My first story in a long time. Played as Sumerians at Regent level, huge world.

Modern Sumeria is shocked and astounded by the headline in todays paper:

Archaeologists discover tablets dating back to 4000 BC

Yesterday, archaeologists discovered ancient writings on stone tablets dating back some 6000 years at a dig on Mount Gilgamesh. The discovery of the ancient temple throws centuries of historical/religious teachings and assumptions on its ear!

Read tomorrows paper to see the text of the tablets for the first time, as archeologists and language experts decypher the ancient writings.


(I'll post more tonight time permitting)

Nice intro!
I'll keep my eyes peeled on this thread :)

this could be good

As promised in yesterdays paper, here is some sample translated text from 'The Epic of Gilgamesh'.


Out of the Sea of Hawetha our people arose. The Spirits Directed us to a wooded coastal land where the great Lord Gilgamesh instructed us to build our first settlement. Ur was founded on the seashore.

Lord Gilgamesh then led our warriors on a geat journey to find the edges of the world!

To the Spine of the World he travelled. The spirits prevented him form going further west. The land beyond the mountains was nothing but marshlands. These marshlands were hereafter called the Deadite Marshes in honor of the evil spirits living there. The great Spine rose magestically above the plains to the east. It held the sky and prevented the evil spirits of the West from entering our fair land! Gilgamesh and his warriors fought many spirits those days along the Spine. They appeared to be of the same peoples as the Urians but dressed in white, as ghosts.

After many days travel the intrpid explorers reached the Spirit Lakes. Lord Gilgamesh looked down on the lakes and communed with the Spirit-World. Some day, the spirits told him, this land would belong to your people.

Lord Gilgamesh instructed runners to request settlers from Ur to populate this promised land.

Lord Gilgamesh reluctantly left the Promised Land to continue his journey north. After many battles with the ghosts of the Spine he reached a great northern sea! The Spirit of the Sea arose to confront him and would not let his warriors pass. Gilgamesh, however, was brought to a sacred mountain where the secrets of his peoples destiny were revealed.

"Lord Gilgamesh, thy Domain will be known as Sumer! It will hereafter be limited to the Spine in the west , the Teeth of the spirit Ea to the east and north and by the great seas in other directions! Beware Devils pass! Construct a mighty fortress there to guard against evil spirits! Verily, thy people will grow strong and challenge even the great spirits"


Lord Gilgamesh returned to his people to spread his news. He brought tales of a great mouintain in the center of the world and told horrific stories of the lands to the west and of the Teeth of Ea. The spirits taught him many wonders from Ceremonial Burial to the knowledge of many Gods.

At the foot of the Sacred Mountain a villiage sprang up called Tibiria, Sumer sprang up along the gold laden Spine. Kish and Agade soon colonized the Holy Spirit Lakes. The Gods Enki and Ninhursag ruled the twin lakes. Ea the earth God ruled the Teeth and The Father of all, Ain ruled at the Temple Mount.


As you can see, our previously held beliefs that civilization originated at the Twin Spirit Lakes appears incorrect! Ur was actually the first city of our civilization, not Kish!

The One God Enki appears to have been one of many in our distant past. Once our civilization was ready for Monotheism, he was 'moved' to Mount Ain. Now it is plain to see where the great mountain we all pray to got its name.

Stay tuned for a summary of our history as Archaeologists have pieced it together with this new and astounding evidence.

Here is an illustration of how the world would have looked in Epic times:

And by the end of the Epic story (Assumed to be about 850 BC)that we have pieced together so far:

Originally posted by Captainkeyes23
this could be good

Hope I live up to your guys expectations :)

Good job so far BrianJ...looking forward to future installments.

*sigh* I noticed lots of mistakes in my city placement.. Oh well, it's a learning experience hehe

Last week we informed you of archaeological findings at Mount Ain and other sites. Historians have been pouring over the findings to piece together what they mean. Much of our previous knowledge of ancient history in Old Sumeria must be revised to include this new information. Previous notions of us originating in the Twin Lakes region and migrating to Mount Ain must now be discarded.

Without further ado, here is a summary of what we now believe is Sumerian ancient history.

