The kings of Anshan

[King of Anshan]

The kings of Anshan, by King of Anshan.

Civ4: BTS vanilla
Large Tectonics Pangaea, normal climate
14 adversaries
Emperor difficulty
Free religion choice
(See 4000 BC start save)

Chapter 1 : the Birth of a Nation

Spoiler :

Welcome children, to the Anshan Historical Museum. We will start our fascinating journey through the wonderful history of our magnificent nation here. The Aryan people had for generations lived a nomad’s life, but in the 4th millennium BC the mastered agriculture and settled here along the banks of the Tigris. While the Aryans roamed around their city and their land of rivers and lakes and hills Buddhism was founded in 3640 BC in a then unknown place.

Shortly thereafter another civilization was met, the seven united tribes of Holland. Peaceful relationships were established in 3560 BC.

Few generations later the Malinese followed. Around the same time the Aryans mastered animal husbrandy and cows were domesticated at Anshan. At that time a belief was founded in a distant land prophesizing the coming of a saint over 3520 years, the Aryans started to show an interest in mysticism around that time.

Later explorers from Anshan stumbled upon an arrogant tribe who called themselves the Chinese, as neither of both tribes had a clue were the other came from, peaceful relations were the only possibility.

East of the source of the Tigris river, beyond the forests and the hills lived the people of Greece, around 3280 BC the first relationship between out close neighbours and us was established.

Perhaps by Greek influence the Aryan religion gained some characters that distinguished her from the rest of the world. To worship these spirits of nature the Aryans started to build ever greater ziggurats, places of worship, with ever better material, which would eventually result in the Anshan-masonry style of old Eranshahr.

Contact with the Byzantine Greeks, a sister tribe of our eastern neighbours, was established around 3000 BC. It were these people who had started to worship the one God, and they were eagerly waiting His sons arrival.

With the ever more advanced ziggurats the Aryan spirits slowly became more the gods we now know today. But this evolution would still require time…

Slowly but steadily the Aryans grew in numbers, around the time that the people of Cuzco, the Inca’s, were met a settler party was send out to found a sister city on the plains close to the source of the Tigris river. The (polytheist)period of the worshipping of the Aryan pantheon begun around 2300 BC, but already some in society worshipped one God, the King of the Gods, in particular.

Pathragada was founded around 2240 BC, as can be deduced from dating the stones of the monument. Roughly at the same time the Taoism was founded far away.

Some generations later, while Aryans explorered the mouth of the Tigris river, the Indian people were met, the worshipped no god in particular but believed they should follow the ways of a fat statue called Budha. At first this was not an appealling view in Aryan society. These people were more advanced at that time, carrying bows instead of clubs.

Around 1920 BC Eranshahr was a relatively poor backwater, certainly compared to the riches of Greece. But wealth attracts thieves, as the Aryan saying goes. It was therefor that the Great Wall was built in a land far away, to protect them from barbarians. Around 1760 BC the theory of One God was fully thought out, but rejected by the conservative Aryan Shah’s. Religion remained unorganized. Because of the increasing military strength of other nations the Aryans began to study war, like archery. The time of innocence was ending as civilization advanced…

Children, please follow me the second hall!

 

[Daedwartin]

...looks promising.

 

[King of Anshan]

Chapter 2 : the Barbarian Invasions

Spoiler :

Good children, we have now entered the hall of the Barbarian invasion-period and - DON’T TOUCH THAT, IT’S HANDCRAFT BY MONKS AND OVER A THOUSAND YEARS OLD! – Good as I said, the time of innocence was over. Civilized people advanced, but so did the barbarians. Around 1500 BC the Aryans mastered archery. Making the military more en par with the other nations.

Some years later, as the Aryans met the Taoist Babylonians, the Shah’s turned their eyes northward. North, to Lake Parishan and the fertile river lands of the Tarius. It was the land of the Aryan Parsa tribe, but the fertile land was only sparsely populated. The first attempted was thwarted by an army of Barbarian archers. The settlers fled back to the capital while the military was expanded and equipped with bows.

A second settling attempt was more successful, an army of warriors succeeded in sneaking past the various barbarian encampments on the Parsi Plains and reached the shores of lake Parishan were the city of Parsa, after the Parsi tribe, was founded in 1200 BC. But before that our brave ancestors had to fight an army of barbarian archers camped on the eight hills were Parsa was to be founded. In the battle of the Naked Hill Aryan warriors defeated an army of barbarian archers. The new settlement would in time honour this miraculous victory with a monument.

In the Heartlands skirmishing between Aryans and barbarians continued as the barbarians pillaged the countryside. Slowly but certainly the people of Eranshahr got the upper hand in the conflict and they drove away or killed the wicked invaders.

Diplomatically the Shah’s did not remain idle either. Treaties were signed with the people of Greece, Babylon, the Netherlands and India. While Aryan ideas about religion, especially monotheism, influenced the Dutch, the Dutch learned us valuable skills like mining and writing. At the beginning of the first millennium BC Dutch Cuneiform, called Kleisgrijfen by the native Dutch, was very popular in Eranshahr. Around the same time the second and probably last Barbarian assault on Pathragada failed, as could be deduced from writing found on a stone marking a mass grave. Those were most likely the defeated invaders.

