We Need a Jagiellon! - A Crusader Kings 3 Story

[Mjmd]

Love the maps. Love the writing. Love the messed up way inheritance works (which did in fact cause all sorts of issues in real history).

[Miguelito]

I say use your opportunity on Poland,  Pomerania will still be waiting after that. 

That world map is massive,  is all of that playable? Ie can you start in say India or sub Saharan Africa? And how long is the scope of the game time/era wise? Is there a win condition or do you just watch the empire grow?

[Cyneheard]

I say use your opportunity on Poland,  Pomerania will still be waiting after that. 

That world map is massive,  is all of that playable? Ie can you start in say India or sub Saharan Africa? And how long is the scope of the game time/era wise? Is there a win condition or do you just watch the empire grow?

There's no defined wincon, and the game ends in 1453.

[pindicator]

Skirmantas, Part One: The Shy King

Let's meet the new king



Skirmantas is Fickle, Shy, and Forgiving and has become a Grey Eminence making him a very good diplomat.  Unfortunately he is pretty bad in everything else.  The 4 Stewardship especially: that means we can only hold 3 county titles ourselves without penalty.  Suddenly the idea of murdering my youngest brother to inherit his lands seems less appealing as I would just have to give other lands away.

On the Lifestyle tree, the AI has already started him down the August branch of the Diplomatic tree.  August is a very good branch for Tribal leaders because it earns more Prestige, and Prestige is needed to construct buildings and men-at-arms instead of / in addition to Gold, whereas Feudal leaders need primarily Gold to pay for those things.  We already have 3 perks assigned within that tree:

• Benevolent Intent: +30% Sway Scheme Power
  
• Firm Hand: +1% Monthly Prestige per Dread
  
• Inspiring Rule: +5% Monthly Prestige per Powerful Vassal on the Council
  

Skirmantas filled out his council on the first day:




High Chieftain Sotvaras reprises his role as Chancellor.  His Diplomacy stat of 22 is the best in the realm.
Chieftain Skirmantas of Gardinas becomes my Steward.  His 14 Stewardship is very solid.
I could make Chieftain Varaka my Marshall as he is the highest among my Powerful Vassals at 18.  However, Chieftain Pukuveras is at 16 and will actually have a positive opinion of me aftewards, so I give it to him.  Chieftain Varaka has a -100 Opinion and so I do not think he will ever become anything more than a pain.
My Spymaster stays as Charna Frostwhisper.  My remaining Powerful Vassals are only 10 and 8 in Intrigue and I'm not letting Varaka close to the position of Spymaster.
Vaidilute does not appear to be open to any landed characters, so I keep it with Adleta.

All the positions keep the same tasks as before, except I have Chancellor Sotvaras work on improving Domestic Affairs, both to increase vassal opinion of me and to hopefully end these wars.  Sventaragis should have been doing this, but he was more the warrior than the diplomat.  In addition, Marshall Pukuveras improves the County Control of Siauliai; he had been doing so in Raseiniai but now my brother Dravenis controls it.

I start a Sway Scheme, to improve Charna Frostwhisper's opinion of me.  While my excellent Diplomacy means it has the highest rate of succeeding (95%), because I am Shy this also means the task will cause me to gain 35 Stress.  This is a bit of a shock to me, as I forgot that the Shy trait did this with schemes.  I had really hoped to lean on Sway Schemes with Skirmantas being a great Diplomat, and now I will need to find other ways to improve Opinion.

For the next idea we go to the Dungeons:




All those wars that Sventaragis fought brought a lot of captives, and he would always look to ransom those captives to bring in more gold.  However there were some where whether their lord did not care of them or just did not exist any longer, ended up as my long-term prisoner.  (And any of them that were good fighters Sventaragis would release on condition they would serve as a champion for him.)  Here are the remaining 6, and they serve their purpose now: gaining Dread for my new ruler.  Only one Vidilist Prussian remains, because it would cost Piety to execute someone of the same faith and upset my courtiers.

