When you're a recluse, smoking is one of the few pleasures and avenues to fresh air available, nevermind the irony of polluted lungs. I know some people, like my father, smoke in their houses, but that always strikes me as strange and unusual. Why would you want the place you live to feel and smell like the sooty insides of a chimney or coal mine? I suppose part of it is also the trend across the nation to ban smoking from bars and restaurants. It's become so ingrained a habit to be outside to smoke because of those laws, that I can no longer do it indoors, and I especially can't do it when I'm eating. Yet, oftentimes, 5 minutes before or 5 minutes after, there it is between my lips, effects on taste and aftertaste be damned.
But anyway, victory smoke consumed (even though I, of course, didn't *actually* eat it) and return to the Purple we go.
There's a new Duke of Dukaljta or however you say it. He's getting involved in stupid wars. Good news for me.
Even better news?
I fulfill my wife's ambition to be Spymaster and she's so thrilled, she gets instapregnant.
More on the results of that in a bit. But first...
Uh oh. Looks like the battle to end the Seljuk threat was just a temporary setback.
Good news: Instapregnancy = new son!
Bad news: Gavelkind is law of land. I have to use my last honorary title and bribe the other vassal to make everyone cool with passing this shiny new elective law. Result?
We <3 Count Ioannes Day!
Which means...
FLAWLESS VICTORY!
In other news around the Empire, the Basileius (sp) dies. His heir?
Yeah.
So it's no surprise when:
The Byzantine Empire. Now with less purple.
But let's back up a bit. Before that sad event, I decided to try and plot to get a claim on my liege's Duchy. This naturally makes him so angry he does the following:
To which *I* say...
Screw you, pal.
While the war for Independence that's actually a war to Change Liege goes on, I get the following message:
Cool. But first I have to win this war and that means buying mercs, eating into the fat treasury I've saved.
Ain't nobody revokin' jack, now, old man who won't die and who is Imperial Chancellor so everybody tells me to sod off when I'm like Hey bro, you should totally join my claim on the Duchy, yo.
While the war was taking place, I noticed this in our sphere of interest:
...Excellent.
Operation Fast HUMmingbird Launch!
Things are going according to plan...
And then...
...Then there's a change in Dukes AGAIN, resulting in inconclusive war.
Well shit. I still have 98 gold, but that's too low to go charging off to war again just yet. I'm just going to sit tight, build up my cash reserves, and *then* go back at it. Notice the usurp title icon up at the top? 192 gold and change and that doesn't land me Hum, even though my claim will pass on to my UNANIMOUS VICTORY heir when I croak and he's elected. Too much money right now. I'll have gone to war over Hum before then and claimed it, *then* use my three territories to raise enough money to usurp the ducal title.
...Oh wait. I'm at my max demense limit of 2 already.
Oh well. Screw it. I'll sort it out when the time comes. Now to push play and wait.