The Legacy of the Vogelius Dynasty - The Rising Raven

[Groogy]

However the safety of the Scanian Kingdom make it so the economy can flourish. Another old Fylkir dies, only a few years after the previous one dies and as such a much younger one is elected who has even served in the Varangian Guard.

The heir and first son of Hemming come of age and he proves himself to be the opposite of his father and have taken in to the warrior culture of Skåne. However the internal strife of Skåne continues with as usual the Fylkir being the main agitator against the crown claiming Hemming to be a coward and disgrace to have been crowned king. So the King starts to plot to make himself become the next Fylkir...

... and the scheme is a success and the Allthing without knowing of his deed elect him as leader of the Fylkariate.

In the year 1282 more news travel across the ocean and tales tell of more great nations to the north of the Nahua empire opposing their rule.

However even if war rages upon Europe and America the Scandinavian people live in peace for several years with their trade and prosperity increasing, luring a lot of Christians to move to Skåne and make their living under their King and Fylkir. Not even the news of a brave man in employ of the Knights Hospatilier planning to invade the Kingdom makes anyone worry and he is swept away like a small fly when he finally arrives and Hemming takes 700 coins of gold from this Knight as repayment for the ruckus he made.. A crusade is declared to retake England but it doesn't concern the Norse people.

With peace looking like it will last for all time as long as Hemming II ruled the Kingdom his son decides to travel to Miklagård and enlist as part of the Varangian Guard. The same year, 1288, the first grandchild of Hemming is born to Prince Jørgen and Hafrid and the boy is named after him.

Even though Hemming seemed "weak" and "incompetent" as King of Skåne and Fylkir of the Norse faith, he did make amazing leaps in the economy of the realm, giving the people of the cities time to breath and not constantly send of their sons and daughters to die on the battlefield.

Whatever the vassals of Hemming said he was not an idle King but he mostly engaged in schemes in the court of the Kingdom and the Fylkariate and he pushed with poison and daggers his own son into a position that he shall become the next Fylkir.

With the news of the Crusade failing the Holy Roman Empire collapses into civil war as the Princes of the Empire demanding that the Kaiser take responsibility for the failure and fall of the Catholic faiths strength. The Salians having lost support of heir vassals are unable to defend The Crusader State of Jersualem which looses a significant part to one of he Fatamid spliner states.

The Jimena governor of Tunis in he Aragonese colonies of Norh Africa manages to through domestic support usurp the Kingdom of France putting the Argonese royal family on he French throne. Also with he fall of the catholic faith, he Orthodox faith has started to replace it in the Easern lands, even reaching Finland.

Prince Hjalmar returns from Greece as a broken man but he will not let him be defeated and asks to join the Jomsvikings which Hemming reluctantly agrees to.

At the dawn of the 1300 the civil war of the Holy Roman Empire is still on going but the Kaiser has decided to abandon the Catholic faith and going with a new doctrine which now also drags in the Pope into he civil war.

But with the dawn of the new century, King Hemming has become old and with weak health he is hit with the Great Pox and shortly thereafter dies.

Realms of 1300

Religions of 1300

Cultures of 1300

 

[MiasmicMoose]

Jørgen looks like Mance Rayder

 

[Groogy]

With he inauguration of King Jørgen II, the Royal Armies of Skåne was forced into the conflict between King Kálmán of Denmark and the Jarl of Trøndelag. The King upon his ascension also already have an impressive amount of potential heirs and the court is not even sure if they know of all of them.

A small scouting force which in Fylkir Jørgem participates skirmishes with another smaller force but within the mist of the battle our King is wounded.

However he war is already lost even if the Trøndish Jarl won't admit it. The King is new on the throne and with his escapades with the young women of the various nobles in Skåne haven't made him popular and as such he can't draw support from the realm to defeat the Catholic soldiers.

News spread across Europe of the tales of a man named Marco Polo, a Venecian merchant who has returned from Europe having been as far as the distant land of Cathay.

A stand is done in the land of Stettin against the Danish-Teuton forces... but it ends in a huge disaster. The Danish don't let the Scanish rest and chase down the disorganized army outside of Anklam.

