|
|
|
Piscata Rosea 4 4 5
Last Seen:
Today @ 7:49 AM
Posts: 3,440
Visits: 8,535
|
|
It all started with a Rifleman...
The Babylonian and Sumerian empires had lived peacefully as neighbours for thousands of years. Between them, they shared almost equally the majority of a large continent.
The southern Babylonians were a proud and hard-working people. They had vanquished their Ottoman enemy in ancient times, and had converted worthless jungle and swamp into lush grassland.
The land they owned was only blighted by a Sumerian province, which had existed in isolation from the rest of Sumeria for hundreds of years. The people traded and interacted more with Babylon than with their own kind.
It is the late middle ages. A young Babylonian captain looks out over the lands he protects. At only 24, he has served valiantly for the last ten years.
In the distance, he sees a rifleman. Such strange weapons he has never seen before, surely muskets are the best defence known to man?
Captain Balthasar ventures out and greets the Sumerian rifleman. He wonders what on earth the Sumerians are doing trespassing in the Babylonian lands. The Sumerian rifleman apologises, and leaves back to the Sumerian province.
That evening, the captian meets up with his general, who confirms that King Hammurabi has only permitted Sumerian workers passage through to the province.
Years pass, but despite the warnings, the trespassing continues. King Hammurabi tires of the Sumerians playing him for a fool.
Mercurius is sent as an envoy to the Sumerian capital to deliver a message to King Gilgamesh. No further trespassing will be tolerated. For his trouble, he is locked away in a dungeon.
News spreads through the Babylonian Empire - war is coming! Bands of riflemen and medieval infantry have crossed the mountainous border and are threatening the border towns!
The trusty Babylonian cavarly is ready, formed just recently from the bands of knights who once protected the kingdom. It is up to them to defend Babylonian lands.
The war is long and bloody, no one gains ground. The Sumerians are more advanced, but lack the tactics to gain a foothold into the Babylonian territories.
The cavalry becomes more experienced. They excel in repelling waves of riflemen. The loyal musket corps fend of any attackers that make it close to the city.
The people of Babylon are losing morale, they need some kind of victory to raise their spirits. The captain who once patrolled the border regions is now a General, soon he will turn the tide of the war and become a hero.
Balthasar has fought many battles, he fights with great passion against the evil Sumerians. It is because of them that his brother is lost. He knows not if Mercurius is alive or dead - the spies have no news from the Sumerian capital.
An army is formed and sent out to the Sumerian province. These lands have not been touched by the Babylonians since ancient times. Back then they were just barbarian riddled swamps, now they are wide open plains and grassland. Small farms dot the landscape. The people do not resist the Babylonian army. They always have had sympathy to the Babylonians, having lived nearer to them than to their Sumerian brothers.
The Sumerian Province falls quickly to the army. The people are dancing in the street, finally there is progress! Balthasar is a hero for leading the army. King Hammurabi honours him, and gives him charge of the Babylonian cavalry. Next we head for the Sumerian lands, the other side of a great mountain range...
(to be continued)
|
--
C3C Emperor
C4BTS Prince
   <<--- view my flickr photos!
|
  |
 |
|
|
|
|
Your Excellency
 
Last Seen:
7/31/2008 1:52 AM
Posts: 635
Visits: 1,057
|
|
|
|
|
|
Piscata Rosea 4 4 5
Last Seen:
Today @ 7:49 AM
Posts: 3,440
Visits: 8,535
|
|
(Part II)
It was a cold and bleak winter, the snow pelted down upon the mountain ranges that divided the lands.
But the Babylonians did not have the luxury of waiting for spring. They knew that the Sumerians were disorganised and that time was of the essence.
Balthasar lead the cavalry through the mountain ranges. It was a hard slog, but the paths had been well travelled by the Sumerians, and so were in good condition.
It took many weeks to cross the ranges. Some of the Babylonians wondered if they'd ever see home again, but they knew they must press on.
