Creation of Centuries: A civilization RP. (Chronic backstabbing disorder prevalent)

[Sobotnik]

READ ME, SEND IN TURNS AS TURN 6.
[img_thumb]http://filesmelt.com/dl/turn5.png[/img_thumb]
Cultural map: [url]http://filesmelt.com/dl/turn5_culture.png[/url]
Religious map: [url]http://filesmelt.com/dl/turn5_religion.png[/url]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR7eUSFsn28[/media]

Events of the years 2000 to 1500BCE:

-Volcanic eruptions during this time cause global cooling and destroy many towns in the Aegean and Italian areas. This seriously damages trade and agriculture, with the result that many crop failures or diminished harvests lead to an exacerbation of initial problems caused by the eruptions.
-As a result of declining demand for bronze, reduced agricultural productivity, volcanic eruptions, and migrations of hungry peoples, political instability is now rife. These all lead to knock on effects on trade, meaning that a decline in bronze and farming output is having a knock on effect on other activities. Piracy returns as navies generally become less well funded and weaker, with trade also weakening from piracy.
-Central Asian peoples migrate into the Middle East, Europe, and the Indus, displacing the native inhabitants. Speaking Indo-European languages and bringing strange new inventions called chariots; they bring many problems for the natives, and end up creating their own states. The Greeks are one of the migratory peoples, who begin to displace the original inhabitants of Greece as they push southwards.
-The Indus valley civilization declines with the invasions of the Aryans. By 1700 BCE, they are gone completely, the cities left in ruins. Climate change also aids this decline, forcing migration to the east, mostly due to changes in monsoon weather patterns as a result of cooling weather.
-The mammoth goes extinct. The last group dies as a pygmy version of the once great creatures in Wrangel Island. The blamed cause is cooling of the climate, leading to starvation as food becomes scarce.
-Glass is invented in the near east. The element mercury is also discovered.
-Failed harvests, political instability, economic decline, and migrations; lead to the collapse of the Egyptian middle kingdom. A resurgence and then later expansion result in the addition of large parts of Judea.
-The first fragments of carbon steel are made in central Anatolia, although more of a rarity than the start of iron manufacture. By the 1700s BCE, the first evidence of Iron smelting and manufacture is underway, although the metal is actually weaker than Bronze and rarer, mainly used for jewellery. With the focus on Bronze anyways, there is little economic incentive for iron until much later.
-The Xia dynasty in China collapses, to be replaced by the Shang. Agriculture is introduced to Korea and Japan.
-Hammurabi forms and rules over a majestic Babylonian empire during this time. He writes the first code of laws in history. His empire is later destroyed by the Hittites by 1500 BCE. Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, and the Mitanni form in the wake of the destruction.
-The Mycenae peoples are ruling in Greece during this time.
-The Euganei of Northern Italy are displaced by the Laubergian peoples.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=432426&dateline=1372642293[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/V1shHE.jpg[/img]
[b]Mr. Face – Spain
Capital: NaN
Culture: Spanish (Proto-Italic)
State Religion: Four elements[/b]
-With growing populations in urban areas and the rise of inter-state warfare, the need has come for strong buildings, roads, bridges, and defensive structures that are not meant to last mere decades, but potentially hundreds of years of continuous use. Masonry is developed as a trade during this time, with masons taking on apprentices and being paid to help design and construct large buildings rivalling anything the ancients of the Neolithic built.
-The Spanish continue to expand, although diplomacy and blackmail factor into it more. Sometimes it is advantageous to trade with towns and villages (many of which are well defended and populated by angry persons). Inland expansion is still slow, especially due to the difficulty of ploughing new soils, deforesting areas needed for agriculture, and general expansion of the population. Nonetheless, expansion still occurs.
-Trade begins to decline. Whilst demand for bronze and local goods is still common in the west, hardly any ships go to the south any longer. Talks of nobody buying bronze anymore in the Far East are common. A move back to agriculture or fishing is now underway.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=306346&dateline=1371857910[/img][img]http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy221/Goji-man/FlagofAncients_zpsa1f4ba74.png[/img]
[b]Zillamaster55 – Tribe of Laubergians
Capital: Viikuru
Culture: Laubergian (Proto-Germanic)
State Religion: Worship of the Great Eagle [/b]
-The horse is domesticated to its full potential at this time. Selective breeding results in them growing larger. Improved harnesses and the advent of saddles allow them to be ridden and to drag carts. Soon enough, the nobility of Laubergia fight from horseback, with some merchants able to hire them to deliver letters or small goods.
-Taxation is introduced for the first time, whereby a portion of harvests are collected from each village and used for the upkeep of soldiers, maintaining religious buildings, and various other communal projects.
-Demand for copper mysteriously begins to drop, and now the Laubergians are suffering from the decline in trade pretty badly. Many traders move back to farming, and the social system stagnates.
-Almost no expansion occurs during this time, so people instead begin internal colonization on a greater scale. A combination of deforestation, declining southern trade, cooling climate, and erosion leads to many farms being abandoned in the south of Laubergia. Weak control of the south and economic decline there leads to the state unable to assert their authority any longer, paving the way for migrations.
-The migrations begin, with people splitting off from the Laubergians and heading south in search of new homes. This results in the displacement of Euganai peoples. They also intermix with them, adopting some of their culture and religions.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=366423&dateline=1372502753[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/3FJ0S0.png[/img]
[b]Eli45 – France
Capital: Paris
Culture: Frog (Proto-Italic)
State Religion: Facepunch[/b]
-Continued improvements in agriculture occur in this productive land. Vegetable gardens pop up with increased frequency as various new plants spread around the continent. They help to supplement the diet well. Herbs are also grown along with early orchards, and the diets of people are slowly becoming more varied and healthy. Of course, this is assuming that harvests are rich, which happens some years. Continued sacrifices and rituals or deals continue with the local deities. Of course, the local wolf goddess of the French people is claimed to hold back harvests some years, much to their annoyance.
-Cooling climate and declining trade leads to many difficulties for these people despite these improvements. Deflation of prices occurs with a sudden drop in demand for bronze overseas leading to some Mannish or Spanish merchants cutting prices in a bid to offload now worthless metals. Some people are even using bronze tools in agriculture now.
-Expansion continues as in prior centuries. Villages are invaded, otherwise forced to join via blackmail, or even do well enough from trade that they willingly join in return for military protection.
-The Ruler dies of some uncertain causes. With his death, a new movement comes into play. They advocate internal colonization of marginal areas, draining of marshes, and deforestation. Whilst initially successful at slowing down expansion into contested lands, it does begin to reduce food yields gradually as the soils are poorer. Robbery and crime rates increase, with the result that villages increasingly employ local watchmen and thief takers. Any existing villages of opposing faiths or cultures are quickly integrated.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=489118&dateline=1371980478[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/ZwCLbeV.jpg?1?4946[/img]
[b]KriegsMar1ne – Britannica
Capital: NaN
Culture: English (Proto-Germanic)
State Religion: Christianity[/b]
-Through internal struggles, economic decline, displacement by new or competing cultures, and war, Britannica fades away into the annals of history. They have definitely left an impact and legacy however, and the peoples here are by no means no longer trading, warring, or otherwise engaging in other such activities. The cooling climate and declining bronze trade finishes it off for good.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=555043&dateline=1374907474[/img][img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/daggerflag1.png[/img]
[b]KingArcher – The Empire of Dagger
Capital: Istanbul
Culture: Turkish (Proto-Altaic)
State Religion: Islam[/b]
-Much of Crete and other coastal areas are badly damaged by the eruption of volcanoes in the Aegean. These places, dependent on trade for their wealth, don’t recover. Declining agricultural output and trade means that the naval bases here aren’t even repaired a century after the eruption. Piracy begins to resurface around Crete, and control of the island begins to weaken.
-The Emperor declares a war on the Hittites. These are newcomers to the area, having settled in central Anatolia and displacing the Hatti people.
-Migrations are set in motion however, with refugees and raids flooding into the Empire of Dagger. The wars with the Hittites do not go as planned. No naval battles can occur, for the Hittites are based inland. With this in mind, overland attempts at conquest routinely fail, mainly due to declining quality of the army.
-The chariot is introduced to the Empire. It is adopted by the army for use in warfare, and by the nobility for travel and hunting.
-The motto of the Empire becomes: "If it looks at us funny, invade it."
-Cemal, chief architect builds a Military Academy in the capital. It is used to train future generals, because throwing burly men at each other is not the only way of doing things.
-Linear A, a native Minoan writing system, is adopted as the official script of the Empire. The rival alphabets are discouraged.
-A diplomatic treaty is signed with the Phoenicians:
--Reduction of tariffs and taxes on merchants operating under both states.
--Phoenicia will subsidize the Daggerian navy and armies.
-However, the Daggerian economy starts to go into decline. The ports begin to gradually become quieter and trade slackens. With the cooling climate and declining demand for bronze, tax revenue and agricultural output goes down and with it, the ability to maintain the army.
-Many of the great cities see a dispersal of peoples to the countryside. Greek barbarians are pushing from the west and many great old buildings fall into decay.

