Well, they certainly have become the elite both inside and outside the capital. But our society isn't feudal. Outside the cities, people are mainly pastoral nomads, or (mainly in the north) slash-and-burn farmers. The leaders of these tribes are the noyans. There isn't a feudal hierarchy where these owe allegiance to a king or something like that. Since our society is very mobile, I imagine that land ownership also isn't really a thing outside city walls. But it's up to the players to determine how our society should look like, and there may be a chance to change things soon.
We are about to invent the tech "Law Code" sonif anyone wants to do an omake of what Mongol law should be like, feel free to do that
[X] Military Reform. If we research Stirrup, Code of Laws, Politics and Armour Crafting, we will get access to armored swordsmen and cavalry - units that are much stronger and better suited to take out archers than our current army.
[Shinekhot]
-[X] Defense. Shinekhot can fortify their settlement.
-[X] Culture.
-[X] Growth. Happiness, food, health and epidemic resistance. Our main problem is happiness - expecially in Beidu - and we need research to get new happiness buildings.
-[X] Production. Industry that helps the city construct buildings and train soldiers faster.
-[X] Order should be to finish current building, Get some walls, then focus on Cheap Growth and Production buildings, when we got enough production focus on more expeincive long term options. Get Health and happiness buildings as needed. Or when finished with with any cheap production buildings. E: Building a culture building so borders will expand to get the clam and fish.
My goal is to get some basic defenses for Rollplay reasons (The settlement was rebuilt over the burned down remain of the old one so we need to build some walls so it doesn't happen again), Then focus on Upping production, So In future turn I can have it focus on boat building. Looking at the map it looks like the water resource is getting worked on by the boat.
[X] Military Reform. If we research Stirrup, Code of Laws, Politics and Armour Crafting, we will get access to armored swordsmen and cavalry - units that are much stronger and better suited to take out archers than our current army.
[Shinekhot]
-[X] Defense. Shinekhot can fortify their settlement.
-[X] Growth. Happiness, food, health and epidemic resistance. Our main problem is happiness - expecially in Beidu - and we need research to get new happiness buildings.
-[X] Production. Industry that helps the city construct buildings and train soldiers faster.
-[X] Order should be to finish current building, Get some walls, then focus on Cheap Growth and Production buildings, when we got enough production focus on more expeincive long term options. Get Health and happiness buildings as needed. Or when finished with with any cheap production buildings.
My goal is to get some basic defenses for Rollplay reasons (The settlement was rebuilt over the burned down remain of the old one so we need to build some walls so it doesn't happen again), Then focus on Upping production, So In future turn I can have it focus on boat building. Looking at the map it looks like the water resource is getting worked on by the boat.
Just my two cents but if you can, you might want to build a bit of culture as soon as possible in order to get the clam and fish rolling and get a huge food bonus. You already have the pearls, but those mostly provide gold (and happiness) which is not that useful to a budding city.
Since I have some time on my hands, I'm gonna try an omake of Mongol Law. Any suggestions from anyone? I'm thinking of really focusing on Clans since that's what our society is based around.
Since I have some time on my hands, I'm gonna try an omake of Mongol Law. Any suggestions from anyone? I'm thinking of really focusing on Clans since that's what our society is based around.
The Sparsebeard Clan would probably petition to enshrine into law the obligation for each noble family to contribute to the defense of the realm either through levies or contributions in kind.
1. If a Man steals another's object(s), then their clan must pay 10 times the value of the stolen object to the original owner and must return the object if possible.
2. If a Man assaults anyone else for a non-justifiable reason, they will be flogged 30 times with the lash and their Clan must provide restitution to the victim. If the injuries inflicted are extremely debilitating, lifelong crippling, and/or results in death, the assaulter will be executed. Their clan have a massive debt to the victim's clan that must be paid off.
3. If a Man commits fraud with their products or currency. They shall pay restitution to the victim three times higher than the amount they were promising to the victim.
4. The Noble Clans must protect their people and the realm to the best of their ability whether that be giving steeds or raising levies.
5. These Laws apply to everybody, be they the highest of Nobles or the lowest of commoners.
6. The Noble Clans must be obeyed however if they abuse their authority, the Clan shall be demoted and another Clan be promoted to their place.
