Wings of Faith, Wings of Fury - A Slavic Pagan Revival AAR

[Superstorm]

Szaman-Cesarz Strasz of the Gryfita Empire - The Kinslayer (1366-1368)​

'Father, on our noble blood, blood which once ruled mere mudhuts and now rules an empire - I issue this challenge!' - The reported words of Skarbimir challenging Strasz to a duel, circa 1368.

I suggested early in our summary of Strasz that I believe he is sometimes unjustly dismissed as 'merely' a madman.

In truth, as we have seen, Strasz achieved a great deal. He had conquered England, staved off the plague, and ensured that his grip on the empire was strengthened both by reform and, when necessary, by threat. Had he been in good health, he could have ensured that the Empire remained dominant in Europe and perhaps even further expanded.

However, the suspected trauma of his botched operation led to debilitating seizures, and Strasz suffered from psychotic episodes for the rest of his life. He is often compared, again unfairly, to figures such as Caligula. There are valid comparisons to be made here, but I would only ask that you keep an open mind from this point on.

Having said that, I quickly discredit myself by describing the first well-documented incident of Strasz's declining mental health - when he came close to beating his son to death in front of the court. In what must have been a fleeting moment of courage for young Usciech, he had publicly accused Strasz of having an affair with his wife in early 1368.

Now, given the level of evidence we have from contemporary sources, it is likely that most of the court already knew about this affair and were either being politically motivated or intimidated into silence. For a son to accuse his father, however, nothing could be more scandalous.

The fury into which Strasz is said to have flown is nothing short of legendary. He leapt from his throne, set upon his son like an opponent on a battlefield, and descended upon him in a wild fury. At first, the court took this as another public flogging - but when Strasz did not cease his assault, the servants had to tear the emperor away from his son in genuine fear for his life.

Whatever courage Usciech had found vanished after the assault. For the remainder of his life, the man was seldom seen in public, instead confining himself to his chambers. He and his wife would reportedly never share a bed again.

After this incident, the year did continue with an architectural milestone in the holiest of places for the Slavic Faith - the Sanctuary of the Gods.

Begun in Havel's reign, what had begun as a verdant forest had become a sprawling temple complex, frequented by visitors from all over the empire. While the study of the Late Empire can get bogged down in the decline of the Empire and the sad fates of the rulers of the time, the Empire hardly collapsed. This is illustrated by the fact that the sanctuary of the gods provided a stream of wealth to the crown and priesthood, not to mention the many merchants and towns that sprang up along the pilgrimage routes to serve visitors over the decades and even into the late 14th century.

The temple itself was renovated and remodeled, with an inner sanctum acting as a holy of holies, tended by the senior shamans and rarely seen by the laity outside of festivals. This sanctum contained a statue of Perun, usually on a marble pedestal, with the rest of the Osiem as smaller statues below. Our first depiction of this arrangement is also the introduction of another important figure in the study of the decline of the empire.

Princess Katarzyna, Strasz's eldest daughter, visited the sanctuary in September 1368 in her father's stead. Why the emperor was not present to witness the completion of the decades-long construction is never said, although it is thought to have been due to his deteriorating health. Worse still, it seemed that Katarzyna had acted at the insistence of the more religiously inclined nobles and not on Strasz's orders.

By all accounts, the princess was a popular figure. She was kind, intelligent and an able warrior in her own right. There are even some favourable comparisons with her ancestor Wojslawa, whom she is said to have respected greatly. Above all, as we shall see, she seemed to be the apple of her father's eye, which in itself was unheard of for Strasz. So why was this apparently innocent gesture dangerous?

It was perceived as a Gryfita giving in to noble demands.

The entire central government was deliberately sidelining the traditional power of the nobility in order to keep them in line and ensure its own rise. This was especially true of the nobility within Poland, who held hereditary titles but had little power of their own. This invitation in itself was hardly a crushing blow to the emperor's authority, and in fact only enhanced Katarzyna's status, but it was a sign of things to come.

What would prove fatal was Strasz himself.

Until that fateful day, many would have been unaware that something was amiss with the emperor. His violent beating of Useich, though cruel, was not an uncommon sight in court and could be explained away as business as usual. It is also important to note that the 'incident' with his physician was not widely known. It seems to have been kept as a kind of state secret. Given the target area of the operation, the reasons could range from the perception of being immasculine (Strasz would never have children after the operation, whether he was unable or unwilling is unknown) to simple embarrassment. Whatever the case, Strasz's image of the mighty, strong, absolute emperor had not changed.

Until one day his son Skarbimir challenged him to a duel.

