'DNES' / 'Celtic Warmongers'

The Death of History.

The firing squad was standing in line, ready to aim and fire upon orders. Lieutenant Graveaux looked on, impassively. The prisoners were being led there - four old men, clearly of bourgoise origin, probably intellectuals. Dissidents. They were still in something of a state of shock.

"Monsiegneur commissar, read the charges."

"Pierre Alancon, 42 years, professor of history. Has renounced the patriotic, historically-correct works of mssr. Julien Pandeau, and propagandized a Celticist view on history."

"Hmm?"

"In his so-called "works", there are many refferences to the enemy of the French nation and a lackey of the Celtic regressive druidist regime "professor" Daftpanzerus."

Graveaux nodded. Pierre Alancon was placed before the firing squad, closed his eyes (in the old days, he would have been given a piece of cloth to cover his eyes, but the deficit was too great to waste anything on the enemies of the people) and then...

"Bang, bang, bang!" - said the guns.

"Arrgh." - stated Alancon and collapsed on the floor, dead.

Graveaux nodded again.

"The others? Also professors?"

"Two professors of history, one professor of geology."

"The geologist?"

"Charles Armand, 39 years..."

"Mssr. Armand? Step forward please."

A thin, balding man stepped forward, his eyes full of fear.

"What are the charges?" - asked Graveaux of the commissar.

"He denounced the former existance of Atlantis, the homeland of the French people. He also propagandized the existance of Avalon..."

"...a dirty Celtic myth. Propaganda... Very well, kill him too."

Graveaux nodded again, clearly content. The shuddering Armand was put before the firing squad. He forgot to close his eyes, Graveaux shrugged - he didn't care about the comfort of those dissidents.

"Bang, bang, bang." - the guns spoke again, somewhat monotonously to Graveaux - he was used to them by now.

"No! Atlantis exists! Avalon doe-" - Armand shouted before collapsing to the ground, bleeding, moaning.

Graveaux walked up to him and kicked Armand in the head. The geologist stopped moaning. Graveaux nodded again. He nodded very often, at every occasion, it was a habit of his.

"Next."

"Antoine Barbusse, 28 years, criticized the military leadership of Joan d'Arc."

A nod.

"Bang, bang, bang."

"Arrgh."

"Next."

"Henri Cadillac, 53 years." - the commissary looked very... mad at this Cadillac, and for a good reason - "Propagandized the theories of alternative history."

Graveaux was surprised at first, but then he nodded. Looked at Cadillac closely. The old man stood there, defiant. Idiot.

"Mssr. Cadillac, so you claim that our history could have went differently?"

"Indeed, mssr. scumbag, that is what I claim."

Graveaux ignored the insult. He was a professional.

"So you claim that the Holy Joan d'Arc could have died young?"

"Indeed I do!"

"And that our glorious fascist empire could not have risen?"

"Indeed I do - and that it could have won the Second Great War, had things gone differently. Or do you doubt that?!"

"Hah! I don't - but..." - Graveaux was confused for a while. Indeed, if not for the evil Viking diversants and "intellectual" traitors like this one, the war could have been won... or could it have? - "...It didn't happen, and there is no way to change that! Kill him! KILL HIM NOW!"

Graveaux was infuriated, he didn't even nod, so great was his rage.

"Bang, bang, bang."

"Istanddefiantinthenameofalternativehistorymssrscumbug!" - shouted Cadillac very very fast - "Arrgh!"

Graveaux recovered his usual, calm self. He nodded. Saluted, and turned away.

"Well, that's that monseigneur marechal Octave Dupleix." - said Graveaux to the great Fascist marechal-of-counterintellegence.

Dupleix looked on grimly, at the corpses, and at the blood... Simple-minded fools, beasts at heart and in mind, he thought. That is what we have created. They are horrifying to us, who grew up in better times... and they would never understand us if we are to stop being so... cruel, so ruthless. We broke our nation's backbone, he thought grimly.

