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

[mzprox]

Oh, King of Kings, Ruler of the Great Arabia!

Hear the cries of the Indian people!

Release our people from slavery, let our city, Bombay rejoin where she belongs. We are humble, peacefull people, we won't raise arms, we just ask you to show mercy on us and let's build on friendship for a bright future.

Mazerix, regent of India

[Ottoman Empire (DoE)]

Suleiman the Pious, Guardian of the Jewish Shrine, listened carefully to the news from abroad. Wars and rumours of wars seemed to surround the world. He smiled as he looked down to the trireme fleet mid construction, and the chariots going through their endless maneoverse on the coastal plain below his palace. Whatever came, the Turks would be ready.

But why did the nations fret so much - all would proceed according to the divine plan.

In the west, the undignified rage of nations all claiming the same pieces of virgin land in Africa. How could a nation claim land it has never settled? The land is God's gift to those who settle it - it cannot be claimed from afar by a man.

In the south, the turmoil of Egypt. Proud of their new machines of war, sadly outdated machines which any of the Ottoman spear formations could skewer at will. Maybe one day they would learn that friendship with neighbours is a prize to be valued. Well, though, he thought looking at his parading troops, an army up your sleave does no harm too!

In the east, the Arabs - twisting words over the Caspian Gate and now the unbelieveable horror that they have enslaved a whole people of Bombay. Has ever such action taken place in this world before? War the Turks knew, conquest, pillage, survival, but enslaving foreigners for centuries, sitting in houses you haven't built, living off the sweat of others. No. The people of India needed justice. Weak they were, ripe for true men to take, but this slavery is not the activity of true men. But Suleiman knew the Arabs were themselves worshippers of one God. The cry for justice and the end of slavery woudl surely not fall on deaf ears.

[England (DoE)]

Once again, the Round Table of Camelot gathered together along the river Thimes to discuss matters of national importance. Letters from afar have arrived. Letters that could determine the future of England. Lord Oswald, ruler of Northumbria, had tried seemingly in vain, to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict between England and the great empires of the continent. Working through backchannels and through persuasion here at the Round Table it seemed as if his work had finally paid off. He strode into the chamber proud of his accomplishment.

Oswald of Northumbria - Correspondance from the Gauls and Neandor! Good news!

Oswald distributed copies of the letters and the others quickly read through the short letters.

Gawain of Wales - Carthage still stands! War has been averted!

Rædwald of East Anglia - Amazing.. it seemed all hope was lost and war was unavoidable. What a fortunate, and unexpected turn of events!

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - But do these letters show a way forward? They seem to leave all our questions unresolved. The Neandor still talk of removing Carthage. It seems these letters just argue in favor of the status quo.

Galahad, Knight of Wales - They talk of removing Carthage, yes, but they could have simply done it by now. The fact they are asking, and the fact they are negotiating is a very important step forward. Diplomacy has a chance to succeed.

Penda of Mercia - But this makes no sense... if they want peace, then why did they reject our peace offering? If they felt the offer was too small, wouldn't they have suggested more? It seems they have outright rejected our claims to North Africa and hope to simply choke Carthage and block us from further settlement instead of negotiating a proper arrangement.

King Alfred - Aggression through inaction?

Penda of Mercia - It would seem so. Joan said, "I regret that we could not come to some arrangement" so instead of proposing new terms, or attempting to find some solution to this impasse, they have simply shut the door on us. It appears that this isn't a step forward, but a step backwards. It appears negotiations have failed.

Edward of Wessex - It seems it is more than simply inaction. They seem to be stalling.

King Alfred - Oh?

Edward of Wessex - Yes father. Surely the Gauls have seen our ships collecting on our southern shore. They know we have reinforcements ready to send to Carthage. If war is declared we shall pass through their waters. However by maintaining the status quo they keep us out and can choke off Carthage, prepare more units for taking the city and claim more territory.

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - Very troubling. What shall we do though? They will not grant us open borders. They will not allow our ships to pass.

