The Story of Souls: A Sweboz AAR

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Thirty Seven: Corrupted Blood (Part Two)
(From the Greek book:)
Autumn 388AD
As the leaves change around us my new husband and i are busy with tasks of state. Ah the honeymoon was WONDERFUL, but as Aesop once said, "All good things must come to an end." However there is more good news on the way. Yesterday it was confirmed, i am with child. The whole of the Arche has burst out in celebration, i hear many arguing over whether its a boy or girl.
In other news, the reports that we have gotten out of the steppes are worrying. It appears that infighting has broken out amongst the Baltic tribes over territorial rights. It has only been five or so years since the Things forever left us, and they are squabbling like children over issues that are unimportant. However the Romaioi have sent ambassadors to quell the chaos, so all that we can hope for is a swift conclusion to this dispute. The new confederation is still highly unstable, and things dont look like they are going to improve anytime soon for it.
But i have work that must be done, so i must end this entry.

Winter 388AD
(From the Greek book:)
As the months wear on things are growing more stable very quickly. Most of the plagued lands have been reclaimed, all of the rebellions and madness have abated. Trade has risen by an incredible amount. The poleis around me bristles with vitality and life. And of course my belly has swollen. There is much speculation as to whether it will be a boy or girl. I am really hoping for a little girl, in spite of almost everyone else wanting it to be a boy.
But i digress, there is news from beyond the Arche. To the east there is more fighting between the Langobards and the Sassanids. The siege of Arkerus (Homs) had ended after three brutal years.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1621-38-23-38.jpg
And the Langobard counter attack has stalled out, once again.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1621-46-50-56.jpg
However, as the fighting goes on more and more peoples are getting drawn into the conflict. The Pontics fight for the Sassanids of course. The Armenians fight with the Langobards. The Goths fight with the Langobards as well. The chaos gets wider and wider. We have tried to moderate the conflict but have had little luck so far. I can only pray that things get better.

Spring 389AD
(From the Greek book:)
(There are tear stains on these pages)
I simply don't understand. Am i just cursed? Or does evil seem to follow me around?
My son was born a week ago. Everything went perfectly, at least during the birthing. After he was cleaned up and i held him i was so happy. I named him Alexios. Then the next day, we noticed something horrible, he at first looked as if he was molting. But as the days passed he...changed. His eyes went from a baby's gray to 5 colors at once, his skin had blotches of bright blues and greens and reds and purples, and even yellows. It looked as if a rainbow had been flung into his body. I was horrified and sent for every doctor, and healer that i could find. Not a ONE of them could find anything that would cause this.
The answer was finally provided to me by the German seer girl that had helped save this poleis 3 years ago. She told me that Alexios's blood was corrupt, as was my own. The monster that had hit me with his black energy that day 3 years ago had managed to curse my children and even my bloodline forever. She told me that it wont affect him in any other way than physically, but he looks so strange. All that i can ask is why? Why does this insanity have to happen?
But i must announce this to the people soon. I can only pray that they do not overthrown me on this pretense, for there are many that would LOVE to do so.

(Two days later:)
Well i am still here, as is my family. As the priests baptized Alexios, the water turned golden. This was taken as a sign from God that my family was meant to rule. The people have accepted this answer and i can raise my child in a happy home. The future is finally bright and life is wonderful once again.
Also i am turning this book over to another historian, i simply dont have the time to write in it anymore. So i must be gone, the Arche shall be maintained.

End of Act II

"Now how was THAT for an ending?", the old man said to his grandchildren. "It was great Grandfather.", the little girl said. Her brother was asleep. "Can i hear more please?", she asked. "Not tonight," a woman behind them said,"Now you have to go to bed." "AWWWW",she said. The woman, whom was obviously their mother, said,"NOW!" The little girl was sad and pouted for a little bit, but eventually got up and went to her room. After the mother had tucked them both in, she went back into the main room and said to the old man, her father,"You know i don't like it when you fill their heads with these stories." "Yes i do but i prefer to teach them this way, rather than let the schools do it. They are still corrupt, no matter what the Councilor of Education says.", he answered. "Well could you at least tone down the violence please?", she pleaded with him. "When i told you these stories as a little girl you didn't seem to mind.", he remarked. She blushes. "Well it is late.", she said trying to change the subject, "Don't you have to get up early for duty at the Temple tomorrow?", she asked. "Yes i do.", he answered as he got up. He kissed her on her forehead,"Goodnight, my sweet.", he said as he went to bed.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

So what does everyone think?
Act III is soon.

[HunGeneral]

Very interresting but I have been saying that all the time:juggle2:

However I must add that this "cliffhanger" like ending with Alexios is truly fascinating - I wonder if this will go on into Act III..

I must say keep up the good work Olaf - this AAR will surely become a classic:yes:

[julius_caesar_the_first]

Very very nice :2thumbsup: . Your AAR is truly unique. I can barely wait to see what Act III is all about :beam:. Nice ending to Act II as well. Keep up the good work :yes:

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Wait, how is that a cliffhanger ending?

[Olaf Blackeyes]

As the old man set foot in the door way, he set his scrying gem, an obvious sign of his office as a Rune Priest, down on the table. He hugged his daughter and went into the living room to watch the tv. As he turned it to the news, he saw a story about how the Elven Guard had foiled an attempt on the life of the Chancellor, the third one this year. "Damn terrorists", he mumbled. It seemed ever since the attacks on Girhos and Rome, the world had gone insane, once again.
At the moment however his grandchildren came home from school. "Grandfather!", they both shouted in joy. He hugs both of them tight,"How was school?", he asks them. "It was boring today, but at least we didnt have to do any work. They just watched the news all day", his grandson replies. "Well go eat supper, and wash up. Then ill tell you more of the story. Okay?", he says. "OK!", they reply.
After all of that they settle in once again, and the old man pull out another book, written in Runic.
As his daughter listens in, he opens the book.....

ACT III The Time of the Trials
((Bonus point for the person who can guess WHAT event i am starting this from:laugh4:))

Chapter One: In Battle
(From the Runic book:)
Summer 609AD
My name is Jurzalez. I am an ambassador to the Romans, and, starting today, historian of the High Court of Germania. I am a minor noble from the Norda lands, at barely 20 winter of age. And i just got through watching a battle between the Romans and the Kassite tribes the Upper Danube.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1809-15-48-65.jpg
The Romans formed up in their usual infantry formation.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1809-15-54-47.jpg
Meanwhile the Roman general, whom is my gracious host, rode with his horsemen through the woods to outflank the Kassites.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1809-18-07-67.jpg
It worked beautifully. The Kassites were surrounded and didn't stand a chance.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1809-20-26-36.jpg
In the end it was a massacre. And the Kassites retreated back to their lands on the Danube.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1809-23-09-94.jpg
How times have changed. It used to be that the Slavic Tribes were mainly out on the steppes were they belong. The Steppe confederation was a grand shield for the rest of Europa. They had deflected three other steppe invasions, and life was good. The only real trouble was in Mikra Asia with the continuing wars of the Langobards and the Sassanids.
But then... then came the Avars, and the world almost imploded. The Confederation was brutally crushed within six winters, in a near repeat of the Hunnic wars. The only real different, the Avars kept going. The southern Slavic Tribes fled into the Iron Sky Mountains, the Alans... well they didn't survive. The Northern Slavs fled into the deep forests of Hyperboreia. The Vampire Lords fled into their deep mountains homes in the Iron Sky, and the centaurs fled for the southern Black Forests.
Even with almost ALL of the grass seas theirs, the Avars kept going. They shattered the Iron Sky Mountains, and drove all before them. Their Khagan, drove his men with a furor of the demons once again. The Slavs fled into the Balkans, shattering the Roman and Greek defenses along the Danube forever. The Poles BARELY deflected them, with massive German support. So instead of going west into the forests they went south into the mountains.
The Greeks took the brunt of their invasion. After many brutal battles, they stopped the Avars for good just north of the great city of Constantinople. However the Avars still manage to enslave many of the Slavic Tribes of the Balkans. Their two main clients were the Serbs and the Croats, with the Albans under Greek protection. The final border was the southern portion of the Eastern Balkans. However, this was not the end of the Greeks troubles, for the Langobards and Pontics took FULL advantage of the Iris Throne's weakness and invaded the Central holding of the Arche within Mikra Asia. They were stopped just short of the coast in many places and made it TO the coast in a few other places.
Some of the Slavs escaped the Avars however. These hit the Roman Balkans hard. The Kassites even managed to take much of the south shore of the Danube. The Oblics took Illiyria, except for the cities of Salonae, and Dalmatias. The Fortress at Aquilea is what halted their advance. After his Danube frontiers were shattered, the Roman Emperor at the time Cassius Garus, decided a new defensive position was needed. He set up MAJOR defensive works in and set four legions to the central Alps. This place has since before a true fortress and probably the safest place in all of Europa. The Emperors since him have sent their cash, their families, their philosophers and thinkers, their extra food reserves, and one even set up his CAPITAL within this place. In fact the Alpine territories are amongst the most advanced and wealthy within the whole of the Empire.
All of this of course was 50 winters ago. Now, even the constant incursions of the Avars, PALE in comparison to what, we later found out, they were running FROM. The Khazar... or as most call them, Huns spawn. Ten winters ago they arrived on the outer edges of the Sea of Grass, complete with undead slaves, summoned demons, and their Khagan was a demon in disguise. We were force to ally with the AVARS to stop these beasts. In the end all we did was force them to fall back to the steppes. They will return, and SOON if reports are to be believed.
However i have much to do yet, so i must leave off for now.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

And now Europa 610AD
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/610AD.png
The Red is of course Rome.
The Green is Germania.
Britain is in its OTL Dark Ages mode.
Orange North Africa is the Vandals.
The Blue is the Arche Byzantiou.
The Yellow-gold is Poland.
Bonus point if you can guess whom the Purples in the NE corner of the map are (Or are going to be).
The Maroon in Syria and Southern Asia Minor are the Langobards.
The Brown in southern Judea and Cyprus are the only possessions of Gothic Egypt that this map would give me.
The Light Purple in Mesopotamia are the Sassanids.
The Gray south of Poland are the lands of the Centuars.
The Deep Gold in the Carpathians and Eastern Balkans is the Avar Khaganate.
The Steel Gray in the steppes are the Khazars.
The Pink in northern Asia Minor is the Kingdom of Pontos.
The Puke Green are the Kassites.
The Rose Pink in Illiryia are the Olbics.