However as the war is full ablaze the Finish noblemen have plotted and now heir armies stand ready to try and force their law upon the Crown. The Vogelius are not capable at this point to fight them and the Danish war, however the Vogelius are the rulers of this land and Jørgen will not put his ancestors to shame. To war it is!

The first battle happens on the east coast of Sweden, engaging the troops of Bornholm that the Korhonen family have engaged. They are quickly isolated so that they can't reinforce their northern demesnes. Bornholm being within the Skåne's coreland is much richer and more populous and as such eliminating them quickly proves vital. The Northern reserve army moves in to cut off the Finish forces from arriving to the main battlefield.

The main force of the Central Swedes and the remaining Finns outside of the City Dalby in Skåne. Its a close battle. At the same time the Finns are stopped outside Uppsala.

The battle in the north is easily won with almost the entire Finish army killed. However in the south the right flank of the Scanian army is defeated and is not looking good for them. It does not take long before the decision is made to withdraw from the battle and wait to be reinforced from the northern forces.

However the loss of troops is no the only loss they ge that day. The Fylkir himself is even captured by the enemy forces. But by bribery and promise of wealth Jørgen manages to bribe the Finish instigators to let him go instead of use his life to pressure the Royal court into submission.

The Trønds are still fighting the Danes and it looks somewhat good for the moment. A big push is done in Halland to eliminate the last Finns.

With this battle the victory and stability of the Kingdom is ensured

But bad news come from the war in the West and the Jarlof the Norwegian lands have lost. One of the weaknesses of Jørgen 'the Lecher' is that he is way too kind to his subjects and after the civil war he accepts an offer of White Peace with the rebels. However now that the King can finally rest his old wound can heal.

The Aztec Colonial Governor does not rest however and commands his hordes to land on the mainland of France and fight the mighty forces of the Kaiser. With the vast armies of the Nahua gods on the other side of the Channel our King decides to break the bond between his family and theirs forged by his dad and declares a Great War for all Æsir worshipping men and women to join the ranks of the Fylkariates most Holy Armies and reclaim the land of the von Marienburg family, the descendants of Milzas. The Allhing have been screaming for the last couple of years on something has to be done, the injustice must be done and now a war has been started to create the Milsarikí in he Emerald Isle, a Norse Kingdom free from oppression of the Nahua overlords.

 

[Groogy]

A scouting force from the Jarl of Bergslagen arrives early in Ulster, the heart of the Aztec Colony. Meanwhile a force is assembled at the capital of Skåne, the largest one the Kingdom have ever managed to muster. Thousands upon thousands of young men sign up to do their duty for Odin, to die in battle against the Nahua invaders and return the true faith to their brethren old home. The logistics to transport all the soldiers to the front line are immense and so are the cost of it as well, but it has to be done. The royal army lands next to the scouting force of Bergslagen.

During the invasion, Prince Hemming becomes a grown man and he is eager to take part and lead the main forces of Skåne to victory. Meanwhile at home the Allthing starts to discuss who is to be given the right of ruling Milsarikí and to be the first Norse king beside Skåne. The first they look at is Thegn of Helsingborg. He is however a direct descendant of the same Chief of Desmond that betrayed the Kingdom. Even wearing his name, Ulitis, as such it would be too shameful to give him a crown. So they start to discuss a compromise.

The Kaiserreich tries its own invasion of the Isles to try and force the Nahua commanders hand. The invasion progresses slowly but without problems, there isn't enough willing warriors to fight for the Aztec Colony as most of the population in Ireland are tired from the exploitation of their crops and how most of the food was transported back to the Imperial City of Tenochtitlan. Our King though during the march is captivated by one of the noble women of Nahua decent, her beauty and strength is something he has never seen before and he takes her as a concubine.

The last pocket of resistance is engaged in the old Capital of the Von Marienburg family fittingly. But they are barely a match for the full army, not even a detachment. After that the Nahua Governor is forced to surrender to the might of Skåne.

