marcopolonian Member
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Huh, this might be a bit of a problem. Should we allow people to play as multiple countries, then? I probably shouldn't, though, since there's a bit of a conflict of interest between Cumania and either the HRE or the Seljuqs.
Alright, I decided that the Kara-Khanid Khanate (whom I erroneously called "Emirate of Khiva") has converted to Zoroastrianism instead of Islam in this timeline. That way the confederation can start by diverting all its warriors to Hungary, instead of splitting them up. The tribes north of the confederation are still Muslim, however, since that direction wasn't impeded by the Sassanians.
I don't think I'll start the IC myself, since Khan Saru is planning a very reactive strategy. Also, maybe we should wait until at the very least, someone signs up as the Seljuqs. They were pretty important, to put it mildly. We should also wait for the Holy Roman Empire.
I don't think I'll start the IC myself, since Khan Saru is planning a very reactive strategy. Also, maybe we should wait until at the very least, someone signs up as the Seljuqs. They were pretty important, to put it mildly. We should also wait for the Holy Roman Empire.
Awesome, thanks! Should I repost my character sheet in the OOC to make things simpler?
Say, Dinh AaronMk, the Emirate of Khiva is north of Persia (though also north of Khwarezem, which you stated was taken by the Turks). Since Khiva is pretty close to you, if you want, they can have converted to Zoroastrianism instead of Islam in this alternate history. That would mean that it would be the Sassanian Empire's obligation to help Khiva instead of the Seljuks if they happened to be invaded by Tengri invaders from the north.
EDIT: Also, could there be a non-Abrahamic faith counterpart to the Crusader and Jihad Updates?
EDITEDIT: And I'll also put my sheet here. I'm altering some details, based on both Dinh's response and some more research (the Emirate of Khiva is actually called the Kara-Khanid Khanate, apparently; I just got the name "Emirate of Khiva" from Crusader Kings II):
Name of Country: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation, known to Christian kingdoms as "Cumania" and to Islamic kingdoms as "Desht-i Qipchaq"
Religion: Tengriism
Leader: Khan Saru
Flag (actually, Coat of Arms):
Is it apart of the Crusades: No
History: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation was the dominant political entity in the westernmost portion of the Eurasian Steppe. As its name implies, it was a confederation of tribes, over which two Turkic nomadic tribes were dominant: the Kipchak, who lived in the eastern half, and the Cumans, who lived in the western. The name "Cumania" is in fact just an exonym given to it by the Christian kingdoms it bordered to the west, who only ever saw Cumans; Islamic sources instead give it the name "Desht-i Qipchaq", or "Steppe of the Kipchaks".
The confederation of tribes had never politically unified into a single strong nation state. The tribes met as a council and answered to each other, and would aid each other at times, defending the whole confederation from outside forces, but they had usually just administered their own areas, sticking to their own politics. The great Khan Saru, khan of the Cumans and current head of the confederation, urgently sought to change this. He saw the kings to the west and the sultans to the south. He had witnessed firsthand their infrastructure and their castles. Though his advisers scoff at the notion of giving up the nomadic ways and instituting such foolhardy ideas as fiefdoms and titles, he had seen the power of the Byzantine Empire. And he believed the first step was to unite all of the believers in the true Gods, Tengri the Sky-Father and Eje the Earth-Mother, under one organized religion.
The Tengri faith was under attack, Saru believed. Each day another one of his best men would turn to the heathen faiths in the south and the west. Mohammedans, Christians, Zoroastrians, all seeking to establish new religious institutions to further propagate their non-belief in the Sky-Father. Already some tribes to the north have converted to Islam entirely, and their prowess in fighting against the confederation has increased tremendously because of it. His shamans, having procured the various religious texts from raids of the Christians and Mohammedans, say the best way to fight back is with a text of their very own about the legends of the Sky-Father and Earth-Mother, one that every tribe leader will be ordered to read and memorize. However, they say that the only way all of the tribesmen would truly be dedicated to this newly-organized faith is with a show of Saru's own dedication to the faith - he would have to take back important Tengri shrines within the Christian Kingdom of Hungary and the Zoroastrian Karakhanids.
