The Golden State: Let's Play Crusader Kings 2

[just_julia]

Chapter 3 - The Young King

King Thao I was deeply influenced by his late father, King Pollock I; he grew up on stories of his father’s court intrigues at Sacramento and learned at an early age that the Emperor is not to be trusted. As a result, he’s developed into a deeply cynical young man, with the ability to boldly lie to get what he wants.

Barely a month after his ascension to the throne, Emperor Elton IV demands that the Valley join in the defense of Socal; his council, composed of his mother, his uncle Graham, and Khais, prepare to force King Thao I to approve entering the war, but to their surprise, the king is only too happy to give his approval for joining the war.

King Thao I uses his support of the war to convince his council to accept his proposed betrothal to Princess Opal of Jefferson; once again, the Valley and Jefferson are in a marital alliance.

Indeed, King Thao I presents himself as the perfect puppet king and, when he comes to age in March of 2670, his council is sure that they will be able to control him without any effort. King Thao I quickly proves them wrong.

Where his father was a fairly competent spymaster, King Thao I is truly a mastermind; to the public he is a soft spoken, zealous man who follows the Emperor’s missives to the letter, but behind closed doors, he is a spider and the entire Valley is his web. He almost overnight turns his council against itself and regains control over his kingdom.

The only thing stopping him from truly ruling the Valley is the fact that he has not been to Sacramento and been tested to prove his ability to rule; without test results, his council still holds significant sway within the kingdom. Unfortunately, with the war against the Mormons still ongoing, the governance tests are on hold.

To help counter balance this lack of testing, King Thao I throws himself into administration, focusing on running the Valley and proving his worthiness of his title to the people.

In April of 2671, Emperor Elton IV passes away and his brother, Mickey, takes the throne. Immediately, he attempts to foster closer ties between Sacramento and the Valley by marrying his mother, Queen-Mother Kyra, to his son and heir, Prince Terpen. King Thao I declines, as he has no wish to become closer to the Emperor.

King Thao I begins to reform the bureaucracy of the Valley, with a focus on removing anyone still allied with his council from positions of power. He provides a moderate budget for this reformation and leaves his bureaucrats to do their work.

The Valleyan army finally arrives in Socal and immediately engages the Mormon invaders at Moreno; victory against the Children of Zion is swift and brutal, as several key Mormon generals are caught in the ensuing retreat.

The Valleyan army then marches to Pendelton County, which had fallen to the Mormons the previous year. With their help, the Cetic followers of Vista, Oceanside, and Escondido are freed from the repressive Mormon governor installed by by their conquerors. King Thao I is painted by a true Cetic hero by the populace of Pendelton, in the same league as Elton the Lawgiver.

The results of his reform bear fruit in October, as a number of contentious bureaucrats have been “persuaded” to retire or re-align themselves with the king. There is, of course, still more work to be done before King Thao I is fully has control of the Valley.

In February of 2672 the peasants of Dorado drag a so-called witch into his court, demanding that she be burnt at the stake for “crimes against the Emperor.” Instead, King Thao I berates the peasants for their superstition and invites the woman, named Lea, to stay at his court. She agrees and the Valley experiences a minor renaissance, as she publishes several works on governing. King Thao I is quick to adopt Lea’s theories on governance, which greatly improve his ability to run his realm.

Not everyone is happy with how well King Thao I is running the Valley; one such person is his uncle Graham, who has seen much of his power at court diminished by the king’s reforms. The same month that Lea arrives at his court, Prefect Graham attempts to kill his nephew using explosives; his plan fails, as the king sees through it and forces the prefect’s co-conspirators to provide him with proof of his uncle’s treason. King Thao I holds on to this evidence, for when he can make the most use of it.

Prefect Graham, to his credit, continues his function as the king’s Upholder of Ceremonies and, in April, finds evidence that Sacramento was originally part of the Valley, before being given over to the Emperor by a foolish Valleyan king. King Thao I makes no attempt to hide this newly discovered claim and, when Emperor Mickey demands he give up all claims upon the Imperial capital, the king tells him he will not relinquish his long forgotten birth right.

The final death knell for the Mormon Expedition comes at Las Vegas, where the Valleyan and Socal armies work together to repel them from the city. With the only safe route into Socal finally taken back and fully reinforced with two Californian armies, the Mormon President is forced to admit that any dream of a Mormon California is dead - at least for now.

With the Mormon menace finally defeated, Emperor Mickey begins styling himself as “the Holy” and as a return to the strong emperors of old. This is largely propaganda, as the Imperial Throne is the weakest it has been since its creation; King Pollock I’s work at destabilizing the Imperial Court has created an environment of extreme disconnect between the bureaucrats and nobles of the court, and frequently promising initiatives are killed by red tape and infighting. To further this general chaos, Emperor Mickey’s pick of Governatus is Prefect Graham, King Thao I’s uncle; the Emperor’s hope was to find an ally within the Valley’s royal court, but due to the king’s work at removing his uncle’s influence from his council, Emperor Mickey has been left with an incompetent and weak Governatus who cannot handle Imperial politics.

The Imperial exam centers in Sacramento finally re-open in April of 2673 and King Thao I prepares to prove his administrative competence. He decides to focus on Californian history during his studies, as his understanding of the past is hazy at best.

