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Thoctar

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Nov 14, 2011
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I'm going to start a new AAR here, but it's going to be a little bit different. First, I'm going to be doing a Messalian Wessex -> England playthrough. Yes that means I'm going to be using the ruler designer, but oh well. Second, I'm going to be doing an AAR and a Let's Play on Youtube alongside each other. I will be doing a narrative-style AAR here and a gameplay-focussed Let's Play on Youtube. I will not be using Ironman, but I will not be using any mods either. If I survive, and if the converter allows it, I may continue onto EU4. Now, let's take a look into Messalianland!
 
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Prologue

Prologue:

Lucifernium, 1000 AD:

I, Ephram, perfecti of God, have taken it upon myself to record the history of our faith for the future generations, so that they may know the origins of our faith, pure and uncorrupted. We began in the early years of Christianity, in the year 326 of our Lord. We arose in opposition to the corruption of the faith by the Council of Nicaea and the evil emperor, Constantine the Mad, who rejected our teachings based on divine truth and revelations. For the essence of God can be detected by the material senses, and any rejection of those senses, and the revealing of God within them, is to reject God himself in all his unified glory. For We know that God, who was once threefold, unified himself to unite with the souls of the perfect, and by rejection of God's revelations through the senses and through prayer many Christians have unfortunately become imperfect and blind to God's true glory. They also misplace evil in the form of his elder Son, Lucifer, the epitome of what all mṣallyānā, those who pray, wish to become. We cautious distrust in organizing the faith in a church too centrally, given what has happened to the rest of the True Faith. What others denigrate as "incest", we celebrate as the highest act of love, how humanity was created, through the union of Adam and Eve's children with each other. Finally, we deplore the degradation of our sisters by the other sects of Christianity, for we are all united in Christ and Lucifer and we are both equal in all respects. I now commend this parchment to the ages so that future generations may remember us and find truth in God's creation.




((I realize that much of this may or may not have been true, and throughout this AAR I will need to take a lot of historical and doctrinal liberties given the lack of information and the ahistorical nature of an AAR like this. That being said, I hope you enjoyed this!))
 
Sounds like a cool concept for an ahistoric AAR experience. I'll be following. :)
I'll probably link to the youtube upload first, followed soon after by an AAR update made from that video. Possibly more than one if I hit up against the screenshot limits.
 
I shall be following this thread closely - Messalian Britannia has probably been my favourite single player game I've played since Rajas of India dropped.
 

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First episode is on youtube, first update is written and will be up as soon as I can figure out how to post full-scale screenshots! Episode 1
 
In The Beginning....
I have waited for this time for my entire life. My family has planned and waited centuries for it. Waiting, plotting, amassing wealth and power…..and now it has finally arrived. A place to call home. But let me start from the beginning. I am Aethelhere of Hampshire. [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-02_00010_zpsd5eb1035.jpg.html][/URL]

Our faith’s adherents, the Messalian faith of those who pray, have roamed the sands of Arabia and Africa for centuries after the demon emperor Constantine and the evil Nestorius proclaimed us as heretics and anathema for our speaking of the truth, that which is plainly obvious to those who have seen the light. But we were ignored and cast out, almost forgotten, lost to the sands of time. Almost. But we waited, amassing lands in the guise of others, never revealing where the money flowed. We hired mercenaries, we introduced men into our faith, we survived and bided our time. Even the coming of the Crescent did not stop us. Eventually we found a place to carve out and call our own. My own father went there secretly, a small Germanic pseudo-kingdom, a place wracked with conflict, weak and ripe for the picking. I was baptized on that soil and given a name suitable to my new land. For we would take this land and tame it, making it ours, a place where we could be safe and secure. I led an army of 5000 warriors, hidden under various mercenary companies that converged on the shores of England. It was only a matter of time until this land was mine. Sadly my father was heroically cut down in the battles, but his soul will be with Lucifer soon. Unfortunately he never sired any children so I could not perform the divine marriage.

[URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/cyril_zpsac577bc1.jpg.html][/URL] (A possibly slightly mythologized picture of my father) But my masterstroke was soon to come. At the final battle, my opponent, Alfred of Wessex, came to me with a proposition. If I let him keep some of his lands in the West, he would lay down his arms and become an Emir under me. The titles may confuse some readers if they are not of our culture. (We did take on a few things from the Muslims.) I accepted his offer, and took the throne as Aethelhere of the Hampshire Emirate.
[URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-02_00002_zps7b01249f.jpg.html][/URL]
I then distributed my titles among my men, however I saw an opportunity to make a useful ally. In exchange for giving him back his former capital and another piece of land, he become part of the True Faith. I then set to work on looking for a wife, and I found one in a Hildegard Karling, Princess of West Francia. Her family ties were a strong advantage, along with her…knowledge of the carnal senses which were quite stunning for one who is not a sister of the faith. She was also a reasonably competent administrator. So I married her and claimed she was a long-lost relative, and for some strange reason my vassals believed it. ((I'm not sure why it gives me the divine marriage modifier but I'm not complaining!)) [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-02_00004_zpsfd752137.jpg.html][/URL]