With the Karakhanids neighboring the great Sassanian Empire and Hungary nestled next to the giant Holy Roman Empire, Saru was at a loss of what he could do; a strike at either could be interpreted by their more powerful neighbor as a threat to the religion itself. However, with the severe weakening of the confederation's southwestern neighbor by the newly-proclaimed Sultanate of Rum, and the gearing of all of Christiandom to strike back at this invader, Saru began to see an opening...
Extra: As a confederation of nomadic tribes, its borders are very ambiguous and contested, but the Cumans border the Christian kingdom of Hungary, while the Kipchaks are bordered to the south by the Karakhanids (whom I'd previously called the Emirate of Khiva). Khan Saru plans to invade the Kingdom of Hungary while the Catholics are distracted by their participation in the First Crusade, and perhaps the Karakhanids too, if the Sassanian Empire decides it wants Mesopotamia back from the Seljuks while they're distracted by this war. He'll need the participation of the Kipchak tribe to the east, however, and that won't be an easy task. Khan Saru is primarily head of the Cumans, and the Kipchaks will count as a mostly-separate political entity.
Note that this takes a lot of inspiration from Crusader Kings II (since you have that music from the game and such). In Crusader Kings II, to reform a pagan religion, one must either own all 5 of a pagan religion's Holy Sites, or own 3 out of 5 Holy Sites, and have 750 Piety and 50% moral authority in the religion. As you can probably guess, for Tengriism, one of those is in Hungary while the other is in the Karakhanid-controlled land. The other three, at the time of the First Crusade, are all controlled by Cumania.
EDIT: Also, could there be a non-Abrahamic faith counterpart to the Crusader and Jihad Updates?
EDITEDIT: And I'll also put my sheet here. I'm altering some details, based on both Dinh's response and some more research (the Emirate of Khiva is actually called the Kara-Khanid Khanate, apparently; I just got the name "Emirate of Khiva" from Crusader Kings II):
Name of Country: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation, known to Christian kingdoms as "Cumania" and to Islamic kingdoms as "Desht-i Qipchaq"
Religion: Tengriism
Leader: Khan Saru
Flag (actually, Coat of Arms):
Is it apart of the Crusades: No
History: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation was the dominant political entity in the westernmost portion of the Eurasian Steppe. As its name implies, it was a confederation of tribes, over which two Turkic nomadic tribes were dominant: the Kipchak, who lived in the eastern half, and the Cumans, who lived in the western. The name "Cumania" is in fact just an exonym given to it by the Christian kingdoms it bordered to the west, who only ever saw Cumans; Islamic sources instead give it the name "Desht-i Qipchaq", or "Steppe of the Kipchaks".
The confederation of tribes had never politically unified into a single strong nation state. The tribes met as a council and answered to each other, and would aid each other at times, defending the whole confederation from outside forces, but they had usually just administered their own areas, sticking to their own politics. The great Khan Saru, khan of the Cumans and current head of the confederation, urgently sought to change this. He saw the kings to the west and the sultans to the south. He had witnessed firsthand their infrastructure and their castles. Though his advisers scoff at the notion of giving up the nomadic ways and instituting such foolhardy ideas as fiefdoms and titles, he had seen the power of the Byzantine Empire. And he believed the first step was to unite all of the believers in the true Gods, Tengri the Sky-Father and Eje the Earth-Mother, under one organized religion.
The Tengri faith was under attack, Saru believed. Each day another one of his best men would turn to the heathen faiths in the south and the west. Mohammedans, Christians, Zoroastrians, all seeking to establish new religious institutions to further propagate their non-belief in the Sky-Father. Already some tribes to the north have converted to Islam entirely, and their prowess in fighting against the confederation has increased tremendously because of it. His shamans, having procured the various religious texts from raids of the Christians and Mohammedans, say the best way to fight back is with a text of their very own about the legends of the Sky-Father and Earth-Mother, one that every tribe leader will be ordered to read and memorize. However, they say that the only way all of the tribesmen would truly be dedicated to this newly-organized faith is with a show of Saru's own dedication to the faith - he would have to take back important Tengri shrines within the Christian Kingdom of Hungary and the Zoroastrian Karakhanids.
