Colonialisation (Turns)

This page contains all 28 turns of Colonialisation.

Turn 1: 1500 to 1504

Salve Regina, Motet for 4 parts - Josquin des Prez

Music of 1504

Political map of Turn 1

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35584021&viewfull=1#post35584021

Events of the years 1500 to 1504 - Ecological:

-The native life of Hispaniola are decimated increasingly by Europeans, with African grasses slowly outgrowing American plants, and the surviving ones being eaten by livestock.
-This has begun to spread to more islands of the Caribbean.
-Dysentery from an Irish seaman spreads into a native village located in Newfoundland, however due to the sparse population on the island it does not spread far and only kills a few dozen at most.
-Rats and cats start to spread on Newfoundland and Ontario, but the cold weather limits their activities.

Events of the years 1500 to 1504 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-The reigning monarch Henry 7th, seeks to establish a stronger hold in the Americas, having heard of the exploits of Columbus in the West Indies. He gives support to a explorer to go down the coast.
-A private company is established in Dublin by a variety of investors having heard of the exploits of other explorers.

Mr. Face - English Crown Colony

-At some expense, 7 ships are acquired and set out from Bristol. The trip is aided somewhat by English and Norwegian fishermen along with Cabots earlier explorations. The route followed is towards Newfoundland, with reports the area is rich in cod.
-Despite the existence of trained longbowmen, and some crossbows, some matchlock arquebuses are obtained for the trip. They prove notoriously unreliable weapons and make people question the military prowess of the colonel in charge.
-Exploration up and down the Northeast coast is conducted, and some tribes are inevitably met. Due to earlier contact with English fishermen the natives are not surprised, and help provide some navigational directions and trade sparingly.
-Much good land has already been taken up by natives, and a few sparing attempts are made at setting up several camps. All but one of them in Newfoundland fails due to lack of knowledge of the area and supplies.
-The Newfoundland settlement clings onto life, and the King expresses interest in developing this further as the cod in the area has proved bountiful. Usual crops are poor in yields, prompting investment into cod fishing.
-An Irish exploration convoy is met, and after some trade is conducted a sickly Irish crew member is taken in.
-Some natives try to attack an exploration attempt (In modern day Boston). The natives are driven off by arquebuses, terrified by the weapon. The camp made nearby is abandoned when the residents catch syphilis.

Ven Kaeo - Helical Medicinal Solutions

-After several words are invented and chosen for the name of the company, a large portion of the English pale decides to invest into this company, seeing that the monarch in England is likewise encouraging exploration.
-Support is requested from the crown to set up a colony, and an act of parliament is passed allowing them to set up a colony in the Newfoundland area.
-Several ships set out towards Newfoundland, shortly after the English colony leaves. The convoy discovers the mouth of the St Lawrence river, and names it the St Patrick river for discovering it on St. Patrick's feast day.
-Exploration is conducted along the river, and a temporary camp is established in what is now Southern Ontario. The settlement is ruined when the winter weather forces the inhabitants to leave, for many of them spent much of their time looking for gold and opium rather than planting crops.
-On the way back for more supplies, a crew member called cccritical with dysentery is left in the English colony in Newfoundland for treatment.
-The natives offer medicinal knowledge and plants in return for various trinkets, these are gladly accepted. The most viable plant is one that when burned and inhaled, produces a pleasurable effect. The natives warn that this should not be overused, or else it damage the soul.
-The convoy returns to Ireland, bringing a variety of curious artifacts from the New World, with the company back home having collected enough funds and people to organize a proper settlement attempt.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Companhia das Quinas Americanas is set up by a collection of investors wishing to make some money off the recently discovered Brazil.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-Several exploration and trading fleets arrive at the Brazilian coastline, and begin to pick up on the work done by several earlier explorers.
-Native tribes are contacted, and some rudimentary trading links are set up. The Portuguese are quite friendly towards the natives, and begin to sell them various manufactured goods and trinkets in return for a variety of interesting goods.
-The only real viable trade good discovered is brazilwood, which luckily is in high demand and abundant in Brazil. Exports begin to gradually increase and start to make the company wealthy.
-Many explorers begin to live with and interact with the natives, leading to a fruitful exchange of information.
-A permanent trading post is established on the Potengi River. -Investors are bemused by some native plants and animals that return (Most dying on the voyage).

Kingdom of Spain

-The Spanish continue to explore the New World, with Christopher Columbus making his final voyage.
-The city of Nueva Cádiz is founded on the island of Cubagua, Venezuela and it is shortly followed by the founding by Alonso de Ojeda of Santa Cruz in present day Guajira peninsula.
-On the coast of present day Colombia, near the Gulf of Urabá, Spanish explorers led by Vasco Núñez de Balboa explore and conquer the area near the Atrato River.
-Orchards begin to be set up in the Spanish colonies.

Kingdom of France

-Pretty much nothing happens with regards to colonial enterprises, but some explorers do go out to see the big fuss going on overseas.

Turn 2: 1504 to 1508

Spinacino intabulation of La Stanghetta (G. van Weerbecke)

Music of 1508

Political map of Turn 2

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35586039&viewfull=1#post35586039

Events of the years 1504 to 1508 - Ecological:

-French and Spanish influence in the Caribbean has begun to greatly change the ecology of the lands, and the Arawak population is taking a severe battering as their way of life vanishes.
-The Portuguese trading posts have begun to slowly push back the forests as demand gradually increases. Marshy soils begin to dry out and streams form as the forests are cleared. A native group is forced to move 200 metres inland after the land there can no longer support their method of farming.
-The introduction of the bee to North America has caused pollination to dramatically increase, and plant growth to accelerate.
-Smallpox has begun to decimate tribes throughout the Northeast of North America, the abandoned villages are soon rapidly overgrown with help from pollinating bees.
-Measles has begun to spread throughout Uruguay, very slowly however due to the low population.
-Livestock have begun to spread throughout Uruguay, and although a number are hunted by natives in the area, they maintain their existence.

Events of the years 1504 to 1508 - Players:

Kingdom of England

Mr. Face - English Crown Colony

-Exports of fish begin to gradually increase, as the Canadian coasts prove very bountiful. Colonists begin to immigrate to take advantage of this, and already existing Fishermen begin to stay in Newfoundland rather than returning home.
-Longbows, Crossbows and more arquebuses are purchased and brought to the colony in Newfoundland. However some of these weapons are not really used, and are instead sold to some natives.
-Salt begins to be imported over at considerable expense, and some fishermen decide to make their own salt cheaply by boiling seawater over a fire.
-Cod and clam fishing is invested into by the fishers, but attempts at lobster proves pointless. There is no demand for the lobster, and the lobster is ground up to make fertilizer for the colonial vegetable patches.
-Trade with the natives continue, the Algonkian tribes particularly favor the manufactured goods and clam shells. One oddity is that an Irish brooch is shown to an English trader in the area.
-Smallpox spreads to the English colony, and subsequently into Newfoundland.
-With colonists coming in, and natives dying, the entire island is claimed entirely for England.

Ven Kaeo - Helical Medicinal Solutions

-Assistance is requested from the crown for colonial enterprises, but is rejected. The Crown is too busy managing their own colony in Newfoundland.
-A new convoy sets out, and after a while eventually sail down the St Patrick river and set up a colony at what is now Toronto. They name it New Dublin.
-Trading and exploration parties set out to acquire various resources. Some return with a new thing in their arms. Others return with a tomahawk in their skulls.
-The colony quickly starts to build an earthen palisade after this incident.
-The natives show the colonists how to produce maple syrup, and production of the sweet substance begins.
-A native raid occurs after a explorer was caught stealing tobacco plant seeds. When the natives are dispatched, one of them is found to have a Welsh Longbow in their possession.
-Curious new things trickle into Ireland, such as a sugary brown syrup, and some tobacco. After some try out the syrup, they become hooked and demand that imports begin immediately.
-Bees are brought to the colony to set up honey production, due to honey being a preservative and a desired commodity like sugar. The bees however escape from captivity and begin to breed and spread throughout the area.
-Smallpox spreads to a native group, and within a year the disease is spreading like wildfire. New Dublin begins to struggle in this alien landscape.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The natives brought over are observed to be “Drinking smoke” from a pipe in the manner that Arabs do with Opium or Cannabis. Several of the nobility are entranced by this addictive substance and demand that a regular supply be set up.
-Sugar demand begins to increase, with the African coastal islands already producing it to be insufficient and malaria ridden for Europeans to use.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-A family of natives is brought to Lisbon by the trading company to see life in Europe. Unfortunately 5 of the 7 people brought die by the end of the experience, due to various diseases and the 2 remaining ones are brought back to the colony.
-Attempts to make furniture out of brazilwood begins, but then the manufactory producing it finds that musical instruments are much better suited to this, and swap to making that.
-Exploration continues northwards along the coast, with valuable new information gained and trade contacts set up. brazilwood production begins to slowly increase.
-The trading post grows into a proper settlement, and begins to permanently remove forest and plant the ground with European style crops. Sugar is planted due to the favorable climate.
-Exploration up the Potengi river continues, and several more trading posts ranging from 10 to 60 persons per post are established.
-An offer is made to the English to sell them brazilwood in return for salted fish. The trade is quite successful, and the Portuguese colonies in Brazil now have Canadian fish making up part of their diet.

Kingdom of Spain

-San Sebastian de Urabá is founded by the Spanish, and they further consolidate their hold on their new world colonies.
-Christopher Columbus dies, wealthy and a religious fanatic unsatisfied by never finding Asia.
-The Arawak populations begin to collapse due to disease and war, and a labor shortage begins to gradually emerge in the Spanish colonies.

Kingdom of France

-A company is set up in Honfleur, appealing to merchants and nobility for exploration and investment into the New World. Some Genoese Bankers gladly back the idea, remembering Columbus.
-The French King, seeing the example of the English and of the private company, decides to set up his own colonies.

Ruskie - French Crown Colony

-Various nobles and the King decide to fund the colonial enterprise, partly to annoy the Spanish even more.
-A convoy sets out to the new world to set up a colony, heading south down the coast away from most other activities in the new continent.
-The convoy arrives at modern day Montevideo in Uruguay. There is a lack of native tribes in the area, but the ones met by the French are quite hostile. A military fort is constructed to protect the French.
-The relative isolation of the fort means it struggles on the edge of existence. The convoy maintains a desperate supply line back to Europe.
-Some cattle unfortunately escape along with some horses during a native raid. The French stuck inside their fort are unable to do much about the situation. The native tribes in the area are however forced to stop the attacks after disease catches among them and relieves the French.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-The company sets off for the Caribbean, and lands on an island previously discovered but unsettled by the Spanish. Puerto Rico is claimed by the French and named Jean-Baptiste.
-A small military fort and trading post is established on the island, the natives are slightly hostile but later willing to trade finding out that the company could be a potential ally against Spain.
-A diplomatic outrage ensues, inflamed by the situation in Italy. France refuses to give up their claims in the New World, and the plans for the league of Cambrai collapse.
-The Spanish demand the French leave Puerto Rico.

Turn 3: 1508 to 1512

Arnolt Schlick "Wer gnad durch klaff" (1512) Rómulo Vega-González

Music of 1512

Political map of Turn 3

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35592848&viewfull=1#post35592848

Events of the years 1508 to 1512 - Ecological and misc:

-The Wheellock pistol is invented, possibly in Germany.
-Emigration to the new world has started to increase massively at the end of this time.
-The outbreaks of Smallpox, Measles, etc begin to ruin North America. Communities are destroyed within weeks and the resulting vacuum leads to political and civil collapse. The survivors manage to scrape a living and recover, but the annual burning of forests once traditional starts to come to a close.
-Forests in North America, aided by the introduction of the bee and lack of burning causes forests to rapidly regrow and many abandoned settlements are lost in the thick woods.
-Escaped mammals from the settlers in North America flourish in this new landscape, and cause further damage to the ecology of the land. Pigs especially, for the tuckahoe which the natives need in times of famine are readily consumed by the swine.
-By 1512, the Tarascan empire has begun to suffer from the disease.
-The Caribbean societies continue to decline steadily, the Arawak population of Hispaniola has declined to under 50,000. A tenth of what it was 20 years ago.
-The pasture lands of Uruguay are now awash with European mammals, the diseases introduced have driven off most natives, and the animals continue to breed. Some natives have begun to capture these animals and utilize them for their own purposes.
-The planting of tobacco has begun to suck nutrients from the soil in Recife, leaving the ground to be only good for wheat planting and pasture in crop rotation. The demand for land to plant tobacco has begun to push the colonists gradually inland, following the stumps of the brazilwood trees.

Events of the years 1508 to 1512 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-Henry 7th dies, and his son Henry 8th ascends to the throne. With the war of the League of Cambrai ongoing, he takes declares war on France to expand his holdings. He hears of the success of the colonies, and demands that they export more exotic goods to show the wealth of the country.

Mr. Face - English Crown Colony

-Support is drummed up in the villages of England to provide colonists for the Newfoundland fisheries. A number comes from malaria prone areas, but due to the cool climate in Newfoundland the disease does not yet spread.
-Collaboration with the Irish company begins, and trading between the two colonies begins in earnest. Fish is sold to the Irish in return for goods such as tobacco or maple syrup. The inevitable addiction drives demand ever higher.
-A small exploration group is sent to Maine, they collect information on the area and winter in one of the bays before returning. A native settlement was discovered, but it had been abandoned for several years and was clearly overgrown.
-Cod fishing increases ever higher as the seas seem to have endless quantities of the fish. Fishing villages spring up on the Newfoundland coasts, and a shipbuilding industry is forced to emerge in order to repair and build the fishing boats.
-Fur trading starts to increase in popularity as well, with some colonists trading manufactured goods for furs.

Ven Kaeo - Helical Medicinal Solutions

-Colonists are recruited from the Irish villages, and now from Scottish ones too. The Scottish monarch begins to collaborate with the company in return for imports of the goods from the new world.
-Drinking “Tobacco smoke” becomes popular in Dublin, as the craze begins to spread across Europe. In response, the company starts to plant tobacco plantations in Ontario for export.
-Exploration of the great lakes continue, but the ongoing smallpox epidemic makes the explorers wary of venturing inland.
-The colonists try desperately to treat the smallpox, but despite all their medical knowledge it is little better than letting them die.
-The apiary starts to expand and to produce honey, but the wax is prized much more.
-The company demands that potatoes, maize, wheat, rice and cotton be planted. Whilst African rice and wheat is planted, nobody knows what the hell potatoes or maize is, the company is informed cotton cannot grow there due to the climate.
-A trading post is set up on the St Patrick river, which boats stop at on their way from and to New Dublin, the natives start trading here in small numbers.
-New Dublin now has several hundred residents, and despite disease and malnutrition and cold winters, the colony gradually grows. The natives offer little resistance as they fall to diseases brought by the mostly Gaelic immigrants.
-Maple syrup begins to be exported to Ireland under the name “Dublin Slick”.
-The Irish people begin to jump onto the colony bandwagon, along with the Scots.
-Fur trading starts to increase in popularity as well, with some colonists trading manufactured goods for furs.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Tobacco smoke drinking becomes popular in Lisbon, and the habit spreads to Spain from there.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-Brazilwood production begins to steadily increase, with dyes and musical instruments made from the wood proving especially popular exports. Rivers are explored along the coasts and scouted for suitable locations for trading posts.
-As the population begins to gradually increase with harvesting of wood, the colonists begin to slowly push the natives inland.
-To keep relations with the natives, salted cod is given to them as gifts. They enjoy it, but losing their homes and land proves to be a displeasurable nonetheless.
-Sugar plantations begin to be set up and are extremely productive, but there is an acute labor shortage that effectively makes them useless. The natives are unwilling to work of their own free will on the plantations, and there are too few settlers willing to work in sugar production.
-Tobacco planting begins, and exports begin to trickle back to Portugal. The Nobility crave even more, and the habit has now spread to even more people. The increase in demand forces the sugar plantations to be abandoned due to the bigger profits made from tobacco.
-With profits clearly noted, investors rush to put their money into the company.

Kingdom of Spain

-Tobacco smoke drinking becomes popular, prompting tobacco plantations to be set up in the colonies.
-The Board of Navigators meet in Burgos and state the need to colonize the mainland, which is entrusted to Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa as governors subordinated to the governor of Hispaniola.
-A colony is established on the easternmost point of Cuba.
-African slaves begin to be imported into the colonies by the Spanish, which has begun to alleviate the labor shortage.

Kingdom of France

-The Italian wars break out again, and the Pope formally gets rid of the Treaty of Tordesillas in return for French assistance. With this, any Catholic power is now legally able to colonize in the New World. Despite this, relations break down anyways and the French ally with the Venetians.

Ruskie - French Crown Colony

-The king provides a small number of troops to help hold the fort, instructing the colonel to claim the land before the Spanish do.
-The army in the fort start to explore outside, driving away natives with ease due to the flat plains that permit rapid movement, clear fire and a good view.
-There are few trees to exploit for building purposes, limiting construction and expansion. The reproduction of trees and their spread is too slow for European purposes.
-Agriculture does fairly well however, with the extensive pasture proving excellent for rearing livestock. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses and a multitude of other animals do well here.
-The military force marches from village to village, killing the inhabitants, raping the women, taking some into slavery, and stealing anything of note.
-The slaves are used to help tend the farms around the fort, and by 1512 the fort finally becomes self sufficient. A shantytown grows around it composed mainly of natives that survive slavery and disease.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-A number of colonists are brought over to bolster existing numbers, and to establish a new colony in Northern Venezuela.
-The Venezuelan colony is established, but Spanish and native raids begin in the area, making it difficult to survive there, especially with the chronic labor shortage.
-The governor of the colony of Jean Baptiste orders an armed convoy this time composing of several ships outfitted with heavy culverins, when an Spanish raid is attempted a Franco-Arawak alliance manages to drive off the Spanish. A counter attack stops a supply ship and subsequently cannibalizes it.
-Various trading goods are sold to the natives in return for knowledge and farming techniques with new crops and existing ones on the island.
-Sugar planting begins on Jean Baptiste, but the natives or Europeans are mostly unwilling to work in this back breaking enterprise. The climate is noted to be good, but there is far too little spare labor able to maintain the plantations.
-An uneasy peace is established as one of the treaties of the War of the League of Cambrai. France is to be allowed to colonize on the condition that they do not go any further west than Hispaniola.

Turn 4: 1512 to 1516

Political map of Turn 4

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35599119&viewfull=1#post35599119

Music of 1516 (Josquin des Prez, El Grillo): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvurnomhvVU

Events of the years 1512 to 1516 - Ecological and misc:

-Thomas More publishes Utopia.
-By 1516, smallpox and measles has spread throughout most of North America, Mesoamerica and now the areas of South America that has been in contact with Europeans. The death toll is truly staggering, and settlements throughout all of the Americas are now being abandoned.
-The Earthworm has arrived in Recife, brought by tobacco ships dumping out soil ballast.
-The honeybee is spreading throughout North America, aiding the regrowth of forests massively.
-The Thames river freezes over in 1514, prompting a fair to be held on the frozen ice.
-Glaciers in the Swiss Alps are noted to have begun growing by the inhabitants, and a local bishop is requested to perform a blessing to prevent it from growing further.
-The Arawak populations in the Greater Antilles has halved again, and the islands are becoming increasingly desolate places.
-The increase of forested areas in the New World is blamed mostly on the humble honeybee, the problem with the increase of plant cover being more carbon dioxide is being sucked from the atmosphere.
-A slave ship becomes infected with Malaria, but the infected slaves are thrown overboard before it becomes a great issue.

Events of the years 1512 to 1516 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-Scotland invades England, but is severely crushed at the Battle of Flodden, English and Scottish relations sour as a result immensely.

Mr. Face - English Crown Colony

-Concerned about malaria, infected people are discouraged from coming. Symptoms of the disease can lie dormant for a long time however, and a number still get sick in the New World. Quarantine is used instead, which helps to slow the diseases progress down.
-More sturdy ships are chosen for voyages instead, and at some expense the caravels are slowly replaced by carracks, which in turn become increasingly larger and better suited as shipyards start working on the new vessels.
-A colony is set up in Maine, which sets about to the business of fishing. By 1516 both colonies have grown large enough to warrant the creation of a colonial military force and the colonel is granted status as governor of the colonies of Newfoundland.
-Cod fishing is halted to prevent overfishing, but most ignore this request due to the relative abundance in the seas compared to European fish stocks.
-Natives are contacted again to try and pry information from them and as potential trading partners.

Ven Kaeo - Helical Medicinal Solutions

-More colonists are recruited from the Irish and Scots, but increasing diplomatic pressure forces the King to ban Scottish colonists.
-More tobacco is planted, which unfortunately exhausts the soil after enough time. The colonists push further inland to compensate as the colony grows.
-Corq grows from a trading post into a collection of hamlets scattered along the St Patrick river, taking advantage of declining native populations.
-Attempts at planting beans, squash, onions, peppers and peas are met with mixed success. Some of these plants do not exist, whilst others die due to the cold climate.
-Attempts at potato cultivation fail, due to nobody knowing what the hell they are.
-Maple plantations increase in size to continue exports of Dublin slick, it becoming popular to have mixed with beer whilst smoking a pipe.
-Apple orchards begin to be set up too, with cider produced with intention for export. Most cider ends up drunken by English fishermen in Newfoundland.
-The apiary’s continue to produce plentiful amounts of honey and wax.
-The colony does extremely well for the most part, but this year the crops mature slightly later than usual.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Tobacco smoke drinking has spread to most people in Portugal, driving prices extremely high. The crown decides to start taxing this commodity and says that any attacks on their tobacco convoys will be met with extreme hostility.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-With good profits from exported goods, wages for the colonists are increased. A number are convinced to work on the sugar plantations, but the great majority still clamor for the vastly more profitable tobacco.
-Doctors are hired and brought over to the colonies to help tend to the colonists and prevent illnesses. Some of the medical supplies are purchased from the Irish.
-Coastal exploration continues, but explorers become wary after the natives are noted to have smallpox and measles.
-Brazilwood production collapses after the natives are incapacitated by smallpox. Sugar production is shortly affected too along with tobacco.
-Despite the death toll, more colonists flock to the new settlements, grabbing land that natives used to hold before the disease killed them. The population increase warrants the expansion and construction of fortifications.
-New colonies are set up with the profits. One colony is established north of the French Kings colony, and another in Suriname.
-The company tries to be friendly towards natives, but disease is severely hampering diplomacy.
-With the natives dead, and existing tobacco fields exhausted, the colonists push inland, leaving the old tobacco fields to be used as pasture.
-Due to most investment in expansion, coupled with disease, the profit increase is negligible this year.

Kingdom of Spain

-A new company is set up in Spain to take advantage of affairs in the New World. Investors rush to put money into the company as interest in the bizarre continent grows.
-A few Venetian privateers sail to the Caribbean, and start to raid Spanish and French coastal villages.
-French shipping is now declared to be fair game by the Spanish King for attack, despite peace treaties in Europe.
-In 1516, Charles the 5th is crowned. He is ruler of Spanish, Habsburg and Burgundian possessions.
-Vasco Núñez de Balboa crosses Panama and becomes the first European to see the Pacific Ocean, he wisely claims all of the lands that the ocean touched for Spain.
-Florida is discovered and partially explored.
-Orange orchards in Hispaniola die out, and Santo Domingo is abandoned after fire ants overrun the colony.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-The company sets sail immediately for West Africa, and after arriving in Arguin manage to strike up a deal with the local rulers. Aequebuses will be sold to them in return for a large number of slaves and some exotic animals.
-The King grants Cuba to the company for use, with the company setting up their headquarters there. The colonists start to plant tobacco and some sugar around the colony.
-The arrival of slaves and some indentured servants prove to be immensely successful in sugar and tobacco cultivation, with fair exports of the goods back home to Spain.
-The declining Arawak population is given gifts in the form of textiles, and are treated fairly.
-Despite this, the population continues to decline from disease and raids from other colonies.
-With tobacco and sugar proving to grow well, and slaves arriving from Africa to tend the crops, a vast number of ships are chartered by the company to start importing slaves.

Kingdom of France

-A few Venetian privateers sail to the Caribbean, and start to raid Spanish and French coastal villages.
-Spanish shipping is now declared to be fair game by the French King for attack, despite peace treaties in Europe.
-He then dies, and is replaced by his son Francis 1st.

Ruskie - French Crown Colony

-The colony asks the French King to send construction materials for the colony, and he obliges, wishing to expand his influence there to counter the efforts of the Habsburgs.
-With the construction supplies, the fort grows into a proper colonial town, focused mostly on rearing livestock. Most of the colonists consist of shepherds and cattle ranchers.
-The war against the natives continue, although the army is unable to win decisive battles it manages to drive them off for limited periods of time. They return to raid, with which the French respond by building outpost towers on the tops of hills filled with crossbowmen.
-A second colony is established further north, but is little more than a glorified collection of barracks and cottages with sheep and cattle roaming about.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-A mercenary company, consisting mostly of veterans from the Italian wars are hired and shipped to Venezuela to protect the colony. The increasing tension in the area as new colonies appear has lead to raids becoming increasingly common.
-Jean Baptiste is expanded massively, with a second fort wall built around the original and a port set up. The increasing population and trade in the area forces greater pressure on the native groups.
-The French begin to raid native villages in Venezuela, capturing the natives and shipping them to Jean Baptiste to work in sugar plantations. By 1516 the island is the most productive in sugar, but the mortality rate is atrocious.
-Captured Spanish are ransomed by the colony, and in retaliation the Spanish attack Jean Baptiste. They are driven back eventually, and the Spanish decide to send some of the Royal navy over to seize the island.

Turn 5: 1516 to 1520

Che Farala, Che Dirala - Vincenzo Capirola - Lute

Music of 1520

Political map of Turn 5

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35618165&viewfull=1#post35618165

Events of the years 1516 to 1520 - Ecological and misc:

-Martin Luther publishes his 95 Theses. The Protestant reformation kicks off. (The broadcast is shitstorm.)
-European merchants begin to trade with Chinese ones for the first time.
-The treaty of London is signed between all major European nations, partly to curtail the growing Ottoman Empire.
-Pigs wreak further mayhem in the New World, eating many tubers and plants relied on by the remaining natives. They grow immensely fat and although keep the Irish (And later English who discover packs of feral pigs) fed they worsen the natives situation.
-The Aztec empire becomes incredibly weak due to disease, the arrival of the Spanish pushing it to the brink.
-The forests have recovered hugely across the New World in a frenzy of photosynthesis, once open grasslands become forests, and the forests become impenetrable.
-Tobacco begins to become less productive in Canada as the climate cools down, along with other crops. The colonists compensate by tilling even more land.
-Oak and Hickory, aided by the bumblee, muscle aside Loblolly, Longleaf and Slash Pine, the latter plants needing annual fires to keep reproducing are now moving towards dying out.
-Animals once hunted now flourish, some aided by the new mammals that provide food sources.
-Other animals are unable to adapt and begin to die out or migrate.
-As the temperature begins to gradually decline, Hemlock, Spruce and Beech trees begin to spread southwards or increase in existing areas.
-Natives begin to increasingly tame, domesticate and use horses, resulting in an arms race between the surviving tribes to rush for horses (And guns.)
-Snowy winters become more common, cooler Mays and Junes have begun to slowly push back French wine harvests.
-Copious rain alternating with cold drought has begun to worsen in China, leading to fears that the harvests will be affected badly by this. The Ming dynasty compensates by introducing pre-emptive rationing.
-Malaria and Yellow fever has been introduced to the Greater and Lesser Antilles. This final disease outbreak finishes off the last organized Arawak peoples, the survivors becoming weak victims for European raids. By 1520 their population has declined to 20,000 in the entire Caribbean.
-Malaria is most common in areas with stagnant pools of water, hot temperatures and thick or recently cleared vegetation. Poor ventilation and humidity exacerbate this.
-The presence of sugary reside in pots scattered around sugar mills allows for bacteria that Mosquito larvae feed on to rapidly grow.
-Half of all immigrants to the Caribbean are now African slaves, with the trade in Africa becoming increasingly common.

Goods in demand:

New World: Manufactured goods, guns, horses, slaves.
Europe: Tobacco, Sugar, precious metals, salted fish, spices, porcelain, silk.
Africa: Manufactured goods, guns.
Asia: Precious metals, tobacco, sugar.

Events of the years 1516 to 1520 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-The Treaty of London is signed, bringing temporary peace to Europe.
-Scotland becomes beset by political instability after the death of their king, increasing tensions with England mean an increase in border raids.
-With increasingly unruliness of the subjects of Wales and Ireland, the King sets about discussing with his ministers on how to best tame these borderlands.

Mr. Face - English Crown Colony

-Ports have grown to the extent that trading of more than fish occurs in Newfoundland, markets become more regular and taxation becomes viable as bartering gives way to monetary trade.
-Newfoundland is now the best site for maintaining and building of sea vessels in North America, given that most of the population is engaged in the fishing industry and supporting industries.
-Feral livestock is discovered in Maine by various colonists, and subsequently captured for use.
-Several explorers are sent around the cape towards what is now called Peru. A large number are forced to turn back (or perish) due to the long trip. However one ship manages to contact some villages of the Inca empire in (what is now) Chile.
-A little trading takes place, with the Incas deciding to amuse the English by showing them a temple that appeared to be made literally of gold. Inside is a golden field with golden maize crops and people. Some gold is gifted to the greedy bastards who return back home talking excitedly about the discovery.
-Henry the 8th jumps on the idea that the English have discovered the cities of gold told of in legends, and orders a significant portion of the royal navy and army to be sent to this land. (The name Biru is mistakenly given as the name, for that word in the language of some local natives referred to the direction to travel to the land of gold, and not the name of the land itself.
-Existing colonies in Newfoundland and Maine continue to grow extensively, and have now begun to build ships for Irish colonists. Fishermen begin to push onto the uninhabited islands nearby the coast, due in part to increasing trade opportunities that can be gained from passing Irish vessels.
-The potato plant is discovered by the explorers, but incorrect preparation of the tuber leads the explorers to believe that it is poisonous.

