Prelude - Setting the Stage for Bolad of Kordofan
Prelude - Setting the Stage for Bolad of Kordofan
Throughout the course of human history we can find, again and again, that the ancient empires possess a certain siren's call that drives men to fight and die in their name long after they are gone. The legitimacy that derives from tracing one's line back to those primordial polities, no matter how tenuous the connection, was to many rulers more precious than gold. Here in the West, we focus on the legacy of Rome and Greece. But these are hardly the only ancient states that have fueled the dreams of men whose ambition hungered for an empire.
This is the story of an empire born from one such dream, which sprang not from memories of Rome or Greece, but from a place far more ancient -- a place that inspired the Romans and Greeks themselves. This is the story of a chieftain whose people descended from Pharaohs, and who dreamed of restoring that legacy once more.
It is commonly known that long ago, the Hellenic Greeks took Egypt and installed their own Ptolemy as Pharaoh, adopting much of Egypt's native culture while injecting their own influence at once. Ptolemy was not the first foreigner to rule over Egypt as Pharoh. Alexander, in fact, took Egypt from Persia, not the Pharaohs, and was greeted as a liberator. And the Persians were only the last in a long line of foreign kings. Indeed, Egypt had thirty one dynasties, and often it was a foreign ruler who would conquer Egypt during a period of decline, install themselves as new Pharaohs, and begin a new great dynasty.
When our story begins, it had been almost nine hundred years since Ptolemy XV -- the last Pharaoh of Egypt -- was killed by Octavian, who would become the first Emperor of Rome. One empire replacing another on the world stage with grim finality. And in the time since then, Rome had decayed, shrinking into a vestige of its former glory confined to the East. The Arabian Conquest had swallowed Egypt whole and devoured it, leaving little of its ancient legacy but silent monuments, eroding slowly beneath shifting sands.
But the fire of Pharaonic Egypt had not burned out quite yet, for the chieftain of a minor tribe still remembered the tales of his fathers. His name was Bolad, and he ruled a modest tribe of Daju peoples who lived in inner East Africa. When he was a child, Bolad would eagerly listen to his father's tales of the time when their forefathers, who had ruled a mighty kingdom in the lands of Nubia, had sent their younger sons forth to conquer the fallen kingdom of Egypt. The princes then rebuilt the temples and restored the priesthoods, studying the ancient hieroglyphs carefully to ensure their rule would be as glorious as that of the Pharaohs of old.
There is little archaeological evidence that this story is true as told, but as we will often see throughout this tale, when studying this story it is important to understand not just what really happened, but also what the people living through these events and making these decisions truly believed. True or not, this foundational myth would drive generations of Bolad's descendants towards a unified goal, and change the history of the African continent and the wider world beyond.
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So, here it is. My own Let's Play! I'm deeply inspired by @Cora Giantkiller and their wonderful A Most Forgiving Land: A Nigerian Coast AAR in that I want to go for a history book style, but I'm thinking it could be fun to do more of a "Pop History" vibe. Think if Dan Carlin's Hardcore History was an AAR, though of course of much lower quality! But probably just as long-winded.... sorry!
Also, of course, the subject matter -- an African chief who believes he is destined to be a Pharaoh -- is a bit more... 'fantasy'. I hope people like that!
My inspiration here was pretty simple. I have a personal game as House Karen, creating the Persian Empire. I did it by swearing fealty to my next door neighbor right away, eating his realm and converting it from the inside, then claiming his kingdom and taking it; then I did the same to the Abbasids, revolted when I had 3 kingdoms, and founded Persia. Since then I've gobbled up the rest of the Abbasids and most of India. It's fun... but I'm mostly playing on speed 4-5 and I barely know my characters. And I feel like it would have been a lot harder if I had stayed independent.
So that's this game. Same inspiration as my Persia game -- let's rebuild a fallen empire -- but this time I start further behind the big enemies, if that's possible; my tech is gonna be terrible. But I have actual opportunity for expansion without having to swear fealty, and I get to play around in a newly expanded area (I didn't play much Holy Fury and this is even better anyhow!). The religion "Kushitism" description kinda hints at a link to ancient Egypt so my goal is to get Egypt and reform my religion into something that fits better. We'll see if I actually accomplish this, and if I can really stay independent the whole time. It won't be easy -- wish me luck!
Plus, slowing down to take pictures and put a narrative together will be nice, too.
