Stories thread - King of the Romans PBM

[Ignoramus]

Adana, 1258

Wolfgang stared at Conrad Hohenburg in disbelief.

"More electors have bowed the knee you say? How can there honour stand such disloyalty to the Salian dynasty?"

Conrad nodded sympathetically as he continued.

"Ja, even King Salier has sworn allegience. Our very existance here puts us in great peril. Mein lord, we must flee the Reich's borders, lest we be seized and executed."

"As much as I hate fleeing, dear Conrad, Kaiser Hans will be served better by living men, not lifeless corpses. We shall ride west to Iconium; the Romans of Constantinople will be kinder masters, methinks, than those of Rome itself."

Buckling on his sword, Wolfgang turned to his page, Hermann Schultz.

"Assemble mein retainers in the stables assigned to me; we ride out at dawn."

[Privateerkev]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This story is a coop between myself and AG. Proofread by GH.

In the mountain pass in Acre:

Duke Arnold rode with his two colleagues down an old mountain pass. How do those do-gooder crusaders stand this heat? the Duke thought. He looked ahead and saw Grom sweating and heaving as his bulk was slumped over on his horse. Further ahead, Bane sat perched up high on his beautiful black stallion looking quiet un-bothered by the heat. They had followed Jan to Outremer and were riding towards Aleppo where the von Hamburgs kept a family home. The Duke was muttering to himself in the heat. "That sanctimonious little brat...does he even realize what built this empire?...his cousin Ansehelm kills captured Poles and no one says a word...Lothar butchers the survivors from the castle on Corsica and everyone cries about his dead brother...but who do they yell at?...boy if Jan even knew half of what has happened...even Kaiser Jobst did that thing at..." Bane interrupted him, "My duke, we are coming to a narrow crevice, let me ride ahead". The Duke waved him ahead and was about to return to his annoyed mutterings when he heard Bane's horse whinny. The Duke looked up and saw a dozen Teutons standing at the far exit of the crevice.

"Stand aside men, do you know who I am!?!" yelled Arnold.

"These two murdered our brother and we demand satisfaction Duke Arnold", said the lead knight.

"Do you have any idea what will happen to your Order should you harm a Duke of the Reich!?!" yelled out Arnold.

Suddenly, a voice came out from behind him. "That's one of the many reasons I have claimed you all for myself!"

Duke Arnold turned his horse around and saw Jan von Hamburg standing at the entrance to the crevice. It's a trap! the Duke thought. He and his two companions were in a narrow crevice with steep walls. A dozen knights were at one end and Jan was at the other. Arnold yelled to his companions, "Keep them busy while I deal with this turd once and for all! Then I will come give you a hand if you have left any for me!"

Bane and Grom got off of their horse and walked towards the knights. "And here I thought I was going to be bored!", exclaimed the barbarian.

"Good evening, ladies," said Bane in an emotionless voice.

Grom turned to Bane while walking forward and said, "You take the two on the right and I'll take the ten on the left." Bane hissed and gurgled what could have been a laugh but no one could be sure.

There was a brief moment of silence and total inaction. It was quickly broken when Grom lowered his head and simply charged the whole group. His yell was deafening in the crevice. Without even swinging, he crashed into bodies and everyone bounces off of him. Taking a breath, Grom noticed his surroundings had changed. He was now in a wider part of the pass. Good, he thought. More room for me to swing my axe.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Bane decided to back up into the narrowest part of the crevice and force the knights to come at him one or at most two at a time. Six men followed Grom out into the wider portion while six line up to face Bane.

Duke Arnold, ignoring the larger melee taking place, dismounted his horse and circled Jan looking for an opening. "You will not be saved by the militia this time!" he shouted.

Jan remained steady. "You made a real mistake coming to Outremer. I grew up here. You're on my land; On my terms my good Duke." All of a sudden both men were startled by a large crashing and crunching sound.

