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Dark Rituals
CITYSCAP-081-ANIBUILD-dark rituals-anim
Realm Icon DeathDeath
Spell Rarity Common
Spell Type Town Enchantment
Casting Cost Icon Mana 30
Upkeep Cost None
Research Cost Icon Research 60
Effects

The enchanted town produces an extra amount of Icon Power Power equal to the amount currently generated by its Shrine, Temple, Parthenon and Cathedral (if any).

The town's Unrest level also rises by +1, and its Population Growth is reduced by about 25%.

Dark Rituals is a Common Town Enchantment belonging to the Icon DeathDeath Magic realm. It may only be cast on the overland map, and must be targeted at a friendly Town. For the base Casting Cost of only Icon Mana 30, the spell will generate an extra amount of Icon Power Power for the town's owner equal to the combined amount generated by any Shrine, Temple, Parthenon and/or Cathedral present in the town.

The effect lasts as long as Dark Rituals is not dispelled or canceled manually. Although it is a Town Enchantment in every respect, Dark Rituals has no Upkeep Costs. On the other hand, it increases the Unrest level in the enchanted town by +1, and also reduces Population Growth by roughly 25% (after all other growth-altering effects are taken into account).

Effects[]

Dark Rituals encourages the population of a targeted Town to sacrifice its own people in the religious Town Buildings, significantly increasing the Icon Power Power output of those buildings. On the other hand, the town's Unrest level increases, and its Population Growth decreases.

Power Output Bonus[]

While Dark Rituals is in effect, the town's output of Icon Power Power is increased significantly.

The amount of Icon Power Power generated by Dark Rituals is equal to the total amount of Power currently generated by the religious buildings already existing there (if any):

Town Building Power Normally Produced
Shrine Icon Power 1
Temple Icon Power 2
Parthenon Icon Power 3
Cathedral Icon Power 4

When all four buildings are present, they will normally produce Icon Power +10 together - so Dark Rituals will produce an extra Icon Power +10 for this town.

The extra Icon Power Power is automatically recalculated whenever the town's composition changes, so it will automatically increase if the town constructs more of the above Town Buildings while the spell is already in effect. Conversely, it will decrease if the town loses any of these buildings.

This extra Icon Power Power is added to the wizard's total Power base, and may be distributed like Power from any other source: into Icon Mana Mana generation, Research or increasing Spell Casting Skill as necessary.

Dark Rituals and Infernal Power[]

Dark Rituals is cumulative with the effect from the Infernal Power Retort. Infernal Power increases the Icon Power Power output of each religious building by 50%, and then Dark Rituals produces an amount of Power equal to the new total produced by those buildings. Half-points are only rounded off at the end, so the net effect is that the power output of those buildings is tripled.

Cumulative Icon Power Power Income from Religious Buildings
Building
Level
Base Dark
Rituals
Infernal
Power
Both Both +
Bad Moon
    TownBuilding Shrine   Icon Power 1   Icon Power 2   Icon Power 1   Icon Power 3   Icon Power 6
    TownBuilding Temple   Icon Power 3   Icon Power 6   Icon Power 4   Icon Power 9   Icon Power 18
    TownBuilding Parthenon   Icon Power 6   Icon Power 12   Icon Power 9   Icon Power 18   Icon Power 36
    TownBuilding Cathedral   Icon Power 10   Icon Power 20   Icon Power 15   Icon Power 30   Icon Power 60

The Bad Moon is a Random Event. Its multiplicative effect behaves exactly the same as Infernal Power and Dark Rituals. A confluence of all three factors results in religious buildings putting out six times their ordinary output. When a Bad Moon occurs, you may want to rush as many religious buildings as you can, and throw Dark Rituals in spite of its penalties, though be warned that the average duration is only twenty turns. Its reverse, Good Moon, halves output, effectively negating Dark Rituals.

Unrest and Population Growth Penalties[]

Unusually for a Town Enchantment, Dark Rituals has no Upkeep Costs. On the other hand, it does have some drawbacks that would discourage simply casting it on any town you have: it increases Unrest by a small amount, and reduces Population Growth.

