Part 2: Mission 1

Rightio: Firstly, I'm going to do this in two parts. I'll do the mission in one post and the reaction in another. I thought the missions would only need half a post, but they're gonna need a bit more. The things I do for you...

Choice of god: CHARNEL

Charnel: I am Charnel. God of Strife, God of Slaughter, God of...DEATH. Where there is pain: I am there. Where there is suffering...I flourish. Where there is joy...yes, well one could hardly have joy without another's suffering could they?

One of my followers has...how do you say...strayed from the flock. I need one such as you to "gently" usher him back into the fold

HammerFloyd:We were sent to the Boneyards of Solis: Ancient Dragon Burial Grounds. There we would seek out a Necromancer called "The Ragman"

Mithras: Ahh the Ragman. Before he was displaced by Acharon, the Ragman was known as the "Lord Of Terror". That was many generations ago.

Reminder: Mithras is the ugly bastard in the intro and the person we're telling this story to. He's like Zyzyx and pops in for some side comments.

Sorry, I missed the first bit of info, nothing too important. Just Charnel telling us who the Ragman is and Mithras already told us that.

Now THAT'S a punishment. No pussy-footing around, just a good 'ole fashioned skinning.

Now let's have a look to see our new toys we can play with shall we?

This is a Sythe. They're not quite as fragile as they sound, but they're no tanks. They do a decent amount of damage though.

We have Zombies. Their soundbytes are quite hilarious as they are completely oblivious to their surroundings. They're idiots without the stereotypical "Duhhh" voice.

Flying Ant-Eaters that shoot ants. These fellas are a bit weak for my likings, but they can be real useful against enemy wizards.

This is Gangrel. As you can probably tell, he's a Sythe, but he's a mean one. As Zyzyx kindly informs us, he managed to kill an Ent by himself. Ent's are big tough bastards so be in awe.

Rightio, so lets get started shall we? On the left is a Manalith. These channel power to your Wizard via Manahoars which are creatures you summon. I just realised I forgot to take a picture of one, so I'll make sure to do that in the next one.

Mana is used to cast spells (obviously). However, there are 3 different kind of spells. Construction, Summoning and Buffs. Construction Spells let you build other Manaliths and Altars as well as assigning guards, converting souls and desecrating altars. These all have very important uses in later levels, so I'll deal with them when I need to

Summon spells are used to summon creatures. These are your evil little minions who do your bidding (No, I will NOT minionise you!). These require souls which I'll go into a bit later.

Finally: There's Buffs which are your healing\strengthening spells as well as your offensive fireball-type spells. Without Mana, you cant cast any of these and are pretty much useless. The more Manaliths you have, the faster your Mana regenerates. They also serve as a strategic point so capturing one is very useful.

For this mission, I have to convert 12 souls and turn them into fallen. The best place to find them is near Enemy manaliths like this one. If you look closely: You'll be able to spot two Rockflings "Bouldered".

That was one of them. Notice that red thing floating above his corpse? That's his soul. Each enemy you kill leaves one of these behind for conversion and every creature you summon costs 1-5 souls. There are a set limit of souls per scenario so the more souls you have: The bigger the advantage over the enemy. Losing a soul our two is costly as those are 2 less units YOU can have and 2 MORE units the enemy can have.

This is a heathen soul being converted. Scientologists wish it was this easy.

That goes on until BOOM. The body is gibbed and you get a new soul to play with. Messy? Yes. Efficient? Definately.

Anyways, I went back and blew up the Manalith. This is what an unclaimed "Manavault" looks like. This is what you build Manaliths on after you get rid of the enemy's.

I kept exploring, looking for more souls to convert to our cause when hello...Looks like there's a village built around a Manalith! How CONVENIENT! See: Villagers and the like are completely harmless. However, they still have souls. One shot kills them and you get yourself a soul to convert. They're walking Cannon Fodder. So I thought I'd demonstrate what the new spell does on them.

Bwahahahahaha. See them brown bits amongst the blood? Those are the insects which I direct to kill the enemy. I guess I'm the Lord Of The Flies (Oh Jesus that was bad. I promise not to make too many of those jokes).

After wiping out the village, I destroyed the Manalith and built my own. THIS IS MY LAND.

With our new Souls, I start to make some new Fallen. We need 12 to complete the mission apparantly. Let's look for more souls to harvest.

While on the way to the next Manalith, the Ragmeister's old guardian popped up for a hello. Looks like Raggy has been having some fun with his guardian.

I'm starting to like this Ragman bloke. If he can turn a dragon insane without getting killed in the process: He's alright by me.

So she pisses off and basically points out this undefended Manalith. Savour this moment. It VERY rarely happens.

Onto the next one. I finally got a pic of a Manalith blowing up. This game was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer: Despite the fact that there is nothing explosive about Manaliths nor is there anything explosive about the way my minions attack them, they all explode dramatically.

Onto the last Manalith. Hai guyz, that looks undefended.

OH SNAP

Problem. Solved.

OH NOES. ATTACKED FROM THE REAR. I should've known James would like buttsex.

