History Characters / Dominions

* DirtyCoward: The Cambions of Late Age, while remarkably powerful, are described as amoral and cowardly. Their actual morale is 10, which is on par with a typical infantryman, but still quite low for a creature with their physical stats.

A nation introduced in Dominions 6, Pyrène takes heavy inspiration from Basque mythology. In the Early Age it is a nation of cave-dwelling humans called the Bekrydes who were taught metal-working by Giants. By the Middle Age it has become a prosperous feudal nation, but a disastrous war with Abysia saw the extinction of the Jenitlak and Basajaunak and the nation embraces blood magic under the tutelage of the Akerbeltz, the Black Goats.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Early Pyrène is based in Basque mythology, though the name is from Greek myth; the actual Bekrydes were Anatolians, but Greeks of the time thought they came from the Pyrenees, and claimed the mountains were named after a Bekryde princess Hercules killed. Middle Pyrène is far more Spanish, with the core of the nation (the Akelarre of witches led by goats) coming from [[Creator/FranciscoDeGoya Francisco de Goya's]] ''[[Art/WitchesSabbath1798 Witches' Sabbath]]''.

'''Pyrène - Time of the Akelarre''' (Middle Age)

* BloodMagic: Under the tutelage of the Black Goats, this becomes Pyrène's hat. Both the Akerbeltz and the Middle Age version of the Sorginak are potent blood mages and the Pyrènian bishop has some skill in the path.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The Mother of Storms, the patron of the Sorgina witches, can be selected as a thematic pretender by Pyrène - in both eras, even though part of Middle Age Pyrène's backstory is the Sorginak abandoning her for the blood magic of the Akerbeltz.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Pyrène doesn't appear at all in the Late Ages... though given that Marignon is said to have noticed the blood magic, and how Late Marignon is a bit more Spanish than Middle Marignon, it's not hard to guess what happened.

* FactionCalculus: The Powerhouse. All ages of C'tis require some setup and pooled resources to really get going, during which they're somewhat vulnerable, but they make up for it with their powerful mages. Middle C'tis has the easiest time surviving to that point, due to its [[BubblegloopSwamp openly-hostile dominion]] and its intimidating Giants, while Late C'tis has the toughest time due to its out-of-date troops (though, as a trade-off, its Sauromancers can learn some of the [[SicklyGreenGlow best offensive magic]] available).

* MagicalIncantation: The Vanir's magic is invoked through Galdersongs, which may reference the Galdrar (incantations) of Old Norse culture.

%%* CastingAShadow: Use both Air and Death magic to create illusions alongside summoning the undead.

%%* {{Valkyries}}

* PowerCreep: The original (Middle Age) Machaka hasn't seen many changes since ''Dominions 2'', and it shows. ''Dominions 6'' will give a new path to some of its mages, however.

[[folder:Marignon]]
'''Marignon, Fiery Justice''' (Middle Age)\\
'''Marignon, Conquerors of the Sea''' (Late Age)

The empire of Ermor at its height covered vast stretches of territory within its borders, incorporating several diverse cultures and creeds. Officially, all of these were meant to be subsumed within and replaced by the all-encompassing New Faith of the empire; realistically, however, the empire's very extent made this rather infeasible to properly enforce. The province of Marignon, the former homeland of the Marverni, absorbed a considerable amount of Ermorian cultural and religious influence but maintained a great deal of local autonomy, with day-to-day administration and tax collection duties falling to a local aristocracy of landowners. Another unique development was the House of Fiery Justice, a religious body that developed independently in Marignon and eventually grew powerful enough to take the reins of power in Marignon once the Fall of Ermor effectively obliterated the imperial government. As the true nature of the threat of the Ashen Empire that now ruled Ermor's old heartland became clear, the House of Fiery Justice tightened its control on Marignon's society; holy armies spearheaded by the knightly Order of the Sacred Chalice were sanctioned to drive back and destroy the undead menace, while on the home front inquisitors and witch hunters rooted out heathens, heretics, and profane magic users that might have threatened to corrupt the populace's staunch faith.

