Turn #30, Early Fall of Year 3
A spider's weave.
Part 1 of 2
I sense a powerful ripple in the magical weave of the world. The sudden concentration of nature magics from where the realm of Machaka is reputed to be loudly bespeaks of their having undertaken the ritual of the Mother Oak. I am untroubled by this event, since it does not affect my realm, nor does the ritual require particularly sophisticated arcane knowledge such that I should be concerned by what the Machakans might direct against me, should they be foolish enough to become belligerent towards me.
A vengeful witch attempts to curse my troops in Herghendorf for having destroyed her home and taken but a single nature gem from her. However, there is no one near for her to harm, while my overzealous priest Geiserik, whom I am sure is actually guilty of this act, is safely within my temple. I will punish him by leaving him there to continue preaching. Waste not a tool that is useful, I say.
My troops entering Ashikaga are met by 1 taisho daimyo, 2 hatamotos, 8 samurai horsemen, 51 samurai swordsmen, 14 samurai bowman, 12 ashigaru spearmen, and 3 yamabushi monks. Clodomir the Priest falls, impaled by an unlucky shaft from the first volley of the samurai.
All of the samurai swordsmen and yamabushi, and two-thirds of the ashigaru are killed by the Jotuns and Vine ogres. Bove, having skirted the battle along the right flank, kills a hatamoto, and then the daimyo in lopsided single combats. Bove kills the Last hatamoto as the leading edge of my Jotuns plows into the bowmen. Now leaderless, the Ashikagans rout, but my troops manage to slay another bowman and a horseman before the remainder can finish fleeing the field. A total of 7 samurai horsemen, 13 samurai bowman, and 4 ashigaru spearmen survive to escape into the citadel. My siege begins, having lost only 1 Priest, 3 Jotun spearmen, and 1 Vine ogre. The priest Konrad picks up the Bag of Wine that Clodomir had been carrying.
Were it not for the 4 Bags of Wine my commanders carry, I am certain that almost two dozen of my Jotuns would already be starving in the seige camp. As it is, supplies are more than ample for all my valiant and strong Jotuns. I have adequate supply to support reinforcements of up to two dozen more giants. The importance of proper logistics for seigecraft cannot be overstated. It's the defenders that should be starving during a seige, if the attacker is competent.
I rearrange the troops in the seige camp so that only Vine ogres act as commander guardians, and I place all of the Jotuns under the command of my two non-preachers (Bove and Rod the Firbolg). This allows me to maximize the destruction of the walls, while at the same time I counter the enemy's faith ("preach down" his dominion).
The battle in The Promised Land between Jorgun and 3 indy commanders plus 46 assorted footmen & fanatics was assuredly one-sided, and thus not particularly interesting to recount. Suffice to say that my wyrm fed well this month. My avatar counts 12 more kills and 17 trophies from this battle (gaining a 4th star), and Bove received credit for 3 kills (all 3 samurai commanders) and 8 trophies at Ashikaga.
Elsewhere, Man recaptures the Rim Mountains from Atlantis. My scout Oedre must have been too busy escaping notice, since I received no report of the battle itself. Man has roughly three-score fanatics and spearmen in the province. Vanheim also retakes the province of Agenor from Man. They have some two-score light footmen, huskarls, and skin shifters in the province. It seems that as quickly as Man makes progress on one front they lose ground in the other. It amuses me immensely to watch these pretenders war upon each other, keeping them busy until such time as I deign to deal with them. It is also intriguing, as I ponder the situation, that these two provinces continue to change hands. It begs the question of what is so valuable within them that these nations are spending so much of their resources to control?
I am fortunate in that the wizard, Lekiro, whom I recuited at the Academy of High Magics in the Black Alps, possesses the skill in nature magics that I seek (1W & 2N).
My researchers achieve mastery of the first three levels of Evocation magics, and the first two levels of Thaumaturgy. I expect to achieve the next level in both schools by next month.
My realm has:
- ___7 Dominion max.
- __12 Temples
- __29 Provinces converted
- _900 Treasury.
- 1281 Income. (+115)
- _406 Upkeep. (+27)
- 20 Provinces controlled
- Jotunheim: Dom=7, PD=25, Unr=0
- Zenthra: Dom=7, PD=10, Unr=0
- Eribon: Dom=3, PD=10, Unr=0
- Gwyrth: Dom=4, PD=10, Unr=0
- Iron Range: Dom=6, PD=10, Unr=0
- Saetica: Dom=1, PD=10, Unr=0
- Black Alps: Dom=6, PD=10, Unr=0
- Ancyrna: Dom=2, PD=10, Unr=0
- The Promised Land: Dom=-1, PD=0, Unr=17
- Bel: Dom=2, PD=10, Unr=0
- Ashikaga: Dom=-3, PD=0, Unr=17 (under seige)
- Pythium: Dom=7, PD=10, Unr=0
- Robber Home: Dom=-1, PD=20, Unr=0
- Hoburgdorf: Dom=2, PD=20, Unr=0
- Feral Woods: Dom=3, PD=10, Unr=0
- Ultima Typhia: Dom=6, PD=10, Unr=0
- Well of All Waters: Dom=7, PD=10, Unr=0
- Kepess: Dom=1, PD=15, Unr=0
- Melma: Dom=4, PD=20, Unr=0
- Herghendorf: Dom=0, PD=20, Unr=0
Gem income is:
- +_2 Fire (03)
- +_0 Air (--)
- +_6 Water (14)
- +_3 Earth (11)
- +14 Astral (40) (includes 8 Clams)
- +_2 Death (06)
- +_8 Nature (37)
Magical knowledge (stars denote schools being researched):
- 7-Conjuration
- 3-Alteration
- 3-Evocation*
- 6-Construction
- 5-Enchantment
- 2-Thaumaturgy*
- 0-Blood Magic
- 182 RPs (of 212 available at labs)
To be continued in Part 2 ...
[ February 27, 2004, 22:46: Message edited by: Arryn ]