madviking
north american scum
"Lei of the land"
The Tale of Malonae
Malonae was a prince of Leon, the son of Yeolcus, the rightful king of Leon. But his uncle Celeus had usurped the throne and the false king was jealous of any threat to his reign. Preferring to place his own line upon the throne, Celeus prayed to Jackal the Trickster to help him lure Malonae to his doom. Jackal traveled down the forbidden middle realms of the Rio Duero, where only gods and powerful spirits are to dwell, and Jackal gave Celeus an enchanted Nightblossom flower that at midnight released a poison that killed every soul in the household.
Celeus instructed his maidservant to give the Nightblossom to Malonae when he went to his hunting lodge in the summer. The maidservant accompanied Malonae and his friends to the hunting lodge that day and at night removed the poisonous flower from her bundle and placed it in a jar in the hunters' lodging. When the moon rose across father sky, the Nightblossom unfolded its petals and the fragrant poison wafted about the hunting lodge. But Raven knew of Jackal's treachery and came to the lodge just before the moon marked midnight and opened the window, letting most of the poison out of the hunters' room. The poison only wafted about the rest of the house and only the servant girl died.
Malonae and his friends awoke in a startle, ill to their bowels and crying in misery. "What is this foul spirit?" demanded Malonae. And Raven told him of Jackal and Celeus. And Raven told him that he and his friends had breathed too much poison and that they would still die of the affliction within forty days.
Malonae and his friends cried out in torment, that they should die of such treachery so far from home and that none would know of this, for in these days the Spanish still refused to take on writing from the plodding Dutch who worshipped Mammon and the clutching love of gold.
But Raven told Malonae and his hunting party to worry not, for in the Bulgar Jungles far to the south there grew a magic banana herb that could cure them of the poison. Immediately the hunting party set forth on the long journey to the dark Bulgar Jungles. At the gate before the jungle they met an old crone-witch of Magyar tribe who knew of the magic banana herb and gave them directions to a short cut in exchange for a gold nugget from each of the men. And this, legends tell us, is how the Magyar people came to acquire great wealth in the dank heart of the Bulgar Jungle.
They followed her directions, encountering many adventures in the deep jungles, and on the 40th day of their affliction, the hunting party of Malonae came to a coastal garden in the heart of the Bulgar Jungle and saw the magical banana herb growing in the center of a tribe of violent Huns.
"Ho, tribesmen of the jungle!" called Malonae, "We are travelers from afar and we seek a cure from your magic banana herbs! We are prepared to barter for we are wealthy Spaniards beset by an affliction and in great need! Treat with us and you shall be greatly rewarded!"
But the plotting Hunchief, who was Bob, knew that whatever the hunting party carried with them could be had for nothing if they only waited for the affliction to kill the Spaniards off. Being a coward he hid behind his men and shouted back to Malonae, "We must consider this offer. Go back to your camp, O Spaniard, and we will barter with you tomorrow!"
"But we shall perish by the midnight rise of the moon!" responded Malonae, "So we must barter now!"
This was good news to the Hunchief, or so he thought, for his people would not have to wait long to plunder the wealthy bodies of the Spaniards. And so they argued long through the afternoon, with each passing moment Malonae growing ever more desperate. At last, with the sun setting, Malonae lost his patience and ordered his party to attack the Huns and take the banana herb by force. The warriors of the village outnumbered the dying hunting party, but the will of the gods and the blessings of Raven were upon them.
The battle raged into the dark hours, the Spaniards and Huns smiting one another by the lights of the Hunnish campfires. And the moon rose ever higher in the sky, and Malonae, his arms drenched in blood up to his elbow, cried out to the moon, "Slow down, O Goddess! For there are still many angry Huns between my friends and that herb tree... and their women and children are starting to fight as well!"
And the moon took pity on them, for she did not relish shining her silver light upon the Huns any more than her brother the sun enjoyed shining his golden light upon them. And her silvery heart was moved by their plight and she slowed down her crawl across father sky, telling this tale to each of the stars who cried at the luck of the hunting party.
And soon night rains fell upon the desperate battle and the banana herb tree bloomed a hundred fold with the magic of star tears. As the hunting party slew the last of the Huns the rains relented and the sore and bleeding survivors grasped the herbs of the tree and made a broth by the flickering campfire and cured their affliction from Jackal's magic Nightblossom. Soon the hunters were rested, having found excellent fishing waters in the area. And this, legends tell us, is how the Huns came to be driven forever from the depths of the Bulgar Jungle.
After a time of resting, Malonae ordered his men assembled and move north, for the great adventure of reclaiming his rightful throne was now to begin...
