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The Second Rome: A Quest of Ancient Byzantium

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[X] The Patriarch

Patriarch and the Emperor are the big two. Empress is a dive straight into intrigue and scandal, we already have the military angle covered without the general, and the varangians won't get us very far if we anger the Emperor, unless we're looking to turn them which again is intrigue.

Patriarch and Emperor are potential religious or political backing for our supposed military skill.
 
Oh hey, the Empress only has two daughters with the Emperor, was not his choice of wife, and dies in 1159, two years from now. So.... not exactly a sparkling patron.
 
Telamon said:
*cough*

I recommend Googling a few of the choices.

Who some of them are right now isn't as important as who they will be.
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Well, I know the emperor is really well liked at the time but ultimately a failure. He's also kind of an arrogant dick, so I'm not stoked about being his 'loyal general.' Especially considering the one we also have an option serving ends up being humiliated and exiled in a fit of paranoia, despite being successful and loyal. Irene dies without note, I'm pretty sure the Varangian guy is the next emperor, and the patriarch does his best to keep his head down while the emps is going full sun king.

It also bears noting that the current emperor is the one that drove our father into destitution and death, presumably over being insecure of his talent and success.
 
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LonelyWolf999 said:
Well, I know the emperor is really well liked at the time but ultimately a failure. He's also kind of an arrogant dick, so I'm not stoked about being his 'loyal general.' Especially considering the one we also have an option serving ends up being humiliated and exiled in a fit of paranoia, despite being successful and loyal. Irene dies without note, I'm pretty sure the Varangian guy is the next emperor, and the patriarch does his best to keep his head down while the emps is going full sun king.

It also bears noting that the current emperor is the one that drove our father into destitution and death, presumably over being insecure of his talent and success.
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Nope, the Varangian guy is one of the people who help put the guy the Emperor put into prison on the throne, he regretted it quickly as he turned out to be a complete psychopath.
 
Yeah I did the same research, Empress and the General are dead ends. One dues soon, the other is exiled to a monestary and dies shortly after for "conspiracy." Maybe. The Generals son is later killed after attempting treason.

The Varangian also gets caught and blinded alongside his sons for attempting treason against Manuel's cousin who attempted to seize power and turned out to be a a tyrant. He might be worth allying as that doesn't happen for quite a long time, and we could butterfly it.

So yeah, the General and Empress are dead ends unless we can rise past them quickly, Emperor is relatively safe if he turns out not to hate our guts because of dad, but otherwise is kind of a stagnant choice.

Patriarch doesn't do much but relatively safe and free.

Varangian is the most ambitious choice I think, especially if we can butterfly his mistakes.

So Patriarch or Varangian I'm thinking.

Emperor is also an option but probably resents/dislikes us.
 
[X]The Panhypersebastos

We have chosen the martial option and this guy was one of the most important military personage during Manuels reign. He had some failed military expeditions that we could change , especially stopping Saladin from getting to egypt would be a sweet thing to do, but at the start he was quite successful. The other option I would consider is the emperor but I kind of doubt that we would have that much military things to do for him instead we will have to endure the political hellhole that is the imperial court. Therefore I choose the big military figure instead of the great emperor.
 
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Erzherzog_Karl said:
[X]The Protostrator

We have chosen the martial option and this guy was one of the most important military personage during Manuels reign. He had some failed military expeditions that we could change , especially stopping Saladin from getting to egypt would be a sweet thing to do, but at the start he was quite successful. The other option I would consider is the emperor but I kind of doubt that we would have that much military things to do for him instead we will have to endure the political hellhole that is the imperial court. Therefore I choose the big military figure instead of the great emperor.
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You know what? This seems like a better use of our talent, and I kind of like underdog. Changing my vote to this;

[X] The Basileus
 
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Oh, I didn't mean that they die horribly. It's the Byzantine Empire, everyone dies horribly.

I was more referring to the opportunities to butterfly events (Axuchos) as well as the fact that Andronikos (the Varangian) will soon be the second most powerful man in the empire and the best general in Manuel's service.

Erzherzog_Karl said:
[X]The Protostrator

We have chosen the martial option and this guy was one of the most important military personage during Manuels reign. He had some failed military expeditions that we could change , especially stopping Saladin from getting to egypt would be a sweet thing to do, but at the start he was quite successful. The other option I would consider is the emperor but I kind of doubt that we would have that much military things to do for him instead we will have to endure the political hellhole that is the imperial court. Therefore I choose the big military figure instead of the great emperor.
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Do you mean The Panhypersebastos, Andronikos? He becomes a significantly greater military figure in later life, and actually leads an invasion of Egypt alongside Manuel.

Axouch, meanwhile, is a minor general whose last claim to fame is that he didn't bungle Italy too badly. If he managed to win there, though, he would certainly become the foremost imperial general.

The Emperor is currently planning an invasion of the Crusader state of Antioch, and could probably use reliable commanders against the Turks, Crusaders, and Egyptians.

Probably.
 
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[X] The Basileus

Well, my thinking is that just becuse its the emperor that sends for us does not mean that we don't get sent with the general on the expedtion, or meet and befriend the others, only that we owe our eventual status to the emperor, wich seems safer than the other options.
 
[X] The Basilissa

We can butterfly events, and this choice is fascinating.
 
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[X] The Basileus

Manuels issue was his inability to focus. Getting him under our influence can allow him to better decide to focus all his efforts east against the Turks (which should in turn allow him to better project hegemony to the crusaders).
 
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