We have a wealth of information on this from many who witnessed the duel, so the reason why it happened is well-known. Note that Strasz's second eldest son should not be confused with his deceased brother; if anything, take it as a sign of the Emperor's genuine affection for the man that he named a son after him.

The reason for the duel was said to have been Strasz's treatment of Usiech, particularly his poorly kept secret of an affair with his son's wife. Only a direct relative could get away with such an accusation, and Skarbimir cunningly shielded himself from retribution by issuing the challenge. If Strasz were to simply attack his son in court or otherwise refuse the challenge, it would be seen as cowardly, as if he were afraid to face his son in a fair fight. It was a direct attack on his authority that could not be dismissed, only accepted.

As for why, it is a case of family ties. Strasz had never made much mention of his children and court records instead suggest that his children looked after each other as they grew up, whenever possible. Skarbimir seems to have done poorly - he was headstrong, a skilled warrior and a member of the Champions of Perun. He was also quick to anger, quick to challenge, as he had clearly shown, and in some ways a spitting image of Strasz in his younger days.

The duel was to take place on 2 November 1368, in full view of the members of the lodge and the shaman, as was the custom. It was to be first blood, with unblunted weapons and armour of the duelists' choice. Strasz had a wealth of experience and combat training, but was in increasingly poor health, while Skarbimir lacked experience, but was young and energetic. On the day of the duel, hundreds are said to have turned out to see the outcome of this family quarrel turned bloody.

Blow for blow details are lacking, though we are told of the curious fact that Strasz chose Thunderheart, the ancestral blade of the Gryftia dynasty, christened by Havel, as his blade. Was it a deliberate choice? Or did it mean something? It is the first time we have heard of the blade being used outside of ceremony. Either way, the blade was now being used for a bloody purpose. Whatever the details, it is the twilight of the duel that is best known, or rather most infamous.

'The Duel of Father and Son' - painted by Natalia Kostek, 1956. Strasz and Skarbimir appear locked in a duel as onlookers watch on.​

The two had appeared to be evenly matched and, if sources are to be believed, both men struck with the intent to kill. If true, there was little love lost between the two. As both men backed away from a fight, Strasz would suddenly collapse to the ground, shaking violently and 'speaking in tongues' as he writhed on the floor in abject agony.

Today we know that this was a seizure, an especially bad one. Contemporaries would have reacted with confusion and horror. For most, it was the first time they had seen the strong and powerful Strasz in such a state of helpless torment.

Even his opponent - his own son - was taken aback by the seizure. This would prove to be a fatal mistake.

Either the seizure was brief or Skarbimir's shock was so great that Strasz is said to have sprung to his feet with foam dripping from his mouth and, after a moment's confusion, to have attacked his son with 'a fury born only of madness'. Strasz was relentless, swinging wildly and babbling incoherently, his son unable to keep up, and then - contact.

Thunderhead not only found Skarbimir's neck.

It sliced through it.

What went through the spectator's mind as the young prince's head fell to the ground? What did they think of the almighty Strasz at that moment? Of course, we know the reactions from later sources. It is another of those scenes one wishes they could travel back to and experience in real time, but I digress.

Strasz did not relent, even as the now lifeless, headless body of his son crumpled to the ground. For several moments, we are told, he struck the decapitated body with Thunderheart in a fit of rage, madness, or both. He then spun, blade raised, towards a nearby shaman, as if to cut him down as well, only for the Emperor to freeze in place as if struck by a spell. Looking confused and lost, he turned to his son's corpse and said:

"Another victorious match".

As mentioned previously Strasz’s reign is, in general, seen as the height and the start of decline for the Gryfita Empire. Most today agree this is the case and most argue for different ‘definitive’ reasons why - The conquest of England causing overextension, the aftershocks of the Black Death, the concentration of so much power into a singular individual and so on. I posit one more reason - the killing of his son in this duel.

Make no mistake, the Gryfita dynasty was not unfamiliar with kinslaying. Controversial as it is to put to print, few would argue otherwise when it came to Havel’s brothers or Wratislaw’s brother Ratibor. When Gniewomir was discovered to have ordered the murder of his brother Wanko, it ruined his reign, before his bowels ended it. With Strasz however, it was in broad daylight, in front of a hundred witnesses, all whom could bear witness to not only Strasz’s seizure, but the savage killing of his own son. To say this proved damning, would be an understatement.

Word spread quickly and, as is often the case, out of control. This is evident from the comparatively wealth of sources we have in just about every language spoken in the empire. We even have a few letters written in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jews. In a sense, this was itself a sign of Strasz's weakening power: the loss of control over the narrative.

