EternalInsanity787

The year is the year of our lord 962 AD, and the worst has happened for Catholic Europe. The King Aquitaine, has become a muslim Sultan. He was also initially Egyptian, but embraced French. This unexpected event shocked all of Europe, but also forced Egypt's hand. Fearing that Europe would eventually become heated enemies with Egypt rather than friends, Egypt acted swiftly and vengefully.  Aquitaine's long-held islands were taken first, followed by the long-dreaded war with the Ummayad Empire. It ended in Quadirid Victory, finally putting the Ummayads in their place and allowing Egypt to take hold of a bit of Mainland Europe. By 962, all of Valencia became proper Miaphysite. Barcelona from Aquitaine followed after. The counts in Toulouse remain Catholic for the time being, which is why the Pontiff has not called for a crusade yet, but no doubt he will target Aquitaine first. As revolts are breaking out in Aquitaine and Spain,  and as the most powerful empire in Africa and now Europe begins encroaching, it it seems the Western Muslims are finally going to be seeing the decline that the east has been seeing since Egypt returned to Christianity.

At the same time, in the east, Muslims are continuing to decline within Egypt's held lands. In Arabia, the majority of the population is Christian, only one county isn't: Duqm. Miaphysites are becoming the primary people of the empire. Not surprising considering now the only Muslim Empire that has actual power (would you really try to say the Caliph has power at this point?) has just been defeated.

Syria is also nearly fully conquered by Egypt, only one Emirate held by the Caliph remains. Might be Egypt's last Eastern Campaign for a while though, their focus is currently shifting Westward to take on Spain and prevent islam from taking over all of Europe (not out of religion, though most of the council are labelled as "zealots", but more to keep a massive unbeatable enemy from forming over there. Also if Egypt takes Toulouse, the Pope won't call a crusade unless Aquitaine (if it remains muslim) takes Paris or Provence. I thought it was the duchy but I think it's the counties that the Muslims have to own. Currently Toulouse's count is catholic but the duke is the sultan. If that happens to change, it will trigger the Crusader Kings event, meaning the Crusades will begin. No doubt they will attack Aquitaine first. Is why them being Muslim and not part of Islamic Hispania puts them in the worst position possible.



Also, yes, Bulgaria somehow took a chunk of Norhern Italy. I have no idea how the hell that happened. I seriously don't. I guess inheritance or something. I don't know. But it did, and yes they are converting it to Orthodox. Also, that big Italian revolt is headed by a Catholic Heretic. So West Francia his holy warring for Baden. My god does the Pope need Egypt at this point. His minions (note: I'm Christian but not Catholic) in Europe are too busy fighting eachother to unite against Hispania so clearly Egypt will have to go in there and kick Spain's ass for them. xD


I mean really....Europe is a fucking mess right now. Italy owning huge chunks of Germany, Germany being tiny, Bavaria being a disgusting line separating Italy from it's German lands, revolts, my god. Pommerania is also christian now too, Catholic. Lotharingia holding Danish and Swedish lands, I don't even know anymore xD. The Karlings sure now how turn Europe into a disgusting hot mess of enclaves, exclaves, and separated states. xD. Europe truly needs to regain it's Ma'at. Like Egypt. You don't see Egypt doin' that shit. Hilariously, Africa & the Middle East are at least keeping order better than Europe is right now. Or at least Egypt, Mali and Byzantium are. You don't see much changing aside from the occassional revolt over there. But the status quo doesn't tend to change much. Unlike in Europe, Revolts everywhere, disgusting enclaves and exclaves, odd inheritances, etc. I mean, Abyssinia is also safe.


Also, Arsenios is now the Badshah, or Emperor, of Egypt, Ahmad the Great tragically has died. Arsenios though can be said to be a restoration of ancient Egyptian nativeness, since he is part Ethiopian and his ethnicity is primarily black.  So those who consider Ancient Egypt black can kind of say with him, the imperial family is now more legitament successors to the Pharaohs of old. Also Empress Dowager Kess, an Ethiopian Princess, does still live. With the Imperial Family now having African blood in their veins aswell as having the restored borders of the 18th Dynasty's borders, I would say that this definitely is a true restoration of the Ancient Egyptian Empire.

