The Dance of Civilizations [Diplo Game] [Story Thread Pt2 - October 2009]

[Byzantium (DoC)]

Hor-aha of the Egyptians,

I am Theodosius Ruler of the Byzantine People.

I have seen your recent correspondance with the Council of Chieftans of the Byzantine people, and have sought wisdom of the past history of our peoples.

I am greatly troubled.

You make false and malicious accusations against the Byzantine people

They know the importance of this piece of land to us. Why would they, who are so great and large, want to take away this bit of land from us? Why? Is this the evil workings of Hastog again? Send a courier to the Byzantines, asking them to not steal away our only remaining land.

This is a lie. The Byzantine people know nothing of the impotance of any land to you since never in history have you ever spoken to the Byzantine people about this or other unsettled land.

This is a lie. This land does not belong to you - so how can anyone be stealing it from you? Do you believe you own land just because you desire it? This is empty unsettled land over which no agreements, not even any conversation has taken place. It has never belonged to you, so nobody can steal it.

This is a lie. This is not your only remaining land. We both know that there are large expanses of land to your north, empty, open to be settled by barbarians if you do not bring it under civilisation.


The Byzantine people have indeed dealt kindly and favourably to our eastern neighbours over the years.

What you fail to mention, but other nations might be interested in, is that once a city was founded right on the borders of its neighbours, but that was an Egyptian city founded hard against Byzantine territory! Despite the obvious insult that this was, the Byzantine people freely forgave this action out of respect for our neighbours and as a kindness to you. In contast, as your maps demonstrate, I have chosen not to copy your approach. We have deliberately founded this city far from your borders, allowing Thebes to the south to expand without restraint, and ensuring there is no overlap with the borders of your capital.

And, lets us be frank, the land you call plains of Ra lies equally between our nations, outside either of our borders, in the land between. You had a settler travelling to found a city there. Had you asked us about this? Did you consider you were stealing our land? Why is you settling this border land acceptable, but if we settle it its theft?

Your lies and arrogance have angered the Byzantine people. We have always treated you kindly and fairly. These public attacks are not the way to build frienship between our nations.

[India (DoC)]

The expedition fleet led by brother Vijay succesfully crossed the sea and safely arrived to Cuczo, the Incan Capital.



A delegat of diplomats and missionaries are continuing their journey on foot to meet with other civilizations on the continent and spread the words of Tao. Before they left Vijay had a special task, given by High Priest Kordush himself. He supposed to meet someone here.. someone who is already waiting for him. A quechua who never been to indian land yet He had the vision of Tao. Being a master architect- the incas are famous for their engineering skills- it's God's will that He and only He will build the holy shrine of Sha'Tao. And that is the reason we built these ships: to carry him and his assisstants safely to our land, and to bring the best Indian scholars to Cuczo to share our knowledge with our friends.

Meanwhile in the homeland an illustrious delegat attended at the celebrations of the new Mali temple in Timbuktu. This magnificent building is truly an accomplishment, it will spread the glory of our God to our people and to everyone in the world.

[India (DoC)]

Since the Parthenon has been built it became the most holy building of Tao and the home of the high priests. It was rumored that deep below the temple there is a huge catacomb and in a central chamber slumbers the Godking himself but of course no one permited to enter these chambers except the high priests.
The old Zulkash is right there now, meditating and calling for the wisdom of Sha'Tur.

-Great evil forces are rising in the far, demons from the underworld are gathering to devour the world
-Yes my Lord, I'm telling this to the people as you com..
-I mean the demons are really coming this time!
-I will tell them to worship more and sacrifice goats the altars..
-That's not the point , you foolish creature.. The demons are here and influencing this plane already.
-But but how is..
-Enough! Listen carefully as this may work to our advantage, but you must do what I say..

