Hopefully, the Fatimids don't take on the chance to overwhelm that Byzantine blemish, or you'll have to pass another county on to your dynasty. It would be such a waste...
In the Shadow of Certain, Painful Doom: Abyssinia
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Hopefully, the Fatimids don't take on the chance to overwhelm that Byzantine blemish, or you'll have to pass another county on to your dynasty. It would be such a waste...
Sorry, folks--I was traveling this weekend, so I will be late a day with the update. I should have it posted by tomorrow (Monday) night.
Ahhh dear Duchess Dionysa, it is good that you loved your father.
Perhaps it is for the better, but if only you knew how much grim work your father did so that you could be who you are today
You have NO idea
Don't wait until its too late. Strike now, strike hard, strike fast. Learn from your ancestors' mistakes
She has learned much. The baboons indeed have much to teach!
She just wouldn't understand
Its a Sennar thing
Unfortunately, the cat is already out of the bag, so to speak--the kid from another dynasty will inherit everything... unless we take steps.
Thank you! I appreciate it!
Yes, a White Peace is better than a complete win, too, as hostile infidels are all over the place around here. We need that cruel Ioanna the Great more than she needs us, unfortunately.
A fate worse than being dead meat.
I agree with you on the Monophysites. I feel that way also about the Ethiopians (or rather, Ethiopian, singular) in her court. They are a liability to advancing in power, but yet they are our roots.
That could also be the ticket to creating the clan of warrior baboons that we've talked nervously about from time to time. Think of Tarzan on steroids with Gelada Baboons behind him.
If it comes to that, yes, I agree that is a good plan. Hopefully Ioanna will be amenable to a White Peace at only 30% warscore.
Yes, thank you for this. I have been known to forget and seek the complete destruction of the enemy army. Leaving something remaining feels so wrong, but you are absolutely right.
If anyone wants this concept more transparent in a game, they could get Paradox's Sengoku. The mechanics in that game forced you how to explicitly drop and reraise levies. I think the AI was pretty good at it, too, in that game. That is a fun game in its own right, although without the depth of CK2.
An absolutely beautiful AAR, and I was very glad to find and to read it. Now I just can't wait until the next chapter is released
You, sir, have inspired me to try Solomonids in Axum and later Zagwe in my own game, staying monophysite and independent. Well... Zagwes seem really to be a bit cursed *lol* I had a lot of bad luck with them, problems with my marriage policy, and was spending 90% of my time fighting several muslims. I have survived five jihads, and was DoWed by the sunni Caliph about ten times and by Egypt twice, and ended as a biggest realm in the world. (In the meantime Byzantium and the HRE were by the way wiped out by jihads.) But I have a feeling, that after the patch 1.05 it's easier to survive. The Fatimids didn't seem to be too eager to immediately kill me, actually in comparisation with the really nasty sunni muslims they were almost nice and friendly
In the current situation, the solution is clear. Maybe a divorce, a new marriage, perhaps new children, and for sure the elective succession. In the war you should already have a bit score, and you have to retreat since the enemy army will pursue if you still are in the neighboring province. But a White Peace should not be too difficult. And a good explanation for the reason, although with this "independence" and not the "against the tyranny" CB it should have been an own stupid idea of Dionysia in the game
Thanks again for this beautiful and thrilling story.
Thank you so much! I am glad that you like the story. It is certainly very fun to write it. Good job with your own games in this region! And I will return to what the Fatimids are doing--things got a little more focused on the internal Sennarian and Byzantine strife.
That is a very good idea as a backup plan. Thank you. Pray that it does not come to it, though.
I agree--if there is no other way.
Sennar's reach is strong and far.
Yes, I'm sort of surprised that the Fatimids have not yet tried to take advantage of the action to take some spoils.
Ahhh dear Duchess Dionysa, it is good that you loved your father.
Perhaps it is for the better, but if only you knew how much grim work your father did so that you could be who you are today
You have NO idea
Don't wait until its too late. Strike now, strike hard, strike fast. Learn from your ancestors' mistakes
She has learned much. The baboons indeed have much to teach!
