The Macabees
25-03-2005, 21:16
Table of Contents:
Chapter I:Pre-History (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9677374&postcount=5)
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Preface
Deep, deep night. With a trembling hand I try to write down the events of today, events that have engraved themselves in my heart in a script of flames. Never before have I bared witness to such granduer, to such a majestic ambience, that also turned into a rotting atrocity. Many speak of the genocide in Rwanda with a sorrowful heart and a serene attitude yet those who understand what the Altes Reich speak of it with a disgust. Even I, as I slowly write the preface for this book, formulate wads of spit in my mouth. The death, the oppression, the slaughter, is all to large to take in at any one time.
I truly hope that by releasing this book those who have advocated stern and draconic law in their country see a new light and a new perspective. However, more than that, I wish this to be for the citizens of the Second Empire themselves who fight between themselves for a 'Hassel' or for 'the Emperor' and I want the outside world, before they pass judgement on our internal strife, to understand how all of this came about and how the past does affect the future. However, I should note that the contents of which I will write about are horid in nature and that the eyes of the international scene will soon look at us, not with hate, but with understanding.
My father died in the final year of the Civil War, year 2005 anno domini and after every time I think of him, no matter that I am fifty years of age now, a tear formulates in the corner of my eye and strolls down my pale cheek. It's a miracle that Jonach I was able to pull this country together and craft once again the power of the Altes Reich and to see it tear apart due to the magnitude of sheer hate between Hassel and Macabea is to see the beginnings of another one hundred year civil war.
So, I guess, deep inside, this is a method to end the violence before it begins.
[signed]Anonymous
[NOTE: This is a work in progress. Comments and suggestions are cool, just leave all the IC posting to me :p ]
The Macabees
21-09-2005, 17:24
Chapter I: Pre-History
The landmass which now is occupied by the Empire of the Golden Throne and Zarbia had not always been composed two grand military forces, and had not always had such an illustrious career. Throughout over twelve thousand years of history the continent which holds the two nations, or better said that island, has evolved from one holding primitive subspecies of the human race, to the home island of two great and sovereign nations. Although we could jump right ahead of it all and speak about the growth of the direct ancestors of the Second Empire of the Golden Throne it would be much more fulfilling to begin with all it how started, or more accurately, how we believe it all started. And so, our story must take root at around 10,000 Before the Empire (B.T.E.), when the first beings began to populate our large island.
During the last ice age, at around 10,000 B.T.E. it's thought that the islands now occupied by the Golden Throne, Zarbia, Guffingford, and Liberated America, as well as all the other islands inside the archipelago, were linked to a much larger landmass through solid ice. However, any gap between the archipelago to a more 'mainland' landmass couldn't, realistically, be breached by an ice bridge, and so, the first migrants to the area must have come through primitive shipping, and that must explain the rather slow growth rate of population, as opposed to those who have over five billion people.
There's faint traces of truth hidden under the now stomped on grasslands of the northern coast, showing evidence of migrations. It's known that at one point the island now occupied by the city of Arras, which is off the coast of northwestern Macabea, was much larger, and oceanographers have been able to prove that there's a link of land which units Arras with the mainland. Regardless of geography, subsurface exploration has actually uncovered what appears to be a small village, or an early camp site. Using technology to date the pieces, and general knowledge of the structure of the ancient human body, the archeological site has been dated to around 10,500 B.T.E., conforming stipulations that the island was reached within that time. Evidence from earlier epochs does not exist, however, there is ongoing operation to salvage early prehistorical sites.
The most important object that was uncovered at the underwater village, if you will, now dubbed Site A, was a twenty meter long boat, about two meters wide. The sails, and anything made of cloth have withered away, but the frame of the ship still exists. After bringing it to dry land further inspection has confirmed the making of the frame as a plastic like material, which is quite amazing considering the general lack of technological knowledge of prehistoric populations. Most theorists believe that this is the ship which was used to make it to the island, although long distance voyage has not been tested to date, and neither has a reproduction of the ship been built.
Nevertheless, by the year 9,000 B.T.E. the local population was estimated at somewhere near two thousand, occupying the entire island from coast to coast. The one thousand years of almost continous population growth must have been a time of hardship for the occupants of the island and the first signs of combat rippled across the landscape.
Evidence gathered from the volcanic ring, for centuries called Nardafolch, after the God of Thunder during the era of the Aram Sin, have told scientist that the island, prior to around 6,000 B.T.E. was a fiery land full of volcanoes and natural disaster. It is at this time when the expected flip of the magnetic poles occured, opening up the planet to the solar winds, and consequently, it must have been an extremely hard time. On the former point, the actual flip is not chronicled, and most have argued that a flip at around 10,000 B.T.E. would be impossible, since the human race probably would have been wiped out due to overt radiation. Nonetheless, I will profess my skepticism for both sides and continue to use the opinions of written scholars.
