Lords of the Earth

CAMPAIGN TWENTY-FOUR (OLD WORLD)

The Age of the Crusades

Turn 36

1176 ~ 1180 Anno Domini
537 ~ 541 in the year of the Hegira

Announcements and items of note

General Stuff: I’m going to start charging from Turn 37. What I’ll do is set up a Paypal account and we can go from there.

Version 6: Lords 24 uses version 6 of the basic rules

The Map: Remember, I’ve initially cut the map back to just Western Europe, Africa and Central Asia. So if you’re up for it then drop me an email at (lords24gm@throneworld.com) and I’ll set you up. Old players of the open nations get first choice.

Current Active Non-Player Nations (ANPN) – these are the only open player positions:

The Hungarian Eflak Tribes – a horde that’s come out as the dominant one in Eastern Europe

Ar Rassid Imamat as Sa'Na – a small trading nation in Arabia

The Duchy of Poland – Eastern Europeans

Heyrenik'un Armeniam – the most eastern of all Christian kingdoms

The Varangian Rus of Kiev – more Eastern Europeans

The Wadai Bedouin – a sub-Saharan horde

The Kingdom of Spain – in Spain…

Mercenaries: I’ve added these into the fax this turn

Tithes and Tribute: I think these are automatically updated by the stats program, so no need to declare them in your orders.

Non-Player Nations: Non-Player Nations are nations which can be influenced by player nations. The primary method of doing this is through conducting DP (Diplomacy) actions on them. All the normal levels of control are applicable to NPNs. Their RV is the sum of all their Friendly and Homeland Regions and Cities. There is an extra level of control over Allied and that is Free State. A Free State is the same a fully player controlled nation but one where you do not want to merge your nation with the NPN. Feudal Allied, Allied and Free State NPN’s under your control provide leaders and armies to do your bidding; all others do not. Also, when an NPN king dies, a roll will be made to see if the level of control degrades. Note: It is hard to increase the status of NPN nations. Don't be surprised if your diplomacy attempts don't succeed rapidly. It is recommended that you spend lots of gold, time, and intel (Support Diplomacy operations) when doing Diplomacy on NPNs.

Control	Tribute	You get...	You can...	Cost to you
Claim	0%	--	--	--
Non-paying Tributary	0%	--	--	--
Feudal Ally	0%	--	Use the NPNs army as a Feudal Ally	--
Tributary	Up to 25%	Gold	--	--
Economic Ally	Up to 50%	Gold	--	--
Allied	Up to 50%	Gold, stat sheet	Issue orders to leaders	Normal turn cost
Free State	Up to 75%	Gold, stat sheet	Build and invest with their GP and NFP, issue orders to their leaders.	Normal turn cost
Incorporated	100%	Regions and armies are added to your stat sheet	NPN becomes part of your nation	N/A

Active NPNs: When a non-player nation becomes active, either through player activity or fate then it will undergo its own agenda. This usually means expanding its borders by the best means at its disposal, be it diplomacy or conquest.

Active NPNs will not attack or attempt to lure away regions of a nation with a greater MSI. They will attempt to gain regions of the same language and religion first before looking further afield.

If there are no candidate regions or their imperial size is such that they are inflicted with taxation penalties, they will concentrate on improving their internal affairs.

Active NPNs are now available for a player position.

A list of NPNs will be included in the MSI table as well as a listing in the newsfax as to who has any influence in them or their activation status.

The Pope - The Pope is currently run by the Western Roman Empire – see the rules below if you want to control his eminence

Control of the Papacy: In Lords 24 we will not always have a player Pope (or Caliph etc for that matter) and the following rules are used to determine which player faction controls the Pope’s actions. This can change anytime due to the make up of the votes. If the Papacy becomes an active NPN it will pursue its own goals, independent of the controlling faction. Also, if it becomes an Active NPN it will be subject to the Active NPN rules and become available for a Player.

As long as there is a non-player Pope the following rules are in effect:

Each Catholic Nation may declare their support for a faction or none at the end of each turn.
Each nation is allotted a number of votes and the faction that has the highest number of votes will control the Papacy. Votes are allocated as follows:

Each Catholic Nation: 1 vote
Each Catholic Religious Order: 1 vote
Whoever controls the city of Rome: 3 votes
Whoever controls the city of Constantinople: 1 vote (since the patriarchate of Const. is now part of the Roman Church)
Whoever controls the city of Thessaloniki: 1 vote (since the patriarchate of Thessaly is now part of the Roman Church)
For each Cathedral status within regions or cities controlled by a nation: 1/2 (one-half) a vote
Whoever is crowned Holy Roman Emperor: 1 vote (in addition to the national vote)

Each turn, each Nation must include on their orders how they will cast their vote. Nations or Orders may abstain from voting (and will, if they do not indicate their vote). In the unlikely event of a tie, no faction will control the Pope.

