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As Theudis VII's rule was very much on the short side, I'll post the update about Empress Sergia I, a.k.a. the Daughter of Satan, tomorrow. And as there's a question, might as well answer it now .
Thank you for updating! One small request, could you add dates of rule to date of birth and date of death? I am greedy, I want both. Stats and trait wise, the "Strange" is a pretty good ruler. 4 double digit and a low of six for a total of 53 (I love double digits and a minimum of 40); 3 star intrigue education; (big difference between 2 and 3 star) 3 virtues and no vices. (Sue me, I am a stats Geek who does not recognize all traits.) His 20 November birthday gives two pieces of trivial information. He will probably be part of the 'Zombie bug' which is very fitting for 'the Strange'. His mother will die on the 20th of some month in some year unless she dies violently (murder, battlefield, sacrifice). If you do not mind, can I ask a question about your playstyle? Do you normally take notes or screenshots and does it vary if you are planning on writing an AAR? This is a bonus AAR with end game screenshots and the Chronicle. Thank you for your time.
I could do that, it's simple enough... but I'd prefer a simple mention of years ruled. Dates of rule would just be two death dates, after all. Years ruled would add a single number though, so it seems like a useful option.
He also had fairly good traits - save for being a coward. Combined with a low martial score, that's really not good for a Gothic emperor who pulls his weight mostly with his retinue and personal levy. The difference between those 20 martial of Aikaterine and Theudis' 6 is huge if the personal demesne is as strong as the Gothic emperors. I haven't done the numbers, but I think there might have been at least 10k men less in Theudis' levy.
Let me check a moment... well, his mother died the 20th June. Huh. What a coincidence, isn't it? Theudis met a violent end, after all.
His daughter didn't. Make of that information what you will.
I don't mind. When I play, I sometimes take screenshots of weird occurences, such as King Simeon of Bulgaria sawing himself in half during this playthrough. For my previous AARs, I relied on screenshotting. Then, during the writing phase, I still mostly knew how the events played out, and had the screenshots to guide me and include in the actual chapters.
It really would! A guy with more gold than the entire European nobility, likely hunted by Gothic assassins, either trying to hide amongst his current hosts or hiring a personal army of bodyguards to keep himself safe...
Every CK game has hundreds of interesting stories, if one digs deep enough to find them and has the imagination to flesh out the skeleton that the screenshot provides.
Sergia I may have ascended the throne only 17 years old, but she still did so as an accomplished mercenary, having been responsible for quite a few victories of her employers. She seemed set to continue writing the successes of the Gothic army and push the sedentary lifestyle further east.
And so she did. Together with Gothia's highly successful commander against the nomads, Exarchessa Agathe, the empress led the Gothic armies from victory to victory. But while her reign marks Gothic entry into Mongolia proper, with that conquest began a seemingly ceaseless number of Mongol uprisings.
These uprisings were well-organized, and took out a few Gothic hosts under minor commanders. In 1317, Sergia thus turned her mind towards crushing the Mongol thoughts of independence once and for all.
The Tenth Crusade
She petitioned Pope Victor IV for a crusade. It seemed like a crazy idea, sending a crusade so far east. But Victor was surprisingly amenable. Or not so surprisingly – in Francia, the excommunicated century had just ended. Throughout the entire 13th century, the Francian emperor was excommunicated, from Folbert of the Empty Pockets to Adrien the Lion. Victor's predecessor had crowned Jourdain I – but that stemmed mostly from the Francian emperor's docility.
Jourdain, born by a commoner mother, had a reputation for being easy to scare and then hide, fearing for his life. Also for a kind heart and an aversion to priests. But mostly, for being dominated by his first wife, Princess Pulcheria of Gothia – Sergia's sister. Pulcheria was Adrien the Lion's widow, but the two empires were set on carrying on their marital alliance after the young emperor's sudden death of scurvy.
Knowing their future relationship, persistent gossip at the time claimed that the Gothic witch had already put Jourdain, Adrien's cousin, under her spell, using the dark arts learned from her father. By all accounts, Pulcheria was a smart woman well-versed in intrigue. The fearful Jourdain was easily controlled by her, and she supported her sister's interests.
In the last century, the emperor's opinion wouldn't have mattered to the Pope. But now, things were different. With Francia thus supporting an eastern crusade, Victor had to answer the pressure of both Catholic empires, and by now Gothia's power was to be reckoned with, no longer a simple backwater. The lands west of the Ural were quite developed by now. The kingdom of Poland was the only other constant Catholic power, but was far minor to the two empires, Scandinavia a hotbed for war and repeated Lollard heresy, and other minor powers hardly exerting any influence on Rome, the crusade was approved.
Sergia's armies, led by the empress herself, ravaged Mongolia before the majority of the crusader hosts had even reached Gothia. When they finally did arrive, the resistance of the Jain nomads broke. In 1320, Mongolia became an exarchate of the Gothic empire, and the revolts clamouring for a free Mongol kingdom ended.
The Daughter of Satan's Daughter
The tenth crusade's approval by Pope Victor IV proved that Sergia's popular epithet didn't hold much sway amongst the powerful. “The Daughter of Satan”.
How did it come to that for a woman who has always been described as virtuous and zealous? It might have something to do with the empress' legendary changes of heart and impulsivity. As mentioned before, rumour had it that Theudis the Strange had cursed her somehow. Perhaps dealt a part of Sergia's soul for extending his mother's life, allowing him to remain in darkness.
Either way, Sergia was seen as possessed. As an example, sometimes, when holding court, she was passing judgement on some matter, and after explaining her reasoning, made a complete 180 and decided the opposite of what that reasoning would dictate. People swore that her eyes changed colour whenever that happened, as if an evil spirit seized her. Murderers were let loose, seemingly random petitioners hanged for “lack of respect”, including a distant relative, some minor noble.