Note - All I got for now, I'll add more as I see fit. Suggestions for new laws will help a lot.
260 BC: End of an Era
Ögedei could barely believe his own eyes as he rode into the city square along with his clansmen, fires blazing all around him as the once great city was reduced to rubble. He got off his horse and bent down to pick up the shortsword of a Frankish warrior who had succumbed to his wounds. Leaf-shaped, cast in bronze and heavy as a rock. This would serve nicely as a trophy. He stuck it into his belt and looked around. To think that this city once rivalled Bulan and Beidu in greatness! Centuries of war had taken its toll on the Franks. The once impressive library and palace flanking the open space were in a sorry state, even though the encroaching flames still hadn't touched them. In the last five centuries - with a few long breaks - the Franks had fought a long and protracted war with the Mongols, a war that they had been slowly losing. But it wasn't until the reforms of the armies in the 300s that the Mongolians had actually become able to take Frankish strongholds.
The reforms were made possible by two technological inventions - iron smithing and stirrups. Apart from being armed with cheaper and better weapons, the cavalry - both traditional mounted archers as well as heavy armored keshiks - received much better training than they used to and the stirrup made them able to move more freely in the saddle. A new siege tactic had also been developed. First, the Mongols would bombard the stronghold with catapults to break down defensive walls. Then, the cavalry would soften the enemy with hit-and-run attacks. Finally, while the defenders were busy warding off the cavalry, the infantry would march forth and overwhelm them. Over the course of a few years, this had finally allowed the Mongols to conquer their age-old nemesis.
The fighting had also taken its toll on the Mongolian nation. Huge amounts of resources and wealth had been invested in the great war machine. The Mongol host was composed mainly of Bulanese warriors under the leadership of the Sparsebeards, who were now calling for other clans to contribute more to the defense of the realm. While Beidu had only contributed with a smaller contingent of warriors, it had contributed - and was still contributing - with war taxes, Beidunese proponents argued, and the same was the case with other cities and clans. Many merchants and civilians were concerned with the heavy cost of maintaining such a great army. This, as well as the cost of the addition of the Frankish capital to the Mongol empire were issues that would have to be resolved.
The expense titled "Unit Supply" will fall away when our armies have returned to our territory - they are currently in the field which costs quite a bit.
With the fall of the Franks, there were no longer anyone left in the known world to truly challenge the power of the Mongolian noyans. However, occasionally merchants from distant lands would arrive to sell their exotic wares in the trade ports of Julfad and Bulan. These aliens were all thought to hail from the extreme northern part of the world. Greatest of them all were the Maghrebi, who were pious worshippers of their One True God. Their city is said to be greater than Beidu and their army even larger than that of Bulan. The most capable merchants were the Rurikids, who came to Julfad selling exotic wine, even though the locals were skeptical. And the Romans, who were by far the friendliest of the northern peoples. The nearest of the northern peoples were said to be the Koreans, who lived somewhere to the northwest of Francia. Next to nothing is known of the Majapahit and the Icelanders who are therefore thought to live really far away.
To the south were the Chola, Achaemenids and Peloponnesians, who were all friendly towards the Mongols. To the southeast were the Poles, who were a bit less cordial. The southerners are generally thought of as barbarian and weak, always squabbling among themselves and raiding each other.
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I'm not ready for new build orders yet, but now would be a good time to discuss our foreign policy moving forward, as well as what to do with our military units (I'm not sure who commands them, is it the noyans of Beidu or the Sparsebeards? Perhaps you could clear that up as well). We also need someone to rule the recently seized Frankish capital (and rename it if they want).
We need to spend a lot of work making our empire make more money to allow for a faster research speed. If we think we are able to easily do so however, Fez must fall. Our 2 coasts are disconnected. Fez would work as a canal city to connect the 2 sides. It is also a nice defensive position.
Assuming the army is strong enough, it might be possible to take Fez and Marrakesh in 15 turns. However, this will be a huge drain on the economy, and may leave us open to an Achaemenid surprise attack if the army gets worn down too much.
The other option is to disband the weaker parts of the army, and focus on building Tours and Shinekhot back up, and possibly also get into creating a navy to explore a bit.
