SDNWorld Redux - Casting Call & Planning

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-07-31 08:59am

Besides Shroomania, is there anyone else who wanted to be a former colonial power?

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-07-31 09:09am

Shroom Man 777 wrote: I think the Shadow Republic has been... eherm, foreshadowed!

Actually, I thought it was the proto-Technocracy, but Shadow Republic works too, I guess

And it avoid the slight problem of my people hating Stas

DarthShady · Post by **DarthShady** » 2008-07-31 09:15am

PeZook wrote:
Shroom Man 777 wrote: I think the Shadow Republic has been... eherm, foreshadowed!
Actually, I thought it was the proto-Technocracy, but Shadow Republic works too, I guess

And it avoid the slight problem of my people hating Stas

Yeah they will just hate me.

But I am OK with that. We can always improve relations between our countries. Perhaps we helped you in your war for freedom against Shroomania...

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 09:18am

Raj Ahten wrote:Besides Shroomania, is there anyone else who wanted to be a former colonial power?

In all likelihood, I was also a colonial power.

Though, it's likely that Shady was a former vassal state of mine, given that the Byzantines at one point of time controlled Bulgaria. Basil II was given the name "Bulgar Slayer".

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 09:29am

Shroom Man 777 wrote:I'm gonna assume that since Fingolfin is keeping Byzantium, that there was a Roman Empire that preceded it.

Thus, BEHOLD!

PALEOHISTOLOGY of the SOVEREIGNTY of SHROOMANIA I

The Ancient Times:

During the Age of Obscurity, the land of Shroomania was once known as Gaybion, and the records of antiquity show that it was also called Shroomanica by some others. The Romans would regard it as a near-mythological place – west of the Old Continent and beyond a body of water allegedly home to many a sea serpent, the Shroomish Channel.

The Romanic myths were wrong with the sea serpents, and when the Legions arrived to the land, they saw that it was no paradise, but a barbarian-infested shithole instead.

For decades, under the edict of Emperor Nero Caligula, did the Felix Legion of Shroomaximus did battle against the plaid kilt-wearing hordes of Highlanders and other indigenous people who simply did not know when they’ve been conquered. But when General Shroomaximus Decimus Meridius finally slew the Highest of the Highlanders in a manly feat of unclothed combat, it was all for naught – for when news of the General’s victory reached the Empire, the Eternal City was already on fire, and the music of Emperor Nero Caligula’s harpsichord filled the air.

The land of Gaybion was forgotten soon after the epic coronation of Emperor Nero Caligula’s horse – and so General Shroomaximus took matters into his own hands.

Not recognizing the sovereignty of the new Equine Emperor’s reign, Shroomaximus declared himself to be the Emperor of a new nation, no longer Gaybion, but Shroomania!

Thus, as the Empires of old fell, a new one was born from its ashes.

(to be continued!)

Jeez... that makes Shroomania my former vassal.

Actually, that makes for interesting mix. We could have Emperor Justinian fighting to retake Shroomania some time in 500 AD.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-07-31 09:44am

DarthShady wrote: Yeah they will just hate me.

But I am OK with that. We can always improve relations between our countries. Perhaps we helped you in your war for freedom against Shroomania...

Well, I'd rather they hate you than Stas

Ok...so when did the Shadow Republic actually arise as a nation-state? I'm writing part II right now and I need to know that

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 09:46am

PeZook wrote:
DarthShady wrote: Yeah they will just hate me.

But I am OK with that. We can always improve relations between our countries. Perhaps we helped you in your war for freedom against Shroomania...
Well, I'd rather they hate you than Stas

Ok...so when did the Shadow Republic actually arise as a nation-state? I'm writing part II right now and I need to know that

I would think after the defeat of the Turks. But me as the Byzantine Empire didn't have the resources to exert any control on that region. As a result of the collapse of Turk control, they formed their own nation state.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-07-31 09:48am

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote: I would think after the defeat of the Turks. But me as the Byzantine Empire didn't have the resources to exert any control on that region. As a result of the collapse of Turk control, they formed their own nation state.

Did that happen in the XVII century or earlier? I'll leave it vague, but I need a rough date.

DarthShady · Post by **DarthShady** » 2008-07-31 09:51am

I didn't actually write any history for my country yet because I decided to wait for the map.

