[BTS] Writing in Gunpowder

All three German cities agreed to welcome English travelers, as even the relatively seclusive people of Munich enjoy foreign culture and goods in small doses. Traders from as far away as the Spanish Queendom are seen bustling in the marketplaces of Munich, Hamburg and Berlin thanks to free passage through Russian lands. However, not all is well with our neighbors, as tensions increase after the fort of Novgorod was erected in a hilly area well known for their rich copper deposits.

Brave Hamburgian sailors who set out to explore the also rich in metal island between the German peninsula and the main continent have mapped out the entire archipelago and volunteered to ferry over colonists with their trusted Galleys should the council decide to settle it. Berlin, the unofficial capital and largest city in population and directly controlled land alike will likely provide the bulk of colonists when and if such a move is decided on. She is rumored to be the fifth largest city in the known world and one of the few with an old and extensive library, however few people can deny that she is getting overpopulated and attempts to deforest the outlying areas are coming along very slowly.

Hamburg is working on constructing her own Library to hopefully lure in more Russian cattle herders with the promise of educating their children. Another attempt to take their livestock by force would be impractical because of the giant wall the Russians built around their lands, and since this would most likely lead our neighbor to never open their borders for German merchants again which would close down foreign trade routes for good until an alternative route can be found. We may like it or not, but we are dependent on the goodwill of our archenemies, something no German is really happy with.

That is a deep situation, wow.

Not to be outdone by Hamburg, sailors from Berlin now fielded their own Galley with which to explore far away lands. What they will find, nobody knows.

All three German cities agreed to support an extensive colonization effort to secure the rich Copper deposits on the yet to be named island recently charted by Hamburgians. Rumor has it that a fort near the head of the Sterdam river, close to Russia's newly errected Novgorod, is also in planning.

Breaking news! Germany has always been a hotbed of science and progress, but a new innovation is sure to propagate that status for centuries to come: The Alphabet. Writing has been around for several generations already and you can´t go from Berlin to Munich these days without seeing some kid scribbling on a clay tablet. However, previously every city had its own system and if you actually wanted to read something you had to contact a professional to decipher the wide variation of signs and symbols.

Not anymore though, as the community of Berlin's highly prestigious library has devised an easy to learn standard set of letters which stand for a certain sound, and not a syllable or word like in older writing systems. Scribes around Germany are already working on implementing the new standard in all areas. It didn't take long for this great new invention to further understanding of many a field, as sages from Russia, the Netherlands and even Greece visit to gaze upon the collected knowledge of Berlin´s library and in turn share their own wisdom with the prospering city.

Ushering in a new age of increased interest in other cultures, the High Council of Germany has even sent emissaries to Queen Isabella of the far-away land of Spain to organize a personal meeting between her Majesty and esteemed leaders of the council in the Dutch city of Utrecht. Now that no German city is without some sort of library and brave explorers sail where no man has sailed before it is clear that this is becoming an era of advancement and progress like the world has not seen before. Even though rich deposits of Iron have just been discovered not far from Berlin in addition to the already known copper fields it is unlikely that the next generations will see war in light of the recent developments.

Germany shall forever be known as 'Land der Dichter und Denker'!

Another group of colonists has been sent from Berlin to secure the area around Mount Sterdam to prevent Germany from being cut off by Russia's expansion. While the river that springs from it provides highly fertile lands for the Russian and Dutch cities that have been settled along it, the source itself is surrounded by a thick hazardous rainforest making it very difficult to establish larger settlements. Nevertheless the German council insisted on claiming it for its high strategic value and has thus 'encouraged' many a slave to come along with the few volunteers. A sophisticated road system connecting the future fortress with Munich has already been constructed by the descendants of the Russian captives of the war that raged so many generations ago.

Meanwhile the island of Colog has been colonized and Berlin´s finest craftsmen are already working on a way to efficiently mine and distribute the humongous Copper deposits on it. Once the metal is casted into enough weapons to supply all German cities they shall be on par with their Russian rivals again.



In more downbeat news the great Michael Faratag or Faraday has passed away after a long and fulfilled life. Coming from a long line of Berliner librarians he quickly rose to the top ranks among the city´s sages and became a respected thinker both in Germany and other lands. He played a crucial part in the development of the Alphabet and helped promote it to the Spanish delegation in Utrecht. On his way home he met the Greek tradeswoman Hakademia, whom he fell in love with immediately. Taking her along they married in Hamburg and settled down in his estate near Berlin´s vast corn fields. Unfortunately she died in childbirth few years later, along with his son. Devastated, he became a reclusive for months during which he wrote some of his most important philosophical works. He had become increasingly alienated by the librarian community since his return from the Netherlands, criticizing that they care more for preserving old knowledge than creating new. Thus he decided to use every last bit of his wealth to create a separate institution for learning in his family home, calling it 'Academy' in honor of his late wife. He spent the last years of his life teaching everyone he deemed worthy there, and encouraged his students to think for themselves instead of just repeating what the sages of the library told them to think. As he was the last of his family he decided to hand it down to his best pupils, making them promise to uphold his principles and never stop learning and asking questions.

