Update 15 - 800 BCE
The unholy beasts will become holy beasts
Upon conquering the holy land
And will spread the holy words
Across the empires they conquer.
-Prophecy of the Great One Zoroaster of Persia
The Persian Shah and the Zoroastrian priests have sworn allegiance to the so-called Pashtun Empire. The Shah has lost his title as ruler of Persia, but his family has been provided for and live relatively well in the capital of Persia. Different Afridi warlords have taken over administrative positions and partitioned Persia amongst themselves. Parts of the Persian military have also sworn allegiance to the new masters. The rest have disbanded and returned to their old lives, not bothering to fight for a country that surrendered. The enigmatic leader of the Afridis, the Dallarni Khan, has been named as the Defender of the Zoroastrian Faith.
Meanwhile, the Afridi military juggernaut continues moving westward. Iraq has been completely overrun, due to its poor defenses and military strength (or lack thereof). The largely-Zoroastrian Babylonians have not resisted the newcomers, as they are armies of the new Defender.
The Iraqi Emir refused to surrender, nor did he accept conversion to Zoroastrianism, and was given to a mob of Zoroastrian fanatics, who lynched him. In fact, its a dark time indeed for any and all Iraqis (ethnic Arabs born in Babylonia) in the occupied country. Though the Pashtun soldiers did not encourage the actions of the Babylonians, the latter immediately sought revenge on all Iraqis for years of occupation and slavery (although in reality the Arab occupation was quite mild once the Emirate was established and in fact many Iraqis embraced Zoroastrianism). Attacks occurred across the country, the most brutal being the massacre of the entire Iraqi population of the southern town of Basra.
Israel takes a proactive stance on the Afridi Pashtun threat. Their fleet has been dispatched to the Pashtun coasts. However, since there was no direct connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the fleet was forced to head westward and south along the African coasts. So far they made it to just south of the Songhai Empires northern border. The Pashtuns got wind of this mission and now know that Israel is no friend of theirs at this point, Israel and the Pashtun Empire may as well be at war.
The Georgian dynasty has died out. According to the countries guidelines for succession, the next of kin which turns out to be the Azerbaijani Emperor is the rightful new heir. Thus, Georgia and Azerbaijan unite into the Greater Armenian Empire, the capital moved to the great city of Yerevan.
The one snag in the fusion of the two Armenian kingdoms is the huge difference in religion Georgia is primarily Jewish, while Azerbaijan is overwhelmingly Zoroastrian. Complicating matters is the fact that the Azerbaijani monarch is a fanatical Zoroastrian and does not hide his anti-Jewish stances.
Already, some Georgian Jews have fled north to Crimea, which has accepted its fellow Armenians.
The Israelite-brokered compromise between feuding Austria and Rome has worked, it looks like. Anti-Roman demonstrations and riots along Austrias southern border have diminished a little bit: after all, they only got half of what they wanted Rome still owed 2 economy points.
Anti-Jewish riots and attacks have likewise diminished considerably, as it had been the Israelites who brokered the compromise deal. The Habsburgs have donated as much money as they could spare, since Austrias economy had deteriorated, to building a new synagogue in Vienna.
The first payment of reparations had also had a psychological and economical effect on the Austrians. In support of the Habsburg dynasty, many Austrians had begun working their lands and jobs with determination to restore the infrastructure, and Vienna is in uproar of support for the thus-successful Habsburg monarchy.
AUSTRIA: Confidence +1; +1 Economy level
The Romans have finally remembered about their rebellious Northern Dalmatian province, which is now calling itself the Zagreb Republic.
The full might of Roman offensive soldiers attacked the Slavs. It was surprising, then, to see that many engagements were won by the Slavs yes, the Zagreb Republic has defended itself! Having gained not only many volunteers eager to fight for their liberty but also used all available finances on military increases, the Zagreb Republic has for the most part repelled the Roman assault. But while the Zagreb Republican armys perseverance was the psychologically-deciding victory factor this time, the true practical reason for their victories is the appearance of Slovak troops in their territory, who coordinated the defenses and the few counter-attacks that were available.
SLOVAKIA: -200 Archers, -300 Spearmen
ROME: -700 Swordsmen, -300 Horsemen
ZAGREB: -300 Spearmen, -400 Swordsmen
Much to Portugals chagrin and outrage, the Israelites continue occupying Sardinia and the Balearics! On top of that, Israel has not paid the reparations payment which would at least signal that Israel is committed to honoring the treaty that it virtually wrote up.
As such, Sardinian unrest intensifies and the Balearic Portuguese have risen as well.
ISRAEL: -50 Spearmen
The anti-Nihonese coalition has made a daring move to liberate Korea. However, that is not easy. Though the Koreans want independence, none have assisted the anti-Nihonese armies. The Nihonese troops were ready, as well, and in multiple battles, the Shanghai soldiers were forced to pull back. As such, only some areas east of the border between Shanghai and Nihonese Korea have been liberated.
