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AmbassadeBelgie

EVIL DICTATOR!
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The ORDER - (War against Machismo) 2004 - 1425

PROLOGUE
2004
Evening, 25 May

A dark and cloudy night in Quito, when the tropical rains are falling and the ever-recurring tapping of rain beats itself against the windows. Two shadowy figures are visible in a large and unlighted chamber under the ruins of a tall factory-like building. This is “Quito colonial”; the original Quechua city which was later populated by the European invaders; the historically rich, but economically poor side of the city-in-the-valley; the place where the people live not in apartments and huge houses. The day before has seen a riot, and tear-gas is still detectable in the air.

“I’ve found it!!! I have found a way!!!! Thomas! Come look at this!!!”
Ravindranath Bholanath: A tall Guyanan of Hindu descendance. Behind his spectacles is always the hint of his inner intelligence, and his facility in grasping concepts and exploring them. Also a gentleman, respectful towards women, and disgusted by the machismo and sexism that has taken over today’s society. Far from being a feminist, he is definitely annoyed by the fact that girls are turned into sluts by his own gender’s doings. This sad mutation of society he is trying to undo: This man has devoted himself to the science of time-travel. He has been attempting to defeat the paradox that has prevented other scientists from making this science a part of the textbooks. Along with him is his best friend and ally, in the war against what is disrespectful and profiteer, that which has led the world to this.

Falling from the chair in which he was comfortably dozing, the only other being within the vast chamber rushes towards his co-worker in aims:

“What? What is it? Did you finally solve the problem?!”
Thomas Henry: Belgian scientist of European descendance, with the exact same views, aims and ideas as his friend, Ravindranath. Equivalent in height, respectful towards women, atheist but accepting of religion, white but acceptant of race, and respectful of culture. Disgusted by those who make mockery of it, he wishes the Earth to be rid of racists and ultra-extremists, although he is fully conscious this will never happen. Also a gentlemanly character and hopeful of being able to make a change in this world by returning with his friend to a significant chapter of history, and stopping what caused society to so brutally change.

Thomas is now totally bending over Rav’s shoulder, and staring at the tortoise that is crawling over his desk. Upon it is a note, which reads:

FEAR NOT, RAV, ONE DAY TO GO AND YOU WILL HAVE SOLVED IT!
Ravindranath

What does this mean??? This is Rav’s hand-writing, and the tortoise is an experimental one which should be in the cupboard on the other side of the chamber, how d…. It’s STILL THERE!!!!!!

“RAV!!! That tortoise is in the cage, how is it here???”
“I have no idea, but I think I wrote … euh… will write this tomorrow! This must be one of my experiments!”
“Do you know what this is??? This is a breakthrough!!! I’m not tired at all, are you?! Let’s find out how you did this!”



Thus the two immediately start working through the entire night, and the next day, not eating, nor sleeping, they do not even seem to blink!

“Tom! I think I got it!!! Go get the tortoise and grab that shred of paper on the table!”
“Here, what are you going to do?”
“The tortoise was here twice yesterday, right?” “Yes… so?” “My point is, it wasn’t! We were under the illusion that it was! The tortoise was still a single animal with a single life and a single living essence! It cannot be split into two!”
“…then how did it happen?” “The tortoise was here in the cage… Nowhere else! We were seeing into the future by seeing this tortoise! The tortoise had lived to the 26th of May, and we were only the 25th!!!” “So that tortoise was defying the paradox, because it was living in the past! Exactly! I believe it must be a choice of fate or destiny or whatever that made this single time-travel possible! This is the only way the paradox can be avoided, because if it was already sent back in time, then it MUST DEFINITELY have been sent back, and there is only the possibility of yes.” “Yes what?” “Yes it went back in time. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have seen it!” “I see!” “Yes, but do we really see???........”
Silence… Then Rav jokingly nudges Thomas in the ribs, and this little problem is rapidly forgotten.
In ecstasy, Rav scribbles onto the shred of paper that which they had read one day earlier, without a mere memory of it! He then prepares for the final experiment, knowing that it must work:


“So what exactly are we supposed to do to get this done?” “I have no idea, but fate decided, so I guess it’s not up to us then, is it?” “Guess not…”And that was the end of it…

The tortoise is thus sent back in time by being lightly tossed around in a net similar to a G-Force machine used in flight training. The only difference being that it is done underwater, and the tortoise is coated with powdered CCl3F, making its eyes close, its ears block, and its sense of taste and touch disappear. Thus its five senses are totally stopped, making its sense of time twisted. When the strong alkane enters its bloodstream through the lungs, it starts to affect the brain and closes down the nervous system (affecting smell and touch). The amount that is thus in the bloodstream affects the brain and puts the tortoise in a semi-conscious state, and later fully knocks him out.
Somehow, it ends up being done exactly so that the tortoise lives through the day before. Turning around to look for the turtle that appeared the day before, he sees it is no longer there. He would have sworn that they had used the turtle in the cage, not the one on the desk! Now that he thinks about it, how come the turtle isn’t poisoned?!?!? Oh well…mysterious world. The tortoise is where it was before the experiment…But it’s in the bag! Oh, no, in fact the one on the desk isn’t there! Was he dreaming???

“I have NO idea how we did it, but we did it!!!” “I hope we don’t get poisoned or something when we go through the same, but the turtle seems fine, if not a bit groggy! I fear we may well look like him soon!” “Hope for the best ;-)

Thus, they both find a way to travel back in time, without really having found it. It somehow happened, in a strangely spooky and mysterious way. The next problem is doing the same to them, without actually dying, and without paying attention, hoping fate will decide the year they go back to…

LATER…

Everything is ready; they will probably die of poisoning or suffocation, but who cares? It’s a strangely accepted destiny that has decided for them, and they have no idea how (especially not Thomas, who is an atheist and thus does not believe in supernatural forces and such; he is very surprised and even more confused!).

“Well, here goes!” “Hell! Are we gonna die?” asks Thomas half joking half worried to death… Too late, the spinning starts with their physical bodies and in their minds. They see white; the powder. No, it’s not white, it’s greyish-beige! What, NO! It’s brownish! No! Red! Scarlet! BLA……. <<K.O.>>

______________________________________________________________
The above procedures have not been tested out and have definitely not been proved to work. Attempting the above described experiment in your household may be a danger to you and those surrounding you. It is heavily recommended that you take this for the fiction it is, as if you decide to attempt this, you are doing so at your own risks and I am not to be held liable to damage of possessions or such. You have been warned ;) Enjoy your read...
______________________________________________________________
 
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Nice way to present time travel. I hope our two heroes survive. A technical question: was the chemical the tortoise had supposed to be CHCl3, i.e. chloroform? I don't know what CFCl3 would do, but I guess it would be much like carbon tetrachloride, used in commercial cleaning and thoroughly nasty.

By the way, which country are you playing?
 
It was a great challenge to overcome the famous paradox! At least I overcame it adequately, although as you may have noticed, it makes absolutely no sense (take heed of the message at the bottom!)

I had to choose a famous chemical and one with nasty side-effects, but don't worry, they do survive, you'll see in my next update

The country will be named "The ORDER" and will be founded in my birthtown; Tongeren, in Limburg (which is Brabant province in the game). Check out the history of PROLOGUE II, interestingly, this really hapenned and my monarch was "ANARCHY" [mil 2, admin 1, diplo 1. The military 2 because the country had dictators which kept it stronger than nothing... Out of interest, is 0 possible in a monarchs file? I never dared to try...]

Th :rofl:

_____Later added For Your Interest____
As jwolf was interested and I suppose others are also, I have decided to clear up the little error in my typing CFCl3 instead of CCl3F. I have therefore also added some brief information of side-effects.

For your interest...:D

Trichloro(mono)fluoromethane
aka Trichloromonofluoromethane
aka Fluorotrichloromethane
aka CFC 11
aka R 11
aka CCl3F

° Cl Cl
° \ /
° C
° / \
° F Cl


Is an alkane

Routes of exposure
The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation.

Inhalation risk
On loss of containment this liquid evaporates very quickly displacing the air and causing a serious risk of suffocation when in confined areas.

Effects of short-term exposure
The liquid may cause frostbite. The substance may cause effects on the cardiovascular system and central nervous system, resulting in cardiac disorders and central nervous system depression. Exposure could cause lowering of consciousness. See Notes.

Effects of long-term or repeated exposure
The liquid defats the skin.
--
EXPOSURE
Inhalation === Cardiac arrhythmia. Confusion. Drowsiness. Unconsciousness.
Skin === Dry skin
Eyes === Redness. Pain.
---
Information retrieved from; http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cis/products/icsc/dtasht/_icsc00/icsc0047.htm
--
 
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PROLOGUE II - The noble's recital

Summary of 1419-1425

“Oh, those were horrible times! A terrible period of our history! We were subject to the most horrendous of happenings! Our time was limited, before Burgundy would attack us!

“The reason; Brabant, our humble duchy, was in total and supreme anarchy! King Jan IV of Brabant was already dead, and all that happened was bad. 1st January 1419, all our merchants gathered in Tongeren (our new capital since Brussels was turning into a pile of Burgundian propagandists and poor stupid tramps!). This was in order to keep our trade at an average level, to avoid losing out on Antwerpen’s trade. They made their own underground organization to be able to continue trade freely. They were accepted by the rulers, as they gave a small percentage of revenues to them for permission to cross the borders. Their underground activity however, was the biggest obstacle to overcome in the trade-world. Our merchants never made it to higher than 10% (2/20) of the market!!!

