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How is modern day Prussia's relations with the former colonies?
 
How is modern day Prussia's relations with the former colonies?

Complicated. Since most of them gained their freedom in the early XIX century there is very little feeling of mistrust, however some of them were at odds with Prussia during the cold war (It is ATO and BBSCA as NATO and the Warsaw Pact respectively). In the modern day there is the Council on Prussian Foreign Affairs, which is somewhere between CIS and the Francophone. It includes all Prussian-speaking countries as well as Zilina. It was this organization that helped regulate modern Prussian at the advent of the internet (I have an update in the works on this). Countries like Texas and Cuba were very happy to welcome Prussia into the democratic world, while California lingered under apartheid.
 
Bastions
Chapter Forty Four: War and Peace
Part 5


Prelude:
The reign of Ramon III Mohoma bin Abbas had been generally quiet. The death of his main rival, Peer Mohammad of Holstein, left him in a position of great power. But it came with its own negatives. The Germans were convinced that the Caliph had something to do with the death of their great leader. Ramon was forced to assert his authority and with the assistance of the Italian states pacify parts of Germany. With a more direct rule over Leon secured and the Christians there convinced that their churches would be left standing, Caliph Ramon III and Peer Txomin bin Iñigo then had to work against the strongest remaining Peer: the Grand Duke of France. Peer Francis Mohammad de Beauce ruled over most of France (France in this instance refers to the Northern Oil regions of what was then known as Gaul) from his center of power: Paris. Francis was a paranoid old man, fearful that any one of his four sons would try to usurp him and his authority. He kept the four of them divided and pitted them against one another, often for his own amusement. He was never keen for the Duke of Holstein, and like Ramon saw the death of the German leader as a step forward in his own plans. But his plans of grandeur were interrupted in the spring of 1374.

May 17th, 1374

Caliph Ramon III Mohoma bin Abbas was sitting still as his court artist continued a portrait of the leader. To the side Peer Txomin bin Iñigo stood watching the artist gracefully capture their master's likeness. In the painting, beside the young ruler, was his new coat of arms. Specifically designed to represent the greatness of the Caliphate it was a four-headed black eagle over a solid shield of white. It represented the purity of the Caliphate and the four regions that comprised it: Iberia, Gaul, Italia, and Germany. Txomin turned his head toward the doors as a young rider entered the room, and upon seeing the Caliph lowered himself to the ground. The Peer glanced at the Caliph and got a barely visible nod before walking over to the lad groveling on the ground.

Four-HeadedEagle.png

The four-headed eagle of the Caliphate.

"What is it?" Txomin asked in a hushed voice.

"My lord, I bring news from Paris!" the rider answered in an equally hushed and extremely reverent voice.

"Well quickly, what is it?"

"Peer de Beauce is dead!"

Txomin took a moment to let that soak in, enjoying the wave of relief that washed over his mind and body. "Which son has succeeded him?"

"That is what I needed the Caliph to know: none of them! Peer de Beauce's testament divided his all of his lands except for Paris up amongst his sons and gave no indication to who was to succeed him as Peer. Each of his sons has adopted a new dynastic name and has begun fighting the other for control over the capital."

Txomin looked at the Caliph and after clearing his through stated, "M'lord. You might want to take some time from your portrait to hear this."

An hour later Caliph Ramon and Peer Txomin walked in the gardens of the Barcelona palace. Ramon especially was highly pleased with the way tides were changing. The Iberian dynasty which had built the Caliphate and came so close to losing it was now once again supreme. Now he only had to settle the matter of the fighting brothers. Txomin pushed that he directly intervene, but Ramon refused. It was his hope that they would fight for a decade and leave themselves weak and useless. It was the Caliph's dream of building a strong and united Caliphate like the ones of the past. He would not have Frandism labeled as ineffectual because they could not build a strong Caliphate. They only inherited one. He only inherited one. Txomin didn't arguing against it because he actually agreed with the Caliph, and chose not to play Devil's advocate for long.

"If I can get the support of the Peers, I will have the Caliphate restored as a hereditary monarchy, as it should be," Ramon began, his arms folded neatly behind his back, "I will not live to see my son's rule, but I want to die knowing that the Caliphate was safely in the hands of the dynasty that had forged it out of the quivering Christian states."

"It will be hard to gain that sort of support, even though the French and German pretenders are crushed."

"And why is that, Txomin?" Ramon asked.

"When you give a man a right, he too wishes to die knowing that his sons would have it as well. And even if you could forge a tight bond with those around you, get them to promise to always vote for your line... eventually someone will break that promise. It might not be tomorrow, it might not be one hundred years from now, but eventually someone will break it. People are vile, evil little creatures."

