There Will Be War - In The Balance

[hyme]

As the second session ended and the third session began:

Player Realms:

		      1066    1077    1088
Kiev		KIEV	36	91     115
Brittany	BRIT	18	29	90
Abghazia	IMER	22	38	81
Bohemia		DBOH	30	43	63
Carinthia	KARN	31	34	55
Apulia		APUL	28	43	48
Flanders	FLAN	38	38	39
Toulouse	TOUL	30	32	32
Saxony		SAXO	28	27	30
Ostlandet	AKER	22	21	28
Bavaria		BAVA	26	24	25
Slavonia	SLAV	11	17	17
Northumberland	CUMB	12	12	12
Östergötland	OSTR	 6	 6	 9

Generally:

GERM 420
SELJ 293
FRAN 246
BYZA 128
PERE 120
KIEV 115*
ENGL 115
BENI 103
BRIT 90*
IMER 81*
HUNG 69
SCOT 66
BOHE 63*
BORD 57
KARN 55*
POLA 53
LOLO 51
SWED 50
APUL 48*
FATI 44
SEVI 43
MMOS 40
FLAN 39*
CAST 37
DENM 35
CROA 33
TOUL 32
SAXO 30*
BOUG 28
AKER 28*

*Player Realms

add bohe to player realms

 

[ulmont]

[These fractured notes were found scattered. They were obviously originally made by a historian for his own personal reference, and never intended to be released in anything approaching this form. I have updated the language.]

In the Year of Our Lord 1077, Duke Hoël de Cournaille began to realize his destiny. Up until this point, Duke Hoël the Good had been aiding the Spanish Christian Kings out of both a (well-publicized) desire to see the Iberian Peninsula returned to Christian hands, it having been conquered by the North African Moors these many hundreds of years ago, and a (well-rumored) desire to outdo his friend, William the Conqueror (or Bastard) of England, in prestige and land gained.

However, in 1077, Duke Hoël had a vision. One night, an angel came to the Duke, carrying a whip in his left hand, and a stone tablet in his right. The angel was tall and terrible of feature, and his voice rang like a hammer upon an anvil, as the thongs of his whip thrashed and sparked. In tones of command, the angel revealed himself as Jegudiel and announced that Duke Hoël’s mighty deeds in Reconquering the Iberian Peninsula were pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. However, the angel then commanded Duke Hoël to redouble his efforts, and never to lose sight of the goal, which was of course (and is) to glorify our One True Lord and Savior. Having said his words, the angel rose up into the sky and vanished. Duke Hoël was sore afraid, and he knelt and prayed awake in his palace for many hours thereafter pondering the meaning of Jegudiel’s words and Our Lord’s command for the Duke. When he arose, Duke Hoël had the answer.

Then the Duke called for all of his retainers to gather around him, and he made this oath: “I pledge not to turn from the fight against the heathen so-called ‘Kings’ in this land, until the last false ruler has sworn allegiance to a Christian or been driven from their land, unless my Lord should call me to Him before my task is complete. Let you all here bear witness. I, Hoël de Cournaille, Duke of Brittany, Valencia, and Aragon, so swear.”

After the Duke had sworn this oath, he raised the troops far and wide from the lands under his control. And when the levies had been raised and assembled, the armies marched under the cross and blood ran red across Iberia. One by one, the false rulers were brought to their knees and swore allegiance to Duke Hoël. The Emirate of Toledo, and the Sheiks of Denia, Murcia, and Mallorca all fell before our Good Duke’s Righteous Wrath.

And the Duke’s wrath was not limited to Iberia. No, the foul alliances of the false rulers forced our Duke to campaign into North Africa itself, driving the remnants of the once-proud Vandal kingdoms, now decayed into little more than squabbling Berber tribes, before his armies and subjugating their lands. In this way fell the Kingdom of Zenata, with the Kingdom of the al-Muratabids almost in its wake.

However, while Duke Hoël’s Crusade (as it was beginning to be known in Spain, to the perpetual annoyance of the Jimenez family, Kings of Castile, Aragon and Navarra (King Alfonso Jimenez of Leon, Duke Hoël’s ally, himself merely grit his teeth slightly whenever the term was uttered in his presence)) was successful, the Duke’s policy had not performed as well in the domestic arena. Duke Hoël’s wife, Havoise de Rennes, had come to hate the Duke. Some said that this hatred was the result of Hoël’s neglect of his wife in favor of his single-minded (or perhaps crazed) pursuit of Iberian conquest. Others, in a slightly different theory, put the blame on the constant moving of the court in Spain, a consequence of the perpetual war (as different Sheiks and Emirs sieged the Duke’s lands, the court of course moved in response). And there were darker rumors, both of adultery on Havoise’s part (adultery on Duke Hoël’s part could hardly be denied, considering Count Robert de Cournaille, bastard son of the Duke) and of cruelty on Duke Hoël’s. Finally, some more pragmatic observers noted that Duke Hoël, harelip, extremely large nose, and all, had never been considered the flower of Christian manhood, and that any wife of his might well be a bit resentful. Whatever the cause, Havoise de Rennes had clearly started a whisper campaign, and occasionally a bit more, against the Duke by 1088.

Duke Hoël’s sons were little better. As the Duke turned to Iberian Reconquest to the exclusion of all else, he left his sons (both the legitimate Alain and the bastard Robert), along with his daughter Marguerite, to oversee his lands in Brittany. Unfortunately, Alain and Robert were coddled by their nannies and tutors during their youth and adolescence. As a result, both boys were scared of their own shadows, and furiously resisted anything more dangerous than feasting.

As Duke Hoël’s age grew, he began to realize that the Lord might indeed call him home before his Reconquest was complete, and that neither of his sons was in any condition to continue his work. Duke Hoël resolved to change that sorry state of affairs.

1077

1088


[AAR Reward: Remove "coward" trait from the current heir - Alain, the only legitimate son of Hoël.]

 

[hyme]

The story of Bohemia Aug 1, 1077- Jan 3, 1088)
Beginning Stats
Date: Aug 1, 1077
Leader: Bratislava Premyslid the slow (1058-?)
Liege: Heinrich Von Franken
Titles: Duke of Bohemia, Silesia, and Moravia, Count of Praha and Plzen
Vassals: 9
Income: 13.28
Manpower: 8342
Martial: 7
Diplomacy: 23
Intrigue: 16
Stewardship: 19
Claims: Liberec, Valais
Laws: Salic Consanguinity, Traditional Custom, Ecclesial Balance

End Stats
Date: Jan 3 1088
Leader: Bratislava Premyslid the slow (1058-?)
Liege: Dietmar Von Franken
Titles: Duke of Bohemia, Silesia, Moravia, Franconia, and Pomeralia, Count of Praha and Plzen
Vassals: 14 (% change 1.55~)
Income: 9.99( % change .752)
Manpower: 19115(% change 2.291)
Martial: 19
Diplomacy: 25
Intrigue: 9
Stewardship: 15
Laws: Semisalic Primogeniture, Traditional Custom, Ecclesial Balance


Goals:
1. Stay in HRE (yes an no)
2. Add Pressburg into my realm (Yes)
3. add Krakowskie into my realm(no)
4. grab pagan lands in Pomeralia and Prussia(yes and no)
3. And have fun (yes)

