I have attempted to turn on Hands Off Trade to solve some issues with the stats program. If this has done anything extra wierd, please let me know. In effect, you just start teh routes, and the stats program will grow them over time for you.
With the exception of the file upload problems with Yahoo, this turn went very smooth. I think two weeks is looking pretty reasonable for processing next time.
Congratualtions to Denmark and Sweden for the first real player vs. player combat.
Paypal note: Using Paypal is a bit expensive for me. Not terribly so, but it gerts worse the smaller the
payment. As such any Paypal payment of less than $9.00 (three turns) will have those fees deducted from
the payment amount. In other words if you send me less than $9.00 you will only receive credit for the amount
that I actually receive aftere fees. If you send me $9.00 or more, I will pay the fees, and the full amount sent
will be credited. This is a slight change in policy form when the cutoff was $10. I fiugred $9.00 is better since
it is a whole number of turns.
The next turn will be due on Aug 13th. This is also a Friday the 13th.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i7, w6, s6, c7 Troops: 10i, 2xi, 6c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
Michinaga wasn't getting any younger, as such he was content to remain at home in Yamato and oversee the functioning of the court. While there he spent much time in temples, the peace an solitude suited him and he made many friends and allies amongst the priests. Wedding plans for his daughter Hitoshi were dashed when she gre ill and passed away shortly before her twenty-first birthday. All was not dark with the family though, Ishida was finally old enough to take his place as heir as his namesake once was.
Improvements were made all around the empire, especially in Hei-An, Ibusuki and Edo, and the trading fleet was expanded. Takeda's army in was expanded while he assisted in ruling from Dazaifu. He added a full two thousand elite footmen, and another thousand lightly armed scouts and skirmishers on horseback.
Mitsuki spent the entire period deeply engrossed in research, and found ways to bolster the morale of troops in the field. Hikaru was sent on a diplomatic mission to Nigata, improving the region, and bearing many gifts for it's leaders. This led to the region becoming fully integrating into the empire.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i6, w7, s5, c4 Troops: 10i, 1xi, 10w, 10t Leaders: None |
(Hinduism Seafaring Open Empire)
Non Player Nation
Brunei King
Diplomacy:
Both the government and the fishing fleets were expanded, and the urban population of Brunei now lives just a bit farther from starvation with
the additional fish production.
(Oceanic Pagan Seafaring Open Empire)
Open For a Player
Moluccas King
Diplomacy:
Investments in the government finally began to pay off, and as a result some money was freed to allow investments into improving
the navy as well as continued attempts to build the infrastrcture of the kingdom. Ruling a realm of separated islands was no
simple matter, and and to do it effectively would take a large government.
(Hinduism Seafaring Open Empire)
Open For a Player
Airlagga
Diplomacy:
Airlagga's younger son died at the young age of 14. He drowned when the boat he was travelling on went down in a storm. The grief of the family
slowed the actions of the government down, with the death coming not long after the death of Airlagga's father. Nevertheless, previousattempts
to expand the government found success, and some of the newly powerful members of the court pressed for, and received, permission to begin
modernizing the navy.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i7, w5, s5, c6 Troops: 10i, 5c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Open For a Player
Jayavarman V
Diplomacy:
Jayaviravaman went to Siam to continue the diplomatic negotiations, and but religious differences kept relations form improving.
