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Communard

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The Crescent and the Diadem
The Rise of the Western Seljuks and the Rebirth of the Eastern Roman Empire
(Or: I am Going to Get Lynched by the Forum Byzantophiles)

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The year is 1087, and all is not well for those who take up the mantle of Rome. In the West, the title of Roman Emperor is little more than an honorary title designed to appeal to the vanity of a German prince. In the East, the once all-powerful Empire of Rhomania is dying, from a combination of petty internal squabbling and utter helplessness in the face of the invading Turks. Salvation seems impossible, and indeed in a way it is. But Rome will live on, and will gain power and glory not seen since the days of Justinian.

This is the story of the Sultanate of Rum.
 

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Welcome! This will be an AAR starting in 1087 as the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, using the excellent Bella Gerant Alli mod, along with Cities of 1066. The basic premise is that rather than acting as an invading outside nobility in a foreign land, the Western Seljuks take on the role of Eastern Rome with a little more gutso, essentially assimilating into the Byzantine Greek culture of the time, though obviously the Turks will leave a large mark on architecture, art and language. I hadn't actually intended to make this an AAR when I started the game, but the pieces of the story seemed to fit so well together that I couldn't resist. Sneak preview: the Sultans of Rum eventually become the descendants of the Komnenids. For this reason the screenshots at first may be a little sparse. I will mostly be using a combination of narrative and history-book, expect heavy artistic liscence with the game mechanics, but I'll give you updates on how the actual gameplay went when I think it's relevant. Stay tuned for the first update: The Dilemma of Kilij Arslan.
 
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A Little Background
Some real history:

The Sultanate of Rum was founded by Sulieman ibn Qutulmish, a Seljuk noble who had been exiled from the Seljuk Empire for conspiring with his father to usurp the throne. He consolidated power over the Turkmen tribes living in Eastern Anatolia, and played a large role in two Byzantine power struggles, in each case allying himself with the usurper in exchange for the right to settle more Anatolian lands. The second pretender, Nicephorus Melissenus, opened the gates of Nicea to the Turks, granting them settlement on rich lands not far from Constantinople. This would prove to be a mistake. Using this position as a base, the Turks were able to restrict the already failing control of Constantinople over most of Anatolia. Having risen from a powerless exile in 1064 to the ruler of much of Anatolia, the Roman Lands or Rum in 1086, he was killed by a rival Seljuk ruler, Tutush of Syria.

In real life, his son, Kilij Arslan, was captured by Tutush and would spend the next six years languishing as a hostage in Isfahan, causing Rum to become weak and fractured. His return in 1092 did see something of a resurgence in Rum fortunes, but they would never reach the territorial extent that they did under Sulieman. The "point of divergence" of my AAR, that is the moment it diverts from real history, is that Kilij Arslan manages to escape Tutush, allowing him to begin his rule in 1086 and properly consolidate power. Admittedly this is only because in the game Kilij is not imprisoned, but I think it fits my story rather well :p. The next post will be the beginning of the AAR proper, I just realised that it didn't really make sense without some historical context.
 
Part 1: The Dilemma of Kilij Arslan
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Nikea, 15 September, 1087
Ahmad hurried through the corridors of the palace, eager to be the first to break the news: bearers of good news were often rewarded handsomely by the Sultan. Kilij Arslan looked up from the document he was studying as his Visier entered: "What do you have to report?"
"Excellent news, my liege, the enemy forces have been scattered and their leaders captured: I fancy that there will be no more trouble from the Kayseri Greeks."
To Ahmad's surprise Kilij frowned in mock puzzlement. "Tell me, Ahmad, are we engaged in war with a foreign lord?"
Ahmad was taken aback: "Uhm...no, sire"
"And is one of my warlords trying to sieze the throne?"
"No, my Lord"
The mock puzzlement gave way to anger:"Then why am I fighting a war, Ahmad? Why am I losing men every day at the hands of the Greeks?"
"Sultan, do not dispair, the Greeks will come to accept your rule in time, and the rebellions will cease, just as the Persians have accepted your kinsmen as their rightful lords."
"Oh, I have no doubt that we will win, Ahmad, but at what cost? As I commit scarce resources to fighting my internal war the Rhomanians on one side and the Syrians on the other are plotting my downfall. No, we need internal peace. I want you to have this translated into the language of the Greeks and distributed."
Ahmad took the document and began to read, his frown deepening: "...general amnesty...religious freedom...lands will be granted to their rightful owners provided they recognise the Sultan as their lord...sire, this is not a peace treaty, it is a surrender! What of the rights of your generals? They will not stand for this, they will demand the spoils of war!"
The Sultan's face hardened "You will do as I have commanded! I am not ruling a nation of generals, I am ruling a nation of Greeks, I must build alliances with them if we are not to be brought down by civil war. As for their "rightful spoils", ask this of them: do they wish to rule spoils, or an Empire?"
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The Concordat of Nikea was one of the defining moments of Roman history, and is the reason that Kilij Arslan is often called "the Peacemaker". Granting the displaced Greek nobles substantal land in Anatolia significantly diffused the tension between the Greeks and the Turkish nobility. But it was more than just a temporary measure. Arslan encouraged intermarriage between the two ruling elites, and as a skillful diplomat managed to weave together a functional state from a chaotic and divided land. The strategy of assimilating yourself into the culture of those you have conquered was a tradition going back to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia, and had been used to great success by Arslan's forefathers after their own conquest of Persia. However, the assimilation did not all go one way, while the ruling elite slowly began to speak Greek, the majority of the Greek nobility had converted to Islam by the end of the century. The Christian commoner majority were granted substansial freedoms (for the period), although they were still required to pay the Jizya they could worship freely and hold many government posts.

