Diplogame HOTW XII Ragnarok - Story Thread

[Diplo Holland]

Until the current world tensions eased the Dutch will not be disclosing any hint of the maps of the new world they had made NOR any information on the horrible secret of New Hollande and the false God. NOR any information on the magnaminous offer to the world that Huygens had fantasised about.

No nation had shown any interest in this as so many were wrangling with matters on the terra continent.

[Diplo Mongolia]

btw i kinda forgot to vote again. I'll send my votes now.
crap, I don't remember what happened on session 5...

any great efforts worthy of receiving votes?

[Diplo Mongolia]

From the diary of Dutch triumvirate member Huygens.

"So, after around 700 years the slightest slip of the tongue by Queen Juliana, "if a little primitive" was THE CAUSE OF THE WAR!"

He could not make sense of it. Other thoughts rattled around his head and from several sources he got the idea that the Inca were behind it - egging on the Mongols, giving military advise, assisting with sabotage events, appealing to the Mongol ego, even providing perhaps War Elephants, although unconfirmed; and the Ivory resource. But he suspected the Mongols may have that - but he wasn't sure.

Subject: Memo from Professor Randall
To: All Students of course 313.
-This was has apparently disappeared from the list of required reading for next weeks lecture, so I'm sending it to you by mail. This is just a very short excerpt, that describes the musings of Dutch politicians at the time. You are to read this as an emphasis on the deep cultural divide between Holland and Mongolia at the time, that would be the basis for their continuedly strained relationship. We have to remember that Queen Juliana's quote was not alone what triggered the Dutch-Mongol conflict, it was the general attitude of the Dutch at the time that the Mongols were savages. Juliana's blunder merely brought this attitude into the open and one could say legitimized it, it was the fermentation and proliferation of this attitude that insulted the Mongols so, something the Dutch were incabable of realizing would be severe enough for a Mongol to make war over.

Mongolia's difference from other nations had resulted in varying bilateral adaptations. The French early presented themselves in a client-state-like role with the Mongols tying them closely together until the Isolationist era. The Inca sent a noble to live with the Mongols which greatly enhanced the cultural exchange, reduced tensions and laid the groundwork for basal relations for several centuries. Neither the Ottoman nor the Dutch made any major attempt to understand Mongolian culture and as such, consistently created tensions between them. Resulting in the Dutch-Mongol conflict, which again led to the Isolationist period which I will be elaborating about in my next lecture.

I hope you find this text illuminating as to the causes of the Dutch-Mongol conflict.

Hope to see you all at my next lecture.

-Prof. Randall.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Diplo Mongolia
btw i kinda forgot to vote again. I'll send my votes now.
crap, I don't remember what happened on session 5...

any great efforts worthy of receiving votes?

The First and Second Mali-American Wars were fought.

[Diplo Mali]

Battle of Atlanta & the end of the Mali-American wars

The battle was long and bloody. The Americans, for their part, fought bravely and vigorously, keeping the invading Malinese forces at bay.

The Malinese forces, for their part, gave no quarter and asked for none in return-more than once they drove off American forces seeking to reinforce Atlanta.

After a while, though, the battle ground down into a standstill. Both sides became firmly entrenched in their respective positions, launching forays as new opportunities opened up.

Atlanta, however, was slowly being worn down. Malinese forces had the city completely cut off from the rest of the American empire & the Commander of the Malinese Army had news that more reinforcements were on the way-which would allow him to make his "Final Push".









OOC: Due to my failure to capture the screens of the real battle, these are merely "mock-ups" of the battle which occurred-my apologies.

Yet ultimately the battle for Atlanta would not be decidedon the field of battles, but in the respective throne rooms of the Malinese & American Empires.....


King Mansa Mari was immensely happy. Every day a new communique arrived speaking of the slow defeat of the Atlantan defenders. With the reinforcements he was sending to the front, though, he knew the battle would soon be over & Atlanta would be burning rubble.

Then, his guards entered the throne room escorting a bruised & bleeding paleskin. Though tattered, the American insignia on his surcoat was still plain to see.

