instead of destroying it, I banished them to Tartarus as their purpose became moot.

However, it seems that the Four have somehow managed to escape tartarus to wreck destruction upon this realm as per their mission. However, they seem to be greatly weakened by their escape and do not hold their tools of vengeance. But I am sure that some spark of their formal might still lives in them and it would be wise of you pretenders to destroy them as soon as possible.

They seem to be heading towards the central island, towards my realm with fanatical adherance. Stop them! Prevent the gathering of the four!



->
Sorry, I apparenlty forgot to send a in-game message of this ordeal. Hopefully all of you have learned to cehck the forums regurarly for new developments.


This turn "Ghost Riders" were casted at 4 different provinces over the world. Those dudes are the four horsemen. The attacks will move towards the central island, using the shortest path possible. If the "Ghost Rider" attack is defeated, that horseman is dead for good and its slayer will get a boon to their total.

If a horseman gets to one of the four uw provinces bordering the cental island, all player who got attacked by that horseman lose boon (for failing to stop him). If two horsemen end up in the same province, they will combine forces and s'it will happen. If three of them combine forces, big s'it happens. If all four get together, you're all in big trouble.

Burnsaber,set me please to AI, I send turn and killed it.And it appeared like I sent a wrong file. Thanks everybody for the game, especially Baalz :).

If you want to turn AI, that's okay I guess, but you can still put up a fight. Get some defenders to your caps and kill as many as you can. However, in any case it is *much* easier for you to set the nation AI that it is for me. I'd appriciate it if you did it.

Game's not over yet, just the giants.

This is definately true. All sorts of nasty nations are still in the game..

[Burnsaber]

Okay, some general announcements.

Boon tables have been upgraded to yield more stuff.

And since it is quite obvious that militarist does not wish to continue in the game, I got a sub for him. Dear Pretenders, Give a big round of applause for Sensori, the master of "hopeless" subbing situations!

[Sensori]

Yes indeed, I'm basically subbing for an AI. The situation seems quite, um, grim, but I bet I can do something, like bleed on Baalz most profusely!

[Baalz]

Ah, this be makin' more sense fer it be mighty puzzling where them ghost riders showed up from. No worries on that pestilence fellow, we be setting up some lines he'll have a hard time ridin' through.

[Sensori]

After... Rallying to spread the Word of Change among our armies, the forces of Ashdod have begun their exodus from the province apparently repeatedly hit by unnatural coldness. Even diseased and hungry, our forces defeated an army of the undeath-loving filth, and successfully left everywhere around that land to spread the Word!

While defeat looms over our heads, we shall give no quarter to the hated enemy! We shall fight them in the plains, in the mountains, in the swamps! We shall spill as much frogman blood as we can before the end!

Death before dishonor!

[Baalz]

Indeed we tip our stylish hat to tha mighty giants o’ Ashdod. They do indeed pull a mean oar with those big meaty arms and absurd reinvigoration. They eat like ya wouldn’t believe though! We’ve been having ta toss darn near two bakemono apiece every day ta each of our new…erm…employees. I dunno how long our stockpiles be lasting at this rate. I do have a solution some o’ the boys came up with that ya may find useful if food is scarce though. Between the eatin’ and the bellyachin’ there be more than one ship decided that undead giants be making much better oar pullers. Them guys what made that decision aint ever smelled a rottin’ giant though, that’s about the only thing that smells worse than a live one. Hmmm, maybe frozen undead giants would work…them Unfrozen lads didn’t smells so bad. We’re gonna needs some more bodies though fer experiments, we’ll be around shortly ta collect ‘em. Let them hungry lugs know they won’t be fer long.

Oh, and it looks like it falls ta the boys o’ Atlantis ta handle two o’ them horsemen. Looks like Death has a er…death wish as well. Should be a good laugh watchin’ them skinny little bone horses splashin’ around in tha water. He came a hair from bein’ fish food this month, but the fish in question had a belly full o’ shrimp warriors and ran out o’ appetite. He had a nice big fish poop now though, and be apparently lookin’ fer some bones ta chew on after his big meal.
(morale failure with a 18 morale and 80% of his hps left. Musta just been full. )

[Burnsaber]

And now all of the Riders have disappeared from this realm. Congratulations to the Bifrons and the mighty Pirate Queen for defeating Pestilence, Death and Famine. They have more worth in my eyes.

The Rolling Thunder and The One Who Got Away have displeased me for failing to prevent War from reaching the central island.

Also, Nobunaga the mighty champion has fallen! Not even his speed and strenght was enough to fend off the darkness from the north that has befallen upon Jomon.


->
This one is pretty self-explanatory.

[Burnsaber]

Bifron, the mighty god of Lanka has proven himself and taken the role of the destroyer, the flayer of this realm. He has murdered countless warriors on his quest for godhood and there is no end in sight for his merciless reign. I see that if he were made to sit on the Throne of Thrones, no one would dare to oppose him. Fear him, for he will surely have qualms about flaying you on sight.

So says I, The Pantokrator, and I have showered him gifts to make it be as it should be.



->
Lanka finished his personal ordeal.

[Baalz]

Hmmmm, is Gaze of Azrael bugged? It seems much more effective than the description indicates, pretty much wiping out one block of my MR-15 wights every turn with 100 precision.

