The Saunderian Chronicles

[Kelvyquayo]

1177AD
Road to Revolution VII
REVOLUTION!

The People's Revolution was a movement that began with Martim Samuel's activities in 1177 and ended with a full representative government in 1218. The movement began as an attempt to reform the Judaic priesthood and led to the fracturing of Judaism. Many eastern Jews were troubled by what they saw as false doctrines and malpractices within the Palace, particularly involving the teaching and sale of indulgences. Another major contention was the practice of buying and selling priest positions and the tremendous corruption found at the time within the Palace's hierarchy. This corruption was systemic at the time, even reaching the position of the Great Teacher.

In Fall of 1177, in Lisbon (in what is now Iesolonon), Martim Samuel nailed his Eighty-Seven Theses On the Power of Indulgences to the door of the Hagia Sophia, which served as a pin board for university-related announcements. These were points for debate that criticized the Palace and the Teacher. The most controversial points centered on the practice of selling indulgences and the Palace's policy on slavery which had always been points of contentions amongst international councils. The way had therefore been long prepared for a rebellious group within the Palace to withdraw their allegiance from the divinely established authority of the Great Teacher and to attempt to remodel the Palace according to their desires. All that was needed was a pretext and that pretext was found in the widespread need for reform evident in the Palace at the beginning of the tenth century.

With this separation amongst the factions of the Palace; leaders of the Samualist Armies sided with the abolitionist factions of the Buddhists and Taoist factions and the military. Simultaneously the orders were given from the Palace to send in assassination squads kill the political leaders of the rebellion. When these started to occur the people began openly attacking the Judaic Police Squads in large number throughout the cities and throughout the entire countryside, slaves along with the citizens stopped working. About one month after the revolts started, the rebel groups declared a general non-payment of taxes in explicit opposition to religious slavery and non-representation. In the countryside, armed insurrection started sporadically, becoming more organized with time. One particular target of the rebels was the holy summer home, Angkor Wat; constructed only a few years earlier. Other attacks were on on the palaces of the Chariot-lords themselves and finally on the Apostolic Palace. Armed revolt swept the streets of Anthonia as rebels fought back against attempts by the government of the Palace to impose a military clampdown on the city.

Tens of thousands of rebel Jew, Taoist, and Buddhist alike poured into the streets all throughout the Empire, ignoring the inevitable consequences of renewed confrontation with large numbers of police squads deployed in the cities. Angry mobs burnt down police living quarters, tore up roads, and also seized the fortresses of the Chariot-lords. The rebels had stripped the police barracks of their weapons and it was only a matter of time before they completely overran the Apostolic Palace and the entire Judao-Chariot-lord empire. A rising followed in the north cities and forty thousand armed men made the "Pilgrimage of Freedom" to Anthonia to protest against the robbery of the temples and synagogues. The Apostolic teacher who had now attempted to assume power during this revolution had no other choice but to concede. A number of courts were then set up in every city and the local lords and commanders of the police squads were imprisoned or executed.

The Great Teacher, however, could still not be harmed. Whatever his wrongdoings, the majority of the citizens still viewed him as a religious leader. Elections were immediately put underway. Regional leaders throughout the land sent in their votes as free citizens. The Apostolic Jews elected their new Great Teacher and the Citizens each elected their regional Representatives, who then decided the national laws and policies. A main political leader, the Prime Minister, would assume role as chief executive. This person was to be first off, chosen from the Saunders family. As the elected officials had been the old Taoist and Buddhist underground leaders, they came to prosper as the those who were naturally loved by the common folk as heroes. So as it were the direction of the wealth had now shifted from the Chariot-lords, to the old labor leaders. These men constructed a complex bureaucracy based on the varying skills of the labor force. Unfortunately the educational system still needed to be reformed and there was much displacement of peoples. The Judaic religious structure was left in place, only with the Samuelist Doctrines included into the theology. The trade laws, all foreign, and domestic policies were placed into the hands of the elected officials as well. By 1218 a complete representative government had formed where once there was a military police state.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1218-1290
The Renaissance of Reason
Golden Age

With the election of Jamision Saunders as Prime Minister in 1218, the Saunderian Empire experienced a boom in economics, culture, and sciences. Despite the lack of any true engineering or national public education structure, the reforms that took place in the country were nothing but positive. After the Judaic Reformation, the Military structure was rebuilt based off of free recruitment into a national guard. However, old family favoritism still ran high, a people's National Knights of the Guard was formed of hardened warriors who were part of the secular, multi-religious military sub-culture. These became the border patrols, the emissaries, and the local police forces. Under the orders of Jamision, emissaries traveled to far off nations and extended the national intelligence network. He created separate departmental advisers for each foreign land.


Jamision Saunders was the first ruler to see completed the first full geographical maps of the continent.


Western, Midland, and Eastern Continentia

With this ever increasing world view, the Saunderian people began celebrating the arts, such as Drama and Literature. Marvelous tales and plays and texts are still well known from this time period. Guilds began forming in increasing numbers as the societal bureaucracies became ever more intricate throughout the nations, seeing rise to economic institutions, banking, and scientific endeavorers. Cities like Babylon and Saunderia became world cultural centers, bringing in the finest architects and scholars in the civilized world.

 

[Ravellion]

Nice read. I like how you attach historical meaning to the events, instead of game meanings such as "I needed that high commerce site".

