- ARCHIVE - Grand Principal Court of Pskov

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A man come in;

"Foolish and greedy ruler of Pskov. I am a representative from the Patriarch.

Your talk of peace, and you aking for our fathers blessings were all lies. You claimed the territories from the Golden Horde, which was good. But then you declare war on Novograd because of your greed.

You are worse than the mongols. Let it be known the Patriarch is contemplating declaring a ruler anathema on you.

The Suzdal defend themselves, but you are attacking out of pure greed."

 

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Alyosha Berezov bows before Kniaz Fedor.

"Kniaz of Pskov, Kniaz Yuri of Vladimir-Suzdal, heir to Monomakh, informs me that he has signed the treaty that you proposed. He prays that this will usher in a new era of cooperation and peace among our peoples."

 

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A short letter is carried by an Altai, so the letter is surely from Sibir. The letter is written by the scrib of Baraq Khan.

Kniaz of Pskov

I was shocked to see that you demanded peace with your Russian neighbours, that without any battle, only menaces. I would like to know what is happening, as we are on the same side, against the Princess and the Karelian ruler!

Peace is not welcomed on our side, we have decided to continue the battle.

Baraq Khan, Khan of Sibir

 

[Stormbringer]

A letter arrives from the Kniaz of Novgorod

"Kniaz of Pskov,
This will be the last time I will write you this.
You are on a verge of an open revolt in your country. The Patriarch have called a crusade against you and considering an anathema. Livonia is about to join the war on our side, and provide us with a large support. With all of this in mind you have 2 choises, either to give Novgorod and Olonets to their true rulers, and enter the alliance with us and fight the horde, and after the war reseive provinces further in the south, or to stay with the horde, surrounded by the enemies on all sides. Even if we do not win this war, you will be the first one to fall, please think wiseley, I am offering you an alliance and provincess, if you side with us. You yourelf said that you do not want to fight Russians. I am offering you a choise not to.

Mikhail Olel'kovitch, Kniaz Novgorodsky"

 

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As if a harbinger of things to come, a cold, wisping autumn wind chilled the lone walker to the bone. The court garden was a luxury not oft enjoyed by this particular man, but he realized just how beautifully they had been tended. Raising paradise in the middle of an icy wasteland.

Fedor, Grand Prince of Pskov, threw back his bear-fur cloak to reveal a man whose years in the sun and snow had worn his face into a craggy mass of angles and protrusions that, while no longer possessing the same handsome vigor of youth, radiated with calm and decisiveness.

That face softened for a moment as he rubbed his hands softly against the delicate petal of a deep red flower. However God apparently had no patience for his weariness, as he heard the frantic steps of a messenger boy approaching him on the garden's cobblestones..

"M...M...My Prince! A message from the Karelian!" Fedor had, after the cession of the province of Novgorod from the Golden Horde, assumed the title of Prince of that land, and had designated the former ruler there as "Prince of Karelia" after his new capital. He smiled, thinking of how cruelly that must barb him.

"Give it to me." The Grand Prince snatched the letter from the messenger's trembling hands and read it slowly. His face hardened as he frowned, crumpling up the letter and tossing it back to the boy.

"Toss it in with all the rest of them. Burn them all tonight." The frown twisted into a predatory smile. Let him threaten all he wants. The Prince of the Karelia knew he was finished and his childish whinings were of no importance.

Another biting wind drew across the Prince's face, but he stood impassively as the messenger beside him put up his hand to shield himself and quickly retreated back towards the stone citadel that was his home.

 

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A small, nervous man enters the court.

"The Grand Prince Vasili returns your welcome greetings. As you know, we of Tver have historically been opposed to the daft tyrants in Muscovy; We gladly and happily find common cause with you."

 

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The same person recieves a messenger from horseback and quickly interrogates him.

"Grand Prince Fedor, time in this campaigning season is short and I have no doubt that we can agree on the need to eradicate the Muscovites. As such, we duly join your alliance and declare war on our hallowed enemies. I shall see you on the battlefield.

-Grand Prince Vasili I of Tver"

 

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Grand Prince Fedor has ordered all messages from Novgorod, Muscowy and Lithuania to be thrown immediately into the flaming hearth as he prepares to evacuate his capital for Tver. His second son Mikhail will man the defenses in his absence.

 

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A muscovite carriage and guards move swiftly across the Novgorodian plains, now in the rightfull hands of Novgorod.

 

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A messenger enters the court from Moskva, now nearly under Lithuania's possesion. He is Russian and a Pskov captive.

Devil in the flesh,
You pathetic fool!You have dared to claim your ulimate victory over us and Novgorod yet you now perish!You are a coward!I hope your people will recieve this message, as they would surely not fight for you!Perhaps you can hide at my Kremlin?I will keep you corpse safe. Remember this, you have fought us in the past, and we out of shere mercy allowed you to thrive, now you defy God and you shall not exist on this Earth. Give up now, surrender your realms to my husband and perhaps we will show some mercy upon your neck...

 

[Stormbringer]

A letter arives from Novgorod

"Kniaz of Pskov
You have lost a battle in Novgorod and Your capital is besiged by Lithuanians. Pskov will be destroyed shortly if you do not acept the folowing peace treatly

1.The provinces of Novgorod and Olonets are to be given to Novgorod
2.Pskov is to become a vassal of Novgorod or Lithuania, whichever Pskov choses
3.Pskov has to break all existing alliances
4.Pskov is not allowed to sign any new alliances without permition from BOTH Novgorod and Lithuania

I hope you give this some thought, this is your only chance to keep Pskov an indipendent country

Mikhail Olel'kovitch, Kniaz vseya Russy"

 

[Warspite]

(letter from venice)

A state of war now exists between Pskov and the League of St Mark

 

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A letter arrives for the head of the Orthodox Church in Pskov.

