MEIOU&Taxes 2.0 Brittany AAR/Mod Showcase -- Part 22: Shores of India

Shores of India

Ah, Nantes has reached 90,000 population, salt production has expanded and the city is richer than ever. Brittany boasts a population of over three million and it keeps growing. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing, I assure you.

This is the first part of 2018 and probably one of the last parts of this AAR overall. And it's good that it ends, I barely had time to write the image descriptions for this part and had to release it week late. A bi-weekly (released twice a week) AAR has degraded into a bi-weekly (released once every two weeks) AAR. It's only going to get worse if I don't end it soon. But that's enough about my lack of time, on with the shitty AAR!

hey idiot Dinan is not located anywhere near Vannes, you put it in the wrong province. Not to mention no notable family came from that place.

Francois, in need of an heir, marries Claudine, who comes from a minor but respectable noble family of Derval. She bears him a son who is christened Charles. It's a popular name in the court of Nantes, isn't it?

The pandemic spreads across France, but its effects are mild in most places. The black death is a thing of the distant past.

The merchants operating in the isle of Bezeguiche are becoming rather wealthy thanks to their trade with the natives. After many years, maybe they'll build some urban infrastructure. I bet they'll decide to construct a fucking warehouse.

A determined trader and ship captain Gwenneg de Rostrenen has hired some Arab merchants to aid him in his quest to discover India. He sails northeast and finds an archipelago, and then... coast. Not just coast, but the shores of India itself. But he only sees them from a distance, before the weather turns for the worse and supplies begin to run out. Disappointed, he sails home.

Meanwhile in Anatolia, the Ottomans are struggling against both a Hungarian invasion and large scale unrest. Operation: Remove Kebab is so far a success.

I fully unlock the Exploration ideas and get an ability to fabricate claims in colonial regions. Utterly useless at the present as I have no colonies, only trade posts.

But hey I do get the right to conquer and subjugate Africans so that's nice I guess

The archbishop especially likes the idea of attacking southern heathens and pagans and demands Francois to declare war. Francois, a calm man, feels uncomfortable about reckless religious zealotry and doesn't care for the archbishop's desire for war.

As Francois Hamon the zealot loses his most important supporter, he is humiliated and marred in controversy. This unfortunately affects Francois as well.

Having heard of Gwenneg's discovery, Francois funds another voyage, rather generously as well. Gwenneg leaves Nantes with a flotilla of ships and sets sail for India.

The controversy around Francois (the archbishop, not the prince) takes a turn for the worse as his opponents demand his removal from office. Francois decides to stay out of the dispute, as he holds no grudge against his namesake.

Francois Hamon's career as an archbishop is cut short. It will take a while for him to receive a successor, so Brittany and its SUPERCATHEDRAL remains without an archbishop.

Gwenneg returns to Nantes with some souvenirs: spice and textiles from India. He had done it, India had been reached and there was indeed a direct sea route to it. Breton merchants ejaculate numerous times when they hear the news and have wet dreams of immense wealth.

Gwenneg initially believed he had arrived in Gujarat which his Arab guides spoke of, but later realizes that he had actually reached the southernmost lands of India and the island of Sri Lanka.

Seriosuly though, that's what I thought. The strait kinda looks like the gulf of Khambat, doesn't it? No? Not at all? Fine I'm an idiot.

Southern India is dominated by Travanacore, a hindu state with a large population and some decent cities. Here you can see pepper being produced in large amounts. All that trade value... *salivates*

Hey the nobles have calmed down a little that's nice

Gwenneg sails west and also finds a sea route to Prester John's kingdom in the mountains. This and the discovery of India make him the most famous explorer in Breton history, and to a lesser extent, European history. He's on par with Vasco da Gama of our history.

A great holy old woman from Treguier, famous for her miraculous ability to heal the sick, has died and now Francois petitions the Pope to elevate her to sainthood.