 

[Gyprsn]

I'm enjoying this as well

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1310-1320
Rise of the Janissaries I
Guilds and Guns

Despite the secular Jamisionion reforms in the government, the people in the urban centers of the country were still afflicted with constant bouts of inequality and segregation. Though the bureaucracy now contained members from all religions and ethnic minorities were now more liberated in thinking and general legal affairs the much older tradition of nepotism and favoritism inevitably began to run rampant, although in a much more subtle fashion. The major Judaic centers of research and learning were still the most highly funded. This was sustained nationally by the constant and heavy taxation of the common Jew by the Palace and local temples and monasteries and the Palaces financial monopolization of the most powerful and modernized businesses and institutions in the country. The Palace gained back it's power all through the Renaissance and continued to bide their time. This resulted in a great technological boost and is the roots of modern engineering. It was during this period that a good deal of the Saunderian architecture renowned throughout the world today came into being. A great deal of the construction from this time still exist to this day.

The industries and guilds that were back by the Palace were the most successful. The institutions themselves and the engineers and scientists were not necessarily Judaic. These enterprises were completely secular on the surface, but it was it's main Judaic financiers in Anthonia and various Judaic factions throughout the Eastern world. The Palace was pulling the strings from so high up the ladder that the Jamisionion administration was powerless against it. During this boom in engineering and building, the invention of Firearms would soon change everything like slowly growing vines, creeping into the cracks of an ancient stone wall.

Gunpowder had been used for centuries before, but only for novelty displays and even for medicine. Judaic chemists were the first to purify potassium nitrate (saltpeter) to the weapons-grade purity for use in gunpowder, as potassium nitrate needs to be purified to be used effectively. The first complete purification process for potassium nitrate is described as early as 1070 by the Saunderian chemist and engineer Abraham Winchetaro of Babylon. By the 1320s, however, the use of firearms was still limited to clumsy, unreliable, and often dangerous pistols and primitive muskets concidered too risky for any military body to take seriously. This changed with the technological boom marked by the Guild research funded by the wealthy Judaic institutions.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1330-1340
Rise of the Janissaries II
Birth of a New Order

In 1330 the Apostolic Palace was presented with a unit of bodyguards donated to them by one of most newly formed and their most loyal guilds called The Engineers of the Double Triangle. These bodyguards were hand picked from the most elite military families by the Mercenary Guild (also in the pocket of the Palace) and were hard trained and armed with the most modern of weaponry.

Authentic 14th century Saunderian muskets; courtesy of National Museum of Babylon

As military oversight had since the revolution still been in the hands of the descendants of the old chariot-lord families, the most elite of these kept their loyalty to the Apostolic Palace and the tradition of recruiting their troops from surrounding families. These were usually taken from families of non-Judaics but their were other recruits who saw themselves as holy warriors. With the growth of the gunpowder weaponry, these particular military factions became more and more feared respected. The Palace and it's government sympathizers eventually took the advantage and kept all production of guns and muskets hidden and distributed them only unto their own troops. They were known as Janissaries.

Janissaries trained under strict discipline with hard labor and in practically monastic conditions, They were expected to remain celibate. They were also expected to convert to Judaism despite their background. Unlike other Jews, they were expressly forbidden to engage in any other trade or craft but fighting and discipline. By the 1340s contingents of these units were attached to even the most remote Jewish communities.

 

[rabidveggie]

Nice to see you're posting again. I figured that this would end up being just another unfinished story, which would be a shame.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1340-1360
Rise of the Janissaries III
The Palace Armed

With the ever increasing wealth of the Palace and the arms build up of the priesthoods Judaism begin to spread more and more rapidly. The Teacher's men conscripted a number of non-Jewish, usually Taoists, at first at random, later, by strict selection to be trained, usually selecting about one in five boys of ages seven to fourteen but the numbers could be changed to correspond with the need for soldiers. A minority of Buddhists acquiesced in the custom, as this was one of the only ways for a Buddhist to advance in the Judaic empire, given their minority status. These men became extensions of the original Janissary bodyguards which were stationed at the Apostolic Palace. As these men grew in power and size they began to take over the roles of the police force all over the nation. It was in this capacity that the Judaics finally infiltrated the Buddhist Indian lands.

For all practical purposes, Janissaries belonged to the Apostolic Palace. Janissaries were taught to consider the corps as their home and family, and the Great Teacher as their father. Only those who proved strong enough earned the rank of true Janissary at the age of twenty four or twenty five. The regiment inherited the property of dead Janissaries, thus amassing wealth. Still, they enjoyed high living standards, exemption from taxes and respected social status. As Palace began to take control of the taxation system the Taoist communities which had always existed as minorities were eventually reduced to impoverishment. This was caused by warlord like land holders, strict financial penalties, and utter bigotry.

The new Janissary army and police force were for for all practical purposes recruited by means of blood tax on the Taoist communities, each of which became compelled every year to surrender a quota of boys, between the ages of seven and twelve, distinguished for their strength and intelligence. The Taoist boys while under training received Judaic religious instruction, in 1362 AD special privileges were conferred on them and Jews and Buddhists started to volunteer. In peace time they received no pay, the government provided meat, bread and candles, the commanding officer provided rice, vegetables and butter.

