Ottoman Empire RPG

"They mocked the title, Kayser-i Rûm as if it were a pretense. But what is empire, if not power crowned by claim? I hold the city. I rule its people. I command its armies and guard its faith. The Caesar was once lord of East and West, now that office belongs to me, not by inheritance, but by divine decree and iron will. Let the Franks whisper. Let the priests protest. I am Mehmed, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans… and Kayser-i Rûm, Emperor of Rome, seated where Constantine once knelt."

— Sultan Mehmed II, in decree following the annexation of the Despotate of Morea, 1460

"A smile costs nothing. A secret can burn a vizier. And a word spoken at the right moment, behind closed doors, after prayer, can outlive an army."

— Gülbahar Hatun, Royal Consort of Mehmed II, Mistress of the Inner Chambers

"I was taken in silence, brought in gold chains, taught to speak only when spoken to, but no one taught me how to listen. And in this palace, it is not the loudest voice that wins, but the one who knows when a sip of wine is refused, when a eunuch hesitates at the door, when a prince’s name is spoken too softly."

— Anastazia (Hürrem), Circassian Bedmaid of the Third Harem, Confidante to the Sultan’s Mother

"I walked through the blood of Constantinople with your father’s banner in the mud, don’t think your breath means anything just because you wear the same uniform."

— Ağa Süleyman Çelik, Veteran of the 1453 Conquest, Commander of the First Oca

"The border doesn’t sleep, and neither do we. One night we’re herding sheep, the next we’re cutting throats in a Hungarian village and vanishing before dawn. That’s the way of the akinji: no banners, no glory, just fire and shadow."

— Yusuf the Wolf, Akinji Scout-Captain of the Danube March

"They call us undisciplined animals, but when the walls need scaling and the blood starts flowing, it's our knives that do the work. We take our pay in screams and silver, and if the pashas look the other way, so much the better. The empire needs wolves, not just poodles in fancy uniforms."

— İsmail the Butcher, Başıbozuk Warlord of the Macedonian Highlands