Disclaimer: I’ve never written an AAR before, and as you will be able to tell in case you read the text below, my skills in creative writings (which I haven't done in decades), if I ever had any, aren’t noteworthy anymore. Yet, I thought someone had to break the ice and get out a first civ 7 story. Might as well be me with a story that makes every future contribution to this subforum look a bit better.
tl;dr - had a fun game with Isabella
And yes, I completely ran out of steam after the early game
Isabella and the Agar-teke people in the Age of Wonders
Let me tell you story from a long, long time ago that took place in distant world. At first glance, this world resembles the past times of the one we live in. There are humans, other fauna, and flora. It also features geography (despite not being called earth) and topography. But in some ways this world is very different. For example: time. Time in this distant world is not flowing regularly or is it perceived as unfolding constantly. Instead, time is frozen every now and then, creating moments that seemingly last forever, and then, as in a big mutual exhale, it jumps forward in a giant leap to the next eternal moment. In a way, this reminds of these clocks that always halt at the full minute for some extra time. Just that it is inverted: it is this frozen moment that is stretched to eternity, and the rest of the hand’s way goes by so fast that you can barely see it moving.
Now, in this world, there are, as said above, humans. These came together in some beneficial places and created societies of hunters and gatherers that even managed to build impressive settlements to which thousands flocked by birth or migration. One such society was in Agar-teke, a city on the Gulf of Rand. Yet, the city collapsed due to repeated erupting volcanoes and pillaging tribes in the nearby highlands. So, a band of a brave few led by Isabella decided to flee and pursue their luck in another land. They set sails, but soon got into a fast-clockwise-revolving tornado which brought them far, far away from any land they have ever set their eyes on. After many days in wild and dangerous waters, their boat hit a hard to spot but very pointy riff, and the crew found themselves with wet knees and shoulders and swam to nearby shores. Here, they decided immediately, is the place for their new home, as their god Jared led them to exactly this place: the soon to be great city of Agar-teke (2). The first building they erected from the nearby resources was a giant mudbrick palace for Isabella, their eternal leader.
It has to be said that a few things aside time happen differently in this world. For example, the humans neither follow their gods or destiny blindly nor do they have a free will. Rather, there is an eternal being, the so-called “leader”, that decides on each and every move of each human that belongs to their culture through telepathy. In case of Agar-teke, this was Isabella. Of course, it was a female leader, because as in many cultures in this world, men are only used for fighting and praying. Most other tasks, including, leading, learning, building, cultivating, and complaining are done by women. Here’s an image of Isabella photobombing the painting of a poor soul in Agar-teke (2).
Now that Agar-teke (2) was established, the people vowed that they will never tolerate any other city that could compete with it. All glory of the people must happen within the city of Agar-teke (2). And because the volcanic lands and highlands did not bring eternal happiness for the original Agar-teke, they decided that they will stick to the coast from now on. Never shall a settlement be founded farer away from the coast than a specialized human scout can see from a lookout.
Behold, a view of the freshly settled Agar-teke (2), sitting at the slopes of a mountain that Jared themselves seemed to have painted when he was still a kid and had a fable for bright earthen colours. Isabella’s first assignment was to recruit two scouts and sent one to the east and one to the west to explore the coast of their new lands and find out more about their surroundings.
But soon, a very important decision had to be taken. What should the citizens experiment with in their free time? Should they try to tame the sea and build new boats? Or domesticate animals to help with the transport of building materials and thus speed up the construction of Agar-teke? Or should citizens experiment with this brown dirt that they found everywhere around the new city and see what that might be good for? The leader’s four advisors gave conflicting advice, but Isabella, more of a long-term thinker, thought that while sailing might be the best now, experimenting with clay will lead to greater things soon. Clay will surely have other uses than conserving and transporting food at some point. Yes, Isabella was really a visionary when it comes to technology. Hence, she ordered all citizens to each get some clay and see what they can do with it for the next 225 years. The citizens soon started to hike up to the hand-painted mountain, however, and whatever they found there (the records are silent) helped them a lot with their current and future experiments.
After some years, Isabella realized that citizens paid an enormous amount of taxes, and she was not really using that money in a wise way. It was just lying around in a pile, and surely it could be invested somewhere. So, she decided to make the citizens and offer they – obviously - could not refuse. In exchange for a lot of money that was previously theirs and would in the future be handed back to Isabella, they would construct a granary in a heartbeat. Of course, the citizens adhered to the “offer.” The granary secured food, and allowed them to hike even further up on the colourful mountain, where they made even more secret discoveries.
