The Alamaze Oracle XIX

Spring 2001

• Dispelling Wizards--- J. E. Sampson
• The Power of Flight--- Martin Burlingame
• Thoughts on Natural Enemies in Alamaze--- Rick Ghan
• Alamaze Inertia--- Chris Kessel
• Black Company Journal--- Dave Thomas

 

 

Dispelling Wizards

J. E. Sampson

Gold piece for gold piece, wizards are the most overvalued asset in Alamaze. Despite major costs to advance levels, they provide a minimal return to the average kingdom. Our magic-producing friends are more expensive than you think. Wizards have only one advantage over other investments: versatility.

Though the following article is technical, it makes sense if you remember four things: First, gold has a time value. You would prefer receiving 1,000 gold on turn one to turn five. Yet you would prefer 100,000 gold on turn five to 1,000 gold on turn one. The rate at which you would prefer it has a percentage value. As I will explain, the market rate of this value is approximately 20%. Second, I am assuming you can invest less than the required 4,000 gold and 3,000 food per turn-i.e. that any amount you invest should attempt to make the market return of 20%. Third, I am assuming three food equals one gold because that's what it sells for on the open market. Fourth, I am assuming no winter months. If you get lost, return to these assumptions.

The market rate of return in Alamaze is approximately 20% per month. That is to say, if you invested 4,000 gold and 3,000 food now, you would receive 1,000 gold tomorrow and each turn thereafter. Thus, assuming you have a surplus you would sell the 3,000 food at a market value of 1,000 gold, as happens on the first turn, it would cost 5,000 gold to create 1,000 gold-i.e. a 20% per-month return. The average return for a wizard is much less. For example, let's take the standard "Create Gold" spell. The numbers look better than a commercial for retirement funds. Let's compare the "Create Gold" spell with making gold the old fashioned way-mining it. On turn one, you spend $10,000 in the hopes of raising an adept to wizard status. Assuming you do, the following turn you spend another $20,000 to raise him to a level two. By the third turn, you finally cast the "Create Gold" spell, netting 4,000 gold that turn and each turn you cast it thereafter. On the other hand, if you had invested the same $30,000 into gold production, you would be much farther ahead, as the table below indicates.

Turn	Wizards		Gold Production
	Gold Invested	Return	Gold Invested	Per-Turn Return
1	10,000	0	10,000	2,000
2	20,000	0	20,000+2,000 from prior turn	4,400 + 2,000 = 6,400
3	0	4,000 each turn cast	6,400 from prior turn	1,280 + 6,400 = 7,680 per-turn

In other words, you make almost twice as much by standard gold production than you do by raising a wizard from adept status to level two and then using him to produce gold. Furthermore, if you wanted to continue to obtain the return of 4,000 gold per turn from your wizard, you would have to tie him up in a alchemist's lab for the rest of the game-not likely. Even if it were winter, the gold production would be almost as good.

A better analysis would compare the "Hidden Ore" spell to the rate of return with the same amount invested gold production since that spell creates a continuous stream of income. This is not an uncommon goal for wizard kingdoms. It breaks down in the chart below.

Turn	Wizards		Gold Production
	Gold Invested	Per-Turn Return	Gold Invested	Per-Turn Return
1	10,000	0	10,000	2,000
2	20,000	0	20,000+2,000 from prior turn	4,400 + 2,000 = 6,400
3	30,000	0	30,000 + 6,400 from prior turn	7,280 + 6,400 = 13,680
		2,500 per- turn	13,680 from prior turn	2,736 + 13,680 = 16,416 per-turn

Granted, the wizard can cast the same spell again the following turn. Even including that, however, the wizard only grow further behind to continuous investment in gold production.

We can perform a similar analysis for military spells. Let's say you're ambitious and want to raise the dead with the "Summon Skeletons" spell. Further, we'll assume it is a level five spell, though the Witchlord has it sooner and others have it later.

Turn	Wizards		Gold Production
	Gold Invested	Per-Turn Return	Gold Invested	Per-Turn Return
1	10,000	0	10,000	2,000
2	20,000	0	20,000+2,000 from prior turn	4,400 + 2,000 = 6,400
3	30,000	0	30,000 + 6,400 from prior turn	7,280 + 6,400 = 13,680
4	40,000	0	40,000 + 13,680 from prior turn	10,736 + 13,680 = 24,416
5	50,000		50,000 + 24,416 from prior turn	14,883 + 24,416 = 39,299 gold per-turn
		One SK brigade per-turn		Approx. two recruits the first turn, decreasing thereafter.

