stNNES4: Pheonix From the Ashes

[North King]

If you want, lol. Will change... In the morning.

 

[Grandmaster]

The Mali were unique among the tribes of the Sahara desert. Like their neighbors to the north and south, the Mali had first emerged as desert nomands, herding sheep and other livestock to scratch out a subsistence living in the harsh Saharan landscape. However, unlike the other tribes, the Mali refused to accept this unforgiving lifestyle. According to legend, the Mali were led to the site upon which they built Timbuktu by following a great fiery cloud. Some local tales, however, assert that the original settlers of Timbuktu were led to the location by a runaway goat. Whatever the reason, the Mali came upon the fertile banks of the Niger and decided to do something that no other desert people had ever done: settle down. These average nomads, either through a stroke of brilliance or by chance, decided to stay upon this patch of land, and here create a permanent home for themselves.

The Mali started small, building small homes out of wood and mud. They soon erected a fence around the settlement, to keep the communal herds from wandering away. Within the confines of this fence, an actual community developed... the residents began to build sturdier structures, develop a written language, and establish laws to maintain the peace of the town. The seed of civilization had been sown.

Timbuktu developed quickly after that. The original population was supplemented by nomads and tribesmen from the countryside, who came to the settlement to build better lives. The rich soil and ample water of the Niger floodplain, combined with new techniques of cultivation, led to surplus crops which allowed unprecedented population growth. While anthropologists are unsure, it appears that within only a few generations the city of Timbuktu had come to outnumber most of the other local tribes combined. Such a large, fertile, vibrant city could have only been the birthplace of a great and sophisticated civilization.

And so it was. For reasons that sociologists do not entirely understand, the Mali began to think in ways never before known to the desert peoples. With fewer farmers and herders needed to provide for the people, others could specialize and become artisans, craftsmen, and thinkers. Leisure and economic specialization allowed art, metalworking, poetry, invention, and even philosophy to flourish in Timbuktu. While the thoughts of other desert tribes were still limited to how best to provide water for their goats, the philosophers, prophets, and thinkers in Timbuktu were formulating advanced new religious precepts, schools of thought, and ideas about government. This would be the hallmark of Mali civilization for years to come: peaceful, wealthy, refined intellectuals, thinkers, builders, and artists. In future years, Timbuktu would come to be alternately called the "Gem of the Sahara" and the "Heart and Mind of Africa". Timbuktu would become a shining city of limestone, marble, gold, and bronze; a great and beautiful city on the nourishing banks of the Niger, where some of mankind's greatest thinkers would sit and ponder.

OOC: Anyone who played STJNES8 might notice some similarities here .... this has been a 10-character filler line.

 

[BananaLee]

Kerajaan Langkasuka
Ruler/Player: Gusti Lang Hanayos / BananaLee
Age: Bronze Age
Government: Despotism
Religion: Ancestor Worship
Economy: Stable
Income: 3 (+0 trade, +0 bonus, +0 extras)
Army: 4,000 warriors, 1,000 archers (Upkeep: 1), Conscript
Navy: 10 canoes (Upkeep:1), Conscript
Infrastructure: Barbaric
Research Funding: 0
Education: Barbarian
Culture: Little
Confidence: Terrible
Projects:

Start me where the map shows.
Modern Melaka

 

[Fëanor]

Nation Name: Chiricahua Apache (Apache Tribe)
Ruler/Player: Chief Bold Eagle / Fëanor
Age: Copper Age
Government: Tribal Chiefdom with Elder Council
Religion: Shamanism
Economy: Stable
Income: 2 (+0 trade, +0 bonus, +0 extras)
Army: 7,500 warriors, 500 archers (Upkeep: 1), Conscript
Navy: 10 canoes (Upkeep:1), Conscript
Culture: Very Little
Confidence: Disliking

Start me in the northen part of the Rio Grande.

OOC: Does starting on such a huge river (river shown on map) allow to keep the canoes? after all canoes are river vessels.

Spoiler 2 Very Usefull and Large Maps for Pre-Columbian North American and Central American Tribes :

This One is very usefull for their names and Locations

This one is usefull to see what kind of tribes they were.

 

[BananaLee]

Let us begin with really early Malaysian history.

That's right. Humanity has been in the Malay Peninsula for a very very long time. According to scientists in the Mahathir Institution, stone tools have been found in the northern Malayan jungles, which isn't much of a surprise since human ancestors' bones have been found in Malaysia for ages.

