History of the World XI - 11 o'clock, one hour before doomsday! [Story Thread]

[LzPrst]

King Boris I Bearslayer. Omsk. Heart of Russia.


Boris Bearslayer had many tasks as first King of Russia. He had to travel to each of the Russian cities to establish firmly his rule, and to make himself known to the people. His great journey led him west to Pitrograd. Here he inspected the Great Wonders and the great mines. He then took a ship and sailed east, past Moscow to the island of Semlja. Here he saw rich fishing grounds and so he ordered that a new city be built here to harvest the bounty of the sea.

From the island he then sailed further east to the small city of Tomsk, where the people lived harsh lives, having to transport their food from Moscow to survive, and he took great pity on them and he promised to build a vast system of irrigation to increase their access to food. From Tomsk he travelled by land to Omsk and it was a fine city with Ivory deposits and cows. Yet something was amiss. King Boris I Bearslayer wanted to see the harbors where so many ships sailed in, and as he wandered the docks with his guard he heard a strange tongue.

-Tell me he said, I know that the Germans trade here frequently, for I hear their language and their clearly Germanic accents when they speak our language, and the Ethiop also, and the faraway Byzantines, and even Inca traders do we occasionally have the honor of welcoming. But this language I have heard just now, it is none of them. Nor is it Dutch. Or American, though it may sound similar. This is... English.

When King Boris I Bearslayer had spoken these words his guard, as one drew their swords, for they knew, that no English were ever welcomed in Russia, and that any English who had come to their lands had come unwelcome through treachery and deceit. And they swiftly discovered the man who had spoken in that most evil of tongues and they questioned him why he was there. And he told them, that the queen of England had sent him to spy on the Rus, so that she would know if the Rus were weak enough to prey upon.

Upon hearing this, the old King, Boris I Bearslayer, became angry. And he spoke in harsh tones to the English spy.

-Tell me English, is it a coincidence that you are here in Omsk, just as I am here to visit my people?

But he got no reply, the English spy scowled at him wickedly. So King Boris I Bearslayer drew his sword and cut the right arm off the spy. And then he sired the man on both cheeks so that he would be hideously scarred, and finally he cut the right eye from the spy. Then he spoke again.

-Tell your Queen that if any more of her subjects come to Russia, they will fare far worse. And for every Englishman that we slay here in Russia, the Queen will have taken another step closer to doom.


Somberly the King then left Omsk and travelled north to Novo Novgorod, a city of great culture and a trading port in growth. And there he spoke with the American Imam whom he had given permission to settle and preach in the city and he was a good man, very pious and very kind, and the King saw that his words were good and gave his blessing to his works to bring Neptunists and Muslims closer together.

Shortly after the King left for Kursk. The newest city of the Kingdom, located south of the site of the ancient city ruins of Novgorod. And here he saw the mighty soldiers that lived there, who had been hardened by the harsh lands and he trained with them and they were all greatly inspired.

And from Kursk he travelled to the Great Refuge of the Rus. Rostov. The easternmost city of the land and the richest, with its fertile river, it's Ivory refiners, it's soon-completed incense plantation, it's many small villages all built closely by the city center because of the vast deserts that lied at it's outskirts. Upon doing so he received word from his people in Rostov that 2 spies had been caught seeking the King, but they had both committed suicide before their nationality could be discovered. But the King knew from where they came.

And the King was pleased with his land and he took a sailing ship and returned at last home to Moscow.

[LzPrst]

Duke Vladimir Wanderer. Rostov. East-Traders.

Having suffered several spy attempts within a very short timespan the old Duke Vladimir Wanderer began worrying about foreign incursions, covert and perhaps others. Rostov lay at the edge of the Empire, far from the productive heartland, It had garrisons and sentries, but its people never felt truly safe against the threat of foreign incursion, always kept close to the surface by English threats and demands.

And the spying worried the Duke greatly. And more so that they had been unable to capture them until it was too late. It was clear what needed to be done, establishing order was necessary. The Duke announced the construction of a courthouse and a largescale investment into security. Yet the Russian treasury was not capable of supporting such an effort and the thinkers would refuse to accept another lowering of compensations. There was only one way for Vladimir to accomplish his work. And so it was that he sent out a message to the wealthy nations of the world.



Greetings friends, I Duke Vladimir Wanderer of Rostov seek a loan of gold, to be repaid at annual rates. If anyone would be interested in investing in Russia it would be greatly appreciated and we will of course guarantee repayment.

A total of 500 thousand coins of gold is required for us to establish a strong security and improved infrastructure over the next decades. This will be repaid with interest if any nations would aid us with a loan. Please contact us for terms.