A month later, King Thao I travels to Sacramento for testing; crowds line the city’s streets and the Emperor officially opens up the examination center at noon, allowing for testing for the first time in four years.

King Thao I immediately notices that the chief examiner seems to be more attention to him than the other testers; it soon becomes clear that the Emperor has instructed him to keep an eye on the king, in hopes of catching him cheating. King Thao I refuses to give him the satisfaction, and does what no one expects: he takes the test straight, without even trying to cheat (though he is sorely tempted to). He leaves the examination center hopeful that he will pass.

A week later, he receives his test results: he is awarded the third rank of competence, the Valley Quail. While not as good as he would’ve hoped for, it is firmly within the acceptable ability for Cetic rulers to have. He proudly displays his test results in his throne room, making sure everyone knows that even the Emperor has been forced to admit that he is a capable ruler.

In celebration for his success on the Imperial Exams, King Thao I spends a day touring Tuolumne, taking in the fresh air. It is during this tour of the capital that he sees several peasants playing a game of strikeball against a neighboring team. What starts as polite interest quickly becomes genuine enthusiasm, as he joins in with the rabble to cheer on the Tuolumne Tigers. Though his team ultimately loses, the people of Tuolumne soon hear of his enthusiastic support for “their boys” and begin to see the king as one of them.

Completely taken in by strikeball, King Thao I turns his royal builders to designing a proper field for the Tigers to practice and play upon. Within a few months, the Tuolumne Tigers are playing their games on Thao Field, much to the pleasure of the city’s fans and the king’s delight.

The fun of the summer soon gives way to the somber fall and, in September of 2763, with the Emperor’s blessing, the King of Socal declares war on the Valley, with the goal of claiming the entire kingdom for himself. When the news reaches King Thao I, he is said to be almost relieved, claiming the Emperor had finally shown his hand and that he found it lacking. War was here, and King Thao I was ready for it.

[BrutusSalad]

The Idea of the Emperor being called Mickey here is killing me

[just_julia]

The fact that I frequently thought “god Mickey you’re such an asshole” while playing the game makes me laugh, tbh.

[White_Coke]

Aren’t there people in Florida who have Disneyland as a holy site?

[just_julia]

Not quite; there’s a small Americanist tribe called the Tribe of the Mouse, who are squatting in Disneyland and see it as a symbol of the Old World. They almost always get eaten by the HCC.

[just_julia]

Chapter 4 - The Children of Zion

With war once again looming on the Valley’s horizon, King Thao I approaches local moneylenders in an effort to secure a small loan to fund the war. Backed by promises of quickly paying them back once the war is over, he manages to get 200 gold from them, which allows him to hire a band of mercenaries to help shore up the Valleyan army, which is still recovering from the Mormon War.

Just as the Valleyan army is gearing up for the war, King Thao I receives an interesting letter from a mercenary captain known as Cooper; apparently, his band of men was hired by Socal months ago, but they have yet to be paid for their services. Captain Cooper proposes that King Thao I hire him and his group instead; promises of a deep discount and knowledge of Socal tactics and plans is enough to entice the king and he agrees to the captain’s proposal.

Word of the Charger’s betrayal reaches the king of Socal and they are forced to quickly flee into the Valley; while many Chargers die, Captain Cooper manages to reach friendly lines and provide the information he promised the king. Apparently, the Socal army plans to quickly march into the Central Valley and propose an alliance between themselves and Prefect Graham, allowing for a swift conquest of the Valley. King Thao I issues orders for his bureaucrats to watch his uncle, dons his armor, and heads off to battle; he cannot allow the Imamites to reach the Central Valley, for he is sure that Graham will eagerly join them.

In March of 2674, the King of Jefferson finally comes of age; King Thao I’s sister Skylar is quickly married off to him, further cementing the ties between the two kingdoms. While King Stanford II cannot become directly involved in the war, he sends a small gift of gold to King Thao I and his best wishes for a quick resolution to the fighting.

The Valleyan army engages the Imamites at Tehachapi, hoping to cut off the main force before it has a chance to enter the Valley proper. The Chargers prove themselves during the battle and the following siege, where they are key in the capture of city.

The victory celebrations are cut short when news arrives that the main Imamite force used the Battle of Tehachapi as a distraction, so that they could slip past the Valleyan army and make their way via Ventura. At Bakersfield, a small Valleyan rearguard is defeated by the Imamites, before the main Valleyan force can reinforce them.

When the Valleyan army arrives at Bakersfield, ready to fight, they instead find that they have missed the Imamite army yet again; while they were marching double time to break the siege of Bakersfield, the Imamites once again slipped past them and liberated Tehachapi.

This game of cat and mouse does not anger King Thao I, but rather fills him with a general sense of malaise; he is not eager for yet another prolonged war in Socal that forces him to put his plans on hold. His court physician, Ricardo, claims that the king is suffering from Slow Fever and issues a rigorous schedule of nature walks to “clear the lungs of the smells of civilization.” This does nothing to help the king feel better.

The king’s health continues to worsen and Ricardo’s treatments become more and more bizarre; this culminates in throwing King Thao I into a room full of angry bees and allowing him to be stung several times. The strange thing is, these treatments work, and the king begins to feel better.

