TerraNES: The Civil Experiment

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM NESSOS

The Daughters of the Trinity are sending a company into the Land of the Iron Lancers and Danyaria to combat the growing Aowland Menace and to maintain stability. They are convinced that the Iron Lancers must be maintained or else the region will fall to chaos and even a reemergence of the Red Faith.

Current Commitments of the Daughters of the Trinity and the Iron Lancers.
Hamburg-1 Unit Each
Danyaria-1 Unit Each
Brygantia-1 Unit Each (Under the Union)
Nessos- 1 Unit Daughters, 2 Units Iron Lancers


ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TARASE

We have concluded a deal with the Iron Lancers. Arles is to be annexed by Tarase.


ANNOUNCEMENT FROM NORTH AMERICA

Civilization disappeared behind a fog of the unknown. Tambien has left, and the region falls into presumed chaps.

OOC: Bring it on Trinitarians, last time that they fought they got butchered en masse by the Lancers (who also got butchered en masse as well, but who cares about the soon to be converted.)

Also, Terrance, I got another story bit for you and hopefully another later on tonight.

from Egypt
to Hyak:

This is the last chance you have before your empire is punished. Release Ugarit and Byblos and surrender Acre to Egypt or your empire will end.

To: Egypt
From: Hyak

Let me offer you a counter-proposal. Accept that the Levantine League has chosen Hyak as its sponsor and protector, and I shall rescind my holy declaration of war and permit you to continue ruling the Nile, and its adjacent environs.

Lord_Iggy said:

To: Egypt
From: Hyak

Let me offer you a counter-proposal. Accept that the Levantine League has chosen Hyak as its sponsor and protector, and I shall rescind my holy declaration of war and permit you to continue ruling the Nile, and its adjacent environs.

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The levantine league did no such thing. It was the moderator administrator who decided upon this, not the league. In any case, you have abused your last chance. Hyak will crumble.

A tie-breaker is an honored tradition of a council with an even amount of votes.

OOC: You just totally broke IC/OOC separation there erez. You're better than that.

OOC: I think he meant "Administrator"

EDITIC

EDITEDIT

I will reveal this during the update instead.

Lord_Iggy said:

OOC: You just totally broke IC/OOC separation there erez. You're better than that.

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lol. The moderator is the leader of the Levantine League

Isn't it moderator? I always called him useless moderator. Didn't I?

IT'S ADMINISTRATOR.

Really, you and SKILord wrote a story arc about him and I preface all diplo as from the Administrator. :3.

Then again, Egypt is IC somewhat clueless about world nations. Sorta like America, they feel like they earned the right to be.

Terrance888 said:

IT'S ADMINISTRATOR.

Really, you and SKILord wrote a story arc about him and I preface all diplo as from the Administrator. :3.

Then again, Egypt is IC somewhat clueless about world nations. Sorta like America, they feel like they earned the right to be.

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Administrator then. Pfff

I deserve to name the world as I see fit!

Yes you do.

However, raging at the incompetent "Moderator" will get you some weird looks from a completely different Mod.

OOC: Technically, the pro-Egyptian side of the Levantean League dug their own grave by booting Cyprus, which would have given them more weight. Allow me to speculate, but I think that what this vote is telling us is that the League voted for whichever power it will be easiest to seceed from after the dust clears and the empires fight each other into rubble. (oh, and we'll sell the weapons!)

OOC: He tricked him, but as Administrator he gets to determine the way the voting goes, and if they didn't vote Cyrus out, that means they voted to keep it in. That means that the Egyptian proposal is automatically denied.

Minigame 9- A Legendary View of The Early Turns

Time twists all tales.

Barely 50 years from World War II, already multiple interpretations of its events have arisen.

Barely 200 years from the French and American revolutions, details and legend conflate.

A thousand years separate our daily lives from romantic tales of the great Charlemagne and Arthur.

We are currently reaching 900 years of history since the very sprout of civilization have arisen on the soul of this earth. Times have changed tremendously. Even where records are available, they are often fragmented or interpreted. Where they are not, historical figures became tales, tales became myths, myths become legends, and many are lost forever in history.

