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In Progress Do the Hansa! [Crusader Kings II]

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Interesting start. When did they add Merchant Republics to CK2?

They were already in it, and playable since january this year with the Republic DLC.

The problem is they are way too powerful, despite being nerfed with the latest patch.
So I tried to make my game more difficult by choosing a non-ruling patrician during the Mongol era.
 

GarfunkeL

Racism Expert
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
15,463
Location
Insert clever insult here
I must have missed that Republic DLC. Not that I've played much of CK2. For some reason, I find the LP's mostly enjoyable but can't be arsed to actually play the game itself that much.
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
I must have missed that Republic DLC. Not that I've played much of CK2. For some reason, I find the LP's mostly enjoyable but can't be arsed to actually play the game itself that much.

It's quite the investment to play the game, speaking in time spent.
And so is making a LP.

The game can be very intimidating, but I find roleplaying my character a good way to canalize my need to keep everything checked.

Telling the story helps too. Making this my most memorable time spent behind a pc.
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Part 4: Example is better than precept (1256-1260)



April 8, 1256

The last few years saw us raising our oldest daughter and son to adulthood.
Our daughter Isentrud married the son of the Prince Mayor and we coupled our son and heir Alexander to the most exotic genius Nasiba.

Today, our 4th daughter was born, Ermengard.


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We are struggling to gain control over the trade around Denmark. Our main competitors, the Vorrades and von Bardewiks are giving us a hard time.


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A patrician died, at age 46. I hope to live longer. We have a genius to raise.
His successor is a quality guy, exceeding us in respect within the family.


Our second son and heir to be, Hieronymus, is experimenting somewhat ruthlessly.


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Luckily we convinced him to behave better in the future.
If he is to lead this republic, his subjects won't like him being Cruel (-10 relations).


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The wife is pregnant again. Let's hope we gain our 3rd son this winter.


The Moustached King of Denmark is fighting a war versus the Teutonic Order for lands in the Baltic.
If he wins, maybe we should try to befriend him. We could be expanding our trade to these lands.


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Daughter number five! Our patience is tested, Mair.
Let's hope our son manages to produce some boys.


The construction of the hidden chamber is finished, raising our income and intrigue.
Now, let's see who we're going to plot against. The Vorrades, our allies, and the von Bardewiks have more trade posts than we do.
We should be exploring what can be done about that.


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Our son Alexander had a boy, great!
He named him Peter. I actually hoped he would name him after the man he should be thankful to, me.
Maybe he feels the disappointment I have about his qualities.


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Denmark has a boy king again!
The Moustached died, and his little brother inherited the war he was in.


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The boy did pretty good winning the war against the Order, but is now attacked by the King of Sweden.
We'll see if he can hold on to his inherited lands in the Baltic.

We should be pro-active in handling these Scandinavians. Let's see if we can befriend one of the three kings
for the time when we become leader of the Hansa.


84-MarriagePrinceofNorway_zps3b893695.jpg


The King of Norway has this son, currently in the court of some boy duke.
This is a chance to marry one of my daughters to a powerful noble.
Prince Magnus is to inherit the Kingdom of Norway from his father, if the electors keep favoring him.
He can marry my hunchback, Adelinde.


85-TPbuilt_zps6410d4f7.jpg


We have expanded our trade in the sea zone Kattegat.
It would benefit us greatly when we get posts in the remaining counties laying on it's coast.
This means building in Vastergötland (Sweden) first. The south coast of Norway, our future ally, is next.
We'll be improving relations with Sweden first.


Our genius Hieronymus is making us love him more and more.


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It seems he's repaying the love he's getting. (Patient gives +1 to every stat except Martial)


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The first talent of our breeding game has grown to be a man. Gottschalk here wants to take over the council position of steward
from his own father, Dietpold, who has served us loyally.
Well, I guess it should be this way.

Our efforts to improve our relations with the Lisp and Lame in Sweden were not received well.
I guess the clubfooted is too busy fighting his war with the little boy.


