Parthian tales and other things

[Kaiser Kirk]

Story 2.
Yazd
Samuel Nahawandi bid goodbye to his family, and joined the queue at the train station. Nervous but excited, for he was leaving his home city for the first time.  Yazd, a blaze of green in the high desert of East Parthia. The buildings were bedecked with gardens like green jewels, fed by quanats.  The ancient long underground tunnels wormed their way down from the mountains to feed the fertile plain and city. Behind it's desert walls, the well watered Yazd had withstood siege many times, standing unconquered for over a thousand years.

Samuel's family, the Nahawandi , had lived in the city for close to a thousand years, fleeing the instablity and laws of a Christinizing Roman Palaestina.  As part of the reforms following the Noble's Revolt of 1848-52, all citizens of Parthia were expected to participate in National Service.  When was the choice of head of household, but between their 14th and 20th birthdays, all but the first born boys and girls would be expected to serve.

Samuel's time would start with a month in the Satrapy's muster camp. From there, Samuel could look forward to a train trip, winding it's way west to the great city of Persis. This city served as a hub for the inductees to be gathered together.  A month in Persis, perhaps the most dangerous in his career as he, and other inductees, were exposed to germs from all over Parthia. Those who did not fall ill to some odd malady, would spend their mornings at exercise, while the afternoons were in classrooms, ensuring that their language skills were adequate and getting a fresh dose of Parthian history and laws.   

After the second month, presuming he was healthy and fit, the train would take Samuel to Shiraz.  For Samuel this was a special treat, for this City of Wine was the legendary site where the Prophet Daniel survived the Lion's den.  Some held that a Jewish wife from Shiraz was the one that convinced Cyrus the Great to free the Jews from Babylon and restore them to the Temple.

Outside Shiraz was one of the Army's premier training centers. For four months recruits would undergo training. At the end, the recruits who passed would face one of several futures.  Some would be selected to stay in the Military for three years. Some would be selected to serve a longer stint on Civilian Public Works crews, serving as  labor or clerical staff for 4 years on the infrastructure projects of the nation.  Some would be offered the chance to work for 5 years in the clerical realms. In the end, all three careers would earn the same pay, just in different timespans.  Samuel would prove apt at math and be accepted into the Army, where after learning basic infantry drills, would test into the Engineer (and Artillery) branch.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Storatavar Bahram had committed to the idea of a lifetime in the Army when he finished his term of National Service in 1909.  As was long practice each Savar (private) was assigned to a long service veteran, usually in pairs, but he was one of three assigned the grizzled Ostabar (Corpral) Pejzman. Pejzman had made officer, but had this problem with drinking and fighting. Despite those lapses, he was a gruff but knowledgeable trainer.  To a young man, this had not seemed a terrible life, and certainly better than going back to mining.

What then Savar Bahram did not know was the the new, and soon widowed Emperor, was going to embark on a plan of massive overseas expansion. Bahram's Gond (Land Unit) had been sent to Kandy (Sri Lanka) and participated in the siege of the highlands. When the Kandy nobles had capitulated Savar Bahram had been promoted to Ostabar himself as his Gond rest and refitted.

The pause was not long, as Parthian forces in Aceh had come under attack from the forces of Palembang, also known as Srivijava, and his Gond was part of the force that landed at Sunsgang on the delta, marching upriver to take Palembang. With most of the Palembang army engaged in a drive on Medan, the landings and drive to their capital was only lightly opposed.

There had been a two year long period where occupying the former Palembang lands had been easy duty. Palembang was hot, but
Bahram was from Zahedan, which was usually hotter. The locals food was excellent, and the accommodations good.  Palembang had been a trade port long enough that translators could be found without great difficulty. The former Palembang officers and NCOs had been seconded to Parthian units as 'advisers', while the common draftees were organized to work with the national service.  The local peasantry cared little who styled themselves as 'ruler' so long as they were not too oppressive. The policies of Parthia – rooting out corruption, distributing the the estates of nobles, and bringing in national service Harzas for building roads and mills for the common use, all were seen as positives.

The reassignment to "The March" was unwelcome.   The Aceh Prince may have fled to Palembang to rally help, but many of the high nobles had retreated to the rugged Bukit Barsam mountains, which made the jagged spine of West Sumatra. The area was only inhabited by tribes, and they likely expected the Parthians to follow them off the plains and into the broken ground where the Aceh elite could defeat them in detail.  Instead, "The March" had been established, a series of rammed-earth star forts at the edge of the plain, marking the edge of the Parthian territory and the beginning of the "No mans land" of "The March".  In the rear, Dragoons provided mobile patrols and rapid reinforcements, while in the March foot patrols ensured the Aceh forces had not descended on the plain.

The struggle had become a large scale porous siege. In the first stage, the Aceh Nobles, holed up in the mountains, had at first used their wealth to get the local villagers to smuggle arms and ammunition, As time wore on, the funds ran low and the second stage started.  This was when Storatavar Bahram's Gond had been assigned. The Aceh forces turned to raiding the villages in the March for food and supplies. This drove the people to flee East into the Parthian lands. There they not only bore tales of what their former overlords had done to them, but found that the new overlords worked hard to improve the common lot. This undermined the residual support, and the remaining smuggled goods had dried up. For Storatavar Bahram, this had been a fairly quiet period, with Parthian patrols mainly concerned with keeping tabs on Aceh actions, and engage only when circumstances could be "arranged" to be advantageous.

This led to phase three of the struggle. The Aceh nobles and their personal armies had been holding up in the mountains for years, they were hungry, low on arms, their clothes ragged, and growing desperate. The had resumed high risk raids into Parthian territories, and Storavar Bahram had been once more called to action. The Parthians tried to pick the raider columns up and shadow them past the fort line, while other forces mobilized and moved into position.

For Storatavar Baharm, the patrol had gone as usual. As typical Parthian practice, there were three forward and one back, which each of the forward columns of different strengths, intended to keep the foe from knowing the exact force encountered.  In this case the patrol was company size, and each of the columns only a platoon.  One of these had bumped into an Aceh column in the March, and sent a runner back to the trailing unit. That then sent runners back to each leading unit, and two back to the fort. From the fort, telephone and radio would send the alarm. While each platoon had a flare pistol and bugle if needed, runners were less obvious. The difficult task of maintaining contact and shadowing the Aceh forces from a distance now ensued while forces mobilized.  Soon, Dragoons would be cantering forward to serve as scouts. If all went as planned, the Aceh column could be cut off and destroyed. Of course, things rarely go quite as planned, but that was expected.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Story 4.
Seteney.

She crept carefully closer, only to have the brush catch the brim of her slouch hat, snatching it up and back, spilling her blond hair down into her eyes. Slowly she reached up and tugged the wide brim of the hat back down, shoving the hair back under the brim.  Carefully she crawled a bit further and stopped. She lay just inside the outer branches of the bush.  She slid the rifle forward, and pulled the hammer back, and checked to make sure the cap was secure on the nipple. Sprinkling some dry grass, she checked the wind. Gauging the range, she took careful aim at the distant Maral in the meadow across the creek below.  The herd grazed peacefully, but always different individuals would keep their heads high on watch, while the others ate.  The largest had a magnificent set of antlers, but there was a younger male,  with a fine set of velvet covered antlers. At two hundred kilos, the meat was important for her family, but the antlers were prized by traders, she knew not what for. Her shot rang out, and the herd fled. The minee' ball striking true, the maral lept at the shot, bounding for the edge of the meadow and then staggering. She knew he would not get far, and the blood spore would be easy to track.

