Hi!
So I'm kind of new to the forums here, but after a long time of procrastinating I decided to make an AAR. This is going to be a “Latin” AAR, starting as a custom Duke of Achaia, with SMHW+PB mods turned on (and some minor gameplay and cosmetic mods). I am going to try to keep it as narrative-focused as possible, with some history book interludes, and gameplay footnotes.
So, without further ado, here is our hero of the story: Sebastiaen “Romanos” Van Riseborgh.
A young, ambitious lad from the Lowlands, with dreams of being a chivalrous knight and a Crusader of renown. He soon came to realize that the world wasn’t a very chivalrous place to be in, when he was there during the sack of Constantinople. He went to Venice with dreams of battling infidels, not Greeks! This made him a cynical man, who thought negatively about crusading and had his doubts about the church.
His youth had been a pleasant one: the son of a minor noble from the countryside of Het Sticht, He grew up in the cities of Flanders, learning French and some English. His tutor had been a student under Alain of Lille, and had known a bit about Abelard. The boy had always been quick to learn, and had been trained by the troops of the count of Flanders. That same count had seen the boy grow to be a tall, intelligent man, and a good fighter. For those reasons, he took the boy with him in his personal retinue on the fourth crusade, together with Sebastiaens friends Guillaume, Pieter and David.
This is where the boy died, and became a man. And this is where our story begins.
Prologue, Chapter I: A cold night.
‘It’s cold tonight.’ Pieter said, ‘colder than it is normally, that is.’ He threw his cloak over his shoulder. ‘Hey, at least you still have a cloak, those bloody Venetians took mine.’ Guillaume was shivering. ’You were the one who couldn’t pay up for your crossing when they came for your “economical support” for the city, slugbrain ’, David scowled. ‘Because you just had to “experience” some Italian girls, didn’t you?’
‘Godverd- I’m trying to sleep here.’ Sebastiaen threw off the large pelt that covered his body on deck. ’is that too much to ask?’ ’He started it’ David pointed at Pieter. ‘Complain to him, not me.’ Pieter’s face turned sour. ‘oh, we’re going to play the blame game? Well, whose idea was it to go on a crusade anyway? I wish I was back home, I could just become a merchant, and have a normal, happy life, but noooo, mister it’s-not-my-fault here just had to convince us to go on a crusade’.
‘Hey, this wasn’t my idea of a crusade either, but-’ David was interrupted by a long, deep “boeuhhhhoeeeuuuuhhh”. ‘What’s that? A horn? They’re calling us to arms? But we only passed Istria a few days ago. We’re still in the Adriatic, right? Then why-‘ But Sebastiaen too couldn’t finish talking, for the horn sounded again: “boeuhhhhoeeeuuuuhhh”, and people started moving on the decks of the galleys.
‘Those lights,’ Pieter said. ‘Is that- is that a city?’ A Venetian sailor hurried by. ‘Scusi, seigneur’ Guillaume called out ‘what’s happening?’ ’What’s happening? We’re attacking, that is what is happening! ’
The boys from the city looked slightly confused ‘but, but, we aren’t in the holy land yet?’ Said Pieter. ‘The holy land?’ the sailor started laughing. ‘ha, no boys, we haven’t reached the holy land yet, not by a long shot.’ ‘But, then where are we?’
‘This,’ the sailor pointed, ‘this is the city of Zara. And this is where you crusaders can pay your debts.’
So I'm kind of new to the forums here, but after a long time of procrastinating I decided to make an AAR. This is going to be a “Latin” AAR, starting as a custom Duke of Achaia, with SMHW+PB mods turned on (and some minor gameplay and cosmetic mods). I am going to try to keep it as narrative-focused as possible, with some history book interludes, and gameplay footnotes.
So, without further ado, here is our hero of the story: Sebastiaen “Romanos” Van Riseborgh.
A young, ambitious lad from the Lowlands, with dreams of being a chivalrous knight and a Crusader of renown. He soon came to realize that the world wasn’t a very chivalrous place to be in, when he was there during the sack of Constantinople. He went to Venice with dreams of battling infidels, not Greeks! This made him a cynical man, who thought negatively about crusading and had his doubts about the church.
His youth had been a pleasant one: the son of a minor noble from the countryside of Het Sticht, He grew up in the cities of Flanders, learning French and some English. His tutor had been a student under Alain of Lille, and had known a bit about Abelard. The boy had always been quick to learn, and had been trained by the troops of the count of Flanders. That same count had seen the boy grow to be a tall, intelligent man, and a good fighter. For those reasons, he took the boy with him in his personal retinue on the fourth crusade, together with Sebastiaens friends Guillaume, Pieter and David.
This is where the boy died, and became a man. And this is where our story begins.
Prologue, Chapter I: A cold night.
‘It’s cold tonight.’ Pieter said, ‘colder than it is normally, that is.’ He threw his cloak over his shoulder. ‘Hey, at least you still have a cloak, those bloody Venetians took mine.’ Guillaume was shivering. ’You were the one who couldn’t pay up for your crossing when they came for your “economical support” for the city, slugbrain ’, David scowled. ‘Because you just had to “experience” some Italian girls, didn’t you?’
‘Godverd- I’m trying to sleep here.’ Sebastiaen threw off the large pelt that covered his body on deck. ’is that too much to ask?’ ’He started it’ David pointed at Pieter. ‘Complain to him, not me.’ Pieter’s face turned sour. ‘oh, we’re going to play the blame game? Well, whose idea was it to go on a crusade anyway? I wish I was back home, I could just become a merchant, and have a normal, happy life, but noooo, mister it’s-not-my-fault here just had to convince us to go on a crusade’.
‘Hey, this wasn’t my idea of a crusade either, but-’ David was interrupted by a long, deep “boeuhhhhoeeeuuuuhhh”. ‘What’s that? A horn? They’re calling us to arms? But we only passed Istria a few days ago. We’re still in the Adriatic, right? Then why-‘ But Sebastiaen too couldn’t finish talking, for the horn sounded again: “boeuhhhhoeeeuuuuhhh”, and people started moving on the decks of the galleys.
‘Those lights,’ Pieter said. ‘Is that- is that a city?’ A Venetian sailor hurried by. ‘Scusi, seigneur’ Guillaume called out ‘what’s happening?’ ’What’s happening? We’re attacking, that is what is happening! ’
The boys from the city looked slightly confused ‘but, but, we aren’t in the holy land yet?’ Said Pieter. ‘The holy land?’ the sailor started laughing. ‘ha, no boys, we haven’t reached the holy land yet, not by a long shot.’ ‘But, then where are we?’
‘This,’ the sailor pointed, ‘this is the city of Zara. And this is where you crusaders can pay your debts.’
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