88-TheLispisLame_zps2ea4758a.jpg


Speaking of little boys..

My son produced another one, he's turning out useful after all.
And he named his second son after me, how touching.

We also aren't totally out of luck ourselves.


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Bad news! A tragic death occured this winter.
The grandson of my name did not make it through the cold.


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But life goes on, we have to get this trade post going.
Despite having worsened relations with Sweden, we are going to build on their turf.
The province of Vastergötland is pretty rich, making around 93 gold a year, so we should decide to build there before any other patrician family does so.
The post is very expensive now, but I think this province combined with the other posts we're going to build in Kattegat can earn back the costs.


The Prince Mayor died!


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The Wittenborgs now rule the Republic and we have lost our ally.

Wilhelm is already an old man, so we'll have to be preparing for a possible takeover.
We can't be waiting too long.


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Hieronymus is growing to become quite the character.
I think based on his intellect, he has reason to be proud.
He will need the prestige if he lives to be a young and ambitious pretender to the Republic. (Proud gives +0.25 prestige/month)


It's time to make a move. The Vorrade family is weakened after the death of their patron.


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We'll try to seize their trade post in the sea zone of Kattegat.
The new family leader has some problems in his dynasty. His nephews are apparently willing to plot his downfall.

Also, our new liege is trying to kill his wife. I don't know why, because she's old and ugly?


95-Supportandtitle_zps25d3ba34.jpg


Support is coming in and the new Prince Mayor is recognizing my power with giving me a title.
Obviously, we deserve this. And more.. his title, perhaps.
It's good to see our oldest daughter making good use of herself in our former friends' court.


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We now have enough support to seize the trade post! It will cost us some gold, but it's worth it.


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Success!! We have added to our economical power and have weakened that of our competitor.

All we have to do now is greaten our economic power even further and eventually turn it into the military might we may need.
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Part 5: The Legacy (1260-1264)
November 15, 1260
The year 1260 saw us seizing a trade post from the Vorrade family, one of our main competitors in the Republic.
They had lost their patron, the Prince Mayor, and a Wittenborg now rules in Lübeck.
Elsewhere in the world, the boy kings in England and Denmark are boys no more but still fighting wars.
The King of France is fighting the duchess of Flanders, a Princess to the small Latin Empire.
The Jimena family in Iberia has finished the Reconquista and our Emperor has expanded into North Africa.


99-Theworldin1260_zps50664ab7.jpg


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The Republic appears to be serene and peaceful, but tensions are boiling under the surface.
Different families are fighting for expansion and leadership.
Our daughter needs some help.


101-DaughterBrunhildeneedshelp_zps4d7c0543.jpg


We managed to cure her shyness. I'm glad we are supervising her education ourselves.
Our chancellor is doing a great job in convincing the King of Norway we should be permitted to build cheap trade posts in Norway.


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We have finished the construction of our expensive trade post in Västergotland, Sweden.
Our next target is obviously the coast of Norway, but we're at our limit now.
Adelinde, our hunchback daughter, has come of age. The marriage we arranged with the Prince of Norway can now be completed.
It will give us no alliance yet, until the Prince is elected King.


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The prestige we gained from the marriage made us next in line to be elected Prince Mayor!
If only we could help old Wilhelm Wittenborg die a little sooner..
The Vorrades are expanding further from home. If they continue like this and make the Waddenzee their sea zone,
they will be very powerful.


106-ExpandingVorrades_zps05a98ca1.jpg


We should stop them.
Good news from Sweden:


107-LispandLameDeath_zps673759ce.jpg


The most Lisp and Lame King of Sweden has died of stress.
Let's see if his Cruel son can handle the pressure.
Our plan to stop the Vorrades have resulted in a plot to kill their new patron.
His nephews, who helped me seize his trade post, will now help me kill him.


