OOC: Jason please say your updating the front page with the new nations
i want to do what cuiv did.
Preface to the Third edition
It is my pleasure to write the collected works of the Olmec civilization, from its originating point as a small jungle state to the worl......
Chapter 1
On the beginnings of Olmecia.
Olmecia was founded on the strong religious beleifs held by a singular man, known only as "The Prophet". Although this indeed seems itself to be a corrupted word of the orginal. The original word had connotations of worship, Secular and religious power, yet also limitation in compromising with the various Gods and other Secular Councils. The story of the first Prophets early years have only been recorded in this brief story:
"I dreamt, in the Jungle. I saw a Jaguar surrounded by a green aura, He informed me of a great task entrusted to me, He called it "The Hunt" [1].
First I was shown the weapons with which to bring men to the light.
The Axe, The Javalin and the Creed [2]
With these I would bend people to my will. This was my first task. And when I awoke there lay my Axe and my Javalin. I went into the Tribe and I set upo...."
Here the framentary page has corroded, we join again after he has united the nearby Tribes and has set forth on building a City
"...Loyal Jaguar Warriors by my side, The Direction of the Gods in my sleep. I have begun to create a testmount to the Creed and our "Hunt" [1, 2]. The Ignoble peoples nearby have been converted. Shown through the direction our Gods give me the strength of our gods over theirs. Those unworthey of this have been shackled and work the Quarries, and building the great Stone City of my Dreams."
Here the page ends, it is important to note that this was probably the first page in a "codex". basically the first page of a book. Important things of considereation are the time period this was written in. Nearly 200 years after "The Prophet" Died. Although it is to be remarked that the Tribes had a very strong oral tradition, they moved onto a written hierogliphic alphabet in the age of the "7th Prophet" (see chapter 2; On The Prophets).
In the Intervening time between "The Prophet" arrival on the scene and the time of this story being put into writing, several things had appeared. First The Jaguar Warriors had become the elite in society, raiding nearby Settlments for slaves and plunder, they held special privaleges over the rest of society. The Creation of a writing system was followed with a recorded form for numbers, which resulted in a Calender of 360 days, amazingly accurate for such a nation. Seperated into 18 tuins (months) of 20 uins (days), years being recorded as Eins. Recorded from the (supposed) date of the Death of The First Prophet. Buildings were massive and required a great deal of labour. Stepped Pyramids were created for the Temples and other great buildings. The City itself was enclosed in giant wall.
[1] The Hunt, is a literal translation. The Old Olmec writing appears to have undergone several changes through the centuries, in these first years the words were very animilistic, and referred closly to things that happened in nature.
[2] Similarly axe, Javalin are present day names for the Weapons. The Ancient day names were simply hyreolphys of a half-Jaguar half human. The weapons and Creed (sometime translated as beleif etc) were implied by this hyreoglyph.
Good job jason! 
