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Heavens Above: A Narrative of Aragon

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GreatUberGeek

GreatUberGeek

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"But what about Christ, Juan?."
Carlos Ramos drained his beer with the skill of a life-long drinker, and placed the cup on the bar with a gratified smile, which quickly returned to his normal taciturn frown.
"With all these new lands, there's too many dang Moslems around. This used to be a good country, dangit! Now these new people have come and ruined Aragon."
Juan drank from his cup as well, and started nodding. Then, with his normal mischievous smile, he thought of something he knew that would make Carlos laugh.
"Absolutely right. In fact, you shouldn't even say the Savior's name anymore; maybe Anti-Christ?"
Carlos laughed while motioning the bartender over.
"That's quite good. A little more of the beer."
Then his tanned face turned sober.
"In all seriousness, what good has the war against the Moslems ever done?"
At the end of the bar, a man in chain armor stood up, his mail rustling.
"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear you."
"Mind your business." muttered Juan. The man ignored him.
"Well?" demanded Carlos.
"The war helped the King-"
"The King isn't me! Or this town! Next time, find an excuse that applies to this country!"
The man stayed calm throughout the outburst.
"You are Christian, are you not?"
"Yes, but what does it matter?" Carlos snapped.
"The war has reclaimed land for the Pope and for all Christians. That includes most of Aragon, does it not?"
"Bah. In a couple generations, they'll all be Christian anyway!"
"It gives people a job."
Carlos barked out a hollow laugh.
"Really? That is what you believe?" His face turned deadly serious, and the man's hand surreptitiously dropped to the dagger at his side.
"When the war broke, I was just a blacksmith. But when I returned from fighting with this"-he held up his hand, emblazoned with a huge scar-"and half of my ear gone, I found my home on fire and everything I had destroyed. I still have no job. That is what the war has done for me." Carlos exhaled loudly, glad to have gotten that off of his chest.
Any further argument was interrupted by a banging on the door. When it was opened, a young fellow ran in and shouted, "Carlos! Carlos Ramos!"
Turning around, Carlos discovered that the shouter was one of his informants from the city, Ramirez. "Ah, Ramirez, what do you want? I can get you a couple rounds of beer-"
"No, no, Carlos. I came here with a message."
"Yes?"
"The King has declared a new muster. We're going to war."
Carlos stood up ramrod-straight, speechless. The room stood still; you could have heard the drop of a hat. Then, one moment later, the bar descended into chaos.
 
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Hello, everybody! This is the GreatUberGeek and this is my new AAR, a narrative/history this time! I'll be playing with Aragon, and the latest patch, so no lost saves (hopefully!) this time. Enjoy, and comment on!
 
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 (above)
 
Sacré bleu! Does this mean what I think it means? Taking on the Infidels right off the bat? I pray you return all in one piece! :eek: :D
 
Jarren said:
interesting. always good to end with a bar fight :)
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Yep! The first line just came to me, and from there came the setting in the bar. A bar fight was inevitable. :D
fabiolundiense said:
Sacré bleu! Does this mean what I think it means? Taking on the Infidels right off the bat? I pray you return all in one piece! :eek: :D
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Well, I declared war basically right off the bat, since Aragon has de jure claims on the entire Hudid Emirate. But then, I declared another war pretty quickly to get another claim.
 
Going for a return to narrative now are we?! Well, I must bid you good luck dear boy! Just don't forget the "Kingdom of God." ;)

Cheers!
 
volksmarschall said:
Going for a return to narrative now are we?! Well, I must bid you good luck dear boy! Just don't forget the "Kingdom of God." ;)

Cheers!
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There will be some history book in here too, just to offer some context. And don't worry, Kingdom of God will still be updated. :p I'm working on it.
 
Subbed.
 
As always GUG with your AARs count me in!
 
