No Crowns for Good Kings - A Multiplayer Megacampaign AAR

[Ursul]

Well, romuva is now enatic and I have a horse concubine, so I guess it is possible.
But we have rules against voluntary ruining slots.

 

[lrbaumard]

The Kingdom of Badajoz Spain​

Session 5

This was a very quiet session for me. I mostly finished my realm consolidation under a very good King. Gaining control over all Seville Duchy.
Unfortunately my AAR rewards were not given to me this session so I missed out on having 2 castles built in my capital which leaves me about 70 ducats/ year and 2k troops poorer which is a shame, but this should be rectified next week.
I changed my kingdom title in-game to Spain as i disliked Badajoz, also changed my CoA to one that looked like it would symbolize a union of Portugal and Spain. Next session my colour should also be changed from sickly green to a more royal spanish yellow

I had the event for a chess game of death happen to my ruler and with the help of a forum and due to being a strategist, i was fairly certain i would win.
I did not.
I died.
Luckily my king was 50 so not so young and my heir was well groomed for the task.

I managed to reach legalism 3, which made me realize; why go primogeniture when I can stay as elective: I completely control all elections at the moment with only 1 AI Duke and I can choose my heir.
Speaking of which, my king has been very busy and so for the first time in this game I have an excess of children and a dynasty larger than 4.
Also speaking of king being busy, I had what I think was a bug where my heir upon becoming king was 'busy' and so could not be coronated, I tried starting a book in order to clear the modifier but.... well....
So the book took almost 5 years to write and I had the option to risk a cold for increased book quality, so despite the previous time killing a previous king, i went for it.
I got a cold, my 23 learning physician failed to treat it.
I got a cough, my 23 learning physician failed to treat it.
I got a fever, my 23 learning physician failed to treat it.
I got diagnosed with penumonia (i think), my 23 learning physician failed to treat it AND SEVERELY DISFIGURED ME IN THE PROCESS. This coupled with an infection that lasted 10 years meant the stats of my ruler dropped dramatically.
*SIGH*

Anyway, with the moving on of Golle, the partitioning of Galicia was split between me and Kingdom of Navarre (previously duke of Aquitaine). I managed to get Galicia duchy proper fairly easily, however the remaining Duchy in Northern Portugal is proving more difficult, I took one county there but am waiting for the rest to become available.

Overall a fairly quiet session for me.
Apologies for not posting ruler screenshots, will try to do so next session.

 

[EmperorofMordor]

I'm a little sad that because I've fallen behind on AARs, the only reference to my Invasion of Scotland was a single throwaway line.

 

[Nax24]

"Naxhi Gets Lucky"​

Call me "Leif the Lucky" cause this session went great for me. My boi Ale, a longtime member of the Wolf Warriors, had the opportunity of a lifetime and began a quest to obtain glory and legendary status. It was a hundred years after the last person got a legendary warrior status (and it was a f---ing hedgehog of course). But regardless, Ale and his son Dan went on their legendary journey to Hagbard's next of the woods in Greece to fight for glory and honor. Of course, Ale and his 150 personal combat level was surely able to win the day for the sake of glory and honor, but I got an unexpected surprise out of the whole ordeal.

I didnt get one legendary warrior bloodline out of that affair...

​

I GOT TWO MOFOS!!!!

That's right, Dan made his family proud and got himself his own bloodline. That means his blood will have the blood of two great warriors running through the veins. Ale though in my opinion got the better bloodline due to the councilors having a better chance to be loyal allowing for things to pass faster in the realm. Now Blayne will come swooning at my gates, begging me to allow my blood to mingle with his for his sick eugenics project... I mean... now everyone will be at awe with my power!

But, while it was a great session for me, things began to loom over the horizon, and I unfortunetly got into a bit of a situation with Khan. Allow me to play this conversation out in a somewhat accurate way.

Khan: "So Crusades are coming"

Me: "Yea, Dragoon is going to force it to Jerusalem"

Khan: "And the second one is going straight into Stockholm."

Me: "Huh?"

Khan: "And the third one will too, and the fourth, and so on until you convert or someone who is Christian is put on the throne"

Me: "..."

So yea, its gonna be convert or suffer the invasion of heathens for all eternity. Its gonna suck pretty bad anyway. But my goals for next session are simple, EMPIRE!

