
                   MAGELLAN'S MAP SUBMISSION

Map Name:	The Old Empire (Oldemp.mp2)

Map Maker:	Patrick Drapeau

E-Mail Address:	drap@digistar.mb.ca

Map Type:	6 players, possibility of 3 human players.

Description:	Peace has prevailed for 3 centuries in the Old Empire. But Imehtna the Mad crowned herself Empress of a domain that is not hers... yet.

Special Win:	NONE

Special Loss:	NONE

Special Other:	NONE

Narrative:	Ok, let's speak frankly. First of all, english is not my first language (guess wich one is...), so there will probably be some sentences that will suck...

Second, i did not design this map as a map for HOMM2. This is a world with wich i have made RPG games and Live RPG events. My first goal was to build a map of the Old Empire. So this made me build a map that would respect the balance between nations. To start a war, i only disrupted this balance by giving Simetnos more ready armies. The other nations have as much cities than Simetnos, but their soldiers are peacefully attending the fields, not knowing the dangers...

Green player is the Alliance between the nations that do not have any imperial goals. They only want peace, but to obtain it, they know they will have to conquer their greedy neighbors. Austragard is a duchy in the Shattered Lands between Ostardia and Simetnos. This people came with Northmen invaders that conquered Ostardia a millenium ago. They settled there, giving their loyalty to Ostardia or Simetnos, depending on wich was the strongest at the moment. But now, the Duke in Ertneclavah decided that he would not put his people in the hands of foolish powermongers again and decided to answer the call for unity from the Eldeer. 
The Eldeer, a renegade demon protector of the elves, decided to stop the madness of Imehtna, knowing that she would bring Death in this world and make her Queen over Life. But the art of war is almost forgotten, even for elves. So he decided that he had to try to resolve this conflict without having a war. If he could master the teleportation spell. But this spell is dangerous since the Demon War, where the demons were stripped from their control over the Arcane Plane. Magic was now for everyone who could master it. But demons now haunt the Plane, seeking for revenge. The more powerful a spell, the longer you have to spend in the Plane, the more dangerous it is for the caster. The Eldeer, himself a demon, came face to face with a superior being and had to flee through a random window. He is now trapped into a valley surrounded by volcanoes.
Epmi was the first human kingdom, but its people never became arrogant. Through the ages, they had to fight Northmen, Simetnans and Ostardians to keep their liberty. But too many times, their courage was no match against the invaders and they had to suffer years and decades of occupation. For them, it is yet another war where they will fight with all their hearts.


The blue player is Ostardia. Five centuries ago, Prestejean conquered the known world to build an empire ruled from Altefor. For 2 centuries, and for the first time, the Ostardians took revenge over the Simetnans. But this empire would not fall from human swords, but during the Demon War where dragons and creatures with no names left the empire in ashes. Nations had to reconstruct for 3 centuries and the land was called the Old Empire as no one was the master.
If Imehtna and Simetnos claim the land on the fact they were the first to rule it 2 milleniums ago, Ostardia sees its right in the fact that they were the last ones to control it. But Ostardias might is not what it used to be. In order to conquer the world again, Ostardia will have to wait a little, letting the other nations fight each other while building its strenght.


Yellow player is the Retregarh people. Retregarhs are from demonic origins. The legend says that the demons had children a long time ago, but they had no powers so they decided to kill them all by throwing them from a cliff in Fire Mountains. All but one died, rescued by the Spirit of Earth. This child, Oreste, had children with the Spirit and this is how the Retregarh is born. They call themselves Children of the Earth.
But Demons came to notice them and they called them Children of the Demons. The ancient beings lured them with promise of great power. So they became the pawns of the Demons, but they learned their lesson well and helped the other races to beat their masters during the Demon War. They have imprisoned the material parts of the Demons (red player) in a valley in the Fire Mountains.
The Yellow player offers the greatest challenge as they have to reconquer their own country before doing anything else. And afterwards, the other players will be ready to attack. And there is always the shadow of the Demons over their heads.


Purple player, Simetnos, is the big bag bully of the game. It has already 2 armies in the north to conquer and slow down other players. Its strengh is at the same time its weakness, as it can send armies on the seas and on the land, but so can the other players. Imehtna the Dark Queen has claimed the throne of the River City (Simetnos) with obscure blood lines with the ancient dinasty and by killing anybody who would get in her way. Soon, she gathered allies from Beyond and raised a bone tower in the middle of the city. From there, she casted a spell long forgotten that transformed every citizen of the city into mindless undead. Then, in front of her evil flock, she crowned herself Imperatrice of the Known World. The other cities under simetnan influence had no choice but to obey, fearing to know the same fate as the people of Simetnos. If she was to succeed in conquering the Old Empire, it would be the end of Life Cycle and the beginning of Lady Death Cycle for 10 eaons...

Orange is the Northmen. Starting slow, their isolation will make them grow big armies that could surprise an unweary player in the late part of the game. It is said that there is a lot of gold in the Lands of Ice, but also fierce enemies, but as someone said before, what does not kill you makes you stronger...

Red is the shadow of the Demons. This player is trapped, but for how long? Legends say that they can raise dragons that can burn cities with their breath...


Well, i hope you enjoy the map, if you have any comments, you can always try this email, but it will be deleted in 2-3 months as i move back to my own country.

Completely
Play-Tested:	Yes

