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Well done on your progress to attain the Duchy of Muntenia, a true Romanian Voivode ruling its people! I hope Traian's lunacy does not backfire in the summer festival, he has done much to establish himself as a commander and ruler of his people!
With a renewed confidence slowly growing inside him, Traian decided to participate in The Grand Tournament held by the new King Vladimir and to showcase the Rumâni heir.
The tourney was won by Duke Simeon Balgarsko of Karvuna, but both Traian and his son fought valiantly and impressed the bystanders. Young Traian earned a more that surprising 3rd place, while the brand new Mare Șef [High Chief] of Muntenia received much compliments during the closing ceremony even from Duke Simeon and the King.
Apparently, thanks to this tournament Traian succeeded in a much more difficult task: overcoming himself.
: D
On January 16th, 895 the first son of Young Traian and Natia was born. In the meantime, the Mare Șef continued to weave his diplomatic alliances, betrothing Dacia to the son of the independent Duke of Padova Lambert Guideschi, Romana to a young Hayk [Armenian] Prince and Ovidiu to Leontia Makedon, daughter of one of Basileus' brothers.
The Balkans' blow-up
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October 31st, 890: "My envoy from Țara de Jos hasn't come back. They say Magyars are trespassing taking advantage of Viseslav's rebellion and are now slaughtering the population without mercy. They say the Nistru is overflowing with blood. I'm more than worried, and I don't know how much I can trust the King in this matter."
The Magyars won and settled in Țara de Jos.
Bulgarians incautiously flirted with those Pagans from the steppe and now they're paying the interests.
August 31st, 896: "Bulgarians seem more interested in their old Moravský friends. Vladimir has declared Holy War for Chrobatia and has renewed the historical alliance. Moravský are now tributary to the Pagan Khagan Bulçan; they allowed him to take territories deep into Transilvania and now they're closing the stable after the horse has bolted. The winds will blow hardest at the top of the mountains."
Consiliul în Pădurile
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The "Council in the forests" took place on the night of August 1st, 897 in Târgu Jiu. Traian, his council, young Traian and Natia took part at the meeting. From various sources we can assume that:
Traian expressed his concerns towards the current situation and the fear of an imminent danger for the Rumâni. He declared his willingness to act immediately.
Young Traian, Dorin and Natia endorsed his position and proposed an attack as soon as possible to preserve the Rumâni integrity, while the others were more inclined to a more neutral approach and to search King Vladimir's support.
In the end Traian's position prevailed and Traian proposed an attack with himself, Samir and Dorin leading the army.
Young Traian and Natia opposed this and proposed Young Traian, Dorin and Samir as commanders with Traian supervising and giving instructions far from the battlefield supported by Natia. "Will we win or loose, Rumâni will need their Șef alive". The proposal prevailed.
Since the Magyars could field an army more than three times the size of Traian's, he shall appeal to his prestige and raise the biggest army possible. Sending to war the whole Rumâni tribe was necessary.
The morning after, Young Traian, Dorin and Natia started to plan an attack and Traian began to raise awareness among the Rumâni tribe and with the help of Samir seized and secured all the gold in the land. Chancellors were sent to Constantinople, Tarnovo, Thema Aigaiou Pelàgous and at the Țara de Jos border. Both the Basileus and Pompeia's husband Romanos confirmed their alliance.
Războiul Sfânt
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On August 9th, 897 the Holy War for the reconquest of Țara de Jos was declared
Against a much larger coalition of Pagan tribes from the steppe, the war started with small skirmishes at the border and some quick sieges by the Rumâni led by Samir at the center and Dorin and Young Traian on the flanks. Șef Traian and Natia stationed in Basarabia to lead the infiltration in Magyar's Țara de Jos.
Regrouped in Basarabia, Traian sent Natia along the border with Konstanta and Bârlad with clear instructions. As she waved to Traian, he ordered a charge.
After a month-long slaughter, with the center collapsing and the flanks unable to support, Traian ordered the retreat just in time to spare some lives. In the "Măcel al Egyedhalma" ["Slaughter of Egyedhalma"] both armies got halved. And it could even be considered a miracle, since the Rumâni army was inflated with poor quality troops (common peasants with no training, farmers, shepherds from the Carpathians). Nevertheless, half of the Rumâni population died in this battle.
Thanks to Natia and Traian, the massacre wasn't useless, since the retreat came right when the reinforcing armies of Romanos arrived in Bârlad to inflict a decisive loss to the Magyars who were forced to retreat.
Romanos immediately put himself under Traian's command and many sieges were layed throughout the Magyar lands with Traian's supervising on the hills. At this point it's clear that the Eastern Roman Empire won't show up. We are alone with our son-in-law.
While the army was marching to join Traian at Tokmak, Natia suddenly pointed a finger towards the Northern Magyar land of Lukoml, where a battle between Magyars and other rival Pagans burst out, and attracted Traian's attention shouting "Mamiko!" ["Dad", Georgian; Natia's affectionate way to call Traian]
Natia and Traian rode furiously towards their army Lukoml-ward. While riding past them Traian shouted the famous words: "Întoarceți! Atac! Repezi repezi repezi!"["Turn around! Charge! Quick quick quick!"]
VICTORY
The last remnants of the Magyar army didn't know that they were the last remnants of the Magyar army, and were sieging the Moldavian land of Tighina when Traian arrived with an exhausted but highly enthusiastic army.