Working her way back out of the bush, she fetched her mule, unhobbling it and leading it down the hill to the kill. Cleaning the carcass, she field packed it, and led her mule down the mountain slope. She soon reached her younger brothers watching the flock.  They gathered around to examine her prize. She shooed them back to minding the flock and continued down to to the family homestead, a collection of huts, the old one and the two newer ones.  The meat would be welcome, as would the the money the antlers would bring. Their family had license for selling 3 sets of antlers a year.

Inside she was happily greeted, but this was a sad but exciting day, for she was leaving for her years of service. Though she thought afterwards she would return to the village and start her family, so this may be her only trip South of the Caucus mountains in her lifetime. 

The next day, Seteney left her home of 16 years, and hiked down to the village in the valley of Terek. There, she joined the others for the quarterly levee. The teenagers clambered into wagons which took them to the railway station.  The railway ran from the northern border, where it supplied garrisons facing the Golden Horde, south through Parthian Alania, to Samadar. 

Samadar "the furthest gate" had been founded in the 6th century, North of the Caucus mountains.  The ancient port city had traded rulers repeatedly through the centuries, but now served Parthia, and the Steppe Horde, as gateway for trade down the Caspian Coast.    Cargos from the coast of the Caspian Sea, including oil, could pass by railway along the steppe West or North,  Despite the tariffs, the trade brought much wealth for all involved.

The Muster Camp was much as she expected, as others of her family had warned her. Many in camp got sick, as folks brought ill humors from their homelands. The food served was abundant, with meat every day. The food was said to help them ward off illness, and fuel them for the daily exercise. After their exercise, they would attend classes where their prior schooling was evaluated, and they brushed up on Parthian history and speech. Seteney's people, the Tapante tribe of the Asyghe (Easternmost Circassians) were separated by the border from the rest of the tribes, but had kept their ancient language, and so her Parthian came from school, the camp giving her a chance to brush up. Several of the city kids needed more exercise to get into shape. After a month, if they were fit and healthy, they would journey onwards.

[Kaiser Kirk]

The southern shore of the Caspian Sea, the Province of Gilan was a prosperous one. The Sea teemed with fish, while the well watered plain was backed by soaring Talysh mountains, their slopes cloaked in a verdant temperate rainforest. The orthographic uplift of the mountains forced the humid air off the sea to rise, dropping it's watery burden on their Northern slopes. With limited access via passes, and the Eastern end secured by the now ruined 200km Wall of Gorgan, staunch defense had ensured the region had been spared invasion since the time of Cyrus the Great, and had prospered. 

This enclave is where Queen Boran had sought refuge with House Farhadan in 742, and the the Arshunkis had held large estates since. This was where Shirin rode, her new horse trotting through the fields and the mulberry trees, climbing into the foothills.  She broke into a gallop at each of scattered firing ranges, firing at the moment all four hooves were clear of the ground. That moment of gliding, she could take a clear stable shot.  Other times she would quickly dismount and engage targets with her shortened rifle.

By the end of the day she had covered many leagues, and the dull ache in her side was spiking to sharp pain.  While the surgeons had claimed she was lucky to have been shot there – a little lower may have shattered her hip,  a little to the right would have been in her abdominal cavity, it still hurt a month later.  She wondered how the remainder of her Troop of Nhsyr-skar (First Hunters, Elite Light Cavalry) were doing, her Captain had been non-committal when she requested information. She was certain they were not ensconced in such  luxury, but as 4th in line, this counted as "home rest".

Shirin kept going over the reconnaissance patrol. Every March, as the hills were lush with vegetation in Parthia, and the horses could be fed and exercised, while in the Horde lands, the snow was melting, the ice breaking and the rivers in flood. Sometime in late March or early April, the Parthians would move North, into the the Southern Horde lands. The Horde of course tended their Cavalry well, feeding it through the winter, but the melt and flood restricted their ability to move additional forces from elsewhere  to the area.  In the Summer, Horde forces would return the favor, penetrating between the Parthian redoubt in North Khorasan, until chased out.

Shirin did not actually know how many long this dance had played out, likely since the last war in the 1870s, but perhaps before. Each spring the Parthians verified the Horde had not started construction of fortifications or depots that would need..correcting...before they were completed and could become springboards for an assault. The Horde returned the favor, ignoring the liberal studding of small forts while seeking evidence of greater.

Sometimes, it did not go as planned.  The Elite 'First Hunters' (Nhsyr-skar) all weighed no more than 70kg, and so had a high proportion of women riders. Each brought two well conditioned mounts and could change saddles en route.  The riders of the Horde could almost never catch them, but they could occasionally cut them off, or ambush them.

Shirin had entered National Service at 16, and  like most highly tutored children of nobility, had tested well in Muster, and been accepted into the Cavalry. It was not until her second 3-year term, after passing officer training tests that she had joined the Nhsyr-skar, but this had been 3rd and last "Spring Ride", but it was the first time she or any of the Squadron had seen a Golden Horde aircraft. The Troops rode dispersed, and they took to concealment in cover, but there must have been some scouting reports. 

The path back is where the Horde was waiting, and the return to Parthia became a series of light engagements.  Unlike Parthia's Dragoons, their horses were fast and light, and they could break contact. The price of that was they did not wear the nickle-steel lobster tail helms, or the cuirasses of the Dragoons. While useless against a rifle under 50m, the armor (1)was effective 100+m, and certainly at the ranges of the steppes, which is why the Dragoons had them.  The Nhsyr-skar normally snickered at their armored counterparts, calling 'old lobsters'. Oh how she had enjoyed taunting Vache (older brother, 2nd in Line) about that. That ...advance...out of the Horde lands and to Parthia they could have used them.

Now, Shirin was looking at the likelihood that when she returned to active duty she would only have months left. Eventually, she wished to start her own family, but for now, she was nearly 22, she could reenlist and make the Cavalry her course, or she could do something less exciting and more useful to the throne. 

(1)Based on the Holtzer breastplate of the 1890s, per Encyclopedia Britannica 11th ed.
Holtzer made chrome steel breastplates in 1890, 0.158 in. of which was proof against the 0.43-in. hard lead bullet of the Gras rifle at 10 metres range, while 0.236 in. was proof against the 0.32 in. 231-grain Lebel bullet at the same distance, the striking velocities being approximately 1490 and 2070 ft. per second respectively. The bullet-proof steel made by Messrs Cammell, Laird & Co. in Great Britain may be taken as typical of that produced by the best modern manufacturers. It is proof against the 215-grain Lee-Enfield bullet of 0.303 in. calibre striking directly, as under:
Range.       Thickness of Plate.   Striking Velocity.
 10 yards   0.187 inch              2050 f.s.
100   "     0.167  "                1865  "
560   "     0.080  "                1080  "
The weight of the 0.08 in. plating is only 3.2 ℔ per sq. ft. The material is stated to be readily adaptable to the ordinary operation of bending, machining, drilling, &c., and is thus very suitable for the purposes indicated above.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Story 6.

(Note, chronologically, the Shirin story should have come later).
Barranacas del Oronico

Sargod Varaza was fond of his sleep, and never appreciated being awoken an hour and half before dawn. Granted, it had long been the traditional time in Parthian service, a legacy of successful Byzantine dawn attacks. In this case, dawn was no where in the offing, it was the middle of the night and he had to go to the watch tower.

