Homelands: Tales of the Anglo-Prussians

Homelands
Chapter Ten: Black Skies over Prussia
Part 2

Prelude:
The invasion of Gotland was a move to project Prussian supremacy over Scandinavia. Eadbert never planned to actually invade Sweden, but having a massive fortress just off their shores would be a reminder to fear and respect Prussia. The invasion was the master plan of Aelle Leofricson, Eadbert’s heir and marshal. Eadbert had twelve children during his reign and four wives. He was notorious for picking fights between his children, and infamously exiled his eldest son in favor of Aelle. Aelle hoped that through military victory and prestige he would be able to secure the throne. But the marshal’s success and popularity was beginning to worry the paranoid Eadbert.

June 20th, 1129

Aelle returned from Gotland as a heroic conqueror. His defeat of the Swedish forces was swift and masterful. He was able to secure the island during the early months, and afterwards lead the reconstruction of the fortress. His return was celebrated with feasts and bon fires and merriment on the order of his father.

Afterwards Eadbert and Imela retired to their bed room. Imela cradled Gunvald close to her bosom. He slept soundly as his father looked at the updated maps his cartographer made for him.

“Did you see the peasants today, dear?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you see the way that they cheered for Aelle?”

“Of course, he is a hero! The grandest marshal of the day!”

“I mean, didn’t you see how they seemed to cheer only for him?”

Eadbert turned around to face Imela, there was a hint of terror on his face, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that all they cared about was Aelle. He is there hero; they never seemed to give you the proper respect…” She trailed off.

Eadbert scanned his memory quickly, “I think you are right! Lords, right under my nose…” He paced around violently and then eventually stopped. “Do you think he is doing it on purpose?!”

“Maybe, he might just be taken advantage of a good situation…”

“True, true… Should I remove his as heir?”

“Well, maybe not yet… maybe this is a one-time thing. If after another war the same thing happens, maybe you will need to remove him.”

“Yes, I cannot have my son undermining my own authority.” He paced around some more. Imela smiled to herself, Eadbert was easier to manipulate than she thought. Already his mind was racing with thoughts of treason and plots against his life. She had to keep herself from laughing.

“If you feel threatened by the very people in your court, could it be all the pagans and their witch craft?” She asked without trying to stress the point.

Eadbert looked up, his eyes afire, “Yes! Yes that is it! They are plotting my downfall… all of them… the Catholics too! Argh, how can you see these things when I cannot?! Am I really so blind?!”

Enewald said:

Yep, blind... evil wife!!!

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Imela isn't evil she's just out for the best of Gunvald.

Mr. C points for translations!

Homelands
Chapter Ten: Black Skies over Prussia
Part 3

Prelude:
Eadbert’s paranoia boiled over in 1134. His life had been threatened by an assassin sent by unknown hands. With his near-death experience only weeks behind him, Eadbert exploded into a rage of paranoia and hatred. Public trials of pagan and catholic nobles often led straight to public executions. Only children were spared, but forced into a monastery. Eadbert, in many ways, finished what his father started. By forcing all of the nobility to convert to orthodox or die the nation would see a more rapid pace of conversion. The purges left his court empty and quiet, which meant that displaced nobles from Russia could slowly begin to trickle in. Eadbert’s purges, more than anything, severed the final ties between Prussia and the West. The Prussia after his purges was an Eastern nation, and soon to be the sole Eastern nation.

November 9th, 1134

Aelle, despite his status with his father as a suspect, had avoided the purges. He walked with his younger brother, Gunvald, at the request of his step-mother.

“Kur bráuláju we, bralis?”

“I cannot understand you, moron.”

“Kápesh ienis tu æmi?” The small boy sobbed loudly and Aelle looked around, distressed. “Mátæ hábæ geaizliktæn, tas we nách tevá bráulæt mussáju!”

Aelle glanced around and saw his father walking away from a column of smoke. His personal bodyguard stuck close by his side as and pushed people out of his way.

“Halt!” Eadbert said when he saw his two sons. “What are you two doing outside without guard?”

“Mother told us to find you, several pagan nobles lit fire to the main church in Marienscír.”

“What?!” Eadbert began to run back to the main castle to find Imela. When he found her she had the parchment out in front of her. The King read it quickly, and then told Aelle to call up 2,000 troops.

“What are you going to do, Eadbert?”

“End this petty revolt once and forever.” Eadbert left the castle with Aelle and their troops and headed to Marienscír.

November 18th, 1134

Eadbert’s troops settled the situation in Marienscír. When they had arrived the main church was still on fire, riots had broken out between the Orthodox and Catholic citizens. From the catholic side preached a fire-and-brimstone leader, a red-haired devil of a woman

“The fall of man is here and now!” She yelled to her Catholic supporters. “We must purify these lands of Russian brutishness and Greek stupidity! Defeat the enemies of New Umbria!” He supporters were mostly Saxons who had stayed within Saxon bloodlines. While on the other side the converts and Anglo-Prussians clamored for their own right to live on the lands.

