Winter: 6 March, 1780

Agha Mohammad watched the masons work, cutting and placing the stones for the new temple in Tehran. He pulled his wrappings tighter around himself against the late winter chill and inspected the work: an octagonal ring had already been laid and started its climb for a few feet, but going was slow as is typicaly when working with stone, and hampered still by the earlier snow. In the middle of the structure a tomb had been built, done quickly last fall before the onset of the frozen weather.

This was the tomb of Karim Khan Zand, the great administrator and leader of men who had founded the Zand rulership, and whose death saw Iran torn apart once more. After defeating Lotf Ali and securing Shiraz, the Qajar king had ordered the body of the once-great man exhumed and brought here, where he might honor it properly near his court.

Even though Mohammad was for all intents and purposes Karim Khan's prisoner for nearly 20 years, he was never treated as anything less than an honored guest, lavished with hospitality and even serving as the Zand king's most trusted state advisor. Had Karim lived a thousand years Mohammad would have been happy to serve his lot to such a grand man, yet instead we are here, not quite six years after his death and nearly the entire Zand family wiped out in warfare and fratricide. As such a great man, Karim inspired others, and they gave him their best face in kind; as a result, he saw the best of people, including the family whom he trusted.

Gazing now on the tomb of Karim, Mohammad resolved not to make the same mistake.

"Hajji."

Shorter, stouter and with a full beard to his king's boyish face, the grand vizier of the Qajars stood apart from his khan. While at court in Tehran, Mohammad was rarely without his most trusted advisor, and even on the campaign trail he was sure to follow. Now, he made his presence felt.

"Yes Khan, I am here for you."

Mohammad turned away from the tomb to address his advisor, his uncovered cheeks red from the winter air. "I have had my fill, let us return. I wish for you to summon the clan, as we have matters of state to settle."

"Yes my Khan, it shall be done."

Hi all! Some of you may have encountered teenaged me before under variants on Sapph/Sapphire in Caprecia/Oracia. Some of you may have been more fortunate.

Either way, I am 26, am still a terrible procrastinator and possibly a worse RPer, and am coming to pester a continent near you!

I'm not sure what else to add really, but hopefully this is enough for the automated system to grant me some member privileges

We're going to see how this goes. I'm going to start a shattered earth campaign. If you don't already know what this is, it is where every county is its own independent state. You have different options for this. I chose to leave in merchant republics and non-feudal rulers. We'll see how this develops over time. You can have some interesting states rise up. Shattered earth gives lots of opportunities for the religions that usually die, such as Zoroastrians and even the Jewish folks that rule in ethiopia.

The di Haggia family (ring any bells?) has risen to power in Firenze under the leadership of Rolando di Haggia. Gaze upon his visage and tremble!


He is handsome, isn't he?

My first act as a new count is getting married. The woman who was supposed to be the ruler of Firenze (whose spot I've taken) is available. I've chosen her as my wife. She has fine enough traits but ultimately she's available and willing so why not right? TIME TO MAKE THE BABIES!

In the meantime, I have told my chancellor to fabricate a claim on nearby Siena. It's in the duchy of Tuscany that I plan to take.  For now, it's time to wait on the claims. I've turned off the easy peasy casus belli that let's you take any nearby title with your culture because I wanted the expansion to take a bit longer. I've started in 769 so we got time lads.

So I want to do a playthrough for CK2, something short-ish that won't last 700 years. I have a few ideas, but I can't choose between them, because I want to do them all. I'll most likely do them all anyway eventually, but I'd like to start on something fun, aggressive, and difficult. As usual, I'll be playing in Ironman mode, because of course I would. Nothing like forcing myself to scrap a game completely because of minor bugs! \o/

I've sorted out my potential plans below, but the option are in the poll above.

1) Karloman the Great
Be Karloman, kill Charlemagne, and create the Holy Roman Empire. EZPZ.
I've honestly already done this one, technically, but I didn't play it long enough to create the HRE, and now the save is too old to continue unless I go back to a previous version.

2) Africa for Africans
Be a West African pagan out of Ghana/Mali, and kick these silly muslims and their weak "god" out of Africa.

3) The Chronicle of Mindaugas
Be pagan Lithuania, surrounded on three sides by Christianity and with the Tatar hordes knocking. Survive as only someone with the spirit of Mindaugas can: by killing the fuck out of everyone.

4) Gotlandsdricka
Gotland was never actually a merchant republic, regardless of what the game says, though it was the end-point of untold wealth from the arab world, brought north by viking traders. The Gutes of Gotland were a culture completely apart from their norse brethren, and it's time they break free from Swedish lordship and establish their own identity in the Baltic, as is their birthright.

