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--- roguelich [2023/12/25 08:40] – roguelich
+++ roguelich [2024/07/03 20:10] (current) – roguelich
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 As in the case of Byzantium before, Ghoul once again opted for a semi-composite faction with shared leadership to attract possibly the maximum number of players. The nation of Carthage was founded by Ghoul, Jurri, Federico and infamau5 who formed the Council of Carthage, its supreme ruling body. Councillors were nominally equal, however, Ghoul was made the official in-game leader as the Shophet of Carthage and was generally seen as the leading figure both internally, with strong backing from his two Polish friends and some other former associates, and internationally as a leader with prior experience and status. Initially, the nation consisted of its North African capital as well as far less populous Sardinia, founded by Federico.
-Although Carthage counted as one of the most populous nations on the server right from the start, a rapid rise in the population and possessions of the Roman Republic alarmed Ghoul, who was anxious to maintain total superiority in numbers. Alliances were sought to counterbalance Rome in case Carthage was unable to match Roman demographic and territorial expansion. In an unlikely turn of events, Ghoul formed a partnership with his erstwhile archenemy BeefTenderloin, the chieftain of Celtiberia, which also grew wary of Rome's waxing strength. In addition, the incorporation of a significant town of Jerusalem into the Carthaginian Empire was secured.
+Although Carthage counted as one of the most populous nations on the server right from the start, a rapid rise in the population and possessions of the Roman Republic alarmed Ghoul, who was anxious to maintain total superiority in numbers. Alliances were sought to counterbalance Rome in case Carthage could not match Roman demographic and territorial expansion. In an unlikely turn of events, Ghoul formed a partnership with his erstwhile archenemy BeefTenderloin, the chieftain of Celtiberia, which also grew wary of Rome's waxing strength. In addition, the incorporation of a significant town of Jerusalem into the Carthaginian Empire was secured. The city was populated by some of the ancient /int/craft's most recognizable players - HeyItsJinx, SkyZ0ne, Teshup but also then relatively unknown Lemon_Shot.
 As the grace expiration loomed, Ghoul put himself in charge of the pro-war faction in Carthage and managed to convince the Council to assent to the declaration of war on the Roman Republic. The hostilities began the very moment the grace was lifted and combined Carthaginian-Celtiberian forces besieged Rome. The siege was ultimately repulsed and combat shifted onto Carthage herself, where defenders were initially pressed hard by surprisingly deep Roman incursions, partially enabled by covert actions of infamau5, who deliberately dug holes in the city's walls, likely in another bid to undermine Ghoul and effect a change of leadership. Notwithstanding the difficulties, Carthaginians prevailed in the defence of their capital and launched a counter-offensive against the closely located Sicily, where Rome was decisively beaten as helpless Sicilians acceded to join the Carthaginian Empire.
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 Carthage's triumph raised it to the hegemonic status in the Mediterranean Sea and temporarily made Ghoul the server's most powerful leader, administrating an empire of 3 big cities(Carthage, the server's largest, Jerusalem and Sicily) and 5 other settlements, mostly located in the Western Mediterranean. Internally, the matter of insiding was known to be an issue but at this point, neither Ghoul nor the rest of Carthage's high command besides infamau5 himself knew of its source. Incidentally, infamau5 was expelled from the Council on somewhat unrelated grounds and as he did not decide to actively pursue vendetta with the sleeper agents he installed in Carthage, for the time being, Ghoul did not face any substantial internal opposition. He was though highly distrustful of Sicilians whom he thought likely to yearn for revenge and cooperate with Rome.
+<WRAP right 20em>
+[{{ ::carthage_i3_nigthtime.png?250|Night-time view of Carthage's harbour area}}]
+</WRAP>
 Set on continued expansion, Ghoul set his sights on Egypt to gain another foothold in the region where Jerusalem was the empire's sole outpost. After his attempts to kowtow Egypt into submission failed to yield the desired results, he decided to launch an invasion, using some earlier, rather innocent Egyptian provocation as a legal casus belli. The battle-hardened Carthaginian army swiftly overpowered rather weak Egypt, the whole operation, however, was fast stopped in its tracks by fierce opposition from Carthage's ally Celtiberia, which demanded immediate cessation of hostilities and guaranteed Egypt's independence. BeefTenderloins veto infuriated Ghoul, who slowly began perceiving Celtiberia as an obstacle to Carthage's further growth.
-Another major flashpoint came as Carthage received reports of troubles in the Eastern Mediterranean, involving Jerusalem and Teutons. Details on what exactly occurred and who sparked the conflict are murky, it is also unknown if Teuton raiders were fully aware of the consequences of harassing Jerusalem. Ghoul, confident in Carthaginian military prowess and eager to start another campaign, decided to make an example of Teutonica, launching a full-scale invasion into Central Europe, which was somewhat outside of Carthage's usual theatre of operations and without any friendly bases in the vicinity. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the first rally of Carthage was sizeable and quite easily stormed through the walls of Teutonica's Dansekorra. The lightning offensive was stopped in its tracks, however, by the iteration Head Admin, Swiss Dave, who believed the war to be illegal and himself went around the battlefield killing the invaders in god mode. Eventually, after receiving explanations on casus belli, he allowed the war to continue, but by that time, the Carthaginian momentum had evidently stalled, and Teutonica was more prepared to meet the invader. Waves after waves of Carthaginian assaults stubbornly carried out on Ghoul's orders, were repulsed, which resulted in the growing dissatisfaction with his command. As the night progressed, some Jews openly began speaking of a rebellion which combined with severe equipment losses and many troops logging off for the night made Ghoul himself lose hope in achieving any positive result. Meanwhile, Teutonica went over to the offensive, proceeding to besiege and sack Jerusalem, with ease as the Jews were left practically helpless and gearless. Expecting an impending invasion of Carthage's capital city and her doom, Ghoul was bewildered by Teutonica's openness to negotiations and Carthage got peace in exchange for a mere pledge of non-aggression towards Teutonica.
