Kohan II: Kings of War features a new state-of-the-art 3D graphics engine that delivers a breathtaking world of magical splendor, heroic deeds, and fearsome enemies. With six unique races and five political factions to choose from, players will head into battle with thirteen potential combinations and will watch in amazement as hundreds of units wage war in intense real-time strategy action. KINGS OF WAR offers countless hours of replayability due to its unique multiplayer game types, and adaptive artificial intelligence, amongst other innovative features.

• Kohan II: Kings of War immerses players in the world of the Kohan as one of the immortals who lead the fight against an ancient evil that has risen again and is bent on destroying civilization forever. The story unfolds as all-out war plunges the world into chaos.
• Kohan II: Kings of War features TimeGate’s ENGAGE technology that is best-known for its flexibility, customization tools, and unique levels of unit control and organization.

Race #2: The Gauri

Background:

In the greatest mountains, more ancient than life itself and with roots deep in the earth, dwell the Gauri: rock-strong, rock-stubborn, unflinching and proud. Just as the earth does not move, so too have they remain fixed, carving their homes around themselves and keeping their own counsel. Seldom do they walk among the other mortals, and rare are the Kohan's dealings with them. Yet they have ever been a staunch ally against the Shadow, and once their allegiance is won, it is never shaken loose. He who wins their trust may make of them the bedrock of his power.

Lore:

Now young ones, be silent and listen. Hear Khaldun's whispers, and feel the shifting of the ancient stone. Feel its strength in your bones, its ancient wisdom in your mind. For we were born of the rock, flesh from stone.

In the ancient times, when the Saadya yet walked upon Khaldun, a dispute arose over the stone peaks of the High Reaches. Some Saadya, those who dwelled on the plains with the running beasts and shimmering grain, held that the High Reaches were lifeless and bare like the hard winter earth in need of spring. Life, they said, in abundance, should be brought to the Reaches, with the high peaks softened and the winds stilled and the cutting cold made blunt.

Many agreed.

Yet one Saadya, Zamara, spoke for the silent beauty of our land. In compromise, she offered to bring for life from the stone and the wind and the cold, a people to be one with the mountain and shape it with their hands and will. So from the hard rock she made their bodies, and from the glacial streams she distilled their blood, and from the howling wind she took their souls. These creatures she named the Gauri, the Stone-watchers.

But life was not yet ours. For those were the days when the Shadow first moved against Khaldun. And our bodies and souls were left unawakened, silent in the silent stone, cold in the cold winds, alone among the lonely peaks. And so we stayed, and would have stayed for time without end, had not the Earth Brothers come upon us.

Bound to protect Khaldun, the Trow found us as we slept and saw us as brothers, and shared with us the force of their life, and the secrets of their wise souls, and asked of us only that we watch over the mountains and the ancient halls of stone, that we sing to the restless earth and shape the jagged rock.

Thus were we born and thus must we live.

Units:

