I'm fairly certain that he would have cycled through every single holy order until I allowed him to leave, including the Hashishin.
(Leaving the response here in part to clear the third page for the next update. This page is already quite heavy)
This is SpAARtenos - A Neapolis story of Misery
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I'm fairly certain that he would have cycled through every single holy order until I allowed him to leave, including the Hashishin.
(Leaving the response here in part to clear the third page for the next update. This page is already quite heavy)
Chapter 5 - 1223-1234 - To Replace the Old with the New - Part 2
To pass the time filled with truces, Sergios II spends the time feasting, hunting and going to the holy land to befriend random Germans, reflecting on the fact that Jesus was indeed Jewish and marveling at the fact that the Holy Kingdom somehow still held the line against the Seljuks and Fatimids.
The continued survival being the true miracle of this entire region. Man, now I want to try a game with the goal of going from a count to winning Jerusalem in the first Crusade.
It's worth noting that until Crown Prince Phokas starts churning out some little offspring, the second in line to the throne is Sergios' granddaughter Basillike (daughter of the late Traianos), since his other children are either making out with the Pope, the grandmaster or a large group of sexually frustrated nuns.
Finally in August 1225 the truce with the Byzantine Empire has ended and the chancellor of Greece-Sicily has finally forged claims on both Alexandretta and Cherson! This should allow the final destruction of the Byzantine Empire!
But no, Sergios II failed to read the small print and sadly, this time Sicily-Greece was the one being screwed over by technicalities.
Oh for crying out loud, stop cheating at war already!.
Meanwhile in Aragon, King Sergios' brother decided that if Sergios wasn't going to claim their mother's birthright, he damn well would:
Like former Spartenos Kings of Aragon, he only lasted a few weeks. At least there are now even more claims to the kingdom in the family.
But in regards to the Byzantine Empire, it seemed that the Greek Pretender would have to lose 3 wars to be wiped out. One county at a time. This was getting frustrating.
And so the good King Sergios would have to wait five years for the truces to expire.
But he really wasn't in the mood for that.
Okay. Basillike (the granddaughter of Sergios II, daughter of former crown prince Traianos) was the 2nd in line. I can accept that. But why is Sergios himself appearing on that list? Zombie Kings have way too much trouble with the priests.
Though I wish he would have lasted longer, Sergios II regained the last lost lands in Africa (and more), expanded the border in Anatolia, saved Croatia from rebel scum (offscreen, gotta keep his daughter-in-laws rightful inheritance in one piece), murdered a pope in the name of Christ and isolated the Byzantine Empire to three counties in Crimea. A worthy score for any Spartenos king.
May I introduce our new Despot and his queen.
Long live Phokas I and Snjezana.
Other than a stylish fashion sense, Phokas only inherited a weak claim to Aragon as he was the fourth son (the second and the third still fuming in bishoprics in central Asia, possible the wisest decision of Sergios II). Thanks to his phenomenally smooth tongue, the vassals didn't have much objection to him upon ascension and those who did were easily swayed by money or the street cred of carrying meaningless titles. Phokas currently wants to become a paragon of virtue (preferably by exterminating as many heathens as possible)
Queen Snjezana is the daughter of the former king of Croatia and sister of the current. She's outfitted with a sexy claim and the biggest hair.
Their heir is Isaakios. He's a toddler. He likes to put things in his mouth and isn't brain damaged nor scrawny, so he'll do.
But there's no such thing as a death without its upsides.
And yes, Phokas could actually swear fealty to the Byzantine Emperor since Greece is de-jure.
The conclusion came swiftly.
The other war you can glimpse is Greece saving Croatia for the third or fourth time. Despot Phokas really should install Queen Snjezana over there, but that means running the risk of losing control of Isaakios
Still two counties to go. This was going to take forever. But while Phokas traveled to the Holy land to learn how to be a kind religious nut...
