MTW2 Multiplayer Campaign Diplomacy thread.

[Csargo]

I'm happy to announce that Poland and the Holy Roman Empire have entered into an alliance.

Also, to the French King I did not realize you were sieging Antwerp, I will leave the area immediately.

[_Tristan_]

Holy Roman Emperor,

We thank you kindly...

If you would help in the siege (OOC by placing yourself next to the city), I would gladly pay you in gold once the city is taken...

[Csargo]

I will gladly help you.

[_Tristan_]

Then, all is well between France and the Holy Roman Empire...

[Tran]

Does it mean France reject our demand?

[_Tristan_]

How dare you snatch this rebellious city from us like thieves in the night!

Nevertheless, your men have taken the city. For what you have done, we demand a compensation of 2,000 florins and some men to assist us taking Antwerp. These are not compulsory, but if you do it then you will gain our trust and should France involves in a trouble we will not hesitate to support you.

King Knud of Denmark

King Knud,

How was I to assist you when you left the city unbesieged and have taken the cross and are at the moment crossing our territory on that most noble cause that a crusade is.

As I had told you before, the Germans were en route to take that same city and would have lain siege before you could.

Moreover, I cannot let some rebellious scum defy French power so near our borders...

What do you propose we do ?

I am prepared to sell Antwerp to you but I am no fishmongering merchant and the price of such jewel will be a high price. That proposal I make to you as a gesture of goodwill.

Out of the 2000 you demand for the taking of Bruges, though we feel we owe you nothing, we are prepared to give you 1000 gold.

King Philippe of France

[Ramses II CP]

King Wladyslaw regrets to announce that negotiations with the Byzantines fell through and Constantinople now stands under siege. In addition Nicaea has been taken and is now a ward of the Polish state, though it's position is necessarily precarious.

In better news the Sicilians have been invited to formally join the Catholic League and an alliance with Poland.

It is an unfortunate start to our crusade. We wish the other crusaders better luck!

[Tran]

King Knud,

How was I to assist you when you left the city unbesieged and have taken the cross and are at the moment crossing our territory on that most noble cause that a crusade is.

As I had told you before, the Germans were en route to take that same city and would have lain siege before you could.

Moreover, I cannot let some rebellious scum defy French power so near our borders...

What do you propose we do ?

I am prepared to sell Antwerp to you but I am no fishmongering merchant and the price of such jewel will be a high price. That proposal I make to you as a gesture of goodwill.

Out of the 2000 you demand for the taking of Bruges, though we feel we owe you nothing, we are prepared to give you 1000 gold.

King Philippe of France

We have laid siege to Bruges for a long time, to simply took it away from us without any previous notification and refused to give any compensation are outrageous. You even rudely told us to "go away and take Antwerp before the Germans did". Surely you know, France already has large territory and army capable of striking beyond its border, compare these to us, and you should be grateful or what you have.

Your recent action also made us think whether we have forged a wrong alliance with France, perhaps Denmark should not turn down the offer from England. At least they have some respect for us.

Also, since you have chosen to disclose our private diplomatic letters, I might as well disclose your letter to us:

King Knud,

Dear ally,

You have put much worthless efforts in subjugating the rebels of Bruges.
Your siege had been going on for ages without success.

So we took the liberty of cutting you short at the finish line and Bruges is now a French City.
None of your men were harmed in the process of taking that town.

As our allies, you are still welcome on our soil but we would advise you to set on your sights on the neighbouring city of Antwerp, still rebel-held.

I hope you won't bear us any ill will for acting so rashly but we needed a quick access to the British Isles so that we could bring down our unruly English neighbour.

German armies are already en route to Antwerp so I strongly advise you to act fast in laying siege to that town.

Yours faithfully

Philippe
By the grace of God
King of France

This part of your letter is especially ridiculous:

I hope you won't bear us any ill will for acting so rashly but we needed a quick access to the British Isles so that we could bring down our unruly English neighbour.

