Imperium Offtopicum: The Peshawar Lancers

[Hyzhenhok]

The following is an excerpt from The Salt Lake Tribune, a well-established anti-Mormon newspaper in Salt Lake City:

Massive Expansion of the Taylor's Divine Army

The Territorial Government reports that it is struggling to scrounge up equipment for its rapidly expanding militia arm.

Utah has not seen many migrants since the disaster, as few are brave or crazy enough to flee west into mountains and deserts rather than south, along rivers and across flat, open plains. Fewer still are capable of making the trip. But those who are brave and capable enough? Military men and frontiersmen! They have been slipping over the Rockies, through Colorado.

Still, the high altitudes must stir their brains up, because for some reason they look around the Salt Lake and see "civilization." They pledge allegience, blindly, to the "Utah Territorial Government," which has been unlawfully usurped by the Mormons. John Taylor wants an army, and God must have a since of humor, because he's handing him his wish. Civil War and Indian War veterans are flocking to join the Army of the Latter-day Saints.

Rumor has it that the "Zion's Board of Trade" has been tasked with coming up with the resources for supplying and equipping this new army. It's only a matter of time before one of us catches them stealing from our homes, picking our pockets or outright robbing us in the street. They'll probably get their new army to help!

The Governor has stated that as many hands and guns as possible are needed to stabilize and secure the region. Does anyone doubt he means that only for the Mormons?

A company of new volunteers

Two weeks after this article was published, The Salt Lake Tribune closed down, apparently from bankruptcy, with public statements blaming the Fall and the economic hardship. The press was bought by a new company, who have named their paper The Mormon Tribune.

Utah Territory spends 2 IP to build 1 army

[Suirantes]

The Mittelafrikan Empire Spends 2 IP to build 1 army
If you can use built armies right away, use 3 armies to invade Middle-Africa, if not then use 2

[madtemplar0]

ENVOY ARRIVES
It has come to our attention that the great Miguel Francisco has arrived in Salt Lake, and has delivered a speech displaying his treaty to its Quorom:

"My dear brothers, our people have been divorced by the Fall, but although the United States has failed to address the issues of the day, its children may. Be you president or farmer, visible best or rancher, we are still united in this land. There is no need for us to be divided, when untold hordes are standing at our borders. I therefore propose a pact of good will, a pact to bring to terms these lost relatives:

The West Treaty

We the People of North America, in Order to form a more perfect World, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Treaty of the former United States of America:

1. Borders shall be open freely between the Holds of the West and the Colonies of the East. Trade shall be unrestricted, and no tariffs implemented. Armies may travel the roads.

2. The engineering power of both nations shall place precedence on closing the plain which lays between us, and shall work on reconstructing the railroads and telegram lines as well as continuing to develop the industrial capacity of each member. After these goals are reached, this declaration may be amended.

3. A defensive agreement, where if either body is attacked, the other shall come to its aid. This shall last as long as both bodies agree to this treatise.

4. The Californios shall assist in the Utahn initiation of its Mexican Colonies in exchange for assistance in capturing an equal amount of territory some time in the future. For precedence's' sake, let it be known that the Oregon country is desired, if and when the time comes to assist in its survival after the Fall.

5. Neither body shall declare sovereignty over any territory in North America without the consent of the other. If no agreement is reached and land is still taken, this treatise must be re-signed by each member, if so desired, with the addition of amendments if so desired.

6.Either member may ask for the support of the other in times of offensive war; if a denial is given, the member who asked for assistance may terminate this treaty if so desired.

7. Each shall fully recognize the sovereignty of the other, and if this treatise is ever abandoned a grace period of ten years shall be given before any action shall be taken against either body.

