Lords of the Earth 

CAMPAIGN TWENTY-FOUR

Fall of Constantinople

Turn 54

1266 ~ 1270 Anno Domini
628 ~ 632 in the year of the Hegira

New for T53

Restrictions on Royal Marriages: Due to the complications arising from these rules only K, H or P leaders can benefit from a Royal Marriage. Members of the Royal Family that have not come into play are not considered eligible. Also, Primate, Order and Secret Empire positions are not eligible for marriage bonuses. These are meant to be diplomatic arrangements between sovereign states.

New for T52

East – West Split: I’m going to try to split the East and the West parts of the game so that I can process the orders quicker – don’t know if or how it will work yet but lets see if it’ll happen

New for T51

No Orders: If I don’t get any orders in for a position and the player doesn’t answer my emails then I’ll put the position back to a NPN and put aside the players cash (if any) until they pick it or another nation up again.

New for T50

Request Royal Marriage: Used to ask a NPN nation for a bride for one of your Princes or a suitor for one of your little Princesses. Cost is 6AP, Charisma based. The leader doesn’t have to be in the NPNs capital but if he isn’t then he needs to be in your homeland/capital.

New for T49

Naval Reaction and Blockade: Naval Reactions can only occur when there is action in a Sea Zone that the fleet is based at. The fleet has to be based from a port and not the Sea Zone. Also, the Reaction can only occur when your own lands or those of an ally benefiting from a Defensive Pact marriage bonus are attacked. It also applies to any merchant fleets you operate through the Sea Zone in the case of piracy.  Naval Blockade’s only work if your fleet is based in the same Sea Zone as the target port and you spend all (every single one) of your APs in the blockade. The fleet must be based from a port and not a Sea Zone.

New for T48

The use of fleets for Reaction and mitigating the effects of Pirates: My understanding has now changed since we GMs have had some discussion on the list. The use of Reaction has been explained on the Wiki and Patrol is no longer used in the Base Rules.

Reaction

 

Trade Route Escorts

 

  • This is specific to Lords 24. Units can be assigned to a trade route to act as static convoy escort using the G type leader. Note this is not as good as patrol as the warships assigned will only reduce the effects of piracy, not capture or destroy the pirates themselves.

 

Updated NPN and Primacy rules: Yep, been tinkering again but I feel a almost serene sense of satisfaction with my latest offering. See what you think.

 

Added the ability to hire mercenary captain when there is no mercenary company available: See the mercenary tables

New for T47

Improved cultivation at TL5: If a nation has reached the dizzy heights of TL5 than it can benefit from improved cultivation. You can Improve a cultivated homeland region from 2GPv to 3GPv, or any other controlled cultivated region from 1GPv to 2GPv. This is a level one megalithic construction.

New for T46

NPNS: I’ve tweaked the NPN and Primacy/Order rules a little to make them fit better with the 24 game. I’ve also reduced their overall RRV to make diplomacy easier.

Second Positions in the East: As I’ve not got a lot of players in the East, I would be willing to allow a second position from existing players. Let me know if you’re interested.

New for T45

New Rivers: I’ve added in some new possible rivers onto the map. These are rivers that were once passable by light traffic (remember Cogs cannot travel on rivers) and have now become silted up. You can dredge a stretch of the river (along one region border edge) as a 0.5 level project.

Gripes:

Agro as conversion – this has restrictions (see 2.11.5.3) which I will be enforcing from now on.

Rivers can only support light ships – as far as I know Cogs cannot travel on rivers. This also includes Cogs built for trade.

New Primates: We have two new Primate positions this turn. Jumal Skyfather, which is an Estonian god and the Coptic Church based out of Axum.

New for T44

Minor islands and City States: I’ll be allowing minor islands (Corfu, Jerba, Wight etc) and city states to be used as locations from T44. Just let me know the rationale behind why you want it separate and if reasonable I’ll add it in. Once they are created as locations, they obey all the rules of islands etc. However, their Gpv cannot go above 0.

Flooding: The last few turns have seen a massive increase in the amount of flooding that has occurred. It appears that the years are getting warmer and wetter. As a result of this some of the minor rivers on the map are once again becoming passable to river traffic.