 

[dragoon9105]

Map Update #5 888 and 908

908 AD Maps:

​

Been a Delay since the last Mupdate but were back. Two (technically Three but Khan picked up the slack one week) Since the last Mupdate quite alot has happened, Players have Died, others have risen and the Map Area has expanded to include all of Eastern Save Russia.

In Britain our lovable scamp of a vgm Mark stepped in to try and rescue the burning corpse of Ireland only to die at an unfortunate time leaving Britain to Johnny and Sancrolis where peace for the most part would reign on the Islands. However Due to the discovery of an Immortal duke in Moray and Johnny having some difficulty keeping up appearances with the Pope in Rome, Scotland was Invaded by the Republic of Tuscany (Sauron).

Though after a brief intervention, The Italians declared a mission accomplished and promptly vacated the Island and the Natives wasted no time in declaring a new government and overthrowing the Holy Roman enforced democracy in Mountainous Scotland. Now a legendary highland who some say is immortal Holds the Scottish Throne, He also has a Weak Claim on the Pala Empire of India, for some reason.

In the Following years the Norse Fylkir would declare a Great Conquest of Britannia and the King of Denmark(King of Men) would invade Ireland for his own. The Danes would be successful having established Danelaw on the Wrong Island, the Norse Fylkirate having begged the Swedes(Nahxi) continually for help, received none and failed. It is said that Odin called for a Month of Thunderstorms over Scandinavia to show his disgust.

In Spain the Dominance of Aquitaine(Fimcomte/Golle) has frozen diplomacy within the region between three powers, Navarra(Limah), Aquitaine and Badajoz(Hellbent) (Who lays claim to the title 'Spain') Nothing much occured here besides the quiet disintegration of galicia after its Patron left for more Yellow, Eldritch Pastures.

In France(Tazzo), Much the same Story, Status Quo and Development though the Ruling Dynasty of France spent much of the time endearing itself to the Catholic Church as well as its own vassals earning both a Saintly and a Blessed Bloodline for its virtue. The Swiss Confederacy(Ranger) and its Vassal Trier(Mikesc) both were similarly peaceful and quiet for the last two sessions.

In Italy, While the Tuscans(Sauron) plotted foreign intervention the Forces of Aquitaine plotted their downfall. All the While Sardinia(Clonefusion) plotted to establish a Bloodline to last the test of Time. Sardinia would fail to achieve said desired bloodline and also lose control of the Republic. Tuscany faired worse however and was decapitated by Aquitaine.

In Germany the Major Development was the Fall of Saxony(Hagbard), In an opportunistic War the Prince of Germany(Blayne), with Carcosan Gold struck at the heart of Saxon lands and ripped it out, bringing More death to the Holy Roman Empire. All the While the Emperor continued to look lustfully at the Carpathian Basin and count his gold.

In Scandinavia, Sweden(Nahxi), Finland(Sjems) and Denmark(King of Men) are the dominant powers in that Order. However the Holy Roman Emperor who has shown keen interest on the Christianization of everything everywhere all the Time, had been meddling in their affairs and making threats as of late. With A great holy war having been called for England, Tensions between the Germanic and Catholic Faith will only increase in time.

In Eastern Europe the Kingdoms of Poland(Hadogei) and Bohemia(James) have risen to prominence while the Kingdom of Wallachia(Spots) having a more difficult start also managed to form and carve itself a small domain around the carpathians. Unlike the Scandinavians the Eastern Europeans all Christianized save Wallachia which remains Slavic and Ethnically Proto-Russian. They all however like Scandinavia are all Tribal.

The Prince of the Vistula(Ursul) on the other hand within Poland did not accept conversion to worshiping a bleeding cross and instead opted to reform his Baltic Faith, opting to Empower Women above all as well as making his own dynasty the head of such a faith. Only time will tell if this new contender will last, or fade to the winds under the barrage of the Cross and Raven.

In The Byzantine Empire the great Roman Aquila has been humbled and reborn as Turkic and Persian Conquerors from the East had pushed the Empire back off of Anatolia proper and shattered its dominion of Georgia and Trebizond. New Powerful Generals in Sicily(Soon to be Sauron), Thrace(Yami) and Bulgaria(Hagbard) would rekindle that light of roman civilization and fight back, seizing the Emperor title from the Short Lived Mislavic and Falconi Dynasties and crowning Stracimir Balgarsko as the new Basileus who has spent his time retaking Anatolia and even returning to the Holy City of Antioch for the first time in centuries.


