Asia - The Awakening

[Wyvern]

Their spirits had slumbered for millennia, waiting, watching, and slowly preparing for the inevitable return. Elderan could feel his prison slowly melting away with each passing decade, soon he would be able to reach out and break free, and the world would be his playground once more. He remembered the days when he and his brethren had ruled the primitive creatures of this world, constantly striving amongst themselves for greatness and using the humans and other animals to express their triumphs and suffer their failures. Finally after centuries of warfare, Zoryan, the greatest and most treacherous of their kind, had welded together the early humans into an unstoppable force and succeeded in banishing his brothers to this endless, timeless Abyss.

But Zoryan was passing away, Elderan could feel it with a certainty he knew for truth. Oh he might cling to life for a few more decades, but what was a decade when compared to the aeons that had already passed, and with each passing year Elderan could feel his prison slowly weakening, his own powers increasing. He began to observe events unfolding across the earth. Much had changed in the passing millennia. Great nations had arisen, populations had multiplied, and the humans had spread across the continents at an astonishing rate. Their minds had also grown strong, both in intelligence and resistance to brethren control. Now Elderan and his brothers would be limited to directly controlling just a handful of individuals, rather than the multitudes of the past. He knew though that by picking the right individuals he could still gain much power and accomplish great deeds, and this time he vowed, he would be the dominant one, his brothers would bow down and pay homage to him! No new Zoryan would be allowed to emerge unless it be he, never again would he be banished into the endless, timeless Abyss.

Years continued to pass as Elderan dreamt of his glorious return and slowly his eye turned towards the east, finally settling on the human nation he would foster to greatness and domination.

 

[Wyvern]

This is the European players based Multi-player AAR.

After some teething problems the scenario began in 1419 with Wyvern playing Gujarat, Natt och dag playing Vijayanagar and Thanak taking Dai Viet. Both Norgesvenn and Peter had various problems connecting to the game, hopefully they can be ironed out for the next session. Play didn't progress very far, but some notable events did take place which I'm sure you'll shortly hear about ....

 

[Wyvern]

The sounds of thunder rolled across the valley in deafening tones, slowly building up in a crescendo until it appeared the very mountains themselves would crumble down and add their voice to the cacophony.

Lightening began flashing across the sky in ever quicker succession, blasting rocks and trees from their roots, along with goats and other animals, unlucky enough to be out on the mountain side that dark and deathly night. Finally after the very earth itself cried out in surrender to the punishment, a rip in the fabric of time and space slowly appeared across the heavens and a great unearthly cacophony of demonic voices was heard to cry out in triumph.

Free! At last after all these millennia. Elderan stepped quickly from his prison, fending off the teeth and claws of his weaker brethren. It was taking all his efforts to maintain this breach and of necessity he was unable to stop some of his stronger brothers from slipping out with him. He would have plenty of time to deal with them later, for now though he desperately needed to recover his strength.

Anyone foolish enough to view the spectacle from the earth saw three spears of light briefly flash down from the heavens before a great howl of rage when up as though a thousand spirits were crying out in mortal agony, and were then abruptly cut short as the heavens closed back in upon themselves leaving behind an even more deathly silence. It was as though the earth stood still for a moment, holding its breath, before life forced time to continue and the earth to exhale.

Yes, life would continue, but would it ever be the same again…?

 

[Eochaid]

Great posts!! I love the spirit idea... And the thunderstorm makes it look like an "Highlander" movie. Who's gonna be the Kurgan and start bullying the other players?

Would it be possible for me to join the game? I'm european so i would fit the

This is the European players based Multi-player AAR

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread anyway. Keep going!

 

[Wyvern]

Eochaid - Glad I was able to capture the mood, I just hope I can maintain it over subsequent posts.

Originally posted by Eochaid
Would it be possible for me to join the game? I'm european so i would fit the

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread anyway. Keep going!

Yes I think we'll definately have room for you. Keep an eye on the other thread for when we'll resume or message me.

 

[Wyvern]

Gujarat 1419

Gujarat 1419

“Prabir, what have I told you about preaching doom and gloom all the time, it is a failing in your character that you always fear the worst of everything and everyone.”

“I find that way I am less disappointed in the world” Prabir chuckled, “besided this time I fear we have something to truly worry about my Sultan”

“So my friend, what tale of doom and gloom do you bring to lighten up my day today?”

“It is as we feared Ahmed. Jodhupur is training her forces once again for war. There can only be one target.”

“You are certain? There can be no mistake?”

“Where else can they go my lord. They aren’t strong enough to throw off the shackles of Delhi. Malwa is too well defended sitting behind her mountain fortresses for Kanha to expect to have any chance of success there, which leaves only the rich and open provinces of Gujarat for him to plunder.”

Ahmed sighed. Would Kanha’s ambition never die? Was the independence of Jodhupur not enough that he would risk the future of both kingdoms in a foolish war that neither side was likely to gain from?

“Prabir, a war with Jodhupur is the last thing we need right now. If the great Khan at Samarkand were to smell the slightest weakness on our border, his hordes are liable to descend upon us like the very devil himself, and we can’t expect any help from our oh so noble overlords in Delhi.”

“Aye, Delhi dreams of a united Indian state, but she hasn’t the stomach for a war against Shah Rukh, I fear we can expect no help from that quarter.”

“Yes that was my assessment. Perhaps a strong warning to Kanha will suffice to cool his fervour. If he finds out we know about his preparations, perhaps it will be enough to force him to back down”.

“It may work my lord, but it could just as well make him more cautious when hostilities do break out. I would prefer an overconfident Kanha descending on us than a cautious one.”

“True, true”, Ahmed remained deep in thought for some time, “No my friend, if there is a way for me to spare my people from war I must attempt it. “Send the warning to Kanha, but also tell Satyajit to start training our army just in case. I will avoid bloodshed if at all possible, but if Kanha won’t be reasonable, well we must be prepared.”

