LINESII- Into the Darkness

[Kentharu]

horrible story thayli

 

[andis-1]

Zealots - Sentinels of Otornosiasm​

When the great temple of Otornos was erected in ancient holy city of Turfar it was seen neccessary to form a special guard to protect this magnificent structure and the heartlands of Otornosiasm. The high priests came up with the idea of holy warriors, and proceeded with the permission of high king Mennodius to recruit several hundreds of newborn childs into a the guard. Priests gave proper religious upbringing and started to give them military training immediately after boys learned how to walk. So were created the first temple guards.

Most commanders however failed to realise their importance on the battlefield, and regarded them more as an ceremonial unit. During the Khemrian invasion all available troops were needed to defend eastern provinces of Nurmafer, and thus Temple guards were sent to the front amongst rest of the Nurmaferian army. On the field of battle they revealed their true potential, being fierce fighters and ready to fight to the end for defence of Holy land. High priests of Otornosiasm were immediately given important task to recruit more temple guards. But raising an army of temple guards was simply impossible due the fact that they needed tens of years of training and teaching before they were ready to fight, thus their numbers stayed constantly low due the casulties sustained in war.

Even the bravery of Temple guards was not enough to stop the assault of Khemri and it's allies on the Holy city. Fighting alongside high king Mennodius, the last temple guards who were raised in the Temple of Otornos fell defending it from savaging barbarian hordes of the north. When all hope was lost, King himself picked up the torch which was to burn down the ancient Nurmaferian capital, and threw it into the Temple which had been filled with wood and other burning material, as well as buring oil. So ignited the flames which were to consume the city and those barbarians who dared to enter it in their foolish attempt to capture it.

After the destruction of Turfar, the birthplace of temple guards was no-more. There were no temple guards left who would have received the proper training practiced in the Temple, thus the quality and religious fanaticism was greatly dimished, and the only thing that distinguished "Temple guards" from regular soldiers were their weaponry and the phalanx-formation which they used in battle. Only few high priests had survived and managed to escape the siege of Turfar, and there weren't enough of them to give the new soldiers entering service in the guards the religious upbringing which had been the key of creating fierce and loyal fighting force. In due time, training was completely moved on to military officers, thus removing the last connection which guards had with the religion.

Released from the burden of giving military training to guards, priests were able to concentrate on worshipping and spreading the word of Otornos. This in turn increased the zeal of common nurmaferians, and a career as a priest become to be more popular than ever. Soon the priesthood grew bigger than it had ever been before, and many of them travelled to meet neighbouring barbarian tribes, succesfully spreading the faith even further. Some tribes however were not so willing to convert to this new religion, and many priets soon lost their heads during their visits in the tribes. Priesthood's cries for soldiers to protect their missionaries were ignored by the military which had it's hands full with the creation of sentinel militia. The priests were not going to just watch by when their missionaries were slaughtered in such a barbarian way, thus they decided to create their own military organisation - Zealots. Zealots were not going to be educated and trained by priests, no, they were priests themselves, purchasing their own gear. When Queen Aranel heard about this, she understood the potential of this organisation and gave it her acceptance. She also succesfully placed it's leadership under the control of military, thus managing to keep control over it.

So far Zealots are few in numbers, but this did not prevent them from succesfully torching those villages which had chosen not to convert. They are still young and impetuous, and only time will tell what future holds for them...


OOC: omg, I actually wrote all that?

 

[~Darkening~]

You don't need to hack my posts to pieces just to say the same thing five times over. Or anyone other's, for that matter.

Then actually read them and stop saying that I keep going back and forth. Despite the amount of times that I say it, soemone always says I'm a warmonger.

dont tell me how to act, If ken is going to act all high and mighty dont expect people to put up with it. If he is always like that the its about time he stopped being an ass.

FINALLY!

OOC: Post will be edited after I read all to keep form spamming.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Okay, I'm resuming the stat update. My assasins have been dispatched to the whiners.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

Nice stories, Thlayli and Andis! Looking forward to stats...

