Hi all, this is my first AAR so I would like you to tell me if it is good or bad and suggestions on how to improve it (and rep if you like ). This first part has only one picture because I had problems with Fraps and I thought to have taken some screenshots, but I didn't
The Lion's Roar - A Venetian AAR
Chapter I: Rise and Expansion
Anno Domini 1081. Venice is still a little city with dreams of glory. After centuries of dominion, the Byzantine Empire has finally conceded independance to the city. Now the doge, Domenico Selvo, has decided to make Venice expand.
But first, the doge has to solve one important problem: his succession. His son, named Domenico too, has been killed by the Normans a few years before. So he is forced to look at the most powerful nobles and finds a valid candidate in Riccardo de Clue foni, who is soon appointed councillor.
Surrounded by the mighty Holy Roman Empire and the powerful Italian city-states, the Venetians start to look at East. There lie the Slavic settlements, lairs of pirates, that periodically sack the coastal Italian towns.
An army is soon gathered and sails under the leadership of the new councillor. It soon reaches the important city of Jadera and besieges it.
In the meantime Pope Gregory VII, great opponent to the Venetian expansion in the Adriatic Sea, dies and is replaced by Pope Matthew I, of Danish origins. A Venetian ambassador is immediately sent to Rome, in order to establish an alliance and have the Papal approval on the submission of the Pagan Slavs. The Pope, being isolated and having troubles with the Roman aristocracy, accepts the generous offer.
In Dalmatia, after a three-year siege, the garrison in Jadera sallies outside to meet his enemy but is heavily defeated and forced to surrender. The Venetians take their revenge on the piracy sacking the city. Councillor Riccardo is later appointed governor of the new-born domain of Dalmatia, renaming the city into Zara.
At the same time news come about a new war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Seljuk Sultanate.
Galvanized by the new acquisition, doge Domenico soon prepares a new host, this time heading to the little independant Republic of Raugia, on the lower Adriatic. The city proudly resists the invaders, hoping to receive troops from the Norman Kingdom of Sicily.
However, the cunning Venetians are determined to isolate the besieged town and sign an alliance with the Normans, although this means forgetting the recent fighting where the doge's son himself died.
After two years of siege, with all the supplies drained and no possiblity of external support, Raugia surrender without fighting, being occupied by the Venetians and thus ending its little republic. The doge immediately realizes that Ragusa now is surrounded by Byzantine territories and could be hard to defend.
On the other hand, there is a source of joy for Domenico: after the death of his only son he was worried about dying childless, but now he has got three children – Allegrezza (1084), Zaneta (1087) and Penina (1089).
The councillor is now married and has an offspring too: Mora (1086), Frangibus (1088) and Rigi (1090).