I realize that 40,997 gold does not easily translate into brigades, but let's try. Brigades are expensive. The basic recruiting cost is 7,000 gold and 3,000 food, which translates to 8,000 gold for our purposes. Additionally, it costs 8,000 gold and 6,000 food to restore the population center to its original level, for a running total of 18,000 gold. On top of this is a per-turn maintenance cost. If we estimate this at approximately 2,000 gold, we could still obtain two brigades of recruits instead of one brigade of skeletons, though this would become more favorable to the wizard over time because of the maintenance costs and winter. A high-level battle spell would be much better for the wizard kingdom, but the analysis would have to factor in the risk of losing the wizard in combat, and thus all invested in him.

There are four caveats to this analysis. First, there is a per-order value that varies from kingdom to kingdom. Depending on your situation, you may have a very high per-order value or a very low per-order value. For example, if you have several unused orders on your form, you have a very low per-order value. Raising gold production can become very order-intensive. Second, some spells that cannot be valued. For example, "Chaos," "Wall of Fire," and the regional effect spells will have a value depending upon time and place and cannot be computed through this method. Third, this analysis does not factor in the risk of losing the population center at which the gold is raised or the risk of losing the wizard to agents or battle. These risks will vary significantly. Obviously, a population center with a 40,000 gold per-turn stream is a great target. It would cost more to defend that center than to post a high-level agent on your chief wizard.

In light of the forgoing analysis, several strategic considerations should become clear. First, much of the value of wizards is tied to their versatility. A wizard can do different things on different turns. He need not spend his life in an alchemist's lab. This versatility comes at a steep price. You should have a strategic objective in mind before you raise a wizard. You should ask yourself how soon you will need a high-ranking wizard, for what purpose, what the cost of delay is and what other means you have to reach the desired end. Don't raise a wizard simply to cast a "Create Gold" spell. You have more effective means of doing that. Further, it should concern you to use high-ranking wizards to cast low-ranking spells. If you are doing this on a consistent basis, you are being inefficient.

Second, there are considerable economic advantages for raising a wizard for kingdoms with a lot of gold and not many turns to spare. These advantages accrue because the gold would go uninvested, and thus opportunity lost, without investing it in wizards. Most wizard kingdoms, however, have many turns and not much gold, at least at first. Thus, wizard kingdoms should concentrate on developing a revenue stream before developing magical talents; if they do not, they may find themselves cash-strapped when they want to raise their wizards to obtain significant spells. Early political objectives should most often take precedence despite that neat pile of gold you have at the beginning. This is a strong argument against raising Ry Vor to a level 5 on the first turn. There is well over a 20% return for most early political investments.

Third, victory is in the hands of the cold and efficient, not the warm and sentimental. Victory requires careful economic and strategic planning, not vain and wishful hopes. Many write cute stories in this publication fantasizing about the use of their wizards. No one writes cute stories about cool, efficient means of increasing gold production. Gold production is just a statistic whether it comes from a wizard or more traditional means. Do not be fooled. Wizards are just one tool among many. The Big Dog is not the one with the most powerful wizard, but the one who wins the game.

 

The Power of Flight

Martin Burlingame

The Black Dragon enjoys a tremendous advantage in Alamaze and it is amazing that this position does not succeed more often. Effective use of the Black requires patience and an ability to synchronize military with political power. Some of the strengths the Black enjoys are not as apparent as his rival the Red Dragon. Let's take a look at some of the Black's strengths and early strategies.

The Military
The Black is a formidable military power that should not be used in the traditional sense. A Black Dragon Brigade weights in at around 3000 strength points, which is a healthy seventh in the Kingdom rankings. This number is slightly suede by the Dragon's ability to avoid cavalry and archer penalties when attacking population centers and their ability to avoid spells such as the dreaded wall of fire.

The Black's strength is in the mobility of their units, the morale effect and their ability to recruit wingbeasts from mountainous regions. These three factors make Black Dragon units dangerous in the early game. In the middle-to-late game, when regional effect spells become common, the Dragon is at a military disadvantage but is able to escape regions easily.

The Threaten: Dragon's are excellent at threatening population centers and receive a bonus. This is extremely helpful in the early game when regional control hangs in the balance but has little impact in the late game. Threatens are rarely effective against controlled population centers and should only be done in friendly regions. A failed threaten incurs a strong population center defense and can result in a painful retreat.

The Escape: The Black Dragon is one of the best kingdoms at escaping dangerous conflict. Dragon brigades will escape almost any conflict with little damage on an attack 1 or defend 1. The exception is the dreaded chaos spell, which will be addressed in the magic section. The attack 1 order used in conjunction with the pursue order makes the Black Dragon extremely dangerous. A Dragon unit can slowly chew up a stronger giant unit by attacking on a 1 (causing more damage due to missile and cavalry attacks) and then pursuing the Giant (or any other nation) causing 3 points of morale loss and 2% attrition.

