NationStates Jolt Archive

I've decided to start afresh on the modern-tech stage, (this does not pertain to my FT self), and, as such, will be roleplaying my history from ancient times, because, well, it seems like a fun idea.

The semi-open pertains to the fact that I as yet have no real plan for this modern-tech nation, and, if you wish to jump in as a faction or a character at any point during this thread, just ask me, either by posting or TGing, and I'll probably let you.

Since I'm not really active in MT in any case, my lack of presence should pose no problem to anyone, apart from perhaps Yallak. Though, admittedly, I haven't seen him round in awhile.

So, yeah. If you want to jump in, so long as you ask first, that's fine. If you just read, that's cool also. Hell, even if no-one reads or joins, I'll still have a damn fine frame of reference for my nation in the future.

That's the important thing, I suppose.

OOC: Once you begin setting the scene, I may jump in as a character. Great setup, btw. :)

Ancient History of Escallia:

http://i19.tinypic.com/85fa9hj.png
A map of Escallia

All nations, it is said, have begun with the acquisition of water. For farming begets civilization, which, in turn, begins technological advancement. On the continent we now call Escallia, the first stone tablet with writing upon it has been back-dated to 2957 BC. The "Origins Tablet", as it is named, has been the lifetime study of many scholars, and still mystifies many. As the language it was written in no longer existence, we can only speculate as to what those people wrote. However, we know for a fact that they originated in the southern delta we now know as the Marna Basin, and that they were skilled in the useage of chariots. The find of a mostly-intact chariot alongside the Origins Tablet was as exciting as the Tablet itself, fifty-three years ago, and, after it had been checked a thousand times, and validated as real, we now know much about the civilization of the Marna Basin.

They were farmers, the first in the region, and, in each year's annual flood, they would plant crops in the rich silt-filled soil, feeding their city, which may have been as large as fifty thousand people. Now termed "The Marni", we do not know as much as we would like about them, but there is no doubting that the Marni began civilization on Escallia. The archaelogical dig at the "Golden City", (as the city of the Marni was originally discovered in 1412, by explorers looking for wealth), revealed much about them, and that they probably endured until almost 2500 BC, upon which their city was destroyed by warfare.

This, however, we know much more about. As the Marna basin is rich in stone, it is curious that there are fewer records left of the Marni. Though they were certainly one of the primary powers within the region for the time of their existence, the Marni Tablet (which, to the consensus of the majority of archaeologists, appears to be a list of some sort), is the only wholly intact writing left by the Marni.

The Duntooe, on the other hand, have over fifty thousand intact stone records that remain in the Grand Museum today, most of which have been translated, and even now are on the internet, accessible by all. The Duntooe were the earliest empire-builders we know of.

In the north of the Marna basin, the Duntooe were almost entirely a nomadic raider people, who sailed down the Ioeke River from the north, and occasionally raided the Marni. They had but one city, which was not so much of a city as it was a gathering-place. In the rolling hills of the north, a grand horse-corral and a few hundred meeting-houses sat, atop a plateau, which was, in turn, had a few Duntooe settlements lying at the base of it.

A fiercely religious people, the Duntooe held themselves to believe in no gods, but rather "spirits", and believed such spirits caused storms, floods, fires, and wars. Their view, however, was that spirits had no names, but rather lived only once, with their storm, or flood, or fire, and therefore must be placated. A way of placating the spirit was recording its mark into history, which would then let it know people remembered it, and thus it would be able to die in peace.

Thus, almost thirty-four thousand of the fifty thousand Duntooe records are spirit-calmers, exact records of storms, floods, disasters and wars, each one meticulously recorded in order to placate the spirit that needed to be placated. This has given us a view of history like no other - for the close-on thousand years of Duntooe hegemony, the majority of their paper records have been lost, their papyrus destroyed, and their rather reprehensible practice, later-on, of using human skin as paper for the most important records (this, however, is a mark of respect to the skin's owner - it meant that people would learn from you even after your death, and the Duntooe prized learning), meant that most records faded within a few generations.

It was around 2510 BC that the First Battle of Iote occured. About a thousand ragged Duntooe raiders came screaming out of the hills, looting and pillaging as they came. The first area marked on the map was a Marni settlement of some ten thousand people, a prosperous and wealthy area. The Duntooe, at this stage, had not built an empire, and were rather a barbarous people who preferred the two-step process of killing and looting.

