By popular demand (assuming hjarg is popular 
) here is my redo of the Vinland scenario. The settings this time are
EU 1.09 IGC 2.1 USA is only major Normal/Normal Tax Normal Free Bretagne, Burgundy the Mighty, and United Prussia... oh.. and USA 1492 doh!
(The introductory material is the same but the game played very differently with 1,000d less to play with at the outset!)
Vinland Homecoming
As I walked through the windswept streets of Rekjavik I pulled my outermost coat tight against me and resisted the urge to shiver. One shiver might lead to uncontrollable shivering. It was December of 1490 and I silently cursed my crazy wife and her weird hunches. "Aud honey. Do you remember your last hunch? Richard of York, king of England? Does it ring any bells? Can you explain why we are here looking for the sagas of Vinland?"
Aud half turned, gave me her lopsided grin and said, "Olaf my dear, we are here because I have a hunch that Vinland still survives and because you love me and humor my hunches now and then. Oh, and Richard of York was the rightful king of England as were his heirs. It's not my fault if he was reluctant to claim the throne when he had the chance and his family was outmanuevered by the Tudors, may Freya curse their line with infertility!" I shuddered at her invocation of the great succubus and begged her to remember that she was no longer a ghydia to the demons we once worshipped. She gave me that enigmatic smile and said, "If we've followed Skula's directions this should be the library."
We had followed Skula's directions correctly and were indeed at the library which was at least somewhat warmer than the streets of Rekjavik. As an added bonus I got to sit beside the fireplace while Aud had to sit across the room with the ancient texts, which were not nearly as old as we were though an observer would never notice. At long last she looked up fairly beaming and copied several pages worth of material.
A little over a year later Snorri the merchant captain was berating Aud on the deck of his ship. "It is now September you crazy wench! We've sailed around God forsaken Greenland and found nothing! We've sailed the coasts of these islands and found nothing. We've sailed this long shore and found nothing because there's nothing to find! If ever the sons of Rauda sailed these waters they had the good sense to leave! We've now sailed far to the south of anywhere that gave any hope of finding Vinland. We are now turning back!"
Just then Aud screamed and pointed. On the horizon there was a fire on the water. "Sail to that! If that is nothing you can turn back!"
When we reached the fire which burned long enough for us hear the hiss as the burning ship sank into the sheletered bay. We saw a large assembly on the shore. They pointed to us as Aud pointed to them. "See! Look at them! They look like the Norsemen of old! This is Vinalnd! We have found Vinland!"
As it turned out the fire had been a funeral pyre for king Ergil Bjornson. We met with his son Aesgir Ergillson the next day. He explained that many of the customs of his fathers remained as did many who observed the ancient heathen ways. It seemed that Christianity was the faith of a small minority of the total population but a slim majority of the rich and powerful among the 13 families. Over the years Vinland had found it essential to practice absolute religious toleration. He commented wryly that it was fine by him since the heathens threw better parties and brewed better mead and beer.
Ergil fully expected to be elected king by the Vinthing in a week's time as no one from outside of his line had been elected in over two hundred years. It seemed that his line was the only line that could claim descent from the royal lines of Erikson (symbolized by the red stripes of the banner of Vinland), Haraldson (represented by the blue field) and the one he claimed to be the most august of them all, Olson, symbolized by the white stripes and the white of the stars which represented the 13 families.) When I asked about the house of Olson he informed that they were descended from Olaf the White, the first king of Dublin through his only son Thorsteinn whose sons fled to Iceland. It was fortunate that Aud was out talking to the heathen ghydia. She never could control herself under the impact of such shocks as well as I could. As it was it was all I could do to swallow the lump which formed in my throat and say, "I see."
Snorri waited for spring before making the return trek to Iceland. During that time we witnessed the coronation of the new king in a ritual which elegantly combined elememts of heathen tradition and Christian paegentry. The young king asked us to remain as diplomatic and economic advisors. I would not have been able to leave had this 30 times great grandson banished us.
