[Spoilers] Pericles of the Graeco-Mayans

[T-hawk]

I believe the availability of circumnavigation is set by the map script, not by the axis wrap type. For example, the mostly-land Lakes map in Epic 27 had the usual horizontal wrap but no circumnavigation available at all. It might not be available at all on whatever map script was used for this.

[Sylon]

Aw, shucks. There goes my plan of pulling off surprise amphibious attacks early in the game.

[Jabah]

For normal double axis map, I am sure you need to "circumnavigate" both direction (and I am 100% sure of it).
I don't think you can 'remove' the bonus possibility with game option (but that I am not sure)

[Ilios]

See PB2

[Sylon]

Ah, alright. Guess I'll send my workboat East then. Speaking of which, I just passed by First, Kodii's confusingly named third city. It's on the Eastern Wonderland coast, meaning that that region will get fairly crowded quite soon as Mackoti, Pegasus and Kodii fight over it. I'll post a screenshot once my turn comes around.

I've got some diplo updates. First, the long (several days) delayed letter to Mackoti:

[COLOR="Cyan"]Dear Mackoti,

Just a quick update on my explorations, since I believe we agreed to work together on this point.

The map is toroidal. The islands to your North are actually a long chain of islands that connect you to Ruff and Kodii's lands by means of toroidal map. The islands are quite rich in resources and some of them can even fit two or three cities. I can't really recall all the details off the bat, so you might want to take a look at it yourself.

Sincerely,
Sylon[/COLOR]

Note: We didn't actually agree on anything, though I would have signed an agreement to share map info with him if he had been more responsive to my initial diplo emails. Nevertheless, it doesn't change anything in the end.

My intentions behind this email is, of course, to forge goodwill with him, and also hopefully direct his explorations and settlement North.

[COLOR="Yellow"]OK, this is my intention too , to work togheter, so i will tell you the truth i didn't discover to much just what i can see from my borders , i think for now you discovered a lot more than me. I have to discover a way to your land so i can have the income from sailing routes.As you see i am trying to get in the midlle because actualy my land is not larger than 4 cities , i think in like 6 turns my woody quechea will be in your lands. About toroidal i was thinking about that because the maintenace of new cities. Tank you for the information you shared with, hope i can do same think in future.
Regards,
Mackoti[/COLOR]

Well, he's going for Wonderland anyway. I suppose that makes the most sense. Still, having Wonderland right next door and a set of islands to expand into is two advantages I don't have. Argh. With any luck, I'll come up with something to even the scales.

[COLOR="Plum"]Sylon,

Thanks for the map information. I think I can see islands off the South coast of my lands so I wouldn't be surprised that it does chain all the way to South. Further, I expect that the map with wrap East - West so you will need to send a boat that direction to get the circumnav bonus - I've been burnt more than once with this duel wrap requirement.

Congrats on your 3rd city. I'm dragging the chain re cities again.

Do you have any interest in a NAP?

Ruff[/COLOR]

I didn't mention the circumnavigation bonus in my email, but I suppose he picked it up anyway. Still, it's nice of him to point it out, though he's a few hours too late.

[COLOR="Cyan"]Dear Ruff,

A nap sounds good. It's been a tiring day, and I got caught in the rain earlier. I think I'll go to bed soon.

Would a NAP until Turn 100, with a cooldown of 5 turns prior to cancellation be alright with you? If not, please make a counter offer.

Sincerely,
Sylon[/COLOR]

I was thinking of mentioning Open Borders as well, but refrained from doing so in case he took it the wrong way (That I was trying to grab trade income from him). On an unrelated note, he hasn't sent the save yet.

Well, that about wraps it up. :zzz:

[Sylon]

I've been meaning to update for some time, but somehow whenever the turn came around I would cleanly forget about taking screenshots until after I sent it. I made sure to take some this turn, however.



First of all, the Northern Lands. The settler in Athenai will finish next turn, and will board the galley together with the chariot, bound for Rhodos. Athenai will work on a worker next, since I can't afford to let it grow or whip it as it has an 18-or so turn whip penalty still in place. Argos will work on the Granary and Athenai's furs, while Sparte will supply the Workboat.



Our intrepid settler and chariot team are on a mission that is vital to the state. Sparte will finish its second chariot next turn, then go on to work on a workboat for Argos.



Picture of Vandal- and Kodii's adjacent city of First. Wretched, wretched RNG.

[novice]

Our intrepid settler and chariot team are on a mission that is vital to the state.

Where's the pink dot?

[Sylon]

...Well, that was fast. I didn't think anyone would figure it out this early! My hat off to you, sir.

The pink dot is in Wonderland. Mackoti and Kodii will be rushing to settle there, so I don't know what spot I will get, but hopefully I can get there in time for a good spot. My warrior in Wonderland will be staying around to see if anyone settles in the vicinity.

Also, this goes without saying, but on the Pink Dot. Well, technically, it's not exactly aggressive, since Wonderland lies between the civs (Closer to some than to others), and since I have no access to the islands, merely settling my core lands will cause me to lose out in the land race ultimately.

