Estonian Suomenusko AAR

[Maceman121]

So, I decided I wanted to try a new character out, and figured the Estonian Suomenusko was a small enough, and challenging enough location to look like fun. I have done well in my Zoroastrian campaign, so I am hoping I can succeed here as well. This is my first AAR, so please go gently. I also have the first 7 chapters done (A chapter is major events or 10 pictures, whichever comes first). They start a bit slow as a lot happens, but as time goes on, I start going over the bigger picture and key points. I do not do anything gamey, so at times it gets annoying, but I push through and get a lucky break sometimes as well. Read on, and please comment.

Using character creation, I created my ruler, Chief Paksyut of Tartu. I think he looks pretty good, and is heavily focused in the martial side, though he has a bit of skill all over as he is a genius. I thought it was suiting considering how much I wanted him to be able to do quickly.


(My Character)


(My lands)

My name is Paksyut Revala, and I hail from the land of Tartu, or at least I do now. Until recently, I had wondered the lands, mostly in Tartu, but sometimes I did vary my home. It was an interesting life, having no family that I even knew of, but by skill of arms, I survived. It was during one of the many competitions that I heard the old Chief of Tartu had died without an heir and a tournament was being held to declare the new chief from amongst the strongest around. I had no choice, I entered, and through sheer skill, I won. With that victory, I took charge of my new lands and settled into my new, small, keep. It was good to be king, or at least chief.
The very first thing I did was take a quick stock of who I had working for me. Overall, they seemed to be very competent, with only my Steward lacking the exceptional skills some of the others had. Luckily I had a very good chancellor, after all I knew my diplomacy was nothing to brag about. Talking to them, I quickly realized that it wasn't that they disliked me for any real reason, they just did not trust me. I did just take charge, so I could deal with that.


The very first thing I did was send them all to Tatu to get to work. My chancellor went to make everyone like me, my marshal to help train troops, my spy master to scheme and keep me safe, and my Diviner to help with the technology spread. My Steward went as well, but I am not so sure he is really going to gather much tax at all, and I fear he may hurt the cause. Regardless, with everyone working at home, I knew the next thing I had to do. Being 36, time is not really on my side if I don't start having kids soon. With this knowledge, I had Velmayka, my chancellor, look around for a wife. He searched far and wide, and came back with a little beauty. She was younger than I expected, less than half my age, but he promised me that simply meant that she had more years to give me kids and that all the women of the faith not already married were her age anyways. I trusted him and went to talk to the girl.


She was a very interesting girl to talk to, far smarter than her age suggested. Not only that, but she had a smooth tongue (in more ways than one I later learned), and soon suggested we spar a bit. Though I feared I would crush her, I did spar her, and she did well, better than most men I had met. It ended the only way it could, consummating a marriage not yet made. After that, I went back to Velmayka and told him to make arrangements, I wanted her. A few days later, she arrived back and we were married, I deciding the gold (1 gold) was not worth collecting and I would show my people I could cover my own marriage. It made them far happier, which made up for the fact I was marrying a nobody.
Married, the next thing I decided was I wanted to be Marshal for my lord. Thankfully, he agreed with that thought and within days of me taking charge I was already his marshal. That was good, it gave me an in with him, and an advantage over my fellow chiefs. With this in mind, I quickly raised my troops and headed them south to Latgale to start to raid those people. I needed money in my coffers, and this was the only way I knew how to.


While I am not really sure why I was training troops for my lord, I think it ended up going well for me. Thanks to the time off my leg, I was able to finally let it heal the wound I got from the tournament. Unfortunately it left a bit of a scar, but it only goes to show how much of a warrior I am, so I am happy.


Come July, my troops have stolen all the loot that they could manage to grab, and so I move them to the south east to take some of the gold from Daugava. Knowing they had raised some troops, I figured it would be great for my men to get a battle under their belts, and I looked forward to it. Just to make sure things go in my favor, I send my marshal Inzhay to lead the men. It went as well as expected, we crushed all but a few of them. They won't mess with me anytime soon, I am sure of it.


The problem I saw was that the High Chief of the Lettagallians raised up troops to combat my men, so Inzhay was wise enough to break the looting and headed back to Latgale to strike the troops before they were ready. It went well, really well. He was crushed, and Inzhay followed them back towards Daugava where they were once more quickly routed though with little in the way of casualties. I did manage to capture a man named Stegut, but since his lord refused to pay his 10 gold ransom I had little choice but to execute him.




Another retreat, and we follow. This happens for a while and we whittle him down to nearly nothing. We manage to capture another two prisoners, but like the first, they refuse to pay a ransom and so we have them executed. I plan to invade them soon, so the less fighters they have, the better off it is. I just wish we caught a chief and were able to make a bit of coin. My troops couldn't loot much, not enough soldiers, so the fighting was my hope for money. Oh well, on 11 September, 868 my troops return home, and Inzhay goes back to training. During this time though, we do have a little unsettling of news, it seems. I am not sure how this will affect me or my little lands, but I cannot imagine it will go too well.


For now, my men have done well, and we relax, recover and save up. Thankfully my chancellor does not fail me throughout, and manages to get my spymaster and steward to learn how good a man I am. It is indeed good to be chief.

 

[Maceman121]

Sitting back, I take some time to allow myself to build up some funds. I plan on rebelling quite soon, and I think a set of mercenaries might make this much easier. To pass the time, I marry off my spymaster to the only woman I have in my court. It might not be perfect since he is ill and weak, but hey, here is to hoping baby making doesn't kill him.


(Yeah, he isn't the best, but he has 4 more intrigue than my wife who is next best…).
I do decide that it might be wise to prepare for having some nobles under me, and so I change the levy laws to maximum. With no nobles to fight me, it gets passed right away, and now I won't have to worry about them getting mad at me for changing the laws when I take them over. I think I am quite smart that way.
Finally, on the 28th of May, I find out my wife is pregnant. It is a real relief, because I know I am a healthy, virile young man, and I sure am horny enough to be enjoying my wife on a regular basis. I can only hope this will be a son. Thankfully, throughout the pregnancy, nothing amiss happens and my chancellor continues to make people like me. Thinking ahead, I do send him off to my neighbors so they like me as well, making it easier when I ascend the throne.


I get lucky, we have a son. I am really happy, and I name him after my nonexistent grandfather, Andyamo. I am sure I had a grandfather by that name, or if not, I pretend I did. As I was leaving the room to let the mid-wife take care of my wife, I got hit in the head with a shoe and she screamed at me to get back there. I just managed to turn around and walk closer before seeing something else popping out. I caught it just in time to find out I had a second son. Turns out, they were twins, and I later learned, both are geniuses. A whole family of geniuses, who would have thought? Hopefully this will help them in life. Now I can only hope to have a daughter, though I hope she isn't a twin as well. I wonder how long I have to wait before we can start trying again?




