This story is an ancient tale, of a DVD drive that would just not run a certain game, and the girl who, in desperation had to play over and over the demo to this certain game in order to get her fix. But one tiny thing bugged her, that this demo ended after 100 turns. But what would happen to the game world after those 100 turns ended? Well that is where imagination comes into being!
So, behold my story the Catastrophe of Caesar; a story by Shardie, based on the tutorial game which shipped with the Demo. Which I was only playing to releave myself of not having to play that same map over and over... our tale begins in the year 375 BC...
Part 1; Onimous signs
Caesar sat alone in the dusty throne room, reading from the Analects. He would often do this these days, in his years, he had found peace in reading. It was here that Julius, or just Caesar to his people had ruled his lands for the past 3625 years, since they founded the great city of Rome. Since this time, hardy Roman bands had explored to the far depths, finding a strange and foreign land known as India, Settlers had founded two new cities, Cumae and Antium, and religion flourished like never before.
In Cumae, many moons ago, the one simply known as Buddha taught the way to the innocent and heathen populous of the city. Soon, the entire city was under Buddha's sway, but before his teachings could be spread beyond the borders, he was struck down by a fatal illness, dieing on the road to Rome, by the Roma river. (some say the Emperor Caesar poisoned him as he was a charismatic figure, rivaling the population of Caesar himself) Even now, pilgrims and followers of the religion he founded, Buddhism pray by the river. Local religious leaders were saving up to construct a shrine there, however they were nowhere near completion.
Just recently, another holy man, known as K'ung-fu-tzu (he was a foreigner, you see, so the locals called him Confucius, which you MUST agree, is a lot easier on the tongue) arrived from an unknown place in the City of Antium. His followers stated he came from the fabled Mt Shangralah. His teaching promoted the following of Rites and Traditions, and that rulers lead by example rather than by bribery and coercion. His teachings so impressed Caesar, that he was summoned to Rome to enlighten the population. Caesar soon turned to the teachings of Confucius, and the reform of the government begin, the rites of Slavery were abolished, and a caste system was established, as per Confucius' will. It is a pity, then that the great sage recently died, at the grand age of 89. Caesar still morned his faithful Sages death, and funds were being gathered to construct a shrine where he first entered the city of Antium. Confucius was buried under the great monument to Caesar's power, Stonehenge. It was here the heroes of Rome were buried. It was also useful for calculating the dates.
Caesar put down his copy of the Analects as his servants brought in his daily meal, which was rice, with a side of steak. He said his prayer, and began to eat. Yet his meal was interrupted as a young scribe burst into the room, 'Lord Caesar, Lord Caesar, something Terrible has happened!'
'And what would it be, scribe, is it worth disturbing my meal?' Caesar replied, quite angry at the interruption
'I was studying the dates inscribed in Stonehenge... it predicted something terrible, that this world, OUR world will end in twenty years!' the scribe said, absolutely terrified
'This is none of our concern. If the world was to end, the Sage would have said so' a priest, Caesars spiritual advisor replied. He was one of the Sages first followers, and had gained great prestige since Caesar had first taken an interest in Confucius' work
Caesar was less skeptical, he knew that Stonehenge was rarely wrong with its calculations. It could predict when spring or autumn would come within days, it predicted how close the darkest day was, how close the lightest day was. In all seriousness, it could most certainly predict when the world would end, at least in Caesar's mind, 'Now now, Romulus, we should not just ignore this remark, I believe it requires further study into the matter. Romulus, you go take a look at Stonehenge, see if our scribes calculations are correct. Then I will make my decision'
'Your wish is my command,' replied Romulus, the head priest, as he and the scribe left the room, leaving Caesar to finish his Steak and Rice.
'So where is it, where is the evidence that the world is to end in twenty years?' asked Romulus impatiently. A small crowd had gathered, including one strange looking man. He looked a lot like the great sage, but a lot younger, it was like he was from the same region... in fact, Lao Tzu was from the home town of K'ung-fu-tzu, he had been sent by the towns elders to discover what had happened to their town's wise man.
'Here, look at the runes, and look at the suns shadows. My calculations have indicated that the shadows put out by the central stone have been decreasing ever since the year that Stonehenge was constructed, over 400 years ago. Each of the runes seems to indicate twenty years, and here are 20 runes,' he gestured to the runes, where it was evident, the midday sun was only casting a shadow to the last and 20th rune, 'I have no idea what this rune says, its in a language which only the mysterious artisan that created this monument knows, but what will happen once the shadow passes by this last rune...'