The one thouand years saw the beginnings of civilization, if you may want to call it that, on the island, with eleven known settlements. The scant evidence that remains on the locations do not reveal mass populations, and instead have the fossil remains of few habitants, and seem to indicate that all the settlements were rather small, perhaps cavelike. So, it would be quite possible that there were actually thousands of these dotting the landscape. The tear of over twelve thousand years has obviously made its mark, but luckily enough survives for us to piece the history together. There is obvious sign of fire, and several different tools have been uncovered, signifying that the species of human who habitated the area at that time were at least Homo Habilis, although bone structure seems to indicate that they were at the very least Homo Sapien Sapien. Skull structure from Site C, a small "village" erected at what best estimates claim as 9,849 B.T.E., seem to confirm this, although there are many who believe that the very first humans were Home Erectus. Regardless, no evidence supports the latter, and there's much that supports the former.
[Palette A: Skull of Homo Sapien Sapien Found at Site C]
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/06/images/HsapiensAdultFE_med.jpg
The size of the skull, and the consequent size of the brain, has been noted down as 1500 cc according to the most conservative claims, and the tools used, which in other areas were not forged until the advent of the Bronze Age (circa. 5,000 B.T.E.). This is a considerably size, concerning the early age of man, somewhere near twelve thousand to fourteen thousand years ago. For example, on Theohuanacu an obsidian arrow head was found and dated. It came out to around four thousand B.T.E. On the other hand, a similar arrow head was discovered in Site A and dated back to ten thousand B.T.E. What's more spectacular is that if Site A was one of the first settlements, and if we find out that it's true that these may have been a camp for the first landing parties, then it's very possible that the arrowheads were transported from abroad, which means that the arrowheads could have been invented years before. It's impossible to tell with current information, as the world is too large to escavate. Archeological socities are attempting to persuade nations to open their borders for heavy escavations, but nothing has progressed thus far.
[Palette B: An Obsidian Arrowhead]
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/06/images/HsapiensAdultFE_med.jpg
Other than technology the early settlers of the island also showed quite a bit of an artistic side, including several cave paintings and such. Most of the cave paintings represent animals and hunting, which indicates that they most likely were painted behind ceremonial, or sacrificial, reasons.
[Palette C: Cave Paintings at Arras]
http://colophon.com/gallery/minsky/jpegs/cavetaur.jpg
However, the most fantastic find so far has been the evidence of war. In settlement C, perhaps the most well escavated site so far, stockpiles of obsidian, stone, and wood weapons have been uncovered by savvy archeologist. So far three "warehouses" have been found, each dug at least twenty meters into the ground, protected merely by the packed dirt, although it's very possible that most of the layers of dirt had been added and packed throughout the years. In total there are three hundred remaining spears, the shafts almost withered away, kept intact only by the isolation of the "warehouses", topped by stone and obsidian spear tips. Moreover, there are remnants of bows, although rather rudimentary. In short, the early equipping of the people for war must have meant that there some sort of strife on the island, including perhaps war between the new migrants and earlier populations, which may have been the Homo Erectus specified by other archeologist, although again, no evidence survives to set it in stone, although neither does evidence exists to refute the idea out of hand.
One cave painting, some four kilometers outside Arras, provides us with the only hardline evidence of prehistoric battles before the year 9,000 B.T.E. It depicts two armies, none larger than thirty men, armed with spears which resemble those of Site C, fighting, animals lining themselves along the sidelines. An accurate interpretation doesn't exist, but, one could stipulate that the battle had much to do about terretorial and hunting rights, and it wouldn't be too farfetched. Indeed, battle may have been the only way to survive in a world which was quickly heating up, and the old, massive, mammoths of the ice age were gradually being replaced by the smaller mammals of the new age.
After the year 9,000 B.T.E. the local population seems to have skyrocketed, hitting an estimated twenty thousand by 8,000 B.T.E., throughout the island. This may have been because at around mid-millenium farming had taken root inside more sendentary settlements, which had gone from centers of only twenty, to fullfledge cities of over a thousand occupants. The earliest found city, dated to 8,628 B.T.E., and dubbed Mons Granicus, was excavated and measured at a thid of a kilometer wide, and just a bit more long. Mons Granicus is estimated to have housed at least two thousand souls, including farmers from outlying villages who must have come back to the city during times not occupied by harvest.
There is evidence of greater standardization of occupations, including set trades. A major trade, as in most other locations, appears to be pottery, and the prehistoric population of the area seemed to have loved pottery. Population centers in the north of the island have produced more advanced works than those south, although those to the south have been dated to thousands of years after, and thus we are aware of a 'shift' in cultures at around 5,000 B.T.E., although this will be discussed in the next chapter.
[Palette D: Pottery]
http://oha.ci.alexandria.va.us/archaeology/images/ar-pots2.jpg
With the creation of trade and compartmentilization of jobs the local populations seem to have had more free time, and thus, the population surged. The fact that it had gone from two thousand to twenty thousand is magnificent, and shows extreme improvement over the years. This was most likely due to population growth rates, although death at birth rates remained almost constant throughout prehistory, and the growing food stockpiles, and growing rate of harvest yields as agricultural technology progressed.
