Courting glory and defeat: a NavAARran history.

[Tudyboss]

yaay,navarra expands further! although I think you should expand your goals,since your beggining objectiveshave been pretty much completed.maybe aim for total dominance of the americas?

[homy_dog34]

Good... Good... Way to weaken the "great" powers!

[NeoAC]

The Eagle over the New World
An administrative monarchy

1611-1621

Iruña
1611

Charles V knew that His health was declining. After all, at 1611 He had ruled the Navarran People for more than two decades. But His determination was still as solid as ever and He felt that the Kingdom could no longer follow the old feudal rules that were already being ignored by much of its population.

"Chancellor Gainza, is everything ready?"

Gainza, a long serving Serviceman that hid a dangerous intellect behind a front of apparent physical weakness, nodded. The States were ready.

"We are just awaiting the decree an the official Seal, my King."

A short time later, the Court Scribe brought the parchment with the carefully written document. A week's work.

The King read it carefully and found no errors.

"Perfect work, as usual. And where is the Seal?"

The Seal was brought. It was a piece of pure Gold weighting more than a pound with a shining Royal Eagle crafted on its surface

"Excellent."

And He signed. The last vestige of the Middle Ages regime was removed from the Navarran politics. Although it came with a loss of stability, the Kingdom would have more freedom for defining Its politics and more magistrates to attend the needs of the provinces.



For a year, there was peace. Until the Ban was again violated.

Iruña,
1612

"Again! They did it again! Father let me teach them a lesson!"

King Charles smiled. There was so much that His son would need to learn before becoming the ruler of the greatest European nation. But, this time, Prince Martin was right. The King leaned toward the chancellor, who was also present on the newly finished Royal Chambers.

"Gainza. Send a diplomat to England. With this message:

"The ones that look upon their doom, have no other to blame than themselves."



In fact, the next few years were a constant battle to enforce the Ban. Navarra was attacked by heathens, but every time the invaders were defeated, and Tripoli and Tunisia where, at the end, totally annexed.



The only good news came from the increasing prosperity and cultural ascendance of the Kingdom.



In fact, former allies betrayed Navarra, but they find humbling defeat instead of victory. Even Kongo thought that they could take on Navarra, but the became a vassal instead.



At the beginning of 1621, three fatal moves were done. The first, Burgundy refused to bring their usurped provinces back to Navarra. The second, Austria set a foothold in North Africa. The third, Venetia started to colonize South East Africa.

The King received those news while admiring the new paintings of the Throne Chamber.



He was no more than a bald, elderly man with a white beard. He required a cane to walk. But His eyes flamed which a fury that made Queen Xenia remember the young, fearsome King that she met at the Market Square, more than thirty years before.

"Enough."

That word, quietly uttered by the King, resonating through the Chamber, meant war. War at an unprecedented scale!

[homy_dog34]

Everything just hit the fan.

EVERYTHING

[Ashantai]

Nice colonisation efforts, though the threat of war on three fronts is also big and dangerous news!

[NeoAC]

I promise you an update with all the details about almost fifteen years of war.

But, first, here are the results.



Nice, don't you think?

[Ashantai]

Very impressive! You're forming a wall around the coastline to stop the other Europeans colonising...very smart!

[NeoAC]

Martin I of Èvreux
And Europe bled

1621-1634

This time period of the 17th century witnessed one of the most decisive wars between majors powers since the Punic Wars. The conflict started as two separated colonial wars between Navarra and Burgundy and Austria, with a later involvement of Venetia.

As Navarra was outnumbered by some 2 to 1, Central European powers were sure that it would mark the end of the Navarran ascendance. They even started conversations to partition the Navarran colonial Empire among themselves. As many enemies before and later that war, they underestimate Navarra.


