New Civilizations [OOC | Always Open]

[Islamic Holy Sites]

What was the commonwealth?

[Northern Socialist Council Republics]

What was the commonwealth?

This was the Commonwealth.

Note that I last updated that article before I dropped out of the RP, so it doesn't cover the eventual collapse of the polity, but it should give you a quick overview of what I had built there during my time in this RP.

[Northern Socialist Council Republics]

Also, re-reading my old posts (again, nostalgia...), I came across this.

"I was - well, not a student, call me an enthusiast - of history. I am very keenly aware of what happens to less technologically sophisticated cultures that cannot get their act together against foreign influence. From the torch of Irminsul by the Carolingian Empire to the razing of the Peking Summer Palace, history is littered with stories of cultures being broken and crushed, to be remade in the image of, and for the social, political, and economic benefit of, their more powerful neighbours."

This was written in May 2019. The IC time was 10 years after landing. The First Holsten War was still six years in the future and the Commonwealth hadn't even united Scandinavia yet.

...foreshadowing much, younger me? :p

[Sobeiska]

My first post, having time is hard.

[Northern Socialist Council Republics]

-snip-

Gods... I really hope that, some years in the future once real life stops sapping my strength so, there is going to be another iteration of this RP.

After all, I'm given to understand that this is a 2019 reconceptualisation of several earlier RPs, so it's not a vain hope that there might be another at some point down the line.

okay okay nostalgia trip over I'll stop bothering y'all tonight

[G-Tech Corporation]

-snip-

Gods... I really hope that, some years in the future once real life stops sapping my strength so, there is going to be another iteration of this RP.

After all, I'm given to understand that this is a 2019 reconceptualisation of several earlier RPs, so it's not a vain hope that there might be another at some point down the line.

okay okay nostalgia trip over I'll stop bothering y'all tonight

We did have an interesting variant with people from our future, placed into ~1000 BCE instead of 3000 BCE.

Also, tbf, the Imperium didn't kill the Commonwealth - it wasn't capable of killing the Commonwealth, no matter if any ambition to such an end existed. The Commonwealth committed suicide.

Also also, Oro, China's influence in Taiwan will be strictly nominal at this point. Like, ships get there rarely, not regularly, and certainly Chinese merchants won't have had the time or influence to be ingrained in a meaningful way in terms of statehood. I'm also heartily skeptical of the MPS having weapons to spare to send to random merchants requesting them out in the hinterlands, or indeed acquiescing to such requests - given such requests would normally see weapons disappear into the hands of their enemies, not accomplish a meaningful policy objective.

[Orostan]

Gods... I really hope that, some years in the future once real life stops sapping my strength so, there is going to be another iteration of this RP.

After all, I'm given to understand that this is a 2019 reconceptualisation of several earlier RPs, so it's not a vain hope that there might be another at some point down the line.

okay okay nostalgia trip over I'll stop bothering y'all tonight

We did have an interesting variant with people from our future, placed into ~1000 BCE instead of 3000 BCE.

Also, tbf, the Imperium didn't kill the Commonwealth - it wasn't capable of killing the Commonwealth, no matter if any ambition to such an end existed. The Commonwealth committed suicide.

Also also, Oro, China's influence in Taiwan will be strictly nominal at this point. Like, ships get there rarely, not regularly, and certainly Chinese merchants won't have had the time or influence to be ingrained in a meaningful way in terms of statehood. I'm also heartily skeptical of the MPS having weapons to spare to send to random merchants requesting them out in the hinterlands, or indeed acquiescing to such requests - given such requests would normally see weapons disappear into the hands of their enemies, not accomplish a meaningful policy objective.

Love it when you tell me I can't do a thing after implying that I can do that thing.

[Saxony-Brandenburg]

Do you guys remember if Rialnis’s holy Queen is still alive or did she die too when he fled?

[The Hierophancy]

This was, after all, my 4th or 5th post in the original IC. And it may be hammily written (my experience with writing romantic fiction can be charitably described as 'negligible'), but I'm still quite proud of it.

Tbh me just dropping this RP over the second war with the Imperium instead of scrambling to save Clara and the Commonwealth somehow (I had actually entertained ideas of maybe being a vassal state to the Imperium or something, back then, but decided not to go ahead with it) is actually one of the bigger regrets I have over the past five years. It's just that my offline professional life was going, shall we say, poorly at the time, and G-Tech and Joohan surprising me with a nigh-hopeless war in the IC was not helping with the stress.

I do have fond memories of arguing with G-Tech over steam engine designs while I was, IRL, standing in Science Museum London looking at replicas of some early steam engines. Did a lot of things over there in Britain but the Science Museum and the Nando's chicken are the two things I remember the most.

