The world has entered the year of 1125...
Trade Republics never had much luck here. There used to be three trade republics in the Indian Ocean, but they were all destroyed by their de jure lieges - the Republic of Anatta was only saved by transferring them to the local King. Iceland has sufficiently advanced that they have turned away from their viking ways for gold, instead raking in the gold through trade. Venice used to control the entire adriatic and greece, but was sacked by Emperor Vusarion II; the Venetians declared independence from the Byzantine Empire after 200 years of rule, and were promptly annexed by the Serbian Empire, removing the Wallachian Republic's competitor.
The Wallachian Republic is by far the most successful republic out there, having taken over the black sea trade and having expanded into the Mediterranean. Currently the only trade republic not directly controlled by Serbia is the republic of Asturias, controlled by the Empire of Hispania - a Miroslav nation.
Independent realms' screen, borders have only gotten messier. The orange Carpathian blob in the North has made further inroads into pagan territory, and most importantly, has conquered Sweden and Denmark with heavy Serbian backing. Balochistan still retains Burgundy and southern Bavaria, while Hispania still retains bits of Syria and Mesopotamia - in addition to inheriting a Scottish county. Germania has greatly expanded its territories after taking over much of Lithuania in a successful crusade, and the Byzantine Empire and Balochistan have both expanded into the declining Ferzadid Empire. The Ferzadid Empire actually managed to hold off the Miroslavs over a period of 20 years, but simply ran out of the ubiquitous funds that the Byzantines and Balochs backed by papal gold had. The Byzantine Empire has not split in two, that's merely the effect of a revolt - though for a brief moment Azerbaijan had successfully reached independence. It was crushed.
Abyssinia likewise is enduring a revolt. Mali is being pushed back into Mali. The crown of Ireland, Wales and England is enduring some severe stresses - after invasions from the Empires of Francia and Germania independence factionalists secured independence from Ireland to Wales.
The Miroslav family has grown. The Empire of Abyssinia is ruled by a Miroslav, Scandinavia is one Kingdom away from being ruled by only Miroslavs and the pagans are being subjugated by Miroslavs. There are currently over 900 living Miroslavs. They rule the world. The Mordvanid pagan family has resurged to prominence in Perm and Rus, but will likely go the way of the prominent Ferzadid family - consumed by Miroslavs.
The pagans of the old world are losing ground with ever-increasing rapidity. The Empires are continuing Serbia's Godly work in removing infidel. Islam is nearly wholly extinct, while Germanic paganism HAS gone extinct, and Romuva and Slavic paganism are both only 1 county away from extinction. Orthodox Christianity is also almost extinct in the sense of mainstream following, but its religion will be kept alive by Serbia as the Serbian Empire controls and protects the Ecumenichal Patriarch.
Cultures; Occitan and Basque are being consumed by French culture in Aquitaine. Saxon and Italian has survived under German rule, while across Europe from Iberia to India Serb rule has resulted in massive Serbian assimilation - Wallachia may be an exception, as its avar culture is developing into Hungarian culture and not Serb culture.
The Empire capitals have grown to become centers of great scientific and cultural innovation; Serbia is unique however, in that owing to its heavily centralized government, the Emperors of Serbia have been able to personally manage every single county in Serbia - and later on, manage several counties throughout India and Jerusalem. This has had the effect of imparting Serbian technology all across the Serbian Empire, while Serbia's technological competitor in Constantinople has kept its knowledge concentrated within its Universities and Theodosian walls.
The story of how Abyssinia fell is complicated to say the least. House Solomonid was a powerful ally to House Miroslav when the two fought the Bahirid Empire; it was Solomonid light infantry that stormed the Arabian Capital before the Serbs. It was during the reign of Emperor Vukoman that the Arabian peninsula was conquered by the Serbs in full; and a deal was struck with the Abyssinians after they were driven out of Mt. Sinai in Arabia and into Egypt in Africa. The Serbians had gained their vital port connecting the Mediterranean to the Indian ocean, though Egypt was preferred, Egypt was Abyssinian and Emperor Vukoman was morally opposed to turning on Christian allies for mere strategic gain.
Four Emperors down the line and without any Muslims around to remind them why they fought together, Emperor Visarion II noticed three things only; Abyssinia's army, the Coptic Pope's taxes and Egypt. When the Emperors of Serbia before him drove the Bahirid remnants out of North Africa, the duchy of Cyrenaicia was given to a Serb with the knowledge that the Duke would return to the Serb fold after he converted the local provinces to Catholicism. Any heathens who felt inclined to rebel would do so ostentatiously (being less fearful of a Duke than an Emperor) and so the Emperor would know who to kill. Only, the Duke of Cyrenacia married a Princess of Abyssinia, solidifying him with a military alliance. Emperor Visarion II managed to politically outmaneuvre the Abyssinians by appealing to the Duke's Serbness, which worked - Serbia's North African borders grew just short of Egypt and the Duke was back in the fold. A Catholic grandson of the Abyssinian Emperor was invited to Serbia in order to press his claim over Abyssinia; Abyssinia would have remained Solomonid and would have become Catholic. Unfortunately while in Cyrenacia, the poor man died of slow fever.
