Jotunheim:Utgard AAR

[Arryn]

Originally posted by licker:
I'd suggest taking one (or more) N2 mages and hauspexing your provinces if you don't want to take one out on tour (need N3 for best results if you search by hand).

I had not thought of this. Thanks. I'll have to consider it, carefully. BTW, I only have 1 N2 mage. But I have lots of N1s.

[IKerensky]

Well I guess using only your prophet you will need luck to out preach his god and/or prophet. Stacking with your own God definitely should have helped, or joining more priest. As I guess he got 3 attempts to raise his dominion each turn while you make only one to lower it ( perhaps he get more, perhaps only two, is his prophet still alive ? ).

[Arryn]

Originally posted by IKerensky:
is his prophet still alive ? ).

His prophet is dead, and my god is in the adjacent province.

I do not expect to kill Pythium by preaching him out. I would be very very lucky to do that. Now that I have his dominion down to -1, I am happy just to keep it there.

I will say now, though, that in one of the turns (between 12 and 18) that I threw away I did preach his dom down to zero in the capital. It didn't kill him because another, independent, province still had his dom. I didn't have the patience to preach any others down, so I just stormed the citadel as the most expedient solution. It did cost me half my army though. An ugly battle. I do not know how I will fare this time. We shall see ...

[Arryn]

My magical powers currently encompass:

• Alteration-3
• Enchantment-3
• Construction-3 (will be 4 this coming turn)

I have 22 spare RPs over what I need to get Construction-4. My question is this: which school would you research next in my position? Possibilities I'm considering are:

• Conjuration (to L3 for Vine Ogres; L5 for Acashic Record; L6 for summons such as Harbinger for an air mage, or Sea King for water mage w/1 free gem/turn & 15 sea trolls; L7 for Angelic Host, a fire-3 mage)
• Enchantment (to L5 for Gift of Health, Eyes of God)
• Construction (to L6 for Boots of Quickness for my mages, etc.)
• Evocation (to L4+ for Nether Bolt, etc.)

BTW, FYI, I'm holding on completing turn #13 until I decide what to do next, magically. All other actions for the turn have been done.

[ February 12, 2004, 12:41: Message edited by: Arryn ]

[Arryn]

BTW, I forgot to mention that when I took the Well of All Waters, that I can recruit 1F2B Garnet Sorceresses & 1F1B2H Garnet Priestesses there (if I build the appropriate structures). Without fire gem income for now I don't think they'd do me any good, but later on they will likely be a useful addition to my army.

Comments are welcome, as always.

PS - Turn #14 is in progress. I've been having to do a lot of thinking about how I wish to proceed, so I've taken my time with this turn. It'll be posted later today.

[Arryn]

Turn #14, Late Spring of Year 2
Lull before the storm.

It has been a quiet Spring season, and there are no travellers bringing word from afar of events in distant lands this month.

My force at Pythium continues the siege of the citadel into a seventh month, while the defenders within must surely wonder why my army does not storm through the breached gate.

Jorgun equips a newly-fabricated magical Horror helm, increasing the potency of his fearsome presence (to +5).

Tahmar arrives at the Alps, while Bdvar reports from Tesifon the presence of approximately 30 light footmen. Ualgo arrives at Pythium with reinforcements of 5 Jotuns, bringing the total troop strngth at the siege to 34 Jotuns (not counting leaders).

The number of dissenters declines by one in Gwyrth and Bel, and by two in the Iron Range, Feral Woods, and the Well of All Waters. It rises by one in Eribon. My faith takes root in the provinces of Isurian (#47, just south of Helmshire) and Fas Dir (#34, 2 provinces southwest of Isurian, spread there by way of the Wailwind Waters). Influence that I suspect is from Atlantis causes the level of faith to drop to 40% in independent Zenthra, while it grows to 40% in next-door Jotunheim itself.

The Seithkona Modgunn joins the coven at Jotunheim, which achieves mastery of the fourth rank of 'Construction' and first rank in 'Conjuration' magics. Studies continue in Conjuration.

My realm has:

• __8 Provinces (+Pythium under seige)
• 280 Treasury.
• 471 Income. (-1)
• 195 Upkeep. (+17)
• 126 Resources in the capital. (unchanged)
• _39 RPs

Gem income is:

• +3 Water (09)
• +0 Earth (01)
• +3 Astral (42)
• +1 Death (01)
• +2 Nature (23)

In Jotunheim I recruit a Seithkona to join my coven, as well as a Jotun spearman and four Jotun huskarls (w/spear). I recruit a human scout in Eribon. These preparations drain the treasury of all 280 coins.

I command all seven of my Seithkona to manufacture various magical items: 1x Pendant of Luck, 3x Lucky Coins, 3x Amulets of Antimagic. 35 of the astral gems in the treasury are set aside for this task. The items are intended to be distributed as follows: Pendant & Amulet to Jorgun, Coin & Amulet to both Bove and Grymis, Coin to Urd. The Coins/Pendant will allow me to queue some other spell in place of Personal Luck for Urd and Jorgun, and to give Bove and Grymis luck as well. Preparing to face a pretender, I feel it may be useful to improve my commanders' MR, hence the amulets.

