The Torchitoriu Dynasty: 1066 to 1453

[Torchitor]

FORWARD

I began playing CK3 shortly after release, along with a few other folks I know from work. Some of them asked after wanting to hear about other people’s crazy Crusader Kings stories, so I typed up what became the first few chapters of this, and shared it with them. After doing so, I found out that I was enjoying writing out my game, both as a form of note-taking, and also writing down the narrative that formed as I played the game. One of my favorite things about Crusader Kings in particular is how, as a player, you just scheme away however you can, and a fun story essentially writes itself out of your actions and the complexity of interactions in the game. So, I had more fun writing that out, and sharing it for my friends to read.

I was very well underway before I went looking for CK3 forums, and discovered that there’s a tradition of doing this, and that these are called AARs (for “After Action Reports”). In a lot of ways, what I’ve written is much less ambitious than many, or most, of the ones I’ve found on this forum. I don’t have screenshots. I don’t really try to be very writerly, add dialogue, scenes, deeply developed characters, or anything like that. I do write in the voice of the main character I’m controlling in-game at the time (and sometimes mine, as a player), in prose that is hopefully functional, and enjoyable enough to read through.

At the outset, I planned for this playthrough to be the story of maintaining a small kingdom, Sardinia, through the ages. In the end this is… not that story. I couldn’t resist my usual expansionist mindset in playing the game, so in the end, it’s a fairly typical playthrough of expanding to cover a lot of territory. As always, though, I did have a lot of fun moments and plot points playing through.

This covers the Torchitoriu dynasty for 387 years, the full length of a standard 1066 start, through 1453 end. That’s a long, long time, and this ended up being a long written treatment of it. If you enjoy reading through other people’s CK3 games, then I hope you find this to be a worthwhile read, and I’d love to hear any and all reactions.

If you choose to read, then thank you in advance, and I hope you enjoy.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 1
The Unification of Sardinia (1066 - 1081)

I've decided to start as a count-level ruler in Sardinia, Torchitor, the Judike of Cagliari. In Sardinia, counties are named Judicadu, and a count is a Judike. My goal is to unify Corsica and Sardinia, and keep it independent through the ages. In past games I've always been very expansionist, so this time I wanted to try something different, and take on trying to keep an independent small kingdom over time, which will definitely have its own challenges (but maybe let me have a faster playthrough than in the past).

I started with 2 Judicadus in the south of Sardinia -- there are 5 total. My first goal was to take Sardinia. To start with, I got on the good side with the Pope, via my Bishop working on church relations, having a personal plot to sway his opinion of me. The pope agreed to take on one of my younger sons as his ward, which made his opinion even more favorable. Meanwhile, I arranged for alliances with two Italian rulers (a duke and count) by arranging marriages of other sons.

The Pope granted me a claim on another county, and I used it to begin a war to take it, calling in my Italian allies. The war went well, but towards the end of it, a holy war was declared on me by a north African count. I won both of the wars in the end, but losses were heavy, particularly against the north Africans, and my heir fell in battle with them, making my grandson, Marianu, my new heir.

With three Judicadus now in hand, I was able to declare myself Archon of Sardinia (equivalent to a Duke -- apparently the Sardinians have cool titles). I could now press de jure claims on the remaining counties, but I preferred to try to get them on as vassals willingly, particularly as these were already members of my dynasty. One Judike, known as "the Greedy", I was able to vassalize after a large gift of gold (much of which I got from the still-friendly Vatican). The other had a holy war declared on him (north Africans, again), and I stepped in to join the war, to shift favorability and vassalize them later. This proved a bit disastrous -- things were going well, until a 2nd holy war was declared against me (more north Africans). The tide was turning on both of these wars, when yet another holy war was declared on the Judike (this time, Iberian moors). At this point I couldn't take on more enemies, and focused on winning the two holy wars I was already involved in. I was able to win those wars, but by then it was too late -- the Judike fell to the Iberian moors.

At this point, there was now a county ruled by moors in Sardinia, and I had a lot of options for casus belli against it. I went with the most straightforward, claiming it for myself as Archon of Sardinia. Unfortunately, I had lost my alliances by now, by losing my sons in previous wars. I married off another son to secure an alliance with a militarily powerful Galician count, and began my war. While I was sieging their county, they came with siege weapons and quickly took my capital, capturing my grandson. Once my allies arrived, we were able to take on their army and destroy it over months, chasing them all over the island.

Which leaves me at the present state. Archon of Sardinia, fighting a war to win the last Judicadu. The wars have taken their toll, I'm disfigured (and wear a mask) from battle injuries, and have lost 3 of my 6 sons to the wars. My grandson and heir, Marianu, is captive in Mallorca, where I will now lead an army to siege and go rescue him

...

After sailing my army to Mallorca and taking it in a siege, I found that Marianu (my grandson and heir) was not in the dungeons (the game doesn't allow you to free prisoners this way, apparently). This meant I was in for a much more protracted war, in which I would need to take enough of the Emir's lands that he would be forced to release Marianu and grant me the county. He had managed to raise reinforcements during our siege of Mallorca, so my ally and I sailed back to Sardinia to defend the island. Having done so after once again chasing their armies for months, we split up and sieged the Emir's other islands, Menorca and Ibiza. This long war had put me into debt, and I went to the Pope once again for more gold, which the Vatican did grant, but wore their patience. I immediately set about another plot to sway them, to help repair these relations.

Finally the Emir relented, the war ended: Marianu was safely returned, and the whole island of Sardinia was mine. In the meantime my vassal (the greedy Judike of Arborea) had busied himself with his own holy war, which he won, and gained a foothold in north Africa.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 2
The Marriage of Marianu (1081 - 1087)

Now I needed to make further plans -- if I hoped to form the Kingdom of Sardinia, I would need to take Corsica. Corsica was currently split by counts that were vassals of the Duchies of Lombardy and Tuscany, respectively. Both of these were within the Holy Roman Empire, and direct approaches against the powerful HRE are out of the question. During my own wars, the HRE had been in some turmoil, with many of the Emperor's vassals fighting a war of autonomy against him, which they won, eventually, weakening the strength of the empire as a whole, so there was some hope here. Many of the rebel vassals were imprisoned during this war, however, including the Duke of Lombardy, and the Duchess of Tuscany. Looking for openings here, I see that the imprisoned Duchess Matilda of Tuscany has only two children -- a son and daughter. If I could arrange a marriage between my heir, Marianu, and her daughter, Margarita, then there could be a path in the future for Margarita to gain Tuscany, and Marianu's eventual heir to gain both Corsica and Tuscany. This would be difficult, as the Duchess Matilda was still imprisoned by the Emperor.

I couldn't find a way to release the Duchess Matilda, and began to bide my time. Although I couldn't arrange a marriage, neither could anyone else (I thought), which fortunately also meant her son couldn't produce heirs while the time passed. Time went by, and Marianu came of age. In North Africa, rulers of different muslim faiths fought each other, and I suddenly found myself with an unexpected opening. The independent county to the west of my vassal's holding in North Africa was greatly weakened after a war, and vulnerable. I quickly declared my own holy war against them, swept in, and bolstered our foothold there.

Later I discover that while Duchess Matilda is still imprisoned, both her children are now betrothed. (Apparently, I can't negotiate marriages with imprisoned characters, but NPCs can? This seems pretty broken, and is very frustrating.) However -- I also see that the Duke of Lombardy has by now created the Duchy of Corsica, and granted it to one of his relatives. The new Duke Falco of Corsica has no children; should he quickly produce a daughter, this could provide another opening. Unfortunately, he's somehow married to a much older woman, and so that doesn't seem likely. It may be a bit rash, but I begin a scheme to have her find an unfortunate accident, so that the way is clear for Duke Falco to produce heirs, and give me another strategic opening.

The murder plot progresses. Meanwhile, Duchess Matilda's son, Michael, comes of age and is married to his betrothed. It turns out that bizarrely, he was married off to a much older woman -- not a chance of further heirs getting produced here after all, and there might still be an opening. Shortly thereafter, the Duchess Matilda finally raises enough ransom to be released from prison. Suddenly it is time to change tactics back to the original plan -- murder Margarita's betrothed, and quickly arrange a marriage between Marianu and Margarita, before she comes of age and bears any children.

