North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
Update 2: Conquerors Tale
403 FF
1800 BGM
798 DYE
******************
Lapponia is, as usual, a relatively quiet place. Too quiet, some think, especially as the government refuses to sanction even unofficial trade with Gotland. Smugglers are often making runs in sleek longships by summer and running them with sled dogs in winter. Trade is going on, with the disapproval of the Elders... And this leads to enormous tension in Lapponian society.
Of course, beyond that, most things are going well. Expansion in the northwest has reached the cold gray waters of the Norse Sea... And the scarce skirmishes with the Gotar are relatively easily won by the Lapps. Of course, the Finns still loom in the south, growing ever more threatening...
******************
The Vikings are very quiet.
******************
Meanwhile, in Germany, much happens. The leaders raise the education through educating the populace... This is very popular with the artisans and merchants of the land, but not nearly so popular with the warriors.
The warriors, for their part, are rather too busy to complain. A group has been sent in every direction, though this means that expansion in all directions is somewhat limited. Their main focus, however, Jutland, has been met with a heck of a lot of resistance from the native Jutesthey are fighting tooth and nail to hold onto their home, and they are determined to drive out the invader. (Germany: -500 spearmen)
While in the meantime, the artisans, with new influences from education and traders from Gotland, are starting to develop a more sophisticated German culture than ever.
To the southwest extreme of the kingdom a diplomatic envoy has been sent, consisting of 100 spearmen, along the way they just happen to pick up a few villages, and reach the Rheine, where the whole developing kingdom of the Palatinate has joined them of free will; unfortunately this kingdom is not the most secure of holdings by the Germans, indeed, it is more Frankish than Germanic, and without a good road between Berlin and it, would be easy prey for the Franks. (+1 economy)
Oh, and they establish contact with the Franks, too.
******************
Speaking of the Franks, the leader unfortunately neglected to send orders for them, this time around, at least. Luckily, the people remembered enough of what their leader was doing previously to finish one of his great works for him while he was away; that is to say, the Franks have finished their great Seine irrigation system, which has (temporarily, at least) made the river valley a veritable breadbasket in terms of farming. (+3 spend points until farmland is flooded, burned, raped, or pillaged in some other way).
Another thing happens, tooships sail into the harbor at Caux and announce loudly that they are from some island a few miles away to the north. By far the majority of Franks laugh them off, for that is obviously off the edge of the world, but oddly enough the leader is taking them quite seriously.
******************
We thence head southwest again to the mighty land of Portugala, which is having a grand old time.
It turns out that the nation of Tartessos was rather overhyped; its not so much an empire as a collection of hastily erected wooden shacks at the end of a very long single track dirt road. The merchants take this in stride and expand directly around the village-state, founding colonies at Tangiers, and taking control of the Aquitania region of France.
Both areas soon prove highly productive, the former in its high potential for mineral trade, the latter in terms of its agricultural surpluses, which are unlike that any of the Portugese have seen before. Indeed, they soon fall in love with Bordeaux wine, the merits of which are debatable, but all the same the people love it. (+1 culture)
Joking aside, the nation of Portugala has developed sophisticated trading links all around, and there even are rumors of an isle with massive tin deposits to the far north; tin being in huge demand these days, they would do well to try and trade for some.
******************
Well just cross the straits of Gibralter now, and we end up in the Balearic Syracuse. Well, the people have been doing rather well, all in all, continuing to trade, farm, etc., but I doubt that you want to hear about trading and farming. Hence, well skip to the bloodshed.
The Balearic ships have attacked three places in recent days, and well focus on them from north to south.
In Campania, the galleys began to raid the Italian cost, darting away before any of the enemy men could find them, destroying any Campanian ships that came in the near vicinity. However, the plans to raid Campania further and plunder its farms and towns more suddenly evaporated as the armies of Ravenna waltzed in. More on that later. In any case, suffice it to say the Balearic ships are taking a short holiday.
