Day 38 - Acquiescence

The humans from the 1st level of hell play a game called, Ing of the Hill; an odd name I admit, but the terror on their face and cats on their tongues may have meant a loss in pronunciation. They race up to the top of a hill and try to maintain dominance of the top of the hill. It is fascinating to watch how quickly those at the bottom form allegiances with those also at the bottom to conquer the human at the top, only once on top, betray those who have helped them achieve this point. The only human most in danger is that at the top, it is a dangerous place. Well, second dangerous if the humans make the unfortunate move of playing on Sisyphus' hill, then when the boulder goes down the other side, lo be to those below.

Eric of Ebola's position is similar to that of Ing of the Hill. He is at the top and everyone is gunning for him. Neighsayer Matt and Gormash James sits there and blasts away with whatever super powers they have, I demand tribute of Eric of Ebola.

So problematic is Eric of Ebola's position is that he gave in to my demand for tribute! What horrible a fate it is to be at the top.

To the Ministerium:

I have purchased the second part of the four part Machine of Agony, I am trying to build this machine to bring down the cowardly spell casting duo's powerful blasts and secure a victory after Eric of Ebola's defeat.

Day 36 - Awareness

The minions around the Krampus house are an interesting breed. They do my bidding out of allegiance, fear, and concern of what may come should we lose; the stories of Lefison's plight of being locked away in the Barxet dungeon permeate through the minion's whispers. Yesterday, I dispatched a pair of minions to march to approach the Infernal Conclave and deliver my demand for tribute from the one known as Eric of Ebola, betrayer of boundaries. I demanded not, one or two, but the full four tributes allowed by the Infernal Conclave in preparation for Eric of Ebola's declination. Once he declines, the vendetta can begin, and the reclamation of what is ours shall begin once more!

Meanwhile, what is everyone else up to.

Neighsayer Matt has been elected Master of the Infernal Bazaar, meaning he gets half of whatever anyone buys from there. No matter, he will waste it on hurting Eric with his spells.
Exceptional delivery of tribute to one of the Great Houses of Hell. I am inclined to say the only great house available would be that of Krampus, but I do not see anything exceptional in our tribute space, so this must mean someone played an event card to bribe the Infernal Conclave.

The map of Day 36:
The Legions of Krampus house sit as guardians of the right flank. The outstanding truce between Neighsayer Matt and Krampus house is still in effect and protects the left flank. Gormash James has finally taken the tower in front of him and Neighsayer Matt appears to be threatening Eric of Ebola's borders.

Day 34 - I am still alive

Infernum is a desperate place, people are constantly trying to invent new devices, spells, or machines or discovering new unspeakables even to us Clan Lords. Fortunately, most of the people who survive to harness these unspeakables succumb to their want of power and try to sell their wares at the Bazaar. If the Lords could discover things like what I have just purchased, this world would be for the humans. Behold! The wicked wain!

The purveyor of this fine wagon described it as an amassing of body parts. Initially, my reaction was to have nothing to do with this infernal contraption, until one of my minions hinted that I should read its powers. Read. Read. Rea....

Dark Aura - All damage from ranged attacks is negated
Finally! Eric of Ebola's range heavy legion will taste the edge of the abyss with this card! Supplementing my Blood of Krampus legion will be these guys, the Mountain Crawlers.

Disappointingly, their ability to crawl over mountains is useless as their access to mountains is limited by the Infernal Conclave's rules on crossing claimed cantons. The rule is, you cannot cross claimed cantons unless you are in a vendetta or blood feud. I await the day when I no longer have to bow to the fools from the Infernal Conclave.

And on the Gormash James makes a move front, he has finally captured the Tower next to him. Gormash James purchased a praetor and the Infernal Totem to secure the Tower's capture. Good for him. The problem is that he now contributes prestige to Neighsayer Matt.

Current Goals

• Regroup all forces and prepare for another vendetta with Eric
• Throw another Vendetta at Eric of Ebola in the mean time
• Get to 100 Prestige
• Destroy Eric of Ebola

Day 31 - Luck Favors Krampus

The game of life moves in mysterious ways... Until one figures out that their enemies all have one thing on their mind-deception, cunning, and a thirst for more. Eric of Ebola, desiring the complete destruction of my forces saw his opportunity with the Blood of Krampus on their haunches. Sensing his provincial strategy, I simply sacrificed the canton and moved north, leaving the Blood of Krampus unscathed.
My wish would be to see the look on Eric of Ebola's army as they march ready for battle under their leader's banner only to arrive at the battlefield to find it empty.
HA!
The only downside to this is that Eric of Ebola is now right up against the City of Dis. Need to check and see if he can take the City with his Ballista of Doom.

Current Goals

• Recover from Vendetta's fallout
• Plan for Eric of Ebola's destruction

Day 30 - Who is on Offense

My awakening this morning to Sisyphus' wails reminded me that those who do not win are made to suffer the agony of defeat. The minions sense my anger over the loss of the three legions yesterday and approach me with trepidation as they hand me the day's events.

It has come to my attention that the Infernal in Infernal Conclave is not a location reference, it is an adjective. The cursed Conclave's rules in vendetta fulfillment meant that I should be the aggressor. However, Eric of Ebola, has reconquered the Tower of Eden (officially named the Garden of Delights). Who has this vendetta!

What about God's Wrath? The guy has a penchant for humor; the two highest skills that I have went untouched and He decreased my cunning, to which He should have known by watching me down here that my clan is absent of any tact or cunning. A slight moment of enjoyment as the other clan leaders read the news of attribute loss.

And then Eric's landing spot after taking the Tower of Eden is one of my Canton's! Bless the Infernal Conclave!

