[SPOILERS]"Look at my horse, my horse is amazing"

[Mr. Yellow]

Why replace the farms instead of planting cottages to the north?

Well first of all, i wanted to immedietly start on the 2nd cottage once the 1st was done. Secondly i can only work 5 tiles outside the capital right now (once i grow the final pop) and want those cottages near the river. Finally i might have use for Agrarianism later which is why i let the grassland farm stay.



The party is in position for their destination, lets hope the yellow shines on and not get utterly screwed.

Mist teched again. If he's the one with the highest GNP it has to be Mysticism. Ravus did so too, Festivals?

In addition both Ravus and Sareln popped. Now they definietly have new cities.

[Mr. Yellow]

Nothing to do but click end turn.

Here goes...



Warrior lost, but it was only the spider.

With that, Banana was found next turn!



Scout done next turn. Gonna check the mirror.

[Mr. Yellow]

Well scout is done. Time to go west.



Yupp, looking really forward to this.
Also continuing east with a warrior.

Mysticism got done next turn. Changes are about to take shape.

[Mr. Yellow]

It is a glorious day indeed, as the ways of yellow has finally been manifested as the real force of this world. Prophesised to come and show the heathens of the error of their ways and emerge as the only true belief of them all.
To further this, apprentices are being learned the ways from our coveted diciples to continue spread the word of the yellow ways.



The future looks quite yellow indeed.

Meanwhile, the mirror.



Nothing much, but i'm glad i won't be harrassed by the griffon.

Anyway, onward to Horseback Riding!


I'm starting to fall behind a little in pretty much everything. The GNP especially looks a bit troubling, the fact that 3 players now have cap 6 capital makes it quite likely they are boosted with plantations. However i've found several sites nearby next turn that can help me with the GNP.





Incense and more gold. Even better, floodplains are bleeding through the shroud. Quite far away though and i'd like my 3rd city to have a decent hammer output.

Mist and Sareln have reseached techs in these 3 turns. Mist used 4 turns for his next while Sareln used 11. All 5 players have popped as well.

Current total pop (if i've seen this right):

Mackoti: 4
Sareln: 6
Mist: 6
Ravus: 8
Amelia: 7
Yellow: 6

Mackoti just 4? Really? Either i've checked this wrong or he's waiting for the moment to use his worldspell.

[Mr. Yellow]

[SIZE="7"]MARDOOOOOC!![/SIZE]

I had my early game plans set and then you toss this into my face!



Flood plains, gold. Toss some water around and it would be a jewel. Trouble is i have divert considerable amount of attention to get the best out of it and i'm playing freaking Tasunke!

Even worse, i dunno where i should place my city here! There's the mirror and an oasis just out of reach to the east and i'll likely find other goodies in the nearby shroud.

Also this wouldn't been so hard if it wasn't for the fact that there's no fresh mana nodes nearby for water! The only one in my reach is on the northern island. So if i want the best out of this place, i need to grab the island too!

Augh, now i have to hurt my head thinking whether this is tempting enough to grab early, if it's really worth it even as Tasunke or stick the original plan of getting early horses and raid someone. I'm not sure if i should hate (or love) you right now!

I so want to look away, yet flood plains, nearby gold...

[SIZE="7"]WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?![/SIZE]

Also what's hiding in the shroud there?



Tomb of Sucellus? Bah, that makes it even harder!

[Mardoc]

MARDOOOOOC!!

I had my early game plans set and then you toss this into my face!

...

I'm not sure if i should hate (or love) you right now!

:neenernee

Now that you know it's there, you can never unknow. Well, short of this solution:

[Ellimist]

Mapmakers must have it rough when people are upset about gold+floodplains.

[Mr. Yellow]

:neenernee

Now that you know it's there, you can never unknow. Well, short of this solution:

Oh believe me i tried. I tried really, really hard!



Screw this, guess i have to live with the memory.

Continuing west.



There's a lone forest over there....
You just know that a spider is gonna pop out from that lone bush there, it's so convinietly placed that i have very few options to get around, so west we go....



(Yel)Lo(w) and behold, we found ourself a freaking spider!!

Really game? Are you still gonna wreck all my chances of early contact with your bullcrap placements of griffons and spiders? Really what am i gonna do if i'm stuck in isolation for the next 50 turns, wait...



Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!

Uh, ok. Why did the spider move there. Did he found something else to snack on there, something invisible? He took no damage so i doubt it. Maybe it just needed some sun.

Well derp! If he prefers the desert over a nice snack, i'll take it!



Over 10 tiles away from my cap now, can't be much further till contact.



Scouting still going strong in the east too, also a freash mana nod.

Starting to consider getting the 3rd city between the marble and corn next to the coast and so, take a detour to Fishing after Animal Husbandry. I'll bring more of that up next time.

[Mr. Yellow]

Actually i'll start talking about the 3rd city when i'm working the next settler.