And at long last, after finally gathering enough prestige, Ahmad II became Ahmad I of the Quadirid Empire, otherwise known as the Egyptian Empire or Empire of Egypt. (It's kind of like the Chinese/Persian/Arab thing where the Empire's name shares the dynasty name). Also Arabia has fully been conquered. Miaphysites continuing growing in numbers, and the entire Emirate of Medina, where Mecca is, is Christian. All of the Islamic Prophet Follower's work has been undone, basically. Egypt can also now communicate more with India. So really even if Constantinople somehow falls in the future, Egypt will basically become the new way for Europe to trade with asia. Unless the Catholics royally piss off the coptics.


Also, looks like the crusades may happen. The Umayads are expanding into France. If they keep that up the Catholic Pope might start calling crusades. I just hope they don't plan on betraying Egypt when they do the fourth one. That would be idiotic considering their mortal enemy, the caliphate, has basically been made terminally ill because of Egypt's rise.

Oh yeah. At this point the Abassid Caliph having an imperial level title is a fucking joke. Like, my god. He doesn't control any of the de jure kingdom of Arabia anymore. His capital is now located in Azerbaijan after yet another successful Egyptian Holy War against him. It was one of the few times they won a battle. Only they lost every other one when Egypt brought out bigger armies (those mercenaries were attritioned by the time the battle happened). It's like beating a dead horse at this point, really. I really, really do not fear the Abassids anymore. I used to be nervous declaring war on them, not anymore. I'm thinking of making the ones in Baghdad (yes, that dark green blob where Iraq is, is ruled by Abassids not part of the once-powerful caliphate) become the next Egyptian Tribute state. The others are two Ethiopians and that tiny, tiny muslim state that Egypt, Baghdad and one of Abbasid's enclaves/exclaves border, and not the one in Syria.


One scary thing though is that due to idiotic vassals and the like, Sunni's moral authority has gone back up to the 60's. Since the game is now in the 940's though I assume that Seljuk is not too far off so hopefully I won't have to worry too much about a second jihad. Even then I swear the Middle East is like how it is in modern day, it's like every single country is at war every moment. That's seriously how it was. I'm serious. I would honestly say though that the sunni's main weakness right now is that they are:

1. The ones in Spain & North Africa are horrendously isolated from their brethren in the middle east, by both West Francia (yeah France, Aquitaine and Lotharingia are still Karling) and the Quadirid (Egyptian) Empire.

2. The ones in the Middle East are a joke. None of them all that big, most of them constantly at war with either revolts or Hindus/Buddhists, the religion might have moral authority but I doubt the Caliph does. There's also a Shia state in there too so it's not all Sunni, even if the Shia Caliph failed in his rising.

3. Powerful Neighbours - Byzantines, Egyptians, French. More powerful, and France will get aid from the other catholics if it is attacked, but the main point is that aside from Hispania, the Sunnis don't really have any unified empire or anything. Everything is all split up and warring. Meanwhile Egypt, Byzantium, and sort of West Francia are more unified states. Primarily Egypt and Byzantium though. Those two also border the not unified weaker muslims in the Middle East, rather than the Stronger ones in the West. That might change though when Seljuk shows up. To be honest he might be Sunni's last hope at lasting out the rest of the game.


Seriously this is such a reversal of the real world.......the Western Muslims are stronger while the eastern ones are breaking at the seams. Also I highly doubt the position of Caliph holds any real meaning at this point. Like the Roman Emperor in the 470's. That office means jack shit now. Again though, when the Pope begins crusading that might change. He's probably going to have so many crusades for Spain. Either that or Egypt might take advantage of a weakened Hispania and take some western land for itself.



Honestly I'd hate to be the Eastern Sunnis right now. The Western Ones are manageable. The Eastern ones would be tough as shit to play as now. I'm surprised the Byzantines haven't gone for that one de jure county they have in Edessa yet. Also, this is the first game I've played where I've seen them take anything back from Italy or even Bulgaria. One game I played they let Bulgaria become Carpathia and never even tried to take any de jure land back. This is the first game in which they did.




But anyway, here's the specifics of Egypt right now:

Emperor - Ahmad I Quadirid

Heir to the throne - Arsenios Quadirid

State Religion - Coptic Christianity (also known as Oriental Orthodoxy or Miaphysite)

Minor but at the moment prominent Religions - Zikri Islam, Sunni Islam, Yazidi Islam, Eastern/Greek Orthodox

Alliances with - Abyssinia

Tributaries: Tigris (Muslim Emirate); Makuria (Duchy of); Makuria (County of).

