Isles of Wonder
by Aleksei Andrievski, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi
Creation time: about 12 hours, not including playtesting
Size: XL
Difficulty: normal
Players: 6 human or computer, one of each class
Made for Summer 1997 mapmaking contest

The story:
  Long ago, when gods were creating the various worlds, they got tired of
always making basically the same thing and decided for once to have some
fun. So they created the Isles of Wonder, where the laws of nature were
completely nullified, with the result of having extreme oddities in terrain,
climate, and land form. Each god created one isle to his tastes:
  Hormeus, god of chivalry, created the King's Isle, where brave (or foolish)
  knights established their domain.
  Nerugal, god of death, created the Skull Isle, which was well-suited to the
  tastes of evil, extremely disgusting, and boneheaded necromancers.
  Thiwar, god of war and blood, built the Beast Isle, where savage, fierce,
  and generally unhygienic barbarians soon migrated.
  Andyra, goddess of forests and rivers, created the Phoenix Isle, whose
  lush forests and empty wastelands attracted the environmentally aware
  and awfully cute sorceresses.
  Kalishara, goddess of destruction, created the Dragon Isle, where the
  cursed, vile, and very, very bad warlocks settled down.
  Elzurian, god of magic, created Ye Isle of Magic, on which old, decrepit,
  and oddly-speaking wizards built their castle.
  Umar, god of prophecy, created Jazirat al-Jinn, the Isle of the Genies,
  where lost cities and the forty bandits (but not Ali Baba) can be found.
  Blubglup, god of disgusting things, created the Isle of the Swamp Thing,
  where according to the legends, that monster lives still.
  Bartolomeo, god of tourism, created the Watery Waste Resort, which even
  now attracts visitors from around the world.
  And Mantus, god of the mind, created the Beach Isle - the only sane isle
  in the world.
You take the role of one of the six lords. Your job is, pure and simple, to
take over the world. Why bother? Well, the gods have promised that they
would make the world normal if someone can establish his firm rule among
the chaos. So? So, that lord will then be running the show, reigning
gloriously and getting all the girls (or boys in case of the sorceress).
He/she will also get a score which will be entered into the ancient and
mysterious scroll kept by the gods, known as the Hall of Fame.



H&T (Hints & Tips):
* Barbarians have the advantage of Pathfinding - there is a lot of rough
terrain on this map
* Sorceresses have the advantage of Navigation - sailing is one of the few
ways to get around.
* Knights have the advantage of movement - their area is the easiest to
walk around in, and their magical gate is the closest to their castle.
* Knights and Barbarians have the advantage of one extra artifact near the
castle (woo-hoo).
* There are events hidden around the land. Check every place thoroughly.

