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India, Part 6
Nothing Says "I Love You" Like Getting Your Spouse an Entire Kingdom
As Naren prepares his armies for war, his son Rayan walks up to him. "Dad, why are we here? What's the point of all of this?", asks Rayan. Naren takes a long look at his son. "Rayan, come with me, and you will learn why we are here."
Shantaladevi, his wife, is furious with him. "Naren, he's just a boy! It's too dangerous for him!"
"Devi, he needs to know."
"But you're at war, he could be captured, hurt, or..." Shantaladevi doesn't finish the sentence.
"Devi, he's my son just as much as he is yours. I won't let anything happen to him. He will be kept off the battlefield at the camp. But he needs to know what his destiny is." There's a long silence.
"Alright, Naren. But you will bring our son back safe."
"I promise."
Naren takes his son under his wing and tutors him. This will allow us to help guide his development. You will nearly always get better results raising your heir yourself than sending him off to someone else. Since Naren has Charismatic Negotiator, the second best Diplomacy education trait, we can raise all the way to 16. If we're looking, we could get Rayan to become a Grey Eminence. Or he could get Naive Appeaser or possibly Fortune Builder. Generally speaking, children have about a 50% chance to get their tutor's education trait, a 25% chance to go up or down a level in education, and a 5-10% chance to go all the down or up or even an entirely different trait.
We also get the event that converts our son to Jainism, which is nice.
While at camp in the Maharasta kingdom, Naren receives some interesting news. The Solankis have captured the heart of the Ghaznavids' territory. While disturbed at their military prowess, Naren's spies tell him that the Solankis are now surrounded by a massive heathen empire known as the Seljuk empire.
I did not expect this to happen. In fact, I don't know how this happened. You should only be able to declare holy wars for duchies adjacent to your territory, but the Solankis have gone for a duchy unconnected to their territory, and I don't think they had a claim to that land. But the success of the Solankis in driving out the Muslims out of India is both good and bad. While we won't have to do as many holy wars, we'll need more subjugation wars.
Naren deals with some family matters and gets one of his nephews married off.
When members of your family are at your court, you have to make sure the kids are educated and married off to nice folks. It can be a pain but it's very important. Once we start holy warring, we're going to have a nobility Christmas and get them their own lands.
Even at camp, Naren still had to deal with hordes of messengers and dignitaries (while he was under heavy guard, of course). It was one of the least favorite parts of his job. Rayan, however, regarded them with intense curiosity.
"Who's that, daddy?" asked Rayan, pointing to a rather ragged-looking man.
"That's the ambassador from the Kalinga Ganga Raj. He's probably going to ask me to not beat up his kingdom's armies again."
"Who's that?", asked Rayan, this time pointing to a tall, slightly awkward man.
"That's a dignitary from the Budhid Raj. He's looking for aid against the heathens."
"Can I talk to him?"
"Wait until dinnertime, I'll introduce you."
Rayan gets a fantastic event. Gregarious is an excellent trait, giving +2 diplomacy, 5 attraction, and +5 to vassal opinion. On top of all of that Rayan gets a point of diplomacy!
Even on the march, Rayan still needed his lessons. Rayan, however, would rather play with the young boys at the camp.
"But dad, studying is boring."
"Boring or not, you will be the next Maharaja and you need to learn."
"I wanna play with the guys."
"You can do that. After school."
Here's an interesting event. We have three options.
1. We have a chance to gain Humble, Shy, or Just. Humble gives +1 piety per month and is excellent for Indian rulers. (You should know why by now.) Shy gives -2 diplomacy and would cancel out Gregarious and remove it. Just gives +2 stewardship, +1 learning, and +10 vassal opinion. Humble and Just would be both great for Rayan.
2. This gives us a chance to get either Proud, Gregarious, or Arbitrary. Proud is the opposite of Humble, and gives us
+.50 prestige per month. We already have Gregarious. Arbitrary is the opposite of Just, and has the opposite effect that Just has. We don't need proud as Rayan will be getting prestige out the wazoo and Arbitrary is just awful.
3. We can either get Wroth or Deceitful. We want neither of these.
Something seems to click for Rayan and Naren notices a positive change in the boy's behavior.
Go Rayan!
Another nephew comes of age. Despite having the finest military education one can have, Mahendrasingha is a coward. A shame.
An alarming number of my wards sent to be military officials end up being cowards. I should look into that.
Inspecting damage after an assault, Naren comes across an alarming sight. Rayan has apparently decided to explore the ruins himself!
Alright, another multiple choice.
1. You can see the first choice in the screen.
2. This gives us an opportunity to give Rayan the Maimed trait 
, which subtracts -2 martial, -2 health and -15 attraction. Why we would want to do this to our heir is beyond me.