8. Either member has the right to ask for amendments to this agreement before signing at any point.

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the Holds present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and Eighty, In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names, by the Grace of God,

Miguel Francisco
Shawn Marian
Jack O'Neill
Isabella Moore
Otto Schmidt
Dominic Calario"

The Quorom is expected to respond in full to this treaty at some point this week, and depending on the response Shawn Marian shall either raise a military to assist in the capture of Mexico, or otherwise invest in our pursuits. Jack O'Neill is collaborating with Otto Schmidt and Isabella Moore on how to fit these measures into this year's budget. Dominic Calario, for those uneducated readers of this paper, is the elected representative of the Holds, a representative to the Visible Best on behalf of the common man.

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESSES
The LFC has been successfully constructed, and work on the Amazon Wall is expected to begin as soon as November, when the barracks should be complete. The Amazon Wall is planned to be 12m tall and several layers thick. Both these projects have put the entire hold to work, and the economy appears to be picking up. Could anyone imagine a future where California actually went bankrupt?

FORT RAISED
In an unexpected move, the folk of Nortehold and Modochold have constructed a Fort Rednorth, an extension of Shawn Marian's native Fort Bragg. Rednorth is expected to house the troops of Nortehold and Modochold, and to act as a central place from which to secure fully the northern border and possibly expand north.

MORSE CONTINUES
Samuel Morse IV gained recent notoriety for his achieving a functional telegraph wire, which was not expected for quite some time. His Alta Telegraph Company has released plans to open a station in Salt Lake City, and has begun corresponding with Mormon engineers. He is also working with and funding Leland Stanford in his attempts to recreate the Central Pacific Railroad. This effort is also opening communications with Utah.

-A.W.

***
Use 2 IP in the construction of an army. If treaty is agreed to, attack northern mexico with the Utah armies.

OOC: I hope you all understand my jests once again. If you find them annoying... tell me, but dont expect change

[Thandros]

Letter to The Prime Minister of the British Raj

Dear Lord Salisbury

We Japanese have heard of your attempts to rebuild the British Empire In India and we Sympathise we your Difficulties you have having lost so much in the fall. While we could never know so much loss having come through almost Unscathed It is my Belief that working together is far better than opposing one another especially as you have to face in just the opening days a Major mutiny by your formerly loyal Sepoys and the Marauding Mongols who have seized land just to the north of Your borders and could well sweep south to loot your territory. It is in my Honest Opinion that working together as Allies for the common good could lead to many benefits for us all. So what say you? Do you feel Like I that a British-Japanese alliance is something so formidable that It'll make the mountains quake with fear? If so agree to our proposal and then we'll fight by your side until you say there is such a problem with good relations that they must be broken. The Japanese are honourable people and to break an alliance would be a bad and dishonourable thing to do. So do you agree to My simple Proposal?

From Tokugawa Yoshinobu Honourable Shogun of Japan

[Herbert West]

Twelfth House Of The People and His Imam

Seat of Government: Tehran, the City Of The Imam

Type of Government: Fatalist Theocracy

Head Of State: Muhammad Ibn al-Hassan al-Quasim, The Twelfth Returned






Allahu Akhbar! Al-Hamdu Lilläh! Al-Hamdu Al-Mumit!

Allah Is Great! Praise Be To Allah! Praise Be To The Destroyer!

Rejoice, people of the House, People Of The Book! Al-Mumit, God the Destroyer has sent a Great Sword for the Heavens to cleasne the wicked for the World! He has given us our freedom! The thirce-damned throne of the false Calipha lies burning and smoldering in Stanbul, his seat taken by greek mongerls! Our opressors in the North are dead. The Russ is burning! The Frenchman scamper for the scraps of Maghreb! The false occupiers of Meccah and Medina lies dead in the streets, their blood the crimson of the Star Of Allah!

Arise, my Bretheren, for the Twelft has come! Arise, children of Allah, arise, borthers! Arise, my sisters, my sons, my daughters, for he who is Al-Mumit is also Al-Waliy, the protector of his people. Arise, and cast aside your chains! Bring them to our great forges, bring them to our smiths, our foundries our hammers, and let us forge new swords, new pistols, new muskets, and let us bulid ourselves anew! Baghdad has fallen. Damascus is burning. Stabul lies in ashes. Meccah and Medina drown in blood, the Khaba washed anew!

