[FrankTrollman]

OK, here are some more extra civilizations that need to be around. Rather, this is a single civilization that needs to be around which in turn can have abunch of themes that allow it to be cultures that really don't see the light of day in Dominions right now:

Baharatta: Baharatta is a heavily rainforested nation with an ancient civilization. Baharattans people prefer a Hot Climate (move preferred scales towards heat +1 for whatever empire their provinces are in).

Special Gods: You get the Nagaraja of course, but you also get:
The Efreet, about the equivalent of a Queen of Air, except that he's got a Fire Aura and has Fire and Astral to start. Fire and Poison Immunity, Incorporeal. No Foot Slot.
The Djinn, exactly the same as the Efreet except that he has an Astral Shield instead of the Fire Aura. Shock and Poison Immunity, Incorporeal. No shoes. Has some Air and Water Magic to begin with.
The Great Hydra. It gets Nature and Water Magic, it's kind of slow, but it has several head slots (can we get more than two? I was hoping for like 5). It Regenerates and Recuperates.
[*] Rise of the Maharajahs: Baharatta is a rising nation under the guidance of the Sorcerer Kings known as the Maharajahs. A caste system is introduced which enforces specific careers on classes of people. With the life path of each of their subject plotted at birth, the Maharajahs can create an empire to last a thousand lifetimes.

Troops: Your basic militia is high morale, though naked and given a long spear. Your archers have composite bows. You have Gurkha troopers who are stealthy flankers. You have Brahmin Warriors who are sacred and have Awe in addition to having falchions. You get Elephants just like Arco, and you also have Tiger Riders which are capitol only. Your Gurkha Assassin is an Assassin who fights with kukris. Your priest is a Brahmin who has 2 Fire and a Random Sorcery 2 to go with his Holy 3. You also have Smiths who have 2 Earth and 1 Water and a Forge Bonus. There is also a Gurkha Shaman, who has 1 Nature and 1 Death and is Sacred (but has no Holy Magic).

Starting Spells: Fireball, Resist Fire

Starting Sites: Fire 2, Water 1, Earth 1, Nature 1, Death 1, Astral 1. Tiger Riders can be recruited.

Special Rules: None.

Province Defense: You get Militia and Composite Bowmen, led by a Gurkha Shaman.

Commentary: Based primarily upon India, basic Baharatta is supposed to dabble in various magic. You can guaranty getting Fire any time you want it, and you'll probably be able to pick up some fire bonus items if you want (you could, for example, make a Flaming Skull and Flaming Hat with relatively little fuss). You can also Fever Fetsh hoard if you want. Only 1 in 4 Brahmins is a Blood Mage, but it comes in on the ground floor at level 2, so you can do a credible Blood Minor if you want. They can come up with a variety of SC types, and they do have some guys with forge bonuses – so seeing their way to making a bunch of equipment for a Nataraja god is quite conceivable. Their starting gem income is large, but not focused anywhere, which means the for a long time it isn't going to be good. They have a good shot at a powerful late game.
[*] Wanderers of the Desert: The power of Baharatta was awesome to behold, but the Maharajahs became decadent and descended into blood magic. When the prohibition of Blood Magic was enforced by the Great Sealing, those who could escape the doomed capitol have done so. After generations of wandering in the desert, the Baharattans have found a new god, one who promises to return them to the glory they once knew...

Troops: All your troops have Waste Survival. You have Nomads who are unarmored and come in spear and scimitar using varieties. They are high morale for the price, but are otherwise unexceptional. You also have Camel Riders who have scimitars and have a long overland move but an unexceptional battle speed (3/18). You get Scorpion Riders, who turn into a scorpion beast when they die – the scorpion rider is sacred, but the scorpion beast is not. In the capitol only you can purchase some very expensive Rocs, which are huge flying trampling birds. You have cheap Scouts that only cost 10 gold and have wasteland survival (and a short bow). You have Keepers of the Flame who have Fire 2, Earth 1, and a random. You have Fire Dancers who have Fire 1, Holy 2, and constitutive haste. You have Dowsers who have a Random elemental pick at 2 and another 2 random elemental picks at 1. You have a Scorpion Lord, who is sacred and rides around on a Scorpion Beast, is sacred, and comes into every battle with 1-10 little scorpions who have about 1 hit point and a stinger with strong poison.

Starting Spells: Bind Scorpion Beast, Magma Bolts.

Starting Sites: Fire 3, Air 2.

Special Rules: The Empire Prefers Heat Scale +2 (for a total of Heat Preference +3 in the home province). You must have Heat +3 to take this theme. Heat spreads from this dominion like it was Desert Sun.

Province Defense: Nomads with Scimitars. Nomads with Scimitars and Shields.