“Thus, our country became poorer and poorer. On the 22nd of February 1420, news came to us of our noble friends in PFALZ. The Palatinat has been annexed by Mainz! My aunt and her children were massacred along with her German husband, a member of the royal family!

“After that, although every single day seemed an ordeal, time now seems to have flown… Burgundy was becoming increasingly aggressive, and was collecting troops in Zeeland and Flandres. Artois was taken over by Auvergne in alliance with France.

“6th December 1422 was a real relief for us! Gelre finally signed peace with Burgundy just as we thought those lousy German Frenchmen were going to attack us! They had been at war since 4th March 1419! They took all the lowlands except for Flandres, which was wonderful for us, as it meant no more Burgundian dangers!!!

01__GEL_conquers_lowlands.jpg

YES!!! The end of Burgundy's rule in our lands!! Whacked to their senses by our brothers!

“Our happy peace was only as a nation, though, and we had to live through 3 dictators between 1420 and 1424, each recurring coup making our country destabilized to the max! Trade took an impact and many lives were stupidly lost! Our country was turning increasingly poorer as these dictators always kept the soldiers’ wages high. 5000 infantry and 1500 cavalry! That was already enough to take over our country, and they weren’t even put to use! Our life was becoming worse and worse… What was happening to our life and land?


“And then……. Then THEY came…”

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AmbassadeBelgie said:
Summary of 1419-1425



“And then……. Then THEY came…”

_______________________________________________________________

Who came??
Another good start! I hope that your savegames don't give up on you.
I will be reading this one for sure!!
 
GREAT START! I am overjoyed to see that FLAAR wasnt beginners luck! Do not worry i am saving on a CD-RW everytime now to avoid FLAARs sad end

More IS TO COME! Do not worry...
I enjoy writing this as much as you do reading it:D

Th :rofl:
 
Chapter I - The Arrival

The Arrival – 1425

3 January 1425

It is 1425, in late medieval Europe. The Lowlands, in fact: Limburg, one of the few remaining duchies that are not under Burgundian rule. Ransacked by anarchy, it is not a pretty sight…

A farm outside the large city of Tongeren. A poor but indifferent farmer is going through his failed crops; this winter was a bad one. He has found nothing but a few dried stalks of wheat that have escaped the cold, only to be crushed by the snow. Horrible sight for him, as he has nothing left to feed himself or his family. His most prized possessions (family heirlooms and such) have been stolen earlier in the first wave of looters. His prize animals have already been eaten by him and his starving family. His fields have become infertile and his old brittle arms are becoming weaker with age…or is it famine? On his way back he passes his empty abandoned barnyard. How can he explain to his wife and sons that they will need to go beg for food in the city – the most dangerous place to be?

*Flash!...Then nothing…………………………………………………Crrrrrrrr!!!!!*

“Ooh, waarom straft Onze Lieve Vrouw ons zo???” [Oh, why does Our Lady punish us so?] *The farmer has his arms towards the sky, complaining in despair on what was earlier his barn house. By now it is now in shambles, and the farmer collapses in tears before his collapsing life.

------

Two figures caught in the dust: The same two figures who will be working in Quito 579 years later. “Thomas! Are you okay?”

No reply. “THOMAS!!!” “Oh GOD!! My contact lenses are covered in this filth!!!! DAMN! Where are we?!” *In his rage, he kicks the dust off his shoes. A beam overhead collapses and makes the places three times dustier. “AAARGH!!!!” He kicks the fallen beam with such force that he trips over another one and falls backwards into the rubble. “Stop fooling around; let’s get out of here before we get crushed!” Rav runs out of the barn, Thomas right behind him. An almost comical sight; an old farmer, around 50 years old, it looks (although he is only 30), collapsed on the ground, languishing in the mud. Both stare at him for around 15 seconds. Behind them, the barn collapses completely.

For the first time, now, the farmer looks up towards his barn. He sees two beings in front of him. “AAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!! Lieve Vrouw die in de hemel over ons kykt! Help ons in nood en laat deze duivelen teruggaan van waar ze kwamen! …” The farmer kneels down rapidly and starts praying in despair and fear, in a slurred voice by which nothing can be comprehended.

Rav and Thomas look at each other questioningly, and see why the farmer reacted like this: They are both covered in the chemical that knocked them out in the first place! On top of this is the dust of crumbling wood and charred remains of the barn’s contents. Under all of that are their clothes, which seem to be out of date by now, seeing the way in which the farmer is dressed. Wait a minute!

“RAV! Does any of this seem strange to you?” Thomas says, turning around himself looking at the view. “Where’s the valley??????” The valley in which Quito is located is not there. Neither are the Andes, or ANY mountain, in fact! Where could they be? Farms as far as they can see! That is, farm FIELDS, and nothing else! “This place reminds me of something,” says Thomas, “but I can’t remember what!” “I never saw such a place! In Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, I have NEVER seen such farms! Where ARE WE?”

“TONGEREN!!!!!!!” The farmer looks up in surprise at the familiar word. “Spreekt gy Nederlansch?” He suddenly says, extremely quickly. Thomas then notices that the farmer is Belgian, and that they are not far from his home-city! He can’t WAIT to return to it, and hopes to find directions to get back very quickly! Then he remembers the farmer’s muttering… This is OLD DUTCH! What year do they find themselves in? He has no idea, but seeing that he can communicate with somebody is a good enough step forward from their situation!

Rav still stares questioningly at his firend, and as Thomas finally notices this, they are both surprised by the farmer who grabs Thomas by the dusty collar and shakes him repeating the same sentence over and over again, in his old Dutch accent: Do you speak Dutch? “Jaja, zeker spreek ik nederlands, maar waar zijn wij eigenlijk?” [Where are we?] The farmer stares at him and tries to comprehend. Finding he cannot make heads or tails of it, he drags Thomas towards his house. Rav follows staring, strangely paralysed by the strange events.

“Maria! Waar zyt gy nu? Wy hebben hier twee gekken die nie tone wat ze hier doen, nie! Waar ZYT GY NU?!” The farmer is exasperated and running through the house, unconscious of the collar he is still holding at arms length with Thomas at the end of it, searching everywhere for his wife. “Wat is er nou?” The infuriated farmer mumbles and mutters another 5 minutes with his wife in a weird ancient dialect of Thomas’s Flemish. While this is happening, Rav and Thomas stand next to each other, watching this crazy scene, and talking without moving their gaze from the arguing couple before them.

“Seems we have a problem, Rav.”
“What is it? I know we’re not in Quito, and I have NO IDEA what these people are saying.”
“Don’t worry, it’s a bit difficult for me to get what they’re saying too. Firstly, though, I gotta tell you what they’re speaking, and especially where we are…”
“WHERE???” “TONGEREN, my birth-city. These people are speaking Dutch, and not an easy form of it for me to understand, believe me!” “So what’s the big deal?” “The thing I only worked out now was that we have succeeded in our mission” Thomas says with a raised ironic eyebrow. “WHATDOESTHISHAVETODOWITHOURMISSION!!!!!!!????????” “We have gone back in time, to before the 1800s, that’s for sure, because they speak a mix of Afrikaans and WWII Dutch.” “What’s Afrikaans?!” “Remember that I told you about my living towo years in South Africa?” “Yeah?...So?” “Afrikaans is Old Dutch, which has not modernised since the Dutch colonists left their homeland and stayed there. THIS, it seems, is a very old version of my birth-city. Either this is a movie production, or we have succeeded. And DAMN it doesn’t look like a movie production to me!”

“DAMN! What now?” Rav says, collapsing down upon a seat. Maria, the farmer’s wife, grabs a broomstick and beats him with it until he gets off and runs out of the barn! Thomas does the same, but 5 metres ahead!

-------------------

They have been walking for five hours now! They are both exhausted and thirsty, but the good side of it is that the snow outside has made it easy for them to get rid of their ghostly appearance which so efficiently scared the farmer and enraged his wife. Soaked and freezing, they see something in the distance; a chariot!!!

“RAV! Look at that! A CHARIOT!! From what it looks like it must be from around the early 1500’s!!!” They both stand in front of the road, hoping to slow down the rapid 2horsepower pile of wood. Nope! Not this time! The chariot slows down enough for them to expect a welcome or something, but all they see is a guard with a pike!!! “Euhm… Rav? Correct the estimate to around 1400, will you?” “Eeuuhhh…..”

“Wat wille jullie? WEG! Den Koninklyken Wacht MOET door, om de KONING naar Tongere te brenge, en die gekke te kalmere! WEG!!!”

“What di….” Rav’s question for clarification is cut short, as the strong guard pushes them both down into an irrigation-gutter out of the way in one swing of his mighty arm. The chariot disappears, and leaves the two even colder in a gutter of an empty field road sitting on cracking ice, threatening to break under their weight.

DAMN! What is this?” “Can you tell me what that nut with the big metal thingy said over there? I’ll KILL HIM!!!” Rav gets up from a bruising fall, Thomas does the same. “Don’t worry, that was the King’s Guard. They were bringing him to Tongeren to calm the people there. Must be a riot or something, and in this age the only way to stop it was by force. I guess this means we’ll have to sit tight and watch! But first, we have to get there, and hopefully find someone who might help us!”
“Oh, God! What IS THIS?” Rav has just mastered with ultimate rapidity and precision the grand skill of walking into cowpats. He is now smelling of the fragrant odour of cow excrement. “Beautiful!” Says Thomas, laughing his head off!