The controlling faction must appoint a player as spokesman for the upcoming turn. That player will receive the Papacy stat sheet and can issues orders for the Pope in the following turn. They will however be charged the normal turn fee.

Other campaign 24 Old World specific rules...Are listed on the website, under "Rules”. I recommend looking at them, since although the L24 specific rules and clarifications are not listed on this newsfax, they all still remain in force and "not seeing them on the newsfax" is not an acceptable reason for not knowing about them.

How to make your GM happy (PLEASE READ! REALLY!):

Please send any and all Lords24 correspondence to lords24gm@throneworld.com or stephenbrunt@yahoo.co.uk .

LORDS 24 WEB RESOURCES

The Lords Twenty-Four homepage is at:
http://lords.throneworld.com/lote24/index.html

All of the on-line resources, including order forms, mailing lists and web-sites for Lords of the Earth are summarized on this page:
http://lords.throneworld.com/?page_id=2

You can subscribe to the Lords 24 mailing list by pointing your web-browser at:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/lote24

…and following the instructions on that page.

VARIOUS FEES AND LEVIES

At the moment the turns are free….

We are using the latest v6.3.5 of the basic rule book that can be found here

http://lords.throneworld.com/players/loterule/rules.html

Turn 37 Orders due by: February 16th 2008

Without further ado, the news for these years in Lords 24 history...

EASTERN EUROPE

Mercenaries
Troops:	12c,2hec,11xc,1hei,18i,6xi,2t,5w
AQRs:	i5, c6, s5, w3

Duchy of Poland

(Roman Catholic Barbarian Non-Player Nation)
Ziemowit Curlybeard, Duke of the Poles

Ziemowit continued to expand his borders with Lausatia, Bialoweza and Volhynia all pledging non-paying tribute. His expansion into Bochnia was curtailed when the Eflak took those lands by force.

The Hungarian Eflak Tribes

(Asiatic Pagan Nomadic Non-Player Nation)
Khan of the Eflak Tribes

The Eflak’s move north and take the regions of Bochnia, Galich and Goryn. The people of Bochnia were enslaved and replaced by the Khan’s own while Galich and Goryn suffered the same fate under the Bulgari. Ludgorie pledged non-paying tribute to the Khan while Dobruja was settled. A heavy blow to the khan came from the north when he met the forces of Thakir the Uighur near the border town of Edirne (see the Uighurs).

The Rum Khanate of Turkiye

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Alp Arslan, Khan of the Turkiye

Alp Arlsan raised six-hundred heavy cavalry and his first two elephant companies in Bithnia. ten light transports were created in the shipyards of Bursa. More money and effort was poured into the road between Bithnia to Phrygia. Aware of his own mortality, Alp Arslan raised his brother Mustafa to be his heir and another brother is appointed to the court, taking the name of his more illustrious brother as homage. Lucius remains in Apamea and persuades the city to join the Khanate shortly before his death. Bishop Asculias took command of the transports raised in Bursa and set out to evacuate Pausanias from Sicily. He manages to remove one thousand cavalry from the island before the Fatamid invasion – Pausanias then wisely pulled away from the shore and watched the Egyptians landing from a distance.

The Varangian Rus of Kiev

(Eastern Orthodox Civilized Non-Player Nation)
King of the Rus

The Rus move out into Yaroslav, Rzhev, Murom and Suvar, claiming tribute in name only from these lands.

The Western Roman Empire

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Theodotus, Emperor of the West Romans

Christophorus’s grand project, the royal church of the imperial family, was completed shortly before his death; the mad emperor was finally at peace. Theodotus moved through to Thessaly to pick up the six-thousand horse left there last cycle before moving onto Macedonia where he was greeted by Peter the Bulgarian. Theodutus then took command of Peter’s two-thousand horse, wary of any threat to the Empire’s lands. The princess Eudokia remained in the capital Ochridia to oversee the Empire’s finances. Eutychos of Ochridia travelled to Thessaly to take command of five companies of engineers and then returned to the capital to make use of their skills in protecting the city. A large gift was received from the Pope.

