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 Crusader Kings 2 is a historical strategy game covering a span from the coronation of Charlemagne to the late Middle Ages, allowing the player to take the role of one of the ruling dynasties of the medieval world in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, the Asian steppes, or India. Warfare and intrigue punctuate an often-slow process of economic, cultural, and technological development, while the prestige of the heads of your dynasty is the mark of the player's influence on history, while the rise of nomadic conquerors from the Asian steppes and the impact of the dreaded Black Death can eventually wreak havoc on even the strongest realms. As Charlemagne rises to the throne, the island of Ireland is little but an impoverished backwater in the beleaguered Catholic world, but major changes are on the horizon for the Irish tribes... Updates January 769- A Land Far From Glory 769-778- A Fire in the Mind 778-789- The Irish League nweismuller fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Sep 11, 2017 |
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Sep 3, 2017 21:59
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A Land Far From Glory In 769, King Karl ascended the throne in the mighty empire of West Francia, portending a new expansion of the Catholic world. The British Isles, however, would prove to be little-touched by Karl's great campaigns, a cluster of Catholic realms insulated from outside threats by the vast bulk of Francia. The wealthiest and most developed portions of the British Isles were the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms covering much of the south of Great Britain, the strongest of which in these years were the kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, and Wessex. The fragmented Welsh realms were likewise fairly developed feudal domains, reasonably prosperous for the era, save in the backward interior. Beyond the Anglo-Saxon realms was the clannish and backward kingdom of Pictland, along with other Pictish realms on the islands off the western coast of Great Britain. Ireland, meanwhile, was a patchwork of nearly a hundred small túatha or 'kingdoms', each little more than a small group of farmers and herders. 'Great kings' held the allegiance of the kingds of several túatha beneath them, while 'great kings of great kings' of rather precarious power ultimately split the island into twelve provincial realms, any one of which could barely qualify as a 'kingdom' even by the standards of the petty kingdoms of England. Petty raids and skirmishes were endemic, and the largest settlements of the island were the villages clustered around the walls of the great monasteries.    Catholic Europe at this time comprised the great kingdoms of West Francia, Middle Francia, and Lombardy, the fractured realms of the British Isles, the kingdoms of Bavaria and Asturias, threatened outposts of Christianity bordered by the Pagan or Muslim worlds respectively, the tiny Breton realms of Brittany, and the two Italian states of the Republic of Venice and the Papal States. The vast bulk of the Iberian peninsula, although still Catholic, had fallen to the Muslim threat, and Christendom seemed poised for a slow retreat from its existing borders. Despite any of the theological differences between the Catholic world and the Orthodox Christianity of the Roman Empire to the East, nonetheless the Roman Empire enthroned in the mighty city of Constantinople was a bulwark for Christianity against a world of enemies.   Many of the most developed and advanced portions of the Catholic world were lost when Iberia was conquered by the Umayyads, with the richest remaining portions of the Catholic world being found in Flanders, Venice, Paris, and, to a lesser extent, some portions of the Lombard and English coasts. The three merchant republics of the Italian peninsula- the independent city-state of Venice, the city of Genoa under Lombard rulership, and the city of Amalfi under the Byzantine Empire- helped ensure a growing trade in the Mediterranean Sea to the rich markets of the remanants of the Roman Empire. Pictland and Ireland remained clannish and barely settled, while the bulk of the Catholic world had established a settled feudal system, somewhat more organised and advanced than the vast tribal realms of the pagan world to the northeast.   Records from Ireland at this time are fragmentary at best, but chronicles written in the Ninth Century credit one of the provincial kings of Ireland as Niall of Airgiallia, one of four Ua Neill Noigiallaich provincial kings of the era. These chronicles claim Niall as a man of remarkable character- firm and judicious in his justice, hard-working and dedicated, and a kind and amiable man beloved by almost all who knew him. Whether these accounts are true or not, what is beyond question is that Niall began a slow process of cementing his realm into a cohesive political unit, rather than a mass of scattered túatha, while slowly working to establish consistent trade with the wealthier Welsh and English kingdoms to the east. The extent to which the groundwork laid by King Niall would change Ireland, however, was unable to be imagined by anybody at the time. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Oct 13, 2017 |
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Sep 3, 2017 21:59
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Feel free to ask any questions about the current world situation or the situation in Airgiallia more specifically. Obviously, Airgillia is not, at the moment, a particularly important realm- but big changes are afoot there.
