[In Progress - Class] Kohen Thread - Conquest of Elysium 3

Introducing the Kohen Class Mod!

In-game Background & Description:

Centuries ago in the land of Terra, the Chosen People of El worshipped in a Great Temple built by a Wise King. The Tribes of El, who believed they were chosen by their G-d, sacrificed a portion of their livestock and observed strict religious rites, led by the Kohen Gadol, and, in return, enjoyed victory over their enemies. However, the People of El became complacent and unafraid of the warnings of their Lord, so El punished his wayward children by allowing the minions of Ba'al to come into and despoil the land of the Tribes of El - even the Great Temple was not spared the inferno.

Because of this, the Tribes of El were scattered to all the corners of the kingdoms of Men in fleeing the Horror God, Ba'al. However, the Tribes of El fell into bondage in foreign kingdoms and did not even find solace in the cities of the followers of the so-called 'Martyr of El', whom the Pharisee cult of the Tribes cast out of their Kingdom.

Now, the last Kohen of the Great Temple has called out to the Tribes of El, and many have answered him in the pursuit of a Promised Land in Elysium. The Tribes of Asher, Benjamin, Gad, Judah, Levi, Naphtali, Reuben and Zebulun have armed themselves to follow the Last Kohen, and though the sons and daughters of Dan, Issachar, and Joseph have pledged obedience to the Kohen they cannot be relied upon to take up arms and fight - though they do have special talents of their own. With the fall of the Empire, the priestly authority of the Kohanim has been reinforced with the right to rule. El has made his will apparent! His Chosen People have been appointed this land by the Lord Almighty, and charged with the eradication of false faiths, demon-worshippers, sorcerors, and the minions of Ba'al!

The Kohanim perform ritual sacrifices of specially-prepared and chosen animals in order to please El and be rewarded for their faith. These sacrifices are onerous, however, and the Kohen can receive the aid of scouts, mystics, and heroes from the Tribes, ribbis and other scholars, as well as members of religious sects such as the Philosites or the Essenes. Lower celestial beings, tied closer to the earth, always respond to sacrifice that is gratifying in the eyes of the Lord but the most powerful of the servants of El require the Kohen to ascend to the position of Kohen Gadol before they will aid the Chosen People of El. The most powerful messengers of El eternally sing the praises of the Lord, in their voice and in their actions, and are unshakable in their service to the Almighty. The single greatest feat of the Kohanim will be the restoration of the Great Temple, where, according to prophesy, it has been said that El may gift His people with powerful antediluvian items cleansed by His gaze, the Ark that bears the testament of His Covenant with humanity, or even anoint the Kohen Gadol as the Builder of the Holy Temple, the Gatherer of the Dispersed, the One to Mend the Entire World: the Messiah.

Discussion:

The theme going here is a Jewish counterpart to the Voice of El and the High Priestess. The Kohen can call upon tribal, scholarly, and religious human allies with relatively small displays of faith (sacrifices, fluffed as Old Testament-style offerings), or lower order celestial allies for a more substantial sacrifice. When the Kohen ascends to the office of Kohen Gadol, his position makes it difficult to fraternize with other religious sects in the Tribes but his increased religious authority allows him to sacrifice for more powerful celestial beings. Additionally, the Kohen Gadol can construct the Temple - requiring an expenditure of relics for religious ceremony, gold for material, and a proper sacrifice for consecrating the grounds.

Extra units and commanders include Essenes (Holy casters specializing in combating Demons/Undead [Silver Arcana], with Holy warrior bodyguards), Philosite mortifiers (Holy berserkers carrying bleed-causing scourges), Ribbis (Holy Prayer casters who congregate in groups, with their students), and others. The focus on angels and similar celestial units will be to attempt to scale appearances back into antiquity, and make the features of higher orders of angel obscured by light or bizarre.

Unit Preview-in-Progress:

Any comments, or suggestions are appreciated!

============================================

The Tribes, and their contributions:
As a preface, when boiling down the tribes into their representative units, I tried to take the prominent characteristics of their titular progenitors when working out the stats and abilities of the units as well as drawing inspiration from Illwinter's Dominions 3 Nation of Gath - also a representation of Jewish legend and lore.

Asher: The Asherite Swordsman is a heavy infantryman with a large shield, though he is relatively slow on the march. The Asherite tribesmen are the best equipped of the Tribes, however, and are excellent at defending the fortified areas of the Tribes. Jacob's blessing to Asher was: "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties ", and their steel weaponry and armor are the fruits of these labors.

Benjamin: The Benjaminite Slinger is a light skirmisher, capable of camouflaging his movements in forests and wielding a shortsword and sling - though he forfeits the protection of armor for the benefit of speed. As a result, they are excellent when used for scouting and raiding, capable of moving more quickly than the rest of the Tribes' armies and using terrain to their advantage. In the Blessing of Jacob, Benjamin is referred to as a "ravenous wolf", the Song of Deborah highlights the ability of the sons of Benjamin to 'wrongfoot' their adversaries, and the tribe itself was nearly eradicated in the Battle of Gibeah after Benjaminite inhospitality insulted the other Tribes - it was pretty easy to place the tribe's representatives as somewhat ragged but brave, fierce raiders and skirmishers.

