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This is a great achievement General_BT... completing an AAR of this magnitude, breadth and brilliance is a real achievement. I've probably not commented in years, but I'm still following (I'm behind, but still here!).

Someone else mentioned you should investigate novel writing, I second that recommendation. You have the skill to write "real" characters and the dedication to actually follow through and use that skill.

I agree with this guy. I used to think I could write well. You shook my confidence greatly :)
 
just to add a small voice to all the well deserved praise. I've been a rather dillitante reader, followed bits very closely, dipped in and out, never bothered to go back to the beginnning (typical freeloader in fact), very rarely left any comments. But this is one of the best bits of sustained narrative I have read, here or elsewhere. Its not just the impact of certain posts, its your mastery of the wider story and narrative structure.
 
So, it's all finally over. Thank you for creating what is possibly the most incredible and epic story in the whole AAR forum. You've been a great inspiration to myself and all the other AAR writers out there.
 
You can tell that a dinner was excellent, when you look at the leftovers and realize that these are still richer and tastier than any other dinner you've eaten in a long time. ;)

Same goes for the story of Rome AARisen. The fact that the half-done "leftovers" are so rich and promising mean that your story was all the more excellent.

With CK2 looming around the corner, I'm sure there will be inspiration for new stories aplenty. Here's to new and yet unwritten stories! :) Cheers!
 
Wow !!! What a ride... I started to read in September and followed this story until the end.
General, your AAR is clearly the best one from all the AARland in my opinion and for me it meant that the wait for CK II was very much sweeter. Thank you, Sir!
 
Thank you very much Warspite! I'm glad you enjoyed the ride! Same goes for your Tufto! I'm curious to hear both your thoughts on the questions I asked everyone else--what was your favorite scene, and why did it work, and what was yoru least favorite scene, and why do you think it didn't work?

Leviathan, I doubt there will be much writing on the forum from me for a while. I'll be too busy playing. :) (And, to answer many people's questions, finishing some short stories I hope to finish and, one day publish).

loki, keeping track of the wider narrative was perhaps the hardest part of this story. There are so many instances where I really wanted to run off and write oodles about a side topic (Mali or Persia for example), and I had to restrain myself. No, BT, this is a history of the Komnenoi, in Konstantinopolis. Focus, my boy, focus... :)

Taiisatai64, the story up to the coronation of Thomas I is in a single word document, and I know BraidsMAmma was working on putting the entire story in .pdf format (He had finished the first book, IIRC). If people are interested in these I'll post them online at fileden, and give the link here...

As for Thomas II's wife, RedRoman, she was another casualty of the character generation process... I'd originally envisioned her death as being the thing that made him go insane for good (I had music picked out and everything. In game she died in the 1220s), but Neapolis demanded something go bad for the Romans, and it made sense, I guess, that Thomas' madness would strike at the worst possible point in his career. So it did, and once that took place, there wasn't really a plot-based need for his wife. Completely unintentionally (she would've made a fascinating character, completely the opposite of most Roman empresses) she faded into the background, even during his madness... :( I trust that off screen she tried to do her best to soothe him and calm his troubled mind whenever she was around. She did love him until the very end... I remember a post soon after his death where it was mentioned that she was wandering the halls of the palace aimlessly after he was gone.

Aetios Silvagentios, Panjer, was a cameo thrown in for my friend English Patriot borrowing a character from his Rome AAR of almost the same name. ;) I don't think I ever planned out a future for Silvagentios after his little escapade. We all would like to think he sat back and got rich and fat being a bodyguard to Thomas III, after all, he was guarding him mostly from inadequate foundations and horrible architectural design... :p

JacktheRipper, I am actually working on side writing I hope to publish one day. If that should happen, rest assured I will post about it on here so all of you will know!

Baldor, there's going to be a whole series of maps over the next few weeks showing the world in EU3 terms as it stood in 1399. In fact, I've included the main map below!

Speaking of which...

This is a map of the known changes this alternate history would have had on the Old World--new empires, kingdoms, their vassals, etc. There are many places that are left blank. Partly this is because I lost access to my CK1 save files, so I can't tell you how Germany ended up beyond my memory of the more major players, for example, and partially this is because I personally never worked out how some of the changes would have fully affected parts of the world (such as southern India or southern China/southeast Asia). Those types of things would be something to discuss in a mod thread (one that, if people are certain they are willing to contribute, I can create in the EU3 forum as quickly as you ask). I'll be posting more focused maps on Spain/France, Africa, Northern Europe, Central Europe/Italy, the Rus, the Middle Med, Eastern Med/Near East, and the Far East as well, detailing what these new countries are, and what their various allegiances are to one another.

