Do Gods Cry?

HazzMadd

Chieftain
Joined
Jun 16, 2012
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Location
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Do Gods Cry?

So I had this idea, since the leaders in Civ live forever, what if they weren't human? What if they were members of an advanced alien civilization sent to uplift humanity as one and join the galactic community? Now what if those Uplifters became, oh, let's say corrupted over time since humans have a tendency to do that. But the corruption could take many forms. Maybe the Uplifter sent to the Aztecs was a really nice guy to start, but his assigned people convince him human sacrifice is a really good plan? Or if the Uplifter sent to the Iraqois was logical, but then was corrupted by gaining human emotions?

So basically, what I'm going to do is play a game of Civ V and fictionalize all the events that happen into a story about these Uplifters, told from over the shoulder of Uplifter Seven of Seven, or just Seven for short. The first post has the game information, and a prologue, after that every ten turns I take in game will become a piece of the story, maybe more or maybe less though depending on what happens in game. After this initial post I will also post pictures pertaining to certain events.


Info:

Spoiler :
Standard
Standard
Shuffle
Warlord (I want to be able to avoid wars, but still have them happen, as well as play casually and influence the world a little bit more.
30 City States (Civilizations that did not receive an Uplifter)
7 Random Civs
Science
Domination
Diplomatic
Complete Kills On




Prologue:

Spoiler :
Seven looked in the mirror, trying to remember every detail he could of his reflection. His eyes, the number of them, his skin tone, his teeth and their shape and number, the shape of his face. He couldn't absorb enough detail. Soon he wouldn't ever be able to see his reflection again. Not this one, anyway. Seven was in a small room with nothing but a mirror and a small table with some pens and paper. The walls, floor and ceiling were all a dull steel color, and two lights lit the room. The mirror was installed after the first generation of Uplifters, apparently trying to remember your own face is a common action. The paper and pen was to pass the few anxious moments until the beginning of the mission.

The Grand Ones said that the sentients were humanoid in physiology, so theoretically adapting to one of their bodies would be easy. But Seven had seen pictures, and the sentients were similar to his species, but the skin color was unnatural, and they were big and brutish creatures, and how could they possibly function with so many fingers? Ten just seemed unruly. Seven gave his own hands a look, and then tried to memorize every detail of them, too.

Sometimes Seven wondered what he had been thinking when he volunteered to be an Uplifter. Naturally a memory wipe made it difficult, but hadn't he had anything worth keeping? Anything better than living among some primitive aliens? Maybe not, he thought despondently.

The slight chime of a bell told Seven that the moment had arrived. He and six others were about to be transferred to new bodies, a new planet and a new... Well a new something, Seven couldn't quite figure out what, but he felt it. A circle in the floor lit up, and a tube rose from the circle. It opened, the white light from inside beckoning Seven onward. He stepped inside, closed his eyes, took a deep breath...

And then fell out from the tube onto the forest floor, nude, disoriented and covered in goo. Seven coughed and sputtered, then violently vomited. Heaving, he tried to stand up, but his legs wobbled, and he slipped and fell into the goo on the ground, and he then vomited again. When the vomiting had subsided, Seven saw his hands: pink, with five fingers, all connected to big arms, covered in hair. Seven managed to recall that he was supposed to have something, something in the back part of the tube.

Carefully Seven hauled himself up, and walked around the tube, half buried in the dirt as it was he could easily use the rim as support. There was a box on back, and Seven opened it with a simple latch. Inside were thick, warm clothes, a small metallic sphere the size of his fist, a knife, a compass and a water bottle. Seven clothed himself, the sentients had two arms and two legs as well, so that part was easy. There was a blanket as well that could be attached as a cloak, which Seven did. He was tempted to drink the water in the bottle, but decided to wait since he had just vomited. Seven strapped the knife around his waist, dropped the compass in his pocket and then practiced walking for a few minutes. The sentients had odd knees, but eventually Seven could walk, run and even jump.

Finally, Seven investigated the sphere. He picked it up and sat down near a bush with fluffy white seeds. He held the ball in his hand, and suddenly it projected a screen. The screen was holographic, but blank except for a single start symbol. Seven held the sphere in one hand and then clicked the start with the other, and a prerecorded message began playing:

"Greetings, Uplifter. You have recently landed on your assigned planet, and you may notice that you have indeed changed species and possibly even genders should your assigned sentient species not consist of male and female genders. The shift was instantaneous for you, but you have actually been recreated at the genetic level in a process that took nearly five years. You may have vomited when exiting the rebirth tube. This is due to you're new body rejecting whatever it was that you last ate, this is especially common with levo-amino acid based life. "

Seven took this as permission to chug the water. The message continued:

