Lords of the Earth Campaign One An Age of Air and Steam Turn 210 Anno Domini 1749 – 1750

Turn 211 Orders Due By Friday, March 8^th, 2002

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North Asia

Mercenaries	Minimum bid listed in [x].
Condotierri	5i, 2a [1gp each]
Captains	Saigo Tsugumichi (M968) [5gp] (in Bandar) Bantag Yen (MB77) [10gp] (in Zagros)
To hire, please contact…	Pacific Mercenary and Trust Corporation
Quality Ratings	i15 w15 s18 c12 a12 z3

Tokugawa Japan (Shinto, Tokushima on Shikoku)

Kii Yoshimune, Shogun of All Nippon, Daimyo of Manila, King of the Phillipines, The Sea-Spear, Monster-Slayer.

Diplomacy Nagasaki in Kagoshima(nt)

The industrial suburbs of Edo continued to hum with activity – a new naval yard opened, and (despite efforts to keep things hush-hush) a sprawling new complex of airship hangars, hydrogen separation tanks and workshops filled the fields near the village of Michida. The tongues of tired, frost-bitten sailors wagged as well (so much sake, so many geishas!) leading to rumors of hazardous expeditions into the northern Ice and battles against horrific, inhuman monstrosities.

Pacific Mercenary & Trust (Shinto, Kryztn on Luzon)

Juchen Agoi, President and Executive officer

Diplomacy Port Kolos in Sakalava(ci), Mexicalli in Boruca(bo), Medan in the Marianas(ci)

Gainfully employed by the Chinese and the Nisei alike, company shipping was quite busy in the North Pacific, though the sea-lanes to the east were still dangerous. Old Mata, who had been the matriarch of the clan for nearly fifty years, finally died. Lady Kima (who had played second fiddle for so long) breathed a sigh of relief the old witch was dead.

The Pure Realm (Buddhist, Fusan in Silla)

Great Master Wan Ho, Abbot of the Wing Kung Temple of the Greater Vehicle of the Message of the Bodhisattva

Diplomacy Nanling(ch), Kwangsi(mn), Annam(ab), Hunan(mn)

Wan Ho – desirous of fomenting order and harmony among the younger, more rambunctious priests and monks – established a forum of disputation wherein the eager, restless youth could speak their minds and (he hoped) find peace with the world thereby. Preparations were made to welcome the Three Blossoms to holy Fusan, and work continued on the highway leading into Koguryo.

And indeed the Empress of Ming and her two sisters-in-law escaped from Wudan Mountain just ahead of Hongzhi's goony squad and arrived in Fusan with tousled hair, in disguise and full of tales about battling six-armed green men in the wasteland of the Devastation. In the holy city, their good cheer was undampened by the pious mien of so many priests. They sought a little more fun, adventure, and tutelage at the knees of wise men. And yet…

Y - What are we to do? You have heard the rumors from court and the news from around the empire.

N - He is an idiot. And a deceitful murderous idiot at that. You know what needs to be done. This is a critical time. We need a strong hand to guide the empire.

Y - We are but two. (“Three!” Squeaked YG in protest.)

N - Sometimes the strength of one, or two – yes, child, or three – even, may triumph over the strength of many. And it is possible that we may find more allies than you think.

Y - Hmm. So you say. This will not be easy.

N - Let us bide a little while here in Fusan and see what we may see. If the fates send us this task then we must be strong.

The Manchu Mongol Empire (Buddhist, Harbin in Shangtu)

Manchu Ch’ien-Lung , God-Emperor of the Middle-Kingdom

Diplomacy Sikhote(t), Ulan-Ude in Henyitin(c)

Everyone waited around, expecting the God-Emperor to die. He did not, finding their disappointment and perplexed fury entirely amusing. The cities of Adak, Tungur, Amgar and Shenyang expanded. Work began on these ‘ships of the air’ the southerners were always bragging about.

Though the Emperor eyed them with suspicion, the Pure Realm clergy continued to make steady, patient inroads into influencing and directing the religious life of his people. This was made slightly easier by the Jade-sect priests being involved in a massive missionary effort in the far north, on the Dzungur Coast, where the Manchu priests found – to their surprise – a huge number of Japanese and Ming and Pacific Trust troops, engineers, laborers and ships involved in tearing the old FrostWolf city of Drakenroost apart and packing it into crates for shipment.

“Hm,” old priest Ju-ho said, as a Japanese squad charged towards him with a net, “methinks we’re not supposed to see all… this. Oof!”

However, there were so many priests (many fleeter of foot than Ju-ho) and they found good success in converting the barbarous tribesmen to the way of the Enlightened One (and sending back news of what they had found).

Further west, general Chu Lum Lau led a force of 5,000 men through the howling, Ice-tribe-infested wilderness of Henyitin to the isolated (but still defiant) Buddhist city of Ulan-ude, where he received, um, a cold welcome, but was not thrown out into the snow either.

The Kingdom of Prester John (Maclan in Tuhnwhang)

Megan Corrigan, Khagan of Karakocho, The White Goddess, Wolf-Sister of the Altai

Diplomacy Kucha(ea), Sinkiang(a)

The Queen showed great foresight, endowing the scholars of her realm with many pensions, grants and gifts. The city of Maclan expanded, making it one of the largest cities along the Silk Road, and many farms were cut from the dusty soil of Yumen. Megan also removed the disruptive, willful influence of Princess Denise from the court by marrying her off (at a hissing, spitting, sweet sixteen) to the khan of the Sinkiang.

Figure 1. Princess Denise Anna Corrigan in a good mood

The Divine Kingdom of Judah (Pienching in Honan)

Yui-Yen Ben-Yair, The Hand of God, Champion of the Hosts of Christ, Celestial Emperor, huey tlaotani

Diplomacy Langshan(c)

The long-term project to promote Mandarin in the northern provinces bore some fruit, with the city of El’Khudz finally abandoning the use of Arabic. Work of every kind continued, in all towns, provinces and cities. Missionary efforts progressed in El’Khudz – where they went well – and Beijing – where things did not go well. In fact, the city erupted in fierce, sectarian riots over the religious issue. General Han intervened with his army from Kin and crushed the mobs, slaughtering thousands of Buddhists. The situation in the city remained tense.

Ming Chinese Empire (Wuhan in Hupei)

Hongzhi Ying-Kwon, Emperor of China, Hammer of the Barbarians, The Redeemer, Divine Son of Heaven, The Merciless

Diplomacy Laos(nt), Miao-Ling(ea)

After moping around the palace for several months, Ying-Kwon dispatched lord Wun Hong Lo and a regiment of guardsmen with a letter to Wudan Mountain. They returned empty-handed – the ‘three blossoms’ had already left for parts unknown. A great deal of valuable china was broken as a result. Only the news that work had begun in the factory district on a rolling press foundry cheered him up.

The citizens of Lingnan and Kwangsi were (at first) frightened by the appearance of an airship painted like a shark in the skies over Onikowan and Kwangchou; then the ‘pirates’ dropped huge clouds of fluttering leaflets, all brightly printed with marvelous pictures, inviting one and all to attend the “Pirates of Monster Island Pageant” to be held at the Sunda Fairegrounds (down Java-way). All the children wanted to go, but their parents told them they could not – ‘the Javans,’ each mother said in a serious voice, ‘eat little children for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So, no, you may not go.’ There was much weeping and wailing.

After a brief tantrum, the Son of Heaven acknowledged he really had no interest in religious doings as long as the priests bowed before him and let him do his damned job. The result, of course, was the nearly wholesale establishment of direct Pure Realm control over the religious life, temples, schools and monasteries in Ming lands.

In the south, lord Chanitai managed to convince the Laotians to bow down before the Son of Heaven and he sent back some marvelous drawings of the jungle-shrouded, time-lost ruins of Gautamabad. Another Ming lord, Wang Lung, attempted to entice the bandit chieftains of Gouang’xi to join the empire and was murdered and hung out to rot on the battlements of Tianling.

South Asia

Mercenaries	Minimum bid listed in [x].
Condotierri	30c 30i 10a 5s [1gp each]
Captains	Gemish Huorn (M956) [5gp]
To hire, please contact…	None
Quality Ratings	i15 w17 s20 c11 a12 z5

The Thai Empire (Angkor Wat in Khemer)

Ayutthaya Blajakay “Red Hand”, Regent for…

Khejaraja Moldoraja, Emperor of the Khmer

Diplomacy Lampang(very angry natives, embassy on spikes)

Not being the most subtle of rulers, the Red Hand launched into a series of initiatives designed to shatter the power of the great landowners, plantation operations and guilds. At the same time he insulted the Lampang tribes – resulting in another dead ambassador and the prospect of raids out of the northern mountains – and dispatched an army into Samatata, in immediate violation of the compact signed only a few years before with the Yasarids.

The Pure Realm priests continued to cajole and connive their way into positions of power within Thai lands – and the constant pressure of their missionary work in the west meant ever more Buddhists in Arakan, Samatata, Gaur, Assam and the town of Leakai.

General Taqajaya led five thousand men into Samatata, slapped the ill-armed natives about and then found himself entirely bogged down in garrisoning the province^[1]. His hopes of pressing on into the lowlands of the Brahmaputra were dashed.

Hosogawa Borneo (Kozoronden in Sabah)

Hosogawa Suenaga, Daimyo of Kozoronden

Diplomacy No Effect

Efforts by General Yamashita and Admiral Nagumo to extend the daimyo’s control over the southern tribes of Barat and Tengah failed – the Buddhist Khmer-speaking tribesmen had no desire to be ruled by a Japanese-Mongol Oroist expatriate king. Yamashita’s columns were attacked and they drove off the ‘headhunters’ with loss. A number of Ming engineers and craftsmen arrived in Kozoronden to assist the Hosogawa in building a ‘fertilizer plant’ outside the city.

Java (Sunda in Pajajaran)

Pedregon, Great Kahuna of Java, Emperor of the Maori, the Sea Spear

Diplomacy None

The Kahuna, mindful of the importance of history, organized a lavish, spectacular!-spectacular!, historical Pirates of Monster Island Pageant at the Fairegrounds (featuring nearly six thousand performers, astounding animals, contraptions, marvels and shaved Ice cones), drawing visitors from all over Asia and even a few curious fellows from India.

Ming troops under the command of the Duke of Lingsi blockaded the Hainan island ferry off and on throughout ’49 and ’50, causing considerable disruptions in local trade. Shots and occasionally cannonades were exchanged between the Javan garrison and the Chinese ruffians. The Ming garrison was not, however, able to prevent the Javan Aerosquadron based at Yu-Lin from gallivanting here and there, as they pleased.

Routine inspections of cargo in the port at Sunda discovered some AEIC ships handling Arnor trade contained hidden packages wherein many strange idols were found. Further investigations alleged many of the seamen are members of an Ice-related cult. As a precaution, all AEIC shipping entering Javan ports was seized and held until further notice. Pedregon weighed whether to impound and confiscate the ships as well.

The Supreme Primacy of Oro (Fukuzawa in Irith)

Mola ne Wooka, High Priest of the Shark

Diplomacy Pocara in Iriadh(ab), Rabaul on Bismarck(ca)

The Shark-Priests mostly minded their own business, though a lucrative trade in various religious handicrafts began with both the Thai and the Japanese (plus, Austral goods exported under priestly seals from Fukuzawa were exempt from Bakufu taxes.)

The Borang Bakufu (Sakuma in Borang)

Izuryama Jemmu, Daimyo of Borang, Lord of the North, Emperor of Austral

Diplomacy Oanx(ea), Yampi(f)

Though ailing from a nagging corruption, Toho managed to scratch out a last few edicts before suffocating in his own bile. Eromagna was settled to 2 GPv, the provinces of Maree and Teatoora grew fruitful and the city of Iten in Nokama expanded a level. Even the airship yards were kept busy, with two new scout zeppelins finished and assigned to prince Jemmu’s command.