Lets not get into a war right now and focus on trade and peace. We should disband our weaker units and build our newly taken cities then get a navy. In short, everything @HousePet said. Building up our income and advancing in the tech for a while sound great. I don't want to give our military to the Sparsebeards given that they're only one clan and that would boost their power far too much. So I think the military is commanded by the nearby Noyan or the Noyan of the city they come from.
We need to spend a lot of work making our empire make more money to allow for a faster research speed. If we think we are able to easily do so however, Fez must fall. Our 2 coasts are disconnected. Fez would work as a canal city to connect the 2 sides. It is also a nice defensive position.
Assuming the army is strong enough, it might be possible to take Fez and Marrakesh in 15 turns. However, this will be a huge drain on the economy, and may leave us open to an Achaemenid surprise attack if the army gets worn down too much.
The other option is to disband the weaker parts of the army, and focus on building Tours and Shinekhot back up, and possibly also get into creating a navy to explore a bit.
We have a treaty allowing us to go through Fez with our ships or troops. The problem is the poles blocading the waters, if any one has to go in the south, it's them. Not sure if we want to strike yet though, people are weary from the war.
As long as we keep good relations with the subservant barbarians to the south they provide us with trade and passage for our troops. @Emilovic any opportunities to trade for ressources with our friends to the south?
I think our armies are not such a drain that we need to disband them. Rather, I think that every ruling clan should send their some youths to the capital to serve as officers in our great army and ensure that all are represented in our great horde. Rather than disbanding our forces, we should be wary of weakening ourselves. Remember that the last war against the Franks was them attacking us. While there was a feud between our nations, we are mighty and others might seek to bring us down, better safe than sorry. Let's grow our economy and our cities and the cost of maintaining our forces will appear puny. Our research is still doing fine thanks to the efforts of the Great Colonies : Beidu, Julfad, Shinekhot and soon to be renamed Tours. Now the Capital too might turn it's efforts to growth and research or perhaps even build a wonder in honor of the great victory over our ancestral enemy the Franks.
Also, I'd send another grea wave of explorers and diplomat try and map even more of the world. Perhap former war heroes and great ships can be sent in all directions wtih the goal to see what the world has to offer!
I believe those are the Koreans and they seem to have founded Islam, which then spread to the Magraebi... the only nation stronger than us. If we could take their holy city and appropriate their faith... well, it's food for thought but would require a great navy.
Lets not get into a war right now and focus on trade and peace. We should disband our weaker units and build our newly taken cities then get a navy. In short, everything @HousePet said. Building up our income and advancing in the tech for a while sound great. I don't want to give our military to the Sparsebeards given that they're only one clan and that would boost their power far too much. So I think the military is commanded by the nearby Noyan or the Noyan of the city they come from.
I assure you we the Sparsebeard have no treatcherous designs. However, we could as I mentionned have the youths of all clans serve as officiers and generals for the armies so that if any one clan has a design our our institutions, they would be cut down presto by their lieutenants.
I Believe we should focus on the economy. However not by disbanding units(unless they would need like 2 or more upgrades to be up to date), We should improve our techniques (research). We can take the slight drain to our coffers for now. @Emilovic , I would like my cities Tech vote to be for economy and growth focus. (It wont do anything but for the roleplay I would like my clan advocating for that).
There are plenty of resources in the South, but the nations there are small and relatively undeveloped so there actually aren't any trade deals to be made to the south. In the uncharted north, the Rurikids wish to sell us wine (+1 happiness if we build taverns) and the Maghrebi will trade deer (+1 health, but also +0.5% epidemic risk). Furthermore, the Maghrebi have invented maps and are willing to sell us maps of the northern lands for 60 gold.
I assure you we the Sparsebeard have no treatcherous designs. However, we could as I mentionned have the youths of all clans serve as officiers and generals for the armies so that if any one clan has a design our our institutions, they would be cut down presto by their lieutenants.
Since this is essentially an invitation for provincial nobles to join the officer ranks of the capital's own military, I don't think this needs a vote. It could be represented by an option for a majority of the other clans to veto the actions of the capital's forces if they disagree with them. If you accept this implementation @Sparsebeard ?