The climb up to the viewing platform was not cold, this place never truly got cold. Still, the wicker screens around the ladder made blocked much of the starlight, making for a somewhat disorienting climb. The watchpost was also screened, but the viewslits let in some light. From the top, the sentry pointed out the distant flames flickering above the forest canopy.  The sentry pointed out the trio of distant fires, explained the bearings and how that met the maps. Sargod Varaza came to the sad conclusion that seeing the distant flames had not added much information, and he probably could have stayed in the command post and looked at the map. Still, personal verification seemed best.

Sargod Varaza descended and reconvened with his command staff. The villages afire had been roughly plotted on the map. The Gond's skarsegmen (scout-snipers) had been busy exploring the Mayan borderlands, so rough locations were known, but the basemaps were still severely lacking. The skarsegmen had also penetrated far enough upriver to find villages that had already suffered the mayan purges.

The skarsegmen reports, and a growing number of tribespeople moving East told the tale. The Maya, having claimed the land several years prior, had pioneered pack roads to supply their borders.  The Mayan commissars had been expanding outwards from their Port on the Caribbean. The recent events seem to have been a decision by the Mayan command, to impose their concepts on the villagers, which meant the elimination of any prominent families, keepers of traditions or old ways, only the Mayan way would now be acceptable. The Yanomani and the other upriver tribes had common ancient roots in the distant mountains, but had no real organization beyond their villages, and while constantly skirmishing, it was as sets of individuals.

There had been several light misunderstandings along the Mayan-Parthian border as the Mayan presence increased. The Mayans were showing a reluctance to allow their subject's leaders to simply relocate, and had wandered past the blazed border in places. Sargod Varaza was of the understanding the Maya were not formally recognizing the Parthian claims. The blazing villages indicated there would be more tribes people fleeing, and their warriors might seek to use the Parthian lands as a safe haven or base, which could lead to more conflicts.  Sargod Varaza drafted reports to above, then an advisory for his command.   The Satrap was supposed to be considering options, but no clear directive had been given. 

 

[Kaiser Kirk]

Story 7.

It was spring in Kalifern, and rainstorms still swept through, boosting the creeks to greater depths and adding snow to the massive mountains to the East. The local people had long ago claimed the high ground at the confluence of the two rivers, so the Parthians had chosen a similar  elevation a couple parasangs (leagues) away. As the rivers swelled and flooded out on the plains, this mimicry- and the laws against building right by the creek- payed off. 

Dali Sofer and her survey crew had come home after a long couple of weeks. The oilskins that sought to ward off the wet had lost much of their utility, they were wet and muddy, but not terribly cold.  A miller's daughter from the outskirts of storied Shiraz, she had despaired of the daily grind, but had excelled at maths, and in national service was sent to the Pioneers. That had been her stepping stone to surveying.  Now, she was part of the survey crews that were slowly  triangulating the new territories.

The house was typical of the style the Parthians had decided on for the territories. A basic approach for all the lands they considered. The forests of Parthia had been carefully managed for centuries, but grew slowly and had to be used wisely. So the plan depended on  local soils materials had been wetted and mixed with a small quantity of simple lime cement, and pressed by steam engine into large bronze molds, making several types of large blocks – grooved on one side, ridged on the other, or notched.  These 25kg blocks could then be used to quickly make a thick walled houses quickly. The normal plan had three two story houses facing a walled courtyard, the first story having only narrow window, the upper proper ones.  The roof, curiously, the Parthians expected to be furnished from local material – thatch/tiles/wood, though the precious rafters were shipped.

It was not the best house design and was not suited for all locations. The walls took precious time to cure, and were not the most seismically sound. But, as one design it provided a way to house  people during the first season in fairly solid, defensible structures. Quicker houses, more suited to the actual territory would come later.

For Dali Sofer, the dull walls were home, and had been for several months. They were very similar to the town before.  She only returned every couple weeks, bidding goodbye to her escort team at the town gates. Dali's husband, Mesharsheya was the settlement's physician and oversaw the two national service nannies who tended to the four children.

Dear Mesharsheya had never been the adventurous one, unlike Dali. Their weeks were so very different, but they were happy to be with each other. His tales tended to be of who had gotten hurt, and he was a horrible gossip about their fellow townsfolk, each relocation being the source of new tidbits.

Dali for her part would tell the family of the new lands they found, the hamlets of the local tribes, what the most promising lands for agriculture and settlement looked like. Frequently she knew what the translators had to say about the many tribes that occupied these lands. The locals had long ago taken the spots that most suited their limited agricultural efforts, and there were many such hamlets, but the territory were large and there was still many attractive places.  The great valley savanna of Kalifern was one such - ill served as agricultural land by these spring floods followed by the long summer heat, but the Parthians had millennia of experience of bringing mountain waters to suitable soils for growing.
For now though, the scientists were still seeing how their test plots grew, so that when full settlement was allowed beyond the coast, the crops they planted would be ones that would prosper.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Story 8

For Sargod Varaza the past several months had been fraught with anxiety.  The Posting in Barranacas was important, but he was also responsible for 2 border posts in the West. Normally he kept his Harza split between the two, but he had halved the troops in critical Barranacas to provide a mobile force to support the border force.  As the months ground on, the Maya-tribal conflict began to involve Parthian forces more and more.

Barranacas del Oronico had been inhabited for nearly a thousand years before the Parthians came.
As the effective head of navigation for ocean going ships, and at where the rivers of the delta split, it was a natural trading post. This is why the Parthians had adopted it as the main depot for the southern half of the Province.  There were only two main roads, the one which paralleled the delta to the North, and the one which connected to the uplands to the Northwest.  The multiple West-East rivers were crossed with timber bridges, as they otherwise divided the uplands into smaller areas. At the other end of the road Northwest was Cumana. Cumana had been founded by Iberians in 1515, not long after they found the Mali Empire's source of wealth in the Carribean.   

Parasangs to the west, the border was ill defined. Parthian surveyors had blazed a line, largely defined by hydrology, and separating the uplands from the mesa highlands the Mayans claimed.  Secondary tracks connected to the small fortifications(1) that served as secure bases for the Parthian border forces. The Orinoco province hosted Five Gonds (Land Units), but the islands were viewed as the priority, with only one assigned this land border, leaving the border fairly thinly held. The philosophy had been one of presence and patrol, to lend stability to their new territory. This was not an optimal posture for conflict.   

Conflict had indeed come. Most of the Mayan lands had quickly been repacified by their commisars. Some of the tribes to the west were violently resisting the Mayan attempts to create an egalitarian society via execution. Other tribes were fleeing, and in greater and greater numbers were fleeing for Parthian lands.  The Mayans appear to object to that, especially once the fleeing tribal elites started trading golden objects in exchange for future purchases. Those future purchases being rifles which arrived by freighters some months later. Curiously the rearmed warriors would frequently then depart Parthian lands. Their families would encamp in Parthian lands and welcome the warriors when they returned.  This led to some Mayan actions that 'strayed' over the border, and clashes as Parthian troops attempted to educate them.

For Sargod Varaza, the escalating conflict meant the arrival of reinforcements was deeply welcomed. Atlantic Command had ordered one of the Gonds supporting the Palmas Protectorate in West Africa to transfer to Orinoco, and the arrival of those troops was welcomed. For the newcomers, transfering from skirmishes against Fulanji jihadists to skirmishes against Maya 'Dedicated' was not a particular upgrade. The additional forces did mean that powerful mobile reserves could be fielded along the border, but also that the cargoes unloaded at Barranacas increased. The arrival of the two Recalde class, newly refurbished in Ria, in the Oroninco province was also encouraging, but it was not at Sargod Varaza's level to know if they foreshadowed more forces from Atlantic Command, or better Parthia.  While he would readily concede the threat did not appear dire at the time....yet, but he was not pining to serve in another war.

