Rurik and the Kievan Rus

Overview

The Slavic people lived in constant fear of their Suomenusko, Tengri and Romuva neighbors. Unable to agree upon one King, the Slavic rulers foolishly waged war on each other. Brother killing brother, fighting for power, hoping that in the end the victor will become King, but alas King of a weak realm he would be. And so, as it was the age of the Vikings, the wise rulers of Novgorod asked their distant cousins for protection and safety. In exchange they would honor them with the highest of their titles, bathe them in riches and as long as the Slavs could keep their culture and faith they would call the Vikings their lord and master. A Viking by the name of Rurik answered their pleas. Little did they know that Rurik would become their savior and their hero; And his name would become immortal and mark the first chapters of Russian history.

Introduction

The Byzantine Empire

Suomenusko Tribes

Tsardom of Russia

Word from Author

Of course the random events in your playthrough may force you to adapt and therefor abandon this walkthrough (Rurik might die or perhaps an important war will be lost), but take this walkthrough as a guideline for how to create the Russian Empire as Rurik and how to keep it intact for future generations.
Even if things will go terribly wrong, it’s not too late to restart the game and try again.
Rurik will always have the Brilliant Strategist, Quick, Gregarious, Ambitious, Just and Brave trait, but his military trait will be different. I recommend to restart the game until he has the Organizer, Unyielding or Siege Leader trait. With one of these, his conquest campaigns will be much more easier.

THANK YOU for taking the time and reading my detailed Crusader Kings II (2.3.2) guide!

While obviously this walkthrough is not historically accurate, I took inspiration from actual events[en.wikipedia.org]. The Rurikids did successfully defend the lands from all outside threats, they raided the Byzantine Empire, conquered Kiev to make it their capital (hence the name Kievan Rus) and introduced Christianity to the Russian people.

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I wish you good luck in your Crusader Kings II playthrough and beware of the Horde!