3. This will either give Rayan Deceitful or Craven, which we do not want him to have.
I have no idea how letting your kid explore the bloody remains of a ruin makes him honest, so no fluff.
Anyways, Honest isn't bad for a ruler, as it gives him more diplomacy. It does, however, make him less of a schemer, which means it will be harder to assassinate people.
I was hoping for Brave (+2 martial, +10 vassal opinion, and +10% morale defense), but you can't get everything you want. Yes, Brave also doubles as a leadership trait. A few other traits act as leadership traits as well, like Patient and Cruel.
Far away, the armies of the Byzantine Empire drive out the Muslims from the Kingdom of Anatolia. This could not concern Naren less.
Told you things would be going bad for Rum.
The war is going well. Several of the holdings have been sieged and the Kalyanis lack the numbers to push the Palas back.
Late at night, Naren finds Rayan staring out at the lands west.
"Daddy, when I grow up, I'm going to own of all that land."
"Rayan, if you're willing to work for it, all of heaven and earth will be yours."
There is a new fire in Rayan's eyes, a new determination.
We're at 50% warscore and of course we pick up Ambitious. Ambitious gives a flat +2 to all stats and is one of the best traits an heir can have. Of course, other ambitious people will dislike him a bit more, but they'd already hate him, so it doesn't matter that much.
Naren gets a daughter and Rayan gets a little sister.
Yawn. A child was also born to a concubine.
Naren gets a letter from his wife, detailing about how Lakshminarayan has still yet to speak. Naren advises her to let Laks take his time.
This is a pre-education event. While kids don't get educated until they're six, sometimes you get events like this before they turn six. There are quite a lot of different ways they can turn out afterwards and not all of them are good.
It seems to work and Laks will carry a habit of hard work and determination all his life.
We get the Diligent trait. Diligent is another fantastic trait and gives +1 to all stats and gives +10 to vassal opinion.
Most of the country is occupied, but the remnants of the Kalyani army have gathered into one large force. It still won't be enough to stop the Palas.
It might be just me, but it seems that child rulers under regents take a lot to make them surrender.
Naren's sister Bishwas Devi comes of age and has received the finest in scheming education. However, she is a depressed woman and her scheming abilities, while competent, are not exactly the finest in the land.
Bishwas has the Depressed Trait, which gives -1 to all stats, including health. It also gives you the ability to commit suicide, which is far more useful than you'd think, especially when you have a really old ruler who needs to give way to his young son. Despite having the best Intrigue education in the game (Elusive Shadow gives +9 intrigue, +2 diplomacy and martial, and -1 stewardship), she only has 11 intrigue.
Being the chosen heir of the Pala kingdom has gone a little to Rayan's head. Naren warns him that arrogance has been the downfall of many a ruler.
We're going for the third option here, which has a high chance of removing Proud and a good chance of giving us Humble.
Rayan is now a much more polite young man, well respected and liked by his peers.
Success! This means it'll take less time to get Subjugation wars.
At last, the Kalyanis can take no more and capitulate. Couriers run throughout the Kalyani Chalukya kingdom, proclaiming that the true Maharani has claimed her throne and the false Boy-Maharaja has been overthrown. Naren is just glad to be home.
That was a very long war. I didn't show you much of it because as exciting as it is to plan and play a war in CKII, it's not that fun to watch. Suffice to say that it took several years to pull off. Now when our wife dies, Rayan should inherit the kingdom.
However, Naren has barely time to get back into bed before a courier comes and asks him to assist his wife in her war with the Cholas.
As he marches out with his armies, he hears rumors of a great warrior in the country. Seeking to improve his martial abilities, Naren asks his spies to seek the man out.
The downside to putting your wife on the throne is that you're going to fight a few wars to keep her on that throne.
Also, we just got one of the best event chains in the game.
After much argument with his wife, Naren manages to bring along Laks with him on the way to war. Laks is a different sort from his brother. While his brother Rayan is a chatty young man and eager to get into the action, Laks prefers to take his time and consider his options before making a decision. Naren feels this is a good trait for a man of the royal family.
Laks gets the Patient trait. Patient is the opposite of Wroth and is another fantastic trait. Patient gives +1 to diplomacy, stewardship, intrigue, and learning. It also acts as a leadership trait, giving +20% defense.
I like to personally raise the first and second in line for the throne, especially when I'm Catholic and running Primogeniture. This way, in case the first one dies, I have a good candidate for taking over the throne. Don't worry about giving a pretender good traits. I find that as long as they're unlanded, they can't do much of anything. Not to mention their claims will be pushed by factions regardless of their traits.
On the march, Naren receives an interesting visitor. This visitor needs elephants to clear some land. Naren has more elephants than he needs, so he gives some to the visitor.
