The Byzantines successfully invaded Serbia and ran away with one of our counties; the defeat was a close one, with the Serbs having killed 15,000 Byzantines whilst losing only 5,000, yet not having enough surviving troops to decidedly win the war. Serbia inevitably reacted and became a highly authoritarian absolute monarchy with an emphasis on extracting large bodies of troops out of its citizens and not much else. Meanwhile in the Arabic world the Umayyad and the Abbasid both failed to permanently establish themselves in their respective regions, being replaced by weaker successor states. The Umayyad successor is currently losing ground to the Kingdom of Asturias and failing to conquer Africa while the Abbasid successor is smacking heads with Persia, making the two most violent and powerful rivals of the Byzantine Empire unwilling to actually rival the Byzantine Empire. As a result the Byzantine Empire has been able to expand all over Cumania and in peace times generally become the most powerful state in the world. Fortunately whenever the Byzantines get into a fight with someone bigger than Serbia or a faction springs up Serbia is soon to either wage war on the Empire or support the faction rebels because it is highly entertaining leading Gusars around the Greek hills and Anatolian coasts ambushing hapless bands of Imperial soldiers for glory of serbia stronk. Bulgaria has likewise fallen victim to a much harsher version of this, what with Serbia eternally supporting factions in Bulgaria to the point where a horrible cycle has appeared. First the Bulgaria King is installed by one faction supported by Serbia and raises crown authority to deal with Serbian prodding. This pisses off the Bulgarians who inevitably form another faction to lower crown authority or depose the King and go to war. Serbia enters the war on the side of the rebels, allowing the rebels to be slaughtered in their droves whilst also ensuring that the Bulgarian loyalists are run down by Serb Gusars, prolonging the war for years. A new Bulgarian King rises and is prodded by Serbia, beginning the cycle anew. It is through this process that Bulgaria has never been able to return to its glory days of prodding Serbia instead of being prodded by Serbia.
Picture the times: The Arabians are once again trying to conquer Persia. Vikings are somehow in the Meditteranean. A comet falls from the sky heralding the rise of an insane King to the Bohemian
Rhapsody throne. Serbia's conquered pagan lands are divided amongst three Counts and Dukes of the Miloslav family and given independence. The Byzantines march to war with tens of thousands of men against the Tengri infidels of Cumania, gaining much land at the cost of many thousands of lives. Having just 18,000 men still left standing by Autumn the Serbians decide that now is the right time to bring their 16,000 to reclaim a certain county on the south Serb coast. At this moment the Baselius who coveted the Serbian throne is shitting himself with panic as his armies are caught between the Khan's horsemen and the Serb's horsemen. The Miloslav Duchy of Lesser Poland joins the Fatherland Serbia to war with 1,000 men; every little helps. Serbia's Lotharingan ally decides that it doesn't actually like Serbia anymore and invades it with 18,000 Lotharingan men and 13,000 allied West-Francian men.
Under this sheer mess Serbia has emerged very much alive and one county richer. The Arabians are still fighting, the Byzantines and Cumanians still fighting, the Lotharingans forced into white peace after the Serb Gusars guzzled šljivovica down their gullets and descended upon the divided Lotharingan filth with furor before the West-Francians even arrived and Serbia is getting ready to take over Bulgaria. I'm really not sure why the Lotharingans didn't wait for the Francians to show up. Maybe they were glory-seeking, or they were unaware of the Serb eyes watching them from behind the mountains.
Everything now is going absolutely well, or well enough considering the situation. All I need now is for the kebab to invade the Byzantines and for something to break up the Karling power and Serbia should be safe from follow-up invasions.
How do you best break the Karling power?
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Topic: Crusader Kings 2 is released. (Read 2112586 times)