Chain 044: Crusader Kings

Chain 044: Crusader Kings
Location: Mecca, 1522 A.U.C. (769 A.D.)
Age: 20
Drawbacks: [+600] Sunset Invasion
Government: [-150] Feudal
Religion: Orthodox
Focus: Martial

[Free]      Ancient Traditions
[200/1450]  Rome Reborn
[Free]      Duty And Honor
[300/1450]  Capable Council
[700/1450]  The Sun Jumper
[900/1450]  I Am The State!
[Free]      The Basics
[1100/1450] Strategist
[1400/1450] A Born Warrior
[1450/1450] Jingles of Jumpchain

In 770 AD, a man went to Rome. Nothing would have been remarkable about that, save for the fact that he strode into the pope's chamber without anyone trying to stop him; he and Pope Stephen III spoke at great length, interrupting the pope's other activities. The pope refused any other appointments for a week, to the frustration of many. They spoke of what was, and what was to be, according to later accounts written by the pope, and though the man said he was not divine, he was on a mission from God. Coincidentally, he supported a great number of the pope's personal views, simply by affirming what had survived the next thousand years and voicing his intent to lessen the harm caused by those who didn't know what they were doing. Later intrigue saw Stephen III... er, retired, and with the ascent of Adrian I, a similar talk was had and the pope similarly was enlightened.

And when the Lombards attacked the papal states in , their forces were scattered by what the soldiers they could scrape together with that man leading them. The end result of an unexpected bit of intrigue: their king was deposed by that same man, who was crowned by the Pope himself. Charles I, king of the Franks, never did invade Lombardy, but their newfound king certainly didn't agitate his western neighbors as he had his hands full with other goals. Doing his best to smooth things over, despite the circumstances of his ascent, the people grew to love him. So much, in fact, that they helped him expand further - in the space of two decades, a shockingly short time, the whole of the Italian peninsula was brought under the control of this king.

Irene, former empress consort and regent of the Byzantines, deposed her eldest son and took control of the empire in 797. There were a fair number of plots against her - after all, her son died of his injuries after his eyes were gouged out. On the other hand, her son was by all accounts an unwise ruler, what with his marriage to his mistress and several military failures. In any event, early on she found it remarkably difficult to keep loyal individuals around her, and while a marriage offer to Charles I was rebuffed... a marriage offer to the Lombardy king was better-received, and they married in 799 while the intrigues around here seemed to spontaneously evaporate. A few of the court's patricians seemed to find better places to be, as well. Or perhaps safer places for them.

The empire did not simply rest on its laurels. A mere handful of military campaigns were launched, and while critics claimed that it was a waste of time to chase past glories, the potential threats were undeniable even if their priorities seemed questionable. Still, Italy was formally named part of the Byzantine empire, empress Irene passed away peacefully in her sleep in 823, and yet the Emperor himself was still going strong... and looked remarkably young. Some whispered it was witchcraft, others that he was blessed by God, but he vowed to have no other in this world than his beloved Irene.

In early 847, Jerusalem was conquered; its absorption into the Empire, with the five seats of the Pentarchy brought back to the Christians, caused Pope Nicholas I to formally crown the Byzantine emperor as the Emperor of the Roman Empire. This had some... interesting effects. Chief among them was the sudden pride in being Romans, and a slightly flawed interpretation of what a proper Roman was. Secondly was the question as to the Emperor's age - no one rightly knew how old he was, but his earliest verified appearance was in Mecca in 769, where he had visited before he travelled to Jerusalem and then Rome. As the years went onward, the joking title of "immortal emperor" seemed to have more truth to it than any might have thought.

Thirdly was a new calendar; since the Gregorian calendar wasn't even a gleam in a monk's eye at this point, rather than measuring the year by a single man's reign, the Emperor suggested they count from the founding of Rome. Scholarly works agreed that it was precisely 1600 years before he was crowned (that is, April 21, 753 BC), and quite honestly with all of the inertia they had... well, the future is now, apparently. In a sense. Even if the Emperor forcibly implemented a separation between religion and temporal authority - a city's cathedrals would be considered sanctuary, akin to embassies might be later, but the clergy otherwise could not be landed title holders. Meanwhile... as the decades passed, certain things were changed. Women had more rights within the Roman empire than most other places in Europe, and though Old Rome had been built on the backs of slaves, there was really no need for that; every man should earn their salary. Putting the empire's constitution down in writing and working toward clearing out the rampant corruption that plagued the courts was also a long term project.

Rome's legions were rebuilt, the folly of relying on anything but its own soldiers clearly demonstrated, and many of its potential claims on western Europe were left alone. Oh, they certainly lent their support to some causes - Brittania was a well known Roman ally, despite their conflicts with France as it grew - and Rome seemed to be largely neutral to the conflicts of the states around it. Though other claims... those, it did press. By the year 1800 (about 1050 AD) the Mediterranean, from the southern half of the strait of Gibraltar to the southern corner of France, belonged to the Roman empire. As did a rather significant swath of land that stretched through northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

By this point in time, things had settled down, and all would likely have been well were it not for rumors of visitors from across the sea. Visitors who spoke the languages poorly, but wished to buy land and learn more about the continent, who called themselves Aztec. Visitors who had ill intent... as seen most clearly by the strange tools they carried. Metals that were harder than even Roman steel. Ships that seemed to have surprisingly large sizes. And then, the inevitable: a massive fleet of such ships, disgorging warriors by the thousands, who set out to conquer.

The war against the invaders was unprecedented. Every major power in Europe allied and fought - Portugal and Brittania fared the worst, but many in the southwestern Roman Empire and France were put to the torch by the brutes as well. It had been a time of relative peace, but it did not take long to raise armies - armies who were fighting with inferior weapons, but armies nonetheless. The Emperor himself took to the battlefield and tore through the invaders with divine fury, but a single man can only be in one place at a time. The legions of Roman knights played a lead role in repelling them, but were hardly the only ones - the Aztecs surrendered and withdrew fully by 2150 AUC (1400 AD), but what they offered in peace terms was a calculated insult and sent a clear message:

"We'll be back."