Contemporary art depicting one of the many
Apostolic ceremonies honouring the Janissaries
c.1359

The code of the Janissaries was: implicit obedience of their officers; perfect accord among themselves; abstinence from luxury, extravagance and practices unseemly of soldiers and brave men; observance of the religious laws and the tenets of the Scripture of Leviticus; rules regarding the death penalty, punishment only by their officers; promotion by merit and seniority; rules regarding pension; the keeping of beards, marriage and indulgence in trade was not permitted; they were required to spend their time drilling and practicing the trades of war.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1361
The Evorian Movement

Evora contained a population of all Saunderian religions and had a long history of rebellion.

The Evorian movement had begun generations ago when the Apostolic palace began to rise once again using the unbending influence of the Janissary. Evora in the 1360s was a hotbed of civil unrest between it's religious communities. What became known as the Evorian Movement was a series of public protests set on by the Buddhist and Taoist majorities. The Judaic minority held most of the wealth, and though the Prime Minister was indeed a secular position the entire office by that time had been bought out by the Palace. The Evorian Movement became widely popularized in secret amongst the non-Judaic communities and became outlawed in the city of Evora. In response to this, Taoist and Buddhist protest movements across the country began rising up independently and declaring themselves chapters of the Evorian Brotherhood. There was really little that the government in Saunderia could do to stem the anti-palace displays without declaring an all out police state. This is, however, exactly what happened.

The insignia of the national Evorian Brotherhood

The Janissary presence had been swelled as a police force at the request of the city leaders in fear of Taoist riots. In addition to this other Judaic leaders from every city in the country requested a contingent of Janissaries. The Palace was happy to oblige them. As the Taoist left for their treks to Evora, the Palace moved in. It began on the day of the grand opening of the largest Taoist pagoda in Evora, the Dai Miao. Taoists from across the land came to celebrate the holy temple which was built as a place for all to come and pray freely. All had gathered, hundreds of thousands it is told, from pilgrimages near and far to pray before the great temple. Records do not say who fired the first shot. It is said that the Ev River flowed red for days and powder smoke lingered in the city streets for years after as the spirits of the raging dead.

The Red Gardens of Evora, located at the Dai Maio, represent the rising tide of bloodshed in the old world. The gardens have been maintained for nearly 500 years and are popular tourist attraction as well as destination of Taoist travelers from around the world.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1360-1480
Age of Imperialism I
The Acquisition

By the late 1360s a full police state was in effect. What was called the Great and Holy Acquisition of God was no more than the institution of a totalitarian theocratic regime which had systematically armed the richest of the most loyal and noble Jewish families; and had effectively left the non-Judaic population indentured in servitude. The subtle displacement of the local governments and police forces across the land became blatantly widespread in the name of "keeping civil order by the preservation of true Saunderian values". Rights were promptly stripped from all but the most noble of the Judaic families. The muskets of the Janissaries were feared far and wide throughout the new Holy Empire of Saunderia. The closest associates of the great teachers were place in position of overlord of the cities and their principalities. All previous secular institutions were brought to order by appointed Apostolic overseers.

By the turn of the 15th century the power and wealth of the Apostolic palace grew to new heights. The Empire held open border policies with all of the other Judaic countries to the East. Indeed a great deal of the elected Holy Teachers of the Palace were commonly Mayans from the South. The Palace became the hub of international unity between the Judaic countries. It could be said that the Apostolic palace was a nation of it's own comprised of the Jewish elite and which straddled across the entire Eastern World from France to Greece. All answered to the Palace and in turn all answered to the Janissaries of Saunderia.

Animosity grew to a boiling point amongst the neighboring Buddhist countries. The mistreatment of Buddhist and Taoist alike in the Empire caused a great deal of immigration to the lands of Portugal and Russia. The government of these lands dared not challenge the might of the Palace yet they freely offered asylum to the persecuted refugees from Saunderia. This resulted in a great deal of unofficial cross border conflict between the Palace's soldiers and those fleeing from their servitude and attempting to build a new life in the West. The leaders of the Western countries however did not attempt to contend with the East but rather appeased them whenever they could. Instead they turned their attentions to their own less civilized people in the American Wildlands.

This 15th century drawing aptly depicts the horrors of the persecution rampant in Saunderia at the time.

As time passed the scientific community became the most free to act throughout the land even though they still were completely run by the Palace. The religious zealotry of the populous began to give way to widespread Nationalism thus scientists of the time were less prone to be accused of heresy for any radical ideas. It was at this time that people began exploring the far reaches of the Atlantic Sea. The Mt. Josiah company was created by the Palace at this time and sent to settle the lands at the base of the Holy Mt. Josiah in 1410 amongst the American tribes of the Atlantic. In addition; Saunderians from various religious minorities began to escape the violence toward them and fled North colonizing the Marthinian Islands in the East Atlantic Sea establishing a Buddhist refuge in Martomatre and a Taoist refuge in Juog.

Josiah, founded at the base of the sacred Mt. Josiah far in the North Atlantic sea, was founded by Judaic zealots funded by the Palace in 1410.

