Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120001
Today my father, the great and powerful god Ra has blessed me with a vision of a land of plenty far to the south, beyond even the root of the nile. As I awakened, I ordered my people to pack their things and be ready to depart at dawn. They are surprised, almost rebellious even if my loyal guard didn't keep them in check. As they say, don't bring a fist to a club fight.
Scribe, let it be known for all eternity I was divinely inspired in my decision, any claims of substances but for the supreme grace of the gods having influenced me are both false and blasphemous! It also has nothing to do with my bet against that jerk Ramses who claims the Nile is a river flowing without a source. Although I am sure that goat and three pearls are soon to be mine.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120003
In the hills to the south we found some strange animals with parts I am loathe to describe secreting a delicious white liquid. It is quite tasty, although I don't want to know what went through the head of the guy who discovered it.
I had him executed just to be on the safe side.
My people naturally urged me to settle down, if these animals dispense the nectar of the gods then surely this must be the promised land from my vision. Imbeciles! We pressed on, but their complaining never ceased. By the fourth or fifth decade you would expect them to have finally learned their lesson. Filthy commoners! They'd take just any excuse to stop travelling.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120015
At last, the promised land! I quickly gave the order to establish a permanent settlement here and dubbed our budding city Abdju after my favourite calico. The immediate vicinity is rich in gold but we quickly exhausted the amount we could just pick off the ground. Realizing the potential for our economy I ordered our brightest minds to uncover the incredible mystery of digging a hole.
For many miles around we seem to be alone, only sharing the land with the wild beasts of nature. It is a strange and alien place, the deserts are dry instead of fertile, and to the south are wide green plains the likes of which we had never seen before. At first our people believed the rolling green grass to be cursed but then we discovered some herbs unlike anything we've seen before and with them our medicine made leaps and bounds forward(a hammer to the head is not the best anesthesia to be had, who knew!). Any reports of incidental deaths during the trials of these herbs are surely exaggerated.
The discovery of Mining was a great boost for our development and next we worked on travelling the sea to catch the plentiful crabs a bit off our coast. I don't fully understand the details, but as it was explained to me these 'boats' are just like houses, only upside down and without windows. Quite clever if you asked me.
Seeing the possibility of now traversing the sea I toyed with the idea of travelling further south, beyond the seemingly endless waters. I quickly abandoned that idea when my enraged populace carted me off to another ingenious device they referred to as guillotine. I was only saved thanks to a messenger who reported of a rich source of truffles being discovered and the would-be Pharaocides went into an eating frenzy. That was a close one.
After everything was in order again I must say though I'm not wholly satisfied with the guillotine(I tested it on my well-stuffed rebels of course). That stone blade more crushes than cuts the neck. Perhaps we could find a better material?
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120142
We established a second city called Nekhen on the river to the north-west. Meanwhile we are working on building a road network around our capital. I receive regular reports from my original guard I had sent north to explore the lands there. They met many people and discovered some great riches, but my hopes of them retrieving some mysteries unknown to us remained saddly unfulfilled.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120168
We have completed a copper mine, allowing us to field a far more formidable military force and of course an improved guillotine. Sadly I have no one to test it on, everybody seemed suspiciously timid and subservient as of late.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120181
Our seafaring capabilities made a huge step forward and we are working on building a harbor to better bring in the fruits of the sea to feed our growing populace. We are also about to establish a diamond mine to the north-west, clearing the surrounding forest will provide plenty of raw material for the harbor.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120203
Our first newly equipped regiment finished the long trek north and made contact with the Canaanites. It seems we are old neighbours and their leader, an old dude with a magnificent beard called Moses(the dude, not the beard), told us of their great exodus, his chest swelled with pride.
When our representative calmly explained the details of OUR exodus poor Moses promptly had a heart attack and died. To their credit, his followers at least had the decency to be embarrassed about talking up their little evening stroll.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120205
We made peaceful contact with the people of Phoenicia. It was a mutually beneficial encounter as we traded secrets and they taught us the art of Hunting.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120227
At the cost of heavy deforestation around Nekhen we established our third city on the western coast in a region that controls two sources of diamonds. The settlers complained about their houses being placed in the middle of the desert but I told them to stuff it and get a move on.
Oh, the bronze guillotine worked splendidly by the way!
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120231
Great news, we finally fully domesticated the wild cows roaming to the north-east. Oh, also, we completed the Great Cothon in Abdju, a grand project hailed as a wonder of the world that promises to greatly boost our industrial base. I quickly ordered the beginning of a similarly great endeavour to boost our trade with the distant Phoenicia and Babylon.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120235
It seems the Canaanites were bitter about the death of their leader after all and in an act of wanton aggression smashed their faces into our axes. Scribe, can you redo that part so it actually sounds like we were the victim here? Perhaps they slaughtered that poor obsoletely equipped regiment in their sleep or something like that. Certainly don't mention I sent them as cannon fodder.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120236
The Babylonians were willing to teach us the art of the written word in exchange for learning about working bronze, a trade we accepted despite already being close ourselves to discovering the secret.
Everyone pointing out any perceived anachronisms of me having had a writer before now will be shot, guillotined and put into the meat grinder.
Our two regiments wielding bronze axes split up, one going south into the peninsula to beat up the Assyrians roaming there, mostly just for the fun of it. The other went north-west to make contact with the Greeks we had heard about from our trade partners. However, it turned out they weren't doing so well as the Hittites had taken their city controlling the strait between the yet unnamed northern and southern landmasses.
There was a tense moment as our axemen brazenly approached the plundered city. Even still wounded from their battle with the Greek forces the Hittite chariots would have easily rolled over our infantry if they sallied forth. But they were too relucant to leave their still unruly conquest behind unguarded and soon the opportunity passed. The cold sweat quickly gave way to cheerful enthusiasm and with a resounding battlecry our army charged forward, forcing the Hittites into a battle in houses and narrow streets where their chariots were useless.
However I had no intention of trying to keep control of such a distant conquest. Instead I gifted the city to the Phoenicians as I saw benefit in bringing them into a stronger position.
I have plans to do the same with Jerusalem, but not yet. First the city has to finish a very important project I am eagerly awaiting the completion of.
Pharao's Log, Sun Date 319.1120261
Our industrious capital completed the Great Lighthouse, an impressive structure soaring 300 feet into the sky to guide incoming ships into our harbor. We expect this to greatly boost our trade with the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians and whoever else might be out there.
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And that's it for now. I had no luck with getting any techs from goodie huts but the herbalist event was a huge deal. Frankly that event should not be possible that early in the game while you're still on 1 pop with nothing to lose. +2 Health is big. I originally had toyed with the idea of going for the Hanging Gardens after my first settler but with the herbalists I changed my build plan. It's still possible to make the important wonders after that, but things get a bit more tense.
I'm quite satisfied with how things went so far, getting the two most important early wonders for my location and well on my way to winning the race for the Great Library.
Comments, critique, suggestions welcome. Also, can anybody guess the important project in Jerusalem I was talking about?
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
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