Destiny of Empires [Diplo Game] [Story Thread 2 - November 2010]

[Robert]

This is the Story and Diplomacy Thread for the Diplo Game "Destiny of Empires" (DoE)

The purpose of this thread is to post in-character story posts and diplomacy for this game. Please discuss all organizational aspects of this game the Organization Thread.
Use your Anonymous Apolyton Game Account to put posts in this thread.

The Dance of Civilizations is a diplomacy game.
The players try to rule their empires like they are real. Role playing and story telling is an important way to achieve this.
Fore more information visit the Diplogame FAQ by OzzyKP



For more information visit the Organization Thread.

[Robert]

Welcome to the New Thread!

[Ottoman Empire (DoE)]

Suleiman the Pious read the letter from Israel, as his chariots spewed forth through the Taurus mountains into the Levanon plain.

He pondered.

There was no doubt that Jerusalem was practically defenceless to the Turkish chariots. Indeed the Egyptian capital itself lay open, its axemen defenders easy prey for Turkish chariots. It was as the heavenly messenger had said, the Turks were the chosen guardians of Jerusalem, not the Egyptian slaves.

But, but, was it right to carry war into the holy places? Was it right to pollute them with blood?

He wrote back to Israel:

Suleiman the Pious, chosen one of the One God, defender of Judaism, to our brothers in Jerusalem.
Greetings.

You are no longer fit to be the guardians of the holy places. This is the judgement of the One God. Our chariots are his messengers.

However we do not wish the danger of polluting the holy places. Therefore we offer you:

Free passage to Egypt for your soliders
Free passage to Egypt for those of your people in Jerusalem who do not wish to remain (OOC a settler)
Either a worker, or a Jewish missionary
Peace

If you will hand over the holy places peacefully to us. Our chariots will not delay. Speak now or we will have to risk the vengeance of God for the spillage of blood.

The messenger drove ahead of the chariots rushing to the Mountain of the Lord.

[Israel (DoE)]

Moses and Joshua discuss Ottoman siege


Moses and Joshua discuss the terrible situation

Joshua, the chief general of Israel, enters Moses' tent.
They discuss the current siege of Jerusalem by the Ottomans.
"Terrible liars they are! We offered them everything, they accepted it, and now they stab us in the back."

"Antisemites!" Joshua claimed.
"Did you pray to G'd for victory!?" Joshua asked.
"Yes, I did, but the sins of our people have increased and G'd JHWH has sent His doom to us. We will be brought into excile" Moses answered.

Then the assault started.


Goiim attack Jerusalem

With thousands and thousands of soldiers the Barbarians rise up against Jerusalem. The walls of Jerusalem are strong, the warriors are fortified. Mount Moriah gives extra defense value....

The first wave of chariots is destroyed by the brave warriors, but G'd JHWH is against the children of Israel. He has abandoned them because of their sins. More damage has been done to the brave warriors then chariots would do against walls normally.

The wounded warriors can't stand against another wave of Ottoman chariots. The city falls. Woman and children are raped and murdered by the Goiim. The Ottoman soldiers uses the Tabernacle as a toilet. Suleiman the 'Not so Pious', also known as 'The Barbarian' or 'The Goiim' lives up to his many nicknames.

The city is burned by the barbarians from the north.
Raped women, cutted in pieces, burn in the fires.
A baby, cut out of her mother's womb tries to breath on the chest of her now death mother but smoke fills her longues.

One of the Ottoman soldiers has cutted of the arms and legs of a young boy, not even at the age of 6. He tries to roll away from the fire but he fails.
Some crosses made of wood are made by Ottoman soldiers, young women are nailed on it, naked, near the fire. The fire can't touch them but the heat burns their skins to their deaths.

Some old women are blinded by sticking out their eyes. They walk into the fires, unable to see where they're going.


Jerusalem is burned by Suleiman the Barbarian

The Ottoman soldiers force a young Israelian boy to rape his own mother. The barbarian soldiers stand next to it and laugh while they cut of limbs of both people during their terrible act.
A couple of young babies is trown into the sewer system of Jerusalem where they die a terrible death, filling their longues with feces.

