We haven't heard from the Caliph in a while. It seems he's invading Syria. I really don't want to go there:
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I don't support offensive crusades for expansion, which is more or less how Syria came to the HRE, but I can't really sit around when Christian monarchs are getting hammered and Muslim ones rising through conquest. Our ancestors saw what a potent Caliph could do. It wasn't that far ago. First and foremost, the Kaiser really should be able to handle himself without help.
Here's some Byzantine warfare:
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Huge deployment, massive concurrent sieges at max supply, fastest possible finish, is the way to make sure the situation doesn't get out of control. Sometimes it still does anyway. So better minimise the opportunity.
Speaking of opportunity, I've caught my son misassessing his.
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Remember Terebovl? I had granted the county to the son and heir of the Count of Latgale in the lands of the Teutonic Order. The late count has just died:
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This means one county off the Hochmeister.
Shortly thereafter there is a parade:
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We looked dashing. Particularly when she slides from saddle right into my arms, which the Byzantines are keen to interpret as a sign of my political subjection, while the Poles see it quite the other way and the two of us just don't care, we're simply too tired. She still trusts me implicitly with her life despite all the differences.
Meanwhile my restless vassals go to war in Armenia:
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Leontia is still pleased with me, although the temperature is falling after the brief rise. It also turns out she's somehow been graded as a military commander. I have doubts about leaving her alone with the past in wars I disagreed with:
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My heart is warmed by news from Pinsk:
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But the Byzantine affairs will never let me forget them. The main stem of the Komnenoi, at least in terms of eldest-child descent via the daughters of Michael Komnenos (elder brother of Manuel, the founder of the "Piast" dukes all over Asia Minor), is dying out. This precludes some potential future marriages into the Polish royal line:
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The war I never did a thing in is over:
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And there's some more good news, from Alania and Karvuna:
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I receive some temporal recognition outside of any war really:
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Perhaps I should come to terms with the role of my dynasty as administrators and diplomats. And amateur theologians. But it's so hard when your ancestors have all been warriors. Better or worse strategists but always warriors. I've been in camp all over the eastern world myself.
I mentioned the Komnenos Piasts. Well, look at them. There's a strategic marriage going on. The new Duchess from Bulgaria and one of those dukes. Oh well, their ancestors actually ruled the land anyway:
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...But their claim to it is over, due to lack of pressing. What was I to do? Declare war on my own wife?
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Speaking of war, there is one I forgot:
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Vladimir, a powerful and historical capital of Rurikovich princes, has come back to the Catholic fold:
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Shortly thereafter I don't know what happens but my vassals appreciate my rule in a sweeping trend:
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Not all of them, though, which needs fixing:
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I basically return the Count of Terebovl under the Duchy of Galich's liegeance. The Duke is happy for this in its own right and also loses the reason for discontent. A double bonus to our relations.
On 30 April 1422 Uncle Dobieslaw dies:
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There goes one of the old 'founders', in terms of generations rather than personal merit, although he did serve his country in some important positions. He was born back when 'we' were still fighting the Hordes on expeditions without really knowing where that would go. So this symbolically marks the end of an era. I am so far disconnected from those times myself, born of a young woman my father married in his old age. My very own elder sister born of his first marriage was already grey and could have been my grandmother. That skipped a generation or two in an artificial way.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I don't support offensive crusades for expansion, which is more or less how Syria came to the HRE, but I can't really sit around when Christian monarchs are getting hammered and Muslim ones rising through conquest. Our ancestors saw what a potent Caliph could do. It wasn't that far ago. First and foremost, the Kaiser really should be able to handle himself without help.
Here's some Byzantine warfare:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Huge deployment, massive concurrent sieges at max supply, fastest possible finish, is the way to make sure the situation doesn't get out of control. Sometimes it still does anyway. So better minimise the opportunity.
Speaking of opportunity, I've caught my son misassessing his.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Remember Terebovl? I had granted the county to the son and heir of the Count of Latgale in the lands of the Teutonic Order. The late count has just died:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
This means one county off the Hochmeister.
Shortly thereafter there is a parade:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
We looked dashing. Particularly when she slides from saddle right into my arms, which the Byzantines are keen to interpret as a sign of my political subjection, while the Poles see it quite the other way and the two of us just don't care, we're simply too tired. She still trusts me implicitly with her life despite all the differences.
Meanwhile my restless vassals go to war in Armenia:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Leontia is still pleased with me, although the temperature is falling after the brief rise. It also turns out she's somehow been graded as a military commander. I have doubts about leaving her alone with the past in wars I disagreed with:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
My heart is warmed by news from Pinsk:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
But the Byzantine affairs will never let me forget them. The main stem of the Komnenoi, at least in terms of eldest-child descent via the daughters of Michael Komnenos (elder brother of Manuel, the founder of the "Piast" dukes all over Asia Minor), is dying out. This precludes some potential future marriages into the Polish royal line:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The war I never did a thing in is over:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
And there's some more good news, from Alania and Karvuna:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I receive some temporal recognition outside of any war really:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Perhaps I should come to terms with the role of my dynasty as administrators and diplomats. And amateur theologians. But it's so hard when your ancestors have all been warriors. Better or worse strategists but always warriors. I've been in camp all over the eastern world myself.
I mentioned the Komnenos Piasts. Well, look at them. There's a strategic marriage going on. The new Duchess from Bulgaria and one of those dukes. Oh well, their ancestors actually ruled the land anyway:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
...But their claim to it is over, due to lack of pressing. What was I to do? Declare war on my own wife?
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Speaking of war, there is one I forgot:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Vladimir, a powerful and historical capital of Rurikovich princes, has come back to the Catholic fold:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Shortly thereafter I don't know what happens but my vassals appreciate my rule in a sweeping trend:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Not all of them, though, which needs fixing:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I basically return the Count of Terebovl under the Duchy of Galich's liegeance. The Duke is happy for this in its own right and also loses the reason for discontent. A double bonus to our relations.
On 30 April 1422 Uncle Dobieslaw dies:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
There goes one of the old 'founders', in terms of generations rather than personal merit, although he did serve his country in some important positions. He was born back when 'we' were still fighting the Hordes on expeditions without really knowing where that would go. So this symbolically marks the end of an era. I am so far disconnected from those times myself, born of a young woman my father married in his old age. My very own elder sister born of his first marriage was already grey and could have been my grandmother. That skipped a generation or two in an artificial way.
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