Like a hot wind Varn Gosam of the Malakim [SPOILERS]

[Brian Shanahan]

Blatant post-spam which this of course is not... :neenernee

Of course!

[Bobchillingworth]

While we're linking videos, this bit of your message to WK:

I think your proposal is reasonable, but the Malakim Bureau of Internal Security (MBIS) aka Square Leg (my ded lurker) is a lot more paranoid than I am and talked me into deleting the scout instead.

Reminds me of this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68BrauMLt...re=related


SL, of course, is Ponda Baba =)

[Thoth]

While we're linking videos, this bit of your message to WK:
Reminds me of this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68BrauMLt...re=related


SL, of course, is Ponda Baba =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVnArp9Z...re=related

[Square Leg]

And now I will be humming that damn song allllll day. You have no idea how many days I have spent humming it....

[Thoth]

From Nyktorion:

[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Hi Thoth,

first, thanks for the further explanation of the Tsunami warning; I'll make sure to retreat my hawk at T104 (unless Mr. Yellow throws me out before that, of course).

Mr. Yellow did not take my stalling concerning our NAP extension negotiations any longer, so now I decided to drop my masquerade and told him of my hostile intentions outright. I told him the only way I'd extend our NAP would be him signing over Vallus and Trinity to me.

He even threatened that he would abandon his capital in order to defend his east if we didn't extend our NAP. I don't know whether he will really live up to this promise, but if he does, you might enjoy finding an even easier-to-take capital

Our NAP included T105, so my declaration will happen at T106. Thanks for your offer about extorting Mr. Yellow's map, but I currently don't have an interest in his map. Even once my open borders with Mr. Yellow drop, the current positions of my hunters will ensure that hawks will keep me up to date about Bannor movements behind the front lines. So you only need to extort Mr. Yellow's map if your own interest (disregarding me) into it is large enogh.

best regards,
Nyktorion[/COLOR]

My reply:

[COLOR="Yellow"]Hi Nyktorion,

If he does abandon his capital to try and defend his east I'll chase his troops down in the open. Very few if any will live to reach Vallus/Trinity. Warriors are tough in cities but they are easy prey once they loose their fortification and city bonuses.

I suspect he will keep at least the 7 warriors currently in his capital hoping to dislodge me once he gets his catapult built. Once he realizes that I can redline his entire garrison via Tsunamis he may run but he won't get very far. I've got a couple of "combat workers" moving into position to complete the road link into Golden Igloo and my mobility promoted troops can catch him easily.

He's in a no-win situation. If he tries to hold his capital he'll lose whatever forces he has in the capital. If he runs, I have the speed advantage and he'll lose the forces anyway. He may be able to get the 5 warriors currently outside his capital to his eastern cities in time, but I doubt it.

As far as the map goes, his exploration has been quite extensive so I thought you might find it handy simply for informational purposes. I doubt he'll be willing to deal know that he's figured out that both of his neighbours are out for blood.

Best regards,

Thoth[/COLOR]

While I was composing my reply Mr. Yellow sent me this:

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]Hey, i'm interrested in ending this conflict.

My only motivations for continuing this was to wait for elven support and strike back. Sadly, there was more into this than initially seen and it included my eastern cities, which is right now the only things that helps me stay alive.

Well these farts will attack me once the NAP ends and so i have no more reason to continue this war.
You can have my capital, i'm done with this game. The only thing left for me is defending my last cities from the east.

Word of warning though, they've been slaving a lot to get the current largest military right now, which includes priest of leaves. The plan (or my plan) was to get catapults to support that army.

So for peace, i'll let you have my capital and you let the rest of my units go to defend against the elven invasion.

Good luck further on.

- Sir Yellow[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Yellow"]Hi Mr. Yellow,

Peace does not interest me at this time. I will have the forces in play to take your capital within the next few turns whether you defend it or not.

While I appreciate the fact that this has turned out to be a frustrating game for you and the next few turns are not going to be fun for you, I would urge you to fight it out to the bitter end in true RB spirit. While getting your capital for free would certainly be to my advantage, it strikes me as being unfair to the players not involved in our conflict.