... The duke of Cherson and Grand Prince of Abkhazia both took a more practical approach.
Earlier I noticed they beat the The Varangian Guard with their united army. I like to think they were giving each another the good ol' thumbs up from across the Kerch Strait.
This meant that the Byzantine Empire was about to be wiped off the map and Phokas did not yet have the piety to create an empire! There was only one solution.
Sorry. The man with the funny hat says Phokas can't be emperor unless he earns enough God Points.
A large amphibious assault landed in Northern Egypt and began storming baronies while the Fatimids were busy dealing with civil strife in the south. It was a rather swift and non-eventful war.
Catholic Christ subtracted some God Points because Phokas couldn't help but hustle the new Pope for cash.
You might remember that former crown prince Traianos had a bastard son, Orestes, before he croaked. Well, Phokas had seen to it that he personally educated him and gave the boy, who might have become king if his father had lived, a title fitting for a Spartenos Bastard:
This, along with finding a random book, gave King Phokas enough piety to realize the dream of his ancestors. He was finally emperor instead of the emperor.
Brown isn't usually my thing, but this is actually a nice bronze-like shade. It'll work.
He retained the royal titles of Sicily, Greece and "Cyprus" while handing out the lesser kingdoms of Bulgaria, Serbia and Africa. Of course there was a little uncertainty regarding the power inherit in the African Kingdom, but Phokas I felt confident as he handed the title to the man with the most perfectly sculpted face in the entire Latin Empire:
That perfect chin wouldn't lie.
There is one issue here: What to do about the Kingdom of Greece? It has already inspired vassals to start forging claims and comes with a -20 malus to all de-jure vassals, since the capital is in de-jure Sicily.
- The capital will always remain in Neapolis so moving to Constantinople willingly is not an option!
- It could be destroyed now, but that would interfere with making the newborn Empire a proper de-jure title.
- It could be destroyed in 100 years, after Greece becomes de-jure Latin Empire. Until then it'll create some tension, but it's currently my favored solution.
- Handing it out would be outrageously dangerous, especially since I do not have the option to make viceroys. Although it could be the title of the heir apparent..
In international news, A sad update from super Georgia: The Ninja King, who had managed to rule his country for over 40 years while remaining unseen, has finally died, leaving his throne to an iconoclast Rurikid. It is still disputed if he ever really existed, or the country had simply prospered by the strength of conviction in the illusive ideal of a great unseen king.
To the south, Mighty Jerusalem still stands, although it's a bit battered:
Oh and she's been mentioned multiple times: Basillike Spartenos, second in line to the Spartenos throne as long as Phokas only has one son:
Phokas will probably take her under his wings for the last couple of years of her childhood. Not the worst emergency heir!
End of chapter 5 part 2
To pass the time filled with truces, Sergios II spends the time feasting, hunting and going to the holy land to befriend random Germans, reflecting on the fact that Jesus was indeed Jewish and marveling at the fact that the Holy Kingdom somehow still held the line against the Seljuks and Fatimids.
The continued survival being the true miracle of this entire region. Man, now I want to try a game with the goal of going from a count to winning Jerusalem in the first Crusade.
It's worth noting that until Crown Prince Phokas starts churning out some little offspring, the second in line to the throne is Sergios' granddaughter Basillike (daughter of the late Traianos), since his other children are either making out with the Pope, the grandmaster or a large group of sexually frustrated nuns.
Finally in August 1225 the truce with the Byzantine Empire has ended and the chancellor of Greece-Sicily has finally forged claims on both Alexandretta and Cherson! This should allow the final destruction of the Byzantine Empire!
But no, Sergios II failed to read the small print and sadly, this time Sicily-Greece was the one being screwed over by technicalities.
Oh for crying out loud, stop cheating at war already!.
Meanwhile in Aragon, King Sergios' brother decided that if Sergios wasn't going to claim their mother's birthright, he damn well would:
Like former Spartenos Kings of Aragon, he only lasted a few weeks. At least there are now even more claims to the kingdom in the family.