But Teheran shall stand! The House and The People shall stand!


History:

Born, as all religious revolts are, out of a great calamity, the newly arisen Twelfth House Of The People and His Imam, commonly abbreviated as The House Of The People, or The Twelfth, was in ist birth, nothing more than an obscure sect of Twelvers in northern Perisa. Their leader considered himself The Revealed, the return of the mythical Twelfth Imam, sent by Al-Lah in time of great peril. Perhaps, he is right. After the Great Sword, as they call the cataclysm to shape our world, the sect grew rapidly, exploiting the failing central power, and the upheaval of refugees, droghuts, freezes, of disease, and of death. A month after the Catastrophe, they controlled half of Northern Iran. In two years, the black-and-green warriors of this, the Last Jihad, had reached the sea, now an ash-littered, foaming, cold expanse, a stark contrast from the spice-carrying warmth of the earlier times. In five years, they had reached and crossed what was once the Suez, but found new-formed Maghrebi and Outremer alliances, heathens and heretics. Mecca and Medina ran red with Sunni blood, and Baghdad, seen as a symbol of Sunni hereticism and Godlessness, was torched to the ground. But there was nothing worth looting or torching in what was once Istanbul, and they were yet too few and too weak to hold the cities east of the marsh and mud and death that was once the Euphrates . The flames of war have now subsumed, and the Mahdi, The Tweltfth and His People set about to rebuild. The Orient was the center of the world long ago, and it shall be once again! The Green Flag shall wave from the highest hills to to the deepest of ravines, from the hottest deserts to the coldest of ice-wastes, and nothing shall stand in their way!

Society: Something along a competitive "tribal/great familiy" outfit, with The Imam as the force that holds them together and directs them outward, not inward. Will work on it later so they írent Mary Sues, but also are not hopelessly outdated and outclassed by more western organisations. Something akin to the return to the Glory Days, when cities like Baghdad, Merv, Fars, and so on where the centers of culture and art.


OOC: Umm, I would like to be centred in Teheran, and Perisa, not Damascus and the Crescent, since I'd like to roleplay the Returned Twelfth Imam of Shia Islam (as loosely as possible). Is this possible? Sorry for the late entry.

[Herbert West]

House Of The People roleplay and action




Public Speech of Korba Al-Barani, Supreme Councillor of the Imam, The Second Voice, in front of The People, Twentieth Of Rajab, 1297

Brothers! Sisters! People Of The House, carrier of the black and the green!

We have come far in these two years. Our troops have trampled on the faces of the heathen, the unbelviers, the punished nad the unready! We are now living according to His Guidance, our People once again in Great Families, our triumphs shared, our successes celebrated, our fallen mourned, our grief common! We are, as we once were, The True Family Of The Prophet, his Swords, His Shields, his Masons, his doctors, his builders, and his destroyers.

They say now is the time to bulid, to lick our wounds, to wait and to amass! Nay, I say! Now, we must strike! Damascus smolders, and Jerusalem is in rumbles! This cna not stand! Our brethren, misguides as they were, and fattening the land with their blood, are still of our blood, of our spirit. They now huddle in shacks, in caves, in places unworthy for Our Kind to live, and fear the heathen, the raving, the Lunatic, the eaters Of The Dead. This can not stand, I say! We must conquer what was once Mashriq, and see The Glorious Sun rise once again on a land that is ours by right! We must conquer, and shield our Kind. Then, we can rebuild. We can defend. But we can only defend those, whom we shelter.

The Banner Of The Last Jihad moved east, now, not to loot and to scout, but to conquer and to build.


Spend 2IP on an Army, and move it to the Middle East.


Territories held: Persia
Armies: One
IP left: 0
IP/turn:2 (Persia: 1+1)

[Herbert West]

OOC stuff:

I suggest that:
A, everyone begins his posts with stating what country they are for, and more importantly
B, edits their custom title to represent who they are in the game

[madtemplar0]

OOC: Umm, I would like to be centred in Teheran, and Perisa, not Damascus and the Crescent, since I'd like to roleplay the Returned Twelfth Imam of Shia Islam (as loosely as possible). Is this possible? Sorry for the late entry.