Strasz could no longer portray himself as invincible; No longer was he the mighty conqueror of an island, the man who beat back the plague, who’s vassals readily debased themselves at his feet, for fear of wrath. Not all of this was entirely true of course, but it only mattered that it was what people believed.

Now that belief was shaken. Now he was perceived as a man who had killed his own son over what had been a trivial dispute; now he was accused both in private and in public of kinslaying - itself a repugnant crime in a faith that valued filial piety. The viciousness of the kill did little to aid this accusation and less still, his apparent collapse beforehand.

Strasz was called possessed, cursed and all other manner of terms which in the end meant the same thing; From the peasants to the nobles, Strasz was vulnerable and losing grip not only of his empire - but of himself.

This, Strasz would soon prove in totality.

 

[Chac1]

The mad king reaches his nadir....

Thank you for the update.

One additional note though, if you'll allow me:

The Duel of Father and Son' - painted by Natalia Kostek, 1956. Strasz and Usiech appear locked in a duel as onlookers watch on. Usiech is depicted as having lost his helmet in the fighting - something that would prove ultimately fatal.

Isn't it Skarbimir involved in the duel?
And what does losing a helmet matter, if the killing blow is delivered at the neck?

Aside from that, good to see this additional artwork adorning this fine AAR.

 

[Superstorm]

The mad king reaches his nadir....

Thank you for the update.

One additional note though, if you'll allow me:


Isn't it Skarbimir involved in the duel?
And what does losing a helmet matter, if the killing blow is delivered at the neck?

Aside from that, good to see this additional artwork adorning this fine AAR.

Thank you for reading!

Yes, that was me getting the names jumbled like an idiot - thanks for pointing it out and now fixed!

My thought was that the loss of the helmet would make targeting the general area more appealing and more likely to score a killing blow with a wild strike. Still I do agree it may be a stretch, so I'll remove that as well. As always, I welcome feedback and hope the little mistakes there didn't subtract from enjoying the writing.

 

[Bullfilter]

Great episode! Like the role playing/use of game events and doubling down on the dark drama of the increasingly wild and horrible reign of Strasz the Demented, the Son Striker! The foreshadowing adds to the sense of unfolding doom, as things just keep getting worse.

 

[Superstorm]

Great episode! Like the role playing/use of game events and doubling down on the dark drama of the increasingly wild and horrible reign of Strasburg the Demented, the Son Striker! The foreshadowing adds to the sense of unfolding doom, as things just keep getting worse.

Thank you for reading! Yes, it’s all going a bit wrong but that’s the fun of roleplay! Wasn’t expecting the duel challenge or Strasz to behead Skarbimir but I rolled with it.

I’m glad you enjoy the writing. Still bugged about getting those names wrong but hey, minor and I’d rather them pointed out. xD

 

[Bullfilter]

Still bugged about getting those names wrong but hey, minor and I’d rather them pointed out

Speaking of which, ac on my iPad changed Strasz to Strasburg!

 

[Superstorm]

Speaking of which, ac on my iPad changed Strasz to Strasburg!

Heh, the curse of Polish names and autocorrect on an English keyboard xD

But will say this was a blast to write. Oddly cathartic to see my empire start to decay after so much build up. And more interesting to read lol.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thank you for updating. Strasz is spiraling out of control at a death-defying rate of speed.

 

[Superstorm]

Thank you for updating. Strasz is spiraling out of control at a death-defying rate of speed.

Thank you for reading! It's all going downhill for poor Strasz and with so much power concentrated into a central authority, he could very well drag the empire down with him.

 

[blitzthedragon]

As much as it pains me to see a mighty empire fall into decline, history shows that it is always an inevitable fact of humanity, particularly when power is concentrated in the hands of one family - and especially one person.

 

[Superstorm]

As much as it pains me to see a mighty empire fall into decline, history shows that it is always an inevitable fact of humanity, particularly when power is concentrated in the hands of one family - and especially one person.

Thank you for reading!

The nature of empire sadly, especially a centralised one. If you have a great man at the helm you can do great things. If not, then what is an empire without an emperor?

The nature of the game actually makes the empires pretty easy to hold, even when they span half the globe. So I decided to hamstring myself both to make the game more interesting and the writing!

 

[Superstorm]

Szaman-Cesarz Strasz of the Gryfita Empire - The Mad (1368-1374)​

'What greater shame is there, than to be feared and pitied for your rabidity and madness, locked away like a leper?' - Attributed to Maslaw, head of the Warriors of Perun, 1373.

Strasz’s condition would start to take a turn for the worse.

