Puts the L into Lotus

09 October 2006

Choson Clan

Once a simple peasant state the Choson Clan are innovative and brave. They have fended off centuries of incursions from their Akagi neighbours and have developed their own traditions, culture and warrior class. Their peninsula is their stronghold and they will fight to the last to preserve it.

The Choson Clan is in a weak starting position. It has few provinces and few unit types but a strong general could lead this idealistic new nation to victory.

Zhuanshi Clan

The Zhuanshi Clan are an ancient faction descended from the dragon kings who ruled at the birth of the continent. Their emperors are the children of the gods and the rightful rulers of the visible world. It is their duty to rid this world of the Demon threat from the West and resume their position on the dragon throne. The Zhuanshi Clan hold the true Emperor and the Peacock Throne. They were once a mighty nation and will be so again. The rebellious Yuwan Clan and all other nations will fall under their sublime rule!

The Zhuanshi Clan start in a strong position as far as numbers of provinces go but the Yuwan Clan has the richest provinces in the region. The Yuwan Clan are their natural enemies but richer lands lie to the southwest too. The Clan is poor and must fill it's coffers for the coming war.

Akagi Clan

The Akagi Clan are a proud warrior dynasty steeped in centuries of tradition and pride. They see themselves as superior in every quality to their neighbours and in some ways they are right. Centuries of warrior training are matched only by a devotion to the arts but will decades of peace take their toll? Traditional enemies are the Mongol tribes but historically the Akagi Clan have also encroached on Choson territory and invaded the Zhuanshi lands. Now a new threat is coming from the west and the Clan must once more call in the samurai and raise a mighty army to defeat the demon hordes. Old enemies must become new allies or new dominions if the clan is to survive. Great honour is there for the taking and great heroes to be made.

The Akagi Clan has a good starting position and has a strong selection of unit types but it must choose it's course wisely. Rapid expansion is likely to bring hostility from Neighbouring kingdoms but it is a necessity in the face of a greater evil.

Krishnapur

In the plains of Krishnapur the centuries of peace and prosperity have built a glittering kingdom. Beautiful palaces and gold and jewelled elephants adorn the hillsides, the King is wise and the people are contented. It is truly the fabled Shangri la. But something is stirring, messengers from the West report evil tidings. In the opium haze strange shapes emerge from the spirit plane. It is time to unlock the armoury, call the mahouts and the fakirs and bring forth the great white elephant for war!

Krishnapur has a strong starting position. Rich fertile plains and forests provide a good income and the lands are protected to the north by impassable mountains. However it is her strengths that may prove to be her undoing. Across the mountains strong martial factions are building and they are coming for the fabled gold of Krishnapur.

Zensen Clan

The Zensen Clan are a young and idealistic faction. Having split from the Akagi Clan as little as fifty years ago they have developed rapidly and show an enthusiasm and drive their aging ancestors lack. They stress a return to intensive martial training, promoting the arts and education above ritualised ceremony. They are, however, still a small force on the continent and have so far sensibly avoided confrontation of any kind.

The Zensen Clan have a weak starting position. Their early relationship with the Akagi Clan will be extremely important in their development. They have a strong selection of unit types but may find themselves outnumbered in many a battle. This, however, will lead to far greater honour in victory... or a truly glorious death.

Karazai Khanate

The Karazai are a feared warrior state. Once nomadic they have settled but are ever restless for new conquests. They have traditionally looked East in their raids but now outriders appear bearing news. In the West a great power is building and the Khanate is directly in it's path! Let them come! They shall break on us like water breaks on a rock!

The Khanate are in a very weak, but not impossible, position. If they can expand east and hold against the Yomi empire long enough the main thrust may pass by. Many battles need to be fought first though and with their strong but limited unit types victory won't come easily.

Yuwan Clan

The Yuwan clan are age old rivals of the Zhuanshi Clan. After a famous rebellion they have now settled into an uneasy peace although border disputes are regular. Although the Zhuanshi Clan claim decendancy from the dragon kings the Yuwan emperors have found irrefutable proofs that they are the true and rightful heirs. When the fire from the West comes the Yuwan Clan will be ready to die for the Gods and prove their ancestry in battle.

