[Tyrian]

I think background must be the first thing to define for having a nation with a flavor. I can't think about unit or else without a background optic. Stats and other are secondary in my mind.

For the stats I'm totally agree with 1, 3, 4, 6, 12.

For point 2 and 11, I think there are not recruitable unit at all. The gold are useless for this entity (so is connected with 11). But spawn a mage leader by turn by fort is largely too powerfull and give no choice to the player. The player haven't any control on the troop he can have.

For point 5, 7, 8 and 10, I think the opposite. Majority of summons are ritual summons. The crystal unit growth "slowly". And research is needed because the Crystal entity (or his master if it is another pretender) need to make experiment to create new monster type. The crystal entity doesn't know all of his capacities at the start. Furthermore, this give to the player control on what he can summons, and better control on his strategy.

I have some more background ideas, based on the fact this presentation are for the EA. For the MA, the crystal mage hero betray the crystal entity, contains it and use it to create an empire. More classical nation, the cristal entity lost pearl production but doesn't kill population anymore. Crystal mage, crystal knight (hight cost, very good garning, hight MR), less special summons (no more crystal leaders but always crystal monster like elemental or crystal mutant).

In the LA, the crystal break his containement. There is a fight between it and the hero crystal mage. During this fight, the crystal mage severly "wound" the crystal entity. Energy flow by the wound and the entity became insane. His insanity strike equally the mage. For this age, it is the same logic of the EA, but with dom insanity and some new unit ethereal unit spawned by the energy flowed by the wound. These unit are auto-spawned. There is equally madness flagellant created by the crystal capacity to break human mind.