I always felt like Clara and the Commonwealth were probably some of the more realistic Authors and Civs we got.

And yet they appear to have spoken some variety of indo-e*ropean. curious...

[G-Tech Corporation]

Love it when you tell me I can't do a thing after implying that I can do that thing.

Really, you need to ask specific questions, if you want to do specific things, instead of interpreting statements like "can China trade with Taiwan" to mean "Chinese merchants can bring heavy weapons and armies to Taiwan". The two concepts are not identical.

Mind you, I'm not strictly saying such is impossible. I'm just noting that you won't want to deal with the ramifications of such a decision which I would impose on the YRS if you choose this to be one of her policies. It is my job to ensure the context of your actions is integrated into your decisions, especially where that context is inconvenient.

[Orostan]

Love it when you tell me I can't do a thing after implying that I can do that thing.

Really, you need to ask specific questions, if you want to do specific things, instead of interpreting statements like "can China trade with Taiwan" to mean "Chinese merchants can bring heavy weapons and armies to Taiwan". The two concepts are not identical.

Mind you, I'm not strictly saying such is impossible. I'm just noting that you won't want to deal with the ramifications of such a decision which I would impose on the YRS if you choose this to be one of her policies. It is my job to ensure the context of your actions is integrated into your decisions, especially where that context is inconvenient.

I will just delete all my posts on this subject later. There is no point now.

[Saxony-Brandenburg]

Really, you need to ask specific questions, if you want to do specific things, instead of interpreting statements like "can China trade with Taiwan" to mean "Chinese merchants can bring heavy weapons and armies to Taiwan". The two concepts are not identical.

Mind you, I'm not strictly saying such is impossible. I'm just noting that you won't want to deal with the ramifications of such a decision which I would impose on the YRS if you choose this to be one of her policies. It is my job to ensure the context of your actions is integrated into your decisions, especially where that context is inconvenient.

I will just delete all my posts on this subject later. There is no point now.

Please and thank you.

[Orostan]

I will just delete all my posts on this subject later. There is no point now.

Please and thank you.

There is no need to be an asshole.

[Empire of Techkotal]

Love it when you tell me I can't do a thing after implying that I can do that thing.

Really, you need to ask specific questions, if you want to do specific things, instead of interpreting statements like "can China trade with Taiwan" to mean "Chinese merchants can bring heavy weapons and armies to Taiwan". The two concepts are not identical.

Mind you, I'm not strictly saying such is impossible. I'm just noting that you won't want to deal with the ramifications of such a decision which I would impose on the YRS if you choose this to be one of her policies. It is my job to ensure the context of your actions is integrated into your decisions, especially where that context is inconvenient.

I mean lets make it clear. Europe in the 15th century was poor and lacked many things, which the Chinese had. Because they lacked these commodities, they looked for ways to get them. Their seafaring technologies were miles ahead of the Chinese and they had ships, that could traverse the ocean and that was a recent invention. Not to mention, that the Europeans had ideas(round globe), which supported the idea of exploring the unknown.

The Chinese weren't in that position. They had all they could ever want. Everything outside was regarded as inferior (funnily enough reading through your posts you seem to think the same way). They navigated by maps, which used the coastline not some compass. Sure they could navigate by the stars. But they weren't as advanced yet. Now remember, that is 4500 year into the future. So since you have a degree of economics and know a bit or two about metalworking. I guess you know a bit about ships from seeing them in history books and in museums. This can be used to try yourself with various designs, though it might take several time jumps to get to a point were your ships can get to Taiwan and I wouldn't be surprised, if G doesn't allow you to do so.

Now Navigation is a lot harder. Now imagine being on the open sea. Its a rough sea. Your ship is dangerously close to capsizing and its in a storm. There are no stars visible and the coast is far away. That means you maps are useless and your depended on the wind. Honestly at this point just hope that you survive. Lets say everything calmed down and you are now officially lost on the open sea. Your maps are useless and I highly doubt you have a compass. Correct me if he has one G-Tech. Even if you had a compass it would be useless in such a situation. And know what, how will you find your way back. How will you survive, never mind exploring uncharted territory.

At this point your sailors can't go on and you must try to go back. If you get to Taiwan then by accident and not as a planned action. If you hear about Taiwan its the same. So my advice just wait for either Grace to start sailing around with ships or wait for another author who has different skills then you to develop the necessary technology for you. You can then adopt them and here you go now your way to Taiwan could be open. Its only completely up to chance if you actually find it.