Ximeno of Azpilkueta
Martin I, an Universal Empire

Wien,
1621

King Leopold, the Austrian ruler at the time, had a hard time sleeping. A cultivated man and one of the best soldiers of his time, he was feared and respected. But there were some things that Leopold himself feared. Like that cursed war declared by Navarra. It was just one province on the other side of the Mediterranean, damn it. They had no problem with Austria expanding over Central and Eastern Europe. Why this sudden change?

Half joking, King Leopold asked if it could be because of their better capital. Wien was a beautiful city, full of riches and marvels, but it could not justify such a campaign against an Austrian Kingdom that covered half Central Europe.

A courtier casually pointed that Navarra had no interest over Central Europe until Austria started funding revolts into Navarran territory. King Leopold had him flogged.

But he knew it was true. For all the territory, glory and wealth the old King Charles had, the past rulers of Navarra only acted upon their enemies when they had a motive to do so.

And then, the dream.

Always the same.

A great eagle guarding an enormous nest, with black feathers shinning at the sun.
Another eagle approached, an old one with a silver crown over the head.
The first one responded to the attack, only to be surprised by the transformation of the old Eagle into a young one.

The two eagles battled, covering the nest with blood.

At the end, the first eagle falls and its body breaks into three parts.

"King Charles of Navarra is dead."

The King tried not to jump when his chancellor informed him of the latest news.

"What?"

"His son Martín is the new King."

A young eagle.

King Leopold felt fear engulfing him.





Iruña
1623

News reached Iruña that Burgundy eagerly apologized and left the war. The King was sure that they would make even more noise in the future, but, for now, He was satisfied. His father would be really proud of the Navarran advances.



The general tide of the war could be considered most satisfactory, in fact. Venice was stupid enough to declare war upon them! After being pandered by Navarran forces and losing their African holdings, they give up. And, with them, the only rival navy worth that name left the scenario.

Bohemia,
1626

"How could it be?"

The question was left unanswered while the Emperor signed the treaty that dissolved the last reform of the Empire. With that out, the Holy Roman Empire was as much as a mess as ever. But they have no other choice with Navarran troops rampaging through Bohemia herself.



The Emperor looked upon King Martin.

"But you will never defeat Austria!"

"I will prove you wrong."


The Navarran Royal Archives
Iruña
1628


"Ah, the cultural advances. Nothing like prestige and high culture to make an once small heritage great."

"At this rate, Basque could be dominant language of the Iberian Peninsula before the next century arrives!"

The head librarian spoke alone. As usual. He was not very sane, but could always do his work, so he was never disturbed.

"Aragoi and... Benin? Surprising, yes!"




"What's that nonsense about a Crusade against some Heathens of the East, by the way? Those Prussians are nuts and the Pope shouldn't listen to them."

"Oh, those lands made a fine addition for the Kingdom, but the war was so unimportant that I don't even have a map. Such a shame! The Royal cartographer is becoming lazier by the minute!"

1632-1633

After more than ten years of war, the die was cast for Austria. Even if it cost Navarra thousands upon thousands of her soldiers and the helping hand of attrition, the Austrian Army was practically undone.



With Navarran armies advancing, Austrians thought that they somehow won when Navarra only asked for the North African stupid province and the release of Hungary.

King Leopold knew better. The Kingdom was broken into three parts!



His fears were further confirmed when King Martin of Navarra claimed the Crown of Hungary. There was nothing that they could do, Austria could be attacked now from its very core.



New parts where added to the Throne Chamber's ceiling panting. And a period of peaceful colonial expansion started for the Navarran Crown.

[Ashantai]

A great triumph, yet still they may return to trouble you again. Press onward to final conquest of the Americas!

[NeoAC]

The expansionist approach
Unifying the New World

1636-1647

Iruña
1636

After more than a decade of war, King Martin yearned for some peace. With Europe at first glance pacified, it looked like the time for complete some other tasks.

The first was a surprising one, presented to the Court by the King Himself.

"With our overseas trade expansion and our recent gaining of a foothold onto Indian soil, a company to administrate that wealth is required."

