Securing the realm
The succession crisis that resulted from the death of my grandfather, King Brian I, unifier of Ireland, has finally settled down. The pretenders of House ua Brian of Munster and House ua Brian of Breifne are dead, the latter by my hand. As the only remaining child of Earl Fáelbe ua Brian of Breifne, I have become queen in lieu of any sons eligible to inherit. It is unlikely that all Ireland will accept my rule without a fight, so I'll need to put my mind toward doing a better job of securing the realm than my late brother and cousin did in their short kingships.
Well, well...now Ireland and Lancaster are ruled by women, joining the long-standing Duchy of Norfolk.
January 19, 1129: Queen Áine is found to be with child.
It seems like my preference for women (which is an in-game trait in Crusader Kings) hasn't stopped me from being dutiful in the creation of heirs with my rather ogrish husband. I suppose it would be a shame to let the crown default back to the ua Brians of Munster by shunning the possibility of children.
And so it begins. Luckily, I am well-loved among most of my people. Petty rebellions like this will simply help me identify who the traitors are.
August 20, 1129: The Queen's first child, a daughter, is born on the eve of the defeat of the Connachtian rebels at Roscommon. The babe is named Máire, after Queen Áine's mother.
October 25, 1129: The Queen is with child once again, as she receives Dubchoclaigh's formal surrender.
That didn't take long. Both in the case of the rebellion, and the second child. Maybe what I'm really turned on by is victory. Sweet, non-gender-specific victory.
May 26, 1130: Queen Áine's first son by her current husband, named Brian, is born.
Ireland's succession laws are Agnatic-Cognatic, meaning a female can only inherit if no eligible sons exist. So even though Brian is younger than Máire, he'll be ahead of her in the line of succession. Crusader Kings doesn't let you just adopt Absolute Cognatic succession (inheritance based on seniority, regardless of gender) unless your culture group supports it. As a Celt, mine doesn't. If it comes down to it, of course, she could always murder her brother like I did.
January 21, 1132: King Grim of England is murdered at 14 by his grandfather, who is crowned King Trond the Accursed. This spurs a new civil war in England, with the rebellion being led by Duke Åle of Oxford and Duke Erlend of Gloucester.