The Intercept: The Black Dragon, with a five-intercept radius, is capable of protecting his vast region. Defense of the realm can be accomplished with intercept orders and speculative combine orders (e.g. 1 BL intercepts 1RA, 2BL intercepts 1BL [assumes that the RA is moving towards the BL] and a speculative 740 is issued). This allows the Black to rest troops and increase wizards while protecting against the 1RA. If the 1RA moves towards the region 10 the 1BL will intercept and the 2BL will merge with the 1BL if the 1BL is within 5 spaces. 3 strong divisions spread through the Southern Sands can be a strong military force.

The Move: The Black can move 8 spaces in most terrains and can leverage this movement to make preemptive strikes or react against hostile forces. The ability to go from the Sands to Amberland or Torvale in one turn makes it difficult for Kingdoms to divine the intent of the Black.

The Wizards
Black Dragon wizards are not very strong but are a necessary part of the Black military. The two most important spells are Chaos at level 2 and Dispel Magic (to avoid a Chaos) at level 3. The Black Dragon has to increase his 2 power-1 wizards as soon as possible especially in a game where the Ranger is hostile. The use of a Chaos spell, when 4 Black and 4 Wingbeast brigades face the superior Ranger leadership and tightly disciplined troops, can end the war with the Ranger in one fell swoop.

Economics
The Southern Sands typically is a large region with a vast gold reserve. In many games the entire region can produce around 120,000 gold. This coupled with the summer start enables the Black to produce at 100% for almost all of the first 10 turns. This economic base becomes critical in the mid game where fleets of governors, hordes of Dragons and deadly agents can make a sudden appearance.

The Emissaries
Many players play the Black Dragon as a military Kingdom. This is possible but takes away from the subtlety of the Kingdom. The Black starts with one of every emissary type and an average starting influence. This coupled with the influx of gold from the Sands can make the Black Dragon a strong emissary Kingdom in the middle game. This strength can offset some of the late game problems military kingdoms face.

Regional reactions are mediocre with several tolerant regions and the rest suspicious. An early council bid (turn 3 or 4) can start the Black Dragon off in the influence war and ensure strong influence and regional reactions by turn 10.

The Agents
Black Dragon agents are weak to start but can prove to be an asset in the late game. There are two strategies for the Black. In a team game they can increase their agents to level 4 and then search for artifacts (they could do this in an individual game as well) to support the team or they can try to increase them on a standing order. A Black Dragon agent 10-12 is effective on turn 10 and the regional income will support a few standing orders.

The Early Game
The Black Dragon is master of the sands. He should start with a plan to control the region quickly and potentially work with the other Kingdoms to support this plan. The region can extend all the way to the Runnimede mountain range and surround Arcania on three sides. Several kingdoms pose an early threat to the Black Dragon.

The Ranger: The biggest threat to the Black Dragon in the early game is the Ranger. Armed with better troops, better leaders and better emissaries, the Ranger can be a formidable adversary. Only the Black's movement and ability to recruit wingbeasts support his defense of the Sands. An early treaty with the Ranger can be a blessing if the Ranger is predominantly in region 9. This prevents a costly war and secures a flank so that the Black can cultivate his position. Without an alliance intercept orders, wingbeast recruitment and a Chaos spell are necessary. Locating the Ranger capitol (usually in region 9) is a must and the Black needs to mass his troops to finish the Ranger capitol off.

There are several advantages to a war with the Ranger:

• Troop Levy: The Ranger must draft troops from his population centers, thereby reducing production, while the Black Dragon can recruit Wingbeasts.
• The Ranger has a hard time taking the Black capitol before turn 5 while the Black can sacrifice gold (in large quantities) to recruit hordes of wingbeasts and strike the Ranger capitol.

The major disadvantage to an early war is the delay in developing the Black Dragon kingdom. This will impact the mid-to-late game and will prevent the Black from winning.

The Demon Princes: Although the Princes are weak in the initial stages of an individual game they provide a regional buffer and a strong ally in the mid-game. Peace should be a priority with the Demon Princes since the Black can leapfrog the region in an assault.

The Sorceror: The Sorceror typically wants to develop wizards but if war with the Ranger is a possibility a firm alliance with your local wizard power is a necessity. An alliance with the sorceror can provide needed magical support in the late game with critical spells such as Dispel Regional Effect and Dispel Dome of Invulnerability.

The Giant: In an individual game the Giant is less likely to come south in the early game. The Giant typically starts with a population center in Southern Sands and an amicable trade for the Black Village in Amberland is an excellent move.