In the year -3825, two important events are recorded in the history of the people of Agar-teke. In the south, they had first contact with other humans. They did not even realize before that these lands were populated. The other humans claimed to be from a place called Hattusha and greeted Isabella’s scouts rather unfriendly. As it seems, they thought that she would be stealing land that rightfully belonged to them. What a nice coincidence that Isabella just ordered a standing army for Agar-teke (2). Meanwhile, in the north, the scouts found a recipe to cure meat. With this new information, Isabella felt it was no longer necessary to experiment with clay to preserve food and called the current achievements in that regard good enough. From now on, citizens should start to invent writing on clay tablets instead. 150 years should suffice to get some different options for a good writing system.
As the society grew larger and larger, it needed a better system of government. Isabella could not be everywhere all the time to conduct all the citizens around. And it seemed beneficial for everybody anyway, if the people felt like their opinions would be heard. Hence, Isabella decided to organize meetings of citizens every few years from now on. In these meetings, the citizens could debate and listen to each other debating. Based on these debates, nothing would happen of course, because Isabella is still the only one in charge. Yet, because Isabella was such a charismatic leader, everybody loved the idea, and the world the people of Agar-teke created to cope with the knowledge of their own, but not their leader’s, mortality grew richer and richer, 25 years by 25 years.
In the year -3725, Agar-teke (2) was already a large city. There was not enough space for all of the people anymore, and the city lacked the resources the citizens and wise Isabella longed for. Hence, Isabella ordered two groups of colonists to found new towns to support the great capital. One colonist group would follow the coast to the south, where green stones and an abundance of fish could be found. The other colonists would wander to the north, passing by the colourful mountain and yellow stones, to settle near palm trees and transparent stones, at the helm of a peninsula.
Soon, the citizens brought different clay tablets to Isabella. She decided that the one that contains a script with an alphabet would be used from now on, and all others were discarded. At night, Jared appeared in Isabella’s dream and told her that the future of Agar-teke depends on the sea, and she needs to build new boats. So, that’s what she ordered the citizens to do – just because you are immortal doesn’t mean you want to clash with an actual god, right? Meanwhile, the warriors finally located the city of Hattusha. And even if it never came close to the capital so far, aggressive Isabella immediately told all warriors to raze it, so that the same fate as the original pillaged Agar-teke would not come upon Agar-teke (2).
The colonists in the south decided that, to show how inferior their town was compared to Agar-teke (2), they would not even give their town a name. The colonists in the north decided to name their town “Jared’s Finger.” The townsfolk immediately started to mine the transparent stones and send them to the capital, so that magnificent buildings can be built out of it or with tools made from it (the records are not quite clear here). Meanwhile, the war with Hattsuha was underway, but as the people were still missing a great leader on the battlefield, the fights were mere skirmishes that brought no decision to the war. In Agar-teke (2), the people wanted to store all the precious clay tablets, and started to build a building for that purpose, which they called a house-to-store-the-clay-tablets-in or as the cool kids started to call it: a library. After using writing for some years, Isabella became unhappy with it. It just felt old and antiquated to simply use “Writing.” She liked the concept in principle though, so he decided that a newer and better version is required. She called it “Writing II.”
The scouts now had boats at their disposals, and immediately set off towards the islands that could be seen when standing at the coast to the north. They found camps from nomads and hunters, and decided to trade with them: they got food and gold in exchange for nothing – what a splendid deal! But the other islands weren’t all friendly. A hostile tribe called Seleukia saw a scout, and attacked him right away. And in the northwest, the tribesmen of Chaltschajan were not the tiniest bit more welcoming. Yet, Isabella decided to send her best diplomats to them. They were rich traders after all, potentially, they would feel better under Isabella’s protection once the diplomats had spent 750 years of fruitful negotiations.
In the year -3350, the great commander Hans Heerführer arrived at the battlefield near Hattusha. With his help, they wiped out the inhabitants in the blink of an eys. They were surprised how fast and easily it happened in the end, and Hans gave them a lesson: it’s all about the initiative. Isabella thought how else she could leave a mark on the world despite eliminating other peoples, and decided that the best way to be remembered is to build buildings that stand the test of time. She ordered the citizens to construct an artificial hill near the coast in Agar-teke (2) that will house some of the most important buildings of the city. It will be so great that even extinct people will remember it. That will show the puny other humans who’s boss!
