Update Three - Red Flower
So much of the promise and the peril of humanity is encapsulated in that flickering red flame. Men control it, or think they do, and use its power to fend off the night. But as the flames grow in number, some rage out of control. But the flame has another thing in common with man. It is hot, and it is red, like the blood that fills us, and sometimes spills from us. And it is unpredictable.
Fires lit, blood spilt.
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Abeille:
Your pantheon develops, though it remains somewhat disorganized with a demigod for every tree and stream. Closer examination of the wild horses reveals that they can be tamed with apples and other fruits. It seems possible to ride them as well. A gift from the gods!
Strange people with shiny bracelets of metal on their arms appear from the east, calling themselves Lydrais. You are not sure what to make of these intruders; inferior though they are, they seem powerful…how distant could their homeland be?
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Ak’Nakal:
The wandering nomads who owe allegiance to the Moon King explore the region of the great lakes (now called Kuxma) further. Your settlers leave to found a second city quite soon, with grand plans for canals and temples, but the site is left to the king to pick.
An encounter with a powerful tribe called “Ak’Panoka” leaves a lasting impression on you. These fierce warriors have subdued many smaller tribes by force…how will you respond to their probes?
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Chaoyang:
The voice of the Waters has called, and a great mystic has answered. All in Chaoyang now listen to his voice, and his great teachings are laid down for the ages. A priesthood is swiftly established after the mystic’s death to spread his teachings.
Chaoyang remains inwardly focused, convinced of the perfection of its elevated culture despite the appearance of strange eastern barbarians named ‘Tai-gani’. However, the mother city of almost fifty thousand souls has become severely overcrowded. Perhaps it is time to settle some of these hungry mouths elsewhere…though not far enough to become barbarians themselves.
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Civoria:
The Civorian League can finally consider itself a League, as its first proper tributary member is founded, the inland farming town of Akaria. Already they resent Civoria for their gemstone monopoly and their oligarchic control, but that’s what it’s like being a League, n’est-ce pas?
Other members are not far behind, with disunity to multiply. Still more distressing is the appearance of people from a strange land called 'Targania'.
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Clifton:
The descendants of Columba Bates (often known as the Columbines for their matriarchal ancestor) migrate far south, following the pines and fighting legendary battles. Eventually they decide to wander back north, and they make plans to found a city that will one day rival Clifton itself for dominance of the region.
Your people eye the rich land across the straits with envy...but perhaps the druids could be defied and northern expansion could become a possibility as well. But who would curse the Kingdom by leaving the sacred Pines?
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Gardia:
Gardian tribesmen wander further west of the great mountains, tracing the northern edge of a vast, impenetrable jungle. The lands to this side of the mountains look much like the east, the savanna and plainslands stretching endlessly to the west.
Suddenly, there is an unexpected meeting with an organized band of warriors – more organized than any tribe they have yet met.
Back home, many improvements are made, and both cows and elephants tamed. An unruly confluence of herd-lords now rules Gardia in uneasy alliance with one another, their power determined by the size of their flocks.
But strange, pale men arriving from the north cast all this empire building into doubt.
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Hauldric:
Plans for a second city are put on hold when the advance scouts for the effort are slaughtered by a terrifying, unknown enemy. The Jaegers scramble to raise new war bands to protect against this unknown threat. Finally, a name comes back with the stragglers: Providencia. Who are these fiends and what do they want?
As of yet, there are no raiders on the horizon.
Your warriors defeat a terrifying band of wolves and finally guide the settlers to their new home. The city of Faust guards the coastal approaches to Hauldrichten. If the Providencians attack, you will seek to hold them here.
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Kappanoka:
Kappanokan raiding of the villages north of mighty Kappanok has finally angered the locals…
But they are soon overmastered.
The roving warband finally settles down, forming the city of Yutki. Though they now consider themselves an independent tribe, they also consider themselves to be in a tribal federation with Kappanok in war and peace. They are dangerously close to the borders of Ak’Nakal.
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Lydrath:
At last, the glory of the Mother City finally has a Daughter to call her own.
