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Chapter 0: AAR Introduction

Bullfilter

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Chapter 0: AAR Introduction

Welcome everyone to this new CK2 AAR. It follows the Rurikid dynasty from 1041 AD, taking the story of 'Part 1' of this game forward from the first instalment of the series, Blut und Schlacht (Blood and Battle): A Learner’s Saga, which began on 17 September 2017.

This AAR is designed to be readable completely separately to that earlier version, which at the time was (and remains) my first and only game of CK2, designed as a bit of a learning vehicle for both me and readers. Time, the trajectory of the game and the advent of CK3 since then all made that old format a little unwieldy from my view. It had outgrown its format, so I decided to start this anew: new scope (far shorter, more strategic chapters covering longer periods) and format (still gameplay based, but more broadly historical in perspective).

The aim is to make the story more accessible to new readers and, for those who followed Blood and Battle faithfully, be able to barrel the story forward to finish it in a reasonable time, given how much more complex a sprawling empire is to manage and write about.

For those who may not be familiar with that AAR and may wish to read it, I won't spoil its story too much in this first post. So spoiler alerts from Chapter 1 onwards, where the first few entries will very quickly show how Rurik's founding of the Petty Kingdom (Jarldom) of Holmgarðr in 867 AD became first the Kingdom of Garðariki and then the (Norse, Reformed Germanic) Russian Empire that bestrides Eurasia as we start this part in November 1041.

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First, some basic game information. This game version has most of the DLC that preceded the big update of CK2 to version 3.0. At that point, I had to continue the game via a beta version (build 2.8.3.4) because the accompanying map update at that time broke the game.

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Of most significance for this story going forward and one of the main reasons for the new sub-title 'Clash of Civilisations' are the two 'invasion settings' selected way back when I started the game more than five years ago. Both the Mongol and the Aztec 'Sunset' invasions are due to hit from the early 13th century onwards, to create a bit of mid-game excitement! That and the fact it remains an Ironman play-through, so no save-scumming, replaying difficult periods, reversing errors or testing out moves in advance.

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The four civilisations I anticipate being integral to the story as it moves forward (and are featured in the AAR banner) are the two current 'old’ empires: the Russian (Rurikid) and East Roman (Byzantine) and these two later invaders. And perhaps others may arise including any revived Muslim caliphate, something emerging from India or the Timurids may also emerge as mid- to late-game super power contenders.

So, welcome aboard, I hope you will follow along. The first chapter will briefly summarise Rurikid Russian history from the dynasty's founding by Rurik in 867 to the succession of the current Emperor in 1032. The second chapter will focus on some key recent events from his reign and then quickly outline the starting position in November 1041.
 
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I am in! :)
 
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let's go!
 
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Chapter 1: Early Rurikid History (867 - 1032)
Chapter 1: Early Rurikid History (867 - 1032)

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

King Rurik and the Founding of Holmgarðr

Early Russian histories mention an earlier petty kingdom (or Jarldom) of Holmgarðr as having existed from 760 to 800 AD under a Slavic ruler named Rodislav, likely of the locally well-known Slovensky family.

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In any case, this tribal entity had lapsed into apparent anarchy for over 60 years until Rurik appeared in the historical (semi-legendary) record to found a new Norse Germanic realm in northern Russia, just south of Lake Ladoga. A Germanic Viking ruling class among largely Slavic Russian common people and minor nobility.

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Nothing is known of Rurik’s previous family background, just that he had a son and heir named Helgi. But his abilities were reputedly great – a brilliant man and a great military leader.

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Rurik used these skills to ruthlessly build his petty kingdom into a true one. The Kingdom of Garðariki was proclaimed in 879 – just over 12 years after he had founded the Rurikid dynasty.

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Rurik ‘the Just’ died of natural causes another ten years after that. His almost 23 year reign had its setbacks and tragedies – including a madness induced by his imprisonment and ‘gelding’ after being captured and cast into a dank dungeon while raiding in Italy. Exacerbated by the death of his first son and heir Helgi just before his own death.

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Not that much was expected of his successor, second son Eilif. But the new King would eventually defy those lowly expectations.

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Eilif I: Fylkir and Emperor

Eilif I was regarded as a rather dull man. After reaching his majority he had been packed off to lead a mercenary band, bankrolled by his father, while his far older brother Helgi was groomed to take over from the great man. But Helgi’s death saw Eilif thrust into the role. Well advised and with a strong drive for self-improvement, Eilif saw two great ambitions for the dynasty in the coming years.

The first aim was to reform the Germanic Faith into a modern, organised religion that would be able to withstand the challenges of the other heathen faiths whose challenge was already being felt. A number of foreign missionaries were expelled and some unauthorised proselytisers burnt at the stake before his first great objective was finally achieved in 911 with the founding of the Reformed Germanic Fylkirate.

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Eilif's second and concurrent objective was to see the kingdom he had inherited turned into an empire. This would help ensure its components, including Sviþjod which was conquered during his reign, would not be split asunder when the next Rurikid succession came. This was finally achieved in the 40th year of his reign … by which time no-one thought of Eilif as ‘dull’.

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The new Rurikid Empire was becoming a force to be reckoned with, stretching from holdings in Ireland and Brabant, most of the Russian heartland and east into the steppe lands of Cumania.