Penda of Mercia - If they can steal North Africa from us by doing nothing, then it is war by another name. Our claim to that land is well known. We were the first to settle there, we were the first to make it known that is our land, we, by virtue of our small island and smaller prospects, have the most need for that land. How can the Gauls claim land they've never visited? Land they've never set foot on? We brought our men and women from hundreds of miles away to begin a new life there, and only after their homes were built and their new colony established do the Gauls and Neandor object. This is our land. These letters make clear they intend to steal our land, they are warmongers, and war must be met with war.

Oswald of Northumbria - Surely you must be joking. They have just said no to war! They wish to negotiate, we must allow diplomacy to run its course. We cannot have war, certainly not now when an arrangement seems close.

Kenneth MacAlpin of Scotland - What!? Have ye gone waxy in yer beester? We canna have an arrangement, ye croquet-playin' mint-muncher!

Rædwald of East Anglia - MacAlpin is right, Joan clearly says there is no arrangement. The Neandor speak only of razing Carthage. We have reached an impasse. They have no interest in finding a compromise for the fate of North Africa. They claim it, claim all of it. The only thing left to negotiate is whether we accept their decree or not. If our choice is to give in and voluntarily remove ourselves from Africa or fight for it, which should we choose?

Kay, Knight of Mercia - We must fight! Gaul will burn before we walk away like a dog. If they think we will simply surrender without a fight, I will personally burn their children and rape their women to teach them otherwise.

King Alfred - Now, now, Sir Kay. We must remember it is we who are the civilized ones here. They are entitled to their land, as we are entitled to ours. They claimed and settled Spain, and we are more than happy to let them have it. We settled North Africa and they need to recognize our claim. We wish them no harm, we still seek to live in peace, side by side as brothers. But destroying our cities, banishing our people and stealing our land is no path to peace. We shall not threaten any of their cities and ask the same of them.

Percival, Knight of Northumbria - What shall we do?

King Alfred - We will defend our land in North Africa. Everyone at this table knows that North Africa is our future. Everyone here understands that it is our land and they mean to steal it from us. Theft through inaction is theft nonetheless. They are aggressors here. We shall move our ships south and bolster our claim to North Africa. We shall not harm any Gaul or Neandor in their homeland. We shall not disturb any Gaul fisherman or cities not built on stolen land. We shall simply defend ourselves and our claim to North Africa. But we shall not give in to a bully, and we shall not allow them to steal our land.

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - It is agreed.

[Israel (DoE)]

Goiim Shrine in Istanbul cursed

Cursed be the Goiim Shrine in Istanbul!
Cursed be the people of Edom who bring blasphemy to G'd
Cursed are the Edomites who think they are children of Israel
Cursed is any nation and any city and any goiim who claims to be worthy to worship G'd

Curse of Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach to the Goiim worshippers of G'd


Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach curses the goiims who worship G'd while they aren't of the chosen people.




*ooc: I had the intention to follow an 'judaism should not spread' storyline and role throughout the entire game (in line with real judaism). Now the Holy City has been destroyed this seems to be the natural thing to do since spreading Judaism doesn't benefit me anyway. But this storyline was already created when the Holy City of Jerusalem was still in place and thus not caused by it's destruction. Just FYI.

[England (DoE)]

Grunzen & Joan,

We do wish for a diplomatic solution to our current conflict. We negotiated in good faith and made an offer we thought was fair. If you have a better offer in mind, by all means make one. We are happy to negotiate as neighbors and as equals. It seems however to many in my court that you are not negotiating in good faith. It seems that you are using negotiations simply as a ploy to delay our reinforcements and simply as a smoke screen for your own attempts to grab more land. If this is not the case, then I am very eager to be proved wrong and am happy to continue negotiating. We English are honorable people and wish nothing more than a peaceful, mutually acceptable out come to this dispute.

But we must insist that North Africa is our land. We settled it first. We have the most need for it. We staked our claim and announced to the world that North Africa was our land. It seems you are attempting to steal our land through force and trickery. Again, I am very hopeful that we are wrong on this point. We are more than eager to continue negotiating, but it is you who ended negotiations and said no deal was possible. Is is you who stole land in North Africa after we made our legitimate claim to it.

