Republic of the Blue Lion - an Athens DW AAR

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Razgriz 2K9 said:

so are you planning to go to war with the Venetians?

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Nope.

@Boris - Indeed, they are.

Chapter 4 - A New Man for a New Land


Michael was sitting in his study, reading, when a messenger ran in. "Sir, the time of mourning has come! Read this, its from Emperor Manuel II of Byzantium," he said, and Michael obliged him. He read the letter, his eyes getting wider and his mouth going further down, when at last he finished. "Messenger, fetch Councilor Manuel, we need him right away," said Michael, his eyes going over the letter one more time. The first paragraph was innocent enough, the second was insulting, but the third... it was only one sentence long. He read it again, and again. Michael hoped he was hallucinating, or dreaming, or something of the sort. But no, it was right there, in fine black print..



Manuel dashed in the room. "I heard the news from your messenger," he said. "We should call an emergency session of council immediately,"

Michael blinked, thinking. He was still mostly in shock, but his brain could still work. "No. Adapt martial law, which you are allowed to do as head general. Issue a proclamation immediately adjourning the council for three years. Commandeer the council chamber to use as a war room, and set up a meeting of the two of us and King Antonio. We need him for a facade of authority," he said in a rush, and then paused. "And call in Dmitry, too,"

Six days later, Manuel walked to Dmitry's door. The man was late for the emergency meeting, like he was for everything. When he knocked, a fair, young woman came to the door. "Who may you be?" she said in a thick Russian accent. "I am Councilor Manuel Konstantinos of Athens, to see Dmitry, advisor of the king," he replied, looking into her eyes. She put her hand on his shoulder, fingering his shirt. "Ah, and I am Anastasia. He's not here right now.. do you wish to come in?" she said in a girlish, almost tempting voice. Manuel slapped her hand away. "Just bring him to me, woman!" he shouted.

She glared at him, then retreated into the house. A few minutes later, the spymaster appeared, drunk. "Manuel, my friend! Come in, we will have a drink, or two, or ten!" Manuel only looked at him, dismayed. How could he celebrate? The former soldier grabbed the doorknob, nodded to Anastasia, and slammed it shut. He ran to the council chamber as quickly as possible, and when he arrived, Michael was slouched against the chair, and sighed a sigh of relief. "Have they agreed to a peace?" Manuel asked, wondering about the sigh.

"No, but there is some good news. The Kingdom of Hungary have taken this chance to declare war on the Empire."



"With their armies distracted in the north, we can send our army into Larissa to strain the Byzantines from the south," said Manuel, nodding at the map on the table. "Well, you are the general," sighed Michael, and the order was immediately sent. About six months later, the Athenian army arrived, and began laying siege to the province.



"Sir, a diplomat has arrived from the Byzantine Empire," said one of the messengers in Antonio's palace. Michael, who was there most of the time, gestured with his hand to let the man in. The diplomat immediately got to work. "Your highness, I believe it is in both our interests to end this war quickly. The Emperor asks for Nis, which the Bulgarians own. They won't miss it, anyway,"

Antonio, not seeing how this might alienate his ally in Bulgaria, agreed.



When the diplomat walked out, a second man with the Byzantine banner came in, and approached the king's table. Smiling, the man drew a knife in a flash, and plunged it through Antonio's heart. Michael sat there for a few seconds, and when the man started to come towards him, he shouted for the guards. The assassin took two spears to the back, but it was too late for King Antonio I Acciaoli.

Boris ze Spider said:

Like father like son, both inept to rule.

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No need to fear; the Athenian council is here!

Concrete said:

Poor king must've been dropped as a baby.
How goes(/went?) the Hungarian war effort?

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That is missing from my notes, and I don't have a screen, but from memory I believe Byzantines paid 50 ducats for peace.

