Terreplein

Terrain: Dirt

Aligned: Good

Classes: Bard – Soothsayer

The Bard’s starting skillset will be 1 attack, 3 defense, 1 power and 1 knowledge.

Flavor Texts

Myrmidon Worker – Myrmidon Vassal (Anthill) – None + Connection

“Myrmidons were an isolative lot; so isolative in fact, it took them the literal destruction of the world to leave their homeland. All the underground kingdoms were smashed down by earthquakes or covered in lava. Mere minutes passed. When they finally reached out, they saw the surface wasn’t much different, and those who survived did so by jumping into scattered portals. Yet the broken myrmidons will move on: Workers and vassals will build up from square one. The vassals possess a telepathic link that aids them at coordination and increases their Speed by 1, which is severed only if their number has been halved.”

#They will be wielding warhammers for battle, fitting their worker theme.

Rookman – Ravenman (Standing Stones) – Flying + Flying

“In search of allies, elven spellcasters of Phynaxia turned to summoning. Picking up traditions that only a few in Enroth continue to practice, they built standing stones; places to medicate and to scry. They reached out to many a denizen of the Elemental Planes. They were rejected. However, the largely-forgotten customs did not disappoint, pointing to a largely-forgotten people as the answer: Rookmen and Ravenmen. While possessing just enough intelligent to use tools, they are uniquely capable of understanding other species. They were more than willing to lend their wings to the Recovered Empire.”

Herbalist – Adeptist (Apothecary) – Self Cure + Self Cure, Absorption

“Herbalists once belonged to the military of Erathia; centralized in the Contested Lands to fight off the consequences of diseases, disasters and disturbingly frequent wars. Their numbers steadily grew. But when the Recovered Empire’s declaration arrived, neither the trainees nor their Adeptist brethren hesitated at choosing sides. Some of their potions are used as weapons. Some of their potions are used for applying Cure each round. And some of their potions (which require Adeptists’ level of knowledge to be brewed) are used to copy level 1 and 2 boons the targeted enemy enjoys, with a Power of 3.”

Shieldmaiden – Shieldwarden (Foundry) – Shield Walling + Shield Walling

“Shieldmaidens were elves of AvLee who wanted to differentiate themselves from their former home. They abandoned all lightweight fighting tactics and created a new caste of warriors. These heavily armed units, commonly referred to as the Maidens, use their shields to form massive walls while they charge. Contrary to what might seem intuitive, they benefit greatly from mobility; with Defense increasing by 1 for each tile they traverse. Their armors are fashioned by the Wardens in their private foundries.”

#They will be wearing a bronze-ish armor to differentiate them from classic elves.

Kyorinrin – Kyorinrin Elite (Kyorinrin Archives) – Flying, Unliving + Flying, Unliving, Spellbound

“Kyorinrins are an invention of the Myrmidons. The underground kingdoms had their fair share of spell scrolls. If a scroll got copied too much or, on rare occasions, has been in circulation for so long that it lost some of its potency; it was collected. These collections were given the form of a Kyorinrin to be animated. Which, at the end of the process, took little effort. Initially surprised by the abundance of dysfunctional spell scrolls, Myrmidons have produced a lot of Kyorinrins since their arrival. They even developed an elite version, dealing %20 more damage to any enemy struck by a damaging spell in that round.”

Waspwort – Banewort (Waspwort Gardens) – Ranged (12), Toxic Needles + Ranged (24), Toxic Needles

“Waspworts, semi-intelligent carnivorous plants, were on the brink of extinction. Out of an entire species, only a hundred or so survived the Reckoning. However, thanks to their vegetative structure, herbalists managed to take care of them. Now their gardens are swelling once more and they are ready to fight for the Recovered Empire. To this end, they make use of their needles; fabricated by the waspworts and dipped in corrosive toxins. These toxins deliver 4x their number in follow-up damage. A spike in corrosiveness allows baneworts to deliver 6x their number in follow-up damage instead.”

Mantis – Mystic Mantis (Mantis Nest) Flying, Ambush – Flying, Ambush, Aura of Luck

“Mantises are natural predators, specializing in ambushes. They are so effective at taking their targets by surprise that it doesn’t matter whether they are anticipated. Once they land a blow, they receive only %75 of the retaliation damage. If this specialization alone doesn’t cut it, mystic mantises evade the prying eyes of their hunters thanks to unprecedented feats of luck. Fighting side by side with other creatures forced them to learn how to share this gift: An aura envelops all their allies, increasing their luck by 1.”

Buildings

+Horde Building:

+Healers’ Hothouse: Produces first aid tents. Costs 500 gold and 5 ore.

+Shrine of Magic Awakening: The hero sacrifices 1 Power and gains 2 Knowledge. Optional. Costs 1000 gold, 2 [precious resource] and 2 [precious resource].

+Shipyard:

+ :

+Grail: The defending creatures increase their speed rating by 5.

