I want them to get so much freedom (perhaps even citizenship?) that they remain loyal to the end.
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The Last Tourney
Baby King Arthur of Avalon was packing. Well, not a baby King no more, in August 2247 he celebrated his 16th birthday. According to Norman traditions, he was all grown-up and ready to rule on his own power. No more regency! But first, there was something he wanted to do...
ˇThe things King Arthur was packing were mostly mundane. Clean socks and toothbrush and such. With a few exceptions that would make anyone raise their eyebrows. First,it was this armour. Full plate. Decorated lavishly with ornaments of fauna and flora. Bit alien fauna and flora, nothing like seen in Avalon. Or Earth. But it was the shape that was off. When Arthur donned it, his outward appearance changed considerably. To make it look like that and still give Arthur freedom of movement and total flexibility. It was a work of a true master.
Arthur stretched himself. He was like kings of old. Blond hair, reaching his shoulders, loose. Promises of a beard of same color. Blue eyes. Welcoming smile. Muscular body that has seen more than his share of workout. Next to him, a boy of his age, looking about the same, but with more Mediterranean looks, with a hint of Asian in his heritage.
“How did you ever talk me into this, Arthur?”
King smiled. “But, my dear cousin, think of the adventure!”
“Ehh, but this is so going to get us into trouble!”
“But it’s totally worth it! Come on, Ieyasu, you will never get a chance to attend the tourney, just like our ancestors had!”
“There is one happening tomorrow,” Ieyasu pointed to outside the windows, where in a meadow, jousting field was put up.
“But it’s not real,” Arthur protested. “Jousting there is a game played by boys, young and old”
“By girls as well,” Ieyasu said calmly. “As we saw so beautifully as my sister Aveline sent you flying from the saddle yesterday.”
Arthur winced at the memory. “You just had to come with your whole family to see my coronation, ehh?”
“That, and Farther wanted to show Mother their new home too. Really beautiful”.
“Too secluded for my tastes”
“Well, this is what they want. And what they need as well. Peace and quiet and no galactic affairs.” Ieyasu was smiling. “And i quite like the place”
“But, back to the matter at hand- and you think this your tourney will be any different?” Ieyasu inquired.
“Oh come on, you know it is! Here, in Avalon, it’s a popular game. There, it is a matter of life and death!” eyes of Arthur lit up. “There, they will fight with all what they got. It will be a true tourney.”
“Still sounds like a game to me,” said Ieyasu.
“Mmmm, ok... “ Arthur was at a loss of words. Then, he continued. “See, here in Avalon, we have strong jousting traditions. Mostly because of the name of the planet and all this Camelot things. It is something that just happened and it made sense.. Kinda. But after we are done jousting, we pat each other at the back, rush to our hovercars and fly home. It’s a hobby. Some collect butterflies. Some joust. There... they joust. Really joust. Not because they have this hobby. No, because they don’t know any better. To them, it’s a life, not a hobby.”
“Yes, yes, like you have explained to me a hundred times or more” Ieyasu said. “Where did you get the armor anyway?”
“This? Heh, just went to top armourer in Avalon. Told him, your finest ceramo-metal armor, but with some special demands. He thought about it, then said a price. A pretty steep one, mind you, but still, nothing i can’ afford”
“Hmm, and this?” Ieyasu held a strange device on his hands. “Latest model as well, i see, with automatic translator built in... where did you get your hands on this one?”
“Being a King has it’s... privileges” Arthur shrugged.
“Still, appearance changers are quite rare”
Arthur made no further comments on it. Ieyasu dropped the subject. The rest of the packaging continued in silence.
The Tourney
King Goff II looked down from his podium. The field was filled to the brim. Podiums of the nobles, demonstrating their shields and power. The area for common folk was brimming with life. There must be at least 10 000 spectators today, each trying to get a better spot. There were peddlers, there were thieves, there were robbers. And also a lot of folk just trying to have some fun.
