Bearing the flag proudly, Sabathiel of the Bannors [SPOILERS]

[Mr. Yellow]

Look Thoth, i know you got a pretty intimidating army here, but that small group pillaging the cottage is asking for a beating. A 2 units group with adequate promos doesn't exactly instill fear here and he might have thought he could get away with this, thinking i'm too big of a wuss to take them on.

Well you just gave me my first real oppurtunity for some payback.

[SIZE="6"]BATTLE TIME![/SIZE]

I'm pretty sure i'll lose a few units here, but i got lots of warriors to spare and coming out first is combat 2 shock promoted Nutters.



63% odds? I'll take it!

...and he bites it, sadly.

The swordsman dropped to 3.0 though, a rather ok result.

Next up, bronze equipped Jackpot. Taking on the warrior at 73% odds.



...and JACKPOT! He wins and nets enough experience for a double promotion!

Which leaves Peaches to mop up at 90% odds.



No upset there. The group is eliminated, spending 32 hammers to take out 56 of them, a good result.

Peaches isn't gonna survive this, so i'm finishing this with some taunting.



Now i should have just deleted Peaches right after, but i didnt think of it at that time.



Thoth has apparently decided to dispatch a group eastwards to take out my settlements. All are mobility I so they are gonna race around the desert, making it very hard for me to protect both cities.
However they have barely any combat promos on them, so i might be able to take them out with the warriors i got on hand. We'll see.


Diplomacy coming later!

[Mr. Yellow]

Here's the recent diplo activity.

Mardoc wondering how it is going:

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]I'm impressed, you seem to be holding out quite well from what I can tell in game. I've sent out another workboat to hopefully find an alternate route to your lands for copper or horse smuggling, if you still want it by the time I can manage that.

How's the war going, in general? I've seen a couple nice dips in Malakim power, and of course you still have 4 cities, but that's a pretty vague summary.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]I'm a little puzzled to what Thoth is trying to do here, though he seems content to just choke me. He hasn't bothered to send much more units towards me, even with that rising graph.
Anyway, the capital and the copper city is pillaged to heck and beyond, but is still standing with walls almost up. I'm staying alive through my 2 untouched cities and have almost completed Construction for cats.

Currently i've been trying to get copper from someone else and it's possible i can...by faraway Sheaim through Elohim and elven lands! In addition Nyktorion has been building up decently and i'm planning to push Thoth away from my borders now.

Anyway, i'm curious to where he is stationing his 2nd army. Nyktorion has been giving me continuing hawk reports and have seen very little unit activity behind the lines, even in his capital!
It could either mean he knows where to hide it from us or he is building up against you.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Catapults make a lot of sense to me; decent base strength plus those excellent retreat odds, and in your own territory, their movement speed doesn't matter nearly as much.

I've seen a sword or two (and also a barbarian Hill Giant standing where a sword used to be :-) ) but nothing that would make me worry too much. I will be heading to Hunting in the next 10-20 turns, though, and I've got a city pretty close to his borders, so I ought to know more by the time that comes around. I'll just make sure not to dangle too much temptation in front of him. I'm pretty sure that Thoth doesn't know about the Mirror of Heaven, because he's several times put a unit just outside of where I could see it if I didn't have the Mirror.

Does he know that Nyktorion is supporting you? That would help answer the question of hiding his army. Certainly if I were in his shoes I wouldn't want you to expect what's coming, whatever it is.

As you may have deduced, my army is going to be primarily Overlords based, so I ought to have an easy time taking his copper if/when we war. It's going to take a while yet to build a bunch of temples and troops, though, so pretty much all I can do in a timeframe that matters to you is hope to get you another copper or horse loan.

- Mardoc[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]I'm pretty sure he does. That hawk is currently in the cities that's being sieged.

Anyway, The hawk just revealed something interresting this turn. Thoth has aquirred an adventurer recently from the dungeons south. Fun stuff.
[/COLOR]

And the image in question.


Bah, not a welcoming sight. Thoth clearly has been having fun down south, which may or may not involve gargoyles.

Speaking of that 3 men party approaching east, decided to ask Nyktorion for additional support (if anyone wonders, yes i know i got the units wrong).

[COLOR="Cyan"]Thoth split up his stack a bit too much and i've managed to eliminate 2 of his swordsmen with little losses.
Walls coming up soon and i'm almost done researching Construction for catapults. However, Thoth is moving a 3 unit stack eastwards, all with mobility. I'm gonna have a hard time defending both cities with the current group, considering the desert right in the middle letting him 4-move that stack. So i wonder if you could spare some units to protect Vallus if possible.
Think it's 2 turns away from Trinity and 3 turns away from Vallus.