Well a lot has happend to little Bohemia, for the most part it has been all war pretty much all of last 11 years and little to show for it. My first war was with the pagans of Pomeralia i crush them for the most part. My next war i took to the excommuicated duke of Meissen. I siege and controlled all their lands to, but liege end up making peace with them before i could and took all the land for himself. My next target was Prussia, but my liege desided that he wanted all the prussia land so i gave up on that war. At this time Hungary to my south of me was having lots of trouble with the pagans of Pechenegs. So i took this time to add Pressburg to my realm. Because of my action i believe that hungary is going to fall into the hands of the pechenegs, but that is ok it makes it easier for me to take it. The last war i fought was against the excommucated Archbishopic of Franconia which i got without Germany taking it away from me. Then i had to leave the game to the ai which made me a king, but that will be fix, but because of this i don't have a end session map yet.

session start


session end

 

[Sid Meier]

A Tale of Two Byzantines

With the realms of Kyiv and Chernigov-Ryzaran fully dominated by not just the Rurikovich family but now firmly in the grasp of Svyatoslav Rurikovich, Kyiv-Ryzaran was now almost a match for the Pereslavyl and its enclaves in Muscovy and Tver. Much effort Aleksandr Rurikovich went through to prepare for the comming war, dividing Vsevolod Rurikovich from his vassals, poisening his relations from his family but as Sun Tzu once said,

"Now the general who wins a battle makes many
calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.
The general who loses a battle makes but few
calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations
lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat:
how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention
to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose."

The point here is "likely" as no matter how well one plans there is always a chance that the unexpected could ruin a good plan, the point being one who is able to take advantage of surprises seeing them not as setbacks but as oppurtunities is whom will become triumphant. When Pereslavyl attacked the Tribe of Cumans to the south rather then stop them at the gates Svyatoslav on Aleksandr's suggestion alllowed them safe passage and provided food and shelter (for a price) during the winter months taking the advantage of the weakened Cumans to divide them easily with the aid of the Abghazians to the south.

However, the Byzantine Empire suffering setback after setback in their war of attrition against the Turks concieved of a few last ditched efforts to turn the tide, quickly losing manpower and horses and which to fight with they turned to pacifying the hinterland in the Balkans and the Caucausus to find additional manpower. Romanos Diogenes as such sent an expiditionary force to Abghazia to force their compliance. Svyatoslav as such acted swiftly and sent many a strong company of men to their aid, driving the enemy warriors from the siege of Tbilisi and had begun to drive into Alania.

Aleksandr dining with many leading noblemen toasted that the war would last merely a fortnight.

prestige please and lots of it. aar/ontime.

 

[King of Men]

Time for a gameplay report. As you may have inferred from the doings of Geir, Norway has been through a rather grim little civil war due to that Kinslayer trait. At the worst I could muster roughly 700 men from the whole of southern Norway; between the revolts and an efficiency of 35%, there wasn't a fighting man on my side to be found. As a result Bergen and Trøndelag managed to make their revolts stick, and have since found shelter with the King of Sweden. However, brother Magnus died without issue, thus bringing northern Norway and parts of modern Sweden into my hands. I solved the efficiency problem by parcelling out seven provinces between my various daughters, who could be relied upon to remain loyal; thus Norway is now largely ruled by Ynglings, in accordance with Geir's instructions, although most of them are female. The few remaining non-Yngling vassals all have traits that keep them, just barely, on the loyal side. Any acquisition of badboy, however, would bring it all crashing down again; and besides my income is 6 ducats a month at the moment, which won't be supporting any aggressive ventures.

The civil war and the revolts have completely shattered my economy; Viken has managed to lose all its buildings including the fortress (!), and my other provinces are not far off. At the beginning of this session, Akershus had three buildings: A fortress, a smuggler's ring, and a thieves' guild. Population loyalties range from 20% up to 50%, with gains of 0.1% monthly; revolts are only to be expected. Also, apart from family I am unable to keep any courtiers. Just this session I lost a marshal, a steward, a spymaster, and sundry untitled hangers-on; it is fortunate that my elder son came of age and was able to take over as marshal, and I installed his wife as spymaster. You will appreciate that renewed wars were not my first priority, nor are they now; Olaf will plainly not be indulging in anything aggressive for the rest of his life. Rebuilding time!

Here's Europe after various weirdzo vassals have been removed:

Apologies for the Flandern Duke obscuring various things, it's a side effect of Pdox moving the character picture, which I haven't yet figured out how to avoid. Anyway, Iceland is hardly the most important part of the map. Note all that white in Spain; that's the Duchy of Brittany. Also note all the yellow in Russia; that's Kiev. I fear my own time-traveller's efforts are looking rather modest by comparison.

 

[ulmont]

Here's Europe after various weirdzo vassals have been removed:

What did you use to put that map together?

 

[King of Men]

April, 1076
Gulating plain, north of Bergen

After winter, spring. After civil war, rebuilding. There were thin faces and haunted eyes among the west-men who had come to hold Ting with Olaf; but they did their business briskly enough, without the hints of threat and ostentatious wearing of weapons that had been commonplace in previous years. The civil war had killed hundreds - Geir was briefly amused at how his thinking had rescaled; uptime, that would have been considered a particularly low death rate just from duels, never mind border skirmishes and factory risings - and left farms and fisheries untended. There was hardly a family in the west that didn't have someone to mourn. But it had also settled matters, and the Norse were nothing if not pragmatic about such things. They had given rebellion their best shot and failed, and now Olaf was undoubted King in Norway, bad temper and insulting ways or none.

Still, there were kings and Kings. Olaf's writ ran during spring because he was present in person, and had taken his hirdsmenn along; who knew what might happen in summer and autumn? It was one thing to hammer peace and submission out of an exhausted province, another to build a consensus that would serve as a fundament for an empire of a thousand years. Even Ynglings ruled, ultimately, by consent - largely the consent of their own children to be used as elite soldiers and secret police in the never-ending struggle against rebellion, but consent nonetheless. That was why Geir was meeting these farmers - you couldn't call them rich, not anymore, but they were what was left of the elite of the area. Their word would carry weight.

Gulating plain didn't actually have any back rooms, and there wouldn't be tobacco here for another four hundred years (or ever, if the uptime Ynglings had anything to say about it). But the sense of it was the same; decisions affecting all the land would be made here, in secret, not in the open channels available to anyone. Geir was a little saddened by that; the fledgling democracy here had its good points. Making the right decisions for a thousand-year realm wasn't among them, though; and needs must when the devil drives. The small folk would be ground into the stril class anyway over the next few hundred years, and the elite absorbed by marriage; he was only anticipating the eventual form of government.

He nodded briefly to the men he'd sounded out in the previous days; these Norse appreciated brevity, so there was no use starting gently. "We are all here. How shall we avoid another rising?"

The farmers stood silently, some leaning on the axes that were weapons and all-purpose tools here, some with arms crossed and hostile stares. Geir had to restrain his instinct to meet such a challenge with a shout and a killing leap, reminding himself firmly that these were not strils and had the right to look him in the eye if they wanted to. Some of his reaction must have made it through anyway, for two of the hostile ones looked away, flustered. Fortunately the moment didn't stretch; the farmers had elected a spokesman.

"First, why does the King not speak for himself, in open Ting?"

The real answer was the Olaf would get into a temper over any resistance, and leave these men plotting rebellion, assassination, or emigration; clearly honesty was not the way to build consensus here. Fortunately he had a good half-truth prepared. "The King prefers not to have to shout over every half-bright crofter in the land. He'd rather deal with a few men of breeding and good sense." Flattering them, and skirting the issue of why Geir and not Olaf was doing the talking; but it seemed to work. The spokesman nodded brusquely.