And all of the Lined colors are client states.
The Purple lines is Armenia.
The two golden lines are the Croats in the North, and the Serbs in the South.
The Albans are the Blue lines.

[julius_caesar_the_first]

The purple in the north could be the Finno-Ugric peoples (Hungarians and Finns) or the ancestors of the russians but I'm not 100% sure.

Nice alternative history you have there :smiley:

[HunGeneral]

Finno-Ugrics?:speechless:

Now that would make things even more interresting...

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Fraid its not the Proto-Fins. Good guess though.
But its 350 years too late for that to be them.

BTW I ****ING LOVE Paint.Net!

[julius_caesar_the_first]

All the maps I've found show the Finno-Ugric peoples in that area at that time. Only other guesses are the Rus or Magyars (but they seem to be a lot more to the south).

[HunGeneral]

Well besides Magyars (300 years too early, pluss to high north) Rus (I guess to much to the north aswell) or Khazars (there back on the steppes) I couldn't think on anyone or atleast I can't remember right now.

Nice work Olaf now you got me thinking on that one.... can't wait to see who they are...:book:

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Remember this is not OTL is is an ATL.
Stuff can change pretty dramatically with the Butterfly Effect.:laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4:
Beside you guys have guessed at it several times by now, but you arent giving me a final answer.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Two: Peace
(From the Runic book:)
Winter 609AD
As the snows set in another winter has come. I have returned to the Capital of Germania, Gawjam-Suthezkoz. The reports that our High King, Ardawulfaz, has received are not good. The Khazars are once again on the move, this time it looks like they are heading for the Avars. This will mean more fighting and bloodshed in the winter to come.
To the south the Langobards and Sassanids are entering their 25th winter of war with one another. How EITHER of these peoples have the will to fight for 25 winters is beyond me. It is, as ever, a bloody stalemate along the western bank of the Euphrates River.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1821-55-31-40.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-1822-01-58-62.jpg
In spite of numerous attempts, neither side will come to the table, the Langobards claiming that the Sassanid are oppressing fellow Christians in Armenia, and the Sassanids claiming that these lands have belonged to them since time out of place, as the "Heirs to Akkadia". So things have been forever it seems. These two peoples have gone to war nearly 50 times in 200 winters. This is one of the longer ones however.
Closer to home, the harvests have picked up recently, the Gawjams of Hamburgoz, Akerusoz, and Dietmoz have had plentiful harvests this winter, so when the snows met it will be a good winter.
But i must sign off for there are things i must take care of.

[desert]

Didn't they stop ending everything with -oz by then?

I'm pretty sure Old English was invented around 600 AD.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Yes, Old English is in England, a former Roman province and there are massive Roman cultural inroads into Saxon culture there.
But also remember, by now the Romans were gone and Roman culture had deeply spread amongst the Germans. Without the Fall of Rome, this diffusion into Germania proper will take a LOT longer. You have to take account of the butterfly effect, which i am trying to do.

[desert]

WTF. How did I equate England with Germany...:sweatdrop::shame:

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Your thinking of the Mixing of Germanic and Latin cultures that occurred at this time in OTL due to the formation of the Holy Roman Empire, aren't you?
Well technically the Saxons are Germanic

[desert]

I don't know what I was thinking. I just thought questioned your continued use of the -oz suffix because it seemed hard to believe the language would stay basically same for 1000 years. Then I thought of Old English and for some reason decided the story took place in England. IDK, alright?

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Well i would like to take this time to apologize to everyone, but i miss dated the Start of this Act, so in order to have to avoid putting in 5 years of filler i moving the dates forward.
Again i apologize for my idiocy.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

At this point we open up a new book, written in Arabic.
Chapter Three: Revelations (Part One)
Spring 610AD
My name is Mohammed ibn 'Abdullah. I am 40 years of age, and am lost in this life. For nearly 22 years i have been a trader, i have traveled the world, from the Indus to Syria, and back. I have seen much and talked with many. And yet no matter where i go, i always see unhappiness, poverty, corruption, and a mass of other evils. Even in my own home city of Mecca, i cannot help but see the abject disdain that those not of my tribe, the Quarysh, are shown. Even amongst my tribe there is much conflict and anger. And the Elders say that the gods shall aid those whom are right. But this has gone on for years upon years. Why haven't they stopped the anger yet, as the elders have said? The rich do not aid the poor, as they should. The waters do not flow for the people, as they should. Life is simply not as it should be.
But that is none of my concern, say the Elders. My wonderful wife, Khadijah, bought me this simple journal, to express my feelings in, but i have a feeling that this will not be enough.
I have been for the past several years, going to a cave in the mountains outside of my city, to think on these things and more. Each time i have come back unfulfilled but i always feel as if i am coming closer to something each time. I will soon leave again for the cave to try and finally sort out all of these thoughts of mine. Who knows maybe ill stumble across something this time around.

(Two weeks later:)
I arrived at the cave yesterday. And once again i have been thinking about life and how things stand. The peoples that i have traveled amongst are not amongst the most peaceful in this world. To the east the follower of the Hindu gods are split into classes by the very gods that they worship. How can a god treat his followers so? Allowing a few to horde everything for themselves while others around them starve?
And to the west the Lambarad and Gotan lords have allowed the religion of Christ to fragment and split only to brutally oppress the people that divide away from their view of Christ. How can such people, whom claim to follow God's will, allow for such evils to exist within their lands, and amongst their peoples?
I am hoping that further thought and meditation into these matters will provide me with some insight.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

DISCLAIMER

I am NOT trying to promote any form of ANY religion in this story, nor do i want this thread to turn into a religious debate. All i am doing is providing a POV.
Thank you for your time.

[julius_caesar_the_first]

You're trying to tell the story of Mohammed? This is the first time you've used a historical figure. I'm curious to see how this turns out:beam:.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Three: Revelations (Part Two)
(From the Arabic book:)
Spring 610AD
As i write out these words, my soul is filled with joy, filled with happiness, and filled with truth.
Three nights ago, as i sat in meditation, i suddenly saw a bright light appear before me. Within the light i saw a heavenly figure. As i sat shocked, the spirit came forth and showed me images within my mind. I saw things, both good and bad, that very nearly tore me apart. As i recovered, the spirit spoke unto me. It told me that i was to go forth and preach the truth of Allah to the world. It told me several things which i dare not right down, for I'm certain that if i did this journal would instantly burst into flame. As the spirit finished its words, i was still horribly confused, and incredibly terrified at the same time. How could i, a simple trader, lead the world from the darkness, and into this wonderful light that the spirit proclaimed? As my thoughts got darker from these doubt, i even contemplated throwing myself from the cliff outside of the cave. However the spirit sense this and moved closer to me and told me not to fear, that i was to be a prophet of Allah, to spread His word and His love across all of the world, He would aid me in my quests, and He would always be with me, no matter how dark things got.
With that the spirit, whom i am starting to believe was an angel, departed my humble cave. He left me with many thoughts. I have been thinking them though for several days now. I KNOW that what i have sought for so long has finally been shown to me. And i KNOW that this is something that the world MUST be shown. However i simply have no idea how to tell everyone else, or even if i am worthy of such a Holy task.
I must go home soon, and tell my beloved as well. She will probably think the deserts have finally gotten to me. I hope the truth will bring the same light to her eyes as it has to mine.

(A week later:)
I arrived back here a week ago. As i sat down with my beloved and told her the things that i had been shown. At first she looked at me as if i had really gone crazy, but as time went on and i finished my story, she started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said, that she had been having some of those same thoughts as mine before the truth was shown to me. She hugged me tight, and then lay prostrate and begged to be shown these truths as well. She is my first convert and success, i have many more to go. However i also have much thinking to do, as well. Before i can begin preaching to the people about these revelations, i must first cleanse my soul of its sins, so that my words are not tainted by them. My wonderful wife has agreed to help me in any way she can.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

And Arabia 610 AD
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/arabia610AD.png
The tiny color patches on the Peninsula itself are the different tribes of Arabia.
The purple to the north are the Sassanids.
The orange in the west is the Kingdom of Abassyina (Ethiopia).
The maroon to the nw is the Langobards.
The brown to the nw is Gothic Egypt.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

At this point we open another book, written in Latin.
Chapter Four: Boredom
Summer 610AD
My name is Hiladus Redius. I am a noble of the Roman court and the general of the Legio IV. We are the keepers of the peace here in Hispania. I have done much soldiering work in my time. Everything from putting down heretical rebellions to punishing those that seek to rebel against the Emperor, i have done. I was even the leader of the defense force that stopped a Vandal invasion ten years ago. The filth tried to bring their corrupted views on the Bible to these lands, well i put a stop to THAT!
However things since have moved on from my lands, probably all of those problems in the east. So now i sit here and twaddle my thumbs, with next to nothing to do. The High Command wont reassign me, nor will they authorize me the funds to do anything important. As i sit and grow increasingly bored, i have done things that i never thought i would do, such as cheat on my wife, and started a trading business to fill my time. But im still bored and i search for a challenge.

(Three weeks later:)
Well i guess that "Ask and ye shall Receive" really is true. Two weeks ago we got a report of Vandal pirates raiding the coasts of Baetica. When i sent some cohorts to the coasts they reported seeing a LOT more raiding than normal. I immediately suspected that something was afoot, and gather ten more cohorts, leaving one to garrison the rest of the province. As they arrived a large number of ships landed on the coast east of Corduba. On them was an invasion army. However before my troops could show up the invaders broke into three groups. The first group went straight north, an obvious distraction, the other two went east and west along the coasts. I knew that they were probably the larger forces and they were headed for Corduba and Maieta. I immediately split my forces in half. The half that went east was to crush the raiding force and then ambush the Vandals heading for Maetia. I gave this force the larger number of men to do this task. The remaining 1/3 of the Legio IV i took direct command of And went to block off the pass into the central lands of Baetica and Corduba.
I received a message yesterday from the other part of the Legio. They had successfully crushed the Vandal raiders with ease, and were proceeding to the forests south of Maetia to ambush the Vandals.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2016-47-37-53.jpg
I can only hope that they make it in time.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Five: First Wave
(From the Latin book:)
Summer 610AD
Two days ago a report came in from the eastern part of the Legio. They had crushed the Vandals in a terrific ambush. The poor fools didnt even have time to get out of their marching column, before they were wiped from this earth. But this is what heretics and scum such as them deserve.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-34-03-01.jpg
As i read the report i got an idea. Having reached the spot were i determined that it would be best to give battle to the invader, i noticed that it was incredibly rocky, and poorly suited for large amounts of cavalry. Seeing that there was no danger of a counter attack i sent most of the cavalry around the area of battle to attack the Vandal ships that were beached at the landing site. If i am correct the Vandals left their poorest troops to guard the ships, not expecting a counter-attack.

