An Age of Miracles: The Revival of Rhomanion

[thekingsguard]

The age of Miracles-LOTR Monster is a beauty to behold. I'm so proud!

Great work! Keep this coming!

[rldragon]

Errr, Basileus, I like Lotr as much as the next guy (probably much more), but perhaps you should cut down a bit on the homage to the movies.

It sometimes breaks the immersion.

Other than that, I am shaking with excitement of just how awesome this all sounds.

Just the term "Call of the Turks", is giving me chills.

[Dragos Cel Mare]

With the Romans, the First Alliance forces now number more than 100,000. Awesome.

[Elfwine]

Originally Posted by Dragos Cel Mare

With the Romans, the First Alliance forces now number more than 100,000. Awesome.

That will be "fun" to supply for any extended period.

Still, if anyone can pull it off . . .

[frozenpredator]

The LotR references work for this chapter, and give an additional epic feel about it.

And the chapter is just plain old awesome.

[Dragos Cel Mare]

Originally Posted by Elfwine

That will be "fun" to supply for any extended period.

Yeah, I know. And of course, there's the question of who commands the combined forces.

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

This was a good TL until the moment of LotR fans took over! There many too many LotR references in this TL.

[Mathalamus]

some people, including me, wanted the LOTR references, cause it makes sense in this part.

but... Jesus, 80,000 Romans, combined with however many troops already in Mosul? how can they keep the troops fed and watered?

that battle will be so epic, it will be remembered forever.

[Basileus444]

eliphas8: Thanks. The Hospitalers would be a nice twist, and it's a way to salve Catholicism's honor. They didn't entirely stay out of this. And Theodoros is marching to help the Ottomans, but I think the Turks would get twitchy anytime large Roman armies are in the neighborhood.

brokenman: Thanks.

Elfwine: Yeah, in retrospect I should have cut out maybe about half the references at least. Some I was pushing, and it shows. As for Ramsar, it showed that Shah Rukh can be hurt, but is it enough? He's more than made up his losses, while the Ottomans got their best troops completely gutted. Now they're making do with survivors, old men, trainees, and fresh levies.

Shah Rukh isn't a Timur, but he has a lot bigger empire than Timur ever did and quantity has a quality all its own.

And the casualty-kill thing is an issue. I'm trying to address it, but old writing habits die hard. Casualty seems like such a bland word compared to slain, dead etc.

Also supply problems are going to be a major driving force for both sides in the next update.

Dragos Cel Mare: That's a bit clunky though. I've personally been leaning to the Grand Alliance myself.

thekingsguard: Glad you like it!

rldragon: I'm going to turn it down. I find, looking back, that my favorite parts are the sipahi charge and Osman's speech to his personal cavalry. And the only reference in there is actually to Babylon 5.

frozenpredator: Glad you found them, and the chapter, enjoyable. Thanks.

Barbarossa Rotbart: Well, the good news is is that the LOTR references are just a fling, not a new feature. And we're through most of them already. The current plan is as follows:
Part 2: Two minor, plot-wise inconsequential references, one of which is there solely as a joke.
Part 3: Two to three references at most.
Part 4: Business as usual.

Mathalamus: People did want them, and I enjoyed doing them, but you could make a case that I went over the top in my enthusiasm. As for supply issues, that is going to be a major problem in part 2. However the infrastructure in Roman Armenia has been built specifically to provision an operation like this, and by the time the Romans move they've had a year to stockpile supplies.

[Elfwine]

The main problem with supplies will be moving them to the armies.

Hauling fodder when you need almost as much fodder as you're carrying in order to feed the horses moving the fodder sorts of problems, along with the simply gargantuan quantities of water for this many men and horses.

[Arrix85]

This is WAY beyond awesome. The battle for Asia hold a staggering potential, of something even greater.

[bolhabela]

At this point the Mameluks and Venetians should get really woried. News would have arived to them at this point that the Rhomanoi have gathered 80.000 soldiers and that they are going to war. It is plausible to them that they are going to finish what they started in the first Mameluk-Byzantin war.

[Arrix85]

I was thinking more on the line of "why not attack the romans while they're distracted" (with "distracted" be a massive understatement). The battle for Asia will leave at least heavily bloody the romans, so in the aftermath their western and southern enemies could try to exploit it.,

[Dragos Cel Mare]

I'm pretty sure that there's still at least one Tagma left in Europe.

[frozenpredator]

Originally Posted by Arrix85

I was thinking more on the line of "why not attack the romans while they're distracted" (with "distracted" be a massive understatement). The battle for Asia will leave at least heavily bloody the romans, so in the aftermath their western and southern enemies could try to exploit it.,

It's mentioned that this vast army is just the Anatolian forces + others

that means the European Tagmata and troops from the Crimea and Italy are still in place

[Arrix85]

Originally Posted by frozenpredator

It's mentioned that this vast army is just the Anatolian forces + others

that means the European Tagmata and troops from the Crimea and Italy are still in place

but if the anatolian tagmatas are depleted at least the mamelukes could try something.

[Dragos Cel Mare]

The Mamluke Sultan is still trying to consolidate his power.

