Game Events For 1997

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#C0C0C0" LINK="#FFFF00" VLINK="#808080"> <TABLE WIDTH="400" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><IMG SRC="../../images/mhb1.jpg" ALT="Magic Horizons Title Graphic" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="398" HEIGHT="162"></P> <H2>The Growth of Testudopolis</H2> <P>Constantius Aemelius II 'the Pauper' ascended the Grand Ducal throne January 12 of 783 at the age of thirty, with much pomp and celebration. The streets flowed with wine and beer, and the smoke of five thousand roasting oxen filled the air. Ten days later he summoned the Common Council and the Cortes to determine the state of the kingdom</P> <P>The news from the Common Council was excellent, the Duchy was doing well; trade and revenues were up, the citizens were content, and the population was growing rapidly. It was left to Gnaius Crassus, head of Tachyopolis's representatives on the Cortes, to deliver the shocking news: the duchy was bankrupt. The loans made thirty four years ago not only had not been paid off, but had grown to almost half a million gold crowns as interest accumulated and Leto defaulted on payments. The crown jewels had long been lost, and he had been anointed wearing cunning fakes. The Ducal grain reserves were empty, sold to the Dwarves. If famine came, thousands would starve. Even much of his father's personal land had been lost. Only drastic action could save the duchy, and Constantius responded predictably. He borrowed enough money to cover court costs, and raised taxes, doubling the export tariff on grain, and tripling the import tax on Dwarven goods. New taxes were levied internally on anything that could be bought or sold, and tolls were placed on all major bridges and roads and on the F. Serpentis herself. While these measures allowed Constantius to make payments on the interest, he was unable to make payments on the principle, and unrest grew with increased taxation. Finally, desperate, Constantius devalued the coinage in June of 784, and paid off a portion of the principal as well as the interest, still leaving a debt of four hundred thousand crowns.</P> <P>In January of 785, the towns had had enough. Constantius was bleeding them to pay a debt thirty years old, and the devalued coinage had raised prices without raising wages. People lacked money to buy food, and could not be fed from the empty grain reserves. The Cortes and the Common Council met in secret, and after a month of haggling, birthed the Glorious Revolution. On March 15 they presented their demands to Constantius, who six days later signed the Concord of Tachyopolis. Their demands were simple and conservative. First, the taxation would be reduced to old levels, all the new taxes would be removed, and no new taxes would be imposed without the consent of the Cortes. The coinage would be recalled, and reminted to its original purity. The granaries of Testudopolis had to be refilled in ten years, and a fixed portion of revenues were set aside for this purpose. Finally, the garrisons would be removed, and the towns recognized as duchies, with complete internal control. In return, they were prepared to pay two hundred and fifty thousand crowns directly to the bankers, and another twenty thousand crowns to maintain the Grand Ducal court. The cities would continue to pay fifty thousand crowns every year, plus 3% of all trade revenues as long as the concord remained inviolate. Every year the Cortes would meet to confirm the Concord with the Grand Duke, and to vote new revenues to the Grand Duke if necessary. The Grand Duke would retain control of all external policy, his personal lands, and of Testudopolis herself. Constantius had little choice but to accept.</P> <P>Constantius was to pay off his debt by the end of his reign in 822, and even restore some of the former luster to the Grand Duke's crown. He expanded his lands beyond the River Sangr to the Ferrum Colli, and found a series of towns in the west. He established friendly relations with the settled cattle raising peoples of the valley of the Flumen Albans, and his son would become their protector against the "evils of the nomadic tribes," eventually leading to their incorporation into the empire. However, he will be forever known as "The Pauper."</P> <P>By 930, the Polyps Peninsula had a population of over one million humans, two thirds of whom lived in the valley of the Flumen Serpentis. All the cities were flourishing; Testudopolis, Tachyopolis, and Kinsho had populations of over fifteen thousand, while Nand, Wassen, and Enli approached 10,000, and Ziln, Ord, and Pistoia numbered around 5,000 each, with numerous smaller towns and villages. A group of Thurids had successfully petitioned Grand Duke Leto Aemelius II for permission to found a barony in his lands, and founded Barony Bharat in 827, which was later created Duchy Bharat in the Ratification of 965. A few years later, an expedition to discover the source of the F. Serpentis, led by Thurid adventurer and linguist Dhek Bhurton "The Dark" plunged 1000 miles inland, discovered a series of vast rift lakes, and established contact and trade with the elves of the Heartwood Forest; a few years after his return, the trading post of Trico would be established, which would eventually grow into a major city. </P> <P>As the human population grew, producing crop surplus after surplus, the yields growing with the numbers of farmers, a new problem arose, which led to a brief and relatively bloodless incident of 940 called the Dwarf or Short War by humans and the Human, or Grain War by the Dwarves. Few humans realized how dependent the Free Dwarven Cantons were on the human produced grain. Dwarven populations usually produced little surplus food to garner for times of famine. Their heavily terraced, intensely cultivated holdings and carefully pastured