This event chain is available to catholics only (protestants generally eschew saints and think they're a bit dumb) and can give a province a very neat modifier, Center of Pilgrimage.

Missing Image Description!

Gwenneg reaches the coast of India and discovers the great princedoms of Gujarat and Bahmanis. The locals are Hindu or Muslims and the rival princes are often at war with each other. Gwenneg visits several large and wealthy cities that are important centers of trade. It is a merchant's paradise.

As Bulgarian rebels occupy their rightful lands, Ottomans make peace with Hungary and cede them territory and pay hefty reparations. Contrary to popular belief, the Turks are not invincible.

Radical contrarian cunts spread the word of such abhorrent concepts as "democracy" and "equality of men", and Francois bans the heretical writings from Brittany. He is unable to stop their spread completely and radical reformist communities form in the more autonomous regions of Constentin and Aunis. Some advisors suggested burning the heretics at the stake, but Francois calmly refused to do such a thing.

The colonists in Maputo have begun to acquire ivory from local hunters and selling it at a good price to Gwenneg's exploratory flotilla.

Ewwww heretics

missionaries, get to work!

After initial struggles, the Breton West Africa Company is now doing well and prospering from trade with the Africans.

Francois uses these additional tolls from trade to expand the merchant navy and the workers at Brest's shipyard are once again hard at work.

Lone Livland is attacked by Poland-Lithuania, who refuse to tolerate a Marksist despotate on their border.

Much of Livonian territory is annexed. Catholic minorities rejoice, the markists, not so much. Muscovy then guarantees the independence of Livland to prevent the wealthy city of Riga falling into their rival's hands.

The coasts of the Arabian sea are fully charted by Gwenneg. Francois sends delegates to India to improve relations with the local princes.

One city Gwenneg discovered was Patan, a Dominant Center of Trade. Merchants from all of India come here to engage in lucrative commerce. Bretons must join them and sell exotic goods to Europeans.

This is the highest tier a center of trade can have. Also note how India is not falling behind in tech that much, because the current tech system sucks.

Gwenneg is already a hero and will go down in history as one of the greatest Breton explorers. But his ambitions remain unfulfilled. He decides to discover a second route to India, by sailing west, and then return to Brittany from the east. He will be the first man to sail around the world. Truly, only then he can happily retire, content with his achievements, and write a biography which historians from the distant future will study with great interest and which his children will love to read again and again.

It's Church Council o'clock and this time it will be held in Taranto.

The Counter-Reformation is in full swing but absenteeism remains a problem frustrating catholics and inspiring people to convert.

Francois finances the building of new quarters for merchants in Nantes and invests in the Trade Companies.

According to Britannica.com: "By the early years of the 15th century most European merchant guilds had disappeared into oblivion or survived as attenuated bodies, deprived of any genuine economic function". Yet I can "build" a merchant guild in 1552. Okay, makes sense.

Francois repairs relations with minor landholders by granting them glorious fruit baskets.

FUCK OFF WHY IS IT ONE PERCENT LESS THAN I NEED AARRGH WHY IS IT 31% INSTEAD OF 30%

eh it's not that big of a deal at all as lesser noble disloyalty barely hurts me at all why the fuck should i care

Gwenneg sails west and is never heard from again. The three ships and the sailors he took with him are gone forever as well. Rumours spread in Brittany about sea monsters attacking the fleet and eating him whole.

I did this for roleplay reasons, it's not like I've never tried to circumnavigate the globe before and just lost three valuable caravels because I was dumb, no not at all that's not true

Over the years, word has spread to Brittany as well that a New World has been discovered beyond the western ocean, and that Portugal and Spain have founded colonies there. Merchants in Brittany care not, for they focus on the East and the wealth of India.

hey look an estate loyalty change event

HOLY SHIT 23 LOYALTY

expect an event later which drops the loyalty by 30.

Francois uses this improved relationship to his advantage and demands the nobles to provide corvee labour. Thousands of men are levied to perform public work for the crown.