Chapter 10
The First Settlement
Marseille and Paris
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Hear ye, hear ye! No longer are the Germans but a mess of bickering city states, for now we have been united under His Majesty, King Frederick the Great. After years of turmoil and chaos he reinstated order and organization among our nation, not only by force of arms, but also by spreading the teachings of Tao, a famous philosopher who unfortunately passed away during the revolution. More than that, he proclaimed Taoism to be the official faith of the new German Kingdom, which undoubtedly alienated our Spanish allies as well as our Russian and English neighbors. But fear not, for His benevolent and open-minded Excellency has decreed that followers of other faiths are still welcomed among his lands, be they Muslims or Jews, and he extends his hand in friendship to the peoples of the world. Truly, great things are ahead for Germany!

After the turbulent times of the first two Fredericks, the six decades under the rule of King Deutsch saw not only the final end to the revolution and the complete unification of all German city states under one banner, but also an unprecedented rise in scientific achievement. Years of tedious record keeping and watching of the stars' movement led to the discovery that it takes exactly 365 days until constellations repeat themselves fully, or in other words until the entire universe has completely revolved around our world. Unfortunately it wasn't before the last year of the monarch's life until a comprehensive calendar down to every day of the week could be created and spread among the land. The last royal decree by the late ruler was to share this knowledge with all the world's peoples, but it took well into the reign of his successor Frederick III till this goal could be accomplished, and even then some nations needed to be introduced to basic concepts of mathematics itself before they could be taught this new system of time keeping.

The first act of King Frederick III was to decree that the first year of his rule should be known as 1 After Deutsch, or 1 AD, with every year before that point henceforth being referred to as Before Calendar, or BC. The new calendar quickly caught on and replaced the old local systems that have been in use within decades, as Deutsch was widely being recognized as the best ruler the German people has ever had. Indeed it wasn't long until the German people began referring to itself as Deutsch in its own language. Things are looking up with the only exception being the expansionist drive of our Russian neighbors.

Pirates have ambushed a peaceful exploration vessel from Berlin near the English city of Nottingham! Fortunately our sailors managed to fend off the attack but not without suffering losses and the ship taking heavy damage. Since the next bunch of hostile galleys is not far the captain decided to doubletime it back to the safe haven the Britons are providing.

For more positive news, the German crown taught delegates from the faraway land of Portugal about our calendar and justice system in exchange for advanced knowledge on how to tame and properly mount beasts like the dreaded elephants. Especially the more warlike minded members of His Majesty's court drool over the possibility of using these animals in conjunction with the recent advancements made in the field of construction techniques. King William II however has other ideas, as he is funding religious missions to bring the one true faith to the still mostly pagan inhabitants of Munich. Nevertheless he can't completely ignore military matters as the Russian outpost to the south continues being a thorn in our people's side.

For centuries most trade from and to Germany had passed through Russia, and neither side was too happy about it. The Russian leadership mostly let it happen because they could impose customs on the merchants traveling through their land, but the recent increase in commerce thanks to the establishment of a national currency under King Frederick III has made them think that they are missing out on too much of it. Encouraged by the lack of response to the founding of Yaroslavl' they grew bold, and decided to send a delegation to Berlin to demand that King Otto I teach them how to set up their own currency.



The monarch at first stalled for time and didn't even meet them personally, holding court with his various advisors for days until he decided on a course of action. When the delegation was finally received they stated in no unclear terms that Germany will regret it if they didn't comply on this issue. Otto I however laughed heartily at their threats and replied that it was the Russians who will pay dearly if they think they could threaten his mighty kingdom.



Not only did he deny their request, he demanded 40 talents of gold from the Russian crown if the delegates wanted to be returned to their homeland alive to make up for this insult against his honor. It was actually a bluff, Germany couldn't afford the war that would doubtlessly follow such an act against their neighbor at this time, but the rulers in Moscow didn't call it and paid the tribute.



