GM
NOTES TURN 15 - Next Turn Due December 15th.
If
something happens you do not understand email me I keep very good turn-by-turn
notes and I can probably tell you why something happened.
Turns Sheets: Please
work diligently to make these clean. Clean
orders get processed faster and more efficiently.
If you can use the Turn sheet with the embedded excel please do so.
I really like the movement section on those a lot.
Turn Sheets to you: Please check your stat sheets
when you get them rather than at the last minute.
Yes, I realize they should be perfect but sometimes it doesn’t happen
that way. If you check ahead
of time it give time for things to get fixed rather than being in a rush.
SE’s and Hordes:
Be
warned …… They can start popping now.
I will say this about both, I do not expect that I will have an overly
active Horde world, things seem to be active without there being one Horde
active at all times. I am not
inclined to have freaky SE’s but historical ones yes.
I will set SE goals be warned.
Don’t Forget
(I know this is hard to get used to) You can contact NPN’s and they
just might be helpful. NPN’s like
making deals especially when it nets them money.
Islands & Colonization and
Building Cities:
You must
colonize an island to zero before building a city on it.
This represents the very basic regional infrastructure necessary to
assist the city in functioning.
When Visiting
provinces for diplomatic purposes I will generally send you home before the end
of the turn especially in the case of a nation. Staying longer than the current turn is viewed as over
staying your welcome.
Women Rulers:
Women can rule but the first time this happens there is a risk if you
have Feudal Allies, SFA’s, EA’s or Allied provinces they will bail on you.
There are some variables on this based on the Queen’s stats.
Whenever a female takes the throne after the first time there is a small
chance of problems once again stats of the Queen help determine the results.
Multiple Wives:
Yes you can have them. Two
weaknesses of this, makes the possibility of a DF greater and eliminates the
effectiveness of a political marriage.
ARMY BREAKDOWNS:
Ground troops:
1 Unit = 200 Men
Field Forts:
1 Unit = 1 Field Fort ****
NOTE CHANGE ******
Naval
Units:
1 Unit = 1 Ships
**** NOTE
CHANGE ******
I think from a historical perspective
ships, after doing some reading and some information from Leslie, should be
represented by one ship rather than 2 so I have made the adjustment, it affects
nothing on the combat side.
Marriage:
I am not allowing royal families that
are very closely linked already to marry. No
marrying cousins or stepbrothers or sisters.
If you insist on this I will have to break out the genetics chart to see
if you incur the wrath of God (whichever you worship).
I know I have mentioned this in an
Email and probably some Rule notes at some point and time but it is worth
mentioning again. Going to Free or
Open societies will cause a DF roll. The
world of 1050 was not one that embraced anything like a free or open society.
I do not like Great Walls expect them
to be expensive.
1070 - 1074:
Rise of the Hordes
Mercenary Pool:
If a leader is listed you must hire
the leader and his troops, leaders minimum is 5GP plus the minimum of .5gp for
regular and 1gp for elite troops unit.
Northern Europe:
Johan Olavsen
855
1HI, 10I
Independent
10W, 10XW
Mediterranean (Catholic)
Zulicini
749
5HC, 5C
(Catholic)
Barceli
II
973
10EW
Non-Islamic
Alicius
A44
1HEI, 5EI Independent
5HW, 15W
France, Spain, Italy,
Germany & Independents
10I, 20XI
England, Scotland, Eire
Independent
3C, 5XC
Any Nation on the Red Sea
Horgan’s Free Co.
767
5HEI, 10EI, 5S
Or East Africa
Egypt, Morocco & Cordoba:
Taureg Clan
833
3XEC, 30XC
Independents
10XC, 10XI
Hungary,
Serbia, Russia, Poland
G. D’Kolner
769
6HEC, 10EC
REE
3XEC
Hungary, Serbia, Russia, Poland
Independents
3HI, 7I, 15XI
Independents
5C, 10XC
Buhwayids, Egyptians, Yemen
& Shiraz
Independents
(Moslem) 7C, 15XC
Central Asia
Buddhist & Lamanist Nations
Monk Kaing
A27
10HEI
India
Proper
Deccan Raiders
824
13XEC
Independents
5I, 5XEI
Independents
5XEC
Asia (naval)
Independents
10XW
SE Asia & So. China
ZuKhan
875
6EC, 3XC
Independent
5C, 10XC
N.China, Korea, Japan
Ju Jin
A55
8EC, 10XEC
Africa:
Shia:
Expanded holding some.
Built a bunch of improvements in Sicily.
Egypt:
Benghazi +1 CL, Fortress Benghazi, Royal Road, Alexandria +1CL, Abdulabad
(F)
Jordan (NE)
The
fifty-year-old heirless King managed to produce two sons remarkably.
This was a very good thing since both of the Empires princes perished
this cycle leaving very little in the way of a royal family.
The Emperor decided to devote himself to the betterment of the empire;
walls were erected around several cities. A
fortress was built in Benghazi which is one of the most important cities in the
Egyptian empire do to the sheer volume of trade it handles.
Some administrators have suggested a road to Benghazi might improve the
value of the city even more. Some
effort was made to contact the Council of Sands for what purpose it is not known
but the Fatimid agents were unsuccessful.
Ghana:
Boure (F)
The
clan was blessed with four daughters this cycle but no sons. The family is large though so it is not always critical have
sons though Nune is sweating the dowries he is going to have to pay to off load
his 4 daughters. The province of
Boure was the center of Ghanan attention this cycle as a good deal of effort was
spent in province convincing the locals that the previous king was insane and
that while slavery was still in existence it was not in vogue in the royal court
any more. The locals accepted the
word of the diplomats and joined the kingdom.
