World map, plus the approximate territory of each playable civillization:
https://preview.redd.it/nwf81gkelab51.png?width=5700&format=png&auto=webp&s=633da367b158a10f55f9fe975d4e69741cc44514
Hi everybody, I would like to share something- an idea about the story for a potential AOM revival/successor game. Was inspired by the reddit post made by XLightningStormL here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AgeofMythology/comments/5yqrt0/i_redesigned_the_mission_format_and_story_of_the/ as well as Tapejara's posts and Deviantart pages. The goal would be to make the world of AOM more fleshed out and coherent instead of lumping every and anything together for no reason while having the story and lore be written in a 10-year old child kind of way. Gladly would appreciate feedback to help me and you can provide constructive criticism to end up making everything better. Please remember that this is only a story idea and it is currently just fanfiction.
I.Base game campaign B (A is the tutorial which has 4 scenarios): The campaign will have 40 scenarios. Basically it will be the ''Fall of the Trident'' but with the Atlanteans changed to Romans (which would be a separate playable civillization in the base game).
Act 1- The Roman general Arkantos is living with his child and thinking about how his life is boring due to a lack of battles since Rome is powerful and doesn't have enemies to threaten them. The Romans worship the Titans gameplay-wise however story-wise they also worship the Olympian deities and their offspring. The first and second mission deal with Greek worshippers of Poseidon getting attacked by pirates and the Roman emperor asks Arkantos to help them. Despite trying his hardest Arkantos fails to protect the trident of Poseidon's statue, and it gets stolen by the pirates led by his old enemy Kamos who will be a large muscular human instead of a minotaur here. After Arkantos retrieves the trident and returns it, the emperor tells him that there is trouble brewing in Greece. Arkantos sails there and meets some allies while getting in the middle of a war between the Athenians and Spartans. He decides to create a literal Trojan's Horse and fill it with all of their resources to offer as a ''surrending warrior's gift'' to the Spartans. They take the bait and place the horse in their treasure room inside their city. Due to the large amount of treasure, time passes and night falls which causes the guards to leave the horse alone. From a secret compartment in the head, Arkantos and co leap out and sneak into the city until they eventually capture it. After defeating the Spartans, Arkantos and Ajax sail for home, when they find a island ruined from bandits. They arrive and learn of the prisoners which they must free, including the wise Chiron. They rescue Chiron and we see Gargarensis digging up an Underworld entrance with Kemsyt. The heroes confront Gargarensis and he flees into the Underworld. There they destroy his giant ram and get trapped. However, with the help of Hades plus his shades they eventually reach the exit and leave to the surface world.
Act 2- They arrive in Egypt and are encountered by Amanra who tells them to help unearth the Guardian's sword. They succeed and then awake the Guardian so he can defeat Kemsyt's army. Amanra tells them that Kemsyt is working for Seth who killed Osiris and chopped him up in 4 pieces which are scattered to the corners of Egypt. If they wish to stop Kemsyt and Gargarensis, they have to resurrect Osiris. During this, Arkantos kills Kamos and then receives a dream from Athena which expains the story- the gods rule the world after defeating titans and othe primordial beings after which they sealed them in Tartarus, with Kronus leading them and wanting to get free to get revenge at the gods. However, Kronus has manipulated the warlord descendant Gargarensis to do his dirty work with promises of power in exchange for freedom, since only a mortal can open the gate doors (though if the doors' seals are damaged enough, the titans could release a small portion of their power or influence outside). So after playing tug of war with a camel cart, getting caught then escaping from prison and chopping down a huge tree, they are approached by a Norseman called Niordsir. He tells them that bad things are happening in his homeland and has arrived seeking help. Arkantos knows little about the Norselands because a Varangian guard once helped the Roman empire so the Romans agreed to leave them and their homeland in peace. He accepts Niordsir's help in Egypt and the heroes eventually revive Osiris infront of his pyramid. Gargarensis and Kemsyt flee to the Norselands and the heroes follow them to the north.