Tahmar, in the Alps, continues on the route back to Jotunheim, to pick up reinforcements. Ualgo and Urd leave the siege of Pythium and move to the lab in the adjacent Feral Woods to pick up the magical items that will be fabricated. From Tesifon, Bdvar heads further east into the wastelands of the Three Pillars (#60), a land that may possess a hidden magical site. (it's a VP province, and most have magic sites in them on the Orania map)

My prophet Grymis manages to sway the Last remaining adherents to snake-worship amongst the inhabitants of the farmlands surrounding the citadel of Pythium this month. Alas, it appears the Pythium pretender must possess worshippers elsewhere since I still feel his presence within the citadel. Rather than storm the citadel, and take losses I'd prefer to avoid if there's another viable strategy, I decide to make the attempt to eliminate the Pythium pretender by stamping out all traces of his faith. To this end I send Grymis into Eribon, which I control, with the intent of extinguishing the slight negative dominion there (-1). My avatar moves west from the lab in Feral Woods to the plains of Ultima Typhia (#111, and also with -1 dominion), which are reported to contain some 30 heavy foot, fanatics, and archers. This may be my wyrm's most-challenging solitaire battle, especially if the report has underestimated the numbers of the defenders.

PS - All provinces with positive dominion, except my capital and the adjacent Iron Range (both at Cold-2), remain at Cold-1.

[Arryn]

Turn #15, Early Summer Spring of Year 2
Omens.

The advent of summer brings travellers from afar with word that a Centaur Commander has been appointed as the false prophet of the Pangaean pretender Chillsoul.

A foolish peasant, faint from the summer's heat claims to have seen an ill omen within the Well of All Waters. Rumors spread rapidly throughout the province before cooler heads can put a stop to it, raising fears markedly (+28 to a level of 33).

My force at Pythium continues the siege of the citadel into an eigth month. I can only hope that I may be starving whatever defenders may lay in wait within.

In Ultima Typhia, my avatar Jorgun faces a priest, 3 commanders, 15 heavy footmen, 8 fanatics, and 6 archers. I use the same formation and tactics as in previous battles, and they prove to be no real challenge at all, contrary to my concerns. The wyrm dines very well in this engagement, adding another 15 kills and 14 trophies to his tally. Jorgun gets his 3rd experience star. I discover that the adjacent province to the west of Hoburgdorf (#106) is under the domination of Ashikaga, with 40% of the populace there supporting false faith. Fortunately, at this time, Ashikaga has no mobile force in the province. I shall have to keep a wary watch on this new border to my realm.

Urd and Ualgo arrive in the Feral Woods, and equip all of the newly-made magical items waiting in the lab. Tahmar arrives back at the Jotun castle. Bdvar reports from the Three Pillars the presence of approximately 30 light footmen and fanatics. He does not discover any easily-found magic sites.

The number of dissenters declines by one in Eribon, and by two in the Iron Range. The level of faith climbs once again to 50% in independent Zenthra, and my avatar's presence in Ultima Typhia inspires 10% of the inhabitants to convert to the proper faith, while also eliminating all false worship. In the absence of my prophet's preaching, 10% of the populace of Pythium once again take up snake-worship.

The Seithkona Driva joins the coven at Jotunheim, which achieves mastery of the second rank in 'Conjuration' magics. Research continues in this school. The human scout Oedre joins my forces in Eribon.

My realm has:

• __9 Provinces (+Pythium under seige)
• 283 Treasury.
• 502 Income. (+31)
• 214 Upkeep. (+19)
• 127 Resources in the capital. (+1)
• _86 RPs

Gem income is:

• +3 Water (12)
• +0 Earth (01)
• +3 Astral (10)
• +1 Death (02)
• +2 Nature (25)

In Jotunheim I recruit 2 Jotun spearman, and I raise a half-dozen provincial defenders in the newly-acquired plains of Ultima Typhia. These preparations drain the treasury of 81 coins.

I reduce the taxation of the Well of All Waters to zero to quickly silence dissent there.

I command my Skratti to construct a Clam of Pearls, and 10 water gems are set aside for this task.

Tahmar collects the half-score Jotuns waiting in Jotunheim and heads back towards the Alps. Ualgo and Urd, carrying many magical items, march back to Pythium. From the Three Pillars, Bdvar heads further east into the plains of Pzucz (#57). I send Oedre from Eribon to Ultima Typhia, so that he may scout out the Ashikagans to the west in the near future.

My prophet Grymis begins work on building a temple in Eribon. The purpose is twofold. First, it will enhance the spread of the faith both in the province and throughout the world. Second, it allows for Grymis to return to Pythium and for dominion in Eribon to still be pushed. My avatar, his purpose for being in Ultima Typhia fulfilled, heads for Pythium.

[ February 14, 2004, 01:17: Message edited by: Arryn ]

[Norfleet]

Methinks the AAR is losing a bit of steam. Not much interesting happening in the past 3 turns to touch off a huge argument.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
Methinks the AAR is losing a bit of steam. Not much interesting happening in the past 3 turns to touch off a huge argument.

Well, either I'm doing something right with how I'm managing my nation, or people have stopped giving a hoot. Or it may just be that today is a day that most players who have significant others (gads how that PC term annoys me) tend to spend doing something other than hanging out in front of a screen and keyboard typing away.

Stick around, I have half of turn 17 and turn 18 yet to type up, and they should be a tad more interesting. Of course, you're welcome to study the past few turns and provide an analytical critique rather than just say it's been unexciting (however true that is), if you want to stir something up.

[Norfleet]

Bit hard to do now. You seem to be rolling along at a fair clip, and haven't made any particularly controversial moves.