Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World?

ColossusCrusher: Shhhh ... he won't be around till the HOI2 arc =P

Murmurandus: :wacko: I'm not even going to try XD

RGB , ColossusCrusher , Murmy: You should all know the violence inherent in the system by now ! - pushes them all into the mud -

ColossusCrusher said:

Aww man...but crazy people are so much fun!
No! Free speech forever!
Or else I'll have to start giving out 'flesh wounds'...

Click to expand...

XD oh yeah , meant to tell you folks , new update coming in a few hours ! (sorry i'm a bit late , i'm getting distracted by a lot of EU2 games XD)

May 4, 1583

In between the stone enclosures of the hallways, Father Julio held his breath as he flashed his lamp in the direction of the metal upon metal sound. The terse slicing of sharpened blades bounced readily against the walls, floor, and ceiling until he was in a whirlpool of noise. The young priest stood his ground with obvious fear etched upon his shadowed features. Without the bishop with him, he could not hope to find his way through the vast labyrinth and already the oppressive sound galvanized the adrenaline forming at the top of his tongue. Fight or Flight?

“Julio! Over here!” screeched a familiar voice. Distracted to the sound like a man in the desert seeing an oasis, the priest turned his lamp to a huddling Andronikos behind one of the several bends of the maze.

Scurrying to the hiding spot, Julio pressed his back against the wall which the bishop was finding shelter behind and heaved pants of anxious breaths. “Quiet!” Andronikos hissed shooting a darkened glance to his companion before turning back across the corner. “It comes…”

Julio could barely catch any air into his lungs as he shut his mouth and took in the pungent earthy smell of the dirt around him through his nose. “W…Who is it?” he managed to exhale to the back of Andronikos’s head.

“Not who, my Latin friend… it is a construction made to guard this place…”

As Andronikos spoke, the approaching sound of metal finally found its crescendo and, indeed, when that metropolitan spread the light of his lamp to the far end of the hallway, a glimmer of steel and metal reflected back at them. Slicing forward like a demonic pendulum clock with blades for hands and spikes for a face, the machination slinked through the hall perpendicular to the hiding clergymen with a diabolic speed.

Father Julio, watching the lamplight illuminate the machine, grew pale at the morbid sight but his heart warmed him in the quickness of excitement. “I thought you said this was the safe path, Andronikos!” he complained with a shocked surprise.

Andronikos continued to have his back to him until the contraption was safely out of sight. “Good, it’s not turning in our direction…” the older man said before rising to his feet and turning back to his companion. Father Julio could barely believe it when the old man let out a peal of laughter. “This is the right path, Julio, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy. Choosing the right path in the beginning might seem simple but if one is to walk through with that choice, one must endure the challenges to get to the final goal.”

The younger one dusted himself off and rose to his feet as well making sure to cradle his lamp as he went upright. Andronikos had a way of curling his Spanish into a kind of melodic poem whenever he expounded kernels of wisdom. After a while, Julio thought he might have resented it as a kind of nursery rhyme reminder of the man’s seniority; but instead, he found himself doing most of the work in understanding what the older man meant and it thus kept a humble friendliness no matter how many times it occurred.

“Well where did you run off to just now, anyway?” the younger one asked trying to vent his anxiety somehow. Andronikos merely gave him another laugh and a heavy pat on his shoulder as if to knock away all the fear that welled up during the encounter.

“As soon as I heard the sound, I ran ahead to check if they were dead ends. If there were, we would have been trapped,” the older one explained. The explanation itself did nothing to relieve Julio’s tense thoughts. They could have been trapped, he thought! “If they were dead ends we would have needed to double back before the machine cut us off,” Andronikos continued, “That’s why I needed to hurry, so my apologies, my young friend!”

Another laugh rushed forth from the metropolitan’s lips but Julio just shook his head as he started to follow the older one’s lead again. The idea of being trapped between a solid underground wall and that slicing machine sent prickly sensations down his arms but he nonetheless trailed his elder.

“So… I’m guessing you know your way around to the Key?” Julio asked quietly as he scanned left and right while following Andronikos; he did not want to be surprised by another Byzantine contraption.

