Firstly, I have an outline for the next post done already (so I'm ahead of schedule, yay!). I'm going to try to get back to the one update a week format with the occasional interims mid-week. It seems to be a format that works for me right now, and hopefully it'll keep things moving along at a nice pace for everyone else as well.
Qorten - Thank you. I thought it was time the army raise its ugly head again.
Leviathan07 - Well, the army is upset - they think they're being piddled away in a campaign the state doesn't really want. They want the war in Italy to either stop, or for the state to prosecute the war to the fullest extent. Add to that the plundering of the
dynatoi (which has helped state finances, but understandably frightened and upset the nobility), and you've got a perfect storm.
Ah, c'mon. Thomas the Younger can't be
that evil. Yet...
Servius Magnus - Within a couple updates, Alexios will come back! Never fear!
Lordling - Murderers and schemers will never be out of work in any government...
Fulcrumvale - Well, let's be honest. Christina is paranoid, and a murdress on quite a scale, and a tyrant. Thomas is just paranoid and schizophrenic. He hasn't murdered anyone yet. He's sitting on the Throne of Caesars, give him time...
von Sachsen - When we get back to Alexios in a few updates, there'll also be some information on what's been happening in the West, especially with Drogo's kingdom.
vanin - Yes! Beware Commodus' sister, for she was the true evil! Christina's now in charge, so she's trying to remold the state as she sees fit, including culling alot of nobility for cash. She hasn't said
why she's been doing these things, though...
asd21593 -Working on it!
Ksim3000 - Well, the army's opinion of warrior emperor is rather loose. Remember, after David's death they agitated for Thomas I over Alexios because Thomas was an adult who had seen combat and gained renown (as a personal fighter, not a strategist). Thomas II definitely has his problems, but it remains to be seen if his promise in the one area that seems his purvey will pan out... or will he end up like Heraklios, a complete disappointment?
Estonianzulu - Mehtar's last name was Lainez, yes. Though Mehtar was one of a rather large clan descended from
Strategos Gregor Lainez. Off the top of my head there was Mehtar as well as Thomas and at least three other brothers who all had children...
RGB - The Byzantines haven't had one of those in a long long time in this timeline. An attempt is due.
The_Archduke - Good guess, but no, that's not the question. Though if that question of who killed Thomas' daddy comes up, and Christina is the culprit in young Thomas' mind, Acheron might suddenly get very busy...
AlexanderPrimus - Um... I don't get the name connnection...
Enewald - Well, its 1209. And as I've repeatedly said, Genghis Khan is running ahead of schedule...
Deamon - Yes, Mehtar was a Lainez. Perhaps
the Lainez, while he was in charge.
Actually speaking of the Mongols, here's a little surprise - something I typed up really quick in the last thirty minutes, with a few hints for everyone... enjoy!
That same day…
“Zenobios! My dear friend!”
Yuri Dobroslav leapt up from the divan in his plush Chrysapolis villa and bear-hugged his business partner. The smell of camel, sweat and man filled Yuri’s nose, immediately reminding him of his own trips to the East. It’d been almost a year since Zenobios had left for Baghdad on their joint trading mission, almost a year since they’d jointly sunk almost 10,000 silver
solidii into the venture. When Yuri pulled back, he saw that Zenobios looked more tired than happy.
The Rus desperately hoped his friend was only tired.
“Come! Sit! Eat!” Yuri offered, clapping his hands. Immediately servants, fine specimens from the Balkans and Yuri’s native Rus, appeared with rose water and a lamb the merchant had ordered left simmering since that morning. “Tell me of the lands of Persia, of the deals we made!”
Zenobios stumbled over towards the open divan, then collapsed into its cushions.
“Tiring? Come, if you wish to rest, I can have the servants draw you a bath, and…”
“You shouldn’t expect any more silk from Kashgar,” Zenobios whispered quietly.
“Hmm?”
“I said you shouldn’t expect any more silk shipments from Kashgar for a while,” Zenobios dipped his hands in the rose water, his voice slowly coming alive. Yuri realized his friend must’ve seen his heart skip a beat, for Zenobios went on. “Muzzir is saying that some war’s broken out yet again with yet another eastern tribe. Damn Turks!” He shook his hands clean, spattering water all over the servant nearby. “Can’t keep themselves or their neighbors in line!”
“Bah,” Yuri grumbled. “If its not the Kipchaks, it’s the Arabs, and if it’s not the Arabs, it’s the Afghans, and if it’s not the Afghans… the list is endless! Silk Road be damned, half the time the thing is the Shrug Road, and endless line of excuses!” The Rus poured more
grappa into the two goblets and sighed. “What was the cause this time?”
“Dunno,” Zenobios shrugged, before tearing off a piece of lamb and hungrily downing the morsel. “Something about a steppe chieftain having the gall to send an ultimatum to Isfahan. I really don’t understand the Turks, and all their Persian pretentiousness. My God, you’d think the Sultan thought he was Christ’s Vice Regent or something!”
“Makes you wish for the days of Sulieman, or even Murad,” Yuri sighed yet again. Even the mention of those names reminded the Rus how old he was. He remembered seeing Basil the Magnificent, he even saw old Sultan Sulieman from a distance. “So what were you able to scavenge then, if Muzzir’s clan couldn’t come through?” Zenobios wasn’t
too crestfallen. Something had been salvaged.
“Nothing much… several bolts of cheaper Persian silk, and a cache of small diamonds from India,” Zenobios licked his fingers. “We should pull a small profit, so long as the customs inspectors take the bribes again.”
Yuri sighed yet again. The Dobroslav trading empire hadn’t been built on an endless stream of small profits. No matter. State politics
always interfered with trade. Yuri saw no reason why the purchase, manufacture and selling of silk should be only the purview of the Imperial government. Yet someone in Blacharenae thought differently. The Rus took a sip of the
grappa, letting it slide down to his belly where it landed with a satisfying thump.
“Double the bribes, just to make sure,” Yuri muttered. “Such is the business of business in these times we live in...”
