As Dusk sets over the capital of Frobozz, people start to gather for the nights festivities. With the passing of Ixnay the seconds, the throne of the GUE is again up for grabs. The new leader would be announced tonight. He would be the winner of a free-for-all combat, in which any man of the realm could participate. There were hundreds of contestants this year, and now their only way out was death. There would be no mercy for the throne of the GUE. Only the strongest, and the smartest could survive this trial, that was the person to lead.
As the last rays of sun glistened off the top of the Temple of Frobozz, the gongs were sounded, and the battle was joined. At first the onlookers could barely make heads or tails of the battle, so many warriors were there. Men anywhere from sixteen to eighty could be seen on the field. The lords and wealthy people were there, towering above their opponents, on the horses that only they could afford. Here and there the face and shape of a woman could be made out amongst the throng of men. The night grew long, and the battle slower. Many were already slain, their corpses strewn across the plaza providing additional obstacles for the remaining opponents. Oftentimes now a mortally wounded warrior could be seen using his dying effort to slay their opponent who was to weak to save themselves. A lot of good men were lost that night, but at this time the nation wanted the best there was.
At last, as dawn approached, and the torches were burning low, the only survivors were eyeing each other carefully. There were three of them. One, Ixnay’s son Yanix stood proudly, but tired. His Armour was heavily damaged, and was almost falling off his body. One other, a female by the name of Mercade, although it was impossible to tell she was a female from all the grime of battle upon her. She knelt at one point of the triangle the three formed. And the last was Zorkk the Third. Somehow his horse had survived the night without serious harm, and Zorkk himself still seemed as fresh as the night before. The tension in the air was thick, the people had perked up again, watching quietly, as the future of their nation would be decided soon.
With a quick wink at Mercade, Yanix gave a fierce warcry, and charged Zorkk, quickly followed by her. Zorkk stood staring, unmoving, watching these two come at him. The crowd held it’s breathe, when they were within a few meters of him Zorkk nimbly manouevered his horse out of their way, and they charged past. Now clearly outnumbered, he decided it was time to change the odds. Charging at the pair, Zorkk leaped off at the last second, and his horse veered away. Yanix, unprepared for the move quickly lost his head from Zorkk’s sword. The expression of surprise still on his face as it hit the ground. As for Mercade, she quickly assumed a defensive position and prepared herself.
Zorkk was totally taken with this woman. Still young, he had not taken a wife. No one had met his qualifications yet. But here was a women he thought could make him happy. Someone with the same dreams and ambitions as him, someone he could share himself with. Unknown to him, Mercade was thinking the same thing, but she also thought about the law, which stated that only one could survive, without which she thought she might be able to seduce this man. For what seemed like an eternity those two stood there, watching each other, try to see what each other was thinking. The sun was now fully in the sky, and the stench of the battle was quickly clearing the area of spectators, their weak stomachs not up to the smell.
At long last, Zorkk could stand the waiting no longer. “lady Mercade” he said “I will not kill you, for I believe I fell in love with you, while the sun rose at your back”. Unabashed now that he had spoken, he quickly continued “There you stood, surrounded by light, like an angel come to save me from this night.” At this point Zorkk knelt down on one knee, and spread his arms wide. “Lady Mercade” he announced in his loudest voice “Will you marry me?”. At this a great gasp came from the crowd. Quickly followed by a cacophony of yeses & no’s. The people that were left were very excited now. They certinaly hadn’t seen this coming the night before. All old bets were called off now and new was offered. Will she say yes or no? Odds were in favor of a “no” answer, as most thought this stone cold woman could not be swayed by the words of a man.
“Lord Zorkk” said Mercade loudly, “why is it that you flatter me with words at the end of this long night? I fear I am not an angel come down to save you, but was a demon from hell, bent upon killing all before me.” At this statement the people who bet on a no answer stated to rub their hands gleefully, and were anticipating the killing stroke.
“BUT, I fell in love with you as the sun rose and I saw the full sight of you. There’s something in your eye’s that tells me it’s right” announced Mercade
At this the crowd gave a great cheer!
“YES” she shouted “I will marry you!” and she quickly ran forward to be embraced by Zorkk.
And so began the reign of Zorkk & Mercade. The plaza was quickly cleaned up, and a great wedding planned. By noon everything was ready, and the ceremony began, and off to rule together they went.
Seeing that there were still gaps in their Kingdom, the duo assigned production of a new settler to colonize some more land in the south, to try and head of further Zulu expansion. They also asked the town of Xaxon to hurry it’s temple, so it would be complete next year. Appraising the military situation, it seemed they needed to learn more about the English and surrounding lands.