The Western Uighur Khanate

(Asiatic Pagan Nomadic Open Empire)
Khagan Grumash

Thakir dismantled the walls of Praha and forced the lazy Czech garrison of two-hundred men into active service. Realising that settling in the lands of Bohemia was a bad idea he gathered the tribal councils together and outlined his plans for the Uighurs. The Khanate would once again head for the steppe but this time their Czech and German vassals would come with them. The people of Franconia, Moravia and the city of Praha would forgo their sedentary life and take to the wagons under the duress of the Khanates sizeable army. The tribes settled in Bohemia, Austria and Slovakia would lead the way even though they were outnumbered by the westerners. The Khan moved down through the Magyar and Romani lands where their khans offered tribute, moving away from the Eflaks. The Uighurs then travelled through Translyvania, Ialomita and across the Danube to Dobruja. Near the border with Thrace was a small town of Edirne where the Khan of the Eflaks had gathered his forces of Magyars, Bulgars and Cossaks. Refusing to give ground to the Uighurs, the Eflak force of 44,000 men met the 60,000 commanded by Thakir. Fate was on Thakir’s side when the Bulgar wing was turned and the Eflak’s fled. Many were cut down in the ensuing pursuit as the Eflak pulled back to Ialomita; a mere four thousand horse surviving the battle with the losses on the Uighur side being only four thousand or so. Sadly, Thakir was mortally wounded and failed to survive the day to see victory become his. Many thought that the Grumash would not be the man that Thakir was, living in his shadow for so long, but despite his weakness he pulled the victorious Uighurs together and pushed onto their goal of Thrace. Thrace was heavily fortified with no less than thirty strategically placed forts and the Byzantine army of thirty thousand men on standby for just such an event. Again fate was on Grumash’s side as the Byzantine ruler, Theodore, was indecisive and foolish. He committed his best cavalry to the vanguard, only to see them cut down by the Uighur elite. The Uighurs then sliced through the Byzantine defences and slaughtered their army. Theodore himself was grievously wounded and managed to barely pull back to Constantinople with the remnant of his army, numbering six thousand heavy cavalry; the Uighurs lost a mere sixteen hundred light horse in the pursuit. Thrace was placed under the protection of Grumash.

THE MIDDLE EAST

Mercenaries
Troops:	5c,3xc,7i,2xi,3t,3w
AQRs:	i5, c6, s5, w3

Heyrenik'un Armeniam

(Roman Catholic Barbarian Non-Player Nation)
Hieriea Amirspala

With the troubled Oriental Roman Empire to the west, the Armenians looked east and south for new lands. Azerbijan, Arbiliq and Kurdistan were forcibly taken along with the city of Tabriz.

The Buwayid Sultanate

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Sufjan ibn Awud

Awud raised two thousand horse in Mesopotamia as well as greatly improving the sanitation of Mosul. A number of ageing members of the royal family were struck down at a feast to celebrate Prince Ayub’s introduction to court including Salena, Nedra Awud’s wife and Salena’s daughter Yasmin. Awud took control of the Sultanates army but passed away through old age shortly afterwards. Sufjan took control of the army from his dying father and man aged to sire a son. Omar travelled to Cilicia and gained an alliance with the region, albeit in tribute only. Osman was killed on the way to Adadan by bandits and so the Sultans plans for the region were unfulfilled. Hannad and Abdul-Nur concentrated on Edessa and persuaded Qumri to provide greater support for the Sultan in time of need.

NORTH AFRICA

Mercenaries
Troops:	3c,10xc,10i,5t,5w
AQRs:	i5, c6, s5, w3

Empire of Egypt

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Badr II

Badr II travelled to Damascus with the entire royal family and Mankides al Greki. His intention was to bring the Emirate into closer ties with the Fatamids dynasty. The hand of Nefarra, Maryam and Fatema were offered in marriage as well as the chance of brides for himself and his sons Badr, Zahid, Jabril and Zal. Fatema, a spinster for sixty-two years took poison rather than submit herself to such an ordeal - even if the marriage was supposed to be political. Shul'tan also accompanied the Sultan but suffered terribly on the journey north, passing away this cycle. Badr III took control of the Sultanate in case anything should happen to his ageing father and managed to sire a son. Roads were built between Thebes and Dongola and onto Axum. The word of the prophet was heard throughout the Sultanate and even further a field in the Rum Khanate as many were led to doubt the teachings of Rome. In far Axum, Assam oversaw the building of the new road, making sure that the rebellious natives did not stir. Zahid took command of the royal navy of sixty warships, accompanied by forty transports. A marine force of four thousand men was added to provide support. Zahid then set out for Sicily, landing on the beaches with his invasion force. He quickly pushed aside the local defences and suffered a minimal loss of twelve hundred men.