Quickly, the spirit possessing her earned the title of Daughter of Satan, for it must have taken a truly powerful demon to haunt the mighty empress, who otherwise built on her mercenary renown to become hailed as the Fearless.
Some part of that must have rubbed off on Liuvigoto, Sergia's firstborn. Or so people claimed. But beautiful Liuvigoto was a magnet for trouble. Appearing friendly enough, she preferred not to lift a finger if anyone else could do it for her. And as Crown Princess, many were willing to, or had to. Her marriage to Evrard, a Francian Karling, in 1322 seemed a good match.
What people didn't know is that Liuvigoto carried thoughts of heresy. Her close circle was made of people who had broken with the church. Oppressed minorities who couldn't hope for a better life under firmly Catholic Gothia turned to the heiress for a possible change of fortune. It is telling for Liuvigoto's character that they managed to turn her away from her faith despite the Thathicos dynasty's history – Saint Kyrillos comes to mind –, their papally supported claim on the eastern lands, and their current influence within the church, with three of the four main holy orders being led by Thathicos men at the time – Liuvigoto's brother Nikolaos even having joined the Knights of Santiago as a prospective successor to current grandmaster Ioustinianos.
This secret coven remained undetected for a long time. The continuous expansion against the nomads preoccupied the imperial court, as the remains of the Mongol Empire were pushed to the foot of the Altai mountain range. The Exarchate of Zhetysu, founded in 1333, was to keep an eye on the Mongols until the truce's end would signal their ultimate demise. Gothia's eyes would soon have to turn towards the southern nomads in central Asia, for the east was almost wholly tamed.
In 1336, Liuivigoto's secret came to light. But not immediately. First, her husband Evrard was seen in prayer. The chroniclers refuse to mention which kind of prayer it was, and with Sergia's court being what it was, there is no record of Evrard's trial to determine his crime. The man was burned at the stake the 6th April.
The Princess' circle must have panicked. Their careful work to earn recognition was being undone. Liuvigoto herself escaped suspicion for a while, as she married Prince Dmitriy of Novgorod not much later. But by November, the inquisition closed in on her trail. Her friends went up in smoke, and the Crown Princess herself brought before Sergia – who send her daughter into exile.
The inquisition was enraged. The exile would mean that Liuvigoto could return as rightful empress one day! But their fears were soon appeased. The empress detailed the advantages of Gothia's succession laws – and then proclaimed that no longer would the eldest, but instead the youngest child take the throne.
Suddenly, the young Prince Theudis was heir apparent.
As for Princess Liuvigoto, she found refuge in her first husband's lands, until the 10th July 1345. King Landolf of East Francia then condemned her to death on behalf of Emperor Jourdain, for the same reason that had led to her exile nine years before.
The End of the Great Conquerors' Realms
The Fearless seemingly shook off her eldest daughter's fate easily, but it had left a lasting impact on the empress. It is likely she, renowned for her strength, didn't want to show any weakness in front of her subjects, so she buried her feelings deeply, where they gnawed at her – remainder or whole – soul. Gothia as a whole went on as before.
On the world's stage, the decade of 1340 is the end of the decline of the empires that suddenly arose in the middle ages. The Aztecs on the other side of the Atlantic, the Turkish Ghaznavids in Asia, and the Mongols in Asia and Europe.
The Ghaznavids were both the first and last to fall. Before the Mongols came, these men from steppes carved themselves a great empire between Persia, Rajasthan and Tibet. The Mongols may have pushed them out of Persia, but they remained a strong Persian presence in India. But the Indians steadily made gains against their empire, and in 1343, their last Shah came to rule. Mehrzad III still held six kingdoms, but his predecessor Farhad left him in control of a sole barony as crown demesne. Mehrzad proclaimed himself as “the Great” and declared that he would restore the Ghaznavids' glory. His vassals – if any remained swearing loyalty to the Shahdom in more than name – surely laughed at the claim. The former empire descended into obscurity despite their monarch's grandiose desires, and by 1362, the last Ghaznavid Shah was chased from his last land.
The Mongol Empire completely vanished during that decade. Surprisingly, the last part of the empire that answered to the Great Khan without doing so directly was located in Chernigov, led by the Velid clan. After the Tenth Crusade, even the Velids had abandoned their distant liege, and were swiftly turned into the Gothic kingdom of Chernigov, ruled by the Crown Prince's twin sister, Riccilo, in her mother's name. The Gothic empress ensured that the Mongols' end came with irony.
Genghis Khan Temujin had arrived out of nowhere with the Mongol horde. Sergia entrusted another man from nowhere to finish off the remnant – Exarch Hektorios of Mongolia, a commoner whose martial prowess made him exarch of the crusade kingdom. With Bughu Bailjar, the last Great Khan of the Mongol Empire disappears from history the 17th May 1346.
The last of these invaders were the Aztecs. And their decline in Europe had already found its end. Unable to face the Francian onslaught, the emperor overseas sent no reinforcements. The Aztecs, abandoned by their homeland, were driven out of Iberia and the Maghreb, but still reigned the Kanem Empire, from Africa's westernmost point to Abyssinia. But nobody north of the Sahara feared them any more. Fallen into tribal structures, Aztec armies would not be able to challenge any feudal army.
There was also a progressive faction within the Aztec realm. They clashed with the emperor, and Huetlatoani Mahchimaleh was slain in the fighting the 13th December 1347. The progressive Tlacalel, a man with clear African origin, succeeded him. And abandoned the last transatlantic vestige. Soon after his ascension, the Aztecs were mass-baptised into Orthodoxy by Byzantine emissaries of Basileus Witiges. No longer were there Aztecs in Africa – rather Nahuafricans.
