AFSNES I – The New Dawn

{All our leaders are dying! }

Into the Wastes

Magnus Halvorsson leaned against the prow of his longboat, Jörmungand. His once-bright blond hair was now well-greyed, his face weathered by age, the elements, and years of conflict.

"Bjorn."

"Yes?" responded a soldier, standing quietly behind him.

"We're approaching the ruins of Akureyri. Spread the word to the rest of the flotilla. A quick drop-off, and then a quick exit."

"Yes sir."

It was not long before the Jörmungand's hull scraped the gravelly shoreline. Oars were released, men and women soon began unloading supplies and other boxes."

Magnus Halvorsson stood with his feet in the water. The cold bathed his feet, but his mind was elsewhere. Beyond the larger knorrs moored in the distance.

For the former Jarl's mind was never at ease. Few could imagine the effort it took him to maintain hold on his sanity, knowing that he was responsible for the brutal death of almost an entire kingdom. Knowing that he, the one responsible, had been one of the sole survivors. But Halvorsson would not give into the easy path, the freedom of madness. His honour had been taken. It needed to be regained.

"Sir?" asked Bjorn.

Magnus lifted out of his trancelike state.

"Yes?"

"All you have ordered is done. We should leave now."

"Aye- we should. However, I am not going to. Bjorn Olafsson, I am leaving you in command of the Sjo Krigere. I must go with the caravan, to speak with Helstig and his warriors."

"But sir- we need you-"

"One single man does not make a fleet, Bjorn. I have sailed with you since you were but a young boy. You, more than anyone else in my crew, have shown your mettle at sea and in battle. You'll be fine. You do recall the meeting time, correct?"

"Couldn't forget."

"Excellent. Now, I must be off, before the caravan leaves me behind. Gods be with you, Bjorn."

"May they watch over you the same."

My leader will die the next update, if das doesn't kill him in this update.

My leader is only old.

And thus does a new generation perpetuate the wrongs of their forefathers...

Update IX - Years 741-745 AD

Foreword:

Although the great, defining wars of the century’s beginning were now over, the world had never ceased living and changing. Myriad smaller wars – leftovers from the earlier strife, as well as new conflicts entirely (not to mention the newer conflicts on the old grounds) – continued to burn all over the globe; at the same time, more peaceful change occurred as well, with the emergence of new states, the spread of the great religions and the intellectual revivals occuring in several parts of the world.

Domestic Events:

The Sun-Emperor Intiamru passed away and was succeeded by his older son Huayna. While Huayna became the Sun-Emperor, his younger brother Chaqauta, head of the Sun-Cult, secured for himself the position of the “Divined Priest”, formalising his ever more powerful position in Antimaqta. Indeed, as the political events of the first few years of Huayna’s reign had shown, Chaqauta may well be the true ruler of the country; obviously, this inordinary situation and the confusion associated with it (as well as with the death of Intiamru and the new reforms of education and the military) undermined the empire’s stability somewhat (-1 Antimaqtan Confidence).

Amsur Raet Tarekid died and was succeeded by the war hero Prince Ithar (+1 Tarekid Confidence). A new alchemical society appeared under the patronage of the new Amsur, reviving the Iberian alchemical tradition. This and other measures reinvigorated the intellectual life in Malaka again (+1 Education).

Although the Hibernians did manage to explore the new western island some more (discovering that it was, indeed, quite huge, although it is far from being circumnavigated), the outpost there had to be abandoned due to its utter untenability and the death of most of the already-sparse settlers during a particularily harsh winter.

Old, broken and unpopular, King-Regent Egil retired from governance as the Viklander King Harald came of age. While definitely more popular amongst the Viklanders (+1 Viklander Confidence), Harald was quick to run into complications with his Nord-Frisian advisors. Finally, at the behest of his Viklander courtiers (as well as out of exasperation with the desperate Nord-Frisian intrigues to maintain control) the young king ordered a purge, arresting, torturing and imprisoning the leading representatives of the Nord-Frisian nobility at the court. Their relatives launched a rebellion in the north, but the Viklander nobles were only too happy to rally against the arrogant and long-hated outsiders now (see military events) (-1 Viklander Bureaucracy, -4 Viklander regiments, +1 Viklander Confidence).