Following the course of the 10th century BC it becomes visible that the infrastructure of Eranshahr started to develop rapidly. Diplomatic relationships with far away Qin was also tightened as can be deduced from the finding of mass imported Chinese pottery and of Aryan named deities in China. Over the course of the centuries more of such exchanges would follow.

In the Ninth century BC evidence indicates an increase in knowledge and literature as some of the oldest libraries date from that period, those of Anshan and Pathragada. Although it would be only in the 6th century that those libraries ought –That’s grown-up for should, don’t you learn anything at school these days?- to deserve that name. There had first to be written a lot. As well as that a Chinese form of meditation rooted in the Aryan priesthood, while Aryan influenced versions of polytheism and monotheism appeared in China. Trade with the northern Malinese also started during these period as merchants ventured the Tigris and the seas. Eranshahr imported Malinese sheep, leather was exported. Trickles of ivory trade were visible as well, but not enough to be significant. Ivory was at that moment still most used by the Aryans themselves. Religiously Christianity gained a foothold in Greece and Holland, convincing those peoples to make it their state-religion. It would still take centuries for any major religion to gain followers among the Aryans.

In the 7th and 8th century barbarian incursions intensified again. Roughly every ten years Parsa was attacked by a barbarian horde. All attempts were thwarted. Legends about the struggles of the Parsi continue this very day, especially of their legendary skill in archery. The tide would soon turn as the Aryans started to adopt the horse for war, with their feared units of Anusiya, immortals. Although these riders would for many years be few in number and merely function as a bodyguard of the Shah’s.

The Libraries of both Anshan and Pathragada were complete in 575 BC, from documents found in Anshan’s library we know that the Byzantine Shah, called Basileuos, made an open border agreement with the Aryans. We also know that in the 5th and 6th century BC knowledge of sailing priesthood and above all bronze working were brought to, and studied in, the Aryan nation. Also Greek settlers were encroaching the borders of the plains, desiring the gold in the Sunrise hills - or Sunset hills, depending on which side you are, HA! …Hmm, humour isn’t taught at school too? … - In response Pathragada was walled and the Shah’s decided it would become a major training ground for the Realm. Meanwhile Buddhist missionaries from India begun spreading their faith across the plains, starting with Anshan in 400 BC.

In 325 BC emissaries from the Zulu arrived, bringing peace they said. Around the same time the people of Pathragada converted to the relatively new faith of Islam. In those years our ancestors mastered the art of horseback riding, it was eagerly traded for the secret of iron working. With that the era of the barbarian invasions ended and the Classical era begun. An era, lads, of brewing conflict as Eranshahr would arm itself to take over the world! Or something like that, the immortals marched out at least. Please follow kids, we still have a long walk ahead of us, lots of things to be seen yet. I have only just started…

 

[Yudishtira]

'Lads' and 'kids', I notice. A single-sex primary class. How old-school!

And when you denied spamming your UU, that was just for story (and counterespionage lol) reasons, right? Everyone spams their UU!

 

[King of Anshan]

'Lads' and 'kids', I notice. A single-sex primary class. How old-school!

Emancipation is not my favourite civ4 civic.

Chapter 3 : the First Conquest

Spoiler :

Toilets are there, just around the corner. Anyone got to pee? No? Well, as you might have learned in class, this period marks the beginning of our glorious military and the beginning of our conquest. But in this period the Parsi plains were not wholly ours yet. In the east the Greek people had occupied part of the plains, creating tension between our peoples. In the West the Indians settled ever closer to our domain and the Bulgarians established a pirate stronghold at the mouth of the Tigris. The mountains and the desert in the north prevented most of this. In the South lake Arban would be annexed by the Netherlands. The Shah’s kept a wary eye on the intruders. The army would be enlarged with numerous companies of horse archers.

Around the year 300 BC the Aryans came into contact with the people of Arabia and the Celts. With the Celts relations were friendly, we took over their alphabet and learned them how to ride on horseback. Because of the less open terrain of Celtica, this would be of limited use for them. You see kids, arming a potential enemy is stupid, unless they will be armed by someone else if you don’t. In that case, profit from it. A generation later the Budhist Indians spread budhism to Parsa, completing around the same time the Mahabodhi, a massive Buddhist shrine. The Aryans settled Badakhshan in the Southern Hills, bordering the Netherlands. In those hills massive deposits of gold and copper was found, an important asset to the Shah’s of Eranshahr and of the Spah(army).