Ven Kaeo - Helical Medicinal Solutions

-Scottish people are still shipped over to the colonies without the company giving a second thought. -Henry 8th demands this stops, and heavily fines the company after a public trial. A local magistrate of Belfast is found guilty of corruption and is executed.
-New Dublin forms a legislative assembly to help to manage the growing colony. It meets on June 30th 1520. It is the first of its kind in the New World.
-Slaves are imported for the first time from Africa, but are given some wages and treated quite nicely relative to other slaves. A number still die from various causes, but help with the slowly growing labor problem. It still cannot compete on the scale of the French or Spanish colonies however, especially as Tobacco yields begin to gradually decrease.
-To solve this problem, more tobacco is planted and more slaves imported. Their conditions begin to gradually decline as the task of looking after them becomes increasingly bothersome.
-Cows, Pigs and sheep are imported. Some inevitably escape. The pigs are the only ones to really survive and proliferate anyways.
-Deforestation begins, but progress is slow due to the labor being divided up between farming, building, defense, etc.
-A shipyard is set up, but produces ships very slowly and of a limited size. The required production facilities for shipbuilding do not yet exist, and demand is quite low at the amount for Europe produces ships much more cheaply, even then, Newfoundland is the main shipbuilder and maintainer in the New World, where the Irish go to repair or buy ships.
-Agricultural produce from the colony is sold to the Newfoundland colony in return for salted fish, this is very much appreciated by both parties.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Various members of the clergy, nobility and common populace start to protest against the tobacco addiction striking the country. Profits from it are too high however, and complaints are ignored as they have been for centuries. What chance is there of tobacco causing serious harm?
-African colonies by this stage are mostly trading posts or sugar plantations ridden with malaria, traders and explorers still struggle to push on eastwards to maintain trade with the east.
-The King of Portugal states that the current possessions of Portugal in the New World (Brazil), will now be patrolled by the navy to discourage French colonization.
-A new company is set up by a group of investors wishing to cash in the New World craze.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The company begins to publicize the New World, citing profit returns as much as 1000% for tobacco growers. People continue to flock to the new world.
-A labor shortage is noted as increasing. The indentured servants once relied on have begun to gain their freedoms and pay for their own servants, the result is that although immigration is steadily increasing even more, a labor shortage will result in the future.
-Wages for sugar planters increase, and a number of laborers work the sugar mills now. These mills however cannot compete very well with the Spanish or French ones.
-Expansion occurs at a good rate, and by 1520 the French and Portuguese colonies in Uruguay have begun to trade between themselves. There is some arguments over the borders however as both parties seek to claim even more land.
-Trading posts are set up along the coast from Southern Brazil to Suriname, the focus on trying to grab the coast however has resulted in a very sparse distribution of trading posts, a number of which are abandoned due to logistical problems.
-Doctors attempt to help treat the natives with their illnesses, but smallpox and measles is still poorly understood by medical science of the time. Deaths continue to climb.

asantos3 - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-The company initially set up has decided to sail for the Pacific ocean told of by Spanish explorers.
-The convoy trip is awfully long and dangerous, and stays clear of South and Mesoamerica.
-Eventually in October 1519, after several attempts to round the cape of Magellan a colony is established at the southern tip of Baja California at La Paz.
-The investors demand that talks open with the Spanish to allow Portuguese colonists to pass over Panama.
-Some livestock is brought over, but most of it is eaten due to severe hunger suffered by the long trip.
-Some slaves are also brought, likewise many die on the voyage.
-The fort established at La Paz clings onto existence, with supplies greatly limited and most colonists favoring other colonies for the greater safety.
-The rest of the peninsula is explored, but colonists are restricted from leaving the colony.
-The Tarascan empire is contacted along with some native tribes, with them barely tolerating the presence of the foreigners.
-Attempts to contact pirates fail, for there are none on the Pacific coast.

Kingdom of Spain

-Magellan leaves Spain to circumnavigate the world.
-Hernan Cortes arrives in Mexico and marches into the heart of the Aztec Empire.
-Panama City is founded.
-Armed Spanish patrols begin to move around the southern Caribbean, supposedly protecting Spanish trade but in reality trying to raid French ships.
-The first pirates appear in the Caribbean when a Spanish Carrack mutinies and chucks their unpopular captain overboard. Instead of working for the French they raid both and winter up in Maine in an English fishing village.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-The king is asked to assist in colonial matters in Cuba, with the company offering various exotic goods from Africa, The New world and unrestricted military access. He gladly accepts and starts to invest into the company, followed by a large number of Genoese bankers.
-The Spanish royal navy is (mostly) diverted from French matters to assist with the company setting up in Cuba.
-The Spanish colonists eagerly begin to deforest the land, plant tobacco and sugar, and set up mines and quarries. Output is initially low, but begins to gradually improve with the importation of African slaves.
-Exploration begins to map out Florida and Jamaica along with the rest of Cuba, attempting to find good locations to set up ports and harbors. And brothels.
-A sugar mill and rum distillery is constructed on Cuba, and the focus is put into sugar production mostly.
-Malaria and Yellow fever arrives, brought by African slaves. The Spanish begin to die from disease to the delight of the natives and slaves, with a mortality rate of around 30%. Still more colonists continue to come.
-To protect against civil unrest, the slaves are segregated from the Spanish in separate fortified camps. This has a slight bonus of marginally reducing disease amongst the Spanish as they tend to keep away from malaria infested areas that the slaves reside in.
-Mulberry trees are planted to try and start up silkworm production, but the output is quite poor. Most other colonists instead focus on sugar and (to a lesser extent) tobacco.
-Surviving natives are encouraged to come to Spanish colonies to live with the Europeans (A number already doing so). They interbreed with the Spanish and African slaves to an extent. Coupled with various other deaths, their numbers continue to collapse as their old cultures and languages die out.
-Some particularly zealous priests begin to fan out over Cuba and soon the New World to convert the natives to Catholicism.
-As slave ships visit West Africa ever more, they become heavily armed to account for increasing French and (later) pirate raids. Trade posts become increasing common in Africa.

Kingdom of France

-The French King demands the King of Portugal remove naval patrols from the New World, stating that the 1494 treaty is invalid.
-The French King grants his subjects the right to raid Spanish vessels in the New World.

Ruskie - French Crown Colony

-The colony petitions the King for more supplies and colonists, which he gladly does.
-Buenos Aires will now be referred to as Pointe De Cette, while Montevideo is not referred to as Saint-Cene.
-Attempts to plant sugar in the colony goes rather poorly. Along with an unsuitable climate and weather, the soil fertility is of too poor quality. Some tobacco is planted, but yields are poor.
-With the cattle and sheep present, large ranches begin to be set up instead. Leather, beef, diary products, wool and mutton begin to be produced in increasing quantities. With leather and wool being the main exports, those production facilities rapidly begin to grow. English and Flemish merchants have their jimmies rustled when the price of wool begins to decline in the America.
-Native agitation increases, with the French military in the area and disease managing to quell most native problems. The French are effectively left to their own affairs, but Portuguese and French shepards, ranchers and farmers begin to argue over the borderlands.
-Some grain and other old world crops are planted to help supplement the diet, but livestock helps to provide the lions share of food.
-Explorers push ever further north, followed in their footsteps by shepards, ranchers, farmers, traders and harlots. They begin to gradually slow as they make their way upriver, consolidate existing lands and encounter new terrain.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-Existing plantations continue to grow and expand, making immense profits as the slaves get thinner and their owners get fatter.
-The introduction of yellow fever and malaria of course causes some problems, with the French responding by buying even more slaves to combat the growing labour shortage.

Notes: Player colors have been changed, as well as some native ones. Players are now represented by a variant of the base color of their motherland. Original base color means this is the oldest/main colony of their nation. Portugal being green, France being blue, England being red and Spain being yellow.

Turn 6: 1520 to 1524

Vincenzo Capirola - Padoana Alla Francesa - A renaissance (rebirth) for life music

Music of 1524

Political map of Turn 6

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35626351&viewfull=1#post35626351

Events of the years 1520 to 1524 - Ecological and misc:

-The Pope issues a papal bull threatening Martin Luther with excommunication.
-Martin Luther burns a copy of the bill, the Pope's jimmies have been rustled.
-Revolts against the catholic church begin to erupt in the Holy Roman Empire.
-The Kalmar Union comes to an end.
-A revolt in 1522 is put down, but in 1524 300,000 peasants rise up as the reformation comes in.
-Native tribes of the Uruguay area now commit frequent raids on each other mounted on horseback and armed with bows and a few matchlock guns.
-The gradual deforestation and planting of masses of tobacco has sucked the ground of nutrients and water, with stagnant pools of water vanishing. Along with the sugar mills mostly closing down in Portuguese Brazil, the areas planted with tobacco or pasture land is now gradually becoming less dangerous. Malarial mortality rates in Brazil decline by roughly 10% during this period.
-By now the little ice age has become an all too inconvenient truth. As forests and animals struggle to adapt to this rapid change, agricultural output in Ming China begins to rapidly decrease.
-By 1524, the Chinese are breaking even on agricultural output and consumption, leading to fears of a famine coming.
-Sugar and tobacco plantations continue to exert their influence on the environment as before, the earthworm is soon introduced as well, and provides another huge change to the Americas.
-The earthworm spreads outwards from various colonies, helping to fertilise the soil somewhat. -Good news for plantations, bad news for the old natives way of life.
-Due to coffee requiring trees to shade the plants, some ecology manages to stay alive in these areas, with the soil being firmly kept in place without easily being washed away by the rains.
-Maize has begun to supplement the diet of many Europeans in the New World. It spreads outwards from Mesoamerica to all Caribbean colonies by 1524.

Goods in demand:

New World: Manufactured goods, guns, horses, slaves.
Europe: Tobacco, Sugar, precious metals, preserved food, spices, porcelain, silk, alchohols.
Africa: Manufactured goods, guns.
Asia: Precious metals, tobacco, sugar.

Events of the years 1520 to 1524 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-The King of England and France meet at the field of cloth of gold to do some diplomatic silliness.
-They go to war anyways.

Mr. Face - English Crown Colony

-The Crown colony drops support for the Irish colonies as relations get colder.
-The weather is likewise getting colder, forcing the English colonists to start colonizing warmer areas to the south in the now termed “New England”.
-A few slaves are imported, but there is little use for them in these parts for no plantations exist.
-Fishing villages and hamlets begin to crawl down the coasts along with some explorers and fur trappers, reaching an area called “quinatucquet”.
-A town is set up called “New Haven”, the southernmost port possessed by England.
-As fishing growth slows down, fur trappers begin to set up in the area to take advantage of the proliferation of beavers and other animals throughout the Northeast of America and Canada.
-Another convoy is sent to Peru, this one is greatly successful at acquiring Peruvian flora and fauna.
-Even more gold is acquired this time by the convoy, and the King sends a full fleet and army, with the intent of conquest now.
-Back in England, potatoes are planted for the first time in several estates. They are cultivated mainly for the flowers they produce. The fruits produced by them attempt to be integrated into medicine, for it is noted to be similar to the nightshade plant.

Ven Kaeo - Helical Medicinal Solutions

-With increasing tensions with the English, help stops being given to colonists. As the winters get increasingly severe and colder, the Irish are forced to stop cultivating tobacco. 2 bitter winters in a row leads to the colony severely depopulating and the roads of New Dublin and Corq filling with weeds.
-Some Irish colonists begin to swap to fur trading in the English colonies to the east, or set up trading posts under those colonies instead.
-By the end of 1524, conditions have worsened to the point that the company has started to lose money and is under increasing strain.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Smoking has become a pastime common throughout Portugal, and demand is pushed ever higher as merchants travel outwards selling it across the world.
-By 1524, China and India now have begun to import tobacco. The Mughal emperor shocks his advisers by being one of the first to smoke.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-Slaves begin to be imported in fair numbers, slaves infected with malaria are refused however. This problem ends up becoming pointless by 1523, when by this point malaria diseases have effectively established themselves in most of the New world anyways.
-The crown is asked for monetary support, but it does not give very much for it is a private colony.
-Exploration continues inland, with large areas of land becoming mapped. Some zones become infested with malaria however, and the once salubrious Amazon is now a death trap.
-The sugar plantations more or less cease action, with the company deciding to focus on tobacco. -Massive swathes of land begin to be planted, and soon harvested. The relative number of slaves needed when compared to sugar allows much more land to be managed. Eventually as the price of labor declines and land is effectively free, tobacco production starts to skyrocket as sugar production declines.
-Natives begin to be assimilated by the Portuguese. A number however start to trade brazilwood with them in return for guns and horses as the arms race of South America grows.
-Tensions on the border with the French crown colony continue to rise massively. Eventually some Portuguese farmers and ranchers are outright giving the natives horses to raid the French and to steal cattle.

asantos3 - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-A trading post is set up by the company in Costa Rica, and the company (Seeing the success of other colonies) has begun to import livestock and slaves to their colonial possessions.
-Despite the measures taken, travel overland takes a long time and is quite difficult. This is made worse by the presence of malaria that takes a toll on numbers.
-Colonists and supplies manage to trickle into the La Paz colony to the point that population growth has begun to outdo population decline.
-Rice and wheat is planted around the colony, followed soon by maize after the natives introduce them to the plant. With the 3 crops, and arrival of livestock, the colony begins to produce enough surplus food to maintain itself.
-The land is explored extensively, with a search conducted for wild horses. However horses have yet to spread in North America to such an extent.
-The La Paz colony becomes a mainly agricultural community, leaving some land aside for tobacco. -The colony managing to cling on convinces investors to continue backing it, despite losses during shipping.
-The Spanish are asked to let the Portuguese pass at Panama, they agree on the condition a toll is paid which the colonists reluctantly accept.
-Diplomacy continues with the Tarascan empire, which has become involved in the events to the south as Spain conquers the Aztec Empire. The Spanish send an army in 1522 to annex the Tarascan empire, which is now jointly ruled by the Tarascan ruler and the Spanish.

Kingdom of Spain

-Spain declares war on France after Navarre is invaded.
-Cortes, in a series of campaigns, manages to conquer the Aztec Empire and then submit it to Spanish administration.
-The Vittoria arrives back in Spain, after the first circumnavigation of the globe. The original captain and most of the ships are missing however. Nevertheless this is a huge step in exploration.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-A deal is struck between the Company and the Spanish King with regards to conquest of native empires. In return for providing assistance to the monarch, the company will be granted all lands to the east of the Aztec Empire.
-The company sends a military force and a myriad of other persons to the mainland to carry out the bloody business of conquest.
-Assisting Cortes, the company carves a bloody path through Mesoamerica, setting up puppet rulers and looting whatever is light enough to be carried.
-Colonies and trading posts begin to be set up in their new conquered lands, Jamaica and Bermuda.
-Despite the ever increasing number of colonists, these colonies are stretched quite thinly and prone to frequent privateer raids by the French.
-Exploration for El Dorado is conducted along the coast of Florida, but yields nothing.
-It is granted the right to hold increasingly larger military force in order to safeguard and advance Spanish interests in the area as foreign competition increases.

Kingdom of France

-The King of England and France meet at the field of cloth of gold to do some diplomatic silliness.
-The French invade Navarre, kicking off yet another Italian war.

Ruskie - French Crown Colony

-With a steady and fair income made from livestock, the next logical step of the colony is to buy construction materials to begin building a more formal military for the colony.
-Border fences for rances begin to appear along the border with Portugal.
-Exploration pushes ever further inland, but is slowed as natives begin to raid increasingly from horseback armed with bows and a few guns.
-The French respond with a wave of terror by showing no mercy to natives and pushing them out further.
-Roads, watchtowers, blockhouses, inns and the such begin to be constructed alongside rivers and between colonies. They prove to be moderately successful at keeping natives at bay.
-The construction of military structures puts more pressure on the natives and Portuguese as tensions escalate to form a loose Portuguese-Native alliance against the French. Rustling of livestock (And jimmies) becomes a frequent and common problem.
-The existing economy is invested into further, with wool and leather exports increasing to the stage that now much of the New World is now being supplied by here. English merchants and the remains of the Hanseatic league begin to lobby for laws to control the price and movement of goods. It does little to help.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-Venezuela is now known as Cumana.
-To help with rising labor shortages, slaves begin to be imported in significant numbers from West Africa to work on the plantations.
-Some of the military goes on an expedition into Guyana to survey the lands, followed by claiming it for the company and setting up trading posts.
-A mandatory law is passed which forces plantation owners to implement fair housing and diets for their slaves along with some basic dignities. A large portion of the clergy approves of this motion for it may help to Christianize these people.
-Heavy culverins are set up on the coasts of Jean Baptiste to protect against foreign vessels. This proves initially successful, but they can still attack ships outside of the guns range.
-The remaining natives are assimilated into the colonies due to the work of missionaries.
-The rather fair approach to colonial matters is initially quite expensive, but proves very successful as the relative number of runaways and slave dissent is much lower on this island than elsewhere.
-The colonies begin to grow coffee, an interesting Arabian export that makes a lovely beverage. -Most gets exported back to the Arabian world, but Europeans have begun to sample it for themselves.
-Slaves make a habit of eating the coffee fruits, which rot rapidly after picking and are a byproduct of coffee bean production.

Turn 7: 1524 to 1528

Political map of Turn 7

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35639713&viewfull=1#post35639713

Music of 1528 (Attaingnant-Sermisy, Il me suffit): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQDhhdryQY

Events of the years 1524 to 1528 - Ecological and misc:

-In the German town of Memmingen, the pamphlet "The Twelve Articles" is published, the first human rights related document written in Europe.
-The peasants war in Germany is brutally crushed.
-The duchy of Prussia is formed, the first Protestant state in Europe.
-Sweden shortly changes the state religion to protestantism.
-The treaty of Madrid is signed, ending the war between France and Spain. Burgundy is ceded to Charles 5th, leaving the Habsburg empire as a dominant force in Europe.
-Work begins on translation of the bible into vernacular tongues at this time as the reformation continues and the ruling classes become more sympathetic towards Protestantism.
-The element zinc is properly identified during this time, and begins to be utilised in paint and brass production.
-Exports to China are blocked off due to Ming attempts to crack down on piracy. The only thing the government is willing to import is silver, which Europe has little of.
-The Pope bans tobacco smoking in holy places, for priests have been caught celebrating mass with lit cigars.
-He is pressured to ban coffee, but after trying some for himself he declare it a wonderful drink and endorses it.
-At this time, European introduced diseases sweep through the Andes, severely destabilising and weakening the Incan Empire, crippling their military and infrastructure.
-As problems unfold in Ming China, the government orders all ships with more than one mast to be seized and destroyed, attempting to crack down heavily on piracy too.
-Grain quotas are reduced by the Chinese government, leading to the granary system to begin declining.
-A drought occurs in Henan, followed by reduced output in other areas that leads to a famine killing up to 50% of the population.
-The Powhaten tribe forms and manages to consolidate itself in Virginia, as all the old tribes collapse and decline to be replaced with new ones.
-The Creek tribes reform, and a number of them begin to gradually push south.
-Coffee drinking has begun to spread rapidly throughout Europe. In combination with increasing consumption of tobacco and sugar by more people this has begun to affect the diets and health of Europeans and Arabs.
-European diseases have more or less reached and affected every part of the new world, making warm and humid areas dangerous for human habitation.
-Some colonies have begun to place housing on treeless hills with plantations in valleys below, this method proves to be very effective at reducing malarial infections.
-The slave trade has well and fully kicked off, with most slaves headed to Spanish possessions, followed by France. Portugal and England import some slaves, but very few.
-Sugar prices skyrocket as colonies move to focus on Coffee and tobacco away from sugar.
-Winter ice sheets have begun to scrape along the north coast of Newfoundland and Iceland.

Goods in demand:

New World: Manufactured goods, guns, horses, slaves.
Europe: Tobacco, Sugar, metals, preserved food, spices, porcelain, silk, alcohol, coffee, furs.
Africa: Manufactured goods, guns.
Asia: Metals, tobacco, sugar, coffee.

Events of the years 1524 to 1528 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-The plague spreads throughout England along with sweating sickness.

Mr. Face - New England

-The colony, with massive royal backing lands in Peru.
-The army meets the Incan emperor in Cajamarca, and have cannon and horses hidden in the side alleys. When the emperor appears, the army ambushes the emperor and kills 2000 of his men.
-The Emperor is held ransom in a room, which is demanded to be filled with gold, and twice that in silver. When the Incans do so, the emperor is killed anyways.
-The brother of the Emperor is installed as a puppet whilst the English set about putting down resistance to the new regime.
-Silver is discovered at potosi, despite local warnings that the place was cursed when an attempted mine was beset by an earthquake the English go ahead anyways.
-Henry 8th grants the colonel of the English colony the Viceroyalty of New England.
-Incan resistance is severely weakened due to a two pronged attack from the north and south by English and Portuguese forces.
-More fishing hamlets start to grow into villages throughout the Northeast of America. The influx of Irish people helps to grow numbers somewhat.
-Despite that the potato can be eaten, it is discovered that alcohol can be produced from the fermentation of potatoes. Very quickly these hardy plants are established throughout the colonies and England itself in order to produce what you may call “Vodka”. It is named Incan water.
-Fruit cultivation begins in the southernmost of the Northern colonies.
-Exportation of precious metals from the Incan empire begins, heading towards the motherland.
-Cultivation of the coca plant begins to increase after it is noted that when chewed it reduces hunger and pain, along with being addictive. It is forcefully given to enslaved workers to ensure production quotas stay high.

Ven Kaeo - Helical Medicinal Solutions

-The colony is unable to take care of itself with increasing English pressure. An act of parliament in 1527 formally abolishes the company and seizes its assets.
-The residents freeze and starve in increasingly bitter winters. The apiaries break down and all of the bees sting the colonel.
-The few remaining men abandon New Dublin and Corq and attempt to get back home. The colonel is killed when a gun explodes and shards of wood from the gunstock get embedded in him.
-The remaining guns have the wooden stocks removed and burned to try and keep warm.
-Irish colonial ambitions have effectively come to an end, and by the end of 1528 the colonists have either become fur trappers or live under English authority.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Exploration and trade links have reached more or less every continent on earth minus Oceania and Antartica, linking back to Lisbon.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The army of the company, with royal backing, is sent to Northern Peru after a tricky journey over through Mesoamerica.
-Exploration of the Pacific and Atlanic coasts of South America is vigorously conducted, making maps slightly more accurate with each new journey.
-Coffee plantations begin to be heavily invested into by the company, with some alternation carried out between coffee and tobacco plantations that results in handsome profits.
-Clear cutting of forests begin in order to establish these plantations further inland. The increasing use of existing land results in pressures for people to start settling down in cities or move into the hinterland to set up.
-Fortifications begin to be built along the border with French colonies, resulting in the native raids and livestock theft starting to die down. Of course it simply goes to the edge of Portuguese influence inland, so the response of course is to extend further inland.
-Cienia of Niesmiertelni collaborates with this company with regards to Incan conquest. Supplies and money is sent to them in return for helping the company cross over Costa Rica and supply the Incan invasion force.
-The army arrives in Northern Peru. The Incan empire is already collapsing as the English rapidly establish control further south. The Portuguese loot the north of the country, stealing a good deal of gold and then putting a military force in place to rule the north. Much of the land is still out of their hands however, and civil unrest is quite high.
-Portuguese investors begin to import slaves from Africa in order to help maintain plantations, citing the massive growth of foreign competition.

asantos3 - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Collaboration with the other Portuguese company results in a fair amount of capital given to it. The company wisely invests this, and manages to build a fair number of cargo ships and buys agricultural goods.
-Agricultural facilities are greatly expanded in La paz and Costa Rica.
-Some colonies crawl along the coastline as more colonists come in and the company expands its influence.
-Wheat, maize and rice is planted in massive quantities, and begins to provide a fair amount of food for its residents. Enough to not only ensure a population boom, but also for export.
-The Costa Rican colony has some brothels and markets built, which is fair enough.
-The Portuguese trade passing through this area helps to quickly develop it, especially after northern Peru is acquired.
-Supply ships begin to shuttle between the two colonies and Peru, helping to expand and maintain Portuguese influence in the Pacific.

Kingdom of Spain

-Consolidation of Mesoamerica is undertaken by the Habsburg empire, with increasing heavy naval presence making itself felt in the Caribbean. Spanish privateers begin to form too, and harass French shipping.
-Texas is discovered. The natives however assure the Spanish that they never lost it.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-Support from private bankers begins to be gained to invest into colonial matters as more and more money pours in from the new world.
-A request is made to conquer African kingdoms, but it is soundly rejected. Malaria is too big of a killer in Africa and the kingdoms have a great deal of guns and organisation that allow them to prevent European arrival.
-More trading posts are set up in Africa instead. These trading posts however do not become very large, and simply increase in number along the coast as isolated pockets that export slaves and import European goods.
-The company says that to christianize of the New World is a top priority, and that Spain should spare no expense in expanding their influence there.
-Expansion continues to the south of the Yucatan peninsula. Progress is slowed by a massive uprising that nearly pushes out the Spanish.
-Cocoa begins to be grown. The plant is famed by Aztecs for its ability to make a horrible bitter drink. Europeans find it more palatable when sugar and milk is added, with the spices removed.
-Aristocrats from Spain are encouraged to come over to help conquer and rule the New World.
-Due to rising sugar prices, many in Cuba begin to take advantage of the cheapness of slaves (being cheaper here than anywhere else) to set up larger and more productive sugar plantations.
-An arsenal is established in Cuba, and military-grade horses begin to be imported, and ad hoc military brigades begin to be cobbled together.
-The navy begins to ruthlessly hunt down pirates, but due to logistical problems their abilities are greatly limited.
-Gold and silver begins to be exported to Spain from the Aztec empire. The Spanish crown starts to fund further expansion into the colonies and military as money comes in.

Kingdom of France

-Full scale privateering has begun between French and Spanish shipping. A number of Portuguese ships have begun to be dragged into the conflict too.

Ruskie - New France

-The colony begins rapid expansion to the west as expansion to the north and east become incredibly restricted.
-The colony starts to erect fortifications along the border with Portugal. Given that they are likewise doing the same to expand their influence, a race begins to construct forts along the border.
-Naval vessels, thorough-bred horses and a number of matchlock and wheellock guns are imported in good numbers. A colonial dragoon force is established that serves as a police force and a military one too. It grows to the extent that it becomes the first military regiment of any kind established in the New World.
-Gunsmiths begin to be set up in Sainte Cene.
-Although the colony does not produce fantastic riches, it produces an increasing number of everyday goods used throughout the New World. An English pound will buy you a pair of good French boots nearly anywhere in this part of the world.
-A man travels to the Portuguese colonial capital in Recife, where he then calls the Governer a Silly Billy. He receives a good bollocking.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-The company begins to promote their colonies as a destination that Protestants fleeing the reformation can go to. Many do so, for many tens of thousands are dying in Europe in religious strife.
-The existing infrastructure and plantations are greatly expanded, with the company starting to plant coffee plantations throughout Cumana. There is a little bit of tobacco and sugar planting that is largely ignored in favour of coffee however.
-Vineyards begin to be also established. Whilst many other colonies established them in order to celebrate mass, this one intends for commercial production. Production of it manages to wet the lips of many throughout the French colonies.
-More slaves are imported, and due to strict laws controlling their masters cruelty the slavery system gradually evolves into a form of feudalism.
-Privateers begin to frequent the ports heavily here.

Turn 8: 1528 to 1532

Fantasia V (Luis Milán-1536 & Rómulo Vega-González-1994) vihuela duo duet

Music of 1532

Political map of Turn 8

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35659912&viewfull=1#post35659912

Events of the years 1528 to 1532 - Ecological, economic and misc:

-Protests over the edict of Worms escalate, with various city states and German rulers officially starting the Protestant movement.
-The Ottoman Empire invades Hungary, and then later lays siege to Vienna for a while.
-Fluorine is described for the first time.
-The Austrians counterattack the Ottomans, and seize Buda.
-The Ottomans invade again, and fail miserably.
-"The Prince" by Machiavelli is published.
-The Augsburg Confession is presented to Charles 5th of the Habsburg Empire.
-The Arawak population of the Antilles has declined to a mere few thousand. Hispaniola itself is sparsely populated anymore as focus lifts from it.
-Horses are accidentally introduced to North America in sufficient numbers to allow breeding populations. At this rate, the animal will have firmly established itself in most possible areas by mid-century.
-The increasing influx of silver and gold to Europe has allowed many banks to start setting up (Aided also by the reformation getting rid of Catholic penalties for usury) throughout the continent and to lend money to companies starting up.
-The carbon sucked in from the skies begins to slow down, and the little ice age slows down its rate of cooling.
-Ming harvests begin to recover gradually. Fujian doesn't do very well however.
-The increasing incompetence of the government is shown by people refusing to use the paper or coin currency, instead paying for transactions with splinters of silver. In some kind of Libertarian wet-dream, the money supply becomes privatized.
-Due to everyday transactions taking place with scraps of silver, a critical demand for silver arises that the Chinese desperately need to take care of.
-After contact is established with the English, the Chinese jump on this to sate their growing silver hunger. The economy begins to rapidly recover and expand.
-The economy begins to likewise improve in Europe as silver also flows in.

