Eater of the Dead?

[tinkthank]

Thanks much.

If I may:

It only eats dead, though, correct? Except when it is "Unfettered", then it will eat "anything (anybody)"? So I could keep it with my army until it gets to Phase 3, then just let it be commanderless (because it will eat my commander anyhow)? Sorry, I still have trouble grasping exactly what the deal is. Thanks in advance.

[GavinWheeler]

As I understand it, it eats 'unburied bodies.' These can be generated by battles, by spells like 'Black death', by random events (I think) or by creatures who cause disease being in the same province, such as a Harvester of sorrows or a commander wearing a bane venom amulet. If you gift of reason the Eater, you could have hime wear a bane venom amulet himself, but that seems bit of a waste of his limited magic item slots.

It will kill enemies, like any unit, until it becomes Unfettered at which point it will attack anyone. This presumably creates unburied bodies which it will then eat, but the actual programming mechanics is tied to the 'unburied bodies' statistic of the province - one of the figures you can see on the province info.

Edit: So yes, you can have it with your army like any other unit. When it reaches the Unfetterd stage, you will get a message telling you so, then a battel where it attacks your forces in the same province as itself. Unless you Gift of Reasoned it and sent it out on its own, in which case it has noone to attack. If it survives this battle, it will then show as an independent force in that province, and will attack any non-stealthy forces that enter that province.

[ March 22, 2004, 16:23: Message edited by: GavinWheeler ]

[PvK]

Just curious...

Do reasoning Eaters have leadership? If so, when they unfetter, do they take their own troops with them, or do they attack their own troops?

Do unfettered independent Eaters ever roam out of their own province on their own initiative?

PvK

[GavinWheeler]

I vaguely recall that a Gift of Reasoned Eater had some leadership - but this wasn't something I actually paid much attention to.

Presumably it would attack its erstwhile troops when it unfettered, the same as when any other commander changes sides or when a non-GoR'ed Eater unfetters, but unless there was another commander in the province they would rout at the start of the battle, so there wouldn't be much in the way of a fight. Unless the Eater had an item that allowed him to fly, such as the Gift of Kurgi, and his ex-troops couldn't fly.

And in my test the Unfettered Eater never wandered out of his province, although that would be kind of cool. He was besieging a castle all that time, mind you, but in general I don't see why an independent Eater would be different from any other independent force, and they never wander.