The Kingdom of Outremer

Alright people, time to start talking about legislation. We got six Outremer edicts so lets hear some ideas. The way I am reading the law, Ebelhard should not try to use Swabian house edicts this Diet but the rest of us can if our Dukes allow it. But, Ebelhard gets 3 personal edicts with 2 of those needing to deal with Outremer. That one non-dealing-with-Outremer edict is his one personal edict that everyone gets. He doesn't get one in addition to all of this as far as I know. In addition, he gets 3 edicts that are house edicts which need two Crusader Counts to pre-second.

The Prince and I came up with this one

Charter Amendment 12.x:
Clause 3.10 is amended to read as follows (changes in bold):

Quote:

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3.10 Influential players get bonus votes (max +6 bonus)

Appointed Influence (Max 4 points):
Duke/King: +3
Count: +1
Chancellor, ex-Chancellor, or Prince: +1

Stat Influence (Max 2 points):
15 or more total stat points: +1 (I thought about a lower number, but all avatars are given a base 3 piety and base 5 loyalty, which means those points are freebies. So, 15 is only 7 from actual traits, plus the 8 piety and loyalty freebies)
6 or more ranks in one stat: +1 (In the unlikely scenario where a character gets 6 or more in 2 stats without having 15 total, they get this +1 twice)

The player who is Emperor gets bonus votes differently, being equal to his authority.

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Its simple. We give the King the same influence as Dukes. I think its fair. Its small enough in scale that few people should have a problem with it. Most people can agree that the position of King of Outremer is underpowered in comparison to the Dukes yet holds roughly the same responsibility. We already let the man vote in succession disputes so, to me, this is a no-brainer.

This next one is my idea to stave off a potential problem.

Charter Amendment 12.x:
Charter Amendment 9.1 is amended to read as follows (changes in bold):

Quote:

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8. All four Houses of the Reich have a stake in the Kingdom. Damascus is assigned to Austria; Adana is assigned to Bavaria; Acre is assigned to Swabia; and Aleppo is assigned to Franconia. Antioch will be the capital of Outremer and an Imperial province governed by the King of Outremer. Edessa will also be an Imperial province, governed by a Count chosen by the King of Outremer. The Crusading Count for a settlement can come from any House. They will gain +1 influence, but only if they are not already a Count in their Duchy, and only for the Diet session that marks their appointment. The cap of 6 influence for all but the Emperor remains.

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Another simple piece of legislation. This prevents a problem I see coming. If Count Zirn becomes King, we will need an Austrian for Damascus. But, Duke Arnold has few Austrians to spare. So, Damascus will be without a count and nobles from other houses, like Jens, will be without a county. This CA will allow the King to have greater flexibility in assigning crusader counties.

Good ideas both, perhaps the second should include that a member of a specific house should receive "first consideration" for their traditional county. For example, as a Bavarian in Outremer, I would be considered for appointment to Adana first, then it could pass on to other Crusaders.

Without a bridge to the past like this, some Electors might worry that Outremer is becoming too "independent".

Seeing how Outremer has 6 possible edicts, I would suggest that legislation be put forward to ensure the Mongol threat is dealed with.

Thats a good point Matthias. How about this,

Charter Amendment 12.x:
Charter Amendment 9.1 is amended to read as follows (changes in bold):

Quote:

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8. All four Houses of the Reich have a stake in the Kingdom. Damascus is assigned to Austria; Adana is assigned to Bavaria; Acre is assigned to Swabia; and Aleppo is assigned to Franconia. Antioch will be the capital of Outremer and an Imperial province governed by the King of Outremer. Edessa will also be an Imperial province, governed by a Count chosen by the King of Outremer. The Crusading Count for a settlement should first be assigned according to house, but in the event where that is not possible, the Crusader Count can come from any House. They will gain +1 influence, but only if they are not already a Count in their Duchy, and only for the Diet session that marks their appointment. The cap of 6 influence for all but the Emperor remains.

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Any recommendations on the exact wording? I want to find a balance where we can get Crusading Counts in Counties when we need to, yet still maintain that vital link to our Houses.

*edit*

Hans, since the Mongols are in our territory, the King already has full power to "expel" them. No edict is required.

Alright, I want to get this out of the way.

