Preview Thread: PerfNES I: [Insert Title Here]

We are such jerks.

 

Hey, I have the right to pull something like this - since, you know, you guys made me do the same thing.

 

1.Hubaekje
2. Longphort League
3. ???

Credentials: History Graduate and Undergraduate student, Irish Studies Minor. Access to the libraries at USAHEC.

 

i don;t like these rnadom people here ot stays in ot.

 

Drunk on a Tuesday, Rutgers? Classy.

Welcome, Park.

 

No just unable to type it seems.

 

Can I get faction break down for not-portugal to.

 

I hate you all Dachs gets his first because he knows the pain of doing faction descriptions. I'll try and get through the rest when I'm not so tired and have less homework.

Admiralty of the Mediterranean Sea: The government department responsible for maintaining the Mediterranean fleet and marines, building and leasing the convoy galleys, and running the convoys. Is made up mostly of old guard Normans, and is generally against the incipient turn to the south, both because they'll lose money to the Red Sea upstarts, and on grounds of military strategy. Tends to be fairly pro-Sicily, as well; would be really happy if you two teamed up and went to stomp on Rome again.
Admiralty of the Red Sea: The relatively new government department that runs the Red Sea fleet and tries to coordinate merchant activity in the Red Sea. There's no real convoy system in the Red Sea, so it's less influential in that sense. Tends to have more Arabs and up-and-comers than the Med. Is mostly concerned, at the moment, with suppressing piracy, but hasn't had that much success; wants the resources to do the job properly, and there are fairly loud, if not very high-ranking, elements that want to fight Zabid.
Delta Merchants: The entrenched merchant families in the Nile Delta. Somewhat anti-Sicily, thanks to commercial competition, and tends to support keeping a strong enough fleet in the Med to keep Rome from revoking commercial privileges. A few of them have fairly strong interests in Makuria, too, and support the state keeping Makuria stable.
Coptic Church: Is self-explanatory, I expect. They've never been particularly well-adjusted to Norman rule. Generally want more of a say in government, less of a say for the Muslims, and less oversight of the church. There's increasing friction with the government because of the new assertiveness of the Ethiopian church; the Pope's somewhat worried that the Ethiopians will break off if he's not careful.
Upper Egyptian Barons: They're barons. They live in Upper Egypt. They're the big landowners and generally pretty much run the government of the far south. The center tends to let them carry on a fairly independent existence, so long as they pay taxes and keep the Makurian border quiet. A lot of them have significant interests in Makuria, and provide some of the Norman backing to the Makurian throne.

Banu Ghaniya: The ruling clan. Pretty much backs anything that reinforces their position, and dislikes anything that would give power to the Zuray.
Banu Zuray: A clan based in Tripolitania. Was a major competitor of the Ghaniya for dominance in the eastern Maghrib for a while, but then Sicily knocked them around a bit and the Ghaniya forced them into submission; the Zurayids have never really reconciled to their defeat. Act as a sort of center for anti-Ghaniya sentiment, and would probably try to replace the Ghaniya if they thought they could get away with it. Has some under the table dealings with the Admiral in Tripoli.
Banu Zaydi: A Bedouin clan of the interior. Tend to be pro-Ghaniya and anti-foreigners; would be perfectly happy to restart raiding Egyptian territory on the coast.
Ismaili Clergy: The Shiite clergymen. Are violently anti-foreign at the moment; the more radical ones publicly advocate massacring every foreigner they can find. Historically have very strong ties to the Ghaniya, what with the Ghaniya more or less saving them, but things are a bit strained at the moment, due to the anti-foreign sentiment.

Anatolian Grandees: The great landowners in Anatolia. More or less run their estates like private principalities. Oppose central interference in general, and state-led efforts to re-Hellenize Anatolia in particular; for the latter, partially because they like being able to treat their subjects as chattel, and partially because the last time it was tried a bunch of grandees got massacred in the ensuing revolt.
Orthodox Church: The Church hierarchy, and particularly the Patriarch of Constantinople. Very rich, not as firmly under the imperial thumb as it once was. Supports Christianizing the Turks, fighting the Gaborites, and the empire supporting the Church's efforts in Russia.
Allagia: The professional officers of the conscript, uniformly Greek regiments of the southern Balkans. Support the allagia not being disbanded, tend to look down on the syntrophiai captains, and generally would be happy to quietly collect their pay and not do any fighting.
Syntrophiai: The mercenary, and often foreign, companies of the Danube frontier. The captains, at least, and sometimes some of the men, are usually retained on a semi-permanent basis: some with money, some with pronoia, and some, mostly among the oldest companies, by a sort of collective pronoia for the whole company. They're significantly more effective than the allagia, and have provided the striking power of Rome for half a century or so, but they're not completely trusted by the center. Support the dissolution of the allagia and any war that promises decent reward without too much risk.
Imperial Bureaucracy: The bureaucrats who run the state. Filled with lesser nobles and the incipient middle class at the moment. Support removing the privileges of the grandees, being given more authority over the syntrophiai, and generally like being given more responsibilities.