I advised the young king to concentrate on internal improvements and expansion, suggesting an island we had passed enroute which offered good prospects as a future naval base (Isle Royale). We began sending young men who stood to inherit little and hoped for their success. In May we also sent an ambassador to Hans of Denmark with a proposal for a military alliance between our countries. It would take a year for us to find out but the suggestion was recieved eagerly. We also issued a total of 50,000 ducats in loans to the French at 10% interest through Yitzahk Solomon, a Jewish merchant who travelled with us and was appointed Minister of Finance for the purpose of making these kinds of loans. This was to be the beginning of a profitable banking enterprise since all loans would earn interest for 25 years!
In September of that year we also estblished the town of Hjalminge on the island I had suggested. Oddly on the day it was founded the pope and the kings of Portugal and Spain divided the world between Spain and Portugal. It wasn't clear if this division would affect us but we were enraged by the news. I advised Aesgir to bide his time and be prepared to when the opportunity arose to give the Iberians the reward for their arrogance. He composed a document outlining what he called the "Ergillson Doctrine", establishing the king of Vinland as the rightful protector and thereby sovereign of the west and reserving the same rights for the kings of Denmark and Scotland (with whom we also had an alliance by that time) in Europa. I admitted it was a fine idea and suggested a proper place on the shelf for it until such time as we could put teeth in our mouth. He smiled and agreed, saying that composing it had made him feel better.
In January of the next year we sent an eager young adventurer out to explore the interior. He was named Ottar Gramse and was destined for greatness. He went to the north first and discovered several rich provinces. (Quebec 5 VP) During this time we also began to talk about the possibility of licensing royal breweries and refineries as well as arranging for the marriage of the king's sister, Ingrid Ergildottir, to prince Christian, the heir apparent of Denmark. We also recieved news that on the 4th of March the previous year Spain had annexed Granada. The news was recieved with profoundly mixed emotions. Even heathens could applaud a victory of Christians over Moslems though no one in Vinland felt any charity towards Spain when that news was combined with news of the Treaty of Tordesillas. In July of that year as we awaited the reports from Ottar's Skraeling scouts I suggested that we might want to establish some trading posts initially in some of the lands he was discovering rather than trying to build expensive colonies. The king agreed in principle and Ottar continued his explorations discovering a rich province to the southwest of Stadacone (Huronie 10VP) When Ottar Gramse returned he was promptly sent to the southwest west with as many reinforcements as we could muster. We had heard rumors of a large, rich skraeling empire which practiced the most abominable religious rights of human sacrifice. In hopes that these reports were true we took out a 200d loan to raise the troops. At that point the world got a good deal larger for tiny Vinland. We offered to exchange rutters with our Danish allies and they readily agreed.
The years from 1493 to 1495 were quiet years. We were just barely able to afford to establish a settlement on an island to the south. Fortunately the local skraelings agreed to allow us to establish Orinje for a few cheap beads. Otherwise we awaited news from Ottar's skraeling scouts.
In 1496 Snorri Erikson returned and offered his services to the crown in exchange for a grant of land on Kong Isle (Isle Royale). We agreed and put him in command of the Vinlandfloat (such as it was) with which he sailed to the north and then to the west, ultimately locating Hodson's Bay (Hudson Bay) thought by some later scholars to have been the first site of Leif Erikson's settlement!
Later in the year Ottar Gramse reached the lands of the Aztec Empire, a land as wealthy and depraved as we had heard. He promptly declared war and split his forces, the infantry occupied the mountainous region where their capitol of Tenochtitlan was located while the cavalry rode in a great circle. There were a total of three "battles" if such is what you would call our cavalry riding down unarmored and pathetic skraeling formations. Still, our losses were heavy due to the sheer numbers of the enemy. In the end Ottar had 192 survivors out of a starting force of over 8,000 cavalry! When we recieved news of the conquest I suggested to the king that we needed to set aside gold to pay off the loan we had taken from Yitzak, fortify the Aztec provinces against the Spanish, continue to settle where possible and give loans to European states. The loaning was to go on in any event. The loan giving was my hope for a way to stay even with the massive inflation Vinland would suffer. As it turned out colonization would have to wait until after the loan was paid off and Zacetacas was fortified.
