Middle Ages: Interactive

[Comrade Alexeo]

Reichstag Headquarters
Frankfurt
Holy Roman Empire

"-SMELL LIKE CABBAGE!"

"How DARE you! My daughter smells of the sweetest roses - I think you mistake her for your OWN swine of a daughter!"

"Order! Order!"

"Quiet! All of you! This is madness!"

"YOU CALLOUS RAT-FACED LYING SACK OF-"

"We have more pressing matters at hand now!"

"And since when are you in charge, Adolf? Are you der Fuhrer now? The leader? Eh?"

"-UNCOUTH TACTLESS HANG-NAILED-"

"Order!"

"Dammit, Himmel, shut up!"

"BLASHPHEMY! BLASPHEMY!"

"-BUCK-TOOTHED SWINDLING-"

"Hans, messenger from the Imperial Palace!"

Silence, followed by horns.

Not that Hans would have heard them; he was, of course, a deaf-mute. He marched in, bowed (he was not bowed to, obviously), and nodded to the Baron Sigmund von Wilhelm of Bavaria.

The Baron left his seat and moved down to Hans, whereupon he was handed a small note. Sigmund bowed; Hans left; the note was opened.

"The Byzantines have invaded Bulgaria," he said calmly, almost apathetically, although in truth he was just as shocked as...

"OUTRAGE!"

"SCANDAL!"

"WAR-MONGERERS!"

In a flash the room was filled with the voices of the Reichstag, which were in no way coherent:

INSANETERRORTRAVESTYMUSTHEATHENWARARMYPOPEDISASTER

von Wilhelm raised a hand, and the room fell silent immediately.

"I will be arriving by the time you finish this note-"

"His Magnificent Illustriously Glorious Eminence, the Servant of Jesus Christ, the Servant of the Apostles, the Emperor of the World, the Most Pious Holy Roman Kaiser Otto the Third!"

Ta-ta-taaa!"

The doors opened and in walked the man - possibly the most powerful in Europe - himself.

A shudder ran through the room; a shiver down every lord and priest's spine.

Der Kaiser? Come to the Reichstag? Why?

Indeed, it was highly irregular, and at first Baron von Wilhelm, normally the quickest man in the Empire, stalled - should he return to his seat? Or wait where he was?

He stared at the little note while the Reichstag members rose and bowed - some so deeply they hit their heads upon the backs of the men in front of them - and then turned to the Kaiser:

"My liege, how... unexpected? We are humbled by your presence-"

Otto raised a hand and the Baron fell silent immediately.

Der Kaiser stared at the Reichstag, and the Reichstag stared back.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

Otto III was privately considered - for of course they could not say so in public! - rather... soft by the members of the Reichstag. Not that he was necessarily a bad man or even inept, but generally occupied more with matters of the Church than the Empire, of the Kingdom of Heaven rather than the Kingdom of Germany. He enjoyed going on pilgrimages and collecting relics, and was not known for having a very forceful personality - that was the trademark of his Deputy Commissioner, Baron Sigmund von Wilhelm, whom everybody knew would succeed Otto...

"The Byzantines have invaded Bulgaria."

"Yes, my liege, we received your message-"

Raised hand. Silence.

"This cannot be tolerated. Our flank cannot be risked. The Duke Josef von Speyer of Carenthia will lead a campaign into Hungary and Croatia in order to normalize the situation. The Pope has already been informed that I consider this an essential part of our 'war' against the Byzantines, of which we have already received his blessing and promise of funds."

Then the Duke stood.

"I thank you, your excellency, for appointing me to this command."

Otto nodded, and the Duke sat down.

"Am I to take it, then, my liege, that we are indeed at war with the Byzantines?" This from Sigmund.

"Nein. I do not wish a full-scale war yet, and neither, I think, does Basil II. Duke von Speyer, under no circumstances are you to seek any actual engagement with Byzantine forces in the unlikely event that you encounter them. Take any means necessary to defend yourself, of course, and do not surrender the initiative - but do not take the offensive."

"Jawohl, mein Kaiser-"

"Under pain of death."

"Er... ja, ja, mein Kaiser. I shall do as you command."

"That is all."

