Heaven On Earth: Part One

Glorification of Saint Jestor, Patron of Beautiful Girls and History Classes

The Glorification Of Jestor​

Hello again! Today, we are here to glorify a great writer of our community, Jestor!

1. Congratulations! Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I'm 29 years old, a native of Wisconsin and a lover of literature, music, sports, movies, history and love. My life story is one of overcoming adversity, starting from when I was born three months premature with less than a 5% chance to live. I'm an '80s child with a strong love for the '90s and hope to get my Master's in English someday, specializing in modernist literature, postcolonial literature and literary theory, and the relationship between film and literature. Vague, I know. Oh yeah, I work at Victoria's Secret and have for the past four years.

2. Does your username have any connection to your personality, what does it mean?
My username comes from my first days on IRC about 15 years ago. I'd gotten hooked on Vampire:the Masquerade after playing Vampire:the Eternal Struggle (CCG) at GenCon and came up with Jestor as a character name. A lot of people mispronounce it as Jester, but it's actually an o sound like in tore. I was pretty young then and hated the thought of drinking blood, so Jestor was a Berry Water Vampire, who lived by drinking berry water. I got the idea because I happened to be drinking berry water at the time. Dumb I know, but I was barely a teen at the time. Though I'm something of a jokester when I allow that side of my personality to shine through. I'm pretty quiet in person, though, preferring to observe, experience and analyze things. But when I get in the mood to be extroverted though, hijinks usually ensue.

3. How did you discover Paradox games?
The original EU drew me in, as I saw in my local what was then Software Etc, but is now Gamestop. Although I wound up being very disappointed in the game, because I couldn't get anywhere and it was too slow-paced, I was nonetheless intrigued by the effort.

4. How did you discover these forums?
I don't remember exactly how I discovered them. I do remember that it was a real pain in the ass to access them though, as it required a very specific address that was difficult to reach in the early days of Paradox until finally I just bookmarked the damn thing.

5. Do you remember your first experience here?
Yes and no. I don't remember my precise first experience here, but not long after I joined, Crusader Kings was announced and I was ecstatic. I was so impatient to get it I ordered it as soon as possible and it was an agonizing wait until it finally arrived. The rest, as they say, is history.

6. Your “Beautiful Girl” AAR is one of the best narratives I’ve ever read, and one of the few I can actually read without getting bored, are you surprised by its success?
Thank you for the high praise! As for its success, yes and no. I knew I had a potentially great AAR in terms of premise by unifying modern-day and CK in a way that hadn't been done before. I was also playing to my strengths in contemporary settings for creative writing. However, I was writing a first-person narrative and a love story at that, a combination of POV and genre which demands engrossing characters. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but it appears I have. I'll explain more about the process behind it, etc. in an Afterword post once I finish the AAR.

7. What parts of “Beautiful Girl” did you enjoy writing about most?
The Gem Room scene is my single favorite section in the entire AAR. I think it's at that point a lot of readers realized that Melody had a lot more depth and complexity than just the stereotypical rich girl with a class complex and it was a pure delight to write. I also really enjoyed the Formal sequence of posts, particularly since I was under the influence when writing them.

8. Do you have influences on your writing style?
For BG&HC, I have two. The first and most obvious is F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby in particular. In fact, the whole cop-stop and flashed card bit was ripped directly from Gatsby's pages. Nick Hunter's name is another nod to Fitzgerald, though you'd have to have read a specific one of F. Scott's short stories to know where his last name comes from. (Come to think of it, that story could be considered another vague influence on BG&HC). The other main influence on the AAR is James Joyce, more specifically Joyce's technique of having the language of the story echo the thoughts, personality, habits, et. al. of the character being written about. Now, this may seem self-evident in a 1st person narrative, but it's not as easy as it looks, particularly when I have the inclination to use more elevated language than Nick would use.

As for my non-AAR writings, I'm influenced mainly by Fitzgerald and Vladimir Nabokov, the latter of whom I consider the greatest writer in all of history, though Arthur Golden (who really needs to write more than one novel) and Jacqueline Carey often echo in my head. I read a lot of Alexandre Dumas as well and love poets like T.S. Eliot and W.B. Yeats. Actually, I have a lot more favorite authors than that, but I'm trying to keep this Glorification ceremony to a reasonable length.

9. Do you have any advice for other potential AAR writers?

When you start out, start out with the expectation that you're probably not going to be that great. Even if you have AAR experience on other forums, recognize that you aren't going to get a following right away. There's a due-paying process on Paradox's forums, but after several completed AARs, you'll pretty much have established yourself to some degree and will have two readerships: a coterie of devoted readers who will read anything you write and a larger group that sees your name and will follow along for at least the first few posts before deciding if it's to their tastes. Everything else is a bonus.

10. What are your favorite AARs?
Farquharson is my version of Alexandre Dumas on these forums. I voraciously read everything by him I can find and when I discover something new by him, it's like it's Christmas or my birthday. Hajji Giray I has acomplished something incredible with his Guy Marlborough mystery in that he's created a protagonist that the reader immediately adopts as a favorite, a key to any mystery story. JimboIX's Corsica AAR was a vastly enjoyable read and like Mr. Golden, he needs to write something else.