Morocco:
Oran +1CL, Port City of Merka built in Arguin
A
quiet cycle in Morocco. The King
sired an heir and that was a big deal as it is always good to have someone to
follow in your footsteps. Economic
development continued to be a primary concern of the Emir and he was very
effective in implementing his policies. A=Diplomat
Fasim was sent to Awlil to bring the province under Moroccan control he was as
ineffectual as the Cordovans.
Sunni Church:
(MN) Lebanon & Cedar
Continue to build in the deserts of
the Sahara maintaining their hold on the tribes.
The Sunni church expanded further into the Buhwayid realm also.
Algeria:
Road Bone to Algiers
Built a road to speed the flow of
information between the capital and Bone as well as all the small coastal
villages in between. The Royal
guard was expands again.
Tunisia:
Mahida +1CL
The
navy continues to grow, as does the Tunisian capital.
Hausa:
+1 CL Zaria, Ife (F), Benin (NT)
The
Hausa like most of the Africans continue to be peaceful. Little diplomacy, little economic growth nothing much else to
report. Tumba III and Kurfei where
killed in a lion attack while visiting an ancient Shaman.
Kanem:
Jos (NE), Kafin (EA), Kreda (FA)
The
Kings son Moriomis spends a great deal of time working with the Coptic bishop
and learning the ways of his faith. Moriomis
is fascinated by the idea of a single divine being and he absorbs all the
information he can get on the subject. The
King who declined in health throughout the cycle ordered his diplomats into
action again this cycle. The
results were good since nothing bad happened.
Zagwe:
Soba +1CL, Alwa Fortress, Kassala (FA)
Soba became the larges city south of
Alexandria this cycle, which is a testament to the will power of the Zagweans to
stick to a plan regardless of how badly the royal family needs a new swimming
pool. There was a great deal of
hoopla about the completion of the great Soba city project not much else
happened in the confines of the kingdom besides that, well Dil and Solomon both
had children so now there are some little rug rats running around.
Ethiopia:
Gore’ +1CL
Ethiopians minded their own business
and enjoyed the quiet life on the high plateau.
Coptic
Church: (CA) Axum, (MN) Shoa
The
efforts of the Coptic Church in Kanem went well.
The nobility was receptive to the Coptic overtures as were most of the
locals. This was not the case in
Ain’Farah. The Kerken tribes
continue to be violently resistive to the churches overtures, more missionaries
were slain in Kerken horde lands. The
Primate ordered that more efforts be put into enhancing the livelihoods of the
people of Soba and it was done in a big way as Coptic coffers continue to grow.
Patriarch Timeon passed in 1073 having done a great deal to enhance the
health of the church.
Kilwa:
Port city of Mafia in Nyasa
Peaceful
East Africa where the tropical breezes blow and the people don’t have much use
for clothes. Ok they wear clothes
just not lots of them because it is too damn hot.
The kingdom is progressing toward world power status as another city is
added to the already lengthy roster of cities under Kilwaian domination.
King Kenan had several children this cycle and everyone was happy.
Zanzibar:
Zaniport +1CL
Nothing much to report except the
Prince Racine has been declared King of Zanzibar and Zanzibar has broken off all
contact with Ceylon.
Zimbabwe:
The Zimbabweans dedicate much of
their time and resources to the conversion of the Kafue forest to more useful
farmland; this project is nearing completion at the end of the cycle.
The other project that the nation devoted themselves to was reducing the
influence of the pagan religion in society they were successful at this but one
wonders to what ends do the pursue such actions….maybe the coming of the
Lamanist faith in Kilwa has opened the eyes of more African nations.
Zulu Nation:
+1 CL Sharik
Europe:
Bolgars: +1CL for Bolgar City
The
Bolgars rolled the dice, they had a good sized army so they added another level
to their key city and then rushed to add city walls once the expansion was
complete.
Kiev:
Belarus (F), Muscovy Cultivated, +1 CL Bolkov, Port City of Luinbech in
Chernigov
1600
light lancers were raised by the Czar. With
the Scythians at the gates there was a need for additional men.
Big things were done this cycle on the home front.
Muscovy was cultivated make more arable land for the Rus.
Another city was added on the Dvina as the river becomes more populated.
Bolkhov increased as well as river trade is booming.
Speaking of booming Yaroslav II added another two children to his growing
brood. On the growing brood front Yaroslav’s sister Ivana was
married off to the Belarus clan leader Dimitriev.
Dimitriev was added to the royal rolls as a prince.
There
was a big push by the Kievian throne to bring the Bulgarians into the fold.
While the offer was generous and well supported but the Bulgarian court
was resistive. The Bulgarians were enjoying their independence and
felt they had no threats from outside. The
Patriarch had once again stepped to the forefront and spared Europe the trouble
of dealing with a horde so who was going to trouble the Bulgars?
Dejected Ivan IV returned to Kiev.
Novgorod:
Kotlas Colonized, Claimed a huge swath of territories
Rather than build prisons the King
decided that he would force malcontents and troublemakers to go live in Kotlas.
This turned out to be a very good idea.
The people of the region were tough and they had to be because the winter
was brutal. The locals made the
best of a bad situation and began the very profitable business of trapping.
Well once the furs hit the streets of Novgorod they were all the rage,
people flooded into the wilderness to set ups businesses in support of the fur
trade the province of Kotlas grew in prominence.