As the land of Ireland falls under the hand of King Jørgen II the Allthing of the Fylkariate is busy for several months discussing dynastic lines racing back to the legendary saviors of the Norse faith, the first Fylkir Gnupa and his Commander Milzas. They are all however in agreement that the one to be crowned King of Milsarikí shall be a descendant of the Dyrlingur that ruled the front line of the Norse faith in Ireland 150 years ago. Looking at the last holder of he Jarldom of Lymrek was Lennart von Marienburg who actually has a grandson well and live, Erik of Vogelius who even participated in the Holy War to retake his grandfathers land. However his father was a family member of the Sjælland branch of the Vogelius family which poses a problem. When the Royal court presents him as a candiate the Allthing explodes in fury, they refuse to let the Vogelius have such a strong influence in another Kingdom and soil the memory of the Von Marienburg family who have built up southern Ireland.

The closest male inheritor of Lennart is his brother Uffe but he is on deaths door and have no children of his own to continue the Von Marienburg family. The younger brother Grim has a single daughter but his grandchildren are part of other family lines. The Stenkilling family is pushing quite hard for Grim to be given the crown which is expected.

So the council looks for a direct male descendant from the founder of the dynasty, Milzas. They find Vizgirdas von Marienburg, a commander at the Lithuanian court. He and his side of the family have turned to the Orthodox faith and refuses to return to the old land.

So a compromise is done, where Erik is forced to marry Kirsten of Helsingborg, she's the third daughter of Thegn Ulitis of Helsingborg. The children they bear shall be of the Von Marienburg family and this is a solution the council agrees on. First he is made Jarl of Lymrek to get used to ruling and to have children to prove he and his wife are fertile to continue the line before they are given the Kingdom. The Von Marienburg family are given back heir old southern land including Connacht while the rest of the land is distributed to the lower nobility families, af Bjærtrå and af Markaryd.

The Aztec governor is having troubles with the Kaiserliche armies and tries to ask he Scanians for help, King Jørgen laughs at the messenger and tells him to leave his Kingdom immediately. With the reconquest of the old Norse lands in Ireland a enormous wave of immigrants come to rebuild everything that was lost making the faith dominant in the capital county of Ireland, Lymrek. A daughter is born to the King with his Nahua concubine.

Investments are done into improving the constructions of castles, to allow Skåne to field even more impressive armies. Eventually the crown of Milsariki is formed and its given the already converted land of Lymrek and Dublin, bu i will have to wait for the Tyrone land until the Norse faith have spread that far up. The crown is guarded in he fortress of Trelleborg waiting for its owner. For now Milsariki is in an interregnum and is governed by the King of Skåne until Erik can be crowned the First King of Milsariki.

Information gathered shows that the impressive realm of he German Kaiserreich is not as impressive as one would think, comparing to the mighty Scanian Royal Army they are no even close to he strength. Counting in also that the Scanian's are years ahead from the Germans in technological advancements and in economic growth dwarfed the Roman Empire even more.

The years pass and Erik and Kirsten get two healthy daughters to continue the line of Von Marienburg in Ireland. After the second one is born it doesn't take long until the coronation is held....

... Long Live the King! Long Live King Erik, the first of his name!

Realms of 1315

Religions of 1315

Cultures of 1315

 

[loup99]

Suprising that the Aztecs managed to become so weak! Hopefully they will be completely driven out of Europe before the of CK2. And Gnupa must be poud of Jörgen's achievment, taking back he land of Milzas from the Aztecs!

 

[Attalus]

Next you have to form Scandinavia or make Scania an empire to unite all Northmen and stand on par with the Kaiser south

 

[Groogy]

Hm I just noticed, the Jewish religion is still hanging around in old Khazaria. Hopefully both that and Jerusalem will survive until the end (Since the Catholic world have been busy fighting the Aztecs Jerusalem has been fending for themselves in a loosing long struggle against the Fatamids)

I might increase the crusade weight of Antioch and something else maybe so that some more crusader states can be created. Would be fun to still have Crusader States when I get to EU4.

