Crusader Kings II - Paradox Entertainement (02/12)

[floyd22]

As far as you know, did the Anglo-Saxons use "Dane" and "Norse" interchangeably, whether those vikings came from Denmark or not?

There was no Distinction for the Anglo-Saxons; they used "Dane" to describe all Vikings, regardless of their origins.

In my Anglo-Saxon Reformed Norse Pagan playthrough, my current king is married to his sister-wife. They have produced 5 healthy sons that are tall strong and genius or quick. The first born son will wed one of his sisters and either concubine the others or have his brothers wed them.

As Roman Catholic Wessex I have One Son and am Hoping to Invade my Weaker Neighbours and Form England before the Danes Arrive and give my Successors very Bloody Noses.

 

[Shiva]

Has anyone else had issues with the Coronation feature?

Because it seems like they tweaked it and it's all screwy now, because if you are a Catholic Empire with Papal Investiture you can't GET a coronation anymore, you are required to have Free Investiture BUT if you have Free Investiture you no longer have the option of getting a Papal Coronation… And the Pope gets OFFENDED if you pick anyone else BUT HIM to do the coronation as a Catholic Emperor, plus mad that you have Free Investiture.

How do I fix it?

 

[Gwrtheyrn Annwn]

Has anyone else had issues with the Coronation feature?

Because it seems like they tweaked it and it's all screwy now, because if you are a Catholic Empire with Papal Investiture you can't GET a coronation anymore, you are required to have Free Investiture BUT if you have Free Investiture you no longer have the option of getting a Papal Coronation… And the Pope gets OFFENDED if you pick anyone else BUT HIM to do the coronation as a Catholic Emperor, plus mad that you have Free Investiture.

How do I fix it?

I've never had such a problem TBH, do you have the new patch?

 

[Shiva]

I've never had such a problem TBH, do you have the new patch?

Not sure...

 

[ByzantineCaesar]

The Fremennik Chronicles

Part I: The First Fremennik (769-819)
Composed by Seeress Gunnhildr Gnupasdottir in the Christian year of 876 AD

​

No chid in Noregr grows up without hearing the name and legend of Fremen the Brute, our founder and greatest hero to date. Born to the warg wolf Hati the Moon-Hound and a woods witch from Mære in 753, it is said, Fremen had risen to become Chief of Sunnmære by the tender age of sixteen. Even then, he was a beast with the axe and a raider to boot. After ten years of wise and good rule, Fremen did not linger to claim his birthright the holy city of Mære and most of the Norwegian coast until, in 782, he declared himself King of Vestlandet. Fifteen years later, having conquered much of Scandinavia and pushed back the Danes to Jutland, Fremen proclaimed himself King of Noregr, and all rejoiced. By that time King Fremen was nearing fifty years of age, and many of his children that would carry on his brilliant bloodline had already been born. They are the so-called Fremennik, the descendants of Fremen the Brute who unified Noregr under his white wolf banner and brought much despair to the Christians overseas.

By his first wife, the seeress Gydja of Münster, King Fremen had two strong sons. Gydja, who was not named Queen as Fremen had not yet crowned himself King (and, either way, she would have been unworthy of the title), betrayed her husband with chief Bruno of Bremen, of the Ludolfinger clan, who met his end at age thirty-one at the tip of King Fremen’s axe, who fashioned himself a cup from his skull, which to this day remains in the possession of the Fremennik. Still, Gydja’s two sons would prove themselves in time:

· Ralkur Fremennik (770-824), the first son of King Fremen I, who despite his prowess was not chosen as his father’s successor. A shrewd and erudite man, Ralkur was a steward, rather than a warrior, and served his younger in this capacity until his dying breath. With his wife, the shieldmaiden Parsbit (776-842), Ralkur had four children: (i)

o Fremen Ralkursson (800-846), an unremarkable man unworthy of his name who died childless

o Skuld the Shrinking Violet (802-865), who married Putiata the Grinner, High Chief of Ilmenia, and had three children

o Rikulfr Ralkursson (804-851), a master of words who served his kings as Chancellor and had issue, including Rikissa Fremennik, wife to Ivar Fremennik, Jarl of Kargopol

o H֥æsteinn Ralkursson (806-867), who also died childless.​

· Rakdar Fremennik (772-835), King of Noregr, of whom we shall yet speak at length
​