As a side note: good lord those giants are tough with that super bless. With the water blessing I can't hit them enough to hurt over that regen even after dropping iron bane, and I never would have picked a 10E for the bless but 5 reinvig makes them damn hard to choke out. :/ Time for plan B apparently...

[Sensori]

Whilst with each passing month we lose more of our number to the marauding hordes of frogmen and their dead minions that seek to annihilate us, there is some reason for celebration on this day, for we drove the Atlantian filth out of our homelands. Even if they were supported by their cowardly would-be Goddess who left the battlefield with incredible haste!

Very few of their forces managed to flee the onslaught, as just two of their 135 undead made it out intact and none of their living troops, while a good number of their so called "commanders" (indeed, their "Goddess" included) fled before they could even meet us in battle.

They seek to whittle us down, bleed us out, and yes, they have been quite successful in this endeavor. But no matter. Our deaths are inevitable, indeed, but they shall be glorious!

[Sensori]

Hmmmm, is Gaze of Azrael bugged? It seems much more effective than the description indicates, pretty much wiping out one block of my MR-15 wights every turn with 100 precision.

Actually, no, the description indicates that it should wipe out undead like crazy and cause tons of decay on the living. Which would make it utterly overpowered for the research cost combined with the low magic skills needed...

I was 100% sure I was losing that fight, but that Gaze of Azrael turned the tide!

EDIT: Actually, I looked at the mod's info on Gaze of Azrael, and it seems to use Dust to Dust's info for the undead killing effect, so I guess that's why it was so effective!

[Baalz]

Hmmm, yeah I was looking at the magic resistance negates part of the description, but 100 precision dust to dust is certainly what it felt like! :)

[Burnsaber]

Hmmmm, is Gaze of Azrael bugged? It seems much more effective than the description indicates, pretty much wiping out one block of my MR-15 wights every turn with 100 precision.


Yeah, like Sensori said the spell also cast "Dust to Dust" wherever it lands. That sounds really great but the thing is that the AI does not realize it. AI will just target the spell towards the dudes with most hp since the AI does not "realize" what the #nextspell does. My intention with the "Dust to Dusting" was to have the spell to have a somekind of effect against Undead, because decaying undead is just a wasted mage turn with their immense lifespans but the AI does not know that and likes to cast the "aoe decay" spell on undead.

But after seeing the battle, I see the spell could certainly be unfair in this kind of situation where the AI goes right after the high hp undead. I'll change the secondaryeffect to "Maggots" which is less drastic anti-undead effect. (They "melt" under the gaze of the angel of death)

Also, I'll probably bumb the Fortuna's Meddling to be BF wide instead of just 50% of the battlefield. The situation in the battle should have been ideal for it (chaff horde vs few high mr elites) but it wasn't that impressive. Those "Grips of the Marshlands" did not help thought.

[Burnsaber]

Ordeal for turn 46: "The Cleansing"





The air is filled with magic as the Ascension Wars draw to a close. I fear that such amount of eldricht might could draw the attention of the forces behind the appearance of the Sign of the Slumbering Elders. If their gaze becomes focused upon this realm, only madness and destruction will follow.

So I have decided that one global will be purged for the good of the realm. Each pretender can cast a vote on which global will be dispelled.




->
Each nation still in hold of their capital fortress can vote. The global with the most votes will be dispelled (Note that the "Kindly Ones" by Pantokrator can also be voted out). Like in the ordeal "silver tongue" votes can be sold, bought, strongarmed for, etc.. All votes will be made public once all of them have been cast.

The owner of the global will get random gems equal to the gem cost of the global as it is dispelled (not gems of the type used to cast the global itself though).

P.S:

I have received concers of this ordeal being a bit too "much" and I admit that this is really on the limits on what "GM" should do. I however feel that it is fair because of the politicing involved and that you can buy votes to protect your investment in the global. Also remember that I made these Ordeals before the start of the game, anyone could have had globals up on this point.

But, you players are the real stars of the show. If I get more concerns, I'll call this one off and take it as a lesson learned for LOII.

[Burnsaber]

The mighty Pirate Queen has brought victory upon her chosen nation! She has called upon the maidens of the rivers dead and the awakened the ancients slumbering in ice. Freezing death is hers to give, the coldness of the grave at her fingertips. Who could resist such might? She will just kill anyone who opposes her and then awaken them as her servants. Fear her. Fear the Icy Queen.

I could see her as fitting to take the Throne of Thrones and have rewarded her to make it be as it should be.




->
LA Atlantis has finished his personal ordeal

[Isokron]

How long do we have to vote ?

Oh and the Lankan demons would be terrible upset if they saw anyone trying to vote away their health benefits which might show up as random arrows from the sky or hurricanes etc.

[Gregstrom]

On an unrelated note, my vote's for sale.

[Burnsaber]

How long do we have to vote ?



Until the start of the next ordeal (Turn 51). So the votes will be counted either when 1) I have received all votes or 2) It's the end of turn 50.

Remember that the "Kindly Ones" expire on turn 48, making all players lose 1 boon unless the last kindly one is defeated.

Also, votes are not set in stone. You can change your vote anytime you want.

[Sensori]

This month was disastrous for Ashdod, as our armies were finally defeated by the frogman filth of Atlantis. We will hold onto our lands for as long as we can, but the end is nigh.

At least we have managed to slow down this defeat by several months so far.

[Baalz]

Har! The notorious plan B never fails! Now, ta get ta raisin' them humongous popsicles so they can help with breakin' down them humongous walls.

