Orders sent.
INES Ib: Novus Ortus
- Thread starter Imago
- Start date
*****
The candle's flame flickered, its wax almost completely gone. Dusty parchment lay on the table beside it. Scouting reports, old maps, letters of all sorts made their home upon the long table. Weary eyes stared at the various information upon the table, and these eyes were connected to seven shadows. But these were shadows were not those of the pathetic town councils, or the Chinese Merchant's guilds.
These shadows were the Generals of the Great Khan. They were gathered together under one roof for one reason. The Kurultai.
For very few reasons could a Kurultai be called. The election of a new Khan by the tribes, and the planning of War. The men assembled at Hohot, the former Chinese stronghold, were not here to talk of a new Khan while the current one still lived. No, they had come to plan war.
"As I stated before, I do not believe that the Chinese will be so easily defeated this time! They have had time to fortify their position, and have the advantage!" remarked one general, his face hidden in the dark.
"Oh? But I seem to recall a great defeat of the Chinese in the encirclement at Hohot. Their armies were severaly weakened, while we ourselves lost very few vetern troops. Indeed, they conscript peasants, merely to bolster their defenses against our tide? What have we to fear?" smirked one general arrogantly.
"Be that as it may, I do not think that we can afford to be reckless! The attacks we made so soon after our great victory were driven back easily. And now they have had even more time to prepare!" said the first, slamming his fist into the table, maps floating upwards with the blow.
"Both points have their merits," began the Great Khan, his voice silencing every one at the table, "On one hand, we have the Chinese reeling from our first attack, and if we do not take advantage of our position, we will be broken against their more numerous tide. Yet, on the other hand, if we attack to soon without further troops and consolidation, we will be defeated as they drive us back with their economic might."
"We can only give counsol, Great Khan, not decisions. What would you have us do?" asked a third, wiser general.
"We will strike quickly against China while they are still recovering from our attacks. Yet, we cannot allow China's economic might to stand. We will invade, but at the same time, we will secure our economic stability so that we may fund this war."
Yesugei the Brave pointed at three places upon the map of the East. And his Generals looked quizically at his liege.
"Great Khan, that might very well overstrech us!" gasped one general in surprise.
"And it might very well save us," remarked Yesugei coldly, looking at the map of the East.
"We will do as our Khan desires."
*****
BEHIND_THE_MASK
A Liar... A Cheat...
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2006
- Messages
- 1,840
Great story comrade...
To bad for china... that SOB is on his own... I wonder of i can get india to form an alliance. I'll check into it
To bad for china... that SOB is on his own... I wonder of i can get india to form an alliance. I'll check into it
The great Prince of Delhi awoke earlier than usual and the palace was quiet. His sleep had been interspersed with strange dreams. But he could not fit all the pieces back into the whole.
He had been walking in a road through mountains, but not the glorious mountains of northern India: lesser mountains. Temples and shrines of mystery dotted the road and rich rice fields filled the valleys. Teh air was cool and his garments thin.
The brutal language of the natives was abrupt and did not flow like his native Hindi. It made no sense to him at all. The women were fair skinned and raven haired and hid their shape under exquisite silks of intricate design. They were alluring in their foreigness.
One kept calling out to him and reaching, but every time he stepped towards her she seemed further away. Her voice was desparate and her eyes were rimmed in tears. She wasthe one that woke him. He would inquire of his councils to where such a place might be.
He had been walking in a road through mountains, but not the glorious mountains of northern India: lesser mountains. Temples and shrines of mystery dotted the road and rich rice fields filled the valleys. Teh air was cool and his garments thin.
The brutal language of the natives was abrupt and did not flow like his native Hindi. It made no sense to him at all. The women were fair skinned and raven haired and hid their shape under exquisite silks of intricate design. They were alluring in their foreigness.
One kept calling out to him and reaching, but every time he stepped towards her she seemed further away. Her voice was desparate and her eyes were rimmed in tears. She wasthe one that woke him. He would inquire of his councils to where such a place might be.