) here is my redo of the Vinland scenario. The settings this time areEU 1.09 IGC 2.1 USA is only major Normal/Normal Tax Normal Free Bretagne, Burgundy the Mighty, and United Prussia... oh.. and USA 1492 doh!
(The introductory material is the same but the game played very differently with 1,000d less to play with at the outset!)
Vinland Homecoming
As I walked through the windswept streets of Rekjavik I pulled my outermost coat tight against me and resisted the urge to shiver. One shiver might lead to uncontrollable shivering. It was December of 1490 and I silently cursed my crazy wife and her weird hunches. "Aud honey. Do you remember your last hunch? Richard of York, king of England? Does it ring any bells? Can you explain why we are here looking for the sagas of Vinland?"
Aud half turned, gave me her lopsided grin and said, "Olaf my dear, we are here because I have a hunch that Vinland still survives and because you love me and humor my hunches now and then. Oh, and Richard of York was the rightful king of England as were his heirs. It's not my fault if he was reluctant to claim the throne when he had the chance and his family was outmanuevered by the Tudors, may Freya curse their line with infertility!" I shuddered at her invocation of the great succubus and begged her to remember that she was no longer a ghydia to the demons we once worshipped. She gave me that enigmatic smile and said, "If we've followed Skula's directions this should be the library."
We had followed Skula's directions correctly and were indeed at the library which was at least somewhat warmer than the streets of Rekjavik. As an added bonus I got to sit beside the fireplace while Aud had to sit across the room with the ancient texts, which were not nearly as old as we were though an observer would never notice. At long last she looked up fairly beaming and copied several pages worth of material.
A little over a year later Snorri the merchant captain was berating Aud on the deck of his ship. "It is now September you crazy wench! We've sailed around God forsaken Greenland and found nothing! We've sailed the coasts of these islands and found nothing. We've sailed this long shore and found nothing because there's nothing to find! If ever the sons of Rauda sailed these waters they had the good sense to leave! We've now sailed far to the south of anywhere that gave any hope of finding Vinland. We are now turning back!"
Just then Aud screamed and pointed. On the horizon there was a fire on the water. "Sail to that! If that is nothing you can turn back!"
When we reached the fire which burned long enough for us hear the hiss as the burning ship sank into the sheletered bay. We saw a large assembly on the shore. They pointed to us as Aud pointed to them. "See! Look at them! They look like the Norsemen of old! This is Vinalnd! We have found Vinland!"
As it turned out the fire had been a funeral pyre for king Ergil Bjornson. We met with his son Aesgir Ergillson the next day. He explained that many of the customs of his fathers remained as did many who observed the ancient heathen ways. It seemed that Christianity was the faith of a small minority of the total population but a slim majority of the rich and powerful among the 13 families. Over the years Vinland had found it essential to practice absolute religious toleration. He commented wryly that it was fine by him since the heathens threw better parties and brewed better mead and beer.
Ergil fully expected to be elected king by the Vinthing in a week's time as no one from outside of his line had been elected in over two hundred years. It seemed that his line was the only line that could claim descent from the royal lines of Erikson (symbolized by the red stripes of the banner of Vinland), Haraldson (represented by the blue field) and the one he claimed to be the most august of them all, Olson, symbolized by the white stripes and the white of the stars which represented the 13 families.) When I asked about the house of Olson he informed that they were descended from Olaf the White, the first king of Dublin through his only son Thorsteinn whose sons fled to Iceland. It was fortunate that Aud was out talking to the heathen ghydia. She never could control herself under the impact of such shocks as well as I could. As it was it was all I could do to swallow the lump which formed in my throat and say, "I see."
Snorri waited for spring before making the return trek to Iceland. During that time we witnessed the coronation of the new king in a ritual which elegantly combined elememts of heathen tradition and Christian paegentry. The young king asked us to remain as diplomatic and economic advisors. I would not have been able to leave had this 30 times great grandson banished us.