What this prompt is asking is for a historical reinterpretation by the present culture of events since the beginning of the NES to around update 14ish. That is two Hundred Years ago, a bit too close for comfort, but that is also right after when the last major event occurred: the migration of the Chariot-riders and the explosion of Mount Ziril.

Keep in mind that not only are the updates "generalizations" they are usually not that specific and creative licenses were taken to outrageous extremes. It is your choice to fill in details, go off on your own, or insert a new interpretation of events. Entirely new details can be added, as long as the event itself can be understood within the framework.

This prompt, as always, does not specify the use of fiction or non-fiction voices. Nor does it specify that you focus on an individual event or a chronicle-style history of your first five hundred years. It doesn't even specify that you have to focus on your own nation, and interesting things can be done by relating to events nearby and how it effected your own nation. This prompt, however, qualifies that this MUST be popular history. Historians say that George Washington didn't chop down a cherry tree, but Americans largely do.

For those whose nations are relatively young, one can choose to write about their entry into civilization onward or about their relationship with a larger, order civilization nearby.

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FP is largely updated. Please notify me of all mistakes.

Change of Plans

Bells were ringing throughout the entire city when the slaughter inside of the beer hall and soup shop was done. Seven Iron Lancers were killed, and the Nine Dragons detachment that had come with the group led by Titus were cleaning their weapons and waiting. Smiling Jack had gone outside for a moment or two with Malakai and Varus to go and do some recon on how the city was doing at the moment. Titus himself sat at the bar, pouring himself and some others several drinks while waiting for word.

They did not have to wait too long though. Smiling Jack, Malakai, and Varus all returned inside of a half an hour. Smiling Jack was agitated, the scars across his face twisting and pulling grimly as he gnashed his teeth, while Malakai looked perturbed to say the least. Oscar looked at Varus questioningly, but he was already moving towards Titus and talking to him as the other man looked up at him. The latter’s face changed abruptly from languid rest to sharp eyed caution, and his tone took on a sharper edge as he and Varus whispered below the talk that the other men in the room were doing. Jack in the meanwhile had taken one of the Lancers out of the chests in the back rooms, and was flaying the body on one of the tables, muttering to himself darkly.
Titus clambered to his feet suddenly, knocking over a stool, swearing as every eye turned towards him. Oscar got up to help, but he waved him away as he readjusted it. He adjusted his armor and looked grimly out towards the rest of the men around him. “Gentlemen,” he said. “We have something new that has cropped up here since the others went out to go do some reconnaissance of the city. From the talk that stretches all the way to the inner sanctums of Nessos, word is spreading that the Faelinkriser is dead, struck down by an assassin’s arrow. Already, Nessos is being locked down, and we have a very short window at this point. Jonnah will now be more cautious, as will the other Iron Lancers throughout the entire city and our plans now have to be readjusted.”

“Do tell how you are going to do that.” Jack ripped a thin square of skin off of the Lancer on the table before him, snarling at it and taking out a needle and sewing it onto a cloak of many different hues that even Oscar was put off by. “Given the current situation, and the fact that the new Faelinrkriser will not be any better than the previous one, it won’t matter if we kill every thrice damned Iron General and candidate in this damn city, we’ll have to eliminate the upper echelons of the Faith in Exile long before we can allow our own candidate in. This will cause bloody war in the west, I assure you, as the Iron Lancers will point the finger at the closest people to be responsible for this. I would not want to be a druid in a few months when Myles is snugly kept inside the Iron Keep.”

“We’ll have to do that then.”

Jack jerked his head up sharply at Titus, looking into the other man’s eyes quietly. He cracked a smile that only caused him to look more hideous. “I rather like the idea to be honest, killing half of the bloody city in a bloody quest to ensure that our own person takes the seat of power, I rather do. Would prefer killing druids by the dozen and flaying them for my cloak, but I’ll have to settle on soft, fleshy Lance captains and generals. Who’s going to kill who at this point?”

“Our grouping is still focused on the candidates from the Iron Faith and such that are going to try to make a power grab and lock down their sections of the city and instill order, to catch Jonnah’s eye and recommendation to the next Faelinkriser. I would like to request the Nine Dragons detachment to execute Plan K as we agreed upon earlier, as a contingency in case something similar to this happened. They will handle the butchery in the Halls of the Gods, and eliminate as many of the Sylvrans and the Arch-Faelinkrisers as much as they can.”

