Sorry for the delays on this update...
I misplaced the first half of the notes:-/ But, I found them, so it's all good.
Is there a demo for this game or do I have to buy it? Cause this game looks neato. Good lets play by the way
No demo to the best of my knowledge.
The game and expansion is only like $25 or something from Gamersgate, with no drm or download restrictions. It is pretty small (in comparison to some games) so its a fast download too.
I continue in mid 1096Ata'boy Sabas!
My son Sabas and his wife are expecting. Long live the Synadenos dynasty!
I am waiting for his education to finish before I grant him a title.
Three months later Sabas finishes his education
I grant my son the title Count of Vidin
My son now rules the province my family was originally governed from
I have no fear of rebellion, for my son is devotedly loyal
I set the scutage tax to zero. I'd rather have my son's garrisons strong than my coffers full.
I am presented the opportunity to improve the stability of the realm
But I can hardly afford the cost. Debt is an unpleasant state to be in, and I'd risk losing the stability again due to my negative funds! At the moment my gold belongs to my treasury.
I am no longer generous but known as selfish.
The Hospitaliers Order has formed in the holy land
We'll see how long they last in face of all the Muslim states.
1096 closes well
1097The Paupers' Crusade comes to town...
At a small cost of 3.27 gold I prepare a garrison to protect my lands and peoples.
Despite my actions the province suffers- just not as much.
There are many different peoples in Belgrade
I am Greek. Belgrade is primarily Serbian. While I would feel more comfortable if the people around me followed Greek cultural practices, to force them to do so would come at
extreme costs (500 piety or 5000 gold).
I am forced to accept the cultural differences and enforce cultural tolerance in the realm.
My daughter is back in France
I really do not know what her deal is... but while looking into my family relations I've heard that Sabas had a daughter
*Sigh*
I can only hope his next child is a son...
My 2nd eldest, Nephon, is of age
I immediately seek out a mate for him...
I find two potential brides:
Dobroslava Rurikovich, a Russian Orthodox widow. She is an amazing diplomat, but she has two living sons...
Joscella de Hauteville, an Italian Catholic with a varied skillset with good intrigue. She is also the granddaughter of the King of England (on her mother's side).
After some thinking, I decide to go with the Russian. Although she has two sons, one is a count and her skillset is too good to turn down. She will help my son's court greatly.
The marriage is accepted
May our two Orthodox households be friends forever!
I now will wait for his education to finish before granting him lands.
1098The years are passing quickly now. I suppose my age make every year feel shorter- but the lack of action in the realm probably also contributes to the feeling.
Oiy... My boy Dorotheos has proven to be inadequate in the military...
I send the boy to train in the court- a less ...demanding education.
And he fails me again
Dorotheos is proving to be the runt of my litter. I refuse to allow his education to come to an end- so I send him to the monastery. Perhaps he will find his way with god...
My wife loves me not
Evidently it is time to move on.
Pagan priests claim a bad omen has been spotted
That's just silly superstition! My youngest son already proved useless and my wife is no longer interested in me- these fools cannot claim an omen
after the bad has already happened!
Nephon is getting anxious
The boy just doesn't understand I want the best for him... I assure him he will get a title soon... Once his education finishes. He becomes reckless as a result.
Typhoid fever his Belgrade
The province is essentially useless now. Luckily it is not known to stay around for very long...
Nephon became a misguided warrior
I grant him the title of Severin
He devotedly loyal to me, and will remain so pretty much no matter what
1099A new year
With the typhoid fever still in Belgrade my income is halved and my levies are listed at just under 2000 men.
A young damsel wants a husband...
I
could remedy part of her problem myself... ... ... no... I let her leave my realm to look elsewhere...
The local barons offer to help improve the stability of the realm...
But at a cost of prestige... I will not sacrifice my social standing for this cause. I am now proud.
ut oh
My son Nephon has been attacked. The Pechenegs and their single vassal have warred my boy.
This is horrible timing. The typhoid fever in Belgrade are limiting my forces by about half.