So just wait Oro. I mean is that so hard to understand and don't think you have to wait to long. We have an author around Hong Kong who has just the skills you need. Now if she does indeed come up with an idea of how to navigate with using the north star and a compass and using European style maps. Your sailors might adept them or she might give them to you or you might try to steal them. But until that happens you have to wait for at least another time skip and in that time you shouldn't scare away the only author with the necessary skills.

[Suriyanakhon]

At this point your sailors can't go on and you must try to go back. If you get to Taiwan then by accident and not as a planned action. If you hear about Taiwan its the same. So my advice just wait for either Grace to start sailing around with ships or wait for another author who has different skills then you to develop the necessary technology for you. You can then adopt them and here you go now your way to Taiwan could be open. Its only completely up to chance if you actually find it.

My plan is for Grace to eventually start sailing to the Philippines and eventually make it to Indonesia, I doubt that she'll ever head back toward East Asia because of her experience in the region and the fact that the two great powers there want to execute her.

[Islamic Holy Sites]

At this point your sailors can't go on and you must try to go back. If you get to Taiwan then by accident and not as a planned action. If you hear about Taiwan its the same. So my advice just wait for either Grace to start sailing around with ships or wait for another author who has different skills then you to develop the necessary technology for you. You can then adopt them and here you go now your way to Taiwan could be open. Its only completely up to chance if you actually find it.

My plan is for Grace to eventually start sailing to the Philippines and eventually make it to Indonesia, I doubt that she'll ever head back toward East Asia because of her experience in the region and the fact that the two great powers there want to execute her.

My plan is to set up a network of cities and/or towns with ideologically similar ideals to Ali. Hopefully will make a religion as well.

[Orostan]

Really, you need to ask specific questions, if you want to do specific things, instead of interpreting statements like "can China trade with Taiwan" to mean "Chinese merchants can bring heavy weapons and armies to Taiwan". The two concepts are not identical.

Mind you, I'm not strictly saying such is impossible. I'm just noting that you won't want to deal with the ramifications of such a decision which I would impose on the YRS if you choose this to be one of her policies. It is my job to ensure the context of your actions is integrated into your decisions, especially where that context is inconvenient.

I mean lets make it clear. Europe in the 15th century was poor and lacked many things, which the Chinese had. Because they lacked these commodities, they looked for ways to get them. Their seafaring technologies were miles ahead of the Chinese and they had ships, that could traverse the ocean and that was a recent invention. Not to mention, that the Europeans had ideas(round globe), which supported the idea of exploring the unknown.

The Chinese weren't in that position. They had all they could ever want. Everything outside was regarded as inferior (funnily enough reading through your posts you seem to think the same way). They navigated by maps, which used the coastline not some compass. Sure they could navigate by the stars. But they weren't as advanced yet. Now remember, that is 4500 year into the future. So since you have a degree of economics and know a bit or two about metalworking. I guess you know a bit about ships from seeing them in history books and in museums. This can be used to try yourself with various designs, though it might take several time jumps to get to a point were your ships can get to Taiwan and I wouldn't be surprised, if G doesn't allow you to do so.

Now Navigation is a lot harder. Now imagine being on the open sea. Its a rough sea. Your ship is dangerously close to capsizing and its in a storm. There are no stars visible and the coast is far away. That means you maps are useless and your depended on the wind. Honestly at this point just hope that you survive. Lets say everything calmed down and you are now officially lost on the open sea. Your maps are useless and I highly doubt you have a compass. Correct me if he has one G-Tech. Even if you had a compass it would be useless in such a situation. And know what, how will you find your way back. How will you survive, never mind exploring uncharted territory.

At this point your sailors can't go on and you must try to go back. If you get to Taiwan then by accident and not as a planned action. If you hear about Taiwan its the same. So my advice just wait for either Grace to start sailing around with ships or wait for another author who has different skills then you to develop the necessary technology for you. You can then adopt them and here you go now your way to Taiwan could be open. Its only completely up to chance if you actually find it.

So just wait Oro. I mean is that so hard to understand and don't think you have to wait to long. We have an author around Hong Kong who has just the skills you need. Now if she does indeed come up with an idea of how to navigate with using the north star and a compass and using European style maps. Your sailors might adept them or she might give them to you or you might try to steal them. But until that happens you have to wait for at least another time skip and in that time you shouldn't scare away the only author with the necessary skills.

1 - I do have compasses and I can navigate by stars If needed. There is no reason why I would be bad at seafaring, especially when China has a huge incentive to find sources of metals outside its borders.

2 - The closest settlement I have to Taiwan is on the mainland slightly more than 100 miles away. This is not an impossible distance to sail. There is no reason why I should not be able to frequently visit Taiwan, but I'm tired of having to deal with G-Tech telling me I can do things and then changing his mind later.

