Reformation is heresy. Maybe they will adopt a sun with one less ray?Heresy! Obviously it would be a slightly differently drawn sun.
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But isn't the Moon basically Zunism's version of the Devil? So that would be like Protestants adopting the pentagram as their symbol or something. Also, a sun with one less ray would look very weird. Maybe a red sun (insert Red Son Superman joke
) or one with maybe four rays resembling a cross.
I have been remiss as a comentAAR for the past few updates. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the update. With a surprise Zunist Reformation this fragmented world is about to get even more divided.
I am really happy that you`ve created a type of Reformation for Zunism, the lack of pagan heresies in CK2 was always boring, and religious strife is certainly fun to watch in game.
I am really happy that you`ve created a type of Reformation for Zunism, the lack of pagan heresies in CK2 was always boring, and religious strife is certainly fun to watch in game.
Chapter 10: Double Bladed
Chapter 10: Double Bladed
The Faith of Zun had originally come to Europe as an oddity. A Strange and Foreign eastern faith of a Nomadic people that had not yet been enlightened by Christianity. In the centuries that followed however the conversation in matters of theology had changed dramatically. The Zunist Faith was no weak and disorganized Pagan Pantheon to be proselytize. Born from the Religious conflicts of the middle east and fueled by Eastern Syncretism it had spread like wildfire over much of Europe, and those that converted spread it with fire and sword into Pagan lands throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic until worship of Kenzai's Solar deity had stretched quite literally from Ireland to Cathay, To Persia.
However up until very recently the Faith had been closely associated with the Imperial Bloodline of Cathay. It has been House Caetye that founded the Militant and Theological branches of the clergy, Had given the High Priesthood the city of Rome and later moved it to Antwerp where it currently resided. A Faith so vast and disorganized by Abrahamic standards however had vast regional differences. Without being properly versed it would appear at first glance that a Nordic Zunist sect and a Middle Eastern One were completly different religions and for the most part they were, except for one defining Characteristic.
The Reflections, the Holy Books of the Zunist faith were held by House Caetye and no belief, prophet or miracle would be recognized without the Emperors approval, and Emperors often demanded a high price in tribute for such things to be recognized. A failure to achieve such legitimacy could meant rivals both foreign and domestic could use the faith as a political tool under the guise of purging heresy or defending the faith. That was about to change.
High Priest John III had died suddenly, rather than elect a new High Priest, important officials of the church fled to Germany and met in secret in Brandenburg, where an ambitious Priest and preacher, Martin Luxor spoke harshly against Cathay's dominance of the Reflections and of the Faith's use as a political tool. Luxor argued that the Faith should stand on its own as an independent entity, as originally intended by Kenzai the founder, and not be controlled by the whims of powers that the vast majority of the faithful considered Foreign and untrustworthy.
Luxor's message resonated with the feelings of the Clergy and in short order he was elected High Priest in defiance of Queen-Empress Catherine. The intent of the Council was simple, divorce the Church from the State, specifically divorcing it from Cathay and her allies. Something that ran right in the face of the Khitan Empire's resurgence as a great power.
What happened next would determine the course of things to come. Martin Luxor traveled to rome to meet with Delegates from Ferrara and Sicily, The two great powers powerful enough to face down Cathay. In Rome Luxor convinced the delegates from both countries to support his bid for an independent clergy to spite Cathay. Bohemia quickly joined with Sicily and Ferrara in signing the 'Edict of Sienne' a document assuring the independence of the Solar Church and its divorce from Global Politics. The Situation was now spiraling out of control, and Catherine would need to act quickly.
A second council was called this time by Catherine and loyalist members of the Faithful in Paris. Ironically this council would be attended not only by Cathay and her tributaries but also the English and Iberians who were skeptical that the edict of sienna was just an excuse for control of the Faithful to switch from Khitan interests to Italian and Greek ones.