The Pechenegs Tribe, if I recall, could muster about twice the men I could
prior to the typhoid fever. That means I am outnumbered 4 to 1 right now...
I have the option of sitting back and doing nothing. I could let Nephon handle the war on his own. But that would guarantee the loss of Severin from my realm- and I'd be abandoning my own son to the mercy of Pagans.
...
I go to war in his support.
It is time to issue a grand mobilization.
A mere three days pass before Sabas agrees to the mobilization.
I
could have forced his troops to mobilize... but being as this may be a suicidal fight, I figure giving him the choice to participate may only be fair...
Between Sabas and me, we only have 1401 men...
We march to Severin.
Nephon mobilized his own soldiers at the outbreak of war leaving them under his sole command.
The Pechenegs have 1330 men stationed in Turnu. I have the option of sitting in Severin in a defensive position- but that will just deplete my funds and delay combat long enough for the Pechenegs to bring in reinforcements numbering in the 5000 range from the north east.
I combine Sabas' and my forces and march on Turnu. We
need victory.
Battle!
The fight is close...
My son is forced to retreat from the battle! Although my forces maintain a numerical advantage, the enemy has better morale. Things are not looking well.
The opportunity arises to hire 1000 Cuman in the Tartar Free Corps. I gladly pay 40 gold for the mercenaries.
And march them from Belgrade towards Turnu. It also appears Nephon is marching to Turnu.
And then the worst happens.
I experience defeat.
Two days later I receive sad news from Belgrade.
My wife Natalia passed.
I also discover my son, Dorotheos is 16
Severin falls to enemy forces. Nephon is driven from his land to Belgrade in a forced peace.
But I am still at war and will not let that stand! I rally my remaining forces and my mercenary band in Severin and retake the province, then march on to Turnu...
With my 1000 mercenaries we defeat the Pechenegs regiment and siege the province.
[/b]1100[/b]
A new century is upon us.
With the new year comes a long delayed moneylenders in Belgrade.
In addition my meager force of 1275 men are sieging Turnu.
I am deeply in debt,
again and the realm is still at a level of instability.
I know The Pechenegs have a force of several thousand somewhere to the north, but they have yet to show themselves...
My second son is landless and my youngest son is landless and unmarried...
I am also without wife...
Early in the year I discover Sabas' wife (who still resides in Belgrade ad my chancellor) has been spending quite some time with a young bachelor in my court.
The man is special in no way.
I have him exiled.
We have captured Turnu.
It is time to negotiate peace.
I offer a treaty installing me as Count of Severin and Count of Turnu.
The offer is declined.
I was hoping my early victories would give me a reasonable bargaining position. But it seems my small army of 1164 is all too well known to the enemy...
I
may be able to make peace taking only Severin, or ore likely giving up both provinces, but I do not want to see my son Nephon embarrassed so.
I order my troops to march on.
We will head to Olivia, Pechenegs' vassal and try to take the take the vassal out of the question. if we can quickly conquer the province, we will be able to force peace on the vassal and take him out of the fight.
Arriving in Olivia things immediately turn sour.
The enemy has
two mercenary regiments of his own in addition to his force.
We are outnumbered 1910 to 1102.
I refuse to admit defeat and fight on. Despite the 3640 strong Pechenegs army to the north.
But defeat is forced upon me...
The situation is turning dire.
I offer a white peace to Olivia in a desperate attempt to take them out of the war
They decline.
The year rolls on with little action from the enemy.
They have a combined army of 5113 in Olivia now.
God they have a lot of troops...
There is some good news though...
The Pechenegs are at war with my ally too. The Duchy of Toscana, my allies, have mobilized many of their troops and they are not present in her realm. I can only hope they are on the way...
More bad news
My marshal has died. I assign the next best candidate as marshal...
I disband my mercenaries on July 1. Only 240 of them remained and I had disbanded my levies long before. By getting rid of them now I will at least start earning some money back.
There is a new pope
Geza, my dead sister's former husband, remains controller.
Finally some good news!
The typhoid fever is in retreat!
My income jumps, and my manpower will increase faster to greater numbers!