In other news the King Ivan II died
of the cough at the age of 67. It
was a sad moment to lose the founder of the nation and from this point on Ivan
“the Builder” would be his moniker. He
may have merely been administering lands that his father had secured but he did
assist in the development of the country and he oversaw the building of not less
than six cities. That alone makes
him and impressive man. Ivan III
assumed the throne unopposed. Princess
Karerina rushed back from the wilderness to ummm make sure everything went
smoothly….allegedly and it did. The
royal duties seemed to suit Ivan III well his wife gave birth to twin boys in
1070, a daughter in 1071 and another son in 1074.
Galica:
The Galicians called up 4000 horse
archers from the steppe to bolster their army.
Galich had not been devoting much effort to the strengthening of their
military over the last half a century but now that the economy was going
strongly they felt is was time to be able to defend their realm more
effectively.
England:
Becomes a Feudal Society
Though
only limited in scope the forced settlement of the province of Dyfed had a
dramatic effect on the realm the way in which not “English” people and
English people were viewed made things easier to manage but the low classes were
not quite as productive. The
English under Molly have seen the light of day though, no longer are people
repressed because of their nationality now it only occurs because of their
class. Molly can take pride in the
fact that she has undone a great wrong by completing this project. In other news the prosperity of the kingdom continued to
improve as new routes were set up with the heathens in southern Spain and North
Africa.
Lord
Marlborough and Thandelton journeyed far to the south on a mission of
exploration to the Sea of Dogs. Their
mission was a success but Baron Thandleton fell overboard and was lost at sea on
the trip.
Celtic
Church:
Several Cathedrals
The
Celtic church continues to support very heavily the efforts of their
constituents.
Ireland:
Port City of Belfast in Ulster, +1CL Torshaven
Never
let an Irish Lass drink too much especially if she is the Kings daughter.
All sorts of trouble can occur should drinking and Irish women and
Welshmen mix together. Lets just say there was a rather lightly attended wedding for
Brigitte daughter if Sean Ryn early in the cycle due to a little incident that
occurred. Things seemed to go
swimmingly with the Welshmen in Dublin after than little embarrassing incident
though so it was all right. Brigitte
gave birth to a hearty baby boy and it was all-good. She now lives in Dublin with one of the Finnaugen boys; the
king did see fit to spruce up the place a bit before allowing his daughter to
move to the city.
No
a lot else happened in the lands the Elder Ryn as the King was now referred to
seems to be still healthy at the age of 70.
Norway:
Kopparborg Cultivated
Lots
of Economic Development was implemented in the country in hopes that Norway
might emerge from its lull.
Orkney/Scotland:
The Scots became innovators this
cycle when they proved that people can actually make their own decisions.
Casting off the old feudal way remarkably the nation did not explode into
some huge upheaval. (GM: Warning if you go to an open society you will have a
good chance to blow up) The
King knowing that a potential upheaval was in the offing shipped to the Laps for
a vacation. The Laps put the
soft nobles to work, fishing and milking yaks.
It was not too much fun for them but when you visit the Laps you do as
the Laps. Edinburgh was beautified.
Poland:
Warsaw +1CL, City of Poznan in Kauyavia
The
economic improvements continue in the lands of the Poles. All efforts of Poland targeted merging with the Baltic trade
confederation this cycle. This
however did not occur. “See BTC”
Baltic
Pagans:
Sucks
being poor, little more economic development.
Baltic
Trade Coalition: Lohar-Jarvi
Colonized fully
The
BTC got the bum rush from the Poles. The
Poles badly wanted to integrate the Baltic Islands into their domains.
The island nation had other ideas. They
were a prosperous seafaring country and radically different than their Polish
counterparts from not only a social aspect but and economic one as well.
Language was also a stumbling block, since the BTC spoke Danish and
Norwiegn and the Polish spoke in their Slavic tongue. While the idea might have sounded like a good idea to the
leaders of Poland and the Roman Catholic Church the BTC found many flaws in the
interogation and flatly turned it down.
HRE:
+1CL Mainz, Ulm, Bremen, Koln; Anhalt built in Saxony, Royal Road built
from Franconia to Hesse
The people of the empire continue to
benefit from the wise rule of Elizabeth. The
nation is booming economically, politically and militarily.
Sadly Elizabeth is driven by one goal the acquisition of Bavaria.
Once again a trip was made to Bavaria and once again the Empires efforts
were rebuffed. The Bavarians are
growing very weary of the dogged pursuit of interrogation by the German Empire. Elizabeth and her entourage were politely escorted out of
Bavaria after Leopold’s death and the discovery of some influencing attempts
by a certain member of the Elizabethan diplomatic corp.
William Von Ryan who had been tucked
away in Southern Italy for 10 years got to return to Germany finally.
He stopped in Rome to look for suspicious activities but found none.
He also stopped by St. Gail before heading to Franconia; he was old and
tired and wanted to see his wife once more.
On arriving in Frankfurt Von Ryan was awarded the Chair of Witch Craft
and Demonology at the University of Frankfurt.
This was a great honor but William declined and petitioned the University
to accept Victor von Ryan to the position. Von Ryan III the nephew of the Queen became Witch Hunter
General shortly there after when William passed.
There was some investigating done in the region but no witch in her right
mind would consider even passing through Franconia.
One last note Prince Sigismund was
married Athena his brothers wife before is brothers untimely death.
This made Sigismund very unhappy. Sigismund
did not like playing second fiddle to his wife and he pressed the Queen to make
him the heir rather than Athena but his petition fell on deaf ears.
Apparently Athena had turned from Italian hottie into frigid heiress
since coming to Germany as well. There
was little love…ok none… in the relationship.