Anyway i'm planning to push Thoth off soon. If you can spare the units to take him on then i can bring in the collateral to do some real damage.
Also, WK is positive to open up a trade route to/through you, but is reluctant to get involved in this. However, he is connected to Irgy and he could spare the copper i'll need. Will ask him later.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Congratulations on your victory around Torrolerial!

I fear I am not yet ready to send any actual units at this moment. However, as you might see, I am at work building up my forces. Also, I am currently researching Priesthood; I believe that tiger priests should finally give me the edge needed to make the decisive strike in this war.

On another note, I am surprised by your assessment that mobility warriors can 4-move through desert. I always thought desert takes 1 movement point from any nomad with >1 moves, and 1/2 point just from 1-moving nomads (at least, my hunters and scouts can only move 2 squares through forests, just as my warriors can)? Or am I missing something more special here?

(additional filler)

best regards,
Nyktorion
[/COLOR]

Oooo tigers. This should be good!

In the end though, i didn't have to worry about it. Thoth certainly got a little scared there losing 2 of his units and has pulled the group back, destroying my cottage in the process.



Finally, i remembered to ask Irgy about the damn copper, replaying to his last message some time ago.

[COLOR="Cyan"]I think there's a possibilty you can now.
I've been negotiating with WK on possible ways he could help me and one was to open up a trade route to you through him and the elves.
I would like to negotiate a copper loan here. I don't have any of it availible near me and need it badly to take on Thoth.[/COLOR]

Ending turn finished Construction. As well as the walls and several more warriors. Getting the first catapult out is gonna take around 10 turns however, so i'll be pondering my next move here. Either more warriors or cats.

[Ravus Sol]

Wow.

Things have certainly heated up while i wasn't keeping up with this.

Congratulations on just surviving! It does indeed look like Thoth's assault force has turned into a choke force, at least you get catapults soon, hopefully he isn't paying enough attention to C&D to be able to predict the revenge strike with the first catapult. Timing it right could let you steal the Axe from him!

If it will take so long to build a single catapult would it be viable to switch to GodKing for the extra production? Or is the added costs not worth it?

Having read back to see how the war started up i've wondered if you were allways the Nomads targets or if your desire for lands around your desert annoyed him :-/

-

Is this about correct on the diplomatic overview;
Elves = Willing to help via trade & Recon, Unwilling to provide military support untill they have overwhelming odds (Priests)
Pirates = Willing to Help via Trade & Land Grabbing towards nomads. May have assault force in the future.
Monks = Unwilling to help at all unless it cannot be traced back to them.
Zombie Lovers = Willing to help via trade, perhaps would help military wise if closer?

Seems you are stuck on your own for awhile. And strangely the monks are being unhelpful while the Armageddon zombie lovers are sounding nice...

-

What are your plans tech wise now you have catapults for collateral? At this point a religion of your own for troops and happiness could be useful :-/ But the monks have stolen your original religion choice. The best bets seem to be Empryeam for the initial flash troops or the Ashen Veil for the Hero Unit and Champion strength zombies. Not exactly your original choice or style i know. But you need an extra edge to take back your cities on top of the collateral catapults.

Although i suppose if things got really bad, it's still early enough in the game that you could try jumping ship into the Angels or the Demons (Mercurians/Infernals)

[Mr. Yellow]

Ravus, i revolted to God King several turns ago, the extra production helps my capital to stay competitive even if all the improvements have been pillaged.

I have the full support of the pirates and the elves. The monks prefer to stay on the sideline and see how it goes (visually), while the harbingers have decided to support me as well. Although i'm glad they didn't start next to them, else i'd be rushed.

Current tech phase is the get the conquest civic, religions seems to be far away and not worth pursuing with my lackluster GNP. All focus is on Thoth now.

As for when i do decide to go for a religion, i will still attempt Order for the confessors and basilicas, but i might go Empyrean later if WK takes the heroes.

Anyway, the situation now is with Construction finished, it's time to get those Siege Workshops online.



Apparently, Thoth has decided to retreat Martok back, leaving the rest behind. Checked the odds on the units on the hill and decided not to attempt another strike.



However, Thoth still doesn't know what's in the east and attempts to scout another time. He's gonna be in for suprise, as i've lined up warriors near the potential spots he might move to. There warriors will also be transferred west.

There will be no more warriors from here though, economy is strained enough and i'd rather use the money on catapults than more men, so both eastern cities are working on workshops now.

And the recent hawk report:


He clearly have spent the time focusing on something else. He has apparently had a lot of units down south excavaging what's down there. In addition he is about to grab the barbarian city. Still no sign of big stack though.



