MYTHIC : CONTENTS

Background Events 52 Mysticism 84 Social Class 53 Relics 84 Passions 53 Careers 53 COMMUNITIES 85 Greek Culture 53 Affiliations 85 Turkic Culture 54 Starting Affiliations 86 Frankish Culture 55 Using Affiliations 86 Arab Culture 55 Faiths, Cults & Brotherhoods 87 Other Cultures 56 CONSTANTINOPLE IN 56 Civilised 56 DETAIL 126 Nomadic 56 City Nodes 126 Non-Human Characters 56 Node Nomenclature 126 Arimapsoi 56 Describing The City 126 Astomatoi 57 Randomly Generating A City Node 128 Blemmyai 57 Residences 128 Kynokephaloi 57 Businesses 128 Minotauroi 58 Churches & 129 Skiapodes 58 Occupants & Bystanders 129 Tripithamoi 59 Connecting The Node 129 Background Events 59 Typical 132 Social Class 59 Typical Tenement 133 Greek & Frankish Social Classes 59 Typical Villa 133 Turkic & Arab Social Classes 60 Typical House 133 New Careers 60 Navigating Constantinople 134 Combat Styles 61 Topics Of Conversation 134 New Combat Style Traits 63 Akropolis (District) 135 Names 63 Blachernai (Suburb) 140 Affiliations 66 Kainopolis (District) 143 Background Events 66 Palation (District) 149 Pera (Suburb) 157 MONEY & EQUIPMENT 70 Petrion (District) 160 Armour & Arms 70 Platea (District) 165 Armour 70 Stoudion (District) 171 Greek 72 Venetian Quarter (District) 175 73 Vlanga (District) 178 Firearms 73 Xerolophos (District) 184 Explosives 74 The Undercity 188 Weapons 75 ADVENTURES 195 MAGIC 77 Campaign Themes 195 Charismata 77 The City Of Adventure & Wonder 195 Alchemists 78 Saviours Of The City 195 Exorcists 78 On His Imperial Majesty’s Secret Service 196 Seers 78 Ottoman Heroes 196 Pharmakopeiai 78 The Athanatoi 196 New Folk Magic Spells 78 The Immortals 197 Christian Magic 79 Immortal Stories 201 Devotion 79 The Republic Of Dogs 202 Miracles 80 The Silken War 204 Devotional Pools 80 Rebellion! 206 Non-Christian Theists 81 The Vampires Of Xerolophos 211 Sorcery 81 Military Campaigns 212 Sorcerous Corruption 81 Campaign One: Of Constantinople 214 Spell Codices 81 Campaign Two: Battle For The City 216 SampleGrimoires 82 file New Sorcery Spells 83 BESTIARY 217 Other Magic 83 Animism 83 INDEX 224 3 eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeMYTHIC CONSTANTINOPLE: INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