"Fine. What does Olaf want?"

"Peace in the land, so he can turn east and south."

"And if we give it to him, and he takes land-tax of the Swedes, what's to prevent him from repudiating his word with new wealth?"

That was the trouble, right enough. The Norse weren't what you would call sophisticated politicians, but they understood checks and balances. And grudges. And they took thought for their heirs; peace in Olaf's time was one thing, but what of his sons?

"In time, the West-land will recover its strength. The Father of Battle gives no man victory forever." Which was true, and a real problem; but also misleading. The hardscrabble west of Norway just couldn't support a population large enough to hold its own against the agricultural east, not in the long run. But downtimers didn't think like that; most of them really believed Odin gave victory to the side with the bravest men. The spokesman grunted, half-doubtful.

"Mmm. Maybe. Still, it's better to have peace within the land. If there are strong grievances in the west, then the King will have to turn his ships here, and who knows what might happen? The Swedes don't enjoy paying land-tax any more than we do. Better if the west is content."

A very cogent point, that. And even in uptime, the regions of Norway had retained some of their ancient privileges and separate laws. Centralising had to be done slowly. But Geir wasn't negotiating for himself, either; Olaf wouldn't take kindly to giving away too much of what he'd won at such cost.

"That's true. What are your grievances?"

"Olaf has taken the best farms for himself, and not given them out. How can we follow a man who is not generous even with his own?"

Geir's first impulse was to shrug; vae victis. Nobody had forced them to rebel. But fair was fair. Olaf ought to be handing out those farms to men of his, who would eventually develop local ties and become west-men themselves; that was the way of things here. Instead he had announced that he would run the farms with stewards, who would not own the land and whose incomes would therefore be in Olaf's gift. That would give him reliable support in the west, as well as extra income, while reducing the number of warriors the west could support, since those farms would send their profit east. It was a slow, subtle way to centralise things. Or so Geir had thought. Perhaps his idea hadn't been so brilliant after all; but he'd convinced Olaf, and trying to unconvince him once he had the bit between his teeth was a fine way to be presented with a small farm in the uplands and a strong hint about plowing needing supervision.

"The King does not, I fear, take kindly to advice on how to run his own affairs."

The spokesman - Bjarne, his name was - shrugged. "Well then, what's to speak of? There will be war, that's all. Not for ten years, perhaps, but some time. Such is fate; no man can evade his weird."

As a veteran bluffer and bullshitter himself, Geir would have liked to applaud, except that it was clear Bjarne was not bluffing. He was right, too. Geir had been moving too fast even while he tried to be subtle, and had underestimated the downtimers. The problem was, this was a point he really couldn't concede on; it wasn't in his power to convince Olaf to give out lands here. Except, perhaps...

"That is true; but perhaps there is another way. Suppose the King were to give lands here to his daughter Ragnhild, to hold for the Yngling family by udal (1) right?"

There was a long pause while the farmers thought it over. He was giving them what they wanted, sort of, but they had expected a man of the warrior class, one of their own, whom they could co-opt by marriage, by the mutual aid that was necessary for survival, and by simply being social and friendly. On the other hand, a daughter of the King made a splendid hostage, though that was a weapon to be used only in the most desperate of circumstances. For his part, Geir was conceding the maximum he could convince the king of, and advancing his agenda at the same time: Establishing that the Ynglings had special rights, including udal right to the estates of defeated rebels, but giving the local magnates some say in matters. Especially since the daughter would marry eventually, and the land would then pass to her husband, who would be co-opted into the Yngling power-structure. Slow nods went around the circle.

"Very well, that is enough. Let the King proclaim it tomorrow, and we will be satisfied."

The meeting broke up as quickly as it had formed, each going to his own. Spring was in the air, and there was much to be done.








[1] Don't blame me, this is apparently the correct English spelling of 'odel'. It's presumably cognate with 'feudal', its opposite.

 

[Lordling]

I just want to say, King of Men, I read the original, and it was simply brilliant. I re-read it today, and then, looking for multiplayer games to join, saw the MP thread. Considering the sheer scale of the original struggle between you and Sid (and you and Poland, and you and Burgundy, and you and England, and... well, the Ynglings fought a lot of people under your watch), I'm going to be more than interested to see who's going to win out this game.

The original saga was great (especially the original saga-style, although my Norse mythology is rather scant), and the storyline here is done equally well. I'm looking forward to the next thousand years of war! (With Ynglings in the world, what else could it be?)

 

[King of Men]

What else, indeed? Thanks for the kind words.

 

[ulmont]

January, 1094.

[Continued scattered notes. Language updated.]

As the Year of Our Lord, 1094, began, Duke Alain de Cournaille looked over his lands, and he was well pleased. His father’s dream, to claim Pays-Reconquis for Brittany (and not coincidentally to outconquer his friend William), had been completed. Unfortunately, the late Duke Hoël had died before Reconquising the last Pays. And so, perhaps, Duke Hoël had lost in the end. On the other hand, however, Duke Hoël was, at that same end, considered both a more prestigious Christian ruler than King William. In addition, while the Church (in England and in Rome) looked very much askance at the impious King William, Duke Hoël was very well regarded, having lost the use of his leg while leading a charge against the heathens in Iberia.

It was admittedly true that Brittany was still at war with quite a lot of countries.

First, there was the grotesquely swollen County of Almeria. Led by Balraddin al-Amiri, this realm had once been part of Brittany during the early part of the Reconquis. After “converting” to Catholicism and accepting Duke Hoël’s rule, Balraddin’s father, Abu Bakr al-Amiri, had treacherously stolen a siege from Duke Hoël and proclaimed himself to be the new Duke of Mallorca. Duke Hoël had never forgiven Abu Bakr, and had passed the memory of betrayal down to his son Alain. While Duke Alain had been able to reclaim the title of Mallorca, he had not yet been able to force Count Balraddin to acknowledge his rule. With two provinces conquered and a third siege in process, however, the moment was close at hand.

Second, there was the Sheikdom of Lemdiyya and its overlord the Kingdom of Egypt. The Sheik of Lemdiyya had broken away from the Kingdom of Hammadid shortly before that Kingdom fell to the Zirids. After Duke Hoël had subdued it, the Sheik of Lemdiyya had become a perpetual running sore in the domain of Brittany. During its latest escape attempt, Ayyub Hana had pledged allegiance to Egypt. With Egypt in a war with the Byzantine Empire, however, Egypt was not an immediate threat.

Finally, there was the Kingdom of Beni Helal and its vassal the Emirate of Cyrenica. After a long war, aided by the Kingdoms of Léon and Castille (and most recently by the Duke of Apulia), the Kingdom’s single province had been conquered and the Emirate’s final province was soon to be taken.

Nevertheless, although obvious cleanup remained to be done, Iberia had become the Pays-Reconquis and Brittany had become a powerful Christian Duchy. And so, Duke Alain de Cournaille found his thoughts turning to the future.

