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Well, the capital must surely be somewhere in Scotland! Beyond that, your ideas of a Celtic Empire sound interesting.
Surely Leeds would be part of Greater Scotland, though? And who could deny the royal perogative to place their capital in such... charming country? :p
 
'Annabella the maid'???

A female marshall? What were her stats and how did this come to pass?
 
'Annabella the maid'???

A female marshall? What were her stats and how did this come to pass?

It is an event chain that came with Sons of Abraham. It is basically based upon the events of Joan D'Arc. You get a highley skilled maiden who are highley religious and want to serve under you. IIRC it pisses off the church and the vassals the further you keep her. Like one of the reasons the real life event ended up with the maiden getting burned.
 
So much for the potential of a long and prosperous reign from a young King! :p

Well, here's hoping that the "new Long the King" actually includes the Long...
 
It is an event chain that came with Sons of Abraham. It is basically based upon the events of Joan D'Arc. You get a highley skilled maiden who are highley religious and want to serve under you. IIRC it pisses off the church and the vassals the further you keep her. Like one of the reasons the real life event ended up with the maiden getting burned.

Haha-thanks for this
 
Ah, that's a shame. A King of Scots needs a proud sigil to fly. If you have Customization or Character Designer, you could change it, but the game only offers the generic models anyway (also I think the custom sigils are cancelled out each time you quit the game)

Either way, I'm looking forward to how this'll develop. If you're lucky, the Byzantines will inherit England like they sometimes do :p
 
I like the CoA of the dynasty. The red and gold pattern matches the Papal States'! It looks somewhat a Roman to me, befitting of your Scottish kings. Ave Rex Scottorum!
 
Interesting and written in a good way. Also it is a megacampaign which is always a plus to me. Subscribed with a lot of interest and will continue to follow.
 
Subscribed!
 
Brice, the Bold, MacDrostan
Lived: 964-1048
Head of House MacDrostan: 970-1048
King of Scotland: 970-1048
King Consort of Lotharingia: 999-1034​


Brice of Scotland is known by many names, the extraordinary length of his reign and forcefulness of his personality capturing the imagination of scholars for centuries. Living for almost 84 years, an incredible length of time for an Early Medieval monarch, Brice’s reign over Scotland, lasting some 78 years, remains the longest in the country’s history. During This almost century long period the fears of the Dark Ages were swept away, Scotland entering into the mainstream of European civilisation during a Golden Era of its history.


Inheriting the Scottish throne as a child, Brice’s royal power was wielded by a military cabal around the famed, and widely hated, figure of Annabella the Maid. It surprised no one that, despite the very recent end of the wars that sought to bring down Adam I, Scotland once again slipped into Civil War in early 971. Brice’s right to the crown was challenged by Morgan of the Isles, a scion of Donald II’s legitimised bastard of the same name, who rallied the clans of the North to around the promise to topple Brice’s despised regents.

As the Norse continued to take advantage of Scotland’s instability to continue their intense raiding activities across the Kingdom’s coastlines, and Morgan’s forces proving a much stiffer challenge than expected, Scotland was utterly shattered by its second bout of Civil War in scarcely a decade. When Morgan was finally captured and brought into captivity in Stirling in 975 the Scots economy was in tatters, the crowns’ incomes had collapsed and all progressed made over the course of nearly a century of MacDrostan rule seemed to have been reversed.


In the years after Morgan’s bid for the crown, Annabella took advantage of a power vacuum across the British Isles to vigorously re-exert the power of the Scottish monarchy through sheer force of arms. Within Scotland, the lack of a clear rallying point for rebels meant that the minor revolts of 981 and 983 failed utterly to draw widespread support – allowing the crown to dominate its opponents. Elsewhere, Austurian Mercia descended into a prolonged period of Civil War from the mid-970s, leaving no obvious contender to Scotland for the status of Britain’s dominant power. A series of border incursions saw Scotland extend its frontiers Southward whilst in Wales Annabella oversaw the conquest of the entire Duchy of Gwynedd. At home, the system of coastal fortifications and garrisons that had protected Scotland from Viking incursions earlier in the century was gradually restored – effectively bringing an end to the Viking era in Scotland.


As Brice matured into office in the early 980s he began to openly clash with the brash regime instituted by Annabella both domestically and abroad. The crucial conflict emerged in the aftermath of the revolt of 983. Desiring an end to internal instability, Brice side-lined Annabella and forced her out of his council, and shortly thereafter out of any position of power. In her place he advocated conciliation with the nobility – reaching a peaceful arrangement with the Lords of his realm in which respect for the monarchy was won through recognition of the nobility’s power over their own lands and a degree of influence at the royal court that they had been denied for decades. Abroad, Brice ended the hostility between the Spanish and Scots as he entered into an alliance with the King of Asturias. Travelling to Santiago on pilgrimage he won the hand of the King of Asturias’ eldest daughter – sealing an alliance over a King who dominated both Northern Spain and England. In the years after the marriage in 984 the Austrians would consolidate their grip over Mercia and even see the Kingdom of Wessex fall under their authority.