And now children, we arrive at a turning point in our history. The idea of a monarchy, a one man rule backed by church and heritary rules, was imported from the Netherlands. In 239 BC Tavish, son of Tabrish, came to the throne. Tavish quickly made laws concerning his succession. Were first the legitimacy of the shah came from his approval by the chieftains of the Aryan tribes, it now would come from the laws of succession and directly from the divine will. Tavish shah allowed the Moslims and Budhists in the realm to organize and make their own laws, as long as they would support him. Paganism came under increasing pressure. This change was not welcomed by all, and in a short and bloody civil war some of the more conservative chieftains were defeated. They fled to the Netherlands and eventually were slain by a the followers of a new faith, Hinduïsm. Despite the fact that the Celts could come in handy in a war against the Greeks, the Shah did not join their embargo against the Indians. Two frontal wars are good only for the enemy…

Contact with the people of Spain, the Iberians, was established in 200 BC. Relations soured up a bit when they asked Eranshahr to stop trading with Qin. The Chinese might have been arrogant, but they were a reliable trading partner. The Spanish demands were put aside. In Anshan the libraries begun to fill with Buddhist monks from the nearby monastery, which had just been complete. It just across the square, children. Twenty five years after the building of the monastery the Greeks further angered the Shah by settling Knossos near our southern border. That is presumably the reason why they were designated as one of the first targets of the Spah.

That Aryan cavalry was a force to be feared the barbarians soon found out. In 75 BC the Anusiya ambushed and routed an invading barbarian army at lake Padishan, losing few of our own. During the passing of the century more and more horse archers were trained and battle readied. Also Agaman Shah commissioned the colonisation of the western plains, downstream of Anshan along the Tigris. In those years mathematics came to Eranshahr from Greece, and Monarchy flowed back. Agaman was demanded by the Indians to stop trade with the Chinese, which he refused. Trade is valuable and Agaman knew one day the Aryans would war the Indians. The Malinese taught us how to mint coins, in exchange we learned them horseback riding. The Aryans started to look to the stars in hope of predicting more accurately the arrival of the seasons.

According to the Christians the son of God should now have been born, Aryan sources make no such statement. Apparently the Christian nations were more concerned. The Romans, living north of the Greeks, were not. They were Buddhists and offered us a trade agreement. Now for the sports fans, it was under the reign of Tabrish IV, son of Agaman II, that the Pathragada games were first instituted drawing athletes from all of the Parsi Plains, and beyond… The first games were won by the Greek athlete Dunambrachos, he was disqualified for he was a Greek, and Greeks always cheat.
Tabrish IV also managed to triple the treasury by giving the idea of currency to Babylon. In 75 AD contact was established with the remote Russians, somehow they really hated us. A year later the Spah marched to the city now called Gorgan Verkana, called Goth by the Barbarians. But the city’s defences were just reinforced, appearing to strong... The army withdrew to bid its time.

Demands to not trade with this or that continued for the rest of history, mostly met with refusal. In 125 BC Buddhism spread to Badakshan, making it the dominant religion in Eranshahr. For diplomatic reasons the Shahs stayed open to all religions. Of the Realm’s half a million people almost 300 000 are Buddhists. Not bad for a fat bald guy, ey? Aye, no humour. A road was constructed from the planned site of Agmatanu, situated on hilly ground close to a tributary of the Tigris and to lake Matan. Shah Agman II realized that as a prime city of the realm Parsa should be well protected. Order was given to errect walls. This effort was made easier by knowledge of construction obtained from the Russians, in exchange for our knowledge. Nothing is free, kids. In 200 AD Pathragada was partially converted to Buddhism, making it the de facto state religion. In the West India was encroaching the borders of Eranshahr with the founding of Madras and Bangalore, tensions were rising but the Shahs believed peaceful methods could be used to bring those cities under control of the Shahdom.

The creations and institution of the Agmanian Calendar in 225 AD by Agman III lead to a small burst in technology and wealth of the Aryan civilization and of its neighbours. More important was the founding of Agmatanu. From here the southwest of the Plains could be controlled, as well as putting a watch on the renegade stronghold of Bulgar-by-the-Sea. An obelisk was to be erected in the city to use the sunlight as a calendar and to honour our glorious Shah Agman III.

While stumbling upon some foreign spies of unknown nationality, the attack was opened on Gorgan Verkana. The city was taken with minimal losses and added to the empire. A monument would be erected to honour this victory. This was the first city ever conquered by an Aryan Spah. Oh, yes we had won battles on the field and took little villages, but that is nothing compared to the conquest of a city. SO REMEMBER KIDS, 250 AD: FALL OF GORGAN VERKANA!

The next 100 years are in comparison very boring, I must admit. Apart from gaining some appreciation for aesthetics the only relevant event was the start of an war elephant breeding program in Pathragada. Good, NEXT HALL!

 

[Daedwartin]

Your neighbors are getting too large. It is time to help them lose some weight. it is your right as King Of Kings.

 

[King of Anshan]

Chapter 4 : When opportunity arises

Spoiler :

This hall is dedicated to the Antiquity-transitional period. As you know Eranshahr was more and more encroached by its neighbours of India, Holland and Greece. Originally Shah Tabriz “The Opportunist” was preparing an attack on the Greek holdings on the Parsi Plains, but that changed when an envoy came from the Emperor of China. China requested the aid of the Spahs in a war against the Netherlands, a treaty happily accepted by the Shahs and the Military High Council. The Spah was redirected from Thebes to lake Arban and the city of Nijmegen. With a two-frontal war the Dutch Army, which was already not in excellent state, would be easily crushed. Fleeing from the threat of war, some Hindu’s from Rotterdam settled in Agmatanu, the Shahs allowed it as long as they obeyed him. As Tabriz feared to be caught in two frontal war, he tried to bribe the Indians with a lucrative trade deal, gold for gems. Requests by the people of Gorgan Verkana to join the Greeks were refused. In retrospective, allowing it would have meant those peoples dead. The people of Gorgan Verkana then turned to the Budhist faith spread by Indian missionaries there. 25 years later the Shah ordered Agmatanu to be walled, never truly trusting the Indians.

