STORY: Saga of the Great Underground Empire

[HawaiiFive-O]

If you don't hear from Jerkwaterbox pretty soon, that sounds good.

I'll keep watching this space for my turn.

[Zorkk]

In another thread,

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35279

jerkwaterbox has said his computer is messed. While i do very much hate to lose a player, looks like we need to keep on going. A substitute would be very welcome if anyone out there wants too join in, just download the save game, and play turns. Either way, i'll have turns posted by tommorrow.

Zorkk

[jerkwaterbox]

hey, can you guys find someone to replace me, my computer is messed, i am lucky i got to post here without it freezeing. so i am very sorry everyone.

[Zorkk]

950BC-530BC

By some strange fate of the gods, Jerkwaterbox was not to ascend to the throne this year, and rather, in his place, Zorkk the 2nd was proclaimed! How this unknown heir of our founder had been brought up, no one was quite sure, but the first despot, truly enjoyed his activities. The resemblance was almost perfect, a twin, but alas, we had not discovered genetic engineering yet...

So arise to the throne did Zorkk II, and as he surveyed his land he felt the need to make a few changes to things. One of the first things he did was distribute some luxuries to his populace! 10 % of taxes will now be returned to every one. Let me tell you, there was much cheering going on, but no parties yet. There seemed to be some more tax revenue left, so upping research seemed like a good thing to do. The alphabet would be learned much sooner now. It seems the Temple in Ruatha only has a few years left, so with a loud bellow to his minister of construction, construction was forced ahead, unfortunately, we lost some good people in the process.

Look around, it seemed there were vast expanses of land the need to be settled quickly. While our people needed places of worship, the need for more cities was more urgent to Zorkk, so he order more settlers built, canceling some temples.

Paraudra and Ruatha completed their temples at the same time, and it was decided that they would next work on a worker, and a spearman respectively. With our expanding culture, there would be more need of troops, and infrastructure.

In 875 BC, some Cuman warrior appeared next to our warrior. We quickly decided to charge them, and the ensuing battle was soon over, our veteran forces victorious. On the home front, our working was finally finished the road to spices, now our people could be happy, and enjoy much tastier food.

While the treasure was now losing some money each year, Zorkk II felt that it could handle it, at least until the next great discovery. With spices starting to roll into town, he also felt that they may soon see productive years again.

It was decided that the citizens Ruatha need to make another sacrifice for the benefit of our people, and quickly produced a spearman for us. He was sent to our capital Frobozz for our defense.



A few years passed, and our veteran warriors found the Cuman village. Striking without fear, they quickly razed it to the ground, and looted all there was. Our worker started another road in some spice fields to the south of Endirc.

Frobozz was expanding at a very nice rate, and we soon saw that the Pyramids would be complete even sooner.

http://www.gue.ca/civ3/800bca.jpg (optional pic of Frobozz)

Emperor Zorkk was very pleased with his people, and decided to continue the tax relief program. At the same time, realizing more defensive forces would be needed; another spearman was ordered in Paraudra.

Around 800 BC our scholars finally put together our first alphabet. This new system of symbols was very intreging, and the scholars were directed to continue with these letters, and see what they could develop A group of settlers were also dispatched that year to a very hopeful site. It seemed perfect for a seat of government, being very central to the southern half of the island. A spearman accompanied them, to see them safely to their destination.

Soon after, another groups of settlers wanted to depart from Telgar, so they were sent on their way south, to another fertile farming location. The town meanwhile, started to train some workers to help build our growing network of roads. Our warriors had been continuing south for some time again, this time to act as scouts in case some visitors from that other piece of land came by.

The temple being produced in Endirc was progressing nicely, but still not fast enough. Some more of the population was sacrificed in a massive construction effort. Thank goodness our people would be happy for the temple, or else they might have risen up in revolt of Zorkk's heavy-handed treatment.



A road from Telgar to Endirc was started, and would pass through some hill with gold peeping on the surface. Should be very profitable. Our veteran warriors encounter some Harappan scouts in the wandering around the mountains. It seemed they were coming towards them, so their captain had his troops fortify their position in anticipation of an attack.

For a week, both sides just watched each other, and then one cloudy night, the Harappans attacked us in the middle of the night. We lost a few men in the first bit of fighting, but as more of our forces were roused by the sounds of battle, we quickly rallied, and slaughtered our foes. Celebrating their victory, our now elite warriors decided to stay encamped for a little more, in their mountain retreat.

Zimora was founded in the year 650BC, a temple being first on the list for construction. Soon afterwards, the city of Lazzarus was founded to the northwest of Zimora. The Kingdom was expanding nicely now, and soon we will have iron within our grasp.

After some years of peaceful growth, with not much new, a new settler and spearman were produced, and sent on the way south, to found another city for our great nation. The roads were continuing nicely, and the completion of the pyramids was now in sight.

