Once upon a time, there was a mighty empire that was the envy of the world. But as time went on, the empire decayed. Its emperors and officials grew increasingly incompetent, corrupt, and cruel. The corruption spread to its armies, as discipline faltered and its legions became increasingly reliant upon foreign mercenaries. Its outer provinces faced increasing poverty and instability, and slowly receded.
Once upon a time, an aging emperor reflected upon his mortality, upon the decline both of his empire and of his health, and decided that he would overcome these by any means necessary.
Few know of what blaspemies that mad emperor committed, save that it involved the blood sacrifice of thousands of slaves, the deaths of tens of thousands, and the total destruction of that great empire.
This land has changed greatly since then. New kingdoms have arisen from the ashes of that empire. Empires rise and fall with the seasons, yet this age is but a shadow of the glories of Nimeria. This is an age of strife and horror. Demons, vampires, werewolves, and wicked covens stalk the land, preying upon the innocent and unwary. Kings wage pointless wars even in the face of countless horrors, and another great empire, motivated by these apocalyptic signs, comes from across the mountains to lay claim on the lands of her ancient rival.
The Faiths of Men
The Church of Raius, or Ecclesia Raius (yeah yeah Nimerian is mostly Latin, what of it?)
The faith of Nimeria before her catastrophic fall. A monotheistic faith based upon the worship of the god Raius in His three aspects -- the Healer of Maladies, the Merciful Knight, and the Sacrificial Lamb -- through the intercession of a pantheon of saints. Practitioners of this faith pray and offer sacraments of wine at sacred altars. The rituals of the Raian Church can invoke blessings, and create holy water: a devastating weapon against evil.
The Faith of Vaan, or Chareh-e Vaan
The faith of the ancient Sarvanian Empire. A strange faith, both monotheistic and polytheistic, based around the worship of Vaan, who is the Universe, and Its many aspects. This is an ancient, complex religion, based around fire, water, and light. At fire and water shrines, those of the priestly Nahveshkar caste offer sacrifices of meat and fat, water, wine, milk, and above all of sacred, fragrant wood, to invoke the djinn -- sacred elemental spirits -- and gain sacred ash that can bestow the blessings of the Universe upon those anointed with it.
The Way of Jaran, or 'Aqit 'el'Ijran
The new faith of the Akhadians, based on the teachings of a djinni-binding sorcerer-poet named Jaran, who in turn claimed to follow in the footsteps of the ancient sorcerer-king Bilanos of Varasia. A young, monotheistic religion, influenced by the Church of Raius, the Way of Vaan, and their own ancient polytheism. Ijran is a simple, minimalistic, puritan faith, with no altars but simply rugs used for prayer. The followers of Elsaar, god of the Ijrani faith (and, some say, simply the Ijrani form of Raius), have developed a technique for binding and enslaving djinn, and are also adept at dealing with other sorts of spirits.
The Way of the Gods, or 'Aqit 'el'Asiraah
The old faith of the Akhadians, based on the worship of a vast pantheon of celestial deities. The polytheistic Akhadians have a long tradition of astronomy, and most of their deities are related either to the stars, the sky, or abstract concepts. Animal sacrifice is an important part of the religion, but the more common offerings of the Akhadians are incense, milk, and precious water.
The Old Way, or Lofnamin
The old, bloody faith of the Vods. A religion with strong shamanic elements, worshipping a mix of high yet bloody gods, the Edhalum, and giant, primordial nature spirits, the Syndar. The sacrifices of blood, milk, and wine are prominent in this faith.
The Races of Men
Agerans, or Ageranoi
A race of men from an ancient coastal theocracy. Their ancient kingdom was one of the first lands conquered by the Nimerians, and they claim to have been the originators of Nimeria's administrative traditions. This vestigial empire, ancient and brooding, claims to be the true heir to the Nimerian Empire.
Akhadians, or 'Akhad
A clever race of men from an arid land. Their religious practices are sparse and simplistic, and it is said that they use strange rituals to bind elemental spirits to their will.
Bremans, or Leudsche
An industrious, warlike race of men from a temperate feudal land. They are descended from various eastern Theodish tribes, ruled by the Rovalian Empire but never conquered by the Nimerians. They worship the Nimerian god, introduced to them by the Rovalians, but somewhat more laxly than other folk. It is said that Breman lands are dens of heresy.
Demerians, or Demeriani
A mercantile race of men who build great cities along the coast. Pious, yet greedy and fiercely proud, they consider themselves heirs to the Nimerians in culture, language, faith, and blood.
Erukaians, or Ámhbes'át
A spiritual race of men from a distant, tropical land. It is said that the god Raius (called Ta'rás in their tongue) was brought to Nimeria by an Erukan prophet in the days of the Berasan Empire. Their empire was destroyed by a mix of incompetent rulers, internal rebellion, and Sarvanian invasion, and now Erukan adventurers and mercenaries flock to the lands of the former Nimerian Empire seeking fortune and glory.