Taking the birth of twin genius sons as a sign, I declare I should be in charge of the area. I head off and quickly crush the opposition in one single battle. I than proceed to siege the capitol city and assault it eventually. It goes well, but right at the end, I find out my chancellor has been lazy of late. Now, I decide he has done well enough in the past to excuse it, this time, but he and I do have a serious talk.
http://www.imagebam.com/image/bf956e276494731

At the end, he decides to back talk to me, quite harshly. I get upset that he had the galls to talk back to his chief, though I suppose he did have a point. After all, he had made me many friends. Still, I am mad at him.


A little while later, my wife is pregnant again. Wow, she is actually doing quite well, I just hope its not another set of twins. Really, but I am hoping to have a little girl.


Less than a year late, I manage to subjugate the last of the High Chief's holdings and I force him to surrender. I am a nice man, and so while I become the High Chief of Livonia, I let him keep his lands and be a normal chief. He doesn't love me, but at least he is alive, so he doesn't really, completely hate me. The downside to all of this, I am now at war with two other groups, and I don't know how well I will do. Oh well, maybe we can make some coin.


Turns out, this war is far more complicated than I thought. It isn't only against two enemies, but four, each enemy having an ally. I get nervous, but I have no choice, I took control and they want to use it to their advantage. I move south, attacking the Lettigallian coalition on their own soil. I head south east to attack their main army when I see the Yatviags and Lithuanian coalition coming at me with a stack just as large. I avoid them and slam home my victory against the Lettigallians. In the battle, I show I am brave, and now I just rock with martial abilities. Sometime while at war, my wife gives birth to another genius son. Yeah, we are a very smart family.


Not sure if that victory scared off the Yatviags or their other war called their troops, but they marched home and I started to feel better about that war. Still a two war battle, and a faction of the old chief wanting his title back, so it will be a challenge. After another battle, I break down the Lettigallian's even more, capturing a priest in battle. For 25 gold, I ransom him back, he was a poor fighter anyways, so the money will fund my mercenaries longer. I end up crushing his army just in time to see another group marching in to lay claims to his land. At least this looks good for me, at last.
I end up sending my spymaster to put down the faction, and he earns his keep. Three days after arrival, I get the chance to threaten the man and boom, he agrees not to join any faction against me. Good, now he should dismiss his faction and save me some problems. My chancellor mean while keeps making some good friends for me, making me regret ever thinking he was lazy. Oh yeah, sometime around then my worthless steward died, so I replaced him with someone equally unskilled and told him to at least try to learn something new.
16 May, 872 I end the war with the Lettigallian's by taking over their capitol. It was not hard, and I am glad to have done it. Though I gain little, it is something for the moment. Returning home, with mercenaries still hired, I turn around and declare subjugation of Latgale, knowing he is already in a war, has already lost Daugava because of it, and is ripe for conquest. Revenge is sweet, and I don't even need my vassals. I just forgot I was still at war.

 

[Maceman121]

CHAPTER 3
(Sorry, I forgot to label the last chapters. Also, this is taking a while to post due to needing moderator approval for each)

My mercenaries moved south, and attacked Latgale. He only has 169 men, so the minute I can, I order the assault, which we of course win. Problem is, I see a huge army of Yatviags coming in from my eastern flank. Not sure how they got there, but I quickly raise levies to help repel them, knowing they cannot be stopped by a single raise. Looking at the calendar, I see they will arrive in Tautu before my levies there can escape, so I decide to do something tactical about it. I send Chief Nalka, the former High Chief, to lead the army, figuring if he dies it saves me a lot of problems and hatred.


Since he is not a very good military leader, I expect little out of him. But he proves me wrong, not only has he held off the invaders for weeks with his puny army, but he managed to kill Bukantas, a really skilled martial tactician in battle. Good riddance to that man, and hopefully my main army will be ready to strike shortly.




As the range battle ends, my troops get slaughtered, but that is ok. Only problem is that Nalka doesn't get killed. A shame, but such is life, he did well enough. As that battle ends, the High Chief of Latgale surrenders. I take his land with pride as now I can focus on my last war. I make two vassals there, and I get ready to move on to attack my main threat.


I meet my enemy in Narva, and it looks like it will be a solid battle, but in truth, it was a massacre. I slaughter the enemy in the shooting phase, losing 60 of my men and killing over half of his own. I quite enjoy it and move to chase them down as they retreat, the fools.


As I march to kill the enemy, I get a notice that my son is afraid of the dark. Now this is not good, as Andyamo is my heir, and now likely a coward. I talk to him and try to figure out the cause, but end up just making him too trusting. Oh well, at least he can talk well with others now.


When I catch up to the enemy, I take their troops from 560 soldiers to 165, making them flee almost as I arrive. I also manage to capture Mayor Songaila of Rus in the battle. He is worth 25 gold, but he is a decent character so instead I kill him. I can't risk his return to the field, ever. I finish off that army and head south to take the battle to their lands. I happen to pass through Latgale and notice a lot of fools worshipping the wrong gods, so I take a moment to send my diviner in to rectify this issue. 17 December 873 we win the war completely. Their armies destroyed, I get my prestige, my piety, and some gold. Now I return home, drop my levies and prepare to make war again. Constant war, it's all I know.
I look into my realm, and see where my levies are coming from. My one chief hates me so much I don't bother with him, but my others at least like me some. My focus turns to Chief Vechkas of Narva, as he likes me a little and I really need his troops. Knowing he isn't that great, but still wanting his support, I grant him the title of Champion of the Realm. He really likes that, and my chancellor is there to make him like me even more. I need his loyalty before I risk another war.
My wife is pregnant again. Maybe this time I shall have a daughter, as is my dream for a complete family. Yet it seems fate conspires against me, I have another son. At this rate, I am going to need to send them all to churches in order to keep any semblance of my kingdom together. Thankfully, he is a genius, like his entire family.


With the coming of the new year, I decide that I need to go to war and stop waiting for my vassal to like me more. As a matter of fact, I waited so long some vassals don't like me much anymore, so I know I need to win. I declare a subjugation of Lithuania against the High Chief Iziaslav. He is a fair size bigger than I am, but with my mercenaries and him already in a war across a river, I think I stand a fair chance of winning.


Come June, while invading, my chancellor goes and makes my chief like me more. Great, about six months behind schedule. We have had a few set backs on the siege, but I push forward having no choice. After the siege, I manage to capture the heir of Dvina, and so I ransom him back for 26 gold. Normally I would keep him and convert him, but I need the coin badly if I hope to win the war.