King Thao I’s health recovers just in time for the latest philosophical work from the Emperor, a great tome that is a dialogue between a hermit and a king; by the end of it, the king has given up all his worldly possessions, including his throne, to the much more capable hermit. While the Hermit King is extremely popular, it does not take King Thao I to realize that Emperor Mickey’s latest work is simply all about how he should surrender to the Imamites, abandon his throne, and live a simple, peaceful life in the hills. He very carefully throws the book into a well, without reading it beyond the third chapter.

Word reaches California in October of the fall of the Caribbean Empire; the parallels between it and California are apparent, as the last Empress of the Caribbean was weak and surrounded by infighting. A dark cloud seems to pass over the Empire, as people feel they are in the end days of the once great Golden State.

Suddenly, in December of 2675, the Imamites sue for peace, giving up their claim on the Valley. While no one can prove it, rumors swirl that King Thao I’s spies had a hand in the sudden change of priorities for the Imamites; the sudden rising of several Cetic rebels within Socal cannot be tied back to the Valley, but it is true that the Valley’s coffers are lighter than they were a few months ago. Whether true or not, people begin to refer to King Thao I as “the Shadow,” but usually in a whisper.

Peace returns to the Valley and with it comes more reforms. King Thao I continues to remove supporters of his old council and replacing them with competent and loyal bureaucrats.

The royal court also celebrates the marriage of the king’s brother and heir, Prince Khais; his bride is the daughter of the Prefect of Kern. While nothing special, the marriage provides the Valley with much needed stability and revenue.

The New Year brings excellent news: Ricardo is confident that King Thao I is on the mend, and gives him a clean bill of health.

Now that he is well, King Thao I travels to Sacramento to expand his influence over the Imperial Court. Bucking tradition, he does not name Prefect Graham as his regent, but rather his new father-in-law, the Prefect of Kern. Prefect Tubrog continues to oversee the king’s bureaucratic reforms, which are now in full swing.

While in Sacramento, King Thao I works to project an image of a model Cetic king in defiance of the rumors about him and his family. When offered a second helping during a meal with the Emperor, the king declines, which contributes to the image of him as a temperate and moderate ruler.

Tuolumne continues to be seen as a center of learning, equality, and higher learning; again the people of Dorado bring forward a suspected witch and, in line with the king’s previous decision, Prefect Tubrog demands they release the woman and invites her to stay in the court as a respected scholar. People begin to speak of King Thao I’s ambition to collect all knowledge and prove himself as a worthy successor to House Yudkow.

In August, King Thao I returns home from Sacramento, having secured his position in court. He immediately begins work on a book, which is rumored to be a refutation of the Hermit King; thanks to his open door policy regarding philosophers and scholars, it promises to be a great work. More and more, it appears as though Sacramento is not the center of the Empire, but rather Tuolumne.

The Valley enjoys nearly a year of peace and prosperity, which comes to an end in April of 2677, when a pandemic begins to sweep through Tuolumne; the people of the city immediately blame the spread of the disease on the local cat population. Wishing to come to some sort of consensus, King Thao I sends out the royal doctors and scholars to study and examine the cats of Tuolumne. They ultimately come to the conclusion that the cats are not to blame, though the king orders them to keep a few of the beasts around for further study.

One month later, Prince Khais has his first child, a girl who he names Fine. King Thao I is overjoyed at his new niece, as he still does not have a child of his own.

Perhaps longing for his own child, King Thao I begins spending more and more time with the cats he obtained for examination and becomes more and more attached to a small cat he named Mittens. Soon, the two are inseparable and King Thao I’s mood improves significantly. When a mob shows up at the castle demanding that all cats in the city be driven out and killed, the king picks the meanest looking cat and publicly executes it, claiming it is the source of the disease in Tuolumne. Not long after, the pandemic dies down and life returns to normal.

In October, King Thao I uses his connections in the Imperial Court to force his uncle to name him as the next Governatus of California. Forced by court politics well beyond his ability to control, Prefect Graham names the king as the next Governatus during an impressive ceremony in Sacramento.

While on the surface, Governatus Graham, Emperor Mickey, and King Thao I are all pulling together to protect all of California, underneath it all is a shadowy war for control over the future of the Empire. With his position as Governatus heir secure, the king puts into motion a plan long in the making: the untimely death of his beloved uncle.

King Thao I receives a strange message from Gran Francisco in March; apparently the current king, Walter the Wise, has fallen in love with one of his courtiers and is requesting the king’s permission to marry his lady love. While it does not result in a formal alliance, King Thao I agrees to King Walter’s request; he figures that having the richest of the five kingdoms predisposed to liking him isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

March is the month of weddings it seems, as Princess Opal finally comes of age and her and the king finally marry. The royal court is hopeful that this marriage will produce a heir.

In June, Prefect Graham, perhaps sensing the vultures preparing to dine, invites his nephew to his court for a feast, hoping to mend fences. King Thao I surprises everyone by accepting his uncle’s invitation, if only because he is curious about the gesture.

During the feast, the prefect invites the king to join him in playing an Old American board game known as “Monopoly.” The gaming session is intense, but with some creative cheating, the king is able to win. The joy of beating his uncle fills King Thao I with a love of all things related to gaming, and he leaves the feast with a new passion.