But suddenly, another immortal leader appeared before Isabella out of the blue. He called himself Friedrich (Oblique) and reported to be leading a society called the “Romans,” whose history in the last 100 years was quite similar to that of the people of Agar-teke. Isabella was unsure what to make out of this. But if they are so similar, maybe we can be friends? She decided to grunt in a friendly way and opened the markets for foreign traders. Additionally, the people of Agar-teke experimented with new weapons and found that it would be better to throw stones from afar on enemies than to fight with swords in close combats. After all, stones are better to throw than swords, and being far away from the battle scene seemed to be safer. And the prove of this concept came soon right after it was invented. The freshly trained stone slingers stood at the shores of the Agar-teke mainland (which meanwhile was identified as an island) and propelled sharp stones on some swordsman on nearby isles. The swordsman had no chance to retaliate, of course. The battle was remembered as “Battle of Haw-haw” for many years.
In -3200, Hans Heerführer crossed the sea to land on the island of Seleukia. Now that their army was weakened from the stone rain, it would be easy to take over their land and plant further colonies to exploit it. In their own lands, the people of Agar-teke settled two new towns, with the goal to make every hexagonal part of the home island theirs.
In -3100, the scouts found other scouts on remote islands in the far north. They brought over their immortal leader for a short meeting with Isabella. Which is good, because Isabella was not the kind of person who travels to foreign lands herself. He called himself Confucius and stated that he leads a great people called the Han. He claimed they lived through the same story as the people of Agar-teke. Isabella could not believe that; there were just too many coincidences. In consequence, he must be a liar, and liars must be punished. They might see the great artificial hill of Agar-teke (2) and report in their annals that it was small or something like that! This mustn’t happen! Isabella grunted angrily and threw an evil look at Confucius. Maybe Friedrich (Oblique) would help her to get rid of this liar in the future? He seems to be nice, at least, and wears a nice hat. And he offers that his people, who live far apart in places no one from Agar-teke has ever seen, work together with us in future experimentations and for fighting others. What a great opportunity! The nameless town now thought it needed a harbour. Unfortunately, they did not know how to build one though. Whenever the townsfolk tried to build something, it collapsed immediately and turned into a pile of gold. However, Isabella decided that she would take pity with them. She ordered them to construct again and again, and always collect the gold. After many years, she used that gold to pay workers from Agar-teke (2) to construct a harbour for the nameless town. In contrast to the town, they named the harbour and called it Cothon. Oh, wise Isabella! The people from the nameless town finally had their Cothon. They immediately tried to build ships in it, but just like the buildings, the ships always sunk immediately and only left a pile of gold on the bottom of the sea. Well, at least that served as a big motivation to learn how to dive.
In the year -2975, the army of Agar-teke successfully eliminated the people of Seleukia. With this, a whole new island was ripe for colonization. And this island had resources that the people needed dearly and that were not available on their mainland: camels, horses, and silk. Hence, Agar-teke (2) quickly started to prepare another wave of settlers to spread their glorious culture. The nameless city also expanded: Isabella purchased a dockyard right next to their Cothon to make a first truly unique district on the water. Something that not even Agar-teke (2) had yet. But Agar-teke was filled to the brim with resources now: stones of all colours, elephants, and fruits came to city in large quantities. In the very far north, where scouts were looking for Confucius settlements, so that the army could march there, the scouts instead found wonderous landscapes. For example, a mountain with a flat back, that was lying on the coast like a giant crustacean. And in the south, the scouts reached what they called the big frost: a giant wall of ice that could not be traversed.
Some years later, the people realized that they forgot their god. But now, they wanted to make up for it and reformed their beliefs. From now on, the almighty Jared was worshipped as god of the sun. They immediately started to build an altar for him in Agar-teke (2). With Jared’s help, the scouts now found the lands of Confucius, and a small army of brave warriors and slingers went on the long journey that would take several hundred years to end the days of the liars. The citizens of Agar-teke (2) could no longer tolerate that the nameless town had a Cothon but they did not, so Isabella bought one for them as well. Shortly after, the island of Seleukia was settled again – and the new town, without doubt the crown of that island, was called Better Seleukia.
In these days, the city of Agar-teke was known for its giant wealth. It attracted not just citizens and workers, but also specialists – people that go to one of the city’s many buildings and tell the workers there how they could do a better job. Ah, how specialization of jobs and evolution of society brought these people forward! The sixth town to cater to Agar-teke (2) was founded on a small peninsula amidst dyes, golden stones, and wetlands with an unknown white powder. It was called aptly as “The Sixth Town.”
In the year -2650, Hans Heerführer landed his troops on the shores of Confucius lands. Will the small expedition be large enough to fight off the Han? The war is too far away to supply fresh forces if anything goes wrong. The moment of the landing was remembered simply as Hans’ Landing. He was greeted by Confucius himself wo denounced Isabella on the same day. Obviously, now the war was on.
