[Story] The rise of Poland

[Aussie_Lurker]

It's been ages since I've done something like this......so please forgive me if my prose is a little off!

And so it begins.....

It had been at least 5 generations since the several hundred families, who would go on to become the nation of Poland, had been forced by increased desertification to leave behind the rest of their hunter-gather forebears-who chose to remain & eke out what little existence they could from the increasingly dry terrain.

It had not been an easy journey, & many perished along the way, but the strong will & vision of the High Seer-Jadwiga-managed to hold the people together. In time, her persistence paid off, as her band of warriors came back to report that they'd found what she had seen in her visions.......a fertile & productive land on the shores of a wide blue sea. The warriors spoke of large fields of edible grasses, herds of wild beasts that could be either killed or tamed, & hills filled with beautiful, translucent stones of various colours.

"Verily," said Jadwiga, in the still simple tongue of her people "the peak ahead is the same as the one in my vision. This will be our home forever". So her people followed her beyond the Holy Peak, & they then began work upon their new town on the coast-which they called Krakow-whilst their wisest men & women turned their attention to how best to gather the abundant sea creatures that they knew lay in the waters directly off the coast.

To be continued.....

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Getting Krakow City State established....

The first thing that Jadwiga, & her advisors, felt was of the highest priority was to see what the lands north of Krakow held, & set to work on making the most of those resources that were within easy reach-most especially the precious stones, which could be used as a form of exchange, & the wild beasts that roamed the hills to the north of the city.

So the wise-men & tool makers worked closely together to come up with tools & equipment that would help them to achieve both tasks.
However, whilst Krakow's finest warriors were abroad, discovering more gems, fields of edible grain & wild beasts for taming, eagle-eyed members of the city noticed a small band of near naked, woad-covered strangers, furtively creeping close to the outskirts of the City-State. However, before the alert could be raised, they had disappeared from whence they came. Sadly, Jadwiga & her advisors felt all too certain about what this band of strangers signified.....& so their minds began to turn towards *defense*!

To be continued.....

 

[God of Kings]

Jadwiga thus named the continent she is on Rodinia, the motherland.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Jadwiga thus named the continent she is on Rodinia, the motherland.

Indeed she did. More to come!

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Shadows of the Past:

Jadwiga's band of warriors continued to search out the land beyond Krakow's borders, & during their southward push, they were soon able to discover where the furtive band of figures actually arose from. The very same hunter-gathers the Polish people had left behind had apparently also moved beyond the limits of the desert, & were now eking out a subsistence existence-living in extremely crude huts surrounded by palisades. What they lacked in comfort, however, they apparently made up for in weapons technology.....as an advanced party had noticed many of them wielding weapons bearing a strange metallic head.....as compared to the crude stone axes & clubs that they still used.

When runners brought news of this development to Jadwiga & her advisors, the decision was made to send their newly trained scouts to investigate the matter more closely. However, the scouts got delayed by the small band of strangers that had previously been seen near Krakow, so by the time the scouts got near to the last place the Polish Warriors were reported to be, they found only a band of savages, standing in a desert Oasis, amidst the bodies of the Polish Warrior band. When this news got back to Jadwiga, it was abundantly clear that these savages could not be dealt with through diplomatic means.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

I won't lie, these stories will be much easier to tell after the Expansion gets released .

 

[God of Kings]

I won't lie, these stories will be much easier to tell after the Expansion gets released .

There will be more stories like yours with the new Timeline feature.

 

[Ozbenno]

Nice to see a story on here, although with your user name I would have thought John Curtin would be the man.

You have the following outside the img.../img in your posts which would make this easier on the eye if you delete.

"20171125154321_1 by Marcus Hicks, on Flickr" align="" border="0" /> "

 

[liv]

I had to check in to see what was happening with Poland. Hope to read more about Jadwiga's adventures tomorrow

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Nice to see a story on here, although with your user name I would have thought John Curtin would be the man.

You have the following outside the img.../img in your posts which would make this easier on the eye if you delete.

"20171125154321_1 by Marcus Hicks, on Flickr" align="" border="0" /> "

Hi there. Do you know how to delete that without losing the link?

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

I had to check in to see what was happening with Poland. Hope to read more about Jadwiga's adventures tomorrow

More to come soon. I have images stretching all the way to 1000AD .

 

[Ozbenno]

Hi there. Do you know how to delete that without losing the link?

You should be able to edit your post and just delete the text I quoted.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

There will be more stories like yours with the new Timeline feature.

Precisely the feature I was referring to .

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Krakow Strikes Back:

The Polish Scouting Party was unsure what to do. They were only lightly armed, with little more than heavy clothing as "armour", & they were already slightly fatigued & wounded by their encounter with their "opposite number" from the barbarian camp. Yet with no hope of any reinforcements anytime soon, & with little chance of getting back to Krakow unmolested, they decided to throw up some rudimentary fortifications around their camp, set a watch, & keep an eye on the actions of the warriors from the Oasis. That night, the remaining warriors decided to launch an attack on the scouting party. However, due to a combination of the superior night vision of the Polish scouts, as well as their fortifications-& the fact that the warriors had lost many men in their Oasis Assault, with the rest being severely wounded & fatigued-& more than a little luck, the scouts were able to fend off & kill their attackers, albeit at severe cost to their own numbers.