After some formalities were met, the Navarran-Indian Trade Company was founded the 25th day of March, 1636.



The same time, Navarran colonist sailed to the New World with a number that made the rest of the world wonder where so many people are coming from.

But there were another problems, too.

"My King, a delegation of veterans have come to present some petitions."

"Let them enter."

The veterans entered the Royal Chamber. They were three middle-aged men covered with scars and missing various parts of their bodies, ranging from an eye to an arm. The King noted that, although the three of them spoke a fluent Basque with no foreign accent, only one of them was likely to be nuclear-Navarran born, the other two being of African an American heritage.

They bowed and the oldest of them spoke. Just in case, some Servicemen stood guard from various hiding places.

"My King, we represented some of the brave soldiers that made Navarra triumph over Austria."

"You only wish to receive something for what you gave to the Kingdom."

The three men looked puzzled. They, of course, would never dare present their petition with such audacity.

"The world must know that Navarra protects the ones that fought for her. Hence, I offer you and every other veteran the compensation and a Veteran settlement on Aragoi."

The King paused.

"With a condition."

The veterans tensed. Could be that the money would be scarce?

"Let the doctors of the Great University treat you. The knowledge they can obtain from your experience is invaluable."

The veterans smiled. They didn't hope to obtain so much.

"Thank you, my King."



Years passed. The expansion over the New World continued only stopped by some violent natives that were disposed of with efficiency.

But, them, England attacked a Navarran ally.

Iruña
1642

"My King! The ambassador from Connatch informed us of an English attack. The ask for help. What shall we do?"

King Martin stood. The time of peace was over.

"Send a message to London. Tell them that, even if our armies didn't fight for some years, they receive this new exercise with delight."



It was bound to be a long war. Spies from the Central American nations prompted Navarra to declare war over them and annexing them. Even Inca was taught a lesson and targeted for total domination. Songhai tried to attack Navarra, only to lose two provinces, a fate shared by a stubborn Shawnee that King Martin swore would remove from the map.

Burgundian meddling left two usurped provinces on the New World. Nobody doubt that they would be the source of more problems.

At last, after removing every threat and reducing Morocco to vassalage, Navarran armies invaded Great Britain again. England was defeated and three nations released.



But one of those nations, Scotland, made a mistake. They made fun of a Navarran Service officer. The Service raged and forged some documents proving that Scotland was, in fact, rightfully part of the Navarran heritage.



Another war started.

Mere months later, the Scottish nobles submitted.

"Who is laughing now?"-the same offended Service officer asked them.

To the utter astonishment of every Navarran presents, the Scottish laughed loudly.

"You have guts, Navarran. Tell us, is there some room for Scottish units on that Empire Slayer of yours?"



Back on Iruña, the King admired the new work of the painters. His works was almost done, but some details remained.



He called for the old chancellor Gainza. In fact, the chancellor looked more like he was half his real age. There were rumours about the Service having found either the fountain of live in the New World of some Elixir of Youth in India.

"You called for me, my King?"

"Yes. You know that the province of Damascus calls itself a Navarran domain."

The chancellor smiled.

"To the East, then."

"To the East!"

[NeoAC]

The last years of Martin I
"Nothing stops Navarra"

1648-1658

"There are powers, great powers, and then, there is Navarra. Nothing stops Navarra."
Anonymous, 17th century


Near Makkah,
1648


Eder Elizalde, grand-grandson of the first Elizalde tor each prominence and the first scion of his to purse an Army career instead of a Navy or Service one, observed the desert, his soldiers and the city, and found himself simply unable to understand exactly how they wound up inside the Arabian Peninsula, at the gates of the famed Holy City of Islam itself.

He had strict orders not to enter the city but observe the situation. Of course, Navarra could handle a war against every follower of Allah, but it would be unpleasant and an stupid bloodshed. It was enough to face Christian fanatics inside and outside the Kingdom.



He heard a muffled sound just behind him. It could be only one thing.

"Martin, what we have there?"

