[sachmo]

Turn 8
Late Fall, Year 1

The birdman of Caelum entered the hall without a hint of reverance. Rhyvinter remained in human form, not wishing to scare the puny creature.
“Hail, birdman of Caelum. I am Rhyvinter, Lord of the Jotun.”
The birdman gave the pretender god a shallow bow.
“I was sent here by Keresaokhshan, Lord of the Shadows, Prince of Corruption, and heir to the throne of the One God!”
Rhyvinter hid a smile. How easily impressed the Caelum must be to worship a fool such as this!
“My mission is simple. I am to deliver this message and await your reply.” The birdman reached into his belt pouch and withdrew a wooden scroll case. He handed it to one of the acolytes. The acolyte quickly scanned it for magical traps and hidden devices. Finding none, he passed it on to Rhyvinter.
Rhyvinter casually opened the case and withdrew the paper inside. As he read over it, his eyes narrowed.
“It simply says that Caelum and Jotunheim are now at war,” Rhyvinter said loudly for all in the hall to hear. A few of the templars drew their longswords and axes, prepared to rend their newfound enemy limb from limb. Rhyvinter held up his hand, and instantly they stopped.
He looked down at the birdman.
“I do not understand what game your ‘god’ is playing, but he would be wise to realize that it is a dangerous one. We have no border in common with your people, and we have had no contact until you appeared at our frontier. Nevertheless, Keresaokhshan wishes war with us. We will oblige him. Since you are here on our oath, you will be allowed to leave here with your head.”
The birdman visibly relaxed. He had no idea of the plans his god had for these giants, and upon hearing of the declaration of war, had seriously doubted his chances of escaping with his life.
“You may leave, messanger, but I beg you to take a message back to your ruler. Tell him…,” Rhyvinter grinned maliciously, “tell him that we will see him soon.”

Treasury: 344
Income: 392 (+70)
Provinces: 11

Research in Thaumaturgy was completed. Research continued in Construction.

While marching on the province of Pholothras, a group of assassins was able to penetrate the guard around the camp of Visbur the Prophet. One of them launched an arrow at the prophet, striking him in the heart. The guards slaughtered the men, but the damage had been done. It was a near thing, but the prophet survived the attack. The wound was grevious, however, and would never heal completely.

Rexor’s barbarians joined the Jotun cause. They would be put to immediate use in conquering independent provinces.

Farbaute and Visbur conquered Pholothras. 140 light infantry and cavalry were killed for the loss of one Jotun Woodsman. This province had training facilities for light and heavy cavalry, as well as a Library where Sages studied.

Godzilla Blitz and his troop captured the Second Forest without loss. 200 independants lost their lives before the province surrendered.

Kingfc22 and his undead horde were able to conquer The Forest of Idun. Losses were relatively light, with four longdead being destroyed. The entire enemy force was wiped out.

The taxes in the three new provinces were lowered dramatically to discourage unrest.
Inarmie’s tax rate was raised to 90%. There was still a small amount of unrest in the province.

Godzilla Blitz moved back to Temiglia. Once there, he and his troops would construct a temple for Rhyvinter.

Visbur began to build a temple in Pholothras. Farbaute took up a patrol, watching for any sign of movement from the Mictlan.
The Mictlan had conquered another province; this time the province directly to the south of their capitol. This move left their fortress dangerously low on defenders, but Jotun was not in a position to take advantage of this situation…yet.

Rexor and his rabble were ordered to conquer Halemyre for Jotun. It was defended by a medium sized force of infantry, but they should prove no match for the barbarians.

In Jotunheim, the following forces were recruited:

1 Vaetti Hag
1 Jotun Spearman

In the Second Forest:

1 Scout

The defense of Inarime was raised to 4.

[ July 01, 2004, 03:33: Message edited by: sachmo ]