Lotharingia -- A tale of resurrection
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There there, don't fight. 
There are enough maps for everyone.
If you're lucky, there'll be an update tonight, but do not count on it. After that I am away until Thursday, and then I will write it as soon as my time permits.
There are enough maps for everyone.If you're lucky, there'll be an update tonight, but do not count on it. After that I am away until Thursday, and then I will write it as soon as my time permits.
Snugglie, I have just hit upon your AAR and read the first few chapters. It's really fine work, well written, and the whole layout is highly atmospheric. I am very much looking forward to finding the time to read all of it.
Marvellous to have you on board, Guiscard! Feel free to comment as you catch up.The_Guiscard said:
It feels like the next update will take a little while. Not due to it being a certain masterpiece or containing any treats, just so you know, but rather since I've been rather tired the past couple of days and have had a hard time getting a flow in the writing. I'll do my best to have it up someitme during the week though.
Hey, its the classic dogpile - best way to win a war ever invented... though it sounds like there was a much bigger dogpile than Dietrich planned for! Seriously though, with five different powers attacking France at once, I wonder who will get cut out of the pie... my guess is England, assuming word reached Dietrich right when Bohemond declared war, versus receiving word after Bohemond has landed...
And don't worry about the next update... we'll all be waiting for when its finished!
Seriously though, with five different powers attacking France at once, I wonder who will get cut out of the pie... my guess is England, assuming word reached Dietrich right when Bohemond declared war, versus receiving word after Bohemond has landed...And don't worry about the next update... we'll all be waiting for when its finished!
phargle said:
Do you really love map, or are you just going around AARs saying you love the map?
EDIT - Though the France map is really beautiful
Remember, half of the powers is former vassals of the French king.General_BT said:Hey, its the classic dogpile - best way to win a war ever invented... though it sounds like there was a much bigger dogpile than Dietrich planned for!
And don't worry about the next update... we'll all be waiting for when its finished!
And aye, the update comes when it's finished, so if you're lucky you'll have it Wednesday evening. If not, it will take significantly longer.It was hilarious making it, just trying to plan it so that it would be in any way comprehensible...English Patriot said:Do you really love map, or are you just going around AARs saying you love the map?
EDIT - Though the France map is really beautiful
Chapter XXV
The armies of Lorraine were mobilised in only two weeks, and so in the closing days of April an army of eight-thousand marched towards the lands of duke Boudewijn of Flanders, one of the last loyal vassals of the tragic king Adémar. It was widely assumed that the only reason Boudewijn and his subjects had remained faithful was that the theatre of war was relatively far away, and so they would be able to see on beforehand how the battle was going: if king Adémar would prevail, the insistent loyalty would be preserved and if Eudes de Valois prevailed the sympathies could easily be changed before his roaming armies reached Flanders. The populace was merchants and farmers, and the duchy’s army was largely acting as passive guard-forces by the few remaining strongholds of the king.
When the Lorrainese army started marching the declaration of war had been sent towards Brugge only hours earlier; time was short and king Bohemond was marshalling troops from as far north as Northumbria. The English invasion would be a large one, without a doubt aimed directly at the French crown. It was an ambitious enterprise, and Dietrich had low expectations at the prospect of having Norman England as the closest neighbour; thus, with the late sending of the declaration of war, the army would be marching in a steady speed that kept them two hours behind the dépêche-carrier and so take Flanders within a few weeks.
Upon entering the lands, a problem appeared though: the nobles and the king for that matter, where nowhere to be found. This also lead the army to lose track of the dépêche-carrier, causing the peculiar situation of eight-thousand men walking on foreign territory without knowing whether or not they were at war with said territory.
