I can imagine there will be a lot of people moving south to keep warm and a lot of interesting butterflies.
Vinland, the Land of Wealth and Ambition
- Status
29
Also sorry about it taking so long, I'm having to help set up a business and it's going to get more time consuming as time goes on.
1112-1116
In Iceland, a great famine had erupted with the combination of a terrible winter and a disease killing much of the sheep. The door to Leifrvalde was always open for more colonists, however many could not afford to go there and while the Allthing was always willing to pay for colonists it meant that they would be forced to settle wherever the Allthing had chosen and it would be mandatory for them to settle for a varying period of time which was usually over twenty-five years. Ketil Bjornsson had convinced the Allthing to have these new and desperate Icelandic Immigrants settle within the interior of Vinland as the area was populated mostly with European Skraeling mixes, usually the descendants of Skraelings and escaped slaves but there was a portion of Norse.
The Allthing of Iceland allowed this given that they take no livestock with them as what little sheep was rare and the populations were needed there. The new settlers settled along the many huge lakes in the interior of Vinland along with other settlers from various places and survived mostly on fishing, hunting, and raising Cattle on a massive scale. When gold was found however it caused much exploration and settlement along deposits causing a massive increase in the wealth of the town of Karlsfjord which was connected to the large lakes. There had been no large source of gold found since Elgurland's deposits dried up, along with the new sources of silver found in the former lands of the Haudenosaunee where the soldiers paid by the Allthing had forced the Haudenosaunee people to mine it at a sword point had allowed along with the copper mined in Saeturland allowed a more proper and widespread use of currency instead of the everyday barter than had been so dominant.
Olafstad's surrounding terrain had made it hard for urban growth and it had remained a trading town unable to compete with the great Cities of Nawahlid, Gifurflud, and Thorkellsborg. However with lime burning making the production of cast stone and fired clay brick had been known to the Norse in Leifrvalde for some time, the area outside of Olafstad had many trees cut down and this was causing mass amounts of erosion and this was affecting both was little crops there were and the grass that livestock fed on as well as making the local waters bad for fish.
The Chieftain of the town, a descendant of Olaf Thorgilsson had issued a large scale usage of brick and mortar to create enormous raised beds for farming that were essentially something like terraces along the uneven countryside. The Paramount Chieftain Ketil Bjornsson had privately funded the construction as the same problem was evident is other places and if the engineering was able to bring a mountainous terrain around Olafstad into a crop growing settlement then it would be worth looking forward to. The result after three years was truly a testament to the new branch of Norse civilization on the other side of the Atlantic, the terraces had been huge with hundreds of workers creating flat fields over a thousand square meters large giving life to wheat and barley. There were still new terraces being built but the finished ones were already bearing crops, the fuel for burning lime and heating the bricks was not wood however; to the North of the Island there had been the burnable coal that was much more efficient than wood and much less demanding to collect than trees and did not cause erosion which was becoming a large threat; Along with the smoke not containing as much carbon as wood allowing the limestone to not resoak the carbon from the smoke causing the time to turn the limestone into lime was much shorter. With this the town of Olafstad was beginning to grow to be a much more important settlement.
Along the large interior lake of the eastern island of Hnetaland there was a small entrance to it along it's northeastern coast. There had been a settlement known as Throngtain here for a long time but only recently has it begun to hold influence as it was beginning to build shallow mines for the coal that was shipped to Olafstad for lime and brick production. The increased productivity shown by using coal instead of wood was noticed and the large town of Thorkellsborg was already using coal for part of it's Lime needs being mostly accompanied by peat. The new demand for coal had brought money to Throngtain and soon it was getting migrants from Thorkellsborg willing to work in the mines for the loads of cash that accompanied it, it was not long before the affects of black lung were deduced to be connected to coal mining. Still some were willing to work a few days in order to get quick cash, but for the most part the work had to be done by slaves.
The ownership of slaves had been on the low for decades, however with the boon of coal mining needing workers where freemen did not work for very long or at all had made a resurgence in the great chain of slaves. However the local church authority had made the Allthing ban the usage of Christian slaves, and then had many restrictions on slavery making a very big hassle for a worker that's going to probably get sick and die within a few months.
However in the Heitteyjar the merchant Ragnar Snorrisson who frequented Iberia and went to Leifrvalde as well for trade had struck a metaphorical goldmine; in Christian Tangiers there were 'converted' (the crown heavily limited Muslim's to be able to trade within Tangiers, however many simply threw on a Rosary necklace when they wanted to trade only to go back to reading the Quran back home) slave merchants selling good slaves from the south, African slaves.
Ragnar had bought some slaves and after a voyage across the sea sold them in Thorkellsborg for a high price, the black slaves were able to get through all the regulations perfectly and were very proficient in the mines. Although the law required that if they converted to Christianity then they must be let free, this lead some masters to learn Arabic which most of the slaves had learned in Arab captivity and never let them learn Norse or any European language. Even so, many of the slaves that were freed were not accepted by Norse society and were forced to live in the outskirts; Some even migrating to Skraeling settlements and assimilating into them. However it was not too bad, they would be hired as auxiliaries in the Army as the Norse saw them as very physically strong and they could be hired as laborers on many farms, as well as manning the Oars on ships. These Africans would be known to the Norse as the Kolhud,literally translating into 'Coal skin' coming from the saying; "You cannot tell the difference of whether or not they have coal dust on them from mining or are completely clean."
In Scandinavia, Rolf Olafsson had invested much money into attacking his brothers, he was finally able to get his brother Ragnar to surrender where he was exiled and had to take an oath never to return. While Rolf was doing this however his brother Thorfinn had taken most of Sweden formerly under Ragnar, using many Sammi Finns as the Vanguard he was able to take most of Sweden where he then crowned himself King of the Fins (many 'Fins' had lived in Sweden) and at this time it seems he had supported Finnish culture over Norse, with Finnish traditions being in the government; This is probably due to his father's slave who was in charge of educating and raising Thorfinn was a Fin. Rolf was in much debt over the cost of his armies and had to disband most of them leaving him unable to do much about Thorfinn. Thorfinn Olafsson was also improving relations with Kiev and had a steady alliance with them, albeit the Rus would never be able to scrounge enough resources for a large war like those in Scandinavia.
In Britain, King Malcolm the third was on his deathbed. His son William had succeeded him as King, his younger brother tried to make a claim to the throne but was put down easily. He had invested much effort in defending the territory his father had conquered, the however he had no Intention of expanding any further. The Welsh however were preparing for a campaign to take the rest of England not conquered by the Scots, the English had been so impoverished and affected by war that they could not stop the halt of the Welsh that had cut through them like a scythe through wheat. King Hywel ap Rhys was known for his harshness, tens of thousands of Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Norse were sold into slavery; Through extreme military power the people of England were not considered free men under the law.
Many English were deported to the Scottish territory of England, some even ending up in the Lands west of Iceland. Due to the need for a large army and wales having less than desirable manpower caused nearly every household to have a member in an army, along with some Irish mercenaries they were able to hold the country under pacification. A notable act under Hywel was the exile of all former residents of London and repopulating it with Welsh Celts then turning it into his new Capital. Many revolted against the Welsh rule, but the standing army was large enough to be considered a fielded army. The Rebels were never given a chance to surrender where they and their entire families were killed, it is known from documents from the time that Hywel ap Rhys was most likely insane and at the very least cruel. King William of Scotland considered dissolving their alliance and attacking Hywel simply because of the atrocities he was committing, but due to the size of his armies was hesitant.
