It had been 9 months since Lord Kall had started to See. Since then, every single minute of his life, every single second, he had had that Vision in his head. That Vision of the whole world, of every place, of every being, of every power. Even in his sleep, in his dreams, this Vision was there. This was his everyday, this had become his life.

And one night, his servants got distressed by screams coming from his room. “The thrones, the thrones, the thrones !!!” was screaming Lord Kall in his dreams. Screaming until he awoke himself with his own screams “The thrones !!!!!!”. Gasping, sweating, full of adrenaline, his Vision had taken another level. He had Felt it. The thrones were in his grasp, divinehood was in his grasp, victory was at hand !

Even though he Knew, he had to take time to sort it out in a sensible way. He needed his servants and armies to make his Vision real, and had to plan it with them. So he called for an emergency gathering of the war council, with only the most trusted leaders, the top-most figures of Helheim. Everything that would be said that day had to be kept in the utmost secret. Every person entering the room had to undertake a sacred vow of secrecy, bound with magical powers in such a way that breaking it would mean instant death.

After taking such a vow, the council members were wondering what information required such extraordinary measures ! Surely, their God had his reasons and they would obey without discussion.

And so Lord Kall started to explain them his latest Vision, with mortal words suited for making a sensible battle plan. “We already control 5 thrones , including 2 of them particularly powerful. This is not much, not even half of what is required to overcome my opponents and become the only One True God of this world. However … I have Seen the world thoroughly these last months, and I have Seen that Ascension is in my grasp. Look ! Therodos controls 3 of the most powerful thrones of this land. If we were to take control of them, I’d be very close to reach the power required to cast down all these other so called gods. But … that won’t be easy. Let me get into the details”.

“To the north, Tien’Chi will soon get control of the throne of the Moon. That throne is critical as without it nothing can be done. Indeed, with the thrones of Therodos and this throne, I only need 3 more secondary thrones to trigger my Ascension.”

Listening to this report, the leaders of Helheim started to raise concern about the military consequences of such conquests. “But we can’t be at war against everybody, if we are at war with both Therodos and Tien’Chi, how can we conquer 3 more thrones ?”.

Lord Kall replied softly “A sensible remark my Lord. However you don’t have the full picture yet, let me finish and only then will we discuss it”.

“As you know well, on our western borders Marverni and Tien’Chi are fighting for the Throne of winter. I believe whoever wins will gather there a strong army, not only to protect the throne, but also to exploit the Steel Ovens. So … this throne won’t help us. We won’t have to fight Marverni in any case, the Throne of Bones to the west is too far away, and the Throne of the Pantokrator in the vicinity will certainly be constested by either Marverni or C’ti. So we won’t gather armies there.”

“As of now, our final targets are held by both Ulm and Niefelheim. And as it happens, there are quite close from our borders. Look ! The Brass Throne is just a Valkyrie day-flight away, and so is the throne of Autum. And both are still unfortified, so they are easy targets ! However, the Throne of Stability, the last target is also the most difficult to take, as it is under heavy fortification just close to the capital of Ulm itself.”

Some murmuring got into the council, getting at war with Ulm, Niefelheim, Therodos and Tien’Chi at the same time looked crazy.

“I know this plan looks crazy right now, but everything depends on How we do it. So, listen carefully, I’ve devised a plan that, if executed properly, can’t fail. First, we declare war on Therodos and take their 3 critical thrones (the Outer throne, the Iron throne and finally the Shattered throne). When these thrones are secured, we then gather secretly 4 armies, one for each of the remaining throne, and attack them all at once ! And when this is done, we claim all of them, all the thrones from Therodos, Tien’Chi, Ulm and Niefelheim, we claim them for me at the same time”.

Now, the leaders couldn’t help to express their disbelief. “Claim all the thrones at once ? How would you do that, you know well that apart from you and Skaljv none of us has the power to awake the power of the thrones ! … except if you plan to call upon the help of the legendary Bishop Fishes, but … this is madness, they only live in the deepest oceans, how could we reach them out !!?”.