He bowed low &-in very broken Malinese-said "hail, King of the Mali. I bring you news from the American Capital-Richmond."

King Mari eyed the messenger suspiciously "what news does that vile snake, Arnold, have for me hmmm? Is he prepared to meet my terms?"

The messenger hesitated as he processed the words of the king, then stammered out his reply "b..b..b..but, sire, have you not heard? Arnold was deposed in a military coup. A new government is in power we speak & they wish to make amends for the damange done by their predecessor."

King Mari suddenly sat bolt upright in his throne and said-this time in the American dialect "now this I want to hear-do tell me more of this."

"Well," said the messenger, slipping comfortably into his native tongue "the military were very angry at Arnold for the death of their commander in the pointless attack on Goa. This anger was intensified by his unwillingness to make reparations for the destruction of Goa and his unwillingness to negotiate the status of Atlanta. The pointless death of so many fine soldiers finally became too much, & the military moved to dethrone him!"

"So who is in charge now?" asked the King.

"That is still a little uncertain," said the messenger "the battle for Richmond had only just ceased when I departed for your lands, but as I understand it they are looking for a descendant of Jefferson the Yankee to take the throne. Until that time, the military is in charge & they want to end this war with the Mali."

With that, the messenger handed over a letter, written in perfect Malinese script

King Mansa Mari. We give you greetings from the Interim Government of America.
We give sincere apologies for the duplicitous treachery of King Arnold & for the loss of your city Goa.

In his blind obsession for land West of the Mountains, Arnold cost the lives of many fine American soldiers. He also ignored a much greater threat to the realm from the North West. With this in mind, the military felt it had no choice in deposing him-just as we had initially supported his rise to power.

No words can compensate you for the loss of so many lives, however we beg you to consider the lives of the blameless Americans living in Atlanta who will die when you invade & destroy that city.

We ask you to restore your earlier recognition of American sovereignty over Atlanta. In return we shall supply you with everything you require to re-establish your city on the ruins of Goa. We shall also pledge to never again attack any of your cities West of the Endless Mountains.

As a sign of our good faith, we offer you a gift.

"What gift is this?" asked the king.

With that, the guards went outside and brought in a bloody and bruised man-much smaller now without his full armour. He was bound in irons-hands & feet-& around his neck was a strange, circular device.

The man was instantly recognisable, after all the harm he had done to the Mali. "Benedict Arnold?" said the King in amazement "well this is a gift beyond measure. The people will enjoy seeing you go on trial for your crimes."

He then took the circular device from around Arnold's neck. It was an odd device, with letters at 4 points along its surface. A needle was at the center, and whenever the king moved, the needle moved too.

"What is this odd device?" asked the King.

The messenger said "that, sire, is a compass. It helps you determine directions in the absence of recognisable land marks-we thought your scientists would be interested in it."

"We are interested" said the king, his eyes wide. "Tell your rulers that we accept their offer of peace-in full-and that we shall withdraw our forces immediately."

[Diplo Mali]

The Trial of Benedict Arnold

The trial would last for 3 weeks, with the crowd getting ever larger as the day of judgement & possible sentencing drew near....







The trial was so packed out-even early on, that it had to be moved from the courthouse into the much larger throne room.

Indeed, so important was the trial that King Mari himself was Chief Judge in these matters.

Every day of the trial, more and more witnesses were brought in to denounce Benedict Arnold. The victims of Goa, in particular, were well represented. Yet even some Americans came to the trial to tell of friends & loved ones murdered during his rise to power.

For 3 weeks this went on, and the damning evidence against him built to fever pitch. Yet through the entire trial, Arnold showed not a hint of remorse for his deeds. In fact, he was often seen smiling at the descriptions of his cruel acts.

At last, the king and the other judges had heard enough. King Mari asked of Arnold "do you have anything to say in your defense, Mr Arnold?" Arnold looked at Mari defiantly and said "I do not recognize the authority of this "Barbarian's Court, so why should I defend myself?" with which he spat at the floor close to his feet. This caused a massive uproar amongst the spectators, & pandemonium almost broke out.

