Beyond the Pit [Pitboss Diplomacy Game] [Story Thread] Part 2 (September)

[Pitboss Rome]

A few tips:

Our empire's width is no more than 2 times what Russia holds, your map suggest a ratio of 5 or 6, and while this is flattering it is inaccurate.

Portugal's "height" should be increased by 50% , also their width is also overestimated by a fair margin.

Piercia is on a peninsula south of Wyandot and South West of Rome.

[Pitboss Vikings]

[ooc] deliberate manipulation of the unknown to make you look huge..

I will correct the inaccuracys next update.

[Pitboss Rome]

Originally posted by Pitboss Vikings
[ooc] deliberate manipulation of the unknown to make you look huge..

I will correct the inaccuracys next update.

occ: Oh like the real ancient and medieval maps used to distort the lands at the edge of the "known world"? Cool.

[Pitboss Greece]

Anaximander showed the map he had just received from a runner from Sparta to Jeong Jung-bu.



"Look, we're almost in Oldonia! We're north of the Japanese deserts now." Anaximander told Jeong.

"I hope those Oldonian roads will help us to travel quickly to the north-east! I'm dying to finally meet the Wyandots." Jeong said. "But we've been moving to Japan without seeing any Japanese person or city! Those Japanese, they're exterminated by Alexander as well?" he continued to joke.

"No, we've given these lands to Japan. The 'purple' part south of Japan is the land-bridge given to Korea. In the south west you can also see parts of land given to Korea. Sparta has been very generous giving out land to it's neighbours." Anaximander told.

"Why?"

"Because we don't intend to keep our friends and neighbours small. We hope that our friends grow strong. By giving these gifts to Japan and Korea we hope to build up both our friendship and your tribes. Sparta is one of the leading civilized, military and scientific tribes on earth, we fear that jealous civilizations may want to destroy us. Korea and Japan are our security against invasions from these uncivilized barbarians." Anaximander said.

"So, you use us as a shield" Jeong Jung-bu said a bit displeased.

"Well, yes, we do. But you benefit from being a shield. First of all we will send our soldiers to protect your cities. You're under the protection of Sparta. And 2nd we provide you with resources and technology, 3rd we gave you lands. But I would lie if I would deny that you are a shield. You are our shield, but a very well honoured shield. " Anaximander told.

"Alexander's philosophy, which he got from Lacedaemon, is that we gain security trough diplomacy and trust our inner strength to build up our strength. Not by invading our neighbours" Anaximander continued. "It worked! We're one of the best developed tribes on earth while we have never seen the hate of war. Most advanced tribes on earth had to battle on the battle fields. Apparently they were not able to achieve their goals trough diplomacy. They were unable to gain friendship with their neighbours. They may be big and advanced, but they are also paranoid. They always have to look at their back to see if not one of their neighbours stabs a knife into it." Anaximander explained.

"Looking at the map I must admit that the Spartanian diplomacy has worked." Jeong Jung-bu said.

"We're the only tribe on earth, as far as we know, that has not been in a war. It's a combination of holding a mighty army, having good relations with your neighbours through diplomacy and making friends" Anaximander continued to lecture.

"Haha, one day your friends may stab you in your back... what will happen then?" Jeong Jung-bu partly joking, partly serious asked...

"We will crush them. Our army is big enough to exterminate both Korea and Japan, even with the help of the Wyandots. Our fleet is growing so naval invasions from the Piercians and the mythical Romans don't even stand a chance. So go ahead, try to betray us." Anaximander countered.

Impressed Jeong Jung-bu stopped talking.
Silently the Spartan and the Korean friends continued their journey to Oldonia.

[Pitboss Greece]

Alexander was a bit grumpy.
He did not had much sleep. He was angered by the Oldonian leaks of Japanese communications.
"Why did the Japanese shared such detailed information about our deals with the Oldonians" he had been thinking all night. "And why did those pesky Oldonians share it with the rest of the world"

Not as if the detailed information could harm Sparta in any way. He had always been honest and fair to his neighbour friends. "But those nations that are protected by us should learn to use more discretion. Maybe I should crush one of them one day to learn them that the Spartanian friendship is a gift, not something ordinary that we hand out to everybody."

That had been going through his head all night. Now early in the morning he had a headache.
The messenger that arrived could not get a friendly smile.

"I got a message from Spain" the messenger said.
"From WHAT?" Alexander grumbled
"From Spain, their empress is going to marry with the king of Portugal"
"PortuWHAT?" Alexander sneered.

"You are invited...." the messenger carefully proceeded.

"To hell with the invitation! I'm sick of hearing from all those nations that may or may not exist. Romans, Wyondats, Portugal, Spain..... does it ever end? I don't know anything about these peoples."

"They expect gifts....." the messenger said, while walking a few steps back, fearing the reaction of Alexander.