The lady does now be acceptin' gifts and *** kissins fer them what wanna get inta her good graces before she ascends. Declare fer tha Frost Queen and ye may spare yerself the trip to Tartarus fer the time bein'. Giants and more giants, demons and the very horsemen o' the apocalypse now lay stiffening under her cold banner - what hope have the rabble that remains? Spare yerself her breath, this game o' musical chairs be leavin' some without her favor so I'd not be waitin ta see how it plays out or y'ell find yerself left out in the cold, and this is going ta be a very cold winter.

[Trumanator]

Well, I'm definitely disappointed that I didn't get to have an epic capital defense, but I'm out (btw, why the hell can't tomb kings preach?)

My strategy proved somewhat disappointing, and I had extremely bad luck with getting cut off easily by both TCs. GG to them (though I'm not sure I can tell which one ended me :P)

[rdonj]

What? Tomb Kings can definitely preach. They're quite good at it, in fact. Maybe there's something buggy about that game....

[Trumanator]

LA Ctis Tomb Kings.

[rdonj]

OH!

Um.

I was never here :D

[Aethyr]

GG to them (though I'm not sure I can tell which one ended me :P)

GG to you, the patience that you displayed in this game was incredible. Oh, and it was definately the "other" TC, I expect R'lyeh to wipe me off the map shortly. :D

[Burnsaber]

The One Who Got Away has brought glory upon his chosen nation! He has tamed the eldricth forces of the void and brought them to terror the coasts of this realm. But he also proved to hold the minds of men in his grasp as he took away the sanity of hundreds with nothing but a quick invocation. Who could resist such might? If you ever dare to oppose him, only insanity will be your reward.

I could see him as fitting to sit on the Throne of Thrones and have showered him with boons to make it be as it should be.




->
MA R'lyeh has finished his personal ordeal

[Meglobob]

Well, I'm definitely disappointed that I didn't get to have an epic capital defense, but I'm out (btw, why the hell can't tomb kings preach?)

My strategy proved somewhat disappointing, and I had extremely bad luck with getting cut off easily by both TCs. GG to them (though I'm not sure I can tell which one ended me :P)

Yes it was me (MA Tien Chi) that dominion killed you! Believe it or not I have been trying for about a dozen turns, so it was a very incompetent dominion kill. You probably were preaching its just I was preaching more and using, 'wierd advanced undercover tactics'.:) Which actually are pretty rubbish btw.:o

I was too scared to storm the castle head on, as I would have probably lost and my army wiped out btw.:re:

Well done for playing to the bitter end Trumanator and it was really, really very bad luck to be sandwiched between EA & MA Tien Chi.:up:

[Meglobob]

Hi All,

With Summer fast approaching my workload increases where I work. Also more pressure to go out and about in my free time from friends & family. Also I appear to have foolishly (again) managed to reach the late game in 4 seperate MP's of Dominions. I can continue to do my turns but need a move to 72hr turnaround, in order to account for all the above. If we can't move to 72hr then I probably won't be able to continue to play my nation.

Hope you all understand,

Cheers,

Meglo.

[Burnsaber]

Work is going to be a killer with Walpurgis Night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night#Finland) (or 'vappu' as we call it) upon finland. I work in a grocery store that is open 24/7 and I won't have the time to do my turn before sunday evening, so I extended the clock. Shame to do so though with all this intresting stuff that is going on..

[Burnsaber]

Hi All,

With Summer fast approaching my workload increases where I work. Also more pressure to go out and about in my free time from friends & family. Also I appear to have foolishly (again) managed to reach the late game in 4 seperate MP's of Dominions. I can continue to do my turns but need a move to 72hr turnaround, in order to account for all the above. If we can't move to 72hr then I probably won't be able to continue to play my nation.

Hope you all understand,

Cheers,

Meglo.

According to OP, we would be moving to 72h hosting on turn 60 anyway. We could just move that on turn 50 instead. I need more time to deal with the map & mod for LO2 anyway.

[Burnsaber]

I have dispelled Bifron's enchantment of "Gift of Health" for the good of this realm. Hopefully this will prevent the gaze of the ancients ever crossing this realm. As to not tip the scales of the contest, I have sent some arcane gems to Bifron.

But I am wrathful! All of you were incabable of proving your innocence in the eyes of the maidens. All of you sinners are worth less in my eyes. Hopefully the upcoming Arena fight will lift my spirits after this dissappointment..



->
The votes went like this:

Gift of Health: EA Atlantis, MA T'ien C'hi, EA T'ien C'hi, MA Ashdod, MA R'lyeh
Kindly Ones: LA Jomon, EA Lanka

GoH got dispelled. Lanka has received 50 RND gems.

Everyone lost one boon from their total because the maidens were not defeated or dispelled in the span of a one year.

Also, one would be wise to take note of the Arena event. Send in your champions!

We also have moved to 72h hosting ahead of scheducle.

[ano]

Sorry for OT, but after having read the whole topic I absolutely fell in love with the concept and the game itself. Will keep watching it with great interest. Fantastic work, Burnsaber! I hope to take part in Legendary Ordeals 2 if it ever happens.

[Burnsaber]

Sorry for OT, but after having read the whole topic I absolutely fell in love with the concept and the game itself. Will keep watching it with great interest. Fantastic work, Burnsaber! I hope to take part in Legendary Ordeals 2 if it ever happens.

