Lithuania Eternal - A 1066 Lithuania AAR

[Dw0rf]

"...I had a dream last night brother."

"I hope you didn't drag me all the way over here just to tell me that. I'm supposed to be sparring with some tribesmen right now."

"This was no ordinary dream Puklios."

"If you're complaining about your nightmares again you should have called mother instead of me."

"This was no nightmare Puklios, though by Dievas it felt like one."

"Alright then, what kind of horrid dream did you have?"

"Do not laugh brother, but I believe I saw the future."

"The future?"

"I saw Lithuania burning Puklios, but it was not our Lithuania. in the beginning it was ours, but it grew and shrank and took many different forms. I saw it rise to heights never before seen, more powerful then you and I could ever dream of! And I saw it fall, deeper and lower into depths I did not know could be reached. Our people abandoned the gods, and then the gods abandoned them. Trampled, abused, I could not bear to look at it any longer."

"How are you so certain that it was a vision of the future? You could just as well have been visited by a spirit intent on tormenting you."

"I saw men with weapons no spirit could ever even imagine, men riding beasts of metal and hatred into wars the scale of which neither you or I could comprehend! No mere spirit could ever create such vivid imagery!"

"Tsk, if your dream truly is a vision of the future, then what do you intend to do with this future knowledge?"

"I can't answer that question, Puklios, the flesh is weak and this is a task that will go on long after our lives have ended. But if I intervene now and create a stronger Lithuania with my own two hands then perhaps...

...Perhaps we have a chance to make Lithuania Eternal."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

you will protect this cute little duchy​

INTRODUCTION:

Hello everyone, and welcome to Lithuania Eternal! This is an AAR in which I will be playing as the high chief of Lithuania in the 1066 start date. This is going to be a mix of a historical text and a narrative AAR, and i'll be switching between the two in the hope of creating a compelling story for you to read.

'Rules':

Roleplay: I won't drastically go against the traits my ruler has, and I will always try to pick the event option that would make the most sense for my current character to pick. Even if the outcome sucks. But I will also try to keep the characters past experiences and enviroment in mind. As a quick example: a kind ruler could start acting a bit more harshly if he's betrayed time and time again. Meanwhile a cruel character that is not possesed/lunatic/dull/imbecile will, when neccesary, keep the cruelty within acceptable bounds. If only to keep up experiences.

No blobbing: No random conquering sprees that make no sense! If obscene amounts of lands are aquired for whatever reason they will either be released immediately or 'lost' at ruler death. At the start of the campaign I will make sure that I won't go beyond the baltic/Kingdom of Lithuania. Of course if the situation demands it or if it becomes something that could realistically happen I will hold land outside of that.

Now then without further ado, the chapters:

Spoiler: Chapters

Prologue: A dream of eternity. (Scroll up)
Chapter 1: Swift Foundations
Chapter 2: Torchbearer
Chapter 3: Westward
Chapter 4: Reformation
Chapter 5: Outward Perspective
Chapter 6: Visions and Visionaries
Chapter 7: Forum Talk
Chapter 8: Church and State
Extra: The structure of the Romuvan faith
Chapter 9: Reaction
Chapter 10: Decade of Chaos I: Sunrise

 

[stnylan]

Welcome to AAR writing. I hope you enjoy yourself.

 

[Bullfilter]

Yes, all the best with the project.

 

[alscon]

...Perhaps we have a chance to make Lithuania Eternal."

Sounds like a plan. Staying Baltic would definitely make it interesting with powers from all sides knocking at the gates. Though reformation may be good to have.

I'll follow. Good luck !

 

[Dw0rf]

"Ah, Sven, it's good to see you again. You've been awfully quiet these last few days. Don't tell me you're still hung up over that dream of yours."

"It was not a mere dream, Puklios. And I have decided on a course of action to take."

"That is..."

"I know it's drastic Puklios, but this is the only thing I can do. But I can't do it alone, I need your help."

"My help? you're better then me at damn near everything!"

"You would make a fine marshal Puklios, and I need one that's not just capable but also loyal."

"Your really going to do this, aren't you?"

"I have no choice brother, And there is no more time waste. Soon we will march for our dearest cousin's lands."

"Heh, you always wanted those territories. Are you sure this dream of yours isn't just a bad pretense to sate your own greed?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

The following is a few questions taken from a 2014 Lithuanian high school test correction sheet. Theme: Life of Sventaragis/Early Lithuanian expansion.

2 pnts
Question 5
Describe the likely political and religious reasons for high chief Sventaragis' expansionism.

