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6/01/06 TAO: POET STATE

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT: Overview

RECORDED YEARS: (1 � 3000) THE WARLORD ERA

Warlords governed Tao first. They were highly territorial. Acquiring as much desirable property was their primary goal. Producing vast stockpiles of weapons was essential. Recruiting strong males was also necessary. Soldiers were often lured away from other warlords with the offer of wives and/or a deed to a parcel of land. Dozens of warlords came and went during this savage period in Tao�s history. At any given time the current factions who competed for land often had similar assets and resources, making their power struggles occur at regular intervals year after bloody year. Any land one group gained was eventually lost to one of the others. An alliance between the various warlords was never formed out of mistrust, even though such a strategy would have given their collective group a clear advantage over all the others. Their era of turmoil lasted three thousand years at which point the Power of Strength to rule fought its final battle. The warrior system defeated itself during a mighty clash involving all twenty of the last factions. The warlords, as well as countless soldiers, were buried by the war-weary survivors. The aggressors who remained alive were too few to cause further chaos. Threats of war fell out of favor. Tao was ready for a new order. More detailed records of the various warlords and their territories are given in the chapter entitled, Power of Strength, listed later in the Historical Account section.

RECORDED YEARS: (3000 � 4000) THE SCIENTIFIC ERA

The greatest minds of Tao seized control of the fractured state after the warlords fell: mathematicians, scientists and engineers � scholars who had formed an underground faction of their own behind the backs of the warlords for decades. They claimed the right to govern Tao by their ability to peaceably cooperate with each other and by the Power of Intellect. Sixty-seven of their numbers quickly formed a parliament of sorts, a political think tank, which most citizens saw as a good solution to their immediate dilemma. Their first course of action was to wisely do away with the geographical boundaries that took three centuries of bloodshed to establish, forming the one state. Citizens welcomed this new sense of community and were optimistic, at first, by their more civilized system of government. But the scientific parliament�s ideas and policies were not all made for the good of the citizens. The tremendous power they had gained over time made them less humble and cautious than when they first held office. Rules gradually expanded from broad topics of concern to the most personal aspects of life, which led to a clinically controlled state. The scientists lorded over the common folk with laws that restricted life at its most basic levels � laws based on pure logic, numerology, astrology, transcended wisdom, and bizarre principles invented and put forth as legitimate disciplines. Life in Tao moved drudgingly along by the efficient and concise systematic procedures. The parliament made every attempt to justify the need for new improved policies, as well as inform the public of their scientific breakthroughs. But few citizens could comprehend their jargon or discoveries, so they discontinued their public lecture series outright. Soon afterward the scientists became a secretive subgroup - nearly a subspecies - with little interest in caring for those Taoists beneath their level of intelligence. They were content to exchange and hoard their progressively more complex ideas. Daily life went on despite the absence of new policies or statements made by parliament. Most citizens remembered the ten years that followed their parliament�s silence as precarious but good times. They were not closely policed anymore, so procedures were no longer being followed to the letter. No one could have foreseen what happened next. The sudden departure of Tao�s intellects came about early one morning. The scientists had discovered a method of travel beyond the stars. They concentrated on building their ship with no warning of their intentions and their destination was never revealed. Tao was abandoned all at once in a fiery blaze as the enormous space rocket launched skyward. Onlookers thought the gleaming object was a weapon sent to destroy them. Later they learned it was actually a vessel filled by their ruling class. More detailed records of these various individuals and their lives are given in the chapter entitled, Power of Intellect, listed later in the Historical Account section.