Regardless of any amount of enlightenment, however, the ranks of the Order of the Janissary grew larger than ever and their popularity grew to even greater heights. By the 1470s the government of each city in the Empire was entirely interwoven with an elite military class. The Acquisition was complete and the power of the Apostolic Judaic Empire was absolute.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1477
Age of Imperialism II
The Rise of Nikidolf Hewler

Nikidolf Hewler was born 1459 in the Saunderian city of Delhi to a Byzantine father. His father, who had come up through the ranks of the Apostolic elite of Constantinople, had been placed as Holy Governor of India by the Great Teacher. Nikidolf's mother was a Buddhist Russian slave ( a secret well kept ). All Judaic countries had priests that dwelt at the Palace at Anthonia regularly and spent a good deal of their life there. Thus a great deal of international tolerance and interaction was seen at the time between the countries of the East. The Empire of Saunderia still had a figure head Prime Minister, but the title was merely cosmetic. The real ruler was the Holy Teacher of the Palace and whoever he chose to lead his armies and spread his ideals. Nikkidolf Hewler would take those ideals to a whole new and horrific level.

Nikidolf Hewler (1459 -1551)
Credited today as the most blood-thirsty psychopath in Saunderian history.
He was appointed the Holy General by the Apostolic Palace in 1477 at the age of 19.

When Nikidolf was a child his father had been promoted to head military adviser to the Teacher in Anthonia and he himself spent much time traveling throughout all of the Judaic capitol cities of Saunderia, Greece, France, Germany, Byzantine, and the Mayan Holy lands educated by the most extreme of teachers of the faith of the One God. By the age of 16 he was writing anti-Russian propaganda and participating in international anti-Confucian anti-Hindu rallies. Russia had become a lightning rod of hatred by this time due their Confucian ideals making their way across the borders. Confucianism had become the largest religion in the West next to Celtic Hinduism which was popular in the neighboring Kingdom of Portugal at the time. Hinduism was especially frowned upon because unlike Confucianism, which was viewed by the East as godless anarchy, the Hindus worshiped numerous gods in direct challenge to the fundamental monotheism of the East.

As Nikidolf rose through the ranks of the Imperial Palace through his force of will and zealotry he became a favourite of the Holy Teacher. Hewler would be sent traveling throughout the cities of the Judaic world on what was basically a recruiting mission for the Apostolic army. His speeches were no more than hate speech, yet they provide a way for the average person to rise passed the boundaries of the the bigotry of the time and get his family of of the worker ghettos.. The Order of the Janissary accepted all recruits regardless of religion. The only religion of the Janissary was discipline. By 1477, at the age of 19, Nikidolf Hewler was appointed by the Palace: Holy General of the Janissaries. Under this new title he traveled Saunderia with his ever growing retinue of Janissaries and all of the armies and guns behind them and imposed his warped ideals into every facet of government, all with the nodding approval of the Palace.

Hewler was responsible for spreading a nationwide tradition of systematic persecution of religious and ethnic minorities both domestic and foreign.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1480-1550
Age of Imperialism III
The Great War of Atrocities

What is now known as The Great Atrocities has been throughout our time one of the most studied periods of Saunderian history. The era of the Great Atrocities marked the beginning of generations of brutality which wouldn't end until the death and displacement of millions over the course of the next several centuries. These could be marked by the restoring of the Temple of Solomon in the Holy Lands of the Mayans generations ago when the the flood gates finally opened and the fascist Saunderian ideals could make their way to the roots of the other Jewish countries and thus perpetuating ideas of hatred toward the other religions of the World. Most of those in charge of the larger enterprises of the Saunderian Empire were also the heads of the temples and synagogues across the lands and usually received much of their education in the Holy Mayan city of Lakamha, where Judaism began. It was not uncommon, even in those days, to travel the length of the Eastern continent to the many popular synagogues in the East. With the exception of the primitive Japanese nation in the Northeastern islands the power the the Palace in the East was unchallenged and Nikidolf Hewler had gathered his armies to the West. The events of the following decades are known by many names; but no names can capture the brutality perpetrated upon peoples of Portugal and Russia and the rise of a new terrifying world order.

The sovereignty of Portugal was utterly denounced as Hewler's forces imposed
military rule over Portuguese citizens. This contemporary drawing shows Portuguese
Hindus being rounded up for rehabilitation.

It began as subtle ethnic cleansing in the Western Saunderian cities, brought on by the orders of Nikidolf Hewler to his generals. The common populace was held under sway by a yoke of fear. Secret police, disappearances, and neighbor informing on neighbor became well known. The lands of Russia were too busy with their Northern American frontier to heed the call for aid by the Portuguese ambassadors. Under force of arms, the Janissaries scourged through the Kingdom of Portugal. It's people, young and old, either killed by the musket shot or rounded up into slave camps. One by one the cities of Portugal fell to the marauding armies of Hewler and his generals. The fighting was hard and the Portuguese proved a fierce resistance.

Portugal had been a vassal state of Russia, however Russia's armies had for some time been trying to conquer the frontier lands of the Americas. Saunderia's attack on Portugal was at the time fully sanctioned by the Apostolic Palace as a "legal cleansing and ruling of heathen lands of Portugal". It was well known that even the puppet public senate would not sanction a direct attack on the Russian Empire. After the attack on Portugal however; as was devised by Hewler, war with Russia was inevitable. After Russia herself refused to send aid to the Portuguese, the Kingdom renounced it's allegiance to Russia and declared itself a free state rather than surrender to Hewler's forces.