By his second wife, the loyal but not faithful Martyna (757-820), daughter of the Chief of Rügen and the first Queen of Noregr, King Fremen had another three children:

· Jarl Ivar Fremennik (780-836), a powerful warrior who was Jarl of Finnmark by his marriage to High Chieftess Pyra of Nordland (779-837). He guarded the Northern reaches of Noregr for his father and, later, his brother. With Pyra, Jarl Ivar had four children:

o Kraka the Shieldmaiden (806-873), who had issue

o The imbecile Knut the Blushing (808-831), Chief of Onega, who died childless

o Jarl Alfgeir the Bold (809-852), Jarl of Finnmark who died of the flu and had issue, including Jarl Ivar I of Kargopol (844-860)

o The most famous of all Queen Gyla Ivarsdottir (809-871), a shrewd woman and shieldmaiden who had ample issue​

· Aleta Fremennik (782-831), the first of many women bearing her name, a fearsome shieldmaiden without a match. She married Radoslav Olegovich (778-819) and had two sons:

o Fremen Radoslavsson (799-873), quick and erudite, who served as Seer for decades, who once attempted to rescue a woman from the royal dungeons and, instead of being branded a traitor, was rewarded for his courage and received her as a concubine

o The unremarkable Hrodgar Radoslavsson (803-857), whose greatest legacy was undoubtedly his only daughter the shieldmaiden Aleta (b. 851), future concubine and then Queen of Noregr, Freyja incarnate​

​

After her husband died, however, Aleta was given as a concubine by her brother King Rakdar to his son and heir (her nephew) Fremen Strongarm to toughen him up and prepare him for rulership. Twenty years his senior, the fearsome shieldmaiden made a noteworthy impression on the young prince and future king. Aleta was his first love and, when she died prematurely of gout at the age of forty-nine, she was deeply mourned. At age forty-two, she gave birth to a son, named Rakdar after his grandfather the King, who promptly became Fremen Strongarm’s favorite son and chosen successor despite being the younger of his brothers and the child of a concubine.

· Grima Poison-Tooth (784-869), by far the longest-lived of Fremen the Brute’s children, a shieldmaiden who never married and lived to the ripe old age of eighty-five, still bearing the mantle of heroine of the Wolf Warriors by the time of her death. She had one bastard daughter, Fevronia Sharp-Tongue (b. 807), later concubine to Fremen Strongarm.

​

By his wife array of concubines, although only few provided him with children, Fremen the Brute fathered:

· Sæmundr the Ruthless (776-847), by the concubine Holmfrid (753-803), a fearsome warrior and member of the Wolf Warriors who found his honorable death in combat only at age seventy-one. He had two sons, Gunnar and Bertil, but both died without issue.

· Sverker Fremennik (785-846), also by Holmfrid, another fearsome warrior who also served as spymaster to his father and half-brother. He had one son, Halsten, who died without issue.

· Sigurdr Fremennik (807-863), by Frankish concubine Dagena de Berg (780-850), who served his family admirably and died without issue.

· Gudmundr Fremennik (809-868), by Welsh concubine Onbrawst Rhos (777-839), the youngest of Fremen’s brood and a great warrior.​

The first King of Noregr and progenitor of the Fremennik, Fremen the Brute, had thus nine children to carry on his bloodline and perpetuate his dynasty. A century later, there were thirty-nine living Fremennik, out of a total of seventy men and women who could trace their descent from Fremen the Brute and name themselves Fremennik.

The story of King Fremen was far from over, however. Having conquered and forged the Kingdom of Noregr, Fremen sought lands and plunder elsewhere. In 801 AD he led his men across the sea to Northumbria, where he sacked the monastery of Lindisfarne, the first of many Christian settlements to be ransacked by Fremen’s Vikings. At the time of his death, King Fremen had personally slain 49 men and women through either personal combat, sacrifice to the gods or executions, a large number that would nevertheless pale in comparison with his descendants.