Fast-forward half a million years (let's face it, things don't exactly happen quickly when we're talking about Homo erectus). Human ancestors have spread south several hundred miles and ended up in an area that will be known for all posterity as Langkasuka, not far from the modern city of Melaka. Melaka Man, as archeologists called them, were hunters, they were gatherers, and they're in almost every single anthropology textbook I've ever seen. Good for them!

They don't disappear like good old ancient man, either. Fast forward again, and we're at 25,000 BCE. Humans are still living in the area around Langkasuka, and the residents already knew how to carve things and tie knots, and even had a form of tribal culture. Going ahead another twenty thousand years, and we have the Langkasukans growing rice, weaving cloth, baking pots and even using steam to cook food. Archaeologists have found three-legged contraptions that served as boilers, and pots that were set on the top to use the moist heat.

At this point, we leave the realm of archaeology and move on to the realm of legends. Malaysian history and legend credits a handful of people with the dawn of civilisation and all the advances that go along with it. I should note that it's more than a little hard to separate the deities from the individuals, and that much of this is pure legend anyway, but it's the best I can do. It wasn't as if other nations were keeping records of this time to be proud of...

We're now up to 3000 BCE and this period was known as the Tiga Gusti period - the period of the Three Kings.

First up on our list is Pulkit. From my research, data on this king is scarce and contradictory. Some timelines place him at the start of the Tiga Gusti period, some at the end. Oh well... What the legends all agree on, though, was that Gusti Pulkit brought fire down from Heaven and used it to cook meat for the first time. The idea here was to prevent disease transmission. Let's all stop for a moment and thank the nice prehistoric emperor for coming up with an idea that still manages to elude most major restaurant chains throughout the world, shall we?

Right, so, anyway. After him was a chap by the name of Paras. Paras was said to be able to see the future in patterns on tortoise shells, and has gone down in legend to be the inventor of many things. Music was one of them, domestication of animals was another. Painting, fishing with nets, divination, you name it. He also invented the patriarchy, more or less - it was his idea that marriage should be banned among those who shared parentage or close ancestors. In case you were wondering, this Paras guy was also apparently responsible for mending the sky, or patching up the Wall of Heaven, whichever legend you are thinking of. I warned you it's hard to keep the gods and mortals separate.

A looooooooooooooong time after Paras came a fellow named Amit. He's said to have invented the wooden plough, which is a good thing, and he's considered the father of agriculture, which is also good. Amit just kinda got into the whole plants-as-servants-of-man thing all around, because he's considered the inventor of Malay herbal medicine... and the originator of tea. Apparently, in addition to the part where he was busy tasting every herb he could get his hands on and writing down the effects they had, he at one point set a pot of water up to boil under a bush. Some leaves fell in, unnoticed. WOW! Did he like how the water tasted like afterwards. Next thing you know - bam! Tea cultivation left and right. Compared to this, the part where they say he introduced concepts like 'marketplaces' and 'trade' seems almost tame. The man was declared God of Agriculture at some point. I don't know if this was in honour of his achievements, or if he was supposed to be a god from the start. Given the track record of fantastically over-achieving people in early Malaysian history, it could very well have been both.

That brings us to the very edge of historicity. I'm gonna stop here for now. Our next stop will be the exploits of Lang Hanayos, the Eagle King.

Ten characters were walking down the street. Suddenly, they got painted silver. Muahahahhahahaha

 

[Fëanor]

The Chiricahua People​

The Chiricahua Apache tribe is a tribe of hunter-gatherers who live the area around the northern part of the Rio Grande. Since the dawn of time the Chiricahua apache have been struggling for survival in the seemingly endless circle of Hunting, Raiding and Defending the Tribe from raids, this endless struggle shaped the Chiricahua into a sturdy people who take nothing for granted and into fearless warriors who know that the survival of their people depends on their bravery. The Chiricahua teach their boys and girls the same skills, leaving the choice of lifestyle to follow an individual decision. Girls who choose the warriors' path are not ridiculed; neither are boys who choose a gentler life - they receive equal praise if they excel in their chosen path.

The Chiricahua Government​

The Chiricahua Apache tribe is ruled by a Chief, the chief is aided and guided through his decisions by the Council of Wise, the Council of Wise is itself guided by the Council of Elders. The Chief is chosen by the Council of Elders from the most capable warriors of the tribe, the Council of Wise is formed by 3 Eldest Warriors, 3 Eldest Tribesmen and the Eldest Shaman, the Council of Elders is formed by all men and women who lived for some 40 winters, with the exception of great Warriors and Shamans who might be invited to sit around the Council’s fire earlier in their life and whose word tends to carry more weight than the council’s own members.

