nijis said:
1) I'm inclined to leave the couched lance out, for now -- not because it wouldn't have been used, but because what's in the current M&B is overpowered. If Armagan tones it down a bit, where it doesn't quite rip through shields like they weren't there and can't be used again and again, and it also requires considerable expertise, I'd put it back in. Right now you can get almost the same effect by charging at an opponent and releasing it at the right time -- I've done 70 damage on one occasion by striking an oncoming opponent in the face, although more often I miss. The lance is still powerful, but it's tricky to use. So, the animation might not be right, but I think the effect is still realistic.
It must be in. An Arab or Norman cavalry charge without couching is just .... weird.
Heck, M&B without couching is a crippled game.
2) Tx for the kind words on Saracen shields. That would be great to get your rounded shields from the Lombard Leagues. They will of course be credited.
Let me know how to get them to you.
I also have heraldic shields of three Norman Sicilian families - d'Hauteville, di Capua and Sanseverino -- although I doubt they used it this early. Also surcoated white (Umayyad) & black (Abbasid) hauberks.
3) I thought I'd read a reference to the use of stallions by exceptionally good riders, but I can't place it now. Otherwise I'll implement your western Med horse breed suggestions (with Chel's horse models probably). For the destriers, I was thinking that the Normans had imported theirs from home, but it might make more sense that after two decades in-theater they'd be using local breeds.
Mm...I never heard of the use of Arabian stallions in war, geldings yes. But mares were the thing. Saracen knights doted on their Arabian war-mares more than their wives, dedicating poetry to them and even bringing them into the family tent.
On destriers: actually it's more like the other way around. The destriers of Normandy were imported
from the Mediterranean, from the Sicilian theater but also during their service in Byzantium. They were mostly warmblood (Arabian, Barb derivatives), only bulked up later by crossing with local coldblood breeds.
4) I'm not sure what the Sicilian Arabs would have called Latin Christians, but if you think Franks is doubtful, I'll try to figure out a substitute. If I don't find anything specific to Sicily, I suspect the term that Andalusians used to refer to Iberian Christians would work. I'll try to find a tiraz to texture.
You can leave it at Franks for now. I am guessing they would have used whatever Arabic word is for "Lombard", as (other than Greeks) those were the local Latin Christians they normally had to deal with.
5) Some emirs will be downgraded to qa'ids. Taormina should be on the map, but that stretch of coastline was getting pretty crowded. Most of the towns in the interior (other than Enna and Troiana) were chosen pretty arbitrarily, and I should probably get the Arabic names.
Taormina would be nice -- and perhaps should be Greek (a tip of the hat to its status as the longest-lasting Greek citadel).
As to Arabizing names, wouldn't bother. Most of the Arabic names are similar (e.g. Balarmuh = Palermo, Itrabnis = Trapani, etc.) and just derivatives of the original Greek anyway (Panormus, Drepanis, etc.) and besides, if you institute town capture, then what's the point? Only name change I'd suggest would be the Palermo port, which was itself distinctly fortified and
does have a name: al-Khalisah (or "Kalsa").
6) The jalabiyas are just recolored robes, for now. I'd though North Africans used hoods a lot more than in the east, but I could be wrong. In addition to that, I'm not sure that they had a drawstring, either. I'll try to do a hoodless jalabiya -- except maybe to keep a qadi's robe, for those law enforcement missions. "Yishmagh" btw was supposed to be a placeholder name -- it's actually contemporary Iraqi -- but I don't know the Berber equivalent.
At least formal dress wouldn't have had drawstrings, although active dress could. The neckline seems to also have been typically placket.
The qadi's "tayfasun" is hooded, but from what I can tell, other robes usually aren't -- although the following link suggets hooded robes were possibly distinctive of Berbers.
http://www.spanishpeacock.com/violante/umayyad_caliphate.pdf
On the topic of Islamic offices, what would be the Constable Hareck equivalent? I was thinking of making him a qadi, as I seem to recall that they sometimes had some executive authority, but I couldn't verify that anywhere.
They often did -- but it wasn't usually a formal arrangement. Usually when the Emir or Amin or Qai'd (or whomever the military leader was) was away, dissolute or neglectful, the qadis took over their duties by default (sort of like contemporary bishops in European towns taking over when the counts were out galavanting or lazing in their country manors). The most famous case of this was Asad ibn al-Forat, the chief qadi of Qairouan, who single-handedly organized & led the initial Arab conquest of Sicily.
Constable Hareck could very well be a qadi -- although his speech wouldn't likely been done "on the authority" of the emir, but just by itself (i.e. "There are river pirates in the vicinity. I don't know what the f*ck the emir is doing, but let's go get them!")
[There existed "wilayat al-faqih", towns where the jurists were the formally the rulers; this would be the equivalent of ecclesiastical states. But I don't know if which (if any) these were in Sicily.]
If you want a formal appointee, then rais (chief of tribe/captain of army) or arif (sergeant-knight), or more civilian, amin (respected lord) or sahib (generic lord).
EDIT: Checking up with Ibn Khaldun (a
wonderful source), the proper title for the constable would be "hakim". That is Ifriqiyan usage (and thus likely the Sicilian one).
I'm going to do a quick update, mostly to change the name of a merchant which I realized could be potentially offensive, and then start downloading.
The Mu'awiya thing? That's not offensive. Happens to be the name of the founder of the Umayyad Caliphate, but it was a common name. Some Shi'ites may have a problem, but that's about it. It'd be like removing the name Edward because Scots may take offense.
