The Democratic Caliphate.

Man these updates are awesome, I can't wait to see the next ones (knowing everything that will happen gamewisely makes it even more interesting to me)

I love these updates in episodes. Making only one per the day gives it also the right suspense to it.

I received a lot of screenshots from Spirictum, which leaves at least five chapters left until we are at a close, and we need to start a new council.

By the way Spirictum, could you provide me with your most recent save game?

Of course, I'll use that dropbox thing you taught me. I'll just fix the last things before saving and send it to you.

An update! At last

I liked the picture of the Aztec jumping at the Spaniard, very badass

Briefly after consolidating power in Yu’qataan, the explorers transported their ships to the west coast, and began exploring that side of al-Majhool. They travelled south where they encountered yet another large empire. By this time, another shipment was sent to Majhool, one containing spies from Nidham al-Adl. Their responsibility was to scout the landscape of this mountainous region and map it out. Their mission was intended to last two months.

At the end of their mission, they met up at a secluded coastline near Tuqumeh, a small city under the hegemony of the Incan empire. They reveal their maps, and also reveal to us that one of them has been caught and executed for being suspicious. We will avenge him. After the recent conflict with the Aztaqa, it seems apparent to us now that it will be hard to trust the natives of these lands. The Inca might also be sacrificing human beings for the sake of whatever statues they worship.

They displayed to us their mapping of the region, and that is when we started drawing battle plans:



“There is a small island just off the coast, explorer, which has a moderate amount of fishing and lumber. We can establish our base of operations there. From here, we want to land in this region, just between the city of Tuqumeh and Shan-shaan, as the natives call it. We have made deals with some of the locals of this region who wish to overthrow the Inca and establish their own kingdoms.”



“We attack Shan-shaan first, explorer. This city is controlled by the Incans who do not fear something like this happening, so their defenses will be down. Their cities are heavily fortified with the most astounding type of architecture, strong enough to halt earthquakes in their traps. We will need heavy siege equipment to traverse these fortifications.”











“Next, we need to move up north and attack the city of Tuqumeh. They will without doubt see us as a threat, so we need to subdue them before they amass a military that is larger than we can handle. Remember, we are limited on manpower here. The hills give them an advantage, so tread carefully, explorer.”










“After we secure the north, we must quickly change direction and head south towards the city of Kaqonatambu. I suggest you leave some of our troops in the Island base and transport them to the north of the city, and begin to push. The superb roads these people have made should allow us to march quickly. There are several strongholds that the Incas have in the mountains, but I advise not attacking those until we receive another shipment. We are not experienced at mountain warfare."







Within months, the explorers managed to subdue a large part of the coasts of these lands, the Andes. With Yu’qataan and the Andes under firm control, the Ummah will be ever larger.

The black plague was one of the worst epidemics that the world has ever seen. According to modern scientists, it started to mutate as a result of the poor hygienic practices that the Koreans had in their ports and ships, and spread by sea frorm there:



Briefly after Korea was infected, soon every other East Asian country was infected by it, including Japan, China, Indonesia and India:







The plague also attacked the Ummah as well. The plague was believed to arrive from a trading ship from China to the Persian Gulf, where it infected Iraq:



Another trading ship also brought the plague to Misr, and the safety of the region was in peril:



Instantly, the Ummah's provinces drafted a plan to keep those two regions on lockdown, and to most importantly try to prevent the plague from entering Makkah. Border guards patrolled every road, in order to make sure no one spreads the plague. Epidemic colonies were established in the regions to separate the sick from the poor. The navy prevented all boats from entering or exiting the Ummah.

All in all, the Ummah managed to survive the black plague, though at the expense of many people. It will take several generations to recover the population back to what it used to be.

However, the plague has managed to hit Makassar, in the Moorish empire. Let us hope it doesn't spread any further than that. So far, Europe has not been affected by the plague:

The real plague was spread on the Silk Road so watch out

From that day it was called "The Sick road".

In the story, it appeared to spread by sea. I don't have the savegame yet. I only have the pictures Spiroctum gave to me.

Just like the first massive variation of it spread.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Justinian

Yayy plague!