“I guess you could say that,” the older one cryptically said before pre-empting his younger companion by saying, “no matter what path you take in this place, it will always take you to the same room.”

Father Julio scrunched his face curiously. “I know that most labyrinths were not intended to be mazes, but I would have thought this one was for the express protection of the Key.”

“I understand your confusion,” the Metropolitan began, “but remember that you’re in the East now, Julio. There is much more mystery here… and mystery not just for the sake of mystery but mystery that tells us something about the world in which we live.”

“And what is this labyrinth supposed to tell us while it takes us all to the same place no matter which way we choose?”

There was no answer for a few steps as Andronikos made a turn to the left and then another to the right. Patiently, the younger one awaited an analysis all the while keeping a vigilant watch for any more signs of metal death roaming the halls.

“Whatever choices we make,” the older one finally began to say with a hint of fatigue. “There is always an End where we tend towards; a Final Destination. The beauty of this labyrinth and thus the beauty of the universe is that regardless of our Free Will, no matter how evil or how pious someone chooses to be—whatever turn they take—it will always lead us to the same End and all will have contributed to that in some way.”

“Contributed?” Julio asked almost off-handedly. The archbishop, however, was jovially unforgiving.

“Don’t they teach you anything at those expensive universities?” the older one chided making father Julio hide a blush, “Bah. I’m not surprised though; especially from a Spanish priest!” The older gentleman feigned a frustrated wave of his arm. “Always pampered by their glorious Empire and always succeeding. You’d think that God was offering you the world on a silver platter wouldn’t you?”

Julio couldn’t find the works to say anything back. In fact, he wasn’t sure how serious this frustration was from his older friend. It was true, he thought to himself, the successes of Spain had bolstered the Latin Rite considerably and spread Christianity to the far reaches of the world. He was not used to the idea—although it was taught to him—that even the evil ones had a role to play in the end. He took these thoughts into his heart and looked down ominously at the dirt floor as if searching for a way to impart his condolences.

“I’m sorry, Andronikos. I—”

“Oh don’t get so upset, Julio. Don’t tell me they make you all so serious over there in Rome, too!” the older one exclaimed with a boisterous laugh to boot. Indeed, Andronikos shook his head ruefully. “I’m just getting old, Julio. Even though Constantinople fell over a century ago, the pain of the suffering Patriarchate and of the Orthodox faithful still scrapes against my veins.”

The demeanor on the older clergyman dimmed slightly as he lowered his face. Julio looked away respectfully. “We’re used to it here,” Andronikos began again. The energy in his voice had not drained so much as it was a steadier, more focused tone. “To the pain and suffering. People might think it strange but we take a heavy comfort in that we get to share in the persecution of Our Lord.”

There were several more steps before the pace seemed to slacken dramatically. Julio, however, sensed it was not from the mood of their conversation but from the long distance they had now traversed. “Let’s take a rest here, Andronikos,” Julio said eliciting a groaning nod from his older companion before they both crouched down on the dirty floor with backs against the earthy wall.

The cool temperature of the powdery covering on the floor and the mud-like coating of the walls provided unexpected soft comfort for the two. Julio passed the water once more. “It will be a fine day when our two halves of Christianity are reunited once again…” Julio began soberly, “And these experiences you have had here will help to remind the West to remain humble and vigilant.”

“Kind of you to say,” Andronikos said after taking a sip of the trickling liquid and a little smacking sigh afterwards signifying his satisfaction. “I’ll leave it up to the Almighty to decide on that one. We can only do our best to hope and discern that Will.”

“You don’t think it’s His will to bring us back?” Julio asked strangely.

“Oh no, of course I believe it; but let’s not forget that it was He who allowed us to sunder from each other in the first place. If you’ve learned anything from what I’ve been blabbering on to you about for the past few hours, it’s that no matter what we choose our Destiny to be, it will always be according to His plan.”

The younger one seemed to smile at that consideration. It was definitely a comforting thought, he said to himself. This was indeed what Christians would call inner peace; to be able to continue to work hard for a goal while knowing that if it was not meant to be, then it is truly in God’s good plan.

“Do you think he tests us, Andronikos?” Julio asked, “Such as you and yours being oppressed by the Turks.”

