Part 3: A Jagged Alliance (1250-1256)
Our Kaiser has crushed the rebellious King of Bohemia and two other dukes in their war for independence
and is closing in on the duke of Lombardy.
A boy king in England is dealing with a succession crisis and the Spanish are years away from reclaiming Iberia.
It's good to see North Africa still green.
Our son is lying to us.
We shall give him a talking to. Learn him that a ruler should rely on others to be dishonest.
Our pope is a greedy bastard, luckily he's cheap.
But I think we do have to accomodate his employees.
Our trade is looking pretty good. We own the trade posts on the two main islands of the Sound.
The Bight of Hano is completely our turf and we have recently built a new post inbetween two families
in Wolgast.
It could be better though.
We have replaced a marshal who had inherited some land with a new Russian claimant, may he serve us well.
And the son is becoming a nuisance.
In the east, the Mongols are going strong and burning cities. Our marshal should be thankful he's here.
Bleh. The seas are great but the navy is small.
We have other things to worry about.
Our liege has asked us to join his council.
Yes.. we will see if we can do something useful in there.
And those hedge knights again! I wonder if their religious head knows what they are doing on this side of the woods and mountains.
I like a good, fair fight.
Honorable knights are always welcome in our home.
Ah, there's our good boy!
He's so intelligent, he will have time to learn about the world.
Our oldest daughter Isentrud is growing up very fast. We should think about marrying her off for an alliance.
And to whom.
Things just became surreal when looking for a good
alliance husband for Isentrud.
The palace of the Warendorps is home to this retarded young man. He apparently adopted a 34-year-old.
We should try another family, maybe. This Hildemar, son of the Prince Mayor.
It would give us an alliance with our liege, who can't help us in internal wars.
But when a patrician of another family is chosen, he will.
We could be friends and help eachother, couldn't we?
Great! Pray for a boy, Mair. I need them.
Don't cry, sweety. It's okay...
A genius girl is almost as good as a boy.
Speaking of boys, how's our little king doing in Denmark?
Ouch, he died. I wonder if Christoffer I 'the Moustached' had anything to do with that unfortunate accident.
In our world, minor plots rule the marketplace.
Luckily there's always that talented man to give shelter from his unsatisfying surroundings.
It's good to see Hieronymus grow up. He's so bright and good and.. I just love him.
And more of those coming.
Maybe it looks like we are just sitting around the house and not doing much.
This is not true. We are still building to make our reign one to remember.
Raising our income is always good and we will be plotting soon, so..
Children grow up to be adults and you would think they would be ready.
Alexander doesn't seem ready at all. He's a good man, diplomatically educated; brave, honest and charitable.
But nothing special.
Now that's a marriage!
Maybe it's good to give a party now and then.
I shall give Alexander a present, he's my boy after all..
I hope he likes exotic gifts.
Hieronymus here, will receive greater gifts in his bright future.
No, son. It isn't the right question.
Will the family, with hard work and God willing, rule one day?
And the answer is yes, boy, we will.
and she's a hunchback. Greaaaaaaat..