With the Karakhanids neighboring the great Sassanian Empire and Hungary nestled next to the giant Holy Roman Empire, Saru was at a loss of what he could do; a strike at either could be interpreted by their more powerful neighbor as a threat to the religion itself. However, with the severe weakening of the confederation's southwestern neighbor by the newly-proclaimed Sultanate of Rum, and the gearing of all of Christiandom to strike back at this invader, Saru began to see an opening...
Extra: As a confederation of nomadic tribes, its borders are very ambiguous and contested, but the Cumans border the Christian kingdom of Hungary, while the Kipchaks are bordered to the south by the Karakhanids (whom I'd previously called the Emirate of Khiva). Khan Saru plans to invade the Kingdom of Hungary while the Catholics are distracted by their participation in the First Crusade, and perhaps the Karakhanids too, if the Sassanian Empire decides it wants Mesopotamia back from the Seljuks while they're distracted by this war. He'll need the participation of the Kipchak tribe to the east, however, and that won't be an easy task. Khan Saru is primarily head of the Cumans, and the Kipchaks will count as a mostly-separate political entity.
Note that this takes a lot of inspiration from Crusader Kings II (since you have that music from the game and such). In Crusader Kings II, to reform a pagan religion, one must either own all 5 of a pagan religion's Holy Sites, or own 3 out of 5 Holy Sites, and have 750 Piety and 50% moral authority in the religion. As you can probably guess, for Tengriism, one of those is in Hungary while the other is in the Karakhanid-controlled land. The other three, at the time of the First Crusade, are all controlled by Cumania.
I see you have displayed music from Crusader Kings II. Note that much of my application takes inspiration from Crusader Kings II, though it is also the result of some research.
Name of Country: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation, or "Cumania"
Religion: Tengriism
Leader: Khan Saru
Flag:
Is it apart of the Crusades: No
History: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation was the dominant political entity in the westernmost portion of the Eurasian Steppe. As its name implies, it was a confederation of tribes, over which two Turkic nomadic tribes were dominant: the Kipchak, who lived in the eastern half, and the Cumans, who lived in the western. The name "Cumania" is in fact just an exonym given to it by the Christian kingdoms it bordered to the west, who only ever saw Cumans; Islamic sources instead give it the name "Desht-i Qipchaq", or "Steppe of the Kipchaks".
The confederation of tribes had never politically unified into a single strong nation state. The tribes met as a council and answered to each other, and would aid each other at times, defending the whole confederation from outside forces, but they had usually just administered their own areas, sticking to their own politics. The great Khan Saru, khan of the Cumans and current head of the confederation, urgently sought to change this. He saw the kings to the west and the sultans to the south. He had witnessed firsthand their infrastructure and their castles. Though his advisers scoff at the notion of giving up the nomadic ways and instituting such foolhardy ideas as fiefdoms and titles, he had seen the power of the Byzantine Empire. And he believed the first step was to unite all of the believers in the true Gods, Tengri the Sky-Father and Eje the Earth-Mother, under one organized religion.
The Tengri faith was under attack, Saru believed. Each day another one of his best men would turn to the heathen faiths in the south and the west. Mohammedans, Christians, Zoroastrians, all seeking to establish new religious institutions to further propagate their non-belief in the Sky-Father. Already some tribes to the north have converted to Islam entirely, and their prowess in fighting against the confederation has increased tremendously because of it. His shamans, having procured the various religious texts from raids of the Christians and Mohammedans, say the best way to fight back is with a text of their very own about the legends of the Sky-Father and Earth-Mother, one that every tribesman will be ordered to read and memorize. However, they say that the only way all of the tribesmen would truly be dedicated to this newly-organized faith is with a show of Saru's own dedication to the faith - he would have to take back the proper Tengri holy sites within the Kingdom of Hungary and the Emirate of Khiva.