“As you command.” Prabir got up to leave the private council chamber.

Before he could reach the door however Ahmed suddenly cried out clutching his head in apparent agony as a misty haze slowly descended over the room and an apparition began to take form before their very eyes.

“My God, what manner of creature is this” whispered Prabir. Ahmed seemed unable to speak, still holding his head.

“Pathetic weak humans, have you not the will to fight for your kingdom? You disgust me with your very presence, and yet you are the best I have to work with.”

Prabir attempted to made a run for the door before a bolt of lightening flashed out from the creatures hand sending him crashing to the ground. “Do not try to summon your guards fool, they cannot aid you now. Know that I am now the Master of Gujarat and if you value your lives and those of your people you will serve me!”

”Oh but don’t worry” the creature continued, ”you can still continue to appear for all purposes to the outside world as the Sultan, but should you disobey or fail me, well I can always find a new Sultan who is more amenable.” Ahmed again cried out in agony as the daemon caused tendrils of fire to erupt in his skull.

With a desperate lung Prabir slipped his dagger from its sheaf and sent it flying in a swift arc straight at the fiend. “Noooo” Ahmed managed to cry out, desperately trying to regain his feet and stop Prabir before it was too late, the dagger continued on, passing through the misty apparition and clattering against the far wall.

”Foolish human”, raising his hand once more, bolt after bolt of energy engulfed Prabir’s body sending him crashing into the far wall before finally Prabir slumped down to lie in a broken, lifeless heap.

"I hope that is a sufficient lesson that you will now be reasonable Ahmed Shah. I am known as Elderan and if you follow me faithfully I shall lead Gujarat and your people to glory!”

Ahmed didn’t believe a word of it, but he had enough sense of self-preservation just then to keep quiet.

 

[unmerged(9081)]

Morba smiled as he descended down upon the city of victory, or as the natives called it; Vijaynagar.

Lately he had felt his powers growing each and every day, surely Zoryan's powers had diminished, perhaps he was dead. Morba did not care.

Soon, he stood on the steeps of the castle of Deva Râya, current ruler of Vijaynagar. The door was guarded by two rather grumpy guards. They did not care about Morba's entrance, since they did not see it.

in a modest throne sat Deva Râya I, surrounded by stupid yes-sayers.

"Perfect." Morba thought to himself, this specimen is even more suited than the ones I had the pleasure of manipulating before.
He was very hostile to his neighbours, especially the northern ones, who were practicing the new religion of Islam, they were the followers of Muhammed and his god Allah.

Morba was not knowledgable in the new religions, he remembered the god the humans had called Bhaal, and the newcomer, Iaveh.

Morba was curious about this Allah, and what his followers said about his abilities. But that would have to wait.

"Sooner or later, I will get to know the followers of Allah on a more personal level." Morba reasoned.

The following months, Morba hang around the castle, peeked under the women's skirts, relaxing, hiding things, just being a nuisance, he especially enjoyed managing to get a servant beheaded because he hid Deva Râya's silk slippers in the servant's bed.

After a while though, Morba grew tired of that, and whispered in Deva Râya's ear, to start a war, the following day he did. The northern Islamic realm was the target of Morba's impatience.
In fact, Morba's inpatience was so great that he forgot what the humans called the country. he did however remember the name of it's ally; Bengal.

Just as Deva Râya's army marched out, Morba was struck with a terrible head ache, and he passed out.
_______________

I had a ctd just after the DoW which leaves me unable to continue at this point

 

[Eochaid]

Unless my boss has some extra work for me on saturday night, count me in!! i'll just check the asian countries before deciding which one i would play. Wyvern, as you look like the MP vet, i'll PM you later to ask you some questions about Vnet

Thanak -- Could you please tell me what time the meeting is for French people. I just can't get the GMT/time shift/summer time hour thing right!

Cheers, Eochaid

 

[Thanak]

Somewhere in the area of Hanoi, January 1st 1419

- What's that light Ping ?
- I don't know Lee, lets go see

The two peasants approached the big crater

- It's moving, what is it ?
- FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE ! Free at last ! And what do I see, my first two victims

Karmulek leaped out of the hole and grab one of the peasant by the neck while he pierced the other one's heart with his claw.

- Don't kill me
- You won't die yet little human, I still have use for you.

Karmulek had a lot of catching up to after millennia of slumber. He learned from the peasant that he was in the country of Dai Viet, near the capital. The country was ruled by Le Loi a great warrior and wise ruler. They where vassal of the great empire of China. People around here practiced the Boudist religion. After having learned what he needed, he killed the peasant and took his shaped.

He had no news of his brothers, but surely their bounds had broken as well. He needed to act fast. His powers has faded in the imprisonment, he now needed to kill someone in order to assumed his shape. That excluded direct replacement of this Le Loi as he would need to switch back in his demon self from time to time.

He manage to kill a boudist monk and took his place. Using his limited mind reading ability, he quickly manage to win a place as Le Loi advisor.

He then began to build his power base. He manipulated the monarch into rebelling from their Chinese master. The Dai Viet cavalry quickly stormed the unfortified western provinces. China was shocked at the attack and quickly surrendered 3 provinces to the Dai Viet in exchange for peace. A troop of cavalry got "lost" on his way back from China so the Dai Viet now had a detailed map of the country for their next war.

Le Loi declared the Dai Viet empire later that year. The conquest has started and Karmulek the deceiver would prevail.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Hour of Power

[The two worst brass bands ever war with each other] TADAM TADADADAM DADADADADAAAAAAAAAAAAABAMMM!

[deep evil voice] Bwhahahahaa. Welcome to.... the Hour of Power!

The camera pans over a crowd of imps impaling a dozen sinners, focuses briefly on the decapacitation of a liar (he'll get to carry around his head for a few days), and lingers tenderly on one particularly impressive seduction of a priest, before returning hurriedly to the studio. Seated on two thrones of bones are the Hour of Power Hosts, Asmodeus and Mephistopheles

MEPHISTOPHELES: Greetings devils, demons, unrepentant sinners, lawyers, pre-owned car salesmen, and politicians. The top news story of tonight is the jail break in sector #5. Care to enlighten us, Asmodeus?

