The Eternal Exile: A Nation Hopping AAR

blsteen: Hopefully! Of course, it all depends how long it's been there.
Beowulf: Thanks!
Razgriz: Thanks for the support!
Boris: The who of the what?
Dewirix: I did base him a little on the first Persian Safavid ruler. Yes, some shortcuts are taken, but the overall story I hope will prosper!
morningSIDEr: Sadly, after Talena goes the Persians encounter a certain nation which starts with O and ends with ttomans. The AI has a great tradition of squandering my work!
Range: Thanks!

ISMA’IL I PART 4



By the end of 1455 Persia was at the height of its powers. Furthermore, it was also at peace for an extended time, which left it open to wholesale religious conversion. The eastern areas, newly conquered, followed Sunni Islam, and swiftly great effort was put into converting the population and expelling dissidents.

Though he was still fit, even as he neared seventy, Isma’il became more and more consumed with a fanatical desire to implement his grand plan of conquest and conversion. However, for the moment he lacked the resources to expand his borders – the country had been made destitute by his wars, and his Council blocked further attempts to fight foreign enemies. And so the Ayatollah turned his attention inwards, and intensified not only his hold on the people, but in suppressing all dissident Sunni troublemakers and forcibly converting the population. This inevitably led to rebellions, which were put down brutally.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire under Abdulaziz declared war on the Mamluks with the intention of driving them all the way back to Cairo and making them vassal tributes. Within a year all of the Levant was theirs, and within two years they entered Cairo and stripped half of the Mamluk’s Empire from them, consigning them to second rate status for the next century.





XXX

14/3/1456

“Mistress...this place frightens me,” Imani whispered.
Talena didn’t want to admit it, but there was something creepy about it. Out here, in the very northern expanse of Persian territory, in the newly reconquered lands on the shore of the Caspian sea.
They had passed ruined castles from several eras, broken forts and villages. Some had lain dormant since the time of Alexander, others from the Mongol times.
She looked over at the slave and saw that Imani was tired. The girl was not used to riding, and was clearly in pain.
“We’re almost there. Look...that’s the one,” Talena said, pointing. She had been given very specific instructions, and getting lost a few times hadn’t helped, but she was sure this was the place.



A ruined castle occupied the top of a hill. There were no settlements for miles around, and as they trotted up the hill they saw only a few skinny scavenger birds and scattered tufts of grass.
Talena dismounted and then helped Imani from her horse. The girl was tired and in pain from the long ride, but followed Talena up the final slope and into the ruins. At first there was nothing to be found. The ruins looked like they had been deserted centuries before, and falling stones had blocked some passages.



“I’ve waited almost twenty years...for this?” Talena asked to the world in general.
Suddenly she heard a gasp, and ran down a crumbling set of stairs to ground level room. Imani had gone exploring on her own and had found something.
Talena entered, gun out, but stopped at the sight that met her eyes.



There was a melted area of stone, and in places the rock and sand had fused into glass. There was a skeleton, badly burned, but otherwise well preserved. Talena knelt down and looked over the corpse. It had been dead for decades, but it was no ordinary body. While scavengers over the years had stolen most of what it had worn, she could tell it was a woman. Carnivores and insects had done their work, and there were just bones now with some scraps of hair. Furthermore, it was a woman with a titanium splint on the leg, and an inspection of the mouth revealed advanced dental repair work.
“She’s one of mine,” Talena said thickly. Trapped partly in the melted rock, Talena saw some flashes of metal, and pried the dog-tags out. They were corroded and faded, but Talena could just read what it said. “Engineer-Sergeant Selena Byrne. New Tagus, Hispania. Earth.” Talena pocketed the scraps of metal and angrily brushed the tears from her eyes.
“Is she...like you?” Imani asked hesitantly.
“Obviously not,” Talena replied grimly. “She died, and I didn’t. She was my tech. She was just working on deactivating the machine when...it happened. She must have got sucked in, but somehow not affected by the journey as I was. She was a good soldier; loyal, capable, dead.” She wasn’t even really talking to the slave any more, just saying the eulogy aloud.
“Mistress...I’m sorry,” Imani said timidly.
Talena let out a long sigh. “Not your fault, Imani. I wonder if she’s better off dead...unlike me.”



A brief search located nothing else of value. The armour, weapons and gear, mostly melted and incomprehensible to people in this time anyway, was gone, leaving just the body. Talena insisted on burying the skeleton though, excavating the sandy ground with her hands and putting the body of her former comrade in.
“Come on, Imani. I’ve had enough of this place,” she told the slave, and left.

Curiouser and curiouser! I think there might be other members of Talena's team - or professor Channing's goons - out there somewhere. Those pictures of the castle are great - where is it?

On a gameplay note, the Ottomans seem determined to get to 'Dishonorable Scum' at the rate they're going. When you left them they were pretty close to that point anyway. With luck there'll still be some Christians left in Europe by the time Talena gets back.

Click to expand...

Dewirix: I think you're right...though they won't show their heads for a while yet! As for the Ottomans, they pretty much go berserk. See, I have historical lucky nations on up until 1500 or so, so the Ottomans actually take advantage of my work properly.
LoneWolfEburg: Thank you!
Razgriz: Thanks! Sadly yes, he does, but he dies soon enough, and ironically his actions help collapse all that he created, especially religious rebels defecting.
Beowulf: Indeed! We have a runner!
Kipsnif: Thanks! Yes, being incinerated isn't the nicest way to go.
morningSIDEr: Yes, for sure there will be encounters with others. And that will have consequences for Talena too when she realises that she's not alone in the past. When you're no longer unique it's a little disconcerting.
The Executer: Thanks, glad to have you with us! And yes, all this interest in seeing others is making me move forward some plot points. So expect to at least start to hear about them soon!
Boris: No probs! Thanks for reading as always! She might find others from her time, but are they like her...we shall see!

Update tomorrow!

I'll answer this one now rather then waiting until the update.

First of all, thanks heaps for the compliment!

Second, China will be a major big component of the story...but not for 9 updates when the setting is another place on the way. I'm hoping that the result is to everyone's liking!