Andrahupta was to accompany the effort and talk to the religious leaders, but he sickened and died during the journey. The government
managed to recruit more assistants to aid in the ability of Jayavarman to control his great empire.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Annam King
Diplomacy:
The king died and his brother took over in Annam. The funeral proceedings were beautiful, and led to an upsurge in
religious fervor amongst the people.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Indravarman
Diplomacy: Pegu(f)
Indravarman himself led the diplomats to Pegu, and brought that region fully into his kingdom. He also
commanded that a great university be founded in his name so that his people could continue to advance. The monsoon
rains were especially fierce in areas of the kingdoms and there was substantial flooding, but thankfully very little loss
of life, and the reduction in crops was not enough to lead to dangerous starvation.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Champa King
Diplomacy:
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i6, w4, s4, c6 Troops: 10i, 5c, 2xc, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Cheng-tsung
Diplomacy:
Major investments into the government were undertaken. The massive scale of keeping even the now somehwat smaller empire running
boggled the mind of Cheng-tsung. How many scribes and monks could be fed to the system to keep it running? Meanwhile, the quality of
horse mounted cavalry was improved, and such improvements would aid in holding off the barbarians as well as in retaking the south
when the time was right.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
True Sung Emperor
Diplomacy:
Realizing that without food his army would be hard pressed to retake Lingsi, the march was halted before battle commenced, and
the troops recalled back to safer environs. At the moment there simply weren't enough sodliers to defend against the current
threats and to retake Lingsi, and defending the rest of the provinces had to take priority. Soldiers are expensive and hungry and as
such, improvements were made in Kwangsi to boost the collection of gold and food so that a larger army could be more comfortably fielded.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Nanchao King
Diplomacy:
The anticipated counterstrike never happened, and the King breathed a sigh of relief. perhaps this would work out even better than he
had hoped. He sent a messenger to the Sung seeking peace and offering aid for the price of keeping Lingsi, but no response
was heard.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Ch'eng-t'ien
Diplomacy:
Getting a firm grasp over the kingdom meant needing more people with skills in the more peaceful areas. These skills were as yet few and far between in the Kingdom of the Liao, but people did exist who had them, and they were found and recruited into the government. A select few were ordered to start schools to ensure more could be trained in the more peaceful arts, and quite possibly in history and tactics as well.
A son was born to Ch'eng-t'ien, and became the hope of all.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i7, w6, s6, c7 Troops: 10i, 5c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Mokchong
Diplomacy:
Undercurrents of unrest were silenced when Mokchong started funneling large amounts of the tribute form the conquered lands
back into Koguryo and Kaegyong. He also found the quality of the troops lagging behind that of the generals and set about
creating new training programs to help boost the training and morale of his armies. With such tools his generals would be sure to
carve out even more land in his name.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i7, s6, c7 Troops: 12i, 11xc, 11c Leaders: None |
(Sunni Islam Barbarian Open Empire)
Armenian King
Diplomacy:
Efforts to increase cultivation to help feed to city of Yerevan were of prime importance to the king, while he
turned a deaf ear to the complaints of the Easter Orthodox priests whose buildings came under attack by mobs
of people, thus reducing the already waning influence of the church in the area.
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Kashmir King
Diplomacy:
Growing ill, the king remained in Kush with the garrison as he was too ill to travel. Though ill, he survived, and
plans were made to return to Kashmir leaving a suitable garrison behind. Hopefully the investments in government
he ordered form Kush will have helped keep things running smooth in his now extended absence.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Hsia-Hsia King
Diplomacy:
Major investments into the quality of the military were undertaken in an attempt to ensure that the Liao would not become
more skilled that the Kingdom's own horsemen. Though most of the force was by neccesity mounted, some attempts were made
to grasp more of the concepts of foot based and siege warfare, the better to crack the hard shells of cities ripe for conquest.
(Buddhist Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Dragon King of Tibet
Diplomacy:
No word whatsoever was heard from Tibet.
(Sunni Islam Nomadic Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Arsen
Diplomacy:
Many slaves were put to work trying to improve the government. The educated ones copied documents, many more built storehouse, and most simply made ife easi for the existing officials so that they had more time to actually work out the problem of maintaining such a large realm.
With that, a fresh supply of slaves was needed, andso Arsen set out for Singanakh, where suprisingly he was turned away by a relatively
small but determined (and dug in) force. However, what he had used in the attack was only a part of his true strength, and so next time
would be different. He had lost almost four thousand horsemen, but he had many more to replace them. How long could they replace
there losses when he fell upon the region with the full might of the Seljuks?