This is one of the new events for Rajas of India, and I believe anyone with Indian provinces can get it.
The other options here are "Spend less money, get less prestige" and "Spend no money, higher revolt risk" I believe. We have plenty of money, so we spend it.
To Naren's delight, Laks shares his brother's ambitious nature, though he worries this will lead to future conflict between the two.
Rayan unintentionally shortens his father's life when he exits the dungeon clutching a bloody knife. Naren knows that he must show Rayan the right way of the king.
This is a very good event to get, but I believe your options change depending on your traits. All of the traits listed are great for rulers.
One of the ways of the good king is kindness. For though it is good for the king to be just, it is good for him to temper that justice with mercy. He must also never confuse kindness with softness, for he must be prepared to take any action to protect his people.
Kind is a good trait for a ruler, giving +2 diplomacy and +10 vassal opinion. Unfortunately, it subtracts -2 intrigue.
A group of monks visit the province and they are all kung fu fighting.
I love this event, if only for the reference. While I chose the first option, the second one has a chance to give you Paranoid. (+2 intrigue, -1 diplomacy)
Rayan finally becomes a man and a fine young man he is indeed.
A skilled diplomat, blessed with a powerful physique, and having a kind and just nature, Rayan is an ambitious young man talented in all the ways of the ruler. While he has to work on some of his abilities, overall he will take the throne in a much better position than his father.
I'd say Rayan has turned out fairly decently. While I'd prefer he'd gotten Brave instead of Kind, there isn't much to complain about here.
It's been months of searching, but finally Naren's spies have tracked down the old warrior. The legendary fighter is passed out drunk and Naren has doubts about his skills. But since he came all this way, he might as well pay.
When the old man wakes up at camp, it takes him a moment to realize that Naren is seriously asking him to train him. Naren privately wonders if the old man could fight in the battles to come.
Rayan and his new bride Sidhawa are married. Naren calls up a royal aid duty and uses the savings for the war effort.
The old man has adjusted well to life at camp and though his lessons are strange, Naren finds them very helpful.
Though sometimes he wonders whether the old man's bizarre lessons have deeper meaning to them or if the old man is just messing with his head. Or both.
After much work and effort, Naren's training is done. The old man thanks Naren for letting him pass on his teachings and as soon as Naren turns around, he disappears. Naren mutters that he should have put a bell on the old man.
That right there is one of the best ambition event chains in the game. We got 4 martial and 15 prestige for 50 gold. Very nice.
One of the camp assistants comes running to Naren, telling him that Laks called her fat. Noting her impressive girth, Naren simply replies that the boy was just being honest. For some reason this doesn't cheer her up.
Laks gets Honest. Maybe he'll be the new chancellor.
Feeling his battlefield skills are still not up to par, Naren begins training with his personal guard.
While perhaps not the most skilled soldier, he is at least competent and a far cry from the man who once had difficulty wielding a sword.
Another ambition down.
It's only natural for a man to worry about assassination during wartime, especially a man as powerful as Naren. However, despite beefing up his security, Naren does not let fear overcome him. It did once and it never will again.
We've got two options here.
1. This gives us a chance of getting Paranoid.
2. This gives us a chance of getting Trusting. (+1 diplomacy, -2 intrigue)
I don't get either trait and that's fine with me as neither of them are good for our Maharaja.
Naren throws a small party as he learns of his first grandchild.
As hardworking as Naren is, his friend pushes him to go even further.
Sadly, I don't get Ambitious.
The war ends in victory for Pala-Kalyani alliance and Naren celebrates by getting a court guru.
However, Naren must once again march to war. A letter is sent to the Maharaja of Paramara. It reads:
"To the Little Maharaja of Paramara,
I am Narendranarayan, Scourge of the Dravidians, Queenmaker, and the son of Ramapala the Great. I have come for the land of Malwa and you will give it to me or face utter destruction. I, Narendranarayan, am a merciful king and wish to spare your soldiers from a bloody end. Surrender the land to me and I will allow your women to keep their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons. Your answer is due in three days.
Sincerely,
Narendranarayan."
The answer comes in two. It reads:
"To the Pathetic, Idiotic, and Imbecilic Maharaja of Pala,
I, Asaraja, have no wish to surrender my land to a swine like you. Who cares if you defeated a pair of doddering barbarians to the south? No doubt you thought you were a mighty warrior when you defeated a nine year old boy in war. You are the son of a thief and a robber and your mother had intimate relations with a goat. You are unfit to rule a cotton sack, let alone an entire kingdom. I will send your soldiers running to their mothers with their tails between their legs. Declare war if you wish, I will grind your little armies into dust.
From,
Asaraja."
Naren sends another letter back. It is a short letter and reads:
"That was the wrong answer."
Next Time: Subjugation!, Part 2.