Byzantium AAR:

[Bearnie]

“My name is Markus Alexander Hippopotamus and I’m going to, before I end my life, tell about the events occurred in my long, but not only happy, life. I was born in the year of 1462, in a minor villa east of our glorious capital Constantinople on the border to Macedonia. I don’t remember my parents, they where taken away from me when I still where to small to stand on up by my own, tortured to death by the heathen Ottomans, according to my stepmother. Throughout my childhood I, as anybody else, lived in fear of an invasion by the Turks. Great battles had been fought, but now the future of our realm looked less dark. All over the realm came a wave of nationalism, and great leaders in Constantinople where talking about a reconquista of former lands owned by our empire. People preached about how it was when the realm stretch from Sicily to the holy lands, from Egypt to the coasts of the Black Sea. But the empire was weak, waiting for a man big enough to take the task the church and the empire demanded.
Me myself was from my early years filled with the dreams of glory, both for myself and for the empire. To be able to fulfil my dreams I left, at the age of twelve, the only place that I ever felt of calling a home, to study the art of war in Egypt, I would never return again.”

- From the holy diary of Markus, Museum of History, Constantinople


IGC 2.3
Fantasy Options:
Byzantium
United Prussia

[Vulture]

Let the games begin I would say...

[Bearnie]

“Arriving at Cairo, the capital of the mighty Mameluk Empire, I was stunned of the very size of the city. After visiting Constantinople a few times before leaving home, I was convinced that that must be the largest city in the known world, how wrong I was. After spending several hours of searching in the chaotic streets of the city, I finally found my final destination: The Art of War Academy of Cairo. The building built in late roman style where in a condition of decay. I where greeted by the man who later, as my teacher, would have a great inflect on my life, Muhammad al Behr, an expert of martial arts and the art of war.
He where one of three teachers left at the academy, and the youngest at an age of fifty-three. During the years he had become a very respected man in the city, and where one of the few who had been studying outside the empire, in both Persia and in the far countries of India.
During the years that he was my teacher I learnt many ways of killing my foe, hard self-discipline and the great art of the battlefield. He also made me go to the old library to do history studies by my self, something that I afterwards have regretted a thousand times. I was here, in this old library with scriptures from old Egyptian, Roman and Muslim time, that I found what would later change my life dramatically. There wasn’t many who visited the library, and the books and scripts had mostly been left untouched for several centuries. After studying about the old Egyptians with the help of the old librarian, I moved over to the times when Egypt where ruled by the Caesar in Rome. The library wasn’t organised in any way at all, so when I searched after an Arabic script that told about the death of Cleopatra, I found an single papyrus paper, with writings in both Arabic and with old hieroglyphs. The paper was stuffed between two sides of an book describing the agricultural along the Nile in the fifth century, probably being used as a bookmark. I got interested of this piece of paper and started to decipher the old Arabic writing.”

- From the holy diary of Markus, Museum of History, Constantinople

[Bearnie]

“The anonymous author of the paper wrote from the times when the sun god, Ra, where still hold in glory. Around him had several cults been created during the years of Caesar Augustus, during the gold age of the Romans. This text explained how Ra in ancient times had promised his servants eternal life if they would serve him with all their hearts, and where willing to go trough a ritual make their souls forever being Ra’s property. It also referred to scripts in other books about the books.
I couldn’t stop my research now, I had to find those other books and find out more about the cult and the rituals. The next couple of months I spent more times than ever in the library, sinking deeper and deeper in to the subject. I found out the main consistence of this ritual and where it could be made. Apparently the only place where the ritual could be done where in one of the old Ra temple, that had been built all over the ancient empire of Egypt. The problem was that all those temples had been burned down when the prophet Mohammed conquered Egypt.
My next move was to find out if it anywhere existed a temple that had survived Mohammed’s torch. This was a harder task then I had thought, because no new research about the old gods had been made. Finally I found out that it in the valley of Luxor still existed one of these temples. To come to Luxor you have to follow the Nile a great way, and then go trough the desert.
It was then I made my life’s most idiotic decision, I decided that I should go there to find the truth of the ritual. But I wasn’t yet prepared to end my time with master Muhammad al Behr, so I stayed with him the final years until I was finished with my studies and he hadn’t anything more to teach me. Now, at the age of eighteen, I took everything I owned, my horse and some money, and travelled south to seek my future in the valley of the ancient Egyptians.”

