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It is Arberian. I need to do some reading on what that is and why it's in Dyrrachion
It is Albanian. The two counties of Dyrrachion and Avlonas are the Arberian counties in CK2. It dates to the 1190 Principality of Arbanon as the first Albanian realm in IRL. (I had to research when I landed in Avlonas.)
 
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Nothing better than to be reminded of your own mortality, appearing to be on your deathbed, in order to sort things out.

The real question is if recovering after you've made those changes is actually better than dying... But I guess Roussel is used to family conflict by now. He should just keep an eye on anything potentially poisoned.
 
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It is Albanian. The two counties of Dyrrachion and Avlonas are the Arberian counties in CK2. It dates to the 1190 Principality of Arbanon as the first Albanian realm in IRL. (I had to research when I landed in Avlonas.)
Thanks! That is very interesting, and I suppose they won't appreciate a Greek lording over them.

Nothing better than to be reminded of your own mortality, appearing to be on your deathbed, in order to sort things out.

The real question is if recovering after you've made those changes is actually better than dying... But I guess Roussel is used to family conflict by now. He should just keep an eye on anything potentially poisoned.
I definitely want Roussel to live long enough for his sons to become adults since I hate regencies in CK2. Luckily Theophano is miserable at intrigue, so he probably won't get poisoned, but he should still watch out!
 
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Chapter 20: An Unusual Alliance

The remainder of 1084 and entirety of 1085 were very quiet as Roussel focused on matters close to home. Emma, Roussel’s legitimate daughter, was assigned to Bishop Humbert, the court chancellor for her education. The man was very skilled in diplomacy and likely to educate her very well. Roussel also had some idea of his ‘extracurricular’ activities, and he hoped they would keep the girl in line.

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The largest problem Roussel faced was his enraged wife. She had yet to forgive him for legitimizing Ermyntrude’s children, and the two had continued to clash over the smallest matters. All of this culminated in an ultimatum; Theophano wanted to formally separate from Roussel while maintaining their marriage. However, he professed his forgiveness and explained that he just wanted to do the right thing for all his children. Theophano remembered the sweet things her husband had done for her over the years and the two rekindled their passion.

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Roussel had also continued to be a good guardian and tutor to Anfroi, softening the blow of legitimizing the half-siblings. Anfroi did not entirely forgive his father and resolved to be a better man than him, never disrespecting his future wife as Roussel had so frequently done to Theophano. The boy treated the other children decently, unlike Robert and his bullying ways. Anfroi was cementing his position by making friends while Robert attempted to assert his dominance by bullying and threatening the other children.

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Roussel had spent much of 1086 working on a dramatic plan for the future. After Alp Arslan’s death in February, the Seljuk empire passed from his son to his eldest son, a nine-year-old boy. Alp Arslan II had quickly been made into a figurehead while his regency council dominated affairs in the empire. The council was dominated from lords at the center of the empire and quickly began to neglect the needs of lords on the borders.

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The duke initially thought nothing of it since the Seljuks had crushed several revolts easily. However, Aubrey reported on the decadence and weakness that had set in after Alp Arslan’s death, eventually convincing Roussel to make a bold move to expand his realm.



The chamber was filled with an uncomfortable alliance of important lords. At the head of the table sat Fariburz the Wise, beylerbey of Kesranid (south of Georgia); to his right sat Tharwan Baha, beylerbey of Uqaylid (central Iraq). To Tharwan’s right sat Gumustekin, beylerbey of the Danishmends (Cilicia and western Armenia). Finally, Roussel sat to Fariburz’s left and felt slightly uncomfortable as the three other men stared at him.

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Fariburz broke the silence, saying, “Thank you for joining me, and thank you Gumustekin for offering your keep for our meeting today. Roussel, I shall endeavor to bring you up to speed on our plan.” Gumustekin started to open his mouth, but Fariburz touched his arm and counseled silence.

“As you know, the fall of Alp Arslan ‘the Glorious’ has sent our empire into decline. A child sits on the throne and has proven totally incapable of ruling. Corrupt advisors surround Alp Arslan II and feed him deceptions against his loyal vassals. We have tried to help the young sultan, but his advisors block us and seek to punish us. I had loyally served the boys grandfather, and now I am treated as a bandit! Regardless, I have found two like-minded lords and organized a faction against the sultan. We seek to separate from the Seljuk empire and go our own way, free of corruption.”

“Where do I come into this?” Roussel inquired. “There have been several revolts against the Seljuks, and they did not lack in participants,” he continued.

Fariburz smiled and replied, “The corrupt advisors have turned the other lords against us through bribes and threats. I was initially crestfallen, but Tharwan had an excellent insight. Perhaps you could provide a better answer Tharwan?”