I change my scheming over to target Margarita's betrothed, and pay a staggering sum to bribe the spymaster at the court where he is staying into joining the plot. The bribe pays off, and he is eliminated with utmost secrecy within a year. I set about to arrange the betrothal immediately, but Duchess Matilda won't have it -- she had converted to the Lollard heresy, and is a zealot, openly hostile to Catholicism. I take the dramatic decision to convert to Lollardy as well -- at least until the marriage goes through. This back and forth will cost a great deal of piety, but fortunately I have it, and my high learning makes this much easier.

The betrothal is all arranged, so now I need to simply wait. Baron Michael is the next target, but there is no rush. He isn't producing heirs any time soon, given that he is married to a woman older than his mother. I'll keep an eye on him, wait for the Duchess Matilda to die, and when the time is right, eliminate him and have Margarita inherit all of Tuscany. Soon enough Margarita comes of age, we have the marriage, and I convert back to Catholicism. While I'm at it, I demand Margarita's conversion to Catholicism as well -- her mother Matilda is, of course, furious.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 3
Schemes and Duchesses (1087 - 1094)

Duke Falco of Corsica appears to have had his duchy title stripped from him, as it has gone back to the Duke of Lombardy. It seems that going in that direction wouldn't have worked out in any case. The Duchy of Corsica is held by the Duke of Lombardy now, and that title will need to be claimed in the future to form the Kingdom of Sardinia -- it will remain to be seen how it may be usurped or inherited. For now, there is nothing to do but bide my time, and see through the successful inheritance of the Duchy of Tuscany. I turn my attention for the time being to furthering development of my realm, and constructing a royal armory.

Another war of autonomy begins in the HRE, with Duchess Matilda once again joining with the rebel vassals. Once again, this does not go well for her, and in fact is fatal this time: instead of being imprisoned, she dies in a siege. Shortly after, my own wife dies. Seeking no further children or alliances, and being 60 myself, I marry a highly skilled albino Swedish noblewoman, who can help greatly with administering the realm.

With Michael now the Duke of Tuscany, with no heirs, Margarita is now next in line. He inherits the ill-fated war for autonomy, and marches off to war himself. Within a couple of years, he is injured in battle, and dies. Margarita becomes the new Duchess of Tuscany, and with Marianu now officially Duke of Tuscany, we have a formal alliance -- though the war for autonomy continues.

Meanwhile, I note an interesting development with Lombardy, also involved in this 2nd war for autonomy. The old Duke has died, and the young new Duke Eticho is childless and married to a leper. His sister Euphemia could stand to inherit, and is betrothed to the Duke of Austria. Should that come to pass, the resulting large realm could be a problem in the future for my designs on Corsica. It is complicated, but I could try to steer this on a different course: eliminate the Duke of Austria, divorce my new wife, and marry the Duke of Lombardy's sister. I set these plans in motion, regretting my decision to have remarried so hastily.

A peasant uprising begins in Tuscany, and Duchess Margarita calls for my aid. I raise armies and join her cause. Once we're on the Italian mainland and have quelled some of the peasant forces, rebellious counts rise up against her, and she calls for my aid once again. I can't refuse, but soon see that we are vastly outnumbered, and my coffers are empty from realm improvements, bribes for my current schemes, and the cost of quelling her peasant uprising. I have my armies beat a hasty retreat for Sardinia. Losing this war is inevitable, I only hope to leave without losing too much of my standing army. We make it away, and the war is inevitably lost soon after. My only regret is that Marianu is once again taken prisoner, this time by a rebellious count. He is freed soon enough, but Margarita is imprisoned by the Emperor, with little hope of escape -- the same ill fortune that befell her mother.

My other plans are finding success, however. Once again I am able to charm the Vatican, and they grant a divorce. Euphemia comes of age, and she and the Duke of Austria are wed, however with the aid of an Austrian bishop I am able to poison him after a short time, and arrange to marry Euphemia myself. I am old, but perhaps I can still bear some children. I must find a way now for Eticho to die, so that Euphemia may inherit Lombardy, and hopefully a future son of mine will then bring the rest of Corsica under the control of my dynasty, allowing a clearer path forward in the future.

In a surprising development, my son Sergiu's wife Loba has somehow become the Duchess of Portucale. This was a marriage arranged years ago, to secure an alliance with a Galician count, who later lost his lands to an Emir. This immediately places me into a new alliance with Portucale, and sets up Segiu's son, my namesake grandchild and ward Torchitor, as heir to the Duchy of Portucale. The Duchy is within the kingdom of Galicia, which is in a terrible state, beset by moors, and by its rival Castille. Soon the kingdom falls to both, but the Duchy of Portucale continues on, now as vassal of the King of Castille.

A certain subplot is now relevant to bring up, as it relates to my plans to have children with Euphemia, so that they may inherit Lombardy. I have been one of the great scholars of my time, and my achievements include producing an excellent translation of Euclid's elements, and becoming a skilled astronomer and alchemist. In my pursuit of knowledge I became a practitioner of the dark arts, learning witchcraft from a traveling healing woman, who I made my court physician and spymaster. I am old and disfigured, and in order to increase my chances of progeny with the young Euphemia, I set about trying to seduce her, and use witchcraft to aid in this. I do this by converting her into witchcraft as well; she is receptive, and after joining me in the dark arts, is open to advances. She is soon pregnant, but the child is lost before coming to term. Soon enough, however, we have another child, a girl we name Luna.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 4
The Crusade (1094 - 1100)

The Pope announces a crusade for Jerusalem, and I become one of the first rulers to pledge troops to the cause. Shortly thereafter, Duchess Loba dies unexpectedly, and my grandson becomes Duke Torchitor of Portucale at age 12. Duke Eticho's Leperous wife dies, and suddenly the clock is ticking to eliminate him before he remarries and is able to produce an heir other than my wife Euphemia. I immediately begin an assassination plot, and am pleased to find ready co-conspirators; it turns out that Duke Eticho is despised by some of his court. The crusade begins, and my armies sail to the holy land. By the time they make landfall, Eticho is successfully murdered, and my wife is now Duchess Euphemia of Lombardy. My grandson loses the war, and the duchy, but oddly enough as a result Portucale goes to his father as he has no heirs, so it remains with us and he simply stands to inherit again later on.

Fortune favors us in the crusade. Though at great cost, with a number of dead and wounded among my knights, we ultimately win the crusade. As the greatest contributor to the crusade, the Pope allows me to name my grand-daughter Vera as the new Queen of Jerusalem, taking control of the lands won in battle. I also discover at this time that Duchess Margarita of Tuscany has finally been released from the Emperor's prison, and hope that Marianu and she may finally have more children. They have only had a daughter thus far, who has proven to be a fool, and I am dismayed that she is, thus far, destined to be in my direct line of succession.

With the bounty won in the crusades, I invest heavily in my capital county of Cagliari, expanding fields around the castle and planning a new city in the hills. I have another child with Duchess Euphemia, this time a son who we name Luca, and who is heir to the Duchy of Lombardy. When he is born, however, I have a premonition of my impending death. I try to get my affairs in order, but there is little I can change at this point. Marianu will be Duke of Sardinia and Count of Cagliari, however the other counties will pass on to his uncles. I am only displeased that my son Sergiu, the Duke of Portucale, will inherit Tortoli, as that means that the county will move to Portucale's control, and the island will no longer be unified; a messy outcome that will need to be dealt with in time. For now, I move Luna and Luca to the care of Marianu: I want them to stay at court when I die, and be Sardinian, rather than go off to Lombardy and take on their culture.