Further south, they easily crossed the isle of Sicily, raping and pillaging their way from west to east, but not all has gone picture perfect. A Carthaginian colony of Lilybaeum was found on the coast, and it seemingly offered little resistance, its wooden ramparts easily fell to the first sustained assaults, and the islanders have seized the city. The Kingdom of the Sicilots, however, proves a slightly harder challenge. Composed of the natives who inhabited Sicily before all these foreigners entered, they fight, and fight hard, to keep what is theirs, in a running campaign all the way across the land. However, after much bloodshed, the Balearics have managed to drive them back to their city of Syracuse, and put the city in question under seige. The men involved are not very happy about this, due to the raiding nature of their people, but for now theyll live (in discomfort). (-500 Balearic spearmen, -500 Sicilot spearmen)
And of course, the furthest south operation of the Balearic pirates was against Carthage itself, the new city of the Phoenicians. The people of this city, however, put up a much bigger fight than expected, and though they were driven nearly to the ramparts of their city, the last stand by a group of imported Greek mercenaries, the Sacred Band, forced the Balearics to abandon any ideals of conquest, for now. (-500 Balearic spearmen, -500 Carthaginian spearmen)
Though the blue water nation of the Balearic Isles apparently faces a great many challenges at the moment, the advisors assure the rulers of the nation that they can easily subdue the various cities under siege with rather minimal effort, if the king invests more men into each. Though perhaps Carthage, at least, might be a more profitable trading partner than target?...
And in addition, the pirates, happier now with the fact that they are actually raiding somebody, join the navy in moderate numbers. (+500 spearmen)
******************
Well head on to the nation of Ravenna, since it was just mentioned previously.
The Republic is experiencing a boom like no one else on the planet, except maybe Syria, but thats a different tale.
Rapidly expanding their armed forces with the new Optimates, the nation of Ravenna invents both the pilum and scale armor, which will prove crucial in certain southern campaigns... Though the smiths attempts to smelt iron have all resulted in complete and utter failure; so it looks like Ravenna will be stuck in the Bronze Age for now (to which scholars scratched their heads, because they know of no ages besides that of bronze warfare).
Anyway, the initial strikes of Ravenna went not south, but north, against the barbarian scum around them. They rapidly made huge inroads into the land, though not so huge as they had hoped for, it is still a considerable empire all by itself. The downside is that this new empire of theirs has very little infrastructure, and thus it is rather hard for them to hold together this whole edifice. Fortunately theyre blessed by a few practical minded and loyal governors, who keep the whole thing in check, and the empire, for now, extends to the Danube.
The nation then turned its eyes southward, towards Italia.
They struck a hard blownot at Latium who expected and was prepared in great detail for itbut at Samnium, viciously tearing into the new nation, smashing their armed forces, and capturing their capital. The key to this campaign was the pilumwithout it the Ravennan forces would have been rather hard pressed to break the Samnite formations at all. Unfortunately, while the Samnites are very much down, they are not at all out, for another city resides to the south, full of rather angry warriors. (Ravenna: -500 spearmen, Samnites: -1,000 spearmen, 500 archers)
Latium turned to meet the threat of the Ravennan forces sweeping out of the Apennines, but unfortunately for the former, the latter was not so bluntly obvious. One of the more distinguished generals of Ravenna, Sulla, took his army through Campania, proclaimed it part of the Republic (which was not met by any disagreement from the Campanians, who had agreed to join it anyway), then rapidly marched up, taking the forces of Latium in the rear, and utterly thrashing their army.
He then marched on Rome with little resistance, and the city of the Seven Hills fell with nary a shot.
Sulla then took his army to the southern extreme of the realm, where he now resides, fending off island raiders form fabled lands in the midst of the Med. (Ravenna: -100 Optimates, Latium: -just about everything)
Unfortunately not all was well (as if it ever is), and the Gauls swept in from the West, attacking the northern province of Cisalpine Gaul with very little fighting, as the forces of the Republic were in the south. While the Republican armies did manage to interpose themselves between the Gauls and the blessed city itself, for now, the Gauls are still quite menacing, and the people arent very happy with them on their doorstep.
