Part 3: Mission 2

For this mission: You chose PYRO.

As a result, we get the "Fireform" spell and the ability to summon Tickferno's.

Behold the Tickferno. It'd be good if it was a bit more accurate.

And since I forgot to get a picture of them last time: These happy little fellows are Manahoars who follow me around and transfer mana from Manaliths to me. No Manahoars? No Mana (Unless you're standing next to a Manalith).

Anyways: On with the mission.

Hammer Floyd:: At the bidding of the traitorous Gnome Faestus, Pyro decided to invade Urghaz

Zyzyx: Home of the Trolls

Mithras: I'm not suprised. Trolls and Gnomes may be traditional followers of Persephone, but they've had a long history of Conflict

So we gotta kill some trolls. That shouldn't be that hard. Although who the fuck is Yogo?

So that's Yogo eh? A dude who hops around on a One-Legged Emu. That bastard is taking advantage of disadvantaged Emu's! I shall kill the trolls and be the saviour of Emu's!

Ah right. So I'm not the only one immortal around here. I like desecration though. It's so much more personal and insulting than a simple ass-kicking.

Well fuck. This'll be interesting.

So I ran straight ahead and built a manalith on that open manavault directly in front of me. 30 seconds later: This bloke shows up

OH SHI-

Oh really? Well that's alright then. Notice that I've already summoned Two locusts. They'll take care of him without too much hassle. I build the manalith and assign a few guardians to protect it while I scout out for more Manaliths.

On the way, I find these two Trolls "Hiding" in these rocks . Currently: I'm casting Insect Swarm. Let's see how they react.

They didn't appreciate my gift of flies. So they went on a little annoying rampage. One of them got away, but I killed the other and captured his souls. The good thing about Trolls is that they leave 2 souls behind. Double the soulage for the killage. I keep heading 'round to find the unclaimed Manavault.

On the way: I meet Yogo with a few of his cronies trying to beat me to it. I'm wandering around with 4 Locusts and 2 Sythes and he attacks me with Druids who are Melee' units. Yogo eventually retreats once I kill all of his Druids. Unfortunately the bastard reclaimed the souls before I had a chance to convert them.

So I build the Manalith and summon some guardians to protect it. The fight with Yogo showed that he mainly uses Melee' units, so 2 Locusts and a Sythe should keep them busy.

While I'm busy setting up my defence at that Manalith, Yogo shows up at my first Manalith. He's an aggressive little shit isn't he? Fortunately: Our Wizard has the ability to teleport himself and any creature selected to any Manalith he owns. So I pop outta nowhere to ruin his shit.

No drama's. I get a few souls from this little conflict too. While we're here: See those red beams going from the Manalith to my minions? That means they're Guardians. They cant move very far away from the Manalith, but the red beam regenerates them and makes them a fair bit stronger. In some maps: Souls are sparse so you dont really want to employ this tactic. However this time, it's no major drama.


I should also mention what happens when you "kill" a wizard. They become a ghost and unable to cast spells or reclaim souls. They have to retreat to the nearest Manalith\Altar and wait for their Health to regenerate, at which point they respawn.

I just finish converting his souls to join the army of the undead as well as summoning a few more minions to take over one of his Manaliths when he makes another go, this time heading straight for my Altar to desecrate it. It doesn't matter if I have every Manalith or no Manaliths: Get killed while your altar is desecrated? You're munted. However, this time he has less souls and I have more minions. Death made simpler.

Still...that was a bloody quick counter-attack. Let's see where he's coming from.

AHA! If you look on the minimap in the bottom-right: You'll see a white dot and a green dot. The white dot is my Manalith and the green dot is one of his. He's practically chillin' in my backyard. No wonder he's able to attack so quickly. Let's fix this.

My minions and I charge down the hill with an epic battle-cry and kill all that oppose us. Since I was more focused with giving myself some breathing room than stealing souls: I dont manage to convert any this time. However my Sythes and Locusts make quick work of Yogo's Manalith. Meanwhile: That Manahoar jumps for joy.

Yogo comes back to try to stop me, but my fearsome Locusts push him back. Mwuahahahahaha

I just build the Manalith and this Troll jumps out from behind the rock. I'm not sure I want to know what he was doing behind the rock instead of obeying his master.

As it turns out: Yogo didn't piss off. He instead went back to my first Manalith again. I let my guardians take care of it while I killed the troll and set up the defence for my newest Manalith. I came back and saw all that blood on the ground. Awesome. I ended up getting about 3 souls from that.

That's pretty much how these skirmishes pan out. The best way to win against the computer is to heavily fortify yourself near your altar and just defeat each wave back and converting a few souls until he has practically none left to attack or defend with. Or at least so that you've got so many more souls that he's overwhelmed.

Anyways: Time to beat Yogo back a little more.

