The Mandelbrot Affair

Background
I decided to write another story that explores a couple of areas of Civ5 that I haven't looked into much previously. First, I wanted to try a different map type, and I selected the fractal map. This choice explains the thread title: Benoit Mandelbrot was the mathematician (you did see my icon, right?) who introduced the term "fractal" and championed their study as intrinsically interesting objects. I know what fractals are, but have no idea what a fractal map is going to turn out to look like.
Second, I wanted to try a civilization that wasn't regarded as very good and see how well I could do with it. A relatively recent poll (strongest civ in civ5) in the general discussion forum asked for the strongest civilization; I figured that civs that did poorly in that poll required some special attention. Germany got the fewest votes. (Actually, Spain did as poorly, but being a DLC probably did not get the same consideration.) So, you guessed it: We are going to play as Germany on a fractal map. Let's get started.
Standard map size; standard speed; ancient era start; king.
Reviewing the unique German abilities and units, we are clearly expected to spend some time fighting wars. We are supposed to get the barbarians to provide us with units, spam lots of cheap landsknechts, and eventually roll over the countryside with panzers. Not much to encourage cultural or scientific development there....

The nomadic tribe of Germans stumbled out of the dense, dark forests and blinked in the bright sunlight. Their leader at that time was a member of the clan called Bismarck. Specifically, they were led by Hans Bismarck, better known to his contemporaries as Hans the Fat, a consequence of his love for Black Forest Cake.
-- Fellow Germans! Over the dinner table, I heard tell of a marvelous new thing called "fractals". Send someone to our storehouse and fetch me a fractal!
-- But, Herr Bismarck,we don't have a storehouse. We're nomads. We wander around aimlessly, beating up our neighbors. We have no buildings and no cities.
-- Hmm. Let us find somewhere to form a permanent settlement. Preferably somewhere with a supply of fractals.

The tribe looked around. They were standing on a riverside hill. They could see a supply of incense to the northwest, and forests that would supply venison to eat and furs to make warm clothes and to trade with any neighbors that they didn't feel like beating up.
-- Why don't we settle here? I don't see any fractals, but otherwise it looks like a perfectly marvelous place for a city.
-- Terrific. Why don't you name it after that songwriter? You know, the White Christmas guy?
-- You want to name our first city Irving?
-- No, you dolt! Berlin!
And so they founded the city of Berlin, started researching pottery, and began recruiting a scouting unit that they could send out to look for fractals. The German warrior started south, where he found another supply of incense.

Subscribed.

After recruiting their scout, Berlin began construction of a monument. The scouts noticed some spices to the southeast, but could not find any fractals.
--What does a fractal look like, anyway?
-- I dunno. Sort of jaggedy, I think. And the closer you look, the more it looks like itself.
-- That's not very helpful. Let's go find some strangers to beat up.
The scouting party advanced along the coast to the north. After coming upon some ruins, they collected a supply of bows and arrows that made them much more intimidating when they came across random strangers that they wanted to beat up.
In order to make use of the incense, the Germans started researching calendar after learning how to throw pots. (It took them a while to get the hang of this concept. For years, they kept trying to throw the pots after they had been fired in the kiln, and they kept shattering.) They also finished building a monument and started recruiting settlers to head out into the world looking for the source of all fractals.
Some time later, the Germans decided that rapid expansion sounded like a good idea, and so they championed liberty.

lurker's comment: Subscribing.

Following the death of Hans "the Fat" Bismarck, Germany came to be led by another member of the Bismarck clan. Fritz "Fritz" Bismarck was exceedingly boring. The most exciting thing that happened during his rule was that German warriors, patrolling in the southeastern part of the continent, met the representatives of a group of foreigners, and did not immediately beat them up.
-- Sire, sire! Our exploring soldiers have met the city-state of Edinburgh.
-- What's an Edinburg-h and why should I care?
-- They think we are a great empire, and have given us 30 pieces of gold. And they have whales!
-- Do they have any fractals?

The scouts to the north, after killing off a village of barbarians by getting too rambunctious with their new bow-and-arrow collection, had moved around to the west and explored some more ruins. The natives who survived this "visit" decided to move to Berlin.
Further west, the scouts found the city-state of Vienna, who also provided the German empire with a generous gift.

