One Man a Dynasty : A Russian AAR

[Firefly21]

Turov, 1066

Stanislav was nervous. Something bad must have happened. Why else would Duke Iziaslav want to meet him personally in the throne room today?

"I'm just a minor noble," said Stanislav to no one in particular. He shrugged. If he was to be banished from the court or accused of some treason than it was best to get it over with quickly.

Walking at a brisk pace, the 29 year old made his was to the castle of Turov. The Chancellor for Duke Iziaslav welcomed Stantislav warmly and escorted him to the throne room. This put him somewhat at ease, the chancellor probably would not have given the slightest courtesy if he was about to be summarily dismissed. The throne room, which Stanislav had only been in a few times usually as part of a larger delegation had a uniquely Rurikovich flair, as befit their status as Russia's leading family. What suprised Stanislav was how many people were there. He counted 7 others, including he noted with a shock, the son of Duke Iziaslav, Yaropolk. What exactly was going on here? He turned to ask the chancellor, but he had already left the room. Before Stanislav could start identifying the other noblemen present, Duke Iziaslav came into the room.

Duke Iziaslav immediately went to his son and said a few words before moving towards an upraised platform where he could easily speak to the gathered noblemen. A hush quickly fell over the room. "Thank you all for coming here today, I'm glad you all could make it on such short notice. It has come to my attention recently that with my advancing age and the distance between my holdings that it is harder and harder to keep the realm functioning at it's full capacity. With enemies everywhere around us, we cannot let this great Russian state fall in to chaos. Thus, I've come to the decision that I will have to give some territory to loyal persons to have them rule in my name. With the help of my chancellor and my other advisors I have come to the following decision."

"Vysheslav, I have granted you the county of Jacwiez. Make sure the Poles keep their grubby little hands off of it." A portly young man bowed his head and said "I will, my Duke"
"Matfei, I will grant you the county of Podlasie. Watch the border carefully. A somber noble bowed his head silently
"Stanislav, I grant you the count of Smolensk. Keep the city of Roslavl safe."

Stanislav could hardly react. Him, a count? Of Smolensk no less? "Th...thank you, Duke Iziaslav" he managed to stammer out. He barely heard the rest of the Duke's speech. The world swam around him. Things were clearly looking up for young Stanislav. He could now attract a wife and raise and build a castle in Smolensk, sure he was vassal to Duke Izialav but this up-jump of his station provided a host of new possibilities.

Returning to his senses, the Duke finished his speech by outlining the terms of the vassal contract which eight of the men signed, pledging their loyalty to the Duke and the ability for him to raise troops should the need arise. Stanislav had hardly finished signing when one of the new counts put his arm around him and said "It looks like we are to be neighbors, count Stanislav." Stanislav recognized him as Danil of Cherkassy a famed administrator. "It seems we are, shall we travel east together to our new holding count Danil?" The older man smiled and said "I never thought this day would come...of course I will travel with you, we have much to discuss." Stanislav and Danil talked for hours about mutual defence, and how to administer a realm. When the two men departed it seemed that a fast friendship had already been formed.

Going home to pack, Stanislav could hardly keep a smile off his face, for today was certainly the first day of the rest of his life. The beginning of a dynasty. HIS dynasty.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Author's Notes:

- This is my first ever AAR so all feedback is appreciated. I don't consider myself to be a great narrative writer so this is something new for me.

- The is the release day patch, starting in 15 September 1066. No modifications have been made.

To become count of Smolensk, I loaded as the Duchy of Turov and invited nobles to court so that I had enough to parcel out the lands of Duke Izislav. He starts out well over the demesne limit nothing is realistically changed. I just get my preferred character (an invited noble) to be count of Smolensk. This should be a great challenge as it is hard as heck to accumulate land in Russia if you're name isn't Rurikovich

- I will be roleplaying. I will not be powergaming. I will play the character best I can given the traits of the character and the situation around him. This may mean that I will still just be count of Smolensk in 1453. For example I could have married Adelheid the princess of the HRE as Stanislav, but that makes almost no sense considering he is a no account count in the middle of nowhere. I hope this AAR will show how much fun that roleplaying can be in CK2. Hopefully the storytelling remains compelling enough to keep readers interested.

