Lords of the Earth
Campaign
Nineteen
Anno Domini 1276 - 1280
Turn 77 Orders Due By:
Friday, August 8th 2008
To liven up the wars, players from other campaigns wrote orders for the unplayed positions that were fighting.
After Kas was unable to
continue processing, Thomas took over and managed to get things done up to
Rulebook Version… In [ Wiki | PDF ]
Your turn costs… $7.00.
Recommended
Order Form… [ Excel
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Contacting & Paying the Referee
Players sending funds by mail should make all paper style checks payable to Thomas Harlan and send them to his address, which is:
Thomas Harlan
Below is Colin’s email address:
Payment: When paying via Paypal, please send all funds to this account:
Zero
and Negative Credit: Consequences
If you haven’t paid for your turn, you don’t get your stat sheet.
Rule
Changes and Clarifications
Main Differences
with the V6 Rules
§ Cities cost more to build and to expand. See Table 5-7.
§ Units have different GP and NFP costs and some now require Industrial Capacity in addition. Please review your new build chart carefully.
§ Projects (almost always) cost 50gp/25nfp per level – and this now covers regional settlement/colonization as well.
§ Optional Units are in play. Including Elephants for Civilized nations.
Regarding Optional Units: Elephants and Chariots: The evil referee has made some annoying rulings on these unit
types:
Chariots: You can build
them but they are virtually useless as a weapons system at this point. They will give a minimum combat value
(say .25 per point) and will be the first units destroyed in combat. They will also not regroup. The cost will remain the same, so if you
really must have these white elephants in your arsenal then you’re making a lot
of money, which means you’ve gotten really big, which means I may have to blow
you up.
Elephants: Speaking of
white elephants. Only Empires
located on the
Yes, I know, I’m a sunofabitch.
Interactions
between the Hemispheres: at this point only the Seafaring cultures may sail
between the Hemispheres. Once
people hit Renaissance, then they may attempt to do so as well. So the New World players should stop
trying to get to
The Adepts of the Free
Spirit
The Adepts of the Free Spirit, were active in
1) Regions/Cities experiencing Adept activity will be marked
on the map with a red cross. Papal
holdings in those regions and cities will garner income at one level less than
their normal one. Cathedrals will
generate income as if they were Monasteries; Monasteries as Abbeys; Abbeys as
Churches; and Churches won’t give squat.
The control web will be intact and the actual holding will not be
affected (see below for an important
exception to this) they will just generate income at the lower level. The Holy City of Rome will never have
Adept activity and therefore, will be unaffected.
2) Papal actions (and secular actions in support of the
Papacy) in areas or cities affected by heresy will have a sharply decreased
chance of success. It’s hard to
raise money to build that new monastery when some gits
are screaming that you’re the Whore of Babylon and the new structure is just
another sign of the Mark of the Beast.
3) The heresy will spread on its own accord at an irregular
rate. Some turns it will spread one
region/city in all directions, some turns it won’t spread at all. All-non RC regions will be unaffected by
any of this.
4) Each city or region where the adepts are active will have
a secret Charisma value that will be determined anew every time a leader
attempts to suppress it. To attempt
to suppress the Adepts in a given region or city a Papal leader must attempt an opposed CHA check (using the Preach
action) against the CHA value of the Adept infested region or city. If the leader gets a higher success
effect than the region/city, the heresy in that place is successfully
suppressed (N.B. it can return however).
If the leader gains a critical success against the Adepts, the heresy
has been decisively crushed in that region or city and it will not recur there
except under very rare circumstances. Regions / cities where the Adepts have been suppressed will be marked with a
white cross. Regions / cities where
they have been decisively crushed will be marked with a black cross. In
the event of a tie, there is no effect.
If the Adept gains a higher success effect than the leader, the heresy
either spreads or gains a bonus against all subsequent attempts to suppress it,
(depending on where it is). If the
Adepts get a critical success, the heresy spreads two regions instead of one
(and in this case a region or city that was decisively suppressed can be
re-infested).
5) In most cases, secular leaders can also attempt to rid a
given area of the adepts in the same way as Papal leaders. However (and read this well), if the
Adepts get a critical success in the CHA check, the local heresy then explodes
into a revolt against the secular and Papal authority, all church holdings in
the region or city are destroyed, the ref generates a player position for the
rebels and you all have a major headache on your hands as new religion is
born.
In Comparison
This Turn in Lords Zero was not quite as exciting.
Japan
The Empire
of Nippon
Taira Fujita, Daimyo of Kwanto, Shogun of
Diplomacy No
effect
Great industry marked the Japanese
islands, with every town and village building new mills or repairing bridges,
cleaning up the streets or sanctifying rebuilt temples. An enormous number of
merchant ships put to sea, but not to ply the sea-road to
In
the capital, there was much ado over a new Imperial prince and the accession of
Lord Haru to the right hand of the Shogun. Aunt Midon – whose marriage to a savage tribal clan-lord in Sikhote had lately been arranged – marked the arrival of
winter by hanging herself. Admiral Nakata was dispatched to the north as well,
to explore the strange seas there, and count seals amongst the ice floes.