Goods in demand:

New World: Manufactured goods, guns, horses, slaves.
Europe: Tobacco, Sugar, silver, preserved food, spices, porcelain, silk, alcohol, coffee, furs.
Africa: Manufactured goods, guns.
Asia: Silver, Tobacco.

Events of the years 1528 to 1532 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-Cardinal Wosley is kicked from power, and the English parliament passes a series of reforms that slowly see the church become separated from Rome.
-Tensions run high with the Pope, especially once the King plans to marry Anne Boleyn.
-The Kingdom of England has now extensive spending powers, as lenders trust in their gold shipments that keep Europe wealthy.
-Plans to combine Wales and England into a single nation begin. Talks of pacifying the Irish are also underway.
-Split silver exports to England and China lead the King to demand that either the colony step up production, or export more to England. The Chinese however offer the lowest price on all their manufactured goods in return for silver.

Mr. Face - New England

-As the Portuguese and English take over the crumbled Incan Empire, a deal is reached over where the borders shall be. There is a slight concession to the Portuguese.
-The rest of the Incan empire to the south is tamed, and rule of this place begins proper.
-Peanuts and tobacco begin to be introduced to the Northeast American colonies and begin to be planted for various uses. The tobacco begins exportation to the Old World, and peanuts are used as livestock feed. It is noted that peanuts help in revitalising the soil, so are intermixed with the tobacco to help improve soil fertility.
-Attempts at planting sugar mostly fail in Peru, due to the climate. Most labourers are needed to help in silver mining anyways.
-Extensive numbers of native smelters appear around Potosi, a shantytown that is quickly growing into a city. The problem is that this method is far too slow to produce silver with.
-A mountain with large mercury deposits is discovered in Peru, and some limited production begins.
-Explorers attempt to sail to China over the Pacific ocean, and instead land in the Philippines. The local people tell the explorers that the Chinese come to a nearby bay to trade, and thus the English manage to find the Chinese. The Chinese are amazed by the amount of silver, and sell the English all of the silk and porcelain they have.
-English and Chinese traders begin to return to this area, trading silver in return for manufactured goods. A trading post is established in Manilla.
-A colony is established in Virginia, which begins to produce tobacco. The rather salty water in the area and marshy land lead to various disease problems that kill significant numbers of colonists.
-Explorers begin to explore throughout the rest of the Eastern seaboard.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Lisbon is hit by an Earthquake.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The colonies are promoted as a bastion of religious tolerance. Protestants from Germany begin to immigrate in significant numbers in order to escape persecution and make some dosh.
-Fortifications begin to be constructed in Suriname, to protect against incoming French expansion and influence.
-The mouth of the Amazon begins to be colonised. The rather interesting ecological conditions and river make travel and life here difficult and hazardous. Partly due to living in a malaria river delta.
-In the south of Brazil, the explorers and traders push inland, following French claims to set up their own. A border is clearly becoming defined in this area.
-Traders and people passing over the border with France warrants international border controls like back home in Europe to be set up, partly to maintain and control the border.
-Coca is planted in extensive numbers to be given to enslaved natives. The enslaved are forced to work down mines and in plantations to help support the growing colonial ambitions of Portugal.
-Silver and gold begins to be exported in good qualities. People (And their descendants) who invested into the company 30 years prior are very pleased with this.
-The army pushes south into Peru, expansion slowing as Portuguese claims would threaten to overlap English ones.
-2 men are sent to Sainte-Cette, where they then call the French governor a “Dunce dave”. They both receive a kick up the arse.

asantos3 - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Not much happens this time, minus expansion of existing facilities.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Kingdom of Spain has now extensive spending powers, as lenders trust in their gold shipments that keep Europe wealthy.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-The company military force begins to hire Spanish instructors in order to help train and organise it into a proper military force. -The slave trade continues to strengthen as the plantation system spreads and expands. The numbers of plantations and runaway slaves has grown to the point to permit slave communities that form in the wilderness outside of colonies.
-The sugar plantations become the most productive on Earth, with sugar industry expanding massively. The diseases however make living here slightly problematic. In order to maintain order with small numbers of Europeans, the slaves are brutally treated and made to fear their overseers.
-Cocoa also begins to be grown, and is sold as a drink in Spain and Mesoamerica. Sweetened with sugar and the spices removed it proves to be a tasty and in demand beverage.
-Exploration of the mainland continues, and colonies push further south from Yucatan. A fort is established in Florida called “St. Augustine”
-Forts begin to be build along the coasts with heavy artillery guns, which does well to ward off immediate pirate attacks.
-Chocolate is unable to be exported any more processed than the bean stage. The processes that will enable cocoa butter to be extracted will not be developed for centuries.
-Horse breeding begins in the colonies to produce good steeds for military purposes.
-Some pirates are allowed free access to ports in return for not attacking company shipping. This doesn't stop the French, who simply go to French, English or Portuguese ports instead.
-The company promotes itself as a bastion of Catholicism, which ends up causing England to lift the ban on privateering. English pirates begin to join French ones in harassment of the Spanish.
-Roads begin to be constructed between colonies. They are mostly hard dirt paths with cleared vegetation, rock beds and signposts. Cobbled roads are only really seen in the urban areas.

Kingdom of France

-French claims in Italy are withdrawn, and it gets to keep Burgundy in return.
-Brittany is annexed by France.

Ruskie - New France

-Traders and people passing over the border with Portugal warrants international border controls like back home in Europe to be set up, partly to maintain and control the border.
-Manufactured goods sold by the company manage to raise enough dosh to establish 2 more colonies in South America.
-Guns are sold to the Africans in large numbers. In return the company has vast numbers of slaves that it does not need. The company decides to set itself up as a middleman to export slaves to other colonies in the New World, such as the Spanish and French ones up north. Immense profits are had.
-A statue is constructed to honour the men who called the Portuguese silly billies.
-The two colonies expand quite well with the good profits, but the population is spread rather thinly over large areas. The colonial dragoons have a bit of trouble trying to police the colony that is slowly growing into a state.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-Minus importation of slaves, and expansion of sugar, tobacco and coffee plantations, not much interesting happens.
-Oh wait, Spanish and French privateers and pirates keep battling it out often too.

Kingdom of Denmark

-Investors throughout Denmark are interested in the events occurring in the New World, and manage to convince some merchants to cobble together a large number of colonists, supplies and ships, with Royal backing to start up a colony.

UrbanMachismo - Lady of the Sea Shipbuilding Co.

-Colonists from Iceland and the Faroes are recruited. An exploration to Greenland yields no existence of any European settlements, but the last recorded marriage here was around 100 years ago. The local Eskimos have some adopted children, who speak some Norwegian that tell that the colony was abandoned.
-Exploration efforts move to the Gulf coast, skirting along Texas and up the Mississippi river (Now known as the Blåtand Floden). A colony is established called “Første Hjem”.
-Slaves are imported, but are treated the same way the French ones are. Although somewhat costly, they are less likely to run away at the first opportunity.
-Farms are set up to grow food, and logging of trees begins. A small port town slowly emerges. It does not seemingly produce any speciality goods yet for export, this is taken care of by some colonists planting tobacco. Cotton grows well here, but it is financially infeasible.
-Timber from the felled trees are used to build a stockade around the colony.
-The colonists attempt to be friendly with the natives, which goes somewhat well. The natives buy Danish guns and horses in return for various agricultural goods for export.

Notes: Indonesia and Greenland are added to the map. Denmark joins as a new colonial nation, represented by the color orange.

Turn 9: 1532 to 1536

Luys Milán (1536) "Agora viniesse un viento" Garçimuñoz-(Cartago-CR)

Music of 1536

Political map of Turn 9

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35673056&viewfull=1#post35673056

Events of the years 1532 to 1536 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-A treaty between Austria and the Ottoman Empire is signed, giving the Ottomans virtual control of Hungary.
-Ivan 4th becomes Tsar of Russia.
-A group of Christian fundamentalists seize Munster, forcibly baptizing the residents and exiling others. It is re-captured a year later.
-Martin Luther's translation of the complete Christian Bible into German appears.
-The first complete English-language Bible is printed in Antwerp, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.
-Dissent rises in the Netherlands, as the Habsburgs struggle increasingly to maintain control.
-German metalworkers roughly work out how to cheaply turn silver ore into pure silver by using mercury.
-As monasteries are dissolved and lands seized throughout Europe by the state, many poor persons once cared for by the monasteries are now living on the streets. Unemployment begins to soar, and many seek to emigrate or join armies and navies.
-Armies begin to become more proletarianised, as the skills needed for war become more useless. -Drilled units of arquebuses and pikes begin to dominate the battlefields. The warrior class of knights is vanishing.
-Cannons become common on all ships, and have begun to appear below deck.
-An economic boom results in China becoming more and more economically powerful. Whole fields of mulberry trees are planted, and villages grow into groups of silk factories.
-American crops leak into China (Despite wanting to keep out foreign people, they let in their plants.) Fields of maize, sweet potatoes and various other crops begin to be planted.
-Asians, Europeans, Africans and Native Americans have now begun to meet each other in the New World (mainly on the Pacific coast of European colonies). Tensions between different groups begin to slowly emerge, as thousands of years of separate development is disrupted.
-World demand for silver begins to skyrocket.
-Native tribes of the New World have acquired sufficient numbers of guns and horses to enact raids and warfare on a rather dangerous scale. Old peoples are wiped out as the new come on European horses.
-Global trading networks have finally fallen into place, enacting the start of globalised trade.
-Potatoes begin to be cultivated in Europe for eating purposes. Adoption is slow however.
-Global cooling has reached the stage where Polar bears and Eskimos now visit Scotland on occasion.

Goods in demand:

New World: Manufactured goods, guns, horses, slaves.
Europe: Tobacco, Sugar, silver, preserved food, chinaware, alcohol, coffee, furs.
Africa: Manufactured goods, chinaware, guns.
Asia: Silver, Tobacco, coffee.

Events of the years 1532 to 1536 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-Henry 8th is excommunicated by the Pope for marriage to Anne Boleyn.
-He begins to pass a series of laws and reforms, becoming more stronger, despotic and autocratic in his control of England.
-The English Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy establishing Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England.
-Wales and England are combined in an act of Union.
-The monasteries are dissolved, and the new religion begins to be vigorously enforced.
-The King sends a strong letter to Denmark, demanding why North America is being colonized. The Danish monarch responds by telling him that he cannot have all of those vast expanses. Perhaps a deal could be worked out?

Mr. Face - New England

-The monarch demands that his colonies adhere to the state religion, or else face penalties.
-Silver exports continue to expand massively, but is heavily limited by the native smelters who produce it too slowly. Potosi nonetheless grows due to no checks on population control. It soon becomes the largest city in the New World.
-Silver exports to China has resulted in the English colonies becoming a premier source of manufactured Chinese goods.
-As the colony becomes increasingly wealthy and more powerful, there are clamors for a ruling system to be put in place. Some areas elect assemblies, others have autocratic governors. There is a question as to which system is superior.
-Cacao beans begin to be planted in Peru, which is exported back to Europe. The King particularly likes this new beverage, claiming it to superior to “Popish coffee”
-Explorers by this point have explored the entire Eastern seaboard of North America, there is nothing left to do but move inland, north of Newfoundland or west of Florida.
-Trading begins with Spanish colonies after their explorers find each other.
-The Boston colony grows quite rapidly, and another is established at the mouth of the Blåtand Floden.
-The city of Manilla begins to grow rapidly with an influx of Chinese immigrants, as the silver trade begins to make this massive city wealthy. Tensions rise. Between the Europeans and Asians.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The inquisition starts in Portugal. It had been somewhat expected.
-The monarch, through silver imports, manages to gain vast spending powers.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The crown begins to send increasing naval presences to help maintain her colonies, as a massive area of land slowly comes under Company control. This area eventually becomes called “Greater Brazil” by most observers.
-Some exploration of the Dutch East Indies is conducted, setting up various trading routes in the process, and moving some plants and pathogens around too.
-In order to cut down on Malaria, vegetation is cleared, the land tilled, drainage channels dug and basic sanitation measures put in place. Houses are also forced by law to have good ventilation, stable foundations and the such. Although many of these measures are unpopular and costly, the death rate due to malarial diseases drops from around 30-40% to 10-15%. This is the lowest it can go until the discovery of quinine in several centuries time.
-This however slows down expansion as measure take time to implement. Nonetheless the Portuguese manage to expand until they reach areas literally impossible to colonize and with no economic value.
-A statue is built in Recife to depict the bollocking of a French Diplomat.
-As tobacco and coffee production increases, a labor shortage issue arises. Unfortunately the shortage of labor is due to a lack of slaves, which the colony is reluctant to import.
-Silver production increases, and some mercury deposits are also found. Unfortunately native smelters produce silver far too slowly for Portuguese needs.
-Coca begins to be exported for use in medicine as an anesthetic.
-The Portuguese also set up in the Philippines like the English, and begin to sell silver and other goods to the Chinese. Some spices are also planted and begin exportation.
-Strong border controls are set up along the French border.

asantos3 - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Not much happens, minus existing colonies growing and expanding to cater to traders and explorers moving up and down the Pacific coast.
-Nicaragua is gradually and eventually colonized.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Habsburg monarchy profits well from the imports of gold and silver, using it to fund wars increasingly.
-The navy is reformed to provide for better ships, tactics and administration.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-Some explorers and traders, wishing to make some spice and cut in on the English silver trade, set up a colony in western Borneo and soon the Chinese junks start flocking to the town.
-Despite some initial setbacks with supplies and logistics, the Chinese traders gladly help make up the gap, and the local people provide assistance too.
-Large and powerful galleons begin to be utilized by the company for naval use. Pirates don't dare go near these giant bastards.
-Silver and gold mines are set up throughout existing holdings in greater numbers. Unfortunately the production of silver is still limited by current techniques which are too slow.
-Kaolinite begins to be produced, and it is understood that it is used in porcelain production, but the technique is not known. Without much other use, it is used to make paints and plasters.
-Laws against Protestants are loosened slightly, allowing them to at least live in Spanish colonies without getting lynched.
-Salt mines are set up in Yucatan.
-Although slavery is going strong in Cuba, a center of sugar production, it is decided to not utilize them as much in Borneo.
-Cavalry begins to be integrated into the military quite extensively.
-The Brunei sultanate begins to send representatives and traders to the Spanish colony.

Kingdom of France

-Scandal rocks the Christian world when France signs an alliance with the Ottoman Empire.
-France goes to war with the Habsburgs again.

Ruskie - New France

-More construction materials and ships are purchased by the colony, which has now become a minor naval power in the south Atlantic.
-Firearms and manufactured goods production steps up, and the colony becomes increasingly self-sufficient for most needs. (Minus people)
-The colonial army is expanded, providing regiments of foot soldiers and dragoons. The latter frequently patrol borders and help keep the natives at bay who are adopting European tactics and weapons increasingly.
-3 men are sent to Recife, and call the Portuguese rustled Ronalds. They have vegetables thrown at them.
-The slave trade expands, with the French ships buying massive numbers of African slaves and shipping them off to be sold in colonies up north. This proves to be immensely profitable.
-Farms, roads, traders and various other assortments of societies finest and worse push their way into Argentina.

kamikaze470 - Nouvelle-France

-Minus expansion of existing facilities, not much else goes on.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-Denmark temporarily implodes in a civil war known as the counts war. The war concludes in 1536 with the reformation occurring at the same time.
-A war with the Hanse takes place. The Hanseatic league is soundly defeated, permanently ending their power and influence.
-The kingdom is reformed, unifying Norway and Denmark.
-A new company is formed to take advantage of business to be done abroad. The founder has a heavy Irish accent and speaks Danish poorly.

UrbanMachismo - Lady of the Sea Shipbuilding Co.

-The explorers push north along the Blåtand Floden, encountering new tribes. They swap many things such as trading goods, recipes and diseases.
-Maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes and various other crops are planted in the colony.
-Livestock are imported, and do well in the fertile river valley they find themselves in.
-Tobacco, radish and lettuce plantations are set up in a crop rotation style, helping to preserve the soil, produce food and increase production. Nonetheless land is still demanded for cultivation that forces the colony to spread outwards as more people come in.
-Some vineyards are set up for wine growing, but sugar cane does not do too well here, especially as the climate cools.
-A whaling station and mission is established in Greenland, to keep Danish claims in the area strong.
-Some trading posts start popping up along the river as the Danish work inland, and trading gets underway.
-The colony is quite friendly to natives, offering them goods in return for helping with some agricultural work, exploration and various other tasks. Given the few military resources owned and used by the Danish, this colony seems quite peaceful relative to other ones.

Ven Kaeo - Arla Culinary

-The company, with initial capital, sets about gathering up colonists and supplies in the madness of the Danish reformation.
-A colony is established on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra, opposite Java in the area of Lampung.
-Explorers begin to push inland, slightly annoying the local rulers.
-Representatives of the growing Aceh sultanate make contact with the Danish colony.
-Spice production begins, and exports trickle back to Europe.
-Slaves from Africa are also imported, and treated in the French manner at some expense.
-As farms and some livestock is set up, various new foods are also planted and utilised. Most of the plants are spices, which are highly profitable.
-The Banten Sultanate, also growing, establishes contact with the Danish and their sudden intrusion into the area.
-Various other traders, visiting mostly for the silver brought by the Spanish, Portuguese and English, also trade occasionally with the Danish colony in Lampung.

Turn 10: 1536 to 1540

Political map of Turn 10

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35698902&viewfull=1#post35698902

Music of 1540 (Rómulo Vega-González, Rhau-Newsidler-Judenkünig; O Elslein, liebstes Elselein): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWzmPrINXA0

Events of the years 1536 to 1540 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The French and Habsburgs sign a treaty that agrees neither shall ally with Protestant England.
-Charles 5th enters Ghent to put down some rebellious tossers.
-The Pope decides that something should be done about the reformation, and begins to organise a meeting in Trent in 5 years time.
-The Jesuits are founded, and begin to help push forward the counter-reformation.
-Diethyl ether is synthesised for the first time.
-England and Sweden declare war on Denmark-Norway.
-The Hanseatic league later joins on the Danish side, along with some Northern German princedoms in order to dispel the Swedish trade monopoly and to free themselves of Danish influence, most notably in Holstein.
-The stagecoach starts to become a sight on roads.
-The first in a decade-long series of severe famines and epidemics begin sweep central and southeastern China during the Ming Dynasty, made worse by a previous decision in 1527 to cut back on the intake of grain quotas for granaries.
-A tsunami floods over the seawall in Haiyan County of Zhejiang province, inundating the agricultural crop fields with saltwater and ruining many acres of crops. This drives up the price of foodstuffs and many are forced to live off of tree bark and weeds.
-In Henan province, China, a severe drought with swarms of locusts is made worse by a major epidemic outbreak of the plague.
-The Ming dynasty struggles to resolve this issue, and by 1540 the situation is very grim for the Chinese.
-Europe is hit by a heat wave and drought lasting for about 7 months. Rivers such as the Rhine and Seine dry up and many people die from dysentery and other illnesses caused by lack of safe drinking water. Many flee to the New world in order to escape these problems.
-Food prices begin to skyrocket throughout Europe. The increasing supply of silver begins to slowly affect food prices as inflation begins to be noted. Food riots occur when consumers break into bakeries and steal bread whilst forcing the old prices to be kept.
-In France the demand for iron and charcoal begins to steadily rise, resulting in more forests being converted into timber producing ones rather than hunting grounds.
-Various plants such as the potato begin to be utilised in the wake of famine in Europe, and proves to be an excellent means of nourishment. The plant begins to be planted increasingly throughout Europe to complement diets based on wheat.
-Different varieties of tobacco begin to gradually emerge, resulting in various brands. (Portuguese style, English style, etc.)
-As the price of silk begins to drop, many nations begin mercantile policies in order to reverse silk factories going out of business.

Goods in demand:

New World: Manufactured goods, guns, horses, slaves.
Europe: Tobacco, Sugar, silver, preserved food, chinaware, alcohol, coffee, furs.
Africa: Manufactured goods, chinaware, guns.
Asia: Silver, Tobacco, coffee.

Events of the years 1536 to 1540 - Players:

Kingdom of England

-Bigods rebellion flares against against the cruel kings new policies with regards to religion.
-The English monarch puts down this rebellion, and then dissolves more monasteries. The land is sold off to merchants and noblemen.
-Under some pressure from their colony, and problems with regards to affairs in the New World, relations between Denmark and England break down. By 1538 they declare war.
-The English navy and army mobilises, bringing up vast numbers of beggers and the such left poor by the dissolution of the monasteries.
-The English navy has several major engagements with the Danes, helped by the Swedish who seek to gain dominance in the Baltic. The small Danish navy is overwhelmed by both sides fairly easily.
-The Danish army however puts up stiff resistance, and the English engage in many costly land campaigns.
-The English monarchy runs out of money to fund campaigns, leading to borrowing on a large scale to pay for the military. Luckily the silver supply manages to offset this somewhat.

Mr. Face - New England

-A process to make silver from combination of mercury and silver ore is introduced to Peru. The formerly costly method of producing silver is now incredibly cheap in comparison to the old system. Silver exports begin to steadily rise and the city of Potosi grows unchecked. It numbers in the 10,000s.
-An ad hoc army, and some naval vessels attack the Danish colony in Louisiana. The Danish are somewhat unprepared for this, and flee north with their possessions. The people left behind are killed, the houses set on fire and anything else left is stolen.
-Colonists begin to settle in Maryland in significant numbers, noting the area to be good for tobacco growing. Various diseases are common due to the salty water and marshy soils.
-The New Orleans colony is raided by native tribes, who have begun to utilise the horse and various European weapons.
-Explorers trickle westwards on the Eastern seaboard, and reach the base of the Appalachians. -Cartography is soon conducted and begins to accurately map out the Eastern seaboard.
-Further colonization is halted due to the war in Europe drawing potential colonists into the navies and armies.
-Trading ships reach Japan, and begin to sell them firearms and various European weapons and armours. The Japanese seem to have silver of their own, which they happily sell to the Chinese anyways.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Portuguese traders start to trade with Japan, and some Indian princedoms.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-4 men are sent to the French colonial capital again. There they call the Governor a “Butthurt Bobby”. All 4 men receive a free round of drinks at the local pub, and a small crowd cheers the event.
-Meanwhile some slaves are imported en masse from their French pals, and put to work in the growing plantations.
-Poor and homeless are invited by the company, with offers of food and lodge to work their way out of poverty in the New World. A fair number take up the offer.
-Various explorers begin to document the types of plants prevalent in the New World, and record them down in books. Shockingly, they are written in vernacular Portuguese rather than Latin.
-Exploration of the coast of the entire South continent begins, with maps being made that add in new names and fill in the gaps once filled with colourful illustrations.
-A colony is set up in the Honduras, but is plagued by endless malarial diseases. Although a lot of work goes towards removing vegetation and improving the health of the people, many still die.
-Spices begin to be produced in amounts good enough for regular export to Europe. The trading posts and colonies in the Philippines also serve as a stopping place for merchants of all countries.
-Trade with China begins to increase, soon followed by Japan. They both enjoy tobacco, the lovesick grass.
-In some of the cooler areas, potatoes are planted and converted into alcohol. Some even eat the potatoes.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Habsburgs and the French declare peace again.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-The Anti-Protestant policy begins to relax, allowing for some greater religious freedoms and allowing even Protestants (And some Jews, shhh) to invest into the company.
-The company comes under scrutiny by the Spanish inquisition, which was wholly unexpected.
-Exploration of Borneo is conducted, setting up trade links and doing deals with local Sultans. Who cares if its a religious enemy? They have money!
-The company military force is finally complete, creating a Libertarian fantasy of a privatised military force. The company keeps itself up to date with new warfare techniques and developments. -It recently has begun to implement the wheellock, despite the high cost and fragility of the weapon.
-A fishing industry begins in the Caribbean possessions, and an old man in Cuba manages to catch the largest marlin on record. Unfortunately it is mostly eaten by sharks before he can tow it back.
-Using funds and their military, a system of roads is built throughout Spanish holdings. They are cobbled and well built, allowing for rapid movement.
-Various alchemists, natural philosophers and other people are hired to help with finding out ways to help improve existing production methods of various goods or develop new ones. Since the scientific method is barely developed, let alone implemented, a large number of quacks and nutters plague the company. Some end up guessing something by sheer chance, and slightly push forward human knowledge and understanding.
-Trade begins with local Sultanates. Chinese immigrants are invited over to work in various workshops in the Spanish colonies in return for silver. The impotent Ming government demands that no skilled man leave the country for fear of leaking secrets. They end up doing so anyways.
-European styles are imitated by Chinese immigrants, and sold at extremely low prices. Good for the company, bad for silk-makers in Europe.

Kingdom of France

-The Habsburgs and the French declare peace again.
-King Francis I issues an ordinance that places the whole of France under the jurisdiction of the royal law courts and makes French the language of those courts.

Ruskie - New France

-With good profits, and land being gained almost daily from this colony, the French King sets up a system encouraging landless sons and daughters to emigrate to the New World. Sawmills and manufactories also begin to be set up in order to support the growing industrial production facilities in New France.
-As land becomes divided up and the population grows the most rapidly due to the abundance of food, assemblies and governors are increasingly created or appointed to help run this growing state.
-A mint is established, along with various other financial institutions during this time to help manage the monetary supply and regulation of coinage.
-Explorers spread throughout most of Argentina, followed in their steps by farmers and livestock keepers. Soon enough a couple of mines and managed forests also appear.
-Firearms factories and various manufactured goods cottage industries grow and expand, encouraged by the Governer. These goods are sold to gain massive numbers of slaves, who in turn are shipped to other European colonies.
-The French crown is gaining a massive monopoly over the sale of slaves, and as many other Europeans neglect their own holdings in Africa, the French push out the competition, constructing more forts and trading posts that slowly dominate the trade.
-A statue to built to commemorate those who called the Portuguese men Rustled Ronalds.
-The above incident, and others like it begin to draw attention, and soon an unofficial festival occurs every time this event transpires in both French and Portuguese colonies.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-The reformation spreads to Iceland, forcibly converting the population.
-The English and Swedes declare war on Denmark, which has their navy overwhelmed by the English.

UrbanMachismo - Lady of the Sea Shipbuilding Co.

-The English attack the main Danish colony in Louisiana, driving the colonists out northwards to the few trading posts up north.
-The colony struggles to survive after the attack, hanging on the edge and collaborating with local natives to attack the English. Ironically the guns are sold to them by a few Irishmen who buy guns in Newfoundland and shipped down to the Danes overland via rivers.
-The Greenland colony somehow manages to survive, and manages to gradually catch some whales, butcher them, and sells it to various people in Europe not engaged in the big war. The French like eating whale meat, using the oil for lamps and god knows what else the sick bastards do with it.

Ven Kaeo - Arla Culinary

-The colony asks for help from the Danish crown for protection. They get a reply back saying “We can't even help ourselves”.
-Colonists trickle over through various long routes, compounded by the problem of war.
-Trade begins with the sultans in the area, eager to enhance their wealth.
-Tobacco, lettuce, radishes, etc are brought over for purposes of crop rotation. The colony begins to produce tobacco. Some turnips are planted but treated with scorn. (That's a gentlemans crop!)
-Bees are imported to make honey. They do not make very much.
-Maize and sweet potatoes begin to be grown to feed the colony, and spice plantations to make it rich. Unfortunately the war in Europe results in the colony being forced to sell the spice elsewhere unless they want to get attacked.
-Enough settlers manage to carve out a few trading posts on an island to the north of Java. The intention was to settle in Borneo, but the Spanish explorers seemed puzzled and instead directed them to an unclaimed island. It is still a fine acquisition nonetheless.

Turn 11: 1540 to 1544

Elslein liebetes Elslein mein

Music of 1544

Political map of Turn 11

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35722646&viewfull=1#post35722646

Events of the years 1540 to 1544 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The scientific revolution begins in Europe, in the chaos of the reformation as the Catholic church weakens.
-Gerardus Mercator makes his first globe.
-The Holy Roman Empire is becoming increasingly strained by the reformation.
-Andreas Vesalius publishes De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), revolutionizing the science of human anatomy.
-Nicolaus Copernicus publishes De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in Nuremberg, challenging the idea of a earth-centered universe.
-The cast iron cannon is invented.
-Martin Luther publishes On the Jews and Their Lies.
-Electoral monarchy ends in Sweden, ushering in the start of a new era.
-Magnetic dip is discovered.
-The Ottoman Empire conquers Hungary.
-The Snaplock gun is probably invented around this time. It is cheaper and more reliable than the Wheellock (But slower than the Wheellock, and faster than the matchlock.)
-Christianity is introduced into China and Japan in significant numbers for the first time. Terrified authorities ban the religion in both nations, whilst a few in Japan seek to use it for political gain.
-Prices on products begin to gradually homogenize worldwide. Silver in China is becoming increasingly the same value as silver in Europe.
-Pirates in the Caribbean sea, and Atlantic are becoming common as trade and colonies expand. -They are least numerous in areas with high numbers of patrolling ships and nearby ports and forts.
-As the shipbuilding industries in Europe grow, the number of trees felled and mines opened increases and has begun to increase supply immensely.
-The spinning wheel is now common throughout Europe and the rest of the world. The resulting production of textiles leads to the price of cloth declining and increase in production of rags for papermaking. Books gradually decline in price.
-Prices for exotic new world goods like Tobacco and sugar have begun to slow down in their increase.
-As precious metals are imported into Europe, inflation has begun to become gradually noticeable.
-Mercantilism begins to rise as trade globalizes, resulting in undesirable price changes that leads to the state taking an active role in regulating trade to prevent national industries declining.
-As people emigrate from Spain in increasing numbers, those left behind are powerless to stop clerical and noble encroachment upon their lands.

