This is Madness! Chapter I: Roma Delenda Est (Map Game)

People from the Future have appeared in Rome City!

HEY!

Rebuild the Roman Empire!

Crush the Barbarian Hordes!

Create a Communist Dictatorsh-wait...

NEW ISOT COLLECTION FROM LEGO CITY!

-Engraving found on a rock in the Swiss Alps, circa 479 AD. Presumably left by an uptimer.

It is the Year of Our Lord, 476. Odoacer and his band of barbarians have sacked Rome and nailed the final nail in the coffin for the Western Roman Empire. Franks, Goths, Vandals, and others now rule over what was once rightful Roman territory. The rule of law and the social order has long since splintered and fallen away. In the east, the Eastern Roman Empire watches on, as the West splinters and falls into barbarity. Many would come to believe this period as the end times, and for good reason indeed.

However, this was not the end of the troubles of Europe. For on All Saint's Day, time itself began bending.

This truly is Madness.

Info
This map game is different from most other map games on TFOE. Here, you control a person instead of an entire nation. Each person will have opportunities to take over an existing kingdom, form their own kingdom, swear fealty to a king and become a nobleman, dabble in the market, start a communist dictatorship, found Satanic cults, and anything else you can think of that may be achievable by a person. Eventually, as time goes on, your character will die, and you can either choose to play as one of said character's kids, or switch to a completely different character.

Map
Coming soon.

Rules
See this.

'''It is imperative that you read the rules before playing. Failure to comply with the rules will be met with consequences ranging from a warning to outright banning depending on severity and/or repeatedness of the offense. For more information ask me or one of the Moderators.'''

Staff

 * The Administrator: Imperator Thonkitus IV
 * The Cartographer: interim Imperator Thonkitus IV; position open
 * The Shepherd of Souls (RP guy): Batran
 * Moderator I: Luka
 * Moderator II: NOT NEEDED YET

Players
Sign up here!
 * Admiral Yi:  Carman's Titanium Stroganoff Hors d'oeuvre
 * Theresa Sullivan: Ethan
 *  big bad mustache man Hitler: Dick Harrison
 * Erwin Rommel: Side
 * Aisin-Gioro Nurhaci: Tashaci
 * Henry V of England: Bosnia Mapper
 * Macchiavelli: Emperorkangxi
 * Willy Rohr: Diego
 * Ember: BubbleRocket
 * William the Silent of Orange: Zandhart
 * Nikita Khruschev: NoobINFe
 * Bob Ross: Romromglom

Banned Players

 * None yet. Don't be the first person to get on here!

Archives
Turn I-V

NPC Turns

 * Great Metal Beasts (pt.3): As strange beasts of pure metal continue washing up on coasts all across Western Europe, townsfolk all around the coasts are frightened, with many forcing their church leaders to exorcise the seas, or even fleeing inland, afraid the end times are occurring. Meanwhile, on the Frankish coast, a strange, battered and disheveled German soldier is washed ashore, screaming frantically about some battle going on deep in the middle of the sea...
 * Nova Roma? (pt.3): With the extradition and arrival of Romulus Augustus and his companions in Salona, as well as a victorious end to the Ostrogothic War (albeit with a few insurgents holding out in the north and east), and improvements in quality of life around the country, public approval for the Dalmatian government has never been higher. It was upon this backdrop that Julius Nepos declared the restoration of the Western Roman Empire, recognizing the recently-extradited Romulus Augustulus as Emperor, but claiming himself as (the completely-made up title) "First Regent" of the Empire. In practice, Nepos continues to maintain his position as the power behind the throne (even if nowadays, many in his court wonder if even Nepos himself is being manipulated by that enigmatic, strange, and foreign General Solinius).
 * How Dare They: After an extremely humiliating defeat (to a bunch of kids, no less) and rumors of his death, Odoacer surfaces on the front stage of Italy once again. Resenting his and his army's pathetic defeat last year, Odoacer and his advisors begin to draft a rigorous training program for Italy's soldiers, aiming to make them top quality professionals with the best equipment available. Meanwhile, the police militia is increased even more, as disillusioned young men are targeted for recruitment, and generous training and salaries are offered for prospective police. Behind the scenes, a fraction of the police force have also been converted into secret police, tracking down confirmed and possible rebels and "bringing them to justice" (i.e summarily executing them). With each day, the Kingdom of Italy grows ever closer into the world's first truly totalitarian state.
 * Communism is a Preferable Alternative to Death (pt.5): Even with Byzantine military aid towards the Ghassanids, the refugees of the Palmyra Commune manage to dislodge the Ghassanids and Byzantine volunteer soldiers by sheer manpower and knowledge of guerrilla tactics, and push the Ghassanid nobility further and further into the desert with each passing day.
 * Intertemporal Bat Soup (pt.5): Having done the rounds in Anatolia (with a ~10-20% death rate), the Pontic Flu (as COVID-19 has now become widely known to downtimers) continues to ravage the Balkans and Mesopotamia, and has now begun to spread in Arabia, Persia, the Caucasus, Dalmatia, and even as far afield as northern Ostrogothia, the Egyptian port cities, and southern Italy.
 * It Is Important To Have A Jihad From Time To Time (pt.1): Peroz I, the reigning shah of the Sassanid Empire, was not one of the better rulers Persia had seen. Under his rule so far, Persia suffered a seven-year famine and constant raids by the Hephtalites (who would, in our world, kill him in a battle in 484). Scrambling for legitimacy and a way to keep the Empire strong, Peroz turned to reports of strange but very wise heretics operating in Ctesiphon itself. After inviting these strange men over, Peroz was pleasantly surprised; these men seemed to come from a far distant future, several of them were Persian or at least lived in the lands he now controlled, and they had no qualms in helping him rule, even though he was a heathen and an infidel not to be trusted, according to their strange religion. Thus, Peroz I of the Sassanid Empire placed Osama bin Laden in command of a contingent of the Sassanid military, while Saddam Hussein, Bashar al-Assad and the Ayatollah Khomeini were to be invited to the Sassanid court to serve as advisors.
 * Horde-ing Supplies: With Nurhaci's defeat of the Her Öqad tribe, and increasing production of quality firearms, an arms trade has begun to develop in the region, with the Tenebrae Khanate selling guns to both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, as well as neighboring Germanic tribes via the Gepid Kingdom.
 * Alemannia, Land of the Free? (pt.1): With the Alemannic king centralizing his realm and beginning to implement "future" technology into his realm, a slew of other figures, including Otto von Bismarck, Frederick the Great, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Paul von Hindenburg, and Angela Merkel have also been transported back in time. With the Alemannic king taking quick notice of this event, they have been sent for by the royal family almost immediately...
 * Sunset Invasion (pt.1): Rumors have been heard of several ships off the coast of Armorica (Brittany), populated with an army of strange warriors with red skin, feathered cloaks and heads, black knives, and gruesome features, looking only to conquer and do terrible things to the locals. These are dismissed as mere sailor's talk for now, but...
 * Why? (pt.2): The shopkeeper in Palermo wakes up to find a second letter inside the strange briefcase he picked up in an alleyway around a year ago. Unlike the first letter, this one is written in the local vernacular of Sicily, instead of a strange and undecipherable language like the first. Its contents are:

November 4, 486? (what year even is it here?)

I have been in this baffling, strange world, full of strange contraptions and metal horses and roads and houses and unimaginable things everywhere, four days and nights. The sights are nearly overwhelming. Stores everywhere, stocked with everything that I could imagine, and more that I cannot even put a name too? Men so wealthy they all have horseless chariots? Roads without a single rock out of place? Streets so clean? And so many people. The humanity is almost crushing.

Is this heaven? No, it can't be. If this was heaven, God would've found me by now.

-possibly the most blessed sailor in all of the Kingdom of the Vandals

Meanwhile, in a nondescript and slightly run-down tavern in the port district of Salona, a lesser-known sailor, named Gunteric, drinks his heart out. He has come here every day and night for 2 weeks, while his beloved ship awaits repairs.

He drinks to hide his pain and guilt.

Peter the Great
January

I think I've managed to drive most of the exiles away, but now all the crops are ruined, and a lot of people in Novy Kiev died as well, so this will be a tough problem to take on.

Febuary 

I am getting my scouts to explore the lands to get some good info on what's happening, so I might be able to conquer more places, but as of now, I am getting my plans into actions, and the crops are getting fixed under my new orders

March

Anyways it seems that the Cryllic Script is doing quite well, meanwhile the crops are somewhat improving and I think I'm almost good.

April

Anyway it's taken a while, but I have managed to fix up most of the crops, meanwhile there are rumors of the exiles still alive and well, so that will be a problem

May

The scouts have returned with invaluable intel, I have gotten most of the lands mapped out now, so I can start expanding soon, also it seems that the crops have improved and are about normal now.

June

Alright then, It's time to start expanding, I will expand straight down the Dniporo to as far as we can get without overstretching our forces, then we will stop, also I do wonder how the rest of Europe is doing? I might send some people to look around as well, agriculture is normal now as well.

Nikita Khrushchev
479

 Khruschev enjoys his new army life, as well as starting to improve the nation hugely, by improving tech and urging to build more houses 

Jan 1st

The people are making the place crowded. The temperature isn't helping, nor the weather or surroundings. I sometimes wish I was back home, and that I would live back at my regular house. I have lots of plans, I just don't know where to start. I need to do something to stop the problems of the area. No matter what, I will aim on changing the nation.

Jan 29th

For what I have planned will take a long time, but I will one day make more houses. But firstly, I need space and resources. Since I am basically surrounded by forest, I thought of cutting down trees and expanding the small village I live in. Though, I need permission from the government.

Feb 9th

I am asking the king sometime soon, so I am going to wait for sometime. If I get any further information, or things I want to tell you, then I will come back to this book. But, for now, I will not speak in the book.

Apr 1st

Its going to be a far journey, I know, but its finally planned. I will spend this time to start my journey to the land of the coast, where we are planned to meet at. What a random location! Anyways, I shall gain supplies as I need to make my own axe if I want to do this job.

Apr 19th

In 19 days, I am almost half way there. The journey has been tiring, and I want to give up, but this is for the sake of the people! Its for the sake of the country! If I do this, I may be known as a historical figure, under the name of the "Great Nikita Khrushchev" or something like that. I am lucky I have my own horse, what is canceling the length of the journey. I have gathered lots of resources on the way.

Jun 6th

I am here. I so want to now move here, classing as a Finnish Citizen (Not like I already was). The king will take a few more days to arrive here, so I will start preparing everything for him and our meeting. I am going to book a shelter, so I have somewhere to rest after this exhausting journey. See you in a few days!

Jun 20th

Overall, it has been an honor, and I am able to do my thing. I signed an agreement with the king, and he wants some of the wood I gain for his own stuff over at where he is. I had thought of settling here, since I now have shelter, but the place is still quite crowded, and I don't want to ditch the new friends that I made over at where I live. I guess I now travel back home. See you when I am there!

Theresa Sullivan
22nd January 479: We started another small-scale protest on the grounds of Rotomagus. Followers are growing one by one weekly, but for the first time, I started introducing discipline to the Women's March after having a Christmas on thinking on organising and change the structure and organisation of how we run. Discipline itself is the only way we could achieve unity in bringing the goal of making sure women are equal finally.

Some of them are furious about the change, that all women must be equal regardless of power. Most just nodded, simply because they see me as this heroine who is here to save the world. For those who refuse to see the change, I remind them constantly that the main goal is to continue upholding the values of equality and empowerment of women. They accepted, but some decided to leave and do whatever they want to do. I feel suspicious on those who leave, but whatever!

10th March 479: As winter came to an end and a half-year teaching of children and people of Rotomagus is accomplished, I am ready to set on my next journey to another town, Cenomanus (as a note for people, this is OTL Le Mans, France). This town is a fortress, I believe. We will also be able to attract more followers in that town as well. I am planning to move back to Paris (Parisium, IIRC) after that with another town after Cenomanus.

