Tales from the Diplomatic Front II (in 3D-Dolby Stereo)

[Grau Geist]

Declaration from: Shogun Grau Geist, Japanese Trade Federation

520AD, For the past century and a half the Japanese Trade Federation (JTF) has met great challenges. The Evil Pirate AI landed on the Southern Coast in 400AD pillaging our valuable land. We were forced to abandon a caravan due to begin its journey in 420AD, in favor of a Crusader who slew the evil Pirate AI and his mauradering hoard.

Despite this setback the JTF was still able to send many trading caravans on their way to far away destinations; Englander Wool bound for Bangalore, Kyoto Gems bound for Moscow, just to name a few. We expect our trade bearing caravans will be well received and our valuable Japanese goods will fetch handsom prices in foreign marketplaces.

During this century, the JTF sought to establish better relations with its neighbor the Sioux. Though we have peaceful relations with each other, we hope to improve those relations as time passes.

The JTF and International Trade Organization was also pleased to see that the War between the Croatians and the English apparently has died down, the world remained peaceful despite the earlier Croatian threats.

It is with angry fists that we address the gravest threat that the JTF faced this past century. In 500AD the Chinese Espionage scandal ruined any potential relations that the JTF had hoped for with the Chinese. A Diplomat of Unknown city origin penetrated the City of Nagasaki loacated on the Orinoco River in Columbia. Luckily the Japanese Efficiency Inspection Team was performing their yearly inspection of Nagasaki at that time. They witnessed first hand the assault by the Chinese Diplomat from the river map grid 34,70. The Diplomat first attempted to buy the secret of Theology for 100 gold, however the Shogun Grau decided it was unwise at that time to sell such cutting technonlogy. Possibly using this meeting as a distraction ploy, the Diplomat left his guest room and broke into the Great Library auxillary technology library of Nagasaki. Fortunately the Theology Technology was so new to the JTF that the original scroll had not been removed from its vault in the Great Library and copied for distribution to the auxillary technology library. Unfortunately the Diplomat came across a copy of the ancient scroll on Medicine that the JTF Explorer Toga de Vaca discovered deep in the Andes mountains. The leakage of this Technology is no less important to JTF.

The Chinese response to being caught red handed? Merely that since we would not sell them Theology, they needed to STEAL it!

In order to satisfy the extreme outrage that the JTF Efficiency Team feels for being witnesses to such an scandal, The JTF Secret Service is currently conducting an investigation into a possible Conspiracy that will shock our entire world. By using all LEGAL (ie no cheating) means available, including cooperative foriegn intellience services and investigative deduction the JTFSS will reach its conclusions.

[Takeshi]

The First Nation Herald
June 20, 1999
10 gold

LEADER DISPOSED OF YET AGAIN!(cover story)

Coup d'etat! A long list of leaders have one after the one been betrayed by their closest aides, and again we have heard rumors that Chief Takeshi of the Caribou Tribe has conducted a hostile takeover of the Sioux throne. It is said that martial law shall be instituted to secure his position. (continued in TAKEOVER A2)

CHINESE ACCUSED OF ESPIONNAGE (cover story)

The japanese minister of defense in a press conference today has announced that proof of chinese espionnage was uncovered in the city of Nagasaki, the technology stolen being classified but rumored to be medicine. Tension mounts as chinese authorities remain silent on the matter refusing to acknowledge or deny its involvement.(continued in Espionnage A3)

PLAGUES! CHAOS EXPECTED. (A3)

A series of epidemics has terrified the population of the whole world, causing global panic and requirying all the soothing of leader's words to calm down. The play-turn of each leader has been set at 12 minutes instead of the normal 5 minutes, creating excrutiating delays for all. Sioux doctors assure us that this situation is temporary and that turns should be moving again at a quicker pace soon.

MIDDLE-EAST EXPEDITION BEATEN BY HUNDREDS OF YEARS (A4)

An expedition to explore and study the possibility of colonization of the harsh desert lying between english and sioux border
was launched, only to find that japanese settlers had beaten them to the area by hundreds of years. This adds fuel to the fire of Sioux anxiety over overcrowding and increasing scarcity of free lands available for settling. If the land talks with the Chinese and Vikings fail, Sioux may have no choice but to attempt to expand into the Himalayan Mountains, a hostile world where the terrain is harsh and no one has come back alive.

