Delphy
Nov 27, 2001, 12:00 PM
It was a time of great hardship. Eeking out an existence, following the game herds, constantly watching for the great predators that had come to dominate our life.
All this would change, however, when a man decided to change history. If not for him we would still be out there... He gathered people up and we looked at the area around us. Lush forests, game, fertile grasslands and, off in the distance, a large body of water. It was wonderful, and Athens was born out of the dust and the trees.
Soon, we explored the area, using our new town as a base camp. We where on a promitory, but we didn't know how far it stretched. The grasslands held yet more game, and past a small mountain to the north west was something we had never seen before - dyes. We sent a small pioneering group outwards - ready for all, and looking forward to the new opportunities. At the same time, we began to build roads and to cultivate the land.
An elite group of the wisest men gathered together by the firelight, and wreathed in the smoke from thier pipes they contemplated many things.
It was the beginnings. The beginnings of an empire, and it was an exciting time to live.
--
The pioneers did not, in the end, establish a village by the new source of dyes. It was too far to go back to Athens, and it was deemed better to create a small outlying town within a couple of days walk. This we called Sparta. Built upon a small hilltop, it commanded views of the surrounding countryside.
But we still wanted those dyes, so we asked for another pioneering group of young men and women - and they came.
Soon, Sparta and Athens where linked by a new road, and traders took thier wares from the frontier town into the now bustling city centre. A new village was formed north of Sparta - Thermopylae. It's traders brought dyes into Athens, and soon new fashions where seen all over the city.
The wisemen theorised about a set of codes for our best fighters, and so was born the Warrior Code, and from there a great scientific knowledge base was sought.
We had learnt how to communicate through language, but using the new dyes that held thier colours on hides and skins the wisemen came up with a standard set of symbols. Weighing - and exchanging - of goods was much easier when you could see everything tallied and inventoried.
More of precious dyes where discovered in a small forest outside Thermopylae, and the empire was beginning to flourish. The elders where concerned though. The young men and women needed space to go out and establish a life for themselves, and the Elders could see that with 3 villages on this small promintory space would run out soon. More knowledge was needed of the land, and so they commisioned a special group of warriors to range far and wide and report on the land.
This was not a moment too soon, for on our southern borders was another empire! The Egyptians where closely matched to ourselves, and we traded peacefully - for a while. We needed to expand, and they where in the way... or so we thought.
We ranged south over the mountains and found what is now called the Desert of Scorpions. A vast expanse of sand, with but a few watering holes. It was hard, but we got to the other side...
During the exploratory years, our carpenters and metal casters in Sparta began work on a grand statue of our god called the Colussus. We built temples to his glory, and from far and wide travellers came to gaze on it's radiant beauty.
Through another mountain range and the jungles beyond, our intrepid adventurers sought forth. Soon, they would come upon the Egyptians and learn the lay of thier land... and know thier weaknesses for the eventual conquest that all knew was to come, for the Egyptians where rich! Massive gold deposits in the hills around thier city of Memphis where spotted, and noted for future reference. Cleopatra - their Leader - was not impressed by our moving around thier lands, and told us to go back north. We ignored her.
It was decided that we could fit another village on the promintory but this was to be the last. On the way back from the Egyptian lands, we discovered a strange metal, later to be found out as Iron. The Egyptians had a city next to 2 of these deposits, and thier patrols had some... interesting weaponry. We needed access to this Iron... and that meant taking that Egyptian city.
But we knew that we needed a distraction in order to take the city we wanted... and the city of Alexandria proved to be just that. It was taken easily, in a short but bitter war. It could serve as a new base, but it was too weak. Only a short time after we captured it, Alexandria was taken back.
It was not a bad loss, becuase it had diverted the forces enough to build up our Hoplite and Archer units - new skills and new recruits had made these possible.
These new units flooded across the Desert of Scorpions, and caught a band of Egyptian Warriors unawares. The fight was short and we won easily. They fortified on the mountains overlooking the cityof Elephantine, and waited. They did not have to wait long, for an Archer unit, fresh from battles with skirmishing warriors, came down and defeated the Elephantine guards. The city, and it's Iron, was ours!
In preperation for our obvious victory, our engineers had started building a road across the Scorpion flats, soon to link our new city with our glorious empire! New units would be ours, and our Empire would become Golden!