Towards the end of his reign, Fremen the Brute also devoted himself to the Wolf Warriors, rising to become their foremost Hero. Accompanied by his trusted friend Einarr of Hordaland, he left his kingdom to his son’s capable hands and was the first Norse to journey to the Mediterranean, seeking fame and fortune. In the land of the Greeks his legend was built, as King Fremen sought out the best Greek warriors and slew them in combat, one by one. His feats eventually drew the attention of Empress Theophano Souanitissa, who summoned him to Constantinople to fight before the whole city and imperial court. At the Hippodrome Fremen and Einarr slew uncountable beasts; so great was their prowess that the Empress was forced to let them walk free, and words of their deeds in Miklagrad would later lead to the establishment of the Varangian Guard. Fremen and Einarr returned to Noregr as heroes, and their feats would be forever remembered in their bloodlines.

After reigning fifty years (twenty-two as King of Noregr), Fremen the Brute passed away at age sixty-six at Paris, dying a natural death before his men could crack open the fair city for the first time. Fremen had designed this raid as his last and glorious one, seeking a death in battle against the Franks in their capital or the riches of Paris, but the gods saw fit to take him to Valhalla before the city fell. Nonetheless, he left an incredible legacy and a more than capable successor in his son, King Rakdar Poison-Tooth.

 

[Sevarics]

200 years of gameplay and 1066 is so different from OTL

The ERE is ruled by a German Reformed Heathen (Karling) and Iran is Turkish and Orthodox

 

[ByzantineCaesar]

The Fremennik Chronicles

Part II: Rakdar Poison-Tooth (819-835)
Composed by Seeress Gunnhildr Gnupasdottir in the Christian year of 876 AD

​

Although compared to his father and son King Rakdar’s reign of sixteen years may seem short-lived and insignificant, one should never underestimate Fremen the Brute’s chosen heir and successor. The second son of King Fremen and his first wife, Gydja of Münster, Rakdar was handpicked by his father as his successor for his martial prowess, as his older brother Ralkur had chosen a steward’s path. Rakdar Poison-Tooth’s reign already began in war, as King Fremen died outside Paris. It fell to his son to complete his raid. His first action as King was to send his father off in the Seine. His second was to hold a Great Blot and sacrifice his father’s prisoners by the river shore. His third was to take Paris and sack the Frankish capital, carrying off untold wealth and prisoners. The city fell in 820, soon followed by fifteen other settlements in Frankia throughout 820 and 821. Rakdar Poison-Tooth’s reign began bathed in blood, and it was not just anyone’s blood, for Gerberga, Queen Regnant of Germany, had been captured in battle outside of Paris and offered to the gods as a sacrifice. The chaos inaugurated by her death at the hands of Rakdar Poison-Tooth would see all four of her sons succeed her as King. Thirty years later, her male line had come to an end. Three successive Dukes of Paris also lost their lives to Poison-Tooth.

For his first autonomous raid (for the Paris expedition had been organized by his father), King Rakdar chose to mimic his ancestor and landed on Northumbria, where he once again sacked the monastery of Lindisfarne, before raiding all along the coast to Stamford Bridge, ransacking York in the process. In the second half of the 820’s, King Rakdar’s preferred raiding target proved to be continental Europe rather than the British Isles, and he terrorized the local Christians wherever there was sea or river, sacking important towns such as Utrecht, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Trier. Rakdar’s invincibility was eventually broken by King Magneric of Germany at the Battle of Merseburg in 832, when the Norse suffered a grievous defeat and were forced to retreat. Poison-Tooth was never one to return empty-handed from a raid, however, and took his diminished host to Frankia, where he succeeded in raiding and sacking Senlis and Beaumont before returning to Sunnmære.

