World Conquest Online

[Species Unknown - Current Name "Red Snake"

This Species is a descendent of the Titanoboa species, a giant Snake from the Boidae family of snakes, and an early ancestor of the Anaconda species found in the Tropical Rainforests of the Southern Hemisphere. There are no records of this species found within the World Conquest Online database, however the Titanoboa evolved soon after the extinction of the non-aviary dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous period. The Titanoboa could reach sizes of forty seven feet and weighed over a tonne in weight. This Unknown Species has gained it’s colour due to the food and surroundings from it’s environment and would most likely hunt in Swamps and Rivers.

The Unknown Species is most likely from around forty to thirty million years BC, and is one of the earliest known species to exist within the current records of World Conquest Online.]

Dom was shocked with what he was hearing, these snakes weren’t just anaconda’s like Peruda had said to Gan Ning, but an ancestor of them that lived millions of years ago. The Snakes made the Dire Wolves and Sabre Tooth Tigers seem like small children in comparison. It made him question the game map even more.

"Game Support, a silly question, but could there be dinosaurs?" Dom asked seriously.

[Unknown]

Dom was surprised by that response, he had at least expected a yes or a no, but now he was more interested in the Red snakes. At that size, they would be an imposing creature, but they had no knowledge of them and he didn’t know if they would be trainable or usable with the Beast Hall. Or even if they were safe to keep, if they couldn’t domesticate them, they could have giant man eating snakes within the area of Riverside.

"Could they be used in a Beast Hall?" Dom asked.

[Once named, this species could be used in the Beast Hall. An Adult would range from forty to fifty feet in length and three to four feet in width. They will weight over a Tonne and would be suitable to live in water related regions. It is recommended that if Riverside chooses to spawn the Unknown Species - Red Snake, that they do so near the River’s edge, as the Beast Hall would have to be amended to have access to water.]

Dom appreciated the feedback from Game Support, but it gave him more questions than answers, the Red Snakes could be a huge reward and he could imagine long speared Warriors riding on the back of giant Red Snakes up and down the River, however he suspected due to their size the spawn rate would be extremely low or small. His other option was the Dire Wolves and they would most likely have a similar spawn rate to the Sabre Tooth Tigers, allowing Riverside to have an extra unit to support in the forests and mountainous regions. Subutai has alluded to different Cavalry units earlier and the Dire Wolves could potentially fill the next section of that.

"What are your thoughts on them?" Dom asked Lucius and Subutai.

"I don’t really have much knowledge on snakes, other than those of the human kind, but in this world of unknown possibilities I am sure they could be an asset." Lucius replied, his eyes intrigued by the stunning red creatures.

"They definitely look less imposing at this age, but I have seen the corpse of the adult one Gan Ning killed. If they can be trained they could be useful." Subutai explained.

"I actually believe the one Gan Ning killed was an adolescent." Dom laughed, "they can grow in to giant creatures that could almost reach half the length of a Bireme."

"That big?" Gan Ning exclaimed. "Maybe I should be more careful before I jump in to a river in future. We have explored a lot of the area around the Underground Ancient City, there is definitely no evidence of a creature that large existing there."

"Maybe the eggs were taken there by someone else, and the one we found had hatched earlier?" Dom questioned.

"But who would transfer eggs there, it is such a peculiar place to find." Subutai questioned, "and if they did, why didn’t they explore the city like we did?

"Who knows, but it just shows how important our exploration of the south is." Lucius agreed.

"Can we use them in the Beast Hall?" Subutai asked, his fingers moving as he did calculations in his mind.

"We can, but we’d need to spawn the Beast Hall near the river." Dom replied, wondering Subutai’s thoughts.

"These are an ambush unit. They can’t defeat a ship alone, but they can be used in forests, rivers and other areas on the waters edge to hide and cause chaos within enemy ranks." Subutai explained, "If Ou Yezi can build them an armour that can move with their shape, we could have a heavy unit that I have never thought to imagine before."

"Like the elephant units of some countries, but more destructive in a wide area." Lucius agreed.

"They are natural predators and our enemies can be their prey."

"It would be great to have them as a unit in our Navy and coastal forces." Gan Ning added, "I disagree though, I do think they could take down a ship, especially if there is a few of them working together."

Dom didn’t disagree, the thought of two or three of them coming at you, with their agility in the water, it was scary to think about. The Trireme and Bireme were manoeuvrable compared to many other ships, but they wouldn’t be able to compete with the snakes in that.

"They would be trainable." Atzi promised, "They are very clever, they just need to be introduced to more people and see us as a fellow predator who can work with them, rather than someone that is prey and further down the food chain."

"You could also have riders on them." Tayanna explained, "Strong Swimmers who can hold their breathe for a long time and control the direction and prey drive of the snakes."

"If we can design something that can help give their riders a longer underwater breathing time, they really could be useful." Gan Ning agreed, "As well as weapons that can cause damage to ships and enemies alike."

"I’ll speak with the team at the Library." Lucius replied, "I am sure they can come up with a concept that could be used to help breathe underwater for a longer time."

"Ou Yezi can definitely design something that is more piercing." Subutai agreed, "Maybe something like a sharp lance, rather than a spear."

