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Just what this empire needs, another good civil war. What has it been, a year or two since the last one? Far too long.
 
Loving this AAR! I think the titles have changed because the top level title holder is an Armenian now instead of a Greek.

Empress Maria frequently visits and taunts her with the little window slit. “My memory is getting so bad at my age. Did I mention that I choose this very cell for you because I knew it would have a view of your old Imperial palace? I thought it would be a little pleasant souvenir of the good days.” And Maria would laugh and end her visits by saying, “Sleep well. If I remember I will have you tortured and murdered in the morning.” Ioanna thought her renown for eloquence was overrated given that she would resort to the same damn thing each time she visited.

Is that a Princess Bride reference? She should have picked a better regnal name. No one would surrender to the Dread Empress Maria.
 
Interesting! Go, Ioanna!

Revenge is becoming a theme in this AAR.

Just what this empire needs, another good civil war. What has it been, a year or two since the last one? Far too long.

Far too long indeed. :)

The number of years the country has been in civil war over the last twenty years or so greatly outnumbers the number of years at peace. I really am surprised that no infidel kingdom hasn't snatched up Syria or (shudder) Armenia. There would be no way to resist.

Loving this AAR! I think the titles have changed because the top level title holder is an Armenian now instead of a Greek.

Thanks! I appreciate it. And thank you for explaining the title convention for me. I revised the interlude to incorporate this into the story.

Is that a Princess Bride reference?

You got me. :)
 
Just read through the whole thing. Brilliant AAR, makes me want to write one of my own - doubt it would be anywhere near this good.

Before I read this i'd tried an Abyssinia game of my own. Got unlucky as I was invaded by one of the muslim factions, and in the same battle first my Heir, then my ruler died (Why did the AI put them both in charge of columns I don't know). My two year old son was on the throne, but was assasinated before his 4th birthday.

Loving the story though, how you constantly make little stories from the tiniest things. I'd have given up long ago... Hope you don't any time soon.

Just my two pennies.
 
So, I have been following this AAR on and off for a while now, and seeing his struggle to survive and eventually hopefully gain the Byzantium empire makes me feel bad in my current game. I am playing with the most updated TPTT mod, and started as the grand Prince of Rostov. In an attempt to gain some land I declare war on my brother, Grand prince of Novgorod. I promptly get a message that my wife whom I started the game with became the ruler of Byzantium, with my son as her heir. My character is so shocked by this news that I almost immediately die in the battle, quickly followed by my wife for god knows why. And then a mere 6 years into the game I inherit the ERE as a 19 year old unmarried genius XP. Decided I may as well try and mend the schism given the surprising position I got shoved into XP.
 
Byzantium is only a stepping stone to regaining the true prize... Abyssinia.
 
As lord Clinton once said - Sennar, stupid!
 
Just read through the whole thing. Brilliant AAR, makes me want to write one of my own - doubt it would be anywhere near this good.

Before I read this i'd tried an Abyssinia game of my own. Got unlucky as I was invaded by one of the muslim factions, and in the same battle first my Heir, then my ruler died (Why did the AI put them both in charge of columns I don't know). My two year old son was on the throne, but was assasinated before his 4th birthday.

Loving the story though, how you constantly make little stories from the tiniest things. I'd have given up long ago... Hope you don't any time soon.

Just my two pennies.

Thanks so much! I'm glad you like the story. And thanks for describing your own trials in your own Abyssinian game. It is always a touchy start with Abyssiania, even with the mercenaries they allow you now.

So, I have been following this AAR on and off for a while now, and seeing his struggle to survive and eventually hopefully gain the Byzantium empire makes me feel bad in my current game. I am playing with the most updated TPTT mod, and started as the grand Prince of Rostov. In an attempt to gain some land I declare war on my brother, Grand prince of Novgorod. I promptly get a message that my wife whom I started the game with became the ruler of Byzantium, with my son as her heir. My character is so shocked by this news that I almost immediately die in the battle, quickly followed by my wife for god knows why. And then a mere 6 years into the game I inherit the ERE as a 19 year old unmarried genius XP. Decided I may as well try and mend the schism given the surprising position I got shoved into XP.

Don't feel bad, enjoy it! I had a game once as King of Poland where out of the blue my wife inherited the Kingdom of Hungary, then my oldest son inherited both. One of the nice things about this game is how cruel Lady Luck drops blessings down occasionally as well as misfortunes and calamities... probably just to soften us up for the big hit.

Byzantium is only a stepping stone to regaining the true prize... Abyssinia.

Yes, keep the faith!

As lord Clinton once said - Sennar, stupid!