Non-agression pacts with: One of the Indian kingdoms (The red one with a coast the biggest coast, I forgot the name); West Francia; Italy (I believe).

Mortal Enemies: The (remnants of) Abassid Caliphate

Rivals (or would-be rivals if this were EUIV): Byzantine Empire; Ummayad Empire (Spain/Hispania).

Other opponents: Saffarids (Baluchistan); Tahirids (Persian Kingdom).

Capital - Cairo

Major Cities -

• Alexandria - Seat of the Coptic Pope who is the patriarch of Alexandria and nominal head of the Coptic Church as a whole, and the only other "Pope" besides the Catholic one, though he can sadly not call for a crusade. He probably also is present whenever an Egyptian Emperor is to be crowned. Is also a trading hub for the empire aswell.
  
• Jerusalem - Prime Holy City for all Abrahamic religions, seat of the patriarchate of Jeruslaem who is also the primary patriarch for Egypt's holdings of the Arabian Penninsula aswell as the area of Jerusalem (the kingdom, or should I say "sultanate", is not a title yet).
  
• Cairo - The Empire's capital.
  
• Carthage - Renamed from Tunis, Carthage is a wealthy area and may genoese/Italian trade zones and trade posts are around the place, so it remains one of Egypt's trade hubs.
• Damascus - Former capital of a previous caliphate, Damascus could still be a cultural hub for Muslims living in the empire.
  
• Antioch - Seat of the Patriarchate of Antioch, the head patriarch of the Church's Syrian lands, but as a result is pretty much the smallest/weakest of the three Patriarchates. It is also near the Byzantine-Egyptian frontier.
• Mecca - Primary site of the Muslim religions. Even since it's conquest many Muslims will probably still travel to it, though if/when the Caliph does he probably bursts into tears as soon as nobody is looking. Even though it is a primary Muslim holy site, and also is a prime economic site aswell, it's primary population is Coptic Christian.
• Medina - Islam's second holiest city, the place of Muhammad's burial. Like Mecca, population is now mostly Christian, but the city is still respected by the Egyptians, Muslims are still allowed to visit both it and Mecca if they so choose. But they still must pay for travel costs and whatnot.
  
• Giza - The place of the Pyramids of course, a great place where the Egyptians go to honour the glory that is ancient Egypt, and can be reminded of the fact that the Quadirid Empire has truly restored Egypt to the glory that such an ancient civilization deserves.
• Tripoli - Not to be confused with the Emirate of Tripolitania headed by the Tripoli family, Tripoli is the capital of the Emirate of Phoenecia (renamed form Duchy of Tripoli). It is located not in Libya, but just north of the Holy Land.
  

Behold, the mint green blob that is, the Quadirid Sultanate. Also known, as the Sultanate (Arabic version of a Kingdom) of Egypt. It is currently the only sultanate as far as I know, that is not Islamic. Quite the contrary. It basically is Islam's mortal enemy at this point, damaging it right at it's core. At least the Sunni anyway. The other muslim religions are rising more and more as the Sunni Caliph's moral authority continues to decline. Yazidi is growing popular, especially in Hispania which is in a serious revolt to increase council power.


It all began with Sultan Kemaladdin of the Quadirid Dynasty (how they came to power in place of Tulunids is anyone's guess, but Kemaladdin was a very smart and kind leader). He was Sunni, but was cynical, sympathetic to christians and jews, a very kind person, and was more into the Islamic School promoting advancement, free will, and science. He was known as "The Holy" but in reality he wasn't that zealous at all. He fought in very few holy wars against the Miaphysites and made no active attempt to forcibly convert them. Most of his wars were against fellow muslims, even the Caliph himself, slowly expanding Egyptian land through North Africa and the Holy Land. He gave his Christian son a bit of land though, and when he died in battle during a war to make some Ethiopians into tributaries of Egypt it was that son who succeeded the throne, as Ahmad II.

