Couldn't resist making a troll title for this one
Also, last update in this page, so bump it.
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Check your Agnatic Privilege
Such an intellect would not be barred from a great future because of gender. Unlike those stupid neighbors to the west, Lithuania had little grounds to act like sand-burrowing savages believing in a false god and in a totally absurd lie of an "original sin" and cut down such an young and promising talent. It is completely logical that the brightest and most intelligent of all the Gediminaitis family must become the next ruler, and there was nobody more intelligent within the family than that bright girl, who would not lose her right to become a Queen by merit and competence alone.
That was exactly why Lithuania became an elective monarchy, bypassing the conventions of inheritance.
Meanwhile, the best steward of Lithuania's history moved on to some inheritance of his, leaving the post vacant, but soon an almost as good steward went in as a replacement.
Karijotas has chosen to be merciful to all those willing to convert to the true faith, and in a truly generous gesture, he emptied the dungeons and prisons of Lithuania, convinced nobody there was a threat to his kingdom.
The High Priest of the Romuva Church begins a bold plan of his own for taking over Estonia. His odds of success in such conflict aren't very good, and weary and with a lot of new territory to organize and distribute to vassals in a way that won't bite him in the future, Karijotas has chosen to leave him on his own.
Slowly, the Baltic gods begin to be more and more remembered, their message overshadowing the hypocrisy of the false god's churches. Yet, there is much work to be done before the Romuva faith becomes relevant and widespread again in the Baltic.
Arkona - Na Moey Zemle
The news of "apostasy", of long Catholic territories converting to the structured paganism of Lithuania, they reached the ears of the head of the serpent. The last time this happened, Lithuania was in a much direr situation to the point a man had to kneel to the cross and pretend to have faith in the false god to save his Kingdom, but now, with the conquest of the Rus, Karijotas is confident that crosses will burn, and hundreds of thousands of crusaders, if necessary, shall be crushed by the hammer of Perkunas.
TO GILTINE WITH THEM!
By Laima's blessings, Poland has chosen to not participate of this "crusade", which means this won't be as terrifying as once feared, although the "Holy Roman" Empire still is a fearsome opponent, already sending a legion of over twenty thousand against Lithuania, and probably with even more being readied to fight in such unholy war. Fortunately, Lithuania became much more powerful than the last time their religious enemies marched, and in spite of his reputation as a "kinslayer" for sending those of his family who betrayed the gods to their place, Karijotas still had excellent relations with nearly every direct vassal of his, in no small part thanks to his greatness, and thus all were willing to share substantial portions of their levies to aid in the defense of Lithuania.
Unfortunately, even with a fifty-thousand strong army, Lithuania still was significantly outnumbered by the vast legions of crusaders, including near twenty-thousand soldiers under direct command of the Pope himself. Fortunately, they marched all over Pommerania, leaving some isolated forces along the way in small numbers, and Lithuania ruled over the Baltic waves with one of the largest fleets of the Baltic, while their superior military organization allowed them to afford the logistical demands of shipping dozens of thousands through the coast to, intercept the isolated crusaders during their marches, slaughter them and finally disappear, like ghosts. Such mobility the ships provide would only be better if they could also navigate through rivers like Vikings.
The enemy was taken by surprise at Slupsk, the first great battle of the crusade.
While the enemy reinforcements arrived too late for them to stand a chance, and more Lithuanian reinforcements came from the sea to ensure maximum slaughter at Slupsk, strangely and fortunately, the massive legions of the Unholy "Roman" Empire left the battlefields of the Baltic, abandoning the other crusaders to their own fate: death.
Note: Yes, Poland conquered Brandenburg from the worst kraut.
Defiant, the garrison Cape Arkona, the last stand of Slavic Paganism during the first Pommeranian Crusades, back when Lithuania was small, disunited and insignificant, once again those faithful to the old gods resisted bravely and long enough for a mighty Lithuanian army to strike at the Papal crusaders. It would be a bloody battle, the crossing of the waters a dangerous obstacle, and victory may come at a high cost, while new legions are certainly being readied to the mass slaughter in the name of their god. All these wars and battles since the beginning made clear Lithuania would only know peace once Rome is theirs.