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Sep 3, 2017 22:53
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Looking forward to the border gore from the Charlie start. What are your overall goals for the LP, besides making a republic?
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Sep 3, 2017 23:19
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Who's first on the stomping list? That's the real question.
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Sep 3, 2017 23:24
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I don't care what anybody says, I like the 769 start date. Good luck with your LP! I'll be watching.
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Sep 3, 2017 23:25
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Grizzwold posted:Looking forward to the border gore from the Charlie start. What are your overall goals for the LP, besides making a republic? My objective is to have a wealthy, advanced, prosperous, and happy Ireland united entirely under republican government within the next few centuries. That includes no county-level feudal vassals, all tribes bootstrapped to cities, and so on. Ua Neill Noigiallaich will not always remain the lords of the Irish League, but Ua Neill Noigiallaich influence over Ireland will be consolidated, Ua Neill Noigiallaich wealth ensured by trading networks and personal holdings within the republic, and possible Irish imperialism on minor British islands or Great Britain itself will be embarked upon. Consolidation of the Irish position is intended to ensure Irish security and the peace and prosperity of the Emerald Isle. POOL IS CLOSED posted:Who's first on the stomping list? That's the real question. Step one is to make sure we can get ourselves a duchy-level title, which means making us King of Ulaidh. Step two is getting the single wealthiest county of Ireland in our hot little hands to establish as our capital. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Sep 3, 2017 |
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Sep 3, 2017 23:31
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What version and mods are you Using for this LP?
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Sep 3, 2017 23:40
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:What version and mods are you Using for this LP? No mods. DLC installed with actual gameplay effects, not counting unit packs, portraits, coats of arms, music, ruler customisers, et cetera- Charlemagne Conclave Horse Lords Legacy of Rome Rajas of India Sons of Abraham The Old Gods The Reaper's Due The Republic The Sword of Islam Way of Life and possibly me missing one on the list as I scrolled through it. I think that's all of them, though.
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Sep 3, 2017 23:51
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Poblacht na hÉireann!
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Sep 4, 2017 00:09
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Interested to see how your pacifistic and diplomatic playstyle lends itself to CK2.
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Sep 4, 2017 00:09
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GunnerJ posted:Interested to see how your pacifistic and diplomatic playstyle lends itself to CK2. There's going to be a certain amount of war needed simply to consolidate ourselves on Ireland, but hopefully things can settle down once the Irish League is well-established.
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Sep 4, 2017 00:10
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nweismuller posted:
You mean Monks and Mystics?
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Sep 4, 2017 00:22
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You mean sunset invasion
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Sep 4, 2017 00:27
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I don't have Monks and Mystics; it reviewed poorly. And Sunset Invasion does not appeal to me.
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Sep 4, 2017 00:28
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I believe I heard nothing but good things about Monks and Mystics, though I've little experience with that expansion myself outside of a few YouTube playthroughs here and there. Definitely worth considering if you're looking for more character building/roleplaying in your game. I'm also noticing that you're missing Sunset Invasion. Not necessarily a mark against this LP, but I believe you've misplaced your sense of adventure and/or masochism. Yes, that DLC is...odd and ahistorical as all hell, but that's exactly what makes playthroughs with that expansion fun.
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Sep 4, 2017 00:29
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Monks and mystics lets you become a Satanist and become father to the antichrist. You can also do secret religions that makes playing as a smaller religion more viable. It's fun enough but don't pay full price.
