A seemingly impossible challenge - Adelgundis d'Oriola

[Loke_The_Champ]

Hello fellow Crusader Kings II enjoyers, those of whom are left, at least. This is going to be a AAR that is trying to be focused on both roleplay, but also very significantly be a deep dive into CK2s deeper game mechanisms.

The person I am going to be starting as is 69 year old Adelgundis d'Oriola, Countess of Denia. Her only son is her Arabic, Sunni, Emir liege named Ali. Game over inevitable, isn't it?

Before I continue with the story of Adelgundis, I want to introduce myself to this forum, considering this is my first post: feel free to skip this paragraph if you don't care. My name is Loke, I am 20 years old and am studying electrical engineering - one could call me "TheStudent" (I wish there was some kind of YouTuber doing this exact thing for CK2). Due to reasons fully within my control, I live in my car. Before that, Crusader Kings II was a big part of my youth, I started playing quite late in the games' development cycle, in April of 2018, when the game was free to play (and keep!). Considering I just turned 13, it might not be that big of a surprise I amassed 2100 hours of playtime over the last 7 years. I have played many games, yet I never reached the end date of 1453, starting earlier than 1066 at least, mostly because I often grew too bored after the first half dozen of rulers or so. Nowadays, I spend one or maybe two days a week playing this game, while I spend the rest of the week thinking about what to do in my limited playtime, including reading event files and the like. Thus I want this game to be the most intense and gamiest game I ever played, at least during the beginning.

Some rules for this challenge:
- Ironman without any save-scumming
- explicitly, even if "Ironman" implies that: NO restarting with the same character every time by copying the save file.
+ Restarts are allowed, as the scenario is quite hard
+ I also installed some (ironman compatible) mods, that are all there for QOL

1. !Bigger Lists
2. A Bigger Interface
3. Real Father + Visible Health and Fertility
4. Favor: Impossible Invitation Warning
5. Replace the "ENTER" hotkey with "c" (And many other handy shortcuts)

Spoiler: Game rules

Default game rules, except for:

== Historical Direction ==
Mongol Invasion = Random
Aztec Invasion = Delayed Random # This means, we need to be strong by 1000, doable, I think
Turkic Conquerors = Random

== Various ==
Supernatural Events = Unrestricted # After all we are not special
Absurd Events = Unrestricted
Secret Religious Cults = None

== Warfare ==
Provincial Revolt Strength = Very Powerful (4x)

== Conclave ==
Childhood focus alert = All

 

[Loke_The_Champ]

Oh, come on, THIS worked?, reserved, the next chapter will come shortly, here it IS (sorry, I am new to this forum)

Chapter 0 (769 - ???) - Escaping the eternal cycle of death​

Our main character for this chapter - Side question: Are you guys in favour of AI-upscaled portraits? Don't zoom in too much on the right image, but I think it really has its value.

Which brings me back to Adelgundis: her father was Count Theodemiro of Murcia (Look him up on Wikipedia, sadly, I am not allowed to link him due to silly restrctions on forums newbies), who reigned between roughly 695 to his death in 743. He was involved in the conquest of Iberia and resisted the Arabs, however, in 713 he was defeated by the Arabs and subsequently subjugated. At first, he was granted some level of autonomy in exchange for tribute and loyalty, however, in 723 (in CK2 - the remainder of this paragraph is headcanon), he had to give away the county of Almansa to Sheikh Abd-al-Yabbar. Even worse, he was forced to let this new Sheikh marry his only daughter Adelgundis, resulting in their only son Ali. When he died, his other child, son Athanagild took over. However, he died after only two years in 745, resulting in Adelgundis being the only member of her dynasty left - widowed, as her husband also died in 743. However, the Muslim governor of Al-Andalus was not going to let a Catholic woman take over as the Emir of Murcia, which is why this title went to Ali, leaving her only with the county of Dinia, her home and birthplace. The years that followed were characterized by turmoil - the collapse of the Ummayad Caliphate in 750 for instance -, which is one of the reasons why Adelgundis was still ruling, even in 769, there simply were bigger problems.

From left to right, father Theodemiro, brother Athanagild, husband Abd-al-Yabbar and our only son, Ali. (As I said, don't zoom in too much, but I think in a small view it looks quite good)

Now, in 769, Adelgundis has been ruling for 24 years, alone with her loyal court, contemplating what she can do - as a 69 year old widow - to avenge her dynasty and also her people, when suddenly she begins hearing a voice from above - this is where we come in.