[Would you like to name the Unknown Species something new or keep the name Red Snake]

"The Titanaconda" Dom replied.

....

Dom had soon left the sisters and was now walking towards the Trireme Shipyard where they would spawn the Merchant Ship Shipyard. However, he departed his route slightly at the site of the Library that Hatshepsut has spawned. His face was lit up in surprise at the beauty of the building, with tall marble columns that adjourned it’s entranceway. The building was two stories high, with thick white walls and many glassed windows, something that Dom had not seen much of in World Conquest Online so far.

The Library was a stunning architectural piece to Riverside and he agreed with it’s placing as any ship that travelled down the Calm River would see it. Dom wondered what it would look like once upgraded, but quickly squashed the temptation. He understood exactly why the more academic members of Riverside had began to gather their since its arrival.

They soon approached the Dock, where Dom could see the Galatea anchored in the middle of the lake, surrounding by fishing boats that teamed with fishermen and women who brought in nets full of colourful fish. Moored at the dock were two of the Bireme, with a further anchored out towards the east. Between the anchored Bireme to the east and the ones moored at the dock, around ten Merchant Ships, including the one taken from the Envoy were also anchored, currently unmanned and uncrewed, their future usage yet to be decided.

Dom could see that Helena was stood near her office, with her eldest daughter Ophelia who Dom had once rescued with the Head Shipbuilder Himilco. They waved at Dom in greeting as he passed, and he smiled back at them as he headed towards the Trireme Shipyard. The two of them going back to their conversation as Dom continued onwards with his small entourage.

Once they entered the Trireme Shipyard, Dom was surprised to see the progress of their next ship. He could see that it was almost finished, with only it’s high sides visible and the mast that was in the centre from Dom’s angle at the rear of the ship. A large amount of oars were stacked nearby as workmen hammered and chiselled away at wood, whilst others carved and smoothed the surfaces of them. Dom noticed Lars’s daughter Aase managing the construction and expected her father would be proud as the Head Carpenter on the Shipyard.

From inside, Dom could hear more hammering and loud talking as Carpenters and Shipbuilders inside finished it’s internal construction to get it ready to sail.

Like it’s sister ship the Galatea, and unlike most ships that would be seen, this one was silver in colour, having used the wood from the Silver Forest. He couldn’t wait to see it launched, as two Trireme would make Riverside much better defended. He could also see further away that the next Trireme had also entered production, with large pieced being attached together to build the outer shell.

"Good Morning Lord Lazarus!" Himilco exclaimed from the prow of the ship, waving him over. Beside him was a short but extremely muscular man who was facing away from them.

"Good Morning Himilco!" Dom replied as he, Lucius and Subutai headed over towards the shipbuilder.

"What do you think of her?" Himilco asked, pointing at the Trireme.

"She’s beautiful." Dom replied honestly.

"Wait until you see what Ou Yezi has built!" Himilco exclaimed as the short muscular man beside him turned to them.

"It isn’t anything that great." Ou Yezi replied modestly, "But I think it could be very helpful."

Dom turned to see what he was talking about, and saw that the large ram on the front of the ship had a long sharpened iron tip. Further back on the ram were two other tips, that made the front of the ship look like a trident.

"The idea, is that it will add penetration to any ramming that she does." Himilco explained excitedly, "Whilst the two smaller points will hopefully cause damage even if the ship doesn’t hit the enemy directly."

"We hope, that this will allow her to be more dangerous than the Galatea." Ou Yezi stated, "The metal is much tougher and is light enough that it won’t impact the balance too much."

"It’s impressive engineering." Lucius commented as he looked over the front of the Trireme. The silver looking ram looked dangerous and Dom could imagine the damage it could cause. Crassus had earlier mentioned about how the Trireme and Bireme of his friend were unable to attack successfully some of the higher rounder ships. The longer and sharper point on this could definitely reach further.

"She will need some testing as she is technically much longer than a standard Trireme now, just based on the additional length on the ram and we have made her slightly longer at the back to counter balance." Himilco explained, "But I have spoken with Captain Elon and he is excited to take her down to the coast of the Shimmering Sea for a test run in a couple of days when she’s ready to launch."

"I want to work on better retractions to protect the crew and see if there are any other ways we can make her more offensive." Ou Yezi added.

"What is she called?" Subutai asked, also looking impressed at the Trireme, and wondering back to his earlier thoughts on armoured giant Snakes.

"We were thinking of Enyo." Himilco explained, "The sister of war. As we envision her being the frontal attack in any naval battle."

"Enyo it is then." Dom agreed, admiring her. "I came here first as we are planning to spawn a new shipyard, would you like to join us?"

"I would." Himilco said excitedly, before shouting loudly to Aase to join them. "Are you coming Ou Yezi?"

"If the Lord is happy with that?" Ou Yezi asked, inspecting his own work. The Weaponsmith had already taken the first steps of using his expertise to strengthen the wider Riverside.

"Of course, let’s go!" Dom replied, wondering if the Enyo was successful, could they upgrade the Trireme and the three Bireme with the new ram. He also wondered what other possibilities could be upgraded naturally in Riverside, without the use of Wooden Tokens or Cubes.