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Continued Extracts..

Vice Admiral Corte Real G.

March 12th, 1500,

'..The Royal Court is celebrating this morning, they have received great news from the Spanish heralds of the defeat of Russian barbarians by the fierce Germans of the Teutonic Order a world away to our east, bordering on the savage lands of the Khanates and Muscovy. Hah, Pskovians, pet dogs of the Muscovites, the stinging pus sore languishing merrily under the protection of eastern barbarians are no more. May God grant unity among all Catholics to join in holy crusade against these infidels of the Church, for the Russians are only one of the numerous plagues which fester upon our clean, wholesome Catholic body. Bayezid the second, the leader of the Turk has again waged war onto that great pearl of the middle east, the eternal Persian Empire. The savages have pillaged much of the countryside, stopping their offensive only after the couragous Persians offered them land in exchange for peace. Oh how my blood boils on hearing such news! My heart burns, and my hand grips for my sword in anger, for perhaps one day I may quit my commission and sail against these uncivilized scum myself in the seas of the Aegean.

Almeida shares my views, though he is persistantly getting more impatient regarding the date of our departure for western Africa. A good soldier he may be, but he doesn't realise it takes much time to gather all needed provisions for such a long voyage. He does however hold the King's ear, and it would be wise for our servants to speed their readiness, it may just save their heads -- not to mention my own. Our stalled expansion in Dakar and Senegal will continue ever stronger after this impatient soldier sets his foot on African soil. I do so hope the natives get a chance to pray to whatever foul Gods they worship, before Almeida sends them straight to hell!..'


Oct 10th, 1502,

'.. growing tired of this moored stay in Dakar. Almeida is having HIS fun, putting the natives to the sword, and what am I to do? Perhaps one is here to safeguard our colonies against marauding gangs of sea monsters and mermaids? I would be in a much happier state if I was forced to bunk down in a much more hospitable place, the Azores doesn't sound too bad right now! At least the girls there are much more responsive to an old sailors needs than the dark, unkempt and uncivlized native girls of these parts. Their arrogance at defying the will of our soldiers is oddly curious, brave but extremely foolish. Our saviour, however has granted me the iron will to keep myself from punishing these savages wickedly. What greater honour could savage girls like these receive than bedding a white man of my stature? Almeida's constitution, however is not as strong as mine, his reputation amongst the natives is spreading like wild fire, which is precisely the tool he most uses to spread fear across this wasteland. Not one standing hut remains unburnt and unblackened to coal within a radius of many miles, thanks to this humble crusader of our nation.

Morocco continues to be of primary concern from what I can gleen of the monthly letters I receive of the occurances at the royal court. There is constant deliberation as to whether seek a final peace, or final war with the Moroccan upstarts. One should note, that the nation of Algiers, neighbouring the Moroccans on their eastern borders have recently signed an alliance with the Turk. I believe that it is only a matter of time before the Algierians decide to invade eastern Morocco with the considerable help of the massive Turkish naval fleet. What do we do after the Moroccans fall, which of course is assured? Tangiers is next, and from there it's just a short trip through the straights of Gibraltar into southern Spain. Armaggedon on earth! There is no easy solution to this problem, and at best we can only extend the inevitable. However in my opinion, which I've penned to our gracious King, Manuel the first, it would be best to keep the Moroccans as a buffer between us and the Turkish allies. Making war now would weaken us, and final victory is not assured..'


March 14th, 1503,

'.. ah finally we've arrived back in Lisbon. It's been nearly two years since I've moored at this the most beautiful of ports and everytime I do, it envigorates my soul, re-igniting my passion for the sea.

Almeida's path of destruction cut a crimson shaded swaythe through native settlements in the last two years like a plague as far as the southern Moroccan border in the unending wastes of the Sahara. Our colonies and trading posts now border their southern lands and worse yet these newly established territories are weak and poorly defended by a man who has established his superiority over weaker native tribes armed with clubs and fists, but how he will handle any possible invasions from the Moroccan hordes is another matter entirely. My happiness therefore was very short lived. The King's advisors continue to press him for war against the Moroccans and he continues to receive letters from Almeida urging him to strike now. My presence here may hopefully extend any discussions on the matter, and I will protest most strongly against any sort of offensive action to be undertaken. However, if worse comes to worst then we should be relatively ready for war. Our tax collectors inform us of the possibility of almost double the collection of normal tax incomes for the next 12 months. Our ventures in the colonies, combined with good harvesting by our hearty peasants has much to do with this economic upturn..'

May 1st, 1504,


'..our loyal allies the Spaniards have been sighted by passing transports in the Jamaican Seas and the Bahamas most recently. It seems, they are not content with erradicating whole civilizations on just one continent. Our envoys have been discussing this with their counterparts in Madrid, and there is an agreement of goodwill of our two nations in the colonies Still, God grant them luck aye say, there is plenty of room to divide the New World between ourselves!

My humble abode has been chosen to host a summit of several converging central European envoys. Our gracious King, Manuel the first has ordered for a great diplomatic offensive to be conduct with the eternal enemies of the Turkish empire. Our King seeks the establishment of a firmer communicative foothold in central Europe, through the wedding of our prospective royalty to the Kings, Princes and Princesses of the most holy of Catholic nations, the Habsburg Austrians under Maximilian I and the great Catholic powerhouse, the Jagiellonian Empire of Poland under Zygmund the first. Informing the King of the significance of attracting the Venetians, he whole heartedly agreed with my reasoning and will order his envoys to sail for Genova, and then make their way across country to the city of Venice..'


Sapura
 
Sapura,
This is a great read, thanks - as always! In future posts, could you ask good old V.A. to describe his efforts to influence the king's spending on naval and land technologies? I'd also appreciate it if he'd comment on the capabilities of armada of ships relative to that of any opposition; I'm going to presume that Portugal has pretty advanced technology at the beginning of the game.