- From the holy diary of Markus, Museum of History, Constantinople

[Brad1]

I love this great job, quite good and interesting, also you are writing this very well.

[Honour_Shogun]

Let me guess, this is a rather unique way to be the grey eminence? Very cool. I wish you luck with your AAR. May Ra guide you forever towards the Horizon

[hjarg]

Sounds like a very intresting beginning! I think i'm going to enjoy your AAR a lot- if you keep up the same style

[Bearnie]

Thank you, doing my first AAR is quite exiting.

I will keep up with the same time - promise.

I will post the next part the first I do when I wake up tomorrow, about 11:00 CET

[Bearnie]

“I where able to follow a small caravan who was heading for Nubia. The way south, following the east side of the river, took a couple of weeks. Nothing special happened, and I where getting bored, I where so filled with energy those days. Egypt had for decades been spoiled with the great irrigated areas besides the Nile. The people living in the villages spread along the river had growing fat and wealthy, at least compared with an average farmer in my home country. But this easy given wealth had also made the people lazy, and the methods used in the fields was the same used five-hundred years ago. The rich farmers also use black house slaves, something I never seen before. A person of less value than others, strange, is this the will of their great prophet? Off course the use of slaves hadn’t been so uncommon in Constantinople either, but that habit is long since gone.
At a small town, mine and the caravans paths divide. From here I had to go trough the desert for at least one day to come to the valley of Luxor. I had a last dinner with my fellow friends in the caravan and saw them leaving south in the morning.
Before I left I bought a goat and filled my water bottle in the town well. When the sun was at it’s highest stage I decided to start the final stage of my journey. It was hot, hotter than I ever had expected. After only a couple of hours I where totally exhausted, but it’s no turning back now, I moved towards the valley as if it where a magnet. A hour before the blessed evening comes, my horse falls to the ground, and with great sorrow I had to leave my brave companion behind. Then the temperature started to drop rapidly, and the evening came. Both me and my newly bought goat was panting heavily and I searched for a place where we could spend the night. Beneath a stone I threw myself to the ground and fell into sleep the second that I touched the ground.”

- From the holy diary of Markus, Museum of History, Constantinople

[Bearnie]

“When I woke up I had sand in my mouth, my nose, my ears, my eyes, I had sand everywhere. I found my goat peacefully chopping of the few straws of grass that could survive out in the desert. The morning had just come and the temperature where starting to raise, I needed to continue as fast as possible. I drank the last of the water and took off.
The sun where almost at zenith when I finally looked down at the valley of Luxor. Since thousands of years there had been a town in the valley, and I was able to get cold water and something to eat there. But I didn’t wanted to stay there to long, I was anxious to arrive at my final destination. The day was almost to an end when I finally where there. A temple marked with the sign of Ra, a big eye. Around me the sun was setting, making the landscape glow and the few clouds turn to pink. On each side of me there where hills, and from those came a small breeze who made the sand move and made your lips and tongue taste salt. For a few seconds I stood there looking, amazed. Finally I stepped in.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I saw flickering lights and shadows jumping from wall to wall. Maybe some of Ra’s lost souls. In the inner chamber there was an altar, it was here the ritual should take place. I lighted up the room with a torch, and started to prepare myself for the ritual. I took of all of my clothes, and naked did I turn towards the sign of Ra on one of the walls, then I sacrificed the goat, opening his throat. While doing that I read a poem:

I give You, Ra this gift
With a promise of eternal worship of You
May your sun look down on my naked soul
And may your fire forever burn in my blood

After saying the last words the ground started to tremble, and a strange light lighted up the room, my torch went out and everything went dark.
I was standing before a huge palace, around me a great tempest where roaring. I started to walk up the stairs towards the palace. Well inside I found myself standing before a throne when a man the size of ten where sitting, but I couldn’t see his face. The voice of thousand voices where in my head, I couldn’t understand the words but they where telling of great sorrow. A hole in the roof appeared and a single beam of light fell down, hitting my forehead. Suddenly the voices in my head started to scream and the palace starting to fall apart, the huge tempest where ripping the building to dust, I fell to the ground.
When I awoke the temple lay broken around me. I where covered with dust with a totally blue sky above me. I, Markus Alexander Hippopotamus, the last soul of Ra, raised and walked of into the desert.”

