Post by sphinx on Oct 13, 2010 1:24:02 GMT -5
(((My Reflection)))
Nation: Egypt
Name: Gupta Muhammad Hassan
Gender: Male
Appearance Age: Mid twenties
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Gold
Height: 5'6
Weight: 130
Appearance: Egypt is a thin male with tan skin. You could almost call him lanky in appearance. He wears a khaki uniform, and his head is almost always covered with a white keffiyeh. Under that keffiyeh of his, he has messy dark brown, almost black hair. His eyes seem to compliment his skin, for they are golden in color.
As a more relaxing style of dress for him, he prefers white robes and even as a secret section in his closet for his more comfortable dance clothing. When in the comfort of his own home, he walks around shirtless and only wears white baggy pants or a towel around his waist. (Usually the towel is worn when's he eagerly heading for the bathhouse or its to hot to wear clothing)
His skin is unusually soft though his feet are rough. On many occasions he walks around bear foot which has toughened the souls of his feet. He is also man who does a lot with his hands. From building to pottery, his hands have taken a lot of beatings and usually would be rough. He never wears gloves, but every night he takes extra care of his hands to keep them from drying out. The reason his skin is so healthy is probably because of his country's fertile land and the Nile river giving his land nourishment. Without these two he would have a rough time keeping his skin nourished, and would most likely have dry cracking skin.
Its also noted he wears a single golden earring, and occasionally wears golden bracelets around his wrists, as well as around his upper arms. As much as he would like to, he doesn't spoil himself with accessories when he goes out. He finds it easier to blend in with a crowd rather than try to out shine them.
(((Know Thyself )))
Personality:
Isolation
He rarely speaks, for he feels he has no need to. Though he enjoys making friends, he lacks the basic communication skills. His remarks are usually short, sweet, and to the point unless he feels he needs to go further to insure there is an understanding. When he’s embarrassed his voice raises in pitch and it’s not hard to make him blush. He blames it all on his shy nature, but has a rough time trying to fix the problem. ‘To be as confident and cunning as my mother, that’s what I hope to be.’ He has a long way to go.
Mysterious
Egypt is a very quiet, mysterious being. He comes off as stubborn at times, but is rather friendly. He speaks only when he finds is necessary, and doesn’t mind taking out his simple frustrations on others. Usually he mutters a soft curse and is on his way. He has developed a nasty habit of actually cursing those who touch his belongings (he is overly protective of his Anubis as well as his pyramids.) It’s not uncommon or overzealous visitors to go missing with in his chambers. Usually within a week or two they turn up again with no more ill will cast towards them, unless they further provoke Gupta.
Mothers boy
The mention of his mother is a touchy subject in his minds eye. Though sometimes his reactions are comical, other times just the mere mention of his mother bothers him and causes him to wander off to an isolated part of the town to sulk. To him, she was elegance and greatness. She also had a confident personality and has served as a major role model for Egypt. (He hopes to become better than she, even he realizes she had her downfalls. He hopes to correct those through out his lifetime)
Envy
Constant sunshine can do some people good, but for Gupta its bothersome. He enjoys rain, and water. For example he could spend countless hours in a bath house (alone preferably) and just let his mind wander. Like the mention of his mother, rain is a touchy subject. He is some what envious of those who get rain consistently.
Greed
Under his quiet exterior, Gupta has a desire to collect gold and historical artifacts. During a dig he takes most of the joys for himself (he fears others will damage the items that he believes were his mothers). Also a bad habit of his includes picking up dropped coins, jewelry, and other small golden pieces. He is slowly breaking that habit.
Unreal
Egypt rarely opens up to anyone except his pet jackal, Anubis. Anubis has seen every side of Egypt, the harsh nights he cried over loss, those stressful days when nothing seemed to go right and all Gupta could do was curse the world, and of course those playful moments in Egypt's life. The playful side is usually revealed in the confines of his own home. From dancing to romping, it’s almost unrealistic that Egypt is capable of such things. He enjoys racing Anubis, wrestling around with him, and just sitting around and telling stories of his mothers past to his animal friend.
