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Glad you liked it, Qorten!

Just a reminder guys...there will be one more post which will include the first major climax of the "She'll Kill Them All" storyline...then a series of flashbacks...then a quick teaser about what the next chapter includes...

...and then we finally flashforward to the adventures Johann Braun-Kennedy...including maps!

But what does that mean for you?

1) We're only two...maybe three posts away from revealing the content of the mysterious message to Annelies. No one has correctly guessed the content or sender of the message...whoever does, will have a character based on them! PM me your answer!

2) The flashbacks are intended to resolve almost every unanswered question that has been posed so far. I've made a list, but I'm sure I've forgotten something. If there's anything that you want to know...or struck you as odd (such as how did Gulsum learn Latin, which will be answered)...tell me now, and I'll come up with an answer! :D
 
I don't know if Gulsum should be glad she is now a member of the family. I don't think she knows about the secondary job descriptions :D

I can think of nothing that strikes me as odd, or at least a bit weirder than the rest of the story :p
 
1. where is Guines? :rofl:
2. why did no one die brutally in the last chapter?
3. what is the pope doing?
4. who owns Jerusalem?
5. did he really marry a muslim?
6. how big is the small hill fort?
7. who is still alive?
 
@Enewald: Hehe...thanks for the questions! But most of these can be answered outside the story:

1) Guines is in France near England's Normandie. It is situated on the mainland side of the English Channel.

2) Hehe...I actually consider everything up to this point to be "Chapter One." So pretty much EVERYONE has died a gruesome death in this last chapter (and the chapter's not even over yet!) Of course, if you are only including Osbern as being the person who died in the last chapter...well...being stabbed in the heart isn't a very painless way to go. Especially when it takes you about two years to finally drift away.

3) Popish things, mostly. Honestly, I don't even remember who the Pope is at this point in the game. BUT...I can tell you that at least one Pope comes into play later on in the story, and becomes directly involved in the "She'll Kill Them All" storyline!

4) Jerusalem is owned by the county of Guines, which is owned by the Duke of...um...Flanders, I think...which is owned by France. If you are asking for a specific name, assuming that Robert is Osbern's heir, as they both seemed to believe when Osbern died, Jerusalm will pass to our pantsless shark-killer along with Guines Proper.

5) Depends on what you mean by "really." In my story, yes, Robert really married a Muslim (the specifics of how this happened will be addressed in a flashback). If you mean did he really marry a Muslim in the game...no. AAR Gulsum is a combination of three or four game characters, mostly Muslims, but including Robert's Catholic wife. An interesting tidbit...Robert's entire trip to Jerusalem, the shark/pirate attack, meeting and marrying Gulsum...all of this was an accident. It was actually Geoffrey (Matilda's brother) who went to Jerusalem in my game, but I accidently wrote about Robert instead...and now, I'm really happy I did. It really developed Robert as a character, just in time for him to become our new count!

6) Smaller than a stone castle, larger than the average house. I guess. The embarassment Robert feels upon realizing they still live in a fort is not the fort's size, per se, as it is the fact that the fort is made of wood, whereas men of status should live in places made of stone.

7) People we know 100% are alive: Robert, Matilda, Gulsum.

People who were last seen alive, but have not been mentioned since Robert left for Jerusalem several years ago, and therefore their status is unknown: Annelies, Matilda's brother Geoffrey, Matilda's sister, Matilda's sister's husband, Juvenal Quentis

Hope that helps!
 
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@Enewald: No, I'm not seeking the crown of France. But then, I'm an American of mostly-German and Italian decent, so I'm not really sure where my claim to the throne would come from. :rofl: That said, several characters in the near future will begin...um...interacting with the world's Kings. :D

@Ragnos: Glad to hear! I'm pretty excited about it too...especially what the SECOND future update will hold!
 
Fall, 1088 - Northern France

Royal funerals were a dreadful affair.

This was clear even to the Lady Matilda, who had been inconsolable following Osbern's death.

Sitting to Matilda's left, the Countess Gulsum took Matilda's hand, trying to comfort her. Matilda was flanked on her right by her sister, Geva, and Geva's husband Count Charles de Blois. Matilda's brother, Geoffrey, stood guard at his ceremonial post as the county's marshal. Annelies, her hair nearly white with age, finished out the front row...having long since grown immune to the grieving process, after so many deaths.

