Update 2: 550

## Europe

In the north of Britain, having obtained newly constructed siege
weaponry, based on supposedly Roman designs, the Dal Riatan armies
crossed into Pictland in the late 530s, and wiping out their adversaries
 in a series of bloody battles, ultimately laid waste to the forts in
the lowlands along the east coast – the Christian Picts were struck, too
 unaware to make a proper response. With the collapse of their coastal
strongholds, any central authority amongst the Christian Pictish clans
has all but collapsed, though the Dal Riatans have so far been unable to
 bring the deeper highlands under control. Alas, controlling a
population of displeased Christians may take its toll on Dal Riata. At
the same time, a group of druids gathered, and created a written script
for the common language of Dal Riata, based on the Latin alphabet. The
first things written down were a number of druidic ritual instructions.

(Dal Riata: -2 Infantry Companies, +Army Development, +Culture Development, -Stability)
(Pictland: -3 Infantry Companies, -Existence)

Ireland continued to be home to some petty fighting in the 530s and
540s, with few shifts in political boundaries and few major conflicts,
and little hope of further centralization. The sole exception was the
kingdom of Connacht, which, thanks to the favor of Ishfanian envoys,
managed to subjugate a number of neighboring clans. A number of
Christian monasteries were established in these years throughout the
island, and with growing trade connections between remote Ireland and
the former classical world through Brittany, a growing number of texts
are being imported to fill these monasteries’ libraries.

(Irish states: +Stability, +Culture Development)

Britain proper was a multi-faceted mess, at best. In the south, the
remnant Germano-British kingdoms found themselves under attack from two
sides, both by Brythonics from the west and the Frisobatavians from the
east. Soon enough, the last kingdoms in the region had little chance.
While they attempted to draw the Yr Hen Ogledd into the conflict, the
latter refused, and the last petty kingdoms were parceled up between the
 two countries by 530. Brython itself completed its efforts to rebuild
the old Roman roads, which resulted in spurring marketplace towns to
develop in new areas.

(Brython: -2 Infantry Companies)
(Frisobatavia: -1 Infantry Companies)

(Germano-Britons: -2 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)

Alas, there was a new threat: Vandals. In 533, a massive collection of
Vandal warbands, by most accounts some tens of thousands strong, landed
near the city of Eoforwic, in Yr Hen Ogledd. Within the year, they had
captured both that city, and by early 536, most of northern Britain lay
under the Vandals’ firm control, and Yr Hen Ogledd had collapsed
altogether – the last Coelings were hunted down and either killed or
fled to Ireland, where by 550 some had arisen to become petty kings of
at least one eastern Irish state. Many of the other subkings were
brutally killed in ingenious ways regardless of ethnicity or religion –
the blood eagle being the most infamous. In its wake, a new authority
arose – the Vandalaw. The old Vandals colonized their new lands, and
new, Vandal names have replaced the old ones; and the Allfather has come
 to Britain in droves. And there has been no shortage of Vandal raiding
in neighboring countries.

(Yr Hen Ogledd: -4 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)

(Vandalaw: -2 infantry Companies, +Loot)

Frisobatavia, in itself, saw the brunt of the raiding; Vandal raiders
began attacking coastal villages with increasing frequency after 540. To
 counter similar attacks from the east, the country began the
construction of fortified walls to the east, called the Grodwall. And,
the Frisobatavians erected a great Mor Tad’s Temple in the south of the
country, acting as a beacon – both of guiding light, and of resistance
to the Allfather’s spread in northwestern Europe.

(Frisobatavia: +Culture Development, -Stability)

The slave trade of the past generation had made many Bretons very
wealthy, and the now quite prosperous state set about affirming that the
 trade would continue. The city of Nantes became a merchant hub for all
Western Europe, bolstered by the construction of a great harbor in the
city’s port. And, to boot, any fees were significantly lowered and other
 special rights were given to foreign merchants, with royal authority.
Firm military action by the Bretons to protect their trade from corsairs
 in the neighboring seas has also proven very attractive. Another side
effect of this has been Drowned Queen adherents travelling on trade
ships and spreading their words far and wide, and have attracted
followers in lands as distant as Eldrachaa. In the late 520s, the Breton
 crown formalized a trade “alliance” of sorts with Ishfania, Alemannia,
Nornidr, and the Samojards, though political developments since then
rendered it quite insignificant.

In building closer relations with the leadership of Ishfania, the
Aquitanian king abolished slavery in 530, labelling the practice “most
un-Christian.” Most of the freed slaves returned to their ancestral
homes in Iberia; others who had converted to Christianity stayed as
freeholding farmers. Solar missionaries came to Aquitania too, where
they were successful at converting a number of people in the countryside
 – but, in the end, the Aquitanian king Syragius III grew fed up with
this and had the missionaries rounded up and expelled from the country
in a 544 edict. The same edict banned all further non-Christian
proselytization.

Far to the east, Yotvingia faced another difficult choice – the
Scythians were demanding that in 526 the Yotvingian king bend the knee
and accept becoming a satrap to Scythia. While not a great option,
Yotvingia ultimately consented. The Yotvingian military was not pleased
by this development, and attempted to resist independent of the king’s
wishes. Unfortunately, this only resulted in Scythian hordes showing up
and entering the country, all but wiping out the Yotvingian army after a
 series of pitched battles. The Yotvingian people however did not
provide a great deal of resistance, and the Scythian military did little
 but collect taxes, especially after the king-turned-satrap made it
clear he had no desire to see any further bloodshed. Being a satrap was
looking more and more attractive.

(Yotvingia: -8 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)

(Scythia: -1 Infantry Company, -3 Cavalry Companies)

Fatar always demands tributes of his Samojardic peoples, so after 525,
the Samojards plunged into Gothia. Unfortunately, it was at this same
time, around 530, that the Scythians, in alliance with the Eldrachaa,
both decided to invade Samojardia and rid themselves of the pesky
“tantrum god” Fatar and his followers once and for all. The Samojards’
navy put up a significant fight, and managed to cause a good deal of
harm to both the Scythian and Eldrachaa fleets, but in the end they were
 simply outnumbered and defeated. From there, the Scythians entered from
 land, overwhelming Samojardic defenses through sheer numbers, and
utterly ravaged the land, raping the countryside, and causing the cities
 to empty, as did the Eldrachaa from the west, to a lesser degree. Many
of the locals would find themselves in forced labor or slavery back east
 by 535, and the next decade saw Scythian colonization. The Eldrachaa
grabbed their own share of lands in the west.

