Around 4000 BC...

Catherine, tucked in by furs and leather boots, tredged up the snow filled hill. Bitter winds sliced into her cheecks when she looked up to find her path, but she perservered.

"Josef. How far until we reach the top of the mountain?"

Josef Dzhugashvili looked up, his wide black mustache obscuring much of his face that was wrapped by furs. "An hour at most. The Gods grant only an hour."

Catherine nodded and when checking to make sure Peter was still with them, continue her long stides.

Josef proved to be correct, and an hour later they reached the 100 meter sided crater that formed the top of the Radiant Mountain. Catherine looked around and at first saw nothing, but then saw a faint glow in the center of the crater. She rushed with her cold bones to it, desperate for the hope they needed.

The glow grew more and more powerful, until it burst, and seven symbols, each colored one of the colors of the rainbow, hovered in a perfect line before them.

And a voice emanated from all, and yet none of them.

Destiny...awaits...

And all of the symbols formed before Peter. They formed a weird spherical object that appeared to give off light (a light bulb guys! :O), and the voice spoke.

Thou...shalt...know...Wisdom...

And before Josef, they formed a grey colored fist.

Thou....shalt...know....Power....

And lastly, before Catherine, they formed a dove surrounded by a glow of light.

Thou...shalt....know...Enlightenment....

And quick as that, they were gone from the Mountain, standing among their bewildered people who backed away in shock.

Catherine seized the moment. "Fear not o Rus! We have been grants Salvation!" And thou she did not truly know what their salvation was, she knew it was given. And the people cheered.

In the celebration that night, Peter and Josef pulled her aside.

"Where do we head now? My bones shudder at the thought of staying here, some kind of...sense." said Peter.

"We must head somewhere to settle, the end of the nomadic ways of the Rus is our salvation now."

Catherine closed her eyes, and broadened her senses. "West. We head West."

2 months later....

Catherine was in equal stride with Peter and Josef and they climbed the end of the gentle green rise. And there they saw it. Silver shores, teeming with seaside life. Green grasslands, with occasional hills breaking them. There were animal herds running about the land. It was truly their home, they had just not found it before.

And as the people started to move down to the new land to begin their new lives, Josef mused on what would become of it.

"So we are finally ending our ancient nomadic ways. What shall we build out of it I wonder."

Catherine knew. She only needed one word. "Civilization."

And so it was.

NOTE: This is LOOSELY a mix off of two games of civ. :O

Thus, in 4000 BC, the city of Moscow was established. Catherine, Josef, and Peter were built a spacious, multiroomed hut in thanks for their direction to this auspicious site.

As nearly 100 years passed on, a new tradition was established. The Russians would send out scouts every year, and every five years a scout party would return. In this way, they had a memory map of the surrounding regions. With this, the Rus began to think of expansion.

One thing, a miracle actually, was that Catherine, Josef, and Peter did not age. Not at all. They remained leaders of the Rus and of Moscow for many years beyond their natural lifespans!

It was, nearly 800 years since the foundation of Moscow, that Catherine called Josef and Peter to her.

"Our wise men have found many secrets. Our people know how to tame the land and its animals. We pay homage to the Gods. And Moscow thrives. But it is getting crowded in Moscow, and what about the land around us? We can build more cities, and use the land around us to enrich the city!"

"But what of the wild beasts that roam the outside land? They could find us and slay us all!" said Peter.

"We have warriors, and we can crush the wild animals with these warriors. There is no obstacle to our expansion now!"

And they then agreed.

In the next 200 years, Moscow sent off its settler and trained organized teams of workers to improve the land around Moscow. These workers found and tamed many of the wild herds of sheep and horse, and they built pastures to house them. They built farms to grow food upon, and they began to mine in the hills. Thus, 1,000 years after the Rus first settled down, the second city of St. Petersburg was established.

Peter went with the settlers and would manage the city independent of Moscow until some way of communication could be establsihed. Pondering this, Catherine came up with the idea of hammering the ground to be flat:hammer: so that people could move faster. This idea was called "the road" and one was built across the grasslands and hills to St. Petersburg. From then on, weekly runners arrived bearing news from and to each city.

In about 2840 BC, Peter returned to Moscow. Following him were several men garbed oddly. Peter was also wearing a purple turban that formed an odd cone shape (Russian style turban! :O). He then bowed that due to an equal before Catherine.

"Catherine! Long has it been since we spoke! I have...news."

"News? News!? Who are these men, and why are more of them entering the city and talking to the people!?"

Peter gestured to the men. "These are my priests! And they are missionaires as well. We have found a new Faith Catherine! A new religion, for our new people! It was founded in St. Petersburg about a year ago, but I ignored it for that year. Then, when most of the populace had converted to this new faith, they brought its texts before me. And behold!, I was enlightened!"

"What is the name of this 'new faith'?"

"It is called, "Hinduism"."

Catherine did not know what to make of this new religion that Peter had brought before her. She strode away and tartly informed her servants that no missionaries were to be allowed in the Palace.

