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Enter CHORUS

O, for a muse of fire, that would ascend
the brightest heaven of invention;
This play is here, amuse yourself as you
see fit, don't expect a heaven of ascension,
for our humble folly, as it is written,
is plain and crude, no fair eloquence it has.
I beg your pardon, our words, our nonsence,
please read and comment, humble patience pray,
gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.

(in plain english: don't expect a story, just a disguised report of my mistreatement of Venice.
Neither expect a literary masterpiece; English is not my native tongue, and my mastery of English is very limited. I will never be able to achieve anything even vaguely remote of Shakespeares masterpieces.
And no, I will not manage to adhere to classical guidelines of unity of time and place. I simply cann't fit three hundred years within 24 hours. Neither will I try to match S. rythm or rhime.

Another word of warning: This campaign is not going very well, so it may find an untimely end.

Finally, I intended to run this game on Furious / very hard again, but I forgot to change the settings so its the same as the Mughla game: hard / agressive. No missions.)
 
Act 1, scene 1. A quay in Venice. 1492.
Dramatis personae.
Antonio and Salarino, merchants of Venice.

Antonio. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad :
it wearries me; you say it wearries you;
what stuff it is made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn.
Salarino. Your mind is tossing on the ocean,
There, where your argossies with portly sail,
like signiors, and riuch burghers on the flood,
or as it were, the pageants of the sea,
Do overpeer the pretty traffickers.
Speaking on which, look at this carriage,
it bears the arms of Hungaries king,
who signed a treaty to help us merchants,
against the might of Turkies high sultan,
whose hordes have just assailed Cairo's gates.
Antonio. Cairo's gates, you say? But then
my ships, my goods, my money, all are at risk!
Salarino Pray for your ships, but spare a few
for the brave soldiers, who soon march to death
our C. Borgia leads them south.
Antonio. You think it will be war?
Salarino. Sure, the orders were written this morning,
he shall regret he sent his armies south
to crush the Mamaluks in fair Cairo.
Behold! A fair princess rides the dirt' streets!
Antonio. I know her, the niece of Austria's king
Fair and jeweled, she seals a bond between
our states,a bond of respect and friendship,
she will marry our doge.
But I do not care of princesses fair,
when my ships and money are at risk!

Act 1, scene 2. A quay in Venice.
Dramatis personae.
Balthazar, Stephano: servants.
a messenger

Balthazar.
What tidings do you bring, do not refrain
your mouth from speaking, but tell the good news
that all may take heart and renew our trade
Cause ships do not belong in harbour, and
our navy does not sail.
messenger
Our armies have marched south to Kosovo,
Albania and Macedonia.
We are at their gates, but have not yet
stormed their walls.

Act 1, scene 3. A quay in Venice. 1493.
Two soldiers. A tent.
Soldier 1.
Our hated Borgia shows great shrewdness,
no battle has yet been fought, we just rot
in our tents.
Soldier 2.
Sieging this town we do not risk our lives,
this sitting suits me fine.
Soldier 1.
When I was sent as a scout to the Turk
I saw armies much larger than our own
They marched to and fro, east and west and
east again, but never attacked us.
Soldier 2.
Does the sultan have such large armies?
Soldier 1.
Oh yes, twice or thrice our size, I'm certain.
Thirty to sixty thousand men, I'm sure.
I was up in a tree along the road
and counted them man by man, row by row
as they marched below my tree, for two days
and nights they marched, but did not see old me.
Soldier 2.
Ahw, two days and nights in a tree, and not
a moment of sleep!
Soldier 1.
Two days and nights without sleep was a small
problem, but not being able to pee!

Act 1, scene 4. A quay in Venice. 1493.
Enter Antonio and Salarino, merchants of Venice.