Bureaucracy: The guys who run the state apparatus. A lot of them are lower class guys pulled out of Zaidi madrassas, and a lot of the rest are slaves. Support their own aggrandizement, and the maintenance of the status quo re Zaidis, and are in favor of efforts to retain the Zabidi commercial position.
Aden merchantry: The merchantry, which is strongest in Aden. They handle a lot of the trade in the western Indian Ocean, and customs provide a lot of state revenue. They support efforts to keep the grubby Egyptians out of their markets, but oppose further adventurism in the north.
Zaidi Imamate: The Zaidi religious establishment. Has been pretty well neutered by the Zabidis, and currently feel that they've got a pretty good deal, all things considered, and don't want to rock the boat. More or less unconditionally support Zabidi internal policies, provided they don't directly attack the Zaidi, and are very anti-Egypt, but against oppose significant adventurism.
Highlander beyliks: The guys who administer the Turkish chiefdoms in the Yemeni highlands. A lot of them spend most of their time at court, though. Provide a lot of the levies of the state, support intervention in Mecca, don't support being made to do more work. Tend to be a bit anti-Zaidi, though they don't dare make much trouble at the moment.
Siyasseries: 'Black soldiers'; the African slave soldiers who provide much of Zabid's military power. Most of them are converts to Islam, and have the convert's ardour: a lot of them would very much like to bring Islam to Ethiopia and beyond. Don't like their privileges being reduced, don't like having to fight Sunnis, don't like meddling with the Sharif, though they do support stopping anyone else from meddling with the Sharif.

Eparch of el-Adwab: The subking who runs el-Adwab. That's the subkingdom east of Dongola. Coptic, but more dependent on Makuria for control than Alwa is; increasingly contested by Alwan and Makurian influences.
Eparch of the Beja: The subking of the Beja and desert Arabs of the east. Historically very independent-minded, and provides nearly all of the kingdom's cavalry. Doesn't like being told what to do by the Great King, and particularly doesn't like being forced not to raid Egypt. Relatively unaffected by Coptic revival, so far, and somewhat anti-Ethiopian
Eparch of Alwa: The subking of Alwa, in the south. Extremely Coptic, closely tied to Ethiopia and the Ethiopian religious revival, not at all happy about Norman and Catholic influence at Dongola. Nominally the least independent of the eparchs, and since he's the most powerful there's been increasing tension with Dongola. Wants the Normans kicked out, or at least leashed, and the Catholics reconverted.
Coptic Church: The Coptic religious establishment in Nubia. Extremely unhappy about the royal family being Catholic; on the outs patronagewise as well. Very close to Alwa and Ethiopia. Doesn't care about Norman influence per se, just wants Catholicism gone.
Normans: Egyptian Norman merchants, nobles and mercenaries. Some are adventurers, some are representatives of mercantile or noble interests further north. There aren't that many of them, but they're individually wealthy and powerful and provide a wholly disproportionate amount of Makuria's military power. Don't really care what the Great King does, so long as he keeps things stable and they can keep making money.

Falasha: Those unhappy with the imperial-led religious reforms of the last few decades. Old Believer types, kind of. Concentrated mostly south of Lake Tana. Want to be left to worship as they like by the state; would love it if the reformism stopped. Don't like centralization efforts, but do support intervention in Makuria.
Bitwoded: 'beloved'; specifically beloved of the king. The close associates and advisers of the emperor. More or less are now the high ministers overseeing the administration of the directly imperially governed lands. Tend to oppose ties with Alwa or further expansionism, and support focusing on bringing the feudal territories under bitwoded administration.
Coptic Church: The Coptic Church organization, led by the Archbishop of Ethiopia. Very closely tied to the state; owes its current state of effervescence to imperial revival efforts. Is possibly the single largest centralizing force in Ethiopian politics. Can generally be relied upon to support whatever the emperor does, provided it doesn't directly undermine the church. Particularly supports forcing the Falasha to toe the line, intervening in Makuria, and reducing the feudals.
Makwanent: The high nobility of the feudal territories. More or less form the governing class of those territories, and provide a lot of fairly high quality levies. Generally support further expansion, and don't like the chewa taking their glory.
Chewa: The imperial regiments, supported by gult grants. Form the core of the imperial army. Some of them are their way to becoming territorial regiments, but most are still directly responsible to the center. Can generally be relied on to support the emperor in disputes with the feudals. Don't like having to share spoils and glory with the feudal forces.
Bahir Negash: The subking responsible for the coast. Tends to carry on a fairly independent existence, since the emperor has been busy in the interior. Handles most of the Ethiopian interaction with the Zabidis and Egyptians. Likes being ignored by the emperor. The current one has some fairly significant commercial ties with the Zabidis, and consequently is fairly anti-Egyptian. The populace at large is so far mostly indifferent to the Egypt-Zabid contest.

