LINESII- Into the Darkness

[The Farow]

Lord Iggy, NPC me this turn if I don't get orders in.

 

[Contempt]

Orders...sent.

Nevermind, the second PM wasn't sent. Bah, I have to write it all over again...

 

[1889]

North King is on to a really cool idea. Fear the wooly riders of Snufalumpastan!

Also, who is emu playing and is Malkavia a player nation, is the player info on page 1 up to date?

 

[IronMan2055]

iggy i'm going to try nesing as neslife really didn't count this is basically my first so i'll probally stink anyway

The Divine Monarchy Of Nontin
Cities: Tinatopia (capital)
Leader:The Guider(current Almeno Jacues) they belive The One sent down a great prophet to lead them after the monarch lives up thier life term a series of complicated rituals occur in which the next guider is chosen by the priests
Religion:Church of the One
Economy: 2- 2/0
Population: tbdby
Army: tbdby
Navy: None
Education: None
Technology: Stone Age
Confidence: Tolerating
Culture: None
Wonders: None
Description: A group of nomads who have lived on thier island for many life cycles have come together and started what they think to be the most organanized group in the world they soon discovered they were wrong they found a huge land on the distant island they thought was heaven they saw these people traded and learned thier religion they also heard murmurs of a far away land mass with many countrys allways expanding and warring and tradeing so was the settlement of Nontin.
edit they are a tannish people sort of latin looking

(start me on the island next to Exilsium)

 

[Oruc]

North King is on to a really cool idea. Fear the wooly riders of Snufalumpastan!

Also, who is emu playing and is Malkavia a player nation, is the player info on page 1 up to date?

Malkavia is a player nation and I am Malkavia thats why its in such a bad position.

 

[IronMan2055]

how much would a road system cost for the island

 

[Kal'thzar]

Iggy said 1 eco point per inch (or cm? either or...probably cm) of road.

 

[IronMan2055]

on the map like 1 in square inch on the map costs 1 eco to road is that what you mean

 

[Oruc]

1241- Malkavia attacks Gamorrea, igniting what is later known as the War of Treachery.

Hehe

 

[Cuivienen]

(start me on the island next to Exilsium)

Note that Exilsium attacks and destroys any settlements on "their" islands that aren't Exilsian (as they did to Chipland). I recommend starting somewhere else.

on the map like 1 in square inch on the map costs 1 eco to road is that what you mean

No, an actual inch of length on the map. Or centimeter, maybe.

 

[Cuivienen]

A Citadel Study of Kehexou​

​

Until the Kehex invasion of Khemri, we thought we understood Kehexou. It had been under observation for many years, almost since the founding of the Citadel. When I was first assigned to visit Kehexou, just prior to the beginning of the war, I expressed some degree of shame for botching an earlier expedition to Ikki in such a war that resulted in the death of a number of members of my team. Kehexou was something of a punishment for failure—I would not learn anything new in Kehexou, and the people were friendly enough that I was unlikely to cause any trouble, either. And so, when, a month after our arrival, news came of the Kehex landing at Netsihasko, you can imagine my astonishment. I was never very skilled at hiding my emotions, but it was worse than usual this time. The messenger was so scared out of his wits I don’t believe we ever saw him again.

Let me begin with an introduction of the old school of thought regarding Kehexou. It had begun as a loose federation of fishing villages, not acquiring any sort of unity until long after all of its neighbors had settled down. The people therefore never had much patriotism, at least so it was thought, and even alliances such as that which existed between Kehexou and Tekrehexou were weak, and the people ere uninclined to go to war even to support their fellow Kehex. The Khemri conquest of Tekrehexou had changed this subtly, and the loss of their mainland kin had both caused the Kehexou to retreat from outside affairs and to focus on centralizing themselves, perhaps as a method of subconscious self-defense, now that they saw that they were vulnerable. This isolation, however, did not last long.

Veritasian influence soon reached the islands of Kehexou, and with it came a larger sense of purpose. Unlike other nations, Kehexou proved surprisingly resistant to Veritas’s Church of the One, preferring instead their old religion, perhaps a sign of conservative tradition and isolationism that characterized Kehexou at the time. However, what Veritasian influence did manage to do was open up Kehexou. The Veritasians managed to convince the Kehex people that they ahd a duty, not only to Kehexou, but to their fellow humans. Unfortunately for Kehexou, this was not the best of news, and the Khemri occupation soon began.

In defeat, the Kehex were timid, and kept themselves segregated from the Khemri army. As far as records, show, they showed no signs of resentment towards their Khemri captors, instead taking their conquest in stride. This, perhaps, was the mentality of a nation permanently defeated: Kehexou may not have warred with Veritas, but it was nonetheless completely outclassed, and the Khemri conquest only reinforced this subordinance. Thus, immediately after the Khemri left, Kehexou immediately fell under the influence of Veritas again and prepared for the final stage in its transformation.

The Gayanax family was thought to have been unique among Kehex, at least at first, in feeling a larger sense of patriotism, not only for the Kehex people, but for the entire country as well. In some ways, their aggressive stance clashed with traditional Kehex culture, and, until recent events, it was widely believed that the ideology of Gayanax was permanently destroyed in Veritas’s defeat and the rise of the more moderate and traditional Mayanas family.

