Good morning everyone, and welcome to May 28, 769 AD. The world looks a little different from how you might be familiar with it. It actually looks a little bit like this:



That old guy in the corner? That's me, Petty King Rhys of Deheubarth, of House Morgannwg. I am the Petty King to three territories on the island of Britannia, in the de jure kingdom of Wales. It's those three southernmost territories in Wales - the man in plate armor? He's standing on my capital, Cardiff, Glamorgan.



It's nice, but it's a little small, don't you think? I have my eyes set on some nice, new lands for the people of Deheubarth. In the first image below, to the west, we have the county of Dyfed, led by my archrival Count Maredudd of House Dyfed. We are prepping for the invasion of his lands we speak. To the east, in the second image, there is the county of Gloucester, held by Uhted Oswalding, the self-styled Petty King of Hwicce. My chancellor, Tudwal, is preparing "legitimate" documents which will challenge old Oswalding's claim to the lands.



It's been quiet in the world, as of late, but that's bound to change. High Chief Theodoric of Saxony has already launched an invasion of the chiefdoms of Obotritia and Rana, and an army of some 2,000 Saxon barbarians has met the much smaller force of the Obotritia-Rana alliance in an effort to subjugate the chiefs.



Comment and add any countries you'd like for me to follow and provide updates with on each post. The map goes as far south as Mali and as far east as India.

Following
Deheubarth
Saxony

Add bacon.

Our levies are prepared, and as we enter the new year of 770 we declare war on Count Maredudd, under the Casus Belli of consolidating the de jure petty kingdom of Deheubarth. This rogue - nay, this rebel - will be quickly brought to heel.



Elsewhere in the world...

deus vult

Things have certainly gotten a little strange since our first global look at the map in 769. Let's take a gander:



Wow. Let's go over some winners and losers.

Winners
Karl Karling, King of West Francia - Karl Karling's brother and the king of Middle Francia, Karloman, passed away, and Karl Karling inherited the entire estate of West Francia. He would then use his united West Francia to invade Saxony, which was annexed at the end of 774.

Sjaelland - I don't know the ruler's name yet, but the man has been doing work up in Scandinavia. Relative to its original size, Sjaelland has grown the most out of any country, so far as I can tell.

The Byzantine Empire - Slow and steady wins the race, and though you might not notice it at first, the Byzantine Empire has been carefully expanding into Macedonia.

Losers
Saxony - Wiped from the map, High Chieftain Theodoric is now a vassal subject to King Karl Karling of West Francia.

The Lesser Scandinavian Realms - Scandinavia was anyone's game in 769. Now, it almost seems certain that Sjaelland will be the dominant player for years to come in the region.

Bulgaria - An odd duck, Bulgaria lost some territory to the Byzantine Empire, and has now been torn apart by a rebellion they may not be able to put down.

but where's the bacon

Of course the French blob.

OP, it's your duty to kill the baquette menace before they blob into Scandinavia or Iberia.

Alright so I basically just let it run and I don't know how to recover the narrative. I don't feel like recovering the last 45 years or so, so here's what we're going to do! New campaign, new region, new county.

Also, HORSE LORDS. We're getting the nomadic horses in on this.

So here's the deal, pick one of the following options:

Frankish Duke
Lombard Duke
Scandinavian High Chief
Anglo-Saxon Petty King
Irish Chief
Eastern European Chief
Byzantine Noble (Stratego? I forget their titles)

Other suggestions are also cool.

Anything that results in a Republic.

Be Basque. Spread gender equality through cultural conversion.