End of Empires - N3S III

Lurker's Comment: I have been itching to join a political campaign this summer, but have been unable to find anything in California. Might I ask how you managed to get into working for a political campaign? :(
Just go to the campaign office of the candidate of your choice and ask to volunteer.
 
How long until the update?

NOTE: The current format will probably be rather confusing for any lurkers who browse over this NES after it's completion.
 
Oh snap.

NK if you have any problems with my rather archaic and poorly organized set of orders PM me i'll be happy to clarify.

Do not question NK's updates... or else face the wrath of the Muesli Panda!
 
End of Empires - Update Two
The Forge’s Fire

c. Five Hundred Years


So this was what it had come to.

A thousand years of rivalry, of hatred, of bloodshed, fell to this one day. Or so it seemed. It had probably seemed that way before; every battle seems like the last to the man who fights it. But this seemed different to Craknus. Somehow, it had an aura of finality.

The banners he stood beneath were those of the Arkage, one of the most storied of all kingdoms; on the other bank swarmed the men of the Seshweay. Row upon row of the finest spears in all of the world stood facing each other, and here he waited, watching the quiet with a growing disquiet. The enemy would cross the river soon, and then the battle would start. A hundred thousand men might die today, and the river would drink their blood. It had done so before.

It lasted like this a day and a half, both armies eyeing each other. The crows had gathered already, as though waiting for the corpses that were sure to pile, and the howls of wolves were uncomfortably close in the night. Then the storm broke.

Men of the Republic, the finest legions in the world, waded into the fords. The Sesh were crossing their namesake.

The cries were tinged with fright up and down the river; the apocalypse had surely come. The bows of ten thousand Arkage bent and twanged in near unison; the sky grew black with arrows. The first man died with a pitiful shriek, an arrow through his chest. Before his scream faded, a hundred more joined it. The battle had begun in earnest.

It was a vicious crossing, as the Sesh general knew it had to be. The river was treacherous, and more than a few were swept away by the fleet current; far more fell to the darts that pounded on them like rain. But glory and the Ancestors drove them onward, and in only a few minutes the first few staggered onto the eastern bank, ragged, soaked, and eager for battle. So they asked; so they received; the charge of the Arkage crashed into them like the tide, and they were pushed back into the river before even more surged onto the banks.

It went on and on, the clash of armies back and forth, but finally the Sesh were firmly across, and bloodied though they were, the forces still had a battle to fight. Regrouping, the Arkage drove forward again, trying to catch the Seshweay as they still deployed. But the Sesh, not cleverly, perhaps, but stubbornly, lowered their spears and locked their shields, and the wall drove back the Arkage at first, driving them back.

Craknus ordered his men to probe the phalanx slowly, to find the weak points in the solid front. More than once, they found one, and whole sections of the Seshweay line were cut to pieces, but still the men came on, faces grim.

First the bank was yielded, then the hill behind it. Finally, the Arkage withdrew entirely. Craknus was no fool; he had been beaten that day. But the losses to the enemy had been terrible as well; soon they would find themselves in hostile lands. The Arkage would unite to drive them out, as they always had before.

This time, however, the Seshweay were clever. Halting their advance, a fortress was built at the fords, easily resupplied by the homeland, its walls thick and tall. The Fortress of the Republic, infinitely more potent than anything that had been built before now, stood at the focal point of the Seshweay advance. The scouts were quick to report this development, and Craknus knew that time was short.

Mercenaries from far off lands were hired; barbarians from the east, Serati Khopesh from the south, even a few strange wild men from the Kotthorn Mountains. More men were raised, with the resources of the state being strained to the utmost. Pleas were sent for aid to Jania, who responded gallantly with a host of spears; promises of gold were made to the Satarai and the Bahrans if they should intervene. Yet there was no time to see if the latter effort would bear fruit; the fortress’ walls were nearly raised. The blow must fall.

Craknus gathered his men, and they arrayed themselves for battle, drawing out the Sesh army for yet another battle. The two nations clashed once again, and this time his commanders’ stratagems won out; the Arkage drove the Sesh beyond the River, and the Fortress was burned.

Flush with victory, the Arkage probed northwards with their fleet, and forced the crossing of the Sesh near Seis. With this holy city in hand, they reasoned, the backbone of the Seshweay might be broken, and if not, then the loot would surely make up for any loss.

