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Part 2 (to 600 AD) - Noble
The Anti-Barbarian Crusade
The Scots had had enough. Time and time again, Barbarian warriors had menaced their cities from over the Great Desert. Boston, New York, Washington, all had had to rebuild their farms, their pastures, their roads as a result of raider pillaging. Someone had to put a stop to it.
The movement took hold in Boston. A courageous young leader of men trained and gathered up a cadre of archers who could shoot while astride horses. These men, barely a full company, went off to lands across the desert to hunt out the fabled city of the barbarians. Fantastic stories of animals tall as houses, and other wonders near this city did not deter them.
And they were just in time. Another band of raiding warriors was found lurking in the forests near New York and dispatched. Then, just as the city which called itself Avar was found, Mongolian warriors astride horses began to approach. Knowing that the Mongols would gladly take and plunder the city for themselves, the young Scots warriors pressed on in an attack and caught the city defended only by drunken men carrying clubs and the like. They were dispatched with ease, and the Scots took the city for themselves. After a short period, the city accepted its fate, and now labors to perfect itself.
The Dubhghlasses are beginning to hear criticism from the people. The Mongol horse warriors could not have existed if the Dubhghlasses had not consented to let the Great Khan have the secret of horse taming in return for learning about Meditation and the worship of One God. The people ridicule this trade, for they see not much purpose in meditation, and they do not think much of the concept of gods, for with the Way of Connefushis, it is not divine providence, but rather inner understanding of li, yi and ren that leads to a better life. The Mongol horse warriors are reputedly fierce and deadly; the Scots do not look forward to facing them. Why couldn't the Dubhghlasses have wrested the secret of working the new metal “iron” from the Mongols, instead?
Still, Boston has completed its Scottish Epic; already it draws the best and the brightest to the city. Atlanta has its obelisk, and has begun to work on a lighthouse so that boats can fish the abundant waters around the city without finding the many shoals and rocks that lie just off the point of the peninsula upon which the city sits. Work on the Parthenon and the so-called Great Library continue; Boston has plans to build a grand work of its own, a pyramid of stone upon which the priests and the monks can engage in their rituals to the glory of all. It is felt this will inspire the people to greater deeds in defense of the cities of the Scots. But other, more practical building projects intervene: first a granary, then a monastery. And in Washington, the great scientist, Merit Ptah, constructed his academy of learning.
Finally, the Dubhghlasses have instituted a formal practice of having a single ruler from their family, always a direct descendant of the prior ruler. “The” Dubhghlas he is known; the women are excluded from this process unless under the most dire of circumstances, when no male heirs are around. This switch was initiated along with the institution of a formal “religion” (though many dispute that the Way of Connefushis is really a religion), and the codification of a system of castes to provide structure to the lives of people. The barbarians are conquered, the Scots are ready for great things!
The Rebirth of Understanding
It is some 600 years since the Dissemination of Connefushunism to Boston; the scholars now use that point as a break in numbering years. For 4000 years prior, the years are numbered backward and the term BC is added (Before Connefushunism). Since then, each year is numbered counting up, and the term AD (After Dissemination) is added.
But the scholars have done little more than that. They seem accepting of what has come before, and not very interested in finding out new things. All the great advances have come not from men of learning, but from men of doing. Not since the great project to create an Alphabet, and to inspire a system of literature using it, have the men of wisdom done much.
This is about to change, however. The scholars have received a re-awakening, a clarion call to action. Men whose interest was in music, in songs and in chants, in ceremony and in easy listening, whose pasttime was the grand organ and the simple shephard pipeflute, have systematized notation and thinking about music. They have shown it to be susceptible to mathematical thinking. They have organized how to think about such things as rhythm, meter, tone and chording. With this knowledge, a torrent of musical works begins to pour out of Washington. And other artists are inspired to compete. But to paint or sculpt the body requires knowledge of how it works. To draw in perspective requires knowledge of how we see. The scholars realize their potential, and are energized.
Thus comes the Rebirth of Understanding. For two hundred years this awakening has been in the making. The Scots are spurred by the challenge of the peoples around them. The Arabs have founded a city in the lands near to Atlanta, lands the Scots hoped to hold for themselves someday. The Spanish, unhappy since the founding of the state “religion” of Connefushunism, have been pushing at the borders with warriors, scouting out defenses. The Mongols grow increasingly less friendly, as do the Arabs. The Spanish, the Germans and the Mongols have instituted formal calendaring systems, which help them keep track of time with a precision unknown to the Scots, who are generally happy to be in time for their dinner. The Scots emissaries write of the Mongols and the Germans having constructed bridges over rivers out of stone, and the Mongols now use a formal system of coinage to enhance their trade. No one will trade this knowledge to the Scots, so the Scots must forge ahead on their own (Genghis, the Great Khan, did offer up Iron Working, but the Scots had to pay for it with the secret of writing).