[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img832/6236/ko5b.png[/img]
[b]Mallow234 – Phoenicia
Capital: Byblos
Culture: Phoenician (Proto-Semitic)
State Religion: Canaanite[/b]
-With the spread of iron working from the Hittites and other such traders, the Canaanites eventually develop iron working for their own uses. Originally for jewellery and the rich, improvement of it slowly occurs over the course of several centuries. Whilst as strong as bronze, it is also more plentiful (albeit needing a hotter furnace). Demand for bronze begins to decline and imports of copper and tin from Crete, Mrvia, Laubergia, Spain, and Mann, also decline.
-Records of battles begin to be kept, mainly for histories or as reference to for later people engaging in naval warfare. The vowel appears suddenly in these records, and the alphabet continues to evolve.
-Naval resupply vessels are introduced, whereby a friendly vessel can sail out to meet one low on supplies and restock it. Of course, this requires a network of well supplied bases. Whilst expensive, it helps contribute to reducing piracy. However, the system breaks down with the bronze trade collapse.
-Unfortunately, the decline in trade makes it hardly worthwhile. Put under additional strain, the Phoenician navy cannot deal with the pirates of the Aegean. Declining demand for bronze means that there is little point to do so anyways. The Egyptians are suffering likewise, and trade further declines.
-Inevitable deflation also hampers trade as populations are culled through famines and war. The Phoenicians luckily escape, but are left with large numbers of bronze and iron in stock. The concept of a bank is invented as a place to store these. Starting as blacksmiths lending to poor farmers unable to buy the tools themselves, they repay in the form of harvests. A proliferation of iron tools results.
-The Egyptians eventually arrive near the Phoenicians. However, the remaining cities trading with Phoenicia quickly submit vassalage and raise a huge army to intimidate the Egyptians into backing down. The Egyptians do not dare try to attack such a confident league of wealthy cities, especially ones armed with iron.
-Expeditions head outwards to try and work out why the situation is overall crap. Heading to Mesopotamia, to the Mrvians on the Danube, and to Sardinia, they do not learn much minus an affliction to crops and poverty brought on by declining use of bronze. They do find areas suitable to colonize however, particularly along the North African coast, Sicily, and Sardinia. Hardly settled and good for farming, it is thought these can have colonies established for purposes of trade and food.
-A diplomatic treaty is signed with the Daggerians:
--Reduction of tariffs and taxes on merchants operating under both states.
--Phoenicia will subsidize the Daggerian navy and armies.
-Horses are imported from the peoples of the Pontic steppe, and used by the nobility.
-The Writings of αηιραμ the Elder:

Circa 1900 BCE

Phoenician people worship not only their gods, but their wares. And as Phoenicians worship a myriad array of gods and practice myriad religions, there are myriad goods passing through Byblos. Sheep, Trinkets and Incense often sit within 4 or 5 cubits of each other at market, and they are normally sold within a short amount of time. And bags full of these goods are sent on galleys to various destinations across the sea. And the sea is not the only place where these goods arrive from, oh no. Goods from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Dagger...
Last week I bought myself a small statue, around a palm in height. It is woman, with four arms. No-one I know worships the god that I assume the statue resembles, so I must draw the conclusion that it is from the east, maybe the north. However, this is typical of the goods that pass through Byblos.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=462795&dateline=1358155119[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/uI1PV3.png[/img]
[b]Damian0358 – Velkij Donaljea
Capital: Velehrad
Culture: Mrvian (Pre-Proto-Slavic)
State Religion: Apatheism (Unofficially Pržk)[/b]
-Understandly, people travelling great distances need to record landmarks, settlements, roads, and ways to understand where they are in relation to them. The first maps appear, mostly as heavily distorted scrolls showing roads and rivers, with little care to dimensions beyond recording distances. They are initially used by merchants and Kings. Some versions later appear that are like encyclopaedias, with fantastic beasts and peoples drawn on them.
-A new defensive militia called the "Grlnce" is formed, with the purpose of defending the "border".
-The king changes the name of the kingdom to Velkij Donaljea, in tribute to the Danube, source of the wealth and prosperity of the Kingdom.
-The king declares all territory to the east that the Danube passes through is rightful Mrvian territory. Expansion occurs along roughly that path, although the Mrvians branch outwards into the as of yet unnamed plains between the mountains.
-A letter is sent to the Empire of Dagger, informing them to stay away from the great river unless they mean no conquest.
-Seeing that the people still wish for the Mrvian religion to be organized, the King prays to the gods once more. He sees them once more and asks them what to do. They tell him not to worry and disappear, leaving a tablet behind.
- The King reads the tablet: It speaks of the five gods he sees appear in front of them: Cherlivgob, the god of chaos; Rudagest, the god of hospitality; Dunalvija, the god of water; Porenper, the god of thunder; and Dižbeg, the protector of the world and the head god. It also speaks of the female witch and rival of the gods, Bajba Ylaga, who was the controller of death. The gods do not approve of sacrifices and rituals, as they believe they are Bajba Ylaga's work.
- The tablet also states the land of Drslava, the birth land of the gods, must always stay a place for religious freedom, to keep the religious purity of the land that the gods remember from their youth, and will crush any foreign nation that attempts to establish a specific religion in the state.
- The king once more tells his subjects that the gods have spoken to him once more and that, for those who wants a religion of the pantheon of gods the Mrvians have, can have it, but to not anger the gods, Apatheism will stay. The information on the tablet becomes the Mrvian religion of Pržk (the start of Slavic paganism) and the tablet itself is named the Lesch.
-However, poor agricultural output leads to many people migrating along the Danube to search for less exhausted lands. They end up pushing out some of the original inhabitants in the process. It is rumoured they are heading south.
-Relative decline of trade has brought further problems as well. Not only does trade ties with Laubergia weaken, but so too do they with the Empire of Dagger. Boats are broken up to be converted into housing, and many traders chance their luck elsewhere.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=23000&dateline=1370465049[/img][img]http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/109107273/RP/Icons.png[/img]
[b]Ruskie – Valittu kauppias mailla
Capital: Juutalainen kaupunki
Culture: Taputtaailainen
State Religion: Palvonta ja sitä hampurilainen, kauppias, vapaus ja taputus[/b]
-With people looking at the skies more frequently, correlations are noted down and eventually large stone monuments are built for use as calendars. Religious elites come into being as they can accurately predict the best times for agricultural activities and festivals. They can also record messages as well, and thus within a few centuries end up allowing agriculture to take advantage of the varied seasons. Expansion can now reliably occur. Two field rotation is introduced as a means of ensuring the soil does not exhaust itself. Agricultural output grows, and the forests begin to be cleared to make way for farms.
-The lack of earthworms and bees makes agriculture actually quite difficult. However, wild rice is successfully cultivated as a staple grain, it being the only grain for use so far. There are also no domestic animals save for dogs.
-With this in mind, expansion continues onto the mainland. Forests are slowly cleared and wild rice paddies are constructed. Pretty soon, the rice strain mutates and is selected for until the grains are sufficiently large. However, this ends up displacing hunters gradually over time. A few fights occur, but inevitably the farmers win out.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=243999&dateline=1355864069[/img][img]http://i44.tinypic.com/mj1hfb.png[/img]
[b]Satansick – Zulu Kingdom
Capital: Bulawayo
Culture: Zulu (Bantu)
State Religion: NaN[/b]
-The wheel is invented by the Zulu people. Quite quickly, carts are invented to be dragged by cattle. With this aid, the Zulu can migrate around much more easily, packing up their possession and storing them on a cart as they can follow the herds. Some people even build small houses on them, made out of sticks and hides.
-Using large flanking manoeuvres and encirclement, the Zulus intimidate tribes by appearing much larger than they actually are. The use of carts for rapid movement and splitting up the forces also aids extensively. Many enemy persons are captured in battle along with their cattle.
-Eventually, via snowballing and acquirement of wealth, rival tribes are assimilated. Movement by foot however, restricts communications considerably.
-Attempts to increase wheat production do not go too well. Farming is still Neolithic here, and the only way to grow more is to expand the amount of land under cultivation. A series of cool years also diminish harvests as well.
-Migrations occur more frequently as pasture suffers from cooler than usual weather. People pack up and farm less, for now.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=130431&dateline=1373926878[/img][img]http://puu.sh/3PWgn.png[/img]
[b]YogiTheWise - The Weeaboo Empire
Capital: Akihabara
Culture: Wapanese (Proto-Japonic)
State Religion: The Great Pantsu Totem[/b]
-In the middle of the Bronze Age, Japan was still populated by hunter-gatherers, and civilization seemed far away on the timeline. But then, a group of strange, tall, large-eyed people appeared off the coast of Honshu island, their leader carrying a giant wooden totem on his back, which resembled a woman’s lower body dressed in knee socks, skirt and striped panties. They impressed a local tribe with their religion and taught them the ways of agriculture, metal working, writing, sailing, currency, and wearing underwear. In record terms, a small civilization appeared on the archipelago, and now they desire to grow…
-Iron smelting is invented in the Japanese Archipelago by the Wapanese people. Newcomers from Korea, they begin to displace the Jomon and Ainu peoples. They are the first farmers, metal-workers, and have a lot of mainland influences from Chinese culture. The lack of iron does not deter the Wapanese however, and they make good use of what little they have.
-A mixed army of spearmen and archers are used to safeguard the first colonial attempts on Honshu, beating back the hunter-gathers in raids, and often taking the fight back to them.
-The Shimapan Guard is assembled, tasked with guarding the Pantsu Totem. The Great Pantsu Totem is in the central square of Akihabara, surrounded with a fence and having The Shimapan Guard stand around it, not responding to anything unless it’s an apparent threat to the Totem
-An order of elite warrior monks/secret police called The Nice Guys is established. They are celibate (they swear that they shall have no wife other than their Wai-fu) and wear crude straw fedoras. They are also not allowed to shave. Many get around the celibacy rule by inviting young virgin girls to stay at their temples for varied reasons.
-As these newcomers multiply, they construct rice paddies, engage in fishing, worship shimapans, and are wishing to domesticate a small carnivorous mammal. Unfortunately, the closest cat to them lives in Syria. Harvests for some reason during this time are very low for a few years.
-On the Pantsu Totem religion: The Pantsu totem, carried into the land by The Great Prophet Fatto Moefaggu, is believed to be a representation of the lower body of the goddess Wai-fu, who lives in the mind of every male believer and manifests herself differently to everyone. She is believed to be the goddess of love and the protector of humanity. The followers of the religion believe that if they live a virtuous life they will be rewarded with spending the eternal afterlife with their idealized version of the Goddess.
The great Book Of Moe is the primary sacred text of the religion, which describes rituals and commandments to true believers, which include the following:
- Every man must make a pilgrimage to the Great Pantsu Totem, where he and other pilgrims must perform rituals and ingest a hallucinogenic substance which gives them visions of their Goddess approaching them. Also, they must acquire a Wai-fu figurine to use for worship.
- Every man should find and marry a woman that most resembles their vision of Wai-fu, and the woman must do everything possible to look and act like her husband’s vision of Wai-fu.
- Any man, whose advances were rejected by a woman, is encouraged to join the Nice Guys.

