Chapter 2 - King Bagrat II of Georgia - Start of an Empire? - 943 - 963 A.D
Hello wise reader of the future. My name, as you have probably heard before, is Bagrat, named in honor of the first King of Georgia and the man whom I share my blood with. Now that that incompetent Davit has finally passed away, thankfully with no children who could be corrupted by his idiocy, I am the next King of Georgia. I have but one goal... I will bring about a new age for Georgia, an age of prosperity and power.
Firstly however, I must bring stability to the mess I have inherited from my brother. I have decided to send my chancellor into the Kingdom of Armenia with the goal of rebuilding our dynastic claims there. Meanwhile, there is one Duke in my realm who at the moment holds almost half the land under his direct rule. I have decided to betrothe myself to his daughter. Whilst this could make it harder to produce an heir as I will be surely very old by the time she comes of age, my goal is primarily to keep my Kingdom whole and secondly to extend my Dynasty.
By this I mean, my heir was currently the young Bagrationi King of Armenia and if I died heirless, I would be able to unite the two Kingdoms.
With my Kingdom now stable and my chancellor in the process of convincing the Armenians of our righteousness and valor, I decided to look eastwards at the shy, craven Sunni Satrap to the East. I am of course well aware that a holy war could risk other regional powers such as the Abbasids intervening. To avoid this, I have instead decided to send a demand to the Satrap that he be forced to pay tribute to me.
Of course, he decided to agree to our demands and very soon, my Kingdom will have access from the Black Sea to the Caspian.
Perhaps due to the wars I fought under Davit and the comradery I had with the soldiers under my command, or perhaps due to how good I was at babysitting my child wife whilst her dad was busy, the people of my realm have began thinking of me as a kind person.
I have just realised that the Sunni Yazidid emirate to the South has been cut off from any remaining Sunni nations after my takeover of the Hashimids. Knowing that this is a small window of opportunity and one that could close at any time, I have decided to launch an attack on the Emirate in a month, my troops have already began preparing for the incoming invasion.
I personally led my troops to victory at the Battle of Kabala and I have now ordered them to move to the county of Azerbaijan, to secure it for our Kingdom.
I have received some news: A new era is arriving in Western Europe. A bunch of Muslim Spaniards have took control of a duchy in the south of France. The wise Pope Leo II, had done what all wise men in his position would do, and he has freaked out. He had declared that a new era has come where Christians will work together to destroy the infidels.
Yep, because as we all know, Christians have a long and prosperous history of working together don't they?
In fact, as I am writing this France is in civil war whilst being invaded by two different Catholic Kingdoms. Unsurprisingly this has opened up an opportunity for the same Muslims who have shook Western Europe so much to launch another invasion. Well done Catholics!
*sigh* They're all a bunch of Davits.
OH MY ORTHODOX GOD!
I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF INCOMPETENT RULERS!
THE SO CALLED 'STRONGEST' VASSAL OF MY REALM CANT EVEN CONVERT ONE PROVINCE TO THE TRUE RELIGION!
Great!
My troops are dying in sieges in the mountains of Azerbaijan whilst my country is being attacked by Tengri Barbarians.
*sigh* Maybe hearing about what's happening elsewhere will cheer me up.
Nope!
The incomperent Catholics are going to fail and the Muslims are going to gain even more power.
As if that isn't enough, there are now MORE Tengri Barbarians. And what do you think is the name of their leader, something badass like Genghis, or Seljuk?
Nope!
His name is SamSam! A name that wouldn't seem out of place in one of the children's books my child wife reads.
Oh the indignity of having to surrender to someone called Samsam Samsamid.
Yes you heard that right, he wanted to create his own dynasty, so he created a last name, but apparently couldn't think of one, so he just got his first name, which in as of itself consists of two first names, and added an -id too it, thus giving us Chief Samsam Samsamid of the Samsamid Chiefdom of Tmutarakan!
On the bright side! The Yazidid Emirate has finally given up!
I'm glad too, the stress was giving me a serious cough!
Oh...
This cant be happening, I am too important to my realm to die! I must do something, for the good of the people and for the good of Georgia!
(Basically, the inheritance changed and now If I die, I wont unite the Bagrationi Kingdoms. Instead, I will lose the game. Therefore I really don't want to die)
I have ordered my Court Physician to perform an experimental treatment. He has warned me of its dangers but I must power through regardless.
I no longer have cancer. I also no longer have my right leg. I am also in extreme pain. Please excuse me whilst I take every drug my Court Physician can offer.
...
Okay, this is a few days later and I feel a bit better, good enough to write anyway!
I have heard news that Chief Samsam Samsamid of the Samsamid Chiefdom has been subjucated by the Byzantines. I am not going to lie, I have never been happier about losing my land to a dysfunctional empire.
I have also received a letter detailing some news in Europe. Maybe the Crusade didn't go as badly as I thought?
Wait! They won!
Really?
And instead of giving the land back to France, they created the Kingdom of Aquitaine?
Why would they do that?
The only thing Western Europe needs less of right now is shattered states. Surely the Umayyads will just be able to reconquer it, no?
And what is up with these stupid names. What sadistic parent would name their child Mueric Aberffraw anyway? He sounds like the kind of villain Samsam has to stop to save the world. At this point, I'm beginning to think the world is secretly my wife's book. Talking of which my wife is finally over 16. I have already managed to produce an heir, a beautiful girl named Sanatha.
On another note, I have been thinking about the idea of an elective monarchy for some time, perhaps I should let my vassals choose which one of my relatives should be next on the throne.
(Right, before you see what happens, you need to understand that I clicked on it by accident, I did not intend to make my great Primogeniture into an Elective Monarchy! I'm just a Davit if you know what I mean)
Wait a second!
THOSE ARENT MY RELATIVES YOU'RE VOTING FOR!
Oh God! I have to fix this! But how?
…
IVE GOT IT! All I have to do is...(choking sounds) (large kingly sounding thump)
May he rest in peace.
Meanwhile:
This is not good!
As usual, my stupidity is my downfall,
I am somehow further away from achieving any of my goals than I was before but I will still put them down here anyway as usual:
Starting goals:
- Create a Georgian Empire
- Have 3 Bloodlines
- Overthrow the Byzantines as the main Orthodox Empire
Added goals:
- Unite the Bagrationi Kingdoms (Georgia and Armenia)