 

[loup99]

I might increase the crusade weight of Antioch and something else maybe so that some more crusader states can be created. Would be fun to still have Crusader States when I get to EU4.

Would they have any chance of surviving though in EU4 with the Islamic nations around them being so strong?

 

[Groogy]

Would they have any chance of surviving though in EU4 with the Sunni nations around them being so strong?

Yes, Jerusalem was before Aztecs invasion actually dominant power(and was even conquering more land) in the Levant because its ruled by a Salian and Jerusalem is still allied with HRE to this day. But problem was after Aztec invaded the Kaiser shifted his focus to the British Isles instead of the Levant.

Also I am ignoring the Seljuks in that because they are too busy fighting the Byzantines or the Ilkhanate to care about Jerusalem or Antioch. They are also a different religion from the Fatamids.

 

[Groogy]

When King Jørgen returns home from the coronation on Ireland he learns of the Jomsvikings Holy war to take Jylland of the Danes. He offers his sword to assist them and finally plunge the Cross Worshipers off from the last part of the ancient Viking land. The King also takes the opportunity to enact new Crown laws to ensure more power to him and his family.

The armies have to move fast o Slesvig to stop the marching Danish forces and the Pannonian Royal Army that is currently passing through Mecklenburg. The Danish army arrives are engaged by the Scanians ouside of Sønderborg but is lead by Hungarian commanders. They are completely devastated by the more experienced Veteran soldiers of the Scanian Royal Army.

But the Pannonian much larger army reinforces just in the nick of time. The Scanians are vastly outnumbered and i is not looking good until the disorganized right flank of the enemy shatters because of the incompetent commander giving the Scanians an oppertunity to put the hurt to the Catholics. However the left flank of the defenders are in a bad shape. But with the right flank free the middle flank of the Hungarians are about to collapse. Is a massacre of Danish and Pannonian warriors.

More good news follow as Jørgen's son return home, bringing foreign gold from the courts of Miklagård. With the knowledge that Prince Lennart brought home and with new forms of weapons and shields being forged by the blacksmihs in Trelleborg the army fighting in Denmark are fitted with new weaponry.

While the King is too busy with his affairs to handle the war in the south, the Jarl of Trøndelag breaks the laws of the realm and tries to revoke the land of Naumdal from the Seidsman of Mære. The Allthing is furious and the lords of the realm are protesting against this heinous act but nothing can be done for now. The war with Denmark finally ends with victory for the Jomsvikings but it is already too late to stop Jarl Grim. Shortly afterwards our King hears from the New Kingdom in the west that King Erik is invading the Welsh Petty Kings in name of Odin.

It doesn't take long until the new King has taken too much onto his shoulders and he asks his Kinsmen for aid. It also seems as if the Nahua Empire is being weakened by common sickness among the peasantry in their colonies.

The Petty Kingdom Erik invaded is inherited by the Welsh Kingdom of Arymôr on the peninsula of Brittany making more soldiers available to fight the Norse invaders.

The French join their neighbors in the defense of their demesnes in the British Isles. Going so far to even try and land five thousand men on the shores of Dyfed. The Scanians and Milish troops are there ready to face them. Its a close victory.

Eventually even the Scots join and they march their ten thousand strong army south to face the Scanian and Milish soldiers who are not prepared for such a large force to fight them.

At court while our King tries to encourage his fellow lords to provide support to the Milish war of Deheubarth a heavily scarred warrior clad in strange armor approaches the throne. The guards to stop him but he proves to be a seasoned warrior who disarms them with ease. Much has changed him and it takes a brief moment before King Jørgen recognizes his own heir. Prince Hemming has returned from his services in the Varangian Guard! A few days later an army of over twenty thousand men land on the shores of Gwent. The Scots stand no chance.

After that display of power the King of Arymôr surrender to the Milish demands and give up their claims to the Welsh Petty Kingdom.

[Note this one will be a bit exra long so it will be divided in 3 parts...]