Sigurdsvik was beginning to become the largest colony in Thorskurland, it was an essential port for exploration to the south. Sigurd Ivarsson in charge of the colony had led several diplomatic missions to the nearby Skraelings and more or less secured trade and peace with all tribes within a large area. Sigurd was however looking to organize a large raid unto the southern lands, he dreamed of leading such a long distance raid as Bjorn Ironside did in legends. Sigurd traveled first to Olafstad and then to Bjarnystad, Karlsfjord, and Thorkellsborg where he organized a joint effort by many of the wealthy in the towns and raised over sixty ships and their crews. He then led them back to Sigurdsvik for resupply and repairs. After many months sailing along the coast they had finally reached the land of the Midja Bondi, Sigurd then came across the same town he had seen nearly twelve years before and after a battle that lasted half an hour the town was taken.
For nine months the Norse had been attacking and taking the rich towns and it soon appeared there was no one left to raid. They then tried to travel North but the weather was constantly pushing them south, they had been forced to go east along the many Islands where they turned north and managed to find their way back home. While they did not make as much a profit as they hoped to they had definitely established there was prime raiding territory to the south, some even thought of doing more than just raiding but vassalizing and conquering the land. Obviously this was way out of the picture as the distance was so great that the only reliable method of navigation was following the coastline. Nevertheless the raid had drawn much attention to the southern lands and people were now aware of the potential riches such lands held.
In Iberia, Einar Rollosson died from poison in his wine. The Norse and even Iberians under his command were enraged by this and the army marched north and captured the court in a quick attack, local armies were ordered to stop them but many commanders did not wish to attack the Castillio-Norse army. At the court the Norse had decided that the Lord of Lisbona Ragnar Rollosson become Emperor of Iberia, Ragnar allowed Urraca to keep her power under the title Sister of the State. This new Norse dynasty of Iberia had begun; The reign of Emperor Ragnar the first had begun, his first move was to immediately reinforce Gibraltar as the inner conflict in Iberia had rallied the Southern Heathens into a frenzy and took two years to beat them back. Ragnar would then show his resourcefulness and strategy where he led three hundred and fifty of his elite Cavalry to harass the enemy forces for three weeks before luring them into an open valley with no trees or shrub for miles with open ground and no large stones to hide behind, however as the sun began to hang in the western sky as it turned from afternoon into evening a small light infantry unit of around seventy along with another light unit of crossbowmen of around forty crossed from deep in a ravine on the other sides of the mountain and hiding in the sun and holding the high ground were able to catch the enemy by surprise and with the elite cavalry decimate and slaughter all five thousand enemy troops. The battle of Paeia valley is now regarded as one of the most famous victories of a smaller force against a larger one. Iberia expanded much more into North Africa after this devastating defeat with other enemy generals retreating or being so moral shaken by it all that their troops were easily swept up, it was said Ragnar's dream was to conquer Carthage and make it the new Capital.
1112-1116
In Iceland, a great famine had erupted with the combination of a terrible winter and a disease killing much of the sheep. The door to Leifrvalde was always open for more colonists, however many could not afford to go there and while the Allthing was always willing to pay for colonists it meant that they would be forced to settle wherever the Allthing had chosen and it would be mandatory for them to settle for a varying period of time which was usually over twenty-five years. Ketil Bjornsson had convinced the Allthing to have these new and desperate Icelandic Immigrants settle within the interior of Vinland as the area was populated mostly with European Skraeling mixes, usually the descendants of Skraelings and escaped slaves but there was a portion of Norse.
The Allthing of Iceland allowed this given that they take no livestock with them as what little sheep was rare and the populations were needed there. The new settlers settled along the many huge lakes in the interior of Vinland along with other settlers from various places and survived mostly on fishing, hunting, and raising Cattle on a massive scale. When gold was found however it caused much exploration and settlement along deposits causing a massive increase in the wealth of the town of Karlsfjord which was connected to the large lakes. There had been no large source of gold found since Elgurland's deposits dried up, along with the new sources of silver found in the former lands of the Haudenosaunee where the soldiers paid by the Allthing had forced the Haudenosaunee people to mine it at a sword point had allowed along with the copper mined in Saeturland allowed a more proper and widespread use of currency instead of the everyday barter than had been so dominant.
Olafstad's surrounding terrain had made it hard for urban growth and it had remained a trading town unable to compete with the great Cities of Nawahlid, Gifurflud, and Thorkellsborg. However with lime burning making the production of cast stone and fired clay brick had been known to the Norse in Leifrvalde for some time, the area outside of Olafstad had many trees cut down and this was causing mass amounts of erosion and this was affecting both was little crops there were and the grass that livestock fed on as well as making the local waters bad for fish.
The Chieftain of the town, a descendant of Olaf Thorgilsson had issued a large scale usage of brick and mortar to create enormous raised beds for farming that were essentially something like terraces along the uneven countryside. The Paramount Chieftain Ketil Bjornsson had privately funded the construction as the same problem was evident is other places and if the engineering was able to bring a mountainous terrain around Olafstad into a crop growing settlement then it would be worth looking forward to. The result after three years was truly a testament to the new branch of Norse civilization on the other side of the Atlantic, the terraces had been huge with hundreds of workers creating flat fields over a thousand square meters large giving life to wheat and barley. There were still new terraces being built but the finished ones were already bearing crops, the fuel for burning lime and heating the bricks was not wood however; to the North of the Island there had been the burnable coal that was much more efficient than wood and much less demanding to collect than trees and did not cause erosion which was becoming a large threat; Along with the smoke not containing as much carbon as wood allowing the limestone to not resoak the carbon from the smoke causing the time to turn the limestone into lime was much shorter. With this the town of Olafstad was beginning to grow to be a much more important settlement.
Along the large interior lake of the eastern island of Hnetaland there was a small entrance to it along it's northeastern coast. There had been a settlement known as Throngtain here for a long time but only recently has it begun to hold influence as it was beginning to build shallow mines for the coal that was shipped to Olafstad for lime and brick production. The increased productivity shown by using coal instead of wood was noticed and the large town of Thorkellsborg was already using coal for part of it's Lime needs being mostly accompanied by peat. The new demand for coal had brought money to Throngtain and soon it was getting migrants from Thorkellsborg willing to work in the mines for the loads of cash that accompanied it, it was not long before the affects of black lung were deduced to be connected to coal mining. Still some were willing to work a few days in order to get quick cash, but for the most part the work had to be done by slaves.
The ownership of slaves had been on the low for decades, however with the boon of coal mining needing workers where freemen did not work for very long or at all had made a resurgence in the great chain of slaves. However the local church authority had made the Allthing ban the usage of Christian slaves, and then had many restrictions on slavery making a very big hassle for a worker that's going to probably get sick and die within a few months.
However in the Heitteyjar the merchant Ragnar Snorrisson who frequented Iberia and went to Leifrvalde as well for trade had struck a metaphorical goldmine; in Christian Tangiers there were 'converted' (the crown heavily limited Muslim's to be able to trade within Tangiers, however many simply threw on a Rosary necklace when they wanted to trade only to go back to reading the Quran back home) slave merchants selling good slaves from the south, African slaves.
Ragnar had bought some slaves and after a voyage across the sea sold them in Thorkellsborg for a high price, the black slaves were able to get through all the regulations perfectly and were very proficient in the mines. Although the law required that if they converted to Christianity then they must be let free, this lead some masters to learn Arabic which most of the slaves had learned in Arab captivity and never let them learn Norse or any European language. Even so, many of the slaves that were freed were not accepted by Norse society and were forced to live in the outskirts; Some even migrating to Skraeling settlements and assimilating into them. However it was not too bad, they would be hired as auxiliaries in the Army as the Norse saw them as very physically strong and they could be hired as laborers on many farms, as well as manning the Oars on ships. These Africans would be known to the Norse as the Kolhud,literally translating into 'Coal skin' coming from the saying; "You cannot tell the difference of whether or not they have coal dust on them from mining or are completely clean."
