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Chapter 7: All Hail Duke of the Baliols
The new count of Northumberland is the eldest son of Guy de Baliol, he goes by the name of Alphonse and his previous experience was in the colonies of Finland once they had been given away by his father. Alphonse had matured in charge of a deeply rebellious colony starting from the age on 14 until his inheritance was realised at the age of 23. He still remembered the day when he was shipped off by his father to this colony, he was studying to become a great count, at least trying to when some of his fathers men stormed into the room and picked Alphonse up by the scruff of the neck to drag him to his fathers quarters. Guy had never had much time to think about the way his family was treated and always implored his men to treat his older son in particular like he was but a peasant. No son of his would grow up to be a pompous fool. Alphonse resented his father for the way his own personal soldiers would treat him yet luckily Guy managed to properly predict the reaction his son would take, Alphonse was truely a Baliol and his fathers son. The most important thing was to improve beyond that of his father and better him. Guy still remembered when he was called home in disgrace by his father from his small time posting in the county of Hereford. The sheer disappointment in his fathers way of talking to him from that day forth broke Guys heart. Guy hoped that when he met his father in heaven that disappointment would be gone and it would be replaced with great pride. When given control of the Finnish county Alphonse turned it around and in the years to come the pagans were subdued and a new Christian Finland was born out of his example. This may seem unlikely as even his father with all his experience and drive could not achieve such a feat yet Alphonse seemed to do so and he was but a youth. It was, however, all about specialisation. Guy had to deal with multiple provinces and multiple problems yet Alphonse could afford to hack away at the single problem of the heathens until they were finished...this is where his success came from. Separation from family can often make children remember the good times yet forget the bad times. When heard of his fathers illness Alphonse instantly shipped himself over to his fathers bedside. He got there just in time for his father to make his final words. As Alphonse walked into his fathers quarters he came onto the sight of his fathers advisors gathering around his father in what seemed like his final rights. As the advisors noticed Alphonse they parted, and Guy looked over, and his eyes instantly lit up.
"My son, my son, come here."
"Yes father." Alphonse came to the bedside.
"I know I have been hard on you all these years but I know from the second I saw you just then that you have turned into a fine man, I have not much left in this world to do, I have lived my life and made many mistakes yet I see now that my greatest triumph was not any conquest made but was the man I see in front of me. I am proud of you son, you are surely a better man then me and will continue our dynasty and lay the foundation for the greatness of our family."
With a tear in his eye Alphonse thanked his dad, told him that he loved him and that was the last time he ever saw the 2nd Norman Count of Northumberland. Yet he would always remember the man on his deathbed and not the one who showed disregard towards him as a child.
Alphonse's first grand act as count was to take care of a little business with the Muslims in the Isle of Man. Alphonse decided to prove he was truely a man by conquering the Isle of Man, I mean, how manly could he get? But in reality he only really wanted this island to act as a launching pad for the whole east coast of Ireland, it would save his Ulster based armies from having to sail continuously from up in the north. Soon the Isle of Man was Christian and was a vassal of Alphonse, not directly owned, a count was a vassal of a slightly stronger count.
June 8, 1123. Alphonse, to help his bid for the rule of Ulster married a noble from the remaining Ulster province not yet owned by Northumberland. He must seem like his interest lies in this province, that he is much better than the current Duke.
July 9 1123, word came in from the Irish lands that the Duchy of Ulster no longer existed in a tangible form. The Duke of Ulster has no land, yet the count of Northumberland has much land yet cannot get any respect and no prestige. Alphonse will have to do the humiliating job of courting surrounding powers to force other nations to recognise him as the ideal Duke of Ulster and not the fool who currently owns it.
September 13 1123, an alliance was struck up with Connacht, Ireland was loving the Baliols and soon would be the time for Alphonse to make his move. Soon will be time for Ireland to have a Norman duke.
February 7 1127, Alphonse became very ill, illness seemed to be the trademark of all Baliol men, they are never 100%, never quite the best of rulers. Yet always do the best with what they have. Alphonse is no different.