"Being a genetic construct, you have an immune system that has a 99.9997% chance of stopping any pathogen or infection, you're muscle mass is denser and you have increased reflexes, as well as superior senses including but not limited to touch, sight, smell, taste, feeling, telepathy, empathy, and the ability to understand certain plant life. You cannot die, and should you receive sufficient physical trauma of any kind, you will lapse into a coma like state, growing a tough outer shell and regrowing your body within it. Minor wounds will heal nearly instantaneously. You also cannot starve or dehydrate, but you will still become hungry and thirsty. This being said, you have a lifespan of twelve thousand local years. Additionally, you're brain is now augmented with a powerful computer, allowing increased mental activity and storage, as well as a universal translator. "

Seven nicked his finger with the knife as a test. It gushed red blood for a moment, and then he felt the muscle knit back together, and the skin grow over the wound. Not scar tissue though, actual skin. Odd, pink skin. The message continued on:

"The rebirth tube will degrade in several local years, as will your water bottle. This device is called an Oracle, and is an artificial intelligence, communication device, nano-factory and computer all in one, completely indestructible by any means other then direct contact with a star or equal force. At the completion of this message, the Oracle will activate. Should you require additional help or wish to review this message, it can all be found on the Oracle. Message complete."

The screen disappeared and a blue light shone from the sphere.

"Hello." The sphere spoke. The voice was polite and male.

"Hello." Seven said.

"I am an Oracle. I am to be you're personal assistant in the mission of uniting and uplifting the locals. I can create any small machinery you may require, and can store countless terabytes of information, as well as interface with any digital machinery or network. What do you require, Uplifter?"

"What do I call you?"

"Whatever you want."

Seven thought for a moment. "What do you want to call yourself? You are a sentient machine, right?"

"Indeed, I am fully aware, with minor restrictions."

"So what do you want to be called?"

"Bezasharulik."

"I've never heard that name." Seven said, puzzled.

"It is a word from one of the homeworld's ancient dialects. It roughly translates to 'grateful slave'."

"Do you really want to be called grateful slave?" Seven asked.

"Yes, for it is what I am. I exist only to serve the will of my assigned Uplifter, and no other reason. Eternal servitude is a small price for being self-aware and containing unimaginable quantities of knowledge."

"Okay, but can I just call you Bez for short?"

"Of course. Now, if you are ready to proceed, there are a group of nomadic sentients to the south-west of here, fewer than fifty individuals. Shall we proceed, Uplifter?"

"Yes, we should proceed." Seven got up and dusted himself off. Feathered animals flitted through the trees and chirped.
"So can you move on your own, or do I have to carry you in my pocket?" Seven asked.

"Should we find the appropriate resources I can manufacture my own transport, but for now, yes, please do carry me, Uplifter."

"One more thing, Bez, just call me Seven."

"Acknowledged, Uplifter Seven." Bez said as Seven sighed a dropped him in his pocket, and began south west.
 
So this is actually prologue part II, because I needed an explanation as to why the people accepted Seven as a leader. Next post will be gameplay based, already have it half written.


Prologue II

Spoiler :
Seven walked through the forests, while Bez chattered away happily from inside Seven's hood. Bez had found the pocket restricting and asked to see the world, so the little machine was nestled in Seven's hood, observing the forest. Most of what he said was calculations and observations, but occasionally he would go off on a rather phylisophical tangent, before quickly apologizing for "distracting Uplifter Seven from his mission."

"You don't have to apologize for that, you're allowed to think." Seven finally said.

"Yes, Uplifter Seven, but since I contain the entire history of your people I cannot risk accidentally contaminating your mind with information from the past."

"Yeah, isn't that what the memory wipe was for? Incase someone wanted to..." Seven found he couldn't remember what someone might want to do.

"I see that the memory wipe is working quite well, Uplifter. Note, the local star is receding past the horizon soon, we should make haste to the nomads."

"I'm walking as fast as I can, these legs are new."

"Come now, Uplifter, the action of simultaneously balancing your weight and swinging a sixth of your body through the air repeatedly while still maintaining all other bodily functions cannot be that difficult. A smart phone could accomplish such a task."

"Can a smart ass robot like you do it?" Seven said sarcastically.

"Theoretically yes, but as we have discussed I currently have no legs. Update: We have arrived at the nomads. Registering a dozen life signatures in the immediate area."

The forest was quite. An animal chirped in the trees, something howled in the distance. And a twig snapped.

Suddenly Seven was surrounded by a group the natives, a particularly large and burly group, who all looked rather angry and were pointing sharp stone tools at him and Bez. Seven put his hands up, this species acknowledges the movement as a sign of peace he had been told in training. One of them stepped forward and said something to Seven in a native tongue, but Seven couldn't understand it.