The prince, having some mild foresight, returned to Borang to arrange for matters in the wake of his brother’s death. Though young Kunisada was Toho’s son, Jemmu became the new Emperor and Kunisada his heir. In this way, it was hoped the succession would be protected, as Jemmu had no living sons.

A mild wrangling with the Shark Priests continued. Toho (and then Jemmu after him) wished to limit their powers and restrict the fanaticism inherent in the faith, allowing a more ‘flexible’ view of the world. This led to unavoidable friction between the two parties, but as yet, no open conflict.

Nanhai Wang’guo (Rabaul on Bismarck)

Sugawara Te Anu, Daimyo of the Southern Seas

Diplomacy Wallaroo(a), Toowomba(ea)

After chasing off the southerners and their Borang paymasters, Te Anu returned to Rabaul with his fleet (which grew ever larger) and his battle-hardened veterans. Then everyone was mellow and just sort of hung out.

The Maori Imperium (Joetsura on Te Ika A Maui)

Tinopai Great Tooth, Lord of the Fleet, Emperor of the Maori, Blessed of Oro, The Big Kahuna

Diplomacy Chotan on Attu(f)

Despite the grumbling and general ill-humor of the Great Tooth, his priesthood had come under the influence of the Fukuzawa sect and his people even paid a tithe into Mola’s coffers. Not much of a tithe – salted fish, some timber, a few jades – but still… Luckily, some money came from the Borang, which let Tinopai keep his retainers fed and clothed.

Central Asia and India

Mercenaries	Minimum bid listed in [x].
Condotierri	2hc, 7c, 7i, 5a [2gp each]
Captains	Rajah of Vijashuram (M836) [5gp] Zoloft the Calm (M821) [5gp] Eon of Axum (MB45) [10gp]^[2]
To hire, please contact…	None
Quality Ratings	i16 w20 s17 c11 a13 z6

Shi’a Imamat (Yathrib in Kosala)

Rhemini, Ayatollah of the Shi’a, Voice of Allah

Diplomacy None

Cowered in Yathrib, waiting for either the Hussites or the Buddhists to come knocking… the loss of Chola and Vengi meant more mosques looted, more temple-farms sacked and an ever-shrinking treasury for the ayatollah.

Yasarid India (Yathrib in Kosala)

Abdullah Al-Din, “The Lucky”, Shah of India, Prince of Amon S–l

Diplomacy Gaur(ea)

Struggling to just stay alive in the face of renewed Hussite and Thai aggression, Abdullah squandered the last of his riyals and hired those few mercenaries still to be had in the sub-continent. Efforts to acquire the services of prince Eon failed (sadly for the Moslem cause) as the dukes of the League had managed to scrape up enough cash to keep the Axumite prince roistering among the flower-girls of Tharbad^[3]. Still, Abdullah managed to muster 3,800 mercenaries in Chola, while general Dahalla gathered another 6,400 regulars in Yathrib.

Abdullah led his hirelings immediately north into Madurai, while Dahallan marched south down the coast through Kalinga and Vengi to meet him. At the same time, the emir of Tripuri launched a raid into Pawar with his force in Kakatiya.

The Southern League (Amon Hen in Karnata)

Georg Fulk, Baron of Satava, warleader of the League, plus seven of his fellow dukes and barons

Diplomacy None

The barons of the League, despite their best intentions, were immediately at cross-purposes. The capture of the provinces in the south had startled them, and now every knight-banneret, duke and baron was scrambling hither and yon to seize new lands from the Moslems…A whole passel of Carthaginian merchants arrived at Fornost on the western coast and immediately began complaining about the scarcity of warehousing, docks and landing slips for their shipping (Fornost was bursting at the seams with foreign trade).

Tancred, while preparing to invade Chola, was wounded outside Zefara by Yasarid assassins, though Fulk escaped harm. Confined to his camps near the ruined city, Tancred grumbled unceasingly as Fulk marched off north to invade Vengi. At the same time, William of Nasik (having left the Cherans to garrison fabulously wealth Pandya) raided into Chola. In the Deccan, Robert of Kakatiya (having taken advantage of control of the exchequer to raise another 2,000 hussars) made his own punitive expedition into Dahala.

As it happened, Abdullah and his army plowed into Tancred and Thoros of Ganga’s troops encamped at Zefara. A dreadfully inconclusive battle followed (Third Zefara), then another (Fourth Zefara). Tancred finally recovered from his wounds and took the field – whereupon Abdullah’s luck failed at last. His mercenaries were trapped at Pondicherry and they surrendered rather than be slaughtered. The shah was offered up to Tancred as a gesture of good will and immediately slapped in chains.

So, Fulk and his Satavans had marched north into Vengi where they soon clashed with the jahwar Dahallan and his fresh army of northerners at Eluru. Fulk proved his martial skills once more, annihilating the inexperienced Yasarids^[4]. Dahallan, like his liege, was captured and sent off to Am“n Hen under heavy guard.

Only one Yasarid army now remained at large, that of the emir of Tripuri, who was engaged in a vigorous rissaldar into Pawar. News of this reached baron Robert while he was pillaging Dahala and the Hussites turned back to intercept the Moslems. As the Tripuran army was all afoot, Robert’s knights quickly caught up with them, leading to a spirited exchange of views at the dusty crossroads town of Gondida. In a refreshing change, the emir was not captured in the wake of his defeat, but merely slain while fleeing a pack of Hussite lancers.

With this, every mobile Yasarid army had been defeated, their captains taken in chains and their plans entirely ruined. Yet despite this, the lords of the League found themselves hard-pressed to secure any possible new conquests due to an appalling lack of manpower. True, baron Robert did manage to liberate Kakatiya and reclaim his ancestral home. Vengi and Chola fell to the Hussites, but the ports of Am“n Sul and Chabaz remained in Moslem hands, as the League armies besieging both cities simply did not have the strength to breach the walls, nor the warships to blockade them.

Emirate of the Chandellas

Kuhman Singh, prince of Bundelkhand, Lion of the North

Diplomacy Kaunaj in Rajput(ea)

The Chandella emirs wound up controlling Chandela, Maghada, Jaunpur, Rajput and Jihjoti.

The Realm of Arnor (Schwarzkastel in Edrosia)

Peregrin von Hessen, Rajah of India, Duke of Delhi, Grand-Duke of Aballach, Prince of the Black Tower

Diplomacy Rajput(f)

Enormous sums flowed into Peregrin’s hands – both from allies across the sea and those who wished to purchase the bounty of the Indus and the Gangetic plain. With the fiscal ruin of the past behind the Duchy, the Rajah expanded his government and began the slow work of building a railroad line from Schwarzcastel north into Sind. To support the need for rolling stock and rails, the capital sprawled a level. A few Frankish ships reached the port of the Black Tower and were warmly welcomed by their co-religionists.

Missionary work continued in the east, in Chandella, with explosive results…

Aleruk Svornad had been sent down to Jaunpur with a force of 2,000 Prince’s Own Hussars to see about convincing the Moslem inhabitants of the province to pack up and leave – “off to Persia with you then, my lads.” Unfortunately, this forced migration (always a nasty business, though Svornad was trying to be merciful towards the wogs, donch’a know) combined with a simmering hate of the Hussites throughout Moslem India and the eruption of a religious jihad in Chandella, where the Hussite priests had taken to throwing buckets of pig-fat into mosques at random hours, to spark a religiously-motivated revolt all across Chandella, Jihjoti, Jaunpur and Maghada.

First, the city of Kaunaj (still ruled by an emir) closed up its doors and threw all the Hussites out into the fields. Lord Katlerstahl (having just completed negotiations with the local Hussite landowners) immediately invested Kaunaj with the local militia. South of the Ganges, the Jihjoti and the Chandellas (after murdering all the Hussites they could find) crossed in Jaunpur.

Now, princess Arwen and ancient Brigadier Parachal had been encamped in Jaunpur with a cavalry army and they were in the process of chasing down the locals (with their airships, no less) when they ran into the Chandella and Jihjohti contigents. A lively set-to then occurred at Bansgaon between 8,000-odd Moslems and 5,000 Ducal Guards, assorted Princess’ Own Hussars and the Multan City Battery. Despite completely deceiving the Arnori sky patrols^[5], the superior firepower and ‚lan of the Arnori troops proved decisive against the ill-equipped Moslems. The rabble where thrown back across the river.

Arwen, her ire sparked by this affront, pressed the pursuit hard, leading her forces into Chandella at full speed. Khuman Singh, the brilliant prince of the Chandellas, ambushed her army at Azamgahr and soundly defeated the superior Hussite force. Both princess Arwen^[6] and Parachal were killed when their command brigade was overrun by Jihjoti hill-men and the remainder of the Ducal army scattered in disarray. Singh was pleased to capture so many fine horses. Now his entire force could ride. He crossed into Maghada.

There, Svornad and his 5,000 hussars had managed to fight their way out of the province and into Jaunpur (leaving behind a horrible series of massacres which annihilated the Hussite settlers in Maghada and left Bihar city a smoking ruin). This allowed Singh to join up with the Maghadan prince’s men, then strike northeast along the Grand Trunk Road into Rajput itself. By the time Singh’s army had reached Kaunaj, the remains of Arwen’s army had straggled in to join Katlerstahl and his militia, as well as Morgan Drake, the baron of Gwalior and his feudatory levies, who had come up from the south.

The Hussite forces now numbered 11,000 men against 8,000, so Baron Drake pressed an engagement and Singh fell back in disarray – harried by the Hussite airships – into the town of Kakori, outside of Lucknow. Drake’s men swept out to envelop the town and the airship Constance ate a barrage of light rockets. The flat slap of a mammoth boom as the zeppelin blew apart from stem to stern signaled Singh’s double-envelopment. Another three thousand men, hidden in drainage ditches along the Hussite line of advance, charged into Drake’s flank as Singh’s heavy horse (now mounted on the fine equines of the Princess’ Own Guard) charged out of the cover of the town.

In the ensuing disaster, Kalterstahl managed to escape with the survivors of the Ducal Guard and fled into Uttar Pradesh. Drake and Svornad were both slain and nearly the entire army was wiped out. Peregrin would not be pleased when he received the news. Singh, for his part, was welcomed as a liberator in Kaunaj, though he did not attempt to garrison the town. Nor did he subject the Hussite landowners of Rajput to massacre and confiscation, at least… not yet.

Shahdom of Afghanistan (Kabul in Afghanistan)

Ahmad Durani, Shah of the Afghans, Lord of Kabul

Diplomacy Sistan(fa), Registan(fa), Siahan(fa)

Pressured by the duke of Arnor, Shah Durani relented from assailing the Kushans with his full strength. This tasted sour in his mouth, however, for when did a Pashtun ever bow to a lowlander, much less to a Kushan dog? “Never,” muttered Ahmad, scowling out a window in the fortress looming over Kabul. The snow in the mountains was particularly heavy of late. His lady wife looked at him questioningly, asking what made his heart so heavy, but the Shah only replied “Walls have mice and mice have ears.”

His mood was not improved four months later when his daughter Mia took ill and died, or when (at the end of ’50) he learned his younger brother Timur had been ambushed by Ghazis in Siahan and killed.

Kingdom of the Kushans (Astakana in Kush)

Bujayapendra, Blessed of Vishnu, prince of Astakana

Diplomacy Khotan(fa)

The prince made a rude face at the Afghans and took great solace in the revenues now flowing to his capital from lush, beautiful Kashmir. His son was wrenched from the bosom of his young wife and sent off to negotiate with the eastern nomads. What joy he found among the dry, dusty yurts and sun-blasted plains of Khotan!