+Mage Guild: Up to tier 5.

+Blacksmith: Sells ballistae.

+Resource Silo:

#The setting will be primarily made of brown, dark orange and green(?). The theme will be “sunrise”.

Lore

-“The Empire stands” is their motto.

-Though some regions are luckier than others, most of the terrain in the Contested Land have barely any green left on them. The only recognizable exception is the exceedingly sturdy oak trees. They had to be sturdy, if they were to survive the ruthless onslaught of the Timber Wars; with an emphasis on “timber”.

-There have been three major revolution attempts after the Fall of Phynaxia: One instigated by extremists that would later establish the “Humanists” society, one orchestrated by a commander of Erathia and one rallied around the town of Welnin (which was secretly sponsored by Archibald Ironfist). The first attempt was put down by AvLee and the second attempt was put down by Erathia. The third one didn’t come to pass because of the Kreegan onslaught and the following war between Eeofol and Erathia.

-Contested Lands have gold mines and quality wood riddled throughout their territory.

-The Contested Lands have seen her fair share of turmoil. It all began with the Timber Wars, with a few rich men desiring to be richer and everyone else paying for it. Two competing kingdoms, Erathia and AvLee, fought for fifteen decades. Battles of extreme numbers devastated the landscape, ridding out the natural habitat of vegetation. Which, at this point unironically, led to aggression in the first place.

True, there was a period when both sides decided to lay low; peace built upon a house of cards. Could you believe it, after all these off-and-on wars, a permanent treaty was signed? People of the Contested Lands saw this as a sign and tried to gain their independence. Even tediously cautious ones believed that violence would return, that it was only a matter of time. They proudly named themselves the Empire of Phynaxia. They also did everything in their power to resist the upcoming legions, but were still caught between crossfire and utterly slaughtered. What else could the kingdoms do? Let others think that their lands were up for the taking? Thanks to this quote unquote “treacherous rebellion”, things went back to normal: Land pieces changing hands over and over, border skirmishes keeping everyone on their toes…

Skipping a few centuries ahead, and an undead invasion to boot, the Kreegans come forth: Demons and devils, they were called; descended from the stars, bent on bringing the end of things. Just a few months after the Restoration Wars, they broke out from their lair and repeated their history with an onslaught. There were still crowded communities in the Contested Lands, mind you. Either those who had nowhere else to go or those who somehow embraced their cruel environment. But Kreegans marched on, totally indifferent to the townsfolk’s defenses. Some even halted to have a good laugh at them. Trying to oppose interplanetary invaders with pitchforks? The genetic pool of the locals must be lacking indeed.

After the Erathians tried to invade Eeofol, the demons pushed back, nearly down to the capital. Thanks to the efforts of General Kendal and King Ironfist, their counter measures proved to be insufficient. They continued fighting regardless. As they did, a message from King Lucifer Kreegan arrived; ordering them to employ a tactic that would later be called “scorching earth”. The demons excelled at burning down anything left behind during a retreat. The soil of the Contested Lands, which finally showed signs of proper growth, was marred once again. Both General Kendal and King Ironfist were powerless to stop this and their march was severely slowed. Meanwhile, Queen Ironfist held on to Moss Valley, the border between Contested Lands and Eeofol, and it is one of the few places in Contested Lands that remained mostly green.

Then, one continent-shaping event followed another: Catherine Ironfist abdicated from the throne, King Lucifer Kreegan was killed, the Dragon Queen of Nighon rapidly rose in power, the merciless Barbarian Kilgor emerged victorious from the Festival of Life, and the Antagarich War begun.

Every nation was either on the defensive or on the offensive at any given time; with the exception of Eeofol, overrun by forces from AvLee, Nighon and Erathia. It was questionable whether the demons had a nation left to their name. In time, internal conflicts started to arise as well. The forces of Nighon were in shambles after their Dragon Queen met her end by the hands of Dracon, which caused a seemingly unending wave of civil wars between the remaining Overlords and Warlocks. However, her death also caused tension within AvLee; the elves sought revenge, whereas the dwarves sought some calm. Several large groups of dwarves left for the Contested Lands, and there was talk of a total departure. 

And then the Reckoning happened.

...

The reestablishment of the Phynaxian Empire drove the dwarves to mend their relations with AvLee. They despised the rallying of upheaval even more than the insensitive nature of elves. The outrage grew so quickly, some wondered whether all propagandists actually supported the dwarves. In any case, they had no intention to side with the rebels, and a deal of sorts was struck with the leaders in AvLee: If they were to assist elves in “stabilization”, they would have a claim over a remarkable territory of the Contested Lands. After equality adjustments (which were based off a surprisingly useful Tatalian law book), an agreement was reached. Dwarves wouldn’t be given total sovereignty; but a local province and a Lord Commander designation, who would hold roughly the same political position as King Rocklin of Enroth.