A good answer should contain:
-Clear mention of the Baltic tribes' being surrounded by larger, more consolidated kingdoms. 1 pnt
-Clear mention of being surrounded by hostile religions. 1 pnt

IMPORTANT!: an answer that uses Sventaragis' vision as a reason for his expansionism is wrong

3 pnts
Question 7
Explain 3 reasons that limited Sventaragis' rate of expansion.

Valid answers:
-Clear mention of monetary issues caused by the high wages that the soldiers demanded.
-Clear mention of manpower shortages related to the large number of casualties suffered by Lithuania.
-Clear mention of troops being diverted to raid Russian lands for more money to fund the incessant warring.
-Clear mention of internal strife caused by disgruntled newly-subjugated chieftains.

Every correct reason is worth 1 point.

5 pnts
Question 11
Read source 3. -(an account of Sventarigis' deteriorating mental state. written in Poklius Palemnonaitis' journal) and answer the following questions.

A) According to the source, Sventaragis' mental state started worsening shortly after the battle of Lukoml, during a raid against the Kievan Rus. Explain the likely correlation between these two events.
B) Sventaragis started showing paranoid behavior against his family members a short while after his youngest brother was chosen to be the new chief of Deltuva. Give an example for this behavioral shift.
C) Is source 3 a reliable source?

Valid answers:
A) It is believed that the stress of fighting the Russians, combined with the stress of losing his right hand, led to Sventaragis developing a form of PTSD which was expressed through frequent bursts of anger. 1 pnt
B) The relationship between Sventaragis and his unknown brother is assumed to have been quite terrible. And the fact that this brother was as ambitious and envious as Sventaragis led them to frequently clash. Thus he feared that his brother would one day rise up in rebellion. 2 pnts
C) Yes: -This journal was only meant for Poklius to see, so he had no reason to lie. -Poklius was Sventaragis' brother, confidant and for a time, marshal, this means that his experiences with the high chief were first hand. 2pnts

​

1 pnt
Question 12
What were Sventagaris' plans after subjugating all of the Lithuanian and Prussian tribes?

A correct answer should contain:
-His plans for seizing the Romuvan holy sites to the north and to the south. Or:
-A reference to the extensive raids into Polish and Pomeranian territory that were planned at the time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Bonus image of this wreckage in human form. circa 1076 AD
​

That's chapter 1 done. i'd like to thank you for all the nice comments i've already received . I'd greatly appreciate any feedback you have to give for example should i do more images or more text?. I'll probably post the next part tomorrow no matter what.

 

[stnylan]

I very much like the device of the exam questions with the written guides as to how to score the answers.

 

[alscon]

A definitely unique and nice presentation, that exam. One can see that Sventaragis is an important historic character for the soon to rise kingdom.

As to your question, for this style it was a good pic/text balance, no need to change it .

 

[Dw0rf]

"You died rather suddenly you know? You could've atleast tried to keel over in Vilnius instead of in the siege of some Estonian wasteland.

You died as a king of course, I made them crown you posthumously, no one could deny the legitimacy your reign anyways. All we were lacking is the money to actually create the crown jewels.

I guess that would mean i'd be a king too huh? Though somehow I believe I won't be given the same honour you were. Something about not being fit for the job.

I made sure the wars you planned for got dealt with aswell, I couldn't have done it without those instructions you left me though.

Hiding them in those old tomes like that. You really didn't want anyone to find those texts about the future eh? Don't worry, when Skirmantas is handed the reigns soon, I'll make sure they'll be given to him. That's the least I could do with what time I have left here.

You'd probably want me to explain that last bit huh?

We weren't really sure about what it was, but appearantly i've been showing the same symptoms as one of our kinsman. He died last week.

As my headaches was getting worse I decided to send some men southward, to find a medical expert, the men there are strange but their knowledge can not be denied.

What I heard from the expert was bad, brother. And it's the reason i'm here to say goodbye

You see, that kinsman of ours did not simply die, he suffered greatly. I don't want that to happen to mel. Is it brave that i'm facing Velnias with open arms, or cowardly that i'm not willing to endure the pain I would receive? I guess it doesn't matter anymore now."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh and there's no need to be concerned for the chiefdom kingdom, Skirmantas may be a bit, uh, strange, but don't worry, he really is your son. it's gonna be fine.​

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Next chapter is going to be more like the previous one, I just didn't want to make Poklius a footnote for both Sven and Skir)
​

 

[stnylan]

I think there is a lesson on this retrospective

 

[Dw0rf]

Mail sent by Liudvikas Palaima, to Vladas Vasilyovich
Date: 12-3-2015

Hey Vlad,

Sorry for mailing you out of the blue but trust me, you're gonna love this.

