Stories thread - King of the Romans PBM

[Privateerkev]

Antioch, 1280

Jan sat in a large library in Antioch. At a large table, books on law were piled high. Max sat on a stool against the wall. Gunther was coming back with another pile of books. The King was flipping through books while scribbling notes down. Next to them was a fine piece of parchment that had, as of yet, no writing on it except for the words, Charter Amendment 13.x

Gunther plopped down the books and sat across from the King. He eyed the parchment and noticed its exceptionally high quality. "My King, that is one fine piece of paper. Surely you could have used any old piece of paper for a CA."

"Its the piece of parchment that Duke Arnold sent me as repayment. Its a long story. I thought it would be appropriate for what I'm writing," said the King as he was scribbling.

"And if I may ask, what are you writing?" Gunther inquired out of curiosity.

Jan slid the paper he was scribbling on across the table to Gunther and said, "Here is a rough outline of it."

Gunther took it and the old veteran scrutinized it. His face turned to a scowl.

"What? You don't like it?" asked Jan.

Gunther struggled for a respectful way to say what he was thinking. "Um...Sir... what are you doing? Why are you doing this to the Dukes?"

"What? You don't think they'll like it?" inquired Jan.

"Like it? I think they'll love it! But why ever would you do this?" Gunther was starting to wonder if the King had gone a little crazy.

Jan sat up and explained, "Because Gunther, we need to bind the Duchies to Outremer. Its the only way. If the Dukes feel involved, then the mission will survive. If they feel alienated from the land they sacrifice for, then our mission will fail. This will ensure that they will feel more included."

Gunther shook his head, "Sir, its so unbelievable, it just might work. If this doesn't make them feel included, nothing will."

With that, Jan grinned, took the paper back, and started working again on his legislation. A man in a robe, a few tables down, closed his book, got up and left. Max saw him but thought nothing of it.

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The robed man walked out of the library. After back tracking to make sure he wasn't followed, he went down an alley. Coming to a door, he knocked two up high and three down low on the door. It opened and a large hulking man saw him and let him in. The robed man walked down the hall to a large den where an older man was sitting at a table counting coins. The robed man sat down and immediately said, "I'm worried, about the King. He's working on something that could undo everything."

The older man continued counting until he was done with a stack before replying. "Oh, and what is the boy-king up to?"

"He said something about binding the Duchies to Outremer. If that works, it could be disastrous. Everything depends on getting the Duchies to become fed up with being over here and call for an abandonment of Outremer. I think we need to add him to the list," said the man in robes quickly and insistently.

With that, the older man fully turned away from his counting and looked up before speaking. "The list? Are you joking? King Salier was on the list. Kaiser Henry was on the list. Elberhard is on the list. Powerful and influential men who were a threat to our agenda. You want to add Jan to the list!? We might as well add Dieter to the list. Or Dieter's dog! If we're going to set the bar that low, we might as well add every German in Outremer to the list. Your thinking too much and your not paid to think. Your paid to follow your target and report. Every noble out here is followed by one of us. You follow Jan and report in. We'll do the thinking."

The older man was about to return to his counting when the man in robes pleaded, "But what if he can really pull it off? Getting the Dukes involved in Outremer could set us back years!"

With a sigh, the older gentleman explained, "Look, your making two assumptions. One is that Jan can get anything passed in the Diet. The man is a laughingstock. The boy-Kaiser appointed the boy-King and then abandoned him to the wolves. The Dukes smelled blood and tore him to shreds during the last Diet. Even common electors mock him openly. He's lucky if he will even get re-appointed. The second assumption is that the Dukes will stop being petty, narrow-minded, short-sighted, and provincial. No, the Dukes are far more concerned with their little corner of the Reich than they are of Outremer. Nothing will change that. And when the time is right, the right words will be whispered in the right ears in the Diet and Outremer will be abandoned. In the meantime, just do your job and you'll be fine. Dismissed."

The older man slid a stack of coins to the man in robes. The younger man pocketed the coins, got up, and left.