House de Orleans
Leader:Henri
Kings Guard
Leader:Neo
House de Brittany
Leader:Moodoo
-
Awaiting more Houses
-
Awaiting more Houses
-
| | 
| | 
''In 1187, the Sultan of Egypt, Salah-al-Din, otherwise known as Saladin, was looking to reclaim territories that his ancestors almost a hundred years back had lost during the First Crusade, where Christian forces urged by the Pope, Urban II, went to capture the Holy Land, including the city of Jerusalem. This city was important for both religions. For Christianity, it was where Jesus was crucified and killed by the Romans. For Islam, it is the acension of the prophet Muhammed to heaven. Which is why Saladin, in 1187, fought to recapture the Holy Land from the "Infidels" and he decisvely defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin, which was the beginning of the end of Christian hold on Jerusalem. The Sultan later captured the city in a siege and pushed the Crusaders to their strongholds such as Tyre and Krak Des Chevaliers, the latter a mighty castle, unlike any other in the Medieval world.
In light of this "invasion" on the Holy Land, the new Pope, Gregory VIII, called for a Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem in 1187, after hearing of the defeat at Hattin. The King of England, Henry II, and the King of France, Philippe II, declared a truce to lead a Crusade against Saladin. Frederick Barbarossa also responded to the call to arms, and led a massive German Crusading force to the Holy Land, through the Byzantine Empire, but Barbarossa drowned in the Saleph River, modern day Göksu river. Being impatient, he had decided to walk his horse through the river instead of crossing the bridge that had been too crowded with troops. The current was too strong for the horse to handle, and his suit armor was too heavy for him to swim in: both were swept away and drowned. Some of Frederick's men put him in a barrel of vinegar to preserve his body.
With Frederick's death, the Holy Roman Empire crusade broke up. Meanwhile, back in Europe, Henry II died and was succeded by his son, Richard the Lionheart and, although he disliked Philippe bitterely, they agreed to work together to capture Jerusalem and the Holy Land. However, while Philippe had sailed away to besiege Acre, Richard's fleet got seperated in a storm, half of his fleet trapped with him near Rhodes, the other half containing his new wife, Berengaria, and his sister, Joanna, near Cyprus, led by the power-hungry Issac Komnenos. Richard regrouped his fleet at Cyprus and fought a short war with Isaac to control Cyprus. Richard emerged victorious and took Isaac's young sister, Anna, as an honoured hostage. During Richard's war in Cyprus, Philippe demanded that Richard come to Acre, but Richard ignored him, making the relationship between them grow worse.
Richard did, evantually come to Acre and together with Philippe, captured the city of Acre. It was here that they was an arguement, and Philippe lost this arguement with Richard. It was about how the city of Acre should be divided. Philippe wanted French Crusaders to control most of the city, but Richard disagreed, saying that the English should have most of it because they had captured the city. So Philippe sailed away with most of his French Crusaders. Some decided to stay and fight with Richard. Yet Jerusalem was far away, many battles would be fought to decide the fate of the Holy Land.''
Chapter One
Spoiler 'It is the year of our Lord, 1189 Anno Domini. Henri de Orleans, the leader of the French Crusader Forces had landed at Messinia in Sicily first, bringing with him mean such as Earl Elbane. The Italian Christian Order also arrived with Henri and they were in the keep of the castle at Messinia, waiting for their final guest. Later on during the day, he arrived, mounted on a magnificent white horse, his long blond hair flying in the air, wearing a blue coat. This was Richard, son of Henry II of England, known far and wide as the Lionheart. Riding beside him was his queen, Berengaria, wearing a leather dress. The guards of the castle cheered as Richard rode at the head of the Angevin Crusaders and Richard ordered all his men to leave their horses in the courtyard, as the horses would be tended to by the French guards. Richard and Berengaria walked to a big room, where a rectangular table was, filled with food and wine. There were three thrones, one was clearly left for Richard. The other thrones were for Archduke Henri and the Head of the Italian Order of Knights. The king and queen of the Angevin Empire came forward and sat down. Meister Sibrand, the leader of the Teutonic Order, commanded Richard's bodyguard alongside Andre, Richard's Cousin. Earl Robert of Leicester acted as the King's scribe on this occasion and Bishop Hubert was the queen's protector and the king's right hand man until they reached the Holy Land when they would meet with Guy de Lusignan, the King of Jerusalem. Henri greeted Richard and the king returned it and so together they said the Lord's prayer. They later discussed what banner to fight under, and if they planned to stay together. Richard and Henri agreed instantly but the Italian Order did not agree and they were disagreements, yet they agreed later to fight together but the Italians, Richard thought, could not be trusted.