In a temporary conclusion to Liguria’s consolidation of its Italian conquests, the state was transformed into Holy Ligurian Empire of Italy, where a more efficient additional institution of central government (the Holy Senate of the Priest-Emperor’s advisors, rather than the great feudals) was adapted, and greater emphasis was placed on learning after to the integration of several highly-cultured Ashaist cities.

The assorted Numidian city-states cooperated, under the king’s command, in the colonisation of Corsica. The Corsican community leaders were… unhappy with the sudden influx of oft-unsavoury elements of the Numidian society, but dared not do anything about it.

Skupi was integrated into Singidun without much trouble, although the religious disagreements and other tensions may flare up again if given time. The southern nobility and (somewhat surprisingly) the priesthood had been quite cooperative thus far, but undeniably far from all of them were happy with their new northern overlords.

King-Odrys Jeno III, meanwhile, decided to die in battle rather than of old age: he abdicated in favour of his son [1] and went to war (see military events).

With the death of Emperor Basil Romanos, power in the Hellenic Empire temporily went to the Queen-Regent and the Lord-Archon. This did not deter them from initiating a new military venture, though (see military events).

The Mahapurans made a major effort to establish a series of new trade outposts further south on the African coast. They also explored a bit further south, and established some limited trade contact with the Khoisan tribes.

International Events:

In a surprisingly untroubled expedition, the Antimaqtans formally reestablished full diplomatic contact with the Zapotec city-states.

In the wake of the rise of the Samarkandi Empire and the Kyrgys Confederacy, the quiet “soul war” that was being waged by Agade Dag and Buddhist missionaries in the Central Asian region escalated considerably. Akkadian, Tibetan and Kyrgys missionaries went out of their way to secure the remaining non-aligned tribes for their faith (the Buddhists doing somewhat better due to proximity as well as because of the growing antagonism between the northern tribes and the aggressive Agade Dag frontier empires; the Agade Dag fared rather better in the Pontic Steppe, though), while also making assorted alliances with the local tribes and inciting them to attack their enemies.

At the same time, the Tibetans established diplomatic contact with their Kyrgys pupils, allowing for some limited cooperation and an influx of Tibetan knowledge to the Confederacy (+1 Kyrgys Education).

The Tibetans sold Vietnam to the Sunda Ascendancy.

Having more or less established themselves at Izu Oshima, the Jomonese began to venture further east, establishing a new trade outpost on a neighbouring island.

Military Events:

The Chalchitlani warriors grinded on northwards, eliminating entire tribes and making slow, but steady progress despite the stiffening resistance. It is not clear if the tribal confederacy would be able to make any good out of all of this fighting now that High Chief Chanaka had so suspiciously expired, though (-1 Confidence)…

(-1 Chalchitlani regiment, -1 Chalchitlani levy regiment)