Here are the folk, trying to have some fun
And, there were the knights. 50 of them, in their tents. What a wonderful sight it was- their flags fluttering in the wind, their armor gleaming under the orange hue of the sun. First of them, the champion of Goff himself, Hordar of Yhertube. The King had bet a bag of gold that Hordar would win, and he was sure it was a pretty safe bet, for Hordar was known to be the first knight in all Buthoc. As for the last tent, the knight there sent off some wrong vibes. His shield, a hand reaching from the lake and holding a sword, was weird at the best. And they way the knight moved and talked so freely to his squire and his servants... and well, everything else.
“Who is he?” king asked his advisor
“Sir Arthur of Camelot,” was reply.
“Ar-arthur?” the King was having trouble pronouncing the name. “Weird name- and i’ve never heard of this Camelot?”
“He claims it’s in a land far off, but the tourney of King Goff was so famous he could not come and prove himself with the greatest knights in the world, so he travelled for three month to get here...”
“Oh well, let’s see how he fares. His armor though- this looks spectacular...”
“Three month and four wormhole jumps,” said Ieyasu to Arthur. “Hope it was worth the trouble.”
Indeed, three month and four wormhole jumps...
“Come on, squire! Look at all this! This is well worth the trouble!” the King was beaming. “Plus, i’m pretty sure you enjoyed yourself yesterday when you bagged the archery contest”
“My composite bow got a bit too much attention though. Should have used a local one,” though there was smug satisfaction in his voice.
“Hush, it is beginning,” one of the servants (read: crewmembers of King’s yacht) told them.
Indeed it was. Two knights, riding creatures strangely resembling the horses of Earth, were in positions. King Goff gave signal and both of them started riding towards each other, with breakneck speed, lances pointed at each other. It was clear victory, as one of the contestants hit the other’s shield spot-on, splintering his lance and making the other fall off. The other, poor sod, missed overall.
So, it continued. Knights were winning, knights were losing, the crowd was cheering. Until it was time for Arthur to come as well. His beast, brought two days ago, was still getting used to his master, but knew well enough to charge and not to change course. His own heavy breathing echoing in the helmet, the very limited sight from the visor, his trembling hands. And his opponent, in the other side of the field, waiting for signal. He forced himself to calm down. He raised his lance to greeting and then, aimed it straight to his opponent’s shield. As they galloped, he changed his aim a bit, but now, all he could do is to trust on his training, on his strength and on the quality of Avalon armorsmiths.
The force of the impact, as the enemy hit his shield, was almost too much. Almost. But he managed to stay in the saddle. At the same time, his aim was true and his lance hit the enemy shield with full impact. The lance, brought from local weaponsmiths, turned into splinters. As the horses were passing each other at full speed, he saw from the corner of his eye that the enemy lost his balance. Second later, despite the thundering hooves and deafening cheering of the crowd, he heard a small thump, indicating that his opponent had hit the ground.
Arthur stopped his horse, rode back and helped the poor fellow up. This was met with disbelief at first, but then, the crowds really started cheering.
First real battle of Arthur
Arthur fought five more jousts that day, and was successful on each and every one of them. The sun was already about the set when the final match of the day started. Hordar, the champion of King Goff and Arthur of Camelot. The armor of Hordar had taken some hits, some dents and his shield was scratched. Well, the armorsmiths of Avalon sure knew their work, for the suit of Arthur was as gleaming as it was in the beginning of the day.
Again, the thundering hooves, the power of the horses, the trembling ground. Only, this time, Arthur did not aim for the shield. No, he aimed for the helmet. Much harder to hit target, but more or less guaranteed to throw the opponent off the saddle. And... so did the enemy. Arthur’s head smashed on the padding of his armour and he did a quick thank-you to Ieyasu, who had forced him to wear protective goggles. Then, he fell off. The meeting with the ground was not a pleasant one, though all of his bones were still intact. He rose to his feet, ready to accept defeat. Only to find Hordar in the dust next to him. As surprised as Arthur was. Hordar tried to rise to his feet and hit grab his sword, but he fell off again. Apparently, the man had broken his leg while falling. Hordar tried two more times, before giving up. Then, Arthur came and helped him up, carrying him to his tent and leaving him under care of one of his servants (the ship’s medic).