As the time approaches, my namesake grandson Torchitor dies in battle -- his father Sergiu remains Duke of Portucale and his brother will stand to inherit, however he was my ward and friend, and I am sad to see myself outlive him. Soon after, a number of Duchess Margarita's counts rise up once again in rebellion. I join her war, and it is my last act as ruler, as I die soon after.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 5
The War with Castille (1100 - 1103)

I am now Archon Marianu of Sardinia. I come to power holding only one county, Cagliari. My uncles inherit their own counties, but are my vassals, save for one: Sergiu, Duke of Portucale. He holds Tortoli, placing it now under the Castilian crown. My first priority is to relieve him of it, to reunify Sardinia. That means taking on all of Castille, a war in which I'll need allies. Foremost will be Lombardy, held by my wife Margarita. The first order of business, therefore, is to quickly wrap up the insurrection she is facing, so that Lombardy has strength as an ally in a possible war on Castille. There is also the matter of heirs: I have two daughters now, but the eldest is a fool and stands to inherit everything; I must keep having children, and hoping for a son. I try to get closer with Margarita, as that will help not only with heirs, but in strengthening our alliance, which will be necessary in the wars that will inevitably be ahead. Finally, my uncles are quite displeased with my succession, and as my vassals they pose a risk. I quickly shuffle around council positions to try to appease them, though it may be some time before they come to accept me, and I must be wary.

I set out to war against Duchess Margarita's insurgents. We combine troops to siege their holdings, and they don't have the forces to oppose us, so soon the war ends and they are imprisoned. I can now begin to plan the war on Castille, for my claim on Tortoli. I bide my time as my troops and levies come back to full strength. My chance comes sooner than I expect, as King Sancho III fights an unsuccessful holy war against the Emir of Andalusia. With his troops diminished and his kingdom deeply in debt, I seize the chance and begin my war. I quickly call in Duchess Margarita to aid in the war, and march my troops on Tortoli. I take Tortoli quickly and easily, as it is right there on the island, and Castille's troops are far away. It should be easy to enforce my claim, as now I simply hold my target county, and wait for Sancho III to sail his troops over and try to claim it. As I lie in wait, I am greatly surprised when Aquitaine enters the war on the side of Castille. It turns out that King Sancho III's wife died in childbirth, and he quickly married a relative of the Duchess of Aquitaine, and formed an alliance. This will be a more protracted war than anticipated.

Soon afterwards, my uncle Torbenu, Judike of Logudoro, forms a faction to depose me and have Sergiu take my place, as Archon of Sardinia. This would be handing over all of Sardinia to the Castilian crown, the very kingdom we're currently in a war against. I immediately move to imprison the traitor, and he rises in rebellion, but I quickly march my troops to siege Logudoro and imprison him. I strip him of his titles for his treason, and plan on leaving him in house arrest indefinitely. I now have direct control of two counties, which helps strengthen my position.

The combined troops of Castille and Aquitaine finally arrive at our shores, and make for Cagliari to lay siege there. I have to fight them alone, as Margarita's army is already en route to Castille. We are outnumbered, but make a valiant effort and the battle ends almost evenly, with our enemies just edging out a victory, but with much greater losses than ours. After our retreat to the north of the island, we are met by Margarita's returning forces, and together return to Cagliari. This time we are successful, and route them. I keep my troops in Sardinia, in the mountains near Tortoli, ready to combat any enemy attempts to retake it. Margarita decides to one again set out for Castille to take the fight to them. After many months, with Tortoli firmly in my grasp, enemies on his shores, and his treasury in a desperate state, King Sancho III finally relents, and Tortoli is mine. Sardinia is united once again, and I have titles to three counties -- finally holding a position resembling some of the strength enjoyed by my grandfather.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 6
Reclaiming All Sardinia (1103-1107)

Shortly before the end of the war with Castille, a north african Emir, no doubt seeing my current troubles, declares a holy war against me to take Bejaia, my holding in north africa. Anticipating the end of the war, I divert my troops to north africa, and call upon Margarita's aid once again. To replenish my own war chest after the long war with Castille, I ransom the prisoners I had taken. I decide in the end to even ransom my uncle Torbenu, as he can offer a substantial sum -- of course he hates me with a passion now, but he is powerless, and I'll keep a close eye on him after his release.

I send my diminished troops to north africa, to protect Bejaia, and begin a siege on the Emir's neighboring lands. Once there, however, I see that he has an overwhelming force that we cannot withstand. He sails his own troops to Sardinia, to siege my lands. During a battle in north africa, but uncle Gonariu is slain. As he has no heirs, his Judicadu of Gallura passes on to me. I am now in direct control of all of my uncle's Judicadus, and have only one remaining Judike vassal, also of my dynasty, but less closely related.

Some months pass as the Emir and I siege each other, but eventually he takes Caligari -- and with it, takes me captive. I am forced to concede the war, and relinquish Bejaia. Meanwhile, my vassal Judike Orzocor of Arborea, capitalized on the holy war I was embroiled in to launch his own holy war against the Emir's Sultan, claiming all of Tunisia. With the Sultan busy throwing his massive forces at me, on behalf of his Emir, he lost the greater war against own vassal, and with it all of Tunisia, which is now in the domain of Judike Orzocor. Strange, but that's the way of it: I, an Archon, lose my lands to an Emir, and the Emir's Sultan loses his lands to my Judike. It seems a bit backwards.

This places Judike Orzocor in a position of power. As my only vassal, he now holds 5 Judicadus to my 4: one on Sardinia, and now 4 in Tunisia. I need to find a way to settle this problem, as having a vassal with this much power is dangerous. My plan against him takes hold: seek out secrets in court, while also trying to fabricate a hook on him. Once I have a hook on him, I can use my status as dynastic head to strip him of the Judicadu of Arborea, using the hook to force him into compliance. With all of Sardinia then in my direct control, I will cut him loose, and allow him to independently rule in north africa.

Another problem is that my wife is in ailing health, and it seems she may soon die. Despite my best efforts, I have not had a son with her, and my eldest daughter Tedora, a fool, stands to inherit. I begin to resign myself to this state of affairs, but need to plan around it. Tedora will inherit Lombardy from her mother, and as it stands, will inherit Sardinia from me as well. To successfully join our lands I will need to not have a son, so that she does, in fact, get both. Her mother Margarita, however, seems to have decided to betroth her to the Duke of Piedmonte. This would be a disaster, as all of our lands would pass out of our dynasty. I resolve that before they are able to have children, I will need to murder Duke Pierre II of Piedmonte, and arrange to have Tedora marry someone else, this time, matrilinearly. They are nearly of age, so I must act quickly. The schemes against my vassal Orzocor are put on hold while I move my plot against Duke Pierre II.

Both plots come to fruition fairly quickly -- together with co-conspirators I hire an assassin to eliminate Duke Pierre II. He and my daughter Tedora come of age and are wed before we can achieve our goal, but soon after, the assassin completes his task. I invite Tedora to my court immediately, to ensure she comes to join me, instead of her mother's court in Tuscany. She graciously complies, and I consider the options for a proper husband for her. I very strongly consider finding her the most intelligent mate possible, even a lowborn, to try ensuring that her children have less of a chance of inheriting her slowness. In the end, I decide to forgo that route, and decide to even go forward with some tangling of our dynastic bloodline. The possible gain in power is simply too great to ignore. By having her marry Luca, their heir would stand to eventually gain all of Corsica, Tuscany, and Lombardy -- enough land to create a Kingdom of Sardinia (and possibly Italy and Romagna as well). I propose the match, and Duchess Euphemia hastily agrees. The two are betrothed. It is a tangled family tree indeed; my ward Luca, who is 8, is technically my half-uncle, and Tedora, 17, is my daughter.

My plot against Judike Orzocor continued. I hold a feast after Tedora's arrival at my court, and her betrothal. At the feast, Orzocor becomes happy and drunk, declaring that he would do anything for me. I hold him to it -- after asserting my position as dynastic head to claim the Judicadu of Arborea as my own, and demand that he relinquish title of it to me. He complies, and all of the island of Sardinia is now directly mine. He is angry, but soon appeased, as I cut him loose, and grant him independence to rule over his lands in Tunisia.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 7
Expansion to Spoleto (1107-1111)

My wife, Duchess Margarita of Tuscany, succumbs to her ill health, and I am relieved to have managed to arrange for Tedora's marriage while she was still in my court. She now goes on to rule as Duchess of Tuscany herself, and my younger daughter inherits Spoleto. My conscience weighs very heavily on me after the murders and scheming I have done, however, and Margarita's death hits me very heavily as well -- I become depressed and begin eating only sparingly. Despite my grief, I take on a politically expedient marriage with the mother of the young Duke of Piedmonte, to secure a powerful regional alliance. She is old enough that there is no worry of disrupting Tedora's further inheritance with the birth of a son.

