1097-1098
And Demetrios Staphas joins the Cool Kids' Club! Which is very good for us, as if he rebels against the Emperor, we can claim his title and declare war and annex him! Sweet!
I'm not sure, but I think that I wanted the Zealous trait at this point. Does that give you extra prestige?
Well, another way to get prestige is to build a library! It won't help Abauj be any less of a black hole of financial well-being, but it gets me a 25 lump sum of prestige!
You may think that I chose that option because I value Simon Goseck's life, or because of general principle, but you would be dead wrong. It is because the other two choices come with prestige hits, and most of the negative effects of this event will likely fall on Simon instead of me. I mean, Otto.
Wow, 25 piety. Whoop-dee-doo. Since I'm locked in at >=.70 Church Donations by my realm's laws, I have enough piety to keep me positive.
And now the English just won't leave me alone! When I was but the Count of Aargau they kept swimming in my backyard lake, and now that I'm part of the Empire of Byzantium, they besiege my liege's capital!
ENGLAND!
Huh? What? Civil War? Well, I guess now we know why the secret password to the Cool Kids' Club is just being passed around everywhere. Well, the third option will lose me Cool Points (i.e. Prestige) so that's a no. And the first option will make me be at war with the Empire of Byzantium, which doesn't seem to be a good idea. So whatev.