The Eternal Exile: A Nation Hopping AAR

Range: Sounds good, I'll work a scoundrel sword fighter into it.
Dewirix: Oddly it worked first time! But since I was playing the game as a nice diplomat and the Pope hadn't done much before I took control I had good relations with everyone.

Also note I said the 'Roman Empire', not the 'Holy' one.

(OOC Note: I do not use the term 'Byzantine' for IC things as it simply didn't exist then.)

INTERMISSION

29/10/1425



The glory of the Roman Empire in the 15th century was somewhat diminished from its past, but still they put on a show. As the ships sailed up the coast and docked at Civitavecchia it was as though Justinian was still alive and Rome itself was ruled by the Empire. However, to the watchers on the shore it was clear that this opulence was so much smoke and mirrors. The galleys and barges were old, if well maintained, the retinues small, and the wealth minimal.
However, despite this, the title of Basileus still carried some weight, and the Papal Legate was there to greet the Emperor. This Emperor, Ionnes VIII Palaiologos, had ascended from his father Manuel after the latter died in 1412.

Talena had ridden down the road and passed the spot where she had fought the Milanese troops. There was no sign of the struggle now except for a deep crater in one cobble where her bullet had gone after going through the man she had shot. With a deep breath she spurred her horse on, past the spot.
Further on she had seen the crowds and decided to go to the port. She had sold what little she had in Rome, and decided to go to Genoa, and from there into Germany. She reckoned that there might be some interesting sights, and a bit more civilised as well.
However, when she arrived at the port she saw a magnificent display was on show. Stabling her horse she went down to get a closer look.
A procession went past, with guards and attendants dressed in burnished gold and silk, and amidst it all was the crowned magnificence of the Emperor himself. However, as Talena looked closer she saw that the gold was painted bronze, and the silk was somewhat threadbare.
“Who are they?” she asked a man in the crowd.
“It’s the Emperor of the Greeks. He has come to seek the help of the Holy Father against the infidel!”

Talena nodded and walked away, down towards the quay. The ‘Emperor of the Greeks’ sounded to her like the Byzantine Empire. She knew about them vaguely from distant history lessons, and had heard about them in her time spent in Rome. They were the last remnants of the Roman Empire, now beset by Turks. She had wanted to go to Constantinople, but...well, it seemed like they were faring worse in this timeline then in reality. Recently news had come of Castilian and Venetian raids on their holdings, and the city itself was blockaded for several months.

By the waterfront was a marquee where guests could meet, but Talena avoided it and went to the rows of galleys and boats. She could see at first hand the ceremonial Byzantine ships and the other cogs and caravels in the port.
“It is quite forlorn, is it not?” a woman said from behind her. Her words were in Italian, but quite accented, as if she wasn’t accustomed to speaking the language.
Talena turned to see a young, quite pretty woman in Greek style robes and dress. She was not ostentatious, and she had no entourage with her, as such Talena thought she was just one of the women accompanying the Emperor.
“Yes, I think it will take more than a coat of paint,” Talena replied vaguely, turning back to the ships.
There was a small laugh from the Greek lady. “So true. The cost of war is very great. When I was a little girl I dreamt that one day the Roman Empire would once again return to its former glory.”
“Do you think the Pope will help you?” Talena asked, more to make conversation than anything.
“Perhaps...but I doubt it. For centuries we have defended them against the infernal Muslims, and they still take us for granted. While we ask for help, we can survive on our own.”
To Talena’s mind it sounded rather unconvincing. “Yeah, but you do need help to survive.”