Denmark: Following on from the Minor Islands stuff, you can see that Denmark is now separated out to Jutland and Syaland (Zeeland).

Announcements and items of note

General Stuff: Please use my Paypal account (stephenbrunt@yahoo.co.uk) for all Lords’ 24 payments. If you cannot use this facility then please let me know and I will see what I can do about filtering US funds to my account. I may also stop using the throneworld email address due to the mass of spam I’m getting!

 

Order Form: Please use the standard excel order form from now on. I’ll update the site with a link to it next week when I get some time. This is important as it helps me process the turn more quickly. THIS IS NOW MANDATORY.

 

Non-Payment: some of you still owe me some cash. Although it may come as surprise that this is not my main source of income, I see it only polite that you pay for the occasionally night out. So, if you’re under zero next turn I’ll not process you orders.

 

Version 6: Lords 24 uses version 6 of the basic rules

 

The Map: The map now includes India as well as Europe, Central Asia and Africa. I’ve greyed out repeated areas on the maps to make my life easier. However, this means some player nations are split across more than one map. I may increase the size of the main map but I’ll have to think on this.

 

Tithes and Tribute: I think these are automatically updated by the stats program, so no need to declare them in your orders.

Control of the Papacy and Religious Orders: In Lords 24 we will not always have a player Pope (or Caliph etc for that matter) and the following rules are used to determine which player faction controls the Pope’s actions, Papacy Rules. I’ve also added some stuff about gaining support from their armies

How to make your GM happy (PLEASE READ! REALLY!):

Please send any and all Lords24 correspondence to lords24gm@ymail.com or stephenbrunt@yahoo.co.uk .

LORDS 24 WEB RESOURCES 

The Lords Twenty-Four homepage is at: 
http://lords.throneworld.com/lote24/index.html

All of the on-line resources, including order forms, mailing lists and web-sites for Lords of the Earth are summarized on this page: 
http://lords.throneworld.com/?page_id=2

You can subscribe to the Lords 24 mailing list by pointing your web-browser at: 
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/lote24

…and following the instructions on that page.

VARIOUS FEES AND LEVIES 

At the moment the turns cost $5 – please pay up of you owe

We are using the latest v6.3.5 of the basic rule book that can be found here

http://lords.throneworld.com/players/loterule/rules.html


The West

Without further ado, the news for these years in Lords 24 history...


Eastern Europe

The Varangian Rus of Kiev

(Orthodox Civilized Open Empire)
Svetlana,  Queen of the Rus

 Vitebsk is expanded and its walls rebuilt around the new city. An Order House for the St Vladimir is built at Svetlana’s experience in Kirivitch. Svetlana also set in motion improving the lands of Kiev with new irrigation schemes and land clearances. The Kievian society continued its gradual drift from Agrarian to Guuld and from Clan to Feudal. Whilst the Princes Gregori and Vassily patrolled the Kievian lands, to the exclusion of Pechneg, much time was spent investigating Kiev and Chernigov for signs of Cultists.  The presence of any such secret society was not discovered by Piotr or Vasimir. The Bulgari Bogdan tribes begin to stir, no longer subject to the Magyars. They push out of Moldavia and after raiding Pechneg; take the province from Kievian control. Their force of ten thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry easily overwhelmed the Pechnegs.

The Ests

(European Pagan Barbarian Open Empire)
Andrus III, Kings of the Ests

A new port city called Mensk was built on the banks of the Dvina in Kur. The cultivation of Livonia was completed. Andrus ruled the Ests from Estonia after commissioning twelve new cogs for the coastal routes out of Reval. Artomas and Wintrop travelled to Veposkava where they were tasked with the defence of the nation.