But in regards to the Byzantine Empire, it seemed that the Greek Pretender would have to lose 3 wars to be wiped out. One county at a time. This was getting frustrating.
And so the good King Sergios would have to wait five years for the truces to expire.
But he really wasn't in the mood for that.
Okay. Basillike (the granddaughter of Sergios II, daughter of former crown prince Traianos) was the 2nd in line. I can accept that. But why is Sergios himself appearing on that list? Zombie Kings have way too much trouble with the priests.
Though I wish he would have lasted longer, Sergios II regained the last lost lands in Africa (and more), expanded the border in Anatolia, saved Croatia from rebel scum (offscreen, gotta keep his daughter-in-laws rightful inheritance in one piece), murdered a pope in the name of Christ and isolated the Byzantine Empire to three counties in Crimea. A worthy score for any Spartenos king.
May I introduce our new Despot and his queen.
Long live Phokas I and Snjezana.
Other than a stylish fashion sense, Phokas only inherited a weak claim to Aragon as he was the fourth son (the second and the third still fuming in bishoprics in central Asia, possible the wisest decision of Sergios II). Thanks to his phenomenally smooth tongue, the vassals didn't have much objection to him upon ascension and those who did were easily swayed by money or the street cred of carrying meaningless titles. Phokas currently wants to become a paragon of virtue (preferably by exterminating as many heathens as possible)
Queen Snjezana is the daughter of the former king of Croatia and sister of the current. She's outfitted with a sexy claim and the biggest hair.
Their heir is Isaakios. He's a toddler. He likes to put things in his mouth and isn't brain damaged nor scrawny, so he'll do.
But there's no such thing as a death without its upsides.
And yes, Phokas could actually swear fealty to the Byzantine Emperor since Greece is de-jure.
The conclusion came swiftly.
The other war you can glimpse is Greece saving Croatia for the third or fourth time. Despot Phokas really should install Queen Snjezana over there, but that means running the risk of losing control of Isaakios
Still two counties to go. This was going to take forever. But while Phokas traveled to the Holy land to learn how to be a kind religious nut...
... The duke of Cherson and Grand Prince of Abkhazia both took a more practical approach.
Earlier I noticed they beat the The Varangian Guard with their united army. I like to think they were giving each another the good ol' thumbs up from across the Kerch Strait.
This meant that the Byzantine Empire was about to be wiped off the map and Phokas did not yet have the piety to create an empire! There was only one solution.
Sorry. The man with the funny hat says Phokas can't be emperor unless he earns enough God Points.
A large amphibious assault landed in Northern Egypt and began storming baronies while the Fatimids were busy dealing with civil strife in the south. It was a rather swift and non-eventful war.
Catholic Christ subtracted some God Points because Phokas couldn't help but hustle the new Pope for cash.
You might remember that former crown prince Traianos had a bastard son, Orestes, before he croaked. Well, Phokas had seen to it that he personally educated him and gave the boy, who might have become king if his father had lived, a title fitting for a Spartenos Bastard:
This, along with finding a random book, gave King Phokas enough piety to realize the dream of his ancestors. He was finally emperor instead of the emperor.
Brown isn't usually my thing, but this is actually a nice bronze-like shade. It'll work.
He retained the royal titles of Sicily, Greece and "Cyprus" while handing out the lesser kingdoms of Bulgaria, Serbia and Africa. Of course there was a little uncertainty regarding the power inherit in the African Kingdom, but Phokas I felt confident as he handed the title to the man with the most perfectly sculpted face in the entire Latin Empire:
That perfect chin wouldn't lie.
There is one issue here: What to do about the Kingdom of Greece? It has already inspired vassals to start forging claims and comes with a -20 malus to all de-jure vassals, since the capital is in de-jure Sicily.
- The capital will always remain in Neapolis so moving to Constantinople willingly is not an option!