Obviously this shocked the muslim world, as very quickly Ahmad began holy wars against the Aghlabids of Africa, seizing Tunis and renaming it to it's ancient name of "Carthage". With a Coptic in charge of Egypt, ruling from Cairo (capital county renamed to Cairo, city of Cairo built shortly after. Castle remains named Fustat), at long last the Coptic Papacy was restored to it's power, Moral Authority going from a dwindling 30 to a more powerful 60. Ahmad new the Caliph would eventually be coming though, and he did, sometime after Galilee was taken by the Copts. A Jihad was called for Jerusalem. It's notable that the Abassids weren't the Caliphs when the Jihad was called. They would be restored sometime after though, but not enjoying the power they once had been.

However, Ahmad managed to hold off the Caliph's wrath. With help from Ethiopia and (barely) the Byzantine Empire, aswell as mercenaries and the Holy Order of Saint Anthony, the Caliphate was denied restoring it's control over Jerusalem, once more losing Moral Authority in the process, and winning power to the Miaphysite Coptics of Egypt, finally proving that the Copts had what it takes to control their own destiny and definitely showing that the age of the Pharaohs, in spirit at least, was returning to Egypt.

Ahmad wasn't done there though. He knew that the Caliphate would just come back, so he went for the throat of his enemies. The Emirate of Medina, which held both Mecca and Medina, was his first target. Upon conquest, Sunni lost a significant amount of it's Moral Authority, and all of Islam was wounded by it. Shortly after, he went for Jerusalem itself, taking it from the caliph, establishing the Patriarchate of Jerusalem (which is the Coptic Branch that currently is mostly in charge of Egypt's Arabian  Holdings and the Holy Land), and delivering a permanent -30 moral authority to the Sunni.

He also made some Ethiopians tributaries aswell.


As an extra kick to the gut to the Caliph, the first major enemy of Coptic Egypt, Mecca was converted to Miaphysite Christian. With that, the First Major Boss of Coptic Egypt's game is basically defeated. The second major enemy (or "Boss") will probably be Seljuk or the Shia caliph if one rises, or even the head of the Yazidi religion. The Byzantine-Egyptian alliance ended when Basilous Makedon was overthrown by rebellion, one attempt my Ahmad to restore these good relations was made, but the new Basileus cut off the bethrothal. When Nikoletta, Sultana of Egypt, died the last remnant of that one-time Alliance ended, but Abysinnia (Ethiopia) remains as Egypt's primary ally. They are both of the same faith and are neighbours after all, as well as share a common enemy (the Caliph).


Egypt being Christian is also a big boost to diplomacy. It can now speak more easily with Europe and Byzantium, and marry into them. Also, all pilgrims both Muslim and Christian travel through Egypt's lands on their journeys. Egypt does not want to destroy Islam, it cares not whether or not Sunni survives or dies out. Holy Wars were necessary for it's survival. If it didn't take Mecca and Jerusalem, the Caliph would have enough authority to call for another Jihad. With three Sunni Holy Sites not controlled, that's a permanent large loss of moral authority, not enough to call a Jihad against Egypt. Also, when Christians began Crusading by order of the Pontiff, Jerusalem will not be an eligible target as long as a Catholic, Miaphysite, Nestorian or Orthodox Christian is on Egypt's throne (specifically those because most other christians in the game are heresies which can be holy warred on).

Egypt is also currently equal in holding size to the Byzantines, and is stronger in terms of army size. Though the Byzantines are catching up, they've had pretty nasty revolts after all so that's why they fell behind a little bit. Within a good bit Byzantium might be the top power again, but Egypt might become more powerful once all of Arabia is under Coptic control.




And also, the Abassids might have their Caliphate back, but as most can see, it's not that prestigous anymore. They hardly control any of the original caliphate. They likely only seized back their throne because the interim dynasty failed to reclaim Jerusalem. With Sunni at only 6.6 or so Moral Authority and dropping while harding regaining anything (Most it's reclaimed is 12.2, probably only after winning Holy Wars against dukes or counts or something, since Vassals can declare their own holy wars, and some of mine are. The Interior of Arabia was conquered by the Emir of Medina (Prince of Egypt too) rather than by good ol' Ahmad II the Great. That little part of the Abassids north of the Holy Land is also being targetted by Egyptian Vassals. My main ambition is getting the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and Jerusalem and forming an Egyptian Empire though, so I'll let them handle anything else).



Currently, Miaphysite has the most moral authority of any of the religions. Even though it's not the largest religion (Catholicism is, and Sunni still controls more provinces). The top 4 faiths in terms of Moral Authority are: Miaphysite, Catholic, Orthodox and Hindu.






