From Count to Empereur - a de Boulogne AAR

[Specialist290]

Welcome to AARland!

And what a way to make an entrance! It's been a long time since I've seen anyone drop a complete story of this length all in one go. I've only made it through the initial summary post so far, but if the whole tale is even half as interesting as that makes it out to be, it'll certainly be worth the read.

 

[Specialist290]

So I've since managed to get through the end of "Journal 1," and I figured I'd share a few of my thoughts about the story so far.

Overall, I'd say this is quite a finely crafted tale, and I'm quite enjoying the way you've used journal / memoir format. The overall tone of the writing fits the format perfectly. I'm particularly enjoying the way you've weaved the game's events together through various interconnections, such as Simon Benoit getting introduced as part of a trading expedition and later showing up as a victim of King Hughes's expulsion of the Jews in the aftermath of his failed Mallorcan campaign. I'm also quite pleased with the amount of extra detail you've added to cover matters like trade goods and commercial relationships; it adds that little extra bit of verisimilitude.

I did find Eustache II narrating his own death to be just a bit jarring; it must have been quite the feat for him to recount that to a scribe or scribble down his own thoughts in real time while he was choking on that grape It did take me out of the story a little, but given the overall high quality it isn't a huge deal.

I did enjoy getting to see Eadgar of Wessex reclaiming his ancestral birthright. I've always had a soft spot for that guy, and I like to keep an eye on him whenever I'm playing from a 1066 start.

Once again, so far I've been enjoying this tale immensely, and I hope I continue to do so through the remaining chapters

 

[Alssadar]

Thanks for the feedback! I tried my best to keep a consistent cast of characters, but, as my influence grew larger, it became harder with all the amount of vassals who'd pop up in my council or as a commander. The same goes for economy, but I did try to make references to local customs and specialties. But, while I'm still in Flanders, I tried to keep reference to the Flemish weaving trade, as the region prospered off of receiving unspinned wool from England before exporting fine clothes across Europe.

For the death monologues, I tried to make them into last moments of introspection, as media often portrays life "flashing before the eyes" to give one final moment of catharsis, or just so I can give a conclusion to the character. Eustache II's death was pretty random, as I dont really like the "poor health" cause when there's no diseases or physical issues, so I tired to make a story out of it, while I wrote the others deaths to be more fitting.