Agar-teke (2) build another building to remember. A pillar so high that it can touch the clouds, even higher than the nearby mountains. Isabella was immediately taken by it. And she wanted more of these wonderful memorials! She decided that Agar-teke (2) should from now on be filled with these until there is no more space for other things. We don’t need farms in this city – we have the other 6 towns for that. Friedrich (Obliqued) seemed to be a bit in love with Isabella. At least, he drew a heart under his portrait for her. Hence, Isabella decided to make use of this and proposed an alliance. Together, Confucius will be gone in no time. And now, 3 mighty war ships were on the way to the north as well to support the troops. But unfortunately, the war on land was less successful. Somehow, Confucius was able to field much better troops. His so-called spearmen and Zhugenu posed a real threat to the slingers and warriors. Maybe some scouts can distract them and protect our soldiers until the ships arrive? But as soon as the warships arrived, and Chang’an was under siege from land and sea, the battle was won. In the end, not a single soldier lost his life. The army of Agar-teke (2) proved to be invincible.
But what to do with Chang’an – keep it and integrate it into the empire or raze it? Isabelle decided to integrate it but give it a new name: inferior place. The war was not over yet, however. The forces of Confucius reformatted in the city of Linzi, and tried to take inferior place back. But the people of Agar-teke learned quickly: the now also fielded spearmen and archers. And in combination with the warships, Confucius had no chance against this army and navy. Agar-teke (2) continued with it magnificent building projects. The newest one was a giant heap of polished stones. When Jared let the sun shine on it, you could hardly see anything else.
In -2125, another leader sought contact with Isabella: Augustus. Isabella didn’t know what to do with him, she already had a friend and an enemy, and did not feel the need duplicate roles, hence she just did not react to any of Augustus’ advances and offers. With all the magnificence that Agar-teke (2) offered, there was still one problem. They still did not know where Friedrich (Oblique) lived, and so they could not trade for valuable resources with his people. Maybe, once the war is over, the ships can explore the world.
But suddenly, more Zhugenu appeared, and they managed to sink one of the lesser ships of our people. But in the year -2000 Linzi fell and all Zhugenu were eliminated. Confucius however, got away. He just exited the room to the left in the middle of a meeting with Isabella and was never seen again in this world. Linzi was integrated into the empire and renamed “In memory of a boat” so that the heroes that died during the siege will always be remembered. By now, the scouts also found Friedrich (Oblique) and Augustus, and trade could finally start. Here is a map of the known world of that year.
In the year -1800, the people of Agar-teke (2) finally had all the resource they felt necessary to have a good life. And only 80 years later, a new wave of colonization also marked the end of the expansion of Agar-teke for now. In general, the people were saturated. It was only Isabella who thought that she needed more of these precious buildings and more new inventions. But the world had changed. A new illness started to spread throughout the island of the known world, and tornados flew over the mines of the land. Would Agar-teke (2) have the same fate as the original city after all?
And it became even worse. The people had to demolish one of the great buildings while still in construction. As it turned out, Augustus built exactly the same one but progressed faster with it. That’s a reason for war! So, the troops and ships prepared for another landing, this time in the northwest.
In the year -1540, the plague arrived in inferior place. And on exactly the same day, the 7th of the great buildings was finished in the capital. What a difference! The formerly glorious city founded by Confucius was now not just a backwater, it was now a place of the dead, while Agar-teke (2) was by far the most glorious city in the world. Isabella smiled.
In the year -1400, Hans Heerführer arrived at the lands of Augustus. The year is since known as Hans Second Landing. But this siege proved difficult. The plague had already spread throughout the lands of Augustus and Hans had to be careful to not infect himself or his troops. Maybe, waiting would just have been better.
As soon as the plague began to get less severe, Hans attacked the city of Achetaton and took it without resistance. Then the army turned towards the capital of Waset. But what the troops found was no glorious city, but a devastated and decimated place with many buildings still up in flames. The warships conquered the city of Chemenu quickly, and the army pillaged the city of Waset, as its mighty walls seemed difficult to take with a rush. And luckily, the soldier discovered many inventions in the ruins of Waset. In the midst of the war, the unspeakable happened: the plague arrived in Agar-teke (2). Within seconds, the whole city was filled with yellow clouds that reeked of illness, and the only creatures seen in the city were ravens.