- It could be destroyed now, but that would interfere with making the newborn Empire a proper de-jure title.
- It could be destroyed in 100 years, after Greece becomes de-jure Latin Empire. Until then it'll create some tension, but it's currently my favored solution.
- Handing it out would be outrageously dangerous, especially since I do not have the option to make viceroys. Although it could be the title of the heir apparent..
In international news, A sad update from super Georgia: The Ninja King, who had managed to rule his country for over 40 years while remaining unseen, has finally died, leaving his throne to an iconoclast Rurikid. It is still disputed if he ever really existed, or the country had simply prospered by the strength of conviction in the illusive ideal of a great unseen king.
To the south, Mighty Jerusalem still stands, although it's a bit battered:
Oh and she's been mentioned multiple times: Basillike Spartenos, second in line to the Spartenos throne as long as Phokas only has one son:
Phokas will probably take her under his wings for the last couple of years of her childhood. Not the worst emergency heir!
End of chapter 5 part 2
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Latin empire, wonderful, now you just have to show the other Roman empire who's the boss
Eventful times-well done on the Empire thingamajig
Excellent work ! Long live the true Latin Empire !
Thank you all of you
. I'm finally back to do a bit more work on this AAR, although I think Nestoria may soon require most of my attention. I always liked the entire Italian-Mediterranean region in these games because everything important feels so central, but I wanted to do something *new*. I don't think anyone has made an AAR of creating the Latin Empire, yet alone a Spartenos one that actually finished all it wanted to do, so this has been a good experience thus far!Chapter 6 - 1234-1248 - To look both East and West
As his first Imperial edict, Basileus Phokas ordered the coffers of the realm be filled.
The Spartenos way.
Well, that and hustling the Pope for cash
Of course, the Fatimids had to choose this time to be awful spoilsports.
It's an old-fashioned claim on Africa, no invasion or Jihad shenanigans.
Phokas wasted no time calling upon every vassal of the Empire and disembark upon the Fatimids first... But the Venetians were impatient and also wanted a share of the action. (I swear, at some point Greece will be handed out to a vassal. Raising so many armies is a nightmare. Once there are enough vassal kings the Latin Emperor should be able to wipe a potential rebellion out regardless)
During these glorious battles, the first daughter and the first spare to the throne, princess Ioulania was born. Phokas, however, was not so easily impressed.
What's even worse is that the pope decided to bother him with another crusade. Probably yet another bloody reconquest of lost territory in Jeru.. holy frick.
YEEEES.
Of course the Latin Empire joined this Crusade instantly for God and stuff. I mean, it surely would be nice if the wise Pope deemed our humble realm the true victor of this land, but instead of instantly dropping everything, Phokas decided to finish off the Venetians completely, but white peace the Seljuks. Officially the Latin Empire officially joined ASAP.
That the silly amount of restitution money Venice would pay translated into ~20k more mercenaries may have been involved.
But then the time was ripe for an epic struggle with the vast empire of the Seljuks!
... Or so one would think. Basileus Phokas quickly grew bored with camping around Anatolia waiting for the Seljuk horde which never came and found other ways to entertain himself.
Only one single 20k stack ever appeared and was swiftly decimated by the Pope with a little help from a 12k Latin stack. By 1237 it was over.
In a way, that was slightly disappointing after the hectic and dramatic nightmare that was the Crusade for Greece.
Oh well, maybe the Ilkhanate will soon get its act together and march west to provide some real opposition. In the meantime Phokas would entertain himself with finding a bastard descendant of the Doukas emperors and landing him in Anatolia, planning to make his newly created dynasty the Kings of Anatolia in the future:
Either he or his uncle would likely be Basilius now, if not for the Spartenosi intervention. Do note his fine taste in women and the fact that his family tree is a little incestuously loopy with him appearing twice.