The rise of the power of the Spanish in England saw an alliance between Asturias and Scotland slip from being a valued guarantor of Spanish influence to a limit upon their ability to exert their authority across Britain. Despite the relative peacefulness of the decade after 984, tensions were slowly rising between the British Isles’ two most influential powers. Within King Brice’s own chambers, the alliance with Asturias was greatly soured by his failure to conceive a male heir with his Spanish wife – the Queen giving birth to three daughters and no sons. Bowing to the pressure to secure both his line and Scottish power, in 995 Brice took a dramatic turn against his Spanish allies.


Brice introduced Agnatic Law into Scotland – explicitly removing his daughters from the line of succession – he then received permission from the Papacy, on admittedly spurious grounds, to divorce his wife, the Asturians proven a thorn in the side of all efforts to expand Papal power, and finally launched an invasion of Austrian Mercia. It was a series of actions both very true to Brice’s moniker, and laced with the treachery associated with so many MacDrostan monarchs leading back to Donald II. In the event, Brice’s actions proved a masterstroke. In both Spain and England, the Asturian Empire was already starting to fracture when the Scots invaded – rather than face a mighty Spanish host Brice would see the barons of England rise in rebellion against their foreign overlords once again whilst in Spain competing Galician and Castilian factions ripped the Asturian Empire apart. In a surprisingly short and bloodless conflict from the Scottish perspective, almost the entire Duchy of Lancaster was brought into the Kingdom of Scotland – securing a valuable land link to the Scots’ holdings in Wales. Following his triumph in England, Brice marched his army into Wales – subjugating all the lands between Gwynedd and the Bristol Chanel.


Brice’s turn against the Spanish in 995 allowed Scotland to secure a long period of peace and dominance through the 11th century. Aside from a series of brief campaigns against the Norse in Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands in the 1010s, between the millennium and the 1030s Scotland enjoyed a period of continuous peace. At the same time its economy flourished, whilst the fracturing of Spanish England ensured that Scotland became the centre of power in the British Isles. Brice’s marriage to Queen Charlotte of Lotharingia, one of continental Europe’s most powerful landowners, further secured his Kingdom’s influence internationally. Even the unification of Ireland (1015-1021) and its subsequent conquest on an Empire in Cornwall and Brittany failed to seriously dent the power of the Kingdom of Scotland.

During this period, Scotland witnessed the beginnings of a major cultural shift. Around the MacDrostan heartlands in the Central Belt of Scotland – focussed around the Forth, Tay and Clyde Rivers – a new ‘Scots’ culture and language began to emerge. Emerging as a melting pot culture provoked by the intercourse between English, Gaelic, Pictish, Brythonic and even Norse cultures, by Brice’s death in 1048 ‘Scots’ culture had a powerful grip over a large part of the Kingdom’s core territories – finding itself at odds with the predominantly Gaelic North and North-East, and mixed Anglo-Saxon and Norse, South and South-East of the Kingdom. Over the course of the Middle Ages this Scots culture would envelop virtually the entire Kingdom.


In 1034, Brice’s powerful wife – Charlotte of Lotharingia – passed away, clearing a path for his only son, Adam, to claim one of Europe’s great crowns. However, Adam’s succession was bitterly disputed by both a coalition of Lotharingian nobles who sought to elect King from within their own number and the Germanic King Heinrich of East Francia who sought to bring the Kingdom under his own authority. Despite investing heavily in contesting his sons’ claim to the Kingdom, Brice was unable to achieve victory over the Germans. Adam had travelled to Europe at the head of a powerful army in 1034; three years later he limped back to Scotland with just a few loyal retainers and not insignificant debts.


The final decade of Brice’s life was marked by a clear mental decline. The aptness, sound and fair judgement of old was replaced by arbitrary paranoia and lethargy. With elements of the clergy and nobility beginning to turn against him, Brice cocooned himself at his court in Stirling – slowing rotting away. His death in 1048 was a relief to many who were hopeful that his battle hardened successor, Adam II, might prove a revitalising influence.
 
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Boo! I demand the Cymry culture be left un-bastardised! :p

Aside from that, great stuff as ever, Tommy. It's especially enjoyable to read a few updates at nice when catching up. One gets a far greater sense if the development of the Scots' history, I find – which, I might add, has been incredibly gripping. I will admit, though, I'm hoping you won't prove to have conquered the entirety of Western Europe by 1200. Things are most interesting when expansion is more natural, I find.

On a related note, I don't suppose you can do anything about Asturias? What in the name of all that's holy are they doing in Britain?

Well, I'm afraid the poor Welsh get squeezed out by the Scots and Irish in this timeline. I'm hoping to keep expansion at a natural rate. As for the Spanish, wierdly, two different Asturians inherited both Mercia and Wessex - men whose descendents split Asturias to form Galicia and Castille. interestingly, the nobility of England remains predominantly Anglo-Saxon for a long, long time - Spaniards control maybe 4 Counties at best at the death of Brice. They have a decent chance of removing Spanish rule through rebellion.

Surely Leeds would be part of Greater Scotland, though? And who could deny the royal perogative to place their capital in such... charming country? :p

I suppose this is true :p.