 

[Maceman121]

CHAPTER 4

Having lay siege Dvina, I move to in to chase down the enemy stack of 1600. It begins a bit of a chase, but I manage to strike him in Zemaitija when he got stuck in a small skirmish with the local lord. We deal a heavy amount of damage and I chase him to run down his troops as they flee, the cowards. Oh, and now I find out my wife is pregnant, another genius son I bet. If nothing else, she has great loins at least.


In the midst of battle I get a request to lower city taxes by Mayor Altocumulus. I think this is an absurd request, and he is taking advantage of the situation we are in, but I use my diplomatic skills to smooth things over. For now, at least, things seem to be smooth. But shortly later, another request, and again I smooth it over. Cheap bastards.




(At this point, I forgot to save and my game crashed about a year later, so now I get to go back and change things around. *sighs* it was good times)
At this time, there is a split on my enemy (not as nice of one as before) as someone tries to declare independence. Not bad, as it helps my fight, but it is someone else I must worry about. My genius son, the non heir one of course, realizes that he always wants more toys. I send him outside and he becomes diligent. The sun did him some good, finally.


The siege ends and I capture my enimies son. I offer him back for a modest price of 10 gold, but he doesn't want him. At age 4, I keep him so I can convert him to my faith and my culture. It is a good time bomb to have and once he changes I can release him to spread chaos for his father. I have another genius son. At this rate, I am going to run out of temples to send them to and they are going to destroy me. Really woman, can't you give me a daughter? My son Inzhay, the non heir twin, is content in life. This is good, I encourage him to be content so he won't be an issue for his brother when the time comes and I die.


Turns out I now know why Inzhay is content in his life. His brother Andyamo, the important one, is a just man and makes sure everyone gets an equal share. This explains much about Inzhay. Oh, and soon enough he becomes a zealot. A just zealot, that makes sense to me.


Around this time, I decide that it is time for Chief Nalka to die. He is a pain in my rear, hates me, and isn't worth anything. Death sounds wise, and a few others agree. His own spymaster thinks it is time he dies, this shouldn't be too hard. Latgale also is converted, about time. They see the right way now, my gods or no gods.


Chief Nalka shortly after dies, something about the wine not sitting well. It is a shame no one knows what happens, and his spy master seems to just be completely baffled by the cause. I know the truth, and with him gone, his son who does not hate me has taken over. This is a much better relationship, especially since he is only five.


Taking advantage of the war situation, I move up to Polotsk to attack one of the rebelling lords armies. It goes far better than I expected. I end up capturing the noble and one of his only vassals. The lord himself is worth 70 gold, and he is willing to pay. Since he gains me nothing in this war, I ransom him back, knowing those funds can really help me along in my wars. Not only that, but I take over his siege which happens to be well over half-done. Perfect.


I soon find out my three year old son is often in fights with other toddlers. That is something I would love to see, and I tell him such. He turns out to be filled with wroth, but that only means he is a better fighter and will serve his eldest brother better for it. With everyone getting tired of this war, I send them all home and disband them. I figure if I give them some time off, they will become happier and I can raise a larger army. For now, my one unit of mercenaries seems to be doing fine. Turns out, in all this time, my son the heir is lazy. Also, when my prisoner complains about his cell, I toss him even deeper into the pits. Hey, no one said I was nice.


I find that my wife is, once more, pregnant. Not only that, but I now move to the last holding of my enemy in this region, hoping that I might be able to end this silly war soon. At the rate I am going, it may never end, and having just started the stables back home, I need the money as quickly as I can. In a few months, I have a daughter. A plain, simple daughter. I am just glad that we are not one of those odd eastern religions that feel the need to marry family. I mean really, if my son had to marry his sister to make people happy, we would be wasting a perfectly good concubine. Well, I kid there, but I am very happy to have a daughter. With her birth, I see a sign from the gods. Tis time I became the High King of Lithuania, whatever that is.

 

[unmerged(47028)]

It is interesting start. Why did you prefer the Kingdom of Lithuania over the Kingdom of Finland? You would have had the same culture and religion there.

 

[Maceman121]

Mnplastic, to be honest, mostly because of my start location and the way things unfolded. It went well with Lithuania since I did not need to keep trying to cross the water to invade. As you can, and will, see, things unfold to make Lithuania a very easy kingdom to claim.

 

[Maceman121]

CHAPTER 5

My love for my wife cannot be overstated, yet I am not foolish enough to dismiss a very loyal servant for her. Though she is angered by this, I stand my ground knowing the woman has given me plenty of children already so her getting mad won't accomplish much.


Inzhay seems a bit too trusting of people, so after a quick talk with him, I make him envious. He shall make a good spy master yet. Content and envious, the way to be. Early in the year, my wife is pregnant again. I knew all along that we were meant to be together, and it is obvious how often we are together. Now I am starting to wish we could be together without procreating. If only. Andyamo starts to lie a lot, so we talk. I was hoping to make an honest man out of him, but seems like he just stops lying quite so much.
Another son, also normal, is born. Really, I am running out of land for boys. I am not getting any younger here. The war is going well, albeit slowly, and I raise my own levies to help speed things up, even if they cost a pretty penny. While the war rages my steward dies and I replace him with someone just as useless. With one council change, I also swap out my spymaster. I found a pretty, albeit pregnant, woman who is much better. She is a genius and I suppose can use her wily ways to get the information we need.


War is an interesting thing, it brings out the darker sides of us. Today, for example, I remembered how many prisoners I had in my dungeon. Thinking it over, I remembered a chieftess I held. Her husband didn't want to pay the 10 coin to get her back, so I figured she would be the perfect one to play with. Oh, how I was right. Andyamo is kind while his brother is deceitful. They will do well together.


After a heck of a final battle, or rather massacre, I end the war. We are at last victorious, but as soon as it ends, I find myself already engaged in another war. This sucks, but at least I think I am defending, but no matter, I will call my levies and get to war. Now my clerics at least have something to get started converting.




In short term, I am offered a White Peace. Since I am defending, I have nothing to lose and take it. This should give me some time to consolidate my holdings and get ready for another war. Since I have levies out, I form them together and get ready to do some raiding to see if I can make some good money. While I have this peace, I start to convert my new followers, though I cannot demand conversion so it will be hard. I need to consolidate this region quickly and move east. I hope my looting will get me the coin I need in order to start a new war soon.


Andyamo is honest at last. After all, his brother needs to lie, he needs to work well with others. I start off on the Grand Hunt and I have quite a bit of fun. I get a nice pelt, diligently chase my prey, and even manage to kill the white stag, though I got myself hurt in the process. No matter, I have survived worse.