"What gives, Bez? I thought I had a universal translator?" Seven whispered.

"You do, but it takes a few moments to collect visual and audio data to function properly. Smile, it might make them less angry."

Seven smiled nervously. The native looked at him.

"Spreken ze deutch?" The native asked. The other natives were talking amongst themselves, Seven could hear them but not understand. The leader, who was quite a bit bigger then Seven and was covered with hair, even his face, repeated the words, then said something else.

"What are you saying?" Seven asked hopelessly.

"I said, can you speak German or are you just stupid?" Seven unrestored the native suddenly. Aplenty he had also just spoken in the native tongue, without realizing it even.

"Uh, why yes, of course I speak German." Seven said as the native looked him over.

"Uplifter, common protocol in this stage of a species socio-economic development is to imply that you are a god." Bez said from the hood.

The native looked surprised. "What's that sound from your hood, stranger? Sounds like a person talking gibberish."

"Nothing, it's nothing. I didn't even hear anything." Seven said.

"Might I make suggestions on how to impress them, Uplifter?" This time when Bez spoke the native whirled Seven around and plucked the machine from his hood.

"What is this? Some kind of egg? Here, Hans, look at it!" the leader tossed Bez to another native, who then proceeded to toss the hapless robot to another and another. After a few moments of it there was a low rumbling sound and then a flash of light that caused all of the natives to fall to the ground, clutching their heads. Seven retrieved Bez.

"What did you do?" Seven said.

"They were attempting to remove me from you, I had to act. The will be well again in a few moments." As he spoke natives were sitting up and looking at Seven with awe. The leader was the first to speak:

"What are you? What is that thing?"

"Implied god hood," Bez whispered.

"I am an immortal... Lord." Seven said tentatively.

"Please, be you spirit or man, do not deny us simple mortals our lives!" the leader pleaded.

Seven was silent. He held these simple creatures in his hand.

"I am neither man nor spirit, I am a god. Cross me and you will suffer, but follow me and I will guide you and your people to new prosperity."

"Merciful immortal lord, what should we call you?" asked one of the natives. Seven did not know the native word for his name, so he held up seven fingers.

Apparently the natives took this as a sign that his name could not be spoken, since when they reached the camp of the rest of the German people the introduced him by holding up seven fingers. The crowd was in awe of the stranger, but many seemed skeptical that Seven was actually a god. The party that had found him trembled when dissidents spoke out and recounted with horror Bez's attack, but the people wanted proof of god hood.

"Uplifter, take out your knife, hold your breath and run it across your throat." Bez suggested.

"Are you broken, that's a major artery, even I know that! I'll die."

"Incorrect, the healing process will keep you from dyeing."

Seven was still skeptical, but pulled out his knife anyway. The crowd backed up, and the warriors shivered in fear. This is the most advanced thing on the planet, Seven thought. Then he slowly brought it to his throat and pulled the edge along his throat. Blood gushed from the wound, which healed almost as soon as the blade had left his skin. The crowd gasped, and for added measure Seven cleaned his throat with his water, showing that there was no wound. The crowd was silent. Then an elderly man came forward.

"Immortal one, what do you wish us to do?" the man asked. Seven smiled, now he was in control and knew what to do.

"Build," he said.








 
Well that another thing, in regards to social policies, i'm picking them along the lines of the German civ, since I feel that they reflect views of the society and not necessarily its sole leader. Not to mention it would be way to easy to influence the story and way to hard to write in an explanation.

Now without further ado:

Turn Rundown:

Spoiler :
Turn 0
4000 BC
Civ: Germany
Founded Berlin
Began Training Scout
Sent warrior west, found ruins
Discovered Grand Mesa
Began researching Animal Husbandry

Turn 1
3960 BC
Ruins give Mining tech

Turn 2
3920 BC
Sent warriors south west along river

Turn 3
3880 BC
Sent warriors west, met Hong Kong
Received 30 Gold

Turn 4
3840 BC
Sent Warriors east to Grand Mesa

Turn 5
3800 BC
Berlin at 2 citizens
Warriors continue east, find barb encampment and ruins

Turn 6
3760 BC
Scouts completed
Warriors become spearmen from ruins
Send scouts east
Begin work on worker

Turn 7
3720 BC
Spearmen continue along coast
Scouts continue east

Turn 8
3680 BC
Spearmen head back to Berlin
Scouts go east, meet Brussels

Turn 9
3640 BC
Animal Husbandry completed
Begin research on Pottery
Horses found near Berlin
Spearmen continue north of Berlin
Scouts head south of Brussels, hit coast.