[B]Current player List:[/B]
Mr. Face – Spain
Zillamaster55 – Tribe of Laubergians
Eli45 – France
KriegsMar1ne – Britannica
KingArcher – The Empire of Dagger
Mallow234 – Phoenicia
Damian0358 – Velkij Donaljea
Ruskie – Sitä rohkea hampurilainenkunta ja läpättääistan
Satansick – Zulu Kingdom
YogiTheWise - The Weeaboo Empire

[b]If you haven’t already done so, please join our group. There will usually be people chatting in the chat room after each turn is posted, so please pop in for a visit.[/b]
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FaRPG[/url]

[CyrustheGreat]

THE WORLD IS ENDING

REPENT

[YogiTheWise]

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;41680716]Unfortunately, the closest cat to them lives in Syria. [/QUOTE]

[b]GOD FUCKING DAMMIT[/b]

[Sobotnik]

Mr. Face – Spain
Eli45 – France
Satansick – Zulu Kingdom

These players are politely asked to have their turns in by tomorrow.

[Jhezheaikcue]

in the thread

[Sobotnik]

READ ME, SEND IN TURNS AS TURN 7.
[img_thumb]http://filesmelt.com/dl/turn6.png[/img_thumb]
Cultural map: [url]http://filesmelt.com/dl/turn6_culture.png[/url]
Religious map: [url]http://filesmelt.com/dl/turn6_religion.png[/url]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV61OJIY4Mk[/media]
Events of the years 1500 to 1000BCE:
-The usage of Iron has now spread throughout most of the European and Middle Eastern world, save for many peripheries such as Spain, the Great European plain, Scandinavia and the Isle of Man.
-This period, along with the earlier few centuries, is colloquially called the “Dark ages”, it covers the transition from bronze to iron. It also represents the collapse of many bronze using civilizations in favour of ones that migrated from the Asian steppes. Generally speaking, most of the peoples of Eurasia end up migrating from one place to another.
-A Greek King is dismayed to find that his wife has run off with a Hittite noble. He gathers up all of his allies, most of which are in it for the spoils of war. They invade western Anatolia and besiege a city there for ten years. The war ends up consuming both parties in the war, depleting the treasuries and armies. Eventually, the city is captured when the Greeks sneak inside via a horse. They soundly sack the city and murder the entire high nobility of the Hittites, bringing a political crisis. The combination of famines and economic decline weakened it, but this war was the coup de grace.
-The king is pleased. He returns home where he finds his kingdom being destroyed by the Dorian Greeks. The Dorians then proceed to ethnically cleanse his people.
-It is discovered that disruption of trade routes, increasing use of iron, and the Hekla 3 eruption (which cooled the climate for two decades) may be mostly to blame for these migrations and low agricultural yields. The switch to iron also shows that trade has largely decentralized. No trees grow for 20 years it is said.
-Palace economies are collapsing, in favour of decentralized villages. These villages are characterized by use of iron, heavy ploughs and farming equipment made of metal, poor literacy, and use of Indo-European languages. The areas of Greece and Anatolia are prime examples.
-Israel forms during this period, becoming a powerful regional kingdom and able to push out the Egyptians. They remain on good terms with the Phoenicians, on account of common language and control of trade. Some cities in the Phoenician league pay tribute just to be on the safe side. No attempt at invasion is made, given the Phoenicians power.
-Egypt is in the so called the “New Kingdom”. It begins to break down near the end of this period as it is flooded by wars, attempted invasions from “Sea Peoples” and Lybians, plus a loss of the Levant to the Kingdom of Israel. It holds onto its homelands, but never fully recovers.
-The Kassites overrun Babylonia and found a dynasty there. They are then overthrown by the Elamites.
-The Olmecs appear in Mesoamerica. Agricultural societies are also growing in the Andes and parts of the Caribbean and its coasts.
-The Hittite Empire conquers much of the Middle East. By the year 1200 BCE however, they collapse, and the Kingdom of Phygria ends up taking root in central Anatolia.
-Writing is invented in China, along with the Chariot. This is attributed to the so called “Yellow Emperor”.
-The Dorians are on the move. They push into Greece and destroy much of the Bronze Age civilizations there. The art of writing is lost, and disruptions in the bronze trade lead to the adoption of iron as a substitute. Eventually, city states begin to grow throughout Greece, particularly Athens and Corinth.
-Hinduism is now widespread throughout northern India.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=432426&dateline=1372642293[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/V1shHE.jpg[/img]
[b]Mr. Face – Spain
Capital: NaN
Culture: Spanish (Italic)
State Religion: Four elements[/b]
-The calendar is invented, and with it, astrology. The priests of Spain chart the heavens and begin to make forecasts and predictions. Sometimes bollocks, sometimes correct. They do manage to end up finding an excuse to build more temples though. Farmers sometimes ask the priests for advice, and in one such temple you can apparently speak to the gods yourself. A ruse is uncovered when a priest is found hiding behind a grate. He was discovered when he smelt the feet of a dung gatherer and vomited.
-Expansion is now increasingly slower. The nobility are increasingly decadent and stagnant along with the priesthood. With a decline in trade, they don’t even have any desire to engage in exploration or financial pursuits. Eventually, they retreat to their villas and palaces, content with watching more peasants being forced to opt into the palace economy when their individual harvest fails, and the market is controlled by the local lord, blackmailing them into giving up their land.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=306346&dateline=1371857910[/img][img]http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy221/Goji-man/FlagofAncients_zpsa1f4ba74.png[/img]
[b]Zillamaster55 – Tribe of Laubergians
Capital: Viikuru
Culture: Laubergian (Proto-Germanic)
State Religion: Worship of the Great Eagle [/b]
-With the situation deteriorated, the new King announces a series of raids on the peoples to the north. These are Indo-European migrants. They are spreading throughout Europe, displacing many older civilizations. Laubergian warriors raid the smaller tribes and carry off a great deal of loot. Rape and burning of settlements occur as well, and the once weakening borders to the north come under firm control once more. Counter raids are also common, with the result being migration to the south. Eventually, the migrating people are forced to go around Laubergia itself.
-Various warriors and horsemen accompany the migrations south. Whilst agriculture steadily improves again, it fails later on in this period due to more erosion and cool weather. Some lands are permanently abandoned, and the centre of population begins to shift south as famine grips the land. The King attempts to reassert his control over the Southern Laubergians, but succeeds at only securing the eastern half. This portion is gradually extended westwards over time. Other Laubergians continue to settle in the peninsula, moving into the Po valley. However, control over the south Laubergians is temporary at best. Unruly and becoming increasingly influenced by the people they are mixing with, they begin to ally with the Villanovan peoples to assert their own independence. Iron working is introduced by the Villanovans, bringing an end to the Bronze Age. Soon afterwards, trade reaches its minimum.
-Traders march out westwards, looking for others to trade with. They more or less spread around the Alps and Northern Italy, but find little minus agricultural products. Grapes are grown here, and pressed into wines. After some taste tests, the merchants begin selling bronze to these simple farmers and export the wine back to Laubergia. Bronze is declining however, as these farmers seem to cherish bronze only for trinkets. They make their own iron tools and weapons. This wine is popular however, and is drunk by many wealthy people.
-Later, with expansion into the Adriatic, several fishing villages end up growing into ports. The development of a new type of sailing ship also aids with moving goods around, although growth in trade is slow. Few shipwrecks are discovered on the seafloor from this period, and most of them tend to be half empty, carrying wine jars or remains of fish. A little bronze or rusted iron is also seen, evidencing to the tiny volume of trade.
[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=366423&dateline=1372502753[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/3FJ0S0.png[/img]
[b]Eli45 – France
Capital: Paris
Culture: Frog (Italic)
State Religion: Facepunch[/b]
-With poor weather causing some lean years, economic decline brought on by a collapse of trade, and migrations causing all sorts of conflict, when a strong leader is needed most, they do not appear. Many people pack up and leave in search of better lands, whilst the nobility are content to stay in their comfortable homes. The king ends up losing a lot of power during this time of decentralization, and with the advent of iron many villages are fortifying themselves and openly refusing to pay him tribute. His own weakness prevents him from making any actions.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=555043&dateline=1374907474[/img][img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/daggerflag1.png[/img]
[b]KingArcher – The Empire of Dagger
Capital: Istanbul
Culture: Turkish (Proto-Altaic)
State Religion: Islam[/b]
-With spreading use of iron metalworking, the Dorians and Hittites with the Phoenicians end up quickly spreading use of ironworking to here. The Daggerians also invent the first “roads” in the modern sense. A plumb line is used to line up level areas with packed earth, and then laid with large stones. This immensely improves travel, as now you can travel along routes without them degrading into muddy quagmires when wet, or dusty clouds during dry times. Of course, these roads do help, but not so much when repeated invasion eats away at the empire.
-The Emperor declares a retreat to the core lands. Many former towns are abandoned to be conquered by the Hittites as the cost of retaking them would be too great. The new army rearms itself with iron weapons and armour, before pushing off the Hittites in a series of wars. Eventually, the Hittites collapse, but the Kingdom of Phrygia steps in its place. The wars calm down for now, but tensions are still high.
-Money is heavily taxed from the nobility, of course, this results in a series of rebellions and civil wars, further shrinking the borders of the empire. Eventually, the money is used to completely reform the army and buy the loyalty of the peasantry. The nobles lose many of their large landholdings, which are broken up and “redistributed to the people”. The state controls these estates, and uses the finances to rebuild roads, defensive structures, ports, and eventually finish military and naval reforms. This is considered the end of the old Empire.
-Ships now sail to the volcanic islands, scooping up ash and storing them in jars or sacks. It is discovered they can be used as fertilizer, and when introduced to peasants with their new iron tools, agriculture makes a splendid recovery. The cold weather hampers this, but recovery is truly underway by the 11th century. The Dorians are also keen on importing this ash, in return for goods such as olives and olive oil.
-The western part of the straits is colonized by various outcasts, traders, and impoverished farmers. A fort is eventually constructed to help control the straits.

