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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
King Jan sat at his desk sipping coffee and reading reports. Gunther came in and handed Jan a piece of paper. "My King, you said you wanted word of Count Zirn's battle against that Saracen?"
Jan put his coffee down and looked up. "Ah yes, I would like to know what happened." Jan read the after-action report. His brow scrunched as he read the ending. "It was a pity that the general couldn't be saved and converted. But, if anyone deserved to be executed, it was him."
Gunther asked, "My King, would you like me to write up those disciplinary papers for Count Zirn that you have been contemplating? He did flaunt your orders to not execute."
Jan sat and thought for a moment. "Well, luckily for him, my orders did allow for some flexibility. If he slaughtered thousands out of hand, then he would have flaunted my orders. Executing one heinous criminal...well I don't like it but if anyone deserved it, that general did. Its trends I want to see. I don't have time to prosecute every single act. Count Zirn has spared thousands of lives when it would have been more convenient to kill them. Send word to Count Zirn giving him my congratulations and how I am glad to see him fully functional again. Dismissed."
Gunther left the room to carry out the King's orders as Jan picked his coffee back up and resumed his reading.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Dieter enters the room and sits down heavily
I am tired of sitting in Aleppo doing nothing. I propose that we go on the offensive on these heathen Muslims. why cannot we take their cities and burn them to the ground, their very existence is an insult to the Pope and we should honour his holiness by conquering these lands in his name. I request to be sent North at once to fight against the Turkish infidels and wipe them off the map!
He slams the table with his fist to emphasise his point but it is obvious that he has had a little to drink and looks as if he has been fantasising about beating the Turks alone
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
The Charter of Outremer specifically defines our mission as defensive. There will be no new territories conquered. The only possibility would be to take one and gift it but we would need an edict for that.
You have been sitting in Aleppo because your army is being formed there. But, if you want your AoO to see action, I'm sure the Chancellor would be open to letting you take your army north around where he is. There seems to be plenty of action up north to go around and the east border seems pretty secure for once.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
To the dogs with the charter! Where is the sense of sitting here losing more and more men to the heathens when we could just march right over there and wipe them out! How about we conquer an empire here and gradually gift all the holy cities to the Pope? At least then it would stop their relentless attempts on his holiness' life and all of ours. If we had attacked the Turks and Egyptians as soon as we arrived then there would not have been so many lives lost here in outremer, the extra income from more cities would mean we would be able to raise enough armies to dwarf the mongols and no Kings would have been killed!
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Count Dieter,
The Charter is what I am bound by law to obey. It is a sacred document that makes clear that our mission here is Holy and not about personal conquest. I believe it was a brilliant piece of work by men far smarter than I and it has served us well. If need be, we will amend the Charter, as we have, but by and large it is a nearly perfect document.
There is no need for Outremer to be bigger. We are here to protect the Holy Lands, not conquer all of Asia. I am not sure how having a larger territory to protect would have made us any safer. Also, it is the Reich that pays for our armies out here. And they already sacrifice their men and treasure enough to make sure we can continue the Holy Mission. I will not ask them to sacrifice more just so things can be a little easier on us. While you can get away with just concerning yourself with the situation around your crusader county, I need to keep the whole needs of the Reich in mind when I make my decisions.
Now, since I did not leave official orders for the AoO's at the beginning of the term, I can't order the Chancellor on their placement. I can only suggest, which is what I will do. I will "suggest" that the Chancellor either (a.) allow you to move your army up north to help him around Adana, or (b.) move you personally to command his army up in Adana if he thinks two armies are not needed up there. Maybe a tour of duty around Adana will help you work out your aggression.
Him and I have seen plenty of action and I do not mind seeing us both sit back as you and Count Zirn be given opportunities to get in the saddle and see action. We only have 2 AoO's and we have 4 generals so I want us to rotate army commands so no one gets too bored. And before anyone corrects me, yes I know we have a 5th person but the Prince's army belongs to him and him alone.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
The King is seen working on the big bulletin board in the Outremer Hall when Gunther hands him a note.
Aww, isn't that sweet...
The King addresses the assembled Crusaders.
First off, Gunther just informed me that Count Zirn has been blessed with another son. Congratulation Count Zirn. I see you have seen fit to give the boy a strong name and I hope it serves him well.
