Solium Infernum lives!

[El Guapo]

Lilith smells like old pillows.

Nuh uh I smell like (evil) rainbows and (evil) unicorns.

And yeah, that angel hit hurt quite a bit. But the Lost Legion got its mission done first, at least.

[baelthazar]

That Angel is (literally) doing the Lord’s work.

[El Guapo]

That Angel is (literally) doing the Lord’s work.

Also an own goal on my part there (at least failure to anticipate his pathfinding) as he wasn't after my legion, he was just in the way. Damn you heaven!

Of course, now we also have the Leviathan to deal with. And listen, I don't ask for much (other than hefty tribute demands) - can we just get an angel / leviathan fight? They're only two hexes away from each other.

[baelthazar]

...can we just get an angel / leviathan fight? They're only two hexes away from each other.

You got your wish... what a Kaiju battle!

[El Guapo]

...can we just get an angel / leviathan fight? They're only two hexes away from each other.

You got your wish... what a Kaiju battle!

And it worked out well for me, since the Angel is (fingers crossed) done with me, while that Leviathan was right near my PoPs.

[Archinerd]

Well, I did not expect that!

[AWS260]

Well, that was interesting. And thematically appropriate!

[Zarathud]

And the Angels go BOOM! Looks around for the smoking gun....

And everyone seems to want a piece of me now.

[El Guapo]

And the Angels go BOOM! Looks around for the smoking gun....

And everyone seems to want a piece of me now.

Did anyone get a prestige bonus out of that?

[El Guapo]

Also, I keep struggling to remember who is who in this thread.

Me = Lilith
baelthezar = Belial
AWS = Erzebet
Archinerd / Zarathud = Astaroth
Archinerd / Zarathud = Angel guy with a greek name?

So basically I'm trying to remember who Archinerd and Zarathud are.

[Zarathud]

You’ll know who I am when my many armies knock on your door.

[AWS260]

AWS260 - Andromalius
El Guapo - Lilith
Archinerd - Erzsebet
Zarathud - Astaroth
Baelthazar - Belial

[AWS260]

Historical depictions of our demons. Images are mostly from the Occult Encyclopedia, although Erszebet appears to be an actual historical figure from the 17 century.

Andromalius:


Lilith:


Erzsebet:


Astaroth:


Belial:

[Archinerd]

The game seems to be stuck on turn 34.

[Archinerd]

Also, I keep struggling to remember who is who in this thread.

Me = Lilith
baelthezar = Belial
AWS = Erzebet
Archinerd / Zarathud = Astaroth
Archinerd / Zarathud = Angel guy with a greek name?

So basically I'm trying to remember who Archinerd and Zarathud are.

You're just messing with us. You know our Steam names are right next to our demon names, right?

[El Guapo]

Also, I keep struggling to remember who is who in this thread.

Me = Lilith
baelthezar = Belial
AWS = Erzebet
Archinerd / Zarathud = Astaroth
Archinerd / Zarathud = Angel guy with a greek name?

So basically I'm trying to remember who Archinerd and Zarathud are.

You're just messing with us. You know our Steam names are right next to our demon names, right?

Yeah I know, but there are huge chunks of the day unfortunately where I am away from my computer that has the game on it.

[baelthazar]

The game seems to be stuck on turn 34.

Errrr…. I haven’t checked yet. Is it hanging?

[Archinerd]

Also, I keep struggling to remember who is who in this thread.

Me = Lilith
baelthezar = Belial
AWS = Erzebet
Archinerd / Zarathud = Astaroth
Archinerd / Zarathud = Angel guy with a greek name?

So basically I'm trying to remember who Archinerd and Zarathud are.

You're just messing with us. You know our Steam names are right next to our demon names, right?

Yeah I know, but there are huge chunks of the day unfortunately where I am away from my computer that has the game on it.

Ah... remembering while out of game. Now that's different.

[Archinerd]

The game seems to be stuck on turn 34.

Errrr…. I haven’t checked yet. Is it hanging?

I submitted my turn and it just does nothing. I have rechecked that I looked at all messages too. It has check marks next to everyone's name, and all the torches are lit too. It should be going

[El Guapo]

The game seems to be stuck on turn 34.

Errrr…. I haven’t checked yet. Is it hanging?

I submitted my turn and it just does nothing. I have rechecked that I looked at all messages too. It has check marks next to everyone's name, and all the torches are lit too. It should be going

Yeah, I see that too. I am in a few games and two others are also stuck with all names checked. One of them suddenly processed, though, so...could be any moment now?

[El Guapo]

Also, I keep struggling to remember who is who in this thread.

Me = Lilith
baelthezar = Belial
AWS = Erzebet
Archinerd / Zarathud = Astaroth
Archinerd / Zarathud = Angel guy with a greek name?

So basically I'm trying to remember who Archinerd and Zarathud are.

You're just messing with us. You know our Steam names are right next to our demon names, right?

Yeah I know, but there are huge chunks of the day unfortunately where I am away from my computer that has the game on it.

Ah... remembering while out of game. Now that's different.

At least Baelthazar had the decency to pick an Archfiend with a vaguely similar name.

[Archinerd]

New Turn!