 

[Groogy]

King Erik still only has daughters as potential heirs as his first son died of Syphilis. Shortly afterwards his wife also dies of Syphilis and he remarries with a lowborn to get a child of his own family. He believes in doing so he would ge tthe entire house support but what it does is spli the house into those that want to fulfill he Fylkariate's demands on a separate Kingdom not ruled by a Vogelius and those that believe that nobody is to command the great house of Vogelius who have forged an Empire worthy of gods.

The Pope and the Kaiser waste no time, hearing of the misfortune that has been brought upon the mighty Empire of the West they declare a Crusade to reclaim England.

With the risk of splitting the Kingdom, even the family apart King Jørgen immediately starts a heinous plot to take care of Erik's wife Asta....

However King Erik's concubine bears him a son and the Allthing demands immediate action to be taken! King Jørgen arranges for the Kings beloved concubine to travel a bit further than she might have thought she planned... Then a horrible plot is started to kill the offspring....

...however the hired help don't have the stomach to finish it and the plot is reveal but at least no one knows who is responsible. But as soon as his father gets news of this he has his suspicions and hide his son away so no one can harm him.

With the economy flourishing in Trelleborg the King pays for the town around the castle to be improved so more merchants and craftsmen can move to the capital of the north. Thanks to the stable rule of the Vogelius family over Sweden the idea of a Swedish Kingdom has started to fade in people's memory and is no longer talked about a time when the Kingdom of Skåne did not rule this land.

But no man lives forever and after twenty six winters of rule Jørgen dies of old age in the castle of Trelleborg. His successor is King Hemming the Third, he is a strong and intelligent ruler who have outstanding experience from his service in he Varangian Guard. No man in his right man would dare to oppose him on the field. After Jørgen's death the Allthing discusses in Uppland who to succeed he late Fylkir and they agree that it should be the King of Milsarikí. However at the time of this decision they do not realize that King Erik has been captured by the Aztec's while he was raiding their land and as such ended up being sacrificed by having his heart cut out.... so the new Fylkir is his son Ingolf who is in hiding....

This has a destabilizing effect in all of the Norse realms and the new Jarl of Trøndelag is starting to cause havoc in the internal politics of Skåne. The attempts on the life of Ingulf continues to bring back the Crown of Dýrlingur Milzas to his family but largely without success. Meanwhile at home King Hemming takes up Hunting as a hobby.

Ulf of Trøndelag eventually comes forward after many months of unsuccessful plotting against King Hemming challenging him to Holmgang to try and show his co-conspirators that King Hemming is no invincible. Unfortunately for him he was wrong and he ends up with a horrible wound.

However news come from he West as the Catholic Crusade for England is successful and the Aztecs are forced of the island and the English crown is returned to the Godwin family who have been hiding on the Orkney island. Upon inspecting the Demesnes of the Scanish lords King Hemming see how the Bjærrå have grown immensely in Norway forming the largest Jarldom in the Kingdom. Its only a matter of time before they start to see Trøndelag as a Kingdom just as the Vogelius did with Skåne.

Meanwhile Hemming indulges into his favorite pass time of Hunting. But as he travels with his personal retinue along a road he hears of some local hunters speaking of a mystical creature no one has been able to bring down. He goes out to hunt it down, a worthy foe for him to fight.

But his chase ends with failure so Hemming returns his focus to affairs of the Kingdom. He marries his heir with one of the von Marienburg sisters in Milsariki to ensure future alliance and the plotting to kill Ingolf continue to be disappointments.

 

[MiasmicMoose]

It's good to have you back!

 

[DKM]

Great Chapter Groogy! It's a shame, though, that the Nahua are already out of the picture. At least, for CK2 that is.

 

[Groogy]

...and last part...

Now with a small boy who no one has ever seen being in charge of the Kingdom in he West he Catholic rulers around see it as weak and ripe for taking and the Kingdom of Skåne is forced to take action to defend their brothers of faith. It takes almost a full year to assemble men to travel across the North sea as many lords of Skåne are still angry over there being a toddler Vogelius on the throne of Milsarikí.

The Scots capture the Scanian army in the highlands of Moray. But the Scanians hold the high ground and manages to hold off the Scots quite effectively. After only one battle with the Scanian army the Scots are decimated with only scraps left.