ASMODEUS: Sure can do. A handful of unidentified ancient evil beings from beyond the dawn of time escaped earlier this evening from the top-security prison in sector #5. Imprisoned there ages ago by Zoryan

MEPHISTOPHELES: Zoryan?

ASMODEUS: A major player way back when, he was one of those who just couldn't cut it in the transition from individual tempting to mass market conversion.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Oh, a loser. Well, we certainly couldn't care less about him then, could we.

ASMODEUS: Quite. A reliable source has informed me that these ancient evils, once their chains were broken, quickly made their way towards Earth #5, presumably to continue where they left off.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Back for revenge? Sounds good. Any opposition?

ASMODEUS: Well, the powers of good are clueless...

MEPHISTOPHELES: As always!

[canned agonized laughter fills the studio]

ASMODEUS: And there is no real local opposition, except for the feuds they bring with them. Let's face it, Earth #5 is skid row. Though that may change with their arrival.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Is it likely, though? You keep describing them as ancient evils. Will they be capable of adjusting to a modern world? Or have they lost touch in their imprisonment? They might even...... have been infected by virtue!

ASMODEUS: That is a good question, Mephistopheles, and I guess only time will tell, however

[A gong brazenly interrupts Asmodeus]

ASMODEUS: Sorry, we've got a some breaking news here, Mephistopheles.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Shoot!

[Asmodeus waves a hand and shoots a bar of flame at a cameraimp, who is instantly reduced to ashes]

[canned laughter superimposed on an insane jingle blasts the audience at 120 db]

ASMODEUS: We've got a positive id on the escapees. I repeat a postive id! First out was Elderan, and let me tell you, he's a nasty one indeed.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Really nasty or just plain bad?

ASMODEUS: Really nasty. Lord of lightning, drainer of life, possessor. A real badass motherfucker

MEPHISTOPHELES: Nothing wrong with that, many of my best friends are motherfuckers

[canned laughter]

ASMODEUS: Heh, whatever. Elderan seems to have possessed the Sultan of Gujarat, a bold move. The second arrival was Morba, the shadow of doom, as they used to call him.

MEPHISTOPHELES: OOOOH, I'm so scared. Shadow of Dooooom.

[canned laughter]

ASMODEUS: From all accounts he was no laughing matter. Staying in the shadows, he manipulated men and gods alike. His victims seldom saw him strike, and his strikes were ever deadly. A nasty customer. His current whereabouts are unknown.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Any more escapees, Asmodeus?

ASMODEUS: Indeed. Karmulek the slayer. A wannabe war-deity who just barely failed his goal, he took his reduction to ancient evil status rather badly.

MEPHISTOPHELES: The proverbial fall from grace. The old ones are the best.

ASMODEUS: [Rolling eyes twice around his ears] Right. Never known for subtlety, he is sure to go aconquering as soon as possible. He has been spottet in Dai Viet. According to my sources, these are all that managed to escape before the heavenly security corps arrived to close the breach. Approximately 1,948,511 lesser evils perished during the jailbreak.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Thank you, Asmodeus. We'll be covering this as it develops. We'll continue with a human-interest story concerning an exploding altar in a moment after the break.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

He lies sleeping, his visions of glory forgotten, his temples razed, his very name erased from the books of fate. As aeons pass in the world, his sleep deepens. Eventually, his will will dissipate, his essence become as one with the universe, as it once was, and will be again.

Does he dream in his slumbers? Does he remember the hosts that served his every whim? Does he remember the wars and the betrayals? Does he remember leading his army against the very gates of heaven itself?

Perhaps, perhaps not.

Does he remember his vanity in challenging Zoryan, mightiest of the Eldar, to single combat, when all seemed lost? Does he remember his humiliating defeat, and the utmost indignity, the mercy shown him by Zoryan. Banishment, not dissolution.

Perhaps, perhaps not.

And so, he lies sleeping, gradually slipping into the darkness.

And yet, even so, now, he stirs. Something has intruded upon his lonely prison. A single thought, a distant cry for help, has broken his confinement. As a mote of awareness begins to form, the warden sends a quieting thought, and the mote of awareness fades. A close call, and a worrysome development, the warden thinks, insofar as his kind is capable of thinking.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Sleeping still, he stirs again as the warden is distracted by the escape of a million minor evils, his mind slowly awakening. The cries of despair as the evils are hunted down and destroyed feeds him yet in his sleep.

Yet a distant cry for help intrudes, and in this moment out of a multitude, there is no warden to quieten his mind.

And he awakens.

With a burst of power he shatters his prison and makes his way for freedom. Four wardens try to stop him but they are destroyed in midflight, dangerously depleting his reserves. Despite his desire to lay waste to the entire prison complex in which he finds himself, his mind overrules his baser instincts - it wouldn't do to become so weak that he might be overwhelmed by a counterattack. Pausing briefly to shatter the locks of the thousands of cells nearly, their pentagrams dissolving under his heat, he homes in on the distant cry that awakened him, and takes flight.


Nippon, Palace of the Emperor, June 1421

"You have brought me a present, Sohei?"

"Indeed. Our abbot has trapped this spirit of fire, which should prove invaluable to you in your dealings with the Shogun", answers the Sohei, one of the warrior monks of mount Hiei.

"You are presumptous, Sohei!"

"And right. Let us negotiate"


He laughs as the armies of Nippon answers the call of the Shogun and invades China, and flames burst from his newly formed body in response. There is no taint of Zoryan left, and he has sensed none powerful enough to withstand him, even weakened as he is. It is time for the games of war to begin. Nippon needs maps, and China has them.

And yet, and yet, and yet. Even as the Nipponese armies smash their numerically superior foes, he is struck by a nagging thought. He feels some sort of emanation from neighbouring Dai Viet.