It will happen and I'll be sure to contact you on a pre-sing up when the time comes for it. I've already put quite a lot of work on the map and the mod for the sequal and I won't see it go to waste.

[ano]

Thanks a lot and good luck :)

[Dimaz]

If you still have an unfilled slot, I'll gladly join LO2 too. I'm reading this thread from the beginning and really enjoy it.

[Baalz]

Fer ye tourists what can't see our realm let me give ye a bit of a highlight o' how things be standin. Jomon & Lanka be none too happy with the speed which which the boys o' Atlantis done rolled over them giants and they patched up their differences ta both fall like an avalanche on me before I could quite wrap up Ashdod. Once I storm the last Ashdod castle I'll be in control o' 4 out of 5 victory points, but the forces attackin be fairly overwhelming with each o' the two bein' roughly a match fer me alone. Since it seems unlikely I'l be able ta fend them off we be seein if I've got any tricks up me sleeve ta get one more vp lickity split before I bleed out. So, in other words cheer fer the boys o' Atlantis and mayhap some more trials be startin' sooner then ye think. If not, I'll be joinin ye in the peanut gallery.

[Sensori]

So the filthy frogmen are finally getting what is due. While it comes this close to the end of Ashdod, I am content with this outcome. I have done all I could to slow down our defeat, and there is nothing more that could be done.

Unless, of course, someone feels inclined to send in forces with magic to Golem Range (2), whilst our home of Koromoo (58) is now lost to us. Golem Range (2) is the last bastion of Ashdod, and also the ancient capital of Hinnom. There is a large frogman army besieging it, and they can proceed to storm it at their leisure.

[Lingchih]

Heh. Good riddance to the pirate queen. I had hoped she would get her come-uppance.

[chrispedersen]

wow what a great concept and thread. Kudos, Burn!
I'd love to play if you do a part 2

[Lingchih]

Part 2? I doubt if I even get invited :)

[Gregstrom]

I'd like to reserve a place if possible - the first game's been great fun so far.

[Burnsaber]

If you still have an unfilled slot, I'll gladly join LO2 too. I'm reading this thread from the beginning and really enjoy it.

wow what a great concept and thread. Kudos, Burn!
I'd love to play if you do a part 2

I'd like to reserve a place if possible - the first game's been great fun so far.


Whoa guys! I'm getting filled with pre-sing ups. And I was actually kind of worried if I can fill the map I'm making as it is for 14 players. But you guys shouldn't worry. Once this game is finished (and I've received feedback on the game) I'm going to make some improvements over the "GM mod" and make a big post about how to make GM games (and some hints of how to GM so that we can avoid power-trippers and the like). This way you get your "ordeals" fix in a game that is run by someone else since I likely won't have the juice to GM two games at a time. At least pyg has expressed intrest in making a GM'd game himself.

This "Ordeal" thing I'm doing here is just a example of a GM'd game. It would possible for example to have a newbie game with experienced GM who is just a spectator watching the battles and giving tips to the players as the game goes along. Or a game where defeating the Pantokrator would be a extra victory condition and a way to "Pantheon" victory through an alliance against him. Anyways, it would be probably best not to clutter this thread with this kind of discussion and leave it for the "GM game" thread I'll make.

[ano]

Whoa guys! I'm getting filled with pre-sing ups.
There's no surprise here. People enjoy even reading this because the concept and the way you implemented it are simply splendid. I just don't know enough English words to express how splendid they are :) It's a brand new approach to playing Dominions, IMO.
And I promise that, as I started lurking at the forums again, I will continue following this thread with pleasure :)

[Baalz]

Well, me tricks did prove ta be less effective than I'd hoped. Looks like tha games ta be decided now 'tween Lanka and Jomon, and my money be on Jomon. Not, mind ye, that there won't be a pile o' bodies collected ta claim the rest o' me stuff.

[Burnsaber]

The Cleansing was in vain! The Slumbering Ones have awakened and a new era of terror will surely be brough upon this realm. These news were brought by a horrible messenger and his arrival has saddened me so..

You see, when the Sign of the Slumbering Ones got invoked, I sent my most trusted Celestial, Arimiel, throug the dimensions to spy upon the Horrors on unreality. But not even his glorious mind could resist the gaze of the ancient spawns. He is now utterly and completely mad beyond any reason as his soul constantly burns with unbeing and bears items of strange might. He will instill terror and madness upon his rampage through this realm. His divine chariot is also missing and I fear deeply of what might have come of it..

It hurts me to see my noblest courier in this state. He is truly mighty and benefits from the heretical blessings of the slumbering ones. But his madness makes him erratic and one aspiring to be a god should surely be able to take him down and bring peace to his burning soul. I will reward his saviour with a shower of boons and he will be worth a great deal more in my eyes.



->

Let's cut to the chase. Here he is:


http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4503/theonewhoismadandholy.png


-->

Aramiel has now descended from beyond dimensions and into Lanka. He moves randomly with a 1d10 dice (with each province connection counting as one option on the dice). If the result is greater than the number of connections in the province, he will build a lab and then teleport to another random province in the map in the next turn.

Aramiel is mad, but not stupid. He will not attack head-on into armies or forts (issuing a re-roll if such situation is rolled). This also makes his presence just annoying (because he is basically just a very tough raider). His madness causes him to change tactics constantly and he will fight differently in each combat and might even start the battle in some other form than his first astral form.