On the New Year, the king’s loan comes due. King Thao I tells the moneylenders to leave him alone and banishes them from his castle. While he doesn’t have to pay his loan, his public image takes a noticeable hit.

But, this black mark on his honor is soon forgotten, as he takes the money he would’ve had to give to the moneylenders and instead invests it back into improving Tuolumne; he improves the castle’s walls and opens up a new public hospital, which is staffed with some of the greatest doctors in California.

The royal court’s culture of philosophy, learning, and debate continues to flourish under King Thao I’s gentle care, but unlike many rulers, the king also joins in the frequent debates and discussions. When the topic of the American Dream comes up, King Thao I makes it known that, to him, the American Dream is not one of learning or of living a simple life, but rather one of conquering all your enemies and driving them before you. He says this while looking at Prefect Graham; not long after, the prefect packs up his office in the capital and returns home to the Central Valley.

In April of 2680, Emperor Mickey the Holy dies and is succeeded by his brother, who is crowned Emperor Reuben II. Emperor Reuben II is a much more vital man, who has strong opinions about what the Emperor’s job is and exactly where the five kings fit within that picture. His first action is to force the Regulated Inheritance Act of 2680 on to the five kingdoms; essentially, the five kingdoms cannot inherit lands from each other, and that the five crowns will never be united under a single king.

As a message to the Kings of California, it is clear: the days of the weak Emperors are over and that the authority of the Imperial Throne is absolute. But where the other kings worry about this new age of Imperial oversight, King Thao I sees the chance he has always been waiting for; with the Kings unhappy about Imperial overreach, he is confident that, should he make his move now, the Emperor will find himself without allies. And so, the king beings to put his plans into motion.

[BrutusSalad]

@just_julia

His first action is to force the Regulated Inheritance Act of 2680 on to the five kingdoms; essentially, the five kingdoms cannot inherit lands from each other, and that the five crowns will never be united under a single king.

I’m legitimately surprised that they were able to mod something like this in. Does it work on events?

[just_julia]

I dunno, but it resets when there’s a new emperor from a new dynasty.

[White_Coke]

Isn’t it just a natural application of the base game’s mechanics? Imperial laws apply to everyone in its de jure territory but since the kingdoms are all technically independent realms their titles can’t pass between each other.

[just_julia]

Didn’t think of it that way; I so rarely see an AI empire in this situation it never crossed my mind.

[just_julia]

Chapter 5 - This Year in Sacramento

Emperor Reuben II continues his efforts to boost Imperial authority, this time by demanding that King Thao I relinquish his claim on Sacramento. Again, the king tells the Emperor that he will not simply hand over what is his birthright.

Perhaps hoping to convince his nephew to quite his pretensions on the Imperial Throne, Prefect Graham invites the king to another feast in the Central Valley; again, King Thao I agrees to attend, but this time he does so with the plan to finally kill his uncle, as the time is perfect for his ascension to the role of Governatus of California.

Imagine his surprise when, in June of 2680, his uncle simply dies of natural causes. A little deflated that he did not have the honor of ending the man who had been a constant thorn in his side, King Thao I accepts the title of Governatus during a short ceremony in Sacramento. Once again, the office of Governatus is controlled by House Armour.

While in Sacramento, King Thao I revives the old Armour tradition of distributing grain to the populace, sparing no expense in doing so. The people of Sacramento cheer him on and compare him favorably to King Pollock the Ram, the last Governatus to distribute grain to the people. The Emperor can only fume at the king’s growing popularity with his people.

Instead of returning home to Tuolumne after receiving the role of Governatus, King Thao I decides to remain in Sacramento for the time being, with the goal of re-organizing the office of Governatus to be more in line with his vision. Prince Khais assumes control of the Valley while his brother is at the Imperial Court.

Having honed his skills for reforming the bureaucracy of the Valley, the office of Governatus is soon made into a lean, efficient machine, with the unstated goal of weakening the Emperor’s position in court. Soon, Emperor Reuben II is completely left out of the day to day decision making of the Empire, as the office of Governatus takes on more and more responsibility.

His position secure and his powers unmatched, King Thao I presents the Emperor with an ultimatum in August of 2680: turn over Sacramento to the Valley or face a war. Emperor Reuben II, sure that all of California will rise up against the Valley for such a raw display of power and disregard for Imperial authority, shouts him down and bars him from the Imperial Palace. But instead of the other kingdoms supporting the Emperor, they instead decide to sit out and allow the two to duke it out; even the Imamites of Socal, who have enjoyed Imperial protection in exchange for loyalty and vassalage, send only a token force to protect the Imperial Palace. The Emperor is said to be in a constant rage over this betrayal.

King Thao I continues to work on his book, and releases a small sample of it in September; it is said to contain a dialogue between himself and Elton the Lawgiver, which proves that House Armour are the intellectual heirs to his legacy. While it is clearly propaganda of the highest order, its quality and writing make many question whether Emperor Reuben II deserves the throne.

The Imperial and Valleyan armies engage in battle in the outskirts of Tuolumne; the Battles of Turlock and Folsom are Valleyan victories over the Imperial Palace guards, the only force that the Emperor has at his disposal. The way to Sacramento is finally open for King Thao I.