Act 3- After dealing with Circe's magic on her island, Arkantos and his allies arrive in the vikings' homeland. The heroes barely survive an avalanche and meet the dwarven brothers who ask for their help. The good guys clear the forge from the giants and the dwarves give them directions, though they also hiddenly follow them. Arkantos and co encounter Skult who tells them to get escorted and reach the warring viking clans. However when they reach the clans, they get attacked. The heroes deal with the threat and Skult reveals his true colors- he's the trickster god Loki in disguise who just trollled them. He escapes and Niordsir decides to call Odin for help. Reginlief gets summoned and she agrees to help them since Loki and the giants have caused havoc in Midgard. However, first they have to get some allies and gain the help of some viking clans. When this is done, she explains that Gargarensis has set a defense camp around Urd's well and is trying to enter Muspelheim. Along the way she also reveals that the gods can't help them because Loki stole and broke Thor's hammer as well as Odin's spear which are the items keeping the Tartarus gates locked. The heroes enter Muspelheim and after battling Gargarensis' forces, they are trapped again. But they see the dwarven brothers who are using Yggdrasil's roots to create new godly weapons. Arkantos and co protect the dwarves and the weapons are reassembled which quickly close the newly-opened Tartarus gate. However, this causes a huge explosion which blasts everyone back to the surface world. Gargarensis and Loki decide to turn Kemsyt into a distraction while Gargarensis goes to Rome. The heroes use fortifications and reinforcements to stave off the enemy attacks and eventually they capture ''Gargarensis''. Arkantos decides that such a vile criminal doesn't deserve mercy and Ajax cuts off his head which is also vengeance for Chiron's death in Muspelheim. The heroes bid farewell to Niordsir, the dwarf brothers and Reginlief, after which they leave for Arkantos' home- Rome.
Act 4- While sailing, the heroes are attacked and engage in naval combat. After fending off the enemies, they check their treasure box and Kemsyt's head falls out while a flock of crows flies away with a familiar laugh. They realize they've been tricked and sail to Rome worried. There, they see that buldings are burned and people are locked up as prisoners. Arkantos and his allies save alot of people, only to find out that Gargarensis has gathered his remaining forces from Greece, Egypt, Norway and even Rome while holding the emperor, politicians and Kastor as hostages. They fight off plenty of enemy armies and save the hostages after which they learn that there is a Tartarus gate under the emperor's palace. When they arrive, Gargarensis reveals his plan and backstory- Poseidon is his ancestor and the two of them harbor envy towards Zeus and his followers including Arkantos who is Zeus' chosen champion. Gargarensis helps Poseidon to free Kronus and overthrow Zeus in exchange for being granted godhood. But when he destroys the emperor palace, it's revealed that the gods were clever enough to protect the Roman gate from mortal hands using Gaia's help. Angry, Gargarensis escapes on his ship and sails for Atlantis where the last gate is located, whose location he found out from Poseidon. Because he doesn't tell them this, the heroes simply put their minds together and quickly uncover his plan on their own. Here though, Atlantis would be a series of islands which together form a large archipelago in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Spain unlike the original ''AOM'' where it was one huge island which stuck out like a sore dead thumb. Arkantos and co sail towards Atlantis and are attacked by the Greeks and Romans living there who are aligned with Gargarensis due to worshipping Poseidon and indirectly the Titans. Arkantos tells his allies and son to sail off to safety while he deals with Gargarensis and the living Posiedon statue. He builds a wonder for Zeus which turns him into a demigod and then battles the villains. Arkantos succeeds in killing both the Poseidon statue and Gargarensis, however the gods get angry and destroy all the Atlantean islands which sink to the bottom of the ocean. Amanra, Ajax, Kastor and the others watch sadly as the islands sink, however they decide to move on with their lives and help the rescued people survive because they can't do anything about it. Because in ancient times humans couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't act against the gods' will. However, unknown to them Arkantos' corpse is washed onto the coast of Spain where he is found by Athena. She decides to help him since his heroic deeds are truly impressive and revives him, after which he is turned into a god whose job is to keep the Titans from ever escaping their prison. The end... or is it?
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II.Expansion pack 1 campaign: The campaign will have 40 scenarios. Expansion pack will introduce the Celtic, Slavic, Yoruba and Mesopotamian civillizations which would be ''rivals'' for the Roman, Norse, Egyptian and Greek respectivelly. Above all, these 4 new civillizations would flesh out the world of ''AOM'' since historically they interacted with the 4 base civs. Granted the Norse and Slavs are anachronistic but whatever. Game's intro shows that 10 years have passed and Kronus creates his servant which is then flying away from the ruins of Atlantis. He goes to Rome during nightime and kills a Roman senator, after which he shapeshifts to look like the dead senator. Before manipulating the emperor however, he makes deals and allies with several enemies of the gods- Balor of the Fomorians, Chernobog and his priest the lich Koschei, an African warlord chief who desires to become a god and lastly Kingu in Babylon. Then finally we could start playing.
