In the Shadow of Certain, Painful Doom: Abyssinia

[Philo32b]

Most of the time I am trying to avoid having the screen shots coming in too small, but with today's post some of the character screen shots are about as big as your head. They certainly don't need to be that big.

Does anyone know how to control how big these graphics are when they finally appear in the thread? I use MS Paint to save JPG images, and then I host them at Mediafire with direct sharing links in the posts.

Thanks!

[BogMod]

Can't you use MS Paint to alter their size based on pixels? That should let you control how big they are.

[Cluiz]

If you're using MS Paint, there should be a 'resize' option there, which you can either input a percentage or input a specific pixel number you want it to be by horizontal x vertical.

Also, in my Scandinavia game, I just found a Zagwe in my court. That made me very very happy. I recall I randomly inherited the Gondar duchy from my seventh wife/daughter who 'tragically' died, but I surrendered it when I got invaded because, well, I was in Sweden, it was kind've difficult to defend something literally on the other end of the map.

That Emperor was hilarious. He outlived seven of his eight wives, only two of said seven not dying naturally. And the two being the twin Emiras of Gondar. The first of which got murdered by her sister, who my character promptly married instead. I guess you don't care about the difference when they're twins. xP

But yes, the Zagwes live on as the Scandinavian vassal counts of Durham!

[Quinntan]

Subscribing to the most enjoyable AAR I've found on these forums.

[tnick0225]

Wow!!! I have a ton of reading to do to catch up on Sennarian life...started trying to catch up, since last I checked in was right after Tesfaye's death as he venturing to see the impaler. Amazing how much is missed in a month or so of being away

[IconOfEvi]

Seems the Sennarian Tradition of never reading pertinent information before people start dying is still well played

[Philo32b]

Can't you use MS Paint to alter their size based on pixels? That should let you control how big they are.

Thank you, BogMod (and thanks on this point, Cluiz)--I will try these tips to fine tune the graphics.

If you're using MS Paint, there should be a 'resize' option there, which you can either input a percentage or input a specific pixel number you want it to be by horizontal x vertical.

Also, in my Scandinavia game, I just found a Zagwe in my court. That made me very very happy. I recall I randomly inherited the Gondar duchy from my seventh wife/daughter who 'tragically' died, but I surrendered it when I got invaded because, well, I was in Sweden, it was kind've difficult to defend something literally on the other end of the map.

That Emperor was hilarious. He outlived seven of his eight wives, only two of said seven not dying naturally. And the two being the twin Emiras of Gondar. The first of which got murdered by her sister, who my character promptly married instead. I guess you don't care about the difference when they're twins. xP

But yes, the Zagwes live on as the Scandinavian vassal counts of Durham!

The Zagwes always live complicated lives, even in parallel universes! LOL

Subscribing to the most enjoyable AAR I've found on these forums.

Thank you! I'm glad you like it.

Wow!!! I have a ton of reading to do to catch up on Sennarian life...started trying to catch up, since last I checked in was right after Tesfaye's death as he venturing to see the impaler. Amazing how much is missed in a month or so of being away

Welcome back, tnick0225! Yes, Sennarian life continues on as Tesfaye I's life fades into glorious legend and the Impaler's life is blissfully forgotten. New people, new problems, same baboons... Actually, some of the same old problems, too.

Seems the Sennarian Tradition of never reading pertinent information before people start dying is still well played

LOL Yes, Tesfaye is much too busy to take the time to read anything that could be potentially useful in saving his life or others' lives. That's how Sennarian counts roll.

[BogMod]

I am disappointed to admit the Zagwes are no more in my game. None of their dynasty remains.

[noobermenschen]

I am disappointed to admit the Zagwes are no more in my game. None of their dynasty remains.

Still on my first CK2 campaign, and the one natured God has blessed the house of Zagwe by setting the Mohammedans at each other's throats pretty much the entire time - good thing too, when they go after Christians those wars tend to end quickly and victoriously. But Yeremennos' grandson King Sirpryz (I named him) united the de jure kingdom of Abyssinia in the year of our one natured Lord 1131!