The Yuwan Clan have few starting provinces but those they possess are rich in trade. With the immediate threat from the Zhuanshi Clan it will take a strong general to lead this faction to victory.

Yomi Empire

The Earth is splitting, the ghost planes are meeting, powerful incantations summon us to the land of weakling kin. We must answer our nature and destroy them all! They shall be driven like chaff in the wind before us and that wind will echo with the sound of their lamenting women! Take our ever growing armies and head East, East and sweep the vermin into the sea. The time of the human is no more and the pathetic gods that protect them are no longer interested in the affairs of men.

The Demon kingdom has a huge advantage in numbers, territory and wealth. A large number of specialist units make this faction very hard to beat. The only real danger will come if the other factions unite to destroy you so you must move swiftly!

The Monks

The Holy Island is the cloud land. Only the enlightened may enter.

The Monks of the Holy Island are peaceful but if attacked they will instruct invaders in the art of war.

05 October 2006

The Lotos-Eaters

"Courage!" he said, and pointed toward the land,
"This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon."
In the afternoon they came unto a land
In which it seemed always afternoon.
All round the coast the languid air did swoon,
Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.
Full-faced above the valley stood the moon;
And like a downward smoke, the slender stream
Along the cliff to fall and pause and fall did seem.

A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke,
Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go;
And some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke,
Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below.
They saw the gleaming river seaward flow
From the inner land: far off, three mountain-tops,
Three silent pinnacles of aged snow,
Stood sunset-flush'd: and, dew'd with showery drops,
Up-clomb the shadowy pine above the woven copse.

The charmed sunset linger'd low adown
In the red West: thro' mountain clefts the dale
Was seen far inland, and the yellow down
Border'd with palm, and many a winding vale
And meadow, set with slender galingale;
A land where all things always seem'd the same!
And round about the keel with faces pale,
Dark faces pale against that rosy flame,
The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came.

Branches they bore of that enchanted stem,
Laden with flower and fruit, whereof they gave
To each, but whoso did receive of them,
And taste, to him the gushing of the wave
Far far away did seem to mourn and rave
On alien shores; and if his fellow spake,
His voice was thin, as voices from the grave;
And deep-asleep he seem'd, yet all awake,
And music in his ears his beating heart did make.

They sat them down upon the yellow sand,
Between the sun and moon upon the shore;
And sweet it was to dream of Fatherland,
Of child, and wife, and slave; but evermore
Most weary seem'd the sea, weary the oar,
Weary the wandering fields of barren foam.
Then some one said, "We will return no more";
And all at once they sang, "Our island home
Is far beyond the wave; we will no longer roam."

There is sweet music here that softer falls
Than petals from blown roses on the grass,
Or night-dews on still waters between walls
Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,
Than tir'd eyelids upon tir'd eyes;
Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies.
Here are cool mosses deep,
And thro' the moss the ivies creep,
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.

Why are we weigh'd upon with heaviness,
And utterly consumed with sharp distress,
While all things else have rest from weariness?
All things have rest: why should we toil alone,
We only toil, who are the first of things,
And make perpetual moan,
Still from one sorrow to another thrown:
Nor ever fold our wings,
And cease from wanderings,
Nor steep our brows in slumber's holy balm;
Nor harken what the inner spirit sings,
"There is no joy but calm!"
Why should we only toil, the roof and crown of things?

Lo! in the middle of the wood,
The folded leaf is woo'd from out the bud
With winds upon the branch, and there
Grows green and broad, and takes no care,
Sun-steep'd at noon, and in the moon
Nightly dew-fed; and turning yellow
Falls, and floats adown the air.
Lo! sweeten'd with the summer light,
The full-juiced apple, waxing over-mellow,
Drops in a silent autumn night.
All its allotted length of days
The flower ripens in its place,
Ripens and fades, and falls, and hath no toil,
Fast-rooted in the fruitful soil.

Hateful is the dark-blue sky,
Vaulted o'er the dark-blue sea.
Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?
Let us alone. Time driveth onward fast,
And in a little while our lips are dumb.
Let us alone. What is it that will last?
All things are taken from us, and become
Portions and parcels of the dreadful past.
Let us alone. What pleasure can we have
To war with evil? Is there any peace
In ever climbing up the climbing wave?
All things have rest, and ripen toward the grave
In silence; ripen, fall and cease:
Give us long rest or death, dark death, or dreamful ease.