"Thank you, mssr. Graveaux." - he said, quietly, in that pleasant, polite, aristocratic voice of the man that doomed millions to death. - "A perfect execution. Keep up the good work, and you will go far."

And if things go through as we plan, he thought, you will go all the way to the Bastille basement.
 
To: The Germans

Start a civil war! Start a civil war! Start a civil war! (etc...)
 
To: Inca
From: Maya

Very well. A 5-Turn NAP and Defensive Alliance then?
 
To Dach: Yes, I think you did.

I come to claim Tatarus. Do not test me or you will be feed for my man-eating horses!
 
ooc: Great story das, I enjoyed it, the way you portrayed the execution; the characters and their French tormentors was quite to-the point, almost vivid at it. I really liked the historic bits you added. One thing though: Usually, headbinds are worn for the sake of the executioner, to avoid the human emotions displayed by the soon-to-be deceased. 98% of human beings have great difficulties killing other members of the same species.

This is not directly related to my IC action.

From Celtonia
To France

Celtonia declares war on France furor a despicable portrait of world history.
 
Usually, headbinds are worn for the sake of the executioner, to avoid the human emotions displayed by the soon-to-be deceased. 98% of human beings have great difficulties killing other members of the same species.
Click to expand...

True, true - but our particular human beings are thoroughly indoctrinated (for generations) and picked from amongst the poorest, who by default hate the "snobby" and usually well-off (that's what they're told, anyway) intellegencia.

IC:
Celtonia declares war on France furor a despicable portrait of world history.
Click to expand...

Huh? What despicable portrait?

Are you trying to impose your avalonist world-views upon us?

WILL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD STAND FOR SUCH BLATANT AGGRESSION?!
 
China is here! I've been waiting for a looong time for this :D
 
From: France
To: Incans

Uh, sure. We would like to officially thank you for this great honour! In fact, we are so overjoyed that we offer you an alliance!
 
ooc: oh ok, I was surprised by the lack of qualms when killing off the educated men

IC: Yes. Like a man prunes the branches of a tree so shall we correct these burgeoning faults of your growing nation.
 
Bah! Avalon never existed! Atlantis existed, though. Are you going to argue that it didn't exist? It did exist, just so that you know! IT DID! And we have all the rights to believe that it existed! We came from there, you know!

Just because you think Avalon existed doesn't mean that you have any rights to impose your world-view on us! No right at all!
 
Let the old man rest, why make him work?

Besides, what do you have on us, anyway? Yes, our view on history is different from yours. Do you intend to attack every nation with a different view on history, of all things?
 
Retreat, Retreat! Run for your lives!

The Second Great War, the Celts call it. Most people call it that. But in France, it was and is known differently...

When it started, it was declared the Crusade War. The Holy War. But as it progressed into French territory in spite of the courage of the New Crusaders, as entire cities were annihilated in terrifying artillery barrages, as villages were abandoned... it got its current name. La debacle. The Debacle, the Catastrophe.

During the Debacle, Paris was the scene of the biggest urban battle ever. Jeanne d'Arc personally led the troops - mostly conscripts and volunteers - in the barricades. But eventually, as virtually nothing was left standing, Jeanne declared that she will do the unexpected - negotiate peace terms. She could not stand the suffering, so she decided to end it.

The peace terms were harsh, France lost its empire... but the homeland survived. Jeanne managed to score a public relations coup - whilst the French Green Communists already formed a "provisional government" and begun covering her with verbal dirt, suddenly she managed to restore for herself the control of France. Declaring herself responsible for all this and stating her intention to become a nun, Jeanne played carefully - whether intentionally or not - on the public emotions. She was besieged, in the temporary capital of Rouen, by petitioners who wanted her to continue to rule. She refused. They asked her again, they prayed for her to accept the great honour of ruling France again, they said that they forgave everything and that Deus will surely forgive her as well.

