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Helgi’s second son Hakon came of age on 1 September, having done fairly well in his diplomatic studies. But overall, he was not an imposing figure. Perhaps a good thing for a second son and spare heir.
Chap161 Q3. Kingdom of Lithuania.Any obvious benefits in doing creating this and awarding it to Fredrik? It’s not as though he’s actually powerful enough to need wooing, but if it might make him better at conquering in the region, then it could be considered in due course.
This Fredrik guy is playing like me, creating all those titles with the inherited gold to make up for uninheritable prestige. So are there parts of the de jure kingdom of Lithuania which is not yet owned by the empire? If so, it might make sense to pass the law and make this a marcher kingdom as long as Fredrik lives. In fact you can do this for other kingdoms in similar situations as well.
He should prioritize conquering Lithuanian de-jure land anyway, so probably there's not much benefit. Other than cleaning up borders, which should always be a priority. The previous pros and cons of kingdom-level vassals still apply.
Not sure if Livonia was de-jure Estonia in your patch iteration, but if it isn't, then it's still part of Lithuania and then creating and handing out Lithuania to anyone who isn't the Grand Mayor would make you lose access to the merchant republic as well, which would be counter-productive.
The border gore is slowly being eliminated, and the empire is seemingly stabalizing in north western france, though I could see Rennes and Cournaville, holdings of England, being the flashpoint of future trouble and hostility, real or imagined.
Yes, getting rid of the gore is good and trying to get Scandinavia safely locked in as a reserve stronghold before Aztecs and Mongols start invading is part of the grand strategy. We'll see what happens with England in the longer term: so long as we can keep them relatively supportive, Russia is happy enough for them to be a strong secondary power.
It certainly was. Peace for Vikings is always a relative term! Helgi has broken something of a Russian tradition here by exposing himself to combat, on top of his natural cowardice. But with a secure succession he has relatively little to fear form swords and arrows, wearing his nice new armour. It's the bacteria and viruses he must look out for!
With Brabant humbled, Moldau might have picked an easy target on paper, but to honour Sif's legacy he'll have to achieve a lot. Then again, a holy war against an Orthodox in proximity of the Byzantines is dangerous.
Brabant is humbled for now, but the Jarls are always ambitious. He will try to come back, for sure! And Sif's legacy will certainly be hard to imitate, though at least he is trying.
That's right. Linked armies are counted as reinforcements of the leading army against everyone - even if the newly-attacked party is an ally of the linked army. That's both annoying and immensely abusable (like if you are attacked in a holy war).
Buying a favour would work, as long as the Basileus had a few heirs in the line of succession before your chosen bride-to-be, so that's not an option now.
You could instead engage in bride-napping, a terrifyingly effective method for anyone who can raid.
Step 1: Raid the home of your potential bride. Doesn't matter if she's already married.
Step 2: Hope that you nab her during the raid.
Step 3: Take her as concubine.
Step 4: Set her aside.
Step 5: Marry her to whomever you want.
Step 6: Profit!
Highly useful if capturing heiresses to put your dynasty over there without a fight - or to pass on claims if not the heiress.
Q3: Fredrik is a paper tiger with four duchies and eleven vassals (count level not counting barons) but owns only one county with fewer than a thousand troops. The question is de jure kingdom counties that are not in four duchies or different religion (holy war).
He should prioritize conquering Lithuanian de-jure land anyway, so probably there's not much benefit. Other than cleaning up borders, which should always be a priority. The previous pros and cons of kingdom-level vassals still apply.
Not sure if Livonia was de-jure Estonia in your patch iteration, but if it isn't, then it's still part of Lithuania and then creating and handing out Lithuania to anyone who isn't the Grand Mayor would make you lose access to the merchant republic as well, which would be counter-productive.
I'll need to check the next time the game is fired up, but I suspect Livonia may be in the kingdom (I'm operating on an earlier beta, before the big Holy Fury (I think it was) patch.
This Fredrik guy is playing like me, creating all those titles with the inherited gold to make up for uninheritable prestige. So are there parts of the de jure kingdom of Lithuania which is not yet owned by the empire? If so, it might make sense to pass the law and make this a marcher kingdom as long as Fredrik lives. In fact you can do this for other kingdoms in similar situations as well.
Chapter 162: War, Gold and Conquest (July 1029 – December 1031)
Previously, on Blut und Schlacht … in June 1029 the Great Umayyad raid was nearing its end, having begun in October 1024 at Lishbuna, working its way around the Spanish coast and then moving over to North Africa. With the French succession now secure, Fylkir Helgi had donned his new armour and gone on Viking himself, after satisfying his ambition for five years of realm peace. The marcher lords, with varying degrees of success, sought to expand their own and the Empire’s territorial holdings, while the influx of tax and raid income funded a prolonged building campaign in the Imperial demesne, predominantly but not exclusively on military facilities, with trade in Tana and the hospital in Holmgarðr also receiving close attention.
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The Great Umayyad Raid Ends: July 1029 – February 1030
The raiders in El Rif had begun their sackings there in early March and finished on 22 November 1029. This group then moved onto Snassen – but without Emperor Helgi, who had been accompanying this raiding group up to the end of August. Helgi had left for France where a revolt had broken out, offering the Fylkir (still trying to overcome his innate fear of battle) a chance to use his new armour and wield the ancestral Rurikid (+2) battle axe ‘Neckbiter’ in personal combat.
Meanwhile, the southern raiding group had been looting Massat since late April and they finished at the same time, taking ship to what was now a three-quarters full treasure fleet. By early December they were all aboard and heading back to France, where the troops would be able to help quell the brewing trouble in Normandy.
The northern raiders arrived in Snassen on 20 December and would remain there only until 6 February, by which time that treasure fleet would also be full after looting just the one holding for 44.6 gold (no raiders, 1,349 garrison killed).
The Great Umayyad Raid had lasted from 1 October 1024 to 6 February 1030. It had deliberately laid waste to large parts of the powerful Umayyad realm, not just for plunder but also the destruction of great swathes of the Umayyad levies with each successful siege.
Apart from the various comparatively minor field battles fought, in total around 80,000 Umayyad garrison troops had been killed over this time, many of whom were levies trapped in the various holdings. Russia had lost around 5,000 men in the sieges. Over 4,200 gold had been seized from the 60 sacked holdings alone, not including prisoner ransoms and general looting of the countryside.
Compounded by their long civil war, Helgi had wanted Umayyad wealth and power to be sapped for a long time to come. Russia did not want them taking advantage of a weakened Catholic France to establish themselves as a strong presence in its south. And of course, the pickings had been rich.
The first treasure fleet landed in Mortain at the end of January 1030, boosting the Imperial coffers once more. By then, trouble had erupted between Russia and Norway, so the troops stayed aboard and would head next to Hordaland to take part in that conflict.
On 6 February, the Snassen contingent was boarding the fleet and they also headed to France. They would arrive on 2 May, delivery another 1,360 gold to replenish that which had just been spent on another round of building. The next day, this core raiding group would be heading back to sea to their new raiding target: Corsica.
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Raiding Corsica and Sardinia: July 1030 – December 1031
The Russian raiding program would continue even while revolts and wars were being dealt with elsewhere. The raiders arrived in Cinarca on Corsica at the end of July 1030. This time, Queen Aïna would be the isolated victim.
Cinarca’s three holdings would all be fully looted by 20 March 1031, for no Russian casualties, 2,631 garrison troops killed and 220.5 gold taken (in addition to plunder from the countryside). The raiders, now led by a new Jomsviking commander (Birger) and with the siege specialist Ahma accompanying, headed south across the narrow strait to Sardinia.
They would raid the three holdings in Gallura from 29 March to 6 November (no casualties, 2,184 garrison, 186.7 gold). The next target would be Cagliari, starting in 28 Nov 1031.
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Revolts and the Norwegian War: September 1029 – October 1030
Peasant unrest erupted in Eu in early September 1029, bringing Helgi back to France from Africa as mentioned above, to command a wing of the vassal levy army being mustered to deal with the rebel scum. The Swedish contingent in Pfalz would run into some incidental raider opposition on the way through.
That skirmish in Coblenz (in Trier) against Hrodulfr’s Host on 19 September would cost the Russians 64 men and the raiders 19 before they could break away on 3 October. And it was just a few days later that the new King Hrane of Noregr would deliver a ‘stab in the back’ by backing a vassal’s claim on the barony of Lillebonne in Helgi’s demesne county of Rouen. After all Russia had done in the recent past to help secure their realm!
But Rouen could be easily secured by the Russian troops approaching to deal with the revolt in nearby Eu, as Hrane mustered his modest army in Noregr. Even with many Russians troops on Viking, Helgi could call on many more levies to deal with this latest impudent threat. In Russia, around 6,300 levies were called out, while an extended muster in France soon had 10,800 men converging near Eu and Rouen. The stab in the back would soon look more like a self-inflicted wound for the insolent Norwegian king.
By mid-November, Jarl Tyueykezhut and Helgi had over 6,500 men gathered in Amiens, deemed plenty to deal with the almost 3,400 peasant rebels in Eu. The rebels were crushed at Eu from 24 November to 7 December 1029, with over 2,600 Russian reinforcements joining in before the battle had ended. The rebel leader was captured and hanged on the spot, his rebellion quickly snuffed out with him.
The main army in France was ordered to march along the coast towards Denmark in case they were needed against Norway, while a detachment kept behind to secure Rouen from any sneak attack by the Norwegians to take Lillebonne.
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Another diversion started on the first day of the new year of 1030 with another peasant revolt, this time back in Russia proper. Five of the contingents already on their way to the Norwegian War were diverted to Pallteskja, where they would gather to attack the rebels in Lettgallen.
While it was taking some time for the dispersed Russian levy armies to converge on Norway, the raiders returning from Africa were on the way by sea, landing in Hordaland in mid-March after having dropped off their loot in France along the way.