So will the update be coming this weekend, or during the week? I'm not sure if it was mentioned eariler in the thread (before your vacation), but I'm too lazy to look
Two weeks from Dec 21st would be Jan 5th. In fact, the deadline for orders is this coming Wednesday, Jan 4th. I too was fooled at first, but I have this straight from Imago today. So if that (very nice
) story was meant to be posted after the deadline, you're a bit early... Claiming Angkor.
jeps
Arcadefire
Yosef looked back at the building guidelines. The frame of the Library had gone up without a hitch. Incredible! It had only taken a few years, and it was starting to take shape. He could already see the final building, a vision like that of the biblical Yosef had. However, unlike Yosef ben Yakov, his dream would come true. He knew it would.
He was so deeply in a world of dream he did not hear a man walk up behind him. He missed the sound of someone drawing a sword. He even didn't notice the sword swinging towards his neck. Luckily for him, at the last second he had slouched forwards to lay down on the desk. The sword went into the wood barely a few inches above his head. He became suddenly alert, and went to withdraw his own sword, but found it gone. It was being used by the attacker.
He ducked forwards, dropped to the ground, and rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding getting hit. The attacker sheathed the longsword, and withdrew a small dagger with a curved hilt. He thrust the dagger towards Yosef, who dodged it, kicked the attacker in the stomach, and then in the wrist, flinging the dagger across the hut. He ran outside to the construction site, so he could get help apprehending the attacker.
The attacker ran outside, but was struck with a long slab of wood that Yosef had borrowed from a rather large pile. He slumped down to the floor, right next to Yosef's feet. Binyamin, an overseer, came over to the man, took of his sword, and pointed it at the man's neck. Yosef pulled off his mask, revaling a Greek face.
Binyamin started to interrogate him. "Who are you?"
"I am Pawn"
"I said, what is your name?" shouted Binyamin, moving the sword an inch closer to his throat.
"It is what I am. I am a pawn."
"A pawn? Surely you don't expect me to believe that."
"It is... true. I am." Binyamin kicked him in the ribs, leaving him gasping for air. " I... am... Ana..sta..sios... Baxe...ven...idas." was all he got out before going into a large coughing fit.
"So, Anastasios, explain how you are a pawn. If I don't like your answer enough..." He made a slicing motion with the sword before replacing it on Baxevenidas' neck.
"They kidnapped my family. Said if I didn't do what they want, they would kill them, and me."
"Who is this 'they' you speak of?"
"They are everyone. I don't know. A secret gang of anti-jewish corrupt government officials, lords, peasants, anyone who dislikes jews."
"Why?"
"For killing a man named Jesus."
"Jews didn't kill Jesus! Israel killed Jesus. We are not Yehudan!"
"I'm not a member. I'm only a pawn."
"So they sent you to kill the foreman in Axum, just so that we would have the Library delayed?"
"Yes! They sent me on a boat from the Bulgar Khanate to here. I was disguised as a Jesusian trader. I was on the boat 'Kyrianika'. I didn't know what I was to do until after I landed here. My commander was on the boat as well, and he handed me the sheet, some money, and left back to Pliska."
"Very well, you may live for now. However, we will turn you over to the Axumite Spy Guild."
Yosef and Binyamin waited on guard until an ASG agent came, and then left to go back to work. The next day, they were summoned to meet with an ASG agent as well as the King, Gamliel ben Zohar.
---
The spy walked over to them, and started asking questions. "How much did he tell you?"
"I don't know. He told us his name, who he was working for and why, how he got forced into it, how he got here, the reason for the attack."
"That is everything he told us. Tell me what he told you, so we can check his story to see if it has changed."
"His name is Anastasios Baxevanedis. He was a pawn of a secret organization who despises jews for killing Jesus. His family was kidnapped and held under threats of death if he did not comply. He came to Axum on a boat from Pliska. He did not know what he was to do until after he got here. He came, snuck up on me, and failed to kill me. He is scared of going back as he failed."