Diamonds are forever:

When news of the destruction of the barbarian warriors reached Jadwiga & her advisors, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief-whilst still recognizing that the threat was far from dealt with. However, they decided that nothing more could be done about this threat until the remnants of the scouting party returned with their full report.

In the meantime, however, good news loomed on the domestic front. The tool makers had come up with a number of metallic tools that could be used to delve deep into the hard soils of the neighbouring hills, the same hills where so many precious stones had been easily collected. The commonly held view was that there could be larger & more precious stones deeper into the hillside. So Jadwiga ordered a number of citizens be trained & equipped with the tools necessary to mine the southern hills. She also gave the added incentive that the miners would receive 20% of all the precious stones they successfully recovered.

Unfortunately, though, just as this process was begun, two bands of barbarian warriors were detected on the borders of Krakow. It appeared that, even with the rapid recruitment of a group of barely trained slingers, things would probably get worse before they would get better......

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Jadwiga the Law Giver:

The barbarian sieges were long & largely unforgiving.....but the palisades of Krakow helped to keep the barbarians at bay, whilst the ever improving Slinger corp would routinely slip in close to the warriors camped without, & slay them with their expertly aimed rocks, before retreating back within the town. Matters were helped even further by the return of the Scout Party, who frequently harried the wounded warriors.

The days, however, still seemed long & dark. So Jadwiga sat down with her advisors to help construct a series of laws that could help guide their people, & give them a sense of hope.

In time, laws were created, ones which promoted comradeship, co-operation, hard work & thrift. The very things that were felt to be needed to win against the barbarians beyond the town limits. When the Chief Herald proclaimed these laws to the people, on the steps of the crude palace, the people cheered & declared Jadwiga to be both High Chief of the Polish People, as well as a living God on Earth, an avatar of the Deities who led them to this land. Jadwiga used this newly granted authority to appoint her advisors to more official roles & hereditary titles, as well as getting her Chief Military Advisor to start instilling far greater discipline into the Polish Soldiery.

Although Jadwiga happily accepted her designation as "God King", this didn't prevent her from still encouraging her peoples' belief in the Deities she felt were protecting the growing town of Krakow......most particularly the Deities of the Seas & Rivers whom her ancestor claimed had led them to the shores on which they currently resided.

To be continued......

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

David vs Goliath Battles:

With the rule of Chieftain Jadwiga now formalized, & with her troops far better organized, the decision was made to take the battle to the barbarians beyond the Palisades of Krakow. For many weeks & months, Krakow's troops tried to press home the advantage against the barbarians-with the actions of the Slingers inspiring the Chief Wise Women to consider how a stronger & longer ranged weapon could be made to assist in the defense of the city.

With the band of Barbarian Warriors finally dispatched, the town of Krakow felt like it could finally relax, & finally send their workers into the nearby hills to mine the beautiful gem-stones that had been found there. Unfortunately, before that could be done, eagle-eyed scouts noticed another groups of hostile forces approaching the town's borders......& they appeared to be bearing very familiar weapons. It seems that word had gotten back to the barbarian encampment, & they had been able to use that information to copy Poland's one advantage in arms......the slingshot. The people of the city once again prepared for difficult days ahead.....

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

The Ups & Downs of Krakow City State

Sadly, it wasn't long before the Barbarians were able to put their projectile weapons to good use, surrounding & killing the Polish Scouting Parties who were returning after their lengthy battles with the barbarian warriors.

The news wasn't all bad, though, as the tool-makers & wise people of Krakow were able to develop the tools required to capture & even domesticate certain types of wild animals. Tools-& knowledge-that was passed on to the people being trained to eventually build Krakow's infrastructure.

However, this new workforce would never be able to leave the palisades of Krakow until the Military Advisors were confident that the threat posed by the barbarians was truly dealt with. With this in mind, they fast-tracked the recruitment & training of another band of warriors to assist the slingers in their efforts to destroy the barbarian slingers near their borders. A tactic that proved effective.

So with the path cleared for now, & with a cadre of slingers & warriors on patrol beyond the borders of Krakow, the new workers moved up into the hills to begin construction of a fully working mine, in order to extract the precious stones that were buried within. It was during the process of setting up a pulley & axle system to bring the mined gems to the surface, that one of the workers had a light-bulb moment......wondering if it might not be possible to attach such a mechanism to something that might be pulled along the ground. The worker decided to raise this with the tool makers & wise folk when he returned to Krakow.

With the gem mine successfully up & running, the workers moved to set up a similar type of mine to extract the salt that lay upon the plains outside of Krakow. This salt would be excellent for preventing the spoiling of the fish, crab & other meats that made up the bulk of the Polish diet.

