stJNES5.2: From the Beginning
Update 8, 1700 B.C.E.
A close encounter to a great war, greater than anything their world has yet produced, the Sabanese quickly rise up to dispose of the ruling family, the family that has ruled Saba since its founding, and replace it with a more docile, peaceful, and mercantile family. The nation has been renamed to the Sabanese Trade State, a country that has devoted everything they have to trade.
Of course, not everyone likes the low-key appearance of the new state, and most do not like the withdrawal from Kush, which makes STS seem like a weak push over. Quickly, opposition to the regime change has risen in the homeland, where native Sabanese organize themselves into a small army, and march on to the palace. The new dynasty is now held up in the palace under house arrest, as the civilian army patrols the palace grounds. The Sabanese Royal Army is on its way back to the capital, but with the kings head on the line, there is no guarantee that they will arrive on time.
Mercantilism, a religion created by the upper class of Saba, is not taken very seriously by the populace, whom the majority are poor farmers and herders in the deserts, and dont even know what trade is.
Meanwhile, as the Sabanese retreat their support from Kush, the civil war still continues there. Civilians within the Nile cities, where the villagers have taken it upon themselves to fight the King and his armies, bombard ku****e soldiers with rocks and homemade spears. Things are not looking good for this desert nation, and it may all soon collapse upon itself.
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The High Road Gates, a series of passages and gates built in the high passes of Helvettia, is finally complete, giving a huge defensive bonus to the small Alpine nation. Meanwhile, the army, after a huge recruitment drive, marches northwest to conquer the nation of Burgundy, who has remained neutral in the exploding wars that have taken place around it. As soon as the Helvettian army marches across the border, the Burgundians quickly assemble their army and march to meet the menace. When they do, the battle is spectacular, with huge movements of troops and long-range arrow firing that nearly wipe out the main portion of the Helvettian army.
However, from the south, the Helvettians have a second army, moving quickly to flank the Burgundians. As the reach the battle, the Burgundians are just about to declare victory. When realized they are being attacked from behind, they immediately push hard into the Helvettian ranks, and manage to break through and retreat northwards. However, they leave their capital and the richness of their lands behind. (Helvettia: -4,000 Archers, 3,000 UU, 200 Horsemen; Burgundy: -6,000 Swordsmen, 1,000 Spearmen)
Just west, the Antigotians prepare their own war. Summoning up nearly ten thousand men for the invasion, the army splits into two and the Antigotians march north, one along the coast, and one through the land. The Gauls are caught of guard, and being unorganized the most they can do is attack in small groups, which are no match for the large armies of Antigot. The faalim, specially equipped for the terrain that they are battling in, are quick to destroy the Gaulic spearmen and swordsmen. (Antigot: -1,200 Faalim, -300 Spearmen; Gaul: -1,100 Swordsmen, -500 Spearmen)
As the Gauls retreat, they destroy all infrastructure in their wake to slow down the Antigotian assault, which includes digging up roads and destroying bridges. This does slow down the momentum of the Antigotian armies, but they still reach the capital and take it. The Gauls are now in the north, preparing a counterattack after they have finished organizing and preparations are done.
Internal trade and travel has increased dramatically in the Kingdom of the Isles, where the most extensive road system exists in the world. Here, one can travel to any small town or city along a raised, paved road that the King had installed. (+1 spendie).
Also, overseas expansion in Denmark has brought economic prosperity back home, and with the Viking raids finally subsiding due to heavy patrolling of the coasts, the ports of the island have grown extensively. The port of London, before it was just a small Angle capital, has grown incredible large, one of the largest in the world, as trade from Gaul, Denmark, the Teutonic Order, and Sweden all enter the port.
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The people in Persipolis rejoice as the Gate of All Nations, a monumental, symbolic gate, is completed. Huge parades are held to commemorate the nation of Persia to be a giant among nations, and festivities continue on into the night for months. The increase in moral has helped create a huge Persian conscript army, an army of mostly peasants with makeshift weapons and farm tools. However, it is an army, and it stands defiantly against the invading Hittites.