With more room to maneuver, six men rushed Grom at once. Grom simply punched one in his helmeted face, bent down, grabbed him by the ankle, and started swinging him like a giant mace. The other five had to back up as Grom swung their comrade around but two of them were not so lucky and got hit by a few hundred pounds of knight and armor. With one man being swung around and two knocked down, the remaining three rushed Grom again. One went wide and tried to get behind him as the other two attempted to keep Grom distracted.

Meanwhile Bane was keeping the front two people in line busy. With such limited room to swing and maneuver, no one was able to get a real blow in up to that point.

Jan saw all of this when he turned to see what made the crashing noise. Even outnumbering these people 13 to 3 was barely enough. Something had to be done to regain initiative. Jan kicked Arnold's horse and sent him whinnying and galloping into the other horses. All three startled animals ran towards the exit of the crevice sending one dread knight and 6 Teutonic knights scurrying out of the crevice. Now all of them had more room. And it was when Jan was distracted that Arnold struck.

Jan barely ducked in time to avoid Arnold's blade. He tried to parry but the Duke was swinging fast and furious with a barely contained rage. Jan remembered something from his time fighting the Mongols: If your opponent was good at fighting at a distance, get in close. Jan ducked and instead of swinging his body away from the Duke, swung his body inwards driving his knee into the Duke's gut. Not prepared for such close contact, Arnold was disoriented. Jan put his ankle behind the Duke's foot and pushed his weight into the Duke's body tumbling him over onto his back. The Duke fell onto his back with a thud and Jan lept on top of him, dropping his sword. As they struggled, Arnold grabbed his dagger out of its sheath and tried to jab it towards Jan's ribs. Jan was able to grab Arnold's wrist but it put him off balance and the Duke was able to roll Jan over and get on top of him with the dagger in his hand.

Meanwhile, as two knights kept Grom distracted, the third got behind him and tackled the knight being used as a mace, thereby wrenching him from Grom's grasp. Grom saw Bane and the other six knights run out of the crevice because of the horses. Grom lowered his head and charged the two men in front of him who stepped aside. Grom kept running towards the other six knights as they were running out. Luckily, Bane dove to the side before the barbarian crashed into the six men. All seven fell to the ground. The five conscious knights behind Grom ran towards the group but were intercepted by Bane. The dread knight knocked one poor Teuton in the face with his shield and swung his sword at another, clipping him in the arm and sending him spinning. He let the momentum of the swing carry him around in a spin and wedged his sword into a third knights side. Needing to pause to pull his blade out of armor, the other two knights tackled him.

Six knights were crawling on top of Grom as he attempted to stand up under the weight of hundreds of pounds of men and armor. Too close to use their swords, the six knights pulled their daggers and tried to push them into any exposed part of the barbarian they could find. While hurt, his huge bulk and armor prevented any of the wounds from being lethal. Grom sent an elbow into one knight's face, knocking him off. He tried to look towards Bane and saw the dread knight laying on the ground with two knights holding him down. One knight raised his sword to stab Bane through the chest and Grom threw his axe with super-human strength. The axe caught one of the knights on Bane in the side and stayed embedded in his armor. With a groan that knight fell off and Bane was able to knock off the other one. Slitting that knight's throat with his dagger, Bane went to the pile of knights on Grom and grabbed one from behind by the visor and pulled up, exposing that man's throat and allowing Bane to slit that man's throat as well. He moved to the next but two wounded knights were able to get up and run over to Bane, both of them running him through with their swords. Still alive, Bane collapsed with the blades in him. Seven wounded knights then crawled all over Grom and stabbed him until he stopped moving. Also still alive, Grom collapsed in a heap.

I haven't heard any battle-cries from Grom in a while, Arnold thought. Time to kill this little upstart and be done with it. But before he could plunge his dagger down, Jan raised his knee up into Arnold's crotch. With a "woof" Arnold doubled over and fell off of Jan. Jan grabbed his own dagger and stabbed at Arnold as he attempted to roll away, catching Arnold in the thigh. The wounded Duke swung his gauntlet back and caught Jan full in the face. Jan flew back as Arnold slowly and unsteadily got up and grabbed his sword. Jan still had his dagger and got up. Arnold swung his sword but it was slow and unsteady due to his wound. Jan again got inside, slipped his dagger into Arnold's side between armor plates, and knocked Arnold down again. This time, Arnold stayed down. Alive but with a heaving chest, Arnold gasped through the pain with hate still emanating from his face. Jan looked down at him and knelt beside the Duke.