(Asiatic Pagan Civilized Open Empire)
Non-Player Nation
Bolgar Khan
Diplomacy: Suvar(t)
Leaving his son behind to rule, the Khan set off to increase the tribute gained from Suvar. Whether it was
due to his diplomatic abilities or the army he brought with him, the amount of tribute was greatly increased.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i6, w5, s6, c7 Troops: 18i, 1xi, 1hi, 9c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: MA15 Manava, will not work for Gujerat |
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Open For a Player
Rajaraja I
Diplomacy: Vishakhapatnam (new port city, f)
Rajandra's oldest son (the older of his twin sons) took his place as a prince of the realm. He was giving command of a newly raised army consisting of one thousand footmen, and a further thousand on horse.
Rajaraja I after agreeing that his son could raise an army for his grandson, set about improving the government and finally
improving the port facilities in Vengi at the end of the postal road build years ago.
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
King Vivek
Diplomacy:
Vivek returned form his travels to claim his father's throne. After thanking Tarak for his help in keeping the Rajputate under control in his absence he set about the full business of ruling. He continued efforts to enable to govenrnment to function without his day to day supervision.
To help ensure his people's safety, he rasied a new force of light horsemen that would enable him to more effectively scout for and screen his main forces should a fight become necessary. In addition to the new cavalry, almost another thousand highly trained and disciplined soldier were raised to provide more backbone to the main army. He also set about improving the training in the arts of siege warfare.
On a more peaceful not, Vivek and Nanda celebrated the birth of there third daughter. And the abilities of the throne to direct large
scale magical operations was greatly improved upon.
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Dahala King
Diplomacy:
The king ordered his son to oversee the building of a road form Tripuri to Gulbarga in preparation for sending a road south through
the mountain passes. After seeing his son off, he attempted to deal with a sudden outburst of anger against the church, and
was killed by a mob, along with several important members of his court. This brought his son back, but the road was well
underway by that point and was finished in plenty of time.
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Galandi
Diplomacy:
Almost the entire court was moved by Galandi to Benares to see if the two realms could be cemented together. Many years of negotiation, much money, and two major weddings took place. In many ways the identities of the two nations began to blur, but they remained distinct. The marriages married both Galndi II to the eldest daughter of the Rajah of Benares, while Loriva was wed to another noblewoman. As the negotiations dragged on, Galandi became ill and died, at the age of 69. This made the newly wed Galandi and his wife king and queen of Maghada.
Back home in Maghada, Morharian undertook a new census as the nations rapid absorption of neighboring Palas had made existing information
useless. He also oversaw major improvements to the roads and other infrastructure on the region of Maghada greatly increasing the
crown's share in the trade of the region and helping to feed the rapidly growing city. He took it upon himself to expand the government and
increase the number of assistants as the absence of much of the court for extended periods of time was stretching his abilities.
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Tarain King
Diplomacy:
Soldiers were raised in order to defend against the western threat. This included some four hundred new horsemen of the highest
quality, and a full thousand heavily armored on foot. The king new it wouldn't be enough, but there was little that could be done about that.
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Pradesh King
Diplomacy:
Further attempts to bring the religious institutions and the government closer together were the major order of the day in Uttar Pradesh. This included the king paying for temples for the churches to use to train there people as well as direct investments by the government in an attempt to curry favor.
The farmers in southern Vatsa grew concerned by the smoke pouring across the border from terrible fires in 1028, but the fires never reached
their crops.
(Hinduism Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Ranjit
Diplomacy:
Ranjit welcomed the delegation from Maghada, though he feared that the large number of people to be feasted would strain his coffers.
Such fears were unfounded as Galandi was most generous in covering all of the expenses of the great feast and banquets, and other
celebrations. Even with a fairly large chunk of the goods shared by Galandi being siphoned off by a few dishonest members of the
Benares court, there was more than enouhg to go around. Those members were, of course, subsequently executed and much of the gold
recovered. With the death of Galandi, Ranjit's daughter was now the major link between the two realms, as as Ranjit still has only daughters
that marriage may be what eventually combines the two realms under one throne.
Fires swept the province of Avanit, causing much death and destruction, due to an extraoridnary dry spell unheard of in the region.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i5, w5, s5, c7 Troops: 10i, 5c, 10xc, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Shi'a Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
al-Basasiri
Diplomacy: Basra(f) rebuilt
The caliphate continued to pull itself out of the devastation, rebuilding Basra, and greatly improving Mosul and Baghdad. This
allowed trade from the caliphate to once again flow freely into the Persian Gulf.