Scandia and the Out Isles

Jarldom of Orkeneyjar

(Roman Catholic Seafaring Open Empire)
Nicholas Larsson, Jarl of Orkney

Nearly eighty warships were commissioned in Kirkval’s dockyards along with a number of merchantmen to ply the route to Danzig in Poland. Once again the royal entourage of Nicholas and Alesund travelled to Norway to persuade her relatives to join with the Orkneymen. A marriage was arranged between Prince Erik and a Norwegian bride and this helped to persuade old Olaf of Norway to forgo his ties with Uppsala and acknowledge Nicholas’s claim through his son Erik. Sadly Alesund did not survive the journey home and Nicholas was left a widower. Much advice was sent to both the Anacletan Order and the Holy Roman Empire do aid in the quality of their navies.

Kingdom of Svear

(Roman Catholic Seafaring Open Empire)
Olaf Arnoldson, King of the Svear

Quiet times in the northern kingdom.

 

 

 

 

Saxon Kingdom of England

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Arthwin I, King of England

Aided by missionaries from the far Orkneys, the heretics of Dyffed finally repent and return to the Catholic fold.  Great strides were made in moving from a society based around the use of bonded serf labour to that of guildsmen as the prosperity and size of the English cities grew. Gold was sent north to Kirkval to aid in the building of a mighty fleet. Arthwin was not getting any younger and without an heir he realised that his brothers were only too willing to claim his crown if he should die. He took a young wife but she proved incapable of providing him with a son so far. Lord Snipes managed to gain an alliance out of the city of Caer Dyvi but Lord Neumann had no success in improving relations with the newly converted Dyffed.

 

Western Europe

Heiliges Romisches Reich

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Leopold, Holy Roman Emperor
.

Burgogne rises up in rebellion against its oppressors and declares its independence. The dockyards are busy in Cannes as warships are commissioned for the German fleet. These years were not kind to the German royal family, first the Emperor Heinrich died of a fever in 1277 along with Prince Hans. In the following year Prince Adalbert also died. The Bishop Adriano Viccenzo was also to die in 1270 from over indulgence in Lubecker Nusstorte. Despite declaring Arnulf as the heir, Prince Leopold saw his chance to claim the throne and took control of the Empire before his younger brother’s supporters could act. Before his death, Prince Hans increased the support from Leipzig with the aid of Marcus. Disgusted by the lack of success at defeating the Infidels, the Knights of Malta swear before God to punish the Moslem aggressors

Norman Kingdom of France

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Raymond, King of France

The Loire was dredged all the way to Tours and the expanded to make room for new dockyards to connect it to the Atlantic. The death of Enguerrand of Tours made way for the sons of King Raymond to arrive at court. Bishop Alberic gained tribute from Hainault

.

Principality of Salerno

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Ricardo III, Prince of Salerno

Years of peace in the Salernese lands saw Ravenna grow in size and the provinces of Romagna and Sicily benefit from Ricardo’s treasury. The lands of Sicily were settled by the captured Egyptian troops from the successful campaign years before. The lower part of the Po was dredged to make Vincencia a port. To keep the Papal road in place, a bridge was built over the Po at Verona. With an eye towards possible Moslem raids, Ricardo commissioned over thirty triremes in Calania. These were assigned to the Bishop Masconi. Ricardo himself spent these years ruling from Campania and instructing his son Prince Hector in the art of diplomacy. Prince Ricardo IV travelled to Cavelleri where his marriage to the daughter of the Count of that city saw it turn friendly to the Principality. Elsewhere, the lands of Savoy and Sicily were to see efforts to smooth over past differences. The old count of Vincencia died in 1267, his victory in Sicily his legacy.

The Papal States

(Roman Catholic Civilised Religious Order)
Pope Urban III, God’s Voice on Earth

The Pope’s influence grew apace during these years. Cathedrals were built in the cities of Ravenna and Leghorn as well as an Abbey in Genoa and Churches in Stuttgart and Languedoc. Nearly three quarters of Sicilians were converted back to Christianity and the island seemed secure from further Egyptian attack. A Bishop was dispatched to London to assist the English King in his affairs of state. As well as the Cathedral in Ravenna, the city benefited from much Papal largess as new public works were built.