Around 475 AD an envoy of the Celts came, asking the Shah to suspend trade with the Indians. In reply the Shah said that the Aryans cannot turn their back on the Indians. It’s a myth that he added “or they will stab us in it.”, that would be very undiplomatic, and rude. In the same year the first of the Shahs Eyes & Ears were recruited, the spy was to travel to the newly chopped forest to Thebes and assess the situation there. 25 years later, the Romans invaded Greece. This was met with silent approval of the Shah’s, who loved to see an invasion target weakened. More troublesome news came from Amsterdam, were the Apostolic Palace was built in an attempt to unite all Christians…
In 520 AD the Greeks asked for aid in their war with the Romans, Shah Tashik politely declined.
Archeologists estimate that Eranshahr now housed one million people, twice the size of its population only 6 centuries ago. In the same year Argos was destroyed by a Roman host and Bulgar captured by Celtic chariots. Knowing that Celtica could not hold it, the Shah Tashik was amused. One day it would become a major port of Eranshahr, but that day lies far in the future.

540 AD kids, was as you SHOULD know, an important date. The Aryans advanced their bow crafting considerably, leading to the infamous longbow. A much feared weapon that greatly increased Eranshahr’s capacity to defend itself. Around the same time a new dynasty arose in a palace coup. The new Shah, Safar the Usurper, brought upon the land a feudal system with vassalage and serfs, making society less primitive on the steppes. This knowledge of bowcrafting was traded with the people of Mali in exchange for literature and their idea of a code of Laws. Our first code of laws was instituted by Shah Cyrus I, who succeded Safar after his assassination. The Cyrus Cylinder is visible over th- DON’T TOUCH THAT, THIS IS A MUSEUM!. Not much later Cyrus as Spahbod Eran, commander of the Aryans, led his army to Nijmegen and razed the city, the population would in time be moved to the northern shore of the lake, to Tabriz. His cavalry was then ordered to pillage the Dutch countryside and cut of the Dutch from their highly valued iron supply.

Twenty years later the North-east of Holland was turned to waste, a Dutch counter-attack at Badakshan was thwarted by a unit of war elephants. The Romans were far less lucky, they lost an army in a failed assault on Thebes. Also Aryan literature was exported to Russia and Incastan, yielding great profits. Around the same time the Mahardja of India demanded of the Shah that he accepts Buddhism as his state-religion. The Shah, considering diplomacy, refused, stating that tolerance to all religions is the right way, the Aryan way.

In 600 AD settlers left from Anshan to found a settlement on the shore of Lake Arban, to become one of the settlement-fortresses guarding Pathragada. Also Aryan literature was exported to Rome as well and Greece was thought the skills of making better bows (in exchange for Greek theology). The Shah reasoned that to conquer Greece, Greece should not be conquered already. As his spies reported massive Celtic armies marching west to conquer Greece, Shah Tabriz III feared he would miss his slice of the cake: the Sunrise hills. Twenty years later Agmatanu was walled, just as the Indians took control of Bulgar-by-the-Sea from the Celts. Shah Tabriz IV ordered a courthouse constructed in Agmatanu, so a judge could speak in his name, and to relieve him a bit of his juridical duties. In the far East the Byzantine empire started an invasion of Spain, claiming the heathen Iberians ought to follow the way of Christ. In the light of these conditions Tabriz IV ordered the army to begin one last push in Holland, forcing them to a peace treaty. Tabriz did not wish his slice of Greek pie. Just north of Rotterdam the Spah thwarted a Nijmegen-recolonisation effort .

In 640 AD the former people of Nijmegen were relocated to Tabriz on the north-west coast of Lake Arban. To honour Cyrus shah´s victory over the Dutch a monument was to be constructed. Meanwhile the Spah killed the Dutch soldiers guarding the settler party, poorly the settlers themselves escaped the battle. As spy reports informed the Shah that Celtic forces in the Corinth region had doubled -and that the Dutch secretly poisoned Badakshan’s water supply (despite having it´s private river and freshwater lake)- , peace was signed with the ¨Seven¨ Provinces. Also Aryan literature was exported to consumers in both India and Byzantium, making Eranshahr the world´s bestselling books nation. This has never truly changed, our literature is the best!

660 AD was a decade of science. Rene Descartes, a scientist with Roman ties, founded the Descartes Academy for the Youthful (DAY) in Parsa, making the city a scientific hub in the early empire. Twenty years later shah Tabriz VI, who is known to have had a weak hart, died laughing. According to palace sources first the Spanish requested his help against the most powerful nation on the world in a war half a world away and then the weakest nation to exist, the Arabs demanded spices. Tabriz VII, his heir, refused both. During his reign Pathragada´s forest were diminished further, making room for open plains. Twenty years later, while Badakshan became enwalled, compasses were obtained from Russia in exchange for a copy of the Cyrus Cylinder and three-quarters of the treasury. Another copy was sold to the Chinese to fill said treasury again. Nice ey? NEXT HALL!