"That is exactly what he told us. His story is either a lie he has made sure to perfect or the truth. We can't be sure which, so we will put our own plan into effect. We will get him to spy for us, on this organization. We will then tell the Benjids about the members of this thing, so that they can do something about them, as they are more anti-Yehudan than Orthodox, or so it seems. He will then go into Mangbetu where he will be safe from assassination attempts, and at the same time unable to harm anyone. I hope that you find this a good idea, my king."
"I do. In fact, you shall be put in charge of this operation, Agent Efes Shmone Shmone." The spy left the room, looking pleased, in fact having an expression for the first time this whole meeting. "As for you, they wanted to slow down the building. We are going to foil that by raising 5000 new workers to build the Sifriya HaGadol. This shall be a truly Great library, dwarfing the one that used to stand in Alexandria."
"Thank you, my king. However, we will need copies of books to fill the library. What shall we do about that?" asked Binyamin.
"I have an idea. Send out messengers to go out to all nations that we have contact with. Offer them trades of ivory or gold or wines in exchange for books. If they have books they refuse to part with, have scribes copy them down. We should collect every book in Axum, make a copy, return the original to the owner, and put the copy in the library. We also need to make a system to organize the books, so that it may be truly effective. I suggest that we order them by subject, giving them a letter from Yud to Taf, and adding Alef - Tet whenever necessary."
"That is a very good idea. In both your honours, the system shall be named the Yosef-Binyamini Gimatriya Ordering System. I thank you for your ideas and heroic actions. You shall both be entered into the book of the good on this Yom Kippur. We shall also double your salary for this year. Thank you, and goodbye."
As Binyamin and Yosef left the palace, they realized exactly what had just happened. They had more workers to overlook, more books to be put into the library, and it would all be done sooner. All thanks to an assassination attempt.
EDIT: For some reason, though the greek word i used for pawn contained only english characters, it came out ????? so I am using pawn as the name now.
He was so deeply in a world of dream he did not hear a man walk up behind him. He missed the sound of someone drawing a sword. He even didn't notice the sword swinging towards his neck. Luckily for him, at the last second he had slouched forwards to lay down on the desk. The sword went into the wood barely a few inches above his head. He became suddenly alert, and went to withdraw his own sword, but found it gone. It was being used by the attacker.
He ducked forwards, dropped to the ground, and rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding getting hit. The attacker sheathed the longsword, and withdrew a small dagger with a curved hilt. He thrust the dagger towards Yosef, who dodged it, kicked the attacker in the stomach, and then in the wrist, flinging the dagger across the hut. He ran outside to the construction site, so he could get help apprehending the attacker.
The attacker ran outside, but was struck with a long slab of wood that Yosef had borrowed from a rather large pile. He slumped down to the floor, right next to Yosef's feet. Binyamin, an overseer, came over to the man, took of his sword, and pointed it at the man's neck. Yosef pulled off his mask, revaling a Greek face.
Binyamin started to interrogate him. "Who are you?"
"I am Pawn"
"I said, what is your name?" shouted Binyamin, moving the sword an inch closer to his throat.
"It is what I am. I am a pawn."
"A pawn? Surely you don't expect me to believe that."
"It is... true. I am." Binyamin kicked him in the ribs, leaving him gasping for air. " I... am... Ana..sta..sios... Baxe...ven...idas." was all he got out before going into a large coughing fit.
"So, Anastasios, explain how you are a pawn. If I don't like your answer enough..." He made a slicing motion with the sword before replacing it on Baxevenidas' neck.
"They kidnapped my family. Said if I didn't do what they want, they would kill them, and me."
"Who is this 'they' you speak of?"
"They are everyone. I don't know. A secret gang of anti-jewish corrupt government officials, lords, peasants, anyone who dislikes jews."
"Why?"
