The Broken Gates

[The Kingmaker]

I tired to use the "character creator" in the new game screen at first, but ran into an issue where the only way to get Aisling into Dermot's court was to marry her outright.

After that, I loaded up a mod called "Daddy Pika's Cheat Menu" which allows the player to access the character creator during gameplay. (not normally possible) I found a wandering girl in Ireland and used the character creator to copy Aisling's design onto her.



From the few hours of gameplay I've got in CKIII, albino characters are exceptionally rare. Getting one with a positive congenital trait (such as beautiful, intelligent, or strong) is even less common.

So... in essence, what technically happened is that a fae spirit possessed an Irish waif girl?

 

[Macavity116]

So... in essence, what technically happened is that a fae spirit possessed an Irish waif girl?

I'm just saying, this would be totally in line with local folklore and legends about the Sidhe in real life.

 

[The Kingmaker]

Well, that just made this whole thing a lot more dark and a little more terrifying. Dermot's captivating paramour is a peasant girl with some kind of banshee in her...!

 

[jak7139]

Aisling and Dermot seem like two opposites. I wonder how their friendship will develop as we get into things.

 

[Macavity116]

Well, that just made this whole thing a lot more dark and a little more terrifying. Dermot's captivating paramour is a peasant girl with some kind of banshee in her...!

Funny you mention that. When I was first designing Aisling and figuring out what she was going to be, there was a phase where she was going to be a straight-up banshee, heralding his own doom. Then I changed her to a Leanan sídhe (a fairy who becomes a lover/concubine to a man) before eventually settling on what she is now.

---

Welcome to the final introduction, everyone! Thanks for reading and I do hope you'll join me next week when the story begins.

Introductions: Minor Characters​

A number of minor players will factor into the story as we go along.

Please note that CKIII Characters have their Personality descriptors next to their names.

Stellaris characters will have their leader traits next to their names.

• The Irish
  
  • Princess Aileann (Irrational Villain)
    
    • Dermot’s mother and Regent.
  • Bishop Rechtabra (Rapacious Villain)
    
    • An authority figure from the Catholic Church. Guardian and educator of children in Dermot’s court.
  • Chancellor Ánrothán mac Donn (Honorable Lackey)
    
    • Dermot’s direct line to the outside world.
  • Steward Eadberht (Content Blackguard)
    
    • Has a better understanding of what’s going on in the duchy than most people.
  • Marshal Gilla-Brígte (Content Antagonist)
    
    • Command’s Dermot’s army in the young ruler’s stead.
  • Spymaster Dúngalach ua Máil Eóin (Godless Villain)
    
    • The only council member who served Dermot’s father. Seems to have an agenda of his own and is very reclusive.
  • Coirpre (Forgiving Coward)
    
    • A disgruntled Sidhe, taking refuge in Ulster Castle after losing his home.
  • Maudhnait (Zealous Antagonist)
    
    • Dermot’s 11-year-old sister. There is no one in the world he hates more than her.
  • Duchess Áine of Munster (Cowardly Thinker)
    
    • Dermot’s cousin and ally. Rules a petty kingdom in southern Ireland.
  • Duke Caradog (Evil Antagonist)
    
    • Duchess Áine’s husband. Under orders from his liege to gather an army to relieve the Siege of Ulster.
• The Norse
  
  • Jarl Ylva Sigfossdottir (Analytic Absolver)
    
    • Current ruler of Iceland, she has launched a war of conquest against Ireland’s northern shores. Currently commanding the 1st Norse Army.
  • Jarl Causantín MaDuib (Righteous Antagonist)
    
    • Jarl Ylva’s husband. While he is a practicing Catholic, he is currently excommunicated. Irish. Currently commanding the 2nd Norse Army.
  • Captain Sven of Norse Band (Zealous Adventurer)
    
    • Mercenary commander currently in Norse employ. Currently commanding the 3rd Norse Army. Swedish
  • Hugo von Bassenheim (Bold Blackguard)
    
    • Jarl Ylva’s Chancellor. Currently commanding the 4th Norse Army. Franconian.
  • Duke Richard of Normandy (Content Paragon)
    
    • Jarl Ylva’s ally. Helping the Norse in their invasion of Ireland. English.
  • Jarl Ylvasson of Flanders (Fearless Lackey)
    
    • Jarl Ylva’s ally. Helping the Norse in their invasion of Ireland. Norse.
• The Blue and Gold Warriors
  
