Part 29: 1400-1425, A most painful cure.

Our fresh troops begin to land and Caliph Mirza surrenders. Half of the money from the deal goes into rebuilding the retinue.



Really?







The next Emperor is born.



Bamari suffers the eternal curse of the Ogoonu – pretty women throwing themselves naked against them. Oh, what did they do to deserve such a thing? (The bruises can be pretty painful.)







The Abbasids have a small civil war. Bamari decides to take a chance on taking Aswan, knowing that the chances of the war succeeding are small.



We brush aside their armies and then begin throwing men at the walls.



Much to his surprise, we manage to win and claim the lands.



Another son was born during the war, and after is a bastard comes along.







Another Ogoonu comes into the world.



Bamari has a vision however, the splitting up of lands causes constant wars between brothers. There is a way of stopping this, and he enacts a change in the succession laws meaning that the eldest son will inherit.



Poor Faga-Laye, no lands for you. He has a twin sister as well.







The Abbasid forces begin to march north to fight the Byzantines. This s a chance to take some more of Africa from them.



The Andalusian's join again, and soon we are engaging the enemy in the field.



This is immediately followed by another wave of enemy troops.



Leading his men quickly teaches Bamari how to defeat his enemies.



Yet another wave of 40,000 men approaches. Things look bad until the ships with the Ghanan troops from the sub-sahara arrive. 31,000 extra men at the time when they are needed the most.



Once again we are able to defeat the enemy in battle piecemeal and gain more lands for Ghana. Three more Ogoonu gain land.







Bamari is now know for his greatness. He talks more and more about the concept of the Empire becoming greater than it is, a land of united Africa with the people loyal to the nation, not to a man.



Although the ladies of court know that's not the only reason for the nickname.





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Bamari's cousin, the Chief of Sicily is assassinated with no heir, so the lands come back to him. This leaves him with more lands than he can manage so he gives the excess to his second and third sons. Fadazu, his second son, is made high chief of Sicily.







Typhus breaks out.







Bamari is not destined to be great for much longer it seems, as he passes away and Firhun II takes the throne.



The immediately leads to a worrying faction of the Egyptian king trying to rally support to take the throne. A honorary title soon gets him to change his mind, that and Regent Assaita, Sultana of Ghana, lowering crown authority!



Soon Firhun comes of age, he is a skilled tactician, gregarious, brave, patient if a bit slothful.



He is soon up to the old Ogoonu ways.



With the old Ogoonu problems.



His new wife finds out quickly, but he brushes the issue aside. He is an Ogoonu, and this is what they do. Repeatedly.








The Emperor's first son is born.



Quickly followed by an illegitimate son who is legitimised. These two children and the 301st and 302nd living Ogoonu's.







There is a problem, Sultana Aissatta is backing Zakoi's claim for the Ghanan empire. Which is strange considering her high regard for Emperor Firhun.



Firhun removes the moral dilemma from her.



Although, seeing as who the spymaster who helped arrange the assassination is, it was not much of a dilemma.







It is time to expand Ghana once more. And while the Abbasids are to powerful to take on without a distraction, the Abyssians look ripe for plunder.



They throw all of their men into one battle, but still are outnumbered by ten thousand men.



The war is not a long one.







It seems that Firhun has been calibrating the victory in the wrong whore houses.



For and Ogoonu, the cure is worse than the disease.....



The Screams can be heard across Ghana it was said.