(Three days later:)
As i write these words, i am also cleaning the blood from my sword. It has been a hard day of fighting. The day began with the Vandals hurting out of the forests in front of us and onto the plain. We formed up to receive them.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-42-09-88.jpg
Just before the battle began i gave a speech to the assembled men, and called to God to give us His blessing as we went into battle against the heretics in His name. As the battle began i sent what little light cavalry i had kept around the flanks of their army.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-43-00-77.jpg
This was the lightest cavalry of the Legio, and therefore could maneuver around many of the large rocks that were strewn all over the field with relative ease. However they were still at a disadvantage against the enemy, most of whom were heavier infantry or spearmen. Therefore they went after the Vandal's lightest troops, and archers.
Meanwhile the main line of the Vandals had surged forward as well. After we threw our pilums at the filth, we charged right back into them.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-47-47-31.jpg
As the lines met the fighting became fierce.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-47-27-10.jpg
It quickly stalemated. I was with the unit of Auxilia Palantia that guard the eagle. I know that the fighting was fierce and for a few moment we became surrounded by the heathens. However we fought bravely, and the heathens did not overwhelm us that day.
Meanwhile the light cavalry had wiped out most of the Vandal's lighter troops and saw that we needed aid. They came racing.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-47-33-50.jpg
The enemy general didnt hear the light cavalry's advance over the sounds of battle. The last thing he knew was a spearpoint protruding from his chest.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-48-16-42.jpg
With his death his army dissolved into chaos. Victory was ours.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-49-35-04.jpg
Even more good news arrived just a few minutes ago. The rest of the Legio's cavalry has captured nearly a third of the Vandal fleet.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2017-37-50-84.jpg
On board many of these ships were weapons, armor, gold, and supplies, enough to essentially pay for the campaign we had just completed. So in the end God gave us His blessing, and a nice bonus.
But i must prepare the men for i know that with the remaining two thirds of their fleet still intact, the Vandals shall return with a vengeance.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Six: The Beginnings (Part One)
(From the Runic book:)
Autumn 612AD
Again there is trouble on the edge of the Black Forests. The Khazars have returned. It took them twelve winters to recover from their previous defeats, but they have finally returned. The reports state that much of their horde is heading once again for the Avars lands. However this time around they have sent a significant force to attack the Poles as well. With the Poles under thread and our strategy under assault as well, we are going to the city of Warsawoz to help with its defense, with the main Polish armies defending the capital at Crazckow. It should prove to be a hard fight.
In other news the colony in Furtha is finally stable. Pressure from the Finnish tribes had put the new colony under great strain, for nearly 20 winters. However a recent victory has finally stabilized the borders. With security finally achieved, the High King can finally begin to develop these lands. However beyond the border the Finns still fight us tooth and nail. While our position there is secure, it is rather weak. However i suppose that i can blame this on the Avars as well, for these people, as far as we have been able to figure out, were once a part of a confederation with a people called the Ugurs. Then 50 winters ago the Avars hit the lands to their south like a lighting storm. When the Slavs fled they split in two, some going south, others going north, right into the heartlands of this confederation. The tribes couldn't resist the advancing Slavs and so they split and fled, the Finns west, and the Ugurs east. And now the Finns to the north of our colony are absolutely determined that their lands are never threatened again.
But enough about that. I have work to attend to.

(Two weeks later:)
As i write these words, the forces of our general, Frezdolaz, have set up shop in Warsawoz. The main Polish armies are in the southern part of the country, mainly at the citadel of Crazckow. These arrangement assure that the Poles receive the Khazars to their own extent, while we not only cover their backs but we can also outflank the vile Khazar filth and wipe out many of their warriors and undead at our leisure.
There is also great news from the south the first wave of Khazars has been broken on the Avar's rock. However the Avar's main army has suffered huge losses, amounting to nearly half of its standing force.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2020-28-16-97.jpg
There are still innumerable amounts of Khazars out there waiting to fight us to the death, however. I know that this is not the end of this fight by a long shot.

[julius_caesar_the_first]

So the mysterious purple people are Slavs.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Well the precursors to the Russians yes.
+1 :balloon2: for you.

[desert]

The Russians should arrive pretty soon, then. With their Viking armies and their craving for wedding cake.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

lulz
Nice one desert. Ok DESSERT=Desert LOLZ!!!
:laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::lau gh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4:
You would happen to BE Russian would you?

[julius_caesar_the_first]

I get a balloon? yupeeeeeeeeeeeeeee:laugh4:

[desert]

You would happen to BE Russian would you?

Close enough I guess.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Six: Beginnings (Part Two)
(From the Runic book:)
Winter 612AD
Well as the snows set in this winter is over and a new one begins. Just before the snows, however, we received excellent news. The Khazars that had besieged Crazckow have been totally destroyed in a massive battle. This allows us to make raids against their rear guard with near impunity now.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2203-48-35-75.jpg
Some bad news has also come in. The Romans and Greeks will not be able to aid us in this war with anything more than a token support. The Romans are far too busy fighting pirates and Vandals. While that war is still small their is promise for future conflict there as well.
Meanwhile the Greeks are under attack by Pontos and the Langobards, and are in a desperate battle to hold onto the rest on the Mikra Asian coast. There have been several major battles already and the Greeks have lost all of them. Right now the only things they hold onto are the cities of Pergamon, and Ephesus, and some of the surrounding territory. The Romans are in fact sending THEM help. Their Legios II and XI are soon to land in Mikra Asia to help repel the barbarians as they call their many enemies.

(From the Arabic book:)
Spring 613AD
At last! The visions have come once again, so i can safely assume that my time of purification has come to an end.
While undergoing the purification of my soul, i managed to also convert several others to the light of Allah. As i have gotten a small group together, we can begin our lives again as Those Whom Serve ((Muslims)), as our Lord Allah has dictated.
My first command is to go from unto the people and preach to them of the Light of Allah, and to show them the truth. I know at first it will be hard, of that i am certain. But the old stone idol gods shall fall, i do not know how long this will take, but i have been assured that they will fall. This is a blessing, for they have lied to us for as long as we have followed them.

(Three days later:)
As expected i have not made a lasting impression upon the people. In fact yesterday one man threw a rock at my head and branded me a heretic. He missed of course, but i now see that this will probably take even longer than i though, maybe my whole life. This i do not mind in the least, for the world MUST be shown the truth.

(From the Latin book:)
Spring 613AD
DAMN THESE VANDAL FILTH!!!! They have managed to continue to attack the shipping in spite of the fact that i have destroyed three of their fleets out to sea. In fact we now have reports that they are invading the naval base at Palmas, in the Balres Islands. Of course little help is forthcoming due to the Greeks plight. Why the High Command sent them two FULL Legios is beyond me. But i have only one under my command, so many battles have become dominated by local militias. However i have to take three cohorts out to the Balres and repel these heretical filth. I only hope i can arrive in time to prevent them from capturing half of the Imperial Fleet.

(Two weeks later:)
More and more raiders keep coming. With most of the Legios fighting the Slavic Tribes or helping the Greeks we dont have a lot of leftover forces to fight these bastards. Of course the usual politics within the High Command has once again paralyzed the process of recruiting more troops, or even gathering more levies. I simply dont understand what is wrong with these Counts and Dukes. The Emperor as usual has stepped aside to go to his pleasure palace in the hills of Neapolis, so there is no help there.
Well at least i have gotten the pirates out of the Balres.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Seven: Arise
((This is from no book, nor does the narrator even know of it. This is a story development. Consider it a "special" treat. MWWWAHHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!:laugh4::cake:))
????
It slept in a forced slumber. It was bound to this sleep, and had been for nearly 3400 years. In its dreams It saw what would happen if It were to awaken ever again. It saw Itself being ripped apart by light, being burned by the High Powers, being torn into fragments of itself, again and again. It cursed the day that It had fallen into this trap, as It did everyday, as It had done for nearly 3400 years. It slept.

The Sahara
Summer 613AD
There was fighting in the desert. The Tuareq Berber tribe under their Queen, Kasshetua, were fighting the Vandal dominated tribes of Hisheq, Azer, and Bafour, for control of the most holy Berber oasis that their people had, the Twiqet Oasis. While the Tuqareqs tried to fought away from the oasis, as custom dictates, many of the Vandal dominated Berbers were Arian Christians, and had little respect from the ancient customs of their people. The fight was for the souls of the Berber people, would the old stone gods remain or would Arian Christianity become supreme?
As the battle swirled around the holy waters the Pagan Berbers tried to guide it away from the shores of the Oasis, but the Christians were shoving them towards the waters in an attempt to dispose of the pagans in their "holy" lake. It was a final insult to a time they thought long dead.
As the battle reached the shores, the Tuareq Berber finally gave up, seeing that they were doomed. However the commander of the Christians was a cruel man, and ordered them to be killed and thrown into the lake. As the process was taken care of the waters of the lake darkened with the blood of the innocent and the guilty, befouling the lake.

????
As It dreamed a particularly horrible dream, It suddenly felt a shock go along its prison. The magic keeping It there was being QUICKLY thrown into chaos. It used all of Its remaining power to add to the chaos, and then overwhelm the magics that kept It imprisoned. As the walls of Its prison first cracked, then crumbled, It regained a massive proportion of Its powers. As Its prison was finally crushed, It rose.

The Sahara
Summer 613AD
As the Christian Berbers celebrated their victory, they not only continued to befoul the lake with defecation, but even began to contemplate destroying the pagan temple just on the opposite shore. However one of the priests that had accompanied the army looked at the lake in growing terror. It had gotten blacker and blacker as the day had progressed. He had reported his suspicions to the chieftain, but the man had waved them off, saying that it was probably the pagan spirits crying for their fallen ways. Oh how WRONG he would turn out to be.
Suddenly three massive sand dunes collapsed around the army. They also sucked about a third of them down with them. This threw everything into chaos. People were running everywhere. As the commander tried to restore order amongst his men. The lake suddenly glowed with a BLACK light. Many of the men tried to run from the lake, other milled about in confusion. It was far too late, for suddenly the commander saw something rising from the lake. At first it was hard to tell what it was. Then he saw It in Its full evil glory. His first and last though was, that Satan had come amongst them.

