Order of St. John II

[Rowan]

Kousinos Sophianos, I welcome you to join our Order and our fight against the muslim infidels. Now, swear fealty for our marshall Theo Petzeas to receive the rank of Sergeant of the Order of St. John!

[Cecil XIX]

I hereby swear an oath of allegiance to Theophylaktos Petzeas.

Kousinos bows.

My apologies for the delay, Brothers.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

This is more like a formality but.. I accept your Oath!

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Aleksios ek Kerkiras enters the great hall in the Orders headquarters and sighs. The building and it's great hall looks almost abandoned. He saw some servants walking around but it is clear that the Glory Days of the Order have passed into oblivion.

Aleksios walks towards one servant who was wiping some dust from the sculptures of the fallen knights of the Order...

Go tell your master that

I, Aleksios ek Kerkiras, swear an Oath of fealty to Vartholomaios Ksiros!

I await his answer, positive of course, right here..

Aleksios takes a seat behind the table in the center of the hall.

[mini]

Iosef Ek Artas patted the dust of his cloak as his horse entered the court yard. He gazed around, looking for a stable boy. Finding none, he dismounted sighing. He started to wonder if coming here was a bad idea.
Yet, the empire was at war on all sides. Since his loyalty to the basileus had taken him east, he had commited himself fighting the Turks.
He had seen the ugly side of war. The battle for Damascus - though almost won - had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Too many friends had died that day. When it shouldn't had to be that way. If internal strife had been non-existant, the Turks wouldn't have been able to suprise him with 1vs3 odds.
Damascus would now be in the fold of the Empire, and he himself would have been in time to aide Senator Petzeas in his battle against one of those retchet usurpers. He had admired the latter, so he taken a fancy to atleast visit the Order, to see whether or not he could aid the Empire to restore order both inside it's borders aswel as outside.

As he walked in the vast great hall, he found the place near deserted. He only found one knight seated at the center table, who merely frowned at Iosef.
As the knight was not familiar to Iosef, he thought it best to wait around for someone whom he could ask for both hospitality and information.


OOC: Could someone inform me the purpose and the current allegiance of the order? :)

[Ibn-Khaldun]

OOC: The purpose is to hold it's holdings in Levant and at least I(Theo) was supporting TheFlax' character.

[Rowan]

The servant roused by Aleksios ek Kerkiras looks around dumbfounded, then shakes his head as if gathering his wits and scurries away through a low door set behind the Grandmaster's seat. Some time passes until a white-haired man clad in mailed leather steps in through the same door. He takes a look at the two men before sitting at the high seat.

Gentlemen, I welcome you to these halls, which as you can see, haven't seen much visitors in recent days.

Turning his gaze at Aleksios ek Kerkiras Vartholomaios continues

You must be Theo's nephew mentioned in his will. I can see the family resemblance and you certainly have the same rashness and bold, unthinking energy he had when he was younger. I hope you have truly thought things through before offering me your fealty. These times are tough and the land has little need for noble causes and altruism like our once great Order. Ours is a hard work with little resources. If you will, I let you withdraw your oath and won't hold it against you. If you won't then consider yourself a sergeant of the Order of St. John!

Vartholomaios turns to face the other visitor

Now, you I do not know? Are you here for a shelter and some food, continuing on your journey on the morrow or do you wish to spend some time with an old man and a young fool?

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Aleksios smiles..

Young fool?.. heh

I have thought about this from the minute I heard that Theo died. He had.. some.. vices Aleksios smiles but his heart was in the right place. It's amazing that after his sailing accident so many years ago, that almost killed him, he still found the strength to take the fight against the Turks on his shoulders. Also, when he left to capture Edessa he told me to take care of Theopolis and it's citizens and I will keep that promise.

I will not withdraw my oath. I will serve as the Sergeant of the Order and try to protect the lands of Levant just like Knights did it in the early days of this brotherhood!

Turning towards Iosef..

I've seen you in the Magnaura, I think. Iosef ek Artas I presume?

[mini]

"Very well. I, Iosef Ek Artas, swear an Oath of fealty to Vartholomaios Ksiros"

[Rowan]

I accept the oath of Iosef Ek Artas

Now, I believe you need some land? Is that correct? I give you the castle of Adana.