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Alexander had a daughter. She doesn't heal the loss of our grandson,
especially because she's slow. The fact she is a Lüneburg saves her, because we love all our girls.
One of my co-conspirators ordered some bowmen:


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They failed. I guess we're out of luck, for now.
Brunhilde turns out to be a good girl after all. I like good catholics in my family.
She became Zealous and we have convinced her to be more Patient, and she lost her Wroth.


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Success! Karl of Vorrade is no more. Too bad the whole republic now knows I was behind it.
It was his nephew, my daughter's brother-in-law, who hired the killer.
I guess in this world, you can't trust your family.
Our former chancellor, Ettore, was elected Serene Doge in Pisa.
The Prince Mayor is busy killing his own wife.


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The boy King of Denmark died too soon, he had a great beard.


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This girl Kriemhild definitely loved my style. Let's hope she pops out a talented bastard.
Preferably a boy, we could always use more of those.
To strengthen our position in the republic, we would very much like to do something about the power of the von Bardewiks.
Killing Johann would be a great attack on their strength.


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Disappointingly, he is now too respected and powerful for us to reach him.
Let's kill a Vorrade instead!
Their expansion in the west really made us mad. This old man Hildebrand is actually very respected in the republic.
We can't accept that he threatens our election for Prince Mayor.


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Oh what a day! Perhaps we should mourn this 'loss', but can't help dancing and singing about our dream coming true.
It seems stress is a real killer.


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We have achieved our life goal.
But this stress the Prince Mayor died of, is also bothering us.
Furthermore, our son and current heir Alexander is NOT up to the task. He has very little respect.
We should try a way to raise it, or wait for the lovable Hieronymus to grow up and raise his.
I just hope we make it in time. We should definitely kill some patricians as our first deeds as a ruler. Beginning with the Vorrades.


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Hieronymus need two more years before he will be an adult.
We should care for his education and hope he'll get a good education trait.


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Yes! The first patrician threatening our family in the election is eliminated.


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The new titles we gained our giving us quite a lot of income. If we can't get one of our sons elected when we die,
we should at least make sure we get the most gold out of our reign as we can.
Johann von Bardewik is up next. We are now in a position where we can touch him.
We only need our spymaster to kill him. Nasiba, the exotic gift we gave Alexander, is also turning out helpful.


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To get the most out of our rule, we are instituting higher tax levels.
The murder failed, this von Bardewik is a clever bastard. Let's try again.


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Our new tax law is accepted, but the plot fails again. Three times a charm?


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Brunhilde is a good girl! If she were a boy, we would love her just as much as Hieronymus.
We better get her a perfect marriage when she grows up.


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Finally! We killed the bastard.
So much for our first deed as Prince Mayor. We will give Alexander a minor title to raise his respect a little bit.
We have fulfilled our ambition to become rich, and we will be concentrating on the art of war now.
Grave news came from Norway, however..
Our son-in-law has been elected King.
Long live King Magnus!


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We're using the money we made on building a Grand Palace for our sons.
They will need the men and income if I die too soon. It feels good the other patricians are partly paying for this.
Well, I guess we could take a moment to relax.
We managed to become Prince Mayor and hurt the expansion of the other two main families.
The Grand Palace is being constructed for our more prestigious family to live in. This life is good for us.
Our relaxing turns out to have a good effect on us, Prince Mayor:


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Hieronymus, you make us proud.
We really love you son, you are to have a great future. Yes..
We have tried our best to give you a legacy worth fighting for, and you seem ready.
You have grown the beard of a wise and respected man.
With hard work and some well placed killing, you should be the next Prince Mayor of the Hansa.
There's a great adventure ahead.
 

Lindblum

Augur
Joined
May 3, 2011
Messages
659
YES!! YES!!! YES!!! Its time!!
I do love how you give each of the children nice and adorable personalities, even I'm happy for them.

