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A Hellenistic Hispania, hea? Most certainly an interesting divergence!
 
Wow, those lucky Iberians will get to be oppressed by yet another foreign minority.

An intriguing update, can't wait to find out how things in Europe develop in the future.
 
Three Roman Empires at the same time (four if Hungary and Germany both count)? Terribly confusing for everyone, I should think :p
 
Iain Wilson - Why, thank you. The blood stains are kinda cheap in my opinion though. :p

Mr. Capiatlist - Cool it is. The World will be pretty messed up when come into EU...

Hallcha - Same as above. It's a cool idea, I know. :D

Enewald - Both. Inheritance followed by civil war caused by 0 loyalty. At least, that's what I understood from the log and the Jimenez family tree. Let me tell you something, they weren't lazy when it comes to marriage.

Eams
- Wasn't it Spain that did the oppressing? :D

AllmyJames
- Hungary is part of Germany. And the Greek Empire is no longer a roman empire. So that leaves 2 Roman empires. One's holy. And the other one is in Spain.... My head hurts....

I will probably update on Friday and then on Saturday, coming back to the usual weekly updates.
 
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As he returned, Silvester found England just as he left it. The fate of the Asketilsons was not his. And it was after his return that he sired the first heir to the throne. For pretty much everyone, it was high time. Victoria, his wife was 27 at that time, while Silvester was 24. A very late start by medieval standards.

While his wife stayed in London, Silvester decided on his next target. It was decided that Ireland should be reduced to their home island, while the rest of the British isles was to be redistributed between England and Scotland which was starting to depend on England more and more, both militarily and politically.

The war started a few years after Silvesters firstborn came to the world. Silvesters madness came back as he named his son Nero, claiming that his son will be as powerful as the Roman emperor of old. It's claimed that he also said "Who knows? Maybe London will have the honour of being cleansed by fire too.". With his son 4 years old, the king declared war upon Ireland, and invaded the Emerald Isle.

As Anglo-Scottish forces landed on the shores, Irish messengers were sent to France. Ireland hopped that it's ally would help them against their powerful neighbour. Unfortunately for them, France had other plans for the British isles. Irish forces were pretty much swept away, no major battles took place, and the egyptian veterans proved as effective in more "british" climates.

O'Brians were exiled from the British isles, and Ireland was established as a "Merchant Monarchy" alike to England and Scotland. And alike to those two, the official sign of Ireland became a cross of the patron saint. In Ireland, it Saint Patrick's saltire. And so the Irish merchants were elevated to nobles, great amounts of new noble houses springing up while the old Irish nobles all became O'Brians. Ireland was born anew.

Just as they decided before the war, the isles were divided between the two allies, the northernmost islands and Mann going to England, while the rest went to Scotland.

And so, in 1163 A.D., the British isles were united under the rule of one man for the first time. Even if the rule wasn't official, both Scotland and Ireland were in fact, English puppets.

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British Isles
1163 Anno Domini
 
Enewald - Not yet. But we need to have a civil war if we want to be realistic. ;)

1 reply? Who do you think you are, forum?!

On a more serious note, you probably noticed that I can't really decide on a map style yet. Don't despair, soon things will normalise. It'll probably be something simple.

And the update will hopefully come in the evening.

PS. Check out my brand new custom user title. :cool:
 
Check out my brand new custom user title. :cool:

Spotted that!

I wanted "Mortal Sword of the Great Spirit" but it's too many characaters.
 
I wanted "Mortal Sword of the Great Spirit" but it's too many characaters.

How about "Mortal Sword of Great Spirits" ? It fits. Or "Mortal Sword of the Spirits"

BTW, to show you that I've decided on a map style. It'll be the usual map with a paper texture (Various ones. Maybe metal when get to that stage.) and some nice elements from time to time. Like bloodstains. :cool:

Examples - Edited out. Took too much space, and everyone that reads already seen it.
 
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It would have been pretty ironic if Silvester forgot to have any kids.

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but what's the ingame status of Ireland?
 
