The Black Falcons of Moravia - A Slavic RP AAR

[Ellydir]

Hello and welcome to my first attempt at an AAR ever

This is to be a roleplay-based story, with the narrative driven by the personality of the characters (in case anyone is wondering why I'm not ruling half of Europe after 50 years). It will be told in third person, mostly recounting the important events in a character's lifetime from their POV and occasionally switching to a more real-time narrative for some more key moments.

The plan is to release a chapter every week, starting this week with introduction.

Mistakes may happen as English is my secondary language, but I'll do my best to keep it comprehensible

In this AAR, we'll be following the history of a custom-made Moravian House of Sokolník (Falconer), starting in 769 with its founder Vojtěch (who was a falconer). At the start of this AAR I'm a couple decades in, so the campaign is very much an ongoing thing.

No actual goals have been set up. Though deep in my heart I'd like to see my house reform the Slavic faith and create the Slavic Union, It's all up to the characters.

The game is played on Ironman, so no safescumming took place (and with Ruler Designer, sadly, no achievements either). I will admit that I reloaded once, when my first character died heirless three months in, leaving nothing to write about.

All DLCs up to Holy Fury are active. No mods.

But without further ado, let us jump into it. I hope you will enjoy! Though Perun stood by our family, he was overruled by RNGesus who turned their lives into a crazy ride.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Vojtěch the Falconer
(reigning from 769)​

 

[ferunnico]

Sounds good! As a fellow non-native speaker, I think you'll do just fine
Being able to reload to get a screenshot of a certain character or situation from a specific point in time has been super useful for me, but I can see the temptation of save scumming, so I hope Ironman will work out for you.

 

[Ellydir]

Hey, thank you for checking!

I checked your AAR along with a couple of others to get the hang of the "AAR conventions", and it's really good! I considered opting for real-time narrative (or whatever I should call it) like you did, but I was afraid that an hour of gameplay would take 20 chapters and I wouldn't actually play the game at all, so instead I opted for a sort of a "recounting of events from the char's POV" kind of writing.

As for the screenshots... Well, I write down points of the story as they pop up, usually taking all the screenshots I plan to use along the way. With that said, I had to do a couple of "reshoots" where I had to photoshop my way around the time difference, so you certainly do have a point. But I also had a couple of moments where RNGesus utterly ruined the direction I wanted the story to take and I totally would have savescummed around it if I could, so I figure Ironman is the better option for myself xD

 

[ferunnico]

Hey, thank you for checking!

I checked your AAR along with a couple of others to get the hang of the "AAR conventions", and it's really good! I considered opting for real-time narrative (or whatever I should call it) like you did, but I was afraid that an hour of gameplay would take 20 chapters and I wouldn't actually play the game at all, so instead I opted for a sort of a "recounting of events from the char's POV" kind of writing.

As for the screenshots... Well, I write down points of the story as they pop up, usually taking all the screenshots I plan to use along the way. With that said, I had to do a couple of "reshoots" where I had to photoshop my way around the time difference, so you certainly do have a point. But I also had a couple of moments where RNGesus utterly ruined the direction I wanted the story to take and I totally would have savescummed around it if I could, so I figure Ironman is the better option for myself xD

I don't know if my AAR is representative of any "AAR writing conventions", but thank you nonetheless
You’re right, writing everything in “real-time” would obviously take forever, so I do pick and choose certain scenes to move the plot along and have (sometimes rather big) time skips in-between. But I think that’s one of the beautiful things about AARs; there is no right or wrong way to write one, just a bunch of different approaches that can work for different kinds of writers and stories.
Also, I think it’s totally fine to fudge a bit if you think it might benefit the story, but again, that’s totally up to each writer and the kind of AAR they want to write.

 

[stnylan]

Welcome to AAR writing. I hope you enjoy yourself, and I hope you don't stress too much about being a non-native Enlglish speaker

 

[Jokerang]

Looks like a good promising new story. No crazy goals, just a good story and characters.

