(I played and wrote about these events more than a week ago. As of this morning, I’ve played this game as the Duke of Chariton to 2701, so there’s plenty more to come.)

Deeds of the Dukes of Chariton

III: War and Rebellion
January 2670 – April 2676

In April 2670, Duke Truman purchased an indulgence from the Pope, and news of the pope granting absolution reached Duke Truman near Des Moines mere days before King Franklin summoned his vassals to war, announcing his intent to return Rock Island to Iowan rule.

In late April 2670, Rose, the young wife of Duke Truman’s marshal, was the subject of salacious rumors after she was supposedly seen in a compromising position with the Count of Thompson, who was 22 years her elder. In early June, Rose died after a brief illness.

In June 2670, heathens from Michigan raided the country near Hannibal.

In July of that year, Count Napoleon requested to be allowed to duel his rival, Duke Truman’s marshal, over affronts to his honor. Duke Truman allowed the duel.

Duke Truman’s marshal, a man named Phineas, would later marry Maisy, a woman from the Canonate of Boone, part of the Boonslick Republic (also known as the self-styled State of Missouri).

In September, the heathens from Michigan who had pillaged Count Hamilcar’s lands were raiding near Ottumwa, so Duke Truman sent orders to muster men from his lands around Kirksville in order to defeat the pagans. 600 Chariton men under the command of Count Hamilcar and Lavon Graham marched north from Kirksville to Ottumwa and met the 500 Northmen near Ottumwa, where they were also joined by 500 men led by the Canon of Shoquoquon.

The 1000 Iowans met the Northlanders south-east of Ottumwa in early November. Count Hamilcar commanded the Duke of Chariton’s men on the Iowan left, while Canon Flint of Shoquoquon commanded his men in the Iowan center. After putting the Northlander scouts to flight by his vastly superior numbers, Count Hamilcar joined the Canon of Shoquoquon in attacking the Northlander center.

On November 24, His Holiness Praised-Be died in battle against the heathen King Louis of Louisiana at the age of 48. The College of Cardinals quickly elected Pleasant Cottonclad, the Abbot of Doniphan (a vassal of the Duke of Lead Belt, in southern Missouri).

Upon his hasty election, the 31-year-old new Pope, who had been commanding troops near Rapides in Louisiana, assumed the name of Cruxipher.

The Northlanders, after their defeat in the Battle of Ottumwa, fled north toward Prairie Rapids and were pursued by Canon Flint of Shoquoquon and Duke Truman’s men.

In December, the Iowans fought the fleeing Northlanders in the Battle of Waterloo. 985 Iowans led by Canon Flint of Shoquoquon, Count Hamilcar, and Lavon Graham defeated 200 Northlanders, slaying 55 heathens at the price of only 14 Iowans killed or wounded. The surviving Northmen fled south, once again pursued by Duke Truman and Canon Flint’s men. The Northmen fled to their ships on the Mississippi River and Duke Truman ordered his men to return to their homes in mid-January after establishing that the Michiganders no longer posed a threat.

In early March 2671, Rock Island fell to King Franklin, and in late April Count Zerubbabel Oto of Kanesville, who had married one of Duchess Evanora’s sisters, died of poor health at the age of 41. He was succeeded as Count of Kanesville by his infant son Saul.

Prince Franklin of Iowa, King Franklin’s first child, was born on June 8 2671 and resembled his Cherokee mother.

In July there were tidings of rebels against King Ned of Platte taking refuge in the young Count of Kanesville’s lands and of Revelationists rebelling against Duke Joezer of Waxhaw in the lands once known as Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas.

In December 2671, Duke Calvin of the Quad Cities surrendered Rock Island and all of his lands to King Franklin of Iowa, who generously allowed the former Duke and Duchess of the Quad Cities safe passage to join their daughter in Sioux City.

On February 4, 2672 Count Hamilcar Barck of Hannibal died of a heart attack at the age of 49 years. He was succeeded as Count of Hannibal by his son Hannibal, who Duke Truman appointed as Marshal on account of his renowned combat prowess and skill at commanding men.

In April 2672 Duke Truman began improving the fortifications of his castle at Maryville.

In late August of that year, Duke Poynter Adams-Farwell of Driftless, the Lord Chancellor of Iowa, made known his intent to reduce the power of King Franklin.

In late September 2672, the improvements to Duke Truman’s castle were complete, adding arrow slits to the moat and palisade that already existed.

In late October, Prince Eustace of Iowa (King Franklin’s younger brother) began working to put himself on the Iowan throne.

On February 15 2673, King Franklin and Queen Tsiyi’s second son Peter was born. Unlike his older brother, he more closely resembled his father.

In mid-March 2673, Duke Truman purchased an indulgence from His Holiness Cruxipher.