England however was a special case. In exchange for England's support in the Council of Paris and refusal to sign the edict of Sienna, Catherine agreed to recognize English claims to Caledon and also to bestow Imperial Regalia upon the English King, resulting in the Formation of the Empire of Great Britain, and United Kingdom of Caledon, Wales, England, and Mann.
England, now Great Britain was afforded the Dejure lands of all the British Isles except those currently held by the Independent Kingdom of Ireland. The Irish remained an ally protected by Catherine, but the Welsh and Scottish would be afforded no such rights as thier relevance to Cathay had disappeared the second Luxor stepped foot in rome.
British support was quickly followed by Swedish and Iberian supporters as well. Nothing however had been put to paper, and the situation remained tense but not yet explosive. Several options presented themselves, War being the most obvious, Sweden, Great Britain and Cathay could if they struck quickly break the back of Ferrara and Bohemia and leave the war a solely sicilian affair. Without Rome Luxor would have no ground to stand on and his movement would be struck from the nobility and brought into hiding.
Such a war however would be devastating and so Catherine actively looked for other methods of compromise. One would be to simply let Luxor have what he wanted but remain belligerent, after all Cathay still held the reflections, and Luxor couldn't take them by force.
The Third Option was of course to undermine Luxor's entire movement and offer a deal with the devil, by demanding Cathay retain its rights to the Church within its own sphere of influence but to recognize an independent clergy outside that sphere. With war imminent Catherine opted to offer her terms.
In a backroom meeting in Neutral Genoa Luxor agreed to Catherine's demands, Theological Sovereignty over her subjects, and a permanent say in matters of the faith. Luxor however remanded adamant that this right not be extended to other states. It would be this decision that ultimately would color Luxor as a controversial figure, as his motives for accepting the Cathayan offer could be interpreted many ways.
One on side Luxor would be accused as no better than an opportunist, building a movement for the sole purpose of the Khitan to recognize him as high priest with little care for the consequences. On the other, accepting Catherine's demands would avert a war and religious upheaval that many suspects could lead to the deaths of people on a scale never before scene in Europe. Either way many experts agree, war or peace Luxor's original vision for a divorced Church and State died the second Catherine decided to oppose the movement in Paris, as no matter what happened it would be corrupted in one form or another.
With Catherine's signature on the new Edict of Tiber, House Caetye was granted defacto control over the church within its Dejure borders, Ireland and Spain. King Roger of Ferrara was furious and the Bohemian and Sicilian monarchs none too pleased, demanding similar treatment from the church. Most of the rage would be directed at Catherine who famously remarked "A Dragon does not concern themselves with the Opinion of Sheep".
Luxor soon found himself isolated politically, and while he could retain the independence he had fought so hard to achieve, a sudden and mysterious illness and death saw his successors cede increasing amounts of control of the Solar Faith to the Various Kings and Princes, the World over. Luxor's dream would die within a century of it's birth. Though Cathay's influence over foreign churches had also died that day, and the Solar Faith had in a sense freed itself from Cathay, though at the cost of now being a tool for more local interests.
In America, while Scholars debated and Nobles fumed a complete accounting of Cathay's new caribbean colonies was completed. Several encounters with the Local Mayan and Aztec tribes in Mexico had given explorers a clean picture of Camelot and America. It was not two continents that had been discovered but one single continent that ran from the turbulent southern Atlantic to the Frozen North of Greenland. A New World, as vast as the Old with endless amounts of untouched wealth and opportunity.
The Caribbean had become the Hotspot for Colonial Endeavors with the Portuguese Knights of Santiago as well as Cathay being the major contributors. The Focus of Great Britain who also had a presence in the region would be mostly on the antilles, smaller islands planned to be used for mostly sugar. The Knights were solely committed to Hispaniola, leaving Cuba to Cathay which was expected to be a major producer of a new and sought after good, tobacco.