In Scandinavia, Rolf Olafsson had invested much money into attacking his brothers, he was finally able to get his brother Ragnar to surrender where he was exiled and had to take an oath never to return. While Rolf was doing this however his brother Thorfinn had taken most of Sweden formerly under Ragnar, using many Sammi Finns as the Vanguard he was able to take most of Sweden where he then crowned himself King of the Fins (many 'Fins' had lived in Sweden) and at this time it seems he had supported Finnish culture over Norse, with Finnish traditions being in the government; This is probably due to his father's slave who was in charge of educating and raising Thorfinn was a Fin. Rolf was in much debt over the cost of his armies and had to disband most of them leaving him unable to do much about Thorfinn. Thorfinn Olafsson was also improving relations with Kiev and had a steady alliance with them, albeit the Rus would never be able to scrounge enough resources for a large war like those in Scandinavia.
In Britain, King Malcolm the third was on his deathbed. His son William had succeeded him as King, his younger brother tried to make a claim to the throne but was put down easily. He had invested much effort in defending the territory his father had conquered, the however he had no Intention of expanding any further. The Welsh however were preparing for a campaign to take the rest of England not conquered by the Scots, the English had been so impoverished and affected by war that they could not stop the halt of the Welsh that had cut through them like a scythe through wheat. King Hywel ap Rhys was known for his harshness, tens of thousands of Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Norse were sold into slavery; Through extreme military power the people of England were not considered free men under the law.
Many English were deported to the Scottish territory of England, some even ending up in the Lands west of Iceland. Due to the need for a large army and wales having less than desirable manpower caused nearly every household to have a member in an army, along with some Irish mercenaries they were able to hold the country under pacification. A notable act under Hywel was the exile of all former residents of London and repopulating it with Welsh Celts then turning it into his new Capital. Many revolted against the Welsh rule, but the standing army was large enough to be considered a fielded army. The Rebels were never given a chance to surrender where they and their entire families were killed, it is known from documents from the time that Hywel ap Rhys was most likely insane and at the very least cruel. King William of Scotland considered dissolving their alliance and attacking Hywel simply because of the atrocities he was committing, but due to the size of his armies was hesitant.
Sigurdsvik was beginning to become the largest colony in Thorskurland, it was an essential port for exploration to the south. Sigurd Ivarsson in charge of the colony had led several diplomatic missions to the nearby Skraelings and more or less secured trade and peace with all tribes within a large area. Sigurd was however looking to organize a large raid unto the southern lands, he dreamed of leading such a long distance raid as Bjorn Ironside did in legends. Sigurd traveled first to Olafstad and then to Bjarnystad, Karlsfjord, and Thorkellsborg where he organized a joint effort by many of the wealthy in the towns and raised over sixty ships and their crews. He then led them back to Sigurdsvik for resupply and repairs. After many months sailing along the coast they had finally reached the land of the Midja Bondi, Sigurd then came across the same town he had seen nearly twelve years before and after a battle that lasted half an hour the town was taken.
For nine months the Norse had been attacking and taking the rich towns and it soon appeared there was no one left to raid. They then tried to travel North but the weather was constantly pushing them south, they had been forced to go east along the many Islands where they turned north and managed to find their way back home. While they did not make as much a profit as they hoped to they had definitely established there was prime raiding territory to the south, some even thought of doing more than just raiding but vassalizing and conquering the land. Obviously this was way out of the picture as the distance was so great that the only reliable method of navigation was following the coastline. Nevertheless the raid had drawn much attention to the southern lands and people were now aware of the potential riches such lands held.
In Iberia, Einar Rollosson died from poison in his wine. The Norse and even Iberians under his command were enraged by this and the army marched north and captured the court in a quick attack, local armies were ordered to stop them but many commanders did not wish to attack the Castillio-Norse army. At the court the Norse had decided that the Lord of Lisbona Ragnar Rollosson become Emperor of Iberia, Ragnar allowed Urraca to keep her power under the title Sister of the State. This new Norse dynasty of Iberia had begun; The reign of Emperor Ragnar the first had begun, his first move was to immediately reinforce Gibraltar as the inner conflict in Iberia had rallied the Southern Heathens into a frenzy and took two years to beat them back. Ragnar would then show his resourcefulness and strategy where he led three hundred and fifty of his elite Cavalry to harass the enemy forces for three weeks before luring them into an open valley with no trees or shrub for miles with open ground and no large stones to hide behind, however as the sun began to hang in the western sky as it turned from afternoon into evening a small light infantry unit of around seventy along with another light unit of crossbowmen of around forty crossed from deep in a ravine on the other sides of the mountain and hiding in the sun and holding the high ground were able to catch the enemy by surprise and with the elite cavalry decimate and slaughter all five thousand enemy troops. The battle of Paeia valley is now regarded as one of the most famous victories of a smaller force against a larger one. Iberia expanded much more into North Africa after this devastating defeat with other enemy generals retreating or being so moral shaken by it all that their troops were easily swept up, it was said Ragnar's dream was to conquer Carthage and make it the new Capital.
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Seems reasonable enough.
As for the factions squabbling they exist (Usually in the Allthing), but usually never do anything of note. Then for the Large ships the reason they are there is due to the larger and superior lumber from Saeturland and the necessity of needing a larger vessel to carry more cargo to make trade between somewhere far off like Iceland or Norway worth the trip, along with needing to be able to sail south along the North American coast as the westerlies would constantly be trying to push you out into the Atlantic. Along with the Triangular sail introduced from Iberia I see no reason why this would be impossible actually It would be probable at least to some extent.
30
Sorry for taking so long, writers block and all.
Also this is probably going to be the last update before the new board happens. Had to get it done before then so it was also kind of rushed so sorry.
1117-1121
In Gifurflud, the town was expanding to be nearly the same size as Nawahlid. Using the same lime technologies that were used for Nawahlid, however now using more efficient methods the primitive cements were now able along with fired brick to be able to build massively tall buildings. For the first time in the history of Norse architecture the Idea of apartment buildings with multiple stories had become possible with the use of primitive stone masonry on Limestone being used to support the brick and mortar.
The problem of sanitation and proper sewage control was becoming a problem however, Nawahlid expanded slowly and had relatively little issues with it. The problem was temporarily solved with using transportable buckets that would be thrown into the river to be washed, a city wide service that had transported sewage buckets from housing into the river to be washed clean by workers and transported back to the houses. Urination was still done in the dirt and still posed an issue.
An unlikely solution had hit the town, the land that the town was expanding into was swampy and local farms were limited to their expansion by swamps and bogs. By digging drainage canals leading into the river being near residences they had allowed some degree of sewage control, these drainage canals became a very putrid smelling place due to the sewage amassing in it with only the rain and decomposition being able to get rid of the waste, they became a center of disease and people began avoiding them as much as possible and people who had been exposed to the sewage or gotten it into wounds had been known to get very sick and often die.
In Iceland the Allthing was growing to be more like the Leifrish Allthing by creating something of a militia to defend their gifted colonies in Greenland and were having interest in Helluland. Helluland was still very much in control of Leifrvalde or at least on paper given that there were no known or recorded permanent colonies in Helluland with it mostly being inhabited by Skraelings and Norse camps looking for gold, Ivory or other goods. Iceland had tried to buy the territory from Leifrvalde but were denied at a moments notice, the Leifrish most likely feared losing Elgurland and Markland to the Icelanders who were gaining more political and martial power from their near monopoly of trade between Leifrvalde and Europe with the only exception being the Heitteyjar route with Iberia.
The Icelandic Allthing had benefited from the large free amounts of land that came from the immigration to Leifrvalde of many Icelandic people but was now beginning to suffer for it and banned immigration to Leifrvalde from those within their territory, after people began illegally immigrating to Leifrvalde through various methods the Allthing then took much more intense measures to stop any immigration and had allowed outside merchants to only trade within certain places. This new federalist era of Iceland that followed these years had lasting consequences on trade and politics of Scandinavian nations at the time.