Martin was Elizalde's lead Serviceman and he followed the army with his informants. He was so plain-looking that people usually could not even describe him. An orphan with no family name, he treated the Service as family and Elizalde as his somehow reckless father.

"Sir, we have a problem. There are several small units coming."

"Reinforcements?"

"No. You could handle that."

Elizalde's instincts shouted warnings.

"Our spies in Yemen, overlord of Hedjaz, informed us that their mission is not to oppose us but to sneak into the city."

Martin raised his eyes.

"They are here to burn the city, sir. If the Muslim world hold us responsible, we will be facing Yihad at global scale."

"What are we going to do?"

"I am assembling every Serviceman available. We will try to capture one of the units and stop the rest. But there is a high chance that somebody helps them from the inside."

That was enough.

Entering the city was easy for Elizalde. After all, he was chosen by the King Himself to lead that expedition against Mammluks and Yemen. So he entered the city with a handful of Servicemen that looked, spoke and behave as perfectly normal Muslim pilgrims. After exchanging some salutations with the guars.

"Any problem with those Navarran dogs?"

"Not at all."

"Be careful. The streets of Makkah are starting to get dangerous."

"Thanks for the advice."

In fact, they got a lot more dangerous after a couple of hours as smoke started to rise from some houses.They approached one of the houses and found a elderly man lying in the floor. He was wounded but he would survive if treated carefully.

"A Navarran attack?"

"No. They look like Yemeni. Why, in the name of Allah?"

A noise erupted. A sentinel left behind, of course. But he could not expect to face an expert fighter and was easily subdued.
Elizalde took a small bag that the aggressor was carrying and examined it. He found a grey substance with a strong odour. One of the

"Gunpowder."

But he said it in Basque and the elderly man heard.

"You are the Navarrans."

"Yes, we are sorry to desecrate Makkah, but we know something like this could happen."

"What did you find in the bag?"

"Gunpowder. It's a small quantity, but if they all carry bags, we could be facing big explosions."

Suddenly, the elder man realized leaped forward.

"The Kaaba! Protect the Kaaba!"

Realizing that he was facing disaster, ELizalde left the elder man at the care of two of the men and rushed thought the city.

"We are late!"

The corpses of the guardians where left where they'd fallen and the gates were wide open.

"No! They are still piling up the gunpowder!"

"Eraso!"

Following the Basque word for attack, the Servicemen, knowing that they were doomed either by their desecration or by the aggressors, launched themselves to battle. After all, they knew that very few of them ever die of old age.

Many years later, the inhabitants of Makkah that where still children at the time, would recall seeing a handful of Navarrans marching through the city and charging against forces that outnumber them by more than ten to one.

The leader of the Navarrans reached the pile of gunpowder first and engaged three of the attackers. He felt a soaring pain in his left arm and shoulder, but ignored it and faced a fourth that just ignited a gunpowder line.

The other attacker were already subdued by Elizalde's men but the fire advanced and they were too far away. He tried to extinguish the fire stomping the gunpowder or putting a cape over it, but it kept advancing. High quality gunpowder. Time. If his men were to reach him, they could dissipate the line. Water. He needed water.

And he saw it. He was bleeding profusely. Blood was not so different from water. He put the arm over the line and it almost stopped.

He suddenly remembered that his grand-grand-grand-mother was purportedly a descendant of Mahomet.

"How fitting."

And he fainted.

He wake up not into Heaven, as he always hoped, or into Hell, as he feared, but into a normal house, surrounded by some of the men that helped him and cared by a wise-looking man.

"He is awake now. I told you that he would survive. Allah gave him an incredible constitution."

"Where and I?"

"Safe."

"And the Kaaba?"

"Safe, too. Guarded by Navarran elite units day and night."

"Wait a minute. That simply impossible. Infidels like us cannot enter Makkah."

A figure appeared in the door. With his clothes clean and recovered from his injuries, the elder man looked like someone with great authority.