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Well, stats are done. Pick them to death now. *sigh*

PC and NPC that is.

History and religion not done.

 

[alex994]

OOC: What did the spending on armor do for my spearmen iggy? My ruler should also be Emperor Han, and where are the stats for Shangei

Once more I comment on the stories of "Innovation" once more and will make my own shortly

 

[jalapeno_dude]

My wonder should also have the effect of +2 upkeep-free education levels.

Also, my leader is the Head of the Council of Eldos. The current Head is known as the Letter-Writer--it's not the title for the position. So the leader should be either "the Letter-Writer" or "the Letter-Writer, Head of the Council of Eldos", not "the Letter-Writer of the Council of Eldos".

 

[Swiss Bezerker]

We propose the following, fair treaty.

First Treaty of Dava ​

Article One - All sides are to immdealy cease fighting and return to their respective borders.

Article Two - A 125 year ( 5 turns) NAP will be mandattory for all members involved.

Article Three - Khermi will issue an aplogy to Nurmafer and agree to the borders between them. Also, the NAP will be place between the said countries. Khermi would also give Nurmafer money for war damges totalling, and not any less than, enoguh to equal one eco point.

Article Four - Veritas will also issue an apology to Khermi for instutaing war and agree to the borders set between them. Veritas will pay around two economy point for damages inflicted upon Khermi.

Article Five - Gorin and Shalamari will agree to the borders et up, and no payments will be issued ot them. As they choose to get involved, they have to right to cry for payment of "damages" they suffered.

Article Six - Gerber will issue an apology to Tristaria and cede all lands east of the Kalmar river. Lands controlled by Tristaria will be added into their nation, and we will set about creating an independant east Gerber. Geber will pay one economy point to Tristaria for damages inflicted.

Article Seven - All nations will respect the religous rights of any minority living within their borders.

Articel Eight - A vote will ocur in Mogulia to decide if they wish to remain part of Veritas, become a part of Khermi, or return to an independant nation.

Article Nine - Going back to the Gerber lands, we propose the following. In the red will be the new Republic of Gerbi. It will be headed by a council and the nation will have no army but will be defended by the Davian army.

Maps:

Nurmafer and Khermi:

Veritas, Mogulia, and Khermi:

Gerber, Tristaria, and the New Republic of Gerbi:

the Gerbers would ratherlight themselves on fire and jump out a window then agree to this treaty


OOC: For whoever that cares, my aim is Shadowsetdays

My internet is going to be down for a while, so iggy, NPC me. and scrap the education program, We need more legions in the Gerber army. In the event of AoO forces capturing too much of Gerber territory for me to control, I devide remaining Gerber lands between the Shalimari, the Nikondi, and The Kmeri. As for the rest of you: the best place to fight the AoO is in Gerber lands!

Help would be appreciated from any people willing.

And SS, you can use all the lands of mine you want.

 

[alex994]

Eye of the Storm 1​

He circled around the small rock before picking it up and showing it to the assembled people. Then he moved on to the object besides it, a slingshot. Raising both objects gripped in his hands, he turned around and looked the students in the eye before addressing them:

“Do you know why this rock when just thrown lightly does little to no damage to armor? But when using a slingshot, this rock can prove lethal?”

There was no response from the students as they merely look at him with varying reactions between an interested look to downright ignorance. Moving on, he picked up an arrow and a bow and once more raised it within seeing view of the audience.

“The same is with an arrow merely poking you with it won’t leave any mark on armor, but when fired from a bow it can slice through it as if it was air.”

Pausing for dramatic effect, he looked at the assembled students and studied them. Almost all to the bone showed signs of being members of the aristocracy wearing fine silk and well kept faces as well as bathing frequently as smelled by the lack of any offensive odors. Yet among here and there were slightly worse off participants, the sons of successful craftsmen, merchants, officials and even a farmer! Finishing this short examination, he continued:

“The speed of the object in question is what allows a harmless arrowhead to become a weapon of war. The arrow is normally harmless, a toy that young children are allowed to play with, as with a rock. But when used with a slingshot, the rock is no longer a toy. When used with a bow, the arrow is no longer a toy either. The key and most important element is that the speed of the object gives the object greater force.”