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When his 44-year reign ended in January 934, Eilif I’s legacy as the second great Rurikid ruler was firmly establish and he passed a strong state religion and secure empire onto his son, Styrbjörn I.

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Styrbjörn I: A Tragic Figure

Although he succeeded in steadily expanding and developing the empire through conquest, raiding and building – recurrent themes in Rurikid history – Styrbjörn never scaled the heights of fame and success that many of those who came before or after him did.

His most notable achievement was to begin the conversion of Russia into a feudal realm, starting with his own demesne in March 938. Some of his western vassals – especially in Brabant – were already practising this form of government at this point, but this would begin the process of its wider dissemination throughout the empire.

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Others would follow in coming years, beginning the serious transition of Russia from a purely tribal land whose main income depended on raiding, to one increasingly able to gain significant income and development through taxation and wealth building at home. By 1041, most though not all Russian vassals would have shifted from tribal to feudal administration.

As the strains of rulership and personal loss ate away at him, he decided to break Rurikid tradition and cast himself upon the whims of the Norns by seeking out many dangerous combats as a field commander, despite his mediocre military skills. This saw him become to only Rurikid ruler to die in battle during this first era of the empire.

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His 18 years at the helm saw no spectacular successes, but he handed over a strong and modestly expanded realm to his son Eilif II in September 952. Russian holding in north Germany had began to slowly expand, another long term trend as successive Rurikid emperors sought to directly link their eastern and rich western holdings.

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Eilif II: The Dark Fylkir

After succeeding to both the Fylkirate (an hereditary office) and the Empire, Eilif II wasted little time in seeking out the dark mysteries of the feared Fellowship of Hel to aid (as he saw it) his quest for ever greater power. By April 953 he had become an initiate in the Fellowship and an eager participant in its evil, murderous and demonic activities.

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He soon began working his way up the ranks and just nine years later had risen to the very peak of the Fellowship as Trollmaðr, all while keeping his horrible activities a secret to the outside world, though at times dark suspicions about him circulated.

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Another long-standing Rurikid objective was achieved in June 963 when Eilif oversaw the changing of Russian Imperial inheritance law to primogeniture succession, yet another pillar in the securing of decisive Rurikid control under a single powerful ruler whose demesne should remain largely intact at each handover.

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Either because or in spite of his many dirty deeds, the rest of Eilif II’s reign saw some more major successes. He founded the subordinate Kingdom of Finland in May 964 in order to assist Russian expansion in that region. But his great endeavour was launched in March 991: he sought to massively increase the western holdings of the Empire by declaring a Great Holy War for France.

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Many countries and lords from both the Germanic and Catholic faiths would do battle over the next year and a half, but the evil old man would not live to see the end of the war. He died in March 992 at the age of 61, his black soul eaten away by all the horrors in possession, depression stress and alcoholism.

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Known to the general public at the time as Eilif II ‘the Wise’ but to history always as the Dark Fylkir, once the records of his deeds were uncovered by modern historians, many marvelled at how he had managed to live that long. His son, Styrbjörn II, despite not knowing the full reality of his father’s double life, was determined to be a very different man and ruler.

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

Styrbjörn II: A Tenacious and Successful Man

The new emperor was lucky in taking over a winning war that would deliver enormous gains, riches and bounty to distribute to happy vassals, thus helping to quickly cement his new regime.

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The once-powerful and feared Catholic Kingdom of France was left gutted and the western empire vastly expanded, including rich new lands in and around Paris being absorbed directly into the emperor’s personal demesne.

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The Russian Empire was well on its way now to becoming a behemoth – but the threat it posed to other realms was growing, as were the defensive pacts forming against it. These would increasingly lead to further reliance on power ‘marcher lords’ who would expand the empire through their own efforts, vassalisation deals an opportunistic conquests of vulnerable smaller realms that fell out of pacts.

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The Jarldom of Valois was formed as an imperially held title in December 992 to help consolidate the powerful new holdings kept by Styrbjörn in Paris and Rouen.

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But this successful 15-year reign was cut short in 1007 with the emperor’s untimely death due to stress. Tenacity could only take him so far, but he handed over a very well secured realm to his son Helgi.

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ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

Helgi the Lionheart

In March 1010 the new Fylkir decided to create a new Kingdom within the empire in Volga Bulgaria, to aid in regional expansion by persuading a number of the local chieftains to join willingly as his vassals.

But as he was enmeshed in some border wars far away on the eastern steppe, Helgi was surprised in 1014 by the declaration of a Crusade for France by Pope Stephanus V, presenting a serious Catholic challenge to Germanic dominance in the west.

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As this long conflict progressed, in April 1017 Helgi struck a diplomatic and political blow by usurping the French crown from the successor to unfortunate former-King Valeran, who had died just a couple of months before.

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Then just a few months after this, the invasion and occupation of Rome itself by a Russian expeditionary force made the new Pope Hadrianus II agree to a humiliating and punitive peace treaty.

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This resulted in Helgi becoming known by the grand sobriquet of ‘the Lionheart’, while the Pope was driven to despair and madness due to this apparent abandonment by God of his own Pontiff.

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Because France was an existing kingdom when usurped, it still retained its old inheritance laws, unlike the other kingdoms directly founded by the Rurikid emperors, which conformed to the imperial primogeniture succession law. This risked the hiving off of the French imperial demesne holdings to a second son on succession.