The Infernal Conclave rubs the salt in the wounds by announcing my one turn left to kill an Eric of Ebola legion. They must be laughing.

Again, the fall is tough.

Blah blah blah. Ooooh, this is interesting, a Legion was bought by Gormash James. Maybe he has some spunk in him and he will attack Eric's Lemures legion. The Lemures legion is so weak, a feather landing on it would kill it.

What is there to do. The Krampus Legion is weak even with the -3 ranged attack, no way to kill Eric's legions of doom or take back the weakened Tower of Eden. Fortunately, Eric cannot take the City of Dis, it would kill him.

I have the Sceptre of Regent so first turn to me. To the map of the realm:

Count. Count. Count. Calculate. Blast! The Eric of Ebola tower cannot be taken, worse yet, he could attack the Blood of Krampus and destroy them. I have two options:

• Option A: Retreat to Canton up and left to avoid any assault by Eric's unit on the Blood of Krampus.
• Option B: Stand the ground and hope that Eric does not charge. 

Hope is a course of action for those who wish to be Sisyphus.
Action Plan

• Strategic Retreat, avoid worse results from vendetta
• Demand Tribute to purchase praetors / legions / manuscripts to destroy Eric
• Reach 100 prestige.

Opponent's Goals (Now in order of threat)

• Eric of Ebola - Destroy the Blood of Krampus since it is weaker than his Disciples of Ebola. Capture additional cantons
• Neighsayer Matt - Jab at Eric to knock him off of +5 prestige per turn.
• Gormash James - Aide Matt in knocking Eric off of the prestige game. He should purchase the relic in the bazaar to give +1 prestige and +1 Command Rating.

Prestige Chart

Everything looks rosy over time. I will be losing 14 prestige points next turn for failure to destroy Eric of Ebola.

Day 29 - Balance

One of the better tributes that I receive are souls. My penchant was for the souls of the pirates from the 15th century, while a barbaric lot, they have a calming technique to ensure victory. Burn the boat you are on and make sure you take the boat you are attacking, because there is no retreat. Ah, those rapscallions.
The vendetta came through and seeing the coming victory before me, there was to be no complications in attacking the blessed Eric of Ebola. I wagered 14 prestige and bet that I could kill a single legion in one turn for 30 prestige. Then the ugly consequences of Event Cards betray me.

Eric of Ebola, or the minions still upset about my Creeping Doom purchase, has played the Loyalty Check card against me. The Infernal Conclave is a suspicious lot, their investigation into any of the other beings in this realm would show the same issue as I: You cannot trust bad guys.
The irony that is missed by the others is that the Order of the Brotherhood was offered a chance to improve a function last turn when it defeated the Garden of Eden. I chose +1 to Range instead of +3 to health points, and...wait for it... +2 to Loyalty. Who needs loyalty in this realm... Ha!

Now that the legions are disposed of, I can play my event card: Wrath of God! Muhaha. In just in time, as Gormash James is now capable of burning tribute cards (the fool).
Wrath of God!
I only wish the Nox voiceover could be said at the same time it is played.

This is what a canton field looks like without that many legions on it.

Turn 27 - An enemy's friend is still an enemy, just not the one with the knife at their throat

Every day I awake to the wails of the Sisyphus and that infernal boulder of his falling down the other side of the hill. I have felt the Sisyphusian nature as of late as I sit here plotting with no plots coming to fruition. But enough! Dawdling is for those who wish to be destroyed.
I charge into the hall of ministerium to see what the minions have brought forth.

Today, the fruits of jealously have paid off. Neighsayer Matt and Gormash James have conspired together to play an event card causing the Tower of Eden to revolt against the one known as Eric of Ebola. Apparently, the people of Eden did not feel the revelry enough and decided to revolt. This pays off two-fold.

1. I had sent out the demand for Tribute in hopes of capturing the City of Eden, now I can use Eric of Ebola's upcoming denial of tribute to go after his legion that initially captured the City
2. I am the controller of the Sceptre of Regent, which means that I get to go first, so even if Eric of Ebola tries to take it, he will be blocked by my capture of it first (If I so choose) and I do.
1. I harbor a concern about Gormash James and Neighsayer Matt's ability to forecast in the game. They waited to play the insurrection card until this turn, which means they knew I would go after the City of Eden. If they did this on purpose, they are truly better strategists and need to throw more effort at their demise than I first planned.
3. This is bad in that now Eric will know that my vendetta is against his Legion, so he may run for the hills.

The Tormentor's are now under my control. They are not particularly powerful, but they can move 4 SPACES in flying mode! I can now threaten everyone from a single position. The fact that I won it means that people were not paying attention to this fact, or I outbid them (I placed an extra three sulfurs on the bid, to sway the auctioneer). Oh the wonder.

And now the attack. Simply move the Order of the Brotherhood into the City of Eden, with the forces assembled, success is guaranteed. The minions are betting more than their honor on this.

As for the Event Card, I must choose between the Wrath of God, a card that will take one attribute point from all players or A Paladin in Hell. I cannot afford to lose a martial skill at the moment with all the units on the board. The Wrath of God will be good to use later on as James has hinted that he has been leveling up his characteristics and I believe the other two are doing the same. That means they will have burned a lot, and we mean a lot of resources toward the building of items.

Opponent's Goals
My taking of the City of Eden benefits Neighsayer Matt and hurts Eric of Ebola. However, it makes me a dangerous leader in the prestige generation field now with +5 per turn.

• Eric's Goals - Take back City of Eden
• Neighsayer Matt - Hurt Eric and whittle his prestige down to victory
• Gormash James - Support Neighsayer Matt, hopefully he had the hand behind the throne to take victory away from Neighsayer Matt at the end.