With Khiva neighboring the giant Seljuk-controlled lands and Hungary nestled next to the giant Holy Roman Empire, Saru was at a loss of what he could do. However, with the severe weakening of the confederation's southern neighbor by the newly-proclaimed Sultanate of Rum, and the gearing of all of Christiandom to strike back at this invader, Saru began to see an opening...
Extra: As a confederation of nomadic tribes, its borders are very ambiguous and contested, but its westernmost tribes border the Christian kingdom of Hungary, while its easternmost tribes are bordered to the south by the Emirate of Khiva. Khan Saru plans to invade the Kingdom of Hungary and the Emirate of Khiva while both the Catholics and the Sunnis are distracted by their participation in the First Crusade. He'll need the participation of the Kipchak tribe to the east, however, and that won't be an easy task.
In Crusader Kings II, to reform a pagan religion, one must either own all 5 of a pagan religion's Holy Sites, or own 3 out of 5 Holy Sites, and have 750 Piety and 50% moral authority in the religion. As you can probably guess, for Tengriism, one of those is in Hungary while the other is in Khiva. The other three, at the time of the First Crusade, are all controlled by Cumania.
Name of Country: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation, or "Cumania"
Religion: Tengriism
Leader: Khan Saru
Flag:
Is it apart of the Crusades: No
History: The Cuman-Kipchak Confederation was the dominant political entity in the westernmost portion of the Eurasian Steppe. As its name implies, it was a confederation of tribes, over which two Turkic nomadic tribes were dominant: the Kipchak, who lived in the eastern half, and the Cumans, who lived in the western. The name "Cumania" is in fact just an exonym given to it by the Christian kingdoms it bordered to the west, who only ever saw Cumans; Islamic sources instead give it the name "Desht-i Qipchaq", or "Steppe of the Kipchaks".
The confederation of tribes had never politically unified into a single strong nation state. The tribes met as a council and answered to each other, and would aid each other at times, defending the whole confederation from outside forces, but they had usually just administered their own areas, sticking to their own politics. The great Khan Saru, khan of the Cumans and current head of the confederation, urgently sought to change this. He saw the kings to the west and the sultans to the south. He had witnessed firsthand their infrastructure and their castles. Though his advisers scoff at the notion of giving up the nomadic ways and instituting such foolhardy ideas as fiefdoms and titles, he had seen the power of the Byzantine Empire. And he believed the first step was to unite all of the believers in the true Gods, Tengri the Sky-Father and Eje the Earth-Mother, under one organized religion.
The Tengri faith was under attack, Saru believed. Each day another one of his best men would turn to the heathen faiths in the south and the west. Mohammedans, Christians, Zoroastrians, all seeking to establish new religious institutions to further propagate their non-belief in the Sky-Father. Already some tribes to the north have converted to Islam entirely, and their prowess in fighting against the confederation has increased tremendously because of it. His shamans, having procured the various religious texts from raids of the Christians and Mohammedans, say the best way to fight back is with a text of their very own about the legends of the Sky-Father and Earth-Mother, one that every tribesman will be ordered to read and memorize. However, they say that the only way all of the tribesmen would truly be dedicated to this newly-organized faith is with a show of Saru's own dedication to the faith - he would have to take back the proper Tengri holy sites within the Kingdom of Hungary and the Emirate of Khiva.
With Khiva neighboring the giant Seljuk-controlled lands and Hungary nestled next to the giant Holy Roman Empire, Saru was at a loss of what he could do. However, with the severe weakening of the confederation's southern neighbor by the newly-proclaimed Sultanate of Rum, and the gearing of all of Christiandom to strike back at this invader, Saru began to see an opening...
Extra: As a confederation of nomadic tribes, its borders are very ambiguous and contested, but its westernmost tribes border the Christian kingdom of Hungary, while its easternmost tribes are bordered to the south by the Emirate of Khiva. Khan Saru plans to invade the Kingdom of Hungary and the Emirate of Khiva while both the Catholics and the Sunnis are distracted by their participation in the First Crusade. He'll need the participation of the Kipchak tribe to the east, however, and that won't be an easy task.
