MA Machaka, Reign of Sorcerors

"Machaka is a nation inspired by African kingdoms and the Shona in particular. The king, a sacred figure, reigns, but does not rule. He is served by vassal chiefs, and his priests, the Eyes, Ears and Mouth, keep constant surveillance over sub-chiefs and serve as a link between the people and the temple. The Shilluk concept of regicide and other unspecified ideas from African cultures have also made their way into the nation. Modern Oriental concepts and fantasy clichés can be found in the black sorcerers of the God Mountain, and the spiders. I admit to some obscure influences from the comic The Phantom as well…. Various myths, tales, films and "African" fantasy concepts have been mashed together and mixed with the middle age Machaka ideas. My first idea of clans based on body parts like liver, heart, hand, head and leg, did not feel right and was replaced with animals, more fitting with the spiders of the middle age. The nation evolved side by side with Berytos, but it took a bit longer to finish. Creating two nations together and intertwining their history gave them both additional life. It is probably something I want to do with more new nations in the future." - Illwinter

Machaka is an old sacral kingdom where the well-being of the land is thought to be dependent on the will of the king. The king is the highest priest of the kingdom, but should he fail in his duties, he is sacrificed and replaced by one of his numerous sons or brothers. The priests of the kingdom are the true rulers of the land. Religious ceremonies, judicial tasks and the gathering of intelligence are all performed by the Eyes, Ears, and Voices of the Lord. Only warfare is handed over to secular commanders. Machaka uses light infantry, archers and heavy hoplites second only to those of Arcoscephale. In the forests of Machaka, giant spiders are caught and used as mounts. One other area is left untouched by the priests: Magic. Simple witch doctors living outside villages grudgingly serve the priests. In the depths of the God Forest lies a lonely mountain filled with caves. Here resides the true power of Machaka, above even the priests - the Black Sorcerers, Sorceresses and their Spider Warriors.

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Magic Access	Alt. Access	Unit Summary	Core Abilities	Buildings
3 (rare 4) 3 (rare 4) 3 3 (rare 4) 2 (rare 3) 2	Hero 3 1332	Light Infantry with Tower Shields Archers Hoplites Spider Riders Capital: Poison, Spies, and Assassins	Forest Survival Poison Resistance	Standard Forts

Capitol Gems: 1211
Heat limit + 1

Prefers Heat Scale + 2

God Mountain: Boosts all ritual range in the capital by 1 province.

A lot of armourless troops with few wearing plates. Those without armour have an unusually high map move of 18, something most cavalry don't have. As this is paired with Forest Survival they can potentially move between 2 to 3 provinces a turn.

Sprite	Unit Name	Special Attributes	Comments
	Machaka Scout 35 3 1	Stealthy (40) Mountain Survival Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Machaka Chief 55 2 1	Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Machaka Commander 95 27 1	Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Spider Lord 125 26 1	Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Great Spider	Poison Resistance (15) Eyes (8) Undisciplined Animal Forest Survival Stupid
	Eye of the Lord 90 4 1	1 Sacred Patrol Bonus (15) Tax Collector Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Voice of the Lord 160 2 2	2 Sacred Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Ear of the Lord 150 3 2	117 Sacred Stealthy (60) Spy Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Witch Doctor 110 1 2 Forest Recruit	1117 Supply Bonus (10) Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Sorcerer 300 1 2	11211100%17 Supply Bonus (20) Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Voice of the Hunters 230 34 1 Capital Only	1 Sacred Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Hunter Spider	Sacred Poison Resistance (15) Smart Mount (100) Eyes (8) Animal Forest Survival Stupid
	Bane Spider 150 38 2 Capital Only	17 Darkvision (50%) Stealthy (50) Ambidextrous (2) Assassin (2) Scale Walls Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Spider Sorceress 230 1 2 Capital Only	11111100%15 Poison Resistance (5) Forest Survival Female Dominion Summons (Great Spider / 20) Wounded Shape (Great Spider, -1 path reduction)	Commentary here.
	Great Spider	Poison Resistance (15) Eyes (8) Forest Survival Female Pathboost (-1 ALL)	Commentary here.
	Anansi 280 1 4 Capital Only	1121100% 10%15 Poison Resistance (5) Stealthy (40) Cause Unrest (+1 per Month) Heretic (1) Spy Forest Survival Shape Changer (Great Spider, -1 path reduction)	Commentary here.
	Great Spider	Poison Resistance (15) Stealthy (40) Eyes (8) Forest Survival Shape Changer (Anansi) Pathboost (-1 ALL)
	Black Sorcerer 325 6 4 Capital Only	22111100% 10%19 Poison Resistance (5) Old Age (60/46) Forest Survival Shape Changer (Hunter Spider, -1 path reduction)	Commentary here.
	Hunter Spider	Poison Resistance (15) Eyes (8) Forest Survival Shape Changer (Black Sorcerer) Pathboost (-1 ALL)

