Constantinople, My Love - A Different Kind of AAR

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This is not your typical AAR. Some are funny and witty. Some are based on dates and events. Still others are multiplayer influenced. Well this is not just another AAR, this is a story. A story with no set path.

Set in a world where the Turks did not cross in to Gallipoli, the Byzantine Empire is still locked in to a fight for its life with the Ottoman Turk. The Roman Empire, still reeling under the pressures from north and east left after the death of Michael VIII, stands at a crossroads. The Ottomans have overrun Anatolia, extinguishing the Empire of Trebizond in 1465. The Byzantine Empire has watched in horror as the Turk marched east to Azerbaijan and overran Georgia, the last Orthodox stronghold in the Caucasus. Now the Sultan has turned his eyes on Byzantium. Can it hold together? Will it crumble under the pressures of the east? Will it defeat the hordes, and once again reclaim the lost lands of the east?

See the story through the eyes of a family in Constantinople. Their sons drafted to fight against the invader, watch as they fight or die in the defense against the Turk. Hear the stories of the Turkish soldiers who fight against he Byzantine, in their bid to spread the one true faith and save the heathens beyond the Marmara. Listen to the stories of the families back home who hear only rumors and stories and must fear the worst every day. Witness the epic clash between cross and crescent over the gateway to Europe.

Expect the first part of the first chapter sometime tomorrow.

 

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That sounds pretty interesting to me..I am looking forward to your first installment..

 

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"Oh woe art thee, great Romans. For on your shoulders lay the survival of the Christians."

Dawn broke over Constantinople peacefully that day. The sky shone red, painting the sea a brilliant orange. A small boat came with the sun that day, tearing across the waves as fast as it could possibly go. It flew the flag of the Paleologi. A messenger. The boat was coming so fast that it nearly ran aground trying to slow itself to dock. Basil was a weary man after more than a week of travel. A horse already on the boat, he immediately mounted the beast and kicked it hard, riding fast towards Blachernae.

Nicephoros awoke with a start at the end of a bad dream. The fear gripping him passed as the memory of the dream faded, but he was most certainly fully awake. Nicephoros was the son of Ioannes, one of a dying race of Byzantine merchants. The mercantilist policies of the government 15 years ago had fallen in to shambles leaving his business ventures threatened once again by Italian traders. This is not to say he wasn't well off, however. His income measured in the Hyperpera, something many Byzantines could only dream of. Nicephoros yawned as he stepped to the window and peered out. The orange of the sea glinted in his eyes, forcing him to squint momentarily. One day, this would be his. His father's business. The boats, the warehouse, even his father's house. He noticed a horseman riding fast to the northeast as he peered down at his father's boats, noticing a small boat he had never seen before docked by his father's main ship. After breathing the air for a moment, he went downstairs to see what was for breakfast. After all, he had had a frightening night and earned his feed.

---

Basil approached the Palce of Blachernae with haste, dodging children who ran in the roads as best he could and trying not to hit market stands. The day had begun three ago, and was still not over for this man. The message he had was urgent; so urgent, the fate of the entire Empire rested upon the Emperor hearing it. They had already been moving for two weeks now, he had to report. The palace guards halted the man, demanding a name. When Basil produced the Emperor's seal on a letter allowing passage in to Blachernae, they muttered apologies and let him through. Once again kicking his horse, it sprung in to action immediately bringing him yet closer to his destination. Dismounting outside the entrance to the castle itself, he took no time to properly tie the horse so it could not escape. "No worry," he thought to himself. "It's a loyal horse."

Charging up the stairs, he finally encountered the Emperor's personal guards and demanded an immediate audience. Wielding his Imperial seal yet again, they went to notify the Emperor. Five minutes and three years later, Basil finally was able to speak with his Emperor.

"Your majesty, I bring urgent news from the east!" Basil insisted. After all, his news was indeed urgent. The Emperor motioned for him to go on. "Walk with me as you speak. I haven't yet been to the Palace gardens." Constantine XI was a very charming man. His honor superceded the need to be stronghanded with men leaving him with many friends in the upper echelons of society and the populace loving him. He had defended the Empire from near destruction by a Bulgarian invasion and tempered the Turk, until today.

