MP Game - Yarnspinners

[Alneyan]

I should have been clearer. Yarnspinners is a game that has already started, so you would sign up as a replacing player, and would not have to create a Pretender. We are around turn 33: the reason I recommend Vanheim is because they aren't on the brink of a war, unlike the other nations looking for another player.

The game is played via mail (Play By Email, or PBEM), so it is not available at Mosehansen (it used to be hosted there though). If you are interested in joining us, you should send me a mail, and I will forward the game file to you. The mail is in my profile, or here: alneyan[AT]fastmail[DOT]co.uk (replace [AT] and [DOT] by @ and .)

[puffyn]

--- Caelum, turn 33 ---

I have been away from the capitol far too long. The empire of Caelum -- no one can deny that it is an empire now, of the mightiest in the world -- has grown large and prosperous. (Would it be better if we had stayed small? It is much too late for that now.) I have turned the wastelands to the north into peaceful, productive members of an empire that now spans all lands to the east of the Nidzh River, except for a colony in the far east that belongs to the spider people.

The spider people. Perhaps that was my first clue. I had heard that they were ruled by someone not unlike myself, torn from the grave into a strange world of palatial intrigues and a powerful priestly caste. I pitied him a little, for in Caelum it is the researchers who hold power; and how much intrigue can they indulge in when they are constantly lost in the towers of old scrolls and manuscripts scattered across our kingdom? Since I have become the reluctant leader (I will not say "god", though everyone else does) of this land, I have urged the scholars to regain our long-ago position as the most powerful researchers in the world. Was I hoping to channel their ambitions to peaceful ends, to give them other things to contemplate than spreading word of my divinity? Strange how one so powerful as I could be so naive.

So when the spider people first sent forays into empty lands across the wide river that divided our kingdoms, I sent them a message of friendship and peace. They were clinging to life wedged against the powerful empire of Man; if they were willing to pacify lands that our forces had no intentions of approaching anytime soon, I saw no need to fight. (For though they are small and somewhat weak, I suspect that they would fight dearly for their small homeland.) But I have heard no news of my messenger, though it has been many months. The way is long, even for my fast-winged scouts; but rumors began to reach me that perhaps the mountains crossings were the least treacherous of the problems facing my messenger. So far, there has been peace. But I fear the rising powers in this land will not let that Last.

My own fateful error led these forces to power, though at the time it was acclaimed as a brilliant success. The high seraphs announced the discovery of a way to harness lightning, along with many spells to protect themselves, and begged leave to travel en masse to meet in battle Solaris, a knight of great renown who had long held sway on the borders of the capital. I gave reluctant permission, though I was concerned we would fall behind on our great research plans, with so many high seraphs gone. "We must all go," said Wizard (W). "We do not know if our plan would work, but it will surely fail if the Lord of the West Wind does not permit a sufficient number of us to try." Their plan, of course, was a resounding success; there were few casualties; and since then he and some of the other seraphs have been hailed as heroes throughout the land.

But after the battle, only a few seraphs returned, carrying powerful items stripped from Solaris' corpse, while the others went forth to conquer the rich southlands. We have slipped from our position as the mightiest researchers, and the other empires will be quick to capitalize on this, I fear; but when I discussed this with Wizard (W) he merely smiled and extolled the large number of fortresses we have constructed, the growing number of troops, our ever-increasing borders and wealth. It was after he returned that I had a chilling moment that I wished I had paid more attention to: I was suddenly unsure if this was the same "Wizard (W)" who had asked leave to depart. Had his experience with death and power changed him that much? Or was he really a different person? It dawned on me that, with no less than five mages known as "Wizard (W)" in my lands, I have no way of knowing which one I am talking to. But I am used to sudden chills as if from the grave, and ignored this one as all others, and went back to the unifying the north.

I learned two things today. The first is that we have launched a massive attack on Ermor. We used to be friendly with their lands; perhaps I was less cowed by the chill of death than other rulers might have been. From time to time we would receive Messages from their ruler, who always signed his Messages with the words "For I am Noth", and we had come to an understanding of peace, though I have not heard from Noth in many months. When I asked Wizard (A), another of the warmongers (and it is impossible to tell if any are against the war, when all look and talk and act the same), why we had attacked his lands, with whom we share such an enormously large border, he simply said, "Noth doesn't live there anymore." I walked away before he could regale me with news of the many glorious victories; there will be plenty of defeats to come.

