Rise (and probable fall) of the House of Raz

[Razgovory]

What, nothing?

[Jacob]

What, nothing?

I'm enjoying it so far and waiting for the next instalment. Do carry on.

[jimmy olsen]

I really liked it Raz. Definitely looking forward to the next installment.

[Jaron]

More!

[Archy]

very entertaining!

[Valmy]

Glad to see the Longhorn Realm on the move 

[Razgovory]

Part 2:  The life and death of the Grand Duke.

EDIT: During this game there was one crash and a odd bug caused my bishop son to become an heir.  Neither broke the game, but they were annoying.

Just in case you guys doubted that I was in fact playing on Ironman



In the wake of the Crusades, Bradford became one of the the most powerful noblemen in North America.  During the Summer of 2679 he began to grant benefices to men he deemed loyal or at least pliable.  In some ways he failed, since some of newly ennobled men would demand more and more rights from the Grand Duke.  In fact, Bradford's power never really rested on the ability to raise feudal armies or inspire men, but the ability to generate large amounts of money and use that to hire mercenaries.  Shortly after the Lakotah Crusade, Bradford began the practice of lending money.  While under ostensibly under the authority of the Pope, all the money lent and all the profits made were Bradford's.

The crusade had changed Bradford, he had become more pious as a result of the war.  His wife approved of his new attitude and they became closer, finally reciprocating Bradford's affection.  In 2683 she bore him another son, Eugene, who would inherent the Grand Duchy.  Where Bradford's new found religiosity open one door it closed another.  He began to feud with the Lord Mayor of Kansas City, Clemens.  The Lord Mayor was a cynical man, know for cruelty and deceit.  Soon the Grand Duke drew his plans against him.



The Grand Duke attempts to revoke the Lord Mayor's title, beginning a war.

The Clemens refused to give into any of Bradford's demands, and would fight to retain his title.  The war coincided with a major Sioux uprising, diverting the attention of the Grand Duke who prosecuted the war incompetently.  After losing the initial battle of Moks, the Grand Duke was forced to spend a considerable amount on mercenaries to finally terminate both the Sioux revolt and the war in Moks.  It would take five years before he was victorious.



The war continued to change the Grand Duke, in particular it changed his eating habits.



The Sioux revolt.

It was during this period that many of Bradford's councilor's were killed in the course of their duties.  Count Campion, one of the men Bradford had granted land to in the North was killed during a riot.  Count Samuel, another one of Bradford's "new men", was killed while working as an ambassador in Magnolia Hollow.  In all likely hood he was trying to create a legal claim for the conquest of the territory.  The Papacy also saw several Popes during this period as well.  Bradford would swear fealty to no less then six different Popes.  Praised-Be, Joseph the Silent, Orel the Great, Babylon, Orel II, and Redeemed IV.



The Grand Duke's beloved but dimwitted son chooses to become a monk.  This would result in the younger Eugene inheriting the Duchy.



The Moks rebellion finally ends.

In 2689, the Grand Duke was shocked to find that his vassals demanded yet more authority on the council, baring him from imprisoning criminal without a prior agreement of the council.  Bradford was especially surprised to find that the those making the demands were men he had installed as Counts not a few years earlier.  Still the cowardly Duke gave in.  He maintained the pattern of only fighting in a situation of his own making.  He always had trouble reacting to threats.

Still he could fight when his hand was forced.  In 2689, a heretical rebellion broke out.  Once again his own soldiers were defeated by the rebels and only by hiring mercenaries was able to keep his Realm.  A similar rebellion broke out 2697 during the Bluffwoods war, again requiring mercenary support.

Bradford's recent victories, despite the heavy cost, had made him ambitious.  For the rest of his life he would wage several wars to claim the title of King of Missouri, an honor he would never have.  He would wage war against Bluffwoods in 2693, Great River in 2703, and Springfield in 2706 and the Lead Belt in 2718



The Bluffwoods war.

