Avon Las Observes

[Midnite Duke]

I’d missed that news too… How sad!

Now this week, we add Charlie Watts. The Heavenly Band is adding some big time talent this month. But at least Hall, Everly and Watts all lived long and full lives.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thanks for adding me into the story, I wasn't expecting and feel honored by it. I would think the Magnificent Seven to be a combination of older and newer elements. This would allow a variety of different approaches to a single problem, giving an advantage. Useful when fighting for gold.

Thank you for replying. Welcome aboard! You can not go wrong with McQueen and Denzel leading your forces.

 

[RustyHunter]

You can not go wrong with McQueen and Denzel leading your forces.

No love for Yul Brynner?

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thanks for promoting me to dragon-rider! That's pretty hard to beat!

Thank you for replying. Technically, you are a dragon-sniper with a great cross-bow. I have reserved dragon-rider status to those that write AGOT mods. Both are top notch positions.

 

[Midnite Duke]

No love for Yul Brynner?

Thank you for replying. While he is a great King of Siam, my personal ranking for this group of actors would have McQueen, James Coburn and Robert Vaughn before him. When Brynner is fourth, your line-up is more stacked than the 1927 New York Yankees.

 

[RustyHunter]

Thank you for replying. Technically, you are a dragon-sniper with a great cross-bow. I have reserved dragon-rider status to those that write AGOT mods. Both are top notch positions.

Well, that sounds even cooler!

Thank you for replying. While he is a great King of Siam, my personal ranking for this group of actors would have McQueen, James Coburn and Robert Vaughn before him. When Brynner is fourth, your line-up is more stacked than the 1927 New York Yankees.

That is certainly some stiff competition, and not a slight of Brynner at all. I really enjoyed his role in Westworld, he is probably the most iconic part of that movie.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Well, that sounds even cooler!.


That is certainly some stiff competition, and not a slight of Brynner at all. I really enjoyed his role in Westworld, he is probably the most iconic part of that movie.

Thank for replying. The snipers only fly and shoot. Riders have to clean their dragon's stall and comfort them when they have heartburn.

The other three are Bronson, Horst Buchholz (German readers would place him much higher) and Brad Dexter. What a LineUp! Dexter earned a Red Cross medal for saving Frank Sinatra from drowning. Dexter can also speak Serbian with Duchess Jelena.

 

[diskoerekto]

I loved Yul Brynner in the king and me, great movie!

 

[Midnite Duke]

I loved Yul Brynner in the king and me, great movie!

Thank you for replying. Great actor, great role. Twice Tony and an Oscar for the role. The four that he beat for Oscar: James Dean, Kirk Douglas, Rock Hudson and Laurence Olivier! That same year, Brynner was in another Best Picture nominee, The Ten Commandments, and co-starred with Best Actress, Ingrid Bergman, in a third movie. Has anyone ever had a better year?

 

[Midnite Duke]

19 April 1350 Fars Valley, Persia

The tensions are higher than the temperatures in the Fars Valley for today is moving day as the Swiss twins and the Amazing Adventurous Readers shift from the Rajasthan end of the Valley to the Iraq/Persia/Daylam end. Security has been doubled with @Thaiga/Spot and a second senior dragon team in the skies with four junior dragon teams, two dragon teams from DragonExpress are ready to take to the skies to deliver crucial information to MissSwiss headquarters and the City of Elephants. General @Bullfilter and Jumbo leads the Royal War Elephants on the Rajasthan side, while waiting at the other end of Fars Valley is Field Marshal @Wraith11B on Humper leading his Mamluk Company with his trusted scout Thumper hopping along the mountain trails.

25 April 1350 Iraq's Fars Valley headquarters

Hansel and Gretel depart for home on a hastily arranged flight for @Tsar Monarchist/Speedy. During negotiations to bring MissSwiss products to Iraq, Caliph Alim told Gretel that she would make a good fourth wife for his Court Imam and that her brother was qualified to be a guard for his harem. @RustyHunter remarks to @Macavity116 that this is the first time that Speedy has had a passenger breathing more fire than him. @Louis Capet asks @Highland Confederate if he and his Magnificent Seven could accompany him home to Italy and if he could rent one band of the Seven that it would double his depleted army.