The Noble House of Tewfik (Al’Harkam in Carmania)

Tewfik Saul, Purveyor of more pepper than you can shake a stick at

Diplomacy Tortosa in Valencia(ma), Rangoon in Pegu(ma), Abas in Fars(ma), Singapore(ma)

Old Solomon finally died – his noble heart gave out – even as company business in Al-Harkam was booming (new yards, new shops, new foundries, new everything…). His son, Saul, only received word of his father’s death a year later, as he was busy on the coast of Spain with some Latina beauties. Elsewhere, the House made good progress, though Captain Busir was nearly killed by Southern League snipers in Chabaz.

The Safavid Persian Empire (Semnan in Khurasan)

Safi Nusayr, Khan of Khans, Shahanshah of Persia, Prince of Bukhara, Caliph of the East

Diplomacy Beirut in Lebanon(a)

Ever industrious, the Persians expanded the cities of Beirut in Lebanon (while also importing boatloads of mullahs to keep the local Sunni’s Sunni, and free of Karidjite influence), and Ahvaz in Palas (a rare oasis of peace, serenity and low, low prices in the trouble Indian sub-continent). A large military colony was established in Kuwait, which occasioned some resistance by the displaced locals, but the Shah’s army was on hand to quash any troublemakers. Expected refugees from India failed to arrive – having decided to thrash the Hussites instead – and the satrap of Khurasan made an expedition into Frunze province, where he found the bone-gnawed ruins of Alta-Ata to be particularly depressing. Though the Union formally deeded control of Diyala to the Persians, the local chiefs refused to have anything to do with the “dirty easterners.”

The Islamic Union (Ar-Raqqah in Mosul)

Muyaiya Sayyaf Adin, Sultan of Ar-Raqqah, Prince of Mosul

Diplomacy Palmyra/Homs(t), Syria/Damascus(t)

The Union, pressured by the Persians and their army looming in Mesopotamia, relinquished control over Diyala, though the Tuareg chieftains there refused to either (a) move or (b) bow down to the Persian dogs. In Mosul, financed by large amounts of Persian gold, the Union was able to ensure that all sheep in the state matched the Lisbon Accords standard of fleeciness. The Sultan, for his part, moved west and managed to convince the Syrians and Palmyrenes to at least pay him a few shekels in tribute.

A letter arrived by courier from the Ethiopians:

Dear Muyaia,

The Free Republic bargained with you in good faith to try and restore peace in the Lands formerly known as Georgia. We bargained with you in spite of the fact that you attempted to exclude us from the peace settlement. By the time you begrudgingly agreed to treat with us most of the choice lands had already been taken by various other countries. In spite of this we bargained in good faith and gave up rights to much more than we gained. The only two concessions we requested were both denied to us. We then went Far Beyond what was reported publicly in our pledged support to the pact. You then paid back our unselfish Generosity by besmirching the name of all the Citizens of the Free Republic and additionally all Coptics. As such the far reaching concessions we had granted as part of the peace settlement will be revoked. We will honor the territorial dispersal with the exception that the Free Republic will once again Claim the province Petra. All other concessions and grants will not occur. All persons of the Islamic faith in the Republic may choose to leave at any time. However if they do not they will be converted to Coptic Christian. We will defend Our rights and possessions in the Horn of Arabia to our last breath. And you personally Muyaia, if caught in the Free Republic will be incarcerated for life. As part of the incarceration your filthy mouth will be washed out with soap and water by any Lady of the Republic or Coptic Chrisitian Faith who wishes To do so. Currently the Free Republic has no problems with the Islamic Union. Only the apparently uncontrollable Founder of that Union.

Sincerely, Fredik, Regent, Republic of Ethiopia

Muayaia’s welcome in Lebanon was a different matter. The Sultan found the countryside in the grip of a fervent religious revival. The Kharidjites – heretofore a minor sect – had erupted into prominence. In fact, not only had nearly all of the Lebanon fallen under their influence, but so had (in the course of ’49 and ’50) the neighboring regions of Aleppo, Syria, Jordan and even the Levant. This caused great strain between the cult-like (but not cultish, no) enthusiasm of the Kharidjites and the established clergy, who were often driven out of their mosques and schools for the crime (imagined or otherwise) of consorting with the Daemon Sultan Raschid. Too, as frenzied mobs filled the streets to welcome Muayaiya, he realized the common people (so long under the heel of the Evil One) were rising up, inspired by the release from fear and the promise of the Kharidjites to ‘cleanse the earth’ of all evil. Unfortunately (in the bigger picture) this seemed to include all foreigners, including the Persians squatting in Beirut and the Danes in the Holy Land…

“Lead us, Great One,” they chanted as the Sultan rode past in a sea of green banners, “Lead us to victory!”

Europe

Hussite Mercenaries	Minimum bid listed in [x].
The Hussite Legion	10ec, 10i, 10c, 10a [1.5 gp each], based at Constantinople.
Captains	Ludovico Sfortza (M834) [5gp]
To hire, please contact…	Albanian East India Company
Quality Ratings	c12 i15 a14 w17 s20 z6

Catholic Mercenaries	Minimum bid listed in [x].
Condotierri	5hei, 9xea (AA guns), 10hea (rocket batteries) [2gp each]
Captains	Baron Von Hausen (M783) [4gp] Natasha Tukachevsky (MA56) [5gp]^[7]
To hire, please contact	Norsktrad (save for Natasha)
Quality Ratings	c12 i16 a13 w18 s18 z6

B„ste Fru Natasha Tukachevsky,

We are both injured parties in the recent tragic war in Spain. You have lost a husband, and I a sister. Whilst we needs must differ over the reasons and rights of the recent conflict, it is the desire of the Norsktrad Company to end this feud. With this in mind we have withdrawn the ill-considered reward offered for your capture. However, we cannot speak for the officers of the Republic of Spain.

Whilst the Norsktrad is a mercantile and commercial business, we are not without honor, and we endeavored to negotiate in good faith a peaceful settlement with your late husband, including free passage and financial support in the New World. As a show of good faith, we are willing to engage your services for a generous remuneration, under contract to the Company in North Amerika. Suitable accommodation for yourself and your family would be provided in the historic city of New Orleans, and you would enjoy the benefits and privileges of any senior officer of the Company.

Yours Faithfully,

Malcom Procure

Bitrande of the Norsktrad

Aeronautical Research & Fabrication (Rostov in Levedia)

Jessica Orozco, Captain of the West
Solyom Pasternak, Captain of the East

Diplomacy Khazar/Astrakhan(f), Urkel(f), Recife in Palicur(ma), Zaragoza in Caete(ma), Otomi in Cari(ma), Tsaritsyn in Urkel(f)

Their trade network to the new world restored, ARF ships once more plied the sea-lanes to Iroquois, Vastmark, Mixtec and many other strange, fabulous lands. More romantically, aerial courier runs were started from Tsaristyn on the Volga to Ufra in Persia and Kingston in England. Some of the zeppelins on the run to Kiev were switched to the newer, more lucrative routes.

Though entirely formed of excellent Catholics, Company patrols along the Volga shore did not hinder the passage of many Hussite missionaries into the lands once held by the Khirgiz and other Ice tribes, though horrific and lingering deaths were in store for many of the priests.

A rowdy gang of Norsk steam mechanics arrived in Rostov to “teach these Roosians something about steam!” The Portuguese and Frisians were a little troubled to find most of the “Roosians” looked far more like Mongols or Tatars. Plus, they had this nasty drink called kumiss which was just foul on the tongue…

Principate of Kiev (Kiev²)

Anna Kournos, Queen-Regent for…

Boris, Prince of Kiev, Master of the Holy Rivers

Diplomacy None

The late troubles between the southern Rus and the Swedes settled out as the Queen-Regent assumed complete control of the government in her son’s name. The notorious Count Vasilyko was sent off to count land-lots in Banat and the Swedish Emperor was feted and shown every courtesy during his visit to Kiev. The withdrawal of Imperial troops left everyone feeling quite relieved.

An attempt by the Swedish Catholic Church to mend fences with the Eastern patriarch failed miserably, as the EO priests had no interest in reconciliation with the Western devils. Despite this hostile welcome, a number of Papal emissaries were seen going to and fro about the countryside, apparently searching for something.

Peoples Republic of Baklovakia (Komarno in Slovakia)

Wysowski, First Citizen, Protector of the Workers and Peasants

Diplomacy None

The refugees from the west gave up their arms and took up the plowshares, sickles and steam-powered tractors of the proletariat. In particular, the town of Ostrava expanded, the streets of Komarno were cleaned (resulting in considerable protest by the mud-cake sellers guild) and an expedition was launched to corral the Carpathians into joining the Republic. The notorious Colonel Sluj was placed in command of this military extravaganza by Comrade Wysowski (who, in direct contravention of all Baklovakian ethics, had started getting up early, not drinking so much, making positive, forward-thinking decisions and generally dressing in a natty, sharp style).

As the Carpathian defenses were in disorder due to a recent Polish cavalry raid, the combined Baklovakians/Ostravan force were easily able to overwhelm them and install a rigorously sober garrison which was entirely lacking in ox-tossing, vladka-gorging and had no pastries! A new city, Smyslovograd, was built to anchor the Republican presence in the province. The Senate was in a turmoil! Some Frankish reporter and his little white dog were snooping around, making trouble… worse, there were rumors the notable Milanese Nightingale (and her usual coterie of admirers) would be performing in the Komarno City Opera House at Christmastime.

Albanian East India Company (Thessaloniki in Macedon)

Nikolas Argir, Senior Partner in the AEIC

Diplomacy Multan in Sukkur(ma), St. Brendan in Cape Verdes(ci), Alexandria in Egypt(bo), Tahiri in Colon(ma), Bithnia(c)

The Company-men were quite industrious; more yards and harbor facilities at Thessaloniki, the beginnings of factories at Schwarzkastel in India; a beautiful, hand-crafted zeppelin cargo airship called the Seigi (Justice) for the Nisei government; a queer-looking barge with pneumatic cranes and mechanical grapplers on the front and a new aerodrome at Beirut, built in cooperation with the Persian government, as part of a planned Paris to Beirut to Schwarzkastel air route. Air Albania advertisements promised a two week transit from Macedon to India within five years.

And indeed, Air Albania’s existing courier ship run to Paris was now in constant, heavy use, though more by Company bankers and management than by ‘private’ customers. The Hussite Legion took to the field in Thrace and marched about, looking splendid.

With some help from the Imperial Danish government, the Company also sent Captain Falken the Third off to find the Amerikas. A risky maneuver, entrusting a foul-mouthed martinet with an entire fleet…

The Swedish Empire of Russia (Grodno in Masuria)

Solomon, King of Sweden, Tsar of the All the Russias
Bengt Krycek, Crown Regent and Altkansler

Diplomacy No Effect

Despite the continued dimming of the sky, and a steady series of poor harvests and the usual June frost, the Swedes soldiered on. The Senate demanded that the temporary capital be fortified in case the cannibalistic-trouble in Kiev spilled over into the foothold the Empire still retained in the north. The shipyards of Stevastopol and St. Georges continued to ring with steam-hammers and hiss with welding torches as another brace of steam cruisers joined the Imperial fleet. Work on sprawling, elaborate factories began in Riga and Malmo as life, once more, began to return to the frozen North. A large number of sun-burned Russians and Swedes returned to the old capital and began rebuilding the city.

The Exchequer confused everyone by issuing a double set of bond notes for the most recent cycle, all due two years sooner than expected. Interest rates from the central bank were also slashed, causing a flurry of new investment, small-company startups and the attendant bankruptcies when it was realized the rates hadn’t dropped that much.

Missionary efforts continued in the far south, which led to a great deal of trouble in the Exarchate of Georgia, where the Moslem citizenry rose up in open revolt and chased out the Imperial garrison. Efforts in Paphlagonia went slightly better, as not so many people were killed in the rioting.