Goods in demand:

New World: Manufactured goods, guns, horses, slaves, iron.
Europe: Tobacco, Sugar, silver, preserved food, chinaware, alcohol, coffee, furs.
Africa: Manufactured goods, chinaware, guns.
Asia: Silver, Tobacco, coffee.

Events of the years 1540 to 1544 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-England assists the Habsburgs in a war against France.
-The English monarch forces a heavy blockade on Denmark, bombing coastal towns and cutting off trade. The Hanseatic league, and some German relief forces struggle hopelessly against the Swedish.
-The intervention of the Habsburgs manages to work against the Danes, but eventually ceases due to religious troubles.
-A peace treaty is signed between the belligerent nations. The terms of the treaty allows for the Swedes to gain greater control of trade in the Baltic, effectively wipes out the Hanseatic League, and reduces Danish influence in the area, along with Denmark promising not to colonize any land in North America.
-National debt climbs to a startlingly high level, and some lenders are beginning to ask if silver can make up the shortfalls.
-The title King of Ireland is created, and Henry 8th becomes King of England and Ireland.
-The Scots invade England, and are promptly pushed back and then manage to lose their king. An infant, a few days old of age, is now queen of Scotland.

Mr. Face - New England

-Stockades are quickly thrown around colonies, before morphing into palisade walls. Finally actual fortifications begin to be built, utilizing artillery and barracks along with Italian engineering.
-Natives and Danish people are chased after, have their settlements sacked and burned, followed by deporting survivors back to Denmark.
-Silver exports continue to expand. Slaves are imported in huge numbers to Potosi to mine silver. -The population climbs ever higher and the dead, once decayed, leave behind puddles of mercury lying under their skeletons.
-Trade with China and Japan continues to expand, the former importing more and more silver, and the latter importing guns, which is embroiled in a heated civil war.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Portuguese explorers discover Taiwan.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-Large numbers of Galleons, merchantmen and some soldiers are purchased and brought over to help bolster the colonial military.
-Exploration of the Southern coast of North America is conducted, charting the area from Florida westwards towards Texas.
-Colonies push along the Brazilian coast, with the frequent passing by of ships by Portuguese and French (Who are on good terms and trade often), they sell needed supplies for colonies such as foodstuffs and tools. The result is that colonies are becoming easier to expand and establish on the coast, and as Anti-Malaria techniques are employed and slaves imported, the population steadily grows.
-Tobacco is planted into the Honduras, and with the importation of slaves and some basic hygiene and medicine, the colony grows quite sufficiently.
-The colonies have become so widespread and wide reaching of an area of land, that the Crown is taking an active interest in the company. Some of the company is starting to interact with the crown as time goes on, and has begun to influence foreign policy more and more.
-The Honduran colonies have fortifications built in them to protect against presumably the pirates.
-The West Indies colonies expand, as spice production increases. Silver also begins to be exported more frequently to China. This has come to the annoyance of the Crown who have instead put more taxes on various items.
-The mercury method of silver making is introduced, and boosts output immensely. Unfortunately it kills so many that African slaves must be imported to make up for this.
-A statue is built to commemorate the men who called the French Buttburt Bobbies. Due to the number of statues a small square is set aside, where the French men now arrive in. This square grows due to the number of people crowding into it often, and festivals begin to be held here.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Spanish Empire pushes increasingly northwards through Mexico.
-The Habsburgs are at war with France again, and enlist English help. They declare peace again a bit later.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-The company buys printing presses, and distributes pamphlets throughout Spain. Unfortunately illiteracy is very high, and requires somebody to read it out to people. Despite this, they prove effective at increasing the number of colonists.
-Explorers go up the Mississippi river, and then into the interior to begin mapping and exploring.
-Tea is smuggled out of China, and begins to be planted in the colonies, it proves to be a moderately successful beverage, but chocolate is more popular.
-Spice plantations in the East Indies continue to expand, and prove to be a valuable wallet padder.
-The colonies spread throughout Borneo, and then a colony is set up in Texas.
-Barracks and forts begin to be built in the Texas colony, along with the apparatus to maintain a military force there as the Spanish have an increasing interest in the area.
-Wheellock pistols and guns are utilized, but their cost makes it unattractive for widespread use, only the wealthier men can afford them.
-Field cannons begin to be purchased for use, at some expense.
-Chinese craftworkers begin to work with the Spanish in Borneo. Although there is some tension between the two groups, they begin to integrate and produce goods. However the Spanish monarch does not take kindly to have the countries industry undercut by the Chinese crafterworkers.
-Plans are drawn up on how to construct standard colonial towns, which begin to be very gradually used.
-Some surplus food is sent to China to help with the famine.
-A code of rules on how to treat slaves is written. It improves their conditions marginally, but runaways are still relatively common.

Kingdom of France

-Guess what, another war between France and the Habsburgs. The Ottomans and Scots ally with the French. Peace is later declared.

Ruskie - New France

-The colony requests the monarch to buy up the other French company. He refuses, and states that the company is far too wealthy. In fact the company is still growing.
-French Argentina is now starting to see a significant population increase due to birth rates. This, along with the tiny number of slaves imported has more or less created an almost entirely European colony.
-Some mines are expanded and various minerals such as gold, copper and the such are mined. There is barely any iron however.
-Some forests begin to be planted to help provide some wood for repairing ships. Existing forests have sawmills set up.
-The production of matchlock and wheellock guns increases, and many African Kingdoms gladly buy these guns. The slaves who change hands aren't.
-5 men are sent to the the capital of Brazil, where they call the governor a “Heated Henry”. A festival grows up around the event, and has begun to have the Portuguese and French develop increasingly friendly relations.
-The border with Brazil sees many traders and people travel to and fro Argentina, as trade develops in the area.
-The increase of manufactured goods in Argentina leads to the French King adopting mercantile policies.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-The English monarch forces a heavy blockade on Denmark, bombing coastal towns and cutting off trade. The Hanseatic League, and some German relief forces struggle hopelessly against the Swedish.
-A peace treaty is signed between the belligerent nations. The terms of the treaty allows for the Swedes to gain greater control of trade in the Baltic, effectively wipes out the influence of the Hanseatic League, and reduces Danish influence in the area, along with Denmark promising not to colonise any land in North America.

UrbanMachismo - Lady of the Sea Shipbuilding Co.

-The trading posts dissolve away, along with the inhabitants who simply drift to other colonies or back home. The English attacks drive most of them away, and deport the rest. A large number end up going to Greenland to help in the whaling and fishing industry that is growing in the area.
-Whaling stations, fishing villages and a few trading posts scatter throughout the entirety of inhabitable Greenland. By 1544, the population has risen to around 900 people. The land is too cold, and the soil of poor quality however. Barely anything of any note grows here, and the land is frequently covered in snow and ice. Icelandic peoples emigrate in some numbers here to take advantage of the wealthy whaling industry.
-A monopoly is granted to the company for whaling around Danish waters.

Ven Kaeo - Arla Culinary

-Not much happens this turn, minus expansion of existing trade and colonies. Danish interest in this colony has somewhat grown as a way to get some dosh.

Turn 12: 1544 to 1548

Diego Ortiz - Recercada No. 1 sobre el passamezzo antiguo (Spanish Renaissance Music)

Music of 1548

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35742241&viewfull=1#post35742241

Events of the years 1544 to 1548 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Council of Trent officially opens.
-A treatise on battlefield medicine is published for the first time.
-A tracheostomy is carried out successfully for the first time.
-Typhus is described for the first time.
-Ivan 4th of Moscowy becomes the first Tsar of Russia.
-Firearms are used for the first time in large numbers in Japan.
-Snaplock muskets become known somewhat throughout the world by this stage, allowing for mass production and their use.
-Another harvest failure occurs in Henan, China. This time due to excessive rainfall.
-French Protestants immigrate in increasing numbers to Southeast England to avoid persecution by French authorities.
-The Chinese authorities put in a ban on all maritime trade, and close down all ports, in order to counter Japanese pirates. The silver trade still continues to some extent due to smuggling by traders and pirates.
-Mathematics is becoming an increasingly taught subject in schools, colleges and universities. The spread of the printing press and books (The price of which is declining) has contributed largely to this, especially as many algebra books become translated into vernacular languages and increasingly used.
-As Asians have begun to move about on the silver and Chinaware ships, they are becoming a common sight in the New World. Several samurai have been actually hired by a few merchants to help protect some roads in Mexico.
-Pirates and privateers, common throughout the Caribbean, although chased by national navies, simply hide in a port which is neutral or flying their own flag. The lack of any laws on privateering or piracy, and their unrestricted use in warfare means that they are common to the Caribbean until all navies in the area work together to eliminate them.
-The buccaneering age has begun to rise slowly, as money changes hands rapidly and the criminal organizations and gangs of the Old World make their way over to the New. This permanent social ill is worsened by the lack of any effective means of direct rule or control. Often companies or crown colonies run things ad hoc or use a local puppet, resulting in some mayhem and the such.
-In areas that depend on plantations, the rate of development of local industries and infrastructure is notably slower than in areas that depend on other industries or trades like logging, fishing, ranching and manufacturing.
-The price of silver has dropped 10% since 1500.

Events of the years 1544 to 1548 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-At the battle of the Solent, the English ship Mary Rose sinks during battle due to most likely an accident. A peace treaty is later signed with the French.
-The Scots win a battle against the English at Ancrum moor, but the war finishes soon after.
-Rebellions break out throughout England against the new Protestant church.
-Henry 8th then dies a fat bloated old man. The kingdom is suffering severely from debt, with silver payments mostly managing to keep it afloat. The lenders, in the replacement of a despot with a sickly teenage boy, begin to try and get their loans back.

Mr. Face - New England

-Colonial armies are slashed to reduce costs, which helps a bit. The deficit of the mother country is still very bad however, with interest rates and inflation making it harder to pay back debts.
-Colonies are expanded, and new ones set up in the Northeast, which is slowly starting to produce its own manufactured goods and agricultural products, becoming a mini-Europe. There is a lack of slaves though, most of whom are worked to death elsewhere.
-The midwest is extensively explored, suffering frequent native attacks, whom had been driven away by the colonial army when in the war with Denmark.
-To help pay off loans, silver production increases even more.
-Trade increases ever more with the far East, particularly Japan, who have taken a liking to English guns.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The Portuguese mostly ignore the Chinese ban on trade, and simply smuggle in goods. Some even join the Japanese pirates.
-Portuguese relations with the French begin to notably improve.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-To encourage learned men and the such to come to the New World, the first university is set up in the capital of Brazil “La Paz”. Some colleges and schools have begun to gradually appear in some numbers along with printing presses too.
-The church and state begin to increasingly ask the colony to keep a watchful eye on these men.
-Most of this is largely ignored, and these rational thinkers and experimenters go ahead anyways.
-Colonies on the Brazillian coast have begun to come close to meeting each other, aided by a growing population and unending European demand for sugar, tobacco and other such goods.
-The colony in the Honduras begins to have roads and ports established throughout the width of the land, to try and encourage traders and the such to use this route. Most Portuguese go this way, but most prefer the Spanish route which is quickest (But most expensive, and risky if non-Spanish).
-A colony is set up in Sumatra, nearby Medan. Spice plantations are set up, and this rather sudden intrusion causes some alarm. The Sultan demands that the Portuguese leave, or cut him in on the profits. A trade agreement eventually results.
-A small fort, and some fortified trading posts are scattered throughout Northern Florida, which slowly push out non-Portuguese pirates and become a trading station for some nations.
-6 men are send to French Argentina, where they call the people Whiny Willies.
-A song and a dance is performed, and the local French people join in. The growing festival results in a holiday gradually forming, based around the creation of petty and nonsense insults. The improving relations results in the borders becoming quite open as French and Portuguese intermarry in the area.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Spanish finally manage to put down most rebels in Yucatan and subjugate the populace.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-Hoping to drum up more support, the company goes abroad to find potential colonists. Other countries not quite so due to existing companies there, but colonists are found in places such as Scotland, Sweden, Poland-Lithuania, Ireland and especially Germany.
-The Spanish colonies become increasingly mixed as people from all over Europe, West Africa and the New World interact and intermarry. Local authorities try to desperately track the creation of these peoples and what their rights and privileges are.
-The Spanish ruling classes are becoming quite supportive of the company, and several of the companies members are knighted.
-General exploration of Borneo and North America proceeds, discovering lovely spices to trade like Nutmeg and Clove in the process.
-Cocoa, tea and spice plantations are expanded largely, and whilst sugar plantations are limited, the profits are just too high to ignore, which expand also.
-Agricultural farming estates and some basic industries are set up in parts of Mexico, which helps to make the place more self sufficient. However most people find it more profitable to work in industries like sugar, rum, tobacco and the such, importing food instead. Salted French beef, Dried English cod, Pickled Danish fish, etc are popular. There is a rather large swathe of land somewhere up north in an area called the Midwest however, which would be perfect for food producing crops.
-Expansion continues along the Texan coastline, until the colonists eventually meet the English and encroach on the borders to the point that the English complain.
-A holiday called St Raphels day is announced, in which people find spouses. Birth rates increase slightly from what they originally were, but problems like disease, malnutrition, injuries, poor healthcare and the such keep the death rate high.
-A man is sent to the London, where he moons the governor of the colonies and then calls him a “Warmongering Ninnyhead”.
-Aid is given to the Danish, helping to pay them on a trip away from the extinguished colony. A good number end up going to stay in Greenland, or the Spanish colonies themselves.

Kingdom of France

-The war with England comes to a close.
-Henry 2nd becomes King of France.
-A marriage treaty is signed between Scotland and France, agreeing that their queen will marry the future king Francis 2nd.
-The French King begins to slowly make trading and diplomatic deals with the Portuguese. Seeking to drive a wedge between England and Portugal, these deals slowly see them drift from their traditional ally.

Ruskie - New France

-The colony, annoyed at their counterpart, simply begin to buy shares instead until they can gain a majority. However due to the companies financial success and size, this is a task that is easier said than done.
-Military experts from France and Spain are hired, to help reform and organise the colonial army to be an efficient killing machine.
-More of Argentina is explored. Some natives are pissed for some reason and try to kill the explorers. A few snaplocks help cover a hasty retreat by the French to the nearest fort.
-Expansion of the main colony is greatly extended this year, to the point that the colony is starting to resemble a nation-state with its size, production and population. Mints and banks exist in the colonial capital now as well.
-A colony is established in California, which is noted to be a good place for growing crops and produce.
-A statue is made to commenerate the men who called the Portuguese guv'ner a Heated Henry.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-Danish relations with Spain improve after aid is granted to them.
-Naval reforms are carried out.

Ven Kaeo - Arla Culinary

-Not much happens yo.

Turn 13: 1548 to 1552

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35771002&viewfull=1#post35771002

Events of the years 1548 to 1552 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Netherlands are reorganised into one political entity by the Habsburgs, the increasing centralisation causes dissent to rise in this area significantly.
-The counter-reformation begins in Bavaria.
-Gerolamo Cardano publishes his comprehensive survey of the natural sciences, De subtilitate, in Nuremberg.
-The Ottoman Empire conquers Tripoli.
-Publishing of books relating to botany and mathematics occur largely during this year.
-The inner ear and heart are explored and detailed by Bartolomeo Eustachi, although due to fear of persecution it is not published.
-Tapeworms and syphilis is described for the first time in detail.
-Shit son, France, the Habsburgs AND England are all at war.
-In Henan province, China, a severe frost in the spring destroys the winter wheat crop. Torrential rains in mid summer cause massive flooding of farmland and villages. In the autumn a large tornado demolishes houses and flattens much of the buckwheat in the fields. Famine victims either flee, starve, or resort to cannibalism.
-Tower clocks have become so common that nearly everybody in Europe or America now has access to a clock, with the upper and middle classes often buying them for domestic use. Increasing accuracy means an improvement in timekeeping and allowing for astronomy to advance.
-Some people begin to live based off the motions of these strange machines. No longer people wake or sleep or eat or drink when they feel like it, but instead more people are synchronising these times to do specific actions with each other. You eat dinner at 3 in the afternoon now.
-Europe undergoes a short-term economic crisis after the English declare bankruptcy, with some banks collapsing and a couple of anti-Semitic pogroms taking place.
-The natives of the New World have have begun to adapt with the adoption of firearms and horses, which is making European encroachment harder.
-Some Protestant sects are beginning to emphasize reading of the bible as fundamental to their religion, and as a result literacy amongst these groups begins to rise.

Events of the years 1548 to 1552 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-The prayer book recently introduced, along with the enclosure movement, have resulted in large disturbances throughout the country as civil unrest flares up and destabilises the Kingdom.
-The spire of Lincoln Cathedral collapses, leaving St Olaf's Church in Estonia as the tallest structure on earth.
-England and France go to war. Then it goes to war with the Habsburgs.
-There is a final outbreak of sweating sickness, which from now on completely vanishes from the history books. John Caius of Shrewsbury writes a contemporary description in tasteful detail.
-War debts and inflation mount up to serious levels, and one day the Kingdom declares bankruptcy due to this.
-The country spirals into chaos, with zealots on both sides of the religious matter causing problems.
-To make things worse, Edward becomes ill and has no heirs, precipitating a succession crisis.

Mr. Face - New England

-The colony suffers from economic shock as the motherland undergoes some stress. Growth and expansion slows massively.
-A colony is started in Delaware, with explorers heading westwards to try and map the interior. This task has become exceedingly difficult with the thick forests, cooling climate and some native hostility. Long island also becomes settled.
-The colonial army mobilises to fight the Spanish, but due to attacks from many sides are forced to retreat to the Northeast colonies.
-English Peruvia is invaded by both France and Portugal, with some losses as the local populations rise to take revenge against their former masters. Nonetheless all sides take a brutal beating in the war.
-Native uprisings lead to a full blown rebellion that starts to retake their old lands.
-The English colony of New Orleans is blockaded, and the English navy engages in numerous battles with the French and Portuguese. The English navy fights well, but is forced into ports or to retreat against superior numbers. The waters around the North American colonies are maintained, but Peru is left completely to the mercy of the enemy.
-New Orleans is eventually lost to a Spanish force.

Kingdom of Portugal

-A Portuguese explorer, setting out from Zanzibar, maps the East coast. However only a few mauled men return. The unexplored region is left marked as hc svnt dracones.
-The Portuguese economy suffers badly due to silver inflation and several crashes throughout Europe. War debts put increasing pressure on the country.
-Portugal declares war on England.
-The Ciena of Niesmiertelni company is taken over by a number of nobles.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The company buys a large number of troops and ships, and convinces the monarchy to declare war on England.
-Blockades are enacted on the English in the New World, with many naval battles taking place.
-Trade routes with the French expand quite extensively during this period as the hostilities with England increase. The two countries end up improving relations more and more, putting pressure on the Habsburgs to maintain their hedgemony of Europe.
-Expansion inland continues, though very slowly due to the plant growth.
-Portugal finally lays claim to the last of the Brazillian coastline.
-The company mobilises against England, blocking off trade via the Honduras and invading Northern Peru. The English soldiers are treated somewhat fairly when captured, but the resulting destabilisation results in many native opportunists rising that results in many deaths.
-Fortifications are erected in existing colonies to protect against pirates, and most likely the English.
-In a nod to the 6 whiny willy men, a statue is erected to honour their memory.
-Maroon kingdoms in the Brazillian interior begin to attack the Portuguese towns and trading posts when encroachment comes too close. These entities, composed of natives, runaway Europeans and slaves, are formidable and fierce, being armed with European weapons and using guerilla tactics.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Exploration of South America and the Pacific East coast is conducted.
-Investors come to put some more cash into the company, hearing of good news for California.
-The company starts to expand once more, and the Baja colony expands north into California.

Kingdom of Spain

-Silver is discovered in Zacatecas.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-The Habsburgs declare war on England.
-The Spanish crown suffers mounting debts, exacerbated by war and silver inflation. The country is barely able to pay the interest.
-The company military rushes into New Orleans, shelling the fort with a naval bombardment and then capturing the port.
-Colonists from Spain and some explorers begin to move up and down the Mississippi river, noting the fertile land. Farms have begun to be set up, and are proving to be very productive.
-A company newspaper is established, and farms are set up to try and produce paper. Nonetheless, it is a costly affair that barely breaks even on profit. Cotton has been discovered to be made into a good paper, but the only reliable source of it at the moment is in India.
-Sugar, spice and everything nice is greatly expanded on, with tea and cocoa finally breaking through into the Upper Middle Classes of Europe.
-An edict is passed, forcing all those who involve themselves in business or land ownership must pass a basic literacy test for purposes of tax collection. The number of literate begins to rise to around 15%.
-Husbandry is practised amongst the Spanish, with the intention of creating stocks of cattle that are fatter, produce more milk, and are more docile.
-New agricultural techniques begin to be slowly applied.
-With some of the policies enacted, various technological advances begin to crop up, mostly with regards to agriculture.
-The Spanish invade, and capture Manilla, driving out the English and pissing off the Ming government in the process whose silver shipments have been halted.
-Spanish ships raid the English ones, looting them of silver and selling it for profit.

Kingdom of France

-England and France go to war.
-One of the first French Grammar books is published.
-The French and the Habsburgs decide to have another war to break up the monotony of peace.

Ruskie - New France

-In another act of reckless disregard for colonial safety, the colony buys more ships. By this stage, the colonial navy is the biggest in the Americas, once the English one is destroyed.
-They go to fight the nasty English, invading from the South and working northwards. Native rebellions keep breaking out however, and put strain upon logistics and military advance.
-Further expansion is attempted in the Californian colony. However due to logistics and the ongoing war with England, very few colonists arrive there.
-Expansion into the Argentinian interior continues much like it did beforehand though, with vast flocks of European animals helping to feed, clothe and fuel the growing French Empire.
-7 men are sent to the capital of Brazil, calling the governor an “Irate Irene” before setting off a number of fireworks much to the celebration of locals. A large festival takes place, and has now become an annual occurrence in both capitals. The only people not celebrating are maroons and natives.
-Natives begin to attack various French settlements, armed with bows and on horseback. They are becoming increasingly hostile.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-Due to no players, this will become an NPC nation, with two competing companies. One is a whaling company in Greenland, and another is a spice trading one in the Malays.

Turn Summary: 1500 to 1550

-The west has begun to rise, catching up to the advanced civilisations of Asia, and in some cases have begun to supercede them.
-China has abandoned the coastal areas as pirates plague the seas, and trade begins to be mostly based around the purchase of silver.
-In Europe, the Protestant Reformation gave a major blow to the authority of the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church. European politics is becoming increasingly dominated by religious conflicts.
-In the East, the Ottoman Empire has become the most powerful Empire on Earth. The Sultan rules an empire that is starting to deal with increasing problems.
-The Kalmar Union has broken up, with the Kingdom of Sweden becoming an independent entity.
-Russia has also formed from the earlier Muscovite city-state, and the Golden Horde is losing power.
-Poland-Lithuania has grown to dominate Eastern Europe, with a rather decentralised power structure and religious tolerance that is maintaining stability and economic growth in the area.
-England has risen to become a major power by 1550, helped by silver imports.
-Portugal, Spain and France are just behind, rising and slowly overtaking their neighbours in terms of economic power.

-Agriculture has made massive strides as new techniques and machines are developed. Animals have become heavier and larger, giving a greater output. The introduction of new crops ranging from potatoes to maize has allowed for greater diversification and reducing the risk of famine.
-Education is gradually improving along with literacy and numeracy. Although the vast majority do not know much, a farmer today is more likely to provide more information than a man a century prior.
-Local improvements spread more rapidly, and the printing press has helped contribute to this extensively. Ploughs are becoming heavier, using iron, and wheels. Kelp, manure, fertilisers are being gradually adopted.
-The Wheat Output of average farm, measured in Bushels produced per acre, has risen from 6.48 in 1500 to 7.88 in 1500.
-The four field crop rotation system (wheat, turnips, barley and clover) has been recently developed in the Netherlands, but has yet to spread significantly.

-The spread of the spinning wheel has allowed for textile production to improve, and now a proto-capitalist system has emerged whereby a merchant buys raw wool, gives it to a cottage, and then takes it off them and sells it, giving the cottagers a share of the profit. Metalworking has taken strides as guns continue development, getting gradually lighter and more useful. The finery forge has spread throughout all of Europe by this stage, and blast furnaces are also popular.

-Despite improvements, infant mortality is still high. Disease spreads due to poor understanding of it. Quarantines have been utilised for centuries, and are improving. Doctors now are understanding the body better. Patients are given alcohol before surgery, to reduce pain. Doctors still do not keep good hygiene however.

-Europe is appearing to becoming secular, but do not be fooled one bit. The monasteries dissolved, the state removing the pope as head of the church and the such may indicate this. However people are becoming more fanatical over religion. Whereas a century ago, people had religion as a strong part of their lives, now it is becoming a matter of life or death for some.

-The Iberian peninsula is gradually slowing down population growth due to emigration to the new world, war, disease and the such. Peasants are powerless to prevent noble and clerical incursion. In England, land is becoming enclosed and run as single units. The collaspe of feudalism means wage seekers now drift across the land to work on farms. Capitalism is arising in the west as revolts erupt over enclosed land. Poverty is becoming a problem, and many mitigate it by emigration.

-Brazil has around 50,000 inhabitants, a third of which are slaves.
-French Argentina amounts to around 40,000 with a crucial difference being it mostly French in its makeup. (It also produces disproportionally more food than any other colony)
-Spanish possessions amount to around 30 million subjects, although this number is rapidly declining.
-Before the war, England had possibly between 3 and 30 million subjects in the Incan empire. The destruction of records is not very helpful. Nonetheless the population is declining here.
-English possessions in the Northeast amount to around 40,000 inhabitants.

Turn 14: 1552 to 1556

Diego ORTIZ- Recercadas del Trattado de Glossas- Jordi SAVALL.wmv

Music of 1556

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35795222&viewfull=1#post35795222

Turn quote: Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

Events of the years 1552 to 1556 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-Shanghai and Beijing have their fortifications updated extensively, with the latter now being a city covering 4662 hectares.
-Michael Servetus publishes Christianismi Restitutio, including an account of the circulation of the blood.
-Giambattista Benedetti publishes Resolutio omnium Euclidis problematum, proposing a new doctrine of the speed of bodies in free fall.
-Charles Estienne publishes a collection of tracts on agriculture, Praedium Rusticum.
-Completion of the Church of Sant'Andrea in Via Flaminia, Rome, the first church to have an elliptical dome.
–The Peace of Augsburg is signed between Charles 5th, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League establishing the principle Cuius regio, eius religio, that is, rulers within the Empire can choose the religion of their realm. With this, many religious tensions have been temporarily cooled.
-The Holy Roman Empire, a monstrosity of 2200 towns and 150,000 villages slowly lumbers onwards. The kings of Poland, France and Denmark may damage it, or the Sultan bash it, but it does little to halt its slow lumbering progress propelled by millions of peasants driving it towards an uncertain future.
-Charles 5th abdicates from the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, the stress of the Reformation getting to him. The division of both crowns marks a change in the Habsburgs. One branch is concerned with Germany, the other with Spain and her possessions.
-Russia invades Finland, pissing off the Swedish whom had a truce with them for 60 years.
-The word Negro (referring to a black person) is coined in the Spanish colonies.
-Akbar ascends to the throne of the Mughal Empire at age 13, there will probably be little to emerge of note from this boys.
-Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade.
-The first printing press in India is introduced by Jesuits at Saint Paul's College, Goa.
-Publication of Georgius Agricola's textbook on metal mining and processing, De re metallica.
-Publication in Rome of Juan Valverde de Amusco's Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano, including Realdo Colombo's discovery of pulmonary circulation.
-The Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China; 830,000 people may have been killed.
-Spanish population growth is slowing down noticeably, leading to the economy also slowing in growth as most focus is overseas. Growth of the economy is also hampered by a system of cartels, the merchants using silver receipts to fund consumption (due to increasing food supply problems) and lack of production of useful goods for export.
-Roughly 5000 slaves a year are exported from Africa.
-An increasing disparity is now noted. Plantations, and areas with large numbers of them have little in the way of local infrastructure and development beyond extracting raw materials. Meanwhile areas based off other industries or agriculture, do start to actually develop these as they become required by the local population.
-Ships are becoming bigger and better. Grande Carracks and Galleons are now increasingly common on the seas.
-Native populations through disease and other matters have reached their lowest possible peak. -Likewise the same is true for extension of forest cover and the global temperature. From here on out, due to human activities starting to have an influence, all of them look set to gradually change.
-Four field rotation has spread throughout the Netherlands, and is starting to make an appearance in France and Germany.
-Potatoes, turnips and maize are becoming increasingly common in European agriculture. Tomatoes grow in Italy for the first time. The use of turnips to feed livestock over winter, combined with four field rotation, is a godsend to people. Winter is becoming less of a danger, and diets are improving gradually.

