The Diaries of Zicenian Royalty (A Random World Narrative AAR)

[Centurial]

Sabr-Ishu lived a long time. Must suck to outlive (almost) all of your kids.

Zicenia's influence expands... good, good.

Is Tamai the Child of Satan? Much could be done with that. Much could be done...

Stupid Corsicans...

Also, revenge is indeed very sweet, and Mirza rule dominates all of Zicenia. I wonder if that's good or bad. Might lead to some very bad succession struggles...

Actually, given Sabr-Ishu's later life, perhaps Tamai got some of his Satanic traits from him...

Heh, Ishu was a bit cruel but certainly not a devil worshipper - I don't think he gave religion much thought in general. (At least, until all this happened.)
It's unclear what exactly went on here with Taddai, but one possiblity is that the child wasnt' actually Sabr-Ishu's at all - which would be an ironic twist of fate for a man who had given so many women children in their husbands' names.

I don't think it is a good time to be a member of this family.

Well, on the bright side you have claims, maybe a bit of land, and a chance at the throne. On the bad side, so do another 10 or so other men, not to mention their wives, sisters...

Wait, is that little monster Taddi dead? How did that happen?

No, he's the one on the very right of the child list - he didn't inherit because it's an Iqta government so the throne goes to the most powerful family member.

 

[Centurial]

Shahlufa Bar Enosh Mirza, King of Zicenia. 36 Years old.

Skilled Tactician, Wroth.

Cynical, Greedy.

Shy, Trusting.​

Chapter 6: The Warrior King Ascends

The Corsican Revolt​

June, 991

The Great King is finally dead, and now this land passes on to me. With the crown, I inherit a grand army, along with several threats. Ishu expanded Zicenia greatly during his reign – now, with a large army already in place, I will lead us to dominate the entire region.

First, there is the Corsican revolt, which I had already been mustering to deal with upon learning of my ascension. The enemy army is large in number, but composed of untrained zealots.

There is also the matter of the Thracian raiders attacking the south, but they can be dealt with afterwards.



In the North, word comes that an Austrian Duke within the rapidly rising Vogakny Kingdom is going to lead an invasion, so the army has to be ready for them too. Ishu left a large treasury when he died, so I’ll direct some of that towards fortifications along the border.

After those threats are dealt with, I’ll be free to expand our Kingdom in many directions – the tributary network of Ishu is dead, but so are the obligations to protect our weak neighbors. That decision will only need to be made in a few years though.



I’ve also moved the capital inland to Monferrato – Piemont may have made sense for a King bunkering on the edge of the lands during a civil war, but it’s too close to the border now, and assembling in mountains is time-consuming.

> September

The battle of Corsica went perfectly – despite the difficulties of unloading such an army from boats into a battle, we managed to defeat the rebels with very few losses. During the battle, my newly-commissioned set of armor deflected a peasant’s arrow fired straight at my heart, and my cavalry detachment personally charged forward to kill the entire group of archers – makes for a good story for the soldiers to share.

> Late September

I finally had my first son today – my fifth child including all my daughters. Though I had a handful of nephews in line for the throne over my incompetent brothers, it is better to raise a King of your own.

The Northern Campaign

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> November

While we wait for the Austrians to strike, I’ll take this opportunity to claim our land in the border territories, as both a show of force and practice for the army.

July, 992

I slayed the enemy’s leader himself in single combat during the invasion. It’s through shows of strength like this that the respect of your men is cemented as a General, and in turn you will be able to trust your men on the battlefield.

June, 993

After all of this preparation, the Austrian invasion fizzled out – the sight of our army looming on the border ahead of our northern walls cowed them enough to give up, it seems.

The Italian Campaign​

> July

I’ve returned back to the capital, and decided the next best target will be the lesser Italians. Duka and Tuscany are currently in the middle of war, leaving both open for attack. First, I will take the county of Ravenna from Dukan control, and then invade Tuscany as a whole and integrate them into Zicenia as a vassal.

> September

The war is delayed by another round of coastal raiders – there are far more of them attempting to plunder nowadays than ever before.

> December

The invasion of Ferrara has begun, though this will be a small gain compared to the entirety of Tuscany. Our former Northern conquest is now fully integrated as well, giving us a much better frontier against Vogakny should they ever have another itch to fight us.

