You walk through the dusty corridors of old library at Epieros castle, long since fallen into dis-repair. The flashlight of the team-leader for this dig sweeps the floor and walls, searching for anything worth selling -- there's a good market these days for old artifacts. You turn into a side room, away from your companions; something has caught your eye. It is a jewel, embedded into a book cover. You go to pry it out, but something compels you to open it instead. Noting several other books nearby with the same jewel, you then open it up; the ink on the author's name has faded, but the date clearly states 1765. This is the Choniates Books, the untold story of the House of Choniates, the Medieval family that for many years resided in this very castle. The one you have picked up states in massive silver-encrusted letters: The Book of Leon Choniates, made Count of Epieros in the year of our lord 1,066.
Prologue - The rise of Leon Choniates
Prologue - The rise of Leon Choniates
Our tale begins in the year 1,066 of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ, the year that William the Bastard drove the dastardly Northmen from England, and the year that Leon Choniates inherited the County of Epieros. Epieros itself had a powerful history in ancient lore, being home to one of ancient Rome's most formidable enemies: Pyrrhus of Epirus, a distant relative of Alexander the Great, whose campaign against the newly-empowered Republic had resulted in such loss of life that, despite tactical victory, he had to withdraw for not being able to sustain such casualties -- thus the term "Pyrrhic Victory" was coined. Pyrrhus went on to briefly rule Sicily, until Rome--allied with Carthage--drove him out. He is alleged to have died during a street-by-street battle in the city of Sparta, when an old woman stood atop a building and--recognizing her son as the one under assault by Pyrrhus--tossed a brick at him, and killed him.
Far from being a relative of Alexander the Great, Leon Choniates was from poor Noble birth. Wise beyond his years, he was always noted for honourable conduct, reserved intellect, and a respectable tough-guy personality that truly inspired men to follow him. He also had a severe lisp, and no fewer than six noblemen had met their death at the hands of a duel, for making fun of this fact. Throughout his youth, he had grown accustomed to being invited to the current count of Epieros' hunting expeditions. An old man, even when Leon was young, the Count was Harold Apaxos, a half-Macedonian/half-Austrian noted for his aloofness to Epirote history, culture, and customs. He was also noted for his odd--some might say horrific--family life. His wife had dissapeared under unknown circumstances, but it was generally believed that he had slain her. That he had slain his seven sons, however, was a matter of public record. He was not a good leader himself, but he was aware of his inabilities. He was dismayed when none of his sons--once they became full-grown men--surpassed him in terms of being good leaders. In the end he had them all slain by his castle gaurd, on the terms that the gaurds could keep anything they took from the dead sons.
It was this desire to leave behind a successor that surpassed his own self that led Harold Apaxos to take an interest in Leon Choniates. From an early age, Leon was being unknowlingly groomed for succession; a supposition which far surpassed Leon's own assumptions that Harold merely wanted him as a retainer. All of Leon's knightly training was paid for by Harold, all of the Choniates family debt that had fallen upon Leon was also paid off by Harold. Anything that could have been done for Leon was done, and Leon was never spoiled by it.
It comes as no surprise, then, that on the night before Harold Apaxos' latest Hunting Expedition he proclaimed Leon Choniates his official heir. The news spread like wildfire accross Epieros. By this point Leon Choniates was well-known around the county. The peasants liked him, and the Nobleman--whether sincere or not--gave him an almost unanimous nod of approval. The clergy and burghers, however, were not so well decided. Leon was well-known for his honor and valour, but just how religious he was could not so easily be divined. Under Harold Apaxos, who had not imposed religion of any kind on Epieros, the Burghers had flourished, and the clergy had become increasingly problematic. Both sides had alot in stake with the newcomer. In any event, the announcement was supposed to be well in advance of the succession. Nobody could have predicted what happened during the hunt.
It was a foggy morning when the expedition set out for the hunt. Over one-hundred well-armed noblemen on horse-back; one would think you'd need to be insane to assault such a group, yet that is exactly what happened. Three hundred bandits, roving northwards from some greek province or another, beset the Noblemen. A furious battle ensued, in which Leon was credited with no less than 40 kills, and not a single bandit survived. On the other hand, 20 of the roughly 100 Nobles had been slain, including Count Harold Apaxos. The hunt was over, and the rest of Spring was the calm before the storm...
As Spring drew to a close, and Summer came over Epieros, things were coming to a head. On one hand, there were the forces of the succession, led by Leon Choniates himself, backed by the peasants and to some extent the Burghers, as well as a small portion of the Nobility. On the other hand there was a bastard some of the late Count named Romanus Apaxos, who had gathered support of the Clergy by promising to set up a strong religious--almost theocratic--regime, and through the Church he had managed to gather most of the Nobility as well.
It came to a head at the Battle of the Bridge, in late August. A fierce wind had picked up, and storm clouds gathered overhead as the armies marched towards one another. Between the two armies, lay a surging river, and accross that river lay a powerful stone bridge. As the armies came within range, the archers let fly with their bows--only to find that the wind blew their arrows off-course. Not much later, it began to rain; making bow-strings impotent in short order, and turning the ground to mud. In a show of solidarity with the footmen in his force, Leon Choniates got off his horse--practically daring the other nobles in his force to join him on the ground--and led the charge accross the bridge. The casualties were horrific, at over 75% dead and only 2% coming through without serious wounds. All the fighting took place on the Bridge, Romanus Apaxos finally fleeing when night fell, leaving the rest of his men to surrender when day broke, and they discovered the bastard child had fled.
And so it came to pass that the only true obstacle to Leon Choniates' rise to power in Epieros was beaten. By December, the county was firmly in his hands, and he was coronated as count Leon the First. This is where the tale of the Choniates dynasty begins.