A history of the Sumerians

4000 BC
The ancient tribe of Ur wanders in the great southern plains and discovers a forest. They settle in the forest, reportedly guided by spirits.

They build the town of Ur on the coast. The town is immediately able to use the dies found in the forest for artwork, clothing decorations and so on.

3700 BC
THe villiage grows in population enough that the first militia can be formed to explore the surrounding area.

We learn Cerimonial burial from the Shangian tribe.

The year 3100 brought great changes to Sumeria. Ur had grown enough to produce its first group of settlers! Sumerian expansion had begun!

The exploring Epic of Gilgamesh warriors had found a villiage that did not welcome visitors. A hard fought battle cleared out the hostile tribes warriors. The Epic of Gilgamesh tells us of discovering the mysterious Two Spirit Lakes and the exploration of the mountain range we know as the Spine of the World. The world beyond the spine had proven mostly hostile. A vast marsh, called Deadite Marsh spread out as far as the eye could see in the south and a vast desert dubbed the Great Wasteland could be seen to the north. It was believed that this was the end of the earth.

After wandering 100 years or so, the first Sumerian settlers founded Sumer. It was a costal town with gold laden mountains to the west, and plains to the north and east.

The Epic of Gilgamesh tells us that the intrepid warriors explored the Spine of the Mountains to the Northern Sea. Little was known of this ocean. They met with 2 more villiages, one of which provided gold and the other taught the warriors the secret of Masonry.

2150 BC
Another Sumerian settler sets out from Ur. The Epic of Gilgamesh tells us of another chain of mountains called Ea's Teeth after the Earth Spirit EA. This is most likely the chain of mountains cutting off the penninsula to Old England.

2070 BC
This date marks a huge discovery by Sumerian Warriors. The holy Mountain of Ain is discovered. At this mountains, the sacred texts say, the warriors were told of the great plans of the Sky Spirits.

1675 BC
An historic meeting between the Sumerians and a Hittite explorer brings the world shaking news that the Sumerians are not alone in this world! And not only that but the Hittites are on the other side of the Spine of the world!

We trade masonry and 90 gold with the hittites who teach us of the Wheel. Horses are discovered near Ur and near the Twin Spirit Lakes.

1025 BC
The Epic of Gilgamesh continues. The warriors cross the mountains known as Ea's Teeth and discover more rich farmland. They also discover another tribe, the English! They purchase a technology called Iron Working from the English for a princely sum.

This covers 3000 years of early Sumerian expasion. To be continued next week.

Nice Story, but :eek: :eek: You put Agade on the cow!

Originally posted by -0blivion-
Nice Story, but :eek: :eek: You put Agade on the cow!

D'oh! Yeah I know, as I said, my city placement sucks so far in this game. I found single tile unused strips between a couple of cities too. Oh well, I'm just playing for the story.

Maybe I could move Agade.

Originally posted by BrianJ
D'oh! Yeah I know, as I said, my city placement sucks so far in this game. I found single tile unused strips between a couple of cities too. Oh well, I'm just playing for the story.

But your story is good :thumbsup:


-lenny

850 BC:
The Homerian Epic describes the first meeting of Japan around 850 BC. The Japanese were a primitive people compared to Sumer at this time. We trade them Masonry for all their gold (60)

630 BC:
Records show the discovery of the Western Sea around this date.

610 BC:
The Homerian Epic discovers an uninhabited island to the far south. Proof that there are other lands across the seas!

590 BC: The Hittites complete the Oracle.

[Authors note: I'm running on minimum science here. Was this a mistake? So far I've been able to buy a few techs and the AI is only a couple techs ahead. They have mysticism and writing. As of this point I have 2 turns to writing.]

570 BC: As the map shows, at this time the Sumerians had built a number of forts along the 'spine' in order to enforce their border region here.

560 BC A volcano erupts in Hittite territory. No damage was reported. Better them than us.

550 BC: We learn Mysticism from a small tribe, the Sabadars!

540 BC: We discover writing and build embassies. This is the date believed to be when the recording of the Epic of Gilgamesh from oral stories was begun.

570 BC: As the map shows, at this time the SUmerians had built a number of forts along the 'spine' in order to enforce their border region here.