“Too simple of a question, my young friend,” the metropolitan responded with a calculated chuckle, “It’s the beauty of our religion, Julio; to be able to find comfort in suffering and persecution. If we can walk with our heads held high to the wolves, then we have nothing to fear.”

With a nod, both once again rose to their feet. The dust plumed into a small cloud around them as they cleaned themselves. When Julio grabbed his light, however, Andronikos froze. “What is it?” the young priest asked suddenly startled by the older one’s demeanor.

“The blade machine, it’s coming this way!” was Andronikos’s response as he ran ahead of his junior checking desperately right and left. Father Julio could barely keep up. “Dead end! How could we have been so careless!” he announced turning around simultaneously nearly knocking into Julio as they both attempted to double back.

The sound of slicing metal approached and both lamps now glimpsed at something glimmering in the distance. “No good…” Andronikos spoke out with a stutter, “it’s already in the corridor…”

“Tell me how it works, quickly!” Julio yelled out over the noise as he shone the light into his older one’s drained expression. “Andronikos!” he called out to the stunned clergyman to snap him back to his address.

“It… it works on a set of wheels, chains and springs that propel it forward. When it reaches a wall the blades make contact and compress the string within providing enough force to bounce it back through the corridor… At times it makes random turns… There’s no way to stop it while it still carries momentum except to block the blade somehow and force it to spring back in the opposite direction.”

At the end of the explanation, Julio wasted no time in searching his pack, but nothing substantial except food and drink were found within. “What if we throw the pack and the light at it?” Julio asked desperately as the incoming sound and shining blades sliced towards them. The din of metal threatened to deafen both.

“Too small…” were the quiet words of the older one. “Not enough to stop the spring… We’d need one hundred pounds at least…”

The shocked voice of Andronikos was interrupted by the thrust of the leather bag onto his chest forcing the metropolitan to look into the steely glare of his friend. “You’re the only one who knows what to do with the Key,” Julio declared as if Andronikos already did not realize this. The wise old man widened his eyes in disbelief as he discerned what the younger one planned on accomplishing. He succumbed to speaking in his native Greek as he attempted a protest.

“You can’t do that!” he said to Julio. He received no reply, though, as the young man stepped forward into the path of the machine. Andronikos was too stunned to even walk forward to bid his companion farewell. Father Julio made the sign of the cross.


The force of the blade was enough to penetrate even to the very core of the flesh. Liquid the colour of the dying sun gushed onto the floor and portions of the fresh meat hung loosely from the unsteady mechanical swing.

“This is absolutely impossible,” the older gentleman said with a groaned tone. He retracted the mechanical saw knife and placed it on the table where the pieces of watermelon now began soaking the cloth.

“Are you at that thing again, Leo?” another asked from across the table with a bemused air. “I keep telling you that those TV knives are no good…”

“Aren’t you supposed to be working, Fernando?” Lieutenant Leonidas asked with a hint of distaste as he tried to saw away at the now gutted fruit.

“Work?” his partner scoffed with a bit of a laugh, “nowadays nothing exciting happens in Constantinople. I’m sure if Commander Georgiev needs anything he’ll contact the Moscow Patriarchate’s office instead of down here.”

The two men, separated by a middle table where the late snack of watermelon was now being prepared by the Greek half of the two, had their own stations in that small single room. Shaped in a Spartan rectangular frame, both sides aided each lieutenant with instant access to viewscreens laid out in a concave fashion. Above each set of machines, however, were crosses: the one above Lieutenant Fernando’s station was adorned with a beautifully etched depiction of Christ in his passion while the one above Lieutenant Leonidas’s station was an iconic image implanted upon the symbol with a slanted bar trailing the bottom. The four sided nature of the room was completed by opposite images of Pope Benedict XVI and Emperor Otto overlooking the room reminding them both of the authorities they both served regardless of their origin or Rite.

“You know him; being from Bulgaria, he likes to give us a little bit of work down here every once in a while,” Leonidas replied without keeping his eyes off of his handiwork. The half ground watermelon slices now made their way to his companion’s console as well.

“Thanks,” Fernando said briefly before looking back to his monitor. The blips of the zoomed in Siberian sectors were now getting closer together.