November, 994

Ravenna is now ours – I’m already drawing up the plans for the whole of Tuscany, as soon as the army returns home.



January, 995

We managed to take the Tuscans by surprise – they clearly didn’t expect a war from the army that had just defeated their enemy a few months ago. The quickness of our march through the snow managed to capture their army before it could fully assemble, and now we can mop up the rest and seize the whole countryside.

> March

Though Ishu did not intervene much in the army during my time as Marshal, he had always insisted on capturing the prisoners in order to make a show of publicly executing them at the site of his gold statue in Piemonte following the war. I find that ransoming the prisoners, particularly the landed ones, leads to even greater spoils in addition to the loot our armies have been capturing from the rich Tuscan country.

With all this income, I’ve commissioned another smith for a sword to go with my armor. Just as I had it with my armor, no expense will be spared.




> November

I much prefer life at the front to trying to manage all of these people at home – if you appoint the right people to your council, they will do a much better job on their own, and it saves the King much more time to focus on one goal. It’s through single-minded focus that I will expand Zicenia – not by wasting day after day bribing and promising my own people to change insignificant laws.

Of course, if something were to come up that was a real threat, I would intervene, but it seems that all of the incidents I’m told about are beneath me, and I’ve heard of no threat to the Crown in one way or another. Better for the tax collectors to fight with the vassals than myself.

Western Campaign​

March, 996

Tuscany is ours, and it was easy. Though I considered expanding further into Italy, I believe the next best course of action would be to secure the western lands of Forcalquier. Initially, I had considered invading one of their counties that Provence held claim to, but vassalising the whole region would leave both the old and new Zicenian capitals much farther from any invader.

> April

It seems my last campaign frightened all the Italians who had formerly been under our tributary protection – the leaders of Duka, Ancona, Verona, and Friuli have banded together in mutual defense. Even together they would be no match for Zicenia’s armies, but I was already finished with them anyways.

> September

The invasion continues with little issue – our ability to attack from several directions overwhelmed the enemy, and the speed at which we’ve learned to march through the mountainous terrain undoubtedly took them by surprise!

> November

The haphazard internal borders of Zicenia’s Dukes have done a remarkable job of sorting themselves out over the last decade – the Kingdom is now essentially split into four regions: The Crown Lands based in Ivera and Genoa, my cousin’s recently consolidated territory of Modena - which includes the historical lands of Milan, Transjurania to the North - encompassing the wide northern frontier, and finally, the newly-acquired Tuscany.

Of course, a fifth region will be added very soon.

Historian's Notes: Shahlufa began his reign as King by taking leadership of the entire army, and spent his first five years using it to its full potential. Inheriting a stable and powerful country thanks to the security brought about by Sabr-Ishu’s political savvy and army expansion, the new King immediately went to work with a barrage of great conquests. ​

​

Leaving the reigns of administration to his council, Shahlufa devoted himself to the military early on, and very quickly gained the experience that turned the man into a master strategist. This experience would immediately be put to the test, as next year brought about a challenge so great that it would go down in history as one of the legendary conflicts of the Middle Ages.​

 

[HistoryDude]

A warrior king! Excellent!

The Zicenian Empire will rise!

Looking forward to the upcoming “legendary conflict”.

 

[stnylan]

Hardly a quiet start to his time. And the talk of "legendary conflict" shows it is not going to get any quieter.

 

[Capage]

I'm glad you l're taking a second shot at this.
So far, It has been very entertaining. I appreciate that you give it enough character without making it bloated. It's still a steady going aar.

 

[Centurial]

A warrior king! Excellent!

The Zicenian Empire will rise!

Looking forward to the upcoming “legendary conflict”.

The first five years of Shahlufa were definitely a satisfying expansion of power after the tightrope that Sabr-Ishu had been walking down for his entire reign to secure the Kingdom into such a position of power. They also proved extremely important for the arriving storm which would define his entire reign.

Hardly a quiet start to his time. And the talk of "legendary conflict" shows it is not going to get any quieter.

Even in an alternate Europe, nations rarely got long-term breaks to deal with their own problems without a good international bout getting in the way.

I'm glad you l're taking a second shot at this.
So far, It has been very entertaining. I appreciate that you give it enough character without making it bloated. It's still a steady going aar.

Thanks, I'm glad that it's coming across well. It's really hard to judge your own character writing.

