Warlock 2: The Exiled - Part 4: Allow Me To Break The Ice

"Planar travel is tricky.  Bridges will guide you to the plane, and set you down somewhere near the bridge, but it is not always where you wish to be.  Whole armies have starved to death for they ended up on some barren floating rock with no where to go."

Excerpt from Xygga's treatise on the planes.

When last we left off, my entire army flowed out of the desert and into a world covered in ice.  The first problem was they really were not dressed for this.  Look, we don't have cold weather experts in Matsujaka. But my morale is strong, and they immediately launched into battle against the Giants.

With some help, of course.

Even with my spells, and a bunch of arrows and swords, the giants lasted long enough to act.  And they were helped by some Ice Elementals.  How dare this plane organize its resistance to me?

And how dare those elementals freeze my archers!

They were all quickly dispatched afterwards, and my army split up.  Some going to the north, some to the south, both trying to navigate around this lake.  The ones to the south found an empty palace to raid, however.  This is why I don't leave my palace at home.  A lesson I will gladly keep close to my heart, so I thank the departed Ice Queen for teaching it to me.

Also thank you for the loot. 

Before my army goes too deep into exploration, however.  I have a spell I need to test.  Frozen wastelands are not my thing, nor for those who follow me.  So it is time to fix that.

Look at that beautiful sand.  It's like a great beach for that ice-strewn lake!

 My army to the north finds giants and Ice Wolves and...donkeys.  Well played, plane, I did not expect the donkeys. I mean, seriously, donkeys?  What's even more surprising is the sheer amount of buildings that use donkeys as a resource. A Trading post, a butchery, the Order of the Stubborn Knights.  I swear there's one more that I'm forgetting.
Anyway, enough about donkeys (Seriously, donkeys?!).  My army to the south finds...Another bridge! Perhaps this bridge leads me to some realm that is easy to overcome! I mean they can't all be ice creatures.

That may not be the bravest move but I like breathing.

And what is that just above the quest notification?  It looks like a city banner.  Could it be? Could some neutral force have built a city here in this ice realm?  I get to finally try to take a city!  Awesome!  Wonder what it's name is...

Not in a million years would that have been my guess.

It's a sign!  It must be!  This will be a Holy City celebrating Helia!  I must have it!  It just, uh, seems as if the Snowy Wolfmen have other ideas.  Ideas that quickly reduce my army to just a unit of archers on the south.  And Bears, those godless killing machines, reduce my army in the north to a unit of archers.  But I will not let that stand in my way!

Surprisingly, the Sun spells work really well on Sunhaven.

Magic.  Magic makes everything better.  And, like all Great Mages, I have finally decided it is time to teach my citizens magic.  I build a guild for Witch Doctors in Izutisgar, followed quickly by a Fire Totem Factory.  I'm not sure what the Fire Totems will do, but I have to assume melting ice is an inherent ability.

While my army was cleansing this plane, and also was in the process of being cleansed themselves by this plane, I gathered up a group of citizens to build a new city.  One in the heart of the new desert.

Helia's worship is spreading! Glory to Helia! 

I can taste victory.  My army is slowly being replenished as I recruit more units in my capital city and ship them off here.  My sun spells are quickly reducing the defenses of Sunhaven to naught.  And I've even begun researching a spell to summon Ghost Wolves.  I figure summoning something right to the battlefield will be useful.  Things are finally looking up!

Magic makes everything worse.

Next time:  I devote my spellcasting to getting rid of this blight that has been cast upon me.

Warlock 2: The Exiled - Part 3: Here There Be Dragons

"The Bridges that stitch the planes together are ancient artefacts.  It is theorized by some crackpots that the planes themselves are small patches of a larger world that had been destroyed and the bridges are the last remaining links between these once-combined planes.  The more credible theory is that the Great Mages of the past had built these for easier transport."

Excerpt from 'The Ruins of Ardania,' author unknown.

That Ice Queen was something else.  It took two cities, two archers, two grey striders and a war senpan to defeat her.  After several turns.  Her first attack actually outright killed one of my grey striders and seriously ruined everyone else, *and* the city of Minapai.  It must've been on a cool down timer because it was the only time she did it.

