neothiamin
commented
5 years ago All these seem like good ideas honestly. I'm not too keen on the new diplomatic action, but I'll consider that as well. I look forward to the other suggestions!
Open Zephyrum opened 5 years ago
neothiamin
commented
5 years ago All these seem like good ideas honestly. I'm not too keen on the new diplomatic action, but I'll consider that as well. I look forward to the other suggestions!
So here's a LOT of background. And I mean a LOT! Sorry Neo!
Background The Societas Draconistarum, or Order of the Dragon, was founded in the early 15th century by Sigismund von Luxembourg, king of Hungary. The title of Grandmaster was to be attached to the royal house of Hungary, and saught to be a Crusader-like military chivalric order to oppose the Ottoman incursions into Europe. It became hip to join it when Sigismund became Holy Roman Emperor, but after his death, the leadership of the Order failed to bank on it and it lost prominence rapidly, never having been able to oppose the Ottomans directly.
Directly, that is. Indirectly, it served as a connective cobweb in Europe which permitted many powerful landholders, pious knights and rulers to join together in some important battles, as well as even directly affecting succession all over Europe.
Henry V of England struck an alliance with the Order, but didn't formally join. Several other members include Alfonso the Magnanimous of Aragon, who founded their naval empire in the Mediterranean; Ferdinand de Trastámara of Naples, the man who broke the union with Aragon; Vlad II Tepes, the ruler of Wallachia and Vladislaus Jagiellon, which restored the Hungarian-Bohemian union in 1490. But perhaps its most famous members are Vlad III Tepes and Gjergj Kastrioti - more commonly known by their nicknames "Dracula" and "Skanderbeg".
The Order was a driving force behind the calling of the Crusade of Varna, and was the guarantor of the Albanian independence for a long time, as well as preventing the Ottoman incursions into Italy's success. They also put Vlad III in the throne of Wallachia after a fairly messy dispute for control.
In the HRE, the effects are more cryptic since the Order acted somewhat underground. We know that Barbara Celjska, a countess from Cilli in modern day Slovenia (a province the next EU4 update will add!) and Sigismund's last wife, supported the order, but details on how involved she was or if she was a member remain obscure. Some historians have attributed that opacity being due to Barbara hiding an illegitimate child from an unknown member of the Order, with Sigismund eventually discovering the child and forcing it into exile, a fact he wanted to keep a secret.
Minor events For Hungary: They could have an option to expand the Order of the Dragon, which gives them 10% cavalry combat ability and 15% mercenary availability, as well as giving +1 diplomatic reputation at the cost of +20% army maintenance. AI has 50% chance of taking this. This, thus, affects all of the events below, in addition to later triggering either of two events in the future. For Wallachia: Vlad III Tepes' contested succession could be put forth in an event that spawn pretenders, Vlad's legitimacy and the size of the rebellion being affected by whether Hungary expanded the Order or not. For Albania: An event that gives the player Skanderbeg as a ruler if they are alive, and if the Order is expanded, they become historical friends with Hungary, and later receive an event giving them a chance to receive an alliance or even be vassalized and turned into a March by them.
Event: Child goes West This event can happen if the Order is NOT expanded. And for the sake of the narrative, events related to the illegitimate child, which I'll gladly steal the name "Elisa Celsjka" for! The illegitimate child of Barbara could travel West, avoiding the HRE and Hungary, both of which rejected him/her. An event could fire for either England or Burgundy (to be decided based on who you think needs a buff more), granting either: A) Advisor "Elisa Celjska", Female, birthday anywhere in 1410, Army Organizer (military), Catholic, Slovenian, skill 3, -25% cost (if you don't want to add Slovenian/wait for the next EU4 patch to do it, use Austrian or Croatian) B) General "Elisa Celjska", Female, 5-3-1-0, birthday anywhere in 1410
Event: Child remains in Order-friendly lands Either of those events will fire, but only if the Order WAS expanded. 15% chance: Pretenders in Cilli Elisa Celjska rebels in Cilli, attempting to reclaim her not-so-rightful throne. If Cilli exists (will be added next EU4 patch, but again, you can get ahead of yourself), she spawns as a pretender (her stats as a general above). Else, she spawns leading a stack of Separatists friendly to Cilli.
85% chance: General for the Order Elisa Celjska resurfaces, relinquishing any and all claims, and joins as a general in Hungary. General stats above.
More possibilities? I've extended this too long, so at this point I'll just toss some possibilities on things that could later be discussed: -Once expanded, being able to invite other members into the Order as a new diplomatic option. Functions as a guarantee, but requires acceptance, and the joiners get the Order's modifiers. -Events forcing the Order into wars against the Ottomans. For all of the Varna fanboys: the Order was a leading factor in causing the Crusade of Varna, as all the major crusader entities were led by Order members!