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unmerged(48100)

Field Marshal
Aug 30, 2005
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Part I: Know Your Enemy​



It had been two weeks since his father had died. Two weeks in which he had to ride all the way from the battlefield in the south to his fathers lands. To his lands. And now he stood there with a strange kind of uneasiness. His stepmother was holding her speech but lost her point it more than once and had to begin again. It didn't matter much, the Count wouldn't listen to it anyway. He knew what she would say. How much she had loved her husband and what a poor old widow she was now. He had heard these lies before, and she wouldn't say much else anyway, so why bother listening? In his minds he went through his own speech again and again, but was sometimes caught by some of her words. False tears ran down her cheek and froze seconds after. For one short moment he nearly believed her. Nearly.

Sobbing she stepped down from the podium and gave it free for her stepson. The Count walked up to it. He spoke the words he had in mind since days. Other than the earlier speakers he wouldn't cry at it. He looked around him, searching for any nice face, but he wouldn't find one. Eventually his eyes got caught by the great mountain panorama. It looked so idyllic, so peaceful. Like death. Funny how his father never had found what he now received in death. "May you rest in peace father" he murmured before raising his clear baritone. "You all know why we have come here. It is only two weeks ago that my father died defending his liege in a glorious battle. Unfortunately it was up to me to bring the news of his death."

He paused and harrumphed. It was a cold winters day after all. But what would one expect in January, in the mountains. Snow lay in the shadows while it had molten everywhere the sun shined on. At least so he had a bit time to prevent himself to what would come.

"As we all know my father was a glorious and honourable man and a great warrior. He died as what he had been, a man of war. Now it is up to me, as I am, through primogeniture, his rightful heir, to continue his work." A few murmurs came up in the lines of his brothers and uncles so he waited, but none would speak up.

"In his reign he managed to create a County that has not to bow down to anyone. Look at what you were before he became your lord, and what you are now. You know it is because of my father, and his family, that you live in relative wealth. And he has had some great ideas which I will try to fulfill. Yet," He again raised his voice and was near to shout "I cannot agree with him on everything. In the last years the power of the nobles in this our land has grown to an excess that I cannot let stand. From now on you will be stripped from half your lands and titles and they will get part of my demesne. One tenth of it will go to the priests in my lands in order to show my good will."

Now a mass of voices raised. Some of them wanted to draw their swords but again the Count shouted. "Quiet! Now listen, if you want to stay nobles, or alive, as some of you already play with their lives, you should really try to stay calm. Otherwise I'm sure my guards will convince you to do so." Of course he had only burghers of the cities appointed to guards as it was clear to him they would keep loyal to him, now that he already had granted them certain rights, like for example the chance to be appointed to city council.

"I ask you, all of you nobles who stand here in front of me, where were you when my father died? Where were our glorious knights when the enemy broke through our lines? How many of you were there? Fifty? Out of three hundred? While the others stayed at home with their wives and children, because of questionable excuses? No, I cannot let disloyalty raise in my lands. Not as long as we're surrounded by enemies!" He calmed down a bit as the nobles did the same.

"Those who stood loyal to our Count, my father, will of course be rewarded for this. But those who stayed at home like the cowards they are, will have to give up parts of their lands which will get part of my administration, should they want to keep their lives." He already felt the cold in his throat while he tongue got tired from the talking.

"I ask my senior staff to come into my fathers study to talk about the future of our County. You are dismissed."

He stepped down the podium and walked back to his horse to ride back. He already eagerly awaited being in front of a warm fireside again. Yes he had created himself another enemy. But one enemy more or less wouldn't make all too much difference anymore. At least the nobles were an enemy he knew of.
 
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An interesting and well written opening CSK. Your Count certainly has little issue with raising the ire of his noblemen, but it sounds as if they deserve it, many of them. Looking forward to where you take this.

And congrats on 3,000 posts. Nice new avatar as well. :cool:
 
Interesting opening, sounds like the new count wants to shake things up. He sounds understandably bitter about the last war, perhaps some revenge is in order.
 
The Count slipped as he went over the inner courtyard. In the last days the snow had molten, but here it was just pressed to ice by the feet of the servants running around constantly. He called for one of them to help him get up and later break the ice, which had concentrated in the drains of the small stones that lay on the ground.

"Milord?" He was already in a bad mood when he turned around. The young man in front of him, only a few years younger than the Count, was obviously of noble origins, even if only lower nobility as his clothes pointed out.

"What is it?" He now recognised the man. He was one of the loyal nobles that had come with him to this battle. To the trap. There he had proved to be worth being called a knight. He was one of the few nobles who still would honour their oath to their liege. The noble waited a bit before he dared to speak as he saw the Count was thinking and he wouldn't want to interrupt him.

"I come to you as by law you deserve the right to have the first night with my wife." The Count smiled as he saw her, cute little thing that she was. Maybe a bit too cute, more of the sort that would stab your back once you turned your eyes from them. He thought about the suggestion for some time.

