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godstuffus
Hired Hero
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posted February 02, 2006 12:42 AM |
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ICTC: Shrine
SHRINE FACTION
• Aka: The Dragon Knights
• Associated colors: black, white, and silver
• Worship: Disciples in the way of Sar-Elam.
• Core philosophy: “After defeating the enemy inside of yourself you have struck a blow to enemy outside.”
• Country / kingdom: Shanla
• Capital city: Houn, the Shrine to the Void
• Key symbols: Silver Sword, and Yin-Yang
• Description:
The Dragon Knights of the shrine faction are disciplined in body and mind. After the teachings of Houn of the void they have learn the art of controlling the five elements. Air, earth, fire, and water elements are very important, but knowledge of the void is needed to complete the understanding of the elements. Great discipline and wisdom must be used to control the elements for using them unwisely will reek unnecessary destruction. The high council teaches recruits in the ways, but not everyone is capable. Only those strong in the void can lead. The discovery of gunpowder has added an extra edge to their battlefield tactics. With the other kingdoms falling to the demons it is only a matter of time till when the Dragon Knights will be called again.
BRIEF HISTORY
0 YSD: The Revelation of the Seventh Dragon
Sar-Elam the first wizard reaches the conscience of the Dragon of Order who teaches him on the nature of matter and spirit and shows him the higher path of power. Enlightened by his new understanding, Sar-Elam becomes the Seventh Dragon.
28-40 YSD: Wars of Fire
First great demon incursion.
The great wizard Sar-Elam, know as the “Seventh Dragon”, sacrifices himself to end the Wars and repel the demon incursion. Sar-Elam and his disciples seal the demons away to prevent their return.
62 YSD: The Schism of the Seven
Schism between the disciples of Sar-Elam, who can’t agree on the best way to follow the road laid down by the Seventh Dragon and, hopefully someday surpass him. Sar-Antor founds the Blind Brothers, a congregation of healers, seers and embalmers dedicated to the worship of Asha. Sar-Badon founds the Dragon Knights, a martial order disciplined in both body and mind.
The other disciples, led by Sar-Shazzar, the most gifted of them all, lead an exodus of wizards and like-minded humans to found the Seven Cities (the first kingdom of Magic) in the southern deserts.
104 YSD: The Dragon knights become a secret order
On his deathbed, Sar-Badon commands the Dragon knights to retreat from the world and dedicate themselves to preserve the teachings of the Seventh Dragon, watching against any Demon activity.
No longer are the Dragon Knights to be prominent or visible in the world.
564 YSD: 2nd Eclipse - Rise of the Demon Sovereign
Total lunar eclipse. This time the Blind Brothers had predicted it, and the Alliance, helped by the Dragon Knights, is quick to react. Only a small band of demons manage to escape into the world. The names of the Demon Lords, Urgash's first children, are heard no more. Instead, the name of Mal-Beleth, new and only Demon Sovereign, appears.
585 YSD: Discovery of Demon implication in the Day of the Tears of Fire
Dragon Knights bring evidence to the Elves that Brythigga's criminal fire was set by a Demon spy. Emissaries are sent from the forest to the wandering Dark Elves, offering amnesty and inviting them to return home. The offer is refused.
717 YSD: 3 rd Eclipse – Dragon Hunt
During a brief lunar eclipse, a band of Demons escapes into the world. They seek out the hidden strongholds of the Dragon Knights and begin a bloody secret war. The outcome of this conflict is unknown to date to others.
The Dragon Knights were nearly destroyed, but in the heat of battle at the capital. The head disciple of the Dragon Knights had a vision of the void. A mystical element came to Houn and spoke in the voice of Sar-Elam. The element teaches Houn in the ways of the void. With this knowledge the Dragon Knights decimate the Demons.
740 YSD: Death of Houn
At his death Houn appoints a council in order to lead, and tells the council the messenger will call when needed. He commands the Dragon Knights to remain hidden and to prepare for future battles with the demons.
821 YSD: Discovery of Gunpowder
When trying to create a remedy a student creates gunpowder by accident. At first the high council choose not to allow this seeing it as unnatural, but later decided this could be used for a tool since there was no needed experience in the teachings to effectively use it. The only rule applied was the council alone would create it, and the sentence was death to anyone who attempted to make gunpowder without the council’s permission.