????
As It burst forth from the surface of the lake, It let out a terrific roar of freedom. As It got Its bearings straight, It saw what was left of Its once proud domain. What had been a hell-ridden landscape had turned into a titanic desert. Once vast armies of slaves had disappeared, and Its once glorious Black Fortress had been washed away by time. It then saw below some minor lifeforms scurrying about. As It had yet to regain Its full powers It decided to perform some soul sacrifices to get It by for the time being. It extended a hand and the insignificant beings below were eaten by blackness. The land around It was collapsed inwards and downwards, and a MASSIVE PIT was formed. In the middle of this pit a new Black Fortress arose. As It condensed Its form down to a size that would draw the attention of the powers around It, It also tried to extend Its powers as far as It could. However several thousand feet out It hit a brick wall that It could not pass. 'The powers that had imprisoned It were smart', It thought. However these wards were weak after millennia of neglect, and all it would take was a little coaxing and a little time and those wards would come crashing down. So It baited the wall's magics and slowly but surely drew them away from each other. It began to burn the temple that had oppressed It out of existence. It released a black cloud of raw evil magics to block out the light and hope from above. It also began to return the land around It into a hellish state. It even began to reform Its demonic armies of times past.
But most of all It waited.

[julius_caesar_the_first]

Realy realy realy BIG plot twist :beam: Great job Olaf:2thumbsup:

[HunGeneral]

And I though nothing new could be added to this:dizzy2:. Great move Olaf:yes:

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Eight: The First and the Last (Part One)
(From the Runic book:)
Autumn 613AD
As i write these words, the reports coming in speak of a great victory to the east. Apparently the Khazar filth tried to cross the river Ormor at its best ford. All that these troops were composed of were levies of undead and slaves, and a few herders to guide them along.
The battle itself was short and decisive.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2316-43-20-64.jpg
This victory has left the entire flank of the enemy open to an attack from us. We are gathering our best men to go and put an end to this evil before it can spread like the Huns did before them. I can only pray for their success.

(Three weeks later:)
DAMN THESE BASTARDS!!!!! I simply cannot believe what has happened. We managed to advance about fifty miles into the steppes before we were brutally ambushed by an EVEN LARGER army of Khazar filth. The battle took even less time than our victory did. What few survivors there were reported even LARGER numbers of undead, slave soldiers and highly skilled horse archers. The more and more that came the more and more that took their place on the horizon. The warriors described enemies that stretched on forever.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2316-56-08-53.jpg
And these troops are heading right for us! I can only hope that this is due to demonic magics and not a sign of how many actual troops they have.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Eight: The First and the Last (Part Two)
(From the Runic book:)
Spring 614AD
This has to be impossible. I know that i CANNOT believe these reports. According to what few scouts remain, the river Ormor had shifted course due to the huge numbers of undead and slave soldiers that marched across it three weeks ago. And the are STILL coming.
Our commander on the Ormor tried to deal with these filth himself. The first of this... flood... of monsters crossed at a point in the north about a month ago, right into a rather large hole in the ground. General Frezdolaz decided to punish them for their mistake. He marched towards the undead at full speed, ready to wipe them out once again. As the battle began he faced a pretty size-able force of Khazars and undead. However he managed to push them back towards the pit that they had set up as their base. However as soon as he reached the edge of the pit, he realized he had made a mistake. In that pit alone had to be 20000 undead and slave soldiers.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-08-23-80.jpg
And coming up from behind him were even MORE Khazars and undead.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-08-29-41.jpg
He quickly realized that this was an ambush. However it was a rather poor one. So he ordered his forces to retreat, as fast as possible. However several dozen warriors did not see the danger or heard the command over the sounds of battle and did not retreat. They were slaughtered for their meat.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-10-00-42.jpg
While the battle was not a disaster it was still a pretty big defeat. Frezdolez pulled his men back into the forests and tried to ambush a pretty significant force about a week later. However the Khazar commander was a smart man. Rather than go in there and fight our warriors, he had his archers and demons set the whole thing ablaze. This drove our men out of the forests, with more than two-thirds of them being roasted alive. The rest were slaughtered by the Khazars.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-33-50-54.jpg
Since then it has been nothing but defeat after defeat for our brave forces. The next man to try and take on the Khazars was General Guralezez. His forces were brutally beaten on the opposite bank of the Wesser river.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-21-45-12.jpg
There are reports of undead so numerous that Khazar commanders simply fling them at the walls of towns until they are crushed under the weight on the undead. And still MORE of them are coming. We have broken dams to flood them out, we have trapped them in passes to crush them, we have set trees on fire and burned them out of their camps to slaughter them. AND THEY STILL KEEP COMING!!! By Odin how do these people have so many warriors and undead at their disposal?!?!?! They are currently heading for Crazckow and Warsawoz at the same time. The Poles have been brutally beaten back every step of the way. I have been forced to take command of this collapsing front and call for our full might on this one. I have very little actual military experience so im only in command until a more experienced general arrives. I can only pray that that is soon.

(Two weeks later:)
Well there is finally some good news to report. We have faced off against a HUGE number of undead troops that made up the tail end of this horde in front of us and we won. They finally finished crossing the Ormor about a week ago. It took this force a month and a half to cross a river, A MONTH AND A HALF!!!!!!!!! That is just way too far beyond unbelievable, and yet the proof is right there before my eyes.
Anyway the command of General Igroztelez was the only one still mostly intact within all of Poland. He saw that the Khazar force had finally finished crossing and decided to give them at the least a bloody nose. However these undead were really without a commander they were just following the smells of meat and blood left behind by the Khazar demons and commanders. He ambushed the leaderless undead beautifully.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-42-03-74.jpg
However there were a HUGE number of them.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-42-11-01.jpg
This was not a bloodless victory by any means. His command was shrunken by a third at the end of that day. However over 22000 enemy bodies were burned at the end of the day as well.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2322-46-06-32.jpg
But this is a minor fraction of the total forces that these filth can summon so it is going to be a long fight for the people of Germania as well.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Nine: A Shift
(From the Latin book:)
Summer 614AD
Well it is official. The Langobards and Pontics have fled the Greek territories. It took the full might of the Legio IX to put down this invasion. They fought the Langobard forces outside of Ephesus and Pergamon. They had a hard fight and i envy the fact that i am not there with them. It took them much of the day but in the end the foolish barbarians could not prevail over our forces.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2516-37-43-18.jpg
And, if the reports are correct this invasion was committed with rather poor troops. They speak of levies and militias at best. I guess it is just all of the wars that these heathens are fighting might be running them low on troops, or out of, troops.
But the Greeks are in little position to take advantage of the situation. The Fight to regain Nicaea from the Pontics was far harder. The first battle took place at the landing site. It was fast and victorious.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2516-49-21-05.jpg
However the fight to retake Nicaea was far harder and a lot more bloody. It was a bad day to attempt such a thing, but the commander of the Greek army, a man named Theodosius, decided that he need to retake the city as soon as possible before any Pontic reinforcements could show up.
The Pontic defenders had dug into the defenses REALLY deep. And to make matters worse a dust storm set in upon the area as the first assault began.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2518-34-03-50.jpg
The first assault was repelled with heavy losses to both sides.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2518-33-02-54.jpg
As the dust raged around him, Theodosius decided to send in his very best troops, the Armatus Corps. The Armatians are a very special grade of troops, probably the finest in the whole world, a step above even our Legionaries. They are 1000 slaves that are specially picked out to become the Basileus's personal guard, and are given the best training via many of the means and methods of Old Sparta. They are also given the best weapons, armor, and rewards after the campaign finishes. They live to fight and they fight to live. Theodosius decided to divide the 200 Armatus troops in half, 100 to lead a diversionary assault upon the most guarded part of the walls and the others to sneak around and open a secondary gate for cavalry to pour in through. He also ordered some peasant levies to undermine the walls in order to cause confusion and provide another entrance for the army.
While the peasant made their breach with ease, the Armatian's assault on the walls proved once again their caliber and skill. They hit the walls like a lightning storm. It was 100 Armatians and 1000 Greek militia vs. 6000 or so Pontic militias and 1000 elites. The sounds coming off of the top of that walls were... just plain evil, some of these reports that i have read say. However about an hour after the assault had begun, the Greek militia had been broken, but the Armatians kept fighting. Even when there were only 30 or so left they kept fighting. And they won.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2518-09-29-86.jpg
The rest of the Greek militia poured into the city through the hole in its walls. However they were met by the other half of the enemy militias. What ensued was a total brawl, reckless fighting, disorder and in general, sheer stupidity. The Greek militias were forced to flee and regroup outside the walls. But that did not matter at this point, for the other half of the Armatians had broken open the North Gate, and the cavalry had poured into the settlement. This forced the militias and even the remaining elites towards the center of the settlement for a last stand. However the cavalry outpaced the Armatians and other infantry and reached the square first, obliterating some militias that had been left there as a reserve.
It was then that Theodosius decided to do the most foolish thing he could have possibly done. In a vain attempt to win personal glory and a chance for high rank, he charged the retreating Pontics from the front. They promptly surrounded him and cut him down brutally, along with much of the cavalry.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2518-31-29-18.jpg
The Armatians once again saved the Greeks cause, by charging the Pontics from the back and giving what was left of the army time to regroup, they also carved up most of the remaining Pontic infantry until the garrison commander was killed. It was then that the Pontics surrendered.
The battle was won at that point, but it was an increadbly costly victory and it was ONLY due to the Armatus Corps.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2518-35-39-28.jpg
So now the focus has shifted once again, reports have come in from the north, as well as German messengers, they ask for our aid, but to me it actually sounds like they are begging. BEGGING GERMANS!!!!! HA! HA!
The Langobards and Pontics have fallen back to their own struggles between them and the Sassanids. And the Greeks are trying to rebuild their strength, so it is once again up to good Roman steel to restore order to the frontiers.

[desert]

So are those the strngest unit?
Can I get the stats?

[Olaf Blackeyes]

These arent the strongest, i just beef the **** outta them. And i got a limit of 2 units per army.
Ill get u those stats asap though.