"I'm going to show you the mercy and consideration you refused to show those poor captured Hungarians." The sound of hooves could be heard behind Arnold. "That is a caravan coming through here. Expecting the victory that occurred, I have arranged to have them take you and your companions down to Acre where you will be placed on a ship." Jan tore off part of his tunic and started wrapping the Duke's wounds.

Caravan drivers arrived and helped Jan carry the duke onto the wagon. Jan walked through the crevice to see how the knights fared. Walking out of the crevice Jan saw seven heavily breathing and wounded knights laying around a passed out and bloody barbarian with a dread knight laying next to them, his stomach already bandaged. The barbarian was also already bandaged but his wounds were many and blood was running all over the path floor. "Someone bind him up better!" Jan yelled.

"He is bandaged!" a knight yelled back. "Plus, his wounds are many but shallow. He will live."

Jan looked around and saw two knights with slit throats, one with an axe imbedded in his side, one with a sword imbedded in his side, and a fifth that was completely crumpled and compact inside his armor. "Five dead!?!", asked Jan, in shock. The head knight of the chapter sat there heaving, "Don't despair, young Jan, they knew what they signed up for. While even though they are still alive, we have gotten our satisfaction. Take young Maximillian to be your personal knight. He is the least injured." The last he said with a slight laugh. The caravan drivers came through the crevice and placed Grom's and Bane's injured bandaged frames upon the wagon with Arnold and headed to Acre. Another wagon came, picked up Jan, and the knights, as well as the knights' bodies, and headed home to Aleppo. Sitting on the ledge of the last wagon, Jan watched the other wagon go off in the other direction. For the first time since he could remember, he felt at peace. At last, he was back home and there was much work to be done.

[FactionHeir]

Rome, 1258 AD

"... and make sure this is done with the utmost secrecy. I do not want to appear in the diet with the speakers cold."

Adalberth, Thorsten, Dirk and Marco all nodded and put on their wide cloaks and hoods.

A while later, only Hans remained seated in the backroom of the hideout, scribbling away at a few more letters that wanted to be dispatched this very night still.

----------------------

Dirk strode carefully yet clumsily across the street towards the tavern. His bulky mass and soldier training did not make him a suitable agent, but who was he to question the man he was ordered to guard with his life by the late emperor Henry?
As he entered the large interior, he quickly appraised the men sitting on hard wooden benches around round tables, drinking their beer and sharing gossip. This place was popular with the garrison and Imperial soldiers - one of the members of the late Jobsts bodyguard was not exception.

After standing in the doorway for around a minute, Dirk made out the man sitting lonely in one of the corners, sipping away at his beer. It was quite fortunate that one of Marcos informants had found out about his whereabouts.

Dirk first walked up to the barkeep, and motioned him to come closer. As he did, a small bag of florins changed ownership and the barkeep nodded. Shortly afterwards, Dirk was listening to the soldier who happily and hastily accepted all the beer that was provided to him as well as a good German meal.

"So all those men just started cheering Siegfried after Jobst died you say?"
The soldier nodded quickly and added "Every one of them. The word got out from around young Siegfried and spread quickly"
"I see. So Jobst made him his heir there and then huh?"
"Kind of. Well, thats at least what everyone says." he leaned closer, holding his hand near his lips in secrecy "But I was there, and the emperor, god rest his soul, did not actually name Siegfried. I still remember it as if it were yesterday. Just said My heir... you! Long live Kaiser Guess he might have meant him though." He soldier finished off his mug of beer and looked around for more, which Dirk happily supplied.
"Really. That is most interesting. Say, you want to come with me? I got more beer elsewhere and something else of interest to you as well."
The soldier, drunk and tired, nodded "How could I refuse more beer?"