And for the fans of the Steppe Danes, they are on the map, the large swathe of olivish green one row of provinces above the Black Sea... :)

finalramap2.png
 
When will someone summarise it in a comic?
 
I've been here from page 1 to 346 and all I can say is damn it's over... and that makes me sad, now I have to find a new AAR to follow for five years! And it's all your fault!

It's been great fun to read and when you ever get it in your head to start another epic, aar, story etc. I will be there, lurking, posting or whatever it is what I do around here.

Edit - For my favorite scene? There are so many, the one that immedialtly comes to mind is the one when Sophie (? I think?) goes to the old emperor Manuel on Lesbos who lives happily in exile for advice. Then there is Thomas I and the final scene with his father "I am emperor, your are not. Rot." (I still remember it.) The whole Mehtar Delende est thing, The completly mad hatters Thomas II & III, the death of the latter was also a great scene. The war of Thomas II against the Mongols (and the following battle) were also great.

In short; to many, just to many.
 
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I know I didn't say this before, but this is pretty much the best AAR i've ever read, you really did bring your characters to life, AND also wrote a lot of world building at that. You should consider becoming a writer.

Is... Denmark ruled by the Royanne D' Angleterre? How'd that happen?.. Oh well, only more people the Scots must liberate from the shackles of the corrupt and decadent Capet's. :cool:
 
Good sir, I would be honored if you would allow me to handle the map creation for you. I took the liberty of creating a rather crude copy of your already posted map for you... you understand, with more knowledge I could include names on the map, and with more time I could add some extra touches, such as removing the province borders completely instead of filling them with white.

romeaarisen.jpg


Higher quality; http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/romeaarisen.jpg/

Happy to be of assistance :)

EDIT: The forums, they butcher images completely... I'd suggest clicking on the HQ link...
 
I'm curious to hear both your thoughts on the questions I asked everyone else--what was your favorite scene, and why did it work, and what was yoru least favorite scene, and why do you think it didn't work?

My favourite was definitely the scene where Thomas took Rome. The image of the frail Pope standing up to a raging tyrant was excellently written and very powerful.

A close second was the majority of Basil's scenes.

As for least favourite... not too sure about that, there aren't many I really disliked. I'll get back to you on that.
 
Hm, I really liked a few of the flashforwards. Really liked the one with the professor and the class (with a lot of students dropping out when the prof got to Manuel).
As for the ones I didn't like I guess I have to say the army updates, not really my cup of tea.
 
Very nice edited map!
 
General, I'd like to say thank you. This story has had me hooked since grade 9 ahaha and now the story is over and im out of school, and it makes me sad a little. But then I remember that I was there for it, and i guess thats just life. Damn fine work sir.
 
what was your favorite scene, and why did it work, and what was yoru least favorite scene, and why do you think it didn't work?

I loved the reign of Basil I, especially his foul-mouthed mentor. To me it was the closest that Rome AARisen came to a novel in the sense that I was wholly immersed and just wanted to keep going. The scenes that'd stand out to me would be the fighting at Mallorca and its aftermath. I also loved the Red Herrings you gave us, fleshing out a character only to have him be killed in the prime of his life. (Though his son, Andronikos I, turned out to be quite important)

As to what I didn't like? Safiya Komnenos got boring after a while, I thought her last act in the AAR (giving birth to Manuel I believe) felt tacked on. There are a handful of other scenes with the same problem but that was the one that stood out for me. I personally didn't care that much for the religious intrigue, though that has nothing to do with quality or whatever. Some character deaths by assassin also felt hollow, particularly Bardas Komnenos.

I also feel pity for the people that didn't quite make it. Evangelos might've been promising if he didn't go mad and I had a VERY good first impression when it came to Zeno. I feel that he would've made a much better emperor if the paths towards the throne hadn't made him bitter and distant. And of course poor Thomas IV, he never stood a chance. Reading about his fate gave me chills.

So yeah, that was pretty much it!
 
Arghh... 4 days without a post.
It's far to early for this thread to fade away.
Still waiting for the state of the world! =)

Edit: Oh, and I did not just write that to get the honor of post 7000 :D
 
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