My Brother,

The Patriarch has turned from God, and now would war with all of us, as well as consorting with the Demon League of St.Mark. I have named him anathaema, and now I summon all of the High Priests of the Orthodox Faith to select a new Patriarch. Come to Samara, where the armies of the world may not penetrate. May god grant us wisdom in our choice.

Ivan Dmitri, Exarch of the Volga

 

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a letter from the Patriarch

His holiness, Joseph II has called a holy synod. You are commanded to send a holy delegate to Constantinople. He gives you his assurance these matters will be brief and the delegate will soon return to matters of faith in Pskov.

 

[unmerged(1878)]

The Grand Prince of Pskov, Fedor, appeared suddenly in the city of Olonets, the only part of his realm not besieged by enemies. He was heard to deliver this message in the town square of Olonets to the entire populace. Copies were posted by his agents in occupied Novgorod and besieged Pskov.

"My people! Hearken to me! I have grave news, that which must be considered with the utmost care as we struggle for our freedom! The insane tyrants of Karelia and Muscowy, who all the just princes of Rus oppose, have been declared anathema to our most Christian faith after a Holy Synod conducted in Constantinople! We no longer struggle without the aid of God, for his agent, the Most Holy Patriarch, has declared crusade against these heathen dogs! Rally to me, my people! All who hold dear our devout faith of Orthodox Christianity, join the banner of crusade that our Patriarch has called against Karelia and Muscowy! I have never demanded the extermination of these realms before, despite their threats of annexation. But now, I will not rest until the blood of Rus is cleansed from their fields and their rulers are purified of Satan through FIRE! Rejoice, my people, as even now warriors from across Rus rally to throw back the evil devil-possessed enemies! Our holy war has begun! RALLY!

 

[unmerged(1878)]

After long hours of negotiations, a scribe bursts forth from a sealed room and reads forth the following notice.

This declaration of peace is signed and ratified without duress by the representatives of the nations of Muscowy, Karelia-Novgorod, Pskov, Suzdal, and Tver in the Year of Our Lord Fourteen-Hundred and Twenty-Five. May cooperation and friendship spring eternal from this declaration.

Article I: Muscowy, Karelia-Novgorod, Pskov, Suzdal and Tver are now at total peace with each other.

Signed,

Fedor I, Grand Prince of Pskov

Blank spots remain below for the signature of the other dignitaries.

OOC: Please, everyone sign this peace in the Muscowy court for the purposes of consolidation.

 

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Aleksandr shivered, chilled to the bone even beneath heavy cloak of office and dress garb as he stared down at the man lying in his death bed and the thin preacher next to him. He drew the green wool cloak around him more tightly as the priest's voice droned on in the highest tower of the citadel of Pskov. When will the damned old man die...? he wondered. Shortly the priest, the Bishop of Pskov, Piotr Lodonov, finished his rites and stepped back. Aleksandr could see through the man's rich clothes to the hunched, wasted man inside. He had grown soft and fat in Constantinople - unprepared for the coldness of winter. That, and the plague that had swept through the land. Aleksandr shuddered once more as the Grand Prince of Pskov, Fedor, first of his name, drew in hacking, rattling breaths in his bed. Wracked by hysteria and paranoia in the last years of his life as his realm was attacked from all sides, Aleksandr's father had quickly succumbed to the new disease brought as God's punishment. Of course, the Prince's condition had been kept secret lest the rest of the world know of Pskov's weakness, but now the night, and the realm would rise again.

Crown Prince Aleksandr's reverie was interrupted by the soft voice of the chaplain.

"My Lord... The Grand Prince wishes to impart his last will and testament to you."

Aleksandr nodded solemnly and stepped forward to the foot of the bed, leaning over right in front of his father's face. Fedor's face, once lively and energetic, looked like he had been dead 5 years. His father's gaunt complexion made Aleksandr wince as the Grand Prince's voice, cracking and raspy, whispered to him.

"S...ssa.....save........"

Suddenly, Aleksandr moved his left hand up to his father's throat, clenching his bedclothes and twisting, cutting off the man's breath mid-sentence, his miniscule movements shielded from view by the position of his body.

"Father, I cannot understand you. Speak up, I beg of you.

The words rang hollow in his ears as the Grand Prince's words transformed into a gurgling and coughing fit which soon gave way to a final, skeletal, rasp of exhalation. Aleksandr stood solemnly and brushed himself off as the chaplain stood forward.

"The Prince is dead. Long live the Prince."

 

[driftwood]

A Greek Orthodox priest, making the rounds of the north, arrives bearing a notice.

Patriarch Joseph II has been reunited with God. A synod of bishops and prelates has been summoned to meet at Constantinople, or Nicaea if that is not possible, to elect a new patriarch and to settle the disputes which have fractured the Orthodox church.

 

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Alyosha Berezov presents a letter from Kniaz Yuri of Vladimir-Suzdal:

"Dear cousin;

We are saddened to hear of the passing to be with God of your father, our dear friend Fedor. You may be sure that as long as the line of Monomakh draws breath in Vladimir-Suzdal, we will honor our commitment to Pskov and the Little Alliance.

Yuri, Kniaz of Vladimir-Suzdal, heir of Monomakh."

 

[Legolas]

[A letter arrives from Vilnius]

"Noble Grand Prince Alexander IV,

Indeed it is so that Lithuania has interfered in this war on the side of Muscowy and Novgorod. And this war has caused many damage to both our countries, which we did not wish to get. I am willing to sign the peace with your Pskov.

May all of Russia live in peace, and may Lithuania live in peace with Russia too!

Signed,
Magnus Dux Vytautas of Lithuania"