With my great hunt over, I decide it is time for war again. I decide to subjugate the Red Stag since he has two counties, while I make a conquest against the Blue Stag as he has but one. This will increase my own holdings and should make it easier to loot and perhaps even make a kingdom. Kingdoms aren't cheap after all. Too bad right after the war starts, I get ill. Damn fighting, and I haven't even fought yet.


Now that we are in war, I find myself loving life. In the middle of battle, I realize I am even better today than I was ever before. With a few experiments, I find I can turn the tide of battle in my favor over and over again, though sometimes I make mistakes. Oh well, I never was one for being by the books anyways. And thanks to the victories in battle, I am no longer sick anymore. I always said a bloodbath can heal anything. Within a week of the bloodbath, my hunting wound heals, leaving another nasty scar. Alright blood!


Inzhay is charitable, giving away his toys. No wonder he is so envious, he gives away everything he owns. Grodno quickly falls as I hunt down his last army, making this war even easier to win and letting me raid some more. Polotsk converts to the true faith as well, making life at least a little easier for everyone. By November 884, the Red Stag collapses and I win that war. A few more raids and I shall go on to attack some more, but money first. I really need money. I am Livonia, hear me roar!

 

[Maceman121]

CHAPTER 6

The time to raid has come. I send out my men and we raid those around us. It may not be a ton, but for the moment it helps to pay the bills. I plan to let people get money back and hit them again soon enough. My wife also passes, illness struck. I never even knew she was sick, stupid wars. Now I am in a bind, I have too many sons at the moment, but I think marriage would be good. I shall look for a political marriage instead. Not only that, but now I have a huge army of vassals forming a faction that I can only hope my spymaster ends before civil war erupts. I really would like the peace.


I get an option to imprision a vassal when I learn he is attempting to kill another vassal. Looking at it, he wants his own father dead, and though he doesn't like me much, his father cannot hate me more. Not only that, but he is in the faction of independence, so I let the plot continue. I would actually love to join it. A short time later a few more plots show. One to kill an heir, I don't care about so I let it go. The other is the father wanting to kill his son. This is perfect. I go to imprison Chief Bubilas, and since my army of 1400 mercenaries is currently on his lands anyways, he surrenders without a fight.


I would let him rot, but I have a better plan. I ransom him back for 70 gold, and then I turn around and revoke his title. With my troops still there, he surrenders to my good idea without a fight and that threat is removed for a while, and weakens that faction while strengthening me.
Latgale, my first claimed land once I became a High Chief, finally embraces my culture. This is wonderful, as now I have a better chance of spreading to foreign lands and claim them as my own. I also move to imprison Chief Patelas for plotting against his father. Just like his father, he is in a faction against me, and I plan the same trick, to once more weaken them and strengthen me.


I forgot that I don't own a claim to his lands. Damn, forgot that little detail, but being imprisoned took him out of the faction it seems so that went well. The ransom also helped me quite a bit, as I needed that money. As a matter of fact, that was the last bit I needed. It is good to be king.


Now that I am king, I really need to find a wife. Instead, I find a young girl, Tuulitar, that I get engaged to. She is 11, when she hits 16, we shall marry. Her father is the High Chief Ahma, and owns one of the holy sites for my faith. She is able to be his heir, stupid brother was born but means no maternal marriage needed, so I hope that we have a child before I die that can inherit that land without a harsh war. I just wish we could start trying now, not because I like the age, but because I don't know how much longer I can live.


Looking at why people hate me, I realize that I have too many duchies. Not a bad thing, but I have the Duchy of Lithuania and none of the lands there, so I decide to give it away. Handing it to Chief Palemon, the leader of the independence faction, I make him love me. Instead of halfway to unable to hate me more, he is just a tiny bit away from unable to love me more. And giving him the lower titles just means I get rid of Chief Patelas as well. And I don't even make the faction any stronger, but now have a chance of dissolving most of it.


Sure enough, when he leaves the faction shortly, they lose over half their power. I just hope he gets rid of Patelas so it really weakens them. I also move to a limited crown authority. Though I shall never see greater in my lifetime, this does allow me to appoint military officers, which makes war so much easier. Meanwhile, my heir takes after me and plays a bit too often in the dungeon, showing a dark anger and a deep wroth. I like it. Also, apparently the Duchy of Polotsk is now a thing.


No worries, I give him Chief Narivat so that I don't need to worry about his claim of independence either. Things are going well, and Chief Iziaslav likes me well enough, considering I took his titles. Wanting to gain more holy lands, I look east towards Pskov. It seems King Rurik is in a war, and so I find this a perfect time to subjugate the county. My mercenaries move in and I declare it so he has little time to react. His raised army is quickly crushed, but he calls in allied Nords who seem to magically make a fleet appear near Nuis. Not good, but no choice but to move on now.
My two sons come of age, with my heir a brilliant strategist. This is actually quite good as he now has a good, rounded stat block. His brother is an amateur plotter, so good for him. He will get that temple anyways. I look for a wife for my son and end up nabbing a concubine for me. She isn't anything special, but she warms the bed while my engaged matures. Perhaps I should have engaged her to my son instead, but oh well, live and learn. My son marries and gains me an alliance, and future claims I hope. I get 22 gold from the marriage, as I am too cheap to pass that up. Armies don't fund themselves.


Chief Palemon becomes my new steward. He is far better than my current one, and shows what a change a little time can make. Before he wanted independence, now he is all but my most loyal servant. Raising my entire army, I send it to reinforce my mercenaries. I arrive just in time as a doom stack slams home. I have 5,188 soldiers verses his 5,584, but mine are led by myself, my heir, and my marshal, the best warriors of the realm. By the end of the battle I stand victorious with just shy of 4,000 men and he just above 3,000. I split my army, leaving a small amount to continue the siege while I chase him down. The lord was there, and though I captured Helgi Ruriksson, the heir to his lands, I failed to capture his dad. I keep him in the dungeons, might be worth more than 46 coins when he inherits the lands. If not, he dies before I end this war.




The following melee cost me just over 200 men, but took almost 1,000 of his men's lives. I continue to give chase while holding onto my siege. Attacking over a major river though is a good way to really mess up your army. I won, but it cost me nearly half my men to do so, but I continue to give chase and manage to capture one of his major war leaders. While worth 70 gold, I decide killing him is far better a decision since he will otherwise haunt me later in war. The war is won, but as I win it, the independence faction attacks, even those who are really good friends to me. Damn them to hell. Now for another war. And to make it worse, I have to let the enemy's heir go because otherwise I won't be able to end the war to fight the rebels. Even worse, but at least I won the war.

