Well, as you guys have guessed, I did indeed go with earth mage. It's one more step closer to the mean, green,... uh, giant. Right. I could have went with evoker and, well I could have went with warlock to start the game too, but I simply did not want to play a devestating direct-damage type caster. At least not from the start. I have no idea where the game will lead me, but one thing is for sure; right now, I am a soon-to-be-summoner!
The lay of the land hasn't changed much other than Magnar is now leading Tarth and myself by a couple points. My scout is heading that way to get the scoop on that change. The city is capped at 100 population and has nothing in the build queue. Well, had I not been in such a rush to get a decent military unit, I could have timed my growth a little better. Instead of having my food-heavy city doing what I wanted it to do best--continue to grow, it's stalled. Strategical blunder, but one I'll live and learn from. So, on that note, I queue up a garden. 25 seasons to complete. That lack of material in the capital is really noticeable. I had thought that maybe with a bigger population, my Gildar might have been a little stronger, which would allow me to rush-buy, but even at Normal tax rate, I'm -0.8 Gildar per Season. Time for some mathematics!
Current predicament ~25 seasons for a garden. Rushing one costs 360 gildar at 360 production. A 1:1 ratio. Not bad. At oppressive taxing, I make 5.2 gildar, but only 2 production. So... 
season) + Y(season) = 360. In this example, X = 5.2 and Y = 2; if I can build a garden in 25 seasons right now and break even, it's safe to say that the longest I want to wait is 25 seasons. So... 5.2(25) + 2(25) = 180. A net yield of 180 production. Clearly not the most efficient way to build at all! Well, scratch that one out of the ol' strategy book. I could reverse the equation by going the opposite way with my taxes, but I am already negative gildar and, at some point, I may want another hero. I guess that leaves me with the trading resource(s) option with Tarth and Magnar to get the Gildar I need to build in a timely manner. Crystals are usually a good commodity to trade and I do have a small income of those. Let's hope it's enough!
I also just noticed Janusk and his pioneer are at my forward arcane monolith. I could ask him to leave and risk the chance that Tarth declares war on me. Well, I don't like that option, especially with Magnar already encroaching me. Guess I'll let him pass--sort of defeats the purpose of the forward monoliths, but ah well. The show must go on!
A few seasons pass and I run into Magnar's army. He's level 6 with a level 4 champion. Hard to see what he is doing now so I'll have my scout shadow him.
Wow, he's got a lot of traits!
He also has charge which is hidden right now. What a tough bugger--though I always thought starting out as a warlock sort of catered him to be more caster-orientated. But heck, with assassin and warrior? Do what you want scaley-man!
Well, Magnar's pioneer is stationary as well as Janusk. They must have some pathing issues--going to save the game in case a dev wants to look at the save.
Following Magnar paid off well. Another shard, clay pit and iron ore all in one monolith!
That extra material will come in handy!
And the very next turn I lose track of Magnar. Wonder if he ran into a baddy. In which case, my scout should high-tail it.
Well, the mites, shriekers and fog are all enough to send my scout the other way. Hmm, really wanted to see where Magnar was. Well, he's only one small part of the world and there is the chance that he isn't even located in that area. Does make me wonder, with all the marauders if they are actually located there. He would have became one with the wild, for sure.
I also notice that as I cross the river, I actually step into another river. The tile graphic seems to be off. Well, if the devs want the save, that tile graphic should still be there as well. I imagine it has something to do with the river being snug to a chasm.
And I embark on my first quest.
You know, to be honest, I have yet to see anyone ever cast any frost spells. I have never battled the abominable snowman in the wildlands, though. Well, if he's in this game, I'll be prepared.
Turns out Magnar is indeed not the way he was headed. Looks like I placed yet another aggressive Monolith. I'm sure at some point, one of these leaders of the world are not going to be so friendly about it.
If you can see in the picture, Magnar and his buddy are actually busted up. I guess that land is contested, even for one tough Magnar.
I've also noticed that a fair bit of these pictures are not of the greatest quality. Any suggestions on to make them better, or at least more appealing? I could cut out some of the nitty-gritty and make them bigger to better illustrate the points I'm after, I guess.
