Diamond Mountain



Great miners and craftsdogs of the mountains, the Diamond Dogs of Diamond Mountain toil for gold and wealth. Yet their vaults lie empty, robbed by the Griffon Knights of Hellquill. Eager for revenge, King Rover Diamondshield works to rebuild and rearm. However, trouble brews in the depths of the Mountain. Slaves speak of freedom, whether from inside or from the agitation from Diamond Mountain's riverpony "allies".

Lore
Diamond Dogs have long been present across Griffonia and Equus. However their underground nature and hit and run slaving meant that they typically worked hidden from the societies above their tunnels. Diamond Mountain is the exception - a fortified stronghold from which their opponents could be enslaved and forced to mine the great mountain. The Kings under the Mountain jealously guarded their wealth, accrued by using a large caste of slaves. However, over time, decadence and overconfidence caused the dogs' vigilance to grow ever weaker. Jealous eyes search for a way in. Eventually, the Knights of Hellquill, at a stalemate against the united ponies of the Riverlands, decided to push north for easier targets in 972. During the reign of King Tug the Boneless griffons broke into the Mountain, sacked the capital and flew off with almost all the treasures of the Kingdom. Ever since, the dogs hunger for revenge.

Now, under the reign of Tug's son, Rover Diamondshield, the Mountain Kingdom is finally regaining its former glory, gem by gem. The dogs have aligned themselves with ponies of the River Coalition against the threat of the griffons to the West. However, if the dogs are to fight the knights, much remains to be done. Firstly, the revolting slaves have to brought back in line. A new book has been circulating amongst them and the slaves now scream a new word: revolution. How these revolutionaries are dealt with might well shape the course of the Kingdom. Although the King simply wishes to crush them, his daughter, Princess Molly, quietly hopes for a calmer approach.

It remains to be seen what the monuments to Rover Diamondshield will say about him. Will the King reclaim his father's wealth, will the Mountain Kingdom succumb to internal struggles or will a new power seize control of the riches underneath Diamond Mountain?

Racial Tech
See Diamond Dogs.

Troll Hounds (Support Companies)
"Take a dog. Corrupt it with dark magic andscience. Throw it into a pit with others for a few weeks and take the survivors out and break their minds. These are the Troll Dogs. We can use them as front-line shock troops that can shrug off bullets, smash armoured tanks with their bare paws and cause havoc in the enemy's ranks"

Troll Hounds are exclusive support company for the Diamond Mountain's Army. You can obtain it by finishing the Troll Hounds in focus tree. This support company gives you a staggering +16 Breakthrough, +12 Soft Attack, +10 Defense, alongside with +11.6 Piercing to deal with the armored divisions. They also have +10% bonuses for fighting in Fort and Urban. If you can not afford to have Artillery and Anti-Tank as support company, then this is the best option to have.

Political Branches
Diamond Mountain has 3 political branches: These branches are summarised below. Note, some of these branches include sub-branches, designated in the effects as L (Left) and R (Right)
 * In the Hall of the Mountain King (Supremacy) - To enforce the rule of King Rover Diamondshield. King Diamondshield will have a choice between stay with the River Union or seek revenge at Hellquill.
 * The Princess Regent (Harmonic) - Princess Molly (daughter of the Diamond King) will attempt to replace her father and install the Harmonic rule over her nation. She will end the slavery that plagued the whole nation for more than a thousand years.
 * Great Strike (Communist) - will install a Communist government after overthrowing the Royal rule. Clifford the Red will have three options: to exile the Princess and kill the King, to spare them, or to execute both of them. After dealing with the Royals, Clifford will spread communism either alone or create the communist River Coalition.

* For the Free Mountain path, there is an event to deal with the Royals, that includes the following choices (not shown in the details above
 * Spare the Princess. Kill the King - PP, River Republic gets event "The Exile Princess"
 * We'll look better if we kick both them out - PP,  Stability, River Republic gets event "The Exile Princess", Barrad Magocracy gets event "The Exile King"
 * Death to Royalty - Stability,  PP

Military Trees
The military tree is short and fairly typical, with the usual doctrinal choices. Of special note is Underhill Roads, which provide bonuses to Artillery and Antitank movement speed, and Troll Hounds under Mass Assault Doctrine, which are a unique unit type unlocked by this focus.

Starting Situation
Military - Diamond Mountain starts with 73.5K in deployed infantry, but severely lack of equipment, left alone with 33.12K spare ponypower for recruiting. virtually no aircraft, and a Navy which consists of 2 Destroyers.

All branches in Diamond Mountain are militarily weak compared to their pony allies in River Coalition. Players should rely Racial tech advantages, which help the dogs play defensively and work in mountainous terrain.

Industry - Diamond Mountain's industry is very weak at the start of the game, with only a few factories to begin with. Thanks to the vast resources in the nation, you can use them to boost the industry by trading. At the same time, your industry is being affected negatively by the national spirits. You should get rid of them as soon as possible in order to expand your Industry and Army quickly and make use of your massive resource base.

Slave Riots
A few days after the start of the game, players will encounter Slave riots, since Diamond Mountain still has slaves. Players have no choice but to crush the Rebellion, losing political power, stability and dogpower.

They will then have a choice on how to deal with the remnants - track them down (-25PP, Supremacy / Harmonist Path), or we have more important things to do (Communist path).

Track them down
After capturing the remaining rebels, the King is faced with a choice as his daughter, Molly pleas for mercy for the prisoners.

Kill them all - National spirit The Strong Rule will give you +25 political power, +10% in both Stability and Supremacy popularity, and most importantly remove the national spirit, Risk of Rebellion.

You heard the princess, throw them in prison - A trial will be held. Rover can allow them to continue (Harmonic Path) or interrupt the trial and hold an execution (Supremacy Path, same results as kill them all).

If the player follows the harmonic path, eventually Molly will inherit the throne, unlocking the the princess Regent focus trees and BARK (Harmonic) becomes the ruling party.

We have more important things to do
Allowed to regroup and recover, Communists gain support. Our movement grows gives popularity of Communism +10% and Growing Support of Communism as the National Spirit.

(tbc)

War with Hellquill
If players are still ruling Diamond Mountain as Rover's Supremacy Party, and have finished the Revenge focus, they will have an Annex war goal against Hellquill. But be careful, if Hellquill decides to choose "Status Quo" focus tree- then later "The Shield of Griffonkind", Hellquill will become a subject of Griffon Empire. Players will end up fighting half of Griffonia if they're not careful. So, to counter this, players either have to swiftly conquer Hellquill alone, before they finish the required focus, or choose to call their allies for a long grueling war.