“Look upon the sleek form of the arrow and know that our ancestors designed it for one specific purpose. The form of the arrow allows the arrow to travel faster and farther. With such a sharp point, it slices through the air unopposed by the weight of Heaven’s heavenly mass. The mass pushed aside are then mostly allowed to return to their former position by the round form of the wood in the arrow.”

He stopped there only to observe the reactions of his lecture on his students and smiling at the mostly puzzled expression on their face before explaining.

“In essence, speed allows the object to have greater force. Have you ever tried to stop a wheelbarrow speeding down a hill filled with goods? Hopefully not of course as you would have been severely injured, but the task is MUCH more difficult then moving a wheelbarrow not in motion. Once more, the greater the speed, the greater the force and who knows, perhaps in the future men will shot at each other with weapons that fire little metal circular objects!”

After finishing that last statement, he began laughing tentatively followed by his students who were still not yet used to their teacher’s spontaneous bursts of good humor. As the laughing died away some of the more intelligent students raised a hand to ask a question in which the teacher gave leave for him to ask.

“Does that mean with enough force and speed, men can design weapons that can knock down great city walls? Even like the ones they’re building around the city? It’s around 25 feet high and 30 feet thick.”

His eyes lost the humor in them they had a moment ago and he responded in an unfocused manner thinking of the weapons of war he was helping design for the Emperor to break down any obstacles the barbarians of Shangei could raise.

“Yes, such weapons can be built as Heaven wills it. For nothing can occur without Heaven’s will. All the mysteries we are unlocking are that of Heaven slowly revealing her secrets to us.”

Silently he thought to himself, Heaven was the realm of the spiritual, while the Emperor and Empire was the realm of the secular. The secular rulers had the best interest of the people at heart. Death after all, while it may be the passing to the next life, was also a thing to be avoided…

 

[Thlayli]

From: Veritas
To: (Newly NPC'ed) Gerber

So do you agree to the terms presented by Davar? We think that settling things along the current borders is good for all nations involved.

EDIT: Oh, and Iggy, 2500 Urban Militia are still mobilized...and alive.

Nice story alex!

 

[alex994]

Nice story alex!

Thank you I'm thinking about having "him" be like a Leonardo Da Vinci type of character

 

[Thlayli]

Take a number.

He sounds kind of like a certain Manchu Emperor, somehow granted immortality by the pandas.

 

[~Darkening~]

From: Veritas
To: (Newly NPC'ed) Gerber

So do you agree to the terms presented by Davar? We think that settling things along the current borders is good for all nations involved.

Looks like this bloody war is gonna continue. Are we still signing the Pacafist treaty dealing with the Great war?

 

[~Darkening~]

::sigh:: Iggy do you just not like me or somethin ?

Copper age

Shouldn't I be bronze, like I was supposed ot be last turn, through Veritas passing it on?

 

[alex994]

He sounds kind of like a certain Manchu Emperor, somehow granted immortality by the pandas.

Such immortal Manchu Emperors wouldn't be teaching physics and aerodynamics would he?

 

[Kentharu]

wait, i thought the pacafist treaty dealt with the gerber war to? what the hell?

 

[Thlayli]

No, the pacifist treaty only deals w/ Veritas and Khemri.

Was hoping that the NPC'ed Gerber would accept Davar's treaty, or something.

 

[~Darkening~]

wait, i thought the pacafist treaty dealt with the gerber war to?

We offered him peace, but he appearntly wants this bloody thing to continue. He started the war, so the one condition for peace in the region is for him to cede all land east of the Kalmar river. You can include it into the pacifist treaty,but thats a big condition.

To Nkondi
From Davar

We have never had aproblem with your people and wish to keep it this way. We suggest a NAP.

 

[Thlayli]

Hmm. Could you get on MSN Darkening?