(For those who think it's a weird name for a Greek - yes, that's a Gothic name for the Basileus – we'll get back to that later)
The Fearless' Fear
Empress Sergia, the Goths' morale bolstered by having dealt the death blow to the Mongol Empire, continued her onslaught against the nomadic realms, as well against the formerly nomadic one in Khotan.
In 1353, Pope Stephanus called the Eleventh Crusade. Now with neither an immediate threat to Christendom nor a powerful monarch's desires in the way, the Pope directed this invasion against a place of actual importance to the faith. With Jerusalem in Christian hands, this meant the Shamirid Sultanate – Egypt.
As ever, Gothia fought at the forefront of that crusade – despite the absence of both Sergia herself and her elite cataphracts, fighting nomads. Crown Prince Theudis was entrusted with the Imperial levies from Crimea and the troops of the Khazarian exarch.
And he led that army admirably. When the western European armies arrived, Theudis had already annihilated the Shamirid forces, comparable in number to his own, with minimal losses. The young Prince showed truly exceptional martial skill and earned the respect of all Christianity, tales of his victory in al-Ihmimiya spreading far and wide.
Egypt became a Catholic kingdom under a Thathicos monarch, Sergia's grandson Ioannikos, in 1355.
The Fearless regaled in the tale of her heir's success – officially. Apparently, his military genius opened the wounds left by her eldest, and the failure of that time was now salted with a feeling of uselessness. Observers remarked that since the Eleventh Crusade, Sergia's drive forward had mostly disappeared. She went through the motions, but the energy of her youth had fully evaporated, replaced by a nagging self-doubt.
Her second-in-command during her late campaigns, Philippos Caffa, kept a diary, and notes that he found the empress often staring into the distance before a battle, saying “What would Theudis do now?” to herself. Once, he found her slumped to the ground, remarking that she “just stands in the way of his greatness”.
The Fearless feared her son. Or rather, herself. With all that talk of a possession, the wounds of her daughter's betrayal, exile and execution, and now the Prince's accomplishments, she was a mental wreck. Still, she insisted on leading from the front.
For her 76 years of age, she was still a formidable fighter and felled more than one nomad herself, but she did take a wound in her last fight.
Was that the last straw? If she wasn't fit enough to fight unharmed, did she deem herself unable to live on? In any case, Sergia the Fearless never awoke the 8th March 1362.
If the Gothic fascination for asymmetric persons hadn't stuck yet, it certainly did after Sergia I's nearly long reign, nearly sixty years. While there have been many solutions proposed for her apparent possession, no single theory has won out. It remains a mystery despite claims to the contrary.
Nowadays, Goths by far prefer to use the “Fearless” epithet when talking about Sergia I. For she was truly a successful monarch, highly influential over the Papacy as evidenced by the Tenth Crusade, overseeing the end of the Mongol Empire, and generally expanding Gothia strongly against the nomadic clans – always leading by example from the front.
Still, her impact on Gothic culture is not nearly as important as one would imagine from such a successful, long-reigning ruler. What she is most well-known for is not even her apparent possession, but her institution of ultimogeniture in Gothia. Why?
Because she was overshadowed by a man who became a living legend in his time, and who wouldn't have become emperor if not for that change. Thus every circumstance of that change is well-known amongst Goths, and Princess Liuvigoto might well be the reason why there never was an Empress Liuvigoto II. The benefactor of that change is still revered today as the closest the middle ages had to a perfect monarch, as well as one of the universally acknowledged greatest, if not the greatest, general of all times – Theudis VIII, also known as the War Saint, or as the Angel of Death, the Horseman of Conquest.
Thank you for updating. What a Lady! Do I see the 'Adventurer' trait? What a build up for Theudis VIII! As a stats geek, I am expecting M4 education, 80 total points with 30 being martial. The Mongols and Aztecs exit stage left at the same time. Six king titles and only a barony, this is truly an Shah without clothes.
the imperial palace in Cherson still exhibits Aikaterine's throne with her original golden protheses, a replica of the empress completing the impressive sight which humbled anyone who had an audience with the empress.
On the world's stage, the decade of 1340 is the end of the decline of the empires that suddenly arose in the middle ages. The Aztecs on the other side of the Atlantic, the Turkish Ghaznavids in Asia, and the Mongols in Asia and Europe.
The Fearless feared her son. Or rather, herself. With all that talk of a possession, the wounds of her daughter's betrayal, exile and execution, and now the Prince's accomplishments, she was a mental wreck. Still, she insisted on leading from the front.
For her 76 years of age, she was still a formidable fighter and felled more than one nomad herself, but she did take a wound in her last fight.
First Achilla and then Theudis. Methinks Gothic historians have some sort of secret agenda to purge from the historical record any monarchs who don't align with the larger narrative they are trying to build... Then there's the change to Ultimogeniture... Something is rotten in the state of Gothia .
Love the Nahuafricans by the way! Sunset Invasion always leads to funny outcomes in my opinion.
Thank you for updating. What a Lady! Do I see the 'Adventurer' trait? What a build up for Theudis VIII! As a stats geek, I am expecting M4 education, 80 total points with 30 being martial. The Mongols and Aztecs exit stage left at the same time. Six king titles and only a barony, this is truly an Shah without clothes.
Yes, you do - as is family tradition, Sergia got sent off as a merc in her youth and collected this highly useful trait.
Adding the Thathicos' hoard, I do think that he may have reached those 80 total in stats...
