So I fired up Crusader Kings. Again.
It was really because the current Steam thing wanted me to play for at least 30 minutes before giving me credit for my achievements, so I wound up starting a new game and playing for more than a few hours. And, since people seem to like records, I thought I would record my game.
I started as Count Morvan of Leon. No reason, it just looked like an interesting starting point. We join Count Morvan in 769.
Count Morvan is married to Meduil de Poher, the daughter of the count of the neighboring county of Poher. They already have one son, Concar mab Morvan. Morvan starts by setting up his council and sending his chancellor (Mayor Piran of Brest) to the adjacent county of Tregor to fabricate a claim. He is already thinking long term, though he spends most of the year adjusting the economics of his county to his liking.
The following year he joins the Hermetic Society. He immediately invites Meduil to join him as his apprentice and she agrees.
Morvan uses this year to keep stabilizing his realm. He is rewarded by a content council that consists completely of Loyalists, making his reign easier. He becomes known as “The Just” due to his even-handed handling of the business of his realm.
This pattern continues for several years. He waits patiently as his finances accumulate and he continues to rule the county in the fairest way he can. Concar is soon joined by a brother, Gradlon, and a sister, Steren.
In 776, shortly after the birth of Steren, the Hermetic Society tasks Morvan with finding an artifact. He and his wife and apprentice Meduil set out to search for it.
Tragedy almost immediately strikes. Morvan is stricken by Depression and dies within a month. At the tender age of 11, Concar becomes the Count and a regency is established.
Ironically, Chancellor Piran had successfully fabricated a claim on Tregor but Morvan was unable to take advantage of it before his untimely death.
For the next several years all was quiet. The Loyalist council held the realm steady as Concar came into his inheritance. All Concar could do during this time is to start to write of his family’s history, learning much about his father as he did.
Concar assumed the throne in 781 at the age of 16; ruler of a stable and prosperous county thanks to the wise leadership of his council.
Seeking to ensure the safety of his realm, he almost immediately entered into a marriage with Princess Gisela, sister of the Emperor of Francia and heir to all of Francia itself. She was older than him, accused of being an adulteress, and less desirable because of her substantial Fatness (yes, the game has her trait as “Fat”) but he felt her to be the best choice for the realm. This immediately gave Leon a non-aggression and defense pact with Francia.
Like his father, he joined the Hermetic society and invited Gisela to join him as an apprentice. She agreed.
He also sent Chancellor Piran back to Tregor to re-fabricate the claim he had made for his father. He was determined to fulfill his father’s ambition.
The next year proved eventful. First, Gisela gave him a son; Morvan mab Concar. With the family line secure, Concar’s gaze turned outward.
At the request of the Hermetic society, Concar built a laboratory within his castle. From there, he started a study of the stars that would consume him for some time.
But not immediately. Perhaps because of his prior work, Piran produced a plausible claim to the county of Tregor in short order. With an economy and armies strong from over a decade of peace, Concar–feeling that he was following his father’s wishes–declared war to claim Tregor.
The war was surprisingly brief. Unprepared, Tregor’s forces were far outnumbered by those of Leon. A single siege brought Tregor into Concar’s hands and he graciously accepted the surrender of Melliao de Poher. The expansion of Leon had begun.
The next few years passed quietly as Concar allowed his economy to recover. He sent Chancellor Piran to the county of Kernev to try to replicate his false claims there but otherwise consumed himself with the study of the sky. He began writing a treatise on what he had learned.
In 785, the Hermetic Society had another request for Concar; that he infiltrate the stronghold of Bishop Arthfael of Llanewy and steal the secrets held there; secrets that Arthfael had been withholding from the rest of the society. Concar and Gisela did as requested, but were captured by Bishop Arthfael’s guards. He and Gisela spent some time in Bishop Arhfael’s dungeons until Concar secured his freedom by giving Arthfael some of the Hermetic knowledge he had gained. He then ransomed Gisela (for an embarrassingly small amount) and resumed his leadership of Leon and his studies of the skies.
Concar decided to hold back his ambitions for the next few years. Gisela gave him another son, Morquethen mab Concar, and his studies of the stars gave him the title of ‘Stellar Navigator’. The following year his studies allowed him to predict a falling star. He invited others to see it and, at the last moment, his prediction became true. This was enough to demonstrate his superior knowledge and he became Magister of the Hermetic Order.
After his capture by Bishop Arthfael, Concar had realized the danger of having Gisela as his apprentice. He released her, naming her his Regent in return, then invited a member of his court to be his new apprentice. Morganne Pensec accepted his offer.
He also decided that he wanted revenge on Bishop Arthfael. He started a conspiracy to eliminate him that soon came to fruition; Bishop Arthfael’s carriage drove off the side of a cliff with the Bishop inside. After the quick death of the driver, there was no one to know of Concar’s involvement.
Much happened in 788. Early in the year the Hermetic Society again asked Concar and Morganne to steal secrets from one of its members. This time they succeeded, but only gained a handful of gold for their troubles. But the intrigue brought them closer together and they became friends. And lovers.
No sooner had Concar returned from his raid that he got news from Chancellor Piran that he had found a plausible claim on the county of Kernev. His armies recovered, Concar immediately acted upon the opportunity that had made itself available.
The armies of Leon and Tregor outnumbered those of Kernev by several to one. The battle was long, but with Concar at their lead, the fate of Kernev was sealed. Kernev fell and Custentin de Cornouaille surrendered his county to Concar.
As the war was raging Concar received word from Leon that Gisela had delivered him another son, Gucthencor mab Concar. This concerned him in that if he were to die, the counties he had so recently been fighting over would be split and divided between his three sons. He immediately started looking at ways to hold the realm together and realized that if he could gain control of both Poher and Broerec then he could form a duchy and unify all of them under one title. He immediately dispatched Piran to Poher. He then turned back to restoring the armies and economy of the realm.
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