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LA Agartha, Ktonian Dead
Lore
"Agartha is inspired by fantasy RPG's in general, and an Earth Dawn setting of my brother's imagination, ripe with mummified ancestors entombed in ancient cavern halls, in particular. Old ideas of a race of pale, cave-dwelling humanoids from my ideas of the game “Shepherds of Creation” completed the conglomerate. Think of opulent halls adorned with riches of the deeper earth in which reside ancient bloated oracles with pallid skins ruling their kin with increasing desperation; desperation because their proud race is dying. Agartha is perhaps the most tragic of the nations in Dominions. Surviving oracles cling to memories of a glorious past unable to stop the unavoidable disappearance of their ancient race. I wanted a sense of loss to permeate the nation. " -Illwinter
In dark caverns under the Roots of the Earth a strange kind of one-eyed humanoids once evolved. Untouched by the sun, they became known to humans as the Pale Ones. When humans first met these pale giants, it was in war. With the destruction of the false god of the Pale Ones, an ancient Seal was broken and vast powers of destruction were released. The Pale Ones were almost wiped out of existence and humans could move down into the caverns of Agartha. Here they found fabulous riches and ancient secrets. The humans replaced the Pale Ones and now all Agarthans are pale-skinned humans with large eyes. Everything left by the Ancients became subject to worship in Agartha. At first, statues of the Ancients were adored and animated by the Golem Crafters, but most of the statues were destroyed during the great war and new forms of worship have evolved. The mummified remains of the now-extinct Pale Ones are worshipped and reanimated by necromancer-priests. While the mummies of Pale Ones are sacred, the human dead are not treated with the same respect. Used for menial tasks and warfare, the dead of Agartha now walk side by side with the living.
General Overview
How the nation plays and what it is good at should go here, aka why would it be cool to play, whats good about it (in general terms) and where they falter possibily there could be a standard for nation classification (sacred heavy, elves, communion nation, blood nation, research, economical, forging, stealth, thug based etc)
National Features
| Special Race Attributes | Military | Magic Access | Priests | Buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Humans:  Darkvision (50%) | Med. & Hvy. Infantry Drake Calvary Undead Summons |  3 (rare 4) 3 (rare 4) 2 (rare 3) 2 1 (uncommon, rare 2) | Average ( 2)Summons: 3 Reanimator Priest (requires 32) |  Standard Forts (Citadel) Extra Gold and Resources (10%) from Cave Forts Additional Entrance Guard Province Defense on Cave Forts (1 per point) |
National Units
Commanders
| Sprite | Unit Name | SpecialAttributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Agarthan Scout 25 4 1 | Darkvision 50% Stealthy(50) Mountain Survival Forest Survival | Pretty much an indy scout. Not worth a fort turn if it isn't utterly necessary. |
 | Cave Captain 70 22 1 | Darkvision 50% | 80 leadership so he gives formations. Slightly faster on the strategic map than your other non-mage commanders. Still slower than an Agarthan Light Crossbowman (12 vs 14). |
 | Gate Lord 110 37 2 | Darkvision(50%)  castle defence bonus(10) | Tied with the Drake Lord as your best leader. Slows down enemy sieges so that your slow armies can get there to help. Did I mention he is slow? |
 | Drake Lord 120 35 2 | Darkvision(50%) mounted dying Shape(Cave Drake) | Don't let the mount fool you: he can still only move 1 province at a time unless there are roads involved. He is slightly more dangerous and survivable in combat thanks to the cave drake helping in defense, but also your most expensive troop leader in upkeep. |
 | Attendant of the Dead 100 1 2 | 111  9 sacred Darkvision 50% | Good to have at least one in every fort for various national summons, building temples and forging. Your most efficient, albeit slow researcher. Great for holding Lightless Lanterns but not great at combat aside from blessing. Cheapest way to lead 30 undead or 5 Blindfighters, or more if you took a bless for increasing their undead/magic leadership, but you do have other options for both types of leaders. |
