Daimiaena

[Daimiaen]

Shifting ever more into a militaristic police state the people of Daimiaena are slowly being crushed underfoot by their despotic ruler Daimiaen II......
Fortunately there are those that uphold the traditional values of Daimiaena....Who remember a time before the insane dictator took over from his father.... Daimiien I....A man much more merciful and just to his peoples.....

In a dank cellar on the outskirts of the capital there is fearful silence passing through those gathered as they realise the implications of what they are hearing.....
"This is insane!" Aluron declared..."Think what you're suggesting..."
Several of those gathered murmered agreement with Aluron.....Telok could see that now...maybe she had suggested too much ...revealed too much of her and her team's plans...Too late to start worrying now....The main parts of the general plan were already happening...As far as Telok was concerned this meeting was just a formality now....She knew beforehand that Aluron would attempt to sabotage any real progress....That was his problem no real urge to change...just the same empty rhetoric of dislike for the current government and their crazy leader......
She glanced around the room....noting that those in agreement with Aluron were those who always complained the most but wanted to do the least to make a difference....Her eyes pleaded with Guraff....Surely he understood what she was trying to acheive.....
Unsurprisingly Guraff sat quietly...His face an unreadable wall ...Then for the first time this meeting he rose....Again silence descended on the gathered folks.....

"Aluron....you make your point well...But isn't insanity the only sane reaction to the insane world in which we find ourselves"
Telok breathed a sigh of releif...Garuff was onboard...The rest of the plan would go well....

Posted on: 11 January 2007, 14:03:48Walks in the moon ducked low......so far he'd followed the hunt of the crazies nearly a half day walking.....They had followed the track from the edge of the world the other crazies had made then cut off towards the encampment of the five jaguars.....He knew the elders would be mad at him....but the crazies fascinated him living in their fixed settlements with their crazy lives.....he often found himself wondering what it must be like to live in one of their huge shining boxes.....his father had told him there were more crazies in each of the boxes than in their whole tribe.....So he was never surprised to find groups of crazies wandering through the world......they obviously appreciated the wildness of the jungle.....why then had they cut back the edge of the worl;d around their settlements.......

He knew they could not see him for he was a natural and could blend in with the world in a way they could not......but he preferred caution.....the elders stories of the crazies panicking and killing naturals whenever they caught them still haunted him from childhood......
This pack carried the usual fire sticks and the little boxes that snared the world into pictures.....and they moved through the world in the usual state of confusion and fear......he could smell them now as they passed close enough to him that he could reach out a hand to touch them......he resisted the temptation and they continued on towards the river of dreams.....knowing they had passed the settlement of the five jaguars safely he relaxed and decided to return home.....

As he lay in his hammock that night he found himself thinknig about the crazies yet again.....old teeth of knives the tribes shaman had told the tribe that the crazies where readying themselves for the biggest hunt ever and they would be hunting the other crazies who lived in the settlements towards the sea.....how could they hunt other people.....even if they were crazy.....

Naturals only harmed other naturals over trade disputes and then only one on one.....a mass hunt.....that just didn't make sense.....

[Daimiaen]

The corridors of power in the capital were buzzing with activity......."As you can see from our projections of expected resistance to the new tax laws.....we will need at least another three million in our budget to cover crowd control costs....." The head of internal security returned to his seat.......the cabinet all looked at Daimiaen II in expectation....His descision was final in all matters financial....."So what you are telling me Colonel Artud....is that you can't do your job with the tools you have....." Colonel Artud shifted uncomfortably...and began to noticeabley sweat......"I have increased your budget five fold since I took over from my father and yet you are still ineffective against those who would bring me and my cabinet down....." The rest of the ministers relaxed and breathed a collective sigh of relief.....

General Otho stood up.....he was a military commander of the old school.....he didn't care who ran things as long as they kept their noses out of his army business...something that Daimiaen II knew not to do......"With all due respect Colonel.....I cannot see how an increase to your bank account will help to close down the northeners.....what we need is a decisive strike on the two main northern cities to remind them where their loyalties lie....." He snorted quietly before sitting baclk down.....

That was it then thought Artud.....Otho will get his war....Daimiaen II always sided with that big psycho......and he would be left to police the mess that was left......If he couold hold onto his job......He had one last hope...."As you have insisted repeatedly that this strike into the north should occur can you explain how exactly you will accomplish sending troops there......without full air transport....."