Deep in the night, Catherine awoke to find a glowing symbol floating before her bed. If she was not mistaken, that was the symbol etched on the Hindu priest's robes. It dissipitated, but Catherine felt different almost instantly. She thoguht, and then headed to where the Hindu priests were being quartered outside.

They were all hunched peacefully but uncomfortably in the hay bales. She woke them all up and waited till they were no longer groggy. "You may go sleep in the Palace, my servants have prepared rooms for you." They all looked relieved and glad, and they strode out of the barn. But Catherine stopped the High Priest. "Let me see those books." She pointed to the five books he carried with him.

"The Vedas? These are sacred texts! How do we know you will not destroy them?"

"I swear I will not, and if you don't I can have you killed and take the books by myself."

The High Priest reluctantly handed her the texts. And Catherine plopped them open in her study and had food and drink brought to her.

For it is in these days of the world that many are godless, or follow olden ways. But it is that these Vedas have been written and built upon the sacred words of Nikolai Greckov, who has brought the true faith of Hinduism into the land of the Rus.

So it is that there are three highest gods, but all gods are truly just the face of one. The Trimurti is made of the gods Shiva the Destroyer, Brahma the Creator, and Vishnu of Many Avatars. For Brahma has crafted the universe with his divine labor, and he has given us life. And there is Vishnu, who has come in many faces throughout his life. And there is Shiva, the Destroyer, who allows the process for rebirth to begin.

In the beginning of time, a golden egg floated on the first waters. And from here it was that Brahma would be born. And Brahma...

With every page, Catherine grew more and more entraced. Her very soul reverberated with the calling of faith. She slept sparsely, ate and drank only when needed. She could not pull herself away from the call of Hinduism.

Then, nearly a week after she started, she turned the last page of the last book, and read its final words.

And so it is that Kalkin who is Vishnu banished the wicked from the world forever. And with his steel justice, he has brought peace to a land that forever knew war. And the people of the world who were good and pure, they lived forever in joy...

She gently closed the Vedas, and gathered them to her. She opened and strode through her heavy, but elaborately decorated stone door. She closed it behind her and walked to the Throne Room. Once there, she saw only Josef of one of the three thrones. "Josef? Where is Peter?" Josef muttered that he was with his priests, and Catherine left the palace.

She found the makeshift temple, and entered it. Peter and the Hindu priests were worshipping. They were singing a song in worship to Brahma, and Peter was horribly off key. But he sang nonetheless. After 15 minutes, the High Priest noticed her. He nervously eyed the Vedas but bowed decently to her. "What is it that you require of we simply priests, Lady Catherine?"

She handed him the Vedas, and fell to her knees. She clasped her hands in prayer and bowed her head. The signal could not be mistaken. Catherine of the Rus was officially a Hindu convert.

So it was that Catherine of the Rus would become a Hindu. In the following mass conversions across Moscow and throughout the recently built cottages in Rus territory, anarchy appeared. Mikhail Veselov, and powerful war leader, refused to abandon the traditional gods of the Rus. He took many of the Rus' finest warriors and began a civil war. In the ensuing chaos, all the land fell into anarchy.

About 40 years later...

Catherine was in a jovial mood today. The fact that Mikhail Veselov was in chains before her might have been the reason. Might. "So Mikhail, you have been caught after 40 years of defying me. How did you survive to such an age?"

"I should ask you the same question Catherine," he said the name like it was venom, "considering that you are centuries my elder."

"Yes, I am aren't I?"

She had all the prisoners brought forth, about 50 in total. They were warriors, workers, and Mikhail's famiky. "I pronounce judgement upon these traitors. They shall not be killed, but be sent out of our lands. They are no longer Rus, they are nothing. They have no culture, no ties to us, and no right to enter out home every again. If any of them or their descendents should enter our land, they pay with death."

Mikhail let his head fall in shame. The prisoners were forced to stand and were pointed East. "Go Mikhail. Go to whatever land lies there, and never return here again. You do not even deserve to live for all the suffering you have caused." The traitors left, and a day later scouts arrived detailing that they were well out of Rus lands.

Thus, Catherine was declare Hinduism to be the official religion of the Rus people. In the following age of peace and prosperity, proper Hindu temples were built in Moscow and St. Petersburg. A monestary was also constructed in Moscow, and a party of Hindu missionaries went to explore the world and convert it.

In about 2560 BC, a third city was established. The city was called Novogorod, and it was neastled by hills and mountains, a perfect city for mining. By now, the wise men had found the secrets of constructing buildings, called Masonary, and of making strong bronze. They determined a source of copper could be found in the hills surrounding Novogorod, and so they were determined to get at it.

After Novgorod was founded, the national attitude of the Rus changed. For the first time, they began to identify all lands that they ruled as "Russia" and themselves "Russians".

Catherine, waiting on the crest of a large hill for the weekly runner to arrive, smiled at this concept. One day, they would call it the Russian Empire...

not bad... keep it up eh