The Samojards’ commencing of raids to the south simultaneously was in
fact a stroke of luck, from a certain point of view – without them, it
is an almost certainty that their kingdom would not survive. This was
because the Goths themselves had already sent much of their forces to
aid their Nording brothers, and so the Samojards in fact found an easy
opening to their south. The majority of Samojards, fleeing the Scythian
hordes, have migrated southwards, carving for themselves former Gothic
territories and assimilating some of the locals, where their kingdom
lives on. And the Samojards, despite the incredible disruption, are
steeled – ready to take their lands back, someday. In 549, Wulferic III,
 the king who had overseen these tragic events, was succeeded by his son
 as Reggesvar V – using money and politicking to make already pliable
nobles support the line.

(Samojards: -Stability, -7 Infantry Companies, -15 Squadrons)

(Scythia: -1 Infantry Company, -4 Cavalry Companies, -2 Squadrons)
(Eldrachaa: -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Squadron)
(Gothic Kingdom: -2 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies)

The reduced Goths faced other concerns, with riled-up nobles not helping
 matters. The last king of a united Gothic state, Amalric III, died in
548. Knowing that his three sons would soon squabble over the realm,
Amalric willed that the realm be partitioned between these three. The
eldest son would get Donau, in the south, the largest and wealthiest
province; the middle son the lands that would come to be called
Rheinmark, in the west; and the youngest, and supposedly Amalric’s
least-liked son, the land of Boimark, in the east. This partition was
completed, with remarkably little fighting. However, Amalric, the prince
 ruling Donau, quickly claimed to have authority over all the Goths, and
 perhaps war will come. Few Gothic nobles were particularly satisfied
with the split, and none of the new kings have much in the way of
authoritativeness.

(Gothic Kingdom: -Existence)

Dacia continued its attempts to tie its realm closer together, to a
degree of success. In these years, the Dacians spent a good deal of
money on building a comprehensive series of highways, connecting the
realm’s major cities together, as well as those in the Dacian march –
and with closer contact with the march, Dacian control of that region
has been further solidified. Dacia also built a further amount of
fortifications in the country, and similarly the march authorities built
 even more. However, especially with increased presence of Christians in
 neighboring Bulgaria, the number of Christians in Dacia, especially
amongst the Dacian peasantry, is growing at ever-increasing rates, and
more and more Dacians are baptized, this has had a somewhat
destabilizing effect on the Dacian polity. And in the Dacian march,
Solar Legions from Svearia and Apland have been hard at work creating a
sizable body of converts, especially amongst the local Slavic
populations.

(Dacia: -Stability)
(Dacian March: +Stability)

The Bulgar Khanate’s decline continued, as another phase of internecine
civil war – including fighting between Christian and Solar families and
chieftains – wreaked havoc on the country in the 530s. Northern
Macedonia, an already Solar-majority region to begin with, was conquered
 by the Solar Svears in 540 in a short and virtually resistance-less
campaign – the Svears marched through the region, only stopping from
invading Greece again and capturing Pella by some event – according to
some accounts, it was a Hellenic border guard who shone a lantern into
the Svear king’s eye at the border, thus blinding the king, and
convincing him that Sol had commanded him to retreat. The chaotic
situation in the Bulgar Khanate culminated in 541 when a Christian
chief, who had been baptized under the name Christopher, seized power
over the entire country, and officially converted the Bulgars to
Christianity, and ending the disputes over a now-devastated land – at
least for now.

(Bulgar Khanate: -Stability, -8 Cavalry Companies)

(Svearia: -1 Infantry Company)

Lastly, in Hellas, Pythoras’s hegemony would end with the man’s death in
 529. He was replaced by one Zeno, a philosopher-general, and, more
importantly, a graduate of the Academies who would continue the state
funding and patronage of the institutions, which, while not the most
popular, has continued regardless. With this succession power of the
Academies, both intellectually and politically, would continue to grow
in Hellenic politics, for better or for worse.

## The Carthaginian Wars, Continued

An uneasy peace had settled over the Mediterranean after the last bout
of open warfare between Carthage and their arrayed enemies in 515. But
it was clear to everyone that the wars were not yet over, and the next
decade and a half would see a flurry of politicking and diplomatic
activities, in knowledge that a new war in the Mediterranean was
inevitable, once a new generation of leaders came to power. The Nordings
 hurried to defend their territories, building a great wall of forts in
Ispanland, the so-called Ispingard.

The Nordings also had another weapon – amphorae filled with a strange
concoction of powder, initially invented when an Allfather priest
accidentally created an explosive powder during a ritual. This was the
Eldgadr, and when properly thrown, it would create a great blast and
quite the scare, if little else. Ultimately, the Eldgadr would also
prove its own undoing. Allfather priests were sent to Rome to give the
Nordings’ erstwhile Latin allies the weapon – it ended when one
loose-lipped priest was paid off and gave the secrets of its manufacture
 away, and the others were immediately arrested and sacrificed to Sol
for proselytization, with Latiniki proceeding to disseminate the
Eldgadr. The Latins proceeded to spread the weapon throughout
neighboring countries, who adopted the Eldgadr with some zeal, and
through trade it continued to spread. Most considered it for their
armies; but a few took it on board their ships.

(Nornidr, Latiniki, Latin Tributaries, Carthage, Ishfania, Apland,
Svearia, Avaria, Gothic Kingdom, Cyrenaica, Hellas: +Army Development)
(Nornidr, Latiniki, Latin Tributaries: +Navy Development)

The western branch of this conflict was fought in Iberia, where war
would break out in 535. The Carthaginians had allied with the
Ishfanians, who attempted to break through the Ispangard. And it would
have held for some time. Alas, in the end, all the Nordings’ efforts to
defend their lands, forts and explosive powder or not, in Ispanland
would prove futile, as they simply were just too outnumbered, and with
the Carthaginians crossing the strait of Hercules. It certainly didn’t
help matters that, at the behest of the Ishfanians and Carthaginians who
 promised to free the region’s slave population, the Nordings were
forced to deal with a slave uprising concurrent with the invasion. The
campaigns in Iberia took mere months, and by 537 all of Nording
Ispanland had been retaken. A contemporary Ishfanian poet would write a
 heroic epic poem about this slave uprising; it would serve as the
hallmark of Ishfanian literature for decades to come.

