The Legacy of the Vogelius Dynasty - The Rising Raven
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Pity about the rebellion.
Still, I'm super excited to see a Dev AAR! Can't wait to see where this goes.
Still, I'm super excited to see a Dev AAR! Can't wait to see where this goes.
Why do you have a latin dynasty name when you started out as a heathen? Smash those christian heretics! (No seriously a dev ARR thats awesome)
Because it is my real name, if I remember correctly I am the Swedish off-shoot of the Steenstrup dynasty from northern Jylland(My grandfather moved to Sweden after fighting in WWII). We also keep Vogelius as a second name and I am the only one left here with the name but there are still some in Denmark. There is also a Swedish based family with Vogelius as their last name but I don't know much about them. I'm not 100% sure if I remember that correctly because I think I was like 10 when my aunt told me this.
Witch-King made me norse because I have an Odin idol from Uppåkra on my desk, a bronze mjölnir pendant and a norse knot pendant carved in bone around my neck every day. And I kinda asked to be
Anyway is working on chapter 3 at the moment.
Edit: Also I don't believe it is Latin, even though it sounds like it, I believe it is Vogel from the German word for bird that the name comes from.
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When Cecilie hear of her husbands faith she arranges the release of the hidden away Prince Niels in hope the king has mercy on her husband. In all honesty she hated him and would love to see his lifeless body dangling from a noose. However he was still the father of her children which she loved above all else and she wouldn't want to see them without a father, however horrible he may be he was still caring for his children.
The gods seemed quite upset with him as his luck just kept getting worse. While in the filthy dungeons under Ringsted he contracts one of the many diseases running around.
Bed-ridden and scared to be hung he started having feverish dreams of the glory of Valhalla and the feasts he would partake in and the plenty cups of mead he would consume. He snapped out of it as someone loosened his chains, a guard, dragged him up out of the dungeons.
- "This is it, I'll finally die..." he thought to himself
The floor beneath him stopped moving, no wait it was the guards that had stopped. He looked up and in front of him was King Knud in all his glory. Henrik was about to spit on the floor but the guards dropped him and his face hit the stone floor.
- "Being only a minor accomplice to this revolt I shall spare you with only the punishment of paying a fine of 70 gold coins, Chieftan Henrik." a large grin started to grow on the king "You'll return to Trelleborg and take your place as vassal under the new Duke of Skåne, the former count of Bornholm."
The moment he gets to return to his home he starts to feel better and recovers from his sickness, but the bad taste of his defeat and new lord would never dissipate. However he did feel comfort of finally being home again. The economy of Skåne is quite badly at it from the war, barely being able to scrape together wealth for their new liege.
The political landscape had changed a lot however even though it was at peace for the moment. The King of Denmark took the opportunity to claim more land by banning the Count of Fyn and seizing his land and even stealing land from his son the Duke of Jylland. The once mighty duke was still in prison rotting. Having lost his favourite son in the war against the English he has now chosen one of his younger bastard childs to be he his heir.
In order to bring the county to other thoughts than the loss of Henrik at the hand of King Knud he ordered that a great winter blot was to commence! Invitation was sent out to all his friends and vassals to join. Of course the stubborn Bishop Egino of Lund refused to partake but knowing the cruelty of Henrik and not wanting to anger him more he pays a measly sum to avoid offending him.
Outside the temple of Uppåkra, they stood as the Gydja slit the throat of a boar and splashed the blood on the statues of Odin, Thor and Frey. Asking for good harvest, good fortunes and the usual. The body of the boar was taken away and prepared for the feast later. Soon enough a bunch of guards come up to the tree next to the temple, escorting the important sacrifice for the day, Prince Inge of Sweden...
Henrik smiles pleased as he sees the lifeless body of Inge dangle and the Gydja praising their lords.
The feast started, the boar was delicious and the fine wine even more so. All the problems seemed to vanish as the night went on and the future seemed a bit more prosperous for Skåne. It becomes known that Erik 'The Heathen' af Munsö has converted to Catholicism, that traitorous bastard.
A few months later Chieftess Cecilie dies of the Great Pox she has been struggling for so long, she haven't had an easy life living with Henrik but she did love her boys with all hear heart. And luckily they've been taking after her instead of Henrik. However she hasn't been able to give them a proper Christian education, but they have learned the Christian values making them kinder and will most probably not drink as much wine as their father do.
The first born son, Ubbe, was growing up to be quite ambitious and zealous to the norse faith. He often have the court play out against each other to get stuff his way. He has also shown that he is quite good with the stick when playing with his friends and for a kid shows actual martial prowess.
Chieftain Henrik haven't forgoten his ambitions to invade Ireland. Earl Cü Uladh of Ulster were growing old, weak and ripe for the taking of the Scanian armies. Now 3 years after the war the levies of Trelleborg are back to what they were before. However now he owed more troops to his liege ruling in Bornholm giving him only about 600 men to command. But he deemed it would be enough. However while planning his invasion of Ireland great news come from the island of Fyn.
