Radiance � Random Nations, Middle Era (Turn 100!!)

[WraithLord]

Ahmm Actually Atlanis has came to me with this absurd demand as well. I think they merit a small lesson in manners.

[cupido2]

Give me all your money or you'll find more fishheads in your bed.

[BigDisAwesome]

best threat ever

[Hadrian_II]

Reverend Zombie said:
I forgot about the T'ien Chi consorts!

[K]

Anyone know why the turn isn't hosting and we are at negative numbers until hosting?

[lch]

It's a time-keeping issue / bug. Velusion has set the host interval to 54 hours for the game, but it's still on 48 hours for the script. So anything in the last 6 "hours" is getting displayed with negative numbers.

[Hadrian_II]

there is something else strange, the 48h are over and it did not host yet. And when you connect to the game, it shows 28h to go. So it looks like something broke.

[WraithLord]

Turn hosted

[Velusion]

Hadrian_II said:
there is something else strange, the 48h are over and it did not host yet. And when you connect to the game, it shows 28h to go. So it looks like something broke.

That was because I had to restart the server so the timer got reset. I was going to manually host it if it passed it's window, but didn't get the chance.

[BandarLover]

Shagru'Kahn stared out across the expanse of the battlefield and wondered to himself, how did it all go wrong? His thoughts leading up to this penultimate battle often revisited the day that the Prophet, Khre'el-abubal, first told him of the awakening of Ignokt. At that time, the holy king priest had asked him if he felt something...different. And indeed, he had. But he knew now that what he felt was markedly different from what Khre'el-abubal had felt. The prophet had felt a change, perhaps a new golden age, for the kingdom of C'tis. He wished he felt the same. It took awhile, but Shagru'Kahn finally felt he had the word to describe the cold knot in his stomach.

He felt deceived.

He also knew that he was the only one to feel this way. Everyone, from the highest born noble to the most common of commoners was swept up in the euphoria of Ignokt's coming. No one questioned, like Shagru'Kahn did privately, why this 'god' spent all of his time locked in the study of the High Palace. Why this 'god' never saw any portents of impending battles. And did Shagru'Kahn mention that this 'god' looked like a corpse that had been left too long in the desert? All of this he noticed and yet spoke not a word, trusting in the knowledge of his superiors. Secure in the thought that others wiser and more capable knew better than he, as his life time of military training had conditioned him. And now...this.

An ocean dwelling race of creatures had been steadily invading C'tis borders for months. Kahn did the best he could with what he had. But his pleas for more troops seemingly went unheard. And now, here the enemy was, at the very doorstep of the city and still no sign of 'The Great Ignokt'. At least he had been allowed to field all available troops. But even this brought little comfort, as the enemy had easily twice his number. Shagru'Kahn was furious to see several regiments of 'softies' mixed in with the enemies forces. The surrounding humans had resisted from the very beginning and the lizard lord, had he had his way, would have simply put them to the sword and been done with it if he hadn't been stymied by his own superiors. Still, with a little luck, he thought, this could go well for him.

Besides his normal light infantry and his own handpicked squads of swamp guard, several battalions of heavy infantry and city guard were at his disposal as well. Several Marshmasters were there as well to lend magical might to his steel. He had also coerced the priestly order into opening the Serpent Pits and many large, sacred serpents slithered languidly among the troops. The mere sight of them made his heart swell with pride. Here was the living representation of C'tis. Too bad the ruling class had turned on the old traditions and preoccupied themselves with necromantic arts instead.

Ah well, Shagru'Kahn thought, no use complaining now.

A low but still audible shout from across the way, repeated down the enemies line, signalled the start of hostilities. Kahn barked out his own commands to advance and his officers shouted them in response. The two armies slowly marched toward eachother. First blood went to the invaders as the thin whine of missile fire riddled the ranks of the lizardmen infantry.

"Shields up you dogs!" Kahn shouted.

His troops advanced more slowly, more arrows peppering their ranks as they closed with the human light infantry that marched toward them. At thirty yards, the humans suddenly printed forward, hurling javelins. The heavier weight of the javelins broke through the lighter shields of the skirmishers, skewering them to the ground. The field was quickly becoming slick with the gore of battle. wit ha collective shout, Kahn's light infantry hurled their javelins in return, more than a few finding their mark.

With the smell of blood in his nostrils, Shagru'Kahn lept forward, shouting for his troops to charge now. The long, loping strides of the lizard men closed the gap quickly, taking the humans a little by surprise. Bodies clashed and the air was filled with shouts and magical bursts of energy and bright crimson blood. Kahn lingered near the front, yelling encouragement. He shoved his way forward between the spear thrusts of the two mortally locked armies. A pink face would flash into his view and he would chop visciously with his falchion. An arm here and another slash, always steadily advancing as he hacked and slashed forward. A clumsy spear thrust was easily turned by his shield and he buried his sword into the skull of the offending human. An eternity passed and still he tore a bloody swath of destruction through his adversaries. He could feel the surge of momentum and when the humans finally broke and ran, Kahn was the first to shake his sword in blood-soaked triumph, roaring to the heavens. The feeling was short lived as the tactics of the enemy soon became clear. As the human infantry routed, human archers resumed firing, cutting down many in their premature celebration. Shagru'Kahn had just enough sense to raise his own battered shield to protect himself when he heard the rumble of advancing cavalry.

Trident knights, the centaurs of the sea, came thundering forward. The sun glinted off their burnished barding and wickedly sharp tridents. Ichtasatyr troops followed in their wake and for the first time in his life, Shagru'Kahn felt the inevitability of his own mortality. His own troops were worn down from fighting the humans and these fresh reinforcements were simply too much.

Shagru'Kahn, in his pragmatic simple thinking, steeled what resolve was left within him and, shouting in defiance of the odds against him, lept full force into the oncoming wave of invaders.

From the city walls, Khre'el-abubal saw the figure of Shagru'Kahn confront two charging trident knights, their weapons lifting him bodily into the air and then crashing before them, broken forever. To bad, he thought. Kahn was one of the good ones. He would have lept into the mouth of the void for the good of C'tis and had essentially just done that very thing now. But now was not the time to be idle. Because while Shagru'Kahn might have thought himself alone in questioning the mantle of godhood claimed by Ignokt, Khre'el-abubal felt the same.

The Sauro-Lich was too involved in study and too late, Khre'el realized that was because magical study and administration were all Ignokt really knew. Granted, escaping the void and cheating death was quite impressive but not necessarily an edict for godhood. The former prophet quickly made his way through the now deserted city, all but the soldiery leaving the doomed city behind. Khre'el had much the same idea. Let these aquatic usurpers have that shriveled husk of a god, Ignokt. Passing through the water grates that emptied into the wider and untamed swamps, he climbed into a small canoe he had previously hidden and set out for the heart of the swamp. Once he looked back, as a reverberating concussive blast caught his attention. Each blast was accompanied by different hues of flashes, coloring the now dying light of the sky. Whatever hell Ignokt had unleashed on his enemies, Khre'el knew it would not be enough. He cut a lonely figure, his paddle dipping softly into the water, as the swamp slowly swallowed him in it's ever present mists.

Months from now, the miasma of C'tis will recede. The surrounding provinces will slowly revert to their original arid landscapes. And it will almost seem as if C'tis had never been.

Almost.