- I'm not really good at this game, so if you see something like "Why didn't you matriliniarily marry you're daughter to the HRE" it's quite possibly because I suck. Sorry, but hopefully it's amusing .

- This will be a screenshot heavy AAR. You are forewarned.

I don't have a great knowledge of the the time, even though I do have a degree in history. I know a fair amount about Russia, but if I get something really wrong, I am not going to take offense to any corrections

 

[Firefly21]

Chapter 1: The Beginnings of House Zhitomir

The first task once Stanislav reached Smolensk was to get things up and running. Dismayingly, he found that there was no Councillors in place when he got there. And even worse there were no candidates to become councilors. Stanislav sighed and informed a local noble that he was in need of help administering his new demense and that anyone who wished to be involved in the running of the county of Smolensk should report to the castle as soon as possible. It took several days for word to get around but eventually a few men of skill made themselves known to Stanislav. This would be the beginnings of his court

The foremost of these was the Mayor of Roslavl who proved himself to be quite an able administrator, though the others tended to be solid, if unspectacular workers.

Having set himself up with able (or somewhat able) men to help him rule, Stanislav searched for the next aspect that would solidify his rule in Smolensk. He needed to get married. Though his spymaster Igor suggested that there was potential in marrying a foreign princess to bring in alliances, Chancellor Gleb suggested a much more prudent path; marry one of the local noble's daughters. This would set himself as a true man of Smolensk, not merely a man sent by the Duke to rule in his name. Stanislav recognized the sense in this proposal and sent Gleb out to find a suitable bride. A few days later he came back with word of a fair maiden who was gregarious of nature. Stanislav met with Praskovya of Demidov the daughter of a local noble with strong roots to Smolensk. Taken in by her gregarious nature he asked for her hand in marriage a few days later, and quickly they were wed.

Soon after, the countess was pregnant and the birth of a son named Vasily secured the sucession of one generation of House Zhitomir to the next. Stanislav was delighted to hear the news, though he was away on campaign with his liege in the east putting down the heathen. The son was to be named Vasiliy.

It was not even a year later when Praskovya announced that she was pregnant again. This time she gave birth to a daughter named Vasilisa

Again, Stanislav missed the birth of his child while he was off putting down a rebellious count in Peresvyl.
Yet all was not smooth sailing for the young count, as word reached him that his firstborn son Vasiliy had died at the age of 3 after contracting Pneumonia during a cold Russian winter night. This meant that the succession would fall to Vasilisa should no other male heir be produced.

The next few years would be trying for Stanislav as his wife gave birth to another daughter, yet it quickly became apparent that little Agafya was having trouble speaking and generally keeping up with the other children. The word began to spread that the 2nd in line was to become nothing more than a drooling imbecile. Even Stanislav's favoured pastime of hunting was not going well. After going out on several hunting trips with little to no success, Stanislav in a fit of rage gave up the sport of hunting and adopted the sport of Falconry

Continuing the trend of bad things happening to Stanislav, his spymaster, the dwarven Demid of Smolensk was caught trying to pilfer technology from Byzantium. "I should have sent someone less obvious than a dwarf" mused the depressed count Stanislav.

Hope returned to the Russian count as his wife was pregnant again, he hoped that god would grant him a son to replace the one that he had lost a few years earlier. Yet it was not to be as in July of 1073 the countess Praskovya produced another female, named Yefrosinia. "At least she appears to be quicker than my last daughter," mused count Stanislav.
Continuing the trend of horrible things happening to Stanislav, the court chaplain, a fellow named Voislav approached the count one day and asked him to convert to the Iconoclast religion. Stanislav, in no mood to hear from a heretic bishop, promptly set him to the dungeon. Though certainly he was questioning god for taking his son and bestowing only daughters on him, Stanislav was prudent enough to know that to convert from Orthodoxy would be the end of his dynasty before it could begin.

Feeling safe now that the heretical chaplain had been confined to the dungeon, Stanislav assumed that the punishment god was clearly sending for him would stop. But he was wrong. Oh so wrong. While fighting the Wallachian's with his liege. Word reached Stanislav that his beloved wife had died and that the manner of her death suggested that it was not due to natural causes.