----------------------------------

Adalberth waited by the docks. There had been a commotion here earlier, but it was relatively quiet now. It was not yet night, but it would not be long. He wondered whether the informant would really come or continue in hiding.

Just at that moment, the door to the fortified hut creaked and a hooded man entered. Throwing back their hoods, Adalberth could make out from the description that this truly was Adolf der Bartige.

"The Chancellor Hans needed my services again?"
Adalberth motioned for Adolf to sit. "Indeed, it seems your report to him some years ago needs your person to back up."
Adolf jumped slightly "Dont you know I might be a dead man if I say this publically? They found people dead, murdered, for finding the truth!"
"You will be safe, worry not. You are still of use and Lord Hans does not believe in betraying those who support him"
"What makes you think I would want to risk my life for him once again?"
Adalberth grinned "Well, either you do, and you live in the knowledge that you did Swabia a great service with the truth, or you might be fished out of the Tiber the next day..."
Adolf cringed "Fine, but you better make sure of my safety!"

----------------------------

Marco and some accomplices had made out the villa one of the council members was residing in. It was said that his wife was out of town and on these nights he tended to invite his adultress over. Funny enough, his wife never found out, but tonight would be different.

While his Marcos men distracted the guards, Marco entered via the main door by picking the lock and made his way straight to the bedroom, easily found by the noises reverberating through the high walls of the entrance hall.

The door flew open and Marco with his henchmen entered, to total surprise of the councilman and his whore, who had been engaging in carnal pleasures.
Marco made it short by saying: "You have the key to the council archives and I can tell your wife of your little affair. What do you prefer?"

"Please dont tell her! Second drawer to the right of my desk"

"And I need a letter from you later. You surely would be happy to help?"

"Anyting you want!"

Marco smirked and left for the council archives.

[FactionHeir]

Rome, 1260

The door swung open and smashed against the wooden wall with a loud bang. In strode a beaming Marco, bearing a note in his hand that he quickly handed over to the somewhat startled Hans, who had not been expecting visitors at this hour.

"My lord, my agents have found out the location of Luka, the alleged pagan magician of Jobsts retinue."
Blinking, Hans replied "Truly? I hope it is within our reach and we may obtain the information before the council meeting?"
Marcos grin became even wider as he spoke "Actually, it is just outside the city walls. I have put men on guard there and we are ready to leave now. The horses and the wagon are ready at your disposal my lord"
Hans rose from his seat and quickly walked toward the door, patting Marco on the shoulder on his way out. "Excellent work Marco, let us see what this night still bears for us."

--------------------------

Rome outskirts, 1260 AD the very same night

The wind of the clear, star-lit night was warm for this time of year. Although the first snow had fallen earlier, there was something homely and comforting about the climate today. Hans did not know exactly why it was so, but he shrugged it off, as he had more urgent matters on his mind - to find the pagan magician and win him over as his witness.

As Hans and his entourage consisting of Marco, Dirk and Thorsten arrived short of the hut, several shapes emerged from the shadows, raising their hands in a calming manner, that stopped their horses. They were Marco's henchmen and had been shadowing the hideout for some time already.
After exchanging a few words, Marco joined his men and stood guard outside, while Hans and his two companions pressed onward.

The hut was unlit with exception of a small candle near the lone window facing the approaching men, its light flickering in the wind, casting eerie shadows onto the footpath ahead. Thorsten -paced faster toward the old wooden door and kicked it open, sending it slamming against the wall, immediately killing the light with the gust of wind.
"Thorsten, could you please try a bit more softly next time? We don't want to be casting the wrong impression..." Hans sighed.
"Oops... will try harder...err..softer.." Thorsten grumbled, visibly embarassed.
Hans waved him off and entered, seeing little in the pitch dark of the hut.
As the men stumbled their way through the narrow place, Thorsten suddenly felt his weight giving away and was sent crashing against a potted plant, sending it in turn crashing to the floor, breaking into countless pieces with a loud bang.
Dirk and Hans instinctively drew their broadswords and hurried over, only to find a trapdoor beneath the carpet Thorsten tripped over.
"Umm sorry again..." Thorsten said immediately, lowering his head
"Thorsten, sometime I admire how you manage to find those hidden places the way you do... in any case, well done, I guess." Hans replied, while Dirk just muffled a hearty laugh.

