Dubliners: an Irish AAR

[Chester Nimitz]

The siege is long, but the victory is sweet.

The Duke unfurls a parchment map of his Realm. "Five Counties," he says with satisfaction to his Heir. "Someday, all of this will be yours."

The Heir coughs almost inaudibly. "Not quite all of it, father. Some of it will belong to dear little Ryan."

The Duke nods. "My intention is to transfer my Counties to you before I pass on."

"But what if you pass on suddenly?"

The Duke glares at him silently.

The Heir takes a sudden interest in his own feet. "Excuse my insolence, my Liege."

 

[Chester Nimitz]

As if to punish the Heir's selfishness, smallpox spreads across the Realm. The Heir and his wife are spared, as is the Duke. The Duke's wife does contract the illness, but she miraculously survives. Unfortunately, some courtiers succumb to the disease, thinning the ranks of an already-aging Court. It is God's will.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

The smallpox sweeps away a particularly high proportion of people of Norwegian stock -- descendants of the original Viking settlers of Dublin. The Norwegian-Irish division in the County was part of the reason for the peasant uprising. On the origins of Dublin, see Early History of Dublin.

The Irish Duke has been trying to spread Irish culture for three long decades of rule. Those efforts, coupled with the smallpox scourge, have finally tilted to the balance in favor of the Irish.

 

[Scorpi]

great AAR, subscribed !

 

[loki100]

your chancellor is indeed incredibly busy down the forge ... and some interesting family dynamics along the way

 

[Waldanen]

I am really enjoying reading your AAR. Thanks for taking the time. I had to go out and buy this game last night after reading this and a couple of other AARs.

 

[morningSIDEr]

For some reason, the peasants in Dublin believe the new Duke is "ruthless." The peasants are revolting!

Pah, where do they get such a stupid noton from?

The Duke ruthlessly crushes the rebellion.

Oh.

Nicely done, you are expanding quickly, perhaps the Duke may just gain the throne of Ireland for himself after all.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Glad to have you all following along. And I'm happy to hear you've bought the game, Waldanen. It's tremendous.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Duke Domnall falls ill.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

The Duke is approaching age 70. His Chancellor approaches him nervously, bearing parchment.

"Perhaps it's time," says the Chancellor, "to transfer some lands to your Heir. If you fail to do so, your Counties will be split among all your sons after you pass away."

The Duke nods weakly and signs the documents without reading them. By so doing, the Duke bestows two Counties on the Heir, who also retains his post as Court Chaplain.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

This will cut the Duke's income in half. But the Marshall, indeed the entire Court, do not expect the Duke to survive for another week.

They are wrong.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

The Duke is not happy that two of his prized Counties are now in the hands of his Heir. But it would cost him too much Prestige to revoke the titles now.

Domnall is positively enraged at what happens next.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

From his cell, the son pleads his case. "Father," he laments. "I didn't expect a sort of Irish Inquisition."

"Nobody expects the Irish Inquisition," the Duke shoots back.

"Besides," the Heir continues slyly, "do you really want my sickly younger brother as heir?"

The Duke sits silently.

"How likely is it," the Heir adds, "that he will produce an heir of his own?"

 

[Chester Nimitz]

A few days later, the Duke reluctantly orders the Heir to be released from prison. The Duke has learned a lesson: do not make your Heir the Court Chaplain, as he may read too much exotic theology, and thereby fall into heresy. In this case, the Cathar heresy. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

But the Heir's alarming behavior continues, despite his Liege's mercy. He forces all his vassals to convert to Catharism.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

He hires a mysterious Ethiopian to serve as his Steward. The man dies under suspicious circumstances shortly thereafter.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Then the Heir plots to murder his own wife! The Duke's wife is Spymaster, and she is a kinswoman of the targeted woman, as they are both Princesses of Croatia. But the plot succeeds, right under the Spymaster's nose. Or at least, so it appears. The Heir explains to the Court that it was a "riding accident."

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Plus, the Heir is now dressing and comporting himself like some sort of deranged Balkan cleric.

To top it all off, the Heir immediately turns around and marries someone else -- without consulting the Duke! No arranged marriage!

His father, the Duke, rarely raises his voice. This time is an exception.

"What about tradition?!" The Duke's voice shakes with fury. "Tradition! Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as ... as a fiddler on the roof!"

 

[Chester Nimitz]

And just what was the Spymaster doing during all this turmoil? Was she tracking the increasingly erratic Heir? Was she foiling his Plots?

No. She was busy, it seems, informing on herself.

At least her target -- the Heir -- is a good choice. The Duke discusses her Plot with her. It might be good to have this unstable Heir disappear. But the second son would not be a reliable heir, either; and, again, there is the Prestige cost of revoking the Heir's holdings. After lengthy consideration, father and mother agree not to murder their first-born son.

 

[Axe27]

Reminds me of a bug in CK1 where if your spymaster was your wife, you could get an event where your spymaster would offer to off your wife for some money - despite the fact that those two were the same person.

 

[loki100]

good to see a decent outbreak of heresy in Ireland

but yes you do sometimes get those wierd self-referential events