User Tools

Site Tools


ermor-ma

MA Ermor, Ashen Empire

Lore

"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."
–Illwinter

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.

General Overview

It's the original popkill nation! Isn't it cool? Piles of skeletal freespawn, with varying amounts of skill, allow you to wash over most of your foes. The lack of a need for recruiting troops makes this one of the archetypal "Hellbless" nations, especially with the rare few Undead Knights that can carry your bless. Your start is very weird, though, and it will take time and practice to figure out what the heck to do so you can get on your feet.

National Features

Race Military Magic Access Priests Buildings
Undead No Recruits
Free Longdead Hordes
Many Sacred types:
* Heavy Lictors
* Ghostly Grenadiers
* Fearsome Knights
death 22
With death 33 & 20deathgem:
death 44 (rare 5)
fire 22 (rare 3)
astral 22 (rare 3)
air 11 (uncommon, rare 2)
water 11 (uncommon, rare 2)
earth 11 (uncommon, rare 2)
Summons:
holy 11 (death 22 & 10deathgem)
holy 22 (death 22 & 16deathgem)
holy 33 (death 33 & 23deathgem)
Reanimators
Standard Forts
+1deathgem for each Fort
with a Temple inside
  • Your Dominion kills the local Population at a rate of 5% per candle per month, but also raises Longdead troops.
  • Your Pretender already starts with Death 3.
  • Non-Undead troops have their Morale decreased by 1 in your Dominion, even if they belong to you.
  • Your Dominion counts Corpses for you, which is handy since they make Reanimation more useful.
  • Mercenaries are 100% more expensive.
  • You start with a death 22 Mage.

Capital Special Sites

The Unholy Sepulchre

Produces 9deathgem per month.

National Units

MA Ermor cannot natively recruit any units or commanders whatsoever. Instead, Ermor relies on rituals, freespawn and indies to form its mage corps and armies.

Commanders

In addition to those traits listed, all Ermorian commanders share the following traits:

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Censor
death 22
4deathgem
Revive Censor
Sacred Compared to the generic Mound King, Censors cost slightly more and have lower morale, but are a bit more resistant to magic and can lead more undead at a time.
Acolyte of Eldregate
death 22
10deathgem
Revive Acolyte
holy 11
Sacred
Reanimator Priest
All of MA Ermor's priests can reanimate, although this is largely outscaled by the reanimation effect of Ermor's dominion. Higher priest level allows the priest to summon more elite undead. Of these, Arch Bishops are perhaps the most effective use of death gems as they can cast battlefield-wide (un)holy magic, claim thrones, and reanimate sacred Lictors on the side.
Bishop of Eldregate
death 22
16deathgem
Revive Bishop
holy 22
Sacred
Reanimator Priest
Arch Bishop of Eldregate
death 33
23deathgem
Revive Arch Bishop
holy 33
Sacred
Reanimator Priest
Spectator
death 22
12deathgem
Revive Spectator
death 22 research9
Poor Amphibian
Stealthy (40)
Ethereal
Fear (7)
Inefficient for researching from a gem perspective, but is the cheapest mage for casting more of MA Ermor's national summons. Has some potential as a light thug, although death mages or priests can cheaply counter them.

You start with one. Empowerment will make it able to summon Dusk Elders, and this requires 45deathgem; or you can spend 10deathgem for a Skull Staff, if you wish to save Gems via Research.
Dusk Elder
death 33
20deathgem
Revive Dusk Elder
fire 11astral 11death 33random1100%
10%
research17
Poor Amphibian
Stealthy (40)
Ethereal
Fear (8)
A solid path spread for 20deathgem, although its random is unreliable and it cannot efficiently cast non-death magic in combat. Occasionally provides access to the coveted crosspath. The single level of astral magic makes the Dusk Elder very weak to Magic Duel, especially since MA Ermor has no other astral mages outside of any indies one is lucky enough to stumble upon.

These are also the most cost-effective Researchers Ermor has, slightly better for their price than the Revenant.

