Lords of the Danube Courtroom

[House Stark]

Addresses the King:

"Your Grace, I must deal with the constant skirmishing with and raiding by the Cuman dogs along our Northeastern border. We have dealt them a major blow by capturing Constantinople and seizing control of the Bosphorus trade, and now is the time to follow up our gains with a strike into Cuman territory to the North. I myself volunteer to personally lead my forces with the Cuman fortress of Baia. Let us end the threat these pagan dogs pose to our realm once and for all."

[Mithridate]

Istvan rises once more to speak on behalf of the Junior King Bokeny.
Your highness, Lords, others have made arguments out of this chamber and I have received fresh word from my liege such that I can now say that the Junior King supports the King's actions in regard to Constantinople, for the time being. It is likely, as the King argues, that the Basileos Savas will die soon and his empire be focused internally on the succession.

We now counsel that we hold Constantinople against Roman attack until the death of Savas, at which stage we can reconsider our course of action.

"Aye, he will die soon. But not before they have seized Constantinople whom is the very heart of their so called empire, better to give it away for favors than to lose it killing a few men with the weak garrison to launch our invasion when they fight internally. But if you feel confident you will be able to turn the two armies outside their walls, then by all means as it would be to our advantage. My objections comes from the doubt of holding the city against the current two stacks encamped outside.

[I]We should also put on hold our plans for an expedition to seize Esztergom, painful as its occupation by the German swine might be, until Savas makes his intentions clear. This should not be too long - if he wishes to try to seize his lost capital he would be wise to do so at the soonest opportunity before we are able to garrison the city further.

The Junior King believes it would be folly to launch into wars with both Roman Empires at once, at least until the progress of the Crusade through German lands is better known.

The Junior King does not believe we should trade Constantinople to the Cumans as this would be a direct provocation to the Basileos. Imagine if the HRE were to hand Esztergom to our hated foe!

"I would be quite upset, and greatly angered. But surely that anger would make me lash out on my distrusted fellow generals and emperor with their weakness." The lord shows his bad habit of rubbing his nose before he continues.
"War to the west would be most folly, no actions should be taken as long as Venice stands ready to retaliate with force. I do not fear the HRE but Venice stands strong without enemies or threats at home with all its forces bent on our destruction. Take away their safety or make them unwilling to do the HREs bidding and we can make our move."

Addresses the King:
"Your Grace, I must deal with the constant skirmishing with and raiding by the Cuman dogs along our Northeastern border. We have dealt them a major blow by capturing Constantinople and seizing control of the Bosphorus trade, and now is the time to follow up our gains with a strike into Cuman territory to the North. I myself volunteer to personally lead my forces with the Cuman fortress of Baia. Let us end the threat these pagan dogs pose to our realm once and for all."

"I will gladly support this action, and request you train me an army." Handing over a sealed letter to Vata a Kacsics nembol, he turns his attention to the king.

"We may disagree on the course of action to the south, but the situation to the north is dire. The Cuman khan has a large army and probably a strong reserve, If there are more men within striking distance, i cannot." Pointing to the map, the position of the King and Vatas forces and the Khans "If you move your men to aid my defense, i will be able to train enough men to safely hold the city so you can move on south. I require one season more to train my men, and your permission to strike back into their lands. I wish to claim the castle for my own with your permission to better defend the north, that way most of our strength can move south.

If the opportunity presents itself we can trap the Khan in our mountains, squash him between our three armies and capture their castle with ease to then turn undivided South." Reaching inside his Tunic the lord pulls out a leather parchment, there is another way as well however. The Cumans love for gold is well known, and with gold we can turn them away from our walls. I am currently negotiation for a suitable price, without your graces accent i can not make the deal however but the option is there. He asks for 750 gold now and another 500 each season for five seasons. This is a very low price to pay and the words of Cumans can be trusted, if care is taken. I can afford to pay this price but ask for reimbursement, if you accept Vatas should be able to march south as well. I am now confirming that this treaty will keep hungarian lands safe, not just my city.

We need to hurry in making a decition"

[Myth]

The King stands up and puts his hands on his hips, his suit of mail gleaming below the tabard. He seems angered as his brow furrows. "I gave permission for men to speak freely on matters of strategy and tactics, not to turn insolent in my presence! You will speak plainly but also with as a reserved tone, and you shall address your peers and your liege with due respect!

The matter is decided and I shall hear no further talk on how Constantinple is lost to us or to which wretched bunch of idiots we should first give it to as a present! As I said, the Cumans are considered vermin and no diplomacy may yet end our conflict with them. Anyone not directly charged with the defence of the Realm form other enemies may freely push the Cumans back and take any of their key settlements.

The Holy Roman Empire is a war that must happen for several reasons, the foremost being that His Holiness the Pope has issued us to do so, and because their positions are weak near our border. I have indeed spoken with Dodge Giorgio of Venice but the Pope's suspicions have only been confirmed - he is a vassal to the German Kaiser and a puppet on strings for now. He will attack Zagreb if we make war on the Holy Roman Empire, otherwise he will camp at our border like a chained mastiff.