'Annabella the maid'???

A female marshall? What were her stats and how did this come to pass?

Her stats are in the picture I posted of Joan of Arc in the Thomas I update - truly insane martial ability. Having her leading my armies almost felt like a cheat code :p.

It is an event chain that came with Sons of Abraham. It is basically based upon the events of Joan D'Arc. You get a highley skilled maiden who are highley religious and want to serve under you. IIRC it pisses off the church and the vassals the further you keep her. Like one of the reasons the real life event ended up with the maiden getting burned.

I thought it was a pretty cool event. This is the first time I'd seen it. This sort of thing is really excellent for CKII! I'd prefer an expansion that adds more things like that than any number of Asiatic jaunts.

So much for the potential of a long and prosperous reign from a young King! :p

Well, here's hoping that the "new Long the King" actually includes the Long...

Well, your hopes were answered in emphatic style. Brice set a personal record for me for both the oldest and longest reigning character I've ever played in either CKI or CKII.

Ah, that's a shame. A King of Scots needs a proud sigil to fly. If you have Customization or Character Designer, you could change it, but the game only offers the generic models anyway (also I think the custom sigils are cancelled out each time you quit the game)

Either way, I'm looking forward to how this'll develop. If you're lucky, the Byzantines will inherit England like they sometimes do :p

I don't mind having a boring sigil, and I thought the character designer only lets you change things at the very start of the game?

I like the CoA of the dynasty. The red and gold pattern matches the Papal States'! It looks somewhat a Roman to me, befitting of your Scottish kings. Ave Rex Scottorum!

Glad someone liked the poor MacDrostan's CoA :p :).

Poor Irish Jorvik.

I look forward to seeing how Asturian Mercia forces the Scots into a larger political world.

We certainly entered a larger political world, but it was perhaps as much turning away from the Spanish as becoming involved with them that facillitated this.

Go Scotland! That Joan of Arc event seems to have happened at just the right time; the one time I got it I was a nigh-unstoppable Roman Empire, so I really didn't need it. :D

She was very useful! I think this sort of event should only appear when you are in a really tough situation - how much I would have loved to have had her during Donald II's time!

Interesting and written in a good way. Also it is a megacampaign which is always a plus to me. Subscribed with a lot of interest and will continue to follow.

Glad to have your interest and hope I can hold onto it :).

I don't suscribe to many aars, but I followed the link in your signature and voilà ! :laugh: hope you'll chase the spanish invaders from britain !

Thanks! :)

Subscribed!

Great to see another person following :).
 
Ah Brice the Bold. There's just something about alliterative nicknames that make them seem more like people actually thought of that cognomen; Justinian the Gentle and Georgios the Great are my personal favorites. Here's hoping Adam II gets 'the Able' in-game.

A pity that the first Scottish attempts at intrigue and diplomacy on the world stage ended so much worse than the Asturians'. Still, depending on who Adam surrendered to, he might still have a claim to press on his mother's Kingdom.
 
Aye, Character Designer can only be used at the start. Customization Pack lets you make graphical (Coat of Arms, Hairstyle, Nation Name) changes throughout the entire game though. Really useful for getting rid of those large haircuts that glitch through crowns and such :D

Anyway, it looks like if the Spanish fracture anymore, the Scots will be ready to rush them and throw them out for good. How is it that you always get the most interesting situations in your AARs? Spanish England, Ireland unifying, Joan of Arc. I only ever get mistresses and everything falling apart. -.-
 
Aye, Character Designer can only be used at the start. Customization Pack lets you make graphical (Coat of Arms, Hairstyle, Nation Name) changes throughout the entire game though. Really useful for getting rid of those large haircuts that glitch through crowns and such :D

That designer can also be used for roleplay with the hair and growing long beards. ;)

I think it is good to have the spanish in England, as it gives you a legmit Casus Belli (roleplay one) to restore the Brithish Isles under celtic rule.
 
Well, that certainly was a long reign. Bride got a lot done – even if long reigns do often stagnate towards the end. Shame about Wales, though Ireland seem to have the right idea. I'm quite glad Adam comes with no attachment to the continent, if I'm honest. It makes focussing on beating back those dastardly Spaniards all the easier. :D
 
Living for almost 84 years, an incredible length of time for an Early Medieval monarch, Brice’s reign over Scotland, lasting some 78 years, remains the longest in the country’s history.

This statement might have to be edited if a future Scottish monarch reigns for seventy-nine! :D

Naturally though I find the prospect of Spaniards in England to be an affront to all Britons and I hope this new Adam fellow can make their removal a top priority.
 
Didn't expect you back in the Aar business so soon, Tommy. I know I wouldn't be if if it was me. Anyway nice stuff so far I've enjoyed reading it and look forward to more. The long lived Brice reminds me of an old game. I was playing a Byz game last year and thought I'd look how the rest of the world was doing, all of Britain was conquered by the possessed king of Scotland, Alexander the great who went on to form the Empire of Britannia. Died aged 98 leaving the empire to his 69 year old surviving celibate son. Things didn't go well after that.