First time writing an AAR, so any tips or suggestions are welcome. Please inform me if I am somehow breaking forum rules I am unaware of.
This AAR: This is an Ironman game, I am not using any mods, and pretty much all DLC except the music. I thought the Phalaris Bloodline was unique and cool, so I wanted to write an AAR with it. One of my fears for this AAR is that it may become very simplistic, with every ruler being some bloodthirsty tyrant, I hope to avoid that. It goes without saying that I am not a historian, I do not have a perfect understanding of this era, and with this AAR, I am not trying to make a political statement of any kind, it is purely fictional.
Prelude-
Hundreds of people congregated into the city square, all summoned to witness the execution of enemy nobles captured from a war not yet months old. In the center of the crowd stood their lord, the Despot Pavlos, accompanied by loyal Sicilian soldiers, the captured Arabic nobles and generals, and a strange, metal bull that none of the populace could recognize. "Great people of Sicily, we were once ruled over by the Sultans of Africa... But no more! I lead our people to freedom from these heathens, and the cost was great, but now that we are free, we will make them pay for their transgressions. Let it be known that the Brazen Bull of old shall be the fate of all enemies of Sicily, heathens, heretics and traitors alike." With a hand gesture, Pavlos ordered his men to begin. A burly soldier grabbed the first prisoner, Myassa, a daughter of a powerful Emir. She struggled and screamed in vain, as she was shoved into the sinister contraption. The fire was lit, and her shrieks turned to a great roaring bellow like that of a bull; Pavlos closed his eyes, and a small grin came upon his face, "What a beautiful sound," he thought. Fear permeated throughout the citizens and Sicilian lords alike, in weeks to come, one word above others would be uttered by the hidden whispers of the nation, "Phalaris."
The Kalopragmons began with Elpidios, the Strategos of Sicily at the time, who spent most of his life consolidating and centralizing power in the Theme. At the height of his power, Muslim armies arrived on the shores of Sicily, and he raised his armies to try and defeat them. Requests for aid were sent to Constantinople, requests that would fall on deaf ears, as the Empire had more pressing concerns, a war on the Eastern front and a brutal civil war. Elpidios and his men made a valiant last stand, heavily outnumbered with no chance of survival, the old Strategos was captured and beheaded. The general had died a martyr and a hero in the eyes of the people however, and the Sultan of Africa, eager to keep his newly gained territory, compromised with the local Greek nobility of Sicily and made Elpidios's son, Zenon, Emir of Sicily, under the conditions that he would be loyal to the Sultan, not Constantinople, and that the people of Sicily would pay an extra Jizya tax, as in accordance with Islamic law.
The reign of Emir Zenon "the Just" was a prosperous one, he garnered peaceful relations with his masters across the sea, and even aided their further conquests into Italy, and consolidating power by making the newly conquered Christians answer to him, so that he ruled over all of the Sultanate's land in Italy. He died of battlefield injuries in his later years, living a full life. His successor, Pavlos, would go on to destroy the good relationship he had built with the Sultans. Pavlos was Zenon's youngest child, his first born being an illegitimate bastard, and his first legitimate son, Zenobios, died of disease, leaving Pavlos, a left-handed zealot intent on freeing Sicily from the grasp of their Sunni overlords and returning Sicily to the Roman Empire.
Pavlos was quick to enact his plans. The reigning Sultan Umar had declared himself Sultan of Sicily, an insult that could not be left unaddressed by Pavlos, so with the aid of other Emirs discontent with his rule, Pavlos happened upon Umar alone, where he plunged a dagger into the heart of the Sultan himself. The resulting chaos left his son Faruk, a mere child, Sultan of Africa.
Pavlos knew the rest would turn on him, as his role in the killing was no secret, so he hastened his plans. Intent on declaring himself Despot of Sicily, Pavlos enlisted the aid of Emir Mustafa II with blackmail, needing his navy as Sicily had none, and waged war for the Sicilian throne. Leading combined army of Sicillian soldiers, reluctant Azimids, and a mercenary band of native African pagans, Pavlos defeated the child-Sultan and declared himself Despot of Sicily.
That is where our story begins, in the months following the victory of Pavlos and his ascendence to the Sicilian throne. Stories of his use of the "Brazen Bull," and subsequent rumors of his infamous heritage made him feared by all, even his own subjects, though they enjoyed the spoils of this new victory. Pavlos will soon learn that he is surrounded by enemies, the Muhallabid Sultans conspiring to regain their lost land, the Patriarch in Constantinople declaring Iconoclasts heretics, the powerful Lombard Kingdom to the north, and even his own subjects, rumors stir of shadowy plots and hidden assassins in the court of Sicily.
