"Sundren, of House Inioch"

[ryan21393]

An interesting way to idenity herself, as Inioch was destroyed by humans before AOW1.

[ryan21393]

I wonder if this game takes into account Merlin getting rescued from his torment, and taking his vengence upon the damnable shadow

[Delekhan]

Inioch was Julia and Meandor's father, (and the BEST undead king ever). Sundren is Julia's daughter, so Inioch is her grandfather.

[ryan21393]

Indeed. Where does Merlin fall into this? Don't tell me, I'd rather see it for myself than have it spoiled. I just hope he hasn't been retconned for being too powerful

[ryan21393]

Merlin flirted with Julia a bit. I guess things didn't go his way.

[Viper]

Obviously not completelly destroyed..

[ryan21393]

The vengence that Merlin unleashes at the end of AOW2: Shadow Magic is epic. I hope AOW3 didn't retcon him for being too powerful

[Delekhan]

Merlin has no relation to Inioch. He's just some guy Gabriel recruited, made into a wizard, and then sort of disappeared with the shadows. I always found Merlin and AoW 2's story to be boring, I liked the Cult of Storms/Inioch/Julia/Halfling campaign story from AoW 1 to be much more engrossing.

[ryan21393]

Merlin didn't dissapear into the shadows. He was captured and tortured by them. He was anointed by Gabriel to be his sucessor, but things went totally wrong. AOW2:SM is about his students setting out on their own and eventually finding a way to rescue him. If you find the story to be boring, that is a matter of preference. I found it to be exhilarating. The way to beat the last scenario in AOW2:SM is to use Merlin to free the slaves in the Shadow

[Delekhan]

I liked Shadow Magic a lot, it was the perfect installment in Age of Wonders. I'm talking about Age of Wonders 2's story being boring, where Merlin has to beat each element's wizard one by one. Yawn. The fire scenario was nice though, I was able to use Orcs for that one. Shadow Magic's story was quite interesting, especially the exploration aspect of it.

[ryan21393]

AOW2 was about Merlin being taught to be a Wizard. It's a matter of preference if you find the story boring. I do not. It opens with him using an air ship to try to save what's left of his people. Absolutely everything up to that point has been going against him. He's a failed king that lead his people into doom. The air ship that he tried to use to save his people was obliterated, and he was absolutely at the end of his road. He was a resourceful person, but he was done. The ocean washed over him as he failed.

[ryan21393]

At the end of the road, with nowhere to turn. Everything Merlin tried had failed. That is when the dying Gabriel decided to teach Merlin to be a Wizard

[Delekhan]

Still boring. Gabriel, a super-powered High Man who masters every sphere, recruits a loser and teaches him by having him kill every other wizard? Doesn't that sound generic to you?

And by the way, Merlin is still just a human, a mortal, which means he's probably dead now, or moved onto some spirit form, considering how much time has passed (the commonwealth is in its 3rd or later generation of rulers now).

[ryan21393]

No, it's not generic, because it's not what happened. It makes me wonder if you and I played the same game. The other wizard adersaries Merlin came across were using their powers to help things go so poorly for him,.as a human king, trying to lead his people.

[Delekhan]

It's been 12 years since I played that campaign. I remember not being particularly impressed.

Actually one of my favorite campaigns was the Nomad one in Shadow Magic.

[ryan21393]

You see them as innocent victims that he destroyed one by one. In reality, they are the reason things were going so poorly for his kingdom. They are not innocent victims, they are evil instigators that set out to make sure he failed. AOW2 is about him learnng how to fight back.