Now, on to why I brought you here. I have updated the big bulletin board. It was quite old and outdated. I will try to keep it better updated from now on. Feel free to check it after every Diet session to see what rules have changed and who is assigned where. Please let me know in here or in a letter if you have any questions about anything you see on this bulletin board.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Matthias lurches into the Crusader's area. Oddly for him, he smells of beer.
"To the dogs with the Charter?!"
What kind of horse@#$! is that? God, I've seen this pattern in the last thirty years and even before that! We need to take this land for our security, to teach 'em a lesson! To show 'em who's boss. Then they'll learn! Learn it good! Oh wait, they're still sending hordes of men at us, to secure the land we just took, we need more land! That'll show 'em! Then they'll learn! Before you know it, we're in Cathay shoving a sword up a Dragon's arse!
Look around! Giants used to walk in Outremer, great men. Now look at us, the sweepings of the Empire. Younger sons and ambitious fools looking to make a name for themselves!
What of the mission? What brought us here in the first place? No, the words might be spoken, but they're hollow.
You want to fight Dieter? Go home! Kill an army of Poles! There's plenty of them.
I used to think Outremer was different, better. But it's just the same, the same scavenging of glory and battles. Make a name and leave for greener pastures. It's become common. . .
The Chancellor vomits in a corner of the room. A concerned servant escorts him out.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
The King watches Matthias carefully. When Matthias leaves bent over the shoulders of one of his men, the King walks out after him.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Matthias strides back into the chamber some time later stone sober.
I apologize for my last remarks. They were rash.
I do not share Count Dieter's disdain for the Charter. It has served us well over our time here. However, perhaps it is time for a more aggressive approach to the threats we face, particularly with the Mongol threat eliminated.
I have begun this new approach by securing our northern border. The Prinz and Dieter will follow by destroying Egyptian armies poised on our borders to the south and those of our ally, the Papal States.
By bleeding them on the frontier, I hope this will prevent the Saracens from striking at Jerusalem again. The Church's soldiers are able, but do not posses our skill or experience.
As long as we do not take any territories, I do not believe we will be in violation of the Charter.
Your thoughts gentlemen?
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Chancellor,
We have all said things in that we wish we could have taken back. Heck, I have a couple decades worth of Diet transcripts I wish I could burn and forget about. But, whats done is done and its time to get to business.
I'm all for aggressive patrolling as long as our borders remain secure. I've looked at the maps and I have nothing to add. Good work Chancellor.
Oh yes, I want to take this chance to congratulate Count Dieter on becoming a new father. Looks like he found something more constructive to do with his time. I get to be an Uncle again. Dieter, let me know when you and my sister are ready, and I'll perform the baptism personally if you wish.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
I have a child!
Dieter sprints out of the room to go and see his new baby
A while later a message arrives saying that Dieter was too sorry for his rash remarks concerning the charter and wishes them to be forgotten about and he would love to go out on a few 'aggressive patrols'
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Elberhard: @#$%^&!!! it, that was a hard fight. The odds were 2:1 in our favour but they had five batteries of trebuchets and three of catapults plus some decent escorts. No tactical subtlety on my part I am afraid:
https://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3729/12921jl3.jpg
I let the Crown Prince go - he was a decent sort and fought like a tiger.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
The King sat at his desk reading the ever-present reports while drinking the ever-present cup of coffee. He flipped a page and read about Matthias's battle up in Turkey. He paused when he got to the part that described eye-witness accounts of Matthias ordering the massacre of the prisoners.
The King sighed and said to himself, "It seems that he is not taking me very seriously."
Gunther was at a table sharpening a blade and stopped when he heard Jan speak. "What was that my King?"
"It seems the Chancellor is testing me again," said Jan
"He murdered prisoners again? Are you going to talk to him?", asked Gunther
With another sigh, the King said, "No... I have already made myself perfectly clear on this. He's a smart man. He knows he is bucking my authority. It would do neither him nor I any good to remind him. I'll just add it to the tally. If he keeps this up, he is going to be quite bored next term sitting in Adana."
The King resumed his coffee drinking and report reading.
Quote:
OOC: I got information about the prisoners' fate by PM'ing OK OOC and providing him with a rationale as to why Jan would know this information. And it got me thinking about an idea I wish to share with all of you.
Armies are big organizations. Its hard to keep secrets. Massacres are hard to hide. The King of Outremer has administrative command over both Armies of Outremer (hereafter known as "AoO's"). Jan is trying to keep track of people's treatment of prisoners. I was wondering if you guys could help me out OOC in order to represent Jan's ability to keep tabs on what the AoO's do. This is optional, but could you please PM me OOC after every battle and tell me what your AoO did with regard to prisoners?
