Being as backwards and scrapped for cash as it is, the Ethiopian Empire went to the Arabs for a deal. It was very lopsided but it was necessary to bolster their power against the future European menace. The addition of currency into Ethiopia caused trade to increase in massive levels. Buying and selling was now much easier with a monetary system in place.
There were tales of civilizations to the North. No Ethiopian had ever met a European but better late than never. A division of mobile horse archers were tasked with meeting and creating diplomatic talks with these new nations. Ethiopia was scared of what they might find. Would it filled with Arabian-esque nations that are more advanced than us? No one knew, and only time would tell.
The Arabs being the only people that Ethiopia knew of, it seemed reasonable that there would be intermarriages. This was a splendid occasion. Zara saw no reason, though, to spend money on a lavish wedding gift as the Arabs and Ethiopians were already great allies.
There were problems... The city of Jerusalem had fallen to the Arabs, but now something peculiar happened. It seemed as though nomadic barbarians stormed the city of Al-Quds and held it under their rule. The land was clearly dangerous and not safe in the slightest way possible. The horse archers only thought one thing "What's a qud?".
It seemed as though the mere presence of Ethiopia crumbled nations. Not long after meeting the Indians, they collapsed in a violent overthrow of the government. The nation fell into anarchy soon after and the Indian civilization was no more.
Finally Gondar was protected. The archers had been trained and were now ready to serve their king proudly. The horse archers were no longer the sole defenders of the city and could breathe a sigh of relief.
Somehow the horse archers snuck past Al-Quds. It appeared the highly trained horsemen defending their city did not want to take a risk and leave their treasured city undefended.
Finally the horse archers were commanded by the general to ride up to Meroe in the North. There were fears of a new wave of barbarians about to invade and the citizens of Meroe had every right to be scared. The horse archers promised to defend their people and defend them well.
Not long after their induction into the Ethiopian army, the defenders of Gondar got their first taste of battle when some rogue impis mounted a raid on the city. They were cut down by Ethiopian arrows piercing through the sky, then barbarian hearts. There was a similar raid to the South in Yeha. The workers were forced to move their building projects to the South of the urban center rather than the hostile North.
The invaders of Gondar were captured by the new recruits. It felt kind of weird at first but then they remembered the atrocities that the impis have put on Ethiopia. They remembered the impis' constant hatred for civilization. Then the guilt of enslaving them drifted away. They were useless now though so they were held as prisoners in the city.
Finally, after a long and hard travel, the Ethiopian cavalry made it up to Meroe. They were met with huge celebrations and cheering from the citizens. The city was now impenetrable.
Finally the travel to the unknown continent had paid off. Not meeting anyone in the ruins that was the Baltics and Turkey, the Ethiopians continued venturing West. Finally they met a new people. They called themselves, Holy Romans. Interesting as they were nothing like the Romans. Regardless, they very friendly because of Orthodox's ability to look past religious differences. The two nations opened their borders but unfortunately would not trade technologies at a fair price. Nonetheless Ethiopian horsemen used Holy Roman roads to venture further North.
Then some not-so-nice Spanish were met. Due to Catholicism's hatred of Islam, the two nations did not at all like each other. Zara was willing to trade but Isabella would not even open her borders, what a shame.
Back home things went from bad to worse. In Meroe a massive barbarian invasion occurred. Thousands of Workers near Hobya. There were massive numbers of savages around Meroe too. Unfortunately the swordsmen were in no way able to make it to the impis. It seemed hopeless. It seemed this would be a day that would go down as one of the darkest in Ethiopian history. The day Ethiopia bled.