5) Mi Hansa es su Hansa
Lubeck is the Emperor.

6) Way of the Celestial Masters
Playing a Three Kingdoms mod game, play as the Yellow Turbans, unseat the imperial Han and usher in a new era of Chinese history.

Ingemar Kauping
Petty King of Visby
Born 753 : Died 1 May, 813 (age 60)


Click here for full size

Young Ingemar was born with no birthright, the son of a fisherman and a milkmaid born in a small village on the island of Gotland. The only thing the gods had graced him with was unnatural strength and height, and a booming deep voice. His father died when he was still young, and his mother died shortly afterward. He was alone in the world, seemingly forgotten. However, one fateful March day, in the year 767 the gods seemed to smile on him. The old King of Visby had never taken a wife. He had no heirs and a court filled with those who despised him or were only there to swindle the throne from him. It was on that day, that the old king had ridden with his Hirdsmen to Ingemar's village. The old king had taken him in as his ward, given him the name Kauping and designated him as his heir. He had the boy trained in his hall in all manner of subjects. Due to the odd manner of his arrival, the old king's court took to calling him Ingemar "the Strange." Suddenly, on the eve of the new year, the old king died. On the first day of 769, as he was mourning the death of his adoptive father, he was brought in to the great hall and made King of Visby.



On the advice of his council, his first order of business was securing a marriage so that he would not make the same mistake that his predecessor had. He found a worthy match in a young woman by the name of Gerðr, daughter of a Norwegian Thane, Oddr. It was not a prestigious marriage, but his daughter was fertile and Thane Oddr had a large host of men at his command. After his marriage, Ingemar sat about fortifying his holdfast. He built reinforcements around the hall, turning it into a hillfort, certain that his builders had done their job well he soon turned his eyes to the shoddy town of Visby.



Before he could look to spend his hard earned gold on the town Ingemar's Seer, Geirr, approached him requesting assistance in building a new temple on the island. Being a zealously religious man, Ingemar saw it as his duty to assist in the construction of a new temple with which the people of Gotland could venerate the gods. He donated one hundred gold to the cause and was assured by Geirr that Odin's blessing was with him.



Geirr would be proved right in 773 when Ingemar's first child Freyja was born, and again in 775 with the birth of his first son Kettilmund. Freyja would inherit her father's gods-given strength which was apparent even at a young age. Her brother, however, would prove to be slow of mind. Little Kettilmund, although loved by his father, was said to have been tainted by Loki in his mother's womb for only such meddling could bestow such a curse on the young boy.



In 777 a young girl named Ulfhildr was brought before Ingemar. Her parents were dead, it seemed some sort of magic had killed them in their sleep and the girl was said to be the one who did it, albeit accidentally. Her village no longer wanted her so they brought her to Ingemar in the hopes that he would deal with her. The decision he made, certainly lived up to the name he was given. He took the girl in and made her a member of the court. A month later Ingemar's second son, Þordr, was born and Geirr's temple was completed. In a controversial move, Ingemar would name Þordr his heir over Kettilmund. Ingemar's fortune would not last as it seemed that when Loki cursed the boy Kettilmund, he also cursed his mother to a short life. She would die only months after giving birth to Þordr.

In his grief, he would find solace in the arms of another, the witch Ulfhildr. Within months of his first wife's death, he would remarry to the young girl and father another son, Tolir. Soon after Tolir's birth, another tragedy would strike in Ingemar's halls. Þordr would take ill and die, leaving Tolir as the heir to Visby. Ingemar would fall into a two-year-long depression after being informed of his son's death some say he was never truly the same afterward.



In the years following the death of little Þordr Ingemar would expand Visby into a bustling trade hub. A small port would be built and placed under the management of his childhood friend Dag. He would expand the local mustering grounds and build a barracks to house his full-time warriors and as a result, he would command the second largest host of warriors in the north. He had taken the poorly managed kingdom and turned it around for the better.

It seemed however that despite his good deeds, tragedy continued to stalk him wherever he went. In 787 his second wife died and because of the grief he bore, Ingemar would never remarry. His two wives had borne him nine children of which eight survived childhood.



Ingemar had little time to mourn, however, as the populous of Gotland began to grow restless. They had begun to hear stories of Norwegians and Swedes who had struck out in their longships to raid eastward and take the wealth to be found there as their own. After much debate, Ingemar agreed to lead a raid from Visby to Estonia to see what could be found. He set his shipbuilders to the task of constructing 44 longships to carry his warriors across the frigid seas. In 793 they had been completed, and off Ingemar sailed with 1,500 men, his son Tolir and his loyal commander Olafr at his side.