The Air marshall gulped......Realising he was next in the firing line he quickly spoke up....."I have to agree with Artud here.....if the ground transport initiative had been put in place there would be sufficient roads through the jungle for the mass transport of thousands of troops...but as it is we only have enough transport planes and helicopters to move a few hundred trrops at a time.....hardly sufficient for the type of operation the General is suggesting....."

"My retard of a father left me in this mess....giving too much autonomy to the nortern cities.....never building roads through his 'sacred' jungles......to protect the 'integrity' of those damned savages.....Now I have to do something to drag this catastrophe of a country into this century......" Daimiaen II spat out the words as he spoke.....visibly colouring......

"Therefore my answer is this......Internal security will not get the increase to their budget until they have proven their worth......my dear General will start making plans for a full invasion of the north.....but most important of all...I want roads built from every southern city to every other southern city....screw the damn tribals....if they interfere wipe them out......and then a road north into the heart of that treacherous nest of vipers.....I want this done now!!!!"

[Daimiaen]

The village of the Black tree people were woken by the bizarre sight of various animals charging through the clearing.......Afraid of water ran to the chief's lodge.....she knew this was not normal and as the first hunter she would be needed to deal with whatever this was.....When she arrived at the lodge their were several people there already....chief Bright cloud and her family.....Dark back....the Shamen.....and Sidewalker the hunter she had left on night patrol.....Sidewalker looked exhausted and terrified.....they all looked scared.....they had dealt with the savages of the Cliff edge people rampaging through the settlement and even the odd crazy wandering lost into their territory.....but this....this was new....

"It started as the sun came up...." Sidewalker was gasping..... "there was a sound like thunder coming through the ground......then the smaller faster animals were racing towards me.....then the wild pigs and then the jaguars.....they ignored me as they ran past into the clearing....I couldn't stop them....I tried....but only manged to wound a few...."
Afraid of water put her hand on Sidewalker's shoulder....."Don't worry...they haven't attacked anyone.....they just seem to be stampeding....but from what???"
"I don't know.....I should have stayed to find out...but I just ran to the village to protect our people....." Sidewalker collapsed in sobs.....
Bright cloud shook her head...."Sidewinder....you need to go to your hammock and rest.....Afraid of water you must gather the rest of the hunters....I fear this may be the work of the Cliff edge people....."

As more of the tribe gathered at the door to the lodge.....The imposing figure of Dark figure rose up...."There is more to this than the Cliff edge people.....much more....even with my powers I could not stampede all the animals of the world in this way.....I fear there is much danger heading our way.....We should move the settlement immediately.....I suggest moving to the lands of the Crying crows.....If we unite with them we may be able to hold back the danger that comes......"

"Then let it be......"Bright cloud ordered..."Afraid of water....gather the hunters together to form a rear guard as we travel west......the rest of the tribe must gather all our lodges and begin the move right now......"

For the next hour the settlement was a blur of activity......As lodges and their contents were packed up and thrown onto carts.....Afraid of water and the other hunters assembled to the east of the village.....The number of animals had dwindled to almost nothing....the silence to the east was frightening and unusual....no birdsong.....no animal calls...nothing.....

Afraid of water looked out into the world before her....she tried to quell the shaking in her breast......she knew as first hunter the protection of the tribe depended on her inner strength and tactical know how as much as her physical prowess and shooting skills....."Laughing child....You are the fastest hunter we have....I want you to run to the edge of the world or at least as far as the cause of this insanity amongst the animals.....be invisible be silent and be swift....find the cause and return as fast as I know you can....."

Almost before she had finished speaking Laughing child had vanished through the trees.....she raced through the undergrowth on the hunting paths eastwards....

[Daimiaen]

The state channel had been interrupeted from it's usual patriotic propaganda to broadcast the news of the new "Great Southern road plan" being initiated by "our glorious leader" Daimiaen II......The people of Nodrunn and Kandall pretty much ignored it being so far north they would be mostly unaffected by the roadbuilding along the southern coasts linking the cities of Daimiaena.....Detoo.....Surronn and Phelor.....But in Elspeth sheltering under the mountain ranges of the north Telok watched with growing horror....What of the tribal lands held forever sacred by Daimiaen I....what of the ecology of the rainforests along the route...didn't the southerners realise the disaster they were manufacturing for the whole country???