Painting depicting the Battle of St. Petersburg (c. 1500)

It took 35 years of brutality and oppression before the Kingdom of Portugal was finally subdued by the generals of Hewler while Hewler himself oversaw the buildup of forces along the Russian border. 15 years afterwards all armies were in place and tore through the ancient paths of the Rus Mountains. By 1530 the Russian capitol of Moscow would fall with waves of Janissaries coming each day down from the Saunderia. A firm Military Tradition had arose at this time amongst the common public. More and more families were apt to send their children for training as Janissaries, unaware of the abhorrent acts that were being committed by their country's armies in foreign lands.

The horror of Hewler's forces, to other countries, at the time were considered gross barbarity,
yet none dared oppose the might of the Palace.

The iron fist of Nikidolf Hewler raged across the face of Russia in a bloodbath of chaos and torment. Entire towns and villages were murdered as the hundreds of thousands of Janissaries and mounted Holy Knights of God occupied the cities and did the best that they could to erase from history every aspect of the Russian culture. Moscow was renamed after the son of the aging Hewler who died taking the city. Hewler, in turn for his son's death slaughtered every child in the city by releasing wild dogs into their pens while their parents watched in horror. In the following years Hewler showed more and more affection to his generals and offered them high positions in the conquered lands. As the Russian people were finally rounded up and the Russian king tortured and beheaded, Hewlers generals had all every Russian city renamed after him.

Once a land was occupied all citizens were given a census and organized by religion and ethnicity. All government officials, priests, and nobility were rounded up and publicly executed by firing squad. Millions of Russians were brought back to Saunderia as workers; others were maintained as slave labour in their own cities before they were executed in and buried in mass graves. It is because of the repentance and moral fortitude of one of Nikidolf's great general's Ciaran Anthony that the lives of millions of Russians were saved as he declared them his property and brought them back to Saunderia and were spared the horrible fate of their countrymen.

Contemporary images depicting the horror and cruelty of Nikidolf Hewler that had become
commonplace during the conquest of Russia.

By 1550 Russia was completely conquered; her lands pillaged, her people slaughtered or enslaved, her culture dead. All of the nations of the world East and West began to think long and hard about the super power Empire in their midsts. The Confucian Realm of Carthage was right on the borders of the freshly conquered Russia and were shocked to see these foreign invaders across the river in their neighbor's lands. To the North was the American frontier which separated West from East, vastly peopled by aboriginals who had lived in the same manner for thousands of years.

Nikidolf Hewler was 91 years old. He would die a year later. Few wept at the passing.

 

[TheJopa]

Wow, I'm impressed by the quality of this! Keep up!

 

[Kelvyquayo]

1555-1610
Age of Reformations
Reforms of Ciaran Anthony

A young Ciaran Anthony(1524-1607)
in Apostolic General's uniform.
During The Atrocities he used his
influence as great general to
reestablish social order.

Even before the ending of of Russian War Ciaran Anthony was himself in contact with all of the neighboring countries as well as Reformists from the Palace itself and the Judaic network who were utterly appalled by the inhumanity of the conquering of the Russian and Portuguese lands and people. It was agreed in secret councils after the War that the best hope was to wait out for the death of the aging Hewler in order to keep the heart of the armies. Ciaran Anthony was second in popularity only to old Hewler himself. As the Russian wars progressed and Hewler was too old to participate in the battles the much younger Anthony became the talk of popular news, tales, and songs. Anthony was from the city of Anthonia and was a descendant of the nobility of that ancient city. The atrocities of the Russian Wars were well hated by the general Saunderian populace and yet seen as an inevitability and thus the deaths of those thousands of foreigners were regarded for the most part with indifference. By the end of the War however, people were demanding peace and mercy to the Russian people. The population began to defiantly speak openly of the inhuman ways of the old general Nikidolf Hewler and speak up for the rights of those of other creeds and nations.

During the fall of the final stronghold of Russia in 1550, Ciaran Anthony secretly smuggled hundreds of thousands of Russians into the Darrtha Forest for hiding after forging documentation for their execution and with the aid if many insiders in the army, got away with the feat. After the death of Hewler a new High General was to be elected. This election was inevitably to be rigged by the Apostolic Palace as always, but this time it was different. A Buddhist from Delhi by the name of Alvi Shankaars who was a popular news spreader of the day witnessed the rescuing of the Russian refugees in the Darrtha forest and was sworn to secrecy after being taken to one of the secret international council meetings held in Germany. It was decided that only before the election was news to be spread of Ciaran Anthony's gallant rescuing of the Russians from the bloodthirsty muskets of Nikidolf Hewler. The outcome was inevitable. Due the the instability of the freshly established borders and the forces needed their to solidify hold over the regions, the corrupt dictators of the Palace in Anthonia were forced to concede lest civil war tear the country apart. The fact that this hero was born in the shadow of the Apostolic Palace in Anthonia further sealed his coming into power; for he made the people realize that they finally had a choice.

As great general during the Russian conquest, Ciaran Anthony helped thousands of Russian refugees through the Darrtha forest and ultimately to their liberation. Their decedents are still a large and prominent community in the Indian Saunderian regions to this day. When word of his heroics reached the public, his place was sealed as the next great leader in the wake of great change.

