View Full Version : The Long March: A CKII -> EUIV AAR
Welcome to The Long March: A CKII -> EUIV AAR
https://i.imgur.com/8FFzngf.png
Saxony to East Francia to Germany.
Lead Character: Otto I of Saxony
Well now, what's this then? I'LL TELL YOU. I'm about to go head first into a massive game of CK2 and later to convert to EUIV. The purpose? Fun! Well.. fun and seeing a full 1000 years of human history rewritten. Sounds pretty cool right?
I've wanted to do this ever since i played EUIII yeaaars ago but i've never been able to. Either the conversions were a pain or I just didn't have time.. and nothing's changed! Joking of course. With the release of EUIV, the community has been gifted a rare thing: A save game converter which can convert games nearly perfectly, whether they are modded or not! Where as before the conversion process was pretty painful and almost always required a bit of modding to clean up the import result, it's now as easy as pushing a button. For an on the go soccer mom like me, that's a must.
An AAR spanning over 1000 years, two games and one unoriginal title, this is going to take quite a long time to complete.. and it's also possible we'll lose along the way! Our precious dynasty could die out. We could get overthrown. An insane ruler could cause a tantrum spiral.. the possibilities are endless. But no matter what happens i'm sure we'll find some fun along the way.
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Da House Rules:
General
1. No Save scum
CK2 (playing with Project Balance)
2. No courtier claim exploits
3. Roleplaying your character (No backstabbing unless you have traits to justify it, for example)
4. No exploiting the AI's willingness for alliances if it doesn't make regional logic. (marrying into the Byzantines as the Timurids...)
5. De Jure drift is OFF for kingdom level entities.
6. No destroying titles. Ever.
7. If the player wins a crusade the main character must do one of two things.
a. Leave their primary titles behind to rule in the Levant
b. Grant the crusader kingdom to a sibling.
EUIV (playing with vanilla)
7. Inflation is ON.
Since I am still learning EUIV this section is a bit blank. The main settings will be keeping inflation on and lucky nations at its default.
Should be a really fun experience! I've already played a little bit and I am loving the concept of a super long game, with goals changing as the game evolves... But first off... just who the heck are we?
Well to start us off, we'll be this guy.
https://i.imgur.com/L9ZV5Sc.png
Say hello to Otto of Saxony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_I,_Duke_of_Saxony), historically this guy lived the good life under Autonomous Vassals doing whatever he wanted within his realm. His dynasty would also go on to become the "successors" of the Karlings in Germany. This guy's grandson? He became Holy Roman Emperor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_the_Great). We won't be doing that. But we will be succeeding the Karlings.. just a bit more forceful than happened historically..
Speaking of his realm, it's a pretty good chunk of East Francia.
https://i.imgur.com/BUMBzV1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qnwmmND.jpg
We're one of the most powerful vassals of Ludwig the German and the other vassals of our good king are relatively weak.
We're in a pretty good spot to contest the rule of East Francia, but with the unification between EF and Bavaria an inevitability, as well as the dynastic power plays that are common in the Karling House, i doubt it will be simple to usurp that title. We've also got a significant border with pagans in almost every direction. If East Francia gets raided from the north it's our people who are going to suffer. We've got barbarians at the gates, an aging king on the throne and a famous character as our leading role.
The hall is rented. The orchestra engaged.. Let's see if we can dance...
A basic outline of my CK2 gameplan:
Early Game objectives (CK2):
1. Avoid imprisonment while we build our power
2. Drive the Karlings from East Francia and obtain the throne for our dynasty.
3. See all major Karling bases of power in central Europe destroyed. (Lotharingia and Bavaria, primarily.)
https://i.imgur.com/sQXMNXD.png
Updates every Sunday and Wednesday.
first update in a couple days.
rickinator9
08-17-2013, 14:23
Looking forward to reading it. The man is heavy-boned, so that might be an issue.
The Turbulent History of the First Founding
https://i.imgur.com/8FFzngf.png
The Rise of Saxony during the reign of:
Otto I 'The Pious' of Saxony
Reigned c. Jan 1. 867 - November 16. 906
The strongest vassal of the weakest Karling king is a poor way to begin your tale, but that's where we start. Otto I of Saxony. Not particularly skilled in combat. Not particularly smart. And not particularly inclined to do much of anything when push came to shove, being a slothful bastard and all. Barbarians to the north and east making expansion difficult. An aging king to the south leaving him to his own rule, and the dynastic power plays of the Karlings playing out beyond his borders. Why should he even bother..? An ambitious wife that's why.
Well, that, and the reality that on the borders of East Francia, the now fragmented tribes of the slavs could very well unite one day. A united slavic kingdom could be incredibly dangerous to the small duchy and his people. Otto elected to push forward and make the Elbe his new border, and by extension, the border of Eastern Francia. Ludwig the German was busy campaigning in the south, but gave the Duke the freedom to campaign as he pleased.
https://i.imgur.com/7lEBvHa.jpg
A brief campaign into Anhalt smashed local resistance, seeing the local chief swear fealty to Otto by right of conquest. The campaign stalled after the capture of the county, and unfortunately, the push to Altmark failed due to lack of proper planning and supplies. Otto I nonetheless returned to his capital at Luneberg and simply proclaimed victory. He turned his attentions back to governing his demesne and growing his power locally through ruthless campaigns of consolidation among his vassals.
https://i.imgur.com/QomauGP.jpg
Returning home the conquering hero gave the ruler the leverage he needed to contest the rights to the counties of hamburg and Bremen from local rulers. After a brief internal struggle in the Duchy of Saxony, both counties were added to his growing demesne, their local lords displaced. While the actions generally upset local barons, many were quick to point out Otto acted well within the confines of the law. Both sides would be given a chance to vent when, with the ink barely dry on the declarations of peace, King Frirek of Jylland broke free from the central lords in Denmark and proclaimed himself King of Holstein.
https://i.imgur.com/oqMKRBU.jpg
His claim was a bold one. One Otto gladly tested.
https://i.imgur.com/GmMvlNp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/hS9K3iu.jpg
King Frirek fights bravely but cannot hope to succeed outnumbered as he is by such a vast amount. His forces are scattered and Holstein falls within weeks. Successful wars of conquest in the east and the north, as well as consolidations internally, easily place Saxony as the strongest internal vassal of Eastern Francia, and what's more, Otto's legacy is ensured when only a year after returning from his wars his first child is born. A daughter he will later name.. Ida.
https://i.imgur.com/2Q1UJr9.png
The arrival of his first child only causes the Duke to become emboldened. Before, his conquests were driven by desire for a natural border between Saxony and the lands to the east, but after he captured Holstein, smashed internal dissenters and captured Anhalt, Otto desired a greater prize. His ambition grew with each successful campaign, each successful battle. When he marched his men into Lubeck in the winter of 876 and crushed local resistance at the Battle of Ratzeburg.. the other vassals of the realm had to take note. Ludwig the German was so impressed by the stories from Ratzeburg, stories exaggerated more and more with each year, that he proclaimed Otto I marshal that very year. It was a posting which the Saxon duke excelled at, it seemed he was placed on this earth singularly to wage war.
https://i.imgur.com/IUtxOU6.jpg
Saxony was quickly becoming powerful.. perhaps even powerful enough to challenge the far off, aging king in the south. No direct vassal in central europe could claim as much land as Otto I, and certainly none could claim his skill at war. In just 11 short years he had laid low his rivals along the Elbe and secured his northern and eastern borders. None dare raid the shores of Saxony, for they knew what awaited them: a battle hardened generation of Saxon troops. But power breeds ambition, and ambition is only multiplied when combined with sufficient skill. In the North Otto had united a powerful realm with a mighty host to call his own. And in the south? The Karling successors of Charlemagne struggled to restore glory to their fragmented lands..
https://i.imgur.com/DtdrZks.jpg
One such war would come shortly after the Battle of Ratzeburg. East Francia was embroiled in a war against Lotharingia for the right to rule in Burgundy. Ludwig The German, downright ancient at this point in his life, still had the strength to marshal forth in one great campaign into the lowland countries. Unfortunately.. many of his troops would never return. East Francia was crushed in Gelre and the following campaign proved disastrous.
https://i.imgur.com/tpzuPZr.jpg
Having lost the throne of burgundy and nearly 3/4 of its standing army, East Francia was weak and had no choice but to rely on its stalwart vassals for defense. The King's demesne had been emptied for the campaign, and the King's persenal retinues were all but destroyed.. and so it was that East Francia put its faith in Otto of Saxony, who had kept the majority of his troops out of the fighting. Otto would betray that trust.
https://i.imgur.com/kZEo335.jpg
Otto launched a general insurrection the very next year, dividing the already weakened kingdom into North and South. Saxony and its vassals loyal to Otto making up the Northern forces, and the Karling King and his supporters in the south. One only great battle would be needed to decide the fate of the coming struggle..
https://i.imgur.com/OFzz5Kp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DOXhXfe.jpg
East Francia forces were utterly decimated on the fields at Corvey, the already decimated ranks of the levies for the southern king were reduced even further. Saxony declared full independence the following year with little further resistance from the south.
https://i.imgur.com/NBy1hzZ.jpg
Just a few short years after the birth of his first Son, Otto II, the Duke of Saxony had declared full independence and thrown off the protection of his Karling masters in the south. With his new found freedom Otto began laying great plans to ensure this new found freedom would not be short lived. Succession was all but secured with one son and two daughters. His armed forces were some of the most experienced in Europe.. and great wealth promised access to many mercenaries.. but there was one thing Otto had not accounted for in his great plans. The fury of the Norsemen.
https://i.imgur.com/VEHcVAV.png
The Saxon warlord had forgotten about the great and powerful fiefdoms of the north, which were quickly being solidified. Norway and Sweden were two of the greatest kindgoms to be forged from those fires, and barely ten years after his great declaration.. his ability would be tested. A huge Norse invasion force landed in Holstein, spilling forth over five thousand warriors intent on claiming Saxony for their own. It would be the first step into Fancia. The first step to a European Danelaw.. Otto was desperate. He drew up his defense around his capital, hired as many mercenaries as he could and waited for the Norse attack.. but just as he was preparing for his world to come crashing down, a message arrived...
https://i.imgur.com/AAlXNtg.jpg
The King of Bohemia, impressed by the legendary skill of the Saxon warrior, offered his aid in crushing this invasion. Otto accepted! Together they marched forward on the field of battle and met the Norse at Itzehoe.. and what a battle it was. Even with a numbers advantage, Bohemian forces were delayed by poor weather crossing the Elbe. A mis-communication saw Otto's forces launch their attack prematurely while the Bohemians were still on the march.. and it nearly lead to a disaster! On the fourth day of combat the allies at last joined together and pressed their assault, defeating the Norse invaders and sending them back into the cold north.
https://i.imgur.com/o3eOQ4y.jpg
This was the start of the long winter for Saxony.. for the next twenty years, Otto would fend off invasion after invasion. War after war. Norway. Sweden. The various petty kingdoms of Denmark. Each one would attempt to invade the newly formed Duchy. Each time Otto would route them. Each time, the day was won by the great Saxon warlord.. and many times.. the margin of victory was razor thin. But through it all, Otto perservered. As he struggled in the North, the South was overrun at last. His overthrow and declaration of independence from the Karlings had sent East Francia into a spiral she never recovered from. Seizing the chance, in 892, Otto declared himself "King of the Germans."
https://i.imgur.com/xLhtNoA.jpg
After this Otto was quick to consolidate his power by ruthlessly confiscating every title upon which he had a claim. Two counties were added to his growing demesene, which was fast becoming very wealthy from the tribute he exacted from defeated invaders.
https://i.imgur.com/unyyqNy.jpg
Unfortunately... the next great test would be the strong yet. The Swedish King had been preparing an invasion for years, targeted to topple this newly formed Kingdom of Germany. When it finally came nearly 7,000 men came with their king.. far too much for Otto. Otto was forced to turn to taking out loans to pay for a huge mercenary force to counter this invasion. He would spent the next 10 years of his life repaying that loan.. but his kingdom would stand.
https://i.imgur.com/WRdqeVX.jpg
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Otto was hailed a true hero in the aftermath of the assault on Germany by the Swedish king. Having successfully defeated the strongest Norse realm, and in a prepared invasion no less! Otto and his son fought many smaller defensive actions over the next decade.. but none would truly match the scale of the great invasions of the past. One such defensive action was the Battle of Haldensleben. A young King in Denmark wanted to test his mettle against the famed Saxon defenders. His forces were crushed and utterly routed.. It was an easy victory! And one that Otto planned to celebrate with good drink with his son, the newly come of age prince Otto II.. but when he went to find his son after the chaos of the battle died away.. he found his son among the dead being counted.
https://i.imgur.com/4ySE4rJ.jpg
Stabbed from behind.. and the man responsible? One of the priests who had been sent to bless the saxon warriors before the battle!
https://i.imgur.com/wBzU6qS.jpg
Before the old man passed he revealed the conspiracy.. Ida Ludolfinger, second in line to the throne, had conspired with the nobles to assassinate Otto's only son to pave the way for her rise. Enraged, Otto tracked down every conspirator and ensured they were thrown into prison for their crimes! But when it came time to enact judgement upon Ida, the King could not bear himself to go through with it. Already he had lost a son.. could he really put his daughter to the sword?
https://i.imgur.com/npiOJf9.jpg
Otto turned to denial and the expansion of his kingdom instead. The powers of the south were shifting and if he would see his legacy survive at all, he knew he had to complete his work.. soon.
https://i.imgur.com/gJA1n3b.jpg
The Karlings had lost their hold in France and Burgundy. Lotharingia was a single generation from losing the Karling dynasty from power.. would his own realm be the same? He rearranged the marriages with his daughters to ensure matrilineal ties.. and then? The poor king passed, exhausted from his earthly work. Or.. did he? Perhaps the Kinslayer had claimed another, ready to accept the denial she had forced her father into. History shall never know the truth.
https://i.imgur.com/44yyBUB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Come back Wednesday for the reign of Ida the Kinslayer.
This was a crazy first reign. I nearly lost like 6 times in the first twenty years alone! This is likely the hardest start i've had since i played Harold Godwinson in the 1066 start and defeated both invasion forces. Absolutely crazy and would recommend for anyone looking for a fun Old Gods Catholic start. There's a few things i omitted here.. like a few bastards running around that my vassals actually believe are their children. Oops!
The biggest surprise was my :daisy: of a daughter Ida. She kills her own brother and gets caught, kinslayer trait and all! I would have executed her (tyrant be damned) but Otto's other daughter is a bit worse than Ida is. Otto was in love with his queen so it didn't make sense to divorce/kill her for another one.. so I had to let Ida get away with her deed. Her reign should be fun.
Forming Germany was always gonna be the easy part.. the hard part was the Norse attack when I broke away. I decided to break early from East Francia.. which was a huge mistake and put me into debt for over a decade. If i had been playing vanilla i'd have lost. Easy. Playing Project Balance though i had access to the loan mechanic which, again, very nearly bankrupted me. :laugh4: Still it gave me the chance to win. Otto paid off all his debts just before Ida poisoned him i mean died of old age.
Ahahahahahah XD
Long live Ida, Regina Germanorum! Now that was a former NPC with balls :P
Keep 'em coming Monk :2thumbsup:
Nice job so far!
Posting to let you know I'm watching...
Changing the Fates of Kingdoms and Men
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Ida 'the Kinslayer' Ludolfinger, daughter of Otto I 'the Pious' of Saxony.
Reigned c. November 17. 906 - April 11. 937
With her conspiracy complete, Ida Ludolfinger seized power in 906 after the untimely passing of her father that year. Though she was never truly implicated in his death, many historians argue that the first Queen in Germany's history had a less than peaceful ascension to the throne. This believe is largely based around the sudden, violent political upheavals that followed her rise to the fledgling kingdom's leadership, as well as the already proven kinslaying of Otto II.
Sieghard Karling rallied a large banner of support for himself as the true leader of Germany in 907, shortly after Ida had taken power. Though he was married to Ida and already King in his own right, he was simply a figurehead with no real say in the rule of the realm. Every noble at court knew who truly had the power in their marriage. When Seighard learned of a growing resentment to the new ruler.. he quietly poured funds into the faction from the background hoping to ignite a spark. Just a year later, simmering tensions turned white hot.
https://i.imgur.com/mpgTOu0.jpg
The marriage between Ida and a member of the Karling dynasty had been an olive branch on her Father's part. A way to tie his dynasty to the former overlords and make peace with his one time enemies, the Karlings, who were quickly consolidating power again in the South. It was meant to be a way to keep Germany free of their grandiose ambitions. Of course.. the Old King never accounted for his daughter's ambition, nor her willingness to murder her own kin. When Ida came to power, Otto's olive branch had inadvertently put a Karling on the throne, one who was apparently quite difficult to control.
Duke Humburt of Holstein and numerous counts from the Duchy of Brunswick backed the rebellion. Humburg hoped to sweep down into Germany's capital and sack the numerous holdings before Ida could muster a response. He had hoped to forcibly put his claimant on the throne in a quickwar... He and his troops met a well prepared army as they crossed the Elbe. The battle was a disaster for rebel forces.
https://i.imgur.com/lIsXsQT.jpg
Rebel forces were thrown back in assault after assault on the capital until the Duke of Holstein was finally forced to sign a treaty of peace. He and his claimant, King Seighard, were thrown into the darkest dungeons beneath Ida's fortress in Luneburg. Ida had passed her first test as ruler, organizing the defenses and putting down the deadly revolt, but she would get little time to consolidate her power. Only a month after the internal conflict had seen a fourth of her levywasted on a petty power play, a huge invasion force from nearby Greater Poland arrived.. intent on claiming the county of Brandenburg.
https://i.imgur.com/yM8DVJV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xQGlMUU.jpg
It wasn't until almost 6 months later that constant marching and campaigning paid off, where the invaders were cornered in the wilderness of Stettin. Fighting uphill, hungry and tired, the brave German soldiers utterly routed their foe at great cost to their own host. Greater Poland's invasion force was picked apart as their invasion turned into a disgraceful route. The soldiers who returned home were once more celebrated heroes of the new Kingdom, and Ida? The very same Kinslayer who had been the most hated woman in Europe? She was seen as Germany's savior. Who else could turn back both a Karling plot and a heathen invasion at the same time! Germany had a new Queen, and she wasn't going anywhere. The only question now in the aftermath of the wars was what to do with the imprisoned King?
https://i.imgur.com/irGzCWx.jpg
It was obvious that the man could no longer be trusted. In June of 908, Ida and her traitorous husband were divorced with the Pope's blessing.
https://i.imgur.com/jaBuyqt.jpg
Ida would have to choose a new King. One who had no claim to her throne. One whom she could trust, but more importantly, one whom she could politically control. A young landless noble, Wigerich Von Tecklenburg, adviser to the Queen's Steward was the perfect candidate. He was a nobody. Had no claims of his own, and was weak enough to accept direction no matter what that would be.
https://i.imgur.com/PbUbbkL.jpg
Unfortunately.. Karling intervention was not so easily thwarted in Germany's affairs.
https://i.imgur.com/NIdpQ1E.jpg
To the south the thrones of Bavaria and Italy were once more united beneath Jacques the Fat. who was eyeing the north greedily with plans for expansion. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective.. Germany's ruler was no longer Otto the Pious. The first great King of Germany likely would have instigated a war with Italy, bringing in allies and sending both realms into a terrible spiral of violence. Ida was far more pragmatic. She soothed the Frankish lords of Italy with many diplomatic meetings. Her chancellor worked overtime, convincing Jacques of the value Germany could offer the southern powers. After all, it was Germany who stood as the vanguard between the terrible Norsemen and Europe. It was Germany who had turned back northern aggression every single time it had came down from the icy waters of the Baltic. Having German soldiers on your side was a very, very good thing, or so the diplomats claimed!
Their efforts paid off. In 910, it was made official as Ida's first daughter, Ida the Younger, would become betrothed to Prince Helie. It would be a new occasion for both Kingdoms and usher in a new era of peace for central Europe, surely! With the newly cemented alliance making her nobles and diplomats rejoice, Ida pressed the borders of her Kingdom further. She claimed the island of Rugen, Mercilessly crushed Sorb resistance in the east, and forcibly incorporated the province of Werle into her growing realm. The ability of the Queen's soldiers seemed to match that of her diplomats..
https://i.imgur.com/iVwQUvM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/hVYEpWQ.jpg
Just as her armies were returning home from their numerous victories abroad, news of a terrible tragedy made its way north. The great King of Italy, Jacques 'The Fat' was killed in a most terrible carriage accident. Many suspected foul play as the driver of the carriage was found dead just a week later! The King had many enemies... but which had acted..?
https://i.imgur.com/hVYEpWQ.jpg
The resulting chaos of having a one year old infant betrothed matralineally to a foreign princess was prolonged, bloody, and ultimately decisive conflict which tore the kingdom of Italy into pieces..
https://i.imgur.com/uGhNnVe.jpg
After three years of intense factional infighting, Aquitaine seized control of the throne of Bavaria. Four years after that, Bavaria obtained independence.
Through the turmoil of the next seven years of fighting in the south, Bavaria, Aquitaine and Italy are all lost to the Karling throne. Only years later do the Karlings manage to claw their way back into power in Bavaria. By 920, a dynasty that had ruled all of West and central europe was now confined solely to the Kingdoms of Lotharingia and Bavaria, with France, Italy and Germany being the strongest of the successor states to arise out of the Karling collapse. In a way it's quite fitting that it was Ida of Germany who was pulling the strings of the conspiracy that toppled Italy's attempts to stop the decline... who better to engineer their fall than the daughter of the first man to successfully break away from their centralized rule?
Ida's meddling in foreign politics would not end there. Historians also claim her to be responsible for the death of the Bohemian king, Svatopluk II, in 917. Just as the south was engulfed in flames. It cannot not be a coincidence that the Bohemian King should die so soon after the German army invaded the duchy of Messien.. A war the Germans won handily after their forces smashed the greif stricken armies of Bohemia on the field of battle in early 918, claiming the duchy and adding it to their growing realm.
https://i.imgur.com/sXJAm61.jpg
For the next two decades the reign of Ida the Kingslayer passed with relative peacefulness. Raiders from the north would at times attack Germany, but her valiant defenders would always rise to her aid. Ida ruthlessly consolidated her power in the peace her grand schemes had won her. Her web of intrigue and intelligence so horrifyingly efficient that few vassals could make any attempt to further their power while she reigned. Her network of spies subverted numerous attempts to remove her from power. Dozens of civil wars were averted solely by her cunning, and after the initial civil strife that marked her rise, never again did the vassals manage to raise their banner against the throne. It was said that not even the lowliest of commons could sit down for dinner without the Queen of Germany knowing exactly what sat upon their plates that evening...
But despite how great her knowledge of internal politics was, her attempts to meddle in foreign politics had made her a few enemies..
https://i.imgur.com/bMeYZbf.jpg
In 931, at the end of her long reign, Ida's first born daughter was murdered in the Duchy of Tuscany. The Queen had married her daughter, Ida the Younger, to the son of a powerful noble in one of Italy's many political factions. For twenty years, since the death of Jaqcues, factions and their politics had dominated the Italian court. Ida had tied her dynasty to one of the many ruling families there hoping to gain greater leverage in the constant bids for the throne of Italy. It had paid off in many respects. Her daughter was granted the great honor of becoming spymaster, giving the young woman.. and by proxy her mother.. immense power inside Italy. All that ended when Basilio di Cascina, jealous of the German born spymaster, had her murdered so that he could take her place on the ruling council..
The act didn't go without punishment..
https://i.imgur.com/kb0sJ0G.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JZiugG6.jpg
It was the last great act of the old Queen, and it was one which in part helped further define her reign. Ida's legacy was one of intrigue. Assassination and shadowy deals became the norm of court politics in Germany during the 30 years in which she ruled. She fell ill in 937 and died, leaving behind Prince Christopher, her only son, to succeed her as King.
https://i.imgur.com/0tsCvuZ.jpg
Come back Sunday for the reign of King Christopher I
Thus passes Ida the Kinslayer, most memorable NPC to be cpu generated in a long time. I will miss her.
Ida allowed me to do some pretty great things. Assassinating kings almost at will to invade a weakened neighbor. The domino effect that happened when she killed the king of Italy? That was amazing, it really put the nail in the coffin for Karling dominance. I don't think they will ever have as much power as they did previously.
Next reign will be a make or break moment for the Kingdom. Christopher's traits SUCK but he's a badass commander. Every vassal absolutely hates his guts and a civil war is brewing in Germany. Tensions are high after Ida's highly effective murder-spree and ruthless revocation. She consolidated up to her demesne limit which was 5. Wish it was higher, but that's the price of having an idiot king for the sake of controlling him like a puppet.
