The Magnaura

[Ramses II CP]

A letter arrives from Vissarionas ek Lesvou to be read into the record:

Nobles of the Empire,

Word has just reached me of the Caliph's call to jihad. I have but one bit of advice.

Put your faith in God!

Clearly the Caesar has failed us, in the most blatant of manners, by violating the good and necessary laws of the land and ignoring the most basic dictates of strategy. His gross incompetence, brought to power by your hands, is a matter of no small concern, but I say again,

Put your faith in God!

God and Patriarch will see us through this crisis. Those beloved of God, and devout in their beliefs, he will shelter through the trying times. Those whom he finds lacking, those who cower behind the lines and send armies of peasants against the might of the jihad, they will be rooted out and cast down. A time of winnowing is coming, a time when the weak and faithless are burned out of our ranks while the holy are gathered up in God's arms. Even to the last extreme I admonish you,

Put your faith in God!

Do not let faithlessness drag you down. Stand strong and fight on no matter the cost, and God will grant our great Empire victory!

When I reach Egypt, when I and my fellow crusaders drag down the Caliph, I will advocate treating him with mercy and having him sent to Constantinople in chains, there to greet any jihad army that might reach the city. Think on that, while the debate over the handling of the jihad swirls.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Ioannis stands up..

A letter have arrived from My Lord. He thinks that Empire needs to go through it's finances and collect all available forces under some able general. Perhaps an Emergency Senate Session should be called to discuss how to defend our Capital and our lands from this Jihad.
He also is sad to hear about the death of Markianos Ampelas. My Lord understands why Lord Ampelas sallied out to meet the foe. He probably would have done the same thing.