RE: Crusader Kings II: Eagle Time Edition
11-02-2013, 08:12 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-03-2013, 07:21 AM by chimericgenderbeast.)
Alright so I'm just going to throw out some places that are kinda maybe interesting for various historical reasons:
One's the Duke of Alania, currently a vassal to the Khazars. The Alans were this weird, Iranian-speaking people who had some of their population migrate into Europe with the collapse of the Roman Empire, and some who stayed in the Caucasus and formed a kingdom that controlled a trade route on the Silk Road. They're virtually unknown both because they were far away and because the Mongols conquered them so hard they literally ceased to exist as a cultural group and split into three separate identities. They're Orthodox but currently a vassal to a Tengri (historically, Khazaria was Jewish, but CK2 simplifies some things) ruler, so you can return to becoming steppe nomads or become a bastion of Christendom in a sea of pagans.
Continuing the trend of people who got the shit kicked out of them is the Avar duke of Pest-- the Avars were a horse-archer, Turkic confederacy that dominated modern-day Hungary and the Balkans for a while, until Charlemagne pretty much destroyed their khaganate. Their death knell came with the Magyar (or modern-day Hungarian) migration into the Pannonian basin, which became the dominant culture and basically erased the Avars. Are you a bad enough conqueror to restore the khaganate and sack the shit out of a bunch of pansy-ass monotheists?
Hastein, the Norse count of Nantes. Historically, Hastein was the craziest fucking Viking-- he sailed around France looting shit, killed a guy called Robert the Strong (who's kinda like, the ancestor to every French king after the Carolingian dynasty and until Napoleon), sailed 62 ships into the Mediterranean, sacked cities, pretended to be dying and wanting to be converted before death just to sneak into a bishopric and steal its shit, so on. He's also the only real way you can mimic English culture-- first you pick up a bit of Frankish culture and become Norman, then conquer the shit out of England to become English instead of Saxon.
Last one, another Viking because let's be real, that's what we're all really here for. Dyre Oskyldr, petty king of Kiev (or Konugardr, in the Old Norse translation), were actually two Viking headsmen merged into one guy. They ruled the city of Kiev until Helgi, the son of another Viking in Russia, assassinated them and stole their city. Are you a bad enough dude to establish them as the dynasty that creates Russia, while also dealing with the fact that everyone around you hates you for worshiping the wrong pantheon and being Norse? Can you handle having no boats at all?
Oh also turn Sunset Invasion on.
One's the Duke of Alania, currently a vassal to the Khazars. The Alans were this weird, Iranian-speaking people who had some of their population migrate into Europe with the collapse of the Roman Empire, and some who stayed in the Caucasus and formed a kingdom that controlled a trade route on the Silk Road. They're virtually unknown both because they were far away and because the Mongols conquered them so hard they literally ceased to exist as a cultural group and split into three separate identities. They're Orthodox but currently a vassal to a Tengri (historically, Khazaria was Jewish, but CK2 simplifies some things) ruler, so you can return to becoming steppe nomads or become a bastion of Christendom in a sea of pagans.
Continuing the trend of people who got the shit kicked out of them is the Avar duke of Pest-- the Avars were a horse-archer, Turkic confederacy that dominated modern-day Hungary and the Balkans for a while, until Charlemagne pretty much destroyed their khaganate. Their death knell came with the Magyar (or modern-day Hungarian) migration into the Pannonian basin, which became the dominant culture and basically erased the Avars. Are you a bad enough conqueror to restore the khaganate and sack the shit out of a bunch of pansy-ass monotheists?
Hastein, the Norse count of Nantes. Historically, Hastein was the craziest fucking Viking-- he sailed around France looting shit, killed a guy called Robert the Strong (who's kinda like, the ancestor to every French king after the Carolingian dynasty and until Napoleon), sailed 62 ships into the Mediterranean, sacked cities, pretended to be dying and wanting to be converted before death just to sneak into a bishopric and steal its shit, so on. He's also the only real way you can mimic English culture-- first you pick up a bit of Frankish culture and become Norman, then conquer the shit out of England to become English instead of Saxon.
Last one, another Viking because let's be real, that's what we're all really here for. Dyre Oskyldr, petty king of Kiev (or Konugardr, in the Old Norse translation), were actually two Viking headsmen merged into one guy. They ruled the city of Kiev until Helgi, the son of another Viking in Russia, assassinated them and stole their city. Are you a bad enough dude to establish them as the dynasty that creates Russia, while also dealing with the fact that everyone around you hates you for worshiping the wrong pantheon and being Norse? Can you handle having no boats at all?
Oh also turn Sunset Invasion on.