Commentary: Baharatta as Arabians. The heat thing is actually something of an economic penalty, since most places that aren't your capitol are going to be suffering heat penalties when all the way inside your dominion. And that's the way most heat/cold empires should be working.
[*] Merchants of the Sea: The Maharajahs have become increasingly unimportant in society as they turned more and more towards the mysteries of the past rather than the day to day running of the nation. While rumors abound that the Maharajahs are going to rise up and take back the empire or perhaps sell everyone out to darkness, the fact is that the people never really see the Maharajahs anymore. It is gold that runs Baharatta now. Still, it is strange that the Maharajahs do so little to intervene while the merchants chip away at their power. It is as if they are under some sort of spell...

Troops: You get to hire the black-clad heavy infantry mercenaries as your normal troops. So you get the Crossbowmen, swordsmen, and even heavy cavalry that normally comes with mercenary units. Your leaders are primarily include the Merchant, who is a total dweeb but has a huge leadership value and has sailing. You have an Explorer, who is a scout with a small leadership and also has sailing. You also have a Pirate Captain and a Mercenary Captain who both have Sailing. You have a Court Wizard who has a Random 2 in an elemental path and 2 Random 1s in Sorcery paths, and a Research Bonus – he doesn't Sail and is Capitol only. You have a Windmaster (Air 2, Water 2, Sailing), and a capitol only Maharajah's Assistant, who has Blood 1, a Research bonus, and

Starting Spells: Wind Guide, Summon Storm.

Starting Sites: Air 3, Water 1, Earth 1. Hire Court Wizards and Maharajah's Assistants.

Special Rules: You hire mercenaries for half price. You must have Luck to take this theme.

Province Defense: Mercenaries with hammers, mercenaries with crossbows. Led by a Merchant.

Commentary: The intention is make people who have sailing and actually give a damn because they don't cost like 280 gold or anything. Practically speaking, this is probably going to end up as a blood position where your god has a lot of Blood Magic and the Maharajah's Assistants collect slaves for you to summon devils with.
[*] Keepers of the Seal: The Maharajahs had gone insane and sold the entire kingdom to devils. The priests knew they had no choice but to put a stop to them once and for all. The priests of death and the priests of life knew that they would be unable to battle the the devils alone and joined forces. An uneasy peace between the previously warring priest factions

Troops: The basic troops of Baharatta are here, but you get no Gurkhas and no Tiger Knights. You have seven different flavors of Priest, each of which is a Keeper of the Nth Seal. They all wear different outfits. The Keeper of the 1st Seal has Astral 3, Holy 4, and Random Elemental 1; The Keeper of the 2nd Seal has Nature 2, Holy 2, and Random Elemental 1; The Keeper of the 3rd Seal has Death 2, Unholy 3, and is an Inquisitor; The keeper of the 4th Seal has 3 Random Elemental and Holy 3; The Keeper of the 5th Seal has Fire 3 and Holy 2 and has a Patrol Bonus; The Keeper of the 6th Seal has 2 Earth, Unholy 2, Doesn't Eat, and is Stealthy; The Keeper of the 7th Seal has Holy 5 and has Awe.

Starting Spells: Smite Demon as a Holy 1 spell (meaning that a Holy 3 caster gets +2 Spell Penetration), Opposition.

Starting Sites: Astral 2, Death 2, Nature 2.

Special Rules: Your home province damages demons (but not undead) like Marignon's capitol. Your home province also is constantly preaching at a level equal to your dominion strength.

Province Defense: Baharattans with spears and Baharattans with composite bows. All led by a Keeper of the 4th Seal.

Commentary: While superficially (and actually) extremely complicated, these guys are practically little different from any faction that has 2 random picks. The functional implication is that they are going to end up with some people who do all kinds of weird crap but absolutely none of them have any blood magic. So while it seems like an advantage to have these crazy priests, and it sort of is – it comes with a big disadvantage which is that unlike other people with random picks you just can't get all 8 schools of magic no matter how hard you try. The big priests is a big advantage, and the demon smiting power of a level 4 priest is pretty big. That and a water blessing and you are seriously going to mess up even SC Ice Devils, which is kind of the point. From a literary standpoint, they are mostly drawn up as Persians of the Zoroastrian flavor.
[*] The Last of their Kind: The Great Sealing went disastrously wrong, leaving the capitol of Baharatta in ruins. Those who saw the final moments have been marked with madness, and their children are born into madness. Cannibalism has flourished among the survivors and the warriors have taken to filing their teeth into points. Out of madness comes chaos, for a new god has arisen from the ashes of Baharatta and promises to level the world with depravity and madness. The warriors of the fallen tribes of Baharatta have been granted the protection of the mad god, and fight without armor to prove their devotion and lack of survival instincts.

