Double post for update.
Apparently a copy of Basileus Sheb was found!
My son Leon is shaping up well. He'll make a strong Basileus one day. I gave him the Kingdom of Sicily for his Birthday, so he can figure out that whole ruling thing.
He seems to like this present better than the princess I got him for his 18th birthday. Regarding Italy, the northern part is held by an evil king, Louis 'the Ill-Ruler' of Lotharingia
Well, they say he's kind but look at that mustache. Now, the traditional way to grab large swathes of land is to find someone you can sit on the throne, make him into your vassal and press their claims. Of course, most of the Karlings weren't enthusiastic about quitting their lands to join the court of an orthodox Emperor. The only guy I could find was Hugues Karling, a legitimized bastard and a nephew of Louis Karling.
Sadly, his claims were weak. His father however, Louis' brothers had strong claims that could be pressed immediately.
Let's pretend it's a pic of before I got him to join, m'kay? Now, I couldn't get Lothaire to join my court. I tried to have him killed, but he was hiding at the court of a small count, a court so small I couldn't find enough people for a decent plot. So I tried to have the count murdered, hoping his heir wouldn't be as popular with Lothaire. And this is the time Lothaire choose to raise a host and invade his cousin, the King of East Francia.
Here is a chart for you.
Ooops, I messed up with the settings. Of course, Lothaire lost and was jailed. But when his cousins needed a general and freed him, Lothaire was sour, and he was ready to join my court. Of course, what needed to happen happened.
Progress! I immediately celebrated by dumping my wife and marrying a younger one, to satisfy BFEL. However, having him marry us was a terrible idea, as he messed up the paperwork.
Divorce is going to be a bitch. Now, as you've seen parts of Louis holdings weren't transfered to Lothaire, namely a duchy in sicily and some Lombardian lands he owned personally. The single best way to get them would be to press Lothaire's claim on Lotharingia, but this would have to wait until the truce is over. In the meantime, I realized I couldn't press his de jure claim, so I had to borrow his title for a while.
I promised to give it back, but he didn't seem happy. I quickly invaded Genoa and Sardinia, before heading toward... Rome!
Their army must be made entirely of victims of child abuse to have a morale this low.
*At this point, the handwriting change.*
While Basileus Sheb fought well, a terrible blow knocked him to the ground senseless. After waking up, he was a changed man, incapable of speech or though.
The blow was so bad I saw the wrong sigil on that shield! I, Basilessa Romane, had to take hard decisions to protect the Realm.
This was one of my hardest choice so far. But they paid off. Rome was ours again, with a Patriarch siegeing in the St Peter Basilica.
I'm fairly certain his name is not Sergios though.
Okay, so my character is incapable. I actually feel like now would be a nice time to hand the game over. Mainiac, you can grab
the save and start playing as Leon, maybe you can hasten the Emperor's death a little!