NationStates Jolt Archive

Inspired by this thread: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=460636, what was life like in the past? Of any era, from the pre-gun powder days to the Radical 70's, and Disco 80' (Just as a few examples) A day in the life of the person in that era.

(SAMPLE)

1806

The fishing boats shipped off for a days work. This and this and this happense to X person(s)

I'll post something a tad latter

still trying to think. But as for the rest of you, quit looking at it and post.

*My nation is PMT, so this is going on roughly 2005*

Marcus dressed quickly, glancing fearfully at the clock everyone in awhile. 0845, if he wasn't to the mine by nine, he shuddered at the thought of what would happen. Pulling on his shoes he raced out the door, glancing once at the rather imposing citadel that dominated Mt. Orpheus.

The dictator's honor guard were out doing maneuvers again, it seemed that the increasing resentment of the population had "His holiness" worried. Marcus shook off the thought as he entered the lush temperate forest. The deadly Iratus bugs dwelled here, frankly that was the only reason the forest hadn't been chopped down. Most days they were content with deer and pigs, but they wouldn't hesitate to take down a human. As long as you kept your wits about you, you were usually fine.

After an intense mile-long run he arrived at the mine somewhat winded. He glanced at his watch and realized he had about a minute to get his breathing back to normal. The last thing he needed was to get black lung from the coal dust. He noticed a rather good looking blonde woman handing something off to a guard, but didn't think much of it. He took a final glance at the sky before heading into the depths, this would be the last time he saw it before nightfall.

((OOC: How was that?))

1666:

This year was the rule of King Demetrios XI, during the year people thought could be the End Times (due to 666 in 1666). Demetrios awoke from his sleep in his chambers, a maid came to him and gave him his robes. Demetrios dressed and looked as his Queen still slept.

Demetrios went into his dining room and read some reports. ''The Kingdom is going fine.'' he thought to himself. Then, he noticed his wife come down and she sat at her own chair. They greeted each other and they talked, before their kids came down.

Cardinal Angelos made an appearance. As Royal Cardinal of the Catholic King (Some Kings were either Orthodox, Catholic Roman or Catholic Byzantine), he was the spiritual advisor to the King, Queen, Princes and Princesses. The Cardinal led in Grace and then talked to the King.

After breakfast, everyone went to do their own thing. One of Demetrios' daughters, Sophia took an interest in reading classics like Homer's The Illiad or Odyssey. Demetrios walked with the Cardinal, discussing the state of the Kingdom.

For now, the Kingdom went good.....

How is this for historic life in my nation?

Wait, they are supposed to be life of your citizens, this is based on the other thread LIFE IN YOUR NATION. It has the same pricipals.

Place: Jealius, Reloria (large village on the future site of Jealia metropolis)
Date: 125 A.D.

The brilliant yellow sun rose above the distant trees, pouring light across the lands and washing away the darkness like it was mud. The dew that lay on the grass was caught in the light, and illuminated like millions upon millions of grounded stars. Birds began to wake, suddenly coming out of hiding and breaking the morning silence with their loud, tuneful songs. As though it had been waiting for sunlight, a cool breeze began to flow through the air, carrying with it the familiar scent of ozone, as a reminder of the rain that had fallen the night before. Morning was here.

Illysa Rocca was stirred from her slumber as the sunlight pierced her bedroom window and blanketed her face. She rubbed her eyes and squinted in the bright light, sitting up to escape the harsh stare of the sun. Her bed was made from straw, covered with a coarse linen sheet hand-weaved for her by her grandmother, shortly before her death several years ago. The whole contraption was held together by a wooden box, which matched the dark wood the room itself was built from. It looked to be splintered and rough, but it had been smoothed down quite sufficiently.

Illysa stretched her arms and stepped down onto a woolly rug that covered much of the floor, getting to her feet. Noticing that it was still quite cold, she reached over to a large shelf and removed a dress, casually slipping into it. The dress was made from dyed blue silk, and had quite elegant yellow patterns around the bottom as well as some careful threading around the cuffs and the neck. As a fairly wealthy landowner, Illysa could afford some luxuries in life, and dresses such as this were quite rare. Only one place in Reloria made them, in a town near what would one day become Mukasus City. She also slipped on some fairly simple reed sandals.