About 65 are ready to travel for our sacrifice to bring equality to women after months of tireless discipline and orders to stock food for the next town. We have prepared the winter by stockpiling food and expanded our logistics to accommodate at least 100 people in almost tight conditions. At least two bear children of their own. Some are wives who are often beaten by their husbands, others are orphans, like I said before. They have a story to tell and visiting each village is crucial to spread the word of women's lives for men and uninformed women.

27th March 479: We are now departing Rotomagus for Cenomanus. I also somehow now possess a walking, wooden stick, a much longer stick. I look like a traveller who is seeking to trade instead of being this young girl who walks on her own. (I guess I am roughly 24 at this point? I lost count of my age, but I know that I'm still young!)

15th May 479: We've stayed in at least two towns along the way and taught them literacy and for women that are invited, the ideas of feminism. There's nothing that can be said here. Our visibility is growing with higher numbers.

9th June 479: I am almost at Cenomanus. So far, I count that 72 are present in our Women's March. Most of them, despite initially being divided, are now getting used to the routine of organisation. For the first time as well, we have been using parchment to write and some sticks and rope to tie some of the signs that I'm trying to convey while at camp just eight days ago. These might become effective some day, but for now, using parchment and ink at a dry day will work. If it rains, then our message will not work as it fades away. That's why I need to keep these kinds of resources reserved for long-term education.

If we reach Cenomanus, we could use these as protest signs. It will boost visibility, it will attract women who speak the local language here and so much more. (At this point, Theresa Sullivan himself has started to write the language in the local language in greater frequency than English. Not that she forgets it, but because it has been literally two years and a half, she is starting to write two language simultaneously. This may increase the risks of it being discovered if her long journals serves it.)

30th June 479: We have reached Cenomanus. We will need to stay here for three months, establish our presence. Our first protest has been scheduled for tomorrow once we put up a camp near the fortress and within the town as travellers. I'm staying within the town with few others. Those that are outside are picked by myself, where I believe that they won't be able to betray or backstab me. They will prepare with blunt wooden javelins (throwing spears except it's made of wood) that I taught them for the past three months and any stolen weapon that we've gathered for the last few seasons.

We will hold these protests biweekly across the town until we pack up three months later and move onto another destination or local guards and men beat us to the pulp. I will need to choose the next town to attract other women to our Women's March before going back to Parisium stronger.

It is time to increase our presence and up the game. Napoleon and Syagrius will not be happy with this. But it is a game of chance. I don't like gambling at all, being a perfect Catholic girl who just got washed up in this world, but rolling a coin is a satisfying game that I just have to play to my favour.

Erwin Rommel
18th Feb. 479 - Damn these communists. They employ tactics unheard of in my time, but it is nothing more than the nature of the human mind. I will simply devise counter-strategy against this mad warfare. These new recruits are substandard as well. I will make men out of them yet.

9th Apr. 479 - I have instilled in the troops what I have to my company in another time. They should be able to fight for the Empire with as much propensity my men had for the Reich. I have since been developing my tactics against this, gorilla warfare? I care little for its name. It is an admirable style of warfare, quite ingenious at that. It is a good thing I remembered to pack my tactical drafts on the way here.

23rd May 479 - blast those communists to hell!

12th Jun. 479 - Since my last entry, the communists have pushed us further and further into this hell of a desert. I have only a few more ideas to try, the cost matters little to our ultimate goal. If they do not succeed I fear this peripheral of the Empire shall collapse into fetid socialism. For the Empire.

Nurhaci:
Gvsasa (The Banners): Men from recently integrated tribes are integrated into the 2 banners, resulting in a total of 16,500 (men from Her Oqad are for the most part not included)

Tuwa Buraki jai Puse [Sunja] (Gunpowder and Cannons [5]): Realizing that our quality firearms are one of our largest advantages, we cease all selling of firearms to any power except for the Gepids.

Ember
6th Jan. 479 It is a few days before we return to the front. Though we are fighting to protect the homeland of those within our ranks, we are now acting as liberators rather than protectors. Though their security is ramping up, we hope to use our mobility to stay out of reach of anyone who wishes to stand in our way. Training has been ramped up too, so our mounted longbowmen are more accurate on the move. In addition, we now have mounted units whose sole goal is to keep our archers replenished, much like the Parthians who fended off the Roman advance back at the beginning of the millenium. Overall, I have high hopes for our refined guerilla tactics we are to employ soon enough.

8th Feb. 479 I was able to visit my old farmhouse again. We found it relatively abandoned, apart from a young family who was relocated to the house. From the looks of things, they’re taking good care of the place, so I see no need to disturb their lives. They aren’t the reason I lost my home, after all.

17th Feb. 479 We encountered some resistance while on the move. However, we managed to capture all of the enemy scouts before they could alert anyone. This was a close call, hopefully no more situations like this will happen again.

9th Mar. 479 We located a supply depot. From the looks of things, it is relatively unguarded, though we will be using the utmost caution when approaching this depot. Traps come in all shapes and sizes, and this looks way too easy. With all the security ramp ups that have been installed, there is no way this supply depot will be as lacklusterly guarded as it is now.

12th Mar. 479  As we thought, this was a trap. As soon as we entered, a large force emerged from the forest tangent to the depot. Fortunately, we managed to fend off the first assault, but they got us surrounded within the supply depot. Though we managed to send a few of our fastest scouts towards friendly lines to request for assistance, we did not plan on enduring a siege, let alone be those that are being besieged. Hopefully help will come soon, or else we will not make it.

21st Mar. 479 More assaults have been launched, though we managed to repel every single one of them. We have modified the camp, with wooden stakes now installed around the perimeter of the fort. If they try and shell our location, everyone will be subjected to fighting atop splintered wood and uneven terrain. Maybe our savior will arrive soon. Hopefully it arrives soon…

3rd Apr. 479 Things have gotten worse. We’re slowly running low on food. Some of our people are losing hope. Why did I decide to proceed with attacking the depot? Why did I fall for such an obvious trick? Actually, I didn’t fall for it; I already knew it was a trap. You know what I did? I got cocky. I thought we could go in and go out, yet here we are. I’m drawing close to a decision, to turn myself in as a prisoner of war so my comrades can live on. I see no other solution, if reinforcements do not arrive. It would serve as the penultimate way to pay for my sins, after all.

15th Apr. 479 Everything’s getting dizzy. I’ve passed up on my rations to allow some of the others to survive for a little longer, and I’m paying the price for it. Everything’s getting hazy and dark, though I’ve heard from some of my officers that reinforcements are near; an arrow was launched into the camp with a note to hold out for just a little longer. I am confident that my people can hold out for a little longer. I’m not sure I have the physical strength to do the same, though.

'''10th May. 479''' I’m finally strong enough to write again. Apparently, when we were embarking on our breakout, I got hit by a stray arrow, and in my weakened state, I fell unconscious. Next thing I knew, I was in a bed, with Jason by my bedside. From what I’ve heard, he was waiting by my bed every day since we were extracted from the camp. Some might call that pathetic. Me? I consider it adorable that he was like a puppy, waiting for his master to come home, though I suppose this isn’t the best allegory to use. I’m not in the right state-of-mind at the moment, but what I do know is that for the time being, both me and the majority of my men are safe.

'''29th May. 479''' Having regained more strength, I decided to apologize to my men, for getting them stuck within the camp. I gave everyone the opportunity to leave if they wish, if they feel that I’m a horrible leader. Yet, no one left. Not one single person decided to “legally desert”. It was a gratifying feeling, as everyone began to cheer my name. A few tears made their way down my cheeks before I decided to put on a new farce; one of bolstering confidence. This organization is known by many as “The Order of the Phoenix.” It’s about time that their leader was reborn into the flames that will act as a beacon for all to look up to.

Niccolo Machiavelli
(From January to early March, there is once again a notable lack of journal entries from Machiavelli. It seems as though he was occupied with finishing off the Ostrogothic armies.)

Mar. 21, 479: Ostrogothia delenda est! The final remnants of the Ostrogoths were defeated four days ago, and Nepos has just declared himself as the First Regent of the Western Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Romulus Augustus has been restored to his rightful throne. I had helped organize the celebration of this victory, and I had appeared side by side with Julius Nepos and Romulus Augustus in the victory march.

Apr. 9, 479: I have heard alarming news of Ostrogothic rebels in the north and east. The Ostrogoth rebels are wreaking havoc and messing around. And they were only squatting on this land for not even a century! I have suggested to Mussolini and Nepos that we attempt to use their tactics against them to defeat them and to ruin their supplies and other vital stuff. I also brought up the idea of using propaganda to turn the Romans even more against the Ostrogoths. (OOC: Basically, he plans to attempt to out-vietcong them.)

May 29, 479: Ember has finally recovered from the arrow she took to the knee and is back in action. It also looks like her Order of the Phoenix is still in good shape. This is good news...

(Machiavelli was busy for the next few months rooting out the rebels and thus didn't write much in that time.)

