Children of the Fatherland: MP conversion game
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As a percentage of the real economy of the Byzantine state, the damage done by the Cretan corsairs was minuscule. In an era when almost all production was local, and the Black Sea trade (Russian grain and timber for Byzantine wine, oil, and manufactures) between Christians was more important than interfaith trade across the Mediterranean, the loss of even one in twenty merchant ships could not much harm the average Roman. Indeed, left to himself he might even consider such losses as the just deserts of those who insisted on trading with the enemy.
As a percentage, however, of the income of the senatorial class in Constantinople, and consequently of the revenue of the state, the damage done by the Cretan corsairs was very painful. A single ship filled with spices and silk from India (brought in through the Red Sea and carted only a short distance overland, as opposed to the much longer and more expensive Silk Road and Persian Gulf routes) could make a man's fortune; conversely, losing the capital tied up in such a venture could severely constrain the resources of even a wealthy Senator. Without modern risk-sharing instruments, the main recourse for such a loss was to complain to the Emperor, who in turn could not afford to annoy too many aristocratic investors. Worse, the mob of Constantinople - which had made and unmade dynasties in the past, and which no wise Emperor would ignore - was easily stirred up against infidels, especially if there was a longshore raid, as often happened. The Caliph had signed a treaty with the Autokrator; the ghazi warriors who flocked to man the corsair galleys observed no such nicety with the Anatolian peasants. Thus, whatever the real preferences of the Komnenoi, for internal consumption they were forced to make belligerent noises and glare menacingly across the water.
Attempts to create a Christian succession to the islands, in the style of Arkadios, foundered on the deaths of the Komnenoi heirs involved; public sympathy for the dynasty's loss was, and remains, somewhat limited by the memory of the Antiochene Intrigue and the high rate of suspiciously-convenient deaths when a Komnenos was in a line of inheritance. One may, in any case, doubt whether such an inheritance could have been enforced against the Caliphate if the Fatimids had decided to object. The Caliphs, unlike the Georgian kings and the Dukas dynasty, were not constrained by a lack of soldiers, and the internal dynamics of a polity founded on a conquering religion were even less tolerant of infidel raids than those of Rome.
The fact remained, nonetheless, that although the kataphraktoi were the finest cavalry in the world, they were few in number. The Caliphate had only nomad tribes on its southern border, its vassal-ally in the Emirate of Cordoba guarded its western flank, and Persia was occupied with internal troubles. Rome, on the other hand, had to keep an eye out for a Gothic resurgence in Italy and man the Danube against Croatian revanchism; and men for these tasks had to be found from a smaller resource base than that of the Caliphate. The one advantage of Rome in a hypothetical conflict was the sheer size of the Caliph's domains: It would be very difficult to bring Moroccan troops to bear on fighting in the Eastern Mediterranean. But even this was offset by Caliphate control of the islands, constraining Roman logistics and giving the Moslems the advantage of internal lines: From their raider bases they could strike anywhere from Anatolia to the toe of Italy. Perforce, then, both the elder Michael and his son of the same name, whatever fierce faces they might display domestically, took care not to aggravate the Caliphs by any overt acts of war, or even preparation for war. Privately, they even assured Afzal that a Christian succession in the islands could be recovered diplomatically, although the Caliph seems not to have been entirely convinced, judging from the measures taken to avoid such an event. This may have been a shrewd judgement on his part; any handover of the islands after a legal succession would surely have led to rioting in Constantinople. Thus an illiterate mob could influence the foreign policies of continent-spanning empires and cause death to strike Anatolia from as far away as France and Scandinavia.
As a percentage, however, of the income of the senatorial class in Constantinople, and consequently of the revenue of the state, the damage done by the Cretan corsairs was very painful. A single ship filled with spices and silk from India (brought in through the Red Sea and carted only a short distance overland, as opposed to the much longer and more expensive Silk Road and Persian Gulf routes) could make a man's fortune; conversely, losing the capital tied up in such a venture could severely constrain the resources of even a wealthy Senator. Without modern risk-sharing instruments, the main recourse for such a loss was to complain to the Emperor, who in turn could not afford to annoy too many aristocratic investors. Worse, the mob of Constantinople - which had made and unmade dynasties in the past, and which no wise Emperor would ignore - was easily stirred up against infidels, especially if there was a longshore raid, as often happened. The Caliph had signed a treaty with the Autokrator; the ghazi warriors who flocked to man the corsair galleys observed no such nicety with the Anatolian peasants. Thus, whatever the real preferences of the Komnenoi, for internal consumption they were forced to make belligerent noises and glare menacingly across the water.
Attempts to create a Christian succession to the islands, in the style of Arkadios, foundered on the deaths of the Komnenoi heirs involved; public sympathy for the dynasty's loss was, and remains, somewhat limited by the memory of the Antiochene Intrigue and the high rate of suspiciously-convenient deaths when a Komnenos was in a line of inheritance. One may, in any case, doubt whether such an inheritance could have been enforced against the Caliphate if the Fatimids had decided to object. The Caliphs, unlike the Georgian kings and the Dukas dynasty, were not constrained by a lack of soldiers, and the internal dynamics of a polity founded on a conquering religion were even less tolerant of infidel raids than those of Rome.
