As part of the release of our upcoming Old Acquaintances DLC, The Freelancers’ Guild – or Collegium Mercennaris – will be added to the game, extending hireling options for aspiring vagri. Known across the Riven Realms for their neutrality, the Guild operates under a strict Imperial mandate, which allows them to lease out mercenaries to private persons. Collegia Mercennaris also prides itself on a diverse offering; ex-gladiators, legion veterans, and even Kal’rish warriors number among their ranks, as do licensed Necromancers who do not serve the Church for one reason or another.

Wazirhai, an oasis deep in the Bronze Desert, has been neglected and overlooked for a long time – until the Ratharnak Alliance has boldly purchased its exploitation rights. Soon, a fortified encampment was set up so that the agents of the Trading House could easily access the oil reserves under the lakes only to find that no such pockets existed. Slightly disheartened, the Ratharnak decided to stay nevertheless and build up a different sort of operation in this land so far from their beloved Dragonlands.

Necromancy is the arcane art of manipulating life-force, allowing practitioners to communicate with the dead and animate Undead minions. In most of the Riven Realms, this school of magic is associated with the Priests of Ahskul - worshipers of the God of Death - and Necromancers. The majority of the latter either belong to the Church, too, or are otherwise licensed by the Empire. Thus in Vagrus, Necromancer enemies almost always strengthen Imperial rosters, although you can come across some rogue practitioners, too.

The greatest thing about running open development is receiving amazing feedback from players that helps improving your game. The hardest thing about open development is identifying what the actual problem is that your players are having an issue with.

The perfect example of all this is Crew Combat in Vagrus, which is an aspect of the game that players complained about fairly regularly. After adding the Flee/Appease option, it got slightly better but not as much as we had hoped. While digging for the reasons, we came to some interesting realizations. Whenever we heard someone getting irked about how they bled out against a much stronger enemy, we asked whether they tried appeasing them and they pretty much all said "No, 'Flee' implied losing big time".

Contempt personified, the enemy Necromancers are calm and calculating on the battlefield. Few comprehend, however, that most of their mental faculties are used to puppeteer their Undead servants.

The Lost Pilgrims Team

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Hey Folks,

this patch is a beast in all sense. So many new features and changes have been added that if you ever considered starting a new play-through, this might be the perfect time for it. A shedload of tweaks has been applied to make the early game a little more forgiving (without making the late game easier), and we look forward to your feedback on the direction of these changes.

'The Emperor brought the Twelve back when the Elder Gods abandoned us and with that divine act had sown the blessed seeds for the Empire's resuscitation. Is it not then most holy to imitate his act by raising the dead to aid and serve us in our struggles and endeavors?'

'Worry not, general. Their right flank won't be able to cross the gullies to press your lines. I and my apprentices will make sure that the enemy is flooded in corpus vile. Worry not about squandering resources, either. Those same soldiers in the gully will provide the reinforcements.'

'Day 54 - Another week goes by and the vile horde broke again on the wall of our scuta today like the fierce tidal waves break on the rocks of Anurao Bay, the place of my birth. Most of the day after dawn devolved into a cruel dance in the mud and gore - one of pushing and pulling and stabbing at the rhythm dictated by the roar of our foes and the bone whistle of our centurion. Yet nobody complains; no true legionnaire would. The green-skinned bastards have to be stopped here. For our families. For our Empire. For the Emperor, too, though I would rather pray to Old Hand Marcus than to the distant, slumbering God-King in our capital that I've never seen. But best keep that to myself, else the Priests of Sergorod find some punishment for me. They would sure love to. Perhaps there will be a night attack, too, at least that's what the talk is around camp now. If so, and considering the losses of the 3rd and 7th cohors in the last few days, I am not sure I will ever see the capital...'