Domination of Barbarians [Diplo Game] [Story Thread 3 - June 2012]

[England (DoB)]

Elizabeth on the Rise of the Barbarians
Tales of the emergence of the long prophesied barbarian hordes have spread to English lands. Though our vigilant warriors have deterred any barbarians from attacking England, we cannot help but wonder at the apparent similarity between the stories of the barbarians' mindless blood-lust, and the effect of French spells in obliterating the minds of English citizens. We fear the French "great valley seekers" may have discovered some terrible power in their distant questing which has given France this power to create these terrible spells. France may even have brought this plague upon the world by invoking such abominable curse. Our seers will continue to investigate this issue and we look forward to the day when England is in a position to send military aid to those besieged by barbarian hordes.

In the meantime, we encourage other tribes to attempt to enslave these barbarians. It may prove equally effective at redirecting their murderous tendencies to productive labor as has our efforts to counter the spells of the French.

[France (DoB)]

With the genocidal Nethermen invading France after slaughtering all of their Dutch relatives, the Dutch Defenders abandon their posts so that they can move into position to fight against the greatest evil the young world has seen thus far!

[Netherlands (DoB)]

In the months after the battle for River Village is over the victors are not seeing eyes to eye on many things. Ocean faction wants to start chopping down the forest to build a fleet of the new Galley they invented. Fire Mystics want to invade France and free the Roman slaves before they can build a road all the way to the border. Nether faction wants to create even more a stonger warriors with even better weapons so that the Dutch never again try to take over River Village. Nether faction has made all the captured Dutch their slaves. The Nether point of view is well said in a new drinking song. They sing:

"Fee Fi Foe Facts
I smells blood when Du-Cha attacks
Kill them dead right in they tracks
Or use they bones to build Barracks"

Finally all this arguing reach the boiling spot. Nether faction is in charge of learning new skills and they leaders say they will research new weapons and not try to learn anything else until this is done. Fire Mystics say they are going to France to free the Roman slaves with no fear of the foretold French superweapons. Ocean faction leaders get angry at this meeting and say they are leaving River Village. The few remaining free Dutch and Earth faction are too few to have their voices heard. Each faction goes to rebuild his own part of River Village and do what he wants.

Fire Mystics for they part cross the river into French territory within sight of the Roman slaves workers. The leader shouts demands to the Stonhenge Mystic warriors and Paris Boys warriors on the hilltop.

The Fire Mystic of Nation of Fire have come to France to make the following demands

1. France must return at once the Roman workers to Rome. Our forces will escort them safe home, then leave France.

2. France must promise not to build anymore World Wonders in Paris for 500 years (50 Turns).

When hearing this, the Roman slaves shout and wave "Please help us Nether! We are here against our will! Save us!" One of the French Warriors begin slapping down and clubbing the Roman slaves, trying to get them to be silent. "Gew eeweey! Mind yur-run beezness!" yells French Garcon boys warrior to the Fire Mystic warriors.

Fire Mystics are now camped on riverbank in France, deciding what to to next.

[France (DoB)]

The outlandish accents of the Nether spies trying to pose as Torino workers and French warriors gives them away immediately. The attempt to foment a rebellion fails miserably as several of the Torino workers use their tools to beat the Nether spies to death. The Nether may never understand that the French do not enslave, mistreat or kill their workers as is the Nether custom. The Torino workers take their tools and move to defend Paris as the last ditch defenders against the evil Nether.

The French have seen the atrocities that the Nether are capable of and realize that surrender is not an option so this will be an eternal war.

[France (DoB)]

A small group of Torino children approach the Roman border where the Liberators of Rome are stationed. The group is led by the oldest girl, Manon, who is surprisingly articulate and bold as she walks up to the nearest Liberator and blurts out.

"We have a message for your ruler Marcus. We were always taught that our Roman heritage was something to be proud of and that Marcus was a great leader. Our tales tell us that when our ancestors were making the choice of whether to stay in France or return to Rome that Marcus said:

Rome understands if these refugees does not want to return, but we pledge that if they do not feel comfortable in the lands of Rome they may return to France at any time if they so wish.

