[SPOILER] Suryavarman II of Maya - Whosit & Ravus Sol

[Whosit]

Sanibona Whosit

After a much heated discussion with his Number-One-Wife, HIM is now minded to return the city formerly known as DropShortALiter back to you. It was a rash decision based in on your lack of response and an eagerness to get the Fish tile. A better solution would have been to settle where we have now and traded a Worker in return for a Work-Boat.

He is also happy to remove the restrictive clause on the NAP you signed when you accepted to the cease-fire. After all it would be churlish to prevent your Workers improving tiles within your culture if we are to have a land border. You might want to discuss with Nakor/Gaspar about the spread of said culture into what is their sovereign territory.

We do like your city-names, are these Americanisms for being crazy? Although NailShortARealm is a tad confusing. May we suggest the following phrases:

WaveShortAWreck
CardShortADeck
ImABananaTree
NotInThePink
ReallyOutToSea
UnravellingFast
DownWithAFever
NotAFullTicket
DrivinOn3Wheels

All lines taken from "I'm Going Slightly Mad" by Queen

The Work-Boat we have building completes in a couple of turns, so if your Warrior [Clubs Deuce] could head there for the hand-over, we would be most grateful. We will rename the city back to DropShortALiter when he arrives.

We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to both our nations by a simple misunderstanding. Maybe regular messages are the way forward for our future cooperation.

Sobonana

Ambassador GingerEagle
on behalf of His Illustrious Majesty,
Shaka Rex of The Shakirite Empire
[may His hips never lie, may His breasts remain small and humble]

What do you guys think? He still dies?

He still dies.

Heh. But I'll go along with this for now.

Also, new turn to play.

[Whosit]

My reply to GE. Actually responding to him was so horrid, I feel like I need a shower.

GingerEagle,

You make a nice offer, but it is lacking in details.

What is the specific turn on which the Work Boat will be complete? You have already had ample time to whip out a Work Boat.

Clubs Deuce will be adjacent to the borders of the city on Turn 54. Is that the handover date? What do you mean by "handover?" I assume this means that you will give the city back to me via the diplomacy screen, but I want no ambiguity in the matter.

Am I to remain outside of the city's borders, or are you going to offer Open Borders so that I will actually be adjacent to the city?

If you are sincere in this offer, you will kindly fill in these details and not create unnecessary delays.

On the other matter, yes, my city naming schemes are based roughly on a way of calling someone crazy. NailShortARealm would have been NailShortAKingdom if space had allowed, and is a dual reference.

-Whosit

The English/Voetbals have a 5th city now. Distressing.

Wrapping up the turn now, but if this deal actually goes through, then I'll take possession of the city, move some of my troops in, possibly wait a few more turns for some Axemen, then raid and raze his other city. I have absolutely no intention of honoring any deal with GE for the rest of this game. Think of me what you will. It would just be too boring if I didn't make him pay.

On another note, Sandbox and actual gameplay are diverging in unexpected ways still, so I'm not sure how much more useful my sandbox will be, which is upsetting. It's a very useful thing. Mainly, it's that hammers in my cities aren't meeting expected values, which I don't understand, since that's pretty much a constant on any given speed.

Eve/Ning is also being swamped by Barbs. Killed the second one at somewhat risky odds (80%), and a third one popped up. I'll have to keep the next Chariot back to help defend the city, rather than sending it on to fight the good fight.

Event box notes that Confucianism has been founded. That would be worth 12 points, right? Tredje went up 15, so gaining a pop would do that. I think he's been grabbing as many religions as possible.....

Estimate 13-14 hammers invested in something in the city. Why hasn't it grown??? Is he not using the Clam tile for some reason?

Anyway, I guess that's it. I have a picture I'll put up in a bit. Changed my plans around a bit, which may or may not prove troublesome (I basically decided to improve the Sheep at Nail/Realm much earlier, because the city could do with faster growth--just means I won't camp the Ivory as quickly, affecting happy caps elsewhere).

I am slightly sad, though. If this deal goes through, then my stunning message to him as I attack will have less (or more?) impact because it won't have broken the chilly silence I established.

[Whosit]

Had a really weird premonition I'd have an e-mail. Sure enough:

Sanibona Whosit Turn 54 sounds about right. No need for Open Borders, our units will leave the city on that turn [assuming there are no Barbarians lurking] and it will be in a trade box for you to accept when you next play. If there are any unfortunate delays, we will advise you accordingly. Here's to nearly 50 turns of peace, at least. Sobonana Ambassador GingerEagle on behalf of His Illustrious Majesty, Shaka Rex of The Shakirite Empire [may His hips never lie, may His breasts remain small and humble]

Hmm, gee, Mr. Eagle, your math seems a bit off. Do you mean.. 05 turns of peace??????

Now, I'll admit, the smart thing for me to do would probably to use all my newly acquired military to defend my assets as I make up for lost time in expansion. Evacuating the city also means that his troops will be less disperse as they will probably congregate in his other city nearby.

Ngghh... the rational part of my mind is telling me to put this event behind me and just move on. The rest of my mind is telling me to make him pay. And I'm not really sure that my pride can take just letting him waltz out of this. Anyway, still have some time to decide exactly what to do... and I still have yet to see if he's telling the truth.

[T-hawk]

NailShortARealm would have been NailShortAKingdom if space had allowed, and is a dual reference.

