Civilization: Dawn of Man

Fahim Amirmoez said:

"Gather around, children, and me tell you the tale of our forefathers as my father told me, and as his father told him long ago," Fahim said, in a hushed voice that made the children sitting in front of him in a half-circle him lean in closer.

"Like any good story, there is action," here, the boys cheered slightly, although they took care not to cheer too loudly, "drama, and romance." The last word again had the boys making noises, but this time it was those that any young boy would make when talking about 'icky girls', while the girls began whispering excitedly, each and every one of them doubtlessly imagining themselves as the lucky girl in any tale they had heard before.

"You see, it was only recently that our people truly settled down. Before that, we were wanderers, nomads who knew no true home. Nobody quite knows how far back this tradition goes, but every story I have heard agrees that it goes back more moons than there are stars in the night sky. Ironically, nearly every story simultaneously disagrees on the name, so I will not bother mentioning the name associated with the tale in my family."

"Long, long ago, a man lived in the desert. He had no family, and was part of no tribe, but despite that, he was a proud man, for he was a wealthy man. The secret behind his wealth was that he had managed to find and domesticate a herd of particularly sturdy camels. This allowed him to travel farther and faster through the desert than any other merchant at the time."

"These camels were envied almost everywhere he traveled to, and many tried to acquire them. Some offered him immense wealth, but he was already a rich man, so he declined. Some threatened him, but he was a strong man, so he was able to fend off attackers."

"No, the man was neither greedy, nor was he easily cowed. However, he was lonely, and longed for a family. This was what finally convinced him to agree to a deal regarding his beloved camels. However, he did not part with them. Rather, the patriarch of a nomad family offered him the hand of his only child, a woman with beauty unequalled by any the man had ever seen."

"The man fell in love the moment he saw the woman, and instantly accepted the deal. Just to be with the woman, he would doubtlessly have given away all his riches and his camels, so great was the love he felt for the woman!" Several girls sighed dreamily, as they imagined themselves as the target of such affection, with several blushing. The boys just looked puzzled, not understanding why anybody would give up anything, much less something so valuable, for a girl.

“When the patriarch died, the man succeeded him as leader of the family, and led it across the desert, and acquired great wealth for the family. This wealth has only grown since then, and it was what allowed our people to permanent settle down, to finally find the true home that our ancestors longed for after so many generations.”

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Raz Piye said:

All I could think about was the heat pressing against my body like I was the Gods' next meal. The sand grains were like a million pieces of fire torching my already calloused bare feet.
"Why are you smiling?" My very young nephew asked with a quizzical expression on his face.
"Because we're home young one." I replied as I finished digging a pit for a fire for the night.
"Your father is collecting water at the oasis so how about a story before we finish our work? I'll tell you all about the sands and why it's so important that you came with us."
He smiled excitedly and sat by the newly formed pit with his legs crossed.
"Start!"

In a time long before us, our people lived without our village. We were born in these sands. Just as the snakes rise out of the sands in the morning, we rose from nowhere like a fire from the ground. The Gods blew life into us the same way me and your father blow into a fire. We rose ever higher into the sky. Like fire, we are vital to life in the deserts. However, just like fire, we can burn all that we touch. That's why we must always be gentle to the land we were blessed with. It's also why we must always be wary of those we don't know. We must always avoid being burned by the fire. We were people who traveled with our clan constantly moving from oasis to oasis to trade and share food with other clans. We bathed what we could hunt in the fires to bless our food. We slept by the fires in those cold desert nights to keep ourselves warm. The smoke coming from the fire could guide you towards other clans, who would give water and trade goods.

But again the fire can burn us as well. One day a young man name Marrak woke to the sounds of terrible screams. He woke to find his clan being attacked by vicious barbarians who had came to steal our women and food and water. He woke his young wife and they ran away from the barbarians, into unknown lands. The barbarians never gave chase because they figured they would die alone in the desert. For days, Marrak and his wife survived on snakes, scorpions and spiders. He prayed over the fires looking for answers. Finally, after 10 days and 10 nights, he found an oasis like none seen before. It had more food, water and animals then they could possibly consume.
Marrak knew this place had never been found before because no one had ever traveled this far into the desert. Content with their new wealth. Marrak and his wife stopped walking the desert. They grew fat in the oasis. They didn't have to hunt because they had fish. They no longer prayed in the fire because they needed nothing from him. But they wanted to start a family. Marrak's wife could never receive a child. Marrak feared they had been cursed. So for the first time in many moons and suns he prayed in the fire.