G7 MEETING CANCELLED DUE TO ABSCENCE OF WORLD LEADERS (A7)

The annual G7 meeting, with world leaders from the croation, japanese, english, chinese, viking, russian and naturally sioux nations, due to start at 2:30 pm EST on June 20 has been cancelled due to the abscence of all leaders except sioux. The sioux were very disappointed, and wished advanced notice if a meeting is to be delayed or cancelled.

[KenThur]

Headlines: Vikings have finally become a (small) Factor!!

In the 2 centuries of AI rule prior to the return of Milo dynasty in the early 5th century AD, they managed to continue the expansion up thru the SE Asian peninsula that the Milos had begun. In fact in typical AI fashion, they were scattering units far beyond what a prudent human would do. In a land grab all the way up into the Himalayas & central China! Also in using the extraordinary talents only the AI possess, they amassed an unhumanly possible horde of gold & in even more importantly for the isolated Vik’s, they built Marko Polo’s Embassy! (see Editor’s Note)

With the return of the real ruler now with some real power, wealth, & bargaining positions (finally) the Vikings… were immediately invaded everywhere by barbs!! Apparently the price of becoming an empire with some territory? However this time we were prepared for them, since the AI had built plenty of units in all our cities. After numerous battles in Australia, we came thru with several vet units and hunted down & cashed in 2 of their leaders, all at the cost of only 1 warrior. The remaining barbs in south central China I will leave for the Chinese & Sioux to deal with since per my promises to those rulers, we Vik’s pulled back our lead exploration units from this area.

This early edition must go to post now. We will post later the diplomatic & trade relations aspects of this emerging world player... the NO LONGER PUNY Vikings from down under. Stay tuned.

Editor’s Note: Relative to the continued insistence that some players have to NOT allow play to continue if the AI will take over… IF, the ruler will be away for more than just a few turns & IF it is not the modern era; I have said repeatedly that the AI is quite capable of running a civ in the absence of it’s ruling dynasty. In fact, as more players become familiar with big, long-term multiplayer contests, I believe more & more will realize that the AI as a sub can work to your advantage. Not to mention the realitiy of the AI NEVER has a scheduling problem & it moves faster than any human ruler.

[KenThur]

Business & Political Section of the Viking Sentinel:

Soon after returning to active rule of the once lowly Vikings our erstwhile friends the Japs showed up loaded with a caravan & diplomat off our western shores. Upon proper identification & polite requests to proceed with establishing a trade route & an embassy in our largest city, they did so. Much to their benefit & somewhat to ours. We are however not moving to a point of allying since we do have several points of less-than-complete-trust. The Honorable Shogun has been most generous with catching us up to a level of technology… several steps behind them. He seems to be a rather astute leader & believes as I, that trade is far greater than military power in the long run. However, I am concerned he has not been willing to reveal the positions of his cities in order for the peaceful Vikings to establish trade routes to them. This would seem only fair, since we have revealed ours to guide HIS caravans. Nor has the Shogun been willing to sell for a fair price, leading technologies; apparently for fear of a backward civ such as we building a Wonder(?). Reading of the Chinese situ created by this same stance gets cause for wonder how deep the friendship can be. However let it be clear, we do not soon forget the efforts & gifts put forth by this (or any) enlightened dynasty. We Vikings may have a reputation for raping, pillaging, & burning but we DO remember who helps us AND who hurts us. (besides, we prefer blondes)

As for the leaders of our new English & Sioux dynasties:
The King of England has been hesitant so far to share much of anything. Given the history of our world, I find that unfortunate since we are the only two non-aligned civ’s. Through these chronicles & with time to digest more this world’s situation, the King of the Vikings truly hopes the good King will come to see my overtures as an honest attempt to strengthen his rather vulnerable position between 3 of the strongest empires so far. Two of which, prior dynasties fought wars with… one of whom has historical archives that serve his memory well.
The soaring Chief of the Sioux, although young & inexperienced, seems to be enlightened in matters of international relations & wise in matters of pragmatic sharing of the rapidly crowding areas of the East. We seem to have found a mutually agreeable boundary between our empires that will allow him to expand around the Himalayas, over the mountains of Burma, & up into contact with the Emperor of China. Though a tough natural barrier of hills lay in his path, there are numerous areas of valuable minerals & grapes that can be developed over time… if left alone to do so. Which is exactly what we, the Hard-but-Fair Vikings, intend to do. In turn, we trust this new line of rulers will not be as beholden to “allies” or as aggressively expansive as some of the earlier Sioux rulers.

