We are 42 years old with four children (2 sons, 2 daughters) including our 20 year old eldest son and heir Baron Ardgar mac Amalgaid Ua Cheinnselaig, Baron of Trim, Prince of Ireland, Heir to the Kingdom of Ireland. Who is turning out to be a fine young man (if a little plain) and he has his own 2 year old son and newborn daughter.
We are 1 county away from uniting the land of Wales (outside of Engish rule) and we have just gotten the claim and the freedom to invade that County of Powys in Wales, and so it begins...
1180-1183 Forming the Kingdom of Wales.
We declare war on the County of Powys in April 1180 and although they call in the Kingdom of Galacia into the war, we have their army beaten and the County layed siege by the end of July.
My eldest son is hatching a plot to kill one of our Kinsmen (a rival of his) and tries to invite me, hopefully he will drop these kinds of things once he becomes king. My younger son gains the Zealous trait and has pretty good stats for a 6 year old.
Looks like my elder son Ardgar picked up the 'Just' trait and now wants to be my steward, he's the best man for the job so I have no problem with that.
The sieges in County Powys end and we Usurp the title of Earl of Powys in July 1181. We grant that title, along with the newly created Duchy of Gwynedd title to our son Ardgar. We will hold off on forming the Kingdom of Wales as it would nearly bankrupt us at this moment.
I loose the humble trait in 1182, hopefully I don't get too full of myself. Shortly after the population of Gwynedd embraces the Irish Culture.
I hold a summer fair in 1183 that is fairly low key, although I almost got the gregarious trait which would have been nice. My second son Mael-Morda gainst the Honest trait.
I form the Kingdom of Wales in September 1183 and to celebrate I release people from the dungeons and go on a Grand Hunt. Unfortunately this is put on hold due to my death and my son King Ardgar Ua Cheinnselaig assumes control of the Kingdom in October 1183.
1183-1187 The bumpy road through succession.
Succession is always a bumpy road and we have several things to deal with when taking over as 24 year old King Ardgar of Ireland and Wales.
First we have a Demnse that is simply too large (11/9) fortunately we have very high stewardship so we only have to give away two titles.
I take a look at my vassals and realize we have some work to do, one of our problems is that we hold too many Duchies. I decide that I am going to grant the titles to the Counties Gwent and Powys in Wales out to my kinsmen and then give the Duchies of Gwynedd and Deheubarth out as well - this should balance the books and give us some very happy vassals while also keeping the core of our Demnse and power intact.
We grant the title of Earl of Gwent and Duke of Dehubarth to a Kinsman named Fiachnae Ua Cheinnselaig, he has high stewardship but low diplomacy so he should take good care of the County and Duchy but not make many friends. Next we grant the title of Earl of Powys and Duke of Gwynedd to the young Niall Ua Cheinnselaig (who is 3). Unfortunately I did not realize that if he dies childless his father (not of our dynasty) will inherit the titles but it can't be undone now and that's still no big deal.
Now with these changes I have all but 1 vassal happy with me and the Duke of Ulster is maimed and depressed so hopefully he won't last long.
We get a message that after 100 years under the Kingdom of England, the Duchy of Cornwall is no longer considered a de Jure part of the Kingdom of Wales. This sucks because we loose that claim on them but then again we weren't powerful enough to take it and it makes sense that after that long it would change de Jure hands. We are planning to concentrate on Scotland next anyways.
My prestige hits the positive side in 1184 and is going up almost 6 a month now which is great. Also my wife is pregnant with our 4th child, I fall ill shortly after but it passes fairly quickly and our second son Brandub is born in October of that year.
My eldest son and heir, Amalgaid (named after my own father) gains the Patient trait thanks to my stewardship while my younger brother (whom I am also raising) becomes Charitable. I fall ill again in early 1185 and so does my wife but thankfully we both recover.
The Duke of Dehuebarth dies in July 1185 and passes succession to his less than 1 year old son (yeah it just barely stayed in the dynasty) while I send my daughter to be raised by my wife. I wasn't able to get my brother the Dilligent trait but at least he's not Slothful.
We join a war alongside the Holy Roman Empire in 1186 (not sure why they want me, they can raise an army over 85000 men strong) while we continue to try to build our prestige and keep upgrading things in our Demense to make our levies bigger.
I gain a claim to the County of the Isle of Man which saps most of my prestige. Once I have a little more I plan to try to get claims to the other two counties in the Duchy of the Isles and try to take that chunk from Scotland/Alba.
