Ermor is an empire centered around a great city. For centuries it has grown and become more and more influential. Traders and travelers from near and far come to the city. By military campaigns, diplomacy and trade, Ermor has become a power to be reckoned with. By adopting local traditions and beliefs, the Ermorians posed little threat to neighbors and conquered peoples, but this has begun to change. A new God is rising. Old syncretistic faiths and spirit worship were banned by a Prophet dressed in white shrouds. The remnants of his body and shrouds are buried in the Holy City of Eldregate where the adherents of the New Faith are awaiting the arrival of the Reawakening God foreseen by the Prophet. The all-encompassing old state cult of the Numinas still survives, but the Pontifices and Flamen are slowly adopting the New Faith.

"Ermor was initially a conglomerate of the Roman Empire and undead nations of general fantasy stock. With time, it has received a history that begins as something like the early Roman republic, with military units of that age and priests and diviners inspired by Roman religious officials. The New Faith replaces the old state cult of the Numina, as Christianity eventually replaced the old Roman state cult. With the turn of the age, the mistake of the Augurs becomes apparent, and the nation is brought into darkness.

Ermor is one of the first conceived nations in the Dominions universe. In the first Dominions, the Ermorian backstory influenced many of the other nations. When the eras were introduced in Dominions 3, the undead empire ended up in the late age and the Dominions history lost some of its coherency. With Dominions 4, I tried to straighten things up and once more placed the Ashen Empire of Ermor in the middle age where its antagonists and splinter empires can be found.

The backstories of Sceleria, Pythium, Marignon and Ulm are all influenced by Ermor. Several other nations have interacted with the nation or its shadow. It would be difficult to imagine the Dominions setting without Ermor. . . .

During the subjugation of C’tis, lizard soldiers were recruited into the Ermorian ranks. Lizard Auxiliares have since been a regular part of the Ermorian army. The lizards are armed as Hastati, but wear ring mail cuirass of C’tissian design, and use round shields instead of the tower shields standard to the Imperial Legions. . . .

Ermor was once a great empire that had conquered much of the known world. The realm crumbled as the great mages of the Empire studied dark magic under the Sauromancers of C’tis. Unaware of the dangers of dark sorcery, priests performed unholy rites in the capital city of Eldregate. But there were voices who demanded that the foul practices stop. Theurgs and Thaumaturgs foresaw the cataclysm and advised generals, governors, and consuls to revolt. When the Apostate Emperor marched on Ermor itself, the Augurs and Bishops of the Empire were forced to act in concert. In one cataclysmic event, Death was let loose and the empire was shattered. The Cataclysm attracted attention from an earlier God, a dark and hungry God. The vast power of this Awakening God erased the boundaries between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Ermor is now a cursed land of ashes and darkness where nothing grows. The bones of long-dead inhabitants reassemble to form legions of undead under the leadership of the cursed priests of the old Ermorian faith. Undead legions march forth to conquer a world once theirs. The Ermorian Dominion reanimates the dead without the aid of unholy priests. It also destroys the land, turning crops and forests into ashes, and people and livestock into bones. The Pretender God of Ermor will also be able to sense where any corpses are in provinces under his Dominion." -Illwinter

If you are considering picking this nation to play, what should you know?

Magic Access	Alt. Access	Unit Summary	Core Abilities	Buildings
3 (rare 4) 3 (rare 4) 2 (rare 3) 1 (rare 2) 1 1 1 3	Hero 4 Summon 112 (req. 1)	Human Legionnaires Lizard Auxiliaries	Levy Stealthy Recuperation Healer Old Age	Advanced Forts Starts with a Fortified City

Capitol Gems: 33
Order Limit + 1

Marginal Magic: Ermor can recruit mage-priests off-capital. These offer a different sort of magic access from what the forts have:

On-Fort	Off-Fort
3 (rare 4) 3 (rare 4) 2 (rare 3) 1 (rare 2) 3 (2 off-capital)	2 1 1 1 1 2

• Shroud of the Battle Saint (Construction 5)
  1 and 4
  A cursed item that trades whatever the bearer's original armor was for being permanently Blessed. This even works on those who are not Sacred, so you can (for example):
  • Put extra Map Movement and/or Flight on your Elder Augurs
  • Put additional Leadership on your Centurions and Legates
  • Strengthen Ermor's various Death commander summons in the late game, and/or mend your endgame Tartarians