It took until June 1024 for Helgi to finally push through the necessary amendment after jumping through all the legal hoops. A single heir would again take all the currently held imperial demesne titles.

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At this time, the Russian Empire had expanded further into Bulgaria due to the actions of its marcher lords, had expanded the ‘land bridge to the west’ by Imperial action and now dominated France and most of Sweden, Ireland and southern Finland.

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The realm continued to slowly expand, develop and prosper in the over the next few years as raiding and taxes once again swelled the Imperial coffers, funding the long-term building program and expansion of the now many imposing companies of the Imperial Retinue. Along with the ‘permanently retained’ legion of the Jomsviking Holy Order, these formed the backbone of the Russian Army.

But another successful reign was cut short by a bad case of dysentery that proved beyond the skills of the best healers of the day to cure.

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Helgi’s very promising son and heir Hroðulfr would take up the Fylkirship and imperial mantle while still quite young, but already a man grown and ready to take up the challenge of leading once of the great powers of the medieval world. He would remain in that office when this story starts in November 1041.

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

Summary

By 1032, the key props of absolute Rurikid dynastic power were firmly in place:
  • Imperial rule.
  • Personal leadership of a Reformed Germanic Faith with great moral authority.
  • Primogeniture inheritance laws at the imperial and kingdom levels.
  • A strong standing professional army of Retinue and Jomsviking troops.
  • Powerful and highly developed core imperial demesne baronies in both France and Russia.
  • Strong and growing domestic tax and trade revenue augmented by lucrative raiding.
  • Powerful marcher lords who did not have the power to challenge the Emperor but had enough to keep steadily expanding the Empire's borders without triggering anti-Russian defensive pacts.
The question remained as to whether these would be enough to sustain and advance Rurikid hegemony in the decades and centuries to come, against both domestic and foreign challenges and the ravages of epidemic disease.
 
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Interesting. I didn't manage to faithfully follow the first part, but I think that I'm caught up. I didn't realize that you had a successful reformation and a Hel-worshipper...

Will you attempt to expand into Germany and Denmark to unite the realm? Great Holy Wars might prove useful there.
 
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I prefer the 'dancing bear' kingdom flag to the empire's ode to Heckle and Jeckle. It is a shame that you do not have the updated 'bull's head' dynasty shield instead of (what is it?). Thank you for the trip down memory lane.
 
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The empire's lands are quite disjointed. Might prove tricky later on.
 
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Next 'recent history recap' chapter is ready to go, which will bring us fully up to date with the new AAR start setting, after which the game restarts and we start making new alt-history again! Thanks for those who have already jumped aboard (or transferred from the good ship Blood & Battle). :)
Interesting. Russia is so spread out. In the 13th century you may end up having to deal with both the Mongols and the Aztec.
Yes, very spread out. The Norse-Norman diaspora in OTL was also very spread out (though of course not to this extent) including into the Med, France, Ireland, etc, but in this case the Rus Vikings have kept it all together, rather than independent fragments.

Yes, the Mongols and possible overlap with the Aztecs has been a future shock hanging over the game since it started - they timing was deliberate, to provide extra challenge. When I started this, not having played CK2 before, I had little idea of what I was doing or expectation the Rurikids would last so long and become so strong. But now I'm glad they are coming to provide that mid-game challenge.
Interesting. I didn't manage to faithfully follow the first part, but I think that I'm caught up. I didn't realize that you had a successful reformation and a Hel-worshipper...
Excellent! If you want a walk on the dark (and grisly) side to see what it's like when the head of Odin's faith is also the chief of Hel's Own, living a double life at the top while also running a huge empire, then I recommend you have a scan back through Eilif II's long and eventful reign. He gets up to some nasty stuff :eek:
Will you attempt to expand into Germany and Denmark to unite the realm? Great Holy Wars might prove useful there.
The expansion into Germany has been going on for some time now. The corridor will hopefully be thickened once it has been fully established. And there are a good few powerful marcher lords or ambitious junior chiefs with interests in the region too who regularly make their own autonomous plays (Sweden, Brabant, the Jomsviking Warchief, to name a few).

For now, we prefer to keep Denmark as an effectively satellite Norse partner (partly gameplay, quite a bit role play, given the Emperor is also the Fylkir). And when they are friendly, with quite large holdings in north Germany and Poland, they come in handy as supports in wars and safe transit grounds.

For a little while now, I have been eyeing off the Hungarian-Bulgarian realms, though. I could see a GHW for one or both of them in the future, but it would have to be carefully done. These days, even after prolonged period of imperial Russian peace, the successful campaigns of the vassal marcher lords keep the threat level hovering between 95-100% all the time. Which makes launching major wars even more risky. As we have seen!
I prefer the 'dancing bear' kingdom flag to the empire's ode to Heckle and Jeckle. It is a shame that you do not have the updated 'bull's head' dynasty shield instead of (what is it?). Thank you for the trip down memory lane.
I did rather like that flag too and was a little sad when it was swapped for that imperial one. I like the bull idea! :D As for that symbol, interestingly it's the same symbol that Ukraine uses these days for its coat of arms, except white on black instead of yellow on blue.A link back to the Rus (albeit the Kievan branch).