  • Lieutenant Nonus “Heartbreaker” Arcavius (From the Ranks, Champion of the People, Reckless)
    
    • Commander of 15th Recon Team. He deeply enjoys this strange new world, wants to explore and make peaceful contact with the locals. Prone to wanderlust. Has an eye for the local women. Fought in the battle at Kinsale Forest depicted in the Prologue.
  • Sergeant Paulus “Old Man” Valgus (Recruiter, Unifier, Scrapper)
    
    • Second in command of 15th Recon. Much older than his commander, Paulus is a veteran of both the Sutharian Genocide and the wider Sutharian Civil War. He is very skilled at In-Situ Resource Utilization.
  • Sergeant Vipsania “Vip” Avita (Reckless, Butcher, Controversial Reputation)
    
    • Close Combat Specialist for the 15th Recon. Known to be a sadist who enjoys fighting. Can keep her own bloodlust in check, but will relish any chance to cut loose and get violent. Strongly prefers hand-to-hand combat.

---

Chosenpai: Okay, so we’ve got our cast, but I see something you forgot to do.

Macavity116: …and that is?

Chosenpai: You forgot to write how Aisling and Dermot first met and became friends. You just kinda glossed it over.

Chosenpai: Maybe you can add a scene in Chapter 2 or 3 where they talk about it. You don’t have to go into details. Treat it like a Noodle Incident.

Macavity116: You’ve read Calvin and Hobbes? Awesome! And yeah, a Noodle Incident is probably the best way to go. Some of Dermot’s council might ask how he knows Aisling, and his mother definitely will ask.

Chosenpai: One of the two should try to talk about it and the other one gets totally embarrassed and shuts down the topic. That way they’ve got a strong shared memory of their first meeting and the readers get to speculate and guess about what might have happened.

Chosenpai: Hey, they've finally started boarding the plane, and I'm on deck to lead the preflight safety demonstration. I'll talk to you Sunday.

 

[Chac1]

Definitely like an AAR with a long list of characters. This will be helpful later, no doubt.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

CK/Stellaris will lead to genetic in-breeding of previously superior non-human life-forms.

This doesn't bear thinking about...

15th Recon Team. All with Olinbari names. That's going to be interesting when the locals see them.

 

[The Kingmaker]

I mean, a bean-sídhe is just another kind of sídhe, so I’m prepared for her to do pretty much anything. She will almost certainly be an otherworldly and unpredictable influence on your petty king.

I can see it now. That godless spymaster goes to the queen regent to report that he suspects that the peasant girl Dermot is dallying with is possessed by a 1,000 year old sídhe…

 

[Macavity116]

15th Recon Team. All with Olinbari names. That's going to be interesting when the locals see them.

Yeah, I think you might have guessed what's coming.

I mean, a bean-sídhe is just another kind of sídhe, so I’m prepared for her to do pretty much anything.

Now I'm curious to see what, if anything, catches you off guard in this story.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Yeah, I think you might have guessed what's coming.

Bringing a railgun to a sword fight, obviously.

 

[jak7139]

Duke Richard of Normandy (Content Paragon)

The Normans are helping the Norse against the Irish! I guess Muadhnait's betrothal to the King of England doesn't prevent that?

 

[Macavity116]

The Normans are helping the Norse against the Irish! I guess Muadhnait's betrothal to the King of England doesn't prevent that?

Best I can tell, the Norman's got called into the conflict by a marriage-induced alliance. That might explain why there's a Norse guy ruling Flanders at the moment.

 

[HistoryDude]

Aisling is possibly immortal, huh? Why do I feel like that will get tested?

I'm sure that the fact that Duke Dermot is vengeful won't become a major plot point at all. If someone were to attack him or his friends, I could see him pursuing them across vast distances to satisfy his grudge.

It's nice to have a character list.

Spoiler: Theorycrafting, Spoilers for SotS

Also, we know that these "Blue and Gold Warriors" are from the universe of Song of the Solitaire. Therefore, they're probably associated (positively or negatively) with Malum... but he isn't on the character list itself, so what's he doing right now? Or is he on the character list under a different name? Actually, are the Warriors even necessarily on Malum's side?

 

[Chac1]

A few loose ends...

Best I can tell, the Norman's got called into the conflict by a marriage-induced alliance. That might explain why there's a Norse guy ruling Flanders at the moment.

The Norse ruled over parts of Frisia during the 9th Century. Perhaps in your timeline they never left? Or these areas were reconquered?