Source	Unit	Special Attributes	Comments
Spider Sorceress Dominion Summons	Great Spider / 20	Poison Resistance (15) Eyes (8) Undisciplined Animal Forest Survival	Commentary here.

Special Reanimations: Longdead, Longdead, Longdead Hoplite. 2/3 of undead are fully armored skelies. Hoplites are the best kind of undead as they have good gear, fit 4 in a square, on top of being magicaly spammable.

• Weavers of the Wood (Enchantment 5)
  4 and 6
  Adds 100 Patrol Strength with Spirit Sight to the province it's cast in, for the purpose of catching Stealthy units, for 1 month (+3 months per gem of overcast). In battles outside of the fort, (not sieges), spiders will assist the province defense and troops set to patrol. Note that you can only cast this on Forests.

• Bane Blade (One-Handed) (Construction 3)
  1 and 4
  
• Bane Blade (Two-Handed) (Construction 3)
  1 and 4
  
• Kithaironic Lion Pelt (Construction 3)
  11 and 32
  Cheap head-and-body protection that provides 4 HP. Most of the protection is Invulnerability, which means it won't work against Magic damage; this makes it better suited for thugs, who are going to see many more nonmagical attacks than magical ones, but it also provides decent protection against stray arrows and javelins.
• Totem Shield (Construction 5)
  11 and 44
  A Curse-bestowing Shield. Machaka has no mages who can forge this thing, but Astral is at least a less-taxing path to empower in than most (due to how Alchemy works). If you don't care much about success, this will almost assure that your Assassins deal lasting damage to whomever you are trying to assassinate.
• Spirit Mask (Construction 5)
  21 and 84
  A full helm that provides 1 Magic Resistance and Spirit Sight, and that casts Frighten for free. This has extra utility on Assassins, since the close-quarters combat makes the magic more relevant.

Note that your "thuggable" (extraordinary-in-combat) mages shapechange into forms without matching item slots when killed in their human forms, which disables their items for the rest of the battle.

You are a Fire, Earth, Death, Nature, Glamour nation with all your wizards paying at least a premium to have a path in at least three of them or an elite Glamour stealth agent. While a better nation would pay less for a wizard that can be Earth 2, you get a spread of 1s. This does open your wizards up to multiple crosspaths. Lots of your stronger mages come about because you can forge a lot of the boosters (ie. Earth Boots, Dwarven Hammer, Skull of Fire, Flame Helmet, Thistle Mace, Skull Staff).

On Average you can get 5, 5, 3, 3, and/or 4 out of your Sorcerers, Black Sorcerers, and Anansi with items during combat.

With luck and boosting, you can get King of Banefires, King of Elemental Fire and King of Elemental Earth.

Summon Spectre can break you into Water and Astral, if you get lucky it may let you go further up in them and earth.

Faerie Court Breaks into Air or Water with several crosspaths.

• 3 on one-in-three Black Sorcerer (capital only), 2 off-capital
• No Air magic
• No Water magic
• 3 on one-in-three Black Sorcerer (capital only), 1 off-capital

• No Astral magic
• 2 on one-in-three Black Sorcerer (capital only) or one-in-five Sorcerer
• 3 on one-in-five Sorcerer
• 3 on one-in-three Anansis (capital only). 2 off-capital