- From the holy diary of Markus, Museum of History, Constantinople

(End of chapter one, the next will tell more about the circumstances going on in Byzantium)

[hjarg]

Mmmmmmm, good.

Just wondering... if you, the last soul of Ra, will rule Byzantian empire... should you try to convert it to pagan as well?

[Bearnie]

No plans of making him rule the empire...

[warl]

Good AAR, please keep on.

@+

warl

[Bearnie]

After seeing Markus walk of into the desert, the story about whats going on in Byzantium meanwhile is going to be told - stay tuned...

[Bearnie]

During the years from Markus disappearance till the crowning of King Constantine XIII Paleologus, few sources tells about what’s going on in Byzantium. The time, that spans from 1480 to 1492, is very badly documented. You always have the Chronicle of Byzantium that tells about all of Byzans history, from c:a 860 to modern day. This work, however, mostly consist of trivialities telling about noble weddings and death of highly ranked persons. To not bore you with things like “Aug 12, 1485: Today duke August Laurenus a.k.a August the Wise married princess Anita Popovic of Wallachia in Hagia Sophia, 800 people where invited”, I have chosen some pieces of the chronicle that could be of interest:

“The year of 1480 starts with many great signs, in south-east two fishermen spotted a tempest in the sky, taken by wise men as a sign of turbulence among the gods*.”

*Many people at the countryside was even then not convinced that it existed only one sole god, but they was still good christians, believing in the highest of those gods.

“1st of June, 1482: Today the king himself declared the new harbour opened, speaking of it as a step towards both economic wealth and domination of both the Black Sea and the East Mediterranean, people had gathered both among the piers and in the streets to watch the spectacle.”

“23rd of September, 1485: The Knights of St: Paulus is now bigger than ever, consisting of 500 brave warriors.”

“3rd of February, 1486: Today the kings mother passed away, to the grief of the King and the entire court, she reached the respectable age of 52, prayers for her in churches all over the empire* is ordered by the patriarch himself”

*The nation never stopped calling themselves an empire even after their huge land losses to the Turks.

“7th of March, 1488: Our glorious empire is becoming stronger and stronger, today the King ordered the building of 10 new warships, the biggest, The Eagle, being the biggest ever in Byzantiums naval history.”

“14th of October, 1490: Today our beloved King moved to his castle outside Constantinople, the court says it’s because of health reasons”

“31st of December, 1491: This night the king passed away in his sleep, the whole empire is in sorrow, the preparations is made for the crowning of his son”

- From the Chronicle of Byzantium, Royal Library, Constantinople

It’s been hard making some sense among the massive amount of texts in the chronicle, done by a massive amount of authors. Sometimes the dates is wrong, and sometimes they don’t come in the right order. The size and weight of the book, 100X75X25cm big at a weight of 50kg, don’t make it any easier, the pieces chosen above may not be accurate facts, and shouldn’t be considered as such.

[Jythier]

Is this real, or are you just making it up? Can't tell... don't have the historical background... geographical background... any background. It sure reads well, though. Keep up the good work, if it goes shoddy, I'll be sure to tell you.

[Splangy]

nice AAR, please continue

[hjarg]

Hmmm, Bearnie. Pray tell me if you're doing Suvorov's Byzantine or just making things up and waiting until the game starts in 1492?

[Bearnie]

as i wrote in the first post, it's taken from IGC, therefore I have made everything happening before 1492 up.

[hjarg]

Just checking...

So you have one page full of AAR and the game hasn't started yet. Groovy