But, you know, the mercenaries were already hired, might as well put them to work. Once upon a time Phokas' father Sergios had been King of Aragon. Since Phokas had been a fourth son he had only inherited a weak claim. Phokas' uncle uncle Orestes (If your memory is good: The younger brother old Sergios replaced as heir by taking Aragon and abandoning his vows), however, had inherited a strong one although he himself had taken a holy vow. And Orestes' only offspring, a son, was celibate in the service of the Knights of Cavaltra. And the only brother he ever had was the former Despot. All of Sergios' other sons were either dead or bishops... In other words, Basileus Phokas would be the most direct heir to his uncle!
You know where this is going.
The war got even more exciting when in 1238 when the Shia tried for a Jihad. To give the Aragonese and the Shia a fighting chance, Phokas tried to level the playing field by turning down his awe-striking awesomeness.
Woo, two positive traits lost on the same day. Oh and you can see the Latins also supporting the Croatians kicking around the Venetians.
But it was not enough to save Aragon.
If this is what the Shia's consider a success, I'd like to see a failure.
All hail uncle Orestes, king of the Catalans (for good, this time, hopefully)!
He did actually successfully fight down a rebellion and his vassals are more or less OK with him.
Hitting Venice every tenth year or so for a paycheck had been working well until now, but Phokas had grown bored of entertaining the notion that there should be any republics in the Mediterranean that wasn't under the supervision of the Spartenos dynasty:
They still have one county. Hopefully Croatia will take care of it.
To celebrate, the kingdom of Serbia was handed out in an effort to fix some of the de-jure border mess the unruly vassals of the Latin Empire had made with their inheritance plays.
Once they've enough time to fornicate for a generation or two, it's like trying to fix a shattered egg!
Speaking of lawful borders: The King of Africa was still not in control of his´own.
These wars are becoming disturbingly easy and quick. The "Latins" simply just need to mass a ball of death and blitz the coastal provinces.
During the war, a second spare to the throne, prince Sergios was born and Crown Prince Isaakios came of age. A couple of years later, a suitable bride was found. Alliances mattered little, so Phokas chose a nice and talented daughter of a baron.
Not as jack-of-all-trades as his father, but talented enough where it mattered to quell concerns. The little role player in me didn't want to just pick a random genius courtier, she had to have a little noble blood!
But Africa still wasn't entirely complete! While it may be more optimal to go beyond Alexandria and start chipping away at Egypt, Phokas gave in to the incessant demands of his cartographers: That he fix the maddening green gap in the African borders first.
The war went easily as it should, but in the middle of it, the Seljuks sensed weakness and declared a war of their own for Anatolia.
They sensed wrong. First the Fatimids were crushed.
Map fanatics everywhere, rejoice!
Then the Latin forces paid a visit to the Levanthine coast to discuss their disagreements on the Seljuk assessment.
Now, it's not that the Seljuks were so completely shattered that they could offer no resistance. They simply had other things on their mind as someone else had decided that they were the easy target.
Finally they got their act together. They've been sitting up there for almost 50 years
End of Chapter
Guys, to be honest, I'm growing a little bored by the power of the Latin Empire now. The Seljuks declaring war hardly even fazed me. I'm thinking 3-4 more chapters unless the Ilkhanate starts really plowing westwards.
The Latin Empire, reaching immense power! Well, the Seljuks do have a logistical nightmare to overcome. And they don't share the money bags of the Spartenosi...
If you're bored, it's fine if you let it rest. Switching religions and releasing stuff wouldn't make much sense after all. Still- long live the Empire!
If you're bored, it's fine if you let it rest. Switching religions and releasing stuff wouldn't make much sense after all. Still- long live the Empire!
You rose from one county to become the mightiest power in the known world, which is one helluva good job ! Getting bored with this one is understandable, unless indeed the Golden Horde should make up its mind and invade. Or unless disease begins to wipe out your dynasty, threatening a "Game Over" scenario for want of an heir hmy:
hmy: