Only fate will tell, as the stories of Knud Kny... er, Lotharingia continues!Peleus said:
Lotharingia -- A tale of resurrection
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If they did, I fear you would be disappointed.swippy said:I hope Guntram and Folkhard show Godfried what they're made of
Guntram's stats are awful, and Folkhard's were good only before he got ill and depressed.
After long reading sessions I have finished reading this. Excellent story! For nothing I did not vote this to the best AAR. I have to say that this story is fascinating indeed. In fact, this AAR gived me inspiration to write my own. Keep up the fabulous work!
Excellent story! For nothing I did not vote this to the best AAR. I have to say that this story is fascinating indeed. In fact, this AAR gived me inspiration to write my own. Keep up the fabulous work!
Thank you for your patronage, and glad to have you fully on board Auray!Auray said:After long reading sessions I have finished reading this.
In fact, when on the topic of the AARland Choice AwAARds, I am happy to announce that Lotharingia, the very piece that you are reading here, is only two votes behind General_BT and his mastodont epic Rome AARisen in the cathegory of Best CK Narrative. Needless to say, I am slightly stunned at this, as well as very proud and grateful. Even more if it would turn out that I can convince yet another -- or two -- votAARs!
Mainly though, thank you all that have voted. It means a lot to see my name on the ballot.Next update: Sometime during the week.
sniff, you just made that aar lose another narrative vote.
It has won enough of them, time for you.
It has won enough of them, time for you.
Haha, seriously? You're a real darling, Enewald. ^^Enewald said:sniff, you just made that aar lose another narrative vote.
It has won enough of them, time for you.
This means I'll ahve to spit out an update soon... I'll try before Wednesday, promise.
Ah, marvellous to hear that you enjoy it! Glad to have you on board.Sematary said:
The update is, as you all notice, rather delayed. This is due to some game-editing, as well as me trying to learn how to drive a car properly and me painting a whole lot yesterday.
It'll be up soon though.
Snugglie said:Ah, marvellous to hear that you enjoy it! Glad to have you on board.
The update is, as you all notice, rather delayed. This is due to some game-editing, as well as me trying to learn how to drive a car properly and me painting a whole lot yesterday.
Excellent, I wonder what had happened. An you are learning to drive?
Don't crash! 
Okay, so I've been a very bad readAAR and haven't commented in a long time. Snugglie, you still continue to amaze me with your writing... there's a reason I voted for you in CK Narrative!
I don't know, I consider this a kind of test for Dietrich. If he is as cut for the throne as Gotfried thinks, he'll handle Guntram and Folkhard with no problem (or, neither of the sons will be a problem in the first place). Though if he's not... I could definitely see some of the kingdoms around looking on such a house of cards with more than a little glee and greed...
I don't know, I consider this a kind of test for Dietrich. If he is as cut for the throne as Gotfried thinks, he'll handle Guntram and Folkhard with no problem (or, neither of the sons will be a problem in the first place). Though if he's not... I could definitely see some of the kingdoms around looking on such a house of cards with more than a little glee and greed...
Only wish I'd get the time to catch up with yours soon...General_BT said:Okay, so I've been a very bad readAAR and haven't commented in a long time. Snugglie, you still continue to amaze me with your writing... there's a reason I voted for you in CK Narrative!
I don't know, I consider this a kind of test for Dietrich. If he is as cut for the throne as Gotfried thinks, he'll handle Guntram and Folkhard with no problem (or, neither of the sons will be a problem in the first place). Though if he's not... I could definitely see some of the kingdoms around looking on such a house of cards with more than a little glee and greed...
And thank you for the vote!Well, we'll see if Heinrich von Franken's son has the same level of skill -- or rather, lack thereof -- as his father!
Wow...I figured it was time that I ought to at least take a glance at what my more loyal readers were writing...and I'm blown away by this. There have been a few other narrative AARs that I've been reading, but I sometimes find myself glazing over them...this one not only grabs my attention the entire time, but keeps me wanting to know more and more and more.
In fact, the only reason I've stopped (at chapter three) is because I'm unable to view the graphics on my work computer. Gotta wait another hour or two to get home, then I'll finish your tale (thus far) as it was intended!
Well done, and keep it coming!
In fact, the only reason I've stopped (at chapter three) is because I'm unable to view the graphics on my work computer. Gotta wait another hour or two to get home, then I'll finish your tale (thus far) as it was intended!
Well done, and keep it coming!
I am very glad to hear it mate, glad to have you on board as well! And remember, if you consider it to be worth it, drop a vote in the ACA for me.Actinguy said:
And if you know something better, vote for that of course.To you others, regarding next update, it's on its way, but proves to be a little complicated to write. It's well underway though.