Prince Albert was sent off to Italy to marry what would have been his
sister in law he was rebuffed because the thought of marrying here brother was
to icky to think about. Distraught
about the idea of going back to Franconia and having to live under the eye of
the Iron Queen Albert killed himself.
Carinthia:
Port City of Bari in Apulia
The Carinthians continue to become
more influential on the Adriatic.
Kingdom
of Italy:
If
it was the 1930’s one might say the fascist state of Italy was alive and well.
Pietro ruler of nearly all of Italy continues to recruit battle-hardened
veterans into his army. They drill
continuously under young Pietro IV’s watchful eye.
Pietro and the Mercenary League continue to work closely together as
well. There was the thought that
Princess Desmonda and Prince Albert of Germany would marry but since they were
brother and sister by a previous marriage the nuptials never occurred. Nothing of real note occurred beyond that…..it appears the
one time hotbed of Europe has now settled down.
Pietro did send some assistance to his allies Campania and Spoleto.
Bohemia:
Economic development.
Bavaria:
5000
Men were added to the military this cycle as the Bavarians were becoming more
and more leery of the intentions of Queen Elizabeth. Once again Bavaria was over run with the Empresses aides
trying to persuade the Bavarian Lord to allow his nation to be absorbed into the
HRE completely. Bavaria would have
none of it and in fact with the death of Augustin, whose wife was one of
Elizabeth’s daughters, the death of Leopold II, married to the Bohemian rulers
daughter Anne, Leopold III took the throne.
Leopold III was the son of the Bohemian and Bavarian ruling families and
once he ascended it was thought that those two strong houses would merge.
That will have to happen next cycle.
In the interim the Bavarians tread very carefully and avoid the
continuing pressure being applied by Queen Elizabeth.
Pope:
Hesse (MN), Tuscany (CA)
Pretty
quiet turn for the Pope little building little enhancement of the German city of
Hesse. Huge investments were made
in all aspects of the Papal infrastructure which included the way troops were
drilled, the arts of subterfuge and general administering of the lands.
A good deal of attention was paid to bolstering the education of the
clergy as well as their devotion to the Holy Father.
Naples was awash in a sea of black and white as nearly every missionary
that could be gathered was sent south.
Branist:
Tons of Facilities
Tremendous
growth in France, Italy and Spain. Of
course the Branist were only building low-level facilities for the most part.
France:
Rouen & Cherbourg + CL, Royal Road Paris to Rouen
Unlike other nations the French had
little problem integrating Aquitaine into their nation the king of France was
effectively the ruler of Aquitaine already and so there was little problem
making the two as one. Much
groundwork over many turns had paved the way for this merger as well and so that
made the revolt chance less likely in the outlying regions. Rochambeau and the Bishop of Lyon were rewarded by the
King for sealing the deal.
The military continued to grow as the
kingdom it’s self-strengthened economically and politically. The leaders of the lands wait in preparation for a potential
external threats but none materializes.
Gascony:
The military grew a good deal as some
mounted short swordsmen were added to the ranks.
Actually a bunch were added somewhere in the vicinity of 8000.
The King of France came a calling looking for a bride but the Gascon’s
were going to have nothing to do with the lure of the French throne.
First comes marriage then comes an heir then they try to absorb you into
the kingdom. That worked on the
weak willed Aquitainians but not on Gascony……well not as long as there
continued to be strong leadership in the country.
Leon:
Cordoba:
+1 CL Palina, Valencia & Esbelya; Royal Road completed to Andulsia
The
able Ahamed was sent to the province of Awlil to persuade the locals that there
Muslim brothers in Spain were good guys and the province should embrace the
Cordobans as friends. The tribesmen
of Awlil while they remember the assistance of the Cordobans when the Ghanan’s
assaulted Senegal are not excited about submitting to an authority.
Hasim
and Farooq sailed West into the ocean following the histories of the Greeks and
the Egyptians in search for Atlantis. No
one really expected to them to return since everyone knows that if they went to
far they would fall off the earth. Well
remarkably maybe even almost miraculously the duo find the Azores.
What is most interesting about this event may be that the island chain
has already been settled by a group of Irishmen.
They apparently had traveled to the Island chain with St. Brenden nearly
550 Years ago!
ON
another day also, while the venerable man was residing in the St. Brenden island
(Azores), he called very early in the morning for his attendant, Diormit, so
frequently mentioned before, and commanded him saying, "Make ready in haste
£or the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, for today is the birthday of blessed
Brenden." "Wherefore," said his attendant, "dost thou order
such solemnities of the Mass to be prepared today? For no messenger hath come to
us from Scotia (Ireland) to tell us of the death of that holy man."
"Go," said the saint, "it is thy duty to obey my commands. For
this last night I saw the heavens suddenly open, and choirs of angels descend to
meet the soul of the holy Brenden; and so great and incomparable was the
brightness, that in that same hour it illuminated the whole world."
Hungary:
The
empire that keeps their nose clean will last 1000 years. Hungary continues to patrol the borders and maintain
stability within. The City of Buda
was beautified this cycle. There
was some trouble brewing in Hungary. Some
of the outlying regions are getting a bit restless, as they want to experience
the prosperity that Alfold and Bakony are experiencing. Cultivation projects and establishment of cities in other
areas of the realm are the main complaints of the outlying nobles.
Serbia:
Ragusa (F), Postal Road to Bosnia
There
were plans for another royal wedding with the Byzantines but those were put on
hold when it was discovered that young Nisha was the Emperors niece.
On other fronts things went well. The
Army in Aleppo still remained loyal to the king though they longed to return
home after being on foreign soil for so long.
The Bosnian’s and Croatian’s were both pleased that communications
with the capital were improved due to the completion of the postal road to
Bosnia.