I'm also really happy with how strong this is going after the last attempt - it's really been a ton of fun to play and write this one

 

[Centurial]

Chapter 7: The Caliphate Descends

The Mediterranean Campaign

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February, 997

It’s the damn Dyamarians! The entire blasted empire!

This is big trouble. The Caliph seeks to soak up the entirety of Zicenia under his crown as a new vassal, just as we did to Tuscany. With an ocean between us, the invasion is limited in scope unless they march all the way through Iberia – defeating their armies individually will be our only hope of resisting such an onslaught.



> May

The war in the west is over, so now we can focus entirely on repelling the invaders whenever they arrive. There is no sign of the enemy yet, but I suspect Corsica would be their first target.

> June

They’re going to be landing near Noli, likely planning to march straight for the capital. We don’t know the size of their invasion force, but hopefully we will be able to catch them at the beaches with enough men to hold them off.

> July

Their scouting boats took notice of our army and decided to land in Lucca instead. The force they landed is smaller than our own, so I’m forcing the men to march day and night to meet them before they have time to supply or reinforce. My own men call me cruel, but this is necessary.

> Late July

The first Dyamarian army was disorganized and retreated quickly – their armies seem to be less focused on armor than ours, and more so on archery. Given the size of their Empire, I imagine this allows them to overwhelm their enemies with absolute masses of men, in addition to their still-respectable number of heavy soldiers.

I’ll do my best to break apart this army as much as possible, but this was only the first taste of a long war.



> August

As we chased down the previous army, my fears came true – the Dyamarians are sending forces over land from the west. We are about to meet a far larger and heavier army in Nice.

> September

We managed to reach the mountain pass before them, and after a short skirmish the enemy army fled. My initial judgment of their landing army was actually inaccurate – it seems the Dyamarian Empire is so large that its many armies lack one solid makeup. This one was much heavier in size, and has huge numbers of horsemen among their ranks.



> October

We chased them down to Noli, where a more decisive battle took place – the enemy lost nearly half of their forces this time. However, yet another enemy army approaches from the west.

> December

We assaulted the new army in Provence, but after a huge wave of reinforcements, I ordered the men to peel off instead of continuing the battle on such unfavorable terrain. Our men aren’t replaceable like theirs are.

March, 998

This next battle will be a tough one – both sides are even in number. I’ve recruited a band of mercenaries, including 300 pikemen, which should help give up the advantage against the enemy army, but they have a river on their side to slow down our attackers. Normally, I would wait this out, but with the Dyamarians your only hope is to hit them as soon as you see them, lest another three armies show up to back the first up. This will be the most important battle yet.

> April

We managed to win and drive off the enemy, but it was close.

The warrior Duchess of Burgundy has pledged her support for our war – adding another 3500 soldiers to our ranks, led by Duchess Teuta herself.

> June

Fantastic news! The Kings of Musnia and Vazdistan have both joined the cause as well, after hearing of my victories in the field and the threat of a Dyamarian foothold in Italy.

Now, this war will no longer be one of pure defense. The main front will likely be in Iberia, split between the two kingdoms, but first I will send my army to seize Sardinia.




> August

Just as the troops entered Sardinia, word reached me of another Jaenian uprising in Corsica. I’ll have to take the army back around to deal with this first, and after this war I’ll take a look into dealing with this problem more decisively.

January, 999

The army is forced to abandon Sardinia – a Dyamarian force is besieging Noli again. The Musnian army to the north is being delayed by rebellion, leaving the west open. With the war taxes I’ve been raising, I hired another mercenary band to help defeat this force, and after I’m done here I will march west instead to make sure the main front holds.

> March

The army fell apart at Noli! The weakening discipline of these mercenaries, who I can’t drill as heavily as I do my own men, is surely the reason there was a rout. There was no good cause to retreat there, not when we outnumbered the enemy in our own land.

> May

Bad news. The enemy in Noli are being reinforced by another from the west, led by the Caliph himself. I’d love to take that man on in single combat, but we are going to be clearly outnumbered here. Meanwhile, the Duchy of Modena’s internal power struggles aren’t helping the Kingdom stay together.

> June

The enemy armies remain split, but close enough to reinforce each other – and one of them besieges the capital itself.

I’m scraping together all the money I can for more mercenaries from the north, and once we are properly assembled this time, I’m going to march on the Caliph himself.

