Where was I? Right. 915 onwards, preparations for the War for Jerusalem were underway. The realm was behaving itself, as I remember it. Even Bulgaria seemed less a mess than usual, though I swear I heard the ghost of old Patriarch EuchreJack screaming in my ear for Iakov gobbling up the Wallachian Kingdom.
Otherwise, I was occupied with old books and the scholars of the Empire. It was as dull as you'd think, and staring at comets all week long gave me little else than a cold. It's an absurd thought comets could be of any importance to the realm now or in the future. I suspect the influx of learned men into the capital was enough to tip the number of the true faithful into the majority, as I was told a few weeks later.
Patriarch Iituem was also present in these lessons. He was anxious for the Empire to take back the Holy Land, and I wasn't going to deny him. In late 916, I sent the Mahommetian Caliph a notice of eviction from the birthplace of our Savior and raised our glorious hosts for war.
I won't bore you with the details. The war was quite thoroughly uneventful. There's only so much sand a man can tolerate before he goes insane. Soon enough, we were victorious. The Pentarch of Jerusalem was re-established, and I granted the Holy City and its surrounding holdings into the administration of Patriarch Isaias.
Patriarch Iituem wasn't satisfied, of course, but I decided to leave the conquest of the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem to my sons. As I said, there's only so much sand a man can tolerate...
To say that we caused a bit of a stir among the Mahommetians might be an understatement.Peace brought with it the passing of Despot Iakov of Bulgaria. Naturally, his sons and assorted hangers-on immediately set to squabbling over his remains (and the kingdom). I admit, I didn't like any of the contenders, so I was just glad they were too busy fighting eachother to pose any threat to the stability of the Empire.
But soon, the news came. The True Faith was triumphant. I sent all of the Patriarchs a complimentary round of communion wine from the finest vineyards of Sicily.
Sadly, time soon took Despot Reginar I of Italy, my loyal vassal. His soon looked to be trouble, but my dear girl was on it again.
That dealt with, and flush with the success of the faith, I sent out my Court Chaplain north into the steppes. I had great hopes the heathen Khans would see the light, and I suppose he's still out there. For some reason, he's stopped writing in.
Italia soon changed hands again, making all my girl's plotting in vain. The next guy seemed almost as much trouble, so I headed to our quarters to give her the word to go in and do her magic.
Of course, then, I found... I...
Sorry, I... kinda forgot where I was there. No, no, we'll continue. I'll just... go fetch another bottle for us. Can't think without a bit of wine in my belly, that's how it's always been, ha ha.
In 922, the Mahommetians got it into their heads Anatolia was theirs by right. The whole damn region rose up practically overnight, called on by that Caliph for a 'Jihad' against yours truly. Seems like he hadn't learned his lesson the first time we went at it.
I took it easy. While I brought up my troops, I distracted myself by running the realm and finding myself a new wife.
Honoring Rule Number 3, I guess.The Caliph led an army of petty lords and would-be rulers against me. I called upon a holy alliance of Christian kings, in turn. Soon, Muslim troops were crawling over the border into our lands, but I let them come. I would not commit the Imperial Army until it was ready.
My daughter, Artemis, came of age, and I set upon finding him a good, useful husband to carry on our line. To my surprise, the Captain of the Varangian Guard let me know the heir to the pagan Kingdom of Rus was at court, and a Christian (if a heretic - but not for long). I saw our chance to bring those heathen masses to the fold from the top-down, and seized it. My daughter knew her task - to ensure that in the future, it would be her Greek children who would take the throne.
Before the wedding bed was cold, I had convinced the boy's father to join me in defense of the realm. Though a pagan, I knew I could use his wild hordes.
Then, it was war.
After setbacks, we began to reclaim the land and sent the heathen hordes fleeing across the border. It was a bloody business, but we were emerging victorious. My son fell in battle, dying of his wounds later.
My heir would now be my second son, Sabas, a treacherous fool, who had embarked in petty factionalism throughout my realm and threatened the stability of the Empire. He will not make a good Emperor, mark my words, annalist.
I suffered these wounds, as well. They are yet to fully heal, but I've been through worse. I don't intend to die before contingencies are in place to ensure my son does not ruin what I have created.
I also lost my Strategos, though not to battle - to his own ambition. My half-brother had served the realm long and well, but had evidently grown weary of life at court. He embarked on some mad quest against the King of East Francia, to press his claim on some territory or other. As far as I know, he's still out there somewhere.
Our victory was assured regardless, though it was not to be as total as I had hoped. I had tired of the war, as had the people. The Jihad was repulsed, and their Caliph humiliated - that was without doubt, a triumph, and we celebrated it as such.
Ah. The old wound's bothering me again. Good work, annalist, but I think we'll continue this tomorrow. I've much more to tell, after all...
---SO LIVED LEON VI, LIONHEARTED, BASILEUS OF THE EMPIRE---
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Topic: Paradox Games (CKII, EUIV etc.) Megacampaign Succession Game (Read 16650 times)