The Fallen:

Britanny (Gollevain)= 769-793
Angria(Mark) 769-793
Holstien (Hadogei) 769-793
Latium(James) 769-793
Venice(Yami and Nahxi) 769-844
Ulster(Hadogei) 793-844
Flanders (Sjems) 769-844
Austrasia (KingofMen) 769-847
Modena (Ursul) 769-858
Valencia (SirSpots) 793-861
Aragon (James) 793-861
Galicia (Gollevain) 793-888
Saxony (Hagbard) 769-888
Tuscany (Sauron) 769-908

Current Score Standings:
KhanXLT: 6
Spots: 6
King of Men: 5
Ursul: 5
Fimcomte: 4
Hellbent: 4
Golle: 3
James: 3
Sancro: 1
Tazzo: 1
Mikesc: -1
Yami: -3
Everyone Else: 0


The Most Powerful Nations:

Clonefusion: As Sardinia with the Greatest Income
KhanXLT: As Holy Roman Emperor For the Retinue
Fimcomte: As Aquitaine with the largest Army

 

[Ranger900]

So this week in changes. It was decided the HRE was too strong, so it was given the choice of exploding, nerfs, or we'd restart the game. In the end Nerfs have won, which meant a bunch of HRE members left, but there are some of us intending to keep the Empire going.​

 

[Ursul]

Wacky fun in Poland, or CK2 WAD.​

After dying in Modena, I moved to Krakow and the duchy of Lesser Poland.

Week 5 was mostly quiet; I started by attacking a opm that suddenly got bigger and forced me to white peace. The humiliation severely crippled me and Hadogei and James ate all the good land. I thus played kingmaker, intervening in their war and helping them creating their respective kingdom. After becoming Lithuania’s vassal, I got rewarded with some gold and some land. Not much to write home about.

Session 6 though, thing got wild.

A Lady Man

I married a sunni nomad and took a slavic Russian concubine, securing soe AI non-aggression pact. It was already a good multicultural family.

Then I asked a fellow player to let me take his bastard sister as an additional comcubine, a basque dragoness.

Later, I found myself marrying Glitterhoof’s daugther, completing my collection with a finish horse. I’m not sure what I am trying to acheive here, but it was fun.
Sadly, non of Dany's child were dragons and Pearl is largely infertile. Maybe I'll suceed with the later generations?


Echoes of the past

At some points, my machination to place the Falconi dynasty on the throne in Constantinople worked and the world had a Falconi Basileus for like a month. It was epic. And hillarious. Plus a Karling descendant on the ERE throne, the joke write itself!


Voice of Jesus

My liege decided that the prospect of crusade was fun and that he wanted in on that action. So he asked for a mass convertion and got himself a christian name : Jesus.

I refused to follow him, I still had to abuse the heck out of the pagan lodge!


Important looting

During one of my multiple campaigns, I looted Bryansk and found a fabulous treasure that Glitterhoof had hided there: a wonderful horse armor!



The faith is a Lie

At some point, I decided that reforming Romuva and getting myself some victory point would be fun. So I went and conquered the needed land, amassed the needed piety and profited. As a lady men, I decided to make it an Enatic clan religion. I of course made it temporal leadership, crowning myself first Vaidila. A men as the head of an enatic faith, obviously.

All the while being secretly catholic.

You are welcome Romuva!

I made the mistake of being Unyealding though, cleaning up that mess is going to be fun!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there we have it, session 6. This week, the wall is coming down, the adventure of the Romuva kingdom of Vistula will continue with new threath and new opportunities. Raiding season is comming and the crusade train have no brake.

 

[Fimconte]

The Man From Carcosa

”The Decimation of Etruria and the Rise of Carcosa”, part Eleven of the Secret History of the World series, authored by Father Giovanni, Miskatonic University Press, First Print on Eight of August, Anno Domini One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Eight.


Eight Hundred and Eighty Eight.
One hundred and three years since Pepin the Hunchback, firstborn son of the legendary Karl Karling, had united the warring kingdoms of Europe and been crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, by Pope Alexander II the Gentle.


An Empire, the size of which had not been seen in Europe since the Fall of Rome.

Yet Mortal Men are ever predictable.
Paranoia and Pride, Ambition and Avarice, Lust and Gluttony.
Base instincts, that drive Men and Women regardless of country, creed or colour of blood.