​

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Historian’s Notes: These first two years of the Dyamarian Invasion were extremely treacherous, and were a man other than the brilliant Marshal Shahlufa to have ascended to the throne prior to this war, it very likely would’ve resulted in Zicenian subjugation. Shahlufa’s ability to lead an army was truly unmatched, and his victories in the first two years of the war managed to hold off the Empire long enough for other Siorach Europeans to offer their assistance and stave off what would have likely been an inevitable defeat by attrition.​

​

All that being said, these gains had only served to balance the war for the moment – and yet that balance still tilted slightly towards the Dyamarians. The siege of Zicenia’s capital would be yet another of the several massive and decisive battles of this war that would be dramatized and studied for centuries.​

 

[stnylan]

What an absolutely nail-biting affair. Really fascinating stuff.

 

[HistoryDude]

Whoops. This is a disaster... and an opportunity.

If you can kill the Caliph, you can allow your allies to seize lands in Iberia and perhaps retake Sardinia yourself.

 

[Centurial]

Chapter 8: The Hammer





August, 999

They decided to leave the capital alone, to my relief, and have assembled their army in Milano. I have taken all the time I can to wait, but the treasury will soon run dry if I don’t attack here. Our forces are even in number and the terrain is flat – this battle will be decided by pure strength.

> October

The battle was absolutely immense – one for the legends. At first, it seemed we were slowly being overpowered, but a decisive flank by a small mercenary force managed to fracture the enemy line, and eventually the entire army broke!

Losses were roughly even on both sides, but we managed to push them out, and I will chase down what remains. Apparently the Caliph himself left prior to the battle – robbing us of the chance to gut the coward on our own land.



> December

We fought them in Noli once again – the retreating army linked up with a small band of reinforcements to try and hold the occupied lands. We were victorious once again, but the losses were also roughly equal once again. We managed to capture the head of a mercenary band hired by the Dyamarians – though I wanted to get rid of the talented man, the fact is that these mercenaries have heavy pockets, and we are in dire need of money for this campaign.

February, 1000

I’ve been harassing the remaining enemy army in the west, not engaging them in a battle that would favor them, but instead forcing them to deal with starvation as they march back and forth through hostile lands.

> April

The harassing strategy worked perfectly – they were forced to march past the Alps and into the old capital of Piemonte. We now outnumber the Dyamarians two to one, and the battle will begin soon.

> June

We kicked them out of Piemonte, and captured two of their generals in the process. The more prominent man was ransomed away, as he apparently holds a lot of land somewhere within the Empire, while I decided to have revenge on the lesser one and execute him at the same site under Ishu’s great statue that the old King had used for so many similar celebrations in his era.

> August

We chased them down and managed to do some heavy damage to what remained of their army – this time, the Caliph actually was present, but he escaped. I’m going to keep chasing down what remains until this invading army is ground to dust.

February, 1001

The war is winding down, with no major Dyamarian armies to be seen. I’ve sent most of the mercenaries home and marched west to help the armies of Musnia and Burgundy push into the Empire’s holdings in Iberia.

> March

A massive plague spreads through Italy and beyond, and I’ve lost my wife to Gout as well. The march west continues for us, far from the trouble at home.

> May

Together, our armies besiege Almeria, seat of the Caliph himself. We will rob this land into ruin for all they have put us through – after such a hellish campaign these last five years, this will be only a sliver of the punishment the Empire deserves.

> November


The pillaging of Almeria is almost complete, and the Caliph has agreed to surrender. I will wait on his offer until we are fully finished devastating the city, and then finally this enormous conflict will be over.

I may admit now that when the Empire declared war on Zicenia, I expected we may face the end. My focus was always on seizing any advantage we could, and dragging out the war to be as slow and costly for the Caliph as possible, but it seemed unlikely at the start that we could hold out against such an enormous empire. Ultimately, it was thanks to the involvement of the other Siorach Europeans that we were able to hold them off, even though Musnia was delayed by a civil war and Vazdistan was weakened after having just ended one.

Our destruction was close enough that it leaves me concerned for the future – the fact is that the Dyamarian Empire will always be a threat to our Kingdom that could strike at any time, unless they fracture at some point. For the rest of my reign, and hopefully that of my descendants who read this account, I will keep a close watch on the Empire and look for any sign of weakness – any opportunity we can take to cut the Empire down, particularly if it involves retaking Sardinia, must be taken for the sake of our own survival.