I found it interesting that they did so at around the same time. Without spoiling anything (I'd have no clue how to work that into the Gothic narrative), I can tell you that the Aztec Empire has been usurped from the Nahuafricans - by the German kings of Ireland and Wales (which had become the de-jure empire). So now we've got a Catholic Kaiser of the Aztecs. As for the Ghaznavids, I didn't pay much attention to them - but they did hold on to their kingdom titles at least. So many of them that, adding in dynastic prestige, their last Shah even managed to gain 'the Great' as his nickname despite being anything but great.
In game terms, his host was likely just defeated. But as it doesn't work with the whole support from western Europe thing he had, capture was the way to go. I think it would have spiced things up a lot if, say, Francia would have supported a claimant. Might be something I'll consider in whatever could be next AAR.
It's easier than you'd think - her protheses didn't need to move, after all. And all that gold made it easy to preserve for future generations.
These pesky invisible strangers .
A new era, truly.
In such a long reign, you have to see both highs and lows. It did bug me that she was called 'the Daughter of Satan' despite being nicer than most of her contemporaries, so I had to fix that part at least.
I likely picked it only later on in Sergia's rule. As she was such a long-lived ruler, her great-granddaughter through Liuvigoto's line was betrothed or already married patrilineally. So I either had to grab the daggers or switch. Seeing Theudis' successes, ultimo was the right choice.
First Achilla and then Theudis. Methinks Gothic historians have some sort of secret agenda to purge from the historical record any monarchs who don't align with the larger narrative they are trying to build... Then there's the change to Ultimogeniture... Something is rotten in the state of Gothia .
Love the Nahuafricans by the way! Sunset Invasion always leads to funny outcomes in my opinion.
Might be... but there are different reasons. Achila was bad, Theudis VII - wasn't there. There's no need to purge him, he did nothing of note. Nothing at all.
They've found their second home, safe from the French, who are the clear winners of the sunset invasion, together with the Anglo-Saxons. I sometimes play with SI for the spice it adds. I also nearly always play with absurd and supernatural events unrestricted for the same reason...
The emperor's legend had begun on the battlefield, with the Tenth Crusade. But it isn't solely built on his martial efforts. He consecrated the first years of his reign to the well-being of his people and not the death of his enemies, even if the Gothic armies continued to advance against the nomads.
The fate of his eldest sister was still present in his mind, and so one of Theudis' first actions as monarch was to crack down on any cults within Gothia, any false Catholics. While open heathens were widely discriminated, they still had rights, such as life and property. Some, such as the Jews, played important parts in the rich cities, others, such as the recently forcefully settled Mongols, were very much second-class citizens until they converted.
Theudis condemned betrayal, most of all. And declared that anyone falsely pretending to be Catholic lost their rights. That meant that as soon as a representative of the emperor felled the judgement of “false believer”, the false Catholic could be robbed, tortured, killed without any consequences. His inquisition roamed Gothia zealously, and pyres soon burned all over, those escaping either forced into exile or out of civilization.
The Gothic Inquisition brought Theudis VIII his erstwhile epithet, the Cleansing Flame. But its consequences are often exaggerated. The inquisitors were instructed to be thorough, perfect strangers in the region they would cover so they would not be privy to favouritism. Any false accusation was to be severely punished, most commonly by a loss of the lying tongue. Inquisitors were well-paid and always came by three to prevent bribes.
The emperor, so virtuous that he has been called saintly – and not just by his subjects, also by foreign observers –, wished to ensure that only the true “snakes amongst their midst” were smoked out. And with the scandal surrounding the former Crown Princess, only small covens remained. In Cherson itself, with a population estimated between 600.000 and 800.000 at the time, official records name 2.374 false believers.
Later on, the Cleansing Flame continued to improve the lives of his people. Under his reign, the great university of Itil was founded. His immense success in foreign affairs led to lower taxes, and the people brought in record harvests. Banditry and piracy reached an all-time low, the mere mention of the emperor's name leading to most such raiders fleeing in terror. Partly due to that, the profits from the Silk Road soared, and Cherson truly established itself as not only the Jewel of Gothia, but clearly surpassing Constantinople as the City of the World's Desire – the centre of the “Old World”.
With no raiders to disturb the borders, the emperor's law reached even the farthest corners of Gothia, and its inhabitants celebrated a truly golden age.
The Legend's Family
For most people, there's one reason why Theudis VIII has not been canonized, as the church didn't care much for his treatment of heathens. That reason being his first wife, Dorothea Kourkouas, daughter of Basileus Witiges the Usurper.
This marriage was anything but harmonic. Courtiers described her as a “lying wench in the Byzantine tradition”, zealously adhering to her Orthodox beliefs and always wanting to get her way. The Cleansing Flame was having none of that. While previous spouses of the monarchs had often represented their will while on campaign, Theudis didn't trust Dorothea any more than a stranger and had her removed both from power and from their children.
The toxic relationship was so embittered that the Cleansing Flame took a lover during his Nepalese campaign, one of his commanders known as One-Eyed Euphrosyne. It is said that Dorothea was amongst those of Theudis' enemies who sent assassins after him...
Not the first nor the last of those assassins. Their fate was mostly the same – caught by Theudis' guards, then executed by the emperor himself. With a few exceptions slipping past them – only for their nerves to fail them when faced with the Cleansing Flame.
Rumour had it that he could shoot flames from his hands. Could materialize spears out of the ground, throw lightning. Petrify his opponents with a single gaze. Tear an enemy in two with his mere hands. This reputation was too much for even the hardiest assassin, and so he lived through countless murder attempts, for even those who managed not to be paralysed by his legend then faced an athletic man who never had no weapon within reach...
But he at least suspected his wife to be amongst the employers of these killers. And the 4th June, 1377, he turned the tables on her, with support of basically the entire court. Dorothea's lifeless body was fished out of Cherson's harbour.
