Chapter 9 - To Defect, or to not Defect
January 1, 1087:
Count Oberto di Parma (not to be confused with Count Oberto di Parma) starts his realm in better position than his father. I have a max demense size of 9 (with 7 counties), and a new Count has much less to fear than a new Duke or King.
I start off by choosing the Amass Wealth ambition (+1 stewardship is always handy), and sending my heir Oberto (how...unique) off to Duchess Matilda to be tutored. This serves two purposes: Matilda has good stats, and it boosts my relations to avoid any issues while I consolidate my realm and look for opportunities.
In CKII, Guardianship is hugely important to the development of characters. Children will often assume the culture and religion of their tutors (which can be handy if you want to get in good with a particular court), and they also tend to increase stats, pick up traits, and get their education level from their guardians. While sending a child to a character with 4 virtues, 25 stewardship, and Midas Touched won't guarantee a kick-butt steward, it will certainly help. Guardians and wards will get permanent relations bonuses to each other, so sending your heir to the King's heir may serve them well down the line.
With the relations boost from sending my son off to Matilda, I can request a duchy. Matilda figures that Jesus was unspecific as to which Oberto he was going to be rewarding...
As a brand new ruler, I can pass a law immediately. I go for the money.
In December, a festival is held in Salermo,and Oberto is right there. Paaaarty! As a note, Gregarious is one of the easier positive traits to get - +2 diplomacy and generally positive relations boosts with vassals.
The next month, Oberto is forced to step in to save a woman from being burned to death as a witch. Sadly, there was no "I must take her back to my chambers for...evaluation" option.
Less than a week later, the emperor declares war on the High Chief of Pomerania, causing the Emperor to raise troops. Unfortunately, a common side effect of this is that your more important nobles (including yourself) get called up as well. Oberto gets to march around the empire. The war ends in April, with thousands of Pomeranians forced to serve the Empire.
Oh, this is a good reason not to piss off dukes and the pope unnecessarily...
In September 1088, I sit down to decide my options:
1.) Stay in the empire. To become a duchy, I will have to declare independence from my Duke, praying that they can't call in enough allies to crush me.
2.) Jump to the Kingdom of Sicily, and try and claw my way up to be able to usurp the Kingdom. The risk here is that the kingdom is not strong enough to prevent strong Muslim states from invading.
3.) Jump to the Byzantine Empire. The Empire's succession laws are currently Primogeniture rather than Elective like the Empire, making it trickier to become Emperor. On the other hand, the Byzantines are a juggernaut in the current patch, similar to the Empire.
In the end, I choose to stay with the Holy Roman Empire. The HRE has lower Crown Authority (allowing me to declare war on weak Muslims and expand), a large army (keeping most Muslim states from even thinking about attacking), Elective succession (giving me a direct path to the top), and is more centrally located.
To celebrate my choice, the Duchess holds another feast. I get the choice of becoming a drunkard or pissing off the duchess. I choose to piss off the duchess. Luckily, I get the chance to compliment the food, which balances out.
February sees Oberto losing the sin of Wroth. The loss in Martial sucks. Wroth is one of the more useful sins to have, though it causes friction with the church.
The exact same day, a famous writer wants to compose my family's chronicles. The prestige is worth it.
My family's Chronicles are so inspiring, the Pope calls for a Crusade against Jaffa. In response to the Crusade, my chancellor manages to fabricate claims in Lombardia. Unfortunately, they are for the County rather than the Duchy, so I let it go.
In May 1089, the Kaiser calls for a Grand Tournament. ALWAYS go to the Grand Tournament - you get a lot of prestige, and the chance of something bad happening is not much more than if you just unclick pause at any time.
Unfortunately, 4 days later my peasants in Girgenti revolt. The tournament doesn't actually move your character's location, so they can lead an army in Sicily while jousting in Berlin. Don't ask why.
In this case, I got a total of 100 prestige from the tournament.
In November, my chaplain is wounded by a mob of peasants who aren't thrilled about being exposed to the light of Christ. Jehovah's Witnesses just have to worry about people answering the door naked - proselytizing is a lot safer these days. (Depending on who is getting naked, I suppose)
Whenever you get an event that lets your spouse fall in love with you, always take it. Spouses in love are more likely to provide heirs, and generally don't plot to kill you. (Not that this has been an issue in this AAR or anything. Not at all. Oberto and Sancha were a classic love story.)
Opportunity, she is knocking. Matilda dies, splitting up her duchy (gavelkind rocks if you're planning on being a treasonous bastard...).