Now, however, I begin to question whether the rise and fall of Gayanax was in fact a defeat for Kehex nationalism. It is clear that nationalism is again revived in Kehexou—flags, designed by the queen herself, flap from many of the buildings of Takrau, something not seen even in ultranationalist Gerber. Moreover, there was sentiment in the streets, even when we first arrived, before the war, that the Mayanas family had stagnated, though there was hope that the intermarriage of Mayanas and Gayanax might revive the glory that the Gayanax family had promised them. I see, then, a people changed: Gayanax showed to them what they could have, if they but reached out as a nation united to seek it. In some ways, Gayanax nationalism plays on the ancient sense of community among the Kehex that can be traced back to the earliest fishing villages, though it can also be traced to the civic duty instilled in many Kehex by Veritasian influence. Some might even connect it to a divine message that a few Kehex have spoken of in the form of the Kexoudau fire-island, that the entire event was so unique as to inspire a sense of changing times in the nation. But now, I must speak of our travels themselves. My opinions on my findings matter little, ultimately.

Our trip to Takrau began aboard a Kalmar trading ship, bound first for Verta and then through the stormy Kehexou Sea. It was the storm season, but the Kalmar are decent sailors, and we were lucky enough not to encounter any storms at all before reaching Veritas. We stayed but a day in Verta, and I will not speak of our experiences there now, though a study of the evolution of Verta, the ancient heart of now-fallen Veritas, since the fall might be a most interesting area of research. We encountered a storm off of the coast of Delhi that held us up for a week as the ship turned back and sat briefly in port at Delhi, but the storm soon passed and we traveled onward to Kehexou.

The climate of Kehexou alone is quite different from that of any other nation, and it was this that struck me on our landing as much as the brilliant colors of the local dress. It is often humid in Kehexou, but always cool, and it almost feels as if the ocean has engulfed the island in its damp. It immediately struck me why the Kehex are so associated with the sea, and, moreover, why the sea is the Kehexou Sea. However, I had little time for musing as a Kehex minister—I am even now unsure which one, as there are far too many to count—took notice of my landing and insisted that I come immediately to the royal palace.

The royal palace of Kehexou was unlike any other I have seen. It is less of a palace than a compound of large buildings, not set off from the city at all, but right within it, with royal buildings abutting fancy shops and homes of the nobility. To me, this seemed to immediately confirm the populist, community style of Kehex governance, for though they have a Queen, she, as her ancestors, is likely little more than the voice of all the people. All the more fitting, then, that the palace be no more than a large manse in the center of Takrau.

We were greeted within the palace by at least a score more ministers, and a flurry of Kehex nobility, and we had to push our way through a crowd of commoners all there to see the Queen and lay petitions before her, or perhaps before her husband, as apparently the Prince Regent took many of these duties. The rooms I was given were modest but likely no less than those afforded any noble to come to the palace, and in the evening the Queen herself dined the guests. I had little interaction with her personally, but she seemed a strong presence in the room, and there was more reverence than I had expected among the nobles of the realm. Perhaps decentralized government was not so much the way of Kehexou any longer.

We passed two days in the palace, much to my chagrin, as I wished instead to travel the countryside of Kehexou to confirm what I could of old Citadel beliefs about the nation. I could learn only so much from observing and conversing with the nobility, and the queen herself was too often busy. On the third day, however, I put my foot down, and three ministers arranged for our passage by foot across Kehexou. And so, we set out on our journey, we Citadel misfits, to prove a long-held assumption correct.

Our travels yielded surprising results. As we passed along the road to Soloxau, many of the villages also had some form of the Kehex flag flying above the home of the eldest or most important resident, and many who saw us questioned as to whether he had come from Takrau, and, if so, whether we had any news, and if we had seen the queen. I was a bit taken aback at this apparent interest in the affairs of the capital, and more so even in the interest in the monarchy, which had long ago become barely more than ceremonial (thus the immense number of ministers, perhaps). We politely told the villagers what we could, which was little, but they listened in awe to our tales nonetheless. It seemed that they did, in fact, have some sort of civic pride or at least civic interest beyond simple curiosity.

The trek across the island did not take particularly long; the quality of the roads was good, and the hills were filled with friendly Kehex. I am told that trains are more often attacked on the western edge of the island, where no major road and little trade passes, but here the peace is well kept, and all travelers, even non-Kehex as ourselves, are treated with respect. Soloxau is a smaller city than Tregnau, but busier, one of the two major hubs of trade in Kehexou. Mines in the hills contribute to Soloxau’s wealth, and exports of gold and other valuable metals dominate the trade. Sheep are also common in the rural areas surrounding Soloxau, and I myself ate more mutton than I should have ever cared to during our journey.

