ES Vol. V|Iss. X: Wrath of the Norsemen, Chronicle of the Nightbreed, AAR

[therussian]

The Eagle Standard


Editor's Welcome

Well, well, well, welcome back dear readers! Yes, things are going smoothly aboard the SS Eagle Standard once again since my return, and we are cranking out articles and interviews left and right. We are nearing the end of the fifth volume, but do not be sad, this only means a new beginning!

For this 10th issue of the Eagle Standard, we have assembled an interview with Raven Darkwing, moderator and leader of the M2TW mod "The Wrath of the Norsemen", the second book to Halie Satanus's "The Chronicles of the Nightbreed", and the second (long overdue) part to my MTW AAR, "Para Dios y el Rey". Is very naice, yes?

Sir Dinadan interviewing [user]Raven Darkwing[/user], leader of Wrath of the Norsemen, a mod for Medieval 2

So it seems you've had to double-cross,bribe, and murder your way into leader of the mob. Can you give me your saga?

My Saga? It's a somehow long story, but I'll tell you.
I started working with this mod very early, as skinner, and made some units. Because a really good modder, Tsar, gave me good reference I could work without problems. The problem was, Tsar vanished and nobody knows when he will be back... Tnick, the founder of the mod and the leader at the time was not able to keep the mod running without Tsar...

He just gave us jobs, without reference or anything, the forums were not organised, well, he simply failed to lead it on his own.
So I tried to skin units on my own, but without organisation and references, a modder cannot work. I just never knew how to start a unit.

For a looong time, nothing happened and the mod was dying..
And when Tnick finally left, leaving his team with nothing, telling us he has no time for leading, but still posted in unimportant Thema Devia posts, I took my chance.

I was asking the team if they would accept me as new mod leader - Since I have some talent and experience with leadership (I know, it sounds arrogant..)

The whole team welcomed me.. I was actually pretty moved
So I took over and organised the forums - Own subforums for the graphic modders, coders, historians and arranged jobs and made them work together. It worked out very well.

I managed to bring the mod back to life, and the whole team was motivated again - And still is.
Then the problems started again. Tnick was coming back, and wanted leadership again. Well, he kept telling us he has no time for this all the time, kept posting in Thema Devia, so most of us weren't very happy about Tnick wanting leadership back...

I have to admit that we were not very friendly, but I guess that's understandable. Still, we told him real life is of course more important, but told him he should have told us earlier that he can't lead anymore... Everything would have been okay that way. But since he kept posting in Thema Devia, while telling us he has no time at the same time, he lost our trust.

Back to the story: We were not friendly, more hard, but still we haven't insulted him in any way. Well, that was the time when I received my very first hate-mail.. from Tnick..
Accusing me of being a satanist, that I insulted his mother and much more nasty stuff, he damned the mod and all of his members to burn in hell...

I was thinking about posting that Mail - And did it in the end. That made the last people who were on Tnicks side (Where there any?) giving it a second thought.

I made up a vote, where the team could choose if they accept me as new leader or want Tnick back - The vote ended with all votes for me and none for Tnick...

Since then, Tnick lost our respect, access to the mod forums and just kept bugging us in the public mod forums, asking how the mod was going like nothing ever happened...
In the end, he just kept buggin' me about crediting him for being the mod founder, and I agreed, to be honest just to make him shut up.
He still refuses to change his signature.. he still has WotN leader in it..

Well, since I took over, we made more progress than in the whole time Tnick leaded the mod... it's going forward.

That's my saga. It's pretty long, but you asked

So let me guess what your mod is about, ponies? Fairies? No wait wait, its about Norsemen. Has the idea changed a little? Anything special we should know that the descriptive title doesn't tell us?

It's about Vikings of course, that's right. But everybody can guess that from the title: Wrath of the Norsemen

What the title doesn't tell you? That there is more than just Vikings. It's not about making new Viking factions and let them invade vanilla factions - It's about making a whole new world. We have our own map, it does not cover as much land as the original Medieval II map,
but on this map, there are totally new factions, there is basically no faction we don't remodel, or at least reskin. Byzantium is in. Many Eastern Europe factions. Western Europe factions totally remade.

Imagine the original Medieval II, a few hundred years earlier, with historical units, factions and history. Not to forget pagans. We bring you the real dark middle age.

Despite who wouldn't like playing as drunken crazies, what else will make your mod appealing to us TWCerererers?