The Norse were still licking their wounds when war over the county of Rügen broke out with the Kingdom of Pommerania. King Rakdar’s half-siblings, the children of King Fremen and Queen Martyna, had inherited their mother’s claim to Rügen. At his half-brother Ivar’s request, King Rakdar marched to war against King Strojmir Premyslid of Pommerania (later known as Strojmir the Confessor, for his conversion to the Orthodox faith). It proved to be a miscalculation, for the Norse had still not fully recovered from the Battle of Merseburg and the King was forced to march with only half his force. Mistakes committed by his tribal vassals only made the war increasingly difficult. In 835, King Rakdar was able to take Rügen, but would not be able to hold it for long. Besieged on the Baltic island and outnumbered, Rakdar Poison-Tooth suddenly died in his sleep at age sixty-three on October 12th, 835, leaving to his son and successor an unwinnable war against damning odds. By the time of his death King Rakdar could boast of having claimed at least 40 lives, including four dukes, one ruling duchess, one king and one ruling queen.

Throughout his long life, King Rakdar was married to one Beata of Vendel (774-844), the quick-minded daughter of the Jarl of Västmanland Alfr the Hunter. Although husband and wife were well-matched, their relationship was strained by Queen Beata’s unfaithfulness. King Fremen had known to look away when Queen Martyna had been infected with the lover’s pox from an unknown source, but Beata of Vendel had gone one step further and had taken a lover to her bed. As Queen, however, Beata was well respected and loved, and ruled wisely alongside her husband. They had four children together:

· Fremen Strongarm (b. 802), who later rose to the throne as King Fremen II and crowned himself imperator as an insult to all Christians, whose life and story shall be discussed elsewhere

· Saga the Moaner (803-833), their shieldmaiden daughter, killed by a wild beast at age thirty. She married Vladimir Premyslid, Chief of Hradec, and had one son, Otakar of Hradec, but her line has since died out.

​

· Jarl Rakdar the Ruthless (b. 812), Jarl of Finnmark, of Austerbotn, of Jamtaland and of Hälsingland, Marshal of Noregr, King Fremen II’s all powerful right-hand man and guardian of the Northern half of the Fremennik realm. Loyal to a fault and martially superb, Rakdar Rakdarsson was one of the founding members of the Varangian Guard at Constantinople, only to return to Scandinavia and be elected Jarl of several Jarldoms, which made him his brother’s most powerful vassal. Rakdar’s skill with the blade is unmatched – even Fremen Strongarm himself cannot claim to be his superior, only his equal. For many years after his nephew’s death, Jarl Rakdar was considered his brother’s heir, but Strongarm clinging to life and the adulthood of his grandson have deprived his line of kingship. Rakdar cares little, however, for he is loyal to his brother, though many do not know if he will also be loyal to his great-nephew. He had seven children:

o Björn Rakdarsson (b. 845), his father’s heir, a powerful warrior in his own right, though he remains unmarried,

o Hrafn Rakdarsson (b. 848), who showed great promise as a warrior, but has since become one-eyed and one-legged,

o Sigurdr Rakdarsson (b. 849), a skilled one-eyed warrior, father of one son,

o Beata of Gotland (b. 855), daughter of Finnish concubine Titti Falk (838-859), recently wed to Hemming the Young, Jarl of Gotland,

o Linda Rakdarsdottir (b. 856), daughter of concubine Alvör,

o Tryggve Rakdarsson (b. 869), a young boy of six,

o Saga Rakdarsdottir (b. 870), another daughter of Alvör, bright for her age,​

· Freyja the Short-Tempered (b. 813), a much lauded and renowned shieldmaiden and raider, her elder brother Fremen Strongarm’s steady companion in battle and life. Freyja is famed for her skill with a blade and her martial prowess in the field commanding raiding hosts… and also for her fierce temper, which few ever have the courage of challenging. Freyja and Fremen have grown particularly close since her disfigurement in battle in service of her King. She grew up with her shieldmaiden aunt Aleta Fremensdottir as her role model, and so far Freyja has achieved even more than her late aunt. For her prowess, she is a Heroine of the Wolf Warriors.

o Skuld of Sunnmære (832-861), her young daughter born out of wedlock, died of the flu

o Frodi Fremennik (b. 838), her unremarkable trueborn son,​

​

· Vigdis Fremennik (819-862), the child of concubine Anglo-Saxon concubine Ecgwyn of Tottenham (796-865), a shieldmaiden like her sister, although not nearly as skilled, died of the great pox without issue. Unmarried, she never displayed interest in men,

· Hjalmar Fremennik (822-844), the child of Anglo-Saxon concubine Cwenburg Wuffing (794-863), an unremarkable man who died of the flu,