So how does trading posts work exactly, a brief highlight would be appreciated.? I have never played an Paradox games.
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
YES!! YES!!! YES!!! Its time!!
I do love how you give each of the children nice and adorable personalities, even I'm happy for them.

So how does trading posts work exactly, a brief highlight would be appreciated.? I have never played an Paradox games.

The game does that for me, of course, but thanks ;-)

The trade posts make the Republics rich. It's a little difficult to explain properly, but I'll try.

As a Republic (and only as a Republic), you can build trade posts in ANY coastal county.

They will earn an income for you based on the total income of the county, without you having to own the county.
So high income counties will have the most valuable trade posts.
The cost of building a trade post is determined by the distance to the most nearby republic-held province and how much the top most liege of the land you want to build on likes you.
That's why I wanted to build up relations with the Kings of Denmark, Sweden and later Norway.

Furthermore, there are some bonuses you can get to raise the income of a trade post.

The first one is from owning the sea zone the trade post is in. The family who has the most trade posts in a particular sea zone, owns it.
The more trade posts you have in a sea zone, the more money you get.

The second is from owning a trade post in a sea zone which is connected, via other sea zones owned by the same Republic, to the capital (Lübeck in our case).
The connected sea zones have to be from the same Republic, you don't need to own them all. For the Hansa it's not a problem, since there aren't any other republics nearby.
The republics in the Mediterranean do have this problem. In our game Pisa, Venice, Verona and Ancona compete there.

The third way to gain bonuses is by constructing buildings in your trade post. They will give a slight boost, but nothing compared to the first and second bonuses.

But there's more to trade posts than income alone. They also give you a casus belli for seizing the city in the county. When you conquered the city, you can seize the whole county.
That way you can expand your territory.

Last but not least, as a republic you can ask rulers to embargo other republics if they have trade posts on their land. You'll have to pay for the war costs and if you lose even more.
The good side is that if you win, all trade posts (on the land of the ruler who called the embargo) of that other republic are destroyed and you get a ****load of money.
Remember, this could be done to us also.

Oh and another addendum. There is a trade post limit since the latest patch, because republics would totally get out of hand and conquer North Africa and stuff.
This limit begins on 4 posts, the base is 1 and the mansion you start with gives +3. After that, every upgrade of the mansion gives you +3 and every ADULT male member of your family that is also in your court gives +1. So Alexander and Hieronymus now give me +2 together.

Well that was my explanation, not the best of writing but, I hope it has made things a bit more clear.
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Part 6: Love for Hieronymus

PhilipHermogenesCalderonBrokenVows_zpsb9d4006e.jpg

Last night I prepared some screenshots, and am now happy about that.
I'm using my lunchbreak to post a question for the audience.

In the last part Hieronymus became an adult and now needs a proper marriage. I have explored different candidates and made a shortlist.
The things we would want to pay attention to are costs and prestige effects, stats, inheritable traits and (future) claims.
- Prestige is what Hieronymus needs to secure the election for Prince Mayor in the future.
- Stats are valuable, because your spouse adds half of her stats to yours.
- Inheritable traits like Strong (Stat, Health and Fertility bonus), Attractive (Diplomacy bonus), Quick and Genius (massive stat bonus) will be possibly inherited by Hieronymus's kids.
- Claims give us a possibility to expand our realm.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the girls:


01-AlberadeWullenpund_zpsc50cc8d7.jpg

Alberade Wullenpund

This young girl is the daughter of the count of Bamberg. Marrying her would cost us 200 gold and give 200 prestige.
She has good stats for diplomacy and stewardship and she has a inheritable trait, Strong.
When her father dies, she wil get a claim on the county of Bamberg.
The marriage would also give us an alliance with the count.



02-AgnesdeBourgogne_zps3910ba3b.jpg

Agnes de Bourgogne

This girl is a member of the somewhat prestigious de Bourgogne family and daughter of the count of Vienne. Costs are 224 gold for 224 prestige.
She has a good stat for diplomacy and the inheritable trait Attractive.
When her father dies, she will get a claim on the county of Vienne, which is a bit far away.
We will also get an alliance with her father.