Leifrvalde did not take kindly to this near forced Isolation the Icelanders were forcing, the Paramount Chieftain Ketil Bjornsson (who had been re-elected time and time again) had enough with these anti-Leifrvalde policies coming from paramount chieftain on Iceland Bjorn Eriksson and his Althing had made him decide to show a display of force and with ninety seven ships and their Crews landed in the de facto capital of Iceland and 'convinced' the Icelandic allthing to change it's policies regarding limiting trade restrictions. This had re-opened trade with Europe for the Northern route but there was still a very large anti-Leifrish sentiment within Iceland.
The recent Years within the British isles had been relatively peaceful in terms of warfare, Scottish rule had improved the living condition of many of their new English subjects and William the first of Scotland had been seen as a benevolent king that had encouraged trade with lands near and far leading most of the Isle to it's most prosperous point in more than two hundred years; However in the England under the Welsh things were much different.
Hywel ap Rhys had continued his oppression of Anglo-Saxon people and even decreed "Child limit Laws" that states that if an Englishman and woman has more than two children that the third or more will be taken away and the family would have taxes doubled on them for life. The Papacy nearly excommunicated him but didn't for unknown reasons that were probably bribes, threats, or Blackmail as many Scholars wouldn't put it past Hywel ap Rhys to try it.
William was afraid of the size and utter efficiency of the Welsh army that he did not dare invade, but he did hear the pleas from the English living under welsh rule and had at the very least accepted refugees and allowed them to till unused land.
In Ireland the King of Dublin Domnall Gerrlamhach had been afraid of the two great nations on the main Isle of Britain, however he too had a bit of power with his grandfather initially leading a conquest that resulted in him owning a third of Ireland which had kept him feeling at a level of security; However history would show him to be a fool for trying to predict the madness of Hywel ap Rhys when in 1118 the Welsh fleet arrived at the capital that was Dublin completely unexpectedly and managed to take nearly every important figure in the state and conquering what was left in little under six months. The Welsh King then started a campaign to conquer the whole of Ireland, due to a lack of roads and such it took three years before the Interior was fully conquered. In the conquest many atrocities had been committed but it had been considerably less harsh then that of the conquered English.
In Scandinavia, Thorfinn Olafsson self titled as 'King of the Finns' had been waging a campaign on the Sammi tribes in the North of Norway eventually conquering them and encroaching on Nidaros from the North. Rolf Olafsson was worried and had stationed most of his army there; But from the North is not where Thorfinn would invade from. The troops of Rolf Olafsson stationed in Sweden near the border found themselves rushed by Finnish troops that had been much larger in Number and quickly rolled through on finnish horses and a new larger crossbow carried on a wagon whose bolts are the size of small spears managed to pierce through any shield at a distance that a normal crossbow could not penetrate. The Finnish Army would have been annihilated by the armies of Rolf Olafsson but they were distracted by large naval attacks on Sweden and Denmark allowing nearly all of Sweden to be taken.
When Rolf who was in Oslo when he had heard he had gathered funds from many rich families who willingly donated in order to not have all their riches and assets destroyed by the invading Finns and used said funding to raise such a large army that they were able to retake more or less all of Sweden that had been in his possession leaving the Finns in defeat but returning home with much loot.
In Iberia, Emperor Ragnar Olafsson (or Ragnar the first as he would be known in Iberian records) had monks and other clergy translate many Roman works such as that of Gaius Julius Ceaser and Tacitus, it was known he was very interested in all the Roman ruins in Iberia; most notably the Aqueducts and had gathered what passed for engineers in that era and had a few Aqueduct repaired. Ragnar had also broken the stalemate in North Africa by convincing the papacy that a stronger Iberian christian presence in North Africa would aid the Crusade effort as well as further ensure Gibraltar stays open. With forces meant to be sent to the holy land now temporarily aiding Ragnar his new territory gained spanned from Casablanca to the South and Oran along the Northern Mediterranean coast. This also meant however that enemy forces would be more spread out and harder to deal with, although he did eliminate most local power so most resistance from the south would be small but the west parts of his territory did pose a threat. The Papacy did however aid the Emperor by having any Crusading force raised from North or west of Italy must station in North Africa for at least three months aiding the Iberian forces before heading to the Holy land unless given permission from the Pope otherwise.
Emperor Ragnar also realized the inefficiency of European forces in the desert, he had realized that a light armored army selected from people that didn't mind the heat as much as others and supported by a highly organized water supply routes. He had started by recruiting mainly from those born in the hot conditions, mostly Spaniards born in Tangiers or converted Bedouins/Arabs. He had then set up intensely detailed maps showing water sources and terrain across his North African Domain along with recruiting Generals who knew just the intense need for water supply.
Storfoss had been growing into a large town, with a military presence in order to watch after the subjugated skraeling confederacy to the east as well as oversee the Silver taxes that said confederacy was forced to mine. Much of the silver found its way into Storfoss and used by merchants to sell into the large cities along the Nawa River or the coast making Storfoss a perfect town for trade, Lime technologies allowed it to build towers and many delightful things that had been seen in the large cities of Gifurflud, Nawahlid, Thorkellsborg, and Leifsbudir. With Storfoss gaining popularity again attention once more turned to the cities to the West along the great rivers and great lakes.
In the Eastern Roman Empire, the Emperor Alexius the First had been able to concentrate his forces against threats now that the Crusaders to the south had been a magnet for any Heathen armies. The empire had a good relationship with the Crusaders, if they keep fighting and holding their ground against the attackers allowing the Byzantines to be more at peace then they would be supplied with the highly secretive Greek Fire and things like grain, arrows, armor, and things of that nature. The Byzantines with their massive armies now being able to focus on removing the Rum Seljuk threat as well as expanding into the Balkans and further fortifying their Italian Territory. Alexius' predecessors had agreed with the Pope to name the Emperor of Iberia to be Western Roman Emperor and now that the title had been inherited by a Norseman it had instilled a large rise in prestige among the Varangian Guard.
In The Holy land the Crusader forces had been fortifying the mountains and valleys, but the Saracen hordes still held onto the deserts and southern plains. Acre had become a prosperous trading hub with merchants from Iberia, Italy, Byzantium, even Kiev had come to sell their wares to the pilgrims and others coming into the Holy Land.
A new campaign to take the city of Damascus was being prepared and many nations were pouring in their resources for the coming attack.
Also this is probably going to be the last update before the new board happens. Had to get it done before then so it was also kind of rushed so sorry.
1117-1121
In Gifurflud, the town was expanding to be nearly the same size as Nawahlid. Using the same lime technologies that were used for Nawahlid, however now using more efficient methods the primitive cements were now able along with fired brick to be able to build massively tall buildings. For the first time in the history of Norse architecture the Idea of apartment buildings with multiple stories had become possible with the use of primitive stone masonry on Limestone being used to support the brick and mortar.
The problem of sanitation and proper sewage control was becoming a problem however, Nawahlid expanded slowly and had relatively little issues with it. The problem was temporarily solved with using transportable buckets that would be thrown into the river to be washed, a city wide service that had transported sewage buckets from housing into the river to be washed clean by workers and transported back to the houses. Urination was still done in the dirt and still posed an issue.
An unlikely solution had hit the town, the land that the town was expanding into was swampy and local farms were limited to their expansion by swamps and bogs. By digging drainage canals leading into the river being near residences they had allowed some degree of sewage control, these drainage canals became a very putrid smelling place due to the sewage amassing in it with only the rain and decomposition being able to get rid of the waste, they became a center of disease and people began avoiding them as much as possible and people who had been exposed to the sewage or gotten it into wounds had been known to get very sick and often die.
In Iceland the Allthing was growing to be more like the Leifrish Allthing by creating something of a militia to defend their gifted colonies in Greenland and were having interest in Helluland. Helluland was still very much in control of Leifrvalde or at least on paper given that there were no known or recorded permanent colonies in Helluland with it mostly being inhabited by Skraelings and Norse camps looking for gold, Ivory or other goods. Iceland had tried to buy the territory from Leifrvalde but were denied at a moments notice, the Leifrish most likely feared losing Elgurland and Markland to the Icelanders who were gaining more political and martial power from their near monopoly of trade between Leifrvalde and Europe with the only exception being the Heitteyjar route with Iberia.