First, Duke Alain vowed to perfect his control over the Kingdom of Mauretania. While Brittany’s writ ran to over half of the Kingdom, half remained in other hands. The Sheikdom of Lemdiyya was a part of the Kingdom of Egypt; The Canary Islands were inexplicably part of the Kingdom of Scotland (held by the Count of Tuadmumu); and the Kingdom of the Zirids, having conquered the Kingdom of the Hammadids, held the balance of the Kingdom of Mauretania. Brittany was already at war with Egypt to recover Lemdiyya. Tuadmumu could not hold the Canary Islands, so far away from Ireland and non-Christian, so that county could be ignored. That left the Zirids. As the Zirids’ control included part of the Kingdom of Africa, bordering the Duchy of Apulia’s newly acquired territory, Duke Alain decided to offer a proposition to Duke Bohemond. Considering that Duke Alain had acquired African Sheikdoms he could only slightly better hold than Tuadmumu could hold the Canaries, Duke Alain decided to offer them up, and then to ask for Duke Bohemond’s aid in partitioning the Zirids. Such a partition would leave Duke Bohemond in undisputed control of Sicily and Africa, and Duke Alain in undisputed control of Mauretania (and in extremely disputed control of the Iberian kingdoms).


[A Missive from the Duke of Brittany to the Duke of Apulia]


To his Gracious Christian Majesty, Bohemond de Hauteville, Duke and Count of Apulia. My liege, the Duke of Brittany and Count of Valencia, writes to express his thanks for your aid in the recent Crusade against the foul "Kingdom" of Beni Helal. It now appears that that Crusade will be coming to a successful close soon. As a result, my liege finds himself with a number of heathen vassals near Egypt, who need to be brought into the bosom of Our Holy Mother Church. Unfortunately, my liege has heavy commitments in Iberia, which when combined with the foul presence of the Zirids will preclude giving the matter the attention it deserves. My liege has also noted that these vassals border your own newly liberated lands.

Accordingly, my liege has a proposal. If you will undertake to instruct those sheiks (and perhaps an odd count) in the Kingdom of Africa and the neighboring Duchy of Alexandria in our proper Catholic ways, my liege will transfer those vassals to your Kind and Christian rule. The Duke of Brittany asks nothing more of you in this matter.

On a related note, however, my liege would like to point out that the equally foul "Kingdom" of the Zirids lies between our lands, and straddles the border of the Kingdoms of Mauretania and Africa. That is, there might soon be an occasion for our two realms to partition the "Kingdom" of the Zirids between ourselves on the Mauretania-Africa border.

I sign off in my liege's service, to your service, and await your reply.


[And the Reply from the Duke of Apulia]


A short reply to our Brother, Duke of Brittany and Count of Valencia, glorious Liberator of Iberia and Mauritania:

We are flattered by Your offer and We would be happy to bring salvation to those troublesome African heathens you mentioned.
As for heathen Kingdom of Zirids, it is but a solemn duty of every true Christian to assist in such noble effort, in order to recapture mare nostrum. Therefore, assistance will be provided in every possible way in order to help You to achieve these noble goals – land of those heathens will be partitioned as Your Highness proposed.

Lord de Hauteville


Second, it was clear that Iberia should be fully Breton. The Jimenez rulers of the small Christian portions of Iberia had lost the support of God through not prosecuting their Reconquista (In fact, the Jimenez family had lost even the crown of Léon in favor of the Dutch Wassenbergs). Instead, it had been left to Brittany to proclaim the Pays-Reconquis, and so Iberia should be left to the Bretons. Duke Alain had a legitimate claim on the County of Zaragosa, one of the two remaining counties under Aragonian rule. That would be a sufficient start for now, but ultimately all of Iberia would be Breton.

Finally, Duke Alain realized that Brittany had come far from the days when Duke Hoël ruled from Nantes and Brittany an outcropping of France. The de Cournailles had moved from their ancestral Breton lands into the heart of Iberia, and were perhaps in danger of becoming de Cornubias. Duke Alain could see this more easily than most, perhaps, having until recently been the Count of Rennes. Accordingly, Duke Alain vowed that, when the time was right, he would endeavour to add the holdings of the Duchy of Aquitaine to his own, and so to connect the Breton lands once more.


[AAR reward: Transfer the Sheikdoms of Quattara (C803), Cyrenaica (C806), Senoussi (C807), Syrte (C809), and Leptis Magna (C810) from Brittany to Apulia. Benghazi (C808) and Al Alamayn (C804) are expected to be transferred next session.]

 

[hyme]

The story of Bohemia (Jan 3, 1088- Jan 1, 1094)
Beginning Stats
Date: Jan 3, 1088
Leader: Bratislava Premyslid the slow (1058-?)
Liege: Dietmar Von Franken
Titles: Duke of Bohemia, Silesia, Moravia, Franconia, and Pomeralia, Count of Praha and Plzen
Vassals: 14
Income: 9.99
Manpower: 19115
Martial: 19
Diplomacy: 25
Intrigue: 9
Stewardship: 15
Laws: Semisalic Primogeniture, Traditional Custom, Ecclesial Balance

End Stats
Date: Jan 1, 1094
Leader: Bratislava Premyslid the slow (1058-?)
Liege: Dietmar Von Franken
Titles: Duke of Bohemia, Silesia, Moravia, Franconia, Pomeralia, and Holstein, Count of Praha
Vassals: 16
Income: -2.59(-25.92% growth)
Manpower: 22650(118.49% growth)
Martial: 19
Diplomacy: 24
Intrigue: 10
Stewardship: 12
Laws: Semisalic Primogeniture, Traditional Custom, Ecclesial Balance
Goals:
1. Stay in HRE (yes)
2. Add Holstein into my realm (Yes)
3. Add Krakowskie into my realm (no)
4. And have fun (yes)
Well this weekend I didn’t have much time to play. I had x-max family things to do. All I really got to do was invaded the excommucated Duke of Holstein, which also put me at war the kingdom of Denmark. I grab my troops at Praha and Plzen began the move up north. Well at first I was doing well my troops won the first battle, but were turned back by Danish arms. With Germany help I was able to incorporate Holstein into my realm and gain the duke title of Holstein. I was able to white peace the Kingdom of Denmark after that.
Start map


End map

Aar reward prestige pls

 

[fasquardon]

The Bagratuniad:

Enter Kvirike: ​

When Bagrat IV's nephew, Agsartan, died mysteriously in the opening moves of the Bagratid Crusades, he was succeeded as King of Kakheti by his baby son, Kvirike. From contemporary accounts, the child-king Kvirike was an unusually able ruler for someone still in shortpants, though it is more likely that Kakheti's prosperity was more due to the friendship of the powerful Gabriel Sefareli, chief courtier of the over-king Bagrat. Nonetheless, by the end of the Crusade against Derbent, Kakheti was among the most powerful of the under-kings of Georgia.

Now this was no good thing for Bagrat IV, as Kvirike, blaming his grand-uncle for his father's death, held himself the sworn enemy of the over-king, and as he got older, and wielded more power in his own court, he made more and more trouble for the over-king. At first it was simply a matter of coddling a child's tantrums, but as Georgia entered the life-or-death struggle with Derbent, the increasingly devious Kvirike was able to extract more and more independence for Kakheti from his distracted liege.

Nor did this stop when the war was over, rather the pace of Kvirike's schemes increased, as he gathered together together the under-kings of Georgia, and with them forced Bagrat to sign the Tbilisi Constitution. In truth, the Tbilisi Constitution merely codified the legal reforms that Bagrat had already introduced in his earlier Bull of Seti, in particular confirming the power (and consequent responsibility) of the nobles and the monasteries, but it did greatly change the laws of succession, for no longer did blood count for ought, rather the crown of United Georgia would pass to the most powerful man in all of Georgia. Now at that time, that made Srahang of Tiflis next in line to the throne, and as host to the treaty signing, this made Srahang well pleased. But Kvirike was not done, for he petitioned the over-king to recognise his claims to the valuable port city of Kajtatsikhe and it's surrounding domains (which in those days were known as Guria), and, as weak as his kingdom was, Bagrat chose to recognise this claim. Now Kvirike, still only a boy of 12, was nonetheless the mightiest man in all Georgia, and now heir to Bagrat IV, king of United Georgia.

