Mountain Temple (Definitive Edition)

"Izumo-taisha, 300 CE It has been many years since the reign of Queen Himiko and war once again grips Japan. Your clan the Yamato, controls the Kansai region, where you, Homutawake, rule a king. Rival lords, however, threaten your rule in this life and the next. They compete with one another over farming lands and the construction of giant burial mounds to house their remains. But you know that the great Shinto shrines are more prized than any rice paddy or mound. Your rivals, the Izumo clan, control one such shrine. Destroy it and build a greater shrine where it once stood to weaken your rivals' influence, and receive the blessings of the gods."

- In-game campaign description

Mountain Temple is the fourth scenario of the Yamato Empire of the Rising Sun campaign in the Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, replacing a scenario with the same name of the original. The player destroy the enemy Temple and build one in the same place.

Starting conditions

 * Starting Age: IronAgeIcon.jpg Iron Age
 * Starting resources:
 * Population limit: 50
 * Starting units:
 * 4 s
 * 3 s
 * Gaia units: None

Hints

 * 1) The Kibi control the resources you need for victory; attack them early before they claim these resources as their own.
 * 2) A combined arms approach is best for defeating the Izumo. Cavalry can chase down their Composite Bowmen and Ballistae while heavy infantry and Stone Throwers can do the rest.

Objectives

 * Destroy Izumo Temple
 * Build a Temple where Izumo Temple once stood.

Player

 * Player (Yamato): The player starts with some a town with some Villagers and Axemen the east corner of the map.

Enemies

 * Kibi (Shang): Brown Kibi controls an island with important resources in the south of the map, and will send units across the river with transports.
 * Kibi (Shang): Yellow Kibi starts at the same land of the player, at the south.
 * Izumo (Shang):Izumo controls a heavily fortified mountain and the Temple that the player have to destroy.

History
Around 300 CE, large earthen burial mounds, called Kofun tombs, began appearing in Japan. These mounds varied in size and shape, bur most distinctive were those resembling a giant keyhole pattern. Rulers and the elite were buried in the tombs with weapons and other personal items. As with the construction of monuments in other parts of the ancient world, the building of these tombs coincided with political centralization and a period of warfare during which various local chiefs competed for dominance.

The Shinto religion also emerged from previous belief systems during the Kofun period, although the oldest Shinto shrines, such as Izumo-taisha and Ise Grand Shrine, date to as early as the Yayoi period. The word Shinto, meaning "way of the gods", was adopted from the Chinese Shendao, meaning "spirit path or study." In Shinto religion, practitioners rely on diligent ritual to establish a connection to the Kami, or gods. The Kami embody the powers of nature such as the sun, wind, storms, and the sea.

Historical outcome
"The gods have blessed your reign, Emperor Homutawake. Your defeat of the Izumo and their Kibi allies has strengthened your clan, making the Yamato the predominant power on Honshu island, You have constructed shrines throughout your lands, and begun construction of a great burial mound to house your remains after your work on this earth is done."

Changes
Despite the maps changes, the player and the yellow Kibi were moved to an east island, and brown was given a larger terrain to expand. The mountains features a lot more of cliffs and decorative buildings.

Trivia
There's a easter egg in the east forest of the Forgotten Empires initials.