At the turn of the millenium, at around 7,900 B.T.E., evidence appears of huge trade routes, including merchant ships three times the size of the boat found at Site A. Although shipping technology was still rudimentary, and most of the ships found were fabricated out of special types of wood, it's the first evidence of trans-Archipelago exchange. Old pottery from Arras has been found as far as the island now occupied by Sirens of Titan. At nearby Guffingford it's also the first time obsidian tipped weapons were found, meaning the trade had a considerable impact on regional technology.
From 10,000 to 7,000 B.T.E. the population to the north slowly moved down the island, and by 7,000 B.T.E. the entire island had a population of around three hundred thousand souls, much larger than neighboring islands, which is a testament to the technological advancements made over the three thousand years of human life on Macabea. There's also much evidence concerning the growth of cities, and the growth of agriculture. Prior to 7,000 most of the island was covered by forest, by 7,000 a quarter of the island had been cleared, and most of that was either urbanized or plotted into fields for agriculture. The consequences on population were obvious, and the island's figures skyrocketed.
The increase in population also marked the increase in warfare. 7,000 B.T.E. was also the time of the island's own Bronze Age, and the tools, once stone, were seen to dissapear as bronze tipped tools and weapons replaced them. The first chronicled war, found in the Saga of Tierster written in the year 4,234 B.T.E., was fought in an obscure year, was fought in 7,146, or so most historians believe. In either case, the history behind it shady at best, but it serves our purposes.
The King of a land called Manaleth, named Razarth Forukath, conjured an army of six hundred warriors, armed in swords of bronze, and marched east towards the armies of an unnamed king. His trek took but eleven nights and on the morning of the twelfth day they were locked in a long battle, where Razarth Forukath emerged victorious, slaughtering his opponent and taking the field. There, the suprising history ends, as the fragments to the latter part of the Saga of Tierster remain lost. However, it is a foreshadowing of the great wars to come, which would ravage the island to the present day.
The Bronze Age of 7,000 B.T.E. was a turning point in the pre-history of the island, and bronze weaponry soon found themselves elsewhere in the region, and then abroad. So, it is safe to say that the island and its inhabitants were the technologically superior of the time, regardless if the same doesn't stay true today. It also caused another surge in population which would show itself in 6,000 B.T.E. with an estimated figure of over one million people, a great feat for that time.
[Pallete E: A Bronze Age Statue]
http://www.greeka.com/greece-stone-bronze-age/greece-stone-bronze-age4.jpg
Little of extreme importance happened thereafter until just after 5,000 B.T.E., when it seems that prehistory turned into history. However, from 6,000 B.T.E. to 5,000 B.T.E. the population rised from around one million to over three million, and this would fuel the massacres which would pocket the history of the island for the next seven thousand or so years.
In the next decades I hope that our archeologist will make use of newer technology, and that we will uncover more of our prehistory. However, with the evidence at hand this is the best history that can be compiled, and I must express, that it is the best prehistory yet compiled. In later editions I hope that I can expand from this core. But, history takes us to more turbulent times.
http://www.cpat.org.uk/educate/leaflets/celts/torc.gif
According to legend, inspired by the first known writer of the Macabee history, a barbarian people, called the Naram-Sin, invaded the island of Macabea around the year 4967 B.C.E. Their traces are unknown, and there is no proper evidence to prove where they came from prior to their landing on the island, however, the wars which they would incite in the area would shape the history of the Empire which would emerge millenia later.
At first their landings were merely raids, razing small villages, murdering women and children. However, by 4974 their raids escalated into a full fledge invasion of the little known Kingdom of Erena, one of the most prosperous coastal kingdoms which inhabited the island. From 4974 to 4938 the Aram Sin continously raided and invaded the Kingdom, killing an estimated two thousand people, a huge number considering that two thousand years before the population of the island amounted to no more than twenty thousand occupants. It is true, however, that the population had rose to over three million people within those two thousand years. Nevertheless, the toll was huge, and the violence incited could not have simply been ignored by Erena.
Therefore, it is perplexing why during the thirity-six years of invasion and raid the kingdom and her army of over ten thousand souls grew silent. There are signs of sporadic melee engagements between the two sides, however, until 4937 there is no clear indication of a decisive confrontation.
It is possible that the raids and invasions were just too fast for the lathargic Erenese army, and that before any battle could unfold the Aram Sin were gone. This seems like the most likely explenation, and it is the only explenation alluded to by any scripture. The scripture referred to was the history of the early Aram Sin, provided by an author of said nation named Artuk Leflorum, who also provided an early history of the island, although this does not exist today. He might of also had a history of where the Aram Sin originated from, but likewise, it has not been found, and can be assumed lost to the sands of time. Nonetheless, the histories he left behind have become vital for the compilation of Macabee history.