Imperial Diet VI

King Jan comes forward and kneels before the Kaiser,

My Kaiser,

Outremer is yours to command. I swear to serve you loyally and faithfully as King until I die or until you chose to appoint another to serve that role. I serve at the pleasure of the Kaiser. May God keep you as you lead us through these dark times. May the Lord guide you and make sure your reign is long and prosperous.

Jan stands back up.

As for gifting Outremer, if Kaiser Siegfried and yourself believe that is the price to pay for political and religious unification, then I say we pay it. Outremer was never about land. It was never about cities. And it was never about castles. Outremer was a dream and an idea. Born from great men with vision and courage. Outremer was meant to secure the Holy Lands for all of Christianity. It was meant to re-secure our relationship with the Papacy by ensuring that Jerusalem would be a capital for the Holy Father to sit on the "throne of Peter". It was meant to save the soul of the Reich when we were cast out in the dark during the Second Investiture crisis. And it was meant to protect the Reich by allowing us to fight horrible enemies over there so we wouldn't have to fight them here. And that dream still lives. And our mission still lives. When the provinces of Outremer are handed over, I will stay behind along with whoever wishes to join me. Together, we will take the two AoO's and defend Jerusalem. And with the Diet's prayers and support, we will not fail.

As to Kaiser Siegfried, if there was indeed foul play involved, let those responsible know this. I will not rest until the truth is found out. I have been hunting those responsible for King Salier's murder for years and I will add this investigation to my plate as well. Even those among you who do not like me will have to admit that I am very very stubborn. If someone is responsible for the Kaiser's death, I will find him. This I swear before God.

Dietrich von Dassel:

Kaiser Elberhard, you are now our Head of State and present in Rome to address the Diet. Finally, we may get some answers.

Of course it will take due time to catch up on Siegfried's negotiations with Emperor Isaac. But when you do, I demand that you present the conditions of re-unification to the Diet and that you call a vote on it. This madness has gone on far too long and we need a resolution, one way or another.

I see no use in keeping 2 armies in the Outremer without having any provinces there. It will cost us too much in times of need. If we want to take big decisions on this I think we should hold a quick Emergency Session, like Siegfried wanted us to vote on Unification or not.

If we choose to give away Outremer AND defend Jeruzalem we should atleast keep one castle in the area.

Perhaps it would be worth considering to expel the Egyptians from southern Outremer? We could then create a new base of operations to the south or gift it away to the papacy to create a kingdom of heaven adjacent to Byzantine protectors to the north.

*Fritz rises and slowly walks to the centre of the floor*

I applaud the bravado of King Jan in being willing to give up his title. This is the mark of a greater man than I had thought him to be.

But think, gentlemen. How easily we give away what other men's blood has dearly bought. Our fathers have for generations bled and suffered to maintain and defend Jerusalem from invasion. And we have been successful, despite all odds and despite being thousands of miles from our German homeland.

Do we really, truly feel in our hearts that the gifting of Outremer to the Byzantines is in the best interest of that most holy city, Jerusalem? Or are we looking at the bottom line on the tally sheet?

*Fritz pauses for a full half-minute, looking now at one elector, now at another*

It's too expensive! It's too much work, too much trouble, too much toil, too much sweat in a dusty land.

The bones of our fathers lying in the holy ground must tremble to hear such words spoken in the Diet.

Arnold:

This is shocking news. I have certainly disagreed with Kaiser Siegfried's grand plans and the way he went about this was completely incorrect in my mind, however his death surely creates even more instability at this time...that is some with can ill afford.

Austria will double it's patrols for the moment and I'm prepared to pay the expense in order to ensure security is maintained.

I ask Duke Hans to report as soon as possible so we can determine what has happened.

The Kaiser is dead. Long live Kaiser Elberhard!!

Now onto more immediate matters!!

Are we walking around this world with our ass before our brains!!??

Nothing can be given away until WE ratify this DEAL in this Chamber. The terms must be tabled and put to a vote...ONLY then will Outremer be given to the Byzantines.

