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Old 10-05-2006, 05:47 PM   #1
Izulde
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Join Date: Sep 2004
"Surpass the Arpads!": County of Gemer (CK)

February 27th, 1067: County of Gemer

A southern European placement meant nothing to Nature, who deigned to calmly and relentlessly overlay the Hungarian province of Gemer with a chilling blanket of snow.

Those inside the fort did not care, for they were merry with celebration. Marshal Tamas Balog, elder brother to Count Ince Balog, had just wed Eufrozyna Wlostowic, a courtier late of the Duchy of Silesia.

Tamas paused from the kissings of his blushing blonde bride to join his brother-liege in a drink before the crackling hearth.

"A fine girl you've found me, Ince! You plan to give her a court position, I hope?"

"Yes" answered fully-bearded Ince as he stared absently into the searing flames, "Her contacts in Poland will be useful for finding out information that we might not otherwise be able to obtain. Hence, she will be in charge of... intelligence gathering."

"Splendid!" Tamas crowed with a delighted grin as he clapped Ince on the shoulder, "You keep making wise decisions like that and we'll surpass those bastard Arpads yet!"

The Count frowned and removed his brother's hand, dropping his voice to a fierce whisper, "Hold your tongue... There are many who are loyal to the King and his family here. I will not have you giving him any reason to remove me from power. I am still young yet and he does not fully trust me, I am sure."

"True, true" replied the cheerful Marshal, "But we'll do it yet. We have one of the richest provinces in Hungary, you know. Only that bastard Laszlo Arpad is much richer than we are.. and of course the King himself."

"Indeed. Let us speak no more of this. Go and enjoy your bride. I must speak with the barons and the clergy to assure them that my recent changes in our realm's laws will not hurt them."

Tamas took this advice and he and Ince went their separate ways as their functions required of them that night.

***

The Balogs were indeed fortunate in Gemer, but they were not satisfied with just that county. Realizing that the time to strike was immediately while certain wealthy provinces he coveted were still weak, Ince claimed the rich but manless Russian county of Peremyshl for his own and declared war in April. The Principality of Kiev, Peremyshl's liege lord, and the King of Hungary joined in on the side of their vassals as expected, but the real surprise and turning point came when the King of Poland, manipulated by Eufrozyna's planted spies, declared war on Kiev as well.

Unfortunately, the King's regency council decided that a war, even one extremely winnable and indeed one that was going unquestionably the way of the Hungary-Poland alliance, would be too damaging and so they made peace with Kiev in July.

This enraged Ince even more and he vowed that as soon as as he had the power, he would break away and declare himself indepedent. Although he'd fought with the Russians, his real enemy was none other than the Arpads.


The happily married Marshal


His very useful and cunning Polish bride


The current hero of the story
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Old 10-05-2006, 09:54 PM   #2
JeffNights
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Ah yes! Once more into the fray!
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Old 10-06-2006, 09:25 AM   #3
Izulde
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Ah yes! Once more into the fray!

Indeed. I will make a Kingship one of these times, damn it.
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Old 10-06-2006, 09:57 AM   #4
Icy
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Awesome stuff as always Izulde. Everytime i read one of your dynasties i feel the urge of playing CK but i haven't ever played it for more than a few hours since i purchased it a year ago. For any reaosn i can't get into it while i loved EUII and thought that i woul dlike CK even more as i like more the time period. I can't find the fun on the game, i expend hours finding the right parter to my character and end bored of it, not a lot else to do in the mean time unless i'm missing a lot of features.
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Old 10-06-2006, 12:19 PM   #5
Izulde
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Awesome stuff as always Izulde. Everytime i read one of your dynasties i feel the urge of playing CK but i haven't ever played it for more than a few hours since i purchased it a year ago. For any reaosn i can't get into it while i loved EUII and thought that i woul dlike CK even more as i like more the time period. I can't find the fun on the game, i expend hours finding the right parter to my character and end bored of it, not a lot else to do in the mean time unless i'm missing a lot of features.

