Mameluke time go go.
Between the Steppes and Deserts
Character Gen 2: Marriage Prospects
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Religious Scholars
Danyal's father Elim had been but a minor noble in the capital, a religious scholar and judge serving the beg who administered the territory for the previous shah. When the seams of society began to fall apart Elim had called for unity, and when the bonds of fealty and vassalage had been severed by plague he had called a High Council in order to prevent the various aristocratic houses and clans from tearing into each other. While that had fairly quickly collapsed, it was more because everyone had realized that no one with legitimacy would be showing up to reclaim the territory, and thus rather than maintenance the High Council would elect a house to lead the Highlands. For his organizational efforts and for being the one man all lords could trust, Elim had been elevated to the role of shah for the region by acclaim.
He had passed on within a year of ascension to the throne, but it had been the best death one could hope for. The Almighty had seized his flesh to make His Will known, the old but still vigorous man being afflicted with such an ecstatic state during the repudiation of a village of witch burners that his heart had been unable to take the strain. This had been a sign to both the unruly highland clans and any aristocratic houses that God was still paying attention and that the House of Zahrahum still had His blessings.
As for Danyal himself, his family had expected him to continue on the tradition of being religious scholars and judges, and thus he had spent his formative years buried in books and scrolls and in debate with various other religious scholars. He hadn't been entirely cloistered either, but even then the majority of his time away from home had either been in making the pilgrimage to the Great Teacher's Oasis or engaging with other religious communities within the Zahra Highlands in order to gain experience with some of the finer points of interpreting and enacting the sacred texts.
Admittedly that probably gave him a big leg up on maintaining peace away from the capital, since he actually understood the various religious oddities that occurred away from major cities. For example, many of the warrior aristocrats had their bloodlines intermingled with the horse warriors of the north, who had a tendency to blend the animist traditions into the Path of Truth. This could spark tensions if mishandled, but the Great Teacher had always stated that the only thing that could be taught when you had a sword in hand was how to fight.
There were similar problems with the traditions of the pre-Great Teacher Path of Truth, especially in the rural highlands where the remnants of the ancient traditions remained in folk magic and divination that could veer into accidental heresy or blasphemy. Worse yet were the communities that outright rejected the Great Teacher and his wisdom but had strong protections in the scripture, such as the Anhyar who followed the Old Path or the mysterious and foreign-born Anointed who hid away in their fortress monasteries. Both groups were struggling through the brambles alongside the Path of Truth, but both were righteous in their own way and had offered both aid and quarrels with the Great Teacher. There were all sorts of sticky issues regarding conversions, taxes, and justice that sprang up from the contact, but Danyal knew that violence against them for their beliefs was actively frowned upon by God.
Also, from the initial surveys Danyal knew that the monasteries of the Anointed actually produced a considerable amount of wealth as they performed crafts as a form of prayer/meditation, and they paid those in taxes to keep their neighbours from harassing their communities. While they also theoretically weren't supposed to have warriors as nonbelievers, they absolutely did and in their high mountain locations that made them a nightmare to actually dig out if one decided to press the issue.
Pulling his thoughts away from such considerations, Danyal then turned his musings towards the next step of his royal duties: securing a marriage to protect the realm and continue the dynasty. He had had a prior arranged marriage, but that had been severed by the chaos, and in any case the situation meant that the match was no longer appropriate for either family. With his elevation in rank Danyal required a wife of roughly equivalent status, and her origins would have an influence on the internal and external politics of Zahra.
Internally, marrying the daughter of one of the major aristocratic clans would help secure the flanks against internal plotting as it would help tie one of the military houses to his house. Alternatively he could marry a daughter of a merchant house, which while not as influential would secure support in the capital and had the potential to bring in additional wealth. And finally on the local list there was the wild card option of marrying an Anhyar seeress. That could easily go wrong since all Anhyar women were by definition non-noble and non-believers, but the Great Teacher had been married to an Anhyar seeress and tradition held that after the death of his son he had sent his wife and daughter into hiding. Since the Anhyar were matrilineal, it held then that there was the possibility that an Anhyar seeress was in fact descended from the Great Teacher. If things went well then such a marriage might garner significant prestige and praise… but if it went wrong it would go very wrong.
However, while internal politics were important, there were also external politics to consider. An external marriage would help secure alliances for the shahdom as a whole, which brought both opportunity and risk. To the south were the other new shahdoms springing up from the wreckage of the last empire, each with their own ambitions and claims to being the true inheritors of the title of shahanshan. While a marriage to such neighbours had the potential to draw the Zahra into the greater conflict, such conflict was likely to come even if they tried to ignore it. Beyond that the families closer to the center of the empire had better claims to being related to the former shahanshans and thus were more prestigious.
