We Need a Jagiellon! - A Crusader Kings 3 Story

[Bobchillingworth]

Invade Poland, classic move.

[BRickAstley]

I undertook a scheme to seduce my wife.  It worked and she became pregnant then gave birth to a son

Do you really.... have to scheme to have children with your spouse in this game?

[pindicator]

I undertook a scheme to seduce my wife.  It worked and she became pregnant then gave birth to a son

Do you really.... have to scheme to have children with your spouse in this game?

You don't have to. But the Seduce Scheme can make someone into your Lover, which will increase the odds of you two having a child. And your spouse is not automatically your Lover, or Friend, or any of the relationship status' you can have in this game.

Ooo, I wonder what it would be like to have your Spouse become your Rival. Could you even do that?

[Miguelito]

Wouldn't be the first queen to murder her husband and ensure her son's succession

[pindicator]

Skirmantas, Part Three: Wars for the Holy Land

The High Chiefdom of Courland has been a hard place to rule.

High Chieftain after High Chieftain has been deposed, and the line of rule has gone from Poklius to Utenis to Mikova within House Palemonaitis, and then to Milyuns Pomesania and finally on to High Chieftess Betten.  If Betten were to abdicate, or die without an heir, then the rule would fall to her sister, Mila Pomesania.  Mila is married to none of other than my cousin Utenis.




So naturally I start a plot to murder her.  Should Mila become High Chieftess then her sons would rule Courland upon her death and Palemonaitis again would take the rule.

The Conquest casus belli costs 75 Prestige to claim a county, 350 to claim a duchy, and a whopping 2,000 for the once-per-lifetime conquering of a kingdom.  That comes in addition to the Level of Fame requirements.  In my zeal to hire armies, I spent all my Prestige and left myself with none for the war declaration.  Since I am itching to use these new troops, I decide to declare on Pomerania for the county of Pomesania.  This county on the east bank of the Vistula River has been a thorn in my side, one of the few de jure lands of the Kingdom of Lithuania that I do not possess.




On Feb 13, 1099 my 6,600 strong army gathers and begins the march west.  They meet no resistance on the east side of the Vistula and Pomesania is besieged and taken.  In July the combined armies of Pomerania and Pomerelia bring 4,800 men across the Vistula to siege Chemno, but we ring in the new century with a sound victory there.




We siege down Gdansk and defeat the Pomeranian attempts to retake Pomesania.  Peace is signed later that year, in October of 1100 and Pomesania becomes ours.

In February 1100, we are ready to move forward in plot to murder High Chieftess Betten




The agitators rile up the mob, but when the peasants began rioting, Betten's soldiers cut them down!  The survivors fled and Betten escaped.  At least the agitators were killed, and nobody was left alive to tie it back to me.  However, Betten still lives, and worse shortly after produced an heir.  Now i will need multiple murder schemes, and myself and Skirmantas alike just do not have the stomach for that.  We abandon our plot.

Over the year we gather prestige for a larger war.  We host a feast which sees Skirmantas start to form a friendship with his cousin, High Chieftain Svitrigalia of Latigalians, eldest son of Sotvaras.  I consider simply declaring on Poland for the duchy of Moravia - a large duchy to the south.  Or perhaps I will declare for the rest of Gardinas, within the Kingdom of the White Rus, and fill out the duchy of my cousin who rules there.

But when I am looking over maps, I notice something.




Veletia is under attack!  Duke Svend Thrugotsen of Jylland, a vassal of Denmark, is trying to conquer the whole duchy in a holy war.  We cannot let this succeed; should Duke Svend win his war then we would have to fight all of Denmark to take our holy site back.  But should we attack Veletia now, then only the Duke's armies will be hostile.  At least, so my understanding of the war is.

So I do the option I thought the least likely: I declare a Conquest war for the High Chiefdom of Veletia, passing by all of Pomerania.  There is no choice; we must keep the Catholics from conquering our Holy Site at Rugen!  It will be much more difficult to take it back later.