She pushed through some linen curtains which covered the doorway to her room, and made her way down the rickety staircase, to the main community room of the house. The ground in here was merely covered with dry hay, and an assortment of wooden chairs and tables littered the far-right side of the room. This house had clearly been built to house many more people, three generations to be exact. Since the premature death of her mother, Illysa became the family matriarch, and her sisters had since moved into properties of their own. The house felt somewhat empty as a result, but Illysa intended to start a proper family here some day.

She headed towards the left, where a large bucket of water had been recently filled. Clearly her husbands had already awoken and fetched water from the nearby river, as it was still cool when she dipped her hands into it and washed her hands and face. She then wandered over to the table, where she found her breakfast of bread and cheese freshly prepared, sitting on a weaved reed mat. Today was the Harvest Festival, where they would gather in the village to give thanks to the Goddess for what was, this year anyway, a very successful harvest. She would have to leave for the Shrine fairly soon.

After finishing her short meal, she stepped out into the sunlight, spotting both of her husbands working in the large field near their house. She took a short walk from the house into the field, giving each of her husbands a short morning blessing and a kiss on the forehead. After checking to make sure they were alright and had slept well, she informed them that she was going out for a while, and left them for the Shrine.

After a short walk down a wide dirt road, she arrived at the local Shrine to the Goddess, which resided on the outskirts of Jealius village. It was a fairly large shrine, for a fairly large village, and was well-built from irregular-shaped limestone blocks and elegant, Romanesque pillars. The shrine was quite busy this morning. There was a daily service here which most women in the village attended, but today a special harvest mass was being held here, as was customary for this time of year. As she approached the holy building, the shrine Priestess, who stood outside the main doorway in ceremonial violet robes, greeted her and blessed her. They had a short conversation, before Illysa entered the building.

The lobby was quite tall and narrow, and two large windows on either side provided extensive illumination. She promptly removed her clothing and sandals, depositing them on the provided shelves, and pushed open the door to the main prayer room. The prayer room was a very large, round room, with a hay-covered dirt floor and a wooden altar in the centre. The bright limestone walls had large windows all around the room, providing a glimpse of the Goddess' creations and providing plenty of natural light. The roof of the room was a large dome, painted violet and held firm with numerous wooden support struts.

Numerous women sat in a circle around the altar, their legs crossed and their hands on the floor, and their eyes closed as they prayed. Illysa found a spot to sit down in and joined them. It wasn't long before the Priestess entered the prayer room, quietly shutting the large wooden door and taking a seat on the altar. She opened a thick book, and began to sing prayers from it in Ancient Relorian.

The mass lasted for almost two hours, with a few breaks after each major prayer series. Upon leaving the Shrine and putting her clothes on, Illysa met up with a few matriarchs from other families outside, and stayed with them for nearly an hour as they discussed the coming events of the day. Most seemed to be taking their families to the village in the evening, but a few had planned more private events at home. Either way, everybody had plans of course. Illysa said her goodbyes, and began the trek home.

She arrived back home at midday, with the sunlight now beating down at high temperatures. Relieved to get some shade in the house, she joined her husbands for a midday meal. They had already prepared a large salad, served in primitive clay bowls, along with an assortment of fruits afterwards. Wine was of course on the menu, served in quaint copper goblets.

After having their fill, they all proceeded back outside into the sunlight. Illysa oversaw the loading of their harvested goods onto three wooden carts. It took them most of the afternoon to load the various crates and barrels onto the carts, though one did dare not complain about having too much. Illysa helped out here and there, but spent most of the time preparing their three horses, grooming them and fitting various harnesses.

When the bulk of their harvest was loaded up onto the carts, she led out the horses and hooked each one up to a cart. She and her husbands took control of a cart each, and slowly directed the horses to lug their heavy cargo out of the gates and down the road. The journey to the village took quite a while, as they wanted to avoid their cargo from spilling, which was a very real possibility if one travelled too fast on these bumpy dirt roads.

They arrived in the village just in time. The village was a quaint old place, with most buildings constructed from irregular stones and then coated with a brilliant layer of whitewash, to try and keep the buildings cool in the hot summers. Thatched straw roofs created an unusual contrast to the bright walls. The blacksmith's building was a prominent one near the central square, with an open-air 'shop' so all could see her at work. The main government building was a storey or two higher than most, and featured more elegant design in the form of Romanesque pillars and larger, arched windows.