Dirk lifted the heavy ring on the trapdoor revealing a narrow corridor below, somewhat lit with torches held in place on holding irons against the roughly carved stone walls.
"At least there is some light" spoke Hans as he descended down the creaking ladder and motioned Thorsten to stand guard while Dirk followed.
The two men walked slowly yet steadily through the narrow corridor that did not allow them to walk side-by-side. They would have no room to swing their sowrds around here and would have to rely on their daggers while they searched for traps that may have lined this tunnel.

After several stressful minutes, they reached the end of the corridor that opened into a well lit chamber, featuring reliefs on the walls and various animal hides and bones littered across the floor. In the midst of said chamber, sat peacefully a robed man in front of a brazier, into which he threw herbs that gave off a rather calming smell.

"That must be that Luka then, eh?" whispered Dirk
"That I am indeed" the voice of the man hallowing through the hallway, bouncing off the walls and giving off many echoes.
"We come in peace, Luka. We are in need of information." spoke Hans as he walked up the the entrance of the chamber and waited
"Then enter. I have been expecting you, sooner or later" was the reply

Hans was the first to enter, looking about at the many drawings of pagan deities, while Dirk came in second, more cautiously and not leaving Luka out of his eyes.

After much time had passed - Hans lost count of the hours - Luka left the hideout with them. They had discussed what evidence Hans had and amended the puzzle with Luka's knowledge and a new objective: To find the possibly last link that would solve the mystery of Dieter and Siegfried's ascension. Hugo von Heidelberg. The spy, Hans had sent to Denmark during his chancellorship to find out more about the royal court at Stockholm.
Luka was no less happy about this turn of events, as for his services, he had been rewarded with a prominent position on Hans' retinue.

--------

Frankfurt, 1261 AD

Thorsten hated travels. Especially travels through Imperial lands where he would have no heads to bash. War was his trade, not travel, and he grew weary of the constant diplomatic approach and caution with which Hans progressed. However, this was not to mean that he was disloyal. Just slightly disgruntled as it had been many years since he had last seen a proper fight, and his axe thirsted for blood.

Hans and his retinue had arrived at Frankfurt some hours earlier and were now waiting for nightfall in one of the more noble establishments in the city, the innkeeper of which was known to ignore gossip and heed the privacy of his mainly aristocratic clients. Exactly what was needed for this mission. Marco's agents once again had tracked down their suspect: Hugo von Heidelberg, who had recently travelled to Frankfurt on unknown business.

As night beckoned outside, Hans and his men prepared their weapons and armour that were crafted by the most able smiths of Outremer and Sofia, and the best armourers at Staufen. Hans, Dirk, Adalberth and Luka carried broadswords, Marco a scimitar, and Thorsten two Skrajas - feared battleaxes of the north. Their armour was hidden beneath long, black robes as they made their way through a secret passage below the inn and through the sewers of the city.
While it was not exactly as clean and quiet as the city streets, this path allowed for secret travel and was surprisingly well-kept - that portion of the sewers anyway, to please the visiting nobles.

Marco read off a drawing of the city sewers that was acquired from the local city hall after some florins had exchanged owners and pointed to one of the exits ahead. "There. We must ascend here and make our way east through the outer slums."
"Where is east?" asked Thorsten immediately.
Luka sighed "Just follow us, will you."