Turn 45:
Not much that happened the next turn. Back home i've completed an Elder Council and finishing work on my 2nd worker. However, there's hardly anything worth working on at the moment. Farms, cottages and soon pastures are all i can do right now. Exploration might be a detour worth taking.

I've noticed how the mountain ranges nearby are placed that they look a little like natural borders, surrounding me west, east and south. Then again i made assumptions of that in PBEM3 and that cost me.

Turn 46:
Mwahahaha! I finally made contact! Meeting a Bannor warrior fortified on a hill.



You can't see him though cause a bear just appeared and ate him once i ended turn. Guess i got there in time.

[COLOR="Lime"]After braving through the dangers of griffons and spiders i finally make contact. Yes you are the first one i get to, seeing your warrior camping out on a forested hill on your eastern side...who then succumbed to a bear attack.

So how much luck have you had in getting contacts? The enviroment's been pretty harsh overall despite no barbarians around (for the moment) and got quite lucky with my encounters at some occations.

Else i don't have much else to talk about. Basicallly just saying hi, so hi!

- Horselord Yellow[/COLOR]

Didn't take long to get an response as he already were online on gmail. Approaching me on chat several minutes later.

03:17
[COLOR="Cyan"]Piotr: :]

bears and birds from your side

hill giants from the other

overall not scouting much[/COLOR]
03:18
Jeg: so im your first contect as well?

Piotr: yup

Jeg: ok then

Piotr: how far did you have to go to reach that hill?
03:19
[COLOR="lime"]Jeg: 15-20 tiles around

cant rememver exact[/COLOR]

Piotr: so as I suspected, a very huge map

Jeg: depends on the ocean though
03:20
[COLOR="Cyan"]Piotr: well, I have about 10-15 tiles of amp knowledge in each direction

not that much water overall[/COLOR]
03:21
Jeg: youve seen mountain ranges all around btw?

[COLOR="Cyan"]Piotr: few, but not much, land is mostly flat

looks like tectonics script with low sea level

lakes maybe?[/COLOR]
03:22
[COLOR="lime"]Jeg: maybe

i do think mountain ranges are making up the "borders" of each player though so far
03:23
even though i assumed that too in PBEM3 and got horribly punished for it[/COLOR]
03:24
[COLOR="Cyan"]Piotr: nah, I don't know how much edits did Mardoc do

but if this really is tectonic lakes, the script does not work like that
03:25
that said I expect each of us to have roughly 400 tiles of space to settle

so not like it does matter much[/COLOR]
03:28
[COLOR="lime"]Jeg: actually 15-20 tiles may be far too big from what i remember. 10-15 would be more accurate

i find myself thinking ive gone way farther than i usually do[/COLOR]
03:29
[COLOR="Cyan"]Piotr: that still makes you only about half-way to my capital and gives every player box of influence at least 20x20
03:30
makes me glad I don't play a rusher this time :][/COLOR]

Jeg: heh
03:31
Piotr: and if we're on that subject, how is that world domination plan going along? :D
03:32
Jeg: not very subtle am i when picking Tasunke XD
03:33
Piotr: after your game in PBEM3? It just sscreams revenge

[COLOR="lime"]Jeg: well first things first, isolation sucks.
03:34
Secondly theres that whether you want to be building and when you want to go conquering

hard to find the moment
03:35
that said, i want to gain contact with as many as possible right now
03:36
and im not saying more about that [/COLOR]

Piotr: :]

No point hiding you're gonna rush when picking Tasunke. Everyone knows you'll be attempting assaults early on. However as i've said in the beginning i'll attempt to use it for raids and extorions, not necessarily to rush someone.
Anyway, i got myself a potential target, despite the distance between us. Though i want to see who is east of me and possibly south too before making decisions.
Else there was talk of what script we're on. Mist thinks we're playing on Tectonic lakes. That is quite possible.

Turn 37:
A bear down to 0.5 health just screams free kill to me. So down it goes!



No health lost, so wonder if i should make an attempt on the lion as well.



Reached out way farther in the east currently and i'm expecting to find someones borders in a few turns if all goes well.

Current dempgraphics:


Pretty much working gold and hammers right now. Closing on the big GNP leader who is now confirmed to be Mist. He's currently on 7 techs now and 5 of these are definietly Exploration, Agriculture, Calendar, Ancient Chants and Mysticism. Think the other 2 are Crafting and Mining, which he just researched this turn. However he's dead last in both food and hammers and apparently hasn't settled a 2nd city yet! Instead been vertically growing to 7 pop. Really want to see where he has settled!

1-2 turns left till Animal Husbandry, then i'll save gold and consider where to go next. 2nd worker is finished and currently churning warriors out. Barb cities must be appearing right now and it can't be long left for raiding parties.

EDIT:
Mist just switched to Pacifism this turn. No doubt working an elder specialist in the capital.