With Religious conflict averted in Europe Catherine declared that now was the time for new opportunities to be created in the West. There was of course now ever more reasons to sail west. Opportunity and Adventure existed of course but now the desire to convert and bring more peoples into the umbrella of Cathayan Zunism would be the missing peace of the puzzle to bring about a great conquest of Paradise and an age of new Empires.
Empires not built on the backs on the old and conquered, but on Guns, God, Gold and Steel.
I haven't been acquainted with the Lux invicta mods that much, I just took the name since it sounds nicely on flavor.
Also you have basically seen them, Right now its just Cuba and Trinidad (And I think the province in Columbia directly south of it)
Helping allies and stopping civil wars are nice, but it's distracting from the New World. Pesky neighbors.
The fact that it's the Knights going through the Protestant Reformation is too funny to me. Of course, the Sun Church getting divided is far more important. How will this new sect differ once the dust settles?
Well the Knights having the protestant reformation is partly becuase I had just downloaded Mandate of Heaven, They werent getting Treaty of Tort(No Pope) and I wanted to see the age of Reformation
Or a sunny cross...Or a black hole
Heresy! Obviously it would be a slightly differently drawn sun.
But isn't the Moon basically Zunism's version of the Devil? So that would be like Protestants adopting the pentagram as their symbol or something. Also, a sun with one less ray would look very weird. Maybe a red sun (insert Red Son Superman joke
You have no idea how Sad I am but, I spent days trying to get centers of Reformation to spawn on zunist provinces and convert Zunists to Protestant and Reformed (Which I had planned to rename accordingly) So much missed potential and i'm really kicking myself for it.
In the meantime Enjoy a world without a 30 years war I guess,
The Knights never give up!. Even when you lose they always find a way to pick themselves back up.
Nope, So its a complete free for all. As of this point in time 1520ish The nations with exploration ideas total. Sweden, Ireland, Knights of Santiago, Cathay, Granada, Great Britain, and two classified Nations Im not spoiling
.In Ck2, He was in rome until the AI evicted him, so I brought him into my capital and let him stay there. Now he has a small papal state esq deal going on with Ferrara and Sicily I'd like to imagine.
It's 1520-something , and there were no circumnavigation yet?
P.S.:What on Eastern front?
P.S.:What on Eastern front?
You have no idea how Sad I am but, I spent days trying to get centers of Reformation to spawn on zunist provinces and convert Zunists to Protestant and Reformed (Which I had planned to rename accordingly) So much missed potential and i'm really kicking myself for it.
In the meantime Enjoy a world without a 30 years war I guess,
In Ck2, He was in rome until the AI evicted him, so I brought him into my capital and let him stay there. Now he has a small papal state esq deal going on with Ferrara and Sicily I'd like to imagine.
Shame we can't see a devastating war between the faiths but the Pope does have an interesting history.
I think there was a workaround for the centers of Reformation posted a few months ago on r/eu4 (I forgot where, and the rules don't let me post a link anyways, but it should be easy to find). You had to change two files, the religion file and another file (I forgot which), and centers of reformation can spawn for any religion anywhere. But I understand you've already played past this, so it's just some advice for the next megacampaign.
You may not have gotten your devastating war you wanted, but I am perfectly happy with this result. It'll allow more focus on colonizing for you. The Age of Reformation begins, just not the reforms you expected.
Well no bloody wars of religion, but hopefully there should be some fun (war) in the New World.
Chapter 11: God Gold Guns and Steel
Chapter 11: God Gold Guns and Steel
With the major religious questions of the day settled, the consequences would now begin. Cathay with authority over its subjects and tributaries now had full incentive to expand further into France and Germany to increase its influence. Which of course it did almost immediately despite Catherine's lack of interest in warfare on the continent.
The First Target was the Republic of the Hansa, which had been allowed their independence since the last major war becuase of the trade and economic benefits that had continued to bring to the English Channel. Now those Benefits had waned in recent years with the Hansa's loss of Germany and Russian Colonies and the rise of Colonial Trade.
The only Major power willing to come to the Aid of the Hansa was the King of Sicily who felt opposing Cathay now as opposed to later was the only way to ensure the Empire remained contained within its borders and would not expand further south and east to solidify its alliances with Bohemia and Ferrara. Of the course problem came in that Sicily could not reach Cathay except by ship, and so could do very little to save the Hansa and attack lightly defended shipping across the European seas.
In Great Britain the annexation of Wales and Scotland had led to a massive shortage in Wool produced from these areas. The Local Celtic populations were of course none to pleased to have the British as overlords now and were preparing to resist occupation for as long as possible, which of course mean the local sheep industries had become worthless. The English desperate to reclaim the trading deals of Welsh wool had invested heavily in making due with less, producing draperies and other fabrics in house using as little wool as possible and shipping that instead. Once the technology reached the mainland the Price of wool crashed while the demand for fabric only increased and Great Britain was in an ideal location to exploit such a change.
In America, Cathayan explorers hearing tales of a Mythical spring said to grant eternal life had begun scouring the mainland far and wide. Similar tales of El Dorado and the City of the Caesars was providing motivation for similar expeditions into the Jungles of South America. In North America, or Camelot the natives were more organized and generally tried to dismiss most explorers' beliefs in such fantasy locations but still they pressed on, as the Irish spent thousands of ducats searching for King Arthur's Castle and the the Mythical Lady of the lake.
At home Tragedy had struck in short order, Catherine one of the greats of Uther's line had died suddenly of a heart attack leaving her inept son Sande I as King Emperor of Cathay. Sande while educated in matters of state was by no means competent. Though the mechanisms to compensate for such an inheritance were in place, and the Imperial Council took up much of the slack of ruling, though they also demanded far higher pay as a result.
Catherine's sudden death however did enable the Sicilians to smuggle an army into Hansa territory by way of the Channel. While the Sicilian Fleet soon found itself surrounded and destroyed as a result the army did managed to liberate the Islands of Zeeland before General Ralph Sibel arrived to run them back into the sea, defeating the King of Sicily himself with superior numbers of Cavalry and Cannon.
Defeat at Zealand saw the Hansa surrender their independence to the Kingdom of Cathay. For the first time in over a century the Dutch Merchants once again bowed to the Khitan. Though the once powerful and rich Republic of the Hansa was a shadow of its former self by this point and in a few decades the republic would be fully integrated into Cathay.
In other matters Sande and his Consort Esclarmonda of aquitaine had produced an Heir. Little Lyra was hoped to be a turn of force for the Dynasty as Sande's abilities as a monarch were relatively lack luster. However as Lyra grew into childhood it quickly became apparent that she was simple to many in court, Sande however would refuse to disinherit his daughter which would cause significant issues at court later.
In the Caribbean Cathay's hold over the large Island of Cuba was secured, and the Caribbean territories as a whole were handed over to an appointed governor for the foreseeable future. With the Territories in America being several months away by sea and the King being unable to properly handle such a territory it was considered a necessary sacrifice as after all the Caribbean colonies did not have much use for the empire besides providing regular Sugar and Tobacco which a governor could handle just fine.
In Europe the Fall of Germany continued in full force, and the Military was not about to let valuable territories end up in Bohemian or Bavarian Hands. The Northern Territories were invaded and conquered in short order with the King of Germany able to do nothing but protest and futilely resist as his Kingdom shrunk ever smaller.
In the East Bohemia had managed to connect its Russian and Eastern European Territories through war with Trebizond and sicily. Previously Bohemia's power had been offset by the fact that large swathes of it's russian claimed territory were blocked by the Kingdom of Lithuania in the North.