"The Turks are amassing an army, sire. Already it departs for Ancyra from whence to march across the Marmara and in to Europe. I have seen it with my own eyes, it numbers atleast a hundred thousand." Basil told his Emperor. The Emperor slowed his walk at the first mentioning of the army amassing, then stopped as he heard the size. "Are you sure it marches for the Empire?"

---

Eudocia awoke moments later in her own hometown. The sky shone red in Thessaloniki as well. The reflection of the sun nearly blinding her as she awoke, she hurried to escape the rays. As she stepped up she yawned heavily, stretching her arms to the sky. Today was the day. Her day. He would marry her, she knew it. All he had now to do was request her hand from her father. As she poked her head out the window that morning the birds flew by, offering an acrobatic show delightful even to the most hollow of souls. The city's seventy odd thousand inhabitants shared with her the morning. One could hear the markets beginning to be manned, and the incessant creaking of the docks could be heard in the distance. Dressing, she went out of her room and in to the main room where her father had already prepared the morning meal. "Father, must we always have bread and fish for breakfast? Can't we have cheese some day?" She knew better than to ask, cheese was a commodity these days. Her father sighed and shook his head, then smiled at Eudocia. Soon he would be out fishing for the day, and he had only these few moments every morning to be with his daughter. She seemed happier this day than others to him, more full of life.

They sat and ate, the golden sun shimmering. The same sun shone over the Turkish armies that had begun the march to Nicaea.

 

[Eochaid]

I love your first post. Before starting my own AAR I wanted to write my own Byzantium AAR. But Wapsite had just started one so... I wish you th e best of luck with this one

 

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Chapter I

"Yet the Christians disregard thee, and spit upon thine countenance."

Constantine XI was old these days. Long past were the days when he could charge in to the fray like in the Battle of Adrianople. He had sent over a hundred Bulgarians to their deaths that day alone. Past were the days when his physical strength could keep him going for days. He was old, fragile. His son Constantine, the twelfth in the royal line to hold the name, was off campaigning against the Bulgarian foe yet again. Where was he when he was needed most! Basil looked at his emperor and replied,"Yes sire, it marches for the Empire. My contact within the Ottoman government has assured me of this." They began to walk again, the wind caressing the flowers of the gardens as they went. Constantine looked in to the sky as if asking God what to do. There had never been a threat this terrible to the survival of the Empire since the Bulgarian invasion of 1455 and this dwarfed that danger in comparison. "I will call up Tagmata immediately. In the mean time, you must return to Anatolia to find out whatever you can. I will send with you three messengers to send your word back." Basil nodded in understanding. He would be allowed one more day in Constantinople to rest, of course, but only one. War loomed and the city would not be safe unless he could keep the Emperor one step ahead of the Sultan. The Emperor sent out riders to inform his son that peace must be made with the Bulgarian, a graver danger approaches from the east.

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The docks in Constantinople were unusually busy that day, Nicephoros noted. The boats clogged the harbor in their rush to trade that day. He and those in his employ were more than busy loading and unloading his father's ships as they went off to trade spice in the Genoese colonies of the Crimea. "Hurry, we must let father be off before midday!" he yelled as he loaded another barrel on to the ship. They had been slaving all day over this load of spices and his father was already with his navigators plotting the course they would take. Their travels would bring them north around the Black Sea. Nicephoros rolled yet another barrel on to the boat.

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Mehmet rode astride his armies as the sun reached midpoint. Soon his troops would need lunch.

(The game begins tomorrow, so actual posts pertaining to the game will begin tomorrow. This was your interlude. Prepare to be overwhelmed with text.)

 

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Prepare to be overwhelmed with text.

Preparing to be overwhelmed with text, Stroph goes through his checklist:

1) Caffiene - check
2) Dogs and chips - check
3) Cancel all appointments for several days - check (I wish)
4) Send wife and kid off to In-laws - check
5) Nap today for who knows when will sleep again - check
6) Extra generator and have telepone repairman on call incase power goes out or lines go down - check

Ready to be overwhelmed.....

 

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i like this aar keep it up

 

[Syt]

Very nice writing, and another story through the eyes "of the simple people" which I like. I'm looking forward to reading more of this.

 

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*Ughies*

Pardon my absence. I forgot about labor day weekend meaning vacation time

Anyways, school starts tomorrow so if I can squeeze it in, first game chapter will be appearing.