(Ishfania: -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, +Culture Development)
(Carthage: -3 Infantry Companies)

(Nornidr: -2 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies)

The Nordings had one more weapon – the Thurings. These people, having
been displaced by the Gothic conquest of their kingdom in recent years,
were employed by the Nordings, and a number of these Thurings, under a
chief named Radulf, were given transport across the sea to Carthage, in
the hopes that they would conquer a land and settle there. Alas, despite
 evading the Carthaginian navy which was preoccupied in the west, the
Carthaginians were strong, and repulsed the Thurings near Leptis Magna.
Instead of dispersing, Radulf decided to try his luck again in
neighboring Cyrenaica. Fortunately, they evaded the Cyrenaican fleet and
 defeated them on land in a surprise assault on their camp at night, and
 the Thurings were able to defeat the Cyrenaicans and take over in 538.
And thus was born the kingdom of Kyrenmark. Radulf and his successors
would attempt to consolidate their holdings, and it was difficult – they
 controlled the countryside, but the cities would remain filled with
Greeks and Latins, who were not the least bit pleased with their loss of
 political privileges. However, by 550 a good deal of the Thurings had
been Hellenized.

(Carthage: -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Mercenary Company)

(Cyrenaica: -3 Infantry Companies, -3 Cavalry Companies, -1 Siege Train, -Existence)
(Kyrenmark: -2 Infantry Companies)

Closer to the Nordings’ home, the situation looked equally grim.
Employing their superiority in naval doctrine, and including the use of
flames and specific formations to deal maximum damage, the Carthaginians
 sailed forth through the Mediterranean and handily decimated the far
numerically inferior, taking few casualties themselves. The
Carthaginians’ Ishfanian allies emulated their tactics, and did much the
 same. This paved the way for an invasion of Corsica, in 538, which was
accomplished quite bloodlessly, the thinned Nordings not bothering to
especially defend the island.

(Carthage, Ishfania: +Navy Development)
(Ishfania: -1 Squadron)

(Nornidr: -3 Squadrons)

Their betrayal of the Nordings consummated, the Latins and their
tributaries amassed a new force, and launched a thrust into the north.
The Brandgard held, just like the Ispangard across the sea, but only for
 a time as it was clear the Nordings were outnumbered – the use of the
Eldgadr on the Latins was only met by its similar use right back. Yet,
for a time it seemed that the Nordings might be able to successfully
defend their homeland. They were accompanied by a detachment of Goths,
in the spirit of an alliance forged after a marriage between the Nording
 and Gothic ruling houses had been consummated before 530.

But in 539, one event occurred that would change the course of the
conflict. In that year, Cynric, the Anglic king of Apland, struck a bold
 move. At the behest of Latin and Svear emissaries and money, Cynric
symbolically fell to his knees in an open field before the rising Sun on
 a cloudless morning, thus converting both himself his realm to Sol
Aniketus, and taking for himself the title Cynric Niketor. Cynric
immediately claimed Solar retribution – on Nornidr, and led an army into
 Nornidr’s heartland, conquering Venehar all but unscathed, and
establishing Aplandic rule over it.

This invasion would spell Nornidr’s death knell, as the kingdom fell
under attack from both south and north. The Latins breached the
Brandgard, and by year’s end had captured Meduseld, putting the serene
Great Temple of that city to the flames of Sol. Western Italia was all
this time plagued by Ishfanian raiders, who in fact went as far as to
sack Genovtorp and the neighboring countryside in 539 and carry most of
its wealth back to Iberia with them. King Brand would make one last
stand at the Nordings’ mountain fortress of Helmsdeep in 540, praying
that, perhaps, the Allfather would come to his aid. Alas, it was not to
be; the greatest stroke of the Eldgadr was its use at the hands of the
Angles to breach the iron grate that served as Helmsdeep’s gutter, thus
tearing the outer wall apart and allowing. Brand disappeared in the
ensuing chaos, and would be immortalized in legend for years to come.

(Latiniki: -4 Infantry Companies, -1 Siege Train)
(Latin Tributaries: -2 Infantry Companies, +Loot)
(Apland: -3 Cavalry Companies, -Stability)
(Ishfania: -1 Infantry Company, +Loot)

(Nornidr: -4 Infantry Companies, -4 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)
(Gothic Kingdom: -2 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies)

The division of the Nording realms afterwards was accomplished
relatively peacefully. Despite vague rumors of joint authority in
Iberia, the area was divided between Ishfania in the north and east and
Carthage in the south and west. The Ishfanians were largely successful
in coopting the Nording administration and courier system, and
integrating the lands successfully into their country – only this time
with Punic masters, more often than not freedmen, rather than Nordings.
King Cynric of Apland had the city of Venehar fortified to become a
powerful center of his authority throughout his newly gained realms in
northeast Italia.

A concurrent and ensuing influx of influential Allfatherists, including a
 number former Nording jarls and nobles, into his realm and court
prompted the king of the Alemanni, Gundoald, to have himself baptized
and converted to the Faith of the Allfather in 546. This prompted a
rebellion amongst the Christian population and a number of appalled
Christian nobles in the west and north of the country – a rebellion that
 was swiftly and brutally crushed. Taking cues from their Nording
brothers in Iberia a generation earlier, Gundoald and his army had many
of the subjugated Christians forced into slavery, either under
domination from Alemanni masters, or sold into markets as far afield as
Scythia. Solar missionaries have been active in the country, but the
crown has not turned an eye to them – yet.