Act 1- Kastor is a grown up and is the new Roman general. While he appears a strong and stoic man at first glance, he's actually deeply saddened for the death of his father and harbors hatred towards all gods. The emperor tells him that the empire is running out of resources and territory while the Celts' attacks have grown in frequency, so if the Romans are to survive they have to defeat the Celts and expand the empire by conquering their territories which is the solution that the senate gave. Kastor agrees and goes to war. However, the Celts ahead with their female leader who may or may not be Boudica are impressive opponents. Despite this, they have to deal both with natural and supernatural enemies. Balor of the Fomorians is starting a war against the Tuatha de Danann (Celtic gods) and the Celts have to help their gods. Eventually they are succesful and help the gods kill Balor on an island after which he is send to the Underworld. As a reward, the Celtic gods help their followers and defeat the Roman army. Kastor returns home empty handed for which he gets scolded by the Roman emperor. However, a senator suggest they instead go in another direction- to Greece and Norway. The emperor follows his advice and sends his armies with Kastor to Greece and Norway. But during this Arkantos is in the sky talking with Athena. He tells her that he misses his son and desires to see him. Athena tells him that he can't do that since he is a mortal and if Arkantos leaves, the Titans' seal will weaken and could be broke by anybody. Plus if he screws up, he could spark a war between all the 8 pantheons. Arkantos shakes his head in sadness and returns to his duties.
Act 2- Kastor arrives in Greece and sees a portal. The senator tells him it's created by the Titans who have helped them survive so far and they should use it, after which the senator leaves Kastor who uses the portal. Please remember that only Arkantos, Amanra and Ajax heard and know about the truth of the Titans' hidden agenda plus Kastor wants revenge towards the gods due to being responsible for his father's death. He storms and destroys Mount Olympus, after which he escapes through another portal. After that, Kastor and his troops end up in the swampy forests of Eastern Europe. They are met by travelling Slavs which ask them for help. The lich king Koschei has been revived and wishes to summon Chernobog so he could plunge the world in darkness. Kastor reluctantly agrees since he doesn't want the world's end and helps the local Slavs. They tell him to find an old wise woman living in a chicken-legged hut and ask her for advice but to also be careful as she is very crafty. Kastor finds Baba Yaga and passes her trials, after which she tells him where to find Koschei and how to stop him. The Roman troops reach Koschei and the place where he begins the ritual to summon Chernobog. Eventually, they destroy the place and kill the lich king. Plus, he also destroys Odin's tower on the way which weakens the Norse and so they can't help anybody. After doing so however, Kastor returns home again empty handed. The emperor is mad with Kastor's failures and decides to imprison him. During this, Athena visits Arkantos and tells him that Mount Olympus has been destroyed which has weakened the Greco-Roman gods. What's worse, there are calamities all over the known world. Arkantos tells that he has to intervene and Athena again tells him that if he does so, the Titan gates will be weak enough to be opened by anybody and the Titans will escape. However, this time Arkantos doesn't listen to her words and tells her that he will take action by going with his own plan.
Act 3- Disasters such as plagues, red water, drought and locusts are ravaging Egypt. Amanra is wondering what is going on when Ajax appears. He tells her that Greece is in chaos due to someone destroying Mount Olympus. Amanra decides the two of them to seek help by crossing the Sahara and going to the West African coast where an old friend lives. There they see the Yoruba village which is attacked by foreign tribes. They fend them off and meet Amanra's old friend who is a woman warrior priestess of the orisha Oya and fights with a whip. She agrees to help them if they set things straight with the other tribes in West, Central, East and South Africa. The heroes travel to Kush/Nubia/East/Axum and take the relics from the locals to stop their empire from conquering Egypt. When that is done, they learn that the reason for this is an African king who wishes to become a god simular to the orisha Shango whom he worships (in Yoruba stories Shango was originally a mortal king but after his death he became a deity). They go to ancient Zimbabwe and see the king completing the ritual after which he becomes a demigod and serves as the chapter's boss. After they kill him, Arkantos appears from the sky and tells them that Kastor is held prisoner in Rome which is being attacked by enemies. They are shocked that Arkantos is alive and a god, after which he quickly tells them the story and then teleports them to Rome. When they get there, they fight off enemies and use a Roc bird to rescue Kastor and the imprisoned emperor. The father and son are reunited and exchange words, while the emperor explains that the senate overthrew him due to the horrible state of the empire. Suddenly, the senator appears and reveals that he is actually Kronus' servant who manipulated them all along using everything as a distraction. He flies away without revealing any details (villains should never blab out their plans and weaknesses), after which a Greek messenger arrives and tells them that the weakened Greece has been attacked by Mesopotamian armies. Arkantos tells that this is a chance for Kastor to undo the damage he caused and redeem himself, to which his son agrees. The good heroes then enter tha last part of the story.
