Chronicle of Laurentiu

[Rex_Pelasgorum]

Version : BI. 1.6
Mod: IBDF 6.05 (the best of the best)
Difficulty settings : campaign medium / battles hard
House rules : no attack unless attacked, no unnecesary wars, always using diplomacy then weapons, friendly relations with all the neighbouring factions as much as it is possible.

"February year 410 of our Lord Christ, Theodosius the second, named "Flavus" gained the leadership of the weakened Eastern Roman Empire. And indeed, many perils where upon our Empire...

The barbaric hordes of the Ostrogoths were rampaging in the mainland Greece, while the Hunnic hordes have managed to overcome the Danubian Limes, heading in great numbers towards the city of Hadrianopole, in Thrace.

To the east, even greater perils awaited, as Yazdegird, the Shahinshah of Persia, decided to erase once and for all the Christian name from the lands of the Middle East. Thousands of strong and noble warriors of Iran flooded across the Mesopotamian plain, heading towards the christian cityes of Edessa and Amida... they are lead by Spahbod Fariel and Spahbod Nabonidus... one named Buran has been rumored to cross the wastefull Arabian desert with the goal of taking Callinicum and the Holy Land...

May God and all the Saints protect us from them... "

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"April year 410 of our Lord Christ. In rush, Theodosius ordered Hadrianopole to be reinforced, and at the hear of such news, the Hunnic Horde retreated, going into Moesia towards Sirmium. The Ostrogoths meanwhile, put siege to Dirrachium and sacked the town after 2 days of fierce battle... many women and children where killed, and much gold was looted. They killed , and such was the sight of devastation that even the emperor himself was horrified, calling in help for the legions in Alexandria. Seeing there is no other way to loot in Greece, the Ostrogoths headead towards the lands of our Western christian brothers. We have sent news to them to protect all the passes of the Illiricum, but it might be in vain...

In the east, the wicked beduins from Palestine rose again in rebellion supported by the tribes from Petra... Jerusalem was in turmoil, and many soldiers and civilians alike died, howewer at a high price, controll was kept in the city.

But again terrible news where to be learned, as Spahbod Fariel put siege to the christian town of Amida. All the available men of Amida where conscripted - some of them young man, with little training, fighting in eastern stile... The men of Persia brought with them to the battle theyr mighty siege engines and elephants - teriphying beasts from the farr east, even from as farr as India, brought here to trample our man and horses alike.

They started the siege in the afternoon, pounding the city walls with great stones... the archers from the top started fireing burning arrows towards the persians, but in wain. Howewer, in a lucky manner, one of the arrows did find its way to the elephants, making them to run amok and trample duzens of persian infantryman under theyr mighty feet.

Howewer, just after sunset, the siege engines manaeged to brake a large section of the wall... Spahbod Fariel ordered to the Deylamites to cut a way trough our defenses, and these mighty man managed to push the defenders back... The Savaran, Asavaran and Zayhedan charged furiousl on the streets.

The garison commander, captain Iulius, ordered to the remaining romans to retreat in the central square, to organize a last resistance... the deylamites and the Savaran where put on the run, slaughtered by the man of Amida, while the civilians, both men and women from across the building roofs bombarded them with a hail of stones and arrows.

But Fariel sent another wawe of atackers, this time the Asavaran and Zayhedan, with many, many Deylamites wealding the famous Sagaris axe... and thus, the romans fought again bravely but they were defeated...

All the inhabitants of Amida, good christian man and women where put to the sword by the cruel pagans. Few were spared."

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[Rex_Pelasgorum]

"July year 410 of our Lord Christ.The Huns led by theyr commander Tengiz, put siege to the roman city of Sirmium , in Moesia. In a few months, they were ready to storm the town, and even more hunnic reinforcements were ready to cross the Danube at any moment to support the invading force.