To the north, the lost souls were at the mercy of the Northmen, who even raided us, albeit not as harshly as others, and not nearly as harshly as they subjugated East Anglia, and eventually Mercia. It was during their invasion of the latter that almightly Lucifer brought my lovely boy into the world, Boutrous ibn Aethlhere, a vastly intelligent boy. The light in his eyes reminds me of me when I was his age. Ahh the memories. Although he is much more energetic than me, but that's always been one of my flaws, it's just so much work! [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00001_zps039f4f21.jpg.html][/URL]


It also seems I am making my mark here, debating with courtiers and nobles left and right, even converting Alfred’s youngest brother.
Even my subjects are beginning to tithe to their proper lord, even if not all of them have converted yet. Even my recent bout of illness cannot help to contain my enthusiasm! [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-02_00009_zps52ced6b6.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00002_zpsae5925cd.jpg.html][/URL]

I even converted the older brother of Alfred! [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00004_zps132e97c5.jpg.html][/URL]

I have also been assisting my father-in-law in putting down various rebels, at least in spirit. [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00006_zpsea9c428a.jpg.html][/URL] Unfortunately he is also allied to my neighbor who I have designs on the territory of. I even went to the trouble of….arranging a claim on his territory. [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00007_zps13d3dce4.jpg.html][/URL]But it seems there is hope after all! For the Norsemen have exhausted themselves attacking Mercia, and while they were successful, I believe my 2000 men along with some mercenaries could easily take care of their combined 3500 men with the right strategy. And on top of that, my wife is pregnant once again, after which I converted her to the true faith! Even my catholic subjects have saw fit to submit unto me a tithe! [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00003_zpsfed4fb87.jpg.html][/URL][URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-02_00011_zps89c1bb90.jpg.html][/URL] Ahh happy days are upon our faith, we may finally have a homeland, Lucifer be praised! [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00009_zps6da53447.jpg.html][/URL] Hopefully my new child is an equally bright daughter so I may arrange a divine marriage between them. But, I need to confer with my advisors very carefully to see if this is wise. I will end this entry in my diary here, I will begin again when I have decided.

((First chapter over! I actually would like your input on this one. In addition to the two screenshots I got, my enemies have an additional 1500 troops roughly. I have not expelled the Jews or borrowed from them. Should I take a chance for rapid expansion? If I grabbed a good duchy I’d be very close to forming England.)) [URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00011_zpsc2c1ea77.jpg.html][/URL][URL=http://s113.photobucket.com/user/Youngeric123/media/2014-06-03_00012_zps191e5b74.jpg.html][/URL]
 
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Since you ask for feedback, here is my humbre opinion: The start of the update was in consonance with the ambiance created in the first post, but as it progressed it seems to hessitated between expressing ittself in a narrative manner and a more gameplay chronicle -thing like the comment about the surprising sacred marriage with the french lady breaks the immersion in my opinion and ifyou intend for a pure narrative style it should be left for a comment outside the chapter itself. Another thing that form my reader experience help immersing in the story as such is selecting the elements that you want to show of the screenshot and cutting the rest out. Example: if you want to show a vassal converting to the true faith, then cut and show only the event window, not all the screen. It may seem a petty thing, but a carefull selection may help a great deal in my opinion. Just the though of a passing reader. Good luck; I'll keep an interested eye on this.
 
Taking the extra duchy would be a massive help to getting the English crown. However, if you choose to reclaim the duchy, I'd take the borrow from Jews and expel Jews events first - the money will come in handy for mercs should the Norse call their buddies in. One of my first games in CK2 I got stomped for not allowing enough army size for if both Nantes and Norway not only joined against my Holy War, but also sent in their army.

As for the writing style, I would say that there is a fair bit of that post which doesn't quite fit in a 'pure narrative' AAR. The bit where you try to explain how you got the 'divine marriage' bonus for marrying the Karling princess is a break from the immersion of the overall post. Apart from that, there doesn't seem to be too much I can find wrong with this AAR. I'll be following this for further updates. Good luck!
 
Nice update! I don't have a problem with the way you present the events of the game. I find the premise of your game so interesting that whatever works for you works for me.
However it would be great if you could see too it that the text is under the pictures and not next to it. That makes it unecessary difficult to follow and breaks the reading flow.
Anyway looking forward to see how you fare in the chaos that is 867 Britain. :)
 
Unfortunately I have run into some technical issues. My computer battery has died to the point where it will not hold a charge, thus causing massive lag and rendering me unable to play the game at any suitable speed. Once I get a replacement battery set up I will continue this project.