“Not a very pious thing to do, is it?” Oscar grinned at Titus. “Considering that the gods and all that might be unhappy to see their earthly messengers being slaughtered en masse in the name of the new order that is rising up.”

“The gods showed how good they were when they did not allow Jonnah to die on his bed after I stabbed the bastard several times in the gut. I lost good men when I came here last time, and I will not repeat it as best that I can. I do not want to sacrifice people in the name of a quest that I think we cannot win, but I will not call upon the gods now to help us and preserve us. No; when people write about this day, this operation, this mission that we are starting and have set into motion, they will not remember it as the day that the gods came and saved us from the masses of the infidels that turned their backs against us. They will remember us as the loyal martyrs and bringers of a new age who fought despite the odds and brought victory unto themselves, without their help.”

Titus slammed his fist down onto the bar as he spoke his last words, thunder echoing across the city from the storm outside as he did so. His face was scarlet, in rage and fury, but he relaxed slowly. All was quiet, and even the Nine Dragons men had stopped sharpening their weapons in preparation for the next battle.

“Finish up Jack, we are leaving shortly.”

Jack grinned and ripped the last section of skin he was going to flay from the dead lancer and nodded, dragging the bleeding body behind him as he put it into the back room. The others gathered up the equipment and items that they had brought with them, and made for the door, leaving a sign behind that simply read, “Closed for the evening”.

Oscar looked up into the skies as his own grouping detached itself from the Nine Dragons, streaming towards the Iron Keep. Storm clouds roiled and rolled in the sky, and the wind picked up. The smell of rain was in the air now, and it was only going to get worse.
Into the storm they went.

I promised the next chapter of Hegemony last weekend, IIRC.
Well, I lied.
It will be in, along with my orders, this weekend. If it's not, the Great Sniper will punish me for my insolence. Especially because it should help me in cleaning up some stuff.

Edited orders. Ignore the one that doesn't say "(revised)".

Death to Traitors





"Come on gents, pick up the pace. We have stuff to do."

Titus was clearly agitated, shouldering aside others that got into his way, but maintaining composure as best that he could while the others struggled to keep up with him. Varus at the very least could keep pace, but Smiling Jack and Oskar and Malakai had problems doing so, and the bigger men like Dontos and the rest were flagging a bit as Titus rushed his way through the streets of Nessos.

All around them, the crush of pilgrims and civilians encircled them, laughing, making pious noises as they spoke to one another, marveling at the ruins of Old Nessos that they had just come from and making their way to potshops and beer halls and taverns and inns and lodges in the newer section of Nessos. Iron Lances detachments, sniffing around the area, where thick and vicious, looking and probing the crowd with hard eyes, but they did not deign to look at the group of Aowlanders disguised as priests and monks of the Violet Faith. There were more important things to be on the lookout for besides priests and such.

Bells were still ringing across the city, and it seemed to be that any chance of the Faelinkriser's death being only a rumor spread by the unloyal and the unfaithful had yet to be proved wrong, and the disappearance of the Faelinkriser into thin air following a typical morning service given to the men and women of the Faith in a private ceremony had not gone unnoticed throughout the entire city at all.. Unfortunately for the heathens that had chosen to splinter away from the true Faelinkriser and the others at the Spire, they would soon perish in blood and fire, though Varus detested the work that would have to be done in the name of the mission. He would much rather kill Lancers than slaughter old and young priests who were not expecting a blade to the gut.

Varus tapped Titus on the shoulder, lightly, but still the other man whipped around, his jaw muscle twitching slightly in agitation. He gripped part of his chest where his ribs had been lanced upwards into his lungs once, and looked at Varus in a mixture of annoyance and pain, his eyes already wanting for teufela leaf. "What is it?"

"I believe that you are forgetting something in this case, Titus, something that you promised me long before we came here."

"And that would be...?"

"You know very well what it is. My brother, you insolent jackanape, I want to know where he is. This is one of the only three reasons for tagging along on this god forsaken mission in the middle of god forsaken in the middle of the god forsaken autumn. You promised me, explicitly, information on my brother, and promised me that we would do everything in order to get him back from his captivity in the Iron Lancers. You owe me this, Titus, as my tax for joining this idiotic suicide mission."

