Game notes: 1435 - 1455
How do you expand when your only enemy has 31000 troops on an island and you have only two ships? Answer - make some other enemies! I got a nice diplomatic insult from Malindi in September 1435 and promptly banned them from my alliance - which now consisted of just Mombasa and Mogadishu. Then I started recruiting. I’d been saving for tax collectors so I had some cash. Malindi helpfully did the dirty work and declared war in December. They then formed an alliance with Kilwa and Adal (another coastal nation up past Mogadishu), but I took Kenya province and their trading post in Tana and they handed over Kenya for peace in 1439.
As soon as the truce ran out in 1444, Adal declared war on Mogadishu, so once again Mombasa and Mogadishu were lined up against Adal, Malindi and Kilwa. Malindi bought their way out the following year, but then in 1446 they and Kilwa dishonoured the alliance when Ethiopia attacked Adal. Malindi then rejoined the alliance, bringing them back into the war. I grabbed Tana, Ethiopia took their capital Malindi, and annexed them, leaving me with what I wanted - the trading post in Tana.
Then came trouble in May 1448 - a treacherous noble was arrested. Hanging him and seizing his assets gave me the worst consequences, but also a hundred ducats cash - what should I do?
The Third Tale
The Very Greedy Vulture
Once upon a time, in the high and misty crags of the Nguru Mountains, Best Beloved, there lived a vulture whose name was Tumbusi, and he was most certainly the wealthiest vulture in all of Africa. He kept all his money in a cave in a cliff at the top of a high peak in the very midst of the high and misty crags of the Nguru Mountains. Lots of people knew that Tumbusi the vulture was very wealthy, but no-one knew just how much money he had hidden away in the dark depths of his cave except his three brothers, whose names were Bakua, Chakua and Takua, but because their greedy brother never gave them anything, they didn’t like him very much.
But where did Tumbusi the vulture get all his ill-gotten gold, you must be wondering, Best Beloved, for I do not need to tell you that every penny of that gold was certainly ill-gotten. The answer is that he got it from the men who lived in the man village at the foot of the mountains. For Tumbusi the vulture would watch out from the high and misty crags of the Nguru Mountains, until he saw Simba the lion out a-hunting in the plains. And when he saw that Simba the lion was going to get himself a nice fat zebra or antelope or wildebeest, he flew as swift as the wind to the man village, and he told them exactly where Simba the lion was out a-hunting.
This is Simba the lion when he was out a-hunting in the plains.
He was watching very closely to choose his dinner so he did not notice that Tumbusi the vulture was flying
swift as the wind to the man village
Then the men gave Tumbusi the vulture a fine payment of gold and then off they went, all of them together with their spears and their knives and their burning sticks, to find Simba the lion, and they waited until he had killed his prey. Then they all rushed at him and chased him away, and they took the fat zebra or antelope or wildebeest that he had killed so nicely, and they brought it back to their village and cooked the meat over a huge fire and had a great feast and drummed and danced until morning. And Simba the lion could only watch from the shadows and wonder how they always knew to come and chase him away just at the right moment.
One day Simba the lion had caught a nice tasty gazelle, and for once the men had not come, for Tumbusi the vulture was sitting in the dark depths of his cave and he was too busy counting his gold to notice that Simba was out a-hunting, and Simba had had a delicious meal and was just lying down for his after-dinner nap on a grassy mound nearby. Then who should come along but Tumbusi the vulture’s three brothers, Bakua, Chakua and Takua, for there was nothing those three liked better than the leftovers from one of Simba the lion’s delicious meals.
“Oh look,” said Bakua, “Simba the lion has been by and has caught himself a nice tasty gazelle!”
“And look,” continued Chakua, “he has so very kindly left some for us! He really is such a gentleman that Simba the lion!”
“And for once,” added Takua, who had the unfortunate habit of always saying too much, “our greedy brother Tumbusi has not been up to his usual tricks, telling those men where to come and chase that poor Simba away before he has had so much as the starter for his tasty meal.”
Now Simba the lion was lying on the grassy mound, quite hidden in the long grass, and he had his eyes closed, but he still had his ears open, and when he heard Takua’s words (and Takua was the one who always said more than was good for him) he opened first one eye and then the other, and he forgot all about his after-dinner nap. Instead he spoke up, very gently so as not to alarm those three brothers:
“Ahem!” he said, clearing his throat, and trying to make it sound polite and not too much like a deep and throaty growl. “Ahem, excuse me gentlemen, but I couldn’t help overhearing you as you prepared to tuck in to the leftovers of that delicious meal which I have just enjoyed.”
Bakua, Chakua and Takua, looked around them in fright, for they knew that deep and throaty growl, no matter how polite Simba the lion tried to make it sound. And they fluttered and leapt and then they saw Simba lying on his grassy mound.
This is a picture of Bakua, Chakua and Takua, Best Beloved.
They have just heard Simba the lion trying to sound as polite as possible,
and they are looking around to see where that deep and throaty voice is coming from
Bakua is sitting on top of the leftovers of Simba’s dinner, Chakua is on the left and Takua is in the middle
“I do believe,” said Simba the lion, “that you have just let me in on the secret of why those oh-so-miserably-interfering men from the man village always seem to know just where to come when I have prepared myself a tasty meal and am about to settle down to enjoy it.”
“Do you see that?” whispered Bakua to his brother Takua. “Haven’t we always told you that you always say too much?”
But at that moment Simba the lion leapt from his grassy mound and he landed right on top of Takua, to the great alarm of his brothers, who nearly jumped out of their feathers. But Simba did not eat Takua right there and then, for he had just had a very delicious meal, and anyway it was not Takua he wanted but Tumbusi the traitor, who had been selling Simba’s meals to the man village.
