HRE NES II: Der Aufstieg

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by appleciders
No, but if recreating pre-Magyar Eppenstein is a possibility, I'll definately do that.

It certainly is. The city with the largest potential in Carinthia, however, is probably Vienna - Eppenstein was a fairly small deep-woods trading town built around a fort, while Vienna is in close proximity to rich agricultural lands and sits upon a major river. Of course, the new lords of these places may take it upon themselves to rebuild, but you are able to effect this change much faster.

[appleciders]

Bavarian Orders (Complete):

With the successful defeat of the Magyars, the Duchy will begin to fortify and prepare to fend of future Magyar assaults more definitively. The focus at home this year will be to fortify and strengthen the Duchy militarily. All the nobility of Germany should prepare their estates for autonomy again after this year, because some number of them will likely be called up to serve again next year, after the Emperor will withdraw some or all of his forces. The Grafs of several cities will be recieving funds to continue to fortify and improve their cities. The Duke also expects reports from Archbishop Pilgrim and the Graf of Salzburg on the suitability of Salzburg as a location for a cathedral.

Call up 500 more soldiers for next year. Hire 120 more Thuringian Woodsmen to bring my contingent of Woodsmen up to 400 again. Hire 75 Dalmatian Cavalry. Keep the chivalry at home, keeping law and order and reducing corruption.

Transport the 1,300 Magyar prisoners, to the Brenner Pass and leave them in the custody of the Emperor's troops who are keeping the pass secure. They can be handed over to the Venetians when the pass is clear of snow. The 200 Slavic prisoners are to be given a choice: be sold to Venice as slaves, or work in the Bavarian salt mines for the rest of their lives as peasants. Execute Zoltan.

Arrange my army as follows:

230 Frankish Chivalry, 120 Norman Adventurers, 75 Dalmatian Cavalry under Markgraf Eberhard
500 Medium Infantry (light, spear, shield, sword) under von Wein
440 Heavy Infantry (heavy, spear, shield, sword) under von Villach
200 Long Axemen (light, axe, shield, polearm) under von Brenner
400 Seige Archers (light, bow, Magyar bow, pavise) under von Leitbach
400 Thuringian Woodsmen under der Kroat

Produce 100 polearms, 10 bows, and 100 sets of heavy armor with 305 d. from iron. Produce 330 sets of light armor with 330 d. from leather.

100 d. to build a chapel in Linz. Take the 100 d. from timber if timber will provide any bonus to building speed and/or cost.

100 d. to improve the chapel in Passau to a church.

75 d. from stone to begin to construct a palisade wall around Linz.

40 d. from stone and 300 cash to continue to fortify the Bavaria/Carinthia border.

300 d. to Eberhard to be used at his discretion to maintain his spy network.

100 d. to the Emperor as a tax.

75 d. to von Leitbach, my siege engineer, to draw up plans and begin construction of some kind of small-scale siege equipment to be used in battle against troops. Something along the lines of an onager or small catapult that might be effective against massed light cavalry or infantry.

Retain all generals for use next turn.

If no one's dealt with this already, track down "der Strafer" (the trebuchet von Leitbach built for me a couple years back) and store it somewhere safely in Regensburg in case I ever need it again, and so that some pesky rebel can't get their hands on it.

In the event that Carinthia as far as Vienna is successfully retaken this year:

150 d. to rebuild a chapel in Vienna.

200 d. to rebuild the ring wall in Vienna.

100 d. to build a barracks in Vienna so as to improve the ability of the army to defend the border.

If Carinthia is not retaken this year:

250 d. to found a new city or greatly expand an existing city in Tirol that will command the Brenner pass and profit and grow from all the trade goods that come through there. Probably Innsburck or Hall, right up next to the pass.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by appleciders
OOC: For the purposes of this NES, what's the difference between a chapel and a church?

It's just a matter of size; a church is bigger and more important. Churches take more time and resources. Chapels can be added onto and "upgraded" into a church, as well.

Cathedrals are even bigger, but are expensive projects that require several years to complete, and are typically only built at the seat of a bishopric or archbishopric.

[appleciders]

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to Archbishop Pilgrim of Salzburg
Holy Father, in the interest of elevating Bavaria in the eyes of the Christian world and drawing additional pilgrims to Bavaria, I am looking into what it would cost to build a cathedral in Salzburg. I believe that Bavaria is now in a militarily and financially safe position to begin a large project, and few projects would be as long-lasting and meaningful as a cathedral. I hope that if a cathedral could be built at Salzburg, you would be able to match the funds I put up to build the cathedral. Do you have any experience in the building of cathedrals? Does anyone in your employ have the knowledge nessecary to calculate the cost of building a cathedral, both year-to-year and a final estimate?

