The Thanasiad [CKII LP] [NO 56k]

[Borgholio]

I AM MATTHIAS, BUILDER OF TOWERS. GLIMPSE UPON MY LARGE DEFINITELY-NOT-PHALLIC-SHAPED TOWER AND DESPAIR.

Of all the people to quote Ozymandias, it would be you.

[Thanas]

Those maps are a mess to read. What do we own on the mainland?

Everything in light green is ours directly, everything with a slightly darker shade is (partially) owned by vassals. Green is our realm.

[AniThyng]

I might have lost track of the family tree, the crown princess of Byzantium has the same name as her mother?

[Thanas]

I might have lost track of the family tree, the crown princess of Byzantium has the same name as her mother?

Yes, that happened a lot in OTL and in this game.

EDIT: Actually it was the name of the Grandmother.

[LaCroix]

What a glorious building! Let's name it... "Hightower"!

Sicily reunited *checks task list point off*
Pope got a kick in the heretic backside *checks list point off*

What are the plans for the future? I assume we are still busy "investigating rightful claims" on Italia proper, but what about the crown of crowns - we are heavily intermarried with the royal line, and... You know... Accidents to happen, and people tend to fall ill...

And while we are at it - how do you plan to use the... not holy, and not roman... empire to our advantage?

[Thanas]

As of right now, the HRE is just one giant blob who can probably beat up on anybody they want to. Eventually they will have to be dealt with, but the marriages are more about them being placated. If we chose to usurp the throne they might give us troops to do so.

We got enough claims for the moment IMO. We got de jure claims over all the counties in Southern Italy and can reconquer africa if we want to. My plans right now are to consolidate power in Southern Italy, give out a few duchies to relatives so they don't start to plot against us and then see how it goes.

[LaCroix]

Well, if you do reconsider the issue, your mother would tell you to twist the knob on the third drawer of the study desk counter-clockwise before pulling...

[Flagg]

Dude if I were playing Matthias I totally would have killed my mother after she helped me kill my father. What a mistake that would have been lol.

[Thanas]

THE DECISION
"We're gonna take our talents to Constantinopolis, yo".


This is us. Also known as complete mama's boy.
We are lustful, deceitful, kind, humble and depressed. Hooray for a quality medieval education. We are also a known murderer. (Which we strangely got when we were 10 years old....okay?)


This is our realm, minus the toe of the boot, which belongs to the Thema of Calabria.

We got claim on parts of the grey purple (Duchy of Ravenna), Brown (Lotharingia) pink (traitors of Tarento), purple (Thema of Calabria) and blue (Republic of Amalfi).

We handed out some duchies. The one married to our sister was given the Duchy of Capua.


Our genius uncle, who had provided us with so many claims and was an awesome character all around, was given first the county....

....and then the duchy of Benevent.

He was just the right man to pacify those pesky Lombard nobles.


Our Lord and Master, who had so bravely stabilized the empire, died and was succeeded by his infant son, our cousin.


who promptly was a dick to us and decided to not transfer our de jure vassal to us.

....other ways....hmmmm...

..who is his heir?

....

I wonder.....



....Oh boy.

So my question to you is - shall we attempt to assassinate our cousin to put our son on the throne like the deceitful kind man we are or shall we continue playing at the level of vassal king and hope natural causes take care of it?

What say you, my Lords of the Council?

[GuppyShark]

That is incredibly risky. We have some time before he comes of age. I advise caution. Perhaps there are other ways we can set the stage before the greatest of Roman dynasties takes its rightful place.

(I don't like how low the plot power is)

[Thanas]

That is incredibly risky. We have some time before he comes of age. I advise caution. Perhaps there are other ways we can set the stage before the greatest of Roman dynasties takes its rightful place.

(I don't like how low the plot power is)

Actually, plot power is incredibly high. With my spymaster and a few bribes I could get to ~160. And it is even more riskier if he comes to age as then he would have no short reign opinion bonus.

So this is merely a question of playstyle. Continue small or go big.

[The Vortex Empire]

Fortune favors the bold. It is time for a new Emperor.

[Lolpah]

Can we get caught, and what happens if we do?

EDIT: Also, it looks like the heir has lower opinion of us than the current emperor. Does that have any effect?

[Purple]

Fortune favors the bold. It is time for a new Emperor.

The Purple concurs. The Purple is calling out to you.

[Kinyo]

I vote that we go for it.

The emperor does not like us and if the plot is discovered then all that will happen is he will still dislike us. We have large gains available at relatively little risk.

[ray245]

Be the new Justinian and retake Italy from those Latins.

[Bernkastel]

I agree with the opinion expressed by the others. This is an excellent opportunity. Let's seize it.

[TheHammer]

What would Baelish do?

Carpe the diem because if you don't, someone else will likely take advantage of the child emperor to see their own interests put on the throne.

[Borgholio]

I know next to nothing about this game, but how likely is it that someone else would assassinate him? Then all you have to do is have your guy in place to ascend the throne.

[TheHammer]

I know next to nothing about this game, but how likely is it that someone else would assassinate him? Then all you have to do is have your guy in place to ascend the throne.

Not that simple. If he survives to adulthood and procreates you suddenly lose the easy route to the throne. You also run the risk of someone else with a weak claim to the throne, but with lots of military power and backers, attempting to press that claim and cut your own heir out of the line of succession.

It's certainly a risk, but given the plot power it certainly seems workable.

[Flagg]

[Tribble]

You are a deceitful murderer, and killing him so that your son can inherit rather than you is a very humble thing to do. I'd say assassinating him would be perfectly in character.

And I'm sure that installing your son as the King King of Kings will help cure your depression.

[phred]

What are our chances of making him like us? If it's just a matter of occasional showing up and being gracious, we can use the time to consolidate our holdings and pick up more. If it's gonna take decades and lots of cash, I say off him.

[Maxentius]

I came out of a several year-long lurk just to say go for it.

[Flagg]

I came out of a several year-long lurk just to say go for it.

Do it for Maxentius! Do it for the Seals! Do it for Merkel!