Krak des Chevaliers

[Carl von Döbeln]

Current Grandmaster: Raymond du Puy de Provence, until 1160

Hisn al Akrad, Krak de Chevaliers or Crac de l'Ospital as it also known, is one of the greatest castles ever built in the outremer. It is the headquarters of the order of St. John, the Knights Hospitaller. Between 1142 and 1144 Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, granted the order property in the County. Hospitallers soon effectively established a "palatinate" within Tripoli, and made Krak des Chevaliers a centre of administration for their new property. The order's agreement with Raymond II allowed them to almost completely dominate the area; if Raymond II did not accompany the Knights on campaign, the spoils belonged entirely to the order, and if he was present it was split equally between the count and the order. Raymond II also could not make peace with the Muslims without the permission of the Hospitallers.



The monastic hospitaller order was founded following the First Crusade by the Blessed Gerard. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond. His successor, Raymond du Puy de Provence, established the first significant Hospitaller infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Initially the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order soon extended to providing pilgrims with an armed escort, which soon grew into a substantial force.

The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar soon became the most powerful Christian groups in the area. The order came to distinguish itself in battle with the Muslims, its soldiers wearing a black surcoat with a white cross. The hospitallers are renowned for their skill in battle and their noble ways.

The order is exempt from all authority save that of the Pope, and it pays no tithes and is allowed its own religious buildings. The order is fiercely independent, and are known rivals to the Knights Templars...

[René Artois]

After a long and arduous journey, Gerard arrives at the castle with Godfrey and the rest of his crusaders. He looked at it with awe as they approached it.

[Carl von Döbeln]

Open the gates!

The massive wooden gates were pulled open infront of Gerard and Godfrey as they crossed the drawbridge. The journey had been long and tiresome, to say the least.

There is no greater castle than the Krak, you know.

[René Artois]

Gerard was still gobsmacked as they entered. It was so massive, it dwarfed anything he'd seen apart from cities like those they'd travelled through in Italy.
This is the base of the order?

[Carl von Döbeln]

Aye, the headquarters and centre of administration.

Godfrey replied as he guided his horse into the mighty fortress...

[René Artois]

Where do we go now?

[Carl von Döbeln]

To your quarters.

Godfrey soon dismounted and motioned for Gerard to follow him. He handed over the reins of his horse to one of his squires and nodded respectfully at a few of his brothers as he walked off...

[René Artois]

Gerard quickly shuffled after Godfrey, still in awe at the place and feeling slightly overwhelmed by it.
So what are my duties? Am I still to be your squire?

[Carl von Döbeln]

You have months of training ahead of you now.

Godfrey said as he pushed open the wooden door that led into Gerard's new quarters. It was a grand hall of stone, with simple beds spread throughout it.

This will be your home.

[René Artois]

This shall do me fine. Are we expected to fight any time soon?

[Carl von Döbeln]

You'll have to be trained first.

Godfrey smiled and ran a hand through his thick hair.

[René Artois]

Trained?

[Carl von Döbeln]

Aye.

Godfrey nodded stoically.

Now try get some sleep.

[Carl von Döbeln]

The months that followed were intense for Gerard, to say the least. He was moulded, crafted, beaten into shape. Day after day, week after week. Aye, the hospitallers were known for their noble ways, but when it came to battle and war, they were just as fierce as their rivals, the templars. For in order to be victorious against the vast muslim hordes, a knight had to be stronger and more skilled than a dozen saracens...

[René Artois]

Now he had undergone his training, Gerard now knew not only how to use his axe to fell trees, but to fight with. The strength he was blessed with allowed him to wield it in one hand as swiftly and elegantly as other men would do with smaller weapons. He knew alot more now about the land they were fighting in, and the people they fought. Godfrey had also managed to get into him at least some of the noble and valourous ways of the Hospitallers too. However, Gerard had yet to fully master riding horses, as his bruised body reminded him. Now he served as Godfrey's able squire, accompanying him and keeping his equipment in order.

[Carl von Döbeln]

The syrian desert was not a very friendly or welcoming place. It was rough, rocky and hot. Riding in full battle attire in that heat was not very comfortable either. They'd been riding for a day or so, escorting a large group of pilgrims through the perilous borderlands between Antioch and Tripoli...

[René Artois]

Gerard was sweating buckets as they made their way along the road. He had already decided that the heat was the main downside to the Holy Land.

[Carl von Döbeln]

My eyes betray me, Gerard.

Godfrey damned his old age.

See, at the horizon. Saracens?

[René Artois]

Gerard raised his arm and wiped the sweat off his brow, looking towards the horizon ahead of them. He nodded in agreement and gripped the reigns of his horse, nervous with anticipation, though trying to appear calm.
It's certainly the wrong direction for any friends to come from sir. Your orders?

[Carl von Döbeln]

Spread out.

Godfrey grabbed hold of the reins of his horse and stormed off to the right.

If they come closer, we'll have to charge.