11. What do you like most about AARs and AAR-writing?
The near-instantaneous feedback. I'm not going to lie, that's my favorite part of AAR writing. Paradox's forums has the best response rate of any forum I've ever been on and I've been on a lot of them. I also enjoy getting ideas for posts and storyline progression and taking the time to leisurely mull over them over the course of several days before writing them.

12. Do you have any favorite experiences on the Paradox forums?
I can't think of a specific favorite experience as I'm less involved with the community than a lot of other people, much to my chagrin at times. That said, winning the awards for BG&HC has been an amazing feeling, one that keeps me in a fantastic mood for at least a week afterwards for each award.


Once again, let us all congratulate our newest saint, Jestor!



asd

A grand army of about 15,000 Russians approached the German town of Füssen in the early morning of July 2nd 1110. The sun was just barely rising when the Russian army slowly marched toward the town. The Russians were led by the sole heir to the Russian throne, Vladimir II Monomakh. The Russian army was tired and, by Russian standards, calm. They were in no mood to massacre another city.

The Russian army was made up of an equal number of horsemen and foot soldiers. They approached the town and did nothing to it but kill a few brash young men trying to protect the town. By the time the sun had fully risen, the town was in Russian hands. Füssen is located in a valley, surrounded by scenic Alpine hills and mountains.

Little did the Russians know, as they rested in the beautiful town, that in those surrounding hills was a German army of 20,000 commanded by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, himself. The cavalry based German army knew the Russians were in the valley, and had planned their attack for a long time. The town of Füssen was a strategic starting point in capturing southern Germany, so it was only logical for the Russians to capture it, and for the Germans to engage them there.

As soon as the Russian banner was raised above the town, Henry V gave the order to attack. Suddenly 12,000 cavalrymen and 8,000 infantry came rushing out of and over every hill and ravine. Immediately, about 4,000 Russian foot soldiers started to retreat, seeing the futility of the situation. The rest had no choice but to stay and fight. On the eastern Russian flank, a large cavalry battle raged between the German knights and Russian light cavalry. After a few devastating charges, the heavy German knights had thoroughly defeated the Russian east flank.


Then, the victorious German knights charged behind the Russian infantry, trapping them. Squeezed in between a lake, and German infantry and knights, the Russian infantry was massacred. Meanwhile, on the western flank, Monomakh and his personal guard were trapped. They had been quickly surrounded by German forces. Another German cavalry force had cut off the Russian infantry from their heir. This left Monomakh and his cavalry trapped.

Once the Russian eastern flank had been defeated and the Russian center had been massacred, the Germans were able to concentrate their entire army on Monomakh and his roughly 3,000 highly trained cataphracts. Usually, such skilled heavy cavalry would have had a chance to win the battle. But since they were surrounded, they had no freedom of movement and became bogged down.


Eventually, the German forces won out and had massacred Monomakh and his men by late afternoon. Out of the original Russian force of 15,000, only about 4,000 remained by sundown, although they would be chased down and killed later on. Out of the German force of 20,000, only about 5,000 had been lost.

The Orthodox-Catholic War continued until the fall of 1110, when peace was finally made. Rome was never captured by the Orthodox, in fact little to no fighting took place near the city. Throughout most of the war, it was simply surrounded by an Orthodox army. It was agreed that the Orthodox Empire would gain the lands of Hungary, Sicily, and a small piece of central Italy. While the last major battle of the war had been a Russian defeat, the Orthodox victories at Sicily, Hungary, and Venice gave them victory in the war.

The reason why the Battle of Füssen was so important to world history is this. The Russians had no heir after the death of Vladimir II Monomakh. This was one piece in a chain of events. Later, in the beginning of 1111, Irene Doukaina, the wife of Alexius I died, presumably, of pneumonia. This led Alexius I to re-marry, and marry the oldest daughter of the current Russian Tsar, Sviatopolk II, Zbyslava. In a remarkable turn of events, this made Alexius I heir to the Russian throne!

In 1113, Tsar Sviatopolk II died of natural causes. In quite possibly, the grandest coronation ever, Alexius I was crowned Tsar of the Rus, this made Alexius the true leader of the entire Orthodox world. Ironically, one could say this was caused by Henry V and his army crushing the Russians at Füssen. The last years of Alexius I The Great’s rule were characterized by celebration, power, and prosperity. He died on August 15th 1118, remembered as one of the greatest Emperors of Orthodoxy. He was succeeded by John II Komnenos.

The most influential change in Europe by 1118, was by far the inheritance of Russia by the Orthodox Empire. At first it was difficult for all the various Russian princes and dukes to accept the Orthodox Emperor as ruler. Throughout the last years of Alexius I’s reign, Russia was struck by several minor revolts. While each of these was put down by Imperial forces, each one inspired another duke or prince to rise up and try to carve out his own nation.