Rocketeer (Upgrade: Artillery)
After the discovery of gunpowder infantry are taught in the use but not how to make gunpowder. The arrows fire with a much more deadly force. The units move slow in battle, but when they hit their strike is deadly. When upgraded to artillery the unit can hit mutiple opponents.(The units are much slower than crossbowmen and less accurate.)
Ninja (Upgrade: Shinobi)
Ninja’s are the dark side of the Shrine faction and are rarely seen. Many on the council think they are dishonorable, but are allowed for past service in protecting the Dragon Knights. The ninja fill the role of spy. They have ranged attacks but are very short distance. When upgraded they use lethal poisons in their attacks as well.
War Elephant (Upgrade: Rampaging Elephant)
Elephants form the basic cavalry of the Shrine faction. The war elephants are very strong but slow. When upgraded the rampaging elephants can temporarily stop ground creatures in close proximity because of the earth shaking under them.
Mantis (Upgrade: Elite Mantis)
Mantises were first used as pets but through special breeding have been raised to gigantic proportions. The mantis is very deadly with its strike waiting to counter the enemy. When upgraded the elite mantis receives the first strike ability. (Same as Heroes 4 but with lower defense and attack stats still receive first strike and binding ability.)
Monk (Upgrade: High Monk)
Monks are students in training in the ways of the elements. They are fast and deadly with their counterstrikes. Monks can counter every attack thrown at them. Master monks can use an element spell once in battle. (Similar to griffin, but master monks can cast one spell in battle from a list of the lowest element spells.)
Samurai (Upgrade: Shogun)
The traditional warrior of the Dragon Knights the samurai clans have traditions dating back to Sar-Elam. They are the pinnacle of pure weaponry with no teaching into the elements. The speed of their blade is not matched by any combatant. (When upgrade samurais strike twice in combat with their normal attack.)
Faerie Dragon (Upgrade: Prism Dragon)
The Prism Dragon is wise and not an aggressive beast. In combat it prefers the use of magic. When upgraded the dragon uses magic mirror to protect itself from magic in combat and deflect it back at the enemy. (Same as faerie dragon in Heroes 4.)
Shrine heroes are called disciples. They have the ability of elemental summoning. Elemental summoning is used to call an element into battle. They can only call an elemental one time in each battle. They are the only ones who can call in the void elemental once achieving a high enough level. The void elemental can teleport freely in the battlefield and is immune to all spells.
(The void element is meant to be virtually invisible, but the best way I can think to represent it is similar to a willow-o-wisp.)
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pop_pip
Tavern Dweller
Tower Guard
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posted February 02, 2006 08:46 PM |
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I was just considering making a similar town, I guess you beat me to it  . Well done.
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godstuffus
Hired Hero
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posted February 02, 2006 11:15 PM |
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Thanks for comments.
If you have any suggestions on changing some things I am open on ideas.
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Phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 03, 2006 11:06 PM |
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-Maybe the monk and the ninja can be made one creature.
-Mantis is strange but good adition to the army.
-elephants could be upgraded to elphant archers giving them a weak shooting ability.They will still be the tough guys but a little shooting could do magics.maybe a rise in creature lineup could be also fine.
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godstuffus
Hired Hero
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posted February 04, 2006 02:17 AM |
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Thanks for comments.
No ninja is not a monk. The ninja is a shadowy figure that uses stealth in attacking. The monk is more of a spiritual leader and straight out fighter. I took your suggestion and swapped the ninja and the elephants. If the elephants get the ability to stomp the ground around them then the archery will be overdone.
Edit: Sorry I just noticed I do not clearly explain the elephant ability
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Blitzkrieg_Boy
Adventuring Hero
The Lone Keeper
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posted February 04, 2006 12:04 PM |
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What the heck? This is not Chinese and Japanese culture like the ITIC index said. It is more like a mix of everything! And the other thing is the Dragon Knights already exsists so this is just a repeat? Not that I'm being critical, these are just a few bugs.
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godstuffus
Hired Hero
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posted February 04, 2006 04:53 PM |
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Dragon Knights exist? Where? I know they are in the story. But where else?
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confusedspirit
Tavern Dweller
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posted February 07, 2006 03:28 AM |
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Are the dragon knights already made?
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miru
Supreme Hero
A leaf in the river of time
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posted February 07, 2006 04:06 AM |
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8 of 10.
Im very critical, and this will likely be the highest score I assign. Ather than the creatures, this is a good town.
____________
I wish I were employed by a stupendous paragraph, with capitalized English words and expressions.