It was an open secret that Theudis wanted to be rid of her. His second marriage to Petronia Neapol, daughter of the late Mongol exarch Saurus the Blessed, lasted less than a year. She had contracted syphilis in an extra-marital affair, and Pope Ioannes XI confirmed the marriage's annulment.
Theudis was left disillusioned with marriage. While he remarried, a woman without much influence from a very distant branch of the family named Adriane, he had a few more or less official lovers in his later life.
When he died, he had eleven children, of six different mothers – and a loving father to each of them.
The War Saint
The nomads were almost vanquished when the Cleansing Flame inherited the throne, and with the creation of the Exarchate of Transoxania, it now formed the last nomad border. The Goths had all but achieved their goal. Theudis, without the nomad threat to deal with, turned his thoughts of conquest elsewhere.
Tibet and India
Theudis' two campaigns against Indian realms had a deep effect on the subcontinent's balance of power.
To the situation in India, one has to look at the history of the Bengal Empire – from the Pala kingdom, subjugated by the Mongols, freed after their downfall by Bhavesh the Great in 1109, they spread their influence across nearly the entire north of the Indian subcontinent, pushing back the Ghaznavids. Until the empire was shattered in 1279, China having grown wary of such a powerful neighbour.
Some of the remnant kingdoms were powerful in their own right, such as the kingdom of Nepal, encompassing nearly the entirety of Tibet, Khotan, and the starting point of the silk road as well. And the Somavamsi – actually, only Nepal was not absorbed by the Somavamsi, who fairly quickly resurrected the fallen empire, in 1318. During Theudis' lifetime, they also formed Rajasthan and were pushing into Afghanistan.
Theudis claimed sovereignty over Maharaja Mahendrasingha of Nepal in 1367. Intending to enforce tribute, he took the armies who fought the nomads, around 17.500 cataphracts, and crossed the border. Mahendrasingha raised his levy in response – at least 60.000 men.
The Cleansing Flame took apart Mahendrasingha's armies with ease. A third of them in Khotan, the rest in Xia. The Nepalese Maharaja is quoted as having wondered if his opponent is a man or a demon, as while nearly his entire army had vanished, the Gothic veterans still had at least two thirds of their initial strength. Nepalese tribute began to flow along the Silk Road.
Theudis' second campaign in India was launched in 1390, against the Somavamsi Empire. It was on the height of its strength, encompassing nearly all of northern India. With the distance to Crimea, the War Saint again led only his elite cataphracts against the vast empire. Like the Chinese did to the Somavamsi's predecessors, his aim was to bring the empire to ruin. But whatever motive he had for doing so is unclear. And he only had around 20.000 men.
Samrajni Bishwas Devi, the Frog, knew how Nepal had been made to bow to Gothia. She had added Rajasthan to the Somavamsi's imperial titles - a capable monarch, despite her appearance. She assembled all of her empire's resources in the fight against the Gothic invader.
But no numerical superiority could stop Theudis' advance. It's also suggested that the Frog's subservient Maharajas saw their chance to be freed from the Somavamsi and thus weren't interested in fighting the battles to the end. In any case, the Goth managed to bring down the empire, finding its end in 1392. Nothing seemed able to stop him.
Inheritance Wars
During Theudis' reign, Gothia made perfectly clear that it would not tolerate any of its lands passing outside of the empire due to whatever reason.
When the Shah of Gilan and the Queen of Denmark inherited land in Mongolia and Sarkel respectively, Gothic troops were quickly there to remind them to abandon their claims. But both times, a war with certain outcome followed, with no Danish or Gilanese troops even coming close to the land they claimed as their own.
More surprisingly, even the emperor's nephew, Ioannikos of Egypt, who held his entire kingdom because of his uncle, also refused to return great parts of Khazaria which would have passed to Egypt by inheritance.
Ioannikos even sailed to Cherson in 1380, personally attempting to stop his uncle's legend – only to suffer a crushing defeat. The king of Egypt, humiliated, was dragged to the city's palace and had to profess, on his knees, to always follow the emperor's orders to the letter henceforth.
Ioannikos' saving grace was his close relation to the emperor, who despised betrayal more than anything else. Had he not been kin, then he would likely have died a dozen deaths before finally going up in flames...
Byzantium
The balance of power in Byzantium had shifted in the 14th century. As the Mongol Empire fell apart, the Despotate of Georgia began pushing into Persia.
Since 1088, the despotate was ruled by a branch of the Thathicos dynasty, and always held on to their Gothic roots. By 1338, the Georgian Thathicos were highly powerful, holding the crowns of Georgia, Trebizond and Jerusalem as well as much of Persia.
Their influence had to be represented in Constantinople at some point. And the instability following the death of Basileus Matthaios in 1338, who had just gotten the throne through a revolt a year ago, was the turning point for the Georgian Goths. Ignored in the election of Gerasimos II, the Georgians made themselves heard – and forced his abdication, placing Witiges on the throne, the first Gothic Basileus of Byzantium.
Witiges ruled for 25 years, then was succeeded by Matthaios' daughter Gurli in 1363. Under the Goth, who was an Orthodox himself, Catholicism spread within Byzantium, perhaps thanks to the influence of Gothia. Gurli's brother Gregoras was one of these Catholics, and the Catholic faction forced Gurli to abdicate in her brother's favour in 1364.
Once again, the Georgians thought themselves ignored. A civil war erupted, and in 1370, the next Goth took the crown, Saurus. Relations with Gothia were deteriorating visibly with Theudis' marriage to Saurus' sister, and reached a new low with her murder. As Saurus died two months later in1377, upholding his honour in personal combat, Arsenios Pyrrogenes, a man reputed for underhanded schemes, was elected.