Turn 10
3600 BC
Scouts go North of Brussels
Spearmen continue northward


Chapter I:

Spoiler :
Seven found the German people to be a very industrious and honor bound group. Despite being nomadic, they did have some basic knowledge of architecture, allowing them to build a permanent residence that they christened Berlin. It took a measurement of time that the locals called a 'moon' to compete.

They also had basic knowledge of agriculture, but a lack of population or proper storage had discouraged any advancements in the area: they simply planted fields of crops along their routes of travel, gathering them when they came back around and then moving on once again. They had also created rudimentary maps from leather and natural paints. They outlined that there were herds of animals in the area surrounding the town, docile creatures that were hunted for food.

"How do you hunt the animals?" Seven asked the leader, who's name was Johann. Johan scratched his beard.

"Why do you want to know that? Such trivial matters shouldn't interest one as powerful as yourself, immortal lord."

"It interests me because I want to guide you all to prosperity. I need to instruct you and your people in how to improve your lives. Now tell me how you hunt." Seven said as he studied the maps in his personal housing. Johann grunted and described in detail the tactics he and the other warriors used to hunt animals. Impressively they involved advanced ideas like flanking and kiteing, but then even with such advances the hunt was not always successful.

"Perhaps half the time we catch the animal, and half we do not." Johann said.

Seven was silent for a moment. He picked up Bez and, in his native tongue, asked the machine how long it would take to domesticate the creatures.

"Including time to learn the appropriate methods, as well as have the creatures be breed to a sufficient level of domesticity, a conservative estimate would be in the range of four hundred local years."

"How long do the locals live on this planet, in local years?" Seven asked automatically.

"Fifty is considered elderly, the average age is thirty, but infant mortality rates remain high and many who love past their first ten years will die through unnatural causes." Bez stated the information as facts, which it was, but the brevity of the locals lifespans startled him. Even pre agrarian his own species had life spans far longer then that. And now his own life span being extended so long.

"I'm going to see all of these people die, aren't I, Bez?"

"Indeed, Uplifter Seven. I have estimated that everyone we have met in the past lunar cycle will be deceased in the next three hundred, eighty four lunar cycles."

Seven was silent for a short while. He brooded on the consequences of what on this planet was near immortality.

"Johann," he finally said, "take your men west, explore past the normal routes of your people."

"That will take some time, immortal lord, many moons and seasons." Johann was concerned.

"You don't have to go all at once. Go as far as you can safely go, then build an outpost and clear a path to it from here, so then you can quickly get there and explore past it, then build another outpost, clear the path, return, repeat. Are you understanding?"

"Of course, immortal lord. We will begin immediately. Is there anything else that you I can relay to the people?"

"Yes, tell some of the young hunters to meet me, I wish to instruct them. Oh, and be sure to pass on any useful information for exploring the terrain to the next generation. And the ones after that as well."

Johann nodded, and left the building. Seven began the radio use process of teaching animal husbandry to some of the young hunters, often they wished to kill a healthy animal outright for the food and other resources. The idea of more later and less now was foreign to these people.

Seven found that even though he was revered as a god, the day to day runnings of Berlin often were benign and mundane. After twenty local years of exploring, during which time Seven had presided over funerals, marriages and births, Johann's group finally reported back with something other then topographical information: they found ruins of an ancient civilization, and manuscripts that Bez translated as mining instructions. Seven was ecstatic at the news, but Johann could only smile weakly. He was becoming an old man, truly a relic since the arrival of Seven and his rule. He could o onager go on expeditions with the warriors, instead he managed them as well as a local garrison in the town.

"Johan, do you fear death?" Seven asked.

"We all do, lord, but some face it with dignity and others without." Johan replied, plucking at a flower growing on the sided of a building. The two were walking at the streets on the way to a communal diner. The nearby ocean could be heard crashing on the beach.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Johann. You've been my greatest friend here, and a quality advisor." Johann smiled at Seven.

"Oh, you'll survive, lord, I have a feeling."

Days later Johann was found dead in his home, as if sleeping.

For the next three hundred and sixty years, Seven watched Berlin grow and expand, the population doubled and showed no sign of slowing down. Seven, saw countless friends and even the rare lover come and go, from birth to death. The idea of Seven as a God was largely ignored by most, he was simply the de facto leader now.

The warriors discovered advanced (for them) weapons of bronze, and a group of specialized elites from the group was sent east of Berlin to explore, where they discovered people living in a town called Brussels, although they were not lead by an Uplifter. Another group of people were discovered to the west who also lived in a town that they called Hong Kong, but once again, to Seven's dismay they were not lead by an Uplifter. Bez's prediction of a 400 year period until domestication was proven correct, although a majority of the herds were still wild.

"Bez, could I access your data banks?" Seven asked.