The European successor states have almost completely thrown out the Karlings. Two realms remain under their control but I wonder for how much longer. France is the most powerful Christian kingdom as of right now. They can topple anyone if they wanted to. My Germany is still one of the outlier powers, mostly thanks to low opinion from vassals, and having a large part of my realm not catholic.
Oh and i almost forgot. Current map:
https://i.imgur.com/GM9lMJ7.png
the piece in denmark isnt mine. It's actually an independent county who is also grey
Nice scheming ^^
BTW noob question: how do you get the "find character" menu? :P
There used to be a button, but it was taken over by the religious scroll XD
rickinator9
08-23-2013, 00:40
It was moved to the lower row of buttons. It's next to the 'Find province' button
Tyranny Reigns in the North
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Christopher I 'the Cruel' Ludolfinger, Son of Ida I 'the Kinslayer' of Germany.
Reigned c. April 12. 937 - April 3. 957
Ida had risen to power through the killing of her own brother. She had ruthlessly subverted the vassals' power and, at every turn, ensured that her dynasty would last at the expense of others fortunes. But even as harsh and as cruel as she, Ida knew when to smile. She knew well how to navigate the treacherous waters of the court. Who to smile at, who to lean on, who to support.. it was second nature to the now passed Queen. Her son, Christopher I, would unfortunately inherit none of that..
https://i.imgur.com/NEpbNSq.jpg
He had a temper and was prone to fits of rage. He was cruel, sadistic. He lied openly in court. He coveted the possessions of his more powerful vassals. He was a coward, a dishonorable fighter, and arbitrary. He was well and truly a bastard with no redeeming qualities what-so-ever, and upon his accession to the throne in 937, he would find himself surrounded by enemies both internal and external. Ida's constant intrigues likely did not help, but being totally opposed to compromise and threatening to (have your guards) beat anyone who opposed your rule.. or worse? The vassals were quick to denounce their new king and demand anyone to take his place!
Such plots, however, would have to wait..
https://i.imgur.com/ZxE0kYL.jpg
Ten months after his rise to power the Norse returned, invading from Denmark and laying siege to the county of Holstein. They smashed local resistance and began pillaging the north of Germany at will. With no other alternative, the vassals pleaded for aid against this northern aggression.. a plea that the King of Germany was all too happy to answer. Christopher arrived two weeks later at the head of a huge mercenary contingent and routed the Danes at the Battle of Starigard, utterly crushing their offensive and relieving the northern vassals, most notably the Dukes of Meckleburg and Holstein.
https://i.imgur.com/dRIaQNZ.jpg
Christopher could not have asked for a better PR moment. The hated and untested king rallying his 'few personal retinues' and singlehandedly crushing the Norse attack on Holstein. Whatever factional support had been growing for Agatha to take over was resoundingly silenced at Starigard. Of course, the King's own personal involvement in the battle was largely exaggerated, it nonetheless secured his position on the throne for the immediate future.
Returning to Luneburg, Christopher surveyed his realm for the first time.
https://i.imgur.com/tzwHie8.jpg
Germany was still a land divided in faith. Much of her western lands were still beneath the sway of Pagan Gods, despite the best efforts of his court chaplain. Christopher ordered the efforts to convert the populace redoubled, and at times, even sent his martial out into the troubled zones to 'quell dissent'. It isn't known exactly how many died in the coming years due to Christopher's harsh view of the pagans within his realm, but no over the next twenty years two major rebellions would break out as the Slavic peoples attempted to protect their ancient faith. It's estimated no fewer than six thousand were killed in that time period, as each rebellion was, as history records, brutally suppressed.
https://i.imgur.com/N7MOKMJ.jpg
940. 3 years into Christopher's reign and a new threat rises from the King of Norway. Germany,the gatekeepers of Christendom in the North, are now under direct threat from the most powerful Nordic Kingdom yet to rise. Bound by treaties with both Sweden and the few remaining Norselaw states in the British Isles, the King of Norway launches a deadly assault on Germany. The Goal is Holstein. The coveted prize that countless Norse warlords before him had attempted to claim, but this time, The Norse are supremely confident. Through her levies and allies, Norway commands a host near on 11,000 men. Christopher rallies his forces and sends out he call for mercenaries, but his own forces are meager in comparison. It is believed that at this time, Germany can only manage a quarter of the number that the Norse call down upon them. The situation looks grim for Christopher.
Until.. hope arrives.
https://i.imgur.com/6Dt3aqd.jpg
The Capets of France, most powerful of the Karling Successors, hear of Germany's plight and send aid. 4,000 men arrive under the command of the Duke of Brabant. With his position reinforced by his western allies, Christopher attacks the Norse position in Holstein..
https://i.imgur.com/Iq0GgNY.jpg
The battle is a disaster...
https://i.imgur.com/OwqZHrk.jpg
Although initially winning the field, the German/French army comes under assault from a combined Norse army, led by both the Kings of Sweden and Norway. The fight is swift. Brutal. French forces are destroyed almost to a man by an encircling action, while the Germans hardly fair better. Christopher escapes the battle with his life and 1300 battered and bloodied troops. With little hope for victory, the King of Germany leads his men south. South. Ever south. Holstein is abandoned to the Norse as Christopher picks up as many reinforcements as he can and continues his long march of defeat. The King doesn't stop his march until he crosses the border into Bavaria and sets up camp in the mountains near Nurnberg. All of Germany appeared to be forfeit..
The Norse press south, splitting their army into three contingents with the largest perusing King Christopher. 5,000 Norse corner 1300 Germans and somewhere around 2500 mercenaries near Roth.. With little thought of anything save victory they attacked!
https://i.imgur.com/7yHIBdL.jpg
It would lead to one of the greatest military victories of the Dark Ages. Outnumbered, demoralized and on foreign soil the King of Germany leads his men in a devastating counter attack through the center of the lines. Much of Christopher's reign is colored with bias, but every account agrees, as the Norse closed in it was the efforts of the Mercenaries, not the King himself, who punched through the center of the enemy line. Taken completely off-guard by the savage counter attack, Norse lines of communication descended into chaos. The Battle of Roth sees nearly 5,000 enemy troops wiped out. In the coming months of campaigning, German forces are revitalized by their incredible victory, besting the Norse in engagement after engagement...
https://i.imgur.com/HKvLbLS.jpg
But in the North there an be no peace. Not for long.
https://i.imgur.com/NcroTxO.jpg
A huge army beneath the King of Greater Poland invades from the west barely six months after the terrible battles of Holstein and Roth. King Christopher, barely able to rally a defense, calls for aid from any who will hear him. By now he is well and truly desperate, and only by the support of the Capets in France will he survive the coming storm. French troops arrive to bolster the German defense.. but still, it is barely enough.
https://i.imgur.com/KmBTDKH.jpg
German forces take the brunt of the assault. In the fields near Lubusz a full three thousand German soldiers are killed or otherwise captured, with the King's own host being utterly shattered by the advance of the Polish vanguard. If not for the arrival of French troops, who pin down and defeat the encroaching Poles, there is little doubt as to who would have been the victor of this war. In the aftermath of the war Germany finds itself as a shell of its former self. Thousands of its men are now dead after three devastating wars in five years. King Christopher returns to his capital in shame. Having been saved twice by foreign intervention his frustration builds to a boiling point, unable to handle courtly life.. he is said to have withdrawn from internal affairs.
It is said that after five years of war, the allied forces had taken many prisoners. One by one, they are each visited upon by the King. One by one, terrible, new tortures are devised in the dungeons beneath the capital. Screams were claimed to have been heard by the peasants at all hours of the night, but such stories are almost impossible to verify..
For five years the King remains secluded from his people, inflicting the most grotesque tortures the imagination can conjure upon those who were unfortunate enough to reside in his dungeon. As rumors spread through Europe of the increasing barbarity of his actions, King Christopher is condemned a tyrant by his vassals. His cruel nature held up as an example of everything a ruler should not be.
https://i.imgur.com/QOXj7LA.jpg
As if to give evidence to the rumors of his low character, when Christopher finally returns to court, he announces a campaign against the independent Duchy of Koln. It was lawfully apart of the German Kingdom, but it was ruled by the Capet dynasty. A brother of the King of France had broken away from the kingdom and now ruled a small duchy on his own. With no loyalty to the family that had offered him aid twice, Christopher attacks the small duchy and adds it to his realm. The act infuriates the French and even the Karling controlled Bavaria, who were both increasingly hostile to northern Germany.
https://i.imgur.com/d2OPl55.jpg
The King of Germany would attempt to smooth over relations with Bavaria by marrying his daughter to the newly crowned teenage ruler of Bavaria. But tensions continued to run high regardless of the move.
https://i.imgur.com/kCItejz.jpg
Demonstrating he had no diea when to quit, King Christopher mounts a second offensive, this time against the weakened kingdom of Bohemia. When his vassals utterly refuse to fund the campaign, the King turns once more to foreign mercenaries to wage his war..
https://i.imgur.com/4Ump9Gh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/T2OYdsb.jpg
Brutal subjugation is all that awaits the vanquished. Fortunately for them, they will not be directly ruled by the King, but rather one of his vassals. The peasants no doubt count their blessings upon that day..
https://i.imgur.com/FmDiJ5O.jpg
The stories of the King's cruelty and sadistic nature only grow more wild. The rumors aren't helped by the very real death of Count Widukind in 950, who was allegedly tortured to death in the dungeons of his liege. Whereas before only the enemies of an unfortunately dungsbody could expect this treatment, now even the vassals of the King of Germany are being hauled into the dungeons.. There is true panic among the German nobles.
Finally the Pope can take no more. After numerous reports of the barbarity perpetuated by the King of Germany, the betrayal of allies, the countless accounts of murdering vassals.. King Christopher of Germany is declared Excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 954. The already tight grip the King had placed upon his realm is forced to get even tighter as his vassals are nearly in open revolt after the declaration. Numerous attempts to overthrow the king fail in the coming years. A brutal civil war breaks out in 955 which decimates the available levies for the kingdom. The King's own retinue is destroyed attempting to break the siege of his capital, but somehow he is able to keep control of his Kingdom..
https://i.imgur.com/irgpg7v.jpg
But to the powerful Bavaria in the south, this cannot continue. Along their northern border the Kingdom of Germany was tearing itself apart beneath the Tyrant King Christopher. Vassals in open revolt in never ending cycle. Stories of torture, murder and betrayal as being common place. in 956, the King of Bavaria had heard enough. He crossed the border with over 12,000 men intent on deposing the current king and installing his successor, Otto Ludoflinger.
https://i.imgur.com/Kq3k5gH.jpg
The embattled German King empties his war chests one last time in a desperate attempt to keep power. Mercenaries from all across Europe flock to the banner of the Tyrant King as the Bavarian army advances in the south. Christopher smashes resistance near Jena, which only swells his confidence for the next battle. In truth, Christopher had met a much smaller advanced force who were scouting for the main push, which was still near Meissen.
https://i.imgur.com/qgEMwkE.jpg
The first of December is the first marked record of this battle, though some sources have it occurring as late as Christmas Day. The two sides were drawn up on the slopes of a steep hill. Christopher's advisers spoke of caution, but the King would not hear of it. He pushed his soldiers forward against the well prepared Bavarian lines, attempting to crush his enemies in one fell swoop and once and for all secure his right as King of Germany. The fighting is said to have been the bloodiest the medieval German armies had ever witnessed. The Battle of Altenburg lasted for three days.
On the first day the German attack hit the Bavarian lines hard, and the professional core of mercenaries under the command of the Tyrant King nearly broke through. But the Bavarians rallied, well entrenched on the hill their counter-attack forced a stalemate, as night fell, neither side had gained ground. The second day saw the first snowfall of the region. Period historians tell of the dead covered in a light frost as the battle was joined. Once again the Tyrant King attacked, but this time his forces were easily repulsed and with heavy casualties. The King's own marshal was slain as he attempted to lead the left flank, causing a panic to spread through the lines.. The King's forces were only saved by the fall of dusk, allowing them to regroup as night fell.
Again, the king's advisers cautioned he withdraw but Christopher would have none of it, threatening to outright banish anyone who demanded he succumb to cowardice in the face of this moment. The dawn of the third day was marked with a vicious snowstorm.. and this time, the Bavarians attacked. Without the skill of his marshal to aid him, the Tyrant King was unable to rally a counter-attack. His forces were completely destroyed.
https://i.imgur.com/UJRi6ei.jpg
Over 10,000 men died at Altenburg.. and it would be the final act of the King of Germany.
https://i.imgur.com/oRyLNG6.jpg
Defeated and deposed by a foreign power, the reign of Christopher 'the Cruel', Tyrant of Germany, ends in 957.
Come back Wednesday for the Reign of Otto II
This was definitely one of those "nothing ever goes right" reigns, but that's what I get for letting the AI educate my heir. The worst character traits i've ever seen. Guaranteed -50 to -70 relations just from traits alone. How this guy ever survived longer than a few years is likely testament to how well I've kept the vassal's strength divided. All it would have taken is one super duke...
If i didn't have a high intrigue ruler preceding this guy he wouldn't have lasted a day. I still managed to get a few provinces and I've got around 150 years before the Crusade Era starts up. Plenty of time to rebuild..
Hang in there Monk! Make them taste the Teutonic Terror muahahhaha :D
Though really, more than anything I always educate personally the closest heirs. Only if my stats are terrible, do I send them to the best character I can find in my whole realm...
Even if they won't end up being superstars, you at least have better chances for traits like Just or Kind, which can be so vital. Compared to the alternative that is :P
DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES
Gods Among Men
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Otto II 'The Wise' Ludolfinger, Son of Christopher I 'the Cruel' of Germany.
Reigned c. April 13. 957 - July 1. 999
A beaten Germany. A deposed King. A demoralized and weary group of vassals who were tired of living in constant fear of the Monarch.. that is where we find ourselves in 957 in this long tale of Germany. The Tyrant King was stripped of all titles, and many in the realm demanded his immediate death! But his son, Otto II, who came to power upon his overthrow, refused to carry out such an order. They demanded his exile, and yet again, Otto refused!
https://i.imgur.com/92WWEwQ.jpg
He would not send his own father into exile or death.. for he was everything his father was not. He was king. Brave. Humble. A true zealot. He was everything the Kingdom of Germany would need, but above all, he was a brilliant politician. He knew that in order to save his father from the justice he so rightly deserved, a new enemy would need to take its place. And that new enemy was a familiar one: The Capets.
Decades ago the Karlings of West Francia had seized the Duchy of Thuringen in a powerplay against the successors of Ludwig the German. The duchy had remained beneath control of the monarch long after West Francia had ceased to exist and a more centralized French kingdom was coming into being beneath the Capet dynasty. The lands had rightly belonged to East Francia, and thus, rightly to Germany as her successor.. but the Capets had steadfastly refused to relinquish their hold on those lands. Christopher had gone to war over similar issues, despite the fact that the Capets had rode to his defense numerous times! But the terrible defeat at Altenburg had changed that. The vassals had seen a terrible defeat heaped upon Germany's honor that day when only 8,000 Germans, noble and commoner alike, had lost their lives on those hills.
Otto II sent out the call. new training grounds were constructed. New barracks built, jousting lists put together for the knights to train anew. Germany would win back her honor and reclaim land rightfully belonging to her. All of her enemies would know that never again would a foreign power depose a German King!
https://i.imgur.com/ReQ8uPU.jpg
In 961 the war came, and it was a brutal one. Ironically enough the bulk of the forces would come from Bavaria, who was eager to support their supposed puppet king on the German throne. The Karlings had believed they had achieved a great moral victory in the Bavarian-German Excommunication war. Otto seemed controllable enough, and afterall, to weaken the Capets would only strengthen their hand in the region. Why not support the war? In the long-term, this strategy would horribly backfire.. but in the short term, it worked incredibly well. The French were bested on the field by the allied forces and Thuringen once more controlled by the Kingdom of Germany.
Otto II moved quickly in the aftermath of the war. While many in the region welcomed Otto II as a ruler, after all, he took the place of an Excommunicated Tyrant, Otto II could not shake the feeling his legitimacy was in doubt. He grew worried, with each passing year, that history would look upon him as an upstart. As the dust cleared, the King of Germany signed an alliance with King Aldebert of Lotharingia, wedding his daughter Alearde and securing the troublesome western border of the Kingdom.
https://i.imgur.com/cfvBdox.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/exGtzB6.jpg
The power of Lotharingia had been faltering in recent years. As the stars of France, Germany and Bavaria rose, Lotharingia and Italy shrank in their shadows. By now, the kingdom was little more than a minor buffer state, completely unable to control the Dutch low countries and dealing with increasing internal politics. The alliance may have looked like a fool's gambit.. but the real intention was a claim on the weakened kingdom's throne. A claim born to a son, through his new wife.
With his western borders relatively secured, or at least, in a state of controlled chaos, Otto II turned his attentions to the East, there a powerful new warlord had overthrown the Catholic rulers of Bohemia and instituted his rule by might alone.
https://i.imgur.com/YztI8l7.jpg
Bogumil the Bewitched, once loyal vassal to the ruling house of Bohemia, had converted to the Slavic paganism and waged incessant war upon his liege for over a decade. After years of bloodshed and countless betrayals, he had finally usurped the crown of Bohemia and declared his own Kingdom. With the kingdom broken, the few surviving member sof the Royal Bohemian family fled to the eastern borders of Germany.. there, they established small counties free of Bogumil's rule.
https://i.imgur.com/04oxAmX.jpg
But with Bogumil's power growing practically daily.. Otto II knew that these small counties would only add to the warlord's growing prestige and plunder. He could not allow them to retain their freedom with the rise of such a dangerous enemy. When the offer of peaceful vassalization was refused, Otto decided to take matters into his own hands.
https://i.imgur.com/h8cPtCu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LN5YJnJ.jpg
The heir to Bohemia would now serve as Otto II's trusted vassal, safe beneath the protection of the rebuilding German Kingdom.
The King of Lotharingia dies, suddenly sparking an intense struggle for the throne as the new child king and his council of regents attempt to hold the realm together.. surprisingly, as Otto II reviews the situation it is revealed that through a long forgotten marriage a generation before, he has has a claim on the throne of the fledgling kingdom! This makes his marriage to his wife incredibly inconvenient, as that was her only true purpose. But an invasion of Lotharingia will be difficult. The people of the kingdom are Frankish, whether they'd accept foreign rule is a difficult question to answer..
https://i.imgur.com/706jpGz.jpg
Otto begins unraveling the puzzle in 965 by claiming the duchy of Gelre, another independent duchy that has broken away from Lotharingia as the kingdom spirals apart, trying desperately to keep hold of its lands. It's an important first step in establishing a greater foothold in the region. If Lotharingia is to be secured this will be the first step. However.. he's not the only one..
https://i.imgur.com/sKpc3rZ.jpg
The Bavarian King has pressed Otto's sister's claim to Gelre and orders the King of Germany to stand down. Queen Agatha's claim is thought to be stronger than Otto's, but in reality, it is a moment that had been building since the defeat at Altenburg when Otto II was placed on the throne. The King of Bavaria demanded that Otto relinquish his claim, allowing his troops to secure Agatha's reign as Duchess. As he so loved to do, Otto refused.
https://i.imgur.com/PNKGSjY.jpg
The battle of Steenderen followed which would turn out to be the greatest battle seen since Altenburg. While the war in Thuringen had seen greater numbers of men, few battles in the 7 years of Otto's reign could match the brutality displayed on the fields between Bavarian and German forces. Despite great loss, the Germans win the day and completely route the encroaching Bavarian army. Crushing their claims on Gelre, the King of Bavaria is now forced to contend with very chilling reality: His northern border is not as secure as he had believed.
Expansion to the West, East and South. Allies in Lotharingia, a powerful and growing army, and the defeat of an old enemy who had forced indignities on Germany.. Otto had silenced any doubt as to whether or not he would repeat his father's mistake. The vassals rejoiced beneath the rule of their king, even as the powers of the crown were expanded and more authority given to the king. A heroic military record and the restoration of Germany's honor was enough to justify almost anything for Otto II..
https://i.imgur.com/mdCdovm.jpg
Well, not everything, i suppose. Still with the power of Germany growing more and more of the smaller states who surrounded the kingdom were finding themselves slipping into the rule of the German King. Whether it was through force, political intrigue or simple assassination Otto II had expanded the borders of the kingdom to include 10 new counties in almost 10 years of rule. Not since the first founding of the Kingdom had such expansion been possible, truly, Germany must be entering a Golden Age beneath their powerful and wise King.
https://i.imgur.com/RTAAfdL.jpg
Unfortunately.. courtly life can be such a scandal at times.
https://i.imgur.com/UknjxH8.jpg
The King's lustful adventures win him a bastard, born to his lover.. the poor man is actually married to the King's lover is duped into thinking it belongs to him. Widespread knowledge of the affair is thus kept under wraps.. for now. Even as news that Germany's rebuilt armies are now the second most powerful Catholic nation in the world, the King's courtly life is abuzz with rumors of a secret mistress.
https://i.imgur.com/S15qYx4.jpg
And with how proud the King is about things, it's really not long until news gets out...
https://i.imgur.com/ftoMtni.jpg
To no one's surprise, Otto proves to be as stubborn about his love life as he is in his political one. He will not end the love affair with his mistress.. so his wife turns to other means...
https://i.imgur.com/enelN5N.jpg
Plotting to kill the King's lover! The Royal spy master discovers the plot a year later, and when he learns of it, the King is furious! The Queen is thrown into the dungeons the very next day as guards arrest her at the royal palace.
https://i.imgur.com/vxJtoEx.jpg
And soon.. a divorce follows.
https://i.imgur.com/XOpblFy.jpg
The King is now free to see his mistress without the intervention of his scheming wife.. but what of his mistress' husband?
https://i.imgur.com/N7yZoWM.jpg
He doesn't last long... He is found dead soon after. This tale of death, betrayal, love and murder would have a twisted and happy end for some. With the Queen imprisoned and divorced and his Mistress' husband dead, the King marries his Mistress... and they lived happily ever after.
https://i.imgur.com/avLPuTV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/I2jRzY2.jpg
Of course, there is a price for defeating your father's greatest enemy, sealing your dynasty's legitimacy, marrying the woman you love and crushing all opposition. It leaves one with little else to do in life.
https://i.imgur.com/ZaeEpnd.jpg
But there was still one final test that Otto would see done. One final obstacle that would set him apart from those who came before. When Otto I broke away from the old Kingdom of East Francia, Lotharingia was a constant threat. A power to behold. It was the very reason that Saxony was able to split from East Francia and forge its own destiny. Today the kingdom was a broken shell of its former self, barely able to contain its core territories and vassals, much less control the coast or the now independent Kingdom of Burgundy. Lotharingia would do well beneath the rule of his dynasty. Of the great and powerful German Kingdom, only they could restore the Kingdom to what it had been before..
https://i.imgur.com/Weqo0eU.jpg
In truth, the small kingdom simply could not withstand the ascendant power of the successor to East Francia.
https://i.imgur.com/4yCX7Ig.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DeK5OLL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LPQptci.jpg
The battles that followed completely crushed all centralized resistance to the German occupation. The Kingdom of Lotharingia took its last breath, Three Hoorahs for Germany!
The conquests of Otto II came to a halt as the King surveyed his realm. The long standing western rival of Germany had now been subjugated, well and fully. His kingdom stretched from Poland in the east to France in the west, no other King of his dynasty could say the same but whats more, Otto II brought peace to a troubled kingdom on the edge of a collapse. Another ruler in his father's style and the story of the Kingdom of Germany would have ended, pure and simple.
https://i.imgur.com/iddg8d0.jpg
Germany was now on the edge, not of collapse, but of claiming dominion as the most powerful Kingdom in Europe. The union of Germany and Lotharingia had seen to that, and with the growing power of the German kings, who could stop them? Bavaria seemed determined to try. Positioning itself at odds with German expansion at almost every turn.. and growing more powerful right along side Germany. The two kingdoms were locked in a powerful struggle for who would be the greatest King in Europe, with neither side seeming to want to give the other the satisfaction.
But for the next 13 years.. peace would reign in central Europe. Otto II turned his focus to domestic projects as he rebuilt and strengthened his army to even greater levels than before. New taxes were levies on the nobles and clergy bringing in more gold for even greater military spending. By the time of his death almost two decades after his claim on Lotharingia, Otto would leave the Kingdom of Germany in an immensely better state than that in which he found it...