Antonio. Peace at last, alls well that ends well
- except the Turks did not pay for my fleet,
which they sunk.
Salarino.
Yes, the Duke asked for Macedonia,
which the Sultan angrily refused
but then our Borgia controlled Hellas and Kosovo,
the king of Hungary took Bosnia,
and the Sultan offered us Hellas
and Kosovo,
Antonio.
which our Doge accepted with both his hands,
as the state treasury was as empty
as bottle of beer after a soldiers
party.
Salarino.
The Mameluk is still at war, fighting
valiantly, and regained his ground,
while the Turk was before Cairo's walls
when we declared war.
Antonio.
Well, as peace always lasts five year at least,
I can safely equip a new fleet!
 
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HURRAY!
A new one by CP. This looks cool I am looking forward to it:D
 
Very original style. Keep it up!:cool:
 
Act 2, scene 1. A quay in Venice. 1494.
Dramatis personae.
Balthazar, Stephano: servants.
Balthazar. Look at that guy! He wears a gold chain
that hangs about his neck.
Stephano. He collects the tax, and all the merchants
complain, for they bring in the wealth upon
which our city thrives, which he takes for our
Doge.
Balthazar.
This doge will ruin our beloved Venice,
taking money, and giving none but war.
Look at these guys! They ride by, richly
dressed, as princes of Modena or Milan.
Stephano.
Well guessed, my friend, they are princes indeed
of Modena and Milan, with their brides,
newly wed.
Balthazar.
And what does your boss say of these metal
cannonballs, the newest toy of our generals?
Stephano.
He says not, he is a merchant, like yours.
He prefers the trade above the war, and
above these marriage parties.
Balthazar.
And then the trade to our west is closed,
now Helvetia besieges Milan.
Stephano.
Don't worry, I just heard, Navarra has
taken control of Milan, their prince won
the gate.
Balthazar.
And in the holy land, war still rages,
with the Turk devouring the Mamaluk.
He drove him back to Cairo's gates again.

Act 2, scene 2. A quay in Venice. 1494.
Dramatis personae.
Antonio and Salarino, merchants of Venice.

Antonio.
It makes me feel proud again, this fair fleet
sailing out of harbor as majestic
swans swim through our canals.
Salarino
It is not wise to let them sail in times
of troubles, with messages of war racing
south to the sultan.
Antonio.
Messages of war? Don't tell me so!
Salarino
Yes, our doge made an alliance with our
Egyptian friends, and once more our army
marches south to honor and glory.
Antonio.
But my fleet! My ships! My cargo! My cargo!
Salarino
It will be lost, I fear. But we have new
allies, tiny Moldovia.

Act 2, scene 3. A tent in the field. 1495.
Dramatis personae.
Two soldiers.
Soldier 1.
Count your limbs, my friend.
Soldier 2.
Why?
Soldier 1.
You may have forgotten to pick one up
when we lost that battle.
Soldier 2.
One, two, three, say, how many should I have?
Soldier 1.
How many? All of them! How should I know
how many limbs your mother gave you
at birth?
Soldier 2.
One, two, three, uhm, uhm, what came after three?
Soldier 1.
What? You're not gonna tell me that you can't
count to three?
Soldier 2.
Of course not. I can count to three: one, two,
three. But what came after three?
Soldier 1.
Come, pack our tent. We must march back.
Soldier 2.
March back?
Soldier 1.
Yes, to Thrace. The Hungar holds Serbia,
we hold Macedon, and though
tiny Moldova is nearly crushed
we can still save our skin by marching back
directly to Thrace itself.
Soldier 2.
Save our skin? Don't be fooled by witt talk
of officers who lead us from behind.

Act 2, scene 4. A quay in Venice. 1494.
Dramatis personae.
Antonio and Salarino, merchants of Venice.
Salarino
Our duke did it again: defeat the Turk,
save the Mameluk, gain Macedon for
us, Serbia for Hungary.
Antonio
I know now why I feel so said: my ships
got lost again. No ships for me no more.
I lent money from the banks, and I will
trade over land, with Milan and its new owner
safe and peaceful Navarra.

ooc:
No Shakespeare experts among the readers?
I had expected some protests by now.

Update scheme:
Scotland: thursday
Mughals: monday, thursday
Venice: irregular

Bocaj, u'r ->, I like experimenting with styles and formats.
Are u in Bavaria/Germany? If so, your english is exceptional for your age.
 