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Sep 4, 2017 00:32
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Wooo ground floor
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Sep 4, 2017 03:13
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OK, 60 images to process for the next update, which takes us through the remainder of King Niall's life. Maybe I'll break it up a little- but expect something within the next few days.
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Sep 4, 2017 03:36
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I just read that you won't be using sunset invasion. Boo. Sadface. Boo.
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Sep 4, 2017 03:39
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Has any goon LP ever used Sunset Invasion? I can't think of any.
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Sep 4, 2017 06:25
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Gold Rules the World? Or maybe ByzLP? I distinctly remember at least one did.
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Sep 4, 2017 06:29
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Ikasuhito posted:I don't care what anybody says, I like the 769 start date. same & same
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Sep 4, 2017 07:55
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Ikasuhito posted:Has any goon LP ever used Sunset Invasion? I can't think of any. The good ones
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Sep 4, 2017 08:05
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nweismuller posted:I don't have Monks and Mystics; it reviewed poorly. And Sunset Invasion does not appeal to me. Monks and Mystics was great. Hail Gay Satan.
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Sep 4, 2017 08:09
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Crazycryodude posted:Gold Rules the World? Or maybe ByzLP? I distinctly remember at least one did. ByzLP changed the sunset invasion to be the glorious Chinese expeditionary force of East Rome, in keeping with the "too many Romes" theme. They still went straight for Iberia because apparently that's hard coded into the faction AI. I really hope ByzLP gets the HoI4 port done and can start up again, then see what glorious new Romes the galaxy may hold.
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Sep 4, 2017 08:26
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For Fionn macCumhaill!
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Sep 4, 2017 14:21
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A Fire in the Mind   The chronicles report that early in 769 King Niall arranged a second marriage to Eadburh, daughter of the English king of Kent, and a woman barely of marriageable age being wed to a man 35 years her senior. There are passing references to the faithfulness of Eadburh in what records remain. What is beyond question is the number of children born to Eadburh over the course of her marriage to King Niall.   While Eadburh settled into her new life in Ireland, the Kingdom of Middle Francia was torn by a civil war seeking to depose its king in favor of the ambitious, and ruthless, King Karl of West Francia. Within a year, King Karl reigned over all Francia, now united as a single kingdom, and proceeded to engage in a series of brutal campaigns to seize land from his own vassals under spurious pretexts.  Closer to Ireland, the kingdom of Pictland was torn by a short-lived and failed attempt to depose its king in 771, which was put down after much bloodshed. While Pictland grappled with the rebellion, it was in little position to involve itself in politics beyond its borders.  Niall and Eadburh's first daughter, Scathach, was born in April of 771. Niall continued to raise his son Aed from his first marriage as his intended heir, while he fostered a young relative from a distant branch of the family in Cill Dara, Ercaid, in his household.   Early in 772, a series of legal claims alleging raids and murders from across the borders of the district of Ulaidh into Airgillia were lodged against the king of Ulaidh by Forbassach, a renowned poet serving as the chief diplomat of Niall's court. The status of poets in Ireland at the time rivalled that of nobles, and the chronicles consistently describe Forbassach as 'the honey-tongued'. Regardless of the validity of these accusations, they provided an excuse for future action by Niall. King Niall was not, according to the chronicles, a warlike man by temperament, and he was slow to act on these reports, but nonetheless the seeds of war had been sown. Forbassach's efforts, first in Ulaidh, then later in Dubhlinn, proved to be pivotal in laying the foundation for the strengthened kingdom Niall was to forge.  772 also marks the first surviving example of a letter from Irish agents in Constantinople, describing details of the weapons, armor, farming practises, architecture, and customs of the Roman Empire's capital. King Niall started a long tradition of observation in and around Constantinople, attempting to emulate Roman ways for the good of Ireland. The effects of this program were, admittedly, slow to bear fruit, but its effects grew more apparent over time.    