The Red Dragon: The biggest, baddest troops in the game are your natural enemy. As of mid-April the blood feud rules will no longer be in effect and the Red will not be as dangerous a threat as he was in the past (The Red use to be able to arrive at your capitol and attack it while the 20 Brigades of Black Dragons watched in frustration due to the feud rules). Keep a wary eye on your natural enemy but the Black's economic and political strength should negate the Brigade advantage of the Red.

The Game
The Black Dragon is a strong position but needs to be developed. Attacking too early is catastrophic and too late is boring. Evaluate the players, develop the alliances and let the hordes escape.

 

Thoughts on Natural Enemies in Alamaze
following completion of my first game

Rick Ghan

When I first learned about Second Cycle Alamaze it was the Natural Enemy rules that appeared to me to breathe life into the scenario. Even though diplomacy between players remains the most important and uncertain part of Alamaze, as with all PBM games, I would at least be able to determine one kingdom that every player would be willing to actively work against. The possibilities diplomatically appeared endless... This would not be a game where predictable alliances would often be created because any king who chose an ally would simultaneously choose an enemy. It would be great to befriend the mighty Giants, but not necessarily at the cost of Witchking wizards decimating my troops and popcenters!

My disappointment was keen once I realized that most players prefer not to work directly against their Natural Enemy due to the hurdles hindering such action that are not present when attacking any of the other kingdoms. As the Underworld I assumed that every single scrap of intelligence would be valuable to at least one kingdom. This is not true, as most Natural Enemies don't usually clash, certainly not early in the contest and often not even later in the contest. In fact, it is the rare exception to see Natural Enemies in open conflict with one another. Most kings take a wait and see attitude to determine whether their Natural Enemy makes it through the initial phase of the game and into the mid or late game.

Other than the inverse relationship in the rise or decline of a Natural Enemy's influence, the rules for interaction between Natural Enemies only serve to illicit a reluctance to attack. Why send political figures into a Natural Enemy's region when your reaction won't rise above suspicious? Your armies have to contend with this regional reaction as well and you won't even force your opponent to waste an order to declare you an enemy. Natural Enemies should be almost uncontrollably dedicated to the wholesale slaughter of one another, rather than merely possessing accumulated defenses against one another.

Below are a few thoughts intended to stimulate discussion and hopefully provide an incentive for Natural Enemies to actively and aggressively work against one other (absent exceptional diplomacy or friends simultaneously controlling each other's Natural Enemy). I don't believe any of the following suggestions either individually or collectively serve to introduce imbalance into the game. After all, every kingdom (except the Underworld) will have identical prospects of reaping the rewards inherent in open conflict.

The only caveat for the following suggestions is that the benefits listed only accrue to a king who directly accomplishes the action. For example, should the Ranger decimate a BL brigade or a BL brigade destroy a TR brigade no additional benefits would be realized. but should the TR or RA annihilate one another's brigades then gold, information and inexpensive troops all are potential rewards.

1. Assassinate, or execute, a Natural Enemy's political figure should gain an increase in influence equal to power of the emissary (i.e. King = 1.0, Prince = .8, etc.).
2. Assassinate, or execute, a Natural Enemy's agent should gain information on the number and quality of remaining agents/fanatics in your Natural Enemy's employ.
3. Assassinate, or slay in any fashion, your Natural Enemy's wizards should gain gold equivalent to your kingdom's cost to raise a wizard to that level from the preceding level (i.e. 4 x 11,000 = 44,000 gold if DE kills AN wizards).
4. Eliminating Natural Enemy's kingdom named brigades should result in an equal number of brigades of "captives" joining your army (if an active or inactive army is located at your capital). "Captives" should fight just as they would for your Natural Enemy, less 25% in all terrain (they are captives and not loyal to your kingdom), but are not paid even though they must be fed.
5. Eliminating Natural Enemy's leaders should gain information on the number and quality of remaining leaders in all your Natural Enemy's armies.

The above proposed rule changes are intended to provide an incentive for kings to actively target their Natural Enemy, in spite of the obstacles that hinder one when attacking one's Natural Enemy. As the Underworld I have been aware of armies of Natural Enemies well within each other's intercept radius and have found neither king willing to pay or commit other resources in exchange for the information because "we are not at war." With the above suggested rule changes a king would be extremely foolish to not consider delaying pursuit of a goal to smash his Natural Enemy. In addition, the knowledge of a Natural Enemy so close would force a king to, at a minimum, take defensive precautions he might not otherwise because he knows the benefits his Natural Enemy might reap from attacking him are exceptionally enticing.