The once great and wealthy Oyo Empire has collapsed in Africa, its sacked capital city now under the control of the Mali Empire. Oyo is reduced to a rump state.

France no longer wants to rival me, which is good as they should lift their embargo. Knowing the AI, they will rival and embargo me again later, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Francois hires skilled drill instructors to improve the quality of his conscript army.

These Burgundian instructors also bring new tactics for cavalrymen.

The armoured knight has evolved into the Cuirassier, and armoured knight with a gun.

Oh right church councils can fail even without any nearby wars interrupting it, forgot that after so many successful councils.

Denmark annexes the rest of Norway and the Queen flees to her holdings in Iceland. The local humanist heretics who have controlled the island for two centuries are surprised to see her, that's for sure.

Denmark evolves to Denmark-Norway (sorry Sweden there was no space for your name) and the Norwegian rump state is now known as Iceland, although the Queen refuses to have her kingdom called that and still claims the crown of Norway. The humanist heretics in Iceland are slain in droves and exiled as the Queen asserts control over the frozen island.

Apparently Scandinavia isn't a formable nation. Maybe it is and something is wrong, I dunno.

The rump state of Oyo is guaranteed by Kano, another great and wealthy empire that wants to prevent further expansion of Mali, their greatest rival.

The West Africa Company petitions Francois to bring the Oyo cities under his protection, so they are safe from the power struggle between Mali and Kano and so commerce is not interrupted.

Bujadur turns fully catholic as local muslims are baptized and more settlers arrive from Brittany.

In 1556 AD Francois sends a military expedition to Oyo, its objective to occupy the lands, protect vital trade centers and crush any native resistance.

The natives at Warri are politely informed by commander Pierre of Kersauzon that they are now under the pious protection of Prince Francois and that they have nothing to fear. After the province is looted, that is.

The army marches east to occupy the native forts in Iguocha.

As the area was recently annexed by Kano, it has a high degree of local autonomy as well as great unrest. The local garrison is forced to endure a brutal siege as Pierre uses his expertise in siege warfare and his artillery to great advantage.

The garrison surrenders and the province is looted. Many heathens are enslaved, packed inside Breton ships and sold to Portuguese traders, who need slave workers on their newly-founded plantations after the locals mysteriously died of horrific diseases.

To be honest, I have no clue what this modifier means.

Pierre's army marches back west, ignoring Warri which was retaken by the Oyo soldiers garrisoned in Benin, and lays siege to the city which holds the ruler's court: Benin. It is more well defended than Iguocha, but will nevertheless fall swiftly.

The armies of Oyo and Kano are nowhere to be seen after they retreated into the jungles inland.

Francois is a humble, calm and quiet man, never the one to boast of his glory or claim to be the Divine master of Brittany. For some reason this makes people more eager to pay taxes.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

this is like some kind of nightmare, somebody wake me up

The 4D chess tactic of converting to Orthodoxy so you can ally with Muscovy and preserve your independence has backfired horribly.

Edo falls after over four months of siege. Perhaps now the enemy will reveal themselves and stop hiding in the rainforest...

Ah, speak of the devil. Kano has amassed a mighty warhost to drive out the milkskin invaders. Pierre stays in Warri and waits for the perfect moment to strike.

An outbreak of Malaria occurs in the camps and the enemy army is devastated. Because of this, their inferior tech and lack of artillery, they should be easy to defeat. Now is the time to strike.

But the foes realize their vulnerability and retreat back north, abandoning the siege. Without firing a single bullet, Pierre has defeated the enemy.

After attacking the small army of Oyo and making it surrender within minutes, he sends envoys to the ruler of Oyo to negotiate peace. All hostages and 3000 prisoners of war will be returned, a treaty of non-aggression will be signed, Oyo will give the responsibility of protecting a sizeable chunk of their remaining territory to Brittany and they will pay a small amount of war reparations. Fair terms, in Pierre's opinion. The ruler of Oyo reluctantly agrees to the peace offer after a long while of hesitation.