The plan was to gradually gain ground, capturing cities on the way to the capital, Ur. At first Sumerian resistance was strong, but the riflemen were no match for the cavalry.
Meanwhile, the workers were busy building better roads through the mountain ranges. They cut the travel time from weeks down to days. The Babylonian traders made a huge profit from all the fine quality stone that was quarried away.
The newly found funds only helped to increase the Babylonian cavarly. In a few short years, Balthasar and his armies were on the outskirts of Ur. He could not help but wonder if his brother was still alive. The Sumerians would pay dearly for their treachery, he thought, as he prepared the battle plans to capture the Sumerian capital.
The battle of Ur was long and bloody, but eventually it fell to the Babylonians. Gilgamesh's palace was in ruins. He had fled with his remaining forces to the north. There was no sign of Mercurius. Balthasar vowed to drive the Sumerians into the sea.
The rest of the continental Sumerian empire was soon conquered, leaving them with a couple of tiny worthless island colonies. In exchange for peace, Gilgamesh gave up all the Sumerian technologies.
And, so there was peace. Years passed, great railroads were built, and the empire grew and flourished. The Babylonians met and made peace with the Germans, who were the Sumerians' old neighbours.
The German leader, Bismarck, could see that Babylon was strong, and so he was more than happy to keep out of the Babylonian empire.
The old Sumerian cities soon assimilated into the empire. They found themselves a lot more prosperous under King Hammurabi's reign, and all resistance ceased in no time at all.
And so, it was an era of peace, the now ageing General Balthasar looked out upon the horizon from his coastal estate. King Hammurabi had bestowed great honours upon him, and he lived in a grand house, overlooking pristine beaches.
A speck appeared upon the horizon. Balthasar, whose eyesight was not as sharp as it once has been, called for his son to bring the telescope. It was a ship! Such a strange design he had never seen!
The ship landed upon the beach. An old, but strangely familiar man walked up from the shore. Balthasar could not believe it. It was Mercurius! The two old men hugged and cried with joy. It must have been 40 years since they last saw each other. Then they were young men, and the war had not even begin.
Balthasar listened with amazement as his brother told him how he had been sold to the Celts, and had worked his way up from a servant, to a land-owner.
He had to wait many years for the Celts to invent strong enough ships to sail the oceans. In that time, he had married a beautiful Celt girl, and had started a family. Balthasar could see other figures on the ship - Mercurius had brought his family!
King Hammurabi's men had discovered Mercurius on a diplomatic journey to the land of the Celts. With a chance to come home for a better life, Mercurius and his family had sold up their possessions and bought a ship to sail home.
It was a good time to head to the safety of Babylon. Within a few years, the Celts and Romans were at war. Mercurius's old town was razed to the ground.
It was an era of prosperity for Babylon, but and era of war for the Celts and Romans, both powerful nations in their own right, but on a faraway continent. Who knows what the future may bring...
(The End?)
|
--
C3C Emperor
C4BTS Prince
<<--- view my flickr photos!
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Legionnaire Extrodinare
Last Seen:
11/29/2004 1:19 PM
Posts: 167
Visits: 450
|
|
|
|
|
|
General
Last Seen:
6/1/2009 7:12 PM
Posts: 7,885
Visits: 8,941
|
|
|
|
|
|
Veteran Warlord
Last Seen:
3/9/2009 4:44 PM
Posts: 189
Visits: 641
|
|
|
|
|
|
Footballer
Last Seen:
6/6/2009 6:50 PM
Posts: 2,097
Visits: 1,631
|
|
|
|
|
|
Piscata Rosea 4 4 5
Last Seen:
Today @ 7:49 AM
Posts: 3,440
Visits: 8,535
|
|
|
|
|
|
Footballer
Last Seen:
6/6/2009 6:50 PM
Posts: 2,097
Visits: 1,631
|
|
|
|
|
|
Warlord
Last Seen:
1/29/2006 9:42 PM
Posts: 66
Visits: 204
|
|
|
|
|