• Anvil
  • Anvils, wrapped from head to toe in armor, have sacrificed speed for near invulnerability. The sight of the slow and deliberate line of Anvils, all swinging their war-clubs as they march, has been known to break the spirit of even the most courageous enemy.
• Wardens
  • Tied to Khaldun's natural rhythms, Wardens are stoic warriors, armed with massive axes. Because of their connection to Khaldun, Wardens are immune to the effects of "unnatural" magic spells. Not only can sorcery not harm Wardens, but they are further able to dispel magical effects targeted at their companions.
• Juggernaut
  • Though the Gauri prefer building to destruction, they nevertheless have applied their brilliant understanding of construction to create Juggernauts. Juggernauts, enormous mechanical constructs of stone and iron, bound together with gears, chains, and sacred runes, know neither fear nor exhaustion, and will fight onward without rest until their enemies are crushed.
• Forge
  • Unlike other societies, the Gauri value their builders, known as Forges, no less than they do their warriors. The strength of the Forges lay in their ability to construct and repair fantastic defensive positions and sap enemy fortifications. For this expertise, they are accorded high honor.
• Captain
  • Grizzled warriors from all ranks who have proven their fortitude and bravery on the field of battle become elevated to Captains. Going beyond even the extraordinary endurance and steadfastness of normal Gauri soldiers, Captains lead by example.
• Packbeast
  • Over the years, the Gauri have succeeded in partially domesticating the mountain urossi, which they use as Packbeasts to carry the heavy stone-cutting equipment and raw materials necessary for their elaborate construction projects. Only Gauri Settlers and Hammers are trained in the handling of these otherwise-vicious animals.
• Founder
  • Like Artificers, Gauri Founders are accorded high social stature. They are trained in understanding the ways of the earth, and thus only Founders are able to select suitable locations for establishing new Gauri cities. Furthermore, only Founders are capable of convincing obstinate Packbeasts to haul the tools necessary for heavy
• Hammer
  • Mounted upon feral urossi -- vicious, horned animals native to the high mountains the Gauri call home -- Hammers don heavy armor and wield even heavier mattocks from their elevated vantage. Hammers are generally drawn from the ranks of veteran Settlers who have shown particular aptitude at handling urossi.
• Maelstrom Engine
  • The Gauri have applied their considerable understanding of the stable balance of the earth to produce precisely the opposite. Maelstrom Engines harness the instability inherent in all things to produce bolts of destructive energy. Advancing ever forward on spiked wheels, Maelstrom Engines are covered in stone and iron, as hard to kill as they are deadly.
• Spear
  • Named like many Gauri warriors after their weapon of choice, Spears have traded traditional melee combat for massive crossbows that fire spears of iron and stone. These impaling bolts inflict enormous damage on even the most powerful of enemies. Though less armored than many of their fellow warriors, Spears nevertheless march rather slowly under the weight of their heavy equipment.
• Healer
  • Healers combine the Gauri understanding of the natural cycles of Khaldun with their knowledge of minerals and exotic compounds. Healers are capable of feats of healing that seem magical to those uninitiated to their secrets. Through these arts, Healers provide highly appreciated support to the Gauri armies.
• Tracker
  • These savage hounds trained by the Gauri as Trackers have, through centuries spent underground with their masters, acquired preternatural senses. Swift and sure-footed, Trackers are used by the Gauri as scouts to ensure that their mountain strongholds remain clear of dangerous interlopers.

Buildings:

• Stronghold - Village
  • Hewn from solid stone whenever possible, or with great boulders brought from afar by Packbeasts, Gauri Villages are the simplest of their strongholds. Too small to hold many structures and lacking the permanence of more developed strongholds, Villages must either develop or risk easy capture.
    
• Stronghold - Town
  • Gauri Towns are larger and more reinforced than the less developed Towns. With thicker walls and more spacious grounds, Villages can support more builders and militia, as well as additional structures.
    
• Stronghold - City
  • With their deep foundations and enormous walls, Gauri Cities loom like hills wherever they are built. Their size allows from effective commerce in the ores and precious metals extracted within, and for large numbers of defenders and workers to ensure that the Cities function effectively and safely.
    
