Part 138: Hinnom - Turn 42

Turn 42

There is an ancient proverb in Hinnom.

Every day in Hinnom a jelly doughnut wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than King Hippomnomnomnom or it will be eaten.
Every morning a Palankasha wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest Melqart or it will be turned into mincemeat with a giant magic sword.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a doughnut or a Palankasha.
When the sun comes up, if you are running you're probably going to sweat a lot and then die.

Blood hunting brings in a relatively low 38 slaves and look! Another message from Arcoscephale. But no attack in Nardago. What's TheDemon waiting for?


Unfortunately, the invisible hand of the market is giving Arcoscephale the finger as Hinnom has been employing captured markata to make lightless lanterns for two gems each. The ASPCA has organized several protests about the long hours, deplorable working conditions and brutal discipline but it really isn't King Hippomnomnomonom's fault that their tiny monkey fingers are so nimble.


Six barbarians were defeated by nine atavi archers. Even a defeat is useful information - TheDemon isn't patrolling Lanka with mages.


After TheDemon's Raksharaja committed suicide onto T'ien Ch'i's province defense, TheDemon retaliated by foregoing province defense of his own.


In Cacian Forest, TOMMY LIKE WINGY prepares to teleport onto Lanka. I continue to expect TheDemon to attack my temple in Nardago and TOMMY LIKE WINGY will, hopefully, cut off TheDemon's retreat.


TOMMY LIKE WINGY has fairly standard kit but is missing a miscellaneous slot item. I really should have forged him a luck amulet so he could cast astral shield or body ethereal. Instead he's casting personal luck. He is, however, immune to lightning, partially immune to fire and cold, recovers 6 points of fatigue a turn and regenerates 7 hp a turn.


In Nardago, you can see KING HIPPO JR's scripting and troops. KING HIPPO JR will banish because Gana have low HP and magic resist so he should be able to banish them by the dozen and because undead, as a general rule, are immune to cold (inluding the area effect cold from the frost brand). Hopefully getting to go first from being on the defensive will help me get the jump on Peak Theorycrafting with those attack cavalry orders if TheDemon attacks.


Here's a quick look at the Mechanical Giant I summoned. From left to right, those icons mean he is amphibious (beware of rust), immune to lightning, fire, cold and poison, a magic being (he can be targeted by certain spells and takes extra damage from certain weapons), is lifeless (can't be targeted by spells that require the target to be alive like drain life), doesn't eat, is mindless (can't be targeted by spells that require a mind, like mind hunt a remote attack astral spell, and never runs away) and finally never heals (only recovers HP in a province with a lab where he can be oiled and have his screws tightened). I don't really know how to use these guys yet, but I'm looking forward to replacing my front line soldiers with robots. The one thing that should jump out at you is their extremely low magic resistance. King Hippomnomnomnom is a kind and beneficent ruler and he dreams of a day when Hinnom can slaughter its enemies without risking a single Rephaite life.


Gemgen Counter

Blood stones: 24
Cost: 144E, 192 slaves
Gems Generated: 128

Diplomacy


So, uh, dude. What's up with that secret weapon? Was that a polar bear I saw?


I've told you Hinnom. I'm just gardening. There's absolutely nothing to see...




AHH! DUDE! What are those? They don't look like garden gnomes.


Unbelievable! You, Subject Name Here, must be the pride of Subject Hometown Here.