[Norfleet]

Originally posted by RAF:
Secondly, I've seen some cases where enemy troops will just appear next to my province, and them not control any other territory around...usually Caleum

Caelum is a noteworthy offender for using "Call of the Winds", a remote summoning spell that magically summons a flock of Black Hawks. The Black Hawks are weak and can easily be killed by a modest level of PD, but they can strike anywhere, at any time.

...also when I tried Ermor, suddenly at the beginning of a turn, I see there was a battle half way across the map from my nearest unit...go take a look, and I have many undead, and 4 commanders! Have no idea where they came from, but appears similar to the Caleum scenario...

Ashen Empire and Soul Gate Ermor automatically spawns commanders and undead for your use. They simply grow out of the woodwork at random places. Also, provincial defense generates units on a temporary basis to defend the province, but even a level of 20 should only have produced 2 free commanders. Your two additional commanders, probably Mound Kings for AE, or Shadow Tributes for SG, probably just spawned there that turn.

Third and Lastly, Ermor...I played with the Soul Gate option...I sort of understand Ermor kills off the non-undead population of the territory, and I see a quantity of corpses appear...

Dead Ermor(Ashen Empire/Soul Gate) is blessed(or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with something called "killer dominion": The Dominion, independently of the death/growth scale of the province, will slaughter a percentage of the affected population every turn. Many of them will become unburied corpses, until some are buried by the surviving population, or eaten by buzzards.

How exactly does this work? Does killing off the population create the corpses, or battles in that or other provences? I know I need "priests" to raise dispossed spirits, shadows and apparitions, but how many corpses do each of these take?

Soul Gate does not require any unburied corpses. Ashen Empire uses unburied corpses to raise Soulless, but Soul Gate does not need them. Unburied corpses are produced by death of population(from your dominion, or by you pillaging the province), or from battle casualties.

What if I run out in a province, can they return?

No. The population killed by pillaging, and your dominion, once entirely eliminated, will never return, not even if the province falls into the hands of somebody who replaces your dominion with a growth scale. The people you kill will stay dead....forever!

Since I can't recruit like normal, what are fortresses good for, other than extra prodection in a province?

They provide defense and serve as obstacles to any invasion: They'll defend against evaporating summons like Ghost Riders, which do not stick around to siege the province. They also cause your national Undead, the Legionnaires and Velites, to spawn there.

Can I get any other non-hero undead units thru priests, or do I get these only thru spell casting?

No. Your priests do not provide you with anything other than undead. You can, if you conquer independent provinces, recruit their troops, but an Ermorian fortress provides no admin percentage, and you will quickly kill all of your population, leaving you with no resources or gold to produce much other than mages, which demand very low resources to produce.

Pillage provinces for gold! Kill all the people! Jack up taxes to 200! Remember, the undead always pay their bills in full.

And above all else, remember my sig!

[ March 17, 2004, 23:29: Message edited by: Norfleet ]