The Apache Religion​

The Apache are nomadic gatherers who rely on scarce resources found in their semi-desert environment for survival. Survival under these conditions is difficult and there is little time for speculating in detail on matters of religion. For this reason, the belief system of the Apache tribes might be considered less developed than the non-nomadic neighboring tribes such as the Navajo and the Aztecs. Apache religion does not recognize a "large pantheon of gods and goddesses." Instead, their belief system is concentrated on supernatural cultural figures that are responsible for the Apache way of life. These "supernaturals" interfere little in the daily activities of the people unless called upon to help an individual.

The Apache lifestyle leaves little room for religious ritual. This non-agricultural society has no reason to celebrate seasonal periods and rarely celebrates any type of annual gathering. All time and energy is spent on survival. Two illustrations of this point lies in the fact that the Apache lacks formal ceremonies for both marriage and death; two events that traditionally involve elaborate ceremonies in most civilizations. Marriage among the Apache "is less the founding of a new social unit that the absorption of the couple into an on-going extended family." Death is considered to be "the ultimate foe and its triumph is not to be celebrated."
Sickness and death are formidable problems for a society that needs every individuals efforts for survival. More importantly, however, is the fact that the Apache lack an organized belief in an afterlife. This focused all attention towards survival in this world. For this reason, curing rites are the most common form of ceremony demonstrated by the Apache people.

The individual power quest is the foundation of Apache religion. The group, as a whole, is too involved with issues of survival to spend time with religious issues. Therefore, the Apache are encouraged to establish their own relationship with the supernatural forces that surround them.
The Apache believes that the world is "suffused with supernatural powers, eager to be associated with human affairs." Mankind can manipulate these powers to serve him for both good and evil reasons. Life for the Apache is a struggle for survival governed by one's interactions with these supernatural forces.

The Apache religion is loosely organized and headed by leaders known as "shaman." Their power rests in their ability to heal. This power, if used well, can make the shaman an influential figure among Apach0e tribes. The Apache religion can be described as a form of "devotional shamanism." "It conceives of a universe permeated with supernatural power which must realize itself through man or not at all." The shaman is the link that connected the Apache people to the healing powers of the supernatural world.

 

[das]

Like BananaLee's story. Must write something myself as well...

 

[Cuivienen]

Reserved dos

But in spanish I can barely get up to seven. The spanish teacher in our school is terrible, I've heard.

uno, dos tres, quatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, dies, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dies y seis, dies y siete, dies y ocho, dies y nueve, veinte, veintiuno, veintidos, veintitres, veintiquatro, veinticinco, veintiseis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve, trienta, trienta y uno, trienta y dos, trienta y tres, ..., quarenta, ..., cinquenta, ..., sesenta, ..., setenta, ..., ochenta, ..., noventa, ... cien, ciento y uno, ...

 

[BananaLee]

Like BananaLee's story. Must write something myself as well...

The key is just closing your eyes and crapping out the first thing that jumps to your mind..
I love fresh start.

uno, dos tres, quatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, dies, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dies y seis, dies y siete, dies y ocho, dies y nueve, veinte, veintiuno, veintidos, veintitres, veintiquatro, veinticinco, veintiseis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve, trienta, trienta y uno, trienta y dos, trienta y tres, ..., quarenta, ..., cinquenta, ..., sesenta, ..., setenta, ..., ochenta, ..., noventa, ... cien, ciento y uno, ...

She got you there, NK.....

 

[das]

To add to the linguistic mix:

Ekhat, shtaim, shalosh, arba, hamesh, shesh, shwaim (?), shmone, teysha, eser... Though I don't seem to remember Hebrew very well.

And another random linguistic number-counting addition, more full this time:

Один, два, три, четыре, пять, шесть, семь, восемь, девять, десять...

(Odin, dva, tree, chetyri, pjat', shest', sem', vosem', devjat', desjat'...)

IC:

NES WARS: EPISODE 4: A NEW AMBITION


"Long, long ago, in a galaxy not as far away as we would like it...