The siege of Seis drew out yet another Seshweay army, of course, and this time numbers proved too great; the battle ended in a bloody draw that forced an Arkage withdrawal. Tens of thousands lay dead on the fields of the delta, now, and rumors of roving Bahran tribesmen upriver were drawing some soldiers away to fend off this menace.

Numerous slave revolts thus far had been averted by a network of informants by the Arkage government, but a relatively minor one, just a few slaves on the fields near Fakr, suddenly snowballed into a truly immense force, if a ragtag one. Though the Arkage were able to muster another army to crush them, and crush them they did, the Seshweay were able to slip across the river and reoccupy their grand Fortress. This time, when the hammer fell upon it, they stood firm, and the Arkage were repulsed.

It seemed like the beginning of the end. Opportunistic barbarians were nibbling at the heels of the Arkage everywhere, and the Seshweay had gotten nearly a hundred thousand across the river. There were mutters of secession among the most discontented cities; never before had times seemed this grim. All was lost.

The Aya’se, newly inaugurated ruler of the Seshweay, had plenty of cause to celebrate. His palace overlooked the graves of the Arkage army that had so unwisely decided to sack Seis and met their doom. Across the river, soldiers were already forming into battalions; the master stroke of the Sesh plans would finally crush the Arkage out of existence.

The messenger, then, was most unwelcome.

He had come from the south, his breath ragged and his shoes worn to pieces from his mad dash. He told of fire and flame, war and death. For bronze-masked warriors had come out of the south, laughing and slaughtering as they came. Bronze-masked warriors were bringing the doom of civilization with them. The Satarai had come.

The Seshweay naturally turned to face this new threat, but at the advance of their armies, these men with bronze faces vanished, melting away into the steppe. In their shadow came hordes of chariots, fearsome carts drawn by two horses that acted as highly mobile platforms for archers or spearmen. Utterly destroying the exhausted Seshweay armies, the Satarai rolled over their lands, and in the chaos, crossed the river and defeated the Arkage as well.

At a stroke, the entire river valley had fallen.

Or nearly the entire valley, for the cities stood firm. Never great siege artists, the Satarai were forced to encamp outside the walls of the great cities of the cradle for years, waiting for them to be starved into submission. One or two were taken by treachery; a few more by bloody assault. In the end, it was nearly inevitable. The cradle of civilization had fallen to brutal barbarians.

The great conqueror Taleldil reorganized his conquests into the Great Satrapy of the Sesh – the first multiethnic, large-scale empire that the world had ever seen. Dissidents were harshly persecuted, and many fled into Jania (especially the Arkage), or the Exiles’ Cities to the north (mostly the Seshweay). The majority, however, remained, and languished under the rule of a mighty empire.

The Great Satrapy seemed invincible in battle, destroying the armies of the Serati in battle as well, and driving to the River Had; their chariots were a key weapon that no other nation had mastered. In the end, as the technology spread faster than they themselves could, the military advantage of the Satarai petered out, but they remained supreme over the River Sesh.

Or so it seemed, for this tale was not over... (see below)

* * * * * * * * *​

The Republic had long ago united the Duroc. Certainly there had been grumbling in Galcia, especially when the ancestral lands of those peoples were given over to the Uggor to make room for a route to the sea, but that was, in the end, a minor concern. The Duroc were finally under a single banner, and it was surely their destiny that the entire world should know their name. Certainly that was what the Jalin Geros had in mind. A seasoned military officer that had been raised to the highest honor in the Republic, he had long since led campaigns to the north, and while only small barbarians had been conquered so far, there was hopefully much more in store for them.

So there was. It was not a long time after his ascension when the armies of the Thearak crossed the border, fully ready to crush the Republic into submission. The Duroc had long prepared for this time, never fully trusting their eastern neighbors; numerous forts studded the borders between the two nations, and they fell back to these, resisting the advance for quite some time. In the end, however, superior numbers could not be held at bay; the Republic’s forces retreated.

The city of Asandar itself was not the capital of the Republic anymore; Thaylon had surpassed it. However, the fortifications were still massive, large enough to withstand a siege by the Liealb soldiers, and supply lines were kept open by their ships, not only more numerous, but also better overall than those of their neighbors. These same ships sent word to the Uggor: Duroc is under attack. Come with all haste.

Not all nations are treacherous, and the Uggor, true to their word, honored the ancient ties that bound the two nations. The armies of Thearak withdrew from the siege to regroup on the central plains, and the allied nations advanced to the cusp of the Goroto Crater.