Events of the years 1552 to 1556 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-Edward 6th dies, is shortly replaced by Lady Jane Grey, who in turn is kicked out by Mary 1st. She then sets about executing Protestant dissenters, and trying to restore Catholicism.
-These changes are met with approval and dismay by many, and it is hard to restore the damage that her father and brother did to Catholicism.
-She sets about desperately trying to fix problems England is suffering. The rebellion of the colonies does not help. Not one bit.
-Richard Chancellor reaches Arkhangelsk, and opens trade with Russia.
-A rebellion led by Thomas Wyatt is brutally crushed.
-The English crown declares that the rebels of the New World are committing the utmost horror and heresy. Much of the population agrees with only some Protestants disagreeing, citing the removal of Protestantism being the cause.
-The wrecked economy makes England an insufferable place to be at this time.

Mr. Face - New England

-The colonies rebel, and break links with the English crown. Immediately a large proportion of the colonists are split on what to do. The colony is justified in doing such to break relations with a Catholic usurper, but some themselves are divided over this being the best action, the main consensus is that once a legitimate Protestant monarch is restored the colonies will return to English control. There barely exists any infrastructure or military capable of even defending the colonies against enemy colonies, let alone the crown.
-The rest of the Peruvian colonies are lost to the Portuguese and French. This, along with the loss of Manilla and New Orleans proves to be a crushing blow to English prestige and economic power.
-Many argue over the best way to implement the old Greek and Roman idea of “Democracy”.
-The rebellion spreads out from Boston, but many are divided over the issue. There is little joining these colonies together, but with the removal of the head of state, dissent is rapidly rising.
-These colonies are litte more than an ad hoc collection of theocratic puritan castaways, exiles, traders, fishermen and some farmers.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Explorers from Zanzibar trek again to the East African mainland, and manage to shoot down a strange local beast. They note that the skin can be of good use, along with the meat and bones. -Killing it is hard however, due to the thickness of the skin, the size of the creature, and the fact none of the explorers have seen this terrifying thing, spoken only of in legends before.
-The Portuguese crown, due to spending and inflation, is on the verge of bankruptcy.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The colonial army and navy is extended in size once more, and for some reason, the Portuguese army marches further south into Peru, taking over the former Incan empire. Potosi is captured, giving it control over the silver trade. It kickstarts again, and money begins to flow to Lisbon.
-Exploration proceeds inland slowly, but some explorers are killed by maroons. Others by disease, and some more simply drop down dead for unknown reasons.
-The war with English Peruvia continues, and manages to capture the rest of the land before the native rebellion calms down and establishes a small rump kingdom within itself.
-More colonists and slaves are brought to Peru, and slowly push north to claim more land in the name of profit and the glory of god.
-8 men, marching in a 2x4 formation, arrive in the French capital. There they call the French “Infuriated Idas”. Another festival takes place. The drinking of hot chocolate with milk and sugar mixed in, served in porcelain cups between two cultures in Argentina just goes to show how things have moved.
-A colony is set up in the Northern Philippines, where spice plantations are planted and the Portuguese desire for a curried cabbage is realised.
-An truce is established between the Incans and Portuguese, allowing them to retain a small state within themselves. Some native peoples begin to emigrate to here to free themselves from European rule, but life was still much the same now as it was before, only the rulers have changed.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-As investors seek to invest into this alternate Portuguese colony, the increased number of ships and some colonists coming over results in some push to the north into California.
-Cotton is planted in the colonies, but processing the cotton into a usable format is slow and costly.
-Slaves do help the matter slightly, but it is quite uneconomical. Only the demand for paper and some clothes by numerous persons keeps these plantations on the edge in small numbers.
-There is an exploration attempt to find the mythical island of “Hawaii”, invented by a ship captain most likely. The explorers end up landing in Japan, selling a few guns, and coming back with some silk and tea. The Japanese enjoy these new guns, which are becoming increasing used in warfare there. (Fucking Ashigaru kills Samurai with smoke and fire, this is a SHAMFUR DISPRAY.)
-The company promises neutrality in all conflicts, minus that with the rebellious English colony.

Kingdom of Spain

-Spain ends the war with England, and allies with it by marrying the monarchs Mary 1st and Phillip the 2nd.
-The truce with France collapses, and they end up going to war.
-The Spanish crown, due to spending and inflation, is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-Further deals are offered to the poor and desperate. The colonies are painted as a land of hope and freedom, which many take up the offer of. Voyages and land is given out freely, which results in an population boom. In turn, although being costly for the company, it helps to invigorate trade in their own colonies which is of course, taxable.
-Requests to use Spanish military is denied, due to it being constantly busy. The company must recruit their own.
-Trading posts are set up along the Blåtand Floden, pushing Spanish claims further north. Land is freely given out to colonists along the river too, the settlements being almost anarchist in their running as little influence of the state exists here.
-Food production is heavily focused on, with farmers being taught how to grow the best crops and the methods for doing so. Loans, which are very expensive, also help these farmers get off the ground. Food production noticeably improves, with exports and imports flowing along the river increasingly and turning New Orleans from an English fort into a Spanish shantytown.
-The military in New Orleans pushes out natives, and begin regular river patrols to prevent attacks. -The natives respond by hiding in the forests to make attacks, and staying inland. Few can travel inland.
-Freedom of Speech is subtly decriminalised. Nobody realises this until the most radical views appear. Although there has been an extension of this, individuals can still be harassed and attacked by angry persons or even lynched.
-Manufactories and plantation begin to be extended throughout the colonies, to help make it more self-sufficient.
-Lumbermills, powered by water or wind, are set up and make use of managed forests. Charcoal production likewise begins. Unfortunately metal production is limited by the distance between charcoal and iron production areas, and charcoal proves to be costly in terms of wood consumption.
-Taxes on education and paper/textile production have been removed. Many bookbinders, printers, paper-makers, teachers and the such move to these colonies to work in these fields due to the low costs.
-The naval wharves in New Orleans are extended and built up, to provide access to colonists and the increasing number and sizes of vessels.
-Peace with the English colonies is declared, and the military/navy returns to assuming a defensive position.

Kingdom of France

-The truce with Spain collapses, and they end up going to war.

Ruskie - New France

-The crown colony has bought a fair number of shares in the opposing company. Unfortunately, due to that company still being highly commercially successful, the other shareholders see through this ploy to gain control.
-There is further colonization inland, pushing into Argentina as more land is claimed. The population grows steadily by an extra 3000, most of whom settle in this new land. However, the population is still thinly spread, with a few concentrations in coastal towns. Most people support themselves by livestock and some basic manufacturing of goods. There is a severe lack of iron however due to the geology.
-The Californian colony begins to be supplied extensively, and focused on in terms of colonial matters at the present moment. The good farmland means wine and other crops grow well here, allowing for good population growth.
-The army of Dragoons (Rreerr) are extended massively. The slow introduction of carbines over muskets has resulted in slightly increased mobility, reload time and the such as gun designs improve.
-The slave trade, immensely profitable has resulted in this colony becoming the biggest single buyer of slaves, yet ironically barely uses any themselves.
-The rest of English Peruvia is conquered by the colonial army, and manages to barely take down English and native excursions. It is difficult to hold onto this new land.
-A statue is built to commemorate the men who called the Portuguese governor an “Irate Irene”.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-Arla Culinary is taken over by new management, whom seek to make improvements to the company.

Ven Kaeo - Arla Culinary

-Spice exports continue, and begin to be extensively expanded into by the company in order to make peppered potatoes.
-A convoy is sent to the other company’s Greenland colony to resupply in for a short while, before heading down the St Patrick river to an abandoned Irish colony, where it sets up a small colony on top of the ruins of the old. After wintering, it sets about clearing the land and re-establishing farms with new agricultural techniques. Tobacco is still largely unsuitable for growing here unfortuately.
-The existing colonies in the Malays have new agricultural techniques introduced, and have been noted to improve agricultural production.
-More trading posts, forts and some towns are taken over, established or set up throughout the Malays. Mainland colonisation is slightly too risky for the moment, and is slow in its progress.
-Trade begins with the Spanish in Indonesia, and natives in Canada. The Spanish are keen on trading various common goods and essentials. The natives however offer much in the way of animal pelts in return for manufactured goods and weapons.

Turn 15: 1556 to 1560

Adrian Willaert "Vecchie letrose"

Music of 1560

Political map of Turn 15

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35829622&viewfull=1#post35829622

Turn quote: The Reformation: A burning issue

Events of the years 1556 to 1560 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-China is forced to reopen trade to the outside world due to compounded economic problems.
-Platinum is described for the first time.
-The Livonian war begins, and soon results in people dying.
-Gresham's law is developed, which explains how debased coinage will drive out the more “valuable” coinage over time as people will use the debased currency in favor of the old one, which will drift out of circulation.
-The Scottish reformation begins. The auld alliance is shattered, and the Scots expel the French.
-Oda Nobunga wins control of Owari, and sets about
-Tulips are introduced to Europe.
-The first scientific society, the Academia Secretorum Naturae, is founded in Naples by Giambattista della Porta.
-The violin is introduced.
-An influenza epidemic ravages Europe.
-China, after loosening trading laws and fixing famine issues, is now starting to recover. Silver inflation is still a big problem.
-Snuff, a powdered tobacco product that is inhaled through the nose, is introduced to European courts, and begins to spread.
-Piracy has become enough of a problem in the seas that finally now it can be said to be the start of the age of piracy. High unemployment, poor wages and bad living and working conditions is what drives many of them to crime.
-In response, trading ships have begun to form into convoys and be built bigger. Throughout is increasing gradually as a large number of trading ships can protect themselves easily. Smaller ships such as brigs, sloops and merchantmen don't stand a chance however.
-Countries which base their franchise off the value of land, (England being an example) have begun to see a gradual increase in their electorate as the set price for the right to vote decreases.
-Assemblies for monarchs have also begun to slowly grow in size, with representatives from various estates advising the monarch and trying to push forward an agenda. Although these assemblies are weak, they become more notably powerful when the monarch is weak or young.
-Mercantile polices begin to be increasingly enacted by European states. The rising inflation and rapid change of production of goods scares people into passing edicts to protect home industries.
-The production of purple dye from snails begins to dye out as it is replaced by indigo instead.
-Around 500,000 Europeans, or those of European descent, now live in the New World.
-Silver has reduced by 20% of its value since 1500.

Events of the years 1556 to 1560 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-The English join the Spanish in their war against the French for a short bit.
-Calais is lost, and with it, the last scrap of land on the continent. The shocked queen soon dies from a stomach cancer and Elizabeth ascends to the throne.
-The act of supremacy and act of uniformity are both passed. The church of England has been now formally created, and Protestantism is now strong once more. Catholic persecution begins likewise.
-As many problems occurred over the past 12 years, the new government seeks to reform existing problems and rebuild the country.
-After the treaty of Edinburgh is signed, England and Scotland are now finally cooling relations. Border raids and battles are dying down as their hatred of Catholics unites them.

Liem - New England

-The colonies begin to splinter apart due to lack of effective rule. With the return of a Protestant monarch, most people are demanding the right to be part of England again. They see little reason to split from a country that many of them were born in during the Reformation.
-The company quickly returns to the rule of the crown, going “Oh we certainly don't hate you, your majesty!”. The move goes swimmingly, and favor is quickly restored when it becomes apparent they rebelled against Catholic rule.
-With the loss of many money-making colonies, economic focus gradually shifts onto industries, fishing and agriculture. (As opposed to plantations or precious metals).
-Tobacco however is grown in sufficient numbers in Virginia for export, along with some other goods.
-The ideas of democracy become interesting, and some colonies start to elect representatives amongst themselves and hold assemblies. Others remain as religious theocracies, and some are directly run by a governor.
-The colony recovers, but with heavy losses. It will take some years to recover, and the English crown sees to focus in it now, with the loss of Calais and Peruvia now.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Macau is now owned by Portugal, China having been forced to realize that trade is needed to keep their country strong.
-The wars end, and Portugal is eventually forced to declare bankruptcy. A short economic recession ensues, and some unrest follows before order is finally restored.
-Relations with England begin to sour as the alliance is not renewed, and opposing religions help deepen the divide.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The colonial army and navy gradually reduces in size, in order to save cash.
-A statue is built to honor the “Infuriated Idas”.
-Internal colonialism begins, with the focus now on populating empty lands rather than spreading outwards. There is some minor expansion encouraged in Peru, but little else.
-Monasteries start popping up like mushrooms. The reformation having passed and Catholicism becoming more militant, has resulted in many men of the cloth seeking to further the work of Christ. This incidentally results in land clearing and population growth as monasteries traditionally aid in this.
-Silver, mercury and foodstuff production is focused into, and soon there is a noted increase in food production over time. Increasing inflation however helps to balance this out as prices rise.
-Trade routes with the French improve, and eventually favorable trade tariffs and customs appear.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Colonists increase in numbers in California, given the good relations with the French, trade is able to succeed admirably here.
-Gold is searched for, and is found sparingly. The low numbers of people in the area and lack of effective prospecting means finding a big source is hard however.
-Explorers crawl along the Pacific coastline, and note the interesting new sights they see, such as the local people who like to buy their beads and bowls.
-Wine becomes a popular thing to produce here, for the climate is good in this area for production of it. Grain, maize and tobacco likewise.
-Trade with the Japanese go well, who enjoy buying the intricate European devices such as guns, plate armor, navigational instruments and pictures of octopuses.
-An alliance is proposed with the forces led by Oda Nobunga. In return for Oda having a monopoly over what the Portuguese sell him, they will agree to some Europeans coming over and establishing a trading quarter.

Kingdom of Spain

-Discontent in the Netherlands continues to rise. Petitions by the high nobility in the Netherlands is mostly ignored as the religious tension in the land becomes more and more intolerable.

Canuhearme? - El gremio de comerciantes en el Nuevo Mundo

-Dye plantations begin to be set up, and indigo is especially profitable.
-The colonies spread into the American interior, focusing on food production.
-New Orleans begins to be renovated, with fortifications, massive ports, and laid out roads. The low lying city in the swamp however is still not the best of places to live though, but is rapidly becoming an important port.
-Schools and universities are becoming secular, and the Spanish crown is unable to do much about it minus some basic laws. The colonial government enforces these laws weakly, and only punishes the most radical of speakers. The only execution so far is of a man claiming there is no god.
-Courthouses begin to be built throughout the colonies, to help enforce secular law, and undermine the power and authority of the church. Company governors realize that the crown can do little here.
-Trade links open with an Indian prince, where he grants the Europeans trading rights, ownership of an office and some attached manufacturies. In return he gets goods such as silver and tobacco.
-A guerrilla war proceeds with the natives to the north, fighting for control of the Mississippi river. The natives have begun to recover in population, having their numbers sometimes dented by smallpox outbreaks. Nonetheless they have begun to burn away forests again, and on open plains they have begun to use the full potential of the horse.
-Military advisers are sent to the English colonies. There they are bizarrely taken into English employment and set about helping to reform and create a semi-permanent colonial army.
-Cattle and horse ranching starts to be utilized in the Texan lands.
-Four field crop rotation is introduced.

Kingdom of France

-Francis the second is crowned.
-The Italian wars, after 70 years of on and off warfare, come to a final conclusion. France gives up most of their claims in return for places such as Calais.
-Peace breaks out between France and England.

Ruskie - New France

-As the colony makes good progress, there is now a clearly defined trade triangle, a significant corner of which is held up by the sale of slaves.
-Shipyards have begun to appear in Uruguay, and planted forests manage to help alleviate some of the problems associated with ship maintenance.
-The Californian colony has begun to extend along the coast, and maintains frequent trade with Portuguese colonists.
-Production of goods reaches its profitable high, meaning investment is returning smaller and smaller returns each time. Nonetheless, as demand increases and production becomes more efficient, the cost of production does slowly decline.
-9 men are sent in a 3x3 formation to the Portuguese, calling the governor a “Tumultuous Tim”.
-Hot chocolate and fireworks are used to celebrate the event, but the marshmallow, along with the medical marshmallow plant.
-Ports in Chile are expanded, and the area slowly converted to reflect French administration and infrastructure.
-The main focus now is on California, as most colonist ships seem to travel here now to support the growing industries and agriculture. Wine growing is understandably popular with the French.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-Denmark buys the island of Saaremaa.

Ven Kaeo - Arla Culinary

-Minus existing facilities expanding, the company does very little this time. The Canadian colony has begun to increasingly base itself off the growing fur trade, and has become a trading post for fur trappers to travel to.

Turn 16: 1560 to 1564

Missa Papae Marcelli II. Gloria - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Music of 1564

Political map of Turn 16

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35849236&viewfull=1#post35849236

Turn quote: Thought for the day: Let's kill everyone who disagrees with us.

Events of the years 1560 to 1564 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The citizens of Nuremberg see what appears to be an aerial battle followed by the appearance of a large black triangular object and a large crash (with smoke) outside the city.
-Sweden conquers Estonia.
-The council of Trent finally closes.
-Naples prohibits kissing in public under penalty of death.
-Garcia de Orta publishes Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India in Goa, the first text in a Western language on tropical medicine and drugs, including a classic description of cholera.
-As the world becomes more closely connected, it is now starting to actually feel smaller to people. Cultures and languages once alien are slowly becoming more familiar.
-The Snaphance gun has been introduced, and is slowly increasing in popularity. As warfare continues to evolve, armor is slowly being ditched in favor of easily recognizable uniforms.
-People are becoming increasingly uneasy in this time as religious strife continues on and on. Some are even beginning to accept this new life, and others are trying to ignore religious troubles to focus on other problems.
-Plague epidemics are still devastating, but are gradually becoming easier to control. Most people know that staying near a place known to have the disease is unwise.
-So many slaves have been transported to the New World that the plantations throughout the Caribbean are massive producers of especially lovely goods like sugar or tobacco. The goods being produced has led to most Europeans being able to try some of these things at least once in their life.

Events of the years 1560 to 1564 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-A plague kills over 20,000 in London.

Liem - New England

-The colony, expressing a desire for troops for protection, has some sent over by the crown. They are still loyal to the monarch however, rather than the colonies.
-Exploration is conducted throughout the Eastern Seaboard, and trade links strengthened or established with the natives.
-Food production facilities are expanded, mostly focusing on fishing and basic agriculture. Bread, salted fish and potatoes help extend the diets of those here greatly.
-As the colonies grow steadily, they begin to grow into settlements resembling those back home in Europe. The lack of a plantation system encourages investment into improving the lives of those who live here along with the economies. Some iron and wood is produced enough to allow ship repairs and building on some limited scale.
-Trade tries to be set up with the natives. Unfortunately the only thing in bulk they offer that the Europeans require at the moment is animal pelts. Meanwhile the only thing the Europeans can offer are various manufactured goods. Luckily, pelts are in high demand in Europe (Especially moreso due to the mini-ice age!)

Kingdom of Portugal

-Assemblies of the estates are annoyed that they do not have more say in government affairs. (Who help provide the greedy bastard with his money.)

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-After the bankruptcy, the company begins to lend money to the crown. With it being one of the best bulwarks of Portuguese financial security, the company begins to slowly influence the court more and more.
-Expansion continues inland into Brazil, and plantations are expanded likewise.
-Urban centres have schools and universities set up, and those whom can read are sent out to do public readings of books to people. Despite the low literacy rate, many people benefit from the readings. Reading of religious and agricultural texts along with folklore are especially popular.
-10 men are sent to the French to call them Riotous Rudolphs. The tiny detachment of men being sent each time has been nicknamed “The silly army”. It adopts a duck as their mascot.
-The silver trade is expanded with the Chinese, and the Indians also enjoy buying the Portuguese tobacco and other nice goods.
-Portuguese colonies continue to expand, working around the vast unexplored and hostile interior to make a habitable band around it.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-This company also loans money to the crown, and helps to gain increasing influence in Government affairs.
-Explorers are told to explore North America until they find something important. They discover the Grand canyon, redwood trees, scorching deserts, interesting myriads of peoples, and even a beehive.
-They do manage to trade various things. It turns out that quite far north there are people who are willing to sell animal furs.
-The French rapidly cut off Portuguese expansion north. In light of this, the colonies are forced to colonise the remaining West coast of Mexico.
-Maize and grapes are grown extensively, with raisins and maize wine becoming popular for consumption along with popcorn and grape wine.
-The Japanese sell the company maps on East Asia, which are used to compliment and expand existing knowledge.
-The ports and infrastructure in both colonies are greatly extended, allowing for improved trade as ships and carts move faster and more easily.
-Some gold mining is conducted on a reasonable scale.

Kingdom of Spain

-Madrid is declared the capital of Spain by Philip II.

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Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-Colonists, mostly from the Netherlands and Germany are recruited in significant numbers.
-Expansion grows massively along the Mississippi river, with the productive farms allowing for population growth.
-The Company forcibly annexes East Borneo, resulting in a war erupting. The local sultanates split into two sides, and battles start to erupt throughout the island. Forts are lost and gained by both sides and villages raided.
-Indian princes continue to be allied with, and are slowly blackmailed by the company or allied with to take out other princes. Eventually, an area of Eastern India has control loosely established over it by the company. Control is still rather loose.
-One Prince agrees to let the company have significant powers. In return, he and company military forces will gradually annex and expand their holdings.
-The company decides to focus on promotion of slaves having children. To allow for this, their rights are marginally extended and they are Christianised along with allowed to marry and have kids. It has yet to cross anybodies minds that the horrible working conditions and cruelty take lives, and thus more have to be bought. In the plantation colonies, the slaves are ruled by tiny numbers of company overseers who utilise fear.
-Dye production is slowly monopolised by the company.
-Swamps around New Orleans are slowly drained. A lot of flat land is gained for agriculture, but floods are a risk. Embankments are constructed to avoid this problem, and begin to slowly change the course of the river.

Kingdom of France

-An edict stops the persecution of the Huguenots, until Ultra-Catholics massacre 80 of them in Amiens.
-A short civil war breaks out in France over religion, ending with an edict granting more rights to the Huguenots. Tensions are still remarkably high however.
-English and Scottish forces both aid the Huguenots.

Ruskie - New France

-Expansion into California and Argentina is further conducted. The French King is curious as to why the place is even named Argentina.
-The Portuguese are cut off by French expansion, who despite good relations and trade are understandably annoyed at this.
-An administration slowly grows as the population grows. Taxes are conducted, standing armies begin to be kept, and some navies likewise.
-Another statue is built commemorating the men that called the Poortuguese governor a Tumultuous Tim. There are now a large number of statues around for some reason.
-The slave trade makes the French so wealthy, that it is said that the houses of Paris are cemented with the blood of slaves.
-Naval ports expand massively throughout Argentina to accompany the larger and larger ships coming in and out.

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

-Seems quiet.

Ven Kaeo - Arla Culinary

-Quiet, isn't it?

Turn 17: 1564 to 1568

Ricercare II - Diego Ortíz.

Music of 1568

Political map of Turn 17

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35879663&viewfull=1#post35879663

Turn quote: The Netherlands rebellion: Spanish declare war on terror.

Events of the years 1564 to 1568 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Ottoman Empire arrives in Malta, and begins a great big siege.
-The Battle of Talikota takes place in Southern India, resulting in the end of the last Hindu state as the Muslims grow more influential and powerful here.
-The Oprichnina set about Russia on a wave of terror.
-Pope Pius V succeeds Pope Pius IV as the 225th pope.
-He proceeds to expel all the prostitutes from Rome. Many people cheer this before secretly grumbling.
-The Ming government officially revokes all laws banning trade. (Minus Japan, whom only exports tentacle porn.)
-A 1 year old infant rises to the throne of Scotland. The Scots have a long tradition of capable infants for monarchs.
-Religious freedom is declared in Hungary, the first such place in the world to do so.
-The Russians and Ottomans go to war over Astrakhan. Well that's alright then.
-The result of the policies of Ivan is the complete shift of authority to the Tsar over Russia as it becomes a despotic empire. The place is becoming a repressive and backwards land. Russia grows scraggy crops of buckwheat and rye, and the people are mired in sluggish social immobility. This land seems cursed to be one of poverty, ruled by despots for the rest of time.
-The spread of the printing press, resulting in printing houses, run by guilds that mass produce as many books as possible as demand rises due to Spanish and Portuguese requests to buy books. -Cheaper substitutes for paper made from cloth rags results in increased demand for textiles.
-Textile industries are put under stain to switch to cotton from wool, but this has serious problems in that only India is a good supplier of it, picking the cotton is labour intensive, and spinning and weaving it is a slow process.
-As cotton becomes increasingly demanded, taxes are put on it by wool producing countries to prevent problems with home industries.
-Mercantile policies are becoming more and more popular.
-Shipbuilding is changing. Due to cannons becoming more important, the old forecastle is slowly being lowered to make room for extra guns.

Events of the years 1564 to 1568 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-The pencil is invented.
-Physicians in London are permitted to carry out human dissections.
-The Exeter canal is constructed, the first such artificial waterway in England.
-Mary Queen of Scots flees here after blowing up her husband in an act of terrorism. She is then arrested and stuck in jail.

Liem - New England

-The colony jumps onto the fur trading idea, and is the first colony to seriously start investing into fur production. Amazingly nobody had thought of this for over 60 years, and subsequently it becomes a large industry.
-Fur trappers fan outwards, and begin to also recruit the help of various natives. As guns are bought by the colony are utilised by colonists and natives, the trade routes begin to steadily grow and extend influence.
-Natives and fur trappers are often brought into the colonial army, acting as specialised skirmishers. -With their expensive wheellock rifled muskets, they are deadly and silent. These men are however low in number, and costly to lose.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The Portuguese King is increasingly petitioned by the estates general to call more regular meetings. After a lot of harassment and crying, they meet at least once a year to discuss issues. The twin colonial companies are given representation as well to an extent.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The city of Rio de Janeiro, is founded.
-Loans to the crown have interest rates upped, the monarch kindly allowing the company to have more say in affairs if they “Reduzire a taxa de juros.”
-The company begins to expand into Florida, taking great care to enslave the Indians. The Indians respond the best way possible. Some of them fight, some of them swap sides to hunt for slaves, and others flee.
-Trees are clearcut, and the land is ruthlessly drained to make way for plantations and farms. The thousands of slow moving streams become a few dozen rivers.
-The company begins to send representatives to the French court to socialise with them. (And next on the agenda is to decide on where the Company Christmas party will be held)
-A statue is built to commemorate the Riotous Rudolphs of South America.
-Due to the efforts of having public readings of books, and new agricultural techniques, four field rotation is introduced to the colonies.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Exploration is conducted eastwards of the existing colonies, spreading into Northern Mexico and Texas.
-A strongly worded letter is sent to the French complaining about the blocking of expansion of exploration. ;_;
-Towns and harbours in the colonies are focused on having star forts built in the Italian style. Given the few numbers of towns they can work with, they might as well focus on them.

Kingdom of Spain

-Calvinists go mad and destroy religious art in the Netherlands. The Spanish are finding it hard to maintain order as the area collapses into chaos. A new governor is sent to try and keep the lid on the boiling pot.
-The doubloon is minted for the first time.
-War finally erupts in the Netherlands. A Dutch force manages to succeed for a while before the Spanish utterly crush it in the battle of Jemmingen.
-William of Orange invades the Southern Netherlands, and is defeated by the Spanish.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-Badly accented groups of natives, Danes and some other odd people are raiding Spanish settlements. They appear to be wearing Portuguese uniforms, but poorly speak the language.
-Four field crop rotation is spreading throughout the colonies.
-Soldiers from recent wars are recruited by the company to help extend and maintain the colonial army.
-The company helps to pay off loans for the Spanish government, for which Philip is grateful.
-To increase profits, farms throughout the midwest are focusing everything into production of food. It is noted once exported to the plantations, they can be fed with cheap food, resulting in of course, more hands and land for sugar or tobacco.
-An edict is published, punishing the worst excesses of slavery. Among such rights now given to slaves is the ability to freely marry, to buy freedom (Nearly impossible) and not to be killed or too badly mutilated.
-The midwest colonies are kept free of slaves, instead being populated with Europeans. Tobacco is also grown, but without slaves it is unprofitable.
-A few cotton plantations are set up, but prove to be excruciatingly time consuming to process. The only thing that can be done is to grow both American and Indian strains here.
-The company decides to outsource to India, buying cotton from them and selling it in Europe. The fact that it is sold fully processed pisses off the Spanish, who want it to be processed in Spain.
-Military barracks and forts begin to be set up in India to strengthen company holdings.
-The local prince the company has a deal with is told that with help they can take over weaker princes. Whilst he gets the jewels and gold and many virgins, the company gets lucrative trading deals and permission to build and maintain fortifications.
-The Sultan of Borneo is slowly pushed back in a war, and finally he agrees to a peace treaty with the Spanish. He angrily looks at the other residents of the island, swimming in money for joining the Spanish. The poor workers do not count.
-Jesuit missionaries request the company permission to spread their faith in India.
-Galleons are commissioned for use by the company, along with merchantmen.
-Central administrative buildings are set up by the company. People demand the right to form assemblies in them, but the governors won't take any this plebian shite.

Kingdom of France

-The Second War of Religion begins in France when the Prince of Condé and Gaspard de Coligny fail in an attempt to capture King Charles IX and his mother at Meaux. The Huguenots do capture several cities (including Orleans), and march on Paris. The French King is forced to make a number of concessions to the Huguenots in the process after the war ends.
-The Third War of Religion begins in France after an unsuccessful attempt by the Royalists to capture Condé and Coligny, the Huguenot leaders.
-Catholics and Protestants regularly massacre each other in various towns and cities during this time. Perhaps somebody can affect the outcome of this civil war?