Dirk raised the sewer grate and spied out. The street was dark and quiet, there was no visible movement. Yet he was unsure whether it was too quiet. He was a trained bodyguard and it was his duty to ensure the safety of his companions, yet one wrong step could end it all. Was he willing to take that risk? He knew he had to. It did not matter whether he lived or died as long as he fought for a worthy cause, and this was one indeed. Having filed the thought, Dirk slowly slided the grate across the paved road, avoiding any excessive noise from the metal grinding against the stone below. He emerged, slowly, cautiously, and quickly sped towards one of the dark corners of a nearby building before signalling Marco, who had been behind him, to follow.
It did not take much time until all men had taken their positions behind Dirk, with Marco tracing his fingers over the parchment.
"Follow me, slowly. Try to stay in the shadows. Especially you Thorsten." Marcos words were quickly rewarded with a grumble from Thorsten's direction, and he grinned.

Marco drew a light crossbow he had been hiding under his robes and climbed up the side of one of the nearby buildings near the hideout for a better vantage point. Thorsten and Dirk stood on either side of the front door, with Hans and Adalberth to the side of either window. Luka hid in the shadows under the building Marco had settled on.

There were muffled voices that could be heard through the wooden walls, several to be sure. Hans knew immediately that there would be a fight, and Thorsten took a deep sip from his waterskin, that was filled with cheap wine and pagan herbs in expectation.

The sound of shattering glass could be heared throughout the streets, as a bolt struck through it into the neck of a man who had looked out of the window just at that moment. As if one man, the companions immediately stormed the building, Dirk and Thorsten through the front door, Luka following close behind. Hans and Adalberth remained on their positions, making sure no-one escaped and no more fell into the backs of their friends.

The men inside were visibly surprised at the loss of one of their members and were slow enough to draw steel, that two more fell under the blows of the retinue barging through the door. Their resistance was futile however, as their weapons were no match for master smithwork and honed skills of warriors by trade. One tried to flee through a window but was quickly struck down by Adalberth, while Hans bashed the window near him and shouted for the remainder to surrender or fall. Surprisingly, all of the men chose death over surrender, except for one, who cowered in a corner with a dagger drawn, shaking all over.

With the battle dying down, Thorsten took over Hans' position while Hans moved in and quickly disarmed the man, sending his dagger flying against a wall and the man to the floor in fear.
"Please, there is no need to kill me! I can explain everything! Please!" begged the unarmed cowled man.
"And why would I grant you what you speak of? Is there some benefit for me?" asked Hans sharply
"I... I have connections! I have coin! You don't want to kill one such as I!"
"Really, and why would you think that I need more coin?"
The man looked up at Hans in disbelief "You are not out for coin? You are not robbers? Not Danes? But why?"
"Ah, then you must be Hugo, yes? I came looking for you..."
"What? How do you know? I have done nothing! I won't tell you nothing!"
Thorsten grinned, revealing several gaps where normally teeth would be and stepped closer "Maybe you like to talk to my axe then, heh?"
"No! Murderer! Leave me alone!"
Thorsten raised one of his axes high and cut into the shelf next to the man, splitting it into two.
"Wait! I will talk, just let me live! Just tell this barbarian to back off!"
Hans smirked "What do you know about Dieter von Darmstadt?"

[Stig]

Placeholder for the story about Ansehelms preparations for the Teutonic Crusade



btw Overknight, are you still planning on sending some noble with Ansehelm, would be nice to mention him as well

[Privateerkev]

Far west side of Damascus territory, 1262

Jan sat on a rock up on the side of a mountain. Bodies of Imperial Bodyguards and Muslim brigands were strewn about in a rough circle. He was at the mouth of the pass where he had ambushed Duke Arnold up north a few years ago. This pass was proving to be the site of many events in Jan's life. A few days ago he had finally gotten permission to join up with the Crusade that was launched to retake Jerusalem. Leaving Damascus, where he was stationed, Jan made his way down the mountain pass to save time. An Egyptian army was camped out south of Acre and Jan wanted to join the Crusade in time to intercept it. But all not gone according to plan. The army moved north, chased Jan, and blocked off the mouth of the pass. But then the army rebelled from their Sultan and most of the soldiers went home or off to other duties. But, around 30 peasants and 30 mamluke horse archers formed a bandit ring and were camped out right at the entrance to the pass. Not wanting to be delayed on his way to the Crusade, Jan ordered a frontal attack with only his 30 bodyguards. While the peasants had been killed in the initial charge, the horse archers proved to be quite difficult. Jan wanted to disengage and set up another charge but he was afraid that the horse archers would have shot his men in the back and run off. So, Jan had ordered his men to stay close and it became a battle of attrition with his knights pushing uphill while being clubbed to death by the mamlukes. While roughly half of the enemy horsemen died in the initial charge, the remaining ones took roughly 3 of Jan's knights for every mamluke killed. Luckily, numbers had been on Jan's side at that point and a few knights were able to walk off to the side, up the hill and come back down on the mamlukes from above. The mamlukes had fought to the last man and Jan had lost 20 of his bodyguards in the fight.

