Imperial Diet IV

[Cecil XIX]

Much as it pains me to come to Count Steffen's defense, I must agree that King Salier went to far. It is an insult unworthy and uncharacteristic of the King.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Conrad Salier:

Everyone has a breaking point. The man has worked tirelessly to bring down what I and many others have dedicated our lives to. He brings up my former, unfortunate habits, insults my Crusader Counts, and questions all of our morality. Woe is me if one of my responses has a bite to it.

[Privateerkev]

My King,

Not only did your response have a bite to it, but apparently you sit on a pile of gold, bathe in a pool of diamonds, and take long walks on your personal mountain made of spice barefoot so you can feel it squish through your toes. If you are going to live such a decadent lifestyle, then I must insist that you share.

[Tamur]

Fritz grins so widely that his grin joins up with the scar on his jaw

Or, as the stylish English nobility would have it currently, put that mountain of spice in a large bowl, light it on fire, and let us sniff the smoke!

Fritz' ears turn red for a moment, and he resumes his scribbling on a scrap of parchment

[OverKnight]

Matthias's eyes narrow as Lothar spins his theories about Outremer. He smirks a bit at Jan's jests, but grows cold at the mention of Markus by Salier.

With all due respect King Salier, do not besmirch the memory of my fallen brother by bringing his name into this pointless argument.

Matthias turns a baleful gaze on Lothar.

Since my term began, I have not heard one complaint, one complaint, about the strength or composition of the House Armies, the Army of the Interior or the Teutonic Crusade. These forces outnumber those in Outremer by over three to one. I have assigned the needed men for each command, with no preferential treatment.

Save your anger for the Milanese, brother, for you will need it. You land in Sardinia next year and a strong army awaits you. You are the heir of Bavaria, start acting like it.

We all face challenges, we all have our battles to fight. Our enemies are numerous and belligerent, our focus should be on defeating them rather than these hollow debates.

[AussieGiant]

Arnold

Nice gentlemen. We seem to be avoiding pulling blades which is always a good start as far as I'm concerned.

Smiling at the Chancellor with obvious mirth

When can I kick the Sicilian's out of Austria Lord Chancellor? I actually don't have any battles to fight and my regiments and retinue are becoming harder to control with each passing month.

[OverKnight]

Matthias turns to Arnold.

Duke Arnold, you have the right to declare war against the Sicilians who are trespassing on Austrian lands. However, I would ask that you not do this. While our alliance with Sicilians is over and according to our diplomat can't be reestablished at this time, they are still valuable trade partners.

Also, I believe a Hungarian incursion into Zagreb might be in the offing, so your impatience might soon be alleviated. Count Lothar will be busy with Milanese as well and and my Father will be pursuing some rebels in the Alps. This means that if we declared war on the Sicilians, there are currently no forces to send against them.

We have enough enemies without adding another. The Sicilians may be foolish to have offended the Papacy, and they may be incompetent besiegers, but they have never done the Empire wrong. I would be loathe to war against them when we have others more deserving of our "attentions".

[Tamur]

Fritz stands tall, fire in his eyes

Those of you who have not heard, the Danes attempted to do away with my brother and our Kaiser, Siegfried! We must punish them by every means possible. I do not care what the consequences!

He pounds his fist on the table before him and sits.

[Tamur]

Fritz stands again, his deep-sunk eyes shining

And furthermore, let me say that I am sick, sick, sick of the Polish walking into my family's hard-won lands as if they had nothing better to do than tromp over ripening crops and savage innocent townsvolk. I want Krakow!

Fritz lets out something between a grunt and a sneeze, and seats himself lightly on the bench

[Stig]

A strange looking man comes walking into the Diet. He has a big beard and wears the armour of a Teutonic knight.