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Wikipedia tells me "The coat of arms of Ukraine is a blue shield with a gold trident. Officially referred to as the Emblem of the Royal State of Volodymyr the Great, colloquially the tryzub, the insignia derives from the seal-trident of Volodymyr the Great, the first Grand Prince of Kyiv." So it is a somewhat stylised trident, which I didn't know before looking it up just now.

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On the trident symbol, the relevant wiki article there first asserts: "Throughout the early Middle Ages, the Rurikid knyazes of the Kievan Rus' used unique symbols to denote property rights over various items. They are depicted on punches, seals, and coins of the Rurikids. In contrast to Western European heraldry, where coats of arms belonged to entire families, or were inherited without changes by firstborn sons, Rurikid symbols were personal, with every knyaz devising an emblem of their own for themselves." For CK2, I guess they needed to fix on a single dynastic one for game purposes. Fair enough.

This interesting graphic from the wiki article shows how they morphed to and away from the squiggly trident we see for the in-game Rurikids in this earlier version of CK2.

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Per wiki: "The Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was a noble lineage founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year AD 862. The Rurikids were the ruling dynasty of Kievan Rus' (after the conquest of Kiev by Oleg of Novgorod in 882) before it finally disintegrated in the mid-13th century, as well as the successor Rus' principalities and Rus' prince republics of Novgorod [Nygarðr in this game], Pskov, Vladimir-Suzdal, Ryazan, Smolensk, Galicia-Volhynia (after 1199), Chernigov, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow (from 1263)."

Interestingly, contemporaneous with the current alt-hist game timeline, Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich (c. 978–20 February 1054) was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was also the Prince of Novgorod on three occasions, uniting the principalities for a time.

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Personal seal of Yaroslav the Wise, who is highlighted in that graphic of crests and seals above.

Thanks for raising this and thus sending me down this rabbit hole! :cool:

The empire's lands are quite disjointed. Might prove tricky later on.
Yes, they are, and it did prove a bit of a logistical challenge when the Catholic Crusade for France launched when we were largely deployed to the steppe in a border war. But these days, both halves of the empire can now muster large levy armies each of which by themselves rival most of the armies of their larger neighbours in size. Then there is the floating standing army of the Retinue-Jomsvikings, mercenary hire and the ability to move armies of over 20,000 men in size by sea in large fleets.

But rather like the East Roman Empire of our own time line against first the Arab Caliphate + Bulgaria and then the Turks + Pechenegs etc, two large simultaneous challenges could prove very difficult to handle, and the Byzantines had internal lines in the second of those. The first they didn't, and ended up losing much of the outlying empire (Egypt, Syria etc) even after they recovered. Twin Mongol-Aztec invasions plus whatever else the game may throw up (pestilence, internal strife, other rising powers) will hopefully keep the Rurikids alert and the situation interesting.

And per above, the Rurikids have been working for decades now to strengthen east-west links so the main halves aren't so isolated, though the distances will remain great. And the really peripheral bits, such as Ireland (largely insulated by a Norse England); the eastern steppe (which the vassals have been advancing into) and things like the outpost in Amalfi can, if necessary, simply be shuffled off if holding them becomes too difficult or not worth the trouble.

To All: Thanks all for your interest so far. The next chapter will come later today, while I've played through the first 'new' game session and have made a good start on editing its images, but will wait a while before putting that one up. I have some other projects to update and other AAR reading to do before I go that far. Still, just ending my COVID self-isolation period (day 5) and feeling quite a bit better, so the energy is returning. :)
 
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Chapter 2: Hroðulfr’s Early Reign (1032 - 1041)
Chapter 2: Hroðulfr’s Early Reign (1032 - 1041)

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

Hrodulfr’s Accession and First Year (1032)

The current Emperor took up the Six Crowns* on 20 March 1032 at the age of 24.

These are the Imperial Russian crown, the four kingdoms of Garðariki, France, Finland and Volga Bulgaria and the Fylkirate. The Kingdom of Sviþjod, while still subject to Imperial sovereignty, had passed out of the main imperial line of succession some generations ago, before inheritance laws were changed, and then out of the Rurikid line entirely.

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He already had a small family and an heir of his own, the six year old Prince Toste, plus a daughter and a formidably skilled wife, Empress Beata af Vendel.

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Something else Hroðulfr brought with him to the Imperial purple was a great architectural project which would be completed later that year, bringing him lasting renown and prestige for the rest of his life.

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At this time, the Byzantine Empire was the only nearby power that came close to the size and military strength of Rurikid Russia. Catholic power in Europe had been shattered, while the Islamic world had split into four or five sizeable but definitely second echelon powers, often plagued by internal wars. England and Denmark were the next two most powerful Norse Germanic kingdoms, who generally tended to gravitate towards Russian hegemony and were in turn tolerated by the Rurikids as fellow faithful. So long as they ‘behaved’.

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In the east, the Indian sub-continent was also dominated by five major powers, of whom the Pala Kingdom was the ‘first among equals’. The Cumans, Afrigids and Samanids ruled the eastern steppe, though not strongly, the Samanids being the pre-eminent among the steppe lords at that time.

Norse culture had spread more slowly than the Germanic religion, but was found in pockets all the way from the west of Ireland to the central Steppe.

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ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

Highs and Lows (1033-36)

Unfortunately for Hroðulfr, Empress Beata was taken way too soon. His three young children would soon have a young stepmother: a scandalously (to some) low-born girl by the name of Ylva.

