AAR: Time of the Ice Giants

[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 ]

[sachmo]

Turn 9
Early Winter, Year 1

Rhyvinter flew over the Farseer Mountains, letting the magic guide him. For a score of days he flew, into canyons and around tall spires, searching for the power that was guiding him. Finally, he came to a hollow cave in a mountain that seemed to be turned on its side. Only the most powerful magic could turn the land in this way, and Rhyvinter could feel it. The cave radiated power, and inside, he could her the howl of winter wolves…

Treasury: 350
Income: 419 (+27)
Provinces: 12


Rhyvinter discovered Mount Frost in the Farseer Mountains. It produces 2 water gems per turn, and a water mage can recruit winter wolves here.

Dargan the Sage left the service of the Jotun, but not before he was able to assist in the research of Construction. The first level of this path was attained, allowing more powerful magic items to be produced.

Danfozar witnessed Man attack the independent province of Ireme. Their armies of Axemen and Spearmen were more than a match for the undisciplined rabble of the province defense, but the armies of Jotun would make short work of them when the battle came.

Mictlan was able to take another province, this time The Great Feral. Their army of 700 warriors swept of the local defenses like a tide. Again, these forces would not be much of a match for the giants.

Rexor and his mercenary army of barbarians terrorized and conquered the province of Halemyre for Jotunheim. He was ordered to immediately attack into the Old Man Mountains, which were defended by a formidable force of heavy infantry and militia.

Visbur finished construction of a temple in Pholothras. With the temple spreading the word of Rhyvinter in the lands so close to the capitol of Mictlan, the prophet would be able to counteract the power of the followers of Nobb, their leader. Visbur began to preach the word of Rhyvinter to help supplement the power generated by the temple.

Rhyvinter set out for Pholothras to prepare for the attack on Mictlan.

In Jotunheim, the following units were recruited:

1 Jotun Herse
2 Jotun Spearmen

The remaining gold in the treasury was spent on improving the defenses of Inarime and Pholothras.

Gunnhild began preparing to cast Reanimation in Jotunheim. These undead would join Kingfc22 in Pholothras once he arrived there, and from there they would eventually assault Mictlan.

[Norfleet]

Wow, a turn a week. This is gonna be a LOOOOOOOOOONG game.

[sachmo]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
Wow, a turn a week. This is gonna be a LOOOOOOOOOONG game.

Blame Eastside Hockey Manager.
But it's not the destination that's important, it's the journey, right?

EDIT: Wanted to point out something else...I started writing Rise of the Remorhaz Society (linked in my signature) on June 22nd, 2002. I may be slow, but I'm persistant!

[ July 08, 2004, 13:25: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[Unknown_Enemy]

BUMP.

Sachmo, are you already gone on holiday ? Or were you slaughtered ?

[sachmo]

No, not holiday. The wife was feeling neglected, and NHL Eastside Hockey Manager came out early this month!

This AAR is not dead.

[sachmo]

Turn 10
Winter, Year 1

Rhyvinter saw that the enemy fortress was guarded by a very small army. His commanders begged him to attack, to wipe the Mictlan capitol from the face of the world. They Mictlans had moved the bulk of their forces northwest and had attacked the independents in Ligrea, conquering that province. Rhyvinter was quite temped to press the attack, but decided to wait.
“We shall continue to build up our forces here. We will build a magic lab here, and a fortress while building up our armies. We will do our best to hide this from them, and not make the suspicious. Then, when we are ready, we will strike and crush them while the bulk of their forces are far from their fortress.

The commanders considered this, and saw the wisdom of Rhyvinter’s words. Thus they began preparations for hiding their true strength from the Mictlans.

Treasury: 391
Income: 432 (+13)
Provinces: 13

Gunnhild the hag cast Reanimation in Jotunheim. These undead forces would be dispatched to the Mictlan front as soon as possible.

Event: The winter in Pholothras was mild, allowing trades ease of travel and more livestock than usual to survive. This increased the tax collection by 50 gold and decreased unrest in the province.
The locals were convinced that the mild winter was a gift from Rhyvinter, and his presence was viewed with favor. This made Visbur’s preaching more effective, increasing the dominion in the province to 4.

Scouts in the province of Dust Hills witnessed the forces of Pangaea conquer the province. The forces were led by Peisandros, the Centaur Cataphract prophet. The scout was impressed by his power, and left in awe of him. The satyrs and War Minotaurs used their speed to outflank the infantry, cutting them down by the dozens.

A force of an unobserved nation attacked the province in the Old Man Mountains. They were human, armed with iron weapons. Some of the forces appeared to be slave-warriors. They conqured the province with a minimum of losses.

However, Rexor and his barbarian troops could not tell the conquerors from the conquered, and quickly dispatched the majority of these troops and claimed this province for Jotun. Only by examining the dead was it surmised that these soldiers were from the nation of Pythium. How Pythium would respond to this attack was unknown.

Scouts in Illidar watched as Boneater, the prophet of Ermor, lead a huge force of Spectral Forces against the province. The scout recounted the attack, decribing a scene out of a nightmare, where the troops fought ghosts with weapons that were barely effective. The province was conquered.

A new Herse was recruited in Jotunheim, known as Coffee Warlord. This young Herse was famous for his quick temper as well as his technical prowess. He would head to the front and command an army for the assault on Mictlan.

A scout was also recruited in Jotunheim. He immediately set out the northwest provinces.

Kingfc22 began constructing a magic lab in Pholothras. When completed, they would be able to recruit Sages, who would help greatly with research and also as combat mages for the assault on Mictlan.

Rhyvinter began to search Pholothras for magic sites.

Visbur continued to preach, spreading dominion throughout the provinces, and hoping to steal some believers from the Mictlan faithful. This would make Rhyvinter much more powerful, and Nobb less so. The rituals continued night and day in the temples of Pholothras.

Farbaute set out for Inarime, where he would recruit forces for the assault on Mictlan.

Spies in the land of man spotted their ruler and pretender god, Bethred the Vampire Queen. He also found that their fortress was lightly guarded and noted the defense strength. He then moved further east.

Horvan the Jotun Scout found the capitol of Pangaea. He set out to infiltrate the province and gather information on the forces there.

Fjollvitner the scout also discovered the capitol of Ermor, and also made to infiltrate this province.

Rexor and his barbarians marched to the province of Lithia, to hopefully conquer it before the forces of Pythium could.

Godzilla Blitz and his forces were ordered to attack the independent province of Bithyne, defended by a modest force of Hoburgs.

In Inarime, a force of 8 archers was recruited.
In Temiglia, a priest was recruited.
In Jotunheim, a Herse was recruited.

[ July 27, 2004, 15:42: Message edited by: sachmo ]