An Age of Miracles: The Revival of Rhomanion
- Thread starter Basileus444
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Yeah id have Byzantium take the Crimean peninsula, Vlachia seems pretty good, though they should probably get slightly more to avoid making them mad (the Byzantines want to try to keep this grand Orthodox Alliance on good terms), LitPronNov is pretty good but I think Georgia should get the land you gave to Rome and the Rump Blue Horde (which wont be around after the war if things go right).
Managed to keep myself composed. If I hadn't been at work i'd have stood up and saluted when I read about the Dragons death.
Dracopolis sounds corny but fitting.
Dracopolis sounds corny but fitting.
Without Constantine XI dying in the Roman Empire's fall, this would be an acceptable substitute.
Dragos Cel Mare
Banned
Anyway, is it really that big of a trend to not read the beginning of the TL?
I hope most people read the Point of Divergence stuff, at least. The argument on how the Teutonic Knights in 1466 were equivalent to an empire that exists because the Turks haven't bothered to take Constantinople yet is less useful, except to show how far from OTL this timeline has come (praise the Virgin).
Yeah, first page (and maybe part of the second) between me and some other guy who believed that Constantinople in 1448 was a rich city.
Arrix85: Thanks. 
I'm glad I made him seem real. In my opinion, that's the greatest compliment a writer can get. I agree. With N-L, the Empire really doesn't have much leverage, considering the Novgorodians just saved their bacon.
I can see a city rising up on the battlefield. Even without a pilgrimage site, it's well situated to take advantage of the Don-Volga trade.
Elfwine: I think it's the best an aristocracy can do. The only people who are special because of their blood are the Doukids, Laskarids, and Komnenids, so just those who are relatives of the Emperor. Of course, Imperial family squabbles can get really nasty.
And a Roman-Russian alliance. That sound you hear is Europe screaming.
brokenman: Pavlos, I think not. After all, he's now known as the man who got the Dragon killed.
Grouchio: This is Rhomania! We do not follow such barbaric, Latin practices here! Now where is the castration kit?
thekingsguard: Sadly, all things must come to an end, even dragons. He was getting close to the point where he'd die of old age. I felt this was better. I can see it becoming a pilgrimage, particularly for soldiers. Perhaps in time we'll see St. Dragos, patron saint of horsemen.
SavoyTruffle: So passes a legend.
elkarlo: Glad you liked the immortal quote. The Empire could transfer troops from the Crimea to the Don, but even so it's pretty much lost its chance to be the one to take Sarai.
Dragos Cel Mare: In terms of long survival, I consider Byzantium much stronger than classical Rome. It took a whole lot to kill it. And classical Rome's ending in 476 is pathetic compared to 1453.
Unfortunately I'm not a dirge writer. You read the beginning of the TL! I haven't; it was too boring. Seriously though I can understand people skipping the early parts. They're just not as good in my opinion as what comes later. From my perspective, the quality improves around Cappadocian Caesarea, which is when I really started to get into and develop the TL.
Evilprodigy: It is a sad day for Orthodoxy.
eliphas8: I like the sound of that. I have an image in my head now of some soldiers pulling a Constantine V. They entered the room where he was buried and called out for him to rise up and lead them again to battle and victory. I can easily see some Roman soldiers doing the same in the Time of Troubles.
Both Vlachia and Georgia are going to be very cross if they get nothing more than scraps. Together they field over a third of the Orthodox army, and they're going to expect compensation accordingly.
Voyager75: I like that name.
DuQuense: Vlachia and Georgia will want more than that, and there won't be a rump Horde left, but other than that it looks good.
Massa Chief: The post-partition borders will be based on natural boundaries, namely the great rivers. That base map didn't have them. Drakopol is Russian? Then why is Constantinople called Tsargrad, which I always assumed meant city of the Tsar?
frozenpredator: I felt death in battle would be fitting for the Dragon, considering how he started. He first appeared in Cappadocian Caesarea as a random name, and he's been fighting ever since. It was only later than I came up with Dragos as the Dragon, and the rest is history.