She also knew that this was just the start....that Daimiaen II was sure to try to build roads connecting to the northern cities as well....Suddenly she realised with a deep sense of foreboding what it meant for her and for the northern cities....Daimiaen II and his Psycho generals were planning to move troops north.....a lot of troops.....She would have to move her plans forward....and make some major changes to her strategy........she needed to reallocate troops.....no longer concentrating on building anti aircraft positions but to concentrate on fortifying the city against the coming invasion......

Quickly she summoned her chief adjutant and started scribbling out new troop orders and requisition notes.....Guraff had estimated he would need a thousand strong force to capture the various paramilitary internal security bases dotted around the city.....so she couldn't let him have less.....She prayed that the people of Elspeth would appreciate being lifted out from under the accursed rule of Daimiaen II so much that they too would rise up against the now inevitable influx of southern troops......She prayed too that the other northern cities would join them in their fight for independance from the south....

Her trusted freinds Allgenn and Fryad had gone to Nordrunn and Kandall respectivally to try to raise support money and troops but since the last chopper out of each city last night she had heard nothing.....Their last reports were sketchy and non specific......Kandall was across the river to the east and Fryad had decided to try to open up a land route to Elspeth and was busy scouting out the lay of the land......Allgenn claimed he was being well recieved in Nordronn but that progress would be slow.....Both reports should have cheered her up but with the news as it was.....they now had weeks instead of the months they had counted on......

[Daimiaen]

There was no way that Walks in the moon could keep what he had seen from the elders any longer.....while he knew he had broken the laws of the elders by leaving the village more than two days walking....what he had witnessed would be enough surely to justify his actions......

A vast number of crazies most of them armed were creating a huge track through the Five jaguars' lands to the south of the settlement.....they had huge machines that tore through the trees and had made a huge bridge across the river to the east.....many vehicles were passing along the track now bringing food and equipment to the workers at the end of the track....As far as he could work out they were making the track all the way to the crazy settlement across the river to the west....and at the rate they were going it would be completed in a few days.....

The crazies didn't seem very interested in the Five jaguars' hunting grounds that lay just north of the track....but still the tribe should be warned.....
As he entered the village he realised no-one else had any idea what was going on.....Quickly he went to the lodge of the elders.....
"Aah...Walks in the moon....we have been expecting you..."declared Teeth of knives..."what news do you bring???"

Walks in the moon described what he had observed in the south......"Perhaps this has to do with the hunt that Teeth of knives told us about...." he ventured.....

"You have done well.....take a hundred of our best fighters to watch these crazies....If they make a move into our hunting grounds....kill them.....they have to be taught not to interfere with the affairs of the Five jaguars.....If they are merely hunting other crazies just observe and do not get involved...."

As he left the lodge to gather together the fighters needed he breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he would not be punished for his infraction.....

Over two hundred fighters volunteered for the mission but he selected the strongest and the fastest only....and headed back to the south......

[Daimiaen]

The cabinet room was packed with ministers and secretaries and under ministers and under secretaries......Some had heard the rumours...others were here because they knew something big was going on.....others were here simply under orders.....Suddenly the doors burst open as an Intsec (Internal security) officer dashed to Colonel Artud and began whispering frantically in his ear....At the same time General Otho blustered in and took his seat in an obvious funk about something.....

Daimiaen II entered last and took his seat at the head of the table....."First order of business and my first priority....The roads...."He indicated the minister of the interior....
"Well sir...." the thin bespectacled man whimpered "Progress is as good as can be expected....The road in the north from Kandall to Elspeth is ahead of schedule....we appear to have had none of the expected  resistance from the tribals in that area.....And the bridge across the river Daimiaena took a lot less time than we thought it would....."He coughed ..."Daimiaena and Deetoo have just been connected as of nine am this morning....The tribals along that coastal stretch have abandoned their land completely....The road from Deetoo west to Surronn is due to start tommorrow morning....and at this rate we don't expect any problems...." He sat down quickly and started shuffling his papers trying to look invisible.....

"And what of Phelor.....and Nordrunn???" Daimiaen II asked....
"Yes...erm...you see...we have had a few incidents in the Phelor region....and we have yet to decide on a route to Nordrunn whether to go through the valley of Gila or to traverse the mountain range completely....It's still in a feasiblity study group as we speak..."
"See it gets sorted tonight...."Daimiaen II insisted slamming his hand on the desk for emphasis "And what Incidents in the Phelor region do you refer to???"
Colonel Artud cleared his throat as he stepped forward...."If I may be so bold??? I think I can answer that....It seems the local workers refuse to work in the jungles in that area....We were expecting such a problem and have a contingency to cover it.....We will ship workers in from Deetoo to build that section of highway....."