It is Karmulek. His rage knows no bounds as he realises the implications of this revelation. He is not alone. Another Eldar has returned, thus invoking the rule of three in conquest. And where one other Eldar has returned, others might as well. And they might have been here for ages. That changes the game of thrones in no small way. He will have to consolidate and reconnoiter.

The affront of the Emperor of China knows no bounds. Forced to reject offers of five, six, or seven provinces by the rule of three, the Chinese Emperor reject any offers of peace for three provinces for years. Finally he settles for Shanghai and Zheijang.

It is during the second invasion of China that he first makes contact with Karmulek. Hiding his identity, they discuss the general situation, and a tentative agreement, of sorts, is reached.

He exults with the chaos of Nippon. Truly this is a warrior's society. If it isn't the assassination of a Shogun, it is a private war amongst Daimyos. This society weeds out the weak, and a certain percentage of the strong, but that can't be helped, on a regular basis.

Occasionally the chaos erupts at an unfortunate time. Warned not to attack Malacca on pain of invasion, Karmulek claims he will only conquer Buddhists - and invades nevertheless. Malacca is muslim. Even as the Nipponese armies begin boarding their mighty fleets, the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori is assassinated, necessitating certain military maneuvers to quell the resulting rebellions and restore the stability of Nippon, and Karmulek evades invasion.

And perhaps it is better so. In the west the Eldar Elderan has conquered the most valuable provinces of Persia. Given the trends in Timurid society, this is a very smart move. Elderan is capable of growing truly strong, as is the Eldar recently detected in Mysore.. Perhaps a strategic alliance with Karmulek might be in order.

Following the end of the third Chinese war, he controls eight Chinese provinces, and a river forms a natural border with Karmulek's Dai Viet.

A few years later true fighting breaks out the length and breadth of Nippon, as he chooses to chastise the mighty Hosokawa in 1454 thus beginning the Onin war. Coupled with the Kyotuko war (occasioned by the aid received from Uesugi Norizane in the Eikyo war two decades earlier), opposing armies soon march to war, and rebellions soar. For the next five years the 20% increased revolt risk (as a dispassionate part of his mind calculates it), will cause the draining of the treasury, an inflational increase of 5% to pay for the raising of new armies, the loss of more than 100,000 soldiers, and the devasation of Nippon.

And the defection of the new colony of Taiwan to the Chinese. It is, perhaps, time to invade again.

This is when the great flood of 1459 hits, and the country suffers from famine. The cities are emptied of a fourth of their populations as 70,000 city-dwellers and countless peasants die of flood, disease, or starvation.

Truly, this land is magnificent he marvels! Meanwhile, in the south, Karmulek has united most of the Buddhist world.

 

[Eochaid]

Pi-Low had been asleep for many years. Asleep for eons to tell the truth. More than eleven thousand years earlier, he hadn't even bothered to wake up for the last great War the Eldars had fought in the City. Millions had died, cities had burned, Spirits had been slaughtered. The Eldars had been at war for many decades before Gaia had almost died because of the outpour of primal energy, swallowing the Atlantide.

Because of this, Zoryan, First among the Eldars, had forgotten him when he imprisoned the other Eldars. For millenia, he'd been the only free Eldar. He could have ruled a mighty empire, fought mercyless wars, become the mightiest Eldar ever. But among the Eldars he was known to be just as lazy as he was covetous, mean, twisted and coward.

So when he finaly woke up, he took control of the nearest Kingdom he could find: Arakan. In these days of early June 1421, he just walked into the King's bedroom, and informed him that he would now rule the country. The sight of his decapitated bodyguards convinced the King that Pi-Low was the best ruler Arakan could dream of. And Pi-low swallowing their dead bodies almost made him throw-up...

Hopefuly, Pi-Low very quickly discovered that Arakan was the shittiest country ever, with no income and a crapy army. So an hour later, that is ten years for normal human beings, he started looking for another country that would suit him better.

Finally, a few minutes later he picked Mysore when he saw how fat and wealthy Mysoran merchants were. Quickly he moved there, flying over the Ocean and eating a few fishermen.

His first move was to invade Mysore's only neighbour, Vajayan-something, an unpronouncable country that deserved to disappear. It took him two wars to reduce it to only it's capitol, Bangalore. No real challenge to be perfectly honest. Yet Pi-Low felt a tad uneasy when he discovered that three other Eldars had retured. he didn't really worry about Karmulek and the other Eldar he could feel to the far-east, for they were far away. But he shared a border with Elderan, and he grew weary of this, for Elderan really was a smart BB.

Having enticed Delhi, Bengale and Hyderabad, he launched an attack on Gujarat, but encountered an unexpected resistance as Gujarati armies came out of the blue, repelling his own troops before invading Mysore.

Hopefully, just when Gujarati troops were besieging his capitol, a time-twist provoked by the escape of the spirits brought him back to the middle of the war, just before everything was lost. So Pi-Low made peace with Elderan and signed an alliance with him, each one of them acknowledging the rightful claim of his partner to half of the sub-continent.

And so began the Great War, were the armies of the Eldars invaded the hopeless human countries and routed them with unnatural easyness....

 

[Wyvern]

Aha! Power again at last. It felt good to flex his muscles after all these millennia. Intimidating the Sultan had been amusing though in truth he could possess him at any time and force him to carry out his orders. It humoured Elderan though to allow Ahmed Shah a semblance of free will and then watch as he tried to wheedle and plot. It was so heart destroying for Ahmed when Elderan always stepped in at the last moment to foil his ploys.