Then came the decision about which route to take. Henri thought about going to Tunisia, but Richard disagreed, saying it would be better to take the route through the Byzantine lands, also stating that if the Crusades did not aggrevate the Byzantines, they should not face any trouble. Henri later agreed, before he left to talk with the merchants about the equipment for the French forces. Henri decided to purchase Gear Level 2 armour for 7500 gold. Richard came, with Berengaria, to talk with the Quartermaster about the supplies, which Henri bought 2.5 tons of supplies at 2500 gold, thus spending all the money he had brought with him to this meeting.
Richard went to inspect the equipment of the French army before bringing the merchant into a church and they discussed about the gear level for the Angevins. Richard wanted Gear Level 3 Armour, which was priced at 12000 gold by the merchant. Richard's first offer was 8000 gold. The merchant tried 11000 gold, so Richard said 9000 gold. The merchant then offered 10000 gold, Richard though said 9500. The Merchant said he was not going to drop it further then 9750. Richard, however, said he was not going to spend more then 9500 gold and said if the merchant refused this offer, he would be excommunicated by the pope. There was then, an arguement, and the merchant fled. The King ordered his men to arrest the merchant before he could escape, and dragged before the king, he agreed to a deal of 9500 gold. The Angevins were satisfied. The men did some sword and crossbow training in the arena, ready for the fight that was to come. So the Crusaders began their march. Towards Byzantine Lands.'' Chapter Two
Spoiler ''The Crusaders had marched long and hard to Hungarian lands, the last Christian kingdom before the Byzantine Empire. It was here that Archduke Henri and King Richard sought to try and gain more supplies for their army. As always, Henri was the first to come, followed by King Richard, riding with Sybilla, the Queen of Jerusalem and Bishop Hubert and Philip, as well as Meister Sibrand of the Teutonic Order. Riding on magnificent white coursers, they entered the keep and were met by rather rough Hungarian guards, but Richard ignored them and they proceeded forward to the table. Richard introduced Sybilla to the rest of the nobles and so the second meeting of the Crusade began. The meeting began well, but it did not last. It began to turn sour when Yvenne, Lady of Croatia entered, and Richard, hearing the situation within Hungary and Croatia, decided to have a private meeting with the lady, yet the King of Hungary refused and Richard had had the final straw. He ordered his men around him and he marched to the prison cell where Yvenne's husband was. With the Croatian Duke freed, the Hungarian King was outraged. Richard, however, carved a path and ordered the Croatian Duke away. But the Hungarian King was disgraced and he demanded a duel. Meeting sword on sword with the Ordre's Master, Korac, the King's champion defeated Korac, but fortunately, Korac was only wounded. So the Crusades, having lost the duel with the Hungarians, Richard was forced to have another meeting with Henri and the Hungarian King. However, Richard left through the meeting and so he talked privately with the Croatian Lord and so, both the English and the Croatians declared war on the Hungarians. With no other choice, the French and the Ordre followed suit. The battle would be great, and tough, but the Crusaders would have to win. With Archduke Henri running away with Lynette, the Hungarian Princess, the Hungarian King is more desperate then ever for a victory. And so the battle will be fought and it will be a fight. For the existance of the Second Crusade.'' Chapter Two:Battle
Blood on the Banks