At about the same time bandits were stealing from one of the many corn fields north of Berlin, thinking that the city guard would be too busy watching the Russian visitors to protect the local farmers. They didn't get away with it for long, because the king personally dealt with them as soon as the delegates were on their way home. The culprits were caught easily and enslaved as punishment. All 47 of them were worked to death to complete a temple of Tao that has been under construction for years.



After that issue has been resolved His Majesty assembled the royal court again to discuss foreign policy. While his posturing had secured peace for the immediate future, there was no doubt that it put the long term relations with Russia at serious risk and might make them think about preparing for war. Plans were discussed to find allies against this growing threat: The Spanish are too far away to be of any help, as is Portugal. The Greeks were Russia's best friends due to their shared religion and would definitely not join a war on our side. This left the English and the Dutch. The former were extremely hostile toward Jews in general and Russia specifically, so they would be our best bet. The Dutch did not have any organized religion and were pretty much neutral, so they might be bribed into joining our side. King Otto I ended this session by decreeing that lavish gifts be sent to the peoples of England and the Netherlands to tighten the bond of friendship between our nations. Furthermore he ordered a military build-up. The long time of peace might soon be over...

Tao didn't seem to like the newly crowned King Charles II much: Only weeks after his father died the Dutch sent a delegation to the royal palace in Berlin with rather sinister motives: They let the king in no uncertain terms know that their military was far better equipped than theirs, and that it would just be a shame if something bad happened to their outpost of Frankfurt. They added that it would be oh so more lucrative to receive notes on famous German engineering and construction techniques for free rather than to have to see them from second hand on the field of battle. In the end however they didn't terribly mind either way, and thus asked the German crown for their opinion on this matter.



The royal court was fuming over this insult, but the king kept a cool head. The answer of his great grandfather Otto I to a similar demand made by the Russians was famous for its boldness, but he instead opted for a different approach. One enemy is plenty, and until now the Dutch and Germans have always had pleasant relations with each other, so there was no need to antagonize them. However the king had great incentive to put himself in their good graces, for they were also neighbors of Russia, and their loyalty would prove extremely valuable in a hypothetical war, even more so if they were able to construct siege engines. The King thus complied with the Dutch demand over the head of his advisors.



While this decision improved his foreign standing it made him extremely unpopular at home, and many, including his own court members behind his back, were calling him the worst king Germany has ever had. We will see if he will be vindicated by history. For now he had other things to worry about, like the recently founded Russian outpost of Yekaterinburg in the middle of the Ghuzz jungle between Frankfurt and England. People from as far away as Spain were intrigued by this curious decision by the newly established Russian monarchy, especially since this remote outpost was named after their Queen Catherine. Only time will tell if this settlement is going to be of any use.

Apparently asking Germany for handouts has become a popular pastime among our neighbors:



Since the English were nicely asking instead of boldly demanding like the Dutch some decades ago King Frederick IV wasn't risking his popularity by granting our neighbors their wish.



Indeed it was seen as a wise move both at home and abroad, for it strengthened the bonds of friendship between the German and English peoples, both united by their mutual hatred of their common enemy:



In retrospect the Russian establishment of an outpost between the lands of Germany and England achieved the opposite of its intended effect, for while it separated their bodies it only brought them that much closer together in their minds.

The German Crown also made it publicly known that it has a great surplus of sugar, and is willing to trade it in exchange for other types of goods.

Its construction took decades, sometimes the building process was interrupted by other more urgent needs, but finally it was finished: The Great Lighthouse of Hamburg shall forever be known as King Frederick VI's greatest achievement. It facilitated trade in the Gulf of Colog and made its home city, which was already an important center of the Taoist faith, even more famous, even rivaling Berlin in its glory. The beginning of the 6th century AD marked a golden age for German engineering, culture and science. However, it was not to last: Finally Frederick VI's reign had to end, and while his rule was a time of stability and prosperity, the following years after his death turned Germany into a land drawn apart by strife, disorder and civil war. All his potential heirs kept dying under mysterious circumstances, so that when he finally departed from the world of the living the only candidate remaining was his grand nephew, Frederick VII. Unfortunately he was still but a child when he took the throne, and wholly unprepared for the scheming and intrigue of the aristocrats. The nobles fell all over themselves in their attempts to manipulate the young boy, and quickly turned on each other as their petty squabbles escalated into all out fighting.

Soon it was every city for themselves, with barely anyone still loyal to the crown in Berlin. It was a disunity not seen in over 600 years, before King Deutsch I united the country. Truly it was a dark time for Germany. That all changed when the young Frederick VII had a vision on his 16th birthday: In his dreams he was visited by his uncle, Deutsch I and even Tao himself! When he woke up he was filled with a vigor unlike anything he had ever felt before, and knew that it was his destiny to reunite Germany under the teachings of Tao yet again. Gone was the insecure youth held on a leash by this or that group of nobles, for now he was on a holy mission! He practically turned into a whole new person overnight, one with charisma and brilliance not seen since our founding father.



