Crusader Kings III is grand historical simulation in which the player takes on the role of a medieval ruler and their dynasty, blending roleplaying with traditional strategy map conquest through marriages, alliance-building, intrigue, and warfare. This is the third part of a multi-part recap of a Crusader Kings III game that I played from September 2020 through March 2021. The historical start date of the campaign was 867.
Remember Karlmann and his two kingdoms and more than two sons to divide them between? Well, Crusader Kings 3 has made it A LOT easier to solve that problem. You can destroy titles even if you have heirs who would stand to inherit them, as long as you have enough prestige. Karlmann had been working on an elaborate scheme to capture a third kingdom, and raise enough money and prestige to form an empire, but in the end, the three-kingdom plan was wholly unnecessary.
Karlmann continues to be a wise and learned king. He expected some upheaval when he captured East Frankia from the vassals of that kingdom, but it proved straightforward enough to create some duchy titles and hand them out. The bonus is that those dukes now fight amongst themselves, and even in some cases, against neighboring kingdoms for de jure counties. The kingdom of Bavaria has been gradually growing, without Karlmann having to lift a finger.
The biggest event of Karlmann's reign so far has to be the double-whammy of small pox and bubonic plague epidemics that hit his court at the same time. For a moment, things look pretty dire. His sons Hartwig and Adalbert die one after the other. His oldest daughter, Theodelinda caught them both, one after the other, and survived them both, somehow. There's nothing quite like the sinking feeling that your entire dynasty might get wiped out in one event. Thanks to Karlmann's learning, which allowed him to select a half-decent court physician, it did not reach that point.
His oldest son also caught the plague, but survived, and came away with a cool eyepatch:
And Karlmann got to put all of his learning to good use when he single-handedly saved a man's life:
There was also a crusade during this time, which mostly involved the crusaders wandering the desert, seemingly unable to locate the city of Jerusalem:
