Err ... can we stop the discussion of drugs, it is against the forum rules, thanks
Rome AARisen - a Byzantine AAR
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Great update and I so look forward to see what happens in the story.
I have sucessfully avoided all spoilers this far (except the ones in the official posts) and are really curious what road the empire will take.
Andronikos the tyrant....
I have sucessfully avoided all spoilers this far (except the ones in the official posts) and are really curious what road the empire will take.
Andronikos the tyrant....
Haha.
I like the giggling. Always a nice touch when someone lets you know they're not quite predictable, by giggling, for example, while promising death and destruction.
I like the giggling. Always a nice touch when someone lets you know they're not quite predictable, by giggling, for example, while promising death and destruction.
Hehe, that was a pretty good one, particularly how Andronikos' stream of thought seemed to translate into his speech and into the narrative.
Unless the Persians are really well-led, I'm guessing they're about to get stomped again. This is only, what, the twentieth time? Guess you can't fault them their persistence.
Unless the Persians are really well-led, I'm guessing they're about to get stomped again. This is only, what, the twentieth time? Guess you can't fault them their persistence.
Hehe, that was a pretty good one, particularly how Andronikos' stream of thought seemed to translate into his speech and into the narrative.
Unless the Persians are really well-led, I'm guessing they're about to get stomped again. This is only, what, the twentieth time? Guess you can't fault them their persistence.
Bah, you can't exactly say their track record isn't improving; they got to Constantinople last time
Finally! I spent the better part of two weeks reading this, and I'm finally done! I can't believe I got through the whole thing!
I'll probably have more constructive thoughts later; for now, I'm going to sit here and bask in the accomplishment of reading three hundred and twenty-nine forum pages.
I'll probably have more constructive thoughts later; for now, I'm going to sit here and bask in the accomplishment of reading three hundred and twenty-nine forum pages.
Weee, that means one more person joining in on the awsomeness that is Rome AARisen.
Congrats, last estimate was that it was about twice as long as War and Peace.
Okay I finally have some time to do in depth replies to everyone! Thank you all for being patient!
von Sachsen - It's only a wee tale, nothing to gigantosaurus-sized...
etranger01 - Welcome to the end of the line! Now you have to wait patiently like everyone else,muwahahaha! I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts, both on the story and the writing--anything positive or negative... and I'm sure many others would be interested ot hear your observations--who was your favorite character? What was your favorite scene? Who was your least favorite, and least favorite scene?
sarevok2 - We don't get a chance to see them this chapter, but next chapter we'll get to see them, Leo, and Alexios more...
TC Pilot - Awww, what are you talking about? Alexandros taking The City worked out perfectly...for Sbyslava and Company...
That's the best I could imagine someone who had taken abd-Hinnawi's prescription reacting--there'd be a jumbled stream of thought, sometimes coherent, sometimes confusing, which drips into his conscious speech, especially at inappropriate moments (such as the urge to laugh)...
vadermath - Well, this is one thing that separates Isaakios from his brother, his father, or grandfather. He doesn't have designs on Konstantinopolis...he more has designs on a defensible western frontier. A bigger question is, does he have designs on Egypt... as either a conquest, or an ally? Or Anatolia?
And LOLOLOLOL@the historical description... :rofl:
Maver1ck - Thank you for the compliment! I'm sure Andronikos will claim it was utter brilliance, but perhaps it was simply randomness induced by abd-Hinnawi's medicinal cures? I don't personally... um... partake...(that good loki?) but I know people who do, and I tried to 'step into their shoes' in how they would act in such a situation... which would include random thoughts and bouts of inspiration, some brilliant, many not so much... We'll have to see if Hinnawi's treatments keep working, or if the "not so much" random moments start to bite Andronikos in the behind...
RGB - The giggling was highly effective... I'm not sure it was completely intentional for Andronikos however...
BraidsMAmma - Well, remember, future historians call him a tyrant--we've already seen the disconnect between what they know and what has happened. It would be truly ironic if Andronikos turned out to be a relatively benign ruler, but future successors/the fog of history twisted him into an evil genius...
loki1000 - Yessir.
Vesimir - Don't forget! There's also Leo & Company (including the exiled Persians, as well as the Godwinsons), Alexios, and the von Frankens to cheer for as well!
Leviathan07 - Later historians are probably going to wet themselves with excitment when discussing the events inside that tent, considering a) the epic debate between two leading theologians of two major religions, and b) the arrangement that was made, and the fruits that political arrangement will bear down the line...