Lord
Raido was also abroad on the waves, recovering the
fleet abandoned in the Kuriles some years previously.
The Moluccas Seahold
Tekalameme, Lord of the
Diplomacy None
Life in the islands remained indolent, save for in the cafes where the arguments about the processes of the natural world were gaining vehemence … old Prince Surya (would Tekalameme never die?) fell afoul of a dispute over the provenance of butterflies with Lord Ratawai (who was a physionogomist) and they each slew each other in a wildly illegal duel.
Admiral
Samrawi – tiring of the disputes occupying his
fellows – sailed west to attack the tribesmen of Tengah in southern
Maree Bundjalung Hegemony
Burnu, Prince of Maree
Diplomacy None
Returning
south to
China
Xi-Xia
Khanate
Li Dimeng, Khan of Under-Sky
Diplomacy
“More
slaves!” Growled the Khan, staring out across the vastness of
the steppe. A mile in every direction, the gently rolling hills teemed
with lines of men digging, hauling, rolling towering stone monoliths into
place… the crack of overseer’s whips punctuated the constant noise. A trickle
of litters wound away from the vast site, carrying to dead to a sinkhole two
miles away – a gaping maw in the high grass that promised to be filled by the dreadful
cost of the Khan’s great work. “We need more slaves.”
His
son, Li Tuanhao, nodded sharply before turning away,
motioning for his lieutenants and banner-men to accompany him. Within days the
host of the Xi-Xia was a-horse and cantering east, a long dust-trail smudging
the sky behind them. Jungaria awaited,
and slaves – glory – uncountable loot was in the offing!
Tuanhao’s army (accompanied by the Uigurs
and the Keraits) crossed into Beshbalik in the late summer and
immediately encountered resistance from the new Jungarian
garrison, as well as the army of archers and slingers dispatched from Karakocho to “repel the barbarians”. Though he had been
ordered by his father to only raid the Jungarian
lands, when Tuanhao’s scouts reported his forces
outnumbered the “farmers” by more than four-to-one he decided to crush their
resistance once and for all…
He
then ordered his vast army to simply overwhelm each border fortress in turn –
which was not exactly brilliant, but his army was large enough, and the Jungarians few enough – for the defenses to be crushed and
the two Jungarian generals sent fleeing back to Karakocho in dismay. (Both Yong Zhong
and Xianping, as it happened, did not survive to
report their failure to the lord of the Jungarians,
for both contracted measles on the road and died).
Having
won a handy victory, Tuanhao then proceeded to raid
the wild-men of Tanu, Oriot
and Telmen before turning south for more lucrative
targets. Yumen was attacked, though it had acceded to
Xi-Xia demands previously and a puppet ruler installed. The Xi-Xia armies then proceded to ravage
Tsinghai, Tarim, Tunhwhang,
Again,
long columns of slaves were dragged north to black-walled Xingqing
to perish building the monument to Li Dimeng’s
madness.
The
Kingdom of Shan’si
Xoing Feng,
King of Shan’si, Watcher of the
Diplomacy None
Still
stunned by their defeat by the Wang faction in the south, Xoing
Feng kept his battered armies home, brooding in his
capital at Tai’yuan. The disgraced general Manchu Cao
languished as well, feeling his king’s displeasure as a inescapable garrote… he
finally took his own life in 1277. Prince Xiong Lo
also died under peculiar circumstances, having made inappropriate comments
about the king’s mood in his nephew’s hearing.
The
Kingdom of Honan
Cao Dao Wang, King of
Diplomacy None
Like
the rest of the Six Swords, the Wang blade remained sheathed as unexpected
peace (the peace of exhaustion it seemed) prevailed in the Middle Kingdom. Cao
Dao Wang was blessed with a son, however, which cheered him up to no end.
The
Kingdom of Hupei
Cao Man Li, King of
Diplomacy None
Man
Li remained holed up in Chiang’ling, expecting the Wangists to attack at any moment… his fear paralyzed the
government and the Wei did not even manage to raise a new army, as the young
men of the kingdom had already been mustered – and then slaughtered.
The
Kingdom of Kwangsi
Wu Juan III, Prince of Kwangsi
Diplomacy Noneach
Despite
the urgings of Lin Yao (called the Bold), the new prince of the south did not
attack either south (against Sri Vijaya, or north,
against Hupei) for fear of being pincered once more.
Southeast Asia & India
The Empire of Sri Vijaya
Khavirhan III, Maharaja of the Khemer People, Prince of Champa, Lord Protector of Java
Diplomacy None
“How
could this have happened,” muttered Khavirhan, pacing
along a quiet path amid towering black-stemmed bamboo. “How could the
despicable and weak Kwong defeat my invincible
armies? It is inconceivable!” Still, the ruin of Sri Vijayan
plans for dominion over all
The Maghadan Empire
Vinay, Rajah
of
Diplomacy Edrosia (t)
The
glory of the
The
Builder’s engineers were still busy, laying down a highway from Sahis, through Sukkur and into
Sahen’s campaign against noble Kanauj ran into serious trouble as soon as his force of 50,000 archers and engineers came within sight of the towering walls. Never had the Bengalese seen such a mighty city, or one so well defended! Indeed, King Harshavardhana – upon seeing the attackers – rode out at the head of his own army of 20,000 men, including a mercenary troop of heavy Persian horse. Sahen paused, seeing his enemies far better armored than his slingers and archers, but Harshavardhana’s cavalry was swift to press him! Luckily, he could call upon the Bengali garrison of Rajput province and that let him match the Kanauj in fighting men … though he stood a disadvantage in weight, due to those damnable Persian clibanari!