Emperor Solomon continued to place himself in harm’s way, leading a sizable fleet of refugees back into Pereaslavl province, where his Marines and the Landholder’s Guard fought a number of skirmishes with bandits, brigands, cannibal tribes and other malcontents before the province was restored to a (2w6). Elsewhere, the marginal province of Hassi Talieb (south of the Carthaginian Atlas) was abandoned and the settlers marched back to St. Georges for transshipment to the north.

The Grand Duchy of Poland (Warsaw in Poland)

Frieda Leczinski, Duchess of Poland

Diplomacy None apparent

The Duchess was forced to be stern with her wayward husband Wilhelm again, reassigning the Royal Warsaw Ruckus Club (a regiment of the Ducal Light Horse) to the command of baron Aleksandr for anti-diabolist duty in the south. Wilhelm was dispatched instead to the forests of Kauyavia, where the Royal Department of Industrial Development had cleared the track-line of the new railway from Warsaw, clear through Kauyavia to Berlin. Wilhelm, being forced to do very boring and practical work, found some small solace in the presence of his boon companion, drinking buddy and fellow whist player, Mikhail Dobryio (formerly of Naples, formerly of Wallachia).

The railbed and tracks were not yet complete (nor were the trains all in service yet), but the engineers of the Department were working furiously to finish. The news, brought fourth-hand, that the Sud Afriqans had actually completed their first railroad line filled everyone with an intense patriotic fervor.

The profusion of Taborite and French church groups in Danzig and Sopot was subjected to a rather fierce government audit, though no wrong-doing, short-selling, JEDI-outcontracting or pre-leasing funny-business was discovered. Kauyavia became Hussite.

The Knights of Tabor (Mount Tabor in Bohemia)

Otto von Metz, Voice of Huss, Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of Mount Tabor

Diplomacy None

Odd doings were afoot on Mount Tabor, where the Knights had closed off large sections of the sprawling city-fortress complex they called home. A ‘messenger’ had come from the east, bearing a gift and all their attention was devoted to some new, mysterious task. Their progress was unknown, though a number of hasty burials were made and there were rumors of an ‘accident.’

Things went far better for the Knights in Poland, where they were instrumental in the conversion of Kauyavia and in England, where their implacable opponents, the Jesuits, had decided to take a holiday.

United Kingdoms of Great Britain (Kingston in Northumbria)

Oliver V Cromwell, King of England, Scotland and Wales

Diplomacy None

The Cromwell government grappled with the twin specters of religious unrest and famine, finding little support from beyond English shores. Despite considerable payments of coin, bullion and paper notes to the Jesuits, Spanish and Iroquois, not a single ship laden with grain, potatoes, salt beef, tinned ham or doublemeat medley arrived in English ports. This stunning failure on the part of Britain’s presumably staunch allies meant widespread starvation and mass death in the winters of ’49 and ’50, particularly in the cities of Yarmouth, Mahair, Cardiff, Dublin and Birmingham.

Oliver, ably assisted by the Prince of Wales, John Stuart, took his army into the streets and countryside and imposed harsh rationing and order by main force. Looters, hoarders and black-marketeers were treated without even the slightest pretense to mercy. Every crossroads in the isles was soon shadowed by gibbets and rotting corpses. Grim-faced soldiers patrolled every market, though there was really nothing to steal.

In Whitehall, the king’s ministers labored long and hard to try and scrounge up a few extra bushels of wheat… and in private conversation, attitudes began to look very poorly upon certain ‘Catholic parasites.’ Particularly ones which did not hold to their agreements.

Hussite street preachers began to show up on the byways and lanes of Portsmouth, which made the port city very tense. So far, however, the response of the English church was very moderate and extensive efforts were made to defuse tensions in the southlands.

The Society of Jesus (London in Sussex)

Gustavus Grayhame, Vicar-General of the Society of Jesus

Diplomacy None

The Jesuits minded their own business, much to the dismay of their allies.

The Frankish Commonwealth (Paris in Il‚ De France)

Jacques du Maine, Archon of the Commonwealth

Diplomacy None

Work was completed on the desert-city of Cherbourg on the northern coast of the Sinai (Al’Arish, in L0 terms), which allowed Commonwealth shipping to venture into the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, where they hoped to steal a slice of the lucrative Indian trade.

On the verge of defaulting on the stolen Russian loan^[8], the Archon just did not need any additional bad news, but here it was. In horror the Archon read intel reports concerning the true nature of Wolfden & Cane Holdings Ltd. He shook his head at the content of the detailed intelligence reports about the mercantile entity. The reports explained many of the questions the Archon had recently pondered… Where did the W&C come from? What was the source of their funding? Why were they quickly expanding throughout the Frankish Commonwealth without coordinating or communicating these actions with the government? It was all here in the ministry reports. The W&C were backed by the Illuminati, the Golden Dawn. A shadowy organization claiming to be arch enemies of the Bone Mother Cult.

Perhaps they were. Agents of the Dawn had contacted the Archon and the Frankish Government last year and offered “…to be of great service to the Commonwealth…” They had requested permission to build secret bases in the Commonwealth from which to fight this evil. The Archon’s own investigations for a sign of the Bone Mother Cult had revealed nothing, absolutely nothing, a big zero. The Archon had demanded proof, some sign of the intent of the Golden Dawn. He had received nothing of substance, nothing more than vague promises and a request for blind trust. With the recent evils in Khirgiz and Georgia, blind trust was hard to come by.

The Archon was disappointed Wolfden & Cane had not been forthcoming of their relationship with the Golden Dawn. He and his ministers had been in communication with the W&C in recent years to discuss their actions. Opportunities had been presented and these opportunities had been brushed off and passed over. The Archon gathered his ministers and marshals and drew up plans on how to deal with the W&C…it was time to act before they and the Golden Dawn had entwined themselves so deeply into the Commonwealth that the Archon and his government would become mere puppets. Encrypted orders were dispatched to every command and garrison, armed forces were placed on alert in the event the Golden Dawn and their minions in Wolfden and Caine sought the armed support of mercenaries. Perhaps help from the Catholic powers…

“Wolf-Den and Cain” the Archon pondered, “what’s in a name?”

If this were not enough trouble (which it was), the Archon was also dismayed to learn his son Reynard was little more than a venal, corrupt, intriguer with no morals whatsoever. The dissolute youth – a mere seventeen to have sunk to such depths – was packed off to a monastery in the Alps where he became (without choosing, no) a monk. His younger brother Louis Alphonse was promoted in his stead (and was quite happy to be done with such a rival). Crown Prince Louis the Elder remained in Tangiers, where his Frankish wife succumbed to the diseases of the desert. Louis took a new wife from among the Rif tribes.

Wolfden & Cane Holdings, Ltd (Stralsund in Pomern)

Harrison Wolfden and Jason Cane, General Partners

Diplomacy Stralsund in Pomern(ma)

The Company was going about it’s business in a normal manner – paying off the Norsktrad for the losses they had suffered in the seizure of Norsk properties in Brest, preparing to move their offices from Paris to the port, sending ships overseas to open trade with various African entrepots – when Commonwealth military forces pounced on the W&CH facilities in Brest, Claais, Paris, Tours and Reimes. Within a fortnight, every building, warehouse, lease, hot-dog stand and brothel controlled by the company had been commandeered by the government (and looted, and the assets sold off in auction, generating quite a sizable amount of cash for the Archon). Jason Cane – of the principals – was captured and dragged off to Paris. Harrison Wolfden, who had been out of the country, found himself in Stralsund with a handful of ships, some loyal crews and empty pockets.

The Danish Empire (Thessalonika in Macedon)

Gregor “Black Georg” Dushan, Prince of Serbia, King of the Greeks, Emperor of the Danes, Protector of Italy, Mjolnir-na-Midgaard, Rex Germanicus, Pendragon of the Isles

Diplomacy Marseilles(nt)/Provence(a), Champagne(a), Copenhagen in Denmark(t), Alsace(t), Swabia(t), Gibraltar(t)

Still reeling from the effects of the Skyhammer and not yet pressed beyond endurance by the steadily degrading harvests, the Danish folketing authorized the settlement of many thousands of war veterans in diverse provinces which had been devastated: Liguria, Tuscany, the city of Napoli and Mansura. The facilities around Thessaloniki expanded as well and dozens of new government offices, meeting halls and other organs of the new system sprang up all across the Empire.

Black Georg – determined to halt the disintegration of the Empire by main force of will – led a fleet to ever-rebellious Marseilles and managed to force a nominal obeisance from the Catholic townsmen. His efforts inland bore lusher fruit and eventually he reached Copenhagen, where he secured a wife – Sofia Magdalene Olaffsdottir, of an ancient and noble line – to wed the Emperors of the South once more to the root-stock of the North. Georg was quite pleased, calling the fair-haired Sofia “the brightest star.”

The Danish fleet also visited Gibraltar, where (with the support of both the Roman Papacy and the Spanish government) they restored some measure of control over the fortress guarding the straits. An engineering team from the Honorable Afriqa Company arrived in Genoa under the guidance of Joseph Gutombo and began work on repairing the damage to the port and rebuilding the middle of the city.

N”rsktrad (Lisbon in Portugal)

Johannes Teugen, M„klarev„lde of the Nordic Trading Company

Diplomacy Caligari on Sardinia(mf), Tortosa in Valencia(ma), New Canarsie in Mohawk(ma), Tuxpan in Totonac(ma), New Orleans in Chitimacha(a), Ayoel in Atakapa(ma),

Johannes visited the prisoners obtained from the latest purge in Lisbon. They were being held in solitary confinement in the Company brig, under heavy guard, in irons, and were interviewed separately.

“Are you going to co-operate?” asked grizzled old Johannes, armed guards standing at his back. “If you help the Company, the Company will help you. The officials of the Republic of Spain, your erstwhile colleagues, are most interested in meeting you, and I can assure you it is not to politely ask questions, hmm? You understand me? The Largoistas are good people, but they are not subtle. The Jesuits, too, are eager to talk with you; you recall the stories of the Spanish Inquisition perhaps?

“Now then, I want names and locations, in Spain and elsewhere. We hear rumors that your headquarters is in the Levant, or rather, Egypt, eh? Speak up man. If you help us, perhaps soon you will be released with a few coins for your trouble, and free passage away from Spain. We can even transport you and your family to the New World, you’d be watched thereafter, no more. Now if you please: names, places, details of your signs, passwords, aims, and your operations. I am an old man; answer before I lose my patience…”

What the unfortunates (and their families) might have revealed is unknown, but some ‘friends’ of those in chains attacked Teugen’s cavalcade, when next he went about in the city. Nearly thirty were killed in the resulting crossfire, but old Johannes survived and won another set of scars in his right leg. Some bodies of the assailants were recovered and the Norsk chairman knew he’d embroiled himself in a duel to the death.

The numbers of skilled workers employed by the Norsk at the massive steamship and air-yards around Lisbon continued to grow, with (unsubstantiated) reports of entire rural districts being depopulated to fuel the constant demand for men and women to work in the forges, lading yards, foundries, lathing lines and finishing shops of Lisbon. The air yards, in particular, were very busy – a new air passenger service had opened between Lisbon and Valetia on Malta, which required kitting out the Hertriginna ov Malta and Republiken with the finest possible amenities. A passing Japanese fleet also loaded aboard two crated-up zeppelins for transshipment to the Amerikas.

The chairman issued a declaration: ‘Following the ending of the war in Spain, I am proud to announce the initiation of the new Norsk Aer airship route to mark a new age of commerce and prosperity. The Norsktrad hereby commences trade by air to the Duchy of the Three Isles. Furthermore, this underlines our intent to enhance the communication between the diverse Catholic nations. It is our hope to expand upon our air routes in the near future.’

Johannes read the newspaper reports from Swedish Russia with growing distaste. “Have our office pared to the bone, to run with no more staff than are absolutely necessary, before the Kievians recall that we too are cousins to the Swedes,” he muttered. “Let us hope this madness has run its course.”