First priority is obviously getting an heir, to ensure the dynasty continues, but how? What ways are there? First off, all the ways that wouldn't work / won't be utiilized:

1. Unholy impregnation from the Satanists would not work, as this requires a working womb (between 45 and 16 or achieved immortality between these ages)
2. Childless ruler finds child nursed by wolves, may adopt... is the comment of the Altaic culture event HL.1010, which would result in adopting a wolf-nursed child. However, because we have a son (and yes, killing him does not change that), we are ineligible for this event.
3. Son of the Buffalo Woman (TOG.3403) is another obscure event, this time for African Pagans. I actually have only read about this event, so I do not know. The 10% chance of impregnation combined with needing to convert to African paganism every time I try this would probably drive me insane. We would also need to get a negative congenital trait like hunchback via demon worshipers?. It would work though, as it bypasses age-checks.
4. Maybe another method? I don't know any, maybe you, dear reader, do.

This leaves only one other way: Immortality - but not in the way you might think!
The problem with immortality is that you only ever play as one character - I do not want to play as only one character. Also, once the immortality event chain fires the chance is quite low to actually succeed, especially with such an average character.
This is why we are going to fail the immortality event chain - in order to get reincarnated.



Next reply comes shortly!

 

[Nikolai]

This sounds very interesting and unique! Good luck.

 

[dmurgell]

Welcome Loke! Will keep an eye on your AAR, sounds interesting and certainly different from average.

 

[Loke_The_Champ]

Damn, you guys are quick to respond, quick try, will this work?

There are two ways to get reincarnated:

Failing the martial route - assuming the worst possible scenario (low stats, fraud mystic), we will get to the third challenge 2 out of 11 times
Failing the learning route - here we have roughly a 40% chance to get where we want to be - the first test is deterministic and based only on your traits.

We are going to go with the learning route - in general, if you are aiming to make one of your characters immortal, try to choose this route; it is way easier to determine whether the mystic is a fraud - which will come with a consequence one might find gamey: we will restart until our ruler:

Has at least 9 learning, 10 would be better, 12 is perfect (12 is required to choose the learning path in the immortality event chain, so picking theology (+1 Health) or hunting focus (+2 or even +3/+4 health) is only done when its possible)
Is NOT cruel, arbitrary or cynical. (These are the traits that determine how the first immortality test is going to go. Technically, we also need to be either kind, just, drunkard or charitable, but the latter is quite easily gained via the monastic society)

We will also have to maximize health, as we are 69 already, which there are multiple ways for: Firstly, there obviously is the holy hunting focus, which can grant up to +4 health (+1 from the focus itself, +1 from the hunting dog, +1 from training the hunting dog while diligent and +1 for getting brawny). Another way is the monastic society, where we can steal the holy prepuce for +0.5 health. The last way, that is semi-reliable, his the Hajj. The days are long over where you could get an infinite amount of health, but by falsely converting to Islam, doing the Hajj and converting back, it is more or less guaranteed.


I basically did this around 130 times, restarting the ruler when she was unsuited and wrote down a 57 tries in total. I'll share some here, again, due to the apparent character limit (CAN ANYONE please tell me, how long it is?), it will be again split into multiple posts.

Spoiler: Day One

Thursday, 17th of July, 2025

Try number 1: We have only 7 learning, no good trait
Try number 2: 1 learning, but kind, at least
Try number 3: 21(!) learning, but initially not kind, just, charitable or drunkard. Hmm, I did not anticipate that. She even is diligent, so up to +3 (!) Health from hunting focus! We joined the Dominican Order and donated to charity four times, never becoming charitable, never losing the greedy trait. In the end she died from bedridden smallpox, in spite of a successful experimental treatment. The issue is, the immortality event does not fire during seclusion (is_inaccessible_trigger = no)
Try number 4: 4 learning, no good trait
Try number 5: 16 learning and Just. I think I am gonna switch to hunting focus and chill out - chill out we did, we lived for 20 whole years. Considering the 3000 MTTH of immortality, modified by our age, we had a roughly 10% chance of the event firing, NICE!


So, what if we get the reincarnation? Well, ideally, in that exact moment we change our succession law to elective, so our reincarnated self can inherit - if we do it too early, our liege will hate us, this is especially bad once our grandson takes over, as he does not have the +75 opinion modifier for me being his mother.


Also, these are right now the only thing I do during these runs, with slight variations here and there.