• No Blood magic
• 2 on each Voice of the Lord

Various powerful Evocations, some useful battle items

• 111: Seven Year Fever (Disease spell), Elixir of Life (Unaging item with an Extra Life)
• 3211 or 2311 or 2221: Various powerful Evocations, Bane Fire summons (including Antrax - King of Banefires), Magma Bolts (igniting projectiles), Scorpion Beasts, Terracotta Soldiers, some useful battle items, Cave Kobolds (high-damage smallfolk), various Crystal items (i.e. Crystal Hearts that provide Extra Lives), Bluecap, Gnome
• 212 or 122 or 113: Elf Shot (Fatigue-sniping), various Faeries, God Brood, Nest of Asps
• 2121: Fire Ant ()
• 2121 or 11221 or1221 or 1131 or 1122:

Strength of Gaia (powerful self-buffing), Gaia's Blessing (all four Elemental Resistances at once), strong animal summons, Lamia Queen, Wild Hunt, The Kindly Ones, Blight, Venomous Death, Army of Gold, False Fire, Volcanic Eruption, Manikin, Mandragora, Iron Gryphon, Iron Dragon, Poison Golem, Shroud of Plendor, Horrible Visage, Faery Trod, Hidden in Sand, Hidden Underneath, Fields of the Dead, Unending Nightmare, Beckoning,

See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.

Max without Empowerment or Uniques: 5
3 Black Sorcerer (1 in 3) can make a Skull of Fire.

No National Access 14 can cast Faerie Court not in Cold for a 1 in 3 chance of 2.

14 can cast Faerie Court in Cold for a 1 in 2 chance of 2.

No National Access 3 can Summon Spectre for a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.

25 can Contact Lamia Queen for a 7 in 16 chance at least 1.

14 can cast Faerie Court not in Cold for a 1 in 3 chance of 2 or Faerie Court in Cold for 3.

Max without Empowerment or Uniques: 4
3 Black Sorcerer (1 in 3) is the highest Earth mage available. With a Nature booster made by a Sorcerer, the Black Sorcerer can attempt the unique The Tome of Gaia.

No National Access 3 can Summon Spectre for a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.

31 can cast Hidden in Sand in Wasteland for a 1 in 3 chance of 2 or Hidden Underneath Underneath for a 3 in 4 chance of at least 1.

Max without Empowerment or Uniques: 4
2 is had by multiple mages. None of them have useful crosspaths.

The hero, Ainra - Lady of Spiders, has 3 but still no useful crosspaths.

A 3 or 3 Black Sorcerer (both 1 in 3), with the other booster, can attempt the unique The Silver Arms so a mage can hold more than one Death booster staff.

Max without Empowerment or Uniques: 3
2 Sorcerer has no useful crosspaths.

A 3 or 3 Black Sorcerer (both 1 in 3), with the opposite booster, can make The Copper Arm or can attempt the unique The Silver Arms so a mage can hold more than one Nature booster staff.

Max without Empowerment or Uniques: 5
3 Anansi (1 in 3) is the highest Glamour mage available. If it makes a Gossamer Veil and gives it a 2 Black Sorcerer (1 in 3), the Black Sorcerer can make a Mirage Crystal, then it can attempt the unique The Sword of Many Colors.

No National Access 25 can Contact Lamia Queen for a 7 in 16 chance at least 1.

5 can Awaken Treelord for a 1 in 3 chance of a stationary 1.

The Beast of the Savanna by Baalz

Different expansion options.

Early game options.

Mid game options.

Late game options.

What are the nation's weaknesses?

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Nations
Early Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Ulm • Pyrène, • Marverni • Sauromatia • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Mictlan • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Agartha • Tir na n'Og • Fomoria • Vanheim • Helheim • Niefelheim • Muspelheim • Rus • Kailasa • Lanka • Yomi • Hinnom • Ur • Berytos • Xibalba • Mekone • Ubar • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Therodos
Middle Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Sceleria • Pythium • Man • Eriu • Ulm • Pyrène • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Asphodel • Vanheim • Jotunheim • Nidavangr • Vanarus • Bandar Log • Shinuyama • Ashdod • Uruk • Nazca • Xibalba • Phlegra • Phaeacia • Ind • Na'ba • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Ys
Late Ages	Arcoscephale • Pythium • Lemuria • Man • Ulm • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Jomon • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Midgård • Utgård • Bogarus • Patala • Gath • Ragha • Xibalba • Phlegra • Vaettiheim • Feminie • Piconye • Andramania • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Erytheia