Ah, OK. Well, I did fight a major battle this past turn against a very strong indie province. Blood druids with hundreds of blood slaves and giant mobile ferns of some sort. I think it was supposed to be a challenging battle, but my troops dispatched them fairly easily.

Please also note that victory points spread dominion like temples, to an extent. The provinces with victory points are marked by a little symbol of a crown on the map.

Ah, I was wondering what that crown was for, thanks.

Question: if a guy stacked with items gets whacked in a friendly province and I still control the province after, do I get all those items back? Similarly, if one of my Augur Elders dies of old age while researching, do I get to keep his gems and Skull Mentor etc?

By the way, Hinnom, we are currently waiting for your turn submission.

Missed a part of your question.

Spell school is separate from magic path. All schools start at level 0 and can go up to 8 or something like that. You control how much research goes into each school.

So, for example, since I have Flamen (pronounced Fame-On! a la Human Torch, by the way) and they are focused on fire, I might want to focus my research on the school of Evocation, which has stuff like Fireball in it.

There is actually a free demo, you know. I would advise you to check it out. It's just single-player and limited to one map and the Maverni nation (and maybe a locked-in Pretender, can't recall). Other than that, it's a fully playable map.

Campaigner:  Dom3 (based upon what i have read - never having played Dom2) is a refined and expanded version of Dom2.  But rhge fraphics are very basic.  Since you mention the Dom2 demo... may I suggest you try the Dom3 demo?  I think there is one...)  The game doesn't have a lot of eye candy.. but the battles do show everything going on... it just takes a while to figure it all out.  I don't think i have, yet.

Ghostwes - I know I am the last one, but I was waiting for some diplomatic responses to return, plus there are really some hard dilemmas and decisions to make now, so please don't be angry at me taking some time. I also had a training session scheduled and I decided to make my moves after, because physical activity seems to clear one's head rather nicely. But it won't be long now.

Regarding the lost items, if you happen to retain control of the province after the battle, and have other commanders with free inventory slots for the items in question, you get reports they "found" the items. I am not sure if the chance is 100% or less, though.

Ad graphics - well, I have to step in here, because I like the graphics. I hate the interface, but I rather like the graphics.

Well for some of us, anyway, turns have become extremely easy to get through, what with Marverni on the brink of wiping us out entirely...

Details: Our capital is under siege, and our all-mighty pretender has been slain.  All that's left now is two mountain provinces with low province defense, a warlock, and our prophet.  We'll still fight to the bitter end, but it's not looking good.

You do know what other players' nation's generally have as strengths and weaknesses, because those are preset.  But you don't know about their Pretender or their research until you confront them in battle or use some other kind of espionage (like a scout in a province they conquer).  Even then, you have to deduce their research based upon the spells they cast.

The following is a fragment of a theatre play, washed ashore in one of our provinces. For the sake of preserving the diversity of Hieronica's cultural heritage, the venerable Council decided to publish it (not regretting the considerable costs of scribe and papyrus):

...

A military camp in a coastal province. Playful tide caresses the glittering sand in the background, sun shines brightly on a cloudless sky. Groups of horribly starved troops are scattered across the scene. Some are trying to catch fish in the ocean, some are shooting at birds with little success, some are chewing grass and leather belts, while majority of them is lying on the sand, too tired to move. In front, a group of philosophers are eating from private supplies, obviously untouched and unaffected by overall atmosphere of despair permeating the whole camp.

Kleptipedes (recites, assuming a dramatic pose):

... for life is but a fleeting dream,

no matter how vivid it may seem,

toss doubts aside, and chew your fill,

the Sea of Time stands never still...

Polyarchos: Splendid! The last metaphor was particularly ... juicy (stuffs his mouth full of olives in brine)

A group of horribly malnourished elephants crosses the scene in the background, following a foreign-looking nobleman.

Fuliandros: ... and the problems of the State, as I see them, come all from the obsolete idea of centralised power that must decide on everything - taxes, prices, laws, et cetera. Yet with centralisation inevitably comes inefficiency and corruption, while a self-regulating system based on ... say low-level economic relations of demand and supply, could in fact prove far more robust, adaptable and efficient. I would call it... Free Bazaar, or something like that...

Meniptides: (laughs while chewing a roasted lamb): Fuliandros, you never cease to surprise. I thought you were an idealist, but you are much worse than that. No change in the system will change human nature, which is based  on feral greed, deception and lust for pleasures of the flesh. Only those, who...

A scout rides into the camp, shouting: Tien Chi troops are coming! Get ready for battle!

Chaos erupts in the camp, but most troops are too weak to even stand.

Fuliandros: You see, Meniptedes? That's the mentality of the common man, always focusing on irrelevant details, scurrying around like frightened animals, instead of trusting in the self-regulating power of the Free Bazaa..aaaarrghhh! (catches an arrow in the neck and falls over)

Arrow start to whistle through the air, one of them hits Kleptipedes in the chest, but he miraculously manages to maintain his dramatic pose.

Kleptipedes:

... then sunset comes with crimson tide,

and Fate finds fools who try to hide,

Sunrays like arrrggh...ows pierce forest shades

what seemed so real suddenly fades

... (pauses, looks on the arrow in his chest)...

'tis I who bleed?

Oh yes, indeed...

(faints and falls to the ground)

Arrows are becoming more and more dense, hitting disorganised, scattered infantry, the scene ends with Tien-chi cavalry arriving.

(Curtain)

Yes, that was very good, sir.

Well, Arco has less than three hours to submit their turn. He has been consistently good so far, but he also mentioned intermittent access before we started. Perhaps we should pause the game so he can get his turn in?

Well, he seemed to have sent his move, because I have just received a new turn, and I don'd believe he forfeited.

When I cast Communion Master/Slave there doesn't appear to be any indication that the spell is taking effect, other than the "Zubzub has cast Communion Slave" text at the top left of the screen. It's supposed to increase your master's magic paths based on the number of slaves but there is no difference that I can see. Is this normal or am I doing it wrong? I am casting master and slave at the same time, if that matters.

You'll still get fatigue after casting a spell, but it will be greatly reduced (as its dispersed amongst the slaves).

Here's a really good guide on communions:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=37499