 

[Yudishtira]

shah Tabriz VI, who is known to have had a weak hart

If his pet male deer was so rubbish, why didn't he just get a better one!!!?

 

[King of Anshan]

If his pet male deer was so rubbish, why didn't he just get a better one!!!?

Because the Malinese have all the deer , as far as he knows. And smugglers don't exist in Civ4.

 

[Daedwartin]

Should remember this next time

Welcome, Young writer, to the land where the strong control all and the weak "cultured" people burn, where the advanced destroy the primitive, where the UN is a tool for world domination, where democracy is just a means of building things quicker while communism is the most effective economy for large empires more often than not, where those who conquer the quickest and than keep control of their spoils are the most respected, where men love to start as cavemen on their trip 2 the cosmos, the heavens fall twice with incantations of unbelievable power, where the ultimate religious authority is a white, radioactive rock that can burst forth sometimes with the radiance of a thousand suns[1], where the forecast is continued war in a hell-hole of eternal war against EurasiaEastAsia with a 100% chance of mushroom clouds, or have been forced to abandon their own home due to thermonuclear warfare for the stars. All at the dance of those voyaging writers, who place with the lives of trillions for the purposes of their game.

This is Civfanatics. Only The the strong will flourish under its members iron rule and titanium fists. The weak will be perished, the strong ganged on, the cunning survive.
Do you have what it takes, Oh maybe wise and definately greedy writer?

 

[King of Anshan]

Do you have what it takes, Oh maybe wise and definately greedy writer?

Nu nukes yet.

Chapter 5 : The Little Greek War

Spoiler :

Behold, the hall of the Little Greek-war period. This hall is filled with artefacts from the Little Greek War, that should not be touched. Look kids, these are arrows use by Greek Longbowmen in the battle of Thebes.

In 720 AD the technology behind the compass was sold, together with another copy of the famed Cyrus Cylinder. Back to Eranshahr came books about great Greek philosophers like Socrates, they were rapidly emulated by their Aryan counterparts. In 740 AD a young poet named Arshan wrote our great Heroic Epic, the Epic of Arshavir the Righteous. Carved in stone in Pathragada’s monument, the city became the HQ of Eranshahr’s Spahs. Arshavir was a commander of a company of immortals traveling north across the Adar desert to the fringes of Mali. Here they survived and slew the outnumbering Malinese horde. In the process capturing some slaves, who they liberated. Twenty years later an Indian request for aid against the Celts was denied, to soften it books about Aryan Theology were sold to the Indians. While Indians monks spread Buddhism in Tabriz and Aryan script spread money in the Shah’s coffins, the Spah approached the borders of Greece…

In 780 AD a peace treaty was signed between us and Mali, gaining us some restoration payment. From Russia came plans for mills, machinery, in exchange for books about drama and philosophy. In the North the barbarian stronghold of Carib was torched by the Inca. Also the Celts and Aryans signed a treaty concerning free passage through each other’s lands. Seeing all was dealt with Shah Bokhtar ordered the Spah to advance to Thebes. Some immortals marched south and captured a group of Greek workers, taking them away. The war with Greece had finally begun.

In 800 AD the Romans got attacked by Incastan, virtually eliminating them from the Greek Theatre. More important was the selling of yet another Cyrus Cylinder copy to the Byzantine empire. In return came not only money, but a map of the whole continent. The continent called Baghodat (and as was later found out the only continent), meaning God’s Gift. With that in mind Spahbod Ferozgar ordered the attack on Thebes. The battle was won, but the price was high. Almost half the army did not survive that day. Infuriated Shah Jahangir I ordered the city burned and the Spahbod decapitated. Failure would not be tolerated. As the Shah got ever more nervous about the Indians, all the Eyes and Ears were ordered to focus their activity on India.

In those years, in the ninth century, Eranshahr was not that advanced. The Aryans being just behind the best. That would off course all change once. If you kids had listened at History you would know this and I would not have to tell it all! But, good, uhmm… Soldiers continued to be trained at Pathragada continuously. In Tabriz the monument for the victory upon the Dutch “army” was finally finished. The Tabrizi then finished the iron mine laying in their vicinity, making the Spah less dependent of foreign traders. By 840 AD the Greeks lost Corinth to the Celts, pushing them even more on the defensive.

In 880 AD a request by the Russians to cease trade with the Indians was refused. Historians speculate that this might have led to the events that would follow. Around the same time the Malinese settled the fringes of the Adar-desert, land considered useless by the Shah’s. In 900 AD Shah Daneshvar I instituted the Aryan Civil Service the help govern the realm, the ACS started to stimulate the growth of nationhood among the populace. Also Ivory was exported an mass to Rome, bringing back corn and income. Shah Daneshvar died from his weak heart when the Spanish made another of their ridicule demands they are so infamous for. Artashat the Heir refused to let them gain valuable weapon technology. Still relations had not soured up that much that Eranshahr accepted the Byzantine request to attack the Spanish. Instead Artashat propagated the arts and stimulated culture. He died a young age and was succeeded by a more military friendly, more careful nephew. Of Artashats dream to preserve all oral Aryan traditions, little came to be.

