Drusala – Handmaiden of Morathi

The mod adds a new unique lord with a transformation mechanic to the Cult of Pleasure faction. She starts out near Ghrond with the city already under control and the surrounding regions changed slightly, providing a divided start similar to Malus Darkblade. Campaign changes are script-based, so there should be no compatibility issues.

The mod is now compatible with the Vortex campaign! She is added to the lord roster!

Originally a lithe and beautiful sorceress even by the unreal standards of Morathi’s court, she was ultimately cursed into the form of a Bloodwrack Medusa. Unlike most of her sisters, she retained some of her intelligence and pleaded with Morathi and her Dark Master to lift her curse. Morathi agreed, but not without a price…

Drusala’s mind was shattered in the process, leaving her body barely more than an empty husk. Morathi seized the opportunity, enslaving Drusala’s remaining will and linking their minds. Nothing more than a puppet to Morathi, Drusala manages Ghrond during her mistresses’ exile.

In the lore Drusala is simply Morathi under a glamour spell concealing her appearance, so I took some liberties with my interpretation of her. Since Bloodwrack Medusae were just added and Ghrond is both their origin and Morathi’s centre of power, I felt the connection fitting.

She uses a mix of Dark Magic and the Lore of Beasts with a skill tree more similar to Morathi than the Supreme Sorceress.

Once the Murderous Prowess bar is filled, you can choose to transform Drusala back into her Medusa form. It will heal all her wounds but gives some negative effects as well (e.g. reduced magic recharge rate by about double the beast/death lore passive, reduced magic resistance, etc.).
The spell is available for testing in custom battle and can be unlocked once you reach level 15 in the campaign.

– Treasury increased by 7500 to somewhat balance the higher upkeep at the start
– Ghrond given to the Cult of Pleasure; starts under siege
– Har’Ganeth starts at peace with Ghrond and at war with the Deadwood Sentinels. They are also given Spite Reach
– Naggarond receives The Great Arena, leaving the Ghrond faction with only Ashrak
– Ghrond faction renamed to “Dissidents of Ghrond”

The aim is to provide a loreful start for Morathi with Ghrond under her faction’s control and the northern borders (Ashrak) currently rebelling while she is banished. You can decide whether to keep only Ghrond and Ashrak, allying and providing support to Malekith afterwards, and/or to go to war with Har’Ganeth and expand eastwards.

Morathi’s Chambers (landmark in Ghrond)

Since the faction uses Chaos corruption, I created a building to somewhat help with the public order issues in the Ghrond province. It uses the same effect as the Quintex landmark but only locally. The building also provides a local upkeep reduction of 30% and some agent effects to represent Ghrond’s traditional role as the scouts and defenders against the northern tribes (correct me if I’m wrong here).

Unfortunately I’m very bad with graphic editing (no experience and hardly any time to learn it). I’ve reused the RoR texture for her Medusa form, but I’d much prefer a violet/pink variant, better resembling the faction colours.

Is there anyone up for the challenge and can provide a new texture? I’ll gladly add it to the mod with all credits included (obviously)!

UpdateGot a new unit card for the Medusa from morfeasnikos, thanks a lot! We couldn’t get a new texture working, unfortunately 🙁

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Check out my Workshop for more mods, too! (most are not updated for the latest patch, but several still work anyway)
Since I can no longer support a number of mods, please let me know if anyone wants to continue some of them.