Brittany is victorious.

Responsibility for protecting and administrating the newly captured territory is given to the Breton West Africa Trade Company, who have the right to raise their own police force. Merchants rejoice and thank Francois for his aid.

Having dealt with the rebel scum, Turks clean their bloodied sabres and declare war on Hungary, aiming to retake lost territory.

The Dutch living under the rule of France grow tired of baguettes and declare independence. Unfortunately for them, no one helps them against France, so it is little more than a small-scale rebellion which will be swiftly crushed.

But as the French army is returning order to separatist territory, Burgundy sees an opportunity and invades the Netherlands. If they win, they can connect their holdings in Flanders and Luxembourg.

However, Utrecht and irrelevant HRE states have guaranteed the state and declare war on Burgundy, which in turn calls me to arms. Not to mention that The Emperor Protects. Who will Brittany betray, Burgundy or Utrecht? The latter of course, as the Triad must be preserved.

Meanwhile in Aachen, the protestant leaders of the Empire have gathered and, with the support of the Marksist Habsburg Emperor, abolish the Treaty of Merseburg (this world's equivalent of the Treaty of Westphalia) and declare Marksism the only allowed religion in the Empire, shocking remaining catholic princes. The Bishop of Utrecht, a powerful man, would've loved to voice his (very angry) opinion, but unfortunately he happens to be a bit busy with Burgundy and Brittany.

This explains the weird league shenanigans earlier, where two identical protestant leagues formed.

Note how the Emperor got 100 free IA.

The rebels make peace with their former Liege, but Loeën is not returned under French control, as it is occupied by Burgundy. Not for long though, as the Markist forces of the Empire have arrived.

Turns out there is now war across Europe, as allies of Burgundy and Austria join and Hungray desperately fights against the Turks.

The Breton army, led by Pierre, lands in the small port city of Harlingen and marches west. Meanwhile Burgundians have buggered off somewhere and Neapolitans engage the Imperial forces.

What starts as a small skirmish in the countryside evolves into a full scale battle. Once Pierre and his men come to aid their allies, the enemy is outnumbered and unable to defeat the united army.

The two allied armies separate again and Pierre attacks a decent-sized Austrian army. After a short melee, the enemy surrenders.

Meanwhile in the west, Neapolitans and several companies of Burgundy completely defeat another larger Austrian army and force it to surrender as well.

So many surrenders, it's almost like fighting against the French. *ba-dum tss*

Turns out Burgundy buggered off to besiege Vienna, which they successfully occupy.

That is the final straw for the Emperor who sues for peace. Huge war reparations will be paid and Austria will stay out of the conflict.

Shortly after the peace treaty is signed, the Emperor proclaims "I AM THE LAW" and further centralizes the Empire.

A new chief inherits the throne of Canarias. As you can negotiate a tighter bond and decrease the amount of time it takes to annex them once per ruler, these news are fairly important.

Francois' attempt at requesting integration fails, but it doesn't matter as they will be assimilated in about 8 years anyways.

Hungary lost its entire army against the Turks and are faring poorly in the war, so Spain aids them by paying all their foreign debt.

The fort at the mouth of the Maputo river has become self-sustaining thanks to its surrounding settlement. Time to see where I can colonize next. I think Gwenneg (may he rest in peace) found some good provinces further north.

Ah, perfect, right off the coast of India. And it's fairly historical too as Portuguese founded some settlements here around this period to take advantage of local coconuts to produce coir.

At Loeën, Utrecht and Venice defeat me and Naples in battle against all odds, making us suffer a crushing defeat. Half of our army is gone and we are forced to retreat.

Burgundy is nowhere to be seen, probably still marching back from Austria, as Venice and pals are free to retake lost territory and besiege Burgundian holdings.

A month later the Burgundians return home and drive off the Venetians from their lawn, almost completely destroying their army.