Our ancestors took Marcus at his word and decided to remain in France. Our ancestors' extended families lived in Torino, which had joined France. Rome was recovering from self-induced famine while France was prosperous. What sane person would not have chosen to live in France with those choices?

Now here it is hundreds of years later, when no living Torino person has even visited Rome, and countless generations of Torinos have been born in France, that blood crazed slavers have attacked our chosen homeland saying that they are going to "free" us and take us back to Rome.

Did not Marcus say,

after the horrors the Romans underwent at the hands of Baron Von we will never again bow to despots or slavers!

So why now are the people of Torino being told to bow down to slavers? What kind of cruel tyrant would rather his blood kin be enslaved, torn from their homes, families and loved ones so that they could be forced to work for him over a choice their ancestors made centuries ago, a choice that Marcus said he understood? Why does Marcus not publicly speak out against these Nether slavers who are causing such suffering to his kinfolk? The French rulers publicly speak out when their kinfolk are being oppressed by other rulers. Does Marcus not place as much value on his kin as the French do?"

[Japan (DoB)]

Forest green with shining leaves,
breath of prey moving not.
Eye follow arrow follow eyes,
heart beats fast beats not.

Soft step bending soft grass,
body follow tree follow bush.
Take arrow take proud deer,
bring home food for my hearts need.

-Rhyme of Jõmon the Hunter, as told to Tokugawa, leader of Japan, Defender of Kyoto. Year of the Busy Bee.

[Portugal (DoB)]

[Rome (DoB)]

Marcus raises a stone cup of wine, while holding his wooden club in the other hand, and proclaims this to the world:

The French Elder council obviously have no limits to how low they will sink into their web of lies and dishonour. Now they are using children to deliver their messages, obviously not men enough to do it themselves.

The French has in the past been known for their lies, as they have countless of times shown the world. I admire the skill with words their men possess, and I have had to consider my words carefully as they are known to twist the meaning of words into their own view of the world.

Hundreds of years ago, France invaded both the Netherlands and Rome. Back then, the French bullied their neighbours, and they even had the nerve to tell me to "stop my incessant whining" when I told the world how they mistreated their neighbours. Now, the table have turned, and the French are being retaliated upon by the descendants of those they abused in the past.

The French has instructed the children to tell my warriors that I am a cruel tyrant for letting my blood kin be enslaved, when the truth is that I did all that I could to have my blood kin returned to Rome peacefully. Their lies will simply not end.

Elders of France. I have told my warriors to prepare for war, as I will no longer sit back and listen to your lies about me or my people. I believe Rome owes you repayment for what you did to us after you "freed" our workers. You have begged this upon yourselves, so stop twisting words and your whining! Accept repayment for your horrible atrocities in the past, as it is obvious that the only way to win your respect is to employ your very own "Wine and Club Diplomacy" against you.

[France (DoB)]

News of 4000 Roman invaders crossing into Torino sending the families there fleeing into the surrounding lands has reached the Torino Road Crew, who are the sole defenders of Paris. With the axe wielding Nether Fire Mystics just across the river from Paris, the Torino workers tighten their grip on their tools and prepare to fight to the death. Outraged at the tyrant Marcus's attack on their kinfolk, every Torino worker publicly swears loyalty to France and renounces any former ties to Rome .

...

The Elder Mystic stood on Marble Hill overlooking the battlefield. The 6000 axe wielding Nether Fire Mystics had moved west to flank the French defensive line of 6000 warriors from the Garcon de Paris, Dutch Defenders and the Stonehenge Sentries. The Nether Fire Mystics had paused their advance on Paris when they were met with the 48000 men, women and children of Paris plus the Torino workers armed with nothing but rocks determined to face off against the slavers.

The Elder Mystic smiled. The people of France were showing the Nethers that they were not meek Dutch slaves who could easily be intimidated and slaughtered. They were the free people of France and they would fight for their freedom. A small tear formed in the corner of his eye as his heart filled with pride at the courage of his kinfolk even though they faced overwhelming odds.

The 2000 warriors called Trotseer's Braves were reportedly attempting to flank towards the east but the Stonehenge Sentries were fortified up to the impassable Alps so they were not going to get anywhere without a fight.