“He’ll get them very soon,” Leonidas mused quietly crossing his arms. The luminescence of the crystal displays seethed against the white lights above in a battle for dominance as tense as the calculations being made on each monitor.

“Commander Georgiev orchestrates his moves like some epic opera,” the sitting one commented tracking the elegant movements of each unit with the satellite feed.

“Can you hear the drums, Fernando?” Leonidas asked with a bit of a curl on his lip and a tap on his friend’s shoulder.

“Shh!” Fernando said quickly while brushing away that teasing hand in dramatic fashion.

“You’re really into this aren’t you?” Leo said with a bit of surprise in his tone.

“It’s not every day you see a field commander save The Duke in such a way. After all, one of these days I’ll be the one out there on the snow.”

Leonidas can only shake his head with a little laugh. “Well this won’t be much of match, anyway” Leo quipped.

“What do you mean by that?” the other asked back over his shoulder.

“Well even a lowly lieutenant like me can tell where Georgiev is going and what he’s accomplished.”

The blank expression on the profile of Fernando’s face gave Leonidas his cue to shake his head and lean forward onto the screen closest to them. He made a large U around the fallen aircraft and punctuated it with pointing to the frozen river to the north. “Whoever these punks are, they’re cornered.”

Chapter LII: Cornered (coming soon)

P.S. wanted to apologize about the tardiness of this update ! Had lots of things going on this week but luckily we've stayed on schedule ! As usual , our interview will be up tonight ! Estimated time of upload will be about 11 hours or so from now ! Keep the comments coming please , i've received LOTS of great ideas from our wonderful readers and I'll be icorporating them in future updates so if you have any ideas please let me know ! Also don't forget to vote for the Bonus Picture you want done !

And also importantly please don't forget to keep us in your thoughts for Favourite EU3 AAR and Favourite EU3 Narrative AAR in the AARland Choice Awards 2007 Quarter 2 ! We can't win without your support and we hope to see you all there !

Welcome everyone to this week’s edition of You’ve Been Canonized! our weekly interview segment here on Timelines where we take an author patron reader and interview them about themselves , their thoughts on Timelines , and their latest project ! If you’re new to our programme , I am canonized author of Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? Today’s guest is our good friend Legolas, author of The Hearth, the Oak, and the Gods – a pagan Lithuania . Let’s get to the questions !

Part I: Personage
Legolas imparts a little info about himself and his motivations !

canonized: So first of all , for those of us in AARland who might not know you very well , could you introduce yourself ? Tell us how long you've been on the forums and how long you've been writing AARs ?

Legolas: I have registered on the forums in December of 2001 - wow, that's a long time ago... I had attempted several EU2 AARs back then, but I didn't find the patience to finish any of those. After some two or three years of activity, I somehow stopped visiting the forums. I came back several months ago - I hadn't logged in between mid 2004 and early 2007! As for myself - I am Lithuanian, and a patriot of my country. Currently I have just finished my second year of Physics and Astrophysics studies at the University of Leicester in the UK

canonized: Excellent ! So what got you started on writing AARs ?

Legolas: I don't remember what got me started on writing those first few AARs. Most probably it was me wanting to try and see what happens. However, I started my current AAR after I (finally) got Crusader Kings and found that it was possible to play pagan factions as well. I was always a fan of alternate history, and living in a country which was the last pagan realm in Europe always made me interested to ponder on what may happen if the old religion was preserved. Another reason was seeing some excellent quality AARs on the boards - namely thrashing mad's Poland Megacampaign; coz1's Brandenburg; and yours.

canonized: Well you’ve certainly picked an intriguing topic for your current AAR ; what is it about Lithuania and its old religion that inspired you to write ?

Legolas: As I mentioned earlier - the fact that the old religion was preserved until 1387. In addition, I am also slightly interested in the modern neopaganism movements throughout the world, though I am by no means very well familiar with them. Also, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe in 1430, and this fact always keeps me asking myself: "How could they lose all that?" The final (but by no means the least important) reason is that in our world, most of the history of Lithuania, and Eastern Europe in general, is known in the West from either the Polish or the Russian point of view. Given the historical circumstances, it is no surprise that both these positions somewhat neglect Lithuania - I want to let people see a third point of view, as best as I can.

canonized: You are also a new writer to the scene , but you've lurked for a long time . How would you say the forum community is different now than it was before ?