As the turn of the century approached, Otto II grew ever weaker. Resigning more and more duties to his first born son, Leopold I. Finally on Nov 10 in the year 999, Otto II died peacefully. Many doomsayers would claim this was a sign of the coming end of the world: God had called his greatest champion home early. In reality, it was simply another chapter of the bloody history of Germany coming to an end.
https://i.imgur.com/A9AqVso.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xgWD89D.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Come back Sunday for the reign of Leopold I
Sorry this one was a day late. Got pretty sick yesterday so I'm at home recovering today, gave me plenty of time to put this together.
A few things about the world:
https://i.imgur.com/AIAIOcf.jpg
Anglo-Saxons have held fast in England. Scotland is still full of Scots, and Ireland has formed all of which under their proper cultures. The Norse at one time ruled half the isles but a combination of stubborn anglo-saxon vassals (most notably the Dukes of Mercia, those guys were badass) and alliances with Scotland and France helped ensure that the Danelaw ended around 50 years before Otto II's death.
https://i.imgur.com/SotaErI.jpg
The Seljuks are on the Rise. They invaded the steppes and just took over Turkestan. They are sitting quietly for now but you can feel the tension building.
Bohemia has gone through three kings in 20 years of all different dynasties and faiths. From Bogumil to a Catholic to a Slavic pagan again. I took the change to dig into them when I could, and I could even usurp the Bohemian crown if I wanted, but that will be a job for Leopold I think. Conquering Bohemia and giving it to its rightful heir would be some good justice for that dynasty, who has essentially lost it all.
The Byzantines are pretty static too. They have been fighting the Bulgarians for almost a hundred years over various things. At one point it looked like the Bulgarians were going to occupy half of greece, but then they got invaded by Hungary and white peaced while the Byzantines had their 500th civil war for that year.
Rurik's heirs have failed and Russia as we know it will be absent from this world's history. The western Russian Steppes are a mess with tribal bounderies and disputes. It will likely take the GH coming through to unite them once and for all.
https://i.imgur.com/ek6Tqvx.png
The Abbasids have more bark than bite. Someone has been assassinating every strong Caliph for around 50 years preventing them from going above a 30k levy. Can't possibly imagine who that is... :quiet:
Loved the mistress/ambition story ^^
rickinator9
08-30-2013, 10:23
You make me actually want to play the game instead of modding it.
Loved the mistress/ambition story ^^
CK2 brings out the worst kind of feudal thinking in me. Otto's wife outlived her usefulness once Otto got a claim on Lotharingia. Suddenly I didn't have to wait another generation to press the claim on the Kingdom. I had planned to make it Leopold's first true test of skill, turns out the subjugation of Lotharingia only added to Otto II's growing legend. With the Mistress event firing? Her fate was pretty much sealed. Killing her seemed out of the question as Otto's traits didn't really align with it, but imprisonment? Especially after the plot was revealed, made a ton of sense.
As someone who definitely roleplays their characters and gets into the spirit of the game, there was no reason not to imprison her. I think she's still in the dungeons. Poor soul. If she's still alive Leopold will probably give her a pardon.. :laugh4:
You make me actually want to play the game instead of modding it.
I take that as a very big compliment. Thank you.
rickinator9
08-31-2013, 01:10
I think Bogumil actually found another way to Bohemia. He's from Mazovia, so he's a pole. He could have simply holy warred it.
I think Bogumil actually found another way to Bohemia. He's from Mazovia, so he's a pole. He could have simply holy warred it.
Very possible! I missed his rise to power so I wasn't entirely sure where he came from, only that he was rather scary. In the first 10 years of Otto's rule when my levies were destroyed and i was relying completely on mercenaries, Bogumil and his 6,000 strong pagan levy cast a very long shadow on my eastern borders. He never amounted to be much of a threat to Germany, which was of great relief to me. Eventually he'd get crushed by Galich a few times and lose a succession war for the throne.
Bohemia was a pretty powerful force in the late 800s-early 900s but as we near on the first millennial Bohemia is a shell of its former self. I am thinking about usurping the crown and giving it to one of Leopold's sons, or maybe the 'rightful' ruler of Bohemia, the guy i subjugated who is one of the last of the heirs of Great Moravia. Eastern Europe lacks a strong centralized King.. it makes me nervous, and me blobbing into Slavic territory is going to be more trouble than its worth i feel.
rickinator9
08-31-2013, 02:50
I would give it to a kinsman so you have backup for an inevitable catastrophe.
Last of the Karlings: The Bavarian Wars
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Leopold I Ludolfinger, Son of Otto II 'the Wise' of Germany.
Reigned c. July 1. 999 - September 19. 1014
The passing of Otto II was not a celebrated time. Following his father, Christopher the Cruel, Otto had restored legitimacy to the throne of Germany. He had brought stability beyond the Rhine by subjugating the Frankish lords of Lotharingia, and he had exacted revenge upon Bavaria for the indignities they had forced upon the German nobles. To call him wise, just, fair, it was a small statement that did not capture his true ability.. Leopold knew that to follow in Otto's footsteps would not be easy, the shadows of great men are easy to disappear into.
And his first claim was a bold one..
https://i.imgur.com/j8z5vM6.jpg
Bohemia had a long history entwined with the German Kings. At times the kingdom had been a friend, at others an enemy. Ever since the first reign of Bogumil the Bewitched, the kingdom had spiraled into a series of civil wars, each more brutal than the last. Through the subjugation of breakaway counties and duchies, Germany now held half of the lawful territory of Bohemia.. and Leopold used this fact to press his rightful claim as the true ruler of Bohemia. The claim came backed by an army of 10,000 German soldiers and the King himself leading the army. When the Bohemian nobles saw the arrayed strength against them, their unity broke. Bogumil II, who had only recently regained his father's throne, was unable to keep his subjects in line as Leopold pressed his borders.
https://i.imgur.com/uwi4okL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TmR48TB.jpg
Piece by piece, Leopold defeated count and duke alike as he united Bohemia in a ruthless march east..
https://i.imgur.com/YvbYhUo.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/mzToUYz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/mFUtlXs.jpg
Not even a year after his campaign had started, Leopold had conquered all of the land lawfully recognized as Bohemia. Neighboring Kings were absolutely stunned by the speed at which he had subjugated the once mighty kingdom and laid low the successor of Bogumil.. In truth, Bohemia was a sick beast before the arrival of German troops. Decades of civil war had reduced its standing levy to almost nothing. What it needed was a strong King to see it returned to its old glory.
But Leopold knew well that as long as the heir of Bogumil lived such peace and glory could never be obtained. On the eve of celebrations, the King ordered the heir to the once fearsome warlord removed as a threat to his lawful rule.
https://i.imgur.com/ABiOBSk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/y3uOnHr.jpg
The assassins struck without warning and left no trace of who had hired them. With the greatest threat to his rule in Bohemia silenced, Leopold declared his mighty conquest done! A grand tournament was held in the capital the very next month with all of the realm's greatest knights attending. All were invited to watch the display of arms for Germany's conquering heroes returned.
https://i.imgur.com/rNw5VtS.jpg
It was a grand age for Germany. After 150 years of struggle, Germany was at peace. Great summer fairs, tournaments, and hunts were undertaken yearly beneath Leopold's reign, no other King had so generously given back to his subjects before Leopold, and his image of being a true ruler of the people spread far and wide. As the celebrations in Germany continued, the King decided that he would not wait until his death to pass on the Kingship of his newly acquired realm. The third son of the King was chosen to lead Bohemia in his father's name. Prince Anselm, soon to be King Anselm, was by all accounts the greatest general in the German realm at this time. Who better to oversee Bohemia's rise to glory once more?
https://i.imgur.com/6Uf20Pi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iC221Ki.jpg
Five years of peace and prosperity for Germany, nobles and commoners alike celebrating their magnanimous ruler without end.. but Leopold's peace was ensured through terrible actions. In the year 1005 one such action would go down in history as the defenitive end of the power of the Karlings..
https://i.imgur.com/y8qxCEY.jpg
Bavaria was the last stronghold of Karling power left in Europe. Although it was true that some of the dynasty held minor tittles around the continent, Bavaria was the last Kingly title left in the family. The King of Bavaria had a claim to the German throne, gained through a marriage to his father and a German princess of a previous generation. It was a claim that could prove disastrous if Leopold's rule was ever internally contested. Germany and Bavaria had been at odds for centuries. Growing ever more powerful along side one another. When Leopold learned of the potential threat, he set in motion a series of events that would alter Europe's destiny..
https://i.imgur.com/h8rRWlU.jpg
First it was the King's son..
[
https://i.imgur.com/4alvJHr.jpg
The Bavarian King had only one son, and through the succession laws of Bavaria, the title could only pass to a male heir. With the death of the King's son, orchestrated by Leopold's conspiracy, it was not long before the assassins met with the King himself.
https://i.imgur.com/IzH4vle.jpg
His death was swift.. a new family ascended to power in Bavaria with his passing putting to an end over two centuries of Karling rule in Europe.
https://i.imgur.com/JpEc1H7.jpg
But that wasn't the end of Leopold's schemes. There was still the potential for Bavaria to prove a powerful threat to his reign in the North, and to that end, Leopold petitioned the Pope to Excommunicate the new ruler of the south..
https://i.imgur.com/dh67fn0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iXApn2K.jpg
Yet another indignity to heap upon the Bavarian throne, the excommunication was a cause of tremendous embarrassment for the southern Bavarian nobles. It was a just reward for their King's actions against Leopold's grandfather, and a supremely satisfying moment for the good King. It would also prove to be the first step into a new ambition for the German king. For years, Bavaria had been blocking German expansion toward the Dutch coast. With the Karling family in shambles, the new King of Bavaria disgraced and his chancellor and spymaster ruthlessly bullying and fabricating claims in Bavaria's coastal provinces, it was only a matter of time until the King of the North claimed the coast for his own.
Leopold's attentions would be temporarily averted to aid his son put down a minor rebellion on Bohemia, but his plans would not be stopped..
https://i.imgur.com/hFTB2z2.jpg
Not even by the apparent possession of his son.. wait.. what?
https://i.imgur.com/pI5Msx5.jpg
That severely complicated matters.. Leopold II is discovered to be utterly possessed by some terrible spirit! Either that, or suffering from bouts of continued insanity. It is a terrible stain to the royal family's honor, and no exorcism ever proves successful. Leopold II claims he can hear the voice of Jesus Christ until the day his father dies.
Leopold's plans, however, cannot be undone now. He launches his first war against the Bavarian Kings in the south, declaring the German-Bavarian excommunication war to remove his counter-part from the throne.
https://i.imgur.com/Um8FlK3.jpg
Bavarian forces launch a quick strike into Bohemia, Germany's tireless ally, attempting to capture the son of the German king and force a white peace. However, Germany's forces sweep down from the north, arriving just in time to throw back the Bavarian invaders. The attack proves Bavaria's undoing and utterly breaks their army at at the battle of Pisek. In disgrace, the Bavarian King is forced to adjudicate to Konrad II von Babenberg.
https://i.imgur.com/5HZUIkn.jpg
With Bavaria severely weakened.. Leopold declares war again. No truce exists between he and Konrad and the devious German King uses the legal loophole to force his claim on the county of Oversticht.
https://i.imgur.com/2IacjXz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qKfc45P.jpg
Again German forces clash with their southern neighbors in a terrible battle. This second encounter is not so clear cut as the first, with the Bavarians led by Konrad II and occupying a very good defensive position. But Leopold, at the head of his own army of 16,000, will not be denied. His knights smash into the Bavarian left with such ferocity it is thought that Konrad II himself is slain in the first wave. Without their king to lead them, the line collapses within the first week of fighting...
https://i.imgur.com/2wR4Joo.jpg
Leopold returns home a hero twice over. Not only has he completely instituted his family's rule in Bohemia, but he has also crushed Germany's greatest rival numerous times on the field of battle. With his fame and prestige soaring to new heights, Leopold seizes the chance to consolidate his rule in Lotharingia. The Kingdom's succession laws are elective, and though many of the electors support his family's claim to the throne, Leopold will not risk seeing such a prize slip away from his dynasty..
https://i.imgur.com/L6UgewF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sbSaJY0.jpg
The change infuriates the Frankish vassals of Lotharingia, setting the seeds for future discontent and rebellion. But before he can quell the voices of insurrection through his infamous use of assassins, the King's attention turns north. The King of Denmark has accepted Catholicism and turned away from his pagan faith!
https://i.imgur.com/77A9Ls5.jpg
The old King is beset on all sides by enemies as he struggles to keep his crown, battling both a Swedish invasion of Skane and a prepared invasion of central Denmark from a renowned adventurer. Leopold acts quickly by offering his aid to the Norse king. His proposal is accepted almost immediately and when the scouts return, they report the situation is most dire..
https://i.imgur.com/yP8FQvZ.jpg
King Jedvard is besieged in his capital, desperately fighting off the adventurer's forces.. and he's losing. It will only be a few months until the King is forced to surrender at this rate. Leopold has no time to waste, he rallies as many men to him as he can and undertakes the march north with 10,000 strong.
https://i.imgur.com/BriLF5F.jpg
At the battle of Ringsted King Leopold smashes the invasion forces and relieves Jedvard's besieged troops. The arrival of German knights at the head of the vast army is met with resounding cheers from the weary Norse defenders. Leopold and Jedvard are said to have forged a powerful friendship in the days that followed, the two men sign an alliance with the betrothal of the Norse King's second daughter to Leopold's fourth son on the eve after the great victory of Ringsted.
With the alliance formally announced, Leopold marches his knights into Skane to force back the Swedish forces while Jedvard consolidates his strength at his capital.
https://i.imgur.com/AxDjTnC.jpg
The Swedes had expected a broken and defeated Danish army to oppose them. What they find is a powerful force with almost all of its strength intact bearing down on them. Outnumbered a full 2 to 1 the Swedish invasion is easily broken at the battle of Varberg.
https://i.imgur.com/eJkY5tA.jpg
With his victory complete in the North Leopold returns home in a long victory march through Denmark. He and his men celebrated as heroes and eternal friends of the Knytling dynasty for their intervention at the darkest hour. Denmark was now free to practice their new found religion, and Germany would forever have a friend to the North.
But for Leopold there would be no rest. Just as the king crossed the border back into German held Holstein, news reached the king of a powerful alliance of Dukes who were in open rebellion! Led by the duke of Pomerania, the former Frankish electors of Lotharingia and the Pomerania nobles were in open revolt over the increasing power of the Monarchy.
https://i.imgur.com/dnr85wT.jpg
But the King had one stroke of fortune. The vassals had not expected he and his army to return so soon and were still gathering their forces. The battle hardened loyalists, fresh off their campaign in Denmark, smashed into the Pomeranian forces before they could link up with the Lotharingian vassals.. the result was disastrous for the rebels.
https://i.imgur.com/3tbtjGA.jpg
It was the end of the resistance. Without the power of the Duke of Pomerania to bolster their numbers, the Lotharingian vassals were picked apart in numerous skirmishes by he encroaching loyalist forces.
The two most powerful instigators of the revolt were executed...
https://i.imgur.com/V7PUvrP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/cBG67FW.jpg
With the revolt crushed Leopold finally returned home after years spent on campaign. It would prove to be the last year of his life. The old king would die just a year later at the age of 52.. leaving a possessed and possibly insane son to take his place as King of Germany...
https://i.imgur.com/MZasvuQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Come back Wednesday for King Leopold II and the Reign of Blood.
rickinator9
09-03-2013, 23:38
Are you a professional writer? You sure know how to write a good narrative.
rickinator9
09-07-2013, 00:59
Will Leopold II's chronicler be sacrificed to Satan for this delay?
Will Leopold II's chronicler be sacrificed to Satan for this delay?
A double feature is planned for Sunday. :yes:
Just saw this Monk, and I'm loving your writing style. You've got me itching to try out CKII again for the first time in a while. Should also be interesting once you reach the swap-over, since I've never played any of the EU games, and your AAR looks like it will be a nice way to check out the game.
The Reign of Blood
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Leopold II 'the Impaler', Son of Leopold I of Germany.
Reigned c. January 4. 1014 - August 5. 1041
Monarchies are incredibly dependent on the ability of one man or woman, above all else, to organize and focus their realm into the direction they wish. Beneath the Ludolfinger dynasty many great men and women had asserted their will over the Northern German lands, growing an ever powerful state down through the ages that seemed to march forward without relent.. but placing the trust of an entire realm onto the shoulders of one person turns kingdoms into frail beasts. For what should happen if a madman were to seize power..? Two generations ago Germany found out when Christopher the Cruel seized the throne. Rumors of torturing subjects to death were only the start of the depravities reported to have taken place beneath his reign. It was only through dedicated and brilliant administration that the throne of Germany regained its legitimacy beneath Otto II and Leopold I. Germany was now poised to strike at the other Karling successor kingdoms and claim its rightful place as the greatest of them all... Until the old king, Leopold I died, and his son, Leopold II, Leopold the Mad, proclaimed himself King of the Germans.
https://i.imgur.com/XoOhjlz.jpg
Leopold was first born of the great man from whom he shares a name.. but the two had very little in common. In his early twenties local priests declared the heir to the throne utterly possessed by some evil spirit, but the young man swore that it was not an evil entity, it was the lord Jesus Christ himself who spoke to him! Today, scholars agree he was likely suffering a severe case of schizophrenia which induced terrible hallucinations, both auditory and visual. The court Chaplain attempted no less than five exorcisms upon the King's son with no change in the man's behavior. Some documents claim Leopold I was planning to have his son murdered, or otherwise banished and disqualified from succession, before his sudden death in 1019, although many dispute that due to Leopold never having shown that type of cruelty to his own blood. Regardless.. his accession ignited a firestorm in the northern kingdom, one that would rage for decades.
The nobles launched an insurrection quickly after Leopold II's coronation. They attempted to seize on the supposed weakness of the king and reclaim lost privileges for the vassals that previous kings of Germany had taken..
https://i.imgur.com/8EcWdqf.jpg
They would find their new King to be skilled in the art of war. Blessed by an almost supernatural understanding of fighting and combat, Leopold II crushed the rebels in campaign after campaign, mercilessly putting down their treasonous rebellion and imprisoning their ring leaders.
https://i.imgur.com/kGGTASk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fTofBYu.jpg
Two bloody battles taking place within Lotharingia saw the utter destruction of rebel forces and Leopold proclaiming himself the rightful heir to his father. All who opposed him and his heavenly mission on earth were to be rooted out and destroyed. It is said that among the prisoners, Leopold inflicted terrible punishments of the mind and flesh.. rumors circulated quickly in the aftermath of the civil war of dozens of rebel troops and rulers being tortured in the deepest, darkest dungeons of the German King. The worst part of that is that the rumors never truly did justice to the terrible acts he inflicted upon the vanquished. All knew, from the lowliest peasant to the royal Council. Germany had a new Tyrant King.
https://i.imgur.com/yGDZVZ3.jpg
Rumors of barbarity would only cause a second rebellion, this time in the southern part of Lotharingia proper. But this too would be defeated.. the defeated dukes rumored to only serve as fodder for sadistic and grueling experiments, conducted by the King himself..
https://i.imgur.com/FC2qAES.jpg
It wasn't long before the King had a new name..
https://i.imgur.com/lDPgD8w.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0amQMTk.jpg
Leopold the Impaler.
https://i.imgur.com/2kr3ZJH.jpg
The cruelty of their king forced the vassals to band together in a desperate bid to see him stopped. 1022 marks the beginning of a new era for Germany's history with the rise of factional politics. The counts and dukes of Germany now contend with a possessed, insane tyrant who is rumored to be killing men by the hundreds in his dungeons. Stories, each more exaggerated than the last, travel through Germany and all of Europe itself before long, each telling of the terrible and gruesome death that await any who would oppose the Tyrant King, Leopold the Impaler. Unable to stand against his growing myth on their own, the vassals banded together in a desperate bid to strike back at their King.
https://i.imgur.com/sie5CdB.jpg
Continuous civil war would be the result of the rise of the factions. For the next forty years, Germany would be torn apart again and again by the vassals attempting to expel or limit the powers of the second Tyrant King...
https://i.imgur.com/pChgahC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/CMVRXsJ.jpg
Lotharingia would take the brunt of the civil strife. Still groaning from their subjugation the Frankish lords of the Kingdom found Leopold's depravities even harder to stomach than their German counterparts. In an attempt to take advantage of the fighting the King of England declared a war for Liege, invading the Rhineland and attempting to restore a bit of order there, but once more, Leopold would prevail.
https://i.imgur.com/SOfMaGI.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RxnSqhv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bNqYyXB.jpg
Broken and defeated, the English armies were thrown out of Liege after three bloody and incredibly brutal battles, wherein a full 10,000 men of the English standing levies were killed outright. It must have seemed a terrible nightmare for Europe. With a madman sitting on the throne of the most powerful Kingdom on the continent, only prevented from striking against them by the continuous civil war that raged in his land. His power held at bay only by the unthinkable actions of brother fighting brother, family fighting family. The unity of the German peoples was slowly being erased as terrible feuds between dynasties began to form. Men and women rising to power only to see their greatest friends slain by those who should have been their partners at court.
Another civil war erupts in 1030 as the duke of Brandenburg unites his demesne with the duchy of Holstein, he challenges Leopold II for control of the realm with a fabricated claim on Germany! He expects all of the vassals to rise up to help, but he finds little support among the imprisoned and the dead.
https://i.imgur.com/P1qUuI0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xKYwFkh.jpg
His rebellion is brutally crushed, and the duke himself thrown into the dungeon along with the other traitors who came before.
Leopold by now has an impressive collection of would be usurpers, and it is said he takes perverse pleasure in torturing their bodies and minds day and night. But there would be another consequence of the 1030 rebellion that the Duke of Brandenburg could not had foreseen. Although his rebellion is ended, the fighting had been prolonged. In the north, Germany's ally had called for aid. Denmark was about to be overrun. Desperate and hoping to unleash the Tyrant King against the enemies of all Christendom, the Queen of Denmark calls for Leopold to intervene.. but Leopold is fighting the Civil war, unable to answer the call..
https://i.imgur.com/KvNzf15.jpg
The only Catholic kingdom in the north is swept away by the powerful Swedish King. Denmark, pledged ally of Germany, is no more. It is said that upon this moment Leopold succumbed to a terrible rage, laying the blame for Denmark's fall solely on the vassals who had fought his reign for so long. In the end, he laid the final damnation upon Catholicism itself. In his own court murder, death and betrayal were rampant, and in the north? The noble Kings and Queens of Denmark had been overrun. There was only one reason such terrible things could come to pass.. and the answer wasn't that he was crazy.
https://i.imgur.com/UiEbewD.jpg
Leopold threw off the protection of the Pope, just as Otto I had defied the Karlings, and declared Catholicism to be the beast that was eating Germany alive. He likened the Pope and his supportors to vipers who turned good men and women against one another to keep control of their amassed power. Only those who would embrace the new way of thinking, the Cathar heresy, could ever truly be free of the poisonous intrigues that had torn his kingdom apart.
https://i.imgur.com/UCnFbk7.jpg
...And in Leopold's dungeon, he found a great many converts. The desperate. The wounded. The maimed. The numerous vassals who he had tortured for years on, desperate to agree to anything for their freedom. This was how the Cathar heresy was born, at the edge of a sword.
Leopold II would spend the next 6 years brutally persecuting Catholics within the borders of his Kingdom, hounding them to no end and forcibly converting every nobleman he could. If any refused the punishment was always the same. You might think the punishment was death but that would be incorrect.
The punishment was imprisonment in the dungeons of Leopold II, the Impaler. The second Tyrant King finally died in 1041. In his wake he would leave behind a broken Germany, divided by faith, feuds and family. The storm clouds hung over the ascent of Leopold III, the first man to know the title of Heretic King of Germany after his father had formally broke away from the Pope...
https://i.imgur.com/Um5KJTu.jpg
The Long Nightmare
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Leopold III 'the Heretic King', Son of Leopold II 'the Cruel, the Mad, the Impaler, etc' of Germany.
Reigned c. January 4. 1041 - August 5. 1051
The conversion of Germany's peoples to a new religion was not so easily done, and many had no agreed to undertake such a radical position. There were a great many who opposed Leopold II's bold and ruthless claims. The Ludolfinger dynasty itself is one great example. Around half of the living members of the dynasty outright refused the Tyrant King's demand, and suffered greatly for it, largely at the hands of Leopold II's first son, who like his father, also took the name of the Great king who had overseen Germany's first great golden age. Leopold III, most often identified with the moniker 'The Heretic King'.