At this point your sailors can't go on and you must try to go back. If you get to Taiwan then by accident and not as a planned action. If you hear about Taiwan its the same. So my advice just wait for either Grace to start sailing around with ships or wait for another author who has different skills then you to develop the necessary technology for you. You can then adopt them and here you go now your way to Taiwan could be open. Its only completely up to chance if you actually find it.

My plan is for Grace to eventually start sailing to the Philippines and eventually make it to Indonesia, I doubt that she'll ever head back toward East Asia because of her experience in the region and the fact that the two great powers there want to execute her.

I will probably leave you alone and post less frequent summary style posts.

[Saxony-Brandenburg]

My plan is for Grace to eventually start sailing to the Philippines and eventually make it to Indonesia, I doubt that she'll ever head back toward East Asia because of her experience in the region and the fact that the two great powers there want to execute her.

My plan is to set up a network of cities and/or towns with ideologically similar ideals to Ali. Hopefully will make a religion as well.

Religion fights are always fun

[Islamic Holy Sites]

My plan is to set up a network of cities and/or towns with ideologically similar ideals to Ali. Hopefully will make a religion as well.

Religion fights are always fun

No deity in this one. Might try and convert other authors. (Btw, Ali has amnesia. Maybe a sideffect of time travel)

[Suriyanakhon]

My plan is to set up a network of cities and/or towns with ideologically similar ideals to Ali. Hopefully will make a religion as well.

Religion fights are always fun

Will convert to whichever of your religions offers me the best carpet discounts.

[Saxony-Brandenburg]

Religion fights are always fun

No deity in this one. Might try and convert other authors. (Btw, Ali has amnesia. Maybe a sideffect of time travel)

Another foreign faith which denies the gods. When will people learn that to desecrate the lords of earth only leads to destruction?

[Islamic Holy Sites]

No deity in this one. Might try and convert other authors. (Btw, Ali has amnesia. Maybe a sideffect of time travel)

Another foreign faith which denies the gods. When will people learn that to desecrate the lords of earth only leads to destruction?

Destruction is fun

Religion fights are always fun

Will convert to whichever of your religions offers me the best carpet discounts.

Two fish for a carpet, once we get a weaver

[Empire of Techkotal]

1 - I do have compasses and I can navigate by stars If needed. There is no reason why I would be bad at seafaring, especially when China has a huge incentive to find sources of metals outside its borders.

2 - The closest settlement I have to Taiwan is on the mainland slightly more than 100 miles away. This is not an impossible distance to sail. There is no reason why I should not be able to frequently visit Taiwan, but I'm tired of having to deal with G-Tech telling me I can do things and then changing his mind later.

1. Great you have a compass, but you have no idea how to navigate using the stars unless you can tell me the formula without looking it up. If you can tell me the formula and show it with an example like using a paint map and using lines and other stuff to show the mathematics behind it, then I'm willing to shut up, but if you are honest and you have no idea about then just leave it be. Don't think your people are able to do it, because seafaring using stars is in the grand scheme of things something relatively recent. If we were around 1000 BC I would say maybe, but right now there is no way unless your skill list contains the necessary skill and you would then still have to teach your people that skill. So just forget about star maps. About the thing of you being not bad at seafaring. Well there is no reason for you to be good at it. Not to mention, that your people are not know to be a leading seafaring people during this time. So just scale it back ok. You are similar to the Maya, Aztecs and Inca. You are a great power on land and you know about metallurgy, which I remind you not everyone knows, but you suck at seafaring.

2. You know that 100 miles is a lot. May I remind you, about the fact that someone wanted a civ in Madagascar, but it hasn't been settled yet because the people, that lived next to it sucked a seafaring. Now surely they needed more stuff and valuables and they might have tried to get them. But they didn't know of their being land right next to them. The same went for Europeans. We needed more then we had, but nobody wanted to sail over the edge of the world just because some crazy lunatic like you said he comes from the future and there is land across the ocean.
If I told you there is a lot of money to be made, if you jump into a black hole, would you do it? I guess not and the same applies to your people. So just stick to the one theme your civilization is good (metals and creating a ridiculously over sized state) and make them bad at seafaring. You wont have problems with G if you do and you wont have problems with anyone else. Think about it you are not an omnipotent god.

Your state is maybe big, but the amount of people you can spare for big projects is small. I saw a number of 800.000 people for your empire. It doesn't sound all to bad and is plausible. Now comes the thing there might be only around 80.000 or 40.000 people who live in cities(if we say that around 10-5% of your population live in cities, this might be more or less but just use it as a rule for now). Of them maybe only 2-4 k can be used for anything special unless you want to end up like China or the Soviet Union (extremely corrupt and inefficient).