A Letter arrives in the diet and is read by a Swabian clerk

My lords, may I have your attention please.
My Duke, Hans the Mighty of Swabia and Chief-Investigator in service of Emperor Elberhard the Champion has written to confirm that the investigation has been completed and the emperor will be announcing its results shortly.

Elberhard: I am grateful to my brother for his service investigating the circumstances of Kaiser Siegfried's death. His inquiries are complete, although the outcome is far from satisfactory. I will circulate the full text of his communication to all Electors.

As all must surely suspect, the death of the Kaiser inside the supposed safety of the Reich was not random violence. It was an assassination, conducted by a paid of mercenaries. What is worse, it appears that they were hired by men within the Reich - specifically, within Bavaria. Unfortunately, we do not know the identity of the individuals involved, although we may speculate.

Electors, the Reich has become like Saturn - it is devouring its own children. We must stop this descent into violence and civil war. Everyone must show restraint and discipline. The laws must be obeyed; the Charter must be obeyed. Offices of state and chains of command must be adhered to. There can be no open rebellion, no loose talk condoning rebels. Gentlemen, the wolf is in the pen - we must stand together, back to back or be devoured.

In that spirit, I make two further announcements. First, Outremer will be gifted as Kaser Siegfried planned. You may reject unification. I cannot and will not impose that on you against the will of the Diet. You may vote on that issue at the next Diet session. But the gifting of Imperial lands is within my authority as Kaiser and Chancellor. You may disagree violently with it - violently enough to kill our Head of State - but that will not stop me. I will honour the late Kaiser's wishes and see that his promise to Emperor Isaac is kept.

Second, you will notice that Duke Hans makes mention of an unauthorised army being raised by Dietrich von Dassel in Ragusa, sanctuary of the turbulent priest, Alexander Luther. As a Swabian, Dietrich is answerable to his Duke. I authorise Hans to take the Kaiser's army to Ragusa and arrest Luther. The Duke may make whatever steps are necessary to restore discipline and the proper chain of command in that citadel.

The text of Hans's report:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Brother, Emperor,

I have completed the investigation I believe and have managed to capture nearly all of the men who were part of the attack on Siegfried and his retinue. As you read this letter, they are on their way to Rome under my guard.

It seems that they were neither brigands nor assassins, but mercenaries who had been extraordinarily well equipped and paid off by a man in Florence. Luckily, the leader of the mercenaries was taken alive, and he remembers the payer to have a Bavarian accent and to be acting on behalf of another, who he did not identify.
Based on the amount paid, 60,000 florins in total, it is safe to assume that it must have been a noble with good connections or a group of nobles, as no merchant would be able to afford this amount of payment. It would probably be useful to investigate which house or noble has recently been expending much of their capital or have saved extraordinary amounts to commit to this undertaking.

Meanwhile, my agents in Ragusa have reported back to me regarding Dietrich von Dassel. While they did not bring information on his involvement with the Order, they did report that Alexander Luther is under Dassel's protection at Ragusa, spreading his heretical lies, and that Dassel is ammassing a large host loyal to his person and Luther's cause. I would suggest that you and Duke Arnold stop him immediately or allow me to intervene. It should not come to a siege as my agents have infiltrated the citadel, but still I would not wish unnecessary spilling of German blood, unless their faithlessness is proven.

With regards,
Your brother Hans

*Lothar's eyebrows arch in surprise.*

A Bavarian was responsible for the Kaiser's death? And a man from my own city of Florence, no less?! This is horrendous and will not be tolerated. I will order my men to immediately begin an investigation into the matter. I assure you all that the villain will be caught and receive the 'justice' that he deserves.

*Lothar gestures to one of the Bavarian servants nearby.*

You, yes you! Take a copy of this information to the captain of my Household guard and tell him that he is to begin combing Florence for the assassin immediately. He is to continue searching until the man is found, no matter how long it takes. Tell him that he may use any Bavarian soldiers he needs for the job.

