The Fifth Crusade (Game Thread)

Kasten

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Samuel shrugged "Fighting uses lots of resources. Maybe you're not quite plentiful enough to support a full war? I'm born and raised Flemish. Though I haven't spent as much time at home with my lovely wife as I'd like. My old Lord battled frequently. Delivering news of his death to his son will be difficult, but expected." Samuel finished inspecting his blades and scale gauntlet, and moved on to tending to his crossbow "Anyway, if the King does not fight, do the Lords simple bow to him? Could they not simply amass their own private forces and resist to defend their lands?" Samuel spoke thoughtfully. Apparently he was actually thinking about the situation tactically.

His thoughts were fairly simple, he recognized that they were stuck here, so he might as well not labor to ignore simple facts. Besides, he wanted to know more about this Knight, if he was going to share a room with him.
 

Corporal Yakob

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The knight shook his head, trying to find comfort on his simple bed.

"It is not men or coin our King lacks, but will. He does not press the French hard enough and they take advantage of his womanly nature. My father fought long and hard for the soft-sword and all he earned was injury and defeat. Lords and barons bow before the King for now but it won't be long before he loses us all of Normandy."

Jacob all but spat the last sentence out, surprising himself with his bitter tone. Dwelling on weakling monarchs in far-off countries would not do however, better to learn more of the present. And his present companion seemed amiable enough.

"That is why I joined this Crusade: to fight with purpose. What of you?"
 

Kasten

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Samuel frowned "I'm a soldier, my Lord wanted me to command his army, so I did. I've served my Lord's family for most of my life, under God and country. My men and my Lord have been my life, and my life is that of a soldier. I fight. I fight well. God willing, I fight well enough to eventually retire. I have no story of revenge, no passionate goal, I just want to fight, and be rewarded well enough to make a good living for my beautiful wife, my most loyal of friends, and the children I and he might have. I miss dancing in my hometown, the harvest festivals, the mornings of waking up with my wife in my arms, you see. My lord is dead, but I am not, and so I will carry out my duty, and then return home until called again by God." Samuel seemed confused by the question "Like I said, I'm a soldier. Just a man with a good fight in me." Samuel started adjusting his crossbow

"Let me tell you something, young Knight, you will tire of fighting eventually and most probably find love. Never let it go. Never leave it. Life is empty without devotion to yourself second only to God. If you can't be devout to bettering yourself, you cannot be devout to anything."

Comparing our character's backstory, I figured Samuel would probably be older. If you want me to change it, I will. Also, he might seem irreverent, but he's much more humble to his Lord, Jacob to him is just some English knight he just met. Also, he's of a fairly high position in his Lord's army, so his rank is to be taken into account in his level of respect to the knight.
 

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Ryan looked over to Adrien and said in Venetian "I have no idea why were here."

He thought to himself for a moment and said "I still don't trust him, he's mislead us once already."

"I could swear it feels like he's selling us to the muslims..."

He took out his dagger and a whetstone and began to sharpen it.
 

RaNDM G

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"... No. They would not want us as slaves, they would kill us first..."

Adrien looks back at his helmet.

"My time is short either way."
 

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"... I didn't mean as slaves, I'm guessing there's a bounty of some kind on crusaders who escaped... It's how we deal with the companies that step out of bounds. Bounties are placed on them and we execute any who are captured systematically... It's the only way to keep the church from attacking us at times."

"Slaves of the muslims..." he trailed into thought as he muttered it. He began to trail back into his hatred of the inquisition.

"It appears to me that we have plenty of time compared to the men who didn't escape, though..." he said as his mind stabilized again.
 

RaNDM G

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A bounty hunter. Fantastic. I may as well slit my throat here and now.

Adrien sighs. This is not the kind of news he had wanted to hear.

"There must be something he wants. Whatever it is, I have no idea. But it must be valuable enough to risk coming here."
 

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"I have absolutely no clue why he'd drag us into a muslim city that's probably being prepared for war as we speak..."
"All i'm saying is that we should be on our guards when dealing with him."
He finishes sharpening his blade.
Ryan thinks about what he was just saying and mutters under his breath "Assassin?"
He sits there for a minute with a look on his face that would suggest he is having some form of profound thought...
 

VonKlaw

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Falk picked one of the smallest rooms - he had never been particularly obsessed with luxury. Leaning his weapons and shield against the wall, he sat on one of the beds and took off his chainmail vest and steel cap.

He cursed himself quietly under his breath, wishing he'd bothered to bring a weapon that was slightly more subtle. He was fairly proficient with a dagger when he needed to be - Lord Hest often needed him to appear relatively harmless when he'd protected him at meetings - but he'd assumed he wouldn't need it. Leaning against the wall, he took a moment to collect his thoughts, but the memory of what had happened before he'd ended up with the guide remained foggy.

The door opened.
 

Tsurugi

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Heinrich had not had any time to talk with anyone from the group by the time they had arrived in Cairo. Being relatively unaware of a plan that was being formed around him, was not exactly to Heinrich's liking. They had passed through the gates with little trouble, but what the Mamaluke and Noble had said to the guards Heinrich did not know. He didn't like it either, why did they let a group of fully armed Christians guided by one Mameluke pass into the city?

This smelled of betrayal from the Nobleman and Heinrich didn't trust him. Little had been explained to the group, or at least him, on why exactly they had come to Cairo. Perhaps the man meant to sell them to the Muslims, perhaps that is why the Mameluke had been so willing to guide them to Cairo in the first place. Whatever was happening with this group, Heinrich didn't much like it and he was going to keep his sword very close tonight.