The Akramid Caliphate

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Darkan, Caliph of the Akramids

The death of Darkan in 1266 saw his legacy of integrating the Ummayad lands continue as the regions of Morocco and Tunisia were further improved. His son Tiroman II took control of the Caliphate and received newly upgraded forces from Prince Obrahim and Imran Nazir. Prince Obrahim also died in 1270 and made way for the Prince Karnachim. Tiroman took a new wife but the task of patrolling the extensive Akramid lands meant that he had little time to spend with her and was not to see any children born. The Imam Astroman and Lehlmed were in Leon smoothing over past grievances, edging the region closer to the Caliphate.

The Anacletan Order

(Roman Catholic Civilised Religious Order)
Guiscard, Grandmaster of the Anacletan Order, Scourge of Islam

Guiscard felt every one of his sixty years as he tirelessly patrolled the water’s off Santa Maria. He persuaded the King of Aragon to send one of his younger sons to augment the Order’s commanders. Phillip moved to Olbia where he also took up the task of patrolling the seas in the Western Mediterranean. He was hampered in this task by the Order’s lack of presence in the city; however, zealots of the Order did manage to acquire lands for a house in rural Sardinia. Pascal continued to look over the affairs of the Order from the Ile de France.

 

The Middle East and Africa

The Buwayid Sultanate

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Zarife II, Sultan of the Buwayids

Missionaries in Bithnia saw a large number of converts amongst the Catholics there. Zarife ruled the Sultanat from Baghdad and was blessed with a young son. Collecting the garrison of Diyala and ten companies of engineers from Baghdad, Prince Arif moved onto Bithnia and then to Antalya where he spent these years in theological discussions with the nobility of that city, converting the majority to Islam. In Bithnia he handed control of the army to Imam Numair. The Imam then moved to attack Constantinople from Paphlagonia. With the end of the ferry crossing controlled by the Romans, Numair had to rely on Muwaffaq’s fleet to help in cross the Bosphorus. His force of one hundred and sixty warships and twenty triremes was met by the Romans fleet of sixty mixed warships, mainly triremes and biremes. The defenders were overwhelmed by Muwaffaq’s numbers and although the losses where equals on both sides, around ten ships, they were forced to retreat to Constantinople’s harbour. The way was left open for Numair who aided by Hadi, Sayf of Qom had command of forty thousand men. The Roman’s had withdrawn behind the walls of Constantinople and waited in trepidation for the enemies attack. The walls of Constantinople were not as high as they once were but were still substantial in size. The defenders numbered only three thousand and despite Sayf being wounded in the assault, they were cut down to a man as the walls were breached. Numair’s losses were less than two thousand men and arriving in the city he headed straight for the royal palace. His orders were to dig up the bones of Basil, instigator of Basil’s Crusade, and scatter them on the crossroads outside the city. Abasigia, Crimea, Galatia and Pontus all rebel and the Roman nobility waited for Zarife’s acceptance of their surrender.

The Ayyubid Sultanate

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Rashid, Sultan of the Ayyubids

Prince Jibrail died of a fever and Shams of old age whilst a prisoner. The sultan of Syria also died a prisoner and his lands rescinded all ties with Alexandria.

 

 

Al-Khulafa'ur Rashidun       

(Sunni Islam Civilized Religious Primate)
Zaahir al Shiraj, Kaliph

Rashidun missionaries saw large numbers of converts amongst the peasants of Epirus and Attica, fully one third of those regions were converted to Islam. The province of Bithnia was finally fully converted to Islam. Al’Adana grew in size and the Kaliph opened his treasury to provide beautiful parks and piazzas. In Baghdad, nearly twenty thousand cavalry were raised for the Kaliph’s army. While the Kaliph Zaahir ruled from Mesopotamia, the Imams were dispatched far and wide across the Moslem lands to improve his standing in the temporal realm. An Abbey was built in Media by Tahmid of the Adjou. Churches were raised in Kuwait and Mand and another Abbey in Fars. Basra now benefited from a Cathedral as did Kufa and Mahidia.

The Al’Bahri

(Sunni Islam Civilized Religious Order)
Umar, Sultan of the Ayyubids

Peaceful times for the Order, murmuring of unrest begin amongst its more fanatical followers.