In Crusader Kings II, to reform a pagan religion, one must either own all 5 of a pagan religion's Holy Sites, or own 3 out of 5 Holy Sites, and have 750 Piety and 50% moral authority in the religion. As you can probably guess, for Tengriism, one of those is in Hungary while the other is in Khiva. The other three, at the time of the First Crusade, are all controlled by Cumania.
I feel like I might have spent more time with my crash-course in Latin grammar than any other part of that. (Though I most likely butchered the language anyways.)
Out of character, I'm really kind of aiming for someone to notice Mariana's snooping. I think I might have taken too many liberties, at least regarding the envelope, though. Draexzhan, the contents of the envelope are entirely up to you (anything from "junk mail" to "proof that the DEPTH corporation was behind the assassination of JFK", or even "completely empty" would be fine). I could also just edit the envelope out if you don't want it there.
Out of character, I'm really kind of aiming for someone to notice Mariana's snooping. I think I might have taken too many liberties, at least regarding the envelope, though. Draexzhan, the contents of the envelope are entirely up to you (anything from "junk mail" to "proof that the DEPTH corporation was behind the assassination of JFK", or even "completely empty" would be fine). I could also just edit the envelope out if you don't want it there.
Mariana was aghast. What had Amelia done to her? No amount of self-justification could change the fact that she wasn't acting like herself back there. Now she would have to travel with Amelia throughout the region. Though a small, detestable part of her felt joy at this, Mariana was dreading the upcoming days that she'd be subjected to further psychological attacks.
It'll be alright, Mariana told herself. Just keep reminding yourself just how beneath you she his, and you'll be fine.
So what had she come inside for again? Ah, right, a Pokedex.
The rest of the flock were crowding around the pile of Pokedexes, so Mariana waited until they had mostly dispersed before grabbing one for herself.
So this is a Pokedex. It's fairly bland that the only color is red, she thought - if it were up to her, no Pokedex's color scheme would match another among the new trainers. Honestly, she had no interest in documenting all Pokemon. Why do something that so many others have done? Then again, that's how she viewed Pokemon journeys, yet here she was. So, out of curiosity, she turned it on.
Silence.
That's... odd. The other trainers' Pokedexes were all describing their starter Pokemon for them in a deep and soothing voice - miles better than the robot voice the TV shows give the thing, she admitted - so why wasn't hers?
Could it be because Lancelot was currently still outside with Amelia? Yeah, nice going there, genius, leaving your Pokemon with your greatest threat. She had to admit it was not her greatest move. Was it good form for a Pokemon trainer to completely forget about a Pokemon outside its Pokeball? Probably not.
Come to think of it, though she'd brought the subject up as a joke... what was good form for a Pokemon trainer? She knew very little on the subject of Pokemon husbandry. Was this just something kids were expected to know, the intricacies of taming a crazed Vigoroth? Again, she didn't know why Pokemon journeys were so tolerated in a civilized world.
It would probably be best for her to research the topic, then, lest Lancelot turn against his master. Or die, that wouldn't be too good either. Just a simple self-help book would do, though Mariana was averse to such a middle-class genre. The lab was filled with books scattered everywhere, surely one would help her.
Confident she wouldn't be caught amidst everything else going on in the room (and preparing an excuse in case she did), she examined a disorganized bookshelf. It held books generally about Pokemon biology, in no particular order. Elmian reproduction, Darwinian metamorphosis, even some science fiction.
In the end she chose Pocamona Draconum, by Doctor Daniel Ray Agon, if only because she was a sucker for New Latin.
Next to the book was a small envelope (though envelopes, loose papers and bookmarks were strewn about the bookshelf all over, so it wasn't out of the ordinary). Pretending to do so accidentally, she grabbed both the book and the envelope with one hand and pulled them from the bookshelf. Then, after finding a seat for herself, she slipped the envelope into the book, opened the book, and began reading.