When he fell asleep he saw a vision. He saw the God of Fire command him to leave and walk the desert for 10 days and 10 nights again to prove his dedication to the Fire God. He could carry nothing but wood and brush to start daily fires. In the morning, he prayed and struck out on his journey, leaving his wife behind for her safety. Naked, alone, and traveling for days, he could do nothing but search for snakes and bugs, and pray into the fire for survival. He knew not where he was going and lost his way. On the 9th night, he had no more wood for fire. Afraid he would die without his god, he didn't stop walking. Finally, on the 11th morning, he saw smoke. He followed it all morning until finally he came upon the fire and saw the silhouette of a slim beautiful woman lying next to it. He thought he was seeing spirits but he continued walking. When he came upon the fire, the woman woke and started weeping. He realized he had found his wife. His wife was weeping because she saw he had lost all his fat in the desert and was growing a beard. He didn't recognize her but she had lost her fat by fasting and praying by the fire for the 10 days he was lost.

They loved each other and in the morning she knew she had received a child. From that day on Marrak knew his clan would stay there forever. But when a young boy plans to marry his bride, he must travel into the desert naked with only enough wood for 9 fires. He must travel for at least 10 days and find his way back home. This will prove to the God of Fire that he is worthy of a family and that he appreciates the desert and fire man was given. The future bride must fast and pray for 10 days to prove her worth. When the boy comes back, he returns a man. When the couple marries, the girl becomes a woman and they become worthy of children.

“So you see young nephew. One day you will travel out here all alone and learn the power of our fire, just as me and your father before you. Only then will you appreciate our great village, our great desert and the great power of our fire. And now you know why we trade with friendly clans but remain wary of barbarians. We depend on the deserts and the fire to protect us.”

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Tarik Isthvia said:

In a time before time the earth was shrouded in darkness and men feared that which lurked within. Our people wandered through the black never staying long in one place to avoid the attention of the inhabitants of the darkness.
Whilst travelling a great desert a spirit whispered to Murak, the man who led our tribe in those times, drawing him to a pool of dark water.

Murak knelt by the pool and spoke to the spirit, promising his service and that of his people if the spirit could protect them and grant them prosperity. The spirit agreed and showed Murak two small rocks by the pool's edge. The spirit instructed him to strike the rocks together over the pool.

When Murak did this a spark leapt from the rocks into the pool which erupted into a great fire that rose into the sky, illuminating the world. Murak prostrated himself before the newly ignited god of fire.

The spirit was true to his word and the tribe were able to drive out the horrors that once ruled the eternal night and guided the tribe across the desert sands, allowing them to trade with others and grow prosperous.

Even though we no longer travel across the desert the lord of fire still keeps his promise and we must keep the Promise of Murak.

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Rule Changes:

• Added 'Resources' to the rules.

My fellow villagers, the great Chieftain Tarik Isthvia, gather round, for the Gods have sent me a dream. I awoke in a strange land, filled with what can only be described as magic. In this land, all men lived as nobles, most owning their own home and eating plentifully at all times. Great buildings rose to touch the sky itself, and men flew across the entirety of the world at unimaginable speed in strange, moving boxes and even man-made birds. On the surface, this existence appeared to be perfect, a utopia. However, as I traveled further in this world, I realized that the prosperity with which had appeared blessed was only a mirage which covered the sad, stark reality of this existence.

Mankind had fallen prey to its own ambition, destroying the world as it built great cities and devices. Even as we achieved our greatest heights, we destroyed what had allowed us to reach so far. The world was full of corruption. Animals died next to the centers where indescribable marvels were produced, choking on air made deadly by the byproducts of this process. Even as men flew and sped across the surface of the Earth in these marvels, they spewed out similarly deadly toxins which covered the planet in a blanket of evil warmth. In order to build their cities, men destroyed the bountiful plenty given by the Gods, killing entire classes of animals and even plants in the process. Mankind’s greatness had come at the price of the annihilation of an indescribable bounty provided across the world that was the Garden of the Gods.