Centuries ago, when crusaders advanced against the same island, they massacred the pagans, who, no matter how futile their struggle against such odds, are said to have fought to the last man. Now, the payback for the oppression against the Pommeranian Slavs begins. How many more will have to die in the name of their false god?
Many more, because in spite of such crushing defeats, the arrogant Pope refuses to admit the futility of his hypocritical crusade.
With her mighty fleet, Lithuania sends their armies ahead to crush the enemy forces marching towards the crusade before they are even rallied.
The servants of Velnias disguised as the Jew god will meet their doom. No mercy, for they have given none!
A risky move, but if successful, it would bring fear to the false hearts of Rome. And unlike the ignorant and savage Attila the Hun, the Lithuanians aren't afraid at all of retribution by a god they are certain to be false if they burn Rome to the ground and all crosses and churches within.
As they stood next to the walls of Saint Peter's Basilica, the Lithuanian army was met by an almost as numberful German force that marched in desperation fearing the razing of Rome. One of the greatest and most challenging battles of the Pommeranian Crusade thus began, not so distant from the Pope that desired this.
Many good men died, but it still was a victory, the Krauts paying a heavier price in blood and their retreating armies set to meet their annihilation. The siege of Rome was lifted, but it served its purpose of allowing a massive army of the Unholy "Roman" Empire to be crushed and broken.
It may take centuries, but eventually there will be no more Russia, only Balts and Finnic peoples.
Unfortunately, while the legions of crusaders advanced, traitors continued to do their part to hinder Lithuania, a fifth column that had to be annihilated, but the priority was always the crusaders, no matter how many short-lasted won battles and sieges the traitors will have, for they are nothing but rabble and scum.
However, while the German forces around Rome were nearly exterminated, another legion of over thirty thousand assailed Pommerania, and a risky bid was taken to defeat them. The smallest army was attacked from the sea. The plan was to send it routing before the other army could arrive. More progress also happened in the restoration and expansion of the true faith, the centuries of Catholic oppression finally being undone.
However, the larger enemy army came in sooner than expected, plus such force as a whole had a much larger number of knights than Lithuania, which turned the tide of battle against the Baltic power, and the enemy has won, but with a heavy cost, specially of hundreds and more hundreds of knights they lost. The Lithuanian army now is much more diminished, while the crusaders seemed to be able to keep sending more and more lambs to the sacrifice of the battlefield. Nevertheless, a line was drawn in the sand, and defeat is impossible and unacceptable, as is to succumb again to Romanism. VICTORY OR DEATH!
The news of the defeat served to convince even more scum to betray Karijotas and Lithuania.
At least every zealot slaughtered is one less to convert.
Strangely, once again the massive German hordes abandon Pommerania, probably because of other problems. Rapidly all that was lost is retaken, and preparations are made to give the next wave of crusaders what they deserve.
The reason Poland has chosen to not waste lives in this crusade only the Pope refuses to acknowledge as futile now became clear, and worrissome for Lithuania: if Poland conquers all of Hungary, they will be a much greater threat in the future, and it seems several traitorous Hungarian Dukes support the Polish claim. Even worse, the strong Bulgaria is also ruled by the Piast dynasty.
The Lithuanian levies were disbanded and raised again with greater numbers after the defeat of all traitors and Christards, and this time they would not allow the crusaders another victory once they are gathered, sent to care of the mighty Lithuanian Navy, and deployed through the sea to crush the Papal and Unholy "Roman" forces.
Commissars Draco were aplenty... Russia would be a hotspot of peasant rebellions until the Romuva true faith managed to return the East Slavs to their roots in the gods, whether they called the thunder god Perun, or Perkunas, or in the case of the Estonians, Perkele.
The crusaders were lured into a trap, caught by surprise by the presence of the Lithuanian army there, that arrived very rapidly and effectively from the sea to make a stand for Pommerania. With the natural defense of the river and the superior leadership skills of the battle-hardened Lithuanian commanders, victory was an obligation, and more than that, essential for this crusade to come to a much yearned end.
This may have been the much needed battle that would finally put an end to this crusade. The casualties of the crusaders approach the hundreds of thousands, dying for nothing, literally. But they will never learn the lesson. Another Pope will certainly do the same in the future, and on and on... until Rome burns. Now however to humiliate the current Pope, to ruin the Church's reputation by confirming the disaster of this crusade on par if not worse than the idiotic Children's Crusade, was the goal.