And indeed, even once the air was filled with Maghadan arrows, the heavy horse tore through the skirmishers and crashed into Sahen’s flank, scattering his lightly armed men. Harshavardhana’s knights then waded in, swinging huge two-handed swords, and the Bengali force scattered for the hills. The attempt to subdue Kanauj had failed… and now Harshavardhana pressed his claim to the surrounding province.
General Sahen, smarting from his defeat, refused to allow the Kanauj an easy victory. He took command of the network of forts and garrisons throughout the province, rallied the local landowners (who were more favorable to the Maghadan king than Kanauj) and waged a fierce war of resistance against the city-men. Now it was Harshavardhana who (after nearly three years of fighting) fell back in defeat to his city, leaving the surrounding countryside a ruin.
But
while Sahen was busy fighting in Rajput,
his king Gunaratna had fallen ill back in
Indeed, Prince Ranjan conspired with Yakub to seize the throne – they approached the captains of the mighty host encamped outside the city, only to find that Prince Mehul had learned of their plans and opposed them. The younger prince (only seventeen) spoke eloquently against them, and being well loved by the older captains, ordered Ranjan’s seizure… Yakub escaped in the confusion, but was then betrayed by a prostitute. Both traitors were executed. Vinay, meanwhile, had hurried up from the south and arrived to find his youngest brother in firm control of the capital, the army and the royal household.
Vinay’s heart sank – he was sure Mehul would have him arrested and beheaded… but instead the young prince, mindful of his dharma, welcomed his brother as a king, and turned over all power to the rightful ruler. Vinay was then greatly plagued by his advisors (including the practical Empress Gwoktari) who urged that the new king, his power now secured, should blind or mutilate his brother to protect himself.
“I cannot do this,” Vinay finally announced. “I owe my life and throne to Mehul’s filial love and his obedience to dharma. I cannot do less, and remain rightful king in this world.”
In this way, a great calamity was avoided.
Though who can say what the future holds?
The Kingdom of Chola
Kalan Pallava, King of the Cholas and Pandyas,
Lord of Thanjavur
Kopperunchinga II,
Lord of Kadava, Regent-Minister
Diplomacy None
Faced with a brawl at knife-length with the Pandyans, Manthan wasted no time in dispatching thugee to murder his rival and also set General Ranjeet on the road to Kollam with the better part of the remaining Cholan army. Orders were also dispatched to Lord Chandrahas (who was stuck up in Gujerat in the far north) to rally the garrison of Vatsa, return to Chola proper to be reinforced and then attack down the western coast of the sub-continent.
Ranjeet marched south from Tanjore directly into Pandya, hoping that Jaiswal would – at least – have been wounded by the thugee attack. In this he was disappointed, for the stranglers had failed to find their mark, but then the Pandyan king rashly took the field against the numerically superior Cholans.
“Hunting season!” Bellowed Ranjeet, ordering his men forward… (Read Pandya, next, and then return).
While
the Cholan armies were mopping up the rebellious Cholan provinces in the west, Manthan
had acquired some kind of bilious fever and fell terribly ill in 1279. Having
no children himself – not even, in fact, being married – the only royal heirs of any kind to hand
were the rebel Jaisawal’s children. With Manthan incapacitated by his sickness, the chief of the Cholan ministers – the Kadavan
lord Kopperunchinga II – arranged the marriage of his daughter Taiu to the prince Kalan (captive
son of Jaisawal) – and elevated the boy as Manthan’s heir.
The
king died in 1280, leaving only Kopperunchinga in
control of the capital. When news of the new dynastic ‘arrangement’ reached the
Cholan generals in Anhivarta
(where Kayal had just surrendered to them) Chnadrahas immediately declared his opposition to the Kadavan ‘usurpation!’ This got him a sword in the back – Ranjeet was already allied with the Kadavan
faction back home – and a second civil war was deftly avoided.
The
provinces of Pawar,
Empire
of the PandyaN
Jaisawal commanded only 34,000 men against the 52,000 Cholans led by Ranjeet; but his position was superior in friendly ground and bolstered by many fortifications. Sadly, the king of the south was a very poor general and he wasted all the advantages he might have leveraged for victory. Ranjeet’s attack clove through the Pandyan defenses, scattering Jaisawal’s army and driving the Pandyan king back into Kollam in a panic.
General Ranjeet laid siege to the city, though he was wary of testing the defenses too strenuously before Lord Chandrahas arrived from the north with the rest of the Cholan army.