Welcome! I certainly don't mind the late entry.

[madtemplar0]

OOC stuff:

I suggest that:
A, everyone begins his posts with stating what country they are for, and more importantly
B, edits their custom title to represent who they are in the game

A. We already should know this, or should be able to tell from their post.
B. How do you edit a custom title?

One more thing: you start with two armies, so you actually have 3, not 1.

[Suirantes]

OOC: You need to have been here for 18 months basically.
(I shall not change my sacred title of Chief Maid!)

[madtemplar0]

OOC: You need to have been here for 18 months basically.
(I shall not change my sacred title of Chief Maid!)

OOC: You mean I have to wait another five months? That's not too bad I suppose.

[Deaghaidh]

OOC: You mean I have to wait another five months? That's not too bad I suppose.

OOC: In lieu of using the title, I say put it in your sig (which I will)

[madtemplar0]

OOC: In lieu of using the title, I say put it in your sig (which I will)

OOC: Good idea. I will after the Super Bowl.
EDIT: check that. For some reason I can't edit my signature.

[Deaghaidh]

Le Temps Nouveau

Military Expedition to Secure Western Interior

In response to increased raiding from the Sahara, Emperor Napoleon IV has ordered a major military campaign to secure the countryside. Two Legions of the Imperial Army will take up secure positions along the edge of the Sahara as far as Morocco OOC: Two armies to attack Western North Africa (which has half or more of the historical French Algeria), rescuing any surviving communities and establishing Imperial control.

We at Le Temps wish godspeed to our brave soldiers in this mission to preserve civilization.

Senegal's Governor Rejects Emperor
Le Temps has confirmed that contact has been restored with the French colony of Senegal. A daring expedition by Captain Jean-Baptiste Emanuelle Jaure, with the help of hired Berber nomads, crossed the Sahara to deliver a message to any surviving French forces in West Africa. Cpt Jaure encountered outposts under the command of General Briere de l'Isle, the Military Governor of Senegal.

General de l'Isle expressed his relief that so many Frenchmen had been saved, but utterly rejected the Emperor's authority.
"The House of Bonaparte has been expelled from France thrice. Why should we offer it a fourth chance?"

General de l'Isle instead insists that the French Republic remains the legitimate government of the French people. He also claims that as Senegal's duly appointed governor he represents the highest ranking French official to survive the Fall. As such he styles himself "Acting President of the Republic" and called upon the Emperor to accept his authority.

Imperial spokesmen said they were saddened by de l'Isle's position, but that they will not press the issue of Imperial sovereignty in this time of hardship.

By all indications, the French colonies in Mauretania, Guinea and Gambia were destroyed, by a combination of tsunamis and native attacks.

Ground Broken on New Aqueducts
Work has begun on a far-reaching project to bring fresh water from the mountains to the coastal cities, irrigating the semi-arid plateau on the way. This may be the first major new waterworks in Algeria since Byzantine times. This project has been deemed of highest importance, and every available resource has been allocated to it.

OOC: Spend 2 IP on improving sanitation and irrigation (hoping for Culture Points)

[madtemplar0]

Le Temps Nouveau
OOC: Spend 2 IP on improving sanitation and irrigation (hoping for Culture Points)

OOC: Is it even possible to put IP in sanitation and irrigation? I thought they only went towards one of the tiers of warfare.
And about culture points, yes; how often shall they be distributed, for what specifically, and as there is no limits to their use what could possible benefits of this increased sanitation/irrigation be? Another IP/turn in that territory? Quicker expansion in his North-West African goal?

[Deaghaidh]

OOC: Is it even possible to put IP in sanitation and irrigation? I thought they only went towards one of the tiers of warfare.
And about culture points, yes; how often shall they be distributed, for what specifically, and as there is no limits to their use what could possible benefits of this increased sanitation/irrigation be? Another IP/turn in that territory? Quicker expansion in his North-West African goal?

