Forging Alliances

Now that we've sent off the betrothal request, it should only take a few days for Charlie to respond. As soon as he does, ask him for an alliance.Since she's also Karloman's sister, you can also ask him for a non-aggression pact and then an alliance. Don't worry if he doesn't accept, 99% of the time that mother♥♥♥♥er is dead after 2 years anyway.As soon as Charlie responds, it's time to start demanding tribute. Start with the nearby Count Geir of Rygjafykli.Jade Dragon added the ability for rulers to immediately surrender in tribute wars. Since you are feudal and have decent levies as well as powerful allies to the south, these pathetic tribal rulers will almost always give up without a fight.Edit: WIth the most recent update, 2.8.1, Paradox has made it less likely for rulers to imediately surrender, but you should still be able to easily snowball with your superior feudal leviesand allies to the South. Just be wary of unexpected Saxon attacks.Your reach for tribute wars is two sea zones, which includes rivers (this will be relevant later). For now, go north picking up all the weak rulers on the Norwegian coast.Once that's done, start working your way to the larger tribal rulers. If they put up a fight, call to arms all your tributaries and let them do all the work. One thing: DO NOT MAKE SAXONY A TRIBUTARY. We will deal with them later.If you get called to arms by Charlie or one of your tributaries, you should accept or you will lose the ally/tributary. You don't have to actually help them win, you just have to join superficially. However, once Saxony is defeated you won't want to be in any wars, so choose your wars carefully.If you get attacked by a zealous Saxon vassal, raising your levies and standing in your capital should buy enough time for Karl and your tributaries to come and crush the pagans. Remember, you only have one county; if it falls, you lose automatically. Take out a loan from the jews and hire mercenaries if you need to, but don't dismiss them because we're going to need them later.If you get the opportunity to go on a business venture or debase coins, make sure to do so. Just don't waste all you money investing in ♥♥♥♥ty businesses.Once you have enough gold and tributaries, it's time to go to war with Saxony.