Jutting into the sea just to the northwest of Edinburgh, German warriors found the fabled Rock of Gibraltar. The German people were delirious with happiness at this discovery. A tradition among the peasants held that the surface of the Rock of Gibraltar was shaped like a fractal. So, they thought that its discovery was a sign that the world was about to end in an explosion of rapture. While that didn't happen, the happiness persisted throughout the empire.
Some of the rapturites had sold all of their belongings in anticipation of the end of the world. Having no place left to live in Berlin, they struck out into the the continental wilderness to find another place to live. Stories of delightful spices and abundant fishing grounds had been sent back long ago by a scouting party, so these wanderers made their way to the coast. Meanwhile, far to the west, German scout-archers were taking out their frustrations on some barbarian brutes.
The party of settlers founded the city of Hamburg and immediately began building their own monument, just like the one they remembered from Berlin. And with that simple act, the size of the vast German empire doubled.

Further to the west, German scout-archers met the city-state of Venice. Germany was the first great empire that these people had ever met, so they again presented them with a generous gift of gold.
Cultural advances in the growing empire led the Germans to develop Collective Rule. For some reason, collective rule makes people so happy about their circumstances that they want to leave the capitol city and go out to live somewhere else.
The next group of settlers found a likely looking spot on the northern coast. This was another riverside hill, just like their old home in Berlin. But it was on the coast, and located near some of the abundant incense that seemed to be the dominant resource on this continent.
They founded the city of Munich, which wanted to build its own monument just like every other German city.
In the far west, beyond Venice, the scout-archers had been systematically beating up some barbarian brutes. When the archers entered the barbarian camp in triumph, the remaining youths decided that wandering around in German uniforms beating people up would be a terrific way to spend their summer vacation. And so, they decided to join the German army.

By 2500 BC, the German empire had systematically advanced. They had successfully researched pottery, calendar, animal husbandry, and writing. They had founded three cities. They believed that they had explored their entire continent. Although they had discovered three city-states that were eager to give them gifts, they had found no signs of another civilization as important as their own.
-- I don't understand this whole fractal map thing. It looks to me like we just have a plain old boring small continent, with no other civilizations nearby to beat up.
-- Exactly. The only fractal-like thing we have found in our many years of exploration was the Rock of Gibraltar. A lot of good that did us.
-- Yes. And to the south of Edinburgh, it looks like the land fades out into a peninsula with a hill at the very tip.
This conversation was interrupted by a messenger bursting into the room.
-- Herr Bismarck! An ambassador from another empire has arrived!
The arrival of the Chinese ambassador was a great shock to the complacent German empire. Where had she come from? There hadn't appeared to be any place for her civilization to hide. Upon closer examination, it turned out that the supposed peninsula to the south of Edinburgh was actually a narrow isthmus that opened out onto the land of China.
And what material was that outfit made from? It certainly wasn't fur. Perhaps this was the long-sought-after source of fractals? The ambassador explained that her outfit was made from silk, and that its manufacture was a Chinese state secret. Anyone suspected of taking the details outside of China would be executed.
The ambassador returned a short time later and offered to sign an "open borders" agreement. The Germans, embarrassed because they hadn't realized the continent continued as far as it did, agreed in order to be able to send scouts to find out what the world looked like on the far side of China.

German civilization advanced in other areas as well.
As their culture grew, their social structure advanced. They adopted citizenship, giving them more productive workers.
Munich completed its monument and began construction of a library.
Berlin had been quite active. They had recruited a unit of workers along with the extra workers that came from citizenship. These workers had built a plantation to make incense more readily available. They were now developing the wooded areas so they would have furs to trade and venison to eat. The city had already built a monument, a granary, and a library. They now started recruiting another group of settlers.
Hamburg had also completed building a monument and started on a library. Life in the German empire was good and prosperous.

Meanwhile, fights against the barbarians in the north had allowed the Germans to return some workers to Vienna and become their friends. A cash gift made them allies.
German scout-archers and converted brutes fought to reduce another barbarian stronghold that was threatening the Viennese. After successfully reducing the camp, another unit of barbarians decided to join the German war effort.

During their explorations, the starting unit of warriors had fought many battles with barbarians. As a result, they had developed a special expertise at fighting in rough terrain. They had been rewarded with a special designation as the "Berlin Guards". They were assigned the lead role in investigating the lands beyond China, and met the city-state of Dublin.
German science continued to progress. After successfully learning about mining, trapping, and philosophy, they started researching the wheel.
By developing philosophy, the Germans entered a new age. They continued to be led by a member of the Bismarck tribe. The new era was announced to the German people by Karl Heinz Friedrich Wilhelm Hans Otto Josef Bismarck, who was known to all and sundry as "Karl the Pompous".
-- My fellow Germans! The many years of responsible and inspiring leadership by the Bismarcks have brought us to this moment of supreme greatness. We have entered a classical age that will be remembered throughout history as a triumph of German culture. The whole world watches our progress with awe and amazement and other good stuff. While our preliminary explorations to discover the source of fractals have not yet succeeded, we are confident that this new age will result in a fractal breakthrough.
-- Oh right. The only other real civilization we have met are the Chinese, and they didn't even send anyone to attend the "welcome to the classics" party. Let's go find some strangers and beat them up.

