Destiny of Empires [Diplo Game] [Story Thread 2 - November 2010]

[Israel (DoE)]

Shalom Franzen ben Grunzen,

The people of French have not only settled in Africa without consulting any of the African civilizations.
They have also blasphemed G'd El Elyon.

The English aren't guilty of that. Au contrary, the English saved Joshua and the refugees from Jerusalem, just after Suleiman the Goiim had razed the city. Without the English ship no one of the Jews from Jerusalem would have been able to return to Thebes.

And yes, King Alfred has contacted us first before he boared on African soil.
We are still negotiating if England can stay in Africa, but the English problem is certainly not our first priority now.
And I am sure that you now understand why.

I also hope that you are aware that we did not destroy the lives of your workers and your spearman when they were on African soil. We had the chance to do so and we have considered it. But we didn't, despite the fact that your people had stepped upon African soil without asking us first, we had mercy with them because they only were there to take care of the sheep. I hope that his act of grace from us will shape our future relations. I am sure that Israel and the descendants from the Neandors will live in eternal peace and that the Neandors nor their children will ever fall in evil forms of antisemitism like the French.

Joshua.

[Israel (DoE)]

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Joan of the Gaul, Joshua being governor of Judaea, and Albert being tetrarch of England, and his brother Suleiman the Goiim tetrarch of the Turks and of the region of Jerusalem, and Franzen, son of Grunzen the tetrarch of the Neandors,
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of G'd came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about the Nile, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And all flesh shall see the salvation of G'd. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That G'd is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.


John the Baptist, baptising many children of Israel in the river Nile

That last message by John, that G'd could create children of Abraham out of stones, angered the scribes and the pharisees, who told Joshua about it.

[Israel (DoE)]

WANTED: Paul of Tarsus
Also known as Saul of Tarsus, Saul, Saulus or Paulus



Paul of Tarsus is a dangerous trouble maker.
He is claiming to tell the 'gospel of Jesus Christ', a jewish rebel who was crusified lately after causing much troubles among the Jews.
After this Jesus man was executed, his followers, named disciples, claimed that he had risen from the grave and told them to make all peoples his disciples.

Many of these so called disciples stayed in Israel and are currently dealt with by our scribes and pharisees. Among them men with names like "Peter Cefas" and "John the Brother of".
But Paul of Tarsus left the country, heading towards Damaskus.
Please kill this man on first sight. He is a dangerous man.

Accused of:
- Trouble maker
- Blasphemy (insists that 'Jesus' is the so of G'd)
- Intolerant against other religions
- Wants to get rid of the Thora
- Says that all people can come to G'd Adonai, not just the children of Israel. Blasphemy!

[Inca (DoE)]

THE TIDES TURN

From the writings of Huactlsaznaya of Capaco, 503 BCE.

With great relief do we now declare the great migrations stemmed. The Dark People have been defeated roundly by our Imperial Army, and now we begin the push into their territories. We have until now been a coastal people, concerned solely with the affairs of the winds and waters of our great Blue Limit. But we have learned there is a price for this close-mindedness about our affairs in the world. Yes, when our forefathers first set out on the coasts, we had little company on our world, but now we find ourselves beset on all sides by the new peoples, come from the Left. We cannot ignore them and their world beyond our protective Chupat anymore. We must now move into those dark places and bring to them our civilization and dimmed light.

We have all heard the talk, the generations of settlers lost on the already filled coastlands, waiting for word of a new territory for themselves. They speak of broken promises and an official trap of pervasive penury and dependence, but those of us of clear mind can see that it is an unfortunate consequence of this invasion. Now, they may be free to go into new lands, but the question remains: where?

The capital today is abuzz with talk of victory and new horizons. Finally! Finally, we are free from fear of destruction, finally we may choose freely our future. But we must be careful to not push our luck by settling into those haunted places of the Right. Fertile indeed, a great present to the Emperor, but we still have the heart of our lands to be concerned with. A push Right would divert too many of our forces, who are still needed to defend Tingo Pass. Strong we are indeed, but not strong enough to defend two empires at once!

Furthermore, we must strike at the heart of this Darkness and press forth into the deep jungles of Tilhachi. The haunted plains, yes, they are wild, but they are no danger to the Empire. These jungles, though, they are deep and great is their area. We must send there, send our workers, send our axes and iron, and tear down the Darkness to make way for our peace.

