Hannibal waited with excitement for the runners to return with news of Hannabalopolis. He had placed his personal warriors in command of the expedition; failure would be impossible for these handpicked men. Hannibal was content to hear of his city, rich with gold from the mines and collected from the abundance fish and whales in the sea. Hannibal had found that his people were exceptionally good at utilizing the sea and that the gods smiled upon Carthaginian boats at sea.
It was not, however, a runner from Hannibal’s Warriors that addressed him with news of Carthage’s 4th domain. Instead, it was the priests of Elepantium and CommandoBob
“Good Hannibal, the priests of Elephantium and CommandoBob have come to you with tidings of New Crobuzon.” The priest of Elephantium said.
“Where the heck is that?” Hannibal asked, confused. He knew the priests were well informed by the divine sources of the Internet, but he did not recognize the name of this new place. It sounded fictional to him; and, he knew, it might very well be. After all, the priest had invited the ‘Romans’ hadn’t they?
“It is the name of Carthage’s new city.” The priest of Elephantium declared without wavering from Hannibal’s heavy gaze.
Hannibal could not believe this. Betrayed by the stalwart Elephantium? He knew he was thwarted again but his anger was great. His heart beat so hard that it was as if he heard a cavalry charge pounding in his ears as if it were lead by the great god Civinator himself. The priests recognized his great anger and had they not the protection of divine blessings they might have baked under the scalding gaze of the Carthaginian leader like the Dutch in an oven. But it was not in the priests to melt before his withering gaze.
“That is not all,” the priests of Elephantium declared. “You are also forbidden to give your honorable units such meaningless names as ‘2nd and 4th’ this or that. As punishment for not listen the first time around, the band known as Hannibal’s Warriors shall receive a new name and divine blessings to go with it. They shall be known forthwith as Phaedo's Pride. Furthermore, the band known as the 4th Warriors shall be named Aabraxan's Honor Guard. We priests grow tired of explaining these things to you, Hannibal.”
Hannibal felt shame at the chastisement from the priests and he now understood and accepted the punishment delivered by Elephantium. But his arrogance as a warrior would not allow him to succumb completely to the priests. He was Hannibal, the chosen leader of the Carthaginians. He honored the gods better than all of the Carthaginian people combined. Had he not ordered the building of a great statue in honor of Elephantium to be built? Had he not bent to the every whim of the priests of Carthage? Hannibal cast down his axe but, because his cave had but two steps from the entrance to the ground and the ground was choked with weeds, it was not as dramatic as he had hoped. Nevertheless he fell to his knees before the priests.
“Oh wise priests of the gods, I have not the strength to defy divine power. But I have but one desire – the desire to have a city after my own name. That and nothing more. Why do the gods insist on punishing me?”
“It is punishment for your conceit, Great Hannibal.”
Hannibal had not seen the new arrival at his cave and once again cursed his lack of a door or a proper footpath. It seemed as though it was not only the priests that thought little of his leadership. The new arrival was a priest of the mysterious god pi4t. They spoke but little however their presence commanded attention.
“Hannibal,” The priest of pi4t rasped from deep within his dark hood. “These priests have tried to sway you from your path of selfishness. They have made the attempt to pull you back from the brink of egotism. Yet you recklessly advance as if the world was intended to be only for you.”
Hannibal knew there was no good or godly answer to these charges of the priest and he thought some of the words fair to his character. But the truth was that Hannibal was a great man. Had not Carthage’s armies prevailed over the Dutch even though they used but axes and the Dutch had spears and shields of bronze? Hannibal wisely remained silent.
“Brother priest,” The priest of CommandoBob intervened. “It is not proper for us to admonish the great Hannibal with such words. He has done everything asked of him and if he was arrogant that was more than 2000 years ago. It is time that we give him some reward for his piety. It is the command of CommandoBob that Hannibal may have the next city of Carthage to name as his own – Hannibalopolis. But he must continue to abide by the other rules as set forth by the gods. This new city must also be placed so as to bring new luxuries to the people, even if it only more of the same luxuries they already enjoy so that extra may be traded with other nations. And you must make sure that the city has nice shrubbery. Ones that look nice. And not too expensive.”
