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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We should stop them.
Good news from Sweden:
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.
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:
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.
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.
The boy King of Denmark died too soon, he had a great beard.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yes! The first patrician threatening our family in the election is eliminated.
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.
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.
Our new tax law is accepted, but the plot fails again. Three times a charm?
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.
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!
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:
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.