At the start of February 2681, Prefect Tubrog requests to be the next Governatus; King Thao I informs him that, while he appreciates his work as a prefect of the Valley, he fully intends to keep the office of Governatus within House Armour.

In May, Queen Opal shares joyous news with the king: she is pregnant! Almost overnight, the king’s focus shifts from the war for Sacramento to making sure his wife is taken care of during her pregnancy; he gives his court physician, Teacher Pheng, leave to study with the doctors at the Hospital of Tuolumne, with the goal of improving his understanding of pregnancy.

But with joy there must also be equal amounts of pain; May also brings the news that the Emperor has managed to bribe the Imamites into honoring their agreement. An army of four thousand Imamites attack and siege the city of Bakersfield, claiming it for the Emperor.

Still, King Thao I keeps his eyes on the real prize: Sacramento. The city itself falls in May and the king is once again walks the halls of the Imperial Palace. But while Sacramento is now in Valleyan hands, the rest of the kingdom suffers under the Imamites’ attack; the town of Oildale falls in July, yet another Imperial victory on their way to reclaim Sacramento.

As King Thao I prepares to reclaim the lands lost to the Imamite army, his court astronomer informs him that his child will be born under auspicious stars. While King Thao I doesn’t believe in such superstitious drivel, Queen Opal is elated with the news. While the queen’s head is in the clouds, the king makes sure that she has plenty of maids and friends to socialize with during her pregnancy.

The city of Arvin falls to the Imamites in September, cementing their control over the County of Bako. Despite this set back, King Thao I is feeling less and less cynical about things; the end of his intrigues feel closer and closer every day.

The Valleyans and Imamites meet outside of Hanford and the following battle quickly falls in favor of the king’s forces. With the Emperor’s last, best hope of winning the war defeated, victory seems just around the corner.

Still, King Thao I leaves nothing to chance and, with the help of his wife, manages to court the High Chief of Gadsen; while they follow the way of the Atom, High Chief Jojo finds common ground with King Thao I and the two leaders sign an alliance against Emperor Reuben II.

By December, Bako County is back in Valleyan hands and its garrison receives reinforcements to make sure it can be held against the next Imamite offensive.

December, as it turns out, is a month of joy, as King Thao I’s first child is born. The boy is named Pollock after his grandfather, and the king has great hopes for the boy’s future.

In spring of 2682, the Valleyans continue their efforts to seize the Imperial seat, the County of Sacramento. Without much resistance, the city of Roseville surrenders to King Thao I.

June sees the return of the Imamites, as their next offensive manages to take back Bakersfield before the Valleyan army can respond.

Teacher Pheng publishes a conclusive study of his time with the midwives and doctors of Tuolumne Hospital; Upon the Birth of Children is hailed by the local academic community as a major step forward in the understanding of the human body and its many, sundry functions. Outside of Tuolumne, it is seen as only a small contribution to the general body of knowledge of physiology.

The Sacramento War drags on into 2683, with a constant back and forth between the Valleyans and Imamites; the Valleyans will retake Bakersfield, return to Sacramento to lay siege to some other small city, and then rush back to retake Bakersfield once again. While it is slow going, its slowly becoming clearer and clearer that the Emperor cannot hope to keep the war going.

Hoping to break the Valleyan’s slow, but sure, grind to victory, the Imperial army, under the command of Terpen Yudkow, attempt to sneak a small force of soldiers into the Imperial Palace to retake it while the Valleyan army deals with the Imamites in Bako. Unfortunately, word reaches King Thao I just in time for him to turn around and rush back to Sacramento. The Imperial army is defeated and Terpen Yudkow is captured. The son of Emperor Mickey the Holy and the current Imperial heir, Terpen is an extremely valuable hostage; finally, it seems like Emperor Reuben II might be willing to negotiate.

With his heir in Valleyan hands, Emperor Reuben II has no choice but to surrender Sacramento to King Thao I; peace is made on May 4, 2683 and Sacramento, including the Imperial Palace, is handed over to the Valley. Emperor Reuben II is allowed to keep his chambers in the palace, but beyond that, he has no control over the city; an outraged Emperor relocates the Imperial Court to Las Vegas, but is unable to move many of the bureaucratic structures that run the Empire of California with him. Suddenly, King Thao I finds himself with the keys to the Empire, without the Emperor constantly looking over his shoulder.

A new age of Imperial politics looms, one where the entire Empire is dominated by the Governatus and his bureaucrats. Only time will tell if this is for good or for ill.

[just_julia]

Chapter 6 - Courtly Intrigues

With Sacramento under his control, King Thao I moves the royal court into the Imperial Palace; ostentatiously, this is to minimize bureaucratic waste and consolidate the Governatus office with his own royal office, but in reality it makes a clear statement to Emperor Reuben II: King Thao I considers himself the true Emperor of California.

King Thao I resumes the building projects left fallow by Emperor Reuben II in favor of his great golden throne; he focuses on building up the royal bedchambers, to better accommodate his growing family and court. The fact that it allows for more direct intrigue and threats never crosses the king’s mind.