• change to hunting focus,
• marry someone so he can gift me a hunting dog,
• chill out
• make sure I have a healthy court chaplain

Alright, onwards we go:


try number 6: 9 learning but no trait? I'll go learning focus and join the Dominicans and donate lots of borrowed money. Maybe we get lucky! Alright, we died, after 6 years. I learnt a couple of things: Scholarship is risky, as you can get cynical because of it. Dominicans are good because of lots of learning boosts = better chance at quest line. We changed to theology after 5 years to fulfill a mission, but we never got "gifted" a virtue. At least we got charitable after donating 4 times in total. But a month later we died x). Alright, next time we play without using scholarship, so only learning 10 rulers from now on, I cannot risk getting the immortality event and THEN not having the 12 learning required


Try number 7: 7 Learning, no good trait.
Try number 8: exact same scenario, mildly worse traits
Try number 9: 4 learning, but diligent AND Just. Still
Try number 10: 7 learning and cruel, hard pass
Try number 11: 7 learning and no good trait
Try number 12: 8 learning and cynical, nope
Try number 13: 8 learning and arbitrary, nuh uh
Try number 14: 5 learning and cruel, red flag!
Try number 15: 6 learning and cynical, no no no
Try number 16: 8 learning, but at least no negative trait. Still, nope nope
Try number 17: ZERO learning, man she dumb
Try number 18: 4 learning, but kind, was I so lucky in the beginning?
Try number 19: 10 learning BUT cruel, ughhh
Try number 20: 3 learning and cynical
Try number 21: 15 learning but no positive traits... alright, I'll go hunt and otherwise just do the usual. Wonderful, we got charitable by donating to charity, now to survive... OH MY GOD. A religious revolt just unlanded me.... (This is where I remembered that in an AAR, there are supposed to be some images, I am sorry, dear images starved reader)
Try number 22: 8 learning but no positive trait
Try number 23: 2 learning and nothing to go for it
Try number 24: 2 learning, arbitrary AND cynical, wow
Try number 25: 3 learning and arbitrary AND cynical
Try number 26: 2 learning, cruel and arbitrary
Try number 27: 3 learning, but at least no bad traits
Try number 28: FINALLY, 13 learning, but no good trait, I'll risk it...

Oh cool, we got the holy prepuce, +0.5 health! AAND we got infirm, RNG taketh and giveth, right?

AAaand we are dead - this will happen many times

Try number 29: Lucky again, Woohoo, 19 learning, no disqualifying trait, let's go!

AAND we became charitable after donating 2 times!

Oh nooo!!! This religious revolt will cause us to go game over if we don't stop them!

We need money for mercenaries!! Luckily, there are some """donors""" from overseas.

Aaand we are dead! At least it was not the revolt that killed us. I am really thinking about toning down revolts.

Try number 30: 9 learning and kind? Alright, last one for today.


SADLY, this is where I again, don't have any images anymore. I just pasted the images into the original, much larger post that I wanted to make, and simply copied over these image links that obviously, no longer hold any data. I am very sorry for that, but you'll get some descriptions of the following images, maybe there is some humorous value left in that. Maybe there are some blind people here, that actually cannot see the images I post?

Oh wow, a duchy? This is actually a bad thing, as it makes us unable to change the succession law...

[Image of Adelgundis being granted the duchy of Valencia, by the wise Sultan]

and we're dead. Note to myself: theology is quick when it comes to giving you learning, so it might be worth it to consider learning 9 rulers again.

[Image of Adelgundis dying]

 

[Loke_The_Champ]

Alright, now the next tries, Day 2 sadly has no images at all, but maybe you still find some humor in me suffering.

Spoiler: Day Two

Friday, the 18th of July, 2025


Second day of the challenge, another grind, let's get to try 50!



Try number 31: 12 learning and no positive trait, let's try anyway:


[Adelgundis with 12 learning and no further possible traits]


Another prepuce! This time, I just left the society, after all, we only need to become charitable, this we can also at the Benedictines - no need to pay 300 gold.


[Image of the treasury, showing the holy prepuce]


WOOHOO, after donating 5 times, we are finally charitable!


[Adelgundis, but in a nun outfit and charitable]


AAND, we are dead!


[Image of Adelgundis dying]


Try number 32: 4 learning, no good traits

Try number 33: 1 learning AND cynical

Try number 34: 1 learning AND arbitrary

Try number 35: 5 learning, no good traits

Try number 36: 7 learning, no good traits

Try number 37: 6 learning and cynical

Try number 38: 9 learning, but greedy, we will try anyway


[Adelgundis, but with 9 learning and the greedy trait, among others]


Very lucky, we got lucky twice and became charitable after only two donations!


