Before i begin the story, here's a bit of info about why I am telling the whole story...

This week i found that i would have a lot of free time in the next three to four days, so i decided to sit down and do some hard writing. one thing that had caught my eye just today, was a thread in the TR about an amazing battle fought in MedMod 3.12. I myself hadn't had MM installed since 2.04 when a glitch pit me up against my very own king ( lol imagine my reaction there ). So naturally i had to check it out to see how it had been improved. What i found was almost a total conversion of MTW, New units and nearly completely faction specific armies fighting one another. In this Mod i have found a new love for the English and their spear-cavalry armies. The improved AI added so much to the experience, just to do it justice; i decided that i would write of my entire Campaign in a series of posts here. Special thanks goes to WesW for making such a great mod and restoring great fun to an already great game, you are my hero man


Now with that said...On to the Tale (note: this will be a very long saga indeed when it is fully finished, so i hope you got yourself something to drink and you have already used the Throne Room )

Chapter I

The Three King Alliance

In 1089 the nations of Europe were not even what we now consider nations. What they were in truth was as much land as the King could keep together by the use of his sword and what he took and held from others. Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, England, they all fought in a series of wars seeing their faction's borders changing almost without rest. Armies of full thousands of men were meeting their doom upon the fields and in the forests of what the land, and there seemed to be no end in sight. The Almohads were fighting desperately to keep their foothold in Spain, fending off both the Kingdoms of Spain and that of the Independent Aragon. Even El Cid and his forces of Valencia were doing their share of fighting.

In the East, things were no calmer. Hungary, Poland, the Turks migrating from the east, and the latter remnants of the Roman Empire all battled without end for land, wealth and power. Just when all seemed lost, and it seemed that the Human race had doomed himself to fighting itself into oblivion, there appeared a man out of the Holy lands of the middle-eastern countries. He preached of God, following the old religions and doing much to help settle disputes wherever he went. Even the Arab princes listened to him should he offer advice, and seeing what such power the man had, three separate Kings called for him. England, France, and Germany all sent for him. And when they found out about the other nation's actions, a great war broke out.

Thankfully, before any true fighting could start, the Preacher arrived in Rome, and called upon every King in Europe following that of the Christian religion to him. Such an event had never accrued, however seeing the man's influence and the clear support he got from the pope, each nation sent forth their King to Rome. Upon their arrival they held a great conference, in which the man revealed himself to be none other than a prophet of the Almighty. He told them of a great storm that would come in the year of our lord 1231, and he told them that upon its arrival, every nation, faction and state would be wiped clean from the world and a new rule of darkness would begin. With this news many Kings were outraged, prophet of the lord indeed they thought, they held so much faith in their own power that they called him nothing more than a beggar trying to stir up trouble. They were so blinded by their titles and over confident that they walked out on the talks and straight back to their kingdoms, but there were still some who listened, the very who had called him in the first place, believed that it was truth sent to aid them by God. Therefore England, France, and Germany's kings all stayed and discussed this storm that would kill off the Christians and be their complete undoing.

He only would tell them that it was a force from out of the Far East, well beyond their armies' power to reach. He told them that the only way to truly save themselves, would be to unite and stop this useless fighting. Of course this did not go over to well with the Kings, The Holy Roman emperor jumped from his seat many times and threatened to walk out then and there if this was truly what they had to do. William II of England and Phillipe I of France had to get between Conrade II and the door many a time and calm their fellow king down. Although they finally agreed to stop fighting among themselves, the three kings still could not fathom how they could repel a force that was described such as this; Numerous as the blades of grass and more powerful that the mightiest sea, these men have full intention of making your kingdoms, their own. that was just one of many long descriptions the prophet made of what he finally called The Mongolian Hordes of Hell itself.

So just what is it we are supposed to do? William II of England asked, clearly tired of hearing of this great threat.

I will tell you, said the prophet rising from his seat. You must go to the fringes of the steppes, and await them

All three kings jumped from their seats, slamming their hands upon the table and beginning a serious of long shouts and arguments. They shouted and yelled many times, all the time pointing fingers at the King beside them, saying 'They will betray this alliance'. It went on for hours, but after the sun had passed the middle of the sky, The Pope, who had been watching the talks from a seat high above the hall, shouted aloud Now you Kings of man be Silent If Ye truly are men of Faith, You shall Sit and resolve this manner as Brothers May i remind you that, not only is your small and petty kingdoms are on the point of the sword, but all of Christendom as well We few who are convened now shall decide the Fate of all who would ever wish to worship Him the Almighty

Respecting his wishes they all sat down and took a few moments to calm themselves, and after a few minutes of waiting, Phillipe of France rose and said Then what is it we shall do? What exactly can we do?