To pay for the renovations to the Imperial Palace, he ransoms off the five members of House Yudkow that he somehow acquired during the Sacramento War, for a rather tidy sum and numerous angry letters from the enraged Emperor.

Unfortunately, suddenly having control over Sacramento doesn’t make most of King Thao I’s problems go away, but instead amplifies them, as he now has to run almost all of the Imperial bureaucracy by himself. It is extremely stressful.

It doesn’t help that Emperor Reuben II constantly sends missives demanding the return of Sacramento to him; the Emperor censures him, barring him from the Imperial court. Of course, the fact that King Thao I controls the Imperial court and bureaucracy seems to completely go over his head.

The streamlining of bureaucracy continues, resulting in a more centralized government, with less delegated powers for the prefects. Since the reforms directly benefit them, the prefects are quick to approve them.

In November of 2683, Valleyan scholars uncover old texts that talk about the “King of Sacramento;” apparently before Elton the Lawgiver was Emperor of California, he was simply the king of Sacramento. Eager to draw more parallels between himself and the Lawgiver, King Thao I revives the old title and crowns himself as such on November 16, 2683. Emperor Reuben II declares the act the highest treason, but his voice is quiet all the way in Las Vegas.

Word of King Thao I’s support for the sciences and arts have reached the secretive Ivy League; a loose confederation of universities, philosophers, teachers, and learned men, the Ivy League is part secret society, part social club. When the king makes his interest in such a group known, Dean Antipas invites him to join. King Thao I is only too happy to accept.

Towards the end of November, King Thao I prepares to make the journey to Las Vegas, to see if the Emperor can be made to see sense and recognize his claim on the Kingdom of Sacramento. Prefect Tubrog is again made regent of the Valley.

When the peasants of Colusa hear that the king is gone, they immediately rise up, demanding rights and privileges generally reserved for the aristocracy. They are just as quickly put down by the battle hardened Valleyan army.

King Thao I arrives back in Sacramento in May of 2684, bringing news from the Imperial Court: while the Emperor was vitriolic as always, the bureaucrats still recognized Governatus’ authority. In the end, Emperor Reuben II is powerless to stop his bureaucracy or King Thao I’s influence over it; not only is his Imperial Censure removed, but his claim to the Kingdom of Sacramento recognized.

In July, the king starts writing his first work for the Ivy League; he decides to copy liberally from the Lawgiver’s essay on the nature of the soul, The Unbroken Wheel, reasoning that the Ivy League has not often encountered Cetic thought and philosophy.

King Thao I continues to reform the remaining Imperial bureaucracy still in Sacramento, this time focusing on the religious offices. He quickly determines who still supports the Emperor and quietly removes them, usually by offering them early retirement with a large lump sum of gold. By the end of August, every teacher and philosopher in Sacramento are singing his praises.

Emperor Reuben II continues to demand Sacramento back, this time by claiming that several properties within the city belong to House Yudkow. Without any prompting, the Imperial bureaucracy quickly proves that this is not the case, greatly embarrassing the Emperor.

In October, Queen Opal is once again pregnant, this time with the king’s second child. When the queen informs her husband, he expresses his joy, but gently reminds her that he has his hands full running the Imperial bureaucracy and that she is fully capable of taking care of herself.

At the start of 2685, King Thao I finishes his essay for the Ivy League; he quickly submits it for their approval. He hopes that none of their scholars are well versed in the intricacies of Cetic philosophy.

Unfortunately, the king’s focus on his writing is put to an end when is wife goes into labor; apparently it is difficult one, and the king calls in his court physician, who was so helpful with Opal’s last birth. He is able to help somewhat, though only time will tell if he truly did anything.

Concerned with the health of his wife, King Thao I is able to find some small distraction in the arrival of a merchant from far off Brasilia. His stories of the August Empire of the south transport the king to another land, one full of Imperial splendor and noble knights. When the merchant leaves the following day, he presents King Thao I with the gift of a eunuch named Alcomendras, which the king happily accepts.

Not long after the merchant leaves Sacramento, the king receives the news that Queen Opal has died giving birth to his newest child, a small, sickly girl his wife named Alice, before passing away. King Thao I blames himself for his wife’s death; he was too distracted with ruling that he lost sight of what was truly important. He vows to take care of little Alice and ensure that she survives to adulthood in atonement for his hubris.

Not long after his wife’s death and the birth of his daughter, King Thao I prepares for another journey to Las Vegas; this time he plans on bringing his family with him, partly to watch after his son and daughter, partly to show young Pollock how much of a fool Emperor Reuben II is. Prefect Tubrog is once again made regent of the Valley, having proven himself a reliable and loyal man.

King Thao I arrives in Las Vegas in April of 2685, and is immediately greeted by a young, shy woman who introduces herself simply as Jessica Norris; Jessica is one of the Empresses’ handmaidens and had been sent by the Emperor to greet his Governatus. Perhaps it is the fact he has just lost his beloved wife, or perhaps it is because Jessica shows a keen interest in administration and business, but whatever the reason, King Thao I falls in love with her at first sight. He asks her to marry him after a whirlwind of romance in Las Vegas; the stunned Jessica happily agrees, and the two are soon wed at one of Las Vegas’ many temples.