She just wouldn't understand
Its a Sennar thing
LOL
Chapter 70
With the county of Sennar and its city and bishopric, my holdings are now too numerous for me to handle directly myself. I will hand the title for the city of Sennar to a courtier. Mleh Siwnik is the natural choice: he is quite capable in administrative matters and he is a Monophysite, so he will fit in quite nicely with the sundry heretics and crusty peasants of that town. I remember well as a little girl visiting the town. I still have nightmares about it. I do feel sorry for Mleh’s wife Hypatia Gavras, who is a very kind woman and a devout Orthodox. May God grant her strength in her trials. Heaven knows, she will need it there. As soon as Mayor Mleh is in office he votes for himself as heir to Sennar, which has elective succession laws. That is not exactly the expression of gratitude I was expecting. I will need to keep an eye on him.
Mayor Eustatios of Tercan, a lowborn, petitions to be made Court Chaplain. He is in fact better suited, and I make this change.
If I had all my troops united in one army--which I don't, as Sennar's forces are slowly crawling out of Africa--and if Tracesia and my forces acted in unison--which they aren't, as both of us pray Byzantium attacks the other duchy--then we would be one third the strength of Byzantium. This does not look good.
I send Mayor Artavazd of Midjnaberd—also lowborn—with his 43 soldiers to the south, to reconnoiter the route of my father’s army to reinforce me. It would be faster if the Sennarians could cross Syria, but as Syria is still part of Byzantium there is quite likely hostile forces that could destroy that army while isolated and small. Unlike Bishop Lazaros, Mayor Artavazd was trained to be a warrior; he however never learned much from his training. Add to this that he is craven and perpetually stressed, and you have someone who will probably see enemy armies where there are merely shadows. I instruct him by messenger that he must retreat only on my explicit orders.
Perhaps Empress Ioanna the Great would be a little less belligerent if she relaxed her self-imposed vows. She is a 42-year-old on her second 17-year-old husband and she is celibate?
Victory! I take the city of Mayafaraqin in Ioanna’s Mesopotamia. I am normally a kind ruler, but when someone stands in my way I must confess that this can throw me in a rage, causing me to show no mercy. In the case of Mayafaraqin I am vexed that they withstood my sieging forces so long, so I order the city to be sacked. I am told my soldiers streamed out of the smoldering city, laughing and singing as they shouldered as much as possible of value from the townspeople. Their jollity is short lived, however.
The 8,000 enemy soldiers reach Kononeia and turn east towards my sieging forces. I probably should not have looted their city. Ioanna will not be pleased. Perhaps Ivan can negotiate a White Peace before she learns of this?
In fact, God is with me and that is exactly what happens. Empress Ioanna may hate me, but she is willing to settle a White Peace with me fairly quickly. That is very, very good news. We make peace between us. She still hates me, though.
I consider giving her a gift to ease matters between us. But then it occurs to me even after the gift she wills still despise me and could cause trouble. That 300+ gold could be better used by hiring mercenaries if Ioanna gets any funny ideas.
Ioanna immediately raises a good portion of my troops into the Imperial Army. This makes me nervous.
“Welcome to beautiful Sennar” postcards available soon.
The Sennarian troops are allowed to return home to their tej and baboons and heresy.
I am with child again. My happiness at this turn of events is a trifle muffled by my concern for my dynasty. As soon as I die, the Zagwes will lose everything.
Kind old Mayor Bagrat… he still even kind of likes me, even after I fired him.