The Icelandic Allthing had benefited from the large free amounts of land that came from the immigration to Leifrvalde of many Icelandic people but was now beginning to suffer for it and banned immigration to Leifrvalde from those within their territory, after people began illegally immigrating to Leifrvalde through various methods the Allthing then took much more intense measures to stop any immigration and had allowed outside merchants to only trade within certain places. This new federalist era of Iceland that followed these years had lasting consequences on trade and politics of Scandinavian nations at the time.
Leifrvalde did not take kindly to this near forced Isolation the Icelanders were forcing, the Paramount Chieftain Ketil Bjornsson (who had been re-elected time and time again) had enough with these anti-Leifrvalde policies coming from paramount chieftain on Iceland Bjorn Eriksson and his Althing had made him decide to show a display of force and with ninety seven ships and their Crews landed in the de facto capital of Iceland and 'convinced' the Icelandic allthing to change it's policies regarding limiting trade restrictions. This had re-opened trade with Europe for the Northern route but there was still a very large anti-Leifrish sentiment within Iceland.
The recent Years within the British isles had been relatively peaceful in terms of warfare, Scottish rule had improved the living condition of many of their new English subjects and William the first of Scotland had been seen as a benevolent king that had encouraged trade with lands near and far leading most of the Isle to it's most prosperous point in more than two hundred years; However in the England under the Welsh things were much different.
Hywel ap Rhys had continued his oppression of Anglo-Saxon people and even decreed "Child limit Laws" that states that if an Englishman and woman has more than two children that the third or more will be taken away and the family would have taxes doubled on them for life. The Papacy nearly excommunicated him but didn't for unknown reasons that were probably bribes, threats, or Blackmail as many Scholars wouldn't put it past Hywel ap Rhys to try it.
William was afraid of the size and utter efficiency of the Welsh army that he did not dare invade, but he did hear the pleas from the English living under welsh rule and had at the very least accepted refugees and allowed them to till unused land.
In Ireland the King of Dublin Domnall Gerrlamhach had been afraid of the two great nations on the main Isle of Britain, however he too had a bit of power with his grandfather initially leading a conquest that resulted in him owning a third of Ireland which had kept him feeling at a level of security; However history would show him to be a fool for trying to predict the madness of Hywel ap Rhys when in 1118 the Welsh fleet arrived at the capital that was Dublin completely unexpectedly and managed to take nearly every important figure in the state and conquering what was left in little under six months. The Welsh King then started a campaign to conquer the whole of Ireland, due to a lack of roads and such it took three years before the Interior was fully conquered. In the conquest many atrocities had been committed but it had been considerably less harsh then that of the conquered English.
In Scandinavia, Thorfinn Olafsson self titled as 'King of the Finns' had been waging a campaign on the Sammi tribes in the North of Norway eventually conquering them and encroaching on Nidaros from the North. Rolf Olafsson was worried and had stationed most of his army there; But from the North is not where Thorfinn would invade from. The troops of Rolf Olafsson stationed in Sweden near the border found themselves rushed by Finnish troops that had been much larger in Number and quickly rolled through on finnish horses and a new larger crossbow carried on a wagon whose bolts are the size of small spears managed to pierce through any shield at a distance that a normal crossbow could not penetrate. The Finnish Army would have been annihilated by the armies of Rolf Olafsson but they were distracted by large naval attacks on Sweden and Denmark allowing nearly all of Sweden to be taken.
When Rolf who was in Oslo when he had heard he had gathered funds from many rich families who willingly donated in order to not have all their riches and assets destroyed by the invading Finns and used said funding to raise such a large army that they were able to retake more or less all of Sweden that had been in his possession leaving the Finns in defeat but returning home with much loot.
In Iberia, Emperor Ragnar Olafsson (or Ragnar the first as he would be known in Iberian records) had monks and other clergy translate many Roman works such as that of Gaius Julius Ceaser and Tacitus, it was known he was very interested in all the Roman ruins in Iberia; most notably the Aqueducts and had gathered what passed for engineers in that era and had a few Aqueduct repaired. Ragnar had also broken the stalemate in North Africa by convincing the papacy that a stronger Iberian christian presence in North Africa would aid the Crusade effort as well as further ensure Gibraltar stays open. With forces meant to be sent to the holy land now temporarily aiding Ragnar his new territory gained spanned from Casablanca to the South and Oran along the Northern Mediterranean coast. This also meant however that enemy forces would be more spread out and harder to deal with, although he did eliminate most local power so most resistance from the south would be small but the west parts of his territory did pose a threat. The Papacy did however aid the Emperor by having any Crusading force raised from North or west of Italy must station in North Africa for at least three months aiding the Iberian forces before heading to the Holy land unless given permission from the Pope otherwise.
Emperor Ragnar also realized the inefficiency of European forces in the desert, he had realized that a light armored army selected from people that didn't mind the heat as much as others and supported by a highly organized water supply routes. He had started by recruiting mainly from those born in the hot conditions, mostly Spaniards born in Tangiers or converted Bedouins/Arabs. He had then set up intensely detailed maps showing water sources and terrain across his North African Domain along with recruiting Generals who knew just the intense need for water supply.
Storfoss had been growing into a large town, with a military presence in order to watch after the subjugated skraeling confederacy to the east as well as oversee the Silver taxes that said confederacy was forced to mine. Much of the silver found its way into Storfoss and used by merchants to sell into the large cities along the Nawa River or the coast making Storfoss a perfect town for trade, Lime technologies allowed it to build towers and many delightful things that had been seen in the large cities of Gifurflud, Nawahlid, Thorkellsborg, and Leifsbudir. With Storfoss gaining popularity again attention once more turned to the cities to the West along the great rivers and great lakes.
In the Eastern Roman Empire, the Emperor Alexius the First had been able to concentrate his forces against threats now that the Crusaders to the south had been a magnet for any Heathen armies. The empire had a good relationship with the Crusaders, if they keep fighting and holding their ground against the attackers allowing the Byzantines to be more at peace then they would be supplied with the highly secretive Greek Fire and things like grain, arrows, armor, and things of that nature. The Byzantines with their massive armies now being able to focus on removing the Rum Seljuk threat as well as expanding into the Balkans and further fortifying their Italian Territory. Alexius' predecessors had agreed with the Pope to name the Emperor of Iberia to be Western Roman Emperor and now that the title had been inherited by a Norseman it had instilled a large rise in prestige among the Varangian Guard.
In The Holy land the Crusader forces had been fortifying the mountains and valleys, but the Saracen hordes still held onto the deserts and southern plains. Acre had become a prosperous trading hub with merchants from Iberia, Italy, Byzantium, even Kiev had come to sell their wares to the pilgrims and others coming into the Holy Land.
A new campaign to take the city of Damascus was being prepared and many nations were pouring in their resources for the coming attack.
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Uff Da the optimist
Donor
Dude I can't even comment on everything because it's so frickin cool, but here is a short summary of my emotions and reactions to reading this update:
"Iceland gets invaded/visited by 97 Vinland-ships?"
"A norseman is emperor of Iberia, and named Western Roman Emperor, with a so far successful reconquista of North Africa?" Waaaaaaaat
"Wales is conquering Britain under the Dragon Banner?" Khaleesi is coming to Westeros ya'll!!!
I'm hoping for some Red Wedding-type situation with the Skraeling confederacy taking a cruel revenge on Storfoss or something, which then could become part of a Saga to be told across the Norse world?
I wish you a very well earned rest during the board's downtime, and I eagerly look forward to what you have in store for us!!
"Iceland gets invaded/visited by 97 Vinland-ships?"
"A norseman is emperor of Iberia, and named Western Roman Emperor, with a so far successful reconquista of North Africa?" Waaaaaaaat
"Wales is conquering Britain under the Dragon Banner?" Khaleesi is coming to Westeros ya'll!!!