-- End of Part 1
All this would change, however, when a man decided to change history. If not for him we would still be out there... He gathered people up and we looked at the area around us. Lush forests, game, fertile grasslands and, off in the distance, a large body of water. It was wonderful, and Athens was born out of the dust and the trees.
Soon, we explored the area, using our new town as a base camp. We where on a promitory, but we didn't know how far it stretched. The grasslands held yet more game, and past a small mountain to the north west was something we had never seen before - dyes. We sent a small pioneering group outwards - ready for all, and looking forward to the new opportunities. At the same time, we began to build roads and to cultivate the land.
An elite group of the wisest men gathered together by the firelight, and wreathed in the smoke from thier pipes they contemplated many things.
It was the beginnings. The beginnings of an empire, and it was an exciting time to live.
--
The pioneers did not, in the end, establish a village by the new source of dyes. It was too far to go back to Athens, and it was deemed better to create a small outlying town within a couple of days walk. This we called Sparta. Built upon a small hilltop, it commanded views of the surrounding countryside.
But we still wanted those dyes, so we asked for another pioneering group of young men and women - and they came.
Soon, Sparta and Athens where linked by a new road, and traders took thier wares from the frontier town into the now bustling city centre. A new village was formed north of Sparta - Thermopylae. It's traders brought dyes into Athens, and soon new fashions where seen all over the city.
The wisemen theorised about a set of codes for our best fighters, and so was born the Warrior Code, and from there a great scientific knowledge base was sought.
We had learnt how to communicate through language, but using the new dyes that held thier colours on hides and skins the wisemen came up with a standard set of symbols. Weighing - and exchanging - of goods was much easier when you could see everything tallied and inventoried.
More of precious dyes where discovered in a small forest outside Thermopylae, and the empire was beginning to flourish. The elders where concerned though. The young men and women needed space to go out and establish a life for themselves, and the Elders could see that with 3 villages on this small promintory space would run out soon. More knowledge was needed of the land, and so they commisioned a special group of warriors to range far and wide and report on the land.
This was not a moment too soon, for on our southern borders was another empire! The Egyptians where closely matched to ourselves, and we traded peacefully - for a while. We needed to expand, and they where in the way... or so we thought.
We ranged south over the mountains and found what is now called the Desert of Scorpions. A vast expanse of sand, with but a few watering holes. It was hard, but we got to the other side...
During the exploratory years, our carpenters and metal casters in Sparta began work on a grand statue of our god called the Colussus. We built temples to his glory, and from far and wide travellers came to gaze on it's radiant beauty.
Through another mountain range and the jungles beyond, our intrepid adventurers sought forth. Soon, they would come upon the Egyptians and learn the lay of thier land... and know thier weaknesses for the eventual conquest that all knew was to come, for the Egyptians where rich! Massive gold deposits in the hills around thier city of Memphis where spotted, and noted for future reference. Cleopatra - their Leader - was not impressed by our moving around thier lands, and told us to go back north. We ignored her.
It was decided that we could fit another village on the promintory but this was to be the last. On the way back from the Egyptian lands, we discovered a strange metal, later to be found out as Iron. The Egyptians had a city next to 2 of these deposits, and thier patrols had some... interesting weaponry. We needed access to this Iron... and that meant taking that Egyptian city.
But we knew that we needed a distraction in order to take the city we wanted... and the city of Alexandria proved to be just that. It was taken easily, in a short but bitter war. It could serve as a new base, but it was too weak. Only a short time after we captured it, Alexandria was taken back.
It was not a bad loss, becuase it had diverted the forces enough to build up our Hoplite and Archer units - new skills and new recruits had made these possible.
These new units flooded across the Desert of Scorpions, and caught a band of Egyptian Warriors unawares. The fight was short and we won easily. They fortified on the mountains overlooking the cityof Elephantine, and waited. They did not have to wait long, for an Archer unit, fresh from battles with skirmishing warriors, came down and defeated the Elephantine guards. The city, and it's Iron, was ours!
In preperation for our obvious victory, our engineers had started building a road across the Scorpion flats, soon to link our new city with our glorious empire! New units would be ours, and our Empire would become Golden!
-- End of Part 1