New "Ancient Empires" PBEM created

[Chris 62]

Third city founded, and a gagle of slaves taken.

[Civfan]

a new city founded, more slaves added to the Babylonian empire. Troops move north, contact is established with the Assyrians.

Troops hold weapons high in the sky, all wondering of these new people. What should we do. Should we kill them, make friends of them, or ignore them. A minute goes by and a hand of friendship is extented. What happens next is anyones guest.

[germanos]

Meeting Hammurabi, soon

For decades the Assyrians had been looking for the fabled city of Kish. Captive slaves told the roaming Skirmishers stories of the magnificent city and its inhabitants. Eager to see this city for themselves they moved ever south along the banks of the Tigris. Small lakes had to be crossed and their progress was slowed considerably. When they arrived in Arbela, and the citizens were only babbling on Kish and its wealth, the Assyrians new they almost reached their goal.
Carefull not to leave the city of Arbela undefended while booty lay just in the city radius, a band of Skirmishers was formed from the young men in Arbela, and then the powerfull Charioteers set out to subdue the villagers that could be seen from the city. Bruised from their battle, and still drunk from their victory they stumbled home, and it was then that they met the men from Kish.

The Babylonians, as they would later name themselves, had put up camp just outside Arbela. These men, obviously hardened by a battle fought and won, were moving about restlessly when they saw they were now being aproached in their backs by these fast hordes of horses drawing carts. They had the fearfull look in their eyes of men that know they will soon loose all that is dearest to them: not in the least their lives. Since the Babylonians were blocking access to the city, and the Charioteers were eager for a rest in the city and not a fight, the commander Us-Seen rode out slowly towards the nervous warparty, who were drawing their arms.
When he was standing 50 passes from the mob, a lone men stepped out of the crowd.

He declared he had been send here by his King, a Lugal named in his tongue, who went by the name of Hammurabi, and that he wished well for the people of Arbela. He invited the Assyrian people on a journey to the heart of his lands, where we would be able to meet the Lugal himself, and affairs of state could be discussed, and the two nations could exchange knowledge, and experience local customs. This trip would not take long, and Us-Seen would be able to return to Arbela before the sun would set again…

(I'll post in 24 hours)

[germanos]

Peace and Cooperation

And thus Us-Seen returned to Arbela late in the afternoon the next day. His face was grim, though at the same time joy and happiness shone in his eyes. He rode straight to the central square, retreated with the leader of the Skirmishers, spoke with him for several hours while a large mob of citizens, nobles, soldiers and even the occasional chariteer of his own, gathered to hear words of his travel to Kish and the lands beyond.
When he finally entered the square again, Us-Seen merely stated that the Babylonians posted no threat to Arbela nor the Assyrians in general, and quickly he left the city, and was seen leaving with a few of his men within the hour. It was obvious to all that he was carrying news of great importance for the Assyrian Empire.

It took many days to travel to Nineveh, the brilliant Capitol of Assyria, and Us-Seen was tired as a dog when he arrived. Knowing the urgency of his mission, he drove straight to Sargon the Wise, ruler of all Assyrians, and told the chief all that there was need to tell. Then, he was finally dismissed, and was allowed to rest in the private chambers of Sargon himself.
The following hours, yes, even days, great activity surrounded the Palace of Sargon. Militairy leaders, Wise old men and ambitious young fellas all entered and left the great halls. Messengers were dispatched to all corners of the Empire, and Assyrians from the fringes of the Empire returned. Then, a week after the activity had died down, a large party left the Palace, and headed south on the Tigris.

That day, it was announced by servents of the Palace that a peace-treaty had been signed with the fabled Babylonians. These people, skilled in battle, and witty in science will be Friends of the Assyrians. A proposal for cooperation on all fronts was send to the Babylonian Lugal, and gifts were to be exchanged with the Babylonians. Where the Babylonians had given Us-Seen an armour of Leather and introduced him to the craftsmen that made it, Us-Seen had left his Copper rings, and the artisans of Assyria where send to Kish to show their craft to their fellow men.
Great celebrations were to be held within two weeks, to celebrate both this magnificent feat in Diplomacy, as well as the ascendence of the Throne of Assyrian by Sargons son, who will reign under the name of Sargon III.