And yet, as pressures mount in the north, opportunities abound in the south. Greek colonies, ill defended, are veritably plastered over the land, and the conquering opportunities are endless. And two peoples are actually inviting the Republics forces in. The Sicilots, terrified of Balearic pirates, are asking the Ravennans to relieve the siege of their city, and in return, they will become their blessed allies. The Carthaginians, meanwhile, are offering an alliance to kill the Balearics. Of course, some advisors take the opportunity to point out that they could betray the Sicilots and Carthaginians and take the lands for themselves...
******************
Before we go on, again, we go south, to the lands of Mali.
Mali has been through some interesting times, to say the least. The king has vastly increased the army, so much so that its actually hurting them due to the large number of expenses. However, it proves to be worth it as on both ends of the kingdom, Ashanti tribes are utterly smashed, their armies lying in ruin.
The Malian armies returned to Timbuktu triumphant, with many tales of new lands to be talked to, like the Nok in the Benin region who are superb iron smelters, the nation of Dahomey to the south. And they brought something more... Gold.
A vast new ore deposit of gold has been found to the southwest, in such tremendous quantities that the king can scarcely believe it. This will give Mali power, power enough to carve out an enormous empire of its own, perhaps. (+3 extra spend points for Mali until they mine it all to dust, get it pillaged, etc.)
Unfortunately, the Garamantes arent quite happy with the Kingdom. While it sailed away blissfully on its Ashanti adventure, they say, they were fighting hard to carve out a trade route. Theyll still agree, of course, but they need help in clearing out the Berbers.
******************
Meanwhile, far over the Saharan Desert, the Exiled Arabs flourish. Their navy grows considerably with the addition of new dhows specialized for the local area, and they also expand the city of Damot, growing it with additional harbors and the like. They also create a public water system.
Meanwhile, they start up an admiralty on Socrata. Why, no one knows, but the isle is steadily gaining importance in the empire of the Exiled Arabs.
Further south, their explorers are finding Austronesian tribes dotting the isles, none of which are too easy to get past to explore further.
Oh, and they notice that life in neighboring Sinhala has fallen to pieces.
******************
Ill skip over to another, random part of the globe, both to keep you on your toes and to break the familiar pattern.
******************
The beautiful blue waters of the Aegean once more are filled with bloodshed and violence; however, it doesnt involve the Minoans at all. The Thebans contemplated their defenses for a few years, but decided that it was better not to challenge the giant and instead invaded Platea, the underpowered Ionian citystate left in the area.
After a vicious battle of phalanxes, the Thebans have the city under siege now, and the people of the city have once more pleaded for help to Minoa. Meanwhile, some of the refugees flee to the colony in Magna Graecia.
Minoa, of course, was hunkered down for what they viewed as an inevitable attack on Athenae, but it never came. The above Theban strike took out most of the Dorian energies on a neighboring state, and the republic is, right now, in peace.
Even better, the trade routes that have been started by their merchants have become quite lucrative, shipping various goods across the Med for a reasonable feethis adds quite a bit into the Minoans coffers. (+1 economy)
******************
On the stately shores of the Sea of Mamara, Anatolia continues its march towards world dominationor at least Anatolian domination.
The city of Halicarnassus in the south has grown considerably through trade, and the rest of their empire has grown through conquest, naturally enough. The Hittite assimilation has gone rather badly, though, and its turned more into a full blown war of conquest rather than a gradual assimilation effort.
The empire still flourishes, but there are rumors of war, storms on the horizon. Their recent intrusion into Thrace has left the Thracian Kingdom of Edrine rather perturbed, and border disputes have sprung up with the growing Minoan settlements to the south.