Dan: The Danite representative is the Danite Sybil, a sorceress and seeress who specializes in scrying and has some skill in magic. The implication is that the rest of the Tribes in Elysium do not trust the Danites, and fear Danite treachery too strongly to fight alongside their warriors. Dan, in the Blessing of Jacob, is described as a serpent - highlighting wickedness and deceit. Dan is also portrayed as hating Joseph, and the land of the Danites is associated with wickedness and evil. As a result, it was pretty clear that the Danite representative had to be some sort of magic-user or sorcerer - and that representative being a wise-woman (with all the implications that held amongst the Israelites in antiquity) is hopefully doubly effective.

Gad: The Gadite representative is the Gadite Swordsman, a warrior who fights with a sickle-sword, javelin, and shield. They are a high-quality troop, fighting with fervor and capable of combating magic-users more effectively than most of the other tribes. Their exotic swords are a tribute to their former, foreign, home where they were held in bondage by cruel mage-kings and are very eager to defend their new home. In Genesis, Gad was the son of Jacob and Zilpah - a foreign handmaiden and a sign that the Tribe of Gad was of foreign origin. Additionally, epitaphs and artifacts from the Tribal period differentiated Israelites from Gadites. However, the text of the Torah derives the meaning of Gad as 'fortunate' or 'lucky' - this luck manifests itself in the form of their curious resistance to enchantment.

Issachar: Issachar is another Tribe that is considered less than trustworthy by the other Tribes, their representative is the Issacharite Scout. The Scout is a stealthy unit that moves quickly, and prefers to fight with a bow - though he can fight with a spear as well. They make good leaders for the skirmishers of the Tribe of Benjamin. The Issacharites can be found as students to Ribbis, and are clad in heavy armor with good armaments - the Tribe of Issachar, unlike the Danites, are untrustworthy due to their characteristic caution and pragmatism, often interpreted as cowardice, though they can be relied upon to defend the Great Temple, Libraries, and scholars. In the Torah, one etymology of 'Issachar' is 'man for hire', and the Book of Jasher notes Issachar taking only "feeble" involvement in campaigns and preferring to reside in fortified cities - though, he was learned and eager to defend literature and literati alike.

Joseph: The Josephites are the third 'unreliable' tribe, though this is not because of the suspicions that other Tribes have of them - rather, it is because the Josephites mistrust the other Tribes. However, the inscrutable Josephite Dreamers, following dream visions, often offer their services to the Kohanim. The Dreamers are capable of channeling a strange, otherworldly magic and they, as well as the other Tribes, believe that El works through their dreaming. However, sometimes, Dreamers pull into reality things that are born from neither dreams or nightmares. This is rather straightforward, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and was renowned for his ability to interpret dreams for pharaohs. However, in the midrash, the selling of Joseph was a plan by the Lord to save the Tribes, as Joseph's dream interpretations take him from a low place to a high place. This, plus some R'lyeh, was pretty well workable into COE3.

Judah: The Judahite Hornblower boasts the greatest strength of all the other tribes, wielding the Great Horn of Judah, which they alone have the strength to wield, they are an inspirational sight on the battlefield for their fellow soldiers. They are so mighty that they can wield their Great Horn in close-combat, and to great effect - though they do not carry a shield, the Judahites are rarely intimidated. Rabbinical sources often attribute to Judah a de-facto leadership amongst the other brothers, and possessed with heroic strength. Some examples of his strength include crushing iron into dust by his mouth, the ripping and piercing of his clothes from just his anger, killing 1,000 men in a battle in the Testament of Judah, and throwing an extremely heavy stone into the air and rendering it into dust with a kick when it landed.

Levi: The Levite Zealot is the representative from the Tribes of Levi, a warrior who fights with a tempered sword, and a shield - though he does not carry a javelin like many of the other warriors of the Chosen People. The Levite Tribe is known for its faith, and its unyielding devotion to Hashem and His servants - this gifts them with blessings and protection from the effects of some of El's celestial servants. In biblical literature, the Blessing of Moses credits the tribe of Levi as possessing the greatest piety amongst its brothers. The Book of Malachi also enumerates that the Levites were divinely chosen as priests, due to the reverence, honesty, and piety of Levi himself.

Naphtali: The Naphtali Spearman is a reliable representative of his Tribe, and presents the typical armament of the Chosen of El. The name 'Naphtali' translates to 'My Struggle', and the reliability of the Tribe of Naphtali is emblematic of this - taking on the struggles of other Tribes alongside them.

Reuben: While the Tribe of Reuben is not necessarily as wealthy as the Tribe of Asher or the Tribe of Zebulun, Reubenites had lead relatively comfortable lives - they often tended away from war whenever possible and tend to aid as auxiliaries when called upon. As a result, the Reubenite Archer is a relatively natural result of their association with the other Tribes, and later, other kingdoms. According to the ancient Song of Deborah, Reuben declined to take part in the war against Sisera, the people instead idly resting among their flocks as if it were a time of peace.

Zebulun: The soldiers of Zebulun are well-trained and numerous, mostly as a result of their continued commercial good fortune. Even after the Ba'alite Diaspora, the commercial skills of the sons of Zebulun have allowed the tribe to rise to some prominence. While their soldiers are available in greater number than the other tribes, they are also somewhat more expensive. In rabbinical literature, there is little reference to Zebulun - the most prominent event involving the Tribe of Zebulun involves commercial exchanges and agreements.

Edited by: Extropist

This will go awesome with my Holy King of kings/Holy Kingdom mod!