I find that after many years my cousin, Queen Vera of Jerusalem, has lost all her lands. She suffered numerous wars in the holy land from Islamic rulers there, losing one county after the next, until finally the last one has fallen, and she is landless, and stranded there. Perhaps another crusade will be called, but for now, the Kingdom of Jerusalem has fallen back out of the hands of our dynasty.

Some time passes and my younger daughter's vassals rise against her and depose her. As she is still a child with no heirs, her titles go to me, and I find myself suddenly and unexpectedly gaining Spoleto. This will be useful, as I can simply pass these lands back to her on my death, but it means that through even division, Tedora's inheritance will grow, and in the meantime I can use the resources from Spoleto to further Sardinia's development. I have disgruntled vassals to attend to, however, which means I need to shake things up in my court and my council.

I shuffle positions around in the council to appease the new Judikes under me, in my new holdings as Archon of Spoleto. Most are appeased, but not Judike Simone of Spoleto itself, who is a Lollard. I demand his conversion to Catholicism and he refuses -- which is a crime, under my rule. I raise my armies and march them to Spoleto, before demanding to revoke his title because of his crime. He refuses once again, and I begin my siege immediately. He raises his paltry troops in vain, and soon the war is over. I throw Simone into prison, and take the Judicadu of Spoleto as my own, granting the Judicadu of Orvieto to my loyal knight Adamu, a Catholic Sardinian. Finally, I strip the title of Curadore from one last holdout in Spoleto, and grant it to a random Sardinian from the low nobility. Finally, all of my new vassals are in line.

I realize now that I actually have all the lands necessary to create the Kingdom of Sardinia -- I merely need 5 counties within the De Jure territory, and don't need the Duchy of Corsica after all. I only lack the required funds, which I get to work on immediately, ransoming Simone, the former Judike of Spoleto (he should now be no threat as he has no more lands), and petitioning the Vatican for aid. I will need even more funds to found a kingdom, but this is a start.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 8
The War of Independence (1111-1116)

I busy myself administering the realm and seeking to grow funds where I can. There are some small details to attend to, schemes to change feudal contracts to be more in my favor, the vatican's favor to regain, and so forth. One of my daughter Tedora's vassals rises against her, and I raise my armies in her defense. If only my children were as capable of keeping control in their lands -- this war will eat into my treasury, but I must keep her full inheritance secured.

While the siege goes on, my ally the Duchess of Piedmonte (who replaced her brother, who I formed an original alliance with) calls me into a war as well, claiming Savoy. I accept, but am preoccupied. The siege on Tedora's vassal ends and we win her war. Meanwhile, the Duchess of Piedmonte wins her war as well, and promptly calls me into another, a war that Savoy was previously embroiled in, and she has essentially inherited. I send my troops over that way, as they are already raised, hoping that perhaps there may be some plunder in this war to refill my coffers. The siege goes well, and the tide of the war is turning our way.

While this war is wrapping up, however, my daughter Tedora takes the bold move of having Tuscany join Provence and Friuli in an independence war on Kaiser Heinrich IV. They seem like they may have a chance, and this would be a fantastic outcome, as in any case we would need to free Sardinia from the Holy Roman Empire once it passes to Tedora. I would readily join her, but I have no formal alliance with Provence, the leader of the rebellion. I hasten to finish my current war, to see if I can negotiate an alliance, and help turn the tide against the Kaiser.

My remaining sieges on behalf of Piedmonte eventually succeed, and the war ends. I check on the state of the war for independence, still in its early stages, and am dismayed. The Kaiser has somehow managed to grow his forces considerably; this looks like a war that may be impossible to win. I stand my armies down for now, to regain some strength. I contact Dauphin Bertrand II of Provence, and negotiate an alliance, as he is a relation of my wife. My plan is to gather strength for some time, and then send in my troops to take lands near Spoleto. If the Kaiser wants to retaliate, he'll need to march his armies down through the mountains, suffering some attrition, to meet us. His armies are set to arrive sooner than I thought though, and pressed for time, I raise my own, and rush to the defense of Tedora's forces just north of Tuscany.

My army arrives in time, and we turn the tide of the battle -- barely. We chase the routed enemy to the alps, and pick off some of the splinter groups as their retreat is slowed in the mountains. We are outnumbered, but strategically play cat and mouse around the mountain passes of the alps, anticipating enemy movement and forcing them into confrontations that have our lower numbers in an advantageous position: defending in the mountains, and at river crossings. Eventually having whittled down the Kaiser's armies in this way, some of my allied troops make their way all the way to Ulm, lay siege, and miraculously capture the Kaiser himself, putting an end to the war.

The repercussions are huge. My daughter Tedora is now independent, as Duchess of Tuscany. Also independent is Lombardy, which stands to be inherited by Luca (who has by now come of age, and wed Tedora). Along with these lands that are destined for my descendants, the Kaiser has also lost the Duchies of Provence, Upper Burgundy, Piedmonte, Friuli, and a smattering of Italian counties, all of which are now independent. This may cause some instability in the near term, but for the long term it is good to see the HRE weakened, and my way to an independent kingdom for my heirs cleared.

With even further good fortune, I am able to raise large ransoms from prisoners captured during the war: enough to found the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica. I promptly do so after the war, and the kingdom is finally mine.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 9
The Second Crusade (1116-1119)

The instability from the partial fracturing of the HRE comes soon enough. Duchess Euphemia of Lombardy declares war on Piedmonte, claiming de jure lands. Though I am allied with both, Piedmonte tries to demand that I enter the war in their defense. My interests, of course, align much more closely with Euphemia, as her lands are destined to my heirs via Luca. I immediately contact her and offer to join the war on her side instead, and she happily accepts. Bizarrely, my alliance with Piedmonte remains technically in place, even as I siege their lands.

While I am busy leading my troops in Piedmonte, I am surprised by two rapid developments: the Lombard peasants in Spoleto, who I've been working on bringing back into Catholicism, have taken up arms in revolt, and at nearly the same moment the Pope has called a for second crusade. It seems that my levies and I will be kept busy for some time. I have captured a couple of critical holdings in Piedmonte, but Euphemia will need to finish her own war now, as my priorities lie elsewhere. First I must march down to suppress the revolt in Spoleto, and then I must set sail to aid in the crusade. I name my aunt Vera, former Queen of Jerusalem, as beneficiary of my crusading efforts, hoping that if it all goes well, she might have her lands restored to her.

I march down to Spoleto, and can't quite make it fast enough. The Lollard peasants' siege overwhelms the castle just before I can arrive. We immediately thrash them, however, and throw their leader into the dungeon. With this matter now taken care of, I sail with my army to Jerusalem, where we find that it is largely under the rule of Coptic Christians. There are, however, some lands that are de Jure part of the kingdom which are held by muslim rulers, and we lay siege on them, joining the other crusaders who are already busy at work in the region. While there, my allies back in Europe have the audacity to call me into their wars, while I'm quite busy enough with the crusade. I accept, even though there's not much I can do for them. Thankfully they are able to manage on their own.

The crusade ends soon, and what little lands weren't held by the Coptics go back to Queen Vera -- and she retains her claims on the whole kingdom of Jerusalem, should she find herself in a position to press them. If history is any guide, though, she'll be hard pressed enough to hold on to what little has been reclaimed for her. Even better, though, is that the spoils from this war are plentiful, and my coffers are healthier than ever. Once everything settles, this may allow for some investment in infrastructure. Meanwhile, Euphemia's made progress in her war on Piedmonte, but not quite finished the job. My work leading the army is not quite over yet, and I sail back with them directly to Piedmonte.