“Yes,” Tharwan answered as he sat up in his seat. “I have admired your exploits from afar Roussel, especially your daring war against Vahram. You have built a strong realm, but it is in danger from two massive empires. You need security, and we need military might; a fractured Seljuk empire leaves you safe on the east while your Western knights will prove decisive in our revolt.”

“I see. And how do I enter into this deception?” Roussel asked. He stroked his beard and briefly passed his gaze over each of the conspirators. Tharwan seemed confident that Roussel was convinced while Fariburz’s face showed no emotion. Gumustekin had a bead of sweat forming on his young forehead, clearly bothered by something but afraid to speak out.

Fariburz took the lead once more, saying, “You offer to swear fealty to the Seljuks. Justify it through your fear of the Greeks, and the greedy advisors should jump at the offer. Whatever you do, do not journey to Persia to swear your oaths; rather, stall as long as possible, and ready your troops in secret. Soon after, I shall make my demands of the sultan, and we shall either be free or have war. Are there any objections?”

“Oh, wise one,” Gumustekin began. “How can we bring an infidel into our scheme? He is untrustworthy and a known traitor!” Roussel glared at the insolent teen but was not overly concerned by his challenge.

Tharwan immediately responded in Roussel’s defense. “Gumustekin, he is a skilled warrior, and the Seljuks will not know what hit them when the knights fall upon them! A warrior would not break his oath, right?”

“That is correct,” Fariburz responded. “If you are to join the plot, swear it before your God and those gathered here.”

Roussel locked his gaze on Fariburz and swore, “I, Duke Roussel, shall join your independence plot and assist you in freeing yourself from the Seljuks. I shall lead my levies into battle and fight!” Fariburz nodded his head in assent while Tharwan slapped the Norman on the back heartily.

“I am glad you have joined us!” Tharwan exclaimed. “I look forward to meeting our foes on the battlefield together!” he continued as Roussel nodded his head. The duke was distracted by Gumustekin who appeared unconvinced by Roussel’s oath.

Fariburz dismissed Roussel and Tharwan, leaving them to share war stories. Once they had left the room, Fariburz turned his soothing words onto Gumustekin, eventually persuading him of Roussel’s honesty. The die had been cast, and a strange alliance had been formed…

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An intriguing plot. Taking the Seljuks apart from the inside while it is ruled by a child - bold, but it might just work.
 
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Thank you for the update. Let me attempt to decipher the screenshots. 1) You joined the Seljuks, otherwise you could not have joined the faction. 2) The Independence faction won, your three 'friends' do not have a liege not even the revolt leader with only Fabibruz at war. Tharwan is the key man as he has 8600 of 11K. Gümüstekin was not part of faction (father or someone else). His father and mother died violently (war, murder, dungeon). He is also 19 without a trait. How is he a 'Satrap'? As a Turkish Duke, should he not be a 'Beylerbey'? While I enjoy dynamic place names, dynastic realm names fails to add good information.
 
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An intriguing plot. Taking the Seljuks apart from the inside while it is ruled by a child - bold, but it might just work.
That's what I'm hoping! Their realm just needs a little push to fall apart usually.

Let me attempt to decipher the screenshots. 1) You joined the Seljuks, otherwise you could not have joined the faction.
Yep, I swore fealty, but the rebellion started within several months.

2) The Independence faction won, your three 'friends' do not have a liege not even the revolt leader with only Fabibruz at war.
Shoot, I should have been more careful with my screenshots! I suppose it doesn't hurt anything since the war is still quite intense and will hopefully be interesting. I just stupidly forgot to get a screenshot when the revolt started and forgot the aftermath would expose who won.

How is he a 'Satrap'? As a Turkish Duke, should he not be a 'Beylerbey'?
I honestly have no idea. My game is not modded at all, so there could be some bug possibly?

Gümüstekin was not part of faction (father or someone else).
I think you're right, but I can't remember. As mentioned above I failed to get a screenshot at the start of the revolt and made up for it afterward. Nothing was able to escape your eagle-eyes though :)
 
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Forgive me for leaking! Another look and all three screenshots are buggy with titles not matching realm. We have a:

Turkish Satrap in a Beylerbeylik. He should be a Beylerbey.​
Persian Beylerbey in a Satrapy. He should be a Satrap. (38 points should not be enough to be 'the Wise'.)​
Levantine Beylerbey in a Emirate. He should be a Emir.​
It is amazing the amount of information that a simple screenshot provides especially when you mouse over.
 
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Forgive me for leaking!
It's all good! Someone was bound to notice.