Greece:
Dhykon’s Keep on Rhodes
Good
amount of economic development
Kingdom
of Trebizond:
Rebuilt
Taman with the aid of the Byzantines and the Patriarch
Bulgaria:
Sofia in Bulgaria
The Bulgarian’s decided to build
another city.
Byzantines:
Great Wall for Constantinople, City of Dorylaeon in Phyrgia, Pamphyla
(NE)
There
was a great deal of nervousness in the court of Constantine IX, Quo Validar an
exceptional general who was reasonably popular with his men and he had a big
army sitting in Aleppo. Fortunately
for Constantine Quo Validar was a loyal general.
Constantine relieved got back to ruling and working finding a bride.
The Serbian princess was out since she was a blood relative though
slightly removed, cousin it was thought. Constantine
was given the opportunity to marry his newly found generals younger sister
Quinime. While the General and his
sister were not high nobles the Validar family had long resided in the lands in
and around Antioch and they were landed. Constantine
wasted little time making the decision on this, at 40 now he needed to fill the
royal pipeline with children. In 1073 he did just that as he sired his first son,
Constantine X, not to be confused with Malcolm X.
Constantine did do one last thing of note he ordered the construction of
a “Great Wall” across the peninsula so the city of Constantinople might be
made more secure. This project cost
a good deal of time and effort but was completed in the duration of the cycle
because the distance was short.
Patriarch: (CA) City of Kiev
The
efforts to build structures for the betterment of the Orthodox Church where
mostly failures this cycle however Kiev did receive a beautiful Cathedral in
downtown which the citizens greatly appreciated.
More importantly however the Patriarch is a man of great tact and wisdom.
The Archbishop of Okhrid was sent to
Armenia to resolve the issues with the angry Coptics.
Theocradius met with the Archbishop and listened to his kind words and
counted his gold. Satisfied with
the compensation to the Armenian peoples Theocradius or his men to return to
their homes and the Armenian horde was disbanded.
Theo returned to his homeland with many of his men and with the money
gained from the apologetic Orthodox Church he founded the city of Van.
The A.B. of Constantinople once more
saved the civilized world from the ravages of a serious horde when he visited
the great Khan Rusik II and his lovely Queen Briana in Patzinak.
They were hosting visitors there before departing for India to ravage it
in the name of Islam. The
Archbishop was very persuasive and the finances involved were acceptable enough
to satisfy the Khan. The A.B.
returned to Constantinople happy his office had averted yet another onslaught of
barbarians.
Mercenary League: Corsica Cultivated
With
business continuing to be brisk the Mercenary League had accumulated enough
resources to cultivate Corsica.
Scythians:
Off to India.
Middle
East:
Buhwayids:
City of Mardin in Carhae, City of Palmyra in Palmyra, Royal Road to Carhae and
to Damascus fro Mosul
Akbar
the Arab is now in heaven and enjoying the fruits of paradise.
Akbar ended the life of Al’Bassari and while he did not manage to elude
Kievian authorities he did do his duty for his King and country.
The Buhwayid Empire grew a great deal this cycle as roads were thrown
down and a couple of cities were built. A
road now connects the capital to the Med. and this is big because now there is
another great Islamic power that can exert influence on the Christian world. One bad thing did happen the city of Damascus was completely
ravaged by a fierce plague, which wiped out 2/3 of the population.
Engineers in the area finishing off the Road project helped with the
removal and disposal of the dead once the plague died down.
Sunni Imam Has Ifrim was in the city when the plague broke out and spent
a good deal of time in the city trying to help the ill in the new church that
was constructed this cycle. The war
for men’s souls seems to be heating up a little bit in Lebanon where Shia
missionaries began converting the Sunni of the region.
Persia:
The religious leader of the Shadad
disappeared it is widely thought that the Buhwayids were responsible for the
disappearance and there is rising fervor in Persia over this.
Azerbaijan:
Saved
for a rainy day.
Yemen:
DIE Chalukyans DIE
The king ordered the construction of
many warships to match the Chalukyan efforts, another bloody battle was pending.
Unfortunately for the Yemenese King two things were working against him.
He seemed to think some assistance might be coming from the Ceylonese but
none was forthcoming. The other
thing the king was hoping for is something bad would happen in India to distract
the Chalukyans from building a big navy, that didn’t happen either.
Ali sortied out with a fleet of about
30 ships (would have been 58 last turn) including 16 Heavy ships.
This time Ali also brought along a decent sized contingent of marines
1400 men. On the Chalukyan
side they had about 40 ships a small number of Yemenese make and 7 very spiffy
heavy warships with battle-hardened crews.
The Raj brought a contingent of 2000 marines of which half were elites.
This battle was over pretty quickly, as the veteran Chalukyan Raj who
survived the Yemenese assassin who tried to sneak onto his flagship, put his
light ships to good use. They ran
circles around the Yemenese who were tied on their slow moving heavy warships,
which made up over half their naval contingent.
Some new warships fresh out of the construction yards fared very well in
their support of the heavier ships but it was not enough of a counter balance.
The Yemenese turned and caught the wind gauge and withdrew back to Al
Mokha.
Later the King got a strange message
from his commander in Africa. Apparently
the Chalukyans had packed up and left leaving only a shell of a city remaining.
Babar did not interfere because there seemed no reason to spill blood if
the enemy was withdrawing.
Ghazi:
Transformed to Agrarian Society, Postal Road from Afghanistan to
Hazarajat
Who
cares about things like diplomacy or war? Certainly
not Omar…..he was so preoccupied with his wife that she bore 3 daughters and
two sons this cycle. Omar’s wife
was just the first of many poor women bearing twins this cycle.