29 April 1350 Rawhide Mercenary camp in the Fars Valley

Gil Favor asks Rowdy Yates and Pete Nolan, "What did you learn? What are you eating?" Rowdy replies that he has a Tony the Tiger BFE (BattleField Eats) and that the Samrat is confident since he has more men and supplies from MissSwiss and that the BFE is great. Pete answers that his is a Joe the Camel BFE that is better than Wishbone's cooking and please do not tear the packaging as it will be a collectors items like his records. Pete adds that the Caliph thinks one Holy Warrior is worth seven Indians and that his allies will stand with him. Pete adds that he feels sorry for the Stinky 300. Rowdy asks who? Pete tells that recruit Hamir got tired of Rajasthan taunts about their BFEs and decided to shoot down a dragon. His arrow did not come within a thousand feet of the dragon but Indigo was startled and took a dump on Hamir's head. Now the dragons have turned the Kuwaitis and Schist Creek into a dumping ground. Who says a dragon Can't Get any Satisfaction?


1 May 1350 Istakhr province, Fars region, Persia (Baghdad is the capital of Iraq/Persia/Daylam.)

1 May is a somber banquet for the AAReaders (packed bags await a quick departure). While Gretel and Hansel were conducting the ill-fated negotiations with Caliph Alim, Iraq's Marshal @diskoerekto conducted a briefing for the AAReaders on the realm's status. During the 14th century's second quarter, Iraq/Persia/Daylam goes from #4 to #3 (world's largest kingdom) gaining forty-nine holdings to 221 in 52 counties. The second quarter's leadership timeline:

4 June 1305 7yo Qawurd Abbasid inherits the Sultanate of Iraq and Persia.​

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22 June 1336 38yo Caliph Qawurd II creates the Sultanate of Daylam (northern Iran, south of Caspian Sea).​

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16 May 1349 51yo Caliph Qawurd II dies maimed and crippled. His 32yo son Alim Abbasid inherits the Sultanate of Iraq, Persia and Daylam.​

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33yo Bedouin Sunni Caliph Alim is a lazy Scholarly Theologian (0-6-3-0-12). He rules the three kingdoms, two duchies and three counties (@diskoerekto says that the Caliph might could handle a fourth holding). His vassals include five dukes and six counts. (At this point @diskoerekto's assistant, Toruntay, interrupted the briefing to inform the Marshal about Caliph Alim's remarks to Gretel. @diskoerekto asked Toruntay to finish the briefing while he found the Sultan of Rum.) Toruntay says that Iraq has eleven thousand brave soldiers engaged in a defensive struggle.

28 February 1349 Samrat Ayeshah III invaded Istakhr county in an illegal land grab. Iraq and all good Sunni nations will defeat the Samrat. (No war score as Anne Howe has spent her August vacation in Norway helping @Nikolai with the ACAs. Thank You @Nikolai and Anne Howe.)​

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1350 Top Twenty-One Realms with a Sunni Ruler:

#2 442 Rajasthan Empire​

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#3 221 Iraq Sultanate world's largest kingdom​

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#6 165 Syria Sultanate​

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#8 135 Rum Sultanate​

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#13 110 Sindh Kingdom (Rajasthan vassal) world's largest vassal​

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#14 105 Punjab Kingdom (Rajasthan vassal)​

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#16 100 Tabriz Emirate (Daylam vassal) world's largest duchy​

NEXT: West to our #4, a newcomer (Catholic, anyone want to guess).

Thank You: To Eric Fleming, Clint Eastwood and Sheb Wooley for entertaining us.

To Charlie Watts for the music. 2 June 1941 to 24 August 2021, Go Rest High on the Mountain.​

To @Louis Capet for bringing us Stop Bullying Bulyah. This is a new work (still on first page) on the CK2 page about a Muslim realm in Italy.​

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To everyone for reading and commenting. Avon recently surpassed 12K views and shared the silver medal in the Q2 ACAs. The only thing better than the medal was sharing the podium with the man who inspired Avon, @Eurasia. Congratulations to all nominees and winners.​

 

[Bullfilter]

Jelena's mercenaries defeated the traitors. After seizing both counties, Duchess Jelena introduced the pair to Grgur the Axman. Pyrros lost his head and Aunt Dubravka was confined to her new quarters (house arrest) in Dyrrachion castle with Duchess Jelena carefully monitoring her aunt's drinking.

The aunt is lucky not to have felt the kiss of Grgur’s axe on her neck as well! House arrest and a supply of cheap wine is a a real let-off.

Jelena's liege Basileus Innokentios is fighting two wars to remain Byzantine Emperor.

Seems usual for Byzantine Emperors!

Royal War Elephants on the Rajasthan side

Mamluk Company with his trusted scout Thumper

I’d bet elephants (the Tiger tanks of their day) against camels with a rabbit scout (the Italian tankettes of their day)! Did they clash? Who won?