Upon her defeat, I am given a quest!

Not every quest gets to be epic.

Building Minapai was a bad idea, a very bad idea.  I thought the bridge would be useful. I still maintain I can build a mana trap on the water, but every time I bring it up my closest advisors walk slowly out of the room.  And to make matters worse, the citizens of Minapai actually seemed to be worshipping the Ice Queen.  So I decide to change things up.

I displaced all of its residents and turned it into a fort.

In this game, you have a limit of "Optimal cities".  The starting limit is 5, and once you go over that limit then Unrest begins to generate.  I do not know what Unrest does, but I know it sounds bad.   If you turn your city into a specialized city, you do not get to construct buildings or form units inside of it, but it does not count towards your city limit.  A Fortress City seemed like the appropriate option, in case any more Ice Queens spawn.

I build my army back up, for I want to enter the Ice World and conquer it for the glory of Helia!  But it seems that the game has other ideas.

This plane is starting to feel too small, for all the invasions I have.

Yes, the United One knows of my presence!  And feels I am a threat due to my incredible exploration of the Ice Plane.  ... Yeah, I think he's just a little paranoid if he thinks me a threat.

It takes a few turns, but I eventually bring down both of the Dragons.  The War Senpan may not have been the smartest thing to build, but it really has helped with defense.

Was there ever any doubt?

In my aborted playthroughs of Warlock 2, I found the enemies in the first world to be discovered were pushovers.  But apparently, because I am actually making a Let's Play *and* am only on Casual Difficulty (The other attempts were Normal), the game decided for my first discovered world to be extremely dangerous.  Ice Queens, Giants.  What next? Ice Werewolves?

And thus I begin vowing to make more of an effort on my military.  So I invent Los Alamos.

Think we could have a better name for this?

The turns roll by, I continue building my military up.  The big downside of the bridge being on the other side of that river is that my units have to build themselves a boat to cross, then demolish it.  So it takes one turn to go into the water, and one turn to go out of it.  It gets quite frustrating.  I should begin putting in the right guilds in Izutisgar.

Now that my army is built up, I have visions of conquest in my head!  Surely there are neutral towns that I can conquer in the Ice Realm!  So this pesky 5 "Optimal City" thing has to go.

Is there anything magic cannot do?

Alright, It's time.  My forces are ready.  It is time to send them through.

Guess who's back back back? Back again.

Next time: WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE A UNIT ON A FLOATING ROCK?! 

Warlock 2: The Exiled - Part 2: Let It Go

"The forces of magic that are twisted by a mage's will often leads to the mage's mind being strained under the pressure.  With a normal mage this can lead to banditry, but with a Great Mage... That can lead to an apocalypse."

Excerpt from "The Physiological Effects of Magic."

When last I left off, I came across some mages who were apparently guarding the bridge and wanted a pay-off.  I tried to scare them off with my impressive illusion magic but they amazingly saw through that and attacked.

They weren't on the level of a Great Mage, not at all.  And they were disposed of very easily.

It could only have ended one way.

From here I must apologize, for I got real lazy with the screen-shot button.  Things will be missed, but I shall sum up.

(Spoiler alert: I got better with the screen shot button.)

Placing the cursor over the bridge told me that it was led to a plane of Ice.  Now, if you're a follower of Helia and your people seem to thrive in the desert, what could you do if you needed to expand to a land of just ice?  I suppose you could teach them about warm clothing, but really. Isn't the answer always magic?

If you're a Great Mage?  This.

I spend a few turns getting my Grey Striders to the portal, as my archers are still cleaning up the mess of flying serpents. No idea why this desert seems to be full of flying serpents, but okay. Whatever desert. I'll take care of them.  Upon entering, they find a frozen land full of Giants.

And an underling telling me what to do. Not shown: Giants.

The Giants hit one of my guys for a major amount of damage.  I heal him with MAGIC and...they hit him again and he dies.  My remaining Grey Strider decides that retreating is better than dying in some frozen wasteland.

My homeplane gets pacified and I slowly bring all of my troops to surround the Bridge.  I also place a city right next to it, due to the water nearby having some nice bonuses to food and mana production.  This turns out to be a bad idea. An extremely bad idea. Because while I wanted to use that city to generate Mana, I can't actually place Mana traps (or most other buildings) on that water.  I tried explaining to them "MAGIC!" But no matter how many times I shouted it, or what voices I used to emphasize it, the builders would not listen.