It is you who chose war. It is a sad state of affairs that this is so, but we will not allow you to steal North Africa. I urge you once again to return to the negotiating table and make a reasonable accommodation for recognizing English ownership of North Africa. We are willing to pay for peace. If, however, you continue to persist in your war like ways, there will be no accommodation and no payment.

King Alfred

[France (DoE)]

The Wedding

It was a simple affair, as both Princess Joan and General Richard Delacroix wanted. The ceremony was on the steps of the palace, where the people of the capitol, and those who had traveled from afar, could watch. They could get so close that they even felt as they were part of the ceremony. The Princess of the People wanted it that way. The ceremony itself was a traditional Gallic wedding, with vows and the "joining" of the hands with ribbons. The crowd was hushed, until the newlyweds embraced and kissed, at which point the people went delirious with joy.



Joan and Richard strolled among the people, smiling and laughing as well. Musicians set up on the stairs where the ceremony had taken place, food stalls were opened, and the city-wide party began. The revelry continued long into the night, and few noticed that Joan and Richard had quietly made their exit in the early evening. They had retired to their residence in the palace to celebrate their wedding privately.



The knocking on the bedroom door occurred at a most inopportune time, and both Joan and Richard sat up, frustrated and exasperated. They had left instructions only to be interrupted if an urgent situation arose, so Joan, pulling the covers over the two of them, called for the door to be opened. Her personal maid, stepped into the room with her head lowered to give the couple privacy.

"My most humble apologies Ma'am and Sir. But I have an urgent message from General Roberge. The English have declared war on us and an English fleet has been identified off the Normandy coast. Again, my apologies your Highness."

"Thank you Anne. You were quite right to let us know. Good night now."

As the door closed, Joan and Richard turned to each other, and in unison said "Damned Anglais!"

[England (DoE)]

The English assembled the greatest fleet the world had ever seen. The docks in London worked round the clock to complete the new navy. Men died from exhaustion from working so hard, but the fleet was for the good of the nation and sacrifice was necessary. After weeks of sailing down the French coast, the flotilla now found itself west of the Gallic city Cadiz in Spain.

Fearing trouble, King Alfred sent three of his top knights with the ships in case fighting broke out. Sir Galahad the Pure, Sir Kay the Brave and Sir Lancelot the Great.

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - How is our progress?

Galahad, Knight of Wales - We are currently sailing past the Gallic port town of Cadiz.

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - What a terrible sight we must be to behold. I wonder if this sleepy town has ever seen so many ships at one time.

Kay, Knight of Mercia - Sleepy town? What do the defenses look like?

Galahad, Knight of Wales - In Cadiz? It looks like they have a garrison of archers.

Kay, Knight of Mercia - Is that all? We could easily capture this city. Why sail all the way to Africa to fight for some spot in the desert when we can have this lush Spanish town instead?

Galahad, Knight of Wales - We are under strict orders not to disturb any mainland Gauls. Our fight is to protect English land in Africa, not take land that is indisputably Gallic. It is the Gauls who were the aggressive ones who stole our land, we are the civilized ones here, we cannot.

Kay, Knight of Mercia - The Gauls care nothing for land claims, why should we? If our enemy fights dirty, then so must we. But even if we don't intend to keep Cadiz, why can't we simply take the town and hold it ransom until they finally relinquish their illegal claims on English North Africa?

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - Hmm... tactically Sir Kay is right. This city is weak and would be easy to capture and could be the essential bargaining chip to finally negotiate a peace. Morally though...

Galahad, Knight of Wales - Morally it is completely wrong! We don't have any claims to Spain. The Spanish Gauls have never harmed us, why attack their city and put their peasants at risk? Furthermore, our orders are clear.

Kay, Knight of Mercia - The troops we shall face in Africa, from where do they originate? No doubt many from Spain. Perhaps those who illegally threaten our land hail from this very town. Perhaps their fisherman feed and sustain the immoral occupation of our land. These peasants are complicit in the theft of our land, they are not innocents. Morally, and practically, anything that will bring the swiftest end to this war is ideal and will save the most lives.

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - Sir Galahad is right. Whatever the morals or the tactics are, we are still under strict orders not to engage outside of English North Africa. Furthermore, if we begin threatening Gaul and Spain, then we may soon face a Gallic invasion in England itself. No, we must obey our orders.