Titus looked uncomfortable and scuffed his boots on the ground. He paused for a long time, as pilgrims bustled around them, before he finally spoke. "Now, I haven't been entirely truthful-"

Varus's blow caught Titus in the face, sending the other man tumbling backwards to land his back on the cobblestone street. Multiple pilgrims loudly started to exclaim and rush to help him, but Varus grinned at them and told them to leave with a strained smile. "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, everything is clear here. There was just a minor accident, nothing to see here, move along, enjoy the sights of Nessos! My friend's face merely attacked me fist, you see."

Titus was clutching a bloody nose when Varus picked him up, snapping it back into place with a little thin crunching noise as blood ran down his face in a torrent. He tilted his head back as Varus grabbed him by the collar of the robes he wore, and spoke quietly too him. "What, pray tell, did you inform me about, that is the truth?"

"Well, I didn't lie about your brother being alive. He is alive and here in Nessos, so I guess that's two things I didn't lie to you about."

It took every bit of strength in every fiber of Varus's being to not slam Titus into the ground and smash his head against the paving stones till he had achieved catharsis. His grin was twitching a little bit, he was sure as he muttered to Titus. "I don't have to tell you that you are holding anything back at all, I will personally do my best to make sure this mission falls to bits. I have nothing to lose, killing my family and me will mean nothing, and my brother will die anyways, so you had better give up the truth now before I tear it out of you with a knife."

"Alright then. Your brother's a traitor. He's a secondary assassination target, as handed down by the Prophet."

No words could express the emotion he felt welling up inside of him now. His grip slackened a bit, and Titus moved back a step or two. Deadened and without emotion, he spoke slowly. "What has he done to warrant a sangrael?"

"Your brother turned his coat. Turns out he rather likes the military order of the Iron Lancers. Shed his old name like a snakeskin, which is why we didn't know about it for years. Your brother killed five of my men and sent part of my rib into my lung, which incidentally I loved so very much so, and is now a candidate to replace Fellip if he should happen to die. He's a liability and he's the closest thing Myles has to a competitor, so he has to be eliminated immediately for the good of the mission and the objective. I'm sorry."

Again, Varus paused.

"Varus?"

"I will follow my mission, not out of any debt I owe to you or the Faith, or to the Aowlands, but because it is my job. I will kill my brother, because it is my job. I will cut down Fellip, because it is my job. I will cut down you if you get in my way at any time, or deign to hold back the truth from me, any more. Are we clear at this point?"

Titus nodded. The others caught up to them at this point.

"Then let's go."

Let’s get this judged before IT IS ALL TOO LATE!

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=11950334&postcount=3113

---M7: Two Japanese Complain-by Christos200 of Japan
---M7: How many Armoricans does it take to light a lamp?-by Tycho of Vahlshallah
---M7: I didn't think so- by erez87 of the United Egyptian Empire
---M7: An Essay on Hyakkid Comedy-by Lord Iggy of Hyak
---m7: Illdarian Humor-by Lokki242 of Ildaris
---M7: An Essay on Egyptian Comedy-by erez98 of the United Egyptian Empire
---M7: An overview of some Amir stereotypes:-by Arrow Gamer of Amir
---M7: A Commentary on the Tribes of the Nanbu Shanqu and the Peoples of the East by the Yi-Dawar-by Optical of Ulyan
-M7: A Feast-by Eltain of the Alfrenks
Hegemony: M7-Chapter 1-by SamSniped of Leon

10 Submissions is quite decent. Mind, this started from late October til early December, a good five weeks. Before anything else, would like to congratulate all for participating and building the world of my NES!

Also, I feel it is strange that Narrative Fit/Stretch hasn’t been picked for such a long time.

[/QUOTE=Prompt]Real life won't be the same without nasty stereotypes and racism. Neither would NESes! What are some common stereotypes or funny jokes people in your nation have about other nations, peoples, religions, or even other people inside your nation? Are people in your capital seen as snobs, your countryfolk seen as simple, and your enemies seen as demons? Or something weirder? Up to you!