A long column of troops straggled up the windswept mountain. It was near dawn in Aragon, and the breeze gave the heavily clad men some well-deserved freshness.
Juan was struggling to keep up with the main force. Carlos had to stand behind impatiently, waiting for him to come.
"C'mon, Juan! You have to hurry! If this goes on, we'll miss the battle!"
Juan panted in exhaustion.
"I thought you hated war! Goddammit, Carlos, I never expected you to be that person."
Drawing breath to respond to Juan's first allegation, Carlos was sucker-punched by the second. "What person?"
Juan gestured with his hands, trying to articulate his point. "You know, that person."
Carlos frowned quizzically. "You know, I'm afraid I don't."
Juan, exasperated, threw up his hands. "I give up, Carlos." He pointed his index finger directly at Carlos. "You, sir, are a lost cause."
Carlos laughed. "Whatever I am, we're both going to be late."
As if on cue, a soldier appeared over the next hill and shouted, "Ramos! Juan! Get your asses up here, or the general will have your hide!"
Grinning at each other, they fell back into line with the army as quick as they could, which wasn't quick enough for the general.
~~~~~~~~~
Approaching the Moslem city of Cervera, a slow fear seeped into the army. Men whispered tortured rumors of Moslem cruelty, with the compatriots laughing hollowly at the story, only to stay awake for many hours that night. Every man was in a state of nervous anticipation. The city imposed itself upon the landscape, looming large both in the earth and the psyche of the troops. The Aragonese army was small and terrified. Any chance encounter could've easily developed into the death of all Aragon's hopes. King Sancho prayed daily for divine intervention. What he got was less than that, but just as welcome. At dawn break on July 8th, a huge Castilian army entered the Aragonian camps under the command of none other than the king of Castile. The Aragonese emerged wearily from their tents, rubbing their eyes in astonishment. King Sancho II smirked broadly at the mainly peasant soldiery, compared to his proud Castilian knights. He and his Castilian standard bearers stopped directly outside of Sancho's tent. The king of Aragon hastily came out, his regal attire thrown on in hurry.
"Hello, cousin. How kind of you to grace us with your presence."
The Castilian recognized the bitter sarcastic undertone, but chose to dismiss it.
"Why, I am here to help you defeat the Moslems. I would hope a better welcome would suffice my poor army."
Sancho grimaced. He knew that a verbal sparring was about to ensue, and he hated it. He was a man of swords, not words.
"You have surprised us, cousin. We were unaware of your arrival; you could have sent scouts out at least."
Sancho II adopted an obviously fake frown.
"But surely you knew I was coming?"
"You barely even sent me an assurance of support."
"You could've inferred..."
"Could've, would've, should've! You are a lying snake, Sancho, and your word is as good as the word of a Moslem heretic. Perhaps even worse."
And with that, Sancho huffed and turned away into his tent, leaving the alliance, and the war, in limbo.
 
Oooh good to see this one back at last! Good stuff. How will this uneasy alliance end up I wonder. KUTGW
 
Any particular reasons why you're using the more archaic form of Muslim (Moslem)?

Sancho, a lying snake, must be Satan incarnate then! :p
 
Asantahene said:
Oooh good to see this one back at last! Good stuff. How will this uneasy alliance end up I wonder. KUTGW
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Thanks, Asantahene! The uneasy alliance may end in blood...:eek:
volksmarschall said:
Any particular reasons why you're using the more archaic form of Muslim (Moslem)?

Sancho, a lying snake, must be Satan incarnate then! :p
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Because it is the archaic form. :) I think of it as the most likely way my characters would have referred to the Muslims. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course he's Satan incarnate, he's Castilian! :p
 
It is hard to discern whether you are going for modern language, in narrative, or actually trying to replicate medieval language use, in that case, I'm pretty sure you should be using different words beside Moslem. Mohammedan was the more archaic and tradition reference used by Europeans/Christians concerning Muslims, as you know from Decline and Fall, even into the 1950s. Then it became Moslem. Then to the more contemporary Muslim.

Ouch, the Devil and the Castilian. I think someone still has some serious misgivings about a certain Dutch vs Spanish AAR in EUIV that never materialized! ;) :p

Oh, btw, I hope you're enjoying your new school! :)
 
volksmarschall said:
It is hard to discern whether you are going for modern language, in narrative, or actually trying to replicate medieval language use, in that case, I'm pretty sure you should be using different words beside Moslem. Mohammedan was the more archaic and tradition reference used by Europeans/Christians concerning Muslims, as you know from Decline and Fall, even into the 1950s. Then it became Moslem. Then to the more contemporary Muslim.
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Good to know. So, I'll be using Mohammedan from now on, methinks. Thanks for the tip.
Ouch, the Devil and the Castilian. I think someone still has some serious misgivings about a certain Dutch vs Spanish AAR in EUIV that never materialized! ;) :p
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:( Too soon.
Oh, btw, I hope you're enjoying your new school! :)
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I am, to a certain extent. :) I get an iPad, that I not-so-surreptiously use in class on Paradox. ;) And also Wikipedia, the Onion and it's affiliates, and a wonderful magazine called Mental Floss. Oh yes, and the Guardian.co.uk website as well. I'm taking Latin I, and dominating my history class. I actually used music from EU4 in a documentary about Rome! :D It may have blotted out the sound a little bit...:blush: Also, I've been to several dances, where I talked to both boys and girls! :)
 
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Young kids getting iPads, cellphones, and other wonderful little goodies in school! What has this world come too? I remember when we just only ever got books! :p
 
volksmarschall said:
Young kids getting iPads, cellphones, and other wonderful little goodies in school! What has this world come too? I remember when we just only ever got books! :p
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Well, I don't have a cellphone, if it makes you feel any better. :p
 
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