One of these last bodyguards walked up to Jan with Maximillian beside him. "My lord", said Jan's Teutonic knight, "this man wishes to speak with you."

"Of course. Come forward my good knight."

The knight came forward and said bluntly, "My lord, forgive me, but you screwed up here."

Maximillian stirred and moved to intercept the knight but Jan waved him off.

"You fought well my good knight. I do not recognize you but you have certainly earned the right to speak your mind. Please continue."

"My lord, I am new to your group of bodyguards. I asked to be assigned to you after I heard stories about you. You fight well and you have honor, but you lack military leadership experience. And that came out in todays battle and I am afraid good men are dead because of your misjudgment. You were so eager to get to the Crusade, you refused to wait for the reinforcements that I know Matthias offered you. You charged straight in instead of trying to bait the horse archers out where they could be ambushed. You became obsessed with victory and lost your cool because of it. I humbly offer my services to you as an adviser. I have been involved in military campaigns for the Imperial Army for over 20 years."

Jan mulled over what the knight had said. "You speak truth to power my good knight and I respect that. I am honored to be served by one such as yourself. And I would be doubly honored to have your services as an adviser. You can be my "veteran warrior" and advise me on matters of military tactics. I also want you to keep touch with the men under my command and let me know what they want and need. Would you please give me your name? And I have one request."

The knight straightened up. "I am Gunther my lord. And what is it that you need?"

Jan looked Gunther straight in the eye and said, "If your advice is to be of any use to me, I need it straight. If you hold back, or sugar-coat anything, I will fire you on the spot."

Gunther quickly replied, "My lord, if I did that, then my advice is useless and I would deserve to be fired."

With a smile Jan said, "Alright! Its settled then. Let us get ourselves to the Crusade."

With that, Jan and his much smaller group of bodyguards galloped off to Count Zirn's Crusader army outside of Acre.

[Warluster]

It was a dark, dark night. Nothing could be seen out in the shadows beyond the small village. The small village was the only village within a few good km's.

Several candle lit lights flickered, creating a eerie cold scene. All were asleep, the drunks in the tavern snoring loudly, and the nobleman of the village, a council member from Frankfurt, supposedly there.

But from the shadows emerged a man. Robed in black, and breathing deeply, he walked through the street, walking towards the large house in the middle.

As he approached, he looked up and quietly chuckled. His target was near, a target which would ensure that Kaiser Siegfred encountered nothing more. And most of all, one gone.

He quietly waved his hands, and all lights around the house extinguished. The street plunged into blackness. He had thought with the death of his old buisness partner it would all be fine, but somehow, Hugo found out. The Brotherhood was supposedly finished...

Ge pulled a small picklock from his belt, and picked the lock. THe door creaked open to reveal a lovely home. The man, was obviously drowning in glory. A great couch was planted in a wide living room, glorious paintings hanging on the walls.

Stealthily, he ascended the stairs. The stairs spiralled upwards, and finally opened. A large bed was placed in the middle of a small room, the place opened up to the cold night air. There was hilltops with lights twinkling on them. None could tell the village was there, unless they stumbled into a wall.

The cloaked man silently drew a pistol, and looked around. In the bed was only one figure. Quietly the man approached, and was soon looming over the person.

He pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. It sounded like a angry elephant, the blast echoing around the hills. Soon lights were being lit in the place, and curios voices could be heard, as doors opened to find smoke pouring from the second floor window of the Council Members house.