560 BC A volcano erupts in Hittite territory. No damage was reported. Better them than us.

550 BC: We learn Mysticism from a small tribe, the Sabadars!

540 BC: We discover writing and build embassies. This is the date believed to be when the recording of the Epic of Gilgamesh from oral stories was begun.


530: The Homerian epic records indication of more civilization on another continent!

490: The volcano at the edge of Hittite lands erupts again with no reported casualties.
The yellow border belongs to the Ottomans! They are a relatively primitive people, however they know Polytheism. I trade it for pottery and alphabet.

We discover that the English and Hittites already have this knowledge and the Hittites are up Map-making on us! The Japanese need some of these techs but they are too poor.

430 BC: We learn Literature from the Mauryan tribe! The English buy it for a whopping 420 gold. Hittites only offer 200. We take it as they will buy it from the English anyway.

350 BC: We learn Mathematics from the Hurrian tribe. Mursilis still won't trade Map Making for a reasonable price so we keep math to ourselves. Let them suffer with not knowing how to count their gold!

230 BC: The Russians build the colossus, whoever they are!

150 BC: We discover Phylosophy and start map making.

90 BC: This was a time of doubt and fatalism. The ancients had a clock that counted down the days since the beginning. According to this clock, there were only 90 days left in the world. many people believed this. Coupled with the fact that the Gilgameshi prophesies announced that the lands between the Spine mountains and the Teeth were all Sumerian, and the fact that almost all land available in this are was settled, made for a convincing belief.

10 BC: There were many movements started in this year to call for preparation for the end of the world.

10 AD: To everyones relief, the world didn't end! Expansion began to the fertile lands south of the Hittites. The historians began counting years forward from this date as the 'doomsday' clock started over.

130 AD Carthage completes the Great Library. Whoever they are.

150 AD: Mursisis demands mathematics. I send him on his way empty handed.

IBT Salamanca completes the Mausoleum of Marsallos. We scrap ours in Ur.

260 AD: Revolution! Rebels take control of Ur and hold the government hostage.

300 AD: One of the revolutionaries gains control of the Sumerian Government and proclaims himself king. He takes the title of Gilgamesh.

370 AD: The Sumerian civilization now spans the continent! New Ur is built on the west coast.

380 AD: The Great Lighthouse is built in Ur.

470 AD: A massive barbarian uprising is reported near Dabrum.

480 AD: We find another continent! Looks like Iroquois.

490 AD: Nope its the Portugese. They are up Construction and Republic.

This story is definitely the best I have read. Keep it up!

And by the end of the Epic story (Assumed to be about 850 BC)that we have pieced together so far:
How did you get that warrior next to the chariot? Goodie hut?

Nice story, BTW.

Thanks, glad you like it so far! I'll have to find some time to play more..

The warrior is actually a Hittite..

No wars yet, there was so much land that it is still in the expansion phase. We are also all in Ancient age still, unless some of them are now past it and I jsut can't see the Midaeval techs.

I kinda got distracted from this game over the summer! lol

I'll try to pick up where I left off. I think the Epic of Gilgamesh storyline is done but I'll see if I can come up with something else. I've played to ~1700AD now

The Sumerian age of exploration known as the Homerian Epic details the exploration of the three main continents of the world and their people.

A captains journal has been uncovered detailing as never before the ancient Sumerians odyssey when they set out to explore the world.

Journal entry 1:
We sit at rest in the Ottoman city of Istanbul. The Ottomans are a friendly, simple people. They live on a tiny Island to the south of the 'feet' of our continent. A golden jewel at the feet of a mighty bird.

I should explain, Journal, of what I speak. After circumnavigating the known world or maps show our continent being vaguely the shape of a bird. The Body being Sumerian, the head English, the back and rump being Hittitia (how appropriate!)and the feet being Japan. Osman's little island lies at the feet of our bird.

As I said, the Ottomans are a simple people. Little interested in trade, they seem satisfied with their lot in life.

After loading up on supplies we will bid farewell to the islanders and continue on our way. Rumour tells us of a mighty people to the east of the Ottomans.