If the Emperor was emotionally affected by his son's death, he would never show it. There is no further mention of Skarbimir in any of the records we have. As a final insult, he would not attend his son's cremation. Useirch did, however, and is said to have wept next to his sister Katarzyna. It was his first public appearance since the attack, and is the first - and only - time we have positive accounts of the man from contemporaries.

Sadly, his spirit would be further broken. His wife, Princess Agnieszka, later showed signs of pregnancy in 1369, although she had not shared a bed with Useich for months and had presumably been hiding it for longer. The conclusion to the father was not difficult to draw.

Officially, the child was registered as Usiech's, although few contemporaries believed this. Not only because of the widespread knowledge of the affair between Agnieszka and Strasz, but also because of what it led Usiech to do.

For poor Usciech, who had suffered so much humiliation for most of his adult life, it had proved too much. Although there were signs at his brother's cremation that opinion of him was beginning to soften, it was too little too late. In 1371, the man was found hanging from the ceiling of his chambers. He had hung himself by his own belt.

There was an astonishing outpouring of sympathy from the nobility for his suicide, with some going so far as to pledge themselves to parchment, this being the second son Strasz had murdered. Resentment and open hostility became more frequent, not so much that Strasz himself became a target, and in truth few would have wanted to invite the chaos his death would bring, but enough to take action against another deemed responsible for Usciech's death.

In November 1370, the now widowed Agnieszka's escort was intercepted on its way to the imperial palace, her guards killed and she beheaded.

When Strasz heard of her death, it was expected that the man would go into one of his now characteristical outbursts of rage. The reality would be quite different. Whether due to poor timing or sheer shock, Strasz would have a violent seizure and collapse, falling into a catatonic state and having to be rushed back to his chambers by his guards.

There is no record of Strasz leaving his chambers for several weeks. Presumably he was fed or otherwise given some limited treatment, but otherwise he seems to have been completely isolated from the world. Although the Emperor would eventually emerge, he would do so as a changed man.

We have now discussed Straz's character at length. Before his mental decline, he was healthy, strong, fierce and a man who commanded both dread and obedience. After the death of Agnieszka and his isolation, something had changed irreparably. From that point on, he would suffer severe mood swings, lack of impulse control, paranoid episodes and other strange behaviours consistent with the epileptic psychosis discussed earlier. A modern examination suggests that he suffered further seizures during his isolation, probably resulting in permanent brain damage.

There is no finer circumstantial evidence for this than his infamous ‘Turnip Act of 1373’.

Yes, really.

Many dismiss this act as simple insanity and they can be forgiven for doing so, however there a kernel of logic buried deep in the madness of Strasz’s new law.

In essence, the Act made turnips the new legal currency of the Empire and ordered that all other forms of previously legal tender be confiscated for the use of the Crown. In my view, this was an attempt by Strasz to deprive his enemies, imaginary or otherwise, of the coin they would need to make attempts on his life, while at the same time enriching his own defences. Some argue that this is a case of greed thinly disguised as madness, although it is fair to counter that Strasz was not without wealth. No, his point was that those with coin could pay to have him killed, so why not confiscate the coin and replace it with something worthless?

Several reasons, as it turned out.

While money only has the inherent value we give it, it should come as no surprise that this would be destabilising for the Empire. Worse, it strained it in two different ways. The first was (unsurprisingly) that it was impossible to enforce. Forcing wealthy and influential families to part with their gold in exchange for a perishable vegetable would not be feasible. Sooner or later there would have been organised, seditious resistance. Ironically, these wealthy individuals would have financed the very resistance that Strasz feared.

If there were any attempts to enforce the law, they were limited. In most cases, the ruling was simply ignored, and this is the crux of the real damage done by this law - it was an official ruling that everyone felt comfortable dismissing.

This was yet another crack in Strasz's authority as emperor. Insane as the law was, it was within his power to dictate it as policy. So when it was ignored, it in turn made his grip on power seem ever looser.

When the implementation of the new turnip currency was found to be lacking, Strasz is said to have had several of his bureaucrats executed for their failure. It seems that he believed this failure was due only to deliberate sabotage by his enemies, imaginary or otherwise. The poor men tasked with this impossible job were thus punished for their 'treason' and several dozen, some of them high ranking and influential, were beheaded.

In case you are curious, this is why 'picking turnips' is now a colloquialism for being given an impossible task with the expectation of failure.

Not only did this deprive Strasz of otherwise capable officials, it rocked the stability of the entire administration and caused many to question their own loyalty. Seeing otherwise capable men executed for such a ridiculous taste understandably made many question their oaths to the Emperor and many began to resign or otherwise flee. Once again, the irony was that the fear of having traitors within the administration was actually true, and only served to further strain the bureaucracy.