Once back in Piedmonte, I lead my troops to sweep up the remaining enemy forces. During this war, my wife dies of old age, and my alliances with Piedmonte and Provence fall through. We manage to wrap up the war together with Euphemia's forces, and she claims some more territory for Lombardy as a result. I would think there's no love lost with Duchess Ide of Piedmonte at this point, but it turns out that she is fairly gracious about the whole matter, and still holds me in good esteem after all of this, apparently understanding the political situation I had been placed in.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 10
King Marianu's Final Years (1119-1130)

After the wars end, I set about some development projects using the plunder from the crusade. There are also a couple of marriages to arrange. I wed my youngest daughter Jorgia to the independent Count of Urbino. My plan there is that with Jorgia inheriting Spoleto, and her child inheriting Spoleto and Urbino, that should bring enough lands under the crown to form a new duchy of Ancona. As for myself, for my new wife, I marry the former Queen of France, who is a princess of the Byzantine Empire -- a move that brings great prestige, while also ensuring I don't disrupt my inheritance plans, as she is past the age of child-bearing.

The following years go by in relative peace and tranquility. I find myself relieving the stress, and the guilt, of various schemes and intrigues by taking on a number of secret mistresses. Soon there are quite a number of fatherless children running around underfoot in the court. No one claims to know who their father might be -- I'm sure everyone suspects but is wise enough to keep quiet. There is another peasant revolt led by a Lollard, a giant of a man, powerful and brilliant at strategy. His paltry untrained forces are no match for my army, however, and he is quickly defeated and imprisoned. I grant him a deal, releasing him from the dungeons in exchange for converting and enlisting in my service. He is soon my foremost knight, and in fact, I rely on him to help put down another peasant revolt, this time in Tedora's Tuscany.

Despite my misgivings over it, I continue to scheme for the future in some violent ways. Duchess Euphemia has gone on to have 3 more sons in a later marriage, diminishing Luca's inheritance, including the Duchy of Corsica. As this is central to my plans for the future generations of our dynasty, I busy myself with orchestrating their demise. She is old enough not to bear more children, so I know that these are the only ones that will stand in Luca's way. Over time, I manage to take out the younger two. I am starting on a plot to eliminate the eldest, when I finally succumb to old age.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 11
Ascension of Queen Tedora (1130-1133)

I assume the throne as Queen Tedora of Sardinia and Corsica, adding my late father's lands to the ones I have held as Duchess of Tuscany. Spoleto goes to my younger sister Jorgia, who becomes my vassal. I am married to Luca, heir to Lombardy, and we have two young sons, Gaine and Patriziu, so our legacy is looking fairly secure. It is true that I am slow, but I have been trying to compensate for this by having focused heavily on scholarship, and thankfully my sons have not inherited this trait. Having recently ascended to the throne, there is much to attend to. I now have too many direct holdings, and will need to grant some of my titles to vassals. I will need to assemble a council. I also will need to make sure that my existing and new vassals are brought in line.

I begin by granting the Duchy of Emilia and County of Mantua, within it, to Luca. This will make him my vassal, which means that when he inherits his Duchy of Lombardy it will also be brought into the fold under my domain. It also ensures that Emilia stays with us, and will be inherited by our children. With Gaine set to inherit Sardinia, and Patriziu to inherit Tuscany, I grant them one county each from their inheritance, even though they are still small children. This brings my direct holdings into a manageable number, and keeps all of our lands within the family without diminishing inheritances.

I assign council positions as best as possible to assuage the egos of my vassals. This is an uphill battle, as I am a new ruler, and a woman in a male-dominated society. I am able to bring many around to being favorable, but will need to work on swaying my chancellor, who still is unconvinced. Once he is on board, he may help with internal diplomacy and bring the others further around as well.

I have enough lands now that I could usurp the Kingdom of Romagna from the Papacy, but I am not sure that this would be a wise course to take, or at least, not yet. With two kingdom titles, they would be split between Gaine and Patriziu, and the realm torn in half. I would need to create the Empire of Italia first, in order to keep a single realm together after my death; that is a long way off, but perhaps wouldn't actually be too much of a stretch once Lombardy is also added to my realm.

A final matter is to continue what my father Marianu set in motion and ensure Luca's full inheritance by eliminating his last living brother. I am not as skilled in these nefarious matters as my late father, but thankfully the treasury is healthy, and bribery is an easy replacement for skullduggery in arranging these matters.

All of these matters attended to, I conclude a pilgrimage that I was in the middle of when my father died, and soon afterwards give birth to a third son, who we name Gonariu. With an eye to possibly expanding the realm to a size where creating the Empire is an option, I decide to take a more direct approach with the independent counties remaining near my borders. They present easy targets. By taking just one or two, and adding them to my existing holdings, I could create duchy titles and likely convince the others to join on as vassals peacefully. This would aid in the requirements for creating an Empire title at some point later on. I set my archbishop to work in Bologna, to fabricate a claim there.

Some time passes, and I discover that I have trouble brewing with my sister Jorgia. My vassals have largely fallen in line and are favorable to my rule, but my sister is holding out, angry about our uneven inheritance, and her servitude under me despite the fact that I hold no de jure titles over her Spoleto. She has begun stirring trouble, creating a faction to lower my control in the realm, and trying to gather other vassals to it. This cannot stand, and I decide on a drastic course of action. I do hold claims to Spoleto, as they were my father's lands as well, and so I use these claims to demand that she relinquish her titles to me. Anticipating her response, I first amass my army near her capital in Spoleto. When I press my claims, she sees the writing on the wall and relents, turning over her titles and lands -- she is furious, but now powerless to pose a threat. I grant the Duchy of Spoleto to my youngest son Gonariu, still only a toddler.

I betroth Gaine to the young daughter of Duchess Ide of Piedmonte. They are of similar age, and Piedmonte will serve as a good ally in the present. Who knows -- in the future there might be room for this to be worked into an inheritance or claim as well, though it seems unlikely, as she does have two brothers. Speaking of which, my attempts on the life of Luca's remaining brother have been disastrous. My father Marianu had a distaste for these nefarious schemes, but also a talent for them, which I do not share. One of my bribed co-conspirators was imprisoned for some crime or other. Another died of old age. A third let slip all of our plans (but not, at least, my involvement) and set our mark on the defensive. I drop the matter, as it simply isn't panning out. However, he is, it seems, in poor health after being wounded in some battle, so perhaps things will work out after all. Even so, it looks like Luca may ultimately have to deal with pressing a claim on Corsica to secure his full inheritance after the fact.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 12
Conquest of Romagna and Ancona (1133-1137)

My archbishop's work in Bologna comes to fruition, manufacturing a claim which I press immediately. The difference in military strength is ridiculous, and we massacre their troops in short order, before quickly sieging their holdings. Bologna is mine before the year is out, and with the majority of lands now in my posession I declare myself Archonesa of Romagna. The count of Ravenna quickly agrees to become my vassal, as he is now my de jure subject. Having secured him, I keep Bologna for myself, but reward my Marshall, the Judicadu of Ferrara, with the Archonate of Romagna.

With this acquisition accomplished, I turn my sights to the remaining independent counties. Urbino and Ancona remain. My sister Jorgia is dispossessed of her titles, but she is married to the Count of Urbino, and her son stands to inherit that county already. For that reason, I choose to target Ancona instead, which I can claim in order to follow the same strategy as before, creating the Archonate of Ancona, and then pressuring my brother in law, the Count of Urbino, to willingly pledge fealty as my vassal. I set my archbishop to work once again.

Some drama soon ensues with Luca. One of his Judikes under him as Duke of Emilia takes up arms against him, seeking to depose him. It quickly becomes clear that Luca doesn't have the means to resist this attack. It seems that I am unable to intervene militarily in the affairs of the vassals within my realm, so my options are limited, as I can't come to his aid directly. Instead, I put an end to the matter by officially revoking this upstart vassal from him, making him a direct vassal of my own instead. Technically this is an act of tyranny, and my other vassals are miffed by this for a while. Taking their vassals for my own, without warrant, isn't viewed favorably. However, with Luca no longer his Duke, and answering to me directly, the little rebellion comes to an immediate end, and though it leaves the Judike in question fuming, he is certainly aware that he doesn't have the means to continue his insurgency against the Queen herself.

By now my archbishop has completed his work in Ancona, and I move my plan into action. As before the county falls quickly to my army, and the siege goes smoothly. I claim the Judicadu of Ancona, and with it joining my existing holdings, create the Archonate of Ancona. The count of Urbino dutifully becomes my vassal, according to plan. As something of a peace offering, I grant the new Archonate to my nephew Jacopo, who is Jorgia's young son. He stands to eventually inherit Urbino as well. She isn't overly moved by the gesture, but Jacopo is very grateful, and will be easy to keep loyal.