The Cypriot Pirates

(Sunni Islam Seafaring Religious Order)
Jamis,
Diplomacy: None

Content to spend their time at ease.

WESTERN EUROPE

Mercenaries
Troops:	38c,4ec,17hc,7hec,5ei,3hei,31hi,33i,2s,3ht,2t,19w
AQRs:	i5, c5, s4, w4

Das Deutches Konigsreich

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Frederick Barborossa, Holy Roman Emperor

The woods of Meissen were cleared and preparations for the transfer of the regions to the Uighurs was underway when Thakir moved his nation south. More grain was shipped to Orkney in exchange for gold. Frederick himself oversaw the defence of the Empire from Swabia, aided by Bruno. Muttaer Kramer returned from Franconia empty handed after the Uighurs had forcibly moved the population south with his tribe. A large sum of gold was returned to the Jewish bankers. Brankoening travelled north to Holstein and managed to gain a grudging acceptance of the Empires claim to the region.

Jarldom of Orkeneyjar

(Roman Catholic Seafaring Open Empire)
Bjorn Torvaldson, Jarl of Orkney

Large amounts of grain flowed into Kirkval from France and Germany. The walls of Kirkval were extended and improved along with the fortifications in the Hebrides. Some improvements were made to the streets of Armagh and regions of Ulster and Strathclyde. Any information on the whereabouts of Yngvarr, the rebellious prince, were beaten and cajoled out of his supporters at court. It seems he's escaped into Africa. Bjorn Torvaldson avoided the Icelandic patrols and under a flag of peace entered Armagh. Envoys were sent to the Icelandic king to talk to Bjorn in Armagh and a great banquet was made in their honour. The ageing Bjorn stumbled from his seat when the Icelandic envoys arrived - "Let out two Nordic peoples end this fratricidal raiding, and learn to live together, before our common enemy, the Saxon wolves, devour us separately" - he boomed out to the visitors. Many months of negotiations followed and eventually a treaty was sealed with the wedding of Wulfgar to an Icelandic princess. Lar Svenson was invested as the feudal lord of Armagh as reward for his imprisonment and given four hundred spears as his personal levy. He died before the cycles end. Harald and the charming Feric also attended the negotiations and helped secure the treaty - Iceland would no longer be at war with Orkney and would in fact provide Bjorn with gold to pursue his goals in accordance with the alliance between the two island nations.

Kingdom of Svear

(Roman Catholic Seafaring Open Empire)
Erik Gustafson, King of the Svear

Erik commissioned four new trading ships to be put to use on the most lucrative trade routes as well as opening trade with the Icelanders.. The road from Kopparberg to Uppsala was completed. Erik travelled to Segervik and persuaded the city to fully join the Kingdom before taking control of the army again in case of any invasion. Stalhandske travelled to Hordavil with armfuls of gold and the promise to complete the post road to Kopparberg but even with the help of Engelbrekt, his arguments fell on deaf Norwegian ears. Engelbrekt fell foul of the more dodgy parts of old Hordavil and was found floating in the dock one morning. Olaf returns to Uppsala after meeting Karl at Kopparberg and handing over the two thousand spears to him so he could travel up to Jamtland.

Norman Kingdom of France

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Louis VI, King of France

Much gold was sent from Orkneyjar in return for grain and supplies. The sanitation of Cherbourg preyed on Louis’s mind and was greatly improved. The royal road was completed between Cherbourg and Paris. The cleanliness of Cherbourg sorted, Louis settled down to married wife and a plenitude of children were born, providing him with many heirs to his kingdom. Prince Fulbert took a wife in Chmapagne and gained the support of the region. Poor Lionel dies in captivity in a Uighur prison. Lotulf was caught unawares by bandits in Vermandois and killed along with the able Bishop Adhemar.

Principality of Salerno

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Ricardo Castillo, Prince of Salerno

Ricardo furnished Naples with a new garrison of one thousand foot before moving back to Campania to oversee the Principality. He was blessed with a son and daughter before his wife died. Miguel Urbano managed to extract tribute form the Tuscans. Salerno was also making good progress in Sicily before the Egyptians arrived. They barely managed to escape the island before the Moslems captured them. Progress was made in Apulia in bringing the region closer to Naples. Thanks to the Papal efforts the breakaway kingdom of Savoy was destroyed and Savoy returned to Salernese control. Switzerland also came under Salerno’s influence when Scungili was defeated.