And finally, amidst cheering, she consented. The Provisional Government, abandoned by the Celts, was dispersed by militias acting on their own initiative. Out of defeat, Jeanne snatched a political victory.

And then, the reconstruction begun. It went along slowly - there was much to be done and little resourcs for it, and the foreign investors did not, at first, trust Jeanne "the Witch" as her enemies called her. They didn't - perhaps reasonably - believe in her "change", in her conversion to a more peaceful variety of Deusism (OOC: not sure about the French religion in this world. I suppose that it will be "Christianity" - after all, otherwise the French culture is way too different. The Deusist Church is something of a puritan Christian sect that was a part of early French Fascist ideological underpinning, founded by Jeanne d'Arc. If you disagree with me on this or any other historical facts, Daft, say so). Gradually, however, the country was rebuilt. After Jeanne's death, however, a brief power struggle ensued. A civil war started, with American and Celtic intervention. Eventually, the one who emerged on the top was Jacques Fouche (whose son Henri now ruled France); he slowed the reconstruction down, he declared "social ascetism", filled the half-empty labour camps and cracked down bloodily on anything like resistance. But not even he could undo Jeanne's late achievements.

Such as the reconstruction of Paris. It was a strict, well-planned, puritanic city, yet it had a somber grandeur. Its great gray churches were a work of architectural genius, more specifically of Claude Verdeux, and for all of Fouche's badly-hidden anti-clericalism (not surprising - after all, one of his primary opponents in the struggle for power was Cardinal de Gaulle, who later fled for Celtonia, starting the Deusist Schism), the churches remained there. And there was another element of the rebuilt city that Fouche couldn't - and wouldn't! - remove. The Bastille.

The original Bastille was a simple prison. Well, not a simple one - the most important prison in France. But it was just a prison. Now, its vast underground floor was the prison. The rest was the capital of France. The government building, dark and menacing, towered the entire city. On the lower floors there were the cabinets, the ministerial offices, and such. In the central floor there was the Parlement of Fasces, the increasingly-nominal place where increasingly-nominal members of the government met and talked with the really important ones. The ones who formed the Octaviate, who met in the upper floor, near the Premier's office, around a round table.

The Octaviate consisted of Premier Henri Fouche, Marechal Canrobert Dupleix, Marechal Louis Thiers, Minister Andre Boulard, Minister Leon Cugnot, Minister Jacques Mercator and Intendante Eugene Dantes.

The Octaviate was the real power in the country.

And Henri Fouche was the real power in the Octaviate. Marechal Octave Canrobert Dupleix knew better then to doubt it. But he also knew that, when Henri Fouche asked the Octaviate to tell him their opinions, he really did mean it. They could state their opinions, as long as they do it carefully enough. At least, that was the theory.

"We all know the problems facing us today." - Fouche continued speaking after the toasts and the ceremonies and the drinks were finished - "Let us not deceive ourselves - the people want change. And I want change. He who changes, reforms, moves on attains greatness... or doom. But he who remains on the same spot is doomed by definition."

Fouche waited for anybody to say something. Nobody spoke. He sighed, and continued.

"But the process of reforms can be dangerous. The people would be overfilled with enthusiasm... and they might lose all decency."

That, when said by Fouche, implied that they might reform too much and get rid of Fouche and the Octaviate as well now that they're at it. That was an unacceptable outcome.

"We will need steady reform. Marechal Dupleix! You will have to mobilize all of your resources, we must make sure that, if we were to begin reforms, nothing wrong happens. The dissidents will still be eliminated. The protestors must be dispersed with tear gas... or whatever you want. They must be dispersed, that is the only thing that matters. Yes?" - said Fouche, noticing that Andre Boulard, the Minister of Finance, wanted to speak.

"Mssr. Premier, the words "reforms" are rather vague. What exactly do you suggest?"