NPC Turns

 * Nova Roma? (pt. 4): As the Ostrogothic War draws to a close, Julius Nepos's "Four Horsemen" (Mussolini, Macchiavelli, Tito and Skanderbeg) have quickly risen to popular fame as war heroes. Meanwhile in the Roman court, Julius Nepos's influence increasingly counts for naught, as the Four Horsemen now exercise much the political power Nepos once held solely for himself. Although Mussolini is still by far the most favored of the Four Horsemen when dealing with nobility, Tito has begun to become very influential amongst the common people of Dalmatia, as he is seen to be the "people's messenger to the Emperor", as he is constantly proposing social reforms to make the live of the average worker better, and has also taken an active stance in educating Dalmatia's children. This message is further compounded by the fact that the de jure Emperor Romulus Augustus has taken to Tito better than the rest of the Four Horsemen (possibly via influence from his girlfriend and soon-to-be wife Cassandra; she was known for being politically leftist before she was ISOTed).
 * Intertemporal Bat Soup (pt.6): The Pontic Flu strikes again! This time, Italy and Egypt are on the menu: COVID-19 sweeps through Rome and Alexandria by storm. Similar to its other-time counterpart, northern Italy is one of the hardest-hit regions, with Mediolanum and Ravenna enduring almost ubiquitous transmission and death rates nearing 20%. Rumor even says that Odoacer himself may have become seriously ill due to the coronavirus...
 * The Order of the Phoenix: Amidst the Pontic Flu crippling Italy, insurgent groups like the Order of the Phoenix have become more active, and some groups now even control portions of countryside across Southern Italy. With many government officials dead, and Odoacer himself suspected to have caught the abominable disease, the more remote parts of the country have become essentially lawless, perfect for any aspiring rebel leader.
 * Sunset Invasion (pt.2): This year was a bad year to be living in Armorica. Firstly, a whole load of weird brown people with strange, almost devilish decorations and ships unlike anything anyone has ever seen showed up early in winter. And these weren't just some amateurs, no, this was the entire Aztec army circa 1492. Led by their dastardly emperor, "Avissotus" (Ahuizotl), the Aztecs rampaged across what is today western Brittany, slaughtering entire villages and tearing the hearts out of women and children to sacrifice to their vile gods. Surely, this was the end times. The only solace to this carnage may be that many of these strange and devilish soldiers are rapidly dying to disease. But not enough are.
 * Gender Wars?: Although Syagrius himself doesn't care what a bunch of women are doing in the north, believing the issue to be beneath him, Napoleon, having gone through and seen the fallout of the French Revolution, urges him to put down the rebellion before "it gets worse". The result of this move is the Turonum Massacre, where at the city of Civitas Turonum (OTL Tours), the Women's March was brutally massacred by Napoleon's mercenaries in an almost Tiananmen-esque manner. This event is also what leads to the final schism between Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle (who have already disagreed and gone into heated debates countless times previously), with him taking half of the mercenaries and seeking out the Women's March to protect what he sees as just a handful of defenseless women wanting rights. The Presidents also take note of this, and also attempt to seek out the Women's March in order to defend them and partake in a fight for freedom (with the notable exception of Andrew Jackson, who has parted ways with the group and is currently in Visigothic territory).
 * Communism is a Preferable Alternative to Death (pt. 6): The escaped members of the Palmyra Commune officially declare themselves the "Arabian Socialist Republic" after seizing most of Ghassanid territory, with Karl Marx himself as president and Vladimir Lenin as his vice-president. However, the newly-formed communist state is not without its problems, as the Byzantine expeditionary force is slowly but surely learning the ways of guerrilla warfare and have begun to push the Carolists further and further south.
 * The Mystery, Solved: The passengers of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were shocked by the ground below suddenly changing from sea to land in the blink of an eye, and started to panic a bit as the pilot announced a complete cutoff of all airplane comms and a need to have an emergency landing immediately. After finally landing, the passengers of MH370 collectively realized that their lives were never going to be the same again. Their homes and families were gone. They had arrived in what is today Moldova, of over 1500 years in the past.
 * Game Time!: It appears that football (or soccer, as people from a certain country call it) has been "invented" in several different areas at once. An interesting development indeed.
 * Fútbol!: A year after their transportation, several footballers (led by Isco, Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo and Basque player Iker Muniain) have managed to found two football clubs within the city of Toletum, named Blanca Toletum CF and Vasco de Toletum. The clubs would often play exhibition matches as entertainment for the local elites; and the players, uptimers and locals included, attain a sort of celebrity status within the area. Ever ambitious, the uptimer players look to spread the gospel of football further within Visigothic territory.
 * Ball in Byzantium: Earlier in 479 AD, the entirety of the Turkish soccer team Galatasaray SK (including manager, first, second and under-18 teams) was sent back to Constantinople. Quickly becoming part of the ever-growing Temporalis Agency, the Galatasaray team members have begun spreading the sport across Constantinople, with several teams being founded by team members, including FC Sycae, Golden Horn Harbormasters, FC Constantinople, FC Chrysopolis, Bosphorus United, and Centurion.
 * Audere est Facere: England and Tottenham Hotspur captain Harry Kane and several other Premier League footballers, after finding themselves butterflied to medieval Londinium, set out to restart football within the city. With the backing of Winston Churchill, who rules the city, four clubs resembling their modern counterparts were founded, consisting of both uptimer and downtimer players: Hotspur FC, Millwall Rovers, Leyton FC and Thames United.
 * It's Played With Your Hand And It's Shaped Like An Egg, So Why Is It "Football"?: Amid the chaos of the Turonum Massacre, a more lighthearted trend has also begun appearing across the military ranks of the Kingdom of Soissons: American football. On a sullen March day, Tom Brady, of New England Patriots fame (and I guess Buccaneers now? What even is going on in 2020 anymore I can't even), suddenly appeared in the middle of a military training session in a camp near Aurelianorum (OTL Orléans). After a lot of initial confusion, Tom Brady eventually found his niche in this archaic world: by introducing American football to Syagrius's army and Napoleon's mercenaries. It's a good way for them to pass some time while they're not training or, you know, doing a Tiananmen Square on a bunch of women.
 * Why? (pt.3): The shopkeeper in Palermo was met with a strange surprise as he returned to his bedroom after a long day haggling prices: A strange old man, dressed in a white coat with hair spilling all over the place, was sitting on his bed, looking confused and distraught. At first threatening to kick him out, but then realizing he was not from here, he did not speak the language at all, and he did not have anywhere else to go, the shopkeeper allowed him to stay in his home as an act of kindness. Over the months, he got to know the man: he claimed to be called "Albert Einstein", and was apparently a great alchemist where he came from. He had said that he was from a different time period, somewhere in the future (the shopkeeper wouldn't have believed him had it not been for the myriad tales from Italy or Byzantium or everywhere else of weird strange people displaced in time appearing all over, some of them helping Odoacer or Zeno or Julius Nepos or whoever). One day, in the dead of winter (although it never gets very wintry in Sicily), the shopkeeper asked Einstein what he wanted to do with his life now. Einstein simply replied: "To find out why I'm here."

Bernard Montgomery
November 11 (bc thats when El Alamein finished)

I don't know where I'm in, the buildings all look like something out of Rome and the people speak a language I don't understand. . . It would be best if I could find some connection to the homeland from here.

November 15

I'm not an expert in Latin, but from what I'm seeing on some of the calenders it's 479? That really explains what happened, though why God would do this, I don't know.

November 29

I've been taking on various jobs around the place, mainly on the local ports here, where I can hear people speaking languages I actually understand, it's very fortunate that i ran into another man who spoke English, and it seems that we are stuck in Constantinople.

December 5

There is apparently some sort of clique of people like me from the future who have landed here being hosted by the Emperor himself, this could help me very much, so I will try to find an audience with the Emperor or some other people who have been transported here, additioanlly, since I have started to understand the language at a basic level, my new name is Bernardius Julius, it sounds right. Is that Rommel I see in the streets? I must be hallucinating.

Ember
8th Jul. 479 From the looks of things, a disease is running rampant throughout the lands, Northern Italy included. As such, I decided to launch an invasion of the sorts, beginning with the liberation of Northern Italy. Perhaps I can give my men their homes back, and restart the Roman Empire. Whatever the case, I just hope that I’ll be able to be the Phoenix to guide my forces’ path to victory and prosperity.

10th Aug. 479 We are currently enduring the plague as it runs rampant throughout our ranks. However, it seems that Jason knows a thing or two when it comes to dealing with a plague, due to his time in modern times. Though it is nothing more than keeping clean and letting those who fall ill take it easy, we are able to keep our numbers far higher than those of the population we are attacking. Overall, we are able to hold our own during this tough time.

16th Sept. 479 We’ve been making great progress with maintaining control. In fact, we’ve been getting an influx of support from the people within Northern Italy, offering their support in more ways than one. From caring to our ill to joining our ranks, we now have a bonafide fighting force for retaking Rome.

3rd Oct. 479 We ran into some resistance for once. An army was sent our way, only to find itself clashing with foot soldiers of our own. Though they can’t win on their own, they did their job and held their army in place for our elite cavalry to swoop around to their rear for the victory. They expected the worst, yet we allowed them to return home. They were surprised, ecstatic even. Some even joined our cause due to our kindness, as I hear nothing but praise and salvation from the totalitarian Italian government.

9th Nov. 479 I thought he was dead, tossed into the sea after being disfigured. Yet my advanced recon units describe a scene with Odoacer raising an army to stop us once and for all. It seems the old geezer doesn’t know when enough is enough. Seems we need to put him in his place. It is time to tie up old ends. It is time to put him down, once and for all.

17th Nov. 479 Everything is in place to send Odoacer packing at the least, killing him at most. We have our troops rallied around Odoacer’s northern base camp. More troops from the south are reported to be moving northward, so it is now or never for taking down the old Ostragoth. If everything goes horribly wrong, I hope that someone could get some enjoyment out of the booklet I jot into every now and then. Maybe tell Jason and the others of my death. That would be nice.

Nikita Khrushchev
479

Khruschev enjoys his new army life, as well as starting to improve the nation hugely, by improving tech and urging to build more houses

Jul 12th

More traveling is to be done. I have made my way about half way there and I see a group of people trying to attack me. They failed, since I have a sword and stuff on me now. I didn't think how useful these tools would come in handy. Anyways, Nothing else is interesting, apart from a few people who said hello to me. Sometime soon, I plan on improving technology, but I need to start understanding the supplies I have first.

Aug 1st

I made my may back, and people seem to notice me a lot more. They know I am a "Knight" now, and that I am here to do no harm. The people welcomed me well, thinking I am a king of some sort. Though, I learned this place actually has no king, instead a chief or something like it. Anyways, I will take a small rest, then I will get onto chopping logs of wood.

Aug 21st

I had a strange feeling today. I don't know what it was, but I felt strange. I never felt this way before, or as far as I recall. Anyways, wood chopping stated, and it had been good. A few houses have started development, and will be done sometime next year, potentially April or so, but we can get it done December if we are quick enough. When I am finished, I will log back in to this book.

Sep 19th

Finished things off today. I noticed how big my new fanbase has got. I think some people like what I am doing, expanding the small village outwards, collecting fire and wood for the people, and just being a good person in general. I have also started work on more things, such has blankets, for the people to use. I am basically urbanizing, but in a unmodernised way, if you get what I am saying. Anyways, I got lots of work to do.

Sep 26th

Harvesting these materials takes time. The sheer skill I require to shear the sheep for the wool, the accuracy for the trees, and the correction for the buildings only annoys me even more. Once this is over, I will start spreading my communist influence, and would give a better world to the people. This is only the start...

Nov 19th

I get too interested in random things that I can barely do my new job! Recently, I have been obsessed with staring at a scratch on my axe, and it suck to actually be the one doing it. Is this the effect of time travel? No... I must continue working harder. My job is quite distant to complete, but I still need more work to do.

Dec 25th

Surprisingly, The buildings finished today, on Christmas day! I speculate that people don't celebrate it much here, since Jesus would have been born about 470 years ago. The thing is that we are also after Roman times, what is a surprise to me. If anything, why was now the time that I would get time teleported to? It don't make any sense! Anyway, I am taking the day off to tell about my former Christmas stories, and what its like in my "former" world.

napoleon gae

Theresa Sullivan
1st July 479: Protests are working! We are getting some visibility. We will not stop there.

14th July 479: We have attracted slightly higher numbers. I'm still trying to teach and recruit women in secret as usual in Cenomanum.

12th August 479: A massacre of women in Civitas Turonum! This is madness! I've heard a message from similar minded women like me, passed on by some who could read through murmurs and rumours while protesting in the city. While I'm trying to recruit more into our cause, I went into a big burst. I'm not only cheerful that there are other movements like me are moving forward in other places that haven't been explored by me, but this is a turning point. The deaths of few hundred women who are just defending their own rights? This has become a fight for women, really.

Someone must be responsible, but who? I feel that Syagrius has ordered this attack and Napoleon just went in through it.

Now I have to change my tactic. I cannot let Syagrius and Napoleon continue to oppress women. After all, we are a minority group and I have a lot of stories about women to tell. Amazing women that could've existed. Our roles are not just confined at home. We can do so much more like these women. That's why we protest. From on now, our organisational skills have changed - I will only provide a much more sophisticated level of teaching for women and children who are following me simply because they have a mother or are young girls, which they are easy to mould unlike adults. They will be fed with my stories and they know it.

There is no stopping us.

20th August 479: A message from Charlie (Charles de Gaulle) is sent to me, apparently. It seems that he wanted to protect my movement and that he felt that killing women out of nowhere was inappropriate and disturbing for him. It is written in local language rather than French, which I could comprehend well nowadays. The last time I saw Charlie, he was literally beside Napoleon. But with the massacre, this seemed to be a big change for him at least.

I wrote a message of acceptance, which should give me a leverage and strength to pressure on Syagrius to instil the rights and liberties of all women across Soissons.

2nd September 479: We are now packing up from Cenomanum to Aurelianorum (Orleans). The current major movement, the flagship group of the Women's March will remain as my group - as I am the pioneer of the group. I appreciate others who are trying to create their own Women's March. Other women are taking notice hopefully of Napoleon's toxic masculinity there after the Turonum Massacre. We need to make sure that Syagrius takes notice of this. He's getting pressured by this.

I counted at least 180 now joining me, literally doubling the numbers I got since the Turonum massacre. We are no longer a small group, but a larger group, larger than what we have before. The movement grew much stronger from this, so it's helping me a lot. Napoleon might catch me by the time he reaches Cenomanum, so we have to ensure that we move fast. He only destroyed one part of the movement, but he hasn't attacked my group yet.

We have wooden javelin sticks, rocks (to stone) and few bows around as our current self-defence tactic. Very few of my own group are amateurs in archery, but they're getting there. I've been also practising it as well just in case. I don't think I ever held a sword (actually more of a dagger technically), but this is my last resort of defending myself.

22nd September 479: We've arrived at Aurelianorum. We are now planning to set up camp in the outskirts. Rumours by commoners here tell me that some new sport is being played. I'm not sure what it is yet, but apparently this came into this place almost immediately just few months ago among soldiers. Even the very few people are starting to play this in some fashion. I wonder why...