There is more: this same Wizard (A) has called forth one of the holiest creatures of the Caelumites, the Queen of Storms, and sent her forth in a berserker rage to wrack havoc on Ermor. The seraphine priestesses, meanwhile, have sharply increased in number, and are fanning out across the lands, seeking to banish the undead. I learned of the death of my storm general prophet, whose name I never even learned, only Last week; apparently he died a year ago or more, sent to fight a battle where he had no hope of winning. Now there is a Prophetess, Zabele, and I fear the rise of a powerful caste of priestesses to complement the wizard seraphs, who have seized power.

The other thing I learned is that I am a prisoner. My return to the capitol, apparently, is unwanted by the high seraphs, and I am to stay in this remote library where I have been training young sages and crafting powerful artifacts during what I thought was a well-deserved respite from war. They could not stop me from leaving if I wanted to, of course, though I suspect the weapons being readied against the undead hordes of Ermor would quickly be turned on me if Wizards (A) and (W) felt I had outlived my usefulness as a religious rallying point. For I am the Ghost of the Wingless, at least to the armies being massed; it is in my name that they fight, and kill, and die.

---

[puffyn]

Hi Griffin,

Welcome to the game. Feel free to post the occasional yarn if you get into the game - I know there's only a few of us posting most turns these days, but I like reading all of the reports I can get. (And not just for the vital insights into everyone else's strategies... )

-Puffyn

[puffyn]

---- Arcoscephale, Turn 31 ----

We turn north again, working on fragmentary reports from scouts throughout Mictlan's empire. My plan is to avoid the large enemy army encamped just south of their capitol, skirt around, and hit their city from the west. The going will be slow, since it will be necessary to pacify the locals, clear out blood-hunters, and set up some sort of local defense at each town we come to. If all goes according to plan, we should be outside their bloody walls in two, maybe three months.

Looking back over my previous entries, I see that I have neglected to mention the strange beings that now travel with us. Balachandra calls them vinoghers. I normally call them "stupid" or "mindless twit", since they have no conception of personal space or self preservation, and are happy to aimless wander into a campfire, scatter ash and plant bits into one's butter, and then plod off, completely oblivious to the flames now dancing around their legs. We've lost three of them and nearly a pound of butter that way, but more seem to arrive continually.

But the vinoghers are quite sturdy in battle. Not as effective offensively as my hoplite, they do have a remarkable ability to keep wandering forward, randomly crushing things, despite missing an arm or two. In the most recent skirmish, the slave armies of Mictlan turned and fled at their mere approach. I guess the strange southern sorceresses (Ulde, or one of her triplets) are to thank or blame for these brutes. I don't need them to win battles, but they keep my real men healthy and I am grateful for that. I shall have to send the triplets a nice fruit basket from the Mictlan capitol when it falls.
---

[Cainehill]

Zapmeister said:[*]At the end of the game, each nation scores additional points based on their rankings in each score graph except Army Size as follows:

20 points if first;
10 points if second;
5 points if third;
[*]The player with the highest final total is declared the winner.[/list]

How are points to be awarded in the case of ties? Provinces and castles in particular might be even, especially as everyone has an incentive to try to get up there for the points.

[Zapmeister]

Cainehill said:
How are points to be awarded in the case of ties? Provinces and castles in particular might be even, especially as everyone has an incentive to try to get up there for the points.

I'll pool the points and distribute them evenly, e.g. 2 players tied for first and second get 15 points each.

[Vicious Love]

Raven Darkshadow Bloodfyre will show you fools the folly of your ways, in blackness and in night. Stygian night. Nevermore.

[Lex]

I'm gonna pull out while the game is still open. Doing the responsible thing and gonna give equal time to work as I do to games. Got too much work expected in the next few months. maybe next time.. Vanheim is now up for grabs

[Karacan]

How many players are you looking for, anyway? I'd suggest a max of ten, that's ten Posts per turn plus two or three from observers. You get my meaning.

And when do you intend to start, anyway? As I said, next week is going to be a busy one for me, but with 72 no quickhost, I should be able to get in everything.

[Frosted Flake]

People used to ride cohen about weird games...LOL

frosted flake