"That still does not explain the use of the word incidents does it???" Daimiaen II enquired....
"No sir....it does not....we have only just received reports on the situation at Intsec as this meeting was starting.....It appears that some of the local savages are using the workers for target practice.....also some of the workers have disappeared.....sir...."
"Oh dear god Artud....why do I bother??? Why are you in charge of Intsec if you can't keep a couple of savages under control....I want all your available men on this....it is top priority that these roads are finished by the end of this week or heads will roll...Understand???" Daimiaen II looked around the room and by the pale shaking faces saw he was well understood.....

"My dear General....can you possibly spare some troops to help Artud with his 'Savage' problem???"
"Ordinarily Sir....I would have given him an entire regiment to put down the damned tribals....But it appears we may have a new problem....." The General walked to the side of Daimiaen II's chair and bent down to whisper in his ear...."Sir there are unknown troops landing on the peninsula to the west of Daimiaena....."
Although none of the cabinet members heard what Otho had said they could tell by the way the face of their esteemed leader went dark purple that something very bad was going to happen and they prayed it wasn't going to happen to them.....

[Daimiaen]

By the time Laughing child had scouted out the entire black river from start to finish and then made her way into the Crying crows lands it was several days later....it took her another half a day to track down their village through pathways and routes she'd never travelled before......As she ran into the strange village she was greeted by Afraid of water.....
"The Crazies.....a Black river....Machines eating through the trees..."She gasped out.....
"We know..."replied Afraid of water calmly...." It's been happening all along the south of the world....there are runners here from every southern tribe.....Apart from the cliffedge people and the people eaters of the east of course.....There are runners en route to the north tribes as well they should be back in one and a half moons....."

Laughing child couldn't beleive it...never in her lifetime had she heard of such a thing....All the tribes in the world talking to each other....apart from those savages in the east....but they would sooner bite you than talk.....

There were four lodges set up in the clearing specifically for the Black tree people....and two for the runners from the other southern tribes....most of whom were relaxing in their hammocks knowing that they would be called upon to make the treachorous journey back to their people......

The runner from the Phelor was standing at the grand lodge of the Crying crows elders shouting profanities loud enough to be heard all across the village.....Few of the insults made sense as they were generic to the Phelor people but the insinuation was obvious.....He was calling the other tribes cowards for not fighting back against the crazies who were trying to destroy the world with their insane machines and their black rivers.....

Apparently the Dancing fish people had merely shifted to their midlands hunting lodges earlier in the year than normal and were pretty much ignoring the crazy problem.....Only the Phelor had taken up arms deliberately to hunt the crazies to impede their progress....and they had so far succeeded.....so far.....

Laughing child interrupted Fyon of the Phelor in mid flow......he glanced at her with disdain......
"What you say is not true.....we are not cowards....there are many crazies heading east along the black river towards your lands to reinforce the river builders and they carry many firesticks.....some as large as a canoe....."

Fyon laughed..."Ha!!!.....We are not afraid of their firesticks....We have more warriors than all of the other southern tribes put together.......we have the power of being invisible....Our lands are vast.....They will fall like the okapi before our arrows and blowpipes......we have captured many of their builders...we will continue to do so....until they have no one left to spread their insanity through the world......we know where their water scources are and are as we speak lacing their supply with the spirit roots of our ancestors....."

The Shamen of the Crying crows stood up in shock....."But they are not pure!!!...They have not been trained in the proper rituals......The spirit root will send them mad....madder than they already are!!!"

"Exactly..." smiled Fyon slyly......
Posted on: 31 January 2007, 20:19:43Telok was watching the latest news closely.....A Diplomatic incident was occuring to the west of Daimiaena.....Forces of the Islas Filipinas were slaughtering unarmed natives in a bid to colonise the area.....While she felt bad for the tribals she couldn't help feeling good that this would distract Daimiaen II away from her actions in the northern territory....

Fryad had been choppered in early that morning with the mixed news that a road had been gouged through the jungle from Kandall.....which was bad news for the local tribals and the envoirnment but good news because it meant Daimiaen II had unwittingly provided a means for Telok to move her own troops easily and quickly between Kandall and Elspeth....Also that  there was not only full support for her plans in Kandall but they were willing to supply troops and armements to aid the cause....She was still waiting for Allgenn to make another report....she had heard nothing for several days.....

As far as her contacts in the capital could make out the road to Nordronn had yet to be finalised.....And as yet there were no plans except for verbal regtarding the route to the north....

