1155 It is 1155. Serbia is at peace, recovering from a war fueled by my personal vendetta against Radoslav Vojislavljevic.
My realm stretches from Verona in the west to Bilyar in the east.
I am a powerful King in the region with eleven vassals and 60,000 troops at my command.
Serbia is wedged between Hungary to the north, the resurgent Byzantium to the south and Croatia to the west. The Black Sea dominates my eastern border (of my core domain provinces).
My domain is the frontier of Orthodoxy, sidled up against the press of Catholicism from mainland Europe.
A vicious religious war (consisting of both ideology and swords) is being waged in the former eastern Byzantium territories. The Seljuk Turks have teetered against the walls of Byzantium and no longer pose a major threat; but Cumans in the east, Pagans, are growing in numbers and power…
My daughter, Eudoxia, has revealed herself to be entirely inadequate to continue her religious formation.
While I am renewing my efforts to improve my relations with the church my family disappoints me… I will not turn her away from that path, though. Even as a hermit she will eventually make converts.
Rad, my trusty, loyal chancellor is growing old.
Today he was late to sit in court and help me see petitioners because he thought he lost his papers in the rear courtyard, while all along they were waiting in the main hall… Despite his forgetfulness he is still sharp as a tack with regards to diplomatic affairs.
And I need Rad, and all my court, to be effective… for I am not going to try and finish what I started years ago:
I have instructed my spy master (my mother) to dispatch assassins to kill Radoslav.
They’ve failed.
Not only did the killers fail but they were found out. Apparently one was just
shown a rack and he spoke all. Radoslav had him killed, of course, but I wish he hadn’t so I could kill the bastard.
Rad has advised I lay low for a while, let the fallout of my actions pass before I do anything else rash.
There is a new, young Emperor of Byzantium.
I also happen to have a young daughter…
I suppose the Emperor of Byzantium, King of Bulgaria, Prince of Macedonia, Antioch, Epirus, Cyprus, Turnovo, Dyrrachion, Athens, Kiev, Cibyrrhaeot, Paphlagonia, Achaea, Novgotod-Seversk, Armeniacon, Thessaly and Thrace
might be deserving of my daughter…
I order a proposal of marriage drafted and sent to the Emperor.
When a messenger burst into my hall today I was delightfully surprised, thinking the Emperor had responded to my request in a record time of only two days… But I quickly discovered I could not have been any more mistaken. Instead of celebrating the coming marriage of a daughter, I found myself mourning the loss of a daughter.
One of Radoslav’s men caught Zoe, my daughter, alone in a garden and killed her. Luckily one of my men-at-arms was canoodling with a chambermaid in some bushes nearby and heard Zoe’s frightened gasp before she was struck down. The man intercepted the assassin before he was able to escape. I did not need to ask to know who sent him, but just to be proper I let my men go to town on him. It did not take any hot pokers, presses, finger screws, racks, or skinning knives to get the man to talk, but he was subjected to them anyways.
I would not suffer Radoslav’s presence on God’s earth for a day longer.
The first assassin, charged by my mother to be ‘discrete’ failed and was discovered. No shit, Radoslav was surely on edge.
The second assassin didn’t even make it past Radoslav’s gates.
The third assassin came close, but failed.
With three men sent to kill Radoslav and three failures, I established a rather bad reputation for myself.
But I was not done. I would not be done until Radoslav was dead. My fourth assassination attempt was not by one assassin, not by two, but by twenty. I bypassed my mother and hired twenty thugs to infiltrate Hum’s castle by force and eliminate Radoslav at all costs.
They succeeded, but were of course found out… especially considering they had disguised themselves as men of god to get past the walls… After all my efforts to improve my relations with the church, I found myself in the most horrible standing…
With Radoslav finally gone his son, Volodar, inherited Hum adding it to his demesne.
But it seems my blatant acts have not gone unnoticed but Volodar… Rad informs me our relations are poor. Volodar apparently had no problem fighting in battle against his father, but he did not appreciate the underhanded, and in his words ‘dishonorable’ act of assassination. He may be trouble. The Principality of Dioclea holds three powerful provinces with resilient strongholds…
The petty fool. … or cunning?
Volodar had my marshal killed. While at first it seems like a pathetic act of vengeance that I could normally chalk up as a fair move, I have suspicions that the act was the opening move of a more grand goal… without a marshal I am more susceptible to attack. I have alerted my garrisons to be on edge and informed the barons that I may be calling on their men, soon.
Also, unsurprisingly the Emperor of Byzantium has declined marriage to my daughter… My standing among peers is no longer what it was and my relation with the church is in the pits…
Rad informs me that Volodar still appears to be rather loyal to me. It is possible that his killing of my marshal was just an act of honor… maybe.
I have appointed a new marshal, Basilakios Serblias.
He is merely sufficient for his post; Dumb as a rock when it comes to anything else, but decent at the art of war.
I can finally turn my attentions back to matters of the realm.
I have ordered the expansion of Severin’s roads to create an extensive road network. It will be a horribly expensive project but should facilitate more trade and thus more tolls. The engineers say that the project should take nearly three years to complete at a cost of 400 gold.
I have a rather bad reputation.
Rad indicates this may have a very negative effect on my vassals, especially the far off ones.
Kuman Tarchaneiotes, Count of Padua and Verona is not happy with my rule. While still extremely loyal now (according to Rad), his alignment is likely to change for the worse over time.
The same goes for Danilo Rurikovich.
This is especially problematic because Danilo rules the Principality of Vidin, right in the middle of my core domain.
The Archbishop of Rostov, ruling Uglich and Pereyaslavl Zalessky in the north east is likely going to be more reliable than the other vassals.
He is extremely loyal now, and his disposition ill not likely shift by much anytime soon.
I cannot say the same about Trpimir Trpimirovic
The Count of Ryazan will likely become fed up with my reputation in due time.
As the summer comes closer to an end Gagik has informed me he is not looking forward to the cold winter.
He is afraid it may be his last.
With the realm’s finances back under control I feel I can safely reduce the vassal’s scutage payments.
Hopefully that will help them see me in a better light… But by doing so I also allow them to field larger armies, bad news should one get a little too frisky.
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Topic: Let's Play Crusader Kings Deus Vult (Read 137867 times)