Leopold III was his father's most fervent supporter. A drunken zealot who embraced the new heresies his father had forced upon the people deeper than anyone else. Leopold saw any who opposed the new truths that his father had introduced as directly challenging the German throne, and that was not something that could ever be tolerated. Whereas his father's reign was of rivers running red with blood, Leopold III sought to continue the work and the example that the Impaler had set. It is perhaps even more disturbing, since it is widely known that Leopold III suffered from no madness or ailment.. he was of sound mind as he happily continued the atrocities his father started.
https://i.imgur.com/esYAQ3s.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SI3wLTw.jpg
More and more the brutal suppression tactics of Leopold III resistance, another insurrection followed his rise to power, with nearly half of the Frankish lords of Lotharingia throwing their lot in with the rebels.. but still it wasn't enough. Still the loyalist forces prevailed and sawto the utter destruction of the vanquished.
But Europe had seen enough.
https://i.imgur.com/u6APs3Y.jpg
King Nikalous of Bavaria launches an invasion intent on reclaiming Thuringia from the Heretic German king and his Cathar vassals. The people are still Catholic, and thus he intends to liberate them. He calls on all Christians to do the same! But support is slow to muster.. despite decades of internal civil war, the reputation of the fierce German knights was well respected on the battlefield. Stories of their legendary defense of the Danish King were still fondly told around the campfires of Europe. The Bavarian King would find little aid in his personal crusade..
https://i.imgur.com/hxZCn9U.jpg
His assault on the north is an utter disaster, and one he pays for with his life..
https://i.imgur.com/miQkawc.jpg
Demoralized and facing a dangerous enemy, the beleaguered Bavarian troops are massacred in battle after battle. The King of Burgundy answers Bavaria's call for aid in their attack on the North, and even Bohemia betrays Leopold III and sides with the Catholic forces. A deep embarrassment for the Kingdom of Germany! Leopold vents his anger against his enemies...
https://i.imgur.com/4Yc10C9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9n4t4V4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8QOw47T.jpg
All of Europe stands in utter disbelief. All of Central Europe is aflame with war in an attempt to bring down the Heretical King of Germany, the man who visits terrible punishments on his foes, the man who has slaughtered and brutally suppressed Catholicism in the name of his mad father... and the Allies of Europe are utterly beaten. The forces of Bohemia are routed, Bavaria's king is slain and her soldiers crushed, and Burgundy is defeated after a failed invasion of Lotharingia. Leopold III's power is frightening. The Allied defeat at the battles of Leningen, Brixey and Asperg stirred the French into action.
Already Cathar forces had brought down three Karling successor states. Would the Capets, masters of Western Europe be next? The French Queen would not wait to find out.. she would invade Lotharingia three years after the last battle of the Bavarian Crusades, as history would later know the conflict.
https://i.imgur.com/Z339Vhi.jpg
A three pronged invasion force laid siege to settlements all along Upper Lorraine attempting to bait the German army into action. But Leopold was wary, he did not rush into the conflict, knowing well the famed mobility of the French army. For two years he allowed the French to waste their strength in long, bloody sieges against his Frankish vassals. As his vassals struggled for their lives defending their castles and cities in some of the most ruthless warfare to see the region, Leopold camped along the Rhine gathering strength. His inaction would continue to sow the seeds of discontent among the vassals of Lotharingia, who fought and died while their supposed King sat idly by..
It wasn't until two years later when Leopold made his attack, the Battle of Vaudemont.
https://i.imgur.com/2hYWJjc.jpg
A crushing military defeat that saw the strength of Cathar Germany broken. A full 15,000 men under the command of Leopold III himself met the French in the Upper Lorraine, although meeting initial success on the first two days of the engagements, German forces were outflanked on the third day of the battle to terrible results. Battlefield reports from Vaudemont speak of betrayal in the ranks of the Germans. Men refusing to fight their brothers of the faith, or outright switching side in the middle of battle. Such reports are largely considered sensationalist by modern scholars. Leopold III led his men into Lorraine supremely desperate for a victory. The contract was nearly up on many of the mercenaries he had employed. His own levies were tired having spent two years on campaign already, which isn't even mentioning the losses he'd suffered from the previous conflict. He needed a victory and he needed it at Vaudemont. What he got was the destruction of his full standing armed levy and retinues..
In the aftermath of Vaudemont the Kingdom of France would claim dominion of Upper Lorraine. Their victory would be a powerful light of hope for the rest of Christendom. Cathar Germany had been dealt a terrible blow. But the heresy was spreading. Despite the victory for Catholic forces, the Cathar philosophies were taking room in Germany.
https://i.imgur.com/IT6iZXX.jpg
More and more people are being swayed by the alternative to Catholicism. Whether by the brutal tactics of Germany's rulers, or by the simple desire for a new way of thinking is unfortunately lost to history.. What is known, however, is that after Vaudemont Leopold III shrinks from the public eye and is increasingly despondent after his terrible defeat at the hands of the Capets. His was a dynasty that had held Europe in its palm just a half century ago. How could it come to this? Defeated and laid low by the Capets. Germany was a shell of its former self. Two kings who had taken her down a dark road of heresy and defying all of Europe had spent almost all the coin and men in the realm. Leopold, crushed by the gravity of his defeat, would die just four years later..
His successor was his son.. unsurprisingly named Leopold IV. Although unlike his father and grandfather.. the new king was not Cathar. He was a catholic, which gave a shield against further religious wars from his fellow Kings.
Could this be the end of the nightmare for Germany?
https://i.imgur.com/jwFwaD9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Comeback bext week for the Reign of Leopold IV
Well that could have gone better. 50 years of civil war and force converting to Cathar. House rules baby, gotta roleplay. No reason to convert right back to Catholicism if you're an insane possessed man who believes Cathar is the way to go because Jesus told you to do it!
I think i had about 8 civil wars. The fact that I am not dead yet is astounding, but.. it's not looking good. I have a bad feeling about Leopold IV. I feel like the realm is about to heavily fracture from the religious tension. He isn't Cathar and most of my vassals are now. Oops..
I feel a tantrum spiral coming on :sweatdrop:
If i can somehow survive this, Germany will come out of it way stronger. Converting to a heresy and surviving is just about one of the hardest things you can do in CK2. Plus it's just a really fun thing to do.
Also really sorry about missing the Wednesday update! Hope the double feature makes up for it a little ~:)
Are you a professional writer? You sure know how to write a good narrative.
I dabbled with writing in college but never committed myself to it. I think you do me too much credit, but thank you. Seriously. :bow:
Just saw this Monk, and I'm loving your writing style. You've got me itching to try out CKII again for the first time in a while. Should also be interesting once you reach the swap-over, since I've never played any of the EU games, and your AAR looks like it will be a nice way to check out the game.
I am wondering if I can even survive to get there at this rate. CK2 is a fickle game, doubly so when you roleplay your characters. Ii can force you into some really bad choices. :laugh4: If i get to EUIV i am looking forward to the change. Thank you for the compliments, nice to know people like this idea!
The Time of Troubles
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Leopold IV, Son of Leopold III of Germany.
Reigned c. January 4. 1051 - August 29. 1062
A faithful son in a house of traitors was Leopold IV. Coming to power after the death of his father, Leopold III, the young king was a return to the old way of thinking, of catholicism. AS a Prince, his was one of the few voices of opposition that had gone without being silenced by the reign of terror inflicted upon Germany by his father and grandfather. Now, he was King of a house divided, not only by faith, but by increasing cultural tensions between the Germans and the people they ruled. It also did not help that he was not the most qualified man to lead his people. He was greedy and a coward..
https://i.imgur.com/EVwrXBr.jpg
The only son of the late Heretic King, Leopold IV had won no great victories, fought no great battles of his own, and won no true honor for himself. He would find himself unprepared for the terrible state the realm had fallen into.
The Frankish lords of Lotharingia, never having truly accepted German rule, were further incensed toward hostility by Leopold III's inaction during the French sieges of Upper Lorraine. That Germany would lose that campaign, and the war, only deepened resentment for the Throne of the German Kings in Lotharingia...
Less than a year into his reign another bloody revolt breaks out in Lotharingia, this time inspired by the Dutch duke of Gelre and his allies along the lowlands.
https://i.imgur.com/kV9dzNr.jpg
To add an insult to the continued troubles, while the German army campaigns against the treasonous rebels in the west, Bavaria declares a war for Thuringia. Rather than risk losing his entire standing forces, Leopold IV relents, unable to oppose the now much more powerful (and completely full strength) Bavarian army. The duchy of Thuringia is lost to the southern kingdom once more..
https://i.imgur.com/MnVETWc.jpg
It has been over a half century of internal strife in the Kingdom of Germany, with now three generations of kings desperately trying to keep the hard won conquest of Lotharingia under Germany Authority, but it is finally too much.
https://i.imgur.com/SBvGTLo.jpg
With the central German lords demanding the restoration of old titles and rights and the coastal vassals constantly pressing for the rights of cities against the rights of the castles, the lords of Lotharingia and their constant incitement of the tensions in other regions cannot continue. Leopold IV grants the kingdom to Duchess Denise de Cerdanya and relinquishes all claims and demands of the Kingdom, releasing it and its lords fully from vasslhood.
1054 marks the end of decades of German rule in the Rhinelands.
https://i.imgur.com/OhvFx2h.jpg
It was an act of desperation. With Germany's strength dwindling with each passing year her rivals had already seized on multiple chances to eat away at the powerful Kingdom. While perhaps a hard thing to do, it's likely the very best thing Leopold could have done for his besieged realm. Without giving up Lotharingia his forces would have continued to be tied down, fighting a losing cause for a realm and a people who were ever more hostile to their rule.
https://i.imgur.com/fmKZOF7.jpg
Almost overnight, factional strength in the capital dips to an all time low. Leopold had not made any friends with this choice, but now with his focus back on Germany, he could properly deal with his enemies..
https://i.imgur.com/7sPE879.jpg
Of course, now many of his old enemies were fighting among themselves! Lotharingia delves into a brutal civil war that would render the now independent kingdom completely impotent in the coming decades. Independent from its German masters at last, Lotharingia only exists by the grace and mercy of her neighbors. In his capital, Leopold is finally able to focus on consolidating his kingdom and rebuilding what was lost.. and there is much work to do. Over 50 years of internal war has left Germany decimated, both militarily and financially.
The Kingdom finds itself severely short on men, money and the ability to wage war. Most of the great German heroes born out of Leopold I's battles are dead, one way or another. The old Alliances that had ensured Germany's safety are dead, with them many members f the ruling dynasty.. through intrigue or otherwise. The Germany of Leopold IV is a much different place from the one it had been at the turn of the first century. For many, it must have been a terribly dark time for the German nobility. It was a time of great betrayals, where a word said at court could spark a civil war in an instant, and where the faith of the people was severely divided.
It was during this time of great hardship that Germany would finally reach its breaking point. Prince Peter, uncle to Leopold IV and leader of the Cathar wing of the Ludolfinger family launches an invasion of Europe, gathering to him a great many adventurers, mercenaries and nobles. At the same time, a Cathar insurgency springs up in the King's demesne as a counteraction to continued attempts by the current King to turn back the tide of heresy.
https://i.imgur.com/xsGM5rU.png
as Germany redies itself to fight on two fronts.. a third opens..
https://i.imgur.com/jpf934l.png
Greater Poland declares an invasion of Brandenburg just as Leopold is marshaling his forces to deal with both the heretics and his traitor of an uncle.. whats even worse is the Polish forces are backed by the powerful state of Galich which has completely united all of the Slavic tribes of the western steppes. With such a great power beneath their command, Galich can summon a levy estimated at 20,000 men, making them the strongest kingdom in the East
by far. Leopold IV has no choice but to delve into the money lenders once more and take out a huge loan on Germany's behalf. He rallies to him every sellsword and man still loyal to his cause and marches out to battle..
https://i.imgur.com/cdblHk1.jpg
First was the great betrayer and his traitorous bunch of mercenaries. Leopold met the forces of the would be usurper and intended to crush his uncle in a quick battle, but it quickly degenerated into a brutal clash in the mountains of southern Germany. The Battle of Brauwiler marks a turning point in Germany's history. Where once her greatest enemies had been foreign kings and plots designed to weaken the ruling dynasty, now, the greatest threat came from within the ranks of the ruling family's own. 14,000 men on both sides are killed in two weeks of prolonged and bloody engagements in the mountains around Koln. It's only after great sacrifice, and the loss of over 4 thousand men that loyalist forces prevail and crush the efforts of the traitor. Unfortunately, by now, the strength of Greater Poland and Galich has rallied...
Leopold marches back to his capital with great haste, smashing the Cathar rebels, but beyond his position on the Elbe, all he can see are fires. With only 7,000 men to his cause and the contract on his sellswords running out quickly.. the King must surrender. His forces return to the capital in disgrace as Brandenburg is captured by the slavic pagans..
A new power has arisen in the east, one who makes the tale of Bogumil the Bewitched look like a fairy tale.
https://i.imgur.com/9V6oMbp.jpg
High Chief Siemomsysl has allied with the powerful King of Galich of the steppes. Striking out at both other pagans and western christians alike, Siemomsysl has the ability and the political alliances to one day unite the East, just as the German Kings had always feared might happen. With his defeat in 1058 Leopold returns to his capital to rebuild. Though facing defeat in the east, he had triumphed at home and in the west and was facing less of a unified threat from his nobles since the defeat and imprisonment of his Uncle. Perhaps the long night for Germany was at last over, but with the growing power of the Slavic Pagans now threatening his borders Leopold knew he had to rebuild the strength of Germany quickly...
For four years he sits idle. Rebuilding. Plotting. Hoping that an opportunity to win a grand victory would present itself. That is what he needed, or so he reasoned. One grand victory to unite his people again... and against the right people. An internal dispute would not do it. Not even a fight against the southern kingdom of Bavaria would, despite the score that would need to be settled there. It would have to be in the east. It would have to be to retake Brandenburg. Too many territories had been lost under his reign. All of Lotharingia. The Duchy of Thuringia, and now the county of Brandenburg? The line had to be drawn!
April 18, 1061. The Polish army is away campaigning against rebellious elements of the Galich tribal system leading their western borders vulnerable to attack.. this was his chance. This was the time. Leopold marshals his forces and marches east with everything he has. 6,000 men. A pitiful levy in comparison to the near three times that Germany could summon 60 years ago, but Leopold has the right on his side. That is more than enough! He fights for lost territory. For lost honor. For the restoration of Germany's rightful place as master of central Europe!
https://i.imgur.com/7rqCoXF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gMnmBuB.jpg
But his ambition outweighs his ability. The King had never been a great warrior, and in the chaos of the battle at Havelberg, the King and his retinue are separated from his army.. fighting desperately in all directions, chronicles tell of a heroic last stand at the top of a ridge. Surrounded by the enemy and with no way out, the German knights dismount and stand their ground. History records that in his final campaign, the well known craven of a man, Leopold IV, issues one last order to his retinues. "Hold for reinforcements."
Leopold is killed at Havelberg. His heroic last stand igniting a fire in Germany's heart as news of his last stand reaches out beyond his own borders. His work undone. His war unfinished. Leopold's last act manages to erase his numerous failures in the minds of many Germans. To die for honor is to die a good death...
His young daughter is left to lead the Kingdom in the absence of the now deceased ruler...
https://i.imgur.com/XtTjnz0.jpg
And already the hounds are circling the wounded beast, waiting to strike. Germany is on the breaking point. Engaged in brutal fighting abroad and a young child on the throne... can it survive its most trying crisis?
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Come back next week for the reign of Serhilda I
Argh! GL for the coming years, still 350 years for the porting: Germany must not fall! :P
Unfortunately you're still half a dozen Paradox titles short of 'sign the Molotov-Ribentrob pact with Russia Galicia,' which would have helped with the Poles. Can we at least hope you finally managed to draw a ruler with half-decent diplomacy?
Unfortunately you're still half a dozen Paradox titles short of 'sign the Molotov-Ribentrob pact with Russia Galicia,' which would have helped with the Poles. Can we at least hope you finally managed to draw a ruler with half-decent diplomacy?
It's always darkest just before the dawn. ~:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyDbfCbQnH8
rickinator9
09-13-2013, 23:38
Perhaps more daggers is what Germany needs. A slit throat can be as useful as a levy.
Quick preemptive to say Sunday's edition will be delayed with my deepest apologies.
I've been prepping for a big move to a new place and it's hitting this Sunday. I will be without internet at least until Tuesday of next week which means no updates for a time. As long as things go smoothly I should hit the Wednesday update without issue. If not, I'll be posting an update asap.
:bow:
I would also like to take the chance to say your comments are what keep me going. This is great fun and all but knowing that other people like it too keep me on the track to stay in the game. We've seen 200 years rewritten, 600 more to go.
rickinator9
09-15-2013, 13:10
Quick preemptive to say Sunday's edition will be delayed with my deepest apologies.
I've been prepping for a big move to a new place and it's hitting this Sunday. I will be without internet at least until Tuesday of next week which means no updates for a time. As long as things go smoothly I should hit the Wednesday update without issue. If not, I'll be posting an update asap.
Don't worry. In this case, Quality > Quantity. It is fun to read an AAR where nothing is truly perfect and the player isn't steamrolling the AI all the time.
mambaman
09-15-2013, 17:59
Do love your writing Monk. Used to also love EU games before time then playing the Total War franchise took over. Having read all of this and seen the screenshots I'm really tempted to invest.
What's CKII though? Was a bit confused as to what this game is and how the AAR is suddenly going to switch to EUIV halfway through?
rickinator9
09-15-2013, 23:14
What's CKII though? Was a bit confused as to what this game is and how the AAR is suddenly going to switch to EUIV halfway through?
CKII is another game by Paradox Interactive. You can export a CKII game to EUIV and then play the game in EUIV.
mambaman
09-16-2013, 20:08
Ahhh I see-yes had a look-used to love EU games but not played since EUII. May have to repurchase though amazingly expensive
Last time on the Long March:
https://i.imgur.com/Q0TasCE.jpg
And now the continuation:
Germany Rises
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Serhilda I 'the Conqueror', Daughter of Leopold IV of Germany.
Reigned c. August 29. 1062 – October 15. 1125
Disaster at Havelberg.
The King is dead, cut down by the heathen forces of the Polish Warlord, his men launch a fierce counter attack in a desperate attempt to recover the fallen king's body. Unleashing a decade of anger and frustration for their kingdom's plight, the tired men of Germany manage to route the defending Poles through much bloodshed. The body of Leopold IV is recovered and the war is declared over. Brandenburg is once more under the control of Germany...
https://i.imgur.com/5TLAG2g.jpg
But the corpse of the king is barely cold before the schemers descend upon his family. The young Queen Serhilda cannot hope to command the respect of the powerful German Dukes. A small faction of the ruling council, loyal to the Ludolfinger line, steals the young ruler away to the province of Anhalt for her own safety. The intrigues of the court are quickly building.. it's only a matter of time until tensions explode.
https://i.imgur.com/WhUG2Xa.jpg
December 27. 1062. The Duke of Meckleburg leads a number of the northern vassals against the crown in an attempt to establish old rights lost under Leopold II's reign of madness.. The Battle of Walbeck decides the fate of the war, but even though Royalist forces claim ultimate victory, the insurrection sparks a new period of instability for Germany.. for three years and many terrible battles, the once great Gatekeeper of Europe is locked in a bitter internal struggle.
https://i.imgur.com/xubOC6W.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/IyUUuQI.jpg
The royal family flees the capital in the fighting, the Queen rules in Anhalt in secret while many others of the family take to refuge in the south. Sixty long years of internal power struggles had left the Ludolfinger line nearly wiped out by the reign of Serhilda I. Reduced to living beneath a rock like a common beetle, the young queen never forgets this valuable and ignoble life lesson... Germany was being punished for the sins of her family. For the sins of her grandfather and great grandfather, the realm had torn itself apart as every man and woman who held a sword thought they could scrap together a claim on the throne. Yet still loyalist forces remained resolute. Never wavering in their duty, they put down every last rebellion. Every last squabble of the nobles. Unfortunately, by January of 1065 as internal issues began to subside.. the Norseman returned.
https://i.imgur.com/CK68zOm.jpg
Germany was in no position to resist this latest part of Northern Aggression. It seemed as if this would be the end, the royal family in hiding, a weak regent keeping the peace, and a standing army in shambles...
But fate had other designs for Germany..
https://i.imgur.com/alXqjH2.jpg
Levies from Bavaria, France and Bohemia arrived in the capital lead by their kingdom's respective nobles to lead the defense of Germany's tired and ragged defenders. Standing united, the four great Kingdoms of Europe stood against the Norse
The battle of Dithmarschen marks the turning point for Germany's fortunes. It was here in August of 1065 that Germany, battered and regretful, stood with its brothers and sisters of Europe against a common enemy. 17,000 troops smashing the Norse invasion and reversing the terrible spiral that the Kingdom had been caught in.
The people of Germany were jubilant at the news of victory, even more so by the return of their Queen from hiding. The young girl sat upon the German throne to receive the formal emissaries of her equals from across Europe. With their support, Germany had stood once more..
For the next 6 years the under aged girl would rule in her capital, earning a reputation for bravery and kindness in ways that her great grandfather and grandfather could never hope to be. But she would not truly come into her own until her 16th birthday in July of 1071. Her coming of age was marked with great celebrations all across her kingdom. At last.. Germany had a true ruler again.
https://i.imgur.com/sM3Mthk.jpg
The only surviving child of Leopold IV, Serhilda had few aunts and uncles. Her father had died in battle and her brother had died at the age of 6. What had remained was a woman who had grown seeing her nation wrapped in turmoil. She had seen the power of Germany laid low by scheming Dukes. The results of over sixty years of war.. The nobles were disunited, only brought together by their desire for more power.. but Serhilda was a woman unlike any monarch who had come before her in Germany's History. She was not a warrior. She was not a plotter.
She was a diplomat.
Through tireless work the new Queen put to rest decades long feuds between the various factions all vying for power in Germany. In just a few months, Serhilda had solved issues that decades of war could not see set right. The vassals were given new honorary titles to compensate the loss of their feudal rights and the growth of the obligations to the throne. Cathar heretics were expelled from the council, and new building projects were ordered through the kingdom to remake the fortifications laid low from so long a civil war.
Within six months.. Serhilda had united Germany anew. She would need their power for her growing ambition.
For too long the German people had been divided into two Kingdoms. The North of Germany, and the South of Bavaria. Both had been born out of the demise of East Francia. Both claimed the ultimate right of succession to that noble legacy of leading the Germany people, and both had been locked in a continuous struggle for that right since their foundations. At times the two kingdoms were friends, other times they were enemies.. Serhilda sought to bring that relationship to an end.
https://i.imgur.com/ZUlkgMG.jpg
She petitioned the Pope for the right to invade Bavaria. Her cause was noble, so she argued. With the fall of the Karlings from power, Bavaria had been dangerously unpredictable entity. Expanding into Hungary like a ravenous beast, destabilizing the Carpathian basis in the process. For years, Bavaria had battled the Hungarian Kings for control of the basis, only leading to tens of thousands of deaths on boths sides.
https://i.imgur.com/HDU98dW.jpg
Germany would see that put to an end. Serhilda would see it ended. The Pope agreed, and the war was launched.
https://i.imgur.com/6V4fHq2.jpg
Bavaria had been engaged in border skirmishes with the Hungarian nobles when the news of war came.. German knights at the head of a vast army. A newly united Germany, come to avenge the loss of Thuringia. Come to see the two kingdoms unified, once and for all...
https://i.imgur.com/R55HwyJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/t7rbCo0.jpg
The war would be the greatest victory in Germany history up to that point. Bavaria, weakened by the war against the Norse, weakened by continuall attacks by Hungarian forces to regain De Jure land, fell before the northern attack. North and South were now united.. and Serhilda was hailed as the greatest monarch in the history of Germany – barely two years after she had come of age. The 18 year old Queen was hailed 'the Conqueror' upon the defeat of Bavaria..
Making good on her word to put an end to the power grabs in the east, many of the Hungarian territories were released as independent duchies..
Germany was now truly Kingdom of the Germans.
https://i.imgur.com/Oi3cwo4.jpg
The vassals of Bavaria were surprisingly easy to control. They bent their knees to the new ruler of Bavaria and welcomed the unified German kingdom. In one fell swoop, Germany had reasserted its power as the greatest successor state of the Karlings.. for many, this would have been enough. For many monarchs they would have rested there, but for Serhilda, this was just the start.
https://i.imgur.com/jWykEDe.jpg
Denmark had fallen more than twenty years ago to the Heathen King of Sweden. Its people were still catholic and cried out for liberation. Serhilda used this as a pretense for war. With a newly united German Kingdom behind her, she declared war upon King Halsten of Sweden, sending 36,000 men north to claim Jylland.
https://i.imgur.com/lBSdu96.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EHQQDLy.jpg
Swedish forces were ultimately crushed and Jylland liberated. Germany was now master of the center of Europe without peer.. but there were still things out of reach.