I check on how Luca's brother is doing, and am pleased to learn that he has died from his wounds and ill health. It turns out that my poor attempts playing at assassination weren't necessary in the end. Euphemia is beginning to get old now, and it shouldn't be too much longer before Luca comes into his inheritance and adds all of Lombardy to my realm. With the conquest of the last independent counties in Italy under my domain, the realm now includes much of the Italian peninsula; once Euphemia's lands are added, it will grow to also include many lands stretching north into the Alps.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 13
The Crusade for Syria (1137-1140)

With Jerusalem in the hands of the Coptic Christians of Egypt, the Pope turns his eye north and declares a holy war for the Kingdom of Syria. I pledge my forces to the cause, and with a great many other crusaders we sail to distant shores. Our foe controls a vast Sultanate that stretches far to the east, but we arrive in great numbers. I set off from the rest, splitting my forces into two armies and marching through the provinces just north of Jerusalem, laying siege and occupying them as we go. We generally meet little opposition -- the enemy is either otherwise engaged, or else still mustering their forces to come meet us in great enough numbers.

It is while here that I learn that Luca has apparently grown tired of waiting for his inheritance, and has gone off and declared war on his mother Euphemia for his birthright. He manages to get himself caught and imprisoned in short order. I am relieved, at least, that Euphemia doesn't disinherit him for this foolishness, instead keeping him under house arrest. I fully expect her to keep him there until she finally dies and he is granted his inheritance in due course. Instead, she relents and frees him within a month, perhaps feeling he has learnt his lesson.

I continue taking lands in the southern part of Syria, while in the north the Sultan's forces arrive and begin a cataclysmic battle with the amassed crusading forces. Based on the numbers we have up there, it seems like they should handle this just fine on their own, and that I may be of better use continuing to lay siege to the undefended lands around me -- all the better for me, given what I stand to gain from plundering villages and ransoming prisoners, without risking too many of my levies.

The crusade continues in this way, as we march further and further into the desert, while the others keep the Sultan busy to the north. Eventually the Sultan relents, and the crusade is won. I am deemed the greatest contributor by far in this effort, given the vast territory I have occupied during the war. As reward, I am able to name my beneficiary, but I have no one very appropriate to nominate. I can find only a distant relative, a very old woman, who is of my dynasty and unlanded. She becomes Queen of Syria, but soon enough, I am sure, she will pass on the title to her heir, a grandson who isn't of the Torchitoriu line. No matter, as my share of the plunder is staggering and is reward enough. We begin the long march back through the desert to home.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 14
Duchess Ide's War for Bern (1140-1146)

Some time passes fairly peacefully, but I am surprised one winter when Luca falls ill, rapidly declines, and dies. Duchess Euphemia has now outlived all of her sons, with her daughter Luna her only surviving child. Thankfully, rules of inheritance dictate that my son Gaine still stands to inherit Lombardy, but now directly from his grandmother. I am old enough now that I could consider remarrying without worrying about shaking up inheritance plans through future offspring, with my three sons already well accounted for. I am, however, in no hurry to do so, as there isn't much to gain, and no great opportunities present themselves.

Duchess Ide of Piedmonte begins a war to claim Bern, a neighboring county to the north. It is currently held by a vassal within the HRE, and so this is a war against the Kaiser. This seems incredibly rash to me, and I realize that she must be emboldened by her alliance with me, and the forces I have at my disposal, which I have bolstered with some of the proceeds from the crusade for Syria. Soon Gaine joins her in this misadventure, honoring his alliance with her caused via his marriage to her daughter. I feel I have no choice, then, but to cast in with them, to support my son. When, sure enough, Ide's call to arms comes, I ready my troops and march to Bern. My army arrives as a battle already is in progress, but not soon enough. Gaine chose to lead his own troops, charging headlong into the battle before my superior numbers arrived to back them up, and was slain by one of the Kaiser's knights.

I am overwhelmed by grief at Gaine's death, and isolate myself in my chambers. Patriziu becomes my new heir, and Euphemia's heir, and as Gaine's next of kin, immediately inherits his titles and lands. At least succession isn't completely ruined, and Patriziu, a handsome young man just come of age and married to a beautiful young wife, seems like he will make for a fine ruler. However, he also inherits Gaine's accursed war, so we must see it through to completion together.

We allow the Kaiser's routed forces to flee north, and plan to hold position in the Alps to defend against them, should they muster a second attempt. My army completes its march to Bern, and with sufficient allied troops besieging the castle, I station my siege weapons there with a small contingent of levies and a couple of knights to command them. I break up the rest of my large army into a number of groups and have them spread out and guard the mountain passes; there are too many of them to sustain in one place in the mountains in winter. The siege ends after some time, and I have my small siege regiment come back to join one of the larger groups in the mountains. The allied troops, with Patriziu now among them, move ahead to Lucerne to continue claiming territory. Soon the Kaiser's restored army is bearing down on them, and they begin to flee south, while my forces, in turn, start pouring down from the mountains around Lucerne to intercept the Kaiser down in the valley. It's a messy affair as my army arrives in regiments at different times, but we hold strong and eventually are there in full force to soundly defeat the enemy. Once again the Kaiser's armies are routed to the north. By now it is spring, and this time I stay in the valley, which can sustain our numbers, while we siege Lucerne. During the siege of Lucerne, the Kaiser somehow returns again, this time with a massive army. We match them equally and there is a great battle, which we manage to emerge from victoriously, but there are heavy losses on both sides. Once again, the enemy retreats to the north, although by now I know to expect them back again soon enough. We see through the end of the siege quickly, and I move my forces back south to hide out in the mountains again, within reach of supply lines and reinforcements to swell our depleted numbers.

We sit and wait in the mountains around Bern, knowing that we need simply hold on until the Kaiser admits that he cannot retake it. His forces are seen coming back towards our position yet again, and we make a show of force marching down to Bern, which frightens them off, as they turn north again. Moving back to our positions in the mountains around Bern, we set watch and settle in to continue waiting it out. The Kaiser dies, and his son takes over the empire and the war. Then, finally, at great age, Duchess Euphemia of Lombardy dies as well. Patriziu inherits Lombardy, adding it to my realm, which is now truly vast, and at only 18 he has great power within it.

I am growing in age myself, and losing some of my capabilities to manage my whole realm. I decide to wed after all, finding a suitable spouse with great expertise in stewardship, to help administer my lands. Shortly after this, during the next spring, the new Kaiser finally concedes and the long, calamitous war for Bern comes to an end.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 15
War with the Papacy and Birth of Empire (1146-1151)

With all of the lands now in my realm, from my father's Sardinia and my mother's Tuscany going to me, and now Euphemia's Lombardy going to Patriziu, I think that creating an Empire of Italia is within reach. I have the territory to usurp the Kingdom of Romagna from the Papacy, and to create a new Kingdom of Italy. With these three kingdoms, and just a little additional land, I could see the way forward to creating the Italia to rule over them. The only other nations that now lie within the de jure lands of Italia are the Papacy, Piedmonte, Friuli, and the merchant republics of Pisa and Venice. I could leave the task of empire creation to Patriziu, which might be safer. If I usurp and create the kingdoms, but fail to join them under a single empire before I die, then Gonariu would inherit one of the kingdoms independently, and the possible empire would be split apart. However, I am very well positioned to create the empire now, perhaps more so than Patriziu readily would be. I have earned great renown in my time, from wars against the Kaisers of the HRE, and my victories in the crusade for Syria. I have also hoarded great wealth from that crusade. Additionally, my history with Duchess Ide of Piedmonte and Duke Berthold of Friuli may help persuade them to swear fealty to me and aid in the creation of Italia. In our youth, I fought alongside them both in the war of independence which freed all of us from the Kaiser. Just now, of course, I also fought for Duchess Ide and was largely responsible for the success of her war for Bern. I decide that there is much in favor of acting now, and move forward with a plan to form the empire.