******************
The Armenians have done much in recent years.
The settlement of the Pontus region has grown to become a rich and prosperous colonythe farmlands in the area are truly starting to produce quite a bit for the nation, and the mineral wealth of Armenia proper shows no signs of running out.
But in addition to all of this, the kingdom expanded far eastward, all the way to the Caspian Sea. Here they found more riches (naturally), and they founded several cities. The ruler has also been informed of some unusual deposits of a very thick, black liquid which, in the usual display of teenage pyrotechnics, was light on fire by some of the immigrants sons. The pertinent part is that it stayed on fire, and thus, perhaps, could be used as a weapon of war.
Last but certainly not least, the Armenians have arranged the union of the rulers daughter with the Assyrian Emperorthereby intertwining the realms, and claims to their thrones... Where this will lead is uncertain at best, but it might be that the Armenians are developing Mesopotamian ambitions.
******************
South well venture, into Mesopotamia proper. Its getting to be quite a lively placeAssyria, for one, is expanding all over the place, sacking every city that dares resist their rule.
Babylon, meanwhile, is still ever the peaceful place it always was. The city itself has continued to grow, the palaces, the walls, the Hanging Gardens, etc. The people are quite happy with current arrangements, except for one thing: waste disposal in the enormous city is starting to be not only a problem, but a major health hazard.
But for once the Babylonians are diversifying; they have founded several new cities upriver in a new quest of expansion.
Unfortunately, the ever-present bad news has to come nowthe Arab tribes, usually quite quiet, have vastly increased their raids this year, striking northward with a fury. While Syria to the west has been spared, Sumeria is already in quite bad shape and they have more than a little trouble with these raiders. Now that wouldnt matter to Babylonexcept for the fact that if Sumeria falls, the invader doesnt even have to cross a river to get to Babylon.
******************
It would seem that on the lower levels of the Sumerian city states, that is to say, in the gutters, a new disease seems to be arising like wildfirekilling two or three out of every ten people that it takes hold in... of course, it only takes hold in about half of the population, it would seem... Thus about 10-15 percent of the lower class lies dead, the survivors replete with scars from spots where the skin apparently opens with no apparent causeruptures, reallywhich causes a great deal of bleeding even after the fever and such stops, which has caused some infected to die after they stop being sick... The total death rate is 15-20 percent, but the Euphrates Pox hasnt spread much further than a few Sumerian city states yet.
******************
Before we go forward, we must go back.
The problem is, there is so much to speak of when discussing Syria that this can only be covered in brief.
The slaves from Phoenicia have finally started to come into the Syrian labor markets in fulland the new Malukal Palace thing is being built considerably faster as a result (+1 point towards completion). The riches, too, are entering, but compared to the vast stores of wealth already in the city, they are scarcely worth mentioning as more than mere adornments for the new Medina Maluk.
The Malukate has bigger fish to fry, though, and a two pronged invasion, land and sea, strikes... Egypt.
This goes almost as well as the Maluk dared believe, the armies struck across the Nile with limited casualties, capturing and destroying the capital of Lower Egypt, who was preparing for an invasion by Upper Egypt. The Lower Egyptian forces, caught between two armies, were destroyed at the bridge of the moon, the Pharaoh being crushed under a horde of Syrian war chariots.
Speaking of Upper Egypt, Syrias invaded them, too, with stunning results, as the Egyptian king sent no orders... And thus the Syrians have gotten a nice bit of gold from the lands that they are already plundering.
(Syria: -500 spearmen, +1 economy, +1 spend point for next turn. Lower Egypt: -nation.)
On a side note, the Syrians get drunk on newly invented wine after these battles. (+1 culture)
But something bad did happen, naturally enough. The Hittites, driven from their homes, are trying to find refuge in Syrian lands, but most ordinary refugees dont come in scythed chariots...
(OOC: I thoroughly apologize to das for the overwhelming badness of this section.