The First Battle of Iote does not mark any particular rise in Duntooe power (for they collapsed into in-fighting among the tribes once more as soon as they defeated the Marni), but it marks the end of the hegemony of the Marni over this area.

This piece of writing describes the First Battle of Iote (the city of Iote was re-founded after its first destruction, which explains why the second battle is much further down the river), in which two thousand Duntooe fought almost five thousand Marni militiamen, as well as a thousand Marni soldiers, and slaughtered them all, losing scarcely two hundred of their own.

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A map of the battles at the time

(My next post will be an RP one, describing the beginning of the First Battle of Iote. If anyone wants to jump in as a character, or perhaps to play the Duntooe, they're most welcome. Just wait 'till I make that post, kay?)

The First Battle of Iote


Falum stood upon the crest of the hill, looking at the dawn sun. It was in his eyes. Yet in the eyes of the barbarians would be the bronze shields of a thousand Marni warriors, their spears and swords at the ready. Though they did not use the longbow of the Duntooe, nor did they have as many horses, fifty chariots, including his own, were prepared for battle on the vast plain in front of him.

Man stood beside man, each warrior wielding a spear, each holding a wooden shield, fronted with bronze. Two lines of men, all at the ready, every one of them prepared to drive off pathetic raiders who did not know their place. Two years ago, he had lead a raid into the north, and burnt a small settlement, at the base of a massive plateau. Almost a thousand horse of the Duntooe had opposed them then, and he had only a thousand of his own. He had driven them off fairly easily, arrows and spears sending them back, galloping up into the walls of their plateau, where they huddled, waiting for him to deliver the final blow.

He had gone there, and, forcing his way in, had burnt the longhouses there to the ground, destroying everything he had found. Fifty years of Duntooe raids had been taking their tolls, and so the Marni had ordered an expedition, to ensure that their raiding ceased.

For a year, it seemed as if no more raids would come.

Until this. A raving, angry messenger of the Duntooe had appeared at the gates of Marn itself, demanding that the Marni surrender themselves to the judgement of something he called the "Spirit Council", or face war. The Duntooe, however, had always been seen as warring with the Marni. The king had sent back words of insult, and threatened to raze this "Council's" plateau-city again, unless they kept away from Marni lands.

He laughed. He had not thought the Duntooe could muster two thousand men, let alone lead them down to the city of Iote.

No matter. He would lead the charge of his men himself, and they would butcher these pitiful creatures, and show them the cost of attacking the glorious Marni.

(So, yeah. It's open if anyone wants to play the Duntooe or a character. If not, I'll write that myself in a bit)

The Duntooe were not warriors as the Marni knew them. They were not well-disciplined, well-armed soldiers of an army that acted under a commander, without regard to their own well-being, as parts of a whole.

No, the Duntooe were best known as howling baresarks, men who rode horses to death in a mad frenzy to get to their enemies, men who would gibber and rave all their way into battle, and, once they arrived, throw themselves into the line with abandon, caring not whether they lived or not.

Of course, this was the average Duntooe warrior. These two thousand were particularly enraged by the desecration of their sacred site by the Marni, and were intent on the destruction of their entire race.

Despite this, the Marni were not particularly afraid. They outnumbered their foe three-to-one, and had never lost a battle against the Duntooe in which they were not grossly outnumbered in. Discipline, and terrain would win the day. That, of course, would've been true, had it not been for a young Duntooe chieftain, named Aralsk...

OOC: I don't wanna make an IC post tonight... erm, this morning I guess. To tired to make any good one. So I'll post tomorrow as a chacter.

There was no doubting that the armament, training, and overall tactical prowess of the Marni was superior. What was lacking, however, was will. The will to win.

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The First Battle of Iote - Deployment

Key: Red is Marni, blue is Duntooe. The shade of a unit indicates the veteran status of that unit. In these ancient times, the amount of fighting a group of man had done was paramount to winning, as opposed to modern warfare, where equipment has more bearing on victory. Furthermore, cavalry units are displayed as circles, whilst infantry units are blue.