(1) These are not fortification points, rather an illustration of 'digging in'. Steam shovels and traction engines can excavate and construct an earthen version fairly easily.  Vauben-style star forts would be an attractive target for massed artillery fires...if that was the threat. However, as a safe base for a company or up to a battalion or so, it's a fairly good design. The angular design means any attacker assaulting one angle can be enfiladed from another. The raised parapets give good prepared firing positions, and in a wet region the elevation helps keep the troops dry, while a properly drained dry moat both disrupts any assault while lowering the ground water. 

For my part, as part of the trying to figure out How the Muscovites beat the Horde, I found they established a number of fortified points. The forts could be reduced through substantial effort, but in that time they could also be relieved by mobile forces. Not reducing meant their could harry/attack Horde forces bypassing them. So a similar concept gets applied to both how the Parthians deal with the horde and their territorial borders.

Ironically, while I've had this concept for a while, only recently I read an article on how the French bases in the Sahel are dirt trenches and ramparts constructed on a Vauben plan.... offering security against the principle threat – light infantry weapons. 

[Kaiser Kirk]

Last summer a number of things started happening, and for much of the past year I've been oddly busy
and I stopped having the Time/Energy/Nexus to post my own news or even keep up with my turns, or other's news.

So the planned storylines are all rather ruptured and I'll have to patch them together.

So some of what I'll be posting is long winded and rambling and somewhat isolated.
It's mainly meant as background color for what Parthia is about.

I should be catching up with other's news and resuming my planned storylines shortly....
...presuming I don't wind up on fires...which I don't THINK I will.
The Forestry office I work at is running on half staff, so we don't have many folks to spare.

[Kaiser Kirk]

This is meant to be a story about that province in middle Zimbabwe that Parthia surrounded years ago, and finally claimed in 1923.0

Parthian Intermittant News
Get your headlines here ! PIN Heads !

July 1922- Jan 1923

The upper Zambezi river watershed was a fertile area, and had long been fought over by differing peoples and the kingdoms and Empires they formed.

The Rozvi Empire was one of many successor states that arose when the Mupta Empire splintered under the stresses of drought and civil war. The Rozvi Empire was a warrior state of the Shona people and  had in turn been conquered by the invasion of the Nguni people. The area was then conquered by the Ndebele people, who still ruled when the Parthians arrived.

The First Parthian columns had smashed the Gaza Empire of the coast, yet more arrived from the South from the Nguni lands.  The Parthians were not entirely unknown, having founded the cities of the Swahili coast over a thousand years ago, but until recently their presence in central Africa had been limited to traders.   As they years went on, more Parthian advances were reported in the region of the Great Lakes. Reports from neighboring lands had a consistency,  Parthian units of nearly a thousand strong would march on a village, and surround it, demanding surrender. Failure to agree would result in reinforcements arriving and a brief cannonade followed by a second demand. Interpreters, usually long term traders, would read out the treaty and list the dire consequences. The choice of battle or signing would be given. The Parthians would then move on to the next village. Parthian surveyors and builders would arrive, and a school and administrative building would be built, sometimes new wells, windmills, and other improvements, and always the road. Scholars would ask about local habits, crops, patterns.  Land not in use would be inquired about.  More recently, reports have filtered in of Parthians arriving and creating settlements on land bought, clusters of two-storied Insula with a rammed earth wall in place of the African krall.

The Ndebele army had a militia tens of thousands of spear equipped impis, but the Royal Army had a higher standard but only 40 regiments totaling 15,000 troops, expensively equipped with imported trade rifles (martni-henri) rifled breechloaders firing large black powder cartridges.  The revolt of the Rozvi people into the arms of the Parthians led to the battle of the Shanghai river had been an decisive defeat for the Ndebele army. A brief accord recognized the defection of the Rozvi to the Parthians, and an uneasy peace had followed.

Queen Lozikeyi, in her Capital of Bulawayo, had ruled as regent after the King died in that battle as the Rozvi tore away. She had watched as the Parthians slowly surrounded her Kingdom, and politely asked for it to surrender, but was puzzled as they did not force the matter. Scouts had identified a half dozen or more Parthian formations of equivalent size as the Royal Army, spread out in the surrounding lands, heavily armed with more modern guns. Machines had pioneered roads and worked to create safe water supplies. Overtime, the Parthian presence became more established, as their scholars tried to learn the local language, history and mores while teaching their own language and overarching laws.

Parthian emissaries had eventually came to Bulawayo they had come with the dreaded surrender demand. The terms were again explained simply – join the Empire, and swear to uphold the base laws and become nobles of the Empire, or fight and have their titles lost and lands forfeit.   The obvious question, 'what if we refuse' was met with an unexpected offer – send a delegation to Parthia, see their homeland.  Queen Lozikeyi sent her brother Makwelambila.

Makwelambila and his attendants undertook a long journey. First accompanying the Parthians to their railhead, where they climbed aboard the first locomotive they had seen. That wound its way to a coastal town, Sofala.  Evidence of the Parthian presence was scattered along the railway, but several fortified camps holding thousands of troops were passed.

Sofala had been founded by Somalis but had fallen to the Parthians of the Kilwa Sultanate around 1180CE. The Mongol invasions, Black Death and Tamerlane ravaged Parthia and severed its trade, orphaning Kilwa, and it's coastal towns gradually became independent. Sofala became the lead seaport for the mighty Mwenemupta Empire and it's trade, links which the Parthians revived when they recovered. The  Mwenemupta Empire tore apart under Civil War, but the trade continued, with Sofala as a trading city state, until the Parthians had formally claimed it half a dozen years prior.  The harbor had been dredged, Lighthouse guided the way to the harbor, and railroads and cartways driven into the countryside, leading to Sofala to boom.

In Sofala tetook passage on the Royal Road a vessel of tremendous size compared to anything they had seen before. A passage over a vast sea took them to the Port City of Bushere. In Bushere harbor floated massive vessels which dwarfed the Royal Road while the shipyards worked on more. Mercantile traffic and fishing dhows filled the harbor.  The buildings were large and stone, the city many times in size that of Bulawayo The rail journey to the city of Shiraz and its gardens, and then through the Zagros mountains and winding its way through cultivated and irrigated lands, well populated prosperous and peaceful, to the Capital of Isfahan. The Parthians showed off their old technology- the air conditioning of the Windcatchers, the Ice-making of the Yachals, the gardens of mechanical birds brought to life with clever hydraulics, and their new technology, from electric lights to horseless carriages to flying machines  The audience with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and review of the Immortals was almost anticlimactic. Makwelambila and his attendants were toured around the sprawling city, and the Minster calmly explained that Parthia felt that when a well run and respected centralize nation such as the Ndebele was best conquered and incorporated peacefully, rather than demolished and torn apart and then reforged.

The return trip was long and Makwelambila and his attendants were well treated. The report to Queen Lozikeyi was grim. The Parthian Empire was vast and prosperous, the troops on the Ndebele border were but a fraction of the whole. Queen Lozikeyi discussed matters with her advisers and then summoned the Parthian Emissary and asked to draw up terms. Once agreed to and signed, it was agreed that at years end, the treaty would come into force, and Ndebele would become another province within Parthia.