And with that, Otto III left.

***

So began the preparations for war.

The previous planning of the Germans came in handy; the armouries quickly began to deplete as vassals were equipped with spears, shields, bows and arrows. Knights shared boastful tales of past glories and assured each other that it was they who would be the first to kill.

Slowly but surely, the force began to assemble at Klagenfurt. The Duke of Carenthia had placed under his command a small but ambitious force of some 3500 spearmen and 2000 bowmen, assembled from the gathered vassals; all received leather breastplates and helmets, and the spearmen large shields. Some 250 knights would travel alongside the Duke, and a siege train of two catapults (dismantled, their pieces in carts) rounded out the assortment.

Josef von Speyer was loathe to attack Hungary until he could assemble a greater force; he would first attack and take the small, weak Kingdom of Croatia, presenting an immediate front to the Byzantines while a more suitable army for invading Hungary was prepared.

Soon, very soon, the Roman Empires would meet head-on...

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Senate Building, Constantinople

Basil II stood up, calmly, and announced

"Bulgaria is what we need to start the restoration of the Roman Empire"

"Sir, the Holy Roman Empire has become increasingly unfriendly, and this could mean a war" A senate rose, saying "And the Pope will call a war against us"

His Holy Patriarch stood up

"The Pope will be excommunicated if he tries anything with us" His holyness announced.

"Sir, we have reports that the Byzantine Army has already swept into Bulgaria and will start the Siege of Sophia soon" A senate said.

"The Holy Roman Empire has nothing to do with us, and their knights are no match for Roman lances. We must secure our front with the Danube river, and I do not see why the Holy Roman Empire is so cautious." Basil II said.

"Sir, if the Holy Roman Empire do attack us in Bulgaria, what should we do?" A senator asked.

"Fight back" Basil II replied.

Basil II left the Senate.

[Ignoramus]

I was going to send in my decisions, but I need time to enter into diplomacy.

[Warluster]

Kings Palace-Paris
The advisors once againsat there, waiting for the next meeting. This was a special one, the fate of nations in there hands. The king walked in.
"Sorry Gentlemen, we have a slight problem in our midst."
They all leaned forward to hear.
"The English have invaded." the King whispered.
A sudden chain of Explosions whipped threw the place, an explosion of voices.
"OUTRAGEOUS!!HOW DARE THEY" one roared, No one turned to queiten him, as most were alll so yelling,
"They have already been pardoned,barely..."
"What is the Pope doing?!"
The king looked angrier,
"I will hear no negative words against our Pope in this room."Said the King,
"Well sir, I say an Holy War should be declared-" anroar of agreement went out"-they have violated the Pope's terms! Attacking another Catholic nation!!Horrible" , one advisor got up, "No worries,they will pay, blood,land and Economy!" once again a roar went up.
The king cleared his throat with a small cough.
"There is no need to worry, I will lead our army personnaly and expel them from France,MESSENGER!!" he yelled, an messenger ran in,
"yes sir?" he murmered,
"Send a message to the Pope, NOW!!!" he roared, the king then told him everything he wanted in the message.
"Good,now to other issues.."he said queitly,
"What other issues are there!?" spoke an adivisor,
"Do not speak of free will in the Kings Company!" yelled an bodyguard.
One advisor got up,
"Permission to speak sir?" he asked, the king nodded.
"What of our Crusade to Leon, what will happen?"
The king thought,
"Abandoned, we will return to it after we defend our fatherland!" he said with an gleam in his eye.
"If the Pope does not act against England soon, we will have to abandon him, this is a serious matter which,if the Pope does not act, we will take seriuosly" he said.
"I will not let France stand for this! England attacking against Catholic laws, the Pope's laws! The Holy Roman Empire blaming us for nothing at all! And the Crusade, put in front of our country! I will not stand!"roared the King.
"YES!!FOR FRANCE!!" the meeting was finished with The French National anthem.

[Conqueror]

So how much longer till I'm the master of all Mongolia?

[CountArach]

The Pope walked out of his private quarters. Why did he have to Pope at that time?

That morning had brought many messages. Firstly, and most critically, France was being invaded by the English. Oh well, nothing to be done for it. The English were failing to see reason as it was anyway, and they were already excommunicated.