But the Russians were a religious people. As church going Orthodox laity, they obeyed their priests, bishops, and religious leaders. Just months before Alexius I’s death, he “convinced”, reportedly bribed, the Metropolitan of Kiev, leader of the Russian Church, Nikifor I, to condemn the rebellions. With this proclamation, every rebellious prince in the Empire lost the support of the people. In one town, a prince that proclaimed his town independent of the Empire was beaten to death by the townspeople. By the beginning of John II Komnenos’ reign, the Russians were loyal to the Empire.


Three other nations that seemed to be on the rise in the early 12th century were Scotland, Burgundy, and Poland. King Alexander I of Scotland led an expedition into Ireland in 1109. The invasion didn’t go as planned. The Irish people were able to kill many of the better equipped Scottish troops. However, by the end of the war in 1111, the Scottish troops had gained enough ground to claim northern Ireland as their own.


Duke Hugh II of Burgundy led his armies into a second war with France. This time, the war was even more successful than before. By the end of his complex and effective campaigns in 1115, he had conquered every French land east of the Seine. Around the same time, in Poland, Duke Boleslaw III Wrymouth conquered the rest Pomerania tribes, gaining quite a powerful Baltic trading empire.


Overall, the start of the 12th century brought either doom or riches unto the nations of Europe. Nations like Hungary and Sicily were obliterated. Nations like France and the Holy Roman Empire were humbled in the face of enemies. Meanwhile, empires like Poland, Burgundy, and most of all, Orthodoxy, gained unprecedented power and were nearly invincible.

Ringelnatz said:

*Caught up and happy to have found a brilliant AAR*

Click to expand...

Wow, that's high praise

Thank you and welcome to the AAR!



asd

There probably won't be any updates until after Tuesday. I have two more finals and then I'm free!

Thanks for all the comments!



asd

The reign of Emperor John II was a quiet one. It needed to be. The face of Europe had changed so much in so little time, that the world needed to adjust in peace. John II had large shoes to fill. However, John II was a very religious and economically minded man. He did not want, nor could in a logical sense, conquer any more lands. The only land that was logical for the Imperial army to conquer was the far north.

So, as an obligation to fulfill his expectations, John II reluctantly led a large Imperial army into Finland and far northern Russia in the summer of 1120. Some would even say that John II’s army was overly large for the expedition. But John II, being the mediocre general he was, needed as large an army as possible, even if it meant ridiculously outnumbering and out-equipping the Finns.

Within two months, the major armies of Finland had been crushed under the sheer weight of the Imperial army. The pagan northerners only numbered a mere 10,000 combined, to the massive 150,000 strong Imperial army. However, the Imperial army did find setbacks in Finland, though not in human form. It was the Finnish winter that truly hurt the Imperial army. As the Orthodox forces drove deeper into Finland, they were met with harsher and harsher weather.

Finally, the massive army found itself in the middle of Finland just as winter was beginning. Predictably, this was devastating to the army and killed an estimated 10,000 Orthodox troops, more deaths than in combat. Nevertheless, by the spring of 1121, the far north had been efficiently conquered by the Orthodox Empire. All the major battles had been decisively won by the Empire.


This was the only “active” moment of John II’s reign. The rest of his reign was a quiet one. However, another legacy that John II gained was the Christianization of Finland. While the rest of Scandinavia had trouble converting to Christianity, the Christianization was smooth and with no quarrels. Instead of the fast and forced Christianization that Catholic rulers imposed on their pagans, John II opted for a slower, more peaceful conversion. As a deeply religious man, often called “Kalogiannis,” in reference to his soul, he was concerned with the reputation of the Church, as past Emperors were. This was the reason for the protesting of the Crusades, and this was the reason for peaceful Christianization of Finland.

John II even lived in Finland with his family during the years of 1122-1128, only visiting Constantinople in the winters, even then, only rarely. During those six crucial years, John II organized the Christianization of Finland. Instead of large cathedrals, John II built smaller, modest chapels in the woods, to connect with the pagan worship of nature. Instead of large armies massacring pagans, John II made Christian converts wealthy and successful, exhibiting the happiness that Christianity would bring. It was for these actions that John II was made a saint after his death. By the end of his reign most Finns had accepted Eastern Orthodoxy, and the pagans that didn't were left alone, and today, Finland is a pious, fully Orthodox land.

John II also understood the benefit of trade with the East and he openly encouraged it. And since the Empire spanned from Egypt to Russia, it had the power to cut off the entire West from Eastern trade. This gave the Empire a monopoly of Silk Road trade and drained the West from vital resources. It severely setback Western development, in every way, and this was much to the Empire’s favor. After a long, quiet and prosperous reign, John II died in 1159. He would be known by many names, Kalogiannis, the Quiet One, and the White Emperor, in reference to his “white, pure soul.” His piety and spirituality would be remembered forever as a model of Christian life. And though the Empire had stayed quiet during his reign, the rest of Europe had most certainly not.