I haven't fully read your other CK2 AAR, despite my best attempts to catch up. But I'm glad to be here for the start of this one.
- 1
- 1
I was about to suggest the same thing to be done, I think the war against time can be won in this case hopefully
Oh no I was wrong it's coming too fast
Yes, it's working through Persia and Mesopotamia now and hasn't crept too far into Rurikid lands ... yet. We'll build as much medical protection for the Imperial demesne counties as we can, given the large treasury surplus. Other counties will just have to fend for themselves. The main aim will be to do what's possible to maintain comparative demesne strength v vassals during these dark times.luckily it's taken the southern route, but still too fast. let's see if the hospital in Tana is finished in time. Things will change until black death has passed.
Well, it's always there as a prequel if you ever find the time for it, but the preamble for this one is I hope enough to provide useful context for this new work. It's a pleasure to have you along for the ride!I haven't fully read your other CK2 AAR, despite my best attempts to catch up. But I'm glad to be here for the start of this one.
Yes, a bacterium, in a flea, on a rat, to people. Isn't nature ingenious?Black Death is coming on a pale horse. Or...more likely a flea covered rat. Oh joy.
Yeah, I'm kind of hoping the impact is at least proportionate. It may well weaken some more or earlier than others. So I suppose there could be some opportunities too ...Well, the empire is still expanding, but I imagine that the Black Death will harm that.
Let's hope that the Black Death affects the Christians at least as much as the Rurikids and their subjects...
Yes, given I've not been initiating many conquests myself for years, the vassals have been doing a pretty decent job of steadily clearing up the border gore.Credit to Santois for somehow lasting this long.
The pitter patter of little feet - I'm curious to see whether this current plague reaches everywhere eventually or only some regions before receding.Earlier I said that it wouldnt surprise me if the eastern frontier soon heard the thundering of hooves, I guess I should have said the scurrying of rats.
Yes, though there are plenty of pretenders lurking in the wings, now is a time for safety in numbers of heirs!Hopefully Hrodulfr doesnt have cause to lament only having 2 living sons of his 11 children........
e had already fallen under the influence of the Fellowship of Hel in his younger years!
niiiiceCovetous Rurikid eyes were turned on the Duchy of Itil, for which a holy war would be a tempting ploy if the circumstances could be played right: conquering it from the rebels without incurring the wrath of the pacts and while the civil war continued.
It does. Toste's job is to make sure they don't! This could be the once-in-a-century opportunity to cut them down a peg or two and stop that flanking expansion into the steppe. Until the Mongols come along, anyway - but Toste doesn't know they're coming.Byzantium needs to get its act together.
Yes, it's all taken off. Perhaps increased trade and prosperity are helping to spread them more quickly and widely.There are multiple plagues now. That's... really annoying. Of course, if these plagues only affected the Russians, it might be the wrath of the Aesir against the new Helborn Emperor...
Hmm, I don't think so.Can the new Emperor grow his eye back if he joins the Fellowship of Hel?
Yes, for a long time they've been remarkably stable. Now they get the perfect waves ...That's really unfortunate timing for the Byzantines on that civil war.
He may not be as bloodthirsty or depraved as the Dark Fylkir was, but he hasn't had much opportunity yet to spread his bat-wings!I wonder what dark deeds the new Emperor will get up to.
That's right, it saves me feeling bad for sending another emperor into the Hel Worshippersthis time with his own volition!
It's looking like a good target of opportunity for now, we'll see if it works out. Even if the whole Byzantine rebellion took us on, we can still outnumber and defeat it, I believe.niiiice
Given his hubris and worship of Hel, it seems highly likely that Odin did hate Toste and sent the rock to where it would do the most damage. Not only was the Emperor now fully blinded, but the newly emptied eye socket became infected, leaving him severely injured.
:/The turbulent year ended with Toste wondering whether he might be able to attain the next level in the Fellowship and access some dark healing. It may not restore his sight but may at least alleviate his suffering. But this remained out of his present reach.
Praise Thor!The month ended on a high note among the growing avalanche of plague death reports among the minor Russian nobility, with Sviþjod winning its holy war for Brandenburg against Hungary. This formally completed the long-awaited land corridor between the western and eastern halves of the Rurikid Empire.
Oh... Well he had that comingBut at the capital, Toste had never recovered from his blinding injury and died a miserable death on 6 July 1071. Those writing his epitaph at the time had no idea of his secret life: he was more likely down in Helheim than in Valhalla with Odin! Toste had reigned for only two and a half years, his death undoubtedly sparing the Empire from the tender ministrations of another Fellow of Hel.
good luck to the new warrior emperor!Arni’s first task after having secured his succession as best he could was to complete the conquest and annexation of Itil. This would provide much prestige and allow him to grant landed titles to bolster his political position with influential magnates.
At long last.This formally completed the long-awaited land corridor between the western and eastern halves of the Rurikid Empire.
I know, what a great event? I role played his attempt to catch it, but it hadn't occurred to me he may get fully blinded. Very well played by the game designers there, I reckon.That was a very fitting death for Toste. I love it!
He did think of that, but alas for him (but probably good for his subjects) that recovering his eyesight became the lesser of his worries!maybe the dark powers would help to regenerate eye(s)?
:/
Yes, by his Mighty Hammer! And it was largely the marcher lords who did it too.Praise Thor!
He did. While I hadn't tried to kill him off early and would have role played him through as a kind of lesser Dark Fylkir, I was actually quite pleased too when he succumbed to the wound. It gives Arni a good run at things. If he can survive medieval Russia, the plague and the ill chances of life!Oh... Well he had that coming
good luck to the new warrior emperor!
I had that thought too: I almost wrote that Odin couldn't stand to have the one-eyed False Fylkir appearing to imitate the Allfather like that.Odin has gotten his revenge on Toste.
He should be a good war leader, anyway, though he's not so hot in the other areas. But if he gets the time, he may be able to work on that.Arni looks like he'll be a good ruler.
Oh, you're very right there. Still, short of a Great Holy War for Hungary, it was a great opportunity to grab some useful land, take Byzantium down a peg and cut off their unwelcome spread (and that of Orthodoxy) into the steppe lands.The attack on Byzantium will likely hurt Russia's reputation and ensure that the defensive pacts last longer... Is Russia strong enough to take on one of the defensive pacts, actually? That could be a way to expand. Or will all of the pacts attack them at once if they attack anyone?
Yes, it's been a long time, but the dream first kindled when Brabant was first acquired so many decades ago has now come to pass.At long last.
It was great, I agree. And perfect for a Hel-worshipping Fylkir too.Loved that event with Do you hate me Odin...my OTHER eye
Yes, after such a long reign, it has been a quick passage from one to the next. But (unless the plague gets him) Arni should make a more wholesome Fylkir than his flawed father. One can hope, anyway.Two dead emperors in two chapters, lets hope Arnis place in the saga is more substantial.
It's interesting how the disease is still heavily affecting the Empire, even if it hasn't reached the core Russian lands yet.Plague and Arni’s new reign had decreased the amount of tax income flowing in, while the need to rebuild the retinues was demanding heavy expenditure as raiding opportunities were very limited. A monthly deficit of over 40 gold could be sustained for a while, but opportunities to save money would be sought where possible.
Perhaps it was "natural" in the sense that it was a fitting death for a deposed, possessed, potentially Satanic monarch.Curiously, this seemed to have been adjudged a ‘natural death’ by Byzantine chroniclers of the time.