You already have three ports and ships on the sea near the British Isles even before Bruges was (forcefully) taken.

[_Tristan_]

King Knud,

We have laid siege to Bruges for a long time, to simply took it away from us without any previous notification and refused to give any compensation are outrageous.

I will not take lessons from a ruler unable to subjuguate a rebellious city... As to refusing to give compensation, I offered 1000 florins, more than what your efforts in subjugating that town are worth...

You even rudely told us to "go away and take Antwerp before the Germans did".

I don't see how "rude" my phrasing can be construed... Next time I have some intelligence to impart to you I will refrain from doing it...

Surely you know, France already has large territory and army capable of striking beyond its border, compare these to us, and you should be grateful or what you have.

As to being grateful of what we have, we are but fought hard for it...

From what we know, you have not even been able to bring under your dominion your fellow Scandinavians...

You already have three ports and ships on the sea near the British Isles even before Bruges was (forcefully) taken.

I don't have to explain everything to you but will nevertheless for your enlightenment : I couldn't use any of my ships due to England's blockade of the Channel and thus had to embark in Bruges, behind the blockade...

Your recent action also made us think whether we have forged a wrong alliance with France, perhaps Denmark should not turn down the offer from England. At least they have some respect for us.

As to reconsidering your alliances, it might be a bit late, as England will perhaps soon not even be there to ally with... And on the subject of England's respect, the English King is not even able to respect his own liege lord as a faithful vassal should, so do you think he would truly rspect you ?

But we'll keep those threats in mind...

Philippe
By the grace of God
King of France

[_Tristan_]

My lords, I, Philippe of France have a grave announcement to make...

The treacherous and villainous William of England has no more country to speak of...

He has gone back to his old ways and has turned brigand scouring the lands of Scotland.

This is what happens when you try to cross the French.

[Ramses II CP]

This is what comes of warring amongst ourselves, my fellow Catholic lords. Better by far that we should turn our intentions against our enemies of other faiths. I pray the brigand can be brought to heel peacefully in good time, that the lands of Scotland may no longer be troubled.

King Wladyslaw

[FactionHeir]

King Roger of Sicily congratulates his noble ally King Philippe on ridding our holy lands of such unholy men as William. May he soon be found and burnt at the stake for his crimes against Christendom.

[Cecil XIX]

The destruction of William's kingdom is regretable, but necessary. We would be very interested in hearing the final fate of William.

[Tran]

Despite our recent discrepancy with France, we still consider the destruction of England as a triumph for all of Christendom.

[_Tristan_]

Despite our recent discrepancy with France, we still consider the destruction of England as a triumph for all of Christendom.

I thank King Knud for his kind words and hope that no hard feelings are left between our Kingdoms.

[Didz]

Malcolm, King of Scots congratulates his faithful ally Phillipe on the final defeat of William and thanks the French for coming to Scotlands aid in its hour of need.

[Ramses II CP]

It gives me no pleasure to announce that Constantinople had to be taken in order for the Polish crusade armies to advance. The city has been immediately surrendered to Papal control, though the Pope has not yet seen fit to provide a garrison to maintain order. This unfortunate circumstance is deeply regrettable, but our crusade armies are now primarily in Muslim lands and so misunderstandings with our Orthodox brethern should be avoidable. Unfortunately the Byzantines rejected a peace offering and a state of war still exists, for the moment, between our nations. Negotiations continue, and there is hope of a lasting peace on the horizon.

In other news, Kiev stands under siege, and we wish to congratulate our Russian allies on the capture of Vilnius (In other words, I built a watchtower to keep an eye on that front. It's a wide border, shouldn't be hard to avoid trouble.).

King Wladyslaw

[FactionHeir]

King Roger wishes to inform his Catholic friends that his vassal General Alberto will make landfall at Antioch this year still and lay siege to this place that rightfully belongs to the Christian faith.

[_Tristan_]

King Philippe of France wishes to inform than England's former King William the Bandit has been brought to justice with the rest of his followers.

York shall soon be returned to Scotland with more to come in the future.