When the Goiim laugh the sound of Sataniël is heard.
This is the ancient old fight between Jacob and Edom. No normal human being would do this cruelty against any other human.

Between 1 and 2 million Israelians die in the fires. Only the descendants of Juda and Benjamin are able to escape the city.
Moses and Joshua are among them. The old Moses stumbles and falls to the ground.
Ottoman Barbarian Soldiers grab him and kill him slowly.

Joshua and the few children of Judah reach the coast.
There's no way out of this. Ottoman soldiers all around them.
Then they jump into the sea, hoping it would split, but it doesn't....

"G'd help us! Deliver us from this evil!" Joshua cries out!
Then he seas a small boat in the distance! He calls for help.
The ship approaches the terrorized Jews!


Joshua calls for help

The small ships comes their way and saves the few jews from the waves and the Goiim barbarians.
Then what appears to be the leader of the small ship crew approaches them, while they warm up with some tea with milk.

[Ottoman Empire (DoE)]

Suleiman the Pious pleeded with Joshua's envoy.

Again and again, offering free passage for Israelite setters, slaves, the gift of income from the Shrine in Jerusalem when God chose to make it, but nothing. Joshua refusing all deals, refusing all arragemens to protect the Holy Places from the pollution of blood. The Israelite army was outnumbered - it would never hold. But nothing.

Suleiman began to wonder if Joshua had tricked Moses himself. For Joshua had over the years spouted many lies and bluffs to other nation. That Egyptian war chariots were ust round the corner. That axemen and spearmen protected the holy places. Perhaps Moses himself had believed these lies. Perhaps Moses did not realise the truth.

Faced by Joshua refusing any terms to allow the Turks joint custodianship of teh Holy Place - for we are Jews too - and faced by the history of repeated promises by the Israelites that Jerusalem would not steal Turkish land, when it simply kept doing so, Suleiman had no option.

The attack was ordered.

The charioteers soon stormed the city, but the Israelites would still not accept peace on good terms. Hanging on ferociously, fighting tool and nail. The blood poured down the streets. Why? Why? It was a hopeless battle for the Israelites, so why would they not accept generous terms.

As the Turkish soliders went round trying to put out fires that night, Suleiman the Pious sat in his command tent, pondering the future. God had sent him to take custonianship of the holy places from the lying, greedy, Israelites, but what now?

Then a prophet came and spoke.



Declaring how the blood of the Israelites, poured out by their own stupid resistance to the will of God, had polluted the Holy Places.

"What must I do?" asked Suleiman.

"Istanbul is now the city of the One God, the one city in the world where the One God is worshipped. That is to be his Shrine. Take the treasures preserved from the destruction brought by the Israelites back to Istanbul, establish God's worship there.

"One day", said the prophet, "this land will be pure once more. But the ages must pass, and the cry of the blood hush."

Suleiman ordered the Jewish treasures to be carefully preserved and removed to Istanbul, the centre of the Jewish world.



And send messages to his soliders that all Israelites should be treated still as brothers, despite what they have done, and any found in the land should be sent back as free men to Egypt.

[Ottoman Empire (DoE)]

Far to the East, the Turkish traders were amazed to see the conquest of Bombay by the Arabs.

What purpose in this conquest? So far from home. The Arab army having crossed miles of fertile, empty land to reach Bombay.

Surely this could not be simply greed. Marking out thousands of miles of land between Bombay and Mecca as empty, fertile but only for Arabs?

The Turks knew well the struggle for land, but by no account were the arabs struggling for land.

There must be some logic at stake which we do not understand, they presumed. Then, longing to meet and hear from Indians to understand what had happened. and travelled peacefully on their way.

[China (DoE)]

The Chinese Empire releases the following news and updates:

- Tang, leader of all China has hereby proclaimed his devotion to Buddhism and declared it the national religion. He has been quoted as saying that he is overwhelmed with feelings of great clarity brought upon by deep meditation to Buddha and also joy, at becoming even closer with his great friends of the Japanese Empire, founders of the faith.