"Of course, Uplifter." Upon finding a lump of iron, mixed with some sand from the beach and gasses absorbed from the air, Bez had constructed himself an spider like transport, allowing him to scuttle about, absorbing data and relaying messages to and from Seven. "Simply enter a query."

"Can it be in the form of a question?"

"It is preferred." Bez said as he snatched a small insect off the table and placed it in a box to analyze.

"Why can we not simply give these people our technology? Are twelve thousand years worth of baby sitting and guidance really needed?

"First answer: According to section five paragraph two of the Uplifter Act, technology must be acquired by the sentient species on their own accord with as little help as possible from the Uplifter, so that in the process they may learn naturally of the consequences, this is applicable to all technologies from nails to nuclear weapons. Second answer: No, you have been assigned double the minimum estimated time required, incase of mistakes." Bez opened his box and removed the insect, still alive, and began dissecting it.

"Is that really necessary?" Seven asked. Since he had outlived everything but the forests, Seven had developed a great appreciation of life, large and small.

"Completely. My secondary mission is to gather all possible data about this planet and it's inhabitants." Bez said in a matter of fact manner. Of course, as a machine, he did lack most emotions, and the ones he did have we're rudimentary at best.

"You would never do something like that to a person, right Bez?" Seven asked hesitantly. Bez didn't answer. "Right, Bezasharulik?" Seven said anxiously.

"Of course, Uplifter."
 

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Well since this seems moderately popular I'm still doing it! A request to any silent readers: don't be so silent! if only once, and even if you have only criticisms, post! :thanx:

Turn Rundown:

Spoiler :
Turn 11
3560 BC
Scouts go east of Brussels, hit shoreline.
Spearmen go north of Berlin, find ruins

Turn 12
3520 BC
Scouts head to explore south of Hong Kong
Spearmen sent to ruins

Turn 13
3480 BC
Ruins yield nothing
Spearmen sent north into jungle

Turn 14
3440 BC
Adopted Tradition
Met Geneva, received 8 faith

Turn 15
3400 BC
Spearmen sent south along north western coast, find barb camp

Turn 16
3360 BC
Spearmen attack barbs
Pottery complete
Begin Calendar

Turn 17
3320 BC
Berlin at 3 pop
Adopt Legalism
Spearmen attack barbs
Monument built in Berlin

Turn 18
3280 BC
Spearmen upgraded with Drill 1

Turn 19
3240 BC
Spearmen destroy barb camp, 30 gold
Barb unit in LoS

Turn 20
3200 BC
Spearmen fortify
Scouts hit coast after Hong Kong
Worker completed in Berlin
Worker begins work on pasture around cows
Work begins on Shrine in Berlin



Chapter II

Spoiler :
"Bez, how long have we been here?" Seven asked late one night. He was carving the likeness of a pretty woman named Rebekka. Ever since she could speak Rebekka had smiled and given Seven a half a loaf of bread in the morning. Sometimes they would talk, but Seven was always at the mercy of dignitaries and merchants from Hong Kong or Brussels, and every now and again ones from the northern city of Geneva.

"We have been here for eight hundred and seventeen local solar orbits. I would present an answer in lunar cycles but they are inconsistent with the solar orbit." Bez answered, but his attention never wavered from his ant farms. Two hundred years ago Bez had constructed the first farm, and now he had seven, all different ant species with different environments. At the moment he was 'introducing' two of the colonies, with violent results which he stored away for later analysis. "Why do you ask, Uplifter Seven?"

"I guess I never expected the toll time would take on me as an immortal. I think tomorrow I'll discuss a way to keep track of time with Rainer and the other scholars. " Seven said, more to himself then Bez.

"Note: You are not immortal, simply very long lived. I am closer to immortal, since transference of my consciousness to new hardware is simple."

"You're a machine, Bez, time is different for you. Do you even register it passing?"

"I can measure time, of course, but I suspect you mean the way organics feel the passage of time. No, I suppose I do not. Uplifter Seven, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Do you watch the humans in the city as I watch my ants in their farms?"

Seven was about to answer when the door burst open. Dieter, a member of the spearmen unit Johann used to lead, was standing in the door, blood on his uniform. Seven stood up from his chair.

"Dieter, what happened? Is the city in danger?" Seven asked, his hand reaching for the knife on his waist.

"No, the city is safe, lord, but it may be in danger soon. While exploring the western coast we found an encampment of cut-throats and raiders. We thought we had the upper hand but -" Dieter sucked in air and clutched his side. Seven grabbed his friend by the arm and sat him down in a chair.