Before the lady could reply there was the clatter of feet and armed guards appeared along with a courtier. He got entirely too close to Talena.
“You will lower your eyes when you address her Imperial Highness, the Crown Princess!” he shouted. “She does not deign to speak to everyone!”
Talena just gaped at the Greek woman. So this woman was heir to the crown of the Roman Empire?
“How do you do, Talena Mazari?” Princess Zoë asked.
Talena was too confused by this double blow that she didn’t notice that Zoë's voice sounded different. “I...am well, your Majesty,” she managed to say.
It was only then that she realised that the Princess had last spoken in Greek to her, a language she did not know, and that she had replied unthinkingly in Italian!
“So it is true, you can understand...” Zoë said, changing back to Italian herself. To her guards and the courtier she spoke in Greek which Talena naturally understood because of her translator, but could not speak it.
“I...you know who I am?”
Zoë seemed quite pleased to have flustered her. “Of course. Though the Empire may be diminished we still are not blind to the world around us. During my grandfather’s reign you appeared in the court of Louis of the Franks...then to Hispania, and finally to Rome. Oh yes, you are quite well known by those who are interested.”
Talena didn’t know what to say. “And?” was all she could manage to say. It was lame, but the Princess was the first person she had met since coming back in time who seemed unfazed by her. Perhaps it was because she was the first woman she had met with real power of her own.
“And what?” Zoë smiled. “Many legends surround you, Talena. Some are doubtless true, others are not. I see now that your youth is no mere myth. And your ability to understand all words spoken too. I have returned to speaking Greek, and you have not noticed.”
“Look here,” Talena said, trying to regain control. “Even if I am what you say...why are you so interested? I’ve never even been to Constantinople!”
“But you could...” Zoë said. “I leave in two day’s time for home. I came to Rome to see the ancient city, while my father negotiates and tries to make the Latins understand their peril. I am his daughter, and heir to the throne. Therefore I must return to the city and govern in his stead. But you...you are welcome to join me, Talena.”
“I still don’t understand why you are so interested!”
Zoë raised one eyebrow. “Because, Talena, you are the only other woman I’ve ever met who makes her own path in the world. Not to mention that you intrigue me, with your warrior skills, your youth, and your skill with languages. Of course, I understand if you do not wish to join me. I leave on the tide the morning after tomorrow. Be here if you wish to journey to the ‘Queen of Cities’ with me.”
With that the Princess turned and left.

Talena was left alone by the waterfront. The conversation just gone had confused and astounded her. Yet, caution and cynicism stepped in. It would be sensible to avoid Constantinople, which was almost permanently under semi-siege by the Turks. It’d be wise to avoid that area and head north into the Christian lands of North Italy and Germany. It’d be a good idea to not get involved in a city that seemed destined to fall.
Common sense, logic and intuition told Talena all these things...but she knew what her choice would be.

Two days later she was on board a ship bound for Constantinople.



^ The Princess Zoë

Thanks guys! The updates in Byzantium are by a long way the favourite ones I've done so far. I hope you like them!

Dewirix: I thought it only reasonable that people start noticing a woman who goes around doing so much. A sainthood? Hmm...we shall see!
Range: Thanks!
Sqwerlpunk: Glad to have you on board. Please feel free to many any suggestions or comments!
CatKnight: Oh yes, she certainly does. Among other weapons....
blsteen: Yup, eight rounds and the Queen of Cities. Sounds like a song.

And now, because I almost died when the forum wasn't up for 2 days...here's another update!

--------

IONNES VIII PART 1/1

24/12/1425

xxx

Talena thoroughly detested the sea. She knew this now with certainty. The journey from Castile to Rome had been bad enough, but that had been relatively short, and in smooth conditions. However, for two months she had suffered through the sea voyage around the tip of Italy, across the Adriatic to Roman ports in southern Greece, and then up the Ionian sea and into the Sea of Mamara.



However, on this day Talena knew it was all worth it. As the ship came into the harbour of Constantinople, it was dusk, and the setting sun reflected in fire upon the domes of the churches, upon the white of the walls, and the beautiful, cascading old buildings of the capital. The Roman Empire might be a shadow of itself, and much of the city might be deserted or in ruins, but it still looked magnificent. It was the symbol of a bygone age, a city whose symbolism had long outweighed its actual power.



“My father used to take me out here at nightfall when I was a girl,” Zoë said, appearing beside Talena.
“It’s beautiful,” Talena acknowledged. “I always wanted to come here, you know.”
“Well now you have your chance,” Zoë said with a smile.
Two months of sea voyage was enough to strain almost anyone’s nerves, especially Talena’s. However, the Princess always affected to seem composed, steady, determined. When they had struck a storm off Lesbos she had strode the decks giving praise above the howling winds while Talena had just clung onto the rail and tried not to throw herself overboard.
In this time Zoë and one of her servants had begun teaching Talena Greek. She had progressed well enough, helped by the translator. She could say some basic sentences, and learned more every day.
“You’ve been very kind to me, Princess. I do not wish to trouble you any further.”
“In the days of glory, when the Empire covered from Nubia to Venice the Emperor had ten thousand servants just within the palace grounds. Now, there are just two hundred. This means there is a lot of room for you...should you wish it.”
Talena looked at the younger woman’s earnest, smiling face, and could not refuse. She had come on this voyage on a whim, so why not spend it with someone she shared a mutual friendship with?
“Very well, Princess. But no luxuries or silver plates!” she jested.
Zoë looked grave, but did smile also. “I promise you, for we have none of either for ourselves,” she said sadly.