And so Strasz's paranoia only grew. As is so often the case, every action taken to quell it only created more opportunities for fear to creep in. A breaking point was reached when Strasz learned that many of those prepared for execution had instead been quietly exiled (we are later told that it was Katarzyna who arranged this in the first instance of her growing influence), and he became inconsolable.

Later that day, accompanied by a pair of guards, he took drastic action.

It is said that Strasz began to scream and accused his guards of trying to kill him. Even the most sympathetic sources accept this was another paranoid episode and completely unfounded. Regardless, the guards' attempts to restrain their ward only escalated the situation. Strasz would break free from those charged with protecting him and run towards supposed freedom - over a balcony.

Many must have thought they had witnessed Strasz's death. Miraculously, this was not the case. His fall is said to have been cushioned by landing on a pile of hay, surprising the servant who was loading it into a cart. The logistics of how Strasz survived this fall are curious, if irrelevant, but it shows just how mentally unstable the man had become.

This was the first instance of Strasz being placed under what amounted to house arrest for fear of his own safety, and it would not be the last. After this act, guards were placed on twenty-four hour watch over all the windows and balconies of the palace for fear that luck might not intervene twice.

For a brief break from Strasz, let us return to England. While his emperor was struggling with his own sanity, King Maurice had come of age and proven himself a capable and talented commander. Already he had made inroads into Wales and the southern regions of Scotland, intent on conquering the entire island for his dynasty. There had been limited and ultimately fruitless resistance from Scotland, Wales and Ireland individually, with defeat seemingly a foregone conclusion.

This, in turn, demanded action.

On the 30th of January 1374, the three kings of each nation met in Dublin and signed 'The Acts of Union 1374' which formally united all three kingdoms under one flag - in this case the Irish one under the now High King Cadfan. We will discuss this formation in more detail when we come to prepare for the Twenty Years War at the turn of the 14th century. For now, it is enough to know that three kingdoms, with all their cultural differences, would agree to unite and yet be subservient to another, underlining the fear of total conquest that Maurice had instilled in them.

For the time being, the 'United Kingdoms of Ireland' or simply Éire (Ireland in Irish) would present a united front to their pagan aggressor.

​

Returning to Strasz, his public appearances became increasingly rare. In fact, after his 'flight' in 1373, he was not seen again until April 1374. We will discuss the effects of his absence on the administration in a moment, but for now we will discuss the last time Strasz was seen in public.

This was a personal appearance at Katarzyna's initiation into the Champions of Perun. This is another example of the 'uniquely good' relationship between the two, as one academic colleague put it. Strasz rarely spoke positively of any of his other children, and there is little mention of them in his records. It is unclear how far her affection went, given that her father was becoming increasingly unstable - not to mention that he had murdered one of her brothers. If she had any objections, she never showed any outward signs of resentment.

Regardless, the young princess attended the feast celebrating the lodge's newest initiates, as was the custom. An interesting note made by Katarzyna later in her reign was the mention of a private dinner to which she had been invited by Strasz. This would have been during his period of isolation/house arrest and, as far as we know, the first and only time Strasz spoke to the family while in seclusion.

The only detail worth mentioning is when she later states that Strasz embraced her and spoke of how proud he was of her for her successes. Whether this is the truth, or a later invention of the future empress, doesn't matter, as either way it would show, or at least suggest, the level of affection between the two.

I only highlight their relationship to give context to what happened next.

During the feast, Warchief Maslaw of the Warriors of Perun was present. This was the man who had been granted numerous privileges in return for bringing the Warriors of Perun under de facto imperial control. They had proved instrumental in securing the power of Strasz and, by extension, Maslaw. He goes unmentioned in this work because he remains largely in the background, a sort of enforcer for Strasz. It is only now, as his end draws near, that attention is paid to him.

At some point, Maslaw is said to have launched into a drunken tirade aimed at Katarzyna. The exact reasons for this are unclear, and it seems to lend credence to the earlier point that familial rivalry is becoming an increasing problem in the extensive Gryfita family. Perhaps her lack of reaction to her brother's death was less strange to contemporaries than it is to modern observers.

The most common interpretation is that princess was increasingly seen as the heir apparent, although Strasz never formally designated her as such. This in turn made the young woman a target for other members of the family, who had their own favoured heir. Maslaw could not inherit because he was the leader of a warrior order, but perhaps he had another preference, indicating the growing factionalism within the dynasty. Regardless, Strasz came to the defence of Katarzyna, loudly rebuking Maslaw. Tempers flared and the end result was Maslaw saying “Perhaps another woman has found the madman’s bed!”

Oh dear.