Their journey through the Baltic Sea that winter was harsh. But after a weeks travel they arrived in Inkeri and set about their raid. Breaking down the doors to Suomensko temples, taverns and homes they stole all they could: gold, iron and whatever else of value they could find.



Ingemar even allowed Tolir to command a small force of men in an attack on an Estonian village. To Ingemar's surprise, his teenage son's ability outweighed even his own. The military men of his court, as well as himself, had turned little Tolir into a brilliant strategist. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the Estonians were just as poor as they were. They arrived home with a little over fourteen pounds of gold and a few iron weapons.



Upon their return to Gotland Ingemar sent an emissary to the Thane of Island and proposed a marriage between Tolir and his daughter Þyra. The great Thane accepted his proposal, and the emissary returned with his son's new wife. An alliance, as well as the future of his family, was secure.



In 805 Ingemar would set out on another raid. This time his target was the rich Sjællander Islands. Well known for their trade ports, he would find more success here than in the east. After ravaging several villages and ports he would arrive home with ninety-five pounds of gold and silver. He would also take prisoner the King of Jutland, who had been visiting with the Sjællanders at the time Ingemar's forces arrived.

He would return home in 806 to find that his son's wife had died of a severe illness. After burning her body, he would send out emissary's to make a suitable match for his widower son. That match would be made in 807 with the great Thane Sörkver and his daughter Sigrid.



Six years after returning from his second raid Ingemar would die at the ripe age of 60. He built his house from near ruin, and offered to his son a bright future, he was surly feasting with Odin in Valhalla. With little fanfare, Tolir would ascend to his father's seat. Well-liked by his father's council, and known as a brilliant warrior to his soldiers his position was secure. With his newfound power, he could turn his eyes on a greater prize.

The points game returns, but with a twist!

The game is simple: every time you post, you get a point, and tally your point in the post.

The TWIST! You can can remove one point from any one person in your post, and give it to someone else (not yourself).

Let the butt-hurt re-commence!

Here is where I will post the SIFA and various confederation events I have missed in the last eight or so months. Below is a summary of what I need to score.

1587 Ostara tournament - singan
1587 Kvaenna tournament - arrenland
1587 Skathia tournament - nyland
1589 Brigidna tournament - kubaniza
1589 avidna cup - millerainia
1589 confederations cup - nyland
1590 world cup centennial nyland
1591 ostara tournament - kyrzbekistan
1591 kvaenna tournament - taeunas
1591 skathia tournament - nyland

by the time I'm finished, it may be 1593, in which I'll also add the brigidna tournament (oslanburg) and the confederations tournament (see below)

As no one else has bid for the 1594 world cup, it will be going to Castleon in Brigidna.

Esteemed diplomats, the Statistical Leisure and Strategy Division of the State Leisure Activities Department is pleased to announce a partnership with world-renowned Vestian author Pirogov Zinon. EXTRASOLAR INITIATIVE is a tour de force, a masterful blend of hard science and fantastical opera. The far interstellar future possibilities of the Mandate International have been skillfully explored by this award-winning author for over a decade, and now robber-baron authors from around the world are graciously invited to share in the universe.

Group writing is an old Vestian tradition. Even before the leaps in modern technology which made real-time simultaneous editing possible, subjects of the robber-baron Vestian kings in the 1200s would often sit around a hearth and develop fairy tales as each person contributed a line of prose.

Pirogov Zinon asks robber-baron authors to consider a world where unbridled hedonism and hubris have shattered the universal human empire and swallowed its homeworld whole. From this sad affair, human and humanoid polities have the job of rediscovering themselves and their new neighbors in order to pick up the pieces and build a brighter future (Pure Total Meritocracy) that avoids a repeat of the tragic fall of empire.

Pirogov Zinon's EXTRASOLAR INITIATIVE uses a civilian export version of the GAMBIT system for conflict resolution between diplomats unable to agree, with an added premium: stories of economic growth or other human interest, inwardly focused stories gain the nation FU instead of depleting it. This has the effect of giving the most power to authors who flesh out their states and manage conflict well instead of warmongering.

Please fill out the Interest Slip below:

Aselkam, Republic of Nyland
15 Vintyr 1592

Lalanda Marionett had not expected to actually win the election. Since the 50s, the Progressive Conservative Party had been in decline, nearly consisting losing seats to the Liberals, socialists, and even the reactionary Ultranationalists. Though there was a resurgence of Conservatism in Nyland when the New Conservative Movement exploded onto the scene in 1582, the PCP itself only continued to decline. Only now, in 1592, has it made a comeback—set to gain over 40 seats in one swoop. Though its influence was nowhere near the levels it had at the middle of the century, the PCP hoped to lead Nyland into the next one. If it managed to maintain this year's moment, doing so wasn't impossible.

