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Interesting! Although I highly doubt it would be possible, I can't help but think about what would happen should an heir apparent (by some terrible luck) continually fail the test given to them by the high-ranking members of the Islamic and Catholic faiths by the time they are supposed to take the throne. Would the religions see this as a sign from their respective gods that the heir apparent is not worthy? Anyway, this is a nice post, Andrew.
Thanks Fel, I appreciate the feedback! And that is actually a very good question. Believe it or not, but i was actually working on something to answer this same question in my history.
As of now, you know that Andrés is Sultan. But in his revised story, he originally was 3rd in line. His oldest brother and originally crown prince, Amneal (whom he named his eldest son after in honor of his brother), passed away in a plane crash in the Sea of Japan and since he produced no heirs, the Crown Prince title moved to Andrés's next older brother, Omar.
Omar however...was a lost hope when it came to ruling. He was referred to as the "Playboy Prince" who enjoyed the luxury and wealth of being a prince, but always blew off his responsibilities. Constantly partying, causing trouble and producing plenty of illegitimate children, he became a stain on the House of Mamara. This was going to be the example to answer your question.
Sultan Abdullah (Andrés's father), wished to retire and tried desperately to get Omar prepared for coronation, but he continued to fail his religious tests and was utterly hopeless, to the point where he was forcibly removed from the line of succession in the mid 1980s, but Andrés (at the time) could not be made Crown Prince, as he was exiled to Wagondia for assaulting Turner. So this left a period of time for several years were there was no Crown prince, until Andrés eventually returned and with both a stellar ISI career and a full legitimate family, he immediately became the contender to become Crown Prince.
So...sorry I got a bit off topic, but basically if said heir fails the test constantly, than they will continue to attempt it and receive religious training until they either pass it or are removed from the line of succession (as what occurred with Omar).
Quite interesting! I was somewhat curious as to how religion worked, since Italy (home of the Pope and seat of the Roman Catholic Church) and Mecca are both within your empire, and it has a very Middle Eastern bent, generally speaking. And of course, Constantinople, the seat of the Orthodox Church.
Very illuminating! Good work!
That is some fascinating lore right there, Andrew! It may be because I missed a post or two, but I didn't know Andres was exiled for assaulting Turner. I guess I learn something new every day.
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Thank you very much Cybus! And on the terms of how religion works within the Mamaran Empire, centuries ago, during the original formation of the Mamaran Empire...there was a great deal of conflict between Christians and Muslim based believers. To keep it simple, it was a series of bloody civil conflicts back in the mid 15th-early/mid 16th centuries, attempting to prove religious superiority, but what ironically brought all these warring groups together, was actually war itself! When the Orsonians pushed further into China and began slaughtering and enslaving the Muslim population within the region, they posed not only as a threat to the Mamaran Empire, but to Muslims in general, so the Mamaran Empire actually unified to deal with the anti-religious Orsonian threat to protect the opposed Muslims in Northern China, thus starting the 1st Mamaran-Orson War. But nowadays, the religious factions within the Mamaran Empire are actually much more civilized and accepting of each other, after centuries of fighting alongside each other in wars and conflicts. So as ironic as it may sound; Orson was the reason why the Mamaran Empire united further and helped us come as far as we have without falling into a constant array of religious civil conflict.
Again sorry, not trying to get off topic with further lore, but a lot of it is actually connected going through our history.
Thank you once again very much Fel! I truly appreciate it! And that was actually something we posted some months ago, but when I came back and began revising Andres's story, following the end of the Kashmir War (Andres was a young ISI agent at the time), we discovered the existence of the Imperial Brotherhood, who organized and backed a terrorist/insurgent force within the Kashmir region to cause havoc, so from 1974/5-1979, Andres continued to serve in the ISI as a field agent, hunting down and neutralizing Imperial Brotherhood members. And in 1979, he and his team encountered Turner (though they were not completely aware of the monster we was at the time) and kidnapped and tortured him, which lead to Turner going into a rage state, slaughtering Andres's team and nearly killing him.
Then from 1980-1981, Andres underwent secret Cybusian medical treatment, where he received his Cybusian enhancements as well as months of training with them. And then in 1981, upon being medically cleared, he returned, hoping to go back to the ISI immediately, but was recalled to Constantinople by his father to attend a State Visit (due to Omar ducking his responsibilities, so Andres had to attend)...and said foreign visitor was none other than Turner Jackson, who in turn continued to goad Andres into violence as an excuse to kill him and "tie up loose ends", since no one but Andres really knew of Turner's brotherhood affiliations. Angered by Turner's mind games, Andres predictably threw the first punch, which gave Turner right to "defend himself", but much to Turner's surprise, Andres had his enhancements and was able to go toe to toe with a full raging Turner now, and by the end of the fight, Turner's rage state wore off and he became highly vulnerable, which Andres took advantage off and severely wounded him and was just about to kill him, when he was heavily tranquilized from behind by the Janissary Guard.