I would think after the defeat of the Turks. But me as the Byzantine Empire didn't have the resources to exert any control on that region. As a result of the collapse of Turk control, they formed their own nation state.

PeZook, this works great. Just make up a date that suits you and I'll work of that.

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 09:53am

PeZook wrote:
Fingolfin_Noldor wrote: I would think after the defeat of the Turks. But me as the Byzantine Empire didn't have the resources to exert any control on that region. As a result of the collapse of Turk control, they formed their own nation state.
Did that happen in the XVII century or earlier? I'll leave it vague, but I need a rough date.

How about say sometime after 1453? The year after the failed siege of Constantinople? I'd say like ... 1550 thereabout? After a raging Turkish civil war that continued for over a century?

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-07-31 10:08am

Another draft, Part II

Brief history of the Constitutional Republic of PeZookia, Part II

Consequences of the Inflatian War

The Inflatian War left PeZookia in a sorry state: it turned out that her armies, while mighty, did not advance with the rampant march of technology. Feudal-style noble-based forces were no match for relatively modern - thought vastly smaller - musket-and-pike forces of the Eastern Slavs, now united under a single banner - that of the Shadow Republic, borne out of the slavic nations left behind after Byzantines defeated the Turks.

Still, the war lasted for fifty years, with intermittent periods of peace. It eventually ended with a grudging peace between the two nations, PeZookia ceding much territorry to the emergent state - territorry which would later become known as the Great Plains, and turn into unending source of trouble for both countries. The war has also ruined the country's economy and further weakened the nobility's inclination to participate in wars at the King's behest. Soon after the Inflatian War, the nobility forced the King to sign into law a decree forbidding PeZookia from taking part in an armed conflict without unanimous consent of the landed nobles, effectively making the country impotent against outside threats.

PeZookia's neighbors ruthlessly took advantage of this fact - even their former ally, Byzantium, took the opportunity to seize a portion of the vast country for themselves, buying most of the land from the nobility that owned it, who felt little loyalty to the King. Shroomania moved in from the west, aiming to seize territorry it perceived as rightfully theirs, and the newly formed Shadow Republic, born out of the confederacy of eastern Slavic states, creeped in through the eastern borders.

As the years progressed, the once mighty country of PeZookia hbecame more and more weakened. The King's authority waned, superceded by the semi-anarchistic rule of overpriviledged nobility. By the beginning on the XVIIIth century, PeZookia was backwards, poor and torn from all sides by its neighbors, who gradually gobbled up more and more of its territorry, taking advantage of corrupt nobility, powerless rulers and military weakness.

The Spring Of Nations

The year 1722 saw unprecedented changes on the Old Continent. Shroomania, the current superpower, has long been seeing decline, with worsening social conditions for the underpriviledged classes. Furthermore, increasing literacy and the spread of printed newspaper, as well and new philosophical ideas, have sparked widescale grassroots movements aimed at forcing social reforms upon the stale monarchistic orders of the Old Continent. The underclasses were becoming conscious of their own power over their rulers.

The first spark was set upon this powderkeg in Shroomania. Queen Asphixia has long held the country in poverty, spending money on lavish palaces and giant bisexual orgies, rather than her own people. In the spring of 1722, riots in Farbanti runed into a full-fledged revolt as the army joined the rebels and marched against the Queen's summer palace.

The new Shroomanian government has set out to improve the situation of the people, establishing a Constitution and introducing social reforms. All over the Old Continent, the people began to rise against their masters in what was to be named later the "Spring Of Nations".

In PeZookia, it was no different. The nobility, now feeling no loyalty to the King at all, has systematically deprived the people living under their rule from even the most basic rights. When news of the Shroomanian Revolution reached PeZookia, the tensions have finally exploded: numerous uprisings began all over the country, with people storming the noble's palaces.

Seeing the opportunity to save the country from itself, king Stanislaw III published the Declaration of Rights, which granted every citizen basic rights to assembly, religious freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of movement. The Sejm - a governing body composed of nobility - was to be disbanded and elected again, with all PeZookians granted a right to vote. All peasants were to be freed and granted the land they now rented for extravagant fees from their lords ; The nobility would be reimbursed for the loss out of state treasury.

The declaration was a desperate gamble, an attempt to seize power back from the overpriviledged nobility. Amazingly enough, it worked - the people sided with the King, who also won a support of many of the more englightened nobles.