While he’s in Las Vegas, the Ivy League finishes reviewing his paper; it turns out his bet that the members of the League did not know Cetic philosophy pays out, as they lavish his paper with praise and claim it provides insight into the deepest part of the human soul.

The king doesn’t forget his primary reason for coming to Las Vegas; he shows Pollock the ins and outs of the Imperial bureaucracy (or at least, the little that exists in the new Imperial court), while also making sure he knows that Emperor Reuben II is a complete buffoon. He leaves the court with even more power than he had before, leaving the Emperor to fume and fret in his sad and shabby court.

The king has barely returned to Sacramento when yet another letter demanding the return of the city to the Emperor arrives; King Thao I has had enough with the toddler masquerading as the Emperor of California and pens his very own letter to the Emperor.

The letter details the many failings of Emperor Reuben II and how he has lost the Prime Mandate that originally empowered Elton the Lawgiver to unify the many people of California; instead, he claims that that Mandate now exists with him and House Armour. He draws parallels between himself and the Lawgiver, how he has reformed the Imperial bureaucracy to be more efficient, in spite of the Emperor’s efforts to hamstring him. He concludes the letter demanding Emperor Reuben II immediately step down and give him the throne, as it is the only logical and true thing to do; to do anything else would mean war, a war that the Emperor has no hope of winning. King Thao I begs the Emperor to choose the choice that would allow California to continue on as a single, strong state, instead of one divided.

The Emperor, predictably, chooses war.

[BrutusSalad]

I know this Emperor would never accept it, but is it possible to actually get the Emperor to step down without a fight?

[just_julia]

Not that I know of; I believe its scripted to have a war.

[BrutusSalad]

That’s surprising, my knowledge of Chinese history is pretty limited but I can think of two cases where the Deposed Emperor just gave up without a fight in exchange for a cushy advisory job.

[just_julia]

It’d be neat if that could happen; this is generally a problem with AtE, though. There’s lots of things that would be neat if they could happen, but they don’t in the mod, despite the fact that they can happen with the right event/script.

[just_julia]

Chapter 7 - The Golden War

Though there is a war on, life continues on; not long after the declaration of hostilities between the Valley and the Emperor, Queen Jessica makes it known that she is pregnant with her first child. King Thao I vows to pay better attention to his new wife during her pregnancy; he refuses to repeat the errors of the past.

Renovations for the Imperial Palace continue apace and the royal builders discover an old metal box deep within the bowels of the palace; while eager to see what secrets it contains, King Thao I hires a local expert in Old American locks to make sure it is not trapped. His caution pays off, as the box contains a set of beautiful Old World jewelry.

The Imamites dust off their old strategy from the Sacramento War: a quick attack into the County of Bako, with the goal of seizing the pass into the Valley. Unfortunately for them, the Valleyans have learned their mistakes and a fully reinforced army waits for them at Arvin; the Battle of Arvin is a resounding Valleyan victory, throwing the Imamites back into Socal.

The Valleyans follow up their victory at Arvin by pursuing the retreating Imamites to Tehachapi, where they are once again defeated; a few months later, in February of 2686, Tehachapi falls to the Valleyans. It seems as though nothing can stop King Thao I’s advance.

On March 16th, 2686 Queen Jessica gives birth to a daughter, who she names Jessica. King Thao I receives the news just as his army begins to leave Tehachapi; he orders all his men to stop breaking camp and invites them to join him for a celebratory feast for the birth of his newest child.

In a strange quirk of fate, the king is given a chance to meet his new daughter not long after her birth; the barbarians of Death Valley have answered the Emperor’s call to arms and have managed to slip into the Valley to begin laying siege to Sacramento. The Valleyan army rushes back to Sacramento and beat back the barbarians; this leaves Tehachapi with only a small garrison, which the Imamites take advantage of to score an easy victory.

When the Valleyan army prepares to leave Sacramento, King Thao I decides to stay to look after his family and to continue working on his various papers and essays for the Ivy League; his latest one concerns celestial bodies and their relationship to Earth.

The king is quickly consumed with his study of the sky, finding its mysteries endlessly fascinating; while pondering the movements of Venus during a meeting with his council, he accidentally fires his guru, Teacher Zack. After making his apologies to him, King Thao I returns to his work as if nothing had happened.

In September, the Imamites are driven out of Bakersfield and Bako County is once again in Valleyan hands.

With this latest defeat, it has become clear that the Emperor with his Imamite allies has no hope in enforcing his rule over California and so he approaches King Thao I to open up negotiates. The terms are hammered out and in October a treaty is signed; in it, King Thao I is crowned as the newest Emperor, House Yudkow is allowed to keep its titles in and around Las Vegas, and the Imamites are allowed to continue ruling Socal, with the newest Imam, a man named Karim II, given a place on the Imperial Council. It is not the crushing victory that Emperor Thao I wanted, but it is a step in the right direction.

Now the undisputed ruler of California, Emperor Thao I institutes several bureaucratic reforms, with the goal making the Emperor the undisputed ruler of California; now that he is the Emperor, he will suffer not intrigues or power plays that would threaten his throne. With the Empire’s treasure open to him, he spares no expense in his reforms.