A Great Empire, thus mired in politics and infighting.
Untold numbers of Heathens or Heretics could yet draw breath, for the Bastion of Christendom gazed largely inward.

In that one hundred years, great dynasties have risen and fallen.
Some, grown to great power and others, cast down by fate, by luck, by their mortal brothers.

Some murdered for land.
Some for power.
Some for the unfathomable plots of Eldritch-Horrors-That-Weave-Their-Webs-In-The-Abyss things best never mentioned.

Thus it was, that in the Summer of Eight Hundred and Eighty Eight, That-Which-Should-Be-Barred-From-Reality the Doge of Carcosa, Hastur the Sixth, prepared to unleash his wrath on the latest enemy of Carcosa.
To strike down the last rival Merchant Republic within the Holy Roman Empire.

Great flocks of Messenger Birds covered the Skies of the Empire as agents and ambassadors of The-King-Garbed-In-Yellow Carcosa plied the movers and shakers of the Empire directly.

Carcosa would move to War.
But it would do so while preparing for the worst.

Alliances, old and new, renewed once more and reinforced with silver tongue or golden purse.
Favors bartered for with flesh or blood.
Florence, thus isolated.

The first strike would be at Noli.
Bordering Nice, it was critical fortress, controlling the supply route into Italy proper, that had to be removed from Florentine control.

Mustering the Republican Levies, supported by a legion of Hasturian Pike, nearly fifteen thousand Slavering-Fleshbeasts-Spawned-From-Madness proud Carcosan soldiers set out to take the field against their Florentine cousins.

The writing was clear on the wall.
Seeing the vast horde of horrors lines of the Carcosan Army, stretching from one end of the horizon to the other, Florence could do no more than sue for peace.

It could not win this fight.
And while the surrender of Noli had bought time for Florence, it was merely a delaying action.

A delaying action that might provide enough time for the de Medicis to find sympathetic ears.

A hope that other Princes, perhaps His Imperial Majesty, Dimitri the Second of House Dez Neigh, or most of all, Pope Sergius the Third, channeling the divine will of the Heavenly Father, would intercede and demand the Doge of Carcosa to cease Its His hostility and call off Its His armies.

It was not to be.

In the Noble and Royal Courts of Imperial Princes, past-potential allies, made their apologies and refused to provide aid. A bad Harvest. Trouble with Bandits. Prior Engagements

In the Imperial Court, the Emperor cited precedent and law, and declined to intercede in yet another ever present squabbling of Princes.

In Eternal Rome, in the Lateran Palace, Florence received a cold welcome.
With the Papal Court filled with ambassadors and courtiers wearing yellow and black.

The Vicar of Jesus Christ, plied by gifts and compliments, a firm friend to the Flesh-Suit-Puppeted-By-A-Violation-Of-Reality Doge of Aquitaine, whose virtues were extolled by an army of Carcosan diplomats, is said to have frowned and refused to listen any claims of Carcosan wrong-doing.

No Aid. Not from an Imperial Prince, Not from a Foreign Saviour, Not from God.
Proof yet again, that Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

Etruria Delenda Est.


_________________________________________________________________________

Week 6 recap here, maybe? Pictures too?

 

[KhanXLT]

So, it has been almost 150 years since game start, and I feel like it's time for a quick retrospective. I began with the humble dream of taking all my toys and moving into Hungary. The wall prevented that. I then planned on ditching the Holy Roman Empire immediately because fuuuuuuuuuck that. Then during the week I had a paradigm shift and started working to keep it together.


My dynasty almost died out twice. Thanks to gavelkind if I wanted to keep my two kingdoms together with the HRE title, Meant I had to murder all but one of my sons for the first two generations. That was a scary 40 or so years,Luckily we had a rule against extincting a Dynasty through Long Knives, otherwise I could see myself losing my slot pretty easily.


My build cost build has been going slowly, I have gotten the bloodline. But that was an absolute I could count on. The rest is dependent on a 12.5% chance in writing books multiplied by four, and then a dragon amulet from China which we are not allowed to interact with. Finally it needs the papal artifact, Bones of St. Peter. This would net me 80% cost reduction, very helpful in building up an entirely tribal region at our start date. Unfortunately without a second builder bloodline, it is impossible to achieve 100% Build cost reduction. A side note here is that buildings seem to have a reduction cap of about 60%, Although Holdings themselves can go down to their base price of 50 gold. A fact I recall not without some wistfulness, since I do not see myself getting that this game.


