Chapter 1: Šventaragis' Start
Hello everyone! Welcome to my first AAR. Any feedback would be great!
These first bits of the campaign were played before I decided to take screenshots, and also before the first DLC came out. So I had to reload save files to get these pictures. TLDR, some of these might look weird or messed up. This is my first ever AAR, so let me know if you want to see more.
1066, a year that shook Europe to its foundations. From Manzikert in the east to Hastings in the west, empires, kingdoms, and dynasties were changing. That year also saw the foundations laid for the rise of another empire. This time on the shores of the Baltic, and that is where our story begins.
Lithuania’s ruler that year was High Chief Šventaragis of House Palemonaitis. Accounts of the time paint him as a shrewd diplomat and cunning warrior, who would do anything for his people and kin. But those tales also say that, though he loved his own dearly, once his rage was fueled there was no one on Earth who could extinguish it. These tales also tell of a phrase spoken behind the Chief’s back at that time. “Šventaragis could meet the gods themselves yet would not back down from them”. Šventaragis knew of these sayings, but let them slide, for he loved his people and would do anything for them. They were his family too, just as his own kin, and he knew these sayings were in good fun.
At the start of the 1070’s is where Šventaragis began to make history. He secured an alliance with Milzas, chief of the Prussians, and Milzas’ 10,000 strong force of veteran warriors. With the west secure Šventaragis could focus his efforts south and east, on the emerging Russian Principalities. Tales of the Rus’ wealth, sponsored by the Eastern Roman Empire and their preachers, had reached Lithuania and the capital at Kernave. And Šventaragis’ mind was made, that wealth would be taken for Lithuania’s own.
The Rus, like the Lithuanians had been pagan once upon a time, but those days were gone. Once unified under the Rurikid dynasty they hungered for power. And none was more powerful than the church of the Byzantines. So, a deal was struck, trade and gold for conversion to this new faith, Christianity. Ever since, the Rus had craved Lithuanian land for their own. Allowing them to boast of having conquered “the last pagans of Europe”. And giving them legitimacy in the other Christian kingdoms’ eyes.
The word was sent out to the strongest warriors of Lithuania’s day, and a force of 6,000 men marched south. For glory and gold. The neighboring Kingdom of Ruthenia was distracted with the strife of civil war, and that was Šventaragis’ first target. The cities of Kletsk, Slutsk, and Minsk were taken, with the Russian armies offering no resistance. Confident of his successes so far, Šventaragis marched further south, further from Lithuania, to capture one last prize. But it would be his last. The Ruthenian King, a descendant of the Rurikid Vikings, led his 8,000 strong army out to meet the Lithuanian looters. Though they fought fiercely, the agrarian woodsmen of Lithuania were crushed by the heavy knights of the Rus. And so Šventaragis and his remaining few followers limped back home, broken. With the High Chief’s blood calling for vengeance every step of the way. But as they reached Kernave, they were greeted not by the smiling faces of their families, but by fire and smoke.
In a diary recovered from the time, Lubartas, friend and marshal to the Chief, who accompanied the army into the Rus wrote of Šventaragis’ reaction to the destruction. “As we reached Kernave, Šventargis fell to the ground kneeling. His clothes and armor, already stained with the blood of the Rus, became muddied as he knelt knee-deep there. The smoke from the fires still raging stung his eyes, but that is not why he cried. He cried for his family and for his people. Once he was done with his mourning, Šventaragis got up and walked over to the remains of a house still standing and noticed a symbol etched into its side. The crest of Kukovaitis. For many moments there was silence from the Chief as he pondered this. That his own cousin would attack him and take what he held dear. He would have vengeance”.
.png "Šventaragis' Uncle (other branch).png")
Kukovaitis had sensed his cousin’s weakness and struck out on a raid of his own. Marching from the west while Šventaragis was distracted, they had burned Kernave to a crisp, taking any gold and prisoners with them. And though the Lithuanians would rebuild as best they could, Šventaragis never forgave Kukovaitis and he never forgot that day, or his promise of revenge.
The next decade would be spent rebuilding the once thriving city, and Šventaragis teaching his sons the ways of the world. For he could feel it in him, he didn’t have much time left and there was still his promise to keep. With the rebuilding, many would return to serve the old Chief on his council. There were Lubartas and Mindaugas, vassals loyal to the end. They had been with the army on the raid into Russia, as well as the return to Kernave. There was also Skirmantas, brother to the Chief. And then there was Evalda. A friend of Šventaragis since his childhood, he allowed her to tutor his heir, Skirmantas in his studies. Together they oversaw the rebuilding of Kernave, the rebuilding of the realm. They would need all the strength they could muster to challenge Kukovaitis.
.png "Šventaragis Council (wife).png")
Finally, in 1087, Šventaragis led his rebuilt army into his cousin’s domain of Samogitia, straight to the capital of Raseiniai. The city’s taking was an anticlimax though. Rather than a decisive end to the war with his cousin’s capture, as Šventaragis was hoping, Kukovaitis had already led much of his army away to the countryside. This game of cat-and-mouse between the two opposing armies would take years. But Šventaragis did not have years, in 1089 at the age of 65 he passed away inside the army’s encampment. It would be up to his son, Skirmantas, now the new Chief, to finish the job. And to keep his father’s promise.