In Soloxau, we took a place at an inn near the waterfront so as to better observe the interaction of Kehex and non-Kehex at the ports. The Kehex were, by all accounts from my team, amicable with the non-Kehex, even the Khemri with whom they would soon be at war, but there was always some tension in the air, some unspoken word that these were not the people they cared for, at least not as much as their own people. One of the members of my team suggested that this might be resentment of a beaten people, and I thought it possible at the time. I do not believe so any more, and I think rather than there is simply a greater sense of duty to their fellow Kehex, that a Kehex man or woman would do something they thought wrong otherwise to a non-Kehex if they believed it would benefit a Kehex. It is, I suppose, the old fishing village mentality, and a sort of solidarity. I do not know how far it will carry them in war, now that it has begun, but there it is.

We left Soloxau aboard a neutral Citadel ship two days after word came that war had broken out. A study of the war itself might have been interesting, and our investigation was cut short, but it was also of great importance that our logs return to the Citadel, as they showed a great—and unexpected—change in Kehexou.

 

[das]

A Citadel Study of Kehexou

Damn, but these are getting popular... I'd write one myself, but its really not my style. So I will order massacres of all Citadelers at the border instead. Don't like weird pacifists learning too much about me. They're all conspiring against me, I know.

Also, I think I started an unfortunate trend with refference to nationalism (or did *I*?). Its rather anachronistic, IMHO.

Nice story however, and the same goes for Silver Steak - we all (the combatants) are being reorganized, no?

 

[Oruc]

Shouldnt Japo dude write the study?

 

[Contempt]

Damn, but these are getting popular... I'd write one myself, but its really not my style. So I will order massacres of all Citadelers at the border instead. Don't like weird pacifists learning too much about me. They're all conspiring against me, I know.

Also, I think I started an unfortunate trend with refference to nationalism (or did *I*?). Its rather anachronistic, IMHO.

Nice story however, and the same goes for Silver Steak - we all (the combatants) are being reorganized, no?

You started an unfortunate trend? Pst, I started the trend of the Citadel study !

 

[Kal'thzar]

Citiadel study my ass.

Keep those copy cats away from me *mutter mumble*

 

[Cuivienen]

Also, I think I started an unfortunate trend with refference to nationalism (or did *I*?). Its rather anachronistic, IMHO.

It's not so much nationalism as ethnocentricism. Think of it more like China's "Middle Kingdom" complex. You stand up for Kehex before you do for a foriegner. That's been existant in at least some societies going back to prehistoric times.

 

[Imago]

Norvalin didn't need a Citadel study.

Norvalin did a study on itself so Citadelers didn't have to. So, hah!

This is one of the many ways that Norvalin dominates you all!

*End nation-promotion*

 

[das]

It's not so much nationalism as ethnocentricism. Think of it more like China's "Middle Kingdom" complex. You stand up for Kehex before you do for a foriegner. That's been existant in at least some societies going back to prehistoric times.

I know that - its just that nationalism as a term is a terrible anachronism before the 19th century equivalent. Even protonationalism is a bit too early, though in this world - much like in ITNES I and in plentiful other fresh starts - chances are that it will come much earlier than OTL. I have noticed, by the way, an interesting tendency - though there are some exceptions like one of Jason's NESes, fresh starts tend to follow the alternate ancient geopolitical model. Instead of there being a few hegemonic empires (as was in OTL), we have many lesser nation states, at least in the Mediterranean/Cradle regions. Pretty much everyone that tried to build greater empires was either weakened by lenghty warfare (as Carthage in ITNES I; it did in the end attain its Western Mediterranean goals, but the price was great and new great powers emerged by then) or destroyed altogether, as happened with Veritas and is happening with the other prime candidate Khemri. Its all rather curious, really. This world will be far more multicultural, but also, ofcourse, more divided and bitter.

 

[TerrisH]

I think you have grasped my stratagy Das.

 

[Cuivienen]

I know that - its just that nationalism as a term is a terrible anachronism before the 19th century equivalent. Even protonationalism is a bit too early, though in this world - much like in ITNES I and in plentiful other fresh starts - chances are that it will come much earlier than OTL. I have noticed, by the way, an interesting tendency - though there are some exceptions like one of Jason's NESes, fresh starts tend to follow the alternate ancient geopolitical model. Instead of there being a few hegemonic empires (as was in OTL), we have many lesser nation states, at least in the Mediterranean/Cradle regions. Pretty much everyone that tried to build greater empires was either weakened by lenghty warfare (as Carthage in ITNES I; it did in the end attain its Western Mediterranean goals, but the price was great and new great powers emerged by then) or destroyed altogether, as happened with Veritas and is happening with the other prime candidate Khemri. Its all rather curious, really. This world will be far more multicultural, but also, ofcourse, more divided and bitter.

I believe it is somewhat of a self-defense mechanism amongst NESers. No one wants any individual nation to become too strong or else they begin to threaten everyone's safety, so NESers will ally against major powers to bring them down. There's also examples of when this doesn't happen (such as NES2 VI), but those NESes tend to become boring quite quickly unless the great power(s) suddenly collapse(s).

IMO, if historical leaders had been so farsighted as to be able to see such threats, we may have ended up with nations more akin to those of NESes. However, unlike NESers, real historical leaders were not always particularly capable or conscious of consequences.