O imperial City, City fortified, City of the great king… Queen of the queen of cities, song of songs and splendour of splendours! RELIGION ~ , c.1210 Religion is a major feature of the Mythic Constantinople setting. Even if you do not explore these themes directly in your game, the alos ‘elthete, philoi! Welcome, friends! Welcome to Mythic conflicts between Orthodox and Christianity, and between Constantinople. The Queen of Cities sits like a jewel Christianity and Islam, are powerful shaping forces of the city’s past K between and Asia at the crossroads of the world. and its future. Seventy thousand people make their home here, although this is As a group, the Games Master and the players should take care just a tenth of the populace at the empire’s apogee. The streets of not to offend the beliefs of each other in real life. Remember that Constantinople were first paved two thousand years ago and it had these are real-world religions which today have millions of followers existed a thousand years before becoming the capital of the Roman and you should be sensitive towards the beliefs of others and not run Empire. No city in Europe has been continuously occupied by the stories that your players would find uncomfortable. same (if evolving) culture for as long as has Constantinople, which is why it is sometimes called The Eternal City. Westerners call it the City of Sin, a place of exotic vices and fulfilled lusts, a den of decadence where everything can be bought if you have deep enough HOW MYTHIC? pockets. To its inhabitants it is the Holy City, bastion of Orthodoxy Each Games Master should decide the level of supernatural influ- and home to three thousand churches and four hundred monaster- ence there is in their game. The setting works as a purely historical ies; the piety of the people evident in the gem-crusted altars and the setting, but the default is a moderate level of wonder and mystery, gilded ikons. Constantinople is all these things, and more. so for games without magic the Games Master will have to make a In Constantinople you can find travellers from all over the known few adjustments. In the default setting, few people can use magic, world: mercenaries from far off England and Russia rub shoulders but most know of someone who does – a local witch, herbalist, or with merchants from and Tunis; and delegations from the holy man, for example. Mythical creatures might lurk beneath the and the Mamluk Sultanate face off against each surface of the city, but these are mostly tales told to frighten children other while the iron-clad Knights of debate theology with rather than a daily occurrence. There are non-human races in Con- Neoplatonist philosophers. If you are lucky you many even see fab- stantinople, but they are unusual rather than commonplace – people ulous visitors such as the headless Blemmyai and dog-headed men. will stare should a dog-headed man walk down the Mese Odos, for Holy men harangue the crowd in a tongue everyone can understand example. regardless of their race, and wizards struggle to entertain jaded pass- In a game where supernatural magic does not exist, all these ers-by with their fire show, levitation or mind-reading spectacular. things lapse into the realm of superstition. The inhabitants of Con- The sights, sounds, and smells of the city, so familiar to its inhabi- stantinople still visit witches and alchemists, but their business is a tants, can be overwhelming to the visitor fresh from the boat. combination of fakery and pharmacy. The non-human races are The year is 1450; or, as the Byzantines reckon it, the 6958th year reduced to tall tales brought back by travellers, and sorcerers con- since Creation. The weight of history contends with wonders of the fined to the pages of fairy tales. modern world, such as the waterpowered blast furnace; letter press; If you want to make Mythic Constantinople even more mythic, the mechanical clock; the magnetic compass and other improve- then once again you will need to make a few adjustments. A game ments in navigational aids; scientific advances in optics, hydraulics, like this might have nearby nations populated by non-humans – per- and statics; and of course, gunpowder. This is an age of exploration, haps has a native populace of minotauroi, for example – and an age of Sampleinvention, an age of intrigue, and an age of empires. Folk Magic a common tool rather than a rarefile gift. In a high magic game, the Evil Eye becomes a real threat, causing ill luck and disease This is Mythic Constantinople. with just an envious glance.

4 MYTHIC CONSTANTINOPLE: INTRODUCTION PRONUNCIATION Where possible, Greek terms have been used in preference to ones, reflecting the language of the Empire in the fifteenth century. PLURALISATION Greek grammar is complex, and the pluralisation of words is not always straightforward. The most common plurals in are as follows:

φφ ~a > ~ai; except where neuter, then ~a > ~ata φφ ~e > ~ai φφ ~es > ~es (a change from a short ‘e’ to a long ‘e’) φφ ~on > ~a or ~ontes φφ ~os > ~oi

PRONUNCIATION OF GREEK The conventional transliteration of medieval Greek words into Latin script does not always represent Byzantine pronunciation. The following is meant as a rough guide only; ultimately it does not matter how you pronounce a word as long as you can make yourself understood!

φφ i, oi, and final -e are all pronounced like ee in tree φφ -es at the end of Greek words is pronounced as ace in pace, except in plural forms where it is pronounced as ess in less φφ au and eu are pronounced respectively as af and ef φφ b is pronounced as v φφ c is pronounced as k, never as s φφ ch is pronounced as in the Scottish loch φφ d is pronounced as th in then φφ g between two vowels is pronounced as the y in mayor; but otherwise is always as in goat, never as in ginger. φφ h at the beginning of words is silent and sometimes written as TERMINOLOGY an apostrophe There is a bewildering mess of terminology in fifteenth century Con- φφ rh is pronounced as r. stantinople. Contemporary inhabitants of the city think of “” as Ancient Greeks, calling themselves Rhomanoi (“Romans”) and their As a rule, Greek stresses the second to last syllable, or the third to empire as the Empire of the Romans. However, these designations last for longer words. can be confusing for the modern reader so this book will refer to the PRONUNCIATION OF TURKISH and Greek culture in defiance of contemporary usage but in common with most modern source material. Fifteenth century Turkish is written using the Arabic script. It has Another potential point of confusion is the contemporary term been translated into modern Turkish orthography, which has some for the people of , who are collectively called letters with specific pronunciations. All vowels are short unless indi- or by the Byzantines regardless of their ethnic origin. Since cated otherwise. the focus of this book is on the Byzantine culture, in this case con- φφ ö is pronounced as e in learn temporary usage will be adopted except where it is necessary to φφ ü is pronounced as e in new make a distinction. φφ c is pronounced as j in judge Finally, the difference between culture and ethnicity is worth φφ ç is pronounced as ch in church bringing up. Due to the diversity of the Eastern Mediterranean φφ g is pronounced as g in goat, never as in ginger combined with historical and recent conquests, these two categories φφ ğ between two vowels puts a y or a w sound between them but can be confusing. A Bulgarian might be ethnically a Slav, cultur- glides the syllables together. ally Byzantine, but also a subject of the Ottoman Empire. Similar φφ ğ following a vowel lengthens the preceding vowel; so ağ is confusion happens on many of the Greek islands, where the Byz- pronounced “aah”, eğ is pronounced “ay”, iğ is pronounced antine Greek inhabitants are ruled by Franks; and in the Mameluk “ee”, oğ is pronounced “owe”, uğ is pronounced “oo”. SampleSultanate where the ruling caste is ethnically Turkic but culturally φφ j is pronounced as s in measurefile Egyptian. φφ ş is pronounced as sh in fish