Arrayed across the foothills north of Iote, the Marni position seemed invincible. The Duntooe had a third their numbers, and only eight hundred of those were cavalry. Although the foothills were not impassable by cavalry, charging up the foothills into a wall of spears was impossible, if the Duntooe hoped to win. To the west, the Mountain Keep sat, protecting Iote from any incursion over the western hills. To the east was the River Keep, overseeing the thin pass between the river and the mountains. Although each were only manned by a hundred men, the keeps were powerfully built out of stone, and most of the men in them were archers. Attacking either of the keeps with the forces the Duntooe had would've been sheer suicide.

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The First Battle of Iote - Redeployment by Duntooe

Therefore, they were faced with an impassable barrier, one that could not be easily circumvented. It was then that the leader of one of the cavalry groups, named Aralsk, brought the other two chieftains in the army together, and talked to them. A plan was decided upon. They would attempt to draw the enemy out of their position by menacing the River Keep. Attacking the Mountain Keep would mean they would have to move strategically to gain tactically, and, logically, the Marni could simply redeploy to guard the Mountain Keep. However, if they could take the River Keep (an unlikely prospect, at best), they would be able to move through the pass, and thus attack the Marni from both behind and in front. Outflanked, they would be trapped in the hills, unable to retreat without being savaged from behind, unable to advance with the threat of losing their city behind them.

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The First Battle of Iote - Troop Movements, Phase 1

Obviously, the cavalry were not to be used. The twelve hundred infantrymen, mostly armed with spears and bows, were sent towards the River Keep, in order to carry out this plan.

At this point in time, realizing the Duntooe plan, Falum, the commander of the Marni, decided to move his forces. Although he knew the strength of the Marni lay in being properly deployed with their spears readied, he felt that his numbers alone could chase off the barbarians.

As the Duntooe infantry advanced towards the River Keep, his own men moved outwards, with the exception of the two elite infantry guardgroups, which were left in order to safeguard the rear. Their job was to remain on the flanks, and ensure that the Duntooe did not strike through to the city.


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The First Battle of Iote - The Battle Commences

(1) Aralsk's cavalry crash through the western flank of the Marni infantry, who were marching, and thus not deployed. With minimal loss, his heavily-armed cavalry smash through the Marni, as they are only two lines thick. This annihilates their centre, killing almost a hundred and fifty of them.

(2) Falum moves his troops after the second cavalry group, hoping to outflank them, and destroy them. However, his heavily-armoured men are unable to keep up a good pace, and cannot catch the second group before they organize themselves and move away.

(3) The second Duntooe cavalry group rides away from Falum's men, preparing to outflank the second Marni militia group.

(4) The Marni militia prepare to engage the Duntooe infantry, seemingly in disarray.

(5) Seeing the Marni come towards them, the lightly-armed Duntooe form up, and present a united front against the Marni.


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The First Battle of Iote - Final Phase

(1) The first Marni militia group, broken, leaves, in full retreat.

(2) The two professional flank units, realising their need to guard the city, perform a tactical retreat, hoping to get back to the safety of the palisade in Iote before the Duntooe destroy them.

(3) The second Duntooe cavalry group rips through the back of the second militia group, annihilating the centre, again. Their infantry, although losing to the Marni at first, descend upon their enemy as the line collapses.

(4) Aralsk leads his cavalry towards the city, but is too late to beat the Marni there. Despite being faster, he cannot break the palisade before the Marni troops can enter the city.

(5) Falum orders a retreat back to his original position, in order to hold the hills.



At this point, the battle finishes, as Falum is promptly surrounded by cavalry on both sides, and the entire Duntooe infantry force slowly surrounds him, forcing him to surrender or die. A proud lord, Falum orders his men to fight, upon which they are slaughtered by the Duntooe, as they cannot possibly defend in all directions. With close to five thousand losses, and another six or seven hundred fleeing, the battle is an epic loss for the Marni, who had hitherto considered themselves invincible. Although two hundred elite troops remain within the city, most of the able-bodied male citizens had been drafted into the army to fight this battle. Most of the fit men are dead, leaving a few old men, women, and two hundred soldiers to continue the battle.

The situation has changed drastically, and Aralsk orders that Iote is taken. The city is immense - the wall has been expanded to hold almost two thousand five hundred homes, as well as a marketplace, shops, and even a large number of farms (owned by wealthier peasants) are within the walls. The palisade is designed to give early warning, not defense.