Finally, in -1020, the world as we knew it ended. The plague had left Agar-teke (2) again, but yet, the world was grimmer. The forces that intended to conquer Waset had to endure heavy loses. The so-called Medjay fought well, and many spearmen lost their lives. Even Hans Heerfüher was threatened, and the seasoned commander had to retreat when chariots were to be seen coming from the city. But it was a good time for change. All of Isabella’s goals and those of the people have been reached. And the culture already started to change. The many altars built for Jared convinced people that the sea and the many islands are not all there is to the world. There must be new places to settle elsewhere, and maybe there would even be space for another great city there: Agar-teke (3).
tl;dr - had a fun game with Isabella
And yes, I completely ran out of steam after the early game
Isabella and the Agar-teke people in the Age of Wonders
Let me tell you story from a long, long time ago that took place in distant world. At first glance, this world resembles the past times of the one we live in. There are humans, other fauna, and flora. It also features geography (despite not being called earth) and topography. But in some ways this world is very different. For example: time. Time in this distant world is not flowing regularly or is it perceived as unfolding constantly. Instead, time is frozen every now and then, creating moments that seemingly last forever, and then, as in a big mutual exhale, it jumps forward in a giant leap to the next eternal moment. In a way, this reminds of these clocks that always halt at the full minute for some extra time. Just that it is inverted: it is this frozen moment that is stretched to eternity, and the rest of the hand’s way goes by so fast that you can barely see it moving.
Now, in this world, there are, as said above, humans. These came together in some beneficial places and created societies of hunters and gatherers that even managed to build impressive settlements to which thousands flocked by birth or migration. One such society was in Agar-teke, a city on the Gulf of Rand. Yet, the city collapsed due to repeated erupting volcanoes and pillaging tribes in the nearby highlands. So, a band of a brave few led by Isabella decided to flee and pursue their luck in another land. They set sails, but soon got into a fast-clockwise-revolving tornado which brought them far, far away from any land they have ever set their eyes on. After many days in wild and dangerous waters, their boat hit a hard to spot but very pointy riff, and the crew found themselves with wet knees and shoulders and swam to nearby shores. Here, they decided immediately, is the place for their new home, as their god Jared led them to exactly this place: the soon to be great city of Agar-teke (2). The first building they erected from the nearby resources was a giant mudbrick palace for Isabella, their eternal leader.
It has to be said that a few things aside time happen differently in this world. For example, the humans neither follow their gods or destiny blindly nor do they have a free will. Rather, there is an eternal being, the so-called “leader”, that decides on each and every move of each human that belongs to their culture through telepathy. In case of Agar-teke, this was Isabella. Of course, it was a female leader, because as in many cultures in this world, men are only used for fighting and praying. Most other tasks, including, leading, learning, building, cultivating, and complaining are done by women. Here’s an image of Isabella photobombing the painting of a poor soul in Agar-teke (2).
Now that Agar-teke (2) was established, the people vowed that they will never tolerate any other city that could compete with it. All glory of the people must happen within the city of Agar-teke (2). And because the volcanic lands and highlands did not bring eternal happiness for the original Agar-teke, they decided that they will stick to the coast from now on. Never shall a settlement be founded farer away from the coast than a specialized human scout can see from a lookout.
Behold, a view of the freshly settled Agar-teke (2), sitting at the slopes of a mountain that Jared themselves seemed to have painted when he was still a kid and had a fable for bright earthen colours. Isabella’s first assignment was to recruit two scouts and sent one to the east and one to the west to explore the coast of their new lands and find out more about their surroundings.
But soon, a very important decision had to be taken. What should the citizens experiment with in their free time? Should they try to tame the sea and build new boats? Or domesticate animals to help with the transport of building materials and thus speed up the construction of Agar-teke? Or should citizens experiment with this brown dirt that they found everywhere around the new city and see what that might be good for? The leader’s four advisors gave conflicting advice, but Isabella, more of a long-term thinker, thought that while sailing might be the best now, experimenting with clay will lead to greater things soon. Clay will surely have other uses than conserving and transporting food at some point. Yes, Isabella was really a visionary when it comes to technology. Hence, she ordered all citizens to each get some clay and see what they can do with it for the next 225 years. The citizens soon started to hike up to the hand-painted mountain, however, and whatever they found there (the records are silent) helped them a lot with their current and future experiments.
After some years, Isabella realized that citizens paid an enormous amount of taxes, and she was not really using that money in a wise way. It was just lying around in a pile, and surely it could be invested somewhere. So, she decided to make the citizens and offer they – obviously - could not refuse. In exchange for a lot of money that was previously theirs and would in the future be handed back to Isabella, they would construct a granary in a heartbeat. Of course, the citizens adhered to the “offer.” The granary secured food, and allowed them to hike even further up on the colourful mountain, where they made even more secret discoveries.