Also, we must concern ourselves with this new potential threat from the Left, the Azteca. We know not their motives, and our emissaries are rebuffed when they seek audience with their leadership. Until we can count on their peace, we must keep our forces close to home. So, sending them across the land to a far off bay so far from the capital and homeland is a fool's choice.

A call for reason is all that I ask. Let these words speak for themselves!

[Germany (DoE)]

grunzen dies peacefully

Franzen's tribute to his father.



grunzolossus

[France (DoE)]

Remember the Hermione



The sneak attack by the English on the Gallic ship, Hermione would forever be remembered by the Gallic people and the military as a act of infamy. Compounding the loss was the fact that Joan's niece was on the vessel and was taken captive by the Anglais. Lady Marte had been traveling to Tangiers to meet up with her husband, an officer in the Palace Horse Regiment. Joan was worried, but took some comfort in the fact that other than the attack on the Hermione, the English were acting in a noble fashion.

But the Hermione incident created a significant motivator for the Gallic Army. "Remember the Hermione" became a rallying cry when French troops went into battle. As if they needed any more motivation, it was provided by the "Deranged One" as he was commonly known in Gaul. Despite a genuine effort on behalf of Gaul to build a relationship with the Jewish state, Joshua simply threw it back in Joan's face with, along with a rant of a religious nature. Several months later the Jews declared war on Gaul, and used the opportunity to ambush the unsuspecting 5th Royal Regiment encamped in the hills. The troops were sleeping when the Jewish war chariots came out of the desert. They did not have a chance.



"For the blood of the fifth" (Pour le sang de la cinquième) joined the soldier's lexicon.

And they would not have to wait long for revenge.

[France (DoE)]

The First Battle of Agadir Hills

General Delacroix was facing three enemies when he took charge of the troops in North Africa. Jewish chariots roamed the desert at will. The English expeditionary force landed adjacent to Agadir. And then with no explanation whatsoever, the distant empire of the Zulus declared war on Gaul and a regiment of the oddly dressed dark-skinned warriors also moved into the hills around Agadir. Richard Delacroix smiled to himself. This was going to be interesting.

Agadir itself was not in danger. It had a strong garrison that had had sufficient time to fortify themselves. Delacroix organized a corps of troops in Tangiers and headed south west through the mountain passes of the range the locals called "Atlas", being a legendary deity. After a weeks heavy marching, they encountered the Zulu on the hills north of the city.

The Zulu's called themselves Shaka's Fist of Shaka, which meant little to the Gauls. They were lead by a military commander, or inDuna, by the name of T'chona.



The warriors themselves were fierce and animated, armed with spears and shields. As the Gauls approached the field of battle, the Zulus began rhythmic chanting and dancing. The men of the north had never seen such behavior from soldiers before. It was somewhat unnerving.

As the two forces approached each other, the Zulus charged first. The training and discipline of the Gallic troops served them well. They did not flinch as the Zulu warriors closed for impact.



The men of the 8th Royal Regiment, mostly from the Cadiz area, raised their axes to shoulder height. They were in a formation eight men deep. Several were already down from spears thrown by the Zulus. When the Zulus were within 20 yards, the 8th gave one great yell and charged into the Zulus. The collision was brutal, as was the fighting that followed. But axes were a much more effective weapon at this form of warfare, and within the hour the battle was over. Many of the 8th were killed and wounded, but no Zulu was left standing on the field of battle.

[France (DoE)]

The Second Battle of Agadir Hills

General Delacroix rode into the city now that the northern route had been cleared of Zulus. The English had departed. Not by sea, as the galleys had since sailed north, but east, into the desert. Traversing the desert could be difficult, and although he spat in the sand and muttered "Damn Anglais", he could not help feel some sympathy for the English as they disappeared over a distant dune.

A report came in that there was still an enemy south of the city; not the English as had been expected, but a unit of Jewish war chariots. The loss of the 5th was still fresh in everyone's memories, and the Gallic Guard regiment in Agadir welcomed the opportunity for revenge when General Delacroix ordered them to abandon their fortified positions and form an attack formation. This was the 5th Gallic Guard, spear regiments having a different naming convention than the axe regiments. The irony was lost on no one that the 5th was marching out to avenge the 5th.

General Delacroix was impressed with the precision and discipline of the Gallic spearmen as they advanced through the long grass that capped the hill. It also passed through his mind that the commander of the war chariots must be as deranged as the the Jewish leader himself to let his chariots go up against the wall of spears that approached them.