Annoyed at their persistence and at the same time mad with power [2], Vucub I launched two campaigns aimed at crippling his Zapotec opposition once and for all. On the sea, a Huijazooan fleet, though reinforced by other Zapotec city-states, was beaten decisively near Huijazoo itself. A few diversive raids aside, the anticipated attack on Huijazoo itself failed to materialise just yet, as the Dainzu-Cobans divided their navy into two parts: one expedition methodically seized the hostile colonies on the Eastern Isles (assisted by a belated defection of a former Dainzu-Coban colony to Vucub’s side (3 Zapotec ships to Dainzu-Coba) and by the local colonial militias), while the other raided the eastern coastlands, keeping the local rulers from sending any more troops to the main front and in some cases causing them to recall what troops they did send (as the Dainzu-Cobans managed to briefly seize one of the southeastern city-states; they were pushed out later, and failed to make much permanent gains apart from a few fortified camps in the coastlands). While all this went on, the main elite Dainzu-Coban forces routed the royal armies at the capital city of Dainzu, and marched to attack Quetzaltula. The armies gathered there defended fiercely, but poor coordination resulted in a series of fatal mistakes that allowed the Dainzu-Cobans to first encircle and then (in a relentless flurry of multi-pronged assaults) capture the great city. Naturally, the attacker’s casualties were high, but the aforementioned mistakes allowed a large portion of the defenders to be outmaneuvered and slaughtered (or enslaved when they surrendered), with the rest retreating eastwards in a highly disorganised fashion. After regrouping, Dainzu-Cobans occupied the rest of the royal realm (barely failing to seize the king himself), and advanced eastwards in force creating a distinct overland threat to Huijazoo and (apparently) intimidating Zaachila into abandoning the war effort. However, this concentration of troops came at a price, as several of the “conquered” Mayan city-states rebelled again and rejoined the struggle against Vucub, rallying around the recovering city-state Izapa. In the meantime, Zapotec forces regrouped in the central and southern hinterlands, making further advance untenable. Still, the people grew war-weary, and Vucub, at the moment, was in the most advantageous of negotiating positions.

(-18 Dainzu-Coban regiments, -2 Dainzu-Coban levy regiments, -19 Dainzu-Coban ships, -33 Zapotec regiments, -11 Zapotec levy regiments, -32 Zapotec ships)

The Antimaqtans attempted to subjugate the jungle inlands to the east. While some progress against the local Chorrera tribes had been made, the nigh-impenetrable terrain, diseases and other complications resulted in some horrific attrition, limiting actual gains.

(-2 Antimaqtan Allillantaqmi regiments)

While still little more than a pest, leftover Eldslander (and other Scandic) warbands on the land (Eldsland/Ichonnacht, to be specific) and the sea continued to cause trouble for Hibernians, growing more daring and seemingly more numerous by the year. The tendency was an troubling one for High King Adhaimh mac Lairge’s project.

Several minor tribal and feudal rebellions in Caerixian Gaul were put down with minimal difficulties; still, local dissent with the increasingly heavy-handed Caerixian rule grew visibly.

(-1 Caerixian regiment)

In spite of the valiant efforts and amazing victories scored by the Teutons over the past few decades of war, it all turned out to be ultimately not enough. As war went on, the Teutonic Empire grew increasingly war-weary; central authorities, busy with the prosecution of the war, gradually lost control, and the state’s cohesion decayed. The economy was likewise hurt by constant fighting, especially as the Ashaists grew better and better at their raids, attacking overland and from the seas to exhaust their enemy. And the enemy was indeed exhausted, as casualties grew and ground was lost. It was all going according to Amsur Raet’s plan.

As Amsur Raet died, however, his impetuous heir Amsur Ithar decided to speed things up. Personally taking charge of his realm’s finest soldiers, he struck north, seeking to cut off Gristain (the impenetrable capital-citadel of the Teutons) from the rest of the country. Obviously, the Teutons panicked upon learning of this movement and sent their main army to halt it. In the Battle of Hermenia (a village to the northeast from Gristain), the Teutons, who took up advantageous positions and had superior numbers, were able to halt Ithar’s advance, though not to repulse him as the campaign devolved into skirmishing and siege warfare. While all this went on, however, Ithar’s other forces and allies made their moves, capitalising on the Teutonic concentration of forces in the southwestern theatre. Burgundian and Tarekid forces advanced through the southeast, hampered only by the Teutonic fortresses in the Tagus Valley that were taken one by one. The Teutons did have some armed forces that weren’t tied down near Gristain, and they wisely decided to form another army out of them and some newly-levied troops in the west (as opposed to letting the attackers defeat the small detachments in detial). This force managed to defeat a large detachment of the attackers at Pallanz [3], but during the subsequent campaigns a third – and decisive - Ashaist thrust occurred. As the Teutons had had to withdraw most of the forces besieging Vigo to defend themselves from other attacks, the Numidians there sallied out and resumed offensive operations in the northwest. Another Numidian army, formed from raiders who had by then secured a considerable northern strip of land (terrorising the locals into submission), swiftly linked up with the one in Vigo and moved south. Trapped between two Ashaist armies, the Teutons protecting Gristain decided to defend their outlying fortifications to the last; in this way they did manage to incur considerable losses, but in the end, upon Semburn III’s death in battle, they faltered and were overwhelmed, retreating into the city. Now put under a full siege, it was eventually taken with the help of traitors within. The defenders were massacred and the city itself thoroughly ransacked. With this the Teutonic Empire began to promptly disintegrate. The remaining army in the centre – led by Prince Semburn/Dominos Semburn IV – continued to defy the invaders for some time more, but the Dominos himself was now little more than a warlord, with very limited amounts of authority in what lands he still controlled. Lesser warlords and bandits lingered on in the north. The Tarekids were unable to assume command over the entire peninsula due to those groups, but the fact remained that the Teutonic Empire was, for all the purposes, gone.