I still hold Severin and Turnu under my control, but cannot utilize them as my own provinces until a peace is made acknowledging me as owner. Unfortunately The Pechenegs do not accept any of my offers... and probably with reason. They have an army far superior to mine in numbers just a few provinces to the north. Why they have not marched on me yet- or even to recapture their own lands- I do not know.
1101It is a new year
We are still at war, but months have gone by with little to no action. I have not seen enemy soldiers since July of 1100.
My enemy declines all attempts at peace that I offer. I am thankful that they have not marched on me yet- for my manpower is replenishing after my devastating losses last year.
During this period of unsteady calm, I look for a bride. Both my son Dorotheos and I are eligible bachelors.
Anna Komnenos, a 16 year old genius with money of Greek Orthodox descent is available for marraige far to the north in North Dvina.
I decide to marry her myself... but accidentally write my son's name on the offer...
The offer is accepted and my son is married.
My son finishes his education, becoming a martial cleric.
Despite being stressed and a bit of a failure in his education- he turned out OK...
I go to look for a wife for
him but realize I accidentally had him married to my intended bribe already (oops).
I find a potential bride, Christina Kantakouzenos, the Greek Orthodox daughter of the Count of Samos- the same guy I took the title Prince of Samos from.
I send the invite.
The offer is accepted. I gladly take the marriage duty, an easy 78.41 gold to help build down my debt.
I finally am willing to attempt a compromising peace with the Pechenegs.
I offer to recognize the enemy as the rightful owner of Turnu, while seeing me as Count of Severin.
With several new superwomen in my court, my stats look pretty good.
The Pechenegs decline
It seems I am still fertile
My new wife and I are expecting a child.
Finally! My allies have arrived at the enemy!
But I quickly am saddened to see they only have 1300 men... They are quickly defeated.
Geza has died.
I only know because a new Papal Controller has been announced- while no pope died.
1102A new year has come. We've been at war for quite some time now... but the enemy stays put.
That works fine for me- my manpower is growing- up to 1926 now. If The Pechenegs were to march on me now, they'd surely crush me. I do not know why they do not even march on their own lands that I've captured!
My son Sabas offers me his daughter as a fosterling
I accept her without hesitation.
My runt of a son is depressed
That boy has been much of a disappointment from the beginning.
I receive news that the Templar Order has formed...
If my memory serves right another order formed in that same spot some time ago... I wonder what happened to them
I fear the Templars face the same fate.
I cannot get a break!
Olivia offer a white peace, great news to hear... but it is offset by the death of my wife and newborn... I grudgingly accept the white peace during my time of sorrow.
But! Can't waste time crying now! I need a new wife!
I send an offer to marry Ide de Valois, the spy master in the Duchy of Croatia.
The offer is accepted.
I gladly take the marriage duty, adding 78.41 gold to my coffers.
My man power is up to 2168 and I am filling my income is high. I also spot allied troops rounding Greece
2815 men may help put a dent in the Pechenegs army.
A noble arrives at my court
I grant him a place in my court, at a cost of 23 gold.
In comparison to my current spy master he turns out to be a bum.
But, thinking of court positions, I assign my son Dorotheos as marshal.
He is just as capable as my current marshal, and perhaps he will find some purpose as marshal and be able to fight his depression.
Ide is with child
Hopefully she won't die in childbirth like the last one.
Toscana's troops are nearing.
I may mobilize to help them. Between the two of us we may have a shot at defeating the Peghenegs.
My son Sabas will not be fighting with me in any future battles. The reason he retreated from battle was that he took a severe wound. Right now he is in a bad spot.
He is ill (probably from the wound), stressed, and severely wounded. This boy had the realm riding on his shoulders and I think it got to him... I'm sure he is aware he is without heir... two girls won't rule our realm...
With my allies nearing the enemy I issue a grand mobilization.
I cannot wait forever. I must strike now and strike hard. We
must have victory...
Are you kidding me?
My Croatian friend is at war and members of my court have suggested I send him aid. Thats ridiculous, I'm at a war myself! I don't bother to help.