In the end, it was victory for Arthur by default. The crowds were cheering as Arthur kneeled before King Goff and received his trophy. Truly, Arthur was a champion of Othari this day. And the celebration this evening... priceless. Arthur and his servants were the heroes of the day. There was lot of cheering and drinking and feasting.
The next day, King Arthur and his retinue rode off. To about half a day’s journey, where they hid their ship, Then, they took off and started their journey back home.
In Palermo
“So, perhaps this was not the best idea,” said Ieyasu, after coming from chat with her mother and father, or rather Empress Emma and Emperor Bohemond.
“Can you even give the King detention?” Arthur complained
“Only when you’re an Empress, apparently”, replied Ieyasu, appalled. “Half a year!”
“And they have the Imperial Order to reinforce it...” signed Arthur.
“Still, it was worth it,” sad Ieyasu
Indeed it was. One of the crewmembers filmed the entire event and holovids of King Arthur fighting in the real tourney became very popular, only to be seconded by Prince Ieyasu bagging the archery contest.
As for Emma, she put a total travel restriction to the Cothium system, barring any other aspiring Norman to take part of the real tourney. That’s why it’s called The Last Tourney.
Ahh, two more votes for Avelina and one for Tancred. This makes it currently:
Tancred leading with 8 votes
Avelina very close behind with 7
One day more- i'll be closing the votes on Monday evening, so there is still chance to add your vote!
In the meantime, well, i've discovered the nice Othari who were in Late Medieval, so... say hello to filler episode about adventures of Baby King Arthur of Avalon!
Couldn't resist, for Hautevilles, tourneys, Medieval times and that- Othari would have some strange pull to the Normans. Ye goode olde times, when men were real men and plague was a real threat!
Well, there are some things i've failed to mention in rest of the thread. And it is kind of tradition for me- at the end of the ruler, i'll do an overview of what she had accomplished.
Thanks! And well, she had made Hautevilles more powerful then anyone else...
As for the droids, @TheAnguishedOne and Nikolai. AI rebellion can happen anywhere. But i'm not sure how it would work- the robots would just take up arms? But i have armies in my planets, so i'm guessing the robots are not able to overwhelm the defenders? Oh well, would be a challenge. Especially since i tend to keep some droids in all systems....
But if i ever research sentient robots, they will be of course granted full citizenship rights.
Tancred leading with 8 votes
Avelina very close behind with 7
One day more- i'll be closing the votes on Monday evening, so there is still chance to add your vote!
In the meantime, well, i've discovered the nice Othari who were in Late Medieval, so... say hello to filler episode about adventures of Baby King Arthur of Avalon!
Couldn't resist, for Hautevilles, tourneys, Medieval times and that- Othari would have some strange pull to the Normans. Ye goode olde times, when men were real men and plague was a real threat!Well, there are some things i've failed to mention in rest of the thread. And it is kind of tradition for me- at the end of the ruler, i'll do an overview of what she had accomplished.
Thanks! And well, she had made Hautevilles more powerful then anyone else...
As for the droids, @TheAnguishedOne and Nikolai. AI rebellion can happen anywhere. But i'm not sure how it would work- the robots would just take up arms? But i have armies in my planets, so i'm guessing the robots are not able to overwhelm the defenders? Oh well, would be a challenge. Especially since i tend to keep some droids in all systems....
But if i ever research sentient robots, they will be of course granted full citizenship rights.
This vote grips me, carrying hope that Tancred will be victorious.
Also, those rascals, clearly true friends to each other and a future powerhouse, Arthur being a tad impetuous and martial while Iyeasu carries the burden of thoughtfulness and preparing. I will be glad to hear more from them!
Also, those rascals, clearly true friends to each other and a future powerhouse, Arthur being a tad impetuous and martial while Iyeasu carries the burden of thoughtfulness and preparing. I will be glad to hear more from them!
Nice to see how Arthur grew up. Certainly brave, but I can't help but wonder how the Othari would have felt making first contact if his device had been damaged.