Lao Tzu was curious too, ever the scholar and Philosopher, he walked to the central stone and smiled, 'That is a symbol from my language, the same language that my predecessor K'ung-fu-tzu and before that, the great sage known as the Buddha knew. It means catastrophe,' Romulus looked shocked, here was a man who spoke the same language as the great sage Confucius, he even looked the same, speaking highly of that other great sage, the Buddha, Lao Tzu continued, 'I know not what will occur when the shadow passes the catastrophe rune, but it is not likely be good. The Tao always says one must be weary of such things, premonitions from the Tao can be seen in anything.'
'The Tao? Can it save us from this catastrophe?' one of the onlookers yelled
'The Tao can save us!' Another yelled
'Stranger, use the Tao to help us!' a third yelled, a group of spearmen approached, and forced the crowd back from the monument.
'If the Tao believes you to be saved, the Tao will' Lao Tzu replied, as Romulus ordered the guards to take him away. Yet the guards were followed by a ever growing crowd, chanting, 'Tao, Tao, Tao'
'And what exactly is that unruly crowd chanting outside?' Caesar asked his chancellor
'I believe they are chanting Tao' replied the chancellor, stating the bleeding obvious
'I know that, but why? And what does it mean?' Caesar replied, walking to the balcony, overlooking the unruly crowd
'They believe that it can save them from Catastrophe, and they are demanding you release the man who can save them' the Chancellor replied, walking up to the balcony beside Caesar
'We have the man who can save us from Catastrophe? Then what are you waiting for, bring the man here, Cassius!' Caesar yelled to his Chancellor, who bowed and left to retrieve the prisoner.
What would his teacher do, thought Caesar, if faced with Catastrophe. What would Confucius do?
***
Part 1 is finished, I will get around to part 2 shortly, here is the map at the point where our story starts, and will be the only map in the story. As you can see, there is a source of copper to the SE of Cumae, which I hooked up on my very last turn, so could not use it (cry) Incense near Rome, but no Calender, and wine near Antium, but no Monarchy. Hooked up, however, is some Rice and some Cattle. The River flowing past Rome and Cumae is the Roma River.
Replys and that are most welcome, I enjoy feedback, even negitive feedback
So, behold my story the Catastrophe of Caesar; a story by Shardie, based on the tutorial game which shipped with the Demo. Which I was only playing to releave myself of not having to play that same map over and over... our tale begins in the year 375 BC...
Part 1; Onimous signs
Caesar sat alone in the dusty throne room, reading from the Analects. He would often do this these days, in his years, he had found peace in reading. It was here that Julius, or just Caesar to his people had ruled his lands for the past 3625 years, since they founded the great city of Rome. Since this time, hardy Roman bands had explored to the far depths, finding a strange and foreign land known as India, Settlers had founded two new cities, Cumae and Antium, and religion flourished like never before.
In Cumae, many moons ago, the one simply known as Buddha taught the way to the innocent and heathen populous of the city. Soon, the entire city was under Buddha's sway, but before his teachings could be spread beyond the borders, he was struck down by a fatal illness, dieing on the road to Rome, by the Roma river. (some say the Emperor Caesar poisoned him as he was a charismatic figure, rivaling the population of Caesar himself) Even now, pilgrims and followers of the religion he founded, Buddhism pray by the river. Local religious leaders were saving up to construct a shrine there, however they were nowhere near completion.
Just recently, another holy man, known as K'ung-fu-tzu (he was a foreigner, you see, so the locals called him Confucius, which you MUST agree, is a lot easier on the tongue) arrived from an unknown place in the City of Antium. His followers stated he came from the fabled Mt Shangralah. His teaching promoted the following of Rites and Traditions, and that rulers lead by example rather than by bribery and coercion. His teachings so impressed Caesar, that he was summoned to Rome to enlighten the population. Caesar soon turned to the teachings of Confucius, and the reform of the government begin, the rites of Slavery were abolished, and a caste system was established, as per Confucius' will. It is a pity, then that the great sage recently died, at the grand age of 89. Caesar still morned his faithful Sages death, and funds were being gathered to construct a shrine where he first entered the city of Antium. Confucius was buried under the great monument to Caesar's power, Stonehenge. It was here the heroes of Rome were buried. It was also useful for calculating the dates.