Mayor Bagrat comes to me with a strange animated look in his eyes. He reminds me of my promise to reinstate him as spymaster if he uncovers who murdered my father, and then he asks me to safeguard his life if his investigation takes him to unanticipated persons in power. I promise him, with feeling, that if he can confirm who killed my father I will protect him and punish without mercy the guilty party. “Or parties,” Bagrat responds cryptically. He claims that he needs further research into this matter and asks that I dedicate my Captain of the Guard and several of his best men to aid him. I assent. Later I summon Spymaster Artemios and ask him if he has made any headway with the investigation into my father’s murder. He looks surprised and obviously needs to think a bit before he responds that he has been working tirelessly on this very subject. “I am sorry, my liege,” he continues, “But it appears that it was solely the work of bandits. They have been very aggressive in that region for a few years now.” I come very close to telling him that Bagrat is about to beat him to the truth, but I refrain for some reason. When Artemios leaves, I am alone, brooding. I will have anyone and everyone around me imprisoned and executed if the evidence leads to their involvement. No one is above this. I do not care the cost.
With the county of Sennar and its city and bishopric, my holdings are now too numerous for me to handle directly myself. I will hand the title for the city of Sennar to a courtier. Mleh Siwnik is the natural choice: he is quite capable in administrative matters and he is a Monophysite, so he will fit in quite nicely with the sundry heretics and crusty peasants of that town. I remember well as a little girl visiting the town. I still have nightmares about it. I do feel sorry for Mleh’s wife Hypatia Gavras, who is a very kind woman and a devout Orthodox. May God grant her strength in her trials. Heaven knows, she will need it there. As soon as Mayor Mleh is in office he votes for himself as heir to Sennar, which has elective succession laws. That is not exactly the expression of gratitude I was expecting. I will need to keep an eye on him.
Mayor Eustatios of Tercan, a lowborn, petitions to be made Court Chaplain. He is in fact better suited, and I make this change.
If I had all my troops united in one army--which I don't, as Sennar's forces are slowly crawling out of Africa--and if Tracesia and my forces acted in unison--which they aren't, as both of us pray Byzantium attacks the other duchy--then we would be one third the strength of Byzantium. This does not look good.
I send Mayor Artavazd of Midjnaberd—also lowborn—with his 43 soldiers to the south, to reconnoiter the route of my father’s army to reinforce me. It would be faster if the Sennarians could cross Syria, but as Syria is still part of Byzantium there is quite likely hostile forces that could destroy that army while isolated and small. Unlike Bishop Lazaros, Mayor Artavazd was trained to be a warrior; he however never learned much from his training. Add to this that he is craven and perpetually stressed, and you have someone who will probably see enemy armies where there are merely shadows. I instruct him by messenger that he must retreat only on my explicit orders.
Perhaps Empress Ioanna the Great would be a little less belligerent if she relaxed her self-imposed vows. She is a 42-year-old on her second 17-year-old husband and she is celibate?
Victory! I take the city of Mayafaraqin in Ioanna’s Mesopotamia. I am normally a kind ruler, but when someone stands in my way I must confess that this can throw me in a rage, causing me to show no mercy. In the case of Mayafaraqin I am vexed that they withstood my sieging forces so long, so I order the city to be sacked. I am told my soldiers streamed out of the smoldering city, laughing and singing as they shouldered as much as possible of value from the townspeople. Their jollity is short lived, however.
The 8,000 enemy soldiers reach Kononeia and turn east towards my sieging forces. I probably should not have looted their city. Ioanna will not be pleased. Perhaps Ivan can negotiate a White Peace before she learns of this?
In fact, God is with me and that is exactly what happens. Empress Ioanna may hate me, but she is willing to settle a White Peace with me fairly quickly. That is very, very good news. We make peace between us. She still hates me, though.
I consider giving her a gift to ease matters between us. But then it occurs to me even after the gift she wills still despise me and could cause trouble. That 300+ gold could be better used by hiring mercenaries if Ioanna gets any funny ideas.
Ioanna immediately raises a good portion of my troops into the Imperial Army. This makes me nervous.
“Welcome to beautiful Sennar” postcards available soon.
The Sennarian troops are allowed to return home to their tej and baboons and heresy.
I am with child again. My happiness at this turn of events is a trifle muffled by my concern for my dynasty. As soon as I die, the Zagwes will lose everything.
