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unmerged(20873)

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Oct 17, 2003
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My new attempt at an AAR, playing a count in the Byzantine Empire. Main goal is to become emperor, of course ;) Hope you like it!

Chapter 1
It was early march and the snow was still left in the Byzantine province of Constania. It's ruler Roman Cherven, count of Constantia, was standing outside of his wooden castle watching the open plains of his land. He had been married only two months ago with a woman from the neighbouring county Galaz. It was a marrige that was not entirely political; he and Dobrina Kanizsai had met during a visit to Galaz's count Konstantin. He was 27, she was 25 and a very skilled chancellor in the county. They had fallen in love and neither of them had a spouse so marrige was arranged. So far it had been a happy marrige and Roman hoped it would last.
"Sir?" someone asked behind him. Roman turned around and faced his steward, young Vesna Zách.
"Yes, Vesna?" he asked. Vesna was among the finest people he had met; honest and merciful she had been Roman's chancellor untill his marrige with Dobrina. Now she was his steward. Actually Roman didn't think he needed any help with the econmic aspect of governing his county. He was quite skilled in that area himself. But he also felt that it was unfair to reduce the 20-yearold Vesna to a simple courtier just like that.
"A messenger from the Emperor has arrvied and requests that you see him." Vesna said.
"Tell him I'm on my way."

The Emperor's messenger was waiting in the great hall of Roman's castle. Not all people liked the Emperor, but Roman saw a chance to take up that position sometime in the future. It would not be easy to rise from count to Emperor, but the Empire as well as Roman's personal ruler Nestor Tzamplakon elected their heirs from their vassals. So it was not impossible. He had already maken a closing towards Konstantin in Galaz with the marrige, so now his only enemy for the title was the count of Karvuna in the south. But now it was the messenger that was important; the thoughts of advancements had to wait.
"Be greeted, messenger. What news do you bring from Byzantium?"
"Roman Cherven, count of Constantia, I bring orders from the Emperor and the Patriarch, may them live in all eternity."
"Very well, let me hear them."
"The Patriarch requests that you grant an itinerant bishop a place in your court." The message was short and could not be missinterprited.
"I shall consider it. You are allowed to stay in my castle meanwhile."

Roman accepted the order the next morning. He really didn't have any choise: he needed a bishop and his court was at the moment very small. So a few days later an aged priest named Vlad Petenye arrived to Roman's court. He was made diocese bishop immideatly. Months passed and it was now may. A lone guard held the watch, looking out across the distant plains for friends or foes. None had been seen in very long, so Roman was surprised when he heard the lookout's voice.
"Man and horse comming!"
Roman wondered who it might be; he didn't expect anyone. He walked down to the city gates to investigate.
After a while the man had closed in and the gates was opened. Everyone saw to their great surprise that it was a battlescared knight, dressed in colours they did not recognize.
"I wish to speak with the ruler of this city!" the knight called out. Roman liberated himself from the population and walked up to the knight.
"I am he." he said. "What do you want Roman Cherven?"
"I come from the distant lant of Georgia. For long that country has fought the barbarian pagans of the north on their own. I request to stay here for a few nights before continuing to Byzantium and the Emperor."
Roman studied the man. He was very young; probably not even twenty years old. Could what he said be true? Had Georgia fallen to the pagans? If that was the case the Emperor needed to hear the news.
"If I might get your name, you are allowed to stay and rest here in Constania." he said. The knight looked down on him from his horse.
"I am Trajan Dezsõfi, knight in the Georgian court under king Bagrat I."

"Stand still." Kera said. Trajan groaned as she removed his breastplate. He had several cuts from the battle back home and had gotten no time to look over them. This woman, who he had learned was 27 years old and thus eight years older than him, had offered to help him. "Looks like you were in quite some battle."
Trajan thought back on it. "Yes, indeed it was a great battle. The battle of Kartil. Our five hundred Georgians against uncountable muslims from the south. We were very few that made it." Yes, he had fled, but he had to. The northern part of Georgia had been under constant threat from the pagans of the north and now their capital had been taken by the muslims. Something hurt. "Ouch!"
"It's an arrow, or at least parts of it." Kera said and pulled out the remains of the arrow that had struck is shoulder in the battle.
"I thought I got it out."
"Well, not all of it." Kera smiled. "I think we're gonna have to sew some of your slash wounds."
Trajan shivered.

