[Norfleet]

What I would like to hear are the answers to several specific questions regarding Ermor nation in that game, which is controlled by Norfleet. These are not questions that originate only from me, because each of the other 4 players who are in this game, and who have been cooperating against Ermor all along, would like to know the answers to them as well.

In just this single battle, the Ermor have used 470 gems worth of equipment and summons

You exaggerate: Let me run the breakdown for you.

3 Wraith Consuls: 35D apiece x 3 = 105D
2 Bane Lords: 10D apiece x 2 = 20D
5 Wraith Swords: 7D apiece x 5 = 35D
3 Dusk Elders: 20D apiece x 3 = 60D
3 Banners: 15D apiece x 3 = 45D

Total: 320 D

4 Starshines(one Banelord is hatless due to lack of funding): 7S * 4 = 28S
5 AMA and 5 Pendants: 6S * 5 = 30S OR 10S * 5 = 50S
(real cost somewhere in between - item is cheap, astral abundant, lack of hammers, not always hammerforged)

Total: 58 to 78 S

Jade Armor: (3E + 3W) * 5 = 15E + 15W OR (5E + 5W) * 5 = 25E + 25W
Wing Shoes: 3A * 5 OR 5A * 5 = 15 to 25 A

Total: 15-25E, 15-25W, 15-25A

Total: 423-473 Gems

As you can see, it hits 470 gems only by the pessimistic outcome. Death gems represent the bulk of the expense, and that's the real issue to focus on, as the other gems represent chump change, and the second largest expenditure, unsurprisingly, is astral. Gee, where do you think THAT comes from?

Now, according to the graphs, my current gem income until tha Last turn was about 50+% of Ermor's. As those of us familiar with mathematics may remember from college years , the total gem income for each nation in the game is equal to the area under the Gems Income Graphs. ( in other words it is integral of the graph function).

You are ignoring the following:

1. Explicit gem income represents the minority of my gem income: I tend to dislike reliance on explicit income due to the fact that it reveals one's hand in a scoregraphed game. Therefore, I deliberately conceal income through the use of the tactic you so despise, clamming, and fetishing.

2. Luck bonus: Ermor is Turmoil and Luck. I am hit with 2-3 randoms a turn, every turn, the entire game. Having half of your (zero) population die in a "get free death gems" event is pretty cool. Finding fistloads of gems is sweet, especially when they start the clamforge. $1500 free = 3 free castles.

3. Geography: I started in the east-central flatlands of Karan. Many plains. Good population, at least a dozen 10K+ provinces to burninate.

4. Raven Feast: My second research target pursued alongside construction was Conjuration. An average feasting yields 40D, and I'm creating both corpses to feast, and revenue, through burninating the countryside.

5. Natural income: My average income has fluctuated between $200-350 a turn. This represents a castle or temple every turn or two, as I do not pay noticeable upkeep nor recruit.

6. Alchemy: Surprisingly, luck has been with me this game. I have not had to alchemize many gems.

The graphs in our game are very clear. If we take the total amount of gems collected by our two nations than it is very clear that I have collected about 60% of total Ermor's gems for the duration of the game (I am only talking about regular gem income from the sites, since nothing else is reflected in the gem graphs). Add to this the fact that Arco, Pythium and Jotunheim have been sending *all* their gems to me, since I was spearheading and coordinating our anti-Ermor efforts, than I had in my possession about 70% of the gems that Ermor had.

If they sent you everything, they are very clueless. Furthermore, being newbies, they are not really familiar with gem generators, and they have not searched much. The contributions they send you are negligible. Their military efforts have been similarly humorous, as they've lost entire armies to construction teams and fly-by shootings. I have mostly ignored them.

Now keep in mind, it is just turn 22, standard MP magic 50 frequency. But the thing is, my nation could not afford half of the 470 gems used By Ermor for summons and equipments that they used in just this single battle

This single battle. Not just any ordinary battle, but the Big One. I committed everything I had on the tap at the time. That was the entire elite guard.

Some of these additional gems could have come from random events (Ermor is playing Luck 2 turmoil 3, so he would quite a few events). Some of these gems could have come from Raven Feasts, which Ermor could used on some of his high population provinces while he was actively murdering the population. And finally some could come from Clams, since we all know that Norfleet loves to clam hoard. However clamhoarding is not easy to do for the Soul Gate Ermor, since they don't have any water or even astral income, and lack any water 2 mages.

You're forgetting that I wrote the BOOK on Ermorian Clam Hoarding. Alas, it was rejected by the publisher, so it's not available for public consumption. But who was it who brought the clam-hoarding matter to prominence on the chat? What was I playing at the time? That's what I thought.

That was several months ago. The undead never rest. Do you think I haven't refined my crude newbie methods of yore in the course of SEVERAL MONTHS? This inquisition is absurd. Can't you just accept your loss?