6-Best Remix
“to mix the elements in a different way.”
The central criteria is basing the submission off of something I know already, and changing it to suit your culture in such a way that both the original themes and cultural themes are evident.

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1st Lokki242 for Ildaris
2nd Tycho for Vahlshallah
3rd erez87 for United Egyptian Empire

Tycho and Lokki both remixed CLASSIC jokes. And I found them BOTH hilarious and fitting for their cultures. Although Lokki won because his was more unique and stayed within the criteria better, I honestly preferred the Jokes to the Anti-jokes. It was rather hard to pick 3rd, and there were several good choices. The Egyptian ones edged out on the basis of how their jokes are established. So good job Erez. Iggy and Christos were high up in this criteria as well.

8- Most Concise
“expressing or covering much in few words; brief in form but comprehensive in scope; succinct; terse”
The winning submission has to combine both briefness with wide scope point of view on the subject.

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Note: This doesn’t mean the shortest wins, but the Densest.
1st Optical for Ulyan
2nd Arrow Gamer for Amir
3rd Christos for Japan

Optical’s was short, sweet and delicious. Arrow gamer’s although it seems longer, that is more due to formatting than anything else. In addition, I found jokes within jokes. It’s hilarious and speaks much about his society. Christos’ is similar if more story-based, but Arrow Gamer’s density won out.

10-Best Stretch
This criteria is looking at how well the submission stretches a current culture to new frontiers and ideas.

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1st Lord Iggy of Hyak
2nd SamSniped of Leon
3rd Eltain of Alfrenks

This is the hardest. By definition, the minigames are meant for you to explore details about your culture. I have thus defined this as by the DEGREE it stretches the culture without contradicting any element of that culture so far, and the AMOUNT it adds new cultural information.

Going through all of these, Lord Iggy’s view points has remained remarkably stable even as it expands and encompasses new views. SamSniped’ would perhaps fit better in narrative stretch, but the mere weight of the additions to his culture and to the prompt specifically give him the edge. Eltain is similar. If it does stretch by a fewer amount, it stretches a further degree, brining insight on the values of the Alfrenks towards guests and their role in the world.

Again, this seems (and is) somewhat arbitrary but when I judge them specifically to the merit of the criteria, these three came up.

Most Relevant
This criteria is looking to see how closely the submission answers the prompt.

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As this prompt is set before the establishment of relevancy, and the fact that this prompt is rather bad to judge for relevancy, I have left it out.

Mod’s Choice
Completely subjective, this criteria looks at what I like the most, up to 5. I may or may not choose to rank them.

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I really enjoyed Lord Iggy’s and Erez’ more structured stereo-type joke system, although Eltain’s short narrative was a breath of fresh air. I definitely enjoyed everyone, but it must be said I laughed the *most* at Tycho’s and Christos’ entries. (not the hardest, which I will not reveal for the sake of maintaininga appearances.)

1st goes to Lokki242 for Ildaris. Going through the three criteria, it won the Remix with his excellent anti-jokes and reinterpretation of modern jokes. His was very concise compared to some other entries, which must be considered as the density of his post goes for him. Finally, it added much more to the Ildarin contempt of the Keltian home country; other than the pilgrimage areas of Nessos, of course.
2nd goes to Lord Iggy of Hyak. It isn’t very concise, but it is unquestionably dense. I enjoyed his subversions a lot, and it is by far the best at building and expanding what his culture actually is.
3rd goes to Christos of Japan. Ok, this IS somewhat interesting, but bare with me. I have an asian background, and the way he remixed their stereotypes into his new ones appealed to me (even if somewhat crude ). It was quite concise, although the stretch was only brought out from the last parts for the priests and the young emperor’s training. The fact is, my enjoyment of his submission puts it just over the edge over many other VERY qualified ones.

Again, with such excellent submissions these are ALL hard choices. You are all winners in my final book.

Now, what do our three finalists win? Their people will be easier to become more confidence and harder to discourage. They amuse themselves with the misfortunes of others, while they can laugh at their own mistakes slightly better. Laughter is the best medicine, and they (and I) recieved generous doses.

I advise all to read every submission with an open mind, a loose mouth, and a cup of milk to spray out their nose.

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