· Hrodgar Fremennik (823-868), the child of Frankish concubine Halderudis de Vermandois (796-871), a formidable woman granddaughter of Pope Callistus II

· Gudrun Fremennik (b. 827), another child of Cwenburg, who rose to become a concubine. Her only daughter, a bastard by the name of Birgitta, was born in captivity. As a newborn infant, she was submitted to torture and blinded on the orders of chief Gorm of Lolland, dying days later. Gorm was later imprisoned for the rest of his life by King Fremen II

· Queen Rögnhildr of Bohemia (b. 834), the daughter of Finnish concubine Ilme Sayalid (b. 805), married to Bocek Knuckle-Slammer, pagan King of Bohemia, who had issue,​

---

Noregr at the time of Rakdar Poison-Tooth's death

---
​

 

[Planet of Hats]

* Mateja, the Sword of Jesus
Empress of Slavia (March 12, 1124 - May 23, 1129)
Queen of Pòmòrskô (May 11, 1101 - May 23, 1129)
Queen of the Danes (March 12, 1124 - May 23, 1129)

While much controversy accompanied the arrival of Queen Mateja to the throne, her intelligence, beauty and son in line to inherit quelled many whispers of conspiracy about her. Her reign would go on to weather a series of incredible highs and lows as Pomerania and the West Slavic world weathered both triumph and dreadful crisis in a span of 28 years.

Spoiler: And here's how it happened....

Evidently in a bid to establish her legitimacy early, Mateja first named her husband Swietopolk commander of the armies of the realm. Then she reached out to Pope Honorius II, the man who had named her grandfather a saint. In a grand ceremony, the Pope crowned her Queen, while behind the scenes she returned an artifact to him from the Pomeranian treasury: The foreskin of Jesus.

Mustering a company of mercenaries to augment her personal armies, Mateja promptly declared war on the Khazars for the lands of the Yatvingians. The war was wrapped up by the next year, and the lands were entrusted to the adventurer Vsevolod, a Slavicized descendant of Ivar the Boneless, on the condition that he convert to Christianity and stop laying siege to Mateja's holdings in Prussia. A small war ensued to bring the castle of Stezyca into the fold before Mateja turned in 1103 to the region of Memel, declaring war against Hrane the Usurper, claimant to the crown of Swithjod in opposition to the Pomerania-supported kings of Sheffield Sweden. The war was wrapped up by 1105, Skalowie added to the kingdom.

In 1106, dire news arrived that the Saracens had beaten back the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the Sinai and the Nile Delta.

Finally, in 1108, the Second Crusade was proclaimed, this time to wrest Hungary from the iron grip of the Khazars. Pomerania - on the front lines of the war against the Jewish nomads - had long experience with such wars, and Mateja sent word to Pope Lucius III that her armies would join those of Christendom's.

The Crusade began in the spring of 1110. Mustering her armies, Mateja arrived on the scene first to meet the host of Khagan Menumarot. The Battle of Oswiecim left a third of the Khazar host of 12,000 dead on the field. As the greater part of the armies of Pomerania pursued Menumarot, Mateja herself led a smaller army into the Carpathian foothills to storm towns and cities, rapidly reducing those strongholds she deemed most vulnerable to Christian predation. Pomeranian armies seized these smaller forts before besieging the forts of the Pannonian plain itsef. By July 1111, Khagan Menumarot was forced to concede defeat after being crushed by a host of 40,000 men led by King Loup of West Francia.

Mateja, in the field with her men, quickly made haste to Pest and established Mscislaw, a distant descendant through her great-great-great-great-grandfather Lucjan the Wise, as King of Hungary - much to the fury of the Bosnian Orthodox King Abel, reigning at Sarbogard and controlling very little land. Entrenching Mscislaw in a new Carpathian-centred realm with its heart at Ungvar, Mateja returned home, acknowledged as a crusading heroine in her own right. And yet, the Crusaders returned under dire portents, in the form of news that the Saracens of the resurgent Abbasid Caliphate had circumvented the Byzantine Empire to seize Bulgaria, with more than 70,000 men-at-arms at their disposal.