As for our northern border, we have stopped at the end of the Yahloo River & will develop the squares that naturally fall within that city’s zone. Since as you can see from above news releases, the Chinese had much on their plate during this century. Therefore, we had no time to discuss matters of mutual interest. King Milo the No-Longer-Wimp, trusts the present Emperor will be more honorable than the first leader we Vikings had contact with. And will see our boundary is a fair division of the land between us. We wish him well & look forward to doing business with him in the near centuries.

With what we know of other civ’s thru our extraordinary network of embassies we may be able, in fact hereby offer, to share information that may be of interest to other less “plugged in” leaders of this increasingly interacting world. Inquires (offers?) may be sent via appropriate diplomatic ICQ channels. Since we are currently non-aligned & obviously not in a position to pose a threat to any other civ, we are desirous to share with those that “appreciate” information most.

[Grau Geist]

From: Director of Secret Service, Japanese Trade Federation (JTF)

Preliminary investigations into the Chinese Espionage Scandal have brought up very interesting facts and beg more questions that need answering. The Diplomat assaulted Nagasaki in Columbia District via map grid 34,70 on the Orinoco River. The JTFSS has concluded that the lack of a known Chinese City in South America, plus the lack of suitable space for such a city points to the fact that the Diplomat had to have come from a tireme unit. The Diplomat navigated down the river in order to avoid the City 2 Grid Early Warning System. The Tireme also had to remain outside of the 2 Grid system to avoid detection. This evidence reveals that the location of the city of Nagasaki was known by the Chinese.

The shear magnitude of the journey from China and the Map terrain in our knowledge also leads to the conclusion that our Russian Allies had to have come into contact with this tireme, otherwise the journey would have been a waste of time and resources.

The JTFSS awaits the intel from confidential sources (NO Cheating) on a.) if a Chinese Tireme has been seen to exist and b.) If the Chinese had the 100 gold they were offering to buy the Technology with.

The only alternative to this situation is that the Chinese were given this Diplomat by a civilization with a city close by. However, we refuse to believe this conspiracy until all the facts have been established

Sincerely, Director Yamato, JTFSS

FROM: Foreign Minister Geist
TO: CHINESE EMBASSY

Based on preliminary findings the Zaibatzu Trade Council finds the Chinese Government guilty as charged and requires reparations for this act of espionage. The sum to be determined at the next meeting of the Zaibatzu. Good Day

[Takeshi]

Hi guys,

Sorry, but for tomorrow's game I can only be on-line 'till about 3:00pm EST. I got a short notice yesterday only, and so I've been looking for a sub since then only.

If anyone is interested to direct a well located medium sized, from 2:00 pm EST to around 5:00 pm EST, tomorrow, please let me know at reneatims@compuserve.com or at ICQ 17080119. We are the first nation of the Sioux, in good terms with just about every other civs.

In the worst case, the AI will run for me. I just hope it doesn't declare war to the entire world .

<font size=1 color=444444>[This message has been edited by Takeshi (edited June 25, 1999).]</font>

[Geronimo]

the ai takes longer to declare war on everybody when you leave your attitudes towards other civs at worshipful before you let it take over.

[SmartFart]

i have no intentions to post my point of view about our last session because of only 5-6 played turns
PLEASE DO NOT YOUR NEGOTIATIONS WHEN IS YOUR TURN!!!
we will never finish this game that way.
even 5 minutes time limit is way too much in this stage of a game and 12 is simply ridiculous. specially with a low lag rate we all have when milo's hosting.
i hope we will have much more turns today.

sf

[Geronimo]

The JTFSS awaits the intel from confidential sources (NO Cheating) on a.) if a Chinese Tireme has been seen to exist and b.)
If the Chinese had the 100 gold they were offering to buy the Technology with.

It is obviously necessary to remind the government of the JTF entity that international transactions such as the trade offered of 100 gold for theology are undertaken through AI intermediaries who will not relay such an offer until it is verified that in fact all pertinent resources to be traded are indeed available to the government attempting to initiate the trade.