"Good question." - Fouche nodded approvingly - "Nothing too radical. We will make overtures for an reunion of the Deusist Church... through Cardinal Blum, ofcourse. We will also de-nationalize some of the lighter industries, and encourage some healthy competition between them. We'll enact minor social reforms, generally maintain a friendly, human face. Oh, and we will lessen the army size - release the conscripts, though keep them in reserve, and instead form a modern, quick-strike force. It will be useful for post-reform plans. Marechal Thiers, we discussed this before."

"Indeed, Mssr. Premier." - Thiers said in his nervous, neurotic voice - "Sc-scandinavia is a historical French territory, and its plutocratic rulers have stolen our rightful lands and resources. We expect large expenditures to come from the reforms, and frankly our treasury is not all that well... unless we gain Scandinavia.We already have plans for a lightning attack - all we need is a lightning army for it."

"You contradict yourself, Mssr. Marechal." - said Boulard politely, if somewhat arrogantly - "We can't afford the reforms - and yet you suggest enriching ourselves by conquest of Scandinavia, to be carried out with a reformed army. Who will pay for it?"

"We will take debt." - said Thiers, convincedly - "And we will then re-repay it with the Scandinavian money, so to sp-speak."

The balding, aging dictator listened carefully, not speaking - letting the underlings make their opinions clear before he says the final, the really important conclusion.

"But what if the war stalemates?" - asked Boulard.

"How? The Scandinavian army is pathetic. They wouldn't expect anything."

"Never underestimate thy foe." - Boulard quoted Jeanne d'Arc's "Adress to the Crusaders" - "And remember - the Celts, they are VERY hostile. Who is to stop them from deploying an army corps? It will be the Debacle all over again..."

"Those tree-huggers?" - inquired Dantes - "Ever since they let the senile old druids take over their country, their army has lost all value. They wouldn't dare deploy, and even if they do their troops, who are filled with pacifist sentimentality, will be crushed."

"Don't repeat your own propaganda." - Cugnot, the youngest member of the Octaviate and the Minister of Interior, spoke coldly. Dantes sneered. He, and the others, never did understand why the hell did Cugnot get to join the Octaviate. He was young... and... and... liberal, reformist! Oh, sure, it was a concession to public interest - but why does Fouche allow Cugnot to say what he likes HERE, amidst much more experienced members.

"Regardless," - Fouche interjected - "The Celts are on the defensive now. An offensive on Scandinavia would have high chances of success - the Scandinavians would be taken by surprise, attacked from several directions and crushed. It is risky - but, mssrs, we must risk to gain anything at all."

And that was that for this discussion.

"Now, about the reforms themselves." - Fouche spoke, having sipped some champagne he poured into his glass after his interjection - "Or, rather, about the pace. I believe that the deadline of January 4181 will be acceptable. After the early reforms and after dealing with the initial instability... Yes, Dupleix?"

"We will not be able to deal with it." - Dupleix finally said, grimly - "You s-... Mssr. Premiere, you said that the people are a threat. I agree - but not because they would be dizzy with success. No. Trust me, it is my job to know the hearts and minds of the people. The only ones who want change are the intellegencia, which is opposed to the government by definition. Dissidents, they are mostly students and the well-off bourgoise, as well as some members of the aristocracy. They make good leaders - but leaders without a mob of followers are rarely a threat. At worst, they will start bombing campaigns... and will discredit themselves completely.

The people DON'T want changes. I'm speaking about the rural and urban impoverished majority, who are USED to the things the way they are. Why? Simple. They see no alternative. We mustn't underestimate ourselves neither - our propaganda is working TOO WELL. Any reforms will lead to a civil war. If we start the reforms, but don't impose a full democracy, or whatever catches the intellegentsia's whims, EVERYBODY will be against us apart from a few vigilantes. And even if we impose a full democracy - which is unacceptable - the country will be plunged into a civil war. The mob will simply overwhelm the reformists with sheer number, periphereal territories will be captured by our neighbours, and in the rump France there will be something... terrible. Mob rule. The intellegentsia will be in horror." - he smirked - "Their cherished people will lynch them and us alike, the power will fall to the people of the slums, or some cunning, ruthless members of the intellegentsia... who will just make things worse. France will be set back by any reforms, in the long run.

