Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2006
- Messages
- 3,549
EDIT: I'll take the lower delta.
LATER EDIT: Decided to add a story.
The Barbarians, the Graknids, and the Arkage
It was the 5th year of the reign of Karbra, Graknid calendar. The Grakids ruled the delta, insofar as any one culture could be said to. They were confined to the east, but respected as the strongest as far wide as people knew of their existence. A primitive agricultural civilisation, they were based upon kings believed to be divine, with absolute rule of their cities. The royals considered it benath their feet to value anything other then royals. Their main redeeming feature was their emphasis on intelligence.
The Arkage at this stage were a minor Graknid city state with a strategic island posistion. They were unique only for their culture, which had an unsually high amount of adoptions. This led to a unqiue degree of social mobility. But it was not this that would determine their future.
At this time, the tribes further west in the Delta were considered barbarians. They were not agricultural, but nomadic. They were inferior tactically, inferior in civilisation, and inferior in population- but that didn't mean they were nothing...
The centre of the first stage of changes in motion was Jara. Jara was the strongest single Graknid state, but in no way hegemonic. This began to change on the death of Kabra, King of Jara. One of it's best generals, Craknus had won a great reputation in Kabra's reign for fending off a coalition of the strongest of the Graknid states (Kabra was an ill king during most of his reign, and could not fight his own wars), but due to royal intermarriages and the continued failure of Kabra to concieve an heir, the sucession was now disputed between the two leaders of that coalition.
Craknus was an ambitious man. Nationalism did not exist back then, but there were nobles in the city who would back him. Craknus, primarily from selfish motives but also from bloody-mindedness, decided to declare himself King of Jara. But he would wait until later in the saga...
Fakr was a northern state, leader of the coalition, and primary canidate for heir. Nestad's primary advantage was that it had, in fact, the stronger claim- but it was not as strong a state as Fakr. The forces of the two states overall slightly favored Fakr. Jara was on the brink of civil war. The only neutrals were the barbarians- and Arkage...
The first move was to Fakr. They decided to march directly on Jara, and try to buy Craknus's support. Craknus, who had already made up his mind, countered by leaving Jara in a self-imposed exile. He headed north, to barbarian terrortories.
With Fakr in control of Jara, Nestad decided to rush his forces to the city. The plan was a desicisive battle. The King of Nestad was a very stubborn and bloody-minded man, and would not accept the fall of what he percieved as his rightful heritage. The King of Fakr was not so stubborn or bloody-minded, but he knew his foe was. Both sides brought to the battle enormus armies...
Craknus incited the barbarians to sack Fakr. His reputation was known here, if vaguely. He told them of the war between Fakr and Nestad, and advocated a rapid attack to sack Fakr before any other forces could react.
The Battle of Jara was devastating. About 45% of the city supported each faction, with 5% Neutral and 5% in an Independents faction which tried to play them off against each other. But the city didn't matter- what mattered was the two armies. The battle was in the streets, which tactical doctrine of the day did not provide for. It was a battle of warriors...
On the same day, Craknus sacked Fakr. It was his greatest triumph, and his grandest moment. The city would be rebuilt later, and even then would be a major power, but it would never reclaim it's former glory...
After Jara, the Fakrids had won. The King of Nestad was dead, and Jara was theirs. But when the news of the sacking of Fakr reached them, the victory seemed hollow indeed. The plans for revenge on the pro-Nestad states would have to be put off. The survivors of the battle had an army actually smaller then that of the barbarians!
Arkage had began to exploit this oppurtunity. People took little notice, but they were already discreetly getting information for war plans. Troops were training, and men preparing for a major war of conquest...
The King of Fakr now had a major problem in the new Barbarian King, Craknus. His army, triumphantly hearing of the results of the Battle of Jara, was marching southward. These events would lead to the Battle of Kommenada, where Craknus would win a victory which would bring him to the height of his power...
It was here that Arkage decided to strike, attacking former Nestad states and occupying them one by one. Using force marches loosley based on Craknus's model, sending "merchants" into a city to open the gates, buying off minor figures in the city for promises of power that would never be kept, and other methods of war. Their army was larger than that of Craknus, who himself wanted to consolidate his victory, returning to Jara in triumph.
But Craknus's power rested in the hands of his barbarian followers. They demanded concessions- titles of nobility, land, prestige. Craknus wanted to keep them away from Jara, but this was becoming increasingly difficult. The barbarians resented the Jaran nobles, and vica versa. Craknus knew that to keep his power, he would have to make a choice...
Ultimately, Craknus would choose the barbarians. This would lead to his assasination partway through the process of subduing the north. Arkage, by contrast, used a combination of lenient terms (no sackings of cities, installation of pro-Arkage kings instead of direct annexation) and reorganisation (moving the capital to the mainland) to take control of the south.
The Arkage states were in overall stronger posistions then the northern, but the strongest single state was still the Craknid Empire. The Craknids and barbarians, the Arkage, and the remaing Graknids each would play a role in forming the new culture...