)
******************
403 FF
1800 BGM
798 DYE
******************
Lapponia is, as usual, a relatively quiet place. Too quiet, some think, especially as the government refuses to sanction even unofficial trade with Gotland. Smugglers are often making runs in sleek longships by summer and running them with sled dogs in winter. Trade is going on, with the disapproval of the Elders... And this leads to enormous tension in Lapponian society.
Of course, beyond that, most things are going well. Expansion in the northwest has reached the cold gray waters of the Norse Sea... And the scarce skirmishes with the Gotar are relatively easily won by the Lapps. Of course, the Finns still loom in the south, growing ever more threatening...
******************
The Vikings are very quiet.
******************
Meanwhile, in Germany, much happens. The leaders raise the education through educating the populace... This is very popular with the artisans and merchants of the land, but not nearly so popular with the warriors.
The warriors, for their part, are rather too busy to complain. A group has been sent in every direction, though this means that expansion in all directions is somewhat limited. Their main focus, however, Jutland, has been met with a heck of a lot of resistance from the native Jutesthey are fighting tooth and nail to hold onto their home, and they are determined to drive out the invader. (Germany: -500 spearmen)
While in the meantime, the artisans, with new influences from education and traders from Gotland, are starting to develop a more sophisticated German culture than ever.
To the southwest extreme of the kingdom a diplomatic envoy has been sent, consisting of 100 spearmen, along the way they just happen to pick up a few villages, and reach the Rheine, where the whole developing kingdom of the Palatinate has joined them of free will; unfortunately this kingdom is not the most secure of holdings by the Germans, indeed, it is more Frankish than Germanic, and without a good road between Berlin and it, would be easy prey for the Franks. (+1 economy)
Oh, and they establish contact with the Franks, too.
******************
Speaking of the Franks, the leader unfortunately neglected to send orders for them, this time around, at least. Luckily, the people remembered enough of what their leader was doing previously to finish one of his great works for him while he was away; that is to say, the Franks have finished their great Seine irrigation system, which has (temporarily, at least) made the river valley a veritable breadbasket in terms of farming. (+3 spend points until farmland is flooded, burned, raped, or pillaged in some other way).
Another thing happens, tooships sail into the harbor at Caux and announce loudly that they are from some island a few miles away to the north. By far the majority of Franks laugh them off, for that is obviously off the edge of the world, but oddly enough the leader is taking them quite seriously.
******************
We thence head southwest again to the mighty land of Portugala, which is having a grand old time.
It turns out that the nation of Tartessos was rather overhyped; its not so much an empire as a collection of hastily erected wooden shacks at the end of a very long single track dirt road. The merchants take this in stride and expand directly around the village-state, founding colonies at Tangiers, and taking control of the Aquitania region of France.
Both areas soon prove highly productive, the former in its high potential for mineral trade, the latter in terms of its agricultural surpluses, which are unlike that any of the Portugese have seen before. Indeed, they soon fall in love with Bordeaux wine, the merits of which are debatable, but all the same the people love it. (+1 culture)
Joking aside, the nation of Portugala has developed sophisticated trading links all around, and there even are rumors of an isle with massive tin deposits to the far north; tin being in huge demand these days, they would do well to try and trade for some.
******************
Well just cross the straits of Gibralter now, and we end up in the Balearic Syracuse. Well, the people have been doing rather well, all in all, continuing to trade, farm, etc., but I doubt that you want to hear about trading and farming. Hence, well skip to the bloodshed.
The Balearic ships have attacked three places in recent days, and well focus on them from north to south.
In Campania, the galleys began to raid the Italian cost, darting away before any of the enemy men could find them, destroying any Campanian ships that came in the near vicinity. However, the plans to raid Campania further and plunder its farms and towns more suddenly evaporated as the armies of Ravenna waltzed in. More on that later. In any case, suffice it to say the Balearic ships are taking a short holiday.
