The Court of Harun al-Rashid

[Midnight-Blue766]

Prologue

Heaven
Sometime in the near future...

God: Okay, people! This heavenly council meeting has now come to order!

Tamerlane: God, I do not wish to be rude, but what is this meeting for?

God: Good question. Now, you've heard about Fred Phelps, right?

Dom Pedro II: The "God hates fags" person? What about him?

God: Well, you know how sometimes when my back is turned, bad stuff happens, right?

Darwin: Yes...?

God: Well, it seems that Fred Phelps has (how do I put this).. taken over the world when I wasn't looking.

Random person in the background: WE'RE DOOMED!

God: Not really: I decided that in the event that Fred Phelps took over the world, the best solution would be to destroy the world and rebuild it again.You see where I'm going as this, right?

Wernher von Braun: So you destroyed the world and rebuilt it. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.

God: Correct. Why do you think I haven't been available the past week?

Adam: Whatever you do, I'm NOT going through the whole Garden of Eden thing again. I'm sick and tired of fruit

God: Don't worry, I'm not. I decided that in the event that I destroy and rebuild Earth, I would populate it with *rolls dice* 15 major leaders from 15 empires from history. Now, before you go, I just want to tell you that you should always be aware of the element of surprise. SURPRISE!

*God clicks his fingers, and 15 people in the council and lots of people from outside heaven vanish*

Settings
15 Civs
Earth
Time victory disabled
Quick
Leader: Harun al-Rashid

 

[moopoo]

LOL Brilliant start

 

[Midnight-Blue766]

Dramatis Personae
Harun al-Rashid: 9th century Abbasid Caliph. The hero of the story.
Jafar bin Yahya: Grand Vizer to Harun.
Ibn Battuta: 14th century explorer. Foreign advisor to Harun.

Turn 1
Harun al-Rashid: Okay, what's going on here?

Jafar: What do you mean?

Harun: I mean look at this place:

Does God honestly expect us to build a mighty civilization in the middle of a disease ridden jungle?

Jafar: Well if the Mayans and Cambodians did it, so can we, my lord.

Harun: But then we'll have to deforest it, it'll take such a long time, and not to mention the environmental effects of that!

Jafar: If the Mayans did it, so can we. Besides, all is not that bad: look to the east of our settlers.
Harun: Not-so-ancient ruins?
Jafar: Correct. Maybe if we can explore it, we could find something that will help us. Also, look around you, Harun
Harun: I only see jungle and a river, but is smells so *sniff* good, like Za'atar.
Jafar: Yes, and what is Za'atar?
Harun: A mixture of spices.
Jafar: See where I am going?
Harun: A mixture of spices, that we can cultivate. And if we can cultivate them, we can sell them. And if we sell them, we can get rich! Jafar, we're geniuses! Settlers, build our city right here!
Settler: What shall we call it?
Harun: We call it Mecca, after our past religious centre!
Ibn Battuta: Look what I found:

Harun: Excellent. Warriors, move north so we can see what's over there.

Turn 5

Ibn Battuta: My lord, there is someone who wishes to see you.
Harun *is working on a souduku game*: Tell him to go away. I'm very busy at the moment. Stupid sudouku. I wish I knew how to write.
IB: No, she would like to meet you.
Harun: *puts his sukouku game away* Very Well.

Wu: 您好，我是皇帝武則天。中國謀求和平與發展。僅給我們，我們將做同樣的選擇。
Harun: هلا وسهلا ، عجمي. أنا هارون الرشيد ، الخليفة من العرب. تعال معي ، والتحدث معي عن الامبراطورية الخاص.
Wu: 好吧，這裡的東西是錯誤。
Harun: ماذا؟
Wu: 我們不明白對方。
Harun: نقطة جيدة. نحن بحاجة الى التحدث بلغة كلانا يفهم. السنسكريتية؟
Wu: 不，讀者了解的東西太多。
Harun: ثم ماذا عن اللغة الإنجليزية؟ أنا متأكد أن معظم الناس سوف يفهمون ذلك.*
Wu: Perfect. Hello, I am the Emperor Wu Zetian. China seeks peace and development. Leave us alone and we shall do the same for you.
Harun:Welcome, foreigner. I am Harun al-Rashid, caliph of the Arabs. Come to me, and talk to me about your empire.
Wu: What do you wish to discuss?
Harun: For starters, I would like it if you do not build cities near our empire.
Wu: Very well. I agree to avoid settling in the vincinity of your empire for the time being. Perhaps in the future you will be a more accomidating neighbour.
Harun: Farewell.