Another look and all three screenshots are buggy with titles not matching realm. We have a:

Turkish Satrap in a Beylerbeylik. He should be a Beylerbey.Persian Beylerbey in a Satrapy. He should be a Satrap. (38 points should not be enough to be 'the Wise'.)Levantine Beylerbey in a Emirate. He should be a Emir.It is amazing the amount of information that a simple screenshot provides especially when you mouse over.
I wonder if when everyone was given independence it bugged out? I'll have to check later and see if the titles are fixed now. It is pretty impressive how much information is conveyed on a single screenshot, especially considering it's like 1/10 of the screen!
 
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Just read the whole AAR ! Can't wait to see more about Roussel adventures, and his future war in Persia
Thank you for catching up! However, I am afraid I have bad news.


My hard drive failed on me several days ago, and all the files on it were unable to be recovered. That means I've unfortunately lost the saves for this game. I plan to write several more updates covering what I had played out and remember to provide some closure and leave this story in a somewhat satisfying place. They obviously won't have any screenshots since I lost all of them, but I hope it will still be somewhat enjoyable and allow this AAR to end in a decent-ish way. After those, I plan to write some sort of epilogue covering where I saw the game going and maybe some alt-hist of how Roussel changed history.

Thanks so much for being dedicated readers and commenting on my works! I didn't want to end the AAR this way, but I enjoyed what I had! I am going to cut back on AAR writing for a bit, but I plan to salvage my newest AAR in HOI4, Savages of Utah - A White Legs OWB AAR. This is set in the Fallout universe, following a tribe in the post-nuclear wasteland of Utah. I know HOI4 is not everyone's cup of tea, but I am trying to keep it accessible to everyone, and it's more focused on the story I am telling. Don't feel obligated to read it, but if it remotely intrigues you, I appreciate it!

Finally, thanks again to everyone for their support! I won't be leaving the CK2 forums totally, just stepping back for now. I hope you enjoyed Roussel's adventures and join me for his last hurrah!
 
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Thank you for the update. I am so sorry about the computer.
It was pretty inconvenient, but I fortunately didn't lose anything irreplaceable.

I am looking forward to your vision. Screenshots are overrated, they tend to send certain readers down wrong paths, ;)
You'll never forgive yourself for that one, will you? :) I hope it will remain interesting, but I'm not sure how in-depth I want to go on these updates. I'll have to do some thinking before I get carried away
 
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Sorry about the hard drive, this has been a great AAR. Waiting the closing updates and further AARs!
 
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There are services that offer repairing/copying harddisks for around 200 € and up, depending on what you want to spend and its value to you. So if it has your only picture of your beloved pet dog it might be worth it, if its just full of games don't bother.
 
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Sorry about the hard drive, this has been a great AAR. Waiting the closing updates and further AARs!
Thanks for reading along, and I hope the end will work well!

There are services that offer repairing/copying harddisks for around 200 € and up, depending on what you want to spend and its value to you. So if it has your only picture of your beloved pet dog it might be worth it, if its just full of games don't bother.
I actually went to a place to see if they could even pull anything off, and the hard drive was completely dead, so they couldn't even detect it. Luckily, it was nothing essential, and it should be no big deal.
 
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Chapter 21: The Independence War and Its Aftermath (~1086 - ~1092)
Chapter 21: The Independence War ( ~1086 - ~1092 )

The child Seljuk sultan that Roussel and his conspirators had been plotting against died just before the revolt, being succeeded by his younger brother. (Note: I don't remember what killed him. Probably court intrigue though!) The new sultan did not prove any more capable of resisting his corrupt advisors, leading Fariburz to insist the plan must continue. After securing the others' agreement, Fariburz formally demanded the sultan grant their independence under the threat of war. The haughty advisors were confident in their strength and refused, leading both sides to levy their troops for war.

The independence faction, consisted of Roussel's duchy of Charsianon, the Danishmends' beylerbiks of Cilicia and western Armenia, Tharwan's beylerbik in central Iraq, and Fariburz's beylerbik of Azerbaijan. Against this motley band was the entirety of the Seljuk Empire, stretching from Armenia to India. However, the Seljuks had been in a state of decline for quite some time, leaving both sides' levies roughly equal at approximately 17,000 each. The rebels acted first as their individual realms were far more concentrated, while the Seljuks took quite some time to muster. The Danishmends immediately set to besieging Adana with roughly 5000 men in order to secure the entirety of Cilicia. Tharwan and Fariburz joined their forces as planned, immediately laying siege to a fortress in northern Iraq. This force was roughly 6,000 men, the bulk of the revolt. Roussel raised his levies and hired the Turkic Band's mercenaries, bringing his army to roughly 5,500 men. He advanced east, into Seljuk Armenia to hunt down levies as they were raised.