Bradford involved himself heavily in family life, the husbands he chose for his daughters were not foreign princes but local men, who married matrilineally.  Their children became full members of the Razgovory dynasty.  He married his son to the daughter of one of the counts he made in Sioux country.  While the relationships his daughters had with their husbands was shaky, his son Eugene soon fell in love with his wife, and developed a strong marriage.



Bradford commissions Gesta Riverlanderorum



Typical banking business.  Banking would be the vehicle for further conquests.



Bradford's son and heir, Eugene.



The Pope forms an order of crusading knights.  They would be the primary soldiers in the Springfield war.

In 2703 Bradford started a war against the Grand Duke of Great River.  The war went well, with Bradford's forces winning victories in St. Louis, Washington, and De Soto.  The Counties of Gasconade and Magnolia Hollow were annexed within two years.  Immediately after, the Grand Duke gained the aid of the newly reformed Knights of Columbus and conquered Springfield from the Revelationists.  Despite his string of victories, Bradford was hit with yet another ultimatium.  He was forced to concede yet more power to the Council.  The leader of this most recent cabal was Becky of Boone, who Bradford had elevated from baroness to Countess as a child.  The betrayal hit him hard.  Bradford attempted to imprison the Countess, but only provoked a rebellion.  It took two years to win the war, and in the end Countess died in the Grand Duke's dungeon.

In 2709 Pope Babylon declared a crusade to conquer the rest Lakotah.  Bradford quickly joined the war which last only two years.  The Pope was distrustful of the growing power of the Grand Duke and instead rewarded the lands and the new Kingdom of Lakotah to Luta, a Sioux decedent of the Pagan King Tasinagi, the target of the first Lakotah Crusade.  It proved to be a mistake, as the Norse conquered the new Kingdom of Lakotah only a few years later.



The Pope calls a new Crusade.



Bradford's beloved wife falls into a coma.  She would linger for five years.

With his wife in a coma, the Grand Duke, lost his fear of death, abandoning his craven nature.  This newfound bravery engendered respect among his vassals allowing the Bradford to convince his council to change the inheritance law to favor younger, brighter son.  Toward the end of his life he was also able to increase some centralization of the Duchy.  Still his council obstructed many of his efforts (NOTE:  I came across a bug here.  I decided to make my retarded first son a bishop.  He was already a monk and thus out of line of inheritance.  Making him a bishop automatically made him first in line to the dynasty and removed the monk trait.  After my first character died he inherited several counties as "Prince-Bishop", however when his heir is his brother.  I altered the the inheritance law to elective gavelkind so my second born son would take the Grand Duchy.  Still it's an annoying bug).



This is a cat wearing plastic armor.  I like the picture but can't think of a way to add it in, so I'm just posting it.



The Grand Duchess finally dies.  Bradford would find another wife quickly.  A Canadian girl named Morwen.

In 2718 Bradford launched a campaign against the Duchy of the Lead Belt, claiming County Current and County Black.  The war went well, resulting in victory in less then two years.  It would be his last war.  On February 16, 2721, Bradford, Duke of Boonslick, Count of the Black Hill, Cole, Bluffwoods, Springfield, Current and Black, baron of Springfield, Regent of the Papacy, Commander of the Papal armies, Steward of Papal Domains, Papal Legate, Fidei Defensor, and Malleus Siouxorum died.


The Death of Bradford the Great


The state of world in 2718.

[Razgovory]

Part 3:  Eugene the Kind.



Upon the death of Bradford, Eugene the second born son, assumed the title of Grand Duke at a ceremony in De Soto.  His brother, known as Bradford the Misborn inheirted the counties of Springfield, Current, and Black.  Upon his death they were bequeathed to the Church.  Eugene was well into middle age, with children of his own when he took the took the title and a happy marriage with Sarah Procambur, the daughter of one of the counts that Bradford and instated.  Eugune was just as clever as his father, and while Bradford was a retiring scholar, his son was a talented and aggressive soldier.  In addition to intelligence, the Grand Duke inherited his father's love of food and his stubbornness.