"For killing a man named Jesus."
"Jews didn't kill Jesus! Israel killed Jesus. We are not Yehudan!"
"I'm not a member. I'm only a pawn."
"So they sent you to kill the foreman in Axum, just so that we would have the Library delayed?"
"Yes! They sent me on a boat from the Bulgar Khanate to here. I was disguised as a Jesusian trader. I was on the boat 'Kyrianika'. I didn't know what I was to do until after I landed here. My commander was on the boat as well, and he handed me the sheet, some money, and left back to Pliska."
"Very well, you may live for now. However, we will turn you over to the Axumite Spy Guild."
Yosef and Binyamin waited on guard until an ASG agent came, and then left to go back to work. The next day, they were summoned to meet with an ASG agent as well as the King, Gamliel ben Zohar.
---
The spy walked over to them, and started asking questions. "How much did he tell you?"
"I don't know. He told us his name, who he was working for and why, how he got forced into it, how he got here, the reason for the attack."
"That is everything he told us. Tell me what he told you, so we can check his story to see if it has changed."
"His name is Anastasios Baxevanedis. He was a pawn of a secret organization who despises jews for killing Jesus. His family was kidnapped and held under threats of death if he did not comply. He came to Axum on a boat from Pliska. He did not know what he was to do until after he got here. He came, snuck up on me, and failed to kill me. He is scared of going back as he failed."
"That is exactly what he told us. His story is either a lie he has made sure to perfect or the truth. We can't be sure which, so we will put our own plan into effect. We will get him to spy for us, on this organization. We will then tell the Benjids about the members of this thing, so that they can do something about them, as they are more anti-Yehudan than Orthodox, or so it seems. He will then go into Mangbetu where he will be safe from assassination attempts, and at the same time unable to harm anyone. I hope that you find this a good idea, my king."
"I do. In fact, you shall be put in charge of this operation, Agent Efes Shmone Shmone." The spy left the room, looking pleased, in fact having an expression for the first time this whole meeting. "As for you, they wanted to slow down the building. We are going to foil that by raising 5000 new workers to build the Sifriya HaGadol. This shall be a truly Great library, dwarfing the one that used to stand in Alexandria."
"Thank you, my king. However, we will need copies of books to fill the library. What shall we do about that?" asked Binyamin.
"I have an idea. Send out messengers to go out to all nations that we have contact with. Offer them trades of ivory or gold or wines in exchange for books. If they have books they refuse to part with, have scribes copy them down. We should collect every book in Axum, make a copy, return the original to the owner, and put the copy in the library. We also need to make a system to organize the books, so that it may be truly effective. I suggest that we order them by subject, giving them a letter from Yud to Taf, and adding Alef - Tet whenever necessary."
"That is a very good idea. In both your honours, the system shall be named the Yosef-Binyamini Gimatriya Ordering System. I thank you for your ideas and heroic actions. You shall both be entered into the book of the good on this Yom Kippur. We shall also double your salary for this year. Thank you, and goodbye."
As Binyamin and Yosef left the palace, they realized exactly what had just happened. They had more workers to overlook, more books to be put into the library, and it would all be done sooner. All thanks to an assassination attempt.
EDIT: For some reason, though the greek word i used for pawn contained only english characters, it came out ????? so I am using pawn as the name now.
What Niklas said- during the week. I should have just said that there would be no update on the 28th, but after that, updates would proceed as normal the next week.
So...orders are actually due this WedNESday, just to clear that up. However, I very much appreciate the number of early orders I have recived thus far, even if you all sent them because you thought the update would be earlier.
BEHIND_THE_MASK
A Liar... A Cheat...
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2006
- Messages
- 1,840
Something tells me that this turn... the Bombs are gonna fly... or arrows...
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
I am sending orders now. I do think.
LittleBoots
The Bloody Banner
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,979
I sent orders a while ago...did you not get them?
The Major
Warlord
when are orders due by again?
