Mekone is a city of gold and marble inhabited by Gigantes, a race of exalted giants descended from an ancient god. Proud and endowed with mythical strength the Gigantes of Mekone have enslaved their neighbors and made themselves rulers over men. For ages the Gigantes have watched the lesser races and seen their kingdoms rise and fall. They witnessed the fall of Telkhinis and the injustices done to the races of old. With the aid of the Elder Cyclopes the Gigantes of Mekone have taken it upon themselves to rid the world of the gods of men. Most of Mekone’s population consists of human slaves, helotes. The population of human slaves is discontent and unrest will increase in all forts.

"Mekone and its successors are inspired by giants of Greek myth. Described either as strong and proud hoplites, or in later times, as monstrous beings with serpent legs, the idea of a nation of giants that doesn’t follow the development of most other giant nations, with smaller and smaller giants in the later ages, started to take form. The serpent legged monstrosities of the late age was at first glance the most intriguing one, but I wanted to make the nation one era at a time, so I started with Mekone. Some research into ancient Athens and Sparta transformed my first ideas into a nation heavily inspired by Sparta. Since Arcoscephale is more influenced by Athens in the early age and Hellenic Greece in later ages, a Spartan society would not overlap with previous Greek influences. I also wanted to incorporate the hubris of the giants and the Gigantomachia—the war against the gods—into the nation, which in turn created the backstory for the middle and late age versions of the nation." -Illwinter

In Greek myth, Mekone was where Zeus and Prometheus settled on what part of the animal would be sacrificed to the gods, with the latter tricking the former into choosing the scraps.

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) 2 (Rare 3) 2	Hero 232 Summons 11 (req. 2 & GoR) 121 (req. 3 & GoR)	Few gigantes armed with magical weapons Mostly human slave soldiers No sacred troops	Slave Promotion Formation Fighter Old Age Inquisitor Taskmaster	Advanced fortified cities Forts increase unrest Capitol has an increased recruitment limit of +4 Capitol receives 150 resources

Capitol Gems: 213

Order Limit + 1

Suppression: The dominion of Mekone is extra efficient at suppressing other faiths. When trying to remove the enemy dominion, the maximum strength of Mekone is counted as one higher than it really is.

The Krypteion All forts accrue unrest passively. This happens after Patrol in the Turn Order Sequence, meaning that it is impossible to fully prevent without someone who passively Reduces Unrest. In addition, the Krypteion event chain happens every autumn with the following event sequence:

• In Early Fall, forted provinces gain +15 unrest. If there is an Ephor present, war is declared on the helote population. Without an Ephor to organize it, the chain ends here.
• In Fall, the Krypteion proper begins, and helotes are slaughtered, lowering unrest by -40 or -50 and population by about 300. Some of your recruited Helotes may die.
• In Late Fall, the Krypteion concludes and spawns an experienced Kryptes Assassin, thus ending the event chain.

Your Gigante troops are powerful units with their stats and magic gear. The downsides are they cost a lot of gold and resources, can only be led by Size 6 commanders, and many can only be recruited in the capital. This is somewhat offset by having cheap human slaves to fill out your numbers.

Promotions When a Helote gains 50 XP, they become a Neodamode. They are no longer slaves (3 more gold per year in upkeep), and gain +4 base Morale. Except Peltasts, who only get +3 but their leather caps are upgraded to bronze. Being free, they no longer benefit from taskmasters (-1 or -2 morale depending on who was leading them), but by 50 experience they have already gained +1 or +2 bonus morale.

Sprite	Unit Name	Special Attributes	Comments
	Helote Peltast 8 5 4	Slave Promotion (50): Neodamode Peltast	Commentary here.
	Helote Ekdromos 8 15 4	Slave Formation Fighter (2) Promotion (50): Neodamode Ekdromos	Commentary here.
	Helote Hoplite 8 29 4	Slave Formation Fighter (2) Promotion (50): Neodamode Hoplite	Commentary here.
	Perioeci Peltast 10 5 9		Commentary here.
	Discobolus 30 7 Recruitment Limit: 3	Minimum leader size (6)	Commentary here.
	Gigante Ekdromos 40 51 Recruitment Limit: 3	Minimum leader size (6) Formation Fighter (2) Skirmisher (1)	Commentary here.
	Gigante Hoplite 40 75 Recruitment Limit: 3	Minimum leader size (6) Formation Fighter (2)	Commentary here.

• Blessing of the God-slayer (Enchantment 0)
  11 and 5
  Commentary here.
• Gigantomachia (Thaumaturgy 7)
  44 and 60
  Commentary here.

• God-Slayer Spear (Construction 3)
  1 and 5
  Commentary here.

• Golden Hoplon (Construction 5) 2 and 8
• Shield of Gleaming Gold (Construction 7) 12 and 44
• Elemental Armor (Construction 5) 12 and 48

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

Elder Cyclops have Master Smith, increasing their paths by one for the purpose of forging items. With their broad elemental paths, this opens up a lot of possibilities.

Multiple mages in the Mekone lineup can start with 3, but Elder Cyclops have Master Smith, increasing their paths by one for the purpose of forging items. This means you can forge The Ruby Eye, Flame Helmet, (and Orb of Elemental Fire,) pretty quickly. Then, if you have an Elder Cyclops with the Water random, you can make a Water Bracelet and Robe of the Sea, which will then allow you to make a Staff of Elemental Mastery and/or Crown of the Elements.

With two of the above Fire boosters, you can use the King of Elemental Fire spell. If you can somehow increase the Elder Cyclops to 5, you can also get The Magic Lamp, a powerful mage with Astral you lack. You can also create the Forbidden Light (+.

Mekone's lack of Astral means it can't make a Tome of High Power, leaving it with no boosters and no meaningful summons before 4. As for many nations, this means 4 is a prime candidate for a pretender path. See the Fire section for how to get a Staff of Elemental Mastery and/or Crown of the Elements. If you can get one of them, an 2 Elder Cyclops (1 in 4 chance), Master Smith will allow them to forge a Winged Helmet, an Orb of Elemental Air, and, a Staff of Elemental Mastery. You'll then be far up the Air magic path.

A 1 Elder Cyclops (1 in 4 chance) can forge a Water Bracelet and then a Robe of the Sea, getting you started in Water with no empowerment.

A 3 Elder Cyclops (1 in 4 chance) with Earth Boots is effectively 5. If you can grab the Orb of Elemental Earth and one the King of Elemental Earth, that's about as high as you are going to get. Unless, you get a Staff of Elemental Mastery, Staff of Elemental Mastery, or Crown of the Elements. (See the Fire section).

No native access. If you can increase one mage to , you can create the The Magic Lamp, which gives you Al Khazim - Jinn with Astral.

Another way, expensive and complicated, is to use Gift of Reason on a Lampad. Requires Nature though, and EA Mekone does not have good Nature access.

No native access. No good summons to get access.

No native access. No good summons to get access.

A way, expensive and complicated, is to use Divine Name on a Lampad. Requires Astral though, and EA Mekone does not have good Astral access.

No native access. 4 will get you Troll King's Court and 31.

No native access. No good summons to get access.

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