1080-1087 -- Quietly Staying in the Corner and Minding My Own Business
1080 dawns, and I immediately begin this round of play by putting into effect some of the advice I’ve received here and other things that I’ve learned through a side-game as Apulia. The first order of business is to switch my research focus from Thought, which isn’t popping anything, to Schools, hoping for a library for the benefit of Ugo’s children. I also switch from Power back to Mining (to get Charcoal and, thence, mines) and from Chain Armour to Siege Equipment.
Technology Focus Before and After
I also switch from Popular Law to Feudal Contract. As has been pointed out in this thread, this is a bid to get some “claim events” so that when I get the opportunity to grow, I will actually have the
ability to grow, as Popular Law isn’t popping any claims. I’ve also experimented with 0% Scutage in my Apulia game and had a good deal of success at it, so I intend to employ that here as well.
I consider switching to Regal Supremacy as well, in order to get any plus-money events, but I decide I’d rather keep my piety in a happy place and so remain with Monastic Supremacy. I also crank my Church Donations to 100% (2.7 gold) while dropping Scutage to 0% (50% scutage was, in any case, only providing +0.6 gold per month anyway).
I decide that for the immediate future, I will be having peace. I have Respectable reputation, which is good, but I also want to try to get my Stability back up from -2, and as we’ve seen above, going to war ain’t how you do it.
The year starts off well, as Stonepit spreads to Montferrato. The province is already building a training grounds, so I’ll have to wait, but tile factories are always good additions to any province. I also get a couple of other tech spreads, with Defensive Terrain in Lombardia (though I don’t know how useful that will be) and Small Castle in Pavia.
As I settle in for what I hope will be a prolonged era of peace and prosperity for the duchy, I start poking around my court, and am reminded of one annoying fact:
It’s frustrating, and admittedly nonsensical, that traits like Zealous and Chaste only provide their +Piety bonus if the character in question is a ruler. I would sure like my diocese bishop to be gaining five or six piety per year, but that isn’t going to be happening.
My steward, the highly-skilled Matilda Steno, widow of Duke Azzo and by a large margin (14 to 6) the best steward in my court, is down to 44.5% loyalty and is still losing 0.9% per month. I have to get rid of her (her “Just” trait isn’t jiving with Ugo’s “Arbitrary”), but as mentioned, her best replacement is incompetent. Unfortunately, I can’t afford any theft or embezzlement from the treasury, so I have to take that hit.
I also notice that the Prince-Bishop of Padua, a vassal of Carinthia (who is a vassal of Heinrich), is at 39.6% loyalty and dropping fast. I offer him vassalization and keep an eye on him in case he breaks free, even though I wouldn’t be able to afford to grab his title (303 prestige cost versus my 213 prestige).
In August, Montferrato finishes the training grounds, so I start up the Tile Factory. On a less positive note, my Stewardship 6 steward manages to die of old age (45 years), and I have to replace her with a Stewardship 4 buffoon. Thanks to my awful stewards, my monthly income has dropped from 16.44 under Matilda Steno to 6.88 under Stupid McMoneypants.
In November, my diocese bishop turns celibate, so at least he has
some piety now. He
should also be gaining +10 piety per year, but alas, no.
In December, I get a great opportunity:
I can “push a little” for -40 Piety and a 50% chance of +1 Stability; I can “push a lot” for -100 Piety, guaranteed +1 Stability, and a 50% chance of gaining Skeptical; or I can not push at all and gain Zealous. As you know if you read above, I end up pushing a lot, because Ugo is in no danger of becoming Papal Controller and I need some stability. I wouldn’t even mind gaining Skeptical (a +Intrigue trait), but I don’t.
In January 1081, my friendship with the Prince-Bishop of Mainz pops back up when he asks me for campaign contributions for his run at the papacy.
Bishop von Saffenberg is fifty years old, only has 166 piety, and the top three guys in line for the papacy have at least 330 piety. Siegfrid also has Proud (-2 annual piety) and Vengeful (another -2), so the odds of him becoming pope are bagel. I have to show him the door, and
now I gain skeptical as a result.
A week later, I get my first “Happy Feudal Vassal” event. I love these events – free prestige, relations, loyalty, and a chance of Just. I don’t gain Just this time, but the prestige boost is always nice.