The attrition was quite severe, so the army was split into two, one under Chief Nuyaksha going north to via (Danish) Nidaros relieve a Norwegian siege of Naumadl. The other, under the siege master Ahma, would hook around south to start besieging Norwegian holdings and hopefully force their surrender.
Back in Lettgallen, the rebels were brought to battle from 23 March to 6 April, resulting in another swift extinguishing of peasant resistance.
In Norway, Naumadl fell to the Norwegians on 8 April before Nuyaksha – still back in Hordaland – could relieve them. On 25 April, a company of 109 Norwegians that had rashly landed in Livland were wiped out for no loss by Suni’s army of over 5,100 men, freshly arrived from the destruction of the revolt in Lettgallen, after a three day ‘turkey hunt’.
The advance guard of around 2,300 Russian levies had crossed over from Finland to Uppland by 30 April and were heading west to Norway. Nuyaksha was in Nidaros and marching north to confront the main Norwegian army as Ahma made his way slowly around the southern coastal route to approach Norway from the west.
In the crucial battle of the war, Nuyaksha defeated the Norwegians at the Battle of Mære in Naumadl on 14 June 1030. Hemming ‘the Cruel’, a renowned warrior and heir to the Norwegian throne, commanded their army and was captured during the pursuit. This would greatly increase Helgi’s bargaining position in any negotiations with King Hrane.
Ahma’s army finally reached Gudbrandsdal in central Noregr on 10 June, finding a small Norwegian force there that was quickly destroyed (Russia 1/3,565; Noregr all 173 killed) by the 16th as the Battle of Mære was still continuing to the north. Ahma began a siege.
With only a small Norwegian garrison (54) in Lade at Naumadl, Nuyaksha successfully assaulted them from 15-16 June, losing only a single soldier as a third Russian army (the levies approaching from the east, commanded by Magni) headed to Hrane’s capital in Raumariki, arriving there on 22 June.
With the revolts defeated and Noregr on the ropes, in late June Russia started to disband excess units, such as Suni’s army in Livland, which would not be needed for the campaign. Jarl Tyueykezhut’s army would not be needed there either and in June had been diverted south of Denmark to confront a group of Yatvingian raiders pillaging Werle. They clashed at the Battle of Jomsborg from 5-17 July, where the raiders were duly routed (Russia 31/9,359; Yatvingia 936/1,623 killed).
Dovre in Gudbrandsdal fell to Ahma on 21 September (warscore 97%), almost bringing the war to a close. It was over after Akershus was taken on the 30th, thanks in large part to the captivity of Hemming and a couple of other Yngling dynasty members capture during earlier fighting.
The foolhardy episode was ended with most of the levy armies progressively disbanded once they reached home territory in the following days. The Russian troops left back in France were unable to join Prince Alfr’s Holy War for Bourbon (by then 87% in Duke Raimbault’s favour), nor the Belo Ozeran prepared invasion of Burgundy (56% in favour of Duke Bernard of Burgundy) so were also disbanded in September 1030.
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Imperial Wars of Conquest: December 1030 – December 1031
After a short period of peace, in late December 1030 Mordva unwisely left the Pagan defensive pact. Helgi soon pounced, declaring war and conducting a limited mobilisation of the nearest Imperial levies from the home counties.
The small Mordvin army advanced in Ryazan and besieged it on 9 January 1031, with Russian forces still some way off. But by the beginning of March Helgi himself was near enough and considered he had sufficient troops to hand to attack the small Mordvin force, with a brief battle fought at Solotcha from 2-13 March. The Emperor won an easy victory, doing much to advance the course of this minor border war.
Helgi’s small army arrived in Mordva on 25 March but would have to wait 16 days before an assault could be attempted, so a siege fort was built just in case it dragged on and attrition struck. But as it happened the arrival of more troops on 6 April allowed an earlier assault.
By 7 April the tribal fort had fallen and the last piece of ‘border gore’ in the region had been tidied up.
Once more, the levies were dispersed … momentarily. High Chief Mihka the Lame had pulled out of the Pagan pact and he was the next target during this period of Imperial expansion. He refused to bend the knee, so this time it would be a holy war so both Kolan counties could be taken.
A large force was summoned this time, as Mihka had a small levy but formidable tribal prestige. Another increase of the Imperial retinue was also possible, so a new cavalry regiment (50 HC, 200 LC at full establishment) began recruiting in Holmgarðr on 11 April.
Chief Leammá of Finnmárku joined Mihka on 1 May, but his small army (fewer than 700) was of little concern to Helgi. It was the tribal hosts Mihka was able to summon, the first of which had gathered in Kantalahti by 21 June, bringing his army to over 3,400 in strength.
By 27 July, Jarl Tyueykezhut had around 7,200 men assembled in Östkarelen and began advancing on Mihka, who personally commanded his army – which now numbered 5,400 after another tribal levy had joined his banner.
Battle was joined on 6 September but by then yet another 2,000 men had swelled the Kolan army to 7,400, so it actually outnumbered the Russian’s slightly as the battle started. The Russians were more heavily armed, while the Kolans had a significant advantage in archers.
Then on 22 September around 3,000 Russian reinforcements arrived to swing the advantage even further towards the Russians. Tyueykezhut emerged victorious from the hard-fought battle on 3 October. An assault on the sole tribal fort soon followed, with Kantalahti falling on 9 October (warscore 92%) and the Russians heading north to Kola to finish the job.
Before they could arrive in Kola, yet another tribal host appeared in Kantalahti to conduct a surprise attack on 4 November. This backfired however, as the ensuing victory was enough to force the surrender of High Chief Mihka. More Finnish territory was brought into the Empire.
The two counties were immediately distributed to bolster vassal support. Kola went to the powerful Jarl Öysteinn of Champagne, while the renamed Kandalax was granted to Tolik Hasabid, heir to the elderly Jarl of Karelen. This was another case of currying favour with the coming ruler rather than the current but ageing one.
The non-levy elements of the army in Kola (around 4,500 men) were sent south towards Sweden and Denmark, the rest were demobilised.
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General Developments: August 1029 – December 1031
It was recorded in Helgi’s private journal that the loyal – but insane – Imperial Chancellor Jarl Grimr ‘the Butcher’ of Pereyaslavl invited Fylkir Helgi to a private celebration in December 1029. Given the nickname and rumours of dark things that could happen at such gatherings, Helgi was just a little concerned. But he dismissed any misgivings, did not want to offend his loyal Chancellor, so he decided to attend Grimr’s celebration after all.
As it transpired, Grimr’s intentions were genuine. There was no ambush, hints of cannibalism or surreptitious approaches to join the Fellowship of Hel. Grimr was the life of the party, Helgi thoroughly enjoyed himself and this all rubbed off well with those he mixed with and the wider vassal body. The effects would last well after the celebration ended in January 1031.
Over in England, King Frirek of Lothian lost one of his few remaining counties to King Einarr of England in September 1029. This time, he was more than happy to accept the protection of the Russian Emperor when a new invitation to become a vassal was communicated. This latest conquest was diplomatic, rather than by force of arms. And Frirek was a renowned general who currently commanded a large army.
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The only conversion to Germanicism during this period came on 1 March 1030, when Nevers joined the True Faith. Later that month, the long-reigning King Einarr ‘the Butcher’ of England died ‘under suspicious circumstances’ at the age of 72. Whether or not Frirek had been involved or some court intrigue was at the root of this apparent murder was unknown, but he must have been happy at the outcome in any case.
In July 1030, word came that the well-regarded Russian commander Prusas (Martial 23) died a natural death at the age of 50. He was replaced by the recently recruited Frirek (Martial 24), now styled the Jarl of Lothian.
In September 1030, Jarl Grimr died from the gout that had afflicted him for some years now. Helgi lamented a bon vivant who had proven an effective chancellor and successful marcher lord, especially as the conqueror of most of Ireland. His son was not made of the same stuff, so this led to more changes in the Imperial Council.
Crown Prince Hroðulfr was the best candidate in the realm for the job of Chancellor and was completely trustworthy. His appointment would cement the Loyalist faction as the most powerful on the Council.
In England, King Hysing ‘the Noble’ (from a different branch of the Hvitserk dynasty to Einarr the Butcher) had emerged as the ruler of the powerful Norse English realm in March 1030. His reign would be troubled and short: though he commanded a powerful personal army, a massive revolt among his vassals had erupted by October 1030 against his purported tyranny.
Hysing would lose and be deposed in April 1031, replaced by his younger brother Guðmundr.
The marcher lords remained active as well. In November 1030 Chief Nuyaksha declared the 3rd Korsunian Holy War for Galich against King Forenc the Usurper of Bulgaria, for the county of Terebovl. Ferenc had only a couple of counties, a small levy and no current allies, so this time it was expected the wily old Nuyaksha would probably emerge victorious.
Over in the west, in November Jarl Öysteinn of Champagne made a new attempt to take Sundgau through a Holy War for Alsace against Count Thietmar of Sundgau. Of course, holy wars ran the risk of increased allied support for their targets.
Prince Alfr’s flagging holy war against Duke Raimbault of Bourbon came to an unsuccessful end on 26 December 1030, showing the limits of his power.
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The Rurikid Chronicles bore witness in January 1031 of the dangers of inbreeding, something the main Imperial line had always avoided. The harsh description of the sad passing of the young Count of Orléans makes for tragic reading.
A few days later, Jarl Bo ‘the Spider’, the Imperial Spymaster, died the best death a man of his profession could aspire to: a natural one! He was succeeded as Jarl of Vladimir by his young son, with the youthful Jarl Gandalfr of Yaroslavl Rurikid taking up the role of Spymaster.