[Basileus444]

Elfwine: I agree. The supply problem the Romans face are absolutely massive. Ironically it'd be easier if they were invading Mesopotamia, because then they could pillage. That's not an option now.

The sheer number of allied troops will be a double-edged sword. They need the numbers to fight Shah Rukh, but they have to fight him quickly otherwise their great army will end up withering from starvation.

Arrix85: Thanks.

On Mamelukes and Venetians: Here is a short little update covering what they have been up to. It's describing events occurring in 1450, so what's happening in the War for Asia at the same time hasn't been covered. However there are no spoilers.

The Gathering Storm: Italy and Africa

"It is as if every great land demanded a great war to be fought. The times demanded that the blood of men be shed, and be shed in monstrous quantities. It is a testament to the utter stupidity and depravity of man that he listened."-Pope (in Avignon) Gregory XII, Easter 1460

1450: In Cairo the news of the impending conflagration in E-raq brings mixed reactions. While Rhomania’s European troops remain in their districts, keeping an eye on the Italians, Serbians, and Bulgarians lest they try anything, Anatolia is almost completely devoid of soldiers. Many urge the Sultan Janbulat to attack and take advantage of the unique opportunity.

However Janbulat is from Damascus, and there memories are still strong of Timur. It had been ruled by the Lord of Asia for almost fifteen years, and the Damascenes are not keen to repeat the experience. Remembering what Timur did to the Levant in the early 1400s, there are also many who do not want to do anything that would hamper the coalition arrayed against his heir.

Janbulat eventually sides with the latter party, but he does not hesitate to take advantage of Roman distraction. Increased ties are developed with Venice, with four new trading quarters created for the Serene Republic’s use, including a massive addition to the one they already possess in Alexandria. With the expansion, the Alexandrian territory under Venetian law is greater than the Aragonese-Sicilian, Genoese, and Roman zones combined. To facilitate the opening of the new districts, the property is confiscated directly from Coptic and Syrian Christians, many of whom flee north to Roman Syria.

Venice is in no position to move on the Romans either. They would have to face the Roman navy and European troops, both of which remain intact. Their first order of business is to elect a new doge after the old one and his two eldest sons die after eating apparently tainted pies. The new leader they pick, a man of forty two, bears the name of Enrico Dandolo.

Enrico’s first order of business after hiring new tasters is to continue the diplomatic and espionage initiatives begun by his predecessor. His second daughter is married to the crown prince of Naples, while contacts are established with the Dukes of Varna and Vidin. Meanwhile Pope Julius I has been busying buttering up the Pisans, pointing out the commercial benefits they would accrue if their rival Genoa’s friend the Roman Empire was crippled. He also gains Florentine favor when he provides the Republic with shipments of grain to avert a famine. Originally the Florentines had been purchasing Apulian grain but the cargos were diverted to Syria.

As Italy slowly stirs, Janbulat moves, not north but south. Twenty two thousand men march down the Nile, smashing a budding Makurian revolt. Yet that is not their target, but the Ethiopians. Yohannes had, with the effective crippling of the Shilluk migration, steadily been creeping his control northward, and had been emboldened by the news of Roman troops movements, mistakenly believing that it was for an invasion of Syria.

The Ethiopians and Mamelukes meet in battle near the city of Soba, close to the confluence of the Blue and White Nile. Not expecting resistance, the Ethiopians are ambushed and driven back with heavy losses, although many of the Egyptians ominously note how well disciplined the Ethiopian spear line was and that several squadrons of the cavalry were equipped in high-quality steel lamellar. Mameluke casualties are moderate, mainly from the Ethiopian Royal Guard Cavalry, which had launched a charge to cover the withdrawal of the infantry.

The battle of Soba effectively kills Yohannes’ plans for expansion to the north. Meanwhile in the south several large bands of Somali ghazis, joined by men from Yemen and Mogadishu, raid the Harer district. While they are eventually driven back, the raid is heavily damaging, a potent symbol of an increasing dangerous problem. Ethiopia has the strength to outmatch the local Somali, but they can draw upon the vast manpower pool that is the Dar al-Islam.

Yet on August 9, the tenth anniversary of the Massacre of the Innocents, a baby girl is born in the village of Mewari. Her name is Brihan. According to legend, in the peasant hut, the new parents are visited by an old local monk who asks to hold the child. When the girl is placed in his arms, he smiles, the first time anyone has ever seen the sixty year old do so. When asked why he replies “She will make Islam howl.”

[Tapirus Augustus]

Originally Posted by Basileus444

Yet on August 9, the tenth anniversary of the Massacre of the Innocents, a baby girl is born in the village of Mewari. Her name is Brihan. According to legend, in the peasant hut, the new parents are visited by an old local monk who asks to hold the child. When the girl is placed in his arms, he smiles, the first time anyone has ever seen the sixty year old do so. When asked why he replies “She will make Islam howl.”

This will be so awesome. Egyptian Joan of Arc FTW!!!!

More seriously, the Mamlukes are going to regret their oppressive behavior. Christians still make up a very substantial percentage of the country. If they are ever given the ability to get revenge things could end up being very nasty indeed.

[thekingsguard]

Two updates in one day? What a treat!