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She was chosen for her renowned intellect rather than any noble title – or indeed personal habits, it seems. The Rurikids cared little for those: ability and the capacity to support the Emperor and bear talented children counted for more in their eyes.

Undaunted by this upheaval at home, Hroðulfr gained the accolade ‘the Sword of Tyr’ later that year after winning another holy war that expanded the realm further into Poland – and towards the must-sought German land bridge.

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But as the year ended, a matter of personal honour that would rankle for years and cause a bitter rivalry occurred. It is understood a relatively minor nobleman who fancied himself as a 'Cocksman' tried (but failed) to seduce the young (and by then pregnant) Empress Ylva.

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Not willing to let the matter lie (so to speak) Hroðulfr initiated a murderous plot to remove this odious stone from his shoe. The plot was slow to gain momentum but his determination never waned. As it happened, this would not be the last, or most significant assassination Hroðulfr would plan.

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The following couple of years were not quite so eventful as the first two of his reign. But in a watershed moment that would have repercussions for years to follow, the Jarldom of Brabant, long one of the most powerful, stable and expansionist of the marcher lord demesnes, was wracked with unrest. Its long-serving, famous and very successful - but also rather horrible - Jarl, Bertil ‘the Sword of the Thunder’ was overthrown in a coup. The deranged, pox-ridden cannibal lord’s ouster saw House Skáld ejected from their ancestral seat by Hrörekr, of a branch of the royal Norwegian Yngling dynasty.

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While Bertil nursed his wounded pride and made his plans, a project close to Hroðulfr’s heart was enacted. Amalfi had left the safety of the Christian defensive pact and found itself pounced upon and conquered by Russian Vikings. In January 1035, it became the Russian outpost in the Mediterranean, the ‘Bank of Amalfi’ where raided loot could be easily deposited and conscripts safely stood down when the need called.

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But a year later, despite his successes, the melancholy of depression settled to bow down the shoulders of the Fylkir, to suck some the pleasure out of his life and dull his ruling abilities for the following years.

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ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

The Rurikids Against the World (1037-39)

In 1037, the instability in Brabant would worsen. Jarl Hrörekr Yngling sought to revoke Bertil’s ancestral county seat of Brabant chiefdom. He thought he now had the numbers to do it, but did not count on the support of the powerful Jarl Öysteinn ‘the Great’ of Champagne who soon came in to support Bertil’s cause. The Fylkir despaired at this infighting between some his most powerful western lords: they should be off fighting heathens and expanding the empire, not each other!

One shining example of the marcher lord ideal was found on the steppe, where the Rurikid scion Jarl Bersi II Rurikid of Bolghar, thenceforth known as ‘the Brave’, completed a great conquest against the Afrighid Shahdom in May 1038, pushing the empire’s border even further east.

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A few months later, a diplomatic blunder by the Russians saw them attack what they thought was the isolated small realm of Yatvingia, lying astride the north German land bridge. Though there were no other pagan pact members at the time, they were able to enlist the aid of all the other active religious pact members around the known world.

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This would test the strength and strategy of the Rurikid Empire, whose strength was not so mighty it could face all these enemies, including the Byzantine Empire, in a prolonged war. It was Russia against the world, except for the other Norse realms with which it had non-aggression pacts.

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As Hroðulfr sought to put the situation right as quickly as he could, before the full force of the enemy could concentrate against him, his new wife Ylva gave birth to a second son for the Emperor – a brilliant young boy named Helgi. A very suitable ‘spare heir’ indeed.

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Fortunately, after some adroit manoeuvring and a few large and decisive victories, the Russian strategy of concentrating solely on the war’s objectives saw it won by April 1039. The north German land bridge was coming close to full completion, with usually friendly Danish territory now the only thing separating the eastern and western halves of the Empire.

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The Germanic faith had spread even wider still after the conquests and subsequent conversions of recent years. Catholicism had shrunk to a second-tier religion, confined mainly to southern France, northern Italy and pockets southern and western Germany. The four major (known) world faiths were now Germanicism, Sunni Islam, Orthodox Christianity and Hinduism in the east.

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As 1039 limped into 1040, the Troubles in Brabant flared again. Realm peace had been enforced to stop the last civil war inconclusively and had prevented many such since. But in November 1039, Bertil Skáld managed to stage a successful counter coup against Hrörekr Yngling. But his glee was short-lived as a new Yngling claimant, Hroðulfr, first tried to launch a revolt in January 1040. When that was thwarted by the realm peace, the next month he staged yet another palace coup to once more oust Bertil and take the Jarldom for himself.

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

To the Present (1040-41)

Despairing of these shenanigans, the Fylkir kept up with a busy raiding program using the professional Retinue and Jomsviking troops (normally numbering around 14-15,000 in total). Already known as a Viking, his reputation became that of a fearsome Ravager.

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Crown Prince Toste came of age in August 1040. He appeared to be a competent enough young man, though his father had not yet found a wife for him.

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In the east, Jarl Bersi completed yet another spectacular conquest on October, joining his previous acquisitions from the Afrighids by seizing a large part of the remaining Cumanian Khanate in a holy war.