3rd October 479: Word tells me that this town is unsafe and that we should move on quickly. I digress. Under my pseudonym, Carissa Aurelius, I tell them that we came here for peace and just to show our attitudes. They know some parts of the massacre, but they're afraid of repercussions. I told women as well that I am leading the whole movement and that I was the one who orchestrated the need for women to have rights and the promises I gave them, stories and higher level of education - it all worked to my hands.

At this point, I should say that having few more teachers around the block should cut my time down trying to teach a lot of people at once. Yes, few of my very loyal followers asked me if I could allow them to teach literacy and the ideas of feminism to other women. I accept that, since I can't handle my own movement all the time - work stress has been loading so much for me, that I gotta try load off the load that I had for the past year.

12th October 479: Now the 10 Presidents are apparently in rumours are seeking after me and my group to defend me. While I am fine with men supporting our Women's March for justice and equality for both sexes, I think we are going to eventually succeed in this field with these people on my side, at least for a while. Apparently, one of them fled in the process from the group, so now it is just the Nine Presidents, not ten.

25th December 479: Paris (Parisium, again) is our next destination but we're not stopping there since this is the middle of winter. We will continue operating here in Aurelianorum for a while. (I'm just getting a little lazy to finish these turns a lot lately)

Niccolo Machiavelli
Jul. 28, 479: The Ostrogothic insurgents have been crushed once and for all, and Illyricum has been fully integrated into the Roman Empire. The Romans now sing my praises as a war hero. Ave Roma!

Aug. 13, 479: Ember and her Order of the Phoenix launched an invasion of northern Italy a month ago. It seems to be succeeding quite well, though some plague is spreading amongst their troops. (According to up-timers from even further into the future, this plague is called "coronavirus" or "COVID-19" or something like that.)

Sep. 16, 479: I suggested to Mussolini and Nepos that they send a diplomat to seek an alliance with Byzantium and to enlist their help for Ember's invasion of Northern Italy. Odoacer is too strong for us alone. Hopefully, Zeno is convinced when the diplomat points out that Italy is better off ruled by a civilized nation such as ours than by the barbarians. If Zeno refuses, I have no other choice but to ask the Vandals for help. They'll demand southern Italy, but we can retake it later if need be. Meanwhile, me and the other three "Horsemen" (as we have been affectionately nicknamed) have begun work on attempting to reverse-engineer the Hunnic guns that we have purchased from the Gepids.

Oct. 8, 479: I have initiated a project that will improve the education and health systems of the empire. I have planned and ordered the construction of several public schools and hospitals throughout the country (based on what Zeno has done). These new institutions, especially the Salona Academy, will be the envy of Europe. I have also worked on an improved closed sewer system with added septic tanks to improve the standard of living.

Nov. 13, 479: I've requested to the Horsemen to send troops into Italy to aid Ember. From reports I have gotten, she seems to be struggling against Odoacer's troops. It's too early to invade Italy and too late to stop it, so I should probably assist her.

Dec. 19, 479: The war effort in Italy has been going okay recently, hopefully it stays that way. Meanwhile, I suggested to Nepos to bring envoys to Constantinople to investigate the "football" craze I've been hearing all about. Perhaps it would be good to introduce into the empire?

Bob Ross
Dec 19, 479: I don't know how I got here, but today when I left the studio I suddenly found myself in a vast field, at first I panicked but then decided to look for any civilization. Turns out I wasn't too far from a small village, (OTL Graz) and immediately I noticed they spoke a language I couldn't quite make out. They also seemed to lack any modern technology.

Dec 21 479: After awhile I settled into the village and learned a few basic words from the locals, like "Hello" and "Thank you". Even though I left my easel and painting tools in the studio I was inspired by the beautiful look of the nature around the village that I decided to gather some parchment paper and fashion it into an easel, I got some colors from the local berries and leaves, it wasn't much but it will have to do.

Dec 24 479: I noticed that the villagers were rather shocked by my paintings, it was as if they had never seen anything like it. In my mind I had made many theories as to what happened but it seems now I can settle on the theory of traveling back to the middle ages or some time around that (Bob isn't fully aware of what time period he is in). I feel as if this world is starved of art, I feel as if its time to teach people how to teach people the joy of painting.

Henry V of Cæstre
July 14: The people of Cæstre are doing well. The mines on the edge of town have attracted workers from many nearby villages, and the population is booming. Cæstre now has a small military force of about 500 guards dressed in hard metal armor not unlike my own. I trained them myself in sword fighting and battle techniques. Our efforts have put Cæstre on the map.

August 5: Something terrible may happen soon in Rheged. Meirchin Gul is growing old and weak. Wilfrid, now one of the best soldiers in Cæstre, recently told me that he plans to kill Meirchin and put me on the throne. This does not surprise me, at least coming from Wilfrid. I cannot let this happen, though. I do not deserve to rule over this foreign throne. I do not want people to think I am power-hungry enough to kill for power.

August 29: Today I showed the Cæstrians how to make farming more efficient, and how to use durable metal tools for chores rather than dull stone ones. With all the people moving into Cæstre because of the advancements we have made here, we need more food and building materials to build houses for these people. A market opened in the middle of town today. People can go there to trade goods, food, supplies, animals, and money for other things of what they consider to be equally valued. We are making progress.

September 8: Wilfrid has disappeared. Nobody in Cæstre or any nearby towns have seen him in a few days. I think this may have something to do with his plot against Meirchin. I have packed my things and left for Meirchin’s castle up in Cumbria. I hope I am not too late, but Wilfrid has a large head start.

October 1: So much has happened since I last wrote in here. As I traveled through the rocky terrain up into the snowy hills of Cumbria, I caught up to Wilfrid. I made sure to keep him in sight, but stay far behind so he wouldn’t hear or see me. A day or two later, I arrived at Meirchin’s castle. Wilfrid had disappeared. The guards let me into the castle when I told them I was the heir to the throne of Rheged. I hurried in the direction of the throne room, and I heard voices behind the door. I carefully opened it, and saw Wilfrid talking to Meirchin. The old king ordered his guards to leave the room and wait outside. I knew that Wilfrid was about to strike. I hid around the corner as the guards left, and then pulled out my sword. I heard Meirchin’s muffled voice growing louder and louder. I flung the door open, and saw Wilfrid pull out his sword and stab it into the king’s stomach. I screamed incoherently. I was too late. The guards burst back into the room, saw Wilfrid standing over the dying king, and charged. I ran up to Meirchin, bleeding out on the floor. He told me to keep the kingdom safe, breathed out a heavy sigh, and fell limp. I stood up and turned to face Wilfrid. He was holding off the two guards well, which my training had only helped. I rushed towards my advisor, my friend, and knocked the sword out of his hand. With a shaky voice, I told the guards to lock him up.

November 17: After Meirchin’s death, the title of King of Rheged passed down to me. I returned to Cæstre as messengers carried the news throughout the kingdom. I am currently ruling from an old Roman fort on top of the River Loyne. I have continued to help with the advancement of Cæstre, but I now spend most of my time around the kingdom, supervising and enforcing the laws of the kingdom. Caylene and most of Cæstre were extremely saddened to hear of Meirchin’s murder, but with the support of the people, I think I can get the kingdom back on it’s feet.

November 30: Finally, I have been blessed with a son! Caylene gave birth to twins, a brother and a sister, at Cæstre, and I have just received the news now. My first son, Henry VI, is only a distant memory. I hope that this will be a chance for the House of Lancaster to start again here in Rheged, in this new time.

December 25: Another Christmas here in Cæstre. The locals don’t seem to celebrate it, though; I may introduce it to them soon. I am glad that the Lord has given me fortune in my unusual situation. The pagan villages up in the north of the kingdom are getting a little bit rowdy, so I may have to pay a visit soon and restore order.

NPC Turns

 * (hopefully it's not) The Undoing of Soissons: Hearing vague rumors of "rebelling women and children" and "devil worshippers from the west devouring the hearts of villagers" coming from Soissons, King Childeric of the Franks senses a perfect opportunity to invade, inferring from these rumors that Soissons is close to collapse. The Burgundians also seize this opportunity to try and seize as much lands as possible from Syagrius's domain. Meanwhile, a large wave of Bretons have begun streaming eastwards into the far western reaches of Soissons, fleeing the brutality and carnage of the Aztec conquests. As the sheer number of refugees has overwhelmed local administrations, many of these refugees have turned to banditry to survive. It seems that the Kingdom of Soissons' days may be numbered.
 * She's Back!: In the midst of the chaos engulfing the Kingdom of Soissons, a strange, flying object suddenly appeared on a spring day near Aurelianorum. With it crash-landing in a nearby forest, local citizens send out a search party to investigate. In the rubble of the strange object, apparently made of steel, is a badly-hurt yet still alive woman. She wears strange fashions and refers to herself as "Amelia Earhart". Having heard the tales surrounding "Carissa Aurelius", the townsfolk immediately present her to the leader of the Women's March, in hopes that she can be recognized and helped...
 * A Game of Thrones: The assassination of the old king sent some of the higher status peoples riling, who also see Henry V of Cæstrae as a "foreigner", unfitting to rule their own peoples. In the night after Christmas (December 25th), those of the higher caste sent a party of raiders to plunder the countryside around Cæstrae in discreet, then raised their own armies, looking to install one of their own, known only as Llywelyn, as King; they also managed to convince the pagan population to support their efforts. Little do they know, they will receive assistance, but in a form nobody expects...
 * Tennouheika Banzai!: No one expects the Banzai Charge! Said to have been paid in valuables, Shinto-Picts forces originating from Hirohito's demesne of Cathures initiate a series of raids on Rheged after learning of certain, problems occurring within the nation. These shamragh look to fill Hirohito's (and their own's) coffers, and appears to have been introduced to the concepts of Bushido, themselves proving to be highly efficient fighters.
 * Nova Roma (pt.5): The Four Horsemen manage to convince Zeno with eloquent words to invade Italy despite the nominal alliance that they have. Byzantine attacks in southern Italy take Odoacer's troops by surprise, and substantial parts of coastal southern Italy have been captured. Meanwhile, in the north, the Western Roman Empire is being pushed in by Odoacer's forces along the coast, while making gains inland.
 * The Phoenix Rises: With the Italian Army preoccupied with defending the land from Roman invasion, the Order of the Phoenix begins an all-out offensive, attempting to seize the Italian Peninsula. Order forces have become entrenched in several rural areas across Italy, and have begun offensives to seize major cities. The Order in Central Italy, said to be led by Ember herself, is a mere 40 miles from Rome at this very instant. Meanwhile, the lack of public appearances from Odoacer is almost anxiety-inducing, as many have even concluded that the Pontic Flu (i.e COVID-19) has killed the king.
 * Intertemporal Bat Soup (pt.7): COVID-19 continues ravaging Italy, this time affecting almost every single area. Meanwhile, the northern Visigothic lands (OTL southern France) and parts of the Vandal Kingdom have also begun getting hit by the disease.
 * Communism Is A Preferable Alternative to Death (pt. 7): Although the Byzantines have pushed back the Arabian Socialist Republic further south, it has began consolidating in the lands it does control, and has enjoyed massive popularity with the peasantry due to the elimination of oppression by local lords and the new technologies and freedoms they now have. Meanwhile, an envoy is sent to the army, asking for a peace deal allowing the old Ghassanid realm to be retained in the north while the Arabian Socialist Republic is established in the south. The prospective peace also stipulates that the Arabian Socialist Republic is forbidden from engaging in war on any other nation, save defending itself.
 * Football Flies Further: Facilitated by the construction and/or renovation of roads, ideas have begun traveling much faster between places than before, and that is probably most prevalent in the spread of association football/soccer. The game has taken to the peasantry and nobility alike like wildfire, and local leagues are sprouting up across Iberia, Britain, and the lands of the Byzantine Empire. In most towns across many regions of Europe, it is not uncommon to find a field set aside for football, and a leather ball to play it with lying around.
 * Why? (pt. 4): The shopkeeper and his new "scientist" friend was out at a local tavern in Palermo's port district one night, when they chanced upon a disheveled and obviously distressed man, drunk beyond belief. He looked like just about any other bum on the street, but Einstein felt a strange connection to him, as if they understood each other more than anyone else during this time period. As the three got progressively more and more wasted, they struck up a lively conversation and had a lot of fun that night. The next day, Einstein woke up to a horrible hangover and a note attached to his shirt, saying: "I'm Gunteric. My house is the third to the left on the main road past the market. I'd love for you to come over someday, have a chat with a nice cup of coffee, maybe talk about general relativity or something." Visibly distraught, Einstein made his way to the dining table, where the shopkeeper had made breakfast. The shopkeeper asked him, "What has you so shaken?". Einstein simply replied, "He knows too much".