It seemed inevitable at this point that a titanic clash would occur, and in truth, neither side truly avoided it; both advanced into the Crater itself, a sweeping, bowl-shaped valley. It would be a death ground.

The Thearaki army had swollen in size to nearly fifty thousand; a benefit from the growing population on the Kiyaj River. Against this, the allies had around thirty thousand men, numbering twenty thousand from the Duroc and ten thousand from the Uggor. However, the allies also had one weapon. Not particularly secret, but still unaccessible to their opponents, war elephants were first utilized in full during the Battle of Goroto.

The Thearaki locked spears and shields were utterly useless against the massive beasts that hammered away at their line. While the howdah had not yet been invented by the Uggor, the mahouts were still quite skilled at driving their elephants into the enemy, who were tossed by the dozens into the air or trampled underfoot. It was entirely too much for the inexperienced Liealb army; they were routed.

Though the allies continued their advance, it became more and more difficult the further into Thearak’s territory they went. In the end, a series of increasingly costly battles finally convinced them to make peace, with the borders restored to those known before the war.

The next few centuries would see more than one war between the three nations, but always the alliance of the Duroc and Uggor was a match for Thearak; without some great strategist to break the deadlock, no side would triumph. Perhaps with that in mind, the various nations turned to more peaceful pursuits.

The Duroc, for their part, continued the great March northwards. Under the great Jalin Sarhara, the nation prospered economically; in fact, their trade network was best able to react to the arrival of Hamakuan and Opulensi merchants in the Galas Sea; they switched to shipping products to the east instead of through Thearak. Indeed, the nation’s fleet, while vastly outmatched by these foreign ships, was able to make a few voyages to the outer Hamakuan colonies, and engage actively in the trade route themselves.

Thearak was unfortunately less flexible. The declining importance of the northern trade route impacted them severely, and while it was still immensely profitable, they found themselves outshone by their western neighbors. In response, the kings of the nation began to build a more sturdy, agricultural economy, focusing on the bulk production of food. While not particularly elegant, it fueled the creation of the largest nation on this side of the Kotthorns, and indeed Thearak integrated vast new territories under its banner. It also adopted the innovation of currency, the idea imported from the far northern lands of the Sesh late in the period.

Still the most primitive, for obvious reasons, the Uggor nonetheless were able to progress considerably during the period. Their union under a single Council was immensely beneficial to the settling of disputes, and thus made trade and industry far safer investments; the economy and population of the land boomed. Further advances were made when the nations of Lumada and Moti were contacted. Offshoots of the Uggor culture, they formed a valuable conduit when tin was discovered and began to be mined in the Kotthorns just north of the Moti capital.

* * * * * * * * *​

In the war for control of the trade network, for every winner there must be at least two losers. It was a bitterly contested struggle, with every nation exploiting their own position to the fullest.

The Epichirisi and Hamakuans were able to make direct contact with each other when a route across the Nakalani was charted, and a trade route opened up between the two. The intermediate point, of course, was the newly discovered Chimoai Isles, a fantastic paradise of sorts, though in truth the tropical cyclones that came yearly were more than a little unpleasant. In any case, spices could travel directly from the Opulensi to Hamakua, and timber could be shipped right back. Indeed, later in the period, expeditions to the west revealed a route to the three nations there, and tin, exotic animals, and ivory were all brought into the trade network.

Ironically, however, these two routes proved to be exactly what undid the trading powers.

By trading solely with each other, the Hamakuans and Opulensi actually marginalized themselves. No longer actively participating in the trade network that stretched from the Ederru to the Trilui meant giving up a vast proportion of their profits, and by the time they realized their mistake, it was too late to get fully back into these markets. While they were still prosperous nations, they had both fallen behind.

Moreover, the strong-arming tactics of the Epichirisi alienated the major neutral trading power of the Treha, who were thus driven into the arms of the Trilui. With the conquest of Linlui and the establishment of a vassal on the throne of Sivao, the Trilui were at the head of a very powerful bloc.

This, of course, enabled them to create one of the largest empires the world had ever known, in truth, perhaps the largest. Stretching over the entirety of the Lovi Sea, the Trilui Empire utterly monopolized north-south trade, and was able to conduct naval wars on both ends of its territory simultaneously; indeed, it demonstrated this capability with the capture of the city of Kargan from Jania even as it obliterated the minor island state of Hanno, and still further crushed a rebellion against their puppet in Sivao.