Secondly, excommunicating the Byzantines would mean excommunication from the Greek Catholics, and a possible invasion of Rome. Rome would be able to hold, and perhaps...?

An idea struck the Pope.

"Someone get me some paper! I need to send a message to the Catholic nations!"



OOC - more coming later... ;)

[IrishArmenian]

I read the letter from France.
Dearest King of Sicily,
The English have attacked the Coast around Caen and Bruge. Being an ally and a friend of our nation, we seek your aid. We are well aware of your situation against the Moors, but you can help us in other ways. We realise that you are of the same stock of the Anglo Normans and thus, wish to see if your opinion of their treacherous attack might convince them to hold their sword hand while France defends Catholicism in Iberia. Any other aid would be welcomed, O great friend.
Sincerely,
Le Roy
While Robert was rapt in thought, I opened the discussion. "What is to be done about the treacherous English?"
Walter, always rational and well spoken spoke, "We are all Normans, why not ask them to stand down?"
Simon, my somewhat naive, yet always sincere and loyal son seconded the Chancellor "Of course, Blood forms the strongest bonds. They cannot ignore their brothers!"
Robert, my brother, shared his opinion "Well, we cannot totally abandon the war against the heathen Moor. If we did, our battles and conquests up to this point would be for naught."
Everyone murmured agreements, unable to grasp the reason why England attacked such a noble and good nation.
Walter ventured an idea "What if we were to persuad all of Catholic Europe to stop trade with England, surely that would economically cripple them and decrease their forces!"
I approved "An embargo, a wonderful idea. But that will not be all that can be done"
Simon disagreed "We cannot abandon our cause in North Africa."
Robert cautioned "Boy, you have much to learn, I said earlier we cannot totally abandon North Africa. How about going on the defensive?"
Walter expressed his view "Exactly! We go on the defensive, hold the areas we have taken and withdraw troops from our most secure postions, namely Tunis as it is far behind our lines and assist the French using our superior archers and infantry. Who can stand up to such a coalition of infantry, archers and calvary?"
I explained the plan "Yes, it is settled. We will fortify our positions in Africa, relieve some troops in our most strongly defended encampents and have all relieved troops assembled in Tunis. Robert, you will sail to Tunis and wait for the army to assemble there. After the army has been gathered, they shall be loaded onto boats. You shall go with them, land at Marseille, and march to Paris where you will be under command of only the King of France, unless he specifies otherwise, though I trust he will allow you to work semi-indepededtly. Forsake honour and pride, dear brother. Seeing as we have a much weaker army than the English, we must work with the French and use guerilla tactics. I want you to maximise English Casualties while minimising our own. Advise the French King that you should operate in Northern France, preferably Normandy, you remember it, don't you?"
Robert confirmed "Of course, brother."
I continued "Good, I cannot stress enough the importance of guerilla techniques."
Robert exited via the large wooden door, leaving Walter, Simon and I in the room.
"Simon, prepare for a journey. You will campaign around Italy for support. Make sure to ask for approval of the embargo and military support. My son, You must learn a trade much more important than that of a military leader. To be King, you must be able to play the diplomat and speak charismatically. Keep a level head, stay collected, be respectful. Learn the importance of humility, but do not lose your dignity. You must walk a very thin line, but if I did not think you were up to it, I would not have you go. Have the first ferry to the mainland and your finest horse prepared. You may go now."
My son then left Walter and I.
"Walter, I have kept you here for good reason. You are the wisest man I know. Simon has much to learn, and Robert is too warlike to understand the delicate times we live in. Send a letter to the Pope, explaining why we have currently ceased Catholic expansion in North Africa. Send a letter to the King of France telling him of Robert's arrival and that Robert should be allowed to work indepedently for most of the time. Send letters to the other European Nations allowing them time to prepare for Simon's arrival. Let them know that by coming to the aid of France, they are allowing for a faster resolution to this problem that will allow us to continue with our campaign against the heathens."
"My scribes' wrists shall be sore, my lord." He chuckled.
I let out a laugh. "Time is of the essence, my friend."
We both left the chamber. How would this sequence play out?