Nicolaus sits at his desk in his office of the garrison quarters, putting quill to parchment on the subject of the papal army wages. There is a brief knock on the door as he looks up to see the captain of the guard enter the room and salute.
"Sir, His Eminence, Cardinal Evio de Genova to see you.", the captain announced.
Before Nicolaus could acknowledge the captain, Cardinal Evio stepped through the door and stood to the side of the captain. Nicolaus nodded to the captain and dismissed him,
"Thank you, captain. That will be all." Signalling the captain to exit the office and close to door. Rising from his seat, Nicolaus made eye contact with the Cardinal.
"Your Eminence", he started,
"please, have a seat." he gestured to the seat on the opposite side of his desk. The Cardinal shook his head.
"What I have to tell you should only take a moment of your time, General - I know how busy you must be." Nicolaus feigned a flattered smile before regaining composure and listening intently.
"Reports from the Tuscan town of Pisa raise concern within the College. Reports of gross mistreatment of citizens at the hands of the town militia under orders of the local administration, whose failings have caused the harvest to fail this year, and as a consequence, many have lost their lives to starvation."
The Cardinal paced the office, observing a map of Lazio hung on the wall as he continued under the watching eyes of Nicolaus.
"The citizens of Pisa protest, but are silenced by the militia who are believed to have razed one household to the ground already, killing the family within it."
Nicolaus cleared his throat and enquired,
"What does Your Eminence ask of me?"
The Cardinal turned away from the map to face the Captain General directly,
"His Holiness, Pope Paschalis, and the College of Cardinals have decreed that the papal army shall march to Tuscany, liberate the people of Pisa, and appoint a new administration. Until such time as an appropriate claimant to preside over the Tuscan people is identified, Tuscany shall become a papal state. Make preparations for the army to leave once Winter has passed."
Nicolaus nodded firmly,
"As His Holiness commands."
Cardinal Evio acknowledged the General's acceptance of the task with a formal bowing of his head, before exiting the office and closing the door behind him.
Nicolaus returned to the seat at his desk, peered at his earlier scrawls, before spotting an error, muttering to himself, and proceeded to scribble it out.