Ruskie - New France

-With the Huguenots in France clearly not liking things, most of them bugger off to the colonies to seek a new life. Religious tensions begin to rise between the dissenting groups of Catholics and Protestants.
-Much of the same stuff happens before. But I shall make it as interesting as possible.
-The French governor BALANCES THE BOOKS, he ruthlessly scribbles down on paper the taxes collected this year.
-The economy continues to grow steadily, and religious zealots become displeased when things get better as opposed to worse.
-The main difference is the massive focus on the Pacific colonies, which start to produce lovely wine and grain. Snooty people recline in Californian shade, drinking wine, eating bread and figuring out why the poor are so poor.
-African slaves continue their depressing journey to the Americas, working in plantations for a pittance of a pittance in the form of food.
-11 men are sent to the Poortuguese, calling the governor a Beleaguered Bob. A large party is held, and before people are pissing in the streets.

Turn 18: 1568 to 1572

Political map of Turn 18

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35898343&viewfull=1#post35898343

Turn quote: Catholicism illegal in Protestant lands: Father Ted public enemy No. 1

Events of the years 1568 to 1572 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Union of Lublin unites the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Pol-Lith ball strong.
-Gerardus Mercator devises the Mercator projection.
-The first modern atlas is published in Antwerp.
-Novgorod is completely ransacked by Ivan the Terrible. With the destruction of this city, the last hopes for reform in Russia are destroyed. The city collapses into a ruined town, and the Livonian war takes a bad turn after it is realized he ruined his own major city.
-To further make problems worse, the Crimean Khan burns down Moscow. Ivan loses his shit completely. He gets revenge in the battle of Molodi later.
-The Ottomans conquer Cyprus, and then go on to lose the battle of Lepanto. The invincibility of the Ottomans is waning.
-The Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion. No word yet on the poor.
-Wanli becomes Emperor of Ming China, the Ming trudging on into the twilight years of their rule of China.
-A supernova is observed by Tycho Brahe, who goes on to challenge the idea that stars cannot change.
-With the crippling need for the production of cotton, cottage industries spurt up across Europe and the colonies, seeking to expand production. Papermaking and consequently printing expands a little, but the slaves and laborers struggle to pick cotton from the buds. Wooden and stone rollers help a little, but are implemented in few areas and only increase production slightly.
-With many peasants in wool producing areas becoming unemployed as land is gradually enclosed, many seek to emigrate for a better life in the New World. Elizabethan England is a repressive kingdom mired in poverty, with the only real advances being made in the language and culture.
-Due to many companies quickly settling into the idea of cotton/paper/book production, they soon reach a steady point whereby it is infeasible to sell books cheaper, along with cotton clothing. The output of paper mills is too low, and spinners/weavers simply cannot keep up.
-For more or less most purposes, cotton based industries will not improve significantly for probably a century.
-The knitting machine is slowly introduced into Europe, in order to compete with cotton. Although this machine is bulky and slow, it makes a significant difference to the production of woolen cloth.
-As natives of the New World die out, Europeans, and mostly Africans start to replace them extensively. With the number of imported slaves, the New World is more of a second Africa than a second Europe.
-Japan is noting an increase in the number of Catholics, and is understandably worried by the Baka Gaijin culture and religion being introduced. Nonetheless, the foreigners bring lovely new inventions like Culverins, stockings and garters.

Events of the years 1568 to 1572 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-The first lottery takes place in England. The funds raised from it go towards repairing the harbors.
-The lords of the north rise against the queen due to the oppressive policies against the Catholics. -They unsuccessfully attempt to put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne.
-The Royal Exchange is opened in London.
-The House of Commons of England introduces the first pro forma bill, symbolizing its authority over its own affairs.
-Matthew Baker introduces the idea of designing a ship on paper first before building it.

Liem - New England

-Cannons begin to be shipped over to protect the colonies, along with a large number of dispossessed peasants left unemployed due to the enclosures.
-Fishermen and fur trappers are greatly encouraged to expand activities, and soon trading posts and hunting lodges are spreading over the forests which barely existed half a century prior. Furs and fish helps to keep these colonies fairly wealthy.
-Natives begin to be brought, along with fur trappers into a semi-professional military force. It mostly acts as a militia that polices the colonies and also raids various tribes that the English don't happen to like (or the tribes the English allied with don't happen to life).
-Some English caravans go missing, and some befuddled Portuguese men end up having some explaining to do.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The king agrees to reduce tax rates on the condition that the company helps pay his debts. This move proves especially popular with the population of Portugal and the colonies. The result however is goods are more cheaply imported, and some home industries begin to suffer as a result.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The company starts to expand their holdings in Florida. More natives are inevitably enslaved and soon a busy slave trade kicks off in the area. Some cotton plantations are set up, and prove to be of some profitable merit.
-Tax rates are lowered by company lobbying, offering money to the king in return.
-Expansion continues into Peruvia, taking care not to disrupt the Incan rump state that is busy undergoing some turmoil as it forms itself gradually into a recognizable political power.
-A letter is sent to the Spanish, informing them that the company had no part in the raids on the colonies of the Mississippi.
-Trading posts are set up in Borneo, and the Sultan decides to work with the Portuguese as a way to curtail Spanish influence.
-12 men are sent to the French to inform them that they are “Chafed Charlies”. The wonderful alliterative skills of the French and Portuguese clearly shows here. The fact the men are marching in a formation and are being increasingly seen as a tiny branch of the army is also noted.
-A border is now established the entire width of the continent with France. The fact that half of it isn't even settled by either side deters nobody.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-The company supports the actions of the other Portuguese company, distributing flyers around and trying to show that Portugal as a whole is a very nice country.
-Expansion continues eastwards into North America, setting up some cotton plantations in the process. Output however is limited.
-The French are invited by the company to have a cup of tea and some biscuits. A party is held along with a diplomatic conference. Some hostilities are thus resolved.

Kingdom of Spain

-Netherlandish Calvinist rebels, capture the port city of Brielle. This leads to a wave of uprisings in the Netherlands against Spanish rule, leaving most of those provinces under rebel control.
-They go on to execute various Catholics.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The company sends a painting of the colonial governor lying naked on a fur rug entitled “We're sorry” to King Phillip. The painter is promptly imprisoned for buggery.
-Cotton continues to be sold, and soon enough blame passes onto all foreign trade, which the King cannot do little about minus taxing finished goods and reducing it for raw materials.
-The company begins to seek diplomatic deals with more Indian princes, who are actually very interested in what the Spanish have to offer. Some simply buy and sell various goods. Others allow the Spanish to build entire forts and towns.
-The Midwest is gradually more colonized, as the existing population has now finally had a chance to procreate and have enough children that stable population growth is possible.
-New Orleans continues to be improved, with drainage programs being of limited success. The course of the river continues to change, resulting in it becoming gradually deeper and causing the many islands and lagoons outside of the city to gradually erode away. South of New Orleans the land becomes wetter, and North it becomes drier.
-Assemblies are held for colonists for the first time. However due to it only really being Europeans who attend, two forms develop. In non-slaveholding areas a Democratic system forms. In slaveholding areas, an oligarchy develops.
-Landowners and merchants are forced to learn basic mathematics, natural philosophy and history, proving their skills in an oral test. Although basic and crude, the learned/wealthy/landed mostly support this move by seeing it as a way to show their civilized manners. (I know of the idea that the Earth goes around the sun, do YOU?)
-Gun ownership is encouraged in the colonies, and gradually most people end up adopting at least one matchlock per home. Since no cheap substitute for the costly matchlock exists yet, they are rarely used by most people.
-Some Indians are happy to accept the Jesuits, given that Hindus and Muslims already live in India reasonably well. Others are not so happy, causing the Jesuits to abandon those areas. The Jesuits proceed to convert many, armed with the ideas of the counter-reformation to aid their cause.
-Some more backhanded political nonsense and trade leads to some extension of the Spanish pinky-toehold on India.
-Hunting for furs is encouraged, but hardly any beavers are found.

Kingdom of France

-The Royalists defeat the Huguenots at Jarnac, and flee to Limoges where they are reinforced by German protestants.
-Battle of Orthez: Huguenot forces defeat Royalist forces in Navarre. Catholics surrender under the condition that their lives will be spared. Huguenots agree, but then massacre the Catholics anyway.
-The Ottomans renew the trade agreement with the French, allowing the French to trade more freely.
-A truce is signed between the opposing sides, hoping to calm tensions as France teeters on the brink of collapse.
-On St. Bartholomew's Day, Catholics in Paris murder thousands of Protestants on suspicion there is going to be a coup. Various Anti-Huguenot pogroms take place throughout France, with thousands dying. This surprisingly results in yet another big war between both sides. Ruskie - New France

-Civil unrest grows in the colony as the feud between Huguenots and Catholics grow. One side wants the company to support the Huguenots, and the other wishes to see the Catholics retain their grip of France.
-The economy slows down to a grinding halt as the wars in France take their toll on administration and commerce throughout all lands of the colony and the motherland.
-The company ignores the letter for invitation to the party held by the Portuguese. As a result, Huguenots from France and the company go on their behalf (as the crown colony is nominally Catholic) and end up signing a favorable deal that sees the Nouvelle France company expand influence along with helping to support the Huguenots of France.
-Trade and colonial expansion is attempted, but is greatly slowed due to the wars in France. By the end of 1575, people are starting to kill those of an opposing faith in the colonies as the situation grows gradually less tolerable.
-The company offers to buy Russia off the Tsar for 10 francs. The Tsar is surprised by the fact that there are 2 more continents than he previously thought.

Turn 19: 1572 to 1576

Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545-1607) O Primavera

Music of 1576

Political map of Turn 19

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35925979&viewfull=1#post35925979

Turn quote: Religious tolerance? It's political correctness gone mad.

Events of the years 1572 to 1576 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-Religious freedom is declared in Poland.
-Oda Nobunga ends the Ashikaga shogunate after kicking them out of Kyoto.
-Oda then goes on to wipe out the Azai and Asakura clans. If any survived, they did not send Oda any Christmas Cards.
-The term Nova (With regards to astronomy) is coined.
-Guru Ram Das becomes the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master. (Like you care.)
-A book on lead ore processing is published in Prague.
-The bubonic plague ruins Venice.
-Work begins on Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory.
-Robert Norman measures magnetic dip for the first time. What a funny globe orbiting the sun. So what the hell is causing it to orbit the sun anyways?
-The Protestants have expertly managed to not only provoke, but infuriate, anger, incense, arouse, affront, offend, outrage, aggrieve, wound, hurt, sting, embitter, irritate, aggravate, exasperate, peeve, miff, ruffle, rile, rankle, enrage, infuriate, madden, driven crazy/mad/insane, get up the back/on the tits of, bust the balls off, piss off and annoy the Catholics. The Catholics are understandably upset.
-The two Danish companies are merged, and are slowly brought under increasing control of the crown.
-It costs more money to have something moved 30 miles inland than it does to have to moved by ship across the Atlantic.
-The pencil spreads to become common throughout Europe, useful for even those who are unable to write. It is however partially costly as a method to recycle graphite has not been found yet.
-The industries and trade of Iberia seems to be undergoing curious changes as tax rates on trade declines. Some industries flourish, whilst others head into chronic decline. Merchants are happy, but a lot of the peasantry and nobility are much less so.
-The Dutch begin to gradually utilize wind powered sawmills, water pumps and grain mills. Their conquest of nature and of the Spanish Netherlands goes hand in hand.
-Four field rotation has become common throughout much of Western Europe and the New World, benefiting mostly the Spanish and the Dutch.

Events of the years 1572 to 1576 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-England becomes a premier supplier of the worlds pure graphite. In fact, it is the only supplier IN the world.
-A battle takes place in Redeswire. The turbulent borders area is finally dying down, as this appears to be the last border incident of its kind.
-English navigator Martin Frobisher, on his search for the Northwest Passage, enters a bay and modestly decides to name it after himself.

Liem - New England

-The colony begins to invite natural philosophers, alchemists and other people who loosely gather information about the world. They are encouraged to continue their work here.
-Iron mines begin to be gradually set up throughout the colonies, hoping to extract metal for the production of various goods and to aid the slowly growing shipbuilding industry.
-Markets are opened to all people no matter who these people are. This helps to lead to a significant improvement in trade as various people (such as Jews or Catholics) are allowed to freely trade here without being murdered.
-Trading routes work their way inland and overseas as the colony promotes trade to all, and for all.
-The volume of trade begins to rapidly increase here, and some begin to complain about tariffs being either too high or low as the prices of goods unpredictably rises and falls like the waves.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Portuguese traders are kicked out the Maldives. That's a bit harsh.
-Traders selling silver and gold begin to ramp out the amount being exported to China significantly now. Most comes from the Companhia das Quinas Americanas, but a small amount from Cienia as well.
-The crown colonies of Portugal are sold off to the two big colonial companies as they extend their influence in court. The smaller one based in California mostly gets lucrative trading deals whilst the bigger acquires land.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The company begins to actively buy state-owned shipyards or industries off the monarch, in return for helping pay off the loans. The king, seeing how well the company is running things, thinks that in a couple of years a war could be made on one of the nearby Moslem countries to expand Portuguese influence.
-Expansion focuses onto Northern Florida, capturing more natives to force into slavery or buying more from the French. A few Cotton plantations are set up, but the vast majority of plantations are sugar and tobacco. A sweet tooth and a cigar is a good thing.
-A statue is built to honour the Chafed Charlies. The small regiment used in affairs with the French also have a jester appointed to teach them various tricks and novelties.
-Meanwhile in the Malays, the spice plantations, whom had suffered a bit of neglect, are focused into by the company.
-Expansion into Peru is further conducted, and also the Portuguese begin to focus on India.
-Goa is more or less taken over by the company from the King, and the company begins to focus on this area, utilising the same strategies done by the Spanish. Ceylon is barely controlled however.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-The Companhia das Quinas is openly praised to the King.
-The company starts to expand and explore eastwards. They somehow come across a odd group of islands in the pacific that are named the Sanduíche isles. Explorers chart them, have a chinwag with the natives and then go back home.
-Harbours and roads in the towns and cities are expanded immensely, with multiple wharves, warehouses and cranes to manage the increasing shipping.
-Oda Nobunga accepts the Portuguese invitation to have embassies established in both powers. A lot of diplomatic work is done, helped by Odas enthusiasm for European commerce and inventions to enrich and strengthen him in the Japanese civil war.
-Oda offers permanent parcels of land and castle towns to the Portuguese if they use their naval forces to wreak havoc on his rivals, and sell him as many European things as possible. This is aided by the large variety of goods that the Japanese have that the Portuguese desire.

Kingdom of Spain

-Silver and gold begins to be sold in increasingly quantities to Ming China.
-Spanish forces besiege, and then are forced to retreat from Leiden. Their control is weakening in the Netherlands.
-Their strength is further emphasised when the army mutinies and burns down Antwerp.
-Alva resigns as Spanish Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in the Netherlands, and is succeeded by Luis de Requesens, who attempts to pursue a more conciliatory policy.
-The Dutch decide to get together to figure out how to stop the Spanish, and decide upon the most inconvenient type of shoes to wear.

Hell_Kyrone - New Spain

-A new governor is appointed to run the colonies of New Spain.
-Not much occurs, minus the training and expansion of the colonial army. There is a massive focus into the expansion of cavalry forces. Heavy, light and dragoons are all improved on greatly.
-The Charcas Mineral District in the state of San Luis Potosí is discovered for the mining of lead, zinc, copper, and silver.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The company begins to ask residents of France and the Netherlands to emigrate to their colonies for religious toleration. A good deal pack up and leave, though some are inevitably unwilling to, given that the company is officially Catholic. It is then noted most of the colonists are Catholics escaping from Protestant areas.
-The company begins to pay larger amounts of money to the Spanish crown, and slowly taxes are reduced throughout Spain.
-Seeking to improve agricultural productivity, the use of manure and four field rotation is massively encouraged. The production of food likewise rises, and along with it, the population.
-The Midwest is starting to support enough people to allow the establishment of industries such as rum distillation, cigar rolling, weaving, tool/gun making and building.
-A naval army (a small force moved by and used by the navy) is established, mainly to tackle piracy. One favoured trick is to send a small ship to lure in pirates, then a tiny army bursts out of the hold and massacres the pirates.
-All the colonial leaders of the New World are invited to Havana. The ones that do come partake in the drinking of chocolate and eating of sugary foods. The servants proceed to drink rum and bitch about their masters in a local pub.
-Indian expansion continues, with the unhelpful princes generally ignored. Later they end up being blackmailed by the stronger Pro-Spanish princes and eventually are forced to submit to their rule.
-Colonists attempt to be recruited in Russia with effectively no success. Some of the peasants are amazed to hear of there being lands west of Germany.

Kingdom of France

-The duke of Anjou is elected King of Poland. He then later also becomes King of France, and is forced to quickly give up the Polish crown to become King of France. Pierogi gave him wind.
-An edict in Boulogne is signed, granting more rights to the Huguenots and ending the fourth war.
-The fifth war starts shortly afterwards. The peace of Monsieur later ends this, and grants religious freedom once again.
-The sixth war starts again, expertly demonstrating the French as being a cultured and forward thinking people. Four more years in the merde.
-All French colonies promote religious tolerance, making it hard for the Catholics to retain the support of the moneyed classes.

Ruskie - New France

-Following events in France, the colony declares freedom of religion along with the other French colonies. The wars of religion going on seems to show that the Catholics might just harshly punish her colonies if they support religious freedom.
-Wine and bread is sent to the Portuguese company “Ciena of Niesmiertelni”. The governor eats the bread and wine at mass.
-13 men are sent to the Portuguese colonial capital, calling the governor a Disquietened Daminano.
-Money and some supplies is sent to the Huguenot armies in France, given that both sides promote religious freedom and that the Catholics oppose it.
-Radical Catholics and Protestants in French Argentina are brutally suppressed by the colonial dragoons to prevent civil unrest breaking out.
-The colonial navy is sent to prevent the other French Company from interfering with affairs in Europe, the governor pops round and complains that he is on same side.
-This is no time to be stopping the slave trade however, as many slaves go overseas to get their exclusive time-share real estate. They are complete with free beatings and forced religious conversion.

Turn 20: 1576 to 1580

Anonymous - "Greensleeves" to a Ground in G

Music of 1580

Political map of Turn 20

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35939906&viewfull=1#post35939906

Turn quote: God unsure whenever to be on Catholic or Protestant side.

Events of the years 1576 to 1580 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Great Comet of 1577 is seen. Tycho Brahe is able to discover from his observations that comets and similar objects travel above the Earth's atmosphere.
-The Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din is completed.
-The Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din is destroyed.
-The bible is translated into Church Slavonic, in Poland.
-Developments in optics are recorded around this time, with some experimental precursors of telescopes being described. These claims are doubtful however.
-Has anybody realised yet the Netherlands are the largest centre of firearms production in Europe?
-Astrology and Astronomy are finally separating into two different fields of study, one dominated by reason, the other by superstition.
-Everybody hates barnacles on the undersides of ships. Various ships use replaceable wood sheathing, or lead, but the latter reacts badly with iron bolts.
-Population growth comes to a standstill in Spain.
-Colonies have started to become multi-racial and multi-cultural as immigration, emigration and the such occur, creating increasingly homogenised societies. This is mostly happening in the Caribbean and Pacific colonies.
-As a general rule, the further from the equator, the less mixed the people are.
-The Chinese are enjoying a period of relative prosperity, although silver inflation is starting to show its toll.
-Europe is likewise showing the same, as silver inflation is kicking in.

Events of the years 1576 to 1580 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-A new ship is launched called the Revenge. This race built galleon is such an improvement in naval technology that future ships begin to copy the design.
-The last outbreak of sweating sickness in recorded history occurs.
-Francis Drake conducts a circumnavigation of the world.
-The English sign a trading deal with the Ottoman Empire.

Liem - New England

-The North of Canada is explored, with the aid of Frobisher.
-Martin Frobisher holds the first celebration of Thanksgiving by Europeans in North America at Newfoundland by the Frobisher Expedition.
-5 of the new naval warships are commissioned by the company, along with a fair detachment of troops. Pirates are forced out by the new vessels, who then are forced to adapt to the new conditions.
-Watchtowers are constructed throughout the colonies, and have cannon mounted in a few small coastal batteries.
-The coastal ports are greatly focused on, as trade expands and places to moor ships are somewhat needed. Especially with all these ships, which often get covered in horrible barnacles.

Kingdom of Portugal

-At the Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir, King Sebastian I of Portugal is killed, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.
-Cardinal Henry rules until 1580 where he then dies, leading to problems as Philip has a claim to the throne.
-Philip sends in an army to fight the Portuguese.
-The crown is taken over by the Companhia das Quinas Americanas, sharing power with the estates general. The relative stability is due to the monarch having surrendered some powers to the estates.
-A parliament is formed, based off the English system, and holds the first election amongst the nobility.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-After Henry dies, the company acts quickly. With the support of the other, and some of the estates general, the owner of the company is elected King of Portugal.
-The Spanish send an army to Lisbon to seize control, and manage to besiege Lisbon.
-After a bloody battle, and the Netherlands declaring independence along with the French Protestants looking to seize power, the Spanish are forced to retreat to manage their limited resources on holding onto the Southern Netherlands.
-14 men are sent to French Argentina to call the governor a “Acrimonious Ackerly”. They perform a variety of amusing tricks.
-Expansion focuses into Peru, expanding around the nation of natives. It has since re-established itself as a minor regional power. There is minor trade between the two that is slowly increasing.
-Fortifications are built along the border with Spain in Northern Peru. There are few forts, due to the low population density.
-A portion of the navy is lent to the other Portuguese company to aid in the Japanese conflict.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Various members of the middle classes and nobility are hired, along with royal shipyard managers to help design and build ships of higher standards for the company.
-Exploration slows down, and the company seems to be focusing to a large degree on the construction of new ships. Old ones are auctioned off or scuttled.
-Japanese embassies and Portuguese ones are set up in large numbers, helping to cement relations.
-A large number of Japanese and Portuguese also immigrate to each others places, sometimes one can spot some samurai having a drink of wine in an inn in California.
-Weapons are bought and made in large numbers, packed into ships, and the navy sets sail to Japan to sell off the weapons or use them in warfare.
-The other Portuguese company lends some ships, and together, this powerful force starts to ruin the trade and bombard the cities of Oda-Sans rivals. This is Japan now.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Spanish crush the Protestant rebels at the battle of Gembloux. The Southern Netherlands are soon pacified.
-The Union of Utrecht and Union of Atrecht are formed. The result is the Northern Netherlands are formed into an independent country called the United Provinces, and the south into a state run by a Spanish governor.
-Philip of Spain decides he wants to take control of Portugal, and sends an army to Lisbon.

Hell_Kyrone - New Spain

-A massive focus is made into the mines of the colonies (since this was the only command sent in).
-They expand to quite a large extent, and production of metal, both common and rare increase.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The company suggests to the crown to manage foreign affairs. Philip refuses.
-More colonists come to the colonies, to help colonise the colonies and to interact in a variety of colonial affairs.
-The company begins prospecting for metallic ores in the Midwest, and sets up an iron mine in Alabama.
-Using profits from the plantations, metal processing and food production is focused into in the Midwest. Weaving is also focused into, but production of cloth from cotton is a slightly lengthy process.
-Expansion halts, and the company begins to focus on internal colonisation instead. This occurs in both the Midwest and in the plantations, with the latter hoping to increase profits from sugar production.
-Barges begin to ply the Blåtand Floden, moving increasing quantities of agricultural and increasing industrial produce.
-Captured pirates are brutally tortured, have their limbs removed, and are sent to be hung outside of various settlements. Although effective, people are slightly unnerved by the Medieval sight before them.
-The company begins to conduct censuses throughout their colonies. They find the total population is around 700,000. 600,000 of which are natives.
-A letter is sent to the new governor of New Spain, informing him that aside from the Spanish, the New World is inhabited by “Silly Folk”.
-As the Mughals expand, the company accepts their position in India, and proceeds to then slowly erode the power of the princes they currently have deals with by replacing the Indian bureaucracy with a Spanish one. In turn, they help give the Spanish more favourable trade deals.
-The coastline gradually has loose control established over it.

Kingdom of France

-The two companies, fighting for religious tolerance, manage to start crippling French trade and the navy. The Protestants are slowly gaining the upper hand in the civil war as money helps to support their war effort. The Spanish are feeling increasingly isolated in the Lower Netherlands.

Ruskie - New France

-The colonial army keeps harsh measures in place to maintain law and order. The moderate Protestants eventually take control gradually during this time, and manage to enforce religious freedom. Catholics critical of the regime are brutally suppressed however.
-Bread and wine is sent to the Portuguese. A small argument ensues about whenever the wine and bread literally turn into blood and flesh, or is only metaphorical.
-A statue is built to commemorate the men who called the Portuguese governor a “Disquieted Damiano”.
-Trade opens with the new Dutch Republic.
-Showing their moral high ground, the French continue to sell slaves.

Notes: This is the last time this map shall be used. From here on, the game shall be based on a worldwide map.

Turn 21: 1580 to 1584

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI.- SACRAE CANTIUNCULAE

Music of 1584

Political map of Turn 21

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=35979822&viewfull=1#post35979822

Turn quote: Sedan Chairs are awesome, just don't get carried away.

Events of the years 1580 to 1584 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Netherlands declare independence, and make public worship of Catholicism illegal.
-Russia conquers the Khanate of Sibir.
-The Chancellor of China, Zhang Juzheng, imposes the Single Whip Reform, by which taxes are assessed on properties recorded in the land census and paid in silver as the accepted medium of exchange.
-Russia cedes Estonia and Livonia to Poland-Lithuania.
-During this time, most Catholics adopt the Gregorian calender.
-Oda Nobunga dies, his place taken by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he goes on to continue uniting Japan.
-The first private newspaper is published, in Beijing.
-Ivan the Terrible dies, replaced by his son Feodor. He killed his other son in an argument.
-William I of Orange is assassinated, and to make matters worse, the Dutch lose Ghent to the Spanish.
-Archangelsk is founded in northern Russia.
-The Mughal emperor introduces freedom of religion.
-The Gregorian calender is introduced by the pope, seeking to correct the gradual drifting of the days, it being 11 minutes out of the correct time. This new calender is instantly adopted by Spain, Poland-Lithuania, Portugal, the Italian city states and France.
-Urbain Hémand investigates the anatomy of the teeth.
-Thomas Fincke's Geometria rotundi is published, introducing the terms tangent and secant for trigonometric functions.
-Completion of Tycho Brahe's subterranean observatory at Stjerneborg.
-Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer publishes the first atlas of nautical charts, Spieghel der zeevaerdt or Mariner's Mirror.
-Academy of Sciences established in Lucca.
-Wagons with sails in them are described by Westerners living in China.
-An early guillotine is invented in Scotland. It is notable in that the victim dies quickly and painlessly, along with being easy to use and cheap to maintain.
-Sedan chairs start to become popular in Europe as a means of getting around.
-New world crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, maize, pumpkins and the such have now become widely common throughout all of Europe.
-Despite laws passed in many countries, seeing the perceived or real harms of tobacco, smuggling of the drug is big business in Europe.
-The stagecoach starts to become more common around this time.
-Fireworks displays and the glass eye become widely known/used throughout Europe.
-Alchemy and chemistry are slowly becoming more popular.
-The thaler (A type of currency) is becoming more popular in Europe.
-The Indians, along with most native plant and animal life in the Caribbean that failed to adapt to the new conditions, are now extinct or critically endangered.
-Warfare is changing again. Units are becoming slowly smaller, and drill is now being more gradually used, with the average soldier relying less on the herd mentality of earlier medieval armies.

Events of the years 1580 to 1584 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-Roman Catholicism is banned in England.
-The Spanish try an abortive attempt at invading Ireland with several hundred men, invited by the Irish. They fail and most of them are executed.
-Several plots are attempted against the queen, some of which involve assassinating her and invading England. She calmly responds by executing random people and kicking out the Spanish ambassador.
-England becomes much more hostile towards the Spanish. Both hire privateers to raid each others shipping. Francis Drake gets knighted for stealing everything the Spanish didn't have nailed down, and the nails.
-William Lee becomes sexually frustrated with the fact his wife won't stop knitting in order that he may put his seed into her.