"GIFTS? GIFTS? Maybe we should load 3 of our galleys with Phalanxs and sail to them to destroy their wedding. That would be a true Spartan gift! There's nothing more Spartanian then getting to see our bare feet soldiers in action" Alexander said angrily.

"Shall I tell that to them?" the messenger tried.

"NO. Tell them that we don't know them and we're not going to send anyone to their unknown lands. We will go to meeting. Maybe we can meet with those alien tribes there. Until then I'm not going to do anything about these fairylizations."

The messenger left the house. A bit relieved that Alexander sent a quite decent reaction to Spain. For a few moments he had feared that Alexander would send an army instead of a message. "That man really has a morning problem".

[Pitboss Vikings]

Watergate Scandal

The news spread fast across the empire. The archives had been borken into. Some one had managed to get hold of ancient texts stored in the basements. Now they had been sold to the highest bidders.

Oldonian civilian security had been guarding the building as it had never been imagined anyone would want to break in.

But now with the deed done, the military chiefs got together and overthrew the civilian guards and palced Swordsmen on 24hr patrol. Never again would the archives be raided.

The Oldonian Secret Services eventually found the traiters, and they were judged and condemned for treason, the punishment was death by beheading. All 6 of the guilty were executed.

It was never revealed who paid for the information but rumours abounded of some strange force from afar, over the seas.

[Pitboss Rome]

To: The civilized lands
From: Lucius Junius Brutus

We must say that we are most disturbed by the recent trend for nations to reveal private communications when it suits their needs. We shall not point fingers but then that is unnecessary since we know which nations are encouraging this kind of behavior, in fact we would say that one nation in particular has pioneered this regrettable development...Rome believes more discretion is warranted. Honest negotiations are impossible if there is no trust between the parties negotiating.

Rome now declares that all private communication with nations is just that, private, unless we explicitly say otherwise. Any violation of diplomatic confidentiality is considered grounds for war or economic sanctions.

We extend the same courtesy that we require of others. No private communications we have received will be "leaked" without consent.


We are most disappointed that Roman representatives where not invited to the royal wedding of Spain and Portugal. We might be more understanding if we where not the only nation in the world not to receive the invitation. We find the recent unresponsiveness of Portugal and its huge military buildup disturbing.

We are also disappointed you have not responded to our offer to safeguard you on the global summit. All the nations we know of except you and Korea have agreed to come to the meeting....

We have been honest in our desire for peace, we have adopted your religion, we have offered you deals, is Portugal perhaps less sincere? Your recognition of the Republican Government was seen as a sign of a brighter common future. Tt was a very popular gesture among the people of Rome.

Are you moving away from this noble course King of Portugal? Do you consider a cold war with Rome preferable to friendly relations with Rome?





-First Consul of Rome, Lucius Junius Brutus

[Pitboss Vikings]

To Great Rome

From Oldonia


Rest assured our friends in Rome, that the leaking shall never occur agian. It is deeply regetful that some of these messages got out. We hav edealt with the matter and can assure Rome that whilst communication with your nation have been limited all such misisves are now under double guard 24 hours a day.

It is such a shame that some nation felt it worthwhile to corrupt some our own people to break into ourarchives.

We continue to track down this rougue nation and will deal with them accordingly.

Your friend in Secrets

Davros

[Pitboss Rome]

Originally posted by Pitboss Vikings
To Great Rome

From Oldonia


Rest assured our friends in Rome, that the leaking shall never occur agian. It is deeply regetful that some of these messages got out. We hav edealt with the matter and can assure Rome that whilst communication with your nation have been limited all such misisves are now under double guard 24 hours a day.

It is such a shame that some nation felt it worthwhile to corrupt some our own people to break into ourarchives.

We continue to track down this rougue nation and will deal with them accordingly.

Your friend in Secrets

Davros

To: Oldonia
From: Lucius Junius Brutus

We are glad to hear additional security measures are being taken. We by our recent message only expressed concern that this would not become a trend, we see you recent actions as a good first step in restoring the proper form of diplomatic etiquette and protocol worldwide.

Also, may we use this opportunity to enquirer about the progress of the Oldonian expedition to Meeting? Has it reached the dangerous barbarian road to Wyandot yet?

We thank you for the maps you have shared internationally, such generosity helps all nations of this world.

We also wish to express our full support in the War on Terror, we firmly believe that the barbarian peoples deserve to see the light of civilization.




-First Consul of Rome, Lucius Junius Brutus

[Pitboss Vikings]

To Rome

From Oldonia


The war is turning in southern Oldonia, with visitors from the south and help from the Wyandots the black peril is once and for all dealt with. Upon compeltion of this we can release the expedition. The Highway is now compelte to Eastern Oldonia so hopefully it is only the short journey across the Wyandot ranges that is perilous.

Joining us on this trip though we hope to bring along the spartans, the Mayans and the Koreans.

If thery join us then the Wyandot escort may not be necessary.