We're gonna be making a movie about some Skirmantas guy, he's pretty important appearantly? I don't know to be honest but this is gonna be BIG you hear??

Anyhow the good thing is that I managed to get you a spot on the production team! (you can thank me later ;D)

So right now we're working on the trailer of the first movie. (we're thinking about splitting this into multiple films so this one will only cover the first part of his life) and I thought it'd be really nice to have some of your input!

See you soon!

Liudvikas.

[1 attached files]

[Script_Trailer_Skirmantas]

[FADE IN FROM BLACK]

[Young [Skirmantas] stands in front of a window in a castle room, looking over the departing army led by his father [Sventaragis]]

SKIRMANTAS: (WHISPER) i WANT TO BE A WARRIOR

[FADE TO BLACK]

OLD WOMAN; (LAUGHTER) YOU WIIL NOT BE A WARRIOR...

[FADE IN]

[Skirmantas is being crowned in a room filled with all of his chiefs and bodyguard]

OLD WOMAN: ...YOU WILL BE KING

[MAIN THEME STARTS]

[FADE TO BLACK]

SKIRMANTAS: I DON'T JUST WANT TO BE A KING...

[FADE IN]

[Skirmantas is on his knees, praying in front of an altar of Dievas]

SKIRMANTAS: ...I WANT TO BE MORE THEN THAT...

[Scene cuts to Skirmantas feasting with his noblemen in the great hall of Vilnius]

SKIRMANTAS: ...I WANT TO DO SO MUCH...

[Scene cuts to an overhead shot of Skirmantas looking at the great pillar of Vilnius]

[FADE TO BLACK]

SKIRMANTAS: ...AND I KNOW HOW TO DO IT.

[Main theme stops]

[Intense music starts playing]

[Cut to Skirmantas and his soldiers charging through a forest while screaming]

[Cut to a battle from the subjugation of Pomerania]

[Cut back to Skirmantas and his men charging through the forest]

[Cut to some battles from the Pomeranian revolts]

[Cut back to Skirmantas and his men charging through the forest, the end of the treeline is almost visible]

[Cut to the siege of Rana]

[Cut back to Skirmantas and his men finally leaving the forest and smashing into a Polish army]

[Music hits its peak]

[Short clips of the battle play in quick succesion]

SKIRMANTAS: I AM SKIRMANTAS

[More clips of Poles and Lithuanians fighting and dying]

SKIRMANTAS: AND I AM KING

[Cut to black]

[Title and release date fade in]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

From now on I'm planning of updating once every two days at the least. 'til next time.

 

[stnylan]

A very nice montage

 

[alscon]

Shame on you, Liudvikas, for not knowing your first crowned king! Though it seems like his life offers some prime movie material, so at least the enthusiasm is well-placed.

Those different styles per chapter are really great. Can't say I read a trailer script in an AAR before, and it fit well .

 

[Narvait]

I’ll be following

 

[terr0rizm]

Subbed - this is looking to be innovative.

Also, that's a darn lot of troops in Pomerania

 

[Dw0rf]

"Hello everybody, I'm Ichpochton, and my presentation is about the, uh...

.. Ah! The post-reformation Romuvan faith.

Now the faith was reformed by the great king, uh, ah yes, Sker- Skree- Sker-mentos? Am I pronouncing this right? Uh anyways he was the uh- i'll uh stop saying uh so much, sorry. He was the king who reformed the Romuvan faith into what it has become today.

Now Skiermantes was, uh, during his reign known to be a great scholar of the Romuvan faith, who had memorised all Romuvan holy texts in an attempt to get a vision similar to the one his father had.

Due to his uh, studies he eventually realised that the old Romuvan faith was very weak compared to the more organised religions around him, so he took it upon himself to reform the faith.

The Romuvan faith became all about sticking to the uh, old ways. You can still see that today in how Romuvans are very dedicated to their faith, even though atheism is on the rise. Though this means that people leaving the faith are also shunned by the believers. For abandoning the faith. For a long time there was even a death penalty for leaving the faith, which was only ended recently.

Their dedication is because a core tenant of the Romuvan faith is the belief that it is the faithful's duty to protect the faith at any cost. There have been uh, many instances of large amounts of Romuvans sacrificing themselves to save a religious official.

It is believed that the Romuvan fascination with astrology came forth from Skormotas' attempts to see the future like his father had. The king, after trying to find many ways to see the future. He really seemed to belief that he could see the future in the stars, so it was included into the faith as well.

After the new tenants of the faith were decided on, it was uh, decided that one of the priests would become the new, uh, First Vadas. This priest only held power as an, uh, religious official and did not own any land. It is also believed that the first one lived in Stettin but we're, uh, not sure why.

