Baghdad, the heart of a united Muslim Empire, now merely another pulsating artery in the bloodied veins of this shattered world.
A scene that has played itself out a thousand times over a thousand years, as horsemen of the steppe trot through their domain, such a thing that's borders are not even found at the edge of the horizon.
Jerusalem. Navel of the world to Christians, third holiest city to Muslims. Always at the crossroads of cultures, always in proximity to the fight of great empires. Perhaps the only certainty of Jerusalem is this, and not to whom it belongs to.
A resurgent Abbasid Caliphate, walking in the very same strides as the ancestral caliph's did so many centuries ago, advancing into Central Asia and Iran.
Under the watchful eyes of God, and symbol of Christ, the Crusaders march towards God-given victory, or God-given defeat.
Well Armored and Well invigorated by faith and martial pride, the Georgians charge, and it would be a promising foe who might not flinch or tremble at their arrival.
However ornate these Abbasid Horsemen might look, they are all business, and get down to such as they circle and shoot at the Crusaders over on the hill.
The Daylami Infantry (Medium Infantry), men who seemed like Roman Legionaries who got lost in the hills of Iran and emerged centuries later. With shield wall, axe, and Javelin, they have made a name for themselves as infantry when their neighbors and enemies fought with bow and horse.
Their Heavier version.
One would be foolish to suspect the Rajputs will be a pushover to the Ghorids. Though less armored than the spearmen of Islam and Christ, armor is not end-all in the hot, hilly jungles of India.
However humble they might look, it is these men to whom the guardianship of Islam fell to for nearly a Millennia.
"The pagans recruited by the infidel prince, in addition to the Turks, Saracens, Arabs, and Persians (who are already familiar to historians), bore new names: they were the Publicans, the Kurds, the Azimites, and the Agulani, together with innumerable others, who were by no means human, but monsters. Three thousand of those who were called Agulani were said to be present, and they were afraid neither of swords, lances, arrows, nor any kind of arms, because they and their horses were covered with armor everywhere. In battles the only weapons they used were their swords."
Nakharar cavalry of Armenia, whom with faces shrouded by mail should have their humanity be found only in the artwork of Saint and Christ. Only eyes may peer from beneath that veil, and with the vengeance and warrior's zeal those eyes carry, any underneath such a gaze would find little humanity in them.
ES Vol. IV|Iss. XII: Broken Crescent, Narnia Total War, AAR, Comic
) to say au revoir (or is it adieu?). Let's just call it farewell. After this issue we will go into hiding in caves in the Caucasus mountains, and will only return on June 2nd.