By the end of the period, then, the Trilui stood utterly dominant in the naval field; it seemed like only a matter of time before either it confronted its enemies with force, or they arranged a coalition to bring down the mighty power.

Coupled with this were a series of internal improvements to the Trilui nation. At the pressure of Farou, it abolished slavery in all forms on the mainland, though some outer islands still allowed it. At the same time, the capital Trovin was beautified and expanded with the trading wealth it had accrued; its walls and port were the most magnificent the world had ever seen, while the marbled buildings centered around the Temple of Hulos.

The Farou, for their part, had the somewhat less glorious distinction of conquering several minor slaveholding kingdoms to the northwest, as well as peacefully integrating more free minor tribes. Most notable was the conquest of the city of Dema, which became a major port on the Lovi Sea. Simultaneously, the smiths in the hills of Helsia were said to be smelting the metal of iron from its ores. Of course, for the moment, few desire such a metal, given the abundance and malleability of bronze.

During this period, Hamakua, having been shut out of the main trade network for the most part, worked somewhat to reintegrate themselves, of course, but focused more on colonization and expansion into the southern peninsula. The independent tribes of Hanakahi and Kona at this time became independent, but otherwise competition was limited, and several areas were settled at this time. Taking advantage of the warmer and wetter climate, the Hamakua began to cultivate a variety of native spices, though the economic potential of these is yet to be realized.

Around the same time, Opulensi traders began to spread the Arta Xorti religion of Indagahor, as it has come be known, to the Hamakua. The concept of Iehor, or Enlightenment, has taken a quick root in the minds of the Hamakua.

For their part, the Arta Xorti expanded somewhat, sending out various colonial missions, establishing footholds on several of the northern islands, with the independent city of Nahar founded on a fertile bay.

* * * * * * * * *​

The advance of the Satarai had been stopped at the River Had, and since that initial strike, Serat had been fairly untroubled. Of course, they had already lost half their nation, so the lack of trouble now was insignificant in comparison. The prosperous trade city of Xerda had been lost, along with thousands of soldiers and civilians, let alone the agricultural land of the north.

Defeated in battle once, the nobility of the Serati had lost confidence in their king; a series of them were overthrown in coups and assassinations. Finally, a strong king emerged, named Akbul. Akbul was a fierce warrior, but also a skilled administrator, able to pull together the scattered threads of Serati society. While the north would no doubt remain in the hands of the Satrapy, he could launch other conquests to make up for this.

The Serati army was reformed yet again, with chariots adopted from the Satarai, and the general infantry corps being better armed and armored than ever. The Khopesh of course remained a potent force as well.

Diplomacy with the far off Hu’ut Kingdom was immensely profitable to both parties, and a joint invasion of the ailing Salgaron nation was planned. This central power had been decaying, with kings growing corpulent, and the weapons of the army growing dull; the people of the nation often wallowed in misery and filth.

It was easy prey; the two nations smashed the Salgaron between them, with Serat getting the lion’s share of the land and the Hu’ut getting the majority of the population.

Yet this was far from the end of the age.

The tiny nation of Palmyra had been growing for the past few centuries. Discontented with their inconsequential place in the world, the Palmyrians had launched a series of campaigns that had nearly quadrupled the size of their nation, both against minor barbarians, and against the encroaching colony that Sivao had planted on their shores. In this latter war, they received assistance from the Trilui, who were only too happy to use this as a casus belli.

The help from the Trilui, in fact, was exactly what gave the Palmyrians the stomach to do what they did next.

Ignoring military reality, ignoring the fact that all the numbers were against them, ignoring all of this, Palmyra invaded the Empire of Hu’ut. Initially, their three pronged attack was regarded as something of a joke by the much larger empire, who sent merely token armies to oppose them. However, the strategy of the Palmyrians was successful in diverting and tearing apart the various minor forces of the Empire.

However, the garrisons of the Empire were enough that they stopped the Palmyrians short of sacking Hiuttubupulosolamanos, and despite grudging Trilui naval assistance, the smaller nation was utterly unable to break any of the Empire’s battle lines. In the end, they agreed on an uneasy peace, whereby the Palmyrians took a token bit of land; the Hu’ut, for their part, were still busy pacifying the Salgaron regions to the west, while the Farou were threatening to enter the war on the side of Palmyra.

