Well the title says it all, so let's see whose next door that I can borrow some sugar from, and listen to their damn dog bark all night long.
Quite a sorted cast isn't it. Let's get to know the neighbours, from top to bottom, shall we?
The Cumans - That
MASSIVE sandy coloured blog to the north of us, they hate us and want us dead. Thankfully, compared to the Russian princes, we're as rich in gold as we are in flat land, so for the time being we're on their ignore list.
Korchev - That slightly less purple peninsula in the Black Sea, it's an independent count that tolerates my existence. They also enjoy their independance, so getting them to join our group instead of the duchy of Crimea (and hence part of the purple behemoth) is going to be "fun".
Alania - Some duchy that also tolerates us, also values it's independence, but can back it up with steel. For some reason they get a voice in our affairs, and would love to have my crown, but at least they dont' want us dead, so that's...nice.
Kakheti - They're Christian, they're Georgian, they have a picture of Ray Charles on their mantelpiece. In short they're the only folks in the area that really love us for us. And being right in the centre of the Caucasus Mountains, they're almost as dirt poor as us too. Beggars cant' be choosers I suppose.
Kartli - They're Muslim, they hate us, but they thought Kakheti's pink motif was FABULOUSSSSS! Thankfully they're also just as dirt poor, so they're as threatening to us as we are to everyone else.
Derbent - The local rep for the Sejuk Turks. They're not big, but they have rich provinces, PITA to attack territories, and they usually invite friends when fighting them. Oh, and they hate us and want us dead (notice a theme here?)
Dwim - Another fly speck Muslin Emir. Another one with big friends. Another that wants us....well you get the idea.
Byzantium Empire - They're the power of this side of the world. One of their themes, or duchies as those Western Euro folks call them, could quickly squash us like a bug, and probably would except for one thing, which I'll mention in a bit. In short, they tolerate us as long as we don't do anything stupid, and are called to war when asked. If we use our "in" with them.....we're kind of fucked.
The Caucasus Mountains - Our best ally against almost everyone. If only they weren't' so resilient to growing something to eat.
Needless to say, paranoia will be a semi-common trait around these parts.