As a result of this mess, what should have been grounds for an act of war...was actually kept relatively quiet. Turner remained silent to once again, keep his brotherhood origins a secret and Sultan Abdullah swept it under the rug keeping the event out of the public. Though as a cover punishment, Andres was exiled to Wagondia for his brash and unruly behavior, but on official paper work it was seen as a "reward" as he was promoted to Major in the ISI and appointed to the Mamaran Embassy in Wagondia as the Intelligence Attache. This was to help make sure the public thought his sudden move to Wagondia was that of a prominent promotion/appointment, but in reality it served as Andres's de facto exile from 1981-1985.
Excellent work on all posts, Novo, Andrew and Fel! Novo's Olympic updates are excellent as usual. Your advertisements and products add a lot of flavor both to Taiwan and the Olympics Fel, while Andrew's posts actually answers a big question I had about religion in the Mamaran Empire. It seems like the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, and the Islamic faith have managed to work out their differences under the Mamaran Empire while Christians and Muslims can live side-by-side in peace, but as Andrew alluded to, it certainly wasn't always the case. The civil wars between adherents of the two faiths could have utterly broken the Empire.
The threat of Orson would have been a great reason to put aside their differences and unite. The Orsonians at the time were hardcore about stamping out religion wherever they saw it. As I've mentioned before, the highly infamous red raiders were responsible for enforcing anti-religious laws. They were known for looting and burning temples, tearing down statues and idols, torturing and slaughtering priests, selling people into slavery, etc. Almost all of the great Buddhist temples that exist in the real world across India and Indonesia don't exist in the EOA-verse because the Orsonians destroyed them. For example, the Sri Ranganathaswamy Buddhist Temple in India, one of the largest religious complexes in RL, was torn down brick-by-brick by thousands of Tamil slaves, while the priests were forced to watch. Red raiders mocked Christians by crucifying them, and insult Muslims by forcing them to eat pork before stoning them to death.
Such stories would undoubtedly become horrifying tales told as far away as Europe, where Christians and Muslims alike were infuriated. The red raiders would seem like demons, while the Orsonian Emperor would be likened to the anti-christ.
Overseas Monitoring Site 9
Agent Gen continued to pound at Sultan Andres relentlessly, watching as chips of the AECS flew off and impacted the surrounding mineshaft walls. The IMR Shield would only help so much, and both Inquisitors could tell from a simple scan of the Sultan's body that he couldn't last much longer. The impact of the helicopter on the AECS was immense, heavily damaging the already elderly body of Andres, while this fight only took a heavier toll as Gen heard the crack of bones. Even his Cybusian cybernetic enhancements might not be enough in a close fight. After he saw his daughter be abducted, Andres's anger took over and he struck back. Gen was unable to react in time as the Sultan grabbed him, smashed him down onto his shield several times, and then used the suit's impact recoil ability to throw Garm several dozen meters away into a tree. Gen was stunned for several minutes as his grievous injuries rapidly healed themselves, before rising away from the fallen tree and gaining his bearings. He reached to take his last vial of methamphetamine, desperately hoping the drug would give him the boost needed to finally finish the job, but to no avail- the syringe was gone. Gen panicked for a bit and began scanning the area, before an immense, ear-piercing roar shook the entire forest. He immediately connected the dots as he saw the Sultan sprinting on all fours right behind Garm, resembling a tiger chasing its prey. Gen took off after both of them, hoping to stop the Sultan before it was too late.
Agent Garm had also heard the roar, and rapidly picked up speed as the Sultan pursued her. She hopped down and began galloping on all fours, Amira remaining tightly attached to her chest. The forest and hills passed by like a blur as Garm galloped at over 110 MPH, expertly navigating between any obstacle in her way, but it was not enough. Andres continued to gain, and would soon be on top of her. The chase continued for several kilometers, before Garm finally was left with no choice but to act. With the Sultan just a few meters behind her legs, Garm turned around and threw Amira in the direction of him. Garm hoped that this would throw the Andres off, forcing him to divert away to avoid ramming straight into the Princess and killing her.