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By early November, all active imperial Russian wars having been concluded, the elite raiding army was again assembled and made for Italy. It was once again time to boost the state treasury, let the levies replenish themselves and allow ambitious marcher lords to do their Fylkir’s work for him.

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In recent years the Empire had fleshed itself out in Scandinavia, France and along the north German land bridge, in addition to Bersi’s startling expansions in the east.

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The Imperial demesne baronies, three of them in the home county of Holmgarðr (the capital Nygarðr, Chudovo and the newer Okulovka), were all well developed. The trade outpost in Tana, a Silk Road terminus, was also producing significant trade income by that time.

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The 10 Imperial demesne baronies in November 1041, ranked by levy size.

The moral authority of Germanicism remained sky high, with all five holy sites now under Germanic control, Paderborn in Germany having been recently added. Hroðulfr was the sixth Fylkir to hold the office.

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He was also the sixth wearer of the Imperial Russian crown, with Toste the heir apparent.

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Of the civic and religious realm laws available, there was room to move if desired (and feasible) on viceroyalty for kingdoms and to marginally increase the status of women.

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Council laws of the time gave it significant review powers, though for many years successive Emperors had had little problem getting their way through political means. Though perhaps there was some potential for a more absolutist approach in some areas in the future.

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In the kingdoms, all those directly controlled by the Emperor now had the same inheritance laws. Garðariki, the oldest of the eastern thrones, traced its lineage all the way back to its founding by Rurik in 879, making Hroðulfr the seventh holder.

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France, as we have seen, had been usurped by Helgi in 1017 and its inheritance laws ‘fixed’ before Hroðulfr (rather than his brother) inherited it in 1032.

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Finland’s title dated back to Eilif I in 964, with Hroðulfr now its fourth king.

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While the newest title for Volga Bulgaria, created by his father Helgi, made the current Emperor its second king.

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So stood the Russian Empire on 2 November 1041, as this new Rurikid chronicle begins its story.
 
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Thank you for the trident info. The Rurikid 'Bull' is not an idea, but rather the dynasty shield was updated with a bull's head (I forget if it is red or black and I think it is on a white background). I find the Rurikid dynasty to be quite prolific in later starts. What was the dynasty of Eilif's mother? Her dynasty can be traced back several generations before game beginning. Your vassals would be happier if you reduce to two kingdom level holdings.

Thank you for the update. I hope that you beat COVID real soon.
 
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Thank you for the trident info. The Rurikid 'Bull' is not an idea, but rather the dynasty shield was updated with a bull's head (I forget if it is red or black and I think it is on a white background). I find the Rurikid dynasty to be quite prolific in later starts. What was the dynasty of Eilif's mother? Her dynasty can be traced back several generations before game beginning. Your vassals would be happier if you reduce to two kingdom level holdings.

Thank you for the update. I hope that you beat COVID real soon.
That shot of Rurik shows all there is I’m afraid. No parents there to click on. One of those characters that appears from nowhere, no background info on the ‘historical record’, I suppose.

Thanks for the advice re the number of kingdom holdings. Is there a tooltip somewhere that gives the cause/effect? It might be a good reason to try to get viceroyalty introduced!

I think I have the ‘rona just about done. Our voluntary self-isolation advisory period finishes tomorrow morning. Day of positive test +5.
 
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That shot of Rurik shows all there is I’m afraid. No parents there to click on. One of those characters that appears from nowhere, no background info on the ‘historical record’, I suppose.

Thanks for the advice re the number of kingdom holdings. Is there a tooltip somewhere that gives the cause/effect? It might be a good reason to try to get viceroyalty introduced!

I think I have the ‘rona just about done. Our voluntary self-isolation advisory period finishes tomorrow morning. Day of positive test +5.
The wife (Eilif's mother) is tied into the great Viking chiefs. Rurik would be like a Viking captain who went off (kicked out?) on his own and made great.
 
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The wife (Eilif's mother) is tied into the great Viking chiefs. Rurik would be like a Viking captain who went off (kicked out?) on his own and made great.
That sounds fitting. And 'records' in that time and place would have been scant indeed. Rurik's more legend than known historical personality.

PS: To All. I want to get the first chapter of new content up and posted to really get the new AAR going properly, so here it comes soon! :)
 
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Chapter 3: Feast and Famine (1041 – 47)
Chapter 3: Feast and Famine (1041 – 47)

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

A Wedding, Two Funerals, Two Births and a Blot (1041-43)

Hroðulfr’s next priority was to find a bride for young Crown Prince Toste. This he did as 1041 was ending. Ingibjörg was considered ‘the best filly of a poor herd’. She was a young widow who already had a son from her first marriage – which proved she was fertile. Toste would be expected to ‘get cracking’ soon to produce a new heir.

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The first funeral of 1042 was of the despised Suni ‘the Seducer’ of Danzig. In the end, a murder plot wasn’t needed: his own dissolute habits saw him die a young man – from gout, rather than a vengeful husband.

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The new Italian Raid began on 1 May 1042 when the Imperial army landed in Rome to sack the Pope’s home – again. His garrison had taken the field, but Sigbjörn’s raiders cared little. The Papal troops were massacred.

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Many thought the formidable old Jarl Frirek had this time bitten off more than he could chew when he launched a prepared invasion of Aquitaine in mid-1042. Queen Tiburge fielded a large army. But they were all of them deceived!