In the other direction the northern steppes were less prestigious but of greater interest to the nobility. The regions just beyond Zahra's line of northern fortifications were excellent farm and pasture-land that were only slightly marred by the fact that there were no real passive barriers between anyone settling there and nomadic raiders. At the moment the region was essentially unclaimed and aristocrats looking to expand their holdings would be eyeing it for expansion, but securing an alliance with any tribes that were near the region would make the prospects much safer. The steppe nomads also provided an excellent source of warriors and horsemen, so if Zahra needed to fight in the south then securing their flanks and having an extra supply of warriors could be critical.
This of course was not a decision Danyal would take lightly, and he would need to discuss things with his court first, although he would not perhaps raise all options with all parties.
Where should Danyal marry from?
[] Internal Aristocracy (Improves stability, pleases aristocrats)
[] Internal Merchants (Improves wealth, pleases merchants)
[] Internal Anhyar Seeress (Either very good or very bad?)
[] External Aristocrats (Prestigious, alliance to the south)
[] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
Religious Scholar Base
Administration 3
Diplomacy 2
Military 2
Random Religious Scholar Trait: Cloistered Scholar (+1 Administration, -1 Military)
Total
Administration 4
Diplomacy 2
Military 1
Administration 3
Diplomacy 2
Military 2
Random Religious Scholar Trait: Cloistered Scholar (+1 Administration, -1 Military)
Total
Administration 4
Diplomacy 2
Military 1
Danyal's father Elim had been but a minor noble in the capital, a religious scholar and judge serving the beg who administered the territory for the previous shah. When the seams of society began to fall apart Elim had called for unity, and when the bonds of fealty and vassalage had been severed by plague he had called a High Council in order to prevent the various aristocratic houses and clans from tearing into each other. While that had fairly quickly collapsed, it was more because everyone had realized that no one with legitimacy would be showing up to reclaim the territory, and thus rather than maintenance the High Council would elect a house to lead the Highlands. For his organizational efforts and for being the one man all lords could trust, Elim had been elevated to the role of shah for the region by acclaim.
He had passed on within a year of ascension to the throne, but it had been the best death one could hope for. The Almighty had seized his flesh to make His Will known, the old but still vigorous man being afflicted with such an ecstatic state during the repudiation of a village of witch burners that his heart had been unable to take the strain. This had been a sign to both the unruly highland clans and any aristocratic houses that God was still paying attention and that the House of Zahrahum still had His blessings.
As for Danyal himself, his family had expected him to continue on the tradition of being religious scholars and judges, and thus he had spent his formative years buried in books and scrolls and in debate with various other religious scholars. He hadn't been entirely cloistered either, but even then the majority of his time away from home had either been in making the pilgrimage to the Great Teacher's Oasis or engaging with other religious communities within the Zahra Highlands in order to gain experience with some of the finer points of interpreting and enacting the sacred texts.
Admittedly that probably gave him a big leg up on maintaining peace away from the capital, since he actually understood the various religious oddities that occurred away from major cities. For example, many of the warrior aristocrats had their bloodlines intermingled with the horse warriors of the north, who had a tendency to blend the animist traditions into the Path of Truth. This could spark tensions if mishandled, but the Great Teacher had always stated that the only thing that could be taught when you had a sword in hand was how to fight.
There were similar problems with the traditions of the pre-Great Teacher Path of Truth, especially in the rural highlands where the remnants of the ancient traditions remained in folk magic and divination that could veer into accidental heresy or blasphemy. Worse yet were the communities that outright rejected the Great Teacher and his wisdom but had strong protections in the scripture, such as the Anhyar who followed the Old Path or the mysterious and foreign-born Anointed who hid away in their fortress monasteries. Both groups were struggling through the brambles alongside the Path of Truth, but both were righteous in their own way and had offered both aid and quarrels with the Great Teacher. There were all sorts of sticky issues regarding conversions, taxes, and justice that sprang up from the contact, but Danyal knew that violence against them for their beliefs was actively frowned upon by God.
Also, from the initial surveys Danyal knew that the monasteries of the Anointed actually produced a considerable amount of wealth as they performed crafts as a form of prayer/meditation, and they paid those in taxes to keep their neighbours from harassing their communities. While they also theoretically weren't supposed to have warriors as nonbelievers, they absolutely did and in their high mountain locations that made them a nightmare to actually dig out if one decided to press the issue.
Pulling his thoughts away from such considerations, Danyal then turned his musings towards the next step of his royal duties: securing a marriage to protect the realm and continue the dynasty. He had had a prior arranged marriage, but that had been severed by the chaos, and in any case the situation meant that the match was no longer appropriate for either family. With his elevation in rank Danyal required a wife of roughly equivalent status, and her origins would have an influence on the internal and external politics of Zahra.