Called to war in 1114 by King Demid of Galicia-Volhynia, Mateja sent troops to the Carpathians to besiege Moldavia. That war ended with more Carpathian land falling into Demid's clutches.

Just as Mateja prepared to undertake a pilgrimage, however, Demid sought Pomerania's aid as the Abbasids made a move to invade Moldavia. Even as the mightiest kingdom in Christendom, Pomerania was dwarfed in power by the Saracens, and Mateja called forth holy orders and mercenaries to bolster the kingdom's ranks. Only the sheer distance from the Levant to the Carpathians thwarted Caliph Halil's ambitions, along with the scarcity of provender in the Black Sea rim; the Caliph was forced to march his armies into the mountains piecemeal, where waiting Pomeranian and Galician armies bested them in running battles. By the dawn of 1118, the Caliph was forced to concede Moldavia lost, and Mateja returned home - but she did so with news brewing of a great plague in the east.

By 1120, the Plague had swept the south of Pomerania, and trade lanes were steadily carrying it north, up the Elbe and into the heartland of Pomerania. The illness robbed Europe of much of a generation; in some areas, as much as 60% of the population died. The trade hubs of the northern coast of Europe were devastated, with the disease even taking Mateja's daughter Katarina. It's said the Queen was obliged to give a grand speech to a mob of angry peasants out to slaughter every cat in the kingdom, ultimately dissuading them from a feline massacre.

As the Plague slowly receded, Mateja moved swiftly to reassert her authority. She quickly proclaimed herself Empress of Slavia, adding the arms of Denmark to her own arms to assert herself as well as Queen of the Danes. She spent the following years replacing dead dukes and counts and reasserting the authority of the crown in areas which had become lawless, ennobling new landholders from the ranks of the commons and increasing the size of the famous cohort of winged hussars to a royal guard of more than 5,000 well-trained horsemen.

Yet it was not the Plague which would claim her, but what is believed to be cancer. En route back from a sea voyage to the Holy Land, Mateja fell deeply ill and retired to her bed. By the time the ship put into Rana, Mateja's condition had worsened, and she died in the spring of 1129, five years after her coronation.

 

[Homer Simpson & the Brain]

Given the fact the original Gothic language shared the use of "af" with Old Norse, would it be plausible for the latinized Visigothic culture to use "ab" as dynastic prefix, since it's the closest equivalent, both etymologically and orthographically, to their original word for "from"?

 

[GoukaRyuu]

Isn't latinized Visigothic just Castilian/Spanish?

 

[Homer Simpson & the Brain]

Isn't latinized Visigothic just Castilian/Spanish?

Nope, latinized Visigothic is the cultural starting point of both Catalan and Occitan as well. Also, the Visigothic elite of Post-Roman Hispania kept speaking their own language among themselves for longer than Franks did in Northern Gallia, so it's not out of the question for the "ab" to have sneaked into it simply due to the longer coexistence of the Visigothic language with the local Latin dialect.

 

[GoukaRyuu]

Huh. Then what is the starting point of Castilian/Spanish. I know Suebi is for Portuguese.

 

[Homer Simpson & the Brain]

Huh. Then what is the starting point of Castilian/Spanish. I know Suebi is for Portuguese.

Visigothic splits into Occitan, Catalan and Castillian.

 

[Planet of Hats]

Isn't latinized Visigothic just Castilian/Spanish?

In game, Visigothic breaks down into Castilian, Occitan and Andalusian.

In reality, Gothic had very little influence on Spanish, and the Visigoths were fairly Romanized by the time they got to Spain, plus secluded from the commoners. Arabic had somewhat more influence on Iberian Romance languages than Gothic did.

 

[GoukaRyuu]

In game, Visigothic breaks down into Castilian, Occitan and Andalusian.

In reality, Gothic had very little influence on Spanish, and the Visigoths were fairly Romanized by the time they got to Spain, plus secluded from the commoners. Arabic had somewhat more influence on Iberian Romance languages than Gothic did.

I see. I know it makes sense in-game because culture represents more than just language.

 

[Neoteros]

I've been thinking about what an After the End "prequel" set in South America in like, 2492 would look like.

