Gameplay

I chose to play this game because I wanted to have fun, and also because I wanted to play dragons. And as it stands, Dragenheim and Drakonia are pretty well designed to give you that dragon-feeling … When I subscribed, Drakonia was already taken, so I was left with Dragenheim and started to test it.

In my testings, it occured to me that the requirement to summon the big bad dragons was to research Const 4 and Ench 5 (nb : that’s not the case anymore, the mod has been modified to require Const 6). So in order to have the kind of fun I wanted, I built all of my strategy around this : pull out these dragons as soon as possible in the game and build as many of them as possible.

That’s why I built my pretender with Magic 3 (even though in my tests it only allowed to gain 1 turn in research for the requirements …). And I also built my bless around the dragons : that was my goal and the bless was for them and only them. So I had several things in mind : first regeneration looked mandatory for these 125 HP beasts, second, apart from cold resistance, the dragons don’t have elemental resistances (unlike some of the basic troops of dragenheim), third their bite and claws are mundane weapons which can easily suck vs ethereal, and finally these big beasts are privileged targets for soul-slay-like spells and as such need some more MR. Given some of my enemies were astral nations, I expected to meet some ethereal spamming. Also drakonia was a heavy fire nation and I needed to protect my dragons from it …

So all in all I chose that bless : N7 for regeneration, E5 for Fire and Shock resistance, S5 for magic weapons and MR+2. So, unless I wanted some more exotic bless options, a Monolith was, by far, the best chassis, having naturally the N, E and S magic paths.

Also, I knew that in the best case scenario I wouldn’t be able to pull out a dragon before turn 18. That meant I could safely make my pretender dormant.

Finally, I had some more points to use. I wanted at least Growth 2, and as already pointed out, Magic 3 to ensure the earliest possible dragon summoning. However, after taking my magic paths and Growth 2, I had no points left. So I traded Magic 3 for Misfortune 3. Also, Dragenheim troops don’t need much resources, so I could get into sloth. Also, given I had taken Misfortune 3, Order could help to minimize its effect. So I decided to go for Order 2 and Sloth 2.

And so here was Metahedron, Prince of the Hunt, the Far Traveler, King of the Crafts and god of Dragenheim. And, later in the game, one of his titles would shine to the face of everyone …

Roleplay

Metahedron

Metahedron was. He just Was. He didn’t know anything else than being, there, a large monolith standing in the middle of the mountains.

He had been there for ages, so long that nobody remembered when he had appeared. Some said he was even older than the mountains themselves and that these did grow out of them. Others said that the Pantokrator had created him to oversee these lands where he stood.

But Him, the Monolith, had a name. A name of many meanings. He was the supreme geometric being, as not only his rock body was of a nearly perfect shape in the wild mountains, but for those who could see the astral planes, he was too there a thing of incredibly precise shape. In fact his being existed in multiple dimensions at once, perfect, unmovable, the It, That Was There.

When the blue dragons fled the civil war raging in Drakonia, they established their new kingdom in the same region where Metahedron Was, at least where his physical body stood. And soon they recognized in him a being of Power, that they began to worship and from whom they got magic powers.

Metahedron having been there for ages, he knew everything of the wilderness and the wild life. His counsels made him Prince of the Hunt, a title even the Pantokrator recognized in its time. Those who believed the most in him could even develop some regenerative powers, to the wonder of many !

The mages that knew about the Astral plane and the Other dimensions could see the infinite geometric shape of Metahedron and how he roamed ceaslessly the infinite universe. So he had a secret name for them, The Far Traveler, that they used only between initiates. These believers could get an hardened willpower (magic resistance) and the ability to easily hurt beings not made of matter, striking them right into their soul into the astral plane (magic weapons).

Finally, he was intimate with The Shape as his being was a Perfect Shape. As such, the finest smiths recognized him as the one who could forge the most perfect artifacts, the most powerful magic items. Because he Knew all in himself what they where, creating them was for him just a matter of putting into matter what already existed in his multi-dimensional being. As such, the smiths that were in the secrets of His knowledge called him the King of the Crafts. A title he did not necessarily like, but mortals had to find a way to name him …

Also, the believers that came to him for his crafting knowledge could gain an enhanced resistance to fire and lightning. These elements were almost of no danger to whom knew the secrets to bind Magic into Matter …

A Power disappears

When the Pantokrator disappeared, this came as a surprise to Metahedron. That Power had always been there, as He had always been there. It was almost a part of him and its disappearance created something new. He suddenly felt entire dimensions that were unknown of him … and he felt compelled to explore them !

He then threw himself completely into them and explored them ceaselessly, to gather more knowledge and make His being more complete : in every dimension He Had to expand, to create the Perfect Shape and Be There as That Shape. And as his journey went on he started to understand that their was a way to achieve the Ultimate Shape. What else could he wish, He who had seeked the Perfect Shape his entire life ?

But this long travel also made him leave most of his material body. His believers were unsettled and lost : what could they do without him, especially now, without the Pantokrator to Hold the world together ?

So, the Shamans of Dragenheim came around him and started a long ritual to contact him into his other planes of existence. They could catch the glimpse of a thought, a vision. And they came back with that vision to Dragenheim and informed the Elder Bluewings and Broodmasters that a new era had begun.

The War of Ascension was about to begin, evil forces were awakening and even the long forgotten cousins of Drakonia where shouting the name of Tiamat, their leader and pretender to replace the Pantokrator.

The Vision that came with the Shamans was short, but very clear : the Dragons were to dominate the world, not only the Blue ones, but also the surviving Red and Green ones. And they would recover their ancient powers and show the world what it meant to be a Trueblood.

The Vision had a second part, showing Metahedron as the Pillar of the World. The scholars were not sure of what it meant, but it made them certain that He would come back soon from his travel to help his believers to conquer the world.

And so, despite the absence of their god, the Blue Dragons started to march, and prepared themselves to re-awaken the Trueblood that slept into their veins …