Leader Name:
Sigbjörn "Bláserkr" Ivarsson

Faction Name:
The Blue-Shirt Army (Old Norse: Bláserka Hirð)

Map Province:
No Provinces; Currently in Constantinople, scouting for employment opportunities and trading

History/Bio:
The Norse peoples first entered into history following their numerous raids across the North and Baltic Seas. Taking advantage of the chaotic state that the Huns and migrations of Germanic peoples had left the region in. Though Frisia and Britannia had been common targets, a favorite was the Baltic, which was now grealy weak and in complete uproar after the migration period. Various Swedish tribes took advantage of this weakness to begin raiding and colonizing the Baltic Coast, gaining access to the complex river system that let the explorers travel further inland, and opening up direct trade routs with the Roman Empire via the Daugava and Dneiper Rivers leading to the Black Sea.

Trade has Made the swedish tribes some of the most powerful in Scandinavia, alongside the danes to its south; but while the Danish trade with and raid the West, The Swedes looks east to the Rivers leading it to Rome. A particularly powerful tribe being the Rus, who have begun extensive trading missions from the Baltic, selling their goods and their services as mercenaries. One of these mercenary bands are the Blue-Shirts, known as the Bláserka Hirð, or simply the Bláserkar in their own language. Founded by the nobleman Ivar Blueshirt of Kalmar, this band of mercenaries, around 3-4 thousand strong on average, consisted of Ivar's most trusted companions, including his own son, Sigbjörn. Well known among the kings of Europe, the Blue Shirts have earned their reputation as fearsome warriors and well trained soldiers, who are worth their price to hire.

With the death of Ivar only 11 years ago, Sigbjörn has taken control of his father's land and titles, including the constituents of the Blue-Shirt army, who currently spend most of their time in the Rus territories of the Baltic at home, tending to their farms and trades until a call is made to them for employment.

Leader Name: Abdullah ibn Abi Quhaafah

Faction Name: Quraysh

Map Province: lolArabia

History/Bio: The tribe of the Quraysh trace their ancestry to the time or Abraham, and even before. Claiming to be descendants of the first-man, Adam. As well as Abraham his self and his son Ishmael. For generations the tribe carried the Bedouin way of life among the deserts of Arabia, they and the tribes that made up their clan identity.

Their way of life would not change until the Roman year of 400 when Qusai ibn Kilab, through diplomacy and war, settled their clan at the rich city of Mecca and was pronounced the clan's first king. Although, the title would not transfer to an heir and after Qusai's death there would be no named King of the Quraysh, nor any central leading figure for several centuries after.

However, the tribe retained their position as the shiekhs of Mecca and the custodians of the pagan shrine of the Kabbah. They grew powerful and wealthy as merchants as they assumed and retained their bountiful position at the center of Arabic life. Unchallenged and unchanged for several centuries the Quraysh blossomed into a powerful merchant tribe. In a sense, nearly the defacto rulers of Arabia through their powerful influence through Mecca and the Kabbah at its heart.

The ripples that would change the course of the tribe hit the oasis waters of the Bedouin tribes in the Roman year of 570.

Born a fatherless orphan, Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim was the son of Abdullah, an aspiring merchant of the Banu Hashim. Abdullah – who had been called to Syria on a merchant voyage – however never lived long enough to see his son Mohammad born, as he fell ill and passed away, leaving his widow and unborn son his meager wealth as a caravan merchant.

When born, the young Mohammad was sent to live with nomadic Bedouins. However while living with his foster parents, his mother Amina passed away herself, officially orphaning him. His foster family took great care to see that he did not starve, but during his child-hood the tribe of the Banu Hashim had been in decline and there was difficulty among them to raise him as a successful child. As he grew into adult-hood he began to make caravan voyages with his uncle – Abu-Talib - to Syria, beginning a young career as a caravan merchant.

While in Syria with his uncle Mohammad met a Christian monk. In conversation, the monk is said to have sensed the importance of Mohammad as a voice of God.

As Mohammad came of age he struck out on his own as an independent merchant. Traveling the roads from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean sea, acquiring a vast reputation as a truthful and honorable arbitrator and dealer. His reputation came to surpass him as he traveled, attracting an offer from the 40 year-old widow Khadijah whom he married. Khadijah would remain faithful to her husband, and became one of his most important financiers in his later adventures.

In his piety, Mohammad adopted the practice of praying alone in a cave on Mount Hira outside of Mecca. There it is said the first of many transformative moments happened to him. Coming down from the mountain at the age of 40 he claims to have been visited by the angel Gabriel who reveals to him the first of his many revelations from God, and the beginning of a turning point for not only himself and the Quryash: but for all the Arabs.