(author's note: seriously there is like 7 people at court, I have no idea why someone decided to kill her).

Who could have wanted her dead? Stanislav reached his conclusion before he was allowed to return from his campaign in Wallachia. It must have been the heretical bishop Voislav! Retribution for imprisoning him in the dungeon! Stanislav plotted his revenge while siegeing another Wallachian castle. He would not kill him. Oh no, that would be easy. He was going to banish Voislav and take his land and titles! He didn't have much use for being a bishop but he could give the title to someone else, someone a little less heretical.

Satisfied with his revenge, Stanislav appointed his court chaplain Vasilko the new Bishop of Velizh. He put the gold to good use as well, building up his holdings in Smolensk.
Now with all his vassals supporting him Stanislav moved to change the inheritance laws from Gavelkind to primogeniture, the better to ensure that his imbecilic daughter would rule no lands.

Apparently oblivious to his predecessor's fate. Vasilko not only 2 years later approached Stanislav about converting to the Bogomilist religion. Stanislav sighed and put him into the same dungeon that the old bishop had occupied. Briefly he entertained the idea of banishing him as well, but he was much poorer and the last priest that he banished seemed not to help things.

Quietly Stanislav despaired. He had gained so much but so much had been taken away. It was in his nature to be content with his life, but recent events had made it harder. His wife killed. His son dies an infant. His 2nd in line an imbecile. Numerous heretic chaplains. Briefly he wondered if he was being tested like Job, but decided if that were true his castle would had certainly been taken or sacked by pagans.

It was July 1, 1077. He had ruled for 11 years. Duke Iziaslav who had granted him the county had just been killed in battle leaving behind a 9 year old on the throne. Russia was even more torn apart then ever. What is next?

Stay tuned for the next installment of God hates Smolensk.....

 

[Doctor Zoviet]

I kind of want to do this once I get a computer that can run it. Subscrubed.

 

[Warspite_TW]

Holly .... !!! What a start... No council, no gold, no luck. This AAR will become a winner. Subscribed.

 

[loki100]

"Stanislav the horribly put upon", great opening

 

[Firefly21]

Chapter 2: The Continuing Trials of Stanislav

As we last left our hero Stanislav of Zhitomir count of Smolensk, he was unmarried as his first wife had been assassinated. His first born son had died early, leaving 3 daughters. There had been a strange proliferation of heretic chaplains in his realm, each of them clearly not put off by the fate of the previous heretics. He had managed to get primogeniture applied within the realm so that it would ensure a smooth succession between generations. He had also upgraded the castle in Smolensk so that it was generating a healthy amount of income.

What Stanislav really wanted was to have a son to leave his realm to, so late in the year 1077 he married Olga, daughter of another prominent noble in Smolensk. Olga was known as a bit of a strange soul, as she loved to catch and torture squirrels that could be found roaming around the keep. She was also upfront about her paranoia, assuming the worst about everyone and watching out for everyone. What Stanislav came to appreciate was her streak of kindness

(Author's Note: What an odd set of traits, a honest, kind, paranoid, impaler. Talk about having contradictions in you're life!)

Olga provided Stanislav with two more daughters, meaning that Stanislav had 5 daughters that would reach the age of maturity. His wife had offered to name their 2nd daughter after Stansislav's first wife Praskovya, but Stanislav was horrified by that notion with his wife only being gone a few years. They named the two daughters that Olga produced Luidmilla and Yelizaveta.

(Author's note: I'm not sure if random name generator was just playing a horrible trick on Stanislav or Olga would have actually suggested one of their daughters be named Praskovya, but I can only imagine his reaction considering the run of bad luck Stanislav has had and considering the means of his wife's death.)

Burdened by his failures to produce a male heir and the constant campaigning across Russia, Stanislav became increasingly slothful, preferring to laze around the castle rather than attend meetings with his councilors.

And of course further things went wrong in Stanslav's realm

A bold man offered to compose the family chronicles of House Zhitomir. Considering that Stanislav did not even know the whereabouts of his father, he told the imprudent man to leave immediately. (Family Chronicles? This house is 2 generations at max! And now his daughters like him less, hilarious.)