The mod has a totally different atmosphere. We have a running alpha, it's not public yet, but we have our new units in it and all - The whole looks of the game looks darker, different... more Vikingish (Is that a word? )
It really fits the scenario, and gives the game a whole new feeling. The UI and the menu have their own style, which is also fits the scenario.

You want real dark medieval game? Try WotN!
And it features so much more than just new units and factions. How many people want to play as pagans? You can. How many people want to ship over to the English Islands from Norway and go pillaging? You can.

In addition to that, we have a large historians team, so the history fanatics will find that it's pretty accurate - From the units to the descriptions, to the events.

There is just no mod our there that has this scenario and setting. it's unique.

To get into the mood for modding and into the frame of this mod, do you guys work yourself up into a drunken fury during the group hug in the showers?
When I took over, it was me who motivated the team, and I still do, at least I hope so

But now it's the most motivating to play the alpha, check the forums, see what we have done so far - That we made something and it's improving and growing

No group hug in showers though... the team is split over the whole world. But we gather on some pillaging vacations sometimes...

What has inspired this mod to be where and what it is?

Vikings. The fascination of those hardened Norsemen. The whole team has one thing in common: We all love this era, this setting, the vikings.

The tales of Vikings and Norsemen inspired the mod to be what it is today.
Of course, to see our work, play the alpha, working together and having a good leader ( )is inspiring too, but without Vikings, this mod wouldn't exist

In MTW VI, we had destructive raids as the key. Are you going to try to make that the way the vikings should play? Are you also going to let longboats go down rivers? Any other special features we should know about?

Features features features..
We have many in plan, and with the upcoming Kingdoms release, there will be even more things we can do. But there are some things I can tell you for sure:

1.Longboats will be able to go down rivers. We already planned that in.

2.It will probably be your main income to sail to cities, invade them, and loot them, instead of just overtaking. We will boost the gold gained by looting by a large amount.

Whats your favourite mod other then this one?

A hard race between The Long Road, Stainless Steel and DarthMod.
SS wins, but it's a close win..

Favourite game of all time?

Duken Nukem 3D + Atomic Edition

'Nuff said

Favourite Total War game?

Medieval : Total War

It was just the TW game I enjoyed the most - And I played them all. I actually kept playing Medieval I when Rome came out

What does WoTN need most currently?

A wizard that is able to control time, and makes the slow work of modelling and skinning go faster. And the coding. And the mapping. Yes, we could really use such a wizard!

Well, wer are actually progressing quite fast, but it's never fast enough

Oh, yes, you need a serious answer?
We could use more coders. At this moment, Serious Samurai is doing all the coding work. The graphics team is already set up and all, but yeah, we could use more coders. Other than that, just a time wizard or simply more time

Last but not least, do you mod naked, err wait, also, what would be the catchphrase of your mod and describe your mod in 10 words.

I work on modding while being topless quite often

10 Words?

"The unique age of the Vikings, professionally modded for you"

That sounded kinda commercial.. but I just made that up! xD

Last last, any eye candy?

Umm... our preview will be out pretty soon.. can you wait till...? No? You can't? *Sigh*

Okay, but promise not to ask again till the preview...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Thanks again Raven! Dinadan reporting out.

"My favourite dreams of you still wash ashore
Scraping through my head 'till I don't want to sleep any more"
NIN

Book two; Child of darkness, Child of light.

Amshur stared across the city and beyond to the mountains at the edge of his empire, for as far as he could see the land was his, all the riches a man could imagine and almost a million subjects were his to command, his every whim was a simple request from being granted and yet his heart was heavy with sadness, for though he was a powerful king his one true wish could not be brought to him, a son. Loved by his people for the wealth he had given them, not a single citizen in his empire was poor, not one went without good food or shelter, and yet Amshur was an almost broken man, his Queen Aliaa was young and beautiful and Amshur loved her with all his being, yet without a son to bear his crown he felt nothing....

Physicians and Mystics came from all the corners of the empire to consult but still no child came, then one night as the city gates were being closed a man walked though the darkness and asked for an audience with the King...

The stranger was tall his body covered by a long black robe a long wooden staff held in one hand, his face hidden beneath a hood and yet the King could feel his gaze from across the room, "I am Etrigan of the Eshen, a people beyond your empire, i come to bring you a child if my price is met"...Amshur had heard many such claims and though weary from the many false promises, this man seemed to posses an unseen power. "And this price would be??"..asked the King...

