Aragon

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-22-2008, 22:13

All Hail! The annals of Aragon will resound with the echoes greatness! By the blessed virgin we have united Spain. The proud Leonese and Castileans have fallen after their treachery! Portugal could do little to stop our advance Fernan de Alba burned their citadel after a bloody battle and Horacio the Wrathful put an end to their dreams when he took the women of their capital...and the Lord above shone on our conquests of the Almohads and spain is one. we continue to seek out the Almohads in the deserts, and a resurgent Sicily may cause problems in the future, but for now, we are victorious!

The Montesa warrior monks have favored Aragon, truly seeing the light of God as we carry out his divine will, their disciplined soldier have turned battles in our favor more than once! Let us not forget their fabled charge on the flanks of the Leonese assaulting the gates of Castle Loarre.

Grim tidings, words reaches us here in this monastery(where of course records are written) that Jimeno Sotomayer has abandoned his post guarding Barcelona and Zaragoza...apparently it was too much to watch while others piled up wealth and dukedoms...we pray that he doesnt provoke neutral France...

With our armies still exhausted and recoverong from the campaigns to unite Spain, we are little prepared for a war with France, having no other recourse young Goncalo de Belmonte has been dispathed along with his captain, to raise an army capable of defending our lands if they arent able to catch Jimeno...

Winter snows have ground Jimeno to a halt, by now his men must be grumbling over such inconvenience...

Motesa have rallied to our aid, inspiring also the common folk to reshape their farm tools to spears and take the cause as well...perhaps we can catch Jimena before greater damage is done...

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-22-2008, 22:39

{im not sure whats wrong with my SS's, this is my first AAR,so any advice is sweet like honey}

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-22-2008, 23:15

Jimena and Goncalo meet...but instead of peace,insults are thrown, and each side prepares itself...

the fools march towards us, and if we fail...then the civil war will spread...and Spain will once again...splinter...Leon,Castile,Portugal,Andalusia,Navarre each once again alone...

the Knights of Montesa defect from the fool Jimena! and he runs like a maid to her wedding bed!
(yes yes it is a Danish flag,i couldnt find the Aragonese in the custom battle menu)

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-22-2008, 23:33

Jimeno has been captured and placed into prison at Valencia, where we have given him over to the fledgling inquistion as a heretic, for who else but a non believer could threaten the new found unity of Spain?

the remains of his army surrendered, and Goncalo being young, and dreaming of glory himself, accepts and incorporates them into his own army,placing them under the command of his captain, Enrique...France's ill defended lands of the South are now more tempting than before...perhaps once the armies are combined...

Sending a most experienced diplomat, Soto de Leon, to the French, he was able to peacefully secure the province of Toulouse and its castle for Aragon(of course the 5000 bribe helped along with military pressure on its borders,France can ill afford a war on two fronts...

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 00:37

Seeing opportunity, Goncalo seizes it, not being a particularly pious or even righteous man, he bribes and tricks his way into most of France's fortresses...Toulouse,Caen,Bordeaux,and Angers are all in Aragonese hands now...and not one life lost...yet

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 04:43

with King El Cid sludging through the sand in pursuit of the remnants of the Moors, Goncalo is left as Governor, however, in fact he is King in all but name...may the hot sands blast him to eternity, he is a dreamer, and as all idealist he kills us with his dreams! he is no Alexander! He has even changed his name to mimic El Cid Campeador, what vile lowness...the fact that he is undefeated in his personal war with Moors is the only reason he has not yet been deposed.

then...not disaster...but something resembling catastrophe...fate has plucked our chord, and it quivers violently as it tries to make its way back to its original pitch...the voices of thousands of the doomed and damned are heard in these strings...along with those soon to die...

Goncalo has been claimed by the plague, it is rumored that our Lord struck him down for his affinity for young boys...however such talk is,well discouraged...his son is exiled to the far reaches of the kingdom to campaign against the moors...

Curse the Fates! it is enough to make the brothers here doubt the benevolence of God! with Goncalo's body barely green in the earth, the English have seen our quick advance through France, and also the way our generals quarrel in council is now the talk of all Christendom! Enrique, Goncalo's captain, now stands with Horacio the Wrathful to face this threat...war has not been officially declared, however what other outcome can their be when our sovereignity itself has been challenged?