 | Ktonian Reanimator 135 1 2 | 12 11 Darkvision 50% Resource Bonus(10)Summon in battle(Soulless) | Excellent defensive mage for your forts, letting you slowly recruit more and more heavy troops at the cost of research efficiency compared to your other mages. 10 resources is not much but every Reanimator allows you to switch from one Agarthan Heavy Infantry into an Entrance Guard or a Blindfighter per turn as long as you have the recruitment points to handle it. Can spam Horde of Skeletons to block up castle gates or take lightly defended provinces. Offensively, he can lead the most undead, having an innate bonus to it. |
 | Ktonian Alchemist 135 1 2 | 111 1100%    13 Darkvision 50% Alchemist(50) | Your fastest researcher who adds a ton of diversity to your magic, including your only crosspaths with water. Fire and Earth randoms can use alteration rituals to get you gold, although you have a lot of uses for earth gems and even a few national fire spells. |
 | Blindlord 140 37 1 | sacred blind magic-being spirit-sight | Required to put Blindfighters in formations. Does not give the best morale bonus but can lead 40 Blindfighters and 80 normal troops at the same time. Sacred status makes them equal in upkeep to Cave Captains. |
 | Servant of the Oracles 185 1 2 | 1121100% 11 sacred Darkvision 50% | Better priest than the Ktonian Necromancer. Astral randoms add +10 magic leadership, so they are the best mages for leading Blindfighters and add more diversity to your magic. Not horribly inefficient at researching thanks to their sacred upkeep. Depending on their random path, they can fill similar roles as any of Agartha's cheaper mages. They are also decent leaders, meaning that an army of normal troops, Blindfighters and undead could be led by only Servants of the Oracles. |
 | Ktonian Necromancer 295 1 4  Capital Only | 12211100% 10% 17 sacred Darkvision 50% | Best mage for big rituals and items. Only access to astral and fire in one mage. All of them can do a variety of useful earth and death magic. Decent leaders too. Can cast Twiceborn and potentially climb up to 4. |
Units
| Sprite | Unit Name | SpecialAttributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Agarthan Light Infantry 10 10 9 | Darkvision 50% | Cheap and lightly geared indies in disguise. Good if you need mass to your armies or during expansion. |
 | Agarthan Infantry 10 22 9 | Darkvision 50% | Gold cheap and well geared indy troops in disguise. Unexceptional but reliable. |
 | Agarthan Heavy Infantry 10 27 9 | Darkvision 50% | Not much different from the medium Agarthan Infantry just with slightly heavier armor. Particularly vulnerable to fatigue plays but also particularly durable when given fooskin and/or legions of steel. |
 | Agarthan Light Crossbowman 10 11 9 | Darkvision 50% | |
 | Agarthan Crossbowman 10 19 9 | Darkvision 50% | |
 | Agarthan Heavy Crossbowman 10 27 9 | Darkvision 50% | |
 | Entrance Guard 16 37 23 | Darkvision(50%) castle defence bonus(2) | |
 | Blindfighter 26 37 31 | sacred blind magic-being spirit-sight | |
 | Cave Knight 80 35 46 | Darkvision(50%) mounted dying Shape(Cave Drake) | |
 | Agarthan Sapper 20 18 31 | Darkvision 50%  Siege Bonus(7) |
Heroes
| Sprite | Unit Name | SpecialAttributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Eckhart von Kohlbrunn - Master of Alchemical Secrets | 222111 31 sacredDarkvision(50%)Alchemist(100) Insane(10%) resist poison(5) Old Age(165/146)Summons in battle:(Living Mercury) | Gives you a new crosspath in Water/Astral. Can fairly easily climb up to build the Fire/Water version of the Staff of Elemental Mastery unless you want to empower a Ktonian Alchemist in water or fire. |
Magic
National Spells & Summons
- Summon Penumbrals Conj 3,11, 6
. (
Penumbral x4) - Awaken Shard Wights Conj 3,11, 15. (
Shard Wight x5+[1/2 Lv]) - Summon Umbrals Conj 5,21, 8. (
Umbral x4) - Awaken Sepulchral Conj 5,21, 4. (
Sepulchral) - Awaken Tomb Oracle Conj 6,32, 30. (
Tomb Oracle) - Hall of the Dead Conj 8,51, 25. (
Shard Wight x20+[4/Lv])
- Iron Marionettes Alt 5,3, 1
.