I Chose a slot near Italy because of what Dragoon did with it last game. I did not, under any circumstances want a United Italy coming out of ck2. With that in mind, I had always planned to Kill the players starting in Italy, before they could grow into being a threat. I had resigned myself to putting that ideal aside after becoming the Holy Roman Emperor. Luckily for me two of the three Italian slots ended up being Traitors to the Empire afterall giving me ample reason to up and kill them, with the final one being murdered by South France for the crime of having Coast. A Partitioned Italy achieved, I was sure I could now rest easy and develop my lands until Crusades proc’d.


Unfortunately that was never meant to be. With each player killed in the Empire the grumbling on the outside grew louder, and with the death of the final Italian Slot, hit a breaking point. A vote was called to decide the fate of a perceived overbearing presence of the HRE. Arguments were had, points were made, and a compromise was reached. Those who could not abide the new rules (Including myself) will be leaving the HRE this week. It remains to be seen if this newly trimmed and summarily nerfed Holy Roman Empire will stand the test of time. It certainly isn’t immune to being attacked anymore.

 

[Limah Aurix]

Blood and Scales

The Congress of Vienna​

The walls of the Elector's councilroom press slowly around me. As the hours pass, my yearning for the fresh air of the skies outside of Dragon's Reach, tinged with salt from the ocean spray, grows ever more. To be anywhere but in this room, surrounded by bickering men, their incessant arguing a droning din. I try to focus on the conversation but my mind refuses to concentrate.

I pass some time flicking King Marachar's tail under the table with my own. He glares at me, annoyed, so I flick my tongue back at him. The echo of conversation dims and I overhear the call for recess. Relieved, I make my way past many faces, familiar and strange, to exit onto the parapets. A great sigh of relief as I am finally able to stretch my wings after what must have been hours.

“Something on your mind?” A voice calls out behind me as I nearly stumble forward, barely managing to grasp the slick brickwork with my talons before taking an embarrassing tumble off the side of the castle.

“You'd make a pretty fine assassin, for your size!” I spit back at Marachar alongside a demure gaze. “You know I can't stand the prattling of those fools, I don't know how you can tolerate it for so long. I just want to return home and tend to my clutch.”

I turn once again to the view off the western edge of the keep, watching as the sun slowly sinks behind the horizon. Marachar slides up beside me and takes my claws in his.

“You know as well as I do, that what we do here, we must do for the future of our realms. For the hatchlings, and their hatchlings,” he reassured me. “Just place your trust in me, and we can find what's best for us, and for the Empire.”

I grumble and bury my head underneath his wing. “It's just so... unfair to have to participate in them squabbling over whose name adorns which sedentary pile of rocks, while the very continuation of our race is in peril. And to have to remain stoic as they speak of dismantling the very safety that we depend on...”

Marachar squeezes my claws tightly, then brings his head around to face me. “I give you my word, if none but us will remain, remain we shall, until the last glimmer of gold is tarnished by the blood spilled from my veins.” He pats me reasurringly on the shoulder, and begins to return to the councilroom. “The recess should be ending soon. You should make your way back to your seat shortly.”

I linger a few minutes more as the last light drains the colour from the world. The north star leads the procession of twinkles that replaces the somber twilight sky, and in but a moment I relieve years of my childhood spent gazing at the stars in wonder. I think back to my recently published studies of the night sky, and realise that no matter what takes place at this council, I still have managed to make some small mark on the history of the world. The surging memories fill me with determination, and I make my way back into the chamber just as the din of the conversation begins to swell.

I keep in mind the sacred promise of my ancestry to uphold our footing in this new land as I cast my vote on the future of our Empire, and renew my oath to maintain and defend it with as much vigor as I can muster.

 

[Clonefusion]

Sardinia – Time to look further than just Sardinia

Screenshot 1 :

In the year 844 Sardinia was still ruled by Serene Doge Atenolfo. This king had in his region expanded Sardinia significantly past the island into Tripolitania, but now it was time for even more. The cynical, slothful and even cruel duchess Adosinda was at this time ruling the duchy of mallorca, such a women had a bad standing in the christian world and so in the year 844 the pope granted Serene Doge Atenolfo a claim to the duchy of mallorca. The patient, zealous and charitable nature of the serene doge was to end the suffering of the citizens of the baleares and lead them in to a great future.