It seems that Basileus Arsenios had also attempted to snuff out the Cleansing Flame of Gothia. In 1381, after the Egyptian war, Emperor Theudis retaliated. Winning the support of Despot Tiberius of Georgia, promising to stay out of the conflict, he proclaimed his son with Dorothea, Gregoras, as the true Basileus, and crossed the border.
Shortly after crossing the Danube, he faced the Byzantine army, and kept building his legend. The Goths were advancing towards Constantinople.
The Greeks panicked. The remainder of Arsenios' army was getting ready to defend the capital, but the battle preparations were interrupted by both sides' leaders meeting in the middle of the battlefield. It is said that when Theudis rode forward to meet the Greek emissaries, the entire army took a few steps backward in respect.
The Greeks handed over a castrated Arsenios, and hailed Basileus Gregoras III. With his entry into Constantinople, the next period of Byzantine history began – the period of domination by the Gothic House Thathicos.
The Twelfth Crusade
Upon Theudis' return to Crimea from India, Pope Caelestinus III aimed to deal a devastating blow to the Muslims. He had waited for the return of Christianity's most powerful weapon, and then called a crusade of Arabia against the Jamalids. True to Gothic tradition, the Cleansing Flame embarked his troops – and within a year, the crusade had ended in success, with King Bosporios, grandson of the Gothic emperor and son of the Byzantine one, becoming the first Christian ruler of Arabia in 1394.
China
Theudis the War Saint had secured all his borders. Byzantium, Egypt, Arabia and Nepal answered to his orders. He had shattered the Somavamsi Empire in India. He had no reason to fight Francia, not only a fellow Catholic empire but also without a shared sphere of interest.
Thus only one realm could stand in his way. Isolationist China. The Jurchen had taken over China eighty years before, and the Emperor was well sinofied by now. At the time of the Twelfth Crusade, a new Emperor ascended. And his opinion was that Cathay didn't have to care about the world at large. Western merchants, and anyone else really, were denied access.
Thus began the War Saint's greatest campaign. He could have tried to force the Jurchen to rethink their approach, but instead settled for nothing less than a full-scale invasion of a China which was arguably at the peak of its strength.
Chinese armies were unimaginably large for Gothia alone to take on – but under Theudis VIII, Gothia was not alone. He prepared for three years after the end of the twelfth crusade. Mercenaries from all-across Europe jumped at the chance to fight for a legend like him, especially as both pay and loot promised to be very high. His dependent rulers all sent their support as well, both willingly and under pressure.
The Gothic invasion of China began 1397. Theudis had split his army in two – his daughter Cixila was to lead the bulk of the troops, an army of 300.000 freshly resupplied in Nepal, while he led the forces consisting of his elite cataphracts and mercenaries, around 100.000 men, to be reinforced from Crimea with 50.000 more, from Gothia's border with China proper, the duchy of Jiuquan.
The War Saint's reputation had naturally reached the Heavenly Emperor, as so he was seen as the main threat, although Cixila has thrice his numbers and very much followed in her father's footsteps. Soon, he faced an enormous army, bigger than his daughter's, in a region that could hardly support that many men. But a war of attrition was never Theudis' intention.
Over a series of battles, sometimes with 20.000 men against 120.000, Theudis whittled down the Chinese numbers. Even if he didn't always carry the day, his retreats still marked him as the tactical victor, with far higher casualties on the Jurchens' side. Within a year, the emperor led his troops into China itself.
Overcoming more hard battles along the way, Theudis finally reached Nanjing. All of China's military might, their immense reserve of soldiers, had been unable to stop the War Saint. Nor his daughter. Cixila's army reached the Chinese capital a month after her father.
Yet another people would only speak of Theudis VIII of Gothia with the utmost respect. Staying another month in the capital, the War Saint oversaw the ascension of the new dynasty in China – the Thathicos dynasty, led by his daughter, now Empress Taizu of China.
The End of a Titan
Upon his return at the turn of the century, Theudis was forced to notice that the Indians sought to take advantage of his invasion of China. Either he wouldn't return or his army would be too weak to fend them off.
Or so Maharaja Laxminath Singh Dev of Nepal thought, seeking to free himself. Or so Maharaja Pusyamitra of the Pala Kingdom, former subject of the Somavamsi, thought.
But Theudis returned. With a still-powerful army. And with what he perceived as a betrayal, the word “mercy” disappeared from the Cleansing Flame's vocabulary in regard to the Nepalese. After the passage of the old man and his army, there was nothing left where it belonged. Not stone, not wood, not bone.
The maharaja had entrusted his closest friend with the command of his army. Some time after the army's encounter with the Goths, a one-eyed eunuch brought news of the army's fate, presenting himself in front of Laxminath Singh Dev, accompanied by four blinded, muted men carrying a chest.
The chest was filled with ash, with fragments of bone within. The eunuch had to explain that it was a “gift” from Emperor Theudis – the ashes of the maharaja's soldiers, and the remains of his friend. He and his companions were the sole survivors, as the Goth relentlessly pursued the fleeing Nepalese, then had all survivors of the battle burned at the stake. Save for the five of them, who still had a task to fulfil - without the body parts they wouldn't need for said task.
The effect on the monarch's court was immediate and devastating. Laxminath was so shell-shocked that he was never again seen sober. The Goth was called either the Angel of Death or the Blazing Demon – for there was only death left in his wake, preferably brought by fire.
But Theudis' rage also took its toll on the man himself as well, as he came down with a severe fever. Before the maharaja's surrender reached him, the greatest ruler Gothia had ever seen drew his last breath.
Under Theudis VIII, Gothia itself was amongst the largest empires of the world, but if you count everyone answering to the War Saint – then his empire was the largest the world had ever seen, reaching from Italy to the Yellow Sea, encompassing Byzantium, Egypt, Arabia, Nepal, China and of course Gothia.