(Shi'a Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Sulaiman
Diplomacy: Sahis(aw), Carmania(un), Dasht'E Lute(un), Khvor (un), Registan(un) Sistan(un)
Now that he controlled some of the wealth of India, it was time to put it to use. Sulaiman ordered the city of Lahore be enslaved and the army was more than happy to comply. Needless to say, the inhabitants of the city were furious, and they rose up in great numbers. The fighting was fierce, and casualties ran high on both sides, but in the end, the Ghaznavids got what they wanted, large numbers of slaves. They lost a great deal in the process however, leaving over a thousand footmen dead, including some of the elite core of the army, and some of the highly trained siege engineers. Almost five hundred cavalrymen were lost as well, the city confines not being well suited to fighting from horseback. In turn, they destroyed a fighting force estimated at well over six thousand people, with varying levels of equipment and training.
After enslaivng the city, the troops took to looting the surrounding region, and then enslaving that population as well. Quelling the resitance movement in order to enslave the remaining population took almost half a year, but in the end was successful. Losses were similar to those from enslaving the city, with twelve hundred infantrymen and two hundred horsemen lost, having destoyed close to another six thousand enemy fighters.
From Sahis, Sulaiman went to Punjab where he met up with Ibriham, where Ibriham was given the slaves and sufficient soldiers to guard them.
Back in Persia, massive construction both military and othewise was underway, and of course, more labor was enroute. Mustapha,
who remained in Persia also pumped a decent amount of gold into the university there. Enough small fortifications were built to
keep two thousand men busy manning them. Some dead weight was also released from the empire, these were Carmania, Dasht'E Lute,
Khvor, Registan, and Sistan.
(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Non-Player Nation
Sheba Emir
Diplomacy:
Cultivation efforts continued, and a census was taken to ensure the proper funds were flowing back to Aden. Additionally,
magical research continued at a breakneck pace, and tremendous amounts of theoretical knowledge were gained.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i6, w5, s5, c6 Troops: 10i, 10c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Shi'a Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
al-Hakim
Diplomacy:
Massive improvements to Cairo and investments in the university there consumed most of the resources of the Fatamids,
while further investments in improving relations with the mosques were made.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i7, w5, s5, c5 Troops: 10i, 10c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
al'Amas
Diplomacy: Obock (f) new port in Zeila
Having carefully hoarded resources for years, the new port of Obock was finally built, and preparations were underway to
make it the capital of the Emirate. In addition to the city itself, the foundations of a university were laid at the same time.
(Coptic Christian Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Mera
Diplomacy:
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i6, w6, s4 Troops: 10i, 10xi, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Raschid
Diplomacy: Gorongo(un), Mombassa(ea)
The death of Ibriham and the crowning of his son, Raschid was the primary focus of events in the Emirate of Zanzibar.
Gorongo followed Karanga in fully removing itself from under the control of the Emir. How the newly crowned Emir was to deal
with this was still an open question. The death of his father did not hinder Raschid's diplomatic mission to Mombassa, where
he further joined the economic future of the region to that of Zanzibar itself. Additionally, minor improvements were made
to Dar-es-Salaam enabling a bit more trade between the two cities of the Emirate.
(African Pagan Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Luwesi
Diplomacy:
Improvements to the siege capabilities of the kingdom were made, unsurprising with the emphasis put on the protection of Zimbabwe. Furthere increases in the size and abilities of the government were also finally achieved as previous investments began to bear fruit. The region of Rozwi was the site of a great deal of cultivation efforts once again, and soon it would be capable of supporting an even larger Zimbabwe with ease.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i6, w5, s5, c5 Troops: 10i, 5c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(African Pagan Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Benin King
Diplomacy: Kafin(ea)
The king sent his son to Kafin to on a diplomatic mission, and it was successful in bringing the two regions closer
together.
(African Pagan Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Mombega
Diplomacy:
Mombega traveled to Segu where he took control of the forces garrisoning the ruins and brought them back to Ghana.
