The Later Tales of Alucard II, Duke of So Many Places
Where we last left off, Alucard II had just inherited the Holy Land the Crusaders had so bravely won. The management of these sacred lands now needed to be decided. The Duke was wary of taking on the job of ruling the entire new realm by himself, so he made the wise decision of granting half of Jerusalem to his son, making him Duke of Ascalon. The Pope himself also received the province of Tiberias.
The new Duke seemed set for success, with a power base of his own and the fame and skills to rule it well. All thought him a fitting recipient of Ascalon for his heroism in the Crusade.
Only a short time later, Alucard, Duke of Ascalon and heir to the growing Orsini empire, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 27. His only child Maria became Duchess of Ascalon and the new successor to her aging grandfather.
The child would go on to be raised in the court of Ascalon by sycophants and incompetents, much to the old Duke's horror. What little she'd inherited of her father's virtue was quickly lost beneath the example of half a dozen different guardians of equally repugnant natures.
Even the good news from Jerusalem and Hebron scarcely penetrated the Duke's grief. Their populations had overwhelmingly converted to Catholicism, proving once more the supremacy of the Faith and the skill of the realm's new Court Chaplain, Bjorn the Wise. A while later, Duke Alucard was happy to accept an offer from the Knights Templar to build a stronghold in his lands in Acre. The Holy Land seemed to be on its way to salvation.
In Italy, the Duke did not sit idle. He had taken pieces of Apulia for his vassals already, but it was time to claim that realm for good. With documents and proof for his rightful ownership of the provinces of Apulia, Bari and Foggia appearing from somewhere deep in the Capuan archives, the good Duke was ready. An invasion was launched and the weak Apulians quickly crushed. Apulia was well and truly Orsini.
The Duke was now Duke six times over, and despite grumblings from some of his vassals, seemed to have no intention of giving away such grand titles. He was not unreasonable, of course. A year later the Count of Murcia, his loyal vassal, quite independently conquered a province from the enemies of Christendom, and as his overlord the grand Duke become eligible to style himself Duke of Murcia. This title he did not claim, perhaps seeing it had not been gained by his hands.
Or perhaps old age simply weighed on him. The Duke's health steadily weakened, and courtiers noted he had taken to sleeping late into the afternoon and seeing fewer of his friends and vassals. One morning he simply did not wake up. The reign of Duke Alucard II the Great had come to an end. The House of Orsini would surely never see his kind again. It is said his final words were an enigmatic 'Transylvania... Transylvania...'
The crowns of his Duchies now fell to the young Maria of Ascalon. Though she had many vices and few virtues, time would tell if she could equal his grandfather's legacy and continue to serve His Holiness with glory, piety and fury.
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Not ideal as characters go, but your position should be fairly stable. Everyone's got huge 'Opinion of Predecessor' bonuses, and you can party your way into their hearts as much as you like. You are Duchess of Ascalon, Capua, Salerno, Jerusalem, Apulia, Dioclea, Benevento, and if you like, Murcia.
Save! I hope it works.