Rovalians, or Rowalleods
A proud, warlike race of men from a temperate feudal land. Descended from barbarian mercenaries of the late Nimerian Empire, their ancestors adopted the god of the Nimerians, and His church now defines their land. After the Nimerian Cataclysm, the Rovalians ruled an empire lasting for four centuries before it fell to incompetent rulership, splintering into many smaller kingdoms after its last king, Vantveg the Fat, died without naming an heir.
Sarvanians, or Saran-e Vaan
A sophisticated race of men from an ancient empire beyond the mountains. They worship the many aspects of a god of light and fire, and it is said that they consort with elemental spirits. Sarvanian legends speak of the coming of a messianic figure called the Yashyan, and it is said that the declaration of the Yashyan's imminent coming is what spurred the westward expansion of the Sarvanian Empire.
Velaise, or Velains
A romantic, chivalrous race of men from a temperate feudal land. A hybrid culture, their ancestors were Rovalians who settled in Nimerian Velaia and adopted the language and much of the culture of the local people. Fanatical followers of the Nimerian Church, it is said they pray nearly as much as they fight.
Vods, or Vodhjódskar
A warlike race of men hailing from a densely forested land. They worship the god of the Nimerians, but only half-heartedly. It is said that, within their forests and wooden forts, they still practice bloody rituals to their ancestors.
There are other beings, as well. Dwarves, elves, gnomes, demons -- multiple sorts of these, in fact -- but I'd prefer those to be just a little bit mysterious so I probably won't elaborate unless specifically asked (not that I assume anyone would bother).
Changelog 1.4.9.8
Mostly bugfixing (bread works now, among other things!), some tweaks, I removed two duplicate buildings, I added numerous missing buildings and reactions to entities that they were supposed to go to, I added missing item descriptions, I added a few more creatures.
Roving bands of possessed, murderous humans and elves now roam evil biomes, driven to kill the living on sight!
Akhadian paganism more fleshed out!
In addition, I added numerous more plants, perfume, and a perfume industry -- mostly for the Akhadians, who have long been traders and producers of perfume.
In addition, improved textiles -- primarily for Akhadians and Sarvanians, but also for the Agerans and Sand Elves! You can use them as prayer rugs, or just to add class to any area! You can even use them as doors for a tent!
Also, I fleshed out and improved the Snow Elves a bit, and made them and the dwarves playable.
Changelog 1.4.9.1
Mostly bugfixing this time. There were some bugs in a few things I added sort of last minute. Particularly with the Varasian Mummies.
In addition, I added in the ability to prepare, store, and properly burn incense -- pretty handy when there's religious rituals that require it.
In addition, I actually made the small couple of magical artifacts added attainable in game. My bad for being careless.
Oh, and you can also light candles/lamps/torches, so they're actually semi-functional now! Of questionable usefulness, but still!
In addition, Snow Elves can now perform religious rituals to summon the spirits of their ancestors, just as Sand Elves and Dwarves can.
Changelog 1.4.9
Many, many, many bugfixes. I've gone through these raws with a fine-toothed comb. Errors, screw-ups, and anything that seemed off. If I missed anything, if anything seems odd, please for the love of Raius/Vaan/Elsaar let me know.
Religion system now actually functional! Fully functional, in fact! Prayer and sacrifice have a small chance (the chance depending on the act, of course) of granting a holy sign of some sort. These holy signs can, funnily enough, be stored and used. They represent the blessings of the divine, and can be used to perform greater rituals and receive true favors and benefits. In addition, when held, they grant blessings to the faithful and dreadful punishments to the impure and impious.
Raians can, optionally, desecrate their altars and begin the dark, bloody road of witchcraft and devilry.
Keep in mind, however, that this is extremely dangerous and very likely to end with your entire settlement facing a terrible fate and becoming a scene of unspeakable horror. In addition, if you go down this road, you can never return: Raius will abandon you, and you will be able to build no more altars and receive no blessings. In fact, if you touch a holy sign of Raius once you begin this path, it will burn and destroy the hand that touches it. If you pray to Raius once you begin this path, you will either get nothing or you will be punished for your insolence.
Akhadians now largely pagan, with Ijran simply being an option for an individual player settlement. In the era of the Akhadians seen in this version, Ijran is in its infancy; the scattered, tribal Akhadians seen here still largely practice either Raianism or their traditional polytheism, focused around stone altars flanked by braziers.
Pagan altar now available for Vods as well, who have only half-converted to the Nimerian faith.
Note that, for both Akhadians and Vods, the choice between paganism and their respective new faith is a deciding one: if you build a pagan altar, both the Raian altar and the prayer rug will be forbidden to you unless you desecrate that pagan altar, in which case you will never be able to build another.
Witches improved and better fleshed out, with magical powers granted to them by unclean spirits. Further, if you go down the road of devilry described earlier, you will have the chance to become a witch or warlock, offering yourself utterly to the demons in exchange for knowledge and power.
The religions of the non-humans are now also fleshed out. All except for the Wood Elves, as they are simply too alien for me to ever make even theoretically playable. Note of course that, by default, all non-humans except Sand Elves are unplayable, though this can be toggled.
