Byzantium's Twilight [Concluded]
Constantinople, May 1453
So, this was it, then. The city, *the* city, Nova Roma, Constantine's City, the very last stronghold of the classical world and all it represented, was going to fall. This wasn't exactly unprecedented news; after all, the city had been under siege dozens of times in its existence, and it had even fallen once before, in 1204, to the might of the horribly misguided Venetian Crusaders. But that was different. That time was an aberration, a shock, an error in history that was remedied only half a century. This one was definite. It had a horrible air of finality around it. The city's defenders were not facing a band of greedy Venetians this time around. No, this time the foe was an incredible force of 80,000 Ottomans, ready to take the city and remake it in the mold of the man who led them on: Sultan Mehmed II, 21 years old and with a singleminded ambition to become the next Caesar.
This army was very large and very motivated. They were also very well-supplied. When the final assault came, there would be three waves of attackers: The irregulars, to wear the defenders down, the Anatolians, to clear a path, and then the feared Janissaries, to finish the defenders off once and for all. They had built a massive fort the past year, Rumeli Hisar, aptly-named the Throat Cutter, to cut the city off from much needed supply. They had a large navy and were prepared to take control of the city's harbor, the legendary Golden Horn. And they had cannons, cannons which would reduce the city's famed double walls to dust in no time at all.
And yet, for all this, the Sultan was still uncertain of victory. The defenders were hardy, they were fighting for far more than just ground, after all. They were fighting for their homes, their last city, the final remnant of a once-glorious civilization that stretched arguably all the way back to 753 BC with a fratricide. They were led by a very capable man in the Genoan, Giustiniani. And there was always the hope of a miracle, a hope of help from the West.
The Sultan did not want to risk anything going wrong with the capture of his prized city, the Red Apple. After all, failure would be catastrophic. Ottoman politics being what they were, a defeat could spell the abrupt end of his short reign. No, he needed to increase his odds. He had the brute force department all wrapped up, but it wouldn't hurt to throw in a little subterfuge as well. After all, those walls *were* large, and that cannon *did* take a while to reload between shots.
Why waste thousands of men trying to scramble up and capture a tough position when you can just walk right in through the gate?
The Sultan figured it was time to activate his deep-cover agents currently operating inside the city. Two of them were working with a group of soldiers who, according to intelligence reports, had the keys to one of the city's most important gates. Using his discreet communication method, he sent the agents their newest orders: Kill the soldiers, get the keys, open the gate.
With the gate fallen, the city would be wide open, ready for its new ruler at least.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Introduction and Rules:
"Byzantium's Twilight" is, as you might guess, set during the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, more specifically the Ottoman siege that preceded the fall. Not coincidentally, I'm also writing about this exact topic for my undergraduate thesis, which is currently due in... three months oh God help me it's too soon and will be a good way for me to keep interest with the topic and, hopefully, share my enthusiasm for it with the rest of you.
This is a vanilla mafia game that -
"GH, you're hosting a Large vanilla mafia game and it's not part of the Mafia series? What gives?"
...as I was saying, this is a vanilla mafia game that has two mafiosi who know each other's identities and are not allowed to kill each other at night. These mafiosi will take the form of Ottoman deep cover agents. The rest of the players, none of whom will have special abilities, are the town/Byzantine soldiers.
There is a wrinkle or two whose exact form will take shape based on the amount of players we get. This will have to do with the number of kills per night and whether it's a consistent two per night until the end, switches from two to one at a predetermined phase, or whether it switches from two to one if/when the town is successful at lynching one of the two Ottoman deep cover agents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please post to sign up. In addition, I am debating on whether or not to include anonymous accounts for this game. Please state your preference, if you have one, when signing up.
Thanks for your interest and let's have a great game!
Signed up: (27)
Subotan
Zack
Montmorency
Arjos
The King
Captain Blackadder
LazyMcCrow
Ishmael
Double A
scottishranger
Chaotix
Askthepizzaguy
classical_hero
Visorslash
landlubber
God Emperor
edse
atheotes
Cjreynol
DaveShack
Diamondeye
autolycus
issaikhaan
Riedquat
BSmith
Csargo
rickinator9
Originally Posted by TosaInu
Reply With Quote
- Horseman of the 
Bookmarks