There and then Strasz challenged Maslaw to a duel, with the latter drawing his blade and lunging at the Emperor. What began inside the banqueting hall ended outside, with a crowd forming around the pair. We are told that some found the courage to try to restrain the two men, only to be cut down for their efforts, making others unwilling to intervene. The two repeatedly wounded each other and at one point had even managed to disarm each other before getting into a brawl on the ground.

Maslaw, incidentally, was able to put up such a fight while missing an eye and a hand. An impressive feat, to be sure, but it would not be enough.

Eventually, the two regained their weapons and the duel was ended when Strasz slammed Thunderheart into his foes' chest. Blood and shock filled Maslaw's face as he fell to the ground with his killer on top of him, stabbing the man repeatedly until he was dead. Covered in dirt and the blood of another close relative, Strasz slumped to the ground next to his body.

This affair was another public display of Strasz's tenuous grip on his own faculties. It would not reach the same level of infamy as his previous duel, given Maslaw's comments, although the fact that yet another relative had fallen to his blade was lost on few. Worse than that, this act would irreparably damage the relationship between the leader of the Slavic Faith and its most important holy order, whose leading members were outraged that their commander had been killed in such a manner - an action that would have consequences.

This, in turn, would set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the centralised authority of the Emperor being irrevocably compromised, never to return to the unchallenged state that Strasz had once enjoyed.

After the duel, Strasz was confined to his quarters and forbidden (by order of Katarzyna, we later learn) to leave the palace grounds for fear of his own safety. He would leave only once more.

And that would be his death.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thank you for the update. Strasz is playing out his string, though he knows not what a ball of yarn is.

 

[Superstorm]

Thank you for the update. Strasz is playing out his string, though he knows not what a ball of yarn is.

Thank you for reading! The lunatic trait is my fave and I laughed when I got the option to pick some mad acts. Working that into the story was tough lol.

 

[Bullfilter]

Sorry it has taken me a while to comment this time, but RL has been unusually busy the last few weeks (though in a good way).

There is no finer circumstantial evidence for this than his infamous ‘Turnip Act of 1373’.

The slope gets even more slippery. That event is a narrative gift in the circumstances!

In case you are curious, this is why 'picking turnips' is now a colloquialism for being given an impossible task with the expectation of failure.

Nice one!

this act would irreparably damage the relationship between the leader of the Slavic Faith and its most important holy order

Alienating another pillar of Gryfita power. Though not without cause and honour, it must be said. Can the soon to be empress turn things around, or is the trend of decline irreversible?

 

[Superstorm]

Sorry it has taken me a while to comment this time, but RL has been unusually busy the last few weeks (though in a good way).

No need to apologise, thank you for reading and glad it is in a good way!

The slope gets even more slippery. That event is a narrative gift in the circumstances!

Said it before and I'll say it again - sometimes the AAR/story writes itself lol

Nice one!

Had to have a little modern take on the world our professor is in! Nice to include little light touches

Alienating another pillar of Gryfita power. Though not without cause and honour, it must be said. Can the soon to be empress turn things around, or is the trend of decline irreversible?

Killing another relative just wasn't bad enough.

His time is soon at an end and looking at the date, so too the game. I have a plan how I want it to end and I do hope people will find it enjoyable!

 

[Superstorm]

Szaman-Cesarz Strasz of the Gryfita Empire - The Powerless, The Rabid (1374-1380)
​

"In truth, my father died long before whatever force animating his body did." - An exerpt taken from Szaman-Cesarz Katarzyna's writings, circa 1381.

"Emperor Strasz's madness, brought about likely by frontal lobe epilepsy, was particularly damaging due to his position as an absolute monarch. With so much power consolidated in a single man, his bouts of insanity and infamous killings did more damage to the empire's foundations than a hundred wars ever could." - 'Mad, Mad Monarchs of History', written by Iris Skinner, 1997

And so we come to the end of Strasz's life.

The Emperor was never seen in public again after the duel with Maslaw, and there is still some confusion among modern historians as to who ran the Empire in his stead. Most say Katarzyna, but our lack of clarity should indicate the confusion that must have been prevalent at the time. For what happens when the decider can no longer be trusted to decide?

There is already some evidence of this loss of control in the period between 1374 and 1376. To summarise the rather dry imperial accounts, there are increasing reports of frustrations and obstacles in the normal day-to-day running of the empire. Taxes being 'delayed' or otherwise withheld, visiting bureaucrats being delayed and in some cases denied access to certain parts of the viceroyalties, and a delay in the distribution of messages to other administrators, to name but a few. A strong ruler could deal with these problems, but unfortunately Strasz was no longer a strong ruler.

There is no better proof of this than the defection of the Warriors of Perun.