[Mr. Yellow]

As i said in my early posts, i'll come with a short description of my opponents once i meet them. Having met Mist now last turn, it's time to look at:

[SIZE="6"]Mist (Capria of the Bannor)[/SIZE]



This is the 2nd and so far final time the Bannor have been picked in a PBEM (the first being my attempt). Mist has decided go with the more economic leader in Capria though. While she doesn’t boast the same sheer militaristic power that Sabahtiel has, she makes up for it with a generally better economy, as well as having a superior priest game. I’m expecting Mist main army will be of priests backed up by demagogs and other units once he’s researched Fanaticism. In addition there’s the quite likely possibility he’ll make an attempt for the Mercurian gate. Bannors are among the better angel allies since the extra demagogs lets them possibly field a far larger angel army than normal and Capria can get the gate up faster than Sabathiel would.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So far Mist's been playing in that direction it seems and had a pretty big lead in GNP early on (still leading). However he’s been focusing on vertical growth and have no 2nd city so far, but a 7 pop capital. Must be a pretty good spot he’s found concerning the GNP and happy faces he gained. In addition he switched to Pacifism a few turns and there’s no doubt he’ll go for a great elder to further boost his beaker rate as well as getting Runes of Kilmorph in 14 turns (which I’ll get back to).
Sounds like a juicy target to raid eh?
Well Mist decided to approach that threat from another direction and came to me with a lucrative proposal to aid my raiding efforts on other players. The same kind of deal he approached Sciz with when he played in PBEM2 as the Doviello.
Needless to say I’m pretty interested!

01:02
Piotr: Hi, do you have a minute?
01:06
Jeg: i do now yes
01:07
Piotr: I've been thinking a bit and it occured to me I have a long term proposition for you.
01:08
Basically, I want to hire Hippus, long term, to cause havoc to other people
01:11
I will pay per city lost by others ( 10 gold per pop razed ), double if it's a vampire or clan city
01:12
I will also feed you back all shrine income I get from your cities if you adopt RoK
01:13
and will be open to bankroll any specific war plans you might have in the future
01:14
Jeg: i'm certainly interrested and will consider this
01:17
i'll give you a more clear answer in around 1-5 turns later in the game. I'd like to get a better picture of my whole situation before making a decision
01:18
Piotr: sure, I don't want an answer now
01:19
I'd appreciate a 'yes' or 'no in 14 turns

because that will help settle Currency into tech patch, if I'm to do money transfers, I'd need it earlier

Jeg: i see
01:24
Piotr: ok, think about it, bounce off your lurkers if needed. I'm founding RoK in 14 turns ( that's t61 I think ) and after that it's either 'non hostile' Hippus tech path or 'noncommital' Hippus tech path. If we don't make a deal by then I'll assume you're not interested

Jeg: very well

As i said before my approach in this game is to make use of my military traits for economic gain. Although i mainly thought of demand neighbouring civs for tribute in exchange for peace and NAPs or suffer the consequences of raids, Mist proposal here would put it in the same category. Secondly i DO plan to get runes of Kilmorph later for a more sustainable economy (and its priests) so that is icing over the whole deal.
However, Mist is so far the only civ i've met so far and among the easier ones to raid. Not much point in signing a contract if you can't find others attack or are too far away to make it worthwhile, so i'm holding it for now till i gain more contacts. Also i'm planing to do raiding parties for pillaging, not simple city assaults. So i'm considering he needs to pay me an initial cost if he wants me to focus my efforts on someone else and look at the money per city taken as a bonus.

For now i'll hold it off till i've hopefully meet someone east of me.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Turn 48 was rather uneventfull, though i was mad on myself after sending the turn that i forgot i could get an elder specialist up to help getting AH next turn! Instead i turned off research to save gold and made my worker on the cow wait uselessly for a turn.


Turn 49 starts with a pleasant event.



More food for Yellow!
Sending a warrior up north to see if there's any seafood around.

Anyway i'm facing a considerable issue here; if it's worthwhile to get other techs before Horseback riding.

The techs in question:
Exploration
Crafting
Mining
Fishing
Masonry
Calendar

Some of them depends on the location of my 3rd city. There's a couple viable to settle near the northern coast, one which is pretty good even for Heron Throne. Then we have the western location with flood plains, gold and incense, which needs Mining and Calendar to be great. Also i'm running out of stuff to work on and i could use roads quite soon (to hook up the wines and Exploration and access to Fishing).

Ran into a few snags on my exploration trips.




Shouldn't have much trouble with the lion, though the griffon could get ugly. Here goes..




[SIZE="5"]VICTORY!![/SIZE]

Both survived with lesser injuries and another promotion in tow....

Hey what's that?



Looks like we found our eastern neighbour and it's Sareln! Dunno if it's his 2nd city or captial, but he has settled near the Seven pines.
I could just avoid him now and come with a suprise party, but i'm more curious about what he has heard and seen so far. Elves are a harder target with the forests around and one i'm a bit uncertain of raiding. Either way once i've made contact and talked a bit i'll think through Mists proposal and decide how i'll approach it.