Likes:
★ Anubis
★ Gaining allies/friends
★ Picking on Italy
★ Gold
★ Art and architecture
★ Light rain
★ Archaeological work and studies
Dislikes:
✖ Illness, plague
✖ Anyone touching his Anubis
✖ "Walk Like An Egyptian" Song.
✖ Loud/Obnoxious behavior
✖ Eyeliner..
✖ Sand Storms
✖ Being mistaken for a young boy, rather than a man.
✖ Calling Sadiq ‘Father’
Fears:
☣ Black Death
☣ Foreign invasion
☣ Loss of culture, and mothers beliefs
☣ Someone discovering his dancing hobby and mocking how feminine his movements are.
☣ Being the "love child" between Sadiq and Greece.
Secrets:
♦ He finds delight in placing curses on people who annoy him or who have done him wrong. Though some of his economy replies on tourists admiring his precious Pyramids and Great Sphinx, he finds further delight in muttering incomprehensible curses to frighten off 'pig headed Americans' and 'unruly Danish men'.
♦ He was a bit of a mothers boy, and frequently reminisces about her. Constantly he is working along side his country's human inhabitants to find more of her beautiful art work and historical creations. When someone mentions his mother, he either falls in to a light depression or wanders off in to his inner thoughts to day dream about her.
♦ As much as he loves art, drawing, making pots, and other hobbies, when no one is looking, he sometimes practices the dancing styles of not only his own people, but other cultures. He finds American 'hip hop' music and dance to be the most annoying and difficult (he prefers fluid, slower movements). Despite how unnerved he is around 'papa' Turkey, he admires some of his culture. He hopes to master different dances from around the world in the solitude of his own home.
Strengths:
★ Friendly
★ Famed ancient civilization
★ Military (Gives him physical strength)
★ Nile river and its fertile banks (give him strength and hope for his country)
★ Isolated country difficult to invade (can also make him feel rather lonely at times)
★ Writes and records everything, Scribe. (Give him much knowledge)
Weaknesses:
✖ Stubborn
✖ Shy
✖ Economy (Reason he is so small and thin)
✖ Lack of rain fall (Makes him depressed at times)
✖ Isolated (Lacks general communication skills)
(((The Pages of History )))
History:
3100 (?) - Narmer, unifies Upper and Lower Egypt under his rule, and inaugurates Pharaonic dynasties.
2650 (?) - Djoser builds the first pyramid.
The Pyramids
2600 (?) - The great pyramid builders.
2184 - Fall of Old Kingdom by the death of Pepi II and the country plunges into the First Intermediate Period.
1570 - Ahmose I finishes expulsion of Hyksos, ends the Second Intermediate Period, and inaugurates the Middle Kingdom.
1483 - Queen Hatshepsut dies, succeeded by her stepson Thutmose II who later leads one of most successful campaigns in Asia.
1350 - Akhenaten, who found the monotheistic cult of Aten ascends throne.
1325 - Death of Tutankhamun, the famous king whose tomb was fond intact in the Valley of the Kings.
1278 - Death of Seti I, one of the great Pharaoh builders and military campaigners.
Ramesses II, Pharaoh Triumphant
1279 - 19th Dynasty Ramesses II, the mightiest of Egyptian kings, acceds to power, rules for 67 prosperous years.
1069 - The Third Intermediate Period begins. Amun Priests split the country.
925 - Sheshonq, king of Egypt, marches into Palestine, defeats kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
664 - Assyrians take over Memphis and practice an overlordship of Egypt.
525 - Persian King Cambyses conquers Egypt.
343 - Egypt falls to the second Persian invasion. The last Pharaoh, Nectanebo II, falls.
Alexander conquers Egypt
332 - Alexander the Great enters Egypt and found Alexandria.
305 - Ptolemy I becomes Egypt's line to become the first of the Ptolemies family line.
30 B.C. - Anthony and Cleopatra VII commit suicide by a cobra snakebite, Egypt falls to Roman Empire.
67 A.D. - Saint Mark, the evangelist who brought Christianity to Egypt, martyrs in Alexandria.
251 - Birth of Saint Anthony, the founder of monasticism.