Meanwhile,
up Gujarat-way, the Pandyan viceroy in Anhivarta (Prince Gaurav) had
realized the rest of troops available to him were stationed in Jihjohti – hundreds of miles away – so he had abandoned his
position at Kayal and ridden across the
Prince Gaurav, seeing that his Pandyans outnumbered the Cholans by almost two to one, sought a pitched battle on the road directly north of Kayal. Chandrahas, a markedly better commander, postured with his Afghani cavalry to entice the Pandyan infantry out of their positions and then let his kshatriyas get into the thick of it with the Pandyan spearmen.
A long see-saw struggle ensued, with both sides battering away at one another, before the Pandyans tired and fell back in good order to the city. Kayal sat directly athwart the road south – so Chandrahas could not bypass them without abandoning the north to Gaurav. However, this is exactly what the Cholans did as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Chandrahas had his orders – and he knew the real prize was not a collection of dusty towns in the north, but Kollam itself in the far south. And little did he know it, but Prince Gaurav had suffered a minor wound in the course of the battle, which soon festered and he died within the month.
Chandrahas and his Cholans
marched south with all speed, soon reaching friendly territory in
Instead, he was ordered to directly reinforce General Ranjeet at Kollam and capture the city. With his men, the Cholan besiegers numbered 53,000 to the 16,000-odd Panydans. Ranjeet had been laying his plan of attack for months while he waited; now the elephants advanced, the drums rolled and mangonels began hurling massive blocks of stone against the walls of Kollam. Within the city, King Jaisawal was eager to take the battlements himself – “I’ll hew them down by the thousand,” he boasted to his generals, who had been trying to get the king to stay safely within the palace. “By the ten thousand!”
Sadly for Jaisawal’s dreams of glory the Cholan attack was expertly executed – the gates assaulted in unison and breached, the walls toppled, his men fleeing in terror from the rampaging elephants. The rebel king was dragged howling from his palace and dragged off in chains; his generals executed.
Following this victory, Ranjeet and Chandrahas pressed up the western coast – “liberating” Chera, Malabar and then Anhivarta. The cities in each of these provinces were besieged, for the Cholan governors knew they’d be in for the long drop if captured, and captured by the end of 1280.
Central Asia
The Kingdom of Jungaria
Al Harrat, Lord of Karakocho.
Diplomacy None
While Al-Harrat was busy ordering his governors to fortify the cities of the realm against the threat of the Xi-Xsia, a severe outbreak of the measles slew or drove out the inhabitants of Xinjiang in the east, leaving the town desolate. The Lord of the north also assumed the eastern barbarians would raid into his lands once more, so dozens of forts were hurriedly raised along the border, and the notable captains Yong Zhong and Xianping were dispatched with 12,000 men to drive off any interlopers.
Golden
Samarkand
Al Abdi ibn Abdi,
Emir of Samarkand
Diplomacy None
Confusion
continued to reign in Samarkand, where the Emir was still off in the far south
(and isolated in Bandar) while his mother and wife attempted to control the
restive nobility of the city, and secure the loyalty of the widely dispersed
military. Word eventually reached the capital that General Achmed
in Und had fallen ill in 1277 and died, leaving his army leaderless, while basher Jamal (who had commanded the
squadron at
This
perilous situation resulted in a plot by Achmed’s
replacement, lord Achimedes, against the emir’s wife
and mother – though the attempt to storm the palace was repelled and Achimedes seized and executed. In his place, the emiress Amia elevated her nephew Qutb ud-Dīn Muhammad as Captain
of the City Guard. He was a vigorous fellow who ran out the rest of the
traitors and secured
This did nothing for Northport, which now surrendered to the Orthodox, or for the army in Und, which elected its own captain – Mirza – to command them. Luckily for the Golden realm, Mirza remained loyal… for now.
The garrisons of Kash and Hazarajat were not so lucky, as local uprisings drove out the Samarkhandi governors and returned those regions to independence.
The Khazar Khanate
Diplomacy None
While
Valeria’s regime was still new in the minds of the Khazars
(who were a little uneasy about how Lord God the Father would take a woman
representing his authority on earth), she did mollify many of her detractors by
swiftly appointing her son
Valeria also summoned lord Diogenes home to tutor her son, and generally aid in administration of the realm. This proved a wise decision, for the Kaganess took ill in 1279 and died in the late fall. Prince Bihar, then, became kagan of the tribes and while he was an astute young fellow, Diogenes proved a worthy counselor in his first year of rule.
The kaganess’ passing relieved many troubled hearts and a great monument was raised over her tomb at Itil in her honor.
The
Near East
The Abassid Caliphate
Al-Hakim (Boulos), The Sword of the Faith (Sayf al-Din), Caliph al Ummah.
Diplomacy None
Furious with his failure
to crush the Hamadids and reach the
Indeed, amid so much
unexpected death, the Caliph Boulos (otherwise the
‘protected’ prisoner of the Protector, found himself the actual ruler of the Emirate. Though an opportunity for trouble presented
itself, General Dhakir (commanding the Buyid army in
The
Hamadid Sultanate
Faruq al-Motresh,
Sultan of
Diplomacy None
The fortunes of the Syrians, which had begun to sour with the death of Selahadine continued to decline with the lamentable passing of Prince Azeddin (who had proved, during the war against the Buyids four years past, an able successor to the famous Kurdish general). Lord Aumara, who had managed the delicate relationship with the Cappdocians, also died. Even the promotion of the Sultan’s son Iskender did not rectify these losses.
