Re: Fen News
 

Havis of Ulm,

Check your private messages!

Re: Newbie game 2 [Open]
 

An unexpected event has occurred in Sheap's Server.

A system crash has reset the turn timer. 4 of your players have been cursed for the rest of their lives.

Re: Newbie game 2 [Open]
 

Yep, waiting for Agartha to make his move and we will be in next turn.
Sheap, try setting your server's luck to 3 next time.

Re: Newbie game 2 [Open]
 

Sooo...anyone know what timezone Agartha's player is in?

Re: Newbie game 2 [Open]
 

I hope he/she will not drop. I hate early drops. (And they are even worse when they are not close to your starting location. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif) )

Re: Newbie game 2 [Open]
 

If Agartha has been staling I am sure a sub can be found.

Re: Newbie game 2 [Open]
 

No, he is not. He needed only a bit more time.

A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Greetings fellow nations! C'tis is a peaceful nation and rewards loyalty. As such, it was decided by the C'tis Council to offer assist to nations who have shown no hostilities toward us. We will offer this assistance in the form of Thistle Maces and Skull Staves.

If a nation wants one of these items forged, just send the Swamp Kingdom the required gems to make it, and we will do the rest.

There are several things to take note of:
-only one item may be forged for each nation
-the nation must not have shown any hostilities toward C'tis
-you may not receive the item immediately as there may be a large influx of orders but we will try to get them out ASAP
-only Thistle Maces and Skull Staves will be forged
-C'tis will accept gems of any kind but they must be enough to forge your item ie. 40 fire gems for a Skull Staff
-gem payment must be received before any forging takes place
-a message must only be sent with the gems when they are not nature or death to clarify which item you want
-you do not need to get an item forged immediately, as long as you show no hostilities toward C'tis, you may send gems for a Thistle Mace or Skull Staff at any time throughout the game

There, I hope everything is clear.

Sincerely,
Dingir
Lizard King and Prophet of Sissassuss

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Dingir,
I'm touched by your offer. I will send 20 fire and 20 death gems for the Thistle Mace. Thanks a lot.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

I have just been bogged down lately with work,sorry for the stall and late turns

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Greetings to all leaders and subjects of the various nations of this world.

It has come to our attention that a strange new race has emerged from the depths of caverns that dot our landscape. These Agarthians as they call themselves seem to wield an unnatural power over time, causing our days to lengthen and bringing the pace of our world to a lethargic snail crawl.

Such power over time cannot be trusted with those who would abuse it. Therefore, Pangaea declares war on Agartha. With the aid of nature itself, these very unnatural beings shall be driven back into the ground from which they sprung!

-Cathbad, Master Druid and leader of Pangaea.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Now I'm noticing that it looked like Atlantis was the last to go last time...and they haven't taken this turn, yet. Are they staling out?

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Wahhh! C'tis wants to play! Squishy squish squish!

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Server appears to be down. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

It'd be a shame if Sijansur missed his daily feeds, got cranky, and started building me a death scale eating all and sundry.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

I will check the server situation.

edit: I have checked the server and it is fine.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Is anyone else having trouble connecting to the server today? I still can't reach it.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Check the IP and port, also see if "ping" will reach the server. If necessary, I can email you the turn if you give me your email address.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Thanks Sheap, but the problem is resolved. My turn is uploaded.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Yup, chaos at work for Atlantis and a girlfriend down with the flu does not help, too, but while this may stall this pretender it can not stop him (did 2 turns this morning http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif )...

CharonJr

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Any idea about if/when to patch to 3.04 ?

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

I hope the upgrade will soon be put on the server.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

I will upgrade to 3.04 tonight.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

Server has been upgraded to 3.04. The turn timer has been reset.

Re: A Helping (Scale-Covered) Hand
 

thanks, that's a relief...

The Trump Card
 

It was a chilly night. He walked into his tent and looked around, thinking if there was anything left he had to do.

"Just one more task," he said to himself as he lied down. Soon he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
...
His eyes opened, nothing but darkness. He stood up and waited for it to happen as it always did. Suddenly light with no apparent origin illuminated his surroundings. He was standing in a large stone room connected to a hall consumed by shadow. Light could not pierce it.