284 - Diocletian becomes emperor of Rome. His era saw one of greatest persecutions of Christians. Many Egyptian martyrs fall.
292 - Birth of Saint Pachomious, the founder of cenobitic monasticism
306 - Constantine the Great, the first Roman Christian emperor, ascends throne granting religious rights to citizens of the empire, including Egypt, at 313.
451 - The Church of Alexandria proclaimed heretic by the Council of Chalcedon, dividing Christianity in the Mediterranean.
619 - Persians invade Egypt for a short period of 10 years.
Arabs take Egypt
641 - Egypt falls to the Arabs led by commander Amr Ibn El-Ãs, ending the Byzantine presence in Egypt.
750 - Abbasid General Saleh seizes city of Al-Fustat, then capital of Egypt, ending the control of Ummayad dynasty.
868 - Ahmed ibn Tulun founds Tulunid dynasty.
935 - Mohamed ibn Toghg Al-Ikhshid founds the Ikhshidid rule.
969 - General Gawhar Al-Sekelli commands the Fatimid invasion of Egypt and founds Cairo after defeating the Ikhshidids.
970 - Fatimids found the great mosque of Al-Azhar.
996 - Fatimid Caliph Al-Aziz dies, succeeded by his 11-year old son, Al-Hakim, the so-called Mad Caliph.
1005 - Al-Hakim founds the Wisdom House (Beit Al-Hekma), as a center for learning science and theology.
1007 - A severe famine that hit Egypt.
1017 - Al-Hakim is claimed to be an incarnation of god by his vizier Darazi.
1021 - Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim disappears.
1118 - Crusaders launch their first yet unsuccessful attack on Egypt.
Saladdin, an Islamic hero
1171 - End of Shi'ite Fatimid rule by the death of the last Caliph. Few years later Saladin takes control and restores the Sunni faith.
1187 - Famous battle of Hittin. Saladin seizes Jerusalem and many provinces from Crusaders.
1192 - Peace treaty between Saladin and Crusaders recognizes his gains and leave some a coastal strip of land for crusaders.
1193 - Saladin dies of fever at 55 years old.
1250 - After the death of Ayyubid Sultan Al-Saleh, his wife Shagaret Al-Dorr succeeds to defeat the invading troops of crusaders.
1250 - Shagaret El-Dorr ascends power to be the first and only female ruler in Egypt's Islamic history for only 80 days before she marries a Mamluk. Her rule marks the beginning of a new era of Mamluk rule.
1257 - Shagaret El-Dorr has her husband Aybak killed. She, herself, gets killed by Aybak's fellow Mamluks.
1258 - Monguls led by Hulegu destroy Baghdad, kill the caliph and end the Abbasid caliphate on their way to fight Mamluks of Egypt.
1260 - Mamluk Sultan Qutuz defeats Monguls in the famous battle of Ain Galout. Qutuz killed the same year by Baybars.
1272 - Baybars engage in a peace treaty with Crusaders.
1279 - Death of Baybars, one of the greatest Mamluk fighters.
1291 - Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil attacks Acre, ending the presence of Crusaders in the Holy Land.
1348 - The Black Death hits Egypt, decimating much of the population.
1382 - A Mamluk named Barquq seizes throne to inaugurate a new era of rule shifting power from Bahari Mamluks to Burgi Mamluks.
1488 - Route of Cape of Good Hope discovered, Egypt start to lose tolls levied on convoys passing through Egyptian lands.
1516 - Marj Dabek battle near Aleppo between Ottoman and Mamluk armies, Mamluks gravely defeated and their commander Sutlan El-Gouri dies in the battle.
1517 - Ottoman Sultan Selim the Grim invades Egypt and hangs Mamluk Sultan Tuman Bey II, annexing Egypt to the Ottoman Empire.
1522 - Khair Bey, a Mamluk traitor, appointed first governor of Egypt.
1768 - Attempt of independence from Ottoman control by Ali Bey the Elder.
Napoleon invades Egypt
1798 - Napoleon Bonaparte invades Egypt, British Admiral Nelson sinks the French fleet anchored in Abu Kir bay.