"Do not talk of God's ultimate creation like that. We are not creatures, we are divine: and the rule of Frandism is the purest interpretation of God's words and will. And the Abbas dynasty is the pinnacle of Frandism."

"Then why do you fear the French and Germans so?" Txomin asked.

Ramon turned around quickly, expecting to see the sneer of a victorious man, but instead only saw the calm, friendly face of Txomin wearing a sad look. The initial anger of the Caliph boiled away, replaced with a naive feeling of defeat and not that of enlightenment.

"Would you invade Britain, Ramon?" Txomin asked, more forcefully.

"N-no... that would be silly..."

"Why not, m'lord? Are you afraid that we will lose; that the Christians, despite their division and disorganization might actually win?"

"Yes." Ramon answered after a long pause.

"And there you see: we are not perfect and we are certainly not the pinnacle of anything. We are only human, and we can never truly understand God's will, so please... don't do anything harsh. There are Christians who believe that they can still recover Europe for their own creed."

"Then what can I do? Am I powerless even as the ruler of half of Europe? I cannot even guarantee that my son shall rule after me. Are we to lose everything?"

"I don't know, Ramon. I don't. And I won't be here to answer these questions forever."

"I understand, I just thought when I was Caliph I would have all the answers... that God would send angels to whisper the answers into my ear so that we could carry out his will. It was supposed to be so easy. Now I am paralyzed by the rights of the Peers and the unwritten laws of monarchy."

"It is not easy being King, huh?" Txomin asked, "I do not envy you or your position, m'lord. To be honest if you or the Peers were to offer me the throne, I would turn it down without hesitation."
 
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Eggsalad update my Moderator

Thank you.



It is that time of the year again, it is time for the AARland Choice Awards! The ACAs are a quarterly award given out to a large range of AARs. All AARs that have been updated in 2011 and were started before October 1st, 2011 are eligible to win an award. Bastions is eligible for the ACA in EU - Narrative. If you have some favorite AARs, you should head over to this thread and nominate/vote for them to win an award, and if you do chose Bastions, please vote for it in the EU - Narrative category. Thanks!
 
*also bumping*
So, I assume we're still before you actually started playing? If so, are you gonna give a notice that everything from then on is based on the game?

He has already finished the entire game(s) IIRC.
*and bump*
 
*also bumping*
So, I assume we're still before you actually started playing? If so, are you gonna give a notice that everything from then on is based on the game?

He has already finished the entire game(s) IIRC.
*and bump*

Oh, I know, but he has stated in the past that, thus far, what he's done in this chapter was catching up to the point where he actually started playing, to explain in more detail the map of the EU3 version.
I can point out when the actual "game" starts for those reading along. However, this is not a game play AAR, I don't feel that dividing what happened in game and what happened out of game really contributes to the story. The PEIOU scenario started January 1st, 1389, so if it is after that point it is probably based on some amount of gameplay.

Second: has everyone checked the AARland Choice Awards?

Lastly, I appreciate the bumping but make sure to keep it with content like you did above (Good work). Update is under way; I've been really, really busy with homework so I can only work on it a bit each day.
 
Wow... I didn't realize it has been almost a month since an update... Unfortunately I haven't the time to fix that yet. Luckily the end is in sight. December 17th is the end, the end of Uni for me and hopefully the start of more regular updates.

I apologize for the lack of updates, I have a couple in the works and shortly I will be bringing PEIOU back to life (no word on a release date, though).
 
Prussian Lesson #12
Alphabet


Transliteration between Prussian and any number of other languages has always been an issue for linguists. Partially because the Prussian language assigns a large range of sounds to a single letter, or conversely will have a special letter for a single sound that occurs very rarely. Because of this there have always been preferred ways of transliteration that vary from source of source. Most British news agencies use the pattern of replacing ţ and ŝ with "th" and "sh" respectively, dropping accents and then switching "æ" to "e". They also have a habit of switching names to be more familiar with readers and listeners despite pronunciation differences. For example, Prussia's first democratically elected President, Klaudijs Ludisson (official transliteration) was often referred to as "Claudius Ludison" (CLAW-dee-us LOO-dis-SON) despite his name being kláódijs ludissun (KLA-oo-DYUS LUHD-is-SUN). At least one example of "Claudius Louisson" appeared, though this is likely from the President's time in France. The embassy of Prussia in regions using the Latin alphabet use the following as their "official" transliteration set:

a á b c d æ e f g h i j k l m n o ó p r s sh t th u v z

However, the official alphabet of the Prussian language is a recent creation, regulated into its final form in 1995 and 2001; with a few failed attempts at additions in 2004. Originally it was based on the Greek alphabet (with liberal changes to some of the letters). However these would form the backbone to the language from its initial recording to modern times.