Davros

(From his bed as age is starting to truly weary him)

[Pitboss Greece]

Early in the morning a horde of about 100 barbarian axemen closed in to Athens.
The citizen of Athens called for help from a nearby group of Phalanx.
Quickly the Athenians started to fear that help would never arrive in time.



Fortunately though the axemen arrived at Athens in time. Quickly plans were made. How to defend the sheep pasture just north-west of Athens? How to save the civilians?

The Phalanxes quickly lined up at the north west side of the city.



Together with the Athenian archers the defence was very solid. The Athenians people felt save. But what about the pasture?



The plans were made. A fallout of the city was needed to save the pasture.
First the phalanxes would break out and attack the axemen, then the archers would support the Phalanxes from their save locations in the city.
If the phalanxes would lose the battle the archers would be able to defend Athens against the barbarian horde.

A great fight took place.



The phalanxes killed many barbarians but their losses were too big. Many died on the battle field.
Only when a few phalanxes were left over the archers left the city to help their friends. The new unit of archers was too much for the barbarians. They all were killed.

The pasture was saved and so was Athens.
But nobody dared to celebrate this victory. Too many phalanxes had died.

Their dead bodies were brought into the city by the living phalanxes.
None of the victims had ran away. They all kept their honour and had defended the civilians till they dropped.
In the Spartan tradition these bodies were brought into the city on their shields.

All citizen of Athens stood in line to honour these fallen soldiers.

[Pitboss Rome]

Wow. How did you do the last pic?

[Pitboss Portugal]

To: Lucius Junius Brutus
From: King Marco

A reply to your recent concerns:

We have been honest in our desire for peace

So has Portugal! – Rome last time Portugal checked we are in peace right? Portugal hasn’t broken any of the points put in the peace deal.

we have adopted your religion

This was part of the peace deal, please do not sale it out as something that you did out of charity to build stronger relations between us.

we have offered you deals

It is true that you offered as a deal NOT DEALS since we signed peace. But there is no leader on this world who will agree to your outright ridiculous tech trade offer. I didn’t like what you were offering plus the high price so I said thank you for the offer, but we can’t agree.

Portugal has looked on Rome in any possible deals as a fair partner since the very beginning. Rome wants closer relations with us as we do! But you have a funny way of showing it. Asking for a tech twice the price of the one you are offering is disrespectful at best.

is Portugal perhaps less sincere?

Portugal has been sincere for many years towards Rome.

Your recognition of the Republican Government was seen as a sign of a brighter common future. Tt was a very popular gesture among the people of Rome.

We have been doing what we can to normalize our ties with your civilization.

Are you moving away from this noble course King of Portugal?

Last time I checked Portugal is on course.

Do you consider a cold war with Rome preferable to friendly relations with Rome?

We seek normal relations with all our neighbors including Rome.

We are also disappointed you have not responded to our offer to safeguard you on the global summit. All the nations we know of except you and Korea have agreed to come to the meeting....

Portugal can not forget so easily what happened to our last diplomat who entered your lands. Yes you have said that you will guarantee our safety and we thank you for that. But words coming from a recent invader have no value currently in our lands – only action and time will show your true intentions. We thank you for the offer, but we have decided to use a different route to the south when the time comes us to send our represenatives.

We are most disappointed that Roman representatives where not invited to the royal wedding of Spain and Portugal. We might be more understanding if we where not the only nation in the world not to receive the invitation.

The kingdom of Spain was the originator of the invitations not Portugal, if you have any problems with this take it to them.

We find the recent unresponsiveness of Portugal and its huge military buildup disturbing.

Are you telling us that we do not have the right to build our military Rome? Portugal is in its full right to build its army, especially after being the victim in a not so far ago war. And this remark is coming from the civilization who invaded us.

I Marco King of Portugal have tried to answer your concerns to the best of my abilities. My Kingdom will be sending a representative to the city of Meeting through the lands of our friends the Wyandots.

[Pitboss Greece]

Originally posted by Pitboss Rome
Wow. How did you do the last pic?

What part exactly?

I've 'photoshopped' (coreldrawed) a few screenshots trough each other. I created the 'dead' phalanx by making a top-down screenshot of a phalanx.
The carrying phalanxes are photoshoped normal phalanxes. (removed their weapons, added normal arms)

I created the 'village' by just going into the city using flying camera, then make a couple of screenshots.
In google image search I found a few nice skies, I photoshopped the moon to be bigger and expanded the sky so that it would fit to the entire background. (mostly by copy and flipping the same background image, then remove the moon).

All those carrying phalanxes are obviously just copies of the same, but some taller, some fatter.

[Pitboss Vikings]

[ooc] you are amazing with your pictures. obviously spend a lot of time thinking boiut them and putting them together. well done.

I do humbly bow in the presence of the PHOTSHOP king.

You have taken DIPLO to a new level.