- In related news, Tang has signed a security pact with the mighty Japan in an effort to keep their neighboring waters clear from barbarian or other threat. The fishermen are safe.

- Tang has welcomed a foreign traveler from the Russian empire and granted him official diplomat status. The Russian people are welcome to visit Chinese lands and will discuss further positive relations.

- Although China has had no dealings with the nearby Mongols, Tang has welcomed a small group of starving refugees who speak of horrible famine and a leadership in disarray. China welcomes all Mongol refugees and wants them to know that the mighty Chinese military is on standby should they need to be of assistance in distributing food or securing farmlands from outside threat. The mix of Chinese spearmen and Mongol horse-based units will surely compliment each other working together should any barbarian tribes attempt to steal what little food they may have left.

[Germany (DoE)]

Georgii - the military minister of Her Highness Queen Catherine of Russia said to his old drink-glass friend Viacheslav looking at the piece of pergament:

Our Queen Catherine is worried about the non-cooperation by her supposed to be good neighbor and close relative Grunzen of Neandor. She proposed few times to him fair and cooperative land division, but Grunzen only seems to see until now her pretty side. Despite her nobility, she is now Queen of Rus and all the Slavs count on her and they trust her with their life. She is young and still naive, she thinks that a nice words can achieve more than pointy sticks. Let her try her way, than we will try our way.

ah grunt. grunzen grunt at cat.

snarg will deal with georgii. grunzen is in the mediteranean establishing the city of grunzen!

snarg has old dialog with thor and i laugh at cat's attempts to offer each of us the same deal for russia to build a copper city in our north so you can chop european nordic trees to build axe and spear! thor has long ago agreed that neander can settle there as long as we, as two non creative illiterate tribes do not clash culture. but russia settles all along its west and on top of europe, yet the east is clear to mongolia. you best claim that land intead of wasting our time.

russia has been warned of its european neandor line transgression. st petersburg is too close to neander but we offer you a nice deal to trade copper for fur. you laugh in our face.

we do not threaten st petersburg but warn of its cultural expansion. it is an ill placed city.

grunzen grunts.

[Germany (DoE)]

grunzen releases the insulting offers of cat.

copper deal
Dear grunting neandor cousin,

We, Catherine of Rus,

Like to trade and build cities. We approached you with a deal offer last time, that did not worked quite well, because you stood to your word, given to the Turks. Although We were disappointed by your refusal, we gave you credit for being man of honor.

We are now offering you far more better deal for you to consider, and know, that we Russians, dont knock third time on a doors where two times no one has opened for us.

We write to you with a profitable proposal. You may or may not be aware but our Slav citizens breed like rabbits and making new settlers is what they are best at. We can have nice business with you.

Here is the deal:

- we will send people to settle a new city near the copper site.
- we will hold this city for the next 40 turns in which time we will cut 5 forest tiles with our workers and use the copper resource
- at the 40-eth turn we will pass the city under your control and will gift you one more settler for you to settle where you think is best in your lands.
- if dispute arise, you will state that this city is your protectorate and we built it for you, so to prevent the grumpy Vikings from angering or even attacking it. We will of course garrison our troops to defend it like it is normal for us - the cautious Slavs.
- we will sign a Non-Aggression Pact for the next 80 turns, so we can live and work in peace.

So, to sum up: after just few decades you will have 2 more cities, one of them with roads and mines and improvements without even moving your big finger further than putting a stamp on this agreement. Also, you will be our friend and we the Rus with the wide souls know how to repay for loyalty. For us we will take 1 settler to compensate us for the settler we will use to found Orenburg and we will use the copper ore in these 50 turns until we search for a better metal to make spears.

We hope you will smell the profit and see the reasons in our proposal and approve it.
Feel free to say if you want this city placed at special place

The most enlightened, awesome and good party Queen Catherine of Rus

[Russia (DoE)]

Words, good attitude and intentions are stronger than axes, as you have to learn for yourself, dear cousin, if your temper did not get you killed until then.

