Germany Interactive History: Game Topic

[shlin28]

Friedrich Meyer

Troops: 100
100/100

Friedrich was dumbfounded, how could he, a young men who only came to Germany 4 years before, be offered such a great gift? However, knowing that not accepting the gift would mean offense to the mayor, who had a reputation for his often overexaggerated anger at peopel who refuesed gifts from him.

Knowing this, Friedrich accepted the gift and rode towards the carriage to greet the daughter of the mayor, Johana, who was famous for her beauty. Johana greeted him courteuously, but was not very enthusiastic, clearly his father had forced her into this.

Feeling both overjoyed and disappointed, Friedrich once again led his much bigger group towards Thuringia.

Friedrich accepts the gift and continues to Thuringia.

[Lord Winter]

Steffen Voltgrad
Troops: 200 Men (on two warships); 6 merchant vessels (non-combatant)
100/50

Steffen walked into the throne room, kneeling before the king.

"My liege", he said. "There is a pairate that mences the noble traders of Verona. Lorenzo Ragetti has raided our trade and towns for two long. I ask for men and ships in order to rid the world of this pirate".

Steffen has asked the king to fund an expedition against the pirate Lorenzo Ragetti.

[Seign Thelas]

Frederick

Frederick,

My good tutor, worry not about such troublesome things as what complications might arise from such a small group of peasants, give them over to the care of your other men, and they shall keep them quiet. As for the diplomacy at hand, the Pope is, shall I say, not a good man. He is not as holy as a Pope should be. I, personally, would rather have no dealings with him. However, is army is very strong, stronger than any Pope before him, and his aid is needed. But I digress, the Pope is fond of gold, as are many men in Rome, and if you would offer him 200 pounds of the stuff, he would be won over. I gave each soldier 2 pounds of it before they left. They do not know it, but it is inlaid inside their leather breastplates. Merely rip all of them open and melt it out, and present it to the Holy one.

He also has little care for the lives of men, so if he asks what you need in return, reply "Only men and non-aggression from the Holy One."

--King Otto I of Prussia

P.S. The Pope is also known to enjoy the sight of blood, and he is no pushover. Watch your tongue with him, or I fear you may lose it.

P.P.S. The Young Lord is coming along nicely with his Latin studies. He would fit in superbly on the streets of Old Rome.

The one who delivered the letter happened to be the young man from the village. He spoke, "My Lord, forgive me for such bold speech, but I have a suggestion. The Pope is wrapped up in self-glory. He thinks that because he is the Pope, the world must bow to him. Even if you sign a non-aggression pact with him, I can guarantee that when he and his men expand to your border, he will attack. What I think you must do is," the young man looked around and lowered his voice, "Assassinate him. It would be the best course. Act for the greater good. However, I do not expect you to throw your life away for this. Give your dress to a common soldier, and give him a guard of two of the strongest men you can find. The Pope is too pompous and over-confident to have people searched, and I have heard he often meets people in full battle armor. In the meanwhile, you dress as a common townsfolk, and retreat from the city with a few horses and men, and no one will question you." The young man sat silently and waited for a reply, he looked very confident with his plan.

Diplomatic instruction has been given. And Frederick has also gotten a suggestion from the young man from the village.

Frederick
Troops: 150
150/100

(You have 150 troops now, by the way, the people in the village were added to it.)

---

Conrad Hohenburg

Otto von Metz saw the sense in the plan presented to him by Conrad, and he sent him to the nearby towns to recruit as many men as he could.

The signs were posted all over the towns, and many Swabians responded. Many didn't require any level of training, due to the fact that they have lived between the warring Frankish and German kingdoms, and many had been in a battle at least once. They were, indeed, a hardy lot.

Conrad has drafted a number of strong men from the towns.

Conrad Hohenburg
Troops: 800
300/200

---

Friedrich Meyer

The larger, although still small, group was hasty in its approach to Thuringia. Immediately, they came upon a former battleground. Bodies in both Prussian and Saxon uniforms littered the ground, a much larger number of the dead being Prussian cavalrymen. The bodies had to be weeks old. He heard that nearby, a town by the name of Meyersbruck was situated along a small river.

Friedrich has heard of a town called Meyersbruck nearby.

---

Steffen Voltgrad

The Duke of Verona, known to be a careful, yet efficient man, had known about the threat of the pirate Ragetti for some time, but never saw him as enough of a threat to fund an expedition.

The Duke, however, did control a sizable amount of wealth, himself, having been a merchant at one time.

"Well, you DO have two poorly outfitted ships now. But one cannot hope to defeat a professional pirate with just that, now can they? I will fund two things. A draft of 800 men to serve on your ships, and the building of five, top of the line warships. In return, I would ask of you 20% of your income as a trader, 40% of the loot you get from defeating Ragetti, and 100% of your loyalty to the armies of Verona. Savvy?

The Duke made no attempt to hide his merchant roots.

The Duke of Verona has offered a proposition to Steffen.

If you accept the offer:

Steffen Voltgrad
Troops: 1000 Men (on 7 warships); 6 merchant vessels (non-combatant)
300/200

If not, your stats do not change, but you are able to do as you please, rather than be bound by a lord.

[shlin28]

Friedrich Meyer

Troops: 100
100/100

Friedrich quickly recalled back to his conversation with the merchant from whom he had found out about his family in the first place, he said something about a rich family called the Meyer, who had dominated the politics of a city so much that the city itself was called after them, and also that the family had been raising a small army for Prussia against the Saxons.