____________
Sorry about the bad OLD Dutch; I had to mix together my Dutch, Afrikaans (Old Dutch still spoken in South Africa), and random words from a 1941 English-Dutch dictionnary :eek:o
P.S. Maybe a bit of a slow start and I should start pacing things a bit, but enjoy!;)
 
My sincerest apologies, I managedto get myself grounded for a week. This weekendI believeI cancontinue the ORDER though..

Th :rofl:
 
Chapter II - The Pure Mess

As promised, here's the update:
-----------
Chapter II – The Pure Mess
-----------------------------------

“Okay, so NOW WHAT???!!!”

“It would all have been okay if you hadn’t tried to stop the coach!”

“So what were YOU gonna do, huh??? Let them run away and let our only chance of understanding any of this slip away???!!!3

“God, man, you blew it!”

“Ya THINK??!!”

*This great argument is unlike what has ever been seen in Tongeren’s municipal prison, and that prison had seen a LOT. Twelve hours before, two mysterious men were found walking exhaustedly along the main road leading to Tongeren. Something was weird about them. Firstly, they had a very funny way of speaking, as if they had turned Dutch and English into a strange language cocktail together with French, and an even wackier way of pronouncing this linguistic mix! Secondly, their clothes made them seem to have come straight from Hell. Short pants they must freeze in, and a funny cloth over their torso, so thin that a blunt knife could break their ribs! These two were obviously strange, and HAD to meet with the king immediately, so that he could decide on their fate. Who knows, they could even be a threat to His Majesty’s rise to power!*

“Jullie tween! Komm nou snell druyt!!! Mit my, jully gecken!” *The guard standing outside the cell containing Thomas and Rav stands up and bursts open the door. Thomas who was leaning against the back of it is utterly crushed against the wall, squeezed into this tiny space as the great big guard lumbers in. “Watt doete gy daar nou? BUYTE!!!!!!” *The brutal guard rips Thomas from the corner in which he was trapped, and drags him and Rav by the T-Shirt collars out of the cell, up the stairs, and out of the prison. Accompanied with God knows how many other guards, the two dare not do anything but obey, however hard that guy is to understand! They are thus carried fifty meters further towards the Stadshuys, and there, are dragged up the stairs leading towards the council chamber.

A solitary figure is sitting there, finishing lunch, it seems, and despite that great bulk of a belly, he seems elusive and incredibly active for his size. He is around 20 cm shorter than Thomas and Rav, but undaunted; the self-appointed King marches towards them in an imperious superior and arrogant manner.


“Watt doen jully in myn ryk? Watt doen jully eigenlyk hier? Wy zyn jully en hoe kunne jully zomarr denke da myn land nie sterck genug is om jully twee zomarr te doen verdwyne?!?!?! SPIOENE!!!!! Antwoordt NU!!!”

*The King is turning red like a tomato, although if he were told this he would ask what a TOMATO would be. He is requesting a relpy to his questions on who these two are and what they do here. Whether they are spies and how they could have been so foolish to enter his land. Thomas quickly tries to bring out the most sensible Old Dutch he can think of, mixing in some of his waning Afrikaans.
“Wy zyn vann … euhhhh…. DAMN! Rav what should I say?” “We’re … euh… from Burgundy! They must have been friends with them, no? they were HUGE at this time!” “Watt zegge jully?!?!?!” *the King is FURIOUS at not understanding and is seeming increasingly dangerous…

Quickly, Thomas tries to form some words in his tired brain;
“Wy zyn vann het Duché de Bourgogne, wy wille niets sl..” “SPIOENE!!!!! Konynklyke Wacht!!! Hou zy vast!!!” *Ten heavy-built guards tumble over the two speechless prisoners. They soon cannot move an inch anymore. “Weg mit henn!!!! Doodt hen buyte, nie op myn vloer, zeg!!!” *The King orders the two to be killed outside, and not on his 200 year-old Saracen rug. The two are thus dragged outside, again down the same steps…

“Wh-AT- - I-S Th-I-sss – SH-I” Rav’s head, bouncing against the stairs, is trying to articulate some simple words enquiring their current situation. Thomas, who can at least hold his head just off the stair edges, explains briefly; “They wann-OUCH!- wanna kill us, do something!-OUCH!- when we’r-OUCH!-‘re outside, we hit them and ru-OOUUCCHH!!!- <gasp> run away like hell –OUCH!-” “GO-T- - I-I-T!”

*The two exhausted prisoners on the verge of being killed on the cobblestones of the road suddenly stand up. To the guards’ surprise, they punch the biggest guy in the nose and kick the one next to him in the groin. The other eight guards leap towards them: “RUN!!!” and the two are gone. Eight heavy guards chasing two nimble fit young men without heavy weapons and such prove to be decisive aspects in the chase; Thomas and Rav leap up onto a supporting beam of a rich guy’s house, climb into the window and observe the street (and the confused, panting guards on it) as they turn around in circles, see nothing, and return to tell the King that they killed the two usurpers. A lie, obviously, but who will notice the difference???*

“God! That was CLOSE!” wheezes Thomas. “Yeah, man! That was BAD.”

