Yes if one family has learnt not to read too much into a single failed tiger hunt it is this one.
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Road of Queens - CKII India AAR
- Thread starter Eurasia
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It’s easy to see how, by modern times, the tiger is an endangered species in many parts of India! I’m not sure if I should be pleased they didn’t find one on this occasion, or worried they were unable to!
But, like her predecessors, the new queen is very assiduous in looking after her domestic responsibilities. Let us hope all this hard work keeps the House of Dysnomia clean of serious pretenders, troublesome freeloaders and rebellious vassals! Things have been quite stable for many years now - but chaos is always just one “series of unfortunate events” around the corner!
That brigns up the good question of how big your realm is in comparison to other countries (like, a question of scale) because India being India, its hard to tell whether your smallish looking kingdom is actually small or freakishly big but surrounded by giants. Are you within danger of actually hunting tigers in your jungle to extinction, or is your realm so big that it's unlikely to happen?
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Man, Dionysia portrait reminded me a great deal of her great-grandmother. And then that martial ability! Not that she'll become a threat but it certainly made me think...
Failed Tiger hunts are basically family tradition at this point. They're just means to pass the time before the queen goes off an wins another war anyway.
Failed Tiger hunts are basically family tradition at this point. They're just means to pass the time before the queen goes off an wins another war anyway.
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Crusader Kings 2 - The Road of Queens
Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-One : Religious Journey
The Tree
Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-One : Religious Journey
The Tree
We open this chapter in April, of the year 831 AD, with the Queen giving out a minor yet important title out to one of the members of the court.
She decided that the Designated Regent should be Nonna Eustratiostkacer. She was a simple Courtier but also a close friend. The Queen trusted her.
She also decided that Baroness Nikarete of Somapura Mahavihara should be given the title of Court Musician in the hopes that this Vassal would have a better opinion of her liege.
As the Baroness was a Buddhist Nun in charge of a temple the Queen realized there was another way to get the religious members of her Kingdom on her side.
On the 8th of April the Queen decided to focus less on material wealth and more on the religious life. The next day she announced she would be going on a pilgrimage.
"Blackmail," replied the Queen.
"Well," he said, "don't you want to hear the other two choices?"
"Blackmail."
"Okay then..."
So on the 9th of May the Queen was off with a few dozen guards and a few members of her court and cooks and servants and many of the necessities that a Royal Queen needs.
She left after putting Nonna in charge as her Regent.
Near the end of May she received a letter about Andronikos Dysnomia. Seemed her nephew needed the second stage of his education picked out. She decided he would grow up to be a warrior.
The next day she was shivering, sweating, and all around felt terrible.
Near the end of June the wagon train finally reached Bodh Gaya. Now it was time to seek enlightenment. Surely the Buddha would not let her illness keep her from understanding the mysteries of the universe?
By July it seemed that she was being tested. For her knew something was very wrong.
She refused to let it keep her from learning. She went out to listen and chat and meet others. She would learn about the world no matter how ill she became.
But soon she was forced to return to her bed in the wagon. The Flu had grown stronger and now racked her body with pain.
As they started on their way homeward as quickly as they could the Court Physician Wiryasini "The Wise" came to the Queen in her wagon. He give the Queen several different choices for her treatment. She demanded he stick to the ones he knew well.
He made her eat live fish. They wiggled a lot but at least they were tiny.
Funny enough they reached the Palace on the very same day that she started this strange treatment. It was nice to be back in her own bed without all the rocking and all the noise. A day later the Regent stepped down.
By August the Queen had recovered fully and all that remained of the Flu was the bad memories and a bucket full of unused fish.
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Folks! Just to let you know I have added the Jade Dragon DLC and will test it with my Byzantine Empire game to see if it breaks anything. If everything looks good the next chapter will be interesting but likely not till the weekend.
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Crusader Kings 2 - The Road of Queens
Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Two : Cartography Correction Bureau
Agent Smith
Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Two : Cartography Correction Bureau
Agent Smith
The Queen entered her throne room in August and found herself in the middle of chaos. Men were working on her lovely wall map. Symbols were being replaced all over India and whole region of the once empty Tibet Plateau was being filled with borders and names.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Queen Arminestra II "The Wise". All but one of the men ignored her. The one, a frail looking old man, stepped forward with a smile and his hands held together.