“See to it that she is burned at the stake,” Eadbert told Aelle, pointing out the leader of the Catholics.

“I will father.” Aelle marched the Prussian troops forward through the Orthodox mob and stood across from the Catholics.

“You can never silence us, for as long as your church burns, you shall burn in hell!” She shouted to Aelle. But the Prussian troops remained silent. Aelle was using it as a scare tactic. He had dressed all of his troops in black with a simple white cross over their tunics. With a simple click of his tongue, they all began to advance silently.

On the other side, shakier Catholics began to run from the crowd. Screams and sobbing could be heard as Aelle and his men advanced slowly. Soon their shields were pressed against the chests of the front row of peasants. For a brief second silence floated over the streets. In the background the church burned and people scrambled to put out the flames.

“Please, hand the witch over,” Aelle asked quietly. The woman erupted into laughter and shouted about brimstone and fire and punishment for those who did not heed the true faith of God. The Prussian soldiers pulled out their swords and waited. The front row of peasants broke and began fleeing. Soon an open path between the witch and Aelle formed and he simply rode up and pulled her off her stage. Once on the ground she was dragged behind the Prussian lines, and before the King, burned on the stake.

The Catholics of Marienscír were pacified after the brief confrontation, and though the silent troops were not retained, the uniforms became a standard for Prussian troops for the next four centuries.

Enewald said:

Witch, eww.
What odd words is this young Gunvald speaking, abandoning the tongue of his ancestors?

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I thought this was as good as a time as any to bring out the language I've been working on.

Homelands
Chapter Ten: Black Skies over Prussia
Part 4

Prelude:
Since the early eleven hundreds, Russia had been assaulted by pagan Mordvins from the east and the Cumans from the south. By 1135 much of Russia had fallen under the control of these pagan tribes. In 1133 two major losses forced Russia and even Prussia to reconsider their positions and national safety. The two most important cities in Russian Orthodoxy had fallen to the Cumans: Kiev and Chernigov. Eadbert, looking to improve his image with Constantinople and Novgorod, decided to move against the Cumans. The Southern Wars would spark half a century of crusading in Russia. In this first phase Eadbert planned to take back Chernigov and Kiev as well as connect Galich to mainland Prussia. Leading the armies of Prussia was Aelle Leofricson, who despite being in charge, was under suspicion for treason.


April 6th, 1135

The path of war was a clear cut gap in the country side. Launched from Polotsk, Aelle’s army of 12,000 single mindedly marched toward Kiev. The local Russian people left their farms and joined Aelle in the quest to rid Russia of the Cumans. North of Chernigov Aelle ran into his first opponent, Prince Asep, heir to Chief Begluk of the Cumans. Their two heirs wielded armies of nearly equal size.

The battle lasted five days of on and off fighting, but Asep was nowhere near the commander that Aelle was. By day three it was obvious that Aelle had given himself a strong strategic position by retreating back onto a hill, giving him the uphill advantage. In day four Aelle charged his troops forward forcing Asep to retreat toward Chernigov. In day five Aelle’s forces over-ran Asep’s positions and forced the remaining pagan troops to route back toward the Crimea. From there, Aelle turned west toward Kiev, to rescue the city from the Cumans and achieve the first goal of his father’s plan.

April 20th, 1135

Eadbert was in Memelbuhr, calling up a second army comprising mostly of Estonians and Fins. During the day a messenger arrived to spread word of Aelle’s victory. The people celebrated the news of victory cheering and shouting. Eadbert went to the balcony and saw the people in the streets. He turned back to his room and found Imela with Gunvald.

“They are cheering again, why do they not cheer for me? Always with Aelle, my son is eclipsing me in every way shape and form!”

“Eadbert, isn’t it obvious? He’s going to throw you out. With enough support from the people and nobles he can become King.”

“Imela, how can you see these things?”

“I am seeing things from the outside.”

“Power has blinded me! Imela, whatever should I do?”

“You have other sons…”

“But I’ve never trusted any of them as much as Aelle…”

“What about Gunvald here?” Imela suggested.

“Him?” Gunvald perked up when he heard his name. “He cannot even speak our native tongue!”

“Father, I can speak Saxon,” Gunvald said.

Eadbert sat there quietly contemplating the idea. “It is true that he is the only one that I have no reason not to trust.” He paced around; he didn’t know what to do. “Imela, let us give it time, maybe you are wrong…”

czam2007 said:

If the throne passes to Gunvald
will there be civil war, I doubt Aelle will like this

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No he doesn't, but the civil war never comes... Plus in CK civil wars only serve to strengthen the King... because soon he'll have complete leverage over the nation and no vassal large enough to topple him. This is especially true in Byzantium.