But whilst such things were amusing, caution tempered Elderans fiery heart. Others of his kind had broken out with him, and Zoryan could yet still live. He needed to discover more about the surrounding lands and people if he was to judge accurately how best to proceed. Some things thought were necessary, such as the reduction of Jodhupur to rubble when they had the temerity to invade. And it was such fun to watch the Sultan cackle in joy when his plotting persuaded the Timurid empire to invade. Elderan merely smiled as he manoeuvred his armies to besiege their capital at Samarakand from which he gained valuable knowledge of all the lands to the west for thousands of miles. Choosing the riches of the Timurids lands he then forced the great Khan to surrender Isfahan, Fars and Tabaristan in the face of his host. That Malwa also attempted to take advantage during the Timurid war was merely a distraction that ended up in their submitting to Gujarat vassalship.

In time Elderan began to feel disturbing emanations from the south and east. Two, no three other ancient powers it seemed had also made it to this world, their strength he could sense increasing with each passing decade. But how could he have missed the presence of Pi-Low, on his very doorstep! This development bore monitoring and concerned him greatly. All thoughts of further conquest in his neighbourhood vanished as he began to brood on this new situation. Summoning a host of imps he sent them down into India to monitor the nation of Mysore that Pi-Low appeared to have possessed and what he saw was even more alarming. Great armies were being assembled following Mysore’s defeat of Vijayanagar. Twenty then thirty and finally forty-two thousand warriors of Mysore assembled in Mangalore, just across Gujarats border at Goa. Elderan quickly withdrew his small force to Bombay and began furiously ordering the raising of further armies to bolster his defence. His concern deepended even further when Pi-Low very cleverly tricked the nations of Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengal to join him. Truly Elderan began to worry and called up even more hosts.

Sensing Pi-Low’s presence scouting out his own realm, Elderan cast a spell of banishment and then prepared for the worst. Not to be let down, Pi-Low shortly afterwards declared war and marched his host on Goa, whilst calling down the hosts of Delhi and their allies upon Gujarat. In the forests of Goa the great armies clashed, as Pi-Low and Elderan fought in the heavens their human armies fought on the ground. After many casualties on both sides, Pi-Low eventually succeeded in driving Gujarats forces away, the remnants of which retreated in some disarray towards Hyderabad as Pi-Low moved north to besiege most of Gujarats lands.

A personal visit to the Sultan of Hyderabad had him see reason and drop out of the war. Assembling the 18,000 strong force that remained from that first battle and bringing down another 15,000 from the north, the armies of Gujarat exacted their revenge, smashing Mysore on the plains of Kutch, butchering them to the last man, before then swinging back south and taking the war to Mysores own homeland.

----

Pi-Low cowered miserably before Elderan. SO INFERNAL DEVIL, YOU THOUGHT TO CHALLENGE THE MIGHT OF ELDERAN! See now the folly of this venture and tremble before my wrath!! And yet I will be lenient for a far greater power threatens both our survival. Karmulek and an entity as yet unknown has arisen in the east, bringing most of that land under their collective control, whilst we fight and squabble. My only demand is that we stand together in alliance should these powers turn their eyes to the west and that we divide this Indian continent between us.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

Hour of Power: 1421-1460

[A commercial jingle plays loudly in the background and fades away]

SEDUCTIVE VOICE: Welcome to.... the Hour of Power!

MEPHISTOPHELES: Greeting ungentles, here's the latest news on the jailbreak in sector #5. The three ancient evils, Elderan, Morba, and Karmulek, had barely settled in before war broke out all over the place.

[canned 'OOOOH']

MEPHISTOPHELES: Initially, the most succesful was Karmulek the slayer, who annexed three Chinese provinces. Then an unexpected development took place. Over to you, Asmodeus.

ASMODEUS: A second jailbreak took place in the sector #5 top security prison. Blasting the security guards, one of the few remaining Eldar broke loose of his chains, sacrificing thousands of lesser brethren to facilitate his escape. He too made his way to Earth #5.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Wow. Sounds like a dangerous customer. What's the deal?

ASMODEUS: Unfortunately, some of my sources were killed during his escape, and I've been unable to identify him. His actions, however, may yet betray him.

MEPHISTOPHELES: And we all love betrayal. Tell us more...

ASMODEUS: Well, immediately upon his arrival a scream of rage filled the heavens, as he screamed "Hey, the AI has built Tax collectors for me! The dream of Nippon...." and a month later "wow! The AI has taken a loan for me during the first two years! how unusual"

MEPHISTOPHELES: Well, I'll be dipped in shit.

ASMODEUS: Probably. Unfortunately, that isn't sufficient for a full id, though it is indicative, but don't worry, I've got my best imps on the case. Additionally, another Eldar has turned up.

MEPHISTOPHELES: A real gathering of powers, i see. You said 'turned up' and not 'escaped'. Care to elaborate?

ASMODEUS: Yes. An unknown Eldar took power in Atjeh, moved on to Arakan within a month or two, after which he switched his base of operations to Mysore. At approximately this time we lost track of Morba. So the question remains. Is this new Eldar Morba in disguise, or is he, in fact, a different Eldar - and if so, which? And how did he escape imprisonment? Zoryan imprisoned every single other Eldar following his victory, after all. There is something awfully deceptive going on, I tell you.

MEPHISTOPHLELES: Thank you, Asmodeus. So we've got four mean Eldar on the loose raising havoc, and slaughtering all who would oppose them?

ASMODEUS: A fair approximation. Elderan managed to secure the wealthiest Persian provinces early on

MEPHISTOPHELES: A bold move!

ASMODEUS: Yes, it sure helped his manpower situation! The Eldar in Mysore began conquering Vijayanagar, Karmulek made mincemeat out of Indochina, and the Eldar in Nippon began carving out chunks of China.

MEPHISTOPHELES: So, some fairly standard opening moves, really?

ASMODEUS: Yes. Fortunately matters picked up. The laughter of the Eastern Eldar rang loud in the ether as Gujarat and Mysore began a campaign of mutual elimination around 44-45 rather than ganging up on their mutual enemies in Hyderabad and Delhi. Unfortunately, something terrible happened that broke their concentration after the initial skirmishes had killed most of their armies.

MEPHISTOPHELES: An act of God?