03-AnastasiaOrsini_zps110019cf.jpg

Anastasia Orsini

This Italian girl is the daughter of a baron in Rome. She costs 104 gold for 104 prestige.
She has good stats for diplomacy and stewardship, and the inheritable trait Quick.
When her father dies, claim on the barony etc. And an alliance.



04-AmbrosiadiVerona_zps0d1a6ed4.jpg

Ambrosia di Verona

Another Italian girl, already of age. Costing 200 gold for 200 prestige.
Good stat for stewardship, Attractive trait, would get a claim on the county of Euboia (far away).



05-PhilippaofDurham_zpse1bbf476.jpg

Philippa of Durham

This English girl is daughter of a baron. 100 gold for 100 prestige.
She also has the Attractive trait, excellent stewardship stats, would get a claim on the barony somewhere in England.



06-AdavanBronckhorst_zpsc4c9b8fa.jpg

Ada van Bronckhorst

Ada here, is a GENIUS. Just like Hieronymus.
She is just a courtier, though, costing no gold but giving no prestige also.
The Genius trait is inheritable. She also has good allround stats.
Would get no alliance and no claims.



07-PrincessAsaofSweden_zps3655b89f.jpg

Princess Asa of Sweden

Asa is expensive. 430 gold but giving 430 prestige. It would probably double Hieronymus's respect in the republic.
She has no useful skills, except for a good learning stat, but already has a claim on Sweden. Her little brother is the king.
This would give us an alliance with the boy King of Sweden.


08-HelgaAskanien_zps4d0df6e4.jpg

Helga Askanien

Helga is another girl from the neighbourhood. She would also give us a lot of prestige (314) for the cost of 314.
She has no really good stats also, but will get a claim on the red encircled duchy of Brandenburg (which borders our land) when her father dies.
If we choose her, we do have to think about killing her first born son.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, what does the crowd say and why? Do we go for claims, excellent stats or nice inheritable traits?
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Ada van Bronckhorst
Genius stats.

I like the stats too. Half of her stats + Hieronymus's + councillors will make for very high state diplomacy, stewardship and let's not forget intrigue.

Princess Asa of Sweden - loads of prestige + better relations with Sweden.

And I do like the prestige too. It will give Hieronymus a 800 or so boost for his respect in the elections.
I do already have an ally in the north for scandinavian issues, though. (The 24-year-old king of Norway, who will be the brother in law of Hieronymus.)

Princess Asa of Sweden for the same reason above, plus an alliance as you mentioned. Ever thought about taking over the kingdom of Sweden? ;)

Yes, that would be nice. The boy king has an army of 32000 iirc, though. It would be foolish to attack him with our 2,5k levy and 7000 or so mercenaries.

The genius. Could you even press a claim on a kingdom as a member of a republic?

Yes you can. If I were vassal to a king, we could gain independence that way, but we've got an emperor.
It would make the kingdom a republic under vassalage of the hre.
But I think it's too ambitious yet, so I'm thinking of the genius or the brandenburg girl for expansion inside the empire.

Does no one like the strong girl? It gives a good bonus to health, so my possibly-genius-and-strong grandson maybe lives to reign a long time.
 

Lindblum

Augur
Joined
May 3, 2011
Messages
659
Well I don't mean to write your story for you, but I think its time (story wise) for you to start portraying the competing families as evil assholes/ give them some character..
Up till now all I'm getting is that they are our enemies because they are not a part of our family.

You've planted the seeds to turn this LP into a story driven drama.
We are a mere merchant gaining power through intrigue... Murders, plot...
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Well I don't mean to write your story for you, but I think its time (story wise) for you to start portraying the competing families as evil assholes/ give them some character..
Up till now all I'm getting is that they are our enemies because they are not a part of our family.