On Dec 13, our 7,000 strong army finishes gathering on the east bank of the Vistula.  Duke Gwienomir of Pomerelia has declared he will honor his alliance with Veletia and so we must make our way through his lands before we get to the prize.  But we decide to bypass Pomeralia completely.
We we march straight to Veletia and arrive on March 13, finding that the Holy Site has already been taken and 3,600 Danes are occupying the county.  Leaving a small detachment to siege down Circipania, we move to confront the Danes straight away:




Huscarls are mean fighters, but our numbers and commanding traits win out.  The Danes are defeated and retreat northwest to Denmark.

Unfortunately the combined Veletian and Pomarelian armies take this time to drive off my detachment at Circipania.  We return to defeat them and then lay siege to Veletia.  These were bloody battles, and my cousin Svitrigalia dies of his wounds.

After a few years of sieging down holdings and some minor skirmishes, in July 1103 we are able to take Veletia as our own:




As predicted, we now are taking over the war from the Duke of ... wait, that's all of Denmark at war with me.  I just thought it would be the Duke.  Oh no.

What are those Byzantine troops doing in the bottom of the screen?  Why do they show as hostile?  Oh no.




Oh no.



Other Happenings:

• Sventaragis tutor dies, and so we find the Steward of Chieftain Pukuveras, to continue his education.
  
• The Lithuanian Culture learns The Ledger!  +1 Domain Limit for the rest of the game.
  
• We completed the August branch of the Diplomacy tree, earning the August trait:  +2 Diplomacy, +1 Martial, and +1 Prestige per month.
  
• High Chieftess Betten is later imprisoned for having an affair with my prisoner Kaire.  Kaire was the sole prisoner to escape the executioner's stake at the beginning of Skirmantas' rule.  She had a son by him while in jail, whom I released after she paid the ransom for.  Kaire died in prison a few months later.
  
• Soaba gave birth to my 4th son, Kesgaila
  

[Commodore]

I undertook a scheme to seduce my wife.  It worked and she became pregnant then gave birth to a son

Do you really.... have to scheme to have children with your spouse in this game?

You don't have to.  But the Seduce Scheme can make someone into your Lover, which will increase the odds of you two having a child.  And your spouse is not automatically your Lover, or Friend, or any of the relationship status' you can have in this game.

Ooo, I wonder what it would be like to have your Spouse become your Rival.  Could you even do that?

If history teaches a ruler anything, it's that it is VITAL TO HAVE YOUR QUEEN LIKE YOU. VERY BAD OUTCOMES OTHERWISE.

[Jowy]

I keep wanting to pipe in about mechanics, then I remember I only know how they work in CK2. Maybe this summer I have time to get into CK3..

[pindicator]

I keep wanting to pipe in about mechanics, then I remember I only know how they work in CK2. Maybe this summer I have time to get into CK3..

Ask if you have any questions!  I'm trying not to dig too much into mechanics for the reports, but I'm happy to explain anything.

Also, I'm going to say I'm really excited about the new expansion that got announced.  Dynamic cultures!  It also looks like they're making fast expansion a lot harder to pull off, and the new Grandeur dynamic should reward "tall" playstyles.

[Commodore]

Now that you're moving onto a world stage with Byzantium's ire...how are their enemies doing?

Historically if the ERE was fighting on a single front, it was winning. Also, the ERE almost never was fighting on just one front.

[pindicator]

Now that you're moving onto a world stage with Byzantium's ire...how are their enemies doing?

Historically if the ERE was fighting on a single front, it was winning. Also, the ERE almost never was fighting on just one front.

It's been surprisingly stable in the middle east and asia minor. The Seljuks and Byzantines continue to fight occasionally, with the Seljuks taking some lands in Armenia but not much has changed hands. The Byzantines made some early gains against the Fatamids in Egypt, but have not returned although the Fatamids appear to be weak. Lately the Byzantine have made some gains in the Caucasus Mountains.