Eventually Brugge was found though, and even though no contact had been made with any prominent Flemish yet the army laid siege to the city. After a few weeks – at which point the morale and organisation of the army was close to dissolution due to the general confusion – a rider, carrying a white flag, appeared from the city-gates and asked for an audience with the duke, who was personally co-commanding the troops with Ulrich. From this meeting came the knowledge that apparently all of the Flemish nobility were away with the army, fighting for king Adémar – the duke himself however, had been suffering from a severe case of pneumonia and had passed away just that morning. His son, Coenrad, was now the one in charge of the duchy and according to the envoy his master wished to gain an end to the conflict as soon as possible. It was agreed that a meeting would be held between Dietrich and Ulrich, with two guards, and Coenrad with his marshal Richard de Normandie (coincidentally, a disowned grandson of William the Bastard Conqueror).
The tent was square and rather small, barely big enough to room the table with four chairs that stood in the middle. Two guards stood behind each pair of negotiators, and a barrel of wine stood under the table. After having filled the glasses of his guests, and demonstratively taken a sip of the very same wine to prove it to not be poisoned, Coenrad van Vlandeeren started speaking.
“This is a rather interesting situation we’ve got here, Duke Dietrich, and I believe we will easily find a solution that will make us both very content,” he started, and lifted his cup. Dietrich raised his in response, and had to concentrate not to get too smug at the opposing duke’s will for cooperation. “My liege is, to speak kindly, a fool. Not for holding on to those specific beliefs, but for proclaiming it loudly. The pope did not like it, and nor did Raymond Berenguié or Odon d’Aquitaine. I have stayed under his yoke only because if I did proclaim my own right to divide et impera, the French across the channel would have an easy target.” He paused, and drank. “And so, Duke Dietrich, this is my proposition: I am willing to pretend that Flanders has been beaten in battle and invaded by the hostile power of Lorraine. You, as its duke, assume control over my entire duchy and I am incorporated into the German Empire without being permanently labelled as a traitor. And above all, I get rid of Adémar Capet without all too much hassle. What say you?”
Dietrich simply smiled, and raised his cup as an affirmative answer.
With Flanders subjugated and incorporated into Lorraine it was time for the commanders of the army to re-evaluate the situation and decide on their next action. They gathered in what had been the private quarters of the now ex-duke of Flanders, and present were Dietrich, Ulrich and the commanders of the other armies of the realm, which mostly were counts and the occasional bishop. The campaign had, for the Lorrainese, been bloodless this far and it was the wish of many that it would remain like this. Dietrich was not satisfied though; now that he had the whole army of the duchy standing armed right next to a nation collapsing under its own weight he was intent on using it, and to use it good. A local yes-man – one out of many that had assembled in the large room, trying to gain the favour of their new overlord – was ordered to fetch a map, and after that commenced team talk.
“I say we have two opportunities,” started Ulrich, but was abruptly interrupted.
“No, I say that we have two opportunities,” Dietrich said, marking very clearly that no matter how enthusiastic Ulrich was, it was still his brother that was duke, and thereby omnipotent commander. “Alternative one is to march around Eudes de Vermandois’ lands and instead meet him by Paris. We chase him away from there and take the city, and then proceed to occupy the rest of the lands directly under the control of Adémar Capet. With that done, we have a mildly speaking favourable situation for negotiation.” The assembled nodded approvingly while mumbling observations to each other. “The problem is that there might be little left to win by then, considering how the war he is waging with Poitou and Toulouse is faring. So the other alternative is to go straight south from here, on to Eudes’ lands – he is busy laying siege to Paris and unwisely has left his home territory unguarded – and take just enough not to disrupt his streak against King Adémar. After all, we want him to continue to splinter France. I assume that Hainault is a good objective, since it adjoins to our south western lands, and if he proves to be too uncooperative we can seize Vermandois itself as well.” Parts of the crowd shouted out their support for this, and the mumbling of the nobles got even louder this time.
“Very well then,” Ulrich said cheerfully: “I think we’ve got our plan.”
An envoy was sent southwards the following day, carrying the declaration of war between the Duchy of Lorraine and the now independent Duchy of Valois. Eudes de Vermandois was said to be with his army by the walls of Paris, and so the Lorrainese army co-ordinated themselves so that they would be by Hainault when the declaration of war would reach the ill-fated Eudes.