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A dataDyne research station located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and controlled by the Formosan Republic's first true artificial intelligence unit, known as "Father". Their names are based on the concept of the Holy Trinity from the Christian faith and Bible, with Father figuratively being God and the supreme leader of the facility, though its systems were capable of being tampered with via the facility's Datacore. The Trinity's outer infrastructure is a platform divided into three sections, two of which hosts the main facility submerged underneath the base and the last being a dock, with a tall rocket assembly hangar/launch pad being located in the center of all three. Two large cargo elevators, one from each main section of the facility, lead up to the platform's upper levels and connect to the rocket assembly hangar/launch pad to allow maintenance and construction workers to perform their tasks whenever and wherever needed for eventual rocket launches. The docking bay houses patrol boats and is separated by a bridge leading to the rest of the facility, located just behind an observatory which overlooks the rest of the platform. The two primary sections that harbor the main facility have two towers, one on each section, where a small portion of the facility's security force constantly monitor their surroundings for potential threats (using ranged weapons, such as sniper rifles, for dealing with intruders). The two towers are located between two separate hubs housing elevators leading down to the main facility, which are the only methods of reaching topside from within the heart of the platform.
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Throughout the facility, the hallways are constantly patrolled by security guards that often train by performing military drills in the Submersible Hangar. Most of these forces are equipped with the dataDyne-produced Compact Machine Pistol 150 (CMP-150), however elite units are instead equipped with the "Laptop Gun" produced by Kangxi Armaments (a foldable machine gun; the Assault Rifle counterpart to the original Carrington Institute design, which is a submachine gun). Additionally, scientists at the station are given specialized dermal spray injectors for sedative drugs that can be used to tranquilize intruders (the drugs of which are potent enough to kill should a full dosage be used on a target at once). Meanwhile, various alarms and cameras are placed all throughout the facility's labs, observation rooms, and hallways so security can tightly monitor the facility for intruders and any possible accidents that may need to be addressed.
Overseas Monitoring Site 9, Bahia
As the effect of the rage-inducing stimulant started to visibly wear, cracks were appearing in the inquisitor's desperate defense. Two agents had been downed within seconds of each other, finally succumbing to the overwhelming firepower of the joint Wagain-Mamaran barrage. The remaining survivors were now attempting a last-minute getaway, and, judging by the furious pursuit of the Sultan, they weren't leaving anyone behind. DGSI tactical teams and Boinas Negras were now swarming around the compound, clearing every room and checking for any additional hostages. Not far away, Captain Marte had witnessed the Sultan take off at unbelievable speed, his exoskeleton smashing through trees indiscriminately. He must have been in immense pain, gravely injured by the initial crash and the following fist-fight. Only a father would be able to push through his agony and press forward under such conditions.
Marte knew the Sultan was in danger, rapidly outpacing his supporting janissaries and the range of their plasma rifles. It would only be a matter of moments before he ran into the secondary perimeter, bristling with DGSI support units, but Marte had seen what a cornered Orsonian was capable of. With little hesitation, he flagged down and nearby BearCat and ordered it to follow the heat signatures Horus was feeding them in real time. Marte clung to the outside of the vehicle, struggling to breathe through the noxious fumes of the helicopter crash, which had now escalated into a full-on forest fire. In between heaving coughs, he radioed in the coordinates of the remaining inquisitors, and ordered all units to converge on their position immediately.
(OOC: Sorry just a little for the record comment. After you guys pointed something out to me during my religion lore post and it actually made me decide to make a few small changes to it.
1. Due to the Byzantines actually historically being Eastern Orthodoxy rather than Catholic (due to wanting to branch away from Western Rome), I have decided to change Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox. So now the Mamaran Royal Family is actually apart of the Islamic and Eastern Orthodoxy faiths, rather than the Catholic.
2. Playing off this change, comes another. Upon my research, the East Orthodoxy church (or at least the Byzantine version) is historically Greek and not Latin, so now the Mamaran Royals will be taught fluent Arabic and Greek, rather than Latin at a young age and Greek would also become a majorly spoken language throughout the Empire as a whole, due to this.
3. While not necessarily a change, it was an interesting fact I found! Turns out ironically...I now have a Canon reason as to why Andrés was named Andrés (and not just cause it's my name lol). Turns out in the East Orthodoxy Chruch, Saint Andrew the Apostle is actually a major Saint within that portion of the Mamaran Empiee AND the apostolic successor to Saint Andrew is actually the Patriarch of Constantinople. (So I can add this RL fact to my lore). So I can say that in honor of the Eastern Orthodoxy Chruch and the House of Mamara, Andrés was named after Saint Andrew himself. So this could give Andrés a bit more meaning behind his name, giving him a joint Greek-Arabic full name that makes sense!
