In the year 853, Emperor Mendune has just reclaimed Poland from his synchophant brother Sabe. Sabe is a certified gregarious lunatic, indulging in homosexual hedonism and possessing an astounding martial and stewardship score. He does have syphallus, and this is the main reason he wasn't the primary inheritor, but even his worst stat - learning, is considered competent.
Emperor Mendune faces greater than average resistence all around him. His father reformed the Romuvan faith and created the empire. His father also removed the multiple slavic land holders in the realm. To the north and east lies Rus, weakened but allied with the Reformed Tenghrians to the somewhat distant southeast, about Geogia and behind. The kingdom of ruthenia is occupied by three allied high chiefs, who like to string along countless tribes into their wars; resulting in numbers that can rival Wendia's own armies.
To the direct west is the last of the Slavs in Germany - they booted out a divided christian state and rule ackwardly from the leftover castles. They are allied with every single slavic nation, bulgaria, croatia, pannonia, and the high chiefdom of obertio. Together they can only be stopped wth the help of the newly formed holy order of Penakus.
Further west lies the fractured Holy Roman Empire, a myriad of colors on the geopolitical map. Bavaria stands the strongest, followed by aquintaine and then middle francia. The rest are too insiginificat to be worthy of the true title of king, though some cling to the name as if they rule like one. Svijord, giving up on its dreams of conquering the mainland baltic coastline, has turned its attention to Frisia and brittany, taking its lands with a losse alliance from Danmark, who themselves are slowly carving into the outer edge of scandanavia and England.
The muzzies to the west and east remain intact and stagnant, although several satellite states exist on the peripherals, shifting power and jousting the pagans and the reformed tenghri respectively. The strongest amoung the is the established kingdom of armenia, which has been soveign for almost as long as the game has been played.
Ironically, even though the christian world is in chaos, moral authority has never been stronger, as each kingdom needcs the pope more than usual, and kowtows to him. And oc, nobody is strong enough to resist him and establish the antipope since the last one was dethroned and the empire crumbled.
Mendune is sending his spy over to his bother, watching for a chance to smash his hold on his three duchies . . . He plots his next move, but nowhere are there easy targets that are profitable . . . unless one counts finland. Maybe he would be best served fuedalizing his homelands now, saving his monies for the expenses.
pedit: pannonia dowed me with a force just 0ver 10k troops, including allies. Not even the holy order could stop them due to geographical buggery. I ended up dropping my tribal organization and called every single army my empire could field ever against them. That has got to be the most fun Ive ever had in a war, calling all the independently moving peons to swarm over the mountains into pannonia and siege everything. And now, oc we have to take our vengence and dow them for juicy lands . . .
In the few short years that followed his ascention up to the throne, the barbarian emperor saw his pannonian rivals take most of what was by tradition his. Raising his army, Mendune ignored the vikings as they conquers the weakest parts of europe and debated whether to unit his rightful lands or spitefully plunge into the heart of pannonia. ultimately he decided that taking the regionally important brenddenburg was more important. It would serve as a launchpad for future attacks.
Europe began to languish, and the Italians took some advantage of the power vacuum.