Update 3: Clash of Dynasties
503 FF
1700 BGM
898 DYE
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The black storm clouds of war that had hung over the
Yamato for so long finally broke, and the dogs of war were loosed over the Nipponese mainland.
An urgent diplomatic note appeared in the Fuji court, warning of a surprise Ainu invasion. The Fuji scoffed at the idea of the Ainu making any indentation on their culture, especially since they didnt actually border the Ainu directly... But still, they were somewhat paranoid, and they deployed their army in a northward direction. A rather bad mistake, as that was exactly what the Yamato had desired.
The Yamato army swept down on the Fuji clans armies, the samurai attacking furiously with their long yari and clashing in a horrendous brawl with the Fuji spearmen, as archers from either side rained arrows down on the streaming mass, usually aiming for the other side.
The decisive climax of the battle, though, came when a horde of Yamato troops poured out of the interior mountains and forests directly into the exposed flank of the Fuji armies, crushing them entirely in a grand pincer movement. The victorious Yamato marched on the capital of the Fuji, and after a short siege, reduced it. The Fuji clan was absorbed into the Yamato Shogunate.
Yamato envoys again urged the Takeda to unite with them, to fight the various nations around them; the Takeda again refused, thinking it would not be honorable. A lucky break, however, came for the Yamato, when the leader of the Takeda was found dead in his study. Many people suspected that the Yamato poisoned him, but as there is yet no poison known that takes a persons head off, that was dismissed rather quickly.
In any case, the leaderless Takeda forces quickly submitted to the Yamato, or at least, the majority did, swearing fealty quickly to their new masters. However, around 2,000 or so are wandering the landscape of Nippon as ronin, leaderless samurai, and to secure domination over Honshu, it would appear that the ronin will have to be subdued.
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In China, the Warring States are surprisingly peaceful; indeed it would appear each one is too scared to make a decisive move against any of the others for fear that would make them vulnerable.
The
Song, however, are doing quite well in their own expansion. For the third century in a row, they strive heavily to acquire most of the land in between them and their neighbors, and finally, it is all occupied. Meanwhile, though tribes to the north are rumored, fierce steppe nomads, a nation has nicely sprung up between them and the nomads, the state of Yan.
Meanwhile, salt and fish from the coastline near the Shangdong Peninsula begin to become an important commodity, in fact, it would seem that the Song are now the major producers, at least in China, of salt, which is by far one of the most important trade goods.
Song fireships make the conquering of pirate bases in Korea a very easy thing to do, and the southern half of the peninsula is subdued. However, the northern half has been occupied by the new nation of Silla, which isnt particularly pleased to have the Song around.
Shu is doing well in its own right, the campaign to drive back the barbarian Thais was certainly successful enough, and the tin mines are now operational again, this time with renewed fury, aiding the economy of the Shu considerably.
The empeerking of Shu, meanwhile, continues to ask his artisans for blue pottery, and despite the puzzlement of the people, they are eager enough to fulfill these demands, and a considerable amount of blue pottery floods the market. More importantly (from the economic perspective), the Shu make the innovation of coinage, which soon makes them the primary economic center of all China.
More fried food is invented, and the gods are happier then ever on their various trips to Shu. Perhaps in payment for this, a Shu farmer is inspired to create what all the intellectuals never did; a writing system is invented in Shu and rapidly spreads to every corner of China.
The
Tong leader, perhaps not quite aware of what was going on, gives no orders, and the people just continue trading.
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We depart the far east, as usual, with a glimpse of the
Xiong Nu. The horsemen of this fierce steppe nation continue to roam the plains, but little of real note happens. Raids are conducted on the walls of the various Chinese states to the south, but nothing really comes of these without greater involvement of the state. Also, the tribal leader seems more than a little confused about how his economy works, and due to a massive confusion, they lose an economy level, but have much more to spend for the next few years.
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Going west just a few thousand miles, the Avars have formed, about five clans all in all, disunited and quite hostile to both one another and the outside world. The clan Asina is by far the most powerful, but the Juan-Juan threaten to challenge that dominance, even as enemies of all the Avars loom about.
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Only a hundred miles to the south, we find the nation of
Persia to be quite as powerful as ever, if not more so...
The Persian king finally decided to crush the rather rude Medeans, and in an excellently conceived battle plan, outflanked and nearly destroyed their entire army. Unfortunately, it destroyed almost the entire Persian army as well, and the nation as a whole has a rather tough fight ahead of them.
Meanwhile,
Babylon continues to grow, continues its wonder, and after increasing their army a bit, marches into Sumeria, defeating the Arab invaders. A few ambitious generals go against their kings command and annex the land into Babylon, but the king himself, away for a while, doesnt care much. Unfortunately, trade links with Sumeria begin to bring in the Pox, and a few people die, however, the much improved waste system of Babylon is a great help in this case, and few have actually died.