Niall and Eadburh's second daughter, Dubgilla, was born barely a year after Scathach- it was only a few short months between Scathach's birth and Dubgilla's conception. While the couple celebrated their new child, however, a rift grew between King Niall and King Ecberht II of Kent, alienating Eadburh from her family of birth. Niall accused Ecberht II of sponsoring a persistent band of pirates preying on the Airgiallian coast, which Ecberht II hotly denied. No reconciliation was ever achieved.   Niall's many long years of placid and steady rulership, however, were soon to come to an end. Early in 773, King Niall began suffering piercing headaches and persistent religious visions. His personality began to shift, becoming more erratic and fierce, portending a more turbulent period of rule ahead.    Within two months, the headaches and visions began to be accompanied by fainting spells, an increasing loss of weight, and constant pain. Niall's personal healer, a learned monk named Talorc, began to treat him for the remainder of his life with a gruelling regimen of purgatives and drugs intended to ease the king's suffering. Although Niall's health continued to decline over the following years, this course of treatment is credited with preserving his life as long as it lasted- although his contemporaries had little understanding of his illness, modern study of his symptoms make it clear he was suffering from terminal brain cancer.  It seems likely that, before the onset of cancer, that King Niall as reported by the chronicles would not have gone about the first large-scale minting of coin in Ireland as he did. In order to ease trade beyond Ireland, Niall ordered the striking of many silver coins, which proved to be shockingly debased by lead. Although Niall continued to attempt to rule justly, he reportedly grew more obsessed with gain, as well as secretive and sometimes even manipulative.   Disputes over raids and murders around Dubhlinn heightened tensions between the kingdoms of Dubhlinn and Airgillia. The long-standing peace which Niall had shepherded stood on the verge of shattering as the year of 774 opened.   King Niall's good reputation in Ireland led to adventurous warriors from túatha all across Ireland gathering in his lands in response to rumors that he sought to prosecute feuds against the kingdoms east and south of his lands. Raising his own warriors and placing the whole army under the command of a trusted noble, King Niall promptly declared war on both Ulaidh and Dubhlinn, proclaiming that he would subdue the lawless lands and bring a restored peace to northeastern Ireland.  Niall's deteriorating health, by 774, led to him barely being capable of sleep, snatching rest in fitful fragments as he was driven by increasing obsession. He began to be described as haggard and haunted, increasingly taken by his fainting fits. This did not, however, stop him from making a strenuous journey later that year.        Over most of the year of 774, King Niall personally led an expedition of nobles and monks in a merchant ship purchased from Kentish shipyards that sailed the long route to Lithuania. Niall's health continued to deteriorate over the course of the voyage, but he succeeded in arranging an ongoing purchase of timber and furs in that far pagan land in exchange for Irish wool and grain, the negotiations sweetened by the kingly gift of a dozen fine horses. Access to Lithuanian furs proved to be immensely profitable to Irish traders, who resold much of their imported fur back across the Irish Sea to English nobility with the wealth to afford these wares. King Niall's kingdom began to tie itself far more firmly into the web of European trade, a process that began spurring the growth of the first real Irish towns away from those villages surrounding the monasteries. Although these trading towns were still little more than largish villages by the standards of the English or the realms of the Continent, nonetheless they represented the beginning of a fundamental shift in the Irish lifestyle under King Niall.  Under Talorc's advice, King Niall withdrew to a more cloistered lifestyle upon his return from Lithuania, painstakingly learning the rudiments of Latin to study the Bible and spending long nights in quiet prayer. For a time, King Niall's health seemed to rally, although he remained plagued by constant pain and hallucinations.  By the end of 774, the terrible quality of Airgiallian coins had been discovered by English merchants, and few were willing to hold onto the widely scorned Irish silver pennies, which were reputed to be at least as much lead as silver. Still, by this time, some amount of English coins had begun to circulate in Irish markets, and Irish trade continued, regardless of the blow to Niall's reputation.    Airgiallia's growing role in trade drew attention from surprising quarters, and by mid-775 a brilliant Jewish clerk named Ivomai offered his services to King Niall, helping to manage Niall's mercantile holdings and the rents collected from the little farming villages owing fealty to his kingdom. Ivomai's services marked the formation of a circle of uncommonly capable advisors under King Niall, which helped ensure the continued prosperity of his kingdom. A year later, another Jew arrived, this one a mercenary well-versed in court intrigue, although he proved to live less than two years following his arrival.   By 776, both Niall's son Aed and his ward Ercaid reached the age of 16, formally ready to take on the duties of adulthood. Both had been trained with some success in accounts and trade by King Niall, and both had advantageous marriages arranged for them.  