Illysa and her husbands led the carts through the large village square, past the government building, to the main village granary, where they finally stopped the carts and got down to the cobble stoned ground. One of the granary workers came out to supervise and take inventory in a thick parchment book, as they began moving their cargo from the carts and into the granary to be stored in preparation for winter. Rather than flog their wares on a marketplace, farms combined their harvests and received payments dependent upon the size of their contributions, a system which worked well and allowed even the poorest to eat.

Once they were finished, they left the horses and carts tied up at the primary village stable, and walked down the street back into the village square. By now the harvest festival was in full swing, with a large bonfire in the centre of the square providing warmth and illumination as the evening drew near. Minstrels played music on their simple string and percussion instruments just outside the government building, reciting tales and myths from around Reloria in song form. A series of tables had been set up at the other side of the square, laden with fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy products, breads and pastries, which people were free to help themselves to.

Already a great crowd of people had been drawn, sipping wine from goblets and talking amongst themselves. Illysa and her husbands dipped into the fray, and she met up with a few of her friends. The night was full of dancing, singing and chatting. Towards the end of the gathering, the village mayor made a speech to the crowd, and the Priestess from the Shrine gave her annual series of congratulatory speeches and harvest prayers. Long after it had gone dark, the event finally came to an end, and people went their various ways.

Illysa and her husbands returned home on their horse and carts, and put them all away. After a short prayer to the Goddess, they retired to bed, not looking forward to the after-effects of so much wine consumption.


((Not happy with it, but it'll have to do I'm afraid.))

1938:

Paul Green was walking by himself out in his father's field... He realized he'd wandered quite a way from his home, and quitely muttered to himself. There was little to do today, and he had the day to himself. Sadly though, he was an only child. For whatever reason, after him, his parents couldn't have anymore children. Even worse for Paul, he didn't have much in the way of muscles, nor was he very strong... And by 18, it looked liek this would a be lifelong traits for him.

"I'll never be the man dad wants out of me. I can't take this farm by myself... I don't have the build or the stamina for it." He muttered to himself. Paul realized he'd wandered down to a river, where he saw some guys his age casually flirting with some cute girls of note in his hometown. "I'll never even get married with my physique. Too weakly and frail." Paul felt a deep burning rage, the true rage of a helpless adolecent. "DAmnit! There is one thing I can do."

Paul returned home, went into his room and composed a note for his parents. The note was put on the living room table. He slipped out of the house with his personal life savings of $56.47 and walked towards the train station... "I'll be on the train to the capital before they read that dang letter."

1 Week Later:

Paul stood before the nerdy looking female professor. She had an expression that was mixed between obvious disdain for working class men, and total astonishment. "Young... Man.." She faltered, pausing to think of something to say. "Your.. aptitude tests are simply out of this world. If you can keep your marks up-" (Paul chuckled. He'd manage, he thought to himself.) "You will have an all expenses undergraduate education paid for in any field. Also, if you manage to produce a couple papers in your undergraduate degree...You will be accepted straight into a PhD program with a supervising prof of your choice. Will this do?"

The young man quietly nodded.

March 1952, Men's Open Heavyweight Mr. Olympia Title:

<The camera is on two beefy looking young men in nice suits and a hair job sitting at a desk. The color is black and white.>

Commentator1 (Bob): "Hello to all the folks here in the Republic of Iron! Today we'll be looking at men all across the country who've come to compete in their very first bodybuilding event. Folks, this is *the* event for any upstarts who for whatever reason don't want to pay their dues in the regular competition system. This is the National Broadcasting Network's third National LIVE coverage of this particular competition. Here's to you Jim."

Commentator2 (Jim): "Well Bob... I'm prepared to be surprised. Lets have a look at the line up this year. They're walking through the door right now."

<Pause, and there's a momentary blank, and then the camera the bodybuilders enter and walk across the stage for the initial size up. Among 20 incredibly men, one in particular is so massive that the other men look afriad of him.>

Bob: "Goddamn!!"

Jim: "Holy shit!"

Bob: "Omigod."

Jim: "I know."