Fortunately Talena was saved from speaking more by their arrival in harbour. As the ship pulled up to the dockside, they could see a dozen soldiers waiting with torches. Their leader was an impressive looking man with all the hallmarks of a general. The same piercing eyes and fine features as the Princess had could be found on him, showing they were related.
As Zoë disembarked he bowed before her. “Welcome, Princess. I am at your disposal as always.”
“Thank you, General Romanos. I trust things have gone well?”
“They have, Your Highness.”
With the formalities complete, they started to walk. Zoë gestured Talena forward. “Uncle, this is Talena, a most exceptional woman.”
Romanos looked Talena up and down, noting her sword, lack of dress, and her scarred face. “So I see, Zoë. This is the one you spoke of?”
“It is. She is to live in the palace and be accorded all respects.”
The General gave Talena another, appraising look, and then nodded. “As you wish, Majesty.”
“How is your son?”
“He is well, the doctors tell me he will be healthy, and my wife is now recovering.”
“That is good news. Come, Talena, I will show you the forum as we pass by on the way to the palace.”



xxx

(Voice log of Captain Talena Mazari, 14251225.)
It’s been ten years since Felipe died. Ten years! God I feel old...except I don’t. In a couple of years I’ll be sixty. When is this going to stop?
The Princess showed me around the palace today after the service. This must have been a great city once, a beautiful place. I read that it once held a million people. Now there’s less than a tenth of that, and whole areas of the city are deserted.
It seems Zoë has taken a shine to me. I wonder what she wants me to do...it’s not like I can save her city by myself. I can’t work it out, myself.

The Roman Empire, Byzantium was a later label, in 1425 was a shell of its former triumphs. By this time just southern Greece, Constantinople and Crete remained in Imperial hands. A few years before the Empire had made some gains against the Turks and had attempted to seize Rhodes from the Knights. Both these attempts had failed, and the Empire was on the verge of collapse, and only other concerns had protected the Empire from the attentions of the Ottomans.

On his long journey through Italy, France and the Balkans Emperor Ionnes became ill, and shortly after his return to Constantinople he died on the tenth of October 1426, just under a year after his visit to Rome. Few men had done so much to try and save the Empire, but it was apparent to most that the Empire was beyond saving.




And so the third reigning Empress of the Roman Empire was crowned as Zoë II Palaiologos. Could she stem the oncoming storm and let the Empire survive just a little longer?

Aye, it would be! I think my next AAR, probably with DW, will be a Byzantine one.

However, a long way to go before then. I've played up to 1540, and I'm very pleased indeed how things are going. I've written the story 12 posts ahead too, so have no fear about me dropping this one!

I always thought that Zoe is an awesome name, and I was stoked to see that Byzantium had an heir with that name...and with such good stats too!

ZOË II PART 1



(Voice log of Captain Talena Mazari, 14261016.)
It’s the day after the funeral. I...don’t really know what to tell Zoë. I wonder how she’ll react now that she is the Empress, and her father is dead. I guess she’ll be looking for an heir to the throne. The next in line is General Romanos’ son Theodoros. I guess she’ll keep that in mind.
It was a very moving ceremony where she was crowned. They made an effort, but even at the coronation things looked old and worn out. I don’t know how long the Empire can hold out if there’s another war. I mean, considering that in my history there would have only been a few decades left anyway.
I went for a walk to see-