All went according to plan, in the sense that there were no troops opposing them in Valois and that Eudes would only just have received the message when they arrived there, thus obstructing him from taking immediate action. After wandering lands either deserted or seemingly oblivious of the existence of a world with war and politics, without meeting any obstructions or resistance, they reached Hainault castle which was taken bloodlessly – there were no guards there. Dietrich started to grow impatient – it was not good for the morale to win every victory so easy, it gave the soldiers a false sense of security. It also had the effect that it started to bore them, which was even more troublesome. And where on Earth was Eudes de Vermandois?
After fully seizing the county of Hainault in the late fall of 1106 – coincidentally around the same time that Eckhard would arrive in Jaffa to mobilise the forces of Guntram the Unwilling – Dietrich and his host rested over the winter. The snow made any longer transport tedious, and there was little or no overhanging threat anyway; Eudes de Vermandois was still relentlessly keeping Paris under siege, seemingly oblivious that his lands were overrun by Germans. The actual situation, although neither Dietrich nor anyone else was aware of it at this point, was that the Duke of Valois was gambling, and nervously so. The lands of the Crown had been almost completely overrun, with the exception of Paris, and so when it was seized Adémar Capet would have no firm ground to stand on unless he was granted refuge in the court of one of his few remaining, and ever impatient vassals. In short, after taking Paris Eudes hoped to go from a mere duke in a borderland region to the King of France – or what was left of it.
When Dietrich returned from the Christmas festivities – this year held in Liège, since it was close by the border – the army marched south to Vermandois. Since its ruler did not show up anywhere, it was a logical decision to try to collect as many scraps as possible.
Vermandois fell almost at the same time as Paris, which had held out for almost a year. Content with being able to crown himself the King of all of France in the cathedral of Paris, Eudes happily gave away his old lands in order to be able to focus on wiping out the last traces of his enemy, Adémar Capet.
After signing his part of the peace treaty, sent to him by a ‘royal’ courier, Dietrich sighed heavily and confided to his brother that with their sense of military, diplomacy and even worse, administration, it was a wonder the French had lasted even this long.
---
Thus endeth the twenty-fifth chapter.
The armies of Lorraine were mobilised in only two weeks, and so in the closing days of April an army of eight-thousand marched towards the lands of duke Boudewijn of Flanders, one of the last loyal vassals of the tragic king Adémar. It was widely assumed that the only reason Boudewijn and his subjects had remained faithful was that the theatre of war was relatively far away, and so they would be able to see on beforehand how the battle was going: if king Adémar would prevail, the insistent loyalty would be preserved and if Eudes de Valois prevailed the sympathies could easily be changed before his roaming armies reached Flanders. The populace was merchants and farmers, and the duchy’s army was largely acting as passive guard-forces by the few remaining strongholds of the king.
When the Lorrainese army started marching the declaration of war had been sent towards Brugge only hours earlier; time was short and king Bohemond was marshalling troops from as far north as Northumbria. The English invasion would be a large one, without a doubt aimed directly at the French crown. It was an ambitious enterprise, and Dietrich had low expectations at the prospect of having Norman England as the closest neighbour; thus, with the late sending of the declaration of war, the army would be marching in a steady speed that kept them two hours behind the dépêche-carrier and so take Flanders within a few weeks.
Upon entering the lands, a problem appeared though: the nobles and the king for that matter, where nowhere to be found. This also lead the army to lose track of the dépêche-carrier, causing the peculiar situation of eight-thousand men walking on foreign territory without knowing whether or not they were at war with said territory.
Eventually Brugge was found though, and even though no contact had been made with any prominent Flemish yet the army laid siege to the city. After a few weeks – at which point the morale and organisation of the army was close to dissolution due to the general confusion – a rider, carrying a white flag, appeared from the city-gates and asked for an audience with the duke, who was personally co-commanding the troops with Ulrich. From this meeting came the knowledge that apparently all of the Flemish nobility were away with the army, fighting for king Adémar – the duke himself however, had been suffering from a severe case of pneumonia and had passed away just that morning. His son, Coenrad, was now the one in charge of the duchy and according to the envoy his master wished to gain an end to the conflict as soon as possible. It was agreed that a meeting would be held between Dietrich and Ulrich, with two guards, and Coenrad with his marshal Richard de Normandie (coincidentally, a disowned grandson of William the Bastard Conqueror).