"Well," said the King "as you will say naught in your defense, & as you seem unrepentant for your deeds, I have no choice but to find you guilty of the charge of treason."

The crowd erupted into rapturous applause. The king silenced the crowd and said "as for sentence, it should be something truly befitting your awful crimes. Therefore, I order that you are to be crucified in the midst of the Desert of Visions, exactly half-way between Timbuktu and Atlanta, so that both sides who suffered as a result of your evil deeds may easily visit you & heap scorn upon you until you die. May Ozzy have mercy upon you soul."

So it was done. Arnold was led out from Timbuktu, carrying a large cross upon his shoulder, hounded all the way by soldiers and a jeering crowd. They found a suitably high place between Timbuktu and Atlanta, then lashed Arnold's arms and legs to the cross, before lifting him high into the air. They say he survived a full week out upon the cross, and that all his victims had an opportunity to laugh & jeer at his fall from grace. Then, when his body finally expired, he was taken down and buried in an unmarked grave close to the site of his crucifixion. With that, the matter was settled and the memory of Arnold slowly became barely a dim memory....

[Diplo Mongolia]

ooc. great posts already
I seem to have noticed in my SP games that this is often the time that I for some reason get bored and quit. but this is most certainly not the case here but I have noticed a wee bit of drop in writing enthusiasm, which is unfortunate, but with all the action of recent times, I am certain that this will turn.


ah. the main reason for this post. keep in mind that we are to vote on the posts made after last session up until the start of next session. we should all try to finish most stories and diplomacy by friday/saturday so that we can take the last day before game session to read through the posts and vote.

[Diplo Mali]

The Mali-Carpathia war

Just as before, it started so simply....

First, Carpathia seized the poorly defended city of Bacau-taking full advantage of Mali's ongoing war with America. Mali were angry, of course, but Carpathia made suitable reparations for the loss of the city-so Mali focussed its attention on Atlanta.

Then the peace was signed, & Mali could look forward to re-extending its borders once more. First, though, King Mansa Mari commissioned the best artists in Kumbi Saleh to build a memorial to the Heroes of the Battles for Atlanta & Goa.

This took the form of a marble edifice upon which was carved the Heroic Tales of the soldiers who fought in those wars, as well as a list of the living and the dead from those two wars.

This stirring Epic had an immediate effect on the Malinese people, with thousands of people wanting to sign up for military service within mere days. This proved to be not a moment too soon.

King Mansa Mari sent scouts out to look into the possibility of sending settlers to retake the site of Old Goa. The scouts returned to tell the king that they had encountered Carpathian forces en-route. The commander of those forces said that all that land-as far south as the Ghana river-was now claimed by Carpathia.

This outraged the Malinese King, who was well aware that Carpathia's empire had never stretched that far. Indeed, they had initially handed over the city of Bacau because they felt overextended. Now they claimed virtually the entire Western Half of the continent as their dominion-how arrogant!



As if to back up this claim, a few days later bad news reached the Malinese king. Two lightly armed American soldiers arrived at Timbuktu-bloodied & bruised-filled with a tale of woe.

"Sire," said the first man "we were bringing you the ransom we promised, but we were intercepted just West of the Endless Mountains-just a kilometer from your borders."

"Who attacked you, bandits?" asked the King. "No," said the second messenger "this was Carpathian soldiers claiming to be defending their territory."

The king was outraged "our territory nominally extends all the way from Timbuktu to the West Side of the Endless Mountains-how dare they make this arrogant claim on our land!"



Mansa Mari remained calm, however, and penned a polite request to Vlad Tepes II to ask if the ransom could be returned forthwith.

The reply which was returned two weeks later was rude-to say the least. Though he was no expert on the Carpathian dialect, the message roughly translated into "you want it, you come and get it."

This was the last straw for Mari. News had reached him in the meantime that Carpathian forces were on the move south-planning a full-scale assault on America. In spite of previous relations with America, Mari knew that, left unchallenged, Mali would be next on Carpathia's hit-list.

