Play-through (Turn 70 - 79)

An amazing show of restraint by an Umber pioneer. Lets hope the Slag stays asleep
Turn 70: A number of Yithril pioneers approach from the West. I only have enough mana for one monolith, and decide to use it to deny some prime real estate to the Umber pioneers. I'll kick the Yithril out next turn.
Deprived of arable land, the Umber pioneers show commendable humility and erect an outpost far enough from the slag that he fails to wake up. Badra, on the other hand, is in range, and Borun orders her to get out. She is done there anyway, and takes the offered free ride to the border. This puts her near the lair of a cave bear. She skins it without breaking a sweat.
Smiley and Ceresa head West, to exchange equipment with Karavox, and to be in place for a possible Yithril invasion. To await them, Karavox makes camp in the middle of an crossroad, and forces everyone else to walk around him, losing the benefit of the road.

Even our friends don't like us much.
Turn 71: Smiley's party and Karavox meet, and Karavox picks up everything that they are not using, with the exception of a banishing mace. Smiley plans on using that against the Earth elemental's army nearby.
Badra loots some healing herbs from the bear den, and heads towards the Empire hero Shimsher. He's got good stats, but his weapon is an axe, and her chainmail and "Stone Skin" are great against cutting weapons.
I erect a monolith in the pass from which the Yithril pioneers are coming, and ask Warlord Venga to leave my lands. Unhappily, he complies. I check my foreign relations report. Our wars are not making us many friends amongst the Empire aligned nations. One the other hand, our wars aren't leaving many Empire aligned nations, either, so I see no reason to change. If there's any problem, it's that even some Kingdoms are worried.

The one good thing about this sword is the selling price.
Turn 72: I receive a message from Magnar. His scouts are coming from Yithril's direction, so I instruct my archers to make camp at the border, and watch for intrusions. They immediately spot some Yithril pioneers, and kick them out. Warlord Venga informs me that the harder I make this for him, the more likely he is to try to conquer me. As if I did not consider war with him already inevitable.
Karavox heads South to look for Badra, who has nearly reached Shimsher's army.
Boss Smiley and Ceresa destroy the Earth elemental's army and loot its lair. They find the Scythe of the Void. A strange weapon. Amazingly effective, but so hard to control that Smiley won't be able to use it until he is at least twice as powerful as he is now. On top of that, whoever uses it never learns a thing. It seems destined to gather dust in a merchant's display case.

Not so tough when his elemental falls behind, is he?
Turn 73: Lord Relias of Altar lets me know they have discovered the secrets of training. I guess they will start building troops. As long as they do not use them against us...
Badra attacks Shimsher, making sure she's coming from friendly territory. It's an interesting fight. As expected, Shimsher's attack is very ineffective against Badra's chainmail. But he casts "Stone Skin" on his elemental, and Badra has to use her superior mobility to avoid getting hit by the elemental until Shimsher goes down. Running is a two edged sword. Shimsher is fast enough to keep up with her, but she regenerates while Shimsher's own berserk is draining his life. Even once Shimsher is unconscious, Badra has to sometimes run away from the elemental, and circle the battlefield in order to regenerate. Fighting an Earth elemental enchanted with "Stone Skin" is no easy task, but eventually Badra triumphs. The experience elevates her to Apprentice Swordsman. Well, she is actually an axewoman, but close enough. She sends Shimsher to Stronghold, but keeps his great axe.
Boss Smiley and Ceresa attack Irsa's army. Smiley chops the snakes into mince meat, while the girls trade shots with their identical bows. But Irsa dodges most of the shots, and Ceresa has "Stone Skin" and "Nature's Cloak" active. At some point Smiley gets bored, pulls Irsa from her skath, and sends her to work in Stronghold. Unfortunately, the skath runs away, and all they recover is an axe. On the plus side, all the flames from the Ignys arrows have given Ceresa a better understanding of Fire, and she becomes a Fire Mage.
Smiley's party heads West into Yithril territory, while I keep erecting monoliths around the South homelands, and secure two prestigious locations and a farm. Unfortunately, I also uncover a group of knights, and a Fire elemental's army. I hope Badra makes it there in time.

Clockwise around Yithril's lands: Altar, Gilden, Pariden, Tarth, Slavers
Turn 74: Warlord Varga asks Smiley to leave his lands, and Smiley complies... for about a minute, only to take a running start and get as far in Yithril territory as he can. He is rewarded by a glimpse of Altar, Pariden, Tarth, and Gilden territory. Stuck between us and another four Kingdoms, Yithril is unlikely to be too aggressive. While he's in Yithril, Smiley finds a rich fool who pays 408 Gildars for the Sythe of the Void.
Badra heads South, and enters the area controlled by the Pariden outpost that we somehow allowed in our homelands. She takes the opportunity to go shopping, but all Pariden has researched is magic. She is briefly tempted by a robe and a belt that would significantly increase her initiative, but she has a pretty good idea about her next few fights and knows she will not need better combat gear. What she needs is a mount, so that she wastes less time traveling.
Fortunately, the wolves have discovered a Capitar outpost in the South, and maybe she will get a warhorse soon. If not, we are researching "Animal Husbandry" ourselves, and "Mounted Warfare" is not that far off.