(Alemannia: -Stability, -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company)

Almost as if a monument to Latin victory, the Grand Temple of Sol was
completed in Rome. This, one of the grandest buildings ever constructed
and certainly a rival to the ancient wonders themselves, is notorious
for its strange and innovative construction. There are many domains
within – one for holding exotic beasts from the east, one for
philosophical studies and debates, and one for the study of the natural
sciences, featuring a working aeolipile. And, of course, the centerpiece
 is just as grand – a great oculus built into the ceiling that focuses
light upon one altar.

(Latiniki: +Economy Development)

Nevertheless, the entire sequence of events, and the effects of the
conflict that dominated the region for multiple decades, plus the
attempts at trying to expand their administration over new, often less
than willing lands, took its toll on some of the countries involved.
Especially in Latiniki’s case, the Solar Faithful of Rome finds itself
ruling over a large, and quite uncooperative, Allfatherist populace.

(Carthage, Latiniki, Latin Tributaries: -Stability)

There was one, final moment in this campaign. In a surprise maneuver, a
combined naval force of Latins and Latin tributaries turned upon the
Carthaginian fleet off Melita in 548. While, combined, they were not
strong enough to do much damage to the far more advanced Carthaginian
fleet as a whole, the Latins were able to destroy a number of astonished
 Carthaginian ships before retreating, thanks to their use of the
Nording powder, despite taking a good deal of casualties themselves in
the process.

(Latiniki: -2 Squadrons)
(Latin Tributaries: -2 Squadrons)

(Carthage: -6 Squadrons)

It was also the doctrine of Solar Retribution that came into being
during this war, explained by the head of the religion of Sol Aniketus.
This claimed that it was the duty of all Solar faithful to defend their
lands from un-Solar barbarians, as Sol smiled upon those who did. This
was the only conflict it was used in.

## The Sand Wars

The Quraysh set out to consolidate their rule over their state, and
advance it. A Majlis al-Shura, a consultative council of Arabia’s chiefs
 and an advisory primitive legislature of sorts, though lacking actual
power, was established. Religious magistrates were established as well,
forming a judicial system. Marriages between chieftain’s families would
tie the chiefdoms together, tariffs were put in place, and a jizya
system of taxes on non-believers spurred conversion to Christianity.
And, by not long after 530, expeditions to the east would bring the
northeast of the Arabian peninsula where the Lakhmids dwelled, as well
as the Rub al-Khali and surrounding regions, under nominal Quraysh
control – culminating in the taking of the port of Salalah on the Indian
 Ocean shore in 527.

(Arabia: +Stability)

It was a prelude of the conflagration that was to come.

The Babylonians noticed the threat a potentially expanding Arabia would
bring, fearing that the ancient city itself would burn in Arab flames,
and made their own set of moves to counter it. Unfortunately, the
Quraysh had already allied themselves with the more powerful Ghassanid
Kingdom to the north. In turn, Babylon managed to secure an alliance
with the Aksumites. Through the 520s, tensions rose between the region’s
 powers. The Babylonians drained much of the royal treasury on creating
perhaps the largest mercenary army the world had ever seen.

It culminated in 530, when the armies of the Ghassanid Kingdom attempted
 to launch an invasion of Babylon, in a preemptive strike. They made it
as far as the west bank of the Euphrates before the massive Babylonian
army struck back, and resoundingly defeated that of the Ghassanids. It
was not long before the Babylonians counterattacked, just a few years
later. The cities of the Levant fell, one by one, to Babylonian sieges,
culminating in the fall of Jerusalem itself in 540 – the Babylonian
mercenaries were brutal and carried many of the city’s treasures off
with them to fates unknown. And so the Ghassanids fled into Egypt, yet
still managing to tie down many of the Babylonians in battle.

In Mazun, the Arabs were able to take much of the worthless tracts of
desert. But, thanks to Babylonian support, Sharjah itself held out, and
the Roxanid forces repulsed the invaders – and so Mazun was saved, and
prepared to attack again. Or, so they thought. Once the Babylonians had
left, a Christian revolt began amongst the city of Sharjah’s people, and
 soon spread out of control, and the Roxanid kings and the Persian
nobles were soon killed off. The city passed over to the control of a
local Arab chieftain and a vizier from Arabia’s ruling Hashemite
dynasty. Part of the Mazun navy simply shifted allegiances to Babylon;
the rest had been destroyed.

The Babylonians attempted to attack. An attempt to strike back against
the Arabians failed – the Babylonian army, as they tried to cross into
Arabia, would face incredible attrition rates, as their water supplies
soon dried up. Many Babylonian soldiers would simply go missing or
disappear in the desert. The Arabs themselves mostly allowed attrition
to work for them, using their nomadic background to make quick strikes
against advancing enemies. Both here, and elsewhere they fought, this
enabled the Arabs to take few casualties. While the Babylonians did gain
 some territory, it was not very much.

The Aksumites simultaneously attempted to drive down the Nile River.
There was one problem – a little country by the name of Alodia stood in
the way. Though the Alodians fought long and hard, and enough to make
the campaign time-consuming, it was only a matter of that same time
before Alodia fell completely. Across the Red Sea, the Aksumites from
their holdings in Sheba marched northwards into after 540; they gained
some land in the south, but the Arab style of fighting meant that the
Aksumites again took large amounts of attrition, and the major cities of
 Yathrib and Mecca remained well within Arabian grasp. The Arabian navy
had long been wiped out; and as such trade to Arabia declined sharply,
but none of the invading powers were able to land successfully land
forces in such a hostile environment.

The Ghassanids are now reduced to merely Egypt, the Ghassanid king
having reestablished his court in Alexandria. But, nonetheless, they
have survived, and perhaps they will regain their lands.

(Babylon: -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, -20 Mercenary Companies, +5 Squadrons)
(Aksum: -5 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -10 Mercenary Companies, +Navy Development)
(Mazun: -6 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, -1 Siege Train, -10 Squadrons, -Existence)

(Arabia: -2 Infantry Companies, -4 Cavalry Companies, -2 Squadrons, +Army Development)
(Ghassanids: -8 Infantry Companies, -5 Cavalry Companies, -4 Siege Trains, -10 Squadrons)
(Alodia: -8 Infantry Companies, -11 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)

The entire region’s stability has been badly undermined by the seemingly
 never-ending sequence of warfare. Babylon itself, after decades upon
decades of campaigning and warfare, is beginning to show significant
cracks in the edifice. The state and her economy are badly weakened, and
 are coming ever closer to the brink of collapse. This was proven in
547, when after growing pirate raids, Cilician Pirates attacked and
managed to sack the city of Antioch. In fact, in the 540s, the
previously subjugated region of Pontus revolted and successfully threw
off the Babylonian yoke, aided by Galatian soldiers who came to the aid
of the Christian revolts, and by Hellenic merchants who saw an
opportunity for profit.