With all this buzzling news, people soon forgot that around the same time that peace was signed with Babylon, two more towns were added to the Assyrian Empire, and more slaves entered the markets in Nineveh then ever before. Many were send south towards the new Babylonian lands, while others went West, where the lands were still unknown and unsecure. In Nineveh, going West had a bad connotation, many had died there to bring these slaves here, and many mothers received notice, together with the arrival of these slaves in the city, that their sons had fallen to subdue them.

[Kull]

I'm on business travel, so it'll take another 24 hours or so to play & post

[Kull]

Saqqara: Clouded Brows

"Oh, this is unpleasant, MOST unpleasant!" Cursing profusely, the rotund balding man took another drink from his leather watersack and then petulantly hurled it to the ground. The unfortunate ex-archer assigned to carry Teti's gear rolled his eyes and stooped to retrieve the latest symbol of his leader's unhappiness. "Horus preserve us, if this is his mood on the day we leave town....." the thought trailed off as the soldier considered the possibilities - none of them good. Ahead, Teti waddled slowly forward, wiping sweat from his brow and casting a disapproving glance at another of his aides, an inattentive ex-spearman-and-now-parasol-carrier. Hardly standard military equipment, the sun-shade was just one more civilian element that encumbered the straggling band of skirmishers. As they continued their slow procession into the Western Desert, more than a few cast longing backward glances at the city vanishing in the shimmering heat behind them.

Following the defeat of the Libyans, the past several seasons had seen nothing but boom times for Saqqara. Although impoverished for generations, Teti's family had always been land-rich, and this had proven most fortuitous. In addition to several tracts of rocky, almost useless desert next to the village, they also owned the best land around the distant oasis to the west. As the construction boom ensued, the "useless desert" had become prime city real estate while the distant oasis soon became accessible by road. Together the rent and sale of these properties translated quickly into profits - vast profits. They were now the richest family in town, and as such quickly grabbed the most powerful and lucrative municipal and religious posts. It was painful now to recall, but at the height of his glory - basking in the warm attention of several beautiful wives and a small crowd of servants and sycophants - Teti suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a lecture from one of the Nomarch's Commanders.

Returning from Memphis and a place of honor in the glorious Dahshur Victory Parade, Unas was passing through Saqqara on his way to rejoin the 1st Skirmishers still recuperating in the newly conquered city to the south. But his visit to Teti was no courtesy call. The Memphis Nome had only two regiments of Skirmishers and more were urgently needed. Thus from the Nomarch's perspective, the primary duty of his governor in Saqqara was to train and deploy a new troop of soldiers as soon as possible. But Teti's reports on their progress had not been encouraging. A constant stream of messengers arrived in Memphis to announce one delay after another - they needed more wood for spears, or obsidian for blades, or food to feed the men. There was always one more reason why the men couldn't be ready, and the Nomarch had grown tired of these evasions. Before Unas departed the capital - arm still sore from the arrow wound but with belly and loins fully sated - there was a brief meeting with the Nomarch that involved quite a few heated words and angry fingers pointed in the direction of Saqqara.

Entering Teti's residence, Unas was amazed - and appalled - by the opulent displays of wealth that lay all around him. The air was permeated by the sweet smell of sandalwood while the halls were long and beautifully painted with adjoining rooms that were either luxurious bed chambers or storerooms packed with great storage jars full of grain and other fruits of the fields. Teti's men - even the servants - were sleek and fat as gorged rats while his wives (or whores, it was impossible to tell one from the other) cast proud, brazen looks at the Nomarch's emissary as he in turn appraised the audience chamber and all within it. For the first time, Unas relished the role he'd been given. "Let's get right to it, Teti. The Nomarch wants to know what happened to his army! As I walked through Saqqara today, there was bustle aplenty and here in this "palace" of yours I see more food, beer, gold, and women than even the Nomarch has in Memphis. But where are the troops?" Teti sputtered in shocked outrage, but his lies were cut short as Unas pulled forth a lion tail and waved it about for all to see. "Yes. You know what this means, don't you Teti? The Nomarch has granted me this talisman that I might act here in his stead. And that means you and I have only one task before us now - training those soldiers!

