Sponsor: Sullla
Opening Date: Monday, June 9
Duration: Five Weeks
Map Script: Fractal
Sea Level: Medium
Climate: Rocky
Game Speed: Epic

Difficulty: Monarch
Civilization: Japan
Leader: Tokugawa
World Size: Standard
Opponents: Six
Victory: any

Version: Beyond the Sword v3.13

Scenario: By popular request, this is a return to the stagnation concept debuted in Adventure Nine. The Japanese word bakumatsu refers to the period of upheaval surrounding the end of the shogunate in the 1860s. The historical bakumatsu saw the end of Japanese isolation and the beginning of a new era of political and scientific advancement. Can you lead the digital Japanese in this game to the same fate?

Variant Rules:

* You may train workers only at cities that are size FIVE or larger! Whipping workers via Slavery civic is allowed, but cities must remain size 5 or larger after whipping, not just initially.

* You must retain control of your initial five cities. You cannot give them away by any means. If any should be captured, you must bend all efforts towards their recapture. If any should be razed, you will lose the game.

* You may not change religions or swap out of Theocracy civic. These are permanent features of the game.

Details: You take control of a struggling Japanese empire in 350BC (after 150 turns).

Japan has ample health and luxury resources, and just founded Christianity in the city of Satsuma. Your cities are well defended with plenty of (Protective) archers:

However, centuries of isolation under the shogunate have left Japan weak and economically backwards. You begin the game with zero workers and no improved plots!

The entirety of the budget is being consumed by various maintenance costs. Income is stagnant while costs are growing. Much of the treasury was consumed in racing to discover Theology tech first, leaving research badly lacking in otherwise basic technologies.

To make matters worse, Japan suffers from poor diplomacy with its neighbors:

Your nation is surrounded on all sides by hostile powers, divided by border tensions and religious conflict. Japan is also ranked dead last in Power in the Demographics, so you have a lot of work to do!

Good luck, and pray to the spirits of emperors past for guidance.

Scoring: None. Victors will be listed alphabetically, defeats listed in reverse order, with those surviving the longest coming first.

Closing Day: Monday, July 14. Reports due by the end of July 15, your local time.

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