The Fifth Crusade (Game Thread)

TheIronRuler

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Ok guys, only a few understand the advisor here -
Mr.Ivebeenframed, and... well, that's it. You decide what to do with this information, friend.


The travel wore down the old man, but Alexander knew he had to endure till he had reached Cairo. He had a mission to perform, and even if the crusade had failed he could still follow through if this rag-tag team of the remnants of the armies of Christendom could protect him competently. He knew they would have some trouble getting into Cairo and navigating the city, and now with the Bedouin lost, he had lost his guide.

"Mameluke-", the advisor began speaking in a high level of Arabic, one only a few Europeans understand, "-I am to acquire your skills of navigation. A quarter loaf of gold if you bring me and the others to Cairo. We wish to surrender, and if you will, submit to the wish of Allah. May he be blessed. I came to meet a scholar friend of mine and settle in the city, the crusade had only been a means to walk the war-torn land to Cairo. Freed slave, I ask of you to accompany us through the gates. We will repeat the Shahada in time, I give you my word". Even though he knew more lies will get him in trouble, he knew there was no other way to enter Cairo in this situation. He would have to lie to his war party further.
 

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Ryan hears the advisor speaking and walks back to the group.
He slips his knife back into its spot.
He says to Adrien in venetian "Did you understand him?"
 

Mr.Ivebeenframed

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Guillermo's ear perked up when the advisor spoke to the Mameluke in a higher Arabic. He was able to understand what the advisor said but what he said concerned him a bit. Guillermo was concerned that for the most part that the group wouldn't act very kindly to information that isn't so widely disclosed. It would spread distrust among their already diminished ranks.

He thought about going up to the advisor and asking if that was such a good idea. Guillermo began to hobble to him until he heard Ryan asking Adrien about what the advisor said. He needed to make sure they were all one page and at least diminish the amount of questions in their heads. Guillermo went up to Ryan.

"He's negotiating the Mameluke's help to get us to where we need to be. The Mameluke knows this land better than us and I can only pray that he accept the offer. We must accept his help even if it means swallowing our pride."
 

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Ryan mulls it over for a moment in his head, having already distrusted the Advisor for lying in the first place.
Ryan says to Guillermo in venetian "That makes sense."
He goes back to fiddling with his blade.
 

Redryhno

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"What is your name, sir? If I may ask."

"I am Khaled Massri, protector of his late Sultan as-Salih Ayy....and traitor to his death."

"Mameluk"
He replies in kind,
"I go to Cairo as well, Christian. What do you need of one such as me? You are not of Allah's faith, yet you know of the shahada, I will guide you. Allah has sent me to you, to teach you his word, I know not, but he wishes me to help you. Otherwise we would have never met."
 

RaNDM G

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Adrien takes Guillermo by the shoulder and whispers to him.

[sub]"He is leading us to Cairo, is he not? We will be slaughtered before we even reach the gates!"[/sub]
 

Mr.Ivebeenframed

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"[sub]The Mameluke knows a way but it'll cost the adviser a handsome some of money from what I gather.[/sub]" Guillermo whispered back to Adrien, knowing full well what he thinks the adviser said to the Mameluke.

He listened on and heard the man's name for the first time. But Guillermo was especially glad to hear that the Mameluke would help the group get into Cairo and help them along their journey. It relieved him and made him wish more men were like the Mameluke.

"The Mameluke has accepted the deal! Thank the Lord almighty!" Guillermo said aloud in Latin so the others could hear him.
 

RaNDM G

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[sub]"May He have mercy on our souls."[/sub]

Adrien mutters under his breath. He offers a Hail Mary and does a quick sign of the cross. He turns away from his comrades and speaks to the rest of the group in French.

"Well, the rest of you lot seem awfully quiet. Not that I expect you to understand what I am saying, but..."
 

Corporal Yakob

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French, Arabic, Latin: it was all foreign to Sir Jacob, who knew barely enough French as it was, let alone these more complex languages. However, the other's body language, whilst tense when the Moslem had approached and begun to talk to a fellow who understood his tongue, showed no sign of open conflict and the knight was able to relax his sword grip, if only a little. For now, it seemed the ragged group was milling about, deciding on their purpose and while being out of the loop made the Englishman very uncomfortable, especially so deep inside enemy territory, there was little he could do but stand and observe, eyes scanning the distance for approaching heathens who may be less talkative.

The robed Christian, whom Jacob had taken for a lordly advisor or scribe and had no idea how such a poorly equipped man could have survived the battle, was hailing the group but again in one of those damnable foreign languages! Then another man, more properly equipped for a Crusade spoke up and this time Jacob was able to catch a few words and reply in broken French.