Guntram was nowhere to be found, and was said to, in mere frustration, have departed for the German heartland. Godfried neither missed him nor mourned him. He found Folkhard by the river south of the castle, where he sat in silent – except for the occasional coughing – contemplation. He did not seem to take the news too badly, nor did he accept them willingly. His only response to his father’s statement that he was cut out from the succession and the plans of creating a long-lasting, grand kingdom was an apathetic sigh and a continued staring into the distance. Godfried whom, although he was ashamed to admit it even to himself, was both enervated and frightened at the nothingness of his once prodigal son did not stay longer than he felt was absolutely needed.
The one that, without a doubt, had taken the news the harshest was Camila. Godfried himself felt a little worried at the fact that he himself hardly felt anything when thinking about it – he was now renouncing his own family’s – only remotely true but still rightfully manufactured – claims to the Lotharingian throne for all foreseeable future, and he did not even feel a stir of disappointment. Had he really gotten that detached from reality, and engulfed by a dream created from the reading of legends and myths, and a since long dead hero king? He suspected that no matter what the answer, it would not make him happy, and so he abandoned the line of thought.
On his way to meet with Folkhard, Godfried had ordered a stable-boy to find Dietrich and tell him to come to the ducal quarters as soon as possible. And so on his return, Dietrich was sitting in Godfried’s own chair, reading the document in front of him.
“Was I here when this was written, or did I have a pitcher too much?” Dietrich asked Godfried, quizzically.
“You were here, as were I and Reinhardt.”
Dietrich chuckled. “Bourgogne sure is the loosener of tongues and consoler of friends,” he said.
Godfried sat down in front of him, an odd feeling in his stomach at sitting on the wrong side of his desk. “What if I would suggest to you to let it not be only a whim in the haze of grape wine, but a legal document in its own right and virtue?”
Surprised, Dietrich looked up at Godfried. “Are you serious or are you trying to make a fool out of me by trying to have me claim your throne?”
“I am not jesting, I am asking earnestly. How would you feel about making the two Lorraines one?”
Dietrich stared at him, dumbfounded. “You have got sons, duke d’Ardennes! Heirs, claimants to your throne. What about them?”
“They are already taken out of the formula, and will accept their fate whether they want it or not,” Godfried answered to wave away all doubt in his peer. “They both hold great flaws, and none of them is strong enough to reign over neither this duchy nor yours. Your line is strong, and you’ve got sons eager to show their worth.” In fact, out of Dietrich’s three sons, two already had. The oldest, Floris, was the count of Santois and was doing a good work, despite not even being twenty years old. Being the oldest son, he was the obvious heir to Dietrich’s titles, deeds and lands. The next son, Friedrich, was the count of Verdun and the prodigy of the family, expected to one day go to rest as a respected administrator and politician. “And above all, I am tired of it all. Banquets, crazed demands from deranged overlords, Satan and his grandmother lurking around every corner of a decision! I do not wish for it anymore, but a little bird whispered in my ear that you most likely would not mind the tediousness of running two duchies.”
Dietrich was not completely sure of whether to smile, sigh, be frightened or take it all as a well hidden insult. The short, physically crooked man in front of him was offering to give away his lands, titles and power without a second thought, which few sane men would do voluntarily.
“Duke Godfried, are you aware what you are speaking of?”
“I am aware, and it is my final decision,” Godfried answered, something gleaming in his eyes. “But not without putting a demand on you.”
Dietrich almost chuckled a little at the hunchback’s try to put demands on him. “Sir, I…”
“You either listen to what I say and accept it, or you leave here without neither profit nor friends,” Godfried interrupted. “But if you agree to undertake what I ask from you, the keys to castle Andernach will be given to you as soon as the preparation time for the ceremonies allows.”
Dietrich bellowed at his men, of whom some had started to lean closer and listen to the conversation their commander had, to get out of the refectory and leave him and Godfried alone. One young soldier expressed concern over leaving Dietrich alone with a rival, but was only answered coldly by Godfried that he hardly posed any bigger threat physically, and easily could have had Dietrich killed in his sleep if it was his intention. When the guards had left, Godfried once again turned his head towards Dietrich. The little man’s eyes were virtually on fire, and Dietrich was starting to regret to have stayed behind.
