Northerners

Northerners

Era(s)	Default Era
Race(s)	Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Nagas
Alignment(s)	Chaotic, Neutral
Recruitable Units	Goblin Spearman, Naga Fighter, Orcish Archer, Orcish Assassin, Orcish Grunt, Troll Whelp, Wolf Rider
Tactics	How to play Northerners
Unit Tree	1.4

The Northerners are a faction of Orcs and their allies who live in the north of the Great Continent, thus their name. Northerners consist of the warrior orcs race, the enslaved goblins, trolls who are tricked into combat by the orcs, and the serpentine naga. The Northerners play best by taking advantage of having many low-cost and high HP soldiers.

Races

Orcs

Main article: Orcs

In appearance, orcs are half men and half beasts. They are taller, sturdier and stronger than humans. They are warlike, savage, and cruel by nature. Their blood is darker and thicker than that of normal humans and they have little care for personal hygiene or their personal appearance. Although Orcs are violent even among themselves creatures, they are pack-oriented; an orc never travels long or lives alone in groups smaller than half a dozen.

Goblins

Goblins are, despite their appearance, members of the exact same race as orcs, and are born as siblings to the orcs. Unlike similar races, who usually bear children singly or in pairs, orcs will have large litters of children all at once; which is a large part of why their populations can explode so quickly. Within any litter, there will only be one or two true orcs, who will grow to the full size and strength of their race. A few more will be half-orcs, notably weaker than their big brothers, and relegated to supporting roles in combat, such as archery. The rest, often a full half of more of any litter, will be goblins. Goblins are puny, and quite frail; similar in size and stature to a human child, even at the apex of their growth. They have a rather tragic fate; a lifetime of near-slavery to their larger kin, and use as sword-fodder in battle. In spite of this, they thrive; in part because they are so very numerous, and also because their brother orcs are well aware how dependent they are on the goblins.

Goblins accomplish the bulk of manual labor needed by the orcs, with the sole exception of jobs which require the brute strength of true orcs, which the orcs revel in doing as proof of their prowess.

Trolls

Main article: Trolls

Trolls are ancient creatures, one of the oldest known races known to inhabit the Great Continent. They are large, slow, simple-minded, and live extremely long lives inside deep caves or atop high mountains. The most unique characteristic of trolls is an internal vitality that sustains and heals them from within. As a result they live very different lives from almost any known creature. Trolls have few real needs: they require little food or water, and thus they have little incentive to pursue much besides protection from those who are hostile towards them. This in turn means they rarely have to worry about anything and can spend much of their time sleeping or in contemplation. Trolls have a curious affinity with nature. They do not relate with living things like elves do, but instead with earth and stone. They are also somewhat curious of their surroundings and many younger whelps even enjoy traveling and seeing the world. As trolls grow older they tend to become increasingly passive, gradually losing interest in their environment and spending more of their time sleeping in a quiet, familiar corner of their home cave. This is until they finally pass away as their bodies themselves slowly turn into lifeless statues of stone.

Nagas

Nagas are the long time enemies of the Merfolk, and in Asheviere's time they allied with orcs to finally defeat their opponents. They usually join forces with anyone willing to help them defeat the mermen.

Tactics

Main article: How to play Northerners

In general, Northerners will win by mass. Northerners are the cheapest faction and need to utilize that advantage. Poison is a crucial strategic element as level 1 Orc Assassins have ranged poison. Human level 3 Assassins are the only enemy units that also have ranged poison; they're expensive, and not likely to be encountered in quantity. Grunts and Whelps are the meat of the army, but one must make sure to recruit Grunts to hold villages, as Whelps do a poor job of this with 40% defense.