He walked toward hall and stood before the darkness. A hissing sound emitted from the corridor and two yellow snake-like eyes appeared hovering in the blackness. The lizardman bowed.

"What do you want, my Lord?"

"How hasss the newsss idea been working?" hissed the darkness.

"The people seem to be genuinely pleased, but I must ask, why use the network of stone spheres to give them news that does not seem to be friendly to your cause?"

"Effectively giving information isss the firssst ssstep. Controlling that information comesss sssecond. We will deal with that later. For now, I want you to ssset up a new part of the counsssil. It will consssissst of twenty membersss, and they all will be Sssauromansssersss."

"Sauromancers! You trust Sauromancers!"

"They ressspect magic, of which I am ssskilled at. Ssso, yesss, I trussst them...enough. Thisss twenty Sssauromanssser group shall be called the Conclave, and they will be able to override anything the C’tisss Counsssil proposssesss."

"What!? The people are already unhappy. Doing this will result in even more protests."

"Let them protessst. The polissse will keep them in line."

"Maybe but the police don‘t seem very happy either."

"Irrelevant. I will sssoon be able to replassse them with more loyal sssubjectsss. Ssso, will you fulfill your dutiesss, or will I have to replassse you asss well?"

"Of course I will do your bidding."

"Very good, Dingir. We move clossser every month."

Re: The Trump Card
 

The Gorges of R'lyeh are alive with sound. Not with music, but with the ceaseless screaming of the Polypal mothers as they pay homage to the Great Race and to Sijansur, god of the Aboleths.

The screams carry well through the depths of R'lyeh, but there is one place, a lightless place beneath the fields of Polypal mothers and the sea floor itself, where the sound reverberates and is amplified immensely. Here, the stone itself vibrates. This is a holy place, where the proud Atlantean princes are taken to be broken and where Tsagosh, prophet of Sijansur, now awaits communion with the Master.

A rush of cool water behind the once-noble Atlantean indicates that the portal has opened; the seas are cold where the Master now hunts. The darkness itself seems to dim, and the screaming to become less distinct. He dares not turn, not to move, for the Master accepts no thought, nor impulse, that is not his own.

"Tsagosh. Pillar. Surface. Obey. Baracus. Hannibal. Gordius. Obey. Starlight. Doorway. Cliff. Obey. Sijansur. Airlife Rings. Obey. Soil. Sissassuss. A Light Rain. Obey. Tsagosh. Chutirel. Oil. Obey. Mord. Gordius. Apogee. 38. Obey. Obey. OBEY..."

After a time, the Master's voice fades to a mutter and is subsumed by the dim screeching of the Polypal Mothers. And abruptly, as if waking from a dream, the vibration of the screams again batter the inside of Tsagosh's skull. The water about him becomes temperate once more. The Master is no longer present, but Tsagoth cowers in stillness for a time before turning and gliding from the chamber. The Master must be obeyed.

Re: The Trump Card
 

I am loving the roleplaying by ryleh and Ctis.

Re: The Trump Card
 

To all the nations of the world,

Pangaea can now fashion greater magic items from every path of magic. If you would like to purchase a magic item, please send me a private message to negotiate a price for the item.

If you are an on neutral or good terms with Pangaea and are an immediate neighbor, you will receive an even better price on the item being forged.

Re: The Trump Card
 

I greet you all, and announce that I'm in war with Kailasa. Since I was attacked by Ermor this turn that may mean that they are in league with Kailasa. Anyone who wishes to join the war effort on my side is very wellcome. I'm waiting messages. Thanks a lot,
DreamSlayer

Re: The Trump Card
 

To all the people that sent me messages this turn with item requests, I have answered you your private messages in game.

If I was not able to forge your item at this time, I am going to focus on working mages towards that end specifically.

Goodluck and thanks for dealing with Pangaea =)

EDIT: Let me remind you as well to keep our dealings private as to not give your opponents an idea of what type of items your wanting, and therefore what your ingame goals could possibly be.

Re: The Trump Card
 

Well, now Sauromatia attacked, so I'm in war with Kailasa, Ermor and Sauromatia. If I don't get any help I will be dead within a few turns... Well being ganged up this early in a newbie game is a bit harsh, but that's life.