[AWS260]

I am entertained by Astaroth's many legions teleporting around like jumping frogs.

[Zarathud]

Devil frogs.

[El Guapo]

Nobody likes you, Andromalius.

[baelthazar]

OOOOOOOFFFFF.... ANDROMALIUS!!!!

[AWS260]

Yes? Did someone say my name?

I don't control any Places of Power (and haven't all game), so I have to find my fun somewhere.

[El Guapo]

Also I have to say, I don't really like the game's "consolidation of tribute" mechanic. I know it dates to the original, but I just don't see the game or fun value of making people take an extra step of putting tribute together before then next turn bidding on something or doing whatever with it. Part of the game but...annoying.

[AWS260]

In case any bystanders are wondering why my colleagues are taking my name in vain:

Spoiler:

I assembled a four-part manuscript (it took forever to get the pieces!) that reduces every other opponent's Prophecy. It only worked on two of them--you can guess which two--which means the others were already at Prophecy 0. Given how upset they are, I assume that this dropped their Prophecy down below 4, which means losing a precious action.

[El Guapo]

Also I'm not sure you're even really a devil. Oh man, I wonder where all these angels are coming from? Oh I don't know, maybe they're coming *from the guy who is obviously an angel*???

[El Guapo]

I guess I'll do a little update / journal. DEMONS / DEVILS STAY OUT.

Spoiler:

Overall I'm in a pretty good spot at this point. After kneecapping Belial in our recent vendetta (taking both of his PoPs) I'm at six PoPs giving me +10 prestige / turn. On top of that I put on the ritual that gives me an extra 1 - 3 prestige per PoP per turn (though I have to pay a non-trivial amount to maintain it), so I'm raking in 16 - 28 prestige / turn. So overall I think my main strategy from here is to try to avoid vendettas generally, and rake in prestige from my PoPs plus some praetor duels plus plots. Main threats right now are Andromalius the dueling machine and I think Astaroth (I think he's up to 3 PoPs?) who has a ton of legions as he tends to do. Belial also has a very powerful teleporting legion as well - hoping I can fend him off by staying on the offensive with demands (and doing praetor duels when he rejects demands). If I can't maybe I hire The Beast to handle things. We'll see.

[El Guapo]

With these random stat loss events, are they reducing the highest stat, or am I just getting repeatedly unlucky?

[Zarathud]

Are they random? It seems to be targeted.

[baelthazar]

Are they random? It seems to be targeted.

This got all of us, but the skill loss was random.

[El Guapo]

Are they random? It seems to be targeted.

This got all of us, but the skill loss was random.

It just seems like it always grabs my highest stat, which is of course the most expensive to replace. I suppose it's a reason to keep every stat at at least 1, so that there's a higher probability of avoiding whatever your highest stat is.

As a side note, I'm in another game as Murmur, and someone played the "Great Unholy Crusade" event. I didn't want to send my chosen legion, so I sent the temporary zombie unit that Murmur can generate via ritual. "Sure, Conclave, take these already collapsing zombies with you on the crusade. They'll be great. Good luck."

[El Guapo]

One question - so Andromalius gave me a (shitty) praetor in response to an extortion demand. This praetor is now in my vault. But if I try to do literally anything with the praetor, they are greyed out with an icon that looks like an eye crossed out, with a label next to it that says ("turn 35"). If I try to assign the praetor or do anything else it says "that's not possible right now" or something like that.

So....what's the deal? Is this a bug, or is there some game reason why this praetor is not usable, and if so when will they become usable? It's turn 41 right now, so it's not like I need to wait until turn 35 or something.

[baelthazar]

That is weird. It sounds very much like a bug.

All I have to say is - It's on like Donkey Kong now.

[El Guapo]

That is weird. It sounds very much like a bug.

All I have to say is - It's on like Donkey Kong now.

My finger has been on The Beast trigger for a couple turns now...inevitable that someone was going to do it, I suppose. I almost consolidated tribute last turn to prepare to buy it this turn...so glad I didn't do that at least.

[Archinerd]

I hope that Beast gets a good meal out of Zarathud's legions, he has too many.

[AWS260]

so Andromalius gave me a (shitty) praetor

They probably heard you call them shitty and are now on strike.

A few spoilered thoughts:

Spoiler:

Lilith/Guapo is still running way ahead of the pack. I am in second place, but it's deceptive because A) unlike Guapo, I have not spent 90 prestige for a promotion to Prince; B) I still have no places of power and therefor almost no regular prestige income; and C) I had one really, really good turn. In that turn, I won a praetor battle, got a pile of prestige from other people declaring vendettas on each other (a Charisma ritual gives this), and used the level-six Charisma ritual that lets me turn tribute into prestige. An event knocked my Charisma back down to 5, so I won't be using that ritual again any time soon.

I am at a loss as to what to do next. In order to become blood vassal to someone, I need to knock my prestige back down by promoting to Prince. And I believe that both the prospective blood lord and vassal need to spend a few turns vendetta-free before the compact can be offered. That's a problem, because with the end in sight everyone is swinging haymakers.

As it stands, it feels like I may just have to stay the course, riding to what feels like a third- or fourth-place finish.