 

[Arnulf Floyd]

Interesting and promising start for a narrative AAR. I am also a non-native English speaker

 

[Ellydir]

Hey folks, thank you all for checking this!

Indeed, it seems that a lot of people here are not native English speakers, which is somewhat comforting I guess? Anyway, if anybody feels like pointing out any mistakes, feel free to do so! Can't improve on mistakes you don't know about, right?

Also, my sincere apologies for almost a week of silence, making it look like a dead thread. The AAR is still happening, I just didn't the intro to take so damn long. But I expect things to move faster going forward.

But anyway, let's get on with this:

 

[Ellydir]

Introduction
​

Blood rushed into his legs as he darts forward across the field, white snow cracking underneath his feet. His eyes are fixed on the opposing army, but he knows by the thunderous stomping behind him that his men are following. A hail of arrows raises from behind the enemy line. He lifts his shield up in defense, but the arrows pass over his head harmlessly and land somewhere in the ranks behind him.

He turns his gaze back to the man in front of him, now close enough to see his face. A young boy, no more than twenty, beardless cheeks red and eyes wide in fear. For a brief moment, Vojtěch feels pity… Then his formation smashes into the enemy line.

His shield slams into that of his opponent, a warm shriek washing over Vojtěch’s frozen face as the impact tosses the boy backwards. He manages to roll over and lift himself on his elbows before Vojtěch closes the distance between them with one leap and plunges a spear between his shoulder blades.

The body drops back down, face buried in the snow. Vojtěch steps over it as his men rush past him and engage the shattered fragments of what once was the thin enemy line. There’s no one left in front of him, so few are the defenders. Only the empty field stretching onward, down into a small valley surrounded by wooded hills and a mountain range to the north, all covered in white snow, glistening in the late sunrise. And down in the valley a village is huddled, pillars of gray smoke rising above the rooftops towards the eastern sun. For a moment, Vojtěch leaves the battle behind him, his mind captivated by the beauty of this land, so different from his home.

A loud yell nearby pulls him back into reality. Turning back around, he catches a brief glimpse of a man rushing towards him, before a spear slams into the side of his helmet.

Vojtěch was born on the 20th of January 741 in chiefdom of Brno, a land ruled by High Chief Mojmír of Moravia. Though a lowborn son of a hunter, he was blessed with great bravery and perseverance by the thunder god himself. Taught by his father from young age, Vojtěch became a very skilled and competent hunter himself, even training a bird to hunt with them.

Coming of age to fight with men, Vojtěch began serving his liege as a soldier, and it was on the battlefield that he found his true calling. With the thunder god’s favor, he was able to raise above his peers, Perun’s hand guiding his spear through many battles. His bravery and skill did not go unnoticed, eventually earning him a promotion by the High Chief’s marshal.

Now serving his liege as a commander, Vojtěch would lead the center of the Moravian army for years to come, achieving great many victories for Mojmír and earning the High Chief’s favor. Often accompanying the High Chief on hunts, Vojtěch soon became known as the Falconer in his liege’s court.

In the December of 768, Mojmír went to a war of subjugation with neighboring tribes of Gemer. Moravian forces greatly outnumbering the defenders, the battle was short and decisive. Nonetheless, Vojtěch himself was badly wounded by an enemy soldier, a price for letting his guard down on the battlefield.

Despite his injury, or perhaps because of it, High Chief Mojmír has decided to reward him for his loyal service, granting the newly conquered lands to him and his descendants. Vojtěch chose to embrace the name he was given in the court, and thus the House of Sokolník (Falconer) was founded, a black falcon on a crimson field becoming their sigil.

 

[Ellydir]

Vojtěch the Falconer
Chief of Gemer

Born: January 20, 741
Reign: from 769​

 

[stnylan]

Well that is a good intro-story into how this family came to be on the map.

 

[Ellydir]

Thanks! The intro was really the hardest part 'cause I was trying to make it somewhat plausible (dunno how much I succeeded on that front), and at this stage I can't go and say "the game did it" yet xD

 

[Jokerang]

I thought that was a pretty good introduction. Our first character comes into the historical record with a bang.