The mystics had watched the shadows and were predicting that one or two of the French warrior units would be destroyed in the next hundred years but that in the end France would survive long enough for the Priests of Stonehenge to complete the hundred year ritual to invoke the Great Spirits' Defenders Measured War pact. It was a sacrifice that every French warrior on the line was willing to make.

[Arabia (DoB)]

At a meeting of the Tribal Leaders one leader stands and addresses the group with news from a messenger. "Arabia has recieved the news that at last the forces of good are aligning themselves against the forces of evil! At last the most Evil Tribe in the world is having some of the strife they sent out into the world come back upon them! Blessed be Islam, the one true faith!"

Then he sat down. No one clapped or said said anything to acknowledge his remarks. He looked around, a little confused, and noticed that all of the Tribal Leaders were staring intently with looks of expectant disapproval, as if they expected to hear more, or were somehow dissatisfied with his words. A look embarrasment washed over his face, and he stumbled back to his feet...

"Oh, and also, I think that France MUST be destroyed!" he called out firmly, shaking his fist in the air.

"Faranca wajaba sara damaar!" the Leaders repeated in unison. Then they all smiled and clapped their approval of his words each one approvingly slapping him on the back as he sat back down.

[China (DoB)]

Heralds announce the founding of Shanghai on the Chinese Sea. But celebrations are muted with the news of the slaugher of a band of warriors that have succumbed to bears that have attacked the newly found village. A squad of archers have been sent forth to assist but fear they will find only the mutilated corpses of the remaining warriors protecting Shanghai. This is an evil land with constant attacks by wildlife and barbarians. Qin wonders what spells the French visitors caste on the land to make it so hard to farm and settle. He calls for the building of fortifications to protect the kingdom - a project that will span centuries. Chinese wisemen draw up plans.

[Rome (DoB)]

A proclamation from Marcus of Rome has again been sent out to the tribes of the world:

Roman warriors have crossed over the southern borders of France and the road in Torino has been destroyed, just as I told the French years ago that I wanted done. We do not wish to trade or deal with these people now, except by the force that we must use to get our people back. At the same time, our Fire Mystic brothers of the Netherlands has crossed over the northern borders of France. We salute you, our brothers in the north, and we welcome your friendship and cooperation!

After searching the Torino area, we discovered proof that the children the French presented to our warriors were not pure descendants of our workers. An old woman who had managed to escape the French lived in the woods there, and when she came home to Rome she told me that the children were in fact children of raped Roman women! Women that the French brutes who captured our workers and their families abused to show the Roman workers the power of their new masters. Women who left Rome together with their beloved men to make sure they at least had someone to care for them when Baron Von sent them out into the fields to work the lands around Rome. Women who even now suffer at the hands of the French brutes, while the French tells the world lies about how well they are treated, and how much they enjoy staying in France. I do not even want to contemplate what the French did to force these children to come to my warriors on the border, considering how the Wine and Club diplomacy the French use is enforced against their neighbours.

All of Rome is crying out in outrage after hearing the old woman's tale, and there have been several uprisings in Rome. The people are demanding that I get our people back. I even had to personally promise to the descendants of the people who were captured by the French that I would do everything within my power to get them back.

Elders of France! I am only willing to end this conflict if I can uphold that promise. If you continue to keep Romans hostage and tell the world lies about how much they enjoy being ordered around by you, know that there will be no lasting peace between our people until the day I have upheld my promise. I will order all my people to infiltrate your lands to look for weaknesses. I will instruct the mystics of Rome to constantly battle your Stonehenge mystics to counter your defensive magic. And, I will train troops that will invade and harass your lands whenever your magic defenses are down! This promise I have made to my people, and now also to you.

[France (DoB)]

The mood in Paris was jubilant. The Netherlander Fire Mystics had fled like cowards under a hail of rocks from the men, women and children of Paris to the eastern vineyards. There was much debate on the street whether the Nethermen even had a strategy or whether they were merely floundering around lost. Some surmised that the Nethermen did not want to engage the heavily fortified French positions so they had decided to siege the eastern lands of France however those lands had not been used in centuries so this was not seen as a highly likely possibility.