This dynamic is precisely how I envision Natural Enemies interacting. Dwarves should stop everything to crush Gnomes, while Darkelves can't stand the sight of surface Elves and this racial hatred should be too strong to ignore. Rangers should take every opportunity available to cleanse the forests of Trolls, while the eternal struggle between the Ancient Ones and the Demon Princes should be incessant. After all, why should a Demon Prince care about even a dozen popcenters when confronted with the opportunity to slay forever the soul of a Consul?

 

Alamaze Inertia

Chris Kessel

I've been playing Alamaze off and on for about 13 years, ever since the Dragon Magazine review of it so long ago. I never won, never even placed, until recently. I had a habit of starting strong and fast, but fizzling out in the mid-game and dropping or becoming a non-factor. Why? What was happening?

We've all heard of the law of inertia. An object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest. Essentially, I would lose my Alamaze inertia. I'm a reasonable diplomat and I would quickly gain control of my region or portions of a couple regions. Then, all friendly with everyone around me, I'd build up a bit...and a bit more...then I'd get squashed. The problem was, I was at rest while the game leaders were in motion. Yes, I was building up nicely, but I wasn't building with a focus towards any goal. My Alamaze inertia would come to a stop and the game leaders would pass by me (or through me).

I improved slowly, doing a better job each game of maintaining some inertia, but my breakthrough game was as the Troll in game 400. The Troll simply requires you keep moving or you're dead. More motivating for me though, a stationary Troll is just downright boring!

So, now, having placed 1st, 1st, 2nd in my last three games I feel competent enough that I thought I'd shared my ideas on what I've done right lately vs. what I used to do wrong. Maybe it'll help someone else who just didn't quite understand why their kingdoms keep fizzling out.

Ways to avoid becoming a kingdom "at rest":

1. Grow that political corp! Even if you're going to be at peace for a few turns, try to hire a governor each turn and sit them in your towns and villages. A handful of governors works two-fold. First, you have more options for attack. Second, they help slow down someone else's inertia if they try to attack you. Also remember, your influence is part of your political power so make regular additions to it. The same applies to regional reactions. I tend to increase my influence on the same turns I buy governors.
   Also, increase the regional reaction rate BEFORE your targets are worried about you. If wait until the point of attack you might tip your hand because, by then, someone is regularly reconning your capital.
2. Grow those wizards! This is obvious if you're a wizard power, but all kingdoms can use wizards to enhance their natural strengths. As the Underworld, multiple power-2 wizards help sleep potential targets. As the Troll, speed spells are useful and as is a power-3 to dispel magic or protect a group from regional effect. Of course, diplomacy is useful for everyone. As the Troll, I used power-3 speed spells to avoid force march penalties or move farther than a force march would allow.
3. Position your troops! Troops sitting deep in your territory are 2-3 turns from being useful. Yes, it takes orders to move them around, but if you can get your troops on the border you can make quick strikes when you do decide to attack. Think about what kind of strike you want to make as well. Are you diplomacying, thus 4 smaller groups work well, or are you taking out a capital city? In game 400, I spent a couple turns positioning 4 groups on the edge of Amberland. Then I swarmed, moving onto 4 population centers plus my emissary attack. They weren't your classic HUGE troll groups and they didn't have to be.
   Wizard kingdoms particularly need to move their troops around from time to time. Hiding in ambush or invisibility really doesn't help if you never move. A divination, bounced emissary, or a locate group spell will quickly point out your location anyway. A surprised wizard group is a dead wizard group.
4. Go artifact hunting! Get an agent-4 or two and start looking for artifacts. This is order intensive, but keeps your inertia moving! Agents will find things close by, so you don't need to teleport to go investigate. Encounters almost always raise/create heroes, you'll get gold on success, and you get an artifact. You're helping the inertia for your military, your economy, and an artifact always helps in some way. I won game 405 in large part because I found the Staff of the Orator early in my region with an agent-4. I game 412, I found 2 battle artifacts early and turned the normally passive Gnome into a fighting machine.
5. As always, keep in touch with your neighbors. A friendly neighbor to gossip with can make all the difference in determining how to focus your inertia.

Black Company Journal - Game 418

Dave Thomas

NOVEMBER 18, 2002

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Early Winter, Year 1102

After a long rest in Khavotar, the company again seeking adventure and conquest set out through the World Gate into a world called Alamaze. We took a position in a land called Runnimede a land inhabited by Gnomes and Fire Drakes. Being an old man, a new young leader named Lamon has stepped forward as our King. I have taken the role of Keeper of the annuals, and occasional emissary in this strange land. It also appears that our special skills are unique in this world, while there are agent teams here, none compare to our special talents and numbers.

