Pretender to the Throne II: Zara Yaqob on Earth!

(Interesting approach, Rob. Here's how I did it. ;) )

Chapter 1
The Horn of Africa

Zara Yaqob was not amused. He had instructed the shamans to lead him and his people to a new place, one where they could set down roots, establish a city, and--perhaps later--expand to occupy a still larger swath of land. The tribes would be united, the beasts would be brought to heel, and the people would prosper.

"And you brought me... here?" Zara said.

"Yes, my chief!" one shaman said in a sing-song voice, his breath reeking of strange herbs. "We are an earthen people, and here among the rocks of the plateau, we shall begin our conquests!"

Zara looked across the barren plateau and scowled. "But what shall we eat?"

"Oh, that's even better news!" the shaman said. He pointed to a herd of cattle in the distance, skinny and small, malnourished on the barren plateau.

With a shake of his head, Zara turned south. "I have heard tell of fish in the seas to the distant south. Come."

"Fine!" the shaman yelled. "Go ahead! Have your stupid fish! I'll be here in this blessed spot, eating tasty cow meat!"

And so, the Ethiopian Kingdom began not in the prophesied spot known as Aksum, but on the southern shore, in Mogadishu.

Spoiler :


(My logic should be obvious--the gems! As I see it, priority #1 needs to be claiming better cities. Teching to better units seems the best way to do that, so I went on basically a straight beeline for HA's, with incidental stops at The Wheel.)

Early life in Mogadishu was strenuous. Though Zara had promised to harness the bounty of the seas, his people rationed food for generations in the meantime. Fortunately, Zara's gamble paid off in spades, and in no time the city was up and running.

Spoiler :


While Zara attempted to expand his influence across the Horn of Africa, explorers found new tribes outside of the rocky Ethiopian cradle.

Spoiler :


Hannibal of Carthage was a hearty, no-nonsense individual from the rocky shores of North Africa. Zara sympathized with his plight, brought by his people to a miserable settlement.

Ramesses of Egypt, however, dwelt on the rich Nile floodplains, where his people flaunted wealth and opulence, creating impressive monuments in the name of their king... all while the Ethiopians struggled to make their way on the barren Horn. Egypt would need to be brought into the empire soon, that much was clear.

But first, Ethiopia itself would need to be fully claimed, and Berbera was a bid to do just that.

Spoiler :


Berbera was, like Mogadishu, doomed to suffer over the long-term, but fed by the fish of the sea (and the cows of the hills, who had grown fatter from a steady diet of shaman-meat), it would add another powerful production site to Ethiopia's core.

And that production would be put to use... soon.

Spoiler :


(HA's are possible on turn 54, which isn't too bad, I think!)

Had the time come to strike against Egypt? Zara considered the idea carefully.

He also considered technology.

Spoiler :


Typical logic would dictate Bronze Working at this juncture, but Zara feared that his cities' low food would mean that the whip would see little use. Sailing would be a welcome boon, however, opening up the possibilities for cheap Lighthouses. But the technology game was difficult at this juncture. Zara brought his ideas to those wise men who had not died on the plateau and considered carefully.

He brought maps:

Spoiler :


(Should I skip a Stable in Mogadishu? Should I add another city to my core? Something to the south in Kenya? There are some crabs and hills there, after all, and it'd help push back the possibilities of barbs.

Oh, and Rammy built something nice for us:)


Spoiler :


(We feel like sort of a dwarf right now, but as This is Spinal Tap taught us, even Stonehenge monuments can be crushed by dwarves. ;)

What do you think?)
 
Nice story Oz!! I like it! Unfortunately moving the settler didn't come to my mind when I started. And if I didn't tell you already, I play this on noble after losing IU 90 in prince... Good job :):)
 
750BC-275BC (I had to save here because of I had a question to you)

Spoiler :
I buiilt the Oracle and got CoL with confusianism.



I met couple of new AIs:






And built new city and survived from massive barb strike:


Map:


And the question: Which religion shall I adopt? There are many civs who are converted to my religion in Europe. The competition religion is Hindu, fouded by Gandhi...surprise :p. You can check my save and tell me what I have to do :)

And here is the save as usual:
 
275BC-1200AD (I think I forgot to post one round..:mischief:)
Spoiler :
Okay!! I love to tell you that I'm in damn good position now!!!:king: My research is better than I've ever seen!! I have more cities than I've ever had!!! I'm winning earlier than ever before!!!!!! I'm on FIIRREEE!!!!:goodjob::king::cool::nuke:

I'll tell you:

I built much more cities and I have still more space to expand!! Here is some new cities of MINE!!



Barbarian state:eek::


Interesting warfare of "the new class":


Hmm...Otto is getting too glorious! I wanna see what's going on there..


:eek::eek::eek:

And here is rediculous Roman Empire:

lol indeed!

And reason to my good research/income: The amazing KONG MIAO!! (screenshot destroyed:lol:) Whole Europe and Sumeria+Carthage is confucian! MONEYMONEYMONEY!!:commerce:

And because of that I'm gonna try this kind of victory!!


Map:



Please help me! I don't know why, but the Religious Victory voting is not option in the screen where you can choose the object for voting. Should I try Diplomatic victory? Check the save if you want to help this n00b:)!
 
There are several conditions for AP RV vote to work, try looking up a guide.

For instance, every civ needs to have the AP religion in >1 city... the new continent civs certainly don't have it.

Don't know why you're building "Monuments" with a Creative civ and no neighbour.
 
Ummm, why Sitting Bull replaces Huayna? I agree with Pacal replacing Monty, as Mayans were there before Aztecs, but Sitting Bull represents the tribes of North America. He should replace American Empire, which came to be in 18th century. Overall in Americas there could be Incas, Native Americans, Aztecs and Mayans, no more no less. American Empire kinda... doesn't fit. And Sitting Bull in the South America makes no sense whatsoever.
 
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