Dom III Gone Gold (Domiiigogo) - (Started)

[djo]

Heh. I had forgotten I'd sent that.

I have no problem in your posting any reasonable communications or observations.

[KissBlade]

Heh, nothing wrong with posting diplomatic relations. Also Machaka are among the top patrollers of the game and thus very hard to spy upon =).

[PashaDawg]

Turn 18 is out

Deadline is Monday at 9pm boston time

[BigJMoney]

Ouch! I learned the hard way not to set a mercenary army to Fire and Retreat. I didn't realize retreating mercs don't come back. I also learned that shortbows have surprisingly long range. I had some longbows set all the way to the back of the map, and the enemy's shortbows were able to fire at them the first turn after movong forward once.

=$=

[PashaDawg]

Haha

[PashaDawg]

Turn 21 is out.

Deadline is Thursday night at 9pm Boston Time (GMT-5)

[BigJMoney]

Month 10 – The Year Of THE HAG

It is a wonder what prosperity can do for a people. Those who once barely survived in the desert wastes of Linshire were now becoming an educated populace of goods and commerce. With the speed of a spreading fire or a quaking tremor, those who lived in that land were becoming strong believers in this ageless lady Yohlla. For the first time ever, Erkeborn was struck with a thought he would regret and despise for the rest of his life. Was this a self-fulfilling prophesy? Were his people merely so inspired that they were finally living up to their potential and creating their own prosperous world? But that would mean all of Yohlla’s miracles were cheap magician’s tricks, and her prophesies untrue. He quickly cast all such notions from his mind. No, Yohlla was the savior of his people, he was sure of it. No, Erkeborn did not have the luxury of time to fill his head with philosophy and conjecture; especially not with the recent news. So far, reports from the home city had been positive. Despite the loss of the Keepers of Ulm to a mighty earthquake, the man Yohlla had recently enlisted to work within the great city had been in prime position to take the mantle of leadership and had been doing a good job – until now. He had pushed the people too far. Their recent loss was too great, and they had been worked too hard to support the wagons of war. Over the past month, massive rioting and rebellion had seized the lower class population of the city. Even some of the Ulmish nobles were grasping the opportunity to make capital gains on the unrest. Things had gotten so bad that the only solution would be to eventually send an army in to remind the people that their freedom and prosperity had a price. The people of Ulm had always been a great people, and now would have to be the least time such non-productive behavior could be tolerated. And, Ruprecht would have to be talked to. If the people were rioting so much, there was a reason for it. Erkeborn did not know the man, but from what Yohlla had told him, he was suspicion the man had the tendency to be over zealous at times. Fortunately, Yohlla herself volunteered to visit, for there was business she felt she needed to personally attend in the city anyway. Erkeborn was confident that her mere presence would help to solve problems immediately. Hopefully the job would not fall squarely on the backs of his fighting men who were needed for war. However, a lesson he learned came to mind. When there was a surplus of work for a man’s laborers to do, and gold sitting in the coffers yet to be used, a man should ask the gold to do his work for him.

[PashaDawg]

Turn 22 is out.

Deadline is Friday night at 9pm Boston Time.

Pasha

[BigJMoney]

Month 11 – The Year Of THE HAG

Inside the laboratory, things were moving very quickly for an empire that once shunned every aspect of magic completely. There was a group of young men who were astonished at the things they learned or simply witnessed from this old man who seemed to possess an endless passion for his magical work. They learned to cast some spells in the ways of earthen magic, and they learned of possibilities they could explore by enchanting items with the power of arcane earth gems. Deep below the city was an ancient cavern where was housed the Great Forge of Ulm. These young men made constant expeditions down to this place to collect the deep magical earth gems that grew down there. Only in the darkest hours of the night did their old mentor, Ruprecht venture down there. Those were the hours when he would work on his most secret projects, for it was during the daytime that he had to divide his time between teaching and running the matters of the province. For an old man, his spirit was very bright. From time to time, he would also work closely with the great woman Yohlla, and together they forged items that the pupils used to expand their minds and increase their research potential.

Outside, things were not going so well. Even though the people were initially grateful for Ruprecht’s guidance, they were now completely sick of him. They were sick of being overworked for war, so they took their anger out on him, their figurehead. They even began to believe in fear that his new ways would corrupt them, and these lies especially made the poison of rebellion more potent. The fact that Yohlla had returned might have made things better, but she had chosen to make her presence a secret. To her, there were urgent matters more important than the temporary state of the peoples’ desires. Still, things were out of control. The Prophet looked out his window to witness another scuffle between one of his soldiers and some civilians. The morale of his troops was being affected by their police duty in their home city, and it didn’t even seem to be making a difference – not fast enough, anyway. If things didn’t change before the end of the month, he would have a difficult decision to make. However, he had looked into some mercenary options again. This time, he was able to catch the attention of one Arnaud who commanded a company of longbowmen. He had heard tales of the longbow, but had never seen one used in war before. Hopefully, these light troop wouldn’t mind a little bit of “tax” duty. The people of Ulm would soon see that their own leaders were more merciful about the collection of taxes than a local bully would be.

Later that day, Erkeborn found out that the scuffle he witnessed was actually an old witch who was casting curses on his men. He was fortunate to not have been out on the street himself at that hour. This had to end, now.

[BigJMoney]

Month 12 – The Year Of THE HAG

The sound of hooves followed by the feet of twenty marching men became forever entrenched in the minds of the Ulmish that month. Ruprecht’s name was no longer tarnished among the people, for a new name took his place: Arnaud. Arnaud the villain, who pillaged the city at night, collecting as much money as he and his men could get their hands on. Unfortunately, during this month, some young men were killed when they tried to defend themselves. It was the price to be paid when a shepherd let a wolf roam among his sheep. Hopefully, by the end of the month, the people would see that paying their taxes was not so bad, after all.

“Son, the time has come for you do focus yourself on what you wish to be doing.” Yohlla smiled at Ruprecht, somewhere deep inside the Great Keep that stood watch over the Great City.

“I will do whatever you say, mother. Just tell me what you desire of the people. They have no leaders here. I am sure Erkeborn is faithful to you, and the people respect him, but he is away at war. We need someone to lead the people here, in the city. Why not you? Mother, why not make your permanent home here, among us? We would adore you here, forever.”

Yohlla smiled again, “I know you would, Ruprecht, and I will stay here awhile and watch over your work and the work your master smiths have been doing. However, I am not to be the leader of these people. They need a man. A man has always been the Keeper of Ulm, and a man it will always be. I made it that way myself, a long time ago, and I like it to be that way. There is a young man who lives outside the city. Do you want to know what he does? He makes shoes. He makes shoes for a living, but he deserves to be watching over this city, because he is the only blood here that is tied to the five Keepers whom I killed. Not only is his destiny tied by his blood, but he has a strong spirit. He has no experience with command, but he is one of the bravest and strongest men here; he just doesn’t know it. Bring him here to the keep, and have him work closely with your master smiths. He might even help them develop something they’ve been working on recently, he is an expert when it comes to boots and shoes.” She winked at the old smith.

“Lady, for you I will do anything,” was the smith’s reply.

“And Ruprecht,” said the goddesss.

“Yes?”

“Lower the taxes.”