LATER EDIT: Decided to add a story.
The Barbarians, the Graknids, and the Arkage
It was the 5th year of the reign of Karbra, Graknid calendar. The Grakids ruled the delta, insofar as any one culture could be said to. They were confined to the east, but respected as the strongest as far wide as people knew of their existence. A primitive agricultural civilisation, they were based upon kings believed to be divine, with absolute rule of their cities. The royals considered it benath their feet to value anything other then royals. Their main redeeming feature was their emphasis on intelligence.
The Arkage at this stage were a minor Graknid city state with a strategic island posistion. They were unique only for their culture, which had an unsually high amount of adoptions. This led to a unqiue degree of social mobility. But it was not this that would determine their future.
At this time, the tribes further west in the Delta were considered barbarians. They were not agricultural, but nomadic. They were inferior tactically, inferior in civilisation, and inferior in population- but that didn't mean they were nothing...
The centre of the first stage of changes in motion was Jara. Jara was the strongest single Graknid state, but in no way hegemonic. This began to change on the death of Kabra, King of Jara. One of it's best generals, Craknus had won a great reputation in Kabra's reign for fending off a coalition of the strongest of the Graknid states (Kabra was an ill king during most of his reign, and could not fight his own wars), but due to royal intermarriages and the continued failure of Kabra to concieve an heir, the sucession was now disputed between the two leaders of that coalition.
Craknus was an ambitious man. Nationalism did not exist back then, but there were nobles in the city who would back him. Craknus, primarily from selfish motives but also from bloody-mindedness, decided to declare himself King of Jara. But he would wait until later in the saga...
Fakr was a northern state, leader of the coalition, and primary canidate for heir. Nestad's primary advantage was that it had, in fact, the stronger claim- but it was not as strong a state as Fakr. The forces of the two states overall slightly favored Fakr. Jara was on the brink of civil war. The only neutrals were the barbarians- and Arkage...
The first move was to Fakr. They decided to march directly on Jara, and try to buy Craknus's support. Craknus, who had already made up his mind, countered by leaving Jara in a self-imposed exile. He headed north, to barbarian terrortories.
With Fakr in control of Jara, Nestad decided to rush his forces to the city. The plan was a desicisive battle. The King of Nestad was a very stubborn and bloody-minded man, and would not accept the fall of what he percieved as his rightful heritage. The King of Fakr was not so stubborn or bloody-minded, but he knew his foe was. Both sides brought to the battle enormus armies...
Craknus incited the barbarians to sack Fakr. His reputation was known here, if vaguely. He told them of the war between Fakr and Nestad, and advocated a rapid attack to sack Fakr before any other forces could react.
The Battle of Jara was devastating. About 45% of the city supported each faction, with 5% Neutral and 5% in an Independents faction which tried to play them off against each other. But the city didn't matter- what mattered was the two armies. The battle was in the streets, which tactical doctrine of the day did not provide for. It was a battle of warriors...
On the same day, Craknus sacked Fakr. It was his greatest triumph, and his grandest moment. The city would be rebuilt later, and even then would be a major power, but it would never reclaim it's former glory...
After Jara, the Fakrids had won. The King of Nestad was dead, and Jara was theirs. But when the news of the sacking of Fakr reached them, the victory seemed hollow indeed. The plans for revenge on the pro-Nestad states would have to be put off. The survivors of the battle had an army actually smaller then that of the barbarians!
Arkage had began to exploit this oppurtunity. People took little notice, but they were already discreetly getting information for war plans. Troops were training, and men preparing for a major war of conquest...
The King of Fakr now had a major problem in the new Barbarian King, Craknus. His army, triumphantly hearing of the results of the Battle of Jara, was marching southward. These events would lead to the Battle of Kommenada, where Craknus would win a victory which would bring him to the height of his power...
It was here that Arkage decided to strike, attacking former Nestad states and occupying them one by one. Using force marches loosley based on Craknus's model, sending "merchants" into a city to open the gates, buying off minor figures in the city for promises of power that would never be kept, and other methods of war. Their army was larger than that of Craknus, who himself wanted to consolidate his victory, returning to Jara in triumph.
But Craknus's power rested in the hands of his barbarian followers. They demanded concessions- titles of nobility, land, prestige. Craknus wanted to keep them away from Jara, but this was becoming increasingly difficult. The barbarians resented the Jaran nobles, and vica versa. Craknus knew that to keep his power, he would have to make a choice...
Ultimately, Craknus would choose the barbarians. This would lead to his assasination partway through the process of subduing the north. Arkage, by contrast, used a combination of lenient terms (no sackings of cities, installation of pro-Arkage kings instead of direct annexation) and reorganisation (moving the capital to the mainland) to take control of the south.
The Arkage states were in overall stronger posistions then the northern, but the strongest single state was still the Craknid Empire. The Craknids and barbarians, the Arkage, and the remaing Graknids each would play a role in forming the new culture...