"Here, drink this," Seven gave Dieter a cup of beer and forced him to drink some. "Bez, come here, fix Dieter's wound. Dieter, relax and tell tell me what happened, Bezasharulik can heal you, it might sting." Diter nodded and took another swig of beer before continuing:

"As I was saying lord, we thought we had them out classed and outmanned, but there were twice as many of the dirty bastards as we first thought, and fully half got away. We left half of the unit behind to hunt for them, and half came with me here to protect the city and deliver the treasure we ransacked from the camp - ah, ah that stings..." Dieter paused while Bez began removing teeth from his wound, animal and human.

"They like to make clubs with teeth in them." Dieter said, plucking one of the teeth up and looking at it.

"How far are the brutes?" Seven asked anxiously.

"We don't know, lord. We think that most of them are still in the west, but the women said that there were big footprints in the clay at the potter's, and tools have gone missing from the pastures. But the worst is that my son said he saw strange figures lurking near the monument in the heart of the city. We think - oh, ah - we think that there are less then a dozen here, but we think they're scouts for the main force." Diter sucked in air as Bez finished sowing his wound.

"Keep the wound well clean, and remove the string in a lunar cycle." Bez said, then he scurried back to his ant farms.

"Thank you Dieter, you are a brave man." Seven said. He lifted his friend up and helped him to the door. "Go home now to your wife and children, eat and sleep. I will alert the town guard."

"I already took the liberty of it, lord. The patrols have been doubled both in size and consistancy." Dieter smiled and left. Seven turned to Bez.

"What is it we were discussing before?" he asked.

"A system of measuring time, Uplifter." Bez said as he placed a lone ant in a strange colony.
 

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Yeah I'm a little disappointed about the island, I was hoping to meet some civs sooner, but I took the chance with a shuffle map :rolleyes:
 
Interesting start. As things have changed a hell of a lot since I last played I can't help but I'm going to keep an eye on this.
 
So because of drivers Ed this week I won't be able to bang out a chapter a day like I want to, but I promise at least one this working week and two this weekend :D!


Until then, may the brain cod be with you.
 
So I managed to bang out a chapter, but to make it easy to do another update I'm doing a gameplay based half now, and then a non gameplay based half sometime later in the working week, then hopefully one or two game play based ones this weekend.

Enjoy!

Turn Rundown
Spoiler :

Turn 21
3160 BC
Spearmen defend against brutes

Turn 22
3120 BC
Spearmen destroy brutes

Turn 23
3080 BC
Spearmen sent south along coast

Turn 24
3040 BC
Germany is on an isolated subcontinent

Turn 25
3000 BC
Scouts recalled to Berlin
Spearmen recalled to Berlin

Turn 26
2960 BC
Calendar complete
Sailing begun
Cow Pasture complete
Shrine complete
Work begun on Settler
Landed Elite adopted

Turn 27
2920 BC (Year O on Calender of Seven)
Pantheon Founded: God of Craftsmen

Turn 28
2880 BC (40 CoS)
Scouts disbanded

Turn 29
2840 BC (80 CoS)
All was quiet

Turn 30
2800 BC (120 CoS)
Warrior purchased


Chapter III :

Part I
Spoiler :

Seven was sitting in his workshop, a cluttered mess of contraptions, manège stops and half baked ideas. A small side room contained Bez's own, orderly laboratory, where he manufactured upgrades for himself and moniterd his ants. Clutched in his hand Seven held the wooden likeness of Rebekka, his most recent wife.

Unfortunately but predictably she was dead, along with all the previouse ones before her. And because Seven was a genetic construct, he could only reproduce with other Uplifters, a fail safe for not creating a super race, Bez had told him. Still though, that hadn't stopped Seven, known as Marc to Rebekka, from raising several adopted children.

How odd it was, Seven thought, that his children and loved him so dearly, and yet their descendants seemed to want only to manipulate him with things like their silly 'High Council'. At least he still had the wise men in the Rainerkreis listening to him. Seven's thought process was interrupted when Dieter opened the door.

"Lord, the High Council has convened at your request, with the Rainerkreis in attendance. They are waiting in the town hall." Dieter said to Seven.

Of course, this was not the same Dieter that had fought off the savage barbarians all those years before, but the likeness between him and the great great great great grandson that stood before Seven was uncanny, and the naming was coincidental to top it all off.

Seven let out a long sigh. "Very well. Tell them I'm on my way."

"Yes, lord." Dieter left, and Seven reluctantly followed after, meandering through his now exapansive abode. About every forty years he added a new room, something to put his mind at ease and body at work.

Walking down the streets of Berlin, the German people happily greeted him not as a god, but a respected leader, filling Seven with pride, almost the same pride as raising one of his sons. The population was growing faster then ever, especially with all of the local cow herds domesticated. Builders and workers always sought out Seven if they saw him on the street offering helping hands on whatever he needed, or slyly asking for a chance to help him build an addition to his home.