Liem - New England

-Various natural philosophers and artists are requested to begin studies into birds. Sketches and detailed diagrams are made of the wings, along with the anatomies of the birds in an attempt to figure out how these things stay aloft.
-The colonies begin to expand northwards, as the fishing grounds become gradually more crowded and new ones are south out. Fur trappers likewise head north in the quest for pelts.
-Other colonies are requested to form an alliance with this one. The Danish colonies accept, due to their proximity and close trading ties.
-Work into gun wagons, similar to those in the Hussite wars is begun. Some early stagecoach-like wagons are stocked with power, shot and large bore muskets. They are horribly cumbersome though, and the horses vulnerable.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The first documented battle of Indians against a European colonial ruler is fought by the Desais of Cuncolim in Goa, against the Portuguese.
-The King of Portugal establishes a new dynasty, along with major political and social reforms that put it on the same footing as England. The main difference however is the religion, with the pope holding some significant influence over Portugal still.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-A statue is built to commemorate the “Acrimonious Ackerly”.
-A statue of the King, sitting on a chair made of statues of the French Governors is built and sent to the French. Inscribed on the crown is “Remember me”.
-Requests are made to expand into California, despite it already being claimed. Similar attempts are made to colonise the Dutch island, despite the fact no Dutchmen are in the New World.
-There is greater success in the expansion of fortifications in Mesoamerica, and setting up ports to allow for navies to resupply in the area.
-A large amount of money is gifted to Cienia, for their work in helping the new monarch.
-The small silly army used to annoy the French is dressed in pirate clothes.
-The Europa conglomerate manager has some thread and a needle sent to him. His daughter uses it to repair her dolly.
-Portuguese expansion continues in India, but from here on it is managed by the crown rather than the company, which only really focuses in the New World.
-The new English ship design is utilized by the Portuguese, after some blueprints and plans are bought. Construction of some Razees (A ship with the upper decks removed) begins.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-The new king of Portugal is congratulated, and is sent a quantity of Japanese woodcuts featuring a woman engaged in bestiality with an octopus. The inquisition confiscates it, and it is hidden in some paperwork explaining how to punish pedophile clergymen.
-Farms and mines are expanded in the colonies, with a large amount of supplies produced here to be sent to Japan.
-Oda Nobungas successor continues to work with the Portuguese, and together they utilize the navy to slowly crush his rivals and establish hegemony over the seas.
-The city of Kagoshima, and some surrounding lands is given to the Portuguese as an enclave.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Spanish send several hundred men to invade Ireland to help kick out the English. They fail, and opt on sending spies instead, a large number of whom are caught by the authorities.
-Privateers are hired by the Spanish for use against the English.
-Philip decides that something should probably be done about the English thorn, who helped the Dutch to independence.
-The Spanish begin to use their money to assemble large armed forces, and begins to send military aid to the French Catholics.

Hell_Kyrone - New Spain

-Scouts filter throughout the whole of the Americas, mapping the unknown and buying maps of the known from locals or surveying the land. Maps are becoming more accurate with time, one of the most significant being that California is not an island.
-There is an attempt to find an uninhabited island in the Caribbean. So when they realize they cannot find any, the Spanish instead opt to internally colonize Haiti and the rest of their possessions with colonists and slaves, ever since the native workforce died off Santo Domingo was plunged into poverty.
-There is a lot of expansion into sugar and coffee plantations, along with grains in Mexico to help the growing population.
-The metal industry in Mexico expands. The presence of both silver and mercury is most beneficial.
-Privateer raids slacken in the Spanish colonies slightly, and they begin to come here to sell their booty instead. English privateers are the only ones left who attack Spanish shipping.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The Indian possessions come under increasing control of the crown, especially due to the Mughal Emperor using his power to restrict expansion of the company here.
-Recruitment of colonists from Spain gradually slows, but some people still emigrate to escape the dreadful life of late 16th century Iberia.
-Veterans of the Dutch and Spanish are bought to help train the colonial army, utilizing some of Prince Maurice’s reforms. They are treated with skepticism.
-A rather insulting poem is sent to the King of Spain, asking why he is mad along with a box of confectioneries. He treats it as an elaborate joke.
-Explorers move up into the Midwest further still, and discover a lot of other rivers nobody really cares about.
-The Spanish colonize the Falkland islands, and almost immediately the French who ignored it for the best part of 80 years are shocked by this. Forts and fishing villages begin construction posthaste.
-Using experience from the Dutch revolt, the army is remodeled, along with the navy after some English ship designs mysteriously make their way here.
-New Orleans is renamed New Madrid, amid a lot of celebration among the ruling classes.
-Coffee and tobacco houses begin to be set up in the colonies for the educated to mingle in. These seedy places soon become hotbeds of radical ideas such as equality or freedom.
-The company attempts to trade with the Netherlands, but this fails due to diplomatic issues. They both resolve to trade at a meeting point in Northern Germany instead.
-The Midwest colonies expand, the relative abundance of food being particularly helpful in encouraging population growth.

Kingdom of France

-With the death of the Duc d'Anjou, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre becomes heir-presumptive to the throne of France.
-Henry of Navarre slowly gains the upper hand in the randomness of the wars of religion, backed up with some Protestant support.

Ruskie - New France

-The colony swings to be Protestant, and actively supports Henry of Navarre as the rightful King.
-The economy continues to gradually grow into a standard European one (With a lot of spare land and loose governance) with agriculture and manufacturing. The timber shortage is being gradually alleviated, but the lack of iron prevents industrial development much further.
-15 men are sent to the King of Portugal to call him a “Exasperated Epaminondas”.
-The slave trade is highly profitable for the French as usual, so much so that the New World is rapidly becoming an extension of Africa.
-Trade with other colonies and the European countries becomes quite popular, especially with the Dutch.

Notes: India has been removed from the map. The map is not being expanded to the whole world.

Turn 22: 1584 to 1588

Political map of Turn 22

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=36010551&viewfull=1#post36010551

Turn quote: America: The only place madder than Manchester United.

Events of the years 1584 to 1588 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Netherlands adopts the Gregorian calender.
-Antwerp is lost to the Spanish, and so many refugees flee that it declines in prominence in the Netherlands. Amsterdam is growing to replace the void.
-The cities of Voronezh, Samara, and Tyumen in Russia are founded.
-A meeting takes place at Lüneburg between 'some evangelical Princes and Electors' and representatives of the King of Navarre, the King of Denmark and the Queen of England. The object of this meeting is the formation of an 'evangelical' league of defence against the Catholic League, called the 'Confederatio Militiae Evangelicae'.
-Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacks Kyūshū.
-A famine breaks out in China again, with the state struggling to maintain control as the available budget decreases yearly. The Manchurian tribes also begin to unite themselves at this time.
-Decimal fractions are introduced.
-Galileo Galilei develops an accurate way to measure the weight of objects in air or water.
-Jacques Daléchamps publishes Historia generalis plantarum in Lyon, describing 2731 plants, more than any other book to date so far.
-Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, appoints Galileo to the professorship of mathematics at the University of Pisa.
-Tycho Brahe publishes De mundi aetheri recentioribus phaenomenis in Uraniborg.
-Simon Stevin, a Flemish mathematician, demonstrates that two objects of different weight fall with the same speed.
-Frigates are developed.
-Portugal begins to undergo social and political unrest as enclosures and a parliament makes their presence known. The disenfranchised peasantry sometimes rise up, or emigrate.
-In England, The Netherlands and Portugal, textile production is starting to stagnate, protectionist policies help keep it artificially going.
-Due to policies in the Americas, some political ideas are appearing for the first time, free to think and debate in a land where it is money rather than blood that counts in life.
-A great deal of plants and animals have spread throughout the Americas, and have permanently changed the land as a result.
-Horses have been domesticated by most Indian tribes, and most have knowledge of Europeans or their weapons. Guns are being gradually adopted as designs improve.
-The taxes collected by the Ming government is gradually decreasing, due to the same weight demanded each time being devalued by inflation. They are unable, or unwilling to change this however. With some famines and political turmoil, the once mighty Ming Empire has begun to splinter apart under the strain of propping up a collapsing system.
-Europeans have implemented mercantile policies more or less everywhere, yet trade and industry still continues to adapt to changes.

Events of the years 1584 to 1588 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-After English shipping is seized by the Spanish, war breaks out.
-England supports the Netherlands in their war against Spain, and establishes a protectorate over it.
-A small colony is set up in Roanoke by Walter Ralegh, it fails and restarts several times before it is finally brought under the arm of the crown colonies and begins to prosper once regular supplies are sent to it.
-Scotland enters into a defensive pact with England, soon after Mary Queen of Scots declares Philip 2nd of Spain to be legitimate heir to the British isles.
-The Babington plot fails, and Elizabeth executes Mary to prevent her being any more trouble.
-Anti-Catholic tensions go sky high, with England, Scotland and the Netherlands committing more support to the Protestant cause.
-Francis Drake plunders Santo Domingo in a daring raid.
-The English panic upon hearing news of the Spanish Armada, and rush to prepare.
-A secret service begins to grow, in order to counteract subversive Spanish influence.

Liem - New England

-England cannot spare any forces for the colonies, for the kingdom must be protected against the Armada. However of privateers are legally allowed to attack any and all Spanish shipping.
-Large and cumbersome wooden carts with guns and cannon mounted into them are prepared as temporary defensive structures for battles. They work best in an urban environment, for they are sitting ducks in an open field of battle.
-Crude winged gliders are made. A couple of mad people jump off tall buildings or cliffs to test them. The lack of knowledge on aerodynamics makes them a pure novelty.
-A paper lantern made by a Chinese immigrant accidentally floats away during a light breeze.
-Tavens become exceedingly seedier places, with even members of the government going into them during the most quiet time of day.

Kingdom of Portugal

-An act of parliament is passed, reducing the excesses of the inquisition.
-In the next election, the number of the clergy with seats reduces.
-Land enclosures begin, gradually enclosing the common land.
-The increase in budget is limited by the nobility. They demand greater freedom of land ownership (or throwing out the peasantry) and more frequent parliaments to be held.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The company continues to expand north of Florida, having established a fair number of settlements and having increased the population substantially.
-There is a focus into food production, with the company quickly introducing and trying to improve farming techniques.
-Peasants displaced by land enclosures immigrate to the Americas.
-A large amount of money is sent to ensure the crown sends some military forces, and to expand and improve harbours.
-16 men are sent to the French to call them “Umbraged Uzziyyahs”.
-The Gulf of Tomini begins to be colonised by the Portuguese.
-A house building program begins, hoping to improve living standards of people by providing adequate housing.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Not much happens during this time, minus life going on as usual.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Spanish navy seizes English ships, and the two kingdoms finally break into open warfare.
-Philip, angry at the growing Protestant forces, sends armies into France to aid the Catholics, and prepares for an invasion of England to destroy Protestantism at its heart, restoring Catholicism to the British isles, Netherlands and France.
-The Spanish armada is formed. All those loyal to the pope and Spain must send all available forces.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The free land offer is brought up again, encouraging sons and immigrants to settle lands they don't own.
-The settlers and traders stop expanding when they start to encounter the English, and a few scuffles break out.
-Francis Drake plunders St Augustine in a daring raid.
-The company comes under increasing pressure by the Spanish government to break ties with the Protestant countries and enact trade embargoes on the English and Dutch.
-The company goes around asking people how life is in the New World, and if it is preferable to life in Europe. A fair number agree, feeling that without a feudal system or tenanted landlords, they feel freer.
-The ideas of freedom and equality begin to spread here. The reactionary parts of society are calling for them to be suppressed.
-Two groups of political thinkers form. Levellers and diggers. Levellers promote the ability of the people to partake in politics, and the diggers promote an early form of agrarian communism.
-A statue is built on the Falkland islands, about 5 metres tall. It faces the French capital, and has some leather sheets in it that make a raspberry noise when the wind blows. The statue later has a bell tower built into it.
-Sawmills are set up in the Midwest, for exportation of lumber for shipbuilding, especially in the new Razee design.
-Shipyards are expanded in the Falklands, allowing for French trade to come here.

Kingdom of France

-The war of the 3 Henrys begins, or the 8th war of religion.
-The Protestants are alarmed at the Spanish incursions, and warn against the Spanish armada.

Ruskie - New France

-A diplomat is sent to Poland to open a small embassy. The Polish seem willing to export raw materials to the colony for usage.
-Courts and universities continue to be set up throughout New France. The intellectual class is finally starting to make an appearance here.
-A note is sent to the Portuguese with “pay your slave denbts poortugal” written crudely on it.
-Another statue commemorating the men that called the Poortugese a 'Exasperated Epaminondas. The road in front of the governors house is lined with statues. Each one showing gradual change as artistic tastes and fashions change.
-Revenge is gained on the silly army by firing vegetables at the office of the Portuguese governor.
-More money and aid is sent to the Protestants in France, who are managing to gradually gain the upper hand.

Turn 23: 1588 to 1592

Political map of Turn 23

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=36047865&viewfull=1#post36047865

Turn quote: Paranoia and syphilis, studies suggest a link.

Events of the years 1588 to 1592 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-The Orthodox church is moved to Moscow. The move splits the Orthodox religion, with many moving to the Pope, especially in Poland-Lithuania, or forming their own churches. Nonetheless, the Russians have been mostly united under this church.
-Russia and Sweden declare war on each other, with Estonia becoming a football passed between the two.
-The Pope calls for an emergency meeting between the rulers of all true Catholic kingdoms, dukedoms and counties. He declares that there is a need to stop the bloodshed, and to restore the true faith.
-The Holy Roman Empire begins to suffer convulsions as Lutherans, Calvinists and Catholics begin to fight amongst themselves increasingly.
-The Neulengbach earthquake causes significant damage and some loss of life in Lower Austria and Vienna; effects felt as far as Bohemia. Some see it as divine punishment.
-Japan is finally unified as a single country.
-Morocco invades Songhai, and causes the latter to implode.
-Hyderabad is founded.
-Japan invades Korea, and inflicts devastation on the Korean armies and people. Throughout 1592, they slowly gain much ground in the country. The Japanese and Koreans are preparing for a rather large naval battle which may determine the outcome of the war.
-Sweden-Finland and Poland-Lithuania are united under a personal union of crowns. There is debate amongst people if such a union would ever last. Certainly it would terrify the Tsar of Russia.
-Early prototypes of the microscope and telescope are developed around this time.
-François Viète publishes In Artem Analyticien Isagoge, introducing the new algebra with innovative use of letters as parameters in equations, effectively creating modern algebra.
-Trinity college is founded in Dublin.
-John Harrington invents the modern toilet and installs it inside his house.
-The stocking frame, a device that automates knitting is invented by William Lee.
-Giovanni Antonio Magini publishes De Planis Triangulis, describing use of the quadrant in surveying and astronomy, and Tabula tetragonica.
-Korean astronomers observe guest stars. Or supernovas.
-An early form of thermometer is invented by Galileo.
-With wars going on at this time, along with profound social change wrought by the Reformation and Renaissance, it can be said that most of what one would recognise as modern has by this stage appeared, or is in the process of forming.
-Baroque begins to gradually emerge in Italy, partly in reaction to the Renaissance. The new arts, architecture and music begins to reflect this trend gradually.
-Colonies are starting to form themselves into states, as they begin to slowly take on the responsibilities of them.
-Religious dissent is at an all time high, as the religious wars continue to spill blood.
-Printing houses are being controlled more steadily by governments as their ability to influence people negatively/positively through writing has been noted.
-The first part of the agricultural revolution is well underway in Europe and the new world. It is characterised by new crops, agricultural techniques, improved communications and wider markets.
-Despite harsh conditions, Danish settlers cling onto life in Greenland, and make immense profits from whaling.
-Hand shaking becomes more common over kissing, due to syphilis. Wigs begin to become popular due to the disease as well, along with the wearing of hats.

Events of the years 1588 to 1592 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-William Lee is refused a patent for his stocking frame, for fears of the damage it would do to Englands wool industry.
-England engages in naval battles with the Spanish. The armada was significantly smaller than was expected, and the English one was larger. The armada is defeated through a combination of poor logistics, and superior English ships and logistics.
-Repression continues in England, with Protestant dissidents being arrested now. Parliament complains bitterly against the trading monopolies in place, and unrest continues to rise.
-English merchants gain the right to trade with the Ottoman Empire.
-English Protestants begin to be sent to Northern Ireland to help solidify English claims. It's not like this will cause any problems for the next 400 years.

Liem - New England

-The colony manages to smuggle some disguised wagons into Spanish colonies, and have spies set off explosives or one-shot artillery pieces inside them. There is minor damage and disruption in various Spanish colonies. A lot of the spies were captured however due to the counter-spying network of the Spanish.
-Letters of marque are handed out freely, and all English colonists are encouraged to attack Spanish shipping. A lot of Spaniards that flee to the coasts are butchered or captured by locals on the coast.
-Much further than raids on some trade is not achieved however.
-Some colonies are strongly fortified in crude star fort shapes, with heavy artillery set into them to prevent Spanish attacks.
-Local native allies manage to start inflicting some damage on the Spanish through raids. A number of fur trappers take pride in looting Spanish trading posts.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The number of parliamentary meeting held increase to sate the demands of the nobility. They begin to exercise greater control in governmental affairs, however rather than going themselves, a number elect lawyers or similar persons to represent their interests.
-With the support of the nobility, the king has given up some of his powers, but taxation has been improved.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-An intense series of hurricanes devastate Florida.
-The Florida and Tomini colonies are expanded, focusing into production of spices in the latter. The Portuguese nobility enjoy curry.
-A program to provide food for children and pregnant women is set up, mostly taking the form of donating goods and money to monasteries. The monks then proceed to take these people into care and do charitable work.
-Cottage industries begin to expand, mostly in the densely populated areas of Brazil with few plantations.
-Education is expanded to an extent, with the monasteries being responsible for teaching children the bare basics in Latin, writing a few words and singing hymns. After this, the children tend to drift to farms or to guilds. A few stay in education to later join the clergy, become a physician or a lawyer.
-Shipbuilding is expanded, some taking the new English developments into account.
-A statue to the Umbraged Uzziyyahs is constructed.
-The silly army is sent to the French Governor, farting at various people and sending sheets of parchment with “Denbt $$$” written on them.

Kingdom of Spain

-The Spanish armada, significantly smaller than wished, due to the lack of support from the colonies, or Portugal, engages the English fleets in the English channel. It is a crushing blow to the Spanish, who lose even more ground in the Netherlands and France as the Protestant movements strengthen.
-Support begins to be given to the Irish, whom seek to overthrow English rule. The other Catholic states of Europe see that this could be a way to weaken England.

Hell_Kyrone - New Spain

-An intense series of hurricanes devastate some of the colonies.
-Colonial attempts in North America go rather well, expanding into Texas.
-The French colonies begin to trade with the Spanish, despite official embargoes. They eventually have a policy of neutrality.
-The cavalry wing of the army is greatly expanded, along with the navy, and despite English attempts, they manage to protect existing colonies from raids.
-Naval support is lent to the crown for the invasion of England, which goes rather poorly.
-Agriculture and cottage industries begin to expand during this time slowly.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-An intense series of hurricanes devastate some of the colonies.
-Mercenary companies are recruited by the company and military forces currently used by the company are held back from interacting in the Anglo-Spanish war.
-Trade comes under attack by English privateers, but is driven off due to the relative naval power in the New World between England and Spain.
-Explorers filter throughout the Midwest, but are impeded by constant English and Indian raids that drive them back. Expansion only continues to the West, where English influence is nonexistant.
-The levellers are given more support by ruling authorities, and many common people begin to protest against this move, saying that their ideas would lead to instability and economic ruin.
-Otherwise, general expansion and population growth continues. The Sultanate of Brunei is forced to concede to the demands of Spain and become effectively a puppet state.
-The Diggers are laughed at, who proceed to set off with a band of other stragglers to set up an ideal colony out in the wilderness away from “Bourgeoisie influence”.
-Administrative reforms begin to be carried out, slowly starting to collect taxes, maintain local law courts and infrastructure. Although some complain about this bitterly, seeing it as why they emigrated, to avoid this, they begrudgingly accept the increasing influence of the state.
-Privateers begin to be hired to harass competition.
-The company tries to seek neutrality with the English and Dutch, but is only moderately successful with the latter.

Kingdom of France

-Henry III of France is murdered by a fanatical Catholic monk.
-Henry IV, with significant backing from the English, Dutch, Scottish and French colonies, along with the lack of Spanish and Portuguese support, manages to crush the Catholic league.
-Paris is won eventually through a bloody siege, that results in massive damage to the city. Many historic structures are destroyed, and the population declines.
-Catholic rebellions continue to flare up, with the Protestants moving to quash the insurgencies and to establish the new regimes hold on France.

Ruskie - New France

-Pig iron begins to be imported to the colonies in significant numbers.
-Embassies are set up by the company throughout Europe, hoping to gain influence amongst monarchs. They see the embassies as representing the French as opposed to actually representing the company.
-Courts and other such administrative requirements for legislation and the enforcement of laws gradually lead to this company slowly taking on the responsibilities of the state.
-17 men are sent to the Guv'nah of Portugal, calling him a “Vehement Vardah”. He gives the men all some candies for coming.
-With the strong support for the Huguenot cause in France, the company wins significant support from the crown once it takes Paris. There is still the rest of the country to pacify however.

Turn 24: 1592 to 1596

Carlo Gesualdo - Moro, lasso, al mio duolo

Music of 1596

Political map of Turn 24

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=36089963&viewfull=1#post36089963

Turn quote: The world runs on wheels.

Events of the years 1592 to 1596 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-Tulip bulbs planted by Carolus Clusius in the Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Holland, first flower.
-The Ottomans and Habsburgs decide to have a nice big long war.
-The Japanese invasion of Korea fails, partly due to the use of armoured ships by the Koreans, and partly due to the Chinese coming in to help. Japanese ambitions are quashed after the siege of Pyongyang in which the invading force is crushed.
-To annoy the Serbians after they rebelled, the Ottomans burn the bones of Saint Sava.
-Groningen is captured after a 2 month siege, with it, the Dutch have full control of the Northern Netherlands now.
-St Pauls College is founded in Macau by Jesuits, the first Western college in China.
-In Amsterdam, the Compagnie van Verre is created, hoping to break Spanish-Portuguese trading monopolies.
-The Treaty of Tyavzino brings to an end the Russo-Swedish War
-The Wallachians achieve victory over the Ottoman Empire at the battles of Calugareni and Giurgiu.
-The Austrians incite a rebellion in Ottoman Bulgaria.
-The Union of Brest: The Ukrainian Church west of the Dnipro becomes known as the Ukrainian rite of Catholicism, whereas the East officially renounces the authority of the Pope.
-The Capital of Poland is relocated to Warsaw from Krakow.
-Finally, to cheer everybody up, the black death returns.
-First voyage of Willem Barents in the Arctic Ocean in search of the North-east passage.
-Bevis Bulmer sets up a system at Blackfriars, London, for pumping a public water supply.
-John Davis publishes a treatise on navigation, The Seamans Secrets, and invents a version of the backstaff.
-Robert Hues publishes a practical treatise on the use of terrestrial and celestial globes in navigation, Tractatus de globis et eorum usu.
-Bartholomaeus Pitiscus publishes introduces the term trigonometry.
-The Fluyt, a type of cargo ship is developed in the Netherlands. It is one of the ships marking the beginning of specialised ships for military and civilian use respectively.
-Scipione (Girolamo) Mercurio publishes La commare o riccoglitrice ("The midwife"), the first text to advocate a Caesarean section on the living in cases of a contracted long pelvis.
-David Fabricius discovers the first non-supernova variable star, Omicron Ceti.
-Johannes Kepler's Mysterium Cosmographicum is the first published defense of the Copernican (heliocentric) system of planetary motion.
-Willem Barents makes the first documented discovery of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago.
-The 4th of a 5 year run of poor harvests, largely caused by the weather, a pattern typical of the last third of the century. This causes famine throughout Europe, which leads to food riots in Britain.
-Despite the famine and poor harvests these past few years, farming productivity is gradually increasing and food shortages can be somewhat controlled.
-The Holy Roman Empire is coming under increasing strain as the conflict between the Lutherans, Calvinists and Catholics seem unsolvable. Many states seem to anticipate a war on the horizon and have begun to prepare.
-Reading from the bible, many fanatics see that France becoming Protestant is a sign that one church will soon dominate over the others. The Lutheran majority of Donauwörth feel confident to so as to ignore Imperial Law, banning a religious procession of Catholics, prompting a riot to ensue.
-Stagecoaches are becoming an increasing nuisance to people. Boatmen complain about their loss to business to them as the world “Runs on wheels”.
-Certainly stagecoach travel is becoming increasingly popular, due in part to the declining costs of production, stronger and faster horses, their increasing numbers and rising population.
-The roads of Europe and the New World are badly maintained, with the laws usually putting the responsibility onto the residents by the road, rather than the user to aid in the cost of maintaining them.
-The Peruvian nation has managed to reorganise itself into having a stable political system.

Events of the years 1592 to 1596 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-A mineral spring in Harrogate, Yorkshire, is discovered to have the same water properties as the waters from the town of Spa in the Spanish Netherlands.
-Queen Elizabeth 1st has a toilet installed at her palace in Richmond. She rarely uses it.
-The 9 years war begins, seeking to push the English out of Ireland.
-Sir Walter Raleigh explores Guyana and eastern Venezuela.
-Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby is found murdered. At the time of his death, he was, after his mother, second in line to the throne of England.
-Shakespeare’s plays “Romeo and Juliet”, “Richard 2nd” and “A Midsummer Night's Dream” are played for the first time.
-Archbishop John Whitgift begins building his hospital at Croydon.
-Francis Drake dies from dysentery. Oh what joy.
-The Queen has Blacks expelled from the country due to the famine, and proceeds to become even more senile as her country sits in economic stagnation.
-William Lee tries to run a knitting machine business, with mixed financial results.

Liem - New England

-A conscription drive for war against the Spanish is begun. Fields are hastily readied for the drilling of muskets and pike.
-Privateers, pirates, and various merchants/sections of the navy set up micro-colonies nearby Spanish settlements on coastlines and rivers. They quickly raid a town or village and then flee before the authorities can catch them. Some of these places are wiped out in retaliation by the Spanish.
-Biscuits are send to the Spanish admiral, they are poisoned, and his dog unfortunately dies eating them. The accompanying note asks: “What is it like in hell?”
-The economy suffers somewhat, due in part to the recent bad harvests. Many people have taken up officially sanctioned criminal activities to help in the war against the Spanish.
-Roanoke and all its inhabitants vanish from the face of the earth. The only clue is a damp wooden statue of a man with the words “Relinquere” inscribed upon it.
-A Calvinist church in Boston explodes, the blame is put down to a shifty foreigner who stacked the cellar with gunpower.

Kingdom of Portugal

-Taxes are slowly increased, and despite some unpopularity, the people manage to keep cool for now. Emigration to the colonies also gradually increases, with the countryside slowly depopulating.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-The company advertises the colonies as a place that fleeing Catholics can settle in. A large number of French people settle in their possessions as a result.
-A ship of the newest colonists makes their way to James Bay in Canada, and sets up a whaling station along with a hunting lodge for fur trappers.
-The Florida and Tomini colonies are further expanded, with the former starting to suffer some difficulties when the local peoples begin to become severely agitated by European expansion.
-18 men are sent to the capital of New France to call the French “Exhausted Ebenezers”.
-The army and navy are expanded once more to provide adequate military and naval protection. The pirates harassing Portuguese colonies slowly move onto colonies of other nations after the navy slowly drives a number of them out.
-Manufactories for the production of textiles, firearms and other various goods begin significant expansion during this time.
-A royal mint is established in Brazil. Some of the Royal Treasury is transferred to the mint.

Kingdom of Spain

-A Spanish expedition led by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira makes the first European landing in Polynesia, on the Marquesas Islands.
-Philip 2nd recognises the rights of some local native rulers and nobles in the colonies, paving the way for some extra stability as some conflict dies down.
-New Spain is subject to increasing centralisation after a new governor is appointed.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The company begins to send monetary support to Galileo, helping him continue his studies into natural philosophy.
-The Great Western Desert of America is partially mapped.
-There is massive focus into increasing mining output, with gold exports increasing.
-The company begins to state that the actual output of goods reflects wealth, and not the amount of gold. It receives a fair amount of support from some people who distrust money itself, thinking that Semites manipulate gold and the value of it.
-Armed forces are sent into the Midwest to battle the English and Natives, resulting in a number of indecisive battles and skirmishes.
-Criminal dens set up by the English are burned down by the Spanish, which manage to temporarily stop the English menace until more Englishmen arrive from the colonies and overseas.
-To deal with attacks, outposts with stables are set up to allow quick movement of dragoons. Exhausted horses can be replaced at the next one, allowing rapid movement.
-In order to stop the Pro-English Indians, the Spanish decide to have a small army march from one Indian settlement to another, killing every animal they can find and burning all the crops.
-By 1596, famine breaks out amongst the Indian groups.

Kingdom of France

-The company in the Caribbean suffers pirate attacks moreso these past few years than before, leading to a fort building program.
-Catholics begin to emigrate from France.
-King Henry finally succeeds in uniting France, and works towards reforms and eliminating dissent in order to establish religious freedom. He also works on pushing out Spanish influence, and fights the Spanish in several engagements.

Ruskie - New France

-Pirate raids begin to wreck havoc on some French outputs, but the French navy manages to chase them off sometimes.
-Imports of iron to the colonies become a regular thing, with them being fashioned into all kinds of things. Managed forests have also become established enough to permit self-sufficiency for timber.
-By now, an embassy has been opened in every notable European country. The Dutch and English accept these embassies as representing the colonies, and not France.
-The court and university establishment program is finished, and centralisation of the colonies under a single legislative system continues.
-A statue commemorating the 17 men who called the Poortuguese King a “Vehement Vardah” is constructed. By now, mini-copies of the statues begin to be sold abroad as trinkets. 17 to collect!
-Every European power now accepts trade with the French colonies, minus the Spanish and their possessions.

Turn 25: 1596 to 1600

Dutch music around 1600 Brabantsche Rondedans

Music of 1600

Political map of Turn 25

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=36171675&viewfull=1#post36171675

Turn quote: Hopefully the next century will be better for religious tolerance.