ASMODEUS: Apparently. Damn him for interfering. When things looked up a moment later, the Western Eldar had resolved their differences diplomatically and were talking about dividing Delhi as they should have been doing from the very beginning.

[canned 'BOOOOOOH's blast the studio]

ASMODEUS: Meanwhile, Karmulek was suffering from a bit of post-conquest trauma, as every single nation in Asia not controlled by an Eldar noticed his aggressive behaviour coupled with a low standing army. The result was not pretty. Constantly attacked by all sides, parts of his realm even managed to regain their independence, if only temporarily.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Overstreched himself, did he?

ASMODEUS: You can say that again! Whereas the Nipponese Eldar kept chipping away at China ever so slowly, Karmulek actually managed to lose a province to China to cut his losses. Outrageous behaviour. However, it should be noted that this did lead to ever more misery and suffering, so I'll give him a 6/10 for execution but 8/10 for style.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Why didn't any of the other Eldar take advantage of his weak position? Are they absolute losers?

ASMODEUS: Hardly! The western Eldar were busy consolidating after their unfortunate wars, and Elderan was taking a quick stab at Delhi. Meanwhile the unknown Nipponese Eldar was fighting a vicious war, that will be known amongst surviving historians as the Onin War. Actually, he was fighting the Kyutoku war at the same time, due to an earlier miscalculation. However, this led to a devastated economy and mountains of skulls, so 5/10 for execution and... Dare I say it...

MEPHISTOPHELES: Come on!

ASMODEUS: 10/10 for style! But only because he managed to lose Taiwan to China via defection. That always brings a laugh from the audience.

[canned laughter]

MEPHISTOPHELES: So, in conclusion, what is the current situation, Asmodeus:

ASMODEUS: Let me put it like this, Mephistopheles. It is explosive. Elderan controls 13 rich provinces, and has just received his first defector from the Timurid Empire, Awaz, which joined his Tabriz, Isfahan, Fars enclave. He is also slowly eating the remnant of the Sultanate of Delhi. Fairly rich with a generous manpower base, if the Timurids defect en masse his Empire will shortly be a force to be reckoned with.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Cool. What about the Eldar in Mysore? One would assume this would impact his plans?

ASMODEUS: Indeed one would. Mysore now boasts 10 provinces, the Southern tip of India, of which several are colonies. While they are uniformly rich, it will take time to develop their economic potential. He really needs to get his shit together. I wouldn't be surprised to see three quick wars in succession, against Hyderabad, then Delhi, then Bengal. He should be capable of taking 9 hindu provinces (same as his state religion, you know) and be a potential counterweight to Gujarat. But it will be bloody expensive!

MEPHISTOPHELES: In that case he could for a temporary alliance of convenience with one of the Eastern Eldar, couldn't he?

ASMODEUS: He could certainly try. Karmulek now controls almost all of Indochina, 26 provinces

[canned 'OOOOH']

ASMODEUS: of which most are Buddhist, the state religion of Dai Viet. He has been a really bad boy indeed, at 98 BB and counting - far ahead of his nearest competitor Mysore which has 24 BB. It seems likely that he will spend some time consolidating following his impressive conquests with a bit of colonising on the side. But who knows? While he will certainly like some more of China, it wouldn't do to upset the Nipponese Eldar for now, so might he not help the Eldar of Mysore financially in return for... The Ganges centre of Trade? I wouldn't rule it out.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Yes, our late arrival, how did he do?

ASMODEUS: Well, despite wars, floods, assassinations, plagues, &etc he now controls 14 provinces and has two colonies. Used to be three until he lost Taiwan. His Chinese acquisitions follow the coast from Jiangsu to Kowloon and then strike inland for Guangzhou and Hunan along the river pearl forming a border with Dai Viet. As so often, geography may end up being the decisive element in determining the border. While he has fewer provinces than Karmulek, his island home of Nippon is currently unassailable and very, very rich, allowing him to recruit troops as needed in case of a war. Then again, he probably can't afford to wage the longer war needed to crush Karmulek, since this would weaken him fatally compared to the ascendant Western Eldar, and that is without considering the very unstable elements within Nippon itself. So the Eastern Eldar will probably stay amiable and keep very watchful eyes on each other.... For a while, at least. Say a century or so.

MEPHISTOPHELES: A shame.

ASMODEUS: Quite. Finally, we have just received the annual condemnation from the Human Rights Watch: Gujarat: 8, Mysore 7, Dai Viet: 7, and... Nippon 10! Yes, our unknown Eldar in Nippon is in the lead with complete serfdom! Congratulations!

[canned applause]

ASMODEUS: And the biggest battle reported was the destruction of 60,000 Chinese by 40,000 Nipponese defending Shanghai during one of the Chinese-Nipponese wars. That's it from me for now, Mephistopheles.

MEPHISTOPHELES: Thanks, Asmodeus. Next up is an interview with Pussy the Mistress of the Dark, who seduced no fewer than seventy-two tomcats into a private kennel. Watch! the blood and gore as she lets the bloodhounds free. Thrill! As she deserts her lovers to their gruesome fate. Exclusively in the Hour of Power, right after this break.

Western Asia, 1460

Eastern Asia, 1460

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We're playing GC 1419, Hard/Normal, with the following house rules: (updated 5/9/2002)

• No territorial acquisition within Europe. (The European border eastwards is Orenburg, Astrakhan, Daghestan, Kurdistan, Sivas, Adana)
• Colonisation allowed everywhere
• 3 provinces max per war with the AI. In case of turboannexation territory must immediately be set free as vassals to limit the gains to three provinces, if at all possible.
• No trucebreaking allowed. Period.
• If vassalised by another player, 5 years must pass before you break vassalisation
• Peace offers must be answered within a month
• NEW! No loans to the AI
• NEW! No maptrading outside Asia (I.e. If you want to visit America, you'll have to find it yourself!)