More cities makes for increased costs. We already have a great defensive choke point, and the nations to the south are mostly weak and relatively friendly. Plus, war on Fez would cut us from trade to the south for a bit and aggravate all of the southern nations.
Buy the maps :
[X]Aye
Collection of Lore is a might of it's own. A bit of gold is a low price to pay to learn more about the mystical north.
As for ressources trades, I'd take them if we have the ressources to do so.
Since this is essentially an invitation for provincial nobles to join the officer ranks of the capital's own military, I don't think this needs a vote. It could be represented by an option for a majority of the other clans to veto the actions of the capital's forces if they disagree with them. If you accept this implementation @Sparsebeard ?
That would be a good implementation, I think. I'd perhaps add the right for any clan that has at least one unit (or ship) in the Nation's Horde to bring a resolution during wars that the majority can vote on! So that any clan that contributes to the defense and enlargement of the realm might have their say in military matters.
So basicly, we'd have two kind of forces, local guarrisons and a huge centralized army!
I would want to take Fez for the chock point, However for fez to really be usefull we need to take Izmir, Which I dont think we can take yet, Because we dont have a Strong navy (I think we might have 1 or 2 scout boats).
I would support the war If we only take Fez, If we had economy and Stuff I would aprove of Trying to take all. However after the last war I feel like If we take fez we need to Stay and hold there for Long enouhg to Build up new infistructure in the captial.
Basically I would be fine with the war If We dont need to build new units after taking fez.
I would want to take Fez for the chock point, However for fez to really be usefull we need to take Izmir, Which I dont think we can take yet, Because we dont have a Strong navy (I think we might have 1 or 2 scout boats).
I would support the war If we only take Fez, If we had economy and Stuff I would aprove of Trying to take all. However after the last war I feel like If we take fez we need to Stay and hold there for Long enouhg to Build up new infistructure in the captial.
Basically I would be fine with the war If We dont need to build new units after taking fez.
Personally I want to take Izmir, Since thats stopping us from getting our ships to Fez. The Main Reason why I was thinking to take fez, is that It would open up the route to be able to take over the Southern continent. So if we're going for A conquest victory or just Securing Our continent, then Taking over Fez while we are so much stronger then them would be the play. (Unless we just out tech them enough).
Basically I would only want Fez if we are going to take over the rest of the southern continent because Fez is a good chock point for either side (On the ground front).
For the same reasons as Sparsebeard. Also, I don't want to go straight into another war after we just finished. Let's focus on improvement, tech, culture, and stuff before we go conquering again.
I would want to take Fez for the chock point, However for fez to really be usefull we need to take Izmir, Which I dont think we can take yet, Because we dont have a Strong navy (I think we might have 1 or 2 scout boats).
260 BC: The Parisian Scrolls
The fall of Tours to the far north was a real eye-opener for the Mongol world. Initially, some clan leaders proposed to continue the conquests by launching an attack on the Chola, however most wanted peace after a long and protracted war, so nothing came of this. But with the last Frankish stronghold out of the way, the road northwards laid wide open for trade and new contacts. While trade remained very scant in these early years, it seems that knowledge spread very fast down along the coastal trade routes. This was furthered by the recent invention of paper by the Maghrebi, which allowed information to be written down, easily transported and stored. Most significantly, the prestigious great academy of medicine in Beidu purchased a collection of texts from the library of the Maghrebi capital. These became known as the Parisian Scrolls in honour of their home city. The Parisian Scrolls were a collection of mainly geographical content that described the world known to the Maghrebi at the time.
The Maghrebi saw the world much different than the Mongols did at this time. Rather than one single landmass stretching from North to South, the world of the Maghrebi was circular and divided into two hemispheres - East and West. The two hemispheres were separated by a great ocean - the Middle Sea - and they themselves lived on a great island in the northern part of the eastern hemisphere. Their greatest city was Paris, a huge metropolis by those days' standard. The city's harbour was flanked by a titanic bronze statue on the one side and an even greater lighthouse stretching into the sky on the other. The city had several thousands more inhabitants than Beidu.