I hope you have better results in the next game you play.

Sincerely,

Thoth.[/COLOR]

[Thoth]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Hi Thoth,

OK then, are you interested in open borders if we do a complete no-scouting agreement? I'll still be getting Cartography next turn after all.

Thanks for the tip re:Lanun. I don't have any cities on the southern shoreline yet but when I do I'll be sure to send a boat west towards Mardoc.

Regards,
WarriorKnight[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Yellow"]Hi WarriorKnight,

I would certainly be interested in Open Borders with a no-scouting agreement. I should have sailing + a scouted sea path to your borders by t 100-115 which (if I understand Civ's arcane trade route rules correctly) would give me access to trade routes with your cities but you won't get reciprocal routes until you also have Sailing + a scouted sea path. A road link between us would also work in theory, but given the amount of barbarian activity in the lands between us I don't think establishing that link is possible at this time.

Shall we hold off on actually Opening Borders until we both benefit?

Thoth[/COLOR]

[Thoth]

[COLOR="Cyan"]Sorry, but it's abondoned now.

The big reason though, is that my eastern cities are poorly defended and that there's more value in defending 2 untouched productive cities than the ravaged capital surviving only on high population and God King.
[/COLOR]

Sounds like I'll get his capital without having to blow my world spell. I'm a bit disappointed. Operation Fishface was looking like a great plan and I was looking forward to putting it into effect. I'll have achieved my war aims early but it feels like a hollow victory. He does have a point re the relative value of his cap vs his eastern cities. He'll get a free palace move once I take Golden Igloo which will help him put up a fight against Nyktorion.

In the meantime, I'll see about killing as many of his units in the open as I can.

I'll still probably cast Religious Fervour this turn (in OO), the extra happies from the temples will be very useful in some of my cities that are currently pushing up against their happy caps. I'll have 3/4 cultists to act as home defense plus I'll be upgrading a few lightbringers to Cultists over the next five turns to get some ocean scouting done.

[NobleHelium]

So you have OO in a city then? Where did you put it?

[Thoth]

So you have OO in a city then? Where did you put it?

Not quite yet. The Zealot appeared at eot 102 in Golden Hovel. I'll spread OO there t103 and then trip the worldspell. My other option is to move the Zealot to a city without a religion (which would take 3 turns or so) and then trip the worldspell. I'll likely just spread OO to GH on t103, but I want to have a look at the situation before making a final decision.

Once the save actually gets to me.

[Thoth]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"] Ah, so that's why you wanted those two tiles in particular ! Well, a deal's a deal, I'll settle where you wanted me. I should have the pearls hooked up in 3-4 turns that I can trade for the gold just outside my borders :-).

I see that your war against Sir Yellow is prospering, too. Care to share any details?

- Mardoc
[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Yellow"]

Well, the gold (which is now within my borders) is the former site of Bradeline's Well, the birthplace of Sciz's Giant so given the price I paid for it I consider it part of my natural territory. (not to mention the fact that it is a lot closer to my capital than to yours).

If you consider
a) the relative distance between that area and our respective capitals
b) the fact that allowing you to settle that area at all represents a concession on my part
c) the fact that I had a significantly larger military than you prior to turn 103
d) I was (and am) willing to go to war to claim those tiles
and
e) I swapped into OO this turn and then cast my World Spell

I think you will find that you got a pretty good deal wrt settling locations.

(I note that you didn't give away much when you agreed not to settle the area before t100. )

The war against Mr. Yellow has reached the mop up phase. He abandoned his capital this turn (apparently he and Nyktorion have had a falling out and he will be facing a two front war in a couple of turns) in order to try and protect his eastern cities from the Elfs.

I'd love to provide you with additional details but the Malakim Bureau of Internal Security (MBIS) has issued an information blackout on war news for the moment. I'm sure you understand the need for operational security in such matters.


Thoth.[/COLOR]