[Sylon]

On second thoughts, the presence of the worker made it quite obvious.

I've signed NAPs with Ruff and Kodii, the NAP with Ruff auto-renewing every twenty turns and the NAP with Kodii until turn 100. I've also signed a Treaty of City Neutrality with Ruff-

[COLOR="Cyan"]...While we're at it, I would like to negotiate a separate treaty: The Treaty of City Neutrality. Basically, a treaty to avoid city giving shenanigans.

The Treaty of City Neutrality states that both parties agree not to accept cities from a third party whom the other party is at war with. Neither are they to accept cities with the intention of depriving it from the other party the Neutrality Treaty is signed with. Or basically, no accepting city giving cheese if it hurts the other party or deprives them of their rightful conquests. This includes colonies and far-off holdings- For example, Whosit's gift of his Centralia colonies in PB2 which unintentionally deprived Spulla of them (Spulla, if memory serves, were planning a surprise attack with their Fast Workers).

It's a little general, but hopefully you know what I mean. Neither of us- or, for that matter, any of us in this game want to be slapped in the face with city-giving-cheese.[/COLOR]

I intend to offer this treaty to all the other players, too. I figure that a private agreement like this is worth more than simply sticking it in the rules, since people tend to find loopholes in the rules. Granted, they could also do so for the treaty, but they're putting their honor and reputation on the line.

Following that, I sent updates to each of the three players:

[COLOR="Cyan"]Dear Kodii,

That sounds good! It is agreed, then.

To commemorate our signing of (our NAP), and to foster goodwill between us, I will share with you what I know of the islands off your coast. The island to the S of First is a small 4 tile island with clams and sugar. The island SW of your Marble city is a small, several tile island, with access to silks and the fish off your desert coast to the South of Marble City. The island SE of this island is marked by a coastal peak, and appears to consists entirely of hills. I have not fully explored it, and as such I cannot speak for its resources. The island further SW of Silk Island is larger, and contains many more resources than the other islands, including another silk, bananas, cows, deer, and wines.

This, I'm afraid, is the limit of my knowledge- exploration progresses slowly. I just got Writing this turn, and will offer you Open Borders come next turn.

Sincerely,
Sylon

P.S. The world is toroidal- but I suppose you already figured that out from my workboat.[/COLOR]

Here, I offer Kodii quite a bit of information in order to build goodwill (see above post). The information on the islands nearest to him is useful to him, and will hopefully score some points on the diplo scale. I have yet to receive a response, though Kodii tends to be slightly slower in responding than the other players.

[COLOR="Cyan"]Dear Mackoti,

Explorations have been going well. In order to keep you update, I'll give you a brief description of the islands I have explored near your coast.

The two islands North of Arad do not seem particularly rich in resources, but that is due to mainly to the fact that I have yet to fully explore them. Of more use is the island to the NE of Arad, which is three horizontal tiles long and grabs a fish and a clams (The clams are off your coast).

To the North of this island is a larger island, capable of fitting at least three cities. It is fairly rich in resources, possessing silks, wines, crabs, deer, cows, and bananas. It also has a river.

This, I'm afraid, is all that I have explored so far.

Now, you might be wondering; why am I so willing to reveal information on the islands? The answer is simple: Due to the whims of our beloved mapmaker, I have been utterly cut off from them- and thus what happens there have no bearing on me. As such, I felt it wouldn't hurt to share this info with you. Hopefully, this exchange will foster goodwill between us.

Sincerely,
Sylon[/COLOR]

The information I gave Mackoti is slightly more detailed, in the hopes of diverting his attention North. With limited success, alas, since he seems to be intent on settling Wonderland ahead of everything. Well, that makes perfect sense.

[COLOR="Yellow"]Tank you for the info , i will try to grab one of nice islands wich you are talking about after i discover them my self(he he),but as you know so good is already a race in midle with Kodii been there first, i plan aanother city in the midlle and after that more on the islands if my economy can manage because been a toroidall map the costs are very high evn at noble.
with respect,
Mackoti[/COLOR]

...As you can clearly see. On a separate note, costs are actually quite tame. This might be a clue as to his usual level of play- at the very least, the maintenance costs come nowhere close to a horizontal wrap emperor game. Then again, it might just be a clever ploy to throw me off guard.

And finally,

[COLOR="Cyan"]Dear Ruff,

Your borders have just come into view this turn. Don't worry, I have no intentions of snatching that worker- tell me which direction my warrior should scramble away to and I'll send him that way next turn.

I've just got Writing at the end of this turn, so if you would like, we could sign an open border deal. That said, I can understand if you're reluctant to sign it just yet, since that would mean I would get trade routes with your cities, while you won't get them with mine just yet. However, if it is of any assurance, I already have Open Borders with Mackoti and am trading with him, so you don't have to worry about my benefiting one-sidedly from the trade routes.