“Draait U om, nietsnutte! Of proeftt vann myn zwaard!!!” [[Turn around, _idunnohowtotranslatethis_! Or taste the feel of my sword!]]

*Spinning around, the two see merely the tip of a sword, advancing towards their throats.* “Euhh….. Mynheerr? Wy bedoele geen skade! Wy smeekn U vir vergiffniss! Wy gaan dadelyk weer weg, mynheer, asseblief!” [Thomas is begging for their lives, and promising to leave as soon as possible, not meaning any harm.]

“Vergeet het, hierr kommt nymand binne zonder straff!” [Forget it!!! Nobody enters here without punishment!] *The 40 year-old aristocrat grabs the two by the collar as did the guards, and drags them downstairs towards their doom (???).

__________________________________________________________________________________
Excuse the lack of images and screenshots, but I had to find some time to squeeze this into my free time (bad time management, at the moment).
 
From the author... For facility in writing and reading, I have written the quotes in English, as by now Thomas has already started to comprehend the language.
Also, a screenshot has been added!!!

*see Prologue II*


Chapter III – The Rest So Well Deserved
-----------------------------------

“So You are actually THE BARON OF Tongeren???”

*Thomas is asking in surprise at the man who had earlier been threatening of killing him! They had suddenly been met with an evolving glare as the aristocrat noticed their strange clothes and manner of speaking. Thomas’s bad Dutch sparked some interest, and after having explained what happened, they are sitting in comfortable chairs in the living room, surrounded with (to Thomas’s surprise) very modest furniture for a baron of Tongeren!*

“Oh, no. Not merely Tongeren! Tongeren, Hoesselt, and all the farmlands supplying them! I am descended from the great King Karel von Tong’ren, dating back to around the 1200th year of Christ. My lineage has, however, mostly been diluted with Burgundian bourgeoisie, which sickens me; they are the most untrustworthy bastards ever to have appeared on this earth! You must have heard of the usurper of power, have you not?”

“Philippe III Le Bon [The Good] of Burgundy almost took over the lowlands, right?”

“Yes, that is correct, Master Henry,”

“…until Gelre finally hacked them to bits, right??”

“Right, again, Master Henry…”

“…Then how are we and Brabant still independent?”

“Our neighbours, Brabant are about to be annexed by the infidel Bourgundians, as for us, we are a country in anarchy, usurpers and dictators we have seen. The most recent of which you have already met; ‘King’ Johan, the fat and furious one, remember? You are lucky to have escaped his guards (unlike the hundreds of others he massacred in the fateful uprising in the Marketplace). Know that as long as you are here, you are under my protection. Do not worry, that bastard dares not enter my house; I am his Godfather, and he would go straight to Hell down below if he ever contemplated my arrest!”

“His GODFATHER!!! How did that happen? I thought he was a stray rebel!”

“Far from it, Master Henry; most of these usurpers of power are from honourable houses throughout our lands, which disgusts me beyond words!”

“Someone must do something about this!!!”

“I am waiting for it, and trying MY best, but few can be rallied against such a dangerous leader!”

“If You may find it right to accept us, we shall gladly make part of Your quest, Sire Baelgen. However, I must explain to You why we are here:”

“Ah, yes! I became lost in my own explanations! Why do you speak with such a strange accent and bad language? Even the most uneducated peasant speaks better! And can you wear such RAGS upon your backs??? You are practically foreigners from the faraway lands of JUDEA!!!!!”

“Would You believe us, Sire, if we told You we were from the future??”

“You’re kidding with me.” “I swear to You, not, Sire.” “You ARE kidding with me!! I feel it! It’s obvious!! Now, where are you really from??”
“Sire, I just told You, we are from the 2004th year of Christ, 600 years away!”
“Oh God! And I have not yet reached an age of wisdom and knowledge! Why am I faced with such sensational facts?”

*By THIS, Thomas is caught off-guard;* “You’re NOT yet an aged man? How old are You, Sire, if I may ask…?”

“20 years, I shall have lived, the 20th of June of this, 1425 Year of Christ.”

“Oh Lord! I thought You to be around forty, Sire!” “Yes, I am aware of my aged look, but that is what one gets when one is pursued by Burgundian assassins with torsches when you are locked in a barnhouse!” “I see… This is why You despise the Burgundians so profoundly, then…”

“Precisely, Master Henry, I escaped merely with my life and several burn marks that strangely can adopt the look of age, not injury. I guess it must be due to my rapid maturing on that date; I was merely 7 years old!”

“Then who brought you up, Sire?”