OOC: That's something I'm hoping to find out. I could see a few different outcomes:

1: Extra IP (either one time or per turn)
2: A one-time prize of CPs that I can spend on other things
3: I wasted my first turn but learned a valuable life lesson.

[madtemplar0]

OOC: That's something I'm hoping to find out. I could see a few different outcomes:

1: Extra IP (either one time or per turn)
2: A one-time prize of CPs that I can spend on other things
3: I wasted my first turn but learned a valuable life lesson.

OOC: I don't see how you have two armies, either. You didnt start with 4 IP to spend on them. Are you going to spend your IP on 1 army and send it to West Africa? And then hope for a CP to put towards your sanitation gig?

[Deaghaidh]

OOC: I don't see how you have two armies, either. You didnt start with 4 IP to spend on them. Are you going to spend your IP on 1 army and send it to West Africa? And then hope for a CP to put towards your sanitation gig?

OOC: Everyone starts with 2

[madtemplar0]

OOC: Everyone starts with 2

OOC: Just saw that on the first page as I was looking to see if I was being an idiot... *checks that off list*

Also waiting on that reply, Hyzhenhok. If you do not find the treaty agreeable, provide a revised version for my approval.

[madtemplar0]

OOC: New questions: how many people are in each "blank" territory? I would assume it changes from one to another. This raises the question: is it possible to explore and check how many armies that place has, in order to know what to plan for?

It also appears that I post way too often in here. I'll try to cut down my postspam.

Here's a piece (towards earning a CP?) to end the night for me:

***

It was much too late for another patrol to be coming in. And it was much too early for anyone important to be arriving. That left only one thing for a group this size: cannibals.

"Ring the alarm! Ring the alarm," called sergeant Grant. It appeared these walls would be getting their first action before the paint was dry. "Man the walls, men of Rednorth!" The bells began ringing promptly from the towers; the halls of this new, archaic fort carried sounds almost as well as frosts and bad smells. Soon enough, men were at their stations. Perhaps we won't die tonight, thought the sergeant. He grabbed his rifle from its perch on top of a battlement next to his oil lantern- doing barely anything in that fog- and a half-eaten chicken breast, and aimed down at the foreground. A hundred-yard section of the forest had been cleared around the mountain fortress, providing clear enough shadows even in poor conditions such as that night. Something moved, and he took the shot; a direct hit displayed a red flash on the grey canvas of the night. Then the shrieking began.

From the movement below, the tribe attacking had somewhere between one and two hundred savages, according to Grant's experienced eye. Large, even for a band this close to the border. More flashes of red appeared as the batallion began firing. Someone lit the tower lights, bringing searing whiteness to the damp aura of the moment. All the better to destroy the savages. They may have once been men, but starvation, lawlessness and hellish winter had driven the souls from these creatures of the devil. And nobody minds putting down a deadly beast of the forest.

"Harker, send them to Canada!" yelled the sergeant. Perhaps opening the gates is a poor move, especially for a man with as little authority as a sergeant, but a few dozen men under a green corporal could drive off a force twice as large as what was left of the cannibals. And being senior man in his given rank didn't have much to do with his cocky decision, Grant chose to believe.

"Will do, sergeant!" Responded Harker, already cranking open the still-greased gates. Within minutes, silence had returned to the mountaintop, even more eerie than before, if that were possible. Over six score demons lay on the surrounding fields, and perhaps another score in the forests beyond. Not a single Californio had even a scratch from the rusted and antique weapons of the enemy, if the spawn had guns at all. The tribes appeared to be more desperate as the weeks came and went; perhaps there was growing resentment to the civilized presence a good mile into lawless territory. Whatever the case may be, his shift was over. And Grant wouldn't mind some sweet shuteye. The official report would have to wait for the morning; the Captain would not be back from his women in Nortehold any time soon anyway. He headed towards the barracks.

***

OOC: I'm having way too much fun with this.