October. 1080. Bohemia declares a reconquest of lost territory to Poland.. spirals out of control whem Germany backs Bohemia, and Poland is supported by Galich. The East is set on fire in the coming months with German forces clashing with Polish troops numerous times.. but it isn't until the entry of Galich into the fighting and the battle of Glatz that the war is truly decided.
https://i.imgur.com/EtTFDPC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1PH2v3W.jpg
Over 50,000 men from both sides of the conflict meet at Glatz. The Bohemian/German forces win initial skirmishes but as the battle is truly joined, the military brilliance of the Galich troops is revealed in their commander's great skills. Boasting some of the finest warriors and commanders of Europe, Galich smashes the German attack and forces a terrible route. Germany is forced to withdraw from the fighting shortly after, a month later, Bohemia capitulates and signs a truce.
Beaten but hardly broken, Germany turns its attentions to rebuilding for the next decade. Serhilda, even though she had not been able to turn back the tide at Glatz, is seen as the greatest hero of the century. The woman who united Germany and Bavaria. The woman who had defeated the great Swedish King and reclaimed Jylland.
It would be a reputation the Queen welcomed in earnest. Using her popular image as reason to further liberate Denmark, she declares a second war in 1089, this time for Sjaelland.
https://i.imgur.com/gxuMH3Z.jpg
Germany's power cannot be denied.
https://i.imgur.com/3BgqHhw.jpg
Serhilda has united Denmark, Germany and Bavaria beneath the rule of a single person. No King, no matter how great, had done so. Not since the reign of the Karlings themselves had any dynasty been able to make such a claim. In 1090 Serhilda declares that a new age of peace had arrived for Germany. She had won the nobles. She had won the people, and although defeated in the east, the had won wars in the North and South. Now she intended to win the peace. Her building projects, initiated upon her first assesion to power, were continued. The Fortifications that had been rebuilt were upgraded. New barracks for the soldiers were created. New temples and places of prayer for the church..
For ten years Serhilda reigns in peace. For ten years she oversees the greatest reconstruction efforts that Germany had ever seen. For the first time in over 70 years, Germany and her people live in harmony with themselves. No great war to be fought. No injustice to right. Simple peace.
Germany was now the strongest kingdom in Europe. Its rivals laid low, her people happy, and her nobles well taken care of. The long night had ended.
https://i.imgur.com/72e0zuG.jpg
That is.. until the Pope gives an impassioned sermon on the plight of Europe's brothers of the faith in Jerusalem. His call for a crusade sways many, the Queen of Germany included! Serhilda commits nearly her entire standing forces to the effort, including her second and third sons, Christian and Emerich respective.
https://i.imgur.com/VrSwZVK.jpg
The forces make first landfall in late April. 1101, and after nearly 8 months of campaigning the great Arabian Caliphate is laid low. His standing armies destroyed. His hope for victory dim. It seemed as if Jerusalem would be taken!
https://i.imgur.com/pBXfyHc.jpg
Unfortunately, the independent satropies of Persia were not to stand idly by as their ally in Arabia fell. They launched a powerful counter attack, completely annihilating the Western Christians in the battles that followed.
https://i.imgur.com/GXB1NF8.jpg
Unable to accept the defeat. Christian and Ererich Ludolfinger lead a daring seaborn invasion of Arsuf, attempting to reopen the beachhead and allow western forces a port for reinforcements. Their attack goes down in history as a moment of celebrated glory for the crusaders. Even though defeated and forced back into the sea, the brothers win tremendous fame for their bravery against all odds. They are held up as an example of all that Germany represents..
https://i.imgur.com/PjDPD9p.jpg
The crusade for Jerusalem is called off after three years of terrible fighting. But even in defeat, many of the West look upon the experience as a heroic and noble act. Many soldiers and commanders return home having earned great fame..
Germany's soldiers return home. Defeated in the east, they march north to retake Skane and finally unite Denmark beneath their Queen's command. Commanded by the crusading sons of Serhilda, the battles that follow are completely one sided. Sweden's defense cannot hold and Skane falls to the German invaders.
https://i.imgur.com/xWB3gXW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/738u01J.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/56JYHlt.jpg
Having secured nearly all of lawful Denmark, Serhilda bestows the Kingdom of Denmark onto her son, Emerich I..
https://i.imgur.com/dcZLGvs.jpg
With the act.. this puts her dynasty in control of four kingdoms in Central Europe. Bavaria. Germany. Bohemia and Denmark are all controlled by the Ludolfinger dynasty. Where only twenty years ago the dynasty appeared on the verge of death, Serhilda the Great. Serhilda the Conqueror, Serhilda the Bold, has restored the glory of Germany and elevated the kingdom to heights it has never seen before. Could it be that hers was a dynasty to eclipse even that of the Karlings?
https://i.imgur.com/Xy3UiOy.jpg
For the next twenty years Serhilda reigns in peace. Having united so much, brought peace to so many, the Queen herself finally takes time to enjoy the hard won victory that she alone had made possible. She had saved Germany from the brink of collapse. United the Germany people beneath one throne. Placed her son on the throne of Denmark, and supported the first Crusade despite its defeat.
Twenty years of peace was far too little for such a great Queen.
https://i.imgur.com/A27w0DY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Next up: the reign of Konrad I.
mambaman
09-23-2013, 07:53
Superb! I'm really up for buying this game. Which version of CKII is it?
mambaman
09-23-2013, 08:27
And also how did you get to start in 867AD? As far as I can see all versions of CK2 starts in 1066..
rickinator9
09-23-2013, 13:00
And also how did you get to start in 867AD? As far as I can see all versions of CK2 starts in 1066..
mambaman: He's playing with the Old Gods DLC. It grants another start date, at 867 AD
Rock on!
mambaman
09-23-2013, 14:00
Thanks Rick!
In my haste to bang out the Sunday update I forgot to give you guys an update. Well, here's a brief world overview before we head into Konrad's update tomorrow/thursday.
Another big thank you to everyone who reads and gives feedback. This is a lot of fun to play and write up. The biggest issue most days is just getting the time to play :laugh4:
This screenshot was taken 10 days after Konrad's reign started so there are no spoilers, just a world overview. :yes:
https://i.imgur.com/JnsR9YI.jpg
Things to note:
Slavic tribes have united under two powers, Galich which is an old enemy of the West and the relatively untested Lithuania, who formed a few days before Serhilda's death. Lithuania was formed by Livonia who has been a power in the north for decades but could never get their act together. Well now they do..
Byzantines are largely static, which I think is an issue with CK2 as a whole. Most mods I've played don't seem to address the issue of the Byzantines never wanting to die. Usually when they do it's out of a fluke. Still! There they are. Their borders have grown a bit since the last shot but they really aren't that powerful. I think most powers of the game simply have no interest in fighting them, and those that do aren't powerful enough to do much.
Arabia is still the monster blob they usually are but they're a paper tiger. If it wasn't for the persian Satropies jumping in on the first crusade we would have had Jerusalem. I had the points to make the claim easily, 2nd place was Venice who had hired up like 15,000 mercenaries for the crusade...
Christian hopes in Spain are falling apart. The north is divided between two powers of equal strength, Asturias and Navara, while the south is controled by a united Sultan. France has been meddling there for around 30 years but they haven't been able to win any victories.
England has become the land of broken Conquerors. Ireland, Scotland and Wales were uniterd beneath a powerful Celtic dynasty and were waging war against England, but it all fell apart for them. The Norse still have a few enclaves in the British Isles and have somehow managed to survive for centuries. Not sure how.
England has turned Frankish and lost its Anglo-Saxon roots. Around half the vassals are now Franks from intermarrying into the French nobility.
The Capets have lost control of France. France spiraled into a pretty serious civil war when I was fighting Bavaria for the fate of Greater Germany, they lost and have been on elective since the late 11th century. Despite that, France remains the second greatest Kingdom of Western Europe, with Germany now claiming the top role.
Italy, once a powerful successor to the Karlings, is on the verge of losing total control in the boot. The Dukes are tearing away at the King's powers and they re getting further decentralized.
The Seljuks got wrecked somewhere in the last century or so. I'm not sure what happened to them, honestly! As far as I can tell they didn't declare on Arabia. I think they went into the Steppes but there's litterally no trace of them. Their title has no holder. :laugh4:
All in all? This is shaping up to be a fascinating world. It's been a while since I had the drive to play a long game, I'd nearly forgotten the fun of watching the world build around you. Germany struggles and toils in Central Europe, but she is very much just one part of the larger world.
The realms of Europe are starting to stabilize as we exit the chaos of the Dark Ages. However... we're also now (officially) only 100 years from the rise of the Mongols. That should shake things up QUITE a bit. Remember that the nature of the Mongol Invasion is random, in some campaigns the Mongols do not march West and you never get the invasion.. I was considering forcing it with console commands at the right time. With how awesome this world is, it'd be a shame to spare it such a calamity...
mambaman
09-29-2013, 11:10
Building very nicely indeed Monk :2thumbsup:
rickinator9
10-28-2013, 11:04
Monk you have got until 18th of November before the save becomes incompatible.
Monk you have got until 18th of November before the save becomes incompatible.
Next ruler is halfway done. I hit a pretty busy point in my life in October. Things are settling down though so I am playing again ~:)
Steam is set to never update. As long as I don't verify my cache integrity I think I can remain self-contained.
DEADLINES BROKEN. READERS LEAVING. FIRE AND BRIMSTONE COMING DOWN FROM THE SKY. RIVERS AND SEAS BOILING. FORTY YEARS OF DARKNESS. THE DEAD RISING FROM THE GRAVE.
HUMAN SACRIFICE.
DOGS AND CATS. LIVING TOGETHER.
MASS HYSTERIA.
Sorry for the delay. October sucked.
we now return to your regularly scheduled updates.
On the Hunt: The Second Crusade
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Konrad I 'the Hunter', grandson of Serhilda I 'the Conqueror'.
Reigned c. October 15. 1125 – Feburary 27. 1158
The light of the dawn had broken the long nightmare which had gripped Germany for almost a century. The time of troubles had, at long last, ended. And to the shock of many it wasn't at the point of a sword or the dagger of an assassin, but the words and quilled pen of a diplomat: Serhilda, the great Queen of the Germans. She had risen from a house divided to shepherd her dynasty through its most tumultuous crisis since its founding nearly three centuries prior. Glory and legitimacy was once more restored to the throne, Germany had ascended to its rightful place as the strongest of all the Karling successor states. When the cold winter of 1125 eased the passing of the good Queen many feared that the great Kingdom would slip back into its previous state of violence, but it was not so.
https://i.imgur.com/ciK6j40.jpg
Konrad I. Son of Konrad the Ill, Grandson of Serhilda the Conqueror, came to power at the death of his grandmother on a cold October day in 1125. His father had passed many years before from a terrible small pox outbreak in the capital, leaving the young nobleman directly in line for the throne. In days passed, this may have put the young master squarely in the sights of scheming uncles.. but with Serhilda's great success in the expansion of her dynasty's grip on Europe, Serhilda had ensured that her many sons were quite sated in their need for glory and honor. Indeed. Konrad's uncles included the King of Denmark and three famous knights of the First Crusade... to say Konrad got a military education would be an understatement!
https://i.imgur.com/uk2VS1L.jpg
But upon Konrad's ascension to the throne there were no great wars to fight. No great enemy to vanquish. The Slavic tribes, finally united, who had managed to block German ambitions in the east in generations passed were now falling to infighting once more. The terrible Norseman who had struck fear into the northern coast lines with their endless wars, turning Germany into the Gate watchers of Europe had been pacified by holy men. Denmark was beneath the firm control of a Ludolfinger King, and Norway and Sweden sworn allegiance to the cross toward the end of Serhilda's reign. Konrad instead used his martial ability to hunt game. Organizing great contests between the nobles almost yearly. By the time he had been sworn in as King, Konrad was known all across his realm as The Hunter. It was a prosperous time for his dynasty, and for Germany as a whole. Scholars believe that through almost a sustained civil war had strengthened the resolve of the people who called these lands home. German knights, known through the centuries for their devastating skill at arms, were now said to be even deadlier on the field of battle.
Germany's soldiers had been hardened through ruthless conflict, but its people even more so. In a realm where death could come at any moment with marauding knights of the rival lord's demesne come to pillage your land, society begins to mold to fit the circumstance. There was not a single man or woman left in Germany who did not see themselves as a warrior of some kind by Serhilda's time, and finally, Konrad's. Skill at arms, skills of the hunt.. they were mandatory learning for all citizens of the kingdom. Germany's people had learned the hard way: if you cannot use a sword, you will most certainly die by the sword.
This was the Germany of Konrad I. A kingdom ready for a war. A society turned to respect and honor it. It was this society that was built for the Second Crusade.
https://i.imgur.com/9a72BXQ.jpg
The terrible aftermath of the First Crusade and its failure had caused the Pope and his council to rethink their plan of attack in regards to the March of Islam. Jerusalem must be retaken. Jerusalem was the key. But the power of the Arabian Caliphate was far too much fr Europe's combined strength. Only two realms truly had the manpower to even stand a chance against the Caliphates, and Germany and France alone was not enough to win. Therefore it was decided that the Crusades would have a new purpose: the recruitment of new soldiers. The pope delivered a zealous sermon in Rome to an enthralled crowd which sent a fire through all of Europe. He demanded a new army be raised. An army of the faithful, to lead the light of the cross into Iberia and reclaim it for Christendom. It was there, he argued, that the manpower to free Jerusalem would come from. It was there that the new army of the faithful would find tens of thousands of new brothers and sisters to wage the next war. The true war. Europe heeded the call, and Konrad I, King of Germany, was among them with every soldier he could muster.
35,000 men marched into Aragon led by the King himself to see the Pope's vision fulfilled. Aragon was to be liberated!
https://i.imgur.com/kv3paf5.jpg
Breaking almost thirty years of peace, Konrad leads his forces into Muslim occupied Iberia and clashes with the Sultan of Andalusia in the Battle of Empuries. Modern estimates put this battle as the single largest engagement of opposing forces since the time of Rome. Some 80,000 men and horse take the field at Empuries in fighting that last for nearly three weeks.
Western crusaders arrive in the North of Aragon after the long march over the mountains in late August of 1133, taking up position near the town of Empuries.. no sooner had their camp been made than does news reach them that the Moors are gathering in Valencia, reading their forces for an assault. What's more, Muslim forces are estimated to be at a full 40,000.. outnumbering Konrad's host by a fair margin. The King decides to hand command of the expedition over to his uncle, Christian, Son of Serhilda the Great and veteran of the first crusade. Now in his mid 50s, the aging knight is a formidable and shrewd battlefield commander. He pushes the arrayed strength of Germany, who had arrived in Spain far ahead of the French and Lotharingian crusading detachments, to dig in near Empuries and construct great earthwork defenses. By the time the Sultan arrives near the Crusader's position on October 1st, they find a well entrenched army waiting for the coming attack..
The first assault comes on October 15th, 1133. Three days of fighting sees the Sultan's initial attack utterly broken by the Stalwart defense of the Crusaders. Christian rallies his forces and leads a counter attack, but his men are unable to press their advantage when a terrible storm turns the hills into a mudslide. The dreaded power of the German knights is rendered almost useless in the loose terrain, and the crusaders are forced to hold their position. For two weeks, both sides push against one another unable to win traction in either direction, but neither side willing to surrender a single step. The Sultan pushes his brave, holy warriors in the defense of his Kingdom, to hold the line eat every assault, and the combined Konrad and Christian equally inspire the Crusaders to never give an inch. It isn't until three weeks after the battle's start, with the arrival of French and Lotharingian forces, that the Crusaders gain a noticeable advantage in the struggle near Empuries... but not in the traditional way.
With news of Frankish forces just a week away, Christian rallies his men for one last assault on the Sultan lines. He attacks, and in a daring move, orders his cavalry to dismount and lead the charge directly against the Moorish center. Battlefield reports claim the dismounted German knights reaped a sickening toll on the enemy force, who was unable to bring their cavalry to its fullest advantage due to poor terrain and the earthworks of the crusaders. The Sultan's forces are obliterated, and by the time Western reinforcements arrive, the war is essentially won...
https://i.imgur.com/HPIjGNn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iK8Or6T.jpg
Christian is celebrated a hero a second time across all of Christendom for his leadership in the Crusades. For destroying the power of the Andalusian Sultanate and forcing an utter route of the Muslim defenders, Germany is granted the spoils of war. Aragon shall be ruled by the Ludolfinger dynasty. It shall be ruled by a Son of Serhilda, Christian Ludolfinger.
https://i.imgur.com/zcbA3iE.jpg
Europe stands in awe. If there was any doubt as to their legitimacy as successor of the Karlings, it could never be disputed now. In the spirit of Charles the Hammer himself, Konrad I had 'led' his men to great victory in Iberia, routing the Andalusian sultan and raising a new Kingdom on the eastern coast of the peninsula. But while the crusade was indeed over, the battle for Iberia was just starting. Enraged at his defeat by the Crusaders, the Sultan of Andalusia launches a surprise attack on Valencia two years later. Local defenders under the command of (now King) Christian are hopelessly outnumbered and wiped out, with the King barely escaping north to his capital. The city of Valencia is razed.. and the call to arms is sent across Europe. A call that all of the Ludolfinger dynasty heeds.
Bohemia. Denmark. Germany, they all answer the call and set sail for Aragon. 30,000 men arrive and meet the combined forces of the Sultan at the battle of Denia.. it is another crushing defeat for the Muslims.. The power of Konrad's dynasty cannot be denied.
https://i.imgur.com/KRixajV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4LorNvg.jpg
Konrad returns home to great jubilation. Not only had he led the effort to win Aragon in the first place, but he had defended her from certain doom as well! The other Karling successor states could only look on in fear at the powerful alliance that was building around them. Denmark. Bohemia. Germany. Bavaria, and now Aragon, were all controlled by the Ludolfinger's. As long as they stood together, none could break them.. as long as they stood together.
In the aftermath of the Second Crusade, Konrad turned to domestic policies and continued the long program of building that had been started by his grandmother. Historians have noted that Konrad made a change from his predecessors, and often came down on the side of the Town's rights as opposed to those of the castle. His focus on increased trade and taxes strengthened the economy of his Kingdom. His reforms would allow an even greater level of prosperity for his people, who by now were absolutely drunk from the long peace enjoyed from Serhilda's reign. The glory that came from the Second Crusade would only deepen the growing sense of pride the Germans began to hold.
As Germany entered a new golden age, the power of the far off caliphs was weakening.
https://i.imgur.com/y6UL75o.jpg
The defeat of the Iberian Sunni at the hands of the Crusaders allowed a new following to take root. The Rise of the Shia sent shockwaves through the great Arabian Empire, which had long oppressed the 'heretical' sect. This was not the first great rebellion of Shia.. but it was the first which succeeded..
https://i.imgur.com/VIoSYOd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RNPhHiE.jpg
The Arabian Empire split in two, with Mesopotamia and Arabia proper being seized by a powerful faction of the rebels... the Middle east was ripped apart by war as the vassals of the Arabian Empire took the chance to rebel and strike out in a bid for independance. Though many of the rebellions would fail.. the Empire had been sundered. A new power had risen in the East.. a power that future Kings of Germany would have to contend with..
https://i.imgur.com/HlCIk4C.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Next week: The reign of Konrad II
A bit of a quiet reign, but this is mainly because Germany needs it. 80 years of civil war had me on the verge of collapse. Even after I pulled the queen of hearts herself (Serhilda the Greatest :sweetheart:) There were some powerful factions in my Kingdom that required constant policing. They never turned to be much of a threat, but you cannot be too careful. If I had had it my way I've have spent 50 years building and assassinating threats to the throne, but the Crusade called. Deus vult!
Here is something a bit extra:
https://i.imgur.com/OMvthHO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/snZdO61.jpg
Say hello to the Finnish 'Empire'. Completely AI made, this reallm has merged Finland, Novgorod and Lithuania. They have reformed their religion and are asserting complete dominion of the steppes, one tribe at a time.
I am going to fight them. :knight: It's time Germany began to assert its dominance on the Baltic coasts.
It's good to have this back! I've always found spreading my dynasty far and wide to be one of the most fun parts of CKII, so it's nice to see the Ludolfingers moving into Iberia. I really ought to get the Old Gods DLC, but after all this time I still don't feel like I've exhausted the possibilities of the base game.
Incidentally, what date is the point of conversion to EUIV?
It's good to have this back! I've always found spreading my dynasty far and wide to be one of the most fun parts of CKII, so it's nice to see the Ludolfingers moving into Iberia. I really ought to get the Old Gods DLC, but after all this time I still don't feel like I've exhausted the possibilities of the base game.
Incidentally, what date is the point of conversion to EUIV?
The way the converter works is pretty neat. You can actually convert anytime you like. There's an "export" button which will directly port any date to EUIV. For the purposes of this game I am going to try to hold off until 1450 to convert. Which means we're effectively halfway there :yes:
rickinator9
11-04-2013, 05:55
Did Finland inherit Lithuania? That's a pretty big blob. They might be trouble later on.
mambaman
11-04-2013, 08:47
Great post. Love this game. A couple of tips on your writing. It's rout not route in this case and readying not reading. Small points but don't let a couple of bad bits of English spoil what is an enthralling story. I'm definitely going to purchase this game for Christmas (and get my partner EUIV :yes:)
Did Finland inherit Lithuania? That's a pretty big blob. They might be trouble later on.
The path went Livonia -> Lithuana -> Novgorod (PB's version of Rus) and finally -> Finland. Finnish nobles backed the Lithuanian king in a factional power play. The King of Finland couldn't stand against them and abdicated his power, he's currently a duke and pretty upset at the new king.
The Lion's Pride
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Konrad II 'the Chaste', Son of Konrad I 'the Hunter' Ludolfinger.
Reigned c. Feburary 27. 1158 – October 4. 1185
The idea of the Ludolfinger dynasty being successors of the Karlings had been whispered ever since Serhilda the Conqueror united North and South Germany. The fall of Bavaria to the northern dynasty and and the subjugation much of central Germany had seen the Saxon based Ludolfinger's rise in prominence on a greater scale than the founder, Otto I, could have ever dreamed. But her victory was left incomplete at her death. For so long Germany had fought traitors within its own ranks, it could not truly make the claim that it so rightfully deserved..
But by the time of Konrad II, son of the grand hunter Konrad I, Germany could finally claim herself the true successor of that great legacy. The Ludolfinger dynasty now held direct control of five great kingdoms across Europe. Germany, leader of this grand alliance, had been struggling to rebuild, to mend over a century of internal bloodshed.. and at last, by Konrad II's reign, her efforts were finished. The old fortresses which had weathered great sieges against Norseman and kinsman alike were rebuild. Tournaments were once again held in honor of the great defenders of Germany, and lavish feasts and faires could once more liven the faces of the peasants and nobles alike. Germany was whole once more.
But Europe of the 12th century was a turbulent, violent place, and beyond the frontier in the snowy plains of the north, a new threat had risen. The Suomenusko faith had been forged anew in the fires of conquest by the Lithuanian king. Through ruthless subjugation of his neighbors, dangerous factional power plays and murderous betrayals, he had united the kingdoms of Novgorod, Lithuania and Finland. All of the North bent a knee to this great heathen warlord, and with the conversation of the Norse to Christianity some years before, he sensed an opportunity.
https://i.imgur.com/gzdLvrF.jpg
Who should be next if the Norse should fall? Who among Europe alone could stand against such fury..? None wished to find out. Great longships were sent out in all directions along the North Sea to call for aid. The Norwegian king pleaded for aid, he pleaded for help. Many in Europe were content to turn a blind eye to the plight of the Norse. The French were campaigning in the south, attempting to expand in to Asturias. The Anglo-Saxon warlords of England battled against the power of the resurgent Irish.. it would seem none would answer the call, none except for Konrad II.