Meanwhile, “Cruel” leader trait events for the lose:
By mid-March, Heinrich has annexed a rebellious Duchy of Dauphine / County of Forez. The former duke has apparently sought asylum in my court (gee, thanks?), granting me a new courtier with Stewardship 8, but low loyalty (20.1%). However, he’s gaining +0.6% per month, so I’ll eventually be able to make use of him.
In April, I get the chance to steal relics again. Since Ugo is
already Arbitrary, and the non-profit option gives only a 10% chance of becoming Just, I take the money (150 gold) and run. With the money from the relics, by May I can afford to build a small castle. Lombardia still has Dysentery (this will prove to be the longest-running historical outbreak of dysentery ever), which gives +900% build time, so Pavia gets a castle instead. Naturally, a month after I start the castle, Pavia gets Stonepit, but I’ll have to wait 30 months for the castle to finish. Pavia also gets Divine Duty, which is always nice, particularly since the province has 80% peasant loyalty and I can’t reduce the census tax below 50% under Feudal Contract.
Lanfranco, Ugo’s oldest son, pops up asking if he’ll ever rule the duchy. I don’t want him to become Proud, Selfish, or Lazy, so “Of course you will” is out. I also don’t want him to become Vengeful or Lazy, so “Duh, no” is also out. Option #2, on the other hand -- “If you deserve it” – offers a possibility of Energetic, Amiable, or Suspicious, so I pick that one and Lanfranco become Energetic. Oh, if only he knew…
Meanwhile, my Marshal dies, and I replace him with a true military genius (Martial 4). An honorary picture of my pathetic court, c. November 1081:
Believe it or not, that Stewardship 4 woman actually has higher stewardship than
everybody else (including my Diplomacy 13 chancellor and my Intrigue 15 spymaster) except for the spectacularly disloyal Stewardship 14 woman.
The tragic comedy continues in December as Parma’s fishing wharf burns down.
Lanfranco befriends the rather competent son of the fugitive Duke of Dauphine, so I’m optimistic that at least
he will one day have a competent advisor, but shortly thereafter the former duke defects to another court and takes his son with him. Hmph.
In January 1082, it’s time to pick a formal education for Goffredo, Ugo’s second son.
The boy has great intrigue for a five-year-old, so I decide to send him to court to try to make the most of it. Later that month, the Duke of Galicia becomes Papal Controller, so at least I don’t have to worry about getting excommunicated from way over there.
In June, my diocese bishop retires to a monastery. His only possible replacement is a disloyal, incompetent, stressed-out fanatical priest, so I just leave the position empty.
Another parenting event comes around in September as Goffredo demonstrates a predilection for dangerous games. I didn’t want him to gain Reckless, a likely result of choosing to let him run rampant, and curfewing him had stupid possible results, so I decide to try to reel him in a bit and he gains Modest.
1083 is another quiet year. I send Ugo’s daughter Adalberta to court for education, even though my advisors are terrible, because I have
no diocese bishop.
In March, Padua declares war on Carinthia, and is in turn declared war upon by Germany. The prince-bishopric remains disinterested in vassalization, so I leave them to their fate.
Lanfranco brings me another chance to be a dad towards the end of May, demanding to know why he has to attend school. “So that you don’t grow up to be a moron like your Uncle Fulco” isn’t an option, so I eventually take the middle ground (a chance of Gregarious, Valorous, or Reckless) and end up with Valorous. This pretty much ruins Lanfranco’s intrigue (it’s down to two), though, and I probably should have gone with the first option (which offered chances at Modest, Reckless, and Shy --- the most disciplinarian option offered Hostile, Shy, or Deceitful, and a 50% chance at Hostile was way too high to risk).
On a more positive note, the Seven Liberal Arts spreads to Lombardia, so I could theoretically build a library there, but the dysentery continues. I keep my focus on Schools in order to get Monastic Schools.
December gives me a hunting event with the Duke of Genoa. I don’t really need a friend in Genoa, so I pick the falconry option to minimize the likelihood of something horrible happening to Ugo, and end up becoming friends anyway.
In 1084, January means it’s time to raise Ugo’s third son, Ciuccio. I figure I’ll start grooming him for Diocese Bishop and toss him to some nearby monks.
