Will we appear in the story?
Just a short mentioning, pleeeaase?
(And I don't do any stupid, bad or silly things, remember that!)
Just a short mentioning, pleeeaase?
(And I don't do any stupid, bad or silly things, remember that!)
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This thread is more than 5 months old.
It is very likely that it does not need any further discussion and thus bumping it serves no purpose. If you feel it is necessary to make a new reply, you can still do so though.
Capibara said:Let's see...
Quinto Orteni
I'm working on the upadte right now, I'll probably post it tomorrow
I am impressed! Didn't think it would be that easy. Then again I should have remembered Italian comes from Latin, where Q was a quite often used letter.
Ahura Mazda said:Will we appear in the story?
Just a short mentioning, pleeeaase?
(And I don't do any stupid, bad or silly things, remember that!)
You'll have your appearence, don't worry, maybe sooner than you expect
, about the other stuff, I can't assure you anything 
Slinky's is cooler than mine, but Salvatore Nuglio's not that bad either.Capibara said:Here we have our two newest Italian friends:
Snugglie: Salvatore Nuglio (there you go!
Slinky: Sergio Leone Inchi (remember italian chi pronounces like ky)
B in Italian is a bit similar to w (Atleast I think so...)
[RAMBLING]Maybe we're going to be a group of Milanese prisoners who shall be executed. But Auro Mazdi manages to talk himself out of it and then the brave hero frees his friends (who are a little bit less clever, less handsome and weaker then himself, but loyal until death). Then they return to the great city of Milan, under siege by the Siennse. Alone the lift the siege (though Auro Mazdi is the greatest hero of course) The rest of the AAR is about the deeds of Auro Mazdi & co.[/RAMBLING]
[RAMBLING]Maybe we're going to be a group of Milanese prisoners who shall be executed. But Auro Mazdi manages to talk himself out of it and then the brave hero frees his friends (who are a little bit less clever, less handsome and weaker then himself, but loyal until death). Then they return to the great city of Milan, under siege by the Siennse. Alone the lift the siege (though Auro Mazdi is the greatest hero of course) The rest of the AAR is about the deeds of Auro Mazdi & co.[/RAMBLING]
[Speculating]But only after he is shamefully defeated in fencing by the ultimately glorious, promiscuous and evil Salvatore Nuglio, of course.Ahura Mazda said:
This disgrace will then follow him forever, and eventually cause bed-wetting and low self-efficacy.[/Speculating]
But then the brave king Ernesto "Ucello" Ranieri VII defeats every last man of the enemy army. When he honourably dies defending his countrymen he is canonised and revered as the patron saint of Italy!Snugglie said:[Speculating]But only after he is shamefully defeated in fencing by the ultimately glorious, promiscuous and evil Salvatore Nuglio, of course.
THE END!!!
I must post an update soon or this will get out of control...
Remember the ACAs Q2 2008 are up, don't forget to vote for this AAR if you like it in the category of Best EU3 Narrative AAR.
Remember the ACAs Q2 2008 are up, don't forget to vote for this AAR if you like it in the category of Best EU3 Narrative AAR.
Chapter III
The Story of Giulio Franchini
The Story of Giulio Franchini
“I was born in Bologna thirty years ago, my mother died when she gave birth to me, so my father, a professor in the university, had to take care of me by himself. He was good looking and could have married another time, but he never did, I think he did it for respect of my mother’s memory. I used to spend hours in my father library, reading everything that fell into my hands; because of this I never had many friends, but on the contrary, I gained a lot of knowledge. My path was clear, I would soon enter the university and follow my father steps, as he wished. But one person changed all of this: my uncle. Sometimes I would go to my uncle’s house, while my father was teaching at the university and he would tell me stories about battles and wars, I found it interesting, but I had never consider entering the army.”