"You may keep it." He smiled over the surprised look on their faces. "I don't desire any woman other than my wife." I don't desire her either. Basically that was the best he could do. Otherwise there always would have been a danger she was really more, maybe even sent by one of his enemies and his wife wouldn't be too happy about it either. So he could keep the noble's loyalty showing his generosity while it would seem to the people as if he loved his wife. And he knew how fast such sayings would spread in lands like these, where news were rare.

"But thank you for your coming." He left them where they were and rushed towards his study. Damned cold he thought to himself as he went up to the door to go inside, but stopped for one short moment. "Say, could you please come here tomorrow?" "Why sir, yes I can." The Count again paused to formulate his thoughts perfectly "I think we could find work for a strong young man like you." Maybe this time he had even found a friend? One loyal man in this sea of enemies?
 
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coz1: Great to have such a good writer as you on board. This will be my first real narrative AAR, as my only goal is to tell the counts life. But my count? I don't even play him. ;)

Nah, honestly this AAR is only loosly based on a game of mine. And yes the nobles deserve what they get. The Count certainly will not let anyone else than himself control lands. Illoyalty has to be punished and he does that.

And thanks for your comment on my Avatar. If you wonder, it's the CoA of the township I live in (I thought about the CoA of Styria or my family's too, but that of my family is boring as it has only three round spikes on green ground and the Styrian Panther is included in this).

JimboIX: I don't think he'll have much of a chance to do that. After all his realm isn't really stable yet. Only time will tell if he can dare to even think about revenge.

All: Any guesses in which County, or at least which area, this AAR plays? Who is right gets a role in the AAR. Then I'll also tell about which countries and which names I speak of, no moment earlier. :p

I don't know about how often I will post, but I'll try to whenever I have the time. But don't count on more than one update all two days as soon as the tests start. And as you can see I'll post not really big updates. Personally it turns me off from reading if the AAR is too big even if I like the style, so I should know best that it's good to write not all too much too fast.
 
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Actually he's made a lot more than one enemy. He's irritated at least 250 noblemen.
 
Well that was rather kind of him to leave off the first night rights. Though I note he did so out of disgust rather than generosity. However, he did offer the man a role at court.

So, it sounds like you are telling the story of another county next to the one you played. If so, a neat idea. I actually thought about doing a Muslim one that way at one time.
 
CSK said:
All: Any guesses in which County, or at least which area, this AAR plays? Who is right gets a role in the AAR. Then I'll also tell about which countries and which names I speak of, no moment earlier. :p

Well the only hint at all that I could find about the setup was the mention that the county in question is mountainous. And that's not much of a hint at all :D

How about somewhere in the Karpatian mountains? Northeastern Hungary or thereabouts? Don't know why I chose that as my guess :)
 
CatKnight: Yes, but what danger could they be? ( ;) )

coz1: Fear, disgust, many feelings played a role. But the Count is mostly calculating. He will sacrifice something if it is pays out for him later on.

As to your guess, no I'm not playing anyone. It actually is a what-if and plays in the future of a game which managed to crash everytime in 1079. So I decided to just start the AAR without any game based upon. Then I decided to restart the whole game again but still did quite the same as first time. The current story is actually the mixed future of both games. Only good the outcome is actually not that different and rather like it always is in CK.

But the idea sounds great. I even had planned an AAR in which I told about Moskva while I played Georgia myself, but when I wanted Georgia to dissolve to let the son of the King play a role in the story I wasn't able to lose the war, although I wanted to. We'll see, maybe I'll decide to make it or something loosly based on this concept sometime in the future.

If you still think about the Muslim one, please do it. I would love to read the story.

Shuma: I'll give you a bit more hints in the future, but you guessed wrong, not even close. I know that the next few updates will not help you with it at all, but I plan to tell a bit more about the external situation the County is in sometime in the future. Maybe that will make it easier.
 
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He seems a bit of a cold fish really.
 
Hmm..Cold..I'm guessing Bern, though that seems too obvious. I'm betting it's actually in Scandinavia, the better to kill pagans, but none of those seem to stand out in particular. So Bern.
 
The meeting had not been as he had planned it to be. Actually it was absolutly the same as his father's meetings had been. The advisors planned and ignored the Count in their deeds and he could only sit and wait for them to finish. But the Count knew why they did so. It was as with riding, if you slacken the reins, the horse, and not the rider, decides where to go.

The Count was not a man of brute force. Although his step against the nobles had made his advisors aware he would by no means let any disloyal man in his influence have power, they still thought they could trick him. The bold and open move earlier that day had let them think he was stupid. If your enemy underestimates you he will make failures. Then you just need to use them.

The first to find there was the Marshal. There had been one easy reason to tell the noble earlier that day to come at the following one and that was that the Count would need someone to lead his armies. Someone loyal. He went to catch the Marshal in one of the numerous corridors of the small castle. As small as it was, it worked like a labyrinth. Like the net of a spider. And his stepmother was this spider, this black widow. Somehow this thought scared him and he tried to distract himself by this dialogue. There was plenty of time to think about that problem later.