I mean many are children, women and elderly. So the number might easily be reduced to 40.000-20.000 people who can work. They then again will work in administrative posts(taking you system into account that might be another thousand or more), as smiths, in mines (and seeing the amount of weapons and other metal tools you produce) which would easily amount to 1.000-2.000 people in mines, generally probably around another 10.000-to 5-000 craftsman, then a few thousand workers for construction and other hard labor tasks and lets not forget the army, which in your case is massive and might with soldiers and all the logistics behind an army take the rest of your people away. I mean yeah you might have around a thousand merchants (most of them are relatively poor and don't own a ship, lets just say that owning one ship makes you already extremely rich). Who go around with their sons and guards, but the number of sailors you have, who aren't fishers is tiny.

I guess you have 1.000 sailors. Now that means you could have less then one hundred ships. That is a lot. Don't think this number is small. During this time sea going trade ships are rare. If we look at evidence in Egypt and other sites across the Mediterranean then a nation might only have a few dozens of ships and that is in a few thousand years. These ships will mostly trade alongside your coastline and bring in good fortune for their owners unless they sink, which is a devastating loss, because building a ship for the sea is incredibly expensive. Even if you hadn't fought a war against all your neighbors (which impoverished your countryside and will give you population problems for at least 20 years) your state might only be capable of sustaining a fleet of around 50 additional ships. Unless of course you would have a great explanation in terms of industry how you could maintain a bigger fleet. But you haven't. If you lose a ship, then consider that it takes several years from the tree being felled to the ship being finished and in your case with your strained resources it might take even longer.

So to finish it up. You have few ships. They are incredibly expensive. You could compare their cost and maintenance cost to the cost of our modern warships to think about how much they cost back then (not to mention they are apart form metallurgy the most high tech thing which is around right now).
After understanding this. I think you will be more reluctant to throw away ships trying to find an island, which might bring you nothing. As a tip just focus for your next post about your state on land and do so until the next time skip. You have to rebuild yourself and you can use it for character progression. In the meantime your people should recover from the war. I mean you could still try to make new posts about a new ship from time to time and show, that your people are becoming experienced sailors and that they are slowly starting to use your ideas of navigation and implementing them. With time other civs would start to improve to, which in turn once they and you (note you being the best, the strongest, the smartest might spoil the fun for others) start to get into contact would revolutionize everything. There would be an exchange of knowledge and you could finally do all those things you couldn't before. So as I said previously just wait for the others and give everything time to develop. It wont just jump into existence, because you told them to do it.

Now I apologize for these massive texts, but there are to many things to consider.

[Empire of Techkotal]

My plan is for Grace to eventually start sailing to the Philippines and eventually make it to Indonesia, I doubt that she'll ever head back toward East Asia because of her experience in the region and the fact that the two great powers there want to execute her.

I doubt I will every try building a ship before there comes a time skip. I mean we are in a similar position. We both have no power, but your character knows how to gain power, how to stay in power and has already realized some of the truth in this world.
So I will spend sometime in this village adjusting to my new peculiar position. Then go into a city and maybe advise their leader and help them with their organization (a drought might help me gain power) and management of resources. Afterwards I would just spend time building up my power and making allies. Eventually overtaking the city and staring to force other cities and their surrounding lands into the same position, which would probably take place during a time skip.
So even if you go to Indonesia I might only really start sending ships out after two time skips. I mean I would like to control a lot of the land next to the two rivers in Thailand after the first time skip and after a brief time of civil unrest and plots expand towards modern day Singapore. Afterwards I'm open to pretty much everything. Since I would have enough to write about (mainly civil unrest, rebellions and coups, heck might be called game of chief). And no matter how successful you are, there will always be power hungry people like us authors who will crave our power and position.

[The Hierophancy]

1 - I do have compasses and I can navigate by stars If needed. There is no reason why I would be bad at seafaring, especially when China has a huge incentive to find sources of metals outside its borders.

2 - The closest settlement I have to Taiwan is on the mainland slightly more than 100 miles away. This is not an impossible distance to sail. There is no reason why I should not be able to frequently visit Taiwan, but I'm tired of having to deal with G-Tech telling me I can do things and then changing his mind later.

~snip~

I really doubt sailing to Taiwan would be that that immense of an issue at this moment. Irl right about now inrp is when the peoples of Taiwan are starting one of the largest and most impressive seaborne migrations in history and those peoples - who probably migrated from Fujian to begin with - irl were rn maintaining ethnic, cultural and economic connection with the mainland. I would think that means regular crossing between them.