The German king threw in his support for the Norwegians and pledged the support of his kingdom, as well as Denmark and Bohemia. The Ludolfinger Alliance stood in Norway's defense, with the three kings marching north together at the head of a huge army. 30,000 strong. To oppose them was a force from the East, almost equal in number..
https://i.imgur.com/iGqGUql.jpg
The Finnish warriors split their army in two, with half of their men ravaging the northern reaches of Norway while the other half laid siege to the capital of the kingdom. Konrad led his forces south, trapping the eastern warriors from moving further in their conquests. But the move to attack stalled as the Eastern crusaders had incredibly favorable terrain. The German King instead waited for the moment to strike...
https://i.imgur.com/ggvlRwv.jpg
That moment would come in 1161. With the news of a great victory coming back from the North as the Bohemian King smashed the invader's forces as they tried to spush into Sweden, Konrad launches his attack on the other half of the invasion army, resulting in the Battle of Kinsarvik. Despite having a huge numerical superiority, Konrad nearly loses his entire center to the ferocity of the combined strength of the three eastern kingdoms. The allied force beneath Konrad, consisting of Danes and Germans both, suffer heavy casualties at the battle.. but Konrad is nevertheless able to carry the day. The battle is so terrible it's said the invading forces are killed to a man, pushing the estimated loss of life for both sides being somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 men killed at the battle...
With the devestating defeat at Kinsarvik the Suomenusko warlords are forced to concede defeat. Eastern warriors withdraw back to the northern steppes and Norway is saved. Konrad II and the rest of the Ludolfinger kings in Europe are hailed as heros for their defense of Norway by the Pope himself.
https://i.imgur.com/ikpR8PN.jpg
Swelled with Catholic zeal, the Pope uses the Suomenusko Holy War as proof of Europe's power. Three Kings had come together to defend the North from an unimaginable threat.. and they had won. Who could contend with the might of Europe when it was arrayed against them? Who could defeat an army, bolstered by His cross? These were the words used to ignite the Third Crusade...
https://i.imgur.com/7sIqI4n.jpg
The Great Suomenusko Holy War ended in October of 1163, the Third Crusade was launched that December. There cannot be any doubt that one inspired the other.. and despite the weakened state of Germany in the aftermath of the northern war, Konrad II lept into the fray once more. He declared his support for the Crusade the very day he heard the news and began to gather his forces for the long voyage to the Holy Land. It isn't until July of the following year that he arrives in Egypt at the head of a huge army, estimated to be around 23,000 men from his Kingdom alone. Meeting initial success near and around the capital of the Egyptian Caliph, Konrad withdraws and links up with the main crusader forces, who have reached landfall further up the coast.
https://i.imgur.com/LIzvlj7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ha7dSZu.jpg
The Battle of Qatna smashes the Arabian Empire's defenses in the north. The Crusaders manage to defeat the Muslim forces in detail while taking few losses. After the battle many of the commanders for the Crusade, still arriving from Europe, propose seizing Antioch as a way to break the Caliph's defenses, but Konrad II disagrees, arguing for an all out attack on Jerusalem itself. He is outvoted in the war council and plans are drawn up to attack Antioch, which is one of the largest cities in the region.. But when news arrives that the Caliph is gathering his forces near the coast in Arsuf, Konrad, King of the Germans, breaks off from the siege force and leads 18,000 of his men into the south.
https://i.imgur.com/7v57VW0.jpg
To meet him at Arsuf, the Caliph has sent 21,000 of his finest troops up from Egypt and Arabia Felix. The two forces meet near the coast of Arsuf at the Battle of Lydda. Outnumbered and on flat terrain which no clear advantage.. Konrad II utterly destroys the forces sent against him, killing two of the greatest generals of the Muslim forces. It is through the skill of the King of Germany alone that the battle is won. Battlefield reports claim a faint by the center of the line leads the opposing forces of the Arabian Empire in, only to be encircled and annihilated by the crusaders..
https://i.imgur.com/X9RL0yx.jpg
Konrad and his men are jubilant at their victory, but they have sustained heavy losses. over 6,000 crusaders die in the battle of Lydda, prompting the King to send a call north for reinforcements. The reply is a disappointing one, as the Crusaders near Antioch are both engaged in heavy fighting and need every soldier they can spare. Konrad is alone in the south.. and just as he weighs his options, a second army of the Caliph advances on him.
https://i.imgur.com/xPsbuR7.jpg
Incredibly, Konrad wins a second round at Arsuf! Outnumbered almost two to one, Konrad routs the encroaching forces and keeps his foothold in Arsuf, but the German soldiers beneath his command are becoming weary of this fight.. the wounded and dead are mounting on his side. Konrad knows he can't survive without reinforcements. With his allies of the Crusade in the north still claiming to be unable to support him, Konrad instead sends his fleet home. He calls for any man willing to answer the Pope's call to come to his aid. Any Mercenary who has a love of gold, to rise to the occasion. The call is answered.. and just in time..
https://i.imgur.com/R0A4zxD.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/cyszXma.jpg
8,000 mercenaries arrive to bolster his forces and throw back another assault by the Caliph's men. The casualties for the Arabian Empire are rising at an astronomical rate. It is estimated by the time Konrad wins the Third great battle at Arsuf, the Arabian Empire has lost 30,000 men in the fight near Jerusalem alone. By now a strange kind of myth is cropping up around Konrad. His unbreakable defense in Arsuf had thrown back every attempt by the Arabian Empire to punch through. He is called "the Lion of Arsuf" for his many victories near the fabled holy city by his enemies, and with their third defeat in the south.. the Empire's forces are unable to mount another offensive against Konrad. The Lion stands victorious..
In the north the fight is more even with both sides going back and forth, but in the south there can be no denying.. Konrad II is in a position to threaten Jerusalem itself, which is exactly what he does. He detaches 10,000 men from his well fortified camp and leads them in a daring assault on the city itself.
https://i.imgur.com/zjyMXYE.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fwsYVnc.jpg
Jerusalem is seized by Western forces in 1166, igniting a passion in the hearts of every crusader, just a year later in August of 1167.. the Crusaders declare victory.
https://i.imgur.com/GVBmT2X.jpg
With their numerous defeats in the south at the hands of the embattled king, Konrad II, the Arabian Empire is forced to withdraw its forces. The West proclaims total victory and establishes the first Kingdom of Jerusalem, in the heart of the Levant. The German King is awarded the honor to decide who shall rule in Jerusalem, and he chooses his brother, Thietmar I.
https://i.imgur.com/Z7Ps5Vf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6MT4iZz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/j5rMlFz.jpg
Konrad returns home a hero. The Lion of Arsuf. The Crusading King. A titan of combat.
https://i.imgur.com/DFU7oUi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bBD2q1Q.jpg
Konrad the Chaste. Konrad the Lion. Konrad the Hero. The German Monarch held the line in the south of the Levant against overwhelming odds, allowing his brothers the freedom to fight on equal footing in the north. His attack on the City of Jerusalem had broken the back of the enemy defense.. and by the time he returns home, news reaches Europe of a terrible civil war breaking the Arabian Empire apart. Germany had stood on the world stage and battled the greatest power of the known world.. and she had won. After winning fame and glory on the far off battlefields in the middle-east the power of Germany ony grew, one year later, it would be tested by its greatest rival - the Kingdom of France.
https://i.imgur.com/Ff7Lt41.jpg
Denmark had claimed much of the Duchy of Holland many years ago in the chaos that had come from Lotharingia's collapse. But in the wake of two huge holy wars that had seen all of Europe embattled, Denmark was a shell of its former self. Having lost much in both the North and in Jerusalem, the Frankish lords pressed attempting to take Zeeland, but Konrad intervened in the conflict, setting the stage for the first confrontation between the two powers in a half century..
https://i.imgur.com/RBJG2tJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9vTmm10.jpg
The battles of Doornik and Damme decide the conflict, which sees over 60,000 men on both sides under arms in the region. Konrad invades the Duchy of Flanders in a preemptive attack, taking the pressure off of his dynastic ally. German forces are astounded to find Frances' army is almost completely intact despite the great religious calamity of the past ten years. Of course, France had held back from the fighting completely! Now they pressed their claim to Zeeland, hoping to play the opportunist?
https://i.imgur.com/2pCBqHm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Z0aYPJ6.jpg
Konrad utterly annihilates the Frankish forces in Flanders, but not before losing a significant portion of his campaigning army. Between the war in Norway and the Crusade for Jerusalem, it is estimated that, by the time of the Flanders campaign, Germany had lost close to 1/3 of its standing levies. Despite his win at the battles of Doornik and Damme, Konrad is forced to withdraw to Germany and demand a peace from the French. Fortunately, the Lion had inflicted such terrible losses onto the French that they could not hope to refuse. The war for Zeeland ends with Germany and Denmark claiming victory, but at a heavy cost. Konrad returns to the dynastic stronghold of Luneburg and finally rests. By the end of the Zeeland war, Konrad II had been campaigning for over ten years. His travels had taken him from the frozen forests of Norway to the arid sands near Jerusalem. He had fought warlords, commoners, kings and princes.. and he had triumphed over them all.
In the East news arrives that the King of Finland dies, and no sooner does he than his kingdom is carved up by his sons. Three great Kingdoms rise from the death of the King, Finland, Lithuania, and Novgorod. Though the presence of the powerful heathen faiths of the steppes unnerve most of Europe, the clouds of war disperse, if only slightly, at the news of the great realm's division.
https://i.imgur.com/MkqRQxC.jpg
Konrad leads his people in peace for ten years without the threat of war. He raises his children and loves his wife, but it is not the image that history remembers. History remembers the Lion, the warrior, the commander, and in 1179, the warrior returns.The Ludolfinger dynasty has been overthrown in Denmark! Worse still, the man who now calls himself King of the Danes is Frankish, German authority and influence is severely weakened by his rise. Konrad demands that Nandor, King of Denmark, abdicate to the rightful ruler, Emerich the Fat.
https://i.imgur.com/qMXxS0G.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jsWRU5U.jpg
But the demand is refused rather strongly as Konrad's emissary has his head returned to Germany in a basket. It is most certainly war..
The war in the North lasts only a year as Konrad marches ten thousand troops into Denmark and breaks Nandor's defenses. Denmark can only muster half of that, and in the wake of the powerful German assault, the defense crumbles. Emerich Ludolfinger is declared King, thus cementing the power of the German dynasty.
https://i.imgur.com/coronFi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jEnGTIh.jpg
Six Kingdoms were now directly controlled by the descendants of Otto Ludolfinger, former Duke of Saxony, the once vassal of East Francia. Denmark, Germany, Bavaria, Bohemia, Aragon and Jerusalem were all controlled by the Ludolfinger dynasty, but as the power of Germany began to rise the other kingdoms were increasingly distant. When Konrad assumed his crown, the other branches of the family would leap to his defense at a moment's notice, but three decades of war had begun to fracture the family. The shadow that Germany cast was long, perhaps long enough for others to disappear into...
https://i.imgur.com/UZLqfWg.jpg
In the east, the Arabian Empire finally collapses whole as the Fatimids in Egypt throw off the power of the Caliph and declare their independence. This, combined with decades of internal strife after the third crusade, signals the end of the Empire of Arabia, which by now only controls small holdings in Persia and in Oman...
https://i.imgur.com/J1RNV17.jpg
For six more years, Konrad rules in peace up until his death in 1185. Though he ruled in peace for almost 15 of his 27 year reign, there is not a single chronicle which remembers Konrad as anything other than a warrior. His campaigns had sent him from one side of the known world to the other, his battles had laid low his rivals from the East and West both, and his life would be celebrate by his people for many decades to come. Upon his death a great statue was erected in his honor at the capital in Luneburg. May the Lion always watch over Germany and frighten away her enemies...
https://i.imgur.com/TzugjLI.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Sunday's edition: Emerich I
What do you call a character with 32 martial? God.
Good stuff. Do you have any grand plans for expansion in the future, or are you just going to sit tight and maintain Germany's influence? Any plans to form the HRE?
mambaman
11-07-2013, 08:31
What do you call a character with 32 martial? God.
Was that what Konrad had? Is that like near the top?
Great update. Love this story (small nit picky point: it's feint not faint when talking of military manoeuvres)
KUTGW
What do you call a character with 32 martial? God.
Was that what Konrad had? Is that like near the top?
Great update. Love this story (small nit picky point: it's feint not faint when talking of military manoeuvres)
KUTGW
:laugh4: I try to edit these but sometimes mistakes like that get through.
And yes. Konrad had 18 when he first took the throne. He was a Misguided warrior, but thanks to the "Combat is the best teacher" events which improve your education after each major victory, he was a brilliant strategist when the crusades ended. Final martial ability was 32. There's no set cap, but anything above 25 is essentially Alexander the Great/Hannibal Barca levels.
Good stuff. Do you have any grand plans for expansion in the future, or are you just going to sit tight and maintain Germany's influence? Any plans to form the HRE?
No current plans to form the HRE. The biggest mid-game objectives was to win the Crusades and get a member of my dynasty on the throne of Jerusalem. We've done that! (hurray!) I may form the HRE but I sort of like the idea of being "Germany." :yes:
Current plans for Expansion are still on the Baltic coast. I want to expand into the Pagan Homelands but I haven't had a good base to do so. My Kingdom was pretty worn out after three huge wars. If I can't get the manpower to send expeditions east I'll likely overthrow Hungary or re-institute German rule in the Lotharingia. I still have my honor to avenge after losing it, afterall..
mambaman
11-07-2013, 10:09
Thanks Monk and sorry about the nitpicking. I will stop now lol-just me being picky. The story is excellent . Which version of CK is this?
Thanks Monk and sorry about the nitpicking. I will stop now lol-just me being picky. The story is excellent . Which version of CK is this?
No need to apologize. Me and my 'murrican education probably deserve it ~:)
This is 1.11 with pretty much all the DLC active, sans the Aztec Invasion. I also have a mod running: Project Balance, which is pretty great for overall balancing and helping to keep AI and player blobbing in check. The Muslim factions are still a touch too strong in PB than I'd like, but overall it's a better experience than vanilla.
mambaman
11-08-2013, 00:30
Haha. Ok well I just treated myself to CKII Gold edition and I think I'll buy The Old Gods DLC. Not sure which others but looking at Steam total cost of all the DLCs is about £70!!! Don't think I'll be paying that lol
Haha. Ok well I just treated myself to CKII Gold edition and I think I'll buy The Old Gods DLC. Not sure which others but looking at Steam total cost of all the DLCs is about £70!!! Don't think I'll be paying that lol
It's probably best to just wait for the next Steam sale. I only have the two DLCs myself (Legacy of Rome and Ruler Designer), and as I say I've still got a backlog of rulers I want to play as. The base game will keep you busy for a long time....
mambaman
11-08-2013, 01:52
Awwwww thanks Ismail. Well I got it free from Amazon who were selling it at £12.99 and I had a voucher so it's not cost me anything as yet. I wanna get The Old Gods because of extended years of game. All grist for the mill
Thanks
The Shadow of Pride
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
EmerichI 'the Just', Son of Konrad II 'the Chaste' Ludolfinger.
Reigned c. October 4. 1185 – April 7. 1194
With the watchful protector of Germany, the Lion of Arsuf, watching over the kingdom, many felt that the greatest days of the kingdom were still before it. With the victory of the crusades and the immense prestige that came with a dynasty member on the throne in Jerusalem, the Ludolfinger family was in a unique position when counted among the dynasties of Europe. With the fall of the Karling empire and the rise of the successors, few had cemented their power so thoroughly as the Ludolfingers had. But it is quite dangerous to be the tallest tree in the forest, for that is inevitably where the woodsman's axe shall fall first.
https://i.imgur.com/xdnESii.jpg
Upon Emerich's ascension to power in 1185, the borders of the newly forged Kingdom of Jerusalem were already being tested by the expansionist Fatimid Sultanate of Egypt. The Fatimids, a successor state in their own right, claimed to be the truest continuation of the now shattered Arabian Empire and sought to press their influence further into the Holy Lands. By 1186, large potions of the southern kingdom were lost to the encroaching, and ever powerful, armies of the Sultan.
https://i.imgur.com/ltARvXd.jpg
But Emerich I, Germany's newly crowned king, was supremely confident that his dynasty could turn the tide in the Levant. Born out of hundreds of years of sustained conflict, Germany had been molded into an increasingly militaristic society. Not only was one expected to know how to fight for the inevitable time when the local lord should summon the levy, by 1186, Germans of all classes were expected to excel at the grim business of warfare. Few other peoples and cultured of Europe had weathered so many great and terrible storms as they, and in every aspect of society it began to be reflected. Grand tournaments between the realm's many knights, at one time a once-in-a-lifetime event, was becoming an almost expected annual spectacle. It was not uncommon for Knights of three or four neighboring duchies to be summoned, once a year, to display their skill at arms in wargames and jousts, much to the revelry of ever growing crowds. Tradesmen and Merchants, once thought to be a thoroughly 'German' occupation, were increasingly foreign as the young men of Germany focused their attentions more to the militia training squares.. which were being constructed in ever growing numbers.. Even the king's own personal retinue expands considerably during this time, under the direction of Emerich I, who finds their number to be lacking.
https://i.imgur.com/3XBEwCz.jpg
Although not officially decreed by the King, a new Holiday is slowly being adopted around the Kingdom. At the end of every August, on the 20th of the calendar, all of Germany unites in celebration. They celebrate the fall of Jerusalem and the triumph over the Eastern Caliphates, the first ever in European history. The day when the Lion delivered Europe from the threat of the East, and crushed his enemy on the walls of Jerusalem. The propaganda soon finds root in the large hearts and simple minds of the common people, and it isn't long until every year.. the day is marked, and celebrations are held.
But Germany's focus on martial importance and strength was draining power of its economy. With the increasing reliance on foreign merchants and credit to keep her economy running, the wealth of the German nobles was slowly dwindling. Perhaps she had the most powerful military, but compared to the rest of Europe, Germany's nobles struggled to justify their elevated status from the rest of society. Many were now no better than knights in fancy clothes...
https://i.imgur.com/RtqZdcO.jpg
For many families of the Kingdom, families who had ruled since the end of the time of troubles, this sudden downturn in wealth was increasingly unacceptable. Whispers of new factional politics roamed the halls at Luneburg, as the new King struggled against the powerful forces at play, forces he himself was something of a slave to.
Many historians recount Emerich as a man of law and virtue, who guided Germany from the aftermath of the crusades toward the start of the 11th century, but that's perhaps a shallow view of things. King Emerich was just, by many accounts brave and tactically gifted, but he was not his father. Konrad II was a mythic figure. A presence which sucked life from each room he entered, Emerich could only hope such an ability could be his. He lacked the presence, the sheer force of will that his father had, and in many respects, was unable to distance himself from that fact. He succumbed to the lure, the shadow, that The Lion's reign cast upon Germany.
Factional plots would only grow stronger in the coming years as Emerich lead his people down the path of a militaristic society, lined with steel and iron. The phenomenon gripping the populace, turning it toward the hawk of war, is so potent that it leads Pope Vigilius II to lend Emerich the authority to found a new religious order. One to be made up solely of Germany's greatest, her fiercest and most skilled warriors to protect Jerusalem from the encroaching Sultanates of the East. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary, or otherwise known as...
https://i.imgur.com/aQOb3kF.jpg
The Teutonic Order... Overnight, the ranks of the Order, which are initially barely above 50 members, swell with recruits from all of the many duchies and counties of Germany. Knights, militia men, town guardsmen, farmers, and many more all hear the call of the Teutons. No sooner do they become commissioned than the knights see action in defense of Jerusalem against the Fatimids, attempting to retake the fabled city. In a desperate defense, the Teutonic order smashes the invaders and saves the fledgling Kingdom of Jerusalem... securing their place in the hearts of all Germany.
https://i.imgur.com/znI5Umh.jpg
But Germany's celebrations are halted as news of a renewed attack slowly trickles in from the east. With their defeat at the walls of Jerusalem itself, the Fatimid dynasty has collapsed and been overthrown in Egypt. To replace them, a new dynasty has arisen. Riding out from the deep desert, a new leader has reforged the Sultanate of Egypt into a powerful weapon, a weapon he seeks to use against the crusader kingdom in the Levant.
The Hashimid dynasty declares war for Jerusalem. The call for help goes out to any who will hear, and Emerich can hardly refuse.. battle is joined.
https://i.imgur.com/Yhmbmn1.jpg
Landfall is made in mid-November, 1193. The German King arrives at the head of a huge army, numbering by many modern estimates to be in the range of 30,000 men. They arrive to find a Kingdom divided in civil war. The King's own brother, Ludwig I, has seized the throne of Jerusalem from its rightful Queen, Gerhild Ludolfinger, the Crusaders are split in support of Gerhild and Ludwig!
https://i.imgur.com/hsq0lWZ.jpg
The war has paved the way for the Hashimid invasion forces, who hope to claim Jerusalem while both sides struggle for control of the petty kingdom. Emerich can scarcely believe it. The hard won victory his father had earned is being squandered by his family's infighting! The traitors must be dealt with, but first.. there is the matter of the invaders. And turning back the Hashimids will be no easy task. 23,000 men under the command Sultan Aghlab I have surrounded the holy city itself and are subjecting it to a brutal, relentless siege. With little time to spare the King attacks the siege force...
https://i.imgur.com/sUhuBxe.jpg
with disastrous results.. Both sides fight to an absolutely bloody stalemate, with neither side truly able to best the other. Though the Hashimid army withdraws and the German forces claim victory, many agree it is victory in name alone. Modern estimates put German casualties as high as an appalling 60%, with nearly two thirds of the western force either dead or maimed as a result of the battle...
https://i.imgur.com/K0fS4lZ.jpg
When news reaches Germany of the aftermath the nobles pounce, sensing weakness! They demand the King, who is fighting in the far off holy land, restore many of the rights confiscated by the crown centuries before. They claim these rights are a necessity with the dwindling of Germany's wealth, to maintain a certain level of prestige of the upper class.. The King will never have a chance to answer this demand.
April 7, 1194. Nearing on 5 months on campaign, Emerich meets the Hashimid forces in battle once more at Lydda.. the site of his father's greatest triumphs. The sight where the Lion of Arsuf had vanquished the great host of the Arabian Empire again and again. Here was where he would end the war for Jerusalem. He would turn back the tide of the Hashimids and then turn east, to deal with his brother's seizure of the Kingdom...
https://i.imgur.com/DuczAg2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/XtOjHGX.jpg
The King is slain in battle by one of the Sultan's greatest lieutenants in the coming battle. Battlefield reports are surprisingly sketchy of this moment in history, but many come to the conclusion that Emerich launches a preemptive attack when his forces simply aren't ready. Though he has the numerical advantage at Lydda, his army was devastated from the "victory" outside the walls of Jerusalem. The King of Germany attacks the immovable center of the Hashimid invaders and is defeated with terrifying efficiency.
The defeat at Lydda and the death of their King breaks the crusading German's morale, unable to keep fighting, the remaining generals of the fallen King lead their men home shortly after the final skirmishes of the battle subside... Germany must welcome a new King, and bury the old...
https://i.imgur.com/aQhavCs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Next Time: Otto III
As you grow your military tech in PB, you have to deal with higher tax penalties to offset your military focus. Keeping the max level of retinues is also punished by a much higher upkeep than in vanilla. Being top dog in the yard now is punished by a much less robust economy, and an increasing penalty that only goes up as you raise your levy cap.
Germany is a machine of blood and iron, little gold runs through her veins these days..
The duel events are a stand alone module, written for the Game of Thrones mod, but have since been made a universal plugin that anyone can use. It creates some real tension as it's very likely your ruler will get in fights with other commanders unless one of you is a coward or doesnt have the traits that line up the fight. Sometimes your character wins and it feels awesome, but you can't roll the hard six every time...
mambaman
11-13-2013, 08:05
Great update Monk. Question: how does one go about applying the PB mod? I have the game. Going to launch on Sat or Sun :laugh4:
Sign up and register your game on the paradox forums to gain access to the modding section. Then go here:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?594436-Project-Balance-(AKA-Balansegang)
The mod's maker, Meneth, has included fairly straight forward instructions for installation as well as a general (ie huge) feature list at that link. He updates like crazy so it's best to grab the latest stable version and ignore updates for the rest of your gameplay. Otherwise you'll be patching every other week.
mambaman
11-13-2013, 08:33
Thanks mate :2thumbsup:
Holding the Holy Land is never something I've tried to attempt - one of the eastern Empires always seems to solidify long enough to conquer the place practically before you can get troops there. I usually fob the place off on one of my imbecile cousins and/or any scheming brats I want dead. Hopefully Germany can hold together with a child ruler - was Serhilda your last?
Holding the Holy Land is never something I've tried to attempt - one of the eastern Empires always seems to solidify long enough to conquer the place practically before you can get troops there. I usually fob the place off on one of my imbecile cousins and/or any scheming brats I want dead. Hopefully Germany can hold together with a child ruler - was Serhilda your last?
In my last long game I took over Jerusalem after giving my home kingdoms to siblings.. you want to talk about frustrating! A LOT of close calls.. but the Jerusalem game is actually a ton of fun. Provided there aren't mega blobs in the east that is, which there almost certainly are :laugh4: I am amazed the Arabian Empire has shattered the way it did. Of course, a new Shia Caliph has risen to replace it.. I am waiting for the Mongols to give them their due.