Act 4- When Arkantos tries to teleport them, he fails and wonders why. He then realizes that all this chaos has weakened the Greco-Roman gods including himself and his power is running low. The heroes take ships and sail for the Middle East. After they arrive there, they are greeted by a Babylonian king who tells them is a descendant of the legendary demigod Gilgamesh. Said king will grant them help since the Mesopotamian tribes are fighting each other and ruining the lands. The heroes ask if the Mesopotamian gods will help them to which the king replies they are too busy looking for Kingu who stole a Tablet fo Destiny from the supreme god Marduk. The good guys seem desperate for help until they remember that helping the local gods and their followers would earn them their favour. Arkantos decides to not only fight the enemy forces but also help the locals by spreading the gods' blessings among them which will heal the ground wounded by the wars and calamities. Eventually, they meet Kingu who tells them that he plans to use the Tablet to resurrect his mother Tiamat (the primordial sea dragon like monster/goddess), which will destroy humankind and then overthrow the gods so that the world will be back to its original chaotic state. The heroes decide to call Gaia and other deities from their pantheons to combat the rampaging Tiamat, however the Babylonian king tells them that this would start a war between all the pantheons. But all is not lost- if they summon the god Marduk, he would kill Tiamat again plus deal with Kingu. The heroes built a ziggurat wonder which summons Marduk, he kills Tiamat, captures Kingu and reclaims the Tablet of Destiny. After the god flies away, the heroes remember that Kronus's servant is still at large while Mesopotamia was a distraction. Eventually, several ships arrive which contain Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Roman, Celtic, Slavic, Yoruba and Mesopotamian reinforcement units. They offer all of their help for dealing with this threat which gets quickly accepted. The heroes think hard and realize that the servant is at the Atlantean ruins after which they go there. When they arrive, Kronus is already knocking on the door. However they decide to summon Gaia to defeat Kronus, whom manages to escape from his prison. But shortly after this Gaia also appears and sends him back to Tartarus only this time she makes sure the gate is permanently closed. After this she leaves and the heroes see the servant trying to fly away. Entertainingly, Kastor shoots an arrow to his knee and makes him fall to the ground after which he catches him and deals the killing strike. With all their enemies either dead or defeated, the heroes at last can celebrate. Arkantos congratulates his son and leaves, though he promises to visit here and then. Everyone leaves for their homes to rebuild and resume living their lives peacefully. They live happily ever after. But for some other people across the world, the problems have only just started.
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III.Expansion pack 2 campaign A: The campaign will have 10 scenarios. The story is set over 1000 years after the previous expansion pack. While Europe, Africa and the Middle East have dealt with their problems, calamities have appeared and ravage other parts of the world due to the imbalance caused by the Titans' rampages. Historically, the civillizaitons of China, Japan, India and the Americas have interacted very little (if at all ever) with the previous 8 cultures before the year 1500 AD. This is why they will be their own separate thing here. The first campaign is dedicated solely to the Mexica empire, which is de facto the Aztecs conquering the Mayans and Incas. Weird phenomena happen and the factions are fighting amongst themselves. However, they soon have to join forces and deal with a common foe- the primoridal monster Cipactli. After they sacrifice their regular Titan (giant humanoid jaguar thing) to it, they can summon the gods Huitzilopochtli, Itzamna and Wiracocha to slay the beast and save their part of the world. The ending is the tribes calling a truce and returning to live alone in their homes without attacking each other. Everybody who knows history will be aware that this will be harsher in hindsight after America is discovered by the Europeans, though this is an alterante universe and history where deities and magic exist. Time for the main course of the last scenario for this good game. The time period is the same, however the locations are different.