Kind old Mayor Bagrat… he still even kind of likes me, even after I fired him.
Mayor Bagrat comes to me with a strange animated look in his eyes. He reminds me of my promise to reinstate him as spymaster if he uncovers who murdered my father, and then he asks me to safeguard his life if his investigation takes him to unanticipated persons in power. I promise him, with feeling, that if he can confirm who killed my father I will protect him and punish without mercy the guilty party. “Or parties,” Bagrat responds cryptically. He claims that he needs further research into this matter and asks that I dedicate my Captain of the Guard and several of his best men to aid him. I assent. Later I summon Spymaster Artemios and ask him if he has made any headway with the investigation into my father’s murder. He looks surprised and obviously needs to think a bit before he responds that he has been working tirelessly on this very subject. “I am sorry, my liege,” he continues, “But it appears that it was solely the work of bandits. They have been very aggressive in that region for a few years now.” I come very close to telling him that Bagrat is about to beat him to the truth, but I refrain for some reason. When Artemios leaves, I am alone, brooding. I will have anyone and everyone around me imprisoned and executed if the evidence leads to their involvement. No one is above this. I do not care the cost.
If you'd divorced, you'd have only one grasping cuckoo in the nest to worry about. Now you have another on the way...
Well...You could switch to elective, divorce the husband, and marry someone else. That way, you can keep the child at court.
Or...you could just do it the easy way: Have the kid killed off and then off the husband too.
Or...you could just do it the easy way: Have the kid killed off and then off the husband too.
Ah Paradox players: the most ruthless people in the world, arguing about the relative merits of baby killing and proposing more stringent eugenics programs.
No teacher/student roleplay?? Man I bet that's one disappointed 17 year old.
And given the current dynastic dynamics I have my suspicions on the identity of the killer(s). I do hope the Duchess is looking after her own safety.
Ah Paradox players: the most ruthless people in the world, arguing about the relative merits of baby killing and proposing more stringent eugenics programs.
If you're old and desperate enough, just go straight for the tyranny and execute your husband and child. Legality is for chumps and that opinion penalty won't matter so much if you only got a few years to live. Hell, you can even expel your entire court if you can't stand the opinion hit.
Just execute the husband, and while you're married to someone new kill off the children with slower moving but less tyrannical plots.
The problem with CK2 characters is that they die at weird times in Vanilla CK2. I had a hunchback,lisp, and ugly king keep on chugging along for eighty years, and by the time he died, I had imprisoned every single duke and direct vassal count in the Empire of Scandinavia, whereas my Kind,Brave,Charitable, and sadly chaste sixteen year old that followed him lasted all of eight years before kicking the bucket.
Though, having every single land holder languishing in jail made the transition to the regency very easy.
Hoping that lessons learned from baboons will help the young duchess in dynasty matters too...
a bad marriage, the wrath of the monphysite god and murderous greeks.
just a regular day in sennar
just a regular day in sennar
Good point. If you're going to solve the problem that way, you had best do it quickly before the problems... multiply.
Yes, having an extra child at court is helpful, especially since the ruler is a woman--she gets a relationship positive bonus from mother-son relationship, making one more courtier a little less likely to backstab.
Ah Paradox players: the most ruthless people in the world, arguing about the relative merits of baby killing and proposing more stringent eugenics programs.
LOL One CK2 thread in the general forum I followed for a while that was fun was the "Most evil thing you have done in CKII." I was pleasantly surprised to see it now has 27,000+ views. CK2 seems to bring out the best in people, it seems.
No teacher/student roleplay?? Man I bet that's one disappointed 17 year old.
And given the current dynastic dynamics I have my suspicions on the identity of the killer(s). I do hope the Duchess is looking after her own safety.
The game can be so unintentionally hilarious in what it does--the empress having back to back 17-year old husbands, for example.
"Slash and burn" court politics.