1132, the death of Alphonses wife in labour, and the gaining of one from the Duchy of Ulster, who now owned land in the independent province in Ulster.
1135 was the beginning of the start of Alphonse's destiny. By April 10, 1136 he was the Duke of Ulster and was able to finally get the recognition he deserved as well as put the friends of the Baliols in charge of countys. The desposed Duke of Ulster was given the gift of his county he owned, essentially he was stripped of his title. Celebration amongst the newly dubbed Duchy of Ulster lasted weeks as the Baliols demense could be broken up and new far ranging conquests for the House of Baliol. The empire of Baliol was back in action, yet perhaps this time should stay a little closer to home.
December 2 1138, was a proof of the growing prestige of the House of Baliol. An alliance with the Kingdom of Aragon, one of the defenders of Christianity on the frontier of Iberia. All is well in the House of Baliol, and let us hope it will be such for many years to come.
I'm not that good at CK, I am proud how I am doing considering I am wedged between two powerful Kingdoms, that isn't to say that I won't try to kick some serious assJimboIX said:
Mmm, Aragon would seem to indicate further wars with the infidel are due. And to be fair, Aragon will need all the help she can receive.
Chapter 8: A rat in the ranks aka. A pretty short update
When we last met the a Duchy was formed and a legacy created. Alphonse was legendary amongst the small counties around England. They had a short memory and only remembered the general guist of Alphonses reign, a small poor county conquering a foreign Duchy with pure strength and determination, not the years of struggle and death his people had gone through and all they had lost in the past. If anything Alphonse was lucky that he had made some right decisions and even amongst all the mistakes so had his predesessors. His family had long lived on the seesaw that is luck, and now it was time to consolidate and leave nothing to luck. That is when he heard stories about the Viking lands on the island of Iceland, they were poor, they were windy, yet they were now independent. Ripe land to raise the strong soldiers that only the cold winters can create. Alphonse learnt this throughout his time in Northumberland, battling with friends as a child, and his time in Finland, as harsh as any climate, taught him most of all how the wild men of the winter lands can strike the hardest. With the loss of the Finnish lands Northumberland had not lost much, as they never got to use the strength of the Finnish pagans, but fighting against them it was evident thier savagery was paramount amongst all peoples. Hopefully, in Alphonse's sadistic mind, the people of Iceland were the same. The difference however is that they are Christian, so if anything the anti pagan actions of the Baliol family in the past will neutralise the rebellions that could happen in the future.
As the boats of fighting men were being sent over the Kingdom of Aragon asked for help in Iberia against the heathens, that can wait, one battle at a time.
Alot of the veterans in the Ulster army were veterans from the Finnish rebbellions, they saw the way the pagans fought, even with thier far less numbers they fought with great saavy and used thier terrain to thier advantage. Alphonse had a good martial leading his armies and he decided to adapt these tactics to the Christians of Iceland, who would be versed in Viking warfare, not that of the savages. The fighting prowess and skill of the men of the Cold Finnish North coupled with the discipline of the warriors of the House of Baliol would surely bring victory.....and it quickly did. Iceland was the Baliols.
October 5th, 1142 was the death of a great man of the British Isles. His vision was even greater then that of his unlucky predecessors and he was loved by his people for it. However that is where the love was to end, he had created many enemies through his bravado or simply through others jealousy at his prestige and power. It was found soon after his death that it was no accident, he had been poisoned, and although his successor, Silvester denied the request to investigate Alphonses death analysts would be analysing the death for centuries to come. A suspect was never found but the clues and the guilty parties were all there, all with equal motives. Throughout his two decades of war Alphonse had created a powerhouse seperate from the two major kingdoms of Scotland and England. Of course the survival of the Baliol takings rests on the grace of Scotland and England, to all thier holdings to survive. The death of Alphonse has surely rocked the Baliol family to thier foundations and who knows what will happen to thier holdings in the future if his successor, Silvester, proves not to be as great as Alphonse and those who came before him.