5 MYTHIC CONSTANTINOPLE: INTRODUCTION

Turkish tends to stress the last syllable of a word. Long words Tzykanion (tzi-KAN-ee-on, Greek): a game like polo, played which are the compound of shorter ones have multiple stressed on horseback. syllables. Vardariotes (var-tha-REE-oh-tace): a military regiment that acts as Constantinople’s police force, plural Vardariotai. GLOSSARY Yeniçeri (yen-NI-che-REE, Turkish): elite infantry unit of the Phonetic pronunciation guides for non-English words are given in Ottoman Empire, recruited via the devşirme (q.v.). Anglicised as parentheses. Stressed syllables are given in capitals. “Janissary.” Allagion (all-AY-ee-on, Greek): the basic unit of the , consisting of 300 stratiotai (q.v.) and lead by an allagator. Azymos (ah-ZIE-moss, Greek): “without yeast”, an insult DISCLAIMER against Catholics who use unleavened bread for Holy Commu- This work is a fictional depiction of Constantinople in the fifteenth nion, something that the Orthodox Christians find sacrilegious. century. While best attempts have been made to present a histori- Anglicised as “azymite”. cal setting, this book should not be considered an academic work. Demoi (THEM-ee, Greek): the common people, singular There are gaps in knowledge on the specifics of life at the end of demos. the Byzantine Empire, and in building a coherent setting the miss- Devşirme (dev-shur-ME, Turkish): a tax laid on Christian com- ing details have been either assumed to be the same as a previous munities in Ottoman territory, forcing them to provide young era or else details have been invented to fill in the gaps. Accuracy boys for training as yeniçeris. has been sometimes sacrificed for playability, and the focus has very much been on what would be the most entertaining details for a (thy-NAT-ee, Greek): the ruling class, singular dynatos. roleplaying game. Frankokratia: the period 1204–1261 when the Byzantine Empire Not all anachronisms, omissions, and inaccuracies are deliberate. was under the rule of Frankish warlords. Constantinople was the Some are undoubtedly accidental and the author takes full respon- home of the Emperor of the Latins. sibility for any errors. Gavur (djour, Turkish): “infidel”, an insult used to describe Christians. Kabbadion (kav-VATH-ee-on, Greek): A garment worn as court regalia and indicative of high social status in Byzantine BIBLIOGRAPHY The following sources were useful in writing this book. society. It is a floor-length robe with fitted sleeves, made of embroidered silk. Bartusis, Mark C. The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society Kephale (keh-FAL-ay, Greek): the head of a district, elected 1204–1453. 1992, University of Pennsylvania Press from the people who live there. Dawson, Timothy. By the Emperor’s Hand: Military Dress and (loh-yoh-THET-ace, Greek): literally “one who cal- Court Regalia in the later Roman-Byzantine Empire. 2015, culates”, used as a title for several senior ministers of the Byzan- Frontline Books. tine court. De Clavijo, Ruy Gonzalez. Embassy to Tamerlane, 1403–1406. Makellos (mah-KELL-os, Greek): a covered market. Translated by Guy le Strange, 2004, Psychology Press (may-SAZZ-on, Greek): the prime minister of the imperial court. Harris, Jonathan. Constantinople: Capitol of . 2007, Continuum Books Mese Odos (MESS-ay OTH-os, Greek): the central street that runs through Constantinople. It divides into a northern branch Rautman, Marcus. Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire. 2006, and a southern branch at the Philadelphion, which terminate at Greenwood Press the Gate of Charisios and the Golden Gate respectively. Mesoi (MESS-ee, Greek): the middle class, singular mesos. Presbyteros (pres-VIE-ter-os, Greek): an Orthodox priest. Restoration of the Empire, The: reinstatement of the Byz- antine Empire in 1261, when it was recaptured from Latin rule by Michael VIII . His dynasty has ruled ever since. : invasion and pillaging of Constanti- nople in 1204 by Frankish soldiers, the most part of the army of the . Stratiotes (stra-TEE-oh-tace, Greek): a Byzantine soldier, plu- ral stratiotai.Sample file Theotokos (thee-oh-TOE-kos, Greek): the Virgin Mary; liter- ally meaning “the God-bearer”.