Chapter 5 - A New Council

OOC: Yes, my first OOC comment before a chapter. If you read "The Sea Will Pass Away", my previous AAR, you will know I can be quite bad at making OOC comments almost as large as the chapter itself. I've been working on that, but I'm going to go ahead and write a bit here anyway. First of all, I'm a very forgetful person. I tend to forget this game is for an AAR, so about this point in the game my amount of screenies died down. The chapters will begin to pick up pace dramatically, and I'm going to be relying on narrative to get us through the next few boring years. This chapter will represent a lot of changes in Athens that come with the new king. As a side note, I've kind of abandoned my goals. With the Hunga-blob on the rise, and it owning two of Greece's provinces, that goal seems impossible. As for a vassal empire, it no longer seems feasible, or even that much fun. I mainly set that goal because vassals have been a large help in my previous Greek minor games, but in those I was quite a bit more lucky as well. Anyway, enough space-wasting, on to the chapter! (Prepare for a massive introduction section)
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Michael walked along the streets, smelling the day-old baked goods leftover from yesterday. It had been the second election since Athenian independence, and had changed up the council quite a bit. Michael and Manuel were still the top two in the polls, with Michael receiving the only unanimous vote from all the people (each citizen was allowed a vote yes or no on each candidate, and the top ten were elected to the council). When the new council had sworn the oaths in the King's Chamber, they all had a ceremonial ten minute conversation with the king of what they would do to help Athens, followed by five minute conversation with the heir promising their service. During Michael's conversation with Antonio II, he realized just how stupid the man was. It was a wonder he knew the crown went on one's head! But Francesco was different. He was old for an heir, having just turned thirty. He had all the calmness that went with middle age, but the energy and innovation that was the trademark of the young. In addition, he was far more intelligent than either of the previous kings of Athens. Seemingly, the man would be a great asset to the nation. He didn't seem adept at politics, but he knew quite a bit of military strategy and also how to manipulate others into getting what he wanted.



In addition to Francesco, the new Councilors were quite interesting. Theodoros Konstantinos, Manuel's son, had been elected. He was always an interesting lad, and Michael had known him while he was growing up. What was even more interesting than Francesco and Theodoros were the Crispo brothers. They had gotten enough monetary support from their brethren in the merchant class to storm through the polls, with one of them getting the same amount of votes as Manuel. He looked forward to meeting them at the initial session of council tonight. The first session of last election had been completely useless in the eye of the citizens, but for Michael, it was where he gained his power. Manuel and him had become friends there, but managed to stay political enemies somehow. This time he planned on getting more of the merchants behind him by befriending both of the brothers, or at least one. Little did he know, they knew all about him, and wanted nothing to do with him.

In council that night, Michael and Manuel, as the top two in votes, were supposed to be shoe-ins for the roles of Head of Council for most of the year, if not all of it. The Head had no special power, other than the ability to call meetings, and also to recognize the order in who was allowed to speak (though since each member only got a maximum of thirty minutes to speak, it honestly didn't matter, unless one wanted to get all their supporters in first to intimidate the opposition). However, when the Head was being elected, Theophlyaktos continued to oppose Michael's election as head of council. The session was almost over, Michael could see the midnight watchman in the entrance room to the chamber, about to deliver the ending bell (all sessions had to end at midnight, since there could only be one day of council a week, and going past midnight would violate this law). Glaring, Michael looked over the man. He was a trader, and a good one at that. He had run on the promise of reforming trade, and allowing the merchants more freedom.



Theodoros rose up, and with his characteristic earth-shaking voice, and amazing delivery, he convinced the council to elect Michael as Head of Council for January, and just in time. The midnight bell was struck twenty-four times, signaling the end of council. As they walked out, Michael asked to escort Theodoros home as an honor guard. The boy said that he would not be going home just yet, and Manuel, who was also with them, raised an eyebrow. But Theodoros simply said him and the king had an unfinished topic during their discussion. Michael was suspicious, but agreed to only walk him as far as the palace.

They continued their walk in mostly silence, though occasionally Manuel made a small comment, and a few sentence conversation followed. When they finally reached the gates to the palace, Theodoros stood in front of them and bid his escorts farewell. Michael began to walk away, but then, when he was a decent distance from the gate, he heard footsteps. Theodoros had went to the side door, which opened into one of the bedrooms, and knocked slowly. Michael watched, wondering. Francesca Acciaioli appeared, in a shockingly immodest nightgown. Even Michael, from his distance away, covered his eyes. But Theodoros remained rock solid. She pulled him into the room, and closed the door. Michael, with his characteristic obliviousness, thought they must be planning something politically. Manuel had continued to move, and thus hadn't seen the events, but when Michael would retell the story shortly before his death, Manuel would laugh and simply say he couldn't believe the political genius Michael hadn't seen what was really going on at that crucial moment.