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MasterSandro
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posted February 07, 2006 05:16 AM |
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huh... just to know... why samurai upgrades to shogun? Shogun were the emperors of the ancient japanese culture, not something you would actully get to see a second in the same period... Master Samurais would be much more fitting (I know it is over, just points), or having Samurais Disciples upgrading to Samurai Soldiers or something.
6
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confusedspirit
Tavern Dweller
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posted February 07, 2006 04:28 PM |
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I thought shogun is the equilivant of general. Generals have ruled just like shoguns have over whole countries like dictators. There was an emperor and a shogun even though shogun ran things many times. Can someone tell me if the dragon knights are already in another faction?
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MasterSandro
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posted February 07, 2006 04:33 PM |
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Quote:
I thought shogun is the equilivant of general. Generals have ruled just like shoguns have over whole countries like dictators. There was an emperor and a shogun even though shogun ran things many times. Can someone tell me if the dragon knights are already in another faction?
No, they were the emperors in the Tokigawa Age. Their role ended in the Meiji Age.
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Oakwarrior
Famous Hero
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posted February 07, 2006 04:33 PM |
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frakel
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 09, 2006 01:08 AM |
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Race: 6 (This is a very difficult town to rate. On the possitive side: I like the idea of a town devoted to inner strenth, and following the teachings of Sar-Elam in an eastern style spiritual way. This part of your town is somewhat consistent with H5 description of dragon knight. And it is interesting to know more about the dragon knights, but since they are a secret order, they really shouldn´t havbe their own faction and towns. Another negative things is the fact that this town sticks out from H5 in several ways - being almost too eastern. The dragon knight might be a martial order - disciplined in body and mind. But are they really ninjas and samurais... Its a little too much off H5 mainstream IMHO. And the description is short. I end on giving you an above average six.)
History: 3 (Your history is almost only copy-paste of H5 timeline. You add very little.)
Creatures: 6 (Another difficult rating. Creature abilites are nice. Description a little short - but ok. Nice variety of creature types. The monk as a fighter/spellcaster unit is great. Only downside is the mantis which fits very poorly into your creature lineup and faction history - it really shouldn´t be there)
Balance: 8 (Seems very well balanced)
Originality: 10 (I give you ten because I like your idea of trying to integrate the secret order dragon knights with eastern style martial arts and spiritualism. As mentioned above, I don´t think it works out perfectly - but I´m not going to punish you because of that here in the originality score.)
Overall: 33
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kookastar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
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posted February 10, 2006 11:45 AM |
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Race 6
History 5
Creatures 7
Balance 8
Originality 8
34/50
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phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 11, 2006 11:41 AM |
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Race:7
History:5(Rather weak,maybe too much concerned about binding it to the original story line
Creatures:7(Elephant and mantis are good aditions to the line up and they spice it up.But nothing so special about abilities could have been more creative)
Balance:6(The stomp of elephant and who get effected are big concerns.The lack of shooting seems to be a problem 6th level should be much more of a melle fighter to balance the 7th level as a spell caster double strike for that isnt enough do it in my opinion)
originality:7
Total:32/50
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FriendOfGunnar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
able to speed up time
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posted February 16, 2006 12:22 AM |
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Shrine
Race(3 +4 )=7
History(2 +4 )=6
Creatures(4 +3 )=7 ninjas on the battlefield is just baca. So is elephants in position number 3. Gigantic mantis is nice idea. Faerie dragon is repeat but it fits the faction perfectly.
Balance( 2+5 )=7 skills mostly uninspiring
Originality=6
(minus one for not creating your own flag)
Total Score= 32
How I graded these:
Race (Originality [1-5]+Compatibility with HOMM5 universe[1-5])
History (How interesting is it to me [1-5] +Compatibility with HOMM5 universe [1-5])
Creatures (Originality [1-5] +Internal Consistency [1-5])
Balance (are the special skills inventive [1-5] + Does it have a variety of flyers, shooters, walkers, spell-casters [1-5]
Originality (all the originality scores added up and divided by two. This means that creativity counts twice. [1-10])
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted February 23, 2006 06:04 AM |
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Judge rating: 30 or lower.
A good and original idea, interesting integration of spirituality.
However, the history lacks variety and integration with the rest of HOMM5 races.
Two creatures do not seem to fit the lineup.
Overall, has potential but needs more work.
____________
You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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