Another quiet year, I finish the small castle in Pavia, get Soft Leather in Montferrato, make friends with the Prine-Bishop of Trent (who dies three months later), and by October I have 100 gold again, but I still can’t do anything in Lombardy due to the dysentery, so Pavia starts a tile-factory.
1085 continues the trends of (1) being uneventful and (2) my court being a comedy of errors, as my already-terrible steward becomes depressed.
Sure, she has Stewardship 2, but my
only other two options are both completely disloyal. Naturally, they have Stewardship scores of fourteen and… zero.
Soft Leather reaches Pavia, and the only other noteworthy event of the year is a hunting friendship with the Count of Brescia, a nice little county right on my eastern border that I’d like to eventually vassalize (but which is currently loyal to Tuscany).
1086 stays a little busy, but still quiet. Goffredo forms a friendship with the court spymaster (at least he picked one of my less inept advisors for that -- the guy has Intrigue 16, but he also has only 4 Diplomacy and is 63 years old), while Ugo gets a hunting friendship with the Prince-Bishop of Cremona (another eventual-vassal neighbor county that’s part of Tuscany). Meanwhile, a few tech spreads: Salt Refinery in Pavia (which also finishes its tile factory), Brickwork Structures in Montferrato.
Goffredo, despite just making friends with his instructor, proves incompetent at making friends otherwise, so Ugo gets an event to try to fix it. I help him out, and the kid ends up as Amiable, which isn’t too shabby. In order to balance the scales, however, Parma promptly turns Poor via event.
July rolls around, and Lombardia still has dysentery (hint: this never actually goes away), so I start a church in Pavia to appease the masses.
Later that month, Pisa declares war on Syracuse, the last Muslim holding in Sicily. As much as I wouldn’t mind capturing the province, Pisa would easily be able to get there before me, and I only have a single piece of gold, -1 Stability, and terrible luck. On top of that, Syracuse is already at war with Venice, Romagna, Bologna, and Apulia, so I decline to join the attack.
Ciuccio comes around for a formal education, and while I had intended to send him to a monastery for an ecclesiastical education, he shows promise in an area I desperately need to improve:
Court Education it is.
Towards the end of the year, Lanfranco becomes Just via “poacher event”, which I’ll count as a victory.
Meanwhile, I take stock of Germany, since they seem disinclined to do me any favors by falling apart. I am pleased at what I find. Heinrich is still going strong, but the inheritance is in dire straits:
Heinrich is using Primogeniture, and his oldest son is a schizophrenic with atrocious Diplomacy and poor everything else. Due to the inheritance laws of Germany, the two in line after Dietmar are his two infant sons. Meanwhile:
This guy, Heinrich’s second son, is
fourth in the inheritance line. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I use Consanguinity inheritance laws. Germany’s wacky inheritance is definitely to my benefit, though -- if I can just ride out the rest of Heinrich’s reign (I foolishly forget to knock on wood at this point), there’s virtually no way that Germany
won’t fall apart upon Dietmar’s succession.
1087 is another uneventful year for me, and at this point uneventful is about the best thing I can ask for. Montferrato turns Prosperous in January, while March sees Lanfranco and Goffredo becoming friends, which is a welcome event. Unfortunately, in April Goffredo becomes stressed rather than risk becoming enemies with Ciuccio.
In May, I notice that my friend the Doge of Genoa has died, and that he has been succeeded by a young, rebellious, and very disloyal ruler.
Bonifacio is
stacked. Despite being all of 5.1% loyal, he’s gaining +3.5% per month. There’s still a chance that he might turn before he gets too high, though, which would allow me to pounce. Only problem is that thanks to the new doge’s obscene attributes, Genoa has a huge army -- about 60% recruited and already 7,255 strong, plus 2,349 in Nice, whereas I have all of 7,109 total manpower. I guess Genoa won’t be happening any time in the next few years.
On July 30, my steward recovers from her depression. But she’s still terrible.
In August, the Prince-Bishopric of Trent leaves Germany peacefully in what at the time appears a fairly innocuous event. I offer them vassalization, but it is declined.
The year closes with a couple of events, one with angry burghers and one that pops Letters of Indulgence in Lombardia. The burghers aren’t too happy about Feudal Contract law, so I give them some false hope to shut them up and minimize loyalty problems.
