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I know I haven't checked in in awhile, but...damn you have a very nice AAR going, and I'm already impatient for the continuation of the story. :D
 
I know I haven't checked in in awhile, but...damn you have a very nice AAR going, and I'm already impatient for the continuation of the story. :D
Welcome back! As for updates... trying to get up to actual progress, but finding the going tough.

Ela de Normandie, another forgotten figure.
Soon the Mordvas unite?
Very soon. Mordvia rises under Sviendorog.


Sorry for lack of updates. I've been hit by a one-two sucker punch of food poisoning and then a cold. So I've been trying to write but I actually manage to slur via my writing. Even writing these few sentences took much longer than you'd expect. So, give me a day or two to get functioning again.
 
Bastions
Prologue Two: The Prussians
Part 16


æs kræsátáju ladusjá, æbes wors he ænlik tas... ien skrælná kalp tánzif nacod óon.
I saw Russia, but it was just that... a scrawny man dancing around naked.​

Sviendorog did as he promised, he drafted a set of laws and promises known as the Æthelsræchtæs or "Noble's Rights". The document promised that the King would protect the interests of his vassals, but to do so he required the right to tax them and the right to levy their men for war. On top of all of that it demanded that the succession be out of the hands of the nobles for all eternity. The nobles were invited to Mariengrád to sign the document, but it was in all reality a trap. Those who signed it gave away many rights for the right to be protected, those who didn't were traitors. The treaty was signed unanimously, but there were many who resisted. With the nobles semi-placated for now, King Gunvald and Prince Sviendorog turned their attention once more to the tiny Kingdom of Poland, or what was left of it. The whole Kingdom was pushed into Silesia, trapped between the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia. Gunvald's march was not that of a warrior, but more like that of a hunter, wading through the fens to find his downed game.

Gunvald sent Poland three gifts in 1173: a tax collector, an Orthodox priest, and a copy of the Æthelsræchtæs. The message was clear to all leading the beleaguered state: you are my vassal, submit to me and you shall be allowed to live. The Polish, seeing Gunvald and his army on the horizon, broke out into civil war between those that wished to remain independent and those who wished to submit to Prussia. The Prussian army was able to enter on the behalf of the Prussian side and thereby ended the Kingdom of Poland as an independent entity. It was not until the reign of King Gunvald II in 1356 that a person other than the King of Prussia held the title of Poland: Prince Doyvát held the title as Lord Commander of Poland. With the West won, Gunvald was happy. He had finally achieved what his father had always dreamed. By conquering westward he ensured that Prussia would remain in the thick of European politics, not an outlier in Russia.

But that was not all, Gunvald also planned to expand into Russia as a Western power seeking to unify the fledgling Christian nations in the region. There was no long a King of the Rus, rather several small states centered on cities and governing only the direct environs of those cities. Farther East was the massive Kingdom of the Mordvins, a Finnic people who united and expanded at the expense of the Bulgars and the Russians. With the city of Novogorod paying tribute to them, the Mordvins claimed the title "Protector of the Russians". It was important to Gunvald that Prussia be looked to as the protector of the Russians, it would be a sign of unity amongst the Orthodox nations. Between 1173 and 1174 Sviendorog defeated the Cumans in southern Russia and Azov. This isolated the Romans from the Russians, as well as expanding Prussian trade. But Sviendorog also managed to conquer a southern Mordvin tribe, a risky move, and one that would put the two main players in Russia head-to-head.

The King of the Mordvins called for Gunvald and Sviendorog so they could negotiate some sort of truce. The Mordvin was probing the Prussians, looking to figure out their intentions. Gunvald agreed to a treaty, letting the Mordvins have access to the Black Sea in exchange for tariffs. Sviendorog was unhappy with the arrangement, and vowed to annul it as soon as he had the chance as King. The Prince criticized his father for his inaction, saying that Russia was practically dancing in front of them, asking to be taken. But King Gunvald stood by his plan, knowing that a slow conquest of Russia, like that of Poland, was the best bet.