How sweet it were, hearing the downward stream,
With half-shut eyes ever to seem
Falling asleep in a half-dream!
To dream and dream, like yonder amber light,
Which will not leave the myrrh-bush on the height;
To hear each other's whisper'd speech;
Eating the Lotos day by day,
To watch the crisping ripples on the beach,
And tender curving lines of creamy spray;
To lend our hearts and spirits wholly
To the influence of mild-minded melancholy;
To muse and brood and live again in memory,
With those old faces of our infancy
Heap'd over with a mound of grass,
Two handfuls of white dust, shut in an urn of brass!

Dear is the memory of our wedded lives,
And dear the last embraces of our wives
And their warm tears: but all hath suffer'd change:
For surely now our household hearths are cold,
Our sons inherit us: our looks are strange:
And we should come like ghosts to trouble joy.
Or else the island princes over-bold
Have eat our substance, and the minstrel sings
Before them of the ten years' war in Troy,
And our great deeds, as half-forgotten things.
Is there confusion in the little isle?
Let what is broken so remain.
The Gods are hard to reconcile:
'Tis hard to settle order once again.
There is confusion worse than death,
Trouble on trouble, pain on pain,
Long labour unto aged breath,
Sore task to hearts worn out by many wars
And eyes grown dim with gazing on the pilot-stars.

But, propt on beds of amaranth and moly,
How sweet (while warm airs lull us, blowing lowly)
With half-dropt eyelid still,
Beneath a heaven dark and holy,
To watch the long bright river drawing slowly
His waters from the purple hill--
To hear the dewy echoes calling
From cave to cave thro' the thick-twined vine--
To watch the emerald-colour'd water falling
Thro' many a wov'n acanthus-wreath divine!
Only to hear and see the far-off sparkling brine,
Only to hear were sweet, stretch'd out beneath the pine.

The Lotos blooms below the barren peak:
The Lotos blows by every winding creek:
All day the wind breathes low with mellower tone:
Thro' every hollow cave and alley lone
Round and round the spicy downs the yellow Lotos-dust is blown.
We have had enough of action, and of motion we,
Roll'd to starboard, roll'd to larboard, when the surge was seething free,
Where the wallowing monster spouted his foam-fountains in the sea.
Let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind,
In the hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined
On the hills like Gods together, careless of mankind.
For they lie beside their nectar, and the bolts are hurl'd
Far below them in the valleys, and the clouds are lightly curl'd
Round their golden houses, girdled with the gleaming world:
Where they smile in secret, looking over wasted lands,
Blight and famine, plague and earthquake, roaring deeps and fiery sands,
Clanging fights, and flaming towns, and sinking ships, and praying hands.
But they smile, they find a music centred in a doleful song
Steaming up, a lamentation and an ancient tale of wrong,
Like a tale of little meaning tho' the words are strong;
Chanted from an ill-used race of men that cleave the soil,
Sow the seed, and reap the harvest with enduring toil,
Storing yearly little dues of wheat, and wine and oil;
Till they perish and they suffer--some, 'tis whisper'd--down in hell
Suffer endless anguish, others in Elysian valleys dwell,
Resting weary limbs at last on beds of asphodel.
Surely, surely, slumber is more sweet than toil, the shore
Than labour in the deep mid-ocean, wind and wave and oar;
O, rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more. gay boy


Lord Alfred Tennyson

04 October 2006

The Adventures of Tintin in the Orient



Considered Hergé's first masterpiece, Tintin's fifth adventure was first published in black-and-white in 1934-1935 as "Tintin en Extreme-Orient" and remade in color in 1946 as "Le Lotus Bleu".

The Blue Lotus was a turning point in Hergé's career, marking a commitment to geographical and cultural accuracy, that would become a Hergé trade mark.

The book is set in China in 1931. At that time Japanese troops were occupying Manchuria, and Shangai was a trading base in China for western nations.

The Blue Lotus is the name of an opium den in Shanghai.

…Just when you thought it was safe to enter into aggressive dynastic struggles in the orient…