Brennus the Immortal

[marcuspeddle]

My name is Brennus and I came down from the mountains 600 mortal years ago to guide a tribe of men and women to enlightenment. First I taught them how to use the land to grow food and how to fashion containers from clay to use in cooking and storing grains for the long, barren winters. For this the people thanked me and accepted me as their Guide. Then I taught them how to build houses and buildings that would last more than one season and even to the end of the world. This first city of the world was called Entremont and I took my seat in it. I also taught them that axes can fell more than trees and that they should train brave men to defend their city and their land. Then I instructed some of the people to till the land, some of the people to gather resources for construction, and others to research ways to improve their technology. I also appointed a group of advisors to help them in their times of need.

[marcuspeddle]

In the embrace of the Triplet Mountains the Celtic people worked diligently building roads to bring wood into the city and I instructed the wise men of the city to devise a set of letters that could be used for trade or identifying property to prevent disputes. This, I thought, would keep my people peaceful.

[marcuspeddle]

The people finished sharpening enough axes to make a group of warriors they called the ¡°1st Entremont Warriors¡± and they stayed in the city to protect it in times of trouble. Some people, however, thought that more warriors should be trained to explore the lands outside the Triplet Mountains and bring back knowledge of the outside world. And so they turned their minds and their bodies to this task.

When the 1st Frontier Warriors were ready they set out from the city and followed the Jade River north. Although the people were proud of their accomplishments, they felt there were too few of them to make a truly glorious city. They came to me with this complaint so I taught them that growing a surplus of food each year and storing it in granaries would help to increase their population. I then created a day to be observed every year for the people to stop their toil and engage in rituals filled with food, drink, and coupling to ensure the descendants of the Celts would be as plentiful as the drops of water in the Jade River. These rituals I taught them by my own example.

The 1st Frontier Warriors followed the Jade River to its source in a large, solitary mountain. This mountain they named Brennus Mountain in honour of me. From the top of this mountain they could see for many miles and what they saw was not heartening. Large jungles of almost impenetrable trees dashed their hopes of spreading their civilisation quickly across the land. What the Celtic workers saw, however, was more encouraging. To the west were deposits of a clear, beautiful stone. I suggested that they build a road to these diamonds that they might be brought back to the city and made into shining symbols of hope for the people.

[marcuspeddle]

One year there came a man from the east with black skin and a condescending tone of voice. Although he was polite, his promise to not wipe us from the face of the earth was laughable. Did we not have brave warriors to defend us? But then the envoy told me that his people knew of a way to send small sticks with sharpened points through the air fast enough to kill a man. I offered to teach him the proper ways to bury the dead in exchange for the secret of the arrow but he laughed at me and said it was not possible. This put a great worry in my heart. We are a peaceful people but perhaps others do not share our pacifist views . . . . . .

[marcuspeddle]

While I was pondering how to deal with the black men to the east, the 1st Frontier Warriors discovered that an ocean exists to the west on the other side of a long mountain chain. This mountain chain was so straight for so many miles that it came to be known as the Great Western Wall Mountain Chain.
One day the city engineers came to tell me that they had completed the granary. I held a great fest to commemorate the day but near the end of the day my cultural advisor approached me with sad eyes. ¡°Lord,¡± said he, ¡°Do you not think it would be a good idea to have a place where we can hold these celebrations and holy couplings other than in the streets? I propose we build a temple of great standing stones where the people can gather and celebrate life and your leadership.¡± Seeing the wisdom of this man¡¯s idea, I ordered the city engineers to start building the next day. My day was finished in complete happiness as a messenger from the Frontier Warriors came to report that they had found flood plains to the south with great fields of grain growing beside them. This, I thought, would be the perfect place to build another city and spread the glory of my people.

[marcuspeddle]

Years passed. My people were prospering but not as quickly as I had hoped. Thanks to the diamonds brought from the mountains my people were happy and content. But why, I asked myself, do they need shiny stones to feel better? Surely the inner peace of meditation and self-reflection is better. But I have had an eternity to become like this. They need more time and more guidance.
A group of colonists travelled south to colonise the flood plains but were shocked to find that the Zulu had already built a city to the south. It turned out that their scout came from the east the first time we met but his people are southern. No doubt that explains the dark colour of their skin. Thankfully, our settlers had enough room to build a city near the floodplains but nevertheless it was hard to accept that perhaps in the future there would be competition for the good lands. And the Zulu with their arrows . . . . . .

[Paddy]

Bloody Marvelous

looking forward to more of this

[marcuspeddle]

Thankee. I'll probably play more and write more this evening.

[marcuspeddle]

But my fears proved to be unfounded. The Celtic people multiplied quickly and became prosperous. My researchers invented an alphabet that would help in trade, we cultivated a new crop called tobacco to soothe our minds at the end of a hard day, and the cities of Lugdunum and Camalodunum were founded near rich trapping and fishing grounds. Entremont began to accumulate wealth to adorn its temple and pave the streets with gold and jewels. Zulu people travelled long miles to see the glory of the Celts, looked at the bows in their hands and wondered if they forsook greater goods for the sake of weapons. The 1st Frontier Warriors continued their mission to explore all the lands and find suitable places for colonisation.

[marcuspeddle]

Test - Entry coming soon

[unscratchedfoot]

You should send a stack of soldiers down south to sort out the zulu issue.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Nice work Masuro keep it coming

[marcuspeddle]

Thanks for the compliments As for the Zulu, I'm trying to be peaceful. But no doubt the Zulu will do something to ruin our neighbourly relations ^^

[marcuspeddle]

My nation was peaceful for hundreds of years. The people multiplied and became wealthy. But, as is the way of the universe, there must be a balance of good fortune and bad fortune. And as Nature gives to people, so she takes away. The good people of Alesia were stricken by diseases from the flood plains twice within a very short period of time, and thousands of people lay down never to rise again. I decided that a road to Alesia might speed aid to that city and I instructed workers to start construction. A road was also started to Lugdunum at that time.
In the year that would later be called 1575 BCE, Entremont trained the first group of spearmen to protect the city. These fighters could hold the enemy at bay with their long spears tipped with bronze. This was well and good but, my science advisor said, let¡¯s try to find a metal even stonger than bronze. I set my wise men and prospectors to doing just that.
While my warriors were to the south of my empire they discovered that the land did not extend far before they encountered ocean. The Zulu, then, do not have much room to expand. No doubt this will bring conflicts later. While my warriors were mapping the land, the Zulu redrew their borders and sent messages to the leader of my warriors saying that they were now in Zulu territory and not welcome. My warriors immediately moved, of course, but Shaka became annoyed with me and I did not receive an invitation to his birthday celebrations that year. To improve our relations, I offered him our alphabet. To my delight and surprise, he had one of generals come to my capital and teach my soldiers how to make and use the bow and arrow. The general also brought a generous gift of 3 gold. The relations between the Celts and the Zulu improved after that and I rested a little easier at night.
My foreign advisor approached me one day after my dinner and said, ¡°Brennus, our warriors have reached a dead end to the south and it is very far for them to walk through the jungles of the north. Might I suggest we build ships to sail around the world? The wind can speed our sailors around the coast and we meet other nations more easily that way.¡± I agreed that this was a good idea and commissioned the city of Camulodunum to build ships for this purpose. It was also about this time that the road to Alesia was completed. I ordered aid to be sent to the survivors of the plagues.

[marcuspeddle]

One day while enjoying a sunny day on one of the flowery terraces of my palace, a messenger came running to the palace gate saying he had urgent news. I met the messenger personally and invited him to take a drink while he told me his news. After recovering slightly from his exhaustion he said, ¡°My lord, prospectors in the Great West Wall Mountains have reported seeing warriors from a strange land. Their clothes are red and adorned with pictures of strange, wormlike creatures. Their skin is dark (though not as dark as the southern Zulu) and their eyes are narrow. They request an audience with you.¡± Curious to see what manner of people came from the west, I immediately ordered the necessary supplies for a long hike to the mountains. The next day we set off. Our journey was pleasant and after several weeks we met the people who call themselves the Japanese. We met them on the seashore on the far side of the Great West Wall and feasted and exhanged pleasantries as well as information for many days. They showed us their way of thinly slicing a raw fish and dipping it into a variety of sauces. We cooked several kinds of stews for them in return. I do not think they enjoyed the large amounts of meat in the stew but they were much too polite to complain or make bad comments about our food. In fact, the Japanese were extremely polite about everything and I thought that my people could improve their manners by copying these people. As the Japanese could perhaps improve their people by encouraging them to be a little more forthcoming in their opinions. During those days of feasting we learned that the Japanese military is superior to ours but they do not match us in cultural achievements. After our meeting we part ways with promises to keep in contact and to cooperate for the greater good of both our empires.