Broken Crescent 2.02 New Beginnings Diplomacy Thread

[aslanamca]

KoJ needs to kill off all of the Generals, or should I say rats... If you leave them un-attended, they might grow back rapidly... Press down your heel and finish them off!

You will see by the helps of merciful Allah,we will kill all the christ dogs.We still have power to do that.KoJ is now very weak in military.

Pure luck I say, soon you will be destroyed.

We still have power,also we are really strong in economics.Let us see who will be destroyed.

[Commander Ruunu]

Weak I am surely not. Only one who is weak here is you. If they will offer me no favorable peace then they WILL be destroyed. Next turn they shall witness destruction not seen before.

[aslanamca]

we will see.Allah is on our side.

[Kaizer Merlox]

The Kypchak would raise a brow...

Who is Allah?

[aslanamca]

you will see who is allah when you die.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Somewhere in the mountains, next to a fire, an old herdsman is playing on his lute, while a young boy is paying close attention to a few shish kebabs of lamb meat. The old man's eyes are closed, his expression calm and he makes no movement except for his right hand, which is masterfully guiding the bow over the strings.
- Grandpa, what song is that - I recognize the melody, but I cannot remember the words - says the buy, while turning the shish kebabs.
- This is a song about Prince Turanshah my child - the one who was not destined for the throne, but spent his whole life fighting for his father and brothers.
- Grandpa, would you tell me the story?
- Why not? It is a story every man needs to know - the story of Sultan Arslanshah, Tegin Togrul, the Princes Turanshah and Shams of Balkh and the Winter War. It was during a cold, snowy winter such as this...

...It was barely a year since Sultan Arslanshah ascended to the throne. His natural charisma quickly gained support among the common folk, but his generals and his own brothers questioned his determination to lead the Hordes, and so did some rulers from abroad. One of them was the ever greedy Georgian King Giorgi, who looked upon the Turk's lands like a hawk looks down upon a flock of chickens.

Ever since the tragedy at Didgori, where Ilghazi's men were slaughtered by the infidels, the Georgians started roaming the mountains to the North-West as hungry wolves, attacking our kinsmen and pushing them further and further away. King Giorgi's men overran the lands known as Arran, and his men stopped only when they reached the shores of the Caspian. He then sent a message to the divan in Rayy, claiming that here is where he will set the border between Georgia and the Turks, and that he means no harm to the Sultan's lands from this day on. Wishing to live in peace, the wise Sultan Arsanshah accepted, but warned Giorgi not to play with fire - which reminds me, please take those kebabs out, or they will burn.

Sultan Arslanshah had a natural ability for numbers, and soon afterwards when he heard of negotiations between the Kypchaqs from the Northern Steppes and King Giorgi, he sent advice to his neighbor, warning him to measure things carefully. But Giorgi had more vices than just greed - he was too proud, and he had little regard for measurements and mathematics. Those of his weaknesses caused him to feel offended and in his rage and greed, he set his men upon the descendents of Seljuk and Alp Arslan - a great miscalculation, which did him in.

Without warning, he gathered an army in Yerevan, and then took the city of Tabriz by surprise and cunning. So proud was he of this accomplishment, that in his blind arrogance he demanded the stronghold of Ardabil, on the shores of the Caspian, or threatened to continue his attacks.

But when you play with a sleeping arslan (lion), you are going to get mauled, sooner or later. News of the attack reached the Sultan and in his desperation, he turned to the great hero Shams of Balkh, who he had adopted as his own son. He sent a messenger to Shams with a plea - "Retake Tabriz immediately and at any cost!" Not even having time to organize an army, Shams gathered his Bagaturs and galloped straight to the burnt city.

Their anger at the Georgian opressors was so great that the citizens of Tabriz opened the gates for our hero, who stormed inside as the foe was drinking in celebration of its recent conquest. In the ensuing fight, with Allah's help, Shams managed to destroy the entire Georgian army in a miraculous victory.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Unfortunately, Giorgi had managed to escape, choosing a shameful retreat instead of a fight. Shams rushed to the North, where he destroyed a small band of Armenian raiders, from whom he learned that the cowardly Georgian King is running to hide behind Yerevan's walls, fearing for his life. Shams was determined to capture him and make him answer for his crimes, but he was too late - another Turk hero got to Giorgi before him.

The Sultan's second son - Turanshah, who was protecting the border of the Sultanate against the Kurds, learned of the Georgian invasion even before his father, and with his horde marched straight to the North, cutting any hopes of escape for the enemy. His men caught up with the fleeing Giorgi and having nowhere to turn, the infidel was forced into a battle.