Conveniently, Bagrat IV would die within a few months and Kvirike was an under-king no longer. While it is doubtful that foul play was involved, that did not stop the rumour circulating among jelous former peers, and, more damagingly, in the court of the Emperors of Rome.

Bagrat IV 1027-1077: ​

Most of Bagrat's 50-year reign was spent fighting Byzantium over the legacy of David of Tao, or fighting his own restive nobility. The arrival of the Seljuks late in his reign would force both Georgia and Byzantium to make a peace that would last a generation. Thanks to the skillful diplomacy of his daughter Miriam, Bagrat would never have to fight the Seljuks directly, however, their diplomacy among the various heathen kings of the Caucasus would force Georgia into the decade long Bagratid Crusades.

While these wars would greatly expand the wealth and power of Georgia, they directly resulted in the end of the male line of the Kartli Bagratids in Georgia, the rise of the Kakheti branch, and nearly resulted in the destruction of the Kingdom when Bagrat fell afoul of the secret alliance between Albania and Derbent (NB: this was actually a graphics glitch that meant Albania wasn't the colour of its liege, Derbent). However, it was Bagrat's personal leadership in the war that brought about a narrow victory, made crushing at the peace-table. Derbent would lose a third of its land directly to Georgia, including the strategic city of Derbent itself, and another sixth to Armenian partisans operating from the city of Dwin. This crushing defeat would force the Emirs of Derbent to seek the protection of the Seljuk empire - actually the opposite result that Georgia needed.

Domestically Bagrat would begin building the network of roads the country would later become famous for, founded the library of Kutatisi, and would encourage the development of Georgian siege engineers to the point that on the day of his death, Georgian siege engineers were among the finest in the world.

Bagrat's legal reforms, enshrined in the Bull of Seti (NB: a city in Northern Svaneti) and the Tbilisi Constitution, was relatively unenlightened, favouring the nobility strongly, to the point where it caused several revolts among the mercantile classes. However, Bagrat's laws would lay the foundations for the famous Georgian democracy of later generations, and his strong defence of the monasteries, particularly against impositions from Byzantium, would be an important foundation for the later Propheteocracy.

The enmity of Bagrat's successor strongly impacted how history has remembered him, and it was only with the rise of secular history in the 19th Century that Bagrat's position would be re-appraised. The medieval Propheteocracy regarded Bagrat as the last of Georgia's "mere" kings, barely any better than the heathens he fought, and thus tended to underplay his contributions to later generations. Less biased eyes would however recognise Bagrat IV as the first of Georgia's "conquest kings", and the "Bagratid Crusades" as merely the first part of a larger "Consolidation War", which due to the superior energy of the Georgian people, would have happened whether or not its leaders were Propheteocrats or mere Kings.

fasquardon

 

[King of Men]

Just to make sure I understood your domestic politics, you've instituted elective law and made a rival grand-nephew your heir by handing out a Count title? And then you beat Derbent like a drum.

 

[fasquardon]

Just to make sure I understood your domestic politics, you've instituted elective law and made a rival grand-nephew your heir by handing out a Count title? And then you beat Derbent like a drum.

Mmm hmm, I misunderstood an event, and realised that I was stuck with elective law, and my king was unlikely to live the 20 years it would take to change laws, so I had to make this rival my hier.

And Derbent got beat good, but they beat back pretty hard as well, as mentioned in the first session's AAR. While it wasn't perminant, the counter-beating did have alot of knock on effects.

EDIT: to clarify, Derbent got beat before I went elective.

fasquardon

 

[fasquardon]

Author's Note: While this piece is based on and provides a similar function to "The Long Death of Bagrat Bagratuni", it is significantly rewritten to reflect the different events in this time line.​

The Bagratuniad:

The Long Death of Agsartan Bagratuni:
​

Agsartan I, King of Kakhet-Heretia, was one of Bagrat IV's vassal under-kings. When Agsartan received Bull of Seti he was among the first, and most enthusiastic of its supporters (rather understandably given his youth - he had not yet reached his 17th spring, and like many youths of his age, eager to prove his battle-prowess). Such was his dedication, that he personally rode out with his guardsmen to call up the levies of Kakheti. Which is why, on Christmas day of 1066, Agsartan and his guard found themselves caught in the teeth of a Caucasian winter blizzard that turned the land around them into nothing but white snow and grey rock. With the weather only worsening and evening drawing near, the King and his party, by this time tired, grumpy, and with no better idea of their location than it simply being somewhere "north", decided to make camp in a small valley, sheltered from the winds by a stark granite ridge. But sleep would meet with no greater success than their attempts to find direction, for:

"...half-way through the second watch of the night, there was a great flash, such that it seemed as if we were illuminated by a bright summer's sun, the clouds seemed to boil, and as they parted, my skin prickled as if sun-burned. For a moment, I could see my own bones, glowing redly within my skin. A great roar, like the trumpets of judgment day, overtook us, and in fear I prostrated myself on the ground, lest the army of God take offense at my sinful life. Then the whole Earth seemed to buck, smashing by body as hard as the kick of a horse, and like many of the men, I was insensate for a time. My next clear recollection, is the light of dawn coming at us over the mountain, for a moment, I did not realise what had happened, then I saw: like a loaf of bread met with a great mallet, the entire East flank of the mountain was stove in. By that time, the King was already long gone." -excerpt of the testament of Smbat the large-nosed, headman of the King's Guard

By the time the guardsmen found the King, many were already starting to feel somewhat ill, though the King was filled with an expansive energy, excited by what he had found in the crater, claiming that an Angelic messenger had told him that the ruined mountain was that which the Ossetians called Dzhimara, and that if they took the path down the southern valley for a thousand diameters of Agsartan's head (the first known use of the metric keph), then took the first right after the second rapid, travelled a further five thousand diameters of Agsartan's head, and scrambled over the low bluff they found there, they would find a village that Agsartan would know, whence they could continue in whatsoever direction the pleased.

All this turned out as Agsartan said it would be, and the party found the way exceedingly easy, as it seemed most of the snow had been melted away the previous night. This the guardsmen found to be something of a miracle, and many began to wonder if their King truly had met an Angelic being that night.

The King and his men would rest in that village for a day, after which he gathered his party together, informing them that he would die soon, as, in all likelihood, would those who had been in his camp that night. For they had all had a brush with the divine, and their bodies, stained in sin, were doomed thereby. But God was not unmerciful, and he had been given a mission, not only for himself, but for all of Georgia, by which heaven might be attained.

Now there were many who were dismayed, and they pressed Agsartan to return home to Telavi, where he and they could die in the company of friends and family. And to this Agsartan would say: "I will not have the High King in Kutaisi say of me 'thus died Agsartan, who let fear of death stay him from doing his part', but I will not stop any man of mine from choosing where he dies." And thus many left their King, and travelled to Telavi, and though all of them died, they did not fall before they had lain eyes on their family and friends one last time. But there were also many who stayed with their King, and to this day, no Godly man would say that any of that number feared death.