[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img832/6236/ko5b.png[/img]
[b]Mallow234 – Phoenicia
Capital: Byblos
Culture: Phoenician (Semitic)
State Religion: Canaanite[/b]
-Moving around goods and organizing debts is difficult, and of course, so is bartering. Use of metal ingots is common as a means of exchange, but the Phoenicians are the first to take the creation of such monies seriously. They make bronze, gold, copper, or silver ingots, with a special mark stamped into the side to show that it was supported by the state. Of course, they are worth more or less the actual item itself. It takes a while before stamping the value in it becomes commonplace, and even longer for it to disseminate and become commonly used. However, now that wages and lending exists, the first banks and investment into businesses can occur, with the result that trade is now flourishing after the collapse of the bronze trade.
-The navy begins to shrink and have higher standards. Ships are being fitted with bronze or iron to strengthen them, and more rowers to increase speed in the water. Eventually, large rams are affixed to the front, and enemy vessels are rammed before boarding, as an excellent method of dispatching the enemy. Of course, shipwrecks are discovered more often now.
-A cavalry force is established for protection of the city states. With equipment (save for the horse and bow) paid for by the government, this means that anybody who owns a horse can join the army. Soon enough, this new force becomes the cream of the nobles and sons of the wealthy who prefer war to trade. Travelling fast and lightly, they decimate armies with hit and run attacks. It is no secret that the Kingdom of Israel is terrified of them.
-Bronze and iron is now commonly used by people for armour and weapons. Whilst bronze is on its way out, people still make helmets or breastplates from it, whilst soldiers use iron spears and swords. Of course, military reforms or organization is rare, as the Phoenicians rarely go to war.
-A search for cold resistant crops is underway, as now the merchants realize that such crops will be a boon in colder areas or during winter. They eventually manage to find such strains. They travel around selling them to people, and marginally manage to increase land under cultivation. These strains eventually begin migrating north out of the Phoenicians comfort zone, reaching deep into the Eurasian plains.
-A code of laws is introduced. It is mostly the same as the Babylonians, although translated and edited to fit the peculiarities of a merchant republic.
-Composite bows are one of the goods imported, whilst gold, spices, incense, and other metals precious or not, and alcohols, end up travelling throughout the trade routes of the republic.
-The state begins to collect gold in reserves as a rainy day fund.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=462795&dateline=1358155119[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/uI1PV3.png[/img]
[b]Damian0358 – Velkij Donaljea
Capital: Velehrad
Culture: Mrvian (Proto-Slavic)
State Religion: Apatheism (Unofficially Pržk)[/b]
-With a need to record maps and the world around with increasing accuracy, the art of geography comes about. Using records salvaged or copied from other peoples, and a library within which to store them, a group of people are selected for the task of documenting the world. Eventually, they manage to create not only an archive on every civilization past and present, but records on the world itself and even a world map: [url]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Anaximander_world_map-en.svg[/url]
-The King encourages his subjects to be hospitable, so that foreigners decide to come and live in our kingdom. Of course, when foreign migrants come looking for food, this causes problems. Not only do they speak funny languages and have different gods, but they compete over land. This ends up forcing the unlucky bastards to move once food stocks dwindle. Fights break out, and migration southwards is underway. Trade along the Danube dies as the bronze trade comes to an end.
-The King proclaims Moravia as rightful Mrvian land, which will be colonized after the eastern Danube territory is fully colonized. Unfortunately, it’s already full of people who don’t like being ruled by him.
-Danube expansion becomes less of a priority as people move out into the Pannonia basin, seeking out fertile or warmer lands.
-A new city called Aqinca (OTL Budapest) is built, where the religion of Pržk is has a site of pilgrimage located, the first Pržk church is built here. Of course, it is no city, having a population of a mere two-thousand. It does have a smaller village on the opposite side of the river too, as of yet unnamed.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=23000&dateline=1370465049[/img][img]http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/109107273/RP/Icons.png[/img]
[b]Ruskie – Valittu kauppias mailla
Capital: Juutalainen kaupunki
Culture: Taputtaailainen
State Religion: Palvonta ja sitä hampurilainen, kauppias, vapaus ja taputus[/b]
-With expansion of these simple farmers now underway, the demand for flint tools is steadily increasing. The first mines and quarries are established, and they even manage to find tiny amount of native copper or iron, cold worked to make trinkets or some sorts of tools. Whilst expensive, it does help to develop trade as minerals are now travelling over the North American continent. Given that these people are also traders, they manage to spread the concept further afield as well.
-Following the traders are the farmers. Of course, given that farming is so useful, some neighbouring tribes are abandoning hunter-gathering in favour of agriculture. The clearing of forests also has contributed to this, and people are increasingly dependent upon grown foods. Rice, and eventually fruits and various vegetables are grown. A shortage of meat is a constant problem, given that the only such animal capable of being domesticated for that purpose is a flock of turkeys in Mesoamerica.
-There are now no doubts that the New World is now in the midst of an agricultural revolution.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=243999&dateline=1355864069[/img][img]http://i44.tinypic.com/mj1hfb.png[/img]
[b]Satansick – Zulu Kingdom
Capital: Bulawayo
Culture: Zulu (Bantu)
State Religion: NaN[/b]
-The Zebra is domesticated for some strange reason. They are too unpredictable to be ridden well, and so centuries of selective breeding must go underway for them to be of any use. Eventually however, zebraback riding is now common amongst the Zulu. With the use of carrying most of their possessions with them and travelling quickly, the first true horde has appeared in Africa. It makes its living by war, in the manner of the men of Eurasia.
-Travelling southwards, many tribes are subjugated or annihilated in a series of wars intended to secure access to the sea. This is managed in the space of a mere generation, but infighting over succession and the lack of any real state apparatus means that gains are just as easy to lose as gained.
-Road building is underway. The low population density makes these almost pointless, but real gains and improvements are noted through simple changes such as packing the ground or erecting signposts. Eventually, a network of simple dirt roads covers the Zulu Kingdom, allowing fast movement of a strike cavalry force. The rest of the time however, the roads lay disused minus for what little trade goes on here.
-Sedentary agriculture is rarely practiced, so selective breeding of grains goes poorly. Most effort is focused into pastoral animals instead, breeding cattle and zebras.
-Understandably, holding onto lands is a problem as a nomadic tribe. A system gradually develops whereby the conquered tribes are to fight for power and prestige with a series of staged wars. Infighting is formalised through this method, being used to ensure the stability of the Kingdom.
[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=130431&dateline=1373926878[/img][img]http://puu.sh/3PWgn.png[/img]
[b]YogiTheWise - The Weeaboo Empire
Capital: Akihabara
Culture: Wapanese (Proto-Japonic)
State Religion: Waifuism[/b]
-No culture is complete without their art. Great attention is to be dedicated to development of the arts, first religious (people's renditions of Wai-fu), but then it spreads to other genres and styles. Art is used to impress the more peaceful of the primitive locals into submitting themselves unto the Great Wapanese Empire. Visual art develops during this time, with a focus on strangely large eyes, dyed hair, pale skin reminiscent of the original hunter-gather peoples, and often overdeveloped secondary sexual attributes.
-Emperor Shinji I (The First) Moefaggu, distant heir of the Great Prophet and first Emperor Fatto Moefaggu, starts an ambitious campaign to unite the people of the Honshu island under his rule.
-Of course, most scholars realize that these early tales are of an island dominated by petty kings that eventually unified. The Moefaggu are not above rewriting inconvenient records however, in order to prove to people that they are divine rulers.
-Of course, military force is used as well. Although iron is scarce, spears can be reliably mass produced, whilst swords are kept for the elite nobility.
-The state religion becomes colloquially known as “Waifuism”.
-The Nice Guys are to be tasked with internal security and religious propaganda; they should seek and convert non-believers and those weak of faith close to home and in newly-acquired territories.
-Wapanese Macaque monkeys are tamed and kept as pets by the Wapanese. A story is eventually written about them:
-While out walking, a crab finds a rice ball. A sly monkey persuades the crab to trade the rice ball for a persimmon seed. The crab is at first upset, but when she plants and tends the seed a tree grows that supplies abundant fruit. The monkey agrees to climb the tree to pick the fruit for the crab, but gorges himself on the fruit rather than sharing it with the crab. When the crab protests, the monkey hurls hard, unripe fruit at her. The shock of being attacked causes the crab to give birth just before she dies.
-The crab's children seek revenge on the monkey. With the help of several allies — a chestnut, a mor-tar, a bee, and a cow pie — they go to the monkey's house. The chestnut hides himself on the mon-key's hearth, the bee in the water pail, the cow pie on the dirt floor, and the usu on the roof. When the monkey returns home he tries to warm himself on the hearth, but the chestnut strikes the monkey so that he burns himself. When the monkey tries to cool his burns at the water bucket, the bee stings him. When the startled monkey tries to run out of the house, the cow pie moves and trips him and the mortar falls from the roof, killing the monkey.
-With agriculture and iron working now spreading throughout the so called “Honshu”, rival polities are appearing as minor nuisances to the Emperor. The biggest losers are the hunter-gatherers, who are forced to migrate north into the wooded areas or to give up their former lifestyle.

[B]Current player List:[/B]
Mr. Face – Spain
Zillamaster55 – Tribe of Laubergians
Eli45 – France
KriegsMar1ne – Britannica
KingArcher – The Empire of Dagger
Mallow234 – Phoenicia
Damian0358 – Velkij Donaljea
Ruskie – Sitä rohkea hampurilainenkunta ja läpättääistan
Satansick – Zulu Kingdom
YogiTheWise - The Weeaboo Empire

Notes: Each turn will now last 250 years instead of 500. The next year will be 750 BCE as opposed to 1000 BCE.

[b]If you haven’t already done so, please join our group. There will usually be people chatting in the chat room after each turn is posted, so please pop in for a visit.[/b]
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FaRPG[/url]

[Mallow]

This thread seems to have gotten very quiet lately.
Still, it's been more successful than some of the other RPs around.

[Mr. Face]

[QUOTE=Mallow234;41723373]This thread seems to have gotten very quiet lately.
Still, it's been more successful than some of the other RPs around.[/QUOTE]

Sucks that mine died out the way it did. It was going well until suddenly only four people were sending turns in...

[CyrustheGreat]

rip old empire

[Sobotnik]

For players interested in how to feasibly develop ones economy, here are some tips:

Rise of commercial empires, increasing age of marriage, low birth rates, sanitary/medical improvement, favoring the moneyed over the military/clergy/monarchy. Increase in the cost of labour, peaceful periods, general lack of large scale religious or noble control of land.

Consolidation and reinvestment into lands. This would require primogeniture succession, inability of the state to levy crushing taxes or requisition land arbitrarily, middle to large scale landowners with not only income but an incentive to develop the land further.

Low controls on trade or movement of goods and people. Access to fast flowing streams, windy hills, wide and deep slow rivers, skilled civil engineering, large concentrations of people, high demand for glassware, high demand for cheap paper.