The Dantooe smash down the walls at every oppurtunity, and the Marni simply cannot defend. Two hundred of them are willing to fight, but the Dantooe do not meet them in the tight streets, knowing they will lose. Rather, they burn and kill, destroying everything they can, forcing the Marni to come to them.

Eventually, the Marni troops march out, and are, in true fashion, surrounded and annihilated. The city of Iote is burnt to the ground, and the inhabitants butchered to a man. Stocks of salt are taken from the city stores, and the farms are burnt, and then plowed with salt, using the peasant's own plows. Iote, once a rich, thriving trading city, is no more.

Although it was one of six cities, leaving five more Marni cities, all of them larger than Iote to fight, it strikes fear into the heart of the south. The Dantooe are roused to true anger now, and, if Iote, the city that fought constantly against them, could not win, how could they hope to win?

OOC: If you're looking for some perenial villians I am more than happy to supply 'the Djels'/ Dyellians at appropriate times in the Dyellian timeline.

Dyelli Beybi,It depends. Considering this continent is more-or-less insular from other nations at this point, if you wanted to have them either raiders of some sort, I wouldn't mind, but otherwise, you might have to come up with some justification for their presence there.



The Second Battle of Iote


Iote was refounded two years after the First Battle of Iote, further south. Here, it was in a less defensible position, but was much richer. The Duntooe had not gone further south, deciding, at first, that Iote's destruction (for Iote was a far greater city than most Duntooe had ever seen), was punishment enough.

However, after a second meeting of the Duntooe Spirit Council, it was decided that Aralsk's actions did not going nearly far enough. The Duntooe were mustered to war at the plateau-city, and almost fifteen thousand Duntooe, the sum of their able-bodied men, marched south, intent on the destruction of all the Marni.

Although the Marni could certainly gather more men, they were not inclined to do so, having believed that the Duntooe had gone home, and ended their war.

Thus, over a period of two years of peace, an army once constituted of thirty thousand men was stepped down to five thousand, and a small guard remained at New Iote. Iote had only five hundred trained soldiers, and about two thousand five hundred militiamen, all decently-trained, but most fearing the Duntooe.

Aralsk ordered the army to split into two halves, one of which was comprised mostly of infantry, the other with more cavalry. The first half was to strike at Iote, whilst the second had another, more deadly mission..

OOC: I was thinking raiders ala. Japanese relationship with China. I have a back story already existing on the Klatchian continent.

OOC: It's an interesting idea. Considering that Escallia's total land area might be twice China's, at most, (probably less), the potential for raiders from out-continent is certainly there. Especially if your people have a history as such. As I have no real set plan to develop Escallia (as I said in my first post, I'm going to play through a few thousand years of history and see what turns up), any influence is welcome, especially if it gives backhistory between nations.


- - - - -

The second battle of Iote was a failure for the Duntooe. Although little is known about the battle, it is believed to have been one of the greatest disasters that people ever experienced. With so many of their able-bodied men on campaign, the tribes at home were suffering, and, in the new city of Iote, the Duntooe realised why the Marni had flourished so well, and for so long.

Although they outnumbered the Marni three-to-one, this was not a cavalry force, for the cavalry had maneuvered, to be able to go further south. No, this was an infantry force, stereotypical howling barbarians. The Marni had been lured out once at old Iote, and did not intend to be lured so again.

The ruins there shows that almost a hundred bronze artifacts, mainly arms and armour, have been excavated, and have been dated to the Marni era. Considering the amount that must have been stolen over time, or taken away from the battle's end, it shows the preponderance of bronze amongst the Marni.

The battle began without the clever maneuver of Aralsk, a mere mindless charge, the type the Marni were well-used to facing. Although their lines were thin, their formation was strong, and, as the Duntooe charged towards them, they charged in a sort of loose square, not spreading out to meet the thin Marni lines. The Marni line simply closed in on around the Duntooe, marching slowly inwards to butcher them, spears thrusting against flint axes, the Duntooe unable to comprehend a defeat after their previous, crushing victory.

Although it took almost the space of a day, the Duntooe were decisively and soundly defeated. The Marni lost almost two-thirds of their force at the battle (for when infantry clashes with infantry, you cannot expect no losses. Though they had superior forces, the Duntooe were still hard fighters, and had the advantage of numbers), but the Duntooe had lost over nine-tenths.