It probably will have to have some grand name for the textbooks as well. Council of the Tent? It's a safe bet that yes, while they were unmentioned, there were likely a few scribes around. The bigger question is would likely Christian scribes recognize the significance of an Aionite-Muslim debate, or simply write down "Doctor Hinnawi and Master Taymiyya continued to argue, then His Majesty offered terms per..."
wolfcity - Ararat is the mountain that the Ark set down upon after the end of The Flood. Andronikos is a little scary, I suppose. He's martially brilliant, he clearly is highly intelligent, but his illnesses (as well as the cures prescribed for them) can cause him to act unpredictably. As we've seen from Astrakhan and his dealings with the Danes, he has a ruthless streak a mile wide...
humancalculator - I think there might be 30-40 total left in the narrative, so we're really winding down to the end...
Nikolai - From a tactical immediate perspective, yes, the Levant deal was brilliance, in line with similar deals Emperors before the Komnenoi made on a routine basis (settlement in return for army service). However, the very deal marks a potent weakness in the imperial system--no Komnenos has ever made such a deal. They didn't have to.. the tagmata were strong enough to handle any problem. Now, you've got an Emperor in Konstantinopolis with mercenaries and 'varvari' as the core components in his army. Historically, this worked. We'll have to see if it does so in the story too.
And you and wolfcity are both right--the Church, more than likely, will NOT be pleased...
Zzzzz... - The only aspect of Taymiyyism that is perverted by the deal is the idea of absolute Muslim independence. The Levant would still be a subdivision of hte Empire, but personally responsible to the Emperor, with no intervening dynatoi...
...Andronikos isn't really his father's son, aside from the ability at intrigue. Andronikos I was downright afraid of the battlefield, Andronikos II loves personally killing people in the field. Andronikos I had a sense of cultural taste and style, and spent most of his reign in The City in an intellectually brilliant and lavish court. Andronikos II has somewhat of an intellectual mind, but doesn't have his father's sense of style (or publicity)...
cezar87 - Machiavellian historians will probably say it was one of Andronikos' finest moments, not realizing how said moment unfolded...
WelshDude - Yup! Dead on--Vice Gerent is basically synonymous with Viceroy--someone who rules in the place of a higher, distant ruler. Though I've always understood Vice Gerent to be two words, as Gerent is a word in and of itself... o.0
vanin - Unintentionally. That particular substance has been known in the Middle East for thousands of years so it was a small leap to think someone as botanically knowledgeable as abd-Hinnawi would know of it.
Qorten - Unintentional manipulation, but successful nonetheless. :And thank you for your kind words... you've been around the story a while, so I know when you say an update was excellent, it does truly stand out.
FulGurkan - Well, remember the narrative ends in 1360, and the actual full story ends in 1399. There's plenty of time for a) Andronikos to lose his brilliance by some means, b) someone else to screw it up, or c) something completely beyond Andronikos' comprehension wreaking all the work he does...
Lord Strange - Unintentionally, yes. All I shall say past that is that Andronikos will certainly make things interesting during his reign.
AlexanderPrimus - I loved the juxtaposition--A truly epic and theologically important moment in history, coupled with...yeah. The irony was just too good to pass up, and the theological debate served to inform Andronikos that Taymiyya wasn't some zealot/barbarian that he could only defeat through brute force--in effect, the argument with Hinnawi, the man Andronikos assumes is the smartest in the world, saved Taymiyyism from the EMpire attacking it on one side and Persia attacking on the other...
asd21593 - Well, if you liked this, there's more brilliant cunning on the way...
On the Timur subjects - I thought I would condense those replies down to one simple set below:
On the subject of my story and the shower. - o.0?
On the subject of Timur's parentage - Yes, that was the big surprise about Timur! I debated having him be something completely from left field (a priest, or a scholar), but I decided for the purposes of the story, it fit to tinker with his heritage. By birth, he has a Thomasine Legitimist claim to the Megas Komnenos title in Konstantinopolis, a claim to the Persian throne through his mother, as well as being the grandson of the Shah-Khan of Faraud. Additionally, through his father he has a claim to being a descendant of Genghis Khan (unlike the real Timur), which means he could rule outright in Mongol territories as well... if he united all his claims, he could (I say could[/i) rule an empire that stretched across the entirety of Eurasia, from Spain in the west to China and the Mongol Shogunate in the East...
...scary stuff!