Aramiel is the prophet of madness and sorrow, the burning angel, the false shephard and he will desctruction and madness upon provinces he visits (usually a remote event that kills pop or causes unrest or misfortune). He also might not be always alone as his presence will bring the attention of the cults that formed when the Sing of the Slumbering Elders appeared..

The reward for killing him (note that he has to be actually killed, banishing him to hell/kokytos/disco dimension does not count) is a free boon of each possible type (a'k'a items, gold, gems, information, free ritual castings and the opportunity to hold the arena fight) and +2 boons to total.

(Aramiel was originally a lot tougher but rewarded a conquest point, although I really don't like changin stuff mid game, awarding conquest points for ordeals from him was a stupid idea. It would be a really unclimatic finish to win the game due to conquest point from this kind of event so I decided against it sometime about 10-20 turns ago. Anyways, the point of this tale:

So now there are no conquest point ordeals unlike advertised at the start of the game. This was the only one I designed)


And yes, he has a theme song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o2-iekd_tI&feature=related) like the previous "monster" event. Heavy metal is my muse.

[Burnsaber]

The arena fight was won by the beastly Mandeha, Achyuta fighting for Lanka. His opponent was tough, but just was not tough enough for the Mandehas ancient might.

Only a skillful pretender could enlist the services of such beast and Lanka has gained worth in my eyes.



-->

Lanka won the Arena match.

[Baalz]

I be tellin them and tellin them ta play more gently, but they broke all the demons. Can ye send more next time?

Ye herd a jackals may end up succeedin in pulling down the lion, but I'll be taking a face or two with me. As the famous quote goes "never get involved in a land war in Atlantis."

[Baalz]

Har! Now ye fools be tumblin' with the horny toad indeed! Thar be one more face torn off and another mess o' artifacts ta be mountin' on me wall. Looks like MA T'ien Ch'i be eggin' me fer a hat trick...but this be such a target rich environment I can't be promisin' ye anything right away. When ye foul cabal climb inta yer bed together after finally whittlin yer better down with the mob, ye can now feel like ye earned it with the will ta pile yer peoples bodies deep enough ta finally bury the boys o' Atlantis.

[Meglobob]

Looks like MA T'ien Ch'i be eggin' me fer a hat trick...but this be such a target rich environment I can't be promisin' ye anything right away.

That's ok, take your time, tie up other loose ends, the horselords are only having abit of fun and amusing ourselves anyway, waiting for one of those northern demon powers to triumph.:D

My army is just glad it didn't bump into Aramiel.

[Baalz]

What in the heck just happened?!?!? For some reason my quickened golem was stricken blind after his first attack against Aramiel before his second attack that round (Aramiel had no chance to attack or cast anything). No eye loss as from a attacking a seraph, and no MR check for anything in the debug log. That's pretty damn disheartening, especially after watching that Mendeha wail away at him until the turn timer expired. :(

[Graeme Dice]

Repel? That's the only other way I can think of damage being applied.

[Baalz]

Yeah, I had that thought to, but there was no HP loss at that time. There was also a fire shield up but my golem had 100% FR.

[fungalreason]

http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Chayot

There's a "blind attacker" effect for Chayots

[Burnsaber]

Aramiel has been put to rest. His soul has reached the afterlife and is now free of the tortereous grasp of the ancients. The Burning Angel has been given redemption and I am pleased of that fact. His soul will fly free once more. My sincerest thanks go to Bifron, the god of Lanka for his selfless deed.

He did not fall easily and fought to the end in his pure madness. Three attemps were made for his life in succession on three different days.


Behold the tale of the last stand of the one who was Mad and Holy!

The First Day

In the first day, Achyuta the Mandeha, the devourer of the sun, the arena champion, the hero of legends came upon Aramiel riding the clouds. He brought with him legions of imps and two raksharaja, demons of ancient might. The sun retreated, fearful of the Mandeha but Aramiel just cackled with glee as darkness came upon the realm.

"DaRkNeSs? ThAt Is YoUr GrEaTeSt WeApOn? yOuR tRuE fOeS aRe OlDeR tHaN tHaT MeAnInGleSs BaLl Of FiRe. gAzE uPoN mE aNd SeE tHe FuTiLiTy Of It AlL!"


In his burning madness and pain called upon the powers of sun inside him and reawakened with a pyre of glory each time he got struck down. The Beastly and Ancient Mandeha flew after him relentlessly, reinvogorated by the divinity of his awakening god. But the ancient might behind Aramiel was just stronger and he soon took the minds of the Rakshasha minions with his eldrict staff, gifted to him by one of the ancient ones themselves.

Achuyta, although unable to finally strike down Aramiel, managed to escape the influence of the crooked oath staff. He struck and struck, taking damage from the aura of glory surrounding the Fallen Shepherd. But fire is the ancient foe of Mandeha and the flames smote him deeply. A Phoenix Pyre scorched his feet to stumps, but still he kept stricking his mad foe. Another burst burned his chest and wicked heart, but he still refused to give up. Seeing his ancient might falter, the Mandeha stroke a great blow in desperation hit his hand right through the Mad Angel. For one silent moment it seemed like the angel was done for, but he just laughed as his mortal form exploded in a cloud of fire.

His act of desperation had cost the once-mighty Mandeha his swordarm, which now was just a flaming stump. His foe just kept on coming and coming, never taking any lasting harm and his demonic body was now mutilated beyond regocnition. No one could respect him now and his former servants would look upon him with pity if he ever was to return to his master. It just was not fair! What kind of might was behind that immortal foe? Choosing not to bear the news of shame to his master, the legendary Mandeha fled and chose to never return.