(Aksum, Babylon: -Stability)
(Babylon: -1 Infantry Company)

(Galatia: -2 Infantry Companies)

Despite the growing mess right at their frontiers, Avaria continued to
only look further inwards. Despite calls from advisors that Avaria
should strike Babylon while the opportunity was there, the Avarians
chose not to – instead, they built a series of fortresses along their
borders, both with Galatia and Babylon – for they not trust very many of
 their neighbors. Another neighboring country, Oman, continued to merely
 look eastwards instead of caring about affairs on its own peninsula –
it continued to sail the Indian Ocean in search of trade, and Omani
ships would appear as far east as China by 550. It certainly helped that
 with the turmoil in its surrounding lands, Oman remained a peaceful
trade hub.

(Oman: +Navy Development)

## Persia

Despite collapsing into chaos rather spectacularly a generation earlier,
 Persia recovered remarkably quickly - or, at least, some parts of it.
In 528, a local, Buddhist, chief from the area of Kabul rose to power
and established a power base sufficient enough to establish his
independence from Nishapur. Kabul prospered, as its kings spent a lot of
 their efforts patronizing the rebuilding of the region – and the area
quickly became the safe, stable cultural nexus of the Persianate ethos,
and a beacon of religious tolerance and plurality.

(Kabul: +Culture Development)

Seeing that they needed to reform to prevent further collapse, the Uar
in fact did so. Taking cues from their Albanian predecessors, the Uar
khans-turned-shahenshahs turned from wanton destruction to rebuilding,
spending much of their gained wealth on rebuilding cities, towns, roads,
 and other infrastructure. Their conversion to Zoroastrianism in 534 was
 critical in solidifying their authority over much of the countryside,
and breaking away from the past. It was an age of Persian rebuilding.
Any Farsi attempts to strike back were stymied when the Uar returned and
 ended Farsi autonomy following an abortive attempt at independence in
the mid-540s, helped by revolting mercenaries. In the wake of this
invasion, the Uar moved their capital back to Persepolis. Makran
remained largely peaceful, and still autonomous, as few Uar wanted to
return.

(Uar Empire: -2 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Companies, +Stability, +Economy Development, +Culture Development)

(Fars: -6 Infantry Companies, -2 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)