Meanwhile, the Persians in Assyria retreat back into the east, pursuing the Hittites. Thinking they will flank the invading army, they were not prepared for a second army to come from the north and flank their own forces. The Persians fiercly fight the Hittites or outnumber them. For days the battle rages on in western Persia, until finally the Hittites retreat back to Assyria, and the Persians go on to destroy the Hittite army who encroached upon Persipolis. (Persia: -500 Spearmen, -3,000 Immortals, -250 Horsemen, -300 Archers; Hittites: -1,000 Spearmen, -1,000 Archers, -4,000 Swordsmen, -300 Horsemen)
The Hittites go on to annex land from Assyria, unchallenged, as the Assyrians send an army to Jerusalem. Afraid that the Egyptians will raze the city, the Jews open their gates for the Assyrians, and the city is soon home to thousands of Assyrian soldiers. Meanwhile, the Jews fight back at the Egyptians, and because the Egyptian soldiers are demoralized by the loss of most of their land and the puppet pharaoh who now rules them, they steadily retreat back into the Sinai. The Assyrians follow the Jews, annexing the land as it falls from Egypt.
Assyria also goes to re-conquer its land from the Persians as they escape into Persia proper. The land is ravaged from years of warfare, the spectacular road system and intricate canal irrigation programs are in ruins, and inheriting this land means responsibility of repairing it.
Trade from Tyre is finally beginning to recover as both attempts by Assyria and Antigot finally yield results. A steady stream of trade ships soon find its way from Tyre, an Assyrian trade center, to the Antigotian ports in Cyprus, and from there, into Alexandria, a port named after its founder, Alexander, who immigrated from Athens after the Spartans assimilated it.
Sionism continues to spread rapidly, becoming the single most-practiced religion in the world, overtaking the Persian Zoroastrianism religion, based in Persia, Gujarat and Magadha. Sionist forces in Sumer finally finish the civil war, lasting over two centuries, routing the pagan practitioners in Ur. The majority of people in Sumer now practice the Sionism religion, and people who dont are continually harassed and discriminated against.
Apart from Sumer, Sionism spreads in Hattassus, the Hittite homeland, and even into Arabia, across the barren deserts. But the most prominent and unexpected expansion is into the eastern Antigotian lands. Across Egypt and into Cyprus and even as far away as Sicily, people of the Antigotian empire give up their traditional pagan faiths and confess to be Sionist worshippers. .
The newly formed Bedouin Riders of Arabia have accelerated expansion, and are used to deal with the rowdy Nabats that harass the settlers. Meanwhile, the Arabs are doing well with their harvesting and herding, but more is needed in order for the economy to expand. Trade is needed in the lands of Arabia, but with little to offer, it is hard to guess how the trade is going to come. Already there is some importing and exporting in the Red Sea, in conjunction with Egypt, Antigot and Saba, but Arabia has little to offer, and many do not even stop at this Arabian trading port.
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In the fertile Indian plain, the powerhouse that is Magadha, now a world power, continues to subjugate the Gujarati, who just wanted to remain independent in their small peninsula. Instead, the Magadhans decided to destroy the nation, since they would not ally and unite with the Magadhans. Outnumbered nearly five to one, the Gujarati stood their ground, patriotic about this being the last stand of Gujarat. The Magadhan soldiers charged the line of Gujarati spearmen, who stood stalwart, their spears straight.
The clash came just moments after the charge, the Magadhan swordsmen, accompanied by horsemen, duck as arrows fly over their heads and straight into the unsuspecting front spearmen, who fall, the second rank unprepared for the charge yet. And then the two armies clashed, sword upon sword. The fighting raged for hours, without a clear winner for most of the time, until the Magadhan numerical superiority began to show. (-1,500 Swordsmen, -300 Spearmen)
The Gujarati nation fell that day; their queen was slaughtered in battle, and their soldiers shown no mercy. Most of the populace who had run to the peninsula and resisted Magadhan dominance were enslaved and sent north, to their former lands, where they labored on yet another magnificent road system devised by Magadhan mathematicians and architects.