 

[Maceman121]

I have a few more chapters to post, but I was curious how many people are actually reading this. Not sure how to see how many people are watching this, so if no one is reading it, I probably will just stop posting.

 

[Maceman121]

CHAPTER 7
It has been just over a year now, and this stupid revolt is finally getting near its end. I destroyed all their armies and now I am getting the last of their lands under siege. I manage to siege Chief Svetoslav's main holding and while doing so, I drag out his fifteen year old sister. As soon as she comes of age, she will become my concubine. That will teach him to rebel.


I also manage to capture Chief Kerpycius' mother in that siege, and he is willing to pay the 10 gold to get her back. She is old enough that she cannot have kids, so I take the coin. It seems that Kiev has no intention of letting me rest in peace and declares war on me for my kingdom. Not sure how to do that, as I cannot seem to gain kingdoms, but hey, whatever. I end the rebellion, hire some new mercenaries and ready for war, again. The goal of fixing my religion slowly being lost in the shadows.
With the rebellion over, I would normally take the lands of the traitors and give them to others, but I really need war funds and each is worth 70 gold. So I bite the bullet, knowing I will regret this, and ransom them back. They all pay. I also come to learn that my son, Mordvinko, likes to throw temper tantrums. Good for him, he needs to know how to fight.


As I invade I notice that his entire army is starting to go southeast, likely to gather. When I look at the independent realms, I see he has around 3,000 men at his disposal, so I do the only thing I can, I gather my forces in his northern most province of Minsk to siege and hopefully oppose him. Seeing as it is across a river, it shall give me a significant advantage against him if he is foolish enough to attack, and if not, it will allow me time to put together all my troops. The wars have cost me and my mercenaries are at under half strength, as are some levies, so I need all the advantages I can get.


The battle takes some time, but he adjoins his forces and moves to attack. I take a risk with a flank being stronger than the center, hoping to drop him so I can get the flanking bonus I need. It works, within a few days the left flank collapses to range and my son can assist me with series damage in the center. The middle falls and finally the right flank drops. It is a bloody battle, but well fought by my men. The river saved many lives and the war is about three quarters over.




As my son chases down the enemy, I find myself not so sure of myself anymore, and the darkness looks a bit spookier.


Chasing down his last small armies, I know I can end the war if I choose, but instead I continue to attack his holdings to see if I can get some better loot and prisoners. I have to end the war sooner than I would have liked though when yet another faction arises for independence. This time, I am killing the members I think. My diviner is thrown into prison by a traitor, so I have to find a new one. Now I really plan to kill them all.
I am married at last; my little girl is old enough to become a woman now. I also manage to take in 33 gold pieces for the wedding, normally I would pass this coin up but that is eight months of warfare fighting, so I cannot pass it up. My next, and likely final goal, is to amass wealth so that my son might be able to afford larger armies and wars. My marshal dies, of age, and so my son replaces him. He is better anyways.
A son comes of age, again. This time I make a bethrothal between him and the High Chieftess Metta. She has no family, and two provinces, and does not need a maternal marriage due to my power and kindness. If it lasts, this will be a perfect way to gather more land up north without a war, just assassinations. In a short amount of time, the war is won, and I quickly declare it over. I would like to capture more vassals that I can release for a boost in relationships, but with both of my neighbors attacking these renegades I cannot afford the war to continue on.
With the war over, I start looking at reorganizing my realm a bit. Iziaslav, the man who had been on great terms with me prior to revolting, could not pay his 145 gold bond. Tired of his revolts, as this made number two, I stripped the Duchy of Polotsk from him. He could pay 70 gold, so I ransomed him for it. In turn, I went to Narvait, who was a vassal of the man before he lost his title, and gave him the duchy, along with all those beneath him. This got rid of Iziaslav for me, and made Chief Narvait happy enough that he won't likely join a faction against me. I say this is a win. Now to focus on the west and finish my conquest of my kingdom and get rid of those annoying neighbors.


I held a great feast, and I tried to make sure everyone was happy, but I became very sad when my own son did not show up. Around this time I decide I need money more than I care that the High Chief Kunos is rotting in my prison, so I ransom him back. I get 145 gold pieces, and he still has a positive view of me, albeit hardly. This fall, I take my men out on a grand hunt. I get hurt as a boar cuts across me as I tried to handle it on my own, but I survive and do well. Everyone notices how great a hunter I am, again. Time to hunt the best game out there, man. Back to a war of conquest.
One of my loyal servants decides it's time to make a faction for independence, no surprise at that. He is a low vassal so he will rot if I can arrest him. Still, my wound heals and the battles are going well. Soon it looks to turn against me as an ally is called in. My one army of mercenaries are attacked and beaten, not once, but twice, and though they survive, they flee. Still, as a primarily range unit, they dealt massive damage which made it far easier to continue the war, and soon enough, he surrendered and his allies left. Yatvyagi is mine, and soon Zemgale will follow. In time, the war ends, and I am, of course, victorious.


I am the Kingdom of Lithuania, formed to keep my lands from fracturing when I die. I have given all my sons a temple, besides my heir, in hopes that helps as well. One son, who is not landed by me, is in Satakuntans, his wife runs that little duchy. My own wife is from Kakisaimians, and I hope we have a child soon so I can kill her brother and claim that land.
By buying my wife poetry books, I find I can make it far easier to get her into bed than I had before. Maybe now she can give me a child or two before I die. I decide it is time to rest a bit, letting all my levies regrow, see if anyone challenges me, and ready for a new war. Gardariki is my target, and one can see I am at nearly twice his strength, good, very good.

 

[Maceman121]

CHAPTER 8
I turn out not to be patient and declare war on my neighbor soon. (Read: I took a day off, and forgot I was going to wait for war, oh well.) I also realize giving temples to my sons did not work as intended, so now I fear my lands will collapse when I die, making my push to change all the more important. Though I lose a battle, and now seem to be in the red this war, my wife is pregnant and I like that. Not only that, but some famous writer wants to write about my family. I don't have much of a lineage, but for 20 gold, I do what my people wish of me. I cannot afford to upset them.


When I finish the siege, I capture a 2 year old genius girl. She will be a perfect concubine if I keep her, and will let my son have intelligent children. I have another son, and I name him Paksyut, after myself. He allows me to now start my plans to kill off the northern heirs and claim that land as my own. For 20 gold, I get his spy master on my side and very quickly, things work out in my favor. One down side, my spymaster was imprisoned. I feel bad for her, but still quickly replace her. I will pay ransom if offered, if not, life is not easy for a woman in prison.




