It's been about six weeks coming, but we're all really grateful for your patience, because today's release is a big one. We finally got the much-needed overhaul of governments and succession laws done, which is a big step towards a properly optimised mod.

Without further ado, here is Experimental Release 97, featuring:

Optimisation
- Full overhaul of government potentials - many realms have different government now
- Corresponding full overhaul of succession laws
- Some fixes imported from CleanSlate
- Cleanup around job titles and some of their actions
- Retiring the 'is Muslim' trigger - the Calishite faith may play slightly more like other Faerûnian religions now

Graphics
- More than 80 new static portraits
- Diversified Dekanter, Tasloi and Batiri portraits
- New Elder Brain portrait set
- New loading screens
- Religious garb now varies by patron deity and class
- Lots of subtle adjustments to portrait rendering
- Additional death type icons
- Icons for all patron traits that lacked them
- Canon heraldry for Barze

Nicknames
- More nicknames added
- Characters who transition gender while having a gendered nickname will now get it replaced

Character history
- Lots of new characters, including dynasties for previously isolated courtiers
- Lifespan adjustments for lots of existing characters
- Historical vampire spawn now remember who spawned them
- Relatedly, Saestra Karanok now actually does the thing she's notorious for
- Aylin and Isobel's happy ending has been upgraded
- Luna's Silver Blood now has a bloodline
- Past Meisarchs of Amn get their correct titles
- More custom titles for other historical characters too

Title history
- Three more dwarfholds
- Kadar and the Nine Council use Divine Elective succession
- New history details in the Western Heartlands

Diversity
- Genies, fiends, and celestials get diverse courtiers

Gameplay
- Long-lived species have reduced disease chances
- More people can now worship the Abeiran primordials
- Some groundwork for future warlock-patron interactions
- Candidates in Nomadic Elective succession must be inside the realm
- Vendettas can only be declared within diplomatic range
- Changes to the celestial summons for some cultures
- Sahuagin CBs are now range-limited

Map
- Aerie of the Snow Eagles is now part of Angalpuk duchy
- Ibelgrak Valley split out from Angalpuk as its own duchy
- Brynwood is now a forest, as it should be
- Commonwealths are now orange

Localisation
- Government flavour updated
- Cooldown timers explained better
- No more 'semper ubi sub ubi'
- Katakoro Plateau region correctly identified
- Warnings about attacking co-religionists no longer assume your religion is a denomination of a wider faith
- Rivals will now accuse each other of being alienists, not witches
- No more references to Purgatory in the English localisation
- Hlal's aliases will work correctly
- Bug fixes
- Only adults can appoint apprentices
- Barbarian Adventure CB should now work as intended, with better AI control
- Localisation broken by case-sensitivity should be fixed now
- No more name-swapped murders
- Lots of small fixes

As ever, please enjoy and let us know any feedback!

Today we have have not one but two announcements for you.

Firstly, the awesome Silversweeper has produced the first version of a new submod (check out the Paradox forum for ck2 user modifications) to let you recruit custom adventurers, to bring your own favourite characters into the game. We enthusiastically support this development!

Secondly, it's time for another experimental release! Experimental 96, out today, offers:

Culture
- Easting culture (in the Vast) split off from Impilturan
- Rakasta culture (as a form of Tabaxi) added as a minority in Easting culture
- Corbie culture (as a form of Tengu) added
- cultural diversity for drow and duergar added

Religion
- Decadence really removed this time
- Limits placed on AI joining secret religious movements

Casus Belli
- The Liberate Nomad Duchy CB now applies to more regions

Map
- Two new regions defined - the Ride and the Land of the Lions

Character history
- New characters in the Vast, including two Heralds
- New details in Daggerdale, including a new holder

Lore
- Nearly 200 new nicknames

Graphics
- Avatars have different eye effects from Chosen
- New death icon for going to another plane

Localisation
- Better warrior lodge cultural loc
- Lots of fixes
- Copy-editing to add Realms flavour and remove real-world references

Optimisation:
- Old patron events deleted
- Planetouched type assignment overhauled
- Council power laws updated
- Nomadic tribal laws displayed
- New scripted triggers for governments

Bugfixes:
- No more error spam from the Raid CB
- Barbarian Adventure outcome cleaned up
- No level-ups for fully dead people
- Correct scope for law additions in maintenance events
- AI characters will correctly refuse conversion in many more scenarios
- Restoring the Lotus Throne should now work correctly
- Various other events and decisions tweaked
- Employment dates in character history fixed to reflect recent changes
- Evil reformation options for orc and goblin faiths now exclude their opposites correctly

Enjoy!