Finally there was some good news in Stanislav's life. Stanislav's first born daughter, Vasilisa came of age. Under the tutlage of a local noble, she had become a talented negotiator

Now came the difficult task of finding for someone for Vasilisa to marry. It had to be a matrilineal marriage to preserve the dynasty, however that would lower the number of potential suitors. However, Stanislav was able to find an ambitious young man named Koz'ma to marry his daughter. A local noble that had served in the court of Rostislav he saw the opportunity that he would have in being the husband to the future countess of Smolensk.

Stanislav's.....less talented daughter Agafya also came of age, and she was married off the the bastard of a local bishop. This had the advantage of allowing two daughters to produce heirs for the dynasty, but in retrospect having a talented, ambitious husband for Agafya was probably not the best decision Stanislav could have made

Yefrosinia, Stanislav's 3rd daughter came of age and was also considered quite talented. She was married off to the count of Jacwiez to secure an alliance within the realm

And although Stanislav was being blessed by having successful and talented daughters, it would not be Smolensk if something bizzare was not happening

Stanislav's poor planning with marriages appeared to come back to bite him as his imbecilic daughter Agafya, spurred on by her ambitious husband tried to assassinate first born daughter Vasilisa. However being something of an imbecile allowed spymaster Vsevolod to uncover the plot easily, and when Stanislav came back from another campaign with the Duke he had a stern talk with his daughter who agreed to give up the plot.

In what was a nice touch from his first born daughter Vasilisa, her first born daughter was named Praskovya in the honour of Stanislav's departed wife, which may or may not have enraged his current wife Olga. Vasilisa having already produced a male heir, Rurik, had provided enough heirs to ensure that unless some major tragedy befell the count of Smolensk, his dynasty would continue.

Stanislav had been in the field for a long time, and he had made his discontentment known to his liege. However, as a man content to just be count of Smolensk, he preferred not to do anything about it but to ask his liege for recompense.

With things (perhaps!) finally looking up for Stanislav and no major mishaps occurring for some time, it was perhaps no surprise that Stanislav was killed in one of the Duke's 5,000 wars. Having found in his old age that he was braver than in his youth, Stanislav could often be found in the front lines, where on 27 February 1096, Stanislav met his merciful end, leaving the realm to his daughter Vasilisa.

Final Author's note: Poor, poor Stanislav. This was something of a boring chapter, but not really much happened beyond Stanislav's daughters coming of age. Stanislav was too content to go after his liege for having his levies raised constantly. Amazingly despite -55 for raised levies, there was only one internal revolt in Turov. Somehow that strikes me as not realistic considering the state of constant war that the Rurikovich's calling each other into every war brings. Oh well, Vasilisa will not be so easily placated.

With Vasilisa a far more capable ruler with and an ambitious husband, the county of Smolensk is in capable hands, provided her imbecilic sister doesn't decide to kill off all of the heirs. So ends Stanislav the cursed. Long life Vasilisa!

Here is the dynasty tree as of Stanislav's death.

This last chapter and now all chapters until noted took place with patch 1.03b applied

 

[Firefly21]

Sorry for the wait between updates but it was a long weekend here in Canada and I spent it with the family and away from my CK2 computer.

This is quite the challenge and as you've seen there hasn't been much progress as far as land gains. The castle at Smolensk is being upgraded but besides that, it's pretty much status quo.

Loki: Heh, Stanslav is one of the unluckiest characters that I've ever had in CK2, outside of the ones that get killed in battle at age 19 or something stupid. He got to be a count but it proved to be not all it was cracked up to be

Warspite_TW: It's an insanely hard starting point, but that is half the fun I think. Considering the power of the Rurikovich's it is almost impossible to rebel, because unlike what happened in history they are more than willing to help each other out, which is frustrating, but makes it a challenge. I've learned something on a previous playthrough of a similar character that might come in handy though, provided I have a character cunning enough to put said plan in place.

Doctor Zoviet: Yeah it's a fun challenge, not only are you building a dynasty from scratch, but you have very few options to expand. This is my favourite way to play CK2, but it doesn't always involve me getting a very high dynasty score!