High social mobility, lack of feudal power structures, skilled goldsmiths with high demand for their wares, expansion of general mining, division of labour, specialization within and outside of countries.
Decentralized or weak religious organizations without much land.

Also another great way is to move around plants and animals of the world. This is more applicable to New World civilizations. The more plants and animals domesticated or cultivated, selectively bred, and with a myriad of uses, will bring many new things.

Of course, not all of these things are for everybody. In fact, some would be stupidly dangerous in certain instances. Remember that political existence of your state is the most important thing of all. These improvements are only here to show how to feasibly develop an economy/technology of your society.

There are of course, many other avenues for improvement (which can be seen if you read a few history books, check out some wiki articles, ask me, etc).

As a rule of thumb, your country is doing well as long as people aren't emigrating. If large scale migrations are happening, it's either because somewhere else is doing more successfully, or your place is in decline.

Just a heads up for people who have little idea of what to do or are wanting a bit of help.

[YogiTheWise]

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;41729375]
Decentralized or weak religious organizations without much land.
[/QUOTE]

Well shit.
Does it help if head of religion is also the head of state?

[Sobotnik]

[QUOTE=YogiTheWise;41729667]Well shit.
Does it help if head of religion is also the head of state?[/QUOTE]

Depends. The North Korean head of religion and state is essentially the same. The British head of state and religion are the same as well.

Another tip: Split up risk.

If you have one farmer try a new farming method, he could starve if it failed.

But, if you had say 20 people all invest into that farmer, and the method fails, individually, they each lose very little.

So therefore, there's a bigger incentive for people to invest into something if its less risky.

Given that this is an era where famine is common, and risk is considerable, it makes good sense to divide up risk between people investing into something.

Lending is risky as well. So one such way of improving things is to lower interest rates. This cannot be done arbitrarily, you have to find a way to say to lenders "I am going to make sure you won't make a loss on this".

[Crossu88]

What happened to the maps?

[Sobotnik]

[QUOTE=Crossu88;41740350]What happened to the maps?[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/www.filesmelt.com[/url]

[Mr. Face]

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;41740701][url]http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/www.filesmelt.com[/url][/QUOTE]

You should just use Cubeupload or something. I always have issues with filesmelt. Things just tend to load slowly for me there.

[Sobotnik]

The following players have to send in their turns:

Eli45

The following players will be booted if they don't send in a turn:

Eli45

The following players will be raped with a cactus:

Eli45

[CyrustheGreat]

eli plz

[Sobotnik]

I'm booting him.

[Zillamaster55]

Turn

pls

[Sobotnik]

READ ME, SEND IN TURNS AS TURN 8.
[img_thumb]http://i.cubeupload.com/AdJPDR.png[/img_thumb]
Cultural map: [url]http://i.cubeupload.com/rfsJfH.png[/url]
Religious map: [url]http://i.cubeupload.com/o7piHY.png[/url]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irXQid4peS0[/media]
Events of the years 1000 to 750BCE:
-Various Indo-Aryan kingdoms pop up in and out of existence in India. Panchala, Kuru, Kosala, and Videha.
-The Zhou now rules China, although many of the stories told of it are often exaggerated or distorted. Eventually at the end of this period it is ransacked by barbarians and splits apart into a series of petty warring kingdoms.
-A political crisis results in the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel. It is thought it is due to a succession crisis, although the main source of information is full of contradictions.
-The city state of Sparta is founded, and the first gold hats are also invented.
-The prophet Zoroaster creates Zoroastrianism. His philosophical influence spreads throughout the Middle East along with his religion. It has a major influence on the religious beliefs of the people of the Levant, including Semitic religions.
-The Israeli Kingdom and Egypt begin a long relative decline as foreign powers invade, along with internal political problems leading to civil unrest. Egyptian cities eventually are abandoned and much of their civilization and culture is lost.
-The Celtic language and culture is now spreading throughout Europe, with ironworking technology spreading into the parts of Europe further displaced from trade routes. By 750BCE, the Celts and Iron are now widespread in the Isle of Man, Iberia, and Germania.
-Two new groups of peoples form in Italy. The Hellenistic Estrucans, and the Laubergian Estrucans. The former speaks Italic languages and has some mild influence from Hellenistic culture, settling mostly on the west coast and Corscia. The latter has more Laubergian influences, most notably in religious faith. They predominantly are settled in the Po valley and throughout the northwest, bordering Laubergia.
-The first historic solar eclipse is recorded in China.
-The English of the isle of Mann begin to be displaced by the invading Celts. Their culture and religion begins to melt away.
-The Olmecs begin to decline, with many urban centres becoming depopulated.
-The first Olympic Games are held in Greece, between various city states eager to compete and show off their own states achievements. The Greeks also adopt the Phoenician alphabet (modifying it heavily) and establish colonies in Sicily, Italy, and Anatolia. They heavily influence the Etruscan peoples, particularly in the south.
-The horse trade, going south from the Ukraine, is well established and is now considerably profitable.
-A group of Estrucans and various other peoples in seven villages around a river decide to form a city state. They name it Rome.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=432426&dateline=1372642293[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/V1shHE.jpg[/img]
[b]Mr. Face – Spain
Capital: NaN
Culture: Spanish (Italic)
State Religion: Four elements[/b]
-Ironworking is introduced to Iberia, and quickly becomes used for a variety of weapons and armours. Soon it even becomes used for shovels, ploughs, axes, and other such simple tools. Forests are cleared more easily, the land broken up for cultivation, and agriculture generally improves.
-Horseback riding is also introduced, with nobles now breeding horses and riding them. Sometimes they go to war as well. Wars are pretty slow going through, as most nobles are concerned with living comfortable lives on their estates. The King demands a shake-up, but nothing really happens. He is quietly ignored.
-Sailing expeditions begin to travel further afield. Some reach down the west coast of Africa and discover an island full of a most savage people. They eat unrefined grains, live in thickets and caves, and wear furs. They use flint tools and have no farms or large buildings. Other islands are also spotted, but are found to be uninhabited. They are very warm.