Guraff arrived in a state of some agitation..."You won't beleive this....."He blurted out...."Thanks to this stupid road building in the south being blocked by the tribals in the west all available Intsec troops have been reordered to Phelor City.....Leaving only skeleton forces in the northern cities....We can take them easily now...."
"I'm sorry Guraff....We can't make a move until we hear from Allgenn....I would love nothing better than to start everything now....but we must the full support of all the northern cities...I know how disappointed you are Guraff...but this Islas Filipinas incident will buy us some more time...."

Guraff looked crestfallen....."We don't even know if this is just another propaganda war to ditract us from the problems in our own country...It wouldn't be the first time Daimiaena News have transmitted a fake war.....and it probably won't be the last....."
"Normally I would agree with you....But one of our people in Islas Filipinas has confirmed it's true....well the invasion part...it appears the slaughter is just propaganda.....So we do have at least a few days grace before we defiantely have to move....."
"Okay..."Shrugged Guraff..."Should we send some people to Phelor City to help with the road disruption???"
"No...Definately not....we need everyone here...as things stand mobilisation may happen at any moment...and I want our targets taken out in two hours max.....and that can only happen if everyone moves at the same time......"
"Then I shall inform the troops to be ready and waiting..."and with that Guraff left Telok to her thoughts and plans.....
Posted on: 02 February 2007, 18:47:45

They had set up a camp to the north of the road where they rested up and ate between patrols......The Five Jaguars fighters stayed just inside the treeline and watched as hundreds of crazies moved west along the road in trucks.....they were definately ignoring the hunting grounds.....they seem fixed on an exodus from one of their settlements to another.....

Walks in the moon couldn't  understand it...what was wrong with their settlement to the east....Sure....the naturals moved with the moons so that they had different animals to hunt each month thereby allowing them to replenish their numbers....He decided to send twenty scouts to the eastern settlement to try to ascertain why the crazies were so intent on leaving it....

"Tailgrabber...I want you to take twenty of the Most Invisible and scout out the crazy village to the east.....I don't want you going into the settlement in case there is illness or some other danger....just get close enough to see if there is anything obvious happening.....and then get back here...."

Selecting the twenty from the Most Invisible was easy....Tailgrabber just picked his hunting companions and four others....He was used to leading the Most Invisible...they were the most respected hunters and fighters that the Five Jaguars had....they travelled fast and silently across the world until they came to it's edge and looked out at the vastness of the city before them.....at it's outskirts there were many small houses not dissimilar to their lodges nut towards the centre rose buildings taller than the highest trees in the world....some of the younger fighters gasped in awe....they had never seen the city before.....Tailgrabber kept watch for a day and a night and then they returned to the camp....

"we could not see anything that seemed different....."Tailgrabber declared....

"And yet the traffic has not ceased...."Walks in the moon replied....."You return to the village and tell the elders what is going on here...."

[Daimiaen]

General Otho's door crashed open...his adjutant rushed in looking flustered and scared.....
"Sir....I cannot begin to explain this....The entire DARNORTH commnet is down......we can't contact any department in the northern regions....but from the fact that all the state channels are still broadcasting from their respective cities....and that none of the telcom net is down.....Our only conclusions are either a technical fault on a scale never before seen......or sabotage.....of a very organised kind....."

"Don't be ridiculous....you're panicking over nothing..." General Otho pulled open a drawer and drew out his private commlink line....the one that gave him a direct line to DARNORTH HQ.....No answer...."Shit...shit shit shit.....I want you to try every effing contact in norhtern command and keep trying 'til you get someone...anyone....."

The adjutant ran off to comply with his new orders.....The General gazed around his office....he was starting to sweat....there was no way this was a technical fault...he knew that already.....he also ruled out sabotage...no-one was that organised....That left only one option....that DARNORTH had turned against the south and Daimiaen II

It meant only one thing....General Telok had turned against him....she had betrayed his trust and her country....and the worst part was captain Guraff must be in on it....he was the best officer in the army.....he had refused promotion for ten years....preffering to stick with Telok....

Otho's mind immediately began to work out the implications.....the forces of Daimiaena were fairly evenly split between north and south although there was a higher naval presence in the south....much good it would do now.....

Luckily due to the road incident in Phelor the Intsec forces were concentrated in the south as well....So Otho knew he could slightly outnumber the northen troops....

What really worried him was when Daimiaen II heard about the situation and how he would react.....