All of this allowed the
Orthodox monks in
The
Emirate of Aden
Usayd ibn Ishaq,
Emir of
Diplomacy
Screened from the trouble
with the Christians by the might of the Fatamids and Hamadids, the Adeni emirate was
allowed to prosper astride the lucrative trade routes to
The strength of his realm
was also shown by the Emir’s acquisition of a troop of African war-elephants,
including a set mounted with archer howdahs. Very impressive and shiny! Missionary
work in
This ill-omen was then
reinforced by the failure of lord Farid’s expedition
into the interior – he was given a cold welcome by the Dahy,
and then murdered by the Al’Bayad. A small fleet of
dhows sent to visit the pearl merchants of
Just a bit to the south and east, Prince Qayd ibn Faruk had marched north along the southern coast of Araby with the bulk of the emir’s army, including the shiny new elephants, to subdue the obstreperous tribesmen of Muscat – unfortunately the local bandits were mounted on camels and the smell of the noxious creatures panicked the elephants sufficiently that Qayd was forced to retreat to Zufar with the Muscati tribesmen hooting and hollering in his wake, and making rude gestures in his general direction. Despondent at this failure, Qayd then drank himself to death in Raysut on illegal imported Indian beer.
Roman
Trebizond
Basil I, Proconsul of the East.
Diplomacy None
Basil was trying to set his own affairs in order by repairing the damage done in the recent war against the Syrians, and was thankful the Moslems had stayed home, when his “ally”, the Eastern Emperor decided to slip a greased stiletto into the Proconsul’s back – first, by sending secret emissaries to General Leitrieus in Cilicia, where the frontier army was suborned and Leitrieus was married to Princess Maria Alexa, the daughter of Emperor Ion, thus securing a claim to the Imperial Purple for himself. The second blow fell with an attack on Basil himself – the Proconsul was wounded by a pair of Cypriots who had obtained an audience under pretense of delivering the island (loyal to Theophanos) to the Proconsul’s rule.
Then
news came that Lord Markos in
The
Eastern Roman Empire
Theophanos Konstantinos,
Emperor of the
Diplomacy None
“The treachery of the proconsul cannot be allowed to stand!” Theophanos barked, startling his generals. “Muster as many men as can be put under arms, raise an army of barbaroi to assist us and let us head east!” Within days the fleets and armies of the Empire were moving against their erstwhile allies, the Trebizondi.
At home, one of Theophano’s concubines gave birth to a son, Gorgos, but as the Emperor was distracted by the war, the boy was not acknowledged – making his, and his mother’s, status precarious.
In
the east, the Empire led off the campaign against the Proconsulate
by shipping General Heraclitus into the
Heraclitus’
army now invaded
Now
the Proconsular army was trapped between two foes –
Heraclitus edged carefully into
Leitrieus expected the Proconsular army to already be engaged against either Heraclitus, or the Emperor’s army, in the north – so he was unpleasantly surprised to find his vanguard suddenly engaged in battle against Stophos’ entire army at Konolirikon. Worse, outnumbered two to one, the Proconsular forces smashed the turncoat legion and sent Leitrieus fleeing back into hostile Isauria, where he cowered in a shepherd’s hut the remainder of the turn.
His
sacrifice was not in vain, however, for Emperor Theophanes
and the main army now crossed into Paphlagonia
unopposed and joined up with Heraclitus and his cataphracts. Now combined, the
entire mass moved south into Bithnia, supported by the
drungarios Marcus
Bonophanes and the fleet. The Proconsular
army now swung north to meet them, though Stophos was
hard-pressed to think of any way to stop them as now he was outnumbered… regardless he took up positions athwart the
highway from
Theophanos obliged the rebels, commanding Heraclitus and John Tzimisces to “crush the devils and wring out their souls” forthwith. Thus, a massive battle erupted at Opisikion, between 203,000 Imperial troops and 100,000 Proconsular… total slaughter followed. Stophos’ men were veterans, flush with victory, fighting on their home ground – and outnumbered. Tzimisces and Heraclitus were canny generals, and Theophanes had the wit to stand aside and let them command unhindered.
But it was not enough to force the river. Heavy losses were suffered by both sides, Heraclitus was badly wounded and the Imperials fell back in good order, leaving Stophos and an exhausted army on the far bank. Indeed, so fierce had the fighting been, the Proconsular forces retired to their camp an exhausted rabble, barely able to hold lance or blade aloft. When Stophos took an accounting of his men some days later, he found that more than half had been slain or were so direly wounded they would not survive the fortnight.
Tzimisces rallied the Imperials, set Heraclitus (cursing
and struggling) off to
While
the Imperial army had been fighting its way south, drungarios Bonophanes
had captured
Theophanos was furious, but
The Principality of Muscovy
Giacomeo Igor di Pasquale,
Boyar of Muscovy, Tsar of Russia
Diplomacy None
So
quiet and peaceful were the northern forests that the state funerals for the
elderly Princess Olga, her brother Prince Igor and Lord Ivan were the talk of
the social circuit. This was so boring
that Princess Anna took up gambling and consorting with grooms and other neer’do’wells – a disastrous course that led to bankruptcy
and the necessity of Tsar Giacomeo to bail her out,
at great expense to the privy purse.