And so it was. Under the watchful eye of Unas the trainees practiced archery, sparred with spears, and marched and drilled until the aching weakness born of months of sloth had passed from their muscles. All the while Teti scurried about the city procuring every item Unas requested - sandals, cloaks, flint, obsidian, arrow feathers, waterskins - all the equipment needed to sustain a force in the field. Whenever funds ran short, Unas would only say "and yet the demand remains" - forcing Teti to dip into his own accounts (which - truth be told - were bulging with more than a little gold grafted from the Nomarch's troop subsidies). The self-satisfied expression that previously was almost tattooed on Teti's face had long since given way to one that flitted constantly between anger and deep unhappiness. This dark visage was still on display when at last Unas and Teti stood before the newly commissioned 3rd Skirmishers. But even as Unas spoke glowingly to the men of their successful training, welcoming them into the comradeship of armed service, it was apparent to all that the storm on Teti's brow had broken at last. Not that he shared Unas' pleasure in the successful accomplishment of their mission. No, for Teti it was the realization that soon this taskmaster would depart, taking the army with him and good riddance to them all!

So when Unas stopped speaking and clapped Teti on the shoulder, he was rewarded with a rare heartfelt gleaming grin - a rictus that began to fade as Teti realized the speech wasn't quite over. "Soldiers of the 3rd Skirmishers, you now stand ready - poised to begin your first mission. To the West of Saqqara lies a great, unexplored desert. Does it contain new subjects for the Nomarch? Riches for his coffers? Or naught but bandits, scorpions, and snakes? To you will come the answers! And leading you on this quest is a man known to all, appointed by the Nomarch himself, the former governor of Saqqara - Teti!" As a mixture of shock and disappointment filled the faces of Teti and his new command, the opposing end of the emotional spectrum was clearly visible in Unas' sly, spreading smile.

[Kull]

A brief administrative aside:

There's a PBEM thread HERE that discusses the practice of "multiple reloads" in PBEM games. The idea is that you repeat a particular action as many times as necessary until you get the desired result (whether it be attacking an opponent, popping a hut, or whatever). To my surprise, a sizable percentage of folks seem to feel it's an acceptable practice, or at least one that can be tolerated. I personally find it distasteful and disrespectful to you, my fellow players in this PBEM game.

For the record, I hereby pledge that I have not and will not play this game using the "multiple reload" method, and would ask that if anyone here is currently using this tactic - to please refrain from doing so in the future. Thank You.

[germanos]

As I have stated earlier in the thread, I don't reload either.

[Chris 62]

I posted in that thread what I thought of it.

[Steve Clark]

I can't believe the justification that some wrote in that thread and I really like Paul's paraphrased quote, "if you want to win that badly, tell us beforehand so you don't waste our time". If this practice is acceptable behavior to some, I wished now I gotten more units out my earlier huts instead of two scrolls.

[Stefan Härtel]

Life in Persia is peaceful. In Media, an ambitious irrigation program has been introduced. In Elam, riches beyond the Persians wildest dreams have been unearthed.

[Steve Clark]

Zeus was furious. There aren't very many camps to explore and when our old Horsemen finds one, what did they get? 100 Drachmas to add to our coffers. "Troops," he screamed, "I want more troops to take on the evil villages fouling our land! Coins are not going to kill off anyone!" So under intense pressure from the gods, our horsemen quickly went upriver and placed itself in front of another camp. We'll have to see what fortunes lay there next time...

Meanwhile, the other Horsemen and Swordmen are converging on another evil village, it won't be long now until we know how the gods will strengthen us...

As Zeus awaits the news of the new camp, he starts to ponder what to do with his three meager cities...

[yop73]

New island found in the North, will we go westward, or eastward?????

[Kull]

Administrative Note:

For personal reasons, Chris62 has decided not to participate in any threads hosted on the Apolyton Civ2 PBEM forum. As a result, we're going to need a new player for the Hittites. Since the game is reaching a point where no one wants the AI to move for them, I'm going to advertise for a replacement, and recommend that we wait at least a few days before turning the Hatti over to the tender mercies of the AI. Thanks for your patience.

[Darius871]

Consider me a last resort; if no one takes it in the next two weeks I'll take it. Hopefully there will be more interest in it though.