{{thanks for the editing tip NorthNovas! i was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading this,lol! it is fun though,so ill keep it up.}}

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 04:53

a princess of Scotland, Dearbhail the Snob come in secret to meet with the diplomat Juan at Caen Castle, to form a bond between us against a common foe...the English...it is also rumored...how does one say, let me leave it at this, the Scottish Royal Line may now and forever have a touch of Aragonese in it. She is set to marry Milanese Royalty, let us hope he is a foolish cuckold!

ENOUGH OF THIS INSULT! the King of England himself has deigned to tresspass our lands...this is totallt unacceptable...he thinks us weak, but we will show him! were i not so old i myself would take my sword out of its oilcloth and join in. Enrique will force these Englishmen into the sea! we will show the world our strength!

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 05:13

tiring of cowards tactics, Enrique leads his knights in a daring move to outflank the enemy artillery!

The enemy die like pigs, squealing as lances cut through their bodies, and cut off vital functions...

our forces hold...Enrique is dealing with the enemy captain, and our men hold...for the moment...

BLESS THE HOLY MOTHER!!!! just as our men were ready to turn, Enrique turns and throws himself into their flanks, his retainers follow and they cut a bloody swath!

the English are in full rout! we will cut them down as the Lord separates the wheat from the tares!

God Bless Us! The Prince of England has fallen! may his father lose his mind with grief, and may they both roast in the deepest parts of hell!

King Eustace flees rather than face our horsemen! our footsoldiers were enough for him!

Father and Son go down together to the pit! Glory to Aragon!

another English general.dead.rejoice.

A close victory indeed, but never-the-less, VICTORY!! Thank the Virgin that Enrique was able to turn the tide...a bloody time indeed,although sweeter for the deaths of two Princes of england, and their lord father. we wed with tears, and attend funerals in celebration...

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 05:47

after much debate, and finally deciding that his sword was much too dull to kill anyone at the moment, Horacio ransoms the remaining Englishmen home.may their tales spread terror.

a time of mourning, for Enrique has died from wounds sustained in battle..

The English wisely sue for peace, the price is high, we demand the city of Eikendarsund as reparations.

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 06:42

with the cries of the slain echoing through his mind, Horacio decides to avenge them in battle...in a well calculated move, he hires a small mercenary fleet to sail his army up the Thames...the London...

Taking London was relatively easy, however not without its loss of life..

Horacio, finding that many of 'England's Servants' are unhappy with their masters, and will happily trade one master for another, hires them, and allowing his army to regroup in London(and enjoy the womenfolk) casts his hopes on these mercenaries and lays siege to Nottingham...which the English have left unguarded due to their northern fued with a resurgent Scotland.

Seeing that Aragon has grown by leaps, and has failed to acknowledge the Papacy in any form, as the Pope was against the founding of the Montesa Knights, the Pope sends a bull threatening excommunication if we do not cease hostilities against the English...but money answers all things...the Pope will gladly welcome us back into the flock when we dangle money before him!

While our reputation with Pope Guildenstein(!) falter, we avoid excommunication by sending one of the more slaggish of our princesses into his chamber after hours...may the virgin conceive!

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 06:57

In high hopes of finally bringing the dreary desert crusade against the Moors to an end, King El Cid runs across Pricnce Sa'id in a bid to outflank the capital...

the dogs of the desert close in, the sand they kick up masking their superior numbers...but numbers dont matter...or do they?

the Cross and Crescent clash! and we will see who is greater this day, Allah or our Crucified Lord!

At them! kill,kill, kill!! Aragonese knights show these dogs the meaning of fear as we ride them down!

VICTORY! the Moors cannot last much longer!God has granted King Cid victory over this filth!

**VAE VICTUS** · 05-23-2008, 07:30

Horacio the Wrathful fell to one of the diseases while sieging York,these diseases are brought on by this damp, cursed land of England! he died in a terrible coughing fit, with blood leaping from his mouth...the mercenaries he hired,however proved their worth when they stormed York without their leader. we were excommunicated for our pains, and with the treasury laid bare by recent warfare, once more an Aragonese Princess is sent to 'bargain' with the Pope. Juana the Affectionate does the job nicely, she is know as a 'hard bargainer'.

rumors fly, and the Pope's reputation is damaged...but we are no longer excommunicate, and now we can tax our people fully!