We are 28 with a six year old son and heir Prince Ardgar. We also have a daughter (3) and our wife is 33 year old Queen Mathilde Billung from Germany.
We recently invaded and captured the Duchy of Deheubarth in Wales and thanks to our (and our wife's) high stewardship we did not have to give up any of the Earl titles we gained.
We now embark on our continuing journey to expand Irish rule, prestige and power!
1166-1171 The beginning of a new century of Ua Cheinnselaig rule.
The first few years of the new century were quite low-key. The normal happenings in the court, my Son is turning out to be quite Gregarious, I got sick for about a month in the fall of 1166 but got over that fairly quickly.
I gained the zealous trait in 1167 and fulfilled my ambition to increase my Martial traits.
I put down a few plots and finally lost the Depressed trait in 1168 - apparently Amalgaid just enjoys the normal running of the state and not the big wars and such.
We successfully fabricate a claim to the County Gwynedd in Wales and in mid 1169 the armies are on the march once again.
The battles in Gwynedd themselves weren't too bad, we were able to crush their main force and their secondary force they sent to try to raid Ireland itself, we even beat back the army from Navarra that the Earl of Gwynedd had called in as an ally.
Unfortunately the big problem was that several portions of the Kingdom of England (a multi-county Earl with the support of a Duke) decided it was a good time to press their own claim on Gwynedd so once we were finished with one war we were immediately drawn into another while our armies were tired.
Fortunately we have our vassal levies and mercenaries to pull from and these together were able to beat back the English and enforce our claim to the title of Earl of Gwynedd by the end of 1171 (which with our very high stewardship we were able to keep!)
1171-1177 In the court of Ireland
Back to running our Kingdom, we are informed that a nobleman in Lincoln, England is looking to hire mercenaries to invade us in an 'adventure'. I start a plot to kill him and enlist many of his subbordinates, hopefully we won't even have to fight his armies off.
I increase my learning due to some events in 1172 and gain the nickname 'the Wise'
In 1173, despite her being 40 years old (and my homosexuality), my wife Mathilde becomes pregnant with our third child.
Another adventurer, this time in Denmark is gathering troops to attack us as well. I have a claim on the last free county in Wales now but I think I may wait these adventurers out and see if anything comes of them.
Our second son is born in 1174 we name him Mael-Morda. Our first son, Ardgar, is nearing adulthood.
Our plot to kill the first adventurer against us is successful - so we start one on the second guy.
We get our first sexual advance by a courtier as this king (we usually get several with each but this guy hasn't gotten any) and it is Fergus who apparently isn't very interested in his 33 year old wife.
My son and heir Ardgar is nearly a man and his traits are less than desirable, he's gregarious but decietful and beyond that fairly plain. Hopefully he will become a better man later in life.
I'm forced to bribe a mayor to keep him from pissing off all my other vassals about the level of our city taxes.
Fortunately my son Ardgar picks up the Midas Touched trait when he turns 16 in 1175 so at least his Stewardship is fairly high. I marry him to a woman who also has very high stewardship (and much better traits than him, Elisabeth is Midas Touched, Brave, Humble, Patient, Dilligent and Just) and at 21 she should start giving him children quickly.
I decide to comence construction of a new castle in County Dublin for the sole purpose of having a Barony to give to my son.
Rune of Rune's Host has declared Conquest of Tara on King Amalgaid the Wise in December 1175. Just to be safe we raise our levies in Ireland and group them in Dublin to wait this out, sometimes these adventurers don't even come but sometimes they do and with some big forces.
In April of 1176 Duke Blathmac, the Duke of Munster and Earl of Ormond dies and we inherit his titles. I think about giving the titles to my son, but I had planned to give him a Baronry in Dublin that would eventually become a permanent part of the King's Demnse (having a core demnse helps when/if big rebellions occur).
Instead I find Prince Domnall (my Uncle) who is fairly old without any Children) I can give him these two titles and in a few years or decades our line will just likely receive them back.
In May 1177 the Castle Trim is finished being built in County Dublin and we Grant the title of Baron of Trim to our son Ardgar.
Also in the same year our 'War' with the Adventurer Rune from Denmark starts to tick to the positive so we are fairly certain he isn't coming, we release our levies to put more gold into the coffers and settle in to wait out the end of the 'War'
Later, despite her age being 45, my wife becomes pregnant with our fourth child, and in March 1178 our second daughter, Der-Lugdach, is born.
I gain the humble trait later in 1178 and my eldest daughter Aignes comes of age. How I wish she could be my heir as she is an Ambitious, Brave, Humble, Charitable and Zealous Fortune Builder - I have to settle for a matrialinigeal marriage to Prince Dietrich Salian, Prince of the Mighty Holy Roman Empire.
1178- Turning our Kingdom into an Empire, the first steps.
In 1178 the Duchess of Glamorgan dies and her heir is Earl Ynyr of our own Ua Cheinneslaig dynasty. This means our last vassal with a negative attitue of us is out and we have the freedom to start changing things without too much fear of rebellion.
We enact Medium Crown Authority for the Kingdom of Ireland. Seemingly the only major reaction to this is Duke Eogan of Ulster founds a faction to make him the King of Ireland (with him the only member). None of the opinions of my vassals even dip low enough to go negative - this is a great sign and should allow my Dynasty a lot of breathing room going forward, we will have more authority and in a pinch could lower the laws to get better relations with vassals.
My daughter must not have been as virtuous as I had thought, I had her betrothed to a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (who is a few years from reaching maturity) and she went and got pregnant out of wedlock! My choices are to raise the child and forgive my daughter (I will get the child as a legitimized bastard and the King trait), Punish her severily and give the child away (The child will 'dissapear', she will get the Chaste Trait and I may get the Cruel Trait) or I can pay heavily to cover the whole thing up. I decide to be Kind even though I already have that trait.
King Inwar the Great of England wishes to marry one of my unwed Kinswomen. This makes him like us a bunch but unfortunately does not tie us in as allies.
In February 1180 Rune's Conquest of Tara ends and we imprison him. We also see that the war in which the County of Powys was in has ended and we have an active Strong Claim on the county - one more war and we will have all of Wales (besides what is held by England)!
1180 Status
As 1180 dawns we can see that we have nearly united all of Ireland and Wales, our Sons will likely be drawn into wars with England to get the rest of Wales but hopefully with the power we have built we can pull it off. All of Scotland is united under the Kingdom of Alba as well so it won't be the easiest task moving forward to try to unite the Isles - we will just have to go slowly and surely.
Elsewhere we can see that Aquitaine and Norway are both dealing with big rebellions. The muslims are pushing back the Catholics in Iberia and the Holy Roman Empire continues to dominate (and grow)
Next time we should be able to see King Amalgaid the Wise through to the end of his (hopefully very long) reign. We have a claim on the last independent county in Wales that we can now freely press and with that county we should be able to form the Kingdom of Wales!
Our son now has a son and daughter of his own so hopefully the succession should be clear for the forseeable future, until next time....
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