Once back in Ghana, he poured money into the university at Kumbi-Saleh as he was unhappy with the slow pace it
was setting.
(African Pagan Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Kumbayal
Diplomacy:
Mawulawde, cousin to Kumbayal, and heir to the throne died shortly after returning to Timbuktu after his mission to Garou. This left Kumbayal as the only surviving member of the royal family with any real ability to claim the throne, and he was approaching his seventh decade.
Efforts to enhance both the religions of the people of Songhai and even others along the Niger River led to a great many temples and shrines in Timbuktu, and pilgrims form all over western Africa began travelling there claiming it was a holy place.
Despite the low priority, an series of innovations swept throught the military, increasing the capabilities of the men on foot.
(African Pagan Barbarian Open Empire)
Non-Player Nation
Ife King
Diplomacy:
The stories were true, the dead were indeed walking the land. And the king had to put a stop to it. So he led his army
into the fields of Ife to scourge the land free of the foul creatures. Lives were lost, and some of those lost
returned to fight against the king, but the numbers of unnatural creatures were never all that high, and in the end the king's
foray was successful in restoring peace to the region.
(African Pagan Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Nyambe
Diplomacy:
(African Pagan Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Kenyatta
Diplomacy: Maradi (f) new city in Daza
An increase in the efficiency of the government led to the town of Maradi in Daza being expanded to full city status. This
would hopefully spur improvements to the surrounding lands and help to enrich Kenyatta and his Kingdom.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i6, w5, s6, c7 Troops: 10i, 5hi, 10c, 5s, 5w, 5t Leaders: Genral Arkov MA42 |
(European Pagan Barbarian Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Svatapolk
Diplomacy: Estonia(c), Latvia(nt), Livonia(f), Polotsk (nt)
Increases in the ability of Kiev to control the surrounding regions, and to ensure full taxation form those lands meant that it would depend less heavily on the assistance from the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Kiev was once again expanded and improved upon, continuing the staggering growth of the past.
Svatopolk traveled to Estonia to negotiate with the people there, while Yaroslav, Mstislav, and Hastislav were sent to Latvia, Livonia, and Polotsk respectively. Every one of these diplomats met with at least some success, though little in way of useful ties were formed, the groundwork had been laid. The exception was LIvonia, which was now completely absorbed into the Empire of Kiev.
While all of this was going on, Rasputin remained in Kiev keeping things running smoothly.
(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Boleslaw
Diplomacy: None
It was time to see exactly what was available in the kingdom, so Boleslaw began a census of the entire kingdom, while
ordering minor improvements to the region of Poland as well. Some grumbling against the Catholic Church was spreading
through the people, but there was little Boleslaw saw to do about it, the church's presence was fairly minor in his kingdom
anyhow.
(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Non-Player Nation
Andrew
Diplomacy:
Andrew led the research efforts for ways in which he could leave a more favorable impression on others. People tended to
distrust him after his disappearance, and he decided to apply his formidable occult skills to doing something about it.
(Eastern Orthodox Civilized Open Empire)
Basil II
Diplomacy:
The vast sums of money being pumped into the government made a bit more headway against the huge task
of governing such a large empire. Too much to work on internally to allow for much additional action.
(Eastern Orthodox Civilized Religious Primacy)
Leo
Diplomacy: Armenia (mn)
Leo continued from Polotsk to the city of Novogord, where he was met by Jeramais. Both traveled by sea and spent a good deal of time praying to make the journey unmolested by the various factions fighting in the Baltic Sea. The combined work of the two ensured that their church was now the dominant one in the city, and other efforts in the city of Smolensk and Chernigov were also successful. However attempts to establish a more formal church structure in the region of Novgorod met with failure, Though with the inhabitants of the city leaning heavily towards the Eastern Orthodox Church, doubtless the region would soon follow. An attempted Abbey in Polotsk met a similar fate.
Back in Constantinople Theon assited Geroges in continued magical debate and research, while still finding time to attempt improvements to virtually every aspect of the running of the church, primariy it's methods of educating young clergy and other asssitants, and more attempts to bring even more independence for the high level mebers to go and do the Lord's work.