Roussel and his men wiped out at least 2,000 Seljuk levies in a matter of months, ambushing them as they marched east to wherever the sultan's army was rallying. Good progress was made in the sieges, but Roussel was frustrated with Gumustekin, beylerbey of the Danishmends. Adana was not strategically important, or a threat to the revolt, but Gumustekin was obsessed with taking the province. Roussel had wanted him to head east to join the others in northern Iraq. Roussel's fear was that the Seljuk's would pick off the armies one by one, ending the revolt once and for all. Therefore, he kept his army within Armenia, relatively close to both the army in Iraq and the army in Adana.

Several weeks after Roussel had finished dealing with the Seljuk levies, Tharwan's scouts reported a massive army marching through his territory in Iraq. Roussel rushed east, desperate to join his comrades in the decisive battle. However, when Roussel was within one province of the battle, he received news that Fariburz and Tharwan were already routed, having taken significant casualties. (Note: I got there as the battle was ending and didn't want to throw my men away in a battle that was already lost.)

Casualties had been relatively light with only 1,500 of Tharwan's army being killed. He and Fariburz successfully withdrew into central Iraq and began to recover slowly. Meanwhile, the Seljuks counter-sieged everything that had been captured in northern Iraq, taking it back very quickly. The massive army of roughly 10,000 men then withdrew east, for reasons Roussel could not understand.

Gumustekin then finally finished besieging Adana and was decided to head east to join Fariburz and Tharwan's army, bringing them up to an army of roughly 9,000 men. This group laid siege to a province on the border between Iraq and southern Armenia while Roussel laid siege to Edessa, just to their north. The main revolt army succeeded in capturing the province, provoking the Seljuks into attacking once more. This time they arrived with an army of 15,000, marching directly on the smaller revolt army.

The Seljuks fell upon Tharwan, Fariburz, and Gumustekin's army immediately, initially gaining the upper hand thanks to their superior numbers. However, this time the terrain was in favor of the defenders, allowing the rebels to resist much more effectively. Roussel had immediately struck camp when he received news of the approaching Seljuk army, but he could only hope he would arrive this time. If the rebels were defeated, the war would be over, and Roussel would be in danger of punishment by the sultan.

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When Roussel's men took the field, they found the battle well balanced by turning slightly in the Seljuks' favor. However, the Norman infantry reinforced the front, steadily pushing the weary Seljuks back. While the battle ground on, Roussel gathered his knights in preparation for a grand charge. The Seljuks were largely locked in battle, and they were not expecting the sudden arrival of heavily armed and armored warriors. After Roussel had organized his men, he leaad a devastating charge against the flank of the Seljuks, quickly routing them from the field.

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As the Seljuks' cavalry fled, their infantry soon lost heart and formed into a headless mass, desperate to escape the slaughter. Roussel's fresh warriors rampaged through the retreating horde, striking many of their foes down. As the day ended, the Seljuks had lost almost 8,000 men, over half their army. It is likely the sultan could have eventually gathered a new army, either through mercenaries or new levies from his vassals. However, the massive loss had devastated the sultanate's finances and manpower reserves, leading the regency council to negotiate. All of Fariburz's demands were met, allowing the four conspirators to leave the Seljuk Empire.

Roussel's first goal of shattering the Seljuk Empire was successful, but his ulterior motives remained to be satisfied. Gumustekin had proven he was an incompetent warrior, and his armies had been severely depleted in the fighting. He was greatly overstretched, trying to dominate the restless Armenians in Cilicia while his core realm was only two counties.

Once Roussel's army returned to Kaisereia, he immediately declared a holy war against Gumustekin, intent on taking the entirety of Cilicia. The war was uneventful, especially as one of Gumustekin's two counties in Armenia revolted against him, leaving his army too weak to do anything. After several lengthy sieges, he eventually surrendered Cilicia to Roussel. The Greeks were quick to exploit this sudden weakness on their borders, invading and conquering both Gumustekin and his rebellious vassal.

Roussel returned Seleukeia to the eldest Pahlavuni, restoring his birthright. Teleuch, the easternmost province that served as the gateway to Cilicia, was given to Robert; the boy had grown into a masterful warrior, but he continued to have behavior problems as he was angry, proud, and lazy. Roussel hoped the young would grow into a true ruler if given territory, but it would happen that he was sorely disappointed...

Note: Sorry for the lack of screenshots, but I hope this is still coherent and interesting. This all follows what happened in game, and I actually had played up to Roussel's death.
 
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Typical Norman trickery :eek:, joining the Turks only to take them down from within! Will Roussel stop at nothing to achieve greatness? To fight side-by-side with the Saracens is sacrilege, but these Normans are truly perfidious :D. I'm so sad about your hard drive failing, as I'm really enjoying this read. It's fitting in a way though, as now this AAR can be said to be a biography of Roussel, his antics and exploits, and how he impacted history, rather than a long narrative about the de Bailleul family.
 
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