"With the help of Allah, you are back. Let me introduce myself. I carry the glorious name of the Prophet and I am the supreme ulema of the sacred city of Makkah."

Elizalde heard, with increased astonishment, the news from the last days. After the dust settled and the Servicemen laid down their weapons while trying to keep him alive, the elder man arrived and declared them to be untouchable and instruments of divine intervention. Them every holy man of Makkah assembled and proclaimed two fatwas, the first concerning the Yemeni rulers. They won't have a good time with the rest of the Muslim world. The second, lifting the ban over the infidels under the protection of the Navarran King and asking Him to protect Makkah. The King who was stationed in Jerusalem, received the news and immediately departed to Makkah. He would be the first non Muslim King to ever enter the City.

The ulema, sitting with the recovering Elizalde, fell silent.

"I can imagine His face. And now?"

"The Holy City will be protected by Navarra, with the condition that they Muslim people will not be persecuted."

"We had no interest into religious expansion, anyway. That time is over."

"The other, young man, is about your celibacy. How could be, in Allah's name, that a man of your position is still unmarried?"

Elizalde laughed until his wounds menaced to open again.

"You could discuss that with my mother."

"I can present you many brides from very good families..."

The Royal Archives,
Iruña
1649

The Archivist was as insane as ever, but as brilliant as his work as ever. He was revising some of the ancient writings from India, the many Codex with the Mayan language and knowledge that made way to some incredible astronomical discoveries, and, of course, the Quran sent by General Elizalde from Makkah. A true masterwork, the Archivist handled it with true veneration and with equal care than the Bibles he had.

"Ah, those Arabian Works. Printing is good, but this handiwork... Who?"

A young assistant entered the room.

"Sorry, sir. Bu we have a report."

"Put it into the table."

"I see. So Madrid went Basque, too? Good to see. What else do you have there?"

"A copy of a work by some Mikel Zerbantes Zaabedra, On Kixote Mantxakoa".*

"The King insist that it deserves a place here. It has been published more than thirty years ago and it still very well regarded."

"Ah, the modern novels. Well, we will find it a good place. Those printed works don't last long.

[IMG]http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7357/martin0z.jpg[/MGI]

For the next 9 years, Navarra colonially expand with no opposition and subdued many territories. It was the only European power with territory into the New World excepting three provinces: two were Burgundian and one Prussian. Martin would like to take care of them, but he was too old.

He passed the 27th day of December, 1658. The new year saw His son Andrés Febo proclaimed Heir and His brother Leonel Crowned.



The old King accepted the Crown, but He was not happy. An almost elderly man like Himself as King? What He could really do to rival His predecessor's glory?

A glory that showed into the ceiling of the Throne Chamber.



* Of course, a joke about Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and Don Quixote.

[Ashantai]

Great update and well written narrative too!

[NeoAC]

Leonel I and Andres Febo II
Throwing the Gauntlet

1659-1679

The Royal Archives
Iruña
1679

The old Royal Archivist died more than fifteen years before. But no one could tell the difference and among the assistant, the most popular rumour was that the soul of the old Archivist still simply ignored the fact that he was dead and stayed on earth, doing his work as he always did.

But there were differences, after all. The Archivist currently in charge, wished to promote the existence and treasures of the Archives, so he petitioned the chancellor to open a well guarded part of the Archives to the Court and foreign important figures, so they could better appreciate it.

The King Himself came to read the books. For many years, He read the ideas of the many cultures and civilizations currently known. Even at His age, He was able to understand new ideas. So well, that He fully embraced the enlightenment as a way to improve the Kingdoms technology, wealth and well-being.

It was while a delegation of mixed British nobles were visiting the Archives when they heard that that the Royal Ideas were fully enforced.



"Well, won't that cause too much trouble? I mean, the People never know what's good for them!"

The young Lancaster, the Head of his House after the dead of the old English King, was the most talkative among the English representatives. After all, he was the only one that somehow got promoted. The Scots were more silent, overwhelmed by Iruña. The size and design of the city were unsurpassed and it kept growing at an incredible rate.