Most of the rest of the Kingdom actually geared up for the visit by the
Scythians. This event brought a great deal of tension to the lands but
the Scythians passed through and didn’t cause any trouble.
Chorasmia:
It sucks paying for a big army so the Emperor continued to work on
improving his economy.
India:
Tibet:
Fortress in Guar and Palas
The
Horde did not make it to East India but the Tibetans were still very happy of
two things. They had devoted most
of their resources to building two large fortresses in Guar and Palas and that
they had chosen not to engage the Bengals in combat. Nothing much happened in Tibet beyond the construction of the
two large fortresses but that was enough. The
Tibetan’s officially become Imperial Government.
Lamanist Tibet:
Converted Guar
Punjab:
AO +1 CL, City of Sargodha in Punjab
Seemingly
every leader in the Kingdom died this cycle but remarkably the children of the
aged
leaders
did not fall in on each other and destroy the nation. There was a great fear that the
Scythians
would wipe out the nation but they merely passed through one of the
desert regions
and
moved into Uttar Pradesh. Nothing
was really accomplished at home because of the chaos
involved
with the changing of so many leaders but in the end at least there was a
country left. Mohanram on taking
the throne declared he would continue to honor the peace his Grandfather had
created with the Ghazi. There was
some concern in the court about the reliability of the Ghazi after they allowed
the horde to pass through but the “no harm, no foul” rule was in effect
apparently so life goes on.
Shiva Church of Kashmir:
Colonized Kutch Island, Expanded
through the desert.
Kucha:
Quor +1 CL, Turfan (F)
The
Tartar came peacefully this cycle they recovered their imprisoned heir Dsaluu.
The Tartar Khan paid the ransom for his son then the Tartars headed to
the south. Relieved the Tartars did
not want to renew their conflict Massoud went back to assist hi great
grandmother (?) run the country at the age of 90 she was finally slowing down
and by the end of the cycle she finally passed, at the age of 95!
I believe she survived 10 childbirths, which is amazing, and she ended up
ruling the country for something like 20 years.
Massoud’s
older sister Sana married Sulieman the leader of the Seljuks, Turk and Kuchan
alike blessed this marriage. After
the recent raids by the Tartars and the wild rising of all the horde blocks in
the North and East. Sulieman wasted
no time adding to his flock. Kuchan
women are baby factories and three sons and a daughter.
The realm was peaceful this cycle and that made everyone happy.
Manichaeans:
(MN) Turfan
Serious
work was started on converting the Sunni Turks.
A huge investment was made into the province.
Paramara
Alliance:
The
Princes were concerned about the health and well being of their nation.
Punjab to the North was powerful; the warring states of Uttar Pradesh and
Tripuri in the East and the Ghazi resided in the West.
India was very crowded what was a nation supposed to do?
Ah yes! Lets build an army!
4000 men were added to the rolls of the Paramara.
Prince Mrinaal added 5 children to the royal family including 2 sets of
twins, Avanti added two sons as well. In
1072 a very large number of Scythians passed through Ajmer and the King
immediately tightened the defenses around the capital, then the horde passed
into Chitor and tensions rose to a fever pitch all the men were telling their
wives to pack their belongs and head south to see friends and relatives in
Tripuri and the Chalukyans. The
Horde moved on to Uttar Pradesh and while all were sorry that such a fate would
befall their “former” ally they were very happy they were not victimized.
Bengal:
“See Scythians”
Brahmin
Hindu Church:
W. Chalukya:
Since there was only one enemy to
focus on the Chalukyan navy was increased a great deal.
“See Yemen”
The Chalukyans decided to remove
their presence from Africa. With
the developments in India falling out like they were it was thought that
eliminating the distraction of the Yemenese they removed their city from
Berbera.
Chola:
+1 CL Tanjore, Postal Road to Gangas
Nothing much happening here.
The Heir has a couple of kids…. who didn’t this cycle.
The Raj feeling he had a large enough army concentrated on economic
development. The capital grew in
size and the province of Vengi received a great many regional enhancements.
Sri
Lanka:
Prince
Rancine journeyed to the far away Zanzibar to try to persuade them back into the
empire. While in the country where
his uncle rules news came from home that Emperor Siberut died on a fishing trip,
sadly but maybe finally taken by the sea. Rancine did not like his brother very much and when his uncle
offered to name him heir Rancine decided to stay. Zanzibar declared its independence. At home there could have been trouble with the death of
Siberut but Igneb held all the armed forces and Igneb’s sisters were actually
more loyal than Rancine. If things
were not bad enough Igneb was one of the few leaders in the world who did not
manage to sire any children this cycle.
Tripuri:
Kakatiya (F)
Who
cares what else happened during the cycle finally after 70+ years and a great
deal of effort Kakatiya finally decided to submit to the will of the Tripuri
Lords! The Warrior King Dyupati
died in 1074 in a peaceful manner remarkably enough.
Thankfully the event did not Kakitiya to revolt nor did it caused any
other leader to revolt against the king. Sadly
this did happen just as the lands of Jihjhoti were being overrun by the
Scythians. Nothing could have
probably stopped them anyway so everyone remained calm while the king’s
replacement; his eldest brother Viksha was designated king.
Uttar
Pradesh “the cursed Lands”
The
Deccan raiders were hired to help defend Vatsa.
In fact the entire army was waiting patiently for the army that never
came. Dwejish died and his son took
over the army in Vatsa. He loyally
stayed to defend the region. The
Scythians did not go to Vatsa however they hit the UP homeland.