Saxon Kingdom of England

(Roman Catholic Civilized Open Empire)
Edward, King of England

Quiet times in the lands of England…

The Akramid Caliphate

(Sunni Islam Civilized Open Empire)
Mehkmod, Regent to the Caliph of the Akramids

Estremadura gained a mighty fortress south of Elvas while the orchards and fields of New Castille were greatly improved. Lisbon was joined to Elvas by a royal road. More converts were found in Galacia. Neema, daughter of Mohamar died suddenly at only thirty-eight. Mehkmod took control of the Caliphs army and aided by Akbar and Achmed kept a keen eye on the Caliphate’s borders. Shalmanser brought Badajoz fully into the Caliphate while Ali Ibn Salin was only successfully in claiming rights to Salamanca. The feudal ally of Talavera was not needed and the region dropped to a non-paying tributary.

The Kingdom of Spain

(Roman Catholic Civilized Non-Player Nation)
King of Spain

Spain pushed its borders out into Leon, Galacia and Gascony in an attempt to stop Akramid influence.

The Knights of Malta

(Roman Catholic Civilized Religious Order)
Grand Master Stephan

A large amount of gold was received from the Pope to help support the fledgling order. Two companies of engineers were raised in Valletta along with four light warships. Stephan oversaw the defence of the island from Valletta while Modesitt travelled back from Swabia. Modesitt contracted a flux on the journey across the Ionian Sea and died shortly after arriving in Malta.

The Papal States

(Roman Catholic Civilized Religious Primacy)
Pope Victor II

The Pope dispensed largess to the Western Romans and to the Knights of Malta before travelling north to Bohemia to spread the word of god to the heathen Uighur. He arrived to see the Uighur leaving and the remnants of the old Czech population coming in from the hills. The able Cardinal Lorenzo moved to aid Salerno in their time of needs. Unfortunately for the Savoyard’s this meant removing Scunguli from his new kingdom. Over six thousand Papal envoys descended on the hapless rebel and despite able aid from the Duke of Switzerland, the Savoyards were defeated and Scungili fled with the remnants of his army. The Papal losses were around fifteen hundred men, mainly foot but with some cavalry. While the Savoyard losses came from the few fortresses protecting the countryside. The Duke of Switzerland bowed to the Papal banner and pledged to aid the Pope in time of trouble. However, on the ceding of the newly conquered lands back to Salerno, the Swiss committed to allow the Salernese free access only. Latium was greatly improved in the hope of better harvests in the starving Papal States.

United Isles of Iceland & Eire

(Roman Catholic Seafaring Non-Player Nation)
Sven Olafson

Despite his misgivings, Sven was swayed by the Orkney’s offer. No longer would the two island kingdoms be enemies but instead the Icelander’s would offer Kirkval tribute for their protection from English aggression.

AFRICA

Mercenaries
Troops:	10i, 5c, 5s, 5w, 5t
AQRs:	i5, c4, s3, w1

Usama-Yoruba Onium of Ibo

(African Pagan Civilised Open Empire)
M'Bwanza, The Curious, King of the Ibo

The regions of Zerma, Gurma, Niete and Kam benefited greatly from M’Bwanza’s hand. Much wilderness was cleared and the lands put under the plow. A'Damana marries a Gagnoan princess. M'Bwanza marries locally and has several children before his wife dies in childbirth. Gagnoa and Zaria willing join with the kingdom. Itogo spent many a month searching the shadows for anything untoward but came to the conclusion that the kingdom was safe from the enemy within.

Meanwhile in deepest southern Africa….

To the glory of Unkulunkulu, the highest of all and the creator of all humanity, the Emperor of the Mwene-Mutapa consecrated a glorious shrine in Great Zimbabwe. Out of Uhlanga he came with the gift of life and it is only fitting that the Mwene-Mutapa will spread his word to all nations.

Elsewhere…

The Mongols moved to incorporate the Tatars, Buryats, Liao and Merkits within the great khan’s domain. The Wadai Bedouins moved out to the oases of Ayn Al-Ghazal, Al-Kurfan and Yanaka-Dhinga. Gezira was enslaved and the Coptic replaced by loyal tribesmen.