The magical research turned out to be the undoing of Theon, and he lost his mind in a terrible accident. After several months,
while wandering the city mumbling incoherently he just vanished, and is presumed dead.
| Mercenaries: AQRs: i7, w6, s6, c6 Troops: 12i, 11c, 10s, 5w, 5t Leaders: None |
(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Al'Mansur
Diplomacy: New Castille(a), Toledo(ea), Valencia(fa) [region]
Major investments into governing would hopefully pay off in the end, as the realm was quite expansive. Al'Mansur spent much of his time ruling from Cordoba, where he was blessed with the gift of a daughter. As he was busy with affairs of state, he transferred his military command to Abbas, the Prince of Granada, keeping for himself only a newly raised elite bodyguard of a few hundred light cavalrymen. After the birth of his daughter, he set out to New Castille and Toledo to negotiate further with the leaders of the city and region. His negotiations went well, and he found a new ally in New Castille, and arranged a series of trade agreements with the city of Toledo.
Part of the agreement with his new ally involved a marriage to Abbas, who in addition to being the Prince of Granada was named heir to the throne. In return Abbas wed a princess from New Castille and led the defense of the caliphate to take some of the work from al'Mansur. With his newfound authority, Abbas sent extra assistance to aid in the improving of Granada.
Fatih, vizier to the caliph was sent to Portugal and Lisbon to conduct diplomacy, but proved that though he was good advisor,
his diplomatic skills were more lacking, while Commander Qutluq was sent on a much less peaceful mission. He set sail from Granada
with the fleet and sailed along the African coast until he reached lands that were not part of the caliphate. Once reaching Idjil, his raided
the region for loot and slaves, and then returned to the Caliphate in the port of Valencia. Despite the minimal gains, he was rewarded
with the fiefdom of the region of Valencia as long as he maintained allegiance to al'Mansur.
(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Henry II (Regency)
Diplomacy: Old Castille(f)
Henry II traveled to Old Castille with his regent as part of learning the skills he would need as a king, and learn he did, as he was learninf from an excellent diplomat and teacher. Old Castille agreed to be fully incorporated into Henry II's kingdom just in time to help celebrate when the boy took control of the throne in 1028.
Sadly, Enrique, who was left behind to keep an eye on things, died days before the coronation ceremony, and never got to
see the son of his friend take the crown.
(Roman Catholic Seafaring Open Empire)
Open for a Player
Giovanni
Diplomacy:
Venice became a prime battleground for the conflict between the Church and mysterious sects, and the added paranoia
of being accused by the Church led to much public praising of Rome, and much private grumbling and disagreement.
The Duchy itself contributed some of its newly improved espionage capabilities to the Catholic cause, as was its duty.
Naples, somewhat removed from the intrigue and fighting saw improvements made to the city.
(Roman Catholic Seafaring Open Empire)
Svien Forkbeard
Diplomacy:
The aggression shown by Sweden was the last straw, it was time to teach them a lesson. Svien Forkbears actually reduced the size of the navy by drilling them mercilessly and paring his fleet down to about half the ships it once had. He also had eight new, fast but lightly armed ships built, and they received some of his elite crews as well. With that, he sailed for the Baltic Sea to take the fight to the Swedes.
His fleet of now almost sixty ships found the Baltic surprisingly peaceful, and so they set about attacking and sinking any fishing or
trading vessels out of Birka. This had the desired result, the Swede's came out to do battle. Losses on both sides were staggering,
with the fighting eventually coming down to only a few ships all of which limped off to lick ther wounds. Of course, some fo the ships
that had been knocked out of the fight were still seaworthy, and so in the end both fleets lost close to half their number to the Baltic,
the sea being the only clear victor.
(European Pagan Seafaring Open Empire)
Olaf Tryggvason
Diplomacy: Kirkwall(un) [gone], Faeroes(f)
The Orkney Islands were hit by a series of earthquakes which effectively destroyed the city of Kirkwall, the resulting waves caused minor damage across the Viking Bank in Agder and Hordland. Sven Barrelchest sailed from Agder to the Faeroes where he brought them fully under the control of Olaf, as well as seeing to improvements in Thorshavn.