Now the army marches back east, where it intends to deal with the invading Aryans who are kept across the river by a brave and organized militia. The homeland of the Magadhans is at risk by this barbarian storm, which seems to get larger and more powerful each year. Intrusions into the mainland bring destruction and devastation unknown by anything else to the Magadhans.
However, as the barbarians wait at the river, just across it, near Petna itself, the farms begin to become very prosperous, and the soil enriches with light and healthy rain. Productive farms sprout here, and aid to the ever-growing power of Magadha.
Trade has begun to rebuild itself in the old Gujarati land, and unknown thing to most Magadhans. The city of Gujarat begins to rebuild its river ports and markets once more, and a trade route once taken, across the seas, leads to the old colonies of Gujarat, which now govern themselves, and to a Persian port. This important trade begins to bring in needed wealth back to the region, and to the Magadhan people.
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Along the sea of civilization, in that thin fertile strip of land, the Carthaginians begin to revitalize the land they have conquered. Tripoli is rebuilt, and the farms are re-seeded. This has led to a completely prosperous farming community near Tripoli, where the farms are extremely productive and the people are happy working on them. The city is given a senator for the senate back in Carthage, distrust and resentment soon waters away in the new province.
Meanwhile, the Carthaginians march westward, having their eyes set on the battled down and poor peoples of the Fez. An agreement was worked out among the Carthaginian Consul to march through Antigotian lands, but was overruled by the Senate in Carthage, who decided to march the army through unclaimed lands, and create a border with the Fez itself. This way, the Senate argued, the supply routes would be secure.
The invasion itself was nothing much to talk about. The Fez were completely outnumbered and outmaneuvered, and fell easily in one battle. However, the capital remained defiantly, with its gates shut. After a long siege, the walls crumbled and the Carthaginians destroyed the city, setting it on fire and slaughtering anyone who tried to flee. Angered, but weak, the Fez accepted the Carthaginian garrison. (-300 Horsemen, -500 Spearmen, -200 Archers)
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The Japanese continue their assault against the northern tribes, with their armies they are far more numerous then the rest of the inhabitants in the north. Meanwhile, Japanese scouts have revealed the Chinese nations in the south, and even a Korean nation that is much closer. All have expressed their willingness to trade, and the Koreans look up the Japanese in cultural standards.
Meanwhile, roads are built across the island, in order to better traverse their army. This has led to a smoother flowing internal commerce trade, and even has led to a small population boost.
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In the cold mountains of Scandinavia, the Swedish send peaceful propositions to the hundreds of Viking tribes in the west. Many send back the messengers heads as a reply.
To prove their power, the Swedish recruit nearly four thousand swordsmen and go aboard their famous longboats and galleys, setting sail towards Holland, into the rich city of Amsterdam. Across the choppy waves this magnificent fleet sails, and right up into the harbor of the city, the Swedish land and begin their plundering. The whole city is set on fire as the Swedish board their ships, loaded with the wealth of Holland, and takes it back to Sweden. Gloating about their newfound wealth, the Swedish show off their spoils to the Vikings who could have had a share in it. Quickly, many tribes join the Swedish, and still many do not.
It is now clear in Scandinavia who the power is. As Finland was forced to make peace, Lappland in utter economic failure, and the Viking tribes succumbing to temptation, Sweden continues to rise and dominate the peninsula.
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Muscovy enters an age of prosperity as the Scythian lands are fortified, and the soil tilled. Surprisingly, the land here is found to be extremely fertile, as many settlers from Muscovy note. The new land is soon transformed into very productive farmland, the most fertile land in all of Muscovy.
As Muscovite soldiers move to conquer the northern lands, they encounter many barbarians who are fair skinned and say they came from the north. These people call themselves Germans, and are violent with the Muscovites who seem to encroach upon their lands.
OOC:
You can now bank your SPs that you dont use; they will be displayed in parenthesis in your economy stat.
I have decided: there will be no empire age, as most are already empires and it would be a waste to make a whole age for it. But, there will be a dark age. Your empires will come down soon, and you will have to rebuild. Will it be plague? Civil unrest? Barbarians? Or a combination of all?