Galahad, Knight of Wales - Agreed. The world will see who is the restrained nation. Who stayed their hand when an opportunity presented itself. The world will see who here is honorable and who steals land they have no claim to.

Lancelot, Knight of Scotland - Come, let us get some sleep, the voyage is long.

[France (DoE)]

Iberia

Delacroix had been riding hard to catch up with General Roberge. He was still angry about his wedding night being interrupted by the angles, and was in no mood for small talk when he did arrive at the camp.

"So General Roberge, did they fall for it?"

"No sir, they did not."

"Damn. That will make things a bit more difficult."

"Yes sir, but the troops are up for it."

"Good. We march first thing in the morning then."

[Inca (DoE)]

FIRST CONTACT



...in that year, Inca explorers made first contact with another ancient civilization. Oddly, it was before they ever made contact with the Aztecs or any other Western civilizations. More oddly, it was with the Chinese. The reasons for this are simple, if not idiotic. The first ship commissioned by the Inca sailed north to discover the rest of the continent. During this voyage, however, the ship ran into extremely foul weather due to an overly active hurricane season in the tropics. Feeling it a sign from the Essence that they had reached the Leftmost Limit, the ship sailed back south to the antarctic. Another series of storms pushed the ship out to sea, the quite reasonable captain died, and his half-insane first officer took over. He declared that again the Essence had decided their course should be towards the setting sun, and so the ship sailed on through frozen seas for the better part of a millennium, much of that time actually spent in a single, empty patch of ocean as the crew was lost in a rather prolonged meditative trance, likely due to the local fish species that had a psychedelic toxin in its blood to ward off predators. Stories of the fish litter their writings (made from fish scale paper, a technique no one has been able to replicate since), although little else besides the words "fish" and "immortally mind-****ing" seem to make any sense to linguists. Some linguists have tried to understand these writings by eating the fishmeat themselves, but all have then succumbed to debilitating cases of trancinitis. Figuring out these ancient texts is now more complicated for this as linguists have shifted their focus towards understanding what exactly it is these fish-consuming linguists are babbling on about. Little headway has been made in either case...



After many generations in this existential gyre, the crew finally was swept far enough westward to get out of this fish's habitat, and thus a fairly deranged crew soldiered on through the antarctic ocean until they came upon the still-uninhabited islands around Australia. Heading haphazardly in any old direction, they finally stumbled into Chinese territory. The first words uttered by any Incan to any other people of note were these:

"pazsuny cozma quizyquisuzna,

maz lhaz zmuhusuyhaz tahay napaz incan sulcotina. mapay lhaz chayc?"

They waited some time for an official response. Understandable given that their words were mostly gibberish even in their own language, whatever that was, as they had long since left their native tongue.

[Israel (DoE)]

Hail Joshua.

I am Princess Joan of the Gaul Tribes. I bow before you. We have not had the opportunity to talk, and with our settlements in western Africa and the issues we have with the Angles, I would like to discuss the future with you. We understand that history has not been kind to the Jewish people and we would like to strengthen our relationships to our mutual benefit. We are going to be neighbors well into the future.

To start with, I assure you that Tangiers is the most eastern settlement that Gaul will place in Africa. The placement of Carthage by the Angles was unfortunate, as it is now culturally pressured by both the Gauls and the Neandor.

Carthage should rightly belong to you, although its location may need to change. Both the Neandor and the Gaul are also of the view that remainder of North Africa should be Jewish and we will support you in that claim. Having two friendly and supportive empires to your north will allow the Jewish Empire to strongly defend its other borders.

Gaul will also commit to sharing its resources, and I have already sent a food resource to you as a sign of goodwill.

Furthermore, although we are a cultured society, I feel that the Gallic people yearn for more. They want to believe in 'something' larger and more meaningful. We have heard of various 'religious' beliefs in the world, but none so strong as that of the Jewish people. In short, we would like to commit to becoming 'one' with the Jewish faith, and to support you in your claim as the one bastion of Judaism, and not the usurper further south. With both are nations being industrious, we can plan on building an "Apostolic Palace" as I have heard it called, where the true faith can be translated into more substantive action.