:)
 
A Simple Campaign Becomes Considerably Less So

Chapter 89

Characters
  • Apollonios of Saint Symeon – The now dead last of the conspirators that successfully plotted to murder Duchess Dionysia’s beloved father. Apollonios fled Dionysia's court to save his life, and his career subsequently took off until his humiliation at the hands of Princess Gyla. He died of grief.
  • Bartholomaios of Suenik, Count – Duchess Dionysia’s only count vassal. He has always been smitten by his liege. A second-rate steward, he is kept on the job to keep him happy, the only one of her subjects who could in all reality rebel.
  • Basileios Komnenos, Doux – Shy husband of Duchess Dionysia. His sad attempts to learn to duel put his own life and anyone nearby in peril. Inheriting his own duchy, he no longer needed to spend his nights in Duchess Dionysia’s spare library. Hates his wife for her twisting succession law of Armenia and moving the inheritance of the Duchy of Armenia from their children—not of the Zagwe line—to that of Dionysia’s half-brother Neophytos, a Zagwe.
  • Dionysia Zagwe, Duchess – Daughter of Count Tesfaye (the one that was assassinated in his carriage in a plot that was started by his wife).
  • Eugenia of Cyprus, Duchess – Wife by regular marriage of Duchess Dionysia’s half-brother Neophytos Zagwe. On her death Duchess Dionysia’s two duchies will pass to her children, heirs in the Zagwe line.
  • Eugenia Spartanos – Duchess Dionysia’s half-sister from Count Tesfaye’s adultery. She is obsessed with tales of Africa. She disappeared from Duchess Dionysia’s castle when it was under siege by rebels against Basilissa Ioanna. When she returned she was very mysterious and condescending. She claims she has special powers revealed by a Secret Coptic Order in Sennar.
  • Ganet Zagwe, “Aunt” – Strange woman who was responsible for several deaths before purportedly dying in an explosion in her quarters. (The body found in her quarters was burned beyond recognition, but of her general height and body type. Anyway, Ganet was never seen again, so it was probably her.)
  • Gyla, Princess – Swedish widow of Spymaster Innokentios, she is the unofficial marshal of Armenia and the official badass. She has become very reclusive to her quarters of late. Perhaps she is mourning the death-by-explosive-flames of her husband, Innokentios Branas.
  • Ioanna “the Great”, Duchess – Daughter of The Impaler, granddaughter of The Drunkard, and great-granddaughter of The Lame—truly a line of great nobility. Reduced from Basilissa to Duchess at the conclusion of civil war.
  • Innokentios Branas – Former spymaster for Duchess Dionysia, he was never really very good at his job, but survived in that role for some time by virtue of his not being on Dionysia's death list of revenge targets. Married to the Swedish princess, Gyla. Died in some kind of flames or explosion in his and Princess Gyla’s quarters.
  • Maria Doukas, Empress – Aunt of Basilissa Ioanna, her father died when she was very young while he enjoyed the hospitality of Basilissa Ioanna's grandfather in his prison. This did not endear the family relations with each other very well ever since.
  • Neophytos Zagwe, Duke – Half-brother to Duchess Dionysia Zagwe and heir (by elective succession law) to the Duchy of Armenia upon Dionysia’s death.





In my campaign to gain the Duchy of Mesopotamia, my army will have to march against Doux Demetrios I of Mesopotamia, whose county lies to the west of Constantinople. This gives him and his allies precious time to gather their forces against us as my army marches. Oh well, at least the campaign is just a simple matter of moving my army there and taking his only county. Should be pretty straightforward.





My army is nothing amazing, unfortunately. I could supplement with mercenaries, but I would rather hold back my gold reserves until I absolutely need them. I am hopeful that my allies will supplement my forces instead. As far as the officers go, Phokas is very competent, but the others less so.





General Phokas is shy but with a reputation for certain excesses when left to his own devices. I have no idea where he came from, but as he is a Monophysite it is not surprising to find him calling my court his home. I also know that he desires to be my Marshal. If he does well in this campaign, perhaps I will let him have the position.




Maybe I didn’t think this through very well.





My husband somewhat surprises me by accepting my call to arms. Given his complete lack of martial abilities, I am a bit surprised that I gave him a call to arms, but I suppose I am desperate.









This is an unfortunate complication. The gluttenous, envious, craven, and drunkard Count David, a vassal of Duchess Eugenia, has declared war for Cyprus on the wife of my half-brother. Rumor has it that he did this out of anger at being turned down for the spymaster position, which he had the gall to petition for even though a person less fit for the role would be hard to find. If Count David wins in this war, my half-brother’s line will be stripped of that duchy. Preoccupied as I am with my own war, I am not in a position to offer aid to Duchess Eugenia. Even if I was in a position to help, I lack any ships to send troops to the island duchy of Cyprus. But I certainly cannot count on her sending troops to aid me in my war to acquire the Duchy of Mesopotamia when her own Duchy of Cyprus is being threatened.