Jarl Causantín MaDuib

Given the popularity of a certain film at this time, I couldn't help notice the similarity of this name and a certain interstellar savior. However, the spelling is different and no doubt with Irish or Norse pronunciation, very different. Just gave me a chuckle.

 

[Macavity116]

Aisling is possibly immortal, huh? Why do I feel like that will get tested?

Well, she doesn't fall into the category of "cute Macavity116 characters" but that does not make her safe from my well-known habit of tormenting cute characters.

If someone were to attack [Dermot] or his friends, I could see him pursuing them across vast distances to satisfy his grudge.

Good thing I'm planning to lock him up for a siege. Not as far to chase someone.

The Norse ruled over parts of Frisia during the 9th Century. Perhaps in your timeline they never left? Or these areas were reconquered?

It's possible. I mostly focused on the British Isles during my 50-year observation, but I did occasionally notice some other shenanigans happening. The one that really threw me for a loop was the sudden relocation of Norway's capital to... well, just look at the picture:

I'm pretty sure that's the middle of the ocean.

Oh, and looking around the map really quickly, I did find some other more insane shenanigans:

The King of Scotland is a 10-year-old boy and his Regent is the ruler of a tiny little nobody county in Finland. A tiny scandanavian town rules all of Scotland.

What the heck is going on in this game!?

Given the popularity of a certain film at this time, I couldn't help notice the similarity of this name and a certain interstellar savior.

Yeah, Paradox devs are hopeless nerds. Rest assured, though. I do intend to continue littering my stories with Star Wars references, even though I have departed the Stellaris AAR forums.

 

[Chac1]

Nice to get a world view. Maybe the CK3 experts can explain what is happening between Finland and Scotland?

I'm pretty sure that's the middle of the ocean.

Those are the Faroe Islands. And yes, they are in the middle of the ocean.

Yeah, Paradox devs are hopeless nerds. Rest assured, though. I do intend to continue littering my stories with Star Wars references, even though I have departed the Stellaris AAR forums.

A fan of both series referenced in these comments, but the new entry is much better than a lot of what preceded it.

​

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Those are the Faroe Islands. And yes, they are in the middle of the ocean.

Roughly central between Iceland, Norway and Scotland. Which if you wanted a geographically central capital, implies what Norway's long term plan is. The AI is probably just being weird though.

 

[Midnite Duke]

In my CK2 games, Norway's capital more often than expected floats to the Islands (Faroes, Iceland, Orkneys and Shetlands). Scotland/Finland is probably normal CK inheritance with the distant lady appointed regent for the boy-king. Normandy is named for Northmen invaders. While Dermot has a n/a pact with England, it does not prevent English vassals from waging war against him. King William can even wage war against the High Irish King for Maudhnait's claim to Ulster. Oh, what a fun place to play even without the Stellaris by-play.

 

[El Pip]

The main point I've taken from this is that St Patrick was an complete chancer. Claimed to banish all the snakes from Ireland (when there probably weren't even any there to start with) but missed all the aliens and malevolent non-humans. Absolute time waster, you can see why the Welsh rejected him and held out for a better patron saint.

All with Olinbari names. That's going to be interesting when the locals see them.

The fact this means absolutely nothing to me does not bode well for me following the story.

the Sutharian Genocide
Butcher
Known to be a sadist who enjoys fighting. will relish any chance to cut loose and get violent.

I remember some complaints around the time of Stellaris launch about why didn't the game have a Civ style "Cultural victory". Then the AARs started and it was immediately obvious why that was the case.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

In my CK2 games, Norway's capital more often than expected floats to the Islands (Faroes, Iceland, Orkneys and Shetlands). Scotland/Finland is probably normal CK inheritance with the distant lady appointed regent for the boy-king. Normandy is named for Northmen invaders. While Dermot has a n/a pact with England, it does not prevent English vassals from waging war against him. King William can even wage war against the High Irish King for Maudhnait's claim to Ulster. Oh, what a fun place to play even without the Stellaris by-play.

Essentially, non-aggression pacts are even more useless than they are in Stellaris.

The fact this means absolutely nothing to me does not bode well for me following the story.

To be fair, the Olinbari have probably got the most "El Pip" friendly characteristics of any Stellaris content, being Stellaris' take on the concept of Space Romans, although a lot of the details are left to the player to fill the blanks with, and there's also been quite a few centuries since their Roman origins between then and the Stellaris start date, and quite a few millennia between that and Song Of The Solitaire and The Broken Gates.