Scottish PBM Write-up thread.

[Ramses II CP]

A Secret Account of the Last Years of the Reign of King Alexander the Mad of Scotland.

At Ajaccio Malcom Forester leads his Crusaders against the Sicilian King.

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The castle at Ajaccio is very impressive and an assault under fire would be exceedingly difficult. Fortunately the foolish King Tizrano has no archers, nor even infantry of any kind, within the walls. This means we can easily use a single ladder team to scale the walls and throw open the gates without doing any damage to the castle.



Malcom's Crusaders are eager to bring King Tirzano to justice. They form a thick line across the street while crossbowmen pepper the enemy guardsmen with bolts from afar. Meanwhile the mounted Crusader Knights form up on a second street perpendicular to this one, ready to cut the King off from his town square.



Such does not prove necessary, however, as King Tirzano's courage exceeds his skill. His bodyguard kills a great many of the spearmen and knights, but as Malcom reports they happily gave their lives in the cause of the Lord.

The Sicilians pay the ransom on the twenty captured knights.

Immediately Malcom sends word to the Pope in Rome that Ajaccio is to be a gift for the Papacy. This was not a move that I approved, but neither was it displeasing for me except in Malcom's assertion of independence. Relations with the Pope couldn't be better and Ajaccio was quite likely to be just another drain on our resources, so I make certain to issue a proclamation in King Alexander's name claiming full credit for the idea and praising Malcom for his attention to duty.

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Malcom then sails on towards Palermo to join David in the siege.

The realm is otherwise peaceful and profitable for two years. Our Theologian's Guild at Edinburgh is upgraded at some expense. The Pope asks that we convert more of the people of the Adana region to Catholocism. I intend to see his will done, but the priests will have a long road ahead of them before they can even start their work. The Danes submit to the Poles and become their subjects. I had expected the English to complete their conquest of Danish land but the Poles very cleverly moved first. They will bear watching as their borders edge closer to our own. The Venetian Doge is reconciled with the Papacy. At Palermo David the Mad Saint and Malcom Forester proceed with their combined assault against the pitiful remnant of the Norman army.

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David dedicates a ram and a team of spearmen to push it to Malcom's otherwise ill prepared forces to the west before launching his attack on the lightly defended southern walls.



Crusader knights on horseback rampage through the streets setting every Sicilian to flight. At the inner keep spearmen push a ram into place and bash aside the gate while dismounted knights scale ladders to engage the Norman knights on the wall. As soon as the gate is down Malcom's Templars rush forward.



As they capture the square they also catch and kill the Sicilian captain. The battle is nearly over.



On the walls, though, the last Norman knights put up a spirited resistance. This fortress will be ours, they are only delaying the inevitable, but still there is a certain nobility in their doomed act of defiance. Nobility, though, does not stop swords.







In the end the last few Normans surrender and Palermo is ours. The Sicilian Crusade is at an end.

David occupies Palermo peacefully; the people have suffered enough during the long siege. The Pope awards us two thousand and five hundred florins, and the experience of these battles was invaluable to the men of Malcom and David's commands. The armies are now consolidated and mercenaries are dismissed. Having sent ships to scout the area Malcom believes that the Sicilian's final redoubt is at Durazzo, and he proposes to David that he take the majority of the whole companies and sail there. David is so pleased with the idea that he gives Malcom the Holy Chalice he took from the Levant to carry with him on this holy quest. Malcom gathers the ships and sails east.

Two years pass while he sails, years of unparalleled prosperity for Scotland. The construction of new buildings is a boom industry, the nobles are very wealthy and very pleased, and even my father has stopped pressing me to advance his cases with the King. The Scots are a busy and industrious people under my helmsmanship. Alexandria erects their own Theologian's guild, giving us the ability to train excellent priests at both ends of the empire. Gille Coimded Canmore, King Alexander's second son, accedes to his father's wishes and sails east to Helsinki. I had hoped to send Donnchadh, but I have discovered something much better to use as leverage against him. I have no wish to write of his hideous secret, but suffice to say he will do as he is told. My wife bears me a daughter, the slop swilling sow, and she is named Bethac after my grandmother.

An English Cardinal dies and one of our own, James of Aberdeen, takes over his seat in the College. A witch is discovered travelling through the lands around Antwerp. The priests are dispatched from Edinburgh via ship to try her for heresy. Even more troubling some rebels have taken up arms near Inverness and are camped on a steep mountain slope. Who are these fools? Are they men that Malcom left behind to bedevil me, or just an army he was training in secret to use before he was pulled into the crusade? It will cost me time and attention with the King, but I must investigate this matter personally. Edinburgh and Inverness begin training soldiers to deal with the insurrection.