Further south, they easily crossed the isle of Sicily, raping and pillaging their way from west to east, but not all has gone picture perfect. A Carthaginian colony of Lilybaeum was found on the coast, and it seemingly offered little resistance, its wooden ramparts easily fell to the first sustained assaults, and the islanders have seized the city. The Kingdom of the Sicilots, however, proves a slightly harder challenge. Composed of the natives who inhabited Sicily before all these foreigners entered, they fight, and fight hard, to keep what is theirs, in a running campaign all the way across the land. However, after much bloodshed, the Balearics have managed to drive them back to their city of Syracuse, and put the city in question under seige. The men involved are not very happy about this, due to the raiding nature of their people, but for now theyll live (in discomfort). (-500 Balearic spearmen, -500 Sicilot spearmen)
And of course, the furthest south operation of the Balearic pirates was against Carthage itself, the new city of the Phoenicians. The people of this city, however, put up a much bigger fight than expected, and though they were driven nearly to the ramparts of their city, the last stand by a group of imported Greek mercenaries, the Sacred Band, forced the Balearics to abandon any ideals of conquest, for now. (-500 Balearic spearmen, -500 Carthaginian spearmen)
Though the blue water nation of the Balearic Isles apparently faces a great many challenges at the moment, the advisors assure the rulers of the nation that they can easily subdue the various cities under siege with rather minimal effort, if the king invests more men into each. Though perhaps Carthage, at least, might be a more profitable trading partner than target?...
And in addition, the pirates, happier now with the fact that they are actually raiding somebody, join the navy in moderate numbers. (+500 spearmen)
******************
Well head on to the nation of Ravenna, since it was just mentioned previously.
The Republic is experiencing a boom like no one else on the planet, except maybe Syria, but thats a different tale.
Rapidly expanding their armed forces with the new Optimates, the nation of Ravenna invents both the pilum and scale armor, which will prove crucial in certain southern campaigns... Though the smiths attempts to smelt iron have all resulted in complete and utter failure; so it looks like Ravenna will be stuck in the Bronze Age for now (to which scholars scratched their heads, because they know of no ages besides that of bronze warfare).
Anyway, the initial strikes of Ravenna went not south, but north, against the barbarian scum around them. They rapidly made huge inroads into the land, though not so huge as they had hoped for, it is still a considerable empire all by itself. The downside is that this new empire of theirs has very little infrastructure, and thus it is rather hard for them to hold together this whole edifice. Fortunately theyre blessed by a few practical minded and loyal governors, who keep the whole thing in check, and the empire, for now, extends to the Danube.
The nation then turned its eyes southward, towards Italia.
They struck a hard blownot at Latium who expected and was prepared in great detail for itbut at Samnium, viciously tearing into the new nation, smashing their armed forces, and capturing their capital. The key to this campaign was the pilumwithout it the Ravennan forces would have been rather hard pressed to break the Samnite formations at all. Unfortunately, while the Samnites are very much down, they are not at all out, for another city resides to the south, full of rather angry warriors. (Ravenna: -500 spearmen, Samnites: -1,000 spearmen, 500 archers)
Latium turned to meet the threat of the Ravennan forces sweeping out of the Apennines, but unfortunately for the former, the latter was not so bluntly obvious. One of the more distinguished generals of Ravenna, Sulla, took his army through Campania, proclaimed it part of the Republic (which was not met by any disagreement from the Campanians, who had agreed to join it anyway), then rapidly marched up, taking the forces of Latium in the rear, and utterly thrashing their army.
He then marched on Rome with little resistance, and the city of the Seven Hills fell with nary a shot.
Sulla then took his army to the southern extreme of the realm, where he now resides, fending off island raiders form fabled lands in the midst of the Med. (Ravenna: -100 Optimates, Latium: -just about everything)
Unfortunately not all was well (as if it ever is), and the Gauls swept in from the West, attacking the northern province of Cisalpine Gaul with very little fighting, as the forces of the Republic were in the south. While the Republican armies did manage to interpose themselves between the Gauls and the blessed city itself, for now, the Gauls are still quite menacing, and the people arent very happy with them on their doorstep.