The Conservative Confederacy

Conservative nobles, who didn't want to lose their status, opted to depose the King forcibly. In 1727, they formed the Conservative Confederacy, a movement aimed at deposing the King and implementing the "Golden Freedom Of Nobility", a way of rule where the nobility was priviledged to do whatever it wanted.

King Stanislaw has managed to gather a large army of peasants and cityfolk, armed with modern weapons and trained by Shroomanian Republican officers. He marched against the Confederacy, defeating them in a series of pitched battle in the north of the country.

The civil war laster for four years, devastating much of the country. Trying to seize the opportunity, and end the "PeZookian problem", the Shadow Republic (then Empire) decided to try and annex the country. A massive army, nearly 500-thousand men strong, marched into PeZookia under command of marshall Catherine The Wise. Simultaneously, the Shroomanian Tzar declared PeZookia a rebel territorry, and called for the citizens to rise against the King in rebellion.

Having defeated the Confederacy, king Stanislaw was faced with a difficult conundrum. His forces were exhausted and depleted from the civil war, and many soldiers desired to return to their homes. The country was threatened with famine if war continued: crops lay unharvested in the fields. Furthermore, he lacked ammunition and arms.

The King decided to retreat to the capital city, erecting mighty fortifications based upon the Great River, which ran through the entire country. He recruited a force of highlanders to aid his troops in the coming battle, and Byzantium supplied him arms, including artillery - the Emperor felt the Shadow Republic was growing too powerful, and decided not to allow them to seize PeZookia.

On the beautiful summer day of June 12, 1732 the stage was set for the Battle Of Orena - where fate of PeZookia would be decided.

Setzer · Post by **Setzer** » 2008-07-31 10:10am

I've already gotten a preliminary history up and running. My country was colonized in the late 19th century by Shroomania, since it provided a convenient military base off the coast of Shepistan.
Oil was discovered in the 1930s, and Shroomania poured a bunch of resources into developing said reserves.

In the 1960s, a general revolt backed by the local administrators attacked the Shroomanian garrison. Despite inflicting kill ratios of about 8 to 1, the 2,000 man garrison was soon depleted. They retreated to Montagsville and awaited reinforcements from Shroomania. The SNP government had been conspiring with Shepistan, and secretly purchased weapons from them.

When the Shroomanian troop ships pulled into sight, they were sunk by Shepistani made missiles. Shroomania realized the SNP had outside sources of supply, sources which could only be removed by attacking Shepistan.

Unwilling to let this colonial war blow up into something bigger, they negotiated a deal with the SNP. Sirnoth paid compensation to the families of the Shroomanian soldiers killed in the fighting, and Shroomania retained some military bases under old colonial treaties. In return, Sirnoth was granted independence, and the SNP was recognized as the legitimate ruling party.

Nearly 50 years after the war of independence, relations have largely normalized between the two countries, though Sirnoth remains closer to Shepistan.

DarthShady · Post by **DarthShady** » 2008-07-31 10:16am

PeZook your history is awesome.

I look forward to the next part and the Battle Of Orena.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2008-07-31 10:28am

Shroomanian Tzar?

Guys, I need to know the name of my own former colonies!

PALEOHISTOLOGY of the SOVEREIGNTY of SHROOMANIA II

The Old Times:

As the Roman Empire was reborn into Byzantium, the Empire of Shroomania soldiered on. In concordance with Pax Shroomania did the Emperors of Shroom consolidate their territories with their former enemies, the vanquished foes of the First Emperor Shroomaximus.

Chief amongst these new allies would be Clan MacMillan of the Highlands, and Houses Schrom and Von Reagan of the Rhine.

The Emperors allowed them to keep their fiefdoms, which eventually became kingdoms. While the Shroom Emperors would rule for centuries over all of Shroomania, beneath him would the MacMillans and the Schroms and the Von Reagans perpetually battle for their kingships.

However, through these adversities did Shroomania gain the strength it would need to prosper through the dark ages and into the succeeding centuries. The MacMillans, masters of the forge, smelted steel to make their mighty claymore swords – and so too did they make cottons and cloths for their comfortable kilts. The Schroms would be renowned for making their monocles and for building longboats to sail the seven seas, while their rivals in the House Von Reagan would be feared for their deadly cannonry and their fire lances.

In the centuries to come, Shroomania would extend its dominion outwards – to lands beyond its shores. To the east, into the Old Continent and the Slavic states of PeZookia. To the west, the New World and lands like San Dorado with their many trinkets and beans.