Thus do the powers stand at the end of the period: the alliance of Serat and Hu’ut, which may well tear itself up much as they did the middle empire; the nation of Palmyra against them; and the officially neutral but in truth rather anti-Hu’uti powers of Farou and Trilui.

* * * * * * * * *​

All empires must rise, and all must fall. Thus is the fate of the Grand Satrapy of the Sesh, the mighty nation that the Satarai nomads established. In truth, it was fairly astonishing that it lasted as long as it did; the surprising resilience of both Seshweay and Arkage cultures meant that the conquered peoples kept a strong identity despite the best attempts of the mighty empire to destroy them. The rulers, of course, could assimilate, but this was difficult for the Satarai, as the steppe was fairly close. The old ways were still kept, and those who kept them were envious of the easy life that the lords of the Sesh led.

Satarai rulers had brought a system of government that held the steppe nation together for centuries, but was unfortunately unsuited to the sedentary life of the Sesh Valley. Passing power between clan heads every decade worked well enough when the plains were their home, and when people were mobile and whole towns fluid. But when nobles acquired permanent power bases, they began to crave more and more of that power. The absolute rule of ten years became coveted to a degree that some were willing to declare their terms extended.

When this happened, the system began to fall apart, and no one recognized the title of Satrap anymore. The end of an Empire came as easily as that, with seven factions splitting the old lands of the Sesh between them, and fighting with themselves and the old Satarai alike for the crown of all the world.

Ironically, it came not from either of those nations. A commoner by the name of Te’esh, rumored to be of descent from the great warlord Craknus, the general Pa, and the revered Aya’se, rose quickly through the ranks of the Scroll tribe. His astonishing grasp of military tactics made him a natural rival of the local Satrap, who attempted to assassinate him, but the young general was clever, and not only foiled the assassination attempt, but used it as leverage to gain control of an army. Defeating each of the seven Satraps in turn, he united the river valley, drove back the Satarai, and restored the independence of the land.

Te’esh was neither Seshweay nor Arkage; he was both at once. The dynasty he founded, of both bloodlines, was a symbol for the union of the valley into one nation, under one crown. Out of fire and blood, out of the ashes of so many nations, the Empire of the Sesh had been born.

The Empire was governed by a single ruler, however, there was a democratic Senate beneath him which shared a great deal of power. The military was both highly disciplined (inherited from the Seshweay) and organized and commanded well (from the Arkage). Their religion mostly derived from the Ancestor Worship of the Seshweay, of course, but quite a lot of the minor details were taken from the Arkage practices.

By the end of his rule, Te’esh had managed to make peace with the Serati, granting them the north of the Had River, driven back several more barbarian incursions, and generally made peace with all his neighbors. While the center of the land had been devastated by many years of warfare, it was luckily still fertile, and the population was slowly rebounding. The land which had seen all too much war was returning to peace.

* * * * * * * * *​

The tales of blood and death were enough to trouble the souls of many a free man. Empires were rising and falling with astonishing speed. It was of little surprise, then, that some were willing to trade away freedom for relative security; thus did the tribes of the Peko River unite under the banner of the Pekorovan nation. While it has yet to assimilate the vast majority of the tribes in its homeland, it certainly has the potential to do so in the future, especially with a honed military force.

Brethren to the Pekorovans, though neither side knew it, the Neruss were also a new found nation in this period. A city state growing rich off of the salt trade, Neruss had a fairly bright future ahead of it, with few real enemies. The only nations that were even threats were the ever-present trading monopoly of the Trilui, and the newly formed Akalm nation in the Parda Hills to the west. In truth, no one really wanted the salt enough to kill these hardy people for it, and everyone wanted it enough to buy it at rather high prices.

The nations of the Kern Sea continued their slow, but fairly steady development. While Berdz did little during this period, the river valley below it began to consolidate into minor kingdoms.

At the same time, Ferman expanded into the barbarian lands around it, encountering few, if any problems during its expansion. While the land remains somewhat sparsely populated, it is quite fertile.

The Ailuttorutto were consolidated by the nation of Rutto, a nation created by the conquests of Aittos, a military genius who united the Rutto Peninsula under the single city of Lutto, and of course took the City of Gold from the Issitti. Indeed, his successors actually managed to bring the majority of Ailuttorutto lands under their dominions, but this minor empire imploded due to a famine in the later part of the period. Still, Rutto was able to maintain its hold on the core areas of the nation, and looks to remain dominant.