For once Henrik didn't feel so alone, realizing he had brothers in the north Henrik immediately sends a courier to Norrland and asks for a betrothal between Ubbe and the Chieftan's daughter. Which he of course accepts.
Meanwhile outside the coast of Scotland...
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Haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I want to say that it's awesome to see a dev here in the AAR forums
will definitely follow
will definitely follow
Probably yeah
Don't worry I'll mod in a nickname "The Hedgehog" that I'll give to one character after he manages something awesome.
Well struck, its a pity Norway had to be successful in England, its going to be far too tough a nut to crack unless the kingdom breaks up on its own. On the upside, a powerful potential threat against your own liege.
Had I paid any attention to that last screen shot I would have realized that rather quickly :unsure:
Henrik is finally going to embark on his Journey to the Isles in the West for conquest and glory. His romanticized image of the "good old days" when his ancestors terrorized the population of Europe imprinted in his mind. However before he heads out he has to handle the future of his son Grim. He finds a nice girl in his loyal subjects family, the little girl of Kirsten of Helsingborg. She has been showing promise and even outwitting her guardian. Henrik decided she will make a fitting match and Lennart, the Thegn of Helsingborg, gladly agreed.
As Henrik travel over the North Sea to get to Ireland some interesting things happen in Sweden. The county of Södermanland had managed to become independent of the Swedish King trough a peasant revolt the previous year. So now when the Swedish army is depleted, unable to defend the crown the Duke of Uppland declares war on his liege for revenge from their previous encounters. The duke is Erik previously known as 'The Heathen' for sticking to the Norse faith but were after a grand defeat forced to give up his beliefs.
However King Knud is quick to answer the call of Sweden and starts assembling the Danish troops who are more than plenty to deal with Erik.
As Henrik reaches the land of Ireland he finds that the Count of Desmond and the Duke of Munster has been fighting and both have exhausted their troops. The Scanian troops promptly prepares themselves for the invasion. Of course Henrik insists on leading the charge, putting his more experienced commander, the spymaster Christoffer, in his weaker flank to delay the enemy while he breaks the main forces of the Irish himself.
The battle commences outside the city of Cork, however Henrik gets worried as he sees to his surprise that the Irish has focused their forces on the weak left flank of the Danes. But he sees that his trust in Christoffer was not misplaced, as he holds the Enemy at bay with clever harassment and delay tactics exploiting that he has the majority of Archers and Light Cavalry. As the middle flank breaks at the Irish, Christoffer takes a tactical retreat back and Henrik can push hard into the side of the left flank, punishing them for not keeping a proper formation. The right flank are still doing its best to keep the enemy flank at bay while the main forces of the Vikings concentrate on the bigger threat.
- "Forward, forward! The god on the cross has abandoned them! Odin smiles upon us today! The glory is ours!" Henrik screams to his housecarls as they advance forward at the terrified Irish.
Henrik quickly gathers his army and consolidate outside of the castle Dunasead to lay siege. The siege starts the 8th of February 1080. In march of the same year is the month that the rebellion of Erik is stopped by the Danish soldiers yet again. And as his father is in Ireland, Karl becomes old enough to receive his education. Since Henrik isn't there to manage it, Lennart who has become a good friend with the Cheiftan takes it upon himself to teach the child while his father is gone.
The Irish is however stubborn, resisting the siege for a full year before the siege falls. Even then afterwards Henrik is forced to leave the Irish island to gather more reinforcements at home as the city of Cork is better prepared to defend itself, rallying most of the population to fight the invaders. He won't return until a year later with more warriors. In the mean time the Danish king is busy maintaining his relationship with the various dukes and kings around him, marrying off his kin to ensure alliances.
But what is much more interesting is the two Danish princes who start a race to take the English crown for themselves. Olaf and Björn as brothers invade the English realm with little opposition as the English is already busy fighting the French. Olaf gets support from the Danish King Knud and a massive army is formed that the English has no chance to beat.
So Henrik return to Desmond with enough troops to siege down the City of Cork and it is looking grim for the Irish count. But during the successes of the Nordic rulers, the English, Celtic and even French has had a long string of problems. France by the time of May 31, 1082 was in a massive upheaval with revolts upon revolts. The English land was indeed falling apart. At the same time the Anglo-Saxon king of England has to fight William the Bastard and two Danish Princes taking to try his crown.
As Desmond falls, Henrik decides to reward his commanders that gave him this Victory. Granting them baronies in Ireland.
The time passes, the new King of England becomes William the Bastard, however he has to face the huge Danish army of 20 000 men. The fight is futile and eventually the crown goes to a Dane, Olaf of Estrid. The Scanian economy has recovered, the Chieftan Henrik becoming quite rich from the taxes of both Desmond and Skåne. He decided that he needs to expand his levy and orders the construction of a Militia Training Ground in Trelleborg.
The Years pass as the outlook of the Vogelius dynasty starts turning for the better rather than the horrible fate of a quick end that was looming over this Dynasty in the start. Even the offspring of Henrik is starting to take fruit and their traits have taken form and you can clearly see what great men they will be in the future.