Bob Ross
Jan 12 480: Recently I've been traveling to many different towns and villages teaching people how to paint, and sharing my paintings with the people. I've taken the name Bobius Rus, and have been heading down south (towards the OTL Balkans) hoping to spread my art even futher.

Jan 20 480: I recently found myself in a large country, one that seems to be the Byzantine Empire. I've always wanted to visit some place like this, there were very artistic so I think they could use some of my teachings. Another odd thing I noticed was football fields everywhere. At least I think their football fields.

Jan 25 480:  I painted a Byzantine Palace yesterday, and people were astonished. I started giving free painting lessons to the citizens. Some people didn't like my art and were even disgusted at it. But that wont deter me from painting.

Nikita Khrushchev
480

As Khrushchev develops the last lot of buildings, he decides to gain more followers, and to spread his "communist" influence throughout the area.

JAN 12TH

Alright, the houses are now fully constructed, and everything regarding that is complete. They are quite small, but they consist of Bonfires, Comfy areas to sleep and small storage containers, made of wood. In fact, we decided to use these houses instead of tribal huts all over the place, but the rich still use the good houses. Oh yeah, and the people of a really low level now live in mud huts. I will next get more supporters, since my planned future shall see me as the ruler of a whole nation, with a communist-like regime. That, though, will take time, so patience is required at its most.

JAN 30TH

I shall start spreading propaganda today. I shall inspire people to become followers under my new future rule! I continue thinking about my future every now and then, and I cannot be so sure if I am able to transition from the Monarchist regime to the Communist Regime. My idea of communism sees the people happy, nobody starving, and everybody getting money equally to what they require, nobody being too rich, only the people who are high up in the ranks.

FEB 26TH

Alright, I have quite a decent amount of followers. Its been almost a month, and I have lots of people supporting me. They are going to teach me the language of this place, and I am going to teach them Modern, Cold war techniques and technology from well future times. Though, before we actually develop Guns, Computers and all of those stuff, we will require of resources, what will most likely be impossible during this time. Electricity hasn't been discovered yet, screwing me over a bit.

MAR 17TH

Today, I got my first lesson on language. They know I speak it quite well, so they are heading in with a little complex questions, what annoys me a little, knowing that they don't want to recap the basics. Yesterday, I taught them the basics about farming. I told them that its better to use Metal tools, and they were really confused. I even drew some metal, and they still were confused. So, I told them in my next lesion where different types of metals come from.

APR 5TH

Yep. They entered the mines, and most came back with metal. I told them where different metals are found, such as ones in this area, Iron, Lead, continue the list, and they were shocked that there were that much undiscovered resources that are not used by the people of the tribe. I taught them how to make some basic farming equipment with the metals and other things, such as sticks, to start huge, profitable farms throughout the tribe on the soil told in the future to be the area surrounding our capital.

APR 21ST

Today, I have started to work on lots and lots of farms, as well as starting to plan some mines. Mines seem to be difficult to make, but I am able to draft out how to develop them. I do want a small colony somewhere, maybe in North Africa or India, where they are rich, or maybe in China, where we can get a large amount of resources, such as gunpowder. I know this will probably NEVER happen, so I will continue to mess around with my main land until I die.

Nurhaci

 * Ilan Gvsa (4 Banners): Because I am dumb, I realized that the Numaiqurar Confederacy actually has 160,000 People, resulting in 35,000 Active Bannermen. Thus, we have 7 Banners instead of 2. The organazation of the banners are as follows: 100 households make up a Company (Niru), 5 companies (500 households) make up one Regiment (Jalan), and 5 Regiments make up a Banner (Gvsa), which consists of 2500
 * Nurhaci-ni Juwese (Nurhaci’s Children): Altera gives birth to one son and a daughter. The daughter is named Arivikh, meaning "Great Purity" (Recorded in Byzantine Sources as Arivios or Arivis), and the son is named Öljinen, meaning "Fortunate One" (Recorded in Byzantine Sources as Oulgenesn or Ol). In addition to his 2 birth children, Nurhaci also has a 13 year old Child which he adopted back in 477 named Gökhan (Recorded in Byzantine sources as Gouchanes).
 * Gvwa Niyalma Abkaci (Strange People from the Sky): With 200 uptimers suddenly appearing right outside of the Numaiqurar’s capital, the government of the Numaiqurar Khanate was at a loss at what to do. Housing was provided to the Uptimers, and nothing was done with them until Febuary of 480. First, Nurhaci made a decree stating that all uptimers are to be incorporated into his clan, Clan Aisin. Second, upon realizing that many of these uptimers have extremely valuable skills, he creates the Office of Those from the Future (Geoden-i Niyalma Goro Forgonci) for uptimers with useful knowledge. One of them teaches the Akatziri about the wonders of Central Heating, and another teaches the Akatziri about modern medicine. Another uptimer, who visited Japan, introduces a technique of harvesting salt directly from the Ocean. There were also 19 artists on board, who helped develop better ink.
 * Ufa Justan (Noodles): Turns out, one of the passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was a Shenyangese Chef named Yao Qingtai, who owned a small resturant which was known for it’s delicious noodles. Having never tasted noodles before, Nurhaci asked the Man to cook up some noodles for him, promising to provide Yao Qingtai with all the ingredients that he would need. After a few hours of work, the bowl of noodles was completed, and needless to say, Nurhaci was amazed. He urged Olga, Janos, and Ungern-Sternberg to try them. Olga and Janos were quite impressed, although Ungern-Sternberg only frowned and said, “I don’t like Chinese Food”.
 * Deyetun (Airplane): We attempt to reverse-enginneer the plane, which doesn’t work at all, but we might have gained some knowledge doing it (Please tell me what I learned derp). We remove an engine off the wing of the plane, and pretend that it’s an extremely large cannon to scare our enemies.
 * Kutvrigur-i nabe Necimbihei (Continuously infringing on the land of the Kutrigur): In order to get closer to the thicco mode source of Niter in the Crimean Mountains, Nurhaci starts a campaign of colonizing the area. Immigration to lands east of our border and west of the Dnieper is encouraged, and our control of the area is enforced by bannermen (we got 34,000 of them), though each bannerman only defends the area 2 months at a time, and not all bannermen serve. The only settlements founded as of now are set up along the coast. 5,000 Bannermen also lay roads and build wells in the area, with the promise that all villages and tribes which join the Confederacy shall recieve these fun things as well. We do not ask for consent to grab the land, because who asks for consent anyways?
 * Torikabe Dasihimbi (Raiding Taurica): After building a few boats, we begin to periodically raid Byzantine Taurica by sailing to a friendly outpost in Mizhvodne and then raiding by land, in order to avoid the Byzantine Navy.

Ember
9th Jan. 480 Since the last engagement, things have gotten pretty hectic. The ambush was a mess, one ending in our victory but a mess nonetheless. Though Odoacer managed to get away along with a good chunk of his forces, we managed to seize his supplies. However, I got wounded in the fight, and was only strong enough to catalog what happened now. No point pushing myself too far, and let the embers die out in the process.

At the very least, we now have secured control of Northern Rome, though I don’t know for how long. As such, as I hoped, my other military generals already have plans to continue our advance south, one that will hopefully put an end to dictatorial Italy, once and for all.

17th Feb. 480 Everything is happening at such a rapid pace, I’m flabbergasted. I’m caught up in so much work, I barely have time to catalog what is going on. We managed to win some major victories against Italian forces as we continue South. From the looks of things, it is smooth sailing from here, but I’m always drafting back up plans in case things go wrong. After all, every smart general has a contingency plan, right?

'''13th Apr. 480''' Though we spent some extra time ensuring our claims as we went are secured, we are finally at the climax of our campaign; Rome itself. We are merely a few dozen miles from the old Roman capital. Many of our troops are getting antsy about it. “What’s going to happen now?” “What’s going to happen once everything’s over?” Though I managed to plan some of these aspects out, I barely know what’s going to happen. It’s basically the sacking of Rome all over again, except rather than barbarians, we are merely liberators of the old Roman Republic. I just hope the locals see us as such.

'''9th May. 480''' It is the night before our attack on Rome begins. Many fear the attack will turn into a siege, but we have the numbers. With our cavalry keeping tabs on enemy movements, we will be able to respond to any attempt Odoacer makes to try and relieve the siege, so hopefully, even in a worse-case-scenario, victory is within our grasp. Of course, this is merely speculation, but we

Theresa Sullivan
20th January 480: So, we continue to put ourselves in our shoes to protest in the middle of the winter in Aurelianorum. There's nothing of importance there. We've changed tactics here.

8th February 480: There is a strange object coming out from the sky on that day while I was teaching with some children. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's not Superman. But, it has crashed somewhere in the country. And yes, it is a plane. Then there is someone coming out and one of my members have come up to introduce to her. She didn't understand, but I gotta say, it must be a change in my life. She introduced herself as Amelia Earhart and yes, even though I haven't spoken English in pretty much almost four years, as if I had already forgotten about it, I got to understand her.

I've decided that she would be taught on the basics of the language here in the meantime and our aim is to bring equality to women in the Kingdom of Soissons. I told her some of the things here so that she'll be familiar with it over time. This is quite exciting! I think her disappearance is merely just travelling to another place that she'd never know. In my own time, we thought that there were remains of her and her plane in an obscure island in the ocean, but it turns out she arrived here instead. How peculiar!

15th February 480: Messages of an invasion west of the Soissons had us worried right now. Mysterious people are killing people by their hearts. Our plans to move to Parisium has been cancelled. We're staying put and continue to train our marchers for quality over quantity. They're almost educated, just two years and they are showing much promise.

7th March 480: Now the easterners have started to invade. The Franks on the border of the Soissons have begun invading this kingdom. This isn't good. We're holding emergency roundtable talks, along with Amelia Earhart, who I've been befriending for a month.

8th March 480: So the plan now for our group is that we have to go north and prepare to take the boats. There is this place called 'Britannia' once and that it has fallen to barbarians years ago, I never heard of this place before, presumably this is Britain? Then we will pack our things into multiple boats, probably as much as we can, even if one refuses, we got to keep this alive somehow and only somehow come out alive.

It is a risk, but there's only one way to get out of this.

I have to convince Amelia Earhart to come and say that it'll be an adventure out in the sea to travel up north, that is all that I have to say.

(There is an unknown amount of time passing for them to pack up.)

19th June 480: It's been a while since I wrote. We're at the port of Rotomagus and we have to get supplies. Rumours say that the Franks are pushing west and are coming close, so food and water supplies are slowly running out.

I selectively chose followers who were loyal enough or are able to obey my own duties to come to Britannia. These new lands, I have no idea where I'm going, but it is the only place to get out. Otherwise, if we [water damage]

30th June 480: I wrote Syagrius a message that he should reconsider on ignoring women and start getting used to it while he can last his own dominion. I'm also writing and sending out to messengers and followers who are unable to come with me that I'll be departing as there is no hope for me to live with them. But I have to give the message of hope and optimism for them. I wrote to those who protected me all along to keep fighting until their last breaths against both sides.

This is my last day here, so I'll be departing the next month and with Earhart, we'll see what's going on with my load of 60 followers out of the 210 that have followed me through the last months in Soissons.