[Philo32b]

I still couldn't figure out why my images were getting so big all of a sudden after examining MS Paint. I think it is something that changed with MediaFire, my media hosting site. Looks like I have ironed out the difficulties, but sometimes the images may still be a bit too big or a bit too small. I apologize in advance for these cases, which resist my attempts to get them to behave.

I am disappointed to admit the Zagwes are no more in my game. None of their dynasty remains.

Perhaps the Zagwes in my game have annoyed the One-Natured God so badly that the Deity is exercising single-minded devotion in annihilating all Zagwes in all alternate worlds, working towards mine. If so, I apologize.

Still on my first CK2 campaign, and the one natured God has blessed the house of Zagwe by setting the Mohammedans at each other's throats pretty much the entire time - good thing too, when they go after Christians those wars tend to end quickly and victoriously. But Yeremennos' grandson King Sirpryz (I named him) united the de jure kingdom of Abyssinia in the year of our one natured Lord 1131!

OK, well there goes my theory from the previous post, then. :P

[Philo32b]

Two spots of happy news: First, "In the Shadow of Certain, Painful Doom" won first place in the AARland Choice AwAARds 2012 (Round 2) category for CK/CK2 AARs. Thank you so much! I am honored!

Second, I noticed that the view count for this AAR has exceeded 100,000... Wow! Thank you all so much for your regular viewing. I very much appreciate your readership.

[Philo32b]

My spymaster writes to me that he is concerned that my bastard son will cause unnecessary complications, and has found a convenient way to “get rid of him.” That my spymaster would bring this to me is puzzling, though. It was not too long ago that I chose to recognize him as my son, while it would have been easy to refrain from doing this if I thought him unnecessarily complicating. Also, I have so many children from two wives and one mistress, what does one extra bastard matter? I suspect something else is going on here. Someone it benefits my spymaster, not me, if the bastard is gotten rid of. But I cannot think how it would help him. In any case, I refuse. Word leaks out and I gain a reputation for being honest.




That's me fending off two columns at once.

The ploy works in the war with the count attempting to usurp my daughter’s duchy: keeping my army motionless until the enemy has fully arrived in the mountainous county of Vaspurakan, we are able to engage the enemy before they can leave. Fortunately, my daughter’s small army also covers the rebel’s county as well, preventing their standing troops from reinforcing their fielded army.




The Sennarian troops were well suited to this kind of warfare.

In the mountainous area, Laurentios’ column and mine are closing in on the count, who is caught in the trap. I realize to my horror, though, that I followed the wrong path and we were higher up on the mountainside than the enemy, giving them a chance to escape underneath us. That would give the count a chance to regroup and continue to pose a threat to my daughter. But also Laurentios would surely think me responsible and find a way to embarrass me in front of the men. My men and I watched as the enemy threaded along their thin mountain path towards freedom. Then I had an idea. I have never been formally trained in war, but learned to fight dirty and scrappy. I had my men push the many boulders and large rocks down the side of the mountain onto the enemy troops. It worked like a charm, sending a third of them plummeting to their deaths and blocking that route of escape of the majority left. Laurentios and I then could leisurely converge on the remnants and crush them. Only a few had managed to escape. Laurentios complimented me on my ingenuity, but the way he said it suggested that he was being sarcastic. If he wasn’t so useful I would certainly have him killed.





Victory followed by another victory. After the battle with the boulders, we chase down the few troops left of their main army, annihilating almost everything of the last of their main army.





Victory! With their main army crushed and my troops manning their only castle, the rebels accept a White Peace proposal. Regent Mayor Bagrat showed a lack of bravery here. He should have offered only a surrender contingent on the Count surrendering himself to my daughter’s dungeon. At least my dynasty has retained this duchy.




Meh, she was a Monophysite anyway.

I decide to celebrate victory at my daughter’s castle, which is very close by. On the road to her holding, I receive a message from a rider that back in Sennar Pavlina has died, bedridden and infirm. Apparently she was one of my courtiers. I really have no idea who this is.