Re: The Trump Card
 

Pangaea appreciates the eagerness of the other nations to do business with us. We are currently backed up with orders that threaten to tie up some of our key mages.

Therefore, Pangaea will not be taking any crafting orders for the time being. Once the current orders are finished we will reopen our doors to crafting for the great nations of this world once again.

To clarify, if we have discussed forging items with you in private messages, those orders are considered valid even if not officially placed yet. Any new solicitations will not be accepted at this time.

Re: The Trump Card
 

I see precipitous army graph dropoffs; the Mind Lords of R'lyeh are hungry for news of other nations. Surely there must be victories to boast of or defeats to share by this date. Interesting stories make the game far more engaging.

Re: The Trump Card
 

Pretty embarrasing loss I just suffered to Agartha. I didn't realize there was a bug with the terrain when sieging a Cave fort and approximately 1/3rd of my army could not fight and instead just kinda hung out in the bottom of deep ravines until they were killed at range by mages.

Fortunetly it was a very cheap army consisting primarily of chaff, I would have hated to learn this lesson with a well built army!

Re: The Trump Card
 

It occurs to me that Abysia's bad luck came in picking a target who made made several mutual defense pacts.

This is bad luck, and not a mistake, because there's no way he could have known.

This is to Kailasa's credit; they scouted all the way across Abysia's entire territory to find out all his neighbors once they thought he might be a threat, and took appropriate action.

Re: The Trump Card
 

Folket, your lucky i didnt get my main plan inot action (i have over 30 mages, statistically 1 in 8 will have e2 and i have yet to get a single e2 mage)

Re: The Trump Card
 

Sounds like you need to buy some earth boots from pangaea next round of item forging http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: The Trump Card
 

lol no point, im too far gone to come back (although if pan can craft me some asap ill pay him 15 earth gems)

Re: The Trump Card
 

Okey, If I get no help I will declare this game lost due very bad luck for being ganged up in year 2 by 3 players...
DS
(P.S.: This means setting myself to AI soon.)

Re: The Trump Card
 

I am really sorry that you are leaving WSzaboPeter. I do hate when I am being ganged up upon and I do try to avoid being one of the gang. However don't underestimate the power of diplomacy. I still haven't been contacted by you in or out of the game and Kailasa did contact me so it's really no wonder why I'm attacking you and not Kailasa.

Anyhow I'm truly sorry and I hope that in future games where we come in contact, we can establish a good relationship early.

Re: The Trump Card
 

Can't say i'm to sad for that fact. In fact i'm highly glad http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Gives me a few more turns to live

Re: The Trump Card
 

Like I said; Kailasa was the first player to get in touch with me, and the mutual defense pact was the first agreement I made. Saarud's right; diplomacy played a huge part here.

Re: The Trump Card
 

Okey, I quit. That's final. Thanks for the game, the first part was great, and I learnt a lot from it.
I wish I could say it was a nice game, but it was not. This was ment to be a fun newbie game. That's the reason why I wanted no bless rush or anything similar. One cannot prohibit ganking, but in other multiplayer games (TBS, RTS, RPG, anything) when 3 people attack one very early in a free-for-all game where only one winner can be it's usually called cheap play.

Re: The Trump Card
 

I made an alliance with Kailasa and when you and him went to war I honored our alliance as anyone should.

Powerless
 

Flames licked the night sky from the torches some of us were carrying, not me though. I was getting too old and weak to hold something like that for so long. These last few years had weighed heavily upon the others and me. The C’tis Council all looked a little older to be truthful.

We were going into some field on the outside of the capital. Dingir said he had some great news to tell us all but insisted that we had to go outside. I don’t know why, none of us did. We were all suspicious to say the least. Why would he want the Council outside? Oh well, we needed the fresh air and exercise.

We managed to make out a platform with a podium ahead. It was difficult to see though. It was a foggy night, and although there was a full moon, it was getting cloudy. The Council all gathered in front of the podium eagerly awaiting this “amazing” news.

Dingir appeared out of the fog along with a Lizard Lord, several Sauromancers, and a human. The Prophet walked up to the podium and spoke.

"I am glad you could all make it here tonight. You will be the first C‘tissians of the public that get to meet the God of C‘tis, Sissassuss. Here he is."

