Post by Admin on Jul 22, 2016 16:51:13 GMT
The Fire Pyramid of Susa
Following a freak burning-down of a fire temple, the local Christian Bishop, Abdas, is blamed by the magi. Petitioning Yazdegerd, they demand retribution. Abdas claims that the fire was not the work of his supporters, but the will of God. This provocative statement only infuriates the Magi even further. Yazdegerd decrees that Abdas pay for the reconstruction of the temple, and Abdas refuses entirely, still protesting his innocence, and still blaming the fire on the devil-worhip of the magi.
Yazdegerd would be tempted to punish the Christian for his insolence, but with most of the Nestorian Bishops in Ephesus, he believed that persecuting them now might lead to war with the Romans, and undo all his hard work. His ultimate ambition, above all other things, was peace. If he could not achieve peace within his own realm, how could he achieve it in the world? Additionally, he had surrounded himself with Bishops and envoys of the Roman Church, and though furious at the misuse the Christians had made of his toleration edict, he could not bring himself to extinguish their faith, the faith he himself sympathised with.
Yazdegerd stalls for time, saying that his judgement cannot be made until the Bishops return from Ephesus. He promises that a council of three Bishops, three Magi, and his own Grand Vezir, will decide the punishment of Abdas and the Chritians.
Unhappy with this result, the faithful nobility and the magi hatch a scheme to assassinate Yazdegerd.
The Plot Fails
Yazdegerd is mortally wounded when on a trip to the Satrapy of Verkana. Attacked by his own nobles, and the Satrap himself, Yazdegerd falls to the ground choking on his own blood. Belatedly, his entourage of Gothic mercenaries manage to fight off the attackers, and make time for a retreat. Forced to make an escape like a renegade from his own country, Yazdegerd eventually makes it back to the safety of Mesopotamia, though he almost dies crossing the Zagros mountain range.
Back in Ctesiphon, the now-crippled Yazdegerd finds his own courtiers turned against him, and is forced to clear out his own palace of noble guards. Reliant on an army of foreign mercenaries, and still a friend of the Bishops, the Persian Shahanshah's palace comes to look less Persian than ever before. Fearful for his life, it is believed that Abdas baptised Yazdegerd, in a state of delirium, in waters from the Tigris.
Christian Persia
The official reach of the newly Christian Persian Empire is little further than the boundaries of Mesopotamia. Much of Eranshahr across the Zagros has sided with the pious Zoroastrian rebels. The Azadan nobles have left their estates to join the rebels, and the Satrap of Khwarezm has established himself as Shah of an independent silk-road kingdom, no longer answering the dictates of Ctesiphon, or the rebels.
The King of Armenia, the Iranian Shahzadeh Shapur, is an unknown entity. He remains King of Armenia, and is known to be a pious Zoroastrian. He has been working hard towards the conversion of Armenia to Zoroastrianism away from Christianity. His armies are on the move, and he has taken control of Shirvan, recruiting the Shirvanshah as his servant, but it is unclear whether he will join his father or the rebels. Perhaps he has his own path to follow?
With Persia divided into four competing states, now would be the ideal time for a Roman invasion, if only Rome were not itself busy with Huns. The Civil War should mean that no Persian invasion will be on the horizon for some time, but if the wrong candidate becomes Shahanshah, Rome could find a violently anti-Christian state on its borders in place of the peace-loving Yazdegerd.
Following a freak burning-down of a fire temple, the local Christian Bishop, Abdas, is blamed by the magi. Petitioning Yazdegerd, they demand retribution. Abdas claims that the fire was not the work of his supporters, but the will of God. This provocative statement only infuriates the Magi even further. Yazdegerd decrees that Abdas pay for the reconstruction of the temple, and Abdas refuses entirely, still protesting his innocence, and still blaming the fire on the devil-worhip of the magi.
Yazdegerd would be tempted to punish the Christian for his insolence, but with most of the Nestorian Bishops in Ephesus, he believed that persecuting them now might lead to war with the Romans, and undo all his hard work. His ultimate ambition, above all other things, was peace. If he could not achieve peace within his own realm, how could he achieve it in the world? Additionally, he had surrounded himself with Bishops and envoys of the Roman Church, and though furious at the misuse the Christians had made of his toleration edict, he could not bring himself to extinguish their faith, the faith he himself sympathised with.
Yazdegerd stalls for time, saying that his judgement cannot be made until the Bishops return from Ephesus. He promises that a council of three Bishops, three Magi, and his own Grand Vezir, will decide the punishment of Abdas and the Chritians.
Unhappy with this result, the faithful nobility and the magi hatch a scheme to assassinate Yazdegerd.
The Plot Fails
Yazdegerd is mortally wounded when on a trip to the Satrapy of Verkana. Attacked by his own nobles, and the Satrap himself, Yazdegerd falls to the ground choking on his own blood. Belatedly, his entourage of Gothic mercenaries manage to fight off the attackers, and make time for a retreat. Forced to make an escape like a renegade from his own country, Yazdegerd eventually makes it back to the safety of Mesopotamia, though he almost dies crossing the Zagros mountain range.
Back in Ctesiphon, the now-crippled Yazdegerd finds his own courtiers turned against him, and is forced to clear out his own palace of noble guards. Reliant on an army of foreign mercenaries, and still a friend of the Bishops, the Persian Shahanshah's palace comes to look less Persian than ever before. Fearful for his life, it is believed that Abdas baptised Yazdegerd, in a state of delirium, in waters from the Tigris.
Christian Persia
The official reach of the newly Christian Persian Empire is little further than the boundaries of Mesopotamia. Much of Eranshahr across the Zagros has sided with the pious Zoroastrian rebels. The Azadan nobles have left their estates to join the rebels, and the Satrap of Khwarezm has established himself as Shah of an independent silk-road kingdom, no longer answering the dictates of Ctesiphon, or the rebels.
The King of Armenia, the Iranian Shahzadeh Shapur, is an unknown entity. He remains King of Armenia, and is known to be a pious Zoroastrian. He has been working hard towards the conversion of Armenia to Zoroastrianism away from Christianity. His armies are on the move, and he has taken control of Shirvan, recruiting the Shirvanshah as his servant, but it is unclear whether he will join his father or the rebels. Perhaps he has his own path to follow?
With Persia divided into four competing states, now would be the ideal time for a Roman invasion, if only Rome were not itself busy with Huns. The Civil War should mean that no Persian invasion will be on the horizon for some time, but if the wrong candidate becomes Shahanshah, Rome could find a violently anti-Christian state on its borders in place of the peace-loving Yazdegerd.