In what was proving a busy month at court, the most spurious looking case yet was brought before Helgi for adjudication. The Court Witchsmeller Pursuivant charged a woman known to history simply as Rikissa with being a witch whose supposed ‘dark rituals’ had caused local crop failures in her village. But the witnesses seemed most unconvincing, so rather than another popular burning, or indeed risking the wrath of the local peasants by releasing her, Helgi had her put in the prison while the case was quietly investigated.
It appeared that Rikissa had been accused mainly because she was an unmarried and rather ugly young woman who was easily taken advantage of. By all accounts, she was shy and the subject of bullying. Rikissa was otherwise known to be kind, charitable, humble, trusting and honest. In fact, rather a nice and virtuous young woman who had become the victim of superstition and injustice.
So after few days Rikissa was put under a light house arrest and she would be quietly released less than three months later. Helgi undertook to try to end the reign of terror that had started with the condemnation of true Hel worshippers in the nobility but had now descended into baseless accusations against innocent and defenceless commoners.
In April 1031, Helgi disposed of his ‘extra’ title of Mordva to his cousin and the heir of his ageing Uncle Alfr of Polotsk, Eilif. He then transferred Eilif’s vassal contract to Jarl Tyueykezhut a month later, to improve his opinion of the Fylkir and keep his vassal numbers under control. Other than Prince Alfr, whose days were probably numbered, all of Helgi’s most powerful vassals had a good opinion of him.
One of those vassals, King Þorolfr of Sviþjod, declared a Holy War for Lorraine (effectively for the county of Trier) on Duke Jean of Luxembourg on 1 May 1031. The aim here was to gain a northern link to Russia territory from his capital in Pfalz to the rest of Russia’s western lands.
Closer to home, Helgi decided to have a runestone erected. Begun on 5 May, it would be finished two months later and commemorate the Fylkir’s zeal and devotion to Odin as leader of the Germanic Faith, to the great benefit of his prestige, piety, diplomatic reputation and the opinion of his subjects.
Just as all was looking good for the Russian emperor, ill health once again arose to trouble his reign. His well-regarded Court Physician and Seer was once again called in to attempt a diagnosis and treatment of the fever Helgi developed at the end of June 1031. Alas, Folki believed his Fykir to be afflicted by dysentery and this time, his proposed treatment seemed rather less than convincing.
After the illness persisted for another month, Folki was recalled for another examination. He still believed it to be dysentery and prescribed yet another apparently useless treatment. By 30 August, Helgi was seriously ill and there was no doubt as to the cause.
This time, Folki was enjoined to do everything he could to save the life of his liege: dysentery was a very dangerous disease in the medieval period. This time, Folki’s treatment was more bizarre but (whether by coincident or not) apparently effective. It did not cure Helgi and only partly relieved his symptoms, but at least he continued on and had not become bedridden. He hoped that in time he could overcome this latest health threat.
Ch162 Q1: Severity of Illness.Is it possible to tell from the above whether this is a ‘normal’, ‘mild’ or ‘severe’ case? Clearly, he was not bedridden, at least.
While Helgi attempted to fight off his illness, Jarl Bertil had recovered enough from his last failure to launch an ambitious new campaign. He declared a Holy War on Brunswick, which if successful would bring the last Germanic holy site at Paderborn under Russian control.
In Nygarðr, Russian research was also making progress, with advances in light infantry and church infrastructure made in October 1031.
The long-serving Imperial Steward, Mayor Borkvard, died in bed on 12 November that year. With no outstanding candidates for the post at court, the then Steward of Hlymreck Klas Folkisson was invited to take up the post. He arrived on the 19 December, was soon married to an unattached courtier and became another very loyal member of the Council.
By 19 November, Brunswick had brought Poland into their war as an ally against Brabant, though this was not the threat it had once been, with the Polish kingdom much diminished in recent years, mainly at the hands of the Danes.
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Building Works
As some previous building projects were completed and new raiding loot became available, another tranche of big construction projects was started on 22 March 1030. This included a new militia training ground in Tana (Level I, completed 21 Sep 1030), a library for the hospital in Holmgarðr (finished 29 Jan 1031), a new castle town in the Barony of Okulovka (Holmgarðr, Level I, finished 29 Jan 1031) and improved jousting lists in Rouen (III, yet to be completed).
Later that year, as opportunities became available, more construction was started. In May 1030, the keep in Melun (Paris) began a further extension (III, not yet completed) and in in September new training grounds were started in Tana (I, finished Sep 1031).
In 1031, a chapel was started in the Holmgarðr hospital as the library was finished on 29 January (finished 8 Dec 1031, for 814.2 gold!) as was a new barracks (I, started and finished the same days) in Okulovka. Then on 11 April, another big project began with extended jousting lists in Meaux (Paris), which would take an estimated five and a half years to complete.
All these projects started between March 1030 and April 1031 would cost a total of 3,684 gold to build. The bill since September 1024 was a little over 8,800 gold.
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Question
Ch162 Q1: Severity of Illness.Is it possible to tell from the above whether this is a ‘normal’, ‘mild’ or ‘severe’ case? Clearly, he was not bedridden, at least.
Endnote: this is the third of four chapters derived from the last big play session. After the next chapter, we'll be fully up to date again with the current gameplay.
Wow thats a long raid, It would be much more difficult and could backfire, but I wonder if a more bold ruler than Helgi might consider a similar strategy against the Byzantines, at least along the borde regions to soften up the border fortresses in the case ofa future war, though the risk of big engagements is certainly greater.
Over in England, King Frirek of Lothian lost one of his few remaining counties to King Einarr of England in September 1029. This time, he was more than happy to accept the protection of the Russian Emperor
So the english have established footholds in France and now the empire responds by vassalizing a new stronghold right in englands northern back yard, between this, and the war with the Norwegians, I wonder if the Nordic Co-Prosperity Sphere is as bonded as one might think. On their own they likely would pose little problems, but if they should strike in the midst of mongols and/or aztecs...
t was recorded in Helgi’s private journal that the loyal – but insane – Imperial Chancellor Jarl Grimr ‘the Butcher’ of Pereyaslavl invited Fylkir Helgi to a private celebration in December 1029. Given the nickname and rumours of dark things that could happen at such gatherings, Helgi was just a little concerned. But he dismissed any misgivings, did not want to offend his loyal Chancellor, so he decided to attend Grimr’s celebration after all.
Laughed at this, glad it worked out well. Isnt there another known cannibal vassal in france, I feel that despite this feast being pleasant, Helgi would do well to avoid that one.
The only conversion to Germanicism during this period came on 1 March 1030, when Nevers joined the True Faith. Later that month, the long-reigning King Einarr ‘the Butcher’ of England died ‘under suspicious circumstances’ at the age of 72. Whether or not Frirek had been involved or some court intrigue was at the root of this apparent murder was unknown, but he must have been happy at the outcome in any case.
So after few days Rikissa was put under a light house arrest and she would be quietly released less than three months later. Helgi undertook to try to end the reign of terror that had started with the condemnation of true Hel worshippers in the nobility but had now descended into baseless accusations against innocent and defenceless commoners.
With Britain now fully Norse and divided between England and Russia, with the splintered Catholic realms constantly under attack, soon the jarls are going to run out of conquest targets, it seems. Might be a good idea for the Fylkir to open up a new region for Norse conquests.
He'll also find that the Hel worshippers are quite entrenched within the empire, so any accusation has to be taken seriously .
Ch162 Q1: Severity of Illness.Is it possible to tell from the above whether this is a ‘normal’, ‘mild’ or ‘severe’ case? Clearly, he was not bedridden, at least.
Wow thats a long raid, It would be much more difficult and could backfire, but I wonder if a more bold ruler than Helgi might consider a similar strategy against the Byzantines, at least along the borde regions to soften up the border fortresses in the case ofa future war, though the risk of big engagements is certainly greater.
Yes, certainly my longest so far. It’s been considered (and there were earlier hit and run raids again Byzantine targets decades ago), but as we’ve gotten closer to them, Rurikid rulers have followed a more neutral and conciliatory path. Also, as mentioned previously, they haven’t shown any desire to attack us over the years, and they provide a powerful and stable buffer to the south. And have an army rivalling the Russian one in size, but not nearly so spread out.
In this TL so far, I don’t recall having witnessed many or any civil wars there, either, certainly not for decades. Any treasure gained could prove very expensive in troop numbers and leave up open to trouble in the west. Though the Romans are always in Russia’s background calculations.
So the english have established footholds in France and now the empire responds by vassalizing a new stronghold right in englands northern back yard, between this, and the war with the Norwegians, I wonder if the Nordic Co-Prosperity Sphere is as bonded as one might think. On their own they likely would pose little problems, but if they should strike in the midst of mongols and/or aztecs...
Now that would be nasty. Atthe moment, Russia has backed away again from alliance entanglements with the other Norse realms as we had a prosper ambition and we kept getting sucked into their wars, while not needing them for any of ours. But when the Aztecs and Mongols threaten, diplomatic outreach will become a high priority again with any Norse realms that remain.
Laughed at this, glad it worked out well. Isnt there another known cannibal vassal in france, I feel that despite this feast being pleasant, Helgi would do well to avoid that one.
I really did think it might end in a Hel-killing or cannibalism, but took the risk and it payed off. There was either a game benefit or a great narrative exploit to be had,either way!
With Britain now fully Norse and divided between England and Russia, with the splintered Catholic realms constantly under attack, soon the jarls are going to run out of conquest targets, it seems. Might be a good idea for the Fylkir to open up a new region for Norse conquests.
Yes, there is still Central Europe, the rest of Germany and southern France. Also, the Rurikids have been toying with the idea of a permanent island base somewhere in the Western Med to enable quicker raid banking.
