Hey Peter, I think you're too late with your entry for July's 'Guess the Author'.
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Hey Peter, I think you're too late with your entry for July's 'Guess the Author'.
Great AAR. I have been reading it from the beginning, and it sure looks mighty fine. I hope you will be able to finish the AAR in the same great way that you started out - keep up the smooth momentum.
Even though danes dont have to stick together per definition, I pledge my support to Peter (though he surely would be easier to support, if there came another report soon ).
Bare vis den finne hvad bøllebank vil sige
Even though danes dont have to stick together per definition, I pledge my support to Peter (though he surely would be easier to support, if there came another report soon
). Bare vis den finne hvad bøllebank vil sige
Did I mention that Jarkko and Peter remind me of these two gentlemen...
In a most positive way of course...
Oh, and get on with it, Mr. Conqueror... you give procrastination a whole new dimension...
In a most positive way of course...
Oh, and get on with it, Mr. Conqueror... you give procrastination a whole new dimension...
@HUP: I know how to beat up hooligans, Peter doesn't have to show me
Incidently, did I mention I did work for a danish company for almost five years?
Incidently, did I mention I did work for a danish company for almost five years?
D-3 was 5 days ago. D-2 was 4 days ago. D-1 was 2 days ago.
It's a logarithmic scale, don't you see!?!
We should thus expect the AAR to be updated 16 days after the D-3 message, ie August 15th 2009. At around 01:14 GMT, about 03:14 local Danish time (the sun is not shining too brightly at that time, usually, and thus the temperature should be more bearable).
Logic, my dear Watson. It is called logic.
It's a logarithmic scale, don't you see!?!
We should thus expect the AAR to be updated 16 days after the D-3 message, ie August 15th 2009. At around 01:14 GMT, about 03:14 local Danish time (the sun is not shining too brightly at that time, usually, and thus the temperature should be more bearable).
Logic, my dear Watson. It is called logic.
Extrapolating from 3 points? I think it's called "wishfull thinking"
And if I were to do so, I could happily live with lagrange's iterpolation before jumping to logarithmic conclusions...
And if I were to do so, I could happily live with lagrange's iterpolation before jumping to logarithmic conclusions...
Extrapolating from 3 points? I think it's called "wishfull thinking"
And if I were to do so, I could happily live with lagrange's iterpolation before jumping to logarithmic conclusions...
AH, but I have years of empiric evidence backing my interpolation theory here.
Peter style: "I will update the AAR tomorrow or the day after that latest" = The AAR will be updated possibly next week or two weeks after that, if stars happen to align right
Wyvern style: "I am not sure if I have time to update the AAR any time soon" = 26 minutes later the AAR is updated
I am a past master of procrastination. Read this flow chart and you can be too!Oh, and get on with it, Mr. Conqueror... you give procrastination a whole new dimension...
As I wrote on the writers secret other forum
I'm waiting for Peter to post his next entry so my updates remain in order! Yes that is honestly the reason and it's not that I've only written two paragraphs of my next installment. Okay make that one and a half paragraphs, and the second one needs re-writing, but yes I have honestly started!
Unfortunately my muse has disapeared
I know, perhaps I'll write an adventure story instead now
Hmm - 26 minutes and counting
Secret History of Pontus: 616-651
- The Legend of Arganos the Great Part 1 -
- The Legend of Arganos the Great Part 1 -
“Welcome back class I hope you all had a great vacation. I’m going to start off this semester with a little surprise. Did you know that one of the first recorded works of literary fiction was written in Pontus during the period we’re studying? The good Doctor Barnes has finally finished his translation and very kindly given us permission to reproduce parts of his work for study on our course! Isn’t that fantastic of him? As a taster we’re going to read the first few chapter now, yes I know we don’t have enough copies for everyone so please share.”
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The Ostia Mystery
The Ostia Mystery
“Right, I want everyone to be on their best behaviour! It’s not every day we get to deliver a gift to the Consul of Rome.”
“Yeah, like only once every two years” Xenon chuckled, nudging his companion. The way the Romans elected their leader every couple of years still astonished him.
“Shush, better not interrupt the captain when he’s giving one of his speel’s, last time someone did that he cancelled all liberty!” replied Jason. Jason was a small athletic man, ideally suited to helping man one of the warships of Emperor Arganos’ fleet and he’d been the first to take Xenon under his wing when the young lad joined the crew over a year ago.
“Never fear friend, I’d not do that to my fellow crew” Xenon softly chuckled. Unlike his companion he spoke the native Greek of Pontus with a slightly refined accent interspersed with the guttural slang of the sea folk. As the captain wound down the two crewmen turned away and began walking back to the ship whilst the captain left with his honour guard for Rome.
“So how do you plan to spend your liberty?” Jason asked.
“I was thinking of touring the docks, maybe checking out the market. I need to buy a souvenir and a present for my sis for a start.”
“Hey you never told me you had a sister” Jason clapped Xenon on the back as they walked back to the ship, “is she pretty? Perhaps you can introduce me next time we’re home?”
