Ancient Disease

There are dangers lurking in the unknown lands. Rangers that explore to ancient places, abandoned kingdoms and semi-destroyed towers can find things worse than they could ever begin to imagine. One of the most dangerous threats they can encounter is a contagious and infectious ancient disease, which they will bring back with them without even knowing before the symptoms start to show...

The Ancient Disease is something that a kingdom can find via exploration of the unknown. Once is is found, it stays on the kingdom like a duration spell. Military attacks, raids, spying, assassiantion, and looting on an infected kingdom infects the attacking kingdom as well; if an infected kingdom attacks a healthy one this way, it will NOT infect it. What the Ancient Disease does, is that it increases its power and duration instead of reducing it as you take turns, while killing troops and population of the kingdom infected every turn. The more turns you take the more it expands on your kingdom. And after taking 30 turns with Ancient Disease on you, it even destroys your Regeneration Buffer! Dispelling doesn't help, Healing is ineffective, Mana Sap and Mana Drain do not affect it. Not even Dark Elves can sap it with their special. Luckily it stops existing after you take 100 turns but, hey, it has turned your kingdom to a dead field by then. (For all we know, Ancient Disease is just like an effect, that cannot be dispelled, sapped or removed with any spells or racial specials, and one that is increasing its power with every turn you take.)

So what can one do against such a destructive force, a plaguing sickness that cannot be stopped by known healing measures? The answer is simple, and right in front of your eyes: find a cure. To reduce the power and duration of the Ancient Disease and purge your kingdom from it you must hire lots and lots of scholars, and start taking turns. They will be researching to find a cure for it automatically as you take turns, and soon you will witness that the Ancient Disease starts to withdraw if you have enough scholars. You do not have to make them study, just have lots of scholars on your kingdom while you take turns doing whatever you want, and they will do their research automatically. It seems that the more troops one has, the more powerful the disease gets. From experience of those that got it and managed to take it off, it seems that about 6 troops add 1 mana to its power and 1 scholar removes 1 mana. That said, with about 20-25% of your troops being scholars you can remove it in just a few turns.

So be careful in your endeavours in the unknown lands and your wars with the enemies. Ancient Disease may be lurking for you somewhere out there. Be prepared for it and think before you act if your kingdom contacts it. Scholars can save you even without firing arrows, whirling flails, hurling fireballs or waving swords; after all, as I like to say, there is no knowledge that is not power...

Written by Doom. Article taken from Shadowmere Compendium

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