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unmerged(76848)

Corporal
May 23, 2007
38
0
Alright, I’m new here – although not *that* new to the game. I’ve had it for a number of months, and have made substantial enough progress that I consider myself a competent player. I’ve read the board plenty, but never really posted…and certainly never written an AAR.

Also on the list of things that I haven’t done is attempt a Nubian dynasty. After today, I will no longer be able to make either of those claims truthfully.

I’m not sure as to the format this AAR will take…it’s going to be focused (initially at least) pretty closely on the petty kingdom of Nubia and its northern borders. Expect the prose to be a bit dry and “textbook”-like, with perhaps occasional interludes closer to the action.

And screenshots from the action, once I'm back on my own computer.

Basically I’m going to do whatever the heck I want. :rolleyes:

Oh! And I’d love some feedback. Me  Feedback junky.

---

So bear witness all ye Norman conquerors and Emperors of Holy Rome: a new age dawns far to the south…or should I say a Nubian age?

Chapter One: A Christian kingdom in Africa?

The situation was grim for tiny Nubia, but when was it not? In 1066, sandwiched between the powerful Fatimids to the north, and the impenetrable pagan heart of Africa to the south, the dream of a powerful Christian kingdom in Africa seemed remote. Though her tribal neighbors to the south were of no immediate threat, nor could Nubia muster even the modest military might needed to press her borders.

To the north, the powerful Muslim rulers of the Kingdom of Fatimids reigned from Alexandria: a city whose wealth dwarfed that of entire nations. Towering leaders of the Muslim military machine and the Islamic faith both, the Fatimids cast a very long shadow. Even now, rumors swirled south from Cairo that Fatimid regiments mustered throughout the kingdom for an incursion south.

…but perhaps most concerning for the Nubian King, Georgios of Dongola, in the summer of 1067 was a terrible silence. His young bride, Syragia, was with the midwives. Her labor had not been an easy one. For twenty-six hours, her screams had kept the king from his bed – for he had decreed that no on in the royal household could sleep while his wife did not. And now, now…suddenly, a silence from beyond her door. For too long did this silence last – something must be wrong, thought the king, though he knew little of such matters – and then: the crying a baby.

His son, Murtaza. Though time would show him to be a sullen and aggravating child, on the day of his birth, Georgios could not imagine a more beautiful creature, except possibly his exhausted, but healthy, wife. Though possessing of a fiery tongue, and an indelicate nature, he did love her dearly.

If the next years were not kind to Nubia, nor were they particularly cruel; despite continued rumors of a Fatimid invasion, the realm continued uninterrupted. A daughter, Bilqis, was born into the royal family a year to the day after the young heir. She was as joyous in nature as Murtaza was fickle – truly a light in everyone’s life.

Georgios knew his good fortune could not last forever. Eventually, the Fatimids must turn their attention south – and he intended to be ready, though the fight must be a hopeless one. He tasked his advisors with strengthening his forces in the event of a battle. By 1070 he was confident in being able to raise two thousand men beneath his banner: only the barest drop of water against the endless hordes of the Fatimid kind.

Perhaps Nubia was too small, the king sometimes dared to hope, to be a real target, but he knew it was a fool’s hope. He had sent an emissary north, in the hopes of brokering a deal – maybe even an alliance with al-Mustansir Fatimid. Though dispatched months ago, this emissary had not returned, and the rumblings from his spies grew stronger: there would be war, if you could call it that.

…And a hundred miles to the north, in the deserts of the southern Aswan, a lone farmer squints into the desert sun. Something has caught his eye…movement across a desolate horizon. Is it his son returning from market so soon? Damn the boy, always forgetting something!

His anger is forgotten in a heartbeat, however, as he sees the truth: a thousand men on the march, south, from Gizeh and beyond…and another thousand, and another…

…and so in August of 1070 the fears of Georgios – a king only in name – came to fruition. The hordes of his enemy descended upon his land, and the sun began to set upon the last Christian kingdom in Africa…
 
Good luck with your first AAR, though this


…and so in August of 1070 the fears of Georgios – a king only in name – came to fruition. The hordes of his enemy descended upon his land, and the sun began to set upon the last Christian kingdom in Africa…

makes be believe that it will be a short one :)
 
Chapter Two: Glimmer

As he considered the futility of his position, and the tragedy of being the last of anything – let alone the last king – Georgios turned his thoughts inward. He could march his troops north, for a final stand against the Muslims – sacrificing all his men for a desperate hope. Could a Christian king lose against a Godless one? Perhaps not, but the numbers were indisputable. Al-Mustansir could send ten times his number of troops south without batting an eye – and his tiny force could not be everywhere, even if they could win a pitched battle. So he prayed. He told his wife that she and their children would be safe, and he told their children that God would provide, but mostly he prayed. For mercy, for a miracle, for anything to spare him the fate he dreaded.

As the first days stretched into the first weeks, and a battle had yet to be fought, hope began to glimmer in Georgios’ heart. Why were his scouts reporting only small raiding parties? Why were his forces not being annihilated? Did he see the hand of God in this, after all?

No. Only the hand tugging greedily at his purse strings. Though the Fatimids were not relinquishing their southern interests, they were not committed to war at the moment. With a promise to return any Muslim relics to their rightful owners – and an emptying of the royal coffers – Georgios was able to buy time for his nascent dynasty. A peace was signed, although he was not naïve enough to believe it would last…still, it was a reprieve: the chance for which he had prayed, and he swore to treat every day as a gift from God.

And for two years, he did. He showered affections on his children, and passed fair judgements over his people. Though his land was hard, and his future uncertain, Georgios was as good as his word.

Until, one day...aid arrived from a most unexpected source.

When the word arrived, shock and disbelief spread through the halls of the keep like the plague (which, ironically, would spread through the halls of the keep some years later). A messenger had returned from Byzantium.
 
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Indeed. Nubia is such a hard nation to play as. But good lukc nonetheless. :)
 
Pray for a Crusade..Nubia not the easiest choice at all, best of luck to you.