With the limited strength of his empire, he conquered everything he faced. He was such a successful general that preachers of the apocalypse thought themselves vindicated – after all, the first of the four horsemen, Conquest/War, had already descended on earth...
...and he had shown glimpses of being Death, as well.
The Thathicos dynasty now dominated the east of the “Old World”, from Byzantium to China. The Golden Age of Gothia had dawned. The deceased monarch's road to his final resting place became a vast procession along the Silk Road, with everyone able willing to pay their respects to the legendary ruler.
But back in Cherson, the new empress was just playing with her friends. Six-years-old Sergia was soon to follow in a man's footsteps nobody could ever hope to fill.
Theudis' eleven children almost all reached lofty positions: Four emperors, one pope, two dukes, one grandmaster, a mayor and two consorts to monarchs.
The Goths revere Theudis VIII, even more so than Saint Kyrillos. Running out of superlatives to describe him. His personal weapon, a spear named the Conqueror's Cross, became a legend in itself, with the one holding it said to be able to channel the War Saint himself. Theudis' regalia replaced Saint Kyrillos', save for the ancient sword.
Despite never having been canonized, he remains on people's lips swearing by his name and praying for his support in whatever they wish to accomplish.
But not everyone sees the heroic emperor. The effect and methods of his inquisition are often exaggerated and questioned, but even if seen correctly it remains an injustice in modern views.
In Nepal and Tibet, Theudis' revenge is lamented as a great tragedy. For decades, in parts centuries after his passage, people avoided the affected regions. Places cursed by the Angel of Death. The so-called Chest of Theudis traumatized a whole people, and to this day it remains in use as a saying for delivering the worst possible news.
In India, people question the fall of the Somavamsi Empire. What interest did Theudis have in toppling it? Simple bloodthirst? The pure thrill of the fight? It is not like he had much of an interest in the region. Theudis' motives remain highly debated amongst historians to this day, especially as Gothia was highly wealthy. Did the Cleansing Flame seek a specific artefact, a specific stone? He did end up having both a new crown and a new sceptre made with the gemstones brought home from this campaign, but it could hardly have been his main goal. Was he already planning an invasion of China and securing his southern border, despite there having been no sign of China's isolationism yet? Some claim he sought the Fountain of Youth, and that he had to take a monumental challenge in order to obtain it. Some of the adherents of that theory suggest that he passed the test with flying colours and ascended to a higher plane of existence – they feel vindicated by the War Saint's name still present on people's lips.
Likely just lunatics, but there's no limit to the speculation.
In the internet generation, history memers gave Theudis even more popularity under the following description:
invades a flourishing empire highly outnumbered
dispatches any who face him with ease
dismantles the empire
refuses to elaborate
leaves
… in any case, the Indians view Theudis mostly as some kind of demonic figure. He didn't come, see and conquer. He came, saw, and annihilated. The wounds left by the Cleansing Flame on the subcontinent still haven't healed. And with the next Gothic invasion, they never would.
But outside of India – even in China – the War Saint is the epitome of monarchy. A wise ruler, undefeated in war, he's become a favourite subject of art ever since – portraits and statues of him are nearly omnipresent in Gothic palaces and adorn many others as well, while for later generations he became the go-to-ruler for a medieval monarch in works of fiction as a man whose qualities are easily recognizable for any public.
However you look at it, Theudis VIII is seen as the legendary ruler of the Middle Ages.
***************
AuthAAR's note: Actually, the Somavamsi empire was disbanded in 1403, likely because I sent China's wrath against them in retaliation for their subject's attack. But it does fit the story far better to have Theudis dismantle the empire rather than a recently conquered China. Especially as I do know that he waged a war against the Somavamsi at the given dates, but without a clue as to what he fought them for.
Also, the Bengal Empire had a quite particular ruler at some point: Kumarapala the Whisperer, bastard son of a count and a rosebush. An attractive and fat drunken ethnic Celt, reigning the strongest empire in India...
Wow, that is an incredible leader, and well timed too! He conquered the east fairly close to the end date, so that's impressive. I'll be curious to see how China does with their new Gothic empress.
Cherson truly established itself as not only the Jewel of Gothia, but clearly surpassing Constantinople as the City of the World's Desire – the centre of the “Old World”.
The Greeks handed over a castrated Arsenios, and hailed Basileus Gregoras III. With his entry into Constantinople, the next period of Byzantine history began – the period of domination by the Gothic House Thathicos.
Theudis had split his army in two – his daughter Cixila was to lead the bulk of the troops, an army of 300.000 freshly resupplied in Nepal, while he led the forces consisting of his elite cataphracts and mercenaries, around 100.000 men, to be reinforced from Crimea with 50.000 more, from Gothia's border with China proper, the duchy of Jiuquan.
Overcoming more hard battles along the way, Theudis finally reached Nanjing. All of China's military might, their immense reserve of soldiers, had been unable to stop the War Saint. Nor his daughter. Cixila's army reached the Chinese capital a month after her father.
Yeah, sometimes you just lose sight of your watched threads, weirdly enough.
The Saint is the legendary founder figure, the War Saint is the zenith of Gothic power. And people always think about the good old days when everybody wanted to kowtow to you.
Wow, that is an incredible leader, and well timed too! He conquered the east fairly close to the end date, so that's impressive. I'll be curious to see how China does with their new Gothic empress.
If he was some kind of Mongol warlord, then Europe would have fallen. Thankfully, he's been a civilized man bound by casus belli. I've been surprised myself how strong Gothia had become solely by taking formerly nomadic land - of course helped by an immensely powerful demesne.
One title for everyone, his friends, enemies and victims.
Nobody does!