The first challenge to the new Grand Duke was his vassals.  They pushed for more rights just as they had done so under Bradford's rule.  Eugene attempted to placate them with diplomacy, inviting them to feasts small and large and even going to far as to imprisoning one of the leaders Dorothy, countess of Sisston.  None of it worked, Fitch the Rash Count of Gasconade delivered an ultimatum.  This time, something new happened.  Eugene did not give in and the Grand Duchy fell into civil war.


The countess Belle, Eugene's personal diplomacy would come to naught.  She would join the revolt and remain in prison after the Grand Duke had died.


The countess Dorothy had been the leader of a hostile faction.  When Eugene learned of her plot to commit murder, he imprisoned her.  She would eventually die in the dungeons.


Eugene's diplomatic efforts failed, but he developed a fondness for chess.  He would be known as one the best players in the West.


The rebellion begins.

The war lasted four years and only came to an end at the great cost of hiring mercenaries.  Eugene pardoned several of the rebellious counts, including the leader, Fitch.  Peace did not suit him, almost immediately after the war ended one of the loyal vassals called in a favor to conquer the County of Hannibal from Iowa, which was in the midst of it's own civil war.  Eugene jumped at the chance.  While Eugene was a talented military planner and soldier his niece Jane was even greater.  She led his army in the civil war, in Iowa and before being killed in Minnesota. Eugene's first born son, Leon showed all the signs of becoming a great leader himself inheriting the intelligence and over eating that had so far characterized the dynasty.  Sadly Eugene pushed his son to far, causing a deep rift between father and son.



The battle of Warsaw, a civil war victory for Eugene.





Eugene was not the most able father.


The war begins in Iowa


Jane wins a major victory.


After two years victory is achieved over Iowa.

Shortly after the Iowan war, Eugene began to quarrel with the Pope.  The Popes of St. Louis had grown distrustful of the Grand Duke realizing that his power now was greater than their own.  He began to openly talk of becoming King of Missouri which implied sovereignty over the city of St. Louis. In response Pope Hallelujah III made no bones about plotting to revoke the county of Black hills.  Eugene felt the best way to impress the Pope was to wage a religious war and declared a Holy war in Minnesota.  It was during this short period of peace, that Eugene's beloved wife died.  He did remarry, quickly to the young Countess Annie of Yankton, but never had the rapport he did with his first wife.



The Pope plots against the Grand Duke.



The Duchess, a very able woman, dies.



Relations with the Pope continues to sour.

In 2733 Eugene went to war with kingdom of Northland, which had been previously known as the kingdom of Lakota.  The Realm was in a state of civil war and chaos, allowing for a quick victory of the Northman.  It was a hollow victory though, the heir Leon was killed in battle at St. Cloud.  His brother, Winfield, would not long outlive him, he was murdered by his own wife a Sioux woman named Nawaji.



Leon is killed in battle.



Victory over King Adolph.

The war did not save relations with the Pope.  Eugene still deeply desired to be a King, and no longer wanted any protection.  During the peaceful period between 2734 and 2738, a peculiar event occurred from whence he gained his epithet.  A strange troubadour came Eugene's court, speaking of Elfland.  Though likely mad, Eugene allowed the poor soul to stay.  It was this occasion that caused people to call him "the Kind", such an odd name for so militant a man.


Eugene meets a lord from Elfland

In 2738 the connection between the House of Razgovory and the Papacy was shattered.  The Grand Duke demanded Independence, and Pope Hallelujah refused it.  The Pope would die of natural causes but his successor Manasses would continue the fight.  While bitter enemies, Manasses and Eugene would become allies in the Crusade against Uppland, which claimed the Pope's life.



The war begins.



The battle of Desoto where Eugene was crowned so long ago.



The battle of Herman.