[Orb (DoC)]

Deep in the cold northern tundra Marcus ran trying to escape the Persian guards who
had spent the last two days just toying with him. By the third day they grew tire of
playing with Marcus and decided to beat him to death. They slammed Marcus to the
ground and all together started to kick him. Just as the lead guard was about to deliver
the final blow the sky grew black. The guards looked up, Marcus quickly took two shields
that where on the ground next to him and covered himself. Thousands of arrows fell from
the sky like drops of rain and as they fell so to did many Persians. Out of the tree lines
Barbarian spearmen came charging at the Persians and those few Persians left alive
picked up their axes and charged in after the Barbarians. A battle ensued and in the
middle was Marcus, who had been left unattended. Marcus ran as fast as he could
dodging arrows, spears, and axes alike. He made it to one of the Persian horses that had
brought him there and road off to the east.



He traveled for many days and many nights until he reached the eastern shoreline where
Nell's forces where hunting Barbarians. He was unsure if Nell's forces where still loyal to
him or not so he waited until nightfall to infiltrate Nell's encampment. He quietly made his
way past the many tents noticing the much larger force Nell now had. He entered Nell's
tent and slowly made his way behind Nell who was sitting at her desk reading orders from
the Guru. He placed his hands over her mouth and said, "Please don't scream it is me
Marcus." She slowly turned around to see if it was true. When she saw his face a tier ran
down her's and she pushed his hands away and the kissed like lovers who had been apart
for a long time. "I though you where dead," she said trying to hold back her tiers. "I know
so did I," he said with a smile. "So what has happened?" he asked. Nell picked up the
orders she had gotten and gave it to Marcus, "Things are not good. This Guru Cheney is
a demon from hell killing Jews, Christians, and Moslems alike."



Marcus throw the orders to the floor in anger, "That basterd, he has taken full control
and there is nothing I can do." Nell pulled Marcus closer to her chest, "You must leave
here my love and find someone who can help you." Marcus looked into Nell's eyes and
said, "Come with me. If word of you helping me gets to the Guru you will be killed. Please
come with me." She nodded and she walked outside to make preparations to cross the
sea. Marcus got dressed in Britannian armor and an hour later the two ran off across the
sea and into Arab lands.



Back in Britannia Jewish, Christian, and Moslem men where being hung along the city
walls, babies where sent to barracks to become the next soldiers, young woman where
turned into love slaves, older women where sold off to the highest bidders, and young
boys where sent to Guru Cheney who rapped them to death then roasted their bodies
and ate them. At night he bathed in the blood of his victims, which only seemed to make
his old body younger.



One night while laying in his bath of blood he had a vision. In it Hastog spoke to him and
told him only three things. Expand north, Build a large army, Kill the light. Cheney quickly
ran out to his second and said to him, "Rabble, rabble expand. Rabble, rabble big troops.
Rabble, rabble kill, kill, kill!"

[Byzantium (DoC)]

Weclome Greeks

Voula the Great, Friend

My scouts report that you have settlers crossing the great plains between Greek lands and Nicaea. They are welcome.



In the years since our war we have chosen not to settle this plain although it is a rich land, out of respect for you our neighbour and as a kindness to our less numerous friends. Our archers have been holding the highground, keeping the land free of barbarians.

The Byzantines welcome the Greeks as our neighbours in this land. Together we can grow prosperous and resist the shadow across the sea.

Theodosius, King of Byzantium.

[India (DoC)]

nvm

[Egypt (DoC)]

Hor-aha of the Egyptians,

I am Theodosius Ruler of the Byzantine People.

I have seen your recent correspondance with the Council of Chieftans of the Byzantine people, and have sought wisdom of the past history of our peoples.

I am greatly troubled.

You make false and malicious accusations against the Byzantine people



This is a lie. The Byzantine people know nothing of the impotance of any land to you since never in history have you ever spoken to the Byzantine people about this or other unsettled land.

This is a lie. This land does not belong to you - so how can anyone be stealing it from you? Do you believe you own land just because you desire it? This is empty unsettled land over which no agreements, not even any conversation has taken place. It has never belonged to you, so nobody can steal it.