(-Teutonic Empire (as deliberated in last sentence), -7 Tarekid regiments, -11 Tarekid levy regiments, -6 Tarekid Ankhed regiments, -6 Tarekid ships, -5 Numidian regiments, -3 Numidian Mir Amenar regiments, -3 Numidian sihps, -2 Burgundian regiments, -3 Burgundian levy regiments)

Outraged by the brutal purge of their relatives at the Viksborg court, the Nord-Frisian feudals rose up against Vikland in their rump realm. Despite failing to persuade their old king Egil to lead them, they managed to form a feudal league and get their act together for several initial campaigns that seemed to put the Viklanders on the defensive. However, as the southern jarls raised their own feudal levies and Harald’s key advisor Svein Hund assumed supreme command over a grand army, the tides swiftly turned; threatened by a far more numerous force, the Nord-Frisians fell back towards the key city of Lillehammer, where they hoped to hold out. Hund, however, managed to defeat a significant portion of the Nord-Frisian army outside of the city, and initiated a skillful siege that was concluded with the ultimate fall of the city and the capitulation of the rebel leaders (who were granted amnesty and general leniency) in 743. Die-hard Nord-Frisian resistors fought on in the northern highlands, operating from several powerful frontier castles, but Hund seemed in no hurry to end them once and for all.

(-2 Viklander regiments, -5 Viklander levy regiments)

In spite of the remaining internal problems plagueing Thuringia in the wake of its many wars and great expansion earlier in the century, King Radulf I elected to initiate a war of conquest against his northeastern neighbour Gothland. Having previously secured the support of Langobardia with lots and lots of promises and bribes, the Thuringian initiated the war by inciting and officially supporting a reactionary, anti-Tigranist, pro-Thuringian rebellion led by the far western Gothic nobles (+5 Thuringian levy regiments). The westlands soon fell to a localised civil war, as the loyal nobles rallied to King Erich’s banner (+3 Gothic levy regiments), and, with the help of the royal army, actually managed to decisively rout the rebel forces at Meppen, proceeding to slowly retake control over much of the rebel area. This was only made possible by the fact that the Thuringians sent little actual assistance to the rebels, instead invading southern Gothland in concord with the Langobards. In this hilly terrain, they encountered fierce resistance, as the local feudals (as in most other areas) were likewise quick to support Erich over the rebels and the invaders (+17 Gothic levy regiments). While an early Thuringian victory at Giessen practically crippled the Gothic potential for serious conventional operations in the area, the constant raids and occasional inconveniently-placed fortresses still did delay the Thuringian Crown Prince in his progress. Still, in 744, with Langobard help, the invaders scored another great victory over an army led by King Erich II himself on the Weser River. The new Gothic king, Emrach I, desperately gathered all remaining reliable forces at the capital city of Erichsburg. Despite waging a skillful defensive campaign of skirmishes and raids, the Goths ultimately had to divide their forces, some retreating northwards to link up with the reserves there and the others holing themselves down in the capital, which was then duly besieged by the Thuringians. In the meantime, the Langobards waged a secondary campaign to the southeast, reaching the Elbe and forcing the Goths to abandon some of their colonial gains in the Slavic lands. The Langobards soon had to fight the Slavic tribes as well as the lingering Gothic forces in the north. Still, despite the campaigns moving slower than Radulf might have expected, the Goths were thoroughly trounced and, as far as military resistance was concerned, at the breaking point. The Battle for Erichsburg may well be the last of this war when it happens.