Count Robert de Guines stood at the front of the church, addressing the mourners.

"My brother was a believer," continued Robert. "He believed in many things. He believed in the power of God to overcome tragedy...we have both known much tragedy, yet he believed in God's power to overcome. He believed in true love...which, again, we were both blessed to experience...he believed true love could conquer anything.

"But mostly...mostly, my brother believed in the people of Guines. He believed that...along with the power of God and the experience of true love...there was nothing that could stop the people of Guines. No crisis, no trial, no tribulation...for the people of Guines were unlike the people who could be found anywhere else in Europe.

"I ask...I ask those people...those people my brother believed in...I ask that you prove him right. Do not let this tragedy overcome you. Overcome the tragedy. Maintain your strength...maintain your belief in God...maintain your love.

"Many of you know of my own true love, Gulsum. I was concerned when I returned to Guines, for I was unsure how the people would receive a Muslim living amongst them. But my brother assured me that the people would see our love and embrace her. Because, he said, they believe in true love. They believe in God. A God who judges based on actions and not words. On behavior rather than beliefs. The people of Guines are better than the people of Europe. The people of Guines are prepared for a new kind of world. One where Christians and Muslims can live together in peace and harmony.

"I pledge to you that I will build that world. I will build that world, with your help.

"I have only recently returned from Jerusalem, where I had to kill many Muslims, and I saw many Muslims kill Christians as well. And I thought that this would be my life. That I would kill Muslims, until finally, one day, a Muslim would kill me. But then I fell in love with Gulsum, who was unlike any Muslim I had ever seen on a battlefield. And my love for her...much like the love my brother had for the Lady Matilda...knows no boundaries, observes no religious divisions, sees no end.

"If there is one good Muslim...why can't there be two? Or three? Or hundreds? Perhaps...perhaps we need only see them outside the battlefield...see them daily, throughout our towns, to see that they are not so different from us. To see that their needs, their desires, their hopes and prayers are not so unlike our own.

"And that is why I believe we can...and should...build a new world, right here in Guines. We will rebuild the farms, rebuild the towns, rebuild the Castle. We will return to prosperity, and we will do it with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

"We will do it for my brother Osbern. For he believed that the people of Guines could do anything. And it is my pledge...for as long as I live...to show the world that my brother was right."


And with that, Robert de Guines raised a glass of wine as a silent toast to his fallen brother, downing the drink in one motion.


And then he collapsed to the ground.



In the commotion that followed...as the people ran towards the dead Count Robert...


...nobody noticed as one woman snuck out of the church.
 
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Wow, murdered in church, during a funeral! :wacko: Them Counts de Guines sure follow up quickly sometimes. :D
 
I think someone doesn't believe in love :D

The first time I read it, I thought it said: We will rebuild the farms, rebuild the towns, rebuild the cattle.
I was laughing even when I realised my mistake.

I have a sneaky suspicion about the mysterious murderess. :cool:
 
...wait for it...

NOW!

SHE WILL KILL THEM ALL!

:D

Nice to see secularism flourishing in 11th century France...with just a few flaps of a mechanical butterfly's wing...and a few dozen dead bodies!

Onwards! To the FUTURE!
TheExecuter
 
And thus beginith our series of flashbacks! I am proud to announce that our very own Slinky Bear ( :rofl: ) has stepped up once again, to provide a series of flashbacks for none other than one Monsieur Juvenal Quentis!

Speaking of...my one regret in this AAR is that I revealed Juneval's identity way too early. I wish there had been this unexplained black marshal throughout the story, only to reveal at the perfect moment, "It's a time traveller!"

Whoops.

Oh well. Maybe next time.
 
Enewald: EXCELLENT question! I was wondering how long it would take people to realize we had just plum run out of male de Guines'...in fact, there aren't any female ones either (by blood)...although, for that matter, there never were. :rofl:

BUT!

My unspoken pledge to you is that there will "never" be a country cousin. That would be boring.

So I always make sure my inheritance laws ensure one of the characters we already know will become count.

But...who could "that" be?