The next years were momentous ones for the young German empire.
The Berlin Guards, exploring beyond the distant city-state of Dublin, discovered the Cerro de Potosi, another fractal mountain the confirmation of whose existence sparked another round of happy celebrations across Germany.
A scant 200 years later, German cultural advancements led them to adopt Meritocracy. The Germans naturally(*) selected a Great Engineer to appear near Berlin.
Berlin had just completed recruiting another batch of hard workers. They immediately began constructing Stonehenge(*), since they knew that constructing a world wonder would increase their awesomeness quotient around the globe. The Great Engineer supervised the construction.
One turn later, Stonehenge was completed just outside Berlin.

(*) German strategy during these years can be explained by an old joke (which I learned from one of Bill Bryson's books) that builds on some common stereotypes to describe "European heaven and European hell". It goes something like this.
In European heaven, the British are the policemen, the French are the chefs, the Italians are the lovers, the Swiss are the bankers, and the Germans are the engineers.
In European hell, the British are the chefs, the French are the bankers, the Italians are the engineers, the Swiss are the lovers, and the Germans are the policemen.

Obviously, our game is striving toward European heaven, and we want the Germans to be the engineers. The cultural benefits from Stonehenge are terrific. But the great engineer points are extremely valuable; we are going to concentrate on making Berlin a regular source of great Engineers throughout history.

Subbed.

Go, Germany!

Those years brought Germany into contact with a variety of other peoples.
Representatives of the city-state of Genoa made a modest contribution to the empire.
German explorers also met the rulers of India and of Siam. Diplomatic relations with all of these people were neutral; no serious incidents occurred to cause any dissension. Long conversations were held every time the Germans met a foreigner, trying to establish the whereabouts of the mysterious fractals. The Siamese claimed that not only were mountain surfaces fractal, but that clouds were fractal. This observation sounded promising, since practically the entire world had been covered with clouds since the beginning of time. The ruler of Germany at the time was another Bismarck: Karl the Bald. He sent orders to all of the soldiers tasked with exploring the wider world.
-- German explorers! Because the nature of clouds is tied into the origins of fractals, you are hereby ordered to investigate the clouds and the sky along with your previous orders to explore the land and the sea.
-- We've been chasing clouds since we started on this expedition. Every time we get close to a cloud-covered region, the clouds roll way, leaving nothing but the land and sea and sky.
-- Perhaps that is a consequence of their ineffable nature.
-- Seems to me the best way to look at the clouds is to lay here on my back and stare up at them....
As a direct result of this order, exploration of the frontier slowed considerably.

After completing Stonehenge, Berlin started producing a water mill.
Munich completed its library and also started on a water mill. They also noticed that the edges of the clouds did not look at all fractal; for some reason, they looked like half-hexagons.
The additional settler unit that had been recruited many years earlier finally reached a desirable location to found the city of Cologne. They settled to the southwest of Edinburgh on a source of sugar. This location gave them control over the piece of land that would forever after be known as the isthmus of Cologne. The German empire thus established a choke point that would be able to prevent foreign civilizations from invading their portion of the continent. This decision opened the possibility of peaceful development by expanding into their region and minimizing military risks.
After completing the water mill, Berlin decided to try to construct another engineer-enhancing world wonder, the pyramids. Travelers had not brought back many reports of other civilizations constructing wonders, so this seemed like a reasonable gamble.

krc said:

but that clouds were fractal.

Click to expand...

Are they really? I didn't think they were.
If they aren't, that should be the reason for a Siamese-German war.

swmaniac said:

Are they really? I didn't think they were.
If they aren't, that should be the reason for a Siamese-German war.

Click to expand...

I'm just reporting the story as I heard it.... But if you are really interested, head here:
http://library.thinkquest.org/26242/full/ap/ap3.html
http://www.miqel.com/fractals_math_patterns/visual-math-natural-fractals.html

krc said:

I'm just reporting the story as I heard it.... But if you are really interested, head here:
http://library.thinkquest.org/26242/full/ap/ap3.html
http://www.miqel.com/fractals_math_patterns/visual-math-natural-fractals.html

Click to expand...

Oh I thought you meant specifically CiV's clouds.

Love your writing style krc, nice subtle humour in there! KUTGW.