If I may make a small request; could more readers comment? I know it takes a little bit of time to think of something more than 'this is good' or 'yeah, stop updating', and I'm well aware there's plenty of better works than mine to comment on, but it would really be encouraging. Anyway, possibly an update tonight, if not, it'll be up tomorrow.

andriz2 said:

I'm really enjoying this! One of the few narrative AAR's that I've enjoyed reading. Hopefully you will be able to withstand the roman resurgence. Would be sad to see athenian independence snuffed out so soon after independence

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Yay! My request worked. Also, nice to know my narrative is entertaining. And, I would give you an answer to your concerns, but, that would ruin the suspense now wouldn't it? (Besides the fact that I don't actually know yet. Haha.)

Chapter 6 - A New World!

OOC: Yes, in case you didn't guess by now, my only way to survive is to boost my manpower with colonies. So here we go! As a note, this is the first time there is no introduction section.
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Michael sat in his chair during the Council session, which he felt mad at for no reason. He felt very hot, and wiped his forehead during Theodoros' speech. No sweat. Michael realized, he couldn't hear a word the boy said. Suddenly, he was dizzy, and then everything went black.

Manuel looked over, startled by the sudden noise of Michael's head hitting the table. "Michael! Michael!" he shouted, reaching over the table to touch his friend's neck. There was still a pulse. "Send for a doctor, now!" he called to the page in the corner. The page nodded and ran out. "I put to vote the motion that this council has been defiled by sickness, and must be adjourned immediately," he said to the members, expecting sympathy for the unconscious, old Michael with his head on the table. Oh, how different he was then back in 1405! His energy had disappeared with the years, and worry had caused him to gain weight and for his face to be marred by wrinkles and scars.

To Manuel's surprise, someone spoke up. "I deny the motion, and state that council must continue even in the forced absence of one member. Also, we are not sure on whether he is ill, or if he just has an injury. Thus, the council has not been defiled. Since there is an absence of head of council, only two votes are needed to stop the motion from being put to vote. All in favor of stopping the motion, raise their hands," said the voice. It belonged to Theophlyaktos Crispo, who knew he could not lose this chance to press his brother's agenda. With a slight look of dismay and shock on his face, Dimosthenes Crispo raised his hand. Along with Theophlyaktos, he forced council to continue. "However, I agree that the topic we were on should be continued when the absent councilor returns. Thus, I have good news. A military alliance has been formed with the Iberian power of Castile," he continued, looking towards Manuel. Even him, worried over his friend's health, heaved a sigh of relief. An alliance with such a powerful nation would hopefully stop the Empire from attacking yet again.



"News has reached my brother, from the Castilian merchants, that newly discovered islands, mostly uncivilized, have been found along the coast of North Africa. I put forward the following motion, that the Athenian Council changes its focus from a vast spy network," Theophlyaktos paused here, looking at the dismay of Dmitry, who was also present, "and adopts a quest for these new lands. All in favor, say aye," With nine council members in attendance, only five votes were needed, as the absent member's vote was always counted in favor except on declarations of war. Five men said aye, and the motion was thus passed into law.



"In addition, I suggest that we authorize Dimosthenes Crispo, professional navigator, to use the full power of the Athenian navy to locate and construct settlements on these new lands, in order to increase the dominion of the Athenian Kingdom," he said, using the momentum he built up, and the fact that Theodoros was too busy worrying about Michael, to press the merchant agenda. "All in favor, say aye," continued his now excitement-filled voice. Once again, five votes for aye. The motion was thus passed into law.



The watchman struck midnight, and council was thus adjourned. Manuel returned to Michael's house, and found him walking around slowly. "Just a head injury, I'll be fine. At least, that's what the doctor said. It's god's decision, though," said the old, and now sick, man. A head injury made sense, but somehow, Manuel knew something bad was happening to his friend. Regardless, he briefed Michael on the events, and surprisingly, the man agreed with Theophlyaktos. "We need more land," argued Michael, who knew full well how small the Kingdom was.

Dimosthenes, three weeks later, founded a settlement on a small island the Castilians called 'Madeira'. He named it 'New Athens' and began the construction of a small town there. The Athenian banner was hoisted, and the Kingdom now had a new province.