Devin Perry said:

I'm really coming to dislike Imela. I'm guessing Gunvald has Lettigalish culture.

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Imela is pretty rotten, but Gunvald is not. And yes, he is Lettish.

Enewald said:

Don't listen to that bitch!
Never trust anyone whose name ends in 'vald'!!!
Or 'wald'....

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I'll admit when I first saw the sign saying that Aelle was born I thought he was a daughter.... o

OutsiderSubtype said:

As usual, the Christians get completely overrun by pagans and Muslims forcing the player to conquer vast amounts of territory.

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The Christians took advantage of all the free troops they get through events. Ireland was united that way (this was also the first time I had seen a united Ireland).

Without giving too much away, here is a map of the phases of the Endless War, which started in 1100 and by 1300 had turned into a guerrilla war for the Christians.

Enewald said:

waht?!?!?!?
That's impossible!!!!

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Those were areas of fighting, starting with the light and working to the dark. Some regions eventually fell back under the control of Christendom, such as Scotland and Ireland. Other parts, like Germany and Italy eventually fell permanently. France is about a third Islamic and Iberia only has two Catholic provinces left.

Germany fell just recently. And you are starting to see German Muslims and especially French and Hungarian Muslims (a branch of the Arapads went muslim in the early 1200's).

Homelands
Chapter Ten: Black Skies over Prussia
Part 5

Prelude:
By fall of 1135 Aelle had secured a land connection between Galich and mainland Prussia. This connection included the two cities that Eadbert had original begun this crusade for: Kiev and Chernigov. With these two cities he could further assert his power over Russia. But now, with victory already achieved, Eadbert commanded Aelle to sieze a port on the Black Sea coast, to improve trade and communications with the Roman Empire. And as Orthodoxy strengthened Catholicism continued to wan. Berbers had united the Iberian Peninsula and had taken their first steps back into France. Sardinia and Sicily, once Christian fortresses in the sea had fallen as well to the tide of Muslim encroachment. The Long War, or the Infinite War as it was known in Italy, was about to begin, and would forever scar Europe.

October 9th, 1135

The Prussian armies were building their camp for the approaching winter. So far their victories over the pagans were saga worthy, and having achieved such a victory had put spirits high. When the spring came and the snow melted the plan from there was to march south and capture territory on the Black Sea. They had high hopes and knew that victory would be inevitable. But Aelle was back in Memelbuhr for the time being. He was celebrating his victory with his father, discussing plans for a new city on the shore of the Black Sea.


“A massive city in the name of my Grandfather,” Eadbert explained, “Morcargrad!” Imela and Gunvald sat at the table as well, and complimented Eadbert’s generosity.

“Yes, father,” Aelle said, “I shall build a grand city in the honor of all our family!” The four family members sat alone in a large dining room. They weren’t seeking a large party and instead Eadbert had found it safer to be alone.

“Father, we could use some reinforcements in the south,” Aelle said after a long pause, “We are down to about 9,000 men from the cold and casualties. And that number will only be lower come spring.”

“I don’t know how much I have to spare, Aelle,” Eadbert said truthfully.

“Father, I cannot win these wars without your cooperation!”

“My cooperation? Are you forget who is King?!”

“Are you forgetting who is marshal? I need these troops or I cannot fulfill your orders.”

“How big of an army can the Cumans field?”

“I have no idea, we had been trailed by one of 12,000 men in the previous campaign, and I assume there are others out there. They rule a vast area, father.”

Eadbert quieted, Aelle was being rather forceful about these troops, but he might be right. But what if he needed them for a coup? “I shall join you, Aelle. I shall call up another 6,000 soldiers and I will march with you on the battle field! I shall want to be there when we found Morcargrad!”

Aelle was satisfied; he got the troops he needed, “Fine, I can agree with that.”

Imela smiled at the mistrust she was growing between Eadbert and Aelle. Soon her son would be sitting on the throne. A Prussian ruling Prussians. He spoke the language of the land and of the people. The Saxons were old blood, and Gunvald was the metaphorical doctor’s leech.


End Chapter Ten

Enewald said:

Noes, the evil scheme is working!
Someone help Aelle!
Don't let a bitch come between two men of honour and glory!
Don't let the old blood die out!

-'Boy, when you go saxon, you never go back'

I loved the aar from which this quote comes... too bad MechTheDane hasn't been around for a while...
It was somehow nearly the same starting situation with saxons establishing a empire in Prussia-Pomerania.

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I'd try to heed your warning, but I am already in the 1300's... but take solace in the fact that only half of the Leofricson line becomes Lettish, and the other half is Saxon... with some Russians in there...