Spoiler ''A cold chill woke up the soldiers of the Crusader force. The sun was glinting over the hills far away. Men were grabbing their daily supply of food, which was not much then water. They followed up by suiting up, ordering their respected squires to fastenen the mail onto them and then helped to place the surcoats over it. By now, the chill had been replaced by warmth, as the sun began to spread its rays down onto the battlefield. From the command tent, Grand Master Kadoc and Archduke Henri appeared, all suited up and ready. They had their swords sheathed, their great helmets strapped and ready and their minds set for a bloody fight to come. Yet the main commander, Richard, King of England, remained in the command tent, alongside his queen, Berengaria. Although pleading with her to stay in the tent, Berengaria would not be so meakly convinced and said that if she remained with him, God would allow the married couple to flourish and to give a glorious victory to the Crusaders, so Richard accepted. He knew though, the responsibility was great. He had dragged the Crusaders into this so-called mess, by not only insulting the Hungarian King, but also rescuing and allying with a prisoner being held their, a duke of the King of Croatia. So now, he led a coalition force, led by Angevin and French Crusaders against the Kingdom of Hungary, knowing if he lost, the Pope would put all blame on him and history would remember him a failure, and he, by God, did not want to be remembered like that. He wanted to build a legacy and a name that would last forever. So he, one last time, checked his sword, smiling as it was in a perfect condition, and then, went out of the command tent, to the cheers of the Crusaders and Richard smiled once more. Perhaps he could gain a victory here, despite the almost impossible odds. Leading his men outside of the castle, he ordered the Crusader army to be split in two: half to be a mix of Angevins and French commanded by King Richard himself, the other half containing the rest of the coalition commanded by Grand Master Kadoc. The three banners were placed: the highest of them all being the royal lion of England, Richard's standard. Across the field was a river, occupied by Hungarian defenders, who were busy building a palisade to resist the Crusader attacks. Across the river itself was the rest of the Hungarian army, commanded by its King, Ladislaus, the man Richard had insulted. He had his face hard set on vengenance, for he wanted nothing more then for Richard to pay for his insolence. Ladislaus eyed over the river, seeing Richard, he was guessing anyway, speaking to his men, and hearing the cry of the Crusaders. Richard smiled in reaction to this cry, as he shouted the ending of his speech. With his troops now encouraged, he began an attack, aiming right for the centre of the Hungarian defence, where it was strongest. Then came the rain of arrows, the deadly arrows. They fired volley after volley, using the palisade to provide cover from the Crusaders returning fire. Richard, though, had occupied his side of the bank. Now he needed to cross the river, and it was deep, very deep. However, the non-stop rain of arrows forced Richard to make an attack. The river seemed to stop flowing when Richard led in person the Crusaders to cross the bank and attack. A Hungarian infantrymen rushed at Richard, but the King parried the blow, allowing his sword to take the force of it, then had to cancel an attack he was going to make as two arrows thudded into his shield. The attack had turned choatic now, as most medieval battles turned, as men fought for their utter survival, the grunts of the soldiers, the curses from the wounded, the screams of the dying, the bodies of the dead, all scrambeled together to make an unbelievable scene. Many Crusaders had been shot down and by the time they had reached the opposite bank, the Crusaders were too weak to drive forward enough and so perished. Richard and Henri ordered a retreat back to the castle. The first wave of the Crusaders had been repulsed.''
