11. Treacherous Souls

Enemy Tribes: Matak, Chumara

Starting Spells: Swarm, Lightning, Convert, Landbridge, Invisibility

Permanent spells you can get: Swamp, Hypnotise

Temporary Spells you can get: Swamp, Flatten

Buildings you can get: None

Vehicles you can get: None

On this world you start at the southwest end of the largest island, with the Matak at the north end. There is a smaller island directly southwest of your settlement with the Flatten Stone Head, and the Chumara island is south of that. Your island is very hilly, so be sure to charge Land Bridge to lower some of the hills that jut up if you need more space. Begin as usual, though send your six starting Braves to worship the Swamp Stone Head, which you can use as a stopgap defense if you need to. Have the Wildmen that you Convert start building up your settlement. If you haven't noticed, the enemy tribes are edging up their population and numbers of fighting follower classes, so you'll want to increase your own population so you have more fighters as well. Land Bridge will be helpful here in clearing new land, and if you need it you can get Flatten on the southwest island.

As far as defense goes, there are four possible routes into your settlement through the hills north and northeast of your Reincarnation Site, which the Matak will use. The hills that define these entrances are just south of the chain of three lakes. What you can do is set up Guard Towers at each entrance, or climb up the hill on the southeast side and start casting Land Bridge across to the tops of the other hills. This will create a wall that the Matak raiders cannot climb, and one that will have only one entrance near the ocean on the northwest side of the chain of hills. Both enemy tribes have boats, but I haven't seen their Shamans cast anything more dangerous than Hypnotize or Swamp, so a perimeter Guard Tower defense isn't as necessary on this world since you don't have to worry about them putting a Volcano down on you. The Chumara will land a few Preachers and other followers at the southern tip of the island with the Flatten Stone Head and will launch raids from that direction, so you may want to build Guard Towers or station troops there to deal with them.

The Matak also seem to like to land patrols on the Land Bridge you make from your island to the Flatten island. From the start, you should try to build up your defenses as much as possible. Matak raids will come from the north over land and by boats from the southwest (provided you opened a path to the Flatten Stone Head, which you can grab whenever you feel like). The Chumara will attack from the southwest as well, though you can put some Swamps down on their patrol paths to discourage them temporarily. As you're building both your defenses and your army, try to get your Shaman to grab any empty boat you see. If you're careful you'll be able to grab both Vaults of Knowledge, even though the Vaults are right next to the enemy settlements. Try especially to get Swamp, as you'll go through the three uses from the Stone Head fairly quickly. Contrary to what the game suggests, I prefer to wipe out the Chumara first. They are the greater threat, and that means they're more aggressive and a greater annoyance with their almost constant raids.

The Matak never seemed to do much, so it would be foolish to move your main forces out to meet them while the Chumara keep pounding on your defenses while they're away. Eventually the Chumara will open a Land Bridge from their island to the island southwest of yours, so if you went after the Flatten spell they will have access to your settlement by land. This would be as good a time as any to attack, but if you're not ready put some Swamps on the Land Bridge(s) to buy time. If your northern defenses are secure against the Matak, head south and march into the Chumara settlement. I took 25 Warriors, 20-25 Firewarriors, and 15+ Preachers. Be careful of the enemy Shaman as she has Hypnotize, and the last thing you want is to have your followers turn on each other. Take her out ASAP. The Chumara have the smallest island, so it should take long to destroy them. Once that's done, replace your losses and head north. The Matak Shaman is also dangerous because she has the Swamp spell, be careful when issuing move orders so your army doesn't walk right through a Swamp. If you have enough fighters to get through their defenses and counterattack, you'll be well on your way to winning this level.