He had her blinded, now she is of little use to me. A shame, she was such a pretty genius. She is home though, so that is good, I suppose. The boy dies, attempting to fly, and no one suspects me. Things are going well, and as soon as I take the last holy site, I will kill my wife and fix the faith. Ever one to work ahead, I have my daughter who just came of age bethroed to the heir of a small duchy. It is a maternal marriage proposal, and he is 14, so we shall see if it sticks when he comes of age. If so, the current ruler will die.
With the major battles over, I split my force into two. They stay adjacent to one another, but I hope capturing more provinces will end this war faster. We shall see, I would like to live to the end of this. I do attempt a plot to kill my wife since she won't join me, and I think my son will, or he too can die. While making this plot, I become very ill.
As I sit outside an enemy castle in siege, I remember all those prisoners I have locked away, including a 13 year old girl I have imprisoned 9 years ago. I forgot about her until I had dreams of the fun I could have with her, but decide to instead leave her be. Actually, I do more than that, she is of my faith, already a ticking time bomb so to speak, so I go and try to ransom her, but fail. I do release her.
I find that my tactic to split my forces is good, as an enemy ally lands with a sizeable force. I am able to capture Toropets completely before moving my troops north to Holmgardr. The enemy stack is moving to Ingria, but as soon as I tell my own, larger force, to march there, he stops. This game of chicken will allow me to capture this province and then strike to kill.


My daughter's husband comes of age and they marry, maternally. I grant him land so as soon as I can, I will kill the man he is heir of and claim that land as my own. As another son comes of age a brilliant strategist, I know my heir will either have an incredible military or a huge list of deadly adversaries. I also gave away Latgale in hopes of breaking up some succession crises, but it seems not to work.
I offer Sandomierz to become a vassal, he is a small, single county lord, but he refuses. So I march my mercenaries down there, and a day before they arrive, I declare war. He has no time to react, and I am on top of him.


A 53 gold tithe of taxes comes in, a nice break as I can use the coin. The more money I have, the longer my mercenaries can stay around. With another truce ending soon, I have my eyes set on a single province leader once more. Once this war is done, they move to the next. I must ever be expanding.
Excellent news, the queen will die soon, so says her spymaster. If things work out well, this will be a perfect time to inherit the land in my son's name. She dies, without knowing who I am. Now to save to kill off my son and claim those land as mine.
With the war ending in my favor, I get ready to do the same tactic to Krakow since he had joined the war anyways. As my troops about land, I declare the war. My heir has a son, named after me. How sweet. It does not take long to wear my enemy down, and I make some decent coin from it, enough to at least pay the mercenary bills while they work, so I call it worth it. The mercenaries move north slightly to prepare to invade some other small provinces.
As they get ready to invade, I find my son being attacked by the Norse. I have no choice but to go and defend him, least I lose what I worked hard on gaining. I don't have control of his land, but I rather kill him as his heir than take it from my enemy. The other down side is money. I had a chance to get a claim on the holy site, but it would have cost way too much, so I had to pass. A shame, really.


Finally we win that war, and though it is not easy, we do it. A small problem, as I fight to defend my son, a faction declares war on me, some friends of mine. I lose a few holdings before I can do anything, and I am at 26% below by the time of the first real battle. Splitting my forces caused a much slower win, but allowed me to save my son from the common enemy. Only issue, he is being subjugated by my daughter-in-law and I can't help there.
My one son is murdered, though I have no idea by who. I am sad, but one less son who sucked at war isn't such a bad thing. The rebellion is annoying, 7 lords in total, but in the end I win. I just have better troops, and they all end up in prison. The ones I like I shall ransom, I think, but the rest will rot forever. I need money after all, but not that bad. At least now I can declare war again and regain the holy site I have wanted.


Everyone I imprisoned is either happy with me, or close enough that when I transfer a vassal that belongs in their lands to them, they are happy. Because of this, I ransom all of them back, knowing the money can really help as I use it to start building up my own force of retinues. Using that money, I end up purchasing 3 stacks of Skirmish retinues so that some wars should be easier to fight. When my marshal has the chance to either increase retinue size or moral for a few years, I see it a no brainer. Trying to win wars without levies means the moral is so much more important to me.


Though it costs me, I finally manage to fabricate a claim on my son's land. I rather have killed him to get both pieces, but this is cheaper and easier. I move against him right away since this is one of the last two holy sites I need to claim to reform my faith before I die.


My heir has many daughters, and two sons. This is good, plenty of potential alliances and an increase in the dynasty with low risk of revolts. My one imprisoned chief dies, and a recent heir come to power is set to die shortly as well. To hate the king is to risk death. He dies, without knowing the name of his killer, my secret is safe. His young son takes over and hates me far less than his daddy did.


Now is the time to settle in, win this war and make ready to claim the final holy site.

 

[Cornelius Rex]

Spectacular family politics .

 

[Maceman121]

I just wish my son would be allowed to marry his sister, or better, I wanted to take a daughter as a concubine. Really, she is a genius, why can't she serve good ol' dad like they do under that Zoroastrian faith? XD

CHAPTER 9
Deciding that I do not wish to waste my efforts, I siege my son's keep shortly after it is under half moral. We quickly win with small loses. I repeat with the temple, and the war ends. I turn south I an attempt to do the same for the final holy site I need. My mercenaries move south, and right before they land, I declare war. This looks like it may be a bad idea, since he has over 5,000 soldiers to my just over 4,000, but I need the land and my soldiers have fought well in the past.
A quick siege claims the first fort with small loses. I like having a skirmish band, and I capture his wife. I turn her into my concubine even though she is too old to have kids. Hey, oppose me and suffer my wrath.


Their king dies, though it does not ruin my war, it means that my hope of him dying after my war so I can attack his heir is dashed. Oh well, I have higher priorities at the moment. While the war goes on, an independence faction raises and attacks one of my high chiefs. It looks like it is going poorly for my high chief, but not much I can do, so I let it go. Also, my concubine becomes with child, unintended but hey, means we are having fun together. After a single battle, I win the war. (Lost the picture, sorry). I took his force from over 5,000 to just over 2,000, and I only lost a little over 1,000 of my men. I quickly assault the land I am in for coin, then end the war. I own the final holy site I need.