[Adelgundis, but dressed as a nun and now charitable]


Aaand now we are infirm


[Image of the wonderful infirm event]


And what always comes after infirm? Better luck next time


[Image of the even better event that turns infirm into incapable]


Try number 39: 5 learning and greedy. nope

Try number 40: 7 learning, and cruel

Try number 41: 11 learning, but cruel

Try number 42: 3 learning, no good traits

Try number 43 11 learning, but we are not charitable yet, no problem


[Image of Adelgundis, with 11 learning and no further traits]


First try charitable, let's go!


[Nun Adelgundis, but with the charitable trait]


Aaand we are dead!


[Game over screen]


Try number 44: 7 and cynical

Try number 45: 6 and arbitrary

Try number 46: 4 learning

Try number 47: 0 and arbitrary

Try number 48: 7 and cruel

Try number 49 9 learning AND FOUR virtues! Let's try this!


[Adelgundis, with 9 learning and FOUR virtues]


Aaand we are DEAD!


[An image of the game over screen]

Spoiler: Day Three

Try number 50: 13 learning AND just, let's just hunt and chill!


[An image of Adelgundis with 13 learning and the just trait]


Game thought differently


[Image of the game over screen]

Alright, the last two days were rough, especially considering I only have a crappy laptop to play this game on the weekdays - luckily, I am on my PC now, so don't wonder about the new resolution, let's just GO! Also, as a little shorthand, I will from now on only write down a number indicating the learning stat and whether the good traits are there or not, or if there are disqualifying traits - of course only for unworthy rulers. ALSO, because I am now on the superior Linux, I actually have images again!


Try 51: 2, no

Try 52: 2, no

Try 51: 11, bad

Try 52: 15 learning AND kind, as usual, we will just marry, hunt a little and wait!

Aand we died, not even a year in, come on!

Try 53: 3, bad

Try 54: 0, no

Try 55: TWENTY learning, but no charitable yet, no problem, surely we will survive for a long time

Wow, not even 4 months in, and we are already charitable (and also in the process of stealing the holy prepuce - sweet 0.5 health!)

Ugh, not again, the clock is ticking, either we live for another 10 years to change the succession law, or the reincarnation will have done nothing good for us

We transfer our unhappy vassal to our son, no need for an unruly vassal. Interesting, that you can actually do that to ANY vassal in the realm, including your liege. This is a very easy exploit for infinite liege opinion.

Well, we died anyway, only three years in, damn!

Try 56: 10, bad


Try 57: 9 learning, BUT, we are actually diligent. Maybe, with the help of RNGsus, we can even get the +1 health event from hunting.

.... And this was when I realized, I could not post for some reason. Only later would I discover that I simply wrote too lengthy of a post. And I thought, it was due to content, or whatever. Ughh. I hate the elimination of forums by reddit just as much as you guys, but please - some transparency in what i did wrong would be nice.

The remaining 80 tries are sadly lost to history, as I did not record them (I was too unmotivated, due to being unable to post), I have two images left for you though, they were made yesterday night and show you, that this indeed is possible. Note the ingame date.

There was a 20% chance for this, by the way, as I did pay my court chaplain

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

 

[Nikolai]

Heh, you really have invested in this!

 

[Loke_The_Champ]

Chapter 1 (769 - 782) - Leaving the world with a good conscience

An AI-generated image of what she may have seen in these dreams
​

The year is 769, a cold winter night on the first of January, Adelgundis awakes from her dream - she dreamt of life and death, over and over again - of her future? What she saw, was her life, a mirror image of herself, but always a bit different from herself. Sometimes, she was a cruel, a greedy, a cynical, woman, sometimes she was trained in martial arts, sometimes in the arts of intrigue. But one thing, these elder women always had in common - they all were trying to extend their life, get the most out of it. Some dedicated their lives to theology, some to hunting, some even joined monastic societies or made a journey to Mecca, - not because they believed in the false prophet of Mohammed, - but for the experience. Another thing they all had in common was the end result - death.

