Hello everyone!
First, thank you all for being patient. I'll have proper replies up with the next interim, as soon as I can! Friends have left, and my nose has been to the grindstone preparing the maps for the 1300 update on the rest of the world. Half of the updates are done, detailing the changes in Russia and the Middle East. The second part, detailing western and central Europe, will be up sometime next week.
First, I’d like to begin with a little more about Mali, both because it’s been brought up a few times, and also because frankly, I find the new Mali’s development to be fascinating.
Afterwards, we’ll move to the lands of the Rus.
The lands of the Rus have seen many changes over the past half century—the greatest of which is the continued decline of the Blue Horde as a power. As quickly as the Mongols erupted onto the European stage—destroying the titanic Kingdom of the Rus and subjugating peoples as far as Poland in the process—they have ebbed away. A succession struggle between Khan Sartaq and his younger brother Mengu-Timur. The latter was victorious, and Sartaq sought refuge with the Roman princes of Georgia. With the permission of the
Megas Komnenos a small punitive expedition defeated Mengu-Timur’s depleted armies near Yaik, and Sartaq was set up as Khan of Astrakhan, with the Roman title of ‘Despotes’ under Roman suzerainty. This weakness caused many of the smaller Christian and Muslim remnants in the northern parts of the Horde to revolt as well. Currently, the weakened Horde is fighting an alliance of former vassals from Chuvash, Cheremesia, Bulgar and Kama.
Further west, the story of fragmentation is coupled with stories of consolidation. The Nevskii princes of the rebuilt city of Novgorod (several miles south of the old capital) have used a combination of guile and a marriage alliance with the neighboring Princes of Belozero to great a new ‘Kingdom of the Rus,’ based on the twin capitals of Novgorod and Belozero. To the Kingdom’s south and east, a few Russian principalities remain outside its grasp—only the threat of the ‘Bohemians’ to the northwest, as well as Sortmark, has kept the Nevskii kings from seizing these small principalities by force.
To the south, Sortmark has retained its size and power. Originally it was the long arm of the Horde Khans, but now, the Kings in rebuilt Havigraes exercise great power in their own names. King Olaf has even gone as far to declare himself a
Khagan, completely throwing off the Mongol yoke and daring a weakened Mengu-Timur to do anything about it. More powerful than the Rus, only the Romans have the strength to tangle with the Steppe Danes.
Further to the west, the story of fragmentation takes the lead once more. Many of the great ‘principalities’ created by the Mongols to supervise their dominions have collapsed. In Poland, the Kingdom was reborn in 1261, and so far has absorbed much of the former Archbishopric of Masovia and clung to existence despite suffering disaster during a recent war with the Romans. Krakow’s kneeling before a Roman army resulted in it breaking free from the Polish state—the situation has yet to be resolved.
Gone are the Princes of Smolensk as independent entites. Large chunks of their land have devolved to the Princes of Turov, while their remnants are vassals to Sortmark. Polotsk remains in a smaller form as well, with numerous small counties between her and Poland. To the north, the city of Reval has declared itself a merchant republic.
Even further north is another interesting tale. Mid-century, mercenaries from the German civil wars sailed into southern Finland, and declared a new ‘Kingdom of Bohemia.’ Originally this land was regarded as a laughingstock, but its continued successes, both in fighting Finnish pagans to the north, as well as skirmishes with the Kingdom of the Rus, have made its neighbors regard it as a serious threat. Historians tend to refer to this realm as “Finnish Bohemia” both to clarify its location, and to separate it from the coexisting ‘Duchy of Bohemia’ which formed during the German Civil War of the 1290s.
Finally, we have the Middle East.
The situation in the post-Andronikene politically has not changed much since 1273—Romanion claimed a small sliver of northern Mesopotamia in the aftermath of Arghun’s repulsion—ostensibly as payment for destroying the Mongol, but in reality to provide a location deep within the Persian borders to begin building forts and other works to support future invasions.
Persia itself is a bedrock of stability—as the Turks have begun moving further and further to the east, so has Roman control over Persia, now consolidated to the end of the CK map. Persia itself has known little war since the mid 1270s, and prosperity has returned, even as the great Lord of Persia plans his campaign to the west.
Transoxania continues on as well. Michael I, known as Jajarid Mikail (“Michael the Foreigner”) proved to be more independent than his Mongol viceroys wished, but wisely never crossed the line enough to provoke the Great Khan or his Roman cousin into intervening. The King-Khan converted to Nestorian Christianity in 1287, and the Church of the East has been flourishing in his realm—much to the disdain of the Orthodox Church. In 1296 some of the more minor tribal leaders in the west and south attempted to declare independence, but by the next year, Michael’s half
tumen finished off the abortive revolts. Transoxania will get its own interim update at a later date.
Finally, little has changed in Arabia either. The “Principality of the Sinai” has declared its own independence, led by a maverick Muslim religious scholar named Isa ibn Sulieman. The abortive attempt at freedom would disappear within the year, but would serve as a rallying cry for later, or dangerous rebellions. Isaakios I, known as Ishaq to his subjects, has continued his grandfather’s practice of toleration, though there are rumors in Jeddah that the King/Malik openly has dinners with Muslim and Aionite leaders… Like Transoxania, Arabia will receive its own special interim later on.