• Stronghold - Citadel
  • The greatest of all Gauri works, Citadels are enormous and stately, built with stone ancient and unbreakable, surrounded by walls so thick and high that none would ever dare try to breach them. Citadels hold numerous buildings, dozens of workers and militia members, and thrive with social and economic vitality.
• Excavation
  • The Gauri rely heavily on stone, and thus employ enormous Excavations to supply their strongholds. By cutting deep shafts directly into the earth, the Gauri are able to obtain enormous blocks of solid rock critical for use in their structures and military constructs.
• Masonry Guild
  • Filled with endless industry and the clamor of hammer and pick on stone, Masonry Guilds employ only the finest Gauri laborers to improve both the quality and quantity of the stone extracted from Excavations, thus doubling output.
• Stone Export
  • Though Gauri are loath to part with their stone, occasionally production is such that it is profitable to sell stone to foreign prospectors. Thus, Excavations are at times reconfigured into Stone Exports that serve both production and distribution needs. Though Stone Exports yield no raw materials for the stronghold, they do bring in a tidy profit.
• Lumber Yard
  • Gauri prefer stone to wood, but nevertheless require timber in the frames of their enormous structures and complex machines. As such, the Gauri, like the other races, rely on Lumber Yards to organize and centralize wood gathering.
• Carpentry Guild
  • The Gauri guild system provides training and guidance of apprentice workers, thus ensuring that critical knowledge is not lost. As applied to wood gathering, this produces the Carpentry Guild, whose secret methods and techniques double the wood production of an ordinary Lumber Yard.
• Wood Export
  • Always eager to convert wood into more practical purposes, the Gauri use Wood Exports to vend their excess production to private purchases and foreign agents. Though Wood Exports produce no wood for the stronghold, they help support the local economy.
• Ironwright
  • The bellowing furnaces and ever-turning bears of Gauri Ironwrights have been known to inspire awe in foreign visitors. To the Gauri, Ironwrights are simply a standard part of everyday life, producing both the iron necessary for buildings and constructs, and the hand-crafted weaponry for which the Gauri are known.
• Armory Guild
  • The most prestigious of all Gauri guilds is the Armory Guild, which produces not only the highest quality iron in all Khaldun, but also the finest weapons to be had. Through special alchemic formulae and ingenious devices, the Armory Guild produces twice the iron as an Ironwright, yet requires no additional space or laborers.
• Iron Export
  • Gauri iron is always in high demand, and thus the Gauri often trade domestic production for gold-generating Iron Exports. These facilitate the sale of iron and generate a fine income for the stronghold.
• Reliquary (Shrine)
  • The Gauri venerate many spirits, including the Saadya and many Kohan, but also ancestors and pagan elemental forces. To hold icons and relics of these spirits, the Gauri construct honey-combed Reliquaries, which serve as a central place of worship, and also attract spiritual energy.
• Pantheon
  • Far more elaborate than humble Reliquaries, Gauri Pantheons are enormously elaborate structures with a special niche for every spirit venerated in the Gauri faith. Drawing pilgrims from great distances, Pantheons bring additional mana and attract those rare faithful capable of attaining higher spiritual understanding.
• Archive (Library)
  • Because of the great respect the Gauri have for the past, many Gauri strongholds gather detailed writings containing the experiments and discussions of learned Gauri from all Ages. By studying these writings, Gauri are able to train themselves in the scientific arts necessary for extracting Khaldunite and constructing the devices used by Runemasters.
• University
  • The greatest Gauri Archives achieve the status of Universities, centers of learning that produce great progress in Khaldunite extraction and in the use of runes.
• Exchange
  • Though Gauri are perhaps best known for their great works in stone and their fine weapons, Gauri artisans also produce beautiful artistry from wood, iron, and stone to be sold in Exchanges.
• Warehouse
  • Redirecting the efforts of local artisans to improve the quality of the supplies used by warriors in the field, Warehouses both improve the supply range of a stronghold and produce commodities that, while less profitable than those made in Workshops, nevertheless produce some income.
• Factory
  • Gauri Factories pay private laborers to join in the processing of raw goods into commodities to be used by the stronghold. Though this is expensive, it helps to increase the flow of materials necessary for building and maintaining structures and armies.
• Garrison
  • Gauri Garrisons are invariably raucous places. Occupied primarily by Hammers and their foul-smelling urossi mounts, Garrisons nevertheless give all military units a place to meet and discuss strategy. As a result, they allow for the deployment of Trackers as scouts, and for an increase in the number of companies in the field.
• Outpost
  • Outposts lack the permanence that the Gauri normally invest in their structures, and are used instead as resupply points with a fairly small number of defenders. Because the Gauri are such effective builders, they are confident that any lost Outposts can be reconstructed with ease.
• Fort
  • Gauri Forts have thick and high walls and are defended by many proud warriors. Designed both to control key locations and to serve as staging grounds and supply depots, Forts are critical to securing and expanding territory.
    

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