We sent out envoys and spies to the known kingdoms in the area upon our arrival. It appears that the land is ripe and fruitful, but there are others with strength and power within this world, and information must be gathered on them. While my age makes my body fragile, my mind recalls the mistakes we made in the Jewel Cities on acting without information. We would not make that mistake again as long as those of us remember that tragedy. Within days agreements or peace were struck with the Gnome Kingdom, including a peaceful way to divide the region of Runnimede.

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Late Spring, Year 1102

Within a few seasons we had control of the region, while the Gnome King was satisfied with the metropolis of Cradia. Resources were plenty, and we opened up the agent-training academy for our use as well as an extra source of income. We negotiated peace with many different kingdoms over a vast area divided into 10 regions. Our eyes and ears across the land informed us that a great struggle in the north of great red drakes and an evil conclave of mages lead by a leader called the Witchlord. Most or the other kingdoms were content with peace for the first 8 seasons of our stay in this land. We have discovered that our military strength while considered formidable in the Shadowlands is extremely weak in this land of Giants, Trolls and Winged Creatures we call Dragons. If we want to conquer this land, we will need to rely on our abilities as diplomats, covert operations, and the few wizards we have. In the seventh season, the Troll Kingdom allied with the Ancients attacked the Elf King in his woods. At the same time, a group of Sorcerers joined with the Red Dragons to smash the Darkmage into submission in the Mists. From an invisible position a Sorcerer patrol stealthily slew three arch mages of the Witchlord’s force, and then slew more of the mages while concealed in darkness. The Darkmage was demoralized losing most of his forces as well as most of the powerful wizards under his control, retreated into the unknown, yet not gone from this world, patiently waiting for a chance at vengence. The very same season, the Rangers on the backs of Black Dragons flew against the Troll’s homeland, forcing the Troll and his Ancient companions to return home. While the Elf King breathed a sigh of relieve, then from the mountains came a giant humanoid race joined with Warlocks to oppose the Elves. Once again the Elf King fought for his race’s existence. A few seasons later a race of demon princes, an abomination of this world joined the Black Dragon and Ranger forces against the Troll/Ancient Kingdoms. During these seasons, we kept to ourselves, aiding Kings here and there for favors, resources and holdings determining whom we could work with and who would fall prey to the strength of others. The Black Company does not seek nor support weak allies! We chose to side with the Giant King and his Warlock allies as they offered gold and resources for our services.

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Mid Winter, Year 1103

Then came a report of deceit to our King that infuriated him to near insanity. An invisible group went into an artifact site just before ours for the fabled Stone of All Minds. Our King Lamon demanded that unknown Kingdom should pay dearly for not communicating this fact with us, that deceiving us will not be tolerable. Our seers divined that the Demon King and his Princes had possession of the great Stone. While I counseled our leader on opposing forces without alliances, he called our forces to war on the Demon King. His obsession for this bauble was beyond my knowledge, so I trusted his mettle and joined with the Company in preparation against this aberration. In our twelfth season in this foreign land, we attacked the evil virus in the region called Arcania. Our agents quickly kidnapped his spies among us, and located and stole a seers stone called a Palantir. At the beginning of our 3rd year in this land, we executed an attack plan against the demon horde, kidnapping his King, and assassinating one of his Black mages. Before agent group Delta could rest, they kidnapped the newly crowned Demon Regent, and an emissary we later found out was a count. One-eye executed them slowly in the dungeon while carefully extracting information about them. Delta’s confidence was high and went after the newest leader and again was successful. Another Demon Prince was sent back to the Abyss. The arrogance of these people, believing so much in their supernatural talents to aid them was nothing to Delta’s unique skills. With three of the four supernatural creatures gone from this kingdom, we had crippled them without yet an invasion. Once again Delta went in to kidnap the newest of the demon leaders but this time they were ready, and Delta was lost to us. That is when we found out that Delta had found a ring of great power causing his team to work invisibly, explaining the curious luck that allowed him to kill 3 Kings in a row. Still reeling from the loss of leadership, we moved into the region of Arcania, both with small military groups and skillful diplomats. In the 18th season, agent Korrept found the demon arch mage and slew him, crushing the demon resistance and our momentum into Arcania was bolstered.

The Black Dragons and his Ranger allies had slaughtered the Troll kingdom, and the Elf was a shell of his former greatness barely surviving the Giant’s ogre hordes. The Ancients had retreated into their solitudes outside the reach of our world. Madness had struck the land, everywhere wars raged, except in the Talking Mountains where the little Dwarves mined for gold and constructed walls and the halls of Cradia where the little Gnomes did the same. A fable of a city of gold was rumored in the lands, and worry of great wizards able to destroy cities walked the earth. The skies of Arcania burned black from the carnage of our war. The Ranger forces coupled with the Black Dragon armies moved against the Sorcerer’s undead legions and the Red Drakes of the North. The Darkmage roamed the world with vengeance against his arcane brother the Sorcerer. For years it seemed the Sorcerer’s minions would feel his wrath.

