MacDidz: The Scottish Blog

[Didz]

Summer 1125: Constantinople Falls


Pope Strenna's backside has hardly warmed the Papal Throne when news arrives that a Muslim Jihad has captured Constantinople. Speculation begins to circulate as to whether this will trigger another Crusade.

In the meantime the Pope announces that France, Portugal and Milan are once more reconciled with the Catholic Church and that its war with Milan is over. However, there appears to no such clemency for The Holy Roman Emperor who, as far as Scotland is aware, remains an outcast.

[Didz]

Summer 1125: Sun, Sand and more sand

While the rest of the world goes about its many and varied activities Makmartanes world has become nothing more than one seemingly never ending stretch of sand.

He has been fortunate in having managed to recruit five local tribes to join his army, but the ballista's are proving a real drag to move through the desert and it will be at least another four years before he emerges near Timbuktu. The march has given him more than enough time to consider his options when he does so.

His current plan is to try and avoid Timbuktu and march westwards to the coast. The spy Domnall the Broiss claims that there is another native settlement there which if true could provide Makmartane and his army with a firm base from which to launch any future campaigns.

However, a lot will depend up the reactions of the Portuguese when he reaches Timbuktu. If they prove aggressive then he might be forced to give battle and destroy them and capture the settlement.

[gibsonsg91921]

genius as usual didz

[Didz]

Winter 1126: A hatred shared is a divine blessing.
Alexander Canmore smiled when he received the latest Papal edict.

It seems his hatred of the English is shared by Pope Strenna and this was the perfect excuse to escalate the war.

He had fumed in frustration when his carefully engineered council demands to take Caen had been ignored by his brother Edward on every occassion, but now at last he had cause to act against them. He immediately ordered the channel fleet to blockade Caen and put the United Kingdoms beacon defences on alert to watch for invasion.

He then conveniently forgot to recall the fleet when the mission was deemed successful. He figured that at the very least the so called King Robert, Duke of Normandy would be forced to build a fleet to drive off the blockade. And with luck he would also send an army across the channel too, in which case perhaps there would be a chance to kill a few more English barstards before he joined his maker and rid himself of all these damned women. It was a gamble but Alexander liked a wager, and in truth he had little to lose, with no sons his family line was about to become extinct, all that remained was to decide how many Englishmen would precede him into hell.

[Didz]

Winter 1127: Sadness and Frustration

Raudri Wallace 'The spy who could not count.' but who had done so much to keep Edward informed of the English movements during the early years has died peacefully in York. He served his country well despite being numerically challenged and his reports will be missed.

In the Eastern Mediterrean Kyle's crusading army sailed slowly homeward and the King fretted. This was not the glorious start to his reign that he had imagained. The Crusade had been a success but Scotland had little to show for it 1,479 florins from a dead Pope hardly covered the expenses of one year and Kyle began to regret not wiped the smirk of Prince Ciapo's face with his gauntlet when he had the chance. The Sicilian's had stolen his glory and the fact that they were long standing allies merely made it worse.

Had God finally foresaken the Scots?

Was his fathers death to mark a change in fortune for the Scottish cause?

Was he cursed with misfortune?

He frowned remembering the frustration of trying to direct his army through alpine germany, if only he had reached Jerusalem earlier, if only Dougall had met him on the Adriatic coast, had that all been his fault, or was God testing his metal, and if so did he pass or fail?

Now he was heading home. supposedly truimphant, and yet it felt like a defeat. What would Scotland think of him, coming back empty handed?

He had deliberately not disbanded his army, hoping that there would yet be an opportunity to put it to good use. But two years later and all it had done was cost him more money. He should at least have discharged the pilgrim's and let them pay for their own passage home. "Every mickle makes a muckle" as his father would have said and the Scottish treasury was dwindling under the additional pressure of having to pay for these crusaders and pilgrims.

Kyle prayed for an opportunity to prove his worth and snatch glory for Scotland. He needed a victory to prove to Scotland and himself that God was still on his side, and he needed cash to offset against the cost of this Crusade. He considered sailing to Morrocco and assisting Makmartane to subdue Africa, but realised that quite apart from the time this would take, it would also mean certain war with Portugal and that was hardly a good omen for the start of his new reign. He had no doubt that war with Portugal would eventually come but like his father it had to be on Scotlands terms and Scotland had to be seen to be in the right.

His prayers were answered as Dougall's fleet sailed along the southern coast of Crete. The City of Iraklion was heavily guarded, but it looks as though it has recently rebelled against its Byzantine masters and is now controlled by Greek rebels.

Kyle thanked God and ordered Dougall to put the army ashore, he would deliver Scotland a victory or die trying.

[Didz]

Winter 1127: The Conquest of Crete

The pilgrims begin the assault by pushing four siege towers towards the south western corner of the city.

Greek archer fire proves ineffective and all four towers reach the walls.

More pilgrims are sent forward with scaling ladders to expand the width of the wall assault.

Pilgrim’s prove pretty effective against the Greek Archers and begin to clear the wall. Eventually the Greeks rout and take heavy casualties trying to escape.

Greek cavalry sally from the cities western gate and attempt to disrupt the assault troops. However, rapid deployment of the mercenary crossbowmen and crusader spearmen drive them back into the city with heavy losses.

Crossbow men position themselves on the walls and begin raining deadly fire down on the Greek infantry in the streets below.

As the Greeks give ground and fall back towards the city centre Kyle’s crossbowmen backed up by Crusader spearmen push forward along the narrow streets peppering them with crossbow bolts.

Eventually, with nowhere else to run the Greeks turn at bay in the town centre and are slaughtered where they stand by concentrated crossbow fire.

Kyle rides into the City Centre to claim the City and province of Crete for God , Saint Andrew and Scotland.


That’s more like it. 12,500 Florin’s are added to the Scottish Treasury.

Plus 333 florin’s for the destruction of the Thieves guild which Kyle decides is surplus to requirements.

Kyle gains a reputation for putting Winning First and gains +1 Dread.

He immediately dismisses the surviving pilgrims from his army leaving them to find their own passage home.

[Didz]

Winter 1127: A Gift from God

It is hard to underplay the reaction of Kyle to the conquest of Crete. He had prayed for an opportunity to prove himself and his crusade and God had given him that opportunity. The gift of Crete had proven not only that God still favoured the Scottish cause but that Kyle had inherited his fathers divine support.

Equally important it meant that Kyle could return home with something tangible and measurable to show for the faith that his father and the nation had put in him. The despondency and anger which had hung over the King like a dark cloud since leaving Jerusalem was gone, in its stead was something akin to ecstacy. The king was both overjoyed and relieved, showering his men with gifts and spending long hours on his knee's giving thanks to God.

The only time his brow became furrowed was when the question of what to do with this gift from God was mentioned. Could Scotland really hope to retain control of this island in the middle of nowhere?

Should he perhaps gift the island to the Pope?

On the other hand possession of an island so close to the holy land would be a real benefit for future crusades and produce a decent amount of revenue if its trade lanes could be kept open.

In the end the decision was that God had meant Scotland to have this island and it was not for him a mere servant to refuse such a gift. He decided to leave the Crusaders to garrison the city and let God decide whether it was to remain in their hands or be taken from them by the heathens.