Olaf Haroldson traveled to Trondheim to join in the festivities surrounding it's rededication. The city's new name of Odisnborg was a sign that the weak ways of the Christians were not infesting the Jarldom of Norway. After the feasting and reveling, both Olafs set sail to continue to enrich the realm.
This enrichment once again came at Ireland's expense, with Ulster, Munster, and Connaght all raided. The seaside towns
were poor, having been raided already in the not so distant past, but the people were still there, and that's what they took.
After raiding the coasts for slaves, they returned back to Odinsborg where he met back up with his daughter Astrid who had
taken over running things as she grew older.
(European Pagan Seafaring Open Empire)
Olaf II
Diplomacy:
The lying bastards had the gall to accuse Sweden of having opened hostilities while Olaf had been carefully avoiding any aggression towards any of his fellow Scandinavians right up until the cursed Danes sent spies into his country.
The banners were called up, and help came pouring into Uppsalla, but a naval fight was looking inevitable as the Danes were strangling the fishing fleets that fed the city. Leaving his ground troops behind in the charge of Anund, Olaf set out to show those Danes what a real Viking could do.
Surprisingly he found himself outclassed, but not outnumbered. The opponent was fast, and his crews were sharp, but then so was Olaf. And his crews were no slouches either. With a good fifteen more ships than the Danes, he threw his forces into the fighting. The faster Danish ships ensured that he lost the element of surprise, but he was still confident that the gods were on his side.
The fighting continued on for days, then weeks, then months, with both sides coming out of the fog and disappearing back into it. The Danes were beaten off, but the cost was so high that it could hardly be called a victory for Sweden either.
Back in Brika, Anund set aside his research to command the armies in the defense of Sweden. But the attack never came, as Olaf stopped the fleet in the waters of the Baltic.
Thorfinn managed to evade the fighitng in the Baltic and continue to Musa, where he claimed it as part of Sweden.
(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Edmund
Diplomacy: New York (f)
Edmund remained in Sussex continuing his research, but not really getting anywhere. In the meantime Cedric put the already known methods to use aiding his diplomacy of New York. And aid the diplomacy it did, Cedric wasn't the best of diplomats, but his results couldn't be argued with, New York was now wholly under the sway of King Edmund.
Some minor rearranging of trade was conducted, but the many of the ships sailing from New York to Sweden were lost
tro Danish piracy in the Baltic Sea.
(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Henry
Diplomacy: Vermandios(ea), Flanders(f)
Henry remained in Paris ruling while the everyone else was involved in diplomacy. King Robert gained many concessions form Vermanios, but fell ill enroute to Dijon and did not survive long after his arrival. Grief following his loss was somewhat tempered by the birth of a son to Henry, ensuring the continuation of the royal line.
Phillip was also pursuing diplomatic relations, in Flanders in his case. He was incredibly successful getting a marginal member of the
kingdom to fully join. France's star was rising, and ongoing research into Magic would ensure it kept rising.
(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Henry
Diplomacy: Lorraine(f), Utrecth (f)
Karl found a bride for King Henry in Lorraine, and the marriage was enough to cement the ties to Lorraine. Karl, however, died shortly before his fiftieth birthday, and so did not live to see the results of his hard work. For his part, Henry was very happy with his new wife, and they were inseparable after the wedding.
Matthias continued efforts to negotiate an agreement with Utrecth, and eventually succeeded in joining the city
fully to the crown. While back in Alsace, Michael continued his research and found success in boosting the charisma
and negotiating abilities of someone through magic.
(Roman Catholic Civilized Religious Primacy)
Open for a Player
Sylvester II
Diplomacy:
The slaying of Adalbert in Venice led to a full scale investigation. This in turn led to the uncovering of a society founded on dark arts and retrieving forbidden powers from the depths of the Mediterranean with a large presence in Venice. The fighting was brutal, but the cult was suppressed in the city, its base of operations destroyed, and it's members killed or scattered.