Erik I “The Spyder” Kolbeinsson Crovan
Emperor of the Crovan Empire
A Very Boring Halloween
(31 October 1496)
“Well then, Seigmund and Asta have completed their investigations into the Empire. I am a grandfather twice over, thanks to my son Hakon and his twin boys, and William has completed the Epic Poem ‘The Greek Crusade.’ My cup runneth over. William, I am going to save your little gem for last. First, Seigmund, Asta, please begin.”
“Right, of course your Imperial Majesty. I started with an assessment of your territories and our neighbors.”
“First off, the southern lands are all gone, as you know. This has actually made us much stronger. By wisely shedding all those peripheral lands, the Crovan Empire is much more compact, tightly organized and easier to maintain and defend. I think the directions the Empire needs to expand to continue this trend are quite obvious. Although, in addition to securing the Baltic Coastline and the Scandinavian Interior, I would suggest we consider seizing that small Kingdom in Ireland, and maybe a piece of the Spanish coast, to kind of surround the rest of Europe.”
“As far as external threats, well, there are two current threats and two emerging threats. First, Great Lithuania. We don’t have any real conflicts as of yet, but we hold that small swatch of land in the heart of Lithuania and, I think, we both have designs on Finland. They are also the largest and most powerful nation, excepting, of course, The Crovan Empire.”
“The Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia is another threat. They are consolidating their territories in Southern Germany, they have a stranglehold on the Imperial throne and we have several interlaced territories. Add to that the fact that you have personally humiliated the King and your families have been in competition for some time and it becomes clear that conflict with them will probably be inevitable and constant until one of us is destroyed.”
“As far as emerging threats, well, England has consolidated, we have an ancient enmity with the Brahe Clan which runs the place and we have a competition over control of Scotland. For them, I recommend we bribe ourselves into their good graces and then kick them out of Scotland when they least expect it.”
“Finally, The Grand Duke Mecklenburg in Britanny. This Lord has migrated almost as much as your family has, Your Imperial Majesty. They hold a portion of the old Duchy of Jutland, so they will have to be dealt with eventually. I recommend we continue to support the French Duchy of Provence as a counterweight against them.”
“And what about all of those other countries and continents outside of Europe and Asia? I’ve never heard about them before?”
Siegmund regarded the map for a moment. “Oh, that’s nothing really. I issued them a very large piece of parchment and cartographers hate to leave blank space. I guess they didn’t feel like painting dragons.”
“Anyway, onto the military. Now, we maintain the largest in the world, almost 100,000 men under arms and enough to battle both Bohemia and Lithuania at the same time. However, our projected maximum available reserves are quite tiny, so our army is actually quite fragile. In any seriously prolonged war, we will probably need to make extensive use of Mercenaries. That will be something to keep in mind, financially.”
“For now, we are maintaining 10 Active Divisions, each consisting of 6 Regiments of Longbowmen and 4 Regiments of Light Cavalry. This has been effective in past wars, so we will probably keep this structure for now, in spite of the expense.”
“As for the Navy, well, we have two equal fleets, one based in the Canary Islands and one based in the Baltic. Each is able to transport a full division anywhere in a moment’s notice.”
“Now, to pay for this military, the Crovan Empire has the largest income in the world, although Great Lithuania might have surpassed us. I think they acquired another country through marriage, which gave them quite a boost.”
“Unfortunately, do to the size to the army we must maintain, and our frequent use of it in Wars of Glorious Conquest, we are faced with runaway inflation, which as of yet, we cannot find a way to curb. This is a big problem that will have to be faced or else our economy, military, everything will just collapse.”
Erik regarded the scroll carefully. After all, there was still so much to do and he was already 41. He then regarded his son. “Tell me, Siegmund, let us say that I must engage in a few more wars in my lifetime. Could inflation control be put off, say, until another, less glorious, reign?”
Siegmund looked through his papers and thought for a while. Regardless of his personal feelings on the matter, he knew what the emperor wanted to hear. “Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“Excellent. Speaking of that less-glorious reign, Hakon, I believe you have some exciting news to share.”
Hakon was annoyed as he’d hoped for something besides a reign of Glorious Accounting, but still, fatherly pride took over. “Yes father, I do. Or should I say, grand-father! I have secured the Imperial succession by fathering twin sons. The first out I have named Gunnar, in honor of that Most Christian Monarch, Gunnar the Self Mutilated, father of Half-Dan The Great. I have named his younger brother Hakon, in honor of Hakon II the Tasty, your posthumous grandfather. I think little Hakon will be trained for the priesthood.”
Erik shrugged. “Well, Hakon, interesting choices, naming your sons after those who made way for great monarchs rather than the great monarchs themselves.”
Asta cut in, “yes, father, I find that interesting, and for just the same reasons.”
“Yes. Well, now that that is done, Asta, what have your spies found out about these Protestants in Viken?”
Hakon swallowed hard as his sister spoke. He felt like her eyes never left him. “Well father, we have found two major groupings of Protestants within the Empire. The Protestant Church of Olaf Crovan, Christ Reborn and the Reformed Church of Audun Crovan, Christ Mistaken. The Audunites, for now, seem to be strongest in your French lands, while the Olafites are strongest right here in Viken itself.”
“Now then, the Audunites and the Olafites both refute the power of the Pope, but otherwise seem rather doctrinally similar to each other in that both claim a descendant of Gudrod Crovan, our progenitor, as Christ Reborn. There are a couple of key differences though.”
“
The Audunites claim that Jesus returned in the form of Audun Crovan. He was to convince King Skule to liberate the Holy Land from the infidels so that he could return with Power. Instead, he was murdered. Since Christ did not return with power when Bard II conquered Jerusalem, the Audunites think that God actually wanted Skule to Crusade in some other location and Audun Christ simply heard God wrong on his way down from Heaven. They are waiting for Christ to return with the correct location of the necessary Crusade.”
“
The Olafites draw their inspiration from a later Crovan, namely Arch-Bishop Olaf Crovan. He was the Bishop of Constantinople under Eadbert the Mover and Alfred, last of the vile Saxon-Crovans. Twice excommunicated by the Pope, addicted to cheap wine and covered in a rather nasty rash, Olaf is not what most of us think of when we think of Christ returning to Earth, but this church is huge with the serfs and vile peasants, and those who love them,” a small smile danced over Asta’s lips, “because they see Olaf as one of them. A very personal savior, if you will.”
Asta shrugged. “Neither one is a threat, for now, father. In fact, since both sects look to our family as God on Earth, I would highly recommend a program of tolerance. As for the most useful, I would say the Olafites could better used, simply because Audun Crovan is a known Erlend-Crovan, while I am fairly certain I can, ahem, provide evidence that Olaf was a good Aslak-Crovan, like ourselves.”
“Excellent work, Asta. But, I also asked you to discover the leaders of these sects, what have you there?”
“Oh we are working on that father, do not worry.” She smiled at Hakon as he shrank into his seat, “and we have some excellent leads.”
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