In 940 AD a Byzantine request to copy the Aryan Civil Service was accepted, giving the Shah’s the friendship of the Basileus’ of Constantinople. Unlike Malinese demands, trade with Incastan was not suspended. In 960 AD a new Spah led by Spahbod Huvaspa stood before the walls of tiny Knossos. His mission was to take the city, not to burn it. Because the enemy commander threatened to burn the city, he withdrew. He did not withdraw because, as the false Greeks state, he saw no chance of beating the garrison. Nonsense, off course. A play based on our Heroic Epic was sold to Spain, showing them how true drama is like. As well as commerce.

The Little Greek War ended suddenly in 980 AD, when a freak Rus attack took place. Historians still speculate the reason of this foolish attack. Knowing now that Greece was a place with little gain but lots of losses, Shah Jahanabad I agreed with the Greeks to cease the fighting and signed with their leader an open borders agreement. Also plays were sold to Celts, who could not come up with this themselves, confirming Celts are unimaginative. Anyone knows what happened with the six thousand Russians camping on the plains? No? I should have known… To the next hall, to the answer kids.

 

[King of Anshan]

Chapter 6 : Prepare for battle!

Spoiler :

This hall is dedicated to the 10th century pre-war period of our nation’s history, commonly abbreviated as the 10th century. We left the last hall after the treaty of Knossos, ending the Little Greek war. Just before the signing of the treaty a Russian army had invaded the Plains in what is called the Russian incident.

Foremost coms to attention that Baghodat in 1000 AD, did NOT sink to the bottom of the Ocean. In opposite to what many doomsayers, mainly Christians, claimed at the time. Nor will it happen in 2000 AD. At most everything but Eranshahr will sink into the Ocean. As the world continued to turn Babylon requested Anshan to join in its ware against the Arabs, which was denied. Gorgan Verkana begun construction of its walls and Pathragada delivered ever more soldiers to serve the Shah’s will. In the Sunset-hills, preparations begun to make place for a new settlement before the Greeks reclaimed control. For this the Russian Army had to be removed. In a surprise attack, the Battle of the Starless Night, the Spah utterly annihilated the invaders. Few Aryan casualties were mourned.

Ten years later, as the war between Rome & Incastan had ended and Babylon lost ground to Arabia(Historians credit this surprising conquest to Babylonian arrogance, underestimating the enemy), Zard was founded. Zard means yellow, as is the colour of the gold those hills are filled with. A play was written for the Arabs concerning their victory, returning the Aryan writer a nice cash sum. In 1020 AD the mainly Greek population requested the Shah for reunion with Greece, Enosis. Shah Adar was furious and brutally supressed the people who came up with the idea. In Parsa a theatre was finished to play all new plays in, and a courthouse was built mainly to discuss authorship-problems about the plays. In the following decades the Realm’s military power continued to grow. Yet any foreign requests for interventions were denied, as was the Shah’s policy. Also the Tsar of Russia was informed of the incident. He apologised, stating he surely had not ordered such an attack. Off course the Shah did not believe that, however he did believe the generous damage sum.

In 1060 AD the treaty of Corinth was ratified, yielding peace between Spain & Byzantion and Rome & Greece. Greece was put under Byzantine protection and would join Byzantion in its war with the Zulu. Ten years later, India demanded that Eranshahr would cease all trade with Incastan. This was refused, at that moment al large Indian army marched south to Bulgar, to whatever purpose.

In 1078 AD Shah Adarhoshang was crowned, he was a more an organiser than a warlord. This is visible in the multitude of buildings stemming from his reign. At his death in 1093 he ruled over more than 2 million people. In that same decade Rome and China came at peace. More important was that just before Adarhoshang’s death he made a great gift to the Emperor of China, both in gold as in knowledge. In return Chinese engineers taught ours how to improve roads and weaponry, like pikes. To refill the treasury, philosophy was exported to Zulustan.

Shah Jahangir II (and Jahangir means conqueror of the world) saw that the time of westward expansion had come. With a treasury filled and proper intelligence about India, the Shah gave his Spah its orders. Eranshahr would prepare for war…

The war begun with the simultaneous delivery of the Shah’s declaration of war and the Spah’s conquest of Takshashila, once called Madras by the Indians. Madras was taken with few Aryan losses, giving Eranshahr’s army a great moral boost. The Spah split in three, part staying in Takshashila, part marching north and part south. In Bulgar the Indian Expedintionary force waited. Storm clouds gathered over Baghodat. Mistrust and rivalries between Realms threatened to break and flood the world in a tide of Total War…

 

[Dumanios]

Well done, young padawan.