[Kaiser Kirk]

The Parthian Naval headquarters in Ria, home of the Atlantic fleet, was a surprisingly modest affair.
Having no knowledge if the area was prone to earthquakes, a modest two story structure
with rammed earth walls, sheathed with tile, had been built. The defensive nature of the building
was evident in it's form, and the lack of windows on the first floor....which made it very gloomy inside.

Towers at the corners allowed observation of the harbor, and the central courtyard however, was splendid,
with a well watered garden. The canteen was also top notch. But it was cramped for it's current use.

Repeated requests by command for a budget to build a splendid facility had been rejected in favor
of lavishing more funds on drydocks, armor foundries, gantry cranes for turret extraction, and
bunker oil facilities tucked behind the first range of hills.

This is where Parthia's coastal command was run out of.

The Duty Officer looked up curiously as a member of the Satrap's staff entered the facility.
"Commander Mishan?  I have a request from the Wilno naval attache, the Satrap would like pursued, here is the stamped request."
The Commander was puzzled, and stared hard at the officious little man for a minute.

The Official was a pompous man, young and running to fat. His robes of office were lightweight as befitting the climate, but of good make,
and even if of a but lower rank, they had the vanity of the velvet trim elements was a personal embellishment that did not reflect well.
The official's sash, the marker of his family and personal honors had little on it, marking the man's family as a Guild blacksmithing lineage from Khorasan,
one of his Grandfathers had won a crafting award, and his maternal badge was a snipers on a golden background-she had exchanged fire with the horde.
His personal awards were for a school math contest and national service work 'of merit', but not married of yet.
All of that marked him as an bright and likely a hard working up and comer, but perhaps a little full of himself. 
The rudeness of not introducing himself would be of determent to his career.

The Commander replied " Very well then", and examined the document. The Satrap's stamp was matched with the Admirals, so the
rudeness of the official in not introducing himself ultimately did not matter. Still...leave that to his superiors....

"This is all ?, keep a lookout for this, how does one say that... Miroslawa ? which  failed to arrive in Widoknagory ?
Widoknagory is hundreds of leagues south of us, so they could be anywhere. "

Turning to the large map table, he pointed to some wooden figures representing assets.

"We have Maritime patrol Zeppelins both here and from Orinico, it is not a large disruption to ensure they cover the likely route, then divert down the coastlines
looking for wreckage.
Hmm, in Atlantis... <pointing to a ship marker> There's an Artesmia frigate operating out of the Cape Verde, their purpose is maritime patrol for just this sort of thing,
we can radio Cape Verde and they can relay to it, and have it preferentially check the seaward routes. "

The official proclaimed "Thank you Commander, I will relay that to my superiors", and gave an embarrassingly sloppy salute before leaving.

[Kaiser Kirk]

January 1923


The Parthian Pacific Fleet building was a prettier building than it's counterpart in Ria, but both were built about the same time
using the same steam-driven rammed earth & wood techniques to rapidly build a solid, defensible building, at least to small arms
and light artillery. The wood framing gave the building some flexibility should the earth move.

Throughout the new territories, the standard construction of thick rammed earth structures with wood cross ties, two stories
in height around a central courtyard could be found. The ground level passage could be barred, and offered the only
entrance, as the ground level featured narrow 'arrowslit' windows. A windtower and fireplace were kept for heating
and cooling, The roofs were covered in tiles shipped from home and fed cisterns worked into the upper levels.
Frequently a freestanding wall was along the southside, providing shade in the midday.  One to four settler families would
lay claim to the insula, frequently arriving in time to help finish construction of the one they were to live in. If time and
resources allowed, Walls were then covered, inside and out, with tiles or other material to protect the walls and provide decoration.

In Pearl, the additional step of affixing glazed tiles to the buildings had been taken. Not only did this protect the exterior
from rain, but allowed the buildings to take on glorious hues and murals, making the town rich in color.

In the case of the Pearl Harbor buildings, the Parthians had the additional desire to persuade the Kingdom
of Hawaii that the Parthian way was neat and clean and orderly while somewhat imposing.
The piratical conquerors the Parthians had evicted when liberating the Hawaiians had created a different visual image,
and the Parthians were at pains to draw the distinction that they did not operate in the same manner.


The Aztec concerns were towards their Northern Outpost at San Diego.
Each party had agreed to an unfortified border, which presented problems and obligations if a third party threatened part of that border.
The Aztec felt that this may be the case and had alerted the Parthians to their expectations.

The Satrap of Kalifern had sent the matter to the Pacific Fleet HQ, where the Admiral
and the Satrap of Hawaii (Governor) Atossa of House Spandiyadh would review it.

A senior Satrap, and a member of the Seven Great Houses, Atossa would hold the final say on
what was ultimately a political matter.

Due to the agreement with the Aztec, Parthian forces in the Pacific were limited.

Marines were hosted at Hawaii  to allow a response to tensions and Kalifern itself was so big
as to have substantial troops as well, but projectable power
was limited.

The Asiatic fleet at Brunei was the 'Local Response' force, with a battle squadron, supporting ships
and more Marines stationed.

The drydocks at the major harbors provided the maintenance and support facilities, and allowed for warfleets to be moved if needed.
Nine minesweepers ensured the harbors would stay clear but provided local coastal guard style as well.
Eight patrol sloops, and a pair of fleet supply freighters helped round out the local forces,
all of which was aimed at allowing the theater to support forces to be deployed there.

The combat naval forces were really more ... well Maritime patrol was the focus.
Ten of the elderly sailing armored frigates plying the waters, 'showing the flag' at all major islands and areas between.
Three of the long legged 'Raiding Cruisers', two based in Hawaii, and one in Peris Bay (San Fran), took turns making patrols.
So 43,500 tons of cruisers.


Satrap Atossa considered the matter, she was an older lady, jet hair streaked with silver, green eyes and had been chosen
to ensure the Parthian presence in Hawaii observed the forms and favorably impressed by example.
Intelligent and learned and used to command, she was trusted to make decisions in favor of the Empire's long term.

Here, favorable relations with the Aztec were desired. Instructing vessels to patrol in new areas or manners
incurred no opportunity cost.  Deploying marines was a larger step, but far more concrete.
Requesting augmentation from Brunei was a larger step, but could be useful.

As such,
The Artesmia are ordered to regroup into two 4-ship divisions, with one Patrolling from Peris Bay (SF) and one in reserve there.
Two Artesmia will continue Maritime patrol, heading from Pearl to the freeports and then the Canal, then back. The two will alternate.
The two Saka class raiding cruisers will form up in Peris Bay and conduct patrols on the Kalifern coast, ranging down to make port calls in San Diego.
The Varyu class raiding cruiser, with it's long range and high speed, will hold in Pearl.
One of the Marine units at Pearl will be shipped to Peris Bay and then conduct exercises at the south end of the Great Valley.
The two Smurgh class, a Maelstrom scout cruiser, three Palang class are requested from Brunei to Hawaii.

[Kaiser Kirk]

The Royal Throne room of Parthia was ancient and grand, built half a millennium ago. The granite and bronze bones were clad with marble chased in gold. Ancient hydraulics allowed a massive block of marble to descend like a cloud from the sky on massive bronze gears hidden inside marble columns. As the cloud descended, mechanic birds would stir to hydraulic life along the roofline, extending their feathered wings and singing. In the side galleries musicians would then play.  On the cloud was the radiant golden throne, a golden fan radiating from the back, studded with gems collected over 1300 years, included those wrested from the Peacock throne of the Mughals following the conquest, massacre and sack of Delhi in 1739.