Ashraf: The clan of the Sharif [yes I know this is kind of confusing, shut up, it's not like anyone's playing Mecca]. Control a lot of the administrative positions in the Sharifate. Support anything that keeps them in power, don't like Sharifal efforts to make them stop skimming off the top, are mostly anti-Egyptian.
Jurists: The Islamic jurists who handle the religious law and such. Tend to be reliable supporters of the Sharif in internal disputes. Have a largish and very loud anti-Zabid wing, on the grounds that they're basically Zaidis, and are increasingly anti-Egyptian. Frown on Sharifal exploitation of Mecca, but not enough to try and stop them.
Bedouin: The nomads of the interior. Provide a lot of the non-Mamluk military power of the Sharifate. Have never been particularly thrilled about being ruled by urbanites, and some of them are developing vaguely unsettling ties with Zabid. Violently anti-Egyptian, on those rare occasions when they become aware of Egyptians.
Mamluks: The Sharif's slave soldiers. There aren't that many of them, in the grand scheme, but they're essential to Sharifal control of the Hejaz. Mostly obtained from the north; Persians, Romans, or Turks. Can generally be relied on to support the Sharif, provided their privileges aren't infringed upon. Don't like the Zabidis, are generally indifferent to the Egyptians.
Merchantry: The merchants, particularly those of Jiddah. Mostly stay out of Sharifal politics, but are increasingly unsettled by developments in the Red Sea. Would support anything efforts to try and calm the Red Sea, or to secure their own position.

Turkmen: Turkish pastoralists, concentrated in northern Mesopotamia and eastern Anatolia. Provide most of the Chobanid light cavalry. Are more loosely governed than the rest of the empire, and have a fair few contacts with pastoralists on the other side of the Roman border. Support attacking Rome, Persia or both, and don't like if their relative autonomy is messed with.
Divan: The council of state that runs the bureaucracy. Generally supports the extension of its powers, is currently in favor of truce with Persia, alliance with Egypt and confrontation with Rome.
Al Bahrayn: The territories near the Persian Turkish Gulf. Been badly hurt by Persian piracy in the Gulf, and would like the state to hit Persia hard enough to make them stop.
Merchantry: The merchants, and particularly the ones in Syria. Are also suffering somewhat from the alteration in trade routes caused by the Persian wars. A sizable proportion would like to cool the Persian situation for that reason. Have a very mild commercial rivalry with Egypt, generally good relations with the Sicilians, and are more favorably disposed towards Rome than most.
Imperial bureaucracy: The rank and file membership of the bureaucracy. Mostly selected on the basis of knowing a guy who knows a guy. Not quite sure, now that I look at it, why they're separate from the Divan, but there we are. Anyway, tend to be in favor of peace with Persia and the redeployment of military expenditure into the bureaucracy.
Kurds: A minority group in eastern Syria and northern Anatolia. Notably loyal supporters of the state, thanks to the Chobanids bailing them out of a terrible situation a few decades ago. Provide a completely disproportionate amount of the Chobanid infantry and administration. Extremely anti-Persian, again thanks to the terrible situation of a few decades ago, and can always be counted on to support war with Persia.

 

Ulema.

 

I'm good at being a jerk. Are there any open positions for a jerk?

 

Go ahead. I'd love to see what you're capable of.

@Perfectionist: To keep from wasting all your hard work after the NES begins, you should either attach the faction descriptions to the stats or link to them here.

 

It's totally chill; first off, it's only an initial turn-off and everything else more than makes up for it, second, you shouldn't have to make two maps, thirdly, I can make a new map just as well as you can, so the second point is reinforced.

Fourth of all, I'd also like the faction list at some point, but I'm in no hurry, so you can do it for others first if you like.

 

Are you volunteering to transfer the map NK?

 

Great read. Thanks Perfectionist!

 

I think that's what he's doing now, let's not give him a heart attack like some of us were playing with his cappilaries yesterday. ;^_=

 

Don't give him options. Options are bad.

 

1: Liyun
2: Rome
3. Yamato

Though really Liyun is the one i'd like to play most.

 

Just kinda returning under the radar?

 

Stay outa my Iberia Panda!