Gath, dev diary or something

[Kristoffer O]

I started to write this post as an answer to Wraithlord, but I figured it would be better to place in a new thread.

I have long waited with Gath, since I'm very fond of ancient near eastern myth. I have always felt a bit worried that they would not become what I imagined, so I've waited. From time to time I have done some research, but never very focused. A couple of weeks ago I got inspired and did a lot of research and begun with descriptions. It was about at the same time as the 3.15 was in beta, so I could not work on the game per se.

I started to write descriptions while reading, which was rewarding. Old ideas were combined with new ones, and soon Gath, the LA version of the nation took form. Gath is the most israelite of the three nations. It draws inspiration from philistines and the israelites before the diaspora. The cult is centered around the Great Temple. From Gath, the few remaining giants rule their human subjects.
The humans of Gath live subjugated by the gittite giants, denied even the lore of iron-working. (Philistines used iron, but kept it from the israelis).
The gittites are descendants of the Rephaim, mighty giants of an earlier age (EA and MA).

Ashdod (MA) is a nation of Rephaim giants. A few human immigrants have been enslaved and used in warfare, but they are as rare as they are worthless. Ashdod is one of the cities of the Anakim, mightiest of the Rephaim and pure-blooded descendants of the godlike Nephilim of the earliest time.

Hinnom (EA) is a nation of Rephaim and lesser giants. The blood of the Nephilim runs strong and the Rephaim are few but powerful. Avvites and Horim (lesser giants) compose much of the population.

So far:
Gath is finished.
Ashdod is lacking commanders, mages and sacred units.
Hinnom only has Horites and Avvites as of yet.

I have not begun work on summons yet.

[Gregstrom]

I'm really anticipating seeing these nations. I wonder what sort of magic we'll be looking at? My first thought was that Blood and Fire seemed appropriate to some degree, based on the bits I remember from the Bible.

[Wrana]

And is Arabo-Persian faction planned? I can't wait for genie!

[quantum_mechani]

Kristoffer O said:
I started to write this post as an answer to Wraithlord, but I figured it would be better to place in a new thread.

I have long waited with Gath, since I'm very fond of ancient near eastern myth. I have always felt a bit worried that they would not become what I imagined, so I've waited. From time to time I have done some research, but never very focused. A couple of weeks ago I got inspired and did a lot of research and begun with descriptions. It was about at the same time as the 3.15 was in beta, so I could not work on the game per se.

I started to write descriptions while reading, which was rewarding. Old ideas were combined with new ones, and soon Gath, the LA version of the nation took form. Gath is the most israelite of the three nations. It draws inspiration from philistines and the israelites before the diaspora. The cult is centered around the Great Temple. From Gath, the few remaining giants rule their human subjects.
The humans of Gath live subjugated by the gittite giants, denied even the lore of iron-working. (Philistines used iron, but kept it from the israelis).
The gittites are descendants of the Rephaim, mighty giants of an earlier age (EA and MA).

Ashdod (MA) is a nation of Rephaim giants. A few human immigrants have been enslaved and used in warfare, but they are as rare as they are worthless. Ashdod is one of the cities of the Anakim, mightiest of the Rephaim and pure-blooded descendants of the godlike Nephilim of the earliest time.

Hinnom (EA) is a nation of Rephaim and lesser giants. The blood of the Nephilim runs strong and the Rephaim are few but powerful. Avvites and Horim (lesser giants) compose much of the population.

So far:
Gath is finished.
Ashdod is lacking commanders, mages and sacred units.
Hinnom only has Horites and Avvites as of yet.

I have not begun work on summons yet.

I think just for variety I'm going to have to mod in a nation of little short creatures that enslave giants.

[llamabeast]

Hoburg Niefelmasters!

[Kristoffer O]

[Sombre]

Hey Ogre Kingdoms have Slave Giants. Slave Giants compared with Ogres are like Jotuns compared with humans, so I think that counts.

[HoneyBadger]

I'm actually working on (and have most of the artwork done for) an EA nation of giants that enslave dwarfs and trolls. In the MA version, the dwarfs have overthrown the giants and built their own nation, but I haven't started on that yet. Enslaved giants, trolls, minotaurs, and maybe a dragon or two will be a major element.

[WraithLord]

KO, your post/diary is very enlightening.

Have you considered adding specific pretenders/summons based on the gods, daemons, worshiped at this era (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...e_Hebrew_Bible), prominent among them:
1. "Ashtoret", aka Astarte, Goddess of fertility (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astarte) was associated with the deamon Astaroth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaroth)

2. Ba'al Zebûb, the lord of flies, a deamon prince/god worshiped by the Philistine

3. Dagon, already here

4. Moloch, A fertility god to which humans were sacrificed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch)

5. Angel orders, for which I'm sure you know much more than myself. I just want to point to this nice site the supposedly has a complete list of the angel and daemon orders according to Christianity, http://www.heart7.net/spirit/top.html.


In any case I'm *sure* the nations will come out great and I'm really looking forward to the next patch

[Kristoffer O]

WraithLord said:
KO, your post/diary is very enlightening.

Have you considered adding specific pretenders/summons based on the gods, daemons, worshiped at this era (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...e_Hebrew_Bible), prominent among them:
1. "Ashtoret", aka Astarte, Goddess of fertility (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astarte) was associated with the deamon Astaroth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaroth)

2. Ba'al Zebûb, the lord of flies, a deamon prince/god worshiped by the Philistine

3. Dagon, already here

4. Moloch, A fertility god to which humans were sacrificed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch)

5. Angel orders, for which I'm sure you know much more than myself. I just want to point to this nice site the supposedly has a complete list of the angel and daemon orders according to Christianity, http://www.heart7.net/spirit/top.html.


In any case I'm *sure* the nations will come out great and I'm really looking forward to the next patch

I have not considered pretender gods at this stage. Most gods of the time were fertility gods. Many gods are named something along the line of M'l'q and Ba'al (king/lord etc). EA Hinnom will get Melqarts and Ba'als as home only commanders. They will be the direct descendants of the Nephilim and approximately on the same power level as Niefel Jarls.

Dagon was actually a fertility god as well (probably dying and rebirthing, as most are), and not a fish god. I'm not sure when he became a fish, but I think it was sometime during antiquity. Nowdays he is more of a lovecraftian monster than a god

According to some tales it was Goliath who captured the Ark and placed it in the temple of Dagon.

I will use some of the angelic order stuff, but I want the angelic beings to be more otherworldy and unfathomable, like the visions of the merkavah mysticism and Ezekiel. So I will focus on the bizzare order angels like wheels and thrones (Ophanim and Merkavah, if I'm not mistaken) and leave the rest for Marignon. How I will draw them is beyond me atm, but I hope my imagination can take the step off the cliff of sanity

---

Work is proceeding splendidly. I started to work on Gath, because I found them fun and easy to imagine. I also felt a bit ovewhelmed by the earlier eras. I had no idea on how I wanted the Repahim to look.

When Gath was finished I felt a bit saddened that the earlier eras would not feel as cool. The Kohen Gadol of Gath was remarkably impressive.

Then I started on Ashdod, and I became surprised that they turned out even cooler than Gath. Pity, though I, that the Early age would be the most boring of the three.

So I started with Hinnom. And now I stare in disbelief at my creation . They are a bit short on regular units, so I will have to work a bit more, but I'm quite happy with their commanders.

Since the Giants are big, I have been able to add more details than I usually do. It has been quite rewarding, but time consuming. I've spent more than 12 hour on 9 units today. Some of them are similar with variations, so most of my time went into three units and reworking of their descriptions.