The Lithuanians fortunately were not the only pagans crushing crusaders with success, as Finland delivered massive casualties to ambitious Danes who used the name of their god as a pretext for conquest. Good.
At this point, Karijotas could only half-joke about losing account of how many peasant revolts happened during this long crusade that refused to admit defeat. It was almost like those dumb Catholic and Orthodox peasants were answering to the Crusade with such constant revolts.
No god to save them, no god to rescue them, no god to grant them victory. They have were taught a lesson in blood, but it is unlikely they will learn from it.
The Christian zealots attacked the greatest missionary of the true faith, Mikova, the High Priestess of Arkona, and she was wounded by stonings from such fanatics who shouted misogynistic insults. Despite all successes elsewhere, in Vilnius the false religion remained a tough nut to crack, and sometimes those who tried to crack it were cracked instead. The battle against them would never be easy, and in this battlefield of hearts and minds, it would be perhaps much more difficult.
Another crusader army wiped out, and a Duke captured. May he live long enough for the war to end so a generous ransom can be earned.
One final army attacked Werle, and at such point, the crusade's fiasco was something not even the greatest specialist in lying and making the common rabble deluded could hide. But before forcing the Pope to recognize his god is not supporting their crusade, the remnants of that army were hunted down and exterminated.
And thus, finally, after over six years of total war against the Holy Roman Empire, the Pope and most of Italy, Lithuania has won not just a victory. It was a great victory that has taught the snaketongues a lesson. The Romuva Church's moral authority has been greatly bolstered by this shining victory, by this crushing of the crusaders, but after so many losses, the West is weakened, while Lithuania remains strong.
The Mongols were not so lucky and successful in the last decades as Lithuania. Against all odds, the seemingly long defeated Islam has returned with a vengeance! Not only the Mongols lost much of North Africa and a great revolt expelled the Mongols from nearly all of Mesopotamia and Arabia, but also, shortly after their great victory, the Sharafids, under the leadership of their "Liberator", have done to the Knights Hospitaller over Syria and Lebanon the same thing Lithuania did to the Teutonic Knights, utterly defeating them, leaving the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem once again surrounded by Islamic rulers. The only Christians that have been quite successful and stable, surprisingly were the Kingdom of Abyssinia, that ever since their conquest of Alexandria have been shaping into a solid regional power that threatens the decrepit Islamic rule over Egypt.
The rise of Abyssinia was an event that would change the history of Africa forever, and with time, as the West advanced, so, with Alexandria in their hands, the Ethiopians would manage to avoid the decline unlike many other rising powers, and such detail would change a lot of history in many other corners of the world, as for example, Ethiopia would civilize the near-entirety of the East African coast and become so advanced compared to the rest of Africa that Obongo would never exist as a Kwan.
Now a summary of that region:
- Venice proper is controlled by a Duke after some kind of civil war or coup, while the capitalof the Republic of "Venice" is on Greece
- The Byzantine Emperor might inherit Armenia through succession, and somehow the Byzantine "Empire" still remains.
- Anatolia is a mess of Guidos, Frogs, Kebab, Greeks and Armenians
- Naveedid and Birjand are Tengri Persian dynasties.
Now for some not so good news:
Unfortunately, Poland also won, and with the crowns of Poland and Hungary under the same King, the ambition of forming a Wendish Empire seems much, much harder now than it was before, plus they will have almost certainly the aid of Bulgaria in any future wars between Poland and Lithuania.
Except there is one way of softening Poland and getting Hungary independent again Lithuania excels at, the way of the Lithuanian Hitman, who obviously will have to attack first than any army to bolster the chances of success in any future expansion attempt against Poland. But hitmen are expensive and risky. Whether try to face Poland united or take chances with Hitmen is something Karijotas considered, but first he had a much easier target: Mecklenburg that was the last of De Jure Pommerania not under Lithuanian rule. Nevertheless, truly, what lies ahead will most likely be a stony road.
It is better to not repeat the mistakes the Mongol Empire, once if not still much more powerful than Lithuania, did.
Or are the decline of the Mongol Empire and the fact the current heir to the Mongol Empire is a descendant of Muhammad(PBUH) proof of the existence of Djinn?
TO BE CONTINUED