The tide turned against us for a moment, but now victory is a certainty.

i have to do this again just because i needed 6 instead of 5 loyalty

fuck me

the harvest of 1560 is exceptional thanks to gracious weather and so the taxes increase as well. Sadly this doesn't mean additional population growth or anything as it's just an event detached from M&T mechanics.

Pierre returns after licking his wounds and attacks the last remnants of the Dutch forces while Burgundy besieges the enemy. Delegates are sent from Loeën to negotiate peace terms as the Dutch finally abandon any hope of independence.

190,000 people died and dozens of towns and cities were devastated and in the end Burgundy gained one province. TOTALLY WORTH IT

Oh wait they got two, they cucked Utrecht by sealing their capital from the rest of their nation. What a dick move to a former ally.

With Loeën taken, Burgundy is one step closer to unifying its scattered and divided lands.

Utrecht might be mad at Burgundy, but they have no reason to be mad at me (except I occupied and looted several of their provinces and wiped out their army but shush shut up). Francois sends an alliance offer, stating that they shouldn't let some silly dispute about a single province ruin their good relationship. And Utrecht happily accepts, for a coalition of Marksist princes have declared war on them, sensing their weakness.

Monks and missionaries preach aggressively against the small heretic minorities in Brittany and say that there will be no salvation for them if they do not convert. Francois supports their activities, while harshly judging any religious violence against heretics.

Utrecht calls me to war and I accept, lest the last bastion of Catholicism in the Empire fall.

Mark, Lippe and Tecklenburg are all allied marksist states neighbouring Utrecht, and are supported by the mighty protestants of Stettin. Utrecht gets help from Catholic Mainz and the Protestant free city of Erfurt, as well as Brittany. It is very much a religious war, albeit Erfurt doesn't seem to give a fuck.

Stettin's fleet attacks my transports which I didn't protect, as I assumed that Stettin had a laughable navy. They kinda do, but it's still strong enough to hurt my transport fleet.

The drafted merchant fleet arrives just in time to drive back the attackers and allow Pierre and his army to land safely.

The former ruler of Kotte, the largest city on Sri Lanka, has approached Breton envoys, pale men who come from a distant land with advanced heavily armed ships. He tells them of how Travanacore recently annexed his lands and forced him to escape from his home with his family. He asks for the ruler of the Bretons to aid him retake his city, and in return he will be an ally for life. The envoys promise to take the message back to Nantes.

I take a mission to capture a city to form a base for the India Trade Company. Right now I'm somewhat busy so it can wait.

Pierre's army captures Mark, the capital of Mark, and moves south to relieve the siege of Falkenstein.

Kind of funny, the protestants are besieging the birthplace of protestantism.

The Markish army surrenders and thousands of soldiers are taken prisoner. Meanwhile Tecklenburg surrenders to the army of Mainz besieging them and the lands of the Count are ceded to the Bishopric of Utrecht.

Back in Brittany, Renaissance embraced by Francois lifting the ban on classical works, improving education and hiring many artists and philosophers. Mostly because much of the nobility and clergy had already done so, not because he was a humanist.

Speaking of institutions, casual literacy is spreading slowly thanks to Köln not having a center of art and Kurköln being catholic. At least the protestant provinces to the east are getting it.

Conakry is colonized and much of the population is already catholic thanks to aggressive missionary work.

The recent acquisitions from Oyo are mostly catholic as well, which surprised me as I didn't send any missionaries there.

Francois is happy about the success of missionaries and decides to fund a church expedition to the island of Madagascar, which is divided between a number of pagan chiefdoms.

Mark capitulates and cedes territory to Utrecht, which will get to work immediately and hopefully convert the marksist populace. The Prince-Bishop of Utrecht is deeply grateful and says he'll always be in debt to Francois.

Lippe was annexed during the war as well.

G R O O T U T R E C H T

The Pope finally decides to beatify the saint of Treguier.