Using his influence with the armies and with the public Ciaran Anthony quietly challenged the Palace behind closed doors. He brought with him respected ambassadors from the surrounding countries who demanded a change in policy due to the inhumane acts that were committed in the name of Judaism on the Confucian people. The Palace was warned by even the religious leaders of it's fellow Judaic countries that reform was in order. Ciaran Anthony held command of the Janissaries and thus held command of the Palace. The Holy Teacher was replaced by a fairly elected one days later. The new Holy Teacher was 77 years old and hailed from the farthest reaches of the Toltec mountains. He was merely a figure-head.

By 1555 an entirely new government was in place. Representatives were elected from each city from the most trusted colleagues of Anthony. These ex-soldiers and generals from the Russian wars became some of the richest men in Saunderia after taking over many of the businesses that were created from the new policies. Anthony went at lengths during the next decade to repair international relations through trade and educational exchange of scientists and scholars.
During the century of Hewler's brutality the remainder of the Jewish nations had given way to more liberal ways of life. Saunderia came to be seen as a nation of religious zealots and butchers during the War.

Because of the work of Ciaran Anthony; during the next half-century Saunderia was to be an expanded national educational system, a signed and sanctioned constitution declaring the rights of the public, a complete modernization of scientific study along with various other industrial reforms and the first years of the 17th century gave way to steel and brought Saunderia as close to the modern age as it had ever been. The Apostolic palace still had religious authority by all means, however the forces of the Janissaries became disassociated with the Teacher altogether and went on to develop their own national bureaucracies throughout every vein of the country's infrastructure. The aging generals put in place as the local rulers proved to be most effective in making the army into more of a national standing army rather than a mercenary force.

1549 painting of Anthony unifying the scattered armies of the battle-scarred lands of the West.

During this time of peace many soldiers and indentured servants alike were happily assigned to the construction of public secular universities which taught the new concepts in scientific method such as modern physics and chemistry. Exploration was a popular national pastime for the public to follow. Saunderian explorers combed the reaches of globe at this time, fully circumnavigating the globe and setting foot on the savage continents of the New World.

Anthony meeting with the Saunderian heads of state in 1570 to sign the National Constitution;
a stepping stone in securing the civil rights of the all of the diverse communities of the Saunderian Empire.

The annual gathering of the Heads of State in 1570 saw the drawing of a national constitution which define the legal rights of every citizen of Saunderia. Since the representatives were all ex-Janissaries they hailed from families of every religion under the Sun. Thus the constitute of 1570 saw to the rights of the people regardless of religion. Some representatives from traditional Anthonia were appalled but were powerless to do anything against every other city in the nation, all which held various religious communities.

As the decades passed, the old friendships between the cities became strained as the aged city governors put in place by Ciaran Anthony came to die off or become simply too old and their positions were filled by their ambitious children or greedy bureaucrats who had been doing all that they could to pull the strings of power in their favour for the past years. Soon those with the most power were the sons of the rich and powerful; men with loyal armies at their disposal. The military way of life became more popularized than ever. Nationalism ran deep as the nation's peace loving leader aged and his power gave way to his military advisers to began to take matters into their own hands.

As the power of the new administrations grew, the violent colonizations of
the American tribes of the Atlantic Sea incited a Nationalist fervor that
egged on the renewed militarization of the Saunderian government.

in the 1580s and 90s, in the name of Exploration and National Pride the lands of the American Frontier and the Atlantic Sea began to be colonized by Janissaries. They traveled across the sea on their now modernized navy of galleons and began an unfortunate campaign of subjugation of the American tribal states. An aged Ciaran Anthony at this time was actually sent by the newer leaders to Mt. Josiah and at age 85 lead the charge in the American city of San Francisco. Shortly after the battle Ciaran Anthony would retire to Mt. Josiah and die peacefully in his sleep. Soon after this the Zulu Nation began openly attacking Saunderians lands. It wasn't long before the Janissaries made their way farther West as they cut through the Zulu lands.

War in the West only continued when Zulu hostility toward
Russo-Saunderia led to the invasion of Zululand by the
well armed Saunderian forces.

After Anthony's death in 1607, the remaining leaders took matters into their own hands. Saunderian nationalism was at an all time high and the new young leaders, sons of heroes, loved by the people, were allowed to seize power.
Despite all of the reforms of Ciaran Anthony, a generation after his rise to power; a full Nationalist Theocratic Military Dictatorship would slip right back into place by the sons of the people who had done so much to fight it; and the people would welcome it with open arms.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

Wow, I'm impressed by the quality of this! Keep up!

Thank you!
It is good to continue it after so long. I had a bit to much going for a while to deal with continuing this for awhile. I had always meant to get back into the swing of it.

These last parts have been more difficult because of some of my lost saves and screen shots. You may notice the resolution being a little different as I have upgraded computers since I have started.
I still have a few more saves throughout the 1700s which may provide more actual IN GAME screen shots rather than just pictures.
I want to continue the game but refuse to do so until I catch this up with it.(1876)

The next installments will be a few posts on the rest of the world since I've now reached the point where I have some relevant screen shots. I might work on table of contents for the original post as well before I continue with the time line.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing it!

 

[Kelvyquayo]

The Early Modern World
A Brief Description of the Nation States and Tribes of the the 17th Century World

The 1600s mark the first globally recognized borders to appear in the form of nation states. The largest was the Judaic Commonwealth which was a union of nearly all of the Judaic Eastern Continent, which flourished under the control of puppet religious figures. The Carthaginians to the South struggled for economic stability after the fall of Russia. The Confucian Empire of Ethiopia remained the most stable and even at this time had a near universal literacy rate. To the West; Spain and the Celtic Kingdom struggle to adapt to an ever changing world around it. Harappan has remained an independent Judaic kingdom and yet is under the thralldom of France, while across the water the Christian kingdom of Cordoba seeks to expand amidst the jungle wild lands.