I now have a claim on the County of Mesopotamia as well. If we cannot get the duchy, perhaps we will settle for the County of Mesopotamia. Perhaps with a backup plan like this, things will go fine after all...




Oh, Snap!

Once again we are plunged into a civil war as the Faction for Duchess Ioanna to be Basilissa has just declared war on Basilissa Maria. Why on Earth would they want Ioanna to be made Basilissa again? I fought for her, and even I don't mind if she stays rotting in some prison cell. We don't need more complications!





I receive two reports of bad news. One is that Mayor Euphemios has died of natural causes. He was the ferocious general whose electric presence against the infidels in my failed Ethiopia campaign came closest to saving the day. He will be missed. The other bad news is that my army’s way through Constantinople is blocked by a rebel force. Nothing can be easy, can it?





As the weeks go by, reports come back that Duchess Eugenia's forces have been defeated by Count David's. Count David's forces are now laying siege to Duchess Eugenia's Cyprus castle. I decide to take matters into my own hands. I order Eugenia Spartenos, my unofficial second spymaster, to start a plot against this Count David. Surely someone with so many vices should be easier to do away with?





After a month Eugenia Spartenos startles me by reappearing suddenly—unnecessarily so, of course—from the shadows to deliver her report. She tells me that reluctance among Count David’s courtiers to end the life of their useless count faded when she handed out the usual petty gifts. The plot is in motion, and at the proper moment the trap will swing shut. She looks bored by all this.

The next day I am trying to catch up on some reading—all these wars and assassination attempts take up more than their share of your time if you let them—when I hear some arguing. I ask my bodyguard to go down and shush up whoever was arguing, but he returns quickly and mumbles something about overstepping his bounds. I notice he is making signs the ignorant peasants sometimes make to ward off evil. The arguing continues.

“Fine,” I say, “I will take care of it myself.” I throw down my book and approach the commotion, which is at the bottom and behind the stairwell. As I approach I realize it is Princess Gyla and the newly returned Eugenia Spartenos. Eugenia appears to be threatening Gyla with something, but I cannot yet make out distinctly what they are saying. Then I am close enough to hear Princess Gyla say something most peculiar in a forceful and almost commanding tone, almost an intonation.

“How could you know that?” gasps Eugenia Spartenos. At this point I enter their circle of torch light and see Eugenia looking stricken, her arms held tightly across her chest, as if to protect herself.

Princess Gyla stands before her, and I see no weapons with which she could have threatened Eugenia. Noticing me, she softens her stance and says, “Excuse me, My Liege. We were merely… exchanging words.” At this Eugenia flees from the room in horror. Gyla merely shrugs. I chastise her for interrupting my reading and ask her to try not to scare the other courtiers like this. She nods stoically and excuses herself to return to her quarters.

After all that the real tragedy is that I not only lost my page in my book, but I can't even remember which book I had been reading. Oh well, I guess the book could not have been so interesting to worry about.
 
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So far so good. Athalcor is right though, why don't you just march around the rebels by going through Abydos & Kaliopolis? Plotting an assassination is a much more Byzantine solution to the problem though.
 
So far so good. Athalcor is right though, why don't you just march around the rebels by going through Abydos & Kaliopolis? Plotting an assassination is a much more Byzantine solution to the problem though.

Yes, but unless the plot power is >600% it's going to be faster marching the slightly longer way round. Not the long way round, which means walking all around the Black Sea through Crimea.
 
I think Princess Gyla's been reading too much of that book she got from the mercenary (and should have, but hasn't, passed on to her liege... but we all know that would have just resulted in the Duchess reading every book but that one.) Darling half-sister is just offended that Princess Gyla knows secrets that should only be known to initiates of the Secret Order of Monophysite Goat-Herders.
 
Yes, but unless the plot power is >600% it's going to be faster marching the slightly longer way round. Not the long way round, which means walking all around the Black Sea through Crimea.

I might be mistaken, but the county our good Duchess is trying to reach and the assassination attempt are not aimed at the same target, are they? The county belongs to the Doux of Mesopotamia and therefore is part of the war for Zagwe expansion, while the assassination is meant to end the war started by the Count of Limisol against the half-brother's wife.