And now, it's official.
Tancred VII Hauteville is now the Emperor of Hauteville Empire. This was close victory over Avelina.
I'll get an update tomorrow
Heh, true that But you gotta have them as well.
Well, your hope is well-founded, it seems.
And i'm not sure. I was thinking of making them more episodic. But hell, if i find a good spot to stick them into, i'll do that
I had thought about it, run the story on my head- and discovered that if i plan to write the story that way, it will be more like 50 pages then 5. And i do have a game to play as well!
Tancred VII Hauteville is now the Emperor of Hauteville Empire. This was close victory over Avelina.
I'll get an update tomorrow
Heh, true that
But you gotta have them as well. Well, your hope is well-founded, it seems.
And i'm not sure. I was thinking of making them more episodic. But hell, if i find a good spot to stick them into, i'll do that
I had thought about it, run the story on my head- and discovered that if i plan to write the story that way, it will be more like 50 pages then 5. And i do have a game to play as well!
Congrats to Tancred VII, may he lead the Hauteville Empire to further glory.
All hail His Majesty, may his reign bring glory to the Empire and misfortune to our enemies!
Tancred VII
Tancred was leaning on the railing on the roof of the Hauteville Palace, gazing over the city of Palermo. It was nighttime, the sky was clear and the city itself was brightly lit. Cool breeze came from the sea, bringing wetness of the Mediterranean with it. It was December. The island was having it’s own version of winter- meaning, it was around 10C at the time.
Even though he wasn’t dressed much, he didn’t feel the cold. Too much excitement, most likely. After all, the coronation had been done, the ball had been held and now, he was all alone, enjoying the quiet and the solitude.
“Emperor Tancred VII Hauteville,” he said to himself and again fell off to a thought.
1000 years is not that much of a time. Blink of an eye in galactic matters. Yet, look how far things have changed in 1000 years for Normans.
I’m 47, thought Tancred to himself. 1000 years ago, people didn’t expect him to live much further. Perhaps a decade or so, then either going senile, getting terribly ill or just death. Reaching 60 would be an exception, not a norm. He would be nothing more then temporary emperor, ruling until someone younger took over. Unless he did something spectacular, he would be forever lost in the annals of history.
Now, in 2247, aged also 47, he was confident that he would still have at least five decades to live. Most likely, a few more. And the longevity treatments made him still feel not a day older than 30. Plus, not a grey hair on his beard! Life is good, he is healthy and he is an Emperor.
He chuckled. Everyone said that Emperor of the Hauteville Empire has absolute power. Meaning that everyone had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. The harsh reality is that his power was very limited and based on influence. And the consequences... Theoretically, he could have random person shot- but that would start a chain of events that might dethrone him. Or end his life. And millions of others. He could veto anything, but by doing so, he would be using some of his power. That is not easily replaceable...
Already few days in power, he perfectly understood why Hauteville Emperors have, at least for a few centuries, preferred to keep up the illusion of power and rather be influencers in the background then rulers of everything. Because, mostly, their power is an illusion. You can be absolute ruler of village of 50. You cannot be absolute ruler of Earth. Even less so, absolute ruler of 80 billion humans and aliens. He understood full well that everyday matters of the Empire would be left in the capable hands of his subjects. Or not so capable. His job as an Emperor would be to guide them through the most important decisions. Like how and where to colonize, upon whom to declare war and so on.
The dawn was already breaking when he finally left the roof and headed inside. He had not slept a wink, but he had thought a lot. Now, it was time for breakfast, made by his favourite cook. A Gorf.
The rule of the Tancred VII begun. Festivities were over. Now, he had an Empire to run. Or rather, to guide. His first agenda, meeting with her sister Avelina, his main opposition and the Admiral of the Hauteville Fleet.
Just a short one, introducing Tancred VII.
Ineed, all hail Tancred!
These are Normans. I would not be expecting calm...
Ineed, all hail Tancred!
These are Normans. I would not be expecting calm...
Avelina, his main opposition. As in for the vote, or as in they are in fact enemies?