Yeah, Serhilda was the last child ruler. Losing my king so early in his reign was not at all what I had hoped.. But it does give a unique opportunity. If you can survive the instability and not get killed, child rulers can become your best leaders. By the time they hit 16 they already have the long reign bonus.. it's staying alive that's the trick..
mambaman
11-13-2013, 18:12
I'm firing into this game this weekend-still debating whether to do PB or not though...
rickinator9
11-13-2013, 20:56
I'm firing into this game this weekend-still debating whether to do PB or not though...
If you are new to the game, I would not do it. PB makes the game somewhat more difficult. I would first do a vanilla playthrough and learn the ropes and after you think you know how to play well, start playing mods like PB.
Cheers for the update Monk
I do have a request however, if it would be possible to put the updates in a spoiler or the pictures in spoilers, because with my not so good connection, it takes a fair while to load. Purely a convenience request.
Cyprian2
11-14-2013, 21:45
Just wanted to weigh in, monk, and say what a fine job you've been doing with this story. It has everything I personally look for in a good AAR -- role-playing, perfect balance of text and pictures, suspense. I read it in a single sitting, and I'm already anxious for the next update. I've played a bit of CK II, but this has made me want to play a whole lot more. Thanks!
Cheers for the update
I do have a request however, if it would be possible to put the updates in a spoiler or the pictures in spoilers, because with my not so good connection, it takes a fair while to load. Purely a convenience request.
This will be done next update as a format test. The main screenshots will be hidden with spoiler tags. Let me know if it's better or worse overall as far as readability goes.
Just wanted to weigh in, monk, and say what a fine job you've been doing with this story. It has everything I personally look for in a good AAR -- role-playing, perfect balance of text and pictures, suspense. I read it in a single sitting, and I'm already anxious for the next update. I've played a bit of CK II, but this has made me want to play a whole lot more. Thanks!
You flatter me :bow: Thank you. CKII isn't the most challenging game in the paradox library but in my opinion it's definitely the most fun. Every single time i play some pretty amazing stories develop that I can reflect back on for months. Those are the best kinds of video games imo.
Storm from the East
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Otto III 'the Young', Son of Emerich I 'the Just' Ludolfinger.
Reigned c. April 7. 1194 – September 27. 1244
The war for Jerusalem claims the life of the King, slain on the field of battle, Emerich's weary and battle worn troops withdraw from the Levant shortly after the death of their beloved ruler. News arrives in Germany ahead of the returning Crusaders. The King is dead, long live the King!
https://i.imgur.com/9YaZlQZ.jpg
Otto III, crowned King of Germany and Bavaria, head of the Ludolfinger dynasty at the age of just one year, sits upon the throne in Luneberg. The Council of Nobles are quick to step in, taking control of the day to day administration of Europe's largest realm.. and it is no easy task. Decades of expansion in the military had lead Germany to becoming a nation of iron and steel. Her armies were fearless and without peer when on equal footing, but her economy was in dire need of reform. Unfortunately it would not get it. The Council instead had a much greater problem to deal with, an army of veterans returning home on the Mediterranean winds.. an army tired, broken, defeated, and angry at the loss of their King. German Crusaders had been denied their prize of loot and plunder abroad, this would have to be remedied..
https://i.imgur.com/nNm7NxY.jpg
A surprise inheritance of the Duchy of Ungvar by the young King would provide the solution.. with the defection of the duchy and the counts who served the title, a huge swath of eastern Hungary fell to the growing German Kingdom without a single sword being drawn, and what a shock to the system it was. The Carpathian Basin had grown wealthy beneath the Hungarian kings, and with the duchy passing into the kingdom of Germany, a large portion of that weath flowed straight to the capital at Luneberg. The nobles, long since groaning beneath the loss of their fabulously prestigious lifestyle seen a century before, could not resist the urge to strike: An army in need of an enemy. A king, unable to stop them, and a wealthy target ripe for plunder...
And so, the conquest of Hungary began. Not from the allegiance of a blood oath, or the power of a crusade, or even the defense of honor.. but the base lust for gold, and power.
https://i.imgur.com/PeAzu88.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/oWLq0mS.jpg
but the conquest of Hungary would prove to be a slow, bloody ordeal. For unlike the absorption of Bavaria or the subjugation of other realms, Hungary was meant to stay within the direct sphere of German Influence, and it was culturally quite different from the northern Germans. With each conquest, local lords were displaced and banished. The rights of the Hungarians were ignored and thrown aside in favor of their German masters. German nobles soon began to reign across the north of the basin, as one by one, local Hungarian lords were either subjugated, or exterminated..
This was the Germany of Otto III. The ruthless campaigns against Hungary would last for decades, fueled by the ambitions of the nobles and their greed for power. As Otto grew, he came to recognize the power that the council and the regent wielded. Even meeting stiff cultural and military resistance, the great weight of the Germany war machine was grinding down the powerful dukes of Hungary, one by one.. It would simply be a matter of time until Germany ruled yet another Kingdom. But power and weath are fickle things, and can corrupt the heart of the greatest men. When Otto III came of age in 1208, he found himself contending with a massive backlash from the council, who were simply not ready to give up their power.
https://i.imgur.com/sKTTlpS.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VnGmSSv.jpg
what resulted was a brief but terrible civil war, which saw the greatest vassals of Bavaria proclaim independence and declare a war for control of Germany! The war would be decided at the twin battles of Nenzing and Sankt Anton, in the mountains of the Bavarian Alps..
https://i.imgur.com/A1DdYQv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pgT0DEj.jpg
There over 40,000 men and horses of the Kingdom clashed for control of the land, with loyalties divided largely between North and South. The Northern nobles, remembering the long time of troubles, backed the King. The South's forces were primarily led by the Duke of Bavaria, who was, many historians suspect, a member of the Karling line, born of a bastard many decades previous! A century's old dynastic grudge plays out in the Bavarian alps, but in the end, Otto III smashes the forces of the rebels and reunites his Kingdom... passing his first great test as a monarch.
With the destruction of the rebel alliance and their hidden base, Otto turns his attentions to Hungary.. where the situation has played out most effectively for Germany!
Over 15 years of a horrible, grinding battle, both cultural and militarily, has led Germany to occupying half of the lawful Kingdom, a fact that the Hungarian King in the south is sorely upset over...
https://i.imgur.com/07lV3Ub.jpg
what's more, with the defeat of the most powerful nobles and the breaking of the council's alliance, the money from the wealthy Hungarian provinces is flowing directly into the royal treasury. With a new found wealth and power growing almost daily, Otto uses the opportunity to declare himself King of all Hungary. It's a move which completely disrupts and destroys the cohesion of the Hungarian people, as soon, elements break away from the central power of the Hungarian King, which was at this time located in Transylvania..
https://i.imgur.com/Z0u91VE.jpg
The disunited duchies of the Hungarians will slowly fall to Otto's ruthless subjugation, one by one, they will see their realms added to his growing Kingdom. But just as his ambitions are reaching new heights.. a messenger arrives in Luneberg.
https://i.imgur.com/xB3m2s8.jpg
The Bards have a new song, and they sing of a terrible storm in the east. A great Khan, an unshakable horde of horsemen. The Khan of Khans has risen on the steppes, uniting all of the tribes and destroying all opposition before him. And he is marching west.. Such a tale, so fancable and entertaining, could not be true. Perhaps he would fight and meet Prestor John on his way to Europe!
Of course.. the tale turns very real in 1215...
https://i.imgur.com/Y7q5rtv.jpg
An army of 100,000 men appears out of the East on the very doorstep of the Shia Caliph, who now controls one of the largest land empires in the west. Seeing the immense strength arrayed before them, the horsemen... bypass the Caliphate, entirely. They march further west. Ever west.. and when Europe learns of their target, horror sweeps through the continent.
https://i.imgur.com/NvDzU5H.jpg
The horsemen have heard the tales of the great eternal empire of Rome. Of the unbreakable walls in Constantinople, of her many treasures and her great Emperors who have defied the march of time. The unmoving borders of the Empire are under assault, and the Emperor sends out a desperate plea for help. Mercenaries arrive from every corner of Europe ready to defend the city from the attack. Great longships from Norway, crossbowmen from Italy, even a few contingents of German knights are reported to have made the journey.. but all is for naught.
https://i.imgur.com/AwYTL6n.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/i7ykkXZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rwwmk6t.jpg
The eternal city is broken. Put to the sword and looted, the light of the world, the city of Constantinople, is decimated and completely destroyed... So great is the devastation, that chronicles claim the severed heads of the nobles were piled into great heaps in front of the gates of the city. Not only is the city simply conquered. It is sacked and destroyed, completely wiped off the map like Samarkand before it...
The few who were fortunate enough to survive the slaughter were allowed to escape.. allowed to spread the word of the power of the great Khans. Recently, archaeologists have uncovered mass graves near the ruins of the once great city.. leading chilling evidence to the stories.
The Khan establishes a new empire upon the ashes of Constantinople, calling his realm the Ilkhanate. He demands all of Europe pay him tribute or face his wrath. Having lost the greatest city on earth, the power of the Byzantine Empire fades quickly. Though it would take almost two decades.. the Ilkhanate would come to absorb nearly all of the Byzantine Empire, fully supplanting it as the Empire of Asia Minor and the bridge between Europe and Asia.
https://i.imgur.com/ril3pF7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/D8QC5MK.jpg
Greece falls in 1223, and Bulgaria in 1225.. putting the Ilkhanate in direct contact with the Kingdom of Germany. Otto III, having fully united Hungary beneath his rule by this time, sends out the call for all to be ready for an attack. He demands that no citizen or soldier should be caught surprised when the day of invasion comes. All will be prepared.. but no attack arrives. Instead, the Horde decimates the heirs of Byzantium, plundering their lands for all they are worth.
And in the East, a second calamity arrives:
https://i.imgur.com/NiXe6Bd.jpg
The Golden Horde destroys the the eastern Khans and incorporates them into a far growing empire in the east. Unlike the Ilkhanate who had sought riches and gold in Constantinople, the Golden Horde seems motivated by one thing only: Conquest. But to oppose them has risen a new challenge. Finland. Uniting Novgorod and Lithuania beneath his banner in defiance of the Horde, the Finnish King stands ready for the invasion...
https://i.imgur.com/iGq0xnO.jpg
All of the Russian steppes are aflame in war as the Horde and the great Finnish realm, newly reforged, clash.. but as happened in the south, the once formidable empires of the previous centuries ar eno match for this new, terrible threat. The Golden Horde utterly destroys the Finnish Kingdoms. One by one, the territories of the Northern pagans are brought into line with the growing Mongol Empire.
The Pope decrees a new Crusade for Jerusalem in the midst of this utter chaos, and nearly every catholic Kingdom joins in the battle.. all except for Germany. For a new threat had arisen, the Ilkhanate had destroyed all of Bulgaria and the Byzantine successor states in Greece.. now the Khan eyed Germany. But Germany was not like the pitiful Byzantines who had been stagnant for centuries. She was a strong, powerful force, one who had united three separate kingdoms beneath a single man. And whos army totaled, in 1231, to be an estimated 80,000 men.. more than a match for the Khan. Otto III decided to save his forces for a greater purpose than any Crusade for the Holy Land.
https://i.imgur.com/T9oQWz5.jpg
His Realm would stand between the Horde and the rest. In ages past, Germany had stood as the protector against the Norsemen. Protector against the Slavic warlords. It was by the blood of the German people that Europe was kept free from pagan oppression. So it should be again. So it should forever be. Germany would stand watch at the gates, Europe would weather this storm by their vigilance..
But beyond the borders of Germany, there was no protection...
https://i.imgur.com/xCZELWc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ux9gECs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/inlAH2U.jpg
Smolensk is the next great city to be put to the sword as the Mongols continue their dread march toward the west. All who oppose them are brutally oppressed. For ten years the Mongols ruthlessly consolidate their conquests. Slowly reaching their borders further west. The Ilkhanate ruthlessly hunting the heirs of Byzantium in Asia Minor, how long would they be content to share a border with a powerful rival like Germany and not attack? The war would come soon, but it would not come within Otto's lifetime. He would pass in 1246, but his mandate would live far beyond him.
Germany was once more the protector of a continent. Protector of the society of Europe. From the fury of the Horsemen, Germany shall deliver all.
https://i.imgur.com/Yy5NSJ1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The Storm Continues next time with: Otto IV
So i'm pretty sure this was a bug. The Mongols are supposed to declare war on whatever de jure kingdom they spawn in. But you know what? This was so freakin awesome there was no way I could tell the game to stop.
The Mongols have smashed old rivals and completely reshaped the game's players. Finland is gone. Byzantium is gone. Germany is the last of the mega powers but that's only because we haven't been tested yet. We are quite literally placed as the guards of Europe. If the Mongols want a piece of Christianity, they will need to get through us first.
I've been playing more EUIV and let me say that two horde factions near Europe after a convert is absolute insanity. I hope they survive to the conversation date because it's gonna get so awesome if they do. I also really enjoy EUIV as a whole. I haven't really given the game it's fair due until now. I converted this save right after Otto died and played for 20 years.. It isn't far out of the way to say it was the most fun I've had in any grand strategy game in a very long time. There's something special about crafting your kingdom and them seeing it struggle in a completely new system.
I highly recommend the long game for anyone thinking of doing it. I can hardly wait until I'm ready to do a legit conversion.
rickinator9
11-24-2013, 14:29
What happened to Italy? Did it get taken over by mercenaries?
What happened to Italy? Did it get taken over by mercenaries?
Haha yep. That's the Company of the Star. They've completely usurped all of the territory away from the Kingdom of Italy and have essentially destroyed that once powerful Karling successor.
rickinator9
11-24-2013, 22:28
I had it happen in my Diadochi Kings mod where Cassander apparently ran out of money and they took most of Lower Macedonia.
That's awesome.
Thanks for spoiling the pictures Monk.
That's awesome.
Thanks for spoiling the pictures Monk.
You're welcome. ~:)
I'll be posting an update later tonight. Might be close to midnight PST though so if you're on the far side of that time zone might want to catch it tomorrow. Delayed! The ruler is finished but I couldnt get the update exactly how I liked it. I will work on it when I get back for next week's update. :yes:
Big events coming in Germany's history...
The conversion date is 1440, we're within the final stretch. Maybe 4-5 more CK2 rulers (if we survive that long!) and then it's a change to EUIV.
GeneralHankerchief
11-26-2013, 04:48
I just spent the past 2-3 hours reading this. Didn't think anything could get more exciting than the Queen of Hearts appearing in Germany's darkest hour, and then you dropped that last update on us. I'll be anticipating the rest of this with bated breath. Excellent work, Monk. :yes:
Trapped in the Web
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Otto IV Ludolfinger, Son of Otto III 'the Young'.
Reigned c. September 27. 1244 – February 15th. 1265
Byzantium had fallen. The power of Finland was broken on the steppes, and the world knew a new name to whisper in fear.
The Mongols had reshaped the world by utterly destroying all open opposition to their rule in the East, but they were not the only calamity to be breaking upon the shores of Europe. By the time of the coronation for Otto IV, proclaiming him to be King of Germany, Hungary and Bavaria, Europe was in great political upheaval.
https://i.imgur.com/tJNGql2.jpg
In the East the Mongols had swallowed the Slavic steppe-land. Areas that were traditionally thought of as battlegrounds between raiding tribes had been forcibly subjugated by the powerful Horsemen.
https://i.imgur.com/IgrxBbD.jpg
In the south, The Ilkhanate rules the shattered remains of the Byzantine Empire, locked in bitter struggles with the heirs to that legacy for the right to rule Asia minor.. and in Italy? A new threat has arisen to challenge the feudal rule of the nobles: The Condottieri.
https://i.imgur.com/uT67KI3.jpg
For centuries the Kingdom of Italy had been in decline ever since Ida the Kinslayer had orchestrated the destruction of the Karling power base south of the Alps. The subsequent rise of powerful families, many backed by wealthy patricians, had torn the kingdom asunder time and time again in their bid to call themselves the King of Italy. For two hundred years mercenaries bought with patrician gold and fighting for their claimant to the throne were locked in an almost seasonal warfare. As the decades dragged on, the wealth and power of these rising warlords, known collectively as Condottieri, was growing rapidly. More and more young adventurers joined the Italian mercenary bands for their chance at riches and glory on the field of war. By the mid 1200s, the power of the Condottieri had swelled to such heights that they rivaled even that of the supposed Kings and Patricians they represented!
Finally in 1231, just as the Mongols were laying waste to the old Empires of the east, a powerful faction of mercenaries, lead by the famed Company of the Star, presented an ultimatum to the King of Italy. Either he would adjudicate more power to the Condottieri or he would face their wrath. The King, believing his forces to be superior, refused. It would spell the utter destruction of the Kingdom of Italy and the fall of that Karling Successor once and for all.
Italy became controlled by a loose confederation of mercenary bands and rising city states, all bound together by their loyalty to the Company of the Star. Though it is a tenuous alliance at best, the confederation of Condottieri proves to be a formidable power, able to raise 20,000 men to defend its borders.
Perhaps in contrast to this show of unity would be just a bit north in Germany, where the nobles are once more pressing the return of revoked vassal rights taken by the throne. Otto IV barely has time to consolidate his power in the capital before the whispers of a faction revolt are pouring in from his spymasters...
https://i.imgur.com/IWOsEuG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Pd3wNKa.jpg
but there was perhaps one thing that set these troubles apart from previous revolts. Increasingly, there had been a growing divide between the nobles and the ruling family. While the people loved the Ludolfinger Dynasty and rejoiced at their rule, the nobles remembered well how Otto III had crushed their alliance and stolen the wealth of the Carpathian Basin, wealth that many nobles believed rightly belonged to them.
Though Otto is able to single out the ring leader of this latest power play before he can gather further support, it will set the tone for the rest of his rule. There is a terrible boiling point being reached, and Otto IV was not a man who was sufficiently prepared for such a crisis.
https://i.imgur.com/XZMpoLv.jpg
The oldest of four children, Otto IV was a brilliant tactician but he lacked the sensibilities that a ruler needs for courtly life. He was described as a brute. A know nothing imbecile when it came to finances, and a backwards thinking buffoon in matters of technology, but he was a hell of a fighter. It was said not a single man could best him on the field of battle, whether the King was commanding from the rear or leading the charge, his was a frightening presence. Yet, despite the presence of the Horde on their very doorstep, Germany would have no great no need for a warrior. It needed a diplomat. It needed a peacemaker to soothe the fears of the factions and placate their needs. So much had been taken from the nobles, if they would not receive something in return, it would only be a matter of time...
https://i.imgur.com/8uPW8FE.jpg
In 1248, Otto IV suffers the first great loss of influence for Germany since the failed defense of Jerusalem. Queen Kristyna of Bohemia, last of the Bohemian branch of the dynasty, dies without a dynastic heir. She is succeeded in Bohemia by King Chaval I of the Mojmirovci family. In surprising turn around, the Mojmirovci had been the original rulers of Bohemia centuries before and had lost the throne to Bogumil the Bewitched when he launched his invasion of the Realm. Land holders in the far east of Germany, the Mojmirovci had risen through clever marriage tactics to recapture the throne of Bohemia.
https://i.imgur.com/TK54aK5.jpg
Oddly, there is not a single Ludolfinger claimant left to the Bohemian throne who is alive. A bit too convenient for Otto IV's liking and the warrior King immediately suspects foul play! But... without a valid cause for war, and without proof of any sort of wrong doing, the King can do nothing.
Thus ends nearly 300 years of Ludolfinger rule in Bohemia.
https://i.imgur.com/2WXAhCA.jpg
In the East more terrible news arrives as Novrogod is sacked by the Mongols.
https://i.imgur.com/TJrmqjY.jpg
There seems to be no end to their barbarity. Otto IV, still upset over the loss of Bohemia, is convinced this is a sign the Mongols are coming. in 1248 he orders a vast network of fortifications built across Eastern Hungary, including the famous Ottonian Signal Fires to warn of an encroaching attack. The ruins of which still survive today in the mountains of Transylvania. But no attack yet comes... Could it be the Mongols have reached the limit their conquests can allow? They rule such a vast Empire, it cannot be easy to maintain, at least, so Otto reasons.
In 1250 the boiling point between the nobles and the crown is finally reached. The powerful Duke of Carinthia is discovered to be backing a plot to overthrow the King. Otto IV discovers the plot and attempts to have his vassal arrested, but it's too late! Duke Mathias of Carinthia flees and gathers his army in the south. Even though the initial battles easily favor the crown, Carinthia is such a heavily fortified land that Otto's forces become quickly bogged down fighting a nasty guerrilla war. Outnumbered by Otto IV's vast army, Mathias turns to his mighty fortresses, striking out in daring raids against the Loyalist forces, causing terrible casualties year after year.
https://i.imgur.com/8YkZti8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Vccufey.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/15SEnre.jpg
The fighting is so fierce this single Duke is able to hold off the entire realm of Germany from complete victory for four years. Although eventually able to grind down Mathias, Otto IV is responsible for a terrible blow to the legitimacy of his realm's effective fighting strength. Not only does he lose thousands of men in the war in Carinthia, but that the grand King of the Germans cannot easily defeat a single vassal is a grave embarrassment.
Fortunately not all of Germany's luck had left her. For in the closing hours of the war in the south a messenger arrives. Otto's mother has sadly passed away, and though he is grieved deeply, Otto soon learns he has just inherited the entire Kingdom of England and all her standing armies.
https://i.imgur.com/e1vxTaK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ro1Khuu.jpg
Otto knows, however, that England is not a prize that he can hold onto. He puts his Councilors to work attempting to find a suitable King in the dynasty who will be accepted, not only by the people, but by Europe abroad.. it is in this moment, as his Chancellor and Steward are pouring over multitudes of legal documents that a terrifying fact is discovered.
https://i.imgur.com/JU1NAIB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JU1NAIB.jpg
The Royal laws of Bavarian and Hungary do not permit a woman to inherit, and Otto has no male heir. Records are scoured over for months attempting to find anything, any precedent in the newly acquired kingdoms to allow Otto's daughter, Ursula, to inherit Bavaria and Hungary.. but no precedent is found. It was this exact legality that had ended the Karling reign in Bavaria, centuries before, and now it had struck for the Ludolfingers.
Prince Karl and Prince Thietmar, brothers of the King, are by law the rightful heirs of Bavaria and Hungary respectively. Otto hurriedly tries to change the laws to allow a more universal succession, but he is blocked by the powerful Dukes of Baden and Bavaria in the South, and numerous other lords in Hungary. Despite numerous attempts at diplomacy and intrigues, Otto's attempts to subvert the opposition only lead Germany's situation to being worse.
One such moment is directly after the mysterious death of the Duke of Bavaria, just a few years after his announcement of opposition to the King. Rumors run rampant in the capital that it was on the King's orders that the Duke was killed, and with the simmering tensions after the Carinthian campaigns and the continued subjugation of vassal rights, it isn't long before another Civil War is declared...
https://i.imgur.com/9ul7AsU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Cj8lfP9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/koNIwzz.jpg
For the next 8 years, Otto IV is locked in a bitter struggle with his vassals. Countless more titles and rights are revoked from the traitors, only sparking further outrage from voices who claim the King goes too far in his punishments. Once loyal vassals in previous wars take up arms in the next series of conflicts, and the cycle begins anew, Germany is dangerously close to a second Time of Troubles..
https://i.imgur.com/aSqgbPP.jpg
It is in this series of conflicts, this continual season of war, that Otto IV dies in his bed at the dynastic stronghold of Luneberg in 1265. By the wars end, Germany was exhausted.. but dozens of supposed traitors had seen their land stripped and new families, families loyal to the Ludolfinger, had taken their place in the north. But unfortunately, the reality of the spiraling situation and Otto IV's inability to unite his Kingdom is far worse.
https://i.imgur.com/f8U9WoA.jpg
Prince Karl and Thietmar succeed Otto IV as Kings of Bavaria and Hungary, respectively, locking out Queen Ursula from taking control of the southern Kingdoms and declaring Independence from Germany. Their independence and de jure succession is recognized by the Pope as legitimate.. the Great nation of Germany has split into three. Like Charlemagne before them, the Empire of the Germans was once more divided between the heirs of a great legacy.
https://i.imgur.com/K1FUCZl.jpg
The Empire of Serhilda, of Leopold the Great, Konrad the Lion, of Otto the Pious, is divided by the ambitions of the Otto IV's brothers, and the rule of law.