Oh I understand. It's like me with EU2 and Vicky. I want to like them, but I can't bring myself to enjoy playing them. I've given up on EU2, but Vicky I'll keep trying to.

Glad you're enjoying the dynasty at least.
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Old 10-06-2006, 02:04 PM   #6
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Quietly the years passed, with the county of Gemer growing richer and more powerful with each succeeding month. Maria Pallfy, the stewardess, completed her education with merchants in Venice and returned so apt a pupil that many called her one of the greatest financial minds of the age. Her stellar talents with money made the Gemer the indisputably richest county in Hungary, surpassing even the royal capital of Pressburg and the county of Bihar, both Arpad domains.

Count Ince at last married in January 1069 and his wife was Luitgard von Zahringen, daughter of the Dual Duke Berthold von Zahringen of Kartern and Verona. The fabulously wealthy von Zahringen lavished his only daughter with a dowry so impressive that two months after the wedding, the county of Gemer had enough funds to begin constructing a forestry. As might be expected from her background, the new Countess was also a wonder with finances, nearly the equal of Maria.

Later in that January, the Count of Pecs, Ipoly Guthkeled, who had been increasingly discontent with the Arpad rule himself, asked the Balogs for an alliance. Seeing the opportunity to have a friend should the expected civil war break out, Ince agreed at once and the two began preliminary exchanges over how to dethrone the Arpad dynasty.

Ince made his move quite abruptly in June. Sending out a proclamation that Pressburg should be belong to him, he declared war on King Saloman. The Kingdom of Poland, acting on the wiles of Eufrozyna's spies, declared war on Gemer in turn to cause the rest of the Hungarian kingdom to declare war on Poland and detract from the dispute arising between the Barogs and the Arpads.

The ploy worked to perfection and all of Hungary was up in arms against the Polish. A modest payment as thanks to the King of Poland was all that Ince needed to do to get Boleslaw to officially make peace with the Barogs, none any the wiser for the deceitful feint.

Chaos gained an even freer hand after the Duke of Slovakia, Ince's liege lord, declared independence and went to war against his Arpad relative.

Although Gemer fell in early January 1070, Ince forced to give up his claim on Pressburg, the middling amount of florins in the treasury, and undergo a devastating public humiliation, the greater war went much more successfully for Slovakia. With the aid of massive Polish troops, the Duke of Slovakia turned the tables on Saloman and looked well on his way to taking the crown.

The war continued to drag on and even two years later, in January 1072, there appeared no end in sight. There was a constant stalemate that looked as though it would never be broken.

Gemer stayed out of the war, repeatedly refusing to raise troops to aid Slovakia, for Ince Barog dreamed of independence from the Arpads, even as he silently went about rebuilding his county's treasury and army.

He had another crucial weapon in his next war.

The extraordinarily rich and militarily powerful Governor of Pisa now called him friend and ally.

I don't have time to get the screenshots up before I have to go, but they're pretty fascinating! I'll put the screenies in the next post, sometime next week.
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Old 10-09-2006, 10:05 PM   #7
Izulde
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A brief pictorial catchup


The outbreak of war. Notice the declarations at the bottom of the screen


The wife. My current Stewardess is at 14, just for a point of comparison


Daughter. Possible future Stewardess, more likely marriage bait.


My liege. May I get enough prestige someday to claim a territory and break away from him. He's been awfully smart about not letting my loyalty drop below 20%, the bastard.


Yon rich and powerful ally. A pity he isn't closer.


The screenshot's slightly dated. Bihar is now the capital of Slovakia, but the war is still ongoing and that's the important thing.
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Old 10-09-2006, 11:57 PM   #8
Izulde
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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.
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Old 10-10-2006, 09:25 PM   #9
JeffNights
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Whatever works best for the story!!
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Old 10-11-2006, 08:49 AM   #10
Izulde
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Whatever works best for the story!!