If we want our reforms to work... They must come slowly, and not yet - in ten, fifteen, twenty years, when a new generation grows up under a different kind of propaganda. We must slowly allow them to believe in reform, and THEN, when the majority supports us, we will introduce changes, one by one, evolutionary changes - not revolutionary ones. And THEN, then things will work. Not now."

This speach had the effect of a lightning. For a while, the other Octaves were paralyzed. Cugnot steadily went red in his face, enraged at Dupleix'... slandering of the poeple. The others, for the most part, went pale. They IMAGINED what would happen. Some of them remembered the Civil War. Others used their imagination. There was silence.

Finally, Cugnot wanted to speak, but Fouche gestured for him to be silent.

"Thank you for your insight, Mssr. Dupleix." - Fouche said slowly. - "Objections?"

Cugnot stood up, but Fouche looked at him wearily, muttered something about youth, and ordered him to sit down again. Dantes spoke.

"No objections... Mssr. Dupleix, I must agree with you."

"Others?" - asked Fouche.

The others remained silent, but, apart from Andre Boulard who liked to keep his opinions for himself and thus was well-liked by most apart from Thiers, they were clearly on Dupleix's side. Cugnot looked down, on the mahogany table. Things were going wrong. The reforms had to happen now... but they were postponned! Again! They will never come... These fools will drag the country down!

Dupleix knew that Cugnot was saddened by this. He looked very upset - this was understandable. Dupleix pitied him. But... this was the way things were going to be. All was decided already. And though Dupleix for a moment doubted whether he did the right thing... he remembered the INHUMAN eyes of his soldiers, their senseless cruelty... He remembered the starving people who still blessed Fouche's name... and who often were led by Fascist vigilantes in attacks on known liberals. THOSE people would not be the reforming generation. A new kind of people was needed.

"I agree." - Andre Boulard said finally - "The reforms should come later - but not later then in ten more years."

Another clever compromise. Dupleix smirked.

"That is the minimum." - said Dupleix - "Fifteen years is the most reasonable course."

"Indeed." - said Fouche - "Fifteen years it is. Mssr. Intendante, take care of the GRA-DU-AL change in the propaganda angle. Dismissed. Thank you, mssrs."

When Dupleix left the Octaviate Room, he couldn't help but feel Cugnot's hateful glance.
 
I'm not get involved in that war.
 
Cool, thanks very much, ive updated the player list!

Sorry i know i said no other reservations, but alex and Das helped me out a lot in my ideas thread and i didnt want to upset them :) plus there are 32 to choose from :)

I think its only fair then that Dachspmg has germany then, as he did say in my other thread, and thats another one i should have reserved... hope that doesnt upset you too much Celric...

Alex994, hope your ok with USA then.... they will be strong, but watch out for those iroquois :)

awesome story Das! wow :)
i havent read through it all yet as i have to be offline soon. But about Religion, im happy to leave that up to players to decide what religion their nation is. The effects it will have in-game depend on what you write about it.

Also about the cletic war on france, i have some more stuff to add to the rules, but basically just want ot let you know that starting a war will be a big deal, because the world has been at peace for a long time, with only a few civil wars and small scale wars. Celtonia also supported france in a recent civil war... sorry i havent had time to add this yet.

Ive also made these changes, just to let anyone know who might have been reading these things:
inventions all have a seperate cost now, and are not all 5 techs as one part said.
Range for paratroopers attack is the longest range of any air unit you have built, nothing ot do with air tech.
Guided weapons invention helps aircraft attack ground stuff.

Ive been a bit lazy today, but ill add the actual unit stats and nation stats tommorrow, aswell as more info on the world situation at the start.

thanks again... also please let me know what you think of any rules, or any suggestions for different things....
 
RoXor, rome is confirmed...

ok going offline, and will add stats and stuff tommorrow evening
 
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