Hey everyone,
Right now I have the outline done for part of the next update. If all goes according to plan, it’ll be another three parter possibly! Look for it to be posted sometime this weekend probably!
AlexanderPrimus – Yes indeed, it was Frederick Barbarossa that uttered the curse against the Komnenid line. In this timeline, he was one of the last surviving papal guards attempting to defend the Vatican. Ironically, the same update the real Innocent III was an Italian noble whose knights helped shepherd the Curia to safety.
Morrell8 – Well, without getting into all sorts of definitions of what is and is not sane, I think its safe to say that Thomas III is definitely not normal!
c0d5579 – The German That Wouldn’t Die? Who is that? *confused* Yes, it was the bodyguard, not the Pope. There is definite potential for a Tiberius scenario or a Caligula scenario, the big question is will the empire see enough peace for that to happen?
Enewald – Wasn’t the Pope. Was Frederick Barbarossa, after Thomas I murdered the Pope. As for Altani and the Mongols, you mean you’d create a Mongol Empire in her shoes, or you’d do her? *rofl*
Kirsch27 – That’d be a mean trick I’ve never done before. Oh wait… Basil at Jerusalem, Thomas I at Kirkuk, Thomas II at Neapolis…
As for Thomas, he’s safe from Gabriel at least. As previously established, Gabriel sincerely loves his brother and thinks that Thomas is being used by Albrecht. If Gabriel were to seize power in Konstantinopolis, he’d likely offer Thomas the one thing the younger Emperor wants—a chance to retire and focus on nothing but architecture…
Oh Niko… that brings up memories for me!
As for the sword. Partly it was a red herring for all of you, partly its because it comes back later in the story…
Deamon – Crazy Mongols? Where? As for Alexios, we shall see shortly, my friend…
armoristan – You are also forgetting:
Evangelos, brother of the Megas
Romanos Komnenos, son of the Megas
Both of them went insane long before the current spate of Thomases…
As for Alexios - *Hug*
Ksim3000 – There’s an update on Thomas III coming shortly. As for Gabriel, he has a voice, but is his biggest fault insanity, or simply being an arrogant prat who is full of himself and overestimates his abilities? And, is the latter a form of insanity? Well, we shall soon see as things develop!
loki100 – Romanion, if it can find peace, is certainly primed for a golden age—complete control of the Black Sea, near control of the entire Med—but with ambitious/insane people at the helm, it remains to be seen if that prosperity will come to pass a la the Capri scenario…
Leviathan07 – There have been half decent people between Basil and Alexios… Alexios’ namesake and Basil’s grandson, for one. Thomas II before he went utterly insane. Georgios Donauri after he was named King of Arabia…
von Sachsen – A Gabriel-Altani line is probably not going to happen at this point, if only because one, Altani genuinely loves her husband, and two, I would think the two wouldn’t be mutually compatible. Both want to be in charge, both are self-focused, and Gabriel is selfish. They’d kill each other in the bedroom sooner than making babies. That said, stranger things have happened…
The_Archduke – It’s safe to say at this point that somewhere along the line, the genetics of the Thomasine line have trended towards madness… for the sake of Romanion, either the madness needs to peeter out, or a new line come to the throne…
asd21593 – You are the resident cheerleader for chaos and mayhem. I love it!
Hawkeye1489 – Well, since GRRM is one of my heroes in terms of writing (and guts in terms of killing characters who need to die for the sake of story, regardless of whether they are loved or not), it shouldn’t be surprising I built Alexios up and just as quickly tore him down. Or did I?
Tommy4ever – Now will William Shakespeare write a classic tragedy on Gabriel’s life? As for the Mongols it does make sense for Gabby… It’s rather obvious that the Great Khan would like to return to the “Persian problem” once his own house is in order. While not use Altani as a way to create a distraction, and stall the inevitable?
Fulcrmvale – Altani distracting the Mongols is a classic Byzantine move—using someone with a claim to the throne of a neighbor to cause trouble and keep the neighbor busy. As for Alexios, Adrianos was already pretty much in Nikephoros’ camp, if not Albrecht’s, which means he was an opponent to begin with. Alexios’ wife is Nikephoros’ sister, so once again, she’s already opposed to Gabriel. The opposition was already rather unified against him, so in his mind, he eliminated a young, popular rival with little change to the constellation arrayed against him. Now, whether his analysis is RIGHT or not…
Nehekara – Too late! As said above, Gabriel wouldn’t really usurp Thomas—as long as he was allowed to still be in charge of construction, Thomas would eagerly hand over the diadem… he doesn’t want anything to do with being an emperor, really. As for Gabby versus Nikephoros, that’d be a tougher matchup. In earlier days, a fully focused Eastern Empire could have taken out the West. But now the West has Italy and North Africa, the staging grounds the East would have used earlier, and the West is richer than before and far stronger.
Nikolai – Alexios, we hardly knew ye?
4th Dimension – Gabriel’s ambition is definitely starting to become detrimental, insane or not…
Qorten – Gabriel definitely isn’t likeable now. He was forward thinking and likeable as a youth, but continued success as only fed his ego…
RGB – Dune? Where? We already had the Kwitzsach Haderach and Feyd Rautha long long ago… Maybe there’s a Baron Harkonnen somewhere? Lord knows there’s no Leto I Atreides in this family!