EDIT: Ok i take back what i said, these guys are the strongest unit in Rio's IBFD. However they are one of FIVE variates of the Comitatinses and they all have the same stats. It seems that the main modder was "inspired" by M2TW's unit diversity and found a way to copy it within the RTW engine limits.
These are the WRE Comitatinses base stats:
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2522-20-43-13.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2522-20-37-10.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2522-20-28-50.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2522-20-22-00.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2522-20-32-95.jpg
The ERE has pretty much the same thing, except the bird one is different. AND none of these guys is in charge of the Legionary Eagle, that honor goes to the Auxilia Palatina.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

And now a special treat for you all.
The State of the Roman Army in 610AD
While still a force to be reckoned with, the Roman Legions of this time are nowhere NEARLY as powerful as they were in the time of Caesar. As the Empire had gone through many periods of decline and revival, the Legions had suffered. During the time of Caesar there were 30 fully armed and armored legions, with fully staffed officer corps, and well supplied and backed up by a good road network and many Auxilia warriors. Each Legion consisted of 5000 Legionaries, 2000 Cavalry, and 2700 Auxilia.
Now, in the Time of Migrations, the Legions are significantly weakened. The roads have fallen into significant disrepair, plagues have significantly weakened the recruitment base, and money for payment has become rather hard to find en-mass. In response to these challenges, the Romans have had to make significant cutback. The Legions are now mainly mercenary forces centered around the "Core" of 1000 men that are of "Roman" blood. The Auxilia has become a byword for peasant conscription, and the Fodetaried tribes are the main fighting force in the West. There are only 12 Legionary Eagles left at this point. Many of the peasants have poor weapons, if they have weapons at all. A full Legion is made of 7000 men. It is comprised of 1000 "Core" troops, 2500 Fodetari barbarians, and 4500 Auxilian fodder. Often more command postions are filled with newbloods due to the extreme casualty rate amongst non elite Roman soldiers of this time.
And this is standard formation:
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2714-30-13-03.jpg
The Roman forces of this era rarely use any tactics beyond the formation of one or two battle rows and charging headlong into the fray. Of course when the terrain permits they stage masterful ambushes. Cavalry, while still small, is very slowly becoming more and more important.
The Auxilia are supplied by two means, In Italy and Gaul, they are told by their landlords to go to war for a certain period of time, usually 5 years in lieu of paying their taxes, which most dont have the money for. In Hispania they are forced to come out and arm themselves or have their families turned off of their lands by their landlords.
And of course the ever corrupt Senate, and High Command slow the process of thinking amongst the army so much that it is usually left up to the field commanders to coordinate their stratagems, something NONE of their schools have prepared them for.
The main thing holding the Empire together at this point is the fact that they have the German shield to protect their lands from invasion. The Germans are the best shield due to their low lifespan, position and of course, high quality of warriors. The constant in-fighting and dynastic criesies of the Germans keep them on the defensive. This allows for the rather venerable Romans to stay in power as long as they keep a hand in the German court. This was dramatically proven when the Frankish Tribes invaded Northern Gaul. They had so many easy victories it was ridiculous.

[Tyrfingr]

A roman empire in 610AD is alone awesome...kinda starting to dig this AAR!

[HunGeneral]

I gotta say this is quite well made alternative history. Roman empire in 610AD - amazing:2thumbsup:.

I would ask something from you Olaf about the mod your using (IBFD) - the Hunnic units seem usefull but are they very different from Barabrian Invasion? (thoose armie compositions remind me more on EB Saka or Pahlavs then BI Huns...:dizzy2:)

[Olaf Blackeyes]

IBFD Huns are VERY different from BI Huns. Where BI began in 363AD when the Huns were still a wandering tribe, IBFD takes place in 410AD When the Huns have conquered the first part of their empire. As a result they have 5000x the number of infantry types available, most of which are tribal. Goths, Gauts, Lemoii, Gepidea and others.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Ten: Drawing Blood
(From the Latin book:)
Autumn 614AD
Our forces have made contact with the Khazars. The first battle took place on the plains within the Avars lands north of Constantinople. From what the reports tell me i can see why people call them Huns spawn. The battle itself was rather large considering that only two-thirds of the Legio V was involved.
The Avars army was most levies, as were many of our troops there. The Khazar were using nearly 18000 risen, slave, and horsebow warriors, a LOT more than the Huns ever had. And if the reports are correct, then this is only the tip of the spear. Anyhow, the Khazars fought like demons if reports are to be believed.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2617-04-44-29.jpg
As the man in charge of the Legio fragment was a junior officer who wanted glory and fame, he rushed headlong into the fray, really not stopping to consider the consequences.
Of course once the battle began in earnest it really didnt matter anymore. Blood and slaughter was in earnest on both sides, with our men nearly being surrounded not once, but three times by the filth.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2617-07-20-86.jpg
Things began to look rather bleak for our troops, the Khazar filth were winning at a steady pace.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2617-07-25-90.jpg
However it was at that moment that the Avar Khagan chose to hit the Khazar lines like a lightning storm.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2617-08-36-59.jpg
He mowed under thousands of undead troops, and broke the will of the slaves to keep fighting. And they turned to flee.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2617-09-48-16.jpg
So at the end of the day the field belonged to us rather than the Huns spawn.
However the victory was a costly one for sure.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-03-2617-13-54-38.jpg
We have a hard fight ahead of us, and i can only hope that the High Command can see reason and send aid to the Germans and Poles in the north.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Eleven: The Fires of the Chaos Gods
(From the Runic book:)
Spring 615AD
Well the last of the fires have been extinguished, thankfully. These past three weeks have been a stint in Hel's domains.
The newest wave of troubles started when the remains of our army managed to retreat to Crazkow and fortify the position. The Khazar filth had been chasing them rather closely however, so they were not far behind. Within two weeks the Khazars had their siege engines up. However the terrain was, of course, decidedly NOT in their favor.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-59-03-49.jpg
The attack began with the usual gusto of the Khazars, they sent in huge waves of undead to assault the walls.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-59-31-00.jpg
As the undead approached the walls the corpses began to pile up, we must have killed ten of thousands of them, but they just kept coming and coming. We hurtled rocks, flaming oil, fire spells, and even burning logs at them, but the more we killed the more that we had to kill, it seemed.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-03-40-03.jpg
Then the enemy demons began to start hurtling fire over the walls. This caught many buildings ablaze and killed quite a few people. The line were quickly dissolving into pure chaos.
However the situation began to look up when their ram caught aflame.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-01-01-62.jpg
This prevented them from launching a direct assault and forced them to go over the walls, rather than through them. Once they got their ladders up them poured over the walls onto our waiting spears. The Poles were the main force in this fight, using spears, sword, and whatever else they had available to throw the undead off of the walls. The fighting was as brutal as it ever is against these monsters.
The worst part came when the undead got their siege tower to the wall and poured onto the walls throwing nearly 1000 men from them.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-04-41-22.jpg
However i was able to get beneath them in time and save several hundred from falling to their deaths. The fighting however grew even more fierce and desperate until the Poles came and hit the undead so hard that many of THEM fell from the walls.
Out in front of the walls several Khazar cavalry assaults were repulsed with rather huge casualties. Once this action ended, the battle was over, and we had finally won.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-10-41-86.jpg
Once again casualties were massive for both sides. And it took us a few day to put out all of the fires causing even more deaths. However this time around we have reinforcements coming to our aid so these wont hurt us so badly. And now we have the momentum and once the reinforcements arrived i am going to urge the new general to take it and make GOOD use of it.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Twelve: Counter Attacks (Part One)
(From the Runic book:)
Summer 615AD
Well it seems that this front is finally starting to turn our way. Just yesterday we received a report of a massive Polish victory at Warsawoz that repelled the undead in a HUGE slaughter.
The battle began with the undead advancing upon the Polish town with their rams in tow.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-16-48-01.jpg
Unlike the citadel at Crazcow, the town of Warsawoz doesnt have stone defenses or a natural barrier to keep out huge numbers of troops or funnel them into a kill trap. The rams quickly broke down the wooden walls and gates. The undead surged forward overwhelming the wall in a few other paces as well.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-19-33-35.jpg
The Polish troops inside were putting up an incredible fight, but the sheer numbers of undead troops were just plain overwhelming them. In several place the weight of the fallen corpses shattered shield walls and spears it was so heavy.
However it was at this point that the Polish cavalry showed up to the beleaguered towns defense.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-20-01-61.jpg
They managed to draw off many of the undead with fire magics and meat scents, bring the press to a sudden halt. As the Polish forces regained the momentum, they shoved the enemy out of their town, step by blood-soaked step.
After the press was lifted the Polish cavalry commanded decided to attack the Khazar warlord himself. This was not the smartest idea he could have come up with.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-21-30-72.jpg
Especially when the Khazar warlord's demon guards used their magics to make several of the horses explode out from under their riders. However they loosened the demons control over the undead because the demons were busy trying to save their skins with the magics. The allowed the Poles to put forces behind nearly all of the remaining undead in the city and several Khazar cavalry bands outside as well.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-23-54-27.jpg
With this the Khazar turned tail and fled, leaving most of their foot troops to be destroyed by the Polish warriors. The battle was a victory, and a good one at that.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0402-27-55-95.jpg
Now the whole front will be moving forward once again and we can crush this threat once and for all.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Eleven: Counter-Attacks (Part Two)
(From the Runic book:)
Autumn 615AD
Well as the march continues east, we continue to reclaim the lands devastated by the Khazar demons. What we see left behind us is a land devastated utterly. Villages burned, men, women, and children killed, enslaved or eaten, graveyards despoiled and the corpses raised for use in the Khazar armies. In short, scenes that should NEVER been seen upon this world are playing out right before our eyes. In fact just yesterday we came across the ruins of a rather large village that even had a wall. From the remains of the footprints it seems that the only real attack came from the village's graveyard. So it seems in a cruel twist these people were killed AND EATEN by their own formerly dead kin and kith. Many of the sights that i am seeing right now will never leave the shrouds of my mind. I can only pray that we do not suffer the same fate.