“This would change about eleven years ago. That year, Bologna was involved in a war against Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti wanted to consolidate his hegemony over northern Italy, and Bologna was one of his main targets, so he assembled an army and marched towards the city. Our ruler, Giovanni I Bentivoglio, along with our allies from Florence, met the Milanese army near Casalecchio di Reno. My uncle was among the soldiers of the Bolognese army. He fought side to side with Bentivoglio, until the end, when he was killed. My uncle himself was badly hurt, but survived. I visited him a couple of days later, while he was still in bed. The wounds made him stay still, every single movement caused him pain. He described the entire battle, how the soldiers fell in screams of pain, the blood everywhere, the last efforts of his companions to protect their commander and how the Milanese had shown no mercy against them. I was very impressed by his tale. Summed to that, we had the Milanese occupying and sacking the city. Fortunately, Visconti died some weeks later and they had to retreat back to Milan. However, they left destruction behind them. My uncle died a couple of days after the Milanese abandoned the city. I swore I would avenge him and that I would never let Bologna fall to an enemy again. That’s how I decided to enter the army.”
“What happened next?” asked Giovanni, clearly interested in his companions tale.
“After taking my decision, there were still some issues to deal with, mainly my father. I decided to wait until the funeral of my uncle passed and things calmed down in the city. My uncle was buried in the family grave in a cemetery near the Towers. My father was destroyed; he and my uncle were very closed. I knew convincing my father of my new path would be difficult, especially with the death of my uncle. I still waited for a month, during which I continued with my life as if nothing had happened: reading, although this time I focused on war books. I wanted to be ready for when the time came. Then the time arrived. One day, after dinner, we were sitting in the library talking about the occupation of the city by the Papal State and how young Anton Galeazzo Bentivoglio was trying to recover the city from the Pope. That’s when I decided to tell him. His first reaction was incredulity, he thought I was joking and laughed, but when he realized I was talking for real, his features became serious in a matter of seconds and he looked at me with a mix of disappointment and sadness. He didn’t get angry, he didn’t shout. He talked to me in a calmed way, asking for my reasons and trying to get me back to my old way of life, reminding me what had happened to my uncle, but my decision was made, and nothing of what he could possibly say would change my mind. As he began to understand he would not be able to change me, the sorrow in his face grew and after remaining silent, sunk in his own thoughts, he looked at me, wished me luck and made me exit the room.”
“That was the last time I talked with him. Next day I left at dawn, I knew that neither one of us could keep going with this, so I woke up very early hoping he wouldn’t hear, I grabbed some cloths and abandoned my house. But I hadn’t been as quiet as I thought. As I turned around to see my house for the last time I saw my father looking at me from the window, he waved his hand saying goodbye, I just nodded with my head”.
“After this bitter goodbye, my adventures started. That same day I arrived to the barracks of the city, where the new captain, recently appointed by the Pope himself, was recruiting new men. After more than an hour of line, it was my turn to solicit my entrance to the army. I remember the recruiter sweeping me from head to feet, and then looking at me, as if it was a joke. He could barely suppress his laughter. I must admit, I never had been of the athletic kind. I was tall, but very slim and I hadn’t eaten well in the last month. I hadn’t the type of body someone would expect from a soldier, but the lack of soldiers after the war with Milan made him accept me.”
“Those were probably the harshest months of my life. I had to work hard to prevent the captain from expelling me. I slept on the floor and ate something that didn’t look like food, I still fell nausea when I think of it. But that was nothing. I had to endure the mockeries from the veteran soldiers, who, although they did it with all the recruits, seemed to have a special ‘attention’ with me. But I resisted, and this toughened me. I learned how to use the sword, the bow, how to attack and how to defend, how to lay siege to an enemy fortress. Everything was different from that that I’ve read on books. It was more intense, and I could feel it in my own skin.”
“The best part hadn’t arrived yet, though. After almost a year of daily training I could consider myself a professional soldier. But I hadn’t been in a battle yet. Peace has reigned in the region since the war against Milan and now Bologna was under Papal protection, Visconti didn’t dare moving a finger against us. Who would think my first assignment would be against pirates? That’s right, pirates. During the last month, there had been an increased activity of Ottoman pirates in the Adriatic, harassing the merchant fleets that were sailing towards Constantinople. The strongest naval power of the region, Venice, couldn’t handle them completely, and it seemed the pirates weren’t satisfied with attacking ships and decided to land near Rimini. The city was practically undefended and its small garrison was crushed in a quick skirmish next to the beach. Rimini was undefended now, so the captain received orders to send help to the city, so he asked for volunteers. I had been awaiting a battle for so long I didn’t hesitate in offering myself. Soon more fellow soldiers joined me and we were soon ready to march towards Rimini.”
