Vingoldas, Interregnum
Upon Skirmantas' death, Emperor Vingoldas assumes the throne:
The Emperor is Generous, Compassionate (conveniently now a Virtue with the new reformed Vidilist faith), and Gluttonous. He has the Quick congenital trait (+1 to all stats), and has several Commanding Traits as well: Logistician (+100% Supply Duration) and Reckless (+6 Maximum Battle Roll, -4 Minimum Battle Roll).
We have also had our first Mental Break with the AI, and became a Drunkard to cope (-2 Stewardship, -2 Prowess, Tiny Health Penalty, +20% Stress Loss, +10 Opinion of other Drunkards).
The 4 kingdoms within Greater Lithuania have been inherited by the 4 brothers:
King Kesgaila of Poland is Ambitious, Shy, and Gluttonous. He was educated in Intrigue and earned the highest ranking, Elusive Shadow. He has the congenital trait Intelligent (+3 to all stats). But stress has caused him to become a Profligate (-10% monthly income, 0.5 Piety/month, +20% Stress Loss) and Reclusive (-2 Diplomatic, -1 Stewardship, +20% Stress Loss).
He has been made Spymaster of Greater Lithuania, as the 22 Intrigue stat is the best in the land. This bumped his opinion of Emperor Vingoldas up to +2. Perhaps making an Ambitious King with a claim on the Empire spymaster was a bad idea, but I think this playthrough could use a little more spice and intrigue. However, because King Kesgaila is my ally he cannot join a faction against me.
King Tovtiivilas of Pomerania is Calm, Trusting, and Impatient. He was educated in Stewardship and earned the highest ranking, Midas Touched. He has the congenital trait Intelligent, but is currently Ill (-4 Prowess, -20% Fertility, Severe Health Penalty, +100% Dread Loss, -10 Natural Dread).
He has been made Steward of Greater Lithuania and we pray to Dievas for his recovery. He currently has a poor Opinion of the Emperor, at -19. He also has an alliance with me and so cannot join a faction against me.
King Lutuveras of Estonia is Paranoid, Content, and Shy. He was educated in Diplomacy but received the worst ranking, Naive Appeaser. Like his father, is also Reclusive due to stress/mental breaks; and like his brother, he is a Drunkard.
He already has a great Opinion of the Emperor (+51) and since he is really good at nothing, has been assigned no position.
Interesting enough, none of the Kings are considered Powerful Vassals. I have read before that kings don't give a very efficient level of levies and taxes compared to dukes, so perhaps that has some reason as to why my Dukes are considered powerful vassals while the Kings are not.
My powerful vassals are highlighted in red above, and they are:
Prince Dravenis, my uncle and Duke of Samogitia
Duchess Betten of Courland, currently in prison due to her previous incestuous relationship
Duchess Anele of Latigalians, who has been appointed Chancelor
Duke Gediminas of Gardinas
Duke Kestutis of Polockas, who has been appointed Marshal
I do expect to see some of these powerful vassals shift over to the kings as they consolidate power within their realm and get their own vassals in line. Otherwise I'm going to have to question this powerful vassal system.
Looking at our neighbors:
In the north, Sweden has been expanding into Finland. They are currently winning a war and look to be cutting me off from any northern aggression. I will need to watch them to make sure they do not pick up the last county of Estonia which is not under my control. (Estonia is de jure Scandinavia land, but I will try to use my Chancellor to make it de jure land in my realm.)
The northern lands of Rus have splintered and the Rurikids have been splintered into a number of small duchies and counties. Novgorod, now ruled by House Pskov, is starting to expand northward but is likely a future conquest of mine. In the east Vologda, the Ukonusko faith is beginning to come into its own as a regional power.
Ruthenia is the main power in central and southern russia, but they are no longer ruled by the sons and daughters of Rurik. The Piasts have fled east and the Catholic, Polish Queen Anne is ruler there. They are making gains north into White Rus, capturing Chernigov and most of Smolensk.
The main remnants of House Rurik are found in the south of Rus. The Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia extends southward to the Byzantines and is ruled by Queen Predslava. Grand Prince Alexandr rules Pereyaslavl, and also traces his lineage back to Rurik. However, he has converted to Catholicism while Predslava remains Orthodox. Religion in the area is constantly changing as you can see below:
And the wide world:
The biggest change is in the Central Asia where Cumania has fractured into a bunch of warring tribes. Our previous allies, Caucasus, have carved out one of the larger pieces and are currently at war with Cumania for lands north of the Caspian Sea.
To the south, the Persian Empire has returned back to the Seljuk Caliphate though their borders are largely unchanged.
Byzantium has made gains north of the Black Sea and in the southern Caucasus Mountains, but have lost any influence over Wallachia to the Holy Roman Empire, who has extended their reach beyond Hungary. In turn, the Holy Romans have lost land to the newly emergent Sicily, and King Botolf there has extended his realm into Northern Africa.
In the far east, the biggest change has been the rise of Paramara in northern India. Maharaja Dambarisimha now rules the Kingdoms of Malwa, Himalaya, and Kosala. He seems to be on his way to forming the Empire of Rajastan - though currently is losing a war against the Rudrani to the northwest.
In the far west, Norway's grip on Britain is starting to loosen, as the Catholic Anglo-Saxon England is now independent, composing mostly lands in Mercia and a few other scattered territories within England. King Oshere Beorhtfrithson of England is waging war against Norway for all of England, and currently seems to be winning. King Lugaid of the Scots has turned Alba into a Catholic kingdom as well.
And in Spain, Castille has conquered Navarra and now is slowly making gains down the Portugal coast. The Reconquista has begun!