My writer's block regarding China has finally gone away. So here is a very short narrative preview of The Timurid Interlude: Part One.
Southern China, March 1433
“Archers to your positions!” Chen winced as the attempted bellow cracked on the last word. Da-sha, son of a local nobleman, was only fourteen. As the ‘soldiers’ guarding the north bank of the Yangtze rushed to the waterfront, tripping on their spear butts, their ‘general’ was frantically waving a sword around. He dropped it, narrowly missing his foot.
Chen muttered a curse under his breath as he joined the rest of the peasant conscripts, quaking behind their wicker shields. Behind him a thin raggedy row of archers was hurriedly spanning their bows. Here and there he could spot a proper war bow, but most were small simple things, good for hunting animals, preferably small ones without teeth.
“Soldiers, get ready for battle! Prepare to fight, for fame and honor, for the glory of Shun!” Da-sha’s voice cracked again. From the rest of the men, silence. Actually that wasn’t entirely true; Chen scrunched his face as he smelled a man nearby losing control of his bowels.
The horizon was moving. From the south bank of the Yangtze a great black tide was creeping forward, blotting out the sight of the great river’s sluggish waters. The thousand drums of the Wu armada beat in unison, the oars slicing through the current. Chen felt something warm trickle down his right leg.
“Here they come!” For once Da-sha’s voice did not crack.
The Wu answered. First there was a series of hisses, and then hundreds of gray smoke trails sprouted from the bows of many of the Wu vessels. Ten seconds later the stinking, screaming, three-foot long rockets fell on the Shun conscripts. Chen couldn’t see anything. The powder smoke was pouring into his eyes, clawing up his nostrils, hacking its way into his lungs. Over the scream of half-shredded men he heard the whistles as another volley hissed out from the Wu ships.
An archer drenched completely in red slammed into Chen. Frantic, he grabbed the man and hurled him to the ground. “Hold your ground, men!” Da-sha shrieked. “We must hold!” Chen got about a third of the curse out before the rocket fell on him.
The fall of China had begun.
I'm glad I made him seem real. In my opinion, that's the greatest compliment a writer can get. I agree. With N-L, the Empire really doesn't have much leverage, considering the Novgorodians just saved their bacon. I can see a city rising up on the battlefield. Even without a pilgrimage site, it's well situated to take advantage of the Don-Volga trade.
Elfwine: I think it's the best an aristocracy can do. The only people who are special because of their blood are the Doukids, Laskarids, and Komnenids, so just those who are relatives of the Emperor. Of course, Imperial family squabbles can get really nasty.
And a Roman-Russian alliance. That sound you hear is Europe screaming.
brokenman: Pavlos, I think not. After all, he's now known as the man who got the Dragon killed.
Grouchio:
This is Rhomania! We do not follow such barbaric, Latin practices here! Now where is the castration kit? thekingsguard: Sadly, all things must come to an end, even dragons.
He was getting close to the point where he'd die of old age. I felt this was better. I can see it becoming a pilgrimage, particularly for soldiers. Perhaps in time we'll see St. Dragos, patron saint of horsemen. SavoyTruffle: So passes a legend.
elkarlo: Glad you liked the immortal quote.
The Empire could transfer troops from the Crimea to the Don, but even so it's pretty much lost its chance to be the one to take Sarai. Dragos Cel Mare: In terms of long survival, I consider Byzantium much stronger than classical Rome. It took a whole lot to kill it. And classical Rome's ending in 476 is pathetic compared to 1453.
Unfortunately I'm not a dirge writer.
You read the beginning of the TL! I haven't; it was too boring. Seriously though I can understand people skipping the early parts. They're just not as good in my opinion as what comes later. From my perspective, the quality improves around Cappadocian Caesarea, which is when I really started to get into and develop the TL. Evilprodigy: It is a sad day for Orthodoxy.
eliphas8: I like the sound of that. I have an image in my head now of some soldiers pulling a Constantine V. They entered the room where he was buried and called out for him to rise up and lead them again to battle and victory. I can easily see some Roman soldiers doing the same in the Time of Troubles.