I'm hoping for some Red Wedding-type situation with the Skraeling confederacy taking a cruel revenge on Storfoss or something, which then could become part of a Saga to be told across the Norse world?
I wish you a very well earned rest during the board's downtime, and I eagerly look forward to what you have in store for us!!
Dude I can't even comment on everything because it's so frickin cool, but here is a short summary of my emotions and reactions to reading this update:
"Iceland gets invaded/visited by 97 Vinland-ships?"
"A norseman is emperor of Iberia, and named Western Roman Emperor, with a so far successful reconquista of North Africa?" Waaaaaaaat
"Wales is conquering Britain under the Dragon Banner?" Khaleesi is coming to Westeros ya'll!!!
I'm hoping for some Red Wedding-type situation with the Skraeling confederacy taking a cruel revenge on Storfoss or something, which then could become part of a Saga to be told across the Norse world?
I wish you a very well earned rest during the board's downtime, and I eagerly look forward to what you have in store for us!!
Well I wouldn't say "invaded" I would say its more along the lines of gunboat diplomacy.
Including the current one there had been two Norse on the throne of Iberia. And with being named roman emperor a previous Iberian emperor also had that title and now he had it for all the things he's been doing. But do keep in mind that trying to take so much land has it's challenges.
(stands awkwardly because I've never read or watched GOT) (But Hywel ap Rhys would prefer the term 'reconquering')
And the Skraeling confederacy is actually the early Iroquois confederation in case people didn't catch on.
And I'm posting this after the board change (Some ways are better but I'll miss the old format, I also have to get used to not knowing how things work stage like everyone who started).
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31
As a treat I'm releasing this little bit about whats going on in Britain early, the next update will include the other places and will still be at the same time and this is just a portion of what I've been writing so far.
1122-1126
In Britain, an event that would come to be known as 'The Death of Two Kings' happened where William the first of Scotland and Hywel ap Rhys had both died in the same week. Hywel ap Rhys was succeeded by Gruffydd ap Hywel and William was succeeded by his only son Edmund the First. Gruffydd was a wise man while Edmund however was lame as well as dumb and wasn't fit to rule.
In Scotland many that had royal blood in them sought to take away the crown from Edmund and announce themselves King, however Gruffydd had just become Edmund's father in law and with a Welsh army marched North to 'protect and ensure the proper ruler of Scotland stays on his Throne.' The Welsh army then killed any who got in it's way and killing nearly every single person who had even the slightest claim to the throne. When the Welsh managed to secure and protect Edmund from usurpers Gruffydd had Edmund sent to London for saftey until the political turmoil in Scotland ended. After a campaign of blood Gruffydd had managed to clear any who would have contested Edmund's rule.
Edmund had been convinced while in London to allow both Kingdoms to merge with the two as co-rulers. It was through this merging that the Kingdom of Britannia had been formed. With Edmund's disability making him unfit to rule he had essentially gave the Scottish Crown to Gruffydd with him being only a ceremonial figure. According to records however Edmund was quite happy with this and lived his days in luxury in London, however Gruffydd held a close on on Edmund and made sure that he didn't do anything out of line. With Wales, England, Scotland, Orkney, and Ireland under his fist, Gruffydd was later known as 'Ironfist' for his strict rule over his territories.
The English peoples who had avoided the harsh oppression under Welsh rule by leaving for Scottish ruled England had nowhere to escape. Gruffydd had special facilities built that were of large rooms meant to fit forty to fifty people standing up, with a special vent system that was able to fill the room with smoke from burning leaves he was able to commit genocide on thousands of people. He had gone through much work to eliminate all records of this and had blamed the people's disappearances on the political turmoil. For the English that had what would be considered useful to the Welsh they had allowed some to settle Ireland and Wales where Welsh had gone to settle England.
Gruffydd was able to gain authority over a large army in Scotland and he had used it to launch a campaign to conquer Brittany, he had managed to beat Conan the Third in battle many times but he found himself unable to conquer the duchy entirely. He had to wait until the year was over for him to continue with the assaults, after two and a half years he had managed to take the duchy but at heavy loses. This had greatly pleased Gruffydd, now he was finally King of all Celts and he had the entire British isles and Brittany at his disposal. At this time he had decided to focus more on peaceful trade, although he still did have to maintain his armies to stop any would be rebellion from rising up. He even sent ships all the way to Thorkellsborg in Leifrvalde for peaceful trade.
1122-1126
In Britain, an event that would come to be known as 'The Death of Two Kings' happened where William the first of Scotland and Hywel ap Rhys had both died in the same week. Hywel ap Rhys was succeeded by Gruffydd ap Hywel and William was succeeded by his only son Edmund the First. Gruffydd was a wise man while Edmund however was lame as well as dumb and wasn't fit to rule.
In Scotland many that had royal blood in them sought to take away the crown from Edmund and announce themselves King, however Gruffydd had just become Edmund's father in law and with a Welsh army marched North to 'protect and ensure the proper ruler of Scotland stays on his Throne.' The Welsh army then killed any who got in it's way and killing nearly every single person who had even the slightest claim to the throne. When the Welsh managed to secure and protect Edmund from usurpers Gruffydd had Edmund sent to London for saftey until the political turmoil in Scotland ended. After a campaign of blood Gruffydd had managed to clear any who would have contested Edmund's rule.
Edmund had been convinced while in London to allow both Kingdoms to merge with the two as co-rulers. It was through this merging that the Kingdom of Britannia had been formed. With Edmund's disability making him unfit to rule he had essentially gave the Scottish Crown to Gruffydd with him being only a ceremonial figure. According to records however Edmund was quite happy with this and lived his days in luxury in London, however Gruffydd held a close on on Edmund and made sure that he didn't do anything out of line. With Wales, England, Scotland, Orkney, and Ireland under his fist, Gruffydd was later known as 'Ironfist' for his strict rule over his territories.
The English peoples who had avoided the harsh oppression under Welsh rule by leaving for Scottish ruled England had nowhere to escape. Gruffydd had special facilities built that were of large rooms meant to fit forty to fifty people standing up, with a special vent system that was able to fill the room with smoke from burning leaves he was able to commit genocide on thousands of people. He had gone through much work to eliminate all records of this and had blamed the people's disappearances on the political turmoil. For the English that had what would be considered useful to the Welsh they had allowed some to settle Ireland and Wales where Welsh had gone to settle England.
Gruffydd was able to gain authority over a large army in Scotland and he had used it to launch a campaign to conquer Brittany, he had managed to beat Conan the Third in battle many times but he found himself unable to conquer the duchy entirely. He had to wait until the year was over for him to continue with the assaults, after two and a half years he had managed to take the duchy but at heavy loses. This had greatly pleased Gruffydd, now he was finally King of all Celts and he had the entire British isles and Brittany at his disposal. At this time he had decided to focus more on peaceful trade, although he still did have to maintain his armies to stop any would be rebellion from rising up. He even sent ships all the way to Thorkellsborg in Leifrvalde for peaceful trade.
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31 p2
Now the later part:
In the Allthing of Leifrvalde, Ketil Bjornsson had enacted several decrees that had established permanent outposts in Helluland in order to stake their claim in the land and also look for gold. He had also taken actions to develop Elgurland as it was falling into disrepair and it was barely inhabited by Norse at this point with most of the gold consumed people had left for warmer and more fertile lands. He had populated a large amount of these lands with Ango-Saxons seeking somewhere to settle that wasn't under the Tyrannical Welsh. It didn't matter if it was the freezing Helluland or the empty Elgurland, they were completely happy to have somewhere to live without harsh taxes or oppression. The future Leifrish Language would be influenced heavily by these Anglo-Saxon immigrants.