Two observations: I find it peculiar that the Doux of Mesopotamia resides west of Constantinople, while his de jure territory should be to the east. Does he also hold lands that belong to his duchy? If not, the additional claim on the county the chancelor fabricated might mean additional expansion, even if it is to the wrong direction (The Mongols are going to come, after all!). Then again, becoming Duchess of Mesopotamia would give you the inherrent right onto that county. But you probably can't have too many claims, I suppose.
Also: If your half-sister-in-law (or is it sister-in-half-law?) looses the war against the overthrower to be, doesn't she at least keep her county as his new vassal? I would be more confident about this if I had played a bit more recently, but if I recall correctly, he would only take over her duchy, which at least gives you a chance to at one point inherit a little bit of land.

Also, I support the detour to the southwest. Hopefully there won't be another enemy army blocking it by the time you get there. :)
 
Isn't there another land bridge west of Constantinople?

Huh? Really?

So far so good. Athalcor is right though, why don't you just march around the rebels by going through Abydos & Kaliopolis? Plotting an assassination is a much more Byzantine solution to the problem though.

I am ashamed to admit that I was unaware of this land connection. This is good to know!

Yes, but unless the plot power is >600% it's going to be faster marching the slightly longer way round. Not the long way round, which means walking all around the Black Sea through Crimea.

As Djieh mentions below, the assassination attempt and the war for the duchy are two distinct endeavors. I apologize for mixing them all up in the AAR together. I have revised the part about the rebellion of Count David to seize the Duchy of Cyprus in an attempt to make what is happening clearer.

I think Princess Gyla's been reading too much of that book she got from the mercenary (and should have, but hasn't, passed on to her liege... but we all know that would have just resulted in the Duchess reading every book but that one.) Darling half-sister is just offended that Princess Gyla knows secrets that should only be known to initiates of the Secret Order of Monophysite Goat-Herders.

She was indeed offended... but Eugenia Spartanos also did look very stricken. Very troubling.

I might be mistaken, but the county our good Duchess is trying to reach and the assassination attempt are not aimed at the same target, are they? The county belongs to the Doux of Mesopotamia and therefore is part of the war for Zagwe expansion, while the assassination is meant to end the war started by the Count of Limisol against the half-brother's wife.

Yes, you are correct. These are not the same targets. I have revised the post to try to become clearer.

Two observations: I find it peculiar that the Doux of Mesopotamia resides west of Constantinople, while his de jure territory should be to the east. Does he also hold lands that belong to his duchy? If not, the additional claim on the county the chancelor fabricated might mean additional expansion, even if it is to the wrong direction (The Mongols are going to come, after all!). Then again, becoming Duchess of Mesopotamia would give you the inherrent right onto that county. But you probably can't have too many claims, I suppose.
Also: If your half-sister-in-law (or is it sister-in-half-law?) looses the war against the overthrower to be, doesn't she at least keep her county as his new vassal? I would be more confident about this if I had played a bit more recently, but if I recall correctly, he would only take over her duchy, which at least gives you a chance to at one point inherit a little bit of land.

Also, I support the detour to the southwest. Hopefully there won't be another enemy army blocking it by the time you get there. :)

Yes, it is bizarre that the Doux of Mesopotamia has his capital county far to the west of his Duchy. IIRC, he has only one county, the one west of Constantinople. It is also true that getting the Duchy of Mesopotamia would give us a claim on the County of Mesopotamia. I forget why I sent the chancellor the the county of Mesopotamia. I probably just got confused about something.

I think you are correct about Count David: if successful in overthrowing his liege Duchess Eugenia, he would not get her county in the island of Cyprus. He would then be her liege, as doux over her. Actually, no he wouldn't, because she has another duchy, and I think in that case her county of Cyprus would fall outside the domain of Count-turned-Doux David. So he would be invading again for the county (de jure to his new duchy) as soon as the peace treaty from the first war got old.

Thanks for the good points!
 
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So glad the Zagwe are still kicking, since reading this AAR, whenever I play I try to keep at least one of them alive. It really does take an act of God to keep them alive in the face Fatimid threat.
 
I'm delighted to see this AAR still going.

It being the Zagwe's they will probably succeed at becoming emperors of Byzantium...and fail at the very end of the game to retake Abyssinia.
 
Ah, I see my bad. I thought that the count you were trying to kill was the leader of the rebellion, which would have ended the rebellion (I think?) and allowed you unmolested passage through Constantinople, not that he was the Count rebelling against your allied Duchess. Well, that happens when your internet connection (and half your city's, apparently ¬¬) goes half to hell on a Sunday and you can't properly load all pictures.

Also, 1000th post! Yay!
 
Another civil war in a collapsing empire... why do I have that feeling that the holy war for Armenia will brake any moment? :)
 
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