On the subject of Timur's space to conquer - Faraud is squished between much bigger powers... Persia, the Turks, and Yuan China. Any one of them could probably crush her, while the Blue Horde and Chagatai could give her a nasty fight. All of them (with the exception of the Chagatai, perhaps), have other, more important concerns taking their eyes away... the Yuan have the stubborn Song, the Turks have their ongoing Indian campaigns, the Persians have Romanion, the Blue Horde has the Danes and Rus. The biggest question is--will Faraud get the breathing space it needs for Timur to truly explode...
von Sachsen - It's only a wee tale, nothing to gigantosaurus-sized...
etranger01 - Welcome to the end of the line! Now you have to wait patiently like everyone else,muwahahaha! I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts, both on the story and the writing--anything positive or negative... and I'm sure many others would be interested ot hear your observations--who was your favorite character? What was your favorite scene? Who was your least favorite, and least favorite scene?
sarevok2 - We don't get a chance to see them this chapter, but next chapter we'll get to see them, Leo, and Alexios more...
TC Pilot - Awww, what are you talking about? Alexandros taking The City worked out perfectly...for Sbyslava and Company...
That's the best I could imagine someone who had taken abd-Hinnawi's prescription reacting--there'd be a jumbled stream of thought, sometimes coherent, sometimes confusing, which drips into his conscious speech, especially at inappropriate moments (such as the urge to laugh)...
vadermath - Well, this is one thing that separates Isaakios from his brother, his father, or grandfather. He doesn't have designs on Konstantinopolis...he more has designs on a defensible western frontier. A bigger question is, does he have designs on Egypt... as either a conquest, or an ally? Or Anatolia?
And LOLOLOLOL@the historical description... :rofl:
Maver1ck - Thank you for the compliment! I'm sure Andronikos will claim it was utter brilliance, but perhaps it was simply randomness induced by abd-Hinnawi's medicinal cures? I don't personally... um... partake...(that good loki?) but I know people who do, and I tried to 'step into their shoes' in how they would act in such a situation... which would include random thoughts and bouts of inspiration, some brilliant, many not so much... We'll have to see if Hinnawi's treatments keep working, or if the "not so much" random moments start to bite Andronikos in the behind...
RGB - The giggling was highly effective... I'm not sure it was completely intentional for Andronikos however...
BraidsMAmma - Well, remember, future historians call him a tyrant--we've already seen the disconnect between what they know and what has happened. It would be truly ironic if Andronikos turned out to be a relatively benign ruler, but future successors/the fog of history twisted him into an evil genius...
loki1000 - Yessir.
Vesimir - Don't forget! There's also Leo & Company (including the exiled Persians, as well as the Godwinsons), Alexios, and the von Frankens to cheer for as well!
Leviathan07 - Later historians are probably going to wet themselves with excitment when discussing the events inside that tent, considering a) the epic debate between two leading theologians of two major religions, and b) the arrangement that was made, and the fruits that political arrangement will bear down the line...
It probably will have to have some grand name for the textbooks as well. Council of the Tent? It's a safe bet that yes, while they were unmentioned, there were likely a few scribes around. The bigger question is would likely Christian scribes recognize the significance of an Aionite-Muslim debate, or simply write down "Doctor Hinnawi and Master Taymiyya continued to argue, then His Majesty offered terms per..."
wolfcity - Ararat is the mountain that the Ark set down upon after the end of The Flood. Andronikos is a little scary, I suppose. He's martially brilliant, he clearly is highly intelligent, but his illnesses (as well as the cures prescribed for them) can cause him to act unpredictably. As we've seen from Astrakhan and his dealings with the Danes, he has a ruthless streak a mile wide...
humancalculator - I think there might be 30-40 total left in the narrative, so we're really winding down to the end...
Nikolai - From a tactical immediate perspective, yes, the Levant deal was brilliance, in line with similar deals Emperors before the Komnenoi made on a routine basis (settlement in return for army service). However, the very deal marks a potent weakness in the imperial system--no Komnenos has ever made such a deal. They didn't have to.. the tagmata were strong enough to handle any problem. Now, you've got an Emperor in Konstantinopolis with mercenaries and 'varvari' as the core components in his army. Historically, this worked. We'll have to see if it does so in the story too.
And you and wolfcity are both right--the Church, more than likely, will NOT be pleased...
Zzzzz... - The only aspect of Taymiyyism that is perverted by the deal is the idea of absolute Muslim independence. The Levant would still be a subdivision of hte Empire, but personally responsible to the Emperor, with no intervening dynatoi...