Legolas: Interesting question, though I can't say I really remember what the community was back then. One thing I can think of, especially in the AAR subsection of the community, is the seriousness of the works. Those years ago, when EU2 was brand new, many AARs would be abandoned very early on (I also fall guilty for that), and many of those that were continued would be of low narrative quality. Currently, there are many different types of AARs, and people mostly seem to pay a lot of attention to what they are doing. The AAR writing guides available on the forum are of much help as well.

canonized: What kind of advice would you give to aspiring young writers ?

Legolas: Just do it. The most difficult thing is to start. Fear of criticism is also a setback. But if you don't try, and don't want to be criticized, you will never improve. And, if you really get into the writing, you will learn many things yourself. That's why you should try it, if you ever feel like it.

canonized: What would you say is your biggest challenge as a WritAAR ?

Legolas: I cannot say I know much about writing in general, and my AAR is by far the longest piece of fiction I have ever written. However the problem I usually face is that I have a lot going on in my mind, but I cannot put it on paper (or the computer screen, for that matter) in a decent style. That is, I cannot express my mind in words, even though I have very clear pictures of what I want to say. One way to overcome that is to impose some restrictions one oneself. Be it structural (write in iambic pentameter or rhyming couplets), thematic (decide exactly what to focus on, and do not stray from the path), or something else. In my case, the fact that I have to write about things that happened in the game really helps

canonized: Why the narrative kind of AAR have you decided to work with ?

Legolas: At first, it was a history book AAR type, simply because it's my favourite type. Then I just had a thought that I may spice things up by writing a narrative interlude. When I wrote the first interlude, I didn't have a specific plot in mind, and I can't say I have one now, though the more I write, the more I decide that the "dreams" and other similar things will have a huge importance later on.

Part II: Patronage
Let’s see what Legolas thinks of Timelines !

canonized: First off we're very flattered to be cited as one of the inspirations for your AAR ; what is it about Timelines that has been good to you as a writer ?

Legolas: As I mentioned earlier, I am a fan of alternate history. So naturally, the title "What if Spain failed to control the world" caught my attention. Then I read the premise and the prologue, with Tom's essay, where he creates a world exactly like ours. I knew that this was what I really had to read, unfortunately, I couldn't, with the exams coming and going. What I found there as a writer is the mix of serious narration and humorous tidbits, as well as references to pop culture. In short, Timelines showed me how to make a long text interesting.

canonized: It's true that you have not yet fully caught up with Timelines just yet , what keeps motivating you to continue reading ?

Legolas: I want to know what happens later on. I very rarely put down a book after starting to read it. And you always leave many small cliff-hangers and unanswered questions in every chapter, which make me curious as to what you make of it and whether my/Myth's/Llewelyn's/someone-else's guesses are correct

canonized: Do you have a favourite character so far through the course of your readings ?

Legolas: Probably [Cardinal] James DeWitt... Though many of the protagonists are interesting. I really like the trio of Antonio, Isabella and Jakob, though Sweet seems slightly bland as a character. I quite like Indiana Jones, I mean Renault, as well. As for the modern day ones, I feel a bit sorry for Tom, and I didn't like Rodrigo - he seems too double (or triple) faced. And I love to hate Marcus Councilman, which also makes it a great character

Legolas: One comment that I would like to put forth. Every time I read about the adventures of Antonio, Isabella, Sweet and later Jakob, I saw Jeffrey Sinclair, Susan Ivanova, Michael Garibaldi and Ben Franklin from Babylon 5. I don't really know why, but both teams seemed to work together in very good and very similar ways. This impression was reduced a little when the romantic interest Antonio had in Isabella showed on the surface, but there are still some similarities.

canonized: Haha , maybe Isabella is a combination of Delenn and Susan then? As some people might already know , Timelines runs simultaneously the story of the past and the present and has interconnections in between both timelines ; what do you think of this approach ?