Just as the Serene Doge was granted the claim, the war for the Duchy of Mallorca began, the war was won with overwhelming force with mostly forces from the county of sassari split between the city of sassari and the 3 castles in that province. The power structures in the baleares were left untouched and so the same counts and barons were still ruling the provinces of mallorca and menorca, only the highest protector of the island was now the kingdom of Sardinia.

On the 2nd of September 1849 serene doge died from severe injuries from medical treatment and was succeed by his son Thurcytel. Thurcytel was a promising ruler as he was a great administrator, diligent and patient, and ambitious enough to follow the legacy of his maybe not as wise but still successful father. Sadly though illness also reached Thurcytel and so 2 years later he died of cancer and was succeeded by his less smart half-brother, who shared his ambitions, but was more a man of intrigue than of administration.

During his rule the baleares were integrated into the realm and even though in the year 855 menorca shortly ended under the kingdom of badajoz, it was brought 1 year later again under the control of Sardinia. This time it was granted to the house borgonia, a small house married to the house of Bavarae via the current ruler´s half-sister.

Sardinia at this time was going through more prospering times than under King Atenolfo, the effect of diseases on the capital were reduced via a Sick House, a Leper Colony and a Soup Kitchen, less people died, trade was safer and even though this new technology had not spread yet across the island, it proved itself in the capital. Besides this new space was found for a new city in the province of Gallura, Sardinia´s advances in city building had taught the sardinians how to improve management of their land and to keep our architects in motion new cities were also built in the provinces of arborea and ogliastra. The wealth of Sardinia was also spread to the baleares, in the province of menorca a new temple was constructed and the count of mallorca was even rich enough to build his own secondary castle. All these advancements brought a lot of wealth to the Sardinian kingdom, which the Serene Doge did not know how to spend at this time and this means wealth is not everything.

The control of the baleares also massively raised the military power of Sardinia. It did not lead to Sardinia having far more levies or far more ships to control as the Baleares only contributed 200 troops and 3 ships of the 10000 troops and 84 ships of the kingdom, it rather brought military control over the Western Mediterranean. Sardinia now did not only have the largest coastline in the western med, it also controlled the sea in the center of it, it had the largest navy in the western mediterranean on top and even the largest navy in the world at this time.

Screenshot 2 :

 

[Rabbit Burgher]

888-908: Pictish interventions and Civil War
The twenty two years following the fall of the last Saxon kingdom in Britain were marked, mostly, by southern peace and northern instability. The Italian invasion of Scotland was an unsurprisingly doomed effort from the start as the invader king not only lacked the popular support of the Pictish people, but he also crossed the Brythonic kingdom of Loegria by violating the regent’s determined rhetoric against foreign incursion onto the island. In short order, Prince Regent Arthueu created an alliance with Duke Allcallorred of Moray. Although he was a controversial figure due to fantastical rumours surrounding his longevity, the Duke was a rightful claimant to the Kingdom of Scotland and enjoyed more support than the former child queen. The armies of Loegria quickly entered Scotland and ousted the Italian, bringing their Pictish ally onto the throne.

But the peace was not to last. The powerful duke of Mann proved a dangerous rival to the new king, quickly dragging the nation into a state of civil war when the King tried to cut his realm down to one befitting his station. Once again the Brythonic troops marched north and once again Allcallorred’s kingdom was secure. This crisis was repeated again with a different set of nobles mere years later, although the Pictish realm has remained at an uneasy peace for a handful of years.

In the southern kingdom of Loegria, there was an unprecedented peace that lasted for almost two decades. The defeat of the Saxon kingdom of Ireland left Loegria is uncontested control of the southern kingdoms of the island – although the Welsh maintained technical independence. The Brythonic efforts to resettle the island progressed further when the Saxons of Dorset were driven out and replaced by Britons. This further helped the growth of London when the fleeing Saxons emigrated into the city and East Anglia, helping the kingdom’s new capital grow. It was regrettably accepted that, for the time being, Camelot would be left in the hands of vassals instead of being seized again by the Prince Regent.

Prince Regent Arthueu passed in 899, leading to a brief regency under Prince Regent Tethion Leon until he died of gout in 905. House du Bedwyr was once again rewarded the regency following Tethion’s death, placing the eminent scholar Carantoc du Bedwyr in power. The middle aged Briton was an accomplished member of the Hermetic society and a budding astronomer when he came to power, famous for being the second most learned man in the world (second only to the King of Saxony, highest magus of the society).