(-6 Thuringian regiments, -5 Thuringian Royal Archer regiments, -13 Thuringian levy regiments, -14 Gothic regiments, -4 Gothic Konigritter regiments, -12 Gothic levy regiments, -12 Langobardian regiments, -6 Langobardia levy regiments)

An attempted Numidian incursion into central Italy backfired terribly, as the entire Ligurian fleet was patrolling that coastal area and was able to drive off the Numidian expeditionary fleet at the first sign of aggression, sinking or taking several ships (3 Numidian ships to Liguria) (albeit most of the fleet got away with lesser degrees of damage) and forcing the Numidians to scrap their plans for overland operations.

(-4 Ligurian ships, -2 Numidian regiments, -6 Numidian ships)

Farther south was far worse, though; there, the religious wars that occurred earlier in the century reignited again after less than a decade since the last fighting died down in Arabia. Unhappy with the somewhat inconclusive ending of the previous war – and emboldened by the succesful acquisition of Karung – the new leaders of the Hellenic Empire decided to attack His Eminence’s fiefs in Arecomos and southern Italy. Their Agade Dag allies were only too happy to join, Odrysans, Akkadians and Najjarians all sending troops and ships for the campaign. In an opening move, a Hellenic force easily seized Numidian Malta and turned it into a base for raiding operations against Arecome and northeastern Numidia. A Hellenic army from Taras then invaded His Eminence’s Italian dependencies; however, the already-substantial Arecoman garrison there was joined by the fanatical Ashaist Latin feudals and their often quite professional armies (this being the main soruce of employment for many old Capuan soldiers, including members of the elite Royal Legion) (+15 Arecoman levy regiments). Under the leadership of the old Capuan general Tarquinius Latinus, this amalgam was turned into a skilled fighting force that embarrassingly enough not only routed the Tarantine Army in several battles, but even managed to overwhelm most of the Hellenic Italian colony, eventually besieging Taras itself.

The main action, however, occurred on and near the island of Arecome. The main Agade Dag fleet moved in force from the east, eventually clashing with the Ashaist navy in the Battle of Camarina (named after the Arecoman fortress on the coast, near enough to the actual site of battle in the sea), one of the biggest naval battles of the century. Despite having faced each other in several skirmishes earlier, both sides were able to surprise each other quite painfully in this full battle. The Agade Dag main fleet was surprised by the initial numerical superiority of their enemy, as the unified Arecoman fleet was also joined by the Tarekid and Numidian fleets that were waiting at Arecomos. Thankfully, a Hellenic fleet moving from the south arrived just in time to even out the numbers, but by then the Ashaists had employed Arganthine Fire in mass, severely upsetting their enemy’s stratagem and causing horrendous casualties before the Agade Dag forces could regroup. Ultimately, skillful maneuvering did allow the attackers to regain some kind of an advantage, and the troops onboard the ships were able to seize a fair amount of enemy vessels (12 assorted Ashaist ships to Hellenic Empire). The Ashaists were also hampered by poor coordination, and the Numidian ships were already in bad condition. Ultimately, upon being separated from the main body of the Arecoman fleet by the Catadromii and the Hellenic marines the Tarekids and the Numidians executed a fighting retreat, covering it with the remaining Arganthine fire. The Arecoman fleet suffered a very severe mauling, though its elements were likewise allowed to regroup further west. Although the Ashaist fleets were far from out of the game – they continued to harass the Agade Dag armada every now and then, they eliminated a would-be raid force at Ulasis and they fought off all attempts to seize the western Arecoman port of Marsala from which they now operated – the Agade Dag were now free to go ahead with their amphibious operations at Arecomos itself. Despite the casualties amongst the troops during the sea battle, the attackers were able to beat the Arecoman army in the field and then to lay siege to Arecomos. In the meantime, the Odrysans moved out with the specific intentions of terrorizing the countryside into submission, crushing the assorted local levies (+10 Arecoman levy regiemtns) and detachments. While Jene III died during a failed overland assault on Marsala, the rest of the island between Arecomos and Marsala was very much under control by 745. Still, the failure of the would-be decisive assault on Arecomos (which, to be fair, was probably one of the most fortified cities in the world at the time) and the rapidly-rebounding Ashaist naval fortunes with the arrival of Tarekid reinforcements (which made the blockade of Arecomos extremely difficult) were an ill omen for the Hellenes and their friends.