-Berber peoples are also discovered in Northern Africa. They know some tastes of civilization, and are happy to trade. Ships also travel north and eventually re-establish permanent contact with the Mannish and French. Agricultural goods, with some metals such as tin, copper, and iron are moved.
-Foreign ways are tolerated considerably now, so much so to the extent that now Mannish religions are allowed in Spain, although it’s mainly practiced by traders uninterested with preaching.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=306346&dateline=1371857910[/img][img]http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy221/Goji-man/FlagofAncients_zpsa1f4ba74.png[/img]
[b]Zillamaster55 – Tribe of Laubergians
Capital: Viikuru
Culture: Laubergian (Proto-Germanic)
State Religion: Worship of the Great Eagle [/b]
-The raids on the north expand, but are less frequent. Of course, this does nothing but annoy the inhabitants. They eventually begin to construct large hillfort defensive structures and whenever the Laubergians arrive, they run inside. Since the raids are not meant to capture land, gradually the Laubergian raids bring back less loot or goods. No tribute is demanded either, so people take to either fleeing or fighting.
-The Laubergians struggle to create a system to keep agriculture in check, trying to find various crops that are good for varying forms of topsoil. They fail horribly, and are forced to replant trees, and abandon depleted soils until it recovers. Walls are made to try and prevent erosion, whilst ditches are dug to drain off water. The population has still risen beyond the carrying capacity of the land however, and many people continue to migrate or try their luck at other opportunities as agriculture fails. Many smaller farmers are eventually swallowed up by great magnates who have the resources to maintain the land and a surplus that allows them to blackmail small farmers.
-There is a great focus on trying to improve trade, but with little imperative from above, there is no clear idea of what to do. Eventually, roads are packed, ports rebuilt, and traders encouraged to travel further, but this does little to boost trade. It still remains on a local agricultural basis with some small movement of luxury goods.
-In one desperate attempt, the influence of the priests is curbed. Many of them lose their lands, tithes are removed and swapped to a voluntary basis, and many temples now must pay a tax. Needless to say, this represents a virtual coup, and a civil war erupts before it is quickly quelled. The great lords have now risen to power. Although the removal of the taxes allowed more gains for the peasantry, the lords used the civil war as an excuse to grab power. Eventually, money falls out of usage, and the poor farming opportunities results in a decay into a feudal system. They keep their own armies, own much of the land lost by bankrupted farmers, and are in favour of decentralization.
[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=366423&dateline=1372502753[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/3FJ0S0.png[/img]
[b]Eli45 – France
Capital: Paris
Culture: Frog (Italic)
State Religion: Facepunch[/b]
-As the Kingdom is met by various Celtic tribes, eventually the political system begins to break down. These tribes eat away at the lands of the Kingdom and eventually displace the ruling elite. Civil wars and infighting makes it worse as the ruling dynasty becomes ineffectual through inbreeding and an inability to adapt to changing times. Their people still survive however, their culture and religious beliefs having spread considerably. Some of them move around to settle new places, whilst abandoning old homes.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=555043&dateline=1374907474[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/WBt1ET.png[/img]
[b]KingArcher – The Empire of Dagger
Capital: Istanbul
Culture: Turkish (Proto-Altaic)
State Religion: Islam[/b]
-With populations rising in urban areas and farms needing ever more irrigation, sanitation and water supplies are of utmost priority. A sloped bridge several kilometres long is constructed, in order to supply water to the capital. It is such a success that the government embarks on the construction of several more, and soon they are built throughout many cities. Water supplies improve drastically, even for rural peoples, who can build smaller scale versions for agricultural estates.
-The Emperor realizes that he needs a proper war to shake things up. Motherwell rules. He assembles a fleet of frenzied soldiers, paid with the promise of loot in Egypt. A large force is sent and they easily ransack the weakened country. The Pharaoh is deposed and a client state is established with the express intent of funnelling taxes to the Empire of Dagger. Using this money, large scale public works projects and military reformation can take place. Of course, the Egyptians rebel often, and the country is becoming impoverished through years of neglect, war, and crushing taxes.
-The Cretan reforms are introduced. The army is now a citizen’s militia, rather than using the armies of the nobility. The citizens are raised during times of war, although they have to pay for their own equipment and lodging most of the time. The nobles become the heavy cavalry and officers of these armies. To allow such a thing, many horses are imported from the steppes of the north, and soon enough a reliable trade is now underway supplying well bred horses to the civilized peoples of the south.
-A peasant’s bank system is introduced. A farmer can apply to borrow some money from one in return for agricultural tools, seeds, animals, etc with the purpose of repaying it back at a later date. This operates well in the countryside, and interestingly enough, smaller families tend to use this system more often, and families in which only one child lives long enough to inherit the land tend to use it the most. High interest rates also tend to cripple many farmers, or disincentivize many borrowers.
-Merchants quickly steal the idea of the land bank as a means of borrowing and lending money amongst themselves. Both systems still suffer from a lack of reliability in business however, and one way of cheating banks emerges. One could borrow money for a ship, take out insurance on it, let it sink, and then claim the money.
-With slaves caught or bought in Egypt, a road building programme emerges. Large, straight, well drained, and well maintained roads are constructed between the major cities of the empire, and are readily adopted by travellers and the army for rapid movement.
-Diplomats are sent to the King of Phrygia to call him a “wannabe hobnocker”. Enraged, he allows raiding parties to visit the empire. Most don’t penetrate very far, and tend to only focus on the smaller villages.
-Ad-hoc diplomats, tending to be former and experienced merchants, are sent throughout Greece and Italy. They manage to acquire permission to dock the empires naval vessels there, and sometime later, the naval sailors also enjoy visiting the brothels at these docks. Some even desert. Finding people to work in the navy is difficult, although a practice has emerged where some men are willing to press-gang them into service, in return for money of course.