This peace ended in 907, however, when Catuod de Penrith – a traitorous Briton leading a vassal alliance of Saxons – attempted to oust Prince Regent Carantoc from power. The civil war was initially a losing battle against the numinous horde of rebels, but the longstanding alliance with the House of Dez Neigh once again proved fruitful when they sent a force of Italian pikemen to the aid of the Brythonic knights. Following the crushing defeat for the rebels in the Battle of St Peter’s, the stage is set for a victory for the loyalists in the war.

 

[Lucius Scaevola]

AAR for 2/10/19


So last session I was out for about half, and mark took over in the interim. He lead the Kingdom into the light of Christianity and helped maintain the Kingship of house Wenceslaus. Returning to my fine Country in the off period I found that my country had been in good hands, with gold in coffers and king firmly in seat. The between games, however, ws more interesting than the prospect of returning. The Holy Roman empire Nerf vote had finally been called. I had wondered when this would happen, as grumblings about it were cropping up with every new bit of Diplo. It was only a matter of time…


The vote started off slow but quickly built up steam. A large number of people ended up going abstain, reducing the voting populace until just 9 Votes determined that the vote would go ahead with Nerfing or otherwise dealing with the HRE. This moved things to a second phase. At this stage the HRE players were kicking and screaming about things, Though as I learned later many of them were only stalling for time to game the system.


The vote stalled for some time as discussion turned to how to handle the nerf and a few ideas were floated but ultimately rejected. The crux of the issue was that some of the most vocal players in the discussion actually had no interest in staying in the HRE at all. This was rather frustrating as they were some of the ones who shot down most of the best ideas that were in the chat. Meanwhile the Nerf vote failed at first to gain any steam, turning the issue into one of total HRE collapse and Resetting the campaign. I was and still am in that camp along with almost half the players here.


The night changed when people starting voting Nerf after a proposition involving mostly buffs to the HRE was proposed as it made major incentives for its princes to stay small as well as limiting its involvement outside its borders. While at This point I still wanted reset, Without additional votes things were deadlocked. As such I made the proposal for my own joining into the HRE and for the maintaining of full penalties as some members who intended to stay were arguing for lighter treatment because there were so few of them. This couldn't stand. My vote pushed the issue out of deadlock and ended the stalemate. This prompted a flurry of discussion about how to do things, who was leaving, and how to incorporate me. The hilarious proposal to give all my northern land to a greedy prince was presented and summarily and brutally rejected (Seriously, wtf man?) before things began to quiet down.


This will be a chance to make this work. I liked the idea of maintaining an HRE through CK2 and EU4, and this is our big shot at doing it. If this doesn’t work I don’t know what will.

 

[Sid Meier]

 

[EmperorofMordor]

Thankfully, Radul de Medici was not in Lucca when it fell. His great city, gone over to the daemons. He had been leading his soldiers in a guerilla campaign, trying to disrupt supply lines as much as he could, although without control of the sea there wasn’t much to do. Once word came that the city had fallen, Radul knew it was time to go. He fled south, with a small retinue of his finest pikes. He received a warm welcome in the Papal court, but he could not stay long. The Carcosans had their agents everywhere. He was not safe there. One of his men was murdered, and a circle resembling an Ouroburos had been carved into his head. It was clear that Papal ability to protect Radul was extremely limited. After a few days of feasting and rest, he and his men moved further south. He had heard that the Byzantine Emperor had a Catholic vassal, the Despot of Sicily. He had heard that the old duke was a pious man. Perhaps he could make use of saint’s blood, as well as a good commander.


Radul’s men were stopped by Byzantine soldiers at the border. A small bribe to the border guards and a petition in Greek, which Radul had learned as a child, was enough to get them through largely unhindered. They continued south through the Mezzogiorno, an idyllic if not the most developed countryside. Nothing like his beloved Lucca. He would probably never see it again. Too dangerous. Thankfully, Radul slept with his men, so that when the Shadows of Carcosa came for him in Salerno, it was another of his men slain. Finally, he reached Naples. After much bartering, haggling, and asking, he was given an audience with the Despot of Sicily. A Northman, if he remembered correctly. It would be an interesting meeting.