The Kaiser has appointed me as King until the next Diet session and due to the power vested in me by our Kaiser, I am hereby King Jan. He has dissolved CA 11.6 and a part of CA 11.4. The part of CA 11.4 that is gone is the part that gave me 3 personal edicts. I now have 3 "house" edicts that will need 2 pre-seconds from Crusader Counts.

No disrespect to Prince Ebelhard, but I am hereby dissolving all of his standing orders. I do not mean to keep people hanging as to the allotment of Crusader Counties but I wish for a little bit of time to catch up on reports before making an announcement. (OOC: I am going to sleep on this in real life and make decisions in 8 or so hours)

As matters of book keeping, the Crown of Thorns will remain in my possession until the next King is named. And I hereby renounce my association with House Franconia for the duration of my term.

Thank you and if anyone has any questions, please let me know in here or by letter.

Alright, the Prince has pointed out that the Kaiser can not disregard CA 11.6 just because it conflicts with past legislation. So, CA 11.6 is active, which means that it looks like I will probably be around here in my current capacity a bit longer than expected. I have also announced my choices for Crusader Counts in the Diet. Now we should discuss legislation. We each have one personal edict. And I have three "house" ones that would need to be pre-seconded in here. I'd like to hear ideas on what to use those three for. We have two good ideas out there already but I am open to others.

We are beset by enemies on three sides. We have three Mongol armies around Edessa. We need to protect Jerusalem to the south. And defend against Turkish aggression to the north. As of now, I am taking command of the Army of Outremer and am going to order it placed onto the bridge to Aleppo. I know all of us have experienced a lot of change lately, but I am confident that we can see through this. Jens latest outburst in the Diet highlights that the Kaiser went against King Salier's wishes when he picked me to be King. While I have no problem with Karl Zirn, it was the Kaiser's decision to make. I will consider the subject of my legitimacy to hold the position to be closed. I have much more important matters to worry about.

I agree with the above ammendments and am most pleased with your promotion to King, I believe you will handle the position very well.

I thank you for your kind words Dieter. You are now the sole Franconian in Outremer and will take over my father's lands in Aleppo. Serve those people well and keep them safe. My position forces me to leave my house so I will no longer be able to join you for beer in the Franconian hall. But, it seems that many of us are frequenting the new place in Rome so I will see you there.

I believe the amendment concerning the origin of crusader counts will have a near 100% chance of passing.
The other amendment however, may not be easily passed without concessions to other houses I believe. Afterall, the charter of Outremer reads that Outremer is not a house but an integral part of the empire itself. Putting King equal to Duke will offend many men in Europe I believe and many will point at the Outremer charter.

Count Hans,

You have a good point about the influence. But, they wish that the King take on the responsibilities of a Duke. Even Lothar grudgingly admitted at the last Diet that he could understand legislation that strengthened the King. We already let the King sit in on succession disputes. Giving the King more influence does nothing to weaken the House's ties to Outremer. It only gives acknowledgment to the responsibility that the King holds. Dukes pointed out last session that they should hold more influence than their counts. Shouldn't the same be said regarding the King and his Crusader Counts? Now that we got the whole 6 edicts thing cleared up, this idea should be more palatable. Any other thoughts on this?

Alright people. Its time to put out some edicts. Since Dieter is new, I am going to go very basic in my explanation. I have these two CA's for which I will use two of my "house" edicts given to me by CA 11.3. By law, I will need two Crusader Counts to second them in here. Say that you second that specific CA or both CA's as the case may be. When I have two seconds, I will present the CA's out on the Diet floor pre-seconded so they will need no further seconding on the Diet floor. I hate to do this, but because of all the lawyers we all are using, we need to be careful. Therefore, only Hans, Dieter, Matthias, and Karl can second edicts in here. The language of the law is very clear on this. This makes sense because even Ducal Houses can't get nobles to second their house edicts all because they happen to be passing through their lands. This means that neither Ebelhard, nor Jens, will be able to second these as neither of them have Crusader Counties since they have both asked to leave.

Charter Amendment 12.x:
Clause 3.10 is amended to read as follows (changes in bold):

Quote:

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3.10 Influential players get bonus votes (max +6 bonus)

Appointed Influence (Max 4 points):
Duke: +3
King: +2
Count: +1
Chancellor, ex-Chancellor, or Prince: +1

Stat Influence (Max 2 points):
15 or more total stat points: +1 (I thought about a lower number, but all avatars are given a base 3 piety and base 5 loyalty, which means those points are freebies. So, 15 is only 7 from actual traits, plus the 8 piety and loyalty freebies)
6 or more ranks in one stat: +1 (In the unlikely scenario where a character gets 6 or more in 2 stats without having 15 total, they get this +1 twice)

The player who is Emperor gets bonus votes differently, being equal to his authority.