Spoiler ''With the Crusaders reeling from their first assault, Richard knew he had to try and find another way across, and he found it. A much shallower crossing was to the far right flank of the Crusaders current position. The King decided to aim his next attack there. He later got a scout report that the Hungarian soldiers had suffered dysentery, and Richard decided to take the upper hand and use this to his advantage. Praising God, he ordered his men to the shallower crossing. Once again, though, the Hungarians unleashed their volley of arrows but because of the distance, the arrows simply bounced on the Crusaders' shields. They came ever closer to the crossing, still not a movement from the King, except for moving his infantry to the nearby hill. Richard tutted. If he was the Hungarian King, he would have ordered his entire army to follow the Crusaders when they had begun moving at the start, but then, maybe God had granted idiocy to Ladislaus and the Hungarians. He made the sign of the cross, asking God and Christ to support him and his men in battle. Hearing the swosh as his mailed armoured men crossing the river, the bottom half of their surcoats dripping with water onto the grass. Using rocks nearby the crossing, the Crusaders ducked down, but Richard rode on his hunter, shouting encouragement to his troops before shouting the warcry of the English crown: Dex Aie! The Crusaders charged uphill into the Hungarians infantry and both sides met in a cloud of blood. The Crusaders urging forward, using their numbers and discipline to charge through deep into the enemies' ranks. Richard rode on his mount and charged for some Hungarian archers without infantry support. Swinging his sword, his timing was perfect, as Richard's sword chopped the head off his man, and the head rolled effortlessly down the hill. Meanwhile, Berengaria ordered the Crusaders on foot forward and then once it was sorted to listen to the King's order to regroup on a grave on the hill. The Hungarians had been decimated but the King had fled towards his castle. For a stand against the Crusaders.''
Spoiler ''The Crusaders celebrated and thanked God for their victory as they now had secured the hill, yet the massive castle of the King of Hungary remained. It was a formidable castle, with sharpened stakes on its flanks to deter enemy cavalry from getting a true look at the scene and to scout the area. Richard ordered engineers to start building palisades to defend the crossbows from the arrows of the deadly Hungarian archers, and it also gave greater protection to the crossbowmen when they reloaded their slow weapons. The crossbow was designed not to be a fast weapon to reload, but a powerful weapon when the bolt was released and it was sent hurtling towards the enemy ranks. The siege was going well, but the Crusaders were no closer to the getting their now built ladder to the walls. Under a hail of arrows though, the Crusaders had brought the ladder to the walls, but the Crusaders got no further. Shot under a hail of arrows, the Crusaders knew they could not capture the castle, despite how hard Richard wanted to. He ordered a reform at the siege camp but then streaming out of the castle came the Hungarians, doing a tactic known to the medieval world as the Sortie, where the besieged attacked the besiegers. The battle was going to turn more bloodier.
The Hungarians charged, their swords and spears raised in their respective attack positions. Richard ordered his men to stand true and strong and the Hungarians hit the wall hard. Richard saw a man attempt a jump attack, but he was scaled over by his shield and finished off by a rear ranker. The Hungarians had began the fight, though, well, causing panic and shock, but the attack began to halt as it become more tired and more ragged. Richard ducked down from a sword swipe and then lunged forward with his weapon and saw his attack cause a massive gaping hole in the guts of his enemy, the blood pouring down onto the muddy ground. Richard showed no mercy and bashed the dying enemy with his shield, hearing the usual crack as the nose bone was snapped. He smiled. This is what he had gained a name for, this is why he had been called the Lionheart. Yet despite his brave warrior skills, a mix of Hungarian cavalry and archers destroyed most of the Crusader force. Richard ordered a retreat. The Hungarians had thought they had won. They were badly mistaken.''
