The Lotus Clan

Our coverage of Liquid Entertainment's Battle Realms, the upcoming 3D real-time strategy game from Crave, continues with an in-depth profile of the game's most intriguing faction, the Lotus Clan. These practitioners of dark magic aren't available for play in the game's single-player campaign, although you will have to contend with them several times as either the Serpent Clan. Instead, like the Wolf Clan, the Lotus Clan can only be played in Battle Realms' multiplayer skirmish modes.

Lotus Clan members attack a Wolf Clan encampment

The Lotus Clan in the game is actually an exiled faction of a much older group of Lotus people. This original clan was a very magical society that was in harmony with all living things. Its religion revolved around the belief of a spiritual tree, which provided life to its people and the rest of the world. According to the Lotus ideology, this tree was tended by the Brothers Three--Tausil, Lythis, and Sehk--mystical heroes who each respectively looked after the roots, trunk, and leaves of this holy plant. This society was a peaceful one, and it had certain rules that prevented the Lotus people from practicing certain types of magic, which would disrupt the delicate balance that the clan had attained with itself and nature. Despite this law, a rogue group of Lotus clan members began to dabble with magic that involved draining, life-stealing, and necromancy spells. Coincidentally, their experimentation coincided with the arrival of the same mysterious evil forces that drove the Serpent Clan (and other peoples) from its homeland. Believing that this horde was summoned by the dark magic, the original Lotus clan exiled this new sect of arcane practitioners and set them adrift onto the open sea. While fleeing from their homeland, the exiled members soon landed on the same island that the Serpent Clan had also inhabited. They soon found themselves locked in a deadly four-way war against the other clans on the isle.

The Lotus Clan's newfound magic had an unforeseen consequence, however. Their practitioners were able to successfully call upon forbidden spells, but the magic soon started to literally consume the clan members from the inside out. Because the clan couldn't contain the magic, it soon began corrupting them, eating at them--it would change anyone who used the dark spells into a diseased leper. This corruption is a life-draining force that physically changes the Lotus Clan's bodies, but it also provides them with a useful byproduct: the most powerful magic of any of the four clans in Battle Realms. As a faction, the Lotus Clan tends to have strong spellcasting abilities, and while it might look physically weaker than other clans, its magic prowess more than makes up for its lack of strength.

Zymeth, the Lotus Clan leader

This clan is inherently evil, and its leader embodies all the characteristics of this dark people. Known only as Zymeth, the Lotus Clan leader forced his way into power by disposing of anyone who stood in his way, including the high priestess Sethess, who would have otherwise been the most legitimate candidate for leadership of the Lotus Clan. In fact, he is single-handedly responsible for the four-way civil war that erupts at the beginning of Battle Realms. Zymeth fell into favor with the Serpent Clan leader, Lord Oja, and Zymeth took that opportunity to whisper lies and treacherous thoughts into his ear. Zymeth convinced Oja to build a fleet of ships that would take the Serpent and Lotus Clans back to their homelands. Unbeknownst to Oja, however, Zymeth was planning on cursing these ships with draining spells that would slowly suck the life from the Serpent Clan. Unfortunately for the Lotus Clan, the Wolf Clan found out about Zymeth's treachery and warned Lord Oja before the Serpent Clan was able to set sail--so the Serpent and Lotus clans were plunged into war.

Let's take a look at the Lotus Clan in detail.