 

[King of Anshan]

Chapter 7 : Invading India

Spoiler :

Shortly after the fall of Takshashila, the Romans declared war. The Shah had not anticipated such an offense by a former ally. Had Eranshahr and Rome not fought side by side against Greece? Probably the Romans felt pushed by their Indian brethren in the faith. In 1110 AD some Indian longbowmen ambushed a group of pikemen guarding some workers and slaughtered them all. They were quickly avenged by some nearby macemen. After that an Aryan Spah enclosed the city of Bangalore/Bahram, beginning a siege. The Indians did the same for Agmatanu. Not much later spies of unknown nationality, presumably Roman, poisoned the water supply of Parsa and Pathragada. This resulted in the death of thousands of innocent Aryan lives. The Shah in person came to Pathragada and tried to comfort the ill. One day, he said, would revenge be taken for this atrocity.

By 1120 AD the first sally occurred. The Indian army was almost halved, at the minor price of only one unit of horse archers. In this major battle on the plains the horse archers proved lethal, outflanking the enemy and delivering them heavy blows. Nevertheless they continued the siege. Spahbod Wehzan (mistakenly named William by foreigners) was called back from the stronghold of Agmatanu to train the new recruits in Pathragada.

Despite a failed surprise attack from the northern forest by a group of macemen, the city of Bahram was taken with limited casualties. Most severe losses constituted the majestic elephants that died by the stupidity of their rider. The lost against all odds.

The road to Bahram was destroyed, making an Indian counter-strike harder. Poorly th anusiya, the immortals, did not live up to their names and perished under Indian axes. Around this time Zulu music became popular in Eranshahr, something given in gratitude for demonstrated Aryan engineering. A decade later Babylon and Arabia made peace. Babylon was humiliated and had, as a regional power, effectively lost a war against the most backwater civilization of the continent. More serious trouble came from a large Roman host approaching the ill-defended settlement of Zard. The Shah did not want the Romans to have this city, as it would threaten Pathragada itself. With pain in his heart (and for his hart, who was the Shah’s scape goat) he gave control of the settlement to Incastan, an archenemy of Rome. The plan was successful and the Romans withdrew for some time. Zard however was lost. Gorgan Verkana, as the only possible Roman target, was ordered to be reinforced.

Agmatanu was finally relieved in 1140, when the lost besiegers were slaughtered and thrown into the Tigris (as the Indians camped down-rivers). The Spah hastily moved forth to capture ill-defended Bulgar. But they were to late. The Emperor of India had ordered the cities defenses to be build up at all costs, claiming thousands of lives. Tricks of Aryan generals were nullified by this Evil. The massacre made the Emperor’s regime not more popular, but in the end it would make the Shah’s. In 1150 AD delegatas from the few Christians in Bahram travveled to Amsterdam to vote. The Shah considered this trivial and gave them the freedom to choose.

In the year 1160 AD our two lousy delegates returned. Those peace-loving Christians had chosen for no war with Zulustan, but two votes of 800 is not much of a game-changer. Yet another reasons why the Shah refused some Greek’s demand to make Christianity our state-religions. Aryans will NEVER give up their belief(s). Around this time the patriotic Nationalist came with the Aryan Manifesto, stating that the Aryan people are destined for greatness and that it is every Aryans duty to protect the motherland. In the following decades this philosophy would gain the favour of the Shah. The Manifesto was exported to Greek patriots, who returned with a book about guilds and one about an new version of stirrups. Learning from this and with the strong horse breed of the planes, Eranshahr was now capable of fielding regiments of heavily clad lancers, the Savaran cavalry (knights). The Manifesto was brought to Byzantion after the success in Greece, yielding knowledge of papyrus making from reed & about optical instruments. From Mali came a theory about the Shah having the Divine right to rule granted by Divine Will of the Divine Being (so far every Aryan religion agreed, then thoughts start to differ). In China the Manifesto became a bestseller as well, once transformed into a Chinese version. Aroused by this form of nationalism China joined Eranshahr in its war against India.

In 1170 a new treaty was signed with Russia, as they were so kind to send a delegate across the globe to politely ask it. At least that is what Shah Chubin claims in his biography. For the same reason he appears to have rejected a plea from Zulustan to aid them in their war against Byzantion. Shortly thereafter the Shah led the charge against the defenders of Bulgar. The city was taken, but some precious elephants and Anusiya immortals died. The first phase of the war was over, the west of the Parsi Plains were more or less Eranshahr’s. But the war did not end, as the Shah’s ambition stretched beyond the Plains. The Plains were large and Eranshahr was the largest empire in the world, but also dry. The Plains could eventually not accommodate the numbers needed to rule a great empire. And what about the Roman army, sir? How will the Shah save Gorgan Verkana? Interesting question, I'll return to that later, child.

 

[Daedwartin]

Going to be honest. I wouldn't invade unless I'm certain I could completely conquer a nation in a single war.

it's just I otherwise wouldn't feel strong enough to fight a war then.

 

[King of Anshan]

Going to be honest. I wouldn't invade unless I'm certain I could completely conquer a nation in a single war.

it's just I otherwise wouldn't feel strong enough to fight a war then.

This is the first time (since years, no matter the difficulty) that i played BTS of vanilla Civ4 on emperor (played emperor-diff. before, but in FFH2 only). Against Greece I was quite certain that i would destroy it, it was a bloody three frontal war. The AI rarely survives that.

