The city, the city and the city

[strijder20]

Hello,

I've decided to do a series of short stories on RFC (DoC) each with a gameplay variant. In this one, I'll settle three Byzantions as the Greeks.

Alexander the Great: This is a great day to start an empire! Now, let us settle down here, and make the greatest capital the world has ever known!

Pericles: I think the channel there looks a lot more promising.

Alexander the Great: Actually, you might be right for a change, Pericles!

*The two leaders and their tribe head towards the Bosporus, and reach it after 50 years.*

Alexander the Great: Woah, that was a long trip! But the sea here is plentiful, and with the marble of the hills we can construct great temples! And then we can make some more settlements in the neighbourhood!

Pericles: Hmm... but if we settle down here, we won't be able to found any other city in the neighbourhood!

Alexander: Who says that?

*Thunder clouds suddenly gather in the sky and a booming voice speaks from them*

Zeus: Me! And Sid, of course.

*Alexander and Pericles fall down on the ground, trembling with fear.*

Alexander: The gods! The gods have spoken to us!

Pericles: Oh Zeus, who is this Sid?

Zeus: Someone who is even more powerful than me, and who controls the life of every human here on Earth!

Pericles: Well, then we better had not upset him!

Alexander: But Pericles, what if we settle a city on that hill over there, one on the western plain and another one on the eastern plain? That will surely not anger Sid, and then we will have three cities on this magnificent spot!

Pericles: Sounds great! Settlers, go straight away!

Settlers: Yes, Pericles!

*The settlers found their cities at an incredible speed, and houses rise from the earth*


Pericles: Looks like we had not enough settling parties to found 3 cities.

Alexander: We can always train additional ones!

Pericles: That's true!

And thus the story of the city-states of Byzantion begins...

 

[trexeric]

Subbed! This ought to be good...

Just wondering - why is that Goody Hut still there?

 

[brandon.herren]

Subbed. Nice job so far.

 

[Mosher]

Eh... if you were going to found your capital there, why didn't you found the second one 1N of the marble, instead of that site 2 tiles away from your capital? Now both cities will be small because of ridiculous amounts of overlap, not to mention the fact that that is a bad city spot when there are so many better ones in Greece/Anatolia/Balkans

 

[Optical]

Interesting concept. Subscribed

 

[Lelouch]

Subbed

 

[strijder20]

Eh... if you were going to found your capital there, why didn't you found the second one 1N of the marble, instead of that site 2 tiles away from your capital? Now both cities will be small because of ridiculous amounts of overlap, not to mention the fact that that is a bad city spot when there are so many better ones in Greece/Anatolia/Balkans

Well, that's exactly the concept of this story: three Byzantions

And Trexeric, that goody hut is indeed bugged.

 

[strijder20]

Pericles: Are we really the only people in the vicinity? There ought to be mor -

Hiram : Greetings Pericles! I am Hiram, leader of the great civilization of Phoenicia.

Spoiler :

Alexander: Woah! Where did that guy come from!

Hiram : I have no clue, a few seconds ago I was standing in my palace, entertaining myself by watching some slaves being tort... uh, I mean, by watching a play, and now I am here.

Pericles : Watching a play? But you do not have the drama tech yet!

Hiram : Quickly tries to change the subject of the conversation That's a nice capital you have here! But I wonder why you didn't settle the channel, and then built a couple of smaller settlements around it?

As soon as Hiram stops speaking, a lighting bolt is thrown from the sky and misses him by a hair's width.

Zeus: That's not allowed!

Hiram stumbles back on his feet again, shocked.

Hiram: Uh, I see. Well, goodbye, leaders of Greece! I've got a nation to run!

Pericles: A nation? A citystate you mean! A quick view on the diplomacy window shows you've got no cities for trade, meaning you've only got one city, your capital.

Alexander and Hiram glare at Pericles

Alexander : What's a diplomacy window?

Pericles : Uhm, never mind.

Hiram wanders off angrily, angry because his lie was revealed.

Alexander : That didn't go too well...

Pericles : There are more important things in the world than diplomacy! Building things out of stone or marble, for example!

Spoiler :

Alexander : But why don't we just get an army and conquer those lands east of us?

Pericles : Don't be foolish, Alexander, they vastly outnumber us! What do you think? That your campaign would be an enormous access, and that you would get an empire stretching from Macedonia to Egypt to India?

Alexander : Well, yes, that's wha -

Pericles: Wonderbuilding is the way to go! The only way Greece can become glorious is by building a lot of great monuments, in honour of me!

Alexander : ... and me?

Pericles: Uhh, yes, of course!

Alexander : All right, if you say so...

Spoiler :

Cyrus: Greetings, oh wise ruler of the Greek peoples! Persia is strong - shall we count you among our friends, or our enemies? And who of you is the ruler, by the way?

Alexander and Pericles: We both are.

Cyrus : That's just daft.