Moving up the stairs of the inn behind the others of the group, he headed toward one of the smaller rooms. Not the one he would have picked originally, seeing as he was used to a life of luxury, but that was where the other Austrian had gone. He figured since so little was known about the group and the Nobleman's plan, he should stick with someone from his own country. If something bad was going to happen, he needed people he could trust by his side.

Opening the door he strode in to the room, spotting the other Austrian sitting on the far bed. "Hello. I am Sir Heinrich Heaugwitz. What is your name Soldier?" He was not being rude, merely being confident with his authority. Moving over to another one of the beds he leaned Ruhm up against it and began removing the heavier pieces of armor. It felt good to be able to speak to someone in his Native Tongue.
 

VonKlaw

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"Hello. I am Sir Heinrich Heaugwitz. What is your name Soldier?"

"Name's Falk Anselm, sir. Pleasure to meet you."

Falk smiled a little. He was glad to have someone he could actually understand in the party, though he was aware noblemen could be somewhat strange when it came to talking to men beneath them.

He checked to make sure nobody was nearby, and whispered across the room.

"Is it just me, or is this all a little strange? This advisor somehow gets us into Cairo, fully armed and armoured with no questions asked. I can't help but feel we're being set up..."
 

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Ryan lies down and says in latin "Nah... wishful thinking."

He tries to sleep but the thought of being captured by muslims kept him awake, so he merely feigned it. How anybody could trust this situation is beyond him... but he was here now, so he might as well try and save these men if the city turns on them.
 

Tsurugi

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"I agree, this all seems a bit suspicious." He paused as one of his pieces of armor gave him trouble. With a sharp tug it finally came off and he let it drop to the bed with a sigh. "Nevertheless, we are in this situation whether we like it or not. We best keep an eye out for trouble though, just in case." He left the lighter armour on just in case, and sat down on the bed.

Reaching in to his pouch he pulled out two wine skins handing one to Falk. "Care for a drink? Just because we have to be careful doesn't mean we can't have a little fun."
 

VonKlaw

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Falk took the drink from Sir Heinrich and thanked him.

"I suppose if we're to be murdered by crazed muslims, I'd rather be a little drunk when it happens." Taking a sip of the drink, he decided to try and make idle conversation to pass the time - it was unlikely he would be getting any sleep in such a precarious situation.

"So, how did you end up in this mess?"
 

Mr.Ivebeenframed

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Guillermo walked into his room where he was led to. It looked comfortable enough and was far better than sleeping on the ground or in a loose tent. He set down his things but most importantly made sure his scrolls were intact. No one would ever know what truly happened back home and it was his job to record everything the late Lord Allierno had done. Then he realized that his roommate was the Mameluke as well or rather sir Khaled Massari. His presence made Guillermo hesitate a bit and watch his movements but from the display of kindness back in the desert, he knew better.

Instead Guillermo sat on his bed and read over his written scrolls prior to arriving in Cairo. He sighed and looked around for a flat surface to write again but it seemed that the room didn't have any tables to begin with. He was told there was a common room on the first floor. He contemplated going there but realized that it may be too dark for him to write. So he looked to the Mameluke for a conversation.

"Why was a man of your stature walking around in the desert like that?"
 

Corporal Yakob

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Love? Harvest festivals? Dancing!?! Good lord is that how the commoners saw their lot in life!?! Jacob thanked God for his good fortune in belonging to the nobility-a life of fighting for a worthy cause and becoming counted amongst the great, honourable and glorious of England was much more appealing to them then any sort of harvest festival. He was careful to keep this to himself however, for although the veteran opposite him spoke with undue bluntness towards a man of superior station, he was also a veteran with a crossbow.

"I thank you for your advice friend but let us move on: why we are here matters not to what we are to do next."

The knight leaned forwards and lowered his voice.

"I do not trust the Moslem who led us to this city-what is he planning, taking armed Christians into one of his own cities?"


Just a quick note: I understand your character is a hardened veteran but he is pushing it slightly-commoners would show proper respect to a nobleman. Plus it would have been extremely rare for someone of common birth to attain a high rank.
 

Kasten

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Samuel nodded "I agree with you entirely on the Moslem, Sir. Might they think we are here in surrender? Or conversion?" Samuel scratched his head. He wasn't educated enough about the Muslim nations to know if there was some cultural cue he was missing, but the ease by which the city was opened just bothered him.

The irreverence is Samuel's lord died recently, the lord he'd served his entire life, from just joining as a young man. He eventually grew a friendship with the man after being a guard in his house for so long. As for the high station, it's because Samuel is one of the oldest living veterans in the forces he was a part of. Most other vets died before getting to Sam's age, otherwise he'd just be another grunt.

Side note, the Captcha is 'Enjoy Life'

Creepy goddamn internet.
 

Tsurugi

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"How did I end up in this mess?" Heinrich took another swig of the liquor, chuckling. "Well you could sort of say I got myself here because of a bad decision. I joined the Crusades for the glory, I am here specifically because I thought the Advisor would rally the troops to fight on." He shifted his position on the uncomfortable bed, eyeing the man across from him. "I can see that I was wrong there. He seems to have a different agenda entirely. Then again I don't think there were many troops left to rally. I can only hope at this point, that whatever I am involved in now with the Advisor will bring as much glory or at least help me keep my honour. How about you, another soldier drug along by your lord? What do you fight for?"
 

VonKlaw

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Falk couldn't help but let a slight grin spread across his face.

"Ah, if only it was my Lord I was following, I probably would not be here now. Unfortunately, he is gravely ill and his son came in his place. He tries, bless him, and I don't like to speak poorly about him to a stranger...no offence...but he lacks the capability that his father surrounds himself in."

He took a swig of the drink.

"I just wish I could remember what happened to him out there."