[Cyclotron]

Archbishop Pilgrim of Salzburg to Duke Arnulf of Bavaria
I am pleased to read my Lord's interest in such a project, and I wholeheartedly endorse it as a gesture of reconciliation between us. I would be honored to pay a share of the cost, but I am unsure of both the total cost and my ability to pay; church lands and resources have been continually impoverished since the arrival of the Magyars. Hundreds of local chapels have been destroyed in the past few years, and I have been forced to pay out of the diocese treasury for most of them. I will gladly pay what I am able, though I do not think that will add up to half the cost.

I, unfortunately, have no experience with construction. I have been to Aachen and seen the Imperial Cathedral where Charlemagne himself is buried, and it was quite marvellous - I have heard it was built with the help of Byzantine architects, who are supposedly masters of their craft. Perhaps my Lord could secure the services of such craftsmen? I will contact the Archbishop of Cologne (Aachen is under his authority), Herman, regarding this matter.

I must admit to having mused, my Lord, over the great prestige having a relic of Christ Himself would bring to your noble realm. If the Emperor and the Germans are able to recover the Holy Nails taken by the dread Magyars, perhaps my Lord could persuade the Emperor to provide one to his loyal vassals in Bavaria - where it could come to rest in the new Cathedral of Salzburg.

[Cyclotron]

King Charles III of France and Lothairingia to King Heinrich I of Germany

With the rise of a new dynasty in East Francia, it seems fitting to hold a formal mutual recognition of our kingships, something never formally done with your predecessor. I propose that, to further secure both of our reigns, we sign a bilateral treaty outlining our borders explicitly, recognizing each other's right as monarch, and forswearing any claims on each other's territory. I hopefully await your reply.

[appleciders]

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to Archbishop Pilgrim of Salzburg
Then, for the time being, I would request that you investigate through your friends the processes, construction techniques, and architects used in the most modern cathedrals. For the time being, I will allocate funds of my own to rebuild the chapel in Linz as a gesture of goodwill, and we will speak again of this matter next year, when messengers have returned from your contacts. I will also order my army to keep a particularly sharp watch for the Holy Nails taken by the Magyars, though I must confess my doubt that these will ever be recovered- it seems to me that the pagan and atheist Magyars would likely not understand the significance of the seemingly worthless nails, and would discard them. A great tragedy for the Church, but I will keep my army and spies alert against the chance that the Nails are recoverable.

[Micha]

OOC: I´m sorry, but I can´t do much without the stat blocks updated. Every single line of my orders depends on the funds available...

Also I will respond to the diplomacy when I have outlined a plan for the near future...

[Cyclotron]

I'm aware of it. I am incredibly busy this week, and will attempt to complete the update this weekend.

[Micha]

Nu hurry, Cyclotron, I just told you so it doesn´t look as if I didn´t care about this NES...

Your studies come first. This is one thing to enforce as a moderator, this I had to learn the hard way

[appleciders]

Likewise, finals prep here is sapping all my time. I will mostly be limited to diplomacy and basic orders until finals week, when my schedule is paradoxically lighter. Which is ok; no pressure to update from my end.

[Cyclotron]

Why hello there!

My finals are at long last completed, and I'm awfully excited for the next few updates. The stat block, as you can see, is 90% up; I need to update trade income, but besides that it's all updated.

I shall complete the entirety of the update tomorrow. As for the next few updates, big things are changing - Political turmoil? A new technology? Regime change? Actually, all this and more, coming up! Stay tuned.

[Micha]

Oh joy, oh lovely joy!

That is great news indeed!

[appleciders]

Indeed! Though I'm going to have to wait another day or two until I'm home and can really get working on details.

EDIT: My official guess for the new technology is crossbows, in case anyone's wondering.

[Cyclotron]

I'm going to go ahead and say that stat blocks are complete. I need to run through the figures one more time, but what you see should be the reality.

I still owe people generals and possibly PMs, but except for that everything should be ready for your orders!

Edit for Foolish Icarus: Note that, while your tax on trade on the Rhine is still in effect, Swabia's cancellation of their iron trade with Friesland means that there is no traffic going through there, and thus no trade revenue. If and when trade is resumed on the river, you will again generate tax revenue.

In other news, it seems that Bavaria is the new Swabia.