In 440 our first Immortal unit was finished training, and we quickly sent them on their way to battle in the south. Zorkk & Mercade were adament about expelling the Zulu’s from their Island nation. They also purchased contact with a new civilization, the Aztecs. Who, when contacted were unwilling to trade on any reasonable terms. It seemed our military might needs some work. Also corruption was starting to become a problem with some of the cities down south, so it was determined that Zimora would be the perfect place for their forbidden palace, and work there was shifted. Appraisal of the financial books indicated it was noticed that money was being lost hand over fist. Taxes were increased across the nation.
In the next few years the citizens of Farnvar held an uprising, very unhappy their temple was not yet complete. When asked by the mayor for help, he was advised to offer the people some entertainment. Hopefully they would get back to work soon. All the new military being trained was on it’s way south, and our current forces were waiting for some backup before advancing on New Ishandhlwana.
The Zulu’s must have decided to try to break our siege, and sent out some bowmen. Our forces got them all as soon as they were out from under the protection of the city. Reinforcements, which now counted a new weapon the “catapult”, would be there soon and then we could finally rid our land of the Zulu’s.
In 490 the ruling couple, Zorkk & Mercade, made a tour to all the cities & towns in the GUE. On this tour many projects were hurried to their completions, unfortunately at the loss of many of our people. Our current research was onto a new form of government called “the republic”. It supposedly had something to do about rule by the a majority of the people?? Zorkk & Mercade were mystified. Anything that would help the GUE grow would be useful. It was obvious that they were one of the bottom feeders in the world power struggle, and that needed to be changed.
When the spring of 510 rolled around, the Zulu city of New Ishandhlwana found the GUE forces on it’s front doorstep. With their Advisors our Lord & Lady decided to push ahead and attack, the reinforcements were close enough, and a new city was close to being founded, to help secure the iron deposits under our control. Another group of settlers were bound for the second set of spices, as we figured we would soon need more commodities to trade.
Later on that year, the Zulus landed an expeditionary force of horsemen on our shores near Yidnich. A little concerned upon hearing the news, Zorkk ordered some immortals to the town to help defend, our catapult was also near the site, and would hopefully help contain the Zulu forces. The very next season, with only 1 loss, our forces captured the Zulu town of New Ishandhlawana, and a temple was ordered to be constructed.
In the next year, The glorious GUE Immortal had it’s first encounter. A very close battle indeed. After catching up to the Zulu horsement, the Immortals attacked, and the tide of battle went one way, then the other, until only a few were left, but those few were immortal! Our advisors informed us that we had now entered into a great golden age. There was rejoincing across the land.
After much consultation, and discussion (and bedroom fighting) Zorkk & Mercade finally agreed that they had to take the last Zulu town on their continent. All forces on their way south were so informed, and it was thought that soon our island would be our own again. Along with this, the people, and culture of the GUE had improved so much, our borders increased by themselves in many of our areas. The Zulus were defiantly a thorn in our side though. Their culture was pushing ours down south, and we had some fears about the stability of the area. We thought there would be enough military forces there to hold New Ulundi, if only we could get in the city. Protected by one of their elite units, our forces were a little daunted. Our Archers down there lost the first few battles, but have managed to soften the enemy up, so our reports say, it should only be a matter of time.
In 590 we discovered the secret of The Republic, which we weren’t quite ready for yet. A shame really, because our golden age could use it… If only we could capture New Ulundi. Kazarog was founded also, give us access to more spices. The Zulus, fearful of our approaching catapult we figure, called us up, and wanted to talk. Deciding to give no quarter, we refused to even see their messenger, and send him back to face his punishment. The Bombardment of New Ulundi then began in 610, the catapult crew unfortunately seem to need some practice. Things still works out when we capture New Ulundi, and then called up Shaka, only to discover he wasn’t interested in our peace terms yet. It’s good our galley’s were on their way to transport some troops over. Those Zulu’s need to be taught a lesson.
We bickered with Shaka to try to work out better peace terms, but he’s still unwilling to give us what we want. After discovering currency in 630, we send our ambassador to Queen E, and asked her what she wanted for polytheism… she asked for spices, we asked for some work about another race, the Iroquois, and the French , and offered 28 gold. We shook hands and everyone was happy! Better yet, once our ambassador returned with the information on polytheism, our scientists immediately discovered that one god was better than many, and monotheism became ours. Theology would be next. Oh happy Golden days, let’s see what the French and Iroquois are like…
The Iroquois were polite, but not willing to trade with us, the French on the other hand seemed more than happy to trade us contact with the Americans and Germans PLUS Feudalism for one of our spices. We figured this was a great deal and agreed right away. Unfortunatly, with those two nations we were not able to come to any terms about trading their world maps… guess it will have to wait for now.
As we go into retirement, we leave the GUE well on it’s way to catching up. One of the new galleys has discovered what seems to be another uninhabited island to the east, and we can hopefully colonize it one day. Our military is as follows:
11 Immortals
2 Catapults
19 Spearmen
1 Pikeman (just trained in 640)
9 Archers
1 Warrior
Zorkk