Likely after Eilif the Evil’s reign! Where there’s evidence of likely Hel-worship, it’s straight to the cleansing flames. But each case was getting flimsier and flimsier …
Chapter 163: Helgi Rurikid and the Chamber of Secrets (December 1031 – October 1032)
Previously, on Blut und Schlacht … the Great Umayyad Raid had finished in January 1030, with half the raiding force heading back to begin a smaller raid and Sardinia starting in Corsica in July 1030 and continuing on to Sardinia in late 1031. A short war had been fought against the Norwegians from October 1030 to September 1031, while a series of peasant uprisings were easily crushed. Mordva and Kola were incorporated into the empire by direct conquest in mid-late 1031, while Frirek of Lothian had earlier agreed to join the empire in September 1029. At the peak of his power and shortly after raising a runestone to the Gods in mid-1031, Fylkir Helgi had fallen ill with what proved to be a nasty case of dysentery, for which he eventually received efficient treatment from his Court Physician, though the effects of the illness had not yet abated as the year drew towards its end.
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December 1031 – March 1032
The Holy War for Kola had finished on 19 November 1031 and the counties gained dispensed by 5 December. This left Helgi contemplating his next moves. His attention was drawn to Jarl Bertil IV of Brabant’s Holy War for Brunswick, which if won would bring an important region of Germany into the Empire: including the fifth Germanic Holy Site at Paderborn in Braunschweig.
This war had been recently launched in September 1031 and Bertil seemed to be making a good early showing. Helgi could not legally intervene directly in the war with Imperial troops; but there was nothing to stop some judicious raiding of the three Brunswickian counties, which all neighboured Russian territory. So any treasure gained would not go to wastes, either.
On 5 December 1031, the Imperial and vassal levies were mustered in both France and Russia, while the Jomsviking and retinue troops in Kola made their way back to the Gulf of Finland. In the west 16,000 Russian troops began converging on Breda, while another 12,700 in Russia began to march to Grodno.
The converging armies all invoked the Sacred Looting Toggle on 13 December. In Nygarðr, Helgi still suffered from his bad case of dysentery, though his treatment still seemed to be holding. The Russian army at that time fielded 44,500 men with around 10,600 levies from the Imperial demesne and another 20,900 from the vassals. There were just under 6,900 Jomsvikings and the Imperial Retinue numbered around 6,100 and 337 ships called be called upon.
As Bertil’s advance troops were besieging Osnabrück in mid-December, Jarl Öysteinn of Champagne was the man to finally secure the southern land link to the Swedish holdings in Germany, where their capital had been established in Pfalz many years before. For this very useful feat, he was hailed as ‘the Great’.
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At the start of 1032, the Russian treasury contained a reserve of 846 gold, with a monthly balance of 62 gold, even with the vast armies raised, which were all in less costly raiding mode. By mid-February, the vanguard of the Russian army was gathered in Gelre under Jarl Tyueykezhut and now marched east to ‘raid’ Osnabrück, which Bertil had been obliged to withdraw from. The main Brabantian army was up in Celle, engaging a smaller enemy force. The Lombards had sent a contingent to assist Brunswick, but even combined these allies were outnumbered three-to-one by Bertil’s commander, Steinn.
Tyueykezhut began his siege of Osnabrück at the end of February, by which time Bertil was pursuing the enemy from the field in Celle. With Brunswick now hostile to the Russians, the latter were free to engage them in the field, which would help Bertil even further. By that time, the Kingdoms of both Poland and Bohemia had joined the war on Brunswick’s side, but neither were the powers they had once been and a large Russian army was approaching from the east.
Bertil had won his battle in Celle by 7 March and was heading back south to Braunschweig with 5,800 men. Two days later, another 1,800 Russian raiders under Hrörekr were investing Münster, with more still on the way. A courier fast brought the message to Helgi on the 20th – but the Fylkir’s eyes were no longer capable of reading it. A successful reign had been cut short while he attended ‘business’ his Chamber of Secret(ions).
Only 48 years old, he might have reasonably expected to rule for ten or even fifteen more but it was not to be. He passed on a fully secured inheritance, a sound financial position and some high-quality artefacts to his son, Hroðulfr Helgisson Rurikid, First of His Name; Emperor of Russia; Fylkir of the Reformed Germanic Faith; King of Garðariki, France, Finland and Volga Bulgaria; Jarl of Holmgarðr and Valois.
The new Fylkir was aged 25, had a son and a daughter, was regarded as one of the most formidable men of his generation married to a brilliant woman. We shall see more of his new reign a little later. But first, the Rurikid Chronicle will be consulted to provide some highlights of his father’s reign.
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Emperor Helgi – Abridged Rurikid Chronicle Entry
Helgi’s reign began on 15 October 1007 with the death of his father, Styrbjörn II. This left Helgi to finish off the Great Holy War for France, which he did successfully in 1008, marking the first major achievement of his reign. In addition to any border conquests by Russian marcher lords during his reign, from 1009-12 a series of small Imperial wars were fought to expand the Empire, followed by a defence against a major Cuman invasion in the east by Uzluk ‘the Tormentor’ in 1012.
With Russia occupied in that conflict, the Catholics took advantage over in the west through a Crusade for France launched by Pope Stephanus V in 1014. Uzluk was defeated later that year, allowing Helgi to concentrate on defeating the Crusade, with a decisive Russian victory eventually won in 1017. Helgi followed up by usurping the Kingdom of France, which he added to his already impressive list of titles.
This earned Helgi the popularly acclaimed nickname ‘the Lionheart’ – a notable achievement for one rumoured to be personally ‘craven’. After the Crusade, 1017 saw Duke Raimbault of Bourbon try to gain a measure of revenge, while Helgi launched a new wave of conquest wards against Dvina, Zemaitija, Yatvingia (all won the following year) and the Aquitanian Revolt of Duke Matfre. It took until 1019 to defeat Raimbault, after which Helgi joined Jarl Öysteinn of Champagne’s major war of expansion against Luxembourg, which he won soon after. In 1020, Helgi won a quick war of conquest against Breizh and won the larger war against the Aquitanian Revolt to further expand the Empire in France.
King Þorolfr of Sviþjod was the next magnate to receive Imperial support for his expansionist efforts in France in 1022, while Aquitaine was beaten in 1024 to further support marcher lord ambitions. This was followed by five years of peace and heaving raiding against the Umayyads, kicked off by the celebration of what would prove to be Helgi’s only Great Blot in 1025. This period of ‘violent peace’, lucrative raiding and great building projects was broken in 1029 by an ill-fated Norwegian attack for a small vassal claim in northern France, won by Russia the following year. This was quickly followed by successful expansion wars against Mordva (finally snuffing out that realm) from 1030-31, then a Holy War for Kola finished late in 1031.
Helgi had commemorated his run of recent victories by raising a runestone in honour of the Gods in 1031. Helgi’s last strategic play was to assist Jarl Bertil of Brabant’s Holy War for Brunswick, which aimed to bring the last Germanic holy site under Russian and Germanic control.
But as we have seen, the effects of dysentery prevented Helgi from seeing this completed in his own lifetime. But another of his major achievements had been the changing of the French royal inheritance laws from gavelkind to primogeniture succession, so his promising son Hroðulfr assumed a strong Imperial throne on his elevation on 20 March 1032, marking the end of ‘the Lionheart’s well-regarded reign of over 24 years.
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Russian Wars: March-August 1032
As he bedded his new reign down in the capital, Hroðulfr’s first duty in the foreign sphere was the raiding support in the Holy War for Brunswick. By late March, over 8,200 men had assembled in Grodno and this force began heading across neutral territory towards Kalisz under the command of a newly recruited general named Magni (Martial 22), to take on Brunswick’s allies.
Elsewhere, the marcher lords still went about their own work, with the powerful Jarl Bersi of Bolghar launching a prepared invasion of Turkestan against the Afrighids in early May 1032. Shah Ruhollah was already being sorely pressed by a Byzantine magnate, the Despot of Trebizond.
When Magni arrived in Kalisz on 13 May to begin raiding it, he discovered that a map-reading error back in Nygarðr had failed to distinguish this as a separate small realm that had been marked in the same colour as the Polish county of Lubusz, another two counties to the west, which he soon began marching towards.
Over the next few months, the war for Brunswick was largely routine, with Bertil looking after the siege of Braunschweig, while Russian raiders removed enemy troops and treasure from Osnabrück and Münster. As July lengthened, the war was going comfortably in Bertil’s favour, while a Swedish army was investing nearby Kleve in their latest European adventure.
A week later, the veteran commander and marcher lord Chief Nuyaksha of Korsun – now 70 years old – reported that his third attempt to take Terebovl in Galich had been defeated by King Ferenc of Bulgaria. A more detailed explanation for this unexpected setback would be provided a few months later in a report by Russian court officials.
Having found little to do in Lubusz, Magni had moved onto the Bohemian capital of Praha by mid-August. No treasure could be secured that far from Russian territory but the idea was to divert Bohemian attention from any support to their allies in Brunswick.
Of more interest, a first foray by Christian Spanish forces against Russian holdings in France began on 20 August 1032, with an Aragonese attack on the recently secured (by Jarl Öysteinn) Sundgau. As this represented a wider attack on Russian territory, this was an Hroðulfr could respond to directly.
In the meantime, by late August the Teutonic Order had joined Brunswick as an ally. However, the troops they had to the west were fewer than 2,000 and not enough to threaten either Russian or Brabantian besiegers in Brunswick, while the Teutons mustered some smaller reinforcing companies in their eastern holding (four counties on the Vistula centred around Plock). Magni’s army of 8,500 men was soon marching there from Praha.
As the month ended, more good news came from Swedish King Þorolfr: their siege of Kleve (held by the much-shrunk Duchy of Luxembourg) had led to their winning a war to claim the northern connection of Pfalz to Russia’s French lands. This now created a small enclave of five counties under various realms in eastern France: a clear target for future Russian and marcher lord ‘rationalisation’.