The Eastern Romans are governed by an ancient grandfather who still dreams of the glory of his days of youth. I would say he bears his teeth at us if he had any teeth remaining. He talks a lot but I know the reality of his situation - the main part of his armies is in Asia Minor and the Levante, warring with a united Muslim front of the Kwarezmian Empire and the Fatamid Caliphate. His forces in Europe will be surveyed shortly, but from what I hear, the cavalry heavy army between Constantinople and Thessaloniki is the only real force to be reckoned with, the garrisons are pathetic. Should that one force be defeated we will be free to secure all Roman holdings this side of the Bosphorus, and when their Basileus passes they will have the customary squabble over the succession plus war on three fronts to deal with.

My dealings with the Pope will take some time to bear fruit, but both the Crusade and Venice's excommunication in case of aggression against us might indeed be possible. For now however, I charge you thusly:

Junior King Bokeny will be responsible for repelling the two Venetian armies as they will undoubtedly invade or attempt to do so, once we march on our former capital. Mikan, my vassal general and the vast army I have granted him, will rush to the west and assist Bokeny with the defensive effort.

My lord Andras will be charged with the defence of Constantinople, for which he will be granted command over all the infantry and dismounted Knights that are in my service. I myself will take the cavalry across the Roman lands and hunt their elite army in hopes of neutering their strength in Europe.

Everyone else must either attack the Cumans, the Holy Roman Empire or attempt to seize Eastern Roman Empire settlements but in such a way as to not fall prey to the cavalry army that is still unaccounted for."

[phonicsmonkey]

Istvan bristles at the King's overbearing tone.

Sire, I have already stated that any army which enters the County of Zagreb without permission will be destroyed, enemy or friend. There is no need for you to 'charge' us with the defence of our own lands.

I will petition the Junior King for permission to allow Mikan to enter the County to assist with the defence against the Venetians, but he had better wait to receive a response before he enters.

[Myth]

"I charge your liege as his own sovereign Istvan. The Golden Bull gives him the freedom to not follow me outside our borders but the defence of my Realm is still mandatory for all the nobles that I have granted lands and titles to. Bokeny has been entrusted to be Lord Privy Seal I expect more from him as Junior King than to squabble with mine own vassal. Mikan is a capable general and his armies are sufficient, you may ask him to lend you some men for a particular battle if such a thing becomes necessary, though he has a good head on his shoulders and I trust him with taking care of the details in a good manner."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The rules of the game state that the nobles own their land because otherwise it would be very dull to play in a game where one guy acts all high and mighty and everyone else does his bidding. Historically however the King owned all the land that was not part of the Church's property and in turn gave it out to the nobles in return for allegiance and knights. They in turn split their lands in smaller portions, leaving some for their private estates and granting the rest to their knights in exchange for service and so that the knights may pay for their destriers, mail and weapons. The knights in turn leased the land to serfs who toiled and gave a large portion of the produced goods back to the knight or just paid him a tax in gold form the sales they made. The rest they used to feed themselves and make a living. However ultimately the King still owed all of the land in the Kingdom and could revoke titles, confiscate lands and promote new nobles on a whim. Doing this in a game will suck however, but this was the reality back then.

[Ignoramus]

Andras a Zah rises to speak.

"My king, forgive me for being the bearer of bad news, but a rider from Constantinople has just arrived informing me that there is a large Greek army of over 20,000 men just outside the city's suburbs. Furthermore, a Greek fleet has been spotted on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, along with the tents of another similarly sized host.

It certainly seems that we are in for a war, my king."

[Mithridate]

A dirty rider with the arms of lord Boskony burst into the chamber, kneeling with a parchment clenched to his chest with the guards wearily standing behind him. The man keeps his eyes on the floor and speaks in a loud but weary tone

"My lord, King i have dire news to bring you from the Cumans." The lord of Brasov raises and quickly makes for the Scroll, taking it from the rough dusty hands of the rider and reads with narrow eyes. "My king, you may want to read this" He pulls out a pequilar quill and quickly scribes a few more words on the bottom.

He hands over the Scroll bearing his seal to the king, and backs down to his chair with measuring eyes on the king.

[phonicsmonkey]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

However ultimately the King still owed all of the land in the Kingdom and could revoke titles, confiscate lands and promote new nobles on a whim.

Unless somebody overthrows him and cuts off his head! I thought the whole backstory here was that the king has only barely been able to hold on to power by handing over political concessions to his rebellious barons. That's what the golden bull was about. you are acting like someone who thinks he can govern without having to build any consensus. Fine if you want to play it that way but don't expect everyone just to follow your orders blindly because your view of history (which by the way I disagree with) says they should.

[Zim]

Demeter bows

My King,
Just say the word and I can march either north towards north towards Halych or west towards Esztergom. Personally I would prefer to bring the fight to the Cuman dogs, despite their numbers.

[Cecil XIX]

A message arrives. It is from Mikan a Bogatradvany. A young scribe quickly unravels the message and begins eagerly reading it to those assembled.

Your Majesty, your Highnesses, my lords.

Greetings to you all. I regret I cannot be present but military matters require me to remain at camp.

In accordance with the specific instructions issued to me by His Royal Majesty to come to the aid of his Highness Junior King Bokeny, as well the general guidelines to seize any and all Roman settlement where possible, I have laid siege to the city of Belgrade. Being that the city is adjacent to the river crossing along my line approach, and it falls at the end of the march for this season, I am please to report that taking the city will not delay by arrival at Zagreb. I wish you all wisdom in your deliberations and strength in your battles.

Sincerely,
Lord Mikan a Bogatradvany.