Initially Prussian appears to be like Armenian in that it only has "lower case" letters, however uppercase letters do exist (something that even some Prussians don't know). These letters are rarely used, often times for signage or labeling for government equipment. They can also be used to draw attention to something and in writing often represent shouting or sarcasm. There is truly no answer to why Prussian doesn't use upper case letters like other languages. Many point to the fact that it never had any upper case letters until the 1915 reform when they were added in attempts to Westernize the language. However, with no rules to their usage, no one used them but the government. Outside of Prussia/Silesia, there was a great deal of resistance to the 1915 reform, though it was enforced in Zilina and Carpathia following WWII. In the Americas, the old "Chruch Prussian" was used in local varients up until the modern age. The 1995 reform, on the other hand, was accepted by all Prussian speaking states and was originally proposed by the nation of Texas who did much of its business with nations that used the Latin alphabet. In the end, it was the internet and globalization that killed both Church Prussian and Communist Prussian.

Here is the Prussian alphabet and a brief history of their usage:

a/A
The letter "A" (pron: "aye") is one of the less common vowels, and is directly descended from the Latin and Greek letter of the same styling. Due to shifts in vowel pronunciation, the letter took the form of a diphthong. Originally, during the 1915 reform (and again in the 1995 reform) there was a movement to flip "a" and "á" to save on ink and time due to the latter being far more common. This was overturned both times due to people's familiarity with the letters as is.

á/Á
The letter "Á" (pron: "ah") is probably the most common of the Prussian vowels. Granted it can be pronounced as any of the back vowels, so it rather common in a language that is spelled phonetically.

æ/Æ
The letter "Æŝ" (pron: "esh") gives many transliterators a headache. It is often more closely related to their "E" so it is often their choice to replace it with a letter that is actually found on their keyboard. In 1915, "æ" was replaced with "e", causing a great deal of confusion (it would have been worse if combined with the proposed "a"/"á" flop) while "e" was given an accent. This was undone in 1995 when the letter was reintroduced to a freshly confused public.

b/B
The letter "Ba" (pron: "bay") is a pretty standard consonant. Originally named "beta" (like the Greek counter-part), in the 1915 reform was given its own letter: "ɓ"/"B", which was eventually deemed rather assinine and given the proper Latin letter in 1995.

c/C
The letter "Ca" (pron: "chay") was originally the same as the English "C" in that it could make multiple sounds. Eventually this was cut away and it was almost dropped from the alphabet all together during the 1915 reform. However it was pointed out that someone had proposed the letter "ç", and without a letter "c" there was no need for the accent. The committee agreed and "c" was kept while "ç" was discarded.

d/D
The letter "Da" (pron: "day") was only changed in 1915 when it was changed from its Greek form to the Latin form.

e/E
The letter "E" (pron: "ee") was changed, during the Communist era, to "ê"/"Ê" so that the letter "æ" could take its place. This was not favorably received and eventually undone around the same time that the letter was gaining acceptance with a younger generation.

f/F
The letter "Fe" (pron: "fee") retains its Greek name, though it has only recently lost its Greek derived form. Originally the same as a Greek phi, "f" was written as "ȸ" after the 1915 reform. However, in a rapidly expanding computer network, the letter was dropped for a more Western form.

g/G
The letter "Ge" (pron: "gee") represents the both hard and soft "g" sounds. After the 1915 reform, it was written using the letter "v", due to the resemblance to the official script "ɤ", based on the Greek gamma. This was particularly confusing to foreigners, who came believing that Prussian lacked a distinction between "v" and "w" yet saw both letters.

h/H
The letter "Ha" (pron: "hay") is a rarely used letter that often times is left unsaid (especially at the beginning of words in the Kiev and Carpathian dialects of Prussian). Its removal in 1995 was rejected though, as many speakers at the conference still used the sound in daily speech. It was saved, essentially, by the fact that it was in one of the two helping verbs important for conjugation.

i/I
The letter "I" (pron: "ih") is one of the less common vowels and the only significant change to its writing is the addition of the dot on the top to put it in line with Latin standards. In 2001, amongst other proposals, it was suggested to split "i" into "i" and "'", due it part to the use of the letter in separating clusters: especially before the addition of -já. This was rejected as it made the language look "fantastical" or as one member of the reform commity put it: "Like the speech of a drunken city leech".