So once again, thank you all for the input! Helped me figure this little part out.)
I agree that Greek is a much more fitting language than Latin, and fits well with how I imagine the cultural identity of the Mamaran Empire. As you've correctly mentioned, Greek was the predominant language in the Eastern Mediterranean (everything from Anatolia to the Nile Delta) for millenia, and a key scholarly and administrative language throughout the Middle East and Europe. It fits the persona of the Mamaran Empire well, straddling the line between east and west perfectly.
I certainly agree with you as well. The more read into it, the more it seems as though Greek serves as a much more sensible and practical language, especially with the Canon history that I've established. As you pointed out yourself, the Greek language served as the predominant language in the East Mediterranean region and was also in uses in official capacities in Europe and the Middle East.
And one thing I always thought about the Mamaran Empire is it being a true representative of East and West being unified while being diverse, so I agree that it definitely helps fit the Mamaran culture quite well.
Overseas Monitoring Site 9 (several kilometers away from compound):
Sultan Andrés was now in primal predator mode. Between his fury fueled adrenaline and the Orsonian drugs running through his body, he had become a raging beast in his own right. Despite his grizzly wounds and the immense crippling pain that burnt through his battered and bloodied body, he was on a war path and absolutely nothing could stop him. The burning trees and brush he decimated that were in his way were evident of this as he shot swiftly out of the raging inferno that had engulfed the forest, as embers and chunks of burning debris flew off his body, painting him like a beast charging straight out of the pits of hell itself.
As he continued to run on all fours, his prey came into his sights and despite her best attempts at fleeing, he continued to grow closer and closer, with each meter he closed in, his mouth let out near animalistic like snarls as the purple veined father turned beast was closing in on the kill, completely ignoring everything else around him as he continued charging and had murderous intentions in his drug fueled purplish eyes.
This was apparent to Agent Garm, as she knew Andrés was growing closer by the second and in a last ditch effort to slow him down, immediately tossed his beloved daughter straight into his direction, attempting to force him to either dodge or change directions at the last second, thinking that this would kill Amira if they collided.
Upon seeing her thrown at him, Andrés's instincts kicked in as he side stepped, but soon realized that it was Amira! The Sultan immediately averted his attention to the airborne Amira and despite having side stepped, Andrés at the last moment, attempted to slow himself down and reach outwards, hoping to safely catch Amira while in midair and hopefully cushion her impact....
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Air Assault Transport Teams:
Scavengers 2 and 3 were in complete disbelief at what was occurring. From a stealth helicopter being brought down with ease and then being shot through the forest to the once lush Bahia forest now being set ablaze in a raging forest fire to seeing two beings moving at inhumane speeds across the land in chase of each other heading straight for the DGSI second line, was certainly something these soldiers did not expect at all when being assigned to this mission.
Despite all this, the Janissary Commanders; Cpt Sulieman and SSGT. Lanzeral, attempted their best to keep everyone focused on the ongoing mission. DGSI tactical and Boinas Negras teams had arrived and swarmed across the compound, searching the premises for any additional threats or hostages, while the two Janissary teams remained airborne, to provide overwatch and air support for the forces down below.
However, while in the air, the Scavenger Units immediately heard the radio come to life with the sound of Captain Marte's heavily smoke filled and coughing voice, most certainly due to the toxic fumes filling the area. His orders were for all units to converge on the remaining Inquisitors and provide support.
Upon receiving Captain Marte's gruff sounding orders, Captain Sulieman (Scav. 2) ordered for Scavenger 3 to respond and head to the provided coordinates to provide as much aerial support for the rest of the converging ground units as possible, while Scavenger 2 will remain over the compound for the time being to continue watching over the troops still inside the compound. With the orders received, Scavenger 3 acknowledged and immediately began flying in pursuit of the remaining Inquisitors, while continuing to maintain a safe aerial elevated distance.
Soooo this might sound a bit random...but umm...i came outside my house (around 12ish?) And umm...there are 3 random loose horses just walking around my street lol
Do you know anyone that lives near you that own(s) horses? If so, I'd call them to ask about the situation to make sure that they're not missing any, but if not...well, you could always call the local police department and report horses on the loose in the neighborhood (assuming that they can actually do anything about it).