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Late Summer, Year 1103

By the 25th season, the Demon Kingdom was reduced to a few rebel groups wandering the lands like nomads, attacking anything in sight. News from the Gnome King came about the Demon nomads attack his capital capturing a plethora of his subjects, nearing 30 in total. We decided that while our military capabilities were weak, we would attack the Demon King’s stronghold to put them in our care so we can ransom them back to the Gnome Kingdom. The attack was executed and victory was ours due to the earthquakes magically cast by our wizard corps. Arcania was our as our second region was secured. Demon rebels still around like flies on cattle, but reduced to only an annoyance.

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Early Winter, Year 1104

This world had changed in the 29 seasons we have resided here. Great armies now roamed the land pillaging the spoils. The skies are black and smoky casting darkness even during the day. Wizards with power beyond imagination roam the earth casting magics unknown to us, villages being swallowed whole by the earth itself, surrounded by legions of the walking dead. The Red Drakes had returned to their snowy mountain peaks to sleep, and the Elves returned in small numbers to the high treetops in peace.

Our leader was arrogant and boastful, a trait that the old Company was not accustom too as we were always searching for survival until now. However we now controlled more territory in this new land than any other Kingdom, and he was proud of it. Kingdoms feared the terror caused by our agent groups. Their accomplishments of stealing prized artifacts and kidnapping high-level leaders was discussed abroad. The stories and rumors of their feats were nearly humorous to those of us who really knew the truth as our new King was notorious for exaggerating the terrorism caused by us. He felt that the perception of our power was more important than the true power held. Illusions of great strength in the minds of our enemies would cause them to think twice about attacking us, and so far it had worked.

Agents, military groups and emissaries made their way North into a land called Torvale, finding the Ranger’s influence split with the Black Dragon’s. We moved under the guise of stealth, and swiftly took the two major metropolises located in Torvale. We captured Torvale in our 28th season, but still under siege of the Black Dragon armies that blotted out the sky, massive flying creatures of speed and strength. We lost Torvale as quickly as we gained it, then only to gain it back again. Our agent teams kidnapping multiple Dragon leaders attempting to circumvent our own. Then our elite agent team led by Silent, one of the old company that came through the gate, managed to kidnap the Black Dragon King. He was quickly executed, as the dungeon was most likely unable to contain him. Torvale was ours, not totally, but enough so that we were satisfied with the conquest. We offered peace with the Dragons and their Ranger allies as rumors of the Demon menace had returned to the land and threatened our homeland. After 30 seasons, we had control of 3 regions, and the Black Company was measured among the elite kingdoms in the land.

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Late Spring, Year 1104

The Gnome then struck Alamaze, blitzing the east with everything he had. Moving almost carelessly though the regions in a quick attempt to arrest control. The swiftness of the assault worked, and the Gnome Kings efforts were rewarded with control of the Eastern Steppes and Synisvania. However the backlash from the prior owners haunted him still. The Gnome still blitzing through the lands, found his main army facing that of the Dwarves, both seeking the prize city of Amberland, Evanon. The Dwarven army group was enormous, probably unrivalled at that time. The Gnome group invisible under the magic of its mages thought it might have surprise, but quickly learned the Dwarves were aware of their presence. The Dwarf army attacked and destroyed the Gnome force to the man. A blow that depressed the Gnome King, and forced him to end his blitz campaign against the lands of Alamaze. The Dwarf Warlord grasped ELAN, the Flaming Sword from the Gnome commander’s dead hand to use in future battles. The Dwarves military was a force to be reckoned with, and we treated it with caution.

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Late Summer, Year 1104

It was widely believed that if we could control 2 more regions for a total of 5, the Kings of the land and the High Council would agree to submit to the leadership of the Black Company. Plans were discussed for several seasons on how to accomplish such a task. During this planning period, our troops moved once again against the Demon rebellion crushing its resources and pushing it back into the dark creases, yet they could still not be extinguished, finding somewhere to hide. The plan then came to mass assaults into three different regions at the same time. Troops were trained, agents relocated, and emissaries sent ahead to work deals of negotiations. In the 33rd season, we moved a presence into Amberland, Synisvania, and the Northern Mists. The plan was two steps forward, one step back, planning on the loss of one region, but hopefully gaining three in return. Our agent teams were unequalled, and that was the strength we would carry into the final assault for control of the realm of Alamaze.