Here's an empire-tier title:

Empire of Patagonia - made up by the Kingdom of Araucania (southern Chile), the Kingdom of Colonia (southern Argentina) and the Kingdom of Magellan (the far south of both countries and the Falkland Islands); at the start of the game, the region is the domain of nomadic horse lords, some of them Mapuche, some of them Spanish (Gaucho), and some of them Welsh (O'r Wladfa). The Mapuche follow their indigenous beliefs, the Spanish are Catholic, and the Welsh are Methodist; the Falkland Islands are a feudal OPM, where British (Kelper) culture and the Anglican faith predominate. Tierra del Fuego is another OPM, but it's a merchant republic: contact between the eastern and western halves of the continent is extremely difficult due to the Amazon and the Andes, so why not set up shop in the freezing cold and profit off the wolves of the sea (read: madmen) trying to trade via ship instead?

The countess of the Falkland Islands (loosely based on Margaret Thatcher) has a strong claim on the Kingdom of Argentina (part of the Empire of the Pampas), and quite a few event troops, just like Haesteinn of Nantes in the vanilla game; however, she is unmarried, kinda old, and has no heirs, so she got to act fast.

 

[Yorel]

A bit of news regarding my Shattered World Quantum Leap through save files.

In case you forgot how this works, I've basically generated a Shattered World savefile for basically every Religion available in-game plus a few scenarios I wanted to try out. I've done this because I tend to always pick the same starts so I wanted to try to diversify myself. I made Shattered World savefiles because it felt a bit easier to handle and I was worried I was going to be a bit rusted or to face mechanics I never handled so I felt I needed to put things a bit on the "easy side". Plus, I'm doing this just for fun, so...

The Quantum Leap part goes on is that I switch when a character dies, unless there is a war I want to finish first in which case I switched after this war ends. It's not a regular Quantum Leap as I'm switching savefiles, not in-game characters.
(Feel free to think I'm insane)

Anyway, without further ado:

Failed attempts so far:
Nestorian Assyrians: My attempts at playing Assyrians so far haven't been going that great. I first tried as Maluch Sameah, Count of Deir but he's an imbecile, hasn't that much troops and also has a bunch of horrid commanders. I decided to switch then to Isaac Hanina, the Count of Mosul... Who keeps losing because of he's got a fair share of bad commanders. At this point, I'm considering switching to another Nestorian Assyrian Count but I've only got three other options...

Jewish: In a 769 Shattered World start, there are only two available Jewish Counts available. I went with Kelyle of Semien, because that's the name of the Duchy you can form. The issue is that the terrain is mountainous and thus I keep failing to invade the neighbouring Count Gabra of Tigrinya. I have a bit more troops and our commanders are roughly matched, but the terrain is what's killing me. I might consider switching to Gabra at one point...

Ibadi: For the Ibadi start, I picked one of the Ibadi counts in Maghreb because I didn't want to have all my three Muslims saves in Arabia... I originally wanted to play in Fes, but the generated ruler was a Countess and Islamic women can't marry matrinearily in-game so that would have been a very short game... Instead, I picked Sinbad of Taza because of his name... How could I not resist to name my savefile "Adventures of Sinbad" after that? But turns out Taza is a pretty horrible place to start... Few troops, one holding in the county... This doesn't bode well...

Hellenic: In Vanilla, the province of Monemvasia is the only Hellenic province in 769... And if you Shatter the World, you're guaranteed to play an Hellenic Greek Count(ess). In my case, I ended up with a woman named Theodosia Pegonites. I only have tried to play her once so far... And I think I basically got unlucky as before going to war, I made a war sacrifice and I got a moral malus for my troops... Which I think is the reason I lost. We'll see how it goes in a retry.

Past attempts I already talked of:
Zunists: Started actually before I got the idea actually, will go back to it once I've done a rotation basically. Current year is 1023, and the Zuhaid Persian Empire is ruled by Dastur Mursalin III "Irongrip". Current long-term objective is to annex Heliopolis, the last Holy site of the Zunist faith.