Therefore, it was clear what Mansa Mari had to do-he would take this war right up to the Carpathians. He mobilized his forces and made the official declaration of war against Carpathia....

[Diplo Mali]

The Mali-Carpathia war pt.2

The early news out of America was good, with Carpathia's capital falling to American forces early on. The Mali, however, had other fish to fry. The sent forces out from Kumbi & Timbuktu to converge on the city of Prague which had been recently built near the ruins of Goa.

When the Malinese forces arrived, however, they were greeted by a large force dug in deeply around the perimeter of the city.



The leader of the Malinese forces, General Masai Sosso, decided instead to try and lure some of the forces out from behind their defenses.

With that in mind, the Malinese forces made their presence well known to the forces in Prague, then moved off to harass the more lightly defended city of Bacau.





At first, the ruse seemed to work-with the bulk of Prague's defenders moving out from behind their cover. However, much to Sosso's distress, the forces instead began to head South-towards Timbuktu.

General Sosso sent a fast runner ahead to warn Timbuktu of the approaching forces. Meanwhile, the Malinese forces stationed outside Bacau gave chase-splitting up in the hills just north of where the the Niger & Nile Rivers met.

Meanwhile, in Timbuktu, siege engines were being built & axemen being outfitted to meet the oncoming horde of Carpathian soldiers.

News came to Timbuktu that the troops were now just north of the Capital, pillaging the many sheep pastures which lay on the outskirts of the city. The city's siege engines laid into the marauding forces just as the bulk of the Malinese army arrived to clean up the "left-overs".

Then, out of nowhere, a contingent of American forces arrived to lend a hand-providing "Help unlooked for, but much appreciated".

So, once again, a titanic battle was fought outside the gates of Timbuktu. The Malinese forces were victorious, utterly obliterating the Carpathian invaders down to the last man (OOC: sorry, didn't get a game save of that ).

With the threat of Carpathian invasion eliminated, American forces moved north to take the city of Prague.

Meanwhile, Malinese forces regrouped and headed north towards Bacau. On the way they linked up with troops from Djenne and Kumbi Saleh.




When they arrived at the gates of Bacau, they found it lightly guarded, with a group of longbowmen.



The Malinese Siege Engines made light work of Bacau's defenses. Then, without warning, the Carpathian defenders "disappeared". This left the Malinese free to enter the city, where they were welcomed as conquering hero's by the largely Malinese population inside





Indeed, it turned out that, when it became apparent that Malinese forces had come to Liberate the City, that the Malinese people turned on its defenders and killed almost all of them-driving the rest off towards Carpathian territory.

Now that Bacau was back in Malinese hands, & with Prague-now called New Goa-offered to Mali by America as compensation for Old Goa (which was now a protected Heritage Site), the Malinese Empire was restored to its Old Glory.

All that remained now was to make peace with Carpathia, & all would be well once more....

[Diplo Mali]

OOC: Hmmm, I am seriously considering breaking that second map up into two to make it more legible. What do the rest of you think-is it legible as it is, or do you think I should redo it?

Diplo Mali.

[Diplo Mongolia]

what second map?

btw. russia and ottoman, you have mail at your plompmail.

[Diplo Mali]

The second map in my last major post. If you check, you will see that there are a lot of arrows and writing on it-making things a little confusing.

If all of you can understand it OK, then I will leave it as is. If, however, you would prefer it to be split in two, then I will do it.

i.e. this map:



Diplo Mali.

[Diplo Mongolia]

nonono. thanks. its fine. there isnt that much information on it. I would prefer one map with lots to see, than several with only minute details. but assuming you're using Paint to edit the maps, I would put the text in clearer colors, preferably with black or white borders. Cause they're a bit difficult to read. i suspect bright colors to be better than dark.

[Diplo Inca]

A complimentary table which summarized the above relations data

[Diplo Inca]

OOC: Mali wonderful WORK - I love reading your stories so entertaining