The players for this 1421-1460 were:

Dai Viet: Karmulek (Thanak) the Slayer, the wannabe-deity
Gujarat: Elderan (Wyvern) the Lord of Lightning, Drainer of Life, Possessor
Atjeh, Arakan, Mysore: Pi-Low (Eochaid) the lazy, mean, and twisted coward (his own description )
Nippon: Gothmog (Peter Ebbesen) the Flamebringer, Lord of Chaos

- dropped out due to lag:

Vijayanagar: Morba (natt och dag) the Shadow of Doom

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For these Hour of Power reports, I am using Jos Theelen's EUreader to gain information that should be widely available to all powers, such as relative tech, inflation, and dp-policies. I'll most definitely not be loading up the save file as other nations, so your manpower estimates and size of armies are safe from my prying eyes. For screenshots I'll be using the fairly complete maps of Nippon. If they tell you anything you didn't already know, consider yourself fortunate

 

[Wyvern]

Great update Peter, and what a propaganda vehicle you have there trying to split up poor old Elderan and Pi-Low

 

[Thanak]

I love your update Peter.

Last night, after our war of exhaustion, I clearly lost the lead I had. For ranking now I would say Wyvern has the lead followed by Peter, me and Eochaid are trailling.

Now for my own little contribution.

WAR !

Karmulek was happy. Le Loi proved to be easier to control than he had thought. He wanted nothing else than follow the demon's advice and carve himself an empire. One by one the boudists country felt to Karmulek's armies. Many advisors complained about the stability of the empire, about reputation, about the unprovoked attack on other boudists, about the need for a proper reason to go to war… they died.

The country was in perpetual state of unrest, he used the rare moments of calm to start other wars and collect more taxes to raise troops. In the first few years, stab was constantly at –3, raising to –2 only for me to collect war taxes or DoW someone else. I figured that it's better to take a –2 stab for co religionist war when you're already at –2

When Le Loi died in battle, Karmulek lost his greatest tool but that only slowed him down. He decided it was time to come out in the open. He entered the temple in Hanoi and after dominating a few priest and killing the ones that resisted he issued his first public declaration

No longer will you worship this image of a smiling fat guy ! I'm Karmulek god of war, all statue of this Bouda will be replaced by mine. The boudists will worship me, and the others will be converted. Inquisitors will be sent everywhere.

He didn't care to much about the other eldar. It felt so good to be free and he was having fun killing all these mortal. But his rapid growth had made the others jalous. The traitorous Elderan and Pi-Low tried to take advantage of his country's state of unrest and a war with China to force him to release some of his holdings. In alliance they declared war on him but didn't send troop. They tried to bully him into releasing vassal and threaten to drive him into war exhaustion if he didn't comply.

Well this will be a test of manhood and he had the bigger balls. So he proceed into slaughtering his own people, while continuing war with China. He finaly made peace with china to concentrate on slaying the revolters. The other Eldar kept on asking "release Malaca and we will stop…". With all their whining, they looked like they where the one who wanted to stop. Some part of the empire declared their independence only to be annexed again. In what Elderan claim to be a mistake, he "forgot" to send troop to fight and a white peace was signed, too bad he could have hold on for still quite a while. At that time we where at –10 WE, I had things pretty much under control even if killing those rebel was getting annoying. Anyway releasing land was totally out of the question so that was a no brainer on my part, kill rebel till I or they implode. Mysore tryed for separate peace too, nice try

Well if they wanted war they would have it. He began to plot his revenge. While he finished annexing the rest of the smaller surrounding, he successfully converted most of the Muslim provinces. But still the last war had bugged him down. Eldaran was holding the richest land and was now clearly ahead. Gothmog was holding rich land too, but he did seems more reasonable. Pi-Low had shape up a bit but he seems to be very influenced by Eldaran and he had left him the most valuable land.

He watched the wars of Pi-Low and Eldaran carefully. He waited till they had been at war for a time. Then when they where about to finish their current war, he send them his own declaration of war. Now he will be able to get his revenge. They are now at -2 WE while I'm still at zero, this will be fun

 

[Eochaid]

Pi-Low and Elderan were sitting on the roof of the Mysoran fortress in Ganges. Pi-Low had invited his friend to enjoy the view of their armies invading Daï-Viet, along with a gourmet diner. When there were no humans around them, Eldars were way cooler and didn't feel like they had to act nasty like they usualy did.

"- Hey Pi-Low, gimme another human wing!

- I allready told you Elderan! Humans don't have wings. You confuse them with chickens, the other common lesser life form around here: chicken are the ones with feathers on their body, humans are the ones with hair on top of their brain-limb...

- Sorry, I just cant get that right. Well give me a leg instead.

- Here you go. Hand me over the baby nuggets by the way. It will go perfect with my 12-year old Bangalorian plasma."

For a few minutes they kept silent, chewing and watching the colourful armies fighting off the Daï-Viet counterstrike. Pi-Low even spit out a mouthful of food when twelve thousand Mysoran cavalry slaughtered a twenty-five thousand men strong Daï Viet army.

"-That should show him how pointless his pity declaration of war is!

- Yeah, we're gonna beak his neck!

- Yeah. By the way, what was that stupid thing you wrote about our war! Pi-low stands up and starts imitating Elderan's voice, walking around on his tiptoe, so he would be an inch taller and look arrogant: "Pi-Low cowered miserably before Elderan. SO INFERNAL DEVIL, YOU THOUGHT TO CHALLENGE THE MIGHT OF ELDERAN! See now the folly of this venture and tremble before my wrath!! BWAHAHAHAHA!

- Cut me some slack will you.

- Well, what the fuck was that?

- I was just trying to impress Pussy the Mistress of the Dark, who was visiting me at the time.

- I hope you'd allready change pants! Because the one you were wearing when I invaded you sure smelled of piss from when you wet yourself...

- Drop it Pi-Low. Lets forget all about that and concentrate on bringing Karmulek down.