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The Sardinian Raid: December 1031-September 1032
The raiders had arrived in Cagliari on 28 November 1031 and would be there until mid-June 1032, sacking three holdings for 221 gold, losing 486 men for 2,453 garrison troops killed in the sieges. In March 1032 a new siege expert had been hired another Tyueykezhut (this one the Marshal or Cheremisa) after a small financial inducement was offered. He arrived in early April was sent straight to Cagliari to assist with the siege work.
Only a few months after his succession Emperor Hroðulfr was acclaimed as a Viking after the latest successful looting in Cagliari. This was always a very useful thing for any Norse ruler’s reputation.
The almost 10,000 strong raiding force then moved on to Arboréa, where they arrived on 23 June. The first holding of Sassari fell on 27 September, for no casualties and 61 gold. The treasure fleet now held 890 gold (of a 1,330 gold capacity).
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The Succession and Court Events: March-September 1032
While Helgi’s death from dysentery in March 1032 came as no surprise in medieval times, it was still something of a shock. Many had hoped his apparently good treatment may have allowed him to pull through, but the succession of his son also met with high hopes, despite the leavening of turmoil such events tended to trigger.
Adding to this turmoil was a ‘mass death event’ on the same day, with three other prominent Russian figures also dying. While this seemed highly suspicious to many – especially the death of Seer and Court Physician Folki the Cleansing Flame on the very same day – there was no evidence to suggest these ‘natural deaths’ were anything more than an unlikely coincidence. The other two deaths were both of commanders in the field – Ahma the siege specialist in Sardinia (hence the need for the recruitment mentioned in the last section) and Suni, on campaign in Brunswick at the time.
The key faces in the new Imperial Family was led by the formidable Fylkir Hroðulfr, who immediately changed his personal focus to rulership while temporarily removing himself from active field duty while his son remained a minor. He would need to rationalise his holdings, having brought a number of personal titles with him on succession. The new heir Prince Toste Hroðulfrsson was six years old when his father took the throne. His early education to date had centred on administrative skills and he was otherwise an unremarkable child at this time.
The new Empress, Beata af Vendel, was already quite well known at court, with a reputation for brilliance in all fields of ruling skills except for diplomacy, which was her husband’s strong suit. She was by all accounts a brave and virtuous woman, with a special consideration for Christians, which might prove of some conciliatory value in dealings with the Empires large (though shrinking) minority of Christian subjects.
Three new Council members also had to be appointed: Hroðulfr had been Chancellor in his father’s last few years as Emperor, while Seer Folki had died the same day and the appointment of the long-time Steward Mayor Bjorkvard of Paris had lapsed (his skills had dropped away in recent years, so this was actually a good opportunity to appoint a loyal and more effective Steward).
The powerful Jarl Bersi Rurikid of Bolghar became Chancellor, Klas Folkisson Svarvarsson was the very loyal new Steward and Godi Ale of Jamborg became Seer, sent straight to Evreux to proselytise against the Christian Waldensian heretics there. The Council would remain generally discontent for the next two years (as happened after every succession) but was not expected to be unruly.
Hroðulfr’s next task was to do a bit of ‘demesne trimming’ to keep the vassals happy. He would keep all the inherited Imperial holdings and offload Trakai and Yatvyagi to two of his more powerful marcher lords, to ensure their continued loyalty. As it happened, his vassals soon acquiesced to the holding of all ten inherited titles, so he was very glad he had hung onto the new Barony of Okulovka in Holmgarðr.
Rurikid records indicate that Hroðulfr brought with him a project whose inception pre-dated his accession to the Imperial throne and of which no earlier account exists. Just two days after his coronation, the new Steward Klas came with a large bill for stone to complete what was revealed to be a ‘grand tower’. Fortunately, he had been left with a decent reserve in the treasury, which was just enough to pay for imported stone, if not a new quarry.
Then just five days later, a disastrous worksite accident occurred and the compensation demanded was considerably more than the new Emperor had left in the treasury. Unwilling to go into debt to pay this ‘blood money’, he gained a reputation for cruelty as a result, but the resulting peasant unrest in the capital county should be manageable. Compared to Helgi’s reign, the succession had seen a massive drop-off in income, though the monthly budget remained in the black as March 1032 ended. Only time would tell if and when Imperial income might regain its former strength.
A new Court Physician was also required, so a search had been begun in March. A renowned physician and mystic was found in early April and hired, at some cost.
Almost a month after the succession, some new factions had sprouted in Russia but none as yet commanded any significant support. Hroðulfr’s great-uncle Prince Alfr was up to his old tricks, of course, as was old Jarl Kharuchi of Karelen.
The latter however was not a problem for long and Helgi’s ploy of granting a new title to Kharuchi’s heir instead paid off when Tolik became Jarl about a month later. The carry-over goodwill from that appointment more than offset concerns about Hroðulfr’s short reign and an ambition for the Kingdom of Finland.
News continued to improve with a new pregnancy confirmed for Empress Beata in late May.
Ch163 Q1. Concubines for Hroðulfr?Does anyone think Hroðulfr needs to worry about concubines, or is the current brood and wider Rurikid clan likely to be sufficient for his purposes? Are more potential heirs useful, or is there a risk of having too many?
By early June, the budget balance had recovered to roughly pre-succession levels as the new administration came into its own, with income largely restored and a monthly balance 62 gold in the black.
The True Faith spread into the Irish county of Ossary on 28 June, almost completing the full conversion of Ireland and indeed the whole British Isles to Germanicism, except for a few small pockets of Christianity here and there.
The end of June also saw the new Council already strongly loyal to the young Emperor.
Then in September, the new Great Tower Hroðulfr had begun as heir to the throne was completed, bringing him renown and valuable experience in both stewardship and military siege craft.
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The War for Brunswick: September-October 1032
In early September, a smaller Brabantian army joined the main Russian raiding force in Osnabrück and was already taking the weakened holdings there as well, while the 1,800 Teutonic Knights stood by impotently in Luneburg.
With the last holding in Osnabrück taken on 8 September, the Russian army there was split in two. Jarl Tyueykezhut would take one group to assist the Brabantian sieges in Braunschweig, while the rest would under Chief Nuyaksha would march all the way south to help support Jarl Öysteinn’s defence against the recently announced Aragonese conquest of Sundgau.
Tyueykezhut arrived in Braunschweig on 22 September and the Brabantian commander immediately used these troops to launch an assault by a combined force of over 11,800 that tool Bielefeld the next day, completing the occupation of Braunschweig at the cost of just another 130 casualties.
On 7 October, Tyueykezhut took his 5,700 raiders east to Teuton Lüneburg (‘raidable’ as it bordered on Celle) while the main Brabantian army had headed south with 5,900 men to engage an approaching Polish army of 1,100 in Göttingen. As it happened, that latter battle had almost been won by the Brabantians when Bertil was able to claim victory on 12 October 1032.
Osnabrück and Braunschweig were brought into the Empire under Bertil, strengthening the position considerably in north-west Germany. Most importantly for the Fylkir, another long-sought-after Russian strategic objective had been achieved: the once improbable bringing of all five Germanic holy sites under Norse Germanic and Russian control with the seizure of Paderborn. The moral authority of the True Faith had never been higher.
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The State of the Empire on 13 October 1032
Less than a year into his reign, Hroðulfr already seemed secure. He now commanded a potential army of 48,000 men, with only the war against Aragon and the raid in Sardinia as active conflicts. His Great Tower had just been built and the treasury had been replenished to over 900 gold, while the artefacts inherited from his father further boosted his martial prowess and reputation. He was comfortably able to maintain his demesne of ten holdings without any vassal disapproval.
A detailed analysis of the Empires income and expenditure showed that, aside from periodic influxes of loot, feudal tax was by far the largest income stream, followed by demesne income. City and church taxes provided some additional gold, while trade from Tana was now also making an appreciable contribution. Of the feudal vassals, the size of their holdings and/or good opinion of their Emperor saw Jarl Öysteinn of Champagne, Jarl Þorbjörn of Moldau, Jarl Bertil of Brabant, Warchief Kettil of the Jomsvikings, King Þorolfr of Sviþjod and even Prince Alfr as the biggest contributors.
The building boom during the latter years of Helgi’s reign had seen the Imperial demesne holdings gather further wealth and particularly military infrastructure, as well as major improvements to the hospital in Holmgarðr. By this time, the third barony of Okulovka had seen its first three buildings completed, while the capital of Nygarðr was of course the most heavily developed and Chudovo somewhat less so.
The Russian Empire had expanded further in both the east and west, while the Romans in Byzantium had remained strong and stable for many decades. Of note however was the nominal disappearance in central Europe of Hungary – a major power for well over a hundred years – and its replacement by Bulgaria.
Hroðulfr enquired into what may have happened there and in doing so found out why Chief Nuyaksha had failed in his bid to take down the isolated Bulgarian county of Terebovl in Galich. It was not a tale of conquest but of dynastic succession. King Ferenc was a member of the storied Árpad dynasty, which had long ruled Hungary. He had conquered the remnant Kingdom of Bulgaria in December 1028, then in June 1032 had the good fortune to inherit the Kingdom of Hungary from Tamás Árpad, retaining Bulgaria as his primary title.
Ferenc was himself a prodigious military talent and now had a powerful army to back him. This sudden increase in power explained why Nuyaksha’s conquest attempt had failed.
As the raid continued in Sardinia, Russian thoughts turned to the desirability of establishing directly owned holdings in the Western Mediterranean. Either the Aquitaine-controlled Balearic Islands, Corsica or Sardinia would do the trick and make an excellent rest stop to bank raid gains, while armies could safely recuperate or be disbanded there on Russian-held territory.
Although conversions had slowed a little in the last couple of years, Germanicism now dominated within the Russian heartland, most of Scandinavia, Britain and Ireland, northern France and coastal Germany.