As Bohemia expanded it's Carpathian territories however the Northern route was seen as more and more impossible to achieve as Lithuania was powerful and held an crucial alliance with the Shah of Persia, and so a Southern Route was achieved instead, now allowing Bohemia to govern its russian territories by crossing the Carpathians, a Nonideal solution but Bohemia successful in the Balkans now dreamed of controlling land from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
The Principle was simple, Manufactured goods from Europe would flow down to Africa, specifically the Mali, Irish and Iberian colonies within Africa for slaves. These slaves would be brought across the Atlantic to work Plantations in America while often Iberian Traders would continue around the cape of good hope with European Manufactured goods to sell in Asia. The American colonies would then feed raw materials and cash crops back to Europe generating an absurd amount of wealth for those with hands in the Colonial sphere.
From this point forward Controlling Atlantic Trade, would forever be intertwined with the success or failure of nations such as Great Britain and Cathay.
With the Carribean growing crowded and more tightly controlled by the various colonial governments many more independent ventures found themselves taking the Northern Route, and sailing across the Atlantic past Ireland and Greenland and down into the Wooded lands between the Hudson river and the bay of Fundy.
Temperate by European Standards these colonies were not particularly rich but soon found support from Cathay for their valuable ports and access to North American Furs which previously had been controlled mostly by the British and Swedes.
Such moves always came with compromises however, Many of these North American Settlers were initially dutch fleeing relatively oppressive conditions in Cathay brought on by the Wars against the Hansa Republic. The settlement of New Amsterdam in particular on the Island of Manhattan was of great use the Crown and so a compromise was made. The Dutch people would be given royal protection and equal rights as the Khitan within Cathay and in exchange control of the New Amsterdam Colony would go to the crown. A good deal for the local dutch nobility, but it would mean the effective erasure of much of the post Collapse Dutch culture due to its proximity to the Khitan heartland in Flanders and Brabant.
In Europe, the Crown was still expanding the Imperial borders as much as humanly possible. The Crown of Aquitaine and the remains of the Karling dynasty in particular had become of interest as of late with the Expansion of powers such as Toulouse into Iberia.
With recent conquests in Germany and the Netherlands still being incorporated however the Karlings in Aquitaine would find themselves lucky as Sande only wished to create a French buffer state between Khitan lands and the Occitan and Iberian states to the south.
It was at this time that new waves of innovations had begun to be implemented. With the rise of the Imperial court in face of a weaker monarch the Bureaucracy of Cathay expanded, and with an expanded Bureaucracy came new changes to the Military and Navy.
Control of the Army in particular was more formalized with veteran officers holding higher ranks than newer less experienced trainees. At sea new Warships were built with a focus on more firepower and less speed and of course within the administration more emphasis was placed on institutions than on the individual and more educated Bureaucrats ensured the entire system could run quietly and efficiently.
For a start better efficiency was to cut out the middle man in the Triangle Trade quite swiftly. The Iberians had been fairweather partners at best in West Africa and so colonies along the Ivory Coast were established in short order to provide Cathay with its own supply of slaves, Ivory and African gold.
It wouldn't' take long for the Administration to pass laws banning the trade with Iberian and British Colonies in Africa almost entirely forcing Cathayan merchants to trade only with Cathayan colonies or the home country, and thus ensure the entire system could only benefit the influential persons who ran the fledgling imperial Bureaucracy.
Back in Europe of course the popularization of the Printing Industry had hit an alltime high. Printers in Venice and in other major cities had made astounding amounts of progress devicing new and more efficient reproduction techniques for written works brought on by demand from the religious reforms of Martin Luxor, and the councils of Brandenburg and Paris.
For the most part these printers made much of their income on the translation of the reflections, holy works and intellectual writings stored away in universities and monasteries, but this was steady work and it was drying up rather quickly. News on the other hand was increasing in popularity, though lacked a large story to truly gather the interest of the European Nobility.
That Story was about to arrive, and with it, a boom in the printing industry like that which Europe had never before seen.
With Cathay as a rising power it would only be natural that Scandal within it's court would once again be a show the entire world would watch.