goats and llamas produced just enough food for those tilling the land. A blight, early frost, or dry spell could send thousands of dwarves into other lands, selling their expert crafter services for food. While trade with the Verslans and the elves of the Greater Forests provided a minute amount of security against lean times, there was seldom enough to more than blunt the edges of a serious famine. The human settlements along the F. Serpentis had changed all that, as the Dwarves imported tons of food in exchange for gold, silver, tin, iron, mercury, and skillfully crafted items. Dwarven plows, pumps, water wheels and windmills sprang up along the fecund Flumen Serpentis, a testimony to its productivity. The Dwarven population grew, and soon grew beyond the ability of the dwarves to survive on their own food resources, and still there seemed no end to the human grown grain. The dwarves discovered distillation in an experiment in food preservation, and soon began exporting whiskeys and other hard liquors back into human lands, and still the Dwarven population grew with the human grain shipments.</P> <P>At first there was little friction between humans and dwarves. The dwarves had avoided the rolling plains below the river as infested with orcish and goblin vermin, and the humans had tacitly ceded the hills above the river to the dwarves. But, as the human population grew, more and more began pushing into the hills the dwarves considered their own, searching for silver and gold, or cedars and pines, or for new quarries for the stone to build the growing human cities. In their turn, when the orcish threat diminished, the growing Dwarven population began expanding across the river and into the human claimed lands, seeking lands that did not have to be terraced to be made fertile. Quarrels were inevitable, and tension grew. Neither side wanted to fight; both had too much to lose and too little to gain. Many compromises and accords were signed, only to be ignored. The governments agreed completely, but could not or would not impose their collective will on the peoples causing the problems. Tension continued to grow, and peaked during the Great Drought. In 936, the great Serpentis flooded little. The spring rains were tardy and scant, and little grain grew in the fields. The rice crop failed completely. Grapes withered on the vine, and only through constant irrigation were any crops grown. 937 was worse, and 938 worse still, and thousands of people were saved only when Titus II "Foodgiver" opened the recently refilled Grand Ducal granaries. The prolific delta and flood plains could barely produce enough food for the human population, and citizens abandoned family farms and migrated from outlying regions to the capital in search of food.</P> <P>By January of 940, after almost five years of famine, the Dwarven grain reserves were exhausted; enough food remained for only a few more months. The Dwarven ambassador in Tachyopolis protested the barbaric delay in the shipment of grain, and demanded food shipments, but there was no food to ship. When the soil blew away during the long hot summer of 940, the Dwarven armies began to mobilize. If they could not buy food, they would take it. Dwarves who had traveled widely through the Grand Duchy pointed out that the humans could not sell what they did not have, and, while their advice was not heeded by the commanders, it demoralized many of the hungry Dwarven soldiers. Even if they won they would not find the food they needed.</P> <P>In August of the same year, a Dwarven army of fifteen thousand camped outside the gates of Tachyopolis. The dwarves built elaborate fortifications investing the city, and cunning siege engines threatening their walls, but during negotiations they did not attack. Skirmishes outside the gates and nocturnal raids caused few casualties. A Grand Ducal army was summoned and dispatched to relieve the city and disperse the dwarves. At dawn on September sixth the Lifeguards smashed into the northern tip of the Dwarven circumvallations, followed hard by seven other regiments. They rolled up the Dwarven left, and when the garrison sallied, the dwarves withdrew in good order, leaving about two thousand dead or wounded on the field. The Grand Ducal army, refusing pursuit, captured the dwarven siege train and baggage and took about fifteen hundred prisoners. For the first time in one hundred and thirty five years, Tachyopolis welcomed a Grand Ducal army within its walls. Throughout the fall, the combined Ducal armies began raiding into Dwarven territory, destroying scanty but sorely needed crops, and carrying off what little livestock and booty they could find;however, they refused to invest even the smallest of towns. Several regiments were severely handled in minor skirmishes, but the ducal armies maintained the initiative and repelled a second Dwarven invasion near the first cataract. Through the long winter of 940, thousands of dwarves starved; the Dwarven ambassador to Testudopolis began quietly talking about ending 'this unfortunate misunderstanding.'