I stop at my daughter’s county to revisit the land with snow-topped mountain tops and narrow valleys that used to be my home in happier times. I remember well being marshal for my wife and living like a Doux should: respect from the peasants and courtiers, attention from the Byzantine emperor, an army that could defend itself without embarrassment. Vaspurakan was not the county we resided in, however—my daughter has relocated her capital here. When I lived here Vaspurakan was held by a count under my wife’s rule. I had forgotten that that count was Count Melek, the same general of my daughter’s army who was so belligerent to me only a few weeks ago.




“Revoked my title”… yep, that’ll do it.

Now I know why Melek was so hostile to me, father of Duchess Dionysia. Her new county of Vaspurakan was revoked from the then Count Melek. Melek really should not have been put into the general’s role, given these circumstances. This will be another thing I must talk about when I talk to my daughter’s regent Mayor Bagrat.




Bagrat does look like he needs some tej.

When I arrive at my daughter’s castle, the first person to meet with me is Regent Mayor Bagrat. After the usual niceties I ask him why it has taken so long to execute our plot on the life of Georgia KhorVirap. What is he waiting for? He tells me that managing my daughter’s realm has taxed him heavily. He barely has a chance to manage his own affairs in the city in which he is a mayor. Receiving the tej that I had sent was one of the few bright spots he has had in some while, he says, asking if I could spare any more.




With a poisonous snake? Hmm. Mayor Bagrat needs to get a hobby.

When he sees that I am serious about finishing the plot on Georgia’s life, he tells me that he has procured the sufficient instrument for the plot, and was only waiting for the right moment to use it. I stress that this is the right moment, right now, and so he shows me his plan. He has bought a poisonous snake which he will have planted in Georgia’s bed. By morning she should be dead. A bit exotic of a way to murder someone, but it could work. I tell him to have it done tonight.





I meet with my 14-year-old daughter, Duchess of Armenia. She thanks me for helping her put down the revolting count. We talk about the long-term goals for the Zagwe dynasty. I tell her that I will live and die count of the small, unknown county of Sennar. But she has the potential to rise in power, seize Gondar and the rest of Abyssinia, and renew the Zagwe line of kings and queens. She has the power to become queen herself or put her own child in a position to do so. I tell her that it is something that her mother and I talked about frequently and wished for our children. She seems uplifted and inspired by our discussion. Afterwards, I feel proud that I was able to inspire such feelings of nobility in my eldest daughter. The moment is only tarnished when I cannot resist secretly commanding my body guards to make off with some of the silverware and to stuff their pockets with the fine Byzantine cuisine. I just can’t get these kinds of things back home. Sennar has tarnished me.





The next morning we all learn that Georgia has tragically been bitten by a poisonous snake in the night and is dead. I watch as my kind daughter consoles her guardian, Dionysia Kometopoulos, daughter of Georgia. It is better now that my daughter does not know the dark steps that have been taken to solidify her position in the duchy. That is, until she learns how to convincingly pretend to be sympathetic. We will stay a week and then return home to Sennar to see who else has been killed by baboons or surly peasants while we have been away.

[Rfish12]

Excellent as always.

[Aardvark Bellay]

Yea, what a success. Now back to Sennar and your lovely wife...urrgh......Tej and Baboons fighting in the hills.
Watching the Baboons teached you something at least. Now, how is your wife ?

[Kanin_Usagi]

Ah, the mighty Sennarian army finally shows off its stuff! Here's hoping that fortunes don't catch up to them too soon!

[Machiavellian]

A success! A rare treat indeed.

[tnick0225]

So weird seeing the Sennarians actually having some success...perhaps the one natured god finally found some other toys to torment and will allow the Zagwes to grow a bit.

[IconOfEvi]

What the?! SUCCESS!??!?!

This can't be right...

[Axe27]

Took me a while to learn the whole inheritance aspect of Crusader Kings II, but once I figured it out, it's amazing how much land can be taken with nary a dead peasant.

[Remitonov]

The curse is broken!? Unthinkable! Keep up the adventure, Philo32b!