In the year -3825, two important events are recorded in the history of the people of Agar-teke. In the south, they had first contact with other humans. They did not even realize before that these lands were populated. The other humans claimed to be from a place called Hattusha and greeted Isabella’s scouts rather unfriendly. As it seems, they thought that she would be stealing land that rightfully belonged to them. What a nice coincidence that Isabella just ordered a standing army for Agar-teke (2). Meanwhile, in the north, the scouts found a recipe to cure meat. With this new information, Isabella felt it was no longer necessary to experiment with clay to preserve food and called the current achievements in that regard good enough. From now on, citizens should start to invent writing on clay tablets instead. 150 years should suffice to get some different options for a good writing system.
As the society grew larger and larger, it needed a better system of government. Isabella could not be everywhere all the time to conduct all the citizens around. And it seemed beneficial for everybody anyway, if the people felt like their opinions would be heard. Hence, Isabella decided to organize meetings of citizens every few years from now on. In these meetings, the citizens could debate and listen to each other debating. Based on these debates, nothing would happen of course, because Isabella is still the only one in charge. Yet, because Isabella was such a charismatic leader, everybody loved the idea, and the world the people of Agar-teke created to cope with the knowledge of their own, but not their leader’s, mortality grew richer and richer, 25 years by 25 years.
In the year -3725, Agar-teke (2) was already a large city. There was not enough space for all of the people anymore, and the city lacked the resources the citizens and wise Isabella longed for. Hence, Isabella ordered two groups of colonists to found new towns to support the great capital. One colonist group would follow the coast to the south, where green stones and an abundance of fish could be found. The other colonists would wander to the north, passing by the colourful mountain and yellow stones, to settle near palm trees and transparent stones, at the helm of a peninsula.
Soon, the citizens brought different clay tablets to Isabella. She decided that the one that contains a script with an alphabet would be used from now on, and all others were discarded. At night, Jared appeared in Isabella’s dream and told her that the future of Agar-teke depends on the sea, and she needs to build new boats. So, that’s what she ordered the citizens to do – just because you are immortal doesn’t mean you want to clash with an actual god, right? Meanwhile, the warriors finally located the city of Hattusha. And even if it never came close to the capital so far, aggressive Isabella immediately told all warriors to raze it, so that the same fate as the original pillaged Agar-teke would not come upon Agar-teke (2).
The colonists in the south decided that, to show how inferior their town was compared to Agar-teke (2), they would not even give their town a name. The colonists in the north decided to name their town “Jared’s Finger.” The townsfolk immediately started to mine the transparent stones and send them to the capital, so that magnificent buildings can be built out of it or with tools made from it (the records are not quite clear here). Meanwhile, the war with Hattsuha was underway, but as the people were still missing a great leader on the battlefield, the fights were mere skirmishes that brought no decision to the war. In Agar-teke (2), the people wanted to store all the precious clay tablets, and started to build a building for that purpose, which they called a house-to-store-the-clay-tablets-in or as the cool kids started to call it: a library. After using writing for some years, Isabella became unhappy with it. It just felt old and antiquated to simply use “Writing.” She liked the concept in principle though, so he decided that a newer and better version is required. She called it “Writing II.”
The scouts now had boats at their disposals, and immediately set off towards the islands that could be seen when standing at the coast to the north. They found camps from nomads and hunters, and decided to trade with them: they got food and gold in exchange for nothing – what a splendid deal! But the other islands weren’t all friendly. A hostile tribe called Seleukia saw a scout, and attacked him right away. And in the northwest, the tribesmen of Chaltschajan were not the tiniest bit more welcoming. Yet, Isabella decided to send her best diplomats to them. They were rich traders after all, potentially, they would feel better under Isabella’s protection once the diplomats had spent 750 years of fruitful negotiations.
In the year -3350, the great commander Hans Heerführer arrived at the battlefield near Hattusha. With his help, they wiped out the inhabitants in the blink of an eys. They were surprised how fast and easily it happened in the end, and Hans gave them a lesson: it’s all about the initiative. Isabella thought how else she could leave a mark on the world despite eliminating other peoples, and decided that the best way to be remembered is to build buildings that stand the test of time. She ordered the citizens to construct an artificial hill near the coast in Agar-teke (2) that will house some of the most important buildings of the city. It will be so great that even extinct people will remember it. That will show the puny other humans who’s boss!
But suddenly, another immortal leader appeared before Isabella out of the blue. He called himself Friedrich (Oblique) and reported to be leading a society called the “Romans,” whose history in the last 100 years was quite similar to that of the people of Agar-teke. Isabella was unsure what to make out of this. But if they are so similar, maybe we can be friends? She decided to grunt in a friendly way and opened the markets for foreign traders. Additionally, the people of Agar-teke experimented with new weapons and found that it would be better to throw stones from afar on enemies than to fight with swords in close combats. After all, stones are better to throw than swords, and being far away from the battle scene seemed to be safer. And the prove of this concept came soon right after it was invented. The freshly trained stone slingers stood at the shores of the Agar-teke mainland (which meanwhile was identified as an island) and propelled sharp stones on some swordsman on nearby isles. The swordsman had no chance to retaliate, of course. The battle was remembered as “Battle of Haw-haw” for many years.