I move my plan into motion, usurping the Kingdom of Romagna from the Papacy and creating the Kingdom of Italy. Now, newly as her de jure liege, I offer vassalization to Duchess Ide of Piedmonte, and she accepts and swears fealty to me in my capacity as Queen of Italy. The Duke of Piedmonte, being germanic, is less willing, and I know not to approach him about vassalization just yet. The Pope, meanwhile, is enraged by my actions. I still need just a bit more territory in order to create the empire. With the Pope already angry with me, I decide to go all in against him, and claim the Prince-Archbishopric of Latium, consisting of Roma, Viterbo, and Tivoli, as rightfully mine, as Queen of Romagna. This will not be easy, as the Vatican is wealthy and powerful, and they do seem to have an edge militarily. I see, however, that it has been a while since the last crusade, and Syria has fallen to the hands of the infidel. I anticipate that within a few years, the Pope may declare a new crusade, and while his troops are off fighting in faraway lands, we can swoop into his undefended holdings. In the meantime, I can allow my levies to recover in numbers after the long war for Bern, and can invest in our own military might. If I become concerned that I am waning and may soon die, I may need to act sooner that I would like, in order to protect Patriziu's inheritance.

My suspicions not only prove true, but come to fruition much sooner than expected. In the spring, the Pope announces a new crusade for Syria, to start in the summer of the following year, granting crusaders ample time to prepare. I keep quiet on his call to arms, but begin my own preparations against him instead. As I refrain from pledging support for the crusade this time around, the Pope grows even angrier, denouncing me, and upon my further refusal to participate, excommunicating me from the church. My true piety remains without question, I think, as a well respected theologian in my own right as a scholar, and a former crusader -- but my break with the vatican is certainly complete at this point. My days are likely near an end, however, and my war with the Papacy is imminent, so I don't care.

The next summer finally comes, and I watch as the Pope's forces assemble and sail off to far lands. I give them until the fall before I make a move, so that they will be well on their way. Then, I spring my war on them, claiming Latium and marching my forces to siege Rome. I find that Rome is the most heavily fortified holding I have ever encountered, perhaps the strongest fortress in Europe. We begin the siege, but I can see that even against only the stationed garrison, with all other troops off fighting in Syria, this siege will likely take nearly two years.

With his troops absent fighting in the crusades, the Pope uses his vast wealth to hire two large mercenary armies, which set off for my lands. I leave a small force keeping the siege alive at Rome, and move my remaining army off to intercept them; together their forces would outnumber me, but they are well separated and I have a chance to intercept them one at a time and take them out. I manage to outmaneuver one of the mercenary armies and catch them marching into my defensive position in the Apennines. Having routed them, I then run down the other mercenary army, and then make my way back to Rome, to recommence the siege in earnest. I do so, and as months pass I witness the Pope hire on an unrelenting stream of various mercenary bands, which seem to move menacingly around the countryside, and then seeing their inferior numbers, slink off to parts unknown. The immense fortunes fueling all of this must be mind-boggling, and are a testament to the power the vatican wields through its gathering of tithes. If they banded together, I would be quite worried for the fate of my siege, but the disparate mercenary leaders don't seem to be well coordinated, and keep to themselves. After many months of this, the mighty Rome finally falls to me, and the end of my war seems to be in sight.

I move my army to nearby Tivoli, and begin a siege there. A couple of the mercenary bands join together and mount an attack on our sieging forces at Tivoli, but we fend them off, and they scatter away in retreat. Tivoli falls to us in only three months, and we make south for Terracina next, where a fairly large band of mercenaries is preparing to launch to sea. We catch them before they are able to depart, and defeat them before mercenary reinforcements are able to arrive to join them. As their survivors flee away to the north, the mercenary reinforcements making their way from the south see the state of affairs, and thinking better of it, turn tail as well. We are able to siege Terracina without further interruption, and once it falls the Pope concedes the war, and what I now call the Archonate of Latium is mine.

With the territory which I now hold, I finally create the Empire of Italia, and am crowned as its first Empress.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 16
The Terrenic Schism of the Church (1151-1153)

I keep the newly acquired lands of Latium for myself, as it is wealthy and powerful territory, and reward my steward with my Archonate of Tuscany, where he already holds some land. The capital of the empire remains in Cagliari in Sardinia, of course, which as the capital of an empire I hope may someday rival Rome and the other wealthy provinces of the mainland.

Excommunicated, and holding Rome, which Catholicism demands be the seat of the Pope, after spurning his crusade and taking it in my own war, I find that the damage to my religious relations with Catholicism is irreparable. I decide to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, as I did long ago, when my father Marianu died. Visiting the holy lands held by the Coptics, recognizing their brotherhood under the Christian faith, and I return home with new religious clarity. On my return, I decide to establish a new branch of Christianity, relying on my deep knowledge as a scholar and theologian, and my great reputation as a pious Christian through my pilgrimages and devotion. Admittedly, this is largely motivated by my break with Catholicism, and with the Papacy. I also must admit that it is in large part to shift the balance of power from the clergy to the crown. However, part of it is to right some wrongs that I have seen with church doctrine, particularly as a woman.

So it is that I found the Christian sect that becomes known as Terrenism, for its reverence for the earth. We hold that there is holiness of the ephemeral and worldly, rather than only in the infinite divine: therefore revering the sanctity of nature, the equality of all people before God, and the divine right of rulers in their time on earth. We reject the notion of a head of the church, such as a Pope. We have a lay clergy, appointed by rulers, in positions which they may grant and revoke as they will. We are a pluralist religion, tolerant of other beliefs, and holding all Christians of any denominations to be our brothers and sisters. We believe in the holiness of all people. Women are granted the same rights as men, able to hold and inherit titles and property, be appointed to any important positions, and serve as members of the clergy. We refute the idea of deviancy or the sin of same-sex relations (which it is known my son Gaine dabbled in, before his death). Marriage is still still monogamous and considered sacred, however those adulterers who stray are not considered criminal, and we consider all children to be legitimate, even those born out of wedlock. Marriages may also be ended at will, without need of sanction from any higher authority.

With the new Terrenic church established, I claim all of the temple holdings within my realm. I grant them out, to men and women both, to those who are worthy based solely on their abilities as theologians. My family and direct vassals all follow me into the new church. As for the people, I set my new court chaplain, Simone, on what will be undoubtedly long task of proselytizing to my subjects. As for my own part, I send out somewhat strongly worded invitations to join the new church to all of the lower-level rulers within my realm where there seems a decent chance they might accept, forgoing those who are zealous papists. Many of them graciously accept the invitation, and so Terrenism gains a strong start, and they also set their clergy to work on converting the masses.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 17
Pisa and Planning Succession (1153-1156)

I turn my eye now to the Merchant Republic of Pisa, which should rightfully be my vassal under the de jure territory of the Empire of Italia. Having been reticent to swear fealty earlier, the Serene Doge of Pisa is now openly hostile to the idea, given our new religious differences. It is a wealthy city-state, but an easy target for my military. I declare war, claiming what is mine as Empress, and summarily trounce his army, capture all of his lands, and take him and his daughter prisoner. I ransom them for their own freedom, and then sue for peace demanding his vassalization. Once he concedes the war and is forced to swear fealty to me, I demand his conversion to Terrenism as my vassal. He refuses, and I use this as a basis to imprison him. I further use his crime to strip him of his title as Serene Doge of Pisa, becoming Queen of Pia myself, and leaving him as merely Archon of Pia. I then throw him in my dungeons to keep out of causing any further trouble for me. I can be ruthless when the needs of Italia demands it.

At the end of the war, I find that Patriziu has found himself in some familiar trouble. One of his Judikes, the son of the rebellious one who took up arms against Luca, has called together a faction of traitorous allies and risen against him. As I did before with his father, I retract the Judike from him, and make him a direct vassal of my own, ending the war immediately. I'll need to keep him under a close watch myself; it seems this family is nothing but a thorn in my side.