The fact remained, nonetheless, that although the kataphraktoi were the finest cavalry in the world, they were few in number. The Caliphate had only nomad tribes on its southern border, its vassal-ally in the Emirate of Cordoba guarded its western flank, and Persia was occupied with internal troubles. Rome, on the other hand, had to keep an eye out for a Gothic resurgence in Italy and man the Danube against Croatian revanchism; and men for these tasks had to be found from a smaller resource base than that of the Caliphate. The one advantage of Rome in a hypothetical conflict was the sheer size of the Caliph's domains: It would be very difficult to bring Moroccan troops to bear on fighting in the Eastern Mediterranean. But even this was offset by Caliphate control of the islands, constraining Roman logistics and giving the Moslems the advantage of internal lines: From their raider bases they could strike anywhere from Anatolia to the toe of Italy. Perforce, then, both the elder Michael and his son of the same name, whatever fierce faces they might display domestically, took care not to aggravate the Caliphs by any overt acts of war, or even preparation for war. Privately, they even assured Afzal that a Christian succession in the islands could be recovered diplomatically, although the Caliph seems not to have been entirely convinced, judging from the measures taken to avoid such an event. This may have been a shrewd judgement on his part; any handover of the islands after a legal succession would surely have led to rioting in Constantinople. Thus an illiterate mob could influence the foreign policies of continent-spanning empires and cause death to strike Anatolia from as far away as France and Scandinavia.
From Filioque to Filibuster: Rome 1066-1949, Constantinople University Press.
The labarum flying over Chandax does lend a certain air of suspicion as to your motives...
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Hey, I already agreed to give that back.
*Turns to face mob of Constantinople*
We shall never give back Chandax!
*Makes belligerent noise*
*Glares fiercely in general direction of Egypt*
*Turns to face mob of Constantinople*
We shall never give back Chandax!
*Makes belligerent noise*
*Glares fiercely in general direction of Egypt*
The Fatimid Caliphate: the Isles and the Sand
Under Calipha Afzal the Merchant Guilds had been strengthened immensely, a never ending stream of riches and exotic goods flowed through the Caliphates harbours and trade stations. With minimal taxrates for those who could get their first son accepted into the Academy in Alexandria, goods were traded freely and the merchant princes grew so rich as to threaten worldly powers across the seas. At the forefront of these associations where the lesser branches of the Fatimid dynasty, with all the right connections and relations they commanded the fleets that had all but monopolized trade in the Mediterranean, and controlled the island bases and privateers who made sure it stayed that way.
But as with all reactions there are counter reactions. And for every rise there is a fall. Under great duress from his Byzantine neighbors the Pope had yet again called for a crusade against the faithful, first to take the cross were the impetuous Croats. As with earlier encounters with well disciplined forces their landings on Sicily ended in bloodbath as Emir Drogo al-Hauteville saw a chance to politically secure his domain against takeover by some Fatimid branch. More serious then was the implosion of Imperial authority in West Rome, where the pragmatic de Toulousian Emperor had refused the Popes pleas.
His calls for calm and unity against the Greek menace was shouted down by the zealous nobility who demanded the Spanish peninsula be reconquered. And a vast host of men set for adventure and conquest was assembled near Lyon and set out for Cordoba without any consent or permission from their liege lord. The advance forces of the Empire and the Andalusians met outside Barcelona in an undecided clash of arms, and soon all of the peninsula was mobilized to meet this grave threat to the faithful. But these are stories for the Andalusians to tell, for only half the Fatimid Banners of the west were raised those days and the glories belong to the Sultan who coordinated Moslem war efforts against the Latins. Nevertheless the battles of Tunis and Corsica, and subsequent sacking of Barcelona, as well as the following blockade against the Europeans caused serious injury to the profit of the Guilds. And there was much protesting and ruckus in Alexandria, forcing the Calipha to lend monetary aid to some of the Guilds to calm things down.
Byzantion, however, was pleased at seeing their main enemies embroiled in costly war. For after their plots and plans to claim inheritance of the isles had been foiled again and again those who said the faithful must first be weakened from within had been hard at work. Most notable among them was the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had seen the reach of the Greek orthodox church squashed in the Holy Land as well as his countrymen arriving in drove after drove bearing stories of ill fortune from every corner but Italy. And while the Emperor dithered he managed one last hurrah for the embattled Greeks in the Caliphate.
There would be writings and poems of the risings on Crete and Cyprus, treatises on partisan warfare and the surprise attack of brigands under Manuel the Red that took Chandax for a week and a half, songs of the many men lost, and fiery sermons on the need to resist the Saracen "menace". But such things matter little in the world of Emperors and Caliphas, and the revolts were put down with not much more than muttering in Constantinople. It mattered more however to the men who had their income from the trade that went by the isles, and again the Calipha had to subsidize his relatives.