“After a march of two days we arrived at the outskirts of Rimini that resisted with a lot of effort the pirates’ attacks. They were more numerous than we had expected, we were evenly matched. We waited until nightfall before we started moving. When the darkness had surrounded us, we moved slowly towards the pirate camp. We would have to rely on the surprise element in order to defeat them with the least casualties possible. The Captain divided us in two groups. We would surround the enemy camp and kill as many as we could before they could give the voice of alarm. The plan was executed almost perfectly. My group took the west side of the camp and divided itself into smaller groups. My group was the one to enter the first tent. There were about eight pirates sleeping there, unaware of the danger that was approaching them. I was very nervous, I had waited for this moment for a long time, but I never thought I would be killing my enemy this way. I thought the beating of my heart would ruin everything, but the Turks didn’t wake up. Our group leader gave to order moving his hand and so it began.”
“I drew out my sword and walked towards the nearest pirate. I felt all my body shaking as I prepared myself for the kill. But I had no time for that. Screams on the other side of the camp revealed us something had gone wrong, one of my companions killed my pirate in no time and we exited the tent to find out what was going on. I later learned that one of our soldiers had tripped with a bag and alerted the pirates in that tent, after that it didn’t take long before the alarm propagated across the camp. We exited the tent and saw pirates exiting their tents, looking for the intruder and their swords ready to kill him.”
“All organization was lost in that moment. Every man was just fighting for their life. I soon found myself battling against a particularly big enemy, very strong, but not very agile. After dodging a few of his blows, I nailed my sword to his knee with all my strength. I heard his scream of pain. Blood splashed all over my clothes as I took my sword out and I gave him the final blow in the chest. He fell without a sound. It was my first kill. The battle raged for an hour or so, during which I put in practice all the things I’ve learned during the last year. However, our companion’s little mistake cost us a great deal of lives. We managed to defeat the pirates, but at a great cost, many of our dead were soldiers of my generation, recruited after the Milanese war. The people of Rimini treated us as heroes, but I could feel the grief among my companions. That was my first war experience, but I wouldn’t be the last.”
“We returned to Bologna two days later just to find out that war with Naples was imminent and that we should get ready to move south as soon as the captain ordered it. We had less than a week to recover our strength and be prepared to move towards Rome. This would be a real war, not just a skirmish against Turkish pirates. The expectance of this new war made me forget quickly the previous experience. It was time to focus on the war against the Neapolitans.”
“We arrived at Rome one week later. I was astonished by the Eternal City’s beauty. No doubt it had been the capital of the greatest empire for so long. That wasn’t my only surprise, the Papal army was big and disciplined, whereas ours still hadn’t recovered from the previous year events. It was an honor for me to fight along such a great army. However, not all the soldiers were like this. There was a particular group that exemplified this better than anyone. They were called “The Bulls”, they were a group of soldiers from all across Italy, mercenaries, but they had fought for the Pope for some time now. They were said to be tough soldiers, the best of their kind.
“I remember them well: their leader was Giacomo ‘Goma’ Gusci, he was son of an Italian merchant but he had been born in northern Germany, in Mecklenburg, he was an excellent swordsman, although he sometimes had a German accent when speaking. Then, they were his two lieutenants: Enzo Nebaldi from Pisa and Auro Mazdi from Genoa, the first one had traveled across all of Europe and knew more tales than anyone, he could make a night very short with his stories; as for Mazdi, he was a great admirer of oriental cultures and was better to one when using a bow. The other four of them were excellent fighters as well: Roberto Ordini Ursone, from Torino, was probably the strongest of the seven, he carried a sword that had to be wielded with both hands, but he knew how to use it, and he proved it in several battles in fought along with him. Salvatore Nuglio was the creepier of them, he came from Palermo: tall, with long hair, he enjoyed every single kill he made, his eyes were like frozen lakes, but he was an excellent comrade and had an excellent taste for women. Sergio Leone Inchi, the only Roman of the group, was a master with knives, he actually preferred them to swords, he was swift and deadly. And finally, Quinto Orteni, from Florence, he was a great with the axe and was an unstoppable drinker, he could present to battle drunk.”