Thanks. I'm actually leaning towards just playing it out with Ince. It'd really bother me if I did any editing the more I think about it and besides, it's quite possible that Istvan could die, in which case the Duchy goes to Ince anyway.
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Old 10-12-2006, 06:21 PM   #11
Izulde
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The torches were snuffed out one by one as the thin, black-clad bodies scuttled through the halls in Gemer and Ulm.

One by one the knives struck the hearts of the Barogs, each thrust precise and professional.

In five minutes, the entire family lay dead in their beds.

Blonde Eufrozyna smiled as she carried the deeds to the Duchy and the Counties. When she reached the main hall in Gemer's manor, she knelt down before the imposing, grinning man waiting there and offered up the papers.

"It is done, my liege. You now own Gemer and the powerful Duchy of Swabia from here until eternity. With this land, you and your descendants will become Lords of Europe."

And so it came to pass. King Boleslaw Piast, with his mighty Polish armies, conquered all of Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, establishing a new unitary world order that would last for centuries.

All because a simple Hungarian count trusted his brother's Polish wife far too much.
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Old 10-13-2006, 06:42 AM   #12
Chas in Cinti
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Ugh... everytime you seem to start hitting your stride..
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Old 10-13-2006, 07:48 AM   #13
daedalus
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What. The. Hell?!!
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Old 10-13-2006, 08:39 AM   #14
Izulde
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Chas: I know. This one really made me sick because there was nothing I could do about it.

daedalus: What happened was in the midst of playing, it goes to my desktop because nagware for renewing my anti-virus subscription pops up. WHAM! Comp locks up. Lost post, interrupted game. Okay, really annoying, but manageable. Restart my comp and load save game. Crash crash crash every time with that save.
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Old 10-14-2006, 10:17 AM   #15
daedalus
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Urge. To. Kill. Rising.

Go Avast! or AVG!

That's okay. I'll still be anxiously waiting for the next Izulde dynasty.
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Old 10-14-2006, 10:58 AM   #16
Izulde
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Urge. To. Kill. Rising.

Go Avast! or AVG!

That's okay. I'll still be anxiously waiting for the next Izulde dynasty.

I do need to re-install AVG on here so I can tell Norton to go screw itself. And thanks. I'm probably going to take a small break from CK and come back to it when I'm more refreshed for it.
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Old 10-14-2006, 11:57 AM   #17
thealmighty
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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.

I only follow this game through your dynasties (though I have looked for it to purchase but never found it anywhere). When you get around to it, can you explain what you are referring to here? What's so great about the kid, or whatever is going on? Thanks...
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Old 10-14-2006, 12:21 PM   #18
Izulde
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I only follow this game through your dynasties (though I have looked for it to purchase but never found it anywhere). When you get around to it, can you explain what you are referring to here? What's so great about the kid, or whatever is going on? Thanks...

You should be able to buy it from the Paradox website, I'd imagine.

As for what's going on here, in this game Ince was the Count of Gemer. He married the daughter (and only child) of the Duke of Swabia, who has semi-salic succession laws (i.e. it's possible to inherit through the female line as well).

Istvan was born to Ince and the daughter and because of the semi-salic laws, was first in line to inherit and did so when the old Duke of Swabia died.

The order of titles in CK from strongest to weakest goes King (Emperor) - Duke - Count.

So this represents an increase in rank for the Barog family for this kid to become Duke. Furthermore, the Count of Gemer at that time only ruled Gemer and Kexholm (the pagan province to the far north) and, being Count, naturally could have no vassals.

The Duchy of Swabia, on the other hand, directly ruled Ulm, Wurttemberg, and Furstenberg and had 6 counts as vassals (the guys in the rings under vassals).

Higher rank = more prestige per month and in many cases (though not all!) a Duchy will make more money per month than a County.

I hope that helps.
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Old 10-14-2006, 10:53 PM   #19
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Got it. Thanks.
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