Still, the Rebirth sees a grand empire of Scots. The Parthenon, completed in 450 AD in New York, inspires a greatness throughout the Scots lands. New York hopes to send settlers to the sunsetwardside of Washington, into lands the Scots have always promised for their progeny. Philadelphia, too, expects any day to send settlers to sunsetward, to bracket the new Arab city. Avar, the Captured City, is hunting elephants for their ivory, and training defenders for its city, while Atlanta has finished its lighthouse and works on a granary to store food. Washington still toils on its “Great” library, while Boston works on its wierdly named “Chichen Itza”, which detractors claim translates to “Foolish Waste of Time” in Mongol.
With the Rebirth has arrived a poet extraordannaire. Calling himself simply Homer, he heads to Boston to work on creating a grand poem of classical tales. The result should be a grand explosion of culture from that city into the surrounding lands. The Dubhghlas approves, and hopes that the scholars can soon come up with their intended method for guiding ships at sea, whereupon they will institute the beginnings of a Civil Service, which will allow a better form of government. No thought of swords and the like for the Scots!
Author's Note (brief): Well, another period of expansion is coming. However, I have probably dallied too long, in my effort to produce various wonders and such. The Arab city of Kufah was a real blow; it's poorly placed, and it will limit the reach of the city I expect to found West of Philadelphia. Plus, it will cause trouble with Saladin, that much is certain, because he will need to go through my lands to get to it.
Of six wonders built, only one was built by me, The Parthenon. The Sistine Chapel is already built in Egypt, which has also built the Oracle, Stonehenge and the Great Lighthouse. Hatchysoupy is a pain when it comes to building things.
No wars yet, and that is surprising. Boston is eating into both Turfan and Baghdad's cultural borders. Spain is a religious fanatic and doesn't like my choices in that regard. I'd have thought Genghis would be on my case by now; I expect it will happen soon. But I get along with Egypt, and Germany pretty much ignores me.
I have a feeling the next roughly 600 years are going to be VERY interesting.
The Anti-Barbarian Crusade
The Scots had had enough. Time and time again, Barbarian warriors had menaced their cities from over the Great Desert. Boston, New York, Washington, all had had to rebuild their farms, their pastures, their roads as a result of raider pillaging. Someone had to put a stop to it.
The movement took hold in Boston. A courageous young leader of men trained and gathered up a cadre of archers who could shoot while astride horses. These men, barely a full company, went off to lands across the desert to hunt out the fabled city of the barbarians. Fantastic stories of animals tall as houses, and other wonders near this city did not deter them.
And they were just in time. Another band of raiding warriors was found lurking in the forests near New York and dispatched. Then, just as the city which called itself Avar was found, Mongolian warriors astride horses began to approach. Knowing that the Mongols would gladly take and plunder the city for themselves, the young Scots warriors pressed on in an attack and caught the city defended only by drunken men carrying clubs and the like. They were dispatched with ease, and the Scots took the city for themselves. After a short period, the city accepted its fate, and now labors to perfect itself.
The Dubhghlasses are beginning to hear criticism from the people. The Mongol horse warriors could not have existed if the Dubhghlasses had not consented to let the Great Khan have the secret of horse taming in return for learning about Meditation and the worship of One God. The people ridicule this trade, for they see not much purpose in meditation, and they do not think much of the concept of gods, for with the Way of Connefushis, it is not divine providence, but rather inner understanding of li, yi and ren that leads to a better life. The Mongol horse warriors are reputedly fierce and deadly; the Scots do not look forward to facing them. Why couldn't the Dubhghlasses have wrested the secret of working the new metal “iron” from the Mongols, instead?
Still, Boston has completed its Scottish Epic; already it draws the best and the brightest to the city. Atlanta has its obelisk, and has begun to work on a lighthouse so that boats can fish the abundant waters around the city without finding the many shoals and rocks that lie just off the point of the peninsula upon which the city sits. Work on the Parthenon and the so-called Great Library continue; Boston has plans to build a grand work of its own, a pyramid of stone upon which the priests and the monks can engage in their rituals to the glory of all. It is felt this will inspire the people to greater deeds in defense of the cities of the Scots. But other, more practical building projects intervene: first a granary, then a monastery. And in Washington, the great scientist, Merit Ptah, constructed his academy of learning.