.png "King Skirmantas (young).png")
These first bits of the campaign were played before I decided to take screenshots, and also before the first DLC came out. So I had to reload save files to get these pictures. TLDR, some of these might look weird or messed up. This is my first ever AAR, so let me know if you want to see more.
Chapter One: Šventaragis' Start
1066, a year that shook Europe to its foundations. From Manzikert in the east to Hastings in the west, empires, kingdoms, and dynasties were changing. That year also saw the foundations laid for the rise of another empire. This time on the shores of the Baltic, and that is where our story begins.
Lithuania’s ruler that year was High Chief Šventaragis of House Palemonaitis. Accounts of the time paint him as a shrewd diplomat and cunning warrior, who would do anything for his people and kin. But those tales also say that, though he loved his own dearly, once his rage was fueled there was no one on Earth who could extinguish it. These tales also tell of a phrase spoken behind the Chief’s back at that time. “Šventaragis could meet the gods themselves yet would not back down from them”. Šventaragis knew of these sayings, but let them slide, for he loved his people and would do anything for them. They were his family too, just as his own kin, and he knew these sayings were in good fun.
At the start of the 1070’s is where Šventaragis began to make history. He secured an alliance with Milzas, chief of the Prussians, and Milzas’ 10,000 strong force of veteran warriors. With the west secure Šventaragis could focus his efforts south and east, on the emerging Russian Principalities. Tales of the Rus’ wealth, sponsored by the Eastern Roman Empire and their preachers, had reached Lithuania and the capital at Kernave. And Šventaragis’ mind was made, that wealth would be taken for Lithuania’s own.
The Rus, like the Lithuanians had been pagan once upon a time, but those days were gone. Once unified under the Rurikid dynasty they hungered for power. And none was more powerful than the church of the Byzantines. So, a deal was struck, trade and gold for conversion to this new faith, Christianity. Ever since, the Rus had craved Lithuanian land for their own. Allowing them to boast of having conquered “the last pagans of Europe”. And giving them legitimacy in the other Christian kingdoms’ eyes.
The word was sent out to the strongest warriors of Lithuania’s day, and a force of 6,000 men marched south. For glory and gold. The neighboring Kingdom of Ruthenia was distracted with the strife of civil war, and that was Šventaragis’ first target. The cities of Kletsk, Slutsk, and Minsk were taken, with the Russian armies offering no resistance. Confident of his successes so far, Šventaragis marched further south, further from Lithuania, to capture one last prize. But it would be his last. The Ruthenian King, a descendant of the Rurikid Vikings, led his 8,000 strong army out to meet the Lithuanian looters. Though they fought fiercely, the agrarian woodsmen of Lithuania were crushed by the heavy knights of the Rus. And so Šventaragis and his remaining few followers limped back home, broken. With the High Chief’s blood calling for vengeance every step of the way. But as they reached Kernave, they were greeted not by the smiling faces of their families, but by fire and smoke.
In a diary recovered from the time, Lubartas, friend and marshal to the Chief, who accompanied the army into the Rus wrote of Šventaragis’ reaction to the destruction. “As we reached Kernave, Šventargis fell to the ground kneeling. His clothes and armor, already stained with the blood of the Rus, became muddied as he knelt knee-deep there. The smoke from the fires still raging stung his eyes, but that is not why he cried. He cried for his family and for his people. Once he was done with his mourning, Šventaragis got up and walked over to the remains of a house still standing and noticed a symbol etched into its side. The crest of Kukovaitis. For many moments there was silence from the Chief as he pondered this. That his own cousin would attack him and take what he held dear. He would have vengeance”.
Kukovaitis had sensed his cousin’s weakness and struck out on a raid of his own. Marching from the west while Šventaragis was distracted, they had burned Kernave to a crisp, taking any gold and prisoners with them. And though the Lithuanians would rebuild as best they could, Šventaragis never forgave Kukovaitis and he never forgot that day, or his promise of revenge.
The next decade would be spent rebuilding the once thriving city, and Šventaragis teaching his sons the ways of the world. For he could feel it in him, he didn’t have much time left and there was still his promise to keep. With the rebuilding, many would return to serve the old Chief on his council. There were Lubartas and Mindaugas, vassals loyal to the end. They had been with the army on the raid into Russia, as well as the return to Kernave. There was also Skirmantas, brother to the Chief. And then there was Evalda. A friend of Šventaragis since his childhood, he allowed her to tutor his heir, Skirmantas in his studies. Together they oversaw the rebuilding of Kernave, the rebuilding of the realm. They would need all the strength they could muster to challenge Kukovaitis.
Finally, in 1087, Šventaragis led his rebuilt army into his cousin’s domain of Samogitia, straight to the capital of Raseiniai. The city’s taking was an anticlimax though. Rather than a decisive end to the war with his cousin’s capture, as Šventaragis was hoping, Kukovaitis had already led much of his army away to the countryside. This game of cat-and-mouse between the two opposing armies would take years. But Šventaragis did not have years, in 1089 at the age of 65 he passed away inside the army’s encampment. It would be up to his son, Skirmantas, now the new Chief, to finish the job. And to keep his father’s promise.
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