Luckily, the came in winter, when the weather was bad but they would find almost no visitor, and not in summer, when the festivities of San Fermin took place, because that situation was pure chaos and, after all, they were here sent by the increasingly powerful Scot Assembly to learn as much as they could, even to consider the merits of a closer integration.

The Archivist continued the explanation, while playing with his strange white beard.

"I don't understand, Archivist. You say that the foundations of the present Navarran expansions where laid by the former King, if He only ruled for five years?"



The Archivist smiled. The young York, representative of the English branch of the family, was almost as expansive as the Lancaster.

"Sometimes the most impressive effects are not achieved instantly by some great cause, but by a small change over a long time. In fact, His policy of more technological advancements, college and cathedral building and relation improvement were, at the end, more important than the war He was fighting with Burgundy for two provinces that declared themselves Navarran. King Andrés Febo finished that work, too, of course."

"Do you have a cultural policy? I see that several provinces became Basque since 1659."

"No, we don't. Forcing culture changes is not the Navarran way. It's true that our prestige and culture alone make it almost irresistible to adopt our language and customs."






"Getting back to some expansion. Did the Service had something to do with Naples entering a Personal Union with Navarra?"

Many exclamations were suppressed. That question was way too daring.

"No. You can have my word for it. It was the legacy of the good relations that the old King cultivated. When Naples throne became vacant, they offered it to the Navarran King."



"It probably helped that the chancellor took measures to reduce our bad reputation around the world, though."



"But you claimed the English Throne!"



"You mean the English Torn!!"-A Scot retorted.

"Yes. A harsh measure, but necessary. England proved itself to be way too unstable and way too prone to declare wars upon Navarran allies. The Austrians were foolishly dragged into the battle and it reduced the country's stability, we had to do it."



York laughed.

"Cathedrals! Of course!"

"Yes, it helped. With them, we can quickly restore our stability, even with such a big country as ours."

"And then, another country came under the protection of the Navarran Crown."

"Aren't you satisfied, Englishman? Now the entire Great Britain is happily united under one King! Wasn't that the aim of England?"

That Scot had a point for irony. Lancaster tried to ignore it. As many English, he had mixing feelings about the new status quo. Losing a permanent King was such a shame. But gaining peace, commercial access to every corner of the seas and reduced duties to the Crown were nice improvements.



"Can we have a look into the Throne Chamber?"

"I was starting to wonder when you would ask. Come with me. I'll show you."

They were not disappointed.



Taking advantage of the general astonishment, York asked the Archivist.

"Is Navarra going to accept the Burgundian defy of the Ban? They are trying to expand into India, and they didn't renounce suzerainty over their New World provinces"

The Archivist smiled. Those York.

"No. Not any longer."

Like his predecessor, the Archivist was, in fact, a high ranking Service Officer.

[MrQwerty]

So many cultural flips ! I've never seen so many. But excellent work in dominating the West with personal unions. Now it must all seem too easy .

[homy_dog34]

Europe shall fall!

[Ashantai]

A lot of culture changes. How did you manage it?

[NeoAC]

I am not sure, really. If we exclude the MEIOU graphics, this is plain old Divine Wind. I am looking at the modifiers that accelerate the process, and they are not affected by cultural tradition, difficulty or the likes. ¿?¿?

[Ashantai]

No, they are affected by national focus and certain sliders though.

[NeoAC]

I think the ones on effect are:

-20% if Province Owner has Church Attendance Duty
-10% if Province Owner has stability ≥ 1
-10% if Province Owner has stability = 3

And, of course, the provinces that surround the national focus (that happens to be Navarra itself) flip 50% faster. But most of the assimilated provinces are further away.

Just luck, I suppose.

[Ashantai]

Yeah, looking through it now, big cities are harder to absorb than small ones, and if you have free subjects it's also much harder.