"Thank you, Nyland!" Marionett said, a wide a smile on her face as the applause died down. "And thank you all that are here with me tonight to celebrate our victory this year!" The crowd erupted in applause and cheers again, as the PCP celebrated their first election victory in almost four decades.

"It was a truly stunning victory," the President-elect continued when the crowd calmed, "and I hope its a sign of many more to come. It was a long and trying road to stand here with you all tonight and I greatly appreciate the hard work put in by our next vice president Liam Lofgren, our staffers and volunteers, and everyone else in the Party that supported us along the way. Thank you. I also want to thank my husband and our children for their love and support.And I am especially thankful to each and every one of you, every Nylander, for the confidence that you have invested in me. I am proud, honored, and privileged to have the opportunity to serve as your next president. Thank you! Thank you!" Marionett waved at the crowd and then into the cameras, beaming as the crowd exploded once more.

It took several moments for it to settle and allow Marionett to continue. "Thank you to my rivals in the Central Democratic Alliance and the Nyland Liberalists for the great race. Astrad Bengtsson, Lenna Schenkenberg: it was an honor. I look forward to working with you and all our friends and colleagues in Nykoping this coming Alvan. I am grateful to you and the Nylander people for once again being able to peacefully resolve our differences and keeping our democratic tradition strong. It is that democracy and the right of the people to be heard and to elect their leaders that makes Nyland strong.

"As leaders and as Nylanders, we must never forget that. We must ensure that we do not fall victim to divisive partisanship and instead continue to work across party lines to ensure a stronger, greater, and united Nyland. Only with its people working together for the common good can Nyland remain the leading world power.

"Only together can we make sure that our education system remains globally competitive and that our youth's future remains bright and full of opportunity.

"Only together can we resolve the challenges facing social security and ensure a safe retirement for future generations.

"Only together can we fairly and responsibly reduce the tax burden on all Nylanders.

"Only together can we ensure that the Nylander economy market remains strong and globally competitive.

"Together, we will address these challenges and more. We will ensure a safe and secure Nyland, protected from threats both domestic and abroad. Together with our allies and partners we will ensure a safe and democratic Skathia and promote a free world safe for all peoples and trade from the scourges of fascism and totalitarianism. Together, we..."

Lalanda's speech continued for several more minutes.

ANGIRISIAN EMPIRE
DECISION 1592

After four years of a divided government led by Republican Chancellor Julius Cornelium, voters head back to the polls to decide who will control the government for the next four years. The last four years have been difficult, with the Imperial economy falling into recession and the occupation of the former Galasian territory of Drazen wearing on. Though Chancellor Cornelium has done what he can to resolve the crises, his efforts have been stymied by a Senate and House of Delegates completely divided. Despite the apparent collapse of the government's ability to move on anything, the economy has begun a rebound. Job growth has been in positive territory for over a year now and private investment is creeping higher again. Consumer confidence in the economy has steadily risen and wages - after being stagnant for years - have ticked upward. All this seems to point to good things for the Republican Party, but its not hiding the searing antipathy that the electorate seems to be boiling with when it comes to the Republicans. The centrist party has held power for over two decades, bearing little fruit. The two remaining opposition parties, the Conservatives - freshly reunited after a catastrophic split between hardliners and mainstream Conservatives damaged their brand for over a decade - and the Democrats - frustrated but emboldened - seem primed to break into their own and, in the Conservatives' case, regain or in the Democrats' case gain power.

The race for the Senate is white-hot, with all three parties getting nearly a third of the vote so far. Four years ago, it was that tight and it seems history is repeating itself, and Republicans and Democrats tied the Senate seat count with 27 a piece and Conservatives picked up 21. However, unlike four years ago, the Democrats have the slightest of edges, scoring 35% of the vote so far. Republicans and Conservatives are each holding 32%, with 1% either going for independents or minor parties.

In the House, Democrats seem poised for a strong victory. They lead the House race with 42% of the vote, with Conservatives in second with 30% and Republicans third with 28%. Four years ago, the Democrats secured 39% of the overall vote and 131 seats in the House. If the pattern holds true, then the Democrats are looking at a stronger showing. Conservatives and Republicans are hoping the collapse of the old Orthodox Conservative and Communist parties along with scattered remnants of the Federalist Party will only strengthen their hands.

So who will win this Tolven? Stay tuned to this thread for the latest information and results!