Last time we saw Georgia conquer the lucrative Adyghe lands, but we also saw the southern border with Byzantium disappear, until mid 1070 when it completely disappeared...
The Seljuks' are unrelenting in their Anatolian conquest.
In September 1070, my Grandson dies. It's not going to be a good few years for Gabriel Sefareli.
The pagan Adyghe start making trouble in November, and given the 75% chance of conversion I crush them.
Ah, it's always satisfying to see a province flip colour. The province is of course looted, but there's no revolt, which is a bonus. This is my richest province, so hopefully it will recover soon.
Which it does, in only two months. Good times! In the meantime I create the titles Prince of Kartli and Imereti, which gives me enough prestige to look south to the 'kingdom' of Lori, ruled by one of my Armenian Bagratuni cousins.
Ouch, that's a lotta prestige! But it's a twofer, as I fully intend to vassalise Lori. War is declared on the 2nd April 1071.
The Georgian army advances! Lori can barely cobble together even 1000 troops, so victory is overwhelming. There's two provinces to siege, so it will be a while before the war is concluded.
During one of the battles against the ragtag remnants of the Lori army, Marshal David is captured! He's a pretty good marshal but not irreplacable, so I don't pay the ransom. Luckily he escapes, so I keep my marshal
and my money. Cool.
Hmm, usually being at war
lowers stability. Obviously invading small weak neighbours is good for the realm, so I will continue this policy in future!
Mariam is Bagrat's daughter and Gabriel's wife, so a great tragedy. She wasn't one of my officers but had good stats and served as a useful back up courtier, so she is a loss.
Back to the war, it isn't until February 1072 that both Lori and Ganja are occupied. The king of Lori, being a Christian and a Bagratuni, is made a vassal.
And so here we have a heavily Photoshopped map that's shows Georgia and her neighbourhood in 1072. An uneasy peace remains with the Seljuks, who are still chomping on Anatolia, but surely it's only a matter of time until war breaks out? We shall have to wait and see.