Fiónu and the Stag of Knowledge
Mateolus the Silverheart was a brave huntsman of Léon, but aged. He was once the most courageous warrior in all Spain. He lived in the lower valley of the Rio Duero. Mateolus sang beautiful songs and hunted the most dangerous boar of the forest. There was no animal of the forest he could not track, kill, and bring back to his village for the people to eat, even in the coldest winters. Only one game had ever eluded him, the stag of knowledge. Mateolus always watched out for the legendary stag but always in the hunt its greater knowledge prevailed.
For you see, the stag of knowledge was a magic beast. It was said by the priests and shamans that the first person to capture the stag would become the wisest hunter in the world. Its hide was the color of gold. Its eyes were magic. Many a hunter ventured out in to the wilds to try and to catch it, but all failed.
There was no school for young hunters in this ancient age. They learned at the heels of great huntsmen like Mateolus. Lads went to live with the best hunters and gleaned their skills against wild boars or died trying. Fiónu was a son of a farmer called Taneus. Fiónu was training to be a hunter and went with his servants to live with Mateolus the Silverheart.
On one hunt, Mateolus saw a powerful stag running through the forest. It was the stag of knowledge. He had never seen a stag like it before. He gathered his arrows and silently let fly. Fiónu was resting with his back to the grove so he never saw the stag. Mateolus was very careful not to look into its eyes because if you did you would fall into a deep sleep. He shot once and missed. He shot again and missed again. Mateolus tried to strike the stag but couldn't. All of a sudden the stag jumped high across some wild shrubs and charged towards him. The old huntsman was taken by surprise when he looked at the stag. He fell fast asleep.
Fiónu saw him asleep and rushed to wake him up before the stag got away. When Mateolus woke up he asked Fiónu to fetch him a cloth. Then Mateolus covered his eyes with the cloth and they tracked the stag of knowledge to another salt lick. There Mateolus the Silverheart shot arrow after arrow at the stag again. For hours and hours he tried to strike the stag.
Night was falling and Mateolus was down to one last arrow. This time he was lucky. He missed the stag but the magical beast stumbled and fell into a narrow ravine and became stuck. The huge stag struggled to get out. It pulled and strained and turned every which way, but could not escape. Mateolus was tired after this so he told Fiónu to club the stag, drag it back to their camp, and prepare it for a meal. Mateolus warned Fiónu not to eat the stag, not even a mouthful, for he wanted the great wisdom it bestowed all to himself. Fiónu promised he would not eat any of the stag. Fiónu dressed the meat of the kill, built a fire, and when it was ready he placed the stag over the fire. As it cooked a drop of hot fat went onto his thumb. Fiónu put his thumb in his mouth.
When the stag was done he brought the tenderest cut to Mateolus the Silverheart. The wise huntsman noticed there was something different. The lad's cheeks were redder and his eyes were a lot brighter.
"Have you eaten any of the stag?" Mateolus asked Fiónu.
Fiónu told him the truth. "I did not eat any of the stag.
Mateolus was still not happy. "Have you even tasted the stag," he asked.
Then Fiónu remembered that he had burnt his thumb and put it in his mouth. He told this to Mateolus.
Mateolus knew at once Fiónu had the wisdom of the stag of knowledge. At first he was very sad. He knew he would never be the wisest man in Spain. But he was happy that Fiónu got the gift. Mateolus knew that Fiónu would become the greatest huntsman that the Omphalic Lands had ever known.
The map doesn't look like the earth anymore by a lot. But I'm wondering if there is a continent in the southern part of the map.
I see about one tile between Spain and the Iroquois as well as a landmass east of the Dutch. Also, I've changed my mind about who I want to die first. The Dutch are now my pick because of an unfortunate event in one of my games.
They're religious fanatics. What on earth makes you think they'd ever turn warlike?Well, unless the Spanish turn warlike...
Snowstar, I've got some bad news ahead for you...... or England decides to expand way up North, that probably won't happen. However, if there is an island or two between the Byzantines and Dutch, then maybe the Byzantines can go over and conquer them...
Personally, my vote for the next to do would be the Celts, eliminated by the Iroquois. This is, of course, after America wipes Japan off the map.
Not playing favorites, but I am role playing a bit. Had I been playing a solo game, the Dutch would've swallowed up the Spanish by now. But eliminating players too soon would sorta suck the story out of the story.I was just reading through your story again and saw that you haven't said anything about Great Wonders. So what are you going to do about them? I mean, you can't be biased towards one side winning the game. Well, you could but that wouldn't go with history.
So now what's going on in Euria and Pacifika?
They're next. Until the two hemispheres come into regular contact with each other, I'll group the chapters by continent.I wonder also.