She woke up, sweat drenched, in her castle of Oriola, where she was born all those years ago. "Memento mori", she only whispered to herself and began her day just like each of the other myriad of days in her life already behind her. This castle legally belonged to her for almost a quarter of a century, she lived in there for more than two thirds of it. She knows each and every corner of it, knows each and everyone of her subjects by name, for years. It is a small fiefdom, after all, especially compared to what her father, Theodemir used to control. Only a generation apart and yet so many things have changed. She laments:
​

"My father used to be a count, a big leader under a Christian king, and I? Forced to marry a Mohammedan Sheikh, in the name of peace. If only my father knew the pacts he made with the Moors would be broken not even a decade after his death... Doomed to die a widow, only spectator to the enslavement of my people"​

But, knowing that complaints and prayers alone won't do any good, she decides to change the way she lives, drastically.
Adelgundis knows that movement and people is, what will fulfill her life - therefore, she takes on hunting. Also, she takes out a loan, from the local Sephardi merchants of Alacant, knowing that there will be likely no one left that will have to repay the loan, once she is gone - "may who ever will inherit my fiefdom deal with this debt", the cunning woman thought.

She joins the local chapter of what would later be known as the "Dominican Order", a monastic order that is focused on helping the community of Christians - she does not want to stay alone in the castle forever. As another act of rebellion to her former self, she remarries, to Tadg 'the Feeble' of Ua Briúin Aí, an honest and just Irish nobleman, that simply didn't inherit a thing when his father died.

A third of her wealth that she borrowed is donated to charity - something she would have otherwise never considered, purely due to the lack of funds - she finds great fun in it.

This surge of new energy did not go unnoticed, it seems, when in 770 the Sultan himself granted her the newly created Emirate of València. Surely motivated by politcal and not by personal motivations - after all, she never even met the Sultan - slightly puzzled she acknowledged that she was now a direct subject of the Sultan, the same rank as her own son Ali.

Even better, Sheikh Hisham of Balensiyya was now her subject, who however held a lot more power than she had, in reality. Because she knew that this was only going to cause trouble, she signed a treaty with the neighboring Emir Husayn of the Saadid Emirate to transfer the vassalage to him - of course, he did not object a single bit.

The following 7 years were spent in the service of the monastic society she now was part of gardening and hunting, together with her hunting dog, Tricky - after all, the government of her small fief is no big job for such a brilliant administrator like herself.

---

On the warm summer night of the 11th of August, in the year of our Lord 777, eight years after that fateful dream in that winter, she dreamt the exact same dream again, only after waking up to realize that what she dreamt, it became reality - she was following the footsteps of her mirror images - who were these women? And then she remembered again, what always followed these women in her dream - death.

Catholic theology, the kind of which that she learned in the monastery, provided only one unsatisfactory solution to this question - heaven, for herself. But what about all these children that will be born after her? What will become of the people, here on earth? "God always has a plan", "God's ways are unsearchable", she knew these phrases all to well. But she needed to know. But much more than that, she cannot keep quiet anymore, she needs to talk to her council about these questions - do they think similarly?

Only the first image of this AAR, I know, I know, I simply have forgotten to take pictures after so many tries - no more!​

She tasks her court chaplain Gonçalo with the search for eternal life. In the meantime, Adelgundis, now with a concrete purpose, also studied heavily in her Monastic order.

Right now, Adelgundis has gained +7 learning in total from the society, +5 from one event chain alone - very handy​

Surprisingly, even though he is merely an average, lowborn local, not even fully suited for the role of court chaplain, he and his team found a small girl, from the island of Ceylon, who was more learned and wise than anyone else Adelgundis had ever met in her long life.

Such a brilliant girl - a real mystic, to be quite exact (16 base learning). ​

From there, it went really quickly, challenge after challenge was completed by Adelgundis - making her even wiser.

Theology focus and Just for more learning, we have a 63,3% chance of passing the next trial now.​

Before completing the next task, Adelgundis' reign of her Emirate turns 10 years old, she decides that the only one deciding who is inheriting it is going to be her himself.

Whaa- why not? I have ruled for the last 10 years!

Finally, this will work - this a surprise tool that will help us later
​

The next challenge posed by Aselaya is a big fast. Of course, knowing what is at stake - and not really thinking about her own life anymore - she simply does her best - and passes the challenge, feeling more thrilled than ever before.

[However, I forgot to take a picture x)]
​

However, wordly issues still endanger the safety of Adelgundis, as in 781 big Catholic popular revolt is threatening to uproot the old order - including the Christian rule of Adelgundis herself.