You'll have to stay tuned to find out! Hehe. First the flashbacks, then we'll get a peak at the next count in a (hopefully) humorous snippit of what our next chapter will be about, and then...finally...we get to go to the future!
 
FLASHBACK TIME!

Lots of Times - Lots of Places

Matilda is fourteen years old, and has just been asked to dance by the cousin she once tried to kill.

She looks up into Osbern's eyes, shining as light reflects from the dozens of torches illuminating the night, and accepts his hand. He leads her onto the square, where the minstrels play as the young count and his childhood friend become lost in each other's movements...every step a ritual, yet with every step, a hidden message.

"What did you think of the wedding?" asks Osbern as the song comes to an end.

"Magical," Matilda whispers.

Osbern nods, and then smiles. "Then...would you like another one?"

"Yes," replies Matilda, positioning herself for a second dance.

"No...I meant...would you like another wedding?"

Matilda takes a step back, her eyes wide. "...Osbern..."

"Matilda le Blount...will you marry me?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matilda is ten years old, and her tears only increase her rage.

Once again, she re-reads the note in her hand...the one she found this morning laying on the floor, presumably slipped under the door as she slept. Is it possible that she is misreading it somehow? Is her Latin not, in fact, the best in all of France?

No...there can be no denying it. The message is simple. The betrayal, overwhelming.

"Osbern poisoned your father."

She can not go to the guards. They will not believe a ten-year-old girl.

But...they also will not fear her.


Then there is only one thing to do.

She heads to the kitchen to find as many weapons as she can carry.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matilda is six years old, and she is trying to play "Princess Annie," but Osbern keeps doing it wrong.

"You keep doing it wrong."

"It's a dumb game, Matilda."

"No it's not! It's fun! You're the evil count, and you lock me, the poor princess Annie away. Then I trick you and escape and lock you in a dungeon!"

"But...I know you're going to try to trick me. I just won't fall for it."

"But you have to! That's the way it happened!"

"That's just a stupid fairy tale. Uncle Baldwin hit his head and got crazy, and my dad had to put him in jail so he wouldn't hurt anyone. Aunt Annelies had nothing to do with it."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Aunt Annie had everything to do with it! The evil count thought she was a witch and was going to kill everybody, but she tricked him and escaped and lived happily ever after."

"You're just a dumb girl."

"Nope. I'm an evil witch!" Matilda cackles, "And I'm going to kill everybody!"

"Not if you can't catch me first!" shouts Osbern as he takes off running for the castle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matilda is just three years old, and she is quickly learning that she doesn't know how to swim.

The cold water washes over her face once again, as the river rages faster than she's ever seen it before.

Where is he? Where is the blanket?

She continues to tumble out of control, her leg slams into a sharp rock, she starts to cry as she cilngs to the rock with all of her tiny body's might.

She is still clinging to the rock when she finally hears a voice calling her name.

"Aunt Annie! Aunt Annie! I'm over here!"

Annelies comes running over and sees her niece hanging on for dear life. Without a word, she kicks off her shoes and dives into the water, ruining her dress, and quickly raises Matilda over her head and carries the child to safety.

"What happened?" Annelies asks Matilda. "Where is the baby?"

"Oh, Aunt Annie," Matilda begins to sob...

..."I killed baby Ambroos."
 
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Hehe. They're flashbacks...and that specific flashback takes place the day OF the collapse of the castle. The fort wasn't built yet.

And why would a guard fear a ten-year-old girl? Especially one who is part of the royal family? :D

BTW, for anyone who read the teaser, I've editted it with more flashbacks. Enjoy!
 
To my shame I realised I forgot to comment on your latest update. They are great additions to the story. Not only do they explain some events, but they also add a little twist :D
 
NO! You just don't kill a character with a name as awesome as Osbern, you just don't!

The killing off of the characters would have been worrying, if not for the fact that it's been like this forever. :p I have no clue who will be the next count though, although I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Juvenal Quintis making an unexpected performance. :D
 
Glad you guys enjoyed it! I've been crazy busy at work, and I started a new charity which is keeping me crazy busy when I'm not at work too...

...but I have written most of Gulsum and Robert's flashbacks, and I'll try to post them by the end of today!