Update 2 606-610
Ill tell you a story, believe me its true,
A tale youd best hope never happens to you:
Old Spicy McHaggis, how he met his fate
You, I can save, but for him its too late.
-Dropkick Murphys,
The Spicy McHaggis Jig
International Events
A group of Pictish tribes have coalesced around the charismatic leader Dub, and have succeeded in despoiling some of the Ystrad Clud sub-kings and their territories. It remains to be seen if this new king of Uertrinn will be able to keep his warriors together for very long, though.
(+Uerturio)
In what is hopefully a culmination of the mind-numbingly inane series of tariff wars in the Mediterranean, Panormos has successfully self-imposed an end to all tariffs on trade conducted by Walhic merchants. The cunning
trohtîn of Walhia, Wiolant, negotiated this in exchange for a total abolition of all Walhic tariffs on Panorman trade, conveniently failing to mention that he personally doesnt have the power to levy any such tariff in the first place, nor the power to force his vassals to abolish their own customs barriers. All in all this seems to have been a rather spectacularly boneheaded decision by Panorman government negotiators, though fortunately the volume of trade with Walhia is essentially nil so it didnt really reduce Panorman revenues either. Still, the fact that Panorman negotiators might negotiate away an
actual source of revenue without getting anything in exchange has rather worried the Sikeliot merchantry.
(-1 Merchantry Confidence)
With much pomp and circumstance, Panorman envoys have succeeded in getting the
drechton of the Iberians and a few of his marcher-lords to convert to Sophism, an event nearly as overhyped as the Armeno-Areian wedding a few years prior. Rather embarrassing to the Panorman star-studded delegation (led by successful general Philippikos Mystakon) was the lack of enthusiasm exhibited by the majority of their new converts when discussing anything other than their sizable bribes. Nevertheless, a temple to Hagia Sophia has been set up in Numantia, and Sophist emblems now adorn the battle-dress of some of the Iberian retainers.
(+2 Panorman Prestige, +1 Hellenic Poleis Confidence, +1 Hellenic Poleis Strength)
Amid reports of violent struggles in Eastern Europe, word has reached many courts that a new ruler has claimed ascendancy over the Gothic tribes. Ariaric
thiudans, as his people call him, began raiding nearby territories of the Bosporans and Ruxsalannoi in 608, and his fearsome Gothic soldiers have inspired
terror 
smug

in these foes.
(+Goths, -1 Thyssakata Strength, -600 Bosporan cavalry)
Surprisingly, the situation in Thraike, which had looked about ready to blow up, has mostly settled down, with the Mysians managing to secure recognition of their Byzantine conquest from Makedonia and the Ruxsalannoi (the latter being paid a small sum of silver as tribute). The Makedonians and their northern neighbors have made no such similar agreement, but as both of them are busy elsewhere (see below) fighting has died out in Thraike between the two of them.
(+Byzantion (Mysia), +1 Greek Coastal Poleis Strength (Ruxsalannoi), 50 talents to Ruxsalannoi from Mysia, -1 Mysian Confidence)
The Armenian
arkahs semi-neutrality in the ongoing war to his southeast is angering his subjects on both sides of interventionism, who claim, respectively, that Armenia should intervene to fight the Sophist-persecuting Areians, and that Armenia should intervene to fulfill her treaty obligations. With both the Seleukids and the Areians suffering badly from war exhaustion, Armenias failure to take advantage of these problems is beginning to take on the appearance of a missed golden opportunity.
(-1 Armenian Prestige)
Patalene merchants are currently doing quite well for themselves by using their heavily armed neutrality to expand their share of the carry trade in the midst of the wars that are ruining the incomes of many of their competitors.
(+30 talents to Patalene income)
Part of the Liang military went north in 606, apparently in order to pretend to fight itself. Most of the military believes that it was a lavishly funded waste of time. Oddly, the Emperor attempted to publicize this as well, though he was met more with lack of comprehension than anything else. These frivolities, however, did warn off the Xianbei from attacking the Liang.
Wu ships have caught some Yamato merchants shipping a truly vast sum of silver from Liang to the Shi rebels. It is not yet known if Suiko-
tennō herself had anything to do with it one way or the other.
(+950 talents to Wu treasury)
Annoyingly, the Nanyue are beginning to get into the same trade-deal fever that the Mediterranean polities have been, albeit with slightly better reason. They have had decidedly mixed success in their expeditions to the south to negotiate trade deals with various chieftains. Still, the whole thing is paying off to at least
some extent.
(+10 talents to Nanyue income)
Capitalizing on the rather parlous situation in which the Wu now find themselves, Suiko-
tennō, in her infinite wisdom, has stopped the tribute to the Wu. There was no comment as yet from the court at Jianye. Probably cause, you know, Wu is fighting for its life.