xxx

The door to Talena’s chamber opened. Turning around guiltily, cut off mid-sentence, Talena tried to stuff the voice recorder into the desk draw. However, she was distracted, and it slipped from her hand and hit the cold stone floor with a crack.
Talena looked up to see the new Empress looking at her in surprise. “Your Majesty...I...” Talena said.
Zoë didn’t seem angry, but she did walk over and look down at the recorder, now with a noticeable crack in it. She knelt down, so that her gold and silver silk robe collected around her, and picked it up.
“Ah,” Talena said. “I dropped it,” she explained lamely.
“What...is it?” Zoë asked, turning it over and over in her hands.
Talena was faced with the option of lying, and though that’d work, there was nothing that sprung to mind that she could use as an explanation. To the Empress the technology would be astonishing no matter what she called it. In this case therefore the truth was probably the best option.
“It’s a device that records my voice and lets me hear it again.” She took it from the young monarch and pressed a button on it. The words came out from her latest entry, startling the Empress.
“Talena...I have never seen such a thing before!” Though she seemed surprised she seemed more curious then angry, and more intrigued then afraid.
“Yes, well it’s all a little complicated.”
“Clearly. But in a way I am not surprised. You come to the court of the Frankish King in the time of my grandfather, and you are here now. Even allowing for rumours that would make you...sixty years old? If you don’t mind me saying, you look much better then most people who have reached that age. You can understand any language spoken, and you fight in ways that have never been seen. Talena I am not a fool...there is something special about you. Will you not say? Will you not tell?”
Talena blushed a rather fetching shade. “I never thought you were a fool, Majesty. I just didn’t want to cause...well...problems.”
Zoë raised one elegant eyebrow. “I think that after how famous you have become among certain circles trouble is the last thing you should be worried about. But are we not friends, you and I? I may be Basilissa of the Roman Empire, but I trust you, against the advice of many. Can you not repay me that trust?”

Talena looked at the earnest young royal again and nodded. She had told Louis all those years before, so why not Zoë?
“I am from the future, Empress. I am from a time many centuries ahead of here, and this device is a creation of that era. It is a very different place from here, a place where women have almost all the same rights and options as men, and when we have travelled to the Moon and Mars and beyond.”
Zoë, to her credit, did not immediately react. Faced with someone so puzzling as Talena, she was not surprised when she had answered. As before with Louis, in a world where miracles and religion were real and tangible, such a thing was not impossible to believe.
“How is it that you are here then? Are all people from your time ageless?” Zoë asked.
“No, Empress. I...well I got here by accident. I am a soldier, a leader in my time, and I suppose I got here by bad luck.”
“Or good, perhaps,” Zoë said thoughtfully. “If you come from the future then you know what will happen, yes? If I now could go back to when I was ten I could tell myself what would happen.”
“Ah...yes. Well, things are not happening how they should. Things are different. Louis of France should never have been on the throne at all, and France should have been divided for decades longer.”
“So what about me?” Zoë asked intently.
“I...had never heard of you. It is possible you never existed in my history.”
“Then we can change what will happen?”
“Yes, I suppose so. I can’t really help there. I’ve probably ruined everything.”
Zoë seemed to have something on her mind. “So what happens to our city? What happens to Constantinople?”
Talena couldn’t meet the other woman’s gaze. “The Turks capture it. It becomes their capital, and the lands of Greece and Bulgaria, even to the gates of Vienna are theirs for hundreds of years.”
There was silence as Zoë digested this news. When she answered, it was not in anger like Talena expected. “But things can change. If Louis never was supposed to be King of the Franks, then it may be possible to defeat the Turk. It may be possible to stop them ever capturing this holy city!”
“Yes...though it is unlikely. They have many tens of thousands more troops than you.”
Zoë leaned forward. “Nothing is impossible if we have faith, Talena. Whether or not you are guided by divine providence, I do not know. But now you are here with me, will you not help me? We must fight the Turk, we must preserve the Empire.”
Talena felt quite inspired by the earnest, heartfelt words. And after all, if they could resist the Turkish advance, then perhaps it might be a better future, a brighter one.
“I will help you any way I can, Empress,” Talena promised.
“Thank you, Talena.” With that she gave her new ally a kiss on the cheek and left the room, sparing a last look at the damaged recorder.

xxx

The position of the Empire was tenuous at best. Just a few years before the Empire had been almost destroyed by the Ottomans, and later a coalition of Castille and English raiders allied with Venice.
In the wake of this bankruptcy was the result, and the Empress set to work at once to curb it. Her skills as a negotiator and her powers of administration could not hide other problems that existed. The most noticeable problem was that of the Empire’s nobles. In the past, to ward off their enemies, Emperor Ionnes had been forced to concede major concessions to the nobility. Soon they demanded more from the Empress, and she did not have the power or military strength to deny them.

The Empress borrowed heavily, and within a few years she had managed to raise an army of ten thousand soldiers. About half of these were armed and trained in the Greek style, while others had more western training, and several hundred cavalry were also assembled. This army was deployed in the Peloponnese where they had the ability to provision, and also greater area to deploy. The defence of the capital was left to garrison and other soldiers.



However the new Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid II, who had been enthroned just a year before Zoë, was watching the city covetously, and wishing to prove himself with its conquest....