Spoiler ''Richard gathered Henri and Kadoc for a meeting and told them about one final plan to try and turn the battle to a victory from the jaws of defeat. What he annouced was a bombshell. He suggested that they burned and torched a Hungarian village and to sack it of supplies and to show no mercy to the peasants there. This was truly shocking, as the code of chivalry stated knights could never do such a thing, yet Richard said it was for the good of the Crusade. Henri gulped but understood that despite Richard's barbarousity, he knew that the King was right. He had to set an example of the Hungarians. Henri spoke to the Crusaders, telling them that it may be sinful, but the Pope would smile on their efforts in doing God's duty. Richard then asked the question "How about we kill some cock-sucking Hungarians?" which sparked a hail of cries, hailing King Richard and shouting their warcries. The Crusaders were ordered then to advance and they came rushing to the village with Hungarian cavalry, seeing their intentions, rode to stop the Crusaders, yet nothing would stop the fury of King Richard. He charged straight into the village centre. The village was burning bright, the flames making a crackling sound as they set alight the wooden structure of the poor village. A women screamed as her house became flamed, before being cut down by a Crusader, the sword slash causing a massive gap in her head and back to appear, the blood trickling down her skin to the ground. The Crusader took another torch and threw it high into the thatched roof of the next house. He also saw multiple other dark people doing the same and he smiled as he kicked down the door and saw a man with a wine jar in his hand, ready to chuck at his opponent, but the swordsman simply ducked down to avoid the wine jar, the contents spilling onto the grass and the structure itself shattering on impact, then proceeded to thrust his sword deep into his enemy’s stomach, twisting the sword then releasing it and letting the man fall down to his dead. Richard too had a torch, burning away the crops of the fields, while some of his men held off the Hungarians looking to save their village, then unsheathing his sword and slashing at a peasant approaching with a pitchfork, pushing the weapon high then rushing forward with a burst of energy and slashing at the man with all his strength. The village now had been totally sacked, and the supplies found within it were being escorted back down to the base of the Crusaders. In all, Richard estimated about ten tonnes of supplies had been looted and the honour and dignity of the Hungarian King had been disgraced. Knowing this, Ladislaus tried to parley with Richard, but the King, covered with the blood of many Hungarians, refused and went so far as to demand that Ladislaus kneel before him and swear to give him all his wealth and the rest of his supplies. Of course, as Richard knew, this offer would not be accepted and so Ladislaus rode back to his men, waiting behind the crest of a hill. The King ordered an advance on the Crusaders, and the Hungarians met this and so an all massive last infantry battle emerged. Blood was still to be flowed on this field. Richard charged headlong with his men and was caught in a fercious combat, his banner flying high behind him as he went straight for a gap in the enemies' line. He saw from the corner of his eye an axe heading straight for his head. He blocked this attack with his board shield, hearing the crack of the wood as the axe got lodged in the shield and then Richard burst out, shouting a warcry and he cut down his attacking enemy axeman. The battle was tight and close, but the superiority of the Crusaders prevealed. The Hungarians ran, tail between their legs. Although both sides may claim they won the battle, the fact of the matter remained. No one had won this battle. But Richard's gamble maybe had paid off.''
Spoiler ''Men say that the battle at Hungary forced the Crusaders to try and deal with the situation here, even though they still needed to pass through Byzantine Lines and then engage the Turks before they could reach the Holy Land. So they had to talk to the Croatian King at his main castle. But this Croatian King was not well loved by his subjects and this was the Crusaders' problem. They had spent far too long here, yet they could not proceed to Byzantium without supplies, and the only place they could get it was from Croatia and its King. This King needed to have his coronation done, but the only place he could be crowned is in the cathedral to the south, but that meant the King would need escorted. Richard, Henri and Kadoc drew up a plan on how to protect the King and escort him to the cathedral. Once the plan was agreed upon by the soon-to-be King of Croatia agreed on the plan, and after wine was distrupted around the guests, supplies were purchased by the Crusaders. Henri had been force to leave half way through the meeting, so left Richard in charge, and Richard, using the French money looted from the Hungarian village, purchased 10 tonnes of supplies while Kadoc of the Hospitallers purchased 4 tonnes. With these extra supplies, and with guaranteed support from Sybilla and her famed Knights of Jerusalem, the Crusaders prepared for the battle ahead. To protect a king.''
 Before applying for the army please note Tags are Mandatory as is coming on Teamspeak. |
Show Posts