Saddened by the death of Alphonse Gumi, and mindful of the mortality of Man, Johannes had the Board of Directors name Jorge Delgado as Malcom’s successor. “Year by year the old faces fade away, one by one. Even the sun was brighter and warmer in my youth.”

To commemorate all those who fell in the war in Spain, the Company engineers built a small landscaped park for the pleasure of the citizens, to replace some of the sad ruins in the city, with land purchased from the owners. The park was landscaped with pleasant gardens and decorated with bronze statues as memorials to the fallen. Among them were statues of Minister Miguel, General Antonio, Diego Tordes, Empress Anna, and Marget Procure.

Malcom (Johannes’ heir) sadly watched young prince Ivan at play. Though old enough for lessons, he was too young to understand what is happening in his homeland. All newspapers relating the Kievian crisis were kept from him. Malcom ensured the Norskvarden guard the family compound from any attack, be they Golden Dawn cultists, Communist recidivists, or Kievian kommandosoldat. “And what of the Bone Mother cult?” he mused. Sadly, Malcom was badly wounded in an assassination attempt made by Espanan recidivists early in ’49, fell ill and died in the summer of that year.

As it happened, nearly every Norsk leader was subjected to some kind of attack, no matter where they happened to be. Luckily, only Malcome died as a result, though some of the others (Trygvasson, for example) were sorely marked by the trial.

Unaware of his ascension to the Bitrande of the House, Jorge Delgado stood on the ruined wharves of Bergen, and surveyed a scene of limitless desolation: warehouses, buildings and houses wrecked by the years of the Ice. “Perhaps we have seen the Fimbul-winter, but for the Mercy of God. I pray that Ragnar”k is not yet upon us. Amen.” Wrapped tight against a biting northern wind, he recalled certain lines read from a book in the Company library:

Brothers will struggle and slaughter each other,

And sisters’ sons spoil kinship’s bonds.

It’s hard on earth: great whoredom;

axe-age, blade-age, shields are split;

Wind-age, wolf-age, before the world crumbles:

No man shall spare another.

Delgado sighed and looked eastwards towards the snow capped mountains, and then kneels to see a small yellow flower struggling between the cracked slabs of the landing. “A new Spring?” he wondered, and then turned to watch the lines of men unloading supplies from the gleaming metal ships in the frost-rimed harbor. “Hoy, careful there with those crates! Get your backs into it!”

The Republic of Spain (Lisbon in Portugal)

Largo Cabellero, Commandant of the Imperial Guard

Diplomacy None apparent

Having struggled through the Civil War mostly intact (there were still the Royalist provinces of Castille and Aragon to deal with), the Republicans set about repairing some of the damage done to the Great Harbor of Lisbon and the city itself. The towns of Cimmura and Tharsis expanded as well.

Largo himself returned from the north to Lisbon to take charge of the government during such a troubled time – there were more purges, this time of the officer corps and the Imperial Guard – and more sympathizers of the ‘evil ones’ were found. The line troops were spared, however.

Largo himself did not escape the reach of the enemy, for a pregnant middle-aged woman attempted to knife him while he attended mass in the S‚ Patriarchal cathedral. Shrieking something about how her ‘god loves you’, she was hacked to death by the Commandante’s guardsmen. Examination of her body revealed an intricate series of purple dragon-like shapes hidden beneath her clothes. A Norsktrad magnate present at mass watched in puzzled horror… “a Bjarni cultist? Here in the south? How odd.”

In the north, in Aquitaine, there was a great deal of furor regarding the discovery of certain documents in an ruined French monastery, abandoned since the eleventh century. The parchments – handwritten by the Abbe St. Denis – comprised the man’s personal diary, relating the visitation of an angel who revealed the series of catastrophic defeats inflicted upon Christenden by the pagan Northmen (including the destruction of the Holy Roman Empire and the capture of Rome) were due to the Danish kings bearing the blood of Clovis and by that right, the dominion over all men, high and low. Papal agents investigating the ruins and the purported diary declared them to be “Danish fakes,” though the common people still believed…

The Duchy of the Isles (Valetia on Malta)

Neya al’Raschid, Empress of the Isles, Emir of Archimedea, Duchess of Sicily and Sardinia

Diplomacy None

Empress Neya moved to consolidate her position at Court by promoting two of her sisters, Tarya and Nimi, to official posts. They immediately left for Sicily to investigate some reputedly mysterious goings-on. Neya also sent a letter to her estranged husband Demetrios, informing him she had named her nephew Bernardo ‘Heir of the Isles’ and asking him to return to Malta so his son ‘might not lose a father as he has lost a mother.’

The province of Morea became cultivated, which pleased the farmers, and the ancient ruins of Olympus (most recently refurbished to celebrate the Sun Games) were troubled by strange portents, visions and throngs of the religious, seeking to touch the face of the ‘shining god’ which had lately appeared there. Some of the more learned wondered if perhaps Olympian Zeus Thundershielded had returned to the world of men.

As it happened, Neya’s summons of Demetrios from Isauria was not without danger, for the angry duke had gained allies among her ministers and fleet-captains. Antonio Barsaki (long accounted one of the Empress’ staunchest supporters) returned to Valetia with the fleet and Demetrios and Marcello Riggia and his army aboard. While the troops who had been fighting in the East disembarked, Demetrios and Marcello disappeared into the city and soon joined with their fellow conspirators… just in time for the Empress’ guardsmen to pounce on the whole lot of traitors!

Paulo Greccio, Juan de Valma, Demetrios and Marcello were all captured or identified. The whole lot – with a large number of their kinsmen and coconspirators – were put on trial and executed by the end of ’50. Only De Valma escaped the initial dragnet, but Islander agents ran him to ground in Alexandria in the spring of ’50 and he died in a hail of bullets. Isauria was annexed to the Empress’ personal demesne as a result.

An Honorable Afriqa Company engineering team led by Master Kurpanga arrived in Calabria, where they began laying out the ground-plan for a new city, to be called Catanzaro.

The Church of Rome (Vatican City in Rome, Latium)

Clement XII, Pater Patrias, Pope of the Roman Church, The Vicar of Christ, The Successor To Peter, The Keeper of the Keys, The Servant of the Servants of God, Patriarch of Azteca, Soldier of Light

Diplomacy None

Reminded of the Church holding temporal responsibilities as well as the guardianship of the souls of men, Clement ordered the sewers and latrines of Nantes and Poitou be given a thorough cleaning. The Papal Guard in Vatican City was also reinforced with a brace of mohawked Indians from distant Iroquois. All the rest of the Churches’ energies were devoted to the convention of a great Church Council in St. Georges-the-Defender in Morroco, where a number of critical issues had been raised.

To His Holiness Clement VIII, Pater Patrias, in Rome:

Your Holiness, recently the Norsktrad has entered into commercial negotiations with the government of the Aztec Empire, following a recent request by a Catholic nation for the initiation of a cartel trade route.

These negotiations may result in the formation of a subsidiary within the Empire, still subject to the Home Office in Lisbon. The mercantile arrangement should in no way alter the relationship of the Norsktrad with the Holy Church of Rome or the Catholic nations.

During the negotiations, the relationship between the Aztec Empire and the Catholic Church has been briefly touched on.

Whilst this is well beyond the sphere of interest of a Merchant House, it seems possible that should the results of the Church Council be favorable, a rapprochement might be conceivable to some degree between the Catholic and the Lencolar Church. A reunion is unlikely, but it appears to our agents that a recognition that the Lencolar Church as a separate but recognized member of the Faith might be conducive to a thawing of diplomatic and religious relations.

I remain Your Holiness, Your obedient servant,

Johannes Teugen

Maklarevalde of the Norsktrad

The Pontiff and Bishop Cardenas traveled to St. Georges to attend the Council. Clement gave the invocation and presided over much of the proceedings, but did not take an active role himself. He was content to watch and wait while Cardenas carried the brunt of the Papal effort. The Church attempted to institute reforms in the areas of:

¨ Rite: Where not already in practice, modify the Mass to be said in the local language. A maximum of one Latin Mass can be said on any given day in any given place. We do not want to rush those who are comfortable with the old ways.

¨ The Church and the State: We believe the Church should not take an active role in temporal affairs of any Roman Catholic Nation, unless asked for by the government of that Nation. This includes building Holy Sites – permission should be given. We believe Nations owe the Church the duty to listen to advice and guidance on spiritual matters, and not interfere with the exercise of the Catholic Faith by their populace, including forced conversion of Catholics. We also believe slavery is a relic of the past, and should be eradicated as soon as possible by all Christian nations.

¨ The Celibate Clergy: The Church would like to relax the rule of chastity for lower members of the hierarchy, including priests and sisters. While a married priest could be promoted to bishop, no bishop or higher should enter the sacrament of Matrimony.

¨ The ‘Lencolar’ Question: We would like to increase the role of women to that of deaconess: The ability to baptize, marry, and grant Extreme Unction. However, we shy away from allowing women to enter the Priesthood at this time.

¨ The Schism: We encourage friendly communication and joint consultation with the Lencolar and Eastern Orthodox rites. More than this amount of cooperation is not possible until the Lencolar and Eastern Orthodox hierarchy acknowledge the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. In addition, we encourage the Hussites to turn from the error of their ways.

After a month of very bitter discussion, the attending nations (a number of powerful Catholic nations, particularly Sweden and New France, failed to send representatives, though the Sisters of the Rose – rather rudely – had a delegation present in the city and spent a great deal of time talking amiably with those attending the Council) fell out in this way upon these issues…

Nation	Women Priests	Married Priests	Duties to Nation	Duties to Church	Compromise
Vastmark	No	Yes	Freely build sites – OK to intervene on behalf of ruling class	Allow tithing, protect and defend Church properties	Yes
Norskstrad	Yes	Yes	Allow intervention only when nation is being assaulted by non-Christians	Allow tithing, general support of Church institutions and other Catholic countries	Yes
Shawnee & Iroquois	Yes	Yes	Build only with agreement by nation. No interference in national affairs	Allow tithing, do not interfere with purely Church matters.	Yes
Knights of St. John	No	Yes	Build with agreement. Provide help to government if requested	Allow tithing, do not interfere with purely Church matters	No, particularly over the issue of slavery.
South Afriqa	Yes, reluctant	No – emphasized	To be mutually negotiated between nation and Church	To be mutually negotiated between nation and Church	Yes, but will keep personal ban on married clergy
Spain	Yes	Yes	Build with notification. Provide help to gov’t if requested	Allow tithing, support against SE’s (surprise)	Yes
England	No	Yes	Build with agreement. No interference in internal affairs	Allow tithing. Provide protection and support	No
Honorable Afriqa Company	Yes	Yes	Build with agreement. No interference in internal affairs	Allow tithing. No interference in Church affairs	Yes

Worse, from Clement’s point of view, his own clergy split rather decisively over a wide range of issues – the more liberal or moderate faction, despite pressure from the Pope himself, failed to carry a vote among the Cardinals, and aside from a variety of wide-ranging pronouncements the entire Council was later deemed a failure. Clement was outraged and laid his own plans to deal with the recidivist, traditionalist elements in the body of the Church.

