Chapter 1: A Duke walks into a BAAR...
October 14, 1399. Duke Robert de Montbéliard of Bar woke up with a massive headache, and promptly shut his eyes again to block out the annoying sunlight.
After some staggering about to get decent, he opened his door to face the day...yet another day in the life of a Duke caught in the crossfire between France, Burgundy, and the Empire.
A peculiar man came running up to him, saying, "Duke Robert! This is the first day of the rest of your life!", just before one of the guards clotheslined him and drug him away...
Barrois:
In the middle of the 10th century, the Dukes of Upper Lotharingia moved their seat to Bar (naming it Bar-le-Duc), and took the title Duke of Bar. As the line died out at the end of the 11th century, Duc became a county rather than a duchy, which it remained into the mid 14th century, at which point Robert of Bar was made Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson by Emperor Charles IV, and was elevated to Duke.
Like practically every other duchy in France of the period, the rulers of Bar served with distinction for France, against France, for England, against England, for the Empire, and against the Empire. After Henry of Bar supported Edward I of England in 1301 and lost to Philip the Fair, Barrois was split as partly a duchy of France (west of the Meuse), and partly an imperial duchy.
Duke Robert has now been duke for 42 years, and perhaps the crazy little man is right...today is the first day of the rest of his life.
The map:
Barrois is helpfully located between the Duke of Burgundy's original French holdings and his holdings in Northern France and Flanders, as well as on the eastern border between France and the Empire. Central to all three hotspots of
military tourism, Barrois boasts a moderate tax base, a bustling trade in cloth, a regiment of infantry, and lots of very friendly neighbors.
Of course, these neighbors have armies, so they feel threatened by Burgundy, France, Lorraine, and Luxembourg. (You know you're nobody if you're threatened by Luxembourg.)
Sliders:
Holy crap our sliders rock... 1 step from max centralization and Free Subjects, +3 Free Trade, and 1 tick towards Land and Innovative. We are definitely going Protestant (if we live to 1500). Our first goal is more Free Trade - since we won't have CoTs for a while, we need money from trade. Maxing Free Subjects isn't a priority, since the first century may give a free move that direction. Innovative is also not a priority, since there's nothing useful that direction for a few slider moves.
First steps:
* Move budget sliders to max government for the first idea.
* Drop military maintenance to minimum.
* Make Robert a general. 3 Fire and 2 Maneuver. Meh.
* Move slider towards Free Trade. Lack of Protection fires, which kills off all 0 of our merchants. Oh noes! Oh well, our non-existent merchants will just need to adapt.
* Look for allies. France and Burgundy are impossible, Luxembourg and Lorraine are merely very unlikely. We request alliances with Trier, Baden, Hesse, and the Palatinate.
October 15: Our first mission: Ally with France. Gee, wasn't that impossible just a minute ago? On the alliance front, everyone but Trier accepts.
October 16: Mission fails.
October 17: New mission: Royal Marriage with France. I know you won't actually help us, but here, have a daughter anyway. Burgundy declares war on Hainaut, so that Bar can survive a month or so. I'd dogpile in, but it would be like a Miniature Poodle puppy trying to kill a St. Bernard.
And so it begins....