Francois takes advantage of this and funds the construction of a new cathedral in Treguier named after the Saint. This will hopefully attract many pilgrims and increase the prestige of Brittany. Inside the cathedral is the supposed tailbone of the holy woman.

Hundreds if not thousands flock to Treguier to visit the cathedral and see and touch the tailbone, hoping they will be cured of all diseases. Local peddlers and merchants make a profit as does Francois and the local nobility taxing commerce.

Note how Bro Dreger is my wealthiest province, thanks to its high population and massive hemp production. This single province is producing almost 10% of all hemp in the ENTIRE WORLD.

Some Finns are understandably not happy about being annexed by Orthodox Russians who are somewhat less tolerant than the former Finnish king. Further south the catholics of Livonia and Saaremaa revolt against their Danish heretic overlords.

The King of France uses his influence in the Curia to arrange a church council in Bourges, otherwise known as Berry. When Francois hears of this he hesitates, but decides to not boycott the council. He is a calm man, after all, and does not intend to annoy France.

The Pope is thankful for Francois' missionary work in Africa, and the cardinal of Nantes dies.

I notice that for some inexplicable reason Spain has moved its capital again, this time to Cadiz.

Note how the heretic minorities in Cadiz are tolerated and not persecuted, so their icons don't have flames in them. Tolerating heretics is wise when half of your country is heretical.

The council of Berry begins and after enjoying wine perhaps a little too much the delegates begin arguing about reforming the problems of the church.

Turks are doing well against the Hungarians, but then Naples declares war on them (more precisely, they attacked Thessaly, whose independence was guaranteed by the turks) and Poland-Lithuania joins as well. Good job Padishah Yusuf, you're at war with all of Eastern Europe now.

At Berry, finally absenteeism is reformed by the banning of pluralism. No more crappy substitute bishops.

"the nobility often saw bishoprics as sinecures for their landless sons rather than actual professions, and would secure a bishopric for their sons to ensure he had an income".

This reminds me of CK2. So this is why the Pope wants Papal investiture? Huh. Well what the fuck am I supposed to do with my annoying landless sons then? Kill them? Oh wait that's a good idea actually nevermind

Apparently the nobles of France don't like the idea of killing their landless sons and riot when they hear of the decisions of the church council.

The amount of timber imported to Brittany has doubled in recent years, meaning more money is drained from the coffers.

I could pass a law to reduce the unrestricted cutting of forests so more can be grown for the needs of the navy, which would piss of people and reduce rural production as farmers can't clear forests for more fields. But it would cost more than the current level of timber importation, so for now it can wait.

Charles is not exactly competent, and has always been fond of acquiring wealth for himself, perhaps too much. Francois is too calm and shy to punish his son for his greed, and so allows him to indulge in his sins.

Hungary was winning a great victory against the Hungarians, but Naples put a wrench in their works and now Turks are forced to make peace without retaking any territory.

Another explorer, Padrig de Kerellec, sails around the tip of India and reaches the Bay of Bengal.

Unable to defeat the Neapolitans, the Turks make peace with them and leave Thessaly to its fate.

Padrig discovers more wealthy and large kingdoms and empires, as well as the westernmost edge of the Majapahit empire.

No Bill Wurtz references in the comments, thank you.

Press F to pay respects

Naples easily defeats Thessaly, annexes their mainland holdings and force them to convert.

oh fuck not this again please game calm down

Francois goes on a visit to Brugge and prays with the Duke of Burgundy in the local cathedral. This improves their relations.

But one of the other two events is not so happy. It's the opposite: Grim.

Charles goes out to hunt in a small forest some distance away from Nantes, but never returns. His assistants tell Francois that he went after a particularly large stag, claiming that he would shoot it himself and put his head above a fireplace in the Princely château of Nantes. But ultimately, his greed proved to be his downfall.

Francois, usually a calm and stoic man, is overwhelmed by sorrow and loudly mourns the passing of his son.

At last, it is time to choose a new archbishop. Francois absentmindedly selects one candidate who seems competent.