The cloaked man seemed to fly out the window, pocketing his pistols and drawing a large knife. But he encountered no one, and soon he was fleeing into the hills.


1 Week Later

The large city of Rome was bustling, once again noisy as the Holy Roman Empire's Capital. Amongst the crowd a man walked, he was cooly watching the many fountains, as people brushed past him.

Another man stood nearby, leaning on a railing. He looked over at the other man and nodded, and he came closer.
"Dieter? Have you seen the newspapers?" the man demanding pretending to watch the passing crowd.
"The papers? Where is your brain man? In your arse or your head? Of course I haven't, I was on leave up in Northern Germany near Frankfurt." replied Dieter quietly, still watching the fountain but no longer relying on the railings for support.
"Here" the man slipped Dieter a paper and continued, "I know what happened up there. You weren't on holiday were you?" asked the man suspicously, now watching Dieter intently. DIeter ruffled the paper, and before he read he said,
"Anymore detective work Sergeant and I will ahevt o silence your little meber of life." he replied, then resorted to reading.

The front cover read nothing, but the other man turned the pages until he was quite into th paper, then pointed at a rather large article. Dieter read,

Witness of Count Hans Killed

Yesterday, near the City of Frankfurt, a shocking death occured. The man, known for the famous investigation into the then Prinz Jobst's scandal ambush, and a local council member, has been killed. It occured at the very blackest of the night. The man has also been called forward related to the case made in the Imperial Diet by Count Hans against Kaiser Sigfred's right to be Kaiser.

Dieter looked up.
"Shocking, we are to ensure the rest of the witnesses have great protection. Now, is the man I wish to see ready to speak?" asked Dieter, skipping the discussion of the article whoch was sure to come up.
"Yes sir but-"
"I don't bloody want to discuss this newspaper, it always reports false stuff. Let us meet the man, he is a old friend." continued Dieter, and waved the Sergeant away.

After some time, he returned, accompanied by another taller man. He did not recognise Dieter.
"Let us walk?" suggested Dieter, the tall man nodded. Dieter brushed away the Sergeant. Briskly, they srt off. Slowly winding through the streets, looking at the carts offering things to sell. While they walked, Dieter proposed conversation.
"Well, my old friend, you do not recognise me?" the man shook his head,
"I am Dieter" said Dieter. The man, shortly unfocused as a group of giggling beautiful women passed him, laughing, he quickly turned to Dieter, drawing a sword. Dieter, put a hand on his arm, his grip making the action stop. They cotinued, but now under the nervous and curious watch of others.
"Now, let me make it straight. You provide nothing more to Count Hans, or your life is on the line." Dieter told him, drawing him into a abandoned alley.
"No! You are a evil man! If I knew what you were up to, I wouldn't have helped you! Your poor assa..." Dieter drew a long, curved sword, and pressed it against the mans throat.
"Like my blade I got from Outremer? Now, listen my fri..." But now Dieter was cut off, as someone came barging into the alley, knocking him tot he ground. The glint of a blade flashed, and soon a Longsword was bearing down upon Dieter. Quickly, he parried it and got to his feet, to find the Sergeant and the other man standing with swords drawn.
"Sergeant! What are you doing!?" asked Dieter,
"I shall not let you kill another witness." Quickly he was bearing upon Dieter gain, and they duelled feriouscly. He yelled something, ans quickly the other taller man fled.

Dieter parried, did a fake step to his right, then jumped to his left and stukc at the Sergeant. The curved blade found flesh, and sliced the Sergeant at his waist and then curving upwards to cut his stomach open. The man fell to the dusty ground, gurgling as blood flooded his mouth. Dieter spat on him and leaned down, so he spoke face to face.
"Never, investigate or somehow ruin Dieters plans, or your life is falling from the line." cackling, Dieter rose and spat ont he man. He slashed a clothsline hanging above him, and the clothes fell on the Sergeant, covering him, as they slowly turned red.

And Dieter left, noy a care he had blown out someones ember.

Ember of life.