Giorgi had with him a large retinue of hand picked fighters from across his realm, but even so he was badly outnumbered, and soon his men started falling to the hail of arrows, unleashed upon him from all sides. In his frustration, Giorgi let out a fierce battle cry and charged at our men, but by the time he reached their lines only several of his men were still standing. Turanshah himself managed to close in and before Giorgi could swing his sword, he smashed the infidel's head with his mace, sending him to Hell to be judged for his crimes.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But the danger was not gone - a large army under another one of the Bagrationis was gathering in Shamakha, ready to swarm upon Ardabil and Qazvin from the North. Tegin Toghrul gathered the Sultanate's army, as a true descendent of Alp Arslan should, and marched to meet the infidels. On his way, his men happened upon a Georgian spy. Before he was killed, the spy revealed a secret pass to Shamakha.

Under the cover of night, Tegin Toghrul stormed the city through the hidden passageway, and in a fierce battle the Turks were victorious. Our men were lead by the Aguilani horsemen from Arran and Shirwan, who fought with double fervor as they wanted to free their homeland from the infidels.

Just West of the town a small fortification with some Cuman mercenaries was also overrun. The Cumans are similar to us in their way of live and their skills with the horse and bow. However, they have still not seen the light, and their heathen ways doomed them on this clear winter day, when they were slaughtered to the last man.

Tegin Toghrul then saw the Georgian heir out in the open, but decided to spare his life, as he was not among those guilty of spilling Turks' blood. "Let him ride away - he said to his men - and never return".

When the news of these feats reached Sultan Arslanshah, it was as if a huge burden was lifted of his shoulders, and his mood changed like the clouds giving way to a bright sun after a downpour. He sent a diplomat to the new Georgian ruler, King Demetre.

"It is said in the Quran: "We show signs to those who understand them". Heed us now if you wish to avoid the fate of your late father.

We set out to live in peace with your people, but you violated this accord, and attacked us out of greed and vanity. Perhaps you thought us weak and follish - now you know we are neither.

In taking Tabriz, you have caused us much harm and destruction. It will take us generations to repair what was lost, and for this reason we demand a fair compensation - we have already taken Shamakha, and hereby we demand the small town of Ganja. The lands of Arran, Shirwan and Azerbaidjan have belonged to my forefathers for more than a century - they are inhabited my Muslims, and as such they belong to us. A lasting peace can only be established when those lands are returned to their rightful owners.

Your father and one of your best generals have been slain, your best spy executed, your main army destroyed, your fortifications captured. Nothing stands in our way to your capital. It is not our intention to make you and your people suffer for the mistakes of your father, so we will give you a chance to save your Kingdom - return Ganja to us, remove your spies from our lands, and remove your forts and your troops from Arran immediately, and not only shall we grant you peace, but we shall also establish trade for the benefit of all.

Should you disregard the voice of reason, we will be forced to take up the Ghazavat and Kakheti, Kartli and Armenia will be trampled under the hooves of our hordes.

Sultan Arslanshah"

With this, the old man finishes his story. The boy's voice breaks the silence:
- Grandpa, did the infidel King accept?
- This is anothers tory my son, and I am getting hungry - pass me those kebabs.
- But Grandpa, how do you know this is true?
- Here, come with me - says the old men and goes inside his yurt. There, from an old chest he takes out an object wrapped in a peace of crimson cloth. He unrolls the cloth and the shiny blade of watered steel is reflected in the boy's dark eyes.
- This kindjal, I took from one of King Giorgi's retainers, whom I killed myself that day when we rode with Prince Turanshah. The red cloth is from his cape - all of Giorgi's men had red capes to signify their status, but at the end of the battle, I was not sure if this was their natural color, or if they were soaked in their own blood.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[barcamartin]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

OOC: Very, very well-written! Impressive! Thanks for the good read!

[Bohun]

Impressive As I see U`re very good in "war of agents", but we have to decline my sultan. Georgians bravery maybe is blind and doomed, but we prefer to die in fire, then live under huge shadow of Seljuk. We knew, that in this case our chances for victory are small or worse, but despite this we tried to catch this little chance U killed our king, our heir and U offered us to live in poor and dust...!? This situation with Shamakha is little controversial,`cause I had there a good general, or my heir (already forgot) and despite this U`ve opened the gates with spy(or few spies). Playing HS with rules "full spies active" for small country as Georgia or Armenia, is almost no sense with all bugs and tricks available in this game

Regards

[Kavhan Isbul]

The Georgian Heir is intact just outside a fort - how long will he live depends on him and his own actions. The army in Shamakha had a general. Since an invasion was threatened with this army, it had to be destroyed, regardless of who was leading it - I am sure this is understood.