 

[Midnite Duke]

The aunt is lucky not to have felt the kiss of Grgur’s axe on her neck as well! House arrest and a supply of cheap wine is a a real let-off.

Seems usual for Byzantine Emperors!


I’d bet elephants (the Tiger tanks of their day) against camels with a rabbit scout (the Italian tankettes of their day)! Did they clash? Who won?

Aunt Dubravka was twice Jelena's tutor and Duchess Milka's best friend. Count Pyrros got her drunk to get her to rebel. So Jelena felt generous. (Also did not want kinslayer.)

It will get worse for Basileus Innokentios. The year 1363 is coming to the Empire.

Elephants and 64K will carry the day against camels, 11K and a rabbit. It was a perfect six to eight county north/south border before Istakhr pokes a finger towards Baghdad.

 

[RustyHunter]

Thank for replying. The snipers only fly and shoot. Riders have to clean their dragon's stall and comfort them when they have heartburn.

Seems like I have all the fun parts of the job!

 

[diskoerekto]

Thank you for replying. Great actor, great role. Twice Tony and an Oscar for the role. The four that he beat for Oscar: James Dean, Kirk Douglas, Rock Hudson and Laurence Olivier! That same year, Brynner was in another Best Picture nominee, The Ten Commandments, and co-starred with Best Actress, Ingrid Bergman, in a third movie. Has anyone ever had a better year?

What magnificent company!

 

[diskoerekto]

33yo Bedouin Sunni Caliph Alim is a lazy Scholarly Theologian (0-6-3-0-12).

Quite an inert bookworm

the silver medal in the Q2 ACAs

it was time for ACAs, wasn't it... being on vacation I forgot to vote

NEXT: West to our #4, a newcomer (Catholic, anyone want to guess).

are we headed to Italy?

(At this point @diskoerekto's assistant, Toruntay, interrupted the briefing to inform the Marshal about Caliph Alim's remarks to Gretel. @diskoerekto asked Toruntay to finish the briefing while he found the Sultan of Rum.)

I'll have some harsh conversation with him, to tell you this much

 

[Midnite Duke]

What magnificent company!

Thank you for replying! One would be hard pressed to find a better five in Oscar voting, each a legend. What a year for Brynner, three major movies. Brynner sung, Deborah Kerr did not.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Quite an inert bookworm


it was time for ACAs, wasn't it... being on vacation I forgot to vote


are we headed to Italy?


I'll have some harsh conversation with him, to tell you this much

Welcome back from vacation! The Caliph only reads religious texts and has surrounded himself with die hard Caliphs. Not Italy, though Sicily is top twenty. The HRE dominates as far south as Rome. Small Genoa and Venice, but both mainly off the Peninsula. The Orthodox Patriarchate still owns two counties on the west coast. I did not know if you would try to knock some sense into the Caliph or follow the Sultan west. The Seljuks have imploded! Rum, Anatolia, Georgia and Trebizond are separate kingdoms with some Sunni and some Orthodox!

 

[Macavity116]

Gretel and Hansel were conducting the ill-fated negotiations with Caliph Alim,

I get the strong feeling those two will never be seen again.

#3 221 Iraq Sultanate world's largest kingdom

I feel the need to report that Sultan Alim's face has suddenly appeared on the Ace of Spades in my deck of military-issue playing cards.

 

[Midnite Duke]

I have decided to break up the family check and featured duchy into two separate posts (both will be checks on same game day). To borrow an idea from @Kage265, I will send a limited crew to check on the family.

21 June 1369 Duchess Jelena 20 year anniversary

When Captain @DensleyBlair announces a training flight to Dyrrachion, Chief Engineer @Kage265 quickly grabs two buckets of coins from a corner and says ballast, Sir. While @DensleyBlair sedately walks over to greet Duchess Jelena, the Chief Engineer is mobbed by children before his feet even touch the ground. Duchess Jelena says that her beloved husband Count Chaghagan had passed quietly. Before he died, he reassured her that with their great love they would reunite in paradise. (Event eight days before his death that because of love, Stressed was removed from Duchess Jelena.)