"Good morning my dear lady," he said while giving her a short bow. "We are here to update this old maps. Really, dreadful how outdated they have become, don't you think?"
"Who are you?" asked the Queen as she looked over the old man. His rich clothing suggested either a noble background or somebody who dealt in the finer things in life. There was no guards nor any suggestion of heraldic badges or a signet ring. Yet she assumed he was a member of some guild or other.
"Who am I? Who am I?" said the man with a gleeful chuckle. "Oh...where did I put that piece of paper." He started to search his cloak and then with a furnish handed her a small leather booklet.
She opened it and for a second the paper inside seemed distorted. It must have been tired eyes for a second later the letters became crisp and clear. “Agent Smith of the Cartography Correction Bureau?”
“Smith?” said the man with a mixture of humor and surprise. “Oh, yes, Agent Smith.” He gave off a weird kind of laugh, as he kept his mouth closed, so it came out more like a series of hums. “We’re here to correct this wall. As you can see it was very outdated. Why, it even had the wrong national symbols.”
The Queen stared at the map and said, “My Kingdom’s symbol is not a elephant’s head.”
“Oh dear woman, of course it is. Of COURSE it is,” stated Smith. “My records are very clear on that.” He put his tiny leather booklet into one of his many pockets that seemed to exist in his attire.
He then pulled out a rolled up map and handed it to her. “You should see the Middle East.”
The Queen unrolled the scroll. “What is ALL this?”
“Mountain ranges. Deserts. All the maps have to be updated. Whole region that were once said to be populated - nothing was ever there. Shocking state of affairs.” The old man shook his head and looked very upset.
“Now my Queen, we will be busy here for a time, replacing everything,” continued Smith with a gesture towards the doors, “and I understand your Council had some information for you about the Ming Empire?”
“The WHAT Empire?”
“Oh yes,” said the old man with another weird chuckle. “Yes, seems the Middle Kingdom does not like being neglected. I am sure your Council will explain it to you. Yes, yes.”
The Queen moved out of the throne room and entered the dining room the Council liked to think of as their Meeting Chamber.
The Queen looked at her Council and said “EXPLAIN!”
After a few confused starts and some embarrassed looks the Council explained that the Ming Empire was a massive empire to the East which had only now started to send feelers west.
Protector General Dong Xingcheng was the Empire’s eyes, ears, and voice and it was suggested that the Queen try to get on his nice side. And the nice side of the Empire as a whole.
“And why should I care?” stated the Queen.
The answer she got was not to her liking. Not only did the Eastern Empire control the Silk Trade. It was rumored that they had armies that were huge. MASSIVE. Armies that could easily, if the Empire wanted it, take all over India.
The Queen sighed. This sounded like it was going to be one of those years.
So we close this chapter with the Ming Empire entering the game of politics in India and the rest of Eastern Europe.
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OOC : This is more of a silly sub-chapter just to help set up the changes and so my statement that the next REAL chapter will like show up during the weekend is totally valid.
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Ah, I take it you have managed to transfer to Jade Dragon without issue?
The First Doctor right?
The First Doctor right?
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Gah, this update was so weird! The deserts look like deserts now and there's no grey box telling you where you can't go. It's so hard to find the mountain passages and stuff now.
So that was jade dragon? I wondered what was going on. Tell me how you find it, when you've had a chance to explore and stuff.
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Doctor? Doctor who? What are you talking about my dear boy?
Well, let me just say that if you are playing in the Middle East I suggest not adding it. Also my "Empire" game looks weird - borders have been re-drawn, the colors have changed, and there are some counties that now SEEM to belong to other people. It looks like a mess and it even looks like the Arabian Empire just disappeared.
Lucky for me (in my AAR game) it just changed some flags about in India and didn't touch my characters or my counties.
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I'm happy to see that Jade Dragon hasn't caused you issue thus far. The Tibetans and Chinese should add greatly to an AAR set on the silk road.
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Albion got hit a little by it, but only in the Middle East and India as you say. I think they switched a few things round and redid some borders or something. I'm so far away from the Silk Road that by the time I get to it I'll have built my own artificially.
Anyway, does this mean you'll. be dealing with Tibet and china a lot? You are literally the border region in this game.
Anyway, does this mean you'll. be dealing with Tibet and china a lot? You are literally the border region in this game.