They are left with no other option than to complete surrender and pay war reparations to the Milsarikí. With that front finished the Scanish levies march south to face the English who are already waiting for them in the county of Chester. The English have improved much more on their longbows than any opponent that the Scanians have fought as such Hemming orders his troops to steal whatever bows and crossbows they can find in nearby settlements.

The English engage the Scanian army and realizing that their heathen enemies have more archers than them they try to force a melee and inflict heavy casualties on them before the Knights of Caltrava arrive to deal the finishing blow. But they underestimate the fervor of Odin's warriors. Its too much of a blow to the English so they surrender before more young men die needlessly.

Just as his father when Hemming returns home he learns that the Jomsvikings are at war over Jylland yet again, however this time its the Danes trying to retake it from the Order. Thirsty for more war King Hemming offers his sword to Warchief Sörkver. He swiftly moves in to engage the Danes and the war is won easily with that victory.

News eventually reaches King Hemming that Erik of Milsarikí's wife upon the late King's death carried his second son and she has now fled to Iceland where she has turned to the ways of Cross-Worshipping. The implications of the possibility that there might in the future be a Catholic ruler of Milsarikí is too much for the court of Skåne and their response becomes much more direct to now solve this problem that Erik caused. First they make sure to kill off the pretender putting Eriks first daughter back in the line of succession. Next one of the brothers of Hemming is married with Åse Eriksdatter, the first daughter of Erik.. The brother is Prince Sigurd, the child of the Nahuatl concubine.

The years pass as Hemming and his court's plotting are reaching their final stages but in the mist of everything his son wants to continue the proud tradition of serving abroad and his father approves gladly. In the same year, the Pope leads an Independence League against the Kaiser in hopes of relinquishing himself from his control. Shortly after that war a new one is started as King Hemming demands of King Ingolf to relinquish the crown and pass it to Åse.

But as he is traveling with his warriors on longboas over the Norh Atlantic old wounds come back to the surface and his body eventually gives up under the stress. Long live the King! Unfourtenly the successor is his first son and the most incompetent of the bunch. The entire realm is in upheaval however they hold themselves back until the conflict with Ingolf has been resolved and Åse is crowned Queen of Milsarikí as she should have been since the beginning by her father.

the invasion of Milsarikí goes without opposition and not a single drop of blood of their own brothers are spilled as shortly enough the false King realizes he is no match to the founders of the faith and order is yet again restored! The Allthing also agrees that she inherits the responsibility of Fylkir over Ingolf. Long live Queen Åse von Marienburg! Ruler of Milsarikí, Defender of the Fylkariate, Sword of Odin!

Sorry for this one being extra long, I got kinda caught up in the game and didn't realize how much was happening/how long I played.

Realms of 1345

Religions of 1345

Cultures of 1345

 

[Groogy]

I have to say I love the Kingdom of Arymôr, it sounds like is from a fairy tale or something.

 

[Attalus]

It sure is strange coming from people capable of naming a place like that

 

[Groogy]

It sure is strange coming from people capable of naming a place like that

Ugh *shivers*
But I hope it survives, along with Jerusalem because it would be cool. I've increased the crusade weights for the Kingdom of Syria so if we are lucky we might see another Crusader State.

 

[loup99]

So the Aztecs are out? Personally I think it is good, as they tend to be too much in EU4 if they are established in Europe. What is the status of the HRE? It might be time for you to start a war in that whole area in order to take back the lands of your germanic ancestors.

 

[Groogy]

So the Aztecs are out? Personally I think it is good, as they tend to be too much in EU4 if they are established in Europe. What is the status of the HRE? It might be time for you to start a war in that whole area in order to take back the lands of your germanic ancestors.

With King Hemming the third, the veteran of Varangian guard and who was the best fighter in the entire Kingdom I had a chance to beat the Holy Roman Empire, I could summon 35 000 men if need be. With this incompetent King I have right now its not possible.

 

[Dirt McStain]

Huh, looks like the Byzzies will be sticking around for EU4 on account of them turning Catholic. Are they allied to the HRE?