Both Vlachia and Georgia are going to be very cross if they get nothing more than scraps. Together they field over a third of the Orthodox army, and they're going to expect compensation accordingly.
Voyager75: I like that name.
DuQuense: Vlachia and Georgia will want more than that, and there won't be a rump Horde left, but other than that it looks good.
Massa Chief: The post-partition borders will be based on natural boundaries, namely the great rivers. That base map didn't have them. Drakopol is Russian? Then why is Constantinople called Tsargrad, which I always assumed meant city of the Tsar?
frozenpredator: I felt death in battle would be fitting for the Dragon, considering how he started. He first appeared in Cappadocian Caesarea as a random name, and he's been fighting ever since. It was only later than I came up with Dragos as the Dragon, and the rest is history.
My writer's block regarding China has finally gone away. So here is a very short narrative preview of The Timurid Interlude: Part One.
Southern China, March 1433
“Archers to your positions!” Chen winced as the attempted bellow cracked on the last word. Da-sha, son of a local nobleman, was only fourteen. As the ‘soldiers’ guarding the north bank of the Yangtze rushed to the waterfront, tripping on their spear butts, their ‘general’ was frantically waving a sword around. He dropped it, narrowly missing his foot.
Chen muttered a curse under his breath as he joined the rest of the peasant conscripts, quaking behind their wicker shields. Behind him a thin raggedy row of archers was hurriedly spanning their bows. Here and there he could spot a proper war bow, but most were small simple things, good for hunting animals, preferably small ones without teeth.
“Soldiers, get ready for battle! Prepare to fight, for fame and honor, for the glory of Shun!” Da-sha’s voice cracked again. From the rest of the men, silence. Actually that wasn’t entirely true; Chen scrunched his face as he smelled a man nearby losing control of his bowels.
The horizon was moving. From the south bank of the Yangtze a great black tide was creeping forward, blotting out the sight of the great river’s sluggish waters. The thousand drums of the Wu armada beat in unison, the oars slicing through the current. Chen felt something warm trickle down his right leg.
“Here they come!” For once Da-sha’s voice did not crack.
The Wu answered. First there was a series of hisses, and then hundreds of gray smoke trails sprouted from the bows of many of the Wu vessels. Ten seconds later the stinking, screaming, three-foot long rockets fell on the Shun conscripts. Chen couldn’t see anything. The powder smoke was pouring into his eyes, clawing up his nostrils, hacking its way into his lungs. Over the scream of half-shredded men he heard the whistles as another volley hissed out from the Wu ships.
An archer drenched completely in red slammed into Chen. Frantic, he grabbed the man and hurled him to the ground. “Hold your ground, men!” Da-sha shrieked. “We must hold!” Chen got about a third of the curse out before the rocket fell on him.
The fall of China had begun.
Dragos Cel Mare
Banned
Dragos Cel Mare: In terms of long survival, I consider Byzantium much stronger than classical Rome. It took a whole lot to kill it. And classical Rome's ending in 476 is pathetic compared to 1453.
Unfortunately I'm not a dirge writer.
I thought the same thing as well, actually. That said, the Finished version is marginally better, thanks to the inclusion of the Battle of Kose Dag. Not merely that, but your grasp of Military Tactics showed in your account of the Noble's Revolt, when you had the Latins charge over broken ground. That was a nice touch.
My true conversion point to this TL was the War of the Five Emperors, where you made even the contender's attempts to get more troops (Thomas using businesses as a substitute for Land for recruitment purposes) intresting.
If the Timurids do a Qing they might very well suffere the same fate as the Qing though.
Rulling China for hundreds of years until they have extended the nations borders to their furthest point only to be deposed 100 years before the modern day?
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