"You shall agree to my price without it's revelation, this is a non negotiable part of our contract, should you agree".. reluctantly the King agreed, hope was far from his mind, and what could this stranger ask for that he could not grant...

"Three days shall pass and i shall return to this place at this hour, you and your Queen alone shall give me an audience, and then you shall have your child", with those words still hanging in the air Etrigan left...

After three nights had passed Amshur and Aliaa waited in the courtroom as instructed, it was a warm evening and the air was still, no sound rose from the city below as if all their subjects had retired early, the minuets passed slowly into hours and Etrigan did not show, the hour was late and Amshur was ready to give up when he heard footsteps and the rhythmic taps of the staff Etrigan carried coming slowly from the far end of the long hall....

"Will you meet my price??"

"If you give us what you have promised, I shall grant you anything your heart desires"...

Etrigan stepped forward removing his hood as he came close to the King, beside him Amshur heard the Queen gasp as the mystic revealed his face, his skin pallid almost transparent stretched across his bones so his veins were visible, his eyes sunken into his skull were black as the darkest night his lips blood red, Etrigan reached out and took Amshur's face in his hands, leaning even further forward he pressed his mouth to the Kings in a deathly kiss, Amshur's body stiffened briefly as something unseen passed between the two men, and then Amshur slumped as if in a stupor back into his seat, Etrigan barely paused as moved towards the Queen and repeated the process, and then without a word he turned and left....

Days passed and Amshur began to doubt what had happened was anything more than a trick, perhaps the Mystic had tried to fool him in some way, but Amshur could not see what Etrigan could have gained, even so he had sent the royal guards out into the streets to find the Mystic, but they found no trace...

The Queen came running into Amshur's chambers a smile as broad as a mighty river spread across her face, "It has happened husband, a child is coming", the King startled at first swept his wife into his arms, "A son"??, he questioned, "Yes" she replied giggling, "a son", the King let her down gently, staring into her eyes he asked "how can you know?", "the physicians have felt it, listened to it's heart, it is, a son"...The King threw his head back and howled like a wild beast, "a son...a son"...

Chapter two

The days passed quickly into months and soon it would be time for the birth, Amshur had given orders for a great festival to be arranged for all his subjects, a feast was to be held in the palace the night after the birth, with Kings from every known empire were invited. Amshur in his joy had forgotten Etrigan, he had forgotten there would be a price to pay but the reckoning was soon to come...

The moon rose high and shone bright that night bathing the palace with it's ghostly light, Amshur was preparing to retire when he heard raised voices from his wifes chamber, suddenly maids began to rush out and head for the stairs leading to the kitchens soon to return with hot water and stacks of linens, a physician suddenly appeared from down the hall and rushed into the Queens rooms, Amshur stood at the door of his own rooms and was about to rush forward when a voice reached out an touched his heart with an icy finger, "It is almost time to give me my payment King", Amshur spun round his eyes taking a second to find the source of the voice though he knew who had spoken, Etrigan stepped from the shadows and walked towards the King, Fear coursed though Amshur's body as the memories of their last encounter flooded back into his mind, "What is your price?, speak it now"..

Etrigan lowered his eyes and breathed in deeply, then raising his head he spoke, "I want your second born son for my own", Amshur looked stunned by the request, confused he started intensely at the figure before him his mind whirling, "second born"??, Amshur though horrified by the demand agreed, he thought that should there ever be a second born son he had no intension of giving it to this creature, it seemed such an event was a long way off and fate could deal a deathly hand to the Mystic before Amshur needed to worry about it, He turned and walked down the hall to await the birth of his first son...

Though the night maids ran in and out of the chambers as the screams of Aliaa echoed though the palace, and then it came the first cry, the first breath of Amshur's first son, the King almost collapsed at the sound, so perfect to his ears, it was everything he had imagined and more, one of the maids wrapped the child in a soft linen blanket and brought it to the King who now was smiling so much his jaw ached, "My King, your son"..

Amshur held the child close and stared down into it's eyes, "he is beautiful", suddenly he was aware of a presence to his right, Etrigan had come closer, the King slowly turned his head and looked at him, the Mystic was standing head bowed with eyes fixed on the child, a smile playing on his lips, "remember the price King", he said, the words hanging in the air, almost broken by another scream from the chamber, "there is another" Amshur heard one of the maids cry as the others began to rush back to the Queens side, "take the child women " Ashur said as he passed the new prince to the maid who'd brought him out.