Events of the years 1596 to 1600 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-George Abbot publishes the student geography textbook A Briefe Description of the Whole World.
-After being separated from the main Second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia fleet of Admiral Wybrand Van Warwyck, three ships under Jacob Cornelisz. van Neck land on the island which they name Mauritius and sight the Dodo bird.
-Scotland adopts 1st January as New Years day.
-Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake for heresy.
-Christianity is outlawed in Japan, and various executions begin.
-Korea defeats the Japanese invasions.
-After Feodor 1st of Russia dies, Boris Gudenov seizes the throne, starting the time of troubles.
-The Swedish King Sigismund III Vasa is dethroned by his uncle Duke Charles, who takes over as regent of the realm until 1604, when he becomes King Charles IX.
-The Battle of Sekigahara takes place in Japan, and ultimately decides the fate of Japan. The Tokugawa Shogunate establishes control over the country and ushers in a new era.
-Persia sends an embassy into Europe in order to gather allies against the Ottoman Empire.
-Tycho Brahe's star catalogue Astronomiæ instauratæ mechanica, listing the positions of 1,004 stars, is published.
-Edward Wright publishes Certaine Errors in Navigation, explaining the mathematical basis of the Mercator projection, and giving a reference table of adjustments required for its use in navigation.
-Danish astronomer Longomontanus arrives in Prague, where he works with the Moon orbital theory.
-William Gilbert publishes De Magnete in England, describing Earth's magnetic field; beginning of the modern science of geomagnetism.
-Ludolph van Ceulen computes the first 35 decimals of pi.
-William Gilbert coins the Latin word "electricus" to describe electricity.
-Simon Stevin invents a carriage propelled by sails.
-Tycho Brahe is kicked out of Denmark, and he makes his way to Prague to continue his studies.
-William Lee improves on his automated Knitting Machine with the ability to weave silk, but the authorities fail to grant a patent to his machinery.
-Between 150,000kg and 350,000kg of silver is exported to China annually from the New World.
-Silver inflation in China has resulted in the government starting to lose huge amounts of money due to an inflexible taxation system that fails to adapt to inflation.
-The massive volcanic eruption in Peru has resulted in the ejection of ash into the atmosphere, and by late summer 1600, people are starting to notice that things are notably colder than they should be.
-Population growth in West Africa has started to significantly slow down. Many new nations have been formed or destroyed due to the slave trade.
-The world is changing. One hundred years of interaction with 2 new continents has been fruitful for many, whilst damaging to others. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Italian city states and multiple other nations are on the point of being eclipsed by the growing colonial powers.
-Religious tensions continue to worsen in the Holy Roman Empire, to the point that the Evangelical Union and the Catholic League are formed.

Events of the years 1596 to 1600 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-First performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.
-Parliament passes an act that allows transportation of convicts to colonies.
-Refusing to take any more shit from the Irish, the Earl of Essex lands in Ireland with 16,000 men and takes Cahir Castle.
-The Globe Theatre opens in London.
-The Earl then returns, disobeying the Queen, and as a result loses much from a subsequent trial.
-East India Company granted a Royal Charter in England.
-Ulster chieftains, with the lead of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, resist the English reconquest of Ireland.
-The Poor Law is established, hoping to alleviate the worst excesses of poverty throughout the realm.
-The English decide to finally answer the Irish question by destroying all crops in Ireland, and preventing new ones from being replanted.

Liem - New England

-Some troops are imported for the war against Spain. Since the continental war in Europe is dying down, the English can afford to send more troops.
-The colony begins to ambush the Spanish regulary,
-3 cakes are sent to the Spanish, one of which is poisoned. All are burnt.
-A Spanish village is burned to the ground, a note left behind kindly reminds the Spanish that the English can do the same as them.
-Horribly crude gliders are constructed, but they can barely travel any significant distance.
-The English set about hiding cheap wooden cannon inside carts and setting them off inside Spanish settlements. Some damage is wrecked, but eventually the Spanish search every cart and put a stop to this.
-Most English warfare is guerilla warfare, doing all it can to damage the Spanish before running away.
-The Dutch offer to help in the colonial war.

Kingdom of Portugal

-A volcanic eruption occurs in Peru at Huaynaputina, killing hundreds and burying many settlements.
-The King begins to encourage the nobility to emigrate to the colonies, offering them lands.

MountainWatcher - Companhia das Quinas Americanas

-Various members of the nobility begin to emigrate to Brazil after titles are given to them in the colonies.
-The nobility begins to make Brazil feel just like home by putting enclosures or semi-feudal systems in place. Some even build castles to protect themselves.
-Existing colonies are further expanded, in Tomini, Florida and James Bay.
-The Brazilian Mint becomes gradually more important during this time until it is minting all the coinage for the colony itself.
-Generals begin to be formally recruited for permanent use by the colonial army.
-A ultimatum is sent to the Peruvian nation, demanding metallic ores be sent yearly. They refuse.
-A small force is sent to the French Colony to start mock battles with the French. These battles become a local attraction, and also a way to improve the fighting skills of both sides.
-A statue is built for the Exhausted Ebenezers.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-Cotton farming begins, and there is some success from growing both Indian and American strains of cotton. A local advisor suggests importing stocking frames to help with this.
-The new political and taxation system is heavily praised by the company, which appears to make the Portugese King rather happy.

Kingdom of Spain

-Spanish prospectors discover the Ojuela Mine.
-Phillip the 2nd dies, and is followed by the imaginatively named Phillip the 3rd.

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Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The company decides that enough is enough, and decides that they should use their military superiority to its fullest effect by taking over a town, razing it to the ground, then marching to the next one along.
-By 1600, 6 significant towns have been captured. Some were betrayed by spies.
-To protect Spanish interests, existing fortifications are expanded or built nearby towns to hold them against the English.
-Firearms manufactories begin to be set up in the colonies to provide weapons to the colonial army.
-A letter is sent to the English, demanding that they sue for peace. The Queen refuses despite the unpopularity of the war.
-Naval convoys are set up to protect shipping. Piracy begins to die down when the English are unable to breach the convoys, and the French capture pirate vessels anyways.
-Some Indian groups surrender or broker deals with the Spanish if they agree to work against the English.

Kingdom of France

-Edict of Nantes: Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics; this is considered the end of the French Wars of Religion.
-Catholic dissent is gradually and brutally put down by the state, which now has overseen the transition of France from Catholicism to Protestantism.
-The Peace of Vervins ends the war between France and Spain.
-The French King enjoys the idea of a sea free of piracy, and gives his support to the colonial navy to keep the seas free of brigands.

Ruskie - New France

-19 men are sent to the Portuguese King to call him an Indignant Inacio.
-Various trade goodies bought by the colony are sent to the King as a gift, he responds by slightly changing the taxation system so as to be more favourable towards them.
-The colonial navy sets about (With importation of even more ships) destroying every pirate they can find. This unwittingly results in the capture or sinking of English and Spanish pirates and privateers, with the monarchs fuming about how their illegal activities have been put a stop to.
-Massive naval reforms are undertaken by the company, with the majority of vessels being slowly converted into Razee-style vessels.
-With all this naval protection going on, slavers never had it better for exporting their slaves.
-Law courts have been by this stage, set up throughout all of the colonies.

Turn 26: 1600 to 1604

Monteverdi Madrigal Ah dolente partita!

Music of 1604

Political map of Turn 26

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=36194741&viewfull=1#post36194741

Turn quote: Viva a revolução!

Events of the years 1600 to 1604 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-Russian city of Tomsk founded in Siberia.
-Despite the excellent rule of Boris Gudonov, famine strikes in Russia, and Poland-Lithuania and Sweden decide to start meddling in the Tsardom.
-The Jesuit Matteo Ricci becomes the first European to enter the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.
-The United East India Company is established by the United Provinces States-General in Amsterdam, with the stated intention of capturing the spice trade from the Portuguese, Danes and Spanish.
-The Iconoclast and Confucian scholar Li Zhi commits suicide while in a Chinese prison, he had taught that women were the intellectual equals of men and should be given equal opportunity in education; he was charged with spreading "dangerous ideas".
-Copies are printed of the geographical map of East Asia created by Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit stationed in China, with Chinese-written labeling and map symbols.
-The Dutch seize Banten, and set up a colony there.
-Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei, and establishes the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, Japan.
-Internal problems within the Ottoman Empire has resulted in their expansion finally coming to an end, partly due to failure to capitalise on the military revolution.
-The Danish colony in Canada suffers major setbacks due to failed harvests and native attacks.
-Nurhaci continues consolidating his power in what is now Manchuria, leading successful campaigns against the Mongols, Koreans and Ming.
-Johannes Kepler observes an exploding star, and calls it a supernova.
-Johannes Kepler is appointed imperial mathematician to the Habsburg Empire.
-Pietro Cataldi finds the sixth and seventh perfect numbers.
-Girolamo Fabrici studies leg veins and notices that they have valves which only allow blood to flow toward the heart.
-Vincenzio Cascarido discovers barium sulfide.
-Galileo begins his study of falling bodies.
-Felix Plater publishes Praxis medica classifying diseases by their symptoms.
-Johannes Kepler describes how the eye focuses light.
-The Wollaton Waggonway, the earliest iteration of the railway, is built.
-The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is opened to the public.
-The Table Alphabeticall, the first known English dictionary to be organized by alphabetical ordering, is published.
-Miquelet guns are now common.
-Other knitting machines and devices begin to be slowly developed.
-The rivers of the midwest are gradually getting narrower, and have increasingly higher volumes of water as time goes on. Drainage and vegetation clearing has led to this becoming noticeable by now.
-Most pirates in the New World have been marginalised due to naval patrols by the Spanish and French which has wiped out many of them. The remainder are now on the run, or waiting for better times.
-The idea of the nation-state is gradually emerging, partially due to the military revolution of the past 50 years and various changes in governance that is seeing centralisation occur along with the weakening of the decrepit feudal system and of merchant republics.
-Monarchs are steadily becoming more absolutist, with exceptions such as Portugal or England.
-The agricultural revolution has spread throughout much of Europe, with new crops now common, new techniques implemented and many other improvements. They help to mitigate the effects of the recent cooling due to the volcanic winter.
-Cottage industries begin to grow and expand during this time, with textile and gun-making industries being the first to benefit.
-Harvests worldwide fail or come in late during this time. 2 million starve to death in Russia alone.
-With the poor harvests in the New World, the Anglo-Spanish war winds down significantly, with the natives taking the biggest hit.
-The population of Earth is around 580 million.
-Ming China begins to neglect the military and infrastructure as the money required to do so is no longer available, partly due to inflation and partly due to an underdeveloped banking system.

Events of the years 1600 to 1604 - Players:

Kingdom of England and Ireland

-Elizabeth decides to execute the Earl of Essex after he attempts a botched rebellion.
-Elizabeth dies, and is replaced by James the 6th of Scotland.
-With him there is now a personal union of crowns, and the old Anglo-Scot warfare finally ends.
-Walter Raleigh is locked away by the new monarch for treason.
-James continues to show his tolerant religious stance by fining people for missing church services and also writing about the dangers of smoking. Nobody takes him seriously on the latter issue.
-Hamlet is performed for the first time.
-The East India Company arrives at Aceh, seizes a Portuguese galleon and loots it.
-The Battle of Kinsale is lost, severely damaging the English hold on Ireland.
-James 1st sues for peace. He offers status quo, recognising Spanish superiority in return for pre-war borders, annulling treaties with the Netherlands, and the end of Spanish attempts to convert Britain to Catholicism.

Liem - New England

-New weapons are imported for the colonial army, such as Miquelet guns.
-Further work is conducted into gliders.
-Explorers set about charting every Spanish settlement they can find, and reporting it to the military, this helps significantly in the war effort until it is realised that the English do not have the resources to profit from this.
-The English raid Spanish settlements, and decide to capture everybody rather than burn down the settlements. These prisoners are then sent to England or prisons in the colonies to be kept for ransoms.
-The army decides the best way to rid themselves of enemy natives is to wipe them out entirely. The farmlands are burned, and with the recent cooling and failed harvests worldwide, many native groups are forced to surrender, move, or die.
-Harvests fail, and the army begins to gradually melt away.

Kingdom of Portugal

-The Portuguese are expelled from Bahrain.
-With the royal court moving to Brazil, a power vacuum results in the remaining shrunken parliament to fight for control of the country. The Spanish King Philip the 3rd seizes the opportunity to take control of Portugal and establish a personal union of crowns.
-Portugal is now controlled by the Spanish, who declare the new Kingdom of Lusoamericania to be illegal, and receives papal backing.

Dr. Insy - Cienia of Niesmiertelni

-With the regime change, this colony is now nominally hostile towards Lusoamericania.
-This colony now also part of the Union between Portugal and Spain.

Flag unavailable
MountainWatcher - Lusoamericania

-With a number of the nobility and the King in Brazil, the King creates a parliament and declares independence from his own country. The Kingdom of Lusoamericania is formed.
-A constitution is written, promoting freedom of religion. The vast majority of the population are Catholic however, with barely anybody who is Protestant or otherwise.
-Freedom of Speech is promoted, although initially a great deal of this is made up of criticism towards the new government.
-The right to bare arms is promoted, although very few people take advantage of this. This is partly due to the relative expense of maintaining guns that really only allows for specialists such as hunters or soldiers to use them.
-The nobility making up this small parliament quickly set about Brazil informing the peasantry.
-A large number of people do not realise the gravity of the situation for a while, and then realise that what they have done is to have split from the motherland.
-Several riots ensure, partly due to the justification for this being practically non-existent and the hostility from Portugal and Spain.
-The military sets about restoring order, setting up or improving existing fortifications and sending 50 men to the French colony to celebrate independence.
-An alliance is offered to the French colony.
-A statue is built to promote independence, it fits in well with all the other statues.
-Expansion halts, and natality is heavily promoted to help the population grow. Somewhat due to this, interracial marriage becomes a bit more common as the demand for babies is driven up by a large variety of preachers and clergymen going throughout the country saying such.
-The economy takes a short nosedive after all trade is cut off with Portugal.

Kingdom of Spain

-A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva.
-Persia and Spain conclude a defensive alliance and declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
-Ostend is captured by Spanish forces under Ambrogio Spinola after a 3-year siege.
-Philip of Spain wishes for peace with England.
-With a power vacuum in Portugal, the Spanish King Philip the 3rd seizes the opportunity to take control of Portugal and establish a personal union of crowns.
-Brazil is declared illegal by the Spanish, and is now allowed to be attacked by Spanish vessels.
-James 1st sues for peace in the Anglo-Spanish war. Negotiations begin.

Flag unavailable
Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-Sangley uprising takes place, ending in the massacre of 20,000 Chinese in Manila.
-The company sends several thousand troops to Kinsale along with extensive naval supplies. The rebellion of the Earl of Essex and the dying queen hurts the English war effort to the point that Kinsale is lost.
-The Spanish military then sets about Ireland rallying the population with the aid of the nobility.
-Residents of the central American colonies are offered free land in the Midwest, and training in how to set up the new farms. The idea is taken up rather well amongst the population that has yet to be enslaved, killed or have died from disease.
-Slaves begin to be imported into the Midwest, partly to help maintain cotton plantations.
-A strong defensive border is maintained against further English and Native attacks. This line of wooden forts stretches across a fair expanse of land. Due to Spanish naval superiority, the English are forced inland to conduct increasingly desperate battles.
-Sugar plantations are massively expanded, of course to maintain them means more slaves. The population finally starts to massively grow as slaves are imported to replace the almost extinct local populations.
-The company sends an emissary to the English, requesting peace.
-Due to decreased harvests during these years, population growth, along with the war effort, considerably slows.
-The colonies begin to slowly become multicultural as immigrants from other lands in Europe are brought in, partly due to the population decline in Castile.

Kingdom of France

-France brokers a few deals with Savoy, settling some various border issues and changing the distribution of land between the two countries.
-William Lee sets up his textile workshops in France, but suffers from poor financial investment.

Ruskie - New France

-The navy spends even more time wiping out pirates. It has become rather dangerous to be a pirate in the new world now, especially as national navies seem to enjoy attacking pirates rather than other nations.
-A statue is built to commemorate the 19 men who called the Portuguese King a “Indignant Inacio”.
-Little much else happens minus development of the existing colony, legislative system, law courts and education.
-Slave prices rise steadily as demand sharply increases from both Lusoamericania and the Spanish colonies. To compensate, even more slave outposts are set up, and boost the French population in Africa into the thousands to man the outposts and forts.

Turn 27: 1604 to 1608

Monteverdi, Lamento d'Arianna (Lasciatemi morire) - Roberta Mameli

Music of 1608

Political map of Turn 27

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=36260862&viewfull=1#post36260862

Turn quote: Gunpowder, treason and plot.

Events of the years 1604 to 1608 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-Australia is discovered by the Dutch.
-Tsar Boris Godunov dies; Feodor II accedes to the Russian throne. He is executed during a clumsy coup, and then replaced by Dmitri, who is then killed by more soliders. 2 more Dmitris follow and fall from power in other ways. Then Russia pretty much goes to shit.
-Poland-Lithuania begins a series of ruthless military campaigns, smashing the Swedes and ruining the Russians. Moscow is occupied by Poland-Lithuania.
-Don Quixote is published, the first novel in existence.
-Macbeth is performed for the first time.
-The Peace of Zsitvatorok is signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The annual tributes to the Ottomans ends.
-Andorra is annexed by France and Spain.
-The first cheques are used in the Netherlands
-Chartreuse is invented, a liqueur still made by Carthusian monks.
-The phenomenon of mechanoluminescence is first discovered by Sir Francis Bacon from scratching sugar with a knife.
-First recorded use of the word Chemistry ("Chymistrie") in English, in Thomas Tymme's The Practice of Chymicall and Hermeticall Physicke.
-Galileo invents a thermometer based on the expansion of gas.
-Giovanni Antonio Magini devises trigonometric tables of high accuracy.
-Giovanni Antonio Magini defends the use of astrology in medicine in his De astrologica ratione.
-Howitzers are invented, by a Frenchman. A kind of specialised siege gun, their advantage lies in their flexibility of being able to change the powder charge and angle of the gun, thus filling a role between mortars and field guns.
-Johannes Kepler records the appearance and motion of a comet, later to be known as Comet Halley.
-Hans Lippershey demonstrates the first known telescope to the government of the Dutch Republic.
-The manufacture of alum is invented and successfully practised in England, under the patronage of King James, by Lord Sheffield.
-The ratio of pikes to muskets in most armies is being seriously debated, with questions on appropriate width or length of a unit, the ratio of pike to shot, and how to best use artillery and cavalry.
-Piracy explodes in the New World, as Spanish vessels turn a blind eye to piracy on their rivals, or even encourage it. The collapse of the English navy and weakening of the Portuguese navy also helps lead to an increase in piracy. The French navies meanwhile can barely cover anything aside from their own trade, worsening the problem further.
-Ships have begun to travel in convoys to protect themselves against pirates.
-Atheism begins to appear around this time, but is not yet a coherent idea. Most people who flirt with it call themselves “Null Fidians” or “Nothing believers”. These people keep to themselves quite secretly.
-Central Americas Amerindian population climbs to over 1 million.
-The levellers movement begins to appear in Britain.
-German states begin preparing armies and arms, making deals and alliances, fearing that war is about to break out.

Events of the years 1604 to 1608 - Players:

Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland

-Most lands gained since the mid 1500s is lost in Ireland, and England is forced to sign a peace treaty with the Spanish.
-Under the terms, England will no longer interfere in the Netherlands, and loses their claims to older territorial lands (Such as New Orleans.)
-A rival Irish kingdom forms, strongest in the south and west. England still maintains a tenuous hold on the pale. (Medieval English possessions)
-A Catholic conspirator by the name of Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up parliament with a dozen other men. The plot fails, and most of the conspirators are executed.
-Harsh new Anti-Catholic laws are enacted, and this failed plot is to be celebrated every year on the 5th of November. Catholics try to forget this rather terrible time for them.
-The English continue war with the Irish, sending more colonists to already settled areas to push out the Catholics.
-A new flag is adopted, showing the union between Scotland and England.
-A massive wave sweeps along the Bristol Channel, possibly a tsunami, killing 2,000 people
-A revolt breaks out in the Midlands against land enclosures, led by a “Captain Pouch” who claims his pouch will protect his followers. After his capture, the pouch is discovered to hold a piece of green cheese. He is then hanged.

Liem - New England

-The colonial navy is decimated, and the colonel is forced by the king to agree to the new peace settlement or face expulsion.
-After the conclusion of the war, the colony starts to import food to help feed itself.
-Colonial growth stagnates after much of the army burns many native settlements to the ground, severely damaging trade and causing civil unrest.
-An alliance is requested with New France, there is yet to be a reply.
-Mines are set up, hoping to look for gold. Instead they find iron and coal, which at least helps justify the existence of the colonies.

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MountainWatcher - Lusoamericania

-Pamplets are printed, and clergymen are sent out to preach on the failings of Portugal and of the Catholic Church.
-People become heavily divided as the King takes state control of the church, and the new country quickly splits into two factions, one supporting the King and the other opposing his recent actions.
-An alliance is proposed with the French, whom gladly accept, wishing to weaken their Spanish rivals.
-Trade begins on a large scale with France, and later, England. Both are keen to trade with a Protestant country that hates the Spanish.
-Taxes drop, and in order to make up the shortfall, mining of gold and silver is encouraged.
-People are initially quite happy that taxes have dropped, but this gradually ends as inflation kicks in, forcing the prices of goods higher. Everyone from Jewish bankers to the Spanish are blamed.
-The new country is under increasing political and religious stress.

Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal

-A peace deal is brokered with the English, for the Spanish side of the deal, pre-war borders are to be maintained, and the Spanish will stop trying to convert the English to Catholicism.
-Spain begins to increase spending on the military extensively, and is starting to leer dangerously close to bankruptcy.

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Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The company uses the influence and prestige gained from the Irish campaign to influence the Spanish court and monarch. Some favourable laws are passed which sees Portuguese trading deals slowly eroded away in favour of Spanish ones.
-The company concludes the campaign in Ireland, finishing by defeating several English fleets and sailing back home.
-Military reforms are enacted, seeing the army trained in the combined use of pike and shot along with an increasing emphasis on soldiers being professionals rather than part time.
-The company declares war on Lusoamericania, and sets about attacking their shipping.
-Most Lusoamericanian trading posts or forts in the East Indies are besieged and some captured, taking a long time due to the costly effort of attacking strong and well defended fortifications.
-The bureaucracy begins to expand to meet the expanding needs of the bureaucracy. And military.
-The companies growing military force forces the bureaucracy to increasingly act like a government as taxes rise to maintain it and the armament industry is becoming increasingly nationalised.
-Indian tribes are offered food and land, and a fair number take up the offer, whilst others mistrust this and move on elsewhere or raid various areas.
-The economy continues to expand, mostly to provide the needed raw and manufactured goods to help run the military.
-The army marches into Lusoamericanian central America, and starts besieging the numerous forts located throughout the area. Some forts are eventually captured, mostly due to civil strife amongst the Portuguese rather than the Spanish military superiority.

Kingdom of France

-The Kingdom of France recognises the independence of Lusoamericania. Cynically one can argue they did this because they hate Spain.

Ruskie - New France

-The economy continues to diversify, mostly into cottage industries that produce various goods.
-The navy is almost overwhelmed by the collapse of order in the rest of the New World, and is forced to cover mostly their own trade rather than all vessels.
-The slave trade continues, there is a saying that the bricks of the houses of the capital city are cemented with the blood of slaves.

Turn 28: 1608 to 1612

Monteverdi - 1610 Vespers (Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610) Sonata sopra Sancta Maria

Music of 1612

Political map of Turn 28

Post link: http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1177424&p=36300872&viewfull=1#post36300872

Turn quote: King James bible published after king removes bits he didn't like.

Events of the years 1608 to 1612 - Ecological, economic, social and misc:

-"Three Blind Mice" is published by London teenage songwriter Thomas Ravenscroft.
-Bank of Amsterdam established.
-The Dutch East India Company establishes a trading post in Hirado, Japan
-Swedish troops under Jacob de la Gardie take Moscow.
-A Polish–Lithuanian army defeats a much larger Russian army at the Battle of Klushino.
-The Manchu tribal leader Nurhaci breaks his relations with the Ming Dynasty of China. Hostilities soon begin, and the Ming Empire begins to fall apart as the army starts to mutiny due to low wages.
-Denmark declares war on Sweden, then captures Kalmar.
-An uprising in Moscow expels Polish troops.
-The time of the troubles begins to peter out in Russia, and eventually it is decided that the Romanovs are good candidates for the throne.
-The treaty of Calais is signed. This treaty is between the British, Irish, Spanish, French, Dutch and Lusoamericanians. It formally declares the independence of each signer of the treaty, and their right to each religion. It also sets out rough areas of land that each signer is entitled to in the New World and Malays.
-Johannes Kepler publishes Astronomia nova, containing his first two laws of planetary motion.
-Cornelius Drebbel invents the thermostat.
-Galileo Galilei observes Jupiter's four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. In the same year he publishes his first observations by telescope in a short treatise entitled Sidereus Nuncius.
-Jean Beguin publishes Tyrocinium Chymicum, the first book of chemistry lectures.
-Tinsel is invented by a German silversmith, who uses real silver for the metal strands.
-Bagels are invented in Poland.
-Completion of Cordouan lighthouse on the Gironde estuary (designed by Louis de Foix), the first wave-swept light.
-Galileo observes the planet Neptune for the first time when it is in conjunction with Jupiter, but mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed star because of its extremely slow motion along the ecliptic.
-Santorio Sanctorius puts the thermometer to medical use.
-Johannes Fabricius is the first to observe sunspots by telescope.
-Culture in Europe is now transitioning from the Renaissance to the Baroque, with significant new trends in art, literature, music and architecture.
-Lusoamericania is one of the biggest producers of sugar on earth, producing 57,000 tonnes of sugar a year from 400 mills.
-Tensions worsen with the War of the Jülich succession that occurs when the previous duke dies childless. His lands are split up.
-It is clear that the current Holy Roman Emperor will die without a heir, and his titles will pass to his staunch Catholic cousin. There are fears that if this happens, the Protestants will rise up in revolt.

Events of the years 1608 to 1612 - Players:

Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland

-King James Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.
-Edward Wightman, a radical Anabaptist, is the last person to be executed for heresy in England, by burning at the stake in Lichfield.
-Battle of Swally: Forces of the British East India Company and Portugal engage off the coast of India, resulting in a British victory.
-The Kingdom recognises the independence of a South-West Ireland and its king. There is still tension however, as planters continue to flow into the Pale and Northern Ireland.
-Bermuda is settled.

Liem - Canada

-The colonial governor decides to break off from the crown, but his mediocre leadership results in him not being taken seriously by anyone.
-He is demoted, but the colony still prospers, and adopts the name he suggested for it, adapted from a local Indian word “Kanata”.
-Explorers are sent out to explore, and good fur trapping opportunities are taken advantage of.
-With the peace now, tobacco planting, fishing, fur trapping and some manufacturing and farming takes place, helping the colonies to really start growing.

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MountainWatcher - Lusoamericania

-The new country is constantly touted as a place free from Spanish oppression, and slowly, the people within Lusoamericania come round to the idea that its better being under a Protestant who was Portuguese than a Catholic who was Spanish.
-20 men are sent to the French colony with pigs and a Spanish captive painted with the Spanish flag. The pigs are slaughtered and a small feast ensues with the eating of the pigs flesh. Rather than butcher the Spanish man, they merely beat him up. Butchering a human seems too barbaric for these people.
-The new country begins to request aid from the French, who help in the war against Spain.
-The navy attacks Cuban shipping, and tries to reinforce their position in central America.
-The Portuguese are unable to retake the forts, and eventually the Spanish manage to take every fort and town in central America by 1612.

Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal

-Twelve Years' Truce: The Netherlands and Spain agree to a 12-year ceasefire (1609–1621) in the Eighty Years' War.
-Spain recognizes Dutch independence.
-Due to the lack of money to continue wars, the hostility of French, Lusoamericania, the Netherlands and the possibility of revolts in Portugal, Spain is forced to sign a peace treaty with Lusoamericania.
-The treaty formally recognises the independence of the new kingdom.

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Canuhearme? - The Europa Trade Conglomerate

-The colony continues to expand the military, navy and armament industries, and by 1612, the colony abroad is being run much in the same manner as a coherent nation of some kind.
-Piracy ravages the Caribbean colonies, but the company manages to secure central America as they are able to easily defeat Portuguese reinforcements that arrive.
-Nonetheless, the motherland cannot afford such a costly war, and a peace treaty is eventually signed. The company however still keeps their lands they gained in the war.
-Agriculture and industry, with the war finally over, begins to kick off with the return of cheap and plentiful labour, perfect for helping in the fields.

Kingdom of France

-Francois Ravaillac assassinates Henry IV of France.
-The new king is reluctant to continue the war with Spain, and then manages to sign a slightly favourable peace treaty.

Ruskie - New France

-Little much happens minus investment into various industries, commerce and the navy. With the wars calming down up north, the number of pirates begins to decline once more.

Notes: The game is over.

List of players in terms of economic wealth

1. Ruskie
2. Canuhearme?
3. MountainWatcher
4. Liem

List of players in terms of military strength

1. Canuhearme?
2. Ruskie
3. MountainWatcher
4. Liem

List of players in terms of self-autonomy (or prestige)

1. MountainWatcher
2. Canuhearme?
3. Ruskie
4. Liem