While the war continued to rage, with repeated short, sharp battles resulting in repeated Airgiallian victories over warriors from Dubhlinn and Ulaidh, increasingly dubious claims of hostile action by the southeastern túath of Laigin were made, leaving King Niall with more excuse for hostile action.   While the last siege of a fortified monastery in Dubhlinn continued, King Niall withdrew from official business for a month, seeing no-one and devoting all his time to fasting, prayer, and contemplation. When he emerged, he had developed a lasting habit of austere and simple living, and ever after only ate a single meal a day.      Finally, in October of 776, the war drew to a close. King Niall declared himself 'king of all the North of Eire', removing his court southward to the district of Dubhlinn, which was the most cultivated and populous district of all Ireland. It was not long after that he worked with the monks of his kingdom to promulgate the first written law code in Ireland, one which curtailed many of the privileges of lesser túatha in the name of the 'peace and serenity of the land'. Power was beginning to become centralised in the great king of great kings, himself clearly the most powerful king in all Ireland.     In 777, King Niall once again withdrew himself from the court early in the year, struggling with his constant pain and visions and wrestling with his relationship with God. Late in the year, border disputes arose with Cill Dara, which he responded to with a fresh declaration of war. To pay for the expenses of continued war and the growing town on the coast of Dubhlinn, King Niall approached his Jewish steward Ivomai, arranging a significant loan from Ivomai's extended family across Europe.   As the first battles of the war were under way, the edges of a terrible plague of smallpox which had ravaged Francia and Great Britain was reported on the southern coast of Ireland. Several districts in England and in Francia had suffered so much death that some of their smaller villages were abandoned, and everywhere the disease struck, many suffered. Chronicles report that King Niall's fanatical regligious devotion only increased, and the last months of his life were marked by near-constant prayer under the guidance of the monks and priests of his realm.  The war, however, did not last long. On October 21, 778, King Niall collapsed onto the table during his dinner, remaining unconscious for a further day before expiring. The bishops of Niall's realm selected his ward Ercaid as his successor, and soon after, Ercaid was crowned King of Ulaidh.  King Ercaid was a man of modest talents, hard-working, diligent, and generous but marred by a capricious, impatient nature. He was raised by Niall to be skillful in business, but had only indifferent aptitude for the life.  His Queen, Lantsuinda, was the daughter of a Frankish Prince-Bishop, and an incredibly skilled hand at accounts and trade- talents that would help make up for Ercaid's deficiencies.  Aed, King Niall's son and the named heir of King Ercaid, was somewhat more skilled at trade than King Ercaid, and well-liked for his open-handed nature. His stark refusal to face physical dangers and his only intermittent attendance at Mass raised some gossip, however.   The town on the shore of Dubhlinn was steadily growing as the importance of trade on the eastern coast of Ireland increased. King Ercaid's kingdom was slowly becoming more settled and civilised. King Niall's highly capable council remains in service to King Ercaid, ensuring that despite Ercaid's capricious nature, the realm would be held in a steady hand.  King Ercaid's kingdom of Ulaidh had become easily the largest and strongest túath of Ireland, and one that had been cementing power over its lesser túatha in a way the other provincial kingdoms of Ireland had not. On Great Britain, the kingdom of Mercia had ensured that many of its neighbors, both in England and in Wales, owed it tribute, leaving it in the strongest position of any of the English kingdoms.  Francia had conquered the pagan land of Saxony and into many of the Norse lands, but struggled with ongoing Saxon and Norse revolts by the Godless pagans of those lands. Whether King Karl could keep his grasp on Saxony was open to question by many in his realm and beyond.  In the Roman Empire, a massive civil war had erupted, with the current Emperor being challenged to step down in favor of a new Empress. Whether the Roman Empire could continue to serve as a bulwark against the Muslim hordes while weakened by internal strife is a question that raised concern across all of Christendom. The last years of King Niall's reign saw immense changes in his realm, driven both by his skillful promotion of trade and by his increasingly erratic behavior due to his cancer of the brain. His successor Ercaid would prove to bring about even greater changes in Ireland. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Sep 4, 2017 |
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Sep 4, 2017 16:36
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Feel free, as ever, to request more information on people, realms, cities, or events anywhere in the play area- I'll see what I can check up on. One example of something I might do, if anybody cared, was a comparison of what the great urban centers of London, Paris, Flanders, Venice, and Constantinople look like- likewise I could show off the rival claimants to the Roman throne, show what King Karl is like, or so on.