The Kingdom of Poland
Dansk I, King of
Diplomacy None
The ennui afflicting the Russians, however, had nothing
on the Poles – who did not even have the levity of a funeral to brighten their
days. Instead, they considered the beet and the cabbage and found whatever
entertainment there they could.
The
Duchy of Estonia
Juku Enellson,
Duke of
Diplomacy None
Great
Aunt Annely died, saving the Estonians from the
Polish plague, which slew its victims through sheer unmitigated boredom.
Deutsches Reich
Michael Govner, Emperor of the Germans, King of
Diplomacy None
The
wealth and power of the German state was unmatched in 1276. Duke Kurnik commanded the richest, most powerful state in Europe
– even his French rivals acknowledged him, and Pope Honorius III was abroad in
the German states, pleading his case to the German people in person, for the
loss of
Part
and parcel of this robust economy was the growth of the cities of Retion,
Only two weights pressed upon Kurnik’s mind – the presence of the infidel Moslems upon Christian Sicily (and his general’s failures to dislodge them) and the constant tumult in the streets as the Free Adept preachers were in continual argument with the representatives of the Roman Church. The Adepts had found a keen target in the German prelates – their houses were large and richly appointed, their carriages ornamented with gold, their bellies fat with the largess of the hard-working people who tithed piously to the Church.
Pope
Honorius knew this too, for he went abroad in the land in a penitent’s cloak
and homespun robes. But the bishops, cardinals and arch-bishops who turned out to meet him in Frieburg,
To
resolve this, Kurnik summoned a great conclave of the
church, Pope Honorius, the princes of his own house (of which there were now no
less than six) and his advisors in
W
To eliminate the practice of simony throughout
W To ban the practice of indulgences, which allowed those of means to avoid penitence for their sins.
W To remove the authority of the Roman Chuch to appoint and depose bishops in German lands; setting that authority to the Duke or his agents.
Other points of great common debate about the theology of the Roman Church – the veneration of Mary, the concept of Purgatory and the reliance upon the intervention of the saints – Kurnik chose to ignore, saying they were a matter for the theologians and not the root cause of the popular unrest. By this approach, the Duke hoped to make the Conclave’s deliberations one of civil legislation, rather than theology.
For
his part Honorius saw the need to change – though the prospect of giving up
control over the bishopric in
To
Kurnik’s surprise, his own sons and nephews were soon
split between the two camps; and even within the representatives of the Church,
not all agreed with either Kurnik or Honorius.
Indeed, the debate revealed a deep split in conceptual thought between those
desiring an “Imperial” church drawing its power and direction from
Beyond
even the point at hand loomed the issue of
After
six months of argument, Kurnik and his adherents (now
commonly termed the
Kurnik, however, had the last word – though the edicts had been drafted in Church Latin, the duke had them swiftly translated into the common German and posted on every church door within his domain, where even the meanest peddler could read and understand, translating as needed for their fellows.
Honorious was furious, though as he still traveled in the Duke’s lands, he held his tongue. The common people were vastly amused, seeing that the edifice of the Church was at last bending, and Kurnik (a dour man with little need for public adoration) was toasted in a thousand beer halls and gardens.
The Free Adepts, meantime, who had kept a very close watch upon the proceedings (having more than one believer within the ranks of those attending), now pressed their case even more strongly, having won two concessions from the Church by proxy, now they prepared to win all.
Civil
peace, however, prevailed throughout
Volken’s other sons – Nicomedius and Wilhelm – expressed their support for Caleb, but the angry words in Brunswick were swiftly translated into open fighting between Guntar and Caleb’s factions, with Michael and Mathilde biding their time.
While
the capital was paralyzed by daily scuffles between gangs of bravos and
hire-swords employed by each camp; Caleb attempted to issue a call for a
conclave of the great lords of the land to secure his patrimony. This, however,
served only as a signal for the great generals – Arnim,
Goldbull and Dirken to
march on
Control
of the Royal Army at
While
their enemies were so ensnared, Mathilde and Michael’s
knights seized the palace. Prince Caleb and his brothers, forced back from the
market district, found themselves without an escape route. Michael’s crossbow
men wreaked a great slaughter on the partisans of the three Princes, killing
Wilhelm (the youngest) and wounding both Caleb and Nicomedius.
Both were then captured by Mathilde’s agents as they
attempted to escape the city.
Having
crushed their immediate enemies in
Seeking
an embassy “to end the chaos”, the beautiful Mathilde
won a private audience with Prince Borivoj, her uncle
(and a man of coarse desires). Within the hour, Borivoj
staggered out from his tent, shirt staining red with blood. He collapsed on the
gravel, causing his attendants and guards to spring to their feet.
Mathilde emerged from the tent, her gown torn, her breast
gleaming with sweat and rivulets of blood.
“Do
not defy me,” she commanded, piercing the assembled men with a steely gaze.