This would help me out OOC. The only other ways I can find out if people kill prisoners is through combing through the battle reports and comparing people's traits every save-game. This would make my job a lot easier. It is totally optional though because there is absolutly no rule IC or OOC covering this. This would basically be you guys doing me a favor as a player. I think I can make a pretty good case for Jan knowing how the AoO's treat prisoners. If there are any questions, please let me know. :2thumbsup:
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
My fellow Crusaders,
Another Diet session is coming upon us soon. There are some things I would like you to think about. I would like to know each of your thoughts and plans regarding your future here. Do you plan on staying through to the next session? Or, do you wish to go back to Europe. Do you want some time as an army commander next term? Or, do you want to govern your settlement. Here are my thoughts on these matters.
For each of you, if your staying, then your all keeping your crusader counties. All of you have done a fine job out here and I am honored to serve with each and every one of you. However, if you wish to leave, I am going to leave the county unassigned until someone else comes to fill the position. The only change I plan on making will be to assign Acre to Prince Elberhard. I have been unable to do so before now because crusader counties are only assigned at Diet sessions.
As for army assignments, there are three armies and five generals. The Prince's army is his and his alone so that leaves four generals and two armies. I intend to make sure that each person gets half of a term (10 years) with an army and I will make my orders to the Chancellor very explicit on that point. I wish to have AoO north commanded by Count Dieter for the first 10 years and then it will be taken over by Count Matthias for the next 10. I wish to have AoO south commanded by Count Zirn for the first 10 years and then I will take over for the next 10. AoO north will patrol Adana and Edessa while AoO south will patrol Damascus as well as help the Prince protect the Pope in Jerusalem.
Also, please let me know what legislation, if any, you wish for us to put forward. I have a couple edicts that I can use that will need pre-seconding in here.
If I do not hear from you, I am going to assume that a.) you are staying and b.) you wish to have 10 years commanding an army.
All of you are more than welcome to write to me and let me know your wishes and thoughts if you would prefer. My door is always open.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Elberhard: King Jan, your proposals sound admirable.
We are only five now? @#$%^&!!! it - last of a dying breed, eh?
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Thank you my Prince.
And your right, we're down to five. Can't even fill all of the counties these days. Hopefully more people in Europe will take up the call and come join us someday.
Also, my Prince, any thoughts on what you intend to do with your army next term? It would be helpful to know so I can give more accurate orders to the Chancellor for the other two armies. I'm assuming you'll keep standing guard south of Jerusalem. If that is so, I'll keep AoO north up by Adana to ward off the Turks. And I'll have AoO south patrol Edessa and Damascus to the east. AoO south will be in a position to support Adana or Jerusalem as the situation dictates.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Yes, my King - continued duty around Acre would be fine.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
i will certainly stay here under your adept leadership mein King and am happy with your suggestions on the command of the AoOs.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Glad to hear it Count Dieter. I appreciate your patience. I know you have been eager to get back in the saddle and I will guarantee that you will have an army command for half of a term.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Elberhard: I have despatched the Egyptian army loitering southeast of Jerusalem. The odds were 2:1 in our favour, although the enemy had nine regiments of cavalry to my three. Our crossbowmen shot them down, but they charged when it was clear their artillery and horse archers were no match for my lads. Losses were heavy, particularly among our armoured sergeants, but the army is still fighting fit. Prisoners were released.
https://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1818/1298tl2.jpg
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Matthias:
King Jan, first, thank you for my reappointment as Count of Adana.
Second, I'd thought I would present my thoughts on the current situation in Outremer so your Majesty and the Prinz can formulate a plan going forward.
The Byzantine siege of Caesarea continues, but their dallying puts it at risk. A large Turk relief force approaches and could break the siege. The Byzantines have more men in the area, but they are spread out into four armies, individually no match for the Turk.
The Turks have also gathered men east of Edessa. This could simply be a transit point for their forces as they move to Caesarea, or it could be the beginnings of a campaign against our northern cities.
The Saracen have several armies near our borders, and those of Jerusalem, in Gaza and Jedda, but our spoiling attacks have so far prevented a major move. We must remain vigilant however.
Both AoO are in good shape. The Prinz's army is a bit battered, but capable of offensive action.
Third, I am curious as to why you withdrew your CA. It seemed to be a major initiative, but has been abandoned. Is there a reason you wish to share with us?