Reports from my allies indicate the bulk of the enemy army is stationed in Olivia.
Dorotheos and I march my army of 2324 to the sea, to sail to Oleshye. I hope to circumvent the enemy forces while they are tied up with the Toscana troops and take their home province quickly and force a peace.
Things do not go well... before I even reach Oleshye the Toscana troops land in Olivia and are promptly- and I mean
promptly defeated. I am still at sea, on my way to Oleshye.
I realize now my cause is lost. The Pechenegs troops will
not be tied up in battle when I arrive, and they will surely march on my army in full force.
Crap.
I all but give up hope. I did not even have time to divert my troops to Olivia to support Toscana in battle, they lost that quickly. I can't even imagine what the enemy will do to my meager forces...
In a last ditch attempt to- well, achieve a miracle, I continue on to Oleshye...
Before I can even get my siege established, the enemy arrives in the province with 2914 men. An additional 3505 seem to be moving south...
As I start saying my farewells to my son Dorotheos, and pray that my son Sabas is able to rebuild our dynasty from Vidin... I get this message:
...
...
...
A-a-a-a-a-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-e-e-e-e-e-e-p-p-p-p-p-t-t-t-t-t!!!!!!!1A miracle truly happened.
Like
for serious.
I can only guess that the Pechenegs feared my plan may work. I
was in their only province, initiating a siege. It also seems their force of 2914 that engaged me there was on the brink of retreat from poor morale. So I guess they thought I might succeed in finishing the siege on them before they arrived to crush me (since they were traveling int he wrong direction- to the south, towards my lands)... So they threw me a bone,
and I took it. Awesome.
1103This is the best new year I've ever experienced.
We've been at war since March of 1098- nearly 5 years.
The war seemed hopeless. But a strike of luck- or divine intervention- saved us.
Thank god. Literally.
I can also be thankful that I am healthy and fertile.
My realm now expands from Belgrade to Turnu
it is time to issue some titles...
I grant the title Count of Severin back to Nephon.
I am actually
not in debt and my treasury is growing at nearly 15 gold a month. Unfortunately I have a slightly tarnished reputation.
Sabas' daughter, a fosterling in my court, is ready for a formal education
I send her to the court. She can study to be a proper daughter of a future Prince.
I have another daughter!
With everything going so well, I decide to exploit my prestige
I grab a claim on the title Count of Naissus. It is time to finish off the dynasty that once had the nerve to call us their vassal.
Well... not
quite yet... I will wait a little bit to build up a few more troops and a larger treasury to fund the war. The claim will last
Times are good
No... times are not good.
F**k.
Sabas is dead. I've outlived my own son and heir... His wound seems to have caught up with him. My groomed heir is gone. And he leaves no boys to take his place.
I grant Dorotheos Sabas' former title, Count of Vidin.
Nephon is now next in line to inherit my titles.
Before I war the Prince of Vidin to take Naissus, I will create the title Prince of Wallachia
This will grant me 100 more prestige, which I will need to use in turn to war Naissus (because we have a peace treaty from our last war).
It seems the stress of losing my son and trying to rule the realm has caused a rift between me and my wife.
It would cost me 129.75 gold to make amends.
I hate you too honey. We are now rivals.
Dangit!
I was just about to go to war when I lose my claim. Upon further investigation, I discover my rival wife is my spy master... this was surely her work! Bitch!
Again, you
cannot claim a bad omen after the bad happened (surely they are referring to my losing the claim on Naissus)
I brush it off as pagan superstition.
1104A new year... A bitter year.
My reputation is slightly tarnished and my prestige is lower than could be. Its all because of my grabbing the title of Naissus...
Had that gone through and It ook it, I'd have been able to take the title Prince of Vidin and gain back another 100 prestige but noooooo... my bitch wife had to backstab me and lose the claim...
Oh well... I'm 45 and still healthy
Despite our rivalry...
Ide and I are expecting... Perhaps I took her
hard in retaliation for her actions.
I send my daughter to be raised by nannies
I am too old to worry about another daughter...