The other nations within my de jure lands are only Friuli, and part of what remains of the Papacy, with its new capital in Orbetello. Friuli has expanded greatly in their own right, extending east to border Croatia, and north as far as Salzburg, with some inherited non-adjacent lands northwest of the Alps, stretching from Zurich to Baden. It would be fantastic to vassalize them, but this seems an impossibility now, given our cultural and religious differences. Venice, the small merchant republic surrounded by Friuli, is surprisingly de jure under the Byzantine Empire, and still independent for now, though to my eye it seems it ought to belong to Italia. To the south, outside of my de jure territory, but within the Italian peninsula, and also technically de jure part of the Byzantine Empire, lies the small independent Duchy of Capua, the remaining lands of the Papacy, and the very large Duchy of Calabria. Sicily is held by the Byzantines, within their de jure lands.

The Pope's remaining lands would be a natural next target, but we are under a truce from the last war. Another problem is that after some time passes, and before my truce expires, the crusaders win their war for Syria and return victorious. The Pope remains a powerful enemy, and with his full might back home, another war could be very difficult. Another opportunity would be Friuli, however I'd like to claim all of that territory in one fell swoop, which isn't possible at present, but may be fairly soon, as we are developing stronger doctrines of divine right which would allow me to enforce multiple claims as casus belli for a single war. So, for now, I must bide my time.

I am growing old, however, and must also see to succession plans. Despite the creation of the Empire of Italia, which would be held by Patriziu, I am concerned about the kingdoms getting split apart. As things stand, even after my recently enacted laws of high partition, Patriziu would get Sardinia, but both Italy and Romagna would go to Gonariu. This would grant Gonariu far too much power in the empire, and make Patriziu's peaceful succession difficult. Though it disappoints me, I feel I have no choice but to officially disinherit Gonariu. Surprisingly, he takes this in stride, and remains very much pleased with me and loyal. He is content by nature, and still pleased with being granted Spoleto.

With Patriziu's safe succession secured, I wait for my next opportunities to arise. Soon, however, my time comes and I die.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 18
Emperor Patriziu's Ascension to the Throne (1156-1160)

I take the throne as Emperor Patriziu of Italia. My wife and I have three children, my daughter Dorotea is the eldest, and we have baby twin boys, Andria and Patriziu, with another child on the way. Under the new laws, following the tenets of Terrenism, Dorotea is my primary heir, standing to eventually inherit the lion share of holdings, with the younger children splitting the rest. For now, however, there is the usual task of securing my succession by bringing my vassals in line. Among my first acts, I make a show of ordering the execution of a number of prisoners we have in the dungeons, those without close ties that would really ruffle any feathers, but still enough to show that as emperor those who are disloyal shall face consequences. Thankfully, I also have far too many titles, and have empty council positions in order to help appease them. I dole these out carefully, structuring the empire along de jure lines to reduce tensions, and attempting to keep anyone from pooling too much power under me. For myself, I keep the Archonates of Sardinia and Romagna, and their lands. I appease my brother Gonariu by naming him official court chaplain, which pleases him. The remaining vassals are largely pleased by the apportionment of lands and titles, and transference of appropriate vassals under them.

There remains a thorn in my side, however, one that has now plagued my family for generations. Leo, the Judike of Modena, who rebelled against me as Archon of Emilia, just as his father rebelled against my father before me, refuses to fall in line. I must grant Mantua and Emilia to someone, but I'll be damned if it's him. Instead I have a friend of mine in mind, who would be grateful and worthy of the title. I raise my army at Leo's doorstep in Modena, and once assembled, demand that he step down and surrender his title. He refuses, of course, and leads his own troops into battle against me. We defeat them, and capture him in the course of the battle. With him safely imprisoned, I strip his titles from him, and grant them alongside my own to my friend Boethios, thus giving him the entirety of the Archonate of Emilia. I must trust that my friend will stay loyal.

These matters taken care of, my most powerful vassals have been brought around. I can see dissention and distrust remains lower in the nobility, but they will come around with time. For now, I think I have done enough with my show of dealing with prisoners, and my treatment of the former Judike Leo to strike fear into them to keep them from trying anything. My son Marku is born just as things settle down from the turmoil of succession.

I assess the situation, and find it much the same as my mother Tedora did -- my next logical targets are the Papacy, Friuli and Capua, but I must bide my time. As I wait, I am pleasantly surprised to find that Terrenism begins to spread on its own outside the empire, being adopted by the Duke of Burgundy, within France, and the neighboring Duke of Upper Burgundy, an independent duchy. The venerable Archoness Ide passes away, and I am invited to a feast held by her son Willichar, the new Archon of Piedmonte. Due to a change of succession laws, his sister Rictrude gains the larger inheritance of the Archonate of Savoy. Rictrude was previously married to my late brother Gaine, and remarried to my younger brother Gonariu. Now as an Archon and Archoness, they hold considerable power in my realm. I continue to pass the time this way, attending feasts held by my vassals, and waiting for an opening.

 

[Torchitor]

CHAPTER 19
Taking Orbetello (1160-1162)

Quick aside on my intentions as a player: when I started, I wanted to be non-expansionist, and clearly my goals have changed a bit. I did what I needed to to get Corsica, and ended up with almost all of Italia as a result. It's hard to just throw that away, so I went for it. I don't think I'm going to totally change gears and go for wild expansion at this point, and will be mostly content with keeping Italia. With that said, there's quite a bit of territory (generally the south of the Italian peninsula) which to me really seems like it ought to be Italia, so I might go for that. I also don't think I'll turn down obvious opportunities for easy expansion outside Italia when they present themselves, and that's about to become relevant. At the same time, I don't plan on forcing constant expansion at any cost, which is how I've played games in the past where I've ended up with all of western Europe.

Waiting pays off, and opportunity arises. I see that the Pope has announced another crusade, this time for Jerusalem, or at least, part of that kingdom. Jerusalem itself is still held by the Coptic Christians of Egypt, called the Bashandid Malakate. The crusade's target, then, seems to be just a couple counties in the region, Tiberius and Ma'ab, which are under Islamic rule. In any case, I can use the same strategy as my mother Tedora did earlier to usher in the creation of Italia, and wage war on the Pope while his forces are busy in distant lands.

At the same time, I note an opportunity to my west. Provence is a large and powerful Duchy wedged between Italia and France. They are Cathars, a gnostic sect that has had a similar schism with the Catholic church as we Terrenists. With France breathing down his neck, it seems that the dauphin is desperate for an alliance, and he has a younger son, Blasi, who is near the age of my daughter Dorotea. He is willing to accept betrothal for a matrilineal marriage between the two. Although Blasi is the younger son, and doesn't stand to inherit all of Provence, I share some of the darker talents of my grandfather Marianu, and none of his moral qualms. I am fairly confident that I can see to it that Blasi finds his way to the throne of Provence. If I succeed, then eventually Provence would come to be part of Italia when their future children inherit. My only reservation is that Blasi has hemophilia, a trait I would be loath to introduce to my bloodline. I decide to take the risk in any case, and propose the matrilineal betrothal and alliance. He accepts.

With the alliance formed, and the Pope busying himself with the crusade, I declare war on him claiming his new capital of Orbetello as rightfully belonging to my Archon of Tuscany, as it is under the de jure territory of Tuscany. I raise my army near Viterbo, just outside Orbetello, and call in my new ally, the Dauphin of Provence, to my aid. As my army gathers, I surprise even myself with the size of it, as I have been investing heavily in the military since taking the throne. The Pope calls on his mercenaries, and we decimate a small band of them as we march upon Orbetello to lay siege. A larger mercenary band sees our vast forces setting up for siege at Orbetello and runs for the hills. I split my forces into two armies, leaving at the siege, and the other chasing the mercenaries up into the hills. Once the mercenaries are defeated and the siege successful, there's nothing to do but march the two armies south to the Pope's other holdings of Napoli and Benevento. The Dauphin of Provence makes good on his word and has a large contingent join my forces on the march south. A Catholic peasant leader decides to launch a very ill-timed revolt in Tivoli at this time, so we make a small detour there and suppress it on the way. Despite his poor timing, the leader is a strong soldier, so I forcibly convert and recruit him as a knight in exchange for his freedom, rather than execute him to set an example.

We continue our march south, and siege the Pope's southern lands with little opposition. The war ends surprisingly quickly, and Orbetello is ours. The Pope has no choice but to move his capital south, to Benevento.