(So she'll basically go to Isle of Wight, but will suffer a lot of attrition, mostly her followers dwindle in some number as they are inexperienced in rowing and sailing across the waters)

Bernard Montgomery
Jan 15th

Honesty, I'm quite surprised when I first met the people at this scoeity, the Tempoarlis, there are famous leaders from all over the vast space of time here, it's very curious seeing what they do.

Feb 24

It sounds weird, but I am actually quite the skilled hand at ships, I might actually become a shipbuilder, might as well apply to the local guild, or something

March 11

I've been accepted, which is super amazing, and life here is very routine.

May 22

First ship built!

Niccolo Machiavelli
(Machiavelli was busy in January and February with the Italian War and did not write in his journal.)

Mar. 18, 480: Odoacer's troops are gaining land on the coast, but we are gaining land inland. I have ordered the troops to march south to Tergeste (Trieste) in order to encircle Odoacer's troops and to stop their advance into our land.

Apr. 9, 480: I see we are doing quite well. I've sent spies into Odoacer's land disguised as peasants to spread anti-Odoacer and anti-Hitler propaganda among the peasantry. Meanwhile, we have seen some success with recreating Hunnic-style guns, and I have reached out to the other three Horsemen to find a way to increase their production.

May 10, 480: I have heard of an extraordinary up-timer painter going by the name of "Bobius Rus" (though some of the Order of the Phoenix leaders recognized his name as "Bob Ross") operating in Byzantium. I sent an envoy to where I hear his current location is and invited him into the Western Roman imperial court in order to demonstrate his skills. Meanwhile, my messenger has told me that Ember has been quite successful lately and is currently sieging Rome. It looks like my invasion in the North and my propaganda efforts were successful.

(Machiavelli was once again busy in June.)

NPC Turns

 * Nova Roma? (pt.6): Italy is not looking too great this time of year, as Byzantine forces capture much of the southeastern Italian coast, including the ports of Barium and Tarentum. Meanwhile, the Western Roman Empire has managed to cut off supplies for the main bulk of Odoacer's army in Dalmatia. Other powers are using the Roman invasions of Italy to their advantage, as the Vandals, Rugii and Alemanni have begun assaulting the Kingdom of Italy's frontier areas. Meanwhile, Odoacer still has not appeared in public in almost 2 years, with Hitler doing all the public events and speeches, and many are now presuming that Odoacer is dead and Hitler has performed a silent coup on the Kingdom of Italy.
 * The Phoenix Rises (pt.2): Ember's forces have surrounded Rome, putting it under siege, and while Italian troops have cleared out some of their hideouts in central and southern Italy, the Order of the Phoenix has expanded its reach in the north, with the Alps fully under Order control, and the northern Order troops closing in on Mediolanum.
 * Syagrius's Torment: With the Kingdom of Soissons being invaded from all sides by opportunistic Germanic and Breton powers, Syagrius can do nothing but watch as his kingdom, his life's work, is dissolved by circumstance. However, he will not go down without a fight...
 * Switching Sides Is Only Slightly More Noble Than Surrendering: Seeing the writing on the wall, Napoleon, taking a sizable chunk of Soissons' military with him, flees to the Frankish court, pledging to King Childeric that he and his troops will fight for the Franks and that he will forever be bound to the Frankish kingdom as a local lord. Childeric wholeheartedly agrees, and takes Napoleon in as a general of the Frankish army.
 * It's Always Friday (oh god I hate myself) : The 2013 mistake of the year one-hit wonder Rebecca Black found herself being abruptly transported from her room to another room, much more royal in character, and decorated in the medieval style. Somehow, this waste of f*cking space short-lived music sensation found herself in the bedroom of Clovis, the heir to the Frankish throne circa 480 AD. A bewildered Clovis walked into his room after breakfast that day, noticing a strange woman speaking a strange language on his bed. Eventually, Rebecca landed herself a job as a cook and servant for the royal court, where she introduced basic sanitation principles (the King and his family stopped getting sick that often, hooray I guess?). Although she usually keeps to herself and her fellow cooks, on some nights she has a visitor...
 * King of the Saxons?: With the noticeable increase in wealth in Londinium thanks to the leadership of Winston Churchill, raids from rival Saxon clans began to target the city. As a result, Winston Churchill embarks on a "Mission to Pacify the Warlords", attempting to subdue the clans that raided his territory. With superior tactics and weaponry (Churchill has introduced the crossbow to much of his army, and most generals now have at least crude arquebuses), Churchill manages to defeat and conquer much of his nearby enemies, many across Anglo-Saxon England are beginning to take notice of him, with some even commenting that he might rise to be an unified "King of the Saxons"...
 * The Legend of King Arthur: In the troubled times of the past few years, where the world has changed more drastically in a mere 4 years than anyone has dreamed of in their lives, some solace is provided for a Cornish petty kingdom, when, after years of mismanagement by minor chiefs and lords, one Arthur, after, according to legend, extracting the sword Excalibur from a rock, banished all the corrupt chiefs and lords and took control of the kingdom of Dumnonia and crowned himself king. Only time shall tell what he accomplishes...
 * Scottish Sengoku: With Hirohito's Cathures being involved in raiding campaigns to the south, the petty kingdom of Dun Eideann, led by "King Iddeach" (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) has begun expanding into nearby kingdoms. It has also been rumored that the feared and renowned shamragh Scathach herself has been hired by King Iddeach as a general...
 * Communism is a Preferable Alternative to Death (pt.8): Sick of desert stalemates and occupied with raiding from the north and wars in the west, the Byzantine Empire allows the Arabian Socialist Republic to exist as an independent state, provided the Ghassanid state continues to exist as a buffer state, the ASR pays tribute to Byzantium and the ASR limit its military to under 1000 troops. With its capital in Yathrib (OTL Mecca), now renamed Madinat Karol, the Arabian Socialist Republic finally begins to take a breather and consolidate.
 * Intertemporal Bat Soup (pt.9): The COVID-19 epidemic, now having burned itself out in Italy, continues on to ravage the Visigothic Mediterranean coast, as well as much of Vandalic territory. Smaller outbreaks have also reoccured in Italy, as Vandalic forces have begun catapulting bodies of those who have died from the coronavirus into southern Italian cities.
 * A Presidential Haven: With the chaos ensuing in Soissons, the 9 Presidents (Andrew Jackson having escaped to Visigothic territory and currently leading one of the armies of the Visigothic invasion) are divided in what to do. Most agree on fleeing the country, but JFK, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush disagree, preferring to stay in the war-torn Soissons, weather the storm, and help the people. As they wander throughout the devastated landscape, they invite as many local peasants as possible to follow them. Eventually, the ranks of the 3 Presidents reaches a hundred, then a thousand, then ten thousand: eventually, almost 20,000 peasants are being led by the 3 Presidents, in order to "find safety". They eventually find themselves in the city of Coriallum (OTL Cherbourg), burned down nearly to the ground after several waves of invasions and looting by Breton refugee bands. With most of the city's inhabitants dead, and the area being in an defensible location, the Three Presidents decide to settle down there, with Ronald Reagan elected the first president of the Coriallic Republic.
 * The Women March on Britain: Only 27 of the 60 women in Theresa's group makes it to shore alive, but they eventually land on the Isle of Wight. Populated by a few small villages, the locals take them in and welcome them in as much as they possibly can. Having been assured of a place to stay and the kindness of the local folk, the remnants of the Women's March (along with Charles de Gaulle) get down to work...
 * Why? (pt. 5): "He left his suitcase in my house!", Gunteric realized, as he went downstairs to eat. Like a normal good person, Gunteric decided to return Einstein's suitcase to him, but first, he peeked inside. He looked through, and found several diary entries scattered all over. But they didn't seem to be Einstein's diary entries. They were anonymous, but clearly from a time far into the future from now. After pausing for a while, Gunteric finally realized whose diary entries they were.

Oh fuck.

Nikita Khrushchev
480

As Khrushchev develops the last lot of buildings, he decides to gain more followers, and to spread his "communist" influence throughout the area.

Jul 19th

Alright, everything is going accordingly. The people are happy, everyone is safe. Nobody wants to invade, but one day, I shall take my new followers to glory, and I shall lead everyone else in all the tribes. Yes, I am going to revolt one day in the potential near future.

Aug 1st

Alright, I must play to my plans now. If I want a chance to succeed, then I will require of extreme technology, much more advanced than the current ones. I taught the people about ores and materials because I want the people to know how things work back in the future days. I will one day have people develop guns in factories, with ammunition. Firstly, with my own small tribe, I shall get my tribe together and try to set up communications all the way in the east. That's right, expedition time.

Aug 2nd

The wastelands I notice are going to be brutal, especially since it is going to be winter soon. I need to create better transport before I actually go to the Chinese place, and if I want chance of success, then I must develop something that gives out heat, like it is radiating...

Sep 19th

Alright, my plan is to try to find oil first. I am going to teach my people about oil, and they will teach me about more things. Surprisingly, there could be oil around here, but I don't want to waste time, after I teach them fully about oil, I shall send people to explore the middle east, or at least the Caucasus, to get some fuel. If that fails, coal is our next option.

Oct 19th

Guess coal works. Tried it, and it worked, now I have myself a functioning engine somehow what is actually massive compared to the ones at... what shall I call it anymore? My old home? Anyways, I am going to try and make the car area around all of this. I know what I am doing, so I shall do this alone, maybe with a few others.

(During November, Khrushchev constantly focuses on development of the car, also drafting out factories so it could be mass produced by the people, of course with the Leader of all of the tribes permission.)

Dec 3rd

The car is complete, what took time. I got worried for a moment during late November that it would collapse and fail to function, but I took it on a test drive, and it seems to be fine. So, I now need to focus on the heat problem. Where is the nearest place with lots of animals? I need to get some soft material that does not allow the cold through.

Dec 14th

I managed to find a flock of sheep and some cows, all things like that, and I shall use them to make some jackets that provide heat in the cold. Whilst the cars are producing, these will also. In a few years, industrial effort shall become our leading thing, and we shall travel to China to pick up some gunpowder.

Theresa Sullivan
(there is a notable absence of writing in July)

2nd August 480: Today, I've been exhausted from the long voyages up to the north (to Isle of Wight). [water damage] Looks like we're in Britannia, but it is quite different from what I expect. [water damage] half of us only survived, I've found Amelia [water damage] alive. We must survive while we can until we find a village nearby.

18th August 480: It turns out that Charlie Charles had also went with us. I didn't see him, but here we are. My parchment is much drier, so there isn't a lot of water damage to it anymore. I don't really have a lot of ink left after some of it has been ditched into the sea by the wind, but we can still catch squid from the sea and get some ink. I'll eventually find it.

22nd August 480: We've found a village. Me, Charles and Amelia, along with other followers are simply welcomed as visitors.

10th September 480: It turns out that these people who are taking care of us from a long haul from the south from an invasion of all sides has been friendly to us. I've started learning the language slowly as this is a place where we can't understand. We all did. In order to get around, we have to study the people who speak the language here. It is certainly not the language I have learnt for the past four years.

It is like starting over again. You have to learn the language. My followers, along with Charles, had even started picking up the language here, though we can still talk well with each other from Soissons, we have to learn their language in order to teach them my values.

20th September 480: I started telling them my story of how I got here, along with all of us around here on my behalf. There is some doubts by my close associate, Amelia, who wanted to tell her own, which I did approve as a side note. They seem to revere us as some sort of demigod or something or someone who has (WIP)

They're also Celtic, which my family in my own time was perhaps Irish. But we didn't speak Gaelic or any language in the Celtic language. Our family at home spoke only English, since my great-great grandfather migrated to America around a hundred years ago (c. late 19th century/early 20th century to say at least) to look for employment. I didn't take a DNA test anyway to show off my ancestry, I thought that it didn't matter as an American.

I also started to perhaps feel some interest with Charles for the past week.

[2 months of absence is reported here, at the time, they're beginning to work and reorganise their operations to spread their ideas differently as this isn't Soissons anymore where there is a functional kingdom - rather it is quite unorganised out of sorts.]