Arnold

CHRIST ALMIGHTY!!!!

Exactly what the £$%^ is going on inside the borders of my Duchy!!??

The Kaiser has been killed and now Dietrich is raising an army of Austrian fighting men in one of my own Citadels!!?

This has gone on long enough.

Turning to his three Austrian Nobles

I want a curfew in place across the entire Duchy.

No one moves after dark and there is to be no one armed apart from Austrian Household troops under our Command or that of the Imperial Army under Duke Hans.

I want scouts and outrider ringing Ragusa by the end of the week gentlemen and if any moves I want to know about it.

Turning to the Bavarian benches

I'm appalled at the idea that someone from Bavaria could have anything to do with the Kaisers death, but I'm also equally sure that Duke Lothar will find something.

The Duke's priest whispers quickly at the animated Duke. With a startled look Arnold turns back to the Kaiser

Did I just £%^£"$ing hear correctly Elberhard!!? You're going to give Outremer away BEFORE we have a chance to look at the reunification proposal??

Have you lost your collective £$^ig mind?? Have one of those "Arnolds" rogered you senseless while you were asleep!!??

Exactly what kind of £$%$ed up, two bit, hair brained S T U P I D...£$^%£ing ridiculous, god for£$%^£ingsaken, utter bag of shiet...the Duke pauses for breath

....is that for an idea!!??

What possible £$%^%$ing reason are we doing that for!!?? Why don't you just hand your %^£ing wife over while your at it!!??

Dietrich von Dassel:

What is this madness?! You all speak as if I am turning traitor, as if I plan to march this army on Rome itself! There is no need for this ridiculous operation!

I demand to know the crime that Alexander Luther is to be arrested for. Since coming under my protection I have specifically ordered him not to advocate the destruction of any more property. It is not the man's fault if his followers ignore him.

Dietrich von Dassel:

Secondly, restore discipline? Are you serious?! Ragusa has experienced no riots, no destruction of property, and no loss of life! I think I'm doing a better job of keeping discipline than Hans, so I quiver at his ideas of restoring it!

Elberhard:

Dietrich - quit your yapping and your barking. Your master will attend to you soon enough.


Duke Arnold, you ask me - why do I gift Outremer? I will tell you.

I gift Outremer in the cause of unification with our Eastern Roman brothers.

I gift Outremer out of fealty to my former Lord and out of his respect to his widow.

I gift Outremer to honour a promise to our greatest ally, Emperor Isaac.

I gift Outremer to strengthen an alliance that once was strong, but now reels from the multiple blows of assassinations and riots.

I gift Outremer to remove a potential flashpoint for a fratricidal war. A war, I may say, that we have only narrowly averted recently, thanks to your and Count Becker's timely intervention.

I gift Outremer because there are only a handful of nobles who seem willing to serve in her cause.

Why do I gift Outremer? For all of those reasons and for none.

Above all, I gift Outremer to spite those who killed Siegfried.

Putting down a number of reports handed to him by Bane, the Duke turns to the Kaiser and Hans.

Gentlemen, I can confirm that Dietrich as governor of Ragusa is under specific instructions to generate reinforcements for the two AHA's.

The forces under his command are those naturally created as part of my orders some years ago when I gave him his temporary governor status,

raising his eyebrows in distaste

of Ragusa due to some rather creative orders given to him some time ago.

Dietrich von Dassel:

No Elberhard, you need to face the facts. I have done nothing wrong and it is for the protection of the people of Ragusa. I am amazed that Duke Arnold has not confirmed this.

-edit- Ah, it appears that he has. Please direct your paranoia elsewhere and leave me alone. Isn't depriving me of army duty enough for you people?

Jan sits quietly through all of this. He raises an eyebrow when he hears Duke Hans's report. He tilts his head in contemplation, and then writes a note. He slides the note over to Gunther who leaves the Diet.

Duke Arnold, Dassel,

I certainly realize that you wish to have two mighty household armies for Austria, but considering that either was above recommended strength already, or rather both at near full strength, training another army seems suspicious, would you not agree?