Thor seems to me like split-tongue creature, so hard to find in the frozen North, as when we discussed borders with him centuries ago, and when We expressed our desire to settle between the two lakes and we will not settle any west than this, he said "Well...". Since then, when the terrible tragedy with our younglings happened, he did not said or wrote anything to us and our proposals. You expressed some concerns about our settling there might be against the will of Gods, and thats why we started to seek a deal for this place, so we dont lose it just in vain. Then Thor grants you the right to settle there which seems strange to us - to give one and the same thing to two different parties. To Us, this seems like not very honest diplomatics, even an attempt to plant disarray between close relatives and neighbors.

We seek secure borders and profitable deals, thats why we approached you when we saw that deal with the Vikings will not gonna happen. We said exactly what we are going to do with the wood we chop - no axes, no spears - we will make 2 settlers. For 5 acres of woods, you will have 2 settlers - 1 settled and one free to settle wherever you like. And this is without you losing a single day of your workers.
If it was you to plant a settler, chop those forests, what was going you to receive? 5 tiles x 30 wood each is 150 wood, divided by 90 wood needed for each group of settlers to build homes, thats not gonna repay you those 2 settlers we was going to give you. And it will cost you 40 turns of worker labour to chop, not to mention mines and roads we were going to build for you, as our Slavs are hardy pioneers and they are numerous, and you were going to receive all this in 40 turns without halting your cities growth.

And most important of all - we offered you Our friendship, which you easy throw away.

Alas... you are refusing this profitable deal and you even threaten us. I am now under the impression that you value the northsmen more than me, your cousin, prefer bearded mans company more than my pretty and jolly presence near you, and you prefer you alone to not gain clear advantage, if it will hurt me. Untill now, I gave this to your temper and your lack of mathematic and economic skills.

Now I take it personal.

But will keep it in my heart.
We are no longer on ourselves, We are The Queen of Rus, and we have a nation to lead.

[Germany (DoE)]

grunt cat. grunzen.

it is not a matter of it being a good deal or bad deal. you do not understand. it is about control of neandor europe, dear cat.

we want not your math or help or planning of our forests and land. you build too close and then offer a plan to develop what is rightly nordic or neandor.

stop breed like bunnies and start to plan russia more sensible and make better friend.

we are simple creature yes and offer simple deal to trade you copper for fur. do not be so high as to ignore simple offer.

grunzen. grunt.

[England (DoE)]

Arthur Calls A Great Council to Camelot

Angle-land grew and advanced and became prosperous. The cities of York and Glasgow were founded and became prosperous cities. Tensions with the Gauls settled down, their new ruler, Princess Joan I was understanding and accommodating. No resolution was reached on the theft of London's seas, but at the very least Angle ships were allowed free passage. All seemed well in the kingdom, but Arthur was worried...

King Arthur had ruled for a very long time. Impossibly long some said. He was born before London was founded, and oversaw unprecedented expansion and growth of his lowly tribe. He knew that despite his longevity no one lived forever. Since he had no sons, he began to worry over what would become of his beloved island upon his death. He sought to create a council made up of his most trusted advisors, his bravest warriors, and the most capable administrators in the land.

In truth, while Arthur was king of all the Angles, his authority rested primarily in London. The Anglish people had expanded greatly across their island. They had settled in far corners of the land and conquered the Scots, the Welsh, the Saxons, the Celts and others who occupied Britain. In the many lands of Britain, local rulers wielded authority. Arthur did his best to coordinate between them, and handle relations with outside powers (such as the Gauls) but travel between the various parts of the realm simply took too long to run it all centrally. Arthur's great charisma and his long lasting leadership has kept the various kingdoms together, but he feared infighting and civil war were he to pass. Thus he assembled the leaders of each realm and called them to London to form a great council.

From the north he called upon Kenneth MacAlpin of Scotland, and Oswald of Northumbria. From the west he called Alfred of Wessex and Gawain of Wales. He invited also Penda of Mercia and Rædwald of East Anglia. Arthur intended for this council to be more than just a gathering of leaders from the various realms, he intended to invite various interests from across the land representing their people's military, commercial, spiritual and scientific strength. He invited Gildas, the holy man, Roger Bacon the scientist and philosopher, and of the anglers, Francis Drake and John Cabot (who was away at sea).

