1343 A.D.
All is not well in Europe...

O THE WEST, England and France are weak from continuous fighting, with the latter existing in small, scattered fragments of what it used to be. The rest of what was once France is now controlled by Andalusia, which, following the successful reconquista in 1263, is the dominant power in the Spanish Peninsula. England, as feeble as it is, is slowly conquering Wales and sections of Scotland. They have begun looking west toward Ireland (not unified at this point), but likely do not have an army strong enough to survive any amphibious confrontation. To make matters worse, Andalusia has slowly been encroaching upon English lands. If England does not grow stronger in the near future, it will become another Andalusian settlement.

O THE CENTER, the Holy Roman Empire still stands strong, yet internal struggles between neighbor states have shown some weaknesses within its walls. There have already been rebellions over throwing off the yolk of the empire. Easily quelled on the field of battle, but not in the minds of men. The leaders in Jerusalem are cooking up claims on the empire so that they may invade and take control of the major power in Europe, unsatiated with their empire in the Middle East. The Papacy controls nearly all of Italy, outside of the northern provinces held by the Holy Roman Empire, but does not control the hearts and minds of the men of Europe, who call for valiant holy wars one day then administer their own clergy another.

O THE EAST, Jerusalem stands under Catholic control after the first and only crusade. Due Europe's strong foothold through Jerusalem, Islam has almost been completely eliminated outside of strongholds in North Africa and the lands east of the Arabian Peninsula, but they are reeling in terror as their holy sites under Catholic control are undermined and left to crumble in the desert sands. In the northeast, the Rurikid clan has yet to unify their discombobulated mess of city states into a single kingdom, something unwise in a time of such troubles, especially with the city state of Novgorod, having acquired much of Finland, looming above. Unfortunately for Europe, The Golden Horde has ignored the now petty Muslim kingdoms and instead has been continually charging west of Cumania. Hungary was the first to fall, followed by Venice in 1272. With ambitious and hostile Catholics holding Jerusalem to the south and the Horde to the North, Byzantium sits in a precarious position, slowly losing land to both over the next 20 years. By the turn of the 14th century, little of the once massive empire rest within Byzantine Jurisdiction. And now the unwavering Horde sets its eyes upon the North.

ET, life goes on for those in Europe, and trade, still in its infancy, experiences a boom despite the terrible future in store for the West. But there is hope! Perhaps the Golden Horde will fall in on itself and crumble into dust like all wanton conquerors before it. However, there is always the chance that they'll succeed in building an empire where the sun never sets.
And that is where this story dawns... in Novgorod.
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