Executing prisoners of Hostile or Evil faiths has no penalty, and still gains Dread.  Characters of high enough Dread are feared, even if they are not necessarily liked.  My idea here is to clean out the dungeons and build up Dread to buy enough time for the Short Rule malus to fade away and to buy time to boost vassal opinion.  In the end, I have 5 prisoners executed, earning 60 Dread.  This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me: why would killing a bunch of heathens that have languished in prison make vassals fear me?  But if it keeps them cowering in their corners and not revolting against Skirmantas then all the better!

We use most of our gold on hosting a feast for my new vassals.  But again the Shy trait is a curse:  I do not lose Stress for attending a feast, thanks to being Shy.  This is less of an issue as the main reason for the feast is to make vassals happier, but my character is becoming very stressed and it would be nice to have a way to decrease that!  We have some feast events pop up over the months:  there is no wine, so I spend 50g more to buy some more in town.  This gives me +10 Opinion with everyone attending and extra Prestige each month for 10 years.  I am complimented on how perfect the feast is and give credit to my wife Soaba, which increases opinion with everyone for 5 years and makes my wife happy.  And then the end of the feast gives 150 Prestige to myself.

I need to gain Prestige again, much like I did with Sventaragis:  Prestige gives me more levies from my tribal vassals, and in warfare having an Illustrious Level of Fame means I can conquer whole duchies at a time, and not just single provinces.  I am also broke from the feast, so I decide to go on a raid.




I'm taking advantage of Chernigov and Smolensk being weak to go raid them.  Raiding mostly gains gold through capturing hostages, which you have a chance of doing at any county where a ruler holds their palace.  You can also earn Prestige based on the amount of gold you successfully bring back so we will stop to pillage down all the holdings we can along the way.  Smolensk and Chernigov are both very weak, though they have few wealthy holdings.

In July of 1091 I am still raiding when I receive word that my Uncle Poklius has died.  This combined with all the stress from extraverted activities in managing a realm is just too much, and Skirmantas has his first mental breakdown:




Poklius had been the uncle who mentored Skirmantas and gave him his education as a Diplomat.  After they had been friends and the only vassal who really had a positive Opinion of him when he took the throne.  But the wars in Courland had gone badly, ending in him being deposed, and forcing his 8 year old son Utenis to take the throne.  Losing Poklius was too much for poor Skirmantas and he suffered a mental break.  When you reach 100 Stress the game gives you several options for losing stress in this situation, all of them coming with a drawback.  Or you can do nothing and bank on decreasing it on your own.  Regardless what you choose, if you are still over 100 Stress in 5 years then you suffer another break.  I decide to donate to charity option; it gives Skirmantas the Inprovident trait, good for -15% monthly gold and giving me the ability to donate gold to charity every 5 years to decrease stress.  Since I am not able to use Feasts to decrease stress I feel that will be a good replacement.

My sister Roze comes of age that summer, and we find a match in Khan Saru of Cumania.  Cumania is a huge, sprawling khanate, and I am drawn to their 3,700 troop army.  However it is some distance away and so I cannot rely on them.  It also is a very tumultuous region, and there is a risk I get drawn into their wars.

The summer of 1092 sees several huge events.  My raiders arrive home that summer, carrying back 163 Gold and earning me 163 Prestige.  Second, the Rurik lands have undergone a massive readjustment:




When King Iziaslav of Ruthenia died in October 1090, the Kingdom of Ruthenia went to his oldest, Yaropolk II.  And then the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia went to his 2nd eldest, King Mstislav.  In order to split the realm fairly, the game's inheritance rules created the Kingdom Title of Galicia-Volhynia, as Galicia-Volhynia was created Oct 23, 1090 the same date that King Iziaslav died.  (So you can't get around not splitting your kingdom by not creating the kingdom titles!)  Mstislav already started as the Grand Prince of Novgorod, and so now he is a bit of a monster to my northeast and south.  He commands 3,600 men and is allied to Ruthenia and Sweden alike.