Since we already have an agreement to trade maps come Paper, may I assume that there will be no no-scouting-clauses?

On a separate note, explorations are going well. I have yet to defog any of the islands near your territory, though with any luck, there will be coastal horizontal wrap to allow me to get to your coast. I'm not very optimistic on that count, however.

As previously suspected, the islands link you to Kodii and Mackoti. The Worldwrap Archipelago* stretches all the way horizontal from your lands to Kodii's, and from Mackoti's Northern coast to the Southern coast of Wonderland. The islands themselves can generally only fit one city each- two if you squeeze them on opposite sides of the island.

At the center of this archipelago, however, is a larger island, easily capable of fitting three cities without squeezing. This island, which I shall refer to as Centralia Minor from here on, is fairly rich (Not Wonderland rich, but nevertheless a step above our respective core lands), containing cows, crabs, bananas (The only source of them I have found), silks, deer, and wines, and a river. As its name suggests, Centralia Minor is the nucleus of the archipelago, and happens to be at around the same distance between your lands, Mackoti's lands**, and Kodii's lands, with one island between it and their core. The strength and central position of Centralia Minor means that whoever controls it will end up controlling most of the Archipelago.

Of course, this has nothing to do with me, since our gracious mapmaker has decided to cut me off from the Archipelago entirely. And all I get is one piddly two-tile island to make up for it.

Frustrated (at the draw of the map) but sincere nevertheless,
Sylon

*If you've got a better name for it, please share it.
**It's just a little bit closer to Mackoti's lands, actually. More notably, the island between his core Centralia Minor is three tiles away from Centralia Minor, yet has coastal instead of ocean tiles. Definitely WB'ed.[/COLOR]

The part about map trading was part of the NAP- trading maps every ten turns will lead to closer cooperation.

My message to Ruff is by far the most detailed of them all, as I hope to cultivate him as an ally. His position on the map makes going for the islands the natural course of action, while mine makes going for Wonderland the natural course of action. Without conflicting spheres, securing the border on his end would be the best course of action.

While I did share the lay of the map with the other players, I neglected to give them a good view of the overall picture and the importance of Centralia Minor within the Archipelago. Indeed, I specifically made to downplay its position, making it out to be 'just another island that is slightly larger'. Of course, I also neglected to point out to the other players the layout of the map between them and their opponents.

That wraps up diplo for now. Depending on how things go, I might have to divulge my plans to settle in Wonderland to Mackoti. Kodii, not so much, since we don't have such a tight level of cooperation that he would feel betrayed at my move.

[Sylon]

In a response to Kodii's city of first, Mackoti has named his city Second. Or, more accurately, the City of Second. This means that the name shows up in the trade window as 'City of City of Second'.

Second is exactly where I expected it to be, which is good, since it doesn't take up the middle floodplains. More worrying, however, is the stone tile in its first ring- that means he'll probably go for the Pyramids. And to add to this, he has Marble in his core. Gosh darn it.

Well, before my settler gets to his intended position, I reckoned I should offer Mackoti a Treaty of City Neutrality, while relations are still good and he is more likely to accept. So I sent this email:

[COLOR="Cyan"]Dear Mackoti,

I would like to offer you a Treaty of City Neutrality. The treaty is basically an agreement by both sides not to accept cities from a third party whom either party is at war with. By this, I'm hoping to avoid a repetition of the mess that occurred during PB2 (I presume you read it?), where widespread, uncontrolled city-gifting caused conflict and tension between the players.

To elaborate on the treaty, the Treaty of City Neutrality states that both parties agree not to accept any cities from a third party that either party is at war with, regardless of circumstance. Both parties also agree to not accept cities with the intention of hurting the other party or depriving them of their rightful conqeusts. This applies to all cities, including far-flung colonies and conquests. Or, to put it simply, both parties agree not to accept city-gifting cheese. I'm sure neither of us want this game to turn out like PB2.

The Treaty of City Neutrality, once signed, will not expire and cannot be reneged. This means that even in the dreadful event of a deterioration of relations or war between us, the treaty still applies. It is not a matter of words and clauses, but rather one of respecting your fellow players.

If you wish for me to clarify any points, or if you wish to add any points, please do so.

Sincerely,
Sylon[/COLOR]

The part about respecting fellow players and so on was added because, unlike Ruff, Mackoti is a fairly unknown player. While Ruff, as a veteran of the community, can be counted upon to automatically understand that what matters in the treaty is not its exact wording but the concept it is based on, I am not entirely sure whether Mackoti would subscribe to the same philosophy. Undoubtedly my thinking here is a grave insult to him, but nevertheless in these cases it is better to be safe than sorry. I apologise in advance for my rudeness, but ultimately I am more inclined to be prudent.

Rhodos will be founded next turn. If I get circumnavigation, I can reach Mackoti's capital of Arad in a single turn with a galley from inside Rhodos' borders. With three food resources and being situated on a hill, it makes a perfect naval fortress.