And on the interim, Janusk's day just got worst. The quest I started spawned 3 sets of wolves... who all happend to be next to Janusk. Needless to say, the wolves remain and... uh... Janusk is gone. He was already blind in one eye, hope he's not blind in the other now!
Something new, or for me at least. Apparently, inspiration stacks! 
Now if I only had the mana to spend on such a treat. Something I may well consider in future games.
Well, Nok gains another level and, as you may have guessed, evoker is available. The dilemna? Well, I could also opt for the life mage which gives me access to growth and shrink. I like shrink and with my lack of direct damage spells, I, yet again, opt out of Evoker in favor of Life Mage. I wish the follow-up trait to Summoner was a little more original instead of the bonus to elemental levels. They can get that through experience too and when I choose a trait, I would like it to be unique; something like enhancing my elementals and maybe the final one allowing multiple elementals of the same type out at once. Just some random thoughts. Sort of pointless at this point since I don't even have a single one yet.
Season 55 and Tarth thought they should share they unlocked the lost magi of heroes. Well, I don't see any local heroes around here that I'll have a dispute with you about, so congratulations indeed. I also had a scout skipping through Magnar for just one turn and he did not like that one bit. Demande that I send him packing or declare war. Well, scout, you must take the boot. Thankfully it's on the other side, but getting through these lands again may be a tad more difficult in the future.
Winter of 173 A.C. (Season 60)
Magnar has a full army, 3 sets of spearmen and his champion Lith out exploring to the west of Imperium. Well, at least that's not in my direction, which relieves me a little bit. That army doesn't scare me, but the fact that they can wield an army of that magnitute does and the continued trend of the AIs climb in power also worries me. Tarth is double me and Magnar is now a handful of points ahead.
And in the Fall of 174 A.C. (Season 63) my garden is finished, which allows my capital to continue to flourish. This should finally allow me to make a positive amount of gildar per turn at a normal tax rate. I also queue up an inn, which will take 13 seasons to complete.
A few seasons later, I realize that starting the inn was not optimal at all. I'll have max population before it's done. Some simple math would have shown that. Looks like I'll be needing to address the shortage of food right after I unlock magisters.
In the Fall of 176 A.C. the much-awaited enchantment is done. Magisters are now available upon request and I go ahead and queue up agriculture which will require the knowlege pre-requisite. A couple seasons later, my first earth shrine is done. I then cast enchanted hammers on my capital. My mana is starting to look a little dangerous, nearing 200.
In the Summer of 177 A.C. (Season 74) New Pariden reaches max population ~150 able bodies. I finish the inn, which has no value in the present state and I now have the ability to train my first magisters--either by design or pre-made. I am also one battle away from unlocking, at the very least, one elemental. Level 7 unlocks the hummingbird spear which will give me access to an air elemental and, if the dice are good, also unlock an earth elemental with the available trait on level-up. The main dilemna I am running into is lack of gildar which I think will be fixed once I get my second city down. If the mountain range just north of New Pariden is not actually the Andes, I will be clearing out the location for my number 2 city. If it is the Andes, it will be a long journey back to the realm, but definately needed.
Here is a cloth view of the world west of Magnar, which hasn't been shown much in the previous posts.
The area isn't very dangerous, my scout made it through with relative ease, but Magnar could certainly level up a champion in this area, especially with the army I saw in that fascinity. He is also bottle-necked a fair bit and with the rising power of my neighbors, I imagine it's only a matter of time before some declarations of war are handed out. I could pay tribute to one or the other to consolidate the front, which I may wind up doing if one or the other does declare war.
As you may have read, I have made my fair share of mistakes this game, but I'm still very much in it, even if the score doesn't show it. The one level and second city will be a massive improvement of the current predicament. And this is where I settle for now.
Other than the obvious mistakes (like building the inn), what would have you guys done different? My second champion is idle in New Pariden, if you're wondering. I don't have the gildar to support two armies and I really would like that ability. Especially to clear out the fog of war due south/south-east of New Pariden. There could be some gems down there.