“Those were the Seven Bulls, great comrades and superb fighters, they had been apprehended several times for indiscipline, but eventually, they were always released, their help in battle was too valuable. The day I arrived to Rome I had the luck of staying next to their tent in the camp. They had organized a party that night and Orteni, who was returning from a tavern with beer, saw me sitting outside of my tent, alone, so he decided to invite me to their party. They received me as one of them and we stayed awake all night singing, hearing tales from Baldi and drinking.”
“I woke up with a severe headache, and to my surprise, Gusci and company were already awake and arming themselves. “Giulio, get up” Mazdi told me “The army is assembling, we are going to battle”. I got up and went to my tent for my arms. What surprised me the most was that they were completely fresh and ready, as if nothing had happened last night. With a lot of effort I managed to get ready. I was sure the captain would punish me for being late, so I ran towards my unit, but I was stopped by Ordini, who invited me to join them in battle. I tried to refuse alleging that would get me in trouble, but he just laughed and told “they would take care of that situation”. So that’s how I joined the Bulls. King Ladislas of Naples had decided to attack before everyone expected, so we had to get ready in a hurry, once again.”
“The battle took place south of Rome. As the brave and a little mad soldiers they were, Gusci ordered us to put in the very front line. I could feel the nerves again and I felt my heart has going to explode as we formed for the battle, Nuglio noticed this and gave me a smile, one of the few I ever saw from him and told me: “Don’t worry, I felt the same way during my first battle, but after killing the first enemy everything goes better. We’ll be protecting you as well, just focus on stabbing whoever gets in front of you.” I felt a little relieved by his words but still felt something could go wrong.”
“I don’t remember much of what happened next. After what seemed just a couple of seconds, I was in the middle of the battle, with the Bulls killing enemies here and there. I could have stared at them during the whole battle, but I have my own business to mind about. Enemy soldiers approached from one side and another and I swung my sword with an ability that surprised myself. I parried an attack, killed an attacker that was coming from another side and returned to the previous one. That was how the battle was developing. At some point I picked up another sword and fought two are three enemies at once. I could see during the short periods of time I hadn’t an enemy in front of me how Orteni chopped heads with his axe as if they were melons, Mazdi firing arrows at an incredible speed and Nuglio with a smile in his face every time his sword killed another enemy. We fought until the sun began to hide on the horizon. The field was full of corpses and I felt agitated and active, despite of being fighting all day. I was covered in blood, I recall Inchi congratulating me for my first battle and how Orteni was already talking about a celebration in a tavern that night.”
“The war continued for another couple of months before Ladislas was forced to retreat and sign peace with the Pope. During that time I fought several more battles and gained experience fighting along with the Bulls. After the war was over I decided to join them. I traveled with them across Italy, Northern Africa and Spain for years, fighting against Moors, Frenchmen, pirates and all class of enemies for years, I could spend a week telling you all the adventures I had during those years, but that will be another day. However, about three years ago, I decided it was time to return to Bologna, so I communicated them my decision, which they accepted without question and I returned home. I have never seen them since then. That’s when I received the notice that my father had died a year ago and had left me everything. I returned to my house one last time. The work of time could be seen all across it, everything was old, broken, full of spider webs and dust. For some reason, the only room of the house that seemed untouched by time was the library with all its books still there. I picked the books that I liked the most and after that I sold the rest, along with the house. I had no need of it, since I would continue living in the barracks.”
“There has not been a lot of activity during this year, so this will be a good return to the world of war, which I must say, I miss and finally I’ll get the chance to fight against Milan. That’s my story, what about yours?”
“Well, after such a great story, ours are not that interesting” said Giuseppe “although I would like to talk with you about Dante someday, but right now I think we should get some sleep, maybe tomorrow we’ll have our first battle.”
“You’re right” said Giulio “Good night.”
“Good night” said Giuseppe and Giovanni at the same time.
Oh my... you are aware that you've just managed to get a few very, very dedicated fans here, don't you, Capibara? A sadistic womaniser from Naples, wonderful.
Here's to hoping that the Bulls will make a return somewhere in the story, I love reading person portraits!
A sadistic womaniser from Naples, wonderful. Here's to hoping that the Bulls will make a return somewhere in the story, I love reading person portraits!
Hey, maybe you'll be the pope!EUROO7 said:What about Ernesto "Ucello" Ranieri VII?!?!?
Oh, I see, you are waiting for the opportune time to bring him to light so that he is the true hero of the story!
Right?!?! Right?!?!?!
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