The second Battle of Agadir Hills was a quick affair. The Gallic spearmen downed rank after rank of chariots in very short order. They destroyed every Jewish chariot on the field of battle. They suffered no losses.

"Pour le sang de la cinquième" rang out over the hills.

[Germany (DoE)]

Shalom Franzen ben Grunzen,

The people of French have not only settled in Africa without consulting any of the African civilizations.
They have also blasphemed G'd El Elyon.

The English aren't guilty of that. Au contrary, the English saved Joshua and the refugees from Jerusalem, just after Suleiman the Goiim had razed the city. Without the English ship no one of the Jews from Jerusalem would have been able to return to Thebes.

And yes, King Alfred has contacted us first before he boared on African soil.
We are still negotiating if England can stay in Africa, but the English problem is certainly not our first priority now.
And I am sure that you now understand why.

I also hope that you are aware that we did not destroy the lives of your workers and your spearman when they were on African soil. We had the chance to do so and we have considered it. But we didn't, despite the fact that your people had stepped upon African soil without asking us first, we had mercy with them because they only were there to take care of the sheep. I hope that his act of grace from us will shape our future relations. I am sure that Israel and the descendants from the Neandors will live in eternal peace and that the Neandors nor their children will ever fall in evil forms of antisemitism like the French.

Joshua.

Joshua.

The grunting has ceased with my father's journey to the great unknown. I have been very busy as you can understand and apologize for the delay.

I am Franzen, the heir to the Neandor Despotic Realm.

I must entirely disagree with you most respectfully on the colonization or settling of Africa. The world is a large place I believe and where there are no tribes except for savages, another nation may settle. But I do acknowledge your care in not declaring war on the Neandor. A wise move.

Following my logic I believe the Angles may settle wherever there is free land and if it borders any neighbours I would expect a degree of diplomacy and courtesy which was NOT shown by the Angles in North West Africa.

The Neandor supports its ancient and legendary agreements with the Gauls and if the Gauls were the first to settle in North West Africa and did not impinge on the boundaries of any other nation then those settlements will remain.

Prolonged war between the Angles and the Gauls will only serve to weaken both nations and I urge both to consider other options.

If you have secured peace with the Gauls I applaud this diplomacy.

We may not agree on much else including the Jerusalum war where the Neandor supports the Turks actions there. But if we can live peaceably then so be it. There are many Christians arriving in my home city of Venetii which is something you need to be aware of.

Franzen of the Neandor!

One last GRUNT for Grunzen! AND thankyou to those nations who sent their messages of sorrow.

[Germany (DoE)]

nordica

franzon. this be snarg. and be warned I am not happy about you taking neandor tribes. the north tribes of the forests are loyal to snarg and are true neandor line. no writing is of your form here.

you are a fool not to see what happens in grunzens last years. he was a good friend of thor but he was betrayed. for a long time snarg knows this from many forest gremlins running among the trees and seeing things. but things are now so dangerous it is urgent to tell you now.

the vikings long ago trade their only copper to the cat for cat fur. this was offer by snarg using our copper spare but the cat refuse and stop all negotiating after i settle arctica which they wanted on a deal. it show the cat wanted secret copper.

our city nordica ly between st petersburg and the vikings and i uncover a plot to destroy nordica so that russia and viking have nice border and neandor perish.

you know the cat use this secret copper to build a large army east of nordica and for a purpose. it not defence but snarg is smart and keep vigil in forests. as russia army grows neandor match it with better warriors.

franzen has build stupid monument to grunzen while snarg freeze in forest to save neandor. grunzen would not do that. he would freeze in forest like snarg.

Franzen felt a chill. He knew about the copper deal but saw no problem with it. Grunzen had been a great friend of Thor and this steadied Franzen as he read the diplomatic reply from Thor.

Re: Copper trades
Hail new leader Franzen,

Yes my people are working very hard to hunt more game and fill the fishing nets. It is very cold in the north, but we have been able to build better isolation for our huts.

What you speak Is true Franzen, we have traded copper to the Russians for their Fur. As you might have witnessed from your traveling in the north, we have poor production capabilities. The only way for us to build something quicker is to slave my countymen. Now we have much unhappiness because of it, so it is/was very important for us to acquire happy resources from foreign trades.

I have no/never wanted to bring harm to you or your people. We will immediately cancel this copper/fur trade. (in a couple of turns we will be able to cancel it, it is no letting us now)

Your great father trusted us. Vikings seek only good and peaceful relations with your nation.