In a few years he marched from city to city, gathering new allies on the way and blowing away the masses with his speeches, though he wasn't above resorting to violence when the situation called for it. Finally, in Cologne, he had gathered representatives of all German cities and had them swear their loyalty to him and the teachings of Tao. He was surprisingly merciful to the nobles he defeated, leaving most of them in their positions and even extending their rights, which led to Germany being a lot more decentralized and feudal than it was before the civil war. To still ensure order and stability he made up for it with increased religious zeal, extending the influence of the Taoist teachings into every corner of daily life. Followers of other religions could no longer serve in official positions in any capacity and now had to pay extra taxes if they didn't want to renounce their faith. While there were some forced conversions, most people got left alone if they didn't draw attention to themselves, as Frederick VII wasn't foolish enough to needlessly antagonize the Dutch, English and Spanish crowns as they no doubt would frown upon him persecuting followers of their respective faiths, especially Queen Isabella whose name was synonymous with Islam.

One group however was not afforded such protection: The Jews. Due to their close association with the Russian empire they were treated like dirt and humiliated at every opportunity. Their temples were vandalized, their children spat upon and their rituals routinely disturbed by Taoist zealots, all with the knowledge and even tacit approval of the crown. Rumors spread like wildfire that the civil war was originally caused by a Jewish conspiracy with Russian and Greek backing. Needless to say relations with these countries were at an all time low, Frederick VII taking every opportunity to insult and belittle them, at one time even making a Greek delegation storm out of an audience by literally spitting in their faces. His successor Frederick VIII was if anything even more zealous and condescending.



While the German crown was openly a Taoist theocracy it still retained its voting right in the Islamic council due to the sizable Muslim minorities in Munich and Frankfurt, so when the council discussed cutting off all trade with the Russian infidels the German delegation voted with an enthusiastic yes. Unfortunately they were the only ones to do so, as perplexedly even the Spanish delegation who put this suggestion to vote in the first place voted against it, and the Portuguese outright threatened to leave the council if this embargo was implemented.





After the meeting had concluded the German ambassador went to talk to the Portuguese delegation in private, initially to insult them for their apparent loyalty to the dirty Jewish infidels, but things quickly turned around when the Portuguese made some very attractive trade offers. The German delegation was clever enough to put their fanaticism aside for more pragmatic concerns, and secured the crown with a steady supply of ghastly beasts known as elephants. While many of those animals live in the jungle to the south almost all of them are under Russian control, and the Czar wasn't willing at all to share any of them. The military advantage of possessing elephants can not be underestimated, and the king was more than happy with how things turned out. Soon, very soon, the Russian scum will pay for their crimes against Germany and Tao...

Subbed I guess.

Knoedel here?! That's rare.

Anyways, I always wondered why your pics have such a strange resolution, so I'm finally asking you why is that so?

TheNoob said:

Subbed I guess.

Click to expand...

You might also want to follow the game thread. In fact I think it might make more sense to keep everything but the story posts themselves there, but ultimately that's Eclipse's decision.

Spirictum said:

Knoedel here?! That's rare.

Anyways, I always wondered why your pics have such a strange resolution, so I'm finally asking you why is that so?

Click to expand...

Is that a jab against my SPQR hiatus? Because as luck would have it I just ended it, or so I hope. I dare say I am the most active of the players in this game with regards to storytelling.

I guess it might be because I always resize my screenshots so they don't take away too much storage space and someone once told me they were too huge.

Actually not against SPQR, but I would like to know from you about the flag subject on the Democratic Caliphate. Take a look at the last postings there and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

I do understand, I just couldn't care less.

Imp. Knoedel said:

I do understand, I just couldn't care less.

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Sweet Knoedel's mood, I was missing that . Anyway, as you don't care even a little, could I do one for your province then? Sorry to use this thread for that, but in the other you don't answer, so this is my reason to do it here.

Spirictum said:

Sweet Knoedel's mood, I was missing that . Anyway, as you don't care even a little, could I do one for your province then? Sorry to use this thread for that, but in the other you don't answer, so this is my reason to do it here.

Click to expand...

Sure, go ahead. Actually I did think a little about it, but apart from maybe the Star of David I don't have any ideas, and since we are an Islamic theocracy that doesn't really seem fitting either.

Edit: Woah, wait a minute! Can I have a pony on my flag?