Death: Count Chaghagan (Ajai) of Kastoria; 23 November 1299 to 10 January 1362; Natural Causes. (He is our last 13th century character in the immediate family.)​

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Birth: Mirjana Progonovic; girl born 26 January 1367 to Duchess Jelena and Ghazan Ajai. (She shares a 26 of the month birthday with her older siblings. This shows that a faithful woman will give birth on same day of month even if husband differs.)​

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FAMILY: Duchess Jelena (37yo) is joined in Dyrrachion by her new husband, Ghazan Ajai (64yo Mongol Orthodox), her daughters Biljana (17yo) and Mirjana (2yo Serbian Catholic), and Aunt Dubravka (63yo). While son Dragos (15yo) is the Count of Kastoria, he is in Dyrrachion completing his schooling. In Epirus is her Komenos-Doukas relatives, father Doux Dorotheos II (59) and half-sisters Borislava (10yo assimilated from Bulgarian to Greek) and Lyudmila (7yo Bulgarian Catholic). Biljana finished her schooling as an Intricate Webweaver (3-3-4-12-4) and is betrothed to Barghujin Ajai (14yo) brother of Khagan Burkhan of the Mongol Empire. Count Dragos, while not finished his schooling (same tutor as Biljana), is showing an early talent in skulduggery with eleven of his twenty-two points in Intrigue. Count Dragos has betrothed himself to Princess Leontia (Gavras 30yo) of the Byzantine Empire. She is the twin sister of Count Polykarpos of Cherson (and Jerusalem) and a kinswoman of Basileus Eustahios II. While Duchess Jelena and Count Chaghagan's marriage is the greatest love story in Progonovic annals, Duchess Jelena and Ghazan's union is approaching toxicity levels not seen since Doux Alek/Princess Georgia's final days. When Ghazan asked for a title, Jelena remarked that the Ecumenical Patriarch needs a stablemaster. Later, Ghazan questioned Mirjana's paternity. While Duchess Milka was known as 'the Wise', Duchess Jelena is being called 'the Nun'.

COUNCIL: Duchess Jelena (9-11-13-8-8) gained 1S and 5I while losing 2L. She gained Amateur Schemer, lost Stressed and switched from a Theology to an Intrigue Focus.

Ghazan Ajai (Dutiful Cleric 2-4-6-10-9) is the new Mystikos. He is Ambitious, Deceitful, Paranoid, Gluttonous and Cynical.​

Milorad (34yo Serbian Catholic 9D) and Martin (42yo Serbian Catholic 12M) continue as Magistros and Protostrator. Milorad is Honest and Trusting, while Martin is an Ambitious and Zealous Tough Soldier.​

Mayor Simeon of Gëziq (53yo Serbian Catholic 12S) is the new Sakellarios. He is a Slothful and Just Thrifty Clerk.​

Bishop Dobroslav of Chounavia (35yo Serbian Catholic 15L) is the new Court Chaplain. He is a Just Dutiful Cleric.​

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LORDS: Basileus Eustathios II (26yo Greek Catholic) of the Byzantine Empire is Duchess Jelena's liege. He controls the Empire, two counties and two baronies with twenty-five thousand soldiers.

Duchess Jelena controls the duchy and three counties with seven thousand soldiers.​

Count Dragos of Kastoria is his mother's only major vassal with one county and two thousand soldiers.​

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16 July 1368 Basileus Eustathios II declared Holy War Armenia (4 counties) on Sultan Erdem of Rum.​

Dyrrachion did make an ill-thought attempt to seize Lychnidos (I failed to check bank account until I hit war button and they merced up.)​

While I switched to intrigue focus to protect Dragos from Dubravka's husband, it came in very useful as Sicily captured Dragos in the Excommunication War against Basileus Innokentios.​

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NEXT: We will celebrate 30 years of Jelena unless fate intervenes. (Spoiler Duchess Jelena will lead 1375 world check. She joins Doux Gjin as a two time world check leader. 1225 Count Gjin remains the oldest world check leader except for 1250 Doux Gjin. (Doux Gjin died 27 January 1250 but all information is gathered 1 January.) Hopefully, Captain @DensleyBlair is ready for another tour or two before becoming an Admiral.)

Thank you to everyone for reading and commenting.

 

[Midnite Duke]

I get the strong feeling those two will never be seen again.


I feel the need to report that Sultan Alim's face has suddenly appeared on the Ace of Spades in my deck of military-issue playing cards.

Thank you for replying. Gretel and maybe Hansel will probably appear again in 1375 and maybe 1400. There is a trade deal with the Samrat and the planned Joe the Camel BFEs will be rebranded as Tony the Tiger BFEs or maybe go to our final country. The dragons are enjoying the 'dumping runs' on Schist Creek's poor Kuwaitis. Dyrrachion is busy building warehouses for Gretel. Egypt will definitely allow transit rights to anyone who wishes to poke the Caliphate.

Ace of Spades is way too high. Maybe a king but probably only a jack.