Meine Herren, mein name is Gert von Runstede, I am the infantry commander of Herzog Ansehelm von Kastillien. I have come to bring you news from Russia, and some other messages Ansehelm has for the Diet.
The first message reads:

Meine Herren,
My loyal comrade in arms Gert here brings you the latest news from Russia. When and if you get this we will have past Riga and we are on our way towards Novgorod. As it is now we had only have to fight one major battle, in which we have beaten the Russians with everything we got. I intend to fight some Russians near Novgorod in near future, however for now I would like the Russians to come to me, instead me coming to them, yes we can easely defeat the garrison in Novgorod, but Moscow is out target and has main priority, on the return run we can see for other cities.

Ansehelm also gave me a message concerning Thorn:

Meine Herren,
First of all I wish to annoy you with a complaint. Some time ago I gave the chancellor a build queue for Thorn, that the best barracks should be made in the city, as it would need them, we can't even properly recruit Armoured Sergeants in one of our most important castles. Next to that, instead of building nothing building has begun with an Armourer, against my personal orders, at that time as Count of Thorn, no as Duke.
About the Poles, Thorn has always been dangerous territory, that is why I requested countship there. As for the Poles, we should easely be able to beat them. My little brother Peter is one of the most potential commanders in the Reich, and my other younger brother Fritz is making some headway as well.

And here is a message concerning unser Kaiser:

Meine Herren,
I wish to inform you to I'm pissed off, to say the least, with the attempt on the life of my youngest brother, who happens to be our Kaiser. If I would be in the position to do so I would strangle the Danish king myself. He does not deserve to live, he who gives such orders. I have nothing against murder, but one does not kill a ruler, kill his helpers if you want to, but going after a Kaiser is not done.
I suggest we send one of our top assassins to return the favour, and next to that I suggest we send some reinforcements from Thorn to the Imperial Army and march into Danish territory, mainly to annoy them.

I have to return to Russia now gentlemen, but someone will come soon, as I heard that shortly after my leave Ansehelm has send another messenger to bring some news about Ducal matters.

[OverKnight]

Matthias reviews the build queue for Thorn and mutters an oath under his breath. He speaks to the Diet.

A barracks will be built immediately in Thorn.

Edit: Thorn can actually recruit Armoured Spearmen with the current buildings. The next barracks building would give them a boost in experience. Still, I will accede to the Steward's request.

As for an assassination attempt on the Danish King, our only assassin is currently near Krakow. I will, however, send a spy to join the Kaiser's army to ensure his continued security.

[Tamur]

Gentlemen, my apologies for my outbursts yesterday. I... I must admit that I was deeply shaken by the news of the attempt on Siegfried's life. Our father, were he alive, would have been devastated by this news, and...

Fritz pauses and squints, then breathes deep

I will work to contain myself better in the future.

[Cecil XIX]

You needn't apologize, Count. Both myself and the Steffen family have already lost brothers, and I think I can speak for them as well when I say we would not hold someone's outrage against them.

[Stig]

Another messenger walks into the Diet, wearing a fur hat and coat, strangely looking in Rome

Meine Herren, I have come to bring you a second series of messages from Duke Ansehelm, as he did not want to send all messages at once, in case either Herr Gunther or I got intercepted by the Russians.
His first message is concerning his brother Fritz:

Meine Herren of the Diet,
I hereby inform you that my younger brother Fritz has been named Count of Stettin, and that he, by this inherits the County of Stettin from our father Gunther von Kastillien.

And his second message concerns the naming of an heir to the Duchy of Franconia:

Meine Herren,
By various means I have heard that some people, a certain, obvious one in particular, want me to name an heir. I however did not wish to do so, as I want it so that my oldest son or daughter would inherit the Duchy. It is however so that I am on a dangerous mission and might die. However I call on this:

4.7 Dukes and Counts should name a successor, who will take over their titles and settlements when they die. If no successor is named, the oldest natural son inherits, (if none, oldest adopted son; if none again, then the oldest son-in-law).
Charter Amendment 8.1:
Clause 2: Amend 4.7 by adding: If a Duke resigns, the Kaiser appoints a successor.

Would I die the Kaiser, who happens to be my little brother, will name a successor.
If anyone from Franconia calls on some sort of dispute over this, may he rot in hell, if that even exists.