It'll be alright, Mariana told herself. Just keep reminding yourself just how beneath you she his, and you'll be fine.
So what had she come inside for again? Ah, right, a Pokedex.
The rest of the flock were crowding around the pile of Pokedexes, so Mariana waited until they had mostly dispersed before grabbing one for herself.
So this is a Pokedex. It's fairly bland that the only color is red, she thought - if it were up to her, no Pokedex's color scheme would match another among the new trainers. Honestly, she had no interest in documenting all Pokemon. Why do something that so many others have done? Then again, that's how she viewed Pokemon journeys, yet here she was. So, out of curiosity, she turned it on.
Silence.
That's... odd. The other trainers' Pokedexes were all describing their starter Pokemon for them in a deep and soothing voice - miles better than the robot voice the TV shows give the thing, she admitted - so why wasn't hers?
Could it be because Lancelot was currently still outside with Amelia? Yeah, nice going there, genius, leaving your Pokemon with your greatest threat. She had to admit it was not her greatest move. Was it good form for a Pokemon trainer to completely forget about a Pokemon outside its Pokeball? Probably not.
Come to think of it, though she'd brought the subject up as a joke... what was good form for a Pokemon trainer? She knew very little on the subject of Pokemon husbandry. Was this just something kids were expected to know, the intricacies of taming a crazed Vigoroth? Again, she didn't know why Pokemon journeys were so tolerated in a civilized world.
It would probably be best for her to research the topic, then, lest Lancelot turn against his master. Or die, that wouldn't be too good either. Just a simple self-help book would do, though Mariana was averse to such a middle-class genre. The lab was filled with books scattered everywhere, surely one would help her.
Confident she wouldn't be caught amidst everything else going on in the room (and preparing an excuse in case she did), she examined a disorganized bookshelf. It held books generally about Pokemon biology, in no particular order. Elmian reproduction, Darwinian metamorphosis, even some science fiction.
In the end she chose Pocamona Draconum, by Doctor Daniel Ray Agon, if only because she was a sucker for New Latin.
Next to the book was a small envelope (though envelopes, loose papers and bookmarks were strewn about the bookshelf all over, so it wasn't out of the ordinary). Pretending to do so accidentally, she grabbed both the book and the envelope with one hand and pulled them from the bookshelf. Then, after finding a seat for herself, she slipped the envelope into the book, opened the book, and began reading.
Crimson Flame said
Another interest check? Did this thread even have a first interest check? If it did, I missed it because I saw this thread first and joined immediately. xD
Wait, I may be misremembering that. Well, should we make a first interest check, then?
EDIT: Well, things came up and I was unable to complete my post today. I have half of the post done, though, and it'll be finished tomorrow.
I am still here. I'm going to post something tomorrow (for some reason I had mistakenly thought that I already got a Pokedex, and thus that there was nothing for me to do, until I reviewed the IC). Sorry for my inactivity.
EDIT: Does anyone have a list of which characters are still in this RP? I'm worried I might mistakenly interact with a character whose player is no longer in the RP. I'm currently compiling a list and will edit it here when I finish it, but if someone already has one, that'd be fine as well.
Also, does anyone have ideas on how to reinvigorate this RP? Should we do another interest check, maybe? As a Watsonian explanation (warning, TV Tropes link!), such a globally-advertised event as this would probably have more than just a single ship for participants. The downside is that it kind of restricts Professor Willow, as he'll have to welcome more newcomers.
EDIT: Does anyone have a list of which characters are still in this RP? I'm worried I might mistakenly interact with a character whose player is no longer in the RP. I'm currently compiling a list and will edit it here when I finish it, but if someone already has one, that'd be fine as well.
Also, does anyone have ideas on how to reinvigorate this RP? Should we do another interest check, maybe? As a Watsonian explanation (warning, TV Tropes link!), such a globally-advertised event as this would probably have more than just a single ship for participants. The downside is that it kind of restricts Professor Willow, as he'll have to welcome more newcomers.
Well, I'm still here.
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