GS press release (on the public forum)

[Hot Mustard]

Let's brainstorm on our first announcement on the public forum.

Here is a couple of lists to get the discussion going on what we are willing to divulge.

Things to include:
- Vox is a near neighbor, on same river
- Vox 'stole' our religion (kidnapped our wise men)
- We're at war with Vox (include year of declaration?)
- We have met other, more friendly Civs: 'Nana and AC
- AC is 'Wonderful'

Things to not include:
- Techs we have
- Number of cities
- Trade relations with AC/'Nana

I'm also wondering if there is a creative writer amongst us to put whatever elements we decide on into a nice summary/story.

[vmxa1]

Why exactly do we want to put out any info?

[Krill]

First of all, hints are better than full bloodied facts right now. The Wise men idea and the scout incident (say, we thought some loud people had moved in next door. We asked them to be quiet and respect somethings, they didn't listen, so we aren't very happy with them at the moment.)

Just being vague will lead to some interesting posts, give the other teams some idea of what has happened without betraying any detailed infomation.

---

Vox are screwed, so all we have to really do is to make the other civs not think we are going to grow too large. One way around this is to point our fingers at AC and "Congratulate" them on completing so many of the wonders.

[Krill]

Also, I think confirming that all 4 other civs are on this continent isn't in our best interests. The other three civs might realise that alot of land is here and that along with us annexing Vox we are going to havfe alot of power in the mid game, and might make the other 3 civs more willing to co-operate.

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Why exactly do we want to put out any info?

That's exactly the attitude that put GS in a public relations hole in PtWDG.

If you don't say anything, you leave the public no choice but to believe everything coming out of the other side. Not fair, but true.

We want to put a reasonable, and even fun, face on the early war so as to not come off as 'the bad guy'.

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Krill
Also, I think confirming that all 4 other civs are on this continent isn't in our best interests. The other three civs might realise that alot of land is here and that along with us annexing Vox we are going to havfe alot of power in the mid game, and might make the other 3 civs more willing to co-operate.

Very good point. I wonder just how long it will take everyone to realize though...

[Hot Mustard]

First salvo made by Vox in the public forum:

Originally posted by Donegeal
As most have gathered, Vox and Stormia have decided that the two teams CANNOT live on the same contenient... again.

It seems that history has repeated itself (to a degree) and we are at war and have been for thousands of years (around turn 20ish or something).

Vox approached the borders of Stormia with a non military unit and dialogue between our two teams were initiated. During this dialogue, GS started right in with demands that we keep our units away from their borders. Not a problem. We had no intention of sending any military their way and told them so. In fact, we did nothing but extol how as a team working together so early we would be able to accomplish so much more than fighting. The very next turn, GS attacked and killed our non-military unit without provocation and without warning. Since then there has been little to no communication from them (and absolutely none initiated by them) and they have been out to destroy Vox.

With Stormian Skimishers around LONG before copper, the best unit that we could muster against them were Archers. Needless to say, GS has had the upper hand since (despite enourmous victories on our part).

So after these thousands of years, and thousands dead, we at Vox (ok... just me really), want to ask one question of you publicly: Why?

(Victory at the Voice thread coming soon!)

(All in RP guys... I'm not mad about anything.)

[Hot Mustard]

Some story-like bits to work with/on:

In the beginning there was only the RNG gods, and for unknown reasons, the RNG gods were unkind to Stormia.

The wise men of Stormia studied for many long years and were on the verge of a major breakthough. But the RNG gods sabotaged us by leaking word of this to the unknown tribes down the Fury River, and those tribesmen, who came to be known as Vox, came and kidnapped our wisemen, and thus stealing their discovery from us!

Infuriated were the people of Stormia! On top of this crime and insult, now there was also a threat of these 'Voxians' looking into our windows whenever they pleased. For such a nearby tribe, with apparently hostile intentions, to have such power - no good could come of that!

But the rulers of the Gathering Storm did not immediately go to war. In order to ascertain completely without a doubt the hostile intentions down-river, we sent a message asking that an approaching Scout not approach our borders. Sadly, they chose to snuggle this Scout right up to our border, and as it turned out, within striking distance of one of our valiant Warriors. Thus was our combined fate decided.


Some bits to counter the War story Donegael has now posted:

The first Stormia strategy was non-violent. Our leaders thought that perhaps if we just denied the Voxians some basic necessities and made it unpleasant to live in The Voice, they would leave. For countless years was this approach waged, with the riff-raff of the Stormian army occupying the lands around The Voice. These were the bullies and brutes - those who were forced into the army to serve penalty for crimes.