Fleeing back to the hills, the Marni believed they had won an even greater victory than had been won by the Duntooe originally. For they had driven back the Duntooe, slaughtered them, and showed the barbarians precisely what their place was. This having been achieved, the Marni decided to move their army north, in order to conduct another punitive strike on the Duntooe tribes. This time, they would wipe out their enemies, and assure their own ascendancy.

In an age where few travelled, and there was no methods of seeing for hundreds of miles, the Marni had no way of knowing that another seven thousand Duntooe were en-route to their capital city - the Golden City, as we now know it.

Imagine, if you will, a city. Not one of titanic proportions - at least not by modern-day standards, as now billions live on the Escallian continent, but a city of moderate size. Some fifty thousands might live there, perhaps sixty, or even, if you go by the least conservative estimates, seventy.

A city that, despite the tiny size by today's standards, is the centre of light and civilization in the world. A city that preserves the rights of men, that, by all we know, promoted justice under the law, that refused slavery, and contained libraries great enough to dwarf any others known of for another two thousand years.

The Golden City. Some call this view of it a myth, yet many factors collaborate to bring about the name. Not least are the gold mines, the bronze of the people living there, their abilities in writing and reading, and, it may be said that they are the gold of the world in their time, and, from the Marni, civilization and peace spreads.

Some call this view rose-tinted, and no doubt it is. Yet the revenge of the Duntooe, and the subsequent collapse of what was the only functioning agricultural civilization at the time, sent Escallia into a dark age of sorts, that lasted almost a thousand years. It will not be until the rise of the Duntooe Empire that the continent once again knows civilization, and their Empire, in their records, seems to be a way of showing penitence for their destruction of the Marni.

The armies of the Marni were thinly-scattered, and the Golden City, safe, far south away from the Duntooe, had suffered no true raids previously. Now, under Aralsk, named "The Destroyer" in the records of the Duntooe, five thousand cavalrymen descended, tearing into the city before the Marni had a chance to defend themselves adequately.

Houses were razed, palaces, markets, and temples all fell under the blade of the Duntooe. Again, as in Iote, every man, woman, and child were put to the sword. The fields were salted, and the city looted of everything valuable. Aralsk, however, caught dysentery, and died on the journey home. Although a great military commander, he would forever be remembered as the direst and most vile of butchers, the first among many to destroy an entire people.

The other cities of the Marni no longer had a capital, and collapsed, most of them relying heavily on the Golden City for all their metals and forged goods, and were agricultural, or perhaps fishing towns. Though the population remained fairly high, the Marni were no longer a united people. Falling apart, their cities disintegrated, and they found themselves nomads once more, a few founding farming communities, the most warring across the steppes with the Duntooe.

Thus ends the first chapter of civilization on Escallia. The shortest, and second-last chapter, for, when the book is opened again, Escallia will always have one beacon of light in the darkness remaining, no matter the direness of the situation.

And so a Dark Age descended upon the world, brought on by the actions of the Duntooe. A thousand years of progress, banished into barbarism, and, for that sin, we felt guilt. The spirits had ever been vengeful when we had not appeased them, or when we had acted against them, and, for each of the city-dwellers we slew, a spirit arose, willing to bring about our doom for our crimes. So it was that, upon the eighteenth year of the great drought, the Spirit-Seers were brought together with all chieftains, and a solution was discussed..
- Translated from a stone tablet, circa 1180 BC

Escallia suffered from a lack of civilization, and, although other peoples settled on the continent, and many tribes spread across the continent (The island of Iakobos is unique in not having any human settlement for some time yet), it was in 1480 BC that nomadism was conquered, under the Duntooe. At this time, other settlements had been created, yet Escallia had not mastered the art of writing except in the two cases of the Duntooe and Marni. To claim that the entire continent was far behind the remainder of the world at this time would have been accurate.

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The Duntooe Assembly

The Assembly was brought together in 1480 BC, and deliberated the creation of a nation. The reason for this was unknown (although future Duntooe have speculated), but it was probable a great drought and particularly bad years precipitated this.

Over seven hundred tribes, some with a thousand people, others with a handful of fifty, in total numbering around two hundred thousand, united their leaders in the Plateau-City, now named Nhellia. Nhellia was to be the seat of government on Escallia for some time.