- Sure. Gothmog told me Daï Viet flesh tasted like honey."

The whole continent was at war, and the two Eldars just loved it. Lock and Load, they were ready for some action.


Over the last forty years Mysore had become a major world power. To be perfectly honest, it had been THE world power for twenty years and only recently had England and Gujarat caught up. The first war with Daï Viet had been a tough one and had almost made Mysore collapse: rebs had taken many major cities in the country and Delhi and Bengale had taken a shot at attacking the two Eldars. Now, they only ruled the land surrounding their capitols. And the truce would end one day.... TIC TAC TIC TAC TIC TAC

Mysore was doing pretty good so far. It had strong armies, brand new fortifications, an efficient administration and a worthy ally. The south tip of the country was almost completely colonised and soon Mysore could expend quicker overseas.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As for the victory points, in October 1498:

Number One: England --> 680 VP
Number Two: Gujarat ---> 648 VP
Number Three: Mysore --> 631 VP
Number Four: Nippon ----> 579 VP
Number Five: Timurids ---> 487 VP
Number Six: Daï Viet -----> 470 VP

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

He surveys the blasted landscape with pleasure as the defeated Daimyo is put to the death. Truly, this is the land of opportunity. The Onin war lasted but a scant six years before it petered out in 1473, but the battles were splendid and the suffering pleasurable to behold.

In mainland China, the 60,000 man strong Nipponese occupation army rules with a heavy hand. Despite the uprisings during the Onin war, the recent conquests have been retained. Additionally, the army stands ready to repel an invasion, should Karmulek grow overly bold, yet it seems that Karmulek will hold to the agreement reached. Trust is ever in short supply amongst the Eldar, but for now the wary peace serves the interests of both.

Especially considering the western conquests of Elderan. Truly, Elderan grows mightier for each day, and now he launches an unprovoked attack on Karmulek with the aid of the sniveling Pi-Low? Well, so long as his strategic interests aren't threatened, he will remain out of this matter.

And kill rebels.

And ever so slowly, his domination over the Empire grows. Now he sends forth surplus population to colonise Brunei, and with a bit of encouragement, people are glad to leave. And he sends with them his devoted Sohei of mount Hiei, whom he has by now fully corrupted, to watch over them and maintain their faith in the Empire.

And he watches with interest as Elderan and Pi-Low make unreasonable claims on Karmulek, without being willing to back up their threats with arms. Apparently they believe that Karmulek's people will rise against him solely because of being at war.

Preposterous, of course, and the answer from Karmulek, which he overhears, pleases him mightily. "We're all going down, then" cries Karmulek, stirring the winds with his anger.

But in the end the empty threats are not enough to bring down the Dai Viet the Empire of Karmulek, and the sniveling Pi-Low, and the thunderous Elderan acknowledge, if not defeat, then that their goal will not be accomplished, and peace breaks out.

And he throws the fleet across the ocean to the colony of Jakarta, using it as a base for the invasion of Brunei and Mataram, and though the Sultans of Brunei and Mataram fight bravely, in the end they are defeated and cast down, and the Sultan of Brunei is no more.

During this period of rearmament, Elderan and Pi-Low have divided India amongst them, and Elderan has begun the conquest of Arabia. Truly, Elderan waxes in power, while Pi-Low remains his lap-dog, yet still a powerful lap-dog capable of bringing down the unwary. As time passes the force disparity grows, yet they stand united in their wars. And it is at the end of one of their wars, that Karmulek strikes back. This time, they might have to back up their words with armies, he thinks.

Meanwhile, he has a decision to make. One of his foremost students, Ise Shinkuro, has taken Odawara Castle, causing a blossoming of the civil war that has somewhat abated the last two decades. While that is all well and good, it does distract him during his war with China. Should he, perhaps, strike down Ise Shinkuro as an example to others' for braving his wrath? Or should be, perhaps, reward Ise Shinkuro for living up to the ideals espoused by himself in his teachings?

Time will tell.

He unfurls his burning wings and rises into the air, a spirit of fire most majestic, and laughs at the chaos afflicting the mortals below.

 

[Wyvern]

Fools! How dare they interrupt me! Damnation thought Elderan as his spell of fury over Karmulek failed, his concentration broken. Another couple of years and he was sure Karmulek’s own people would have over-thrown him. Well the war at least had slowed Karmulek down, so it hadn’t been a complete dead loss after all, and perhaps maintaining the war spell for a couple more years would not have been such a good idea anyway, but it grated, oh how it grated.


Upon discovering maps of the far east a few years earlier, Elderan had watched in horror at the rapid advance Karmulek the Conqueror had made marching through Indo-china and carving out the largest Eldar realm in the process. He regretted now his own more cautious approach to incorporating the lands of the Timurid Empire and Delhi, and consentrating instead on building up the economy of his nation. Still, there was time to catch up, and Gujarat was as rich, perhaps even richer than the burgeoning Dai Viet Empire.

So, following the inconclusive second Eldar war, Elderan began to actively look at strengthening his power, dividing India between himself and Pi-Low whilst looking for opportunities to expand elsewhere. The people of Gujarat had a permanent dislike for the nation of Oman, so it hadn’t been hard to manipulate them into invading that nation. Delhi would go the same way in the intervening years whilst a couple of provinces from the Timurid Empire were finally persuaded to defect to his own cause during the last few years, but less than he’d hoped for in truth.

But now it seemed that Karmulek the conqueror wanted to take part in the great game and challenge Elderan and Pi-Low for supremacy. Amusement rippled across the Eldars ridged brow. Did Karmulek really appreciate what he had let himself in for? Was he so naïve to think he could cow the Great Elderan into submission? A lesson needed to be taught and the Eldar looked forward to teaching it.

Oh much had changed since that last Eldar war. No longer was Elderan and Pi-Low’s path blocked by Bengal and Delhi. No longer did they have to sail their forces to Dai Viet by sea. Now they could march by land on Dai Viet and the world would tremble at their coming!