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Chronicles of the Golden Cross

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Freddie's view on how to achieve good kids is rather... interesting but given her application no one could call her a hypocrite. Her boy is gonna be nothing but trouble though. I can feel it.

Glad to see Godfrey getting up on the hind legs. Knew he had it in him. Let him kick more ass. Beating people up is a good way to get the Euros respect. So is he still married to the Princess or are other arrangements gonna have to be made? Maybe she could look up the meaning of the word gratitude? If not I'm sure there are some wonderful convents around here somewhere.

As for the Inquisitior, if I was Pope I would want to have a little talk with him. It ain't for him to declare such and such is a Pope Order, it's for the Pope to do so and when he does do so, he'll certainly tell more folks then some ratfuck blackrobe looking to burn girls at the stake. Pope Orders to Royalty tended to be rather... Public affairs. Letting underlings get puffed up and start using authority reserved for you is best met with some quick smacking.
 
- looks apprehensive as well - XD A great update though ! ahh the dangers of religion politics !
 
Woohoo, a new update!!! And again a very good one at that! Did I hear an excerpt from Heroes V game soundtrack in the mood music?
 
There will be a few problems down the road with that Interdict. The coronation is very much like an Indian summer. The surest herald of winter is a warm day in October...
 
I've just spend the last hours reading the whole AAR, and I must say is excellent, I particulary like your use of graphics and pictures. Waiting eagerly for the next update.
 
@ General_BT: Indeed. Glad you enjoyed it. ;) Godfrey Caesarion has an important role to play in future, but whether for good or ill remains to be seen.
And Godfrey II's backbone was quite fun to bring out at last, especially since he had been such a pushover for so long.

@ Murmurandus: Lol. Alix's husband Conrad might not be too pleased about that...

@ Kurt_Steiner: Yes, poor Godfrey has much more in store -- more difficult challenges than his father had, I'll wager. Hopefully he'll rise to the occasion. :D

@ Enewald: Yes, Godfrey Caesarion is the love-child of Godfrey de Lusignan and Frederica von Hohenstaufen. Godfrey II doesn't even know his illegitimate son exists, so I imagine he'll get a very nasty shock in about twenty years...

@ frigidmagi: Good insight. Yeah, Freddie is a bit twisted in that regard. It's sort of like medieval genetic engineering with her own body as the test-tube. Hehe, as for Godfrey, he has a gentle, just, loving personality -- but when roused to righteousness indignation, none can match him. Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet. And I won't spoil the truth behind Inquisitor Daimbert. ;)

@ canonized: Thanks! You know, it's in the very nature of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to mix religion and politics, even more so than the other Christian kingdoms. It's definitely going to be a bumpy ride.

@ Qorten: Thank you very much, and yes, you did hear some Heroes V excerpts in the mod music, three in fact -- the Haven campaign theme, and the Godric and Shadya themes.

@ stnylan: Assuming Daimbert had the authority for the Interdict. I won't spoil the truth. :) But you're right, there are dark days ahead.

@ Capibara: Thank you very much for your patronage and compliments! Glad to have you aboard!

Also, as a reminder to everyone, don't forget to go and vote for your favorite AARs in the AARland Choice AwAARds!
 
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And the plot gets thicker. A traitor in Jerusalem, conflict with the Pope, and Freddie a medieval Bene Gesserit :D . A (pleasant) surprise to see Godfrey starting off his reign so well. It looks like Jerusalem may very well have a capable king.
 
Can't resist, cause I had the idea last night

AlexanderPrimus said:
@ General_BT: Indeed. Glad you enjoyed it. ;) Godfrey Caesarion has an important role to play in future, but whether for good or ill remains to be seen.
Click to expand...

Better Caesarion than Medraut, isn't it?

AlexanderPrimus said:
@ Enewald: Yes, Godfrey Caesarion is the love-child of Godfrey de Lusignan and Frederica von Hohenstaufen. Godfrey II doesn't even know his illegitimate son exists, so I imagine he'll get a very nasty shock in about twenty years...
Click to expand...

I hope they don't meet in another Cammlan...
 