(-1 Wu Prestige, +1 Yamato Prestige)
Domestic Events
Several states that have been warring these last ten years are beginning to suffer from war exhaustion among their political elites; even worse, tax revenues are declining due to the departure of so many taxpaying levies from their usual duties. Agricultural production is seriously down in many states, especially Makedonia, the Seleukid Empire, Areia, the Pala Empire, and the Chola Empire. While none of these states is on its last legs quite yet, its clear that full-scale war is rapidly becoming much more costly than government finances can maintain.
(+varying degrees of economic and political problems in all warring states, especially those mentioned above)
Increasingly bored of peace and running low on cash, some of the Cambrian subkings have been squabbling amongst themselves and with their Rygian neighbors, a few of whom are also spoiling for a fight.
(-1 Cambric Prestige, -1 Dyfnaint Confidence, -1 Rygi Confidence)
The
dryhten of the Rygians, apart from continuing his usual policy of constructing trading posts and being a publicly generous guy, has begun fishing for artistically and literarily talented people to hang out at his court. The initial results havent exactly been diamonds in the rough, but its a decent start for early medieval Britain. In addition, with the Rondings settled in their new home in the west, a hiding has been commissioned to better assess the
dryhtens rightful revenues. In addition to the positive effects from the coinage reform, the still-nascent trading posts, and investments into mining concerns, royal revenues are growing, albeit slowly.
(+1 Rygian Prestige, +10 talents to Rygian income)
A fresh Hamaba revolt broke out in 607, spurred by the adoption of Sophism by the Iberian
drechton and by the incessant labor services theyd been performing. Needless to say, it was violently put down.
(-Hamaba, -1 turn from Iberian infrastructure progress, -450 Iberian infantry, -30 Iberian cavalry)
It is beginning to become rather clear that the aging Deukalion Amyntor is using his position of
polemarchos to exercise undue influence in Panorman politics long beyond the normal term of office. The increasingly unpopular war is also, of course, taking its toll. Rumors abound that the
bouleutai will abolish the
polemarchos position upon the conclusion of the war, closely connected as it is to the somewhat reviled policies of Amyntor himself. To boot, it appears as though the devastations of war on the mainland, combined with general neglect, have taken their toll on the states infrastructure. On a brighter note, the
emporion of Neapolis has been founded in a joint Panormos-Messene effort.
(-1 Merchantry Confidence, -1 Panormos Mob Strength, infrastructure to Improving)
Aorsi territory, too, has been devastated by allied armies, and infrastructure seems to be declining.
(infrastructure to Pathetic)
Amyntas of Aigyptos has been tirelessly patronizing Aigyptian cultural life for some time, and its beginning to pay off.
(+1 Aigyptian Prestige)
Gersem,
negusa nagast of Aksum, in addition to the usual endowments, decided in his infinite wisdom that the highways and byways of Arabia needed to be brought up to standard; to this end, monies were disbursed to the governor of Teiman, who hired the appropriate labor to get that particular show on the road. (Ha.) Oddly, the work doesnt seem to be going as quickly as it ought to be.
(+1 Sabyn Strength, -270 talents from Aksumite infrastructure investment)
At the same time (specifically, in 607), a large rebellion seems to have been kicked off elsewhere in Aksumite Arabia, spearheaded by the Quraysh clans of Makkah. Their leader, the Sophist
shaykh Abu Sufyan, has defeated all attempts to bring him to heel, and has attracted widespread support from other clans to the south. After being defeated by Abu Sufyans ally Imran ibn Abd al Muttalib at the Battle of al Aqiq in 608, the governor of Teiman has avoided battle, awaiting reinforcements.
(-50 talents from Aksumite income, -800 Aksumite infantry, -1,150 Aksumite cavalry)
The Seleukid god-king has ordered the levying of extraordinary taxes to stem the states fiscal meltdown in the face of war. This has been semi-effective in making the empire solvent again, but at the cost of a great deal of support among the people.
(-2 Seleukeian Mob Confidence, -2 Merchantry Confidence)
Some groups of Turkic cavalry, intrigued by the recent success of the Mazsakata raiders in northern Areia, have joined up with the Ashina.
(+1 Ashina Yabghu Strength, +5,000 Mazsakata cavalry)
Seleukid problems with revenue are nothing compared to Areias. Hiding behind an ever-present assassin squad,
basileus Arkadios has issued increasingly desperate calls for some kind of holy war, which have, to be fair, bolstered his regimes support from those who would have supported it already. His orders for a horrifying scorched-earth policy and his arbitrary confiscations of wealth from much of the merchantry, though, have eroded his support elsewhere. In the short term, this has been sort of successful at keeping the state solvent; in the long term, the devastation of productive territory will keep the economy in ruins even if Areia pulls out a victory in the war.