While a magnificent and grand spectacle of the Shahanshah descending from the heavens on a golden throne was tremendously impressive and guaranteed to draw the attention of all in the grand chamber... the throne room was pretty much worthless for an actual council meeting.

Shahanshah, or King of King Alexandros X understood that while he might personally enjoy a simple tunic and riding breeches, part of commanding attention and power was simply looking the part.
The family had long believed that they were capable of putting on undergarments without servants, but for formal occasions having attendants meant one looked ones best. So, he wore formal brocaded tunic and silken trousers, and a lightweight robe of office, over which went the personal sash proclaiming the achievements of himself and his family.  A lightweight circlet went on his head, rings of state on his fingers.

The Council Chamber was a much more functional room, with a large horseshoe shaped table around which the ministers could seat themselves. The attendants could enter through the open end to bring either reports or vituals as needed.  The full council was rarely called, as each Minister was busy and would have only a little to contribute to a mass meeting, making them inherently inefficient. A quarterly meeting more than sufficed, and usually ended in the Palace gardens.  This meeting was to discuss a war and it's impacts, and the various ministers and their staff was required.

The traditional announcements and verbal acknowledgements were terribly tedious, but helped inform councilors and guests from their very first day in council chambers that the Emperor was the one to whom deference was owed.

Parthian rulers had long learned that the natural order encouraged sycophants who would tell them what was pleasant to their ears, but that rarely was the best policy.  The Rulers personal cabinet of academic advisers ensured the Ruler was well informed for the Council meetings.  Here, the best use fo the council was for the Monarch to listen and challenge the ideas of the Council, to invite debate, and ask for counter arguments. Within the council chamber, disagreement and honest discussion were encouraged, with long tradition being to challenge for alternate paths. Once the long term merits and flaws for Parthia were arrived at, the policy would be set, and publically delivered.  If a domestic law that fell under the purvey of the legislature, it would have to avoid the legislative veto, which usually was simple to achieve.

The meeting was a long one, focusing on the events in Central America and how that may effect Parthia. There was wide agreement on the Mayans being adherents of Angra Mainyu (aka evil) given their brutal treatment of the tribes of the Orinoco basin and their seeking out and killing of the elders, chiefs, shamans of those tribes (a purge of the tribal intellectual base) which seemed the antithesis of the Zoroastrian search for truth and knowledge. Indeed, for this reason the Parthians had long allowed an arms trade that provided refuge and weapons to the Orinoco tribes.   There was also agreement that the agreement with the Aztec led to San Diego being vulnerable to Mayan sea assault, and Parthia accepted an obligation for that.  The long border tensions could well see an invasion of the Orinoco Delta by the Mayans, or an attack on Jamaica. These were accepted with the belief that Parthia could reclaim them in time. The concept of invading the Orinoco holdings and seizing Cumana was urged by some, but spilling the blood of Parthian soldiers for a territory which was not strategic in location, nor with extensive fertile plains, nor with known mineral riches.  While some infrastructure had been built there, Parthia was struggling to improve the far greater territory already accumulated. The seizure of the ports and more strategic depth would be of merit, but was not worth a war unless the Mayans wanted to start one.

After listening to the Council's debate, the Emperor agreed with most of the recommendations.
Parthia would not claim blanket neutral status, but neither would it become a belligerent. Rather it would declare exactly what it intended – neutrality within the Caribbean Sea, but will continue conducting it's business as it saw fit elsewhere. Parthian shipping would comply with blockades  of war material, and Parthia would demand all parties comply with traditional commerce warfare rules, or Parthia would reserve the right to become involved.

Parthia would declare that it had a special obligation in the case of San Diego, and should it come under attack, they would move to defend or reclaim it.

Pacific forces had already been gathered at Peris Bay (San Francisco bay, actually Suisan Bay),
and the Hawaiian-based Pacific Marine force (2LP/2DP) moved to Kalifern.

Parthia would advance the Marines and  South American Fleet to Trinadad, while the Marines and fleet at Brunei would advance to Peris Bay.  The Bushere Fleet would sail for Trinadad to join the Ria fleet.

The reserve fleet at Abbas would be activated and sent to Pearl. Two Asdar class armored cruisers and 2 Kanthaka class would be dispatched to Peris Bay.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Early 1925

*Iskandar X  sighed as he read the missive delivered by his Minister of Foreign Affairs. 
"So Wilno has lost their Monarch. I regret not having made a tour of foreign courts, but he was all accounts a good man, correct ?"

Minister of Foreign Affairs : "That is our reports, Sire"

Iskandar X : "Do we believe he was behind the disinterest in exploring an alliance ?"

Minister of Foreign Affairs :  "No Sire, that was always unlikely. We of course have long been more closely aligned and intermarried with the Norse, indeed, I believe your father eyed a royal marriage for your sister. "

Iskandar X :  "Ah yes, you are correct, your predecessor explained matters in some detail. Especially post Malta, while we still have but one land border, they have two, and should Iberia aid Rome on the ground, we are far to closely matched with Byzantium to be of great help. The Norse were always a better choice ally, and we had history but unfortunately the situation there has paralyzed their government. 

Minister of Foreign Affairs :  " Yes sire. We have not been fortunate in our search for allies.  The isolationist mantra is strong in world affairs, and most nations do not wish to become entangled with others. Even when we were approached with an offer,  the Ethiopian government collapsed before we could take action on their alliance proposal. "

Iskandar X : "It is a pity Rajasthan could not be enticed to a more formal arrangement, we glare at each other over the Indus, but I think they still remember our bumbling try for Karachi. 

Minister of Foreign Affairs :  "Ah sire, you can speak of your father's youth like that, I can not, at least not in those words. I myself think they still bear ill will from the sack of Delhi and the jewels that adorn your crown and throne."

Iskandar X : " I expect you are right, the events of the past centuries burden us now, despite the familial ties and commonality of culture. Instead, we fortify the passes to the Indus plain. The blood toll for crossing that was prohibitive before machine guns and quickfire artillery, but my father proved the old ways would not work. I expect we shall be secure on that front, even with the new little birds dropping fiery eggs of doom, but an active alliance, or even confederation would be a dream I fear I shall never be able to bring to fruition."

Minister of Foreign Affairs : "Our history with the Norse against the Golden Horde stoked our hopes of alliance there. Our common foe in the Red Sea made the Ethiopian offer attractive, the common history and cultural roots with Rajasthan stoke hopes there, and China, who we've had two millenniums of relations, has turned inward again.  I'm afraid sire that one looks around the world, and who could be counted on to stand by our side as allies in time of war ? And certainly we have seen Japan and Rome and Maya launch wars, while many others have been involved, these are not peaceful times. Yet I am afraid I can not find a path to accommodate your desire, but I will try. "

Iskandar X  (looking at Global Wall Map) :  "What of The Aztec? They have long land borders with us in Africa and the Americas. They have negotiated in good faith regarding the islands of Phenix Yehud and the Desert boundary. They have abided by agreements regarding Sandy Eggo, as did we, and they just expended tremendous effort assisting their Japanese allies, would they not make a trustworthy partner?"

Minister of Foreign Affairs : "Sire, the Aztec, they are Muslim, can you imagine being called to defend them?"