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
Next time:
Can Ursula reforge the Kingdom anew and unite what was lost?
Is this the end for German surpremacy in central Europe?
Will the Mongols finally invade?
Will Monk ever be able to keep to a consistent update schedule?
Tune in next week to find out!
I just spent the past 2-3 hours reading this. Didn't think anything could get more exciting than the Queen of Hearts appearing in Germany's darkest hour, and then you dropped that last update on us. I'll be anticipating the rest of this with bated breath. Excellent work, Monk. :yes:
:bow: I am really glad you enjoy it GH. This has been the most memorable game in a while for me, even for my standards of having typically crazy awesome games.
Damn. You picked an excellent time for catastrophe, what with the horde breathing down your neck. I sure hope Ursula has good stats.
GeneralHankerchief
12-04-2013, 05:15
I sure hope Ursula has good stats.
I'm sensing another intrigue-heavy reign coming up for her. Knives in the dark restore the kingdom so the army isn't distracted by the true threat. Incidentally, that also might be the strategy that has the best chance of working considering the circumstances.
rickinator9
12-04-2013, 21:48
And now you wanted you actually created the HRE before
rickinator9
12-21-2013, 22:43
Monk We hunger.., no LUST, for an update!
rickinator9
12-21-2013, 22:44
Monk We hunger.., no LUST, for an update!
The Ottonian Wars
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Ursula I "The Conqueror", Daughter of Otto IV Ludolfinger.
Reigned c. February 15th. 1265 – February 27th. 1308
The reign of Otto IV was over. Through desperate attempts to change succession laws in the acquired kingdoms of Bavaria and Hungary, the King had led his realm into an age of stagnation. For twenty years the embattled warrior had led his kingdom against powerful rebellious elements within his own borders and had succeeded in doing nothing, save wasting the strength of the Kingdom's men at arms.
The Ludolfinger line had died out in Bohemia leaving no heir fit to claim the crown. The economic and military might of the German state was in a state of growth, but through constant intrigues and grabs for power, the Kingdom had been unable to expand.. and in 1265, it shattered finally.
https://i.imgur.com/dwTDnPr.jpg
With the death of the noble king Otto and the ascension of his daughter, a legality had allowed the King's brothers to seize power in Hungary and Bavaria. Ursula succeeded her father in the North taking control of the the de jure lands of Germany. In the south, Karl III takes power in Bavaria, and in the East Thietmar I seizes the throne of Hungary.
https://i.imgur.com/j7vW17O.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/WRxpFEC.jpg
The Ludolfinger dynasty no longer had a leader as the three successors of Otto IV all looked to claim the right to rule in central Europe. Thietmar in Hungary had a secure powerbase in the Carpathian Basin. Through decades of persecution and ruthless title revocation, German nobles had seized nearly half of the ducal titles in lawful Hungary. It goes without saying then, that Thietmar had a very loyal following in his newly acquired kingdom.
Karl III of Bavaria was even more secure in his realm. With the nobles of Bavaria having for years attempted to separate their realm from the North, the vassals rejoiced at the new independence of the South German kingdom. Bavaria stood on its own, free of the yoke of Germany, for the first time in centuries. That it was still led by a member of the Ludolfinger dynasty was an easy thing to overlook, for he was a man who stood against his family. He embraced Bavaria and swore to fight for her above all else..
Ursula I, Daughter of Otto IV, was left with Germany and the traditional lands of the Ludolfinger dynasty and the Ottonian legacy. Crowned Queen of Germany in 1265 in the castle at Luneburg, her lands were the most heavily fortified of all the three successors combined. Many chronicles claim Germany a Kingdom of Steel and Iron, but in reality, twas a kingdom of Stone. Great fortresses dotted the land, castles whose walls had been besieged by numerous enemies, all of whom had been denied their prizes. The Norse. The Swedes. The English. The French. The Bavarians. The Polish... Germany was not a stranger to foreign invader, and to look upon the towering walls of its fortifications, you would know how they were to be met.
https://i.imgur.com/d6Y6tzR.jpg
It was this land that Ursula had known, in the shadow of the statue depicting the Lion of Arsuf, the young girl had been tutored in the art of diplomacy, the art of statesmanship. The very art and nature of law. Yet upon her father's death, she had witnessed that Law twisted into a weapon and used to nearly destroy the legacy of the greatest German monarch to ever reign. Serhilda the Great..
The first ruler of a united Germany. The first Queen since Ida the Kinslayer, and the last woman to ever call herself ruler of Central Europe. It was in Serhilda that Ursula saw herself. She styled herself along the same lines, and it is said, went to great lengths to organize her court in the very same way that Serhilda had done. Stately feasts and regular fairs were once more held, as had been done under Serhilda's reign, and through all, diplomacy was valued as the true way forward for Germany...
But for all her reverence for the Queen of Hearts, Ursula did not have her idol's poise. Early attempts at negotiations with Bavaria over the right to rule in numerous border counties broke down before they even begun due to the Queen's insistence on never giving an inch. Her demands for the return of a number of lawfully German lands, for example, lead her into direct conflict with her uncle in the south. Bavaria had laid claimed to counties that rightfully belonged to Germany, but due to ducal law, Bavaria had kept dominion over them in the transition... when talks broke down, Ursula declared war.
The Ottonian Wars had begun.
Chroniclers have claimed that The Ludolfinger dynasty, also known through history as the Ottonian dynasty, named for its founder Otto I of Saxony, were the successor of the Karlings in central Europe. If such is the case, than the Ottonian War period is without a doubt the last bit of evidence one would need to make the correlation. With their strength divided, the heirs of Otto IV turn against one another, and the ignition of the first fire is the invasion of Plauen by Ursula of Germany.
Denied at the negotiation table, Ursula declares war for control of the county, citing ducal claims for the Duchy of Thuringia. Karl III is said to be astonished that his niece would so brazenly attack him. Nevertheless he confidently rallies his troops near Ulm and waits for the coming invasion, abandoning the outer reaches to the encroaching armies of Germany, though he has reason to be confident.
Bavaria's forces outnumbers that of Northern Germany by at least ten thousand men! While Germany in the North may claim to be a more militaristic and fortified area, Bavaria is a prosperous kingdom now that it doesn't need to support the iron war machine of Germany. A tide of gold funds a horde of mercenary troops, itching to lend their swords to the embattled King Karl III.
Yet, it is not a fact that has gone unnoticed by Ursula...
https://i.imgur.com/rrwagNH.jpg
For though she is not the Queen of Hearts, she is nonetheless a shrewd diplomat. An alliance is sealed with the King of France, who gladly lends his aid to the coming campaign. A combined force of French and German troops, numbering almost 40,000, descend upon Ulm and annihilate the Bavarian Defenders.
https://i.imgur.com/Mzluiea.jpg
It is the beginning of a bloody chapter of conquest and reconquest, skirmish and border raids, attack and retaliation for the successors of Otto IV. With the destruction of his standing army, Karl III surrenders Plauen, but swears vengeance against the north. With little choice, Karl signs a protection agreement with his brother, Thietmar I of Hungary.
Ursula dismisses the news, uninterested in the goings on beyond her southern border. With Bavaria crushed at the battle of Ulm and her alliance seemingly stronger than ever with her French allies, the Queen of the North has good reason to feel secured. While the truce remains with her uncle in the south, she opts to move her attention elsewhere: Lotharingia.
https://i.imgur.com/QN2jCQE.jpg
Over two centuries ago Germany was driven out by the Frankish lords of Lotharignia. And after two centuries of infighting and french incursion, the lands of the once mighty kingdom were reduced to almost nothing. With little in the way of allies to protect them, they had served a convenient buffer against the ambitions of the French Kings, but with their power fading further, how long would it be until France completely absorbed the fledgling realm? History had taught Germany well: Today's friends are tomorrow's enemies.
https://i.imgur.com/nvnJgDt.jpg
10,000 troops march against the weakened Kingdom, reducing their defenses to dust in a grinding campaign that lasts for two long years. The Frankish vassals prove their usual difficult selves, resisting the German invasion unto their dying breaths, but it is all for naught. By 1268, Trier is once more back in Germany's hands.
With the fall of Trier, Ursula consolidates her rule in Luneburg with a great feast, inviting all vassals of the realm to join in her victory! If any had doubted the woman's right to rule, her crushing victory against Bavaria in the south and the quick strike on Lotharingia had silenced them. Perhaps this was the woman to restore the legacy? Perhaps in the deck of fate, Germany had drawn a Queen of Diamonds..?
For four years, Ursula reigns in peace, but it is not a restful one. Each day the call is met by the militia, and each day, the knights take to the jousting fields to hone their craft. The war machine labors, the drums of war beat. Ursula may style herself as a diplomat as the first Great Queen of Germany in centuries, but there is no mistaking it: she is a warlord.
She intends to build a new glory upon the ashes of Bavaria and Hungary. She is a woman of an age gone by, a type of ruler the world was already trying to forget as the year 1300 was fast approaching.
https://i.imgur.com/4nr1g7u.jpg
But the preparations for war against the other successors would have to wait, for in 1272, the fears of the council and sovereign are made manifest by the declaration of war. The French King, terrified of this growing power on his eastern border, invades the Kingdom of Germany. He hopes to throw out the Queen and install his own claimant! One man, attempting to end over 400 years of Ludolfinger rule? Arrogance! Usurpers!
Ursula gathers her forces and prepares for the coming storm. The call is sent for all mercenaries able to join the ranks, but even swelled by their numbers, Ursula is outnumbered. Only by catching the french divided and on the march can she hope to win.. or perhaps.. other means.
As the French troops push headlong toward Luneberg they suddenly stop. Their marshal has received the news, their claimant is dead. Dead! Just as they were in sight of the fortresses of Ursula, the fabled walls that even the Norsemen could not storm.. they must turn back. The war has no meaning. It is a fortuitous turn of events for the Queen! But.. could it be simple fate fortune that the claimant to Germany should die, choking on his own blood in his sleep? It is one of histories greatest mysteries, and one historians love to debate to this day..
https://i.imgur.com/za8uCLp.jpg
With the alliance with France formally broken and dissolved by the treacherous acts of the French King, Ursula is forced to go ahead with her plans without aid from the West. In 1274, the second chapter of the Ottonian Wars is written: The invasion of Bavaria.
https://i.imgur.com/8cjPPcu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NnMmZaL.jpg
Permission granted by the Pope puts Ursula in a position to formally contest the southern throne. Ever since Karl II's defeat at Ulm, Bavaria had struggled in a spiraling grip of civil war, unable to climb out of deeper instability. Ursula used this as a pretense for invasion. Without its rightful ruler to lead it, stolen by an ambitions uncle, Bavaria had faltered. Only Germany could set it right.
October of 1274. 26,000 German troops cross the border and lay siege to the outlying defenses of the Bavarian forces. Caught unprepared in the wake of the invasion, a force of 13,000 is cornered at Lorsch by the invading northern force. The battle is a massacre, and is the bloodiest on record between the two kingdoms. Although heavily outnumbered, Bavarian troops fight with a unrelenting zeal in their attempt to defend their independence. So long did the nobles of the south fight for it, they would not see it ripped away so easily! But even the bravest, strongest soldier can fall when the odds are stacked high, and two to one, outnumbered, the Southern forces are eventually ground down through simple attrition.
https://i.imgur.com/a14io0T.jpg
The battle sees the death of almost the entire Southern force, with most of the Bavarian troops reduced to fleeing the field.. Ursula had once more broken her dynastic obligation and invaded an ally. Even with the Pope's blessing, it does not sit well with the Ludolfinger family, who view the act as one of a tyrant. Facing a brutal assault and unable to fully mobilize in time, Otto III, successor to Karl III, calls for aid from his Uncle, Thietmar I in Hungary, but it is aid which will not arrive in time. Thietmar is busy fending off a border raid from the Mongols.. and by the time he has turned his forces around to deal with the war in the west...
https://i.imgur.com/ETmP5aH.jpg
It's already over. Ursula has broken Otto III's forces and proclaimed herself Queen of Bavaria. What's more, Karl III had changed the succession laws before he passed, thus ensuring an agnatic-cognatic succession for the Queen's children.
In recognition of the Pope's support, the Bishipric of Lorsch is surrendered to the Papal States. It is only fitting that the greatest, bloodiest battle of the war should be under the care of the Pope and his cardinals.
https://i.imgur.com/b40FE9a.jpg
Ursula is hailed as 'the Conqueror' and savior of the realm! It is an honor she shares with the woman she idolized, her ancestor Serhilda the Great. But even though both women used the same method to lay claim to Bavaria, their methods of rule are shockingly different. Ursula's harsh and cruel nature, as well as her tendency to resort to violence in her punishments and foreign relations, earns her a different moniker that history will know her by. Queen of Steel.
Thietmar is able to stave off a total victory for Ursula when he petitions the pope for the right to rule numerous duchies in the south of Bavaria. These are lands, by right of succession, to be his after all! Despite the goodwill that the Queen of Germany has built with the Pope through gifts and fiefs, Papal authorities side with Thietmar and the side of law. Hungary shall rule in select districts of Bavaria, and Germany shall respect her borders.
https://i.imgur.com/Fyh6mlj.jpg
But it is a truce unenforceable, as local rebellions soon spring up, fighting for the right to be ruled by the true, lawful ruler of Bavaria, not the lawful Ducal ruler. History is sketchy on the connection between Germany and these revolts, but it is quite convenient that after their break away from Hungary, each and every one of the revolting factions swears allegiance to their "true" ruler. Thietmar is said to have been furious. It is the death of any hope of a peaceful compromise between the two branches of the Ludolfinger family. There can be only one Monarch of the Germans...
https://i.imgur.com/e873b45.jpg
A powerful faction of vassals within Germany act just two years later. 1276. The Second Ottonian Civil War breaks Germany into pieces as coastal vassals along the Baltic and North Seas rise up in support of Thietmar as the true ruler of Germany. Ursula rallies her troops near Luneberg in preparation for a desperate defense as the rebel forces close in, just as news from the south reaches her. Thietmar has crossed into Bavaria, and at his back he commands 17,000 men loyal to his cause...
https://i.imgur.com/z7AnAp4.jpg
The conspiracy sets Germany flame for the next 8 and a half years of civil war as the conquering queen is besieged in her strongholds at Luneberg. Loyalist forces strike out hard against the revolt in a string of terribly bloody clashes all across the North of Germany, yet each engagement proves even more devastating than the last.
https://i.imgur.com/89SdIyv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fVq8CJd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/OvDzZbg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jpQNSdf.jpg
..and despite the growing victories in the north, news of the terrible toll that Thietmar is visiting upon the south cannot be ignored. For each victory won against the revolt in Germany, Thietmar visits destruction upon the Bavarian vassals.. For some, it is far too much, and rather than fall victim to the sword of an invader, many peasants choose to serve him instead! With his army swelled by conquests and new recruits, Thietmar camps in a pillaged Austria.
https://i.imgur.com/Oo23ITw.jpg
It isn't until two full years into campaign, and countless thousands of casualties, that Loyalist forces are able to advance upon Thietmar's position. Having suffered a terrible toll in their fight in the north, nearly 1/3 of the loyalist troop is estimated to be foreign mercenaries under contract to the Queen of Germany, and when they meet Thietmar at the battle of Steyr on October 2, 1277, many more thousands are left on the field...
https://i.imgur.com/CbzAXK0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZBjKLue.jpg
But all is worth it in the name of the High Queen. Thietmar's forces are thrown back. His attack destroyed and his claim on the throne weakened by his inability to win glory in the south. The Northern vassals are rounded up and executed, one by one, for their treachery.. yet it is not enough to secure a peace. It isn't until 1280 that, finally, the wars of the Ottonion successors reach a climactic stalemate at the Battle of Fulda. There, two hosts of 15,000 men each lay waste to one another. Thietmar presses his advantage again trying to break through into the north, but the Loyalist forces of Germany hold their ground, just barely, and are able to defeat the ambitious King of Hungary.
1282. Ursula the Conqueror is Ursula the besieged. Ursula the Tired. She has fought without rest since her ascension to the throne in order to secure the legitimacy of her claim. It is her right, not that of her uncles, which should carry the dynasty forward.. and at long last, she has succeeded. Thietmar's claims on Germany are declared null after the final truce has been signed, and for the first time in nearly two decades, there is peace in the Ottonian dynasty. The Ludolfingers, following the Karlings down the same path of infighting, have put central europe to the torch in their struggles. For the first time, peasants had joined the cause of a foreign king in a revolt.. Ursula could not deny that in her bid for power and the unification of the three realms of her father, she had alienated the serfs.. and it had nearly cost her everything.
Even with her legitimacy secured, she was on rocky ground.. for the next twenty years the Queen enjoys her hard won peace, ruling over Bavaria and Germany with an iron fist and grinding down further dissent against her rule. In the east, even more shocking news would come..
https://i.imgur.com/WlmGylz.jpg
The Horde had converted. The Great Khan now ruled an Orthodox court and claimed himself the continuation of Rome. Why he and not the Ilkhanate? Simple: The Ilkhanate had fallen... Asia Minor was ruled by disparate Greek Kings now, all vying for power. And in the chaos of Asia Minor, a member of the Ludolfinger dynasty had made his way to the throne of Kingship.
Germany had survived a trying moment in its history, but its power was severely weakened from the days of Otto III. Even as Europe tried to claw its way passed the middle-ages, the wars and ambitions of powerful kings and queens continually dragged the continent back into the darkness. Ursula The Conquerer, Ursula the Warlord had seen that work done. Her legacy was of war and power. A lesson learned well through the centuries as Germany struggled for the right to rule her own destiny.
https://i.imgur.com/fkSVPNq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The answers to last time's questions:
Almost.
No.
No.
I am trying!
Apologies for the late update guys. The holidays threw me off way more than I thought they would. I have a new roommate so that has taken a lot of adjusting to, so things got a bit lost. This reign was concluded about two weeks ago, I just couldn't get the time to write :no: On the bright side if i take long enough I'll be able to convert my save into EUIV just in time for the new expansion :laugh:
Some notes:
Byzantium and their successor the Ilkhanate are effectivel gone. Asia Minor and Greece are ruled by a number of Greek Kingdoms.
https://i.imgur.com/1Ap64iU.jpg
Iconia actually has one of my dynasty set to inherit. Somehow one of my landless kin ended up in Greece about a century ago and his decendant is now sitting on the throne married to the Queen. The Ludolfinger line is set to inherit.
https://i.imgur.com/XiPsXfP.jpg
The Reconquest of Spain stalled about 50 years ago and my kin in Aragon have been losing ground, slowly. Asturias and Navara are too busy fighting each other to unite against the south.
Mercenaries still control a loose alliance of counties and cities in northern Italy. The Kingdom of Sicily is on the rise, and Europe is becoming more and more static as the years go on. Powers are consolidating and alliances are shifting. about 140 years left to the convert date.
Thanks Monk! I love the craziness that's going on in former Byzantium, it should make for an interesting world later on. Do you know what form of government mercenary states get when they convert across?
Thanks Monk! I love the craziness that's going on in former Byzantium, it should make for an interesting world later on. Do you know what form of government mercenary states get when they convert across?
States taken over by mercenary companies convert to Administrative Republics. :yes:
A New Map
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
The History of the Kingdom of Germany during the Reign of:
Serhilda II Ludolfinger, Daughter of Ursula I "The Conqueror".
Reigned c. February 27th. 1308 - March 8, 1325
With the passing of Ursula the feared and dreaded German Warlord, Europe as a collective sigh of relief. Gone was the warmonger of the North Germans and with the ascension of her daughter, Serhilda II, it was hoped that perhaps a new day could dawn for the house Ludolfinger - one that reached into the future. In Italy, the renaissance was in full swing. The numerous city states controled by the mercenary collective were prospering under their autonomy. With each passing year their great innovations spread beyond the boot into Europe at large. The World was changing. Populations were becoming harder to control as serfs began to migrate into cities, seeking their share of the wealth that comes from the centers of trade and commerce...
But in Germany, life continued on as it had for centuries, and Europe would soon discover that Serhilda II had no intention of leaving the old ways behind. The war machine of Germany would march forward.
https://i.imgur.com/Xw0NhWt.jpg
Named for the Greatest Queen Germany had ever known, Serhilda II was surely her mother's daughter. She inherited a powerful realm with few equals to rival her. France could surely stand against Germany if it so wished, but for a half century the two powers had danced around one another.. using assassination and plotting to achieve their aims. Serhilda's goals, and the goals of Germany, lay elsewhere.. in the East.
The throne of Hungary was still controlled by the heirs of the traitorous branch of the Ludolfinger Dynasty. Ultimate unification had evaded Ursula.. and so the duty of the final act of the Ottonian wars fell to Serhilda II. A duty she gladly accepted. ungary would once more bend the knee to the northern throne.
https://i.imgur.com/j05GJwd.jpg
50,000 men under the command of the Duke of Austria invade the Kingdom of Hungary, and the conclusion is all but decided before the true battles take place. The Ludolfingers of Hungary had fallen on hard times since the time of Ursula. Weakened by their inability to capture the throne of Bavaria, their weary levies are destroyed outright by Serhilda's host. Hungary belongs to Germany once more. The Realm of three kingdoms has been united.
https://i.imgur.com/5VBCfBE.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/wS3iECJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/esUGcoI.jpg
but it is a short moment of triumph, for as the most loyal vassals campaigned in the east, rebellious elements of the Bavarian and German nobility use the opportunity to launch an insurrection.
https://i.imgur.com/dt9QGA6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/he4yoCV.jpg
Led by the Duke of Franconia, the rebels have a singular goal in mind: The independence of the Kingdom of Bavaria from the power of the north German monarchs. The Forces of Serhilda are forced to turn from Hungary and march back against their brothers, yet despite the hurried march and the numbers of the rebels arrayed against them, Loyalist forces crush the rebels during a bloody campaign...
https://i.imgur.com/o2dMIdC.jpg
Despite the victory, Serhilda II sees well that the choice to finish her mother's work allowed the room for the rebels to rise in the first place. Germany had grown too large, and her territory too large to be effectively governed from Luneburg. How many times had Germany been ripped apart thanks to the efforts of nobles trying to subjugate Hungary? How many men had died fighting to prevent a lawful succession that would divide the Kingdom... It was too much. Just as the kings of old decided to finally abandon Lotharignia when the Frankish nobles grew too restless and resentful, so too must Hungary be abandoned.
Historians mark May 16, 1320 as a profound moment in Germany's history, for it was when a monarch formally drew the borders of Germany in the East. For more than five centuries German Kings had fought to expand the Eastern borders. They had fought the Polish, the Rus, the Hungarians and the Pruthians. Only now did Germany finally say enough. The Borders of the Kingdom would be solidified and made official. United, North and South Germany would be considered Lawfully controlled by Luneburg.
https://i.imgur.com/lrUVESB.jpg
It would be Serhilda II's greatest contribution to the annals of history. The efforts she lead against the Hungarian Monarch would be undone by her releasing Hungary from the obligations of the Northern throne. Her victory in the civil war would lead to the establishment of the first 'lawful' border of Germany in centuries.
But the world was changing, and Germany's way of war would not the the way forward forever...
https://i.imgur.com/sysf0lR.png
This is probably the shortest update in a while simply due to the short reign of the monarch. Serhilda II was certainly not great. Pretty good, maybe, but not great. Good news is I am back to normal updates so this sunday is the next one.
It's been 5 centuries and through a turbulent history, Germany has not only survived but finally reached a point where it can prosper. I've established a pretty good border for the convert that leaves a lot of room for EUIV shenanigans and is easy to control for the rest of the game.. Trying to hold three Kingdoms without an Emperor title is pretty annoying :laugh4:
Peace rules, and the next century i expect will be very quiet.
I may convert a little sooner than expected because I am itching to play EUIV
What is it with you and zero diplomacy rulers? That's what, your fourth?
You're definitely in a good position for the conversion - surrounded by several moderately large nations to provide a challenge, with some zany shenanigans going on in the rest of the map to spice things up. It will be interesting to see if the hordes get pushed back much before you convert, or if they'll be a major power in the east.
What is it with you and zero diplomacy rulers? That's what, your fourth?
I DON'T KNOW. :laugh4:
It's crazy though. Serhilda II was pretty much guaranteed a huge civil war, but thanks to how consolidated Ursula left things it wasn't that hard to deal with. It actually ended up being a very relaxed reign. Not a lot to report.
I may convert a little sooner than expected because I am itching to play EUIV
Don't give in! You shall reap ever sweeter fruits at the end! :D
Thanks for updating, having a great time reading your AAR. I actually bought CK II in the recent Steam Sale because of this, just lacking the time to play right now...
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