Slight Roleplaying Type Question

[Khubilai]

I have a question about *where* people are. If one of my vassals is on my council, then they are technically in MY court, correct? I'm wondering how it is that someone could reside full time in my home province, and still administer their own holdings. Also, are their spouses still at home? How can a wife get pregnant if they are in a far away land? I'd love some thoughts on this, strictly from an RP perspective.

Thanks!

 

[Shebaloso]

I have a question about *where* people are. If one of my vassals is on my council, then they are technically in MY court, correct? I'm wondering how it is that someone could reside full time in my home province, and still administer their own holdings. Also, are their spouses still at home? How can a wife get pregnant if they are in a far away land? I'd love some thoughts on this, strictly from an RP perspective.

Thanks!

If you have doubts about the location of a character, simply left click the character's portrait and click over the "go to" button to have the camera centralize over his location.

I think you concern is a bit exaggerated, even for RP reasons. Giving a chancellor or a marshal the order to collect taxes or train troops in a province does not mean (at least in my head) that they will be 100% of the time standing straight in a province shouting "Break a sweat, you sons of mangy dogs!" or "Gib monie plox", but merely that they will put their effort into improving the recruiting system or introduce new taxes, for example.

In reality, it doesn't really mean that they will stay indefinitely in your court ( the game works like this because it would be a hell of a strain over the cpu if you were to simulate the dynamic comings and goings for 6 characters PER COUNTY in an extreme situation, you have to abstract visits from his family, birthdays, small gatherings, etc), nor that they will be unable to manage their own kingdom. Take a look at the time scale. Generally, we have an event that requires your attention per month in a VERY busy kingdom. The "day by day" is not abstracted in the game, merely the events which are considered "eventful" in the middle ages, such as feasts, hunts, granting of titles, etc. A think a chancellor is able both to manage his duchy AND be chancellor here...We are not talking about nation states, public transport, health care, etc... Remember that the king of france in these times DID NOT manage his lands entirely. He managed his demesne and had some authority over his vassals. His vassals' lands are his vassals' problems. Remember again that EACH COUNT has his own court and own advisors. I don't think there is a problem with the verosimilitude of the "administration aspect"

All in all, i think you're overestimating the "simulation" factor here...it's ultimately just a computer game...

 

[ModerateOsprey]

The concept of character location really threw me when I first started the game until I abstracted the role in my mind. The way I see it is that vassals have their own underlings that administers for them. The mundane, routine tasks for these underlings could be running messages, making sure horses are sorted etc while the Mayor fettles his wife/mistress/stable boy as well as doing their important court business.

 

[DPS]

Also, your council members being "in your court" probably should be taken to mean that they're members of your court, not that they'll physically present in your castle all the time.

 

[Khubilai]

I guess from an RP perspective, if I'm the King of Scotland, and I park my court chaplain in Rome for 5 years to improve relations with the pope, you could say that he is traveling back and forth during that time, yes?

P.S. It's *just* a computer game? I had no idea. Thank you for helping me have less fun with it. Much appreciated.

 

[heliostellar]

No, they are not physically located in your capital, even when they are in your court. In your court simply means that they are either a member of the royal family or on the council. I don't think they remain in your court if you fire them from the council. In game terms, they are "located" wherever you assign them. In RP terms, I would consider them as either an overseas ambassador in the case of the Chancellor or Chaplain, or as your emissary at-large in the realm for those stationed within the realm.

In this era, royal officials were hardly ever stationery. Even in the HRE, the emperor usually moved around frequently to different castles before the time of the Habsburgs.

The concept of the royalty being cloistered in one place didn't happen until the days of Versailles, and this fact actually made absolute monarchy possible. Here's a light write-up on that: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/louis-xiv-and-the-principles-of-absolutism-history-essay.php