Over the next several years Mohammad gathers the first of his many future followers in secret, out of fear of retaliation by his own tribe and clan. Many of these early followers becoming his closest friends and loyal of companions. These companions – the Sahabah – included many prominent faces including that of Abu-Bakr, the father-in-law of Mohammad and first righteously guided Caliph.

These figures would follow Mohammad as he came into the public light as a prophet, he and their flight from Mecca to Medina as the elders of the clan sought his assassination, and the battles and return to Mecca. They received dutifully the words of the Quran and became the prophet's most trusted confidants.

With Muhhamad's death Abdullah ibn Abi Quhaafah – Abu-bakr – was elected among the early Muslim tribes as the first Caliph – successor – to the political institution created by Mohammad. With a hard hand, he enforced the solidarity of this new regime by wrangling the clans and tribes who claimed to have only signed an alliance with Mohammad himself and committed apostasy, solidifying himself and the Caliphate as the sole defender and lords of all the Bedouin Arabs. And in doing so united the clans and to turn them north to enforce their unity, and to carry the force and word of the Ummah.

Allahu ackbar.



Abu-Bakr
Rashidun caliph. Old. Mohammad's father-in-law.

Khalid ibn al-Walid
Known as the Sword of God, Khalid is the premier field marshal of the Rashidun military. Born in Mecca Arabia, fought Mohammad until his conversion to Islam. Is to the Rashidun as Hassan is to PoW Ethiopia



1) Khalid inspects the battle field

Leader Name: Flavius Crispinus, or "Crispinus the Moor"

Faction Name: Household of Crispinus

Map Province: Diocese Oriens

History/Bio:

Flavius Crispinus was born to a tribe of Berbers loyal to the Emperor. His family has latinized with his Grandfather, who served with distinction during the early part of Emperor Remus's Visigothic Wars. Moorish cavalry was highly respected by the Roman forces fighting the Visigoths, as the Moorish style of slinging javelins from horseback helped to counter the armored Visigothic knights.

Crispinus entered the Roman military and fought at the close of Emperor Marcellus's war with the Visigoths, and he worked his way up to be promoted the Duke of Mauritania. With this command, he built five Dromons to patrol the coast of Hispania. Though Hispania gave him the training that he would need later in life, it was the Battle of Aquae Dacicae in his own home province of Mauritania that got him noticed.

Hoping to weaken Roman control of the west in order to regain what they had lost during the wars, the Visigoths bribed several Moorish tribes in the interior of Africa to overrun the province to the sea. 15,000 Moors met Crispinus's 2000 in the desert south of the bath city of Aquae Dacicae. Though they were out numbered, the Roman forces had better discipline. Crispinus deployed light cavalry and held his armored Cataphracts in reserve, catching the enemy cavalry off guard and forcing them to fall back. This left the Moorish infantry - a disorganized mob more than a military - with both flanks completely exposed. The Cataphracts were able to break them and force them fleeing back into the desert, where the tribes dissipated and gave up their campaign.

Crispinus's victory got him noticed and he married Eudokia, the daughter of a wealthy Roman family from Carthage.

After the disastrous defeat that saw much of the government of the Diocese Oriens lost alongside the Imperial prince 'Arabicus', the Emperor appointed Crispinus to the position. His lack of political rivals in the Imperial court, combined with his knowledge of the desert, made him the choice pick. He has been appointed the emergency double title of Magister Miletum and Vicar and been charged with bringing the east to order in preparation for the Saracen assault.

Leader Name: Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman

Faction Name: The Banu Abs Tribe

Map Province: Located very close to the tri-border between the provinces of Al-Azd, Banu Taghlib and Banu Hanifa, centred around the town of Ha'il

History/Bio: The Banu Abs are an ancient Arab tribe and pride themselves on their numbers and illustrious history, as well as the many great poets their tribe has come out with over the eras - of them being the famed Antarah bin Shaddad al-Absi.
The tribe had long been told by its elders and chiefs that there will come a day when a man to unite the Arabs would rise, and that when he came they must willingly follow him. And so the Prophet has come and gone, and the Banu Abs have been of his most willing followers and most ardent supporters. It is now their duty to carry his message of light to the world, with words to those who will listen and with the sword to those who are obstinate and stubborn fools.

Known for their numbers, courage and their warrior ways, the Banu Abs were vital during the Ridda Wars against the treacherous apostates and false prophets, and now they are among the most willing followers of the Caliph. Their warriors thirst to be sent forth against the disbelievers and forge an Islamic Empire to topple the decadent and misguided ones of old.

Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman was not born the son of a chief of the Banu Abs, but with the death of the old and the converging of the tribal council, he has been chosen as a most worthy chief indeed. He is well known to have been among the closest of the Companions to the Prophet, praised by the Messenger for his intelligence, quick wit and ability to keep a secret against the greatest pressures - it is Hudhayfa, after all, who is The Keeper of the Prophet's Secret. Hudhayfa was entrusted by the Prophet with the names of all the hypocrites and commanded to keep an eye on them, but to keep their names a secret from anyone. These most evil ones, who pretend at faith while their hearts disbelieve, still roam around, and people often look for whether Hudhayfa is present at a person's funeral or not to know whether to conduct the funeral prayer or not - for Hudhayfa would never be present at the funeral prayer of a hypocrite.

Hudhayfa participated in all of the Prophet's battles bar the Battle of Badr, and his father was killed in error by the Muslims during the Battle of Uhud, though Hudhayfa was quick to forgive and donated the blood-money to the Muslims as sadaqah - charity. During the Battle of the Ditch, too, Hudhayfa was present, having remained when the majority of people, foremost among them the hypocrites, had abandoned the battle. And he was the one sent by the Prophet to find out what the enemy forces of the Quraysh were up to, only to discover that they were retreating, and it was he who brought this joyous news.

Now the Prophet is gone and the Muslims have been left the weighty burden of continuing his message of light and guidance to mankind. Hudhayfa would rather never have existed than betray this most hefty trust!

Alanda, Spāhbed of the West, Shahrdarof the Province of Media


House Karen-Pahlav


Media, Sasanian Empire


One of the Seven Parthian Clans who allied with the Sasanians following the subjugation of the Parthian hegemony, the elite of Karen claim the status of vāspuhrān, in stature subordinate only to the Shahanshah. Unlike their fellow clans, most of whom intimate Parthian descent, but only through the invention of false histories, the magnates of Karen can attest to their descent from Kāve the Blacksmith of Aspahan, who expelled Dahāg from their lands and whose leather apron now adorns the banner of the nation. Who dares to doubt their descendance? House Karen holds court at Nahavand, their holdfast swaddled in the snows of the Alvand Mountains and built upon the foundations of the Haft Hessar itself. Despite the iniquity of Sukhra, a previous spāhbed of Karen who had lusted for the crown, the House of Karen has prospered under Sasanian rule. Following the war with the Turk, the family gained holdings in Zabulistan and Tabaristan, and reigns as perhaps the richest clan of the Empire, if not the most premier at the court of Ctesiphon.
But all is not well in the House of Karen. Alanda, the present patriarch of the family and the Spāhbed of the East, has held that office for more than thirty years---and while he has garnered some acclaim for his contributions to the military during his tenure, his health is waning. And while Alanda’s condition deteriorates, sinister forces gather to wrest the title of spāhbed from the hands of Karen. Alanda’s eldest son, Vushmgir, is more sickly than his father, while his second son, Valash, remains a child. Meanwhile, Houses Ispahbudhan, Suren, Mihran (especially following the failed shahdom of Shahrwāraz), and Zik jostle for ascendancy at Ctesiphon. With the Romans, the Turks, and the forces of a newly inaugurated infidel faith out of Arabia, there can be no chinks in the Sassanid armor. In the coming crucible, the House of Karen will need the guidance and wisdom of the fravashi if they wish to maintain their foothold within the Empire.

Leader Name: Manius "Scipio Africanus" Silvanus

Faction Name: Duce of Phoenicia

Map Province: Diocese Oriens

History/Bio:

Manius Titinius Silvanus is a man born to wage war but for the last three years he has been attempting to enjoy running his retirement gift from a grateful Empire, a 21,000 acre Estate known for excellent wines and grains. Some might consider it a gift from the gods but for a man more used to the hilt of a blade than a whip lash, it chaffs something fierce. Silvanus was born to the same region he now owns, a minor nobleman's son loyal to the Emperor. During the Visigothic Wars he served as a cavalry officer, earning several honours and promotions on the field of battle and he benefitted directly from the Moorish use of sling javelins and how quickly they could smash a Visigothic Knights charge.

It was during this war that he crossed paths with another rising star in the Roman Army who would become a close friend and respected fellow soldier, Flavius Crispinus. The two would meet several times as the war progressed and while Crispinus was patrolling the shores of Hispania, Silvanus was waging war in the deserts of Africa and Arabia where he would earn the title "Scipio Africanus", a throwback to decades gone by. His tactical skill in combat, generous nature and genuine concern for his men made him something of a legend. When he finally retried to his homeland of Hispania several hundred of his soldiers followed.

The defeat of Imperial Prince Arabicus was widely ignored in the Western half of the Empire and he heard only rumblings of it from fellow veterans who came to visit his estate where any old army salt could expect some fine wine and a generous feast. It would become suddenly quite real upon the arrival of a letter from an old comrade in arms asking him to return to Arabia and join the fight against the rising tide of Islam.