You've planted the seeds to turn this LP into a story driven drama.
We are a mere merchant gaining power through intrigue... Murders, plot...


Haha it's nice to get some feedback, so no problem.
My story is driven by the events and relationships that pop up in the game. So I'm making up as less as possible, besides some fantasizing within limits.
If there's not enough drama I will try my best to make it happen, but I know there is more to happen in this game gameplay-wise, so I think I'll give it a wait and see what happens.
If the other families act like dicks in the game, you are sure to hear from it. And I'm certain they will at some point. [I mean, I have murdered multiple of them already. Most of the members of the Vorrade family hate my guts. So they will be trying to get their hands on me.]

But be sure to remember, we are not a mere merchant anymore. We are THE Prince Mayor of the Hanseatic League and have a genius son ;-)
 

Stygian Lurker

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
577
Ada van Bronckhorst for the stats and genius trait, or Princess Asa of Sweden for prestige and alliance with Sweden.

Others are not even worth considering.
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Ada van Bronckhorst for the stats and genius trait, or Princess Asa of Sweden for prestige and alliance with Sweden.

Others are not even worth considering.

Well, I think it's a hard choice.
For me, it's between:

Alberade: decent stats for diplomacy and stewardship with a Midas Touched education trait in the making, the Strong trait which gives ++ health and probably lot's of babies and a easily pressable claim on Bamberg (which is not so interesting but an extra).

Ada: obviously the Genius trait, but she gives no prestige. She does have a fertility malus because of her theological education.

Asa: lots of prestige, but expensive prestige, an alliance which can be differently arranged with my daughters (marry one of them to the boy king himself, I have enough daughters).
The weak claim on Sweden will be inherited by my grandson. So if we can't press it for Asa, we could do it later for my grandson.

I can't choose, really.


I've gotten some nice republic-oriented event chains, like family vendettas, street riots etc etc. So some drama is sure to be had.

Yes, we need not worry about drama.
 

Konjad

Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
3,931
Location
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I remember Konjad posting a picture of the republic of Gotland ruling Scandinavia, so maybe?

As a Gotland I claimed independence and finally won with Sweden. Then I started an invasion or something, I can't remember, it was basically that at the end of the war you gain all the controlled territories. I gained about 1/3 of the Sweden. I had some typical for republics wars with Denmark for the provinces next to the sea and then I had some wars with Sweden over inland territories, either with my vassals having claims, or because of duchies (ie. I owned 50% or more of a particular duchy and could wage war for the rest of it). I also claimed Norway for my cousin, afterwards my cousin became the King of Norway, while I was basically Serene Doge of Gotland, king of Sweden and king of Denmark + had 2 additional provinces in modern Finland and 2 in Poland.

I am really successful so far, however I keep great relations with Norway and Poland all the time, no matter what, even if it means waging war on mongols or HRE. This way nobody can fuck with the three of us.
 

Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Part 7: Death in Lübeck(1264-1266)



The last four years of Hieronymus's education were very exciting.
He grew up to be a genius charismatic negotiator and a perfect heir.

We clutched the title of Prince Mayor, leader of the Republic, from the hands of the deceased Wilhelm Wittenborg.
Our trade expanded to the Kattegat sea zone and we allied ourselves to the Norwegian King.

Though we did well, we also saw the Vorrades expanding trade to Bruges on the Dutch coast in the west.
The main sea zone of the Republic, the Sound, is still in Vorrade/von Bardewik hands.

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We also aren't looking very well in the upcoming elections, which will take place when we die.
Our two adult sons, Alexander and Hieronymus, have just become men and will have many obstacles to overcome before they can lead this Republic.
Our last son, Ezzo, did not even begin his education yet.
Alexander is a good man, but no real leader. We already knew he wouldn't be our successor.
His brother Hieronymus is a true born leader, but still very young. We know he is ready for the job, but he will have to prove himself in front of the other patrician families.