As ever, Norse culture spread more slowly, but had done so in patches beyond the ‘core’ Imperial Russian counties in southern Russia, north-eat and eastern lands, in northern France and Flanders and extensively in England and Ireland (in both English and Russian lands).
The trend of increasing provincial wealth spreading out from Holmgarðr also continued, while the same now applied to the Imperial trade hub of Tana. Of course, France, Flanders and the German coastal counties were also rich, so too England, southern Finland, parts of Ireland and some initial indications of wealth being generated in the Merchant Republic of Livonia.
The Pagan, Christian and now Muslim defensive pacts continued to largely surround the Russian Empire, but there was always the chance of either supporting marcher lord expansions or waiting for a sheep or two to wander from the flock. And more raiding in the meantime, for money or softening up potential conquest targets.
The current more serious epidemic outbreaks remained distant from the Russian heartland and most Russian territory in the west, though Italy and some surrounding lands were being swept by a camp fever outbreak.
All in all, Emperor Hroðulfr felt himself to be in a strong position with barely half a year of his reign completed as he sat down to contemplate his next steps.
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Questions
Ch163 Q1. Concubines for Hroðulfr?Does anyone think Hroðulfr needs to worry about concubines, or is the current brood and wider Rurikid clan likely to be sufficient for his purposes? Are more potential heirs useful, or is there a risk of having too many?
Ch163 Q2. Way Ahead.With the story back up to date again with the game and only one small war on the dance card, general thoughts on short and mid term strategy options are always welcome.
Only 48 years old, he might have reasonably expected to rule for ten or even fifteen more but it was not to be. He passed on a fully secured inheritance, a sound financial position and some high-quality artefacts to his son, Hroðulfr Helgisson Rurikid, First of His Name; Emperor of Russia; Fylkir of the Reformed Germanic Faith; King of Garðariki, France, Finland and Volga Bulgaria; Jarl of Holmgarðr and Valois.
Then in September, the new Great Tower Hroðulfr had begun as heir to the throne was completed, bringing him renown and valuable experience in both stewardship and military siege craft.
As the raid continued in Sardinia, Russian thoughts turned to the desirability of establishing directly owned holdings in the Western Mediterranean. Either the Aquitaine-controlled Balearic Islands, Corsica or Sardinia would do the trick and make an excellent rest stop to bank raid gains, while armies could safely recuperate or be disbanded there on Russian-held territory.
All in all, Emperor Hroðulfr felt himself to be in a strong position with barely half a year of his reign completed as he sat down to contemplate his next steps.
1) On concubines, I vote not needed. Each heir is a possible claimant that could bring an unwanted war, even if very winnable. Hroðulfr did not take any while he was a ruler before his father's death. Beata may be the strongest wife since Rurik's. The pair could be a partnership ruling Russia. She has given birth to two and has a bun in the oven. Her being in mid 20s, there is time for more.
2) While I am not going to advice as I play fast (no min/max) and conservatively. I would love to see France and Russia linked (Napoleon and Hitler would have as well). My second wish would be reduce bad-boy reputation by letting the vassals do the aggression.
Duke Obeko must want to see Diego be 'blotted'.
King Ferenc has a very interesting tale to tell. He looks like his father died unlanded and his grandfather died a king.
Death (or worse paralysis) in the privy chamber must be very embarrassing. Can you imagine being the servant or guard that found Helgi? Hay, grass and moss was more rougher than quilted tp. Between smell and temperature (in winter), the privy was not a place to read the wish book.
A tough choice no doubt due to the new emperors bravery, but he no doubt recognizes he has a duty to the realm to do all he can to prevent a child from becoming emperor before his time.
I agree that concubines are probably not needed, always the risk of war, especially considering Beata is pregnant with a third child.
Ugh, bad viral gastro (had that once, while also on crutches for a football injury - not fun at all) is bad enough, let alone actual dysentery. I was hoping he'd pull through, but by then was not too worried given a strong succession was in place (hence Helgi taking to the field in the last few years of his reign).
Interesting - I only got the second part of the chain after Hrodulfr took over, but it provides some excellent benefits, that's for sure. Haven't had the maze yet.
I'll have another look (did check regularly for marriage opportunities over recent years) but I'd be surprised if I'd be able to get anything inheritable there.
1) On concubines, I vote not needed. Each heir is a possible claimant that could bring an unwanted war, even if very winnable. Hroðulfr did not take any while he was a ruler before his father's death. Beata may be the strongest wife since Rurik's. The pair could be a partnership ruling Russia. She has given birth to two and has a bun in the oven. Her being in mid 20s, there is time for more.
2) While I am not going to advice as I play fast (no min/max) and conservatively. I would love to see France and Russia linked (Napoleon and Hitler would have as well). My second wish would be reduce bad-boy reputation by letting the vassals do the aggression.
That link is definitely still a big priority, and getting closer. The problem is, even with the vassals doing the aggression, the bad boy increases every time they make a conquest anyway. So I'm almost resigned to it always being maxed out (or close to it) and relying on their conquests (not triggering massive defensive pact reactions), vassalisation and 'strayed sheep' conquests to keep the expansion up.
Death (or worse paralysis) in the privy chamber must be very embarrassing. Can you imagine being the servant or guard that found Helgi? Hay, grass and moss was more rougher than quilted tp. Between smell and temperature (in winter), the privy was not a place to read the wish book.
Yes, that was the last major reform needed following the French Great Holy War to ensure the Imperial demesne didn't fracture on succession. It seems pretty rock solid for now.
A tough choice no doubt due to the new emperors bravery, but he no doubt recognizes he has a duty to the realm to do all he can to prevent a child from becoming emperor before his time.
Yes, the Emperor staying out of combat danger, at least until a sewn up and mature succession is in place, has become a tradition for the Rurikids, much as it did often within the OTL Byzantine Empire (the original 'Romania' - not the modern country). What happened to Rurik himself in Italy that time has become part of Rurikid folklore and imperial practice. As well as prudent gameplay. He's not some minor Viking Jarl, but the ruler of a massive continent-spanning empire and Fylkir of the Reformed Germanic Faith, so RP-wise I don't see Emperors having to conform to older Norse cultural norms for minor lordlings trying to make their way up the greasy pole in the 800s. That said, they do like to get into combat when they can do so without worrying about the Imperial repercussions.
Thank you all for your well wishes. Things remain rather grim, with rushed trips to hospital etc, but in between I've found the time to finish writing up the next chapter, which is good distracting therapy, so it will follow shortly. Plenty happens in the three year slice of time it covers.
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Chapter 164: Tyrs for Fears (October 1032 - September 1035)
Chapter 164: Tyrs for Fears (October 1032 - September 1035)
Previously, on Blut und Schlacht … following a long period of major raiding, Viking Russia had seen the untimely death of Fylkir Helgi from dysentery in March 1032; his son Hroðulfr quickly consolidated his new reign, continued a more limited program of raiding in the Mediterranean, combined with ‘raiding’ to support Jarl Bertil of Brabant’s bid to win a Holy War for Brunswick; that war was duly won, bringing the last Germanic holy site of Paderborn into the Empire and under the control of the True Faith by October of that year. But before that war was resolved, in August 1032 Duke Obeko of Aragon launched a claim war for Sundgau, which Hroðulfr was obliged to defend. At home, Hroðulfr’s Great Tower was completed and in May his wife, the brilliant Empress Beata af Vendel, became pregnant with the Imperial couple’s third child.
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1. Domestic and Foreign Affairs – October 1032 to March 1034
Following an inquiry from the Þing, clerks confirmed in mid-October that the current English succession was by agnatic seniority, all from the Hvitserk dynasty. King Guðmundr was the current ruler, his deposed brother Hysing ‘the Noble’ was heir and then a series of other men next. It was a rather chaotic and not easily conducive to Russian dynastic marriage stratagems to gain influence.
In Paris, the apparent good news that the county had become Norse in culture that November was tempered by the fact it made the expensive jousting lists in both the baronies of Paris and Meaux redundant.
Empress Beata gave birth to a second healthy daughter named Gurli on 28 December, the Fylkir’s third child. But just a few weeks later, the Empress was struck down with a nasty case of the flu, leaving her bedridden. The doctor was sent for to do his best.
The same day old Chief Nuyaksha, the veteran commander and marcher lord of many years service, died from an infected campaign wound. His inheritance was split between his two sons, Chief Shoksha – another talented officer – gaining the most land.
With a keep (Level II) completed in Melun on 24 February 1033 and the jousting lists now useless, a Norse housecarl training ground was begun as a replacement.
Alas, Beata’s illness was beyond the capabilities of the physicians of that time to treat and she died a sad death in late March, taken way too early. While Hroðulfr was distraught, he needed to move quickly to gain a new Empress.
He went for the best and brightest young woman available, a lowborn girl named Ylva, from Pomorye. While she may have had a few vices and unseemly traits, she was an acknowledged genius who should serve the realm well. She came to court a few weeks later and was married to the Fylkir straight away.
On 30 March, Hroðulfr managed to hire Prince Hemming the Cruel, the Yngling heir to the kingdom of Noregr, as an Imperial commander. He wondered whether it may be possible, perhaps by landing him in Russia, to bind him to the Empire once he inherited.
Ch164 Q1: Hemming’s Inheritance.I can never quite remember this stuff. If I was to make him a baron or some such and he inherits Noregr, then can I keep him as a vassal? Or does it have to be an equal level title (which I could do easily enough, with small or not yet created kingdom titles within the empire)?
In July 1033, the short-lived unification of Bulgarian and Hungarian crowns under King Ferenc was ended after he was reportedly slain in battle. The realms were split again under his two sons, with a range of western lands falling under Bulgarian control this time.
In good news from England, Jarl Frirek of Lothian regained Teviotdale after defeating King Guðmundr in August 1033.