This was my presentation about the Romuvan faith I hope you learned something new today as well."

"Well class, what score do you think Ichpochton deserves for her presentation?..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Only read this part if you're curious about my choices for the reformation.
I actually really hate reformation, I always end up regretting my choices later but this time I spent a few hours considering what would have been fitting and realistic instead of metagamey and optimised.

Now I based my consideration on two things: Skirmantas' traits, and the Romuvan faith itself. Now the Romuvan faith is incredibly stubborn and hard to convert, IRL they were the last pagans in Europe. They are also in the defensive variety of pagans, so my though process about the faith is: 'preserve not expand'

Now the other thing I kept in mind was Skirmantas' traits. Among others he's; Dilligent, Patient, Kind, Honest and Zealous. So I can't imagine him actually doing anything self-serving in the reformation. He's also Homosexual but him being the father of 8 children at the age of 36 makes me doubt that, he's bi at best.

So without further ado, explanations:

Nature: Unyielding
This one is a given, really. Stubborn faith that wants to preserve itself at any cost.

Doctrines: Astrology and Defenders of Dievas
Defenders of Dievas is the unique Romuvan doctrine, I don't like it but eldership succesion seems to fit in with the idea of being an incredibly conservative faith. Especially with the prepackaged ancestor worship you get.
I eventually decided to pick Astrology as it is kind of neat. and it would fit the narrative of Sventaragis' vision of the future. I picked this over Haruspicy as Astrology is imo a far more established thing, and poor, Kind Skirmantas couldn't bear to see those cute critters die.

Leadership: Hierocratic
Skirmantas wouldn't strongarm himself into being gods representative on earth, if he was Proud or Cynical maybe, but not the Kind, Honest Skirmantas we all love. Autocephalos kind of sucks and it wouldn't make sense for a newly organised religion to have a decentralised leadership.

I hope this explains my thought processess behind the reformation. I also decided to just pop the reformation now as I was already seeing pretty Scary amounts of Military Organisation is my neighbors, and defensive attrition can only get you so far! Also sorry for the short update but pondering about the reformation unironically took hours. see ya.

 

[alscon]

Looks like another day has passed during which we learned something. A good attempt (if a bit nervous) by Ichpochton, but it had all necessary information, so well done.

The choices for the reformation are definitely sound. The Great Holy Wars will clearly turn out interesting.

 

[stnylan]

Seems like solid reasons for the reformation options you choose.

 

[Dw0rf]

"Why, if it isn't Johannes! I thought the Moors finally got you!"

"I thought you knew me better then that, Giovanna. You need a lot more then 300 angry horsemen to end my reign of terror! Though it seems I've been gone for a little too long ,this time. Care to give me the latest news? Just a little favor between mechants, eh?"

"Well, I hope you didn't have any interests in the Levant. If you did you might want to take a seat."

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse, you remember the Byzantine holdings in Jerusalem?"

"Yeah, a few friends were planning to trade there last I heard."

"All gone."

"Damnit! The muslims weren't this aggresive in the past, what happened?"

"I'm not too sure about the facts, but it seems like something happened to their holy city, 30 years ago."

"Why are they only making their move now, then?"

"These past few decades seems to have been them pushing back these invaders."

"Do you have any news that's a little less grim?"

"Don't worry, I have news that's no doubt pleasing for you to hear."

"Well then, spit it out!"

"Your muslim friends are on the way to taking over all of western Iberia!"

"It wasn't my intention to piss them off like that you bastard! You make a few jokes and next thing you know every man from Galicia to Seville wants your head!"

"Don't be so sad, my friend. Pissing people off is the only talent you have, after all."

"Just give me some good news already."

"Well, after the old king of the Lithuanians died his realm seems to have been split."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, his cousin became king of Pomerania, while his two younger sons were made the duke's of Mazovia and Minsk."

"Damn, all my dad left me were bad habits and a failing company."

"If you could be serious for a minute here, it's gonna be a lot easier to do some trading in the Baltic area now. But avoid Lesser Poland at all costs."

"Why's that?"

"It was taken over by the heathens, who proceeded to give it to a bunch of heathen zealots. I wouldn't fancy my chances going near there as a christian."

"Damn it all! I'm gone for a bit, and now everyone's lost their minds. Excuse me but I think I'll just keep to Germany for a while, I'll look outward when the opportunity presents itself."

"Oh I wouldn't go to Germany if I were you."

"Do I even want to know?"

 

[stnylan]

Oh the way that ended was just glorious

 

[Narvait]

Ending indeed made me lol a bit