Between 1173 and 1176, religious revolts became common place. King Gunvald was highly tolerant of Catholics, especially compared to Eadbert. This all changed in 1176 when the Patriarch of Prussia was lynched by a Catholic mob in Plock. Gunvald call off the wars of expansion in order to focus his efforts into bringing about stability. He illegalized Catholicism and ordered Catholic churches be converted into Orthodox ones. He also stepped up conversions of Pagans in and around the Baltic and Black Seas. Many feared that it would result in purges, like under Eadbert, but Gunvald was more lax than that, though revolts were still crushed with an iron boot. Around the same time a delegation from Bohemia arrived, the King of Bohemia sought an ally in Prussia and sent his old child, the Princess Bozislava, to be educated in Memelgrád. Bohemia and Prussia made strange bedfellows, but the move would dictate almost two centuries worth of Prussian domestic and foreign policies.
 
Bastions
Prologue Two: The Saxons
Part 17


se hánd uv fat vilináţ nai netziţ næ inin.
The hand of fate is never to be tempted nor denied.​

In 1177 an unexpected fleet of ships sailed into Memelgrád under the white flag of truce. The fleet was lead by Jordan de Normandie, former Duke of Normandy, son of a deposed King of England. He came not seeking blood or vengeance, but a home. Normandy was lost, the Muslims overpowered the already beleaguered Normans and sent them fleeing. But they had no place to flee to. Barred from Germany and England, they sought refuge with a group of people who knew what it was to be without a homeland, they turned to the Prussians. King Gunvald was initially distrustful, but when Jordan and his people pledged to leave behind Catholicism and fight for Prussia, the King gave them a simple offer: keep what you take. The rule was that the Normans would get to settle the depopulated land of Azov, but if they conquered other lands, those lands would also be open to Norman colonization and rule, so long as they were vassals of the Prussian King. The Normans were not many, and they were soon joined by Russians and Ruthenians, together they would create the Azovians, a masterful race of horse lords and a powerful ally of the Prussian King.

The war to claim the Crimea began in 1178 and was headed by Prince Sviendorog and Jordan de Normandie. Sviendorog led a Prussian army, while Jordan led a rag-tag group of Normans, Russians and Georgians. But together they were able to quickly defeat all those who stood in their way but one: the Roman Empire. Rome also took an interest in the Crimea, formerly a colony of theirs. The two groups met inside a region known as Taurica. The Romans, under Grand Prince Michael Palaiologos, were refusing to budge and claimed that the Prussians had raided too far south. Sviendorog knew very well what he was doing, hoping to confine the Romans to just a few southern cities on the very edge of the peninsula. The two princes were both heirs to their Kingdoms and second cousins. But in the end, Sviendorog stepped down, letting the Romans have Taurica for now. However, Roman rule did not prevent the Normans from settling the region like any other.

Back in the capital, King Gunvald was looking to the future of Prussia. Sviendorog had two sons who were going to co-rule the Kingdom. Gunvald was not happy with this plan, so in order to ensure one had leverage over the other, planned to wed the eldest, Valikaila, to Bozislava. Upon his return, Sviendorog was unhappy, but had to live with his father's decision. In the background a bigger issue was being circulated. Many in the court feared that Valikaila was gay, given his disinterest in Bozislava. Meinekinus, the younger of the two sons, was already being educated by monks so was often thought of as the lesser of the two sons. Sviendorog was bent on protecting the honor of both of his heirs, so when he heard a Prince telling others that Valikaila was gay, he challenged and killed the Prince in a duel.

But no sooner than the blood of the duel had dried than Sviendorog was headed to Finland to stop a pagan rebellion. The Finnish were protesting taxes and starvation brought on by Prussia's rule over the region. At the time Prussian Finland consisted solely of the southern shore. Despite Eadbert and Gunvald's attempt to move Prussians into the area, the Christians were heavily outnumbered by pagans. Ziemelængrád was the capital of the region and had become a besieged city. Sviendorog had no choice but to bring up the Prussian Guard, an elite force dedicated to fighting pagans and Catholics. Part priest, part soldier they were a force to be reckoned with. After the city was saved, he was called back to Memelgrád in an urgent letter from his father.