Against India, I just underestimated them. I had expected that I could win, and vassalize them, but I lost momentum. I lacked the forces to push the advance and ended like the Germans in WO1:

Chapter 8 : Why optimism is bad for you

Spoiler :

So kids, as you know, the Shah were very optimistic about their war against India. Intelligence seemed to indicate the Spah could march through relatively easy. But it turned out differently. The Shah’s badly underestimated the Indian strength and had put aside the fact of a Roman incursion and a feared two frontal war. Remember kids, don’t be optimistic.

Sensing the problem Eranshahr was getting sucked in, the Shah used the diplomatic way. Setting up other nations against the Indians and the Romans, trying to make them pariah-states. While bringing In wealth to fund the armies too. By 1200 AD the Romans crossed the river Tarius and started to shoot the heavily fortified city of Gorgan Verkana. This would continue for thirty years, until the Shah would finally have mustered enough men to stop them. But it also proved to be a deadly delay, giving India just enough time to strengthen their border and even performing a counter-strike. From the South a Chinese army marched to Agra, to meet the Indians in battle.

The world was round, this was proven by Aryan scientist with the aid of math. But the Indians had to take a boat and sail around the world just to prove, they reached Russia in 1220 AD. The Indian army heading for Takshashila was intercepted and routed by the Savaran knight. The Spah suffered only limited losses. Also the Eyes & Ears spread rumours about how the people of Bulgar were treated by their emperor, leading to massive unhappiness in Agra.

While the Dutch in Bulgar rebelled, Gorgan Verkana was relieved by the Savaran Knights. Their charge was something the Romans had no answer to, their legion was destroyed. Only one soldier returned to the caesar’s court, to tell him of this defeat. But it was already too late. By 1240 AD the Indians had mustered enough of their forces and started recruiting, the momentum was wasted. As the Shah realised winning was no longer an option, and it perhaps had never been, he signed peace with India while things still looked favourable.(Don’t gamble, play it safe. Shah Navzar did win a lot when playing poker, so&#8230 In the south the Dutch made a massive scientific leap, being the most advanced civilization in the world. Shah Navzar started to stimulate commerce in Anshan, funding the construction of an apothecary.

In 1250 AD three delegates left from Bahram to Amsterdam, to elect a new president for the “Vatican”. Their vote was on Justinian, a nation the Shah’s wanted to remain friends with and the most likely victor. In Agmatanu a library was being build, military build-up was now merely Pathragada’s concern. The people of Bahram started to build a theatre, after they heard of the exceptional plays performed in Badakshan’s theatre. They tried to closely copy that theatre. In 1270 AD the Byzantine candidate became the new pope, caring most for those nations who voted in his favour. Ten years later Spain declared war on the Romans, giving them yet another enemy. As the Shah suddenly realised that Eranshahr was still at war with them too, they had just done nothing. So a peace-treaty was signed. Rome payed some damages, but not even nearly enough to compensate for Eranshahr’s losses.

In 1290 AD, as loved money was gained from selling theories about the Shah’s Divine Right to hated Indians, the Shah refused to attack Russia. They might be fools, but they had come to the Shah’s aid. The Arab request was denied. Around the same time the Eyes & Ears were firmly rooted in the Dutch empire, knowing much about their strength. The Shah saw their weakness and an opportunity for invasion, but he remembered well the lessons for the past. India had seemed doable, but it was not. Greece had seemed a piece of cake. Attacked from two sides by nations stronger than Greece for centuries. Yet the price for every Greek conquest was far higher than any sane general would wish to pay. Greece had survived a three frontal war, and still was something. No, this was a tough decision for the Shah’s. The Dutch were weak, but how about the allies they could call into the fray?

 

[Daedwartin]

K...you need to stop conquering. You need to start military building. Being 11th makes you very weak. You need to be number 1.

 

[Alex Dog]

I don't like zoom-out maps like this with all the city name tags cluttering up the borderlines

Spoiler :

But maps like this one really give me, as a reader, a good sense of where you are in a game, strategically speaking. How did you get this image without the city names on it? Is this enlarged from the military advisor screen?

Spoiler :

 

[strijder20]

Should remember this next time

Welcome, Young writer, to the land where the strong control all and the weak "cultured" people burn, where the advanced destroy the primitive, where the UN is a tool for world domination, where democracy is just a means of building things quicker while communism is the most effective economy for large empires more often than not, where those who conquer the quickest and than keep control of their spoils are the most respected, where men love to start as cavemen on their trip 2 the cosmos, the heavens fall twice with incantations of unbelievable power, where the ultimate religious authority is a white, radioactive rock that can burst forth sometimes with the radiance of a thousand suns[1], where the forecast is continued war in a hell-hole of eternal war against EurasiaEastAsia with a 100% chance of mushroom clouds, or have been forced to abandon their own home due to thermonuclear warfare for the stars. All at the dance of those voyaging writers, who place with the lives of trillions for the purposes of their game.

This is Civfanatics. Only The the strong will flourish under its members iron rule and titanium fists. The weak will be perished, the strong ganged on, the cunning survive.
Do you have what it takes, Oh maybe wise and definately greedy writer?

He's been here for longer than you

 

[Daedwartin]

He's been here for longer than you

I base it off of if they have done a story or not.