Several events of the early 1600s are marked by historians as the first throes of the modern world. Previously isolated kingdoms now become forced to deal with threats that are now found to be very close and very immediate. As the smoke clears from the aftermath of the Saunderian's Conquest of Russia the neighboring empires to the West begin to take notice of their Eastern neighbors beyond the American Wilderness. Sea travel has greatly developed at this time leading to the exploration of the New World and some of the first colonies upon it. At this time the New World is still an afterthought to most nations, who put their resources into securing their borders. The echoes of the modern borders now begin to take shape at this time. For the first time in history the civilized nations of the world begin to truly view the world on a global scale. As perspective changes, so does education as travel increases amongst scholars who travel the foreign worlds in the name of knowledge and exploration. Unfortunately not all of this exploration is peaceful as the continued scourging of the North American Tribes of the Atlantic sea increases to the point of genocide. Due to the viewed primitive nature of these people and their general lack of communication outside of their tribe lands, there was no outcry amongst any other nation; save for Cordoba, which became the first nation to declare a trade sanction with the Judaic Commonwealth for the savagery of the Saunderian colonization of the Americans.

The Tribelands of the North Americans at this time have come to be decimated under the sanction of the Judaic Commonwealth. The only Americans left on the mainland, dubbed Native Americans, have established a treaty with the Commonwealth and their main city of Cohokia has become famous for it's exotic tribal culture and the friendliness of it's people. Those Tribes of the Northern Wildlands by the earl 1600s have been completely taken over by Saunderia and have proclaimed those poor American races savages. The old American urban center of Philadelphia, in the coastal Wildlands, becomes a hotly contested region. Armadas of soldiers with firearms will spend the next decades cutting down the remaining tribes of the North Atlantic Americans in a most ruthless fashion. Skirmishes also begin on the new Western Saunderian border with the Zulu tribes who have started a campaign of plunder in that area which is still recovering from years of war. The New World Tribes have also been labeled by the guilds of explorers and the New World is indeed declared to be peopled by nations who have perfected savagery to a science. Despite these threats the first Colony has been settled by Byzantines on the Southern Continent of the New World.


Geographical Map of 17th Century World


Major Cities


The New World

 

[Kelvyquayo]

Saunderians, Mayans, Byzantines, French, Germans, Greeks
The Holy Judaic Commonwealth

By the early 1600s, The Judaic Apostolic Palace under the directives of the new Saunderian government made to solidify the unity of the rest of the Judaic Kingdoms. As such the Holy Judaic Commonwealth was formed of the 6 Jewish nations of the Eastern World. It must be said, however that ironically this was a period of secularization of Eastern civilization as the Judaic Palace fell into neglect after centuries of corrupt Holy Teachers, whose fall from spiritual grace sparked had originally sparked the first Reformations. It was, however, recognized that in order to keep the peace and govern the people over such vast distances; the structure of the religious institutions throughout the land provided a good enough basis for the implementation of a working Federal Government. Independently the Judaic states maintained their laws and military on a strictly state level while the government of the Holy Commonwealth dictated laws that spanned across the Judaic world. Currencies and standards of measurements were unified throughout the East. Universities began springing up in all corners of Saunderia under the financing of the international Judaic community as cross cultural exchange gave way to an educational revolution.

However; as the decades passed the Palace no longer put its energy into playing a dominant role in a united Judaism, but instead focused on building and expanding its political base in Saunderia. By the 17th century, the Holy Teachers had expanded the Apostolic territories dramatically, most notably Russia and the North Americans. In addition to being the head of the Palace, the Holy Teacher became one of Saunderia's most important secular rulers , signing treaties with other sovereigns and fighting wars. In practice, though, most of the territory of the Judaic States was still only nominally controlled by the Holy Teacher with much of the territory being ruled by the military class of the Janissaries. Control was often contested; indeed as the the Janissary veterans who had control of the government were forced to concede to the Palace in matters of foreign affairs in order to keep the unity with the other Judaic nations.


Saun Shankaars became
the most popular general
of the time, despite his
Buddhist background.
His rise marked the
declining influence of
the Palace upon the
commoners.

The Janissaries once again fought in the name of the Palace, however any religious connotations in this were blatantly political. The Janissary armies still had no religious affiliation; indeed the newly appointed Holy General title came to be help at this time by Saun Shankaars, a Buddhist from Bombay. The other countries of the Commonwealth maintained similar independent State governments and State militias. Political tensions were often high between the Palace and the State governments. It was mainly due to the fact that the Palace in Anthonia was under the direct protection from the Janissary generals and thus the policies were inevitably swayed by the general's wishes. It is unknown how much of this the other Judaic countries of the Commonwealth were fully aware of; but much of this power play by the Saunderians could be due to the fact that they had the only standing army equipped with firearms and artillery.