“My parents were murdered in cold blood and buried under the house with lime to quicken the decomposition, and I ran, and ran, and ran, away, away from that place. I found myself a little street-boy in this grand city, where I was taken in by my Great-uncle, know deceased, God bless his soul, murdered by Jan’s guards. Jan was another dictator, from 1418 to 1420, and by far the nicest! Imagine, Masters Henry and Bholanath, how this place was before, fire, rape, robbing, break-ins, the worst type scenario you could ever imagine!”

“Yes, it must have been!” “Definitely was, Master Henry, and you know what is the bright side of this horror? I am about to begin the END!!! ENDING THIS TERROR, I SHALL RULE OVER THE LOWLANDS, AND DESTROY THAT TRAITOR PHILIPPE III!!! HE WILL FINALLY FEEL THE MEANING OF PAIN!!!!!!!!!”

“We agree with Your ambitions, Sire! But surely you mean not world-conquest???”

“If it is necessary, then with all my heart! I merely wish revenge, and after that, to retire to my current status, Baron of Tongeren, Hoesselt, and its farmlands, which will once again be peaceful and joyous!”

“Sire, we humbly ask for You to join us in our quest to repair the unrights some men have caused; would You join Yourself to us and thereby found an Order against all harm and disrespect?” “You two seem sincere, and I dream of such a chance for years! I put myself at your service as Baron of Tongeren en Hoesselt, translator of your corrupted Dutch into the honourary language; you must have noticed a difference between how peasants and nobles speak, no?” “Yes, indeed I have, the aristocracy speaks not with double negatives [nie weggaan, nie], as do the peasants! That must be why Afrikaans includes double negatives; poor people fleeing Holland for the land of opportunity…” “…I have no clue what you are talking of, but I suspect so…” “Oh, sorry, Sire, I was muttering to myself…”

“I believe it is becoming late, it is suitable for you two to go rest now, as tomorrow we can begin your training; I shall train you into fighting honourable chivalrous KNIGHTS by the end, and we shall take on the world, beginning with Johan and Philippe!!!”

*The two depart for their appointed sleeping-places, and get into reasonably clean clothes. Thomas then explains the huge load of new information to his friend, who listens carefully. They had succeeded in the first step of their mission; contact and communications have been enabled, and relations with useful people have been founded. It is time to train to be real knights, take down a usurped empire, and requisition all lands in the name of honour and respect!!!!*

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POST I: I know you, and therefore know that this is not an insult, but maybe it is good to show to the rest of the readers that it is a compliment, so as to avoid your banning, my friend! ;)

POST II: Wel, firstly its Baelgen, not Henry, and secondly, it was explained that he was orphaned by Philippe III Le Bon.

thanx 4 the support.

Th :rofl:
 
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I have been given permission by AmbassadeBelgie to say that "Sire = Hendrick Baelgen = Baron of Tongeren en Hoesselt" and that Master Henry is actually Thomas Henry
ok???
dus Balegen is geen oud adelijk geslacht???
 
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Oi, I should've spotted this aar earlier...well it's never too late. I love good stories and yours was great till now, the only small critique I would make is that the Baron seems MUCH too trusting/friendly etc... but never mind that I enjoyed reading it, keep it up.
 
Shaytana said:
Oi, I should've spotted this aar earlier...well it's never too late. I love good stories and yours was great till now

Thanx :D I m happy that it is turning out so well.
Shaytana said:
the Baron seems MUCH too trusting/friendly etc... but never mind that I enjoyed reading it, keep it up.
Of course, Hendrick Baelgen, Baron of Tongeren and Hoesselt is an angry landowner who despises Burgundy (because of See last update), and is overjoyed at having found a way of attacking them. If they even try anything, Hendrick would kill them on the spot. Also, they seem very truthful, and could NEVER be spies, as if they were, they would never be able to report to the king. He knows that the two cannot leave his place without his knowing it, and is therefore totally sure of them.

I must here add some raw info of the game setup;

===Patch (Version 1.08, THANX Johan!)
===Difficulty level = Normal
===AI Aggressiveness = Normal
===Autosave = Yearly, because I hate losing a game by CtD [Crash to Desktop]!!!
===Game Speed varies, and domestic policies have been made to fit the Order Policies (more on it when the Order is well founded).

Also, on early screenshots (such as the one already on in a previous update) the Order and the domestic policies are already done to fit the Order Policies, but I made sure to do nothing (dormant player :D) until March 1425, when the Order is starting to gain meaning.

Thank you for your support, I shall try to update it some more over this week, but I promise nothing.

Th :rofl:
 
limburg.bmp
Chapter IV – The Beginning
limburg.bmp

13th January 1425 – Marketplace (Grote Markt), Tongeren.

Thomas and Rav have been under intensive training for 10 days, now, and are good fighters. They and Hendrick Baelgen have decided to address the public and incite a revolt:
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Usurping King Johan of Limburg has committed his greatest error: He has made the taxes higher and told the people rubbish. The crops are failing; he says it is because God wishes us to be punished. He says this is why more taxes would make us more favoured as we have a harder life than the rest. He says if we pay extra above these new taxes we may even skip some years of purgatory! He says that the best way to keep unified as a duchy, is by remaining on your own territory and making sure your crops grow right, your children learn right, and that you remain good Christians.