It's the parable where for want of a nail, the blacksmith can't shoe the horse, so the messenger cannot ride, so the king doesn't get his message and subsequently loses the kingdom. I don't know the dual reference, unless it's just the name of the site here.

[Whosit]

It's the parable where for want of a nail, the blacksmith can't shoe the horse, so the messenger cannot ride, so the king doesn't get his message and subsequently loses the kingdom. I don't know the dual reference, unless it's just the name of the site here.

Well, that's correct. I mean, it's still a "blank_short_a_blank" insanity reference, which is the other half (even if it's a weak one). I was thinking of the site a bit when I came up with the name, though, but I'm not sure it really has that much meaning.

Unless I get myself banned from the forums for some reason? Well, I might just incur the ire of the more well-mannered diplomats if I continue to pursue my vendetta.

Edit:

almost forgot

we met Kyan this turn & agreed a turn 100 NAP

that means we have such an arrangement with everyone except Tredje, who we have not met ... yet

Useful tidbit. And sure you do.... sure you do.

[Rowain]

He declares war and captures your city to build just 1 workboat and he really thinks anyone believes this?

So yeah stopping military buildup and return to empirebuilding would most likely be the smart move but OTOH I agree with the 'He must pay'-sentiment

[Whosit]

If he returns the city, and I still think that it's an "if", then I may delay his punishment insofar as I will be spending the time to build a military force capable of attacking his core. Rather than attacking his outlying city, it might be more fun to see if I can burn one of his core cities. Would be quite risky, but satisfying if I can pull it off.

I think that I am still proceeding with the attack as scheduled, as a show of force may be necessary:

Sanibona Whosit

Apologies ... looking like it's going to be my turn 55, miscalculation
that the Work-Boat finishes at end of my turn 54.

As a result of the delay, the Quechua are doing a deep clean.

Sobonana

Ambassador GingerEagle
on behalf of His Illustrious Majesty,
Shaka Rex of The Shakirite Empire
[may His hips never lie, may His breasts remain small and humble]

He's not really doing much to reassure me. I just want to get this over with, one way or another.

[Whosit]

Sorry for this crap update. Just been feelin' tired and stuff today.

Short version: GE actually gave the city back as promised. Surprise, surprise. 'Course, that's like 5 more gpt in costs, but I should be able to get a Worker team down there in a few turns and start putting things to right.

I'm back to 4 cities (but I think at least two opponents have 5, if not more), and have 9 Workers, but that's still not enough! I swear, I think that I'm going to need 3 Workers per city or something. Not sure when/where I can crank more out.

Iffy on whether or not I'll still settle city 5. Military is getting costly. Mist suggests I disband some, but I'm not so certain just yet. Got a couple catapults rolling off the lines, and some Axemen in the near future. I still want to pay GE a visit. 'Course... then I'll certainly need the troops.

So... lots of decisions to be made. Need to start laying down some cottages and things like that.

[Whosit]

Sorry... not a full update today, either. It has been, and shall continue to be, a draining week. I'll organize pictures and stuff tomorrow, hopefully.

However, in better and more amusing news: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I may not have had the satisfaction of a War declaration, but this amuses me enough:

GingerEagle,

My condolences. I suppose you should have asked to Open Borders with me. I am curious to know where your crew wound up.

-Whosit
Crazy... Like a Fox!

To explain: GE built his cute little Work Boat and parked it on the fish tile, which at the time was neutral territory. Little did he know that DropShortALiter was only a few turns from popping borders when he conquered it. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to the Work Boat when the borders popped, but I figured it would be bounced... somewhere. And it was!

It's good for a laugh, but I'm also glad, because this means he can't park it on my clams if we go to war again. I am going to build a new Work Boat eventually for just such an occasion. Also, I currently have 75% control of one of his city's 1st ring tiles. Hopefully it'll actually flip to me next turn? It'd be nice to have vision there for a little bit.

I half expect GE to flip out and declare war again, but it won't be so easy for him this time!!!! Maybe I'll build a Work Boat for him when he gains control of the Fish tile? Yeah, that'd be darn nice of me. Of course, I think I'll charge him like 100 gold for it!

Yeah, whatever.

Economy still sucks. Everything still sucks. Costs are getting out of hand, but I'm still going to go for city 5 and the Hanging Gardens. I could nab them on Turn 63, but I need to delay for a turn to get the Settler settled (can't speed it up any more at this point... or can I?). OK, actually, switched Capital over to a Settler (putting Axe on pause). If I make a 3-pop whip next turn (ouch!), I can get the new city settled a turn earlier, and not have to slow the HG at all.

Temple of Artemis fell last turn, BTW. Even if I can land the HG on T63 (currently T58), I'd be really shocked if I get it. I would have had it by now if not for the little war. I'd be surprised if none of my foes grab it from out under my nose. I could probably get it a turn or two faster, but I'd love to see a brand new city get the benefit. It would also help justify the whip, a little bit, but 3-pop still hurts, specially if I miss the wonder.

Anyway, that's my gambit! Wish me luck. Or not. Non-dedi lurkers will already know the future on this one, I think.

Still saving up money for Currency. But soon I'll have 5 cities connected, and I have plans to build a trade route with the Voet-guys for some extra coin. It benefits them, too, but what can ya' do?

So that's about it.

[Rowain]

GES are advanced they discovered beaming .

Would be nice if you can land HG so Good Luck with that.