Arriving in the capital, Sviendorog found that Gunvald had pushed up the wedding between Valikaila and Bozislava. The Prince was very unhappy with the move but had little power over the situation. In fact, as his father grew ill, Sviendorog felt more and more powerless. in 1180 there was no question that King Gunvald was coming to the end of his life. Many turned their eyes toward Prince Sviendorog who had taken some time to retreat into solitude before he would inevitably be the sole focus of the Prussian nobility. When King Gunvald did die in 1181, Prussia went into a state of morning. It was up to King Sviendorog to guide Prussia into a new century, but the old general knew where to start. He declared peace, no less than fifteen years of constant peace. Prussia's golden age was built on the foundation laid by King Sviendorog.
 
Aww, no one likes Finland. Too cold and people are unfriendly. :p
If it means anything: I am listening to Children of Bodom.

How cool is it that a general, of all things, brings Pax Prussiana (although my memory has mailed to oblivion all that happens next)?
You'll have to wait a bit (a day or two). I am writing the update for the Carthaginians to celebrate the success of our Tunisian friends at ousting Ben Ali.
 
You'll have to wait a bit (a day or two). I am writing the update for the Carthaginians to celebrate the success of our Tunisian friends at ousting Ben Ali.

It was an honest thought, not trying to push you into updating, although i'd like that too! :p

They did!? Awesome.
 
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Bastions
Culture Updates
The Carthaginians


Northern Africa is often referred to as a part of Europe politically. Many European states have close relations with their southern neighbors. Nowhere is this more true than with Carthage, often called "a little piece of Europe". To understand the history of Carthage and its peoples one must look to the Emirate of Zirid, which ruled the region in the XI and XII Centuries. Zirid led the invasions of Sicily and later Naples, but in 1180 the Infinite War almost collapsed for the Muslims, and much of their newly gained lands were lost. Amongst the lost lands was much of France and Italy. This created thousands of refugees, especially in France where many people had already converted to Islam. The Emir of Zirid invited these peoples to his lands to help rebuild his population to continue the wars. The French, Catalan and Italian Muslims migrated, almost en masse, to the Emirate. Along the way they picked up a new name, the Black Feet (or Pied Noir) due to the dirt on their often bare feet. Once they arrived in Zirid, they quickly overwhelmed local populations that had been depleted through war.

By 1250 the refugees in Zirid had transformed into the Carthaginians. In Africa they stood out, they were fair skinned, spoke a Romance language (a combination of Occitan, Catalan and Arabic called Carthaginian), and were a strong sea-fairing state. But Zirid was still ruled by an Arab. The Carthaginians overthrew the reigning Arabic dynasty and installed a native one, and above their capital they flew the Occitan Cross; a strange symbol for a Muslim people but one that one outlast many other banners. With the establishment of a "native" dynasty, the Carthaginians began a long history of belligerence against her neighbors. The main divide was religion. In 1389 Carthage was a Franda state while her neighbors were Sunni. And despite being sorely outnumbered, Carthage weathered through it, often emerging as the victor.

When the Persian hordes arrived in Egypt, it was Carthage that finally held them back. Through military might and superior tactics, the Carthaginians won both at sea and on land. It was a very important turning point during the expansion of the successive Persian hordes. In the sixteen and seventeen hundreds there was a small "Pax Carthago" in the Mediterranean world. Carthaginian trade exploded. Even before the scramble for Africa in the mid to late XIX Century, Carthage was already expanding her African holdings. The Empire of Kanem was conquered between 1650 and 1730. However, trapped in the Mediterranean, Carthage never became a great colonial power like other European states. Instead, natural Carthaginian seamanship was put to use by the Aragonese when they began their own quest for the new world following the Vasque discovery of Newfoundland.