"Marshal?" The old man was about to leave for his own manor a few miles from the Count's castle. He was one of the richest and strongest men in this land. One you wouldn't wish to turn your back to. But as most of these, as soon as you caught them surprised they were weak.

"Yes sir?" The Count could smell the malodour of bad wine creeping out of the mouth of the noble. In all the years since his wife had died he had developed in one of the worst drunk in the whole land. The last years he basically wasted away. He wouldn't wash, he wouldn't shave his beard and he wouldn't take a damn about what others thought of him. After five years one can easily imagine how hard it was for the Count to stay calm and not to grimace.

But the Count kept his smile, a mask he had trained in all his mature life. "Tell me Marshal," he started as nice as he could, but his voice still was cold as ice "where were you in this war? Why weren't you with your liege as you should have?"

"Where I was? The Count, your father, gave me the instruction to defend your home in case of an attack on it." The Marshal really thought he could trick the Count. Don't even dare to think you could win on my ground.

"Oh did he? Probably he also decided it was best to leave all our knights at home to defend it, am I right?" A grunt was the only answer the Marshal would give. "And when was that, man? When has he told you so? I can assure you I was with my father all the time. I never saw him order you to do so. Oh no, don't try to lie to me."

"Haven't you said you have a family in the Kingdom in the West when we had our meeting?" The Count went on, still with a smile on his face. He would not get a bit louder in the conversation. "Maybe the King will decide he has a use for a constant drunk idiot, I have not. I might be generous and just let you leave with all your goods."

"This would be very kind of you milord." The Count smirked. I have not yet finished to speak. "But I'm not. Take your head and go. And be happy you keep it on your neck and don't have to carry it in your arms. Although I wouldn't think it would make much of a difference." The Marshal ran as fast as he could. Over the whole time the Count had stayed absolutely calm, cold even. There was no anger in his voice when he spoke, something that very well could be more dangerous than the biggest choleric ever could be.

Only time would be able to tell what would happen now. The Marshal very well could bring the whole West against him. But it was still better to be aware of an enemy than to have him in your back while you believe he was your friend. The Count went to his chambers with a bitter smile on his lips. Sometimes I wonder who is an enemy. And sometimes I wonder who is not.
 
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The Marshal will probably fall down drunk from his horse while riding west and break his neck. No need to worry about him! It sounds like the Count thinks his stepmother might be a real threat. Looking forward to seeing him deal with that.

And still no hints about the location, other than that there is a Kingdom somewhere to the west of the County. :)
 
The Marshal might choke on a chicken bone, or have a hunting accident. Of course, the Count might wish to keep the Marshall around. As an enemy, he is known...
 
The Count definitely has some accounts to settle.
 
I have to admit I am struggling to figure this one out.

1. I thought at first you might be playing in Spain, but your reference to the kingdom in the west would rule that out
2. I also thought about the carpatian region, but you have already ruled that one out
3. The way you referred to the west sounded like an eastern reference, so perhaps a Byzantine count, but you reffered to your king and not your emperor, so I guess that one is out
4. Still in the east is the kingdom of Gerogia (where we have mountains, pagans, and a kingdom to the west) and you did reference a game you played so that is a possibility, but surely you wouldnt give it away so easily
5. The only other thought I have is in Sweden, where we have mountains, pagans, and a kingdom to the west.

So if I had to guess at this point I would say we are a vassal of either Georgia or Sweden

If I could be so bold as to ask, perhaps our next clue might be who the former count was fighting against (Pagan Christian, or Muslim)
 
Ok, you can expect an update sometime today. I don't know when yet as although I have a lot of time I'm also sick and not in the best form. But now to the feedback. Edit: Meh, forget it. Too tired, too lazy. Better I start a bit earlier tomorrow or I'll never get to update this week as I'll be in Salzburg from Friday to Sunday. Sorry. :(

stnylan: I can't disagree there.

JimboIX: Closer than Carpatia but not correct.

Shuma: Well, that is quite possible yes. And I think I'll give you a bit more hints in the next update.

Prussian_King: Thanks. The other one will be de Forez I guess as this is the only AAR I'm still writing on (although I'm currently stuck at the next part there).

stnylan again: That might be true, but I don't think anyone would want to have this guy all too close (at least nobody with a bit of olfaction).

JimboIX (again): True.

Prussian_King, again: My answer to CatKnight's feedback kind of indicates that, doesn't it? Still a few nobles can't do all too much if the burghers and peasants stay loyal to the crown (or that is my feeling to revolts in history).

Quirinus308: One of your guesses about the area is correct. I will not tell which one yet. But keep in mind that the Count very well could think bad about the Byzantines and think of the Emperor as King of the Greeks rather than as Roman Emperor. I might want to mislead you though. ;) As to your question, I just had no place yet to tell the current political situation as I will do today. Just wait and see.
 
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Kind of the Count to let the man keep his head. ;) Some great dialogue there.