Journal entry 2:
This is indeed a mighty continent! The first people we met are a warlike, but incredibly advanced people called the Iroquois.
They have amazing cities and powerful ships. They are not willing to part with this knowledge at any price the Sumerian people could afford. I fear it is our lot to wallow in obscurity with a republic so timid of their own shadow that we fear to take what is rightfully ours. But I digress. This is a mission of peace, not war.

Journal Entry two, after sailing past the inhospitible Iroquois, we discover a new land, caled Carthage. They are neighbours to the Iroquois, and are wary and distrustfulo of us. Who can blame them with neighbours such as that! THey are, however, willing to trade with us for supplies to keep our journey moving. I suspect that this is their desire anyway.

Journal Entry 3:
East of the Carthaginians, we meet the Dutch! Just how long is this continent anyway! We find them more hospitable but are unable
to set up trade with them due to the distance our tiny boat is from home.

Journal Entry 4:
We spend some time with the Dutch, touring their fine cities. They are not as advanced as the Iroquois were but are much friendlier.
I can see a friendship with the Dutch people and Sumerians lasting a long time!


At this point a pause in the narrative takes place, as if pages were missing. Given the next entry we surmise many years have passed since the last intelligible entry. The entry seems to be in another's handwriting.


Journal entry 5:
As we passed the South England shore, my first mate spied a ship of unknown design in the distance. It was not flying the colours of England. We set sail to investigate. Our chase brought us to another land! We were not sure if this land was attached to the Iroquois continent to the south at this time.

Journal entry 6:
The Portugese Are a sophisticated and civilised people. They have knowledge far surpassing our own, but, like the Iroquois, seem unwilling to share it. We visited and socialised with the Portugese in Libson for some time. They were at least hospitable unlike the Iroquois. They shared many strange stories of huge creatures called Elephants, and various other marvels to the east.

Journal entry 7:
Traversing the northern edge of the Portugese landmass we find it is roughly curved. Past the Portugese and a few English cities on this continent
we discovered the Indians. We went ashore and gawked at the massive creatures called elephants that they used as war mounts.
Sumer would have difficulty fighting these creatures! The Indians were as advanced as the other civilizations on this continent. We began to feel
how much of a backward society we have on our land.

Journal entry 8:
Sliding down the eastern slope of this great continent we discovered the Russians. They appeard congenial much like the rest of their northern
neighbours and unlike the southern ones. The entire trip we didn't feel the need to watch ourt backs. We looked forward to rounding the eastern edge of this continent and eventually meeting up with our friends, the Dutch.

Journal entry 9:
To our surprise, the northern part of the continent appears to be a separate landmass from the south. Rounding the tip of the continent we discovered
an archapelego off the coast of tghe Russian edge of the continent. Thriving Russian colonies existed on these islands.

Journal entry 10:
Rounding the edge of the continent took years. It was indeed a large landmass. We yearned for news from home so we headed further down and met up with Dutch merchants who guided us to their northern ports. There we managed to send news home of our journeys via Dutch traders.
Continuing along the north coast through the huge channel, we passed several Dutch and Carthaginian settlements. The Russians referred to this sea as the Mediteranean Sea. Apparently this roughly translates to 'Sea in the middle of the world'. Strange name considering Sumer was the center of the world!

Journal entry 11:
Lo and behold! We discover another civilization! They are the northern neighbours of Carthage. We are greeted, however, with distrust, as we came to expect from the southern continent. Our journey home would begin now, as we had discovered the entire world. Our holds were filled with riches from these far away lands. Furs from Russia, Silk and Ivory from India, wines from the finest Dutch brewers.

It's a great story :)

However, you need to work on your point-of-view...Isn't this about an achaeologist's view of history? Sometimes, you say "we" in the earlier logs..

The Memoirs of Gilgamesh ILXXVII


Gilgamesh ILXXVI (426) is perhaps the best known leader of Sumer since Gilgamesh CXXIV. He grew up Enki Eafh of Ur, born in CE 1271, he was the youngest offical elected to the Sumerian Republics parliament. He became Prime Leader in CE 1295 and was bestowed the honourary name Gilgamesh ILXXVI in CE1299.