The plans for invasion were abandoned until a son of the Duke married a Miroslav and produced a Miroslav with a weak claim to the Abyssinian Empire.
Rastko Miroslav... Rastko was a Miroslav, Ethiopian and Catholic. Should have been perfect, unfortunately little Rastko was a bloody imbecile and a coward, an utter disgrace for the Miroslav family. His claim was pressed and he was put on the throne in a long siege of Egypt and the battle of Atfih (18,000 Ethiopian free soldiers attacked 6,000 North African levies, unaware of the combined Jerusalem/Syrian/Mercenary force of 37,000 around the corner), but it took only two days for the King of Nubia to put up arms in rebellion. Loua Amarrar tried to rebel and install himself on the throne, then King Gondar of Abyssinia.
Both revolts enjoyed great early successes, with Emperor Rastko the Imbecile's forces being led by the good Mayor Slobodan - an excellent chancellor, but a highly incompetent general. During the battle of Hermopolis 20,000 Swiss/Breton/Lombard pikemen and the heavy infantry of the great company fought 16,000 Ethiopians, in what should have been a simple victory. Then Mayor Slobodan entered the battle. After having lost 8,000 Ethiopian loyalists, Mayor Slobodan brought 127 soldiers to the battle and put himself in charge of the right flank of the Serbian army, resulting in 4,000 deaths and the entire right flank being routed. Mayor Slobodan nearly single handedly lost the war and Abyssinia. In spite of Mayor Slobodan's incompetence leading to the Serbians losing far more than the Ethiopians, the Ethiopians were routed and King Gondar (formerly Emperor Gondar)
died. Wasn't killed in battle, he just died. Presumably of grief, in that he was defeated by an imbecile boy Emperor and his incompetent sycophantic mayor.
The moment the Serbian mercenaries and levies left Abyssinia the Ethiopians revolted again. Only this time it was to lower crown authority, and quite frankly now that Emperor Rastko has produced an heir I want to see him killed in the streets so his far less incompetent son can reign. If all else fails I will send assassins after him; shouldn't be too hard, Emperor Rastko has already made many enemies and his only friends are incompetent.
Rather than a Spanish armarda it was a combined French and German Empire invasion, with the French wanting the English Frisian county and the Germans wanting to continue expanding into England. Though the Serbians allied with England, Serbia did not commit troops to war - this was far too interesting of a historical development to terminate prematurely.
And for a brief moment the Miroslav family controlled all of Catholicism and all of its Holy Orders.
After Hispania conquered Portugal, the last Sunni and invaded Tangier, Hispania had but one de jure territory outside of its fold - the islands of Mallorca, which had been held by the Byzantine Empire continuously since the fall of the Roman Empire. They attacked during a smallpox plague; this war was just about as awesome as the British-French-Germanian war.
Figured out what causes the AI to create doomstacks out of thin air; it's just the tribal lord calling his vassals to war. Here the Holy Orders under Serbia and the Carpathian Empire are carving out more lands for the Carpathian Empire from the Suomensko Kingdom of Perm.
This is the last Shia ruler in the world; ruling in Constantinople no less. Fitting. Now that the Sunni rulers are gone, the Shia rulers are gone - only one person can possibly revive Islam. The son of Al-Jaleel Arwadid, of the Arwadid Dynasty, the Awadid ruled over southern Arabia independent of the Bahirid Empire until they converted to Yazidism. At which point they invaded and defeated the Bahirid Empire, becoming Sultans of Arabia - unfortunately doing so just as the Serbians were conquering Arabia.
The deserts of Nefoud were the last refuges for the Arwadid family, and soon they were conquered and replaced by Republics. An experiment by Serbia; each desert was given to a lord mayor to rule over 1 of the 4 provinces each as a democracy, and once the deserts of Nefoud became Catholic and Serbian they would be vassalized under the Serbian Empire once more. All was well, and I even got to enjoy for a small while the oddity in the maps screen that this corner of the world was ruled by no dynasty. Then the son of Al-Jaleel Arwadid raised a host and declared war on one of the Lord Mayors, resulting in a war that is over 40 years old and will likely only die with the last of the Arwadid's death. Once he is dead, Islam will take its last breath with him.
My aim is to see the Carpathian Empire fully consolidated by the time the Mongols arrive, or at the very least India fully developed so when the doom hordes arrive the Indian blob is impervious to harm in the West.
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Topic: Crusader Kings 2 is released. (Read 2010891 times)