“This shall be your fate as well, if you do not offer loyalty to my brother!”
Three heads rolled from a canvas sack in her hands – the princes Caleb, Nicomedius and Wilhelm.
By
morning, the Royal Army was secure in Michael’s hands.
1.
Empress Mathilde of
Far
to the south, meantime, the Generals Goldbull and Arnim had marched over the Alps from Carinthia and into
Determined
to save the Duchy from the ursupation of Michael and Mathilde, they pressed on northward into
Michael
and the Royal Army were waiting in
The
Loyalists fell back to
The
dispute between the two factions, however, was only the beginning of the
trouble… the Magyar lords of Alfold and Bakony took
this opportunity to abandon the Duchy, as did the provinces of
Michael ended the turn controlling Saxony (Brunswick), Wesphalia (Magdeburg), Lorraine (Saarbrucken), Holland, Friesland (Bremen), Holstien (Lubeck), Pomern (Retion) as well as the cities of Gotha (in Thuringia) and Trier (in Alsace).
The Duchy of
Goldbull XII, Duke of
Diplomacy None
Goldbull and his confederates control Bohemia (Prague), Moravia (Brno), Silesia (Posen), Franconia (Bamberg), Swabia (Frieburg), Munich in Bavaria, Carinthia (Hydrothia), and Slovenia.
The
Roman Catholic Church
Honorius III, Bishop of
Diplomacy None
Upon
departing Constance and the Conclave, a troubled and weary Honorius proceeded
to tour the countryside in Swabia, and spend more time in
Back
in
The Veronian Empire
Domitian I, Emperor of
Diplomacy None
Having
repeatedly failed to dislodge the Muslims from
Le
Royaume de France
Antoinne I, King of the Franks
Diplomacy None
Throwing
off the shackles of lethargy, Antoinne set himself to
work with a will! The city walls
for Massalia, La Croix,
The
El Reino De Navarre
Marco Aroca II, King of
Diplomacy None
Stymied
(for now) on land, Marco ordered Capitan Diego
to attempt to raid the Balearics.
Unfortunately the plan was scotched due to lack of transports set aside
for the purpose (light warship units have zero cargo capacity). Which was just as well as the great 600-plus
ship Muslim armada prowling in the Gades would have
gushed Diego’s squadron fairly easily.
In other events, attempts to foment Christianity upon the heathens in
the Azores went well, as did missionary work in the Balearics and (shockingly)
Northern Europe
The Kingdom of Wessex
Sebbi Cearlson, King of the Angles and Saxons
Diplomacy: None
Several cities grew in size. Edinburgh and Falmouth to size 8; Sutton
to size 6; Port de Saxon and York to size 5 and Aberaw
to size 2. Missionary work among
the Irish continued at the usual glacial pace. The naval activities of the French in
the Channel were noted with some interest and some trepidation.
The
Kingdom of the Svear
Svenstorn Eriksson, King of the Swedes
Diplomacy None
Things
up north remained pretty quiet. The
road between
The
Norse Kingdom
of Iceland
Sven Erikson, King of the Norse, Dragon King of the Isles
Diplomacy None
Sven
dedicated a great new Basilica to the
myriad Saints of Christendom just off the main agora in
Though the Dragon King considered himself far removed from the religious turmoil in Europe proper, the ideas of the Free Adepts and other reformers in Germany and France had flown wide on the winds of trade – an odd seed landed in Stonehaven, in the Highlands, and found there a young man of monastic bent; Peytr Hamilton who had lately taken to meditating in a cave on a rocky hill outside the confines of the burgh itself.
North Afriqa
The
Maghreb Emirate
Umhad ibn Aslar, Emir of Morroco
Diplomacy: None
An
attempt on the life of the Emir was foiled by his ever vigilant bodyguards, who
managed to shred the assassin before he even had a chance to draw his bodkin
(or something like that). More
worrying was news from the Balearics where a hidden Christian community had
been discovered, apparently thriving quite nicely, Thank You, among the
islanders. Downright shocking was
the uncovering of a tiny pustule of Trinitarian believers within
Umhad was even more distressed at the death of his son, Prince Fahd in late 1278.
Al Fatamid Caliphate Al Qaira
Fayed ibn Mutadi, Fatamid Caliph of Egypt
Diplomacy Fah! For wimps!
An
attempt on the life of Abdul-Bari in Palermoi failed,
but then he died at the end of 1276 so it kinda
worked out. Despite this
inconvenience, Fayed was determined to put paid to the Italians (and their
Papal lackeys). A great fleet of
over 800 warships and transports set out from the various ports of the
Caliphate. Aboard were over 44,000 troops under the command of general Baybers.