Emperor Theodosius gave command to Cassius Laetus, a noble daco-roman from Hadrianopole , sending him many of the elite forces in Constantinopole, in order to save Sirmium and re-establish a limes on the Danube. In a matter of weeks, Cassius assembled an army, and altough he was an inexperienced leader, he managed well to command its man with the strenght of wise words. He went to Durostorum, south of Scythia Minor establishing a fort , and also a couple of wathctowers. Then, he went further west, establishing another fort between the town of Bononia and the what-was the roman colony of Sucidava in Dacia.

He prepared to launch an attack in autumn against the Huns, hoping to catch them by surprise in the nearby woods....

In the same period, the Emperor Theodosius has decided to deal with the pagan problem, by giving to the pagans all across the empire three cities to live whithin, the city of Pergamum, known in more ancient times as the Seat of Satan, the city of Ancyra in Galatia, and the city of Nicomedia.... off course, the christians in these cityes started rebelions, and all in all of the western Asia Minor they gathered in armed groups blocking the trade routes and devastating the fields. In response, the Emperor has ordered the troops to go and hunt for these "brigands", and in a few weeks all of them have been caught and killed, hunted down to the last in a brutal manner.

Meanwhile, in Caesarea - Mazaca, there was much fear as the armies of Persia marched towards Cilicia and the rich mining city of Tarsus. But there where no troops to spare as Antioch needed defense, and Edessa also.

The roman troops in Syria gathered under the command of one captain, and decided to attack in haste the poorly defended persian city of Hatra, in Assirya... and Hatra did fall easily into the hand of the romans, as it was poorly defended. Howewer, once the city was secured, the local zoroastrians filled by hatred against our kind declared a rebellion, so the city`s population needed to be slaughtered. Howewer, the christians did spare the woman and the children, and also the man who submitted to the Emperor`s rule.

Further north, the Armenian Kingdom made alliance to the Persiand and even more, the Ivirians threathened to do the same. So in answer, a siege was put on the city of Kotais, to determine the proud Ivirians to submit."

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"Autumn, year 410 of our Lord Christ.In the early autumn, the daco-roman Cassius Laetus, marched with its army trough the Haemus Mons, under the cover of deep woods, towards Sirmium. And it came into the field to meet with the army of the Hunic warlord Tengiz. The garrison of Sirmium also sent some man to join the battle.

Cassius deployed all its army into a deep forest, to have protection from the deadly hunic bows... he ordere to the man not to go out of the forest, as the huns will slaughter them easily...

Howewer , when the battle begin, some Milites Romani left the woods, and in a matter of seconds they were shot to death by the Hunic horse archers. Tengiz believed it would be indeed an easy victory, and he sended all his army to attack ... warriors from all the Barbaricum could be seen in his army, some of them caming from the most remote areas of the northern steppes. And they charged, and trough the forest they run screaming wildly, but the comitateneses wayted for them, hidden, only to unlish a deadly rain of javelins upon them. Hundreds of Huns died... and the Hunic light infantry fled the field. But then Tengiz sent to the battle the mighty Argaragantes Sarmatians, wild men who knew to wield well both sword and bow, but again they fled... and even Tengiz has fled, as the bodyguards of Cassius slaughtered almost all of his cavalrymen... The Huns fled in terror from the forest, only to be awaited in at the outskirts by the reinforcements from Sirmium.

And thus Cassius Laetus won a great victory, with the help of our Lord Christ, saving the northern christian towns from great perils !

Into Syria, Hatra was secured even more, and two pitched battles were fought at its outskirts against invading persian armies. Mardonius, the persian satrap of Ctesiphon meet his death in the second battle, with his entire army . And many persian women remained widows, as the military guvernor of Hatra hired to fight some terrible man, caming from the steppes... some where huns, some where of sarmatian kin, others might have been of gothic kin as well. They asked for little money, and fought very well in deserts, raining death onto the enemyes from theyr composite bows. They where fearless, and with no mercy by any mean... even the mighty Gyan Avsphar, the Immortals, could not deal with them in open field, such was theyr power when in great numbers...

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