At the age of 39, Duke Eogan of Ulster died a maimed cripple, that thorn in my side is now out of the way and while his son doesn't like me a lot he is at least positive in his opinion (and only just now about to come of age). I took a look back and realized that the Duke of Ulster has long been a thorn in my side, starting with Stefano, the legitimized bastard of our King Uilliam 'the Just' - looks like the lore of Ireland and the Duke of Ulster being the 'loyal opposition' is being formed.
My brother Mael-Morda picks up the gregarious trait but still doesn't seem to like me very much.
1187-1189 Forging my own path
With the path of succession pretty clear and our strength in hand we hear of the announcement of the 3rd Catholic Crusade for Jerusalem. Our line participated in both the 1st (successful) and 2nd (failed) Crusades and we decide that this is our time!
This isn't going to be easy as the defender of Jerusalem is Caliph Zaia Fatimid, Sultan of Egypt and Africa and can command an army of something like 65000 men, hopefully they can get the Holy Roman Empire involved as that would be the only thing that I think is going to give us the power to win.
But in any case we immediately join the crusade as do many Dukes and even the King of Hungary - hopefully more will join soon.
We form our forces into three Armies, and we of course personally lead the main force.
In camp we are unfortunately unable to give our son the 'Kind' trait, but we do stop him from being cruel. We notice he seems depressed, hopefully the adventure of the Crusade will cheer him up. Similarly I am unable to give my brother the temperate trait but I at least keep him from being glutenous.
The armies of the Kingdom of Ireland land on the shores of Northern France in February 1188 and begin the march towards the Holy Land. The Holy Roman Empire has joined the fight so hopefully we will be successful (or maybe not if it just expands their empire)
While we are away Prince Domnall, Duke of Munster dies and passes his titles to Duke Ainmere, he is less loyal but hopefully shouldn't be a problem. He does pose a little bit of a problem due to his femal heir however...
Shortly after Duke Ainmere dies and Duchess Aibinn takes over, I had entrusted her with raising some of the young people of our dynasty so she has a just slightly positive view of me and her husband is commanding one of my armies. She is pregnant so hopefully her third child will be a son so she won't have a female heir anymore. - on a side note the Dynasty Ua Cheinnselaig is really starting to breed some good folks, this unknown woman from a side branch of the Dynasty has 19 Stewardship and only her intrigue is under 10, plus she has a crapload of good traits.
We are passing through Constantinople in January of 1189, news from the front is that the Crusade is getting slightly better (went from -10% warscore to -3%). Hopefully our addition can help to tip the scale into the positive.
Our Duke of Ulster is now grown (and again has a slightly negative opinion of me) and has imprisoned the Duke of Tyrone. If he tried to take the title of Earl of Tyrone I may have to start figuring out how to reduce his power.
I didn't realize our monthly expenses were being drained so much by this Crusade - maybe my stewardship isn't as good as I thought! We make it to Beirut just as the coffers run dry, I have to disband the army and return to Ireland - I get the Crusader trait however!
Our coffers return to the positive in August of 1189, our hopes and wishes go out to those on the Crusade but unfortunately the health of our empire is more important.
1190- Back to the Court in Ireland
I convince my Duke of Connacht to drop his plot to fabricate a claim on the Duchy of Ulster and am able to get my son Amalgaid the 'Kind' trait he was unable to grasp while in camp on the Crusade. I also take my youngest son Brandub as a ward as well.
The 3rd Crusade for Jerusalem succeeds and despite it being the Holy Roman Empire that did all the fighting, the Kingdom of England gets the holy land due to them still holding the titles from the 1st Crusade. Again I hope this will tie them into wars with the muslim world and reduce their strength!
On a side note one of my kinsmen is now a Count in the Kingdom of Norway and has a claim to the throne - good for him. Looks like Norway tried to invade Alba/Scotland and they brought the Kingdom of England in as allies - this is important as I can't hope to fight both of them in my future planned wars!
My wife is pregnant with our 5th Child in late 1192 and my third daughter Caitlin is born in April 1193. To celebrate I announce a Grand Tournament!
My son Amalgaid gets the midas touched trait upon reaching adulthood (although he is still depressed, I wish he could get over that) I marry him to a young (17 years old) Princess of England named Beorthwaru of Godwin. She has many great traits (Scholarly Theologian, Charitable, Gregarious, Brave, Dilligent and Kind) although her stewardship leaves something to be desired (if/when he becomes king Amalgaid will likely have to give up 1 county).