Three weeks later:
Just another day of killing and butchery it seems, although this time it is US butchering Khazars.
The day began with our armies forming up before another oncoming horde of Khazar filth.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-47-20-99.jpg
Our new general, Fredulaz, had the chance to prove that he was not a fool. The Slavs were led by a woman named Alicja. She is one of the most powerful chieftains of all the Poles. She is also a surprisingly young and rather pretty woman as well, with a bright and clear laugh, pretty brown eyes and an upbeat attitude in spite of all of the chaos around her.....
Err, but i digress. The Khazars used their usual tactics, that is none at all, and hurtled forward into our ranks.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-51-23-05.jpg
General Fredulaz also march our men forward at double step to get into position faster.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-53-22-42.jpg
He then took almost all of the cavalry towards the outer flank of the Khazar horde while he ordered us to march towards the center. As he managed to get around the Khazar army, he was engaged by several rearguard units including a unit of VERY heavy Khazar cavalry.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-54-43-39.jpg
However as we engaged the Khazar right, they began to outflank us in several locations.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-54-20-81.jpg
We soon saw why, because apparently the Khazar warlord was trying to move around OUR flanks as well but the move made by our general had thrown him off guard. So he did the only thing he could, or so we thought, he charged straight into us.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-56-48-05.jpg
However it was right about then that we noticed something. The enemy had encircled us while we have focused on the warlord.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-57-05-79.jpg
As the noose drew tighter, we we crushed, closer and closer together, with many of our number falling. In fact one man next to me had his head split open by a thrown war axe. However our cries of pain and death did not go unnoticed, for the general had turned his head and lead his cavalry back into the fray, to rescue us.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-57-34-07.jpg
Meanwhile Alicja and her army were in a fierce fight against the center and left of the Khazar army.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-55-00-61.jpg
She look as if she was having a grand time with it. Her forces drove all before them, causing huge swaths of undead to fall over aflame, or too ruined to fight anymore.
However or situation was only starting to get better as the general's timely charged saved our forces from total destruction.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-58-14-45.jpg
Of course the Khazar pig fled for his filthy life, just like the dog he is.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0921-58-56-99.jpg
And with that bit of slaughter the battle ended, with another victory for us.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0922-01-31-27.jpg
And the armies are soon to start their eastward march once again. We break camp tomorrow. I can only hope that it is not another bloody day as this was.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Eleven: Counter-Attacks (Part Three)
(From the Latin book:)
Autumn 615AD
I have finally gotten sick of these idiotic raids on our coastal territories. Why just last week my legionaries repulsed a rather huge one, causing the Vandals many casualties. Since the 'High Command' simply refuses to move troops, i have invaded North Africa, to cease these raids once and for all. As our recent battle has pretty much cleared the coasts for miles it was not hard to land an army in Mauritania. We have retaken Tingis from the weak Vandal garrisons. In fact this whole region seems to be under populated, made up of mostly Berber tribesmen, rather than Vandals. But i suspect that this will change as we move eastwards along the coast.

Winter 615AD
Well i can tell that winter has come to this area, because instead of me boiling alive in my armor everyday i am only roasting alive. I am also cleaning my sword, for the Vandals have proven that they have plenty of fight left in them, for today we faced a large army of Vandal troops in the grasslands of Northern Africa.
The battle began as we formed up into our standard line, the Vandals came marching in a column formation towards our army.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-43-38-36.jpg
Since they seemed dead set on hitting the center of our amry this way i sent my cavalry around the left flank of their army.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-46-19-32.jpg
As the cavalry began to encircle them, their army broke its column formation and formed up into a line, all the while under fire form my archers and legionaries.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-47-02-91.jpg
Meanwhile my cavalry had begun attacking at their flanks, this got their attention really quickly. They sent half of their cavalry after mine.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-49-02-47.jpg
However there seems to have been a severe drop in the quality of the main Vandal armies over the past two centuries, for my cavalry beat theirs quite handily, killing many and forcing what few remained to flee for their lives.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-50-31-26.jpg
At this point as well the main armies had already engaged and tore the weaker Vandal infantry to pieces and forced nearly half of their army to flee for their pathetic lives.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-50-42-90.jpg
What few remained in the fight were quickly outmatched, surrounded and forced from the field.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-51-13-64.jpg
Our forced had carried the day with great ease.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-0401-51-47-89.jpg
We will soon march on the next town along the coast, Sigilum. While we probably have broken the Vandal armies for many miles, i suspect that things will not go as well as we are hoping. But then again that is the way of war, so it is to be expected.

[julius_caesar_the_first]

My curiosity is getting to me so I just have to ask: what is happening to that big bad daemon in the desert?

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Well the big baddie and our Roman general are going to start working rather closely together soon enough.:beam::yes::yes:

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Well everyone its about that time again. I need the .Orgs help with this act.
I need help figuring out what imma gonna do with the Khazars. I mean i have several ideas but most of them seem like Hunnic repeats and i dont want this thing to get stale.
So imma give u the basic layout and you guys can feed me fresh ideas k?
Well the basic story is that after this little set of counter-attacks the Khazars suddenly swarm back over the river in such number as has never been seen on this Earth before.
This is of course do to the Daemon in the desert lending some of its horrific powers to them in order to allow its takeover to be far easier.
Also if you havent guessed it by now Alicja and our German narrator are gonna fall in love and get married.
I just need a way to make the fighting with the Khazars more interesting.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Twelve: Breakdown
(Again somewhere in the desert unknown to our narrator.)
????
It was still working at Its wall prison when suddenly It heard something snap within the magic encircling it. Then, just as quickly the magic receded from around It. The magics then flowed into the corrupted pool of water, proceeding to purify it completely. But at that point It didnt care all that much. It was finally FREE!! Free to do as it pleased after nearly 3400 years of imprisonment. It almost blew It's cover right there by letting out a tremendous roar of triumph. But at the last second Its reasoning kicked in and It began to look for as much power as It could get Its hands on. The black energies flowed from nearly everywhere and anywhere. As Its powers began to return to full strength It laughed a truly hellish and sickening laugh. Then It began to look around for as many victims as It could find, and begin a new army to take over the Earth. There wasnt very much to work with in this desert, It could clearly sense that. However It also sensed that to the north there were some more puny beasts that It could manipulate and enslave.
To the far north and east It also sensed something else, a HUGE group of beasts already under the influence of true demons. So It began to feed Its powers towards that area and hopefully pick up the armies of puny beasts to do Its bidding as well.

(From the Runic book:)
Summer 616AD
Well we have finally reached the Vistula, again. Even though we had to go through yet ANOTHER huge wave of undead beasts, we finally have managed to secure the border with the steppes once again.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1201-56-02-90.jpg
The good news has been sent back to the capital. And some other good news has come back up from there as well, well for me at least. I have been assigned to be the head ambassador for the Polish tribes, and even be a general of the army in this region, although that function of my role here will be down played. Well at least i get to stay and help these people. And of course Alicja...

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Thirteen: Whispers of Power and Death(Part One)
(From the Latin book:)
Autumn 616AD
Well we are finally nearing Caesarea, after nearly five months of marching we will be within sight of the walls tomorrow. I have seen many strange things on the way here. And form what i can tell the Vandals have horrifically abused their power during their stay here. While most of the area that we have passed through so far have been unpopulated, many times we have seen the people come out of their homes and support us with water, food and other gifts. In fact in one village the entire populace came out of their homes and bowed before us next to the ruins of the road we were traveling on. Since it was the nearing nightfall i decided that we would camp out on the other side of the village. When i went to meet with the village elder, he proclaimed me a savior as soon as i told him who i was. I asked him why. And then we got into a bit of a drawn out discussion. Ill write down what i remember.
"Why is it that i am a savior?",i asked the old man. "Because you have come to save us from the persecution of the heathen Vandal filth, havent you?", he said to me. "Well yes i have but i was expecting a bit more support from the populace for the Vandals, not my army.",i said to him. At that he burst out laughing. He continued laughing for nearly a minute before i got angry and yelled,"WHAT is so funny?!?!" With that he calmed down and said,"My Lord, the Vandals have butchered and abused the people of these lands for many, many years. The only ones that they support are themselves, because they are Arian heretics. I know that you know of the Purge of Carthage correct?" "What purge?", i asked him,"We have never heard of any purges in North Africa." "Well it is a rather long story, so i think you had best come inside before night fully sets in. It gets cold out here at night.", he said. As i followed him inside i noticed that for a village elder he didnt have much in the way of wealth. He must have noticed this for the next thing he said was,"Well no the Vandals do NOT treat all of their subjects with equal measure. My grandfather was a wealthy man before the Purge, and now this is all that my family is reduced to." He looked around with a great bitterness. "But",he eventually sighed,"that's not why you are here. No you need to hear of the Purge, and to be honest im surprised that you havent. Im sure that word of nearly 2 million people dying in a period of twenty months would cause great outrage within the rest of the civilized world." I looked at him aghast, disbelieving what i had just heard. "T..two million?!?", i exclaimed. "Yes, all good Catholic or Donasts that did not convert to Arianism when the Vandals took over. You see for many years after the invasion, the Vandals had been persecuting all non-Arian people under their rule here. Many of their kings had tried to get people to convert, but most of us were not stupid. We knew that what their priests preached was a major corruption of the teachings of Christ. But they continued and levied sanction upon all of those that didnt convert.", he began. "After about 40 years or so, the first of their kings, Dosarin, died of old age, and his eldest son Geiseric came to the throne. He was a powerful man, the force of his will was Titanic, many proclaim it was something akin to Julius Caesar. His first acts were to try and divide the Catholics against the Donasts, something his father simply wasnt cunning enough to try. After about ten years of this policy and VERY heavy use of manipulation, he succeeded. He had also managed to gather almost ALL of the Vandal nobles that usually hinder the king's policies around him and even got Donasts to attack us Catholics from time to time. However he still wasnt satisfied and wanted both sides out of his way so that he could have complete control over Africanus.", he continued. "And so, at least this is what we think happened, in 454AD he manipulated the leaders of both of his enemies into fighting each other, and this quickly spread throughout their ranks. As the situation neared civil war, the Vandals stepped in and offered to mediate. We told them to piss off. That was our last mistake This allowed King Geiseric to 'force' his hand and attack us", he told me. "Thus began the Purge of Carthage the next year. All non-Arians and enemies were killed or forced to flee. And it did not stop there. All over the kingdom, Catholics and Donasts were being killed, or forced to flee by those that still had a conscience. What remained of our peoples fled west across the Cithili River. Out of 5 million that started the journey, barley 3 million completed it.",he said as he finished his story.
At this point i was stunned silent. How did we not noticed two million deaths??? Of course as i worked it over in my brain i realized that this was during the same time that the second great plague of the Boiled Blood was occurring during the reign of Almianus the Mad. We were near a civil war of our own at that point at probably could not have intervened even if we had known about it. Of course the 'story' that we had gotten from the court was something about Berber rebellions and nomad raids, being responsible for the shift of the population westward.The elder then went on to tell me that in the 150 intervening years, the Vandals had filled out the Province of Africanus with nearly pure Arian people, allowing him them to dominate the majority of the good farmland in the Kingdom. The only real remaining good land had been the area around Tingis, which the Vandal Nobles, concentrated in the east didnt really care about at the time, even though Geiseric had tried to get them to get those lands as well. After he had died of blood poisoning ten years later, most of the Vandal kings after him were idiots and fools, allowing the nobility to dominate the runnings of the Kingdom. However about thrity years ago and Vandal noble that was fleeing from the wrong end of a blood feud decided to take Tingis for his own. Using pure force he had succeeded.
I am going to have this news sent back to the Senate at once for this is something that simply cannot go ignored.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Thirteen: Whispers of Power and Death (Part Two)
(From the Latin book:)
Winter 616AD
Well it is finally done. Caesarea has fallen to our forces at last.
We began in the morning. The city has been much changed from what our records show it looked like 300 years ago. But we began our assault anyways.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-25-30-08.jpg
The enemy inside were well aware of our attack and there were a lot of them. We began by sending up a huge force onto the least defended parts of the walls.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-27-17-73.jpg
The hope was to surround the enemy and force them to flee. However, they managed to shift enough forces to block our attempts from the sides. So i was forced to send the Auxilia Palantia in from the front.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-30-11-66.jpg
And still they successfully resisted our advance, they even managed to inflict large causalities on the Auxilia Palantia. It wasn't until the sappers managed to collapse the pathways and walls to the left of the gatehouse, that the flow of enemy reinforcements stopped.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-30-30-60.jpg
And even THEN the Vandal scum managed to resist my forces.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-32-50-60.jpg
I had to send nearly all of the Auxilia that had come with my army to defeat them.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-37-20-15.jpg
It took all of these forces to break the enemy on the walls. However, once we had pushed the enemy off of the walls, i ordered my archers up, and they began to rain hell upon the Vandal scum. We managed to kill a lot of them before they finally got the message and fled for the square.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-40-49-54.jpg
But even then the Vandal scum did not give up. Once out of our range of the archers on the walls, they attacked us again. We had to fight inch by bloody inch up the central hill, towards the square.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-43-04-66.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-50-18-91.jpg
Even after we broke their lines twice they simply escaped regrouped AND CAME BACK FOR MORE.
It took us killing their general to finally force them back to the square.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-55-16-24.jpg
And even then they still fought. I went up to their lines and personally offered them surrender and safe passage. The threw a spear at me. We charged our cavalry at what was left of their lines, expecting to break them to pieces. Instead we were halted and even flung back.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-55-16-24.jpg
I had to order my infantry in to finally finish these lunatics off.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1214-58-49-64.jpg
But in the end victory was mine.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-1215-01-11-03.jpg
The battle was brutal, the carnage massive, but the glory, oh the glory. I have restored the first piece of Africanus to the Empire. When the Senate and High Command received the news, they chastised me for abandoning my command and demanded that i return to Rome for punishment. Those idiots are out of their minds. Im conquering a RICH province and bringing it back into the Imperial fold, how the **** is this a BAD thing?!?!?!
Uggh i swear, this kind of **** is getting to me, because i am starting to hear voices. They whisper things to me, like i need to forget those useless fools, and do things my way. At this point i completely agree with them. Wait... what the hell am i saying? I agree with voices in my head now? Dammit i need to get some sleep.