My diviner and I had a little talk before anything happened, and it went like this.
Me: "I believe it is time to organize our faith. Our wars are more challenging today than ever before, and this is the one, and perhaps only, way to help us survive."
Diviner: "My lord, we have grown strong beneath our faith, why is it that you seek to abandon your gods now, in this time of great struggle?"
Me: "I do not wish to abandon our gods, not at all. I but wish to have more organization. Look at those Christians, those Muslims, and see how they thrive."
Diviner: "Are you saying their belief is correct, lord?"
Me: "No, of course not. What I am saying is look how their faith spreads. By writing down their fantasy stories and holding formal gatherings, people flock to their faith. Most people believe anything if it is written down in a book, just look at those crazy stories they have. Why don't we use this to our advantage?"
Diviner: "Is that not a betrayal of our gods?"
Me: Sighing "No, it is not. It is using knowledge to turn more to their faith. By organizing ourselves, our traditions can pass on easier, our gods can be more easily worshipped, and we can finally say with confidence that the truth is recorded."
Diviner: "I see, my lord. I shall trust you on this, and I shall fall in behind you in this… reformed faith of yours. May the gods forgive us if you are wrong."
Me: "I am not wrong, the gods themselves agree to this."


My entire court follows me into this new religion, and most of my counts and senior agree to change to my faith. I see the benefits of organization already. I have one war going on within my lands, a rebellion from a vassal to his lord. Normally I would not care, but I wish to be rid of Gavelkind succession, and the rebel is the only one who hates me, so I plot to kill him. Soon I have over 450 plot power, so I am sure he will die. If he dies quick enough, the war will end and I should be able to change our laws.
18 August 906, my co-conspirator sets up the trap to kill Chief Putimir. I approve the plan, anxiously waiting for the outcome. Almost a month later, and I find out my plot failed, Chief Putimir discovered the threat. Luckily, he has no idea who orchestrated it so I am safe, for now. 10 days later Tundava brings up her own idea, and thankfully her idea of highwaymen meet with success. Chief Putimir dies and no one knows I did it, and even better, nothing changes hands and I can change my succession laws at last.


On 04November906 my father died a natural death. I know he was a good man, and I respect much of what he did, so I must work hard to keep all he accomplished. To go from nothing to the King and reformer of the faith, it seems unbelievable, but he did it all by the will of the gods. So soon after I was nominated, he died, showing that the gods favored his choices and decided it was his time to rest at last. Peace favor him as I go to continue his works.
I know that war will soon occur as those below me do not trust me. I accept this, and just curse my own luck that my father died outside of the festival season. If I survive until next year, I shall soon hold a festival to make people like me more. For that, I am glad father did so well converting everyone. I go through my own council and replace or add every member, making it as strong as my father's, though not as trusting. Taking a deep breath, I survey the lands I call my own, ready for internal war and get ready to invade Smaleskja while they rebel against their lord. Thankfully I still have my father's retinue and his mercenaries so I need not raise levies for a while. I also decide I should become exalted amongst men, in honor of my father.


I find a 17 year old girl who is quick and her lord grants her to me as a concubine. I need better children to assist my heir when he ascends the throne. She is chaste, and does not really like me, but I plan on swelling her belly with my child soon enough.
The war ends in two weeks with three successful assaults. My father was wise in his choice of types of men to use, and it makes for a blitz very successful, especially against holds that have depleted their levies. Now onto my next target, claiming prestige and honor as I go.
My dead father's child is born, a son. As my half brother, he holds no lands yet, so I may be able to use him in my designs. He is young, and I must live a while yet, but we shall see.


I gave up Samogitia, along with its duchy, to a random vassal that had liked me somewhat. Giving away the duchy has made everyone like me more, since I only have one electoral title, and for now, that matters more than ensuring my succession, especially as Nalka the random, lucky courtier, loves me. I should still allow my heir to continue on, which makes everything all that much better.
My two year old daughter asks where children come from, and I tell her the truth. She is trusting now, because of it. A trusting genius is a dangerous thing, but I love her completely. Ironically, Chief Toivo comes to me about my twin brother. We all know he killed his wife, and he wants the man to be dealt with. Instead of granting him a claim as I think he wishes, I decide to imprison Prince Inzhay. Though we dislike each other for a bit, nothing happens, and so all is well.


I forgot to hold the festival this year, a shame, but instead I change City Taxes to large. I need the money anyways, and I look at the duchy of Prussia just off to my southwest who has declared independence from their lord. Armies raised, I watch as he marches off, planning to strike once they are gone.
As soon as I go to war, it ends, he gives into his liege and I have no choice but to pull back for the moment. A shame, but such is life. Kurzeme has a liege change at least, so I prepare to march upon him. In the meantime, I decide now is the prime time to have the summer's Ukon Juhla festival. I spare no expense for this, and I trust most of my vassals will show.


I am right, all but two decide to come, and for that, I am happy. The party goes well, though my spymaster cannot contain himself and gets sick, while one of my mayors ruts a serving girl before everyone's eyes. It was a sight to behold, and I dislike him a bit for his actions, hogging the girl to himself. Overall, everyone who came enjoyed it, and we all are a bit happier. Now it is time to turn towards war again.


Though it costs me about 1,000 men, I assault all three holdings in Kurezeme and end the war in just around a month. I also ensure I start training another skirmish retinue so I can continue to attack my larger enemies with the same tactics. At least it is mostly mercenaries I am losing during the assaults.
Using the break in wars, allowing my troops to replenish and my new unit to grow, I decide to risk the institution of medium crown authority. With the festival over, it should counter some of the negative feedback for a while, and allow me to continue. As it stands, the factions I face are not even a threat anyways, so I trust in what I am doing. Just to top it off, I have Large city taxes now.

 

[unmerged(47028)]

I like your comments in pictures

Dying a natural death? Your father must have been very disappointed.

 

[Maceman121]

I know, really. I thought I would lose him in battle with all the times he led, but seems the gods wanted him to die in peace. Maybe he DID piss them off...

 

[Maceman121]

CHAPTER 10
Medium crown authority is an interesting thing. I now have the ability to revoke titles from heathens, and my court was once ripe with them. But they converted, so I had little to do, but I watched as notice after notice, dozens upon dozens, came to me about my lords revoking titles. They removed the heathens and within a few months of the institution of medium crown authority, my belief system is about the only one that exists within my landed nobles. Good, very good.
I declare Holy War on the Duchy of Mazovia. While this allows more enemies to join it, I can claim two counties instead of one this way, and help my faith. I find the large armies against me annoying enough I raise some levies, but nothing too scary. At the same time, my concubine, the chaste one, is pregnant. I know I could do it.


The war ends soon enough, my victory clear. I need time to let my troops regrow, again, but that is their purpose and they do it well. A writer comes, as he had in my father's time, and asks if I wish to have my family history recorded. I now know my family, I see a large family, and thus I agree. It is a task, but he accomplishes it well enough. The war also allows me to land a better chancellor and diviner, which I take full advantage of.