North of Babylon, the nation of Armenia has managed to forge a union with Assyria, forming the nation of
Armenia-Assyria.
It would seem like this new nation ought not to be able to hold itself together, but conveniently the people of both regions have adopted the religion of Athealism, whose eight faceted god has gained a considerable amount of popularity in the region. This is the glue that binds the society of the double kingdom together now.
Much rich farmland along the Tigris and Euphrates was acquired due to the annexation of Assyria, and they have gained an especially fertile area (though it is rather vulnerable to drought). Also, the new dynasty launched a quick and relatively painless campaign against some of the Hittites, crushing them in conjunction with the Syrian men who were doing the same to the south, though obviously since the Syrians were involved, the Armenians did not get the chance to get to the Med Sea.
There is more troubling news, however, to the north. While the Armenians have expanded considerably into Armenia proper and the region of Georgia, there is now a new enemy lurking which seems bent on conquest, and perhaps they may turn south against the Armenians. The Cimmerians, as they are called, are a fierce group of steppe nomads, and seem to be the first wave in a crashing invasion of tribes.
Wether Armenia can weather this tide is unknown; but then, its unknown if they will even turn on the double kingdomindeed, it looks as though most of the Cimmerians are traveling west rather then south, a lucky break.
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The great Malukate of
Syria continues its ever-present growth, and new lands yet are annexed into the ever more powerful empire.
The Hittite tribes have been subdued by a large army sent north, and several of their tribes have joined the Syrian Empire, sending chariots and spears to aid the conquests of the nation. Meanwhile, the Medina-Maluk, the city of the Maluk, has finally been completed, an opulent citadel which puts a fine touch on the city of Damascus; the city has been declared one of the finest in the world, if not the finest.
Of course, those were the relatively peaceful ventures, the Syrians had bigger fish to fry, namely
Egypt. Egypt concocted a daring and clever plan in order to drive away the Syrian invaders, and it was rapidly put into action as the Syrian army was marching up the Nile.
When the Syrians reached the first city, Zawty, they asked in the usual trademark Syrian fashion for the city to surrender. The city did something not seen before; it did not actually surrender, but sent tribute to the Syrian Maluk. Rather amused by this plea for the Syrian army not to crush the city underfoot, the Maluk received the ambassadors personally.
It must have been a rather amusing scene, the Maluk insulted the ambassadors several time and told them to lay bare the crates they had brung and show him the tribute, and that he might spare their city if it was good enough (he was lying, really he would have killed them in any case). The ambassadors opened it carefully, and the boxes were revealed to contain fruit, sugar, papyrus, and other such stuffs. The Maluk laughed, and asked where the gold was. The ambassadors shift the crates a bit further
and out leapt several hundred (yes, they were large crates) Egyptian soldiers, directly into the heart of the encampment. They raced to kill the Maluk and burn the place down, however, the Maluk had a few hundred bodyguard handy, and in the middle of the great encampment, swords and spears rang as a great clash occurred.
It was then that the Egyptian army fell upon the encampment from the outside, and it seemed the Syrian army was doomedhowever, it was then that the nomads of the desert, Nubians and Libyans and the like, raced out of the desert on camel back and flanked the Egyptian army in a grand maneuver. After a great deal of fighting, the Egyptian army, pinned against the stakes of the Syrian encampment, was finally extinguished, and with it, the hope of the Egyptian nation.
Each city in turn thereafter was felled by Syrian arms, and the Egyptian nation ceased to exist, though the people were definitely not happy with their new rulers. Unfortunately, the Maluk died of wounds sustained in the camp fighting shortly after the conclusion of the campaign, and the kingdom is in some disarray...
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In the
kingdom of Anatolia, very little happens, though the Hittites are integrated further, and the nation solidified.
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Minoa, lacking orders from the Senate, decides to expand the fleet a little bit, just in case, and looks on in some annoyance at the Thebans who still besiege Platea.
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Speaking of war, we move next onto
Ravenna. The republic has been growing much in recent years, effectively uniting all but the toe of Italia. Greek colonies have recently been overrun in the south, and this has brought it one step further to unification...
However, understandably, the city state of Epirus is quite furious at Ravenna and demands the latters immediate withdrawal from their colony.
The campaigns in the north went similarly well for Ravenna, with the Gauls being completely driven out by a force of Optimates (the *****, coincidentally), and led by Sulla. Now there is only a small part of Cisalpine Gaul still left to be conquered... Also a relatively peaceful advance into Illyria has greatly expanded the nation as well. The Danube frontier has been expanded across slightly and they have heavily fortified the opposing side of the river against barbarian incursions, as such, raids into Italy have decreased.