Arthur faced a challenge however in bringing representatives from the military. Any local leader would protest if the gathered appeared to be dominated by the troops of another. So Arthur was forced to invite the warriors from each territory. From East Anglia, Rædwald brought his trusted Sir Tristan. From Northumbria, Oswald brought Sir Percival. From Mercia, Penda brought the brave Sir Kay. From Wessex, Alfred brought his son, Edward. From Scotland, MacAlpin brought the great Sir Lancelot. From Wales, Gawain brought the pure and gallant Sir Galahad. And Arthur, having no sons, raised his eldest daughter to be a fierce warrior, and as captain of the royal charioteers, he brought his daughter, Dame Boudica.

Those invited:

Rædwald - East Anglia, Knight - Tristan
Oswald - Northumbria, Knight - Percival
Penda - Mercia, Knight - Kay
Alfred - Wessex, Knight (son) - Edward
Kenneth MacAlpin - Scotland, Knight - Lancelot
Gawain - Wales, Knight (son) - Galahad
Arthur - London, Knight (daughter) - Boudica
Gildas - Holy Man
Roger Bacon - Scientist, thinker
Francis Drake & John Cabot - Anglers

[England (DoE)]

The Angles Factionalize

To much fanfare and pomp, the men arrived from all corners of Britain. Entering the impressive gates of Camelot they gathered in the great hall. Attended to by many servants, the leaders gathered and spoke. Catching up with friends and enemies they had not seen in years. The networking was fierce and so was the scheming. Each knew that Arthur was aging and each knew that he had no sons to take on leadership. The various kingdoms had been preparing for a succession crisis for years and were quietly building up their forces in the event of civil war. The leaders of the realms spoke in soft tones with each other, establishing friendships and alliances. Their generals sized up their rivals. The tension in the air of the great hall was thick.

Wishing to make an entrance the proud, but very old Arthur descended the stairs. The years had cracked his face and his hair was stringy and white. Yet despite his obvious physical flaws, he still projected great authority. His magnificent robe dragged behind him and his crown sparkled marvelously in the firelight. His eyes shown out of their wrinkled sockets with intensity and brilliance. There was no doubt that he was Arthur and he was King.

He led them all away from the great hall and to an adjacent dining room. He beckoned them to sit at his table, a large thick oak table, long and rectangular with high backed chairs and only the finest of domestic and imported food. It was here, amongst the splendor, that the tension finally boiled over.

Seats were not assigned, so the men scrambled to take the chairs closest to Arthur and claim a position of honor. Penda and Rædwald both began to sit in the seat to Arthur's right, which led to shoving. Their guards, Kay and Tristan stepped forward their hands on their swords. A commotion began among the Angles. Such a simple dispute over seating exposed the deeper rifts that were dividing the island.

Penda - Step back, friend, this seat is taken.

Rædwald - Taken by me. Move down, "friend".

Penda - How dare you use air quotes on me you cad!

Rædwald - Don't be so obtuse, you fool. East Anglia is closest to London, closest to Arthur, and indeed feeds Camelot with our great grain stores. It is entirely right and proper that we get the closest seat to the king.

Penda - Obtuse?! You dare call me obtuse? Mercia is the largest realm in the south and the most important. Without our pastures and horses, the whole of the kingdom would be crippled. If it is obtuse to expect such power to be rewarded over a bunch of farmers, then so be it, I am obtuse.

Kenneth MacAlpin - Call me obtuse as well. Scotland stands with Mercia. You pretend to be right, but you are clearly a minor force with no little importance. Stand aside for the regions with real power and real say.

Oswald - Haha, so says the sheep herder! Scotland is a backwards nation of mountain men and savages. The Scots have their head up their arse if they think they have much say in this dispute. No doubt you and the empty headed Mercians don't know what 'obtuse' even means! Northumbria supports East Anglia, it is they who are right! And we are not simple farmers, we control the all-important iron mine. Our mines supply the weapons and armor of all of Britain! Let your Mercian chariots die upon our spears!