The Sud Afriqan delegation (which came very well prepared with several hundred members, quite a bit of gold to spread around and a truly dazzling array of charts, graphs and signboards with talking points listed on them) had the following commentary on the issues raised by the council:

Like Sweden, the Sud African Catholic Church been very independent, in part simply due to its remoteness. It has - in the past - also been very tolerant of other religions. So much so that subsequent to the collapse of the Ifen Empire in 1605 (T139) the last regions of that Muslim realm (Kongo, Vili, and Teke) became friendly to the first Republic when the latter offered them protection against the Mixtec Empire. But after more than 50 years of civil war (1674-1711,1722-1726) attitudes have changed much, and the luxury of toleration is now muted. The Papacy’s presence in-country the last few decades (only since 1722) is still somewhat of a novelty. While that presence is reassuring, the strength of Catholicism here has been in spite of the Papacy, not because of it. Much of southern Afriqa and Madagascar have been brought, and continue to be brought, into the Catholic fold by wholly independent efforts of SACC missionaries. Still, the presence of the Aztecs once again on our borders – this time in the guise Lencolar priestesses – remains a disquieting development and the presence and support of both Rome and the Jesuits in the Republic is very heartening. The aggressiveness of the Aztecs is legendary, and to find that trait in their “church” should come as no surprise. They approach with good works and schools, but we see their temptations to subversion for what they are and we remain wary, vigilant and distrustful of them. Their success in splintering the Knights of St. John have not gone unnoticed. These events, past and present, highlight the concern and conservatism that presently defines the attitudes of the leadership of the Sud African Catholic Church.

Regarding the questions before the council:

Although the SACC is open to women in church hierarchy, it is only so reluctantly, and such practice is not permitted in the Republic at this time. Still, the opening of the hierarchy to women could do much to blunt the appeal of the Lencolars.

As for marriage in the church hierarchy the SACC is strongly opposed. We do not believe this will be a benefit, but a hindrance, a complication, and a distraction to our laity. While our world is changing and has suffered some severe catastrophes, it is precisely at such times that the Church needs to provide a source of stability, a haven from the chaos of a world where evil literally walks the earth and attempts to enslave our very souls – and we wish with all our hearts that that were only a metaphorical statement.

If we dare tamper with the Catholic tradition, opening up the laity to women will be more than enough of a shock to the organization. We dare not complicate any liberalization of our traditions by adding families and children to the mix. The calling to serve Gods children and the Church should not be compromised by the complications and distractions that marriage and (potentially) having children entail. The church hierarchy, from priests on up, is not equipped to handle families internally. The faithful also have some expectation that their pastor can be a confessor, a confidant, a leader of the faith, and that his family is his congregation.

The Church must have the liberty to place its laity in locations that it believes will support the faithful and the Church best, and sometimes those locations are not conducive to family life. When joining the priesthood an individual commits to the beck and call of his order, and ultimately the Church – his life is no longer his own. Reassigning a priest from one location to another is thus a small matter. Reassigning a priest and his family is quite another. If you allow priests to marry, then the Church must also take responsibility not only for the the laity, but also for their families.

The Church is not a job, it’s not a requirement – it’s a calling, a dedication, it’s a pledging of your life to serve in God’s name – and while there may be some that can handle the differing responsibilities of a congregation and a spouse and a family, their numbers are likely relatively few. What happens when a priest assigned to one location, say Morocco, gets reassigned to India? At present, the priest just ships out. With a family, the priest might balk – his Moroccan wife won’t go, his children won’t go. His loyalties become divided between the needs of his family and the requirements to the Church he dedicated his life to. The priest is thus faced with unenviable choice of abandoning his family or abandoning his vows. The Church is faced with the prospect of losing a talented and trained priest. Rather than a family being a benefit that will help attract or retain good people in service to God and the Church, the family becomes an anchor to locations or people, and those needs of those things may be contrary to the needs of the Church.

As an institution, the Church cannot want to have to face this issue as a part of its daily work, and should not want its laity to have to face such a dilemma as well. The Church preempts this circumstance from occurring by requiring celibacy and no marriage of its laity. Serving God and His children is a significant sacrifice. Still, there continue to be many individuals who join the priesthood with full knowledge that their lives will be dedicated to serving God, and that their attention will be undistracted by the demands of a family. The novitiates know this. The novitiates understand this. And we go to great lengths to make sure that those that choose the path of serving God through the Church are up to living by these restrictions. Families and children are of utmost importance to our faith and God, and we encourage them heartily. But, the conflicts of interest between the responsibilities to family and the Church make these two sacraments incompatible. Marriage in the laity will not strengthen the Church – it will most definitely weaken it. And thus, in the strongest terms, we oppose it.

Regarding responsibilities – and we say responsibilities, not duties – between a Catholic Nation and the Catholic Church need to based upon mutual respect. It is the duty of each to serve their respective constituencies, but that should not completely preclude the entry of either Nation or Church from working in the other’s area of influence.

In the following items it is assumed that “the Church” is the Papacy of the Roman Catholic Church and “a Nation” is any nation of the Roman Catholic faith.

¨ The Church will not establish religious sites within the borders of a Nation without the prior approval of that government. Once established, the Nation will not interfere with the status or otherwise impair the use of these sites, subject to any and all laws of the Nation in which they are found.

¨ The Church will not interfere with or otherwise impair the status of a Nation’s regions, government, or units.

¨ The Church may assess a tithe upon a Nation at its discretion provided that the tithe will have no impact on that Nation’s income. More costly tithes may only be imposed upon a Nation with the prior approval of that Nation’s government.

¨ The Nation will not interfere with or otherwise impair the influence of the Church.

¨ The Nation will not interfere with or otherwise impair missionary activity in the Nation on the part of the Church.

Recommendations (not responsibilities) for Church-Nation relations:

¨ Nations should keep the Church informed of any other religion’s efforts to convert people away from Catholicism.

¨ The Church should be sensitive to the political consequences of any missionary activity conducted in a Nation or in the territories of rivals of a Nation. Given that, the Nation and the Church should negotiate who will have responsibility for missionary work in the Nation, and where. The Church should consult with a Nation before assigning missionary operations in that Nation or its neighbors/rivals. The Nation should have the option to permit or deny missionary operations. This will limit the chances that missionary activity might spark an undesirable political consequence.

Afriqa

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Catholic Mercenaries	Minimum bid listed in [x].
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Captains	General Xho (M936) [5gp]
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The Emirate of Carthage (Augostina in Tunisia)

Hamilcar Barca, Emir of Augostina, Sultan of Tunisia

Diplomacy None apparent

The Emir was almost happy, having at last pacified the Spanish by paying them tribute, and the sight of new-built Carthaginian airships resplendent in green and gold flying above the city was greatly heartening. Even the generally poor harvests did not put him off his feed, as the Danes were generous enough to ship their paltry surplus to North Africa (from Italy, no less, which is very funny from a historical perspective…)

In all, the Emirate fairly hummed with productivity and work. Missionary activities in the east went well and did not inspire any rebellions or revolts. The late ‘situation’ along the Nile continued, with a letter arriving from Soba by courier:

Dear Ambassador Stilico,

In regards to your previous missive from the Carthaginian Parliament the Free Republic sees no need to apologize for anything the Free Republic did in the region of Faiyum. The Free Republic would like to remind Carthage that prior to the forces of Carthage arriving in the Territory neither nation was in control of the province. We would also point out that great pains were taken to ensure that war did not break out between our nations on our part. In spite of the fact that Faiyum has historically belonged to the Republic and not Carthage. The only thing Highly Irregular lately has been you, Ambassador Stilico. As such you are deemed persona non-grata in the Republic until you have (a) learned some manners, and (b) taken some fiber to combat your irregularity.

Fredik, Regent, Republic of Ethiopia

Christian Emirate of Libya (Noor al Senussi on the Azores)

Skikda, Emir of Egypt and Lybia, Emperor of Denmark

Diplomacy None

Though he had big plans to claim the throne of Denmark from the ‘usurper’ Georg Dushan, Skikda fell ill for most of ’49 and ’50 and could not get out of bed. So his Imperial dreams would have to wait…

The Principate of Vastmark (Chihuahua City in Takrur)

William Casimir, Stadholder of Takrur, Prince of Vastmark

Diplomacy St. Laurent in Camopi(t)

The Stadholder continued to stubbornly pursue negotiations with the Senegalese, who were really being very, very difficult. He also kept a weather eye on the increasingly powerful Moslem tribes to the north – though they continued to mind their own business.

The Takrur salt mines bottomed out, causing a minor local recession as thousands trekked to the cities in search of work. Prince Jason was married (again) and this time his new wife managed to bear him a son without perishing in the process. A near-disaster among the lending and commercial credit banks of Chihuahua City was averted by the combined intervention of the Prince and the Norsktrad mercantile bank.

The Mali Ax Empire (Ax Mixtlan in Mixe)

Nine-Jaguar, ne-Axamaloa na-Tochul, King of the Mixtecs, Lord of the Niger, Captain of the Firestorm Banner, True Emperor of the Aztecs, Emperor of Mali, DarkLord of Africa

Diplomacy Onogui in Teke(t), Teke(a), Xiucaxl in Zerma(ea)

The Mixtec capital sweltered in the sub-Saharan heat, the night filled with the tramp of Eagle knights on patrol and the distant wailing of priests in the temples of the Dying God. At the heart of the sprawling palace of the Dark Lord, old Nine-Jaguar continued to plot and plan… his mind was ever busy, driving his subject peoples to work, to build and to expand. News came from the north – the great Temple of the Virgin at Ephesus was at last done^[9]. Reports from the provinces indicated the size and location of all chicken coops now met the standards of the Accord.

Two fleets were dispatched, one to Itacare on the coast of Sud Amerika and one to the desolate wasteland of Ovambo in the far south, near the Bay of Shining Stones. Two cities were raised – Ax Luwa in Itacare and Ax Eyahue in Ovambo – to provide safe harbor, water, fuel and food for the ever-increasing number of Mixtec merchants plying the waters of the Atlantic.

The Republic of Ethiopia (Soba in Funj)

Fredik, President-For-Life of Ethiopia

Diplomacy No apparent effect

The elderly Fredik dashed off some letters, expressing his displeasure with neighboring kingdoms and potentates, then forced President Saul’s sister Ruth into marriage (though no less than four decades separated their ages). At the same time, while Coptic missionaries plagued the Adenese Arabs to no end, young Saul was sent off south to Mulkur to find a wife (which he did, princess Geeza, though no one could claim her relatives were mollified by this action).

What did transpire, however, was Saul became enraged at the thought of his sister being forced to consent to the depraved advances of the wicked old Fredik and he (now accompanied by some of his wife’s brothers) returned to Soba in disguise, seeking to go among the Republican Guards and seek their support in overthrowing the tyrant Regent. Sadly, the bravery of youth was no match for the malice and skill of old age. The young President was seized by Guardsmen loyal to Fredik and imprisoned. His wife’s brothers were murdered and she, in turn, was sent away to a nunnery among the crags of Lalibela.

Queen Ruth was, in fact, forced to submit to Fredik’s desires to spawn an heir to both the line of Ashur and his own dynasty. Sadly for her, she died in childbirth in early ’50, leaving the cruel old man without a bride, an heir or any successor. The Regent then declared himself President and tried to have Saul murdered. At this, however, the Guards balked, leaving things in the capital tense and Saul still in prison.

The Maasai Kingdom (Mbeya in Kimbu)

Sogobu the Cripple, King of the Maasai, Emperor of Ethiopia

Diplomacy Kikuyu(nt)

Life was pretty fat and happy in Masai-mara. The cities of Boma, Kisanjani, Mahala and Gardoria all expanded. Many statues, churches and public parks dedicated to Sogobu were built. He sired another son and scolded prince Junuka for failing to quicken any of his women.

Republic of South Afriqa (Great Zimbabwe in Rozwi)

M’beron, Protector of the Senate and the Republic

Diplomacy None apparent

Flexing their steam-powered muscles, the Republican Railroad Authority thumbed their noses at the Poles and extended the ‘main line’ from Darian in Matopos northwest to the thriving metropolis of Ujimbili in Matabele. The Army Corps of Engineers also pitched in, beginning work on a spur line down from Darian to Tashka in Banhine. In comparison, everyone else were pikers with kilometers of track measured in handfuls rather than hundreds.