As i have said before the prophet said again, You must go forth and await them on the western edges of the Steppes. Only that way can you prevent them from establishing their deadly and paganistic Kingdom. Still none of the leaders knew what action to take, if that was what they were to do, then who would be charged to make the wall?

That is something the Almighty leaves in your hands the prophet said softly as he turned away from the table and walked off into the shadows. William of England ran after him only to find that he had disappeared. It appeared to them they had a choice; put aside conflict and do his wishes, or be destroyed and know no man in their realm would escape death and damnation. Their course of Action seemed clear to them, and so it was decided that all fighting would cease until a barrier had been put in place of the steppes, that way all would be safe from the destruction. And it would be England's own William II, who was chosen by both King and Pope to lead in its construction.

Chapter 2

The Kingdom of the Holy Crusaders

So it was that England had the Task of assembling the means, place, and way in which the Holy Roman Empire, the English Empire, and the Kingdom of France would defend all of Christendom against the marauding Mongolian forces beset to arrive a full two hundered years in the future. However none the less, it was clear that this should be top priority, and a Kingdom should be set up very early, so that in its time the people and soldiers would know the land and the best ways to fight in them. So that entire families would live there and know what to expect of the strange terrains, so when the time came, it would be fashioned experts who faced the Horde, not a young empire just struggling to set itself up. William II recognized each nation's strong points, his own for its spearmen and Longbows, such troops would be needed to bear the frontal attack and pierce the armors of the wild horsemen he had been told about briefly. From France, he saw the strong cavalry, they would be needed the most to counter the tactics of the horse archers in the eastern armies. From the Holy Roman Empire of Germany, he saw their many types of unique infantry, their power and diversity would ensure that the combined forces could fight, knowing the Mongols would have not learned their tactics. From Germany came another thing, the princes of the lands, which normally caused the empire to be very unstable, were almost always good commanders in this day and age. There William saw his leaders of this new Empire, but his Fellow kings insisted that it be one from his own line. Therefore he would choose Henry I, his third son.

With the plan set, William began to gather the forces for which the Kingdom would be made upon. He built up great ships and set them sail into the northern seas, bearing with them trade and goods, they would cement good relations with any local inhabitants that would be in this new land, and allow them safe passage to their place of last defense. In 1093 the last ship was released from dock and it sailed out north heading to the cold lands of Lithuania, news came back of small armies that may have to be fought to ensure that a new kingdom could be built, yet William was confident in the multi national force that he would eventually send. As 1097 approached, peace still reigned in Western Europe, and to the surprise of many of the local peasants and Kings themselves, there was no aggression between them. So with peaceful surroundings, William called for the first main expedition to set forward. The Army was assembled in Mercia and set off into Flanders in 1098, with Henry I of England at its head, they gathered many Knights and footman to their banner. King Phillipe and The Princes of Germany behind King Conrade sent all the aid that they could spare during such dark times, and it was more than ever thought. (side note: at this point in the game, i sent the crusade through Europe, to my surprise and extreme delight, many troops joined, it was near a full three thousand as it left its final province before going onto the sea )