(-2 Army Assembly Confidence, -1 Army Assembly Strength, -1 Merchantry Confidence, -1 Merchantry Strength, +550 talents to Areian treasury)
Many of Yangs
buqu soldiers are angry that they have been raised merely to act as border-guards, and that they have been taken away from their homesteads without being given the chance to recoup their losses by taking part in the plunderfest that is a military campaign.
(-2 Buqu Confidence)
The new Wu bureaucracy is beginning to fill out much better, with some good on-the-job experience under its collective belt. Regrettably, though, the civil war and now the larger conflict are undermining a lot of the recent work.
(+2 Royal Bureaucracy Confidence, +1 Royal Bureaucracy Strength, -1 turn from Wu infrastructure progress)
Nanyue has launched a truly massive tax overhaul program with rather unusually lavish a cynic would call it unnecessarily lavish spending, transforming a money-making enterprise into
well,
not a money-making enterprise.
(+1 Royal Bureaucracy Confidence, +1 Royal Bureaucracy Strength, +200 talents to Nanyue income)
Suiko-
tennō in her great munificence has donated much money to projects improving the agricultural yield of her personal territories. This has paid off somewhat, though what would really increase agricultural production would be increasing the area under cultivation
and people take a lot longer to grow than rice does.
(+15 talents to Yamato income)
Military Events
The Nerwian civil war has come to a surprising
dénouement. As of 606 Ammatas looked to be winning the war, managing to come out victoriously in the siege of Niuwibergiliwerī and attracting some of the Silenga lords to his banner. The next year, though, his Asdinga allies were surprised to encounter a group of Winnili from the east, searching for open land and a safe environment, having been apparently driven out of their original home by the wars of Ariaric the Goth. Ammatas attempted to enlist the aid of these Winnili in fighting against Gibamund, but more and more of them began to filter into Nerwia from the east, distinctly unsettling Ammatas other allies. Still, all seemed well until Samarabrucca fell to the advancing Ammatid armies in 608. The leader of the Winnili, Agelmund, soon fell out with Ammatas over the issues of plunder and lands, culminating in Ammatas foolishly attempting to assassinate Agelmund and his fellow Winnili chiefs at a banquet. Agelmund
et al escaped, and rallied their warriors, who annihilated an army of Nerwian royal retainers and Silenga at Sinwelbwerī in the spring of 610 and proceeded to destroy another Silenga army, led by Ammatas personally, at Fenniburgila a few months later. Ammatas himself fled across the Channel for Rygia, and a few of the Silenga lords tried to get Walhic protection, but by and large Nerwia itself was totally destroyed. What the Winnili will do with their new lands remains to be seen.
Almost as a side note, Windelicia was hit hard by migrations as well, though not just of the Winnili, who mostly went to the north. A large number of Germanic and Slavic peoples, led by the Burgunda warlord Godegisel, fought a major battle (which would be heavily mythologized in later culture) on the Leh Riverin 608, and it has mostly gone downhill from there. While Windelicia has not yet gone the way of Nerwia due to greater internal cohesion,
trohtîn Wittimer is still in dire straits, and has called on Walhia for aid as well.
(+Winnili, +Burgunda, -Nerwia, various nightmarishly complicated stat reshuffling for Rygia, Walhia, and Windelicia)
Operating on the mistaken belief that the Wiolant,
trohtîn of the Bastarna, would be invading the Aorsi in 607, Gerold of the Iberians attacked his northern neighbor in a clear play for Bastarna lands. Unfortunately for the Iberians, Walhia and the Aorsi were most definitely not fighting each other at the moment. On the flip side, that didnt mean that there were Bastarna armies in western Walhia either; Wiolant had thought that the Aorsi and Nerwia needed watching, not the southern border. So it came as a rather big surprise when Iberian royal retainers and levies launched a massive attack aimed at the key fortress of Silakoufstat. A local Bastarna army was raised and scattered, and another was also broken up before the Iberians reached the fortress and managed to storm it before the Walhic royal army assembled. Until 608, most of the remaining fighting was dominated by low-level raiding, but in that year Wiolant ordered a general attack on Silakoufstat, having achieved numerical parity with the withdrawal of troops from the Nerwian frontier. That summer, near Intdiotburg, the Iberian and Walhic armies clashed indecisively. Forced to watch his other frontiers with the sudden rise of the Winnili to the north, Wiolant has reduced activity in the south to raiding, while for their part the Iberians seem too exhausted to push any further.