Besides, any regiment trained is Imperial first and foremost and only becomes part of a house once it is assigned as such by the chancellor. Considering then that Dassel refused to supply an Imperial army, the Emperor's Army no less, with fresh reinforcements when specifically requested by the chancellor for an important mission to hunt down another Lutheran heretic Peter, would you still see so kindly upon this man?

You must realize that something in your reasoning is not quite sound.

Oh, and before I forget. Luther is considered a heretic by the catholic church and the united roman church. Harboring heretics and protecting them deserves excommunication and worse, burning at the stake. I do not think that Austria would wish the inquisition to start their work at Ragusa and creep further north? In this interest, it would be best for all of us to consider Ragusa to be led by a rogue governor with heretical beliefs, which need to be brought to trial.

Dietrich von Dassel:

I knew nothing of that request. Evidently it did not go through proper channels; Duke Arnold, is this the first time you've heard of it?

And in its interest, Hans, I do not believe that you are the one to decide whether or not I have gone rogue considering that, as much as you wish it, you are not Kaiser or Chancellor and Ragusa is not under your control. Furthermore, the forced removal of Luther would send the people of Ragusa into rioting, as well as a great number of the Reich's cities. Surely, we do not need yet another dose of this madness.

Once again, get off my back. All of you.

Considering that I was informed by the chancellor no less that his request for the troops was refused by you, it is unfortunate that you do not remember doing so. But then of course, your ravings in the diet did seem to indicate a lack of clear thought.
Your lack of loyalty to your own house even makes one wonder whether you have any loyalties to the empire at all, other than to that heretic Luther and yourself.

Further to this, you seem not to have listened properly to my speech. As I said, any regiment trained is Imperial first. The chancellor may request them to be trained and sent at his whim, especially considering that Elberhard was Steward is the Emperor's absence and thus in full control over Imperial troops. Your refusal to provide them thus can be considered treason.

As for the Luther matter, if he is disposed of now, there may be some more unrest in the short term, yes. But if he is not, I fear what will happen to our glorious empire when half the populace believes the true word of Christ and the other half the word of the heretic Luther, leading to long term unrest until either is disposed, again with major unrest. Also, I doubt other Catholic nations would look kindly upon us disposing of the pope eventually should Luther continue to spread his venom and this will cause harsh punishment by both church and worldly powers.

Thus, removing Luther is not only the right thing to do, but also the most prudent and wise.

Dietrich von Dassel:

Evidently the Chancellor was lying, because I received no such request. Do not continue to pursue your pointless agenda against me.

I am impressed you would dare say the chancellor and emperor, no less one who came from your own house and has served god and done his bidding was a liar.
What would you consider Luther then? The true prophet?

Are you truly beyond redemption?

Dietrich von Dassel:

I would consider Luther a statesman whose word should be listened to and pondered. And you speak of treating people of our own House badly. I am still subject to your ridiculous inquisitions for no good reason.

You may look around your house then and ponder why you are the only one without a county and without support from any other within.

A man who lacks of loyalty, judgement, justice and faith does not deserve to be treated well.

Dietrich von Dassel:

You rewarded me with nothing, Hans, a clear insult when I had done nothing. Therefore I see no reason to obey your every whim.

-edit- test.

If you have not been rewarded, would the more interesting question not be, whether you have done anything worth a reward other than punishment for repeated instigation in the diet, ridiculing nigh every member of this body who disagrees with your own beliefs and follow a heretic?

You were given options to earn rewards, yet you took up none where others have served Swabia and the Empire well. I would doubt that the majority of the diet would support your ridiculous claims.

Regardless. It is not time well spent to debate with one who is beyond redemption. Thus, continue your ravings at your own peril.

Dietrich von Dassel:

You mean, I should have supported Kaiser Siegfried, the man who appointed you as Duke. Never mind that his policies were ridiculously unpopular and the root cause of all of this unrest.

Yes, I see how that would have been good for the Reich.