The lands of the Ederru have seen much in the past five hundred years. A Trilui vessel actually mapped a direct route to the southern fishing villages, which opened the way for future voyages; thus quite a few luxuries are now in the markets that were previously unavailable. While the search for a unicorn by the ship’s captain ended in a failure, the benefits that have been brought to the Ederru are beyond counting.

Partly due to this, and partly through other factors, the tribes of the Ederru are finally beginning to settle in one place; an organized religion is being formed around the Lemdeh Caverns. While political fragmentation was an inevitable side-effect of this, the smaller units actually have more people individually than the entire Ederru nation did just a few generations ago. The world is changing...


Political Map


City Map


Economic Map

* * * * * * * * *

Notes:

The Empire of the Sesh may be run by either Masada or Neverwonagame3, as they both had a hand in its creation. If you can come to some sort of agreement about it, that would be wonderful; otherwise I’ll have to put it down to a coin toss (unless you have a better idea). Both of you have nations of your culture to go to otherwise; the Exile States are primarily Seshweay in ancestry, while Jania is obviously a primarily Arkage state (as, in fact, is Cyre).

I believe it may be time to move this NES into 20 year turns. What’s the general opinion on that?

Story bonuses may or may not be evident, but they were indeed awarded. I’m rather pressed for time, so I won’t catalog them.
 
Reaction 1. On checking map: Havent finished the update... but saw Empire of Sesh, guessing i won :) but i'll be honoured to have my ex-enemy assist me in running the venture... :)

Reaction 2. On reading finishing the first part of the story: Premature... in the extreme...

Reaction 3. Well damm... didnt quite go to plan ;) bastard Satari but even so i dont mind jointly ruling the Empire :p Neverwonagame was an honourable enemy... any which way the Satari have a death sentance hanging over their head...
 
Never mind NK, great update. And I thought the bit about the Ederru was the right length.
 
How about an agreement that Masada runs every first king, and I run every second?

QUERIES:

1- Unlikely, but can we run another state at the same time? (Perhaps only every second or every first ruler or something)

2- How much of the military academies have survived?

3- What happened to the formal doctrine of "Know thy enemy?"

EDIT:
I don't mind going to 20 year updates. Anyway, might start trying for a story bonus.

Disputes of the Craknid Line of Sucession
The bulk of the Craknid house after Arkage's defeat had originally fled to Jania. There they had regrouped and decided to attempt to pull off a plan on the lines of what Craknus had done once before. This plan was only spoiled because of a clever Satari (the Craknids never learned his real name) who had looked up a lot of history and feared such a plot. The self-appointed head of the House of Craknus (to be fair, the only ex-general who was a Craknid) was killed.

By the time of the Empire of Sesh, the Craknids of this period had been categorised into three groups.

First, the Janids, champions of a Jania Sea Empire who failed to achieve glory like that of the Craknids in the anti-Seshweay military campaigns. Second, the Hanids, after Hanid (their founder), who continously tried and failed to rebel (including one last rebellion against the Sesh themselves). While their ability to persist in hard circumstances was indeed impressive, their military tactics skills were notable for their abscence.

Third was the Unknown Branch, of which the later Xenid observers (As realistically modernity is not assured, a plot device for a civilisation roughly as enlightened as our real modern one and as detached) would dispute the existence. It was said by official Sesh historians that they held the title of Craknid but were a mere peasant family who did not join the wars. This was a plausible story, but given it's usefulness politically it is not certain if it is true.

The Death Period (as the most traditionalist of Craknids called it) ensued with the Sesh Empire. The Hanids had been exterminated once and for all, but a branch of Janids had returned to Sesh. They began the Last Rebellion, the last great achievement to be identified by historians as Craknid and Craknid alone.

But it was nothing compared to the glory days. It's main feature was that it managed to so well with no popular support whatsoever. It was really a small group of rebels fleeing about the countryside, disrupting gold mines and assasinating fairly important individuals. Ultimately it lasted a year, almost all in constant flight.

But the new Sesh ruler was more intelligent. He was aware that his claims were doubted. So he decided to spare the Lesser Janids (as they were now called. The distinction was beggining to come about) and intermarry with them as much as possible to preserve his bloodline.
 