"So, Vlad, how do you like it here?" Roman asked his bishop as they walked down an alley in the castle garden.
"It's different." Vlad answerd. "Byzantium was so big... How many people live here I don't know, but it's not even one thousand. But yes, I like it."
"I am glad to hear it, Vlad. Know that you are appreciated here."
"I am only happy for what I can help with."
"So what do you make of our guest? And the events in Georgia?" Roman asked. Vlad sighed and studied some flowers.
"A fine man, I say. A fighter, and probably a good one too. I spoke with him yesterday, and I must say that I am most pleased. He is a man who puts faith in our religion." he made a short pause.
"And Georgia?" Roman asked again.
"Georgia, the lone outpost protecting the Byzantine Empire. I think the need of them is underestimated. Because I think that the Empire can only handle limited conflict beofre falling apart. The Empire is weak."
"Weak?"
"Yes. The heir to the Roman Empire seems strong on the surface but beneath the discontent is growing. Dissatisfaction with our elderly Emperor. He has maken sure that his son will be the next heir, even when the vassals are supposed to elect the next Emperor. Believe me when I say that if the Dukas family keeps the power, this country is heading towards civil war. And if we loose our only friend in the east..." Vlad left the sentence unfinished.
Roman drew his breath. "Then God knows what will happen."

The following morning a knight and horse left Constania with Byzantium as final destination.
 
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Just a short update. More will come tonight!

Byzantium, Capital of the Byzantine Empire.
"Sir, a messenger is here to see you." and aide quietly said to Konstantinos X, Emperor of the Byzantium. He was sitting on his throne in the center of the imperial throne room.
"Send him in." the Emperor answered. The aide went back into the hallway and showed Trajan in.
"I am Trajan Dezsõfi of the Georgian Court." Trajan presented himself. "I bring a request from the Georgian king Bagrat I."
"Georgia sends a request?" Konstantinos said. "Well, let's hear it then."
"Georgia has been attacked. Except from this Empire we are surrounded by enemies. To the north barbaric pagans have taken the Indepentent Duchies and to the east and south the Kingdom of Seljuk Turks have always lurked. Now we have been attacked. Kartil has fallen and the other areas might not have a great deal of time left."
Konstantinos rose. He was an old man; more than sixty years old.
"So you come to me for help. You come to Byzantium, the Roman Empire."
"Our contries depend on each other." Trajan said. "Georgia calls for aid."
"Georgia has long been the furthest outpost of the Byzantine Empire. Let us pray it will stay that way for a very long time." Konstantinos answered. "Byzantium shall answer. Georgia will not stand alone. Master the Imperial Army!"
 
I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Not too much have happened yet (but now there's some action!) :)

The Battle Begins
"I should be there with them." Roman said. He and Vlad had decided to take a walk in the castle garden again. "I should be there with my troops."
"Everyone understands why you stayed." Vlad answerd. "Firstly you are not a soldier. Secondly, and most importantly, your wife is pregnat."
Roman smiled.
"Perhaps you are right." He and Dobrina had been married for a year now. She was expecting a baby. "Perhaps it will be a son. My new heir."
"I'm sure it will be." Vlad said. "You should trust in Trajan. He will command your army with great skill."
Roman looked to the east. Somewhere in distant cacasus a war was begining.

"Fire arrows!" Nestor Tzamplakton shouted and lowered his arm. Six hundred arrows left their bows and flew towards the muslim forces down on the field. Each arrow hit it's target. The battle of Vaspurakan had begun.
"Follow my lead!" Trajan shouted to his cavalry and set off with his horse. Five hundred horse riders rode against the forces of Azerbaijan.

"Nestor is there." Roman said. "My duke, my liege."
He looked at Vlad, and then continued.
"I do not wish death for him. But if he should be killed in this war, I will not shread any tears."
Because Roman was the heir of the duke.