Hi - we have another experimental release for you today, with some bug fixes and some other changes and enhancements we think you'll like.

Religion:
- Decadence is turned off for all religions
- The group formerly known as Akalaic is now called Stygian
- The group formerly known as Unenlightened is now called Ka
- The Thasmudyanic faith is now in the Stygian group, where it should be
- The Interloper faith's deity-specific enemies should now work properly
- Patron selection decision tidied up

Culture:
- The selection of cultures for random worlds should now be better
- The Celestial Sea culture group is now called Han, reflecting its canon origins
- The Bawani culture is now in the Malatran group, as it is not of Han origin and is more similar to Mahasiswa
- Gur councillor events have correct triggers
- The pirates of Jahaka Bay are Nelanthern cultured, so as to be actual pirates

Map:
- Zakhara de jure rework: Empires of the Great Sea, Yehimal, and Segara replace Outer Zakhara, Utter East, and Yikarian Empire respectively; Crowded Sea has different extent
- Yikarian Empire is now titular instead
- Dragonisle is the de jure capital of both Pirate Isles titles
- Adjustments to geographical regions, including new Yehimal and Segara Sea regions

Character history:
- Amn rework finished - lots of new characters, and a different selection of patrician houses in various dates
- Lots of character histories adjusted
- New nicknames, especially for members of the Obarskyr dynasty
- Minthara is a paladin

Graphics:
- Mari hair adjusted

Localisation:
- More culture descriptions
- More real-world references removed
- Better localisation for some religions
- A lot of typos fixed

Optimisation:
- Monster cleanup event now more organised
- Bhaalspawn events now use a counter rather than cached trait checks
- Therianthrope and vampire infection now use saved targets
- Decision conditions tidied up
- Council power law optimisation begun

Bugfixes:
- The nicknames list is working properly again
- The Barbarian Adventure casus belli should no longer cause major lag; if you see it doing things it shouldn't, please let us know

And here's wishing you all a happy 2024. We'll be back in the new year with more updates, but for now - enjoy!

Another small update today, with experimental release 94, but it fixes several crucial bugs:

History
- A new historical Magister
- Some title history glitches fixed

Culture
- More cultures have descriptions

Wonders
- Raurindi culture can build pyramids
- Hindu temple removed completely
- Burial ground upgrades correctly flagged
- New 'barrow' upgrade for stone circle

Nicknames
- Yet more nicknames

Bugfixes
- Reduced lag due to 'Cuckold' nickname
- Historical wonders correctly flagged and barred from being duplicated
- You can now safely join the Black Network if you hold, or are vassal to, the Zhentarim title
- Generated barons' culture will no longer be wrongly randomised, but will instead be fixed
- Block some god names from changing when they shouldn't
- Lots more loc fixes
- Vanilla mercenary princess gets her correct troops
- Sending concubines to Shou Lung reflects the emperor's sexuality
- You cannot send creatures with unusual reproduction to Shou Lung as concubines or eunuchs, nor those without hands as commanders
- There won't be a release this coming weekend - enjoy yourselves and have a good holiday if you're celebrating.