Troops

FIXME

Heroes

In addition to those traits listed, all Ermorian heroes have the following traits:

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Etimmu - Wraith Lord
Minimum hero arrival turn: 15
death 33holy 22rp 1111
Sacred
Cold Resistance (25)
Poison Resistance (25)
Cold Aura (3)
Fear (13)
Immortal (1 month)
Dominion Attraction (Shade)
Mounted
Ethereal
Amphibious
Death Curse
An excellent thug chassis that can bless himself and quickly reforms if killed.
Alcastos - Forgotten King holy 33
Sacred
Cold Resistance (15)
Poison Resistance (25)
Poor Amphibian
Pierce Resistant
Inanimate
A free holy 33 for throne-claiming and battlefield-wide blessing.
Caractor - Arch Censor Sacred
Cold Resistance (25)
Poison Resistance (25)
Cold Aura (3)
Fear (5)
Higher protection than ordinary Censors and has fear, but otherwise unremarkable.
Putrescator - Dusk Elder
Minimum hero arrival turn: 15
fire 22astral 33death 44rp 2323
Cold Resistance (25)
Poison Resistance (25)
Stealthy (40)
Cold Aura (3)
Fear (9)
Poor Amphibian
Ethereal
Provides access to high death magic.

Magic

Magic Access

National Spells

Combat

Ermor is unable to cast many of the traditional blessing and undead banishment spells available to most nations. Instead, it gets its own brand of "Unholy" priest spells, which fulfil the same functions and more. Most come in 3 versions which each have a successively larger area of effect.

  • holy 11 Unholy Command
    An Enslave Mind for undead and demon units.
  • holy 11 Unholy Protection, holy 22 Unholy Protection and holy 33 Protection of the Sepulchre
    +4 MR.
  • holy 11 Unholy Blessing, holy 22 Unholy Blessing and holy 33 Unholy Blessing
    A bless spell that exclusively affects demons and undead.
  • holy 11 Unholy Power, holy 33 Unholy Power and holy 44 Power of the Sepulchre
    +4 Attack and improved combat speed. Power of the Sepulchre can be accessed by making an Arch Bishop into a prophet.

Rituals

Lictor Summon Spells
Lictors are MA Ermor's primary infantry sacred.

  • Conjuration 0 death 22 for 3deathgem: Revive Lictor ( Lictor×1)
  • Conjuration 3 death 22 for 10deathgem: Lictorian Guard ( Lictor×5)
  • Conjuration 8 death 44 for 35deathgem: Lictorian Legion ( Lictor×25)

Wailing Lady Summon Spells

  • Conjuration 2 death 22 for 8deathgem: Revive Wailing Lady ( Wailing Lady×1)
  • Conjuration 5 death 33 for 25deathgem: Lamentation ( Wailing Lady×5)
  • Conjuration 5 death 55 for 33deathgem: Great Lamentation ( Wailing Lady×14)

Non-sacred Summon Spells

  • Conjuration 3 nature 22 for 10naturegem: Pride of Lions ( Great Lion×10+[lvl])
  • Enchantment 6 death 44 for 15deathgem: Ermorian Legion ( Longdead Legionnaire×50)

Combat Magic

FIXME What is the best spell you can use in combat. What spells the best support your national lineup, Is there weakness that you need to fix? Any tricks you should be aware you have?

Ritual Magic

FIXME What is the best ritual you could cast. Are there any globals you want up, any units you should be summoning? Are there any Generic rituals few nations can cast?

Magic Items

National Items

  • Black Laurel (Const 2, death 22, 10deathgem): This Crown gives the "Lictor Lord" trait, and will add 2 additional Lictors to the results of every Ritual that summons Lictors. It provides nothing else, and probably shouldn't be worn in battle.

Strategy

Power Curve

This is probably the most difficult section to get consensus for. Describe how strong the nation is during expansion, the early, mid and late game, and what makes it strong/weak at each of those points. This should give readers an idea of where the weaknesses of a nation lie (if they have not been shown already) and when to take advantage of a nation's strengths.

Expansion Strategies

List some example expansion strategies here. If a strong bless or pretender is required then leave the specifics for the pretender section.

Example Pretender Builds

List some example pretender builds. Try to use the following format to keep authorship and pretender design rationale clear.

See More

ermor-ma.txt · Last modified: 2022/09/15 10:35 by wigglefig