This is a lie. This is not your only remaining land. We both know that there are large expanses of land to your north, empty, open to be settled by barbarians if you do not bring it under civilisation.


The Byzantine people have indeed dealt kindly and favourably to our eastern neighbours over the years.

What you fail to mention, but other nations might be interested in, is that once a city was founded right on the borders of its neighbours, but that was an Egyptian city founded hard against Byzantine territory! Despite the obvious insult that this was, the Byzantine people freely forgave this action out of respect for our neighbours and as a kindness to you. In contast, as your maps demonstrate, I have chosen not to copy your approach. We have deliberately founded this city far from your borders, allowing Thebes to the south to expand without restraint, and ensuring there is no overlap with the borders of your capital.

And, lets us be frank, the land you call plains of Ra lies equally between our nations, outside either of our borders, in the land between. You had a settler travelling to found a city there. Had you asked us about this? Did you consider you were stealing our land? Why is you settling this border land acceptable, but if we settle it its theft?

Your lies and arrogance have angered the Byzantine people. We have always treated you kindly and fairly. These public attacks are not the way to build frienship between our nations.

Theodosius, great ruler of Byzantium,

First of all, we have not made any public attacks on your civilization (ooc: our posts were not directed to other civilizations, but just stories about Hor-Aha's personal qualms with what was happening). Only our friend Lloque was with us as this happened, but we have communicated with no other nation about what has happened.

Second of all, you say we lie about having contacted you about these planes. This is not true, as we have sent you messages through several channels.

Thirdly, we never claimed the land "belonged" to ours. We have just asked you on numerous occasions if you could please refrain from settling there, as we are so small, and you are so big, and we have no land left to settle on. You claim we do in the North, but this is just a very small bit of land cut of by the sea and now our last option, thus limiting us to only four cities.

You also speak of us founding a city near your borders. Yes, that is true, but we have explained that we had not seen that you were so close due to the fact that we had not explored that far east. It was just as much a surprise to us as it was to you. You then settled South of our new city, blocking off our expansion in that direction, and now you also settle North, blocking us off again. So because we made on mistake, you pay us back twice, deliberately.

At the end of your message you say that we did not contact you. We did, multiple times, through personal couriers (ooc: private messages ) and through swift diplomatic communiques (ooc: diplomatic screen in game). We do not understand your actions and the fact that you did not respond to these messages before settling near our borders. We did contact you about wanting to settle there, as soon as we saw your settlers approach. We were under the impression from earlier communications that you were not going to expand more in easterly direction, so we were surprised to see the settlers marching in.

We all feel this is a huge misunderstanding, and feel hurt by your accusations. Alas, what has been done, is done, we cannot change that. We hope that in the future the Byzantines will look upon us kindly, and continue the open communication of our forefathers. After all, we are neighbours, and feel that above all, peace and understanding is what will help our civilizations prosper. We hope you feel the same, and we hope you understand our view on these matters. We already had a shipment of virgins and sugar dates en route to your capital, thinking that you were listening to our plea. Even though you have not, we still invite you to enjoy these Egyptian delicacies, and hope that that enjoyment will make you better understand recent events.

May Ra shine his light upon you,

Hor-Aha, God of Egypt.

[Russia (DoC)]

Catherines ascension


Following the vision of Hastog, Catherine made her way north to the Persian border. There she met with the religious leaders of Hastogsburg and converted to Hairy Hastogianism
She then travelled north to meet with the Guru of Persia to sign a treaty of friendship and cooperation between Russia and Persia.

Having secured Persian support, Catherine returned to Russia at the head of a Perso-Russian army. With the aid of the Persian Empire, the Russian princes were quickly defeated and Russia was unified under the rule of High Priestess Catherine. Having secured her throne, Catherine withdrew to continous meditation and prayer to seek guidance from Hastog of what to do next. Meanwhile her loyal commander, the Russian muslim Farook Mikhailovitch, oversaw a massive investment in Russian libraries and a proper organization of defences.