Also no I don't hate Muslims. This game takes place in the middle ages. As such I roleplay in a time where pretty much every one was a zealot towards people not of their religion. Also, yeah, if I didn't attack first my destiny would be being attacked myself. It's very important to take Holy Sites of a faith too, basically just taking one removes that faith's moral authority by 10. The Duchy of Medina has two holy sites for Sunni, so with Jerusalem I robbed 30 moral authority from them, and with few moral power the faith (any faith really not just islam, if this was happening to Miaphysite or, very VERY rarely unless you play pagan or muslim and actively attack Europe, catholicsm, a similar affect would follow) is more susceptible to heresies popping up which will slowly eat away at it's size. Low moral authority of Sunni also makes Sunni areas easier to convert to Miaphysite, which Egypt needs to do in order to avoid rebellions.



Also, Egypt's position makes most wars being holy wars inevitable.....XD

I did all of this shit under my first king in 1066......I think France might be OP. But still fun. This is the first CK2 game in which I really got to experience Holy Wars. Anyway, this is a progress report for my new game as France. Once King Philippe acquired one county in Aragon and Navarra, the Iberian Muslims never heard the end of it. Leon is really the only thing standing in the Capets'  absolute rule over Iberia, and even they stand little chance. King Philippe I will probably die soon, but Philippe II will take over where he left off with those infidels and Leon. Then Philippe III of Castille, will inherit it all.

That's right, I'm set to inherit Castille on my third king. Philippe III. I didn' even name him Philippe, his dad Phil II did. Now hopefully I will get a Phil IV. When I go into EUIV, if my goal of conquering Iberia is completed, it'd be safe to say France will not only be OP in that game, but will also probably dominate the entire planet. Mexico shall be French.


Philippe's reign was not all sunshine, lollipops, and taking down muslim & leonese people (both of which are basically like French pastimes here, seriously. My France loves to declare Holy Wars, and take down Leon. Right now, I am able to claim for the duchy of Asturias. Which I might do soon, after I take Seville and block off Leon from access to the muslims in Africa.) He was first pressed with a war from the Kaiser over a county of Flanders. He had little choice but to surrender in order to save his troops for the plans against the muslims of Iberia. He later gave up Flanders altogether when they posed too much of a threat in a revolt which France at the time would be unprepared for. Flanders will one day regret it though. While Flanders was rich, the Iberians are proving to easily replace Flanders in terms of economy. (Seriously I've been more richer as France than any other game).


I also had a good share of crashes and reloads aswell. Once my Castillian heir (when I was Phil II) was married to an Irish woman with a harelip and was going to taint the French royalty by giving them dwarves and harelip-having children. In the middle ages, that ain't good. So I went to this earlier save and now Phil III is married to a harelip-less Charolette Capet (yes, his own family member. It's the middle ages. Plus, they are around the same age despite Charolette being basically his aunt. King Phil I here got it on.)



Also, France is ALLIED with England . (If you know any history at all, you know that France and England were heated rivals until basically the World War era so having these two be allies is most unorthodox for the middle ages, but their entire rivalry was basically because of Will the Conquerer taking parts of France into England with him.) William the Conquerer AND the Norse FAILED to take England, and so the Anglo-Saxon house of Godwin is still in charge over there, and without reason to hate England, the English and French rivalry never occurred. England is a valueable friend in France's holy wars, and the Capets will likely continue turning to England for alliances. The De Normandies of Normandy are a bit mischievous though. Their Dukes tend to be involved in factions. Before I went to my earlier save, they revolved and I got to completely remove their house from the Duchy of Normandy, completing the failure of William the Bastard (he ain't no conquerer here). Since I had to fix the line of France royalty using an earlier save though, they still preside there......for now. The succeeding King Phils will keep an eye on them.

Hell, William the "Conquerer" (more like Failure here), revolted against Phil I's reign early on after he failed England (like a spoiled brat, really. He clearly did not have good sportsmanship.) But with the HRE Kaiser and (most fittingly) England's aid, King Philippe was able to defeat William's attempt to make France an elective monarchy and put the would-be conquerer behind bars in the dungeon of France, where he eventually died a complete failure.


Once more I do not know which category to put this in.