@ VILenin: Yes, Jerusalem has a capable king at last, but difficult times lie ahead. There is a traitor to be dealt with, and a vindictive Inquisitor out for revenge, not to mention the small matter of an illegitimate son who has yet to show his true colors. Is he a Paul Atreides, or a Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen? :D Only time will tell.

@ Kurt_Steiner: Indeed. A very astute observation, my friend. I must admit the thought has crossed my mind, though the fates of the two Godfreys are not yet written in stone. We shall have to see, shan't we? ;)
 
With my A-levels in my pocket I finally found some time to catch up on some of my favorite AARs, this one included. What a magnificent turn the story has taken since the last time I read it! Godfrey II seems to be a good lad, I hope he can overcome all the storms brewing on the horizon. Mind you I think it's a bit nasty the way everyone puts poor old Guy down. I mean he clearly had his failings but he all but conquered most of the Near East! A remarkable feat especially if you compare it to how Guy fared in reality. ;)

Anyway I am hoping for more soon and am most definitely going to include this AAR in my votes for the next "AARland Choice Awards".

~Lord Valentine~
 
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He was lucky, besides it's all thanks to his advisors planning, like Reynald de Chatillon.
 
@ Lord Valentine: Thanks for your continued support, and for your vote. :)
You may also have a point there about Guy, although I would attribute much of his success to his subordinates' ambition. Also, the northern realms are not truly conquered, only vassalized. Should a breach in their feudal contracts appear, their departure would be most swift, as you will soon see. ;)

@ Qorten: Hehe, well, to an extent. :D Guy managed to vassalize Antioch, Cyprus, and Lesser Armenia at the instigation of his nobles, Edessa was retaken by Reynald de Chatillon, and Conrad of Montferrat captured Damascus. Guy did take the Sinai on crusade, though whether conquering a strip of desert and a handful of Bedouins can truly be called a conquest is debatable. So in a manner of speaking, Guy made many territorial gains, but the acquisition of these territories was neither at his instigation nor undertaken in a lasting manner.

@ Deamon: Indeed. Reynald de Chatillon, Balian of Ibelin, and even Raymond of Tiberias each influenced Guy towards the conquest of his neighbors. Really, the central point of diversion in the timeline was Reynald de Chatillon motivating Guy to subjugate their Antiochene allies rather than rashly attacking Saladin -- thereby preventing the disaster at Hattin. It's sort of an odd coincidence, but well, there's temporal butterflies for you. :p

@ all: I've nearly completed a mini-update which I'll be posting in an hour or two, so be sure to watch for it. ;)
 
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A Glimpse of the Distant Future
Vignette 2: Seas of Blood

CaribbeanMap.png


(Teaser Mood Music)​

23 August 1675
Île de Saint Thérèse, the Caribbean

The seas lay surprisingly still.

Aboard the Wyvern, the sailors lounged languidly about the deck, weary from the sweltering summer heat. That would have to change.

“Mr. Drummond, beat to quarters,” called Captain Morganne. He watched calmly while the squat 1st Lieutenant barked out his orders.

“All hands, man your battle stations!”

“What is it, Captain?” asked Mullins, the 2nd Lieutenant, “There’s been no sign of an enemy ship for weeks.”

“Hold fast, Mr. Mullins,” said Morganne, “Keep your cool, and prepare yourself for action.” The younger officer looked utterly bewildered, his commander inscrutable.

Suddenly, a loud cry echoed down from the crow’s nest, as if on command: “Sail Ho!”

Lieutenant Mullins hurried off to grab his sword, leaving Captain Morganne lost in thought on the quarterdeck.

As the commanding officer of a royal privateer commissioned by His Majesty, the King of England and France, Captain Henri Morganne had been given letters of marque authorizing him to hunt down at least a dozen of the most dangerous pirates of the Caribbean. For the past two years, he and the gallant crew of the Wyvern had handled this task with impunity. Morganne copiously listed their many achievements in his mind: sinking the Melisende, cornering the rogue frigate Implacable off the coast of Vinland, cutting down that blackguard Eiriksson upon the bridge of his own sloop.

