CRUSADER KINGS 2
Dev Diary 23: Heresy! Heresy Everywhere!
by Geoffrey Johansson
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another entry of the Developer Diary for Crusader Kings 2! I'm Geoffrey Johansson, I work as a historical consultant for Paradoxical Studios and basically what I do is spend day after day in libraries, on the internet, and talking with history experts to make sure that Crusader Kings 2 will be as detailed and historically accurate as possible-that is until you the player deviate from history's original course.
Today I want to talk about a game mechanic fairly related to the religion factor in the game. As you may or may not know the Middle Ages were dominated by a contest of power and call to the faith by the holy heads of the major religions, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. Though that explanation is way to simple for the nature and dynamics of these two religions were much more complicated and diverse. Roman Catholic fought Constantinople Patriarch, Zoroastrian fought Monophysite and so forth. As I already explained in the article about religion. While it is unfair of anyone at Paradoxical Studios to say certain religious beliefs are wrong from the perspective of rulers of the Middle Ages anyone who had different beliefs were fair game to persecute. As history shows though even rulers could join in heresies with mixed results.
For example one of the heresy groups that will appear in-game are the Mohammedans or Muslims as they refer to themselves. Originating in the Arabian Peninsula their religious leader, Muhammad, preached of a submission to God that was very well synthesized with the local cultural setting during the 7th Century. Meshing in local traditions as well as Christian and Jewish traditions into his faith, also viewing himself as the next Prophet sent by God. Preaching in the city of Mecca he began to gain a influential following which was not well accepted by the pagan rulers of the city. As such pressure began to build for the Mohammedans to leave Mecca, and several groups did by sea to Abyssinia. Finally, after hearing of a plot against his life he made to leave Mecca to flee to the city of Yathrib [1] not far from Mecca, but he and several of his followers were found in a cave by their pagan pursuers and killed (Muslims refer to this incident as 'When the Prophet's Voice fell to Silence' or when those who did not speak or listen to Muhammad's creeds killed him). Those that made it to Yathrib eventually left as without their charismatic leader the local feuding Pagan and Jewish tribes went to war. Those who had fled to Abyssinia were allowed to settle in the country and would later play important roles in the area.
Heresies are a special game mechanic as in-game events that will pop up at random. A province may suddenly convert to a heresy and it will be the duty of the ruler to stamp it out. The longer a heresy remains unchecked the greater chance that other provinces may decide to convert. The Mohammedans for example, will have the chance to appear in whatever kingdom controls Abyssinia or the Hijaz. Further, characters from that province will be members of that heresy religion. They may even invite the player's ruler to join in their faith which will of course bring down the wrath of the Pope, the Patriarch, or the Dastur Magi and Non-Heretical court members. The player though will be quite free to appoint their own religious leaders launch as many religious wars as they can handle...
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[1]- Medina, the city was renamed to Medina after the Prophet and his followers had migrated to the city.
EDIT:
Now for a bit of explanation. I figured that the best course of action to eliminate Islam would be to quickly nip the flower in the bud. To kill off the Prophet before he had a real chance to spread the faith beyond the area of Mecca and really grow major resistance to his opposition in Mecca. Muslims though are still going to be around, which I suppose makes my Thread Header a lie, but I have more interesting things in store for them in Africa. Just you wait and see.
Though, even though I have eliminated the major religious force behind the expansion of Arabs across the face of the world it does not mean all the steam has been taken out of them. As you will see in a few updates the Arabs are going to still be a problem...