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

• 3 on one-in-four Augur Elders
• 1 on one-in-four Augur Elders
• 1 on one-in-five Flamens (off-fort only)
• 1 on one-in-five Flamens (off-fort only)

• 2 on one-in-four Augur Elders
• 3 on one-in-four Augur Elders
• 1 on one-in-five Flamens (off-fort only)
• No glamour magic

• No blood magic
• 3 on each Arch Bishop of the Sacred Shroud (capital only), 2 off-capital

• 321, 222, and 321: Various powerful Evocations, Bane Fire summons (including Antrax - King of Banefires)
• 2112: Cloud spells (i.e. Sulphur Haze), Breath of the Desert (+3 ritual), Corpse Constructs
• 11: Acid spells, Geyser (large-AOE Fire damage), Rune Smasher (+2 Penetration)
• 11: Magma Bolts (igniting projectiles), Scorpion Beasts, Terracotta Soldiers, some useful battle items
• 11: Seven Year Fever (Disease spell), Elixir of Life (Unaging item with an Extra Life)

Start with 3 Augur Elder (1 in 4 chance). Its cross paths allow for a helpful summons and all the Fire boosters, except the Staves of Elemental Mastery. It can natively forge a Skull of Fire. If you level up to 3, you can summon a King of Banefires If you level up to 5, you can forge The Staff from the Sun. 55 gets The Forbidden Light, which gives +.

Cornelius - Pontifex Maximus, the hero, has 22, which can help.

Air is always hard to climb, unless you start at 4. EA Ermor does not. Start with 1 Augur Elder (1 in 4 chance). Empower it to 2 and give it an Astral booster, and you can create a Tome of High Power. That will save one empowerment on the way up to 4. At that point, follow the standard path. Getting the Augur Elder to 54 gets you The Magic Lamp.

Also, it is technically possible for EA Ermor to create a Staff of Elemental Mastery and the Crown of Elements. See Fire and Water for how to get the boosters.

Using a 1 Flamen (1 in 5 chance), or 1 independent, you can cast Contact Lar. The Lar can Contact Naiad and forge the Orb of Atlantis. A 1 Flamen (1 in 5 chance). With some Fire boosters and the Water boosters, maybe can make a Staff of Elemental Mastery and the Crown of Elements.

If you don't want to use the summon, with only 1, you'll need to start at the top of the path with a 1 Flamen (1 in 5 chance). With some Fire, you can make a Staff of Elemental Mastery and the Crown of Elements.

Using a 1 Flamen (1 in 5 chance), or 1 independent, you can cast Contact Lar. The Lar has the benefit of being able to create the Tome of Gaia.

If you don't want to use the summon, with only 1, you'll need to start at the top of the path with a 1 Flamen (1 in 5 chance). Fire is not a useful crosspath when it comes to climbing the Earth ladder, giving no boosters or summons.

If you use a 2 Augur Elder (1 in 4 chance) to forge a Starshine Skullcap, then you can use a 1 Augur Elder (1 in 4 chance) with an booster, (see Air section,) to forge a Tome of High Power. (If you are lucky, it's Unique.)

An 4 Augur Elder can cast Ether Gate, which is only really helpful if you have two Astral boosters.

With boosters bringing it to 55, an Augur Elder or the hero, Cornelius - Pontifex Maximus, can create The Forbidden Light.

Start with 3 Augur Elder (1 in 4 chance). Forging a Skull Staff gets 4.

If you can get The Flailing Hands, with a Flamen at 13, you can forge The Copper Arm, (33 can get The Silver Arms). That allows the Augur Elder to get to 5 without empowerment. They also come in useful later with the other Death boosters.

EA Ermor can get a Ring of Sorcery.

The only Nature mage EA Ermor has is a 113 Flamen (1 in 5 chance). Fire is not a useful crosspath when it comes to climbing the Nature ladder, giving no boosters or summons.

But, the Nature Flamen can cast Contact Lar, which has 2. It can also Contact Naiad and create the Tome of Gaia.

No native access. If you can get up to 4, Troll King's Court will get you 1. D3, which an Augur Elder can have upon recruiting, allows Summon Spectre with a 7 in 16 chance of Glamour.

No native access. An Augur Elder with paths and boosters getting it to 41 can cast Ether Gate which has a 1 in 4 chance of Blood.

How to win as the nation. Feel free to use the following sections, or delete them, or change them.

Different expansion options.

Early game options.

Mid game options.

Late game options.

What are the nation's weaknesses?

Add links to guides or other overviews for this nation here.

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