New Features

• AI Bribes Bandits: AI factions with a relationship of -15 or lower toward the player can now bribe a bandit camp in the player’s province to attack their villages or cities.
• Player Bandit Bribes: Players can now bribe bandits in other regions to attack. This can be done once every two days.
• Bandit Camp Growth: Bandit camps can now grow to include more bandits. From the 8th bandit onward, they may acquire light armor. A watchtower is added for every 10 bandits in the camp.
• Offering to the King Rework: The "Offering to the King" action now requires resources corresponding to the target's culture instead of paying 200 coins.
• Lord Recruitment Costs: Accepting a lord through the "Lord Ready to Leave" quest now requires rings. The number of rings depends on the lord's skills and the difference in persuasion skills between the target and the executor.
• Peace Treaty Mechanic: A new peace treaty mechanic has been introduced. The proposer must pay money, the amount of which depends on the relationship level.

Improvements

• Dynasty Menu Update: Starting characters now have deceased parents displayed in the dynasty menu.
• Pilgrim Appearance Update: Chains have been added to pilgrims, and their masks have been replaced. All pilgrims must now be thin.
• Minstrel Icons: Added different icons for songs in the minstrel assignment menu. While performing a song, a bubble showing the song type will appear.
• Elderly Desire Adjustments: Elderly characters can no longer have desires related to sex. Existing elderly characters with such desires will have them removed.
• Army Menu Optimization: The army creation menu has been optimized; transferring soldiers into and out of army templates is now faster.
• Reward Desire Limitation: The "Reward Someone" desire is now possible only if the player’s faction has at least two lords.
• Dog Sounds Added: The dog can now bark and make other sounds.

Balance Changes

• Bandit Bribe Mechanics: Bandits will now refuse to attack the player’s city or villages but can still attack neighbors.
• Holy Caravan Price Adjustment: Price increases for random goods now provide a 1.5x multiplier instead of 2x.
• Donation Action Changes: The "Ask for Donations" action now reduces loyalty by -30, triggers a stronger negative thought (+25%), and lasts for 12 days instead of 4.
• Hardcore Difficulty Adjustments:
• The "Hunted Together" thought effect has been reduced from +17 to +12.
• The caravaner’s trading skill has been increased from 3-11 to 9-16.
• Bandit Thought Adjustments:
• The "Spirit of Freedom" thought for former bandits recruited into the army is now reduced to -18 and no longer expires.
• Former bandits sold as slaves now receive a -40 price penalty. The minimum slave price after penalties has been reduced from 50 to 25 coins.
• City Tower Adjustments: Towers in AI cities now appear after 40 residents, with 1 tower for every 20 residents. Previously, towers appeared at the start of a new game.
• Cultural Punishment Adjustment: The "Punished Hated Culture" thought is now limited to one instance instead of three.
• AI Heir Rebellions: Heir rebellions on the global map for AI will now begin more quickly after appearing.
• Iron Starting Amount: The starting amount of iron in the player’s storage has been increased from 20 to 30.
• Bribe Cooldown and Cost: Players can no longer repeatedly bribe a bandit camp while a previous bribe is still active. Bribes now last 5 days instead of 7, and the bribe cost has doubled.
• Book Writing Costs: Writing or rewriting a book now requires paper based on knowledge level: 3/6/9 sheets.
• Priest Appointment Restriction: The "Appoint as Priest" action for lesser lords is now available only to those born in the player’s faction.

Fixes

• Prisoner Knowledge Tasks: Releasing or escaping prisoners now cancels their knowledge-learning tasks.
• Neighbor Relationship Settings: Relationship settings for neighbors not directly bordering the player’s empire are now displayed and applied correctly during the new game setup.
• Building Placement Crash Fix: Fixed a rare crash when moving or constructing a building on a spot where a character had previously been removed, burned, or left the local map.
• Dog Walk Crash Fix: Fixed a potential crash during a dog walk if its owner left the local map.
• Caravaner Trade Menu Bug: Fixed a bug where the trade menu displayed "Offer exceeded local demand" for all resources, even when demand was not exceeded.
• Bard Guitar Resized: The bard's guitar has been resized.
• Market Trade Statistics: Fixed a bug where gold earned from buyers was not displayed in the "Local Market Trading" category in statistics.
• Quest Notification Titles: Notifications about the completion of a quest in an AI city will now be titled "Result: %quest name%" instead of "Result: %city name%."
• Army Tax Tooltip Fix: Fixed a bug where the army tax tooltip in the caravaner’s trade menu displayed an incorrect value.
• Knowledge Learning Thought Bug: Fixed a bug where a lord gained a positive thought about writing a book during knowledge learning instead of rewriting.
• Family Relationship Fix: Starting characters now have proper family relationships.
• City Market Bug: Fixed a bug where a newly populated city on the global map began selling and buying rings.
• Faction Name in Events: Fixed a bug where the faction name did not appear in the "persona non grata" event.
• Nickname Assignments:
[list]
• Fixed a bug where a blind lord received the nickname "One-Eyed" instead of "Blind."
• Fixed a bug where the event about a lord receiving a nickname did not appear.

[*]Sin Assignment Bug: The sin "Started Terror" is now assigned only to the player’s king instead of the scaffold inspector. The corresponding nickname can also only be given to the king.
[/list]