Although the Chinese government cannot forget the cynical hypocrisy that the JTF entity has displayed in refusing to trade the technology of theology even after its loud condemnation of the Croatian republics reluctance to give away the sensitive military technology of gunpowder, the Chinese government in deferring to the natural magnanimity, and peaceful nature of the people that it represents, is willing make a generous offer of 50 gold to the JTF entity as compensation for the largely useless knowledge of Medicine which the Chinese government has acquired. However any such offer must be accompanied a complete renunciation of any hostile intentions towards the Chinese Republic, and an official apology for the earlier shameful criticism of the prudent reluctance of the Croatian Republic to share its sensitive military knowledge of gunpowder, by the JTF entity. If the JTF entity rejects such necessary actions the Chinese Republic will with great sadness be forced to acknowledge the state of war that will have been forced by the JTF entity on the peaceful Chinese Republic and will not be accountable for any other breeches of JTF intelligence security that may subsequently occur.


We warmly welcome the friendship of the Viking people and will respect their declarations of neutrality with respect to our noble tri-alliance as well as the border proposal made earlier for the southeast asia region. We also congratulate the Viking people on their recent glorious return to pre-eminence among peacefully inclined nations of the world.

<font size=1 color=444444>[This message has been edited by Geronimo (edited June 26, 1999).]</font>

[KenThur]

Geronimo; Oh great & wise leader of the civilized Chinese, I just love it when U say those things (out loud). I ernestly hope we can soon create a network of roads linking our nations together along with the new, enlightened Sioux dynasty of Chief Sitting Takeshi. Thus allowing our part of the world to enter an age of peace & prosperity.

Shogun GG, great leader of the JAP Trading whatever; now that the down under island nation of the Vikings has established fair & reasonable boundries with our neighbors to the N & W, it remains for us to find such for your westward expansion which it seems has reached as far as the islands known as New Zealand... just off our eastern shores. Tho you have been most helpful through these early centuries, it is only prudent & reasonable that we ask that the Japanese nation limit it's expansion into our natural barrier of islands in the southern half of the Pacific ocean. We again beseach thee to share with us the maps of your cities & terrian so we may establish efficient trade routes with your great trading nation. I ask this in public, again, because we hereby promise these will NOT be shared with any other nation for decades to come.

Politically, I must remain neutral, as our Scandianavian forefathers on a planet far, far away taught us: Be strong, trade with all who can use what we have, but DO NOT be pulled into major powers' conflicts.
I will share what we know(if it is not in violation of a promise) in exchange for modest but appropriate things in return.

May there be peace in our part of the world, my neighbors & friends.

[Grau Geist]

JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES By: Chairman Grau

700AD, The Japanese rejoice for they have discovered true enlightenment. No one is hungry, no one is unhappy, no one is poor, All hail the Japanese Trade Federation.

The Chinese Government feels the turmoil following the Espionage scandal: The Chinese Empire was wrought with turmoil for decades following their theft of JTF technology. Consul Geronimo experienced a technology backlash this session as his people constantly kicked him out of his Chancellorship. Because of this turmoil the JTF was unable to negotiate reparations for the espionage incident. The Chinese should be wary that this incident has not reached a conclusion and that terms of reparations will not be dictated to the JTF by a theiving Nation. The Chinese should also be wary about whom it accuses of withholding technologies. Its own Allies will no doubt be unable to read such false accusations, since they have indeed benefited from our generous nature, as have every other civilization in our world. Had the Chinese patience they would have found the technology forth coming when other pressing matters were not aat hand.

As is we will dictate the nature of your reparations. We will not be apologizing for any words spoken, there have been no falsehoods spoken on these pages. Nay a) it is you who must apologize for your common theivery. b) You will refrain from sending diplomats to my cities or they will be attacked and destroyed on sight. c) you will pay 100 gold as you offered for a technology (it is not our problem that your Spy was incompetent). If you are able to agree with these wishes, as my people dictate, then we shall not attack your otherwise peaceful society and will consider sharing ideas in the future. We will also prepare more caravans to bring profit to both our societies. If these demands seem unreasonable, which we do not believe is the case, then I suggest you construct a counter offer. Realize just because your nation is seemingly on the opposite side of the world as the Japanese, you are not beyond our reach. Your Allies have also condemed your action (though privately celebrating ) so do not think they will protect you from an appropriate retaliation should you choose to end negotiations. The ball is in your court.