Dewirix: Steam Tanks! I love it! Though having said that, actually making weapons is much harder than you imagine, especially as Talena was, as it were, the end user. Had she been a scientist, engineer or such then it would have been much easier!
Range: Thanks man! Glad you like it.
blsteen: 'Guns of the South' style, huh? Would Manzikert have been a disaster if the Imperials had automatic rifles...and for who?

Thanks for reading! They'll be another update today.

ZOË II PART 2

(Voice log of XXX, 99991231.)
Does this...-ork? *Static* Rec...ing. What the...rong wit...this! *Static* ...ing hell!

xxx

16/11/1430

Talena put the recorder down rather harder then necessary. She was annoyed, and not just because the recorder represented one of her few links with a rapidly fading past of hers. It had not been a good day for anyone in the city. A Greek had been convicted of inciting rebellion in Morea, and had been executed the week before.
That had been serious, but much worse was to come. The Ottoman Sultan, having disposed of his rivals to the crown, had sent a demand to Constantinople that it surrender immediately. It had been patronising to the Empress and the ‘trifle’ that was the Queen of Cities was to be delivered over to the Sultan ‘for the good of its inhabitants’. Talena wouldn’t have minded seeing the messenger executed, but Zoë let him return with a firm refusal.

Talena looked at the recorder, which also doubled as translator, feeding the output into an almost invisible ear piece. Now neither were working properly, and the battery symbol had stopped flashing a warning and had gone ominously dark. They simply weren’t expected to work for thirty years. It was amazing it’d lasted this long. Amazing, yet still annoying.

In frustration she banged her hand down on the table, just missing the unit, and let out a deep sigh.
“My spies report that the Sultan has ordered his Serbian and Bosnian vassals to assemble,” Zoë said from behind her. “More troops from as far away as the Taurus Mountains are arriving across the water.”
Talena turned. “I’m sorry, Majesty. Even if the army can defeat them in Greece will that help us here?”
“We must hope that it does, Talena. When the first strike comes it will be Romanos’ army that feels it. I have prayed for victory, I pray not for myself...but for my people, what’s left of them. We must not give up home. You said that the future is not set...God would not abandon His city.”
Talena said nothing to that. Her faith in any deity had never been strong, but the thought of the endless legions of Turks made her acknowledge that the city was doomed. Whatever she said about reversing history, it was too much to imagine anything other than mere survival at this point. Eventually the Turks would win.
“I want to go there...to the army. I don’t know if I can do anything, but I want to be there. You know...see it.” It sounded lame even to her.
Zoë smiled slightly. “If that is what you wish, dear. I’ll miss you,” she said.
Talena blushed slightly at the compliment. “And I you, Majesty. I’ll do whatever I can to help General Romanos.”
The Empress nodded and gave Talena an embrace, before turning and leaving.
With a heavy heart Talena turned back to her possessions to pack.



xxx

War was clearly coming to the Empire. The Turks set their sights upon Epirus, a minor Greek state allied with the Roman Empire. Together these two states could barely muster 12,000 men against the Ottomans who could muster five times that.
Still, there was some minor relief. The Golden Horde to the north was allied with the Ottomans, but Novgorod was allied with the Empire. That would cancel out a powerful enemy, but it would not stop the full power of the Ottomans being deployed against the last remnants of the Roman Empire.

The Ottoman Sultan declared war on the 2nd of January 1431, drawing in combatants on either side. The odds were heavily stacked against the alliance of Orthodox Christian states, but there was still some hope of survival.

The Ottomans were significantly handicapped by a lack of heavy weapons capable of effectively breaching the walls. Cannon and other gunpowder weapons were not significantly developed to damage the Land Walls which had stood for a thousand years, and protected the city against more than a dozen sieges.
In order to maximise this, the Empress had ordered the land outside the capital slighted, with all wells being destroyed or fouled, and all materials destroyed. Thus, when the Turks arrived they found a barren land, with no materials or food to help them. Thus, they were forced to bring in tonnes of material.
However, even though 27,000 troops arrived outside the city, they did not immediately move to attack, being under orders to wait until the Sultan himself arrived. The main Ottoman armies meanwhile marched on Epirus, which fell swiftly.

However, the attempts by the Ottomans to cross from Greece to the Peloponnesus was thwarted for several months by the remnants of the Byzantine navy. These few ships threatened to destroy the supply and troop ships, and only when the Ottoman navy moved from its blockade of Constantinople were they able to cross.