Aramon

Aramon is the house of Elsin, the elder son of Garacaius. It is the richest and most developed realm of Darien. Its army uses little magic. It relies on armoured infantry, fast cavalry and siege engines, including the longest-range siege weapon in the game.

Elsin, the Mage King

Elsin is honest and practical, and his real talent is engineering. With Aramon he received the pendant holding the Stone of Darien, one of the Five Legacies. Instead of ruling from an old noble city, he built a new capital, Kaluen, on the southern shore of Lake Efnian. There he founded the Aramon Academy of Engineering and Design.

In battle, Elsin has 16,000 hit points and three spells: Lightning, Meteor and Earthen Wave. He builds Aramon's first structures: Walls, Gates, Lodestones, Watch Towers and the Barracks. He can also build the Ark, a transport ship, and summon the Avatar of Anu, the god of his house.

The Land and Its People

The atlas calls Aramon the largest and most prosperous of the four realms. Its western edge is Ullin's Fingers, a wall of rock and ice that few people try to climb. Lake Efnian lies near its centre and is joined to the sea by the Poyser Canal. The Humber, its greatest river, waters the farms of the Kingsbarrow Hills.

Other cities include Torcairn, the old capital in the north, and M'hari, home port of the royal fleet. Narmer has the great Temple of Anu, and Ralum is known for its white stone and its stonemasons. The people worship Anu, the Lord of Light, and many wear rings with his silver Hand.

Elsin keeps his father's oath and uses magic only when he must. He has made Aramon strong through roads, cities and industry instead. Its weak point is its east coast, which faces both Zhon and Taros across the sea. Aramon's old enemy is Taros, and its usual ally is Veruna.

The Noble Houses

Four noble houses hold land under Elsin. Each of them once ruled all of Aramon, so at first they resented his rule.

How Aramon Fights

Aramon's army is built for close combat and siege work. It has five melee units, including two kinds of cavalry. The Knight has 5,911 hit points, against 2,200 for Veruna's Amazon Knight and 1,700 for the Black Knight of Taros. With a top speed of 3.3, it is also faster than any other land unit a house can build.

Siege weapons support the soldiers. The Catapult has a range of 750, and the Cannoneer fires shots of 2,000 damage. The Trebuchet is a fixed structure with a range of 2,700, the longest of any unit in the game. A later patch added the Rolling Tower, a slow siege tower with 16,000 hit points.

Magic plays a small part. Only four Aramon units carry personal mana: the Mage Archer, the Assassin, the Acolyte and the Gold Dragon. The Acolyte casts earth spells such as Earthquake and Turn To Stone. It also builds the top tier, including the Gold Dragon, of which you can have only one.

Aramon is weaker at sea and in the air. It has only two ships, the War Galley and the Ark. Apart from the dragon, its flying units are the unarmed Spyhawk scout and the Flying Builder.

Production runs from the Barracks to the Keep, and then to the Acolyte. The full chain is in the Aramon build tree.

Notable Units

Aramon in the Campaigns

You play Aramon in 18 of the 48 missions of The Book of Darien, more than any other house. These are missions 1–3, 12, 13, 24, 27–29, 35–40, 44, 46 and 48. They include the first mission, All Hell Broken Loose, and the last, The Heavens Will Quake.

In The Iron Plague you play Aramon in 6 missions: 11–14, 16 and 25. Mission 25, Perilous Balance, is the final mission of the main campaign. The alternative ending is played as Creon. That makes 24 Aramon missions in all.

Sources

• Total Annihilation: Kingdoms manual, The Chronicles of Darien (1999): the history, the Aramon chapter and its noble houses
• The lore atlas in the GOG release of Kingdoms: the Aramon section
• Game data extracted from the GOG release: units, build lists and missions