</P> <P>Spring of 941 saw the beginning of a great year. Even before the flooding, fields of winter wheat and barley were producing bumper crops. The meat from the first great Nomad cattle drive began arriving shortly thereafter. By mid May, everyone was sporting a paunch. The F. Serpentis flooded high and steady, and soon a huge rice crop sprouted. Well provisioned and heavily armed, twenty regiments, ten hastily raised, were dispatched to invade the Dwarven hills, lay siege to the capital city of Thermopalace, and bring them to terms. Prince Vespasian was at its head. A sharp skirmish at Aspion's Pool won the river crossing, and a rapid series of maneuvers around Mt. Majuba dislodged a substantial Dwarven force, which fell back to their capital. When the ducal army threatened Thermopalace, the dwarves began to negotiate. Finally, the lands of the Free Canton of Thermopalace were officially named a protectorate of the Grand Duke of Testudopolis. All lands within fifteen miles of the F. Serpentis were officially ceded to Testudopolis and the humans, while the mountains were pronounced forever Dwarven. The Grand Duke was invested with the hammer and tongs that symbolized Dwarven authority. In return, Dwarven prisoners were released (in much better shape than their free brethren, many grumbled). The Grand Duke officially and publicly recognized the existence of the Free Canton of Thermopalace within his lands, and promised to uphold its laws. He guaranteed to protect the Free Canton, and promised to hold its welfare dear to his heart. Dwarves were free to trade without let or hindrance within the Grand Duchy, and the hated food tariffs were abolished. Lastly, many tons of food were shipped directly to Thermopalace for distribution to the starving dwarves. Although initially suspicious of the new human overlord, the dwarves were quick to realize the benefits of human stewardship, and have remained model imperial citizens. As long as they have been allowed to follow their own laws in their lands and buy as much food as possible, they have remained content. Encroachments on their liberties, however, once almost precipitated a Dwarven mutiny, and only the immediate withdrawal of the human demands maintained the peace.</P> <P>The end of the Dwarf War saw the beginning of a new era in the Polyps. The peninsula from the Flumen Albans to the F. Aeolus and from the Gulf of Bhutria to the Sea of Dalrea were under the control of one man, the Grand Duke of Testudopolis. A grand ducal regiment remained posted in the Tachyopolis citadel, and the Grand Duke was steadily chipping away at many of the freedoms gained during the financial crisis and Glorious Revolution. Vespasian worked quietly but efficiently to secure his power. He ensured that the dwarves were loyal directly to him, and raised three dwarven regiments. He asserted direct control of the eastern towns, and installed in them middle class governors who owed him everything and whose loyalty was certain. He further rewarded his governors by raising those who served him best to the nobility. He swore an oath of protection to the Baron of Bharat, and promised to raise him to Duke in return for an oath of fealty. He married the eldest daughter of the Duke of Enli, and succeeded to its throne three years later when the Duke died without further issue.</P> <P>In August of 946 Vespasian I ascended the Grand Ducal throne, direct ruler of three fourths of Polyps. Only the Western Duchies remained free. However, his holdings were too tenuous for active campaigning abroad. Instead, he worked diligently to bind his new kingdom together. He built roads and bridges, and many that he built are still in use. He founded the Imperial Library at Isole, the Wizards College at Trikkala, and the Imperial University in Testudopolis. In Nova Aeolus he established the Imperial Military Academy. To the dwarves he gave the task of improving the lives of the peasants, and they responded by building windmills, waterwheels, an improved plow, and other labor saving devices. He actively courted the Common Council and %0Athe Cortes, and by the end of his reign was granted the title King and Unifier. After twenty years, Vespasian had had enough. His kingdom was knitted together with roads and laws, and the beginnings of tradition. His adopted son, Vespasian II was eager to take the reigns of command, and he was tired of them. He intended to retired to his lavish estates outside of Enli to tend his beloved rose gardens. One last duty called, however, and Vespasian II appointed him ambassador plenipotentiary to the Verslans. He would never see his roses again, for he died negotiating a trade agreement in Noh in 978. </P> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD><A><IMG SRC="../../images/left_h.jpg" ALT="Left End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="32" HEIGHT="116"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../info/info_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/info_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Logistics]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="45" HEIGHT="116" NAME="info"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../game_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/game_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Game Info]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="60" HEIGHT="116" NAME="game"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../misc/misc_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/misc_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Miscellaneous Information]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="62" HEIGHT="116" NAME="misc"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../faq.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/faq_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Frequently Asked Questions]" BORDER="0" WIDTH="58" HEIGHT="116" NAME="faq"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../new.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/new_h_n.jpg" ALT="[What's New]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="52" HEIGHT="116" NAME="whatsNew"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../index.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/home_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Magic Horizons Home Page]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="59" HEIGHT="116" NAME="home"></A></TD> <TD><IMG SRC="../../images/right_h.jpg" ALT="Right End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="22" HEIGHT="116"></TD></TR></TABLE> <P>Problems with the page? 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