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It was a strange feeling. He was a stranger in a strange place. And the berbers, people who in the past were alien to him, now were almost the closest he had to kin. As he slowly rode down the valley, he thought of the past. He was only 17, and his past was more colourful and exciting than that of many men. Even nobles. Born as a bastard child to someone very important, he received education that was reserved only for the best. Later he was rejected, and forced to the streets. There he made a career as a thief and rogue, they called him λευκό λύκο. Clad in white arabian silks he roamed the Thieves highway, as the rooftops of Athens were known. Already, the capital of the Greek empire was bigger than Constantinople before it's fall to the Turks. And so, the city was filled with riches. For those who knew where to look.

He brought his horse to a halt as something alerted his senses. Years of depending only on yourself make you notice things you normally wouldn't. And so it was now. He could see silhoutes of men running between the rocks even though it was almost pitch black. He slowly drew his sword, making sure he didn't make any noise and whispered into his horses ears. "Slowly Roach*. Slowly." As his horse started to move forward he looked about. It seemed the men, whoever they were, have taken their places as there was no movement whatsoever.

An ordinary man wouldn't even see the attacker. But he was far from ordinary. The man that leapt on him from above ended his journey impaled on the simple lenghtened Xiphos of the lone rider. The sword was one of the most common in the Empires. The attacker was not. Clad in a black tunic, the word saracen beemed from him. Another thing that put him out of place in that desolate place was the fact that he had no ring finger, and in it's place was a long sharp blade covered in what appeared to be poison. He threw the man off himself along with the sword and put his horse into a gallop. Short shouts from around him confirmed that the attackers were arabian. Following the shouts, 4 bolts missed him by a few centimetres. He desperately tried to make the horse go quicker, he valued his life pretty much, and wasn't keen on giving it up to the Hashishins.

Fortunately for him, the assassins didn't have horses with them, they probably didn't thought much of their target and thought they didn't need them. It turned out they were wrong. As he and Roach left the valley behind, he thought of the man that ordered the assassination. It was clear who did it. There were only one people who had enough money and knowledge to employ the Hashishin and know of his existence at the same time. It was sad they didn't understand he wanted nothing to do with them anymore. A sigh of relief came out of him as he saw lights. He finally arived at his destination. Now that he reached Murcia he could rest, and hopefully have some fun while the assassins runned around in search of him.

He slowed the horse to a walk and continued onwards while the lights of the city shone in front of him and the Roman banners flutered on the wind.

=This narrative took place a few years after the rest of the update=

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Even thought the future of the invasion looked bleak, the romans prevailed. This was caused by what for them was Gods help, for the castillians an unthinkable betrayal, and for the franks a simple example of their foreign politics. Grabbing occasions as they went by.

In 1164 A.D. the Franks invaded the rocky north of Spain, the castillian forces split which was their biggest mistake. The northern half was swept away by the massive veteran armies of the French empire, while the southern half was harrased by the moors while the romans used their old strategies and cut off their supply lines. The spaniards were destroyed by the moors which were later destroyed by the romans. Castille was pretty much split into half in a few years.

It was in 1167 A.D. that the kingdom of Castille and León signed peace with both of the attackers. The treaty of Córdoba "relieved" them of all but the northern-west of the peninsula. The french were once again victorious, while the romans could recreate the bureaucracy and intrigue they so much loved in a new Basileia ton Romaion.

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Iberian Peninsula
1167 Anno Domini

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*Roach
*λευκό λύκο - White Wolf (According to translators. Would be nice to have confirmation about grammar and such.)
 
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Intresting. I think I have an idea as to whose son the White Wolf might be ;)

Good to see the Byzantines making a comeback - what about the Moors? Are they now confined to North Africa?
 
Enewald - I really, really hope you're right. They're the biggest AI nation I have ever seen in CK. Seriously.

AllmyJames - He is the combination of pretty much all cliches possible, but he's not the bastard son of HIM (See what I've done there? HIM! As in H.I.M.). The moors are indeed confined to Africa. And soon they'll have to move.

Writing the update right now.
 
Nearly forgot - from my sketchy knowledge of Ancient Greek, I think lukos leukos would be better. Nouns first, adjectives second. And in ancient Greek at least (not sure about 12th century version :p), masculine nouns always end in a sigma.
 