In late April 2673, after his daughter Fairuza had reached the age of 6 years, Duke Truman decided that Duchess Evanora could take charge of Fairuza’s education as a proper lady.

On May 3, 2673 King Franklin of Iowa announced his intent to return Sioux City and its surrounding lands, ruled by the heathen King Tasinagi of Lakotah, to Iowan rule and called up the levies of his vassals. King Tasinagi of Lakotah is recorded to have been ruling the lands once known as the Dakotas since 2644, but his rule was only effective in the southern Dakotas. The northern Dakotas was ruled by various Americanist and Norse minor chieftains. (March 7)

In December 2673, Duke Truman’s eldest daughter Fairuza was betrothed to Prince Ned of Platte, the eldest son and heir of King Ned of Platte. King Ned’s daughter Petunia had been his heir prior to the birth of her younger brother, but she died of pneumonia in August 2673 at the age of 19 years after having two children with her husband Josiah Leitner, the heir to the Duchy of Great River.

Sioux City fell to the Iowan army in late December 2673, and Northmen out of Michigan raided Atchison in the Duchy of Kansas and St. Joseph in the County of Bluffwoods on the Duchy of Chariton’s southwestern border.

In July 2674, the mother of the young Baron of Le Mars (a vassal of the Mayor of Sioux City) was imprisoned by King Franklin of Iowa after Le Mars surrendered to the Iowan army. On July 15 2674 King Franklin’s third son Cole, who resembled his Cherokee mother, was born.

In August 2674, Duke Poynter of Driftless agreed to tutor Duke Truman’s second daughter Evanora, who was sent to meet her new guardian at Cedar Rapids, where Duke Eustace of Iowa (King Franklin’s younger brother) had his seat and Duke Poynter was working to improve relations between King Franklin and his younger brother.

In late October, the Lakotah king’s army had laid siege to Sioux City, and King Franklin’s army marched from Rock Rapids to attack King Tasinagi’s army under the walls of Sioux City in early November. The Iowan and Lakotah armies were roughly equal in size, as both contained around 2500 men, and in the Battle of Sioux City some 600 Iowans and 1700 Lakotahns were killed or wounded. The Lakotah army retreated to Rock Rapids and were pursued by the Iowan army.

On December 10, King Franklin made his youngest brother Count Glen of Decorah a vassal of Duke Poynter of Driftless, thus addressing a complaint Duke Poynter had previously made to King Franklin regarding Count Glen’s position as a direct vassal of King Franklin rather than his proper position as a vassal of Duke Poynter according to the agreement Duke Poynter made with the first King Franklin after doing homage for Dubuque and the Duchy of Driftless.

The Battle of Estherville, fought in December 2674 near an old monastery that had been taken over by the heathen and made into a temple, 1900 Iowans defeated 800 Lakotahns. About 20 Iowans were killed and wounded, while almost 300 Lakotahns were killed and wounded.

In January 2675, Duke Truman began to improve the fortifications of his castle at Maryville.

The Lakotah army, after its defeat at Estherville, retreated west, and after being pursued by King Franklin’s army the two armies met near Tea, where some 1800 Iowans fell on the 500 Lakotahns. The battle of Tea was similar to the battle of Estherville, as fewer than a score of Iowans were killed or wounded, while some 400 Lakotahns were killed or wounded before they retreated. Among the wounded were King Tasinagi, whose loss of a foot would earn him the nickname “the Lame”, and King Tasinagi’s son and heir, Prince Canowicakte, who had commanded a flank of the Lakotahn army until a severe head wound from an Iowan axe left him bedridden and unable to command.

In April 2675, the Battle of Sisseton saw 1900 Iowans attack 600 Lakotahns. Some 400 Lakotahns were killed and wounded at the cost of about 60 Iowans.

As King Franklin’s army advanced through Lakotah, it was learned that Northmen from Minnesota and the northern Dakotas were also attacking King Tasinagi and Prince Canowicakte, King Tasinagi’s only child, had died in bed in May 2675.

In June 2675, King Tasinagi of Lakotah and King Franklin of Iowa made peace, and King Tasingi agreed to cede Sioux City and the surrounding lands to King Franklin.

The next month the young Baron of Le Mars paid the ransom for his mother, who had spent one year in the captivity of King Franklin.

In August 2675, Duke Eustace of Iowa made known his interest in assuming the Iowan throne.

After his sixth birthday, Duke Truman’s son Lyman was sent in December 2675 to be educated by Count Hannibal of Hannibal.

In March 2676, Duke Truman learned that Count Napoleon of Thompson was attempting to fabricate a claim on the Duchy of Chariton and ordered some of his men, led by Count Hannibal, to take Count Napoleon into custody. Count Napoleon managed to escape Duke Truman’s guards and raised his banner in rebellion.