(-20 Tarekid ships, -7 Odrysan regiments, -13 Odrysan ships, -9 Hellenic regiments, -4 Hellenic levy regiments, -2 Hellenic ships, -21 Hellenic Catadromii, -15 Numidian ships, -6 Akkadian regiments, -12 Akkadian ships, -13 Arecoman regiments, -13 Arecoman levy regiments, -41 Arecoman ships, -3 Najjarian regiments, -8 Najjarian ships)

Despite the fierce resistance by the local Finno-Ugoric and Baltic tribes, the new Danish eastern feudals continued to slowly make gains to the southeast from their coastal holdings.

(-2 Danish levy regiments)

Alarmed by the rise of the Kyrgys Confederacy – and generally eager to expand due to population pressure and bloodthirst – the Imperial Kipchaks struck north, fighting the local Buddhist (and sometimes Agade Dag) tribes, while also subjugating the burgeoning riverine trade cities. The Bulgary Coast trade cities weren’t spared neither, Akhtarsk and (after a lengthy siege) Azaq being forced to recognise Kagan Dagbeg’s ultimate superiority.

(-8 Kipchak regiments)

The cycle of warfare in Central Asia would not end, as the conflict steadily escalated. The Kyrgys – having united to counter the Samarkandi attacks in the first place – decided to seize the initiative, launching deep raids into the enemy territory and inciting revolts. Disciplinned and dedicated, the elite Kyrgys horsemen were able to not only disrupt the shaky Samarkandi control over their northernmost province (subsequently incorporating a fair amount of the local tribes (+5 Kyrgys levy regiments)), but also routed a cumbersome Samarkandi punitive expedition at Taymak. After dealing with the fallout (that is, a new series of tribal revolts inspired by this defeat), the Samarkandians mounted a bigger expedition and were joined by a horde of the Akkadian Turk Cavalry. This time the Kyrgys were defeated quite badly in several skirmishes despite raising numerous levies; still, the subsequent harassment campaign hurt the poorly-supplied Agade Dag forces badly and delayed their progress considerably. It was not enough to prevent the eventual fall of Arqalyk, though (-1 Kyrgys Bureaucracy), forcing the Kyrgys leadership and forces to fall back and regroup.

(-3 Akkadian Turk Cavalry regiments, -3 Kyrgys regiments, -12 Kyrgys levy regiments, -12 Samarkandi regiments)

At the incitement of Samarkand (and possibly Enlilba), several Agade Dag Turkic tribes and warbands in the eastern parts of Central Asia began to raid the trade routes in the area, somewhat hampering the Kyrgys efforts at maximising their own commercial output. Needless to say, that greatly angered the more trade-minded of the local tribes, Buddhist and Agade Dag alike, leading to an intensification of tribal warfare in the area.