With that, Sir Kay could not suffer the insults any longer. He drew his sword and stepped forward to strike at Oswald, belting out a mighty yell. Sir Percival came in just in time and blocked the blow. Tristan and Lancelot entered the fray, defending the honor and the claims of their patrons. The four began to fight, sword and shield, while the others looked on in amazement at how quickly the gathering descended into violence.

Gawain - Stop this! Stop this fighting! Nothing can be solved through violence! We must cease this fighting at once!

Hearing his words, the warriors couldn't keep fighting. Overcome, they stopped their battle and all joined in poking fun.

Kay - Aawwww, isn't that cute, Wales thinks they are relevant!

Percival - Hahaha, yes, little Gawain thinks that any of us care about Wales.

Tristan - Ooh no, someone help me, Wales is upset. How cute! You are simply adorable, hahaha.

Lancelot - We may herd sheep in Scotland, but unlike the Welsh we don't sleep with them!

The Angles were clearly divided. It seemed no one could resolve this dispute, however minor it may seem. East Anglia & Northumbria considered themselves right, no matter what the others said, and considered Mercia & Scotland to simply be obtuse. In fact the only thing these kingdoms agreed upon was that Wales was a cute nuisance and of little importance. Taking advantage of their distraction, Alfred of Wessex finally spoke.

Alfred - Gentlemen, this cannot be resolved through force of arms! And clearly shouting or wrestling for chairs will not make our cases plain. With the king's permission, I propose a solution to this ridiculous seating arrangement argument. We shall all speak to our resident man of science, Roger Bacon, and come up with our own seating charts. All options can be considered, even redesigns of the table itself! Once plans are drawn up, we shall present them to the king and this dispute can, at last, be put to rest.

It seemed like a wise solution to all gathered there, and thus it was agreed to. They would leave and work on their designs and return in three days.

[Arabia (DoE)]

The Conquest of Bombay

For over a year the siege held. The Arabs would bring resupply from the holy city of Mecca every 3 months. Great caravans of pack camels brought tons of dried meat, dates, and of course beer. Beer allowed for better transit of grain across the rugged mountain deserts and served to boost moral among the troops. Often it would arrive beyond its prime age and therefore relied heavily on Indian hops to balance the flavor, and thus Indian Ale was born.

On the holy day of Sianday (meaning Sis Creation) the siege armies drank ale exclusively since the dawn in celebration. As if in thanks from above, a powerful earthquake shook the ground and toppled sections of the city wall. The drunken army surged through the rubble believing this to be divine intervention. Those that resisted were shot on sight, although this was few, as the Indians also saw this as perhaps proof of the god Si.

Soon after the earthquake a fire broke out and jumped rooftop to rooftop. The thatched roofs ignited rapidly, and soon only the stone and plaster city center remained.

Bombay would be rebuilt using Indian labor but Arab techniques and architecture.

[France (DoE)]

The Gaul Tribes Prosper Under Joan's Rule

Perhaps it was the peace with the Angles. Perhaps it was Joan's inspired leadership. Perhaps it was simply destiny. Whatever the reason, the tribes of Gaul experienced a period of growth and prosperity. The population grew, the empire was modestly wealthy, and Gallic scientists had been hard at work unlocking the secrets of various technologies. The new cities of Cadiz and Valencia were well established and the great system of roads that Joan had demanded was almost complete. North and south would soon be one.

One small nuisance was the Mayor of Reims and the matter of the name of the city. The people of the city, largely descendants of the Calaisian tribe wanted the city renamed Calais in honor of their heritage. The Mayor was resisting. The popular joke on the streets was "Reims? Reims with what?" A local scholar even commented that the official name of Reims was missing an "h". The Mayor scoffed, commenting that Gauls could not even pronounce 'h' anyways. It was the proverbial 'tempest in a teapot', but Joan also realized that it had potential for civil unrest. Being politically astute as she was, she knew the name had to change to Calais. To appease the mayor he was offered a senior position in the capitol. General Richard Delacroix ensured that the honor guard was impeccable, and Joan made a triumphant ride from the Capitol to "Calais" to announce the official name change. The people of Calais could not have been happier.