IV.Expansion pack 2 campaign B: The campaign will have 30 scenarios. Before anything I should mention that the setting is Tang dynasty China, Heian era Japan and Chola period India which is possibly a very good choice.
Act 1- The story begins with the Chinese emperor overlooking his empire which is troubled by calamities as well as Mongol attacks. BTW, the Mongols will be their own unique units however they will be unplayable NPCs unless one uses the scenario editor. Well, the Emperor tells his trusted general to find the cause of these problems and get rid of them. Said general enlists the help of a wise monk and travel around China to fix things. However, the emperor's advisor plots to dethrone him since he's old and in the advisor's mind is incapable of protecting the empire from any problems. The advisor tries to get aid from the gods and stop the heroes, but they eventually defeat and capture him, after which they send him to prison. But it turns out the problem is bigger than they thought and they require to get more help, from gods and mortals alike. Chinese general hero decides to cross the sea and visit Japan, the place which is also called ''the land of the rising sun''.
Act 2- The Chinese arrive in Japan and at first they are caught by the local soldiers. Then they are send to a Shizuka Gozen esque Japanese female warrior and she informs them that Japan is struggling with calamities, youkai (de facto Japanese myth units) attacks plus wars between different feudal lords. The Chinese heroes tell her that their land is also troubled so they arrived for help, but the onna-bugeisha dismisses them and so they leave. When she goes to sleep, she gets a dream vision from Amaterasu. She tells the mortal woman warrior that Susanoo is somewhere slacking off and Tsukuyomi has been banished from Heaven. Their absence weakens the seal of Izanami and Kagutsuchi, two vengeful destructive deities that when unleashed will destroy all of Japan. But Amaterasu has chosen the onna-bugeisha as her champion and she must save Japan both with her powers and the help of the Chinese. She accepts and when she wakes, the woman goes to search for the Chinese heroes. They are preparing to leave and are attacked by Mongol ships when the onna-bugeisha appears and helps them. While they thank her, she asks them to help her save Japan to which they agree. However, together they must stave off youkais, Mongols and an insane bloodthirsty Japanese warlord. When that is done, they get a vision of Amaterasu with her brothers who tell them they have reconciled and are back together. However, while Japan is saved the problems haven't ended yet. The 3 Shinto deities tell the heroes to travel to India and help sort things out there, after which the kamis depart. Due to being indebted for their help, the onna-bugeisha agrees to join the Chinese and visit the Indian subcontinent.
Act 3- The heroes go first through Mongolia, where the locals are angry due to having to live with hunger, poverty, bad weather, diseases, etc. The good guys deal with them and pass the desert, entering a jungle/mountain area to which the Mongols decide to stay away from and leave them alone. Eventually they meet a priestess of Kali who asks them for a favour, which they complete and gain an audience with the Hindu king who is a descendant of Ashoka the Great. At the king's palace, he tells them to consult his elderly right-hand guru. The wise old man tells them that the balance of the wolrd has been disrupted and alot of people are acting in sinful ways- stealing, murder, torture, rape, etc. The gods are angry with this and have decided to cleanse the world by destroying it and creating a new better one. But our heroes obviously don't want that to happen so they decide to fight off enemies and help good people in the hopes of convincing the gods to not destroy the world. However, the king cannot help them in person as he must stay in his temple and attend his duties so he tells the Kali priestess and his guru to join them. While the good guys do good deeds India is slowly healed from the damage. Sadly, the Murphy's law rears its ugly head and a giant Asura (three headed, six-armed god or Titan) escapes from Tartarus. The heroes are prepared to give up, when the guru tells them to ask Vishnu for help. The way to do it is to build a titan gate and summon the Hindu titan which is the Garuda bird and the sacred mount of Vishnu the god. After the lesser titan survives a couple of minutes, Vishnu appears himself from the sky in his Rama avatar titan form. Eventually, he kills the Asura and bids the heroes farewell, going back to the celestial world. The heroes plead the gods to not destroy the world... which works. The gods hear their words and decide to spare Earth from the Apocalypse, leaving it to heal and mortals living in peace. After all of this, the heroes thank each other and leave back to their homelands. Ending is everybody reporting their adventures to the rulers of their lands and being celebrated as heroes with their civillizations prospering and people helping in the recovery of the world. This is the end.
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