Hannibal heard these words, and though he did not understand why the shrubbery was important, he did not question the fair and honorable priests of CommandoBob.
“You are too generous,” The priest of pi4t snapped. “Very well, it shall be so because it would be improper for the priests to argue, agreed?”
And it was with great sorrow that all the priests agreed because the cunning priest of pi4t was not done with them.
“Very good. Because it is the will of pi4t that after the founding of this next city, the people of Carthage may never found another city in access of its current count, no matter how much fertile land they discover around themselves! It is the will of pi4t that Carthage shall have cities numbering five and never more. That shall curb your greed and conceit, ‘great’ Hannibal. After all, you have ‘but one desire – the desire to have a city after your own name. That and nothing more.’ So that you shall have and nothing more!”
It was with those words that the priests of pi4t returned to their mysterious shadows, their words hanging like a curse upon Carthage.
It was the wise priests of Elephantium that dispersed the pending gloom. “Think of this not as a punishment, Hannibal. It is but a challenge. Either you will be great enough to cast the power of Carthage over this world with but five cities or you shall know, in all humbleness, what we priests of the gods have known for much longer then the 6050 years gifted to you by the gods.”
“What wisdom is that?” Hannibal said miserably. But he could not deny that the words of Elephantium’s priest had brought him hope. A spark had ignited within him. Could he rule the world with only five cities? He felt certain of it. And a city of his own! Finally! A great and grand city it would be!
The priest of Elephantium and CommandoBob did not answer but rather departed to allow Hannibal to consider their words and to dream.
Hannibal’s dreams did not last, however. For word had arrived from Amsterdam that the priests of CommandoBob had taken personal interest in the training of the workers in Amsterdam and, though the formation of the new work crews had removed most of the Carthaginian influence from Amsterdam, it had also produced a new and rather unique band of workers. The new group was comprised completely of female workers and their leader was known as Betty from Account Temps.
The news made Hannibal smile. Even when he was presented with the ‘terms’ of Betty’s contract he could not find anything ill within. The contract did, however, specifically state, and in no uncertain terms, that a woman was as good as any man and they could do the same work and for the same pay. In fact, the contract required them to do the same work – it mandated that they work the same land and at the same task as the work crews managed by Bob from Account Temps. Reports indicated that Betty’s band had already departed Amsterdam to join with Bob’s band. This did not upset Hannibal greatly. He had seen the work that Bob could get done and he had no reason to believe that Betty’s work would be anything less than perfection. Working side by side they would make Carthage prosperous indeed. Hannibal gave a prayer of thanks to CommandoBob for his wisdom and foresight. He moved shrubberies higher on his list of priorities.
The question arose, however, as to what the people of Amsterdam should now do with their time. Before Hannibal long considered the question he discovered that the priests of CommandoBob were not the only one’s watching the developments at Amsterdam. The priests of Elephantium were already there and had ordered the people to begin constructing a granary.
Hannibal could find no fault with this order for the city was built by a lake and had much fresh water. It could grow into a powerful coastal city with game, cows and grapes nearby for prosperity. Hannibal said another pray to the Elephantium for his good judgment in sending such dedicated priests to the aid of the people of Carthage.
By 1830 BC Hannibal had received news that the people at Smilin’ Bob were displaying signs of unrest. The city was crowded with over 150,000 people. Hannibal ordered the city officials to throw gold into the streets to put them at peace, even though this stole much needed gold from the scientific research being performed on mathematics.
Then in 1790 AD Carthage produced its first of the new warriors, a band of Numidian Mercnaries. As promised, Hannibal bequeathed upon them the honored name of the Adamantium Warriors.