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Sep 4, 2017 20:05
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Did Niall's wife survive him? Is she still at court?
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Sep 4, 2017 20:08
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Did Niall's wife survive him? Is she still at court? Eadburh survived, now being 25 years old. She has returned home to the court of her father in Dover.
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Sep 4, 2017 20:13
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Who was the Pictish noble that tried to take the throne? It didn't look like the usual suspect, when that happens.
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Sep 4, 2017 21:50
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Who was the Pictish noble that tried to take the throne? It didn't look like the usual suspect, when that happens. Unfortunately, I didn't check at the time, and they're long since gone, so...
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Sep 4, 2017 21:52
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Monks & Mystics got negative reviews because lovely people on Steam have been review bombing every new DLC that Paradox puts out recently, it's actually incredibly good. You owe it to yourself to get it.
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Sep 4, 2017 22:36
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Anyhow, although I'm going to be light on formal participation processes until we are a republic, I will also permit people to at least petition our current king, if there's anything in particular you want to see, over and beyond the 'desperately claw our way to becoming a republic'. And given the feedback from the thread, I will go and buy Monks and Mystics, and install it for my next personal session of 'beat head against the wall in an effort to reform Germanic paganism, thereby ensuring the continued survival of the religion'. Secret cults actually were introduced with free patching, but at the very least, the new Council activities look interesting to me. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Sep 4, 2017 |
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Sep 4, 2017 23:31
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I'd like to petition our just and fair ruler to grant women full status!  A daughter of Ulaidh should be free to pursue the national good to the fullest extent of her God-given gifts!e: I know this is a gradual process in CKII, but I'd like to see it as an aim.
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Sep 4, 2017 23:47
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:I'd like to petition our just and fair ruler to grant women full status! Did they ever fix republics to be agnatic? AJ_Impy fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Sep 4, 2017 |
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Sep 4, 2017 23:49
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:I'd like to petition our just and fair ruler to grant women full status! Yeah, I'll work on that, but that requires developing Tolerance technology far beyond what we have. I will officially prioritise Tolerance research over any other cultural technology field, however. We need Tolerance level 3 to unlock spymaster positions for women, and we're only at 1, so we have a way to go. And even further for steward and chancellor positions. AJ_Impy posted:Did they ever fix republics to be agnatic? Republican succession is agnatic, but at the very least, we can open up positions for women in positions of responsibility as our Tolerance progresses. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Sep 4, 2017 |
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Sep 4, 2017 23:49
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E:  AJ_Impy posted:Did they ever fix republics to be agnatic? Not sure about succession, but there is a tab in one of the last screenshots showing the realm's policies, and the status of women is there. Currently it's traditional.
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Sep 4, 2017 23:51
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I humbly petition His Majesty to do all possible to increase general debauchery. I haven't played CK2 in years, can we build a circus or encourage gambling? Something nice for the people to do after their 19 hours a day of backbreaking work in the fields. (In light of Pool is Closed's suggestion, for women too!)
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Sep 5, 2017 01:32
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