“Now then,” said Simba the lion in his polite but very throaty growl, “I would very much like it if you two kind birds would be good enough to go and fetch this brother of yours. And I will wait here with this one, who I assure you will come to no harm as long as your are quick, for I know that you vultures can fly as swift as the wind if you wish to!”
Then Bakua and Chakua hopped and jumped and fluttered and off they flew into the air. And of course they could see that they were going to lose a brother whatever they did, and it didn’t take long for them to decide they would rather lose the one with the mountain of gold hidden away in a dark cave in the mountains, who never gave them anything, than lose the one who always said too much.
And so they flew up into the high and misty crags of the Nguru Mountains, and they came to Tumbusi’s cave and they shouted in:
“Quick, quick, Tumbusi! Simba the lion is out a-hunting in the plains!”
Here is a picture of the high and misty crags of the Nguru Mountains.
I think that Tumbusi’s cave was away in the distance, in the middle of that especially high and misty part.
And Tumbusi, who really was a very greedy vulture, flew out of his cave with a great flapping of his wings, shouting “Where? Where?”, and his two brothers flew with him, swift as the wind back to the plains where Simba the lion was still sitting on Takua, who by this time was getting rather uncomfortable in this position.
“Oh dear,” said Tumbusi as they approached the place, circling gently in the breeze, “Look! I think we are too late. Simba the lion has already finished his meal.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” replied Chakua, “but I have no doubt he will have left some for us - let’s go and see.”
So they fluttered and flapped and tumbled down from the sky to land beside the leftovers of Simba’s delicious meal, and then Simba, who had been keeping ever so still and quiet in the long grass leapt out and landed on top of Tumbusi, and now it was him who was in an extremely uncomfortable position. Bakua, Chakua and Takua leapt away to a safe distance, and I don’t mind telling you, Best Beloved, that Takua was ever-so-much relieved to be out from underneath Simba.
“And now,” said Simba in his deep and throaty growl, and I’m afraid he didn’t sound at all polite this time, “Now we are going to decide what to do with a treacherous vulture who sells my meals to the man village. Do you have anything to say for yourself, Tumbusi, you very wicked vulture?”
There was a strange, muffled squawking noise from underneath Simba, and when the lion had adjusted his position slightly the noise was repeated, a little more clearly:
“S- so-.. sorry, Your Majesty!” stuttered Tumbusi, trembling from his beak to his tail feathers.
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Simba the lion, “but the punishment for such treachery is death.”
And without so much as batting an eyelid, that terrible lion broke Tumbusi’s neck and threw him aside in a lifeless heap. Bakua, Chakua and Takua were very shocked to see their brother come to such a miserable end, but they were not really sorry to see him go.
“Well,” said Bakua, a little nervously, “I think we’ll just be on our way, Bwana Simba, sir. We’re not really hungry any more, are we, lads?”
“Not me,” said Chakua, “and besides we have some urgent business up in the high and misty crags of the Nguru Mountains, don’t we lads?”
“If you’re talking about Tumbusi’s gold,” said Simba the lion in his deep and throaty growl, which had become ever so polite once again, “you needn’t trouble yourselves. The gold of course belongs to me, as payment for all those dinners the people of the man village stole from me, and my good friend Kapungu the eagle has already gone to recover it for me.”
“But... but...” stuttered Bakua, “how did you know about that gold?”
Then Bakua and Chakua slowly turned to look at Takua, who always said too much, but who seemed to have gone very quiet of late.
“I... I was just making polite conversation while we waited for you to come back,” squeaked Takua.
And those two brothers of that all-too-talkativeTakua’s then flew into a rage, and they fell upon him and gave him such a beating that he remembered it for the rest of his life, though he never ever learned to keep quiet when he should. And when Bakua and Chakua had finished beating Takua, all three of them flew to Tumbusi’s dark cave in the high and misty crags of the Nguru Mountains, and of course they found it quite empty.
Simba the lion found himself quite rich, but he also found himself with three angry vultures who hated him from that day on, and gave him no end of trouble. For many a time when Simba the lion went out a-hunting in the plains, those three brothers came and circled about, and they did it not so much because they wanted to tuck in to the leftovers of Simba’s dinner, but because they knew the men from the man village would see them, which they usually did. Then those oh-so-miserably-interfering men would come and chase Simba the lion away just as they had always done, and take his dinner and roast it over a huge fire and then they would drum and dance till morning. And Simba the lion would sit and watch from the shadows, and listen to his own empty stomach rumbling and grumbling inside him.
Game notes (continued)
Well, I couldn’t resist! I took the cash, which brought an immediate revolt in Tanga, and I was unable to recruit fast enough to save it from falling in October. The rebels then marched north and arrived in Mombasa just as another revolt took that province. I ended up having to recruit 1000 infantry at a time down in Lindi and bring them north, but by 1452 I had the two rebel provinces back - phew! But I think it had cost me more than 100 ducats to raise all those troops...
Meanwhile I was still at war with Kilwa and Adal, so my now respectably-sized army (7000 - don’t laugh!) joined the 2000 Mogadishu troops standing around in Rufiji, capturing the city for Mogadishu in 1453. Adal then ended the war at last in January 1455 by paying us 78 ducats. This put another 39 ducats in the Mombasa treasury, on top of the 75 ducats proceeds from a monopoly company in 1452. With tax collectors now in all my provinces - hey, I’m getting positively rich!
VPs: 74 (#42 - would be a lot higher if I hadn’t been offered the chance of commissioning a Great Mosque in 1442 and lost 20 VPs by not doing so
)
Monthly income: 4.3
Annual bonus: about 10
Inflation: 14.7%
Bad boy: 0.6 (ie, good boy, in fact!)