The Armenian Partition
With his internal control consolidated, Arslan turned his attention outwards, to the small Kingdom of Cilicia, which had formed from the former Byzantine province of Armenior Inferior in the chaos of the Turkish invasion. Taking advantage of Rhomanian distraction in yet another civil war, and in a rare exampe of co-operation between the fractious Eastern and Western Seljuks, the two sultanates agreed to partition the land between them, with Rum gaining the majority of the land and the Seljuk Empire gaining minor territorial adjustments on its eastern border and rights to the strategic port city of Seleukia. The tiny nation put up little resistance.

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Rum after the Armenian Partition

In the space of just 10 years, Kilij Arslan had unified his people and expanded his borders, but the best was next to come. Tune in next week for the conquest of the Queen of Cities!
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Well, that's my first entry of my first AAR. I'd appreciate comments, suggestions to improve my writing etc. as I have very little experience.
 

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Hey Communard, long time no see!

Taking advantage of Rhomanian distraction in yet another civil war, Arslan, and in a rare exampe of co-operation between the fractious...
Apart from making sure you double-check what you've written before posting to avoid some rather-obvious errors like the one above, I can't really offer any suggestions as far as writing is concerned. I believe that the only tools you need to write an AAR are a game and an imagination; got those and you're set. I feel you could do with some more pictures, if only to compensate for the lack of gameplay ones, but finding them for a CK AAR can be a pain. Also, never use attachments...
 
Lynched? Oh, that's so uncouth and barbaric. The forum's Rhomaion Fan Club is much more devious than that. I'd sleep with one eye open if I were you. :D

An interesting premise, and a good start to the AAR. It'll be interesting to see how your hodgepodge empire of Grecified Turks and Turkified Greeks manages to keep itself together. As long as you keep the fragile balance between the hodge and the podge, it should work out fine.
 
Heh, good luck sir. Scour the Earth!

I wonder if there is a title you can claim for the Byzantine region...
 
Hey Communard, long time no see!


Apart from making sure you double-check what you've written before posting to avoid some rather-obvious errors like the one above, I can't really offer any suggestions as far as writing is concerned. I believe that the only tools you need to write an AAR are a game and an imagination; got those and you're set. I feel you could do with some more pictures, if only to compensate for the lack of gameplay ones, but finding them for a CK AAR can be a pain. Also, never use attachments...
Argh, sorry, duly corrected, thanks. Forgive the noobery, but how do I embed an image without it showing up as an attatchment? My images are all hosted on photobucket...

Lynched? Oh, that's so uncouth and barbaric. The forum's Rhomaion Fan Club is much more devious than that. I'd sleep with one eye open if I were you. :D
Ah yes, this is CK2 after all, the murder is more civilized...

An interesting premise, and a good start to the AAR. It'll be interesting to see how your hodgepodge empire of Grecified Turks and Turkified Greeks manages to keep itself together. As long as you keep the fragile balance between the hodge and the podge, it should work out fine.
Let's just say we're in for a rather messy cultural map by the time we're through :p

Heh, good luck sir. Scour the Earth!

I wonder if there is a title you can claim for the Byzantine region...
As far as I'm aware, the titles aren't faith-specific, so I should be able to become Byzantine Emperor (though I might mod the name as it isn't very accurate as a contemporary name).
 
Some titles are; IIRC there are some southern Spain ones that are Muslim only, frex.
 
Interesting premise for an AAR! You'll draw the ire of all Byzantium-lovers though :D

It's funny how the game has all the provinces correctly assigned at scenario start, but none of them have the "foreign conquest" modifiers. That probably makes it way too easy to play the Rum Seljuks or, say, Post-Hastings England.

Go kick some Komnenos ass ;)