The war only lasted a year, and for the first time in decades Boonslick was independent.  No longer a Republic, but a powerful Grand Duchy, soon to be a Monarchy.  Peace would only last a year before Eugene was brought into another war, once again against Iowa for the tributary county of Thompson on behalf of Count Curlew of Boone (who had previously beseeched the Grand Duke for aid in taking Hannibal).  During the midst of the war, the Pope declared a Crusade on the Revelationist Kingdom of Uppland which had grown powerful over the last few decades.  The Pope may have hoped that Eugene would not  Join the Crusade as he was busy fighting Iowa.  But he did join in despite an additional Sioux revolt and a Revelationist uprising that forced him to move transfer his armies north.



Jane, the great captain of Boonslick is killed in the Battle for Hannibal.



Iowa is once again defeated.

The multiple threats caused heavy strain on the finances of the Realm.  Boonslick had to borrow a substantial sum to continue the Crusade, money he defaulted on.  While he may have hopped to gain the kingdom of Uppland it was not to be.  Queen Ellen of Uppland was killed in battle in 2744, leaving her underage daughter.  A papal legation came to the new queen's court and offered to end the war if she would convert to Catholicism.  Annie, the young queen agreed and was baptized in Christ.  The Crusade ended without any territory lost or gained.  Eugene was frustrated, but did achieve a victory by betrothing his son Bradford to the queen of Upland.


The crusade against Upland

Eugene was growing old, and knew that he would soon die.  He feared that if died without becoming King, all he had gained by war would be divided among his decedents.  He waged a two year war against the Grand Duke of Great River, Theodore the Cruel.  Records are somewhat sketchy during this last period as Northman raiders were able to sack Moks and an army from far to the West Invade Boonslick with the hope of subjugating it.  The invader was a Salishan who worshiped the Great Raven, Xhuuyee.  The followers of the Raven conquered the entire Pacific North west, reaching as far south as Utah and as far west as Yellowstone.  While few in the Riverlands knew it, the Great Celestial empire of California was besieged.

Upon conquering Great river, Eugene Declared himself King of Missouri.  First to hold the title.  He would hold the title for seven years trying to consolidate his power.  Exhausted and bankrupt, his last years were largely peaceful.  A count in Upland attempted to conquer part of Great River, but neither side had the resources to fight and the war petered out.  Missouri had elective gavelkind succession, allowing the lords of the Kingdom to vote on a successor.  Eugene wanted his son Bradford to become king of Missouri so that Uppland and Missouri would be become a Personal Union.  It was not to be,  the Nobility preferred Eugene's grandnephew, also named Bradford.



Kingdom of Missouri.

Far to the west, there were troubling rumors.



Eugene died in 2757 leaving two King Bradford's.  King Bradford of Uppland (who was king by virtue of marriage), and the young King Bradford of Missouri.




The Death of a King.



North America in 2757.

[PDH]

Wyoming is once again just a plaything for the powerful

[Razgovory]

The Haida keep sending out conquering adventurers.  They've conquered Wyoming, Utah, and Northern California and Nevada.  I my new king released a count who had been a prisoner since he rebelled against Grand Duke Eugene as a sign of magnanimity and the guy immediately joined a faction that rebelled against me.  So now he's back in jail.   I've crated a house Martinus, and House Valmy.  Unfortunately they were disloyal.

[Razgovory]

Testing, testing

uploading pictures


New AAR incoming.

[Razgovory]

The long Reign of King Bradford the Chaste.

In 2757 the Lords of Missouri chose the 17-year-old Bradford as the new King of Missouri.  The young king was not as clever as his forbearers but was widely renowned for his physical strength and sense of justice. jpg images

Bradford soon began to call in debts and worked to strengthen the laws in his realm.  Within his first year he was able to regain the powers of revocation.   Unfortunately, his success inspired envy and rebellion.

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House Valmy, Lords in the North

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House Martinus, who would lose their title to a usurper

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The young King makes an excellent start.

Bradford was expecting a challenge to his rule, and in 2758 count Niphon rose the banner of rebellion.  Niphon was deeply offended by the growing power of the King and wished to restore council power.  His war was a disaster: defeated at Saline and Cole in '58, Cheyenne River and Walworth in '61 and finally defeated at Minnehaha '62.  Count Niphon would spend the rest of his life in Bradford's dungeon.