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Very likely. From what I can tell Tibet is tribal, I think, and not very developed. China will be more interesting.
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Well that was disorienting - nicely portrayed. Agent Smith? Another nice reference - dressed in black too, I assume. Perhaps that last pilgrimage introduced the Queen to the world of mind-altering substances - fancy not remembering her own national symbol!? [though I will miss the two swords on red and green] Hope the changes aren’t too fundamental and the Queen can pretty much resume things. Has it given India an eastern border, or is it all over the Himalayas?
[though I will miss the two swords on red and green] Hope the changes aren’t too fundamental and the Queen can pretty much resume things. Has it given India an eastern border, or is it all over the Himalayas?- 1
Well that was disorienting - nicely portrayed. Agent Smith? Another nice reference - dressed in black too, I assume. Perhaps that last pilgrimage introduced the Queen to the world of mind-altering substances - fancy not remembering her own national symbol!?
I will miss the two swords too. Burma and its mountains still protect the eastern border. But now I can search for the Valley of the Blue Moon in Tibet.
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Crusader Kings 2 - The Road of Queens
Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Three : Border Correction Bureau
Agent Anderson
Chapter One Hundred-Thirty-Three : Border Correction Bureau
Agent Anderson
We open this chapter later in August when the Queen entered the throne room to find more artists and laborers working on the wall map. They seemed to be expanding the colors of the Indian realms northwards. Much of southern Tibet was being absorbed by India.
A tall man with grey hair and dark clothing was waiting next to her throne. He had a very large package in his hand and greeted her with a smile and a bow. "Oh Great Queen Arminestra II of Kamarupa, I bring you good news. You now have more holdings to command."
"Who are you and what is going on!" she demanded as she stomped over to the wall map. "One of those map people again?"
"Oh, no, no, no," said the strange man as he whiped out a tiny leather booklet. The Queen took it out of his hand and opened it. Like the earlier booklet it took some time for her eyes to adjust. "Agent Anderson of the Border Correction Bureau?"
"Anderson? What a silly... I mean, yes, Agent Anderson." He handed her the package. "We are adjusting the borders according to the newly defined spheres of influence."
"Influence?" questioned the Queen as he placed the heavy package on her throne and untied the ribbons. Scrolls poured out. She unrolled one and looked it over. It was a title. She looked at another one. It was a title. They were all titles. Titles for cities, counties, religious holdings. "What...?"
"You now have a TOTAL of seventy-one holdings. As you are only allowed to directly control seven demesne according to your skills and educational background, as put down by the bylaws and codes of the Euro-Indian Paradox Agreement of 345 AD-"
"What?" interrupted the Queen, looking totally confused.
“Short version,” said the man with a smile, “You need to give away over sixty titles. More or less. Many are also titles you should not hold. Oh, if you could sign this to show I have delivered the package. And also there. Thank you!”
At that point Agent Anderson gave the Queen another bow, said, “Have a good day sweetheart,” and walked out.
The Queen spent the next few days in a haze of combing through her court for people who she could give out titles to. As she did so she realized just how hard it was. Not everybody was available to own land and only a few were able to be given religious holdings. Friends got titles. Most of her offspring and her brother’s offspring got titles. A husband would get a title and the man’s wife would get another.
In pouring over the court records she also found four children who needed a educational pathway selected for them. Her 4 year old son Eusebios would focus on math and counting coins. The other children, Alexeia, Stephanos, and Suryakk, were not related to her but she did her best, in her somewhat panicked state, to select the best future education for them.
Then she found a bright spot in her grey cloud. By giving her brother the Vihara of Sepla Prince Ioulianos would become a Bhikshuni and that would DISQUALIFY him from succession. Guess who got a temple?
She also found two women to marry. Euphemia Toxias and Kale Toxias were both married off to male members of the court.
By the 31st of August the Queen was running out of people she could give titles to. At least, those that would not cause problems in the future. She didn’t want to give any to the Councilors as that would just give them land, money, and soldiers.
And giving a title to her husband would also be a problem. As her elder son would inherit the title and her elder son was a vassal within the Kingdom of Pala.
One idea was to create a Duchy and give it to Princess Anastasia. But first she suggested a matrilineal marriage between her and Sutasome of the House Tigin. He was Buddhist and of the right age to set up a Betrothal.