In -3200, Hans Heerführer crossed the sea to land on the island of Seleukia. Now that their army was weakened from the stone rain, it would be easy to take over their land and plant further colonies to exploit it. In their own lands, the people of Agar-teke settled two new towns, with the goal to make every hexagonal part of the home island theirs.
In -3100, the scouts found other scouts on remote islands in the far north. They brought over their immortal leader for a short meeting with Isabella. Which is good, because Isabella was not the kind of person who travels to foreign lands herself. He called himself Confucius and stated that he leads a great people called the Han. He claimed they lived through the same story as the people of Agar-teke. Isabella could not believe that; there were just too many coincidences. In consequence, he must be a liar, and liars must be punished. They might see the great artificial hill of Agar-teke (2) and report in their annals that it was small or something like that! This mustn’t happen! Isabella grunted angrily and threw an evil look at Confucius. Maybe Friedrich (Oblique) would help her to get rid of this liar in the future? He seems to be nice, at least, and wears a nice hat. And he offers that his people, who live far apart in places no one from Agar-teke has ever seen, work together with us in future experimentations and for fighting others. What a great opportunity! The nameless town now thought it needed a harbour. Unfortunately, they did not know how to build one though. Whenever the townsfolk tried to build something, it collapsed immediately and turned into a pile of gold. However, Isabella decided that she would take pity with them. She ordered them to construct again and again, and always collect the gold. After many years, she used that gold to pay workers from Agar-teke (2) to construct a harbour for the nameless town. In contrast to the town, they named the harbour and called it Cothon. Oh, wise Isabella! The people from the nameless town finally had their Cothon. They immediately tried to build ships in it, but just like the buildings, the ships always sunk immediately and only left a pile of gold on the bottom of the sea. Well, at least that served as a big motivation to learn how to dive.
In the year -2975, the army of Agar-teke successfully eliminated the people of Seleukia. With this, a whole new island was ripe for colonization. And this island had resources that the people needed dearly and that were not available on their mainland: camels, horses, and silk. Hence, Agar-teke (2) quickly started to prepare another wave of settlers to spread their glorious culture. The nameless city also expanded: Isabella purchased a dockyard right next to their Cothon to make a first truly unique district on the water. Something that not even Agar-teke (2) had yet. But Agar-teke was filled to the brim with resources now: stones of all colours, elephants, and fruits came to city in large quantities. In the very far north, where scouts were looking for Confucius settlements, so that the army could march there, the scouts instead found wonderous landscapes. For example, a mountain with a flat back, that was lying on the coast like a giant crustacean. And in the south, the scouts reached what they called the big frost: a giant wall of ice that could not be traversed.
Some years later, the people realized that they forgot their god. But now, they wanted to make up for it and reformed their beliefs. From now on, the almighty Jared was worshipped as god of the sun. They immediately started to build an altar for him in Agar-teke (2). With Jared’s help, the scouts now found the lands of Confucius, and a small army of brave warriors and slingers went on the long journey that would take several hundred years to end the days of the liars. The citizens of Agar-teke (2) could no longer tolerate that the nameless town had a Cothon but they did not, so Isabella bought one for them as well. Shortly after, the island of Seleukia was settled again – and the new town, without doubt the crown of that island, was called Better Seleukia.
In these days, the city of Agar-teke was known for its giant wealth. It attracted not just citizens and workers, but also specialists – people that go to one of the city’s many buildings and tell the workers there how they could do a better job. Ah, how specialization of jobs and evolution of society brought these people forward! The sixth town to cater to Agar-teke (2) was founded on a small peninsula amidst dyes, golden stones, and wetlands with an unknown white powder. It was called aptly as “The Sixth Town.”
In the year -2650, Hans Heerführer landed his troops on the shores of Confucius lands. Will the small expedition be large enough to fight off the Han? The war is too far away to supply fresh forces if anything goes wrong. The moment of the landing was remembered simply as Hans’ Landing. He was greeted by Confucius himself wo denounced Isabella on the same day. Obviously, now the war was on.