[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img832/6236/ko5b.png[/img]
[b]Mallow234 – Phoenicia
Capital: Byblos
Culture: Phoenician (Semitic)
State Religion: Canaanite[/b]
-Some merchants, record-keepers, writers, and other such peoples are demanding new materials to write upon. Somebody has the bright idea of shredding old rags of cloth, then mixing it in water before setting it in a frame. Once complete, it creates a strong paper perfectly suited to writing on. Suitable fibres can be from almost any source imaginable, and since it can be recycled and is made from typically waste products, this helps with lowering the price. Although still somewhat costly, it does help make it accessible to most merchants and state bureaucrats, who use it extensively for documentation. Some survive for centuries before sitting in museums or being recopied. Cloth production and cultivation of plants also expands.
-With this finally in order, a giant library is constructed in Byblos. The merchants meeting decided on a vast library to store all financial records of note, histories, philosophies, epics, and other noteworthy tales for posterity. Anybody who arrives in the city, is duty bound to bring his text to the library so it may be copied.
-A bureau de change, where foreign monies can be exchanged for Phoenician ones, is established. It is mainly run by a guild of jewellers and goldsmiths, who recognize the importance of measuring weights, checking the purity of metals, and overall exchanging them. The earlier reserves set up come in handy. By checking the flow of metal reserves, one can also crudely measure the trade surplus or deficit of the trade league.
-Colonies are established in Lybia and Sicilia. Some of these traders meet Greek merchants along the way, and thus trade routes can be set up and expanded. During these 250 years, the sphere of the near east quickly expands west. Traders are now travelling as far as the Balearic isles and Southern France.
-Trade routes now also extend to Italy, whereby their lovely wines and other agricultural goods can be bought. Olives are also popular, along with olive oil. Eventually, luxury goods from the East are now travelling to Northern Italy often. Similar happens with the Greeks, where trade is expanding now that the city states have settled down and are visiting Italy often in conjunction with the Phoenicians.
-Relations with Israel improve after taxes on the happy merchants are lowered. They are grateful allies, although the decline and breakup of their kingdoms means that warfare with the Phoenicians is unwise anyways now.
-The individual cities are still mostly independent, although the establishment of the library and the metal reserves in Byblos means that this city is starting to predominate over the others.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=462795&dateline=1358155119[/img][img]http://i.cubeupload.com/uI1PV3.png[/img]
[b]Damian0358 – Velkij Donaljea
Capital: Velehrad
Culture: Mrvian (Proto-Slavic)
State Religion: Apatheism (Unofficially Pržk)[/b]
-Improved agricultural methods are being introduced to the Kingdom. Some are piecemeal inventions popping up randomly, but some are foreign imports. They include iron ploughs, improved animal harnesses, and the proliferation of village blacksmiths, specialized in their trade. Somebody also has the smart idea of using bonemeal, ground up fish, manure, and other such rotted items as a form of fertilizer to improve yields. Of course, this requires extra imports, and so barges now travel up the Danube, full of rotted fish bought cheaply from fishermen on the coasts.
-State taxes are introduced for the first time on a systematic and wide scale. They are levied on everybody, taking ten percent of all their earnings. A new type of farmer is introduced called the "Prtaksz". These farmers are exempt from the tax, on the condition that they produce food which is bought for the same price by the state. This ensures a minimum price for food, and encourages them to expand production. Naturally, many people wish to join this group, rapidly progressing into minor gentry.
-The king, seeing his subjects expanding into the Pannonia basin, claims it as rightful Mrvian land. He also asks the peoples of Moravia to join his kingdom. They refuse, preferring instead to be ruled by themselves. They, or their leaders or any particular class for that matter, refuse because of the lack of incentive to join.
-The smaller, unnamed village across the river from Aqinca is said to be part of Aqinca.
-Diplomatic contact is made with the Greek city states, which recognize the existence of the Mrvians, and are willing to trade. Some even offer the rotted fish and bones that the Mrvians seem so keen on importing.
[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=23000&dateline=1370465049[/img][img]http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/109107273/RP/Icons.png[/img]
[b]Ruskie – Valittu kauppias mailla
Capital: Juutalainen kaupunki
Culture: Taputtaailainen
State Religion: Palvonta ja sitä hampurilainen, kauppias, vapaus ja taputus[/b]
-With hunting becoming problematic with the spread of rice paddies and basic agriculture (fruits, vegetables, and trees are now being cultivated or kept in groups), somebody has the bright idea of inventing traps. Using ropes, boxes, strings, sharp sticks, bows, and other sorts of crude contraptions, many wild animals can be caught and eaten. People have also started to breed dogs, given that they are the only domesticated animals around. They are bred for a whole variety of working jobs, and even for meat. Some are also bred to be large and to drag travois (a type of frame on which to carry things) around.
-Expansion of these Neolithic farmers continues, although without much impetus from above, little but the same happens. Some little trade and pathways are made, villages grow and split as they spread, and trade routes grow, but nothing much else happens. There is no clear direction as to expansion either, and now asserting political control is increasingly difficult as you must travel further and further to maintain borders against annoyed hunters or rival villages.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=243999&dateline=1355864069[/img][img]http://i44.tinypic.com/mj1hfb.png[/img]
[b]Satansick – Zulu Kingdom
Capital: Bulawayo
Culture: Zulu (Bantu)
State Religion: NaN[/b]
-Bronzeworking is finally introduced to the Kingdom of the Zulu, mostly through interaction with traders and increasing demand for suitable armour and weapons. It is mostly ceremonial at first, before slowly trickling down throughout the soldiery as a means of making weapons that aren’t made of flint or bone.
-A special bodyguard is formed of heavy zebra cavalry. Their role is to crush rebellions and internal dissent, so also acting as a form of secret police as well. They are brutal, killing revolting people before they even rise, and keeping the vassals in check. They grow in power and eventually displace the nobility, working almost as a personal arm of the king.
-The kings focus on centralizing power in his hands further drives this, and the state eventually becomes himself and his bodyguard. The bodyguard even form the first bureaucracy, taking some taxes for themselves and living considerable lives of luxury. Of course, most places they take over are Neolithic or using Bronze. Expansion is still somewhat restricted by existing geography, so many take to burning forests or villages whenever they get in the way of the zebra hordes.
-The state becomes increasingly stable. Art is encouraged, but it is merely a passing resemblance to existing art, with little innovation or boundary pushing.
[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=130431&dateline=1373926878[/img][img]http://puu.sh/3PWgn.png[/img]
[b]YogiTheWise - The Weeaboo Empire
Capital: Akihabara
Culture: Wapanese (Proto-Japonic)
State Religion: Waifuism[/b]
-Increasing architectural sophistication is now being utilized. Despite the heavy presence of timber and skilled working with it, there is still a problem of making truly strong buildings that not only can withstand heavy assault by man or weather, but are also fireproof and impressive. Large quarries are set up along with dedicated masonry workshops to build and maintain strong stone structures. Large temples/schools are constructed, along with basic roads and walled fortifications. The Wapanese are of course lazy, and tend to build their fortifications into hills rather than making tall and thick stone walls.
-Fishing and trading ships are being used to help transport soldiers along the west coast as expansion proceeds smoothly. Some rival chiefs or villages resist, but are eventually overpowered. The seas on the other sides of the island are well known. The rulers wish to expand their holdings here, seeing control of coasts as vital.
-With cold climate much of the year, especially to the north, fishing becomes an integral source of food. Around this time crabs and octopi become part of the Wapanese cuisine.
-A legend appears, in which the evil octopus god Tentakuru wanted to marry Wai-fu, and when she refused he raped her. To avenge her, the first Emperor Fatto Moefaggu had slain the godly beast, but Wai-fu was already defiled and gave birth to millions of ugly children which now live in the sea as octopi. Believers are encouraged to catch, kill and eat the octopi to further avenge their goddess. Of course, the Octopus has an extensive range and over three hundred species. Nonetheless, this doesn’t stop the Wapanese from trying to eradicate them.
-With local lords the only ones powerful enough to build fortifications, they are well placed to rule individual villages. A feudal system is encouraged and develops, with the Emperor seeing it as a way to expand quickly. Eventually, small stone forts are popping up everywhere, and peasants pay their lords a tithe in the form of rice. They are also obliged to serve in his armies and the Emperor grants his vassals land in return for military service. Some manage to get away with an informal “cowards tax” where they pay somebody else to fight on their behalf. This class eventually is named the Samurai, with the lords being Daimyos. They are still weak however, given that the Empire is small and the Emperor powerful through use of a strong personal army and extensive road network for rapid movement, alongside his secret police “The Nice Guys”.
-Missionaries begin to spread outwards, even beyond the borders of the Empire. They seek to spread their faith to the unconverted heathens on the rest of the island. They have little luck with the Ainu or Jomon, who tend to kill them. Success is more likely on the rest of the island amongst the settled peoples. Eventually, expansion northward halts as it is too cold or desolate to find willing converts who don’t want to kill them. They do wildly successfully in the west though, converting many outside of the Empire, although raids by Samurai and growing power of the Empire means that by converting many can keep their lands and rule as beforehand in much the same way.
-One of the Nice Guys writes an illustrated story about four Waifus sitting around, drinking tea and playing music. It becomes widely popular and the author writes a sequel, where one more Waifu joins the club. Since literacy levels are still low and copying texts by hand is hard, mass readings of these stories are held in schools, temples and monasteries. They also use a strange Chinese invention, where text is recorded on wooden or bamboo strips.
-Following this publication, scholars argue whether there is one Wai-fu or many, and they come to the conclusion that there are many Waifus, who are part of the one great Wai-fu, that are responsible for different aspects of life and nature. Waifuism becomes polytheistic, which also aids with conversion somewhat as the faith can adapt to local peculiarities.