I’m just thinking on that issue, to be honest I don’t mind if we alternate order writing and both contribute each turn to what we want to do. We already spam stories like crazy anyways :p

If jalapeno_dude or Symphony D. could come down from on high and advise us on how they do it for their United Empire in DaftNES 2 I would be much appreciative.

I don’t think he’s a King, more than likely he’s an Emperor... of course Republicanism isn’t dead ;)

It is possible to jointly run a nation.
 
Actually, Masada, how about one of us plays the King and the other plays the Senate? Or perhaps we play alternate turns and play our own nations in the meantime?

EDIT: If you don't want to do that, as long as the other players consider it fair I hereby accept your proposal about each contributing to what we want to. As you won, you win out in case of contradiction.
 
I accept your proposal.

I'll have the deciding vote and anything paticularily terrible we might need to direct to a neutral arbiter... ie. NK :p.

So we will jointly draft up and write orders and cross check stories.
 
Which proposal? The first one?

The Tradition of Arkage Slave Revolts
The Arkage were ruled by an army class, but the slave class, while accepting their master's religion, had their own traditions.

These traditions began with the Barid Revolt. Barij (the -ij ending at this time was used for a slave, though later in the period it would be dropped) had been his master's trusted advisor and confidant. His master had been High Priest, so this was very important. But Barij, proud of his half-Seshweay descent, was determined to weaken the Arkage. If this meant justice for his fellow slaves, well, that removed his conflict of interest.

The Barid revolt was a failure, but Barij had made several innovations. First, a belief (not reasonably justified, but he got lucky because by this period it happened to be true) in Seshweay sympathy for their cause. Second, a tradition of TRYING (they very rarely suceeded) to call for Seshweay aid and coordination. Third, he had realised that victory for a slave revolt was quite unlikely.

And such he had changed tactics. The objective was to be mobile, allow "deserters" to keep the flame of slave revolt and the tradition alive, and start the passing of secret stories (the tactic which came about was a mass spread faster then informants could keep up. Linguistic difficulties did occur at first, but an aristocratic pro-Barid minority solved this problem).

Even the Hanids, to their shame, would adapt their ideas, and to the extent an Arkage culture was seen to exist the ideas of the Barids were seen to be an integral part of it. Such judgements an objective person would consider arbitrary, but it existed.

The followers of Barid's slave traditions became known as Barids, a title like the title of Craknid before it. They survived into the reign of the Satari, albiet weakened severely by the double blows of poor leadership and the exaggerated fear of Satari chariots.

The Barids were for a while divided into Arkage and Sesh Barids. The Arkage Barids desired war with and ultimate conquest of the Seshweay, with the status quo being restored after the (presumed for most of this period to be Barid-won) victory. They were, however, liberal enough to accept that the Satari might replace the Seshweay as such a foe, and if so that they could played off against each other.

But ultimately the Arkage Barids invoked a history they could not express articulately enough. The aristocrats had been resented, and the views of Barj (the name had been slightly corrupted) Over a series of hundreds of arguments held when the chance arrived, the Sesh Barids ultimately won. The last stand of the Arkage Barids came in a direct assault on the Sesh Capital. Due to a force march, they had an army three times the size of the capitaline forces outside it.

However, they had brought along the families of the soldiers, risking the obliteration of their tradition if they failed. They were mere peasants, fighting a foe with disipline, organisation, and skilled command. Both sides (thanks to the rhetoric of the leader of this attack) saw this as a desperate, one-off stand that would determine which values prevaled.

But the Arkage Barids, notwithstanding their own delusions, did not stand a chance. The desperate army even tried to arm women for one last charge (a gesture which blackened their names greatly in the minds of the common folk). Ultimately, they were finished off by the stubborness of the leader who would go down in history for the gesture- Krakrus. As he would be called, Krakrus the Putrid.
 
Im confirming that me and Neverwonagame have agreed to each contribute to our orders, we will work collaberatively on our orders, and try to cross check our stories. I also have the deciding vote, with anything paticularily terrible probably being directed to you

FYI - NK

Signed Masada

@Neverwonagame do you want to confirm to the agreement for the benefit of the Mod?

I must note that my sympathy for the Barids was genuine i even had the religous arguement nicely settled.
 
I confirm the agreement, but how could the Seshweay symphatise with the Barids when they considered the Arkage not to be human? Did that change, and if so where?
 
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