Iskandar X <stern> : "Parthia made Islam an official religion in my Great Grandfathers time, when we absorbed Oman. The bad blood for all we have suffered at Islamic hands needs to stay in the past centuries. We may be Zoroastrian, but the promise to all the Abrahamic religions to practice in peace and safety, or for that matter Buddhists and Hindus, they all enjoy our tolerance. That will continue to be both policy and practice."

Minister of Foreign Affairs : "Yes Sire, I understand completely, I was merely observing that among the populace there may be difference in personal beliefs."

Iskandar X : "You have a point, our national myths highlight my families leadership in saving the Nation and leading it in the fights against the Arabs, Mongols and Timur's Horde...which the lessons I learned stressed were Muslims bent on conquest and conversion by the sword, subjecting the surrendered to tribute but the defeated to slavery or death. I do believe my Father ordered that curriculum changed when I was ten or so. So an entire generation has learned of our heroic national struggles, without tarring Islam as the reason.

So , that aside, what about the Aztec ?"

Minister of Foreign Affairs : "While that is all for the good, I would point out that their fleet is militarily limited, their army has been weakened, and their economy is strained, I would think the Norse would be far superior."

Iskandar X <frowning> : "As we know, the Norse are not an option. Wilno  would be a fine ally, but they are disinterested. If we are forced to engage the Malta pact, someone to guard our rear areas would be useful. Certainly, we could be useful to the Aztec. Tell me, what would have been the impact if Parthia committed to the recent war against the Maya ?"

Minister of Foreign Affairs : "I believe that is the subject of the War Ministry's briefing to Parliament. As such I expect you are far more informed than I, but I believe the consensus was that by stripping our garrisons down, we could have landed sufficient troops to outnumber the Mayan forces and reinforced the Costa Rican province to the point of success."

Iskandar X : "Yes yes, and the Navy believes that the Gilgamesh and Enki classes could have led a force to oppose the Mayan fleet with mild superiority subject limited losses, while our new ships stayed as a core to oppose Byzantium or Rajasthan or whomever became active.  Consider your objections noted, but please explore which nations might be good strategic partners."

Minister of Foreign Affairs : "Of course Sire, I will continue monitoring the international situation and make applicable recommendations.  May I request guidance on the Wilno funeral and coronation for which I requested this meeting ?"

Iskandar X : "Politely said with a dash of sarcasm. I believe it is past due for Parthia to engage a bit more vigorously with the world. We should send someone to the Funeral and Coronation to pay our regards. But whom shall we send ? 

Minister of Foreign Affairs  :  "The timeline is short, if we wish to send a delegation beyond the ambassadorial staff, they will have to travel by Airship.  The most appropriate would be a member of similar social rank to the deceased, so a member of the line of succession or a close family member. "

Iskandar X : "The succession? The Heir is Uncle Sanatruck, but I can't imagine Uncle Sanatruck or for that matter, Aunt Isias,  embracing leaving the ground, and I'm unsure an airship could lift Uncle Sanatruck. I fear Sanatruck is declining and I will need to reconsider the line of succession soon. That leaves either brother Vache or Sister Shirin." 

Minister of Foreign Affairs  : "Ahem, you have another brother"

Iskandar X : "Aye, and both Father and I excluded him from the succession because he is a drunken wastrel who is too happy to take a manor and stipend and indulge himself. He will not represent Parthia. I'd much rather send a cousin... or Vache. I do believe he would be cross with me, his wife is near term...of course Shirin is annoyed at me for enforcing her transfer to the Quartermaster,
but she has to learn logistics to promote, and getting her to stay in one place means I arrange suitors for her... do you know she stabbed one that got handsy? Not badly, just in the leg.. but still. Took another on a cross country ride and left him when he lost his horse .... perhaps a cousin....
<looks thoughtful>
....

Minister of Foreign Affairs  : "Sire, if I may suggest, Wilno society does not have a two millennia old tradition of women as cavalry, and your sister appearing in uniform would ..upset them, they would expect a dress, not trousers, so a cousin would be more appropriate."

Iskandar X <eyes gleaming> : "Wait, my little wildcat sister would be force by honor to wear a formal  dress and stockings instead of trousers, gussy up and behave herself.... oh no, that's too rich, last hunt we were on, ....I owe her a prank in return.  Or two... She's the one, she's going. I can just imagine..

I want you to put someone on detailing the protocol for her to learn.  Send an airship to the estate in Gilan (Southwest shore Caspian Sea), she can join it there... oh and fill it with a protocol advisor, and some courtiers to accompany her....make sure a couple are eligible. I really shouldn't take such delight in this, but I do... "

Minister of Foreign Affairs  : "Sire, it is our oath on our honor to speak when we feel a poor decision is being made. So I speak... perhaps a cousin."

Iskandar X : "Ah, I've gone and scared you. My little sister was a pest when younger, and can be a bit of a headstrong hellion, which is why she was such a good fit in the rangers**, but she is an Arascid and grew up drenched in all the court protocol, is smart and oh so capable, she just disdains all the fakery and talking in circles with no doing. She will represent us well, actually is a fantastic dancer, but as I said, I really owe her a prank or two...and the others aren't very available.

Minister of Foreign Affairs  : "Yes Sire, it shall be done".

*Iskandar is apparently the Persian version of Alexander.
**Parthian Rangers are light cavalry who conduct peacetime reconnaissance missions penetration raids into the  Golden Horde territory, mounted or dismounted...and may or may not on other frontiers. 

[Kaiser Kirk]

A long held tradition of Parthian noble families was each child had an expected role.
The 1st born would be taught about administration, to prepare them for rule. To a certain extent all received some of this tutoring, as the cold hand of death may touch one unexpectedly. Or the 1st born may prove completely unsuited and be excluded.
The 2nd born would be dispatched to the Imperial court to serve. Frequently this meant in the military, and conveniently be both hostage and available to replace the first born if needed.
The 3rd born often either joined the priesthood and became a Zoroastrian Magi or was dispatched to a far court in marriage, so as to not challenge either of the first two.
The 4th was regarded as a spare, as death was unlikely to claim all three prior, and generally joined the military.
The remainder were expected to conduct themselves well and either given a small estate to manage, or if a smaller family, sent to academia or the bureaucracy, becoming prominent engineers, directors, and managers...if they passed the exams.

For House Arascid, a similar path is followed, but no members become Magi, as the family had long since shed their direct involvement, and those who were unfit for rule are simply packed off to the non-Arascid part of their family and given a small manor house on a stipend in the hinterlands and told not to embarrass the family. 

Shirin, as 4th born, had been extensively tutored. When she had been named an heir at age 12 this intensified. As typical, her mother's maiden name was used when she entered National Service at 16, and swiftly demonstrated superior martial talents, duly being chosen was picked for the army. Six months as a private and she passed the tests for officer candidate, and attended Basic Academy. Years in the elite Parthian Ranger scout-raider cavalry had seen her dash across frontiers, exchange fire, and rise to Captain. However, one could not attend Command Academy and command large units unless one first served in a support branch, such as the Quartermaster or  Pioneer branches.

So, at age 27, Shirin was no longer looking forward towards leading an exciting expedition over borders.  She had been promoted to Major and her primary task involved sitting at a desk, examining inventory documents with her assigned tutor/aide and trying to understand the intricacies of supplies, transport and timing. This was made more difficult by the High Command's decision to reactivate some older fortifications as 'local depots' which would provide supply sources if the front lines were shattered by the Horde. Ensuring these were properly managed as reserves were all new headaches.

