For your next post I humbly ask an ideological speech! :D

Matron Mother Godiva of the Drow, Day 4

Well, the map clearly told me, "Indies move through webs", which is a pretty direct hint not to leave my spider town undefended. But I was all like "Hmm, good advice, I think I'll leave it undefended, doih!"

So now Dalvania and her fellow spider queens (ThreeQueens!) are diverting away from their highly successful conquest to retake the town.

Elsewhere, we reach the surface near a town of the Prince, but it is undefended. So tempting...

TS

Orcy / Gobliny people - Day 4

Roaming indies take our town cutting down our income to OH SHIT levels.

Wait a second, I'm a Techophobe, a Bureaucrat, and Decadent. And all I get on the positive side is Conqueror. That's a seriously raw deal. No wonder why I'm freaking broke.

Hopefully nobody rebels overnight. I might get back to a positive cash flow if they do though... I thought about roasting some of the Goblin women rather than paying for pork, but the men fight poorly when I do that. Dammit.

TS

We all are, except the empreror who is not broke but has no positive sides, just the negative ones. It's an interesting combination. And the backstory in the map is incredible, every single element seems to fit in. Don't skip it, it's worth it!

Same request.

Stefanus, day 5

How quickly the tides of war turn! During the night a lonely bugger attacked my beloved Sarah and wounded her deeply, then killed one of her two iron maiden honour damsels before succumbing. Ah! My only two elite troops... The emperor proceeds quickly towards the Myrne river harbour, with the clear intention of taking it back today or tomorrow, and there's nothing we can do to avoid that.

But there are news: Lady Bane has revealed herself from the caves! My scouts tell me that the legend of her beauty doesn't give justice to the red flocks of hair.* Are these good or bad news? Will be peaceful or seeking fight? We'll soon see. Shall she decide to fight against us the fate of these lands will be sealed, the imperial armies are not something that you can safely ignore while in-fighting.

In the meanwhile in my trips in the southern seas I've liberated Bloody Jane, who's met me with a resounding "show me how you bury your treasure, lad!"¹ . Between her, Gosso the nomad goblin belly dancer and now the image of the dark-elf hero my thoughts wander away from Sarah. Sarah, if any voice of me passing the night on this island with the piratess comes to you repel it strongly! I would never!

Stefanus

[*] the backstory is amazing, how long has the mapmaker spent writing?!
[1] don't blame me, again coming from the backstory X-p

Vouching

Gobliny Orcs, Day 5

A really good way to lower upkeep is to throw troops to their death. All you need is an opponent with walls or failing that, to use the wall in a different, less savory fashion. Tonight we eat well. I believe you humans call that two birds with one stone.

TS

Oops, forgot to log my turn

Drow Day 5,

Bandits continue to raid my lands, forcing my troops to needlessly backtrack. At least we were able to recruit a new hero to our cause. Apparently she goes by the name Sadness. I hope that is what she will bring to our enemies. The impulsive Prince is most amusing with his flattery. He does not understand the Drow, for, as with female spiders, we consume our mates after they serve their purpose. Besides, how could a mere human, with their sad, short lifespans, possibly hope to hold the attention of those who live for centuries? We propose a peace for now, only to last as long as it serves our ends. Such is the way of the servants of Lolth.

TS

Emperor Purius, Day 6

The rebel hordes nearly rival my own armies! This isn't good....

Stefanus, day 6

The emperor has captured again the harbour, my valiant troops have managed to kill a charioteer. But that's hardly enough to stop the imperial war machine. Charioteers, pegasi and legionaries march at the sound of the drums.

A small glimmer of hope from the north. The beautiful Lady Bane of the Dark Elves offers truce! Her motives might be judged questionable by the people - she says she's here to plunder and pillage - but any obstacle in the way of my father's armies, even just preventing him from exploring dungeons by exploring them first, is very welcome.

I keep throwing my armies in impossible situations because right now it's enrich or see them rebel, I lose some in the east and I gain some in the west. In the east, my fair lady Sarah's escort is down to almost nothing, and even the avances of the piratess do not distract me anymore from my worries now.

Matron Mother Godiva of the Drow, Day 6

The young prince obviously misunderstood my emissary Lady Bane when she said we had only come to the surface to loot, for he sent his spy and wolf into a ruin that my forces were clearly moving towards. So I dispatched a new messenger today, proposing a reasonable division of the treasure. He may keep the gold, I shall take the item, whatever it is. And just to back up my request, I declared war. He has 24 hours to decide if he prefers leaving an item he has no hero to pick up, or having Lady Bane and Sadness kill his small force and take it. It might at first seem strange to offer peace and then declare war in the space of a mere two days, but such is the way of the Demon Queen of Chaos.

Elsewhere, in the Underdark, my forces retake the towns lost to wandering brigands. Fortification and reinforcement must preclude any further ventures in these hostile lands.

TS

Ooc - A spy and a wolf took out 3 draconian chargers and an elder, and with only one hit against your troops? Very impressive Arnuz. I thought I had some skill in manual combat but that is quite the victory. Perhaps I should join the Emperor and eliminate the bigger threat first...

Hmm... the wolf must've lead the enemies in a circle while the pistol did its work? This brings home how casual and low effort my own play is.

The bigger threat? You should really take a peek at the imperial forces - "joining the emperor" - you're in for a surprise! Now it's Southern's turn in order, if he takes his tower back your opinion will change quickly :) And that's just one of his three armies!

The "AI" runs after the closest target, so a wolf can be useful for a change - a frigging tier 7 unit (13 gp maint) with 7/5/5/5 stats... The spy actually took a beating, almost died to the elder, it was down to the last round despite pistols being a better weapon than magic bolts, better range gives a shot or two for free.

The map forces Stefanus to take these kind of risks. I don't mind losing the troops because if I don't conquer structures - at least 2/turn - they start rebelling - I've been at 1 day from the bottom of the treasury since the start. That attack was successful, another one with far better odds saw my main hero - Stefanus' wife lady Sarah - almost dead and retreating by luck. At least that's some maintenance gone but I'd rather have lost the stupid wolf than one of my two iron maidens! (same maintenance lol)

With this amount of backstory the map must have taken so long to build, that I kind of feel I owe some effort back to the author :) I also kind of like these starting fights between low level troops, where you actually need to use abilities, once it's about higher tier troops everything's simpler but it can be dull.

Orcs, Day 6

TS

ooc: I'm sure there is some path I'm supposed to be following with triggered events that shower me with gifts, but I'm too obtuse to notice I think. There were some walls of words early in the game which I ignored. :)