Unfortunately, faith and steel alone proved unable to stem the tide of the Ashen Empire's undead hordes. Faced with the choice between destruction and compromise, the leadership of Marignon chose the latter, forging a [[DealWithTheDevil pact]] with TheLegionsOfHell to save them. Bolstered by infernal forces, Marignon's armies finally managed to destroy the Ashen Empire and its undead hordes. This victory, however, came at a terrible price -- as part of the pact, Marignon must now provide the Infernal Lords with a steady flow of blood sacrifices. As a consequence, the witch hunters have since been disbanded, and the Inquisition has assumed responsibility for regulating the sacrifices in question according to stringent controls and ensuring Marignon's faithful are not seduced into outright devil worship; only time will tell if they are only forestalling the inevitable. Meanwhile, Marignon's new Naval Academy has been developing new shipbuilding and navigation techniques and training admirals to use them, opening up vast new lands on the other side of the ocean as potential sources of new wealth, converts, and sacrifices.

[[folder:Man]]
'''Man, Tower of Avalon''' (Middle Age)\\
'''Man, Tower of Chelms''' (Late Age)

A feudal kingdom that emerged in the Middle Age, founded by a human tribe known as the Logrians who conquered Tir na n'Og and discovered the secrets of the Forest of Avalon.

* BowAndSwordInAccord: The Wardens wield both longsword and crossbow.
* TheFairFolk: Man is a human kingdom, but they rely on ancient secrets of the Tuatha for the source of their power.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Medieval Britain, mixing both English and Celtic aspects.
* TheHecateSisters: The Witches of Avalon are divided into the ranks of Daughter, Mother, and Crone by seniority.
* KnightInShiningArmor: They also have a touch of Myth/ArthurianLegend, what with Avalon and all. They even have the Green Knight as a hero.
* LadyAndKnight: The Witches of Avalon and the Wardens have this dynamic in the Middle Age.
* LastOfHisKind: While the Witches of Avalon have supposedly gone extinct by the Late Age, a story event can lead to the discovery that at least one of them still survives.
* TheMagicGoesAway: In the Late Era, they're described as suffering from magical Drain. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation You can create a pretender with high magic scales]], but that's a waste given their researchers' ability to ignore magical drain.
* UnequalRites: In the Middle Age, magic in Man is practiced primarily by the all-female Witches of Avalon, who specialize in [[GreenThumb Nature magic]] and lean heavily on the harmony end of HarmonyVersusDiscipline. By the Late Age, the witches are all but extinct, and magic is mainly practiced by the studious, disciplined, all-male Magisters, who dabble in nearly every field of magic ''but'' nature.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mekone/Phlegra]]
'''Mekone, Brazen Giants''' (Early Age)\\
'''Phlegra, Deformed Giants''' (Middle Age)\\
'''Phlegra, Sleeping Giants''' (Late Age)\\
A nation introduced in ''Dominions 5''. Mekone is a nation of giants and their human slaves, known as helotes, that seek to rid the world of the gods of man.

A later patch introduced Phlegra. After the Gigantes of Mekone lost in their war against the gods, they were punished for their sins. They now appear as deformed giants cursed with a violent temper. The highest caste, known as Tyrants, rule with the assistance of Oppressors, unscrupulous mages who enslave other mages and act as powerful communion masters.