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I have thought a lot about this CA. I am not a Duke. I do not intend to try to pretend that I am one. But, I am King. While I have less responsibilities than a Duke, I do have more responsibilities than a Count. Therefore, I ask for influence that makes sure that Kings will at least have equal influence to their own Crusader Counts. I currently have less influence than two of them. And, with all due respect, that does not sit well with me. On to the next CA,

Charter Amendment 12.x:
Charter Amendment 9.1 is amended to read as follows (changes in bold):

Quote:

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8. All four Houses of the Reich have a stake in the Kingdom. Damascus is assigned to Austria; Adana is assigned to Bavaria; Acre is assigned to Swabia; and Aleppo is assigned to Franconia. Antioch will be the capital of Outremer and an Imperial province governed by the King of Outremer. Edessa will also be an Imperial province, governed by a Count chosen by the King of Outremer. The Crusading Count for a settlement should first be assigned according to house, but in the event where that is not possible, the Crusader Count can come from any House. They will gain +1 influence, but only if they are not already a Count in their Duchy, and only for the Diet session that marks their appointment. The cap of 6 influence for all but the Emperor remains.

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Quite simply, the King needs more flexibility with Crusader Count assignments. I would love it if every house had the manpower to send two nobles each. But, that is not realistic. Duke Arnold has eloquently stated his lack of nobles and how it is endangering his house. Therefore, while I would love to always assign Crusader Counts from a house to the corresponding Crusader County from that same house, this will not always be possible. What if we have no counts from one house but three from another? Which has happened.

Alright. Please give your seconds. If you have problems with these, I want to hear it. If you have more ideas for legislation, I want to hear that too. I still have 1 more "house" edict as well as my 1 personal edict.

I second both edicts.

I will second both edicts.

Alright, I thank you both for that. They are both out there in the Diet now. I have tried to present legislation strong enough to be effective yet sensible enough to get voted on. Now, I again invite you to present any ideas you may have on here regarding anything else you'd like to see passed.

Count Dieter!

I would very much appreciate it if you read your letters and get back to me.

OOC: Hey BTG, check your PM's! :D

Alright, Count Dieter is not replying to my letters so I will lay out a basic announcement here and hope he reads it.

I have decided that we can not afford to change our Chancellor at this time. Therefor, I am fully endorsing Count Matthias for re-election as Chancellor and I urge all of you to do the same. While I believe Hans will be a great army commander out here, we are at war. The situation is too dire to risk change.

Also, I urge all of you to vote for CA 12.9. This position was not meant to be for life. I serve at the pleasure of the Kaiser and it is his will that this position be re-appointed every Diet session.

Furthermore, I am very much opposed to CA 12.7. The King of Outremer has always had the right to choose what to build in unoccupied crusader counties. The King is the one who is present out here and I should retain my right to build what I deem is necessary for our mission out here. Any Crusader Count who tells me that I can not build in Outremer will earn my displeasure.

Furthermore,

I wish for Austrian Legislation (CA 12.1 and CA 12.3) and Bavarian Legislation (Edict 12.1 and CA 12.8) to be carefully considered by each and every one of you.

CA 12.6 would also help the whole Reich have enough forces to protect our borders and should be voted on.

King Jan,
I am sorry for not replying to your letters, I have been extremely busy as of late in Aleppo, It will not happen again.

OOC: sorry I always forget to check PMs

Your abscence started to worry me. But, no matter. You are here now when it matters.

Jan calls for a meeting in his command tent just outside of Edessa.

Alright, listen up. The Diet session is over and we can get back to doing what we came here to do and leave the politics to the politicians. There are three Mongol armies around this city. And we need to convince them very strongly to leave. And we need to do it quick because we have other things to worry about. We have Turks testing our northern borders. And of course the Saracens are to our south by the Holy City. We have to keep Jerusalem safe.