I appreciate that I have put a "lot on the table" for a first meeting, but I wanted to share a vision of the future Mediterranean - one of friendship and sharing and a common purpose, and above all, a common faith.

I look forward to hearing from you. Shalom.

Princess Joan of Gaul

Joan the Goiim,

I am shocked to read that you want to embrace Judaism.
What makes you think that your people are chosen by G'd?
G'd JHWH is only to be worshipped by the children of Israel. Not by gaulic goiims from the north.
Don't be too hasty to mention his Name because his Name shall not be used in vain. I have seen you doing this before and now you do it again. The wrath of The G'd of Hosts may be upon you if you continue to blaspheme his Name.

Joshua

[China (DoE)]

The Chinese Empire releases the following news and updates:

As Tang, Great Leader of all of China, had ordered after his 7 days of meditation, his 7th eldest son, Xi, had been brought to the capital to be taught the ways of leadership, devout Buddhism, and fighting techniques. Tang had assigned his own personal spiritual mentor, Guatama, to this task, as he was highly regarded by the Chinese leader. Guatama had spent all of his life studying Buddhism and was battle hardened from fighting many barbarian hordes that seem to plague the Chinese landscape.

Young Xi had learnt much from his mentor. In fact, he felt so confident in his education that he asked to be granted audience with his father, great leader Tang, to make a proposition for the greater good of China.

Nervous, as it was not often that he was allowed to speak with his father, he was led into Tang's palace and granted audience. "My father" Xi said, "I have learnt much from Guatama. He has taught me to use Buddhism to lead me in all decisions and for this reason I propose that he be sent on a mission that will benefit all of China, all of China's friends, and all Buddhists. I wish to advance my education in practice, not theory. For this reason I do not need the private mentorship, I need practical experience. I propose that you give Guatama Great Prophet status and allow me to escort him to Japanese lands, home of Buddhism, where he will build the Buddhist Holy Shrine! I will personally oversee construction of the naval vessels required for transport, escort him safely, and finally, present ourselves to the great leaders of our friends the Japanese. It will be the greatest achievement in my young life and prove to you that I am capable of handling national affairs." With that he awaited a reply...

Great leader Tang sat in silence for 7 minutes before answering, "My son. You have made me very proud. Your plan both advances the great religion of Buddhism and helps our friends the Japanese. If you can execute this plan as well as you have conceptualized it, you will have shown great wisdom and potential for greatness. It is with pleasure that I grant Guatama Great Prophet status and I wish you the best of luck on your journey, may Buddha guide you safely."

- The Chinese nation has heard that our neighbors India and Mongolia are unable to secure their people from barbarian onslaught and have dispatched military to assist and protect all citizens. The Indian and Mongol civilians are advised to stay in their shacks and wait until Chinese forces have secured their living areas, at which point they will be notified and may return to their farm lands. China invites both nations to advise which type of military will be best suited for the missions, axemen, spearmen, or chariots and will be happy to both help it's neighbors and train at the same time!

[Germany (DoE)]

nearly the last grunt. and the enforcement of capitalization.

Grunzen lies deep in rest, bed-ridden in grunzen city with his old axe shining bright by the window and overlooking the mediteranean sea. His Venetii partner and bearer of his children has left Venetii for grunzen city to be at his bed side. On the journey south, through the mines of Grunzen, she reflected on the history of the Grunzen line and the achievements of the Neandor. Of course by now no full blood neandor existed, except for the last Grunzen himself. All of Neandor land was now populated by Neander-sapiens -- a species so close to homo-sapiens that future paleantologists would not discover proof in the human genome until the 22nd century AD. Even in the 21st century they were off target with a Wickedpedia entry.

Current (as of 2010) genetic evidence suggests interbreeding took place with Homo sapiens sapiens (anatomically modern humans) between roughly 80,000 to 50,000 years ago in the Middle East, resulting in 1–4% of the genome of people from Eurasia having been contributed by Neanderthals

But she knew in the here and now what was true.

-

Their eldest son, Franzen was of an age in young adulthood that he would soon become the new despot of the Neandor tribes. He was well versed in diplomacy but frustrated by Snarg, the Great General in Northern Neandor who acted as the rightful leader of the Neandor.

