Subscribe to download
LT's Runeforge of Hotek 2.0 - UPGRADE System for ALL Elven Factions!

Hotek, the renegade priest of Vaul, succumbed and he took his secrets to the tomb. For millennia, the mastery to fusion elf enchantments and Dawi Rune Magic was lost. But now, when the Rhana Dandra approaches, the blind smith-priests of different places of the world are noticing shaping runes in the forges' fires, receiving assistance from the Smith-God, Vaul the Maker, and are now rediscovering long-forgotten secrets to enhance even further their creations with Rune-Magic.

Elves of all the world prepare for the Final War, and the forges are more restless than ever.
Will this be enough to save the world from the Chaos Gods? Or perhaps the mortals of the world should fear the conflict between the elves even more than the Ruinous Powers?




This mod incorporates the Unit Upgrade mechanic for all the Elven factions. Yes, all! High Elves, Dark Elves and Wood Elves players are now able to upgrade their units with a completely differentiated and lorefriendly system based on the ancient work of Hotek, other smith-priests of Vaul, and the Elven Pantheon deities, including many of the Cytharai, the Cadai, and Morai-heg.

• Expect an asymmetric system. The Druchii tend to worship the Cytharai and thus, they use more their runes. The Asur worship the Cadai, and the Asrai are more balanced. Khaine is the patron of the Druchii, Asuryan the patron of the Asur (shocking, right?), and Kurnous, along Isha, is the patron of the Asrai.
  Each faction plays different. The Asur smith-priests from the Dragon Spine Mountains create new enchanted weapons and armors; the blind Druchii smiths focus on the very runes, while the balanced Asrai use this new truth to improve their old creations.
  
  
• Certain units follow "strange" gods. Loec is the patron of many Asrai, but also Shadow Warrios. Eldrazor is the patron of the Sisters of Slaughter, the Eternal Guard and the Black Guard. Many warriors from Tor Yvresse follow Ladrielle... while others have also embraced Khaine after the destruction of their home. Of course, Corsairs and Sea Guard worship the treacherous Mathlann. Vaul is the patron of many caledorian, who also pay tribute to Addaioth. In general terms, all upgrades are balanced with high prices and extra upkeep, but the Cytharai also tend to give extra penalties to represent their double-crossing nature. Some are too deceitful even for the Dark Elves, and very few will dare to carve the rune of Atharti, Nethu or the Pale Queen upon their skin...
  
  
• Many aspects from lore and TT are now fully represented for some units. Everything comes from an Army Book or a lore paragraph: Hatred and Eternal Hatred, White Lion Pelts and Sea Dragon Cloaks, different venoms... Even the dragons have been further differentiated. Obviously, the ones from Caledor are the most powerful!
  
  
• Hard but rewarding. Do not expect to be able to afford entire armies of upgraded units during the first turns. You will have to save lots of money and Magic Runes to enhance them, and with that money you would expand faster recruiting more armies. This mod has not been done with the intention of becoming too overpowered (at least, not easily), but making a few units better veterans. Even T1 units will stay relevant in the Late Game if you dedicate them enough resources. It can be slow, but I think it feels more interesting this way.
  
  
• A Tier system with different kind of upgrades and tiers for each one of them. Items and Normal Runes have 3 tiers. Special Rules, from lore and TT, have 2 tiers. The different “Blessings” or "Curses" of the different gods, the Blessed/Accursed Runes of each deity, have 2 tiers, with the second tier reserved for special loyal followers, like khainites for Khaine's, the Wild Hunt for Kurnous', or the Phoenix Guard for Asuryan's. Veterany has only one.
  
  
• Added a special item set for the Dragon Princes. The rune Varinor is the Pride of Caledor, for example, while Sarathai and Skale are the Protector Dragon and the Defying Dragon. Now, they can be upgraded to the glorious spot they deserve, on pair even with the mythical Grail Knights, Chaos Knights or Blood Knights.
  
  
• Expect animalists from Athel Loren to outrage as you force innocent harpies to bear the Accursed-Rune of Ereth Khial against their will. Well, at least they will be deadlier now, so who cares about an eternity of torment and agony at the hands of the Pale Queen and her Rephallim?

There are some crazy builds you can create with your units if you are mad enough to spend such resources on them. Many hungry ratmen might be fed with that absurd amount of money. Do not follow my path... spend your runes (and coin) intelligently.




Hotek, ancient disciple of Caledor Dragontamer, was bought by Morathi, not with money or power -or other unorthodox methods- but knowledge: the secrets of the Rune Magic learnt by Malekith from his time aiding Snorri Whitebeard were passed to Hotek, in exchange for aid in the fratricidal Civil War that triggered the Sundering. Hotek, who wished to surpass his master’s work, combined the arts of elven smithing -using the mythical Hammer of Vaul- and Dawi Rune Magic. Using Dark Magic, he was able to enhance even more his results, and it was because of this that he was able to forge the Armour of Midgnight for his new master, the Witch King of Anlec.

However, his mastery was lost when he died, envenomed, at the hands of Morathi. Until now, these secrets had been lost, but now, with the Rhana Dandra approaching, the fires of distinct forges of Vaul around the world are shaping runes in the air. Only the smith-priests of Vaul can "see" and understand the secrets the fires whisper. In Caledor and Torgavonn the forges of Vaul burn with the new secrets now at hand, while in Naggaroth, just as Khaine forced Vaul to create new weapons and armours for him, the blind priests relentlessly fashion new creations for the sons of the Bloody-Handed God.
Meanwhile, the smiths are now working with priests of other deities to use this new knowledge on the millenary runes of the different gods. Their favour will be even more powerful with the Rune-Magic knowledge.




Rhox, Kriega1 and Dirty Dan for inspiring me to do this work. It has been tedious, as this has been my first mod, and I had no freaking clue what I was doing many times. But I've been dedicated and I'm very happy with the result.

Cryswar's Guides. Some could be updated, as some tables are not the same these days, but that guides show you many things you don't even know about, and more importantly, they teach you how to think by yourself.

JediMasterDraco for reuploading TDKillen's mods. In there is a fix I would have lasted weeks or months to fix, as I have no clue about scripting. The fix for the UI not scrolling is from them.

Maedrethnir for some typos.

CA for creating this wonderful game.

You, for reading all of this and supporting my work with a like, favorite and a comment sharing your experience. All feedback is well received, specially about bugs, typos, balance or ideas. If you have a favourite rune or unit you wish to see expanded or represented, feel free to say it!

Malekith, the rightful king of Ulthuan.