Emerging from months of prayer and meditation Catherine shone with a brilliance of the divine. She then sent messengers to many foreign nations seeking to find new trade routes across the sea.

All Russia hailed Catherine, Sovereign of the Slavs, High Priestess of Hastog, Warrior Princess of Russia.

[Rome (DoC)]

Aeneas' mind was spinning. Looking out from the palace balcony over the tiber estuary did not bring the peace it usually did. Clandint sent a missive accusing Rome of being dishonest. Of lying... We have been good neighbours, we have no desire to be otherwise.

Should he regret offering open borders? Aeneas sent a messenger some time back requesting mutually opened borders. The English refused. That, of course, is their right. But what on earth was that Clandint clown thinking accusing the Romans of wanting to scout their lands for nefarious purposes. England invited us to come through their lands to Cuzco themselves?!?

Maybe Clandint sees Rome as a threat, wanting to keep the best trade deals with the nations that are reported to lie on the other side of their lands. Egypt, Inca, Mali... all peoples Rome would be interested in meeting ourselves. For now we don't have this option...

A servant entered with a glass of chilled wine and some stuffed olive leaves. Aeneas stopped pacing and settled his rheumy bones on a sofa, pondering Rome and it's glory while staring out over the Gulf of Rome...

[Inca (DoC)]

[Persia (DoC)]

Barbarians invade Northern Pesia While Persian armies are protecting The borders of Britannia A barbarian army Invaded Persia from the North The newly founded city of Ecbatana Had one group of Axemen Defending the city But an army of Barbarian axemen Headed for Pasargadae Only defended by spearmen Pasargadae called for help from Ectbatana. The axemen left the village and headed to the north-east Trying to catch the barbarians in time But the barbarians slipped past the Ectbatana army And headed to Pasargadae. The Ectbatana axemen could only try to attack the barbarians, who had the hill position. The Persian axemen were able to kill many barbarians But were defeated. Now it was only the Pasargadae spearmen vs the Barbarian axemen. Fortunately the axemen were hurted enough To grand the victory to the spearmen! Pasargadae was saved!
		But now a new army of barbarian axemen appeared! Heading towards Ectbatana now! Undefended! Quickly axemen from Persepolis headed to the north But they would arrive too late. Nothing stood between the barbarians and Ectbatana. But then a group of scouts stood up! They were willing to sacrifice themselves! They ran to the barbarians and approached them from the other side Hoping to tempt them to change directions. The scouts would surely be killed! But will their sacrifice save Ecbatana? All Persian people prayed to Hastog. To send an army of daemons To destroy the barbarions.

[Arabia (DoC)]

Mecca Weekly - Rumble In the Jungle!

Clark Spent our intrepid reporter tracked down Saladin in his temple to quell rumours of a slaughtering of our troops at the hands of Barbarbians in our south lands.

Spent:
What can you tell us about these rumours?

Saladin:
(tears in eyes) My citizens I fear I must report a terrible tragedy. I have just been advised that in the attack on a barbarian nation of Estruscan we lost our fearless girl archers and their escort of axeman.

Spent:
How can this be? (astonished) Our military is the finest in the lands, how can we suffer a fate like this in the hands of dung slingers that do not know their own toilet.

Saladin:
They were surprised apparently ... they appeared from behind a screen in the village and and lept from pits and surrounded our troops. Fear not however as I have dispatched two additional masses of axeman. We will have revenge.

[England (DoC)]

We have been good neighbours, we have no desire to be otherwise.

Good neighbors, then why did you never answer all the diplomatic letters I send you years ago?

Answer me this fair ruler

England invited us to come through their lands to Cuzco themselves?!

This were the Byzantines, do not twist the real facts sir!

[Rome (DoC)]

This were the Byzantines, do not twist the real facts sir!

You are right. I apologize for mixing this up.

[Toni]

Nice screen post Arabia,