"I understand little, speak English yes?"

The speaker may have been French but at least he was a honest Christian, at least if the sign of the cross was anything to go by.....
 

Kasten

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Samuel turned to the English speaker and spoke in Flemish "Do you know my language better perhaps?" Samuel walked further into the group, ordering his men to sit down and rest, re-arming and resetting any armor that might have been coming off.

The greenest of them fainted, the second-greenest started tending to him as soon as he was done holding his nausea.
 

TheIronRuler

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We have a group up. Enter the group and talk among yourselves. I'm going to work on a transition post to Cairo.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-fifth-Crusade-RP?created=1&forcewrite=1
 

Corporal Yakob

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A soldier armoured in studded leather and displaying a promiement cross around his neck began speaking to Jacob, talking with the air of a veteran, an impression assisted by the handful of Crusaders following him. Although the scruffy haired man spoke Flemish as a comrade saw to his battered armour, it was close enough to the dialects Jacob had heard whilst fighting in Normandy for him to roughly understand. He responded haltingly, while keeping his guard up-the presence of a Mameluke seemingly in deep conversation with Christians was making him edgy. Who knows what their heathen language could be concealing?

"I speak simple. Your name and position?"
 

Kasten

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Samuel nodded "I am Samuel Kateem, Lieutenant to my late lord, which makes me Commander." Samuel motioned to the others "They are speaking to that Muslim about a deal, he leads us to Cairo for what sounds like a large amount of gold, but I know not why we're going there. Your name, Knight?" Samuel didn't sound hostile, but when he said 'knight' he didn't have the fearful reverence of many others.

He was experienced enough, he said it like he'd say 'commander' or 'general'.

Respectful, but not afraid.
 

Tsurugi

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So the language thing seems to be really bothersome. Some people can't understand any of the languages I speak, so every time I say anything we would have to assume he does not know or someone has translated for him. This is going to become a very annoying part of our posts.

Heinrich abandoned his conversation with the Mameluke, turning toward the others in the group. Some seemed to be switching between languages, attempting to find one they could both speak. Heinrich couldn't understand any of the ones they chose and decided against trying to join that conversation. It was going to be a real hassle working with this group if they did not have a common language. At least the man in fine clothing could translate for them, when he wasn't busy making plans that was.

He had relaxed his grip on the sword once the Mameluke had responded, deciding the man had enough honor to trust him for the time being. The Mameluke was still an enemy soldier however, and Sir Haugwitz was going to keep his eyes on him because of this.

They had been travelling together for a little while now, but they hadn't really had time to get to know each other much. For the first time Heinrich looked around at each member of the group, trying to assess something about each one. There were a few Knights, some soldiers as well as some Commoners. It would be hard to tell if any of these men had true honor until he was in combat with them, but for now he was satisfied with what he had seen from each of them.
 

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Are we going to be switching to the magically everyone understands eachother or just assume everyone is either being translated or just misunderstood?

Ryan watched the Mameluke and Advisor with suspicion before taking another look at his group and realizing they were still trying to find a common language.

He decided it would be easier to trust the mameluke than to trust the Advisor who had already lied to him twice about the purpose of the warparty... Mamelukes had honour and that was enough for Ryan to trust him.

The language situation was more pertinent however...
 

TheIronRuler

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After the Mameluke's somewhat reluctant consent to the deal the advisor had offered him he took point and led the group towards the city. The advisor feared getting into the city would be troublesome if it weren't with the company of a massive crusading army on their victory march, but now he hoped he could enter the city and retrieve the scrolls.

He had called the others to follow him, each in their own tongue. He said that to avoid local patrols and any combat they should follow the Mameluke and enter the city of Cairo where they would meet one of the advisor's old colleague and friend able to find them a boat they could use to traverse the Nile with and later enter the Mediterranean.

The boiling noon sun scorched the sand the crusaders walked on, but luckily for them they were about to hit solid rock as the neared the city. The edges of the city walls could be seen from a distant as the company approached the outskirts of the outer walls, with small farmlands using the channels and the waters of the Nile to water their crops. Farm animals roamed the land in small patches of dirt and some farmers stared as the group of beaten crusaders made their way to Cairo, accompanied by a fully armored Mameluke.