The two forces clashed. Trajan wielded his sword, cutting down several enemies as their cavalry plowed its way into the muslim lines. This was what his life was all about; armed conflict. He loved the feel of the battle.
"Muslim reinforcements to the south!" he heard one of his riders shout. Trajan was not surprised. After all they only played a small role in this battle; the overall fight for Vaspurakan had many more warriors.

"My time is running out." Vlad said. "You cannot see it, but I can feel it in my heart. I don't have a lot of time left."
"Don't say that, Vlad." Roman answered. He had known the man for half a year but had already gotten attached to him.
"Why lie? I will not be alive by the end of this week."

Konstantinos X was following the battle from a distant hill. It was safer this way; the Emperor of the east should not expose himself to any harm. An aide came up to him.
"Sir, the muslim forces are routing." the aide said.
"I can see that, Giorgios." Konstantinos answered. "The battle is over. We shall not rest, order our forces to march for Azerbaijan!"
Byzantium still stood strong.
 
For the Glory of Rome!
"Soldiers of Byzantium!" Konstantinos shouted. He was giving his men a final battle speech before they rode against the enemy, now with the emperor in the front lines. "You stand here on the fields of Kartil! Long has the way been from Azerbadijan, but now we are here! Aincent capital of noble Gerogia now ruled by muslim SCUM!"
"This is madness." Trajan wispered to Nestor next to him. They were sitting on their horses in the first line of the cavalry.
"I thought you wanted Georgia reunited?" Nestor asked him.
"Yes, but remember who we are fighting here." Trajan wispered back. In the same moment Konstantinos continued.
"We do no longer fight a simple muslim emirate. We fight the Kingdom of Seljuk Turks! Here on the plains of Kartil we shall crush them forever! For the glory of the Roman Empire!" He turned his horse against the massive army infront of them. "Imperial army, CHARGE!"
And then he set off with his horse. Behind him he had all the horse riders that the army had gathered.

Alp Arslan Seljuk was the king of the Seljuk Turks. He was not a barbarian; actually he was a very fine man. Proud, valorous, wise, a very skilled military man. But the christians and muslims had been enemies for a very long time now, and he would fight his enemy.
"Ready archers!" he shouted to his nearby troops. The bowmen raised their bows and aimed at the charching cavalry. "Hold it..."
The horsemen closed in and were now in range.
"Fire!"

It was like a giant wall had struck them. For every horse rider there were atleast ten arrows. Trajan could see men falling down everywhere around him. Several arrows hit Nestor's chest and he fell down from his horse. Trajan could feel a sudden pain in his shoulder but rode on. Their charge went on as they headed for the first Seljuk line.

"Spears, up!" Alp Arslan Seljuk shouted. The Seljuk pikemen raised their spears against the onstorming cavalry.

The spears took down even more horses than the arrows still did. Trajan looked around himself looking for the emperor. Just as he had given up he could see Konstantinos, with several arrows sticking out from his chest. He seemed lifeless but his horse carried him on to the spears. When the spears took down the horse the emeperor fell to the ground. This was not going well. They had only half of their force left, maybe less. He looked around himself, searching for a new leader.
"Troops, rally to me!" he heard someone shout. It was Theodros Laskaris, the prince of Nikaea. The few remaining horse riders gathered up around him. "We'll have to hold them back as long as possible!" Theodros shouted. But noone really believed they were going to survive the battle.
They fought all day and all night, with no sign of the enemy getting weaker. They were not going to win this.
"We're not going to make it." Trajan said to Theodros as he fended off another Seljuk soldier.
"Keep the hope burning, Trajan. There is still a small chance that..."
Their conversation was interupted by a distant battle horn, and then several others. Mounted troops emerged on a near hilltop.
The Georgian Army had arrived.
 
*chants with other people* We want pics, We want pics, We want pics :D
 
Ok, I'll get you some then :D


Roman


Roman's dead duke


Georgia 1067

Gamewise you can sum it up like this: some muslim nation attacked Georgia and took Kartil from them. Then I got the 'a knight flees from a distant land' event and decided that Trajan was georgian. Byzantium then declared war on that muslim nation (although I think that they and Georgia didn't have an alliance. Pure luck I say). Ofcourse as a count under a duke under a emperor I wasn't asked to mobilize, therefore Roman stayed home during the war. I did however follow my duke's troops. He died in battle, to my great surprise. A few months later I noticed that the old emperor had died at some time under 1067, but I don't know if it was in battle or not. Was a bit creative there :)
I don't know who started but I think Byzatium dowed the Seljuk Turks, with the Georgians following. Lastly about Georgian army showing up. The Byzantines were fighting an army in Kartil when Georgia turned up and turned the tide of the battle. I'm having quite some game as it is now.
 