On the way I found this village with 4 Villagers in it. Allow me to demonstrate the effect of Fireform on a poor defenceless villager.

.

I destroy the Manalith and build my own. Time for the Final Assault on Yogi.

That's what he has left. One Manalith behind his Altar and two in front of it. If I wanted to: I could probably just go an desecrate his altar, but where's the fun in that? Since he had made so many attacks behind my back, I thought it was only fair that I at least get the Manalith behind his Altar.

Annnd it's completely undefended. Looks like I've got pretty much every soul in the map. You can see him down the bottom there running up to stop us single-handedly. I think he'd LIKE to use a few minions, but he has none left.

I defeat Yogo for the umpteenth time. Looks like he's not smarter than the average bear. I run across and pinch a manalith which had a Ranger (ranged) as a guardian. He managed to pick off 2 of my 6 Locusts before dying. I manage to convert his soul before Yogo respawned and Built a manalith.

Yogo valiantly tries to retake the Manalith but is shot at by my Tickferno. That red laser beam does look pretty damn cool. You would've thought that Yogo'd figure out that I used his psychotic aggression against him.

I'm just about to destroy his last Manalith when the bastard retreats and starts lobbing fireballs at me from afar. This one killed 2 of my Locusts. Why he didn't use this tactic earlier is beyond me.

Awww...look at him cower near his Altar. His one place of refuge.

Lets fix that.

I killed him and his manahoars and then start Desecrating his Altar. Basically you Sacrifice one of your Minions at his altar. If he's dead while a Desecration is happening: Then the Desecration is complete and the bastard is banished from the Realm.

Bye Bye Yogo. You've been defeated and then corpse-humped.

The name Buta suits the fat yellow bastard so well.

To the victor go the spoils...Hey wait! I was the one who kicked ass here! Not you tubby.

AH! So I get a boon. :boonie: I chose to have an extra 15 Hitpoints.

Next up: The reaction. Let me know if I should do anything about this LP a bit differently and I'll see what I can do.

Mission 2 Part 2: The reaction

Hammer Floyd: Trouble had arrived. Even word of Charnel's restoration of the forbidden Demon Gate paled in comparison to the news of Pyro's misdeeds. Attacking Urgahz and abducting the infants of an entire tribe of Trolls

As usual, their argument began before I had even arrived.

Pyro: Persephone and Stratos are obviously conspiring against me. This whole question of a "Maw of Doom" is so plainly a fabrication!

Persephone: It matters not how oft your tongue protests your innocence, when your deeds reveal your hearts true villainy! You have invaded my domain once again, and not only with warfare come, but a far crueler purpose!

Pyro: The Gnomes came to ME for help. Apparantly they are weary of your neglect and incessant demands. Why should they have to suffer for the comfort of savage and brutish beings such as the Trolls?

Stratos: I see only one savage and brutish being here...

Charnel: Come now...you mustn't forget me!

James: Hey hey everyone wait! Haven't we all had enough of wars?

Everyone: No!

Hammer Floyd: If it was war they wanted...Then war they shall get!



DECISION TIME!

Persephone: Remaining on the defensive is a recipe for failure. Having won Stratos as an ally (at least for the time being) there can be no course but to strike Pyro and strike quickly!
Spell Gained: Grasping Vines. Vines grow out of the ground and hold the enemy in place for you
Units Gained: Trolls (Melee'). They're better than I said they were in the previous mission. They're pretty good tanks

James: It's this prophecy what's got everyone so worked up. Well before you go off half-cocked I think it's best we look into them forces of destruction first. I think I know the way
Spell Gained: Sole Mole. A mole that retrieves a Blue Soul from combat and returns it to you without you having to fetch
Units Gained: Taurock (Melee). A big rocky bull who's defence increases the more damaged they get.

Stratos: We must force Pyro to overplay his hand before he becomes too powerful. Are you willing to take on the responsibility of defending Surtur's Keep?
Spell Gained: Freeze. Freezes your target, but target is rendered mobile as soon as it is attacked.
Units Gained: Squall (Melee'). Knocks target back and causes minor damage.

Pyro: I am stronger than either the tree-hugging Persephone or spiritless Stratos combined...but they may give me some trouble. It is time to appeal to James for help
Spell Gained: Rings Of Fire. Surround an enemy with flames which slowly burns them and slows them down. Like Slime but causes damage.
Units Gained: Firefist (Melee'). A Cyborg Troll. Doesn't regenerate as fast, but causes more damage as it gets hit.

Charnel: Pyro will be in need of an ally and I could use a pawn. Of course if I know Pyro, he will require a little convincing, but that's accomplished easy enough.
Spell Gained: Slime. Cover your enemy with goo, slowing them down and making them less effective in combat.
Units Gained: Blights (Aerial). Flying creatures who launch "Blightmites" at your enemy slowing them down and causing damage

There we go Goons. First to 5 gets the mission.