Duke Alberto II d'Este of Lombardy
Part 1
The task before me is gargantuan. Restoring the Italian kingdom while keeping the Germans distracted enough? The odds are against my House, but we will survive and grow. We will oust those pretenders to Imperial glory out of our lands, OUR lands!
But where to begin? To the east are the lands of the Veronians/Karinthians, who are powerful in terms of allies and men. Those Germans do love to breed. We will remedy that. But I digress, his lands are not an option at the moment.
We have de jure claims on lands in Brescia and Trent, but the former is held by the duchess of Tuscany, Mathilda di Canossa and the latter by the duke of Bavaria. I cannot handle them. Yet.
That leaves the west: there lie the counties of Monferrato and Saluzzo, whos rulers fawn to get into the German oppressor's good book. With no allies and small armies they are ripe for reëducation of Italian might. Perfect. My chancellor is send to procure the needed documents.
At the same time I plot to get a claim on the duchy of Verona through virtue of me holding lands in Padua. The of beer reaking Bertrand must be impopular, as I am gathering support quickly.
A message arrives that there is count plotting to get the duchy of Verona granted to a new ruler. A weakened Verona with me having a claim on it? Perfect. I join. This plot grows quickly and to my great distaste the 'Kaiser' gets involved. Luckily he manages to get the duchy granted to a new ruler. Unfortunately, it was granted to another German. Bah. But I have a claim on it, so all will be set right soon.
It wasn't hard for my chancillor to fabricate the claim on Monferrato. Many of the nobles are disgruntled about their liege being too germanofilic. But in the process a lot of gold had been spent, and I am bankrupt. War has to wait a couple of months.
When my lack of funds is finally resolved, I gather my levies and march west. The Monferratian troops don't stand a chance and are whiped out. The siege begins while that German-loving coward hides in his store rooms filled with that disgusting brew called beer.
And once more my chancillor proves his usefulness as ancient documents providing claim for me on Saluzzo are produced at a staggering rate, leaving me bankrupt once more.
In the mean while, the Occitan imposters and Italian nobles rise in unison against the barbarian Emperor. Fools. They are not strong enough, by far. I that 'Kaiser' as well, but I am not stupid, no sir! Yuck, just saying that perverted form of a noble title leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
Ugo comes of age and marries an Italian noble woman from the south, Gaita di Salerno. He also asks if he could be chancellor, but I deemed it too dangerous so I declined.
Monferrato falls and is annexed, its land given to trusted Italians. Actually, to a distant kinsman of mine. He has a son, but he is not of our dynasty though. A few months later the same goes for Saluzzo and that county is given to my heir, Ugo.
The peasants have risen against me. How dare they! I am reïnstating La Bella Italia and they rebel against me? Ah marshall, you bring news? The rebels defeated? By whom? Bourgognian rebels... Well, that worked out fine then.
Now on to... Yes spymaster, what is it? What about my son Folco? He's dead? Comatose? No, no, this can't be... Search the court, there must be Germans around! There is one! Imprison the filthy beerguzzler!
Ok, that didn't make me more popular with my vassals, but it was immensely satisfying. What, there are more Germans at court? An infestation! Imprison them all!
I lost count, how many did we imprison? 4? Good, keep my court clean of this vermin. What? My vassals hate me now? I don't care, I don't suffer Germans at my court.
Back to foreign relations. In the south is a little republic called Bologna. They are ruled by plebs, so must be brought under proper aristocratic rule. My chancellor manages to bribe enough of their own ilk to allow me to attack them without impunity. Rally my troops and get ready to march! What do you mean detour? 3800 Tuscans in Cremona? Well, I guess we have to detour then yes.
Now that those plebs have been brought to heel, count Ubaldo deemed it an appropriate time to plot against me. Traitor! Put him in jail with the German swines. He refuses? Drag him out of his keep then? REBELLION? THAT FILTHY *censored*! I WILL *censored* WITH HIS COUSINS TWICE REMOVED AND *censored* HIS CHICKENS!
His troops are overwhelmed quickly in the face of my wrath and his holdings are seized. Too bad that forest barbarian in the north can't rule his lands properly, now I lack the power to revoke titles.
Ok, all quiet on the western front, lets turn our gaze east. Verona is still in wrong hands, time to remedy that. They have no allies, we have no allies. Fair fight I'd say. Their troops are dealt with easily and the siege of Verona starts. Oddly enough, we are helped by a powerful alliance vying the same title: the Karinthians, Bavarians and Swabians want the land as well, but are not hostile to me. With their help the county falls pretty quickly. They head north and I head south.
My body feels weird. My physician came to me today and told me I was getting old. Well ofcourse I was getting old. I threw my bedpan. It hit him, but unfortunately it was empty.
I can hear them talking in my chamber. They don't know it, but I am not dead yet. Apparently Mathilda died and now the rebellion is over. Her two infant sons have divided her territory between her. Interesting.
My son told me today the war in Verona was won. I now have two titles. That is good I suppose. I can't remember.
Some sly merchant convinced me to buy an inn. Apparently it is called the Mead Fountain and bards play there from time to time. As long as they are not German bards I am happy. Or was it Norman bards? I... I don't know. Where is my son Folco? I want to speak to him.
I am angry, very angry! Now what I am angry about again? Oh yes! Remember my kinsman who I made count of Monferrato? I barely do, but that is besides the point. When he died, his undynastic son took over, and now he claims to be a better ruler of Lombardy then me! Traitor! I will quarter him and feeds his entrails to the Germans in my prison!
Yes marshall, I am done ranting against him. What? Who? When did I appoint that kinsman brother to rule in Padua? Oh yes ofcourse. Now what was it again? WHAT? The counts of Bologna and Grisons think HE is a better ruler then me? I will... I will... well, I can't remember what I will do to them, but I am sure it is gruesome!
Good news from that inn though. My steward sold the place for a hefty profit. Now I can buy a pink bunny. Or mercs, whatever my marshall wants. I prefer the bunny though.
I think the Franks are trying to poison me! Or is it the Germans? It's all so confusing. At any rate, I developed this nasty cough I can't get rid of.
I see my son standing beside me. There are tears in his eyes. Why? Everything feels at peace. Oh, what a shiny bright light, I think I will go towards it.
Note: Yes, I did recycle text and 1 screenshot as they were remarkably similar to what happened in the second game. They really start to split where the plot actually fired succesfully instead of ending in war.
The situation ended up almost the same, with 3 differences.
1) The county of Bologna is my vassal
2) Alberto died
3) The rebellion was inconclusive, with no titles revoked