It certainly is true that as you get old your options suddenly start to dwindle. But one thing that I love about the game is about half the time there is some string of creative sideways moves that you can do to bounce back from certain doom. That can be especially true of war in this game. It's great when you look at all your many, many enemies in a war and you think you are a goner for sure, but then you manage to crawl back to a White Peace or even better a victory by the skin of your teeth. Actually that helps with more options... unless you were primed to see some good slash and burn court politics.
LOL, you are very efficient!
I'm sorry, but given all of the suggestions from folks this round many people are going to be disappointed when you see what she does... Now next week may have a better chance to live up to your expectations, however.
I agree. I even started to dread seeing an awesomely capable heir on the horizon. I would think, this guy's a goner for sure and now I'm going to get a short reign and have to deal with a regency.
It is interesting how much you can learn from baboons that is relevant to life in the Middle Ages.
Absolutely. She's got Sennar in her soul.
Thanks, Darkgamma. I am happy you life it!
Chapter 71
Stephanos Branas has died of pneumonia. Stephanos, my marshal, was the son of the legendary Nikodemos who saved the first Count Tesfaye of Sennar from death at the hands of peasant rebels. With his death I will appoint Laurentios as mashal, for he now has no equal in my realm in the art of war. There is something about the man that makes me not trust him, though, even if I cannot place my finger on it.
My next younger sister has just come of age. Alexandra Zagwe is feisty but rather poorly educated when it comes to diplomacy. While I am fond of her, I can tell that she hates me with her desire to inherit the Armenian Duchy. Perhaps she doesn’t know just how misplaced her jealousy is—if I die she gets nothing, so her enmity towards me is rather pointless.
Fired from council and later refused from council post… Oops!
Fortunately for my dynasty, I have now ruled ten years and so can change the succession laws to elective succession… except for the fact that there is a vassal that dislikes me and would resist the change. That incompetent lowborn Mayor of Midjnaberd holds me in low regard for some reason. He will soon find that one way I can ensure universal love from my vassals is simply by eliminating the unloving ones.
Don’t spend that all in one place now.
I could easily revoke the Mayor of Midjnaberd’s title, eliminating the only opposition to my change in succession law, but that would anger my other vassals, perhaps counterproductively making some of them dislike me. So I am pleased to see that with only a little gold the man positively loves me. Perhaps after all it was fortunate that I elevated all these lowborns, if they can be lead around so easily by the nose simply by rubbing a few gold coins together.
The noble-born rulers have 33% higher abilities than the lowborn, aggregated together. On the other hand, the lowborn have 33% greater drinking capacity.
I seem to have promoted a lot of lowborns into positions of petty authority, like mayor and bishop. I take stock of the rulers in my realm. Five are from noble births and six are lowborn. The noble-born tend to be of higher abilities, with certain exceptions. Perhaps that is evidence of God’s putting each person in their proper station in life, with each soul granted the level that suits them best. My being at the top, of course, is the consequence of my greater God-given abilities. And the lowborns being at the bottom results from their dearth of abilities… Or perhaps it is just because in the perennial Byzantine wars any lowborn showing above average intelligence or strength is immediately pressed into the Imperial army to die in some foreign land at the hands of infidels. Who knows? Theology has always made my head hurt. I will just assume it is the former.
Count-scholar Bartholomaios has a thing for me. He’s too shy for my taste, but that scar is kind of attractive in a rugged sort of way.
Without opposition, I enact elective law for succession easily. My choices for successor are not many, though. Alexandra would not be a horrible choice, although her eight-year old brother already has more ability than her in money matters. Sibylla is too young to tell what kind of person she will be, other than that we can tell she is very ugly. Now Neophytos already has real promise: he is diligent, and under my tutelage he could grow into a very capable warrior and statesman. I elect Neophytos. My husband will not be pleased, but I will not dishonor the line of my beloved father by handing his hard-won land to children of another dynasty
Byzantine children tend to look a bit alike.