A large army from the Maghreb marches East. Its commander is seeking to remove the Seljuk, who have not only been conspiring against the Ummah, but are restricting the trade connection between the East and the West. This army stopped in the various cities along the way to rest and eat:



Encampments were made in a forest just West of Persepolis, a major Seljuk city. They chose the forest as it would render the mighty Seljuk cavalry worthless. From there, the Moors would conduct their assault:



Not much is known about the details of the battle, but in the end, Persepolis remained standing, and the invasion appears to have been a defeat:



Meanwhile, spies have informed us of the Mongols and their tracks. They have recently informed to us that the Chinese city of Fuzhou has been conquered by these nomadic warriors:



The years of pillaging and raiding, combined with the deadly plague that infected the cities demoralized the Chinese, and they have lost their will to fight, and have submitted themselves to the Horde. The Koreans negotiated a peace with the Mongols, in an effort to defend themselves or at least hold the Mongols off so they can deal with the recent plagues:





A trade caravan entered Babil, claiming to be fro Genghis Khan, the leader of the Mongols. They offered to us silk in return for grapes. Fruits were a delicacy to the Mongols. We accepted the trade offer, and hope that the Mongols remain peaceful:

There is a long history of resentment between the Ethiopians and the Ummah. Most children of Misr and Zanzibar recall the historical battles and engagements between our two peoples.

Then, what eventually happened is that the dynasty that fought so hard against the Ummah was overthrown by Muslims. The problem with that is that the country is strictly divided along sectarian lines, with the Muslims living in the Western regions, the traditional religious groups living inland (Taoists), and the Christians living in the Southern coasts.

As a result, it is very hard for this Muslim government to control what goes on in the region, and the region is very instable:



As long as Ethiopia exists as an entity, it will always be a problem for us, because this instability allows many criminals to operate in the borders between us and Ethiopia. A large part of the budget of Misr is spent on border control. We hope to welcome our Muslim brothers of Ethiopia into the Ummah. Once we can do that, it will be easy to provide them with the tools they need to stabilize the region. This is a mission that requires cunningness and words, not swords:



Meanwhile, at the capital of the Ummah, trade agreements are always being negotiated.

On a certain day, we received emissaries from both the Mongol Horde and the Chinese. Both asked for different things.

The Mongols tried to urge us into stopping our trades with China, which we declined. We also ended a trade agreement where we gave fish to them in return for money. Though we did agree to establish a new trade agreement where we would give them iron in return for both silk and rice shipments:





The Chinese asked us to conspire against the Mongols and lend military aid. We declined, as the distance between our empires was too far:



The South Indian traders wanted to establish a sheep and cow trade:



To appease our German brothers, we agreed to cancel all trade relations with the Polish We also gave them sea navigation technology in return for some wealth and knowledge about the lay of the land:




An emissary from West India came to Makkah, claiming to be part of a new Islamic Dynasty that has recently taken power of the region there. We don't know much about them yet, but we trust their intentions, and opened our borders with them:

Over this term, several things happened inside our Abode.

The fishing industry has boomed in Iskindiriyah after several fishermen discovered an area teeming with the fruits of the sea:



the Arab gulf appears to be in good shape. Several Norsemen have established a trading post at an East point of the gulf. They plunder the Persian seas and sell what they can find at the local Arab markets. They also dislike the Seljuk's strict control of the sea routes:



Our fronts opening the way to Persia and Europe are well defended. Outside of the occasional raid from the Seljuks, the region seems relatively safe, for now:



The Silk Trade has expanded even to Rabd al-Handaq. The Island is enjoying the boost to its economy:



Unfortunately, ever since the Chinese have been capitulated by the Mongols, there has been a steady decline in its profitability. Many of these traders no longer operate in parts of Iraq:



Scientists from ash-Sham have effectively developed a method of propelling projectiles using gunpowder. The Caliph has decided to fund their research, for its potential to create powerful weapons:

A suggestion - Could you put the pictures in 'spoiler' ? Its easier to read that way.

Seconded. Very interesting to see the work of the Counselors come together

Irrelevant question, did you draw the battle plans for fighting the Incas yourself?

Yeah I actually had the same question but forgot!