- Iron Corpse Reanimation Enchament 2,11, 2. (
Iron Corpsex5+[1/2 Lv]) - Reanimate Ancestor Enchament 2,22, 3. (
Iron Ancestorx1) - Flame Corpse Construction Enchament 4,11, 1
. (
Flame Corpsex1) - Nightmare Construction Enchament 5,11, 2. (
Flame Barrel Nightmarex1) - Ktonian Legion Enchament 6,22, 15. (Iron Corpsex30+[5/Lv])
Magic Access
What magic path/mages define your nation, what can you level, e.g. thunderstriking, astral, elementals, earth buffs, blood, what is recruitable anywhere and good, what are some summons you are likely able to get and are useable
Earth (max 3, rarely 4)
Death (max 3, rarely 4)
Fire (max 2, rarely 3)
Water (max 2)
Astral (max 1, rarely 2)
Combat Magic
What is the best spell you can use in combat. What spells the best support your national lineup, Is their weakness that you need to fix? Any tricks you should be aware you have?
Ritual Magic
What is the best ritual you could cast. Are their any globals you want up, any units you should be summoning? Are there any Generic rituals few nations can cast?
Magic Items
Do you have any National items(Price and required Paths), Discounted items(Reduced Price and required Paths)? Any unique items few nations can forge? What item would be useful on your unit lineup (non-standard recommend thug gear)?
National Items
- Mercury Barrel: Requires Construction 6 and11 (every Ktonian Alchemist). Costs 5
5. Replaces the summoning ritual of a Living Mercury from previous eras. Gives you a free Water Elemental every battle except that it is stronger, tougher and has a poison cloud. Can beef up your army, especially underwater. More worthwhile than Bottle of Living Water for using on a battlefield unless you accidentally kill your own troops. Since Agartha has no national access to nature magic for resisting poison, the best ways to use this would be with undead who don't care about poison, or a poison resistance bless with your Blindfighters. Alternatively, you could just have all of your humans guarding your commanders and let the barrels do the work, but this can easily backfire if something gets to your commanders and the friendly cloud of deadly poison drifts back to assist. Having undead commanders helps.
Strategy
Early Game
How to expand, potential pitfalls and how to get around them, obvious weakness strength, how much do you have to focus on war/infrastructure
Mid Game
what is the first big research rush, what is the first big powerspike, where do you shift recruitment to? what are the big magic diversity issues, are there particular globals you should gun for
Late Game
How do you close out the game if you are in it, is the high-level research stuff you can do uniquely well, does your nation fall off, aka do you have to force things to conclude swiftly
Links
youtube of someone discussing the nation
guide page on steam??
forum thread or AAR
| Nations | |
|---|---|
| Early Ages |  Arcoscephale •  Ermor •  Ulm •  Marverni •  Sauromatia •  T'ien Ch'i •  Machaka •  Mictlan •  Abysia •  Caelum •  C'tis •  Pangaea •  Agartha •  Tir na n'Og •  Fomoria •  Vanheim •  Helheim •  Niefelheim •  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 •  Marignon •  Mictlan •  T'ien Ch'i •  Machaka •  Agartha •  Abysia •  Caelum •  C'tis •  Pangaea •  Asphodel •  Vanheim •  Jotunheim •  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 •  Atlantis •  R'lyeh •  Erytheia |