(+30,000 Walhic levy infantry, +35,000 Iberian levy infantry)
(+2 Iberian Prestige, -1 Walhic Prestige, -Sidona Bastarna (Walhia), -1 Yazyga Strength, +1 Hatta Marcher-lords Confidence, +1 Hatta Marcher-lords Strength, -10 talents from Walhic income, +25 talents to Iberian treasury, -2,300 Walhic infantry, -6,750 Walhic levy infantry, -600 Walhic cavalry, -1,100 Iberian infantry, -5,200 Iberian levy infantry, -400 Iberian cavalry)
The Italian war continues to drag on, nearing fever pitch in these years. While they had failed to enlist new allies into their ranks, the Panormans and Chaonians had a Cunning Plan anyway that would (in theory) win them the war. The first step: a two-pronged major raid on the Aorsi subkings, on the Sannic and Adriatic coasts, respectively. Konon Sikeliotes Panorman expedition to ravage the Sannic coast was launched in early 606 with a limited complement, mistakenly thinking that the Sannic Aorsi had been called up to fight further south and would be away from their homes. His relatively small force was thus badly outnumbered, and in an encounter at Gonya the Panormans were badly mauled by the Sannic chief Sangiban and his horsemen. However, they were able to withdraw, and still managed to do some damage, relying on their greater mobility to avoid Sangibans horsemen. A similar Chaonian expedition was mounted by one Marianos, directed at the territory of the Adriatic Aorsi. They, however, faced little opposition, and were able to despoil the country.
To respond to the latter attack, the Aorsi warlord Barjik was dispatched with ten thousand horse across the Apennines and ran straight into a nearly equal-sized Chaonian army under the command of Philagrios Aitolios which had been heading in the opposite direction. At Tegeate, the Chaonian troops, which lacked sufficient cavalry support, were nearly encircled, and all in all badly handled by the Aorsi. Philagrios pulled back to the south and called on the Megale Hellenic poleis for aid (a call which, earlier, had not been answered), which supplied him with enough light-armed troops to hold back Barjiks attack on the Trinios River. Unexpected reinforcements in the form of an army commanded by the
polemarchos Deukalion Amyntor himself fully shored up the defense. Barjik and his Aorsi pulled back through the pass they had come through.
Which was rather fortunate, as the repeated Aorsi feints and raids (combined with the need to relieve Stoma) had drawn a rather large Panorman army out of Kampania, under the command of Alkibiades Kaudios. This force was both large and unusually (for the Panormans) dangerous, as it incorporated a new unit of
kataphraktoi, armored horse-archer and lancer cavalry that could duel at least semi-effectively with the Aorsi. Outnumbered, Zanvar, in command of the Aorsi horse in Romania, pulled back, and Alkibiades was able to relieve Stoma. His army, however, could not stay for too long in the vicinity of the city, as the region had been denuded of supplies; forced to move in search of food or break up the army, as summer wound down the Panorman force was
forced to move inland, away from the protection of the fleet. It was then that Barjiks Aorsi returned from their semi-successful raid in Pikenon and linked up with Zanvars army. Now badly outnumbering the Panorman troops, the Aorsi assaulted Alkibiades camp at Telegonia in August. The Panormans were badly mauled, though Alkibiades managed to pull much of his army out with the onset of night. He then successfully reached the Kampanian defenses and linked up with Konons returning raiders, restoring the numerical balance. A few weeks later, the Chaonian-Panorman army under the command of Philagrios and Deukalion Amyntor managed to fight Zanvars Aorsi to a standstill at Aikvolia while crossing the Apennines to try to link up with the Kampanian army.
Now, supply considerations intervened once more; Romania itself was virtually empty in terms of food. Even without the siege, mass starvation set in at Stoma because the
chora was to all intents and purposes gone. Neither Panorman nor Aorsi armies could effectively enter Romania, and the result was stalemate for two years. Only in 609 did operations resume, and even these were conducted in a desultory fashion, as both sides seem to have been worn out by the fighting. Panormos especially has suffered rather frightful casualties for minimal gain, but the Aorsi too have gotten relatively little plunder out of the continued fighting, and several chiefs are demanding that Zanvar simply take a nominal tribute and return to plundering easier marks. Ominous mass migrations are believed to be afoot to the east, as well.
(+10,000 Aorsi levy cavalry, +7,500 Chaonian levy infantry)
(+1 Aorsi Prestige, +1 Sannic Aursa Strength, -1 Tyrrenian Aursa Confidence, -1 Tyrrenian Aursa Strength, -1 Adriatic Aursa Confidence, -1 Adriatic Aursa Strength, +1 Megale Hellenic Poleis Confidence (Chaonia), -1 Megale Hellenic Poleis Strength (Chaonia), -75 talents from Aorsi income, -105 talents from Chaonian income, +20 talents to Aorsi treasury, +5 talents to Panorman treasury, +10 talents to Chaonian treasury, -2,100 Aorsi cavalry, -4,400 Aorsi levy cavalry, -6,200 Panorman infantry, -1,300 Panorman levy infantry, -900 Panorman cavalry, -2,400 Chaonian infantry, -800 Chaonian levy infantry, -2,100 Chaonian cavalry)