[Vasiliyi]

WOW, ok so i didn't read it completely, but i skimmed through the pages and boy am impressed with your persistence to keep this aar going. The fact that you use EB, and then BI is well, unheard of. Your aar is the most unique one ive seen so far. (and i read all of them) Very cool Olaf, keep it up.

On a side note, seeing all those BI units gets me going, is there any mod which is atleast barely comparable to EB in its representation of that time period?

[Olaf Blackeyes]

To all of my readers:
I would like to thank you for reading my story for so long.
@ Vasiliyi Try Invasio Barbarorum. Its awesome:yes::yes::beam::beam::beam::yes:

[everyone]

huzzah! I am pleased to announce that I have finally finished reading the entire story as I have originally not noticed it until now and decided to unlurk from just reading and post on how epic this is! :smash:

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Sorry that it is taking me so long to finish this chapter everybody, but ive recently found an EXCELLENT website that hosts free anime in full length, and i LOVE anime.:beam: Admittedly its the Japanese versions with English subs so i gotta read fast but still. :2thumbsup:
In fact just yesterday i finished watching Elfen Lied, ****ing EXCELLENT series BTW. Im enjoying myself a bit too much right now. :laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::lau gh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4:
So on that note does anyone know any other good animes that i havent watched? Ill list all of the ones that i have watched for your benefit so that you dont name any that i have already seen.
1. Cowboy Bebop
2. NGE
3. Trigun
4. Blue Sub Six
5. Death Note
6. about half of all of the Gundam Wing series that they've made
7. Currently working on Code Geass on AS so yeah:wall:
8. Tenchi Muyo (The First Series)
9. Dragon Ball
10. DBZ
11. Dragon Ball GX
12. Currently working on Bleach on AS so yeah:wall:
13. Yu-gi-Oh
14. A lot of One Piece but thats been thrown off the airwaves now so i gotta find it again
15. Some of Sailor Moon as a kid, but that was mostly for the transformation sequences :2thumbsup::laugh4::2thumbsup:
16. A lot of Pokemon but thats gotten stupid now
17. Blood +
18. Wolf's Rain, also a kick *** series
19. Yu-Yu Hakusho (Spelling??)
And thats all that i can remember. Please help a guy out.:beam:

[Owen Glyndwr]

Have you tried Ruroni Kenshin/Samurai X? Those are pretty good (I like them)

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Ive pretty much watched all of the animes on AS since 2001, Ruroni Kenshin i have seen, now Samurai X i have never heard of. Whats it about?

[Owen Glyndwr]

Ive pretty much watched all of the animes on AS since 2001, Ruroni Kenshin i have seen, now Samurai X i have never heard of. Whats it about?

Samurai is a four-part (?) mini-series dealing with Kenshin before the events of Ruroni Kenshin. It talks about the Meiji Rebellions, including how he got that scar of his. Much gorier, cool action scenes.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Thirteen: Whispers of Power and Death (Part Three)
(From the Latin book:)
Winter 616AD
This land must be insane!!! Today my scouts reported back from the area around the Cisesla Gap ((My name for the gap in the Atlas Mountains:laugh4:)) with VERY disturbing reports. Apparently the countryside has been obliterated in the area by, if the locals are to be believed, huge hordes of demons. As we march into the area in two weeks, i can only hope that these stories are untrue, for we need to march through the region, and if there are no supplies left to go on then we are going to have to take another route.
And i swear hat this damn land is starting to make me go crazy. These stupid voices will NOT shut up now, even when im sleeping. Ugh what i wouldnt give to be able to go back to my villa in Hispania and take a nice long stint in the baths. But i have a province to conquer, and my destiny to find.

Spring 617AD
Well it seems that the reports of demons out here are really true, especially when im cleaning their blood off of my sword. We suffered an attack of demons and slave soldiers today. It was one right out of the stories of Attila, except without horsemen.
The attack began as we were marching through a valley in the sands. They appeared above us in vast numbers.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-2721-21-23-87.jpg
Many of the men did not know what was happening as the scouts cried out in alarm. It was only extreme discipline that allowed me to get them to form up before the demons and slaves descended on us. And there were a LOT of them.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-2721-23-01-15.jpg
Were do nearly 15,000 soldiers come from in the middle of the DESERT?!?!?!?! I mean seriously i cant understand when stuff like this happens out on the steppes were there is grass, water and food to steal, but in the desert?? But anyway i knew that if i did not act quickly my men would be surrounded and cut down. So i got all of the cavalry that i could together and rode around the flank of the enemy.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-2721-23-01-15.jpg
As i did the enemy slowed their advance to deal with my group and i managed to get a good look at them. Many of them looked as if they had been starved or were already dead, and think back there might actually have been risen amongst them now that i think about it. But at the back of the group was a small number of demons that had fire sprouting from different places on their bodies, plus they looked healthy. They carried swords and shields, unlike the sorry weapons of the men that they led. So i hit them first.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-2721-24-28-49.jpg
As my cavalry attacked they panicked and turned many slaves around to try and get me. Thus the legionaries and footmen were able to advance.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-2721-23-22-15.jpg
i almost destroyed the demon commander in the first charge but some spearmen came after us and we had to fall back. Meanwhile the fighting between my soldiers and the slaves was rather getting bloody, especially for the Foderati. Many of them were being too brave and charging into obvious traps in attempts to destroy as many slaves as they could. While we control whom they fight, it seems that their barbarian blood still shines through when confronted by enemies, as i have barley been able to contain them this far. However whatever damage that they did to the Foderati, we paid back to them in spades and droves.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-2721-28-08-34.jpg
Really the fight went out of the enemy when i brutally put down their commanding demon, and the battle was won.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-04-2721-34-53-48.jpg
But still i have to wonder, HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!? This is something that anyone would expect out of the steppe peoples, not in the lifeless desert. I guess there is much more to this place than meets the eye.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Fourteen: Bleeding River
(From the Runic Book:)
Summer 617AD
Well here i am again, the Ormor River. It seems that they will never end, will they? Just two days ago those Khazar bastards attacked across the river again. And, true to form, there were nothing but masses of undead in this army as well.
As the battle began the commander in charge of our forces thought that our foes were disorganized coming out of the woods, so he ordered our forces to attack them before they could get organized. And as the battle got underway, we quickly began to cut holes into their battle line.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0223-56-01-30.jpg
However the deeper in we got, the harder it became to maneuver and soon enough we were becoming out-flanked.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0223-56-49-59.jpg
Meanwhile, at least as far as i could tell, the Polish forces were fighting whatever cavalry the Khazars had brought with them.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0223-57-25-40.jpg
Our good general sent the Poles a message to come to our aid immediately. And after that had gotten out, once again the wretches decided to try and take us down once and for all. Within five minutes we had been surrounded completely and the archers that had been guarding our backs had been forced to quit the field.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0223-57-51-65.jpg
At that point the fight got gruesome, and everywhere i looked we had become surrounded by the wretches. I watched as men got ripped apart by these beasts, i myself was nearly gored by an undead monstrosity that looked like something out of Hel's domain itself. Thankfully it missed me and instead hit one of its own brethren, allowing me the time to kill it properly. But the fight was slowly closing around us.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0223-58-48-52.jpg
And then the good general fell. The entire line was thrown into a total panic, whether by demon magics or just the fact that we were getting slaughtered. Many began to flee right then and there.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0223-59-26-23.jpg
However as this was happening the Poles were racing across the field, trying to save our crumbling forces.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0223-58-56-88.jpg
But i could tell that they werent advancing fast enough, the enemies heaviest cavalry was slowing them down and killing a good number of them as well. At this point many of the remaining men began to flee in the hopes of surviving this debacle. However, by some insane miracle, an entire unit of heavy warriors had somehow been flung out of the conflict onto a large rock right above the enemy warlord. Wasting no time they immediately jumped down and began to destroy his bodyguard demons before they knew what was happeneing.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-00-33-03.jpg
In so doing they killed the enemy general and many of the demons controlling the undead and wretches as well.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-01-20-14.jpg
This shattered any organization within the enemy army as well. That combined with the Poles finally arriving and hitting the wretches flank hard, forced them to flee. And the day was ours.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-02-50-62.jpg
But in the end nearly half of our army was slaughtered by these wretches, and there are more reports of enemy attacks still to come.