One day however, surprising news reached our generals - the brutes had been there so long that they had become quite familiar with the comings and goings of Voxians, and had noticed a unique opportunity - the city was defended by just a single formation of Archers - well trained Archers, but all the same, just a single formation. In addition, it seemed that the civilians were not planning an entire evacuation, as hoped, but to split off and found another city in the area.

The generals talked late into the night and eventually decided that though the forces present were raw, that a possible victory and early end to the war was worth the risk, and an attack was ordered. Each formation of hooligans was to attack in turn, and to check back before proceeding, but sadly...as maybe should have been foreseen...these rough soldiers didn't follow their orders too closely, and they simply all attacked. Laughably, they did follow one aspect of their orders and attacked in sequence, rather than all at once, probably giving the defenders the respite needed to pull off the victory.

That day confirmed to all of Stormia just how evil the RNG gods are, and how they must be better prepared in the future.

Despite the setback, all of Stormia has been hard at work recruiting a proper army. The next generation might still have their roots in thuggery (in particular, those famous for shenanigans on the frozen Fury River in the winter), but they have been trained, and given more appropriate weaponry. The Gathering Storm will wipe The Voice from this land!

[notyoueither]

Good work, HM, but I would not mention anything about Hinduism as a cause of war.

IIRC, just being that close made many of us wary, and then the lack of heed paid to our request for respect for borders sealed it for most.

I would cast it that Stormian rulers had doubts about a neighbour so close, but were content to see if we could find understanding and work together. Vox quickly proved otherwise and the war began.

[Hot Mustard]

I respectfully disagree, for the following reasons:
- we let Vox take the first shot in the public forum, which gives them an edge
- we're the ones that started the fighting
- Yes, Vox went against our wishes, but they didn't do so with a military unit, and we also didn't really give them time - I believe our notice went out when they already had the turn
- the history of GS, from an early relations standpoint
- in our early message to Vox I thought we actually mentioned our misgivings about the religion/river - so they could mention that themselves, making us look bad for not being more open about our justifications
- the more transparent we are about our (game-mechanics) reasons for war, the less likely people are to see us as the "bad guy", or as just wanting to kick Vox around again for fun (bullying)


Maybe we don't mention that we were also after Hinduism - that's not so relevant and may make it seem like we were bitter about losing it. It's enough that a very close civ, connected by a river, founded an early religion and disregarded a request.

[Arrian]

Their founding of our religion ( ) was a factor, and not a minor one.

Geography is the prime driver. EotS and the Voice are close enough that we can spit on eat other. And spit we have
Then religion, especially given the immediate trade connection via river.
Then the scout, a distant third.

IMO, of course. I strongly agree with HM about being fairly transparent about our reasons for war. We're the aggressor, end of story. But we have solid reasons for being so, and other teams will get that.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Eye of the Storm, the dawn of time:

The Storm was unleashed upon the world from the darkness beyond.

The people of the Storm founded their great city, The Eye of the Storm, upon the banks of the great river. The people wondered, as all people do, about the mystery of creation.

And so the people of the Storm sent their wise men up into the hills to ponder the vagueries of the Universe. The Wise men told their people that it would likely take them many years to answer the great question of Life, The Universe and Everything. 42 years, maybe...

The years passed by, and no word came from the wise me. The people of the Storm grew worried. During this time, they had become aware of another tribe who lived downstream of their great city - a people who spoke with one Voice. Soon it became clear that this monolithic group were settled amazingly close to Eye of the Storm. Indeed, their lands could be seen from the hills of the wise men! This news was deeply unsettling to the leaders of the Storm. How could two peoples coexist in such proximity?

Then disaster struck. Word came that the people of the one Voice had discovered the answer the people of the Storm had been seeking! Messengers were sent to find the Stormian wise men, and none were to be found! The wise men had been kidnapped by scouts of the Voice, and their secrets stolen!

Ah, but the wise men of the Storm had the last laugh. For the secrets they revealed to the people of the one Voice reflected the multiplicity of voices in the Universe. A pantheon of gods created, ruled, loved and warred. It is believed that the people of the Voice are still struggling with these truths.

The leaders of the Storm demanded that Voxian scouts henceforth stay away from Stormian lands, but soon enough a group was sighted on hills overlooking Eye of the Storm. The great warrior, Spinebreaker, was ordered to arrest the interlopers, and thus began our long war with Vox Controli.

edit: Spiney, not Grog.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Not sure yet if we want to say anything about the (first, but NOT LAST!) battle of The Voice.

There isn't much to say, other than "we had a decent shot of ending it right then and there, so we took it. It didn't go our way. Meh."

-Arrian

[Hot Mustard]

Cool.

It was SpineBreaker that attacked their Scout according to the latest Vox story post.

[Arrian]

Oh, doh. No biggie. So we take Grog out. How's the rest of it?

-Arrian