A smaller update today, but an important one. We had a reported bug that starting on any date in 1369 would cause a crash. We have identified the error, and fixed the underlying issue, which was that dragon hoards were conflicting with other wonders. Full change log:

Titles:
- The Holycoin of Waukeen will now lead the Mercantile faith

Characters:
- More Amnian characters added and improved
- More nicknames
- Lots of special titles, too
- House Dralas and other Thayan connections corrected

Title history:
- As well as Amnian and Mercantile additions, new title holders in Everlund, Calling Horns, Riders to the Sky

Optimisation:
- Council power laws finished
- Succession laws started
- Summoned creatures will check if they should go home more often

Bugfixes:
- Avatar events and religious reformation now correctly update religions' god lists
- Dragon hoards will not spawn in place of other wonders, thereby preventing crashes
- Missing gods added
- Voting tooltips fixed
- Missing coat of arms added
- The Seven Sages will no longer wander the planes if they have ruled for a long time

It's been a little while, but we've got another update for you. There's a new personality trait, so this update will definitely break your saves - finish your current games before downloading.

Here's what we've got:

Optimisation:
- Demesne laws including status of women
- Obligation laws
- Council power laws
- Crown laws

Cultures:
- Added Gurri, Raurindi, and Barovian cultures
- More cultures have descriptions

Religion:
- The Abyssal Cult now counts as evil at last
- Vandria Gilmadrith isn't evil, but she's no longer good either

Titles:
- The historic duchy of Pelmarin and marquessate of Enzo exist, and the latter is playable
- The Order of the Aster stands ready to defend the Solar faith
- The Oxventure Guild can be hired
- The Guardians of Daggerford are on hand too
- Reef Giants now have enatic-cognatic succession, as they should

Events:
- Summoned creatures now get properly announced
- If the Lotus Throne is taken by an unsuitable holder, it will be destroyed
- Lowborn fiends and oni will not generally be promoted automatically
- Ardlings will only spawn under much more specific conditions
- Long-lived characters with more than one reason to live long will still age properly
- Courtiers can die in a wider and more appropriate range of horrible accidents
- Rulers who would be pleased with a gate to Baator will no longer get the opportunity to close one

Traits:
- Loyalty is now appropriately recognised

Decisions:
- An appropriately qualified person can restore the Lotus Throne if it does not exist
- You can no longer join the elven Retreat while at war
- Extracting secrets should now be beneficial to the perpetrator

Societies:
- Dark elves can join the elven warrior lodge if they otherwise qualify

Character history:
- Partial rework of Amn - new title holders, better dynasty trees - more to follow
- Overhaul of interregnum-era Tethyr, lots of horrible new playable characters
- History changes in Impiltur - no effect on play
- Lots of new minor characters
- Lots of tweaks and improvements to existing characters
- Luna's surname is now Silverblood (thank you, BG3 data-miners)
- Arilyn Moonblade's life is a bit more colourful
- Abdel and Imoen will no longer be falsely imprisoned
- Kyriani Agrivar retires to Red Cliffs
- The Dark Urge will now haunt Baldur's Gate from a more appropriate date
- Some of the other Baldur's Gate 3 origin characters will now be a bit more... in-character

Casus belli:
- Count-tier barbarians can now undertake great adventures, and the localisation says so
- Bahamutans can smite evil, and fiends can be smote
- Pagan subjugation should now work as intended

Nicknames:
- Lots of new nicknames added, including most of the ones from Nicknames+++
- Rulers are less likely to be called 'the Boy King', and less likely to be stuck with it for life

Graphics:
- The Dark Urge now has only the right number of horns
- Several missing patron/branch icons added
- Merchant characters will not try to wear too many different kinds of headgear at once

Localisation:
- More cultural title localisations
- References improved for deities including Shar, Malar, Vlaakith, Tchazzar, and Zaerith Menyar-ag-Gith
- Half of the Katakoro Shan will now be referred to as the Ghalyi Shan

Bug fixes:
- A stray pixel will no longer disrupt wayfinding
- Lots of localisation has been fixed, including removing real-world references
- Experts invited from Shou Lung will retain their original cultures instead of converting
- Eunuchs and dead people are less concerned about matters of reproduction
- Experience totals now have localisation
- Bhaalists can now, as promised, plot to murder their children and sworn-siblings
- A lot of provinces which are underground are now in the Underdark region

We've got more planned, as ever. I'm currently looking at another experimental release in two weeks, but we'll keep you posted.

Enjoy!