Thanks all for the kind words, I'm trying to work on cropping my screenshots better, because as you can see I'm not too great at it, lol. Updates will be more frequent now that I am back and playing CK2 again.

Cheers!

 

[Firefly21]

Chapter 3: Countess Vasilisa Takes Charge and Further Bad Things Happen In Smolensk

Author's Note: Vasilisa takes over in her mid-twenties, though I forgot to take a screenshot

Hi. I'm Countess Vasilisa. You may remember me as the first born daughter of the tragically put upon Stanislav. I'm not going to be unkind to those that have passed, but he was an untalented man. Me? I know how to work people. In certain circles they call me a grey eminence. And they are even calling me that before my hair turns grey. While my father was happy just to be count of Smolensk...myself I have higher goals. Like picking off our neighbors. My father was friends with the count of Vyazma, but he's gone...and well our land connects so nicely. So I told my councilor to produce the necessary paperwork proving that I was the rightful owner of Vyazma. How he proved it, I'm not sure, a few years later I had a legitimate claim to the county.

However the stress of when to prepare the attack on Vyazma took a toll on me, I also had to worry about raising kids, keeping my husband occupied. Plus I had turned 30! That will stress anyone out

A few months later I stumble upon an up and coming artist who is working on a portrait of St. George. Apparently he slew a dragon, I knew I should have paid more attention in Bible study! Whatever. I grant him some gold for the rights to have it placed in my personal chapel. When it is completed, I feel even stronger.

A few years later the preperations for war were made. Fortunately the one good thing that my father did was upgrade the castle of Smolensk. Not only did it provide a good income, it had been retrofitted to provide more levies.
I presented my declaration of war to the count of Vyazma

Quickly my marshal raised the levies and marched towards Vyzma. The crucial engagement went decisively to us and we proceeded to siege the castle

And a few months later we had a new territory to add to our domain

So things were looking good for us. Of course this wouldn't continue.

_____________________________________________________

Will Vasilisa be able to close the gates of hell? What other ills will befall Smolensk?

 

[Doctor Zoviet]

I sacrificed my firstborn son (really a daugher. >_>) to close that my first, and only, time.

 

[Lafayette53]

Fun start! Like the style.

 

[Firefly21]

Doctor Zoviet : Yeah the Gates of Hell is a fun little event with some not so fun endings. Fortunately for Vasilisa she has a bunch of kids that she could sacrifice should it come to that.

Lafayette53 : Thanks! The best CK2 games I find are when things go hilariously wrong. This one is beginning to look that way and the Mongols haven't even shown up yet....

Update incoming as soon as I finish editing my screenshots!

 

[Firefly21]

Chapter 4: The Gates of Hell and Other Trials in Smolensk

Some people have mid life a crisis. Me? I've got what appears to be the Gates of Hell appearing in my capital province. And I thought I was stressed at 30!

I thought that this must just be a bad dream. I mean my father said that Smolensk was cursed, but he was just kidding....wasn't he? I searched throughout the scriptures for help with this problem, but somehow in the Bible there wasn't any passages about flaming gaps in the earth appearing. Frantic searching throughout my vast library yielded no further help. I went back a week later to see if the problem had been solved...but it appeared to be getting worse

Perhaps the prudent thing to do would have been to run away screaming from this accursed place, but even in my craven heart I knew that this was bigger than myself, this was an unholy thing happening. There was no time to send for the Pope, the Patriarch or even the Duke (who was off fighting Cumans over some godforsaken land in the Crimea.) I tried to talk to a local priest, but he seemed to feel that looking into this event was not what god willed. Seriously, people think me less pious because I'm checking out a huge flaming gap in the ground! Do they think that *I* made it? Anyway. However one priest had a solution to the problem. An excorcism. Now unbenounced to me this would become a staple of movies in about 900 years, but I needed something radical. (Authors Note: I lost the picture with the other choices available which were sacrificing the first born daughter and filling it with stones. Considering Vasilisa has pretty insanely high piety I figured she'd probably try the religious route first)

I brought the priest to the wailing hole and he bravely approached it and began chanting when a messenger reached me. Apparently my son's betrothed was turning 16 and by the terms of the contract the marriage was to be soon after he 16th birthday. Apparently this contract was still valid when the Gates of Hell were opening in Smolensk, so I had to leave the brave priest to him own devices to attend my son's wedding. I mean if the world is going to end, why not spend your last days at a wedding?

