The night in Sunny City passed with Abu-Bakir's vigilant surveillance as the preparation for the portal opening went in full motion. He was so excited about finally witnessing the mysterious cloud settlement that he simply couldn't get a wink of sleep.
The settlement itself did not interest the Court wizard any much; a far greater anticipation consisted in the charmed clouds which could host the settlement that high in the clouds. This kind of charm would make possible a multi-layered structure of the city, a subject to which Abu-Bakir himself contributed a lot of theoretical work many years ago, at a rather early age. His development at the time brought no significant results, and over time, his scripts were lost in the limitless depths of the Cryptorium.
Fate was generous to him with one more chance of making another huge breakthrough, notable enough to potentially change the world. Thoughts about the opening perspectives absorbed the wizard's mind to the point where he simply couldn't notice anything around; not anything important, not even anything obviously conspicuous. The long-awaited moment of opening the celestial portal was nearing, bringing the beginning of an expedition into the heavens close.
The next morning, thanks to the efforts of the Academy of Magical sciences, the celestial portal was opened. The first reconnaissance returned troublesome news: the wizards were ardently defending their territories and were not disposed to allow conducting a research of the astonishing phenomenon of the cloud settlement at tremendous altitude. An attempt to invite the Cloudbound wizards for parley led to aggression from their side; thus the Empire was forced to recur to the military alternative of studying their territory and magic.
All lords and ladies above combat level 2 who wish to assist the Empire need to arrive at the Sunny City or any adjacent location, equipped in accordance to the shop standards of their level. Upon entering the portal, you will step onto the bottom cloud level and face a group of hostile mages, mostly of unfamiliar war strength.
Winning on each cloud level will unlock the next one above, guarded by a stronger detachment. Besides, victorious combats grant certain amount of cloud essence which may be used to improve military performance of your troops and yourselves. The amount of collected cloud essences increases the higher you fight.
On each particular level, it is possible to achieve up to 3 victories and suffer no more than 6 defeats. Upon reaching either threshold, combats will be locked on that cloud level. It is possible to battle in up to two levels below the current maximum, where the same daily limitations apply.
The objective of this campaign is to either reconcile with the unseen wizards, or to subdue them. There is no estimated end date as of now. |