"Guards!, seize him", Amshur called out, several guards appeared, two grabbing Etrigan by the arms, "not going to play fair King ?" said the Mystic...Etrigans body twisted and the two guards holding him were thrown with huge force against the walls crumpling to the floor, others stepped forward and soon Etrigan was surrounded and beaten to the floor the guards falling on him in a heap, and then it began, low at first rising to an almost deafening scream as Etrigan began to squirm and twist beneath his captors, the sound human at first began to change into nothing Amshur had ever heard as the guards began to be thrown in all directions, as if with the power of ten men Etrigan burst upwards and forwards casting off the last of the soldiers his cloak falling to the floor, and then Amshur saw, not the man who had stood before him moments ago but a huge beast, powerful arms stretched out, hands formed into massive razor sharp claws, only the eyes remained the same, the beast stepped forward howled into Amshurs face then turned into the chambers slamming the huge doors behind it, more guards came running into the hall and Amshur ordered them to smash it down...for an age they slammed their bodies against the doors the screams from within driving them harder and faster, then suddenly silence...

Time stood still as the men listened then Amshur again threw himself at the doors, the others joined him crashing into the doors until with a great crack they flung open, only to reveal the massacre inside, all of the maids were dead, bodies torn apart blood covering the walls, Amshur ran to the bed to find his Queen given no mercy and no second child to be seen...

So ends book two.

After Action Report


Presents:

Para Dios y el Rey
by Bulgaroctonus

Part II (Part I can be found HERE)

At the same time that Prince Garc of Castile marched across the Castilian-Moorish border, a large Venetian crusade numbering more than 10,000 soldiers marched into Valencia from Aragon to the north. The two armies of Castile-Leon and Venice joined forces, and their total force numbered more than 21,000 men. The two armies marched eastwards, when they were met by a 10,000 strong army of Moors, who were awaiting the coalition on the opposite banks of river.

At first sight of the Moorish army, the overzealous Venetians quickly rushed to the bridge, hoping for a quick victory. Prince Garc, knowing the fighting ability of the Moors, was more prudent. He marched his army to another bridge farther upstream. During the march he stumbled upon a tremendous idea: why not let the impetuous Venetians battle with the Moors, while the Castilians stay behind, moving in for the kill only when the Venetian army routs? Not only would he easily defeat the Moors, but he could also claim Valencia for Castile-Leon, and not for the Venetian Republic.

So, as the Venetians fought on bloodily along the bridge…

the Castilians waited…

After several hours of waiting upstream, Prince Garc caught the sound of a horn signaling a retreat: this horn sounded nothing like the Muslim horns he had come to know; it was a Venetian horn. Prince Garc leapt into action: he sent a small detachment of troops back downstream to cross the bridge, while traveling with the main bulk of his army across the upstream bridge to attack the Moors in their flank. Seeing the Castilian counterattack, the remainder of the Venetian army charged across the bridge while the Moors were occupied fighting with the Spaniards. The fighting was brief. The sandwiched Moors did not put up much of a fight, and surrendered in droves. At the end of the day, it was a glorious victory for the Castilians. Both the Venetians and the Moors had severely depleted their forces: more than 3/4ths of the Venetian crusade had been slaughtered, while the Moors lost their whole army, of which 4,000 were taken prisoner, including the Khalifuh Abdullah II. These prisoners were ransomed back at a great price, and the Moors were finally expelled from Iberia forever. Meanwhile, the Venetian crusade, which had been almost demolished, was disbanded. The Castilians had declared Valencia for themselves, and the Venetians did not have the strength to contest their claims. However, the underhanded move dealt to them during the conflict in Valencia did not go unnoticed. Relations between Venice and Castile-Leon became cold, but war between these countries did not occur.

With the Moors expelled from Iberia, King Alfonso IX finally had to turn to his last obstacles to the unification of Iberia under the Castilian-Leonese flag: Portugal, Aragon, and the lone German state in Granada. The fact that he would be fighting his own Catholic, let alone Iberian, brethren did not deter Alfonso from his goal. In 1250 the kings of both Portugal and Aragon died, and this was but another sign to Alfonso that the Castilian destiny was to unite Iberia under one banner. In the year 1256, an army of 7,500 men marched across the rugged mountains of Granada to attack the German state. They were met by a 9,000 man army under the command of Lord Karolinger.