In Iberia, Emperor Ragnar had been running an intensive irrigation projects in North Africa and had several researchers study other nation's irrigation systems as well as looking through old roman records of irrigation. He had been interested in the idea of flooding the Chott El Fejaj which was only fifteen miles from the coast with sea water, however the area was not in his domain. It should be noted that due to the roughness of hand drawn maps he had thought that the Chott was much closer to the sea then it actually was.
The Iberian conquests of North Africa had been going swell, by having the heavy Infantry and Cavalry armies stationed closer to the coast and having a light armored swift force in the interior often creating a "Hammer and Anvil" where the light Infantry and Cavalry would push enemy forces to the coastline where the more numerous and heavy armored units would crush them. Another tactic Emperor Ragnar had employed was to prioritize farmland and water sources, both because his army needed water and that given enough time the enemy army would either have to flee to a distant land or fight them head on because they could not go on forever without food or water. These tactics were so successful that by the year 1125 his army had finally seen the city of Carthage on the horizon.
After taking the city Ragnar had been ecstatic and he had immediately called for large numbers of immigrants from Lisbona and Leon and had them populate the city while forcing the Arab Muslims in the city out into the desert. The policy of forcing the Arab Muslims under his control to either convert, become a slave, or just killed had still been in effect and he was very frustrated at how hard it was to organize such policies. He then had the Idea to butcher pigs and give the Arabs two choices: Eat in the feast of pork or have your entire family butchered. This had very good results in his eyes as it had many Muslims lose much of their pride and live in shame. Ragnar's view on the Arab Christians were much different from their Muslim counterparts, he bestowed nobility on many of them and to the others gave them the finest of the conquered farmlands. Some of his most loyal vassals were Arab Christians who had gained wealth and status through him. He was not only conquering west but his son Olaf Ragnarsson had been leading a few armies south along the Atlantic coast taking city after city with little resistance, Olaf was considered to be an even better tactician then his father was and his policy on Muslim Heathens were much more brutal than his father's.
The Crusades had been going very well, the large army in the south of the country was getting weaker and the Heathens in Egypt had been reinforcing their allies to the east to fight against the Iberians. After a final push that was aided by Byzantine forces the Holy land west of the Jordan Valley was reclaimed. The Pope had decided on naming Sigurd the Crusader as King of Jerusalem for his brave epics in battle that no one leader in the entire crusade could have matched. The Crusades also gave the Byzantines the opportunity to take back much land where they had been able to border the new Kingdom of Jerusalem to the north. The Seljuks of Rum had also been nearly pushed out of the peninsula at this point.
Thorfinn Olafsson was preparing a campaign to take the whole of Norway from his brother Rolf. When he attacked he found the enemy armies weak and had not been in maintenance very well and very quickly he was able to take Norway, it was at this point in time due to bad harvests in Denmark the Empire under Rolf Olafsson was very weak and Thorfinn had not expected for the conquest to go so smoothly with enemies either being weak or willing to defect. When Rolf Olafsson was killed in battle trying to retain his crown, all of his subordinates had turned to Thorfinn had made him King of all of Rolf's former domains. Thorfinn Olafsson was very old however and he died not long after conquering such vast amounts of land where his son Bjarny Thorfinnsson had risen to the throne.
In the Allthing of Leifrvalde, Ketil Bjornsson had enacted several decrees that had established permanent outposts in Helluland in order to stake their claim in the land and also look for gold. He had also taken actions to develop Elgurland as it was falling into disrepair and it was barely inhabited by Norse at this point with most of the gold consumed people had left for warmer and more fertile lands. He had populated a large amount of these lands with Ango-Saxons seeking somewhere to settle that wasn't under the Tyrannical Welsh. It didn't matter if it was the freezing Helluland or the empty Elgurland, they were completely happy to have somewhere to live without harsh taxes or oppression. The future Leifrish Language would be influenced heavily by these Anglo-Saxon immigrants.
In Iberia, Emperor Ragnar had been running an intensive irrigation projects in North Africa and had several researchers study other nation's irrigation systems as well as looking through old roman records of irrigation. He had been interested in the idea of flooding the Chott El Fejaj which was only fifteen miles from the coast with sea water, however the area was not in his domain. It should be noted that due to the roughness of hand drawn maps he had thought that the Chott was much closer to the sea then it actually was.
The Iberian conquests of North Africa had been going swell, by having the heavy Infantry and Cavalry armies stationed closer to the coast and having a light armored swift force in the interior often creating a "Hammer and Anvil" where the light Infantry and Cavalry would push enemy forces to the coastline where the more numerous and heavy armored units would crush them. Another tactic Emperor Ragnar had employed was to prioritize farmland and water sources, both because his army needed water and that given enough time the enemy army would either have to flee to a distant land or fight them head on because they could not go on forever without food or water. These tactics were so successful that by the year 1125 his army had finally seen the city of Carthage on the horizon.
After taking the city Ragnar had been ecstatic and he had immediately called for large numbers of immigrants from Lisbona and Leon and had them populate the city while forcing the Arab Muslims in the city out into the desert. The policy of forcing the Arab Muslims under his control to either convert, become a slave, or just killed had still been in effect and he was very frustrated at how hard it was to organize such policies. He then had the Idea to butcher pigs and give the Arabs two choices: Eat in the feast of pork or have your entire family butchered. This had very good results in his eyes as it had many Muslims lose much of their pride and live in shame. Ragnar's view on the Arab Christians were much different from their Muslim counterparts, he bestowed nobility on many of them and to the others gave them the finest of the conquered farmlands. Some of his most loyal vassals were Arab Christians who had gained wealth and status through him. He was not only conquering west but his son Olaf Ragnarsson had been leading a few armies south along the Atlantic coast taking city after city with little resistance, Olaf was considered to be an even better tactician then his father was and his policy on Muslim Heathens were much more brutal than his father's.
The Crusades had been going very well, the large army in the south of the country was getting weaker and the Heathens in Egypt had been reinforcing their allies to the east to fight against the Iberians. After a final push that was aided by Byzantine forces the Holy land west of the Jordan Valley was reclaimed. The Pope had decided on naming Sigurd the Crusader as King of Jerusalem for his brave epics in battle that no one leader in the entire crusade could have matched. The Crusades also gave the Byzantines the opportunity to take back much land where they had been able to border the new Kingdom of Jerusalem to the north. The Seljuks of Rum had also been nearly pushed out of the peninsula at this point.
Thorfinn Olafsson was preparing a campaign to take the whole of Norway from his brother Rolf. When he attacked he found the enemy armies weak and had not been in maintenance very well and very quickly he was able to take Norway, it was at this point in time due to bad harvests in Denmark the Empire under Rolf Olafsson was very weak and Thorfinn had not expected for the conquest to go so smoothly with enemies either being weak or willing to defect. When Rolf Olafsson was killed in battle trying to retain his crown, all of his subordinates had turned to Thorfinn had made him King of all of Rolf's former domains. Thorfinn Olafsson was very old however and he died not long after conquering such vast amounts of land where his son Bjarny Thorfinnsson had risen to the throne.
32
A short update, after all not every year can have exiting things happening.
TsarSaucybottom is now also making a Vinland TL, and he's putting effort into the development of the Language (unlike me) and into other things, So go check it out.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/alphabet-for-the-vinlandic-language.384106/
1130-1134
In the growing outposts of Helluland the people there had been hunting Seals and Walrus, Fishing, and most notably looking for 'Ice Gold' that they had heard about. Some gold had been found but not enough to justify the outposts on their own. The Ivory from Walruses and the bones of a large variety of animals had given the colonists a form of large export, in Leifrish History it should be noted that around this time is when much style of furniture and other artistic items had implemented large amounts of Ivory and Bone. The Helluland Outposts had grown in number by Anglo-Saxons seeking refuge from their Welsh oppressors.