Legolas: Really, really interesting. But I think that all this approach is really building forward to something, and that something better be good, otherwise it would be much ado about nothing. What I am curious is the physical properties of the Timepiece, and why the world did not change when the Nazi team went back in time. Well, I'm a physicist in the making, so you can figure that I am interested in such things

canonized: Haha , and do you have any guesses , as a physicist in the making , on how the Timepiece works ?

Legolas: Most probably it is an alien artifact, capable of somehow linking particular points in time, so that a person is able to travel between the two. And the Timepiece can also be brought through the "rift", since we have two instances of the same Timepiece which were found in the past. Same goes for the keys (i.e. the possibility to send them through time). What interests me is what would happen if several instances of the same object were brought together to the same place - would anything interesting happen then, or do they exist as completely independent objects? I can make many guesses, but all that is groping in the dark, since so far I have seen very little information on the properties of the Timepiece.

canonized: An interesting theory ! Following also your learning in cause and effect and the implications of past events for the future , there are many themes that thread the past and the future so that it is more so a holistic narrative instead of two separate narratives happening to run side by side : What are your thoughts on the events of the game causing the world that Tom knows of ?

Legolas: The Spanish hegemony seems logical from the actions I have seen - the "vassal wall" in Europe, the conquest of most of the trade centers in the world, extensive colonisation and so on. I am not too sure how the government would manage to keep the global country running for a long time, but reaching that point is certainly plausible. Also I do not think that science would be more advanced in such a world - it is known that most scientific achievements were made when the military needed that (jet propulsion and nuclear weapons come to mind), or at least when there was a constant rivalry between several factions (Church and State, for example). A mostly ecclesial government working peacefully might stagnate. What I dislike about the alternate present is the Church control in many things. Not that I would hate Christianity or anything, mind you, but I think that freedom of religion is very important. As for terrorism - you can't escape it, it seems. So I don't think it much of an issue of liking or disliking in the alternate world. The relative peace the world must have experienced is a pleasant thing, however

canonized: And last question from this section , what kind of advice would you give for someone who might be intimidated by the large amount of text present to read through ?

Legolas: Force your way through the first few chapters - it gets better later on. In no time, you will be so immersed that you will not notice the amount of text you read through any more. On the other hand, you could add some more pictures from time to time to your story. But now, when it has progressed so much in this way, it would ruin the pattern, so better not do that

Part III: Pagan-age
Now for the exciting look at Legolas’s latest work !

canonized: First of all , as you mentioned , freedom of religion is important to you and one can see that very well even in your Pagan CK nation . Could you explain your reasoning behind this idea especially in a time period of great intolerance ?

Legolas: As far as I know, none of the old religions in Europe were expansionist. While the Christians (and later the Muslims) wanted to spread the word of God (or Allah) by any means, the Pagans practiced their beliefs without imposing them on their neighbours. They would only fight if they were being subdued. This is what I am trying to convey in my story - the country is predominantly pagan, but all religions are respected and tolerated. This is kind-of trying to win the war with peace (I am sure there is a proverb about that, but I can't remember any).

canonized: It's also given you a unique edge in your gameplay and in your narrative . It's not often that you see Pagan countries in Europe being played out especially because of the difficulties associated with those kingdoms . How have you adapted your narrative style to more fit the pagan identity of your subject ?

Legolas: First of all, I think that Pagan countries are not played in CK because many people are not aware of the mod allowing you to play them, or do not bother to try. I don't think I have tried to adapt my narrative style to fit the Pagan identity; it is only sometimes that I find myself thinking about some expression that would fit a Pagan, but not a Christian or a Muslim. I also try to convey an idea that hierarchy does not play a very important role in a Pagan society: of course, the King is the ruler, but he does not carry titles like "The Son of God" or similar ones - his power comes from the people who entrust him with it (by not rebelling against him, as opposed to electing him - the title is still hereditary), not from Divine grace of any sort. I honestly don't know how true that is to our world's Pagan societies and countries, but I think that this may have been the case.

canonized: Well certainly you've created a unique identity for your country and for your mythos. Even now in the present there is a whole different world of scholarship in the pagan tradition you set forth in the past. Why did you choose to approach the recollection of the past through different perspective authors including non-Pagan ones ?

