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Chapter 13: Escugeau's Rankings

I woke up late in the day, around 1:00, as I normally do, since I have no obligations of any sort. It had appeared that the Sultan had left for his trip to Rome to attend his glorified march through the city earlier this morning. However, I knew from previous absences by the Sultan that Aamir would be taking care of me, instead of the Sultan’s primary servant, Khalil. Generally, when Aamir took care of me, I got less to eat and was pretty much left to myself; so today, I decided that I was going to take a look around and see what I could find. I left after Aamir gave me my daily rations, which consist of various insects ranging from grasshoppers to caterpillars. I then propped up one of my conveniently provided twigs up against the wall (as you can tell, I have been planning this for quite some time) and climbed out of the habitat. After scurrying through the hall I entered the library. There were once many books in the library that I could read, but when Yusurf III westernized Granada, he burned many of the books written in Arabic, deeming them heretical and a so-called “threat to the state”. After searching and scampering through the library for an open book to which to read, I stumbled upon “Jeffery Escugeua’s Rankings of the Known World of 1434.” Miraculously, it had been translated into Arabic and it survived the book purge. Opening it up, it provided the following Rankings:
Economy:


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Technology:


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Army Size:


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Naval Size:


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After finishing reading what I could (I’m not totally fluent, jeez) I scurried back the chamber, climbed into my habitat, and went to sleep

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Welcome back to this! And nice update too. :)
 
None too shabby. Is there anyone besides Ming above Austria on the army rankings? If not, I'd say you're not looking too badly off in comparison to neighbours and rivals.

As Aragon don't feature on any of these lists it looks like they're ripe for conquest!
 
This is a very impressive game you're running here. The most impressive game I, personally, have seen. Though, to be honest, I haven't seen much. >.>

Anyway, I thought the annexation of the Papal States was particularly epic. I'm curious, where did the Papal States pop back up as?
 
Cleverly done. I like the spider's perspective on things, but I have to ask - how do the flies taste?

Very very impressive work with Granada - it's normally very difficult. Good on your early alliances. I take it you went all Mozarabic Spanish, and Arabic is a scholarly language along with Latin and Greek.

Ming earning 1357.xx in the 1400s is truly terrifying. No wonder DW far east goes as it does.
 
Ashantai-Thanks

Enewald- Hopefully Portugal will Piss off Aragon, so thats my next target.

Dewirix- Unfortunately, Aragon is above Austria, as is Burgundy and France

Yammka- Thanks a lot. If you want more impressive games, take a look at PrawnStar's AARs, for they are truely epic. The Pope reappeared in Trier i believe.

RGB- Thanks. They taste terrible, i prefer grasshoppers. Ming has not grown much actually.
 
Chapter 14: A Teardrop Hitting the Cold Floor

The Sultan had left for a few hours to visit the local mosque. I spent those few hours basking in the sun, enjoying the warm spring breeze that would sometimes drift through the arched window located near habitat. It was on warm days like these that I tried to remember the simplicities of my old life, the joys of eating a cooked meal, being able to talk and have fun with friends, and the happiness involved of waking up in the morning and stretching. It was often then that I would feel homesick and dream of my loved ones back in my old times. I lazily daydreamed for another hour or so, until the Sultan returned with his most trusted advisors.
“What is the meaning of this big meaning you have called us for my liege?” Jamal asked.

“I have seen the light, while praying at the mosque earlier, the Prophet appeared to me and told me that it was the Glorious Kingdom’s destiny to convert the infidels top the one true faith, and that the Prophet himself declared Granada is best suited for this task. So go out throughout the lands and seize land form the nobles and grant them to the church,” replied Yusurf III.

“Aren’t you worried that the nobles might get angry and revolt?” Aamir asked, justfully so.

“Do not interfere with the will of the Prophet!” Yusurf III resounded forcefully!

The center of this new, focused, forced conversion of all Catholics in New Castille was the small town of Albacete. Even though it had only a population of around 6,000, many of the missionaries and brightest Islamic scholars were enrolled at the local schools. Also, since it was in the central location of the realm at the time, it made for a perfect jumping point for missionaries to head in all directions.



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The sun had set on the castle, with its entire eternal glow focused on the Sultan’s bed. Ironic; possibly, is the fact that the sun was setting on the life of the Sultan, too. He lay there in his death bed, coughing up blood, praying to Allah that he takes his soul. Beside him was his brother, Muhammad, the heir to the throne. Also kneeling beside was Wahjijah, who was once beautiful, but time had not done her beauty well. If I could cry, I would have, but as a spider, I could not. I did not have any selfish thoughts, such as “what would happen to me?” or “how would I survive?” However, a few days after the death of Yusurf III, these questions would surface in my mind, but I had no answer. As his dying moment was coming to him, he brought his brother close in.

“Do to the country as I had done to it. Bring it glory, and carry the glory of Allah to the non-believers.”

“I will, my brother,” Muhammad replied, with tears rolling from his eyes, down his cheek, and on to the stone floor below.