Meanwhile, King Yaropolk of Ruthenia is being invaded by King Boleslaw II "the Bold" of Poland.  Boleslaw would marry a Byzantine princess, securing an alliance with Byzantium's 10,000 men.  If Boleslaw had chosen to come north to Lithuania I'm not sure there was anything I could have done to stop him.

Smolensk has also claimed Chernigov and the two duchies are now at war, with Smolensk winning the early battles.  King Mstislav will eventually join in that war, and help Chernigov to hold off Smolensk, but it will keep the area in war for some years.

I have done no expansion yet myself, all my efforts going towards internal affairs.  Yet that October I spy my first opportunity and declare on the High Chief of Livonia.  He is down to one county, Vidzeme, and has an ally to the north in Nyland.  However, my 2,000 men suffice and take the capital before their ally can bring any forces to bear.  We will finish the war the following May.




That winter Sventaragis develops his childhood trait: Bossy.  He is more inclined to a Stewardship or Martial education now.  I am tempted to have him follow in his grandfather's footsteps, but for variety's sake I choose Stewardship.

I also found out how Sventaragis got the Ugly trait!  The AI, bless its heart, had Skirmantas take a concubine with the Ugly trait.  And so just my luck he had his first son with her and not with his Genius Wife Soaba.

I organize another raiding party in winter 1093 and raid northwards into Estonia before taking advantage of Galicia-Volhynia being away at war, and raiding their capital at Novgorod.  I host another feast in 1095, to earn more Prestige.  That was a lively feast: my sister Saule who had just come of age was found having a tumble with the Chieftain Kugis of Sambia.  Chieftain Kugis is one of my powerful vassals who I have left off the court, and he clearly did this to ruin my honor.  I immedately send Saule off to be married to Chieftain Susi's son, Asko Itkonen, in the Finnish Chiefdom of Kakisalmi.  They command 1,300 troops.  I had the option of marrying her to High Chieftain Tolun of Chuvashia with double the men, but they are just north of the Caucasus, and I do not want all my allies so far away.  Speaking of the Caucasus, Cumania has splintered and Roze's husband has ended up only with that kingdom to his name.

As for Chieftain Kugis, I can have him arrested for Adultering.  But it is risky to do so and the game tells me it is about a 50/50 chance that I will succeed.  If I fail he will raise his armies in revolt along with any other disgruntled vassals.  I choose to wait.

The world gets a lot less safe in 1095:




Poland has won their war for the Kingdom of Ruthenia!  They are now a monster threat to my south.  They also picked up the duchy of Turov, east of Novgorod, and the County of Tmutarakan on the northeast shore of the Black Sea.  In addition, my strongest ally, Cumania, has splintered!  I've outlined what the realm used to be in blue, but it is no longer the regional force it used to be.  My sister Roze is married to Khan Aibak of the Caucusus and so that is where our alliance moves.  They have a daughter together now.

Worse than Poland's might, is that now they can now direct it against anybody who is not Christian: The Crusades are now open for business!




But at least I now know how to tell a good tale:




Of course, you already knew that


***

Other happenings:

• I hired a new Vaidilute who has better (20!) Learning and likes me, solving my problem of not being endorsed by my lead clergy.
  
• Kiire, the wife of my uncle Sotvaras, tried to seduce me.  Recall that she had done the same with Sventaragis; that woman likes power.
  
• My brother Dravenis liked me enough to accept an alliance, but of course Shy means that cost me 10 stress.
  
• Duke Svarnas defeated Count Rogvolod and seized his holdings.
  
• My cousin High Chieftain Utenis lost his war and was deposed; his sister High Chieftess Mikova now rules Courland.
  

Next update will catch us up to where I am currently at

[Cyneheard]

Wait, when did Holy Rome grab Hungary?

[pindicator]

Wait, when did Holy Rome grab Hungary?