Troops: The Cannibals are going to be your mainstay troop. They have no armor but benefit from a natural protection of 15 because they get stoneskinned at the start of each battle for free. They are armed with kukris. You also get tribal archers (like the machakan unit of the same name), and some alternately armed naked tribesmen. You get a cave bear at home only. You can recruit tiger riders (like tiger knights but without armor and a free stoneskin spell at the start of each battle). Your Leaders include a capitol-only assassin called the Sniper who is armed with a Black Bow; a Shaman (1 Death, 1 Nature, free stoneskin each battle, sacred); a tiger warrior; and a Defiler of the Dead (Unholy 2). More uniquely, you have the Fevered Berserker (who has berserking, and also has an emanation that causes feeblemind; and the Demon Pawn (Blood 2 and a random).

Starting Spells: Panic, Frighten.

Starting Sites: Death 3, Nature 2., Snipers, cave bears.

Special Rules: You must take Turmoil and Sloth to take this theme. Province Defense happens to you spontaneously if your dominion is strong.

Province Defense: The pile of tribal archers is large, the pile of cannibals is small.

Commentary: Largely an exercise in getting Tiger Warriors, the Last of their Kind Baharatta has little in the way of a late game that I can see. There's some SC potential in the Tiger Warrior leader in that they can still wear armor on top of their Stone Skin and benefit from a blessing. At least it's a litle hard for people to take your stuff, what with free PD popping up.
[*] The Power of Steel: The Priest Kings were unable to retain power in Baharatta. The spells and sigils proved insufficient to protect the populace from the demon spawned madness. It was with cold steel that the demons were dispatched and the nation saved. Now the smiths have become masters of the empire, and god has blessed them for their crafts.

Troops: All of your infantry troops have blue steel weapons and armor. Blue Steel armors have one more protection than normal, and have reduced movement penalty and defense penalties - Blue Steel weapons inflict one more damage, and provide an increased defense vis a vis ”normal” steel weaponry. Your archers are Crossbowmen in bluesteel ringmail. The levied troops use bluesteel kukris, but are naked. You get You get Elephants. Your leaders include several different flavors of guy with armor and weapons, some of whom are sacred. You also get a Smith (2 Earth, 2 Water, Forge Bonus, Sacred), a Blade Singer (Earth 1, Holy 2, 2 bluesteel falchions), and a Holy Fool (Random Elemental 3, Random Sorcery 2, Random 1, Holy 4, but starts Feeble Minded, so they don't actually get to use any of that).

Starting Spells: Rust Mist, Earthmeld

Starting Sites: Earth 3, Water 2.

Special Rules: You must have Drain and Order to take this theme.

Province Defense: Soldiers with bluesteel ringmail in swordsman and crossbowman flavors.

Commentary: The basic concept is much like standard Ulm, only not *** in the late game. The ability to start uncorking the Holy Fools with Fairy Queens or Gift of Health makes a Nature God a practical necessity, and provides some much needed umph in the later stages of warfare when having “pretty decent infantry” no longer means a thing.
[*] The Company of Strangers: While lost in the desert, the Baharattans are befriended by the powerful Djinnis of the wastes. The use of mundane tools have been all but lost as the use of magic has become so rampant that knowledge, let alone use of ordinary techniques has been all but lost. Some Baharattans have even married into the tribes of the Djinn, and now a new breed has arisen – the half-Djinn Marid.

Troops: Everything you can ever build has Wasteland Survival. You have Nomads who are unarmored and come in spear and scimitar using varieties. They are high morale for the price, but are otherwise unexceptional. You also have Camel Riders who have scimitars and have a long overland move but an unexceptional battle speed (3/18). You have sacred troops who are Dervishes (fast and use two scimitars) and Marid (half-Djinn people who use a scimitar, don't need to eat, and fly when blessed). Your leaders include a Mumbling Pilgrim (Scout with Holy 2), an Elementalist (Random Elemental Path at 2 and another Random Elemental Path at 2), and a Marid Sheriff (Sacred, Holy 3, Need Not Eat, Random Elemental Path at 2).

Starting Spells: Summon Djinni of the Storm: 20 Air Gems gets you a Genie with Air 3 and a random pick. Summon Genie of the Waves: 20 Water Gems gets you a Genie with Water 3 and a random pick. Summon Genie of the Flame: 20 Fire Gems gets you a Genie with Fire 3 and a random pick. Summon Genie of the Sand: 20 Earth Gems gets you a Genie with Earth 3 and a random pick. You also know Lightning Bolt and Combustion. All of your Djinn produce 25 supplies and fly.

Starting Sites: Air 2, Earth 1, Fire 2, Water 1.

Special Rules: The Empire Prefers Heat Scale +2 (for a total of Heat Preference +3 in the home province). You must take at least Magic +2 to take this theme.

Province Defense: You get a pile of nomads with spears and another pile of nomads with scimitars. They are led by an Elementalist.

Commentary: The Elementalist can potentially have up to 4 picks in a single elemental path if he rolls snake eyes on the random picks. The Djinn are no big deal, honestly, but they can fly and allow the Baharattan player to generate supplies (however expensively), out of elemental gems. It's like having Dusk Elders, except not.

-Frank