...The cold war between the Polar Bears and the Guild of NES-Commentators, on ever since the Crimean Thwarting of the Black Army, is threatening to heat up at any moment. This interNESional divide is threatening to start a new war like none before. The Polar Bears are increasing their influence throughout the NES forum: in staznes and stamennes, in starnes and nes2 battlefields alike, polar bears increase the intensivity of their action. The Guild of NES-Commentators prepars defensive positions. Into this divide, a new NES, stNNES4, is born. The Bears are fast to move in; the Guild is somewhat behind. When the Guild's officials do arrive, they realized that something is wrong. Something mischevous is being prepared. The Polar Bears are up to something... in Bactria. The Guild does not know what it is yet, and is far from prepared for a battle here. Is The NES Forum doomed to the Polar Bear onslaught?!"

---

"And was the city of Bactra purged by the Ancient Ones for five days and five nights; And only the bravest did not despair, did not go mad, but endured; And from them the Bactrians descended."
- The Bactrian Tales.

---

The voice in my head. It is saying something. I stand up and look around. It is an ordinary place on the coast of the mighty river Oxus, proudly alone, straightforward and quiet.

The voice. I concentrate on it. The few people who followed me here and who dismissed the old shamans are waiting quietly.

The voice. The Voice. THE VOICE. I concentrate on it, trying to understand what is it saying, to become at one with The Voice.

The Voice of My Ancestors speaks to me. "It is time for you and your people to stop your trek; you have reached the right spot. Build a new city here, but let it not fall into Bactra's corruption. If you and your successors, padishahs of this new Bactria, remain true to your vows of five days ago, then a great empire you shall build; if not, painful will be the decay and death of each one of your kind before they repent; and if they do not repent, enemies will run amok in the streets of your new city.

And call this city, Tekhet a-Tagyrys, Tagarys' Throne."

---

"...Yet north of them, there is an even worse breed of barbarians: I call them that for there is no better definition for them. Savage, vicious - and united, determined. Ambitious and ruthless. The typical Bactrian tribe are led by one tyrant, who rules through blind faith of his people and his personal strenght alone. They reject all our virtues and kill and eat our ambassadors. They practice cannibalism and human sacrifice; they pillage all villages that do not pay their tyrant tribute and rape all women that are not theirs. They enslave children and work to death those they do not offer in sacrifice to their bloodthirsty "Voice". They all are unclean and hateful of all others; some say the worst of India's people are reborn in Bactria, and I am inclined to believe that.

There is nothing more to be said of that scum, apart from the thanks to the Gods for them being too disunited to menace us all."
- Vijaya, the Scribe of Gujarat. On Peoples of the North.

[OOC: Vijaya MIGHT be partially exaggerating, wrong or just plain lying. ]

---

An excerpt from the:
"REPORT ON WORLDPROJECT4
TO BE DELIVERED TO THE DESK OF GENERAL BEARLAYN KHEMI

...In Bactria, the experiment is coming along very fine. Operation "Empire of Evil" is working well thus far; though as suspected, it was too hard to make the Bactrian culture seem particularily "evil" in the eyes of their neigbhors, but our agents have succesfully propagandized them to be a brutal, yet dumb and disunited nation amongst the most civilized of their neigbhors. This will prevent them from interferring in our plans in any way. The "evil Bactrian morality" does not seem to work quite well, though, so perhaps rather then make them a "great evil", we should try to simply concentrate on making them powerful and united enough for our plans. Perhaps a new religion is in order."
- Polar Bear Army, Worldproject Division, Fifth Subdivision, Subdivision-Commander Tedor Luorvet. The publication of this document in the NES-Commentators Guild caused some laughs, as nobody took the polar bear schemes seriously enough yet again.

 

[BananaLee]

das, my friend in Russia says it's ah-din
Nice story.. Haha. Though those stupid polar bears.. *mumble mumble*

And to fill out the message: -

Satu, dua, tiga, empat, lima, enam, tujuh, lapan, sembilan, sepuluh, sebelas, duabelas, tigabelas.... .sembilanbelas, dua puluh, dua puluh satu.... dua puluh sembilan, tiga puluh,... sembilan puluh sembilan, seratus, seratus satu.....
That's in Malay

Now in Mandarin!
Yi, er, san, ser, wu, liu, chit, pak, ziu, ser (pronounced differently from 4), ser-yi, ser-er, ser-san.....

And in Cantonese!
Yat, yi, sam, sei, um, luk, chat, pat, kau, sap, sap-yat....

In Hakka,
Ngit, Ngi, Sam, si, um, luk, chit, pak, kiu, sip, sip-ngit

And to top in off, in Japanese!
Ichi, ni, san... can't recall the rest.

 

[das]

ah-din

Dialects vary. It is oh-din here, anyway, but that friend probably was from the southwest.