All of these achievements paled in comparison to what they would accomplish this day: the ambush and capture of the dreaded Teutonic corsair, Barbarossa. Morganne had memorized the treacherous German’s dossier: born Heinrich von Staufenburg in 1631 to aristocratic parents, commissioned as a young officer in the Reichsflotte. His record was spotless and impressive -- some had whispered that he might even rise one day to the rank of Grand Admiral. Then he had fallen, unexpectedly, meteorically; what had followed was a career of ruthless piracy almost two decades long, all for no apparent reason.

CaptainBarbarossa.jpg

Captain “Barbarossa,” so named for his distinctive red beard.​

Henri Morganne continued to silently ponder while the men under his command rushed around him in a frenzied hive of activity, taking little notice of their pensive captain. Barbarossa’s pristine record was a marked contrast to his own: nearly thrown out of the Anglo-French navy for defying orders (never mind that they had been unjust), the recipient of five demerits over the course of just three years, not to mention one official censure. And now, despite his tempestuous Welsh past, he found himself in command of his own ship, hunting pirates on the far side of the world. The King himself had even referred to him by name on more than one occasion, calling him “indipensable,” and “my own good sea dog.” What twist of fate had brought him to this position of prestige, Morganne did not know.

It had taken the Wyvern several weeks to track down Barbarossa. The man was nigh unto untraceable. At the last, it was one of the pirate captain’s own former comrades that had betrayed him, the Frenchman Jacques Moineau. The betrayal was Moineau’s way of revenging himself on Barbarossa, who had marooned him on a desert island for a year . The eccentric buccaneer had expressed his bitter sentiments so succinctly. “One ill turn deserves another, mate,” he had said, summarizing the entire piratical existence in a solitary sentence.

The Frenchman’s information had been invaluable. Barbarossa had apparently been searching for something valuable over the last several years, decades really, and at last he seemed to have found it. Moineau had said that his old captain had been attempting to steal something of great import from the Aztecs.

“Robbing the Aztecs?” Morganne had replied incredulously, “Their empire is totally implacable. Such a deed would be the height of folly!”

Then Moineau had said something that Henri Morganne had not expected. “Not if they want it to be stolen.”

Morganne winced at the memory. It was now clear to him that he was at the heart of a conspiracy so complex that it involved most of the great world empires in one way or another, even as far distant as Outremer. The weight of this revelation weighed heavily on him, making him prone to fits of intense brooding as he tried to puzzle it out. He could not afford to fail, not with the fate of the world now resting in his hands.

He shook himself out of his contemplative mood. Now was not the time for introspection, for there it was; several yards off the starboard bow he could just glimpse the sails of Barbarossa’s vessel, the Black Destiny, as it emerged from its hiding place.

Jacques Moineau had been quite specific. Barbarossa’s secret lair was located in a hidden inlet on the nearly-forgotten little island of Saint Thérèse. Captain Morganne had planned his tactics accordingly. They would catch the pirates unawares, bombard them as they lay anchored, and capture the whole verminous lot in one swift stroke. But something was terribly wrong -- the Black Destiny should not be coming out to meet them. “They must’ve known we were coming!” shouted Morganne, breaking his own internal monologue. His eyes caught sight of Barbarossa’s banner being hoisted aloft on the pirate ship -- black, with the familiar skull and crossed blades.

A moment later, the Wyvern shuddered as the Black Destiny’s broadside tore into its hull with a deafening roar. Someone cried out, “Captain!” Then everything went black.

cannonade.png
 
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Haha another glimpse into our crystal ball , eh ? XD Considering the combination of France and England , the thought of piracy fundamentally changed by that aspect is intriguing !
 
France and England together? As in one country, personal union or one the vassal of the other? No matter which one of the three possibilities, it's a major threat to the rest of the world! :eek:
 
@ canonized: Indeed, with France no longer a rival, the colonial English are left to confront some very different world powers, and of course, plenty of pirates...

@ Qorten: Yes, a United Kingdom of England and France! It begins as a personal union but ultimately becomes one united country, though it does take a considerable amount of time to acclimate the English and French to the notion of being countrymen. :D
 
First that Scandinavian glimpse, now this Caribbean trip...

this AlexanderPrimus is up to something, indeed... :D
 
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