Lord Kall replied “Yes, exactly, the Legendary Bishop Fishes ! And we will contact them during our war against Therodos. They control some seas ? We’ll take some from them and I will myself get there along with a Kokythiad or a Sea king. We master the undeads, don’t we ? They will help us conquer such a place. We have all the means to do this !”. (Bishop Fish : spending their time meditating and praying in the deepest abysses, the bishop fishes have developped a particular sensivity to divine energies. As such, they are some of the few beings able to awaken the power of a Throne …)

“So let me get into details : this operation has to be completely invisible to the enemy, they can’t know any moment about what we are doing. That’s why we’ll need to hide the Bishop fishes, hide the armies due to take the final thrones. And I think you know very well what I’m talking about : we’ll be crafting several Cauldrons of the Elven Halls . Thanks to them none will figure out what we are up to until the very last moment.” (Cauldron of the Elven Halls : A great silver cauldron enchanted with the magic of the Vanir. Soup made in the silver cauldron will turn those who feed on it invisible. By the law of some unknown power the enchantment ends when weapons are drawn and battle begins)

“So let me summarize : First, we attack therodos and take their 3 thrones. Meanwhile, we get an oceanic province and call from it the Bishop fishes. When these 2 steps are ready, we gather 4 stealth armies to attack the thrones of Tien’Chi, Ulm and  Niefelheim, along with the Bishop fishes that will be tasked to claim the thrones. In that regard, both me and Skaljv will join an army to reduce the number of Bishops to call. Then, as a final step, we capture these thrones and claim them along with those from Therodos. And … this will be it … my Vision will be true … I will be the one and only Pantokrator !”.

And, slowly, all the arguments from Lord Kall became undisputable facts. What he was saying made perfect sense, this plan could work, would work ! He was the promised Lord of these lands, His will couldn’t be opposed, this was Fate, this was Destiny, and Helheim was His Godly tool to achieve His Glory.

When, finally every leader understood the stakes and what was his part in this Divine Plan, it was time to get out of this room and start the first phase of the plan. And, soon, the words were on every lips : Therodos Must Die.

The prophecy ?

After that meeting Lord Kall took some time alone and retrieved the parchment where he had written the prophecy of his youth. Until now, every single thing had come true … and so he re-read again and again the last part …

And then a new moon will rise with the colors of autumn
A brass moon that will bring peace and stability …
to you My Lord, and to the whole world …

Gameplay notes

The game required 20 points of Throne to claim victory. By turn 55, Helheim controlled 8 points :

– The Throne of Zeal : 1 point
– The Throne of Thrones : 1 point
– The Throne of the Stars : 1 point
– The Throne of Bureaucracy : 2 points
– The Throne of Elements : 3 points

With 12 points to go it looked difficult to achieve victory but … Therodos controlled 3 thrones worth 7 points gathered in a rather small area. That meant that controlling the 3 of them would give Helheim control of 15 ascension points, so only 5 were left to go for victory.

When I finally understood that, I began to wonder if I could win or not. I wanted to end the game quickly as it was eating so much of my time … So I started to brainstorm on this topic quite a lot, looking which thrones were close to Helheim and easy to take … The Throne of the Moon was obvious : adjacent to Helheim borders it would probably be an easy take and it was worth 2 points.  A mandatory conquest, indeed.

So this being thought, how to catch the 3 remaining points ? When we look at the map we see that there are some thrones in Marverni territory that are not that far from Helheim but … Marverni being so strong, it would have been a gamble with no insurance whatsoever to win. Another close throne, the Throne of Winter was an important place for Tien’Chi and quite of a gamble too.

So that only left the 3 thrones mentioned in the plan. The first two became quickly obvious as they were unfortified at the time. In the end, finding the last one was a real headache. All potential targets looked too deep in enemy territory and not really prone to a surprise attack …

But, looking closely, the Throne of Stability appeared a viable target. Indeed it was close to Therodos borders and given we would be at war with them, that made sense that we could gather a force there to take it. The fact that it was both fortified and adjacent to the capital of Ulm was a concern, and it was clearly the most challenging throne. But it looked doable, indeed in case of a surprise attack I could blockade any army stationned in Ulm for 1 turn, and that would be enough time to take the fortress and claim the throne. So I decided that the whole strategy was viable and from that moment made every effort to achieve it.