History of the World, the 8th Wonder of the World

[dacole]

Understood I have done storys like this before (I was involved with the spartan chronicles for a bit back when they were still around I think you can actually find the story online if you want to see some of my other writing beware it is long though. Going to learn a little more about buddhism than make my post if I do something wrong please let me know and I can change it. (As well I would assume some of the things I do here can effect the game, example if I send someone to kill your king that would be grounds for you to start a war with me in game)

[Robert]

Indeed. And I may also, if he enters my land, totally change your storyline and actually make him my next king in an attempt to get peace between your and my empire.

[Robert]

History of the World VIII - Session 1 savegame

[OzzyKP]

The history of the English people is a long and tortured tale. Three great ages have seen the English people multiply and die, wield power and yield it. build mighty things and wander in despair. The ages were marked by glory, despair, and rebirth.

This is the story of the third age - what will prove to be the defining age of English civilization. This story will have many ups and downs, and will be the culmination of the first two ages. To fully appreciate this third age, this age of rebirth, one must understand the times that came before. Both the good and the bad.

The Glory of England

Little is known of the early days of the English, records have been lost and fabricated and passed into legend. What little has survived through oral tradition will be retold here.

The English were once masters of a massive empire. Little is known of their rise to power or true origins, only that they were a feared and mighty people. Some claim their empire was based in the west, now hidden under the mighty lakes. Others say in the south, long since covered over by the unyielding jungle.

Under their power swamps were drained and jungles cut low. The knee of men bent at the mere whisper of the English emperor. The peoples of the east were united under one banner. Many castes of men served the mighty English - craftsmen, warriors, and slaves. The empire survived for millenia in peace and stability.

The empire had a legendary rival to the far west, but little is known of their identity. An uneasy coexistance between the two empires. While powerless to resist the might of the dominant English, this rival would be crucial to the English downfall.

Instead of cherishing its peace, stability, literature, riches, and culture, the English rulers grew greedy. Their desire for greater power took over. They began an ambitious campaign to conquer their western rival.

After decades of combat, the war went successfully. Much of the western empire fell to English armies. Despite their success, the massive campaigns put a strain on the economy and the caste system broke down.

Pressed by the greed of the ruling caste, the middle castes - the artisans & craftsmen and the warriors had their power eroded as much of the spoils from the war were given to the pure English in the upper classes.

Meanwhile the growing slave class that provided much of the raw labor of the empire were worked hard to support the war effort. Finally they were pushed too far and revolted against their English masters.

Slave revolts weren't uncommon in the empire, but after alienating the military and craftsman classes they had little interest in helping out their masters put down the revolt.
The ruling class found itself without support. The slaves ransacked the great cities of England and took off somewhere to the north. As the legend has it, these slaves would one day organize themselves into the tribe of the Americans.

Civil war, caste conflict, famine, and economic destabilization would be the rule for this, the last dying days of the great English empire.

The once great cities laid in rubble, the once vast population was decimated, the remaining people became scattered. According to the legend, the military caste split off and traveled to the eastern jungles and became known as the Zulu. The craftsmen would settle in the lakes region and became known as the Inca.

The upper caste - the philosophers, rulers, and wealthy noblemen - the only remaining pure blooded English were exiled into the jungles to wander.

Thus the second age of the English began.

[OzzyKP]

The Long Age of Despair

Refuges from their own empire, the English men and women who were once masters of an infinite domain now wandered the earth eeking out a living from the land, moving from place to place looking for food and fleeing violent tribes they encountered.

Through the jungles they traveled for generations. Their advanced understanding of math, engineering, art and philosophy had limited uses while trying to catch river fish and avoid getting eaten by panthers. Ultimately, the advanced knowledge of the English died with their great monuments and trade networks.

Tales of their once mighty origins still circulated through their tribe, passed on from generation to generation by oral tradition, more myth and legend than raw history.

However fanciful their tale had become in each successive retelling, the moral of the story remained. Lust for power and greed for wealth leads to destruction. War, envy, power, these were all vices to be avoided at all costs. Hardened by their experience in the jungle and humbled by their fall from grace long ago, this new breed of the English vowed a peaceful existence prizing the fruits of philosophy, trade, art and cooperation above all.

Sadly the other tribes they encountered had no such code to follow and no hesitance to follow the path of violence. The English were forced to flee from one location to another. They ran to the north as far as they could, until they met a great sea. With hostile tribes still south of them, they migrated to the east and again were met by the sea. Even the south was blocked to them now, the sea closed in on them from all directions except a narrow band of land to the west... on which a hostile band of nomads stayed.

The English were terrified. After centuries of running, they were now trapped by the sea with no where to run to. Should they surrender? Could they try to build boats? The tribe was split.