Pax Shroomania would be Empire’s loins’ most gracious outpouring.

Pax Shroomania:

At first, Pax Shroomania would cause the Empire’s treasuries to grow strong… but in time would the debts swell into profuse prostates.

The Empire’s exploits into the Old Continent were not uncontested, however. Byzantium had not forgotten its Romanic histories, and while the Shroom Emperors were eager to remind those at Constantinople of how their ancestors were once ruled by a horse, the inheritors of the Roman Empire had clearly not forgotten the adulteries of their wayward brethren.

Skirmishes and wars would be the order of the day as knights did battle with one another on the fields of battle, and as intrigue filled the palace courts of Shroomania. Warriors would cleave each other’s faces off with swords, while so-called noblemen would stab each other in the back with daggers.

As all this happened, the Shroomanian Emperors would follow their Roman predecessors and become fat and decadent – drunk in all the bloodshed they had wrought. They, and the nobles and royalties subservient to them, became as inbred as Nero Caligula – no longer as mighty or as manly as their great forefather Shroomaximus, who stood tall and proud.

Nevertheless, many of the un-inbred nobles in Shroomania saw the sorry state of their once-great nation, and sought to return it to its past glories.

Pax Shroomania 2:

Enter Jose Estalino.

Before Shroomania’s descent to decadence, it had been one of the most prosperous places in the Old World – and thus even foreign nobles fled to Shroomania when their home nations were wrecked by war. One of these former nations was Sapin, and the noble houses of the Sapinyards found a new home in the Empire.

Jose Estalino was one of these men, and he proposed to the easily amused and very in-bred Emperor Krotchpius V a cunning plan.

Instead of fooling about with the Slavs of the Old Continent, he proposed that Shroomania send its ships Westwards – over the Edge of the Earth, and into a New World. It was a bold plan, and though many feared the wrath of the sea monsters, the Emperor agreed to this audacious attempt.

Clan MacMillan, which had then fallen out of favor with the Shroom Emperor, was commanded to aid Jose Estalino’s mad journey to places where there be monsters. Magellan MacMillan would lead Estalino’s Expedition.

They would be the first men to circumnavigate the world, proving that it was round like an apricot and not flat like a fungus – but then, on a godforsaken island somewhere near the equator, Magellan had his face bitten off by native heathens and died.

Nonetheless, Estalino returned with a great many trinkets and beans – and potatoes. These root crops, hoes and seeds fascinated the entire Empire and, verily, another expedition was sent.

Sir Siegfried Schrom would helm this new excursion, and he would discover places like San Dorado – and conquer them in the name of God, Gold and Glory!

The return of Pax Shroomania would bring the Empire to untold greatness.

The Fast Times:

The Emperor and his pet royals would become richer and fatter than ever before, and while they became rich and fat, the oppressed masses would become poor and famished. Disease and depravation stalked the land like two big stalking things, and malcontention spread like the plague. Very much like the plague were the notions of ‘democracy’, ‘freedom’, ‘equality, and other ideals that infected the common man.

Intellectuals, considered then (and now) to be the scum of the Earth, rallied the common man – and the ignorant masses were poised to strike back at their justified oppressors.

Just as these things were set into motion, so too was Shroomania consolidating its offshore holdings. It had opened trade relations with the nation of Shepistan, and in return for a not-inconsiderable sum of trinkets and beans, the Shepistani payment was that of a hundred thousand Indians.

These Indians, of the near-extinct Waiapolo Tribe, were placed on a mountain and became sideshows and spectacles for the rich and powerful – who thought them nothing more than circus animals to be trained to perform tricks. But through the efforts of the perfidious intellectuals, the plight of these Indians ended up being heard by the similarly oppressed masses of Shroomania.

To show their solidarity with these enslaved peoples, the proles would take up peace pipes and smoke the Indian herbs. The noblemen gradually took notice of this, and upon realizing that their snuff-boxes were inadequate, they demanded to have the Indian herbs – but they were denied!

To this day, historians debate the exact causes of the Revolution, but while the cause may never be known – the happenings are certainly well-documented.

(Up next... the Revolution!)

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2008-07-31 10:29am

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:Jeez... that makes Shroomania my former vassal.

Actually, that makes for interesting mix. We could have Emperor Justinian fighting to retake Shroomania some time in 500 AD.