The popular theory was that the Fire Mystics planned to attack across the river against the Stonehenge Sentries fortified in the forested Stone hills. Under those conditions there was even a small chance that the Stonehenge Sentries might win the battle and become legends. More likely though the Fire Mystics overwhelming force would win that battle however in doing so they would be leaving their precious copper hill open to being destroyed by the combined forces of the Dutch Defenders and the Garcons de Paris. With the Dutch slaves off travelling the world in the Nether galley fleet, it would significantly slow down whatever nefarious plot the Ocean faction had going if those workers had to return to rebuild the copper mine and road.

Despite all their guesswork, the people of Paris were supremely confident that the Elder Mystic Council would choose whatever the best military option was since the French leaders had shown themselves to be the most experienced in the world having slain 6 lion prides, 3 bear, 2 panther prides, 15 wolf packs and 5 barbarian warriors all without losing a single battalion of French warriors.

There were even some cynics who claimed that the French leaders had been too good since, with no battalions destroyed, the French were being forced to slow their research to provide support for all the battalions. Those cynics argued that if France lost at least one battalion that it would be better off.

...

The ludricous propaganda being spread by Marcus was occassionally a topic of ridicule around Paris campfires. The idea that the women who left Rome centuries ago could "even now suffer at the hands of the French brutes", just went to show how little the immortal Marcus understood about the mortals crushed under his tyranny. Marcus' blatant lies didn't even survive a cursory scrutiny since he obviously did not understand that mere mortals do not live for hundreds of years!

The Torino workers were happy to hear though that "there have been several uprisings in Rome" since it meant the people of Rome obviously knew that Marcus was not a fit leader. The fact that Marcus had tried to spin the uprisings against his rule into a call for war against France merely showed how desperate he had become that he needed to fabricate an external enemy to try to distract the Roman people from their suffering under his rule.

As for Marcus' threats of continual war, in his feeble attempt to duplicate French Wine and Club diplomacy, the term Marcus has come to mean "a small limp club" in France.

[Netherlands (DoB)]

Barbarians in Europe!

The large Germ-Manes settlement of Berlin is under constant attack from bloodthirsty Barbarian. There is already deaths of thousands on both side but our brave friends the Germ Manes have held off the brutes. We can only wonder if our good friends to the North are having similar attack in Norse lands?

We are with you in spirit, please tell the Nether if there is a ways we can help you and we will try our best. Silly Fire Mystics took all our soldiers away, but maybe we can convince them.

Nether Faction.

[Netherlands (DoB)]

After checking the safety of the Roman slaves in Paris, Fire Mystics head back to the battle. Some of the childs in prisoned in Paris whimper "tell my grandmother I am still alive." With renew spirit, Fire Mystic send a messenger to report to Rome where their people are held prisoner by powerful magics that no Axe can break.

Fire Mystics love French stew, even down to this day, and so after gathering some few baskets and sending them back to river village, it is time to get to work. First Fire Mystics wait for cover of night. Then, while they think lazy French are asleep, they cross the river. But the splash of their boots is heard and French raise the alarm.

The Stonehenge Mystics are protecting the precious stone they use for their monument, but they are also capable Warriors with the high ground and plenty of trees cover. Unafraid, Fire Mystics race up the hill in a hails of rocks, sticks and heavy boulders French roll down to crush them as they charge up the hill. Many are killed but once they reach teh top they are in for the fight of their lives. Besides being capable and brave Warriors with they know terrain, the Stonehenge Mystics also have powerful killing magic that they also use against Fire Mystics. But in the end Fire Mystics triumph and Stonhenge Mystics are defeated to the last man. Trotseer's Braves are right behind, moving up toi care for the wounded.

It is a costly victory, and probably the most bloody battle to be fought in open since begin of time. Not since battle of river Village have there been such a battle, and Fire Mystics make song to imitate the Nether faction song.

"Fee Fie Foe Facts
Frenchman's run when the Fire attacks
Once I see they fronts or backs
I'll Grind their bones to sharp my Axe"