On other fronts, the Japanese Trade Federation did what it does best. The JTF completed many profitable trade routes these following decades, one with almost every nation as a matter of fact. The caravan bringing valuable wine intended for the Sioux was recklessly cut down, hopefully by incompetent troops, as it entered in tandem with an Ambassador. Both units were granted permission to enter, but it appears for now that the inefficency of the Sioux communication system was cause for their outlaying military garrison to attack and destroy the valuable JTF assests.

Leader Takeshi, in your absence, your nephew forgot to inform all of the Sioux garrisons to allow Passage to India Thus inocent Japanese Citizens were slaughtered by his incompetence. As a small token to my people for the loss, he offered to pay reparations for the obvious misdeed. A caravan of Gold was supposedly being built and a Diplomat was also being provided. With only an inefficent communication system between our two nations the JTF has threatened retaliation for this supposed act of war. Only after our outrage was vented and our threats made did we hear the constructed proposal from your stand in. Thus if we were hasty to express our outrage and disbelief in the act, I hope you understand and accept our apologies. If you agree with your nephews incompetence in the matter and wish to appease our citizens into trying again to establish a mutually beneficial trade route, then we hope you will also honor the promises of replacement and reconcilliation. Our people demand an apology and reparations, unfortunately their outrage must be quelled one way or another...

Sincerely, Chairman Grau, JTF


From: Zaibatzu Council Trade Minister Dinero

The citizens of the Japanese Trade Federation rejoice upon the realization of the benefit of Trade. With the remanents of the old Monarchy swept away, and the true peoples government of Communism in place, the citizens have begun to share in the profits of Trade. The nation thank the incite of Chairman Grau, former JTF Trade Minister. His route construction programs filled the coffers of the state, which allowed the JTF to pay for restructuring and updating of its Cities, Home Defense Forces, Ships, and Explorers. The corruption of the old Monarchy has also been swept away by the new Communism. This prudent act has greatly improved this nation and the lives of its citizens, The former minister has been placed upon the most favored position of Chairman of the State. I will continue this great program as his replacement. Rejoice, Hail Chairman Grau (don't you just hate the propaganda of asian communism)

[SmartFart]

despite of geronimo's average twice per turn disconnections,i was enjoying in our last session more than in any we had before
i think we had enuff turns and events to write some comments:

1. the cairo affair:
- because of lack of sioux interest to join our forces and take currently occupied cairo back to his rightful owner and builder,croats concluded that continuing war with english could do more harm than benefits and offered peace threaty to english
- english refused and offered cease fire in exchange for gunpowder. that astonished croats. here i am with largest civilization on the world,pyramids,hanging gardens and michelangelo's chapel against wonderless minor civ which isn't so far from heart of my empire to make military actions impossible
- croats broke negotiations
- english stole gunpowder. thanx to great library,japanese get a gunpowder. logical,sioux have a gunpowder,russians have a gunpowder,all have a gunpowder
- now english offered a peace threaty
- english beated me in race for SoL
- croats bribed north african city oxford.
- very next turn,english bribed it back and switched SoL city with a russians in exchange for russian city with LWS
- english switched SoL city with japan in exchange for whatever
- english builded city of newcastle in italy and also builded a fortress on a hill north of it. there was 2 musketeers and one trireme inside a city and one crusader,one settlers and one catapult inside a fortress.
- croats bribed newcastle and,of course,get all units inside a city and inside city radius fortress
- english accused croats leader for CHEATING. quote: 'it's impossible to bribe stacked units'
- session ends

now,am not going to ask you why you're still in monarchy when you have a statue of liberty,because that is your problem. but accusing someone for cheating is serious stuff. we can all see that best player around here don't posting anymore on apolyton because some unresponsible individual accused him for cheating in multiplayer. it is quite possible that you don't know what happens to your units inside of bribed city radius and you're free to ask any of involved players about any part of a game you don't understand. but your actions in our last session proved to me that you're kind of a player i hate to play. as soon as you nose starting to bleed,you whined,sending anonymous messages and whats worst: accused me for a cheating. you really think i need to cheat to defeat you? please take your ass from our game and go with it to the zone. there are plenty of people like you there and am sure you will fit quite good there.