Despite the awkward Sitivasan policy of rushed refeudalisation of the Zubhrabhanu Confederacy lands by selling lands to the urban merchants causing major countryside rebellions, and although the Prasannan war effort was grounded to a halt by indecision and apparent confusion in the highest echelons of power, war against the Zubhrabhanu largely continued apace and ended predictably enough. While the High King’s fleet ensured that the Zubhrabhanu naval forces stayed scattered (seizing or sinking a few ships and making a few more go to Dantapura where they eventually surrendered as well (8 Zubhrabhanu ships to Sitivasas)), the army methodically rooted out resistance and sieged Dantapura. The siege itself took unduly long, but the Sitivasans had secured the rest of the lands north of the Godavari and ensured a relatively efficient naval blockade, and ultimately were able to half-starve and half-beat (with relentless and severely taxing assaults) the city into surrendering. The coastal regions were subsequently conquered as well, although some leftover Zubhrabhanu communities and warbands lingered on in the Ghats, while the remnants of the fleet took up an ideologicalised form of piracy.

(-Zubhrabhanu Confederacy as a cohesive polity, -16 Sitivasan regiments, -4 Sitivasan ships, -1 Prasannan regiment)

The ongoing Tibetan efforts at stomping out Chinese culture were faced with more major uprisings over the years; still, the poorly-organised peasant rebels ultimately stood no chance against the sizeable and elite Tibetan garrison army.

(-2 Tibetan regiments, -1 Tibetan Tenzin regiment)

Heiress Akira Miamoto, asserting more and more power in Jomon, initiated a new period in Jomonese history. After feeding the Korean king Paekjeok’s paranoia with suspicious treaty proposals that he perhaps recklessly rejected, she – and a Jomonophilic faction at the court – demanded his abdication in the favour of a compliant ruler. When that did not work out, a Jomonese expeditionary force set out for the Korean capital of Asan in 742. After wiping out the Korean fleet, the Jomonese landed an elite army in the Gulf of Asan and assaulted the capital with the help of some traitors there (3 Korean regiments to Jomon). The assault was a limited success, as Paekjeok and his loyalists managed to escape north and resistance lingered on in the south as well. The latter problem was solved first, as more Jomonese forces were sent in and the coastal regions were occupied; ultimately, the local supreme commander, General Seogu, defected to the Jomonese, ending the resistance. Paekjeok to the north turned out to be a bigger pest, waging a bitter guerrilla campaign even after most of the people turned against him and his. This and other factors prevented an early integration of Korea; still, inevitably, in 744 Paekjeok was slain in a confused skirmish, and by then northern Korea was mostly occupied by the Jomonese as well.

(-Korea as an independent nation, -6 Jomonese regiments, -2 Jomonese ships)

Employing a combination of diplomacy (with both the city-states and the more cooperative of the local warlords) and mercenary force, the Sundanese gradually established control over Vietnam (having purchased it from the Tibetan Emperor), though there still were some leftover warbands closer to the interior.

(-4 Sundanese regiments)

For the apparent lack of anything better to do, the Ayutamradvipans seized the yet-unclaimed portions of Kalimantan’s coastland.

Random Events:

An agricultural boom has occurred in Langobardia thanks to new techniques and technologies, as well as capable policies (+1 Base Economy, +1 Living Standards).

Exceptionally powerful tsunamis take their toll on the Jomonese naval infrastructure and ships (-5 Jomonese ships, -1 Jomonese Infrastructure, -1 Trade).

Special Bonuses:

Least Expected Action: Jomon (+military bonuses).

Best Story: Kyrgys (+1 Confidence).

NPC Diplo:



OOC:

[1] Whose name is somewhat unclear…

[2] (tm)

[3] Pallanz=OTL Palencia.

Flavius Aetius, you cannot start a new project on the same turn as you finish your old one.

Chandrasekhar, don’t worry about the verbose orders, it happens to the best of us.

flyingchicken, that thing you spoke of doesn’t exist in this world as of yet. Not sure, but I thought I explained that to you already?

Niklas, your religious influence is predominant in the central and southern parts of Central Asia; your efforts in the more distant regions were, however, offset by the equally-vigorous missionary efforts on silver2039’s behalf.

The next deadline will have to be on the 4th of December; this is both to evade a particularily busy week and to allow me to straighthen out my (increasingly messed up) updating schedule. A shame that this NES suffers from so many of my time problems, but these things happen.

So, MjM, you might want to reconsider that.

nice update!!!

in stats though i thought my project went also towards turning my capital into a cultural center?