IB: What was that about?
Harun: Huh?
IB: "Don't settle near us". That's a perfect way to start off relations with a new country. "Don't settle near us".
Harun: I only wanted to get a coastal city before the Chinese got to it.
IB: Then do you promise to cancel that as soon as possible?
Harun: *sigh* I promise.

Turn 7

IB: Look:

Harun: What? Money? Big deal, we get money all the time.
IB: No, this is not just money, this is foreign money. This is from a country called "Malasyia". The Malasyians gave this to our explorers as a gift.
Harun: Really? Can you tell me about this "Malasyia"?
IB: Yes: They are relatively cultured, they do not have strong feelings one way or another about us, and they are not allied with anyone. There are 3 cotton fields nearby.
Harun. Really? The world is indeed a large place when it can hold 3 great cities.
IB: Indeed.

Turn 9
al-Kindi: Look at this, Harun:

This is the recent invention of my scientists. I think I'll call it the "pot".
Harun: And what can this "pot" do?
al-Kindi: It can hold things in it so we can have supplies for a long journey.
Harun: Fascinating.
al-Kindi: We can also build Granaries now, so our cities can support a larger population.
Harun: Also fascinating.

Turn 10
Alexander: Greetings and well met! I am Alexander, the son of kings and grandson of the gods! Can you say the same?
Harun: Gods?!?!
Alexander: Yes. You know, like Zeus, Aries, etc.
Harun: Oh yes, I forgot about that. It is certainly an honor to be in your presence, Alexander. I have heard much about your exploits.

Turn 13
Jafar: Harun, I think we need to have a talk.
Harun: About what?
Jafar: The expansion of our empire. If you look at Greece, they have expanded two tiles to the left. Now, as your Grand Vizer, I recommend that we catch up to them and expand as well.

Harun: Where should we expand?
Jafar: I would recommend to the east, where the spice fields are.
Harun: That is an excellent idea.

Turn 15
Jafar: There's something else I want to show you:

Harun: The social policy screen? What about it?

Jaffar: We have 15 , Harun. We can adopt a policy now.
Harun: I think we should adopt Liberty. As much as I think tradition and honor are important, the Liberty policies look like the ones that are the most useful for the time being.

*

Spoiler :

Wu: China seeks peace and development. Leave us alone and we shall do the same for you.
Harun: Welcome, foreigner. I am Harun al-Rashid, caliph of the Arabs. Come to me, and talk to me about your empire."
Wu: Okay, something is wrong here.
Harun: What?
Wu: We don't understand each other.
Harun: Good point. We need to speak in a language that we both understand. Sanskrit?
Wu: No, something the reader understands too.
Harun: How about English?

 

[RockTheCazbah87]

Ha! Brilliant start. I'm loving all of these stories and tales that are popping up. I'll be checking back!

 

[Isntprepared]

Pah. Why'd you go put the * and spoiler tag there? I went off and hit up google translate before I even knew you had that there.... lol.

 

[Grunthex]

Nice start Farsight! Watch out for Napoleon. He has a grudge against you for embroiling him in a 6 way war.

 

[ArthurIhde]

great story! i am checking

 

[Resident Mario]

* Follows *

This guy is god at diplo victories. I RA teched to Globalization with a 10,000 in the bank for buying out every city state on the map. The Baazar is freaking amazing, sell off every extra resource for 280 gold every turn and you make ludicrous monies.

 

[Resident Mario]

Whoops. Dead thread o_O

 

[Save_Ferris]

And from the looks of it, probably the first.

 

[Resident Mario]

Sorry to bring it up [=)


Whoops did it again.