Driven by the King's feverish energy, the levy of Kakheti was raised in record time, but this seemed to take undue toll on the King, who took on a gaunt and sickly look. And some of his companions could barely stay on their horses, and many were afflicted by the same strange burn on some portion of their skin.

But regardless, Agsartan marched them to war, where the army of Kakheti joined those of Guria and Tao before the walls of Tbilisi, and it is before those walls that a legend would be forged.

Like most sieges of the age, it dragged on for weeks and months, and in that time all of the guardsmen would indeed die, carried away by the same strange malady. Agsartan himself grew gradually worse, yet somehow, despite the terrible sickness, he would write three books: "The Will and Testament", in which he gave guidance to his successors, particularly his son Kvirike; "The Conversation on Dzhimara", recording his purported conversation with an Angelic being; and "Christian Morals", a commentary on morality and the meaning of being a Christian.

During this time, Agsartan would befriend Gabriel Sefareli, steward of the High King, and commander of the army of Guria. It was Gabriel who would write the first hagiography of the young saint. His description of Agsartan was thus:

"...that one so young should speak words of such wisdom, or have such skill at writing, or have such drive and purpose, would itself be considered miraculous. Yet I had met the young King only two seasons prior, and I knew that the young man then had no great skill with words, nor great wisdom, nor any unusual purpose, and I knew that even one of these skills most men took a lifetime to nurse to the levels which King Agsartan now played with as if they were infant's toys. But perhaps most surprising to me, was the King's complete transformation in his views on war. As he put it himself: 'Before I held war in boyish reverence, now it is a distraction, useful only as a means to make people pay attention to God's purpose.' Surely, this is a man who has been touched by the Angels!"

When Agsartan finally died in the early months of 1067, only a few moons beyond his 17th year, but their were few that were made sad by it, as Gabriel would put it: "At last, God was satisfied with his work, and released him from his suffering." The 13th century chronicler Basil of Theodesos, quoting a now lost work, reported Agsartan's last words were: "You're seventeen years early."

Agsartan would be buried just outside the walls of Tbilisi, and that place became a place where many pilgrims gathered, and whose holy influence was such that the defeated emir, rather than being filled with hate for his conquerors, saw the light of God's love, and soon demanded that he and his eldest son be baptised into God's true faith.

Immediately after his death, Agsartan was acclaimed as a servant of God, paving the way to his eventual confirmation as a saint in the mid 13th century, though the cult of Saint Agsartan was established well before patriarchal confirmation of his status as such.

A Glossary of Terms:

Bull of Seti - Bagrat IV's exhortation calling the Kingdom to war, as well as a declaration of Bagrat's legal reforms, the date for all the armies to march out was the morning of the Christmas of 1066 - hence it's informal nickname "the Christmas Bull".

Keph - From the Greek Kephale (head), a Georgian measurement 40.6% the length of a Roman foot (NB: that's 120.31 mm in modern metric), by legend, this measurement was obtained from the skull of St. Agsartan. The first "metric" measurement system, the keph was only used by the educated classes (and even then, mostly just theologians) until the industrial revolution caused a widespread need for a scientific unit of measure. There is some confusion amongst modern historians as to how exactly this measurement came about, as even if you believe the story of Agsartan's Angel, one would expect an Angel to pick a more practical unit of measure. It is also the reason why there are so many brain-damaged Georgian craftsmen jokes.

fasquardon

 

[Sid Meier]

Svyatoslav Rurikovich was a wise and just man, and a knowledgable tactician, no one doubted this, but there is also no doubt that the twilight of his life is upon him and at age 65 during the Second Great Kievan Crisis he died in bed succumbed to his age and his wounds. His son, Davyd Rurikovich was elected to succeed him as Prince of Kyiv.

However the events leading up to Svyatoslav's death were far from peaceful as at the conclusion of the conflict with the Empire of Byzantium a new war was soon started against Kyiv's rivals to the north for prestige and power in Russia against Pereslavyl. The start of a new round of fighting is never certain but the series of events is believed to have been set in motion when Pereslavyl attempted to attack a vassal of Kyiv while Svyatoslav was dealing with various troublesome vassals like the Count Vlad of Turov. Svyatoslav accurately believed that the victor of this war would be whomever could marshall their regiments faster and bring them to the battlefield first would win decisevly.

Svyatoslav raised an army and while marshaling his forced had his son marshall a force from the other end of his realm responsible for pacifying the Moscovite portion of Pereslavyl's demense, a task that was relatively simple; merely a matter of marching some would say. Svyatoslav's military goals were to capture key portions of Vladimir Rurokivich's family, demenses, and strategic forts to enforce Syvlav's will upon Pereslavyl, for thirty days the initial phase of gathering and marching troops lasted and then in the province of Pereyaslavl itself the two armies did battle, Svyatoslav had forced marched for four days and nights arriving first upon the scene, for a week the ensuing battle lasted as Vladimir and Svyatoslav atempted to out maneuver each, Vladimir never successfully managing to oust Svyatoslav from the high ground, with Kyivians having abundant supplies of food from their unhindered supply line as they possess the Dniepre river town of Yeremieyevka.

Facing the prospect of his soldiers starving on the field of battle Vladimir Rurikovich ordered the charge, and was subsequently dispersed and defeated, his vangaurd had managed to injure Svyatoslav Rurikovich gravely but the pride of Pereslavyl had been shattered, upon hearing the news Davyd Rurikovich upon recieving the letter from Aleksandr rushed southwards defeating Vladimir's blocking force in a series of devasting victories that while at his fathers side negotiated the final peace treaty, the war ended with Kiev gaining an noticible advantage over Pereslavyl as numerous vassals were brought into the Kievan Federation.

I wish for money ontime and aar rewards.

 

[fasquardon]

Agsartan's Angel:

"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills and all the nations shall flow to it..." (Isaiah 2:2)​

Agsartan's Angel, also called the Dzhimara Entity, or the Hermit of Dzhimara, is an oracular figure of profound influence on Georgian political and social evolution. The Angel occupies a key position in the Georgian world view that evolved in the late 11th century and early 12th, being the raison d'être for the Bagratuni propheteocracy that evolved from the earlier Georgian monarchy, and also for the conceit of Exceptionalism that infused the Georgian Nation during the same period (see also: the Davidic myth).

Strictly speaking, neither the cult of St. Agsartan, nor the wider Georgian church, hold Agsartan's Angel to be an angel at all, but rather a human soul of angelic aspect. (Such distinctions were not carried over into the folk myth, however, hence "Agsartan's Angel" has become the common parlance.) According to the official myth, Agsartan's Angel was from Parousia, where it - held to have no body, and thus no gender - lived an idyllic existence, until, by the actions of "those who sleep in the dust of the earth", the Restoration was put in peril, and the Angel was forced to descend to Earth, where it sought out the wisest and strongest of the sons of David, Agsartan Bagratuni, to give his sons and grandsons the mission of preserving the proper cosmic order. This is perhaps the most confused plank in the legend of St. Agsartan, as concepts like Judgment Day and Parousia are used more as if they are places than eras, which is the general usage, furthermore, the identity of "those who sleep in the dust of the earth" is exceedingly vague, to quote "The Conversation":

Agsartan: Then who are these men of dust? And why to they seek to overthrow Christ's dominion?
Angel: Men of dust and mud, who can guess at their purpose? Do they even know what they do?
Agsartan: How can they not know what they do?
Angel: Can you name every sin you have made, and against whom you made it? Even men of light and tide cannot count all their sins. The worst sins are always made while a man is looking in the wrong way.
Agsartan: So they will destroy the Restoration by looking in the wrong way?
Angel: Maybe.
Agsartan: Maybe?! This is the great mission my people must do? Maybe?
Angel: Maybe is the hardest of missions, the easiest to stray. And a thousand maybes might change a world while you sleep.
Agsartan: But the Bible says Christ will come again, by the will of God, as sure as night follows day.
Angel: Yes, the will of God is sure. But what of men? Does Christ's restoration matter if all mankind has died from the Earth?
Agsartan: This can be done?
Angel: Sadly.