Frobozz continued growing, and as it grew bigger, more people volunteered to help build our pyramids, and now they would be done even sooner than before. With an eye for expansion still, Zorkk continued propaganda to raise more settlers for the founding of new cities. There was still plenty of resources out there for the taking. Our warriors were slowly making their way down to the southern peninsula.

In 550BC the citizens of Hrotherson, overcome with religious zeal, threw themselves into the completion of the temple there. The ground was christened with the blood of their toils.

At the end of Zorkk's reign in 550 BC, from some unknown source, it was learned that a German city of Berlin has erected the pyramids. Overcome with grief, that all his work was in vain, Zorkk the 2nd suffered a massive stoke, and was put to rest alongside his forbearers.

[zapperio]

That has got to be one of the sweetest starting position ever.

Zap

[Zorkk]

hehehe... yeah.. I'm quite happy with it now I think. I was worried it would be too smal (this is a large map) but it looks like everything is good! hehehehe shoudl turn out to be a good game! =)

Zorkk

[HawaiiFive-O]

The Reign Of HawaiiFive-O, the Second Of His Name

excerpted from the Encyclopedia Undergroundica

The reign of HawaiiFive-O, the Second Of His Name, also known as HawaiiFive-O the Builder, was nondescript.

By this time, the Peoples of the Great Underground Empire had been above ground for almost 2500 years. Indeed, there was much discussion over the continued use of the Underground Empire moniker, in light of that fact.

But the name stuck. Old habits die hard. It should be noted that these discussions continue to this day, it is one of the hallmarks of the Underground culture and a mainstay at office parties.

Back to the reign of HawaiiFive-O the Builder. Our records of his reign are more complete than that of his predecessors, as the Underground Empire had by this point discovered Writing. HawaiiFive-O the Builder was very fond of writing about himself, to the point of vanity.

It is interesting that on the obelisks he commissioned to commemorate his rule, he makes constant mention of the completion of two great projects- the Oracle of Frobozz and the Colossus of Paraudra. Yet solid archaelogical evidence has shown that the Oracle was actually commissioned by Zorkk the Second, and completed just two years into HawaiiFive-O's reign. And while HawaiiFive-O did apparently begin construction of the Colossus, he most certainly did not live to see it completed, as archeological digs at Paraudra conclusively show that it was during the reign of Pisthetaerus II that the Colossus was finished.

So what can we make of HawaiiFive-O's reign? Looking beyond his own self-promoting obelisks, we see that his reign can be described as uneventful. The cities of Igen and Ista were founded, further extending the Underground Empire's influence in the south.

This early map shows the placement of Igen in the East, and the Spearman/Settler team in the West, on some hills about to found Ista.



Technology wise, sages and soothsayers started on the discovery of Philosophy, as HawaiiFive-O dreamed of a government for the people, of the people.

Many civic buildings were completed, some through patience, others through the cracking of the whip. By the end of his reign, most cities boasted a Granary and Temple, and several had Barracks to turn out Veteran soldiers for defense against the barbarian tribes which existed in such numbers in the Alps at the base of the continent.

HawaiiFive-O's reign also saw the creation of great teams of Workers roaming the landscape, taming the wild and increasing both the population and industry of the burgeoning cities. It is believed that Worker teams increased by 333% during his reign.

His greatest dream was the creation of a Grand Canal, from the desert Oasis in the South, to water the plains around Ista, Igen, Zimorra, and Lazzarus. With that in mind, he dispatched four teams of Workers to the area. Unfortunately he passed on before work could begin.



With his passing, Pisthetaerus II ascended to the throne of the Great Underground Empire.

[Pisthetaerus]

Pisthetaerus II’s reign can be characterized by many things—development, growth, bumbling idiocy, confusion, and indecisiveness. Pisthetaerus II’s attempt at policy in his early years was to continue along the path of his predecessors, more cities were be founded, more infrastructure built. Frobozz was the first city in his reign to send settlers out to found a new city. Rather than continue southward, Pisthetaerus II saw many “holes” in the empire and sought to fill them.

A GUI wise man named Socrates started a something called philosophy, and a new movement was on to write books about him. More settlers were built and the first gap was filled with the founding of Krom. Pisthetaerus the first had originally designated this site for settlement, but for various bureaucratic reasons had been left unsettled.

Then one of the most important moments in GUI history occurred. Reports came back that a foreign peoples had settled upon the southern most tip of the GUI continent!



This disturbed many people for the oracles did tell them that the continent was made by the gods for the people of GUI. Pisthetaerus II, in one of his seemingly decisive moves (but possibly one of his more confused actions), decided to meet and possibly, well, probably, attack these peoples. He ordered the warriors stationed in the mountains southward, along with a road built to the southern part of the continent for the troops. Several cities were ordered to train archers and spearmen.

But it was not an all out effort; most cities still built improvements or settlers. Paraudra completed the Colossus and was ordered to draft some troops. Later, Pisthetaerus II switched orders for a granary. These orders came despite the fact that Paraudra did not have a fresh water source and could not support more people. With the great books about Socrates written, the Pythagoreans went about their way studying triangles and such. Pisthetaerus II once again ordered Paraudra to built a great wonder, this time a library to hold a copy of every book ever written ever, particularly every one written about Socrates.