j/J
The letter "Ja" (pron: "yay") was a late addition to many languages (relatively). Its first appearance in English was in the XVI Century. By the XVII Century it was part of common Prussian. Originally, in Prussian, it was written with two hooks on top of one another, despite it officially being written "ԓ". In 1915 it was updated to the more normal Latin form.

k/K
The letter "Ka" (pron: "kay"), like the letter "g", was made into another letter during the 1915 reform. The symbol chosen was "x" (officially "ϰ"), which made it hard for some people to read despite the letter "x" being absent from the language as a whole. In 1995 it was changed to the Latin "k".

l/L
The letter "Læ" (pron: "leh") has always been "l" in handwriting, though in Church Prussian it was "λ". "L" is assumed to be the counter-part to "n", and it is often the case that characters in movies and TV shows will be given names starting with "l" (for the funny character or hero) and "n" (for the straight man or enemy). This is because "lá" and "na" are "yes" and "no" respectively. The shape of "l" has also given the Prussian gesture for "yes", raising only the index finger. This is not confused for the number one, though, as the number one is just a thumbs up.

m/M
The letter "Mó" (pron: "moo") was based off of the Greek letter mu, from which it name is based.

n/N
The letter "Na" (pron: "nay") is often associated with the negative. It is not surprising then that the letter means "no" even if on its own. This has lead to it being a useful short hand. It also leads to the Prussian hand sign for "no" (or the thumbs-down in English): thumb and index finger pointed down with other fingers curled up (the full "etymology" of this gesture is more complicated as it was started when "n" was writen as Greek nu). The letter spent eighty years as "v", the Latin look-alike of the Greek "nu".

o/O
The letter "O" (pron: "oe") also made it through the 1915 reform without being changed. The suggestion was to switch it with its accented counter-part because it is a diphthong and not a pure vowel.

ó/Ó
The letter "Ó" (pron: "oo") had to survive another attack on its existance when it was suggested in 1995 to remove the letter and just use "o" instead, maybe with a second letter or some recognizable pattern. However an extra letter was more work than an accent and there is no pattern behind the appearance of "ó" rather than "o", so the plan was scrapped.

p/P
The letter "Pa" (pron: "pay") had a lot of trouble in 1915, when it switched from the Greek "π" to the semi-Latin "ŋ", which was usually written as "n". In 1995 it was given its current form, the familiar symbol for "r" in all previous forms of Prussian.

r/R
The letter "Ro" (pron: "roe") until 1995 was symbolized by the Greek letter rho or a latin "p". The switch was highly controversial in all of the Prussian-speaking countries.

s/S
The letter "Se" (pron: "see") gets its name from the short-form of sigma. The current glyph was introduced in 1915 and then left as it was.

ŝ/Ŝ
The letter "Ŝa" (pron: "shay") represents a very common sound in Prussian, and during the 1915 was changed to reflect the change in the letter "s/S". Originally it had been represented with the Greek "open" sigma, or the final sigma.

t/T
The letter "Ta" (pron: "tay") began as Greek tau and was mostly left alone throughout its history, slowly taking on a more latin form and officially becoming latin in 1915. It was chosen, in 1915, to become the basis for the new letter "ţ" which was taking over for the old letter theta.

ţ/Ţ
The letter "Ţe" (pron: "thee") is the latin demi-glyph chosen to represent a once-proud letter. Both Anglo-Saxon and Greek had separate glyphs for the dental fricative. Anglo-Saxon (and Early Prussian) had two glyphs for the two different dental fricatives. Modern Prussian, however, had a single glyph for both until 1995, when it was downgraded to a modified form of "t/T". The reasoning was to decrease the total number of characters in the alphabet so that it would more readily fit onto modern keyboards. Despite this, "ţ/Ţ" have their own button still. There has been talk of reviving an older glyph to take over.

u/U
The letter "U" (pron: "uh") is the final form of a letter that spent most of its life as the glyph "y". The decision to changed the letter was not one that went easily. Like most Prussian vowels, u only has a limited range of related sounds it can make (in this case the middle vowels). The letter that was used in other languages for this sound tended to be "u", and not "y", which was often exotic for many other languages. So it was decided that to make Prussian look less exotic, and to assist with transliteration, "u" would be used rather than "y".

w/W
The letter "wa" (pron: "way") has been "w" since the Prussian alphabet was first scribbled down. It has remained unchanged despite many attempts to split the letter apart into its two base sounds. However, given the regularity at which it makes either the /v/ sound or the /w/ sound, there is no reason to have two letters.

z/Z
The letter "zæt" (pron: "tseht"), like the letter "w", has remained unchanged since Church Prussian was first standarized. Originally it took the more traditional /z/ sound, but after waves of German nobels in the XIII and XIV Centuries, the /ts/ sound was introduced into the Prussian phonology. The Germans also brought their usage of "z" to represent this sound. The shift was gradual, with a long period of time when both "s" and "z" could make the /z/ sound. Though by the end of the XVII Century, "z" seemed to make only the /ts/ sound.