The crowd starting whispering to each other as Dingir motioned to the human to take the podium. The God was a human. How could this be possible? I felt the anger rise in me as I am sure it was in every other Council member.

"Greetingsss C‘tissssian Counsssil! I am delighted that we have finally had thisss meeting. I wish I could bring you good newsss, but I am afraid that isss jussst not possssible. I have desssided that the Conclave isss more that sssufficient to run thingsss. Dingir here will be taking charge of domessstic, foreign, and religiousss mattersss. Namchadnessssar the Lizard Lord will be in charge of military affairsss. Finally, Ama’ushumgalanna the Sssauromanssser will deal with mattersss of magical importanssse. Thusss, we no longer have any ussse for any of you. The C‘tisss Counsssil isss hereby disssbanded. Goodbye."

We suddenly burst into angry shouts and start waving our torches around as the human and the others just stood on the platform. Fury was in the Council’s eyes, and I was about to jump on the platform and strangle the “God” himself. Then reason snuck into my head, and I knew something was up. Why were they just standing there?

My old ears picked up on a faint rattling sound. What was that? It started getting louder. The shouts lowered as other members heard it. Soon everyone was listening to the noise and trying to figure out what it was and it’s origin. It seemed to be coming from all around. One the Council members moved a bit away from the group, staring out into the ever-increasing fog. I saw the human make a slight movement with one of his hands, and all of our torches went out. Dark and foggy, all we could do was wait and see what the rattling was.

All of the sudden, I heard a thump, a scream, and saw a body flying over me. Everybody starts running in all directions. Screams of terror are everywhere. A flying body almost knocks me down. Some of the members get run over in the stampede. I duck just in time to avoid being hit in the head by a torso. I look around quickly and can not see what is causing this. It is too dark and foggy, just like Sissassuss wanted. I started running again and managed to separate myself from the other members. I stopped and looked back. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear the screams. They were awful. I caught by breath and decided that I would try to make it back to the city. I turned around and there was a white blur. I flew back several feet and landed hard. Then, everything went black.

Re: Powerless
 

I'm sorry to hear that you are dropping out so early. Others have stressed the importance of establishing relations with neighboring nations, but I'd like to suggest two other ways to encourage a fairer fight: playing a sea nation, and using bribery to split alliances.
If you plan on bribery, bribe heavy. If you die, you lose everything anyway.

Re: Powerless
 

Peter, the same thing happened to Ermor last game, except you were the ganker instead of the gankee. Sorry to see you go http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif but I guess in this instance it might have possibly been karma.

Re: Powerless
 

Fellow nations, the Conclave has decided that it is time for another magic item offer. Some of the rules of the first offer remain, but there have been changes.

These are the rules for the new offer:
-we will forge as many items as a nation wants
-the nation must not have shown any hostilities toward C'tis (exceptions to this rule include Kailasa, Ermor, and Sauromatia, C'tis will not provide items to these nations)
-you may not receive the item immediately as there may be a large influx of orders but we will try to get them out ASAP
-any item up to very powerful magic item level requiring nature, astral, water, or death may be forged (this does not necessarily mean that we can forge all of those items, but we can forge some of them) note: we specialize in death items
-the Conclave will determine the number of gems we will require for an item
-gem payment must be received before any forging takes place

Now for those nations that have been specifically named, you might be curious as to why you have been singled out as none of you have been hostile to the Serpent Kingdom. The Conclave believes that empowering a triple alliance is one thing but empowering a triple alliance that will soon have nowhere to go except in the seas or over the mountain pass to reach the eastern lands is another. This is not a declaration of war. We are merely protecting the eastern nations' interests as well as our own. As the gatekeepers, we can not allow you to pass and will not enable you to do so.

Sincerely,
Dingir
Lizard King and Prophet of Sissassuss

Re: Powerless
 

Note that the rules regarding gem payment amounts have been altered.

Re: Powerless
 

I'm sorry that things turned out as they did, Peter.

It was not my intention to get in a war this early in the game, so I set up a non-agression treaty with you and defense pacts with Ermor and Sauromatia. Of course you couldn't have known that when you sneak attacked me, but all the same the "ganking" was because of the treaties.

Also, I think that had you been able to quickly defeat me the treaties might have been forsaken (think Poland in WWII), but instead we had an attrition war costly for both sides.