Dude. We're about as former vassals as Britain was to the Holy Roman Empire

A Hundred Years War wouldn't be bad, though. The Shroomanian Navy versus the Byzantine Armada! Or something!

Siege · Post by **Siege** » 2008-07-31 10:30am

So, Shroomania lost PeZookia in the 12th century, San Dorado in 1861 and Sirnoth in the 1960's. Are there any more current or former Shroomanian colonies out there?

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-07-31 10:46am

Shroom Man 777 wrote:
Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:Jeez... that makes Shroomania my former vassal.

Actually, that makes for interesting mix. We could have Emperor Justinian fighting to retake Shroomania some time in 500 AD.
Dude. We're about as former vassals as Britain was to the Holy Roman Empire

A Hundred Years War wouldn't be bad, though. The Shroomanian Navy versus the Byzantine Armada! Or something!

The Byzantine attempt to retake Shroomania meshes well with the PeZookian War Of Independence. Just move it up to around the XII century or so, and it's an almost perfect setup!

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 11:01am

Alrighty.. I will write my own:

History of Byzantine Empire after 1453 wrote:
The Failed Siege of Constantinople and the Aftermath
The failed Siege of Constantinople in 1453 was a disaster for the Turks. Byzantine forces, numbering tens of thousands, rallied at Constantinople. The remnants of the armies that defended Athens and Thessalonika retreated there for a last stand. The mighty walls of Constantinople, aided by the cannon batteries that defended the walls, defeated the Turks and drove them back with great loss. The Turks were forced back from Constantinople, and only 30% of the forces that Mehmed II led returned with him across the Bosphoros. That it was a disaster was an understatement; usurpers within the Turkish nobility rose up and questioned the Sultan's authority and raised their armies against him. So marked the beginning the raging Turkish Civil War. It was during that time that some of the vassal states of the Ottoman Empire rose up in revolt.

The Byzantines seized that moment to retake back all of Greece, and by the end of 1470, eastern Anatolia had returned to Byzantine control, from Nikea, Sophia to Ephesus. Retaking back all of Byzantine territory would take a century, but it was a goal that the state was determined to reach. It would take the country nearly 2 centuries to recover from the centuries of war, but taking back Anatolia, the breadbasket of the Empire, would ensure the Empire's recovery as a Great Power.

In this period, trade with Shroomania was reopened, as the Empire fought back to retake its former position as the premier trading nation in the Mediterranean. State funded companies, Constantinople Shipping and Constantinople Shipyards, was born as the State put its entire force of will behind them. The Emperor vigorously directed a revival of the Byzantine economy and the Byzantines experience a second Renaissance not seen since the beginning of the millennia.

All of Anatolia was Retaken in 1515
The Byzantine Empire, under Emperor Aeolus II retook all of Anatolia and restored the Empire to the old extent of Basil II. Some decades or so later the Shadow Republic was born on the western borders of the Empire. Emperor Aeolus II, anxious to avoid potential conflict, given the relative fragile state of the Empire, which was still attempting to consolidate its latest gains, and to rebuild the economy and military which was spent after much fighting with the remnants of the Turkish feudal lords.

In the east, the Arabs had taken advantage of the collapse of Turkish rule as well, and formed the Abassad Caliphate. They would be the chief foes of the Byzantine Empire for the next few centuries, but they themselves had wounds to lick after the bloody revolt.

The Byzantine Empire renewed its old relationship with the Russian Princes, in hope of bolstering trade. With PeZookia, there was some wheeling and dealing with the Catholic state, of which the Church of Constantinople was eager to bring the Church there under its influence, and the Byzantine Emperor eager for an ally to guard the north. The Emperor simply was pursuing the old diplomatic tactic of playing off nation against nation, hoping to reap the benefits of their rivalry. With Shroomania, the trade war continued, as both states fought over trade routes and so forth. Some degree of privateer activity occurred, though both Empires tried their best to keep things civil, albeit competitive.

Eruption of War between Shroomania and the Byzantine Empire in 1614
The Trade War finally took an ugly turn when trading vessels on both sides starting attacking each other on sight. By then, the Byzantine Empire had recovered its old strength, with a modern fleet of sailing warships and many Ships of the Line. The Imperial Byzantine Navy retaliated, leading to a sack of a Shroomanian outpost at Crete. The Emperors always regarded Crete as sovereign Byzantine territory and it burned in their hearts that a hated rival dared to take root near them. The attack was led by the Imperial Byzantine Marines who landed and assaulted the citadel, backed by a fierce artillery siege train. Days of bombardment by the fleet and the artillery batteries finally broke the fortress open and the Marines assaulted and took the citadel, raising the Byzantine flag above it.

