[Hi Harry what are you doing … oh I heard rumours of adultery, unprovoked aggression, that sort of thing … just wanted to check I wasn’t being robbed yet again … you lost Boris?... yeah Hel won her case, apparently she was able to cite new evidence provided by this one … oh he’s here … yes Gabi seems as if Harry reckons there is something in it for him after all
Oh Vladimir, could you just start with you rebuilding … oi, stop with the leading questions … start from the end of the Moscow revolt]
Well, my immediate family continued to cause me as many problems as the rest of the realm
Just to help her complete her education, I pack her off to North Dvina, in fact most of the kids get sent somewhere or other to shore up loyalty.
And, the chance for some serious cash came along:
Which offset the cost of the last war
[see he was a little money grabber … I’m not leaving this one to you lot … Harry please there is no conspiracy ... if he belongs to you - he'll be allocated to you]
And the spare cash went on a monastery in Novgorod and bits and pieces elsewhere
[see Harry, its what any good pious ruler would do with the money … pah]
But then this idiot popped up expecting to marry my rather good chancellor
So I quickly married her off to my youngest brother – Yurri.
Not that my health was that great
So, I did start thinking a bit about the succession, and made Pentti, Prince of Moscovy:
And started a church in Pskov
[ah, the perfect example of a proper King … strewth Gabi, get a grip, its only a church]
Then, Begluk, my excellent marshall, my sister’s husband died (old age, apparently),
but since I was still a bit suspicious after the earlier incident I packed Predslava off to Pentti’s court in Moscow
[you sent a suspected serial murderer to your son’s court as you believed it was too dangerous to keep her in yours … this one is mine Gabi … you can’t do the idiocy defence this time]
In the meantime, my own offspring start to show real promise
I, of course, still wanted to become King of the Rus, so needed to start adding to my vassals and domains. A while back I’d made a claim on the County of Pereyaslavl Zaleesky, and this seemed like a good time to follow that up – he refused to become a vassal so:
Occupying his county would link my realm together.
[look wanting your realm to 'look tidy' is not a good reason for a war -- he's mine I reckon ... no, he's right it does fit together]
Well it was a good idea, but my cousin, Prince of Pereyeslavl, must have decided he was next (his are the light green counties), so:
So I had to mobilise everything, raided their undefended southern provinces and then organised my troops to defend the area around Muscovy as well as to capture their northern provinces.
Suzdal quickly opted out the war and I made Tver my vassal by September, and by November had conquered the province that started it all
[no, if I recall from the earlier statement – you started it all …]
Pretty generous terms I think.
[see Harry, he was generous ... after he'd invaded, beaten the army, burnt down the castle ... oh these are such minor fiddling details]
One good thing about all these armies marching around Central Russia was it was a bit harder for the various robber bands
But just as the war was going my way, my vassal, the Prince of Karelia, decided to revolt. Syvatopolk had died and his son, Mikula, was being a bit difficult:
But by early March I was in a position to demand what I really wanted, not conquest but vassalage. I was now King of almost all of north and central Russia, with holdings in the south as well.
In the war with Karelia, I tried to show as much restraint as possible
I enlisted the church to help rebuild the kingdom:
[that is not 'enlisting' that is theft ... Harry when was the last time you worried about theft from the church ... oh yes ------- well]
Well that helped, and then in late September I left Mikula, Prince of Karelia with all his lands in return for a return to being my vassal.
and this left me very near to the real goal:
A small matter of a couple more provinces and 2800 gold.
Then in dealing with yet another peasant revolt in Moscow, my brother, Nainnas managed to get himself killed
Of course, thinking about it, my sister was nearby …
And, since my family was intent on being dysfunctional, my 8 year old daughter, countess of Livs, decides to declare war
Which was quickly sorted, and I put her back in charge.
[well I’m going to keep an eye on this … I don't trust you lot and I’ve already been deprived of two Rurikovich Kings … ok Harry keep your hair on … of course you have no hair … you don’t get rid of me just by a few insults]
Will Harry manage to grab Vladimir? Why, just when the kingdom is doing so well, does Vladimir’s family go nuts? Is there a murderer?