The years are eventful but pass quickly. Two more sees Venice surrendering their independence to Hungary and the Byzantines striking the Sicilians, perhaps hoping to capture Durazzo before Malcom can arrive. Another Scottish priest is promoted to Cardinalhood. Captain Morgunn and his hard drinking men lead an expedition out of Gaza towards Cairo and encouter an Egyptian general named Nasser the Honest on the road.

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Nasser brings four trebuchet to battle against the Scottish captain, but Morgunn has brought Border Scouts just for such a problem. When Nasser leaves the crews exposed the horsemen sweep in like lightning and destroy them. Their aim was atrocious, so poor that not a single Scot was so much as singed.



The Egyptian general is enraged when his trebuchet cease firing. He orders a foolish charge by his light cavalry and horse archers, supported by the slower mass of his infantry.



As soon as the lines of infantry engage the enemy begins to crumble. These men are ill suited to an assault, and their general is still hanging back uncertainly. When the first company of Egyptian spearmen routs Nasser rides forward to try to shore up morale. His charge kills a great many Scots, but leaves him extremely vulnerable. His bodyguard is completely encircled.



Nasser panics and orders his men to flee. His infantry are already in flight, but the Border horsemen are redirected from harrying them off the field to return to the main line and chase Nasser. Before he can escape the field they catch him and force him to surrender his sword, effectively ending the battle.

Captain Morgunn demands a very reasonable ransom for Nasser and the other prisoners but the Egyptians refuse to pay. Nasser and his men pour their blood into the sand by the side of the road as Morgunn rides on towards Cairo.

West of Durazzo near the heel of Italy Malcom's fleet is attacked by a large Egyptian fleet. As the Egyptians burn their way through the Scottish ships Malcom's troop transports flee eastward and escape. The remaining Scottish ships in the area are all redirected to Malcom to reform his fleet and attempt again to sail to Durazzo.

Two years pass, and good news at last out of the Levant. Catholicism's first great Cathedral has been completed at Damascus, the first of many great works to come. On the heels of that news, though, comes news of a worse sort. David the Saint refuses to surrender Palermo or Tripoli to the Papacy and will not build ships to return to the Levant. Indeed his fiery note suggests that he feels insulted and severely disrespected that the King would ask this of him. Palermo is his destiny, as he puts it, and he has little desire to ever leave the citadel he is building there. I had hoped he could be convinced to pass the last years of his life at sea with little influence over events, but it seems I must either use blunt force to drive him back east or give him his head to remain in that dangerous spot, like a rabid dog at the throat of Rome. A 'Saint' he may be, but he is also utterly insane and unpredictable. Better not to create conflict where one may not be necessary.

In the homelands Agnes Canmore, grande dame of the Canmore clan, passes away peacefully. Karia the witch is executed near English Bruges. Captain Ranald at last brings the rebels near Inverness to battle. Inferior in number our men are, nonetheless, dramatically superior in quality.

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The rebels leave their archers exposed just enough for a solid cavalry charge to clear them away entirely. Then the infantry marches slowly forward. As the lines crash together the rebel commander sees that he is needed at the front. When his men commit to the melee our own cavalry return and smash into them from behind.



The battle is instantly over as almost the whole rebel army panics and surrenders.

Every single rebel is put to death by quartering, and their parts are paraded through the backwoods and villages as testament to the fate of any insurrection. Captain Ranald reports to me personally that none of the rebels knew who funded their training, but many of them had rumors of one of the King's sons being displeased with their father. It cannot be Cennedig, who is still besotted with his French princess and well entrenched running Antwerp. Gille is at sea, and Alexander's third son is still a beardless boy. No, it must be someone else. Eion and his son have been very quiet at Caernarvon, but it's easy to be quiet when no one wishes to hear you speak. David's sons in the Levant are too far away to effect this without my knowledge. That leaves Donnchadh. I will have to watch him more closely, and perhaps introduce him to the concept of blackmail.

South of Cairo captain Morgunn's scouts discover an Egyptian army outside the city walls. Morgunn's attack is supported by a few reinforcements from Alexandria, and though losses are significant the road to Cairo is cleared and the siege begins.

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Malcom's second attempt to reach Durazzo also ends in a costly defeat at sea. Several ships are sunk though Malcom's own men once again fortunately escape on a transport. I am secretly pleased at the difficulties Malcom is encountering. The longer he is kept busy the less likely he is to attempt to return north to bedevil my rule. I am very pleased with the progress our nation has made under my hands. King Alexander is almost completely unecessary as the functionaries now know very well who carries the authority of the King. I have been able to turn his care and feeding completely over to a reliable team of servants, and my reign looks to continue for as long as I can keep him hale and clean enough to sit on the throne and impress the rubes every few days.