Late November saw the new Empress pregnant with her first and Hroðulfr’s fourth child. But this was followed a month later by the discovery of a dastardly plot by a minor count to try to seduce the pregnant Ylva! Fortunately it was foiled through the honesty of an attentive courtier.
Hroðulfr had no hesitation in trying to have the offending cocksman killed, but the plot showed little promise and even a gift of gold was not quite enough to get the most promising accomplice to join.
In the new year, Hroðulfr was able to call a Great Blot during a short period of peace. Of the many vassals invited, one sought an exemption. This alerted the Fylkir to the fact one of his minor vassals had turned to the heathen Catholic religion, having befriended some infidel bishop at some point.
She refused to convert! This would not do at all, so her title was revoked – which she had little real choice but to accept. Nizhny Novgorod was awarded to Jarl Eilif the Hunter instead, a good Germanic Norseman who owned much land nearby.
The rest of the blot went as they normally did, though there was even more poor and rowdy behaviour than normal. Still, everyone enjoyed the hanging of infidels and the feast. The positive effects of the Gods’ blessings would be felt for the next year.
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2. Wars – October 1032 to February 1034
2a. Luneburg Raid – October to December 1032
The tail end of the war for Brunswick played out when some Russian raiders under Jarl Tyueykezhut pushed on to loot the Teutonic holding of Luneburg. A battle was fought at Gifhorn, resulting in 238/5,718 Russian and 956/1,895 Teutonic casualties on 8 November 1032. Meanwhile, the other main levy armies began to be disbanded, to reduce costs. An outbreak of measles in Luneburg in late November saw the raid abandoned and Tyueykezhut evacuate his men back to Braunschweig, where they were soon disbanded too.
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2b. Aragonese War – October 1032 to October 1033
Some 6,000 Russian troops had been despatched south to deal with the Aragonese invasion aimed at recently acquired Sundgau, which they had reached by early December, but with no enemy in sight they were soon disbanded, leaving just 1,500 professional soldiers of the Imperial Retinue. They were camped in Nordgau when the first Aragonese contingent of around 1,300 men was spotted skirting south of Sundgau on 1 January 1033.
The Aragonese continued to skirt Sundgau after the Retinue arrived there on 10 January and it wasn’t until March that they were brought to battle at Lauterburg in Nordgau, with Duke Obeko himself leading the enemy. With all their troops concentrated in the centre, the far smaller Russian centre led by Frirek was broken, which was where most of the Russian casualties were sustained. Despite a solid Russian win, leading general Sumarliði was killed during the pursuit.
The last Russian levies (returned from Poland) were disbanded in Grodno at the end of April while the Retinue and Jomsvikings fought and raided on. This would allow the ‘Three Wars’ of 1033 to be declared, which will be covered below. It also meant the French levies could be recalled, with 18,000 men (including the Retinue army in Nordgau) now ordered to concentrate in southern France for the counterstroke against Aragon.
By mid-June enough were assembled to send a vanguard of 7,200 men under Vechkas south through Aquitaine then west of the Pyrenees to hit Duke Obeko’s capital. Other contingents would follow on later.
Another detachment of around 4,300 men was sent north towards Braunschweig, where the remnants of Obeko’s army had emerged from their rout to lay a siege. A force commanded by Prince Hemming (who was Sumarliði’s replacement) struck them on 1 September, the Battle of Tecklenburg ending in Russian victory on the 13th (Russia 7/4,383, Aragon 235/508 killed).
The Russian siege of Alto Aragón began four days later, then when reinforcements arrived on 2 October an assault was ordered. After four days of heavy fighting on the walls of the castle it surrendered, bringing the war to a swift end.
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2c. The Three Wars – April 1033 to January 1034
Although the Aragonese War was still in progress, in late April 1033 only ‘professional’ Russian troops were involved, allowing some opportunistic border wars to be declared to extend the land bridge through Germany, expand north in Finland and generally clear up more border gore. A mixture of holy, conquest and claim wars were declared, all against small realms that had unwisely left the Pagan Pact, as a ‘job lot’.
The usual eastern muster was called, with armies sent to the two fronts. This period saw quite a few adventurer hosts roaming around the Russian hinterland and they got more attention than they often did as passing Russian armies diverted to deal with them on the way to their destinations. For example, one was easily defeated in Vilnius on 21 August by Jarl Frirek (4,000 v 1,000 men). Meanwhile, a new Russian commander named Sigbjörn arrived to besiege Scalovia with 3,500 men on 1 September.
Frirek fought and defeated yet another host – actually led by a distant Rurikid relation – from 14-29 September in Yatvingia (Russia 21/4,002; Alfr’s Host 598/1,111 killed) as a ‘warm-up’ skirmish, though it again delayed his arrival at the front. In the north, a small battle was fought in Kemi from 19 September to 8 October, where Magni won a comfortable victory (Russia 72/2,102; Kemi 296/894 killed) and laid siege to the tribal fort.
Scalovia tribe fell to the Russians on 7 October and then Jarl Frirek began the main battle of the campaign at Kretingale in Memel (where the Pruthenians had been laying siege) on 31 October. The battle and the war ended early when High Chief Algirdas was captured during the pursuit on 16 November. Scalovia was incorporated into the Empire and Hroðulfr had earned the proud moniker ‘the Sword of Tyr’.
A few days later, all remaining Russian armies in the region were converging on Galindia, where a siege fort was almost completed, while the Galindian army besieged Marienburg.
Galindia tribe fell on 13 December, with the heir and two children of Chief Dagonis taken prisoner (warscore to 99%). An assault on Osterode saw it taken by 16 December and the war concluded.
Around 15,000 levies in the general vicinity (Prince Hemming’s army had marched east to Pomerania) were soon disbanded. Scalovia went to Prince Alfr’s heir Eilif once again, while Jarl Folki of Vitebsk (the successor Jarldom to Lithuania) was granted Galindia. Hroðulfr was hoping to build both of them to be very loyal and increasingly powerful marcher lords.
Soon after, given the loss of the jousting lists in Paris, two new cavalry retinues were raised in Holmgarðr on 7 January 1034. About a week later, Kemi was taken by siege and the temple of Neiden by assault.
But once again, a miscalculation (not checking the fine print) left the claimant the war had been fought for thankful, but in possession of the county as an independent chief, who remained unwilling to become a vassal of his benefactor. At least a ransom was collected before the peace deal was signed a week later.
Then in late March 1034, a way was devised to persuade Chief Aimo of Kemi, who Hroðulfr had installed after the recent claim war, to bend the knee: the Jarldom of Kola was created and this was enough to clinch the deal without any further bloodshed.
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3. Raids – November 1032 to April 1034
The Sardinian raid finished on 22 September 1032 after six more holdings in Arborea and Logudoro were sacked. Since its start in Corsica on 29 July 1030, the raid had taken 1,326 gold from 15 holdings and their hinterlands, for the loss of only 486 raiders. They were all sailing home to Nantes by the 29th and landed there on 16 December, bringing the treasury up to over 2,400 gold, which would fund another small building boom.
As February 1034 drew to a close, the last of the troops from the Aragonese War had made it back to France, with the levies dismissed and remaining ‘professional’ troops joining with the rest of the returned raiders in Nantes. Jarl Tyueykezhut took charge and the raiding fleet of 130 ships and 11,000 troops sailing for the Bay of Biscay, the raiding toggle having been reset in a short period of peace.
They landed in Viscaya on 19 March and ambushed a defending force, defeating them easily and taking the local Sheikh captive, soon ransomed for a good price.
But this foray would be short-lived. An Umayyad army of over 15,000 was reported well to the south, but on their way north on 30 March. And a new opportunity opened up soon after, so the raiders scooped up the loose cash, then boarded the fleet on 19 April. They would soon be headed for Amalfi in Italy.
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4. Domestic and Foreign Affairs – May 1034 to June 1035
Jarl Tyueykezhut, a prominent character in the Russian chronicles for many years, died a natural death in May 1034. His son Tylze II inherited Cheremisa but was a mediocre though at least Germanic worshipping successor, leaving Russia another siege-master short.
The young Empress Ylva gave birth to a healthy daughter named Freyja on 24 June 1034, making it one son and three daughters so far for the Fylkir. Far more surprising news came a month later though, with Jarl Bertil IV ‘the Sword of the Thunderer’ of Brabant overthrown as Jarl in a bloodless coup by a Yngling usurper! Bertil remained a powerful vassal and may well attempt a comeback, but his appointment as an Imperial Advisor was involuntarily terminated. And the new Jarl Hrörekr wanted it!
In the end he was given the role, as the Jarldom would remain important. At the same time, Eilif (Prince Alfr’s son and heir) was promoted to the Jarldom of Kola, which had just been created to consolidate the expanding Finnish holdings but now caused some angst for the Emperor's vassals, who thought he was over-reaching.
An interesting approach was made by a Spanish Muslim mayor from Madrid in December 1034. Hroðulfr was polite and entertained the exchange for a while, wondering if an invitation to join the secretive Assassins’ Guild might have eventuated. But it seemed to be a conversion attempt, which was eventually firmly dismissed.
The recently installed Chief Shoksha of Korsun died from a fast-acting cancer in early May 1035, with his young son Mitrofan getting two counties(one French, the other Russian) and his brother Nuyaksha Korsun itself, further consolidating the holdings.
The period ended with Hroðulfr encouraging his wife to explore her poetical leanings (he may have had an ulterior motive in this), while Paris became increasingly prosperous.
On the religious front, five more conversions occurred during the three-year period: Mordva (Russia, May 1033), Veðrafjorðr (Ireland, February 1034), Karvuna (Bulgaria, November 1034), Anjou (France, May 1035) and Oleshye (southern Russia, June 1035). In March 1034, Germanicism was the second largest world religion as measured by holdings with 296, just behind Sunni Islam on 307. Hinduism was next with 217, Orthodox 188 and Catholicism 156. No others had more than 100.