Thor

[Inca (DoE)]

Rebuilding. Stone by stone we will remake our lands, remake our homes, and ourselves. We have been weak, we have been soft, we have been slow. We cannot be these things any longer. Now we run, now we climb. The Universe tells us these things in its way, teaches its lesson. We cannot sit on our perch forever and watch the generations pass securely.



Into the Dark, into those green and wet lands towards the sun. Our expeditions, our men, into those lands. Don't spare the lantern, nor the axe. Use both to clear way for Inca, make ready the land for our way. Intrepid warriors, brave explorers, no gratitude is enough for performing your task at hand. For the Empire, you live in this swamp, you fight snake and panther, you tear through vine and thorn. We owe you our future, our pioneers, our Great Quitycoznhanas.



Do not get lost in there, keep your fatherland at heart, we are with you in heart. Do not get lost in the ways of locals, remember your Inca ways. The plants will wind around your bodies and minds, keep cutting away, do not let them take you.



An ode to you, the Brave, the sun that never shines on you still sets on your Inca home.

[Israel (DoE)]

Paul of Tarsus reaches Russia

Paulus the Apostle of the Goiim had traveled through the Ottoman Empire and through Arabia, telling his message of Jesus Christ to everybody without much succes. Now he just entered the territory of Russia, a nation without a religion yet. His first preaches had caused much enthusiasm among the Russians already. Now he was heading towards Moscow to bring the gospel to the people in the Russian Metropole, the center of the world.



In the meanwhile other so called apostles visited parts of Europe. Peter preached in the western part of the Ottoman Empire, Barnabas even got to the Brittish Islands and Lucas just returned home from his trip to the Neandors.

[Israel (DoE)]

High Priest Samuel leads Israel

Joshua died at the age of 69 years and was buried with his fathers.
Samuel, the High Priest who served G'd in the Tabernacle, became the leader of the Jews in Thebes.
Samuel had grown up in the Tabernacle and was educated by Eli. When Samuel was a young boy, his mother, Hannah, had brought him to the Tabernacle as a gift to G'd. Samuel was well educated and everybody held him in great awe.
Him becoming the new leader of the nation was the natural decision. No, it was G'ds will.



Samuel immediately sent a letter to Franzen of the Neandors:

Shalom Franzen ben Grunzen,

May Grunzen sleep in the Shalom of G'd Adonai and be purified by the time of the Messiach.
May the blessing of the Most High be upon him.
I wish you to rule in his spirit.

The war between the Gauls and Yisrael has ended.
Too long has there been war and too much blood has been spoiled by our soldiers.
You speak about these Jews who enter your lands teaching mysterious religions.
They are of Israelian origine. Please handle them with respect and dignity, I ask you.
After all they are of the chosen people of G'd.

If their message is from G'd, then it will last.
If it is not, then G'd Himself will make their message forgotten on the surface of the earth.
I dare not to judge in his place.

Please be good to the Jews in the diaspora.
Especially the Neandors! I have had dreams about terrible events in the far away future.

High Priest Samuel

[America (DoE)]

Paul of Tarsus reaches Russia

Paulus the Apostle of the Goiim had traveled through the Ottoman Empire and through Arabia, telling his message of Jesus Christ to everybody without much succes. Now he just entered the territory of Russia, a nation without a religion yet. His first preaches had caused much enthusiasm among the Russians already. Now he was heading towards Moscow to bring the gospel to the people in the Russian Metropole, the center of the world.



In the meanwhile other so called apostles visited parts of Europe. Peter preached in the western part of the Ottoman Empire, Barnabas even got to the Brittish Islands and Lucas just returned home from his trip to the Neandors.

Paul looks like Jean-luc Picard....

[France (DoE)]

The Straights of Tangiers

The impact appeared to occur slowly to Captain Beaucage, although the events actually happened very quickly, what with the Argonaute moving through the water as fast as she was. The oars of the English galley snapped like twigs and then the prow of the trireme drove deep into the midships of the galley, simultaneously rolling the helpless vessel. The Argonaute came to rest on top of the galley, which was already deep in the water and sinking fast. The crew of the Argonaute saved as many of the English sailors as they could, but dozens went down with the ship.

Beaucage looked east down the straights, and then back west toward the gap to the great Atlantic Ocean. He could see the English triremes in the distant, but the Argonaute would be safely back in Tangiers before they could close for battle. Repairs were needed.

The helm was put over, the rowers quickly got the pace, and the Argonaute headed for home.