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In Rome, the sacking of the Pope’s castle yielded a very fine artefact in late June. Had it not been for the even better ‘Champion’ armour already crafted by the Rurikids some years before, it would the splint mail armour would have been equipped promptly. Instead it would be kept in reserve and perhaps bequeathed to a Rurikid son if he ever had need of it.

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Two births came at once for Toste, with Ingibjörg (herself a twin) producing twins in January 1043. However, the boy Arni was sickly at birth and there were concerns the possible future emperor may not survive his infancy.

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As Frirek continued to prosecute his ambitious war against Aquitaine, in early 1043 King Þorolfr of Sviþjod brought his own holy war for Lower Lorraine to a successful conclusion, reducing the Christian enclave in eastern France still further, bringing Metz under his and Rurikid control. Þorolfr soon created a new Jarldom to fold his conquest into.

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The following month, Jarl Hroðulfr Yngling of Brabant succeeded in his conquest of Kleve as his rival and vassal Bertil sought to do the same to neighbouring Münster.

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This must have all been too much for the jealous Jarl, who then turned his wrath once more on his mortal enemy, thus perpetuating the Brabantian Troubles, the enforced Realm Peace having expired some time before.

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Having looted 612 gold out of Rome from May 1042 to May 1043, the raiders next turned their attention to Venice, once more attacking and easily defeating a defending army before settling down to their work.

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Despite being attacked by his own liege, Bertil still managed to win his holy war for Münster in August 1043. His army then turned to confront his Jarl’s similarly sized host then besieging Hainaut to the south-west.

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And the reports from Jarl Frirek in Aquitaine were very promising. Despite Queen Tiburge’s sizable army and six allies having come to her aid, Frirek had mustered a force of over 30,000 men, most of them adventurers. He currently had three large armies ranging through Aquitaine against little opposition.

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On the diplomatic front, the Fylkir decided to reach out to the Roman Basileus in Constantinople that September, seeking to improve relations by sending his Chancellor Jarl Bersi the Brave to the capital of the other great empire as a resident ambassador extraordinary.

In France, the danger of disease reared its head in Mortain, with the outbreak of an epidemic of consumption in October 1043, even as the force of Jarl Öysteinn the Great of Orleans mustered to once more come to the aid of his old friend Bertil Skáld of Hainaut.

But just the following month, old Bertil would finally die – another victim of a depraved and dissolute lifestyle. His very young son Ormr inherited Hainaut from him, his other holdings being dispersed among two of his even younger brothers. But Jarl Hroðulfr’s war continued, as did the Brabantian Troubles.

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At court, late 1043 had seen the once-in-nine-years celebration of another Great Blot, ending without incident at the end of December.

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ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

Marcher Lords Rule (1044-45)

The next marcher lord success in France came to Warchief Surt, whose holy war for Bourbon saw Duke Raimbaut evicted in March 1044.

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The extraordinary run of marcher lord success continued when in October of that year, Chief Ivar of Mâcon won a feeding frenzy among his colleagues to take Forez and a nice new nickname. He had been lucky enough to capture Duke Bernard IV of Burgundy in battle at the end of September, leading to his capitulation soon after.

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But the biggest windfall came to Jarl Frirek when he emerged victorious against Aquitaine, carving five rich counties out of that unfortunate Kingdom. Small Lothian had suddenly become a major power in southern France and added a new raiding base for the Rurikids in the Western Mediterranean. All without the Emperor needing to lift a finger.

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The peaceful vassalisation of Frirek into the Empire some years before and the recent policy of letting the marcher lords do the heavy lifting of expansion was paying very handsome dividends. Meanwhile, the raiders in Venice emerged with another 566 gold there in March 1044 and would secure another 386 from Padua by the end of December.

Three more Retinue companies were raised in February 1045, this time bolstering the archer and light infantry components, for more balance. One skirmish and two light skirmish companies began training in Holmgarðr.

The Emperor was still growing his own brood of children, with another son – his eighth child and seventh still living – that March. Young Borkvard was to be prepared for a life of struggle.

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In April, the Fylkir used his sizeable contingency fund to support a charitable donation for the poor. This magnanimous gift from the public purse was well regarded by his vassals.

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The end of May brought yet more marcher lord success, the ever-active King Þorolfr this time adding Mainz to his demesne as the Rurikid infiltration of Germany continued.

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Chancellor Bersi’s mission to Constantinople bore some initial fruit in July 1045, though the improvement in relations came with Basilissa Dorothea rather than her husband; Bersi would persist.

With no event of great note recorded for the rest of the year, the main interest was on the raid, where Segna Jan-Jul, 307 gold) and Istria (Jul-Dec, 343 gold) were both thoroughly looted before the raiders headed to Ferrara for the last part of their great raid.

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

A Bitter Winter (1046-47)

The year 1046 began with yet another episode in the long-running sore of Brabantian in-fighting. This time, one of Hrodulfr’s vassals declared a revolt in the name of the Jarl’s brother Guðröðr – though apparently without his permission. Guðröðr sided with his brother against the revolt.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, a rare marcher lord failure followed, with the bellicose Jarl Hroðulfr of Brabant losing his holy war for Upper Lorraine on 11 May. Then in June, a legend passed with the death of Jarl Frirek. His son Knut inherited the significant (though still war-ravaged) holdings in France but not his father’s huge army.