---
The tent was square and rather small, barely big enough to room the table with four chairs that stood in the middle. Two guards stood behind each pair of negotiators, and a barrel of wine stood under the table. After having filled the glasses of his guests, and demonstratively taken a sip of the very same wine to prove it to not be poisoned, Coenrad van Vlandeeren started speaking.
“This is a rather interesting situation we’ve got here, Duke Dietrich, and I believe we will easily find a solution that will make us both very content,” he started, and lifted his cup. Dietrich raised his in response, and had to concentrate not to get too smug at the opposing duke’s will for cooperation. “My liege is, to speak kindly, a fool. Not for holding on to those specific beliefs, but for proclaiming it loudly. The pope did not like it, and nor did Raymond Berenguié or Odon d’Aquitaine. I have stayed under his yoke only because if I did proclaim my own right to divide et impera, the French across the channel would have an easy target.” He paused, and drank. “And so, Duke Dietrich, this is my proposition: I am willing to pretend that Flanders has been beaten in battle and invaded by the hostile power of Lorraine. You, as its duke, assume control over my entire duchy and I am incorporated into the German Empire without being permanently labelled as a traitor. And above all, I get rid of Adémar Capet without all too much hassle. What say you?”
Dietrich simply smiled, and raised his cup as an affirmative answer.
---
With Flanders subjugated and incorporated into Lorraine it was time for the commanders of the army to re-evaluate the situation and decide on their next action. They gathered in what had been the private quarters of the now ex-duke of Flanders, and present were Dietrich, Ulrich and the commanders of the other armies of the realm, which mostly were counts and the occasional bishop. The campaign had, for the Lorrainese, been bloodless this far and it was the wish of many that it would remain like this. Dietrich was not satisfied though; now that he had the whole army of the duchy standing armed right next to a nation collapsing under its own weight he was intent on using it, and to use it good. A local yes-man – one out of many that had assembled in the large room, trying to gain the favour of their new overlord – was ordered to fetch a map, and after that commenced team talk.
“I say we have two opportunities,” started Ulrich, but was abruptly interrupted.
“No, I say that we have two opportunities,” Dietrich said, marking very clearly that no matter how enthusiastic Ulrich was, it was still his brother that was duke, and thereby omnipotent commander. “Alternative one is to march around Eudes de Vermandois’ lands and instead meet him by Paris. We chase him away from there and take the city, and then proceed to occupy the rest of the lands directly under the control of Adémar Capet. With that done, we have a mildly speaking favourable situation for negotiation.” The assembled nodded approvingly while mumbling observations to each other. “The problem is that there might be little left to win by then, considering how the war he is waging with Poitou and Toulouse is faring. So the other alternative is to go straight south from here, on to Eudes’ lands – he is busy laying siege to Paris and unwisely has left his home territory unguarded – and take just enough not to disrupt his streak against King Adémar. After all, we want him to continue to splinter France. I assume that Hainault is a good objective, since it adjoins to our south western lands, and if he proves to be too uncooperative we can seize Vermandois itself as well.” Parts of the crowd shouted out their support for this, and the mumbling of the nobles got even louder this time.
“Very well then,” Ulrich said cheerfully: “I think we’ve got our plan.”
---
An envoy was sent southwards the following day, carrying the declaration of war between the Duchy of Lorraine and the now independent Duchy of Valois. Eudes de Vermandois was said to be with his army by the walls of Paris, and so the Lorrainese army co-ordinated themselves so that they would be by Hainault when the declaration of war would reach the ill-fated Eudes.