In the Late Age, introduced in a third patch, the Tyrants have been absent for centuries having killed each other off in in-fighting and the Oppressors now rule their human slaves unopposed, with the warrior-caste of Younger Cyclopes being the only non-humans left in the realm. The only ones the Oppressors fear are the few Tyrants that lay imprisoned under mountains, their undying rage against the gods causing the mountains to spew fire and molten rock.
----

* SealedEvilInACan: Starting from turn 15, Late Age Phlegra can experience a special event where The Burning Mountain (a capital magic site that gives 3 fire gems a turn and increases Heat scales) erupts. This kills population and causes unrest, as well as spawning Encelados the First of the Gigantes, a special national hero. The Shattered Volcano left behind produces 1 fire and death gem per turn, and allows the recruitment of Laestrygonian Tyrants (and regular Laestrygonian troops, if Gigantomachia is active.)

* NightOfTheLivingMooks: Scelarian priests are can raise a sizable undead army. In Middle Age Ermor, the undead rise on their own.

* StartOfDarkness: Thanks to it's wizards studying C'tisian death magic, Middle Age Ermor is a desolate wasteland of the dead, and Sceleria has been forced into an uneasy compromise to keep Death from breaking loose. [[spoiler: This doesn't stop them from making their own place a desolate wasteland of ghosts by doing the same thing again]]
* ZombieApocalypse: Middle Age Ermor. Tons of Dead Legionairres who come out of the ground and murder everything in sight, while the living population is converted into both gouls and skeletons en masse.

* ArcherArchetype: Longbowmen, much like in real life.

Ubar is a nation of Jinnun who lord over their human slaves. In the anciet past the most powerful Jinnun rebelled against the Pantokrator and were imprisoned, leaving a handful of Jinnun to lord over the humans and await their masters' return. During the transition between the Early Age and Middle Age the Jinnun faded away, until the handful that were left intermingled with the Avvim to produce a new ruling class - the Jiniri queens of Na'Ba. Now Na'Ba is a hidden kingdom from which traders with silver tongues travel far and wide with luxurious wares imbued with ancient magic.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Ubar and Na'Ba are based off of Middle Eastern civilizations and their folklore, particularly of pre-Islamic Arabia.

** Ubar's primary elite troop type is genies, said to be born out of "smokeless fire" from before mankind came to the land. As a result, they are powerful, semi-ethereal, {{Glamour}}ed mages and warriros who are only able to come out and play after their cities, Jannah and the City of Brass, is unsealed by the coming of their Pretender. However, in exchange for their massive physical power, they are vulnerable to both iron weapons and salt thrown at them, which can stun them and leave them open for more attacks. The genies themselves are split into further specialties:

*** The Marids are spellcasters who rival the Afarit in power (and were in fact exiled to the oceans because they dared challenge the Ifrit Sultans), having access to all four elemental paths and Glamour and being amphibious at the expense of having no random paths and not being sacred. The Marids can only be summoned, not recruited.

*** Ghuls aren't true genies but are connected to the Jinnun and share the same weaknesses to salt and iron. They are considered demons and haunt graveyards for human flesh. Their commander is a matron of their kind, the Ghullah, who has weak Blood and Death magic in addition to her Ghul abilities. Like the Jinnun Ubar has the ability to recruit them naturally.

* BloodMagic: Averted in Middle Age, the Colossi queens abandon the practices, whether due to HeelFaceTurn or practicality is not explained.

* PowerCreep: [[JustifiedTrope For largely-thematic reasons]] such as needing to seem lesser than Tir na n'Og, Eriu has had much fewer tools and far-lesser tools than its Early-Age counterpart for the past three games; other Middle-Age factions have had a lot more given for them, however. [[BalanceBuff It's slated to be a lot more distinct with the next game's release]], though!

* AscendedExtra: Feminie and Piconye first appeared in Dominions 5 as sources for some of Ind's units, while Cynocephalians made up a significant number of troops. Come Dominions 6 Feminie and Piconye became full nations in the Late Age, and the Cynocephalians also received their own nation (albeit Andramania is a different concept to the tribes of Gog and Magog).

** Fortunately, Ind never got to use this ritual before the Khans destroyed it. Unfortunately, Feminie was able to preserve this knowledge and has access to the ritual in the Late Age.