The "Failed" Letters:
ӡ/Ʒ
The letter "DZæ" (pron: "dzeh") was proposed in 1915, 1995, 2001 and 2004. It has yet to be accepted mostly do to disagreement to how it should be written. For most Prussians the proper glyph is "dz/DZ" or usually just typing the letters "d" and "z". The symbol given at the start of this entry is the most common glyph for dzæ. However other symbols exist. In Silesia, where dzæ is a letter the proper glyph is "ž/Ž". In most of southern Prussia the common symbol is "ƨ/Ƨ", which can sometimes cause confusion. It is likely, though, that in the next convention on the Prussian language, to be hosted in Silesia in 2015, that dzæ will finally become an official glyph of Prussian with the "ӡ/Ʒ" glyphs. For English speakers this glyph represents the sound the letter "s" makes in vision.

v/V
The letter "Va" (pron: "vay") is also used in some forms of Prussian, especially older writings. The letter "w" represents both /w/ and /v/ and changes based on the preceeding vowel. Because this is regulated, the letter "v" was never introduced.

ƿ/Ƿ
The letter "Hwin" (pron: "hwin") was initially included in the 1995 reform, but then dropped in the 2001 reform after keyboard makers did not want to include such a rarely used letter. It represented the "hw" sound that had been common in Anglo-Saxon, but was found only in a few locations in Modern Prussian. In 2004 it was proposed that "ƿ" could take ovevr for the /w/ sound and leave "w" for the /v/ sound. But this was rejected for the same reason that "v" was rejected.

ç/Ç
The letter "Ca" (said the same as c/C) with a hook was initially proposed in 1915 as to avoid confusion with latin "c", however this argument won few allies, especially amongst educators who thought that the change would meerly confuse laymen.

'/'
The letter without a name, the separator was proposed to replace the letter "i" in cases when it was supposed to remain unspoken. However, this was almost unanimously rejected as it would make the language look fantastical, esoteric, uneducated, and -as one Professor put it- English.

θ/Θ ð/Ð þ/Þ
The letters "Θetá", "Ðæn" and "Þórn" (pron: "theta", "then" and "thoorn" respecitvely) have competed to replace "ţ/Ţ" since the introduction of the new glyph in 1995. "θ/Θ" was the glyph for centuries after the birth of the language. However, modern linguists point out that both "ð/Ð" and "þ/Þ" are already latin characters, as well as having their origins in both Anglo-Saxon and the Baltic Sea. They suggest that it is a point of pride to adopt both of the old letters and return Prussian to its Anglo-Saxon roots.
 
Know the language, know the people :D
I like the fact that Prussians are at an eternal crossroads when it comes to their alphabet... How many of them must be damning... Eadbert? Was it Eadbert? I remember the story, just not who did it :p

It was Eadbert, so all is well.

I have to ask, If I were to revive PEIOU, what starting dates should be considered? Head back to the MEIOU forum to discuss!!!
 
I thought I would be disappointed when I saw the update you made, but it turned out very interesting and maybe even helpfully insightful into the eastern European languages if I so choose to learn one. (probably not, but hey.)

I applaud your effort.
 
I thought I would be disappointed when I saw the update you made, but it turned out very interesting and maybe even helpfully insightful into the eastern European languages if I so choose to learn one. (probably not, but hey.)

I applaud your effort.
Thank you very much.

Hmmm, are there any real-life languages where such changes were made so late, to basic spelling and lettering? It sounds like it totally sucked to be Prussian when they were doing spelling reform!
Actually there are. Romanian was often written in Cyrillic until the XIX Century, Uzbek was written in a form of Arabic until Stalin; then recently changed to the Latin script. The deadline to finish the change keeps getting pushed back, but schools use the Latin alphabet now. The change from Cyrillic to Latin is probably far more extreme than from modified Greek to modified Latin to just Latin. I know in German there is debate about the proper use of "ß" and there was discussion on spelling reform for English, though that was at the beginning of the XX Century.