 

Ar Rassid Imamat as Sa'Na    

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Sheik Umar

Old Sheik Farouk was left to end his days in peace in Sa’na as his son and heir Prince Umar took control of the Imamat. Umar was to establish a new trade route to the Ceylon port of Kollam as well as improving the internal trade routes of the nation.  Prince Khalid spent these years in Oman where he gained further support from the Omani tribes. Ziyad also some success in the lands of Muscat. The nobility of Kilwa were converted to Islam by the Imam Zahir. Prince Sayyid moved with his force of two thousand cavalry and slightly fewer infantry to attack Berbera. Due to his popular command, the forces reached the beaches without any losses but the Ogaden had mobilised over three thousand heavy cavalry with some light skirmishers from the Berbara garrison to defend the region. Months of fighting saw Sayyid no further into the from the beaches until the Ogaden finally forced him back. In the attack Sayyid was lucky to escape with his life, his forces and ships destroyed on the beaches of Berbera.

Usama-Yoruba Onium of Ibo

(African Pagan Civilised Open Empire)
Bhanda, King of the Ibo

The lands of the Sudan and Songhai were resettled after the damage caused by the Adjou Aba. Mabhanda took his royal guard of nearly twenty five thousand men and destroyed any control left by the Adjou Aba in the oasis of Tahoua. He returned to Ibo where he married from the local nobility. Payad took his thirty five thousand cavalry and wiped out the nomads of the Wadan. Moving north to Iguidir, he took the province easily before dying from spoiled mutton. Adjoukt in Walata rebelled from Iboan control after Payad’s death. With the horde far to the east, Mabhanda felt that he had cleared some space from his borders but still commanded Ibana to clear any remnants from the oases of Bilma, Yanaka-Chinga, Al-Kufrah and Ayn-Al-Ghazal, no sign of the Adju was found but reports came in that they were camped in Batha, their isolated lands to the west rebelled.

The Mwene-Mutapa Empire

(African Pagan Civilised Open Empire)
Nyambo, Emperor of Mapungubwe

The Aqueduct for Mwene-Mutupa was completed, bringing fresh water to the city all year. Missionaries from the Unkulunkulu clergy saw some more converts in Gorongo. Nyambo was pleased that his new wife from the Cape had survived his attentions and commanded that Matombo Mukare send him another from the same stock. Nyambo was blessed with another two children, this time one was a son.  Matombo’s diplomacy saw the Cape become an integral part of the Empire. With the death of Chimbganda, the region of Nguni pledged only support from their treasury and not their warriors.

 

Bakongo Kingdom of Kanem-Bornu

(African Pagan Civilised Open Empire)
Zeta, King of Kanem-Bornu

Zeta ruled from Kanem-Bornu whilst his brother brought Kano into the kingdom

 


 

The East

Without further ado, the news for these years in Lords 24 history...


 

India

Pratihara Kingdom of Kaunaj

(Hindu Civilised Open Empire)
Rajiv, Raja of Kaunaj

Like their Bengali allies, the Rajputis raised over twelve thousand men in Kaunaj. The walls of the isolated cities of Mandalay and Pagan were built high and wide to protect the cities. The captured Thatonese general, Thawan, was murdered in his cell on the orders of Janda. Despite his paranoia from assassination, Janda was to die in 1266 from a fever. His eldest son Prince Rajiv became the Raja of Kaunaj. Kundeep raised an army of nearly twenty thousand mercenaries in Kaunaj and during his time on Gaur, Prince Gyan also managed to hire a further two thousand mercenaries. Prince Om moved from Kaunaj to Nadavaria. While Rajiv and the Brahmin Mohandas discussed the benefits of re-joining the kingdom to the Raja of Nadavaria, Om gave over command of his army to Rupinder. Rajiv and the Brahmin regained the old alliance with the Nadavarians. Rupinder led the army into Kalinga in order to pacify the region. However, Kalinga was heavily defended with field forts and the invasion faltered against these defences. However, Rupinder was not lightly thwarted and moved in again against the province. After twelve months of fierce fighting the province was finally subdued. However, Rupider fell to the opposing forces and was captured by the Thatonese. Prince Om was not confident enough in command to continue against the province and remained in change of the garrison there. Of the twenty thousand men attacking the province; Om was left in command of just over seventeen thousand.  Rupinder later died of his wounds whilst in captivity. The Order of the Dagger brings its warriors back to Kaunaj prevent further attacks on Hindu regions. A slight change in the climate in Ajmer means that the deserts begin to subside.

