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Arathorn
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Illinois
Jan 2002
time: 23:17
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The Iroquois forces were assembled on the hills. Below lay the city of Babylon, a city of untold wealth, power, culture, and knowledge. Their leader, Arrow Thorn, had declared lo those many hundreds of years ago that it MUST fall into his hands. He would control Babylon or every Iroquois would die in the effort.
Many had died already. Some had given their lives working to create the force of mounted workers assembled here. Some had died to vicious assaults by bowmen, pikemen, swordsmen, archers, and other inferior men on horseback. A few had even succumbed to death from a distance, riding along and suddenly falling back, as if struck with an arrow, though no arrows were to be found anywhere. A small bloody hole was the only clue to their demise. It was obviously the devil’s work and the troops prepared accordingly.
Catapults had been deployed on a nearby hill. They had launched rocks into Babylon for longer than any man had lived, save the inspiring, eternal Arrow Thorn. They were now silent, as the massed forces prepared to spend their lives in an effort to capture the enemy capital. Each man fervently prayed for success, but each knew that most wouldn’t make it home.
Wave after wave of mounted warriors charged up the hill, most retreating before ever reaching the edge of the city, but a few getting close enough to nip at the defending units. The battle was long, bloody, and excruciating. Little by little, though, the brave warriors rose a little higher on the hill.
Word came from the generals that the Japanese were approaching the city. Surely the Iroquois’ senseless allies would raze the city, destroying forever the wonders within. The troops attacked with a renewed fervor.
The Babylonian lines began to buckle a bit. Sensing the advantage, Red Cloud led his forces up the hill. Now, these forces had seen many battles before and were the crème de la crème of the Iroquois forces – not an army per se, simply one very well-trained unit. As such, they were saved for crucial times in the battle, times like this.
The attack was successful, puncturing a huge hole in the Babylonian defenses, a hole through which others poured and the wonders of the Babylonian capital were laid naked to the Iroquois people.
And what a city it was, containing a world-renown observatory, fantastic hanging gardens, and a massive library. It was the library that most fascinated the Iroquois leaders. In it were contained books and books of knowledge – teaching methods, the secret behind the exploding white powder, invention ideas, codes of religion, three new exciting government types, sophisticated money exchange systems, bridge building, and more. It was almost too more than could be learned. But learned it was.
Armed with this newfound knowledge, the Iriquois horde made quick work of the remainder of the Babylonian civilization. Red Cloud went on to prove a political genius as well, masterminding the building of a secondary government home, from which the Iroquois could be ruled. Many surrounding cities immediately felt the additional observation and improved their work efforts.
Also buoyed by the advances in the great library, the Iroquois became the greatest scientists in the world, eventually discovering many things before their rivals. This came as a great surprise to all who had written them off as merely mindless savages, on a par with the Kuturans or Gauls.
The remainder of the path to glory wasn’t without its trials – a war to the death against the Japanese, the threat of Germany who wiped out Russia, the Egyptian threat who wiped out all of Germany, and a Chinese civilization which was filled with productive cities. Nevertheless, the resiliency of the Iroquois people was proven time and again, overcoming all obstacles.
As the glorious spaceship prepared to launch, Arrow Thorn pondered how it had all been made possible by the efforts around Babylon that one fateful year. Without getting thousands of years of knowledge in a few months, none of it would have been possible. The Iroquois would have remained barbaric and would ultimately have fallen prey to their neighbors.
[Notes: Standard map, deity level]
[Notes2: Opinions solicited]
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08-02-2002 00:55
. I guess that's deity for ya. Well, done, btw - a quick, enjoyable read.
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