And yet, as pressures mount in the north, opportunities abound in the south. Greek colonies, ill defended, are veritably plastered over the land, and the conquering opportunities are endless. And two peoples are actually inviting the Republics forces in. The Sicilots, terrified of Balearic pirates, are asking the Ravennans to relieve the siege of their city, and in return, they will become their blessed allies. The Carthaginians, meanwhile, are offering an alliance to kill the Balearics. Of course, some advisors take the opportunity to point out that they could betray the Sicilots and Carthaginians and take the lands for themselves...
******************
Before we go on, again, we go south, to the lands of Mali.
Mali has been through some interesting times, to say the least. The king has vastly increased the army, so much so that its actually hurting them due to the large number of expenses. However, it proves to be worth it as on both ends of the kingdom, Ashanti tribes are utterly smashed, their armies lying in ruin.
The Malian armies returned to Timbuktu triumphant, with many tales of new lands to be talked to, like the Nok in the Benin region who are superb iron smelters, the nation of Dahomey to the south. And they brought something more... Gold.
A vast new ore deposit of gold has been found to the southwest, in such tremendous quantities that the king can scarcely believe it. This will give Mali power, power enough to carve out an enormous empire of its own, perhaps. (+3 extra spend points for Mali until they mine it all to dust, get it pillaged, etc.)
Unfortunately, the Garamantes arent quite happy with the Kingdom. While it sailed away blissfully on its Ashanti adventure, they say, they were fighting hard to carve out a trade route. Theyll still agree, of course, but they need help in clearing out the Berbers.
******************
Meanwhile, far over the Saharan Desert, the Exiled Arabs flourish. Their navy grows considerably with the addition of new dhows specialized for the local area, and they also expand the city of Damot, growing it with additional harbors and the like. They also create a public water system.
Meanwhile, they start up an admiralty on Socrata. Why, no one knows, but the isle is steadily gaining importance in the empire of the Exiled Arabs.
Further south, their explorers are finding Austronesian tribes dotting the isles, none of which are too easy to get past to explore further.
Oh, and they notice that life in neighboring Sinhala has fallen to pieces.
******************
Ill skip over to another, random part of the globe, both to keep you on your toes and to break the familiar pattern.
******************
The beautiful blue waters of the Aegean once more are filled with bloodshed and violence; however, it doesnt involve the Minoans at all. The Thebans contemplated their defenses for a few years, but decided that it was better not to challenge the giant and instead invaded Platea, the underpowered Ionian citystate left in the area.
After a vicious battle of phalanxes, the Thebans have the city under siege now, and the people of the city have once more pleaded for help to Minoa. Meanwhile, some of the refugees flee to the colony in Magna Graecia.
Minoa, of course, was hunkered down for what they viewed as an inevitable attack on Athenae, but it never came. The above Theban strike took out most of the Dorian energies on a neighboring state, and the republic is, right now, in peace.
Even better, the trade routes that have been started by their merchants have become quite lucrative, shipping various goods across the Med for a reasonable feethis adds quite a bit into the Minoans coffers. (+1 economy)
******************
On the stately shores of the Sea of Mamara, Anatolia continues its march towards world dominationor at least Anatolian domination.
The city of Halicarnassus in the south has grown considerably through trade, and the rest of their empire has grown through conquest, naturally enough. The Hittite assimilation has gone rather badly, though, and its turned more into a full blown war of conquest rather than a gradual assimilation effort.
The empire still flourishes, but there are rumors of war, storms on the horizon. Their recent intrusion into Thrace has left the Thracian Kingdom of Edrine rather perturbed, and border disputes have sprung up with the growing Minoan settlements to the south.