Dispirited, I hung up my robe and walked the city streets.  Coming across a beggar with a ridiculously expensive ring, I did the only possible choice,  No, not steal it, I'm a religious man for Helia's sake!

I sure do hope I get rewarded for this.

But one turn passes and...

See! You do get rewarded when you act selflessly out of selfish concern.

I keep my guard up around the bridge, getting ready to go through when I regain my nerve my soldiers have a chance to tell their families goodbye.  But, alas, a door, once opened, can be stepped through both ways.

Maybe she'll melt?

Next time: I take zero screenshots of the long fight! I promise to get better!

Warlock 2: The Exiled Part 1: There is a reason I never play an Illusionist.

Many people remember where they were when the Grand Librarian cast the Unity Spell and took control of Ardania.  Sadly this is because many of them did not embrace death properly and came back as the hated undead.  Or escaped. Or bent their knee.

Me? I was not even a Great Mage.  I was just a Researcher in the Temple of Helia when I saw the spells that kept the sun always reflecting into the temple suddenly fail.  Magic, all magic in Ardania, was swept towards one person.  I rushed out of the temple and saw the bolts of darkness from beyond the horizon heading straight to my home. 

Helia saved me, of that I have no doubt.  For before the bolt hit, the sun Herself descended and enveloped me, transporting me to a city built in a desert.  A desert that was on an entirely different plane than my home.  The residents are a mixture of species, all followers of Helia.  Using the knowledge that was gifted to me by Her, spells powered by Her own divinity, I became leader of the city of Matsujaka and vowed to bring Her glory to all of the planes.

From the autobiography of Aulayan.

Welcome! This is the first post of a possible continuing playthrough of Warlock 2: The Exiled.  I have been playing off and on, starting a new game every time I load up the game.  Now I have an idea as to what the game is about and may be able to play for a long while.  Or until I'm horribly defeated by some monstrosity that worships the Moon or something.

My new home

We begin with needing to research a spell.  I have many options, ranging from spells to harm my enemies, spells to help those who are under my command, and divine spells from the Gods.

Of course the first spell I pick is a divine spell. I always play Divine casters. Always.

Next up is choosing what to build in my city.  In Warlock 2, each building you have is actually built on a hex surrounding your city, and you get one building per population unit.  I choose to build a Harbour for the ships (Which is a silly and rather stupid choice) and for the +50% Income Production (Less silly and far less stupid of a choice).

I send out my forces to explore this desert.  My archers immediately find some flying serpents.  Rather glad it was my archers who found them.  And then my advisor suddenly pops up with a quest!  Because in Warlock 2, just as in the real world, your underlings give you quests with a possible reward once it is done.

Thank you, underling, for the orders you're giving me.  

I capture the serpent's home rather quickly, earning some gold for my troubles and tell my city to begin working on some settlers.  Which is exactly when some mean ratmen begin blocking the entrance to my city.  This is what I get for leading a multi-species city, isn't it? Ratmen, always the fucking ratmen.

I, being a newly minted Great Mage, choose the wisest course.  I give them some illusory gold.

The results are obvious in hindsight.

They're defeated quickly, and now my settlers are ready to trek across the barren desert.

Yes, they're towing a boat over the desert.  Future settlers make it look as if the boat is floating, at least.  Speaking of boats, I have one now.

Fighting a sea serpent, as many boats often have to do.

See that bit of what looks like blue sky, near the desert?  Each of these planes are small, very very small.  This amount of water is literally just a river that will go over the edge.  This boat was obviously a very smart purchase by myself.

My troops continue to explore their way around the rather small planet and come across a bridge to another plane.

Look, this game isn't really all that serious.

So I can give them my money, I can say I recognize this in which case Paradox gets sued by the surviving members of Monty Python, I can postpone it or I can frighten the mages with an illusion of a huge fiery monster.

Can you guess which I do?

I'm obviously a very effective illusionist.

I may have only been a Great Mage for a short time now, but the truest way to power is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result, right?