As it turned out, the meeting was far more interesting than anticipated. It seems that since news last arrived from down South, the old Despot had died, and been replaced by his 10 year old son. The Court ruled Sicily for the next 6 years. Not bad necessarily, but not good either. Convincing the boy to allow them to stay, and put them under his protection had been easy, he was malleable. Convincing the court had used up most of the rest of the wealth Radul was able to escape with from Florence. But he had done it. While not formally advisor, he was a growing friend and mentor to the young Despot. As time went on, he became more and more influential in court, but was never visible enough to attract attention. By the time the Young Despot Drogo came of age, Radul was firmly entrenched as a powerful man. The Medicis may rule Pisa by the barest thread, but now they would rule Sicily, just...under a different name.

 

[Nax24]

"An Empire Falls, Another One Rises"​

Look at it... its beautiful...

The toil of a generation. The blood, sweat, and tears of tens of thousands of warriors. The destruction of multiple lands. All of those brought about Scandinavia, the first Empire formed that was not the HRE or the ERE. Of course, what you see hear is not accurate in terms of size when the session ended. I had to give away many of those counties to prevent myself being surgically partitioned by Mark and Dragoon. I traded Estonia for half of Norway though, so now at least all my holdings are connected.

But I can't talk about Scandinavia without talking about the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. If you have been keeping up with our crazy OOC and meta adventures, there was a wide consensus that certain aspects of the Holy Roman Empire were rather over-powered. As such, three major "fixes" were proposed by the players to fix this situation. The first was to simply destroy the HRE. The Emperor would be given 40 counties, and the player vassals would go free. The second option was to adopt a series of nerfs proposed by Sauron. These were rather good nerfs such as preventing expansion outside of the HRE, and giving penalties for princes that were too big. The last choice was to just restart the game at 867 and go from there with new rules and fixes. This was the weirdest solution and honestly I still dont understand it or like it. But it got popular when the loudest voices said that "The HRE ruined the game, best reset and try again".

Sauron's nerfs won, and the princes were given a choice to stay in the HRE with the nerfs or go free. Tazzo, Khan, and Fimconte opted to go free on their own, the rest decided to stay. Yet, James decided to join Bohemia to the HRE, and obtained an electorship, and access to a private discord channel for the electors.

It was there he learned that some of the HRE players, prior to Sauron proposing his nerfs, and prior to knowledge that a "breakup" would have been managed by Khan, wanted to crash and burn the HRE on their own terms. Yet, to James (added to the fact that Sir Spots kind of agreed to give some of his land to Khan but looked as if he was being bullied by Khan to James), that was a super jerk move, and released this to the public.

Ignoring the fact that doxxing a private channel is usually un-cool in most circumstances regardless of what is revealed, James then preceded to unleash a vivid torrent of accusations and emotions in Khan's general direction, basically saying Khan "Spoiled the game", "ruined the game", and all that stuff, saying everything about why Khan was a terrible person for doing something totally in line with the way CK2 was. He ended up rage quitting the game, stating that he wont rejoin until we restart completely in order to "fix Khan's spoiling of the game". So with Jame's "very collective meltdown" out the way, alongside the three biggest princes leaving the HRE, the HRE is in a rather rough spot.

Scandinavia though ended up doing just great! I subjugated Finland, vassalized Norway, and gave some land to King of Men for his willingness not to stop me. I just hope that I can easily keep my holdings, especially with regards to how feudalization will go down...

 

[EmperorofMordor]

I just hope that I can easily keep my holdings, especially with regards to how feudalization will go down...

The secret, you see, is to just...not! Or at least, don't until you can feudalize your entire realm basically simultaneously, and very quickly build a large number of buildings on top of starting with a lot bought with prestige. Don't Feudalize until you're ready, and don't rush it, or you'll end up like Ursul's Poland-Lithuania, with 1k troops getting prepared invaded by Estonia.

 

[Fimconte]

Eesti Stronk!

Also, relevant for Polish feudalization:

Spoiler

 

[King of Men]

It is said that Odin called for a Month of Thunderstorms over Scandinavia to show his disgust.

I mean this is no doubt true, but to be honest I doubt anyone noticed anything unusual.

Carcosa In Yellow

I keep telling people that what this game needs is an Albigensian Crusade, but nobody listens.

 

[Nax24]

I mean this is no doubt true, but to be honest I doubt anyone noticed anything unusual.

We Swedish folk just called it "October"