((I'm gona slow down population increase too. I think 0-9 per city per turn is slow enough (d10-1), anybody think its still too fast?))
((Also, seasons in the desert are erratic, with rain possibly comming at any time but extremely rare, 0 or 1 times a year.))
In the dark, cold night of the desert, Abro Vas, the Prince of Prisms, master glassmaker of the Runes of Enlightenment, stood on the roof of the highest tower of Alchemia, admiring his creation. He was quite proud, having built this glass masterpiece in barely a few months. Currently, it only had a limited use. It could only be used to flash messages, and only at night, but he was planning of making it the centerpiece of all his following grand creations.
The invention was a huge 9m tall amalgamation of hundreds of crystal glass lenses, prisms, and mirrors. During the day, it reflected and refracted as much light as possible into a tube under it. The tube, which was made up of hundreds of mirrors, led to the 7th level of the tower (the tower is 26 levels, each 3.5m high, for a total of 91m) were a large chamber contained many alchemically treated and rune-inscribed gems that absorbed the light. At night, these gems released the light back through the tower up to the invention, which had all its parts rearranged through simple manual pulleys and gears, and could send flashes out to any direction, in any speed, and in a variety of colours depending on the lenses used.
Abro coudn't wait until he finally had some experienced alchemists and rune inscribers that could help him make his greater dreams come true. In the meantime, he had to settle for this. "Anyone got an objection if I put a name to my wonder?", he cried to his co-glassworkers arranging the contraption for its first try. "Not at all boss!", came the reply.
"Hm, how about... The Great Wonder? No, no... The Crystal Tower! Nah, too generic... Oh, oh! I got it! Somethin with 'flame' in it... The Flame of Destiny!! Yes! THAT's it!"
"Um, isn't it a bit farfetched, boss? Out of context?"
"Hey, its MY flame, so I'll do the naming. YOU stick to macking it work!!"
And with that, the first flashes were sent, towards were the other flashes had come from. 55 green flashes, not as bright as those he had seen the night of the incident, but bright enough for whoever was up there to see if they were expecting it. Ounce that was done, the whole machine was rearranged, and pointed towards Nova, were The Great Leader Orion Primus was staying. Making sure the contraptions were fit in a way only someone exactly at Nova could see the flashes, he started sending a special morse code, using flash length, strength, and color, to recount to Primus all that had occured since he had left. This coding was only taught to the higher ranking golems, meaning only three golems present in the desert could understand it, and only Primus was anywhere where it could be seen.
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Orion layed down on the sand as he mentally deciphered the flashing message. He had definitely not expected Alchemia to develop such a communication in such a short while, but it was definitely not the only surprise. Inventions, promotions, contact with other beings... Finally, things were starting again to get a bit more interesting than the tons of paperwork.
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Settlements:
Alchemia: 64
(the one in middle of desert, btw its on a low hill tile not desert tile)
- 1 Large Steel Golem master miner (Ferrum Animus, Chief of Diggers)
- 1 Glass Golem reinforced with bands of Steel, master glassmaker (Abro Vas, Prince of Prisms)
- 11 Iron Golem miners
- 22 Clay Golems
- 16 Copper Golem engineers
- 13 Glass Golems reinforced with bands of bronze, glassmakers
Terra: 75
(the one west of desert)
- 20 Iron Golem miners
- 25 Clay Golems
- 15 Copper Golem engineers
- 15 Bauxite Golem smiths
Altus Tumulosus: 37
(settlement NE of Terra)
- 10 Iron Golem miners
- 20 Clay Golems
- 7 Copper Golem engineers
Eterna: 19
(east of desert)
- 3 Iron Golem miners
- 10 Clay Golems
- 6 Copper Golem engineers
Nova: 15
(SE of desert)
- 1 Platinum Golem decorated with bands of Gold and implanted with a Star Ruby in hist chest and inscribed with many glowing runes throughout his body (Orion Primus, Guardian of the Seals of the Ancients, Hero)
- 7 Iron Golem miners
- 3 Clay Golems
- 4 Copper Golem engineers
[ June 09, 2008: Message edited by: Poltifar ]