The Western Dhara

(Hindu Civilised NPN Empire, Open Empire)
Pajama I, King of the Dhara

Bengani and Palcama move over the mountains between Satava and Tripuri to bring Dharan peace to the state of Pawar. The Raja of Tripuri refused to meet with the Dharans and instead dispatched his general at the head of four thousand infantry and nine thousand cavalry to force the Dharans back over the mountains. Bengani was tasked with taking the province if diplomacy failed and moved to attack with his two thousand elite cavalry and a further two thousand foot, most of which were also elite guardsmen. Bengani was killed in the first attack and Palcama failed to take control of the Dharan forces. It was only their high morale that prevented a full rout of Palcama’s force as they fled back to Satava. Losses were slight on both sides, only a few hundred men each. Fallija found favour with the King when he aided Paga in gaining some diplomatic relations with the Cholans.

The Palas of Bengal

(Hindu Civilised NPN Empire, Friendly to Kaunaj)
Ran, Palas of Bengal

Tamralipti was the staging point for Bengal’s army as nearly twelve thousand men were called to arms. Missionaries in Assam reduced the numbers of Buddhist converts in those war torn lands. Bengali assassins wounded the Thatonese admiral, Chao Seni, before he left Moulmein for Pegu. Satinder was to attempting to improve the Bengali relations with Arakan when he died of a fever in 1266. Pala Ran ruled from Gaur until his death in 1268. His wife Harshita took control of the Kingdom until Ran’s son came of age. Rom was tasked with blockading Moulein from Bandarban with the Brahmin Gandhi; Prince Kasem of the Thatonese was loathe to meet the threat outside the harbour and failed to break the blockade. Banu moved out of Samatata and after collecting the garrison in Tamralipti moved on to Arakan where he attacked the Thatonese province of Pegu. The Tatonese army under Chao Seni had already passed through Pegu and attacked Samatata to liberate the province from Hindu control. Banu failed to defeat the heavily fortified province, after many years of campaigning; his army was reduced to just over one thousand men. The fortifications of Pegu were mainly intact.

South East Asia and the Islands

 

The Dai Kingdom of Annam

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Fer Netcol, King of Annam

Fer Netcol was determined not to give up on re-uniting his Kingdom and continued to lead the delegation to the Nanchao.  Some progress was made after much gold was spent to improve the relations. Pala Nga Non was tasked with patrolling the Kingdom but died of a fever in 1270.

Kambujadesa

(Hindu Civilised Open Empire)
Emperor Surya Din, Emperor of the Khmer

The lands of Khemer and the island of Singapore were fully fortified and Surya Din took command of a further five thousand men. The port of Bakheng was built in the newly colonised lands of Tengah. Surya Din ruled from Angor after meddling with the shipping out of Sambor Prei Kok and moving several of the ships to Phan Bho.  Vireakboth the Snake patrolled the northern borders, on the out look for Buddhist aggression. The settlers for Bakheng were transported from Angor to Tengah by Nung Tok Pai before his death in 1270. More of the nobility of Siam were converted by Jao the Zealot but Khemer missionaries were not successful in those lands. Heng Huynh travelled to Tengah where he persuaded the last of the tribesmen there to embrace Shiva.