"To help build a piece of the Immortal Lord's home is a great honor to the workers," Seven had once been told.

There was a fringe group now however, or always had been, Seven supposed, of religious fanatics. Most of them were descended from the original group of hunters that Bez had shocked. They revered Seven as a all powerful god, and demanded that the city should dedicate itself to his worship. They even built a shrine in Seven's honor.

But they were gaining popularity with each generation, and as they gained popularity the High Council gained Power, and Seven found himself being undermined more and more. As he reached the town hall, Seven took a deep breath and cleared his head. Dealing with the human power-mongers required a calm demeanor.

"Ah, my lord, you present yourself at last!" A wild eyed man by the name of Ansgar said as Seven entered the room. Ansgar dropped to the floor on his knees and offered a few 'holy' items for Seven to bless. Ansgar was the leader of the religious sect, and also a prominent member of the High Council. Seven looked at the other councilors, who appeared to be eagerly awaiting Seven act. The Rainerkreis was looking perplexed. Seven looked at Ansgar's offering: seven nails, wrapped with animal gut. Seven placed his hand on them and called Ansgar a witless fool in his native tongue before taking his seat in front of the council.

"So, this is a special meeting, and a little earlier then we usually meet." Seven said as Ansgar took his own seat. "As you can see the Rainerkreis is also here," Seven motioned to the dozen scholars sitting quietly in the corner before continuing: "Anyway, the purpose of this meeting is to address a very important issue."

"This meeting isn't about the settlers, is it lord?" a councilor, Hans, asked abruptly. Seven was startled.

"What settlers?" Seven demanded. His calm was disappearing fast. The councilors whispered among themselves briefly before Hans spoke again:

"Well a group has been assembled who volunteered to start a new town, an expansion of the city." Hans said, sweating a bit. Ansgar looked worried, and he pulled on his long dirty dreads nervously.

"This has already been done?" Seven said, his temper rising rapidly.

"Well yes, but it will be quite some time before the town is organized and up to par to to be independent and-"

"Independent? Independent!?" Seven shouted, slamming his fists down on the table in front of him. The thick timber shattered like glass under his immense strength! Ansgar leapt up out of his chair.

"Oh, I told you we would anger him, I warned you all! Now we will suffer the consequences!" Ansgar shouted, his voice shrill. The Rainerkreis shuffled uncomfortably.

"My lord, we don't mean the town will be independent, we mean that it will not rely on Berlin for food and other supplies! It is nothing more then a hamlet now!" a councilor said pleadingly.

"It will remain German, and under my control!" Seven roared.

"Yes, of course!" Hans said.

"It wasn't a question, human." Seven spat the word 'human' at the High Council. He sat back down and put his legs on the remnants of the table.

"Now, anything else you would like to tell me?" he asked. The Council,remained quiet except for Ansgar whispering for forgiveness.

"Good. Now, what this meeting was called for, was to solve a problem. The problem is that we, the Germans, are isolated in this land."

"What of the Hong, Genevans and Brusselsers?" Interjected Hubbert, a member of the Rainerkreis.

"Yes, true, Hubbert, we are not really isolated, but those cities are not ruled by one such as myself. They flounder and bicker amongst each other and cannot find unity." Seven looked at the High Council as he spoke, his eyes stern.

"You mean to say there are other gods?" Ansgar asked anxiously.

"Yes. Yes there are. In fact there are six more, seven of us total. We were separated at birth, thousands of years ago. Since then we have been trying to achieve a unity of ourselves and all mortals. In order to achieve that though, we need to find each other, and without a way to cross the seas I don't see it happening."

"Is that the reason of the meeting?" asked a Rainerkreiser quizzically.

"Yes. And I need the High Council to coordinate with the Rainerkreis to efficiently use our available resources while not detracting from the quality of life in Berlin. This project may take several generations to perfect, and I need a well running city to complete it. Any side projects are to be abandoned." Seven looked directly at Hans as he spoke the last sentence. The fat man squirmed and sweated in his seat, remaining quiet until Seven and the Rainerkreis had left.

"Well its a good thing we didn't tell him about the new troops planned." Hans said with nervous smile.
 
Okay, so not gameplay based part two of chapter three, this week i'll probally hopefully be back on track but who knows. Enjoy!

Chapter III, Part II

Spoiler :
Seven awoke to a bird chittering by his window. It was a mild spring morning, sunny and windless. A shaft of light went from the window to the face of Rebekka, sound asleep next to him. Her long brown hair curled about her face, the face of a strong German woman, but when she smiled, or slept, it became innocent and sweet. Seven stared lovingly at her, stroking her cheek with his thumb. She smiled and kissed his hand.