“Hah, and you with a woman in every port” Xenon laughed, “but still, if you really want to court an eight year old you’re welcome to try.” Laughing out loud at scoring one over Jason, Xenon broke into a run back to the ship before his companion could figure a way to get even.
Jason let his friend dash away, watching him head up the gang-plank. So different to the awkward youth who’d first joined the crew. He was obviously noble born, try as he might he couldn’t hide his accent, nor the little details that come out when men live in each others pockets for months on end. He was probably the second son of some rich family. Faced with the first son inheriting it wasn’t uncommon for younger sons to get kicked out or simply run away to join the Kings navy or one of the land armies, seeking fame, fortune, or simply a way to escape an otherwise intolerable existence. Xenon never talked about his past and it was an unspoken law of the seas not to press about such things.
“You’ll be fleeced alive my friend” Jason shouted to Xenon as he finally clambered aboard. “Better you let me show you around, it’s not every day we get to visit a city like Ostia, the main port of the Roman Empire!”
Later that afternoon, having changed into their best portside clothes the pair found themselves strolling away from the docks. “What you see here is the wealth of the Roman Empire”, Jason pointed, indicating teams of men unloading ships all along the waterfront ready to haul the goods over to the waiting barges that would transport them up the Tiber to Rome itself, “but you won’t see any of the real wealth here. No the rich folk of Rome want nothing to do with those who help keep them that way.”
A few minutes’ walk further on and they left the narrow streets leading off from the docks. “Look, the neighbourhood already begins to improve” Xenon said, “Want to bet that round the next turning we see a senator?”
“You’d lose that bet” Jason replied, “what you’ll see around the next corner unless I miss my mark is a couple of soldiers ready to stop riff raff like you and me from heading into the town proper, and what you and I have to decide now is whether to try and bribe them to let us pass.”
“Do we have a choice?” Xenon asked.
“Sure. There’s plenty to do this side of town. Pretty girls, drink, gambling, or we could just dance until the gods grow tired of our prancing. Over there though, well over there we get to see a little bit of the real Rome as well as the chance to buy wine or ale that hasn’t been half dilute by water or something worse, as well as buying a meal for half the price these port taverns charge.”
“Well I’ve seen enough portside taverns, I say lets brave the guards!” and putting action to his words Xenon headed for the waiting soldiers.
+ + + + + + + +
Senator Puvius’ estate wasn’t the largest in Ostia, but it was exquisitely well groomed with little details that said to the discerning eye one thing, ambition! The senator was still young for his craft yet his rise up the Roman political system had been quite spectacular, much like the rise of the Pontus Empire over the last few decades under the God King Arganos. Oh you would never call him that to his face, not unless you were trying hard to insult him. Let the heathen rulers in Egypt and Numidia declare themselves Gods he would say, and based on less merit he would sagely nod. I will remain a soldier and dedicate this Empire I build to the true gods.
His religious piety hadn’t stopped him taking the title of Emperor though as he marched his armies through Colchis, Rhoxolani and Illyria, defeating an alliance of all three Kingdoms in those heady days after he was first crowned King and then campaigning each season against one kingdom or another until his empire stretched from Cisapline Gaul in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east. Puvius had had the honour of hearing the Emperor speak a few years ago whilst on a diplomatic mission from the Senate, even now he could remember the power of the man’s voice, the way he could command the attention of a room by a simple frown and move men to his will with a single word.
Finally the senators thoughts returned to the present and he smiled. If what the messenger told him was true, perhaps now Rome would have a chance to regain some of her former glory, or at least weaken her neighbours, assuming the senator was willing to take a risk. Someone important, or someone who could be made to appear important had entered the city and the great game was now afoot.
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“So class, what do we make of this little story so far? Yes I know it’s incomplete, if we’re lucky we can read more of it later assuming the good doctor agrees. It’s clearly set in the later part of Arganos’ reign after he had restructured Pontus into an Empire and had himself crowned the first to hold such title. Did you know that within ten years of him becoming king Arganos had already doubled the size of his Kingdom? And this at a time when he was reforming the educational and social institutes of the Kingdom from top to bottom introducing emancipation, encouraging people to become full citizens in all corners of his Empire and even going so far as to sell the rights of citizenship to wealthy families to help finance his military campaigns.
“It wasn’t all rosy of course, something had to give, and finally it all came crashing down in the events of 651!”
Game crashed 651?
You don't really exepct me to answer that before my next update do you?
Xenon's an heir or perhaps even a bastard of Arganos', and the Romans seize him, set him up as a pretender and a civil war erupts in Pontus...
Wait, this is a multi-player AAR, not a grand narrative... Never mind, then.
Or maybe a giant meteor strike wipes Numidia clean off the map (whilst sparing the other powers), explaining why, after a certain date, no more news was ever received from those parts of the world?
Wait, this is a multi-player AAR, not a grand narrative... Never mind, then.
Or maybe a giant meteor strike wipes Numidia clean off the map (whilst sparing the other powers), explaining why, after a certain date, no more news was ever received from those parts of the world?
Awesome AAR guys, hope to see some new updates soon.
I just stopped lurking to say keep up the good work gentlemen, and Pontus FTW!
I just stopped lurking to say keep up the good work gentlemen, and Pontus FTW!