Georgia indeed does not have a great chance against some of its mightier neighbors, but this is exactly the reason why the Georgians should pick their fights carefully.

[Kaizer Merlox]

The Khan warned the Georgians not to go to war with the Seljuk Empire. We insist that the Cuman Khanate will not send support to Georgia, As this was a defensive alliance. We wish to remain Neutral in this conflict.

OOC: Very well written Kavhan, You are an excellent writer, And I've repped you. Good job!

[Bohun]

No Merlox, the mainly problem are the rules, which allows spies to be fully active. Nation like Georgia even, when starts build the brothel in first turn, is still under level with Kipchaks and Seljuks. In my opinion thing which will make the game more fair to play, is to allow open the gates by spies only with rebels cities/castles. Small nation like main, left alone by their ally had to fight with few times stronger opponent - almost always finishes with a disaster m8 In my opinion load/unload a game in putting the spies inside the city/castle is like :wub:

[Kaizer Merlox]

Excuse me? You said that Georgia was below Kypchaks? I started with just 1 city, and 2 castles. My army consists of units with mainly 400 to 800 upkeep, and my settlements are WAY further apart than yours. I've been blitzing. not loafing around.

-_-

[Bohun]

Excuse me? You said that Georgia was below Kypchaks? I started with just 1 city, and 2 castles. My army consists of units with mainly 400 to 800 upkeep, and my settlements are WAY further apart than yours. I've been blitzing. not loafing around.

-_-

1 city and 2 castles...I`ve started with 2 cities and 1 castle Never-mind, but watch yours possibilities - like bonuses armies on high skill level/experience after united the steps, and rich, big rebels cities around (Majar, both Crimea and Derbent). I don't want fight for who is better at start position, or worse. Mainly problem is the "wars of spies" . Besides I`ve signed to play with these rules and I'll finish with "full spies active"

Regards and Peace forever

[Sarkiss]

Armenians cannot help but admire actions of a bold, and daring if somewhat reckless Georgian king.
it takes guts to stand up to a Seljuk juggernaut.

(spies opening gates is a big screw up so is rule allowing manual battles. seeing how 20 men snick into the city and manage to butcher 300 men is just ridiculous and plain stupid. same goes on in an ongoing Jerusalem-Ayyubid war. thats my first and last HS with such rules. pardon my OT)

[TriforceV]

Excuse me
I would appreciate we stop talking about the spy complications. Prior to the start of this campaign i discussed with everyone the pro/con's of spies, and offered several alternatives to this rule

The discussion therefor has long passed, and the majority rule has been decided, despite my attempts to have gone a different path.

Nevertheless, whining and complaining about it this late in the game serves no purpose, therefore I ask that people refrain from slamming this game on something that has already been discussed and finalized by the majority.

Thank you.

[Kaizer Merlox]

Guys.. cmon, Theres 2 2.02 games going on, 1 with spies, and 1 with out, so please don't say the rules bout spies... If you want no spies, Civic games has that perfectly.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Thanks to all who have repped my post - I actually put a lot of time and effort into it and I am glad you like it.

[CtrlAltDe1337]

I, the Emperor of Constantinople, ruler of the Romans and defender of the faith, wish to formally announce a declaration of war against the Turkish Sultanate. It grieves me that matters must come to this. After our ceasefire I hoped we could live in peace in Anatolia, but it seems you are provoking retribution upon yourself. My scouts report you have taken Seleukeia, a rebel Christian city, which the Armenians have laid claim to. You have disregarded their words and I fear you are simply building up your forces to strike at us once more, as you did previously. Since I cannot trust you anymore unless I see genuine signs of friendship on your part,--which I greatly desire, that I may live at peace with my neighbors, as I do already with the Kypchaks, Armenians, and Franks-- I have taken preemptive measures to ensure the security of my lands. I desire peace, but it seems I cannot have it without first shedding blood.

Farewell from the Emperor

[Kavhan Isbul]

Interesting developments - it seems the Christians despite their words, desire war more than anything else. Oh well...

[Kaizer Merlox]

*Holds a sign up that says....*

"DO NOT INCLUDE PAGAN WITH CHRISTIANITY*

XD