Additionally, Zicenia must continue to grow so that it may be able to sustain itself against the many great threats that may face us – it is very plausible that were it not for my conquests earlier, we wouldn’t have had the strength to even hold off the Empire as long as we did before convincing the other Europeans to join us.

Stabilization​

Unfortunately, even at this point our troubles aren’t completely over – I’ve learned that the demon-child of Ishu, Taddai, wants to raise an army and take control of the Kingdom. I am not a religious man, but that boy is terrifying.

The stories of his behavior as an infant when I served as Marshal were offputting enough, but what I hear about the man now is even worse – they say he acts as if possessed, and exerts such unnatural ability in everything he does.

With the enormous sum of money I’ll receive from the Caliph, we should be able to hold him off; I’m not sure how many men he’ll be able to muster, but our army is full of veterans and we have been recovering our lost numbers over the last year since the major battles died down.

I am going to use the funds from the Caliph to construct an enormous monument to our victory in this epic conflict at the site of so many battles in Noli – this war should never be forgotten. But I will hold off on that, so I may first deal with this demon of a man and put him down.




October, 1002

The great breakout of Smallpox, though winding down, has managed to infect me upon my return to the capital.


November, 1003

The invasion force from Taddai is finally arriving, and unfortunately after all this time I am still not well enough to lead the army. Several of our generals from the Dyamarian war have fallen to the disease as well, though there are plenty of skilled veterans to replace them.

January, 1004

The army has definitely recovered in size since then, and though Taddai commands an impressively large force for an unlanded man, he will be no match for our army. I wish I was able to lead this battle myself, but my men are masters of warfare by this point.

May, 1004

Taddai’s army was defeated in battle and eventually chased down, and the man himself is captured. I’ve moved to execute him immediately – this man is far too dangerous to be left living in this world. Several of the vassals and councilors have objected to the execution of Ishu’s final son after already being imprisoned, but I can’t allow this man to live.

With that threat defeated, I have finally ordered the construction of our great monument – a massive mausoleum at the battle site in Noli, for all the dead Zicenians who managed to save our Kingdom from destruction against such a massive foe. This should be a good enough reminder of just how dangerous this Caliphate is to our Kingdom, and it will be an honor to be buried among all the men who fought with me to save our people.

Historian’s Notes: The Dyamarian Empire was defeated after 7 years of war. Several invasions by land and sea, several massive battles, and ultimately the complete sacking of Almeria had led to the massive Empire’s surrender and payout of gold to King Shahlufa, as well as the permanent abandonment of the city by the Dyamarian court. This war had a profound effect on both sides, ultimately ending with a plague that would kill many on both sides of the Mediterranean and weaken Shahlufa himself, forcing the man to finally step back from the head of the army. ​

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Very little is known about the exploits of the infamous Taddai – only that he arrived with an army in Central Italy intent on taking the throne before being defeated and executed. The boy’s life was an oddity and many murders have been attributed to him across his 21 years of life, though the actual details were lost to history.​

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With these threats dealt with and the enormous sum of gold gained at the end of the Dyamarian invasion, Zicenia managed to remain in a stable position despite its massive expenditure of money and men throughout the war.​

 

[stnylan]

Thrilling stuff - the war against the Caliphate is most definitely the stuff to inspire legends, and Taddai the stuff to engender nightmares - but both seem to have ended rightly in the end.

What a haul of gold!

 

[HistoryDude]

Dyamaria is defeated. Hopefully, they can be destroyed with time.

Let Zicenia rise!

 

[Centurial]

Thrilling stuff - the war against the Caliphate is most definitely the stuff to inspire legends, and Taddai the stuff to engender nightmares - but both seem to have ended rightly in the end.

What a haul of gold!

Both of those threats could've been a lot worse under different circumstances, and it's really incredible things turned out as well as they did. Taddai in particular could've been an extremely dangerous man if he'd been working covertly from the inside.

Dyamaria is defeated. Hopefully, they can be destroyed with time.

Let Zicenia rise!

The destruction of the Empire would definitely be a sight to behold - though the 'how' of that destruction would be very important.

 

[Centurial]

Chapter 9: Slowing Down







August, 1004

My spymaster requested funding for his proposal to orchestrate a murder of the Caliph and any of his successors – there’s very little chance of it actually succeeding, but the man deserves to live in fear.