Disdaining the Straits of Messina, Baybars
decided to outflank the Christians, landing his troops on the shores of
Caught
on the hop, the Venetian-Papal host in
Despite
this setback, Baybers did not give up. Sailing to
The
Muslims had barely begun to set these plans into motion when the Main Venetian
army, under the Emperor himself arrived in
Unfortunately,
one of the victims of the battle was the Emperor, Valdemar
IV and his brother, Domitian was quick to take advantage of this. Gaining the support of the troops and
generals on the scene (Domitian had fought quite well in at Reggio and had
earned the regard of the troops to some extent). Proclaiming himself Emperor, he left a
small force to watch the Straits and marched back to
West Afriqa
The Kingdom of Ghana
Kwazi III, Lord of Kumbi-Saleh
Diplomacy Bilma Oasis (nt)
Kwazi
remained fairly busy, expanding a whole bunch of cities: Bourem, Banju, Goundam,
The Kingdom of Togo
Tseke, King of
Diplomacy Fernando
Po (c), Kongo (>c), Whydah, in
A
The
Kingdom of Kanem-Bornu
Ju I, King of Kanem and
Diplomacy Sokoro (a)
Ju finally managed to conduct a census and
also took advantage of the spate of peace to have the wilds of Sokoro put under cultivation. An attempt to station troops at the
Oases of Bilma and Ghat-al-Barkat
was stymied by the fact that the local sheiks
were either in the process of becoming Ghanan
flunkies or already Ghanan flunkies. The K-B general at the sharp end of all
of this wisely decided that potentially antagonizing the 800 lb- gorilla-in-the-room
that IS the
South Afriqa
The Kingdom of Nyasa
Shaka II, Chief of the Nyasa
Diplomacy Ankolye (nt)
Shaka continued
to dispatch troops to the north to gather slaves for his ever-growing
patrimony. Not being burdened by
the tuskers of last turn, the raiders did somewhat better. Elsewhere, Prince Mthelthwasogoya
was dispatched to sail up and down the coast of the Kingdom, making charts of
the various bays, inlets and coasts.
This he did and returned to Nacala in late
1280, where he croaked shortly thereafter.
Closer to home, Luba was put under cultivation;
Nampala in Makura was
renamed Makukraal and work was started on a road
between it and the Rozwi city of
The Kingdom of Rozwi
Shaka III Northron,
King of Rozwi, Lord of
Diplomacy Kongo (c)
Shaka’s
diplomatic endeavors were rather lackluster. The Kongoese
where so offended by the puerile whining of the delegates from both
The Kingdom of Vaal
Ngorongoro I, King of
Diplomacy No
effect
A new port, Port Nandi was built in Merintha on
In
the capital, things got rather interesting as yet another large embassy from Rozwi showed up, but with more ominous motives. Seems that the diplomatic marriage of
last turn between the two nations was merely the first move in a diplomatic
gambit to annex outright the entire country and attach it as a satellite to the
Greater German Reich, er, I mean, the
In
the midst of all this, general Ngorongoro stepped
forward to put these upstart northerners in their place! He claimed that Shaka
had stipulated that he was king in the event of his death and the absence of
Prince Keseke.
Consequently, their claims had no merit and were, in fact,
laughable. Chagrined, the
northerners left, their plan in ruins...
Or
was it? Just because Ngorongoro claimed to be the rightful successor didn’t mean
that the rest of the country felt that way. Soon, such disapproval was expressed as the
Kingdom was wracked by revolt! In
the end, Betismarsaka, Hova
Merina, Merintha,
North America Cav
Count: 35
The
Tlingit People
Aak'wtaatseen, Chief of the Tlingit, Lord of the Far North.
Diplomacy None
Aak’wtaatseen continued to put efforts into restoring the public works of Ahwahnee to their pre-pox glory.
California
Obsidian Coyote V, Ruler of
Diplomacy None
A
mess of cities were increased in size: Mokelumne Hill
and
The Anasazi Nation
Desert Fox, Chief of the Anasazi, Lord of the
Diplomacy None
No orders.
The
Mississippian Empire
Kahailo, the Great Beaver of the Snake
Diplomacy None
Slowly,
painfully, the Michigameans continued to shake off the effects of the Great
Pandemic. Kaskinapo was resettled
to its old level of (2/6), whilst Chickasaw was repopulated to a (1/2).
The Natchez
Red Bird, Great Sun of the
Diplomacy None
No orders.
Mesoamerica Cav Count: 85
The
Toltec Hegemony of Chichen Itza
Yahatul, Grand Hegemon of the Maya
Diplomacy None
At
Yahatul’s command, a myriad of new ports were built
among the various
South America
The
Mighty Incan Empire
Coya-Inca, The Sun Queen, Regent for...
Tupac, Emperor of the Incas
Diplomacy Pucara (ea), Choco (nt), Chimu
(a)
The jungles of Vladivaria were resettled to their pre-pestilence level. There was a brief upset when the Emperor Jiqamo died of the pox in 1278, but his stern-willed wife quickly stepped in as regent and only Nazca repudiated alliegence.
The Kingdom of Shokleng
Chalez the Wise, King of Shokleng
Diplomacy None
Quaroi was resettled to its old (2/2) level. Chalez named his brother Alberto Heir and then proceeded to sire three male children over a five year period, much to Alberto’s distaste and to the potential detriment of dynastic politics.
The Mapuche Empire
Peltuish, Emperor of the Mapuche
Diplomacy None
Like everybody else, Peltuish continued to lead his people in their recovery from the pox. Chechete was resettled to a (1/9) and that was about it.
(end)