Each tribe agreed to submit a general vote in the Chieftain's Meeting, when it came to matters of war, but, in all other matters, the Seer Council had precedence. Only fifty seers existed at a time, but their word was practically law when speaking to other Duntooe, as only they could calm the dread spirits which ravaged the world.

Cities were founded along the Ioeke River, as well as on the Goethre River (which Nhellia was near), and the Duntooe began their existence as a people of empire.

Skip forward four hundred years. Kingdoms have emerged, powers on the continent. Where there were once nomads, Escallia emerged from her dark age, finding civilization again. Agriculture flourished, and, although the majority of this is taken from Duntooe records, the Empire was ready to begin. The old Assembly of Chieftains, and the Seer Council were institutions, at this time, that presided over defunct organizations. Though the Seers were still greatly respected, the Duntooe love of reason had begun to emerge.

The Seer Council was stripped of its powers, and the Assembly of Chieftains ruled over tribes that, in truth, no longer existed. The time was ripe for a new ruler to emerge.

And so one did. Phutari, the First Lady of the Empire. Formerly a Seer, she was denied the right to be a chieftain through the means of her sex. Therefore, she led a rebellion against the Assembly of Chieftains, destroying them entirely. A new government was set up, with each city and its polity having power within a region, and her own military governors overseeing them all. Phutali had six children at this time, however, she was unique among the feudal kingdoms of the time by not passing power to her children. No, Phutali, rather, offered the rulership to anyone who could, in fact, meet three criteria. These criteria were used to choose Duntooe rulers for almost two thousand years from here, and sustained their power.

Firstly, a ruler would have to be able to govern a city. Anyone who governed a city, and saw it prosperous and loyal, met the first concern. However, since all the level of a city's granaries were its wealth at this time, and most cities had the same wealth per citizen, Phutari ordered that the amount of grain per citizen over any five-year period would be measured. The greatest ten rulers in the Empire were then permitted to try for the Emperorship. However, if you bid to try to become Emperor, you were never again allowed to rule a city if you failed. In this way, governorship was measured, and only the greatest governors were given a chance to become Emperors.

Once the contest had begun, the ten men (for they were all men, as most rulers were within the Duntooe at this time. Phutari retained power only through incredible political savvy and military skill, and had to exercise the second quite often), were all given fifty servants. With only fifty men, they were sent out into the wilderness, and were told to construct, of all things, a catapult. Once they returned, the catapults were tested against each other. The last five to return were not permitted to test theirs, and were dropped from the contest.

The top five, however, were reduced to two upon the firing of the catapults. They were required to use the remainder of their fifty men (as they were sent without supplies or tools, so survival alone was quite difficult), to fire it, and that which fired the furthest, and most accurately (a location was marked by the teams beforehand to measure accuracy), were retained. The three that fired the least accurately were removed. Thus, the ability to measure leadership was measured.

Lastly was military skill, for the Theraka were a people much like the Marni, with a grasp on bronze, and fought the Duntooe often. So it was that the contesting lords needed to take a hundred men against each other, upon which they fought, for a strategical objective. They commanded their troops, and, although men fell (the families of those who fell received a handsome pension from the Empire), the goal was precisely that - a defined goal, perhaps a hill to take, perhaps to slay a single soldier out of the enemy one hundred. As they were given supplies, and sent far from one another before the battle began, logistical management was also at a premium.

One commander here fell, and the other survived. If a man failed, he was executed by the Empire. No civil wars could be permitted for power, rather, only the successor could return in triumph, only the winner could rule. The first five failures were reduced to peasants, the next three were exiled from the Empire. The last failure was slain. In this way, contenders for the throne were handily removed, and stability preserved.

With nations emerging across the face of Escallia, the Empire would need strong leadership..

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Escallia, Circa 800 BC

Escallia, 500 BC
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Escallia, 500 AD. Greatest extent of Duntooe Empire
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Escallia, 1500 AD. Formation of present-day states

Escallia, Present-Day
-Escallia formed into a single Unitary League, which governed over them, as a federal goverment. This was precipitated by.. (if anyone wants to claim the credit here, feel free to do so, in some form of invasion of crises)

I'm not done, but this is a template so I can start playing MT again. I'll go through it in more detail over time.