Naval engagements around the Korean coasts were also hugely in Nihonese favor. Many Shanghai ships were lost in the battles to seize control of the Korean coasts and harbors and thus prevent Nihonese supply lines from making it to the occupation forces.
However, a good note for the anti-Nihonese was the successful taking of Sakhalin. Never having been very populated in the first place, the island was thus relatively sparsely populated, and even then mostly by native Sakhaliners unassimilated into the Nihonese culture. Because of this successful capture, anti-Nihonese managed to land in northern Hokkaido and have also managed to establish a beachhead in northeastern Korea.
To try and cope with Nihons apparent naval superiority, Shanghai and Fuzhou have finalized agreements and have united together as well, renaming their union as the Chinese-Choson Empire.
NIHON: -300 Spearmen; -50 Galleys, - 20 Triremes
MALAYSIA: -100 Archers, -100 Swordsmen
SHANGHAI: -400 Swordsmen, -100 Archers
After hearing of plans to invade their lands, the Maya tribes have coalesced and pre-emptively struck the Aztec Empire. They expected much local resistance, in addition to that obviously put up by the troops, but were amazed to find many southern Aztecs welcoming them into their villages and towns. Everywhere that the Maya managed to penetrate, the old polytheistic belief structures have been restored, Quetzalist-only temples being re-converted into traditionalist.
AZTEC EMPIRE: -400 Spearmen, -20 Horse-Archers
Taking the opportunity of the Maya invasion, a tribe of peoples called the Miwoks has risen against the Aztec Empire. They are among those that accepted Quetzalism, but the Miwoks no longer want to be part of the Aztec Empire.
The Illini have rebuffed the New Illini offers of aid and military training. All New Illini emissaries that crossed their border were immediately sent back by Old Illini troops.
Muscovy has lost its short fight. The Muscovite Tsar was taken to the Karjalian capital and executed for crimes against the Karjalian sovereignty. Sinimustvalge Karjal has annexed the territories not occupied by the Bulgars to themselves, apparently according to a secret deal between the two.
The Bulgars, meanwhile, have invaded Crimea. Just as with the Magyar invasions centuries earlier, this time the Crimeans were also not strong enough, and have lost their freedom as well. The Bulgar invasion occurred after the first wave of Georgian Jews emigrated into the country.
Another victim of Bulgar aggression is Balticum. No match for the aggressive styles of the Bulgars, the Baltic armies fell, and with them Klaipeda, the Baltic capital.
Story Bonuses
ISRAEL: +1 Confidence
EIRE: +1 Culture
MALAYSIA: +1 Confidence
CARIBBEAN EMPIRE: +1 Confidence
Israel gains contact with Malagasy, Lesotho, Zaire, and Zambia
NPC Diplomacy
From Portugal
To Israel:
Wheres our reparations? And why have you not withdrawn from the islands?
From Slovakia
To Rome:
Withdraw your troops from the Slavic lands and more bloodshed will be avoided.
From Dallarni Khan Emperor, Defender of the Zoroastrian Faith
To King Solomon
Your assault upon the Pashtun Persian Empire shall be repaid in kind, your cities will be laid to waste for your attempts to destroy the Zoroastrian Faith and convert all of the World to the Judaic worship. Even as you are a fool, I the noble Khan Emperor following the splendid faith of Zoroastrianism will continue to allow any Jews under my Empire to live in peace. However, we offer you one last chance for peace, we demand the entire income of the Israelite Nation for 100 years to be turned over to me the Khan Emperor and we will not pursue this and perhaps even live in peace.
OOC
Israelite, I know that in the diplomacy, you had agreed to withdraw and pay reparations, but if you dont put that in orders, then that means that it was not meant to be done and thus the treaty has been ignored.
Stats will be done by tomorrow morning.
You may have noticed on the map that all cities/towns, except the nations capital, are equal size boxes now. This is because a) it takes up a lot less room on the map, and b) I dont feel like updating the names of the cities every time hell, I dont even know which half of them are which at this point. So the only cities that will be on the front page now are the important ones - centers of trade, education, etc. Since you wouldn't know which cities you have anymore when starting trade routes, I guess I will replace the "center of trade" with the "center of commerce", and each such center would give you an extra spending point every 2nd or every 3rd or so turn or something like that. Either that or the "center" crap will also be eliminated, which I don't really wanna do cuz it might still have some kind of potential for something regarding bonuses in stats (I just can't figure out what at the moment).
Orders are due Friday 10 PM US Central Time. That is about 5 days plenty of time, so I dont want to hear no excuses about why you cant sign on the internet, because Im busy during the week, too, now, but I still try to check the thread and do whatever NPC diplo is necessary.
China for the Chinese!