And power graph shows no increase at all. What i'm most curios to though is why Mardoc have had these dips in power lately.

Thoth revolted to Conquest some time ago, but i haven't checked if he's gone back to agrarianism. He is in Aristocracy for sure, but i dunno if the extra food is from Sanitation or Agrarianism.

[Mr. Yellow]

Yupp, Thoths back in Agrarianism again, as well as Military state.

He just took the barb city and is up to 8 cities, clearly the guy to beat now. His GNP is among the top as well due to Aristocracy.
Man i so want to attempt a counter attack and grab those river tiles, but have to wait for reinforcements for now.



Very little happening now, Martok is being moved toward Astrum now, which i'm rather indifferent to losing now since i can't get copper from it anyway.



Now that's a pretty puzzling move by Thoth there. Why northwest? Isn't he curious to see what's in the east? I doubt he could see my troops though, without moving to the predicted spots.
Ah well, i continue moving those troops west now, without caring if he sees them or not.


And finally, the conversation with Irgy and the quest for copper:

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
I can do that. I'll check in game each turn then for when the trade route
becomes available, and offer it when it does. I'd still greatly appreciate
open borders and a map trade by the way, if you're willing : )

I'm a little curious why WK isn't offering his own copper though? Not
complaining about it particularly, it's just an indication there's more to the
story than what I understand. Is it just that he doesn't want to visibly
support you?

Best wishes,
Irgy Arbandi[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]WK would like to stay visually neutral, not showing Thoth that he is supporting me.
Anyway since we're negotiating, i can follow up the open borders, map trade requests.
So how does your map and copper loan for my quite certainly much bigger map sound like? I've covered almost all of the western and northern lands as well as a fair bit of the middle and eastern lands. Believe this should be a good deal.

One more thing, if we go through with this i'd like to request the copper at a specific time, to suprise Thoth.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][COLOR="Cyan"]> WK would like to stay visually neutral, not showing Thoth that he is
supporting me.[/COLOR]

Well that makes sense anyway. WK is rather reluctant to commit to anything
when I talk to him about the subject, probably doesn't want me giving anything
away to Thoth in the future. Thanks for spelling it out at least.

[COLOR="Cyan"]> Anyway since we're negotiating, i can follow up the open borders, map trade
requests.So how does your map and copper loan for my quite certainly much
bigger map sound like? I've covered almost all of the western and northern
lands as well as a fair bit of the middle and eastern lands. Believe this
should be a good deal.[/COLOR]

Look, I'll be completely honest with you, it's not a deal I'd normally agree
to on its own merits. I am very interested in your map as you can probably
tell, but at the end of the day it's primarily out of personal curiosity
rather than any significant in-game benefit. I expect you need the copper a
lot more than I need a map.

The fact is though the copper is something I want you to have anyway. If you
didn't even have Cartography I'd just give it to you. All I really want in
return is good will, but at the same time I also see trading maps as something
which comes along with good will.

I don't really know why I'm bothering to say all this though, as it works out
the same either way. You get copper, I get my map, it's pure profit really on
both counts for both of us, and we're all happy. So it's a deal. I guess I
just like to be clear about my thoughts.

[COLOR="Cyan"]> One more thing, if we go through with this i'd like to request the copper at
a specific time, to suprise Thoth.[/COLOR]

Not a problem, just let me know when. Given the choice, I'd prefer it was
before I made contact with Thoth (which will happen some time soon according
to WK), as that way he hasn't told me not to do it before I go and do it
anyway. I'll go through with it either way though don't worry about that.

I can tell you I take my reputation for honoring my word very seriously, but
if you want to hold off on the map until I transfer the copper I'll understand.

Although, I was chatting to WarriorKnight about it, and we're not entirely
sure whether trade routes will open up just from connecting through other
players, if we don't have any visibility of each other. It's never been
entirely clear to me either way, but I've had experiences where I needed to
reveal terrain to connect trade routes. I was never sure it wasn't just the
sailing/coastal thing, as they definately need to be revealed for that to
work, but WarriorKnight seems to think it happened to him with a land route.

So we might need to trade maps to get trade routes connected regardless.

Or we might not. This isn't some effort to talk you into the map trade that
we've now agreed to anyway, nor to talk down the value of it. Simply something
to watch out for if trade routes aren't connected when it seems like they
ought to be.