Pericles: No, it isn't. I am good at military strategy, empire management, erecting great wonders, diplomacy and politics, while Alexander is good at... good at...

Alexander : ...

Pericles : ... lots of other things. So, we are a perfect duo!

Cyrus : You are a comic duo, for sure. I am here to warn you : soon, Persia will conquer all these little city-states!

Alexander : Let's see who laughs last when thousands of your soldiers suicide themselves against our threehundred Spartans!

Pericles : What are Spartans?

Alexander : Oh blast, we didn't found Sparta, did we? Oh well, we are going to win anyway.

Cyrus: Good bye, Greeks! I am going to prepare the invasion!

Pericles: That didn't go too well either... See, Alexander, your conquest would never have succeeded, with such megalomaniacal militaristic neighbour!

Alexander : Still, I'm sure it would somehow have turned out well...

Pericles : Keep dreaming. And are those settling parties finally equipped?

Settler 1 and 2: Yes, we are!

Alexander: Wait, we need only one of you!

Pericles : I suggest we use the first to found Konstantinopel , and let the second found a city in Italy, which we can gift to the Romans.

Alexander: How do you know there are 'Romans' in Italy?

Pericles: I just do. Now, off to work, you two! Tally ho!

Spoiler :

With the triplet cities settled, every effort can now go to the glory of the Empire of Constantinople. Will the Greeks manage to achieve their wonder-building dream, or will Cyrus' Immortals burn their villages? Find out in the next update...

 

[JamesCaesar]

I reccomend changing Cyrus' color to a bit darker if you can. I am excited for Pericles to break the fourth wall to bits, and seeing how the Turks do against the Greeks.

 

[MaxWar]

This is one tightly packaged empire!

 

[Alexius08]

Constantinople is supposed to be called Constantinopolis.

 

[strijder20]

I'll do the colour a bit darker. And yes, it's supposed to be called Constantinopolis, but that name seems too long to fit into the naming window

I'm going to restrict myself to those three cities until a lot, lot later And I guess you will be surprised when you see what the fourth city is

 

[Lelouch]

Bejing

 

[MoreEpicThanYou]

Rome?

 

[trexeric]

Hum?

 

[strijder20]

Caesar: Welcome to Rome, Pericles. Care for some salad? I made it myself.

Pericles: This isn't Rome, this is Byzantium.

Alexander: And why don't I get a welcome? By the way, that salad looks horrible. Where did you get the idea to add chicken to vegetables? Now, if it were tuna, that would be a different matter...

Caesar: But no! Tuna would just spoil the taste of the olive oil. Although some sardines might be nice, indeed...

Alexander : Yes! And some peppers to spice the salad!

While Alexander and Caesar have a culinary discussion, Pericles examines the scrolls Caesar dropped.


Alexander:... and the tail of a lion would add a ferocious touch to the salad!

Caesar : It has been a very enlightening conversation, Alexander, but I have to go now! Ave!

Alexander: What a nice chap! Don't you like him too, Pericles?

Pericles: Not exactly, look, I took one of his papyrus scrolls.

Alexander: Oh, how naughty! Mom always told us you shouldn't steal!

Pericles:... Shut up, please. This document describes an ingenious catapult system which can launch two entire legions and some siege engines from Rome to any part in the world! So if Julius decides to invade us, we'll have to face paradropping sword-wielders and air bombardment!

Alexander:

Pericles: If he decides to invade us.

Alexander: Oh, yes, such a good cook will never be evil enough to attack our great cities! Now, let's have a look at the other documents! Maybe we can discover more interesting recipes, uh, I mean, battle plans!

Alexander and Pericles study the various scrolls.

Alexander: Pericles! This a work of the Roman writer called Plinius called 'The most Powerful civilizations in the world!'

Pericles: Let me have a look.

Spoiler :

Alexander: What? Why aren't we first? I count for thousand, no, a million soldiers! My force and martial arts can defeat vast armies!

Pericles: Apparently Plinius doesn't agree with you. And what's more worrysome : Persia is first on the list.

Alexander: Bah! Cyrus hasn't got the brains to use those vast armies! I bet he'll attack some kind of mountain pass, where our Phalanxes can hold a valiant stand and kill thousands of them...

Pericles: Alexander, please stop about your Spartans.

Alexander: But I didn't even mention them!

Pericles: Now, we should stop hoping he'll commit a blunder like that and build some fortifications!

Alexander: I'll start straight away!

After a few hundred years, Alexander runs into the palace, excited.


Alexander: I'm ready!

Pericles: It'd better be good, after centuries of construction...

...

Alexander: This is the greatest gate the world has ever known! Just seeing it will make our enemies tremble in fear! Their citizens will be hundred percent more weary of the war! And it will take them years to batter it down!

Spoiler :

Pericles: Alexander?

Alexander: Yes?

Pericles: Where are the walls?