I let some of my folks die so I can show you what happens. See them blue souls? Those are the souls of my fallen comrades. I dont have to convert those, I can just walk over them to absorb them and summon a replacement creature. This is why it's so hard to convert enemy souls when a wizard is around: They often reclaim them before you can snatch one up. That's why it's a decent acheivement when you manage to snag 3 souls from your enemy.

Anyways, got my 12 souls now. Let's make some Fallen...um...stand up?

<insert Bruce Campbell catchphrase of your choice>

:goon:

Kickass, the bloke looks like Zombie-Slash. He keeps getting cooler and cooler.

The moniker "Lord Of Terror" doesn't seem to be too much of an exageration now does it?

I'm glad to see we didn't go through all that trouble just so Charnel could execute him. I wouldn't put it past Charnel though.

Booya! One mission down.

Hammer Floyd:I was certain trouble awaited me in the Ethereal Realm. I had earnt the favour of ONE god...but the ire of 4.

Mithras: A frightening Prospect.

Hammer Floyd: I had survived forces more dire than these.

You know I'm hardcore.

Anyways: The next Pre-Mission breifing is a long one. Mithras tells us about a prophecy and the gods all fight each other. It'll take a while to write that one up. I might get it done tonight, but if I dont: I'll do it tomorrow morning. Dont start casting votes for who you want me to serve until I've done the Pre-Mission Breifing, you may change your mind.

...Then again. If you're going to be bastards and make me do all of Charnel's missions I extend to you a very heartfelt "Fuck You" because his missions are definitely the hardest. Also some of his creatures are a bit dull compared to some of the other options. Oh well, It's your choice.

Part 2: The reaction

Hammer Floyd: The gods of course were pre-occupied with other matters. A certain blind seer stood accused of spreading blasphemous rumours.

Persephone: Good Mithras, share with us this vision.

Mithras: I fear it will damn me to speak so dark a prophecy...but I know I cannot keep the truth from you.

The gods of four
Whose works grow cold
As one betrays
Their laws of old

Then dark grow deeds
And darker hearts
For lost to all
Are Holy arts.

A vagrant comes amidst the gloom
To seal the gaping maw of doom

Persephone: Charnel! Death is not the answer to everything!

Charnel: Yes...Torture also has its merits.

James: What if he's telling the Truth? None of us would release a "Maw of Doom" right?

Charnel: Except Persephone. What good is a "Holy Warrior" without a "Holy War"?

Persephone: How like you Charnel!

Stratos: Myself, I would sooner suspect Charnel. You do have a certain taste for destruction dont you?

James: And then Pyro's kinda power-hungry come to think of it. He might hatch some half-baked...

Pyro: Oho! The worm speaks! Look here if anybody needs outside help, it's you. You pathetic mass of jiggling goo!

James: Oh really?

Charnel: He has a point.

Hammer Floyd: An old Soothsayers' trick, but well played. Stir up old emnities to shift attention away from yourself. But I too could benefit from this prophecy. I would be the vagrant they are looking for.

DECISION TIME!

Persephone: Whether or not this prophecy is true, a conflict will come of this. We will take steps to strengthen our friendship with Stratos.
Spells: Ethereal Form. Basically you become a ghost and completely immune to attacks. Shortest duration of all level 2 spells.
Units Gained: Scarab. Heals your troops.

James: I dont know about this prophecy. I dont think any of us, not even Charnel would be dim enough to start something like that. But I do have a dragon what's been quite a thorn in my side lately. Now THERE'S a problem a body can fix.
Spells: Skin of Stone. Protects you.
Units Gained: Basilisk. Turns the enemy into stone. From memory, this makes your enemy less susceptible to damage when stoned.

Stratos: As regards to this prophecy, I believe Charnel is the most likely Culprit. Still, I must keep my eye on everyone. I hold many watch-towers in the mountains if you care to occupy one?
Spells: Air shield. Less protection, but longer duration.
Units Gained: Vortick. Blows the enemy into the air letting you get free shots

Pyro: What a crock! That meddler Stratos probably put Mithras up to it to make my victories look bad, but Pyro wont be fooled. I will do just what they expect I wont do. I will INVADE!
Spells: Fireform. Surrounds you in fire, absorbing some damage and dealing some to the attacker.
Units Gained: Tickferno. Shoots a beam of fire which damages both health and mana. Great against wizards, but slow.

Charnel: Let me assure you: I dont want to destroy the world. After all, that's where all the best slaughter takes place. But I do have a little something in mind. It is time I re-opened the Demon Gate of Golgotha
Zyzyx: Is this really such a good idea master?
Spells: Protective Swarm. Similar to Fireform but does more damage and doesn't protect you.
Units Gained: Necryl. Poisons the enemy and slowly drains health and energy. The poison IS contagious to ANYBODY who makes contact with the infected enemy.

I'll up the vote count to 5 due to the quick responses first time 'round. I'm going to bed tonight, but I'll get another one or two done tomorrow hopefully. Hope you're enjoying the thread!