The Armies of the
Judaic Commonwealth
were mostly Saunderians.
Their armies were still the
only in the world wielding
firearms and the greatly
destructive canon.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

Ethiopians
The Confucian Empire

Ethiopia is one of the oldest and the world's second-most populous nation. It has yielded some of the oldest traces of humanity,making it an important area in the history of human evolution. Recent studies claim that the vicinity of present-day Addis Ababa was the point from which human beings migrated around the world. Ethiopia traded with Carthage and Saunderia exporting ivory, tortoise shell, gold and emeralds, and importing silk and spices. Ethiopian access to both the Atlantic Sea and the Upper Mississippi enabled its strong nobility to profit in trade between various Zulu, American, and even the remote Japanese tribal states.
The main exports of Ethiopia were, as would be expected of a state during this time, agricultural products. The land was much more fertile during the time of the Oromo Emperors than now, and their principle crops were grains such as wheat and barley. The people of Ethiopia also raised cattle, sheep, and camels. Wild animals were also hunted for things such as ivory and rhinoceros horns. They traded with Carthaginian traders as well as with Spanish and Celtic merchants. The empire was also rich with gold and iron deposits. These metals were valuable to trade, but another mineral was also widely traded. Salt was found richly in Aksum and was traded quite frequently.


Ethiopian Capitol of Aksum and the Northern Mississippi Valley

The Spread of Confucianism began shortly after the death of the Confucius Selassie in 246 BC. During his lifetime the Confucianist religious movement was embraced by the tribes of Ethiopia . In the first centuries conversion to Confucianism followed the rapid growth of the Ethiopian civilization enhanced by the conversion of the Zulu tribes and Spain. Ethiopian dynasties were soon established and the subsequent Confucian Empire was formed from the ancient petty Ethiopian population centers of the Addis Ababba, Aksumites, Gondars, and Lelibelans were had become one of the largest empires in the world. The people in the Confucian world made many centers of culture and science, and produced merchants, travelers, notable scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, doctors and philosophers initiating a Golden Age of Confucianism. The activities of this quasi-political community of believers and nations resulted in Confucianism becoming the second-largest religion in the world.

Oil Painting of a typical Ethiopian of the time.

By the 17th century Ethiopian Confucianism had become more clearly defined, and the line between Confucianists and non-Confucianists more sharply drawn. Ethiopians now lived within an elaborated system of ritual, doctrine and law clearly different from those of non-Confucians. The status of Buddhist, Hindus and Christians was more precisely defined, and in some ways it was inferior. They were regarded as the 'People of the Old Ways'. In general they were not forced to convert, but they suffered from restrictions. They paid a special tax; they were not supposed to wear certain colours; they could not marry Confucian women; their evidence was not accepted against that of Confucians in the law courts; their houses or places of worship could not be ostentatious; they were excluded from positions of power (although in various places Hindus and Buddhists worked as secretaries or financial officials for Confucianist rulers. It should also be noted that Ethiopia was the only nation at this time to celebrate the near universal literacy of it's people.

17th century portrait of Confucian religious leader providing for the common Ethiopian.

 

[Kelvyquayo]

Carthaginians
The Empire of Carthage

The Carthaginians in ancient times were mostly a pastoral peoples, surviving amidst the sweeping plains and tundras of the south. They began settling the coastline along the great Bay of Carthage and soon after the waters were filled with fleets of vessels and a great maritime culture was born. As their naval power grew so did their economic influence begin to perpetuate a vast continental network of sea-trade reaching even to the far reaches of the Atlantic Sea. By the time of the 17th century Carthage was ruled by a league comprised of the most wealthy business owners. Government functions were ran from the 4 administrative centers of Carthage, Utica, Hippo, and Haradentum. Each local center was essentially governed independently by their respective local lords. The four regions maintained their own militia, laws, and customs. The more common people of Carthage were less unified than their more wealthy brethren. The four regions had different languages and different cultures. The prime force in their continued harmony as a nation was the Confucian religion and trade.

The Empire was held together by a Supreme Council of Business Lords comprised of the wealthiest leaders of the four regions which met bi-annually to negotiate the economic affairs of the country. Carthage had remained a strong empire and trading power until the Fall of Russia. Though the power vacuum created in the old Russian lands gave the Carthaginian leaders the opportunity to expand their powers onto the old Russian lands on it's borders, Carthage shortly after began to suffer from economic isolation. Russian enterprises, once the backbone of supply for the sea-traders, was now cut off by as the Judaic Commonwealth worked to end all trade with the Confucian countries of the East. The Carthaginians never had much interest in their primitive neighbors the Zulu and the Americans; indeed their fragile trade alliances with the Ethiopia was all that kept the Carthaginian people from total poverty.

Most of the wealth of the Empire was held by the lords along the coast of the Bay of Carthage, who oversaw the exports from the neighboring regions and had previously cornered the shipping market in the West. The inland regions of Carthage were still very much rural in comparison. It was through intricate networks of tolls, tariffs, and shrewd mercantilism that the otherwise arid landscape of eastern Carthage had become the home of countless trading centers connected by some of the most developed road networks in that part of the world. As the city walls of Carthage city overlooked the great cliffs of the Bay of Carthage, the eastern lands were still very much viewed as frontier land by those of the big coastal cities. After the Saunderian Conquest of Russia, however, the East was seen to all Carthaginians as a looming darkness; as one 17th century contemporary Carthaginian scholar coined it, "The Iron Curtain of Impending Calamity".


Map of Carthage

 

[TheJopa]

Very nice!