> October

The Duke of Forcalquier, who had become a subject just as the Dyamarian Invasion began, ended up in the position of Marshal towards the end of the war – but it turns out he’s been taking advantage of his position to threaten the peasants with my soldiers. I stripped his position and attempted to have the man arrested, but he declared revolt upon hearing this news. Crooked traitor.

> December

After such a long period of weakness following my overexertion during the war and the Smallpox afterwards, I finally feel well enough to lead my men again. It’s good to be back outside the capital.


May, 1005

My only son was murdered at the hands of my nephew’s wife. Such a disgusting act, and a blow to the Kingdom as a whole. I can’t believe the traitorous filth that exists within our own family.

She fled to the county of Genevois, an independent state bordering the revolting Forcalquier. After I’m finished here, we will march on that territory to add it to the Kingdom and catch that woman.

> October

These raiders come at us nonstop – I’ve already repelled several since the end of our great war, but they continue to plague the seas whenever the army is away.

> December

All these years of campaigning have gotten to me – just as I thought I had recovered, I fell into ill health once again. I suppose not all of us are built to live so long as Ishu. I fear my days of commanding armies are over… and unfortunately, with my son dead, the Kingdom will need to pass on to one of my other relatives.

I had hoped to grant some land to the man I felt had the greatest chance of guiding Zicenia through the struggles and triumphs of the future, but the council is adamant against my interference in succession. As much as I loathe to do so, I may need to engage in the politics of these men in order to guide the Kingdom.

It is a shame though – were it not for the Dyamarians, Zicenia could have grown so strong at the rate it had been expanding.




> March

I’ve decided the best man for the job of the available choices would be my brother Lazaro, who has at least proven himself in battle. He’s not my ideal choice by any means, but I don’t have any good options. Though it will weaken my personal power, I will grant him enough Crown land that he should hopefully be able to claim the throne in succession.

I’ve had to exchange favors and bribes, as well as reshuffling the council some, but I finally managed to get enough of them on my side. I hope it is worth it.


> December

We took the county of Genevois, but the woman who killed my son managed to escape once again to land farther away.


June, 1007

Now that things have stabilized once again, I will continue our expansion, this time by seizing Verona, the land Ishu helped expand into the east. The Duke of Transjurania already conquered Friuli, leaving Verona surrounded, so it only makes sense to absorb them.

August, 1009

We’ve vassalized Verona successfully. Interestingly, their eastern territories border one of the cities the Greeks have used as a base to raid our coasts all these years. As the army is already in the area, I’ve agreed it’s fitting to let our men get some revenge.

> September

I am told my wife has been cheating on me during my period of ill health and contracted a disease. I’ve ordered her put under house arrest in order to put a stop to this, but I don’t have the energy to worry about doing anything more.

March, 1010

This looting has actually been quite a great source of income! I’d originally entertained the idea purely to punish the Greeks and reward the army, but it’s been bringing in so much money that I’ve given them permission to raid Greece itself after they’re finished in Split. All Zicenia’s territorial expansion has continued to scare our neighbors into pacts of defense, but that’s no reason to put the army to waste.



> April

With my time at the court, I’ve had a much easier time keeping up with the internal politics of Zicenia, and while I still prefer not to intervene in anything unnecessary, I have been able to keep track of my family’s plotting – many of my kin are trying to expand their own influence, likely seeking the throne after my death. I’ve offered financial support to an apparently ongoing plot against my nephew – the one whose wife killed my son.

> Late April

Awful news – my chosen heir Lazaro has died of illness, leaving the inheritance to his son. Though not a bad man, Lazaro II lacks the experience of his father, and I have much less faith in his ability to lead. Unfortunately, at this point there is little I can do to intervene – I’ve already given away Provence to him, and most of the other potential heirs are scheming scum. I’ve tried my best, but at this point I’ll just have to rule the Kingdom as well as I can for the rest of my life and hope my example will be good enough.

Historian’s Notes: This phase of Shahlufa’s life was perhaps the least hectic – some time was taken to heal and grow the Kingdom, while Shahlufa got more involved in domestic politics. The death of his son would ultimately make the question of succession a much more difficult one – a fact not helped by the early death of his chosen successor.​

 

[stnylan]

It seems like after the glories of war domestic matters are far from ideal, what with murder and ill health.