The merchants were by no means broke, but such events do change the balance of power in a realm. And it was from Beirut that the final death knell to their stranglehold on political power would come. For the Caliphas exiled son had had contact with the Persians, offering them the rich trade cities of the silk road in exchange for the desert lands of Mesopotamia. Unlike many other scorned sons his methods were more subtle, for when the Calipha was presented with a treaty to strengthen his rule over the old lands of the Caliphate he was happy to surrender indefensible far of cities he had never been to. And thus the power of the Guilds was again weakened. Vacuums of power are of course always filled by something else, and those who stand ready are of a dark and pragmatic demeanor.
A new era is set to begin, a new more sinister faction awaits their time. We have seen the conquests of Ala'i, who favored the Banners. We have seen the prosperity of Afzal, who favored the Guilds. Now then the time of Sayyid, who commands the cult of Hassassins, draws near. Deep flows the blood already on his hands, and for those who wish the Caliphate ill dark days lay ahead...
Ingame update: France assassinates yet another heir to Crete, a Polish one this time. Egypt denies involvement, with at least a smidgen of plausibility. Perhaps as much as a modicum. Poland retaliates by assassinating French dynastoids; France strikes back and gets the Polish King! A Norwegian now rules in Poland. Russia has sworn to restore the Tilius dynasty. The title Dominar is recalibrated to Dominutive.
Indeed, the French are being very liberal with their assassins. However, vR has now restored the Tilius dynasty to the somewhat reduced throne, making them Domuscules.
I killed two people. Suddenly my court and family members were spammed with 8 assassination notices. I'm all for proportionate response, but that in my mind was beyond it. So there were two more people killed and that was it. I took out four and I am pretty sure lost at least 5 or 6.
If my children were threatened I'ld make sure to kill every relative and relative to that relative until I'ld say a 1/4 of their family was eliminated. You cannot be too careful.
Well then I fulfilled my goal if I managed to kill of so many =D Go, Go, Polarians!
Well look you, the young Polish heir to Cyprus was one thing, that's more or less in the way of business. His mother one could understand, as she had the potential to produce more heirs. But killing off Leszek, Ike's heir, was just beyond the bounds of civilised behaviour. I find myself agreeing with Ike's retaliation.
Session 19! In which the assassins war expands and there is bickering over treaties.
-Treaties prettyfy the Caliphates borders.
-AI Croatia yet again launches a Sicilian crusade, with predictable outcome...
-There is peace between the Western Empire and the Moslems.
The W. Empire and al-Andalus bicker over the wording and meaning of border-treaties
The W. Empire puts down the rebellions and solidifies
-More people are assassinated over the East Med Isles;
The grandson of the king of Poland is killed by Loire
Poland unleashes a flurry of assassins on the French
The French retaliate by killing the entire Polish royal family! A Norweigan takes the throne!
Russia helps restore the Tilius dynasty from the county of Krakow to kings once more
The Duke of Cyprus finally croaks, and a Komnenid inherits!
The Komnenid is assassinated and the Eastern Emperor inherits! but..
Ancient agreements between the E. Empire and the Caliphate demands inheritances must be restored to their original lords.
-The Vikings in a show of old time machismo take on Bavaria mano-a-mano! The slothful burghers are taken with their britches down as the beserking Norsemen raid and slaughter their way through Germany. Content with their plunder they return home, taking Hamburg in a humble peace.
-Persia has a civil war and expands its royal demense significantly
-The Eastern Empire is inherited by a 4 year old and is wrecked by realm duress.
So there you have it, the realms of the world are once again whole, the NAPs are running out and at every border there is friction! Stay tuned for more preparatory saber-rattling!
-Treaties prettyfy the Caliphates borders.
-AI Croatia yet again launches a Sicilian crusade, with predictable outcome...
-There is peace between the Western Empire and the Moslems.
The W. Empire and al-Andalus bicker over the wording and meaning of border-treaties
The W. Empire puts down the rebellions and solidifies
-More people are assassinated over the East Med Isles;
The grandson of the king of Poland is killed by Loire
Poland unleashes a flurry of assassins on the French
The French retaliate by killing the entire Polish royal family! A Norweigan takes the throne!
Russia helps restore the Tilius dynasty from the county of Krakow to kings once more
The Duke of Cyprus finally croaks, and a Komnenid inherits!
The Komnenid is assassinated and the Eastern Emperor inherits! but..
Ancient agreements between the E. Empire and the Caliphate demands inheritances must be restored to their original lords.
-The Vikings in a show of old time machismo take on Bavaria mano-a-mano! The slothful burghers are taken with their britches down as the beserking Norsemen raid and slaughter their way through Germany. Content with their plunder they return home, taking Hamburg in a humble peace.
-Persia has a civil war and expands its royal demense significantly
-The Eastern Empire is inherited by a 4 year old and is wrecked by realm duress.
So there you have it, the realms of the world are once again whole, the NAPs are running out and at every border there is friction! Stay tuned for more preparatory saber-rattling!
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Wait what? I didn't kill of the heir until after his over the top retaliation.
The sequence was kill two, rehost a month of two later, get bombarded by assassination attempts from Poland and then my killing of the heir, then the king.
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I didn't kill the entire royal family! Just the King and his son.
Looks to me like the Poles wisely got their retaliation in first. Clearly you deserved it.
Wow 19th session already, how many did it took to get trough CK phase previous time ?