Figure 3. Weekly Express from Zimbabwe to Darian

Fighting continued on Madagascar, where the Republican fleet was busy shipping thousands of colonists into Merintha (in the south, which became Catholic), Mahabo (also became Catholic) and Betisimarsaka, where Admiral Mbeki and General G’mar were hard-pressed to subdue the fierce natives (both the local Madagascarenes and the more recent Axumites) and protect a colony there. A modest delegation was sent to the Council of St. Georges to register a variety of concerns with the Papacy.

The Honorable Afriqa Company (Iusalem in Karanga)

Kaiune Tikumbay, President, Master of the Southern House

Diplomacy Augostina in Tunisia(mf), Accra in Togo(ma), Nova Roma in Phalaborwa(ci), Abas in Fars(ma), Arungtane in Kedah(ma)

The frenzy of construction in and around Iusalem continued, with new factories going up on an almost daily basis. The hunger of the Republican railroad effort fueled the Company expansion (particularly as the HAC held monopoly rights over iron, rolled steel and boiler construction within the RSA). A number of Company agents were dispatched to help certain Mediterranean powers build or refurbish cities^[10].

North Amerika

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Extracts from Malcom Procure's The Co-ordination and Application of Naval Power in an Age of Steam and Flight

(published by Norsktrad Press, Lisbon, restricted to Norskvarden officer training):

With the introduction of gun turrets, more attention must be paid to the deck layout, and the avoidance of blind arcs due to the superstructure. A ship must carry not only an adequate primary armament, but secondary armament, spotting cages, and a means for the spotter to communicate with the gunnery officer, and he with the turret gunners. Spotters on the mast above (and forward of) the funnels can direct gunnery, but they must be protected from heat and exhaust gases.

The naval architect must balance speed, protection and armament. Let us also not forget that the term ‘cruiser’ derives from ‘cruising ship’, an independent command engaged in policing and trade route protection.

Traditionally, each gun is controlled by its own gunlayer, firing his gun independently under the general direction of the ship’s gunnery officers. Such guns have been laid to fire on the roll, when they point directly at the target at the time when the ship comes to the end of a roll. The pitch and yaw add extra uncertainties to the gunner’s judgment of how his gun should be set for the roll. Therefore, the gun may only be used when the target is in line of sight, when the accumulation of minor errors will not hinder the aim. In the new cruisers, continuous aim may be applied during the entirety of the roll using telescopic sights. This increases the effective range of the weapons. Such sights are generally only applicable to smaller guns, but given the comparable rate of fire (in the time a 12inch can fire one shot, an 8inch can fire four) and that medium artillery has adequate armor penetration at normal combat range, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. A battery of 8inch guns can be located within a single gun turret and fired in salvos. There is an increased probability of hitting the target by covering a small area of water with shells. Correctly adjusted sights should ensure that the shells straddle the target. Salvos conducted by guns of a single caliber permit the fall of shot to be observed and to be corrected in range and bearing. When multiple uncoordinated guns are being used, the confusion of shell splashes makes such correction very difficult.

A thick iron or steel hull is highly resistant to bombardment. Features adopted from land fortifications, such as curved or slanted walls reduce the effect of hostile artillery. Additionally, an iron-belt, composed of thick plates protects the waterline of the ship. The naval architect must ensure that even when fully loaded the waterline armor is not fully submerged. An overload of coal will also reduce the maneuverability of the vessel. Some designers propose that a low freeboard makes the ship less vulnerable to shellfire, but it results in poor handling at sea due to dubious stability, and the risk of flooding hatchways and ventilation trunks. Such ships do have advantages in inland waterways and for coastal defense.

Despite the apparent superiority of the steam-driven ironclad, the age of sail is not yet eclipsed. A wise captain understands the strengths and weaknesses of his vessel, regardless the means of locomotion, or the details of construction. Good seamanship remains a necessity.

Kingdom of Tzompanctli

Tizoc, Baron of H–kar-on-the-plain-of-bones

Diplomacy Kayak/Azaton(ea)

The Skull kings minded their own business.

The Nisei Republic (Usonomiya in Yokuts)

Kiyotaka Kuroda, Commander of the Armies of the Republic, Protector of the Emperor of All Japan, daitoryo of the Diet

Diplomacy None

Peace broke out, forced by the military victories of the plainsmen, and the Foreign Service managed to negotiate a very reasonable treaty for all concerned:

The Nisei and Ghost Dancers signed an agreement for permanent peace between their nations. In conjunction with the Shawnee, the nations agreed the Ghost Dancers would return all lands captured from the Nisei plus Minnewaska, Yanktonai and the five captured airships. The Ghost Dancers agreed to respect all Nisei lands and to take no hostile actions against the Nisei. In turn, the Nisei will respect the Ghost Dancers rights to the lands of Noquet, Sauk, Kickapoo, Fox, Croix, Shetek, Santee, Iowa, Oto, Missouri, Ponca, and Pawnee, and all lands North of Noquet, Sauk, Kickapoo, Fox, Croix, Missouri, Oto, Dakota, Okoboji, Teton and Crow and will take no hostile actions against the Ghost Dancers. The Shawnee consented as well.

A reconstituted II Corps (really no more than a brigade) was dispatched east to restore Nisei administration over the recovered provinces. Unfortunately, General Shun barely had enough men to garrison Crow and the city of Bohr. The lands further east would have to wait…

A squadron of Tokugawa ships arrived at Yokuts to help the Republic defend itself against the plainsmen. The recent peace treaty, however, rendered their aid moot and so lord Ichigawas’ sailors and soldiers spent their pay drinking and carousing in the port districts, causing a terrible lot of trouble for the police.

The crowded, hot, malarial outpost of Tahiri (on Cuba) received unexpected visitors – an Albanian East India Company airship and a number of merchantmen carrying crates of mysterious cloth and parts. Apparently their crossing of the Atlantic had been very eventful, leading to the loss of four of their ships due to mutiny and fire. However, the local bakufu authorities were very pleased to receive the shipment.

Grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

The High Kingdom of Colorado (Three Crosses in Navajo)

Fredrik Grosse, King of the Ute, High King of Colorado

Diplomacy Apache(a)

Having bestirred himself from sloth, the High King had his minions running to and fro in great haste – the Coloradan fleet began patrolling the sea lanes between Corpus Christi and Kasar, suppressing piracy and protecting trade. The Sisters began a vigorous campaign of proselytization in Comanche, concurrent with a settlement program financed by the king. The abandoned town of St. Luke’s in Chiricaua was repopulated and many land grants were made in the province itself. New Royal way-stations (fortresses, really) were built all across the land and the High King’s knights were much in evidence.

Grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

The Ghostdancers (Fushige in Missouri)

Teoclote Azurama, Prince of Fushige, War-Captain of the Ghost People

Diplomacy None

Having secured peace with the Japanese, the Ghost Dancer army withdrew from Shoshone and Crow. While Averana Hawk remained in Teton, waiting for the Nisei garrison to arrive, Teoclote and the vast majority of his army returned to Fushige in the east. A number of captured airships were returned to the Nisei as a gesture of good faith. The sudden return of Quapaw and Infi to Ghost Dancer control was surprisingly pleasant – Teoclote did not complain at all!

No grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

Arapaho Texas [Shawnee Protectorate](Ayoel in Atakapa)

Kegemai Arroweye, Chieftain of the Arapaho, Liegeman of the Stormdragon

Diplomacy None

The Arapaho withdrew their garrison from Quapaw, hoping the province would remain loyal under a provisional government, but the locals (being fervent Ghost Dancers) immediately revolted and restored GD control over both the region and the city of Infi. Kegemai was displeased, but in the face of Azurama’s enormous army, he could do little. Kansa, however, was settled by Arapaho landholders and a head-count taken of everyone in the protectorate.

Grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

The Shawnee Empire (Cahokia in Michigamea)

Valeria Stormdragon, Queen of the Shawnee, Empress of the Iroquois

Diplomacy None

The Empress focused her attentions on entertaining lord Running Bear (resulting in another son, Valkan) and trying to restore the Imperial finances, which had taken a beating in the recent wars. An arrangement to secure control of the Jesuit city of St. Augustine (and the province of Calusa) fell through, as the local Jesuit master had not been informed of anything like that by the central office.

Grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

Kingdom of the Iroquois [Shawnee Protectorate] (New Canarsie in Mohawk)

Canassatego, King of the Iroquois Nation, Regent for…

Lucas II Stormdragon, Lord of the East.

Diplomacy Powhattan(a), Catawba/Hebron(f)

The king took a tour ‘round his domain, shaking hands, giving presents, receiving oaths of loyalty and all that. Luckily for the treasury, a Norsktrad fleet stopped by and unloaded a sizable number of coffers filled with coin.

The Order of The Flowering Sun (Tenochtitl n)

Chikietl, Master of the Order, Shield of the Sun against the Ten Thousand Enemies

Diplomacy Zapotec(op), Itza in Tamaulipec(oh)

The knights of the Living Sun continued to go about their business in a quiet, unassuming, pious way. The sun did not go out, so they were doing well.

Aztec Viceroyalty of Zacateca (Gorea in Zacatec)

Ahuitzotol, Viceroy of the North

Diplomacy None

The citizens of Gorea watched in amazement as endless wagon-trains of grain, clothing, timber, pottery, dried meat, fruit and other goods rolled into the city. Everything was very busy.

The Aztec Empire of Mexico (Sion in Huave)

Tr konel “The Victorious”, Emperor of Mexico, Warrior of Christ, Protector of the Faith, Smiter of the Infidel, Conqueror of the Incans, Rex Britannicus

Diplomacy Mitla in Zapotec(ea), Cuna(c)

The Empire imported a vast amount of food and paid very favorable rates to get it… the “mice” also tried to disguise the transactions, but since none of the other governments involved paid any attention to ‘covering up’ the stream of ships crammed with wheat, corn, potatoes, yams, dried llama meat, etc. it was an impossible task.

Work began in Nan Chao on a set of modern steamship yards. Gangs of Norsktrad engineers, mechanics and craftsmen were all over the project, along with thousands of Aztec laborers. The cities of Pachamaxl and Tlacotalpan expanded.

Following a request from the government of the Republic of Spain, the Norsktrad entered into negotiation with the Aztec Empire, in order to support a requested cartel trade route. Notice of the discussions was provided to the Catholic nations of the Amerikas, as well as other powers, for the Norsktrad had no wish to alienate its existing clients and customers. Though the Swedish Embassy muttered darkly about certain ‘matters of history’, they made no open effort to stop the trade negotiations.

At Tuxpan, Captain Henri Trygvasson met with the Imperial authorities and agreed to a mercantile charter allowing the Norsktrad to operate within the Empire. He then set about recruiting staff for the office, focusing on the local Pochtecatlin. As part of his effort, a subsidiary company called Norsk-Atlancalli^[11] was chartered within Imperial waters to promote peaceful trade.

The following treaty is hereby drawn up between the Aztec Empire and the Norsktrad Merchant House of Lisbon.

The Aztec Empire hereby grants a mercantile charter to the Norsktrad Merchant House for the provision of offices and trading rights within the territory of the Empire. To fulfill this commercial agreement, the Norsktrad agrees to set up a subsidiary to operate within the borders of the Empire, and to support the trade of the Empire with other Lencolar nations in the future. This limited company is hereafter named as Norsk-Atlancalli, and will employ Aztec subjects within its local offices, but it remains fully accountable to, and a part of, the Norsktrad Company. The Norsktrad grants Norsk-Atlancalli the use of its routes and offices for the purposes of commerce.

Norsk-Atlancalli undertakes to maintain existing trade routes and expand such trade if possible. The Branch Office at Nan Chao becomes at this time the primary office for Norsk-Atlancalli, with the proviso that the primary office will be henceforth moved to a more suitable location. Norsk-Atlancalli is granted the right to open new offices at the city of Tuxpan, with additional sites to be agreed in due time.

The Norsktrad undertakes to respect the rights and territories of the Aztec Empire, and the Empire recognizes the rights and holdings of the Company abroad, and agrees to protect the employees, property and goods of the Norsktrad and Norsk-Atlancalli within its borders.