+Another major flashpoint came as Carthage received reports of troubles in the Eastern Mediterranean, involving Jerusalem and Teutons. Details on what exactly occurred and who sparked the conflict are murky, it is also unknown if Teuton raiders were fully aware of the consequences of harassing Jerusalem. Ghoul, confident in Carthaginian military prowess and eager to start another campaign, decided to make an example of Teutonica, launching a full-scale invasion into Central Europe, which was somewhat outside of Carthage's usual theatre of operations and without any friendly bases in the vicinity. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the first rally of Carthage was sizeable and quite easily stormed through the walls of Teutonica's Dansekorra. The lightning offensive was stopped in its tracks, however, by the iteration Head Admin, Swiss Dave, who believed the war to be illegal and himself went around the battlefield killing the invaders in god mode. Eventually, after receiving explanations on casus belli, he allowed the war to continue, but by that time, the Carthaginian momentum had evidently stalled, and Teutonica was more prepared to meet the invader. Waves after waves of Carthaginian assaults stubbornly carried out on Ghoul's orders, were repulsed, which resulted in the growing dissatisfaction with his command. As the night progressed, several Jews openly began speaking of a rebellion which combined with severe equipment losses and many troops logging off for the night made Ghoul himself lose hope in achieving any positive result. Meanwhile, Teutonica went over to the offensive, proceeding to besiege and sack Jerusalem, with ease as the Jews were left practically helpless and gearless. Expecting an impending invasion of Carthage's capital city and her doom, Ghoul was bewildered by Teutonica's willingness to open negotiations and Carthage got peace in exchange for a mere pledge of non-aggression towards Teutonica.
+Although Carthage escaped a total disaster, the Jerusalem Jews, discontent and disillusioned with Ghoul's leadership accused him of betrayal as no Carthaginian aid whatsoever was sent to assist Jerusalem in her one-sided struggle against Teutonica. Although Ghoul maintained there was no aid to be sent as Carthage's own stockpile was utterly depleted, the conflict could not be avoided, and the Jews rose in the Maccabean Revolt. Ravaged Jerusalem was abandoned and the Jews originally moved to the Balearic Islands, granted to them by Rome's second-in-command and a staff member Edrahil, a prominent Ghoul enemy with whom he clashed already back in 2.0. Western Mediterranean location was not attainable for a now openly anti-Carthaginian faction, however, as Carthage, even despite the loss of the vital part of her army with the Maccabean Revolt, still boasted considerable military strength. Ghoul's rapid action to dislodge the Jews before they had a chance to establish themselves in the Balearics properly met with success and the Maccabeans subsequently had to flee the entire region of the Mediterranean for fear of Carthaginian raids.
+Despite increasingly precarious international and domestic standing, Ghoul continued his hyper-aggressive policy in a bid to make up for a disastrous Teutonic War and for Carthage to regain some of her former authority. Celtiberia's Beef was seen as an increasingly erratic partner and suspected of colluding with the Maccabeans. In conjunction with Teutonica, which was then harassed by Beef, Ghoul declared war on Celtiberia, and combined forces, consisting mainly of Teutonic troops, besieged and ruined the tribal nation, burning the sacred Celtic tree. Beef's frantic interventions to Carthage's two other Councillors almost caused a complete collapse at Carthage's high command, as Ghoul was accused of unjustifiable betrayal of his former ally, his unilateral decision to start war deemed illegal and autocratic. Ghoul managed to navigate this crisis, however, his relationship with other Councillors, especially Jurri, remained highly strained.
+Celtiberian War was catastrophic in its implications for Carthage, as she contributed to the ruination of her only, if uncertain, ally in the Mediterranean. The Celtiberian leadership resettled to Epirus in Greece and vowed revenge. Although Carthage still commanded considerable manpower, she now faced potentially overwhelming odds, with the Maccabean revolts and her old enemy Rome joined by Epirus. Attempts to nip the Greek issue in the bud failed, and the vast anti-Carthaginian forces eventually laid siege to the server's largest city. Facing impending defeat, Ghoul resorted to the use of combat hacks(which he also did several other times during the iteration, as did other parties), was caught red-handed and thereby banned from /int/craft. Carthage was subsequently disbanded and the city deserted.
+=== Exile ===
+Ghoul's break from 3.0 did not last long, as in a few days after his ban he came back on an alt account(/int/craft was back then still in offline mode, therefore alting necessitated a mere change of nickname before logging on). His first target was a British town, formerly a possession of the Roman Republic, with which he had a feud for earlier insults thrown at him and Carthage. He was invited into the town, and as its inhabitants logged off for the night he stole its valuables and cobblemonstered its premises. Afterwards, Ghoul managed to infiltrate the Roman Republic, feigning interest in building up its military force, as Rome was plagued by the constant threat of the then-raging Norse. Ghoul attempted to fight off the Norse and intervene in the British Isles to restore some Roman influence there and also built a Roman-style military camp(castrum) in south France. His mission to strike at the Norse in their Scandinavian bases failed, and the Norse retaliated with deadly force to besiege and swiftly capture his military camp.
+Concluding that his Roman operation was likely to remain unproductive, Ghoul moved on to infiltrate the rising powerhouse of the Norse. He was admitted to one of the lesser towns and thereby joined the Norse on their raids, including gruelling cross-Siberia assaults against Japan. He also took part in the vain effort to defend almost unmanned Thule from a large(10+) Japanese attack.