These warriors he ordered to garrison in Smilin’ Bob to quell the unrest in the city. They would also serve as the escort for the next (and final) band of settlers for Carthage’s 5th (and final) city. Now, instead of throwing gold into the streets to quiet the people bronze spears and shields went to work. The gold was sent back to the scientists and people were selected to begin packing though Hannibal knew it would take about 200 years for the women to do so. Something about necessity of industrial strength hairdryers or so his advisors informed him.
In the year 1700 BC Betty from Account Temps had finally joined with Bob. Bob’s group was currently working on build a road from the new mine near CaseyBoy97’s Asylum. Meanwhile the Dutch slave band had finally finished the road to one of the tobacco fields. This brought much gold to the Carthaginians until the Surgeon General made them pay to put warning labels on every pack. It would seem that the people had indeed found a new use for the alphabet and writing after all.
It was in the same fateful year that runners from Elephants Revenge reported finding a new and hostile village of barbarians – the Sarmatians.
These natives were so hostile that there could be no negations with their elders other than by axe. This was a task for which Elephant’s Revenge was well suited. With this new encounter Hannibal ordered that all defenseless citizens be closely guarded when traveling through the ‘wild’ frontiers of Carthage’s lands.
Luckily the experienced unit had approached the new tribe from the hills and their warriors seemed unwilling to engage on such terrain. In the night most of the warriors slipped away to the south, intent on other exploits, no doubt. Hannibal had no mercy for these wicked people and ordered Elephant’s Revenge to sack the Sarmatian camp and to bring back whatever could be found there. The loyal warriors obeyed without hesitation, using the height of the hills as an advantage and sweeping down to destroy the village. The warriors suffered minor wounds but the experience had made then battle hardened veterans.
As spoils of the war they returned 25 pieces of gold for Carthage’s treasure – more than doubling the stocks of gold. There was much celebrating amongst the Carthaginian people for this victory. It would fund even more scientific research.
In spite of the victory, Hannibal was informed that the people of Smilin’ Bob remained overcrowded and it was again to the point that, even with a garrison, gold has to be distributed to maintain the peace. The people, Hannibal was assured, would soon be ready to depart.
Hannibal had also noticed that, once again, things had begun moving quicker – work orders now only took 25 years to complete – half of what it was only 2000 years ago. He wondered again what the next 2000 years would bring. He could almost envision a time when orders took but 12.5 years to complete!
In 1650 BC the next wave of settlers was ready to depart. So happy were the people of Smiln’ Bob that they sent him a nice candy-gram and offered to perform some service for him. “Mowing the grass would be a nice start. I can’t get my teenager’s butts out of the cave these days. They’re too busy playing around on face book.”
And so it came to be that the grass was finally mowed, though there were still no shrubberies.
Hannibal vowed to see to those as soon as possible to ensure that CommandoBob’s desires were fulfilled.
Meanwhile, the new settler was dispatched from Smilin’ Bob with the Adamantium Warriors as guards. They departed for Caseyboy97’s Asylum to await the discovery of lands appropriate enough for Hannibalopolis. Hannibal ordered more Numidian Mercnaries to be trained at the barracks in Smilin’ Bob, contemplating the building of Carthage’s first boat soon thereafter.
Battle against the Sarmatians was not yet over, however. Runners from Elephant’s Revenge reported that some of the surviving Sarmatians were moving towards Caseyboy97’s Asylum. This could not be allowed. The veteran unit, wounded though it was, charged the brazen barbarians. Their success was flawless and their charge routed the barbarians towards the sea where the last of the Sarmatian bands was fortifying their position.
The Sarmatians, having now other choice, charged Elephant’s Revenge. They were hopelessly outmatched. By the end of the battle Elephant’s Revenge had emerged as an elite fighting force – the best Carthage could offer.
It was a good end to the year 1600 BC.
I moved the 6 tile rule up to static because it seems to be a controlling rule. I also modified the heading to be more in line with what BaneFire had invisioned - Static Rules may only be overriden upon agreement by the issuing god. 
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so I am inclined to accept all of these. If more people start to post in the future than I will revert back to a more formal adherence to the posting rule.
I didn't think about prebuilds 