“And to you my wife,” Yusurf III croaked hoarsely, beckoning his wife to his side. “You have served me faithfully. I remember when I first saw at that feast in Marrakech, you were so beautiful in that dress, twirling across the dance floor, the sparkle in your eyes; it was love at first sight.”
Wahjijah started bawling, much like her brother-in-law.
“Goodbye my dear companions, may I see you on the other side.”
Those were the last words Yusurf III, for in a fit of coughing, his soul left his body for good, leaving his loved one behind to move on without their beloved.


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Muhammad VIII would be coronated the next day. He was a skillful diplomat and would be better equipped to handle Europe’s reaction to the annexation of Rome.
 
The fighting in Italy is ongoing, eh? Is it worth it?
 
Very impressive! You're getting really good at the narrative! :D
 
Dragsterz-Thanks, I hope it continues to improve as time goes on.

Dogia- Thanks

RGB- The taxation and manpower is definitely worth it, i think.

Ashantai- Thanks, it means a lot to hear that from one of my favorite authors,

Enewald- I know, but i really dont cosider Italy part of my realm, and i more or less meant the center of New Castille.
 
Chapter 15: From Dark to Gold

For the first day since the death of Yusurf III, normal functions of the court could be carried out. One of Muhammad VIII’s first acts were to fire or, as he called it “honorably retire” Jamal and Aamir as head of the army and treasury. He replaced them with Bevlat, a short stocky artist and Sergi, a diplomat whose claim to fame was his dealing with the European world after the annexation of Rome. Remaining however, was Khaliq, who still headed the Defense Committee.
“I welcome all of you, my highly esteemed comrades and friends, to announce a decision that will shape our nation for the years to come.” Muhammad VIII said after all of the summoned nobles had gathered into the great hall, which I had snuck into.

“I have called on you, not for your advice, but to ask, no demand that you enforce my will. If you refuse to enforce my law, I will have you stripped of your title immediately. Is that clear?”
A murmur from the assembly had arisen, but it soon settled down as the Sultan raised his hand.
“Good, now that that his clear, I have called you here so I can end the guild system. The guild system is a representation of the Dark Ages, a time where plagues and the unholy ravaged these lands. If we abolish this system, it will represent us moving from the Dark Ages to the Golden Age that we deserve.”
A loud cheer went up from the crowd the resounded throughout the castle. For the next month, the nobles of the lands seized the guild’s properties and land with little appeal from the guild masters. However, when the Count of Florence tried to seize the Craftsmen’s guild outside of Florence, he slashed the count in the face with his knife. The Count responded by stabbing the man between the third and fourth ribs, promptly ending his life. Little did he know, the Craftsmen’s guild master had been beloved by the populace of Florence, and in response, over 3,000 poorly armed peasants, led by Moyyed Saleh, the Guild Master’s apprentice, ravaged the countryside for weeks. But the revolt was put down when Muhammad VIII ordered the Italian Army to cleanse the area of any non-compliers.


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There had been much commotion in the capital for the past three weeks. It turns out that there had been a large gathering of missionaries that are about of depart for the grain producing city of Almeria. The head of this mission to convert the Catholics was headed by Isa al Mubi, a tall lanky man dressed in vanilla robes and a dark brown turban. He was a childhood friend of the Sultan’s, for they had both been trained in the same court and practiced Islam In the same Mosque.

“Isa, my friend, how great it is for you to visit before departing for Almeria, how have you been.” Muhammad VIII exclaimed as he hugged Isa.

“I have been great my dearest friend and I assume you will be sending me heralds detailing the events of the realm.”

“Of course Isa, of course. And I have something to give to you before you leave.”

“What is it, my liege?”

“My father left me in possession this spider, who is quite a peculiar one, since he has live for over 30 years” Muhammad VIII explained, occasionally glancing at me.

“Interesting,” Isa replied while raising an eyebrow.

“However, what is not known by most is that I hate spiders. Yes you heard me, I just hate them. Their teeny little hairs their eyes, everything about them I dislike. So I want you to have him, knowing that you are at least a little but interested in biology, aren’t you?”

“Well… I guess I could take care of it. What does it eat?”

"Generally horseflies and moths, but if you are feeling generous, you could feed it some grasshoppers,”

“Okay, thanks, I must be on my way, best of luck to you.”

“And to you too, Isa.” Muhammad VIII replied.

Isa then proceeded to scoop me up from the table, have a servant carry it from the castle to the gate, and threw me into the back of the cart. With the crack of the whip, we departed to Almeria, marking a new chapter in my adventure.


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I am very, very impressed by this! Well done Boris! :)
 
Haha.

Lucky spider. The Sultan hates them but he still gets to live. :p

Converting Italy, that should be something.
 
I've just read through this thoroughly good AAR and I love the premise. Using the view affored a spider to recount the exploits of Granada, really is very original. Not only is the writing very good but also the gameplay, I did read and greatly enjoy Marco Oliverio's Granada AAR wherein he did very well with Granada as well, but few seem to have prospered with this nation, difficult as its starting location is. Thus you have my respect for having done so well and long may Granada continue to grow ever stronger!

Needless to say I will be following this AAR.