I advised the young king to concentrate on internal improvements and expansion, suggesting an island we had passed enroute which offered good prospects as a future naval base (Isle Royale). We began sending young men who stood to inherit little and hoped for their success. In May we also sent an ambassador to Hans of Denmark with a proposal for a military alliance between our countries. It would take a year for us to find out but the suggestion was recieved eagerly. We also issued a total of 50,000 ducats in loans to the French at 10% interest through Yitzahk Solomon, a Jewish merchant who travelled with us and was appointed Minister of Finance for the purpose of making these kinds of loans. This was to be the beginning of a profitable banking enterprise since all loans would earn interest for 25 years!
In September of that year we also estblished the town of Hjalminge on the island I had suggested. Oddly on the day it was founded the pope and the kings of Portugal and Spain divided the world between Spain and Portugal. It wasn't clear if this division would affect us but we were enraged by the news. I advised Aesgir to bide his time and be prepared to when the opportunity arose to give the Iberians the reward for their arrogance. He composed a document outlining what he called the "Ergillson Doctrine", establishing the king of Vinland as the rightful protector and thereby sovereign of the west and reserving the same rights for the kings of Denmark and Scotland (with whom we also had an alliance by that time) in Europa. I admitted it was a fine idea and suggested a proper place on the shelf for it until such time as we could put teeth in our mouth. He smiled and agreed, saying that composing it had made him feel better.
In January of the next year we sent an eager young adventurer out to explore the interior. He was named Ottar Gramse and was destined for greatness. He went to the north first and discovered several rich provinces. (Quebec 5 VP) During this time we also began to talk about the possibility of licensing royal breweries and refineries as well as arranging for the marriage of the king's sister, Ingrid Ergildottir, to prince Christian, the heir apparent of Denmark. We also recieved news that on the 4th of March the previous year Spain had annexed Granada. The news was recieved with profoundly mixed emotions. Even heathens could applaud a victory of Christians over Moslems though no one in Vinland felt any charity towards Spain when that news was combined with news of the Treaty of Tordesillas. In July of that year as we awaited the reports from Ottar's Skraeling scouts I suggested that we might want to establish some trading posts initially in some of the lands he was discovering rather than trying to build expensive colonies. The king agreed in principle and Ottar continued his explorations discovering a rich province to the southwest of Stadacone (Huronie 10VP) When Ottar Gramse returned he was promptly sent to the southwest west with as many reinforcements as we could muster. We had heard rumors of a large, rich skraeling empire which practiced the most abominable religious rights of human sacrifice. In hopes that these reports were true we took out a 200d loan to raise the troops. At that point the world got a good deal larger for tiny Vinland. We offered to exchange rutters with our Danish allies and they readily agreed.
The years from 1493 to 1495 were quiet years. We were just barely able to afford to establish a settlement on an island to the south. Fortunately the local skraelings agreed to allow us to establish Orinje for a few cheap beads. Otherwise we awaited news from Ottar's skraeling scouts.
In 1496 Snorri Erikson returned and offered his services to the crown in exchange for a grant of land on Kong Isle (Isle Royale). We agreed and put him in command of the Vinlandfloat (such as it was) with which he sailed to the north and then to the west, ultimately locating Hodson's Bay (Hudson Bay) thought by some later scholars to have been the first site of Leif Erikson's settlement!
Later in the year Ottar Gramse reached the lands of the Aztec Empire, a land as wealthy and depraved as we had heard. He promptly declared war and split his forces, the infantry occupied the mountainous region where their capitol of Tenochtitlan was located while the cavalry rode in a great circle. There were a total of three "battles" if such is what you would call our cavalry riding down unarmored and pathetic skraeling formations. Still, our losses were heavy due to the sheer numbers of the enemy. In the end Ottar had 192 survivors out of a starting force of over 8,000 cavalry! When we recieved news of the conquest I suggested to the king that we needed to set aside gold to pay off the loan we had taken from Yitzak, fortify the Aztec provinces against the Spanish, continue to settle where possible and give loans to European states. The loaning was to go on in any event. The loan giving was my hope for a way to stay even with the massive inflation Vinland would suffer. As it turned out colonization would have to wait until after the loan was paid off and Zacetacas was fortified.
