Fall From Heaven Age of Ice
A dark fantasy scenario for Civilization IV, which was included in the Beyond the Sword expansion pack.
The world is in an ice age, and has been since Mulcarn, god of winter, took over the world after the Balance Between Good and Evil was upset when the fire goddess Bhall fell from heaven. An immortal archmage, Kylorin, has created a civilization, known as the Amurites in a valley sheltered from Mulcarn's blizzards. As Kylorin, the player must fight Mulcarn's Illian followers and their Doviello allies to reclaim the three pieces of the Godslayer, a weapon which has the power to slay Mulcarn.
This is a prequel to Fall From Heaven.
Tropes used in Fall From Heaven Age of Ice include:
- After the End: Before Mulcarn entered the material world, there were many thriving civilizations. All of them except the Illians were destroyed.
- All There in the Manual: Much of the backstory for the characters and world can only be discovered by reading the in-game Civilopedia.
- Anticlimax Boss: Drifa, the White Dragon is supposed to be impossible to kill. He isn't.
- An Ice Person: The entire Illian civilization.
- Arbitrary Headcount Limit: You can only have one hero unit active at a time.
- Ax Crazy: The Doviello. Actually, it's pretty normal in this age.
- Black and Grey Morality: The Amurites are the only people in the mod who aren't outright evil, and according to Fall From Heaven 2 they are rather amoral in the following age.
- Death World: If you don't freeze to death, you'll probably starve or get killed by monsters or barbarians.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The object of the game is to kill a god. It's pretty easy. Getting the Godslayer is what's difficult.
- Dual-Wielding: Belenus, Caerbulin, and the Illian axemen.
- Evil Is Deathly Cold: Mulcarn and his servants, obviously, but if you know of about the universe of Fall From Heaven they're not the worst thing out there.
- Fallen Angel: Bhall, the fire goddess, whose fall enabled Mulcarn to take over the world.
- Good Weapon, Evil Weapon: Played straight, as the regular Amurite infantry use swords, while the Illians and Doviello use axes.
- The Civilopedia says that Mulcarn keeps ancient macemen frozen in his throne room.
- Heel Face Turn: The Doviello will surrender to you if you weaken them enough.
- Hidden Elf Village: Fall From Heaven 2 reveals that the dwarves were unaffected by the age of ice.
- Kill It with Fire: The only attack spell in the game is Fireball.
- Low Fantasy: The game's gritty setting has some elements of this.
- Mundane Utility: In the backstory, the Godslayer was used in ordinary wars.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Malus of the five, an undead Pirate fulfills two of these.
- Religion of Evil: The White hand, which is dedicated to worshiping Mulcarn.
- Sapient Steed: Kylorin can get one if an unlikely sidequest happens.
- The Smurfette Principle: Epona is the only female character in the game.
- Storming the Castle: If the Frost Giants are giving you too much trouble, you can storm their castle of Utgard.
- Sword of Plot Advancement: Finding the Godslayer is your focus for most of the game.
- The Dragon: Drifa, the White Dragon, is a literal example.
- Technically, Taranis the Unchanging is Mulcarns actual dragon, as he is Mulcarns archangel. However, he is trapped on an island, so he never actually appears.
- Warrior Prince: Kylorin's children can become powerful warriors and spellcasters.
- We Cannot Go on Without You: Once Kylorin appears as a unit, you had better keep him alive or you'll lose the game.
- World Half Empty: Erebus, even more than usual.
- Zerg Rush: The Illians, Doviello, and Barbarians will throw seemingly endless waves of units at you early in the game.