When I returned a few days later I found the priest laying exhausted by the crater. It must have worked as the gap had been closed. I asked the priest if he wanted any reward for closing the Gates of Hell. I figured he'd ask to join the court or to bestow a bishopric on him, but he merely smiled and said "I need no reward, any true Christian would have been happy to do such a task." He left upon a horse and I never saw him again. He may have been the bravest man I ever met...but asking for a few mortal rewards would have been the smart route...no?

So with the Gates of Hell closed, I enjoyed a boost in prestige and opinion. People seemed to think I was a big deal for saving the entire world from death and destruction. However my thoughts went to my father...If Smolensk had truly been cursed...the curse must have been purged...now good things will happen in Smolensk... they must. Perhaps I will even be a Duchess!

While it was hard to go back to the day to day routine of the court, it had to be done. I was taking a personal touch with one of my younger sons, Stanislav, who was dear to me because he looked much like the original count Stanislav. He was reading a religious script, obvious impressed by what I had done in closing the Gates of Hell (Not that I personally did it, of course). Over time he became a zealous defender of the church and of the Orthodox faith. A zealous boy named Stanislav in Smolensk...what could possibly go wrong?

November of 1111 (11th Month of the 1111th year) proved to be an ominous one for the Duke of Turov as several small but important vassals including the count of Kiev revolted, hoping to force the Duke to institute elective monarchy. Countess Vasilisa was miffed not to be included in the plot, because she was most certainly interested in instituting elective monarchy especially considering she was one of the more powerful counts. Anything to curb the power of the Rurikovich's would have been a welcome plan. Countess Vasilisa took no part in the civil war, and only offered the Duke a minimal amount of troops as per the terms of the vassal contract. Despite having more troops in the field, the rebels never managed to unite and Duke Andrei I nicknamed "The Ironside" lay siege to Kiev, taking away the strongest fortress of rebel support and then proceeded to defeat each rebellious vassal individually. It was messy, but Duke Andrei successfully held together his realm.

Author's Note: That was some bad planning by the Countess of Kiev. With Smolensk's help it would have been a very interesting little civil war but not to invite the strongest non-Rurikovich vassal in the realm doomed them. Also the fact that rebellious counts never combine forces like the individual Duke does. It's pretty simple to defeat 3 1,000 person armies with 2,500 men but if they were all together it certainly would have been a close battle. Sigh, the Rurikovich's always win....

It came to Vasilisa's attention in the year 1112 that the count of Mstislavl had fabricated a claim on Smolensk. Apparently any non-Rurikovich land in Russia was eyed hungrily by the huge house of Rurik.

Uh, Hi. I'm Rurik, firstborn of Countess Vasilisa of Smolensk. I regret to say that the Countess has passed away in her sleep at age 43. During her reign she expanded the Count of Smolensk by 100%, by adding Vyazma to our domain. She also pioneered a number of advancements to the castles in Smolensk and Vyazma making them the envy of much of Rus. Lastly, lest us not forget that she saved us all by closing the Gates of Hell. However, with her passing it has fallen to me to lead Smolensk. Long live count Rurik of Smolensk!

_____________________
Will having a count named Rurik fool the Rurikovich's into not bullying Smolensk around? Has the bad luck around Smolensk finally broken?

Here is a shot of the current state of affairs in Rus. You may notice an absolutely huge Vladamir, which has been smashing the Cumans like it's going out of style. Certainly Turov and Vladamir look like the most powerful duchies in Rus right now.

I'm kind of sad Vasilisa died so young, she deserved more...yet Smolensk doesn't allways give what it deserves

 

[Doctor Zoviet]

I don't notice anything, since there isn't a picture.

 

[loki100]

just caught up again. I think poor Vasilisa had grounds for being stressed, idiot children, incompetent parent and Satan putting in a personal appearance

lets see if Rurik can manage any better