Her days had a quieter routine, starting with a physical combat session – either the garrison's varzesh-e bastani sessions (traditional fitness and wrestling), or a more intense shǒubó session. Regular target and riding practice could also factor in. Fastidious cleansing and then breakfast and a tutoring/ briefing session – a special burden visited on heirs – followed by an afternoon of doing her actual duties of ensuring arrangements for supplies being the correct places, in the correct times, and of the correct amounts. Social activities, including being polite to the occasional would be suitor, or if they proved annoying, taking them on scenic steeplechase on a route she, but not they, knew well. 

This morning, Shirin had successfully gotten soundly beaten by the sensei,  indulged in a hot bath to tend to the resultant aches, and was now listening to her daily briefing lecture her. In this case he had brought an elderly engineer as an assistant to present the technical aspects.

Had they been in the field, the broad brimmed field hat and the battle scarf wound around her lower face and throat would have hid her face as she rode swiftly away rather than her growing bewilderment as the ancient engineer babbled onwards in a mumbled monotone about 'time of concentration' and 'head pressure'.  But she wasn't in the field, and even the light tan around her eyes had faded, leaving her pale face easy to read as she sat with elbows planted askew on her desk, her hands clutching her head, shoving her blond locks in disarray, as her brow furrowed and her blue eyes looked pleadingly at the old blowhard who kept talking for a second hour in slow monotone about the tradeoffs of various proposed hydraulic projects, a topic she found draining...of will to live...

So she was momentarily thrilled when the  subminister broke into the session with an urgent missive that made the old man stop muttering his endless mutter.  Joy seized her heart as the grey bearded blowhard had to leave the room, but the doldrums of despair soon followed when the subminister delivered the message, and it became clear that she was to represent Parthia and her Dynasty 'honorably and to the highest standard' at a major foreign event, first a Christian Funeral, which she knew little of the protocol of, and then a Wilno coronation, of which she knew less.

Shirin thought of her dear brother, the image coming to mind of him lying flat on his back in a mudpit, eyes blazing up at her as she wiped tears from her own eyes and hid the switch behind her back as his horse, lightened of it's burden when it was startled, ran off...and then the sound of him yelling furiously at her as she rode off 'to get his horse'.... it was a treasured memory, but she suspected there may have been a hidden price to making the Emperor hike uphill in his new riding boots, though in her defense no one expected the cloudburst and downpour that afternoon, and she had found his horse, she just didn't bring it back to him.


The message was quite clear, there was a limited timeframe, an airship was being dispatched to Gilan province, where she had chosen to be stationed, and would fetch her. A long and slightly perilous journey through Byzantine Georgia, across the Black Sea, and then to Wilno beckoned. She would arrive with only a few days to spare.  The message specified that 'Military uniform is not sufficient, full formal court attire...with appropriate shoes'...were required. Of course, her formal attire several years out of date for even the Parthian court, she didn't care fore the delicate heeled court shoes, and who knows what passed for appropriate in Wilno anyhow? She had a feeling that no military garb then no sidearms would be allowed.  Her dear older brother was sending a 'protocol advisor' and interpreter by airship, which was fortunate as, while she was fluent in Greek, and could manage in Norse and had smattering of polite Chinese and Latin, none of that would be useful at this event. As an added bonus, on the same Airship a group of  young nobles would be sent, some chattering airheads chosen from the Seven great families who would surely snidely observed any unfortunate styling shortfalls while trying to both be superior too, and deign to befriend the poor little princess, and then the promised 'eligible young gentlemen' who were certainly to be conveniently unmarried 2nd or 3rd sons at court, from families that would instruct them to throw themselves at her. Desperate and whiny fops were not her type, yet among those she might be doomed to choose.... she knew it was a great honor to be an Arascid and especially an heir, but there were times that manor house in the country seemed terribly attractive.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Rasht was a charming Imperial City on the plain just South of the Caspian Sea, the nearby port of Anzali served as a sheltered harbor.    Just outside the ancient walls, was the manor house of the hereditary Gilaki Baron, Nusrat Livashir, who served as the executive for the Gilan province, while the mostly elected council served to propose or reject laws, and other ancillary purposes. The provincial parliament hosted representatives of all the shires and Imperial Cities of the Province.

The courtiers on the airship consisted of four marriageable young ladies from House Suren, Mihran, Zik and again Suren. The Seven Great Houses (akin to Principalities or Grand Duchies) often sent their later born children to court in the hopes of making connections or marriages that would help the House and them. Two well born gentlemen also attended, of slightly lesser houses, and so allowed by Arshakiani (Arascid) House law to contend for a dynastic hand. One was from the local Bavand dynasty (Dukes), the other from the Arshakiani dynasty, (Arascid cadet branch) that ruled Parthian Armenia.  The presence of such upper class individuals was a reasonable occasion for a party, before they were to depart the next day.
Formal attire was still a legacy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, influenced by the resplendent Chinese empires to the East, resulting in an expecations formal robes of office, crafted from rich material, embroidered and deeply dyed. For a village leader, that might mean fine wool dyed a butternut brown and braid, but for an Heir, this was a silken overrobe of state, dyed a deep purple and richly embroidered with golden thread, an integral half cape coming over the shoulders and around the back, again trimmed in gold. The tall pointy hats had thankfully finally fallen out of fashion long ago.

Over this was worn the Parthian sash, a wide stripe of fine cloth or silk from shoulder to hip, embroidered with sigils. For those that understood them, the Heraldic emblems told of which houses your parents belong, the bottom edge was thick with the claims to merit of the houses, while the upper rim was reserved for any matters of note you yourself had earned, from leading your class as a child, to a village recognizing your charity, from winning at the fair, to military awards for bravery, mentoring, or a wound badge.

Under this fine attire, which frequently was shed after the formal phase of the evening, were more elaborate versions of typical clothes. The first peoples to ride horses, and the first horse archers, the national costume was never the toga of the Hellenic world, but rather a coarse woven overtunic and baggy trousers.  While the Parthians embraced the culture and learning of the Hellenic world, exported to Persia in Alexander the Great's colonial cities, they never quite left their horse riding roots. 
This meant that under the resplendent overrobe , the men wore a sleeved tunic which came to mid thigh and fine breeches, fitted into elegant boots. The women had once worn lighter and more flowing versions of the same, with eventually became a mid-thigh dress over fine woven hose, but recent fashions (think 'flapper' look) had meant a fine dress falling to just above the knees, but slit higher, worn over silk stockings with heels.  Dancing was extremely popular in Parthia and had been for millennia, indeed Persian dancing girls had once been highly sought after in China. Now the world was far more connected, and the court styles of the world were devoured and learned eagerly among the rich and bored, and those that aspired to be.

The next morning the passengers embarked and the Airship ascended and headed for Byzantine Georgia. The Byzantines had agreed to the passage and provided an honor guard of fighters as the great airship soared down the mountain valleys to the Black sea at 48knots. The airship then voyaged out across the inland sea, continuing west until the tip of the Crimean peninsula came into view. Sighting on that, the course was adjusted and landfall was made as expected. The Byzantine fighters once again formed an escort as the course turned North and the Airship, with sufficient radio announcement,  sailed into Wilno airspace, passing over the city of Lvov to make one last major course correction to head towards the aerodrome nearest the coronation site.... which I think is in Vilnus, but might be Warsaw...