In Brittany, Gruffydd ap Hywel spared no time in running the tin mines to pump out the rare material. He was also preparing a very large army of Scots and Irish for an Invasion of Normandy and possibly Flanders. With Gruffydd's less than unknown desire for territorial expansion clearly evident to the nations of the world the various powers of the area banded into a coalition against the 'Brittania Imperium' as the Welsh had called it. With the combined forces, Gruffydd was not willing to jump into a large war and he rather had only stationed a standing army in Brittany to oversee things and a few other armies close to Englands southern coast ready to cross the channel. He had also at this time gotten a small force of Orkneyan mercenaries and Welsh soldiers to attack and Annex the Shetlands and the Faroes and had done so with little trouble.
In Storfoss the natives that were being forced to mine silver ore had been dying from diseases brought by rats, with them being unable to keep up with the silver production it was decided that European immigrants would settle any of the places needed to support any mines. However they had little idea where any silver deposits were and they did not want to drop colonists into Skraeling territory with little protection. So expeditions were held where men had traversed the newly named land of Skogiland where they had searched very far inland in search of silver deposits and ways to more easily access and get the silver to Storfoss. Eventually after one of the expeditions they had found the Frosinn River that had flowed south into the Ocean. A small colony would in a few years be built at the mouth of the river that would later be known as Hofnborg. The silver expeditions had yielded no silver and the only productive thing it had created was that the Norse had intimate knowledge of the interior of Skogiland.
In Iberia, Emperor Ragnar had been almost forcefully imposing immigration to the newly conquered territories and had been exiling, enslaving, and murdering native Berber and Muslim Arabs who did not convert to Christianity. He had started mines in the Atlas mountains that had been worked by the conquered Muslims, he had also had them work in Galacia to the North in order to mine the precious mineral of Tin and compete with the Welsh who had a monopoly with Cornwall and Brittany under their control. He had also started to work on irrigation projects that had channeled rain water and mountain runoff into irrigation canals that had allowed the extremely efficient and pest resistant Gulurskera to thrive. The Emperor had moved the capital to Valencia so that he could monitor his North African lands more easily.
The Crown Prince Olaf Ragnarsson had been leading the campaign against the heathen cities and towns along the Atlantic Coast. He had known of the large islands off of the african coast. He had considered conquering them but had decided against it, he had enough on his hands having to manage his area of North Africa. After putting down so many towns and cities he had finally pacified the region, unlike his father he had decided to simply tolerate non-Christians and only killing when and where there was a threat of revolt. Compared to his Father he had looked like a Saint to the Muslim peoples.
In Scandinavia, Bjarny Thorfinnsson had been working on retaking nearly the entirety of the Baltic shores and he finally did achieve his grandfathers dream of the sea being under the rule of one nation. Bjarny had made alliances with the Kievian Rus that through his aid were able to expand into the territory of the Polotsk, Smolensk, and Novgorod making it into a local superpower, and it had ambitions of expanding into the territory of the Cumans and gaining territory on the shore of the Black Sea.
TsarSaucybottom is now also making a Vinland TL, and he's putting effort into the development of the Language (unlike me) and into other things, So go check it out.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/alphabet-for-the-vinlandic-language.384106/
1130-1134
In the growing outposts of Helluland the people there had been hunting Seals and Walrus, Fishing, and most notably looking for 'Ice Gold' that they had heard about. Some gold had been found but not enough to justify the outposts on their own. The Ivory from Walruses and the bones of a large variety of animals had given the colonists a form of large export, in Leifrish History it should be noted that around this time is when much style of furniture and other artistic items had implemented large amounts of Ivory and Bone. The Helluland Outposts had grown in number by Anglo-Saxons seeking refuge from their Welsh oppressors.
In Brittany, Gruffydd ap Hywel spared no time in running the tin mines to pump out the rare material. He was also preparing a very large army of Scots and Irish for an Invasion of Normandy and possibly Flanders. With Gruffydd's less than unknown desire for territorial expansion clearly evident to the nations of the world the various powers of the area banded into a coalition against the 'Brittania Imperium' as the Welsh had called it. With the combined forces, Gruffydd was not willing to jump into a large war and he rather had only stationed a standing army in Brittany to oversee things and a few other armies close to Englands southern coast ready to cross the channel. He had also at this time gotten a small force of Orkneyan mercenaries and Welsh soldiers to attack and Annex the Shetlands and the Faroes and had done so with little trouble.
In Storfoss the natives that were being forced to mine silver ore had been dying from diseases brought by rats, with them being unable to keep up with the silver production it was decided that European immigrants would settle any of the places needed to support any mines. However they had little idea where any silver deposits were and they did not want to drop colonists into Skraeling territory with little protection. So expeditions were held where men had traversed the newly named land of Skogiland where they had searched very far inland in search of silver deposits and ways to more easily access and get the silver to Storfoss. Eventually after one of the expeditions they had found the Frosinn River that had flowed south into the Ocean. A small colony would in a few years be built at the mouth of the river that would later be known as Hofnborg. The silver expeditions had yielded no silver and the only productive thing it had created was that the Norse had intimate knowledge of the interior of Skogiland.
In Iberia, Emperor Ragnar had been almost forcefully imposing immigration to the newly conquered territories and had been exiling, enslaving, and murdering native Berber and Muslim Arabs who did not convert to Christianity. He had started mines in the Atlas mountains that had been worked by the conquered Muslims, he had also had them work in Galacia to the North in order to mine the precious mineral of Tin and compete with the Welsh who had a monopoly with Cornwall and Brittany under their control. He had also started to work on irrigation projects that had channeled rain water and mountain runoff into irrigation canals that had allowed the extremely efficient and pest resistant Gulurskera to thrive. The Emperor had moved the capital to Valencia so that he could monitor his North African lands more easily.
The Crown Prince Olaf Ragnarsson had been leading the campaign against the heathen cities and towns along the Atlantic Coast. He had known of the large islands off of the african coast. He had considered conquering them but had decided against it, he had enough on his hands having to manage his area of North Africa. After putting down so many towns and cities he had finally pacified the region, unlike his father he had decided to simply tolerate non-Christians and only killing when and where there was a threat of revolt. Compared to his Father he had looked like a Saint to the Muslim peoples.
In Scandinavia, Bjarny Thorfinnsson had been working on retaking nearly the entirety of the Baltic shores and he finally did achieve his grandfathers dream of the sea being under the rule of one nation. Bjarny had made alliances with the Kievian Rus that through his aid were able to expand into the territory of the Polotsk, Smolensk, and Novgorod making it into a local superpower, and it had ambitions of expanding into the territory of the Cumans and gaining territory on the shore of the Black Sea.
This WE is steamrolling through North Africa.
Early reconquista seems to have made head way a bunch.
I'm guessing that chaos reigns high in the more inland regions.
Nomads are probably having a field day as well.
By the way, just how islamized was western North Africa at this time?
Are their any christian or Jewish holdouts?
Early reconquista seems to have made head way a bunch.
I'm guessing that chaos reigns high in the more inland regions.
Nomads are probably having a field day as well.
By the way, just how islamized was western North Africa at this time?
Are their any christian or Jewish holdouts?
Oh it's not steamrolling through North Africa, right now it pretty much has reached most of it's limit and was only able to get as far as it did through Corn/Maize from the new world allowing armies to be fed much more easily, the fact the Crusades were drawing most of the heat away from North Africa, and that the Iberian and Norse commanders do not take the threat of desert attrition lightly.
Well most of Iberia was pretty Islamized before Cordoba divided into the Taifas in OTL so I'd assume that the rest of North Africa would be just as Islamized. As for Jewish and Christian holdouts I've already pointed out that Arab Christians are having a grand time under Iberian Rule and the jews have been living under non-jewish rule for nearly a thousand years and the main reason for persecution of Muslims is that they would destabilize things and most likely cause revolts while the Jews would probably just keep going on like nothing had changed.
Ah, I see.
Thanks for response.
So the crusades have sucked some of the more able bodies away in NA.
Sucks to be them, but I have feeling they won't be very happy to learn about what's going on in the west.
Nice update, Btw.
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