The first expansion to Age of Conan was announced on Gamescom, and it brings us to the lands of Kithai. This is Robert E. Howards very own adaptation of China, and it shows, both on the screenshots and in the trailer.

With the expansion we not only get a new landmass in Kithai, we also get the Kithan playable race, new armor, combos, and other things that a new area generally brings in any MMO. No new classes though, the current ones will have to suffice and I think that sounds like a good idea. Kithai characters will start in Tortage, as usual, but will travel to Kithai when the night questline is finished, much like Cimmerians travels to Cimmeria and so on. Tortage is said to be slightly updated to fit the Kithans entering the scene, that’ll be interesting to see.

The expansion takes a step from the Robert E. Howard short story Tower of the Elephant in some fashion, and it is set years after this occurs. How Conan slaying the imprisoned elephant-like good in that tower has anything to do with Rise of the Godslayer isn’t known at this time.

That brings us to the story, and this is how it is described on the campaign site:

Far to the east, beyond the devil-haunted towers of Zamora and the wind-tossed waves of the Vilayet Sea, the Empire of Khitai spirals slowly into chaos. The tendrils of darkness spread through the lands, tainting them. The Hyrkanians, kept at bay for thousands of years by the Great Wall, now spill across the Northern Grasslands in a wave of savage slaughter. The once beautiful lands of Chosain Province burn as power-hungry warlords fight to control every inch of the land.

And behind the scenes, sorcerers play games of power for stakes that would shrivel the soul. The desert of black sand known as Kara Korum seethes with alien creatures, bizarre and twisted forms of life that cry out human voices yet attack with demonic fury. And deep in the vine-choked jungles of Paikang, the heart of the corruption beats to the rhythm of another world.

Now, the slave who became a liberator must walk the dark roads of the empire and rise against the darkness that dwells there.

Let the rise of the Godslayer begin!

Uh-huh. Right.

Kithai is in turmoil and there will be focus on factions and the conflicts in Rise of the Godslayer, we’re told. You can join any faction, and that will open up different questlines, which sounds cool.

Other news include new mounts: Tigers and Wolves.

In the case of the Tiger mount, for example, it is a religious ritual for the cult that you must join. In order to capture their tiger, the player must travel into the woods unarmed and unarmored and kill the Tigress barehanded. Then they can pluck the mewling and defenseless newborn from the den and bring it back to raise it as their own. It first becomes a pet and the player must teach the tiger all of the necessary skills for survival such as hunting, stalking and battle. Once the tiger has grown large enough and if the bond is strong enough, the player must create a saddle out of various ingredients scattered across the land. Only then will the Tiger become a mount.

One might expect a raised level cap, but that’s not the case. Instead, we get an alternate advancement system:

The alternate advancement system will basically allow players to use their experience towards special alternate advancement feats and combos. This will open up a lot of new potential abilities for players. In addition the players will also be able to ‘train’ these feats to a second level over time to perfect them. This will allow players to choose which of their new feats or abilities to focus on and decide which order they build them up in. This training will continue whether you are online or offline, and will take a certain amount of time to complete (depending on the power of the feat), so it is a tactical choice for the player as to which order they do this training.

So when will we play Rise of the Godslayer? No release date has been set, and it is probably a bit optimistic to hope for a Holiday season release, but it isn’t impossible. We’ll see what the reports from the Gamescom show floor tells us, the expansion is supposed to be playable there. My guess is March 2010 for this one though, but hopefully I’m wrong.

Be sure to check out the screenshots, artwork, trailer, and the official expansion website.