He travelled extensively to visit neighbouring countries. He was struck at the advanced civilisations surrounding Sumer and dismayed at the power of Sumer in relation to even the surrounding neighbours on Sumeria's landmass. England had built a close friendship with neighbouring Portugal by this time and had long ago surpassed Sumeria in knowledge. Even the Hittites were more advanced and more than content to allow Sumer to stagnate in obscurity.

He believed that past leadeship had allowed this stagnation and rose quickly in parliament on a platform of nationalism and pride. He became a popular leader with the people and spoke passionately on Sumeria finally taking its place among the great nations of the world.

His first act in power was to increase the literacy of the population by building libraries and universities. He cut waste in Government spending and increased the size of the army. He scrapped the philosophy of technology advance through peaceful negotiation with neighbours and increased scientific spending by 30%.

He built up armies of (Medaeval)Infantry and horsemen along the borders with Hittitia and England. Japan at this time was regarded as less of a threat. By 1320 he had put in place a feudal system that revolutionized the armed forces and Sumerian society itself. Knights of Sumer and Ur were trained as a formidible fighting force and positioned along Sumers borders.

Tension built up in the cities bordering Hittitia throughout the early 1330's. The Hittites were viewed as arrogant and selfish, refusing to trade with the Sumerians except at ridiculously high prices. Tensions rose to the point that demonstrations in favour for war erupted on both sides of the border. Finally, an insult over some trade negotiations sparked open hostilities. Both sides withdrew their diplomats from each others capitals and mobilized for war.

The following memoirs by Gilgamesh ILXXVII (First son of G-ILXXVI) gives fascinating insight into the start of the war and the resulting Sumerian victories.


1335-6-21
I never did find out how the negotiations went bad. The Hittites were being unreasonable as usual I suspect. At the time I was stationed as leader of the main force at Agade. The knights were anxious for a fight, and the new Trebuchets were being built faster than troops were being trained in their use. Katna was a faint haze in the distance across the Hittite desert.

Runners went back and forth along the Spine of the World relaying messages to the border cities. One such runner arrived out of breath the day before from Kua, where the trade negotiations had taken place. I opened the sheepskin envelope and nodded in satisfaction. It contained one wrod in blood red letters.

WAR


Within hours runners were travelling back across the Spine to Sumeria proper and to the armies stationed in Kua, Der, New Sumer, Susa, New Ur and Babil. Our advance would finally begin in 3 days as a syncronised spearhead on all sides.

I rode out in front on the agreed day. The knights banners surrounding me, gleaming armour as far as the eye could see. Mighty engines of war rolled out of the gates in front of light blue armoured infantry and pikemen. I wish I could say there was trepidation in what we were about to do, but I can't. Adrenelin rushed through our veins as the day we had trained for finally arrived.

By evening we had passed the border adn were in sight of Kanta, the first city on our list of objectives. I knew the 5 other armies stood poised similarly near their targets. The desert city of Yalburt, Kanesh, Samuha and Karatepe would soon be within our grasp.

3 days later we stood at the gates of Kanta. We had them surrounded, pikemen peering out through the hastily erected barricades. The Hittites had no time to build walls, or chose not to, perhaps arrogantly believing noone would attack them.

A volley of arrows from the town struck our troops, signalling the start of battle. We responed with Trebs and arrows of our own, crushing tin suited Pikemen within the barricades. I have to hand it to them, they put up a fight. Hittite Knights dressed in a similar blue to ours but darker, rode out to confront us. They did some damage butr were finished off by our pikes. I gave the signal and our knights advanced. There were losses on both sides, but we prevailed. We marched victoriously into the city a few days later after mopping up the last Hittite unit. Resisters flooded the streets, stopping our advance and forcing us to fortify the town until it was under control.

I startyed to receive reports over the coming weeks that the other armies met with varying success. Karotepe was ours. It was a town on a peminsula just north of New Sumer. Armies from Der and Sua had been bogged down adn had not reached Samuha yet. The Babil armies had already taken over Kanesh. The army from Susa combined with mine for an eventual assault on karhuyuk, a city further into the Hittite desert.

Yalburt proved to be the toughest nut to crack. We got bogged down in the mountains and were unable to reach our objectives. Knights poured south along the west coast to support the Hittite troops in the city. Our side needed reinforcements and they needed them fast. I ordered runners to gather reinforcement knights fast before the Hittites pushed through and entered our rather weak western coast.