Another big experimental release today. Like the last one, this one breaks saves, so be prepared to start anew after downloading it. And we'd like to give advance warning that the next release is also likely to break saves too. And so, without further ado, the changes:

Rules:
- You can now control the use of static portraits for lore characters by means of a game rule.

Wonders:
- Big expansion of wonders - many of these have not been rigorously tested in gameplay, so we welcome your feedback
- New 'Great City' wonder
- New 'Wizard Tower' wonder
- Dragonborn cultures can now build the 'Great Djerad' instead of the Great Fortress. It's mechanically equivalent, but graphically distinct.

New upgrades:
- Divine literature collection
- Arcane literature collection
- Psionic literature collection
- Planar literature collection
- Public library
- Subterranean passages
- Deeper dungeon level
- Wing of wizardry
- Fogou
- All generic historical wonders converted to specific versions

New historical wonders:
- Waterdeep, City of Splendours
- Huzuz, City of Delights
- Kuo Meilan, City of Ghosts
- The Words of Heaven at Tanghai (placed in Meinan to get it on the map)
- Temple of Saigai
- Djerad Thymar
- Amaunator's Eternal Sun at Elversult
- The Companion at Elturel (no story event for it yet, we know it needs one)
- The Raging Flame at Tarmalune
- Shoonach
- Myth Drannor, City of Song
- Skyclave
- Towers of Rog'osto
- University of Qadib
- Fortress of Qudra
- Citadel of Thaymount
- Glaur, Dominions of Nehu

Character history:
- Full rework of Waterdeep, especially from the late 14th century onward. About a dozen new playable patricians, including the notorious Victoro Cassalanter
- Partial rework in Cormyr, introducing House Illance and fleshing out House Cormaeril, and filling in a bit of title history for the Wyvernspurs
- Much more detailed character history for characters across the Baldur's Gate series
- Beginning of a rework in Amn: Illehhune, Hhune, Ifalar and Krimmevol families
- More courtiers in many places, and some historical werewolves
- Many new dynasties, including some adjustments for existing characters (looking at you, Lae'zel of Creche K'liir)

Geography:
- Various wonders' placement slightly adjusted
- Regions in the Heartlands and around the Inner Sea slightly amended

Bloodlines:
- Fallen angel characters now give a different bloodline from other fiends
- Archdevils' bloodlines are now distinguished from Mephistopheles' personal one
- New bloodline for an Amnian notable

Titles:
- Knights Fentan mercenary company
- Grand Duchy of Marsember

Culture:
- Bedine ruler titles
- Diaman dynasties

Religion:
- Vlaakith and Zaerith Megyar-ag-Gith are now deadly rivals.
- Bedine characters can always worship At'ar, even if everyone else thinks she's dead
- Myrkul and Shar now have Chosen ones, and Sune has one in practice as well as in theory
- Diirinka, Blibdoolpoolp and Malcanthet now have patron icons

Societies:
- The Lords' Alliance joining rules have been slightly adjusted, and clarified
- You can't join the Harpers in or around Shou Lung (they don't compete with the Kuo-Tan)

Classes:
- The Shadow's Vigilance ability affects defensive plot power rather than directly boosting intrigue

Lore:
- A few more tweaks to culture descriptions, including court languages for all the ones already written
- Asabi culture will now be known by the endonym Laerti
- Some more distinctive adjectives
- Other cultural terminology updated

Optimisations:
- Minor titles completed
- Laws clean-up started

Fixes:
- Removed more real-world references in localisation
- Ambitions to become pious or prestigious are once more valid
- Chosen of Talona will now be immune to disease, as they should be
- Tazok has a dynasty
- The Knights of the Unicorn have a sensible composition
- No more court dwarfs, in a world that has courts of dwarves
- You can no longer generate piety merely by contemplating conversion
- You can't be renowned as a slayer of fiends if you are half-fiend yourself
- Gur courtiers should now be described in gender-neutral terms when being recruited
- The Metatext has its article now
- Sundry others

As usual, it's a pleasure to bring you this mod. Have fun, and let us know how you get on. We are especially interested in any feedback about balance on the wonders.