We supposedly good Christians are now fed up with the nonsense fed to us; the guards we fear not, for they are as starved as us! If we remain united they can do nothing! We can be once again the rich and prosperous trading region we once were! Remember the times of rich merchants and monthly festivals? Where have those gone??? To our king Johan! Drunk down by his soldiers and his fat family! We cannot continue like this; it is time to fight BACK!!!!


Mutters of agreement and mounting murmurs are audible from the entranced crowd below… The King has already been notified, and his personal guard is coming to disperse the crowd of imbeciles who think they can make a difference… How stupid of them!

Whoever kills the King’s family first will be named Baron of Mal [Small village near Tongeren]!!! Whoever joins me will be in my glorious PAID and WELL-FED ARMY!!!! Our glorious time is back, as I stand here and now, I assist you in the overthrowing of usurper Johan!!! Let’s GO!!!

Loud roars from the huge swarm of starving lower-class people, Hendrick Baelgen’s eloquent speech has made the desired effect on the people, who are now in outrage at their king. The desired result is also retrieved from the King’s Personal Guard, who rushing up towards the crowd are trampled by the furious crowd.

“NOW is our time!!!!!!” Hendrick Baelgen roars over the noise, mounts his horse and follows his rebel army towards the so-called ‘Royal Palace’. Thomas and Rav at his side, he charges through the crowd and into the remaining line-up of guards; the last defence for the defeated king.

“How CAN this happen? Howcanthishappen…howcanthishappen… Damn it!!! Where’s my sword?!” King Johan is searching frantically through his objects of immense value literally robbed off Tongeren’s citizens, as well as the rest of the Duchy of Limburg. Then he thinks about what is happening outside… Maybe, if he could get a messenger out of the palace to the nearby army HE has been over-feeding, they would happily destroy the rebel scum on his doorstep. He could bathe in their blood laughing… A sadistic look appears on his face, thinking of the thousands dead after such a massacre!!! Wouldn’t that be a great lesson for the rest of them! He quickly scribbles a call for help on a shred of paper.

“You, boy! Take this message to the Royal Army. If you get killed I shall eat you for breakfast!!!” The boy scatters off towards the door, sees the massacred soldiers and Hendrick Baelgen looking up at him, a merciless look upon his face, and runs back inside. Here, he is faced with the infuriated fat king, who has found his sword! Decisions can be quickly made, in times of haste; he disappears out the door.

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The doors have swung open. The angry mob has entered the Palace. The king has a devilish look upon his face. Swinging his sword in warning, he trips over the Saracen rug (earlier spoken of), the heavy bulk that is his belly topples him over and he finds himself like a tortoise on its back. The closest man (a poor farmer) uses his pitchfork on him indifferently as he would any day on his field, and that marks the end of Johan’s rule.

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Another speech has been given, Hendrick Baelgen has described how courageously the city’s men fought and how proud he is of them. He has explained that he, the new ruler of Tongeren, will begin a new Order. Better days will come with better trade and more rights! Less taxes and more honour! Honourable men will be rewarded, and the army will be a shelter for the homeless. Everything will change, he has asked of the city to provide him with this power to make their way of life much better. He has introduced Thomas and Rav as the Second and third-in-command, and has explained that although they speak bad Dutch, their intelligence is not to be questioned, neither their deserved respect.

The city is now totally poor, but the Order has been founded (however small it may be at the moment). Hendrick Baelgen has donated to the cause his 343 ducats (a huge sum for one man), and Thomas and Rav, unable to donate money, presented their services to Baelgen.

The Palace (which is in fact the City Hall) has been converted to their style, and everybody liking Burgundy is politely asked to leave within the week. Hendrick’s possessions have been moved into the Palace, and Thomas has been made Count of Blaar (nearby town of Tongeren). Rav has been made head of security, and he, and Thomas have been officially knighted as members of the Order of the Red Lion [Derived from the Limburg coat of arms, see title]. 5000 infantry and 1500 cavalry are placed under their services. These are the remains of King Johan’s army, who see no reason to fight for the dead dishonourable bastard.

02__TH_n_RB_arrive.jpg

Knighted, and ready for action. *Excuse the date; two days too early:eek:o*

Peter DeKurcke, the killer of Johan I, has been made Baron of Mal. Those who fought in the famously swift overthrow are looked upon as heroes, and a (strangely early) sense of nationalism towards the city has overcome the people.

Those who are cleaning up the bloody remains of Johan’s guard and their comrades find, around the corner of the Stadshuis, a 15-year-old boy in running pose, an arrow through his heart. Johan I had sent to his death his own nephew.

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