In September 1376, the new leader of the Holy Order, Warchief Gniewosz, formally declared the Warriors of Perun independent of imperial control. His letter was terse, inappropriate and damning of Strasz's authority, committing to parchment that he considered Strasz unfit to rule. In one fell swoop, Strasz lost control of a powerful asset that had secured his power not long before.

There was no appetite in Strasz's court to retaliate for this effective declaration of independence. Any action would have meant that the head of the faith was at war with the holy order that had sworn to defend him, a potential outcome that could have caused an even greater crisis for the Slavic Faith.

It is important to remember that Strasz was the head of both the Slavic Faith and the Empire. In our study so far, the religious duties of our various characters have gone unmentioned, as it is not important in a general overview. This role was similar to that of a pope, in that they had broad authority over their shamans, but only had direct influence on the more important matters.

For our purposes, this meant that the Slavic Faith had no effective leader in Strasz's mental absence. Throughout his life, the Emperor had enjoyed the support of his shamans, but after the murder of Maslaw that support became increasingly scarce. While his victory in England had been seen as a great moral victory for the Slavic faith and had won him much acclaim, his increasingly psychotic behaviour had become an embarrassment - such was the potential weakness of having a temporal leader.

It was here that factionalism really began to develop. As any member of the sprawling Gryfita family was eligible to be chosen as Emperor, many distant cousins and otherwise minor family members began to vie for the throne. The most common method was to bribe the sitting members of the Council, who suddenly found themselves able to demand vast sums of money for their votes.

From 1376, the Elder Council, previously a rubber stamp with limited power, began to assert its own independence from imperial control. Composed of respected and often well-connected shamans, they were able to take advantage of Strasz's own unpopularity and use these connections to protect themselves from possible retribution.

Meanwhile, factionalism paralysed the imperial court. Many of the less well-connected members of the Gryfita family found support not only in bribes, but also in promises of concessions to the nobility. The nobles had no say in the council itself, but they could and did try to use their own growing influence with the shaman for their preferred candidate. This was done in return for promises of tax cuts, further reduction of Imperial control and other such privileges that only further hampered Imperial authority by essentially offering to trade it for support.

What followed was a bloody affair. Until Katarzyna secured her own succession in 1379, factionalism among the claimants often degenerated into violence. Assassinations were common and there was a real fear that civil war would break out, and all the while, the empire became almost ungovervnable.

Katarzyna, however, would eventually put an end to this. As she had done for much of Strasz's later reign, she worked in the background to secure support for her claim. This was seemingly done out of necessity, as she was already seen as the de facto heir, even if one did not officially exist; this made her a target for other would-be claimants to remove, and it is indicative of the state of affairs in the Empire that she felt the need to conceal her efforts. These efforts quickly bore fruit. She was already popular with the nobility, and once the initial bloodshed had subsided, she was able to secure the support of many, while offering only token concessions. As mentioned, this support meant little without the support of the elders. Having spent the last few years being bribed for their support, this group expected a bribe befitting the de facto heir.

The future Empress would write of the bitter embarrassment of having to pay to secure her inheritance, but would nonetheless acquiesce. The exact amount is never revealed, but we are led to believe that it was a hefty payment to the most influential members of the council. To her credit, she avoided having to pay each member of the council by securing the support of only the most influential, who would then act on her behalf. While she has a reputation for being a kind soul, there is also mention of threats being made to the less powerful members to bring them to heel.

​

Her nomination could not have come at a better time, for Strasz was about to meet his end.

By 1380, he was effectively under house arrest for his own protection. The events leading up to his death show that even being under constant armed guard and having guards at every window (except one) would not be enough to save him.

In his last months, Strasz was said to have taken care of a small pet owl. Sources and modern research make it clear that no such pet or other animal was ever given to him, and that this was presumably a delusion on his part. It is claimed that this was a result of the brain damage from which he probably continued to suffer. In fact, no one really had any personal contact with him in his final years, not even Katarzyna, who was securing and preparing for her ascension to the throne. It seems that many treated Strasz as if he were dying, if not already dead.

And how right they were.

On 21 July 1380, a servant came to Strasz's chambers to bring him his morning meal. This was usually done while the emperor was asleep in the early hours of the morning, the only time the door to his chambers was opened. When they did, Strasz was gone. It was not difficult to find out where - his window was open.

What followed was a manhunt on a scale not seen since, ironically, when Strasz tried to find the nun who allegedly murdered his predecessor. You would think that the most powerful man in the Empire would be easy to find, but with so few people having seen him in recent years, it proved difficult, but not impossible. Strasz was found after nearly three days of round-the-clock searching, and when he was, he was almost unrecognisable.