Luckily, the Sultan comes to our rescue in the last second - maybe not for our sake, though...
​

Political violence in Murcia has not died out, the violent beatdown of the last revolt probably had the opposite effect, the next year another revolt threatens the old order:

Not visible: the Andalusian army, currently in Lombardy, trying to win the war there
​

Knowing the Sultan's armies are in Italy, trying to win the war there, and afraid of losing her life to populist rabble, Adelgundis decides to do the unthinkable - she declares her independence, proclaiming a new Christian Duchy, just like the successful rebels in Léon had - and just like the rebels in this area were planning to. She knew this was high treason and she knew that if she Sultan came back with his armies, death would expect her. But she was calculating, knowing that only a few months without any resistance from the Sultan, she couldn't be held accountable.

High treason, just to be safe from the rebels, but as you can see, already 20% ticking war score, enabling a white peace.
​

Unexpectedly, the Sultan's army returned back to squash the rebels, including Adelgundis - laying siege to the castle of Oriola, however, a whole different event would make this meaningless

With the castle under siege, her power hanging on a thread, there is only one card left to pull​

Many things happening at once, the last few days of Adelgundis' old life are being counted, the images will speak the rest of the story - Adelgundis' story.

How glad I am that this has finally happened - after ~130 tries.​

Renata is Latin for reborn, I think this fits, does it not?​

Now, the succession law makes sense, right? I think I might be the first person to be happy about this reincarnation​

---

Who knows what Adelgundis' would have felt during her last moments? I think she would be the only person happier than me about this event.
I hope this chapter was entertaining, I am happy for every feedback you can give to me, and please do, after all, I am doing this for the first time.

The next chapter will probably come next weekend, but maybe I will post some statistic or calculation or something like that in between.

Until then, cheers!

 

[Nikolai]

So is this new kid immortal...?

 

[Loke_The_Champ]

So is this new kid immortal...?

The new kid is merely an reincarnation, so it inherited the personality traits of Adelgundis, but other than that, she is a normal girl. I wonder if she also looks the same

 

[dmurgell]

So Adelgundis' soul is now in baby Renata... Who is her tutor and regent? Did she left everything well set to survive and reach adulthood? What dangers will face Renata without even being aware of?

 

[Loke_The_Champ]

NOW FINISHED ​

Hey guys, I am continuing the series today, I just had so many ideas and wanted to play before I forget them all; disclaimer, this time everything in this chapter (apart from a few spelling mistakes fixed) will be written in parallel, which means, before each next screenshot I upload, I generally had no way of knowing. Maybe this makes it more exciting? Enjoy! Also, as a little convention, I kind of already did that in the last chapter, under the images; Normal text will be role-played text - cursive text will be META (or "OOC") thoughts.

Chapter 2: (782 - 787) - A dangerous childhood
​

The castle of Oriola is in chaos - outside the castle is still under siege, while inside, life was created and destroyed simultaneously. The exact nature of the magic at work is unknown, but there are three things that happened at the same time, one more bizarre than the first; Firstly, Adelgundis lies dead on the floor, with no visible injuries. Secondly a newborn Adelgundis named "Renata" - Latin for "rebirth" was found as well - this time however in the chambers of the late Emira. Thirdly, the mystic from the far east is nowhere to be found, if it were not for the ducal inner circle, who helped locate this mysterious girl in the first place, no one would even believe she existed.

Instantly back home by some magic -, it seems. Despite having 15 health, it seems certain she won't ever be seen again​

Renata, whose soul is fully Adelgundis', seems like a helpless baby. She definitely is, judging by her body, but her thoughts already are fully mature, she knows what she wants, she knows where she is and she also knows who she is - a wonder, in the eyes of the court, who were all aware of how supernatural this event really is.

Adelgundis, in her wisdom [and definitely not Renata on day 1, before the regent was automatically chosen, thank you @dmurgell for reminding me :x], decided to appoint Gonçalo as her regent, should anything happen, as he, as the leader of the team that wound up finding the Indian mystic, knows exactly that something like this was possible to happen.