Agar-teke (2) build another building to remember. A pillar so high that it can touch the clouds, even higher than the nearby mountains. Isabella was immediately taken by it. And she wanted more of these wonderful memorials! She decided that Agar-teke (2) should from now on be filled with these until there is no more space for other things. We don’t need farms in this city – we have the other 6 towns for that. Friedrich (Obliqued) seemed to be a bit in love with Isabella. At least, he drew a heart under his portrait for her. Hence, Isabella decided to make use of this and proposed an alliance. Together, Confucius will be gone in no time. And now, 3 mighty war ships were on the way to the north as well to support the troops. But unfortunately, the war on land was less successful. Somehow, Confucius was able to field much better troops. His so-called spearmen and Zhugenu posed a real threat to the slingers and warriors. Maybe some scouts can distract them and protect our soldiers until the ships arrive? But as soon as the warships arrived, and Chang’an was under siege from land and sea, the battle was won. In the end, not a single soldier lost his life. The army of Agar-teke (2) proved to be invincible.
But what to do with Chang’an – keep it and integrate it into the empire or raze it? Isabelle decided to integrate it but give it a new name: inferior place. The war was not over yet, however. The forces of Confucius reformatted in the city of Linzi, and tried to take inferior place back. But the people of Agar-teke learned quickly: the now also fielded spearmen and archers. And in combination with the warships, Confucius had no chance against this army and navy. Agar-teke (2) continued with it magnificent building projects. The newest one was a giant heap of polished stones. When Jared let the sun shine on it, you could hardly see anything else.
In -2125, another leader sought contact with Isabella: Augustus. Isabella didn’t know what to do with him, she already had a friend and an enemy, and did not feel the need duplicate roles, hence she just did not react to any of Augustus’ advances and offers. With all the magnificence that Agar-teke (2) offered, there was still one problem. They still did not know where Friedrich (Oblique) lived, and so they could not trade for valuable resources with his people. Maybe, once the war is over, the ships can explore the world.
But suddenly, more Zhugenu appeared, and they managed to sink one of the lesser ships of our people. But in the year -2000 Linzi fell and all Zhugenu were eliminated. Confucius however, got away. He just exited the room to the left in the middle of a meeting with Isabella and was never seen again in this world. Linzi was integrated into the empire and renamed “In memory of a boat” so that the heroes that died during the siege will always be remembered. By now, the scouts also found Friedrich (Oblique) and Augustus, and trade could finally start. Here is a map of the known world of that year.
In the year -1800, the people of Agar-teke (2) finally had all the resource they felt necessary to have a good life. And only 80 years later, a new wave of colonization also marked the end of the expansion of Agar-teke for now. In general, the people were saturated. It was only Isabella who thought that she needed more of these precious buildings and more new inventions. But the world had changed. A new illness started to spread throughout the island of the known world, and tornados flew over the mines of the land. Would Agar-teke (2) have the same fate as the original city after all?
And it became even worse. The people had to demolish one of the great buildings while still in construction. As it turned out, Augustus built exactly the same one but progressed faster with it. That’s a reason for war! So, the troops and ships prepared for another landing, this time in the northwest.
In the year -1540, the plague arrived in inferior place. And on exactly the same day, the 7th of the great buildings was finished in the capital. What a difference! The formerly glorious city founded by Confucius was now not just a backwater, it was now a place of the dead, while Agar-teke (2) was by far the most glorious city in the world. Isabella smiled.
In the year -1400, Hans Heerführer arrived at the lands of Augustus. The year is since known as Hans Second Landing. But this siege proved difficult. The plague had already spread throughout the lands of Augustus and Hans had to be careful to not infect himself or his troops. Maybe, waiting would just have been better.
As soon as the plague began to get less severe, Hans attacked the city of Achetaton and took it without resistance. Then the army turned towards the capital of Waset. But what the troops found was no glorious city, but a devastated and decimated place with many buildings still up in flames. The warships conquered the city of Chemenu quickly, and the army pillaged the city of Waset, as its mighty walls seemed difficult to take with a rush. And luckily, the soldier discovered many inventions in the ruins of Waset. In the midst of the war, the unspeakable happened: the plague arrived in Agar-teke (2). Within seconds, the whole city was filled with yellow clouds that reeked of illness, and the only creatures seen in the city were ravens.
Finally, in -1020, the world as we knew it ended. The plague had left Agar-teke (2) again, but yet, the world was grimmer. The forces that intended to conquer Waset had to endure heavy loses. The so-called Medjay fought well, and many spearmen lost their lives. Even Hans Heerfüher was threatened, and the seasoned commander had to retreat when chariots were to be seen coming from the city. But it was a good time for change. All of Isabella’s goals and those of the people have been reached. And the culture already started to change. The many altars built for Jared convinced people that the sea and the many islands are not all there is to the world. There must be new places to settle elsewhere, and maybe there would even be space for another great city there: Agar-teke (3).
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