The Shroomanian King would have none of it, and sent the Shroomanian fleet to retake the fortress. Both sides were building up their armies near the borders, waiting the right time to strike. The Second Battle of Crete involving both navies ended in a stalemate. Byzantine use of their famed Greek fire loaded into their cannon balls proved decisive, but the collapse of the eastern flank of the fleet forced the main body to reinforce the flank, giving time for the Shroomanian fleet to withdraw. Losses on both sides were even.

On land, the Imperial Byzantine Army met the invading Shroomanian Army on the borders near the Shadow Empire. Fighting was fierce, with the battles going both ways any point of time. Scorch earth tactics were employed on both sides, forcing both armies to resupply constantly to avoid overextending themselves. More naval conflicts were fought as well, with occasional Byzantine as well as Shroomanian defeats.

In the end, a truce was signed, with Shroomania agreeing to Byzantine control of Crete, with Byzantine concessions allowing Shroomanian vessels to trade directly at Constantinople with less tax than before. Previously, they were only allowed to trade at Athens. No vessel was allowed to fire upon each other, and both sides agreed to have a common court of arbitration, to arbitrate future trading disputes.

Arab wars in 1690
The Abassad Caliphate launched a massive assault on Antioch from Damasca. Numbering half a million, the massive army approached Antioch with a large siege train. Mullahs were crying Jihad against the Infidel Empire, and the masses were roused with great fervor.

Against this unholy army, the Byzantine spies had alerted the Emperor, and 100000 were marched to Antioch to defend the city. What the Arabs lacked was a strong modern navy. The Imperial Byzantine Navy routed the Arab navy, and the Imperial Byzantine Marines and Army, led by future Emperor Heraclius II, assailed Acre and Ascalon and made a daring march for Jerusalem, surrounding the city with fortifications and laid siege to the city, pounding the city walls to dust day and night.

The Arab army heading north was now in a difficult position, whereas they were mere kilometers Antioch, the threat down south, on Jerusalem, the sacred city no less, was a threat that none could ignore. Least of all the Sultan, whose religious credibility hinged on the Abassads retaining control of the city. Dividing their army, a proportion laid siege to Antioch, while 20000 marching south to relieve Jerusalem.

But it was too late, the Byzantine Prince retook Jerusalem. Alerted by scouts, the Byzantine armies laid in wait near an oasis. When the tired Arab army marched by, the ambush was sprung; the southern army was routed, and the victorious army marched for Damascus.

Meanwhile, the siege of Antioch was fierce. Byzantine artillery shelled the besieging Arab armies day and night with an endless supply of ammunition, and the morale of the Arab army ebbed due to disease, and the constant bombardment. News of the arrival of the Byzantine Army on the outskirts of Damascus sent a panic to the commanders, who tried to withdraw from the siege, only to be attacked by the besieged who launched a massive sortie to drive out the invaders. The Arabs were routed and most never made it back to the homeland. The Sultan, frightened by the loss of so much men, begged for a truce to the victorious Prince who granted it in return for annual tribute of 10000 gold per annum.

The Prince latter led a victorious Triumph through Constantinople and Jerusalem, placing the Holy Cross on the summit of Jerusalem, the first time in a millennia. The Retaking of Jerusalem marked the first time in hundreds of years that the Byzantines had stepped foot again in Jerusalem, the Holy City. The Patriarch of Jerusalem welcomed the Prince with great Joy, and the celebrations erupted across the Empire. In what gave the future Emperor Heraclius II the epithet of "Heraclius II the Just", the Prince, with the authority of the Emperor vested in him, granted the Muslims of the city pardon and amnesty, and full rights of citizenship. This event marked a new beginning for the Catholic-Islam relationship, though it did not mean that the Abassad Caliphate was about to stay silent forever.

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 11:03am

PeZook wrote:The Byzantine attempt to retake Shroomania meshes well with the PeZookian War Of Independence. Just move it up to around the XII century or so, and it's an almost perfect setup!

It would be more likely the Turks then, I think.