Originally posted by CitizenPaul
Bocaj, u'r ->, I like experimenting with styles and formats.
Are u in Bavaria/Germany? If so, your english is exceptional for your age. [/B]
Click to expand...

I didn't think that Germany was in the World Cup for cricket.;)

The Netherlands is though, maybe you should pay more attention.:D :D :D

You can't beat a good game of cricket.;)

Thanks for complementing on my English, however my German isn't very good.;) (ie I don't know more than say 10 words in German.):p
 
inventive. again. i have to hand it to you.

if i was a shakespeare expert i would venture that a play, properly is 5 acts long.

but of course, shakespeare did sequels and prequels, so i think you can get around the literary conceit and make it work for however long this AAR lasts.
 
Originally posted by saskganesh

a) inventive. again. i have to hand it to you.

b) if i was a shakespeare expert i would venture that a play, properly is 5 acts long.
Click to expand...

a) Thank you. I had forgotten to search the history of this forum to check of someone had done this be4.

b) All shakespeares plays seem to have had 5 acts, so I think I can at least promise you this play will have 5 acts. :)

(And of course, any play with 6 or more acts also has 5 acts :D )
 
I didn't think that Germany was in the World Cup for cricket.

The Netherlands is though, maybe you should pay more attention.
Click to expand...
Cricket, is that something I can eat?:D :p
 

Leck mich am Arsch! Ich bin einer Amerikanischer und stolz davon!
Click to expand...
Aber dein Deutsch ist sehr gut!
 
Oh no! Now I'm going to have to learn Dutch;) !
 
no, German!
 
Originally posted by CitizenPaul
no, German!
Click to expand...

Well, you said Deustch and I just figured..... oh never mind....
 
Well, you said Deustch and I just figured..... oh never mind....
Click to expand...
Yeah, its pretty confusing, I know.
Dutch=language in the Netherlands, which country is sometimes incorretly named Holland. The Dutch (people in the Netherlands) call their own language Nederlands.

The Germans call their own language Deutch. Just to keep it simple.

In an effort to further keep things as simple, we have created a very democratic situation in the Netherlands. For example, our capitol is Amsterdam. But the government is situated in the Hague, which is mostly called 's-Gravenhage, but which is also called Den Haag. Most Dutch believe 's-Gravenhage is the formal name, but this seems to have changed to den Haag. Of course neither den Haag nor Amsterdam is the largest city of the country, this title seems to have been taken by Rotterdam. And though the queen now lives in the Hague, the former queen lived near a small town called Soest. Simply, isn't?
 
Originally posted by CitizenPaul
Yeah, its pretty confusing, I know.
Dutch=language in the Netherlands, which country is sometimes incorretly named Holland. The Dutch (people in the Netherlands) call their own language Nederlands.

The Germans call their own language Deutch. Just to keep it simple.

In an effort to further keep things as simple, we have created a very democratic situation in the Netherlands. For example, our capitol is Amsterdam. But the government is situated in the Hague, which is mostly called 's-Gravenhage, but which is also called Den Haag. Most Dutch believe 's-Gravenhage is the formal name, but this seems to have changed to den Haag. Of course neither den Haag nor Amsterdam is the largest city of the country, this title seems to have been taken by Rotterdam. And though the queen now lives in the Hague, the former queen lived near a small town called Soest. Simply, isn't?
Click to expand...

I never knew all that crap (In the best way possible;) ). You did a good job explaning that "simple:p " democratic system. Anyway the only screwed thing in NZ is that the capital is Wellington (pop: 350,000) and second largest city, while Auckland is more like Rotterdam at (pop: 1.2 million.) I think they moved the capital 100 years ago because Wellington is closer to the middle of the nation.
 
Venice1496.jpg


The image above shows the Balkan at the end of the 2nd Turkish war, just a few months before the capture of Thrace.

Soon after the fall of Thrace I demanded peace in return for Macedon for myself and Serbia for Hungary.
 
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Nice.:)
 
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