Next chapter we have the culmination of the poisoning of Alphonse, the official investigation commissioned many years later, about the potential culprits and reccommendations over those who are most likely to have conducted this foul act of regicide.
Chapter 9: A noble blood ended
The year is 1142, a great Duke of the Baliol family is dead, and those little legitimate heirs left are looking at thier brethren with hate and suspicion. They have suffered the fate of all those who face a time of bliss, they have become corrupted by power and success and they only want more and more. Brother looks at sister wondering who he can sell her off to so that he can get a choice land in the islands of the Medditerranean. Cousins plot the death of cousins to inherit thier lands. The Baliol family were never the noblest of families but the family of the old days were held in great esteem by thier peers, being seen as a worthy Christian and amongst the most genuine of nobles around the world. The rapid rise of the power of the house of Baliol caused much of the previous nobles of the house of Baliol to still remember thier humble beginnings in Picardy and Northumberland. Yet a new generation was coming through, the sons of success as they became to be known. They were everything wrong with success, and they were to bring the end to the golden age of the Baliol family.This came to a head with the closure of the previous chapter in the book of Baliol, the death of the last great patriach of the Baliol family. He was poisoned. Long after the Baliol family had fallen into obscurity a English historian decided to search up this curiousity of English history. The books up to this date in time had a mist forming over the lands that the Baliol family controlled, it seems that during this time no one knew what happened, or forgot what happened during this 80 year period of history. Through an extensive researching of various sources, often never looked upon since thier writings, the historian came to a conclusion over the death of the last great Baliol and the fall of the family he helped to rise to prominance.
The end product of which was his transcript detailing what had occured at the end of the golden age of the House of Baliol. And a curious suppression for many years of the details. The reasons why the murderer of the great Alphonse was supressed will never be known as when this historian died, the secret died with him and all we are left with is a disjointed argument that implicates the Muslims as the guilty party. Curious as during the period before one of the crusades this account was used to fuel the fires of the people in the North. This version is highly unlikely and frankly this story is but an act of governmental censureship.
The culprits? There could be only two, either the English, scared of the growing power to the north, or the ambitious 'sons of success' taking a reach for power. Of course the only answer would be pure speculation but it seems curious that the crown of England decided to suppress the report from the historian. The reason? It has recently been unearthed a report from a 'son of success' speaking of the grief watching the fall of his people and the greed consume his siblings as they carved up the family estates. If this account is true the 'sons of success' did a deal with the devil. An English spy approached them with the opportunity of a lifetime, kill the great Baliol duke and the English will support them with money and recognise thier nation as soveriegn to that of England.
The 'sons of success' in thier greed, agreed.
The result? A great leader was dead and the 'sons of success' tore themselves apart before the English moved in to stop a civil war, the humanitarians they are they made sure that they had control of the land of the Baliols for many years to come.
The house of Baliol briefly rose to prominance in the nation of Scotland, briefly becoming king of Scotland through marriage with the Scottish Duchy of Galloway, yet they seemed a little too close to England and soon they were kicked out to forever be cursed by the Scottish people. They were now a people with no home, they had long been away from Picardy, Northumberland was under English military rule and Scotland was a nation against them. The names John and Edward Baliol would long be cursed amongst the people of Scotland and as tradition holds the family soon changed thier name to Baillie to escape the stigma thier previous name held. The family would soon spread throughout the world to live in every continent on the globe, they would never again rule, yet they would be amongst us all. A noble family that shone so bright it was blinded by its own brilliance and stumbled into the darkness once again.
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Okay, I at least wanted to end this one properly for once, long time between updates but, oh well, I am dedicated to EU3 now
Glad you wrapped it up, a fitting end, and tied in well to the unfortunate tragedies of John and Edward.
Thanks for wrapping it up. Better a quick ending than to let the AAR fade away. And a good ending too!