After assuming responsibilities for Neophytos’ education, I look to set up a betrothal for him. I review all the available Byzantine Greek families, looking for a girl who is at least second or third to inherit a duchy. I find a few suitable options. Agath Dalassenos is second in line to inherit a duchy. Even better, her liege is a child himself, so we will not need to be fearful of additional male heirs inserting themselves ahead of Agath due to male preference succession. Eugenia Taronites is also second in line to inherit, but her inheritance would be two duchies and a few counties. Her liege is also a child. Princess Sophia is only two, so we don’t know much about her other than that she is not very bright. Her father is Despot to the Kingdom of Syria, which would be a great gain for our dynasty. It is very tempting, but there are two male heirs ahead of Princess Sophia, and her father and mother could easily produce a few more, which would jump ahead of their female older sister in line of succession.
I choose to betroth my brother to Eugenia. There is more to gain in the unforeseen possible deaths of her liege and older sibling than with Agath, and less risk of additional heirs as with the much greater potential but much riskier Princess of Syria. I am known for being a kind person, and it is true that I will not lift a hand to harm Eugenia’s child liege or her child older sister. Still, there are many dangers in the world that could end their lives early, and my kindness cannot disguise from me that their tragedies would be my dynasty’s boon. Of course, my kindness has its limits. If they have the good fortune to live to 16 and assume the reins of power I will have them murdered.
The Zagwe dynasty gains and loses family members when my daughter Teophano is born around the same time that a half-brother dies in a suspicious accident. Since Tesfaye Komnenos could not actually inherit anything I am at a loss as to why anyone would take the trouble to murder him.
I receive news that the heretic peasants have revolted in Sennar. The messenger from Sennar was sent from the Sennarian Captain of the Guard in charge of my castle there. He writes that in all the peasant rebellions he has seen here, and there have been many, never has one spread so quickly and involved so many peasants. He reports that farmers, goat herders, even craftsmen from the towns have taken up arms and are attacking my soldiers. In a part of the message that causes me doubt my captain’s sanity he even notes that he has heard citizens describing how the very baboons from the hills are joining in the attack. I summon my levees and those of my count vassal and give orders to march on the peasant rebels of Sennar. They have not yet seen a Byzantine army marching in to restore order. This will be a good lesson for all those heretics... But then it occurs to me that surely not all the peasants have joined in the revolt. And many are probably pressed into it against their will. I order my generals to make a big show of Byzantium might, but give the rebels a chance to surrender peacefully. And if fighting must occur, show mercy to the rebels once they do give in. They are just ignorant. As soon as peace is restored I will send my court chaplain there to help them come to the truth. I'm sure he will be happy to spend time among the Sennarian heretics to help them.
The day after my army leaves for Sennar, Mayor Bagrat sends me a message in which he requests a secret meeting, just the two of us. (By “just the two of us” I naturally assume he means the two of us plus my complete company of bodyguards, of course. This is Byzantium, after all.) At the arranged hour in the late evening I send one of my bodyguards to guide the mayor to the Ducal Pavilion on the cliffs overlooking the nearby gorge. There is a crisp chill in the air on this fall day, and as I wait my thoughts go to my youth in hot, sandy Sennar, so different from the often cold mountains of Armenia. Things seemed simpler in Sennar: the Monophysite peasants loathed us and we loathed them. There the mere connection with Byzantium provided security against the hordes of nearby infidels, but Byzantium could not remember that we existed and so left us alone. Here in Armenia the Empress Ioanna—so desperate to keep adding titles to her name—seems to covet my duchy and keep me under her thumb. She hates me, and so I must always keep up my war coffers brimming with gold in case I need Turkish mercenaries at a moment’s notice.
My reverie is interrupted by the sight of my bodyguard leading Mayor Bagrat to me as the first stars of the evening begin to shine and the wind picks up, bringing the smell of decaying leaves. Mayor Bagrat greets me and I can see at once in his triumphant eyes and barely-restrained smile that he has something very big to tell me. Could he have discovered my father’s murderer before my spymaster? There is something even bigger than that, for as he attempts to look solemn and grave he can barely restrain his gloating.
