One game more ~ Another game, another destiny

 I finally got through my first full-length Crusader Kings II campaign as Busy Antium.

Justinian would nod.

 Though - I admit, I cheated. If I were in a war where I could not afford victory, I would cheat myself a sum of tops 10 thousand gold that would boost me through it, which I affectionately dubbed "Jewgold" - Endearingly acknowledging the influence those of Jewish descent held in the medieval banking industry as their faith did not forbid them from practicing usury. I refused to cheat myself more than 10k gold because at that point I might have just typed "Integrate_<territory I want>" in the console and strip the game of any fun it might have been.

 I  fought back the Seljuk invasion that the players are urged to face in when assuming the role of Byzantine Emperor in 1066.

 That Emperor died ten days into the game. But his successor successfully repelled the Muslims. From then on I begin attempting to conquer my way in the balkans to accumulate forces which I would later use against the Muslims. After having completed this goal, I advance onto Sicily where I claim a few provinces before deciding to take up the Crusade once a Kingdom of Jerusalem has sprouted in the heart of the Fatimid Empire (A dynasty which was later replaced by the Vahids). I keep crusading, crusading, crusading (Crusadin' Makes me feel good) until I establish the borders in the former Muslim world that can be seen pictured above. In the later half of the game, one of my vassals declares war on a weakened Jerusalem (Formerly Sicily before I usurped the title of said Kingdom, leaving the south Italian king only with the crown of Jerusalem in hand) - Which held territory including the north of modern-day Libya, remaining provinces in southern Italy and a chunk of the Levant itself.

 My territories in the north-eastern steppes are another tale. Some absolute maniac actually usurped Cumania, and with it that long strip of territory. He went on to wage terror on the Slavic peoples west of him giving him even more territory.

 Normally, the Mongols should've invaded at some point, but I turned their invasion off because I was still doubtful of my ability to wade through the intricate intrigue of a large feudal empire (Turns out all there was to swim through was a thin concoction of knowing when to kill the right character that causes trouble and asking the Hebrews to lend you some money in case a revolt tears the realm in half).

 Earlier in the game I accepted my vassal's demand to switch Imperial succession to elective. I agreed, because I did not want to bother myself with another riot when there was land to blob into. In the long run it was a poor choice because in the very last century my vassals would have a penchant for choosing heirs other than those of my dynasty until my very last ruler of the Doukas dynasty. Having been elected as an already old man and with an another aged Doukas being the only member of the dynasty with a viable chance of becoming Emperor, I decided that there is a point when one has to accept he is on the wrong side of history, sit down, and let the gale of history blow in its desired direction.

 And that direction was the Skleros dynasty. Which only managed to fit one ruler in the remaining timespan the game allowed me to play.

 But I planned on Making Rome Great Again beyond the constraining frane of a mere thirty-decades-short-of-four-centuries. And that would be through the Save Converter to Europa Universalis IV DLC.

 Don't look at me, I (more correctly, my parents, with my consent) unwittingly bought Windows 10 (At an overinflated price, too) not knowing I can't pirate on it without technological literacy.

 And, at the time I first considered the purchase, that DLC was actually on sale. My parents were out in town and happened to call me, so I exploited this opportunity and asked them if they can get me a Paysafecard. My mother - Who I was having the conversation on the phone with - Told me she will definitely try. My parents come home without a card, my father telling me because he had no clue how to operate the machine that dispensed them. Missing the sale didn't sit well with me because I had already previously been on a streak of bad financial choices related to gaming and this was just another check on the tally.

  Still, my mother got it into her head that she has promised me a paysafe, so she will get me a paysafe. She some time in each of last two days searching the city for them when she finished work but told me that all the machines she found seemed to be broken or that they didn't work. That seemed odd, and I assumed that she simply was mistaken on how to work them. I was already guilty that I was using my mother like a metaphorical pack mule despite all the harm she's done within or outside her agency - I told her multiple times she did not have to go all for that paysafe.

 Today I decide to go get myself a paysafe and see if the machine nearest to my house really is broken, and mother was willing to follow me and see if I she was simply unsure how to operate it.

 Turns out she tried putting money in the machine while it was still on the purchase confirmation screen, instead of when it did initiate the money-recieving process. Well, I get myself that paysafe.

 My conscience's not extremely strained because at least I did overtly tell mother I did not want her to go through this. But still, not cool to exploit psychologically sickly people.

 Oh well. I've given in and fed the Paradox DLC machine.

I also kept my technology as high as Imperally possible. Of consequence, the only other nation that belongs to the Western technology group in this game is the Indian state occupying Bangladesh.

 Time to clinch the world and drag it out of the dark ages.