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City, City, head of all cities! O City, City, the centre of the four cor- 695–717: Twenty Years Anarchy. First Arab of Con- ners of the earth! O City, City, the boast of Christians and the ruin stantinople (674, 717). O of ! O City, City, second Paradise planted in the West with 717–802: Isaurian Dynasty. The First Iconoclasm (730–787, every tree abundant in spiritual fruits! Paradise, where is your beauty; where is page 31), commencement of the Byzantine-Arab Wars which that copious outpouring of graces so salutary for body and soul? … what tongue last 400 years (780–1180). can express the calamity which befell the City and the terrible captivity, and the 802–813: Nikephorian Dynasty. Bulgarian War against bitter migration she suffered … Shudder, O Sun! And you too, O Earth, heave Khan Krum (811). Concession of territory to Bulgarian Empire a heavy sigh at the utter abandonment by God, the Just Judge, of our generation (814). because of our sins! ~, from after 1453 813–867: Amorian Dynasty. Second Iconoclasm (814–842). The aim of this chapter is to present an overview of the history and Macedonian – political and legal reform, blossom- setting of Constantinople. ing of intellectual thought (840s). 867–1057: . End of the Byzantine-Bul- garian wars (927). The Great Schism (1054, page 31) HISTORY 1059–1081: Doukas Dynasty. Battle of Manzikert (1071) According to legend, the settlement that was to become Constanti- marks beginning of Byzantine retreat from Anatolia nople was founded by Byzas in 667 BC as a colony of the city-state 1081–1185: Komnenian Dynasty. (1096). of Megara. The subsequent history of Constantinople encompasses Rivalry with Venice leads to (1182): sixty over two thousand years, and cannot be given a full treatment here; thousand Franks killed in Constantinople. the key points in this timeline are given below. The bibliography (see 1185–1204: Angelid Dynasty. Fourth Crusade is redirected Chapter One) lists several resources if you want to delve further. by the Doge of Venice, resulting in the Sack of Constantinople The great , or etos kosmou, charts the passing (1204). of time since the Creation, which is dated as occurring on the 1st September 5509 years before the Incarnation of Christ, calculated 1204–1261: Frankokratia. See boxed text on page 8. precisely from Scripture. Byzantines therefore list dates as Anno 1261–present: Palaiologian Dynasty. Restoration of the Mundi (Latin: “Year of the World”); although the more familiar Empire by General (later Emperor) Michael Palaiologos (1261). BC-AD system is used in this book for the ease of the reader. Establishment of the Ottoman Empire (1302–1327). The Black 330–364: Constantinian Dynasty. Death (1347). Ottomans conquer Adrianople (1362). Crushing reunites east and western halves of the and defeat for amassed European army at Battle of Nikopolis (1396) makes Byzantion his new capital (330), which is renamed Nova results in loss of and Albania to Ottomans. Ottoman Roma. after Timur the Lame defeats Sultan Bayezid, end- ing six-year siege of Constantinople (1402). Byzantine Emperor The land walls protecting the 364–457: Valentinian Dynasty. becomes vassal of Sultan Murad II (1422). Council of Florence city are completed (415). (1439, page 32). Constantine IX becomes emperor (1448). 457–527: Leonid Dynasty. falls (476). 527–610: Justinian Dynasty. The Nika Riots (532, page 15) and plague (541) nearly destroy the city. Samplereforms the law (533). file 610–711: Heraclian Dynasty. War with the Persians ends in Byzantine victory (628). Establishment of the Umayyad Caliph- ate (661). 7 MYTHIC CONSTANTINOPLE: HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY

on most days). Extreme events can add 15°C to the hottest sum- THE LAND mer temperatures and subtract the same from the lowest winter If [Constantinople] did not have these vices [i.e. arrogance, treachery, and blas- temperatures. phemy], she would be preferable to all other places because of her temperate There is nearly twice as much rain in the north of the city as the climate, rich fertility of soil, and location convenient for propagating the faith. south: 130mm per month in the winter, with rain occurring 17 days out of 30; and 30mm per month in the summer, with rain on less ~ Odo of Deuil, 1147 than 4 days in the month. The high humidity in the north makes fogs rolling in from the a common phenomenon in Constantinople is located at the easternmost corner of the Thracian the autumn and winter. Cold winds from the northwest are balanced plain. is one of the most fertile parts of the Balkans, crossed by warmer winds from the south, and in the spring these winds can by numerous rivers and blessed by a warm climate. Cereals, vege- blow on the same day, leading to unsettled conditions. tables, and fruit trees grow well here, and in rocky areas olive trees have thrived for thousands of years. Further inland the hills are ter- raced for grapevines, and higher elevations are used for the rearing THE SEA OF MARMARA of sheep and goats. An inland sea, separated from the by the Bosphoros straits Constantinople lies at the eastern end of a broad peninsula and from the by the Dardanelles straits. The sea gets bounded by the Sea of Marmara to the south and the Golden Horn its name from its largest island, which is rich in marble (Greek mar- to the north. It is separated from Asia Minor by the narrow strait maron). An older name for the sea is Propontis, literally “before the called the Bosphoros, which joins the Black Sea in the north to the Pontos” (i.e. the Black Sea). Several large rivers from both Asia and Sea of Marmara. Europe empty into the Sea of Marmara, which reduce its salinity The whole region is prone to earthquakes: since the founding of by about a third. the city in 330 there have been 56 significant quakes, of which 20 As well as Marmara Island, there are several other islands of were severe and seven of these (in 437, 557, 740, 869, 989, 1346, reasonable size, including the Princes’ archipelago. and 1354) were disastrous to the city. The earthquake of 869 was particularly noteworthy – it continued for forty days and nights and caused widespread damage including the destruction of many build- THE BOSPHOROS ings and the partial collapse of the . The strait takes its name (meaning “cattle strait”) from the myth of Io, a titaness who was transformed into a cow and cursed to CLIMATE wander the earth until she crossed the strait. Zeus transformed her back to her natural form, and she became the ancestress of Hera- Due to its topology and location, Constantinople has two microcli- cles. The strait is 31 kilometres long and varies from 700 metres to mates. The south of the city on the Sea of Marmara is warm and 3420 metres wide. The Clashing Rocks (Symplegades) once occupied dry, with an average yearly temperature of 15°C (reaching average the hilltops at the narrowest point; they would roll down the hillside highs of 28°C in the summer and dropping to 7°C in January). In and crash between them any ship that attempted the passage. When the northern half of the city on the Golden Horn temperatures are on average 3°C cooler and humidity is higher (approaching 80%

THE FRANKOKRATIA One of the most significant historical events for Byzantium is the Sack of Constantinople and the subsequent conquest of the Byzantine Empire by western lords. The tragic series of events is rooted in the ambitions of the Angelid emperors. In 1195 Alexios III blinded his brother Isaac II and deposed him as emperor. The future Alexios IV (son of Isaac II) petitioned the for aid against his uncle, offering a huge sum of money plus the submission of the Orthodox Church to Catholicism for aid against the emperor. Meanwhile, the proposed Fourth Crusade to attack Egypt stalled at Venice, because the crusaders could not afford the Venetian fee for transport to the Holy Land. The Doge of Venice suggested a compromise: if the Crusaders go to Constantinople first to collect the money promised by Alexios IV, they could then afford to repay Venice for getting them to the Holy Land. As the crusading army approached Constantinople late in 1203, Alexios III fled. Isaac II and Alexios IV were incapable of paying the promised funds, and when riots broke out in the city, father and son were both killed. The Crusaders breached the in early 1204 and massacred the population, killing perhaps a hundred thousand people, a third of the city’s inhabitants. The bodies were piled high in the streets and wrecked untold damage to properties. The Crusaders entered the richly decorated churches of the city and stripped them of everything they could sell. Statues were looted from public squares, and they even pulled gilded tiles off the roofs of the palaces. The Crusade to the Holy Land forgotten, the crusader lords divided up the Byzantine Empire between themselves. The new was given direct control of one quarter of the Byzantine territory including Thrace and Bithynia, with three eighths going to the (including three-eighths of Constantinople itself), and the remaining two eighths divided amongst the other parties of the Fourth Crusade. Three Byzantine successor states arose from the ruins of their empire: the remaining Angeloi claimed the Despotate of Epiros while Theororos was proclaimed Emperor of Nicaea. The family established the in the far east. It is Nicaea that proved the downfall of the usurping Franks. In 1246 this Anatolian empire recovered Thrace, , and , and in 1259 atSample the Battle of Pelagonia, Empire of Nicaea defeated the coalition formed of Epiros, Sicily, and , paving the way for thefile recovery of the Empire. General Michael Palaiologos, who masterminded Pelagonia as well as several other decisive battles, seized the throne of Nicaea from the underage Laskaris emperor, and, with the help of Genoa, retook Constantinople and the Empire in 1261.

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