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Count Matthias,
Good to hear from you again.
I'm still formulating a plan and will present it to the Chancellor before voting is over.
As for CA 13.1, it is unfortunate but I feel I had little choice. CA 13.3 poised a clear threat to the Kaiser's authority and prerogative. Therefore, it's defeat is paramount to me. I had come to the conclusion that I could not successfully pass CA 13.1 while trying to block CA 13.3. I had to make a choice between the two. Some "interesting" communications during the Diet led me to believe that I was going to be blackmailed. I believe CA 13.1 was going to be held for ransom for my support for CA 13.3. I don't like being blackmailed.
It had also been brought to my attention that CA 13.1 had a loophole so big you could sail a ship through. I will need to attend law school before I try writing another piece of complex legislation again. I'm embarrassed and I apologize for wasting everyone's time with what would have been "bad" legislation.
So, to everyone, set your build queues and happy voting. I'll have the rest of my orders before voting ends. (OOC: I have lots of school work to do today so I'll hop online periodically but for short periods of time)
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Alright here are my decisions,
Count Dieter and I will take command of the AoO's for the full term. I apologize if this bothers Count Matthias or Count Zirn. But I looked at the battle statistics.
I have commanded in exactly one battle my whole life. And that consisted of just my bodyguard unit. This is unacceptable. I have taken part in the fighting but it is time I take part in the leading. I feel I have not carried my weight in that regard and will rectify that immediately.
Count Dieter has been here his whole adult life. And he has continually been passed over for command in favor of those who are older or more politically connected. And I have regretfully been part of that when I asked him to sit out for the whole Mongol third wave in order to let others fight the Mongols. Well, he is one of us and he will not be passed over again while I am King.
So, for decades we have both sat aside and let others protect Outremer. Now, we will protect you and give you leave and opportunities to attend to your settlements or perform missionary work. Since both of your settlements sit on our borders, you and your garrisons may still see action however so I doubt anyone will be too bored.
As for our next strategy, I have just given my opinion to Steward Elberhard. Our task is to defend Outremer and Jerusalem as per the Charter of Outremer. If Outremer and Jerusalem are safe, then going over the border is ok. I have asked to be sent immediately to Edessa with Dieter to follow. When he arrives, he can take over the defense of the area and I will head north to Adana. Defense of Edessa is our priority at this time however.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Thank you for trust in me mein King, it is most inspiring and I will not let you down even if my own life is forfeit.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Well, I have confidence that you won't let us down Count Dieter. But do take care. We have lost many nobles lately both here and back in the greater Reich. I do not wish to have to tell my sister that her husband is dead.
I don't want anyone here taking unnecessary chances.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Gentlemen,
It is unfortunate that I have to even bring this up. But, there is a rumor floating around about a death threat to the Kaiser. Let me make this really really clear to all of you. If you threaten the Kaiser's life, you are fired. Period. You will lose your army command. And you will lose your county next Diet. Disagree with him if you like. Argue in the Diet about him all you want. Push forward legislation against him if you feel you must. But do not threaten that man's life. Ever.
Have I made myself perfectly clear?
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Matthias raises an eyebrow.
Threaten the Kaiser? I have done no such thing.
I don't threaten, King Jan, I act.
Matthias shakes his head. He glances over to Karl Zirn.
Count Zirn, might I have a word with you?
Matthias leaves the room.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
I didn't mean you Count Matthias. I have already sent a letter to the person in question. But things are getting heated in the Diet and I wanted my stance on this to be perfectly crystal clear.
Jan turns to Zirn
Count Zirn, I wish to congratulate you on the completion of the Great Cathedral of Damascus. If I may, I would like to attend the first service.
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
A shocked Zirn stands and watches Matthias leave...
King Jan, I am shocked at the accusation. There are only 3 Knights in the Outremer is this rumour assocaited with me then?
My loyalty to the Reich and Kaiser are well documented. I am uncertain of the Kaiser's recent actions but await for it's outcome. I would not make such remarks in private or public. Please, excuse me.
Zirn bows to the King and exits the room to meet Mathias but hesitates and speaking again to the King.....
King Jan all are welcome to the Lords House of Worship.
Zirn leaves the room..
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Re: The Kingdom of Outremer
Boy people are on edge today. I said that I already sent a letter. Therefore, if you did not receive a letter, then I obviously do not mean you. But I did feel like laying out my general policy so people can't say I didn't warn them.