My dream did not end there. I suddenly became an observer of the world, the Gods allowing me to see it as only they can under normal circumstances, a beautiful blue-green ball floating in a sea of stars. For the first time, I heard a voice, so full of power, unfathomable wisdom, and absolute certainty that I knew it must be that of a God.
He spoke, declaring, “Tambien Tadili, you now see the world as it was created, a paradise where all may live in bountiful plenty.” Indeed, even as he spoke, I could see nothing less than paradise, where men lived in harmony with nature and all could easily find necessities. “However, it is impossible for the world to stay this way, as that would be contrary to how we created you. We placed in you a questing spirit so that you would go forth from where we placed you and prove yourselves worthy of Us.” I again glimpsed something, a fleeting image of Gods, in their infinite power, creating the world and all in it. Though I could barely comprehend what He was showing me, I simply knew that his words held truth. “The world I have just shown you,” he declared as I was overwhelmed with a flood of the images I had just witnessed, “is that of one possible future for your people. This is not the future the Gods desire.”

The God paused as I saw further images, but this time of the tragedy that would befall the humanity which I had witnessed. Fire, clouds of acrid, poisonous smoke covering their cities, the entire world turning brown and dead as the great buildings poured out their smoke and mankind destroyed the Gods’ bounty in its ignorance. Even as mankind thrived the world died, which this mankind, with all its marvels, could not escape forever. Plagues ravaged the land, followed closely behind by famine, war, and death on a scale so massive as to be incomprehensible. The world became desolate, a world of desert replacing a world of green plenty. The marvels of man disappeared below the sands of the new desert, erasing them from existence and leaving what few survivors remained to lament the loss of all that they had achieved.

“Look upon your people’s mighty works, Tambien Tadili, and despair, for they have proven themselves unworthy and been punished accordingly. You must not let this future come to pass for your people, lest they be erased forever by the sands of time and the wrath of the Gods.”

For the first time, I dared to speak. “But how, Powerful One? How can I stop this terror from befalling the world?”

“You must assure that your people do not make the same mistakes as those of the Dead World. They erred in even their central beliefs, adopting an essentially anarchist system of governance and selecting their leaders based on which one would help the individual the most, and not protect society and the world as a whole. They allowed the uneducated, the unworthy, and the lazy to become just as powerful, if not more so, than their counterparts. As such, the world was destroyed in the name of prosperity and the good of the world and humanity were ignored.”

Indeed, such a world where any man, even one who refused to contribute to the good of the tribe or consider the good of the land and the tribe when he acted, could participate in the selection of leaders sounded terrible. Again, I was reminded of the images of fire and destruction which I had been terrified with earlier. I still had one problem, however. I could not, for the life of me, see what the God thought I was capable of doing to set our tribe on the right course.

I said as much, and the God quickly replied. “You must be prepared. In coming times, your people will be forced to choose what path you wish your society to take. You must choose correctly, and help your fellow men to do the same. Keep in mind the wisdom that We imparted to you even as We created you, and later reinforced to your founder, Murak, when We sent him into the desert for 10 days with nothing but firewood. The land is a precious resource, to be guarded and maintained with care and diligence. You must live off of what it provides, and not demand more than it can give. Individuals cannot be trusted to do this, however. You must adopt a society which places a strong central control at its head, to manage the land in a way that serves the whole of your people, and not simply the individual who resides there. By doing this, you will also make it easier for Us to help you find the correct path, by placing the correct leaders for your people in those positions of central power. Do you understand your task, Tambien Tadili?”

“I believe so, Powerful One. I humble myself before you, that you would so honor me with this task.”

“Good. Go forth and tell your people of this dream. Prepare them for the trials ahead, and, at all costs, do not fail.”

“Yes, Powerful One.”

I then found myself on my sleeping mat in my hut, at which point I dressed and emerged to tell you what I had been shown and directed to do by this God.

Organise a party for a designated group. Increase relations with members of that group based on amount of resources contributed. Organiser may allow other players to contribute their own resources for a share in the increased relations.