The Second Day


In the second day, a rift opened in space itself. Aramiel tought that his masters had arrived to claim this realm, but was dissapointed. From the rift came a great construct made of death and steel, called Inberke. It was a mindless, but mighty, servant of the Icy Queen and he had came to defeat the Mad One. Adorned with many artifacts of might, the golem did not waste any time on words and came forward to strike the Burning Angel.


"Ah, I sEe ThAt YoU aRe NoT bUrDeNeT wItH tOuGhT oR sOuL. WhAt A BlIsS MuSt ThAt Be.."


Once more, Aramiel called upon the powers of sun to become immortal and flew to strike the strange creation. The staff of eldricth oaths wielded by the angel could not slay the sanity of the mindless machine and his first strike proved ineffective against the hulk of metal. But as the machine tried to strike the Mad One, his divine radiance blasted away the the dark crystals the magical construct used to see. A truly miraculous event, likely ordained by the powers beyond reality, the same who were behind the madness of Aramiel.

As deadly as the artifacts wielded the machine were, they were useless if they could not hit the fallen angel. But the machine was strong and relentless and it took a whole hour for the mad angel to bring the metallic hulk down for good.


The Third Day


On the Third Day, a great army sailed and flew in some grand scheme to fell the angel. It was lead by a wicked Ice Devil called Cimejes and a cunning Raksharaja, Abnik. The army composed of several demonic titans, Davanas, and a horde of sacred demon warriors. The dead also walked with them and the Mad Angel just watched as this terrifying foe organized its ranks. Once the enemy forces were at their places, the angel screamed..


"iN tHe PaTh YoU aRe DoOmEd To FoLlOw, YoUr EyEs WiLl OnLy DeCeiVe You! AlLoW Me To ShOw ThE WaY! FoLlOw ThE BlInD oNe!"

The demonic force casted a great enchantment that allowed the whole army to fly in the winds and attack the Burning Angel head on. Aramiel just grinned as the demons rained upon him and, yet again, called for the power of immortality. And then he attacked the massive demonic horde with just his crooked shepherd's staff. Although the angel was once again shrouded in his divine radiance, the Devanas were mighty and one of them struck the angel right in the heart and caused a great affliction.

Although the angel hardly noticed the wound, it hindered him greatly and soon his form started to tire. Although his staff struck the Davanas with insanity and his radiance burned their eyes blind, the demons did not falther and wailed on the Mad Angel, giving him no rest. Many of the demons were killed by Aramiel, but in the end they proved victorious as they dispelled the immortality of the Burning One with pure strenght alone.

Many of the demons had fallen, and even greater amount of them would not ever see or have the gift of tought, but they were victorious and brought peace to the Tormented One. Abrik and Cimejes will be remembered in legends for eternity as this tale will be spread through the land.




-->

Lanka killed Aramiel. He will be showered with boons.

Heh. You both attacked him when he was on probably his most terrifying script with the "Phoenix Pyre" trickery. The turn before he was on a script ending with "Cast Spells", which would have probably been his undoing in a serious fight.

Also, it seems that there might just be *some* use for the sandals of the crone. Because the sandals blinked the angel at the start of his turn, he was always able to get his buffing script off, even if he got jumped by the enemy forces so that he avoided that 50% chance of going off script. This was not a intended effect (I haven't used the sandals for anything until now), I just chose them for him to wear because they seemed thematic.

What in the heck just happened?!?!? For some reason my quickened golem was stricken blind after his first attack against Aramiel before his second attack that round (Aramiel had no chance to attack or cast anything). No eye loss as from a attacking a seraph, and no MR check for anything in the debug log. That's pretty damn disheartening, especially after watching that Mendeha wail away at him until the turn timer expired. :(

Yeah, it was certainly odd. Ayachta did not get blinded even tought he struck the angel like bazillion times. So the Debug log showed that he got no mr roll to save? Sounds like a bug to me.

[Baalz]

Well, its kinda confusing, but I didn't see it. MR 22 Mendeha wails away until the turn timer runs out, MR 24 golem fails his first roll when he probably only needed a couple to land a fight winning blow with magebane *sigh*

[Lingchih]

It would be fun to see those fights, Burnsaber. Perhaps when the game is over?

[Meglobob]

Well, its kinda confusing, but I didn't see it. MR 22 Mendeha wails away until the turn timer runs out, MR 24 golem fails his first roll when he probably only needed a couple to land a fight winning blow with magebane *sigh*

This is the way with MR, I have had MR 28 pretenders go down to a 1st round soul slay, more than once or twice too. I suppose given the amount of dom3 I have played this could be part of the course and just take note of the exceptional good or bad results. Then again...:confused:

Gutted, didn't get to watch any of those battles:(, so thanks for the description Burnsaber.:)

[Burnsaber]

Well, its kinda confusing, but I didn't see it. MR 22 Mendeha wails away until the turn timer runs out, MR 24 golem fails his first roll when he probably only needed a couple to land a fight winning blow with magebane *sigh*

Dom3 is such a cruel mistress, it seems.