Quickly after this, the Dwarf King sent envoys to discuss movement into the Mists, which he claimed for his own. He was in conflict with the Giant forces at the time, and was always friendly to our King. He worked diligently negotiating a peaceful resolution that included the Giant King. Then the Dwarf claiming confusion of the communication process declared us an enemy in the eyes of the world, and attacked the Giant City that he told King Lamon he wouldn’t. It was a blow to our King that he allowed the Dwarf King to undermine the plan, and with a great vengeance the King ordered the dismantling of the Dwarven nation. Great miscommunication followed causing distress to our King as well as all the nations of this world. But in Black Company style, we would solve this on the battlefield, words are just words.

From Governor Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Early Autumn, Year 1104

During this time the Warlock Conclave had grown extremely powerful. The Great Destroyers had started its genocide campaign in the lands of Alamaze. The Rangers, Dwarves, Gnomes and Black Dragons swiftly opposed the Black arts of these arch-mages. Whole cities were being swallowed whole by the earth, towns and villages were not immune. The mages were concentrating on the North, destroying population wherever they hid. The earth swallowed great cities, towns vanished, and it was a gruesome thought to those of us who came through the gate in the beginning. Those who have joined our ranks since we arrived had seen this before in their history with stories of the Darkmage, a being of immense evil and power. Our own magic was insignificant to the power of these beings possessed and we didn’t want any part of bringing that power against us. The Warlocks destroyed the two cities in Amberland under our control, forcing us to redirect to the towns and villages for control of the region. Yet we still did not want to catch the attention of the destroyers of the world and allowed this destruction to happen.

We moved into the Mists with a third of our force, the others diligently acquiring resources in the other two regions, executing the original plan. The plan was working under the patience of our leader’s will. The Dwarf holdings became insignificant in the Mists in time. Our agents executed Dwarven resistance in mass numbers, including 5 barons, and multiple agents trained in our own academy. We acquired the priceless artifacts from the Dwarf’s hands, including the fabled Sword of ELAN from the great Dwarven army. Not much use to us, but known to have immense power in the hands of our enemies. The King forbid our agent teams in attempts on the Dwarf King himself, why I cannot write. His mercy is of his own understanding. The old company would have disposed of him first and foremost.

While our forces acquired Synisvania, we lost Torvale and Arcania. The Gnomes that we called Brothers had decided to stop our global conquest of this land and took key assets in both regions. At the same time, the Demons once again assaulted Arcania for the 3rd time, only to find the Gnome presence beside us. The very next season, the Gnome attacked our old capital site with an invisible army. Our good King had moved to a safer location a while back, and the Gnome’s intelligence had not discovered this fact. If only he had the experience we suffered in the Jewel Cities. Our presence diminished in Arcania swiftly, and it appeared that the step back in the plan would be Arcania. However, from nowhere we took control of Amberland! The Warlock had claimed enough victims in his genocide of terror that the controlling population had sided with our company.

From Baron Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Mid Autumn, Year 1104

We moved swiftly in the Mists, and the Dwarf resistance there, ignoring the loss of Arcania for now. We also moved to retake our losses in Torvale, still working for the 2 regions we needed to declare victory and peace. Diligently our unmatched agents Saura, Silent, Sleepy and Tobo, tracked down Dwarven artifacts, agents and emissaries of high rank. I believe the good King Lamon wanted the Dwarf King to see the losses of his leaders and henchmen. In a bold move, after 41 seasons of conquest in this strange land, we moved against the cities of Viperhead and Avalon to regain control of the 2 regions we needed. The King called for careful silence that no nation should learn of the attempt, so no one was told of the potential victory.

From Baron Croaker, Keeper of the Annuals of the Black Company:
Mid Winter, Year 1105

In one sharp move, our Kingdom took control of the Mists and Torvale. While the Demon horde had taken control of Arcania from us, they had to submit to our nation. The High Council named our King ruler of the lands, and the best fruits were ours. The Warlocks were forced to return to their towers, no longer to allowed to continue their genocide campaign. The lands found peace in the Black Companies control of the lands.

Those of us from the old company have decided to leave this land for other adventures; peace doesn’t sit with us long. We did take the time to relax and read from the old journals of our ancestors, stories of the Jeweled Cities, and the 10 that were taken. Stories of the World Tree and the monster buried beneath. But those of us that have been with the Company of a long time can’t stay settled for long. Travel is apart of us, and so is adventure. This is a chronicle of the Black Company in the lands of Alamaze.

This short story was written in dedication to Glen Cook, author of The Black Company series. My emissaries and agents were all assigned names from this book series, read them if you like fantasy adventure, I think you will like them if you like Alamaze.