1. Introduction

Welcome to the Welf Chronicles

Inspired by the great Crusader Kings Chronicles at PC Gamer (Irish and Norse) written by T.J Hafer, we are going on another trip back through medieval history. This blog will use a similar format with flavorful description in normal text and strategic meta context in cursive.

If you are not familiar with Crusader Kings II or its mechanics, I encourage you to read T.J.'s Chronicles first, as he explains how the game works, which I will not go into in this playthrough.

The game is played on patch 2.0.4 with Sword of Islam, Legacy of Rome, The Republic, The Old Gods and Sons of Abraham, as well as a bunch of portrait packs. We will, of course, start in 867 at the dawn of the Viking era. The game will be played in Iron Man mode, which means that all decisions are final, but also unlocks achievements. I have also decided against using the character creator, but will instead find a suitable nobleman to start with.

We will start with introducing our protagonist and his realms.

I am Conrad, count of Troyes and Sens. I belong to the great house of Welf. As the offspring of a younger son, I had to prove myself worthy of my position and therefore practiced intrigue to the point where people call me an Intricate Webweaver. Some consider me Deceitful, but also know that I am Trusting of others. More importantly, I am Ambitious and I am Patient.

Pretty decent stats here, except for the somewhat absurd combo of Trusting and Deceitful, which basically cancels each other out.

I have no immediate family other than my late father and my two brothers, Rudolf the Younger and Welf.
 

Rudolf the Younger

Welf 'Monk'. Yes, his name is seriously Welf Welf

Both of my brothers have looked to a career in the church to get ahead in life, since neither managed to convince our father to split the inheritance, and both have come into their adulthood as Dutiful Clerics.

My middle brother Welf became enamored with the monastic life and has chosen to take a solemn vow of Chastity, which, along with his Gregarious and friendly nature, his (too) hearty appetite to the point of being a Glutton, and his general Contentness of his lot in life, has lead me and brother Rudolf to nickname him 'Monk'. Like me, though, Monk also has a Deceitful streak, which might explain how all the lard keeps disappearing.

Well, here's a non-entity. Chastity basically means that he will never produce any children, which combined with Content makes him a very safe family member to hand some responsibility or even land to, as its pretty much garenteed to come back when he croaks.

My youngest brother Rudolf came out of his education with a strong sense of Justice, and like me, enjoys to be Patient. Like brother Monk, he is also Content with his lot in life. All that does hide a Paranoid streak that sometimes causes him to have problems sleeping.

Rudolf seems a lot better than Monk, especially Just and Patient, two all round amazing stats. Rudolf is going to be a great tutor for children.

Charles the Bald, the big man himself.

My liege lord is the great King Charles the Bald (though you don't call him that to his face), ruler of West Frankia, scion of the Karling dynasty and grandson of the magnificent Charlemagne. I am in a unique position, since I report directly to Charles, rather than having a ducal overlord between me and my King. I know him as Kind, Diligent and Honest, though also with a Paranoid streak matching that of my brother Rudolf. Charles has also honored my skill and loyality by naming me his Spymaster.

Being spymaster means that I get to oversee plots in the West Frankia and that my choices in plotting carries outsized weight. This is pretty great. However it also carries risk in that I am high up on the hit list, if someone wants something done that I am against.

King Charles has chosen to hand the southern part of his empire, Aquitaine, over to his son, Louis the Stammerer.

The House Welf

The Welf family are well-connected with other European nobility. As I mentioned, my father was a younger son, so most of the inheritance went to another branch of the family. My uncle Konrad's family includes the creatively named Konrad, duke of Upper Burgundy, and the much more important Hugo, duke of Anjou. My aunt Hemma is the mother of the current king of Bavaria, and my aunt Judith was the wife of Louis I, and mother of my current king, Charles the Bald, making him my maternal cousin.

My realm contains 5 baronial-level titles. One barony (ruled by, duh, a baron, Karl von Brienne) which works like a county, just on a lower level; two cities (ruled by a pair of mayors, Guntram and Erich) where the title is for life, but not hereditary; and two bishoprics (ruled by a pair of bishops, Ehrenfried and another Guntram, just to confuse everyone), where the same rules apply, but due to investiture, I am not even able to appoint the bishops myself, that power being delegated to the Pope.

Having an additional barony in Troyes can be really powerful if we can manage to grab the title. It provides us with an incredibly strong province, levy-wise, and allows us to affect multiple holdings with the same council member. If we were miraclously able to get Free Investiture, I would definitely appoint Monk as one of my two bishops.

Finally, my council. Consisting of the best minds in my realm. Or whoever really, really wanted the job.

At least he's not named Konrad or Guntram.

My chancellor, responsible for foreign affairs, is one of my vassals, Bishop Ehrenfried. A Mastermind Theologian, he is Just, Gregarious and known for his Charitable work. He is also a Zealous believer. Despite being very learned, his skills are more needed in my chancellory.

My marshal, in charge of the troops, is the good Bishop Guntram. Despite his lack of formal or practical military training, his Ambition and ability to pound a table in anger has so far been reasonable substitutes. Like many ecclesiastical members of my court, he also values Justice. His greatest weakness is an inherent shyness that primarily shows when he's not yelling at the troops.

My steward is the only commoner of the council, a certain Folkhard. He can only be described as having the Touch of Midas when it comes to numbers, always seeming to find a extra sack of coin whenever it's needed the most. Very Content and pliant, he is also well-spoken and Gregarious, but prone to Wroth when the numbers doesn't match reality. The good Bishop Guntram and he have had shouting matches over military spending that could wake the dead.

My spymaster is the Elusive Shadow, Erich, mayor of Nemours. His skill at subterfuge surpasses my own, but the good burgher is still Envious of my progress. He tells the facts Honestly and with great pleasantry, but can turn angry in a second if he is contradicted.

It's usually not great to be at a negative relation with your Spymaster, but he is really the only one at my court remotely competent enough.

My final council member is my brother Rudolf, who serves as my Court Chaplain. While not as skilled as the Bishops Ehrenfried and Guntram, he still serves the role conscientiously.



That is it for the introduction. Next time, we will go into more detail on strategic overview and start making some decisions. Now available at 2. Strategic Overview