...Andronikos isn't really his father's son, aside from the ability at intrigue. Andronikos I was downright afraid of the battlefield, Andronikos II loves personally killing people in the field. Andronikos I had a sense of cultural taste and style, and spent most of his reign in The City in an intellectually brilliant and lavish court. Andronikos II has somewhat of an intellectual mind, but doesn't have his father's sense of style (or publicity)...
cezar87 - Machiavellian historians will probably say it was one of Andronikos' finest moments, not realizing how said moment unfolded...
WelshDude - Yup! Dead on--Vice Gerent is basically synonymous with Viceroy--someone who rules in the place of a higher, distant ruler. Though I've always understood Vice Gerent to be two words, as Gerent is a word in and of itself... o.0
vanin - Unintentionally. That particular substance has been known in the Middle East for thousands of years so it was a small leap to think someone as botanically knowledgeable as abd-Hinnawi would know of it.
Qorten - Unintentional manipulation, but successful nonetheless. :And thank you for your kind words... you've been around the story a while, so I know when you say an update was excellent, it does truly stand out.
FulGurkan - Well, remember the narrative ends in 1360, and the actual full story ends in 1399. There's plenty of time for a) Andronikos to lose his brilliance by some means, b) someone else to screw it up, or c) something completely beyond Andronikos' comprehension wreaking all the work he does...
Lord Strange - Unintentionally, yes. All I shall say past that is that Andronikos will certainly make things interesting during his reign.
AlexanderPrimus - I loved the juxtaposition--A truly epic and theologically important moment in history, coupled with...yeah. The irony was just too good to pass up, and the theological debate served to inform Andronikos that Taymiyya wasn't some zealot/barbarian that he could only defeat through brute force--in effect, the argument with Hinnawi, the man Andronikos assumes is the smartest in the world, saved Taymiyyism from the EMpire attacking it on one side and Persia attacking on the other...
asd21593 - Well, if you liked this, there's more brilliant cunning on the way...
On the Timur subjects - I thought I would condense those replies down to one simple set below:
On the subject of my story and the shower. - o.0?
On the subject of Timur's parentage - Yes, that was the big surprise about Timur! I debated having him be something completely from left field (a priest, or a scholar), but I decided for the purposes of the story, it fit to tinker with his heritage. By birth, he has a Thomasine Legitimist claim to the Megas Komnenos title in Konstantinopolis, a claim to the Persian throne through his mother, as well as being the grandson of the Shah-Khan of Faraud. Additionally, through his father he has a claim to being a descendant of Genghis Khan (unlike the real Timur), which means he could rule outright in Mongol territories as well... if he united all his claims, he could (I say could[/i) rule an empire that stretched across the entirety of Eurasia, from Spain in the west to China and the Mongol Shogunate in the East...
...scary stuff!
On the subject of Timur's space to conquer - Faraud is squished between much bigger powers... Persia, the Turks, and Yuan China. Any one of them could probably crush her, while the Blue Horde and Chagatai could give her a nasty fight. All of them (with the exception of the Chagatai, perhaps), have other, more important concerns taking their eyes away... the Yuan have the stubborn Song, the Turks have their ongoing Indian campaigns, the Persians have Romanion, the Blue Horde has the Danes and Rus. The biggest question is--will Faraud get the breathing space it needs for Timur to truly explode...
Timur got his own banner, tagline, and theme in the very chapter of his birth.
I'm pretty bloody sure he's going to explode
I'm pretty bloody sure he's going to explode
Timur got his own banner, tagline, and theme in the very chapter of his birth.
I'm pretty bloody sure he's going to explode
I think the proper term for Timur's future will be "WINNING"!
unless BT pulls another BT again and make Timur die prematurely.Timur got his own banner, tagline, and theme in the very chapter of his birth.
I'm pretty bloody sure he's going to explode
Very good update this is easily one of the best updates you have made BT ranking up there with the Death of Thomas II, the Battle of Messinia and the end of Nikolaios in the Battle of Carthage. Also yes an update for Leo, with Theodoros having failed miserably he is the hope of all true Romans! Also he is interesting because unlike most of the Emperors we have had he seems to just sit back and send out and rely on his generals.
unless BT pulls another BT again and make Timur die prematurely.
Or go into the clergy.
Well, that doesn't have to be bad; I remember one particularly famous Emperor who went into the clergy at the end of his reign, and yet that did nothing to diminish his nastiness
unless BT pulls another BT again and make Timur die prematurely.
I don't think he will, I think Timur will be the last dangerous outside menance to the Romans of the AAR (crossing fingers about Timur fulfilling Basil's dream), but after his death his empire will fall back to the Persians and Romans.