==

Central Asia

# ```

```

With the destruction of the Uyghurs at Rouran hands, some of the Uyghurs
 scattered. One tribe under the Uyghurs, the Kushans, ended up migrating
 north and west into Scythian lands, where they managed to again carve
out a chunk of land for themselves. With the bulk of the Scythian army
off in the west fighting campaigns against the Samojards and dissident
Yotvingians, what Scythians there were in the region were displaced by
the Kushan hordes in the late 540s, and the Scythians were unable to
keep them out. The disruptions to Scythia caused by the Kushan’s
marauding have rippled throughout the rest of the country.

(Scythia: -1 Cavalry Company, -Stability)

(Kushans: -2 Infantry Company)

Nevertheless, the rest of Scythia enjoyed a quite bountiful amount of
prosperity. Trade routes up the Volga and Dneister Rivers were marked
out and embellished with caravanserai and houses, now allowing
free-flowing trade from the north to the Mediterranean sphere. The
Scythian crown paid for the establishment of naval schools and
shipyards, bringing sailors, shipbuilders, and tactical scholars from
both the Baltic and Mediterranean traditions into the country to
syncretize all these together, for Scythia’s benefit, as a matter of
course. And, lastly, a grand new summer capital was established for
Scythia, at a location that was a major crossroads of trade for multiple
 river routes. A magnificent palace was erected there, built in a
Persianate style – but, perhaps, most grand of all, a temple for each of
 Scythia’s eight major deities was built on the palace grounds. From
this new capital, the Scythians can extend their control better over the
 north of their country, keeping all of it harmoniously together.

(Scythia: +Navy Development, +Stability)

Bactria remained unbreakable, throwing off both an Indian invasion
(which we shall detail later) and incursions by scattering nomadic
tribes – many of whom settled and assimilated into Bactrian society by
the end. The Bactrian kings spent much of their effort in this time
patronizing military improvements, creating a series of military
academies in their cities, and devolving much local control and
authority over justice into the hands of military colonists. Overall,
Bactrian society became far more militarized in this period, for better
or for worse.

(Bactria: +Army Development)

==

Africa ==

Little of note is reported to have occurred in West Africa in this
period – except for the fact that Jews from Aksum slowly travelled west
across Darfur and into West Africa. While there were already Jews in the
 Sao kingdom, their numbers began growing significantly, as the foreign
faith was brought to the region in the 530s and 540s, with adherents and
 communities now as far west as Ghana. In the Sao kingdom, the number of
 Jews has increased so rapidly the political institutions now view the
religion as a threat, according to Aksumite accounts, at least. However,
 with the Jews have come cultural contacts with the greater Indian Ocean
 region, if sparse at best.

(Sao: -Stability, +Culture Development)

Similarly, the Azanians seemed quite content to remain in their homes,
and little of note happened in these city-states during this time.
Judaism, both the Aksumite and the Yibri kind, began to noticeably grow
in popularity in this period.

In 530, a small Yibri force entered the realms of the third Feather King
 of Madagascar, but were met by a much larger Malagasy army, which was
able to repulse the invaders and force them to rout. The result of this
battle caused Yibri King Shido I Jeyte to openly curse the Feather King.
 And, barely a year later, a mysterious forest fire swept through
Madagascar. In the wake of the event, the Yibri armies attacked again.
Many of the Feather King’s followers, seeing the might of the spectacle
laid out before them, abandoned him and accepted Judaism; and the
ensuing war was quick. Madagascar has been incorporated into Yibram,
though conflicts remain between the Yibri and tribes in the countryside.
 The Feather King was captured, beheaded, his head encrusted with
jewels, and sold to an Indian merchant as a “rich exotic beast,” and his
 lands were redistributed to soldiers and rabbis. In this time, the
Great Nacala Harbor was also completed in 548, becoming a true spectacle
 that was visited and frequented from traders from all across the Indian
 Ocean, and even by previously unknown peoples from parts west and
south.

(Yibram: -2 Infantry Companies, -Stability, +Army Development, +Economy Development)

(Madagascar: -6 Infantry Companies, -Existence)

==

India ==

Magadha’s expansion into Kamarupa, as it turned out, was only the
beginning of an extended sequence of warfare and conquest, under the
great warrior-king Ram Sundara, whose tactical genius shall live forever
 in the annals of Indian history. After the crushing of Kamarupa in the
early 520s, Ram Sundara turned west. The Indo-Greek realms of Sagala and
 Taxila were preparing to war once again, and just as the army of Sagala
 began their march for Taxila, their country was struck hard in the
behind by the rampaging Magadhan invaders, in 532. Sagala itself fell
after a quick siege, and at the Battle of Bucephala in 533, the Sagalan
army, just recently victorious yet bloodied over the Taxilans, was wiped
 out almost to the last man. From there, Ram Sundara proceeded to march
into Taxila, where the Taxilans, too, were routed in combat, and the
northwest was secure. With the fall of Alexandria-on-the-Indus in early
535, the Indo-Greek realms had all been conquered. Ram Sundara placed
some of his officers as the kshatrapas of the new realms, and these
kshatrapas have, within a decade and a half, come to adopt Yona culture
into their courts.

(Magadha: -3 Infantry Brigades, -2 Cavalry Brigades)

(Sagala: -6 Infantry Brigades, -6 Cavalry Brigades, -Existence)
(Taxila: -4 Infantry Brigades, -4 Cavalry Brigades, -Existence)

Yet Ram Sundara was still quite thirsty. He turned south and marched
down the Indus River, to the Saka realms of the Western Kshatrapas. The
kshatrapa of Patala, the most powerful of them all, attempted to form a
unified league of the Sakas, in a largely vain attempt to counter Ram
Sundara, and in 539 a combined force of Sakas marched against the
Sundara armies. It was too little, too late, and despite some promising
early victories, and the Sakas were dispersed. The city of Patala fell
in 541. But one kshatrapa would live on – a Hindu kshatrapa, ruling from
 the city of Vallabhi. Its lands were too barren for Ram Sundara to care
 much, and quietly after the Sundara armies left, Vallabhi slipped away
from Sundara control, and expanded over its neighboring territories.

(Magadha: -4 Infantry Brigades, -4 Cavalry Brigades)

(Western Kshatrapas: -2 Infantry Brigades, -5 Cavalry Brigades, - Existence)

This all concerned neighboring Malwa quite greatly. And, when a
messenger from Pataliputra came with dubious information that Ram
Sundara was turning his eye southwards, the Malwan king started
panicking. He knew that he could not stand up to the Sundara war
machine. Fortunately, there was another option. The king thought long
and hard, and ultimately in 541 after receiving a number of generous
gifts from one foreign envoy, it was official – Malwa would become a
feudatory of the Chalukya dynasty of Karnataka. This was not the most
popular move, certainly, and many Malwan advisors and nobles made a
great outcry over the matter; but the king believed it was necessary,
and that was that. Simultaneously, continued patronization of the arts
and philosophies in the halls of Ujjain – particularly in mathematics –
meant that the city’s thinkers and their texts would become renowned as
far as Japan and Babylon.

(Malwa: -Stability, +Culture Development)

But Ram Sundara was not done, and, gathering his forces once more,
marched across the Hindu Kush into Bactria in 545. Perhaps he would have
 conquered Bactria, too, but alas, at the gates of Ai-Khanoum in 546,
Ram Sundara took an arrow to the forehead, and died almost instantly –
with that, his army retreated back into India. While Ram Sundara II –