Dwejish II had a good army by Indian standards but there was no way he
was going to jump in front of a freight train.
He stayed in Vatsa and waited to see what happened.
It was not pretty. There
were SO many Scythians. Then came
the second wave lead by Queen Briana…..The Gods do not smile on the Raj’s of
Uttar Pradesh apparently. The
force was so overwhelming few made it out of the country and into Avanti. the
defenses of the region did take a bit of a toll on the Horde but that did not
stop them from continuing on into Jihjhoti.
Scythians:
Uttar Pradesh and Rajaput Colonized, Mathura (P), Jaunpor (P), Vasta (P),
Jhijohti (P)
It
was a very long road to travel but one worth the trip. Rusik II was proud of his accomplishment.
The Hindus were pathetic and needed to be subjugated their rich lands
were no his. There was a small
amount of difficulty clearing out Uttar Pradesh due to the field forts in the
region but the sheer number of troops and lack of support from the army, which
was wisely sitting in Vatsa. Vatsa
was soon overrun by the Scythians second wave.
S.E.Asia:
Burma:
City of Mandalay in Burma, +1 CL Sittwe, (C) Wulaing & Padishan
Finally
Akhil exclaimed someone produced some children. Both Ahern and Anson were productive on the home front this
cycle as 7 total children were added to the royal clan. Everything remained pretty calm in the Empire but a large
number of troops were added to the rolls as fears mounted that the trouble in
India or China might spill over into the Fair Kingdom.
Economic development continued to be a concern of the King and Burma was
the beneficiary of the Kings benevolence this cycle.
Khmer:
Port City of Mui Bai Bung built in Phan Rang, Vijay (F), +1 CL Angkor Wat
Peace continues in the realm of the
Khemer so there is time to sit back and assess the future. Hmmm best to just keep doing what has been done that has been
working really well. More troops
were built some defensive positions were added to the homeland.
On the diplomatic front a big effort was put into finally ending the
animosity between former Champan state and the Khemer this effort finally
brought lasting peace between the two factions in South East Asia.
Vishnu of SE Asia:
Malay
Confederation:
Melanka +1 CL
Not
much going on here.
Java:
+1 CL Singhisan & Sundra, Bankgka Colonized to 1GPV, Sula W. (NE)
Leyete (NT)
Mapahi
died at the start of the cycle but fortunately no ill befell the kingdom The
Heir now King Kafil married fetching young lass from Jambi.
Her family was thought to be well connected but they were apparently not
as well connected as they made themselves out to be.
Still the king marrying a noble from Jambi did help ease tensions some.
Abroad the Javans continue to try to expand their realm and they were
somewhat successful in their efforts. Saripha
Kafil’s brother also passed this cycle.
Asia:
Great
War against the Hsia Continues:
In Shensi the Hsia prepare for the
assault.
Year 1:
The Mongols travel to Ordos they pacify the region.
In
June the Liao launch a raid on Shensi that is turned back immediately, Ming
declines pursuit
Numerous
attacks on the Hsia government occur with some success, many Buddhist priest are
put to the sword on entering the lands of the Shensi.
Year 2:
The Mongols Loot Ordos and raid all adjacent provinces
The SID attack and Pacify Huang.
Year 3:
The Mongols move on Wu Hai, capture the province then begin enslaving the
population.
Battle for Huang: Sung versus the Hsia
Cao Zhang was busy besieging the
fortress of Yulei when the Hsia with their mercenary ally Ju Jin arrived to
catch the Sung off guard.
Cao Zhang was an impressive general
and the Sung did have some intel sources in the field to aid their efforts.
Ming however was as good of a general as one might ever see and Ju was
his number two in command. Ming’s diverse, well-trained and fast moving cavalry
contingent dropped down on the Sung like a hammer on hot steel. While the numbers were comparable the better leadership and
more technically developed cavalry told the tale that and the hated Sung were
caught off guard assaulting the fortress and looting the province.
It was an absolutely brutal defeat, the Sung who were completely lacking
in light units were not only brutalized on the field.
The Sung did catch a break because before they got completely routed out
of the province the Buddhist with 10,000 Swordsmen and Mercenary Kaing with his
2000 Heavily armed and armored footmen showed up.
Second Battle for Huang:
The Sung about half the force they
were originally but they had been greatly bolstered by the influx of the allied
armies. Ming had lost some of his
advantage but he pressed on knowing without the Mongols or the Liao in tow the
Primacy and their dogs the Sung would be meat for the grinder.
He was nearly right the cavalry of the Hsia though outnumbered by nearly
two to one the Hsia horse so outclassed most of their opponents on the field
that the results were harsh. The
shear number of enemies in the allied army made caused Ming to take more losses
than he would have liked but the counter to that was is that he was killing the
Buddhist and Sung in droves. There
would be some revenge for the enslavement of his people by the Mongols after
all.
Year 4:
The Sung and Buddhist stream out of Huang devastated by their losses.
Ming licking his wounds a bit also withdrew.
The Mongols finished off the province of Wu Hai and laid a passive Siege
of the city. Cao Zhang died at the
second battle of Huang, which did not help the organized withdrawal of the Sung
troops.
Year 5:
Wu Hai falls and is sacked and burned.
Mongols: “War with the Hsia”
Lots of money flowed into the Mongols
coffers.
Manchu:
Move against the Jurchen
A pretty fat Jurchen Horde allies
with the Manchu……..
Tartars:
Nothing
much happened this cycle for the Tartars. Mainly
resting and licking their wounds as they moved south.
The khan did recover his son, which made the clan happy though they were
not excited about paying civilized folks. The
cycle ended with the tribe resting inside the Silk Road in Tsinghai.