With the above military actions, the Po river valley, much safer now, has seen a huge boom in very fertile farmland, enough to provide a significant new source of income.
The Samnites were finally overrun in the south after years of warfare, though the Optimates in particular took heavy casualties, even the elite Victors. However, with the mountain citadels of the Samnites subdued, there now is no other native Italic power in Italia.
On another noteattempts by the government to smelt iron are fairly unsuccessful, while they have isolated iron, they have found the pure iron is too soft and the very impure iron too brittle.
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We then move on to the nation of the
Balearic Isles.
The siege of Syracuse continues uninhibited by any potential outside actions, and the city is close to falling now to Balearic raiders, though they are getting rather restless. The isle of Sicily is almost entirely fallen to the Balearic empire now.
Meanwhile, Carthage dies rather quicker than the Sicilots; a renewed assault on the city fells it finally, despite heavy resistance from their sacred band. The city was rapidly attacked and burnt to the ground, though another one has sprung up on nearly the same site.
Meanwhile, Balearic settlers expand their colonies in Hispania, and a large amount of fertile farmland is found in the rich Ebro River valley, worked by slaves imported from Sicily and Carthage. Further northwest, they find the nation of the Basques, who view the Balearics with some distaste, especially due to their slaveholding nature.
Also, minor trade has sprung up with Portugal.
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Speaking of
Portugal, the latest king has greatly expanded the nation, and Portugese ships are seen in all areas of the known Atlantic. Trade has officially started up with Brittany, and unofficial trade has started with nearly every nation.
Colonies all over the place have been founded and expanded, rich farmlands in Aquitaine creating some of the highest incomes in the world, and trade expanding with even Ireland and the Franks. Some goods from even faraway Gotland are reaching Lisbon, and the city itself has become perhaps the largest city in the world.
Unfortunately, this comes at a price. Rampant expansionism and spending have taken their toll on the Portugese economy, and it has hit rock bottom, with prices soaring. Barbarian Irish have invaded their colony there, and an ambitious governor in Tingis has rebelled against the crown!*
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The
Franks land is growing quite powerful in recent years. A large drive of expansionism has allowed the fledgling empire to reach the River Rheine, and other expansions are going in all directions.
The new trade port of Caux has grown into a city larger than Paris itself, with ships from Portugal, Britain, Germania, and Gotland arriving into the sprawling city. Road systems have greatly improved, and the nation is growing more educated and cultured by the year.
In short, the Frankish kingdom certainly has a bright future ahead of it.
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Meanwhile,
Germania continues a steady pace of growth all over the place, and the kings long desired place of expansion, Jutland, has finally been subdued, after many lives were lost. A road has also connected the Rheinland to Berlin, bringing in trade goods from the Franks.
Trade has also picked up with the nation of Gotia...
And the warriors thirst for blood. Rumor has it that the united Viking kingdom has collapsed into dust with no orders from the kingand if this is indeed true, southern Scandinavia lies open for conquest.
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Lapponia seems to go somewhat crazy, after years of peace, they suddenly invade the Gotar. Though casualties are high, it seems worth it, as the Gotar have been completely broken and are fleeing for their lives, with much of Svealand under the control of the Lapps.
More smugglers are hunted down, and even more spring up as those get killed, which is understandably frustrating to the council of Elders.
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And now, for something completely different...
The lands of Mali continue to expand along the Niger River, and they come closer to contact with the fabled nations of Benin. Meanwhile, Ashanti tribes are driven back in every direction. A trade route is carved to the Garamantes, and, alas, historians are getting tired.
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We conclude this update with the
Exiled Arabs.
Well, to be honest, no much really happens here. New comes out of the South of India saying that the great Sinhalese civil war is over, and trade has resumed for certain, pouring diamonds and pearls into the Exiled Arabs markets. The Arabian and Indian colonies expand slightly, and a colony is founded at Mombasa.
They also happen to try and fail to smelt an effective mixture of iron; like in Ravenna, its either too soft or too brittle to be any use.
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Dark times, however, hang over the entirety of the world. A smoking mountain has been sighted in the far southeast corner of the world, and some proclaim it to be an omen from the gods... And the Sumerian Pox spreads stealthily, with no one quite knowing how to stop it...
The gods seem to be angry, but at who? At what?
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*This is what happens when you continually sacrifice economy.
OOC: Well, sorry folks at the end. To be honest, it seems like my update quality and speed halves when the temperature goes over 70 F (~21 C), and it was 100 F here in the shade. And Im not kiddingI really cant think or write in hot weather.
Just pray for rain next updatethat makes a good update usually.