“I will give you my lands and my titles, and all claims that I have in exchange for a promise, and without this promise you will leave here without neither profit nor friends,” Godfried repeated, his voice almost trembling at the importance of the moment. “This promise, that I need you to seal with blood, is that you undertake what I have undertaken – to work tirelessly to restore the legacy of Charlemagne,” – at the mention of the old hero’s name the fire in Godfried’s eyes started to resemble a bonfire during the summer solstice – “in the form of a kingdom in his land of birth. I need you to restore Lotharingia, Dietrich, and once again show the world, from one end to the other, of the virtues of the Carolingians and heroes of old. Can you promise me this, Dietrich?”
Dietrich felt that he was freezing. Godfried, in all aspects a calm and balanced person, seemed close to possessed. His ranting about kings of old made his peer nervous, but Godfried’s gaze prompted a quick answer.
“I… I cannot…” Dietrich almost frowned at how pathetic he managed to sound. “I will. I promise.”
Before he had any chance to react, Godfried – moving surprisingly fast and agile – drew a fine-hilted dagger and slashed it over Dietrich’s right palm. Dietrich yelped at the sudden movement and the subsequent pain, and got up on his feet. While he stumbled backwards towards the wall he observed Godfried solemnly raising his palm and once again wet the dagger with warm blood, and then saw him come closer. He stretched his hand towards Dietrich and urged him to take it. When he did, and felt his blood mix with the squat little hunchback’s, he was close to panicking – it felt like they were performing a heathen ritual and about to be caught red-handed. Before long the moment was over though, and Godfried let go of the taller, younger, stronger and decisively more nervous man’s hand. He seemed to sink a little into himself before saying, with a voice lacking any trace of the imposing boom it had earlier held: “I believe it is time for us to put this on paper then. Meet me in my study, and I will have someone fetch Reinhardt.
---
The atmosphere in the study was solemn, and the people in the room all had different feelings and thoughts. Godfried was relieved to finally be rid of all the responsibility that had been weighing him down for almost thirty years; Dietrich was terrified to get the same responsibility weighing down on him; Camila was mildly disappointed that it was not one of her sons that would inherit what she and Godfried had created; Folkhard felt that it was best the way it was to be, with Dietrich as the ruler; Reinhardt was horribly hung over, and had a problem speaking fully comprehensible unless he took his time and pronounced every word with great care. One of the monks from the church in Andernach had been brought to create the document which would seal the fate of them all, and as he made a few final strokes with his quill on the parchment, Godfried approached him to read it.
It felt strange reading such a thing, and even stranger to now that as soon as Dietrich’s seal joined his on the parchment, there was no longer such a thing as duke d’Ardennes. He picked up the wax and warmed it over a candle, and then pressed it on the document to create a small, warm, pool of wax resembling boiling blood. He then, with a decisive outlet of breath, pressed down his signet ring on the wax and stepped back. Dietrich repeated the procedure, and so Godfried turned to him, fell down on one knee – a movement which hurt immensely, but was required in the ceremony – and handed over the symbolic keys to the forts of Andernach and Zeeland as well as the castles in Acre and Jaffa. As he rose again, he was no longer saluting a peer, but a lord; Godfried d’Ardennes’ time in the sun was now over.
---
Thus endeth the twenty-first chapter.
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Godfried d'Ardennes gave up his titles? It will be interesting what happens next.
By the way, excellent writing again. My sad little so called AAR is nothing compared to this. Just a pile of crap and something meaningless awkward text.
It will be interesting what happens next.By the way, excellent writing again. My sad little so called AAR is nothing compared to this. Just a pile of crap and something meaningless awkward text.
Duke Godfried signed over all his titles, claims and money to Duke Dietrich of Upper Lorraine.Enewald said:Eeks!
That was odd!
So who gave whom what? :wacko:
Godfried was never the sort to rule other people -- had it been present day, he most likely would have been a librarian.Auray said:Godfried d'Ardennes gave up his titles?
By the way, excellent writing again. My sad little so called AAR is nothing compared to this. Just a pile of crap and something meaningless awkward text.
And don't be so harsh on yourself, as long as you think it is fun writing, you should.
And as I've said, we have all been newcomers at some point.
that is why I shall never write an aar.
I don't want to be aar newbie.
Better read 10000 good aars then writen one bad aar.
So your character gave up his titles to the neighbour?
you lost the game?
Good that you're asking. And actually, no.Enewald said:So your character gave up his titles to the neighbour?
you lost the game?
But to be completely honest -- and mind you all, I am not criticisising anyone here, just givign my point of view -- I've got a hard time understanding empires that are built in twenty years and then ruled by the same dynasty for more than 300 years. Seeing how the ducal and royal offices have shifted between dynasties, I think it adds reality to have the shifts.So basically, a whole lot of game editing for the sake of the story.