I decide to found another Castle in Dublin in order to have a Baronry to give to my new adult son.
I gain the charitable trait by being charitable to my wife and the Grand Tournament is a smashing success. I am able to get my younger son Brandub the Gregarious trait.
Another betrothal comes due and we renew our alligiance to the Holy Roman Empire (we are now allied to the HRE and England, the two greatest powers of the day).
We fulfill our ambition to become Exalted among Men and gain the nickname 'the Great'.
Our Duke of Connacht dies and his son Duke Baetan takes over, I did not realize he was from another Dynasty but at least they have been loyal (and he has great stats and traits). I take a look at our Dynasty and see that House Ua Cheinnselaig has 223 total members (101 living) and a combined prestige of 774, not too shabby.
Our new castle is completed in 1194. We take the title of Baron of Mellifont and grant it to our Son and Heir Prince Amalgaid.
We join the Holy Roman Empire in the defense from the 5th Italian Liberation War - looks like these are basically old hat for them, I don't plan to actually contribute.
My daughter Derborgail comes of age and I am able to marry her to another Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (matrialinigealy of course) to further strengthen our alliance.
Our own Wife dies in December 1196, we remarry immediately to a young german girl named Dorothea de Saint-Omer, she is 21 years old, Midas Touhed, Ambitious, Temperate, Brave and Dilligent, if a little Deceitful. She is not the relative of a very high noble family so he must have remarried for love (or maybe it was her high stewardship?) I immediately spend lavishly and get her some ruby earings.
My new wife is pregnant by the end of 1197, and my son Ainmere is born in June 1198. Around the same time my son Brandub gains the Dilligent trait, later he would pickup the Zealous trait as well.
I receive word that an ambitious adventurer, Davi, from the south of France/Aquitaine is gathering men for some sort of attack on my territory! I start a plot to kill him but am only able to enlist a few people in it.
Davi of Davi's Host has declared Davi's Conquest of Ulster on King Ardgar the Great in December 1199. We will see what comes of this.
Our brother's betrothal to the Duchess of Brittany has finally come to marriage so now hopefully they will spit out some heirs and we will have another Duchy outside of our lands in the Dynasty.
Our son Brandub gains the brave trait and is nearly a man - perhaps we should set him up with a Baronry as well... and when he comes of age we marry him to a 17 year old princess of Poland, tying us into an alliance with the Kingdom of Poland (part of the Holy Roman Empire).
Duke Naill of Gwynedd attempts to fabricate a claim on the Kingdom of Wales so I am able to imprison him without tyranny, unfortunately he is wily and escapes back to his Duchy - to war!
We crush the Duke's petty forces and lay siege to his castle in April 1201, by November the revolt is put down.
Our new castle in County Leinster (named Enniscorthy) is complete and we are able to usurp the title of Earl of Powys from the former Duke of Gwynedd (and then recreate the Duke of Gwynedd title as our own).
We then give the Earl of Enniscorthy title to our second son and give the County of Powys and Duke of Gwynedd titles to our first son (he can deal with having too many titles when he takes over the Kingdom).
We see that a new anti-pope has been setup in Galacia.
Our wife becomes pregnant with what will be our 7th child in January 1203 and in August Lucia is born.
Davi's Conquest of Ulster ends in failure in November 1204, I am able to banish him for almost 500 gold.
Our wife becomes pregnant with what will be our 8th child in January 1205 and in August Artur is born.
1205 Status
We now stand as the greatest King of Ireland, our armies and vassals are stronger than they have ever been. We have a very healthy Dynasty and are getting close to being able to move on Scotish lands - they are now known as the Kingdom of Scotland again as the Dunkelds are back in power.
Elsewhere there are some intersting things happening. The Holy Roman Empire continues to expand to the East and England still holds the Holy Land. Norway has been rocked by two unsuccessful wars against Scotland and seems to be in the process of being swallowed by Sweden. Denmark has gained several areas in Russia (and many more are under their Dynasty) and the countries in Iberia continue to hold the now redrawn line with the Moors. Africa seems to have split off from Fatimid (as did -off map- the nation of Abyssinia).
We hold a claim to the Isle of Man but can't seem to get one on Innese Gall or Argyll (I want to try to get all three and then just take the whole Duchy of the Isles) but if I can't get those claims fairly soon (within 10 years) I may just go to war for the Isle of Man. Next time....
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