Our regent Gonçalo, whose Erudite, Humble and Brave traits surely make him a capable regent - also seen, the still-ongoing siege of Oriola
​

The news of Adelgundis death was spreading - had to spread - quickly, after all, it was her treachery the Sultan's soldiers were here for, to put her in chains. Therefore, Gonçalo, who Adelgundis told exactly what to do in case she died; he presented her naked corpse to the Sultan's soldiers to prove the death of the traitor. Furthermore, though this was now more the result of Gonçalo's and not Adelgundis' cunning, he presented himself as the new ruler of Valéncia - a ruse, to keep the soldiers out of the castle. Finally, his sympathy for Muslim religions successfully convinced the besiegers that he was going to be a pious ruler - and was left alone.
​

"She, Adelgundis, has met her end, as Allah wills it. Her treachery, which brought you to these walls, is now extinguished. I, Gonçalo, stand before you as the new ruler of Valéncia, and I swear by the compassionate and merciful that my reign will be one of justice and respect for all faiths. Your holy cause against her is concluded; let peace, as prescribed by the Qur'an, now prevail between us." - Gonçalo, to the Sultan's besiegers.​

What followed now, was a constitution of a capable regency council - while Gonçalo was ready to take on the role of regent, he was not ready to do it alone. Therefore, he appointed several councilors in the name of Renata - who he was loyal to, due to the belief that it was a wonder of God.

• Chancellor is the Basque nobleman Zentulo Lopez, the third husband of the late Adelgundis [I forgot to mention him last time] - either his Cancer, or his claim on the Emirate of Gascogne make him a rather temporary council member
• Marshal is the brilliant Theodoricho, a commoner, whose military skill was not unnoticed by Gonçalo, who a lowborn himself, has connections to the common folk
• Steward: is a spot left vacant for now - Gonçalo is currently looking for a capable person to run this office
• Spymaster: is the peasant Assur - as a representative of the peasants, his streetwise is sure to help
• Court Chaplain: is the zealous Bishop Guttier of Eix - he was flabbergasted, but fully understanding by and of Adelgundis' death, he was a big friend of her

Our loyal council - in little thumbnails, so the thread isn't cluttered with "useless" images

Also, Gonçalo invited two very capable men to join our court, a new commander and a steward:

Note that our new Steward has a claim on the Kingdom of Asturias (and a Wikipedia article)
​

The capable (and also most noble) Adelfonso decides to take up the task of educating young Renate, taking into account that she might have inherited the impeccable character of Adelgundis, focusing on mathematics and logic, after all, a sharp mind is best cultivated early.

Note that due to the zealous trait, curious is guaranteed to yield shrewd - maybe there is a way to exploit this in other, non reincarnation characters?
​

Before engaging in their work, the council decides to, under the leadership of experienced statesman Zentulo, to examine the political situation in the realm, making a few key discoveries:

Firstly, the Saadid Emirate, who holds two counties - held by the very same Sheikh that Adelgundis transferred over to the Emirate -, that de jure belong to València, is surprisingly weak, one good ally could be enough to seize back control over Valencia itself!

​

Secondly, The Catholic revolt that threatened to uproot the area actually managed to decimate the Line of Succession of the neighboring Nadirid Emirate - which Renate inherited a weak claim of. One little regency and this title could be regained very easily

Thirdly, said revolt could break out any day in the next one and a half years, so we should be wary
​

With that analysis, every councilor gets to work, except for Zentulo, who resigns. Why? Because an extremely masterful replacement has been found, who will try to fabricate a claim on the Duchy of Granada.

With 24 Diplomacy skill, it should be quite possible to get a claim in the next 16 years, right?
​

Now, the only thing to do is wait... for opportunities and events. In May of 783, the following happens:

The Aslamid Emirate, who tried to declare a holy war on the decimated Asturian Kingdom is defeated by the army of Brittany, a rebel Kingdom I am considering to ally... sadly, he wouldn't be able to help against internal vassals.
​

After a few more uneventful months, in September, a claim is fabricated on the county of Granada!

This is huge, especially because Granada contains two castles. Let's hope we will get a claim on the entire duchy.​

Badegisel immediately is reassigned to fabricate another claim, this time on Malaga, another important military stronghold. Only a year later, he reports the following:

An ENTIRE duchy? This is wonderful. It shows, how valuable a capable chancellor is.
​

However, our meddling has not gone unnoticed, especially by Abd-al-Malik, the Emir of Granada. With the war in Lombardy concluded, suddenly a royal messenger arrives in Oriola. With a bad feeling, Badegisel receives him, only to realize in horror what he had caused.

"The Sultan declares: The lineage of Adelgundis, the traitor, though present in Renata, cannot hold sway. By our might, the Emirate of València is revoked. Further defiance will be met with force." - a royal messenger​

Badegisel, as an honest person, has been fabricating claims in the name of "the holy child" - he revealed that, in fact, not Gonçalo, but Renata is the one who truly is holding the Emirate of València. Even worse, the lineage to Adelgundis is undisputed - though most Emirs simply haven't connected yet that Renata is, infact, of supernatural origin.