The return of the latest treasure fleet saw five new building projects begun on 23 February 1034: Stables III in Starya Russa (Toropets), Housecarl Training Grounds III in Nygarðr (Holmgarðr) and Aldeigjuborg (Ladoga), Keep III in Yamsky Gorodok (Torzkok) and a new Barracks I in Tana (finished on 18 January 1035). All these projects cost a total of 1,948 gold. A previously ordered Housecarl Training Ground I was completed in Melun in December 1034.
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5. Wars – January 1034 to September 1035
5a. Conquest of Finnmárku – January 1034 to September 1035
The last levies from the Aragonese War made it back to Bourges in January 1034, with the professional troops left heading off for raiding duties as noted above. On 26 February the long march of the levies back from Kemi ended, allowing them to be disbanded as well. This set the scene for some new adventures when bordering realms started dropping out of the Pagan Pact a few months later. The first of these ‘isolated sheep’ to be pounced upon by the Russian wolf was Chief Leammá of Finnmárku in early April 1034.
A levy muster was ordered but was soon recalled when more sheep wandered from the flock a short time later: Zemaitija on 16 April and then Amalfi two days later. Both those wars will be described separately below. The 'Second Three Wars' were now under way.
A tribal army of 2,000 warriors was summoned in Finnmárku on 29 July, but no other troops would reinforce them before they were attacked by Prince Hemming’s army on 25 November. The hard-fought battle was won by mid-December. The tribal holding fell to siege on 3 February 1035, with the peace delayed a short time while a ransom was collected for one of Chief Leáma’s daughters. It was all over by 9 February, with the county allocated to the favoured and very lucky Jarl Eilif of Kola.
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5b. Swedish Holy War for Franconia – April 1034 to June 1035
King Þorolfr the Bold of Sviþjod launched a daring war against Duke Szilveszter of Bavaria on 14 April 1034. While he could have overpowered the Duke alone, other Catholic rulers would soon join the defence. A muster of over 15,000 Russian levies in France was designed to provide raiding support for the venture, but it would only be discovered later that with new wars, the sacred raiding toggle could not be invoked. So in mid-June, the troops were turned around and sent to Mortain, while another 220 longboats were ordered to start gathering there from all over the realm (130 already supporting the raiders in the Med).
While they were waiting, in October this large army was sent to do some host chasing, where 3,000 invaders for marauding Russian lands in Holland and Flanders. They almost caught up with them near Liége in January 1035 but Anundr’s Host escaped back towards Gelre, Sigbjörn now in charge of the pursuit. They came within a day of catching them in Osnabrück before chasing them off to Teutonic-held Luneburg. Sigbjörn then marched his men back to the fleet, which was sat waiting for them in the Waddenzee.
They had embarked under Jarl Frirek on 12 March and began to sail to the Med, to join a new African raid there, as at that time Russia was again at peace and the raiding toggle available. At which point, Hroðulfr realised they could now start to assist King Þorolfr, so they disembarked again in Boulogne and started marching east to Köln the Duchy of Bavaria, where eight realms had joined the Bavarians, who were winning the war (warscore -34%).
They arrived there on 27 May, but by then Swedish holdings in Trier and Pfalz had fallen to the Bavarians. The raiders, now under Prince Hemming, headed south to confront a 7,200 man enemy force besieging Pfalz. They were approaching it on 23 June when Hagenau fell on 23 June (warscore to -60%).
Jarl Frirek had taken charge again by the time a great battle began at Kaiserslauten in Pfalz on 27 June 1035. He was opposed by Count Landolf of Bavaria at the head of an allied army of over 7,000 men. More were on their way from Nordgau, due to arrive on 11 July, so Frirek had to exert his large initial numerical advantage while he could, as he was forced to attack across a river. Melee had already been joined on the left and right when the new enemy troops arrived and crucially, they now fielded 900 heavy cavalry.
The enemy’s left and right divisions broke on 20 July but not before their knights had helped inflict heavy casualties on the Russian attackers. But victory was won by 6 August, with two subordinate enemy nobles killed and three captured, one ransomed straight back. Almost 4,400 Russian levies had died, as the survivors looked to start retaking lost Swedish holdings.
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5c. Conquest of Zemaitija – April to September 1034
A new High Chief in Zemaitija also strayed from the protective herd, with a border-tidying conquest declared on 16 April 1034, just a day after he unwisely left the Pagan Pact.
The same would have been done to Zyrane, now an independent (from Denmark) county in the north-east of Russia that left the pact on 17 April, but the Council would not endorse it (3-5 against). At this time, 15,000 levies were mustered and on the march to Finnmárku and Vilnius for the two campaigns, with about another 15,000 fighting the Bavarians and 11,000 ‘professionals’ on viking. Russia these days was often ‘multi-tasking’.
The only pitched battle of the campaign was fought at Russ in Scalovia (which the Zemaitijans had just taken) from 27 July to 15 August 1034. The entire enemy force of 834 men was wiped out, with only 57 of Jarl Frirek’s advance guard of 2,400 men lost. He then headed to Zemaitija itself, where the main body of over 4,200 had already arrived.
The siege and the war were won by 15 September, the county renamed to something more suitably Norse and awarded to Jarl Folki of Vitebsk, in the hope he would become a more expansionist marcher lord in his own right.
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5d. Conquest of Amalfi – April 1034 to January 1035
The third of the Second Three Wars was launched on the rich Italian coastal county of Amalfi. After Doux Hypatios of Lukania unwisely left the Christian Pact, Hroðulfr pounced. It was at this stage that the Russian professional army ended its short raid in northern Spain to realise the Russian ambition of a base in the central Med.
Because the opportunistic declaration of war had to be made well in advance, when the Russian fleet arrived in the Gulf of Naples in late July 1034, they faced an opposed landing with somewhat disorganised troops. However, this proved no obstacle for Vechkas, who came with the numbers and troop quality to give the Lukanian defenders a sound thrashing over just nine days.
But they had not faced the main enemy host. Doux Hypatios had clearly taken the opportunity to assemble his own invading fleet and army since the war began, with an army of 3,300 landing in Ingria in early October. Unfortunately for him, Sigbjörn was already in Riga with a good-sized army after having won the Zemaitijan war and was soon marching to confront the ‘counter-invaders’.
The caste of Amalfi fell on 26 October, while in Russia Hypatios was besieging Holmgarðr itself a month later, as Sigbjörn approached from the south-west. Fortunately, previous work on the fortification meant the main castle of Nygarðr could hold out for over three months.
More holdings in Amalfi fell on 3 December and 9 January of the new year of 1035. As it happened, this was enough to force Hypatios to capitulate, without the need for another major battle. The rich county was bestowed on Hrodulfr’s uncle Prince Borkvard, raising him from Baron to Count.
The fleet docked three days later, to make the first small deposit (18 gold) in the ‘Viking Bank of Amalfi’.
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5e. Host Chasing and Peasant Revolts – April 1034 to September 1035
Lajos’s Host of over 2,500 men appeared near the Sea of Azov in late April 1034. Fearing they may try to sack the nearby Imperial trade hub at Tana, 4,800 southern Russian levies mustered for the Zemaitijan War were diverted to deal with them. A game of cat an mouse would ensue in coming months, until Lajos was chased off into Byzantine territory in the Caucasus by November, without the need for a fight.
More host chasing followed in February 1035, this time up in the southern Finland, where two invading hosts were making nuisances of themselves. With the Lukanian invasion having ended without a fight, the Russian levies army then approaching Holmgarðr from Toropets were sent to deal with them.
They had made it to Ingria at the start of May when word came of a peasant revolt to the east in Vologda. The army was split in two, with Vechkas chasing the hosts and Ulfr taking the others to deal with the revolt. By 12 May, there were three hosts operating in the Uppland-Finland area as Vechkas prepared for a ‘bit of sport’.
Ulfr had chased the peasant rebels out of Vologda north to Chud by late July 1035, when word of yet another peasant rebellion to the south in Novgorod Seversky arrived. Ulfr would deal with the enemy in front of him first.
On 5 August, Vechkas joined a battle in Åland where troops from the West Geatish revolt had already engaged and was defeating Åke’s Host. Vechkas then kept chasing the rest into Sweden. Then from 19 August to 4 September, Ulfr met and easily defeated the peasants in Chud (Russia 55/5,820, Rebels 544/1,419 killed), ending the rebellion in a single action.
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6. Tunisian Raid – February to September 1035
Having chased of Lajos’s Host in southern Russia, on 9 February 3,400 men boarded a fleet of 34 ships that had waited in the Sea of Azov, invoking the sacred raiding toggle and sailing off to join their comrades in the Med for a new raid. The same day, the professional Vikings took ship in Amalfi for the Tunisian coast, where the Tulunid Revolt would be targeted for looting.
They had landed in Bizerte to start the raid on 11 March and were joined by the reinforcements from southern Russia on 6 May, bringing the raiding force up to over 14,100 in strength. By September 1035, four holdings had been looted, 558 casualties suffered, 5,147 garrison troops killed and 246 gold and ransomable prisoners captured.
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Question
Ch164 Q1: Hemming’s Inheritance. I can never quite remember this stuff. If I was to make him a baron or some such and he inherits Noregr, then can I keep him as a vassal? Or does it have to be an equal level title (which I could do easily enough, with small or not yet created kingdom titles within the empire)?
I think that he has to hold an equal or superior title to stay. If both are vassal, definitely has to be at least equal (if equal rank, senior holding rules), both if second is independent I am unsure.
Farewell Empress Beata! Role play element is gone. (I am not a genetics chaser. It just leads to heartbreak.)
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Thank you for giving us a gift, while you have far more important issues.
