Greetings, Lords!
It's time for a first faction from the Early Access release! It's called: Chrama.
Symbol of the Chrama (above) is a wild forest deity, known to them as the Great Horned One. This mysterious beign replaced the Chrama's people beliefs, not long after the Calamity.
If you like what you are hear please consider following composer of this game - Piotr Hummel. You can find his other great music tracks on his YouTube channel:
Lore overview
Before the Calamity, there were people who stood apart from the other kingdoms.
Though the Allmajesty ruled over them as well, he allowed them to preserve their culture and ancient beliefs. These tribes worshipped gods such as Perun, Tryglaw, Svarozhits, and others tied to fertility, the turning of the seasons, and the eternal cycle of life.
When the chaos of the Calamity erupted, most of these people lived far from the explosion’s epicenter. Yet the mutating wave of magical energy eventually reached them too. Moss, fungi, and small plants began to grow across their bodies. Their prayers to Kupala for healing went unanswered. As the land around them crumbled into ruin, panic took hold.
Something wild awoke within them.
Their humanity began to fade, replaced by feral instincts and the creeping spread of plant and animal traits. Only fragments of their former selves remained.
It was in this moment of desperation that the first Peklenc appeared—a former elder of the people, now utterly transformed. He revealed to them the Great Horned One, a wrathful god of savage, primal strength. It was he who took them out of their despair.
They called themselves the people of Chrama, in memory of the ancient temples —"Chram"—where they once worshipped their old gods.
To this day, they name their warriors after the deities of the past.
Though they now serve a blood-soaked god of fury, they still carry fragments of the world and faith they once knew, before it was shattered.
Campaign hero: Jutrzenka
The people of Chrama are divided into eight clans, each led by a chieftain.
Jutrzenka is the leader of the Clan of the Dawn.
She is one of the last clan leaders who still dreams of returning to the worship of the old gods. Unlike many of her peers, who are often absorbed in their own interests, Jutrzenka looks beyond, toward the future of Chrama and the wider world. She seeks to forge alliances with the Sphere, hoping to stand united against the rising aggression of the Order.
She is willing to make sacrifices for the good of her people.
And while others embrace the brutal power of the Great Horned One without question, she remains cautious, mistrustful of this wild deity and the changes he brings.
Her name, Jutrzenka, translates to “Dawn” — a detail that may carry deeper meaning as the story unfolds.
However, to preserve immersion, names in the English version of the game will remain in their original Polish form. So, while players may meet her in the campaigns, they will come to know her only as Jutrzenka.
Units and heroes
Units:
Treemaiden – a forest wraith that can possess trees on the battlefield. Treemaiden is a barrier, so she can't attack and retaliate. Yet her eerie powers can sow chaos across the battlefield in unique ways. She has ability summon trees in the battle, which she can later possess, using them to send a storm of leaves that damages a chosen adjacent enemy. Treemaiden can also swap places with a friendly or enemy unit within her movement range, allowing for strategic repositioning. Possesing a distant tree can serve not only as a method of attack, but also as an escape, if the situation become too dangerous. In skilled hands, the Treemaiden turns the battlefield into her haunted domain, twisting nature itself to confound her enemies.
Jodut – the only warrior among Chrama's ranks. A swift, flying unit bred for the hunt. Its defining trait is Instinct that gives bonus experience everytime it kills the enemy unit. The Jodut's speed and ability to ignore terrain obstacles make it ideal for hit-and-run tactics, finishing weakened foes, or reaching vulnerable targets deep behind enemy lines.
Kupala – another barrier unit, Kupala is a Chrama's healer with... unconventional twist. She is an incorporeal spirit, meaning she cannot be killed in battle. You might be thinking: "Wait, what?! An immortal unit? Are you crazy, Mateusz, or what?" To which I'd respond: "Quite possibly a valid diagnosis in my case." So, Kupala is immortal and she’s a medic. However! If she stands alone on the battlefield, with all her allies defeated, she will simply fade away, vanishing like morning mist. This mechanic was designed to break the usual “focus-the-healer-first” meta common in other strategy games.
Because let’s be honest — if every fight against Chrama boiled down to "kill the healer first," things would get repetitive fast.
Leshy – probably the most well-known gent from our Slavic lineup. But I gave him a bit of a twist. Leshy is another barrier unit, a lumbering construct of moss, ferns, and tangled brush — an entire forest come alive. He’s slow. Painfully slow. But he makes up for it with the ability to teleport to any allied unit, so it’s a good idea to pair him with something fast and mobile.
And then there’s his signature move: Fury of nature. A powerful area-of-effect attack that brings down nature’s fury on all nearby enemies.
Peklenc – as a Slavic god of the underworld, Peklenc punishes the wicked by twisting them into Samojednik - grotesque creatures doomed to feast upon their own flesh. How could I not put that guy into the game?
Peklenc is Chrama’s only magician, and his spells are as weird as they are powerful.
His signature spell, Mutation Bolt, deals damage and then (of course) transforms the target into a Samojednik. In this form, unit lose all abilities and can’t use the Wait command. They can still perform basic melee attacks, but that’s it. A perfect way to neutralize a high-threat enemy unit, especially one with dangerous special skills.
But that’s not all. Peklenc can also drain Mana from an enemy mage and force a group of enemy units to Wait, pushing them at the end of the combat round. The English translation of the word Samojednik is most likely Selfeater and I think it sounds great!
Units in total: 3 Barriers, 1 Warrior and 1 Magician.
Heroes:
Sowizrzal – a magician hero, that shares a spell with Peklenc to transform enemy unit into Samojednik (Selfeater). It can also summon Imps and cast Whirlpool which draws all affected units to the center of the spell.
Lwarazik – a warrior hero, that might improve it's own Mobility with leveling up. Has a cool ability, called Berserk, that forces the nearby enemy to continuously exchange of hits until he or the opponent falls.
Heroes in total: 1 Magician and 1 Warrior.
Chrama's special actions: Rituals
Every faction in the game has a set of unique abilities used on a worldmap. These special actions are unlocked by upgrading the Palace in your Capital to Level 2 or 3.
For the Chrama, these are called Rituals. Might be used any number of times per turn, but each use consumes some resources.
Rituals list unlocked with Lvl 2 Palace:
Forestation – transforms a selected, controlled, Province into Forest. Chrama mostly uses Wood to recruit units, so they can change the map to receive more of that resource.
Eyes of forests – discovers 3 random unexplored Forest Provinces.
Dziady – at targeted Forest, around owned team, a new Treemaiden will be summoned. Useful if we wish to send a single unit for scouting or to visit a special place on the map.
Rituals list unlocked with Lvl 3 Palace:
Fury roar– all owned teams, that stand on any Forest Province, received 2 movement points.
Sabbath – targeted owned team, located in any Forest Province, immediately recruits units, but at doubled resource cost. Aside from this ability, units can only be recruited when visiting one of your own structures on the map — capital, town, or watchtower.
Kupala night – targeted owned team might be teleported to another owned team, if both are standing in the Forest Provinces.
Coming soon: Nest faction presentation.
Take care!
— Mateusz from Boargames