The Maghrebi soil was not particularly bountiful when worked with the plough, but its true potential was revealed when worked with the mining pick. The wealth of Paris was certainly to be found in its abundant supply of gold, iron and copper. On the more sparsely populated southern coast of Maghreb, a great wall spanning hundreds of miles had been erected to keep out Franks, Koreans and other foreigners.
To the south, between Maghreb and the northern lands of the Mongols, which was still known to the Maghrebi as Faransa after the Franks, was the land of the Koreans and their holy city of Tagdemt. The city of the Koreans was by no means a big city, but it was the site where the great prophet had lived his sacred life and received the word of God himself, according to the northerners. Its many golden domes and spires were certain to convince any foreign non-believer of the might of this deity.
The western hemisphere was characterized by three great promontories; one covered in frozen mountains, one covered in sand and one covered with lush forests. The greatest nations there were the Rurikids, whose domain stretched across the inland behind the two northernmost promontories, and the Romans who lived in the lush forests of the South. No Maghrebi merchant had ever gone further than the Roman capital of Antium.
In between the two hemispheres was a great, uninhabited island which nobody had ever bothered to settle. It was thought that the lofty mountains on this island were the ones holding up the firmament, like a tent pole in the middle of a tent.
However, news of these strange foreign lands were not the only thing that spread to Mongolia at this time. Worship of the God of the northerners had for some time been popular among merchants in Julfad, for whom it was practical to follow the same customs as their northern trade partners, and the religion was slowly spreading to the nomad clans of the surrounding Salt Plains. The scholars of the great academy in Beidu were quick to warn against this new tendency however - they foretold great calamity if the people of Beidu were to ever deviate from their ancient practises. Trade and prosperity would suffer, they said, and the plague would return to punish them for becoming impure. Other influential leaders perhaps saw the religion as a potential means to better control the populace....
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A foreign religion has spread to Julfad! It doesn't have to be identical to any real world religion in our portrayal of it here on the thread, but it is a monotheist faith that prohibits alcohol and mandates that people frequently pay their respect to their God in temples . Making it our state religion would immediately grant us +1 culture and +1 happiness in Julfad, and the ability to build temples (+2 happiness, +1 culture, +1 trade route, -1 gold) and bigger temples (+3 happiness, +50% culture, -1 gold) as well as some wonders and holy warriors further down the road. The religion also spreads with conquest. However, it would mean that we would have to abandon our traditional ways, which means -2 health and +3% disease risk. This is only a real problem in Beidu though. Furthermore, it makes Slash-and-burn-farming less effective, which means there is a significant commerce and production hit for Beidu (-5 gold, -5 production in Beidu), so it is not so far off after all that the scholars foresee doom if we convert.
If we choose to convert, we have three options regarding how to organize our religion:
Independent religion: Religious affairs are overseen by a caste of priests who are independent of state institutions. Therefore, we don't need to build schools for missionaries and can train them right away. It also gives +20% culture. This is the way religion is organized in the holy land, Tagdemt.
Civil religion: Religious affairs are handled by state officials (clan leaders). +25% construction speed for all buildings in cities of our faith and +25% espionage.
Militant religion: Religion is closely tied with the military and war against non-believers is a holy cause. +10% unit production in cities of our faith, foreign religions will not spread to our lands, +2 experience to new units and -10% research, -20% culture.
Single clans can convert for roleplay reasons without it having any in-game effect.
If we do convert I think I prefer the Civil religion version. However I'm not really sold on it. But I dont know how good this religion is for civ 4. (I'm not sure what culture actually does in civ 4, but that +50% looks really good if its as important as 6. Then I would be 100% up for Converting, but if its like 5, then I would be more of a dice flip)
My Clan is definitely converting, we've all been looking for a religion to deal with happiness and this seems good. I'm voting for conversion and Civil religion for how to organize it. I was torn between indie and Civil. Militant religion just seems bad, it slows down our research and culture for benefits that aren't that good. I'm going for the Civil Religion version because the big temples we can build with 25% con speed that give us 50% culture more than makes up for losing out the 20% culture and missionary training without schools that come with Independent Religion. Also the espionage bonus is really nice, this will give us much more info on our neighbors and we can better judge whether to go to war or not.