The Kingdom of Thaton

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Ratana Nai-Thim, King of the Thaton

The respite gained by Thaton’s victories in the past few years meant that Ratana Nai-Thim could fortify the western regions of Assam, Manipur, Burma, Ava and Pegu as well as some more in Thaton itself. Over eight thousand men were raised in Thaton for Chao Seni.  Nearly sixty warships were commissioned in the dockyards of Moulmein for Prince Kasem. Ratana was confident enough to commission sixty merchantmen in Thaton as well and add to the fishing fleets out of Songkhla, Kadaram and Moulmein. Missionaries in the Hindu lands failed miserably and no converts were found. Chao Seni was wounded by Bengali assassins as he left Moulmein in charge of the newly raised army relieve the province of Samatata. It took many years and over twenty thousand men but eventually the province was returned to Thatonese control. Ratana’s wife of several years died in childbirth and he was left to rule his kingdom alone. His afforts to raise more mercenaries out of Moulmein were successful when a captain and one thousand hardened cavalry rode to his banner and gold. Prince Kasem took command of the navy from Chao Seni and patrolled the waters out of Moulmein. The mercenary captain Sunan Veerapol raided out of Assam into the lands of Gstang and Palas, although some gold was gained from the wilderness of Gtsang, the well defended lands of Palas caused many losses amongst the mercenaries, especially as the Dagger lent its cavalry to aid the Bengalis.

 

Manchu’ko and Nihon

The Minamoto Shogunate

(Shinto Civilised Open Empire)
Eiroku Minamoto, Shogun of the East

Akita was cultivated by the Shogunate. An army of five thousand men was raised in Yamato for the Shoguns invasion of Shimane. The Shogun was joined by Adachi Yasumori and together the Minamoto army comprised twelve thousand infantry and the same in cavalry. The force was augmented with two thousand siege engineers. The Taira Shogun rallied his nine thousand men out of Saga and met the attackers as they moved through the Great Wall of Yamato. For months the fighting was at held at stalemate until finally the attackers were forced back. Six thousand of the easterners were killed or lost in the action. The defenders lost almost the same amount of men. The Shinto priests of the Shogunate had a mixed bag of success during these years, their influence in the Nihon-no-Tenno grew but that in the Clan Kiyowara waned. Daiei had the task of raiding the Tairanese costs of the Dozen Wan and the Inland Sea while the Tairanese army was tied up in the conflict in Shimane. His raids caused devastating ruin on the Tairanese lands before returning with his haul of loot to Edo. The old general was to die late in 1269 of a fever.

The Goryeo Kingdom

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Wang Insu, King of Goryeo

The steppe lands of Shangtu were cultivated by peasant labour from Parhae and Liao-Tung. Ships were commissioned for the trade routes out of Pusan and Po Yang. Old Ro Moo died early in 1266, a not unexpected event given here advanced age and inform state. Wang Insu ruled from Koguryo and was blessed with two daughters by his wife Wang Bayarmaa. Missionaries were sent to Manchou but failed to make any progress with the natives there. Wang Dong Sun travelled across from Manchou to Ch’in on a grand diplomatic tour. Things started well when Manchou became a full ally of the Kingdom, however no progress was made in Harbin and in Ch’in it was only Wang’s escort that prevented him being executed for insulting the ruler’s wife. Hyo Pong collected one thousand men from Po Yang and moved to defend the Kingdom’s outlying possessions from Hokkaido. Young Sha took the Goryeon fleet south and explored the seas of the Bashi Channel and Dongsha Hai.

The Land under Heaven

The Kingdom of Koueichou

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Dai Ling, Queen of Koueichou

Dai Ling rebuild her army after the losses at the hands of the Chang’Ling. Her husband Bo Tai patrolled the borders in case of retaliation by the easterners. He was accompanied by the nobility of the Kingdom. The Chang’Ling retaliated by building cities in Hubei and Hwai around the fortresses there.

The Empire of the Western Song

(Buddhist Civilised Open Empire)
Zhi Zhen, Emperor of the Western Song

The prosperity of the Song continued to grow and Lanzhou city grew with it. The road from Chang’An toHuang Ho was completed as well as the road over the mountains down to Ts’Un’I from Hanzhong. Kin was converted o the way of Buddha by missionaries working out of Ordos. The Emperor ruled from Chang’An and introduced Zhi Heng to the court there. Despite the death of Wu Fei during the journey to Yun, Yu Jing was successful in gaining an alliance from the lord of Yun by offering the hand of the Princess Zhi Chong to seal the alliance. An Zhao patrolled the borders of the Empire from Kansu, accompanied by the young Prince Zhi Hu.