Philippe Crespin du Bec, the bishop of Vannes, is chosen to be the new Archbishop of Nantes. He is experienced and well-read, so despite his understandable lack of focus Francois chose well.

The church council of Berry comes to an end, and absenteeism is now a thing of the past.

Padrig's fleet is forced to sail south because of a tropical storm, and ends up discovering a desolate southern land which is dubbed Terra Australis.

Some minor landowners acquire enough land and prestige that they might rise to the ranks of greater nobility. While Francois would be happy to let this happen, his advisors warn about strengthening the greater nobility and so he decides to cease issuing titles to those worthy of receiving them. This, of course, angers them and worsens the stability of Brittany.

Far in the east, Bengal is getting gang banged by its neighbours. Have I discovered the Mamluks/Bohemians of India? It seems like every continent has one failed state that keeps getting fucked in the ass.

Padring explorers the many isles southeast from India. He is certain that the famed Middle Kingdom is somewhere nearby.

Francois has some lewd thoughts when he sees a hot chick and later confesses to a bishp about his grave sin. Unfortunately this means that Brittany will continue to lack an heir.

is that meme where a guy walking with a woman looks at another woman's butt while his companion glares at him in shock still dank? because this would be the perfect opportunity to post it.

The port of Nantes is crowded and full of traders and sailors, so crowded that there's no more free space. Francois begins a large and expensive construction project where he expands the docks and increases their capacity.

Canarias is fully assimilated and I can now begin annexing them. I forgot to show this option earlier, the "integrate subject"-button, so here it is. It's another way of quickening the assimilation process.

Annexation still costs diplo and time, but less so than in vanilla.

Padrig finds many empires and kingdoms in the isles and discovers the full extent of the mighty Majapahit empire.

W H A T T H E F U C K

remember when I asked what could possibly go wrong? THIS COULD HAPPEN

I wanted a proper famine in continental Europe, but I'm not sure if I'm happy about finally getting it.

The past decades of growth, prosperity, good harvests, peace and commerce have made the population of France and Brittany grow rapidly. But the growth was too rapid and now the harvest has failed, food prices soared and now hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are starving.

You can alleviate the effects of famine by spending cash and admin, presumably to buy food from abroad and distrubuting it to those in need. Sadly I just spent all my money on a trade dockland and I refuse to take several loans.

When Francois hears of the famine, he remains calm and says everything will turn out fine as God has surely blessed him and his subjects.

The peasants disagree and the stability of Brittany drops once more.

I'm surprised only two of my provinces got harsh famines, as pretty much all of my principality is above ideal rural population. Bro Dreger especially. Maybe God blessed us after all.

The summer of 1567 was exceptionally dry and hot in mainland Europe, leading to failed harvests, lowered food production, death of cattle and finally a massive increase in the price of food. The price increase even affected Spain, which did not suffer from bad weather, albeit they only have food shortages.

The english laugh on the other side of the channel and enjoy their full bowls of porridge and big loaves of freshly baked bread. Some merchants make a profit by selling food at a low price to starving folks in France.

Here you can see how rural density is pretty high in some areas, especially in Brittany. Which is why I'm surprised about the somewhat milder effects of the famine. But I assure you that tens of thousands of people will still die.

Constentin is the most populous province and now gets hit the hardest.

Famine also affects local wealth as people buy expensive food to stay alive.

Chief Pelinor swears fealty to Francois and is granted the title Duke of Canarias. The isles become an official state inside Brittany. Port Charles grows in importance as it is the nearest port to the Canarias.

I finally unlock the last asceticism ideas and get some very nice bonuses.

40,000 people have perished in Constentin because of the famine. The total death toll already exceeds 100,000. It might continue to grow. God help us.

And so this part comes to an end. Expect 1-2 more parts and get hyped for M&T version 2.02, which is coming 15th of January and will include big changes. See ya later, hopefully next saturday. No promises though.