The two will gain respect over time, their age is a major factor.
In the meantime we should be exploring the possibilities of eliminating some of the competition, like we did before.
We already stopped the expansion of the Vorrade family with the murder of Karl and Hildebrand. Thanks to our new gained power by becoming Prince Mayor, we also managed
to get to Johann von Bardewik. The man who could escape us for such a long time.

Now we are again looking to take a von Bardewik out, their new leader Peter has too much respect to be allowed to live.

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Hieronymus is already following the footsteps of his father. What a man he is!
He already made us proud when he was just a boy, and we should take good care of his future by granting him an excellent spouse.

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Ada here is a perfect girl. She is craven, but which woman isn't?
A woman with her qualities is just what our son needs in his future leadership.

Now Hieronymus is properly married, we can name him my designated heir.

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His ambitious nature made him want to join my council. We can use his learning skill very well.
The von Bardewiks know we are coming after them, they just don't know when.

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Now they know! Very soon that is..

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Our attention shifted to the north, our friend and son in law King Magnus of Norway is in trouble.
He somehow got himself excommunicated. Our good relations with the pope will save him.
And we will make sure he remembers.

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To reward our helpfulness, Magnus allowed our family to build a cheap trading post on his land.

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The von Bardewiks apparently feel what's coming and are bickering over the succession within their own family. How pathetic..

King Magnus reveals to us why he got himself excommunicated. He's a truly evil man, planning murder on his infant clubfooted niece.

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My own girl, Brunhilde, is proud. Just like the rest of the family, and she should be!
The Lüneburgs have risen to power very fast under my rule.
Hieronymus showed he is my true son by delivering me a granddaughter, Richwara.

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There he goes! We finally showed the von Bardewiks who's boss in this Republic.

Now our attention is again turned to the Vorrades. Their expansion to the west did not make us very happy indeed.
We have finished the construction of the Grand Palace for our sons. The whole family is looking forward to living there.
It enables us to build even more trade posts, and we have chosen the Waddenzee as the perfect place to do that.
We are building posts in Westfriesland, Holland and Zeeland. When they are finished, the sea zone will be ours.
Now if we could only kill one more of them Vorrades..

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Hieronymus needs prestige. We will make him High Judge.
He was quite the student when he was young and knows something about laws and papers. He will do just fine.
In Norway, our new trade post adds to our income and we will educate our son Ezzo to be just like his brothers.

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We'll need to get him working! We patricians don't need lazy boys.

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Oh man, little Ezzo is giving us a hard time.
We could convince him it's no good to be cruel, although we failed at promoting kindness in him.
Brunhilde is totally different.

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She is a perfect example of what a good girl is.

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Hieronymus is really loving his wife, giving me a grandson already.

A plot to make a definite end to the Vorrade competition is in place..

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We failed. Detlef now really hates me, and so will the rest of his family. I don't care, really.
He is a shy, greedy, frustrated bastard. And we managed to wound him.
It would be a joy to see him die.


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Success! If you look out for the danger on the roads and near your house, you apparently
don't expect it in a glass of fine wine.

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The election is looking better, but Hieronymus still isn't there.
The Warendorps and Wittenborgs we can't touch right now. They are too powerful.
If I die soon, he would have to beat them on his own. Just like his father did.



I feel.. soo.. dizzzzz....







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Sad news passed through the court this day. Prince Mayor Augustin Lüneburg has died.
Hieronymus will now take over only the Grand Palace of the Lüneburgs. The elections came to early.


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He is now on his own, no longer capable of following his father's footsteps to greatness.
His father left him with a beautiful wife and home, expanding trade and an example of true leadership.

Will Hieronymus carve out his own path to glory and reclaim the title of Prince Mayor for the Lüneburgs?





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Machiavelli

Educated
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
80
Location
Zeeland, Netherlands
Very strange, how it's saying: reigning in Lübeck, Apulia.

As far as I know, there's a 19 hour drive between those places.
 

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