Mayor Bagrat brings definitive proof that my father was indeed murdered. It was a plot started by Countess Theophano of Sennar, my step-mother. But she did not act alone. She was backed by my current spymaster Artemios, my current marshal Laurentios, as well as my courtiers Appollonios, Zena Rostislavovna, and Luitgard. As Mayor Bagrat stands before me, waiting expectantly, I stand speechless. The fate of these people is now sealed. My fury will not be satisfied until they are all dead.
Stephanos Branas has died of pneumonia. Stephanos, my marshal, was the son of the legendary Nikodemos who saved the first Count Tesfaye of Sennar from death at the hands of peasant rebels. With his death I will appoint Laurentios as mashal, for he now has no equal in my realm in the art of war. There is something about the man that makes me not trust him, though, even if I cannot place my finger on it.
My next younger sister has just come of age. Alexandra Zagwe is feisty but rather poorly educated when it comes to diplomacy. While I am fond of her, I can tell that she hates me with her desire to inherit the Armenian Duchy. Perhaps she doesn’t know just how misplaced her jealousy is—if I die she gets nothing, so her enmity towards me is rather pointless.
Fired from council and later refused from council post… Oops!
Fortunately for my dynasty, I have now ruled ten years and so can change the succession laws to elective succession… except for the fact that there is a vassal that dislikes me and would resist the change. That incompetent lowborn Mayor of Midjnaberd holds me in low regard for some reason. He will soon find that one way I can ensure universal love from my vassals is simply by eliminating the unloving ones.
Don’t spend that all in one place now.
I could easily revoke the Mayor of Midjnaberd’s title, eliminating the only opposition to my change in succession law, but that would anger my other vassals, perhaps counterproductively making some of them dislike me. So I am pleased to see that with only a little gold the man positively loves me. Perhaps after all it was fortunate that I elevated all these lowborns, if they can be lead around so easily by the nose simply by rubbing a few gold coins together.
The noble-born rulers have 33% higher abilities than the lowborn, aggregated together. On the other hand, the lowborn have 33% greater drinking capacity.
I seem to have promoted a lot of lowborns into positions of petty authority, like mayor and bishop. I take stock of the rulers in my realm. Five are from noble births and six are lowborn. The noble-born tend to be of higher abilities, with certain exceptions. Perhaps that is evidence of God’s putting each person in their proper station in life, with each soul granted the level that suits them best. My being at the top, of course, is the consequence of my greater God-given abilities. And the lowborns being at the bottom results from their dearth of abilities… Or perhaps it is just because in the perennial Byzantine wars any lowborn showing above average intelligence or strength is immediately pressed into the Imperial army to die in some foreign land at the hands of infidels. Who knows? Theology has always made my head hurt. I will just assume it is the former.
Count-scholar Bartholomaios has a thing for me. He’s too shy for my taste, but that scar is kind of attractive in a rugged sort of way.
Without opposition, I enact elective law for succession easily. My choices for successor are not many, though. Alexandra would not be a horrible choice, although her eight-year old brother already has more ability than her in money matters. Sibylla is too young to tell what kind of person she will be, other than that we can tell she is very ugly. Now Neophytos already has real promise: he is diligent, and under my tutelage he could grow into a very capable warrior and statesman. I elect Neophytos. My husband will not be pleased, but I will not dishonor the line of my beloved father by handing his hard-won land to children of another dynasty
Byzantine children tend to look a bit alike.
After assuming responsibilities for Neophytos’ education, I look to set up a betrothal for him. I review all the available Byzantine Greek families, looking for a girl who is at least second or third to inherit a duchy. I find a few suitable options. Agath Dalassenos is second in line to inherit a duchy. Even better, her liege is a child himself, so we will not need to be fearful of additional male heirs inserting themselves ahead of Agath due to male preference succession. Eugenia Taronites is also second in line to inherit, but her inheritance would be two duchies and a few counties. Her liege is also a child. Princess Sophia is only two, so we don’t know much about her other than that she is not very bright. Her father is Despot to the Kingdom of Syria, which would be a great gain for our dynasty. It is very tempting, but there are two male heirs ahead of Princess Sophia, and her father and mother could easily produce a few more, which would jump ahead of their female older sister in line of succession.