Well there are a few places near my neighborhood that do have horses, but out of the 15+ years i've lived here, we never really talked to them, so i don't have their info to contact them.
So i actually did your 2nd idea. I called my town's non-emergency police line and reported it. They sent someone down but not really sure there is much that they can do. But apparently the officer said that this happens more times than most people would think, so i can only assume the have some procedures handling this sort of thing lol.
Wow, it must be interesting for horses on the loose being a common occurrence. I mean, yeah, I'd probably stop caring about seeing them after a while (unless I am affected by them being there for whatever reason), but it'd still be rather interesting nonetheless.
Definitely man. I've seen a couple instances of this before, but this was Definitely a unique one cause it was so random. But I will say, the officer told me apparently he had a run away bull in town before so I knew he saw a thing or too.
But one of the most strangest yet well known down in the Houston area is about the pet tiger that got loose. Apparently a exotic pet owner died (not by the tiger) and some how, his tiger got loose and began roaming the streets of Houston for hours. Thank God it was actually docile and didn't attack anyone, but still, can you imagine walking down the street and seeing a damn tiger of all things just prowling around?
I've seen a peacock wandering about a few years ago, I did find out who owned it even though I never talked to them. A small farm nearby the apartments I lived at had it, I guess it was a herding animal since peacocks are pretty good at intimidating other animals and that it decided to have a look at the immediate vicinity of the farm (the apartments I lived at were RIGHT NEXT to this small farm) before returning on it's own.
I am thinking some Greek influence did make it's way to the Confederation throughout the centuries of trade between the earlier Mali Empire and the Marmaran Empire. This leading to us to sometimes draw from Greek mythology when naming things, such as the Icarus Missile and well Operation: Icarus. (Icarus was particularly fitting for the missile to shoot down aircraft & projetiles and the operation to finally turn around the war against the Orsonians in WW3 as they flew too close to the sun.)
In a similar vein, Orson actually has some Roman influence. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Orsonian rulers and nobility went through a phase where they were obsessed with the history of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and as a result adopted alot of European terminology. For example, a direct equivalent of the word "Emperor" does not exist in the Standard Dialect. The closest English translation for the Orsonian Monarch's title is "Supreme Ruler" or "Supreme Lord", while the name for the Orson Empire itself translates as "Land of Orsonians". Emperor was adopted as the monarch's title due to this foreign influence.
Wait really? Dang man I didn't know that about Peacocks. When I was back in Florida, when we visited the country side, we saw Peacocks, but I didn't know they were good at finding their ways back home or hearding other animals? I bet that must've been pretty crazy just seeing that bird running about lol.
That is definitely very possible and quite interesting Oceara! Between both our historical close relations and very close geographical locations to each other, it is quite possible that our Greek traditions/cultures could have easily found their ways to the earlier Mali Empire from the Mamaran Empire. On top of that, with the Mamaran Empire serving as the Bridgeway between 3 continents, it's very interesting to think of how many different cultural influences found their ways to other nations during the earlier years. (And Operation Icarus actually sounds like a very interesting operation against the Orsonians! It is quite ironic as you said, they "flew too close to the sun" as it would eventually lead to their downfall in the war).
That is incredible to hear Orson! I certainly didn't know that the older Orsonian Empire had taken to adopting more Roman/European styled traditions back then. But I suppose it does make sense, as we discussed awhile ago about the Orsonians being a species of dominance and the Roman Empire itself (both IRL and I can only assume EOA as well) were the epitome of Imperial dominance, having ruled a massive Empire spanning multiple continents, lasting for centuries and quite possibly setting the tone for the modernization of military and civilization as we know it today. So I can definitely see the Orsonians adopting some Roman/European traditions and styles. Quite fascinating!
It's mostly guesswork. I didn't see anyone come to bring it back home, and I did see it hanging around the gate of that farm a little later, almost like it was guarding it. I do know that part of the way peacocks use their feathers is to intimidate animals that it feels threatened by because it makes it look bigger than it actually is so I figured that it was probably being used to keep chickens or something inside or otherwise alert nearby chickens to danger.
Well it definitely sounds like a strong assumption, one that I can certainly believe. Peacocks back in Florida were usually at historic sites (like plantations and forts) were pretty peaceful around humans but pretty territorial around other animals, so I can definitely see them being used as defense birds for farm life.
The land next to my job has deer to eat the grass, but they were always being attacked by coyotes, so the land owners bought zebra and wildebeest to fight and scare off the coyotes. Really was weird seeing them.
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