One final thing. I owe you an apology for the fate of your scout. When posting
in my spoiler thread the other day, I noticed your scout was 2 tiles north of
the tile I had marked "spider", where my own warrior died some time ago, and
looked likely to move into range. I looked at the tracker however, and you'd
already played the turn, so it was too late to warn you. I wish I'd thought of
it earlier, and saved your scout (who as it turns out would be revealing land
for both of us otherwise). If it's any consolation it hurt me too, as the
bastard moved from grassland onto a forest-hill. I think I've managed to track
it down though now.

Sorry for such a long rambling response, especially when "yes" would probably
have done the job. Hope all is going well for you in the war!

Best wishes,
Irgy Arbandi[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Cyan"]Map trade and open borders offer sent.

Also i didn't really care more about the scout, it's primary purpose was to discover you , so i had no real use of him anymore.
Lovely land around there though i must say.[/COLOR]

In short: YAY COPPER!

[Ravus Sol]

Congratulations on the Copper!

I must have missed the note mentioning you changed back to God-King

Good back and forth from the Harbringers as well. Speaking of diplomatic conversations did the Desert Nomads ever try to open up any dialogue apart from the initial war declaration? Did you try to open any yourself or has it just been silence while you try to beat off his attack force?

So by full support from the elves you mean they are allready moving military units to support your back cities and allow your city defenders to move to the front lines etc? I must have missed screenshots of that.

Looks like you will survive this assault with bronze working, catapults and bronze arriving soon.

[Mr. Yellow]

Turn begins with an event.



The flare gives Mutation to the units that enters. Mutated has a chance to randomly gives you a specific promotion (around 30 of them) each turn. A dice roll that usually gives good result and sometimes neutral or bad ones. The unit it's focused on is my currently highest promoted warrior.
Since mutated is normally a good thing, in entered it.



And Jackpot recieved Heavy as his first mutation. Not bad at all. Higher strength is always welcome.



Little going on, but it's pretty clear that Thoth wants to get Astrum now. Martok is on his way towards it.

Anyway, both Open Borders and Map trade with Irgy was done this turn.
Let's have a look at his lands.



God damn, look at that land! 3 gems, wines and several food resources all situatied in fertile river lands.

But wait, it gets even better!



Yupp, 2 gold as well as Ice mana in close proximity.

I really REALLY feel like i got the short straw regarding the map here!

[Selrahc]

And Jackpot recieved Heavy as his first mutation. Not bad at all. Higher strength is always welcome.

Remember, mutation is a one time only deal. Any given unit can only be mutated once. So Heavy will be the first and only mutation for Jackpot.

[Mr. Yellow]

Oh, was pretty sure Mutated had a small chance each turn to randomly give you a promotion. Allright then.

Anyway, i'll give a proper turn 100 update tomorrow, got stuff to do. For now i'll say that Thoth has started moving the majority of his army towards me, Astrum is about to fall and i've moved several of my workers towards my capital to see if i can repair some of the damage without Thoth disrupting them.

[Mr. Yellow]

City overview at turn 100:



The capital that's been under siege for way too long. Almost every improvement have been pillaged, but holds on due to high population and God King. All focus is on cats now and expect the first to come out quite soon (tiles were switched around after the image was taken).



Trinity is becoming quite the gem, producing decent amounts of hammers and coins that helps me stay alive. Gonna work all the mines once i've reached the next pop.



Vallus had (and still has) lots of health issues and needed to work a lot of food just to stay up. Not as good as Trinity currently, but is making decent amounts of money. Just got a merchant up now with the corn connected.

And Astrum....



Well as of turn 101, Martok is on position and have been chipping away on the garrison. I expect it to fall soon since Thoth have moved A LOT of units towards me now, the majority of them bronze mobility warriors, but the real deal right now is located in the conquered city.



Dual triple promoted city raiders. Straight message telling me that Thoth really wants me dead.



I need more progress ASAP and have sent several workers behind the reinforcements to work some of the more secure tiles northeast. Some chops and a few mines should improve production considerably.

Right now there's 17 hostile units (excluding workers) around, including Golden Yurt. I currently have 12 warriors near the capital and 3 additional units holding on Astrum. In there is also a worker i just can't get out.

There's 2 things that will decide whether i can push him off or not; catapults and elven reinforcements. Speaking of that.



This was on turn 100, the next turn Nyktorions power jumped up again, almost reaching Thoth. That's some impressive whipping right there. Question is when will it arrive?!

And the rest of the graphs...






...complete stagnation.

What is interresting though is seeing how Nyktorion's been doing. He trailed behind along with me before the invasion. Now he's a top contender in both GNP and Crop Yield. Looks quite impressive.

Anyway, the really depressive graph though is culture.


I'm last in everything cept for this. Culture. I'm feeling such as a peacenik right now.

EDIT:
Whoops, forgot the Demographics.