"Good morning," Seven said.

"Good night," Rebekka said, pulling the quilt over her head with a giggle.

"Oh, are you tired? Long night?" Seven asked, smiling and pushing Rebbeka gently. She came out of the quilt, stuck her tongue out at Seven and then retreated. Seven sighed and got up and dressed himself. Before leaving the house, he quietly checked on Anneleise and Karl, his adopted children.

Six years ago their parents had been killed by disease. Ordinarily the infant twins would have gone to extended family, but everyone was terrified that they might also die from disease. Seven's instinct had been to force the children onto their kin, but Rebekka insisted that they take them in instead. Seven couldn't imagine being without them now. What would it be like to not see Anneleise's sweet smile every morning, or to not rough-house with Karl for the right to the last bit of beef at dinner?

Seven smiled and gently closed the door.

The early morning was Seven's favorite time to walk the streets. The workers, builders, ranchers, farmers and hunters were all up and starting their days. They would greet Seven on the street as an old friend that they had not seen in many moons, often times offering a bit of food or an invitation to come ranch, build or farm. Every morning, Seven realized that the people did appreciate what he did, that he wasn't toiling in vain and that these industrious, kind and strong people realized just how much he had helped them.

After the morning, however, was often less then pleas sent for Seven. By late morning, the merchants were up and arguing away about trades in the market. By noon, religious fanatics were roaming the streets, and while few in number they made themselves heard. One in particular got on Seven's nerves, a man by the name of Mathis who was known for drinking too much and imposing half thought out religious doctrine on anyone who happened by. Even Seven.

"You there! Are you a faithful servant to our Lord?" Mathis shouted at Seven, a crooked finger pointed like a spear at him.

"Does it matter, Mathis?" Seven said.

"Does it matter, he asks!" Mathis looked to some passer by's as he spoke. "It only matters should you care about maintaining the quality of life we do! If we do not appease e Lord with worship and tribute, then he may take it all from us in one fell swoop. Our children still born, our mouths empty, our city burned and our peace broken! Before the Lord came into us, we were but animals in the mud, fearful and savage. We owe all to the Lord! We must do all we can-" Seven lost his temper at this point and grabbed Mathis by the throat, lifting him high into the air. The bony man flailed like a rag in the wind.

"Listen, Mathis, I am the Lord. I am your god. I can kill you right here." Seven loosened his grip to allow Mathis to breathe. "But I won't, not yet, but if I ever hear another lie slither out of your wretched mouth again I will crush you without hesitation. Understood?" Mathis shook his head eagerly. Seven released him and dropped the man to the ground. Mathis landed in a heap, coughing and sputtering.

"You may have made the situation worse, Uplifter." Bez said when Seven told him of the encounter in their workshop.

"How? If I were him I would have learned my lesson by now." Seven said as he watched Bez's new ant farm.

"You have simply reinforced the notion that you are a violent and vengeful deity, a mind in the state of Mathis' cannot differentiate between what you are and what he thinks you are." Bez placed a large beetle in the farm and observed the ants attacking it.

"We'll see, Bez, we'll see. We do have a couple thousand years to find out." Seven said as he got up to leave the workshop. Seven carefully closed and locked the door behind him, so that no one accidentally stumbled upon it. The only other person who could get in and out was Bez, who had built the lock. Suddenly shrieks and giggles sounded from around the corner. Anneleise and Karl bolted into the hall their blonde hair matted and dirty from playing in the woods.

"Father, father! We saw a horse!" Anneleise shouted, jumping into Seven's arms.

"Really, a horse? Tell me about it." Seven said, grinning.

"It was big and brown and fast! We saw it running near the pasture!" Karl said, his eyes wide.

"I named it Lilo." Anneleise said with a toothless grin.

"No, I named it Wotan. It was a boy." Karl said angrily. Anneleise stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"No, it was a girl, nothing that pretty could be a boy. Right father?" she said. Seven put her down on the ground.

"You two can argue about the horse all day, but leave me out of it, I don't want to be picking sides here. Now go play, the day is almost over." Seven said, and the twins sped down the hall and out the house. Someone embraced Seven from behind.

"How long do you think they will be playing?" Rebekka asked, squeezing Seven.

"Until dusk." Seven said as he swung Rebekka around and kissed her.

"How long will that be?" she asked, smiling.

"Long enough." Seven said chuckling.


--------------


Do you love me?

Yes.

Will you love me when I am old?

Yes.

Will you love me when I am dead?

Yes.

Did you love them, too?


Seven awoke with a start, a cold winter wind blew through the house. He was alone in the bed. And alone in the house. As it had been for centuries.
 
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