Ramsundar the Great – will no doubt will go down in legend as one of
India’s greatest conquerors, perhaps on par with Chandragupta Maurya
himself, in 550 the empire he conquered – a Sundara Empire – stands at
the brink, on the fine line between prosperity and collapse. It will all
 rely on his sun, Gopala Sundara, whose abilities are yet unproven.

(Sundara Empire: -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, -Stability)

(Bactria: -2 Infantry Companies)

Kamarupa itself, having been forced from the west and merely existing in
 prayer that the Sundara Empire would not turn east once more, itself
turned east. A group of envoys from Kamarupa crossed the mountains and
arrived in Jianking in 534, to meet with the Sung Emperor. They returned
 with some trade goods, and formal contact. While harsh terrain makes
further travel between the two lands difficult, the hope remains.
Meanwhile, at home, Kamarupa simply rebuilt and resoldified control over
 its territories, through a mixture of force and centralizing
administrative reforms.

(Kamarupa: +Stability)

Kalinga continued to build up and fortify its lands. It was helped that a
 Kalingan poet published an epic work detailing the country’s brutal
conquest by the Maurya emperor Asoka in the third century BCE, a
situation bearing chilling similarities to the present political
situation in northern India. After Ram Sundara’s death, the Kalingans
struck something of a blow by launching a series of raids into Bengal,
already under loose enough Sundara control – while no land was
exchanged, the years between 546 and 548 saw Kalingan soldiers return
home with a good deal of wealth, largely stolen from local Hindu
temples. This proved a major boost to Kalinga’s morale.

(Kalinga: +Stability, +Army Development, +Culture Development, +Loot)

Southern India saw its own fair share of war. In 535, the Kannadiga
armies, seeing opportunity, invaded Tamilakam. One Kannadiga army struck
 down to the west, into the lands of Kerala, where after a number of
battles, the major port cities such as Nelcynda and switftly fell into
Kannadiga hands, as did the rest of the country; the outnumbered Chera
forces largely retreated. In the east however, the marauding Kannadiga
forces were far more closely matched, and despite several raids were
unable to secure a major victory. While the combined Kannadiga armies
were able to defeat the Tamils, the Kannadigas did not progress further
into or annex Tamilakam in its entirety, being too thinly numbered after
 the initial victories to do so.

The fallout of the war had by 545 reduced the Chera dynasty to a small
tract of land surrounding Thanjavur, with the Cholas to the south and
the Pandyas to the north newly independent, and the new kingdoms find
themselves largely domineered by the power of Karnataka. Thanjavur
itself is less than half the size it was just a generation ago, as most
of the cultural nexus that surrounded it has shifted to Kannadiga cities
 with the conquest. And Kannadiga military tracts, of the Kannada
military tactic mockingly dubbed the “elephant rush” have proven
influential across India. Closer to home, Kannadiga authorities outlawed
 the open promotion of Carvaka. This was popular in some quarters, but
it led to as-yet-unproven fears amongst Kannada and Telugu Buddhists
that they would soon suffer the same fate. Most Carvaka adherents and
philosophers who did not reconvert to another school have fled
northwards, either to Malwa or into the Sundara Empire. Kannadiga power
in South India is uncontested.

(Karnataka: -6 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company, -Stability, +Army Development, +Culture Development, +Loot)

(Tamilakam: -8 Infantry Companies, -5 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)

Gokanna, on the island of Lanka, underwent an interesting development.
While its kings were Buddhist, they nevertheless found the money and
interest to patronize the construction of a great Temple to Rama, on a
site that numerous scholars pointed out as the location of the mythical
Kingdom of Lanka – the kingdom ruled by Ravana, and defeated by Rama in
the great epic, the Ramayana. With the construction of such a grand
temple, pilgrims from far and wide began reaching Lanka. Similarly, a
great lighthouse was constructed in Gokanna, to mark the capital as a
jewel.

(Gokanna: +Culture Development)

## Southeast Asia

Tarumangara is in what can only be described as a golden age. Traders
with India, China, and Japan have returned with magnificent goods and
tales of glorious lands, and – most importantly of all – large numbers
of imported texts, which have filled libraries at home. Emissaries from
the Taruman court were in fact responsible for bringing many of these
texts home, and in total these have formed the sprouts of a native
intellectual community in the country, with a school of natural
philosophy being established in the capital in 542. The capital itself,
and many of the country’s other cities, saw great improvements modelled
off travellers’ accounts of India, with sewage systems, great monuments
and lush gardens being constructed, as well as better harbors based on
the cothon system, and designated trading quarters – some of which have
become permanent homes for Chinese, Japanese, and Indians – and forums
for merchants, all sharply increasing trade revenues. In the
countryside, roads were greatly improved.

Reportedly inspired by Indian and Chinese works on law, Sri Ratu
Andriana instituted a unified, written code of laws, the “Tatakrama
Andriana,” firmly codifying the Kejawen beliefs, including religious,
social, and moral laws, for the first time in Nusantaran history.
However, as this apparent golden age continues, not all are happy; the
supposed proliferation of such “foreign ideas,” regardless of how true
that actually is, has inflamed certain more conservative women in the
body of Kejawen theologians. And this, despite all the obvious
improvements that have come, has caused a deep resentment of Andriana’s
courtship with these foreign ideas.

(Tarumangara: +Culture Development)

To the south, Taruman sailors continued their exploration of the
mysterious, massive new land they call Rondan. In the 530s and 540s, a
series of Taruman military expeditions set out into both the interior
and around the coasts of Rondan. The most extensive would be that which
set out in 539, which sailed down the supposed west coast of Rondan,
until a harsh storm wrecked a number of ships and forced them to turn
back. A similar expedition set out in 537 to explore the east, which
made official contact with an island they named “Purwantara,” and
exchanged weapons and goods with the island’s natives. Concurrent with
the introduction of paper to Tarumangara by traders from China and
Japan, Taruman sailors have been able to make somewhat extensive maps of
 their region. Much of inland Rondan was explored too, with little of
note found except vast tracts of harsh desert and scattered natives. On
Rondan itself, the trading post previously established has expanded into
 a small town and a local hub, as the area is settled by colonists.
Additionally, fleeing Buddhists have established a pair of monasteries –
 with tacit Taruman support – on an island to the north, and a number of
 Hindu communities have formed inland as well. Reputedly, the ways of
the settlers – including metalworking and, in some cases, Buddhism – are
 being spread to the natives.

(Tarumangara: -2 Squadrons)

On the mainland, Chinese and Indian texts from the period show that a
pair of previously nonexistent states came into existence. One was
Langkasuka. Claiming to be the continuation of an older kingdom, which
exists in the oral memories of the local Malay peoples and is confirmed
by Indian accounts and histories, Langkasuka of today is in fact a
confederation of a number of monarchial city-states, dominated by the
city of Tambralinga, towards the south of the realm. Hinduism is
prevalent here, but Buddhism is growing, and with increasing Nusantaran
cultural influence, there are numbers of Kejawen adherents here,