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Bradford was magnanimous in victory and chose to release most of the rebels.  The war did take a major toll on his the treasury, effectively bankrupting the kingdom.  It would be eight years before his coffers were sufficiently restored.  During this time he fought off several Norse raiders but undertook no major military actions.  His primary concern was to the newly Catholic kingdom of Uppland fall into his families orbit.

This was not to be, King Bradford of Uppland died at the age 28 and the Kingdom would institute elective succession preventing his son, Eugene, from taking the throne after Queen Annie died.  Eugene would not be left out, eventually becoming the heir and king of Missouri.

This was a period of time when overseas invasions wracked both the East and West coast.  California fought off several invasion from the Japanese and Russians while New England was less successful in holding back the British.  While the stories of vast oceanic armies were strange, they did not affect Missouri one way or another.

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2770, provoked by the constant raids and invading hosts from the Norse, The King invaded Northland, once the realm of the Lakota. The war last three years and ended with the conquest of Wichiyena which was granted House De Money.  Still, the war did nothing to end the constant raiding from the north.

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War in the North.


With war comes chaos and destruction.  Shortly after the Northern War rebellion became endemic with heretics and peasants rising in the northern holding and in Missouri itself.

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In 2776 Pope Salvator declared a Crusade against the Empire of Hudsonia.  The war was doomed to failure, the Empire was strong and distant.  The war was also inopportune as Missouri had begun to meddle in the Iowan civil war.  Still, Bradford took up arms and led an expedition across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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The small Catholic Armies were no match for the Consumerists, and after one year the King withdrew.  The Crusade ended in 2782 as a complete failure.

The Crusade left Bradford hungry for a victory, and as soon as the Crusade ended he invaded Iowa over the province of Nodaway. The Kingdom of Platte and Comancheria joined in the war and in three years Nodaway had fallen to Missouri.  King Franklin V was known as "Ironsides" also fell in the war.

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It was rumored that during the war that King Bradford fled during the battle of Kirksville, and for the rest of  his reign he was called a coward.  Whatever the truth of his bravery he was still able to deliver major victories, and his desire to restore the kingdom of Missouri remained tenacious.

Bradford nursed a deep greivance against Pope Salvator for his foolish war against the Consumerists.  As the Pople's territories were within the legal bounds of Missouri Bradford had all the reason he needed to declare war. 



During the war there was idle speculation as to what happened to the Pope in Rome.

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The war was to be a bitter one, Pope Salvator could raise an army similar in size to the King's.  Only after 8 years of warfare and the death of Pope Salvator did Missouri finally achieve victory, claiming the province of Curivie.

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Despite the demonstrations of power, the kingdom of Missouri was still constantly raided.  There were 16 separate Norse invasions during the reign of Bradford the Chaste.  Most of these were adventurers fleeing the encroaching state of Ohio.  Bradford blamed the Kingdom of Northland and conquered Sheyenne from King Hjalmar in 2800. 16 years later he took the last Americanist territory at their holy site of Mount Rushmore.

in 1812 Queen Tulip, died.  Bradford quickly remarried to a widow named Julie Arpee.  The issue of succession was without controversy.  Bradford chose his distant cousin Eugene Ironside, Son of King Bradford and Queen Annie the confessor of Uppland.  Eugene was a well-known diplomat and a tough fighter.  More importantly, he had a weak claim on Uppland, stood a good chance of bringing that territory into the fold.

In 2814 Pope Solomon declared a Crusade on Louisiana.  Bradford brought a large army down the Mississippi to wage war for Christ but died shortly after arriving at the age of 77.  When he died, he left the kingdom to Eugene Ironside of Yankton.  His grandson Calhoun, was King of Platte.

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[Razgovory]

Sorry about that last one.  My memory for all the details in that last one sort of faded.  I started that one a month ago.  Also Imgur has changed the way it does business and I couldn't figure it out so I changed to Postimage.

[Phillip V]

Good.

[Razgovory]

I need a new photo sharing site.  This one doesn't seem up to the task.