King Philippe wishes also to inform his fellow crusaders that his son Louis has made landfall in Greece and is fighting the Byzantines at this time, following the example of Poland and Sicily...

[Tran]

We would like to know why the Russians move their troops over our territory without permission and even now approaching one of our villages.

Beware, whoever spill the blood of the brave and loyal descendent of Vikings shall pay dearly for it.

[Ramses II CP]

King Wladyslaw would like to thank the German Kaiser for negotiating a ceasefire between the Poles and the Byzantines (i.e. by signing your alliance you auto-ceasefired me and I suspect you did the same to the French at Thessalonica, who may be less happy about it.). This is a gracious act that will hopefully someday be repaid!

The Turks proved similarly reluctant to allow a crusade army to pass, and so their capital at Iconium has been taken and their castle at Caesarea stands under siege. God willing the armies of Poland will carry the fight to the Turks until they are destroyed.

[_Tristan_]

King Philippe of France is not well pleased with the ceasefire obtained through the Holy Roman Empire acceptance of an alliance with the Byzantines which have proven a big impediment to the progress of the crusade to Antioch...

We hope it is just an error of Emperor Heinrich and would like to know how he hopes to compensate France for forcing this ceasefire down her throat...

[Ferret]

The Russians deeply apologize for any happenings within the last few years, a few of our generals went renegade but they have been dealt with and proceedings should return to normal soon enough, those troops will leave your lands a quickly as possible King Knud.

[Tran]

We thank you for your cooperation, Grand Duke Ysevolod. It is good to have trust and great understandings between both of us, and we hope we both can resolve any differences in the future.

[_Tristan_]

The French King strides with pride in the council chambers.

My Lords,

I would make known to this noble assembly that the island of Ireland has been conquered and offered to the Pope to give his Holiness some representation nearer to our northernmost Christian brethren...

War is going on between France and the Byzantines who have tried to divide the true Christians and bring them to fight among them after impeding the progress of the righteous Crusaders towards Antioch.
We hope that our Christian allies will support us, should they have to choose between us and the Orthodox scum.

On these last words, the King takes a long and inquisitive look at the German representative.


Lastly, I wish to make it known to all Christendom that Constance of France, fairer flower of Europe, will marry Simon of Sicily, heir to the Norman throne, a reward for his worthy conduct and success in the Crusade for Antioch... The wedding shall be celebrated at Naples... You are all welcome to attend...

Let us all rejoice in the news...

King Philippe takes a seat and smiles smugly.

[FactionHeir]

King Roger is proud to announce that Antioch has fallen to the Norman crusaders and a church is currently being built to christianize the heathens and heretics that inhabited that place.
All crusaders and pilgrims are welcome to converge at Antioch for their pilgrimage for years to come.

[_Tristan_]

We congratulate King Roger on his taking of Antioch and thus the accomplishment of His Holiness' mission, a mission from God...

[Ramses II CP]

King Wladyslaw sends his congratulations to King Roger! If not for the intervention of the non-Catholics we would have joined your assault.

[Csargo]

The German Kaiser is extremely sorry for the ceasefire that our alliance with the Byzantines caused. We are deeply sorry and will be wary the next time we accept alliances, because we wish to keep good relations with the king and his people.

[Ramses II CP]

King Wladyslaw has offered Philippe, King of France, an exchange of maps in order to clarify their new borders in former Byzantine territories. Additionally King Wladyslaw would invite King Roger of Sicily to the discussion table regarding Adana. King Roger's men are in the area, but King Wladyslaw's stand at the very walls (Though not holding siege).

In the interests of a peaceful resolution King Wladyslaw would offer five hundred florins and his personal guarantee to convert the castle into a village.

Additionally King Wladyslaw would agree not to contest any potential Sicilian claim to Cyprus.

At the same time King Wladyslaw lays claim to all lands currently held by the Turks as it is his intent to see that people harried to the ends of the earth and destroyed. All claims are, of course, negotiable.