As the Queen waited a reply she was notified the Great King Traillokyachandra of Bihar had created a Raj title. Like her he, and many of the other rulers, was trying to deal with the flood of new holdings. And she did the same.
She created the Duchy of Bhutan.
On the 17th of September she got the reply she wanted. The matrilineal marriage had been approved. Knowing the marriage was now set she gave her daughter a county and then the Duchy of Bhutan. She would make a very young Duchess but the Queen hoped it would give her daughter experience and skills she would need to become the future Queen.
In October the Kingdom of Pala, one of the realms NOT to profit from the moving into Tibet, declared a war to force a Raj to become a Tributary State. Almost sad really.
By now the Queen was worn out and decided to hand over the job of passing out the rest of the titles to the Magistros. This was a mistake. In the end many of the members of the Council received Counties. Magistros Isaias gave himself more than one. Even her husband got a County which was what she had been trying NOT to do.
By the 11th of October she ended up with nine holdings and thirty Vassals. At least the Royal Court had gone down from over seventy members to about twenty-nine as many of her Courtiers had left to run their cities and temples. Only three of the Vassals had issues with the Queen. The rest seemed to be happy with her and passed on the coins they felt they owed her.
She KNEW there would be problems in the future. She now held a huge Kingdom and many of the titles might end up in the wrong hands. Almost everybody in her family now had access to soldiers and money and reasons to fight each other.
On top of that Pala was no longer acting as a buffer to the rest of India. She now shared common borders with some of the most aggressive and powerful Indian rulers. What joy.
So we close this chapter with a Queen trying to recover from months of reorganizing her realm and foreseeing the years of fighting to keep it.
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Good thing Arminestra was already the Wise, or she would have wound up the Completely Perplexed! Now she is probably just tired and a bit confused (without the capital letters). So were those new titles all from just the new territorial grants, or were holdings added within existing provinces? A broader look at the new realm and those troublesome neighbours would be nice eventually.
And after years of slow and careful expansion, such a rapid increase in the size and power of the realm could, as you say, prove dangerous - more for the internal tensions and ambitions that may now be unleashed. Let’s hope Kamarupa doesn’t now drown in honey!
These will be interesting times: it could lead to the development of a Great Queendom well before you may have anticipated. Or to years of managing internal strife and fractious neighbours! Probably a mixture of both. Looking forward to seeing how the Wise Queen deals with it.
And after years of slow and careful expansion, such a rapid increase in the size and power of the realm could, as you say, prove dangerous - more for the internal tensions and ambitions that may now be unleashed. Let’s hope Kamarupa doesn’t now drown in honey!
These will be interesting times: it could lead to the development of a Great Queendom well before you may have anticipated. Or to years of managing internal strife and fractious neighbours! Probably a mixture of both
. Looking forward to seeing how the Wise Queen deals with it.- 1
Good thing Arminestra was already the Wise, or she would have wound up the Completely Perplexed! Now she is probably just tired and a bit confused (without the capital letters). So were those new titles all from just the new territorial grants, or were holdings added within existing provinces? A broader look at the new realm and those troublesome neighbours would be nice eventually.
And after years of slow and careful expansion, such a rapid increase in the size and power of the realm could, as you say, prove dangerous - more for the internal tensions and ambitions that may now be unleashed. Let’s hope Kamarupa doesn’t now drown in honey!
These will be interesting times: it could lead to the development of a Great Queendom well before you may have anticipated. Or to years of managing internal strife and fractious neighbours! Probably a mixture of both
All the new titles are from Tibet counties, cities, and so on. Next chapter will have some nice maps to look at to help show the new territories.
The rapid increase was not welcome. I was looking forward to slow, careful, growth.
One of my neighbors are Norse Tibetans.
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Thanks. And thought you might have felt that way, given the care you have taken to build and organise the realm to date. At least having such a large court meant there was some capacity to absorb the influx of titles - though with the potential stability problems already discussed.All the new titles are from Tibet counties, cities, and so on. Next chapter will have some nice maps to look at to help show the new territories.
The rapid increase was not welcome. I was looking forward to slow, careful, growth.
One of my neighbors are Norse Tibetans.
Norse Tibetans
!? Well, running a Greek Indian realm I guess you can’t really complain . Let’s just hope they don’t decide to start raiding you!- 1