Internally, marrying the daughter of one of the major aristocratic clans would help secure the flanks against internal plotting as it would help tie one of the military houses to his house. Alternatively he could marry a daughter of a merchant house, which while not as influential would secure support in the capital and had the potential to bring in additional wealth. And finally on the local list there was the wild card option of marrying an Anhyar seeress. That could easily go wrong since all Anhyar women were by definition non-noble and non-believers, but the Great Teacher had been married to an Anhyar seeress and tradition held that after the death of his son he had sent his wife and daughter into hiding. Since the Anhyar were matrilineal, it held then that there was the possibility that an Anhyar seeress was in fact descended from the Great Teacher. If things went well then such a marriage might garner significant prestige and praise… but if it went wrong it would go very wrong.
However, while internal politics were important, there were also external politics to consider. An external marriage would help secure alliances for the shahdom as a whole, which brought both opportunity and risk. To the south were the other new shahdoms springing up from the wreckage of the last empire, each with their own ambitions and claims to being the true inheritors of the title of shahanshan. While a marriage to such neighbours had the potential to draw the Zahra into the greater conflict, such conflict was likely to come even if they tried to ignore it. Beyond that the families closer to the center of the empire had better claims to being related to the former shahanshans and thus were more prestigious.
In the other direction the northern steppes were less prestigious but of greater interest to the nobility. The regions just beyond Zahra's line of northern fortifications were excellent farm and pasture-land that were only slightly marred by the fact that there were no real passive barriers between anyone settling there and nomadic raiders. At the moment the region was essentially unclaimed and aristocrats looking to expand their holdings would be eyeing it for expansion, but securing an alliance with any tribes that were near the region would make the prospects much safer. The steppe nomads also provided an excellent source of warriors and horsemen, so if Zahra needed to fight in the south then securing their flanks and having an extra supply of warriors could be critical.
This of course was not a decision Danyal would take lightly, and he would need to discuss things with his court first, although he would not perhaps raise all options with all parties.
Where should Danyal marry from?
[] Internal Aristocracy (Improves stability, pleases aristocrats)
[] Internal Merchants (Improves wealth, pleases merchants)
[] Internal Anhyar Seeress (Either very good or very bad?)
[] External Aristocrats (Prestigious, alliance to the south)
[] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
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- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
Ultimately, securing our flank against the lords of horse and bow is our number one priority, as long as the Khan of Khans is pleased with us, we can safely turn our eyes well to every other direction and besides, a marriage to an important daughter of a nomad lord is still a prestigious marriage that allows us to Act In Accordance With Tradition and thus ensure that our aristocracy won't literally hate us.
Ultimately, securing our flank against the lords of horse and bow is our number one priority, as long as the Khan of Khans is pleased with us, we can safely turn our eyes well to every other direction and besides, a marriage to an important daughter of a nomad lord is still a prestigious marriage that allows us to Act In Accordance With Tradition and thus ensure that our aristocracy won't literally hate us.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
[X] Internal Merchants (Improves wealth, pleases merchants)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Need to have bourgeois before you can have a revolt against them?
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
It's simple historical materialism, AN.
DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Internal Anhyar Seeress (Either very good or very bad?)
if questing on this site has taught me anyting its that you can never go wrong with having a magic wife
[X] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
but a khan is fine too
if questing on this site has taught me anyting its that you can never go wrong with having a magic wife
[X] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
but a khan is fine too
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Technically this wouldn't be the first time this sort of marriage has taken place (it's just a weird choice) and the Anhyar are already considered protected, but the parallels are there.
- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I'm not sure if marrying a religious minority will secure our divine legitimacy that well.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm not sure if marrying a religious minority will secure our divine legitimacy that well.
This one is a particular of the religion here. If it works, it will work really well and secure divine legitimacy. If it doesn't work, it will fail fairly spectacularly.
Astra Myst
Do you want a wish?
- Location
- Milky Way Galaxy
[X] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
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I would say aristocracy or nomad. We just don't have the background to deal with court politics on our own. An aristocratic bride would give us someone to guide us through the shoals, while a nomad would let us be the ruler above the concerns of the court.
And with a 1 in Military, bullying is not an option.
And with a 1 in Military, bullying is not an option.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
Ugh, anything but the Literal Coinflip option.
[X] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
Nomads it is. Sorry Merchants.
[X] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
Nomads it is. Sorry Merchants.
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] External Nomads (Alliance to the north, pleases aristocrats)
- Location
- Central Europe
I also tend to dislike coinflip options, however I would argue that they make a certain kind of sense in the "civ-gen" phase. Either we start strong and are able to make a big impact right from the get go or we start with hard mode. Both are starting scenarios I tend to enjoy.