especially in and around Tambralinga. Further north, the kingdom of
Dvaravati arose, an Indianized kingdom of the Mon peoples living in the
valleys west of Kamboja, which united much of the region for the first
time under a possibly mythical king, Suryavikrama, in around 530.

Kamboja continued its expansion up the Mekong river, subjugating a
number of local tribes – but, by the 540s, the state had started to
overextend itself, and dynastic disputes had begun to unravel much of
what had been accomplished. Buddhism continued its spread through the
Khmer peoples. And neighboring Champa remained largely peaceful and
somewhat prosperous through the period, with the exception of a growth
in trade, as the city of Indrapura would arise as a port of call for
some traders travelling between Tarumanagara and China.

(Kamboja: -Stability, -2 Infantry Companies)
(Champa: +Economy Development)

==

East Asia ==

The Rouran came invading Jin, for a second time, in 526, and once again
advanced to the gates of Pyongyang. It looked as it this time the Rouran
 might actually finish the Jin Kingdom off. But this time, the Jin had
come to an understanding with neighboring Baekje, and to the Rouran’s
surprise, the armies of Baekje would come to Jin’s aid. The siege was
relieved, the Rouran armies sent fleeing by the combined forces of the
two Korean states, and once again Korea was spared destruction at the
hands of a horde. This in a sense reflects the fact that Korean society
in recent years has become far more militarized.

(Rouran: -2 Infantry Companies, -9 Cavalry Companies, -1 Siege Train)

(Jin: -2 Infantry Companies, -5 Cavalry Companies)
(Baekje: -3 Infantry Companies, -1 Cavalry Company)

Dejected, the Rouran turned their hordes west, into the Uyghur
Khaganate. This war, in sharp contrast, went extremely well. While one
half of the Rouran army attacked directly, the other half the army
passed through the northern Tarim Basin city-states – themselves now
increasingly divided between the coalition of the northern three
(Kashgar, Tumxuk, and Kuqa) and the southern dominant state of Khotan –
and attacked the Uyghurs from the south, and from there the Uyghurs were
 soundly defeated, very rapidly, the Uyghur khagan and his family
killed, and Turkic citizens were placed in charge. By 540 Rouran
horsemen were roaming the steppes as far west as the Oxus River.

(Rouran: -1 Infantry Company, -5 Cavalry Companies)

(Uyghur: -20 Cavalry Companies, -Existence)

In Gur Khan’s last years, he forced a series of reforms – the Yassa
Decrees, named after the Persian-born writer-philosopher Yassin Abur,
who proclaimed them. The khanate was transformed into a truly absolute
monarchy, with the Khaan above all. Gur Khaan I would die, and the state
 would pass to his son Aggur, named Gur Khaan II. The khanate would be
administered through a series of states, ruled by figures named
kurultai, chosen by the khaan, supposedly on meritocratic lines.
Education, taxes, and law were all reformed as well, in efforts to
create a more equal society. While these administrative reforms have
helped, the Khanate’s rapid expansion and subjugation of the Uyghurs has
 severely burdened the vast state, which now stretches from the Urals to
 the Pacific, to the point where the advances made by the reforms have
been completely negated by the territorial additions since. Most of the
west now lies under loose control, at best.

(Rouran: +Culture Development, -Stability)

The Yangdi Emperor’s illustrious reign began to come to an end in 530,
when the aging emperor had his eldest son and heir, Chang Yang, crowned
as co-emperor; a stroke of genius that would prevent any succession
crisis. Five years later, Yangdi would retire – thus beginning the sole
rule of the Qianglong Emperor, whose reign would see the continued
prosperity of his predecessor. But the real power in Chinese domestic
affairs through the whole cycle was the imperial chancellor, Yang Guo,
who had spearheaded the conquest of Liao and whose Treatise on Military
Efficiency had become the standard for Chinese military texts.

Between 530 and Yang Guo’s death, at the age of 80, in 541, a number of
reforms and programs were initiated by the eminent chancellor. A large
number of roads through the countryside were paved and constructed
according to a plan by three mathematicians; schools and universities
for the country’s scholars were constructed in towns across China; and,
most far-reaching of all, at Yang Guo’s behest, the state began
providing pensions for some of the elderly and unemployed. Some of these
 were popular, others were, suffice to say, not. The conservative
faction of scholars balked strongly at the last one, citing it an
unnecessary expense and an unnecessary involvement of the state in
economic matters. Still, the Qianglong Emperor’s high opinion of the
chancellor and his policies meant that they have stayed, years after
Yang Guo’s death.

(Sung: -Stability, +Army Development, +Economy Development)

In Hirajima, these years were largely quiet; the Seven Ports efforts
that had begun in an earlier generation were completed in earnest, to
great fanfare, and solidifying the Hirajima kings’ authority over their
realm. The combination of the ports’ completion and the growing trade
between Japan on one hand and Nusantara and China on the other, and
Japanese trade links as far as India and even Africa, meant that the
Japanese economy and society could truly prospered and grew wealthy.
Simultaneously, in 527, Hirajima soldiers crossed the strait to the
northern island of Ejima, founding the port city of Tsuchiwan; mostly,
this has been used for interaction between Hirajima and the Emishi and
Ainu peoples of the north, with any locals who resisted Hirajima
expansion subjugated or evicted by force. Japanese Buddhists have been
particularly energetic in using Tsuchiwan as a staging point from where
they can spread Buddhist teachings to the Ainu, and many have picked it
up.

(Hirajima: +Stability, +Economy Development)

==

Story Bonuses ==

When Meduseld burning, one young ex-initiate at the Temple was reported
to have fled the chaos, and, according to some reports, experienced a
vision while lying in a ditch, of five figures. He has, supposedly,
started wandering Europe, preaching and spreading their message. The
destruction of Nornidr has also caused a number of Allfather adherents
to spread into neighboring countries, especially into the Balkans, which
 is already religiously divided between Christians, Solar Faithful, and
various other faiths.

Carthage’s outright rejection of the proposed Nording treaty hardened
its navies in battle even further, and proved that the Mediterranean was
 still its *mare nostrum*.

The Dacian system of roads has been critical in starting a larger flow
of trade through Dacia, which has also prospered in this regard from the
 increased trade flowing through Scythia.

Fatar’s need for devotion has hardened the Samojard people, and even
though their homeland has been lost, their faith in the god of their
people only grows through their ordeals and their exile, and the
memories will never die so long as Fatar lives.

The numerous kings of Yibram over the centuries have given the state a great deal of long-term stability that remains today.

It is a golden age for poetry in China. Perhaps one of the pivotal
events in launching this golden age was the marriage of the aging Yangdi
 Emperor to Suren, a princess of the Rouran Khanate, in a diplomatic
move that helped forge a lasting peace between the two East Asian
realms. The marriage was a happy one, and despite a large age gap the
two had strong feelings for each other. Court poets immediately set out
writing love poems, in the efforts of winning the lovestruck Emperor’s
favor, and the ensuing growth led to a national blossoming of poetry,
advancing the country’s cultural prowess.

The Yassa decrees in the Rouran Khanate further advanced Rouran society,
 at least in the core regions surrounding the khaan’s burgeoning capital
 at Karakorum. The decrees also appear to take cues from the
contemporary reformist Chinese figures such as Yang Guo.