Frisia, April 11th 1067 (shortly after lunch)
Ekbert van Braunschweig (known as Ekbert the Alliterate), Count of Frisia and Ostfriesland, made a short postprandial walk through the tower of his fort, when he passed a window. He stopped, took a look outside and began to think.
E: "GUARDS!"
G: "Yes, Sir?"
E: "Call for my architect."
G: "Will do, Sir."
A few minutes later, architect Willem Wouters appeared, although a little out of breath, with a big smile on his face.
W: "How may I service you, Sir?"
E: "Take a look out of the window. What do you see?"
W: "Nice weather, Sir. I bet, the peasants are happy about it."
E: "Peasants?!"
W: "Yes, Sir, peasants. You know, the lads who work on the field, cultivate corn, breed cattle and stuff. See, there is a second cousin of mine, and his brother..."
E: "I know what peasants are, you stupid son of a severely sloshed swine! But do you see any of them?"
W: "Now, that you talk about it, no. But...well...maybe they are just on the other side of the fort."
W: "Ehm...no."
E: "That`s it! Nobody`s there. All I see is this fricking grass and water. No people, no houses. Frisia is a damned shithole."
W: *giggles*
E: "What?"
W: "Very inconvenient, indeed. What do you want to do about it, Sir?"
E: "Me? You! Build something for me."
W: "And what exactly."
E: "I don`t care. A farm. A tower. A dog house. Whatever. But if I don`t see any structure next time I look out of this window, I`ll build a gibbet with my very own hands and invite tenders for a certain permanent position."
W: *gulp* "Yes, Sir."
(Will Willem survive despite the fact, that the treasury is blank? Will Frisia become the "dog-house-state"? Read this and more in the next chapter)
Ekbert van Braunschweig (known as Ekbert the Alliterate), Count of Frisia and Ostfriesland, made a short postprandial walk through the tower of his fort, when he passed a window. He stopped, took a look outside and began to think.
E: "GUARDS!"
G: "Yes, Sir?"
E: "Call for my architect."
G: "Will do, Sir."
A few minutes later, architect Willem Wouters appeared, although a little out of breath, with a big smile on his face.
W: "How may I service you, Sir?"
E: "Take a look out of the window. What do you see?"
W: "Nice weather, Sir. I bet, the peasants are happy about it."
E: "Peasants?!"
W: "Yes, Sir, peasants. You know, the lads who work on the field, cultivate corn, breed cattle and stuff. See, there is a second cousin of mine, and his brother..."
E: "I know what peasants are, you stupid son of a severely sloshed swine! But do you see any of them?"
W: "Now, that you talk about it, no. But...well...maybe they are just on the other side of the fort."
W: "Ehm...no."
E: "That`s it! Nobody`s there. All I see is this fricking grass and water. No people, no houses. Frisia is a damned shithole."
W: *giggles*
E: "What?"
W: "Very inconvenient, indeed. What do you want to do about it, Sir?"
E: "Me? You! Build something for me."
W: "And what exactly."
E: "I don`t care. A farm. A tower. A dog house. Whatever. But if I don`t see any structure next time I look out of this window, I`ll build a gibbet with my very own hands and invite tenders for a certain permanent position."
W: *gulp* "Yes, Sir."
(Will Willem survive despite the fact, that the treasury is blank? Will Frisia become the "dog-house-state"? Read this and more in the next chapter)