14th December 480: I've finally set upon going into the main island of Britannia with few of my followers while we continued. To the east, where we have landed, there were people who weren't Celtic but look vaguely Frankish. (outside note, IIRC, they are the Jutes according to the map? Just wondering.)

We've also started spreading ideas into the mainland, there are some villages near the beaches who are beginning to see my message after learning their language almost rapidly. It is still broken and junbled, but at least I can still comprehend some basic words unlike my first months Parisium.

29th December 480: It is decided that the locals see me as saving their villages by introducing literacy and ideas to them. I have decided to proclaim myself as a queen of these people, with some of the local chiefs and leaders seemingly ready to take me as 'Queen Carissa' in that island where we have landed. (lol Empress Theresa bruh)

Nurhaci:
'''Wargi-i Gucuse? (Western Allies?):''' Seeing their proximity to us, their relative might, their sizeable Hunnic minority, and connection to the Hunnic Confederation, we ask the Gepids for an alliance. As allies, we promise that we’ll support them in any war, if they do the same. In addition, as a condition of the alliance, we’ll recieve trade benefits from each other.

Ice Gemun: Due to increased military and administrative activity in the east, we move our capital to Šurakhul (Also known as Turla), the largest city in our realm, built on the ruins of the Greek city of Tyras (Modern Day Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi).

Kutvrigur-i nabe Necimbihei [Juwe] (Continuously infringing on the land of the Kutrigur [2]): The thing continues (look at the map I sent you derp).

Ufa Justan [Juwe] (Noodles [2]): Cultivation of rice begins after a few experiments by Yao Qingtai, who wishes to make rice noodles.

Deyetun [Juwe] (Airplane[2]): We learn about Oil and basic theories of Aerodynamics from the plane. We store the jet fuel in a dank container underground, making sure that it won’t leak into the ground.

Bernard Montgomery
June 28

I'm just making a stable living out of what i'm doing, but I really have an urge to go out and do something

July 22

I think I will build myself a ship and then go explore the world, maybe I can finally solve some old mysteries and write some chronicles and stuff.

August 12

Alright I'm almost done with my ship.

September 30

I've finished my ship, and packed my supplies, it's time to go

November 23

I haven't got a lot of time to write but right now I'm in Egypt and it's a fantastical place! I will write a book about my experiences and then that can kinda prank future generations haha.

Niccolo Machiavelli
Sep. 14, 480: The bulk of Odoacer's army has been trapped in northern Dalmatia and completely encircled! I have ordered naval attacks along Italy's coast along the Adriatic, and I ordered a decent amount of soldiers to march through Venetia et Histria. Meanwhile, a bunch of my soldiers will stay back to make sure Odoacer's troops don't break out of the encirclement and to slowly eat away at them.

Oct. 8, 480: Rumors and speculation have been flying about. Odoacer hasn't made a public appearance in a while, it seems. Many people thus believe that Odoacer has died of the Pontic Flu, and that Hitler has taken over. I have sent some spies over to investigate the truth to the rumors of Odoacer's death and Hitler's takeover. I have also sent some assassins to kill Hitler. (OOC: I know the assassination is like almost definitely gonna fail lol, but what the hell)

Nov. 11, 480: I have hired some Gepid mercenaries to fight alongside our troops. They have adopted some Hunnic tactics due to their history under the Huns if I recall correctly, so this should be helpful.

Dec. 20, 480: We have made considerable progress in Venetia et Histria, capturing huge chunks of the province. Meanwhile, the Italian army in our territory is all but gone. I cannot wait to visit my hometown of Florence once again; I miss it very much now...

Erwin Rommel
14th Aug. 480 - After my return to Constantinople, I have continued to oversee the creation of functional firearms. At this rate, I may as well add blacksmith manager to my roster of titles. There is a silent consensus among the Agency to first develop bolt action rifles, as the rifles beyond my time, as I understand them, require the use of obscure and currently unattainable elements.

25th Oct. 480 - Following my hubris in the Ghassanid kingdom, I have revised my strategies and tactics. With the presence of the communist uptimer in Arabia the presence of similar enemy uptimers in the vast continent of Europe cannot be discounted. I cannot say for certain if there will soon be a socialist insurrection in Spain or Britain, but we must do what we can to develop our military stratagem.

9th Nov. 480 - Results have been achieved. The latest rifle prototypes have been sent to the Italian front under the supervision of myself, and a few other Agents. We shall place them in the hands of competent soldiers, in the hopes that they do not explode twice for every three men they arm.

Ember

6th Jun. 480 It’s been a hectic amount of days, but we managed to maintain a foothold on Rome. Though the Italians have been clearing out our outposts in central Italy, our foothold on Northern Italy is unwavering, as more troops are being trained up by the day. In addition, we’ve been contacting our allies about reinforcements, specifically for medieval siege equipment. I suspect our ally to the north is in the same situation as me, so hopefully this alien word will be of some meaning to them.

16th Jun. 480 Movement has been spotted by our vanguard scouts; Italian troops are moving towards Rome to break the siege. Fortunately, some new recruits arrived from the north, which I placed in control of the siege, while I took my veteran troops to address the situation down south. I dislike fighting, but if it leads to the liberation of the lands my people used to reside on, I will do what I must.

24th Jun. 480 The battle was… odd… Tactics I have never seen before were employed on mass; no file ranks, much like our cavalry. In fact, they operated in smaller groups, smaller than I anticipated. However, it seemed that our discipline and mobility won the day, as we managed to surround their forces due to our cavalry numerical advantage. However, the enemy maneuvers were fascinating. In fact, I think I might study their movements a bit more. I got an observer to jot down the movements the enemy made, so I can study them later. Perhaps I can use them to improve our cavalry’s efficiency.

8th Aug. 480 The artillery pieces I requested have finally arrived. Though extremely primitive, there’s no better place to test them out than against an actual wall. Even if they all implode, we got trebuchets and the likes constructed already, so we got a safe fallback. It’s only a matter of time before we break into the capital.

21st Sept. 480 It’s been accomplished; the city of Rome has fallen to us. An internal mutiny resulted in the overthrowing of the local government, as the people opened the doors for us to enter. It was a resounding victory. Though it took some time to both quell the urge to loot, as well as passing out food to the starving citizens, the suffering has ended. We took the head of the snake. Now it’s time to bury the rest of it for good.

8th Nov. 480 Over the past month or so, we’ve been fortifying Rome, bringing it to a point where we could leave a garrison and be on our way. With various wooden forts situated both around Rome and on the nearby hills, we hopefully can catch any army before they get too close and mount a decisive defense in response. In addition, we have been getting steady reinforcements from the north. From the looks of things, it’s only a matter of time before our forces are victorious, and Dictatorial Rome is no more.

NPC Events

 * The Rebirth of Rome: With the Order of the Phoenix having taken Rome for the revitalized Western Roman Empire, it appears that unlike in our history, Rome's fall would just be a blip in the history books. However, although Rome has been lost, the Kingdom of Italy is still holding out strong, as Phoenix cells have been rooted out across the country. However, Byzantine and Vandalic forces have secured most of the south, while the Western Empire itself is slowly but surely pushing the forces of Hitler and Odoacer out of Dalmatia. Hitler's assassination, like always. fails horribly.
 * The End of Soissons: As the Frankish army approached Soissons, Syagrius was prepared to go all out. It was now, or never. The Soissonian troops fought valiantly, but it was all for naught. Syagrius, in the thick of battle, and just after having unknowingly killed Childeric, King of the Franks, was beheaded by his own former general Napoleon. His last words, addressed to Napoleon, are reported to be "Why hast thou forsaken me?". Napoleon simply answered, "I do what I
 * This is a Conquistador Moment: On one late winter night, a strange man showed up at a Visigothic town. Draped in the garb of the devil worshipping barbarians that had taken Armorica in the previous years, the village church leader was about to execute him. And then, the strange man made the sign of the cross. As it turned out, that strange man was none other than Hernan Cortez, the man who would almost singlehandedly conquer the greatest empire in the New World, brought back in time. He described how he was forced to lead the barbarian Aztec armies to Europe, and how he tried to convert them to the one true faith, or at least get them to stop slaughtering good Christians, but to no avail. Now, feeling threatened, he asks to meet up with the ruling Caesar (as he thinks he is in ancient Rome), to beseech him to launch a Crusade on these devil worshippers that he was forced to bring with him.
 * The Glories of the Motor Vehicle: As Nikita Khruschev embarks on his mission to China, another breakthrough in the field of automobiles is made, this time in the Byzantine Empire. With Temporalis guidance and the work of the most skilled metalworkers in all the Empire, Byazntium has managed to manufacture an extremely crude but still functioning steam car. Automobiles remain nowhere near economical to drive, but at least the Emperor now has his "horseless carriage". As a side effect of this, the commonfolk have begun to take to the cult of personality Emperor Zeno has been building for himself, with the latest additions to said cult of personality being that he can "move carriages by his own free will."
 * The Roman Major League: With the sport of soccer quickly gaining popularity across Europe, the Byzantine Empire is the first nation to create an official league, with teams all over the Empire pariticpating.
 * The Hunnic-Gepid Axis: The Gepids graciously accept the offer of alliance from the Tenebrae Khaganate, as they continue to greatly profit from sales of high quality guns across Eastern and Southern Europe. The Gepid king Giesmus also asks the Huns to send some of the "enlightened folk" to their nation so they can learn from them and develop their kingdom on an equal footing with Byzantium and the newly-christened Western Roman Empire.

Ember
25th Dec. 480The city is definitively ours. Defensive positions have been completed before winter hit, as we have hunkered down in the Roman capital. Overall, conditions in Rome are generally positive. Reports in the field aren’t as stellar, though. In fact, some of our supply depots (our old hideouts) have been discovered and cleared out by Italian forces. However, The troops up north have been slowly building in numbers. The hope is that once spring hits, we launch a massive offensive, hoping to put an end for this Revolution.

10th Jan. 481 We’ve been getting resistance from Italian forces attacking Rome, and boy, they’re doing their best to try and retake the capital. It’s almost scary how unwavering their troops are getting, as if they’re bees protecting the queen. However, my bees are more fierce. They’re fighting for their homeland, to restore the former glory of the Roman Empire; even if it’s going to be impossible to reinstate the empire, we can at least reinstate its spirit. Our reinforcements are almost ready to go; they’re already amassing on the frontlines further north. All we need to do is hold out until the spring

17 Jan. 481 Their assault is getting stronger. A few of the outer defenses were forced to fall back, but our defense is holding. I believe Jason told me about something like this; “Stalingrad” was it? Where the defenders fought tooth and nail as the attackers almost pushed them out of the city? All I know is that the fighting got intense, and I hope things don’t devolve to that point.

20th Jan. 481 We’re slowly being pushed back. The first line has been overrun, with entire divisions of men on both sides going down. However, not all was lost, as the efforts made by the first line have allowed us to do two things: firstly, we strengthened the second line even more. Secondly, and more importantly, we moved our artillery up. Though our trebuchets are positioned a little further back, our cannons are situated basically on the front line. In addition, our cavalry is wreaking havoc behind enemy lines, slashing into supply lines and taking what they can. Yet the enemy forces continue to advance forwards. I can hardly call their actions as human, willingly advancing across a large crossfire of cannon and arrow fire. I’m baffled at their suicidal tactics. Do they have no self-preservation? Do they really believe in their dictatorial leader that much?

1st Feb. 481 Another line has fallen. Though we managed to pull back the majority of our artillery, some of our trebuchets had to be burnt to prevent them from being utilized by the Italians. Their forces are unwavering. It’s kinda scary, actually. As far as I know, not one of them has surrendered. Not one of them hesitated with their advance. Not one of them has taken any prisoners. It’s either life or death. However, I could say the same for our forces. If we were to fall here, the light of the Roman Empire will flicker out; for good. So I suppose we are reliving Stalingrad. However, as long as the light flickers on, the Roman spirit will fight on indefinitely.

