Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Dux, I may have used an idea or two of yours. 
I've decided to stay away from Bulgaria in this update, I will detail its subjugation to Rhomania in Chapter XII.
CHAPTER XI - END OF AN ERA
In 1365, Dusanes finally decided how to deal with Nicholas the fisherman, the upstart ruler of Athens. He had ruled out military intervention, for the people of this former duchy were loyal to their leader and distrusted the imperial Romans. Nicholas was also unlikely to accept the title of despot after his ridiculous coronation as emperor. Dusanes's only recourse was a marital alliance, and in March of that year, Nicholas married the daughter of one of Dusanes's half-brothers. He happily agreed to an alliance with the Romans, but Dusanes immediately began to assert himself over the fisherman. Though an unusually gifted military tactician, Nicholas had little talent for politics. By late 1365, Nicholas "agreed" to a resettlement of Bulgars from the recently conquered territory around Naissus (as well as a number of Turks from Bithynia) to Athenian soil. Clearly, this Athenian "emperor" was content with keeping his quasi-sovereign state a de-facto Roman vassal. Sadly, one of his descendants would have the audacity to assert himself against Rhomania.
A year later, Dusanes would be faced with a far more serious crisis in Asia. On February 15, 1366, the Sultan of Rum died without an heir. The Sultanate was thrown into chaos. Generals Kemal Gursel and Mehmed Tagmec immediately (and independently) claimed the throne, and the poor Sultan's daughter became a prisoner of the latter. He sought to marry her to cement his claim, but found her quite unwilling - Yesim threatened to end her own life if the general carried through with the marriage. Tagmec took Ikonion and brutally murdered the supporters of the other general. Gursel had been in command of the northern army and found his power base in the northeast. He located of the Sultan's two brothers - and this was no easy task, for they were debauchees and drunkards even in their advanced age - and championed this Ahmed as the legitimate Sultan. Gursel's army would not be able to defeat Tagmec alone, however, and his cause would likely have been lost if he had not been able to procure a powerful ally. Dusanes would have been reluctant to interfere militarily had it not been for one man - Michael Aidinoglou. Urum folk tales (namely,
The Ballad of St. Michael) will have us believe that as soon as Michael heard that Yesim had been imprisoned, he took 1,000 of his best men and rushed to Ikonion on a white stallion.
More likely, Michael acknowledged his popularity in Asia (under his rule as military despot, Bithynia saw no more rebellions), and sought to expand his personal influence. Whatever may be the case, we know that Michael was able to convince Dusanes to let him take his army to Ikonion. Marching first toward Ankara, he combined forces with Gursel and decisively defeated the garrison Tagmec had left there. Together, they marched south, and pitched tents outside Ikonion by May 1367. Though hopelessly outnumbered, Tagmec would not surrender the city. A four-month siege culminated in a series of street battles as Michael's forces pursued Tagmec's soldiers throughout the city. After nearly a week of fighting, the city lay in ruins. Michael was probably furious - when his forces reached the Sultan's palace, Tagmec and Yesim were found dead, the latter stabbed by the former's dagger in her cell. As the
Ballads will have us believe, Tagmec had had the last laugh. Whatever may have been the case, a few things were certain - Michael, though a Christian, had become by far the most influential, respected and loved man in the Sultanate. The late Sultan's younger brother had taken the throne, but as his personal advisor, Michael effectively held the reins in the Sultanate. It may surprise our leaders that Dusanes would let one of his most popular generals go to serve a foreign nation, but until the end of Michael's life,
Rum Devleti was effectively a vassal of the
Basileia ton Rhomaion. Michael, still only in his late thirties after the ascension of the new Sultan, would be a monumental figure in Turkish politics, and would even trade blows with Dusanes's successor, Manuel II Dusanes.
By 1371, Dusanes was an old man, and his health was rapidly failing. His eldest son Manuel had distinguished himself in battle first against rebels in Asia and later in the conflict against Tagmec. Handsome and skilled in both oration and the art of war, he was well loved by the people, and enjoyed the favor of the elites of Constantinople. Most importantly, his mother was a Roman, and unlike his father he was a native speaker of the Roman tongue. Despite his father's Servian origins and continued devotion to his homeland, Manuel only had a vague concept of Servian culture and a very basic understanding of the language. Though we would see a continued dominance of Servian nobility in the administration of the Empire throughout Manuel's reign, their influence would certainly start to wane. Under Manuel, they would be brought into the Roman fold, and under his descendants they would finally be assimilated, as the Servian nobility today is no less Roman than that of Thessaly or Constantinople.
Constantine XI Dusanes died in his sleep on June 28, 1371. He was deeply mourned in Constantinople, as even his staunchest Roman opponents began to embrace this giant of an emperor in the latter years of his life. Though he came to the throne as an upstart "barbarian," he left it one of the most celebrated emperors of his time. Under his rule, Rhomania began to reclaim parts of her lost heartland. More importantly, Dusanes had united the disparate Orthodox peoples of the Balkans (though the Bulgars would take longer to pacify) and halted Islam's incursion into Europe. He elevated Romans, Servs, and Turks alike to the highest offices, beginning a tradition of pluralism that would shape Rhomanian politics for centuries to come. It is true that he allowed the influence of the Servian nobility to grow to point where they sometimes shaped imperial policy, but he made sure to assert himself when the interest of the empire was at stake. He pursued a forceful resettlement policy that reshaped the region's demographics. His legal reforms did much to streamline Roman legal code, and he introduced several Slavic laws that would pacify the Servian and Bulgarian populations. Dusanes was a leader, an innovator, a soldier and a lawgiver. He was the quintessential warrior-poet of his age. Above all, Dusanes was a savior - under his guidance, Rhomania grew, prospered, and entered a glorious new age.