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-07-31 11:09am

I was thinking of being a former Shroomanian colony as well, unless someone else would rather have me. I guess I'll be going with the name of Indhopal for my nation again this time around. Independence in Indhopal was not violent, I'd say. Byaround 1900 or so the nation had de facto independence from the mother country (commonwealth status or something similiar) and 20-30 years later true independence followed. Later Indhopal broke fully out of the commonwealth or whatever it would be called over differences in foreign policy. A long standing goal of Indhopal's foreign policy would be to keep outside powers out of it's backyard.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2008-07-31 11:09am

PALEOHISTOLOGY of the SOVEREIGNTY of SHROOMANIA III

Revolution:

The oppressed masses rose up like a swelling sea of sobriety, and the uppity well-to-do nobles were overwhelmed by the deluge of deflagration.

Fabranti was on fire.

The so-called Spring of Nations saw entire cities and towns ravaged as the Empire went to war with itself. The redcoats did battle against the brownshirts, and the Imperialists and the Royalists sought to kill as many of the commoner peasants as they could – but they were, in turn, slaughtered by the hundreds.

Men, women and children took up arms – taking up flintlocks and blunderbusses and claymores and rapiers and blowdarts and Indian spears against their oppressors. Allegiances were tried and tested, and betrayal became the staple meal of all factions.

The Noble Houses of Schrom and Von Reagan would turn upon each other, while Clan MacMillan’s Highlanders donned their kilts and smeared blue warpaint on their faces to join the fight for freedom. Celtic warriors in plaid would cleave through formations of Teutonic Knights, and were quickly joined by those knights who flew the banner of the Pink Cross!

The Emperor sat on his throne, senile and decrepit. Like Nero Caligula before him, he started playing a musical instrument.

And Queen Asphixia XIX, who was ruler of Shroomania in all but name, screamed in womanly fear as her former peons came for her.

She fled. Byzantium, in a rare act of graciousness, offered her asylum. Perhaps the Byzantine Emperor too feared the spread of revolutionarism and so offered sanctum to a kindred, yet much-despised, spirit. Queen Asphixia, on her part, had nowhere else to go and accepted the Byzantine Emperor’s offer with much thanks.

As soon as she arrived in Constantinople, she was taken from her retinue and burnt alive on a stake.

Republic:

After the Revolution came the Republic, in which Shroomania adopted the principles of nationalism, citizenship, and inalienable rights. The Shroomanians invented democracy.

The Emperor, last in a long line of rulers from Shroomaximus himself, would remain a figurehead. When physical illness joined his mental infirmities, it did not take long for him to succumb. He died peacefully in his sleep, his wrinkled and prune-like form surrounded by naked courtesans. His death was largely un-mourned, though his harem took great measures to bury him with much dignity.

They would ensure the perpetuation of his legacy.

While the deceased Emperor was being lowered into his casket, countless Shroomanian nobles had their heads lopped off at the guillotine – and when the guillotine’s blade was dulled, the angry mobs resorted to beating condemned men, women and children to death with sticks.

Somehow, the Houses Schrom and Von Reagan, and the Clan MacMillan, survived this purging. They even used the guillotine against one another – each of them having a stake in the decapitation of their rivals.

The newly founded Republic of Shroomania would prosper in the ensuing post-Revolutionary maladministration. This great success was achieved by the Shroomanian leaders’ gross violation of the very constitution they penned, and by the further usage of the guillotine. However, the Republic was still in a precarious and fragile position – and so they built up the nation’s military strength to outrageous levels.

The Republic of Shroomania would eventually build one of the world’s mightiest navies – to unleash them upon the oceans of the world in a third wave of Pax Shroomania.

While Shroomania’s Revolutionary Republican leaders themselves had their heads lopped off in the guillotine, and as the nation underwent another paradigm shift, fleets of warships continued to sail the seven seas as Shroomania became the Sovereignty.

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 11:19am

Should we create a separate thread for histories? Better to consolidate than to spread this all over. One post per person.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2008-07-31 11:21am

We can put it in a reference thread when we're done?

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-31 11:23am

Shroom Man 777 wrote:We can put it in a reference thread when we're done?

Guess so. But I think we should have one thread for history, and another for reference. Otherwise, there's too much to read (and scroll).

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2008-07-31 11:47am

I wonder what our World Wars are gonna be like - who wants to be the aggressor/Axis?

The FUNGAL AXIS?