It was at about this time that the elite warriors closed in the on the city of New Ulunde and were poised to attack. But before they could make any hostile movements, a representative of the Zulu so-called leader met them and an agreement was arranged. The Zulus gave GUI codes of laws while we gave them copies of our books about Socrates. They weren’t too enamored with Socrates so we had to throw in some gold as well. It was during these negotiations that Gui delegates peeked at the Zulu notes and noticed that the Zulus controlled eighteen other cities!

This of course scared Pisthetaerus II even more and confused him even more. He ordered several more regiments to be built and prepare for an attack. But at the same time, afraid of war too soon, he removed his troops from the borders of New Ulundi at the behest of Shaka. Several more cities were founded and some were ordered to build more branches of the great library to be in Paraudra. The newly founded city of Farnvar was ordered to send its garrison of defending spearman. Before the mistake was realized, they were two full seasons out of range. There were many other cases of those confusing times, such as workers being given orders, and then those orders were reversed.

In the meantime, with the lack of presence of military in the hills, more barbarians appeared, killing a set of workers who were building a road to several new proposed city sites along the west coast. A settler headed in that direction had to stop at Lazzarus and wait for safety. Even now, barbarian horsemen are about to attack that city and pray to the Gods that they do not win.

In the end of his reign, Pisthetaerus II made one last definitive and yet indecisive decision. Finally, all four divisions of warriors had reached the gates of New Ulundi. But Pisthetaerus II decreed that the decision for war was to be left to his succesor.

[Pisthetaerus]

an attached file would of course be useful

[ixnay]

As Ixnay II took the throne, he was faced with a dilemma of immense proportions. Should he attack the Zulu, who have tread on the sacred ground of the GUE? Should he keep peace with them and try to contain them? It was not an easy decision to make. Knowing that the Zulu must have had some knowledge of shipbuilding and mapmaking to have made it to the sacred island, Ixnay decided to try and acquire the Zulu maps and knowledge. Ixnay traded copies of the maps and was astounded by all of the land claimed by the Zulu. However, the Zulu wanted more than half of the gold in the treasury for the technology, so Ixnay wisely decided to hold off. Surveying the newly acquired maps of Zulu territory, he noticed that there were no traces of iron on their island. Realizing that there was only one source of iron on the southern tip of the island, Ixnay decided to drive the Zulu from the sacred land and secure the iron for the Great underground empire. In 260 AD, troops moved in position to take the city of New Ulundi. Ignoring the threats coming from Shaka, war was declared. Meanwhile, a gigantic barbarian raiding party appeared south of Ista. They were all beaten back by the lightly armed spearmen, but the last barbarian managed to make it into the city and ransack the work on the temple. Most of the troops sent to attack New Ulundi perished without causing any causalties. Ixnay decided to wait for stronger reinforcements before trying to capture the city. However, while his troops were retreating, Zulu reinforcements were dropped by ships behind the retreating forces. To his amazement, though, these were not forces come to finish off what was left of the GUE's army, but an expiditionary force come to found a new city. In the year 290, word from travelers came that the Aztecs had completed a Great Library, even greater than the one planned in paraudra. The city of Yidnich was founded in the great desert near the oasis, to act as an outpost for the troops moving south. As cities completed their libraries and temples, they were set to train more troops for the assault on the zulu cities to the south. The secrets of map making were eventually discovered, and Paraudra was ordered to commission the first GUE ship. Later, a colony was set up to supply the Underground Empire's Army with the iron they needed to make stronger weapons. However, Ixnay was shocked to discover that another group of peoples, claling themselves "English" had settled to the south of the island. Would he have to drive them away too? A group of explorers were quickly sent to make contact with them. However, the English were discovered to be nothing more than stuck-up snobs who, though technilogically advanced, would not trade anything at a reasonable price. And so, as his reign came to a close, ixnay hoped that with new technologies and weapons, that the Great Underground Empire could vanquish its enemies under his successor.

[HawaiiFive-O]

Hey Zorkk, what's the status?

Is Jerkwaterbox's computer fixed? It is his turn. Or do we need to skip him again?

Just wondering. I'm waiting for the patch to begin a new game, and looking to get a quick Civ3 fix in.

[Zorkk]

Well.. no sign of Jerkwaterbox anywhere, so I guess he's out for this one! I'll take my turns tonight, and hopefully post them too! =)

Z

[Zorkk]

Patch

Since there's now a patch for the game, I was wondering what everyone's plans are? I myself have already installed the patch. Do we wish to continue with the patch in place? or restart a new story?

Z

[ixnay]

I have the patch - fine with me if we keep going on this game...

[HawaiiFive-O]

Since the patch is compatible with saved games, I'm OK with continuing this game.

Or if you want to start another, that's cool too.