Franzen set about preparing for his father's final blessing of his own leadership ahead of Snarg. And he felt very apprehensive about Grunzen's inevitable passing. But he smiled as he wondered what would be made of the word 'grunzen' and its meaning...

Franzen had refined the Neandor language having been strongly under the influence of his Gaulic descended mother. Ancient 'neandor' was fading quickly as all the tribes people from North to South adopted modern speech, although several backwater communities in the forests and mountains would remain more traditional. This clever act alone under-mined Snarg's power. His military was too dominant. The development of neandor culture was influencing the people in a far greater way and this was Franzen's power base.

-

But Grunzen was still alive in 550BC..

[Israel (DoE)]

Joan of the Gaul,

Your blasphemy against the most high G'd and your settling of North Africa, against the will of the African Civilizations and without contacting the African civilization first about it, has urged us to declare war on you.
All your people who have touched African soil will have to be removed from the surface of the earth.

The number of your sins has been fulfilled.

Joshua

[Germany (DoE)]

Joan of the Gaul,

Your blasphemy against the most high G'd and your settling of North Africa, against the will of the African Civilizations and without contacting the African civilization first about it, has urged us to declare war on you.
All your people who have touched African soil will have to be removed from the surface of the earth.

The number of your sins has been fulfilled.

Joshua

Joshua,

It is Franzen here, son of Grunzen.

I am learned in the ways of diplomacy but have much more to learn. With respect can you advise of Angle consultations with the African nations? Are you also at war with the Angles for the same reason?

I ask this because the Angles did settle Carthage in the midst of Neandor and Gaul territory and without any consultation.

Please any advice on this matter.

Franzen.

[Inca (DoE)]

Excerpts from the scholars of Capac Saypaco in the late 6th century BCE:

Our frontier was not secured, and after the Battle of Tingo Pass our local Imperial Defense Forces were devastated. The migrants poured in over the mountains through this narrow canyon that linked our lands with those of the Dark Territories, and then they pushed into Sutchul, destroying what had once been a glorious and productive region of the Empire. The people fled south to Capaco, but there was no home for them there. These refugees were used to build an army to defend the city, and perhaps take back their homelands in due time. Many died in their flight, lost to the hills, deserts, and seas. Many more were slain in the beds and while defending their homes from these barbarous usurpers of land and right. Still now they press further into our Empire, taking and destroying as they please.

Our Emperor, Capac Saypaco the Vicious, has ordered a full mobilization to wipe out this thread and take back our rightful territory, but still more of these migrants are being spotted entering our lands. At last count there were 5 full battalions of these taccuchibeasts already across the Chupat, with a further 2 more headed for the pass. We have but only two comparable battalions, both only in position to defend the capital. Some fear that the metropolis of Talcho, near the Northern Limit, may be lost, so soon after having come into contact with our Aztec neighbors. We fear they may be behind this, as we know of no other power in our world capable of summoning such arms.

But perhaps these Aztecs are weak and under attack themselves. We know nothing of them, save that they are comparably civilized as ourselves. Is it mere coincidence that only a few generations have passed between the onset of this invasion and the meeting of these Others? Are these migrants the advanced scouts and foot soldiers of a much greater power? We cannot know for sure. The migrants do not carry any banners, and they speak in mixed tongues, but perhaps the Aztec Empire is even greater than our own, and these are their armies pulled from throughout and sent under orders to display no banner, so as to keep their Empire blameless.

Our ruler has only now learned of the existence of these Aztecs, from messenger ships sent from Talcho. These ships stated that the Governor of Talcho, Pazlti Sayz the Brave, has sent official emissaries to the new lands, but there is no word yet of the results.

There is some silver lining, that our forces repelled and destroyed the invaders to our south, those trying to invade over the pass of Cuzcotiylal. Now, we hold that pass without question, and the Haunted Plains of Tuerto are secure, or at least as secure as they could be. Also, in the Battle of Tingo Pass, our forces were able to destroy a battalion of the enemy migrants, but they suffered to high in casualties, and were lost to a further assault by the enemy.