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Ferrara yielded 249 gold to the Rurikid raiders in May, after which they took to their ships for the return to Amalfi. They would arrive on 2 July with a massive 2,463 gold in their treasure chests. The fleet then split, about 150 ships taking the army back to northern France, while the other 120-odd headed to the Gulf of Finland via the Russian river system to be ready to pick up the retinue troops preparing there. With another round of building commenced, the Imperial demesne was thriving in mid-1046, including the trade post in Tana.

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The new Jarl of Lothian decided he would follow in his father’s footsteps, declaring a conquest of Nice in September. The raiding army was nearing northern France by then, meaning it would be an overland march to assist Knut, rather than a more convenient landing in friendly Provence. The raiders would skirt the continuing and expanding consumption outbreak and head to the staging area in Bourgogne.

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The Emperor was greatly irritated when word came that November that a cousin, Hakon, was planning to raise an army for a claim on the imperial throne. Whispers at court that an ‘accident’ might befall Hakon appealed to Hroðulfr’s notorious cruel streak. A murder plot was soon under way – and heavily subscribed with willing accomplices.

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Alas, one of the conspirators carelessly leaked news of the plot. Despite this, the Fylkir pressed on. He wanted the impudent Hakon – who he had come to detest – dead and his adventure snuffed out before it could cause any damage.

The raiding army, now under Magni’s command, arrived in Bourgogne on 9 December with 15,000 men and headed straight to Neuchatel, meaning to pass quickly across to Savoy, to assist Jarl Knut’s campaign. But the customary Rurikid care for logistics was neglected and, too late, the terrible conditions and lack of food in the snow-laden hills were recognised. On 1 January 1047, Magni turned his men around but it was too late. Three days before they made it back to the safety of Bourgogne, around 3,500 (22.5%) of the Empire’s elite soldiers had perished.

Then the plot against Hakon culminated in early February: it would be Hroðulfr’s favourite ploy – the manure bomb! But the success turned to ashes in the cruel Fylkir’s mouth: his part was revealed and he would henceforth be known not just as a murderer but a familial kinslayer at that! His large extended family would not be impressed.

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The only unequivocally good news to emerge from this bitter winter was that Hroðulfr’s grandson Arni, now aged three, add overcome his sickly infancy and was now as healthy as the next toddler. Finally, sick of the distracting Brabantian Troubles, the Fylkir spent some prestige and a favour that was never likely to be called in by forcing the revolt leader Tyke to end the war and submit himself to Jarl Hroðulfr’s custody.

So ended a somewhat bitter winter after a run of bountiful years.

ᚔ ᚱᚢᚱᛁᚲᛁᛞ ᚔ

Annex A: Religious Conversions. From December 1041 to September 1046, eight more counties were led to Odin’s light. Four in the steppe lands (Kyzyl-Kum, Karluk, Kazakh and Ili), two in Poland (Galindia and Plock) and one each in Finland (Finnmark) and France (Auxerre, converted by Seer Ale from the Waldensian heresy).

Annex B: Building. From May 1043 (three projects), April 1044 (two), August 1045 (one) to July 1046 (three more, after the end of the latest raid) a total of nine new buildings were paid for; thousands of gold from a mixture of tax income and loot. Three of these were for improved housecarl training grounds, the rest one each of a keep, barracks, militia training ground, castle shipyard, stables and training grounds. As an indication of the largesse that had gone into the long Rurikid building program, four of the Imperial demesne baronies were at the maximum development capacity for the technology of the time.
 
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Kinslayer eh? That malus hurts.
 
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Hroðulfr’s plan to deal with everything is assassination, isn't it?

Why did you declare war on the defensive pact? Did you not notice it? Was it for roleplaying?

It seems that the marcher lords are doing well. Let's hope that they don't start getting ideas of independence...
 
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Kinslayer eh? That malus hurts.
Yes it does, but the successful manure bomb was almost worth it. Not sure how serious that move of Hakon’s would have been in the end, but the Falkirk was determined to snuff it - and him - out. Some cruelty roleplaying in there, plus the fact the Suni plot never got anywhere, with nature taking its course instead.
Why did you declare war on the defensive pact? Did you not notice it? Was it for roleplaying?
That earlier ‘accidental’ war against the world, recapped in Chapter 2? It was completely unintentional and a mistake. The target was the only country in the pagan defensive pact at the time and it had temporarily slipped my mind that the threat level was still above 95% and thus the other religious pacts were also triggered. Oops.

Still, it gained some valuable territory, provided a memorable object lesson about checking the threat situation before any DoW and also showed what a war against a huge combined defensive pact might be like. Including what kind of army the Byzantines might field and how and where it would strike.

And it showed it was winnable, with some care/luck and a finite target that could be quickly taken down.it would have been a much more difficult proposition against a larger target that would take longer to defeat, thus allowing coalescing enemies to wreak more havoc in the extended Russian Empire.
It seems that the marcher lords are doing well. Let's hope that they don't start getting ideas of independence...
Even better than expected, the takedown of Aquitaine being the icing on the cake. Factional activity has been minimal for some years now and we will go on hoping (and trying to manage vassal opinion) that stays the case. Another reason for the central empire ensuring the leader’s military strength is sufficient to discourage any seccessionism or crush it if it arises!
 
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