A panicked debate raged around the fire pit. Finally one man stepped forward, XXXX the bold. No record exists as to what he said that fateful day, but he told his people it was time to stop running. He urged them that sometimes the only way to enjoy peace was to prepare for war. He agreed that England did not want to repeat the folly that led to their downfall centuries earlier, but if they continued to flee others would take their place that sought to create vile empires of destruction and greed like theirs. The new England must be an active force for peace in the world. Sometimes, he said, you must fight for what you believe in.

The people were moved by his wisdom and beat their plowshares into swords and stood with their backs to the sea made a last stand to defend peace, justice and the English way.

The battle was mighty, but the English prevailed. They killed the hostile tribe's warriors, and then feeling moved to compassion, absorbed the remaining women, children and infirm members of this once hostile tribe of Normans into their tribe. It was there, on that day that the English stopped running - both from their past and from their enemies. There where the sea enclosed them on 3 sides they built their first permanent settlement, London and the third age of the English began.

[Toni]

A Historical Record



One of the principal tribes of Terra, the Germans came from the cold regions of the southern plains. During the last two centuries, they have expanded into the warmer lands into the north where fertile land was found by German scouts and the village of Berlin was build. Soon after that, two more villages where settled, one close to the great mountains and one next to the great blue river. The German tribe kept many large animals, primarily cattle for meat and hides and pigs.

Traditionally the German tribe moved, by simply burning their wood dwellings and pilled their possessions onto large wagons pulled by oxen, the clans each of dozens of wagons and hundreds of people moved from their smoldering villages in the direction agreed upon by their tribal chiefs, usually such a movement would not be far, perhaps a hundred kilometers or less. In the year prior to such a movement small war parties would scout possible areas for future settlements and arrangements with local tribes would be made to move into these territories.

Scouts on horseback and on foot went ahead of the wagon trains. If danger were encountered, the wagons were drawn into a circle and the men and sometimes women fought from inside the wagon circle. Depending on the lay of the land, the wagons would only make five or ten kilometers a day. Detours were sometimes necessary to reach a ford in a river. The Germans were not bridge-builders yet, but they could wield their axes to build rafts to ferry the wagons across water when a ford was not available.

Land was cleared by chopping down the trees and using them for homes and fortress walls. Oxen would be used to remove trunks. Settlements were preferably in valleys that already had been cleared. The Germans kept large numbers of domesticated animals. In addition to the cattle, oxen, and horses, there were goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens. And lots of dogs which were used for hunting wild boars in the forests. Some crops would be planted, especially vegetables. If possible, a reserve of grain was carried on the journey to insure the tribe survived the coming seasons.

Many new tribes were met, the Mali in the west, the Koreans in the south, and the Americas, Inca and Carthage in the east. The Germans were just overwhelmed by the great abundance of foreign tribes surrounding them. Still their goal for now was to focus on developing there new settlements and promote further growth. Diplomacy was not a priority, more important tasks laid ahead, like clearing the land of wild animals and protecting the new villages from wild man.

[Robert]

Session 1: 98 turns
Session 2: 81 turns

Great session all!

[KunojiLym]

The beginnings of the Korean nation is shrouded in myth, as is usually the case in the days before writing. According to legend, the first nation of Korea, Gojoseon, was established by Tangun at 2975 BC, where modern-day Seoul now stands, but evidence of an urban culture exist that predate those dates. However, it is true that by 2000 BCE, a new pottery culture had emerged, and a mighty road stretched from P'yongyang in the north, through Seoul, to Wonsan in the south. There is also evidence of contact with the Egyptian, German and Ottoman cultures by this time.

---

One of the oldest legends of Korea provides evidence of such contact. Buru was an expert chariot rider from Wonsan, said to be able to ride a thousand li in a single day. His bosom friend, Gareuk, was a legendary marksman from Seoul, able to shoot anything with deadly accuracy within a hundred paces, and also fond of shooting with multiple arrows at a go (and scoring with every single one). Together, they were known as The Mighty Ones, two halves of a single whole.

According to the legend, there arose in the southern wastes a barbaric tribe, known as the Mongols. They swept into the civilized north, crushing all in their path, and then stood at the gates of Memphis. The king of Egypt sent criers throughout the known world, appealing for help against the hordes. By the time the news reached the two friends, it is said, the defenders of Memphis had been halved in numbers.

From Seoul, Buru rode like the wind. In three days, he had travelled the entire length between Gojoseon and Egypt, and just as the last Egyptian warriors were about to make their last stand, he arrived with the rise of the sun. Notching five arrows at one go, Gareuk let fly with a fury , felling three Mongols for every arrow that he shot. By the time the sun set, not a single Mongol remained alive. To this day, the idiom "Swift as Buru, accurate as Gareuk" - meaning "To accomplish a great task with speed and ease" - remains in the Korean lexicon. It is said that this battle gave inspiration to the War Chariots that were to become the pride of the Egyptian army.

But that is not the end of the legend. After the battle, Buru, a hot-tempered giant of a man, grew eager to seek out and rout more of the Mongols, both for the good of the civilized world, and for his own personal glory. Gareuk, the more level-headed of the pair, saw the wisdom in "attacking the problem at its root", and The Mighty Ones rodes into the southern wastelands. Finally, they confronted the Demon King at Taebaek, a cold and angry mountain fortress of living wood.

Gareuk advised Buru to be patient, and await the Demon King to bring his forces out of the fortress. "For," he reasoned, "not even the Demon King is possessed of infinite patience." Buru, however, rejected the idea, and exclaimed, "Such waiting is the dominion of cowards and fools; while we waste time here, we are not elsewhere battling evil!" So saying, he lashed his whip, and drove the chariot into the deep woods of Taebaek. In this, the First Battle of Taebaek, The Mighty Ones emerged victorious - bloodied, but victorious. The Demon King, and a few of his followers, fled in the confusion.

Then a swallow flew to the friends, and told them of a Mongol band that was even now closing in on Seoul itself. Buru immeadiatedly lashed his whip, and in 2 days, The Mighty Ones again confronted the barbarians. The Mongols were taken completedly by surprise, and none survived to tell the tale. But as it turned out, it was but a distraction, for once again, the Demon King arose, and re-established his stronghold of Taebaek.

Once again, Buru was for riding out. This time, Gareuk did not object, for he too had grown confident. Thus it was that The Mighty ones once again arrived at Taebaek, and laid into it with a vengance. But the Demon King had grown clever, and Buru's horse was pushed to exhaustion. Once again, most of the Mongols were felled by Gareuk, but just as he notched another set of arrows, the living wood reached out, and cut the link between horse and chariot. Buru fell out of the chariot, and the Demon King slew him in one mighty cleve.. Gareuk, completely surrounded, managed to kill 999 Mongols, before he too was slain.

And so the southern wastelands were still the dominion of the Demon King, and the Mongol raids continued unabated.

---

It is of course highly unlikely that such superhuman feats were indeed accomplished, but almost certainly there was a battle waged at Memphis. Egypt's own legends sustain this, and ancient axeheads, of neither Korean nor Egyptian make, have been uncovered at various locations, both near Memphis and in the southern wastelands. Korean stone arrowheads have also been found at those same locations, lending weight to the story behind the legend. And archaelogical records in Pusan show that by this time, its famed horses had already been domesticated and were being used for agriculture and transport.

On a different note, some historians argue that "Tangun" may have been the title of Gojoseon's early leaders, rather than an actual name. The legitimacy of the Tangun seem to have been derived from the divine lineage of Hwanin, a religious characteristic that was common to other cultures of the time. Certainly, though, the name "Tangun", by the time of writing, no longer corresponded to the name of the ruler of Gojoseon.

Little remains of early Korean writing, save for stone tablets indicating the rule of the Gojoseon king. Even then, signs are evident of a growing distance between Seoul and the other Korean city states. As later historical records would have us know, by 1000 BC, the first Korean nation had fractured into several different entities, with language and culture being their only commonalities.

[OzzyKP]

(cool post Kuno )

The Third Age of England

The Norman invasion was repelled and then the survivors joined with the English to build the mighty city of London. After many generations of fishing in jungle rivers their talents were soon adapted to the bountiful oceans that surrounded the growing city of London. Crabs were collected in huge nets and the people never went hungry. The English for once were safe and prosperous. They had no need to roam the wilds, they had found their new home.

Some English still had a wanderlust that they could not shake. These brave men went forth into the wilderness to learn of the world around them. Contact was made with their neighbors - the Inca, the Carthaginians and the Zulu. According to legend, the Inca were the craftsmen and artisans of the Ancient Empire and the Zulu were the warrior caste. The English explorers were excited to meet their ancient brothers and sisters, but at the same time wary they may still harbor hostility toward England.

The Inca were friendly, and indeed seemingly nostalgic for the old days. They worshiped ancient gods and adopted a caste system eerily similar to the system from the Ancient Empire. As much had been lost from the old days, many English were excited to see the Inca recover some of the lost ways of the old days. As London grew more populous a band of settlers decided to leave London and settle on the banks of the great western lake to be nearer to the Inca and learn something of the ancient times.

The new settlers founded the city of York and soon high priests from Rho-Cuzco came to spread the good news of Hinduism to the people of York. They accepted the new patterns of worship readily and wished to spread this new (old?) faith back in London, but contact had been lost for many years due to the long distance and harsh terrain between them.

It was decided that a road must be built to connect York with their London home. Cutting through the jungle this massive highway took decades of work to complete. But at last it was done. A perfect stretch of road connecting London and York once and for all. The first trade caravans began to set out for their distant brothers.

It was then that calamity befell the peaceful English people.

The southern Zulu who unlike the peaceful Inca had refused to even speak with the English had just discovered the English highway. Even though countless generations have passed since the ancient times, and even though the English have endured much hardship and misfortune, the mad King Levi of the Zulu still harbored a deep hatred for the English. Driven by legend, jealousy and rage, King Levi sent Zulu thugs to the great English highway just as it was completed.

No sooner than the last stretch of forest was cleared for the road did Zulu brigands begin felling trees and diverting rivers to destroy the path. English warriors tried to defend the vital road, but the Zulu forcefully ejected them.

Angered by the senseless destruction of their hard work, the English chief, Æzzy declared war on the vile Zulu. Despite diplomatic overtures and appeals for help from the friendly Inca and Carthaginians, the Zulu's reckless campaign of destruction continued.

The English were not warriors though. The strong Zulu killed many brave English men sent to stop their rampage.

Their victories came at great cost though. The Zulu people lived in fear - not of the English - but of their own leader the mad King Levi. Men, women, children, all were put to the whip in his delirious desire for conquest and to inflict pain upon the English however possible. Thousands died from his brutality and bloodlust.

Finally, the people had enough and deposed their tyrant. A new leader, Pinchuk was chosen in his place. Little is known about Pinchuk, but a peace offering has been made. Hopefully this war will soon be over.

[Robert]

The dramatic days of the Barbarian invasion

Manco Capac ruled over the Incas with wisdom and with power. The 3rd city of the Inca was founded soon after he besieged the trone of Rho-Cuzco.
He ordered that roads should be laid between the three cities of the Incan Empire.
The Incas learned many new technologies and began improving their cities.

But Manco Capac couldn't enjoy the luxerious of a peaceful life for long. Barbarian axemen invaded Incan Territory from the north and took the city of Cuzco.



Manco Capac took his weapons and dressed for war.
An emissionary was send to the Germans in the south and the English in the east. The English were busy with their own problems, countering the attacks of the Zulu, who could be considered to be barbarian themselves.
The German quickly responded to the call for help though!



Hanz responded quickly by sending two hosts of chariots to Inca and gave these to the control of Manco Capac. In the meanwhile Rho-Cuzco itself was being approached by the barbarian axemen. The german chariots couldn't come in time to save Rho-Cuzco. Bu the brave warriors of Rho-Cuzco were able to slay the barbarian axemen! An heroic deed that will never be forgotten!



The German chariots, under Incan control, approached the now Barbarian city of Cuzco, and attacked. The first host of German Chariots unfortunately died against all odds. The 2nd host of Germans were able to return Cuzco to Incan control though!

At that moment the Incan Empire was slaughtered back into the stone age. But the approaching dimise of both most important Incan cities had made Manco Capac decide to quickly send out thow groups of settlers to settle new lands after the fall of both Cuzco and Rho-Cuzco. Both settlers were able to settle, the first founded a new village in the south, near the great lake of York. The 2nd group founded a village in the North, near the city of New York.

After diplomatic pressure from America Manco Capac promised all the rest of the North to the Americans to settle and to develop.

[OzzyKP]

(I can't wait to find New York, kinda cool that it isn't far away from York. Some story needs to be written about that.)

[Robert]

I hope that I can unite York and New York one day under one bane

[OzzyKP]

under one bane? What is a bane?

[OzzyKP]

Open Letter to all Nations

England calls upon all the nations of the world for aid in its defensive struggle against the imperialistic Zulu empire. Peace negotiations are underway but so far our peace offer has been met with threats and unreasonable demands. We did not start this war and have no desire to continue it, but it seems the Zulu know only the language of violence.

We understand the extent of the barbarian threat in the west and understand that the civilized people of the world are already strained. However the Zulu are far better organized and thus pose a much bigger threat to the more civilized nations on earth. Their unchecked aggression must not be allowed to stand.

We call on all nations to join the English in demanding the Zulu sit down at the negotiating table in good faith and end this war.

The mad King Levi has acted as if the Zulu were cursed by the gods with poor land and resources, but we English envy their land and wish we could have been as blessed as the fortunate Zulu. The reality is that the Zulu are bullying a smaller, weaker, and less prosperous England to satisfy their own greed. If the nations of the world do not take a stand now, their lands may soon see legions of Zulu marching through it.

Æzzy of the English

[Robert]

The Inca would gladly send all it's armies after it's bande to defend England, but since the English claim they don't know what a bane is we won't bother them with it.