He was found in one of the capital's many alleyways, bedraggled, dressed in rags and 'more like a starving beggar than an imperial overlord', as one source described him. At some point, he had been robbed of many of his possessions and of his few clothes, even his shoes. It was only when a guard, thinking he was questioning a beggar, noticed the signet ring on Strasz's finger that he realised his identity.

The fact that he was covered in animal bites was not taken under advisement.

The emperor was taken back to the palace, treated for his wounds and locked in his room, the window through which he had escaped being barred and he was to be checked hourly. A week later, Strasz began to refuse water and food, so violently that he had to be tied to his bed and forced to swallow. Even then, the small amounts he was able to keep down were not enough to sustain his body, and he began to wither away.

And then, on 21 July 1380, during one of these hourly checks, Strasz was found unresponsive and foaming at the mouth. He was pronounced dead the same day, although perhaps to many he was already as good as dead.

Strasz was almost certainly suffering from rabies, probably contracted from the rabid animal that had attacked him. The refusal to eat or drink, the foaming at the mouth and his eventual coma all point to this.

Strasz is a complex figure to study. His reign is widely regarded as the period in which the Empire began its decline, culminating in the Twenty Years' War in 1402. However, it is important to remember that his early reign did not necessarily lead to this outcome.

He inherited the empire after the sudden death of his beloved brother, which also marked the end of the Gryphon Golden Age. He then turned the once-insular kingdom's attention outward. Within a few years, Strasz had completely conquered England, a feat that hadn't been achieved since 1066, and changed the country's destiny. He personally led the conquest, despite the ravages of the Black Death on the island. He himself was infected but survived the plague, which is said to have made his conquest possible. However, this great victory won him little support from his nobles, as the Black Death began to ravage his realm.

To his vassals, Strasz seemed to put personal glory before the welfare of his subjects, leaving them to fight the plague on their own. Upon his return, he isolated himself and neglected the administration of the realm, which spared his life but had a detrimental effect on the governance of the empire. His vassals became accustomed to acting independently, free from imperial taxation and control, and the plague made it too dangerous for bureaucrats to travel. Although this situation could have led to a steady decline, even as the plague began to subside, Strasz refused to let that happen.

Instead, he used force, coercion and diplomacy to reassert imperial authority and reach the pinnacle of his personal power. From here, it seemed that nothing could stop the Empire from expanding as Strasz wished. Sadly, it was not to be.

Stricken with epilepsy, his control over his mind and the Empire rapidly deteriorated to the point that much of his work was undone. His actions, driven by madness or not, led to the weakening of imperial authority and meant that when he died, he died alone, in agony and with few to mourn him.

When questioned by my students, I summarise that Strasz was as an indidivudal, wrorthful and a warhawk. His conquest of England was an effort to secure land for further invasions onto the mainland, yet it was not done poorly. Behind the image of a war-hungry brute, he showed remarkable skill in reigning in imperial control, acting descisvely and with fittingly brutal efficency. This was not the actions of a man incapable of being tactful when needed and had he survived long enough or avoided his descent into madness, perhaps we would not be speaking of a decline quite yet.

Nonetheless, it was now time for his successor, Katarzyna. She inherited an empire that was starting to pull itself apart and without intervention crumble. As she mornued for Strasz, there were fears that soon the empire itself would be mourned as well.

Little did they know, that Katarzyna would do everything to ensure the empire’s survival and achieve glory and success.

Little did she know, as hard as she tried, that she would ultimately fail.

 

[Chac1]

Well done @Superstorm . Your historian has given us quite the balanced review of the life of Strasz, a complicated and complex subject indeed. Looking forward to the tales of the new empress.

 

[Midnite Duke]

There is a new sheriff in town. Her name is Katarzyna. Her subjects need to fall in line. Strasz has been released from his demons to fly the night skies with the wise ones. Thank you for humanizing a man who many consider a monster.

 

[Bullfilter]

formally declared the Warriors of Perun independent of imperial control

A rather bitter blow. As both a temporal and spiritual leader, having the personal service of the applicable pagan holy order is a benefit for both internal power balances and in times of external war against non-believers. A canary in the coal mine moment.

Strasz was almost certainly suffering from rabies

He tried to fly off into a more sudden and even graceful exit, but failed at that too, in the end. A sad end for a once-formidable ruler.

The harbingers of coming decline are increasing in pace. An era ends for Strasz and it seems for the Empire more widely. It will be interesting to see how it goes over these final decades. Game wise, is this something you’ve already played through to the end and are retelling as history? It sounds so from the foreshadowing of the coming Twenty Years War.

Very strong historical storytelling, as always.