The borders of the Thousand Clans come ever closer to those of the strangers in the south, discovering many, many tribes. Perhaps contact should be initiated with some of them? Or perhaps they are beneath the Emperor as anything but subjects.
Their fate, and yours, is in the Emperor's hands!
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Providencia:
Confident that these strange-talking scouts are clearly devil-men sent to tempt the faithful into evil, the Providents rush on the confused Hauldricht scouts and slaughter them all. The scouts fight back but are killed to a man.
What remains unknown is where these strange scouts came from, or what they want. Your captains search everywhere, but it seems these scouts covered their tracks well. A few stragglers escape back to Hauldric to tell the Jaegers of this disaster, and the psychotic people who live to the east. Hail Providencia!
Inspired by your glorious victory, a prophet arises to declare that this was all the will of Divine Providence. A great faith is born.
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Taoron:
At the great clanmoot, the chieftains of the Taoron decide to settle by the sea on the edge of their peninsula rather than wandering farther afield, befitting their cautious nature.
But especially with the appearance of the Lydratians to the north, the calls are growing stronger for the people of Taoron to build ships that are stronger than simple fishing boats, and to embrace their destiny as masters of the seas.
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Targan:
You see strange men on the horizon that seem to be fused with horses, but these terrible monsters are not half-horse; they are simply riding the creatures. They teach you these remarkable skills out of the kindness of their hearts.
The land around Dorjin slowly begins to improve as a class of semi-enslaved thralls begins to build animal enclosures and farms. But the greatest event is the northern migration, founding a second city closer to the Vale.
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Weshanka:
A small, friendly tribe near the coast greatly influences the people of Shirun with their charismatic shamanic practices.
The Sovereign’s elite Theguraka, while exploring to the west, runs into a strange tribe that claims to have crossed great mountains far to the east. They call themselves ‘Gadyan’. Sadly, the Theguraka are killed by terrible monsters not long after. Perhaps these foreigners bring bad luck?
As the second city of Kachar is founded on the plains, the All-Sovereign considers building a great monument, a circle of stone monoliths representing the unbroken chain of Sovereigns, linked back into the past and guiding Weshanka towards a glorious future.
Do you pursue this idea or cast it aside?
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OOC:
An exciting update. People are now really starting to bump into one another, and the astute among you may be able to piece much of the map together. This is where the roleplaying should really kick into overdrive; you're leaving the semi-mythical past and beginning to enter the concrete beginnings of history.
I need religion descriptions from azale and CD.
Also, I would like to put in place some new guidelines. You may pick one focus among the following:
Wealth, Knowledge, Power, Faith, or
Growth. The next update will last 20 turns and will carry us into the high Classical Age.
You may continue to stress
Aggressive,
Balanced, or
Passive interactions with your neighbors, though choosing
Power will automatically place you on the Aggressive.
Feel free to revolt/overthrow/completely change your culture and/or your city names if you wish, either now or later in the game. As long as it has a logical explanation like a real revolution (to or from Slavery is currently the only major option, or religious conversion).
And on a side note, wow. 3 updates in 3 days? If someone had told me I would have done this, I would have laughed in their face, then slapped them, then started crying. But even though I'm keeping a really good pace, I'm a little bit burnt out. I need a day or two off before Update 4.
Order deadline will be on
Sunday, July 28 at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. In addition to your normal orders, I need at least one piece of flavor showing how your culture has changed over these past hundreds of years. Thank you and godspeed!
OOC Notes:
-das, Everblack, LordofElves, and North King have slavery. Act accordingly. If others wish to adopt slavery, or unadopt it, put it in your orders.
-erez and Iggy are the first to develop Writing and can propose Open Borders with their neighbors if they wish.
Erez – I’m sorry, but I’m having trouble dealing with the name ‘Gardians’. I know I’m a jerk. Would it be too much to ask you to adopt a new name, something more in keeping with a tribal, plains-dwelling culture? If you’re really in love with the name, you can keep it, it’s just a request.