Good update, and now I'm in for the beatings.

orders sent. das please PM me if there's anything wrong or that you don't understand.

Nice update das. Ooo and an award too!

Very nice update, das!

Only one minor nitpick is that the siege of Arecomos (and occupation of most of the island) isn't shown on the map.

Birdjaguar said:

Nice update das. Ooo and an award too!

Click to expand...

Nice timing. Had you waited one more turn you would have found Ayutamradvipan troops in Korea already.

{Jeno III's son shall carry on his name as well as his throne. I choose the immensely creative name Jeno IV for Odrysa's leader. Also, I'm glad you understand my verboseness issues, das. }

The ongoing Tibetan efforts at stomping out Chinese culture were faced with more major uprisings over the years; still, the poorly-organised peasant rebels ultimately stood no chance against the sizeable and elite Tibetan garrison army.

Click to expand...

OOC:

Great update das!

Daniel Khan said:

Nice timing. Had you waited one more turn you would have found Ayutamradvipan troops in Korea already.

Click to expand...

And then I would have backed off and let you have it. I was surprised it had been "neglected" for so long, and figured that no one wanted it.

Only one minor nitpick is that the siege of Arecomos (and occupation of most of the island) isn't shown on the map.

Click to expand...

And this time I double-checked it, too...

in stats though i thought my project went also towards turning my capital into a cultural center?

Click to expand...

Ah, you meant that literally? Then again given the nature of your project it should become a culture centre by definition anyway.

OOC:

Click to expand...

Now that I think of it, life in the Chinese parts of the Tibetan empire is rather repetitive. The government introduces some more blatantly, show-offishly evil measures, the people panic and rebel, the garrison troops that never left since the invasion go out and crush them, rinse and repeat.

*sigh*

I knew this was going to happen...


Queries and such coming soon Das

And Lots of people will be hearing from me

TO: Akkad, Samarkand
FROM: Kyrgys Confederacy
Turkish brothers and distant Akkadians, the math of this situation is quite simple: you will leave the area and allow the northern Turks to practice their religion in peace. If you do not, more of your men will die in vain.

You do not have the resources to prosecute a campaign far enough to stop us, and all we must do is wait, move back and forth, and slaughter your soldiers at our leisure. You have taken one city. One. On the balance of things our casualties might equal yours... but we remind you that most of our casualties are relatively untrained men seeking to preserve their freedom. Yours are the cream of your respective militaries. And there are many, many free men in the steppes...

Time and space are on our side. So, you have a choice. You may continue to harass us, and we will bleed your forces dry for as many years as is required to secure our freedom, and bring financial ruin upon Akkad's client state of Samarkand in an ever-widening war in which the Tibetan Empire will no doubt have an interest, or you may withdraw from all Buddhist areas and we will not trouble you again.

The choice is yours, brothers and cousins: the ulcer which will kill you, or the good and bountiful life; leave or die.

das said:

Niklas, your religious influence is predominant in the central and southern parts of Central Asia; your efforts in the more distant regions were, however, offset by the equally-vigorous missionary efforts on silver2039’s behalf.

Click to expand...

OOC: And the fact that it's literally about 2000km away, and Agade Dag is a centralized religion controlled from OTL Iraq? There's something under the colonies section about the "Tyranny of Distance"... Which is, by the way, another reason you cannot possibly win the war, Niklas, unless you want to restructure your entire religion just to beat me, and spend massive amounts to finance sending your army damn near halfway across the known world, given 40% of Samarkand's military just died.

Nice update das as always. Sorry my orders ended up rushed.

TO: Prasannan Empire
FROM: Sitivasas High Kingdom

The war is over. You are free to occupy the lands up to the river if you wish to take the burden of calming it. The lands we currently occupy will remain in Sitivasan hands.

To: Odrysa
From: Singidun

Both of our nations seem to be paranoid of being attacked by each other, so we offer you a non-agression pact. Will you accept?

I declare myself the Turgulid Empire.