All went according to plan, in the sense that there were no troops opposing them in Valois and that Eudes would only just have received the message when they arrived there, thus obstructing him from taking immediate action. After wandering lands either deserted or seemingly oblivious of the existence of a world with war and politics, without meeting any obstructions or resistance, they reached Hainault castle which was taken bloodlessly – there were no guards there. Dietrich started to grow impatient – it was not good for the morale to win every victory so easy, it gave the soldiers a false sense of security. It also had the effect that it started to bore them, which was even more troublesome. And where on Earth was Eudes de Vermandois?
After fully seizing the county of Hainault in the late fall of 1106 – coincidentally around the same time that Eckhard would arrive in Jaffa to mobilise the forces of Guntram the Unwilling – Dietrich and his host rested over the winter. The snow made any longer transport tedious, and there was little or no overhanging threat anyway; Eudes de Vermandois was still relentlessly keeping Paris under siege, seemingly oblivious that his lands were overrun by Germans. The actual situation, although neither Dietrich nor anyone else was aware of it at this point, was that the Duke of Valois was gambling, and nervously so. The lands of the Crown had been almost completely overrun, with the exception of Paris, and so when it was seized Adémar Capet would have no firm ground to stand on unless he was granted refuge in the court of one of his few remaining, and ever impatient vassals. In short, after taking Paris Eudes hoped to go from a mere duke in a borderland region to the King of France – or what was left of it.
When Dietrich returned from the Christmas festivities – this year held in Liège, since it was close by the border – the army marched south to Vermandois. Since its ruler did not show up anywhere, it was a logical decision to try to collect as many scraps as possible.
Vermandois fell almost at the same time as Paris, which had held out for almost a year. Content with being able to crown himself the King of all of France in the cathedral of Paris, Eudes happily gave away his old lands in order to be able to focus on wiping out the last traces of his enemy, Adémar Capet.
After signing his part of the peace treaty, sent to him by a ‘royal’ courier, Dietrich sighed heavily and confided to his brother that with their sense of military, diplomacy and even worse, administration, it was a wonder the French had lasted even this long.
---
Thus endeth the twenty-fifth chapter.
Well, there is your update! I managed to squeeze it out before leaving tomorrow to return at Sunday, so be grateful!
Comments on the map are especially appreciated this time, considering I've been pouring down a significant part of my day and soul into it. Comments? Better or worse? Good or anus? Bring it on. (Note: It's an animation, so see both sides of it. (Note 2: I nicked the frame from EUIII.))
Comments on the map are especially appreciated this time, considering I've been pouring down a significant part of my day and soul into it. Comments? Better or worse? Good or anus? Bring it on. (Note: It's an animation, so see both sides of it. (Note 2: I nicked the frame from EUIII.
))The map is...magnificent.
*shed tears*
The animation isn't with too many steps that it'll be hard to follow, the text is nicely arrayed, the color codes and borders are clear, and the city symbols are cool. Excellent job I'd say.
On the update: a very easy and very profitable war, which is all in all very good.
*shed tears*
The animation isn't with too many steps that it'll be hard to follow, the text is nicely arrayed, the color codes and borders are clear, and the city symbols are cool. Excellent job I'd say.
On the update: a very easy and very profitable war, which is all in all very good.
Snugglie said:
Do I have to choose?
Maps are my weakness, and that one is particularly saucy. The story is up to it in quality - I'm curious how that surrender stemmed from the game-play, and what you chose to do with Coenrad. Take his duchy title and vassalize him?
Ah, merci! Nice you liked it, and we all like easy wars!Irenicus said:
If it makes you nervous, you don't have to.phargle said:
He only ruled one province as his personal demesne, his army was no where to be seen, and I made a claim on the Duchy of Flanders. So yes, as you say.phargle said:
Oh, no. I have been a away from these forums couple weeks and again I am four chapter behind... I have to catch up.
That was almost Byzantine, what Coenrad and Dietrich agreed to... nice way of solving affairs. As for Eudes - why make a fuss over a county or two when you gain a crown in return?
And I'd like to echo everyone else's sentiments - you, sir, have a talent for cartography.
And I'd like to echo everyone else's sentiments - you, sir, have a talent for cartography.