This AAR: This is an Ironman game, I am not using any mods, and pretty much all DLC except the music. I thought the Phalaris Bloodline was unique and cool, so I wanted to write an AAR with it. One of my fears for this AAR is that it may become very simplistic, with every ruler being some bloodthirsty tyrant, I hope to avoid that. It goes without saying that I am not a historian, I do not have a perfect understanding of this era, and with this AAR, I am not trying to make a political statement of any kind, it is purely fictional.
Prelude-
Hundreds of people congregated into the city square, all summoned to witness the execution of enemy nobles captured from a war not yet months old. In the center of the crowd stood their lord, the Despot Pavlos, accompanied by loyal Sicilian soldiers, the captured Arabic nobles and generals, and a strange, metal bull that none of the populace could recognize. "Great people of Sicily, we were once ruled over by the Sultans of Africa... But no more! I lead our people to freedom from these heathens, and the cost was great, but now that we are free, we will make them pay for their transgressions. Let it be known that the Brazen Bull of old shall be the fate of all enemies of Sicily, heathens, heretics and traitors alike." With a hand gesture, Pavlos ordered his men to begin. A burly soldier grabbed the first prisoner, Myassa, a daughter of a powerful Emir. She struggled and screamed in vain, as she was shoved into the sinister contraption. The fire was lit, and her shrieks turned to a great roaring bellow like that of a bull; Pavlos closed his eyes, and a small grin came upon his face, "What a beautiful sound," he thought. Fear permeated throughout the citizens and Sicilian lords alike, in weeks to come, one word above others would be uttered by the hidden whispers of the nation, "Phalaris."
The Kalopragmons began with Elpidios, the Strategos of Sicily at the time, who spent most of his life consolidating and centralizing power in the Theme. At the height of his power, Muslim armies arrived on the shores of Sicily, and he raised his armies to try and defeat them. Requests for aid were sent to Constantinople, requests that would fall on deaf ears, as the Empire had more pressing concerns, a war on the Eastern front and a brutal civil war. Elpidios and his men made a valiant last stand, heavily outnumbered with no chance of survival, the old Strategos was captured and beheaded. The general had died a martyr and a hero in the eyes of the people however, and the Sultan of Africa, eager to keep his newly gained territory, compromised with the local Greek nobility of Sicily and made Elpidios's son, Zenon, Emir of Sicily, under the conditions that he would be loyal to the Sultan, not Constantinople, and that the people of Sicily would pay an extra Jizya tax, as in accordance with Islamic law.
The reign of Emir Zenon "the Just" was a prosperous one, he garnered peaceful relations with his masters across the sea, and even aided their further conquests into Italy, and consolidating power by making the newly conquered Christians answer to him, so that he ruled over all of the Sultanate's land in Italy. He died of battlefield injuries in his later years, living a full life. His successor, Pavlos, would go on to destroy the good relationship he had built with the Sultans. Pavlos was Zenon's youngest child, his first born being an illegitimate bastard, and his first legitimate son, Zenobios, died of disease, leaving Pavlos, a left-handed zealot intent on freeing Sicily from the grasp of their Sunni overlords and returning Sicily to the Roman Empire.
Pavlos was quick to enact his plans. The reigning Sultan Umar had declared himself Sultan of Sicily, an insult that could not be left unaddressed by Pavlos, so with the aid of other Emirs discontent with his rule, Pavlos happened upon Umar alone, where he plunged a dagger into the heart of the Sultan himself. The resulting chaos left his son Faruk, a mere child, Sultan of Africa.
Pavlos knew the rest would turn on him, as his role in the killing was no secret, so he hastened his plans. Intent on declaring himself Despot of Sicily, Pavlos enlisted the aid of Emir Mustafa II with blackmail, needing his navy as Sicily had none, and waged war for the Sicilian throne. Leading combined army of Sicillian soldiers, reluctant Azimids, and a mercenary band of native African pagans, Pavlos defeated the child-Sultan and declared himself Despot of Sicily.
That is where our story begins, in the months following the victory of Pavlos and his ascendence to the Sicilian throne. Stories of his use of the "Brazen Bull," and subsequent rumors of his infamous heritage made him feared by all, even his own subjects, though they enjoyed the spoils of this new victory. Pavlos will soon learn that he is surrounded by enemies, the Muhallabid Sultans conspiring to regain their lost land, the Patriarch in Constantinople declaring Iconoclasts heretics, the powerful Lombard Kingdom to the north, and even his own subjects, rumors stir of shadowy plots and hidden assassins in the court of Sicily.
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