Caesar put down his copy of the Analects as his servants brought in his daily meal, which was rice, with a side of steak. He said his prayer, and began to eat. Yet his meal was interrupted as a young scribe burst into the room, 'Lord Caesar, Lord Caesar, something Terrible has happened!'
'And what would it be, scribe, is it worth disturbing my meal?' Caesar replied, quite angry at the interruption
'I was studying the dates inscribed in Stonehenge... it predicted something terrible, that this world, OUR world will end in twenty years!' the scribe said, absolutely terrified
'This is none of our concern. If the world was to end, the Sage would have said so' a priest, Caesars spiritual advisor replied. He was one of the Sages first followers, and had gained great prestige since Caesar had first taken an interest in Confucius' work
Caesar was less skeptical, he knew that Stonehenge was rarely wrong with its calculations. It could predict when spring or autumn would come within days, it predicted how close the darkest day was, how close the lightest day was. In all seriousness, it could most certainly predict when the world would end, at least in Caesar's mind, 'Now now, Romulus, we should not just ignore this remark, I believe it requires further study into the matter. Romulus, you go take a look at Stonehenge, see if our scribes calculations are correct. Then I will make my decision'
'Your wish is my command,' replied Romulus, the head priest, as he and the scribe left the room, leaving Caesar to finish his Steak and Rice.
'So where is it, where is the evidence that the world is to end in twenty years?' asked Romulus impatiently. A small crowd had gathered, including one strange looking man. He looked a lot like the great sage, but a lot younger, it was like he was from the same region... in fact, Lao Tzu was from the home town of K'ung-fu-tzu, he had been sent by the towns elders to discover what had happened to their town's wise man.
'Here, look at the runes, and look at the suns shadows. My calculations have indicated that the shadows put out by the central stone have been decreasing ever since the year that Stonehenge was constructed, over 400 years ago. Each of the runes seems to indicate twenty years, and here are 20 runes,' he gestured to the runes, where it was evident, the midday sun was only casting a shadow to the last and 20th rune, 'I have no idea what this rune says, its in a language which only the mysterious artisan that created this monument knows, but what will happen once the shadow passes by this last rune...'
Lao Tzu was curious too, ever the scholar and Philosopher, he walked to the central stone and smiled, 'That is a symbol from my language, the same language that my predecessor K'ung-fu-tzu and before that, the great sage known as the Buddha knew. It means catastrophe,' Romulus looked shocked, here was a man who spoke the same language as the great sage Confucius, he even looked the same, speaking highly of that other great sage, the Buddha, Lao Tzu continued, 'I know not what will occur when the shadow passes the catastrophe rune, but it is not likely be good. The Tao always says one must be weary of such things, premonitions from the Tao can be seen in anything.'
'The Tao? Can it save us from this catastrophe?' one of the onlookers yelled
'The Tao can save us!' Another yelled
'Stranger, use the Tao to help us!' a third yelled, a group of spearmen approached, and forced the crowd back from the monument.
'If the Tao believes you to be saved, the Tao will' Lao Tzu replied, as Romulus ordered the guards to take him away. Yet the guards were followed by a ever growing crowd, chanting, 'Tao, Tao, Tao'
'And what exactly is that unruly crowd chanting outside?' Caesar asked his chancellor
'I believe they are chanting Tao' replied the chancellor, stating the bleeding obvious
'I know that, but why? And what does it mean?' Caesar replied, walking to the balcony, overlooking the unruly crowd
'They believe that it can save them from Catastrophe, and they are demanding you release the man who can save them' the Chancellor replied, walking up to the balcony beside Caesar
'We have the man who can save us from Catastrophe? Then what are you waiting for, bring the man here, Cassius!' Caesar yelled to his Chancellor, who bowed and left to retrieve the prisoner.
What would his teacher do, thought Caesar, if faced with Catastrophe. What would Confucius do?
***
Part 1 is finished, I will get around to part 2 shortly, here is the map at the point where our story starts, and will be the only map in the story. As you can see, there is a source of copper to the SE of Cumae, which I hooked up on my very last turn, so could not use it (cry) Incense near Rome, but no Calender, and wine near Antium, but no Monarchy. Hooked up, however, is some Rice and some Cattle. The River flowing past Rome and Cumae is the Roma River.
Replys and that are most welcome, I enjoy feedback, even negitive feedback
)