Nice story.. Haha. Though those stupid polar bears.. *mumble mumble*

Underestimating polar bears is fatal, as Prime Minister Martin Hobbert might happen to find out one day...

 

[pawpaw]

Kuluk Khan was celebrating with the best of his warriors, leading them in praises to the gods, great roaring songs of glory and toasts to the valor of their race. A well fought victory over their neighbors the Scythians had been achieved, blood had flowed, glory won. Even now the glory was revisited everytime he raised his drinking cup, for his cup was the hollowed out skull of Scythian Khan Timuz. A liitle work, a quick copper lining, some shiny stones in the eye sockets--presto, a good koumiss drinking cup. The victory had pushed the Scythians away from Cimmarian lands, all the lands for several days journey in all directions were his now.

The Scythians would be missed, they had always fought well--a tribes greatness was measured by the greatness of their enemies, and nothing was better than a good fight. Maybe it was time to scout the unknow lands, for rich lands, allies, resources--and acourse someone to fight. The Khan put his hand to his stomach--a little gas maybe, Timuz had been a sour person in life, maybe his skull was effecting the koumiss? Oh well, there would soon be more heads and thus more koumiss cups--gods willing.

 

[tossi]

Of the first Mon King
Part 1

Once ago at the green banks of the Yangôn River some fishermen watched how a big red turtle crawled out of the water. On his back it was carrying a bambus basket, which was covered with several mangrove leaves. The curious fishers approached the strange creature because they wanted to know what it was carrying and because the conspicuous colored skin would be a very valuable item at the next market. Frightened by the bold jaw and the long and agile neck they pulled their bows and aimed at the red beast. Then they shot - and missed! The surprised fishers looked into the deep eyes of the turtle. How could they have missed? The distance was only a few metres! Again they aimed with their bows and again they shot - and again they missed. Now they were totally confused. Magic, Gods or something worse! One of the smarter guys now had an idea: He ordered his friends to shot another volley of arrows at the turtle. And this time he watched very closely. And this time he could see the following: Just as the arrows were going to hit their target it disappeared and reapeared just some centimetres away.
Now he remembered some stories his mother told him when he was young: This was not a strange red turtle, this was Chu - Ambassador of the Gods!

 

[blackheart]

The Manchu chieftain emperor whatshisface looked out one day and decided he wanted to conquer the world. Not the region, not the territory, but the world. Why the world? Well, it's pretty big, and being world emperor has a nice ring to it. World emperor...hmmm that'd be great. Of course, no one knows how big the world is, and where it ends. Heck, none of the Manchus even know if there is really anything to conquer. But being bored and having a lot of free time, they set off on their conquest.

The war was tough. The deer and wolves and bears proved to be worthy adversaries. Eventually though, they were all made into mincemeat, carpets, and clothing. Now the Manchu can have plays and pretend they are animals. Animals with swords and bows and arrows and a tendency to conquer. Conquering is always fun, much funner than morbid plays about conquests and dead heroes.

So blah blah conquer conquer slash slash victory. The Manchus have conquered all of the animals of their region and now want to move on to bigger game. The good news is there are rumors and stirrings from advanced scouts that there are more human tribes in the world. Some slaves have been brought back to prove this, and they had to be skinned and boiled to make sure that they were not animals in disguise. The bad news is that these other humans are really far away, and it would take a while to get to them and fight them. All the better, everyone was tired of sitting around all day and fighting animals.

Now the real battles begin.

 

[North King]

*reminds self to eventually take an obscure language course to show off counting skills to friends... Perhaps Scythian will do the trick...*

Interesting stories, everyone, I'm going to add the new nations right away.

 

[das]

Perhaps Scythian will do the trick...

Go for Tigray! Go for Tigray! Or for Bactrian, Bactrian is nice too. Or maybe Chukcha language.

 

[North King]

Speaking of which, beginning update.

 

[BananaLee]

Dialects vary. It is oh-din here, anyway, but that friend probably was from the southwest.

That's interesting.. I learnt a new things today.
Well, she's studying in Moskva. But I think she learnt Russian from this woman from Sankt Peterburg.

Either way, not very southwest... Haha.

Could you enlighten me on Russian dialects? (In off-topic forum if necessary.. )

Underestimating polar bears is fatal, as Prime Minister Martin Hobbert might happen to find out one day...

Who's Martin Hobbert? Martin Hodder is the PM of Britain though.. Muahahah

 

[Azale]

i have a nice story lined up, but ill wait for the update...shouldnt matter a whole lot i hope.