Unrest is increased by exactly +1. This can turn an extra citizen into a Rebel in this town, assuming that no effect (such as the unrest-reduction from the religious buildings listed above) manages to offset this. Rebels consume Icon FoodFood like all other citizens, but produce neither Icon FoodFood nor Icon Production Production - making them a burden on the town's resources.

Population Growth is reduced by 25% - though rounding-off errors may lead to losing much more (or sometimes less) than an exact 25%. Loss of Population Growth means that the town will evolve less rapidly, taking much more time to reach its Maximum Population.

Usage[]

Dark Rituals may only be cast on the overland map, for a basic Casting Cost of Icon Mana 30. It may be targeted at any friendly Town which does not already have a Dark Rituals spell effecting it.

When the spell is cast, the game automatically opens a town-information window showing the contents of the target town. A few moments later, a glowing pentagram will appear among the town's buildings, where dark-robed figures will be seen raising and lowering their arms in prayer to the dark lords. This indicates that the town is under the influence of this spell. The ritual will remain visible in the town's information screen as long as the spell remains in effect.

Uncharacteristically, Dark Rituals does not have any Upkeep Costs associated with it. This means that the spell does not draw any Icon Mana Mana from your Mana pool at the start of each turn, and thus cannot fizzle on its own. On the other hand, the penalties inflicted on the town act to discourage simply casting Dark Rituals on each town you own - though this doesn't dissuade all players from doing so.

If you've placed Dark Rituals on a town, you may remove it by examining the town's details and clicking the text reading "Dark Rituals" in the town's Enchantments list. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's associated penalties from the town.

The extra Icon Power Power income generated by Dark Rituals can be seen when clicking on the Icon Power Power Icons in the town's output display. It is denoted by the word "Dark Rituals" followed by a number of Icon Power Power Icons denoting the extra amount produced specifically by this spell.

Acquisition[]

As a Common Icon DeathDeath spell, Dark Rituals may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Icon DeathDeath Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least Icon Death7 Spellbooks.

Customized Wizards possessing up to Icon Death10 Spellbooks at creation time may choose this spell as one of their default spells before starting the game, in which case the spell will already be researched and available for casting immediately on the first turn. Wizards with Icon Death11 Spellbooks are guaranteed to have this spell available for casting as soon as the game begins.

Wizards with Icon Death6 or fewer Spellbooks who have not chosen Dark Rituals as a guaranteed spell have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Icon DeathDeath Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With Icon Death−3 Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research if it is not alraedy available for casting.

Dark Rituals has a base Research Cost of Icon Research 60.

With at least Icon Death1 Spellbook, the Dark Rituals spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell.

Strategy[]

Dark Rituals provides a small amount of bonus Icon Power Power from a town, which grows as that town produces more and more religious Buildings. It can eventually produce a significant amount of Icon Power Power, roughly equal to a single Node. This requires the town to produce many religious buildings.

Though it has no Upkeep Costs, Dark Rituals does inhibit the town's growth and increases Unrest, so it may not be a very good idea to just cast this spell on every town you own. Instead, you might want to hold off casting this spell until a town is well-developed, containing at least a few religious buildings (construction of a Parthenon is usually the indicator that a town is ready for Dark Rituals).

Towns that cannot build Parthenons at all (due to the local Race not being able to do so) are usually not good targets for this spell, and are better off being allowed to grow faster. Also note that towns with high Unrest are also probably better off being left alone, since Dark Rituals will only exacerbate this. Again, towns that cannot build Parthenons or Cathedrals will generally have higher Unrest as they grow, and so once again are not good targets for the Dark Rituals spell.

Eventually, when a town is close to maximizing its population and has relatively low unrest, you may want to cast Dark Rituals on it to get a few extra Icon Power Power points even at the cost of reduced growth and increased unrest. This is totally up to you, of course, as the drawbacks may still prove troublesome.

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