At the end, I'll include a comparison of the world's capitals - and suffice to say, anywhere else truly pales in comparison to Cherson.
A clear cut in Byzantine history, that's for sure .
Jade Dragon adds China as on off-map power you can deal with - and invade.
I recall numbers like that. To take on China, I basically hired every merc available, had them trek over from Cherson to my easternmost duchy in Jiuquan, then invaded. Invading China is intended to be a challenge, so they have immense numbers on their side - and I don't recall if I attacked during a Golden Age, which would give them better troops to boot, but knowing Theudis, it's possible. His command modifiers were so insane that the Chinese armies melted against whatever flank he was leading.
Cixila's army is extrapolated from the event saying that the bulk of the forces invades China proper.
I've never seen a rosebush child get such a powerful position before. I mean, he's not even legitimated, but a mere count's bastard! And highly exotic over there.
With the change to ultimogeniture under Sergia the Fearless, it was likely an unavoidable consequence that not just when a ruler died early, but also if a male monarch like Theudis remarried in his late life, then there would be a child ruler.
One likely facing envious elder siblings, too. Sergia II was the War Saint's youngest child – at least the youngest recognized at the time – of his third wife, Adriane. She had seven older legitimate siblings, and the throne of the legendary would likely have been a prize tempting enough to consider foul play against the girl...
But, perhaps surprisingly, Theudis VIII's family was not inclined to launch a succession drama at court. Save for her three-years-elder half-sister Valeria, any pretender already held positions that satisfied them.
Dorothea's three children were landholders in Byzantium, under the youngest of them, Basileus Gregoras III.
One-Eyed Euphrosyne's official imperial son Athanaricos had been made archbishop of Crimea.
Sergia's only full-blooded sister Cixila was now known as Taizu, and Chintila married to the queen of Crusader Italy. Valeria was too young to pine for the throne.
Theudis' other children were not considered for the throne – perhaps they were unknown at the time. (In other words, they only came into existence as Chinese princes – Valeria and Chintila too, but they were older than Sergia.)
Archbishop Athanaricos took over the regency. The future Pope Silvester II was a shrewd politician and the eldest prince within Gothia itself.
Focusing on the administration of the realm, he did leave military matters in the hands of the War Saint's trusted commanders. Witteric Doros was entrusted with the army after Theudis VIII had been laid to rest, and sent east to deal with the Pala attack.
What the capital did not yet know was that the terrified maharaja Pusyamitra had taken the Nepalese's experiences to heart and called back his troops. None of his men should enter Gothic soil – even if they had lost their emperor, Witteric had proven himself capable as well.
Pusyamitra's surrender didn't satisfy the Gothic leadership though, and they claimed the duchy of Kabul in order to have the Hindu Kush form a natural border.
Now under attack themselves, the Palas were joined with multiple other Indian kingdoms, and without Theudis' leadership, the war, fought between Samarkand and the Afghan highlands, became a protracted affair for the Gothic army against overwhelming Indian numbers.
Witteric was forced to make more than one tactical retreat, as well as a few less-tactical ones. The legendary emperor's presence was dearly missed, and Doros' ambition to establish himself as some kind of successor died in the crib.
As things turned dire for the Goths, someone else took the reins of the army, another one of Theudis VIII's generals. A most unexpected one, for it was Cixila Thathicos who turned the tables – none other than the Empress of China. Unable to spare any troops, needed to establish the dynasty's heavenly mandate, the princess of Gothia proved herself a worthy successor of her father.
If someone was capable to establish a Gothic dynasty in China, then it was her. But she was both nostalgic for her father's campaigns and unwilling to let Gothia suffer a defeat. Back to being Princess Cixila instead of Empress Taizu, she pushed back the Indians to the other side of the mountains.
It took Sergia II's entire reign to claim victory – but without the War Saint's leadership, Gothia's nimbus of invincibility was shattered. Cixila returned to her empire in China, Witteric Doros was disgraced. Theudis VIII's main commanders were no longer in Gothia's service.
She's been leading my army a while longer. And with Karling blood... one doesn't exactly lack good commanders. But despite his 34 martial and commander traits, Taizu was still likely a better leader than Innokentios! I'd stacked three saintly bloodlines with boni against religious enemies at that point...
Under Athanaricos' wise guidance, the empire as a whole kept prospering, especially with the Silk Road now fully under Thathicos control. Sergia II seemed to become a capable, diplomatic monarch – but then, she fell gravely ill, and died soon after.
Her elder half-sister Valeria – whose mother is a historical mystery – succeeded the poor girl.
Young Sergia couldn't leave much of an impact on history due to her early death. What her “reign” stands for is the Afghan war against the Indians, which truly showed Gothia that they had lost the War Saint and couldn't replace him. His worthy successor was not the little girl on the Gothic throne, but the hardened veteran on the Chinese one. Indeed, Empress Taizu managed to establish a firm Gothic hold on the Chinese throne, and the stubbornly proud Goths didn't sinofy, even long after her death.
Still, that war didn't start the Gothic decline – it was a victory in the end, and the empire had made too many gains to lose their strength. Instead, Athanaricos' guidance of Gothia during the regency helped him in his case to claim the Papacy in 1420.
Unlike what one may think, nobody suspected foul play involved in Sergia's death. It was a case of slow fever – the disease spread through the court and touched her successor Valeria as well.
Wow, those are some pretty incredible generals you've got! I don't know if I've ever seen 34 martial outside of Children of Destiny and pagan lodge leaders.
It's too bad Sergia was cut short, and it seems Valeria might have issues too. It's too bad the Goths struggled in the war, but I suppose it is inevitable that empires have highs and lows. If the War Saint is the peak, I suppose we must be approaching the fall...
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