New creatures added! In addition, there are some more hints about ancient Varasia: a mysterious ancient land of city-states ruled by sorcerous priest-kings, which predated both the Agerans and later Nimerians and vied with both for dominance over the Aelean Sea.
Artifacts and magical materials added! In addition djinni steel! Speaking of steel and djinn (well, tangentially), the Akhadians now have patterned-welded steel, as they properly should!
Numerous other things, though there's probably at least one thing that still needs done, or that can be improved!
Changelog 1.4.2
There were some bugs left that I've fixed, specifically with the caste profession names. I fixed those.
On a larger note, I removed the slave castes from the playable Agerans, Akhadians, and Vods (no more having half your starting party be uncontrollable pets), and implemented a full slavery system. Those slaves still exist, but entirely separately from the ones you play as, and alongside slaves of every human and elven race, along with dwarves and goblins. Slaves are traded by the Agerans and Akhadians above all (particularly the latter), bought and sold by merchants, though the Vods also participate in the slave trade and, though not trading in fellow Raians or peoples of distant sun-baked lands, such as Akhadians, Sarvanians, and Sand Elves, they do have some slaves unique to themselves -- slaves taken from the races of the North. In addition, Agerans, Akhadians, Demerians, Sarvanians, and Vods all have slave markets, at which free citizens can be forced into slavery, and slaves can be freed.
Slaves are, of course, considered livestock little different from cattle and thus are largely unable to be directly controlled, but they do all have a number of useful skills that they will automatically perform. Male slaves are suited for heavy, backbreaking labor such as mining or farming, while female slaves are useful as weavers, gatherers, singers, dancers, and cooks. However, note that the slaves of some cultures have different skillsets than these; for instance, dwarven slaves of both sexes are fine miners, smiths, and crafters of stone and metal, but are suited to little else, while goblins are adept butchers, leatherworkers, bonecarvers, and strand extractors. In addition to these slaves, however, are ghulams; elite combat slaves trained from early childhood, with useful (though slightly different for each race) military skills.
In addition, the language of the Snow Elves is changed, and the glaciers are now inhabited by Ice Gnomes.
In addition, I further edited and (I think) improved the graphics of the Akhadians. They now have much more of a consistent, classically Arab feel.
In addition, I got rid of a couple of creatures. Namely walrus-men. No, there was no deep lore reason for there to be walrus men, I just sort of accidentally left them in.
EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention. I removed the random cooking skill from the male peasant farmers. It was there by mistake.
Changelog 1.3.8
Mostly bugfixes this time. There were apparently a lot of bugs that I somehow missed.
I also fixed up numerous positions (particularly for the Bremans and Agerans), and tried to make things run smoother.
Feral vampires now have an attack trigger, so they'll no longer just show up and slaughter your entire village before you've even seen your first merchant caravan.
I removed the Sun-Drying Workshop and all of its reactions, because it served no real purpose; even making clay bricks could be much more easily and better done at the Kiln.
I fixed the Thatchery reactions as well. They're actually useful now and not laughably terrible.
Oh, and graphics for the tropical civs have been fixed, so papermakers no longer look like elite warriors
Changelog 1.3.4
ANNOUNCEMENTS CHANGED! You know when you start a fort, or when you meet a diplomat, or really any text screen in Fortress Mode? They've all been changed. They no longer imply dwarfishness; you're playing as men, not dwarves.
Lots and lots of various bugfixes (that's the majority of it), a new building for the Akhadians and Sarvanians (the Riding Ground), a number of language and flavor updates, some price adjustments, Sand Elves are now playable, and Tigermen now have a priestly caste.
In addition, a few things have been removed. Namely, all those pointless heraldic surcoats that the game had to load. They're all gone; now there's just a generic Heraldic Surcoat, along with Heraldic Heater, Kite, and Round shields, thus making things smoother and easier, and making the RONH version obsolete (as mentioned earlier).
Changelog 1.2.8
Numerous bugfixes in graphics, languages, and gameplay. Sarvanians had their graphics fixed (they weren't assigned graphics as I'd changed their names in objects but not graphics).
The grass and other tile oddities have been cleaned up. Now they're fine no matter what tileset you're using, and whether you go ASCII or full graphics!
Akhadians, Agerans, Erukaians, and so on all had their military unit graphics fixed (turns out their militia captains had graphics but the number sets were somehow empty, as I am sentient only by technical definition). They also had their graphics improved.
Civ positions improved, and in a couple of cases fixed where they were broken.
Items missing DFHack descriptions had descriptions added.
Leather standardized! This is a big optimization; everything runs, loads, and gens a lot smoother when the game doesn't have to keep track of elevently billion individual types of leather. Consequently, item names flow better ("boots" vs "spotted wobbegong leather boots"), and it's more immersive as a result.
Other, more minor optimizations done. Also fixed some really dumb things like people farming and eating poisonous fumaria.
Fixed up some names, including of fumaria (fumewort).
New words added, mostly lore or flavor.
New creatures and buildings added.
Tigermen now commonly appear in Sarvanian settlements, having come with the Sarvanian Empire from the distant East.
Also, I removed the frog demons because... I mean really, what did they add?