As the months became years, we advanced steadily. Yalburt and Tyransa fell to our reserve knights, Samuha, Hubishna, Yaruyuk fell to my armies. The war ended in 1370 when Tarsus fell. This was the first of the core Hittite cities and was too close to the Hittite capital of Hattusus for comfort for the Hittites. They sued for peace. It gave us a respite too. 25 years of war had taken its toll on both me and my father. He had passed away in 1365. I was made interim war leader for 5 years until the war finally ended.

In 1372 I was elected leader of Sumeria, at the age of 50. Ther Hittites were made more humble, if not friendly. I settled down to peacetime governing, not something I was used to since war had been my way of live most of my adult life.

The rest of the world reminded us of theri existence in 1380 with the shocking news that the Aztecs had capitulated to the Iroquois. The Iroquois were now the largest nation in the world and were looking to keepexpanding east through Carthage.

...

As of the date of this writing, 1400, the Iroquois are at peace temporarily. Carthage has held its own throughout this long war and we salute them. Discussions in my inner circle have been brought up as to whether we side with the brutal Iroquois for future gain or prepare to defend ourselves against future attacks. No other country appears to be threatened by them as of this writing. We will monitor the situation closely, however.


As a footnote to this document, let us add that the war resumed between the Iroquois and Carthage eventually reducing Carthage to one little city on the north coast of the Iroquois continent by 1485. The Dutch were not affected by this war except to engage in opportunistic land grabs in territory the Iroquois laid bare with their armies. It is presently unknown wht Carthage was spared one city by the Iroquois when Aztec was destroyed.

Also at this time, The Indian / Portugese war raged, with Portugal at the losing end.

It's a great story :)

However, you need to work on your point-of-view...Isn't this about an achaeologist's view of history? Sometimes, you say "we" in the earlier logs..


I agree it's a little confusing, thanks for the comment! :)

The first part is from an archaeological pov, with the discovery of the 'Epic of Gilgamesh' tablets. I think I messed up the pov in the first part, yeah.. :) :mischief:

There was only so far I could carry the Epic part. Thats why the story stalled for so long.

The next part is a sea captains journal and is written in his POV.

The part I just posted is a memoir of one of the leaders during the(first) Hittite war. The Archaeological pov should be represented by italics. Later sections are really a historians perspective, still in italics.

I have to write up to the 1800s, which is where I am in the game right now. that part will be coming soon!

The elderly professor put down his pointing stick and faced the class.

"Are there any questions, class?" he said in a curious lilting accent.

One girl, speaking perfect Iroquois, raised her hand and asked "What happened next Sir? Where are the Sumerians now?"

"Well", the professor looked at her sadly. "where are they now, you ask?"

He sighed and shook his head. Iroquois still did not flow smoothly off his tongue.

"The Iroquois became the most powerful force in the world. They build the United Nations in Oil Springs. The whole world united under the Iroquois banner."

"But professor" one boy piped up. "The Sumerians can't have just disappeared. Where are they?"

The professor strode over to the window and looked out over the Iroquois city of Ur. Finally he spoke in a low, sad voice. "They are in all of us, lad. They have just been forgotten."

THE END

Well, noone seems to be reading it so I decided to end it :)

Erm... how did you skip ahead all those years? Could you at least give us a summary replay, like in the pic where you showed everyone?

Well, noone seems to be reading it so I decided to end it :)

It was a great story though. Sure you want to end it?

It was a great story though. Sure you want to end it?

Thanks! Glad someone liked it! :crazyeye:

Yeah.. I'm actually not finished the game yet.. but the Iroquois just built the UN. so the writing is on the wall. :eek: Also I'm way behind in tech. I'm researching Atomic Theory and the biggest civs have tanks, and are building things like Seti, UN, Manhattan Project etc.

I can post something once it is all over if you like..

Erm... how did you skip ahead all those years? Could you at least give us a summary replay, like in the pic where you showed everyone?

I'm not finished yet actually. The last story post was speculation. Like I said above, I'm way behind with little chance to catch up.

I skipped a lot of turns because it was just building and stuff.. not much to say.