As they passed through Saxony they went North and arrived in Denmark, there the Vikings were very kind and committed to the cause some of their fiercest warriors, although they did not heed the prophets advice, they held a strong pact with the Norman lords who had their castles in England. Add to that they knew that no matter how many years it would take for them to arrive, with a little bit of Viking blood in them, the defenders would have one hell of a fighting chance. And as 1098 came the Soldiers had disembarked on the North lands seeing first hand the place in which they were meant to fight and die, and though they did not know the land, they knew its people thanks to the merchants who had been traveling this way for the past five years. The entire size of the force was great, numbering at three thousand men, some had taken their families, actually most of them had, seeing as how it was to be here that a Holy Kingdom under God was to be made, and it had to stand for more than 200 years to serve its purpose. They fully understood that they were to be a new people, apart from their homelands. The force traveled north once more, to the fortress city of Novgorod, there they came into contact with the Swedes (MM faction). Much like the Danish, they were the descendants of the Vikings and had traveled here searching for battle and riches. They had settled themselves into the city and it looked clearly to the crusaders that they were there to stay. Though the Swedes gave the great army its permission to stay within the land for one year, they also had many fights with their crusading friends. Yet it became very clear, after the first few bar fights, they were nothing but in the point of fun and joy, many times a scene of drunken warriors of Swedish, English, French, and German origin were seen singing long songs of glory and battle together. The Crusaders enjoyed Novgorod very much indeed, but they had no choice but depart to the East. Henry explained what they must do, and many of the Swedish warriors listening interrupted the story laughing and saying strange remarks of praise. After the story had been told, it was decided that Sweden shall stand there as well. Many soldiers pledged allegiance to the crusaders, and at their own King's leave, they gathered what they had to their names and followed them. It is estimated that no fewer than 150 men joined there, taking with them their wives and children, of course it was a land of battle and the sight of where the World's fate be decided, but what refuge shall they have anywhere else if indeed the world is to be set to the flame? As they left the grand city, they passed many people on the way out, including the Swedish King himself, who told Henry We shall be here, and we shall stand here. I wish you luck on your journey, always know that the gates of our city is open to you. This made Henry and many of his lieutenants around him, feel a sense of new found hope. It appeared they had friends in this endless wilderness.

The warriors went east and arrived in a land named by its own Muscovy. After a brief instant of resistance by its own people, the local people soon realized that the army that had come from the western states had a just cause and they surrendered their capitol without much of a fight, that and because their small armies were just no match for the combined might of more than three kingdoms. Therefore the place upon which the kingdom was founded was Muscovy, and the crusaders built upon the land a great holy empire. With Henry the First at its lead, he carved out a fine defensive position in the north of the land, he even sent out expeditions to the neighboring lands, convincing its people to join the new kingdom. The provinces that followed was the territory of Volga-Bulgaria, and the small fiefdom of Ravyan (sp?). Upon which was set the Knightly order of the Steppes, and by 1105, the place where the kingdom was founded had flourished greatly and began a wealthy state with an unusual beauty, not normally found in the northern lands. It was in 1106, that the Three kings of the West, though a bit old, now each of them either in their late fifties or early sixties, visited their 'holy wall'. Upon arriving they named Henry I its new leader and gave him a crown of silver. William his father said to him as they had met before the main city's great new fortress under construction, You have done well, and we now leave this land to you. However you must remember that while you are an independent Kingdom set upon these eastern steppes, you still owe ultimate allegiance to the western forces. That is why we have made these four rings. William took out a small bag made from a humble cloth, and out of which he brought four great rings that were a splendor to look upon, each ring made of gold it had written on its surface a simple statement, We four stand now, to fight, and to die. Where the small inscription stopped there was set a great stone, each ring bore a different stone each reflecting that nation's purpose in this Alliance.

The Ring with the red stone, he began shall belong to England and its ruler; her efforts made to this land were great and much blood she has given. The Ring with a Blue stone shall be given to France and its King, her boldness stood by England, and hers was the greatest sacrifice in lives to this new land, for it was her that gave us the great cavalry and the man power to build the ships on which we sailed.

As William handed out the rings as he named them, the King of France, Phillipe, who was now getting to be a bit gray in the hair as well, stepped forward and said The Ring with the black stone shall be given to The Holy Roman Empire and its Ruler, Its sacrifice in great commanders and heavy infantry was very great indeed and although they may not know it, it was vital. He stopped and smiled as he said that, as he stopped, the German King, Conrad II stepped forth, he looked about and said to Henry And to you, young king, We give the Ring with a Silver stone in it. It is your people that shall bear the great sacrifice that will come in this war, and always remember that you serve him. pointing up to the sky the German king took his ring and stepped back.

The Four Kings stood around in the center of town, and slipped their rings on simultaneously. When they did there was a great cry of celebration, people cheered raising their hands into the air and holding high weapons. Full families clapped in celebration as their lords stood before them, indeed they were a great union, but its true test was still to come, the test of time.

I will post some more tomorrow, hope you enjoyed the start of one of the greatest campaigns i have ever had the joy to play :D