They went through the farmlands relatively safely with the occasional stone being thrown at them and th y stopped before the one of the side gatews of the city. In front of them was a gathering of beggars sitting at the entrance begging for a Zakat, while bored guards stopped caravans and carried tolls or checked suspicious travelers for contraband. The Mameluke and the advisor on horseback approached the guards at the entrance as they raised their spears and prepared to finish the crusaders off. They were simple militia, wearing some leather vests, an iron cap and gauntlets and carrying a spear. More than a few archers became aware of the group and began to address their firing holes, each preparing to draw their bow and aim at the Christians. The walls were massive and contained many notches near the gate, a place from where archers could fire their bows. The walls themselves had enough room to go through and even had some quarters for soldiers and working girls.



The Mameluke stopped and hailed the guards. "I bring prisoners of war. This one wants to convert to the true faith, and he requires an Imam to witness his speech. The others had escaped the Christian army and wish to join our faith as well. Let us pass, I will see to their conversion today". The soldiers at the gates laughed and shouted a few words up to the archers. The advisor left his horse behind at the gates but didn?t pay the man for keeping it safe. He knew he wouldn't need a horse where he would come to.

Entering through the side gate, the others could witness the glory of the city of Cairo. In the distance was the upper echelon of the city, where some of the market made its profits and the government buildings made their place. A great mosque was atop all of the others, intimidating them for a moment before moving on. They walked through the streets and followed the Mameluke as he made his way towards one of the smaller mosques in the city.

"Mameluke, me and my company would like to clean and cleanse ourselves before we say the shahada and declare our loyalty. Would you kindly show us a place of lodging where we could prepare for a day before we enter Islam?", the advisor asked the Arab as he waddled forward and breathed heavily, clearly tired and worn out from the journey. The Arab agreed and soon enough they ended up in a fancy looking inn where they could stay for the night. The place was on one of the main street and usually served travelling merchants, so they were surprised to see armed men with crosses on their clothes. After the local militia arrived the Mameluke sorted out all of the problems and the men were admitted to their rooms. Each room accommodated for three people, and the advisor did his best to group up the men according to their speech. He knew the time for action is nigh, and that the robbery would commence later tonight. For now, he supposed, the others could spend some time in their rooms. He would have to tell them the truth this time, well, only part of it, so they will help him find the scroll and leave Cairo.
 

Kasten

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Samuel laid on his bed, looking over to the Knight whom he learned to speak to "Life good in your land?"

Samuel spoke as slowly and simply as he could while he took his blades off and set them down, going to get a rag and small cup of water, then going over to start cleaning and maintaining his weapons, the crossbow laid on his bed for when he'd finished his sword and dagger
 

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Ryan was beginning to trust Adrien, so he had lodged in the same room as him...

He began checking his armour and bow, his armour was relatively fine other than requiring cleaning, his bow was fine, his dagger was fine, he however realized he that he had used half of his arrows in the siege and would require more if he engaged in combat...

He realized he wouldnt have any time to read his book in the company of men he had only met, Inquisition is always a threat... The memories of his family being tortured echoed in his mind as he thought of present company.

He mentally began plotting an escape route out of the city (based on the way in, as well as knowledge of basic city planning)... incase the advisor or mameluke betrayed them to the muslims.
 

RaNDM G

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Adrien is lying down on his cot, staring back into his helmet. He seems transfixed on the polished metal surface, analyzing every scratch he finds for several minutes. This seems to go on for nearly an hour, the silence of which unsettles everyone else in the room.

Adrien spooks the others with his voice.

"What are we even doing here?"
 

Corporal Yakob

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This Samuel fellow must certainly be a veteran: any other person of common birth would never have addressed a nobleman without proper awe. In spite of that, Jacob was pleased to able to understand someone, if only barely, and in doing so, understand his precarious situation. From what he could gather, the group was heading to Cairo for a unspecified purpose-mysterious and quite probably dangerous but preferable to staying anywhere near a heathen army drunk on victory. With no other real options, Jacob trudged along with the rest of the party, gradually gaining a better command of his talking companion's language.

Having already known of their destination, it was easy enough for Jacob to play along with whatever scheme their guide had in mind when they approached the city's guards. There was no demand for weapons to be turned over so they weren't pretending to be prisoners. Perhaps they were masquerading as deserters who had embraced a new faith? Whatever the case, the knight felt it prudent to go along with the deception: a bow here, a prayer there and he would surely soon find a way to escape Cairo and back to Christendom!

For now, plans of escape and holy revenge would have to wait as the Englishman found himself bunked in a relatively opulent inn room with the soldier Samuel. As he sat his weary self down and attended to his equipment the soldier opened a conversation with him.

"Yes, life is good in England. Plentiful food and drink and lords who seek soldiers."

He thought to himself as he watched Samuel return with a cup of water.

"Yet our King is weak. He does not fight as strongly as he should against the French and it costs us....."