The unification of Byzantium and the Reich is now the "true word of Christ," is it? Bah, don't make me laugh. This religious unification is nothing more than a political deal between the Kaiser and his Most Purple Counterpart. The Pope supports it because the Kaiser told him to support it. That is what happens when the Church is nothing more than a puppet of the Reich. The Pope would have proclaimed that his own uncle was a donkey if Siegfried had so ordered it. As a result, there is nothing 'divine' about this 'unification' with the Byzantines.

This in turn means that Alexander Luther and his followers cannot be heretics simply for expressing their displeasure with such a political move. They are not contesting the word of God, they are contesting the word of the Kaiser, his pet Pope, and that Purple Ponce in the East. Furthermore, the Pope is most certainly not infallible. There is no Catholic doctrine that says such and therefore it is entirely appropriate to rebuke the Pope when he is himself acting against the will of God. We have seen this ourselves in Kaiser Heinrich's just war against Pope Gregory. Clearly God sided with the Reich in that matter, even though the Pope publicly declared Heinrich to be excommunicated.

While I personally do not agree with much of what Luther is preaching, it is most certainly not heresy and I see no problems with his statements as long as order is maintained. I will not permit any Lutheran within Bavaria to be persecuted by Duke Hans, the Kaiser, the Pope, or any other man. If a Lutheran commits a crime or incites others to do so within Bavarian territory, then Bavarian men will deal with him appropriately. Any non-Bavarian who commits such an act within any Bavarian province will soon find the full force of all Bavarian armies against him.

And before any of you use my statements here to accuse me of sabotaging the relationship with Byzantium, let me remind you that I am a firm supporter of the alliance with Byzantium. Indeed, at this very moment a Bavarian army stands at the gates of Thessalonica, which it will assault and take at the cost of many Bavarian lives, so that province can then be given to the Eastern Emperor. It is entirely within my power to recall that army, should I wish to do so, but I do not wish to do so. Such an action will aid our allies and that I will support. It is the unification that I oppose, not the Byzantines themselves, no matter how ridiculous their clothing may be.

A message arrives from Matthias Steffen:

The loss of Kaiser Siegfried is regretful. He was a good man who made poor decisions. Kaiser Elberhard compounds this folly by continuing a failed policy of appeasement towards a lesser nation.

While he and King Jan abandon Outremer, I will not. I have already stated my reasons for doing this and will not bore any of you by repeating them. If Outremer is given to the Greeks, we will double the size of their Empire, and we have already given them Iconium and Sofia. This is not negotiation, it is robbery.

I again ask the Dukes to call an Emergency Session to put a halt to this farce.

I wish Duke Hans good luck in his investigation. I hope his skills as an investigator have improved from when he was trying to dig up dirt on Kaiser Siegfried in his attempt to supplant him as Emperor. In hindsight I wish he had been successful.

What of the Assassins Guild? Have we talked to them? I remember they threatened the lives of our Generals near the end of my last term. Steward Elberhard also refused them a Master Guildhouse in Stettin recently. Of course since the Duke is a skilled investigator, I'm sure he's already considered it. I am also sure his investigation will be completely impartial and free of any political machinations.

Dietrich von Dassel:

In light of my very own Duke calling me a heretic, traitor, and incapable administrator I hereby renounce all loyalties to Swabia until the House gains a new Duke. This is absolutely ridiculous.

I remain, however, as always, loyal to the Holy Roman Empire.

I don't have time to listen to all the non-sense in this room.
But let me tell you this, if Matthias Steffen is going to stay in his city to defend it he has my support. Hell, I'd gladly help him, but I'm not there too help.

He who gives away the Outremer betrays his forefathers.

I suggest that the true Germans make ready to defend what will be left of the Reich, it is time we will get a proper leader, one that stands out. Not one that gifts away land that has been won by German blood, to gay purple loving people.

I can tell you one thing, Peter von Kastillien is a true German, and he is currently in prison because he had the guts to do what we say. He's no traitor, no criminal, he's a bloody hero.