Orthodox: Started as Countess Aigidia Leovrachos of Constantinople. She ruled until December 24, 832, which makes her one of the longest character I played in the game as she basically died at the age of 79, after having ruled for 63 years. A time during which she managed to grab the Kingdoms of Thrace, Greece, Epirus, Anatolia and Trebizond. Her successor and the next character I'll play when I go back to her will be her grandson Germanos Leovrachos.

Coptic Miaphysite: I started as Countess Illizabith Bashmur of Alexandria. The goal was to make her Queen of Egypt but she was killed in battle in 785 and thus died only as Duchess of Alexandria and Cairo. Her son Matta took over and finished the last war she has started before I switched characters.

The last playthrough I was talking about last time:
Last time, I had started a Catholic run as the Count of Paris, Sunno Bouvinid. I managed to form the Kingdom of France and I had basically decided to go for Lotharingia as the next target of my expansion. Sunno ruled for an extremly long time as he died only in 828. His eldest son Magneric having died of illness at the age of 8, Sunno "the White Knight" was eventually succeeded by his second son, who now rules as King Sunno II... But is aged 52.

Playthroughs I went through since:
Sunni: I went for Count Ghalib of Mecca since that basically meant I was going to get control of Mecca and Medina pretty easily. Ghalib became Emira of Hijaz and of Arabia pretty easily, but he died during his campaigns for Nefoud in 791. His 18 year old eldest son Isa took over.

Shi'a: Started as Abu-Bark of Bahreïn. I was able to form the Emirate of Al Bahreïn without too much trouble despite a few complications, then went to invade Nefoud in order to be able to target Mecca and Medina. Sadly, Abu-Bakr was also killed in battle during the invasion of Nefoud in 785. His 10 year old son Zeyd succeeded him as Emir of Al Bahreïn and Nefoud.

Norse: Started as Asa Toki, Chieftess of Götland. I got lucky as she was already rank 2 in the Wolf Warriors upon being generated. Was able to quickly expand in Götland and Smäland. In between of few raids in Frisia to get Gold (and accomplish missions for the Wolf Warriors), I also started the conquest of Sweden and eventually managed to crown Asa as the first Queen of Sweden. Sadly, one of the annoying things about Shattered World is that inheritance at the start can be extremly unstable, and so I had to reconquer one of the counties I had annexed. Asa, despite being a fiersome warrioress, lucked out: a wound which got infected, another wound, and a lost leg... The war was won but she died soon after, in 786. Her 10 year old eldest son Haelstein got the throne of Sweden, while her younger son Bo (he's 4) is his vassal as Jarl of Värend and Smäland.

The current playthrough:
Started as Khagan Iletmish of Ötuken. Which gave me basically the chance to try out Nomad mechanics... I'm not sure if I'm doing okay but so far so good as expansion has been going pretty well. Only worrying thing is that my income is terrible and I don't really have much to raid. All I do for the moment is expanding to get more lands, create new clans when I get too big to handle that much and keep going to war. Haven't created a single title but I don't care too much since I already started with an Emperor-level title. Plus given how scarce my income is, I'm not to keen on spending it aside from improving my capital.

Not sure if I understood this correctly, but population seems to be the key for Nomads. So, I've only built buildings that increase Population Growth so far (as well as one that increased Max population). I wish this would raise my income faster than it does but it works so far...

 

[dianaswordofsappho]

My grand campagin game just got a hell of lot more interesting

Basically after getting the spear of destiny and losing his hand and 5 of his sons to the Aztec invaders my king had enough and used the spear to kill every last native

Now he is immortal and he knows that every second onwards will be spent repenting for his crimes

 

[Shiva]

My grand campagin game just got a hell of lot more interesting

Basically after getting the spear of destiny and losing his hand and 5 of his sons to the Aztec invaders my king had enough and used the spear to kill every last native

Now he is immortal and he knows that every second onwards will be spent repenting for his crimes

Repent? No now is the time to PARTAY! Your King should descend into violent hedonism, after all why worry about heaven and hell if you are going to live forever?

 

[dianaswordofsappho]

Repent? No now is the time to PARTAY! Your King should descend into violent hedonism, after all why worry about heaven and hell if you are going to live forever?

Because he was kind hearted before hand and uh he became pretty depressed afterwards