There was heavy fighting along the line, and the Germans, being on the crest of a large hill, were gaining the advantage. But just at the right moment, the Spanish cavalry was able to pull around the right flank of the German line and send a thunderous charge downhill, crippling the German right.

Once holes in the line began to form, Prince Garc charged uphill straight into the battle line, and kill Lord Karolinger in pitched combat. With their general dead the Germans quickly broke apart and fled. The Spanish had very heavy casualties: more that 4,000, while the Germans suffered almost 6,000 casualties. It was a very bloody day, and the Castilians had paid for their victory dearly.

Unfortunately for King Alfonso IX, his dream of unifying Iberia was not achieved during his lifetime. In 1256, several months after the battle of Granada, he died in Toledo. He was succeeded by King Ferdinand I.

The year 1259 brought about many things in the Iberian world. France, whose dominance in Western Europe was virtually undisputed, launched an amphibious invasion of Portucale and Algarve. As a result of this swift invasion, rebellions sprang up throughout Portuguese land. The third event was the discovery of gunpowder. Long used in the Far East, Iberia had not yet been exposed to this powerful and deadly item. In the short term, gunpowder was not much use to the Castilians, since they did not know how to use and manufacture correctly. It would take many years before they were able to successfully use gunpowder.

But let’s get back to France. Not content with its claims in Portugal, France invaded Aragon in 1262, and this war went on until 1281. Meanwhile, King Ferdinand I took Cordoba from the Portuguese (perhaps his only major accomplishment during his reign), and died not long after in 1272. He was succeeded by King Filipe I, aged 23, who immediately foresaw war with France. The French appetite for land could never be pacified, and Filipe knew that Castile-Leon would be its next target. So, for the next 18 years he oversaw the militarisation of Castilian armies, and especially the navy. The reason that France had acquired so much land was largely due to its incredibly large and powerful naval force. Without a navy surrounding the peninsula, Iberia would be open to amphibious invasion from France.

And so, in the year 1290 Don Diego de Olivares invaded French controlled Aragon, and war was declared between the two countries. The fate of Western Europe was in the balance.....

To be continued...

Picture of the Week

Though the voting for picture of the Week 70 isn't over for a few hours, I think it's pretty much safe to say that the victor this week is [user=yaelthecruel]yaelthecruel[/user], with his RTW screenshot entitled "Hold Your Position!!!"

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But who knows? Maybe you can change the tide! Go on and finish this vote, here

I guess we're done here for now. So, in the eternal words of that lovable pig, "Th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!"



Now get out of here!

[selenius4tsd]

Good stuff once again!

[IamthePope]

Outstanding content. GJ all

[Arakorn]

This one was a good one. Oh yeah. We here at TWC sure love our revolts, right?

[RZZZA]

:salivate:

That Wrath of the Norsemen is getting me all excited.

"Favourite Total War game?

Medieval : Total War

It was just the TW game I enjoyed the most - And I played them all. I actually kept playing Medieval I when Rome came out"

Right on! Heh, but this WotN mod is making me itch to finally buy MTWII...

[The Good]

You mean you do not own Medieval II: Total War yet? Its not bad actually, graphically, it is improved from Rome: Total War, and each unit no longer looks like clones, the soldiers have about four different sets of faces. And yes, Wrath of the Norsemen modification looks awesome. I especially like the unit preview, it looks like a Norse unit of course, but it also bears a resemblence to the Galloglaich unit (Irish-Scottish unit), because of the coned helmets.

[The Walrus]

any suggestions for me, i would love to be able to improve my interviews for the fans

[iudas]

any suggestions for me, i would love to be able to improve my interviews for the fans

Suggestions? Well... you should stop doing interviews.

Seriously, you should have asked for 5 screens or so.

[SpaceUnion]

Well I think Raven wasn't going to give many more pics because we are saving most of them for the preview we will be getting out shortly (yea I know that's like the hundreth time we said that this month)

[The Walrus]

Suggestions? Well... you should stop doing interviews.

Seriously, you should have asked for 5 screens or so.

well i didn't see the interview before it was put on the press, i was on a road trip.

But suggestion noted

[Aristophanes]

Awesome work guys! If I had any space left to give rep today, I'd be giving you hard-working gents your proper!

[therussian]

Thanks for all the kind words everybody