RECORDED YEARS: (4000 � 4200) THE INTERIM STATE

Abandoned by their parliament, Tao�s keenest minds, the state became governed by regional administrators for the next two hundred years. These remaining inhabitants felt deeply inadequate for the task ahead. They reflected on the past and consoled their fears about the future with provocative music, essays and poetry. Free speech caught on like wild fire. Small press publications sprang up everywhere, producing editorials and poetry written by anyone who had something to say. Public performances by musicians of all styles were also a byproduct of the interim state. Writers eventually shared the stage alongside the musicians as they recited a mixture of optimistic and glum pieces for all to hear, to read and to contemplate. Eventually, the artists� community, and their followers, divided into two separate factions that no longer supported both views. While many Taoists associated with the doom sayers the majority followed the more upbeat hope seers. Public debates became as common a scene on the stages as the musicians and poets were. Competition for space and time along these free speech circuits was growing. More detailed records of these various individuals and their lives are given in the chapter entitled, The Interim State, listed later in the Historical Account section.

RECORDED YEARS: (4200 � present) THE POET STATE

During the interim years there was always an underlying desire to find Tao new and trustworthy leadership. When the 200th Annual Poetry Contest was being held, it was suggested by the popular writers of the time that poets possessed greater insight into life than the average citizen, thereby having the right to rule Tao by the Power of Verse. The doom sayers had already lost much of their popularity by this time, since no major calamity had befallen Tao in two hundred years as they had predicted. When the hope seers considered what form of government to adopt for this unique approach to leadership they settled on a single individual. One poet would be elected to the seat of power by virtue of writing the most appealing poems. They were already known for their work on various topics such as the quality of life, ongoing and current political issues: trade, laws and education. Each Poet Lord or Lady would hold the position of Chief Administrator for one year. The local administrators would work through them. The Chief Poet acted as a mediator for all of Tao, and not as a dictator. They were required to move into one of three keeps located in separate regions, living away from the Taoists they grew up with and once affiliated with. This was needed in order to maintain fair policies. Each Chief Poet was given the opportunity to remain in office by entering new poems for the annual contest in hopes of winning the next election. More detailed records of the various poets and their lives are given in the chapter entitled, Power of Verse, listed later in the Historical Account section.

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT: Power of Strength (1 � 3000) THE WARLORD ERA (give individual accounts and portraits of several dozen warlords� lives)
Example: (Lord�s name) held the lands of (name) in the northwest region of Tao from the years 1 � 22. His army numbered 4600 at their greatest strength, weapons included�

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT: Power of Intellect (3000 � 4000) THE SCIENTIFIC ERA (give accounts and portraits of several dozen scholars� lives, show the spaceship)
Example: (Name), a mathematician, held a seat in parliament from the years 3000 � 3045, during which time he established the rules of commerce for all of Tao�

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT: The Interim State (4000 � 4200) THE INTERIM STATE (give an account and images of daily life during these times)

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT: Power of Verse (4200 � present) THE POET STATE (give individual accounts and portraits/photos of the poets� lives and writings)
Examples: (Lord�s name) won the first election in the year 4200 for his poems on Life�s Purpose (portrait of writer, poems listed, brief bio of their life in Tao�) (Lady�s name) won the second election in the year 4201 for her poems on Joy (portrait of writer, poems listed, brief bio of their life in Tao�)

Andrée Gendron [2]

3/01/04 3-PART ALTRASIAN PROJECT

Guide to Altrasian Gods and Deities

This is based on the various magical and mystical creatures that I created in the Altrasian poetry for CC based & inspired by the Altrasian illustrations by Cathy Buburuz in CC. At present there are 6 different gods and deities listed in the first two poems, "Tree of Being and Solere." Those are already taken by myself for this project. What I would like to see this guide encompass is new gods and deities along with illustrations. The format is similiar to your basic dictionary in structure. In writing the poetry I used a dictionary of mythology for ideas in creating the Altrasian gods and deities.

Guide to Altrasian Fauna and Flora

This guide is based upon the creatures and plants I created based and inspired by the Altrasian illustrations by Cathy Buburuz in CC. Including the three new Altrasian poems recently submitted by myself to CC. The basic structure of this guide will br similiar to a field guide for birds, for example. Each entry will have a scientific "Latin" name, basic physical description, mating habits, what it eats, range of habitat, genus, family and species, ect. For the plants, similiar to a gardener's flower guide, growing season, physical characteristics, and habitat. Also illustrations are welcome. In creating the scientific names, I combined different scientific names together to create a name unique to Altrasia. An example: In the poem, "Tree of Being" in CC, the name "Wiccawistra" is a combination of "wicca" and "Wisteria." I choose wicca because of the basis of Wiccans being connected to their natural surroundings in thier belief. Wisteria was choosen because the plant in Cathy's illustration reminded me of a Wisteria tree.

Map of Altrasia

This is based on the different habitats I created for the creatures in my Altrasian poems. It will be a basic geographical map of the entire world of Altrasia. The geography is similiar to the variety of Earth. But small detailed sectional illustrations would be welcome too.

- Keith Sikora [3]  [see CMP #4 in Active Projects]

7/18/01 - WHAT'S IN A NAME? Create phrases using the letters in girl's and boy's names from A to Z. (ERIN = Especially Rambunctious In Nature.....ROSS = Ray of Sweet Sunshine. Club artists could illustrate them. The completed list could (upon group approval) be submitted to various gift companies that produce wall plaques or T-shirts. If any ideas sold, the money would go to the individual authors who wrote them, or to the artists who drew them. - Andrée Gendron [1]

08/16/01 - I was thinking that we could each create a planet's culture within a solar system. We could also work in teams to do this, with one person creating the ecostructure, another the political structure, etc. - Terrie Relf [0]

08/29/01 - I propose for a book entitled Plantasmagoria of carnivorous flora one might encounter on another world, complete with sketches, artwork, and of course hypothetical classification and description of the plants themselves. - Tyree Campbell [3]  [see CMP #3 in Active Projects]

09/06/01 - THE FIRST SOLAR SPACE WAR! [One and a half billion years B.C.] There was a time when there was life on Mars. There was a time when there was life on Callisto. There was a time when Callisto was an inhabited world, inhabited by humanoids; and it orbited the sun between Mars and Terra. The two civilizations were space oriented civilizations and each planet was overpopulated as is now the case on Terra. There was a time when both planetary civilizations coveted the primitive Terra for habitation. This was the time and the reason that the first Solar Space war began. At this time the war was fought to total extinction by both civilizations, except for the settling of Atlantis on Terra by the Callistoans. At this time the Martian scientists were able to cause the spatial dislocation of Callisto. Mars was losing the war. Mars was losing its atmosphere, therefore its inhabitants. All Martians knew that it was just a short time before they would all be dead; but, they determined to take the Callistoans with them into extinction. Mars was losing the war and Callisto was almost totally intact and they were reveling in their anticipated victory. It was so near, so very near. But then overnight the planet's gravitational snag to the sun was momentarily severed; not long, just long enough for Callisto to start wavering, staggering in and out of orbit and to start speeding out of the Solar System. Its slingshot effect was long enough that Jupiter's gigantic gravitational pull gradually pulled the bare ball that was now Callisto in and around its vast bulk, making Callisto a moon of Jupiter...one among many. During the ordeal, the planet had lost its atmosphere as it had caused Mars to do, and the inhabitants of both warring planets were now dead of oxygen starvation.

IN 2091 A.D. an Earth-consortium spaceship went to Europa with the intent to explore and to mine the seas of Europa. The first Terran space-miners, they introduced a very powerful, localized blast of gravitational distortion, pushing aside the ice and water down to the bedrock of the ocean floor. The energy required for the heavy gravitational blast was enormous and lasted less than a minute. But a short time was all the tie that was required as the separated walls of water were exposed to the zero gravity of space, freezing the water walls into ice walls, creating the deep well, an ingress to the ocean floor. There was a foreign object down there. It was large enough that the naked eye could make out its contours. Subsequently it was determined to be a huge spaceship, an ancient spaceship of unknown origin and of very advanced design. - Jim B. Baker [4]  [see CMP #1 in Active Projects]

09/23/01 - FANTASY FOLK COLLECTION - create short stories, poetry, and artwork about familiar and not so familiar fantasy characters for a children's book. - Andrée Gendron [3]  [see CMP #2 in Active Projects]