Luitgard died on January 13th, 1072 in childbirth. Both she and the infant perished. Ince did not grieve, for he held little love for his wife, unlike Tamas and Eufrozyna who were inseparable and already had a son and two daughters.
Finding no one to his liking on the immediate marriage scene, Ince instead worked on continuing to plot with conspirators unhappy with the Duke of Slovakia's rule, particularly his ineptitude in the current war. Although an opportunity arose in February to declare independence, the Gemer Count was unable to take advantage, for he was still reviled throughout the land for his humiliating defeat at King Saloman's hands.
Another year and month passed and the war looked to be concluding in favor of King Saloman, as the Polish had by and large settled into a neutral role. Fearing absorption into the Kingdom of Hungary once more, Ince decided the time was right to strike out for more territory and so he declared war on the tiny Tribe of Kexholm.
Before he set out for the north, Ince married Adelaide von Rheinfelden, daughter of the Duke of Swabia due to Eufrozyna's skillful manipulations. She became with child on their wedding night, for she was far lovelier than his plump first wife and the Count's passions were high.
The journey turned out expensive, long, and dangerous. Rebels attacked the Gemer army twice along the way and even after the Kexholm army had been defeated and the province looked about to fall, the pagans rebuilt their fort with a swiftness that stunned the Hungarians and the siege had to begin anew.
In March 1074, the Kingdom of Poland made peace with the Kingdom of Hungary and it was universally felt that absorption of Slovakia back into the kingdom could not be far behind.
The long campaign made Ince quite lonely and restless and so while he was sieging Kexholm, he took as concubine a pretty Finnish pagan girl, whom he bore a son with in July 1074, two days before Kexholm surrendered.
Eager to acquire as much territory as possible before Slovakia became a part of Hungary again, Ince declared war on the Tribe of Satakunta and set out posthaste for the territory.
The battle dragged on well into 1075 and Ince received word in March that Mihaly, the diocese bishop, had died. He sent home an old soldier who'd proven his valour on campaign with instructions that the brilliant veteran be named Marshal, his brother Tamas the diocese bishop.
Vencel Drugeth, the soldier, was not the only one to gain acclaim during the northern wars. Ince himself brilliantly fought against Satakuntian hordes who time and time again rose up in numbers as many as two and three to one advantage over the Hungarians and time and time again, Ince beat them down, growing in prestige and skill for it.
A son, Istvan, was born to him during the siege of Satakunta. By this time his wife Adelaide had joined him and she forgave Ince the indiscretion with the concubine. During their making up, she again conceived.
In May, unexpected aid arrived. 970 Christian knights from the County of Oprava, led by a man named Sebastian the Bold, marched into the province and pledged their support to the devout Hungarian count against the pagan infidels. They said they had heard word of Ince's great feats and they wished to aid him in his time of trouble.
The count was only too happy to accept their fealty and the siege pressed on with renewed vigour.
Shock came in April 1075, when Istvan's grandfather Rudolph passed away. Unbeknowst to Ince, Istvan was first in the line of succession and thus became the new Duke of Swabia, a powerful position of three territories with many vassals.
An even more stunning event happened in June. The pagan forces rose up in mass again and killed Sebastian. Without their brave leader, the remaining pilgrims scattered and Ince was left to fight on with his 245 troops. Making matters even worse, the pagans managed to completely rebuild their fortifications in the ensuing chaos.
Disgusted with the war and frantic to return home to investigate the possibility of abdication, Ince made peace and went back to Gemer.
The new wife, who's extremely fecund
My unimpressive bastard
Kexholm, next to the lake in the east, is outlined in green
Look! Neat text pointing out the Duchy of Swabia's personal territory!
It'd technically be cheating if I edited the save game file to have Ince abdicate in favor of Istvan, but it's oh so damned tempting and it'd make sense in terms of the story too. I've never, ever had this kind of thing happen in CK before. I admit I'm completely preplexed as to what to do. I didn't even think to look at the succession laws. What should I do? Any thoughts? Slovakia is still independant from Hungary if that has any bearing.