In other words, there is no strong moral antagonist built into the cult of St. Agsartan, and while some folk traditions have re-imagined "those who sleep in the dust of the earth" as the army of the anti-christ, it is far more likely that rather than being an army of evil, the men of dust are rather ordinary people, compare to Daniel 12:2: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." In other words, the men of dust are mortal men standing at the moral crossroads, holding the power of terrible maybes, but also not yet inherently evil. In this context, it is clear that Judgment Day and Parousia are not meant to be places, but rather states of being. The Angel itself is not meant to be a supernatural being, but rather a cipher for the good man who rises up to fight evil and sloth by going among his fellow men. Such an interpretation puts the genderless nature of the Angel in an interesting light, for, in a time when good was strongly associated with the male, Agsartan's Angel is purely good, unburdened by preconceptions of gender (see also: sexual politics in Bagratid Georgia).

A Glossary of Terms:

Parousia - Greek, "appearance and subsequent presence with", i.e. God's Kingdom on Earth, that which comes after Judgment Day.

Propheteocracy - From the Greek prophetes, meaning an interpreter of an oracle or of hidden things, and kratos, meaning power or rule.

The Restoration - The Orthodox Christian term for the second coming.

fasquardon

 

[King of Men]

It is important to understand that there is no law in Norway, as that term is understood in other nations. Rather, there are compacts between free men, which each is free to break at his own risk and expense; the only sanction is the disapproval of other free men, though admittedly this is often lethal. Consider, as a single example, that there is no law against striking another man; in Norway, the freedom to swing your fist does not end at my nose. Rather, it is circumscribed only by my ability to retaliate. Because even free men need sanctions short of killing, it is customary in such cases (where they do not lead to instant duels) to ask the local Ting for compensation, which is usually given according to a set schedule; payment of such fines is enforced by bounty hunters. But in none of this does the State, as such, make an appearance; nor is there any claim of morality. This is an important concept, but alien to us; it bears repeating. Justice, in Norway, is purely a private enterprise; the Tings are only convenient venues for negotiation.

In actual practice this is usually hidden by the smoothing of custom, and the day-to-day legal life of a Norwegian town would not appear terribly alien to an English or Chinese lawyer. There appear to be courts and juries, for example; that these are strictly speaking standing committees of the Ting (which, let us stress, is a voluntary association) and not organs of the State can be dismissed as a mere peccadillo. There appear to be police to enforce the rulings of the courts; in fact, these are commercial companies of bounty hunters, who collect a percentage of every fine they bring in. On closer examination differences appear: There is no distinction between criminal and civil law; in fact there is no criminal law at all. All legal action is brought by private individuals, including prosecutions for murder. There is no federal tax code; each Ting is bound by agreement to contribute a certain amount yearly to the Storting at Bergen (on pain of war, in the original treaties, although with the fading of the regional militias' power that contingency has grown remote); how they bring in that sum is their own business. There are no environmental regulations, although suits for damages for polluting fisheries are frequently brought, and sometimes won. The resulting lack of emission controls is one way in which population-poor Norway maintains a semblance of industrial parity with the other Powers; a total lack of concern for worker health and safety is another. Which brings us to the largest anomaly of Norwegian law: The strils.

By 'law', we generally mean - in England, in Spain, in China - a rule which is enforced on all residents equally in principle, however unequal the application may be in practice. Even apartheid laws, in some sense, affect the separate classes symmetrically: Blacks may not do thus-and-so, and whites may not do this-and-that. Never mind that no white actually desires this-and-that; in principle, both are affected equally by the law. In Norway that assumption is overturned. Only members of the Tings have standing to bring suit there; only Ynglings can be members; and hence, only Ynglings have access to sanctions short of all-out, personal violence. Again, there is no law, as such, against a stril striking an Yngling, or refusing to work where he is assigned, or acting in an insolent manner; it is merely that any stril who did such a thing would be killed, beaten to within an inch of his life, or reassigned to more unpleasant tasks, depending on the severity of the offense. (The Ynglings make sure that they always have a more unpleasant task available; it is not for lack of machinery that their uranium mines are still operated by pick-wielding punishment details.) Again, this is a fundamental disconnect for an outsider; the Ynglings do not even pay lip service to an ideal of equality. Instead, they reject that ideal absolutely, in favour of an ideal of freedom. Not, as is usually the case in outside societies, "freedom for everyone", but rather, "freedom for anyone who is tough enough and smart enough to enforce it". And if you were born with the disability of not being an Yngling, and thus unable to command respect for your fists if nothing else - tough luck. It is not a pleasant ideology, but it is not, as is sometimes assumed in our political discussions, incoherent or hypocritical. It is worth noting that the Ynglings actually have a higher death rate than strils; relative to population size, duels are a more common cause of death than being sent to the mines.

From this central fact, that the Ynglings respect no right not enforced by power, all else follows. The monolithic solidarity of the class, for example, is based on pure self-interest: Each Yngling is certainly capable of destroying two or three, even five, strils in personal combat, but he knows perfectly well that his privileges depend on the support of the entire Realm infrastructure, and cooperates to maintain it. The vast educational system, almost completely focused on personal deadliness in combat, was irrational (from a national-strategic perspective) even in the days when riflemen dominated the battlefield; in the era of ICBMs, tanks, and hunter-killer satellites, it is ridiculous. If a tenth of the resources were spent educating a technical-scientific class among the Ynglings, Norway's relative economic power would double. But that is not possible, because such a class would get no respect from other Ynglings, and be unable to enforce its rights on the dueling ground; it would rapidly be ground into servitude or death. It is an extreme example of the Prisoner's Dilemma: All Ynglings would benefit if they could spend less time honing their skill, and more on technical or scientific pursuits; but each individual Yngling needs to be the deadliest he can be, to prevent others from simply taking his property and offering to prove their right to that property in a duel.

Nor are the Ynglings unaware of this. If asked, they would respond that this is the price of freedom: With freedom comes responsibility, including the responsibility of defending yourself. In this much, at least, the free nations can agree with the Realm. We all have a duty to protect ourselves from this freedom.

Comments section, London Times
June 4th, 1983
Timeline Yngling-prime​

 

[Lurken]

The House of Vojislav​

Petrislav Vojislavljevic 1034 -

Son of Mihojlo Vojislavljevic. Petrislav had grown up in the harsh Balkans, on the triple border between the religious callings of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and wretched pagan gods. It was a mountainous region, filled with violence and banditry. As a result, Petrislav had grown into a tough soldier and a zealous defender of Orthodoxy, (in fact, Petrislav was more dedicated to Christian chastity than many clerics in the region) known for deploying schemes worthy of Odysseus himself in the service of Dioclea. And yet Petrislav had managed to retain something of his humanity in the process. Petrislav was still a generous and friendly person, always willing and able to see and to expect the best in people. Occasionally, Petrislav’s vassals would take advantage of his kind nature, but in general it helped Petrislav’s vassals love and obey him.