Duke Vladimir Wanderer of Rostov




500 gold.

[condor223]

IN ancient days there was a large temple in the city that was to be known as Constantinople. The first one that was built on the site was known as the Megalè Ekklèsia, a great church. The church was built next to the area where the imperial palace was being developed and next to the smaller church Hagia Eirene. Both churches acted together as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire. It was chrinicled by socrates of Constantinopel who claimed that it was built by Constantine the Grea. It was built as a traditional Latin colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It was preceded by an atrium. This first church was then already claimed to be one of the world's most outstanding monuments. The appellation "Megalo Ecclesia" continued to be used for a long time.

The second church was built by Theodosius II . The patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the Emperor Arcadius and was sent into exile. During the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burned down.

A second church was ordered by Theodosius II. The fire that started during the tumult of the Nika Revolt, resulted in the destruction of the (second) Hagia Sophia that burned down to the ground..

Only a few days after the destruction of the second basilica, Emperor Justinian I took the decision the build a third and entirely different basilica, larger and more majestic than its predecessors.

Justinian chose the physicist Isidore of Miletus and the mathematician Anthemius of Tralles as architects; Anthemius, however, died within the first year. The construction is described by the Byzantine historian Procopius' On Buildings (De Aedificiis). The emperor had material brought over from all over the empire, such as Hellenistic columns from the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Large stones were brought from far-away quarries : porphyry from Egypt, green marble from Thessaly, black stone from the Bosphorus region and yellow stone from Syria. More than ten thousand people were employed during this construction. This new church was immediately recognized as a major work of architecture, demonstrating the creative insights of the architects. They may have used the theories of Heron of Alexandria to be able to construct a huge dome over such a large open space. The emperor, together with the patriarch Eutychius, inaugurated the new basilica with much pomp and circumstance.



The completion of this grand building started a golden age for Byzantium since it was the start of many magnificent structures in the land!

The temple itself was so richly and artistically decorated that Justinian proclaimed "Solomon, I have surpassed thee!" (Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών). Justinian himself had overseen the completion of the greatest cathedral ever built up to that time, and it was to remain the largest cathedral for 1,000 years.
The dome is carried on pendentives — four concave triangular sections of masonry which solve the problem of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base. At Hagia Sophia the weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four massive piers at the corners. Between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches.
At the western (entrance) and eastern (liturgical) ends, the arched openings are extended by half domes carried on smaller semidomed exedras. Thus a hierarchy of dome-headed elements builds up to create a vast oblong interior crowned by the main dome, a sequence unexampled in antiquity. Despite all these measures, the weight of the dome remained a problem, that was solved by adding buttresses from the outside.
All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marbles, green and white with purple porphyry and gold mosaics, encrusted upon the brick. This sheathing camouflaged the large pillars, giving them, at the same time, a brighter aspect.
The great church of the Holy Wisdom was completed only in 5 years. Emperor Justinian I was a very strong believer of Christianity and he wanted to use the church as a means for enlarging the scope of Christianity. This church served as the heart of the empire, all coronation and major baptism ceremonies took place here.

The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 50-foot (15 m) silver iconostasis.

[deity]

The death of João the 80th of the I line

Finally he died in 1AD.

João the 80th, the great and weak diplomat ended the João I line in bitter failure. The 4000 year dynasty that had accomplished so much was now ended. They delivered a powerful Portugal to his people and to the world that, despite gestures of goodwill and generosities, was being met with resentment and jeolousies.

It wasn't just the Germans. It was other nations too. But the German betrayal broke his heart. Like many nations there were clusters of neighbouring states that did help each other and cooperate on technological advancements. Agreements were reached far and wide on specific advances to focus on and the far-eastern bloc had many nations working closely together. This was proven when a leaked communique from the Inca espoused the concept of "our team" and this with other intelligence suggests that cooperation was occurring at least between the Dutch, Inca, Byzantine and Ethiopians all of whom were reluctant to trade with the Portuguese, although one trade did finally occur.
The Portuguese initially had cooperative trading arrangements with England and Germany and this advanced all 3 nations very quickly - by this is meant that certain research paths are followed by each nation. Other 'co-incidental' trades also occurred with the Americans.


German Betrayal

After many centuries of cooperation the Germans, desperately jeolous of the Portuguese, hatched a plan in secret to peg back the 'guesers'. Cut them down to size. Much correspondence exists wherby the Germans would follow the Civil Service path, whilst the Portuguese followed the Optics line. For many an age the Germans confirmed that this was their intention but mysteriously at some point in the past there was no response as to how long it would take them. Many years slipped by and finally it was revealed that the Germans had traded for Civil Service from the Dutch ages ago and that it was not available to be brokered to the Portuguese. Not only did this drop as a bombshell, as the Portuguese now had to invent it for themsleves because the Dutch, believed to be the only nation that could trade it, would not trade it to the Portuguese. In addition the lack of transparency by the Germans and their obvious deliberate act did not allow the Portuguese a chance to change paths way back when the Germans traded with the Dutch. The Portuguese had continued along the Optics line not knowing of this treachery. In fact a German official was heard to say something like. "Well, if you are the top nation I'll fvx3 you over and if any other nations takes the lead I'll fvx3 them over too."

The only decent thing to be said about the Germans and this whole affair is that they had previously declined tech gifts as they did not want to be in debt. This concept in itself is absolutely fine to the Portuguese and is respected BUT not the mis-leading deliberate act of secret treachury.

This betrayal along with a massive Russian buildup of troops in the South was worrying to João (the first) of the II line for the Germans, easily prepared to make an enemy of Portugal, consistently refers to their Russian 'friends'. Troop gifting potential by the Russians and or attacks by Russia on England would force his hand and now shapes Portuguese foreign policy.


The coronation ofJoão (the first) of the II line

João (the first) of the II line was well in control behind the scenes for a long time now and when the "German Betrayal" became known he would take a tough line on Germany. The Germans soon after offerred a complicated tech trade deal that was designed to assist our allies the English. João (the first) of the II line declined this offer around the time of his coronation in 100AD.

With the presence of the English Queen many stories surround the coronation and may be revealed in time.

[deity]

[ OOC I'm not going to advance the English story if Daniel doesn't start posting. It's too hard to do all the English diploing in-game ]

[condor223]

Don't forget to patch your game before you go to the game. You get a 20-30 min patch upload when you go to the lobby. Get the patch running and then fix something to eat!

I heard the patch is backward compatible for older saves.

[deity]

Monarchy and ruling the seas

King João (the first) of the II line hit the ground running with rapid Monarchistic changes:

* a stronger commitment to Christianity

* a devolution of some responsibility to the land lords in exchange for vastly increased troop numbers and strength

* a more isolationist foreign policy but with some retention of the diplomatic ways of the now deceased João the 80th of the I line - a softer line on more challenged nations and a tough line on more advanced nations

---

He was a very busy man, aside from his personal life, the trappings and responsibilities of being the first King weighed heavily on him.

---

His youngest nephew,João, had proven that the world was round and beat all other nations in this quest.

The mapping of Rome in the far East by the ancient galley (now destroyed by barbarians in Native America) was now joined from the West by the Carrack that traversed the deep ocean divide. Portuguese shipping was now famous for its' speed and transportability.

It seemed to João the nephew that the Romans and Native Americans had not been so well looked after by "the team" and he sent messages home to the King that some diplomatic advantage could be gained here...

He then sailed south and established a new city on the West Indies Isles - the first new city for eons. Luckily an exchange of maps with the Americans had confirmed that the West Indies Isles existed and thus settlers had been put aboard the Carrack. Also aboard were troops as well as on Carrack II, which lay further North in this year 140AD.

[deity]

Other crimes against Portugal

King João (the first) of the II line was being briefed on a few other things things that had escaped his attention.

* Many ages ago the oldest and very first cottage near Lisbon was destroyed by an event.

* More recent events seem to be deliberate acts of sabotage and many spies have been uncovered but their origins remain unkown for now

* Other improvements have recently been destroyed

* And a new development in Russia where not only were they building a huge army but also asking for international loans. Would Portuguese assistance to Russia be met with similar responses to Germany's disdain?

* Would England be furious? English security lies to some extent in Portugal's power and Portugal potentially could play a role here to reduce the friction between the Russian and English combatants. His love of Elizabeth complicated matters... but her current wherabouts is unkown. Strategic negotiations with the English are critical.

* The Russians honoured their agreement to return 'Porto' the newly named Axemen unit to Portugal. Such were the promotions of this unit that promtion to a Mace unit was imminent; along with Rosen's promotion.

[Frank Johnson]

The German Federation's Council debated the latest remarks out of Portugal at length. The respectable Portugese in the height of monarchy and dictatorship likely could not understand the pluralistic ways of the Council. An exclusive relationship between Portugal and Germany was never discussed, even in the days of the King of Berlin. All the nations invovled have had multiple trade parteners. The Council had to look out for the best interests of the German people, and that meant multiple trading parteners. The Council had sought to repair the precieved break with the Portugese by offering a new tech trade and offering to catch their English allies up on serveral technologies which would lead Portgual back to technological domiance, however Portgual declined to trade on terms that were as favorable as any offered to Germany by other nations.

Perhaps Portgual could never understand the German people's will to live free. As noted, Germany repeated declined free technologies from Portgual and England so as to avoid being in debted. Alas the German people may be cursed with the ability to see the shadow of tyranny long before it becomes obvious to others. If the German people act when aggression and tyranny can be checked by words and coin, rather than bows and blades, can we be called wrong? Will Germany always be musunderstood?

[Robert]

[OOC]
Sorry guys, little activity from me this week............
I bought a new house and got a new job, it kept me pretty busy, I hope that's a good excuse
[/OOC]

Muhammed the American
Hear word from Muhammed the American.
Muhammed was meditating his christian believe.
Then an angel suddenly stood next to him in his room.

"There is only One God" the angel said.
Tell all people on Terra that they should abandon their faith in idols and start with the president of the UVA!

Martin van Buuren
After James Monroe died the new Chief of the UVA became a man who had dutch ancestors. Martin van Buren. He was a native dutch speaker.



One day he was in his office when someone knocked on his door. Muhammed entered his room and said: "There is only one God and I am his prophet, listen to my words and follow Allah the wise. He will lead the UVA to a future of fortune.
At the same moment the lightning stroke just outside Martin's house and Martin said in his native tongue:

"Vandaag heb ik geleerd dat er slechts één God is, Allah, en deze man is zijn profeet. Ik zal hem volgen, zowaar als de bliksem mij gespaard heeft vandaag. En De verenigde dorpen van America zullen slechts deze God aanbidden en geen ander. Ik zal deze God volgen en hem dienen en ik zal de verenigde dorpen voorgaan. Laat alle volken van deze wereld mij volgen naar een betere toekomst. Laten zij Muhammed volgen, want hij is de wijze die de woorden van de allerhoogste kent!"

After hearing these words Muhammed left the building.

[LzPrst]

RESERVED!!! DEATH OF FIRST RUSSIAN KING!

[condor223]

Disaster struck the great dome of the Hagia Sophia. It collapsed during an earthquake and destroyed the great altar. The emperor ordered a complete reconstruction with lighter materials and the elevation of the dome to 55.60 meters.

Messengers brought word of warring nations, while Byzantium fortified itself and trained soldiers to defend the city walls. The city will be prepared to ward off any invaders, should they come!

[arvcran]

For session 7

The Incas have become intrigued by the distant beliefs in Confucianism. Though Buddism remains predominantly and successfuly a belief system which enables happiness and cohesion amongst the Incan populace, the constant desire to become better and more knowledgeable instills the intrigue aformentioned.

The Incan peoples are concerned regarding the disputes brewing between the English/Russians and the Germans/Portuguese. Surely these peoples are not like the Barbarians who have no reasoning or compasion to speak of.

To us the Incas believe in developping a Win/Win settlement between grieving parties.

The troubles of these people are a concern for the Incas and we offer our services as mediators to help resove the disputes and work towards a win/win resolution. But in preparation of the potential troubles afar, Inca must now concentrate on being ready to use force against a bully Nation.

[Robert]

Session 1: 96 turns
Session 2: 90 turns
Session 3: 63 turns
Session 4: 57 turns
Session 5: 58 turns
Session 6: 14 turns

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

A new order

The plan worked perfectly. Thousands of families from across the empire went to settle in foreign cities-from nearby Nottingham all the way through to distant Evora. After settling in, many of these families started reporting back on life in distant empires. What they told the King pleased him greatly. Though a middle power in miilitary terms, the Culture of Ethiop was unsurpassed anywhere on the Continent. Nations near & far were impressed by the many Ethiop artworks flooding their markets. Even the distant Incan empire showed deep interest in the sacred artworks tied to Totus-Matraism. Indeed, our Faith had been found inculcating itself into the daily lives of many different empires-at least on a limited basis. This was seen by religious leaders as both good & bad. Though they were glad to see Totus-Matraism influencing the lives of people so far away, they feared that its mingling with foreign cultures might cause the faith to become corrupted.
Thus, after long discussions with the aging king, it was decided to build a great palace to Totus-Matraism. This palace would be a meeting place for all representatives of the faith, who would recieve instruction from the Head Matriarch about the tenets of the faith-giving the faith International Unity.
It took many years-& King Mobassa was long dead, & his eldest daughter Queen Elmetria I, had long since taken the throne-for the work to be completed, but the architects & Chief Matriarchs knew that the All-Mother would be pleased. Invitations were sent far & wide, & religious representatives from across the continent came to elect their first Chief Representative. Inkeeping with its origins, the first Head Matriarch was an Ethiop woman who was given the title Matriarchus Unabellus I.

Where this new religious order would take Ethiop & its neighbours, however, only time would tell.....