They then moved to begin taming & enclosing the wild beasts that resided within the hills north of Krakow. The process of doing this gave the workers involved some insights as to how they might be able to use similar techniques, one day, to likewise domesticate the much larger beasts that lay to the North-East of Krakow.

All of the work involved in constructing the mines & enclosures around Krakow provided invaluable knowledge to those who participated, & this was knowledge that many decided to take back to Krakow in order to pass it on to the younger members of the population.

These skills clearly paid dividends very quickly, as many of the tools & skills used for the construction of the mines & the enclosures also proved extremely useful in building the first experimental, fully functional wind-propelled boats....which were a significant step up from the simple rafts the Polish people used to punt up & down the river, & close to the sea shore.

Further afield, victories against the barbarians within their own camps were coming thick & fast, & many veterans of the barbarian campaigns were gaining valuable insight into the best ways to wage wars, especially since the much more rigorous training regimes were implemented. Many of these veteran soldiers decided to head home to Krakow, in order to pass on what they had learned....in a more structured fashion.

With so many systems in place for the orderly running of Krakow City State, it was easy for the people of the city to become lulled into a false sense of security. However, just as the people & their rulers were beginning to feel relaxed, a new threat emerged from the North West.....

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

The Arrival of the Horse-lords

A contingent of Polish Slingers were scouting territory far to the North-West of Krakow, alert to potential new dangers, as well as looking out for new places to expand to when population pressures in Krakow rose too high.

It was during their scouting that they encountered a very disturbing sight....more barbarians. Judging from their attire, they had probably emerged from the frozen tundras of the far North of Rodinia. What was particularly disturbing about these barbarians, however, was that they had apparently managed to tame a significant number of the wild horses that dwelt upon these plains.

The slingers chose to beat a strategic retreat. However, they were overtaken by the far swifter mounted warriors. Though they were ultimately surrounded & killed, they were able to take out at least one troop of mounted soldiers.

All that returned to Krakow was a small band of badly wounded survivors. The military advisors of Krakow wasted no time however, & sent runners out to order their warriors to move north to counter the new barbarian threat, whilst sending another contingent of slingers & warriors out from Krakow to take care of the surviving mounted soldiers.....hoping to catch the remaining horsemen in a pincer movement. This approach proved successful, & the horsemen were ultimately destroyed, almost to a man.

Whilst these pitched battles were raging, a new advancement in weapons technology had been made....one which the Polish people hoped would turn future battles in their favour.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

The March of Progress:

Poland's Slinger corp was fairly rapidly equipped with the newly manufactured Compound Bows, & were equally rapidly trained in their proper use. With the defense of the realm taken care of, the greatest minds & craftsmen of Krakow were able to turn their minds to other matters. The craftsmen were able to make various containers, of many sizes, my molding & shaping the clay found along the river bed, then drying it within an oven, & that these containers were capable of storing all manner of food-stuffs.....for many months if properly sealed against the elements.

The wise-men of Krakow considered the utility of such storage containers were it decided to transport food & other items over very long distances, like the future cities of the empire that they longed to build, thus paving the road for the concept of Foreign Trade.

Sadly, all thoughts of expansion & trade were put on hold as yet another threat of barbarian incursion came to pass.

Luckily, the first arrivals-slingers-were easily dispatched by the longer ranged Compound Bows of the Archer Corp.

This was, however, soon followed by yet another bands of warriors, & a scouting party, all of whom proved much more difficult to dislodge, owing to the increasingly outdated weaponry used by Krakow's Warriors.

However, from these adversities, a deeper belief in something greater than themselves would emerge amongst the people of Krakow......

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Out of the Frying Pantheon

For hundreds of years, two Belief Systems had dominated Polish Culture. The first was the belief in the Divinity of the the First Chieftain Jadwiga, & all of her descendants. The Second, & much older, was the belief in the Divinity of the Sea & Rivers that surrounded the City-State of Krakow. Many de-facto rituals, stories & observances had grown up around the latter.....but no unified system of belief.
However, over several generations, members of the ruling classes had met & discussed these rituals & stories with the most devout adherents of these beliefs. These adherents were frequently elevated into the ruling classes, & the most popular rituals & observances were incorporated into the daily lives of Jadwiga & her inner sanctum.
This growing interrelationship between the Devout & the Ruling Class inevitably led to the formation of a formal Priestly Class within Polish society. Their role was to officiate in the rituals performed by both the ruling class & the common folk, & to help codify the various beliefs in much the same way as their secular legal system had been.
In time, this led to the City-State of Krakow proclaiming that Posejdon & Amphitrite were God & Goddess of the Seas & Rivers, & co-rulers of the extensive Pantheon of Gods & Goddesses who existed within the Seas, the Rivers.....as well as even the clouds & rain.

Official recognition of this belief system made many within the ruling class of Krakow take much greater thought upon where Poland & the Island Continent of Rodinia fit within the grand cosmological scheme of things....