This navy would also be constantly tied up in trying to hold back the Persian fleets from the East. One of the Persian admirals is said to have remarked, "To sail west is to sail into a wind so strong it can only be the will of the divine that we sail no further." At the dawn of the modern age Carthage held close ties to both Aragon and France, though not Sicily. It is surprising then that Carthage was able to remain neutral through both World Wars, but it was eventually effected by the changing times in the post colonial world when a bloody war for independence broke out in the Kanem provinces in the south. Though Carthage doggedly maintains that it has the situation under control, Kanem enjoys de facto independence as well as recognition from many of the states in the United Nations. Carthage was barred from joining the European Union in 1998 (which would effectively end the 'European' part of the Union) for its continued presents in Kanem. Carthage had promised to withdraw from the region after UN backed elections, but Kanem remains under the control of war lords, so Carthage refuses to pull its own troops out fearing it would destabilize its southern border. However, the current government as well as the King of Carthage back a movement to remove troops from the region in 2014 regardless of the political situation in exchange for UN support in monitoring what would become its southern border.

Despite all of this, Carthage maintains one of the freest societies in Africa. In the city of Carthage it is hard to notice one is living in a country undergoing a bloody war. Freedoms of religion and press are on par or exceeding European standards and like many European monarchies, the King of Carthage holds little actual power. Unlike Morocco and Egypt much of the religious division that plagues its neighbors is avoided through secular governing. The open nature also makes it a popular tourist destination for people all over the world. It is especially popular with eastern Europeans earning it the nick-name "Little Prussia" during the spring and summer vacation periods.
 
This is very good AAR. Maybe little bit lengthy (not boring!), but very good.

I have one question. What was happend with all western and eastern Slavs? There is no Slavonic culture update at list at first page. They has been assimilated?
 
I love it when you talk about what happens to cultures in the (which is to say our) modern age.

Little prussia :p
Good, because I have put a lot of work into crafting the modern age. I even have a modern map complete with national flags!

This is very good AAR. Maybe little bit lengthy (not boring!), but very good.

I have one question. What was happend with all western and eastern Slavs? There is no Slavonic culture update at list at first page. They has been assimilated?
There are still Slavs of many types (even in the modern age).
Western:
Czechs still hold a majority in Bohemia and Moravia, they've even settled northern Austria. By the modern age this has retreated into Central Bohemia due to German and Prussian expansion.
Wends exist, but like in our world in no real numbers.

Southern:
Serbo-Croats and Bosnians are much closer in this time line than in our world. They are still divided religiously in the modern world (Croats being Prussian Orthodox, Serbs being Roman Orthodox, Bosnians are Shiites). They inhabit the whole of what would be Yugoslavia.
Slovenes are still a major group and still inhabit much of Slovenia. But Slovenia is also rather Germanic by the modern age and is not independent.
Bulgarians are divided into two groups. Bulgars who still speak Slavic and Greco-Bulgars who speak a dialect of Greek. This comes from the extra years of Roman rule.
The Qurati, who are featured in the culture updates, are also Slavs (but you probably didn't know that). They are remnants of Croatian crusaders in the Holy Lands and by the modern age are divided into two groups: Western Qurati who live in what is (to us) southern Syria and northern Saudi Arabia as nomads. Eastern Qurati live in what is (for us) Qatar and Bahrain. Both of them are still Christian, but are in a different church than other Christians.

Eastern:
There are few to no Russians by the modern age, having been assimilated by the Prussians and the Mords. They exist as a minority around the city of Tver, but that is about it.
The Azowians are also slavic in nature, I've never really defined whether they speak a Romance language (like their Norman ancestors) or a slavic one (like their Ruthenian ancestors). And I don't plan to, really.

I cannot really think of any other slavic groups that exist in this time line, hopefully that gives you a good starting point.