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Bagrat Bagratuni looked down on the remaining imperial soldiers on the field.
"Byzantium still stands." he said. Another rider joined him. It was Giorgi, his son.
"But not alone." Giorgi replied and drew his sword. "Georgians!"
4,000 georgian troops stormed down the hill and agaist the muslim forces. A few hours later the battle was won.

Trajan and Bagrat walked among the fallen soldiers on the battlefield, looking for survivors. Especially for the emperor, although Trajan had little hope for him. But in some way they managed to find him, still alive. Several arrows had struck his chest, legs and arms and he had taken heavy damage falling from his horse. Theodros knelt before Konstantinos.
"Emperor, the battle has been won. You will be alright, my liege." he said. Konstantinos looked up on Theodros.
"A long time I thought that power was all... But it isn't..." he wispered. "Were is Michael? Were is my son?"
"Your son is leading the siege of Azerbadijan, sir. I have sent for him."
Konstantinos grabbed Theodros' arm.
"He might not be the finest ruler.... Or the most well suited one... I have made a mistake, keeping the power to my family..." and with those words Konstantinos X died.

The messenger had told him that his father had been killed in combat. After mourning his loss a while Michael had made his decision.
"We will pull out now. Leave these lands that has never been ours to the ones that want them."

Vlad had died that week, just as he had foreseen. Roman missed him. Now he had only his wife to talk to. Sure, he loved her, but Vlad had been different to talk to, probably the wisest man he had ever met. Now he just waited for Trajan to get back.
"Are you sure he will return?" Vesna Zách asked as if she had read his mind. "He is a Georgian, maybe he wants to stay there?"
"I don't know, Vesna. In time, we will see."

One month later. Somewhere in Greece, near Byzantium
They had suffered a defeat, yes. But Alp Arslan Seljuk would not give up. They had left Karil to Georgia for now. But Byzantium had still worried him. So he had given order to load the army on to the ships and make way for the center of the Empire. Soon his army would crush the greece farmers and then head for the Imperial City.
 
Small mini-update.

Kartil, Georgia

Several weeks had passed since the new Byzantine Emperor had pulled his troops out of Georgia. Bagrat Bagratuni was still laying siege to the city of Kartil, but so far without any success. Trajan had stayed with him at all times.
"We have to leave these lands." Bagrat said to Trajan. "Alone our army is not strong enough to break the walls of this city. I've made peace with the muslims. Tomorrow he will return home."
"I understand, my king." Trajan said respectfully. "But what about Byzantium? Will they survive the Seljuk Turks invasion?"
"No." Trajan heard that Bagrat I was sure. "It is already to late."
"What do you mean?" Trajan aksed. What did Bagrat know?
"Messengers have reported that the Seljuk Turks have taken northern Greece and is marching for the city of Byzantium. Michael won't fight: he will let the seljuks wash upon his castle like water on rock. Byzantium will outlast the siege, there is no army that can break those walls. But that is not what worries the emperor. His empire is falling apart, and I would say that it is his fault. Several princedomes have declared independence and are now fighting the emperor."
Trajan realised that nothing could be done to save Byzantium. There was, however, someone in Byzantium that he worried for.
"How about the lands north of Greece?" he asked Bagrat. "Are they safe?"
"No. When the seljuks give up the siege on Byzantium I suspect that those parts are the next targets."
"Roman..." Trajan whispered. "Forgive me my liege, but I must go. I pray that I will return, but now I have a friend to help out."

At the moment Roman was quite happy; his wife had recently given birth to a small boy. His name was Berbat, and indeed he was a strong child. Also he had recieved the news of Nestor's death and that he had inherited the Principality of Varna. But still he faced a serious threat, the Seljuk invasion of his lands seemed to be only days away. His vassals still distrusted their new ruler and refused to send help; from them he would not get any help at all.