Alexander: Blasted! I knew I forgot something!

Pericles: ... Ok, let's just hope they do not invade us, then. Make me an overview of diplomatic relations, and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to use my political skills to avoid this slaughter.

Alexander: Here it is!

Spoiler :

Pericles: That was fast. I'm pleasantly surprised!

Alexander: Easy! Just press the F4 button.

Pericles: F4? Button?

Alexander: Hah! Now I know something you don't!

Pericles: It's looking good, we seem to be the only nation not at war. And we have open borders with everyone, so the foreign armies can pass the Bosporus and go stall the progress of other foreigners. These are great times for Greece!

A man dressed in brown monk robes suddenly pops into the palace.

Petrus: Abandon your heathen ways, pagans, and join the One True Faith! Only in this way your sins can be forgiven!

Alexander: Hello! What nation do you lead?

Petrus: I lead no nation! I come to spread the word of Christianity. I will bring down these pagan monuments, and replace them by churches!

Pericles: Did you just say you will destroy our wonders? Guards, take this fool away!

Petrus! No! God's will cannot be stopped...

Advisor: Lord Pericles, I have been so free to gather some information about this Petrus. It seems he is a missionary of a new faith of Rome, called Catholicism.

Pericles: Hmm. Maybe we should convert after a while, to build some Christian wonders too... But that's out of the question at the moment! Our Pagan monuments still have to be constructed!

Alexander: Like this one!

Spoiler :

Pericles: Did you make that all by yourself, Alexander? And what is it supposed to be?

Alexander: Well, I used the help of a couple... thousand... of slaves, but yes, I did most of the work! And it's a giant lighting rod!

Pericles: A ... lightning rod?

Alexander: Yes! Thanks to my tower, no house of Byzantium will be struck by lightning ever again!

Pericles: That's a bit extravagant for a lightning rod, isn't it. Now, if we lit a fire on top of it, it might serve as a very large Lighthouse, attracting traders all over the world.

Alexander: Could it still be used as a lightning rod too, then?

Pericles: I guess so.

Alexander: Yay! Let that fire be lighted immediately! Trade for the win! As long as we use the taxes to levy an army...

Advisor: Talking about trade : Merchants have a constructed a great temple near the palace, in which they exchange many exotic goods. It is also said that the priests in the temple do not eat at all, so we don't have to give them rations!

Pericles: Don't you have a name, advisor?

Storitalos: My name is Storitalos, noble ruler.

Pericles: Well, Storitalos, do you have any other news? I fear that I and Alexander, occupied with diplomacy as we were, may have neglected our empire a bit...

Storitalos: There is an artist called Homer who has written a great work about many of the Greek heroes. He is very well liked by the people. Settling him down would earn the state money, by using a clever new invention called 'advertisements', and would convince the barbarians on the borders of our empire to join us.

Alexander: Do I have a role in the story?

Storitalos: I am afraid you don't, lord Alexander.

Alexander: But you said 'many of the Greek heroes'! And everyone knows I am the greatest hero of them all.

Storitalos: This Homeros wanted to be original, lord Alexander! Almost all Greek books are about you, so writing about you isn't very new anymore. I am sure he will write another book dedicated to you soon.

Alexander:

Pericles: Storitalos, allow this artist to settle down permanently in the city.

Storitalos: I'll go tell him immediately, lord Pericles!

Spoiler :

Alexander: You know, Pericles, I don't think 'lord' is an appropriate title for us two. After all, everyone who owns a bit of land and slaves is a lord, and we surely are much better than that rabble!

Pericles: Alexander, it really doesn't matter what they call us, it is what we are that matters!

Alexander: You never allow me anything! You are a ***king ...

Pericles: What? We are decent men, Alexander! Now repeat that, but leave that filthy word out!

Alexander: Uh... You are a king?

Pericles: Wait, that sounds quite nice actually. From now on, our servants and citizens will call us king!

Spoiler :

With the newly achieved king-hood, Alexander and Pericles now have absolute and justified power over their people. They had it before too, as dictators, but now their power is allowed by the law!
(Which does not really matter, as they write the law)
So far, all is peace and harmony in Greece. But will it continue? Will they stand the test of time? Will they be killed by frenzied crusaders who seek to drive the pagans out of Europe? Will I really end every update with a cliffhanger?

Find out in the next update!

 

[strijder20]

I am afraid it's not as unlikely as Bejing, but it's less likely than Rome And I don't think Hum is on the city-naming map
( The civilization controlling it is on the border of overpowered in the version I am playing, which makes it unlikely )

 

[MaxWar]

Tenochtitlan ?

Edit: Damn had not noticed the new update! *reads*
Im definitely enjoying this story!
Even though i never played the Mod.

 

[Lelouch]

I've got 2 more guesses:
1. Ulm
2. Sealand!

 

[Alexius08]

Albuquerque?