Age of Kings 1066

POV Radovid

I was woken up with the sensation of needing to vomit. I went to my cleaning room and took care of it. I could sense that I wouldn't last much longer. But that didn't matter; I had to keep going. The brat hadn't finished his training and thus needed more time. I cleaned myself up and went to my office. Today was the day Xena would deliver her reports.

Knock Knock

"Come in."

Xena enters my office and bows once that is done, she begins her report.

"A few large events have taken place. For one, Spy has returned from the Vatican. He was the only member of our spy network to survive. They were hunted by magic users or possibly only one user," Xena starts with big news.

"Do we know who or what it was?"

"No, but the information he gathered confirmed the assassination orders came from the top of the catholic church. Furthermore, the Pope has lost his lands to the newly crowned Empress of Italy. But my informants have told me this was with the support of the HRE. It seems that they didn't want the Pope to get too powerful with the recent mending of the schism," Xena continued.

"It is also likely that this was done because France was busy with a war with England and couldn't come to the aid of the Pope. The Italian Empress has been excommunicated, but this has had no real effect," Xena said.

"France was the one who spearheaded the talks with the Eastern Roman Emperor to bring the Orthodox and Catholic Churches back together, correct?"

"Yes, and as such, that likely threatened the HRE due to it making the French closer to the Pope, which, with the only recently solved internal problems in the HRE, they can't afford a powerful Papal-French alliance. Of course, the HRE had excuses for why they could assist at the time, such as assisting Norway against a Pagan invasion, but these were just excuses. Speaking of which, the Swedish King conquered Norway. Furthermore, they have made a new Northern Alliance between Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden. The combined power of the three nations should be able to hold back the Christians from moving any further North or East," Xena said.

"Hmm, that shouldn't be any issue for us. As long as they draw attention to themselves, we can continue to live in peace."

"Yes, well, the next point of interest is the mass resettlement of the Russian Kings in the North. The Siberian Pact had done something surprising and began an invasion of the Rus, which is proving to be quite successful. Poland and Lithuania had also taken massive swathes of land from the Rus. Then they forcibly evicted the populous. Leading to a massive wave of refugees to flood Europe and the last remaining Russian Kingdom, Novgorod. It shouldn't affect us since we are not in a position that would see any refugees. But it is noteworthy nonetheless," Xena said.

"Hmm, the Siberian Pact has never expanded its borders West before. Do we know why they have changed their minds now?"

"We only have small bits and pieces, but my best guess is that it's due to the alliance with Finland. As well as the rumors that a great Khan has arisen in the far east. But my sources don't reach that far. But I do know that it isn't because of the Khan of Khazaria. Khazaria is too focused on its invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire to worry about a northern invasion," Xena continued.

"Yes, I heard that the ERE isn't doing so well. They have an incompetent Emperor and a failing military."

"Yes, they are being partitioned by at least 10 different nations. The nations are not allied with each other, but they are not fighting each other either. The ERE is desperately trying to hold the line, but they are not likely to last another few years. They only have 4 allies: Venice, Georgia, Serbia, and Bulgaria. They have already been forced to cede territory to two nations, and it is very likely that they will be carved up completely. With perhaps the only exception being Constantinople," Xena predicted.

"Hmm, yes, I think even we might not be able to survive the invasion by so many nations."

"So far, those who have joined the conflict against the ERE are Italy, Sicily, the Carthagian Empire, the Seljuk Sultanate, the Egyptian Empire, Moldavia, Israel, Khazaria, the Pechenegs Tribe, and Croatia. Even with the support of the two kingdoms inside the ERE, the ERE is likely doomed," Xena said.

"That is not good for us. If the ERE falls, the chaos in the region could swallow up Concordia. Our deal was with the Roman Empire, and if they no longer exist, we cannot ensure our southern borders."

The deal in question was signed over a thousand years ago, and it basically ensured the sanctity of our territory and that it would never be threatened by the Roman Empire. The deal carried over even after the split and had been a very useful tool to ensure that very few large-scale invasions could occur in Concordia. And all we had to do was stop heathen invasions from the North, which was no longer needed since there were no more heathens North of Concordia. 

"I suppose this could be good news, depending on the viewpoint. The Pope has declared the intention to start a Crusade against the Pechenegs' Tribal Kingdom. This will force its ally, the Khan of Khazaria, to redirect his armies to defend the Pechenegs, which will be one less army the ERE has to deal with. Of course, that means a massive Christian army will be coming through the area, and that could lead to issues for us," Xena tries to give good news.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.

"These are troubled times. I am not sure the brat will be able to survive given the state of the world. You will have to guide him when I am gone. You are the only person I can trust with this."

"I will give my everything to ensure Concordia doesn't fall. I promise," Xena swears with a solemn face.

"What's next?"

"Hungary is entering a possible Civil War. The Duke of Transylvania has made many allies, and they are clearly making claims on the throne. The King of Hungary has reached out to us, inquiring if we would be interested in some land in exchange for assisting them with the Civil War. Or more exactly, one of his dukes has reached out to me in order to ensure that the King isn't implicated should this scheme be revealed. They are offering the Transylvania Region to us. We would be given the claims to it, and they would abandon their claim to the land. They wouldn't publicly admit that they made a deal, but they would only condemn us verbally and make no effort to reclaim the land," Xena offers.

"No, I am not in a position to begin a war at this time."

I tell her that, and she catches on to my meaning. I said that I wasn't ready, but I didn't forbid her from acting on this deal once I am gone. I knew it was risky, but it would ensure the boy could ensure his reign was accepted and stable. An expansion of the land with minimal losses would be a great benefit to Concordia. It could also be used as a bargaining chip should a Crusade or invasion happen. Giving up recently claimed territory would be a minor loss. Losing core territories would be a catastrophic loss. That and I knew the abilities of the Hungarians. The army could wipe them out easily.

"Anything else?"

"Just a couple more things. The Carthaginian Empire has reached out to us about a possible marriage alliance. The Empress has an unmarried niece, and she is interested in sending her niece to us for a meeting between the young lord and her niece. Other than that, there have been some changes in Iberia. The Catholics have been nearly completely pushed out of Iberia. Black Beard has continued his raids across the Mediterranean, and some of our merchants have been attacked," Xena said.

"Let the meeting happen, perhaps the brat can manage to seal the deal well enough. Carthage would be a strong ally. Iberia is of little consequence for us. And Black Beard mostly operates out of the Western half of the Mediterranean, tell the merchants to only travel in groups and to avoid that region if at all possible. There's little else we can do."

We were a landlocked nation that only had a small navy meant for river operations. And even then, the river had been a demilitarized zone for several centuries. I was not going to waste our few ships trying to hunt a pirate that couldn't get to us to raid us. And even if he did, they would struggle to gain much due to our coastal defenses. We are too well defended to be worth it for such pirates. Not to mention, raiding up a river was extremely dangerous for them.

"Was that all?"

"Yes, that was all," Xena finished.

I dismissed her and began to start on my work for the day.