******************
The Armenians have done much in recent years.
The settlement of the Pontus region has grown to become a rich and prosperous colonythe farmlands in the area are truly starting to produce quite a bit for the nation, and the mineral wealth of Armenia proper shows no signs of running out.
But in addition to all of this, the kingdom expanded far eastward, all the way to the Caspian Sea. Here they found more riches (naturally), and they founded several cities. The ruler has also been informed of some unusual deposits of a very thick, black liquid which, in the usual display of teenage pyrotechnics, was light on fire by some of the immigrants sons. The pertinent part is that it stayed on fire, and thus, perhaps, could be used as a weapon of war.
Last but certainly not least, the Armenians have arranged the union of the rulers daughter with the Assyrian Emperorthereby intertwining the realms, and claims to their thrones... Where this will lead is uncertain at best, but it might be that the Armenians are developing Mesopotamian ambitions.
******************
South well venture, into Mesopotamia proper. Its getting to be quite a lively placeAssyria, for one, is expanding all over the place, sacking every city that dares resist their rule.
Babylon, meanwhile, is still ever the peaceful place it always was. The city itself has continued to grow, the palaces, the walls, the Hanging Gardens, etc. The people are quite happy with current arrangements, except for one thing: waste disposal in the enormous city is starting to be not only a problem, but a major health hazard.
But for once the Babylonians are diversifying; they have founded several new cities upriver in a new quest of expansion.
Unfortunately, the ever-present bad news has to come nowthe Arab tribes, usually quite quiet, have vastly increased their raids this year, striking northward with a fury. While Syria to the west has been spared, Sumeria is already in quite bad shape and they have more than a little trouble with these raiders. Now that wouldnt matter to Babylonexcept for the fact that if Sumeria falls, the invader doesnt even have to cross a river to get to Babylon.
******************
It would seem that on the lower levels of the Sumerian city states, that is to say, in the gutters, a new disease seems to be arising like wildfirekilling two or three out of every ten people that it takes hold in... of course, it only takes hold in about half of the population, it would seem... Thus about 10-15 percent of the lower class lies dead, the survivors replete with scars from spots where the skin apparently opens with no apparent causeruptures, reallywhich causes a great deal of bleeding even after the fever and such stops, which has caused some infected to die after they stop being sick... The total death rate is 15-20 percent, but the Euphrates Pox hasnt spread much further than a few Sumerian city states yet.
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Before we go forward, we must go back.
The problem is, there is so much to speak of when discussing Syria that this can only be covered in brief.
The slaves from Phoenicia have finally started to come into the Syrian labor markets in fulland the new Malukal Palace thing is being built considerably faster as a result (+1 point towards completion). The riches, too, are entering, but compared to the vast stores of wealth already in the city, they are scarcely worth mentioning as more than mere adornments for the new Medina Maluk.
The Malukate has bigger fish to fry, though, and a two pronged invasion, land and sea, strikes... Egypt.
This goes almost as well as the Maluk dared believe, the armies struck across the Nile with limited casualties, capturing and destroying the capital of Lower Egypt, who was preparing for an invasion by Upper Egypt. The Lower Egyptian forces, caught between two armies, were destroyed at the bridge of the moon, the Pharaoh being crushed under a horde of Syrian war chariots.
Speaking of Upper Egypt, Syrias invaded them, too, with stunning results, as the Egyptian king sent no orders... And thus the Syrians have gotten a nice bit of gold from the lands that they are already plundering.
(Syria: -500 spearmen, +1 economy, +1 spend point for next turn. Lower Egypt: -nation.)
On a side note, the Syrians get drunk on newly invented wine after these battles. (+1 culture)
But something bad did happen, naturally enough. The Hittites, driven from their homes, are trying to find refuge in Syrian lands, but most ordinary refugees dont come in scythed chariots...
(OOC: I thoroughly apologize to das for the overwhelming badness of this section.
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*hinthint*