Guessing that the two countries are already fighting, and being stuck with a large caravan of carriages in the open is no good if they are to surivive. Friedrich ordered his men to move towards the city of Meyersbruck, always keeping a protective circle of men around the carriage of the mayor's daughter, desperately hoping that the Saxons were defeated, and were still out here in Thuringia on the large...

Friedrich hurries towards Meyersbruck

[Frederick_I_Barbarossa]

Frederick
Troops: 150
150/100

"As much as I agree, I must act within my orders from the King", Frederick began to argue with the young man, "I am to have an audience with the Pope. If I, personally, do not present myself to the Pontiff, then I am in breach of my sacred duty to the King himself." He paused, looking plaintively out over the city. "However...I may be willing to assist you"

"How so?" replied the young man

"The men I have with me are some of the finest in all of the Empire--at very least the equal of any Swiss Guard. Suppose we were to--how to say this--"infiltrate" the Swiss Guard, and allow just enough gap in the Pontiff's defenses that a handful of your men could rush the Papal entourage in St. Peter's Square?"

"Methinks this sounds like quite the conspiracy...and that it just might work. What do you request in return for your cooperation?"

"All I ask is that I be in no way connected with these happenings...nor the throne of Prussia or His Majesty. I also ask the undying loyalty of your remaining men should this conspiracy succeed in vacating the Chair of St. Peter."

"Deal."

"Now...I must be off...preparations must be made for my Papal summons to Castel San Angelo tomorrow...business before, well, business." Frederick fell to his knees on the balcony of his Roman apartment facing St. Peter's and crossed himself "Lord, have mercy on us all"


Frederick has engaged in a conspiracy toward the death of Pope Gregory. He is to present himself at the Pontifical Court in the morning.

[Ignoramus]

Conrad Hohenburg
Troops: 800
300/200

Conrad couldn't believe what he had heard. "The Frisians have been sighted in Upper Lorraine?" he asked bewildered.

"Yes, my lord, reports of their soldiery have filtered back from the north." replied Conrad's page.

Conrad was worried. The report seemed genuine enough, but how could he be sure that this was not a design to draw him from the French border?

"We must march north lest these Frisian dogs are indeed destroying the land with fire and the sword." commanded Conrad.

Conrad has received a report that Frisians have invaded Upper Lorraine. He is marching north with his men to verify the report.

[Seign Thelas]

Friedrich Meyer

Along the road to Meyersbruck, Friedrich kept finding more and more corpses of dead Saxons, somewhat of an optimistic, although grim, omen. Many of his men, seeing that the corpses were among the Saxon elites, picked up their arms and armor and put it under their cloth Prussian uniforms. The Saxon armor was remarkably lightweight and offered superior protection. And the weapons were of high quality, each one fit for a Lord.

With so many corpses, Friedrich was able to outfit all of his men, including himself, in the Saxon armor. He wondered to himself, how did the superior Saxon army, with their top-notch training and equipment get slaughtered so easily? He tried to keep his thoughts focused on his task at hand, and soon saw the bustling town of Meyersbruck just over the horizon.

Friedrich Meyer has gotten better arms and armor for his men from fallen Saxons along the road to Meyersbruck, and has reached the town.

Friedrich Meyer
Troops: 100
150/200

---

Frederick

The young man hastily made preparations for his attempt on the Pope, while Frederick sent his men to infilitrate the Papal Guard, he sent 50 men in all, and all succeeded. Fifty Swiss Papal Guards laid dead on the floors of their homes with their families the next morning, and fifty impostors took up arms to "protect and serve" the Pope.

Frederick's meeting with the Pope went as planned and Frederick was granted 900 elite men with whom to return to Pomerania with. He, knowing what was to come, hastily retreated from the city.

Just as Frederick exited the city gates of Rome, he heard a large uproar not far behind him. As he turned his head back to see what it was, he saw the Pontiff raise his hand to block a sword slash, and subsequently lose half his arm in the process. He then drew a sword and cut down three assailants, while two more came from behind him and cut him down. He was dead before he fell to his knees. Frederick and his men did not stop during this commotion and were without the city limits in no time.

When he looked behind him, however, the young man from the village was there behind him, smiling.

"Without a hitch, M'Lord."

Frederick looked dumbfounded as he looked at the confidence in the face of this young man.

He crossed himself again and continued his journey back to Prussia.

Frederick has acquired 900 men from the Pope, and left 50 behind in the city. The Pope is dead, and the Pontiff's chair is now vacant.

Frederick
Troops: 1000
400/300

---

Conrad Hohenburg

Conrad's scouts were back to him in a few days and reported that the Frisians had no less than 3000 men with them, and were reported to be led by the Frisian King, Jean, himself. They could not decipher the exact strength of the men, but the scouts reported that Jean and his men were camped near some hills with many secret paths running through them that, for the most part, only locals knew about. Conrad was given the choice by Otto von Metz to fight them in the field or to hole up in their town and await the Frisian's arrival. Otto also pointed out that if they hesitate, Jean might call upon his French allies for reinforcements.

Your enemy:
King Jean, King of Frisia
Troops: 3000
?/?(You'll know his stats once you take the field.)

Conrad has gotten some information on his enemy, and has the choice to fight in the field or let the Frisians lay siege to the town.

Conrad Hohenburg
Troops: 800
300/200