I choose to betroth my brother to Eugenia. There is more to gain in the unforeseen possible deaths of her liege and older sibling than with Agath, and less risk of additional heirs as with the much greater potential but much riskier Princess of Syria. I am known for being a kind person, and it is true that I will not lift a hand to harm Eugenia’s child liege or her child older sister. Still, there are many dangers in the world that could end their lives early, and my kindness cannot disguise from me that their tragedies would be my dynasty’s boon. Of course, my kindness has its limits. If they have the good fortune to live to 16 and assume the reins of power I will have them murdered.
The Zagwe dynasty gains and loses family members when my daughter Teophano is born around the same time that a half-brother dies in a suspicious accident. Since Tesfaye Komnenos could not actually inherit anything I am at a loss as to why anyone would take the trouble to murder him.
I receive news that the heretic peasants have revolted in Sennar. The messenger from Sennar was sent from the Sennarian Captain of the Guard in charge of my castle there. He writes that in all the peasant rebellions he has seen here, and there have been many, never has one spread so quickly and involved so many peasants. He reports that farmers, goat herders, even craftsmen from the towns have taken up arms and are attacking my soldiers. In a part of the message that causes me doubt my captain’s sanity he even notes that he has heard citizens describing how the very baboons from the hills are joining in the attack. I summon my levees and those of my count vassal and give orders to march on the peasant rebels of Sennar. They have not yet seen a Byzantine army marching in to restore order. This will be a good lesson for all those heretics... But then it occurs to me that surely not all the peasants have joined in the revolt. And many are probably pressed into it against their will. I order my generals to make a big show of Byzantium might, but give the rebels a chance to surrender peacefully. And if fighting must occur, show mercy to the rebels once they do give in. They are just ignorant. As soon as peace is restored I will send my court chaplain there to help them come to the truth. I'm sure he will be happy to spend time among the Sennarian heretics to help them.
The day after my army leaves for Sennar, Mayor Bagrat sends me a message in which he requests a secret meeting, just the two of us. (By “just the two of us” I naturally assume he means the two of us plus my complete company of bodyguards, of course. This is Byzantium, after all.) At the arranged hour in the late evening I send one of my bodyguards to guide the mayor to the Ducal Pavilion on the cliffs overlooking the nearby gorge. There is a crisp chill in the air on this fall day, and as I wait my thoughts go to my youth in hot, sandy Sennar, so different from the often cold mountains of Armenia. Things seemed simpler in Sennar: the Monophysite peasants loathed us and we loathed them. There the mere connection with Byzantium provided security against the hordes of nearby infidels, but Byzantium could not remember that we existed and so left us alone. Here in Armenia the Empress Ioanna—so desperate to keep adding titles to her name—seems to covet my duchy and keep me under her thumb. She hates me, and so I must always keep up my war coffers brimming with gold in case I need Turkish mercenaries at a moment’s notice.
My reverie is interrupted by the sight of my bodyguard leading Mayor Bagrat to me as the first stars of the evening begin to shine and the wind picks up, bringing the smell of decaying leaves. Mayor Bagrat greets me and I can see at once in his triumphant eyes and barely-restrained smile that he has something very big to tell me. Could he have discovered my father’s murderer before my spymaster? There is something even bigger than that, for as he attempts to look solemn and grave he can barely restrain his gloating.
Mayor Bagrat brings definitive proof that my father was indeed murdered. It was a plot started by Countess Theophano of Sennar, my step-mother. But she did not act alone. She was backed by my current spymaster Artemios, my current marshal Laurentios, as well as my courtiers Appollonios, Zena Rostislavovna, and Luitgard. As Mayor Bagrat stands before me, waiting expectantly, I stand speechless. The fate of these people is now sealed. My fury will not be satisfied until they are all dead.
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