This is the way with MR, I have had MR 28 pretenders go down to a 1st round soul slay, more than once or twice too. I suppose given the amount of dom3 I have played this could be part of the course and just take note of the exceptional good or bad results. Then again...:confused:


Actually, the Dom3 RNG is a common topic on IrC. Some people are convinced that it is bugged and generates too many "extreme" results. But you can never know with random..


Gutted, didn't get to watch any of those battles:(, so thanks for the description Burnsaber.:)

Yeah, all that epic just tickled my "epic bone" quite a bit. I really enjoyed writing that description, it probably is the longest "In Character" speak I have ever given in these forums. The introudction post of Aramiel also seemed to net me some "reputation" from two forum users, so I tought that some people out there could care to hear about his fate.

[Baalz]

Coo...I be startin ta think the one ta sit on old Pantos throne's gonna be the one who decides ta stop throwin' body after body inta the meat grinder and takes advantage oh those that don't. Ten ta one? Twenty ta one? How much ye fools be willin ta pay fer this frozen patch o land now that the frozen lady no longer be in the runnin?

[Burnsaber]

The Ordeal for Turn 56: The Rupture




The ascension wars have been going on for over 4 years now. Great and mighty things are awakening as the pretenders release ever the more powerful spells in this realm. Now as the gaze of the Ancients is fixed upon us all, the air cackles with eldricht potential.

Chaos is upon as all as that excess magic seeks a purpose, a way to release itself. The skies will open and the earth will shake as the battleground itself will rise to do battle.

This is..

THE RUPTURE!


On the first month, the forests darkened as primal and slumbering forces were awakened. And they were furious to find tresspassers upon their sacred ground! Many great soldiers have been forever lost to the fickle forest after hearing the lullaby for eternal sleep from these primal guardians.



->

Forgot to do a in-game post of this. Sorry, likely was a still bit too worked over the death of Aramiel.

Basically hostile rituals are going to rain down on provinces depending on their terrain type and possibly other variables until the next ordeal. These variables vary, but it is still unlikely that one province would be hit by one of these events twice, unless it has a lot of terrains or other things of intrest.

On the first month of the rupture, half of the forests on the map got struck by the spell "Beckoning".

[Burnsaber]

And so, more of the arcane energies that plague this realm have been discharged. This time the magic, the extreme potential became an anti-thesis for itself and became a force of reduced potential, striking against all signs of civilization. Affected provinces were shrouded in sloth as the vitality of life became drained of them. People lost all hope and just sat down to wait for their doom to fall upon them.

They all have seen the signs in the sky. World is going to end, so why bother?



->

All provinces with forts or temples got struck by "Melancholy".

[Burnsaber]

And so, more of the arcane energies that plague this realm have been discharged. This time isolated areas, free from the ravages of man, were affected. The wild magic condensed and formed into great pillars of fire that stroke the ground.

And so, more soldiers and citizens have been lost. Troubling times are upon us..



->

All mountain and wasteland provinces got struck by "Fires from Afar".

[Burnsaber]

And so, more of the arcane energies that plague this realm have been discharged. Now the disaster struck the lands of green, plains of much growth. A great blight fell upon these lands, killing the farmers with a horrid disease.

It seems that Pestilence, altough now dead, got the last laugh..



->

All farmland provinces got struck by "Blight".

[Burnsaber]

And so, more of the arcane energies that plague this realm have been discharged. This month, the magic dissipated to the fabric of creation, causting no harm to this realm. However, the underwater denizens have been witnessing the madness that has been taking place upon the shores and have been waiting in despair for the disaster to strike.

For four long months, they braced themselves and the wait was maddening. Living in fear does horrible things to a mortal minds and now some of them have snapped like a twig. Terrible and massive riots have taken place in some marinine provinces as the population cannot bear to wait for the end and have decided to bring it on themselves..


->

Third of underwater provinces got struck by "Raging Hearts".

[Gregstrom]

So I noticed.

[Burnsaber]

So I noticed.

Well, I had to spread some love your way too. It'd be hardly fair if underwater realms were inaffected when the land above is in flames :D

[Meglobob]

You got off easy, you had the word, 'third', well we got, 'all'.

Nice to see beckoning and melancholy, even when I am the target! You normally never see those spells as no half decent player would ever cast them. Cost far too much in gems for the effect.

[Burnsaber]

You got off easy, you had the word, 'third', well we got, 'all'.


I went with every "third", because Raging hearts is a serious lockdown event and it is nastier to get a lot of stuff happen in single turn than having those events spread out on several turns.

(I origiginally had "Baneful Star" as the remote attack for UW provinces, but apparently that spell cannot be casted in UW provs! Apparently you can see "Light of the Northern Star" UW, but not a star that is baneful..)


Nice to see beckoning and melancholy, even when I am the target! You normally never see those spells as no half decent player would ever cast them. Cost far too much in gems for the effect.


Yeah, that is one of the advantages of being a GM. I can't win, so I don't need to minmax everything and can use those "forgotten" items and effects that are just not competetive. The whole ordeal of the "Sing of the Slumbering Elders" was just made so that I could show out the effect of a "Imprint Souls" with a octobless. When making Aramiel, it was cool that I didn't have to optimize him in any way. I just slapped stuff on him that made "thematic" sense.

I have devised a mechanic for LOII that rewards players for using forgotten/unoptimal stuff. You could for example get a boon by casting GoR on a Troll Moose Knight (for example) and thugging him out.

[Burnsaber]

The Ordeal for Turn 61: WAR!