sf

[KenThur]

Viking Sentinel: 520-700AD under the shared reign of Milo the Semi-Magnificent & the AI

These 2 centuries were relatively uneventful for the still puny but peaceful Vik’s
downunder. King Milo was back on the throne for the restart. Spent time
defining boundaries as spelled out in the prior posts. Although this proved to be
a good news / bad news situ; neither the Sioux nor the Chinese dealt with the
barbs at the edge of our proposed boundaries (seems other priorities called them
away). The barbs with their “Jedi elephants” managed elim a fortified legion on a hilltop + the horse unit sent to finish them off while in weakened condition! So had to pull back & let the elephants kill themselves against my well-protected Yahloo River city. The good news was finally being able to hunt down 1(missed the other, damn) of their leaders N of my city & collect some ransom gold. In the process, covered most of the area of mid & coastal China & found that this area remains uninhabited & therefore unclaimed. The AI which took over for 2nd half of 7th century, again explored this territory & still found no development or even outposts in these areas.
Therefore, upon returning to the throne & there being no other civ in this area, the new Republic of Vikings claim the territory surrounding the Yellow River valley. We have a unit stationed there & a settler is on the way to begin development of this empty valley!

Speaking of republic, the AI managed to get that advance & switched to it during my leave of absence. Perhaps it works for the AI with their built in advantages, but I am afraid the people expect too much from a human king & are rioting too often for the advantages of the republic to be enjoyed. Therefore I am afraid the monarchy will have to re-establish until such time as our development warrants a change back to a republic or even democracy. This is a disappointment but a strong hand is still required in our little civ. The King’s agents are rumored to be fomenting revolution as this is being written.

Other than our little civ’s news:
=&gt; We provided some information to those enlightened leaders that chose to avail themselves of my network of embassies.
=&gt; The powerful, leading Aztec/Croat civ & we have not officially met although we have full information on their civ via our M.Polo network.
=&gt; The English & Russians seem to be doing some rather fancy “diplomacy” with their city & wonders swap (thanks to President S’Fart for figuring out & reporting what was going on). Tho highly unusual, especially for unallied civ’s, if these 2 leaders want to “play” that way… we Vik’s find that unrealistic maneuvering rather dangerous to those of us that are operating in the “real”
world. As for the accusations flying around… the new English dynasty as I have noted before, has been less than cooperative with the Viking ruler & so far, if sides are to be taken, we must back the Croatian democracy & its long-standing, honorable (but hard) dynasty. However, I see no cause for ouster of any current ruler regardless of the media madness that may be slinging
around. Those of us that have been & will be in this quest for the long run will
continue to monitor the situ & apply our power(s) as appropriate to maintain balance of power & proper decorum.
=&gt; The Japanese / Chinese developments in our part of the world seem to be coming to a boiling point. As a minor power we can do little to influence the flow of events. As stated before, we can see both side of this dispute. However, as we have stated publicly & privately; we help those who help us.
We remain neutral militarily, & will continue to do so. We take this opportunity
to AGAIN express our concerns to honorable Shogun San, that your expansion into the islands of the S Pacific are a bit more than normal expansion would justify. Specifically; Japan makes sense, but a city in the Philippines is pushing the boundaries a bit too far. We need to address this
situation over after the reigning ruler returns from self-imposed exile. Also a question remains remains... what happened to the trieme & archer that landed on the west coast of New Guinea?? Is there a 2nd Bermuda Triangle in this part of the world? I must insist on a report of what the Jap Trading whatever knows of this disapperance that occured during the previous reign of the AI (as I said I DO NOT forget things, good & bad)

Note: to stand-in for Shogun GG, if thou desireth a copy of the latest save please
contact me thru ICQ channels & I can provideth.

Note: to all rulers; if there is a night during the week or Friday that we can
advance our worlds please let us do it. Post here or ICQ us with available times.
I fear the ages & desireth to complete this before the new millennium!

[KenThur]

old n/a
<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by KenThur (edited July 04, 1999).]</font>

[SmartFart]

no need to start a new thread. you can pick page 2 now and it will load quite fast.
well done apolyton.

sf