[snude]

Just read the whole thing, consider me a new reader

[HunGeneral]

Nice updates. Good to see this go on:yes:

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Fifteen: Invasion
(From the Runic book:)
Autumn 617AD
It would seem that these bastard scum have indeed outmaneuvered us. Two weeks ago our command received a report of large scale attacks to the north. Since i am the only surviving authority figure on this front, once again, i lead our troops north to deal with the scum. However when we got there i found only masses of wretches and undead. It only took about a week to deal with the threat, but upon arriving back at the town of Tlicheozes, our base, i found it in complete ruin. A Polish survivor that we found in the ruins managed to tell us what had happened before he lost his mind completely.
As i found the man laying in the bed, he was shaking like he had just seen the inside of Hel's domain. "What happened warrior?", i asked him. "All that i can remember", he began,"was watching your army head north to fight. After that i went to the tavern for a drink after my watch was over." He began hacking up blood at this point. After about a minute of coughing he continued,"I got really drunk so i cant remember much. But... i do remember that the next afternoon", he said as he coughed up more blood,"all of the guards began to roar at everyone in the tavern to grab their weapons and get outside on the double, because we were under attack. At first i didnt know what was going on, because i have a bad tendency for the drink my lord, and i had been drunk all day. But then as i managed to get my head together, i realized that your army was gone, and that if the camp was under attack, so was ours." He stopped here to catch what breath he had left. "I managed to find a warrior that had been with the garrison army and i asked him what happened to them," he continued. "He told me that they had gone to repel what they had though was a raid. When they got there, within ten minutes they had been obliterated. Then the poor bastard broke down completely and just killed himself", he said.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-27-46-25.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-28-34-31.jpg https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-29-14-72.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-30-23-04.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-0300-31-35-48.jpg
"Then i heard screaming coming from the eastern gate. Oh gods the screams......",he trailed off and started to hack up blood again. After he calmed down, he continued,"As i approached the walls, all i could hear was a pounding sound, so i assumed that it was a ram. It wasn't. After only a minute the ENTIRE wall went up in black flames. What i saw next.......".
At this point he stopped talking and suddenly began screaming, begging the Gods to make it stop. He then began to writhe around, as if in agony. The next thing we knew, he sprang up and crushed his own skull in on the wall overhang next to us, before anyone could stop him. By the time i got to him he was dead. We all sat there stunned for nearly two minutes before i got my mind working again. I immediately ordered a seer to send a message of alarm back to the court and get them to raise the levies.
I then went over the list of commands in the area to call for help from. Only three were present, mine, the command under General Polickea, and.....Alicja's. At that point my mind went off its rocker, yes i guess i have to admit to myself that i am head over heels for the woman. But i knew that if i was to save her command i would have to hurry before they hit the town of Biskupin ((yes its a famous Iron Age Polish town, get over it)), were she was stationed with her command.
However it took my forces nearly a week to get to the place, for nearly all of the earth, roads and even villages that lay between us and the town were obliterated. We had to fight many forces of undead along the way, these had been left behind as distractions for our forces, and very determined distractions at that.
By the time we finally got to the damned place we were too late, it had been obliterated. I immediately ordered a search to be conducted. The bodies of slain innocents were scattered everywhere, among them were those of a large group of Polish warriors. As we searched the wreckage, we managed to find Alicja under a collapsed building still alive. I thanked all of the Gods at that point and got her some immediate care. She is in my tent now, resting as i write this. As we put our armies back together, i can only hope that we all recover from this madness.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

To all of my readers:
I would like to apologize for the lack of updates recently, but RL has become a lot less free for me. That and the fact that another idea burned its way out of my head at last. If anyone wants to read that story here a link to it.
http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=123793
Again, sorry and ill try to update this story tonight.
((plz tell me what you think of the other story btw:beam::beam::beam::beam::beam:))

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Ok so maybe it wasnt tomorrow but here we go.

Chapter Sixteen: Watching the World Burn
(From the Runic book:)
Late Autumn 617AD
We're doomed. Quite simply my incompetence as a commander has doomed my entire army to slaughter. Looking back, I guess that my victories over the undead and slave soldiers had made me overconfident going up against the main horde of the Khazar filth.
Ten days ago i lead what was left of our combined forces towards the forests, hoping to find help and maybe even aid. However, what we found was the tail end of the main Khazar horde. Many of the few remaining sub leaders of my band begged me to have us retreat, begged for us to just go and hide so that they would pass on. I should have listened.
But i decided that since this was just a vanguard, it would be safe to attack them before the main body could come for us. We formed up quickly but somehow they spotted us before we were ready. They slammed into our unprepared line with such vigor and rage that many men were simply vaporized by the sheer power of both their black magics and their swords.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-2021-53-46-10.jpg
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-2021-54-15-81.jpg
After five minutes i ordered my men to flee, i knew that we were doomed.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-2021-54-25-25.jpg
If the attack was brutal, the rout was inhuman. We were slaughtered left, right, and out the middle.
https://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr133/Maurl/RomeTW-BI2009-05-2021-56-06-83.jpg
In the end nearly all of my main force was slaughtered. Barley 3000 made it out alive. The Poles fared little better, with 4500 of their men escaping the killing fields. Out of 55000 warriors, barely 7500 lived to tell the tale. We have retreated to Biskipun to make our final stand. Thankfully we managed to rebuild the town into some semblance of order after the Khazars destroyed it. We have sealed off the only landward entrance, in anticipation of the Khazars arrival. As i look out the window, i see the world around this lake burning, in spite of the fact that this land has already been ravaged to the point of desolation, these bastards still manage to find stuff to burn. What scouting reports we have received tell us that its mostly undead attacking us, but it seems that the same vanguard that beat us to the ground is also here. I dont have much time left, but i do have one more thing to say before i go. To whomever finds this codex, please pass it onto my family. If they live, they are of the High House Swielexae. Im sorry but i have no more time.



Sorry for the long *** wait but school has been insane over the past two months and it doesnt look like its getting any better any quicker. Dont expect daily updates anymore.

[gamegeek2]

...still going? Keep it up! Wish I could, but I think EB II and AtB are more important.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

I want my readers to answer something for me.
Is my writing bad? Do i have horrible pacing/timing of events?
Would someone plz comment and tell me if i should stop or something?

[johnhughthom]

Keep it up as long as you are enjoying writing it, it has been going too long to give up because you think people aren't reading it. The majority of AAR readers are lurkers, personally I only post at the beginning of AARs to let people know I'll be reading, as I hate to clutter AARs up with irrelevant posts (and I know others feel the same). I thought this was dead and was glad to see it back, it's a different read from the rest of the AARs on the forum.

[HunGeneral]

If you like it then keep on going if it becomes a too great strain then stop or take a break - you decide. I myself also believed this was dead and am Happy to see it return. I agree with johnhughthom about most readers being lurkers.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Chapter Sixteen: Passion and Sparks
(From the Runic book:)
(However we see that this entry is not in runic but in a proto-slavic script)
Winter 617AD
My name is Alicja ru Elesa. I probably shouldn't have taken this tome from it intended author but after four months of being laid up like this im bored out of my skull. But reading through this, i find it to be entertaining to say the least. The owner of this tome, Jurzalez, has been one of the few people that i have been able to depend upon since my grandfather was killed by those bastard Khazars at the start of this horrible war. The entries that he has written within his tome have proven that he has worked himself near enough to death. Killing so many different undead, horde slaves and even Khazars themselves, im amazed that he hasn't broken under the strain, what with him being a simple emissary and all.
But the most surprising thing ive read in this journal are his professions of love....for me. Its actually kind of a nice feeling to have someone actually admire you rather than fear you. Most of the men that i have been proposed to by over the seasons usually fled screaming after only a few days. This is probably the first time ive ever actually had a man stay by my side for so long and actually have these feelings for me. Its a nice feeling really. But ill just have to wait and see how this develops.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

To all of the readers here:
I have decided to transfer this story onto the TWC site as well. Here is the link.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=5724396#post5724396

[Azathoth]

Well, to be honest, your writing is a bit unpolished and repetetive, and sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between characters.

I only read a bit of that alternate timeline story you linked to, but I was honestly surprised by how much cleaner everything was.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Well, to be honest, your writing is a bit unpolished and repetetive, and sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between characters.

I only read a bit of that alternate timeline story you linked to, but I was honestly surprised by how much cleaner everything was.

Well this was my very first AAR so yeah thats no surprise.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Well, ive been going back over this for about two weeks now. And ive realized something. The format and writing style of this AAR is heavily flawed. The dairy style past view, while it has taught me a LOT, this being my very first AAR and all, has for me, simply reached its limit and i cant express this story the way i want to anymore. Azathoth has pointed out some MAJOR flaws to me and i thank him for it. These flaws are:
1. My AAR has very poor characterization and descriptions.
2. It has made me do forced time-skips all over the place due to its book-like format, something i originally did not want to do.
3. I have been forced to go with a repeating story line and i have also been unable to adequately describe, in story, the skipped periods.
So for these reasons and a few more, i am ending this AAR. Do not worry, if you enjoyed it, i fully intend to write another, much more professional one in the future.