Petrislav became the ruler of the dukedom Rashka early on, as a grant from his father Mihojlo, Duke of Dioclea and Rashka. Petrislav bided his time and waited for his time to come. While Dioclea and Rashka were relatively powerful, they were also nestled between Hungary, Croatia, Byzantium and the barbarian pechenegs. This 4-way trap did not leave much room for expansion. Still, Petrislav put his faith in God, and it was eventually rewarded. First, the pechenegs swarmed into Hungary, driving that Kingdom into complete collapse. That collapse was followed by the subjugation of the Croatian kingdom. Petrislav did not waste the opportunity that had been placed before him, but rather struck fast and struck hard.

Petrislav of the House of Vojislav, the ruler of Dioclea and Rashka, made use of the troubled times to establish his House over the barbarian pechenegs and forge another ducal title for himself of Wallachia. Songs would be sung about the mighty Duke of the House of Vojislav and his crushing victories over the pagan pechenegs. In a few short years, the pecheneg domination of Hungary was reversed, and the pechenegs survived only in a few small isolated outposts.

Petrislav was also able to extract a more personal revenge during these chaotic years. As a result of the various Balkan wars, the former Croatian king had been reduced to a mere count. Seizing the moment, Petrislav was able also to force the former Croatian king to pledge to him as a vassal. This action was said to give Petrislav much joy, borne out by the celebratory feast days Petrislav proclaimed to celebrate his victory over the former Croatian king. This expansion gave him the power and influence to no longer be a mere duke, but henceforth the Duke of the House of Vojislav would be the Archduke of Vojislav.

However, Petrislav was still worried about the situation of the realm. Wedged between the then still powerful Byzantine Empire, the Hungarian Kingdom and the Croatian Kingdom under the Duke of Slavonia. Petrislav was very justly worried about the survival of his House. After all, was there not the saying: “when the lion and the wolf fight, the deer loses?”

And thank you Ulmont for this very kind improvement of my AAR, even if I can command the english language, I can't write stories.

 

[ulmont]

Brittany - 1094 to 1099

[Continued scattered notes. Language updated.]

As the Year of Our Lord, 1099, began, Duke Alain de Cournaille looked over his lands, and he was by turns sorely vexed and well pleased.


Upon a full and dispassionate accounting of the events of the last five years, Alain had to admit that he had failed in his goals. Alain had begun his Five Year Plan[1] with the goals of:

1. Perfecting his control over the Kingdom of Mauretania.
2. Perfecting his control over the Territory of Iberia.
3. Extending control into the Duchy of Aquitaine as events permitted.

Alas, none were completed.

First, the County of Tuadmumu and the Kingdom of Scotland still held sway over the Canary Islands. What, by all that was holy, Count Feradach O’Brien and King Duncan Dunkeld could possibly want with seven barren islands off the coast of Mauretania was completely lost on Alain. In fact, Alain himself had little interest in those islands. His lust for the islands was but a rare reflection of his suppressed darker side.

Nearly a decade of continuous campaigning in heathen lands, especially the burning, ravaging, and pillaging of chevauchée[2], had turned the Duke into a hardened and cruel man.[3] Nearly a decade of expansion had left Alain selfish. Nearly a decade of heathen vassals attempting to escape their fate and leave the realm of Brittany had left Alain vengeful. And what a selfish and cruel man with Alain’s well known burning lusts would do while on a campaign explicitly designed to terrorize the peasantry and force the rulers out of their fortified castles…does not bear repeating.

Nonetheless, in the final analysis, Alain wanted the islands and he would have them.

Second, Iberia still had several realms that were independent of Brittany. The Jimenez family still managed to control the three Kingdoms of Castile, Navarra, and Aragon. The remnants of the Dutch interlopers, the van Wassenbergs, were still in control of the counties of Asturias de Oviedo and Leon. The counties of Évora and Tarragona had been inherited[4] into the “Kingdom” of Egypt. And, of course, the Duke of Barcelona had pledged allegiance to the King of France a generation ago, keeping Catalonia out of Breton hands.

A momentary setback.

Third, Raimond d’Aquitaine – bloated Duke of Aquitaine, Gascony, Bourbon and Poitou, and ruler of a desmense twice as large as the King of France – still squatted atop the path between the lands of Vieux Brittany and the lands Nouveau Brittany.

A long term setback. In his more dispassionate moments, which were few, Duke Alain was forced to admit that his goals were perhaps a sign that il a les dents qui rayent le parquet, as they say.[5] Still, the race is not always to the swift, and the victory is not always to the strong; Duke Alain was not yet old, and with luck and Heaven’s grace he might yet achieve his goals.


On the other hand, progress had been made on almost all fronts during the last five years. The “Kingdom” of the Zirids had been neatly partitioned with Duke Bohemond of Apulia. Although a formal peace treaty had not yet been signed, it was clear that soon “King” Abam ibn Ziri would be driven to exile on the island of Malta.

The Zirid war had gained the territories of Alger and Kabilya for Brittany. The treacherous lands of Almeria had been subjugated and rejoined to Brittany, and the male line of Badraddin al-Amiri had been eradicated root and branch. Truly, Brittany had been avenged[6] in the blood of the al-Amiris.

Nothing had been done about Aquitaine or Barcelona, alas.

And so Duke Alain alternately praised Heaven for his successes, and cursed Hell for his failures, while plotting to invade Egypt, or at least the Iberian portions thereof, at the earliest opportunity.

And yet. There was a rumor of rebellion on the wind. Duke Alain, and his father Hoël before him, had perhaps expanded too fast too soon, and had not pacified their subjects. A short look to Duke Bohemond’s rebellious vassals showed the possible danger. And so Duke Alain resolved to survey his vassals, to hunt out the rebellious[7], and to either bring them back into the fold or to replace them as events allowed.

[AAR reward: remove “rebellious” from Ayyub Abdullah, Count of Mallorca.]

[1] Editors’ note: a coincidence rather than an anachronism.
[2] Editors’ note: Duke Hoël began to use chevauchée tactics during his fight to claim the Pays-Reconquis, after his armies were bled white during the early years of the fighting. His son, Alain, perfected the tactic, and was known to compete with his marshals to see who could spit more enemy peasants on a lance during a single pass through the centre of a village.
[3] OOG Editors’ note: seriously, have you looked at his traits? Lustful, Vengeful, Selfish, Cruel, and Suspicious, Duke Alain is a real bastard. Almost an honorary Yngling.
[4] OOG Editor’s note: this is a game engine flaw. I don’t care if the Sheik of Tharasset is the son of the King of the al-Murabitids, there’s no way that Duke Alain would let those counties be inherited out of his Catholic realm and into Muslim hands.
[5] Editor’s note: While Duke Alain lived too early to read the work of Robert de Brun, specifically the quote that “Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?”, he undoubtedly would have appreciated the sentiment.
[6] Editor’s note: This was actually uncharacteristic. Duke Alain had a surprisingly easygoing policy in general with regard to vassals who broke away: war would be declared, castles would be stormed, the count would be forced to make amends and then returned to their throne. The accidents such counts tended to have shortly later were surely coincidental.
[7] Editor’s note: surprisingly, as best as we can reconstruct, only two of Duke Alain’s vassals were rebellious in early 1099.