Signed:

Opochtzin, Aztec Minister of Trade.

Johannes Teugen, Maklarevalde of the Norsktrad

In the north, the rather addled Red God legion commander attempted to remove all sign-posts pointing the way to the massive fortress/city complex of Mesa Verde. This only confused the farmers, ranchers and merchants in the area and then the poor fellow suffered some kind of brain-fever and died.

In the south, two Aztec fleets and four Legions (Smoking Sun, Lightning, Jaguar and Pyramid) converged on the independent Incan province of Valdivia and the notorious ‘free city’ of Qito. As endless columns of Aztec legionnaires (more than 40,000) poured off their ships (or marched in overland from the Incan Protectorate), the Qitans scrambled back into their city (which was, in turn, massively fortified^[12] – they had been expecting an Aztec attack for years…)

The Jaguar legion command, lord Cuyuitan, did not waste any time – within a week of clearing aside the ‘bandits and brigands’ in the provincial hinterland he assailed Qito from land, air and sea. A massive fleet (over six hundred ships) hammered the city from the ocean, while a dozen Aztec airships (of strikingly modern design) rained fire and bombs from the sky. His artillery corps pounded the landward defenses day and night… within the perimeter, the 10,000 Qitans hung on bravely, fighting tooth and nail to preserve their freedom. But without any hope of relief, how long could they withstand the constant attacks?

The city, despite ferocious resistance, did not hold out long. The all-enveloping attack left the defenders without hope, rest or respite. Within four months the inner ring of fortifications were breached and Aztec troops raised the Quetzal banner over a rubbled, shell-shot Town Hall. Aztec losses, however, were very, very heavy.

The Sisters of the Rose (New Jerusalem in Quiche)

Kelly Davias, Holy Mother of the Lencolar Christian Order

Diplomacy Chichen Itza in Maya(ca), Hausa(ch), Xiucaxl in Zerma(ch), Unita(ab), Tlacotalpan in Popoluca(ch)

Aside from meddling in the great Catholic Conference at St. Georges, the Sisters kept a fairly low profile. Schools were built in Tuxtla, Tlacopan and Tuxpan. Missionary work continued apace in Valdivia (now converted after the Imperial Legions slaughtered all the Catholic priests they could lay their hands on), Choco, Caddo and Aser in Ulva. The dozens of schools maintained by the Sisterhood began to promote a rigorous science and maths curriculum among those attending. The Holy Mother backed up this new initiative with a substantial amount of cash.

South Amerika

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Captains	Joseph d’Sackville (M977) [5gp]
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The Kingdom of Caquetio (New Hiquito in Caquetio)

Pardane Viceno, “The Bold”, King of Caquetio

Diplomacy None

The short-lived rule of Queen Nima was put to an end by the return of prince Pardane from school in Tenochtitlan. The brash, brilliant youth swept aside his bitter, politically-radical sister and restored “the rule of tradition” at the court and throughout Caquetio. Work began on airship yards outside the capital and a massive effort was made to shift the economy of the nation to one based on the fruits of the sea. At the same time, in the very far south, the garrison of Mapuche was disbanded and (while general Eron led a Caquetian army against the French in Pichunche) local autonomy was restored in Mapuche and Novo Ghent.

Grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

The Principate of Bolivia (Trischka in Karanga)

Ramon Mascate, Prince of Bolivia, Duke of Trishka

Diplomacy None

The prince sent supplies and men to repair the damage done in Quillaca province by the earthquake. The city of Gaxan was repaired and many wells re-dug. A number of hot air balloons were constructed for the army and Josep de’Sackville hired to lead a band of knights patrolling the border with Great France.

Grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

The Knights of Saint John (New Granada in Acroa)

Humphrey of Toron, Regent for…

Eluterio Gafard de Masa, Grand-Master of the Knights of Saint John

Diplomacy Tobajarra(f)

Determined to teach the perfidious French a lesson, the Knights rallied a large cavalry force to reinforce Nicholas’ Royal Army and (with Quico de Valle doing the honors as master-general) then they marched south into Kaingan, intending to ‘liberate’ the entire north-eastern arm of Great France.

As he rode, Nicholas dispatched a number of missives to the capital, initiating a wide-ranging set of laws that might – in time – break down the caste-ridden, slave-based society of the Order. In this, the hand of the reformist Papacy was most obvious.

Unfortunately, his bold expedition to punish the French ended in disaster and the Grand-Master’s death on the field of Mont-de-Marsan. This left his son in the hands of a wife who had never been pleased to be the Grand-Master’s bride. Madeline returned home to her estates in Tobajarra, son in tow, and let the lesser lights of the Order fight it out in Acroa for the master-ship…

With Quico de Valle languishing in a French prison, the succession struggle seemed to lie between Seme de Rada (now admiral of the fleet) and Zavier de la Pena (who was actually in Acroa). Unfortunately for both of those intriguers, the matter proved to turn on who controlled Nicholas’ nine-year-old son Elutherio – and he had been seized by a master of the second order, Humphrey of Toron, while traveling north to Tobajara. Humphrey’s men, in an excess of vigor, cut down Queen Madeline and stole her son away. With the heir in his hands, Humphrey dashed to Acroa with a handful of men and – letting no one know of the prisoner among his land-knights – sought an audience with De La Pena. That worthy was not expecting one of the rough-hewn lords of the northwestern frontier to draw a blade and slash his throat open as soon as they’d settled in for wine and some coconut biscuits. Within the month, Humphrey of Toron had declared himself Regent for young Elutherio and claimed mastery of the Order.

Shockingly, Seme de Rada and the fleet captains swore allegiance to Humphrey, though the governor of Arana and Montes Claros did not, proclaiming his region a “free Duchy.” The garrison of Carib abandoned their posts and seized some ships to take them home, leaving the French there to their own devices.

Grain was shipped to the Aztecs.

Great France (Versailles in Calchaqui)

Francois de'Saone, Emperor of France, Prince of Varres, Lord of the South, Smiter of the Heretic

Diplomacy None

Despite some half-hearted attempts to defuse the tension between France, the Knights, Caquetio and Bolivia no one seemed to have any intention of not attempting a conclusion by force of arms. While the Bolivians and Caquetian armies were marauding along the western seaboard and Nicholas Gafard was leading an army against the eastern provinces, the Emperor of France was mustering his own armies (in great number) and preparing to deal harshly with assailants on every side.

The French fleet base at Gueren was shocked by the murder of Duke Gervais, and while nothing was proven one way or another, everyone assumed men in the pay of Nicholas Gafard had killed the war-hero. Strangely, however, the Knights did not attempt to attack Salamanca in the wake of the admirals’ muder.

Instead, the main army of the Knights swept through Kaingan unopposed (leaving a garrison) and smashed into Heta with full force. Emperor Francois was waiting, nearly his entire strength deployed across the highway, the province now a thicket of forts, bastions, prowling regiments and guns.

At Mont-de-Marsan Francois led 30,000 Frenchmen against Nicholas Gafard’s 17,000 Knights. As the numbers promised^[13], the French smashed the Knights in open battle, killing Nicholas Gafard and capturing Master-General De Valle. Thousands of Knights were slaughtered on the field and the rest captured or scattered. Francois – still a sly, pernicious bastard with a pencil-thin mustache – advanced with his host to reclaim Kaingan and seize the province of Tupi from the Knights.

News from the north was confused – Nicholas had left no successor save an eight-year old boy – and it seemed the masters of the Order were troubled by their own rivalries. Therefore (and keeping the wishes of the Pope in mind) Francois contented himself with drilling his army in Tupi while Duke Gamelin took a force of men and swept down the coast, scooping up the provinces of Tupinamba, Shokleng (and Cyranoville) and Cari (and Otoni).

Meanwhile, in the far west, Baron Atayama of Pehuenche had led a small army of his own lancers and knights (reinforced with some Aztec mercenaries) across the Andes into Mapuche. There he found the Caquetian army decamped to invade Pehuenche and the citizens in revolt (under the leadership of Captain Hasird, who had been skulking about the city of Novo Ghent for some time). Meeting the rebels with open arms, Atayama turned north and within two months clashed with the returning Caquetians under lord Eron^[14] at Il Laja. Though the armies were on even terms in men (12,000-odd each) the Caquetians were blessed with a large number of elite mountain artillery batteries, while Atayama’s force was rather sketchy in terms of regular troopers.

Unfortunately, Eron failed to notice a draw to one side of his line of battle and this gulley disgorged a thousand Imperial French Hussars at just the wrong moment. Eron was wounded, his army shuddered then fled, harried by Atacayama’s gauchos. Trapped thousands of miles from home, Eron managed to save a small force, which then trekked north across the Atacama desert and eventually (a year later) managed to reach the Bolivian province of Arica. They were worn pretty thin…

Finally, the Bolivian cavalry force under De Sackville raided into Omaguaca, but were seen off by a mercenary brigade under the Imperial master of horse, Pepin the Stout. He, in turn, raided Quillaca and everyone had a fine time burning villages and skirmishing with one another.

What a fine war…

Bank List

Aztec Empire of Mexico	Tenochtitlan Teocali	2,040	40%
Chan Mongol Empire	Uncle Wu's	634	40%
Free Republic of Ethiopia	Funj Gold Reserves	856	40%
Principate of Kiev	Royal Bank of Khitai	142	35%
Coptic Kingdom of Maasai	M'Beya House of Credit	1,158	20%
The Nisei Republic	New Yedo Matsuma Bank	650	40%
The Republic of Spain	Aztlan Mercantile Credit	269	25%
The Republic of Spain	Banque du Galway	825	40%
Swedish-Russia	BUX	954	40%
Thai-Khemer Empire	Angkor Fat Bank	579	40%
The Kingdom of Java	Sunny Sunda Savings	854	40%

(end of f:\projects\lords\lords01\l1_t210.doc)

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^[1] The Samatatans get invaded by Thai/Khemer/whoever every 4-5 years and they are heartily sick of it! So the province can’t be Pacified Tributary, only Pacified.

^[2] Will not work of Masai, RSA or Java.

^[3] Weighed down by bags of Arnori and Yasarid coin, to boot.

^[4] As it happened, Dahallan’s army lacked either cavalry or artillery to face the League knights and cannon. Very messy.

^[5] “Even a hawk must be able to see the mouse,” prince Kuman Singh said, watching the Hussite skyships pass high overhead, “and then they must recognize the mouse for what it is.”

^[6] Actually, this is a matter of some dispute. Arwen was seen to fall on the field, but her body was never recovered, though Singh’s men searched for her.

^[7] Presumably she won’t work for Norkstrad or Spain, since they’ve posted a reward for her stylishly-coifed head.

^[8] As it happened, the Commonwealth central bank did not collapse. With the assistance of the East India Company and the Knights of Tabor, the Archon managed to find sufficient funds to cover the debt.

^[9] Despite intermittent revolts by the regional population and those Moslem clerics adamantly opposed to the “pagan idolators!”

^[10] Hmm… will the HAC be called Bechtel in the next century?

^[11] Atlancalli ~ derived from the Swedish for the Atlantic – Atlanten as well as the Nahuatl words for water ‘Atl’ and bordering/between ‘tlan’, and the Nahuatl for ‘house.’ So either Atlantic House, or House between the Waters (Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.)

^[12] Qito, in fact, was the eighth most fortified city in the world; after Budokan, Chihuahua City, Tharbad, Pienching, Sunda, Angkor Wat and Harbin.

^[13] Not only a simple count of men, but also the preponderance of guns on the French side, against which the massed ranks of Knight cavalry could not overcome, despite repeated, desperate charges.

^[14] Who was furious with the King who had ordered all the fortifications in Mapuche disbanded to crew fishing boats and leaving his army stranded in the south with no way home and no support.