Franc - a side issue - the "3rd person wins" is a great idea - but I nearly did not post as I wanted to be 3rd!! Perhaps it could be one of the first 3 posts wins, but only you know the number before the episode is posted - you could decide by dice etc - just a thought. One last point I suppose you mean the 3rd different person to post to stop one person posting 3 times!!
I would like to try it my way. If there are more players - let's say 7, there will be enough pressure to post in time!

Chapter 2 - Preparations

Ottokar shook his head: “Although I would not be sad to see Rudlof dead, I am not going to sit and wait here for him. Go, send the messengers and spies and prepare everything for our campaign.”

It was early December and a cold wind was blowing through the castle at Prague. Ottokar and his advisors sat by the fireside in front of the warming flames.
Wladislaw reports of the preparations for the campaign: “Paltram and our 500 men did their job. They arrived at northern Austria in June and attacked the estates of our enemies. The local piers were not able to keep the upraising down.
Here at Bohemia, our piers promised to arrive here at Prague next April, so we can start our campaign in spring. Everything will be ready then, arms, horses and food.”
“Excellent! What about our allies?”
“All replied our messages”, said Walter. “They will decamp as soon as the last snow will be gone. We expect their arrival end of April.”
“Good! Any news about our enemies?”
“Yes”, Walter answered. “Our spies have been very active. We have reports from Vienna. Obviously, the city expects an assault. The fortifications have been improved, the city guard is increased and the governor recruits mercenaries. It seems as if they also fill their magazines. We also see activities of the Austrian peers which make us assume that they get prepare for spring.
We also have a spy at the Hungarian court. Ladislaus gave order to mobilize his army in spring. He also recruited several thousand Cumans.
We received message from Niederbayern. Heinrich promised to block the Danube as good as possible. He already ordered to send all riverboats to Passau, so that Rudolf will not be able to use them. He also sent agents to Nürnberg. Rudolf is there and he is recruiting Franconian knights. Rudolf also sent agents to Swabia and Switzerland to enlist knights there. According to rumors he wants to gather his troops at Donauwörth and then marcha long the Danube.”
“Well done. I see that everything goes right. Go on with the preparations, Wladislaw, and keep an eye on our enemies, Walter!”
Wladislaw answered: “Yes, Sire. Just one more question. We will soon have a force with more than 4,500 knights and I will get the supply for them. However, I think it is time to wonder, if we also want to recruit peasants. Although they are worthless in the battle, they could help us with supply, build and guard the camp etc.. And we will need them if we have to besiege a city, for building the equipment, trenches and so on.”
Walter: “Well, I think that peasant will be a load we have to carry. They only slow us down and we will need much more food if we have a large group of peasants. No, we should try to relay on our mounted knights and be fast and flexile. Let’s keep them to a minimum, let’s say 5,000 – that’s one peasant for every knight. More than enough!”
Wladislaw: “Well, you might be right, if we were fighting Rudolf on open ground. But as far as I understood, we will have to besiege Vienna, maybe for months. I think we should have at least 25,000 peasants.”

If you were Ottokar, would you decide to recruit
A) 5,000 peasants or
B) 25,000 peasants?