The council holds an emergency meeting, dominated by Gonçalo and Badegisel. "This is TYRANNY, the Sultan has NO legal authority to simply revoke this duchy", Gonçalo laments. "Yes... and this is EXACTLY the point - if the other Emirs get word of this - and get it quickly, on our terms - they will be convinced that their titles will also not be safe", Badegisel analyses. "And then what? What are you suggesting", Gonçalo reacts, unsure of what Badegisel is implying. "Alea iacta est - we are going to fight a civil war - and we have to win, otherwise, we are done for."

No wonder the Sultan hates our guts, being Zealous and all...

... but we have a trump card!

​

---

A big civil war is brewing, a war we have been preparing for the entire time, my marshal has been training troops, I hired a good general. The war is very winnable, but there are many things to keep in mind.​

1. If we lose, its game over, a white peace, and we get some temporary peace. A win, and we have some peace and quiet for a loong time​
2. The Sultan has a lot of money, therefore we have to expect extra mercenaries​
3. The Sultan has ZERO decadence, therefore his armies are extremely dangerous​
4. The AI is quite cautious - once we reach about 30% via ticking war score, we can white peace, any time we want​

Gonçalo is waiting anxiously for Badegisels return, he has been traveling around the entire realm to gather support. "Was his analysis accurate at all? Why would a few Emirs care about a Christian baby?" Suddenly, he comes bursting in, wearing a slightly more oriental outfit than usual. "The lords of the east are entirely on our side." He pauses, and looks on the bleak face of the aging Gonçalo "... and have delegated the command of all their soldiers to us.". Gonçalo stares in disbelief. "Get on your horse, the army needs to be consolidated, quickly".

War is coming.

Lords of the east, indeed. With 6000 soldiers this war is very winnable without too much cheesing

Let's consolidate the troops in Soria - an enclave we can bait the Sultan's troops to.

Troops fully consolidated - and a change of flags - I switched to catholic to invalidate a catholic uprising with 6000 troops, didn't have the patience for that

Good news and bad news - bigger realm, but a peasant revolt - annoying!

Now to force the final battle, come here little Sultan, I am here

Look, now I am here, don't you wanna fight me?

That's a good boy, I am totally not gonna stop marching west once your movement is locked

A pitched battle! Three narrow flanks! Much more I could not have wished for

Hnnnnghh, doesn't this image evoke something in you, too?

439 deaths to their 3483 - ouch!

Interesting: Our Nephew (Son of Ali) started an independence war. Surely it will fail, resulting in title revocation - but wait, if we win this war, there are no titles to be revoked! It will most likely result in an regency - a way to press our claim! Great!

Final battle of the war, not very exciting

And finally, we have peace.
​

The humiliation, the scandal was too big. Sultan Hashim overstepped his bounds, just revoking duchy, merely because he felt like it. This is how he is now perceived by everyone in the realm. He was forced to abdicate, in addition to signing a few laws that guarantee that such tyranny will not happen again.

What now? Well, I think a quick overview is order:

The independence war is still ongoing, I am thinking of joining in to make sure he gets imprisoned

The Djazairids, you know, the ones we have a claim on, are quite strong, I think we can tackle them after the Nadirids - though we would need to assume control of the counties first​

First pretender to the Sultan's throne, or should I say, thrones. By pressing one of his claims, it's possible to fracture the realm​

Second pretender, I think we should do that once we are adult.​

Too bad we are in a regency (and that I honestly forgot to pass the law before), otherwise, religious control mandate would be oh so close​

The situation in the Sultanate is dire, new pretenders, a powerless child Sultan, an aspiring new power inside the realm and wars everywhere. Will Renate, who is now five years old, continue to persist? Find out in the next chapter (probably) on the weekend!​

​

 

[Loke_The_Champ]

Little bump post, to let y'all now I finally finished this chapter! (I edited this post like a million times)

 

[dmurgell]

So little Renata has managed to start AND win a civil war, force the Sultan abdication, and keep her duchy, all that being a preschooler.

Next move? Learning numbers one to six? Painting a tree without going outside the lines?

 

[Nikolai]

So little Renata has managed to start AND win a civil war, force the Sultan abdication, and keep her duchy, all that being a preschooler.

Next move? Learning numbers one to six? Painting a tree without going outside the lines?

She is so precious and talented!