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As he sat down the voice in his head started shouting again. He wished he would stop. He gave him a headache. "Idiocy! Pure Idiocy! Sending your firstborn off to France?! Have you lost your mind?!" Silvester closed his eyes and spoke slowly. "I have not lost my mind. Nero can learn much in the court of the de Normandies." Henry, as Silvester called him bursted into laughter. "Learn? He can learn how to be a bloody hostage! Or a puppet in the hands of the Franks! It's not like they need more land to rule over." Silvester slammed his hand on the table. "Enough! I will not tolerate an uprising in my own mind of all places! Silence yourself Henry, or I'll make father come here!" The voice quieted down, even though he could still hear grumbling.

He sighed and stood up, he couldn't waste the whole day trying to keep himself in line. He had work to do. An official visit to the court of the most powerful man in Europe wasn't something you do everyday. And Silvester thanked God for it. If it was, England would go bankrupt in a month. The lavish gifts, the entourage, everything costed him a fortune. And it wasn't like England was the richest country on Earth. They were prosperous, but not rich. "You shouldn't worry so much." This time Silvester was relieved to hear the voice. It was a long time since Ralph visited him. "England has the finest merchants of Europe. Even if Paris is the center of the world, it's England and it's merchants that make it so rich." He really enjoyed talking with Ralph. He made everything seem so easy. "I guess you're right. Paris brings much wealth to us too. If it wasn't for our merchants and their tenacity in bringing wares from as far away as Athens, Paris wouldn't be so rich."

Silvester continued on and finally arived at the courtyard. He slowly made his away across the crowd of people that made sure he got to Paris equipped properly and opened the door leading to the alchemics tower. It was a long way up thanks to the endless stairs, but he had to talk with his son before they left. It didn't really bother him that Nero was spending so much time with the Mauretanian mage. He figured the young boy could learn much and maybe one day become as skilled in alchemy as the strange man that arrived at the court 2 years ago.

"That's not how you do it, you mongrel!" The shout was barely hearable because of the explosion seconds before. Silvester could hear steps and a window opening. As he sat down on a nearby chair and coughed, the smoke slowly vanished from the room and he could see the alchemic doing something with bottles on one of the many tables in the room, and his young son sitting on a chair with his head down. The mage was shouting at the boy from time to time and he didn't notice the king for quite some time. He probably wouldn't notice him at all if Silvester wouldn't alert him to his presence by coughing.

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Mustapha the Black, The court alchemic and mage since 1165 A.D., considered a charlatan by everyone except the king

"Ah, your majesty! I was just trying to teach your son how to create a simple poison base. And he still found a way to ruin it all!" Nero started to investigate the floor more closely. "I'm sorry master Mustapha..." The alchemic looked amused. "Sorry? For what? For wasting my time?! Why, don't bother!" Mustapha turned back to Silvester. "I quit. This boy just doesn't want to learn! He has potential. Mountains of potential, but he doesn't want to use it." Silvester looked at Nero sulking in the corner. "I'm sure he can improve. Right, boy?" Nero looked up and grimaced. "I can try dad..."

Nero.jpg

Nero Arthur de Anglléterre, 8 year old heir to the throne of England, considered a prodigy by the court

Silvester looked back at Mustapha. "See?" The alchemic looked like he was about to explode. "Try?!" As the alchemic started to "educate" the boy a familiar voice came into the kings mind. "You're sure this is good for him?" Silvester looked down. Every time he spoke to his father he felt like a small boy again. "Yes. He can learn much. And he needs to use his potential." "You're still blaming yourself for the death of Henry aren't you? He betrayed you. Tried to kill you, you had to do what you did." Silvester walked out of the room and started walking down the stairs. "I know... But... He was my only friend..." "It's not your fault Silvester. You have done nothing to earn his betrayal." And then the saxon came. "Ha! He did everything to earn it! He was weak, puny! He asked for it!" "How can you say that you dirty barbarian!" Silvester shaked his head and continued down the stairs, his mind being a battlefield for the people dwelling inside.
 
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