Finally, the Dubhghlasses have instituted a formal practice of having a single ruler from their family, always a direct descendant of the prior ruler. “The” Dubhghlas he is known; the women are excluded from this process unless under the most dire of circumstances, when no male heirs are around. This switch was initiated along with the institution of a formal “religion” (though many dispute that the Way of Connefushis is really a religion), and the codification of a system of castes to provide structure to the lives of people. The barbarians are conquered, the Scots are ready for great things!
The Rebirth of Understanding
It is some 600 years since the Dissemination of Connefushunism to Boston; the scholars now use that point as a break in numbering years. For 4000 years prior, the years are numbered backward and the term BC is added (Before Connefushunism). Since then, each year is numbered counting up, and the term AD (After Dissemination) is added.
But the scholars have done little more than that. They seem accepting of what has come before, and not very interested in finding out new things. All the great advances have come not from men of learning, but from men of doing. Not since the great project to create an Alphabet, and to inspire a system of literature using it, have the men of wisdom done much.
This is about to change, however. The scholars have received a re-awakening, a clarion call to action. Men whose interest was in music, in songs and in chants, in ceremony and in easy listening, whose pasttime was the grand organ and the simple shephard pipeflute, have systematized notation and thinking about music. They have shown it to be susceptible to mathematical thinking. They have organized how to think about such things as rhythm, meter, tone and chording. With this knowledge, a torrent of musical works begins to pour out of Washington. And other artists are inspired to compete. But to paint or sculpt the body requires knowledge of how it works. To draw in perspective requires knowledge of how we see. The scholars realize their potential, and are energized.
Thus comes the Rebirth of Understanding. For two hundred years this awakening has been in the making. The Scots are spurred by the challenge of the peoples around them. The Arabs have founded a city in the lands near to Atlanta, lands the Scots hoped to hold for themselves someday. The Spanish, unhappy since the founding of the state “religion” of Connefushunism, have been pushing at the borders with warriors, scouting out defenses. The Mongols grow increasingly less friendly, as do the Arabs. The Spanish, the Germans and the Mongols have instituted formal calendaring systems, which help them keep track of time with a precision unknown to the Scots, who are generally happy to be in time for their dinner. The Scots emissaries write of the Mongols and the Germans having constructed bridges over rivers out of stone, and the Mongols now use a formal system of coinage to enhance their trade. No one will trade this knowledge to the Scots, so the Scots must forge ahead on their own (Genghis, the Great Khan, did offer up Iron Working, but the Scots had to pay for it with the secret of writing).
Still, the Rebirth sees a grand empire of Scots. The Parthenon, completed in 450 AD in New York, inspires a greatness throughout the Scots lands. New York hopes to send settlers to the sunsetwardside of Washington, into lands the Scots have always promised for their progeny. Philadelphia, too, expects any day to send settlers to sunsetward, to bracket the new Arab city. Avar, the Captured City, is hunting elephants for their ivory, and training defenders for its city, while Atlanta has finished its lighthouse and works on a granary to store food. Washington still toils on its “Great” library, while Boston works on its wierdly named “Chichen Itza”, which detractors claim translates to “Foolish Waste of Time” in Mongol.
With the Rebirth has arrived a poet extraordannaire. Calling himself simply Homer, he heads to Boston to work on creating a grand poem of classical tales. The result should be a grand explosion of culture from that city into the surrounding lands. The Dubhghlas approves, and hopes that the scholars can soon come up with their intended method for guiding ships at sea, whereupon they will institute the beginnings of a Civil Service, which will allow a better form of government. No thought of swords and the like for the Scots!
Author's Note (brief): Well, another period of expansion is coming. However, I have probably dallied too long, in my effort to produce various wonders and such. The Arab city of Kufah was a real blow; it's poorly placed, and it will limit the reach of the city I expect to found West of Philadelphia. Plus, it will cause trouble with Saladin, that much is certain, because he will need to go through my lands to get to it.
Of six wonders built, only one was built by me, The Parthenon. The Sistine Chapel is already built in Egypt, which has also built the Oracle, Stonehenge and the Great Lighthouse. Hatchysoupy is a pain when it comes to building things.
No wars yet, and that is surprising. Boston is eating into both Turfan and Baghdad's cultural borders. Spain is a religious fanatic and doesn't like my choices in that regard. I'd have thought Genghis would be on my case by now; I expect it will happen soon. But I get along with Egypt, and Germany pretty much ignores me.
I have a feeling the next roughly 600 years are going to be VERY interesting.
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