1801 - March - French troops evacuate from Egypt ending the French expedition.
1805 - Mohamed Ali, father of modern Egypt, installed as wali of Egypt.
1807 - Britain launches unsuccessful attack against Egypt.
1811 - Mohamed Ali eliminates threat of Mamluks, slaughtering 470 in the Citadel.
1818 - Ibrahim Pacha, son of Mohamed Ali, defeats Wahhabi movement in the Arabian Peninsula and seizes most of Arabia.
Republic declared
Mohamed Ali, modernizer of Egypt
1831 - Mohamed Ali begins military campaign directed against the Ottoman Porte.
1841 - "Treaty of London" clinched between Western powers, provinces taken away from Mohamed Ali control.
1848 - Abbas succeeds his grandfather, Mohamed Ali, as ruler, and one year later Mohamed Ali dies.
1863 - Said Pacha who ruled since 1854 dies, succeeded by Ismail.
1867 - Title of Egypt's viceroy changes to "Khedive," a Persian word means ruler.
1869 - Suez Canal inaugurated in a splendid ceremony.
1879 June - Ottoman Sultan deposes Khedive Ismail, his son Tawfik replaces him in post.
1882 11 July - British fleet bombards Alexandria.
1882 14 September - Cairo falls to the British occupation, one day after the defeat of nationalist Ahmed Orabi in El-Tal El-Kebir battle.
Six-day war
1892 - Khedive Tawfik dies, succeeded by his son Abbas II Helmy.
1906 - Dinshway incident happen, provokes anger of nationalists, especially Mustafa Kamel.
1908 - Mustafa Kamel, famous Egyptian nationalist, dies of tuberculosis, after forming the Nationalist Party a year earlier.
1914 - Britain overthrows Khedive Abbas Helmy and installs his uncle Hussein Kamel in preparations for the World War I.
1917 - King Fuad comes to power after the death of his brother Sultan Hussein.
Yom Kippur
1919 March - People revolt over deportation of famous nationalist Saad Zagloul.
1922 - Egypt gains independence from Britain.
1936 April - King Fuad dies and succeeded by his son Farouk.
1948 - Arab countries led by Egypt attack newly born state of Israel, suffering defeat.
1952 July - Coup d'état by Free Officers deposing King Farouk.
Sadat assassinated
1953 June - Egypt proclaimed republic.
1954 - British forces start to evacuate Egypt.
Gamal Abdel Nasser
1956 - Nasser becomes president and nationalizes Suez Canal to raise funds for the High Dam..
1956 October - Britain, France and Israel launch the Tripartite invasion in retaliation over Nasser's Suez Canal nationalization.
1967 6 June - Israel launches the Six-Day war, seizing Sinai, West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights.
1970 September - President Nasser dies, succeeded by Sadat.
1973 6 October - Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack against Israel.
1976 June - Formation of political party introduced.
1979 March - Camp David peace accord clinched between Egypt and Israel..
1981 6 October - Sadat assassinated by terrorists.
1981 October - Mubarak elected president by a referendum..
1995 - Mubarak escapes an assassination attempt by fundamentalists in Addis Ababa.
'Allies':
- Libya
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Morocco
- Sudan
- Russia- (Main ally)
- Argentina
- Canada
- United States- Mutual Respect
Enemies:
- Isreal (Very shaky relationship despite the signing of a peace treaty.)
- France (Brief)
- Britian (Brief)
Sample Post:
1781- Under Ottoman Rule
Egypt’s cat like, golden eyes narrowed as an older man beckoned him over. It was not because of the request that Egypt was annoyed; no it was because the male had called him ‘boy’. Gupta was fully capable of performing adult tasks, in all actuality he was an adult. No longer suffering through the hormonal imbalance of a teen’s appearance, he believed he held the more sophisticated look of a man in his early twenties. Of course, he was much older than he appeared. However his female like qualities (mostly in the face), thin body, and lack of speech lead passer byes to think one of two things. He was a strangely dressed female, or he was a young boy. Gupta spent countless ages dealing with people who thought he were a young boy that roamed the streets to collect messages for their leader. Only a few humans knew him as the human representation of their country. Due to this, he was declared the kings 'messenger boy'.
“Boy give this to our king.” The old man commanded rather than asked while handing the ‘messenger’ a piece of paper folded in to a small square. Gupta was usually given several of these a day, many of which were never read by his leader. Being a man of few words, Egypt couldn’t deny these requests from his people. It would be pointless as well as make him seem arrogant to believe there was nothing wrong with his country when, in all actuality, there was plenty. So, even when their leader Mohamed Yakin Pasha did not read the simple requests of ‘his’ people, Gupta did. Every now and then the request would be easy enough for Gupta himself to solve, but others such as illness were issues that were simply of his control.
It wasn’t long before Gupta left the old man to his own devises. Rarely did he communicate openly with others. He was shy in nature, and even though he watched a lot of these people grow up he never found the nerve to talk to all of them. Some called him mysterious, stubborn, but to him he was just too shy. Except with him. One Turk, as annoying as his nature sometimes was, always got a mild if not an angry reaction out of Gupta. Sadiq, on more than one occasion had he declared irrelevant, illogical demands of Egypt. Once such demand he made every time the two were in contact with one another. The demand was for Guta to think of Sadiq as his father figure. On each of these occasions, his beautiful mother come in to mind being ravaged by this man which in turn let Gupta with a strange taste in his mouth. Despite his behavior, sometimes ude nature, and disturbing demands, Gupta did not hate Sadiq. Of course, the ‘little’ Egyptian boy would never openly admit this.
To further displease Egypt, Sadiq was one of the few people who could get Gupta to talk. Not open up, just use more than one word to briefly describe his personal opinion.
“Perhaps if his unbearable behavior were put in check, I might actually look up to him,” he mutterd softly while continuing down the dusty road. It had been exceptionally dry as of late, which wasn’t fairing well with the Egypt or its people.
Sooner than expected, Gupta’s walk was put on hold as dog like creature approaches. It’s thin body and long legs gave it a walk that could rival a dancers and though it’s black fur was very short, the animal was soft to touch. As it approached the corners of Gupta’s lips twitched slightly as if he were about to smile. He hated being separated from his animal companion. Anubis was his name. Gupta had found the jackal while exploring one of his mother’s pyramids. Since then the two have been great friends. However when Anubis finally stopped in front of Egypt, something about the creature’s attitude threw him off. Anubis was overly rambunctious, this usually happened when their leader was in a fit, Sadiq was visiting, or a war were about to break lose. Gupta was sure it had to do with their leader.
Looks like my expedition is to be out on halt... His shoulders slumped as that thought crossed his mind. He was getting so close to discovering a new book of curses, a book he hoped contained something of interest to cast on Sadiq when he wasn’t looking. The harmless spells were usually the most amusing, for example a spell to make someone sneeze every time their name was spoken out of ear shot. It was a rumor, but to find a curse that actually did such a thing? Gupta would find joy in watching the Sadiq sneeze constantly in-between important phrases or sentences. The only down fall, Gupta would have to say his name over, and over again.
“What a down side that will be.” Anubis did not need to hear the rest of the sentence to have an idea of what his ‘master’ was thinking. The jackal knew Egypt to well to be thrown off by suck a string of words, but sadly he could not voice his opinion on the matter. So, to appease its master, Anubis jerked his head in understanding before he joined his master. Within moments Gupta would be thrown in to the mayhem his leader was hoping to create, but despite this he wore a rare smile on his lips. In the end, the wait will surely be worth it.
Did you read the rules and Dark Reflections Canon? I tried, but fell asleep half way through and had the strangest dream of mother Egypt inviting me to swim in the Nile River. Strange enough, it was full of Italian Pasta rather than water! Maybe its a sign...
Random fun fact about yourself:
I have a short temper where it comes to video games, my dogs just sit and stare at me like I'm some kind of babbling primate of sort! Though because of my voice (which is very childish) people around me laugh finding my temper amusing. (They also laugh when I curse!)