PS: OK, I swear I'm not trying to copy Cora, even though their LP is amazing. But my starting Chieftain is also homosexual. It doesn't show you in the preview screen.
PSS: Not sure quite how long these will take me but I will try to get a good rhythm going.
PSSS: First time going tribal! Eek!
Throughout the course of human history we can find, again and again, that the ancient empires possess a certain siren's call that drives men to fight and die in their name long after they are gone. The legitimacy that derives from tracing one's line back to those primordial polities, no matter how tenuous the connection, was to many rulers more precious than gold. Here in the West, we focus on the legacy of Rome and Greece. But these are hardly the only ancient states that have fueled the dreams of men whose ambition hungered for an empire.
This is the story of an empire born from one such dream, which sprang not from memories of Rome or Greece, but from a place far more ancient -- a place that inspired the Romans and Greeks themselves. This is the story of a chieftain whose people descended from Pharaohs, and who dreamed of restoring that legacy once more.
It is commonly known that long ago, the Hellenic Greeks took Egypt and installed their own Ptolemy as Pharaoh, adopting much of Egypt's native culture while injecting their own influence at once. Ptolemy was not the first foreigner to rule over Egypt as Pharoh. Alexander, in fact, took Egypt from Persia, not the Pharaohs, and was greeted as a liberator. And the Persians were only the last in a long line of foreign kings. Indeed, Egypt had thirty one dynasties, and often it was a foreign ruler who would conquer Egypt during a period of decline, install themselves as new Pharaohs, and begin a new great dynasty.
When our story begins, it had been almost nine hundred years since Ptolemy XV -- the last Pharaoh of Egypt -- was killed by Octavian, who would become the first Emperor of Rome. One empire replacing another on the world stage with grim finality. And in the time since then, Rome had decayed, shrinking into a vestige of its former glory confined to the East. The Arabian Conquest had swallowed Egypt whole and devoured it, leaving little of its ancient legacy but silent monuments, eroding slowly beneath shifting sands.
But the fire of Pharaonic Egypt had not burned out quite yet, for the chieftain of a minor tribe still remembered the tales of his fathers. His name was Bolad, and he ruled a modest tribe of Daju peoples who lived in inner East Africa. When he was a child, Bolad would eagerly listen to his father's tales of the time when their forefathers, who had ruled a mighty kingdom in the lands of Nubia, had sent their younger sons forth to conquer the fallen kingdom of Egypt. The princes then rebuilt the temples and restored the priesthoods, studying the ancient hieroglyphs carefully to ensure their rule would be as glorious as that of the Pharaohs of old.
There is little archaeological evidence that this story is true as told, but as we will often see throughout this tale, when studying this story it is important to understand not just what really happened, but also what the people living through these events and making these decisions truly believed. True or not, this foundational myth would drive generations of Bolad's descendants towards a unified goal, and change the history of the African continent and the wider world beyond.
*****************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************************
Also, of course, the subject matter -- an African chief who believes he is destined to be a Pharaoh -- is a bit more... 'fantasy'. I hope people like that!
My inspiration here was pretty simple. I have a personal game as House Karen, creating the Persian Empire. I did it by swearing fealty to my next door neighbor right away, eating his realm and converting it from the inside, then claiming his kingdom and taking it; then I did the same to the Abbasids, revolted when I had 3 kingdoms, and founded Persia. Since then I've gobbled up the rest of the Abbasids and most of India. It's fun... but I'm mostly playing on speed 4-5 and I barely know my characters. And I feel like it would have been a lot harder if I had stayed independent.
So that's this game. Same inspiration as my Persia game -- let's rebuild a fallen empire -- but this time I start further behind the big enemies, if that's possible; my tech is gonna be terrible. But I have actual opportunity for expansion without having to swear fealty, and I get to play around in a newly expanded area (I didn't play much Holy Fury and this is even better anyhow!). The religion "Kushitism" description kinda hints at a link to ancient Egypt so my goal is to get Egypt and reform my religion into something that fits better. We'll see if I actually accomplish this, and if I can really stay independent the whole time. It won't be easy -- wish me luck!
Plus, slowing down to take pictures and put a narrative together will be nice, too.
PS: OK, I swear I'm not trying to copy Cora, even though their LP is amazing. But my starting Chieftain is also homosexual. It doesn't show you in the preview screen.
PSS: Not sure quite how long these will take me but I will try to get a good rhythm going.
PSSS: First time going tribal! Eek!
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