We're going to be shorthanded soon so everyone will be kept busy. And if you feel that your not being given a bigger piece of the action, let me or the Chancellor know. Count Hans has graciously agreed to stick around and lead an army into battle against the Mongols. He'll take young Hummel with him and try to get him knighted. Hopefully, a good hearty battle will knock some of the snot out of the young lad. It would do him some good. We'll need the Prince to swing his group back around and relieve the small force besieging Damascus. When the Mongol threat has ended, Hans, Jens, and Ebelhard will be parting our company and returning to the Reich. The sight of so many Swabian nobles charging the battlefield at once will probably scare the French right out of their pantyhose.

Alright, on to administrative matters. If there is anything you want or need, you are welcome to come to the Chancellor or myself. And of course, your encouraged to speak up in here and make your wishes and opinions known.

All right, happy hunting and God be with you. The Chancellor will have his orders for us shortly.

Dismissed!

Elberhard wanders over to King Jan, with a look of surprise on his face.

"@#$%^&!!! me - Jens is leaving as well as Hans? Doesn't that mean there will no Swabians left in Outremer? It's starting to look like the rats leaving a sinking ship. Maybe I should reconsider my departure? I will consult you and the Chancellor on this.

But if I stay, how the @#$%^&!!! am I going to tell the missus?

Jan turns and looks at Ebelhard.

You mean you didn't know? Jens expressed his wish to me at the beginning of the Diet. And Hans has made it clear that he wishes to leave once his work here is done. We need to send you all at once to guarantee a large fleet that will get you through to the Reich safely. So you and Jens would have to wait for Hans.

I would of course love to have you stay Ebelhard but the choice is up to you. Unfortunately, this has left Acre without a count and it will be up to Hans, as Steward of Swabia, to direct the building. Since Hans is going to help us with some of the battles, you have some time to think about it.

Please let me know your decision and you can contact me personally about the matter if you have questions.

Elberhard emerges from conversation with the Chancellor and King Jan.

All right, that does it - I am staying. Now I have just got to tell her in doors. Better get a @#$%^&!!!ing drink first.

Matthias comes in looking a bit worse for wear.

That is excellent news mein Prinz. I did not wish to overly influence your decision, but I am glad you are staying.

Forces for your army will be recruited at Acre, or we may soon have experienced men from the Mongol campaign to add.

The Chancellor looks a bit sheepish.

As Karl Zirn has recovered, he will be dealing with that foolhardy Egyptian noble outside his wall. I apologize for dragging you and your men across the desert for nothing.

Still, give some thought as to what you want the orders to be for your army. I get the feeling the Egyptians will strike with a larger force.

Jan arrives from his command tent with his armor all dented up.

Thats Excellent news Ebelhard! Your one Lewd bastard but I would love to have you around! The King says this with a grin.

By the way, you think you could teach me some of that colorful language? I like how it sounds in speeches. It will get the men all pumped up. That and it will give me an increased vocabulary to use against certain people in the Diet. *laughs*

By the way, one Mongol army down, one to go. Good job Chancellor! I had the easy part. You engaged the whole front of the army and made them turn their flank to me.

Jan then turns to the Chancellor and whispers

The next time there are so few, would you consider just letting them go? It would give others something to practice on.

My fellow Crusaders,

We have an interesting situation with the Mongols.

https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/...lshemmedin.jpg

We have them contained, but the remaining two armies now support each other. We have the forces to match them, but my strategy with them so far has been to isolate each army, engage with superior force and destroy them. That will not be possible in the current situation.

I ask each of you, how we should proceed?

My advice would be to keep Hans on the bridge, move your army onto the river crossing to your north, and keep me in Edessa. Let them make the next move. But, I caution that we should only do this for this next year. If they do not move apart by that time, we should probably attack anyways. We have other threats to deal with and can not spend too much time with the Mongols.

I wish to attack both. This is what I came here for and I believe I can defeat them this year still.

Jens Hummel:

Yes, and I need to be knighted. Bring 'em on.

If Count Hans is confident that he can take on both armies, then I say we let him proceed. If the Chancellor's army is going to move in to support, I would like to be in it. I wish to participate in the battle and maybe Hans will have left some alive by the time we get there.

Seeing how we have several forces in this region as well, may I suggest that I quickly survey the available troops nearby, and attack the Mongols, with Hümmel as a reinforcement army so he may be knighted?

//[edit - was typing while you posted]

Of course you may join the reinforcement army under Jan's lead instead Jens, although all I would need for reinforcements are more missile units in case my own run out of ammunition and need to be retreated.