Bob: "I think we both just lost our jobs."

<Jim stands up and points towards the man of interest>

Jim: "JESUS H CHRIST ON A CROSS, BOB, THE MAN IS HHHUUU--"

<The TV goes blank, and message saying "The NBN is experiancing technical difficulties right now. We are doing our best restore your television connection.">

1962:

Paul Green was sitting on chair with such exquisitely ornate carvings, and made out of such a rare wood, that thinking about the price tag nearly made his head spin. Across from him were four people, from right to left, the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, and the most decorated war hero in the Nation, who also happened to be the Grand Field Marshal of the entire Republican Military.

Paul was swetting pretty badly. What do they want from me? He thought to himself.

Finally, President, Katherine Millar, spoke to him. "Paul Green, on behalf of the government, and frankly, the entire people of this nation, I am thanking you for your brilliant discovery of steroids." Paul went to speak, and was cut off by Grand Field Marshal Karl Kilcullen.

"Son. Your discovery 16 years ago has revolutioned our training procedures for the entire military... Not to mention all of the innovation in our bodybuilding and athletic communities. Simply put son, you can ask the four of us anything, and I mean anything! Proffessionaly, of course, from this nation and we will grant that request for you."

Paul Green turned an interesting shade of white, and fainted.

4 hours later, a much more calm Paul Green sat before the 4 most powerful people in the national government.

"My request is complicated, and I won't lie. But you have said I could ask anything, so I am." Paul stated, and the four visibly braced themselves for his request.

"I want you to create for me the title of Emperor. I wish very little temporal power, and a very modest government stipend for me and what will eventually be my large number of descendants. I want the name of Republic of Iron to be 'The Imperial Republic of Hardcore Iron.' I don't wish for any major alteration of the Constitution to grant me this power. I don't want to run the country. I want an Imperial Family that is dedicated to the betterment of all of the people of this nation. A family that is dedicated to science rather than politics and silly status conscious games. A family that meddles little with goverment affairs. Can you do this for me?"

All four looked visibly shaken and somewhat pale, and gave either verbal or physical signs of consent.

OOC: I hope people liked this. Please PM me any constructive commentary.

((Nice post Hardcore, and welcome to NS!))

1815

Kyoko woke up early and tended the animals. Her husband had to travel to Carmina Gadlalica to settle a tax dispute. She was fearful they would lose the farm. Her family came to Kanami to farm, and she loved it. Her parents had the freedom to do things they could never do before. A little girl came to Kyoko, it was her daughter Yuki.

"Mama, someone is here for you."

"Oh dear." She was fearing a Government Agent. But it wasn't. It was her neighbor.

"Oh Prime Minister Himura."

It was Yasashii Himura, the founder of the country, and former Prime Minister.

"I told you, I'm not the Prime Minister anymore. I'm just Yasashii Ms. Kyoko. Yasashii Himura."

"Sorry Prime Minister."

"Anyaway I was wondering if I could borrow a bag of feed. My silly husband forgot to put in the barn and it got wet in the rain."

"Mrs. Himura, if anything I would love to give you a bag of feed. The only problem is money is a little tight. There is a bit of a tax dispute on our land."

"Really? Do you have your tax documents?"

"Well my Husband has the orginals, he's gone to negotiate with the Government. I have coppies."

"Let me see them. I bet I can help you out."

She and Kyoko poured over the documents and the letters.

"Well here is your trouble, you have an unfiled claim here, for this portion."

"We don't own that portion, we sold it. Mr. Duvall has it now."

"Well Mr. Duvall should have filed his sell claim. As well as you. That is why you have this tax dispute."

"Oh my. Mrs. Himura, I-I don't know how to thank you. I'm so ignorate about this stuff."

"Well no one said tax law was easy. Tell you what, I'll pay for a bag. How much 6 Kanamians, 12, name the price."

"No no no. I can't take your money. Not after you gave us this society."

"Tell you what, I'll write a letter of appeal, and along with me helping you out today, we'll call it good."

"That works for me Mrs. Himura."

"I think we should become freindly neighbors. So you can call me Yasashii."

"Yasashii, I'm Kyoko. Or did you know that?"

"Well not really. Well I'd better go, the animals get cranky if they arent fed."

"Thank you. Thanks again."

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