Yeah, so I actually don't know the answer to that.  It happened during Sventaragis' reign, and I would think in the second half.  So that would mean sometime in the 1080s?  I didn't do a lot of looking at the outside world during Sventaragis, but I did see that the HRE had gobbled them up after Sventaragis had died.

[Amicalola]

Is there any sort of mechanism to either break up the HRE, or hold them back from gradually crushing the world?

[thestick]

Oh wow, that Poland. You've definitely piqued my interest in CK3.

How exactly do those 'vassal wars' work? I am completely new to this, so apologies if this is a basic question.

[pindicator]

Skirmantas, Part Two: How to Make Friends and Influence Vassals

What am I going to do about Varaka?



Not pictured, but you know it's him.

It is the early spring of 1095 and we are feasting again, celebrating the return of our successful raiding party.  They have returned from Estonia and Novgorod, returning almost 100 Gold and Prestige.  Skirmantas is, predictably, not enjoying himself.  He is doing everything he can think of to keep them apart, but like two circling dogs the chieftains have sought each other out.  And as the feast grows more raucous, a fight soon erupts in the middle of it all:




They expect Skirmantas to choose a side in this fight.  For a moment I think about the Diplomatic solution: cooling off the parties and discussing it with them later.  (This option is open to Skirmantas only because of his high Diplomacy stat.)  It would earn a bit of Prestige, all the vassals seeing Skirmantas exercising his authority as king.  But then another idea suddenly comes to mind:  this could be an opportunity to earn the favor of Varaka.  A few more gestures like this and we might be able to turn the disgruntled vassal into even an ally.

And so Ako is booted out into the cold.  Not so much for what he did, but more for what the act of kicking him out could yet do.

Like spring turning to summer, Varaka too seems to warm.  A few months after the feast, he comes to Skirmantas with a proposition of how he might improve his realm.




While Development does little for Tribal counties, Varaka's Opinion would do a lot for the stability of Lithuania.  I give my consent, spend the 75 Prestige, and let Varakas have his project.  Suddenly the vassal I wrote off at the start of this kingship is showing promise!





My Uncle and Chancellor, High Chieftain Sotvaras has died, the victim of one too many drinks.  I decide to fill his vacant seat with Duke Svarnas.  Svarnas is not the best Diplomat in the realm, but he is close and I hope to improve his negative opinion.  Dukes, unlike Chieftains, do need to have good opinion of their ruler in order to give more levies and taxes.  This does not get Svarnas to positive Opinion, but he is closer.

With everything seeming stable within the realm, now is the time I decide to go after Zygimantas




I find one of his courtiers who will sell out the little lord for a bribe of 15 gold.  The scheme odds increase to 56%.  Later in the year we get an opportunity to draw up a plan to lure Zygimantas into the woods and pay a local hunter to draw us up a map of the area around the lord's keep.  The hunter is discreet, all is about to be set.  We decide to wait until the new year to spring the trap.

But then, disaster strikes:




At 5% odds of success and only 30% odds that I am not discovered, I decide to abort the plan.  I could have potentially pushed through with bribing more people close to Zygimantas, but none of them were willing to sell out their lord.  A shame, we cannot try again for 10 years, and by then Zygimantas might marry and produce an heir.

Varaka seems to feed off my failure, first with mocking comments aside in private, and then growing bolder.  Soon I realize something must be done:




The work is stressful for Skirmantas, but in the end it pays off:




That Weak Hook would be more important than anything else, as I would then use it to demand Varaka's conversion.  It's also important to note I never would have been able to ask for his conversion when he had such a bad Opinion of me earlier. My initial attempt was for 60% chance, and he declined, but the Hook gave me a second option:




Varaka converts at expense of me using my Hook on him.  Hooks are like favors that you can cash in for certain things.  But now that he is of the correct faith, the Vidilist holy site now provides bonuses for me of +1 Stewardship and Close Family get an Opinion of +5.  I was also able to get the Count of Zemigalians to convert, though I have to let him have a Hook on me, which gives me the bonus for the Holy Site there:  +10% Stress Loss and Controlled Territory Advantage of +5.  We now just have 1 more Holy Site to get and convert.