I have a son, named Altocumulus born of my concubine. He is normal. I decide that it is time for Chief Mladan to die as well. He was working to claim the High Chief title when we moved to medium crown authority so his war never ended. He hates me, so killing him won't hurt me and will end that war. And soon enough I am told we shall try the same plot as last time, blaming sir Robin of the Hood.
I take a look at who opposes me, and notice his spymaster won't join my plot. She is nothing special and in her mid thirties, but I take her as my concubine to remove her from his court. He agrees and his new spymaster joins my cause while his old one learns to please me in new ways since she refused to help me before. Soon enough, he dies, the same way as the last. Taking advantage of this, I also declare a conquest of Sieradzko-Leczyckie since my realm is at peace.


A new group arises, calling themselves the Shi'a. Interesting to see such a split, and gladdening to know that it will cause a major religion to slowly break down in in-fighting. With an assault, I manage to end the war just in time, as the duke apparently is very rich and hired some mercenaries to fight for him. I would have killed them, but it would have cost too many men, so I took my victory and sighed in relief.
I find myself at war again, against another county revolting against their liege, so I move quickly to claim it. Marva gains smallpox, and with those dying there I gain my status of exalted. I am now famous as being a great man, and I can finally look towards my father without shame.


One of my courtiers apparently tried to kill my spymaster when he discovered her plot. I exposed her plot and threw her in prison. At over 60 years old, I doubt she will last long, but I can hope, right? As for the home front elsewhere, I plot and kill a chief who is rebelling against the tyranny of his chief. He did find out about my first plot, but died unknowingly in my second. His daughter claimed his throne, and her heir is the High Chief I want in charge, so I plot to kill her. Really, it shouldn't be this easy to kill a child.


The war I was in ended without victory, the vassal capitulated to his lord. So I focus on attacking some other nearby rebels, hoping to claim their lands faster and with my mobile army this time instead of levies. Good news is the child dies without anyone knowing, but the bad news comes when a woman inherits it I had not noticed. It was the wife of a high chief alright, just the wrong one. Now I need to kill her and see if I can get this stupid war over since I am her heir.
Interesting thing happens, the woman is murdered by someone else. Even after I set the inn she was staying in to blow up, a mayor ordered her dead and so I could walk away happy. Now to hand this land out to a loyalist. Still, the war rages because a high chief had joined, the woman's husband, prior to her death, and that won't end for a while. Annoying, but I will let them deal with it since they seem willing to at least fight each other and it turns out they stop right away. A bug of the world, the inn still blew up and I was blamed, and I didn't even kill the woman, damn it.
With advancement in technology, I am able to increase the number of retinues I have, allowing me to purchase another two skirmish units. I will combine it with my main army to attack and claim more lands, faster. This is critical as yet another war ends when the vassal is beaten by his lord.
During this time, I find word of a plot directed by a pretty little thing. I imprison the 17 year old, and follow up by instantly turning her into my concubine. She hates me more than anything in existence, but I don't mind. She is pretty.
Never one to rest, I decide it is time to declare war to claim the last of my kingdom. It needs to be a Holy War to claim a duchy of four in a single strike, but I have a solid army there and hope to win quick. I also have two High Chiefs that will grant me over 1,000 troops each nearby, so I trust I can get them in fast enough to secure the victory before the large force a ways away can make it to me.


The war is quick, though bloody. I suspected he was going to try to get allies to help, but more came than I expected, and their ships made it all the worse. Thankfully, I quickly took the capitol of Prussia, and moved three stacks to take the remaining three provinces. When an army landed, I killed it, but soon another, larger one landed. I managed to claim the provinces with quick assaults, and the moment I had victory, I claimed it for fear of prolonging the war. I lost a full retinue doing this, but it is a cost I had to pay to ensure victory.


With Prussia mine, I now controlled all of Lithuania, making things a little easier on me. I took a moment to survey my realm, and the realms around me, to decide where to go next. East would make some sense, especially into northern Kiev since there are many rebellions and would ensure a more solid borders for me. My other goal is to take the Kingdom of Poland for my own, so I can secure the title of Emperor, but that comes only after I secure my borders.


As predicted, Vseslava, the concubine who hates me more than life itself, is now pregnant. I knew it wouldn't take long with that smile upon her face. While all this happiness goes on, a foreigner tries to fabricate a claim on the Duchy of Prussia. Since I cannot get him to stop, nor can I throw him in jail, I instead plot to kill him in turn. He might get a claim, I will get his head. A fair trade I think.
When my concubine gives birth, she grants me a genius daughter. I am proud of her for that, and plan on seeing if I can get more of them from her. One of my high chiefs is an ambitious man, and doesn't like me, at all. So I send to fabricate claims on his duchy so that I might revoke it and give it to someone who doesn't hate me. Ironically a day after I do this, I find out his heir is plotting to kill him anyways. If he succeeds, I won't need the claim, but if he fails, I shall.
A time comes where I need to buy my wife a horse. Though it is expensive, I buy her the best one there is. Though she is too old to give me more children, I want a happy wife, and we are now lovers. Things get more interesting at night, and I am a much happier man now.


Justice has been served. The ill, possessed, craven man trying to fabricate a claim on the Duchy of Prussia was just blown up, and no one knew it was me. I succeeded without Robin of the Hood, and things are looking up. Looking around, I find where my next conquest will be, or rather, conquests.
Kiev, as I noticed before, is fracturing, so take advantage of it, and declare a trifecta conquest against Kiev and two rebelling chiefs. The chiefs call in some allies, but they are far enough away I can raise vassal levies to deal with their armies, and even manage to capture a High Chief while doing it. Now he is worth some coin, too bad he cannot afford it. I will give him till the end of the war to buy his freedom, but I will execute him otherwise.
My half-brother dies, the one my father tried to have in order to claim a holy land. As his heir, I get everything he had, and his tribal title was destroyed because of it. The land is nice, and will allow me to expand to the north easier now, and perhaps be good bait for someone nearby to attack.
With the wars going well, two over and the third nearly so, I decide I need some more income. Doing a bit of research, I decide that to earn enough money it was time to form a republic, and so I did. I take Kurzeme and grant it to Vechkas, the current mayor. I also create the Duchy of Courland, and grant it to him as well. Now I have the Republic of Courland on the Baltic Sea with at least some knowledge in the trade practices. Let me see if this gamble pays off.


Right before the war ended by an offer of peace, I gave High Chief Wenceslaw I one last chance of a ransom. He was 10 gold short, so I executed him and accepted the peace offer. Next time, perhaps his heirs will come up with the needed money.
I immediately plot to kill High Chief Trifon since our war is over, in hopes to claim the last county now in the midst of my territory. If all goes well, he dies, and I can take it from his heir quickly since the independent lord who had it ended up stopping the war too soon.