Dominions 3: The Awakening/Nations/Caelum, Eagle Kings

Overview
The closest descendants of the Yazatas are still around and rule Caelum as the Eagle Kings. Seraphs haven't yet become the dominating clan and Raptors haven't been banished yet.

EA Caelum has access to very powerful Air magic in the form of Eagle Kings (Air 4) and a large natural air gem income of 5. They also have access to trampling mammoths.

Overview
The vast majority of Caelian units come with special Ice equipment. Ice weapons are all magic, letting them strike Ethereal targets with ease. Ice armor gets bonuses for being in cold territory. Similarly, Caelian units (almost) all fly and (almost) all have a mapmove of 3, making the typical Caelian army very mobile. Sadly, they pay for this mobility with fragility: it is a rare Caelian trooper that can stand toe-to-toe with the groundpounders.

Unit Comparison

 * Spire Horn Warrior: Gold 10, Resources 6
 * Ye basic infantryman. Easily overlooked in favor of his brother with a shield.


 * Spire Horn Warrior (+shield): Gold 10, Resources 8
 * Adds a shield. A crucial upgrade for these all-too-fragile troops.


 * Spire Horn Archer: Gold 10, Resources 5
 * Short Bows on the cheap.


 * Tempest Warrior: Gold 15, Resources 12
 * Same Ice Lance as the Spire Horn Warrior, but backed by significantly stronger armor.


 * Blizzard Warrior: Gold 10, Resources 9
 * Short Bows with Ice Studded Armor, if for some reason your archer corps is getting shot at.


 * Caelian Light Infantry: Gold 10, Resources 11
 * Icy!


 * Caelian Infantry: Gold 10, Resources 16
 * Gets an Ice Cap helmet and an Ice Blade sword. Still not impressive on the staying-power front, though.


 * Iceclad: Gold 15, Resources 26
 * Now we're starting to get somewhere. Icicle Mail instead of Ice Studded Armor.


 * Raptor: Gold 10, Resources 4
 * Conventional weapons instead of the ice stuff.


 * Raptorian Warrior: Gold 10, Resources 12
 * Short Swords don't get all that far.


 * Iron Crow: Gold 15, Resources 16
 * Decent.


 * Mammoth: Gold 120, Resources 20
 * 'Cuz conventional Elephants aren't cold-resistant.


 * Temple Guard: Gold 20, Resources 26
 * Caelum's only sacred troop, these are also the only Caelum troops with mapmove 1. Capital-only.

Commanders

 * Caelian Scout: Gold 20, Resources 13
 * Ye basic scout-commander, although the Caelian 3 mapmove is a benefit.


 * Tempest Lord: Gold 35, Resources 14
 * Ice Blade + conventional armor.


 * Spire Horn Seraph: Gold 60, Resources 1
 * Magic: A1
 * Ye budget magic-slinger.


 * Seraphine: Gold 90, Resources 1
 * Magic: H1
 * A solid, if not particularly impressive, priest with stealth.


 * Caelian Seraph: Gold 140, Resources 1
 * Magic: A2W1
 * Middle-of-the-line spellslinger.


 * Harab Seraph: Gold 80, Resources 6
 * Magic: A1D1 +10% random (D)
 * Death magic for diversity, plus a surprisingly strong equipment set for a mage.


 * Eagle King: Gold 400, Resources 25
 * Magic: A4W1E1H2 + 10% random (FAWE)
 * Sacred, awe+2, powerful Air magic, and a strong basic equipment set... but oh gods the cost. And it's capital-only.

Isvat the Unwinged
''Isvat the Unwinged is a Yazad warrior who stayed behind when his kin left this world. While the Eagle Kings hid in the mountains, Isvat cut his wings to remind himself that he was a being of this world. He then and traveled far and wide as a lesser being and learned much of the world. After centuries, he returned to Caelum and found the descendants of the Yazatas under attack and their temples destroyed by lesser beings of the empire of Spring and Autumn. Isvat rallied the Caelians and fought to defend the temples and led them to victory. Those who followed him cut their wings in his image and formed the sacred Temple Guard.''

HP:17 Prot:13 Mor:16 MR:14 Enc:5 Str:13 Att:14 Def:15 Prec:13 Mov:2/12 LDR:120 Sacred, Awe+1, Standard 15, Shock Resist +100%, Cold Resist +50%, Magic Being

An odd admixture of Eagle King and Temple Guard, Isvat loses the spellcasting abilities of the former in exchange for the combat capabilities of the latter. Unfortunately, melee combat is decidedly not a Caelian specialty, and Isvat doesn't buck the trend. His leadership is quite high, and he does manage to have a mapmove of 2, so he can play commander instead of swordsman with some effectiveness.

Starting Sites

 * Palace of the Eagle Kings
 * Produces 5 Air gems and 1 Water gem per turn, and allows the recruitment of Eagle Kings and Temple Guards.

National Summons

 * Summon Yazatas
 * 18 Astral pearls, Conjuration 5, S2
 * Summons six sacred Yazatas. These "Yazad" troops are sacred, Awe +1, Shock Resistant 100, Cold Resistant 50, Magic Beings, and can fly.  Their stats and equipment are unimpressive, given the high non-native Astral cost of the spell, but nonetheless can be used to bolster Caelian melee combat.


 * Call Amesha Spenta
 * 60 Astral pearls, Conjuration 8, S5
 * Summons one of the six Amesha Spentas. All pack high statistics, are sacred, Awe +4, Shock Resistant 100, a Magic Being, do not eat, and fly.  While they have the usual set of equipment slots, by default they only come equipped with a Magic Staff.  Each one represents a different aspect of their lord:
 * Fire: Asha Vahishta has F5H3 and Fire Resistant 100.
 * Sky and Metals: Khshathra Vairya has A4E3H4.
 * Water: Haurvatat has W4H3, regenerates, and can Heal (100).
 * Earth: Spenta Armaiti has E4N2H4, and a supply bonus (100 before the Nature magic bonus).
 * Plants: Ameretat has E2N3H3 and is Immortal.
 * Animals: Vohu Manah has N5H3 and Animal Awe +7.

Scale Design
Caelum, while not as extreme as Niefelheim, still gets to take advantage of bonus points from preferring Cold+2.