Ubbe was growing up to become a zealous and ambitious little kid who does not fear to deceive people to get what he wants. Of all he likes to listen to stories about Loki from the chamber maiden. Grim is as deceitful as his brother, however he is much more cynical to the concept of the Aesir and blot. Being raised in the castle he has become quite arbitary and simply doesn't care about matters a little lord should, however having a silver tounge and being quite humble to others still makes him well liked in the court.
...And finally after so many years, the Duke of Jylland is released from the Dungeons of Knud Estrid....
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*Subscribes due to lack of hedgehogs*
(Seriously why aren't there any hedgehog related events)
(Seriously why aren't there any hedgehog related events)
The years have passed, little Ubbe has grown up to become a Grey Eminence. A genius at diplomacy and interest of the intrigue at the court and the stories of scholars. However to his fathers disgust he has grown to become a coward not fit for the battle as a norse man should be. In the same year one of the many French revolts end up in the independence of the Kingdom of Aquitaine.
Inga of Norrland finally comes of age a year later, she has been trained to be a shield-maiden throughout her life, to lead the armies of Norrland to defend against their Catholic neighbours. A good counterweight to the craven Ubbe who refuses to participate on the battlefield. Obviously Henrik forces trough the marriage in hopes that Inga will give Ubbe some backbone.
Shortly after getting married Ubbe does his best to get a job of intrigue to put himself out of harms way. Since Christoffer, the previous Spymaster, had proven himself so well on the battlefield he had become Henrik's most trusted commander instead and his replacement had not been able to live up to Christoffer's standards so Henrik reluctantly accepts Ubbe as his new Spymaster.
An uneventful couple of years pass by, the Duke of Skåne dies and his son Egil takes over instead, just as despicable of a man as his father. Inga Frille apparently wants her dear husband to be chieftan a bit earlier and confides in her husband that she might hurry up death of his father in the near future. Of course Ubbe appalled by the very notion and as his fathers Spymaster he reports this minor plot but asks Henrik to not hurt his daughter-in-law.
Of course she stops any such nonsense when confronted about it.
However Inga's stay at the castle would still become a short one. A few months later Ubbe dies to a fever! Henrik's firstborn and heir now dead the heritage of the Vogelius dynasty now rests on Grim Henriksen. Ubbe didn't even have time to produce a child with Inga. In order if any more mishaps in the family happens, Henrik makes sure that a betrothal is made between his third child Karl and Ulvhilde of Åland.
Henrik is out of his normal self because of grief knowing that his son is forever condemned to the realm of Hel. The King sends out messengers notifying his subjects that he will hold a grand tournament for the entire realm to participate! Henrik prays to any of the gods that would be willing to listen, to save his child's soul from the clutches of Hel's cold fingers and he shall throw his life at the best warriors that Denmark has to offer. However as he fights the finest of Denmark that are trying to to gain the prestigious praise of the King, and the reward money of course, it comes as a surprise that the victor of the tournament is Henrik of Skåne. Most confused is Henrik who ponders on what the gods wants with him for letting him continue to live trough fights against the most skilled warriors of northern Europe.
While off in the capital, Grim becomes of legal age, showing promise in stewardship and the affairs of state. He is immediately married to the genius daughter Kirsten Lennartsdatter af Helsingborg.
In rest of the world some more interesting things happen than the boring internal celebrations and jousting of Denmark. News from the far east reaches the courts of Denmark telling of the Assassin order known as the Hashshashin formed in the mountains of Persia by a zealous man known as Hassan. The eternal civil war of the French kingdoms continues, more provinces have ceded to Aquitaine but it is now itself in its own civil war over who should rule this reborn Kingdom.
The economy of Skåne has flourished, being an important province in the Kingdom of Denmark. However thanks to the increased revenue from its crops more men can be called to fight in case of war. Even allowing Henrik to field his own personal retinue to command and not rely to heavily on the peasantry who he rather would have working the fields.
However the castle of Trelleborg gets filled with gossip as there is talks about the Chieftain visiting Kirsten's chambers at night, supposedly have fallen in love with her charm and intelligence. Not long, she is with child but not without complications as there is an outbreak of measles in Trelleborg which she contracts.
Olaf of England dies and the Anglo-saxon dukes and counts of England chooses one of themselves to take the crown. With Eadwin of Hwicce the English crown is yet again back to Anglo-saxon hands.
The affair with his sons wife result in twins... You could claim that Henrik by himself has secured the line of succession of the Vogelius family... However horrible it would be if Grim found out.
The French region starts to stabilize, The French Kingdom is starting to recover, a dutch nobleman has taken the crown and managed to quell the French revolts and form something from the ashes that has been burning in France for the last decade. The Aquatain capital seat has been set to Orléans next to Paris. However Aquatain is still stuck in a feud about who to rule this much larger nation.
Also since now the Scanian chieftain has become one of the richer and more military powerful subjects of Denmark, Henrik refuses to answer to his lowly liege ruling from the poor island of Bornholm any longer...
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