Emperor Thao I also takes the time to meet with Imam Karim II in private, where he manages to convince the Imam that he has no plans to remove the rights given to the Imamites under the old Yudkow Emperors; while this is not the case, the emperor knows that to move now would only expose him to his enemies.

The bureaucracy of the old Valleyan royal court and the office of Governatus (of which, Emperor Thao I is technically still the head of) integrate seamlessly into the new Imperial Court; it is almost like Emperor Thao I had been planning for just such an eventuality.

The emperor also institutes a new law: the Right of Revocation, which simply states that the Emperor of California has the right to revoke the titles of anyone who would betray the throne. The Imperial Council, nothing more than a group of toadies and puppets, is only too happy to throw their support behind the new law. The remaining Kings of California complain about Imperial overreach, but none make any serious moves to stop Emperor Thao I, as they quickly find out the Right of Revocation allows them to revoke titles from traitors.

Between bouts of reform and legislation, Emperor Thao I still takes time to study the sky and work on his essay on celestial bodies, even when it hurts Imperial tax collection, not that the emperor really notices.

Emperor Thao I’s work seems to pay off when he predicts a major meteor shower; he invites his court to come watch with him, only for the predicted meteor shower to not actually happen. A humiliated emperor learns to measure twice and cut once.

Still, even with the bitter taste of failure in his mouth, the emperor continues to be a powerhouse of Imperial reform. Under him, tax collection becomes efficient, easy, and effective; the treasury bulges with gold from owed back taxes, previously uncollected under Emperor Reuben II.

Empress Jessica announces in July that she is once again pregnant; an overjoyed Emperor Thao I makes sure that she is well taken care of, now that he is not consumed with the stars.

In September, word reaches the emperor that the Prefecture of Goldengate, the jewel in the crown of Gran Francisco, has fallen to barbarian sea raiders from the far north. An important part of California, both for the Cetic faith and for the tolls it collects, Emperor Thao I cannot allow Goldengate to remain out of Imperial control; a holy war for the prefecture is declared not long after.

Mittens, the emperor’s beloved cat, also passes away in September. Emperor Thao I picks a small plot in the Imperial gardens for her grave, along with a small, short ceremony in her memory. She will truly be missed.

The bureaucracy of Socal is finally fully integrated with the Imperial bureaucracy towards the end of September in 2687; the emperor’s assurances that they will still be mostly autonomous from the main branch of bureaucracy, along with the endorsement of Imam Karim II, finally wins the Imamite bureaucrats over.

In February of 2688, Emperor Thao I’s second son is born and is named after the emperor. By all accounts he is a healthy, normal baby.

The Battle of San Rafael marks the first major battle in the Reconquest of Goldengate; the northern barbarians are easily defeated; during the battle, a young Valleyan noble, named Max, manages to recapture his regiment’s lost battle standard, earning himself fame and glory, as well as the attention of Emperor Thao I, who invites him to stay at his court in Sacramento.

The second battle of the war takes place at Daly, when a barbarian army, led by the so-called “High Queen of Goldengate,” makes landfall. During the Battle of Daly, Emperor Thao I proves himself once again worthy of his position, as he joins in the battle with his men, slaying many barbarians. That night, his men sing songs in praise of his skills not just in court but in battle; the most popular of these is “When the Emperor Came to Goldengate,” which goes into full, gory detail about the Battle of Daly and Emperor Thao I’s role during it.

The Battle of Daly marks the end of the Reconquest of Goldengate; the High Queen is forced to surrender the prefecture to the emperor on June 27, 2688. Instead of returning the land to Gran Francisco, Emperor Thao I gives Goldengate to his brother and long time ally, Prince Khais; the King of Gran Francisco is besides himself with rage at the move, but the emperor is quick to point out that it was he who lost the prefecture, not the emperor. Powerless to stop him, King Walter I must watch as Emperor Thao I crowns Prince Khais the ruler of Goldengate.

In celebration of his reconquest of Goldengate, Emperor Thao I distributes a large amount of grain to the citizens of Sacramento, much to their pleasure; Emperor Thao I is quickly becoming a favorite among the common people of California.

Peace returns to California, one where Emperor Thao I is the undisputed ruler of the Golden State. With his popularity at an all time high and a competent and loyal bureaucracy at his beck and call, it seems as though nothing can stop the rise of the new emperor.

[BrutusSalad]

That blue text on black background is maddening.
So what’s the total imperial authority like at this point? Probably as high as it gets, right?

[just_julia]

For Thao I’s reign, it hovers around 80% to 90%, which is pretty good.

The way it works is that 0%-49%, you’re a figurehead emperor (with the accompanying trait), at 50%-74% you’re a normal emperor, and at 75%+ you’re a strong emperor. While there’s not much reason to have anything beyond 75% imperial authority, mostly to weather the odd malus, when your emperor dies, your score drops by 20% or worse if you’re a kid, have low stewardship and low learning, or if you have slow or inbred, so having it at 100% will let you survive a couple bad rulers, since you can pretty reliably raise it up a couple points in with grain distribution and writing new teachings. The fun comes if you appoint a Governatus or your regent or council force you to assign one, because they have more opportunities to fuck with imperial authority.

[White_Coke]

If you rebuild the train museum Sacramento will really love you.