The treaty will take a while to pay for itself, but its greatest dividend is peace
Turn 75: Once again, Varga asks us to leave his lands, and once again Smiley's party accepts the ride to the border. This time, they are taken to the West, and end up in Altar territory. After trying, unsuccessfully, to purchase mounts, they raid an Eart elemental lair, and find spectral chain shirt, which Smiley equips.
Karavox keeps chasing Badra with her new equipment. He's no faster, but she will be fighting on the way, so he will eventually catch up.
I notice that Gildar has pulled ahead in the power rankings. Well, slave-based, centralized economies aren't exactly the most efficient, so this was to be expected. Still, no reason not to arrange for some trade relations, if only to make them more friendly.
Why did I not go for the non-aggression pact instead? Because those expire, and I do not think I'll have the time to explore Gilden's lands in the immediate future, at least not with an force that could actually raid lairs or undertake quests.

With move and initiative of one, even the biggest spider isn't much of a threat.
Turn 76: We rediscover the secrets of "Animal Husbandry" and start working on "Training". Time to start exploiting wild game and twilight bees.
Karavox gets a nasty surprise. A ravenhous harridan has emerged from a lair that Smiley cleared but did not bother to destroy years ago. Fortunately, it has not gotten its bearings yet, and does not attack. Karavox has very little health, and his broken spirit makes him a poor damage dealer. But he has combat training, and is carrying a lot of gear. Furthermore, he has a silver goblet which will counter the spiders' poison. So I buff him with "Stone Skin", "Evade" and "Regeneration", and cast "Freeze" on the harridan's army. He eventually gets his "Slow" to affect the harridan, and then it's all over. He misses a lot, but he regenerates so quickly that the spiders cannot hope to take him down. The destruction of the lair yields a pair of champion greaves.
I hesitate briefly, but end up taking Karavox's enchantments away after the fight. It's unlikely that he will need them any time soon, and I want to build up my mana reserves in preparation for war. Once I start taking enchantments down, I debuff the wolves and the archers as well. For years, they have been acting as watchmen rather than warriors.

Yithril needs better management.
Turn 77: We finish researching "Training", and move on to "Mounted Warfare".
Boss Smiley's party keeps pushing West, and discovers the Yithril city of Alhain-Al-Assan, population 80. We also spot Warlord Verga. The city has run out of food, the Warlord is weak and poorly equipped... The Empire of Yithril certainly appears ripe for conquest.
Badra nears a group of knights that has been roaming our homelands since Smiley first set foot out of Stronghold. They have never done us any harm, so she decides not to attack.

Such an important crossroad cannot be left unmonitored.
Turn 78: Stronghold completes the construction of the Great Mill and start building a conclave.
A crag spawn enter our lands and heads for an Earth shrine. It's out of Badra's way, so I send Labor Disputes to deal with it. It was not so long ago that I removed their enchantments, and now the wolves need to fight. Figures.
Boss Smiley erects a monolith on an extremely busy crossroad. Not only does this allow us to monitor the comings and goings of whoever uses the roads, but it's a an easy way for Smiley to teleport back when we decide to obliterate Yithril.

Look at them milling about. They must yearn for the productive life of a Stronghold worker.
Turn 79: Our researchers not only figure out how to stay on top of a horse, but also how to teach horsemanship to others. "Education" is important indeed, which is why it's our next research topic.
Stronghold production capacity is so high that only after one turn of construction, the conclave can be rushed for 23 Gildars. We do so, and begin building an apothecary.
All of our champions purchase horses, and find someone to teach them how to ride.
Badra captures the Empire hero Csilla and sends her to Stronghold. Csilla's broadsword is a very nice weapon for an assassin, and Badra retains it, although for now she'll keep using her axe.
The crag spawn leaves our territory, but the wolf keeps tracking it. We do not want wandering monsters in the homelands.
Boss Smiley's progress West is checked by a throng of Yithril companies. Pioneers, scouts, spearmen and warriors are milling around aimlessly. Smiley decides that the Yithril subjects lack any kind of leadership or direction and will be happier leading the productive lives of Stronghold workers.
With that in mind, he starts writing his next "State of Stronghold" speech.