8th Feb. 481 We’ve completely withdrawn into Rome itself. The siege of Rome has begun. However, some of our troops came up with a plan. It’s extremely risky, but if it works, we might be able to end the siege prematurely. The plan is to situate all of our cannons and longbowmen at the end of a long path towards the main gate. Though we have the food to last, we aren’t so sure the gate will hold up. I can already see battering rams and siege towers trundling forth in the distance. It’s guaranteed that they’re going to throw everything they got at this siege.

Fortunately, we sent word to our northern forces of the situation, and they’re almost ready to march south, beginning a race against the clock. At this point, it is a matter of whether or not we can hold on to our defensive line. With nowhere to run, all we can do is survive. This will probably be the last time I can write in this book for a while, so all I can hope for is that the embers of Rome will survive the harsh winter.

12th Mar. 481 I can safely say that everyone has received some form of wound. A 100% casualty rate. Including myself, as I rest off an injured arm. However, I am happy to say that our spring offensive is in full swing. They actually came down early and managed to encircle the Italian forces within Rome as they did to us. Unfortunately for them, though, they didn’t have a Caesar. An entire army who finally surrendered before us, after months of resistance. I’m baffled at their resistance, but regardless of what happened; the siege of Rome is over.

29th Apr. 481 The offensive continues south, as our forces press forth. The Italians are on the back foot; they wasted all their resources on their assault on Rome. Now they’re reeling. The end is nigh. It’s time to reclaim Rome, once and for all.

17th May 481 The Spring Offensive stalled to a halt. We’ve managed to push them out of two-thirds of the Italian peninsula, but now a front has been established amongst the hills and mountains. I’m surprised at how strong a defense made by digging a long hole on the ground can make, but here we are, stuck in a deadlock along the entire front. I wish we could’ve pushed further, but at the very least, as long as we keep the pressure up, everything should be fine.

Nikita Khrushchev
481

''And so the moment arrives. Khrushchev prepares a long journey all the way to the land of riches, the land also known as "China". It will take thousands of miles to achieve the goal, but he knows he has to do it. If he does it, he will be known throughout the tribe(s), nation(s) and potentially even the entire world.''

[As he prepares his journey, his diary has large absence for a long time, until...]

May 8th

We have all been so busy over the last few months, organizing everything, but now, its only a matter of time before we are ready to travel. We have Multiple cars now, but only a limited amount of people can come with me. I have already chosen the lucky ones, but for the ones who are staying behind, they will continue to protect the mainland, and will also make stuff continuously.

[More Absence]

Jun 1st

I barely write in June/July, but I guess I am doing it now. The people are extremely excited, since I revealed that tomorrow, my journey starts. I shall make sure the people do not suffer large attrition, and that we use all of our supplies well, until we reach China. We will stop a few times, but I do not expect to stop as much. So, I will see you all soon...

Jun 2nd

Alright, We are about to go. Every time we stop, I will write something, because I am the main driver of my car. Only three others are in this car with me, and there are other groups of four, three and two that are also traveling alongside me. I thank the people for their presence and support, but when we reach China, I shall be thanking them more. For our land, I secure our safety, and want our land to not be raided. I need to go now... I Need to ma -slanted writing that is too slanted to read-

Bob Ross
Jan 12th: A lot has changed since I last wote, I gained a small following for my art and created the Serdica Artisans (Serdica is Modern Day Sofia, Bulgaria) as a way for artists of all kinds to meet up. I have high hopes for the future.

March 20th: The Serdica Artisans have been a popular group for Bulgarian nobles and clergy as private artists for a variety of different projects. With the funding I've been teaching people to paint and do other forms of art. Although I miss my family I still find solace in painting with my new friends and students.

April 5th: I'm not much of a Philosopher but with the increase of members I've seen some interesting ideas, Greek Philosophy is really popular among the art world. I remember reading The Laws by Plato after a friend recommended it to me, although I don't agree with everything I can say I appreciate his work.

April 21st: The SA (Serdica Artisans) have become a center for art, philosophy, and literature. However I've had problems with members trying to push their political agendas using the group's status. Although I have allowed people to plot against corrupt individuals. I still feel bad about it.

Jun 23rd: A group known as the Carolists have been taking refuge in our bases of operation, although a lot of our members seem to hate them. Although it reminds me of communism, just because I don't agree with a religion doesn't mean I'm gonna refuse to let them take refuge. On another note I just received an invitation to the Western Roman Imperial court, or something. Apparently it was sent back in 480 and just happened to not receive it due to my constant traveling at the time. But now I have it and how could I say no!

Jun 25th: When I set off to visit the council I decided to put someone named Lonio Ranus in charge of the Eastern part of the SA. While taking a few members with me in hopes of our group expanding west. Although I am worried as Lonio was a bit of a radical and was a diehard follower of Plato's beliefs.

Erwin Rommel
5th Jan. 481 - We have arrived in Italy, or rather, the decomposing corpse of Odoacer's former kingdom. We will continue to push north in the coming months. Our firearms, while free from spontaneous explosion, frequently jam. The astonishment of our gunmen was overshadowed by the annoyance of the ubiquitous jamming noise. This will have to be fixed when the next batch of firearms arrive.

17th Mar. 481 - I find my allegiance to the Reich waning by the day. The Byzantine Empire holds more prospects now than the Fatherland will. With the Emperor's "horseless carriage" gaining fame, it is only a matter of time before we are able to begin the production of armoured vehicles. They will prove extremely useful in spreading the auspices of the Roman Empire to lands uncivilized.

Our men have arrived outside Neapolis, and we shall begin the assaults. I recall the words of Sun Tzu from his military theory, "siege warfare is the lowest form of war", so to speak. I wonder if he is in this strange time as well.

25th May 481 - Neapolis has been secured. We are expecting the next batch of rifles from Constantinople. Hopefully these do not jam 9 times for every 10 bullets fired. I have also been notified that my books have been transcribed in many a language and spread out for the most trusted artisans and blacksmiths to glean knowledge from. The firearms should be of decent quality this time.

Henry V of Cæstre
January 3rd: After nearly a year of fighting rebellions, training an army, and improving the quality of life in Cæstre and surrounding cities, I don’t think I can take this much longer. For every rebellion we quell, two more spring up. I trained these guards myself, but the rebels are just as good as they are.

January 29: I have to keep reminding myself to take time off from ruling to spend time in Cæstre. Speaking of the city, it’s really improved here in the past few years. The population has exploded, and new buildings are springing up in the middle of the forest. Farming has gotten much more efficient, and the people are mining gold, copper, and iron in the hills surrounding the city. Paved roads of stone line the streets, and a large wall surrounds the inner city, with a large fort currently being constructed on the hill. I hope that the city will be spared from the rebels’ madness.

February 15: The rebels are nearing Cæstre. The guards are unable to stop them, and we are being pushed back. They have already captured Meirchin’s castle, and Cæstre and the surrounding region is the only safe place left. Maybe, when I’m dead, the kingdom will be able to piece itself back together. Caylene would be able to reunite them; the people respect her. Actually, this gives me an idea...

March 30: After a long, hard campaign against the rebels, we have been trapped. We are hiding in the central fort. The citizens are trying to defend us, but the rebels are too strong. I have made my choice.

April 2: The rebels broke through the walls. My fate is sealed. If my plan goes accordingly, the people will think I’ve died. If my plan goes accordingly, they will accept Caylene as ruler. Hopefully I can actually make it out alive. Hopefully, I can pull this off.

April 10: I did it. I escaped. I walked onto one of the unfinished walkways that was unstable to walk on. I made sure I was in sight of at least some people and “tripped,” collapsing the walkway and falling into the river Lune. The bricks gave me some scratches and bruises, but I was able to survive and drift out to the mouth of the river. There, I climbed out onto the beach and ran to one of my hidden supply vaults in the woods surrounding Cæstre. Then, I fled into the forest to hide.

April 28: My plan worked, I think. The people think I’m dead. Once I fell into the river, the rebels stopped their attacks and celebrated. I hung around a city to the north of Cæstre in disguise to see if the plan worked, and I overheard two citizens talking about how Caylene is now the Queen since my “death.” I accomplished my goal; the kingdom seems to be at peace... I don’t know what to do now. I think I might try to make my way down to London and see if I can make a living there.

June 13: By now, I’ve made my way down to London itself—or, Londinium, as the locals call it. The city looks completely unrecognizable, but I don’t know what else this could be. The Thames River runs through the middle, and the London Wall rises up above the town, protecting the inner city. The city certainly looks smaller than I remember it, though. I will see if I can find whoever is in charge here. Maybe, just maybe, they can help me.

June 30: It seems the person in charge of Londinium is a man named “Cerhull.” I have requesting an audience with him in a few days, and I can’t help but wonder what this Cerhull man is like.

Theresa Sullivan
16th February: I had a great time in the middle of winter as being Queen Carissa. Once the winter is over, I learn more of the language basics here and my newfound followers, I'll set out to the main island of Britannia again.

I didn't have any writing material to go through, so everything is kept spartan at this point.

7th March: We're heading back to the mainland to teach our own doctrines of freedom and liberty to local towns and villages. The idea of liberty for them should be really easy.

25th March: One of my followers have decided to hunt an animal and tried to skin it. She is a great hunter. But, I'm getting used to writing things less.

8th May: I've heard of rumours of a chieftain to the east that there is an old man leading a kingdom or something. I'm not interested in exploring or going there yet. I'm not ready as he has set up a kingdom that is far more advanced than my queendom.

2nd June: Still continuing our trip to convince people. We will never stop growing! I've raised a loyal bodyguard of twenty women who are trained in archery, but not melee. They're still gonna try it out soon, in case someone who has a strong piece of armour comes along. Heh, I love living out in a very traditional way. Charles also says so, he has raised local levies to keep my rulership in place whenever I'm absent and doing my own duty to spread my teachings, my story and tales from the future.

(Just a note, I didn't do my turn since I just simply lost my interest, but I'm gonna rush it through so that I could get some of my stuff done)

Turn XI: AD 481 (Jul-Dec)

 * Roma Invicta (pt.1): With the Kingdom of Italy being steamrolled from all sides by the Order of the Phoenix, both Romes, as well as several other barbarian Germanic states, and its controlled territory reduced to essentially just north-central Italy, it appears that the Dark Ages and the Germanic takeover will only be a small blip in the history books of this world. However, Hitler isn't done yet...
 * Presidents Meet Phoenixes: As the 6 Presidents continued to wander the length of Europe, they eventually arrived in the way-torn hells cape that was Italy. Wherever they went, they would tend to the sick, care for the wounded, sing to sleep children who have seen things worse than what anyone would ever want to see, and generally care for the people. Eventually, they made it down to Phoenix-controlled territory, where they conversed with the leaders of the Order and promised to help them on their quest to liberate Italy from fascist oppressors.
 * Communism is a Preferable Alternative to Death (pt.whateverthef*ckitisimighthavetobeginbeingoriginalnow): 
 * Why Is The Vietnam War Now In My Backyard?: Ah yes, the ISOTs are not over yet. One hot midsummer day, an entire division of the US Army, as well as a division of the Viet Cong, was sent back in time to 481 AD, in what would today be the northern coast of Spain. With superior technology and numbers, they would manage to conquer parts of the northern Spanish coast (i.e the parts not under Visigothic control), and continue to fight their war against head other, even though they have been sent to a strange and unknown place.
 * Hernan Cortez's Plea: 
 * It's Always Friday in Paris: 
 * Why Khan't We Invade Byzantium Yet?: 
 * The Gun Trade: With what is being increasingly referred to as the "Gun Road" growing in traffic and importance, several Sklaveni tribes in OTL northeastern Romania begin forming organized city-states in order to control the trade passing through their lands. As these states are much less discriminatory about who obtains guns, selling them haphazardly for a quick buck instead of formal trade with the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, these events also heavily contribute to the spread of gun warfare across tribal Northern and Eastern Europe.
 * King Henry in Churchill's Court: 
 * Why? (pt.7):