Legolas: Thanks for the kind words I have always been fascinated by the amount of speculation there is in history. Even though history is written by the victors, as the saying goes, there are many different views on every subject. Therefore, I decided to try and think in different ways about the same events. What is miracle for one can be a tragedy for another, and history books would definitely present that. It is left to the reader to decide what is true, what is half-true, and what is an outright lie.

canonized: Speaking of what is true and what is half-true you have also added supernatural elements to your story which add a hint of intrigue and grandeur to the whole piece . What made you add the visions in the forest , for example ?

Legolas:: Well, who knows whether that vision was only a vision or not? I wrote that particular chapter to show that the people in the past actually feel the presence of the people from the future in their heads, when the people from the future have visions about the past. Naturally, if such visions (and incomprehensible ones - they may very well be seeing the 21st century at that time) are reoccurring, these people would ask for a counsel. Psychology hadn't been invented back then, doctors were few, so they would go to the wise men. As a sneak preview - the next update I am working on should show that the past and present are interconnected by more than just visions and dreams.

canonized: Well certainly an exciting prospect ! Although we see ultimately to the future of your nation's growth , what kind of previews can you also make on the nation’s actual advancement for us ?

Legolas: As for gameplay, I have played only a few years further after the point where the AAR stops. I am carefully trying not to give away much information about the alternate present of my world, because I don't know yet what it will be. Of course, I will be able to adjust some things in the 50 years after the end of HoI timeframe to the present time, but I want that adjustment to sound logical.

canonized: For a reader who might be new to your work , what would you like them to walk away with after they've caught up ? What elements of your story , such as religious tolerance as we've spoken about , would you like the reader to walk away with as a learned or received experience or message ?

Legolas:: The most important thing I want is the reader to be interested in something - be it the development of the story; the tidbits of our world's history that I sometimes present in the comments; or, as you say, the message of religious tolerance; or just the thought how different the world may look with a widespread and continuing Pagan culture.

canonized: And lastly , can you give us any hints on the AARs you'll be working on aside from this one ?

Legolas:: I am thinking of taking a different philosophical approach and making an AAR of a Lithuania which is a hardline frontier of Catholicism, spreading the word of God to Asia. In EU3. I don't know if I will do that, and I may think of many other things to write about until I am done with this Megacampaign, but that is one possibility.

canonized: Haha although I love your history book style in your Pagan Lithuania I would love to see a Catholic Lithuania so I would be first in line for that one ! Well thank you once again for being on the show with us , Legolas , and we hope you have a great week and good luck in the AARland Choice Awards ! We hope our viewers enjoyed the show this week as well as kept us in mind for voting in the ACA this month ! Tune in next week when we have a special Reunion edition of You’ve Been Canonized! Where we will be catching up with our old friend and very first interviewee , grayghost ! Stay tuned for that and have a good week everyone !

Legolas: Haha yes you should have told me ! I was actually at first going to put the picture of the old animated portrait of Legolas but haha just couldn't bring myself to overlook Orlando just to tease you ! haha !

thrashing mad: thank you ! Glad to see you come by !

Grubnessul: Yes I think the adjective is very appropriate for the place or at least that's what I wanted to convey but in a positive and mysterious kind of way !

Judas Maccabeus: What can I say , I like similar imagery XD Had you all fooled there for a second didn't I ? XD

JimboIX: Thank you very much sir and i'm very happy to have you on board ! Please feel free to comment on any previous chapters while you're reading it's always great to see new perspectives ! Thank you again and I hope you enjoy ! As for unhappy lawyers ... haha .. I was training to be a lawyer maybe that has something to do with it XD

Edit: You know , I just realized no one pointed out the Alba and Biel joke i made a few chapters back XD

Just a reminder !

This week I'll be closing the Poll that we've been having on which character(s) you'd like Thistlebrow to draw for us next !

Also , two updates as usual this week with hopefully a bonus in between and then our special reunion edition of You've Been Canonized at the end of this week with grayghost !

Also , please keep us in mind for Favourite EU3 AAR and Favourite Narrative AAR EU3 when you make your votes at the AARland Choice Awards ! If you haven't voted yet , I urge you all , including all the lurkers out there , to go vote for your favourites even if it's not for us !