The Rupture may be over, but your ordeals are not. With the Gaze of the Elders still looming upon us, our time to hold this contest is running out. If you keep this pace, the winner will not have any realm to rule over.

So I have decided to shatter the excuses for the weak and allow the strong to rule. Walls of papers will be destroyed so that the Ascension Wars can take place at the fullest! And from this point onward, I will reward those who seek victory and punish those who exercise cowardice.



->

All NAPs are declared void by the will of Pantokrator. (Note: there is nothing preventing you from just resigning it, take it as a opportunity)

The first player to attack 3 or more different players in the same turn gets a free boon.

Also, the Following Rules now take place:

1) For the rest of the game, a player will lose a boon if his province count is same for 3 consecutive turns.

2) For the rest of the game, conquering a capitol earns the player one boon to their total.


Also, the Boon Tables have been updated:

- More expensive magic items can now be rewarded

- More gems will be given

- Much more gold will given

- More information will be revealed

- Almost all remote rituals are now allowed to be requested

[Burnsaber]

It seems that the Pirate Queen and the Rolling Thunder have taken heed of my words and have begun relentless assaults on their enemies. They have gained worth in my eyes.



->

MA T'ien C'hi and LA Atlantis got a boon for being the first to attack three different nations in a single turn.

[Baalz]

The combined might of the world has failed to bring the pirate queen to her knees. The bodies of the fools who have tried lie rotting around the skirts of every castle. Flocks of crows cannot gorge fast enough to keep abreast of the souls she has sent to the afterlife. Jomon has sacrificed virtually every son of the dragon king on the altar of her ascendance. The abyss swells like a pregnant sow with the Lankan demons destroyed by her will. The imperial bureaucracy crumbles as entire lineages are utterly consumed, melting under her frozen gaze before they can even draw breath to scream. The world witnesses as her divinity manifests and the lesser creatures play like children playing with their toys at being monarchs. Bow down in awe pests, this is the sound of inevitability.

[Isokron]

Yes it seems like the only ones with a good win/lose record against Atlantis in this games are the random event independents :)

But just you wait in a few turns the Lankan war machine will stand outside the walls of Urd again.

[Meglobob]

Note to scribe...always send a scout in first before storming a Atlantian castle...:doh:

[Gregstrom]

Could we have the pre-host reminder email sent out 12 hours in advance rather than 6, please?

[Burnsaber]

Could we have the pre-host reminder email sent out 12 hours in advance rather than 6, please?

Done.


On other vein, do you guys have gotten a message about arena death match taking place this turn? It seems that some weirdness may be taking place with it.

[Meglobob]

Could we have the pre-host reminder email sent out 12 hours in advance rather than 6, please?

Done.


On other vein, do you guys have gotten a message about arena death match taking place this turn? It seems that some weirdness may be taking place with it.

I got the message ok.

[Baalz]

Oh wow, my bad. I did get the notification I just missed it in all my other stuff. The thing that threw me is that apparently units inside a sieged castle can't participate (no option to send them). I never knew that, and a very bad turn to learn it. :(

[Baalz]

You guys get tired of (attempting to) storm my castles? Don't have much going for me now other than the anticipation of racking up a bit more body count on my way out...

[Gregstrom]

Dammit, pirates killed all my chaff! If the vaunted Pirate Queen can't win a battle against R'lyeh, she deserves to join the squids in oblivion.

Thanks for the Djinn, though. He's somewhat shop-soiled, but he might be useful anyway.

[Burnsaber]

The Ordeal for Turn 66: Armageddon




I can feel it calling. The pure potential that lies in the deep space, the potential of creation. I long for the new glorious realm that I will create. I have begun to wonder if any of you have what it takes to rule this realm.

It would be so easy for me to just destroy this old land and then focus my efforts elsewhere. But I'll give you pretenders a chance to convince me otherwise. Show me your faith in this contest!



->

On turn 70, I will wish for "armageddon", unless at least one the following criteria are met:

1) I have received sacrifices totalling over 3000 gold

2) I have received sacrifices totalling over 125 gems (2 blood slaves = 1 gem)

If the armageddon is prevented, the person who sent the most stuff (in the "winning" category) earns a boon to their total.

Also, instead of reguesting a boon for this ordeal, you can "plea" to Pantokrator to not to destroy this realm. Doing so cuts the total amounts of gold and gems required %-equal to the amount of boons you have left. This does not cost a boon, just one opportunity to use them. (so, if you have 4 boons left, "pleading" will cut the requirements in gems and gold by 4%)

Also note that giving gems has no effect on the gold requirement and vice versa. You all can (theoretically) send 2999 gold and 124 gems and fail.

[Baalz]

Haha, oh man I just can't catch a break this game...

[Isokron]

People, apes and demons of the world rejoice! The pirate queens reign of terror is finally over (at least for short periods of over)

Unfortunately some 700 fatigue clockwork horrors combined with a mage of mine that thought creeping doom was a fun spell forced my army to flee.

[Meglobob]

People, apes and demons of the world rejoice! The pirate queens reign of terror is finally over

:haha::party:

[Burnsaber]

Your faith in this competition has been assured due to the efforts by The Rolling Thunder, glorious pretender god of the T'ien C'hi Empire. I'm now convinced and will not raise my fist in anger against this realm.

My mood is turned by this joyful event. I have something special prepared for all of you..


->

The threat of armageddon has been averted. MA T'ien C'hi received a boon for his great part in the sacrifice.