 

[HistoryDude]

It seems as if there is an eye to the hurricane after all. But how long can that last?

 

[Centurial]

It seems like after the glories of war domestic matters are far from ideal, what with murder and ill health.

It was inevitable with the way this family had taken control, as you ended up predicting quite aptly when Sabr-Ishu died.

It seems as if there is an eye to the hurricane after all. But how long can that last?

Well...

 

[Centurial]

Chapter 10: Interregnum









Historian’s Notes: In May of the year 1010, Shahlufa’s health worsened to the point where he was entirely bedridden and unable to rule.

However, Shahlufa’s health did not degenerate from there. The regency, set up for the purpose of managing the Kingdom during a bout of illness and potential succession, would end up controlling Zicenia for far longer, as what was expected to be a short-term transition turned into a full-blown interregnum, lasting an entire nine years.

Unfortunately, this era of Zicenian history left very little in terms of useful historical record – the regency, led by the former spymaster Veli, took seemingly no initiative and overall did very little other than sit and wait for the King to recover or die. Veli himself would come to be known as ‘the Ill-Ruler’ late into the interregnum, as a Kingdom riding on incredible momentum came to a halt under the custodianship of a council that was either too afraid or too complacent to make any major moves.

Most of what we know of this era comes from foreign accounts, as nobody maintained a proper record within Zicenia while the King was ill. The clearest evidence of Zicenia’s activity during the interregnum comes from Greece, where there is evidence of a large and persistent Zicenian army raiding dozens of cities along the Aegan Coast.

Though it’s unlikely that Shahlufa’s directive to raid the territory was meant to be a permanent policy, that was how it ended up – there are sporadic accounts across the entire nine years of large Zicenian armies landing across the region and sacking Greek cities – most prominently, Athens suffered a particularly brutal invasion which left the city destitute in 1012.

Aside from that, it’s known that at some point, two invasions in the East were repelled, as well as several continued raids, though obviously not by Greeks.

Countless internal wars were fought between the vassals in Zicenia as well, for a variety of reasons. The claimants to the throne were doubtlessly at each other’s throats, expecting the King to die at any moment, while others simply took advantage of the lull to expand their own power.



The capital province also seems to have flourished at this point, likely helped along by the regular shipments of loot brought from Greece over the years.

And during the middle years of the Interregnum, the Iberian Kingdom of Vazdistan collapsed, and the void was filled by the two great Empires of the west – The Dyamarian Empire and the Umarids.

The Dyamarians are already well-known by now, but their failed invasion of Zicenia clearly hadn’t crippled the empire, since they were able to quickly seize most of Iberia just a decade later.

The Umarid Empire, on the other hand, hasn’t yet been mentioned in the records of House Mirza. The Divine Umarid Empire was based in the British Isles, but had expanded south at an impressive rate during the reigns of Sabr-Ishu and Shahlufa, first seizing Brittany and then coastal Aquitaine. By the time of Vazdistan’s fall, the Umarid Empire controlled almost the entirety of Aquitaine, having cut the scattered Raamite tribes almost completely out of the region – in fact, the Dyamarian Empire was now the final bastion of the Raamite faith.

Unlike the foreign Dyamarians, the Umarid Empire was Siorach like Zicenia, and the two seem to have gotten along just fine. With the Umarids owning all of Zicenia’s western border, there was no more threat of relious invasion, and it gave the Dyamarian Empire a greater foe to worry about.



Ultimately, the Interregnum did come to an end after nine confusing years – and yet, it ended in the exact opposite way that everyone seems to have been expecting. In February of 1019, inexplicably, the King recovered.

However, it is obvious in his writings that he had not exactly ‘recovered’. Though he took charge of the Kingdom once again, Shahlufa’s remaining writings were practically scribbled in, and full of erratic and unfinished thoughts – whatever affliction had been affecting Shahlufa for all these years had left him hollow in the mind. For better or worse though, the King had risen from his bed, and went straight back to what he was known for.

 

[stnylan]

Zicenia may yet have cause to rue this recovery.

 

[HistoryDude]

So the King is fine... perhaps it would be better if he wasn’t.

These Umarids look like they could be great allies against the Dyamarians.

The Greeks raid us, and then they get annoyed about us raiding them? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...