Dear forum,
This is my first AAR in any way, and I must thereby warn that I do not know exactly how to do it in a good way, and neither can I guarantee how often it will be updated nor how good it will be, but I will give it an honest try.
Thus, we start in the newly-born nation of Scania that's broken free from the cuffs of Denmark and the Union of Kalmar, and sets out on its own in the big world of diplomacy, trade and epic empire-building.
Kingdom of Scania
The tale of an outbreak
In the year of the Lord 1452 there was turmoil in the Union of Kalmar. The murder of the Danish regent Christian I in Roskilde by hired mercenaries made the line of succession in Denmark, Sweden and Norway unclear. In Sweden King Karl Knutsson Bonde was driven out of the country and within Denmark’s own borders stability was falling rapidly. Especially in Terra Scania by the other side of the Sound where, a bright spring day 1452, a banished son of Denmark again sat his foot in the land of his birth in company with a brother-in-arms and 500 Lübeckian soldiers.
Table of contents
Prologue (can be found further down in this post)
Chapter I: Awakening and Assembling
Chapter 2: Ota and occupation
Prologue
Magnus Johannes Thott was born in 1415 outside the town of Wä, as the son of a local noble. At young age he saw his father executed after having joined in a coup against the king, and together with his family he escaped the country and settled in Northern Germany.
By the age of 16 he had enlisted as a soldier in Lübeck, to join one of the many mercenary corps that resided in the Hanseatic cities of Germany at this time. In this band of soldiers he met Lothar Kán, a Hungarian equal in both noble heritage and tamished reputation in his home country. The two would remain friends for the rest of their lives, but before these were to end much would happen for the two men.
April 14 in the year 1452 a cog with Thott, Kán and 500 hired men disembarked on the Western shore of Scania. The news of the murder of King Christian had reached their headquarters in Rostock rapidly with the news that always arrive in trading cities with every new cog, and thus Magnus Johannes saw his chance. Ever since his childhood he had wanted to return to Denmark and the status he should have held, but he had considered it dreams of a child. To come on a white mount in shimmering clothes and regain respect and riches seemed impossible.
But now he finally had an opportunity.
He acted fast, and together with Lothar he started planning. By taking loans that shouldn’t be possible to acquire for a private person, but that he won because of his reputation as warrior, they managed to recruit 500 soldiers from the surroundings, many with whom they were familiar from before.
To win the crown of Denmark was a ridiculous thought, and that was both of their opinion. But Denmark was falling apart in a civil war in between barons all over the country and it was vital to be swift in order to take one of the shards for oneself.
Jutland was sacked and small battles stood monthly across the province, and in Sjælland the result of the battles seemed to be on the way. In their eagerness to take over the country many of the lords of Scania had taken their troops over the Sound, thus leaving a relatively peaceful Scania behind.
After disembarking Thott and Kán manoeuvred their troops to Lund, crushing all resistance on the way there. They took the city without any violence due to the surrender of the little garrison guarding the city, and there established a base for small operations all over the countryside.
In September an army was sighted in the vicinity of Wä, and it was understood that the battle of Scania was about to reach a decisive point. An army of 700 soldiers marched from Lund to meet the enemy that had a slight advantage in manpower. The core of Thott’s army, the seasoned Lübeckian soldiers, overpowered the enemy easily and the battle was won in half a day. The commanders of the other army resigned and, under the supervision of the army of their conqueror, they were the first ones to swear loyalty to Thott.
When back in Lund, Magnus Johannes Thott was crowned king over Terra Scania, Skåneland, and the nation proclaimed itself independent.
A new era for all of Scandinavia had begun.
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Originally Posted by coz1