Sung
Imperial Domains: lots
of small facilities (OO) Yen
A
good amount of effort was put into growing the order, that did not stop Cao Zang
however from leading another huge army north to fight the Hsia.
“SEE HSIA”
Bandit
Kingdoms of Hunan:
The
Bandits continue to be remarkably quiet.
Shanan
– Zhou:
Funui and Tangchou Colonized
Tension
eased a bit with the Nanchao maybe. The
Nanchao seemed irate about the breakdown of their brokered peace
“allegedly”. The Zhou continues
to take advantage of the war north by absorbing the former Sung and Hsia lands.
Four thousand men were added to the rolls since you can’t be too safe
living in the center of the center of the world.
The adoption of the Lamanist faith continued.
Lamanist missionaries traveled to Szechwan and aided in the conversion
process. The Zhou royal family held
pretty tight control over the kingdom so there was no trouble with the adoption
of the Lamanist faith.
Jaingnan:
Anhui Colonized
Slowly
but surely the Jaingnan rebuild from the Zhou’s great injustice.
Clan Iiachi:
Royal Road to Kwangsi – Nanling
Who didn’t die this cycle?
The Heir, one of his sons and not much else was left.
The government didn’t collapse remarkably enough.
Southern China continues to be peaceful and the Iiachi are happy about
that especially after the madness this cycle.
Buddhist
Primacy: (MN) Annam, Sikhote &
Parhae 100% Buddhist
Most
of the interesting things happened in the Hsai land but some things did happen
elsewhere. The Primate died shortly
after founding a Monastery in Annam. Dharmakara
traveled to the Manchu and paid them a smaller than expected amount of money to
not attack the Liao. The Manchu
Khan Belgutai shrugged and told the emissary
“When I return from the East you will beg me to spare your nations
and the price will be 10 times what it was this cycle.”
Preaching
efforts in the Gobi fared very poorly and Manjuari was lucky to survive but
somehow managed to after insulting one of the desert chieftains.
Nanchao: Lanchou (EA), Postal Road to Chiennan
The Nanchao looked to reign in
their nation a bit by building a postal road even further north.
Four Thousand men were added to the military rolls in preparation for the
possibility of conflict.
The
journalists fell quiet as Han moved slowly from the rear door to his mat on the
raised dais. All present knew of
his personal efforts to mediate a peace treaty amongst the warring parties in
the North, and his deep disappointment at the Liao regime's complete lack of
honour in the matter. "The Liao have threatened to bring war to this
peaceful nation. They did not
appreciate me fulfilling a solemn commitment to all parties to the treaty that I
would act as independent arbitrator on the treaty, and publicly confirm any
breach by any of the three parties. I
will not discuss the details, but the Liao neither informed me or the Hsia that
they were not going to sign, or that they did not sign the treaty, and all the
other parties were under he impression that the treaty was in effect, until of
course the Liao and their Mongol hirelings invaded Hsia lands.
As of this morning, Nan Chao is mobilising for war.
We do not want war, but as one wise scholar has said, "he who seeks
peace must be prepared for war". The
Liao, a nation whom until recently we counted as Buddhist brothers but which are
have shown themselves to be dishonourable warmongers, has threatened us.
There has previously been tensions with the Shana-zhou over their past
actions, and although in recent times they have been peaceful and have even
begun to rehabilitate Tangchou, unresolved issues remain.
And now there are a number of barbarian Hordes in and near China; they
only respect force of arms.
If any of these groups attack Nan Chao, then so be it.
We have well prepared defences, and any aggressor will pay a heavy price
for invading our peaceful nation.
These are very sad times, and
while I do not expect to be around when the opportunity for lasting peace in
China comes around once again, I hope my sons will have better success at
arbitrating a peace when it does."
His Hsia:
The king gambled that the alliance
arrayed against him would attack Shensi so he threw down many defensive
installations in Shensi in hopes of fending off an assault.
Liao:
Hsuing Nu (NE),
All of the Liao resources were
devoted to rebuilding the military. They
did just that and sent there men once more off to war.
Korea:
The
Koreans were a little anxious over the developments on the Steppe.
In fact it is a good thing that none of the running class had heart
conditions because what was happening to the north might very well kill the lot
of them. The Jurchen long time bane
of Korea now had allied themselves with the Manchu.
There was some discussion whether this was good or bad and the general
consensus was that this was a good thing because maybe with the combined
strength of the Manchu and the Jurchen they would get lofty goals and leave poor
little Korea alone. In case that
didn’t happen though a bunch of defensive positions were built in Sikhote.
Japan:
Toyama Cultivated
Shinto: Port City of Tugar in Amur
PACIFIC RIM
Australia:
Slept
New Zealand:
Vanuatu (T)
The Maori continue to ply the waves
looking for new lands to settle Kai pathfinder extraordinaire was sent out on
such a mission this cycle and very nearly did not return. Not only was he set on by sea monsters which his men very
effectively thwarted after the loss of one ship but they also fell victim to
terrible storms. Only one of the
three ships sailing from Fiji returned. At
home economic development spurred on the slowly growing economy and the people
were elated.
Shark
God Cult: Toowomba (MN)
The
Grand shaman journeyed across the seas to distant lands; he did manage to
establish an outpost in Arukun before passing.
Bishop Mandawuy who was staying home built a Monastery in Toowomba, while
there he also found a very impressive young man who had been taken by the spirit
of the Shark. Mandawuy could hard
believe it but after some “testing” it was true. When the Grand Shaman did not return the young man was dubbed
Great Shark.