[img]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=161518&dateline=1271152744[/img][img]http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/379/cp8b.png[/img]
[b]Crossu88 – Xerxes
Capital: Ulysses
Culture: Xerxes
State Religion: [/b]
-General Ulysses, the chieftain of a large tribe, marched with an army to the western side of the gulf. Through negotiations with the leader of several other tribes, they massed a large enough army to wrest control of the gulf and the land to its west.
-The Xerxes tribe, having farmed Manioc, fished, hunted, and even dabbled in trade and contact with various other peoples since time immemorial, are settling down. They are the first people in the area to invent the concept of using stone in building, using quarries to gather stone, flint, and other such basic minerals for use. They use the stones to create small mounds around their ancestral lands, with low walls of rubble and dirt. With men stationed on top, they can ward away many angry foreigners.
-To impress the tribes and maintain control, parades of the best warriors are held in the central village where the chief lives. Using this show of force, he can very often intimidate his lesser and blackmail visitors. This is used to force tribes nearby to allow traders and travellers to use paths without molestation, and to maintain them for future use.
-Trade routes eventually are clearcut and the pathways clearly defined as a means of improving travel and by extension trade. This is still very much a Neolithic society however, with low population densities. People rarely settle down or store food in bulk, but they do at least have the ability to grow manioc. Unfortunately, whilst it is a good staple crop, it possesses less calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fibre than most grains (maize, rice, wheat). Cyanide poisoning can occur without proper processing of toxic varieties too. After harvesting, it rots quickly.

[B]Current player List:[/B]
Mr. Face – Spain
Zillamaster55 – Tribe of Laubergians
KingArcher – The Empire of Dagger
Mallow234 – Phoenicia
Damian0358 – Velkij Donaljea
Ruskie – Sitä rohkea hampurilainenkunta ja läpättääistan
Satansick – Zulu Kingdom
YogiTheWise - The Weeaboo Empire
Crossu88 - Xerxes

[b]If you haven’t already done so, please join our group. There will usually be people chatting in the chat room after each turn is posted, so please pop in for a visit.[/b]
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FaRPG[/url]

[Chevelle]

This looks interesting...

[Mr. Face]

Fucking nobles goddammit

[Chevelle]

I'm gonna join as Portugal

[Mr. Face]

[QUOTE=Chevelle;41775674]I'm gonna join as Portugal[/QUOTE]

Fuuuuuuuuuuck yooooooooooooooooooou

[YogiTheWise]

Sobotnik got himself banned again, guess he'll have to send the turn for someone else to post.

[Zillamaster55]

Not everyone has their turns in

*cough*notme*cough*

[Damian0358]

[QUOTE=YogiTheWise;41796701]Sobotnik got himself banned again, guess he'll have to send the turn for someone else to post.[/QUOTE]

Sobotnik was banned for 12 hours 14 hours ago. Sobot's been unbanned for two hours.

[YogiTheWise]

[QUOTE=Damian0358;41797105]Sobotnik was banned for 12 hours 14 hours ago. Sobot's been unbanned for two hours.[/QUOTE]

For some reason I thought that FP bans were a day at least.

[Sobotnik]

Working on turn now. Got a bit delayed but it's kay.

[Sobotnik]

The following are asked to send in their turns:

Satansick – Zulu Kingdom
Crossu88 – Xerxes