While triumphantly marching through the Magyar lands... Árpád surrenders!
Oh no... you're the guy who made the best Romanian AARs out there, right? Basarab and Shadows of Carpathia. Now my AAR looks even more shitty... I remember reading them a couple of years ago, they were so good that I was literally boiling in rage because I wished it was me!
Don't worry about Traian's health, "lunatic" is just a word those people used to describe Traian's bursts of wroth and sometimes frivolous/weird behaviours, but it's nothing serious. At least that's what Anatolios said... you must trust your 9th century physician, right?
I feel extremely honored by your comment, although I wish you do not feel rage from envy as you too are on a very good track for writing an exceptional Romanian AAR and if you stick till the end, I am certain you will have a historical reality with much interest (maybe even supplant the Greek Basileia Rhomaion and succeed the imperial crown? ). I especially like the Romanian words which add flavor to your AAR (and other languages) and immersion, keep it up!
As of the current status, perhaps it was divine will and manifest destiny that allowed Traian to capture Tara de Jos! May the Kingdom of the Romanians be formed in his lifetime!
Thank you for the kind words, I have a precise history in mind that spans the CK-HoI time period... we'll se how it goes, if we actually make it through the end of CK, how we adapt to what CK throws at us and moreover if you guys will find it interesting because, as you may have already understood, is not really about gameplay (even if there are some inevitable steps) but rather characters and things like that... I'm not able to explain it in English anyway. So we'll see, really
It's impressive that you have a detailed plan for that far ahead. Personally, I find an interesting story more interesting than the gameplay elements, as much as I enjoy those.
When or if to go feudal is a tough call. In my limited experience, going feudal pays off in the long run but can cause tribal vassals to get troublesome for a while.
Good luck with your new-found friendship, bad luck about your new neighbours. And I hope you get well soon. Lingering illness is irritating, at the very least.
I must say that "the Rumân" for Traian was a pleasant surprise so perfect!
I think I'll play the whole Traian II's reign before reporting, I feel like there will be more war and less diplomacy
I am enjoying the story so far and the Romanian words do give a nice flavor overall
While I was reading the last chapters I didn't expect Traian to win over mighty Arpad, it was a nice twist and very well written. It seems game-wise you have conquered a significant part of the Romanian lands and the addition of the Duchy of Karvuna will help you I am sure.
I do not have anything more to add, looking forward for the next chapters!
Boring? No. No it is not. I had a number of updates to catch up on, from state of the world, through a fine duel scene, to the new Traian's plans for ruling. None of it I found 'boring'.
One other thing, you have a good knack for choosing appropriate images and maps for your AAR. That is adding to the atmosphere.
One thing I noticed though, "Traian and Natia's sons" on this page is under pictures of two sons and one daughter. "Traian and Natia's children" is what I would have expected.
That was a pretty good ending to the tale of Traian II. You are doing well so far on the narrative portion of this AAR. You are creating interesting characters, and are able to show what's going on without dragging things out unnecessarily or turning it into "he did this, and then this, and then this, and then he died." Overall, good show so far and good luck.
That same night, Gigliola used her private key to open Traian's office and found him sitting on his chair in front of his old, decadent desk flooded with eerily bleeding money. Traian's face had fallen in that sea of money, dead of severe stress. The blow of his head caused the collapse of a tower of gold accumulated on the desk and a heavy ingot fell on the back of his head breaking it in half. Ovidiu took out the ingot from his head, carefully brushed away the pieces of Traian's brain and placed it back on the desk.
With a renewed confidence slowly growing inside him, Traian decided to participate in The Grand Tournament held by the new King Vladimir and to showcase the Rumâni heir.
The tourney was won by Duke Simeon Balgarsko of Karvuna, but both Traian and his son fought valiantly and impressed the bystanders. Young Traian earned a more that surprising 3rd place, while the brand new Mare Șef [High Chief] of Muntenia received much compliments during the closing ceremony even from Duke Simeon and the King.
Apparently, thanks to this tournament Traian succeeded in a much more difficult task: overcoming himself.
On January 16th, 895 the first son of Young Traian and Natia was born. In the meantime, the Mare Șef continued to weave his diplomatic alliances, betrothing Dacia to the son of the independent Duke of Padova Lambert Guideschi, Romana to a young Hayk [Armenian] Prince and Ovidiu to Leontia Makedon, daughter of one of Basileus' brothers.
October 31st, 890: "My envoy from Țara de Jos hasn't come back. They say Magyars are trespassing taking advantage of Viseslav's rebellion and are now slaughtering the population without mercy. They say the Nistru is overflowing with blood. I'm more than worried, and I don't know how much I can trust the King in this matter."
August 31st, 896: "Bulgarians seem more interested in their old Moravský friends. Vladimir has declared Holy War for Chrobatia and has renewed the historical alliance. Moravský are now tributary to the Pagan Khagan Bulçan; they allowed him to take territories deep into Transilvania and now they're closing the stable after the horse has bolted. The winds will blow hardest at the top of the mountains."
The "Council in the forests" took place on the night of August 1st, 897 in Târgu Jiu. Traian, his council, young Traian and Natia took part at the meeting. From various sources we can assume that:
Yeah, it's a great turn of events... a Karling French HRE no less! We must prepare to swap Germany and France on our modern day maps...