Looking for more Prestige, Skirmantas decides to Commission an Epic:




For my Epic, I decide to spend 100 gold on hiring the accomplished Storyteller, Evalda.  This gives me the best odds at the best Epic.  She asks me what I want to focus on




She then asks me how honest I want to be with telling the story, and I tell her that a good story is better than anything else.  This owns more Prestige and Renoun.

Some of my council doesn't take too well to my embellishments.  My Vaidilute, Sisko, has discovered "discrepancies" between promises made by my ancestors and what has happened.  I turn her down, gaining Prestige at the expense of her Opinion.  In addition, the Marshall gets inspiration from the stories in the epic on how he may actually strategize, giving me +10 Advantage for 10 years.

Finally the Epic is finished




The 75 Renoun (plus another 75 Renoun) gives me enough to unlock my next Dynasty Legacy.  Much like you have RPG elements for characters with the Lifestyle trees, you also get to unlock legacies for your family which apply to every character in your family.




Because we were not the Dynastic Head at the start of the game, Kukovaitis (the A.I.) chose our first Legacy, and put us on the Erudite (Learning) line.  But I think that is a fantastic choice.  We are to be the Defender of Deivas, making sure Vidilism survives against the Christian onslaught.  So I pick the second in the line: Ordained Rulership.  All Characters in my Dynasty will get +10% Piety and +5 Opinion with Clergy.

And the Prestige from the Epic and its events also brings me up to Illustrious Level of Fame.  Now I can conquer whole duchies at a time.  In additoin, I've amassed over 1200 Prestige and am making over 16 Prestige per month.  I decide to use that Prestige now, spending it on as many Men-at-Arms as I can afford:




You can see how my levies have also shot up due to getting more Fame.  From starting with 2,000 total men in my army, I am now over 5,500 and am a force again in the area.  Now is the time to war again!  But where to go?  Do we hit Poland now that they are weaker and the new King is still gathering support?  Or do we continue west towards the final Holy Site?


Other happenings:

• We find a tutor for Sventaragis.  Lee is Greedy, Brave, and Honest, as well as a Thrifty Clerk.  I could have found a better educator, but I want him to get good character traits too and she had the best match.
  
• My wife got upset at one of my champions, and since he wasn't that good of a champion I just banished him to keep her happy.
  
• King Boleslaw of Poland died, splintering the Kingdom of Ruthenia.  More importantly, the alliance with Byzantium died with him
  
• I did fight another small war against Estonia for a county in the north. Estonia's king died in the middle of it, so I hope to finish conquering those lands soon
  
• I undertook a scheme to seduce my wife.  It worked and she became pregnant then gave birth to a son

[pindicator]

Is there any sort of mechanism to either break up the HRE, or hold them back from gradually crushing the world?

I'm not too sure there.  I've never tried to go up against the HRE, but I've seen it splinter on its own before.  I think my best luck would be to eventually get friends with the more powerful member states and then help them gain their independence?  Perhaps there is another way.

Oh wow, that Poland. You've definitely piqued my interest in CK3.

How exactly do those 'vassal wars' work? I am completely new to this, so apologies if this is a basic question.

So there are 4 different levels of Crown Authority within your empire.  The lowest level pretty much doesn't let you do much more than collect levies and taxes from your vassals (but the vassals really like you more for it).  As you go up you can imprison vassals, take titles, prevent vassals from declaring wars, and so on.



Currently I'm on the 2nd lowest level: Limited Crown Tribal Authority.  I can Imprison vassals, but I can't do anything about them fighting each other.  And vassals can war each other for gaining each other's lands or overthrowing rulers they don't like.  The next one up will let me revoke titles from vassals, which will be good for anybody who tries to revolt against me.  (Also, trying to revoke titles or imprisoning vassals without a good reason will make all of your vassals mad.  But if they do stuff against you first, like sleeping with your sister or trying to kill you, then it's okay with everyone.)