[SS6.4] Christ ist erstanden [updated 02/02/2013]

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Info:
SS6.4 BftB 2.0
Late campaign
Teutonic order
(Lusted AI, H/H, BGR II)
Introduction:
I've been thinking since long to do an AAR for my favourite faction; the German Order, and finally mustered the effort to start one. I do not know how long I will continue with it and how often I will update it (since I spend 5 days of the week at University).

Feedback is always appreciated.
(This is my first try, more experienced readers will probably notice the chapters get longer as I continue, I've noticed this myself too )

The story is formulated as a series of notes, letters and journal entries by a young German knight: Wilhelmus Von Hersfeld. I will try to make his words and thoughts sound as medieval as possible, which means they will not be friendly towards the Lithuanians and Rus. I do not have any personal problems with Baltic people's myself though.
There will be connections with actual history, but since it's a game you can't control every faction's doing so it will probably be completely historically inacurate by the end.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Christ ist erstanden

Part I. A new dawn

9th of April, 1253 A.D.

Dear Father,


Forgive me for not having written anything these last few weeks, yet as we approach our goal there are many tasks that require my attention.

We left the estates of Gdansk behind us yesterday, and have now officially arrived in the lands of the Order and will probably arrive at our destination within 2 days. I am extremely excited for what is to come and have found it hard to sleep these last few days. The lands here are not much different from our own beloved Saxony; low hills, pine and birch dominate the lands, and the thaw makes the ground glitter in the morning.

Uncle Siegfried has taught me alot about the Order during our travel, though he is still not fully adapted to the merging of them and his own Sword-brethren, yet he welcomes all means to get back at the heathens for what they did to his comrades at Schaulen 15 years ago.

But from what he has told me, the Order will be the answer to that threat. In the last 30 years, it has done things which could not be achieved unless guided by the hand of our Lord himself.
Pomesania, Samland, Prussia,... all have been baptised or destroyed and taken into this new Heavenly Kingdom of the North.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

And since they have merged with the once so glorious Brothers of the Sword they are an unstoppable wave. I still find it hard to believe that a military powerhouse like them, who have conquered so much land with so little men and resources, suddenly faced obliteration by those heathens. Uncle Siegfried told me of the battle at Schaulen: how the Samogithians jumped from the trees and dragged the valiant knights from their mounts, mutilating them and drowning them in the swamps. He is confidend it was nothing less than God's will he survived, and now he is determined to get even, I am honoured he asked me to join him.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

All this achieved by men who are driven by God's will, the Hochmeisters, like the current one: Poppo Von Osterna.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

From what I have heard, he is a bastion of faith, a wise diplomat and a magnificent general. Surely, with this man leading us we will deal with these barbarians in a matter of years.

Uncle Siegfried frowns when I speak these words: he tells of the vast woods that lie beyond our fortifications and how the local tribes, although subdued, still keep on rebelling against us, the spreaders of the True Word!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I pray that I will have the chance to take part in this hunt, for they are animals, and need to be scared out of their woods, into the fields, where we can ride them down.
If not, then we'll burn them out...


This way, my life will have a purpose. I know I was destined to join the clergy as your youngest son, dear father, but what good will copying ancient books and tending to the poor do us when the hordes of the east are at our doorstep? I'd rather face them myself and destroy this threat, so help me God!

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Part II. Misfortune and disappointment

14th of April, 1253

Dearest Father,

Oh Miserere Mei!
At last we have arrived at Mariënburg, the beating heart of the Order's operations, and what an imposing sight it is to behold, good father: Mighty towers of red bricks which look like flames that shoot up from the ground dominate the landscape. A mighty bastion of faith rests here among the peacefull fields.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It saddened me greatly though, once I was inside, to find out that the Hochmeister himself had left only 5 days earlier with his entire army, starting a new offensive to releave the city of Memel, which was having a lot of trouble from pagan raiders. I am now forced to wait in the area untill the first reinforcement party departs to consolidate the soon-to-be conquered lands.

Yet my stay in these allready conquered parts of the old Prussian tribes has astonished me several times as well: as we entered the castle we saw not only townsfolk and many German knights, but even more armoured pagans as well!
The frown on my face must have been very clear, since uncle Siegfried quickly informed me they were indeed local tribesmen, most of them baptised but all of them hired to fill the ranks. He explained that since the Northern Crusades started, there had always been a shortage of manpower: the knights and settlers from Germany were too few and lacked the knowledge of the surroundings and other tribes to maintain their holdings. So the crusade's leaders resorted to hiring their former enemies, although this also brought the risk of arming potential enemies, for their loyalty was sometimes questionable.

Yet the need of swords was greater than the threat of mutiny, so now Samlanders, Prussians and Sudovians ride along the Orders' finest, albeit with several paces in between them.
Some of these barbarians are rather fearsome, they lack the chivalry and valour us, the German knights, possess from birth. Instead, they look like pirates and vaguebonds, yet they appear to be effective, especially in dealing with local uprinsings. Though they once might have called each other brothers, they don't seem to have any problem now in skewering those who try to withstand their real lords.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Though the absence of the Hochmeister is rather disappointing, it did not stop me from getting cleaned up and marching to the Orders' headquarters, where I presented them with my Nobility edict. Tomorrow, me and several other new members will get formal instructions. We are not yet Deutschritter, but have to forefill a period of service as Sariantbrüder, yet as I recieved the white cloack with a Black T stitched on it, my heart glowed with joy and I felt my soul being strenghtend by the words of his Holyness the Pope and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will write again soon, father, but next time the letter will no longer be from Wilhelm Von Hersfeld, knight of the house of Hersfeld, but from Wilhelm, Sariantbruder of the German Order

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Part III. Prosperity

2nd of July, 1253

Good wishes to you dear father,

Forgive me father, for not having written you in so long, but the life of a Sariantbruder is well filled and I am spending every minute of every day in making sure I do it right.
I am also helping uncle Siegfried managing his new estate: he has recieved some land near Elbing, north of Marienburg, in compensation for his estates he lost after the dissolvement of the Livonian Order. As it mostly fell to my good brother Johannus to manage our own lands, and I will recieve my own piece if I rise up to the rank of Deutschritter, it is best I know how to defend and deal with it as soon as possible.
Though it is not all hard work of course, these thick woods provide us with enough deer and boar to hunt for age, the lager is good and the women are fine.
Though uncle Siegfried warns me to stick with the German settler girls, as the men say some of the pagan witches disguise themselves as native girls to lure men into their burrows in the woods and torture them. I know you always warned me for the gossip of others, but since I am the new one in the area I'd think it is for the best I follow his advice, though I must admit it is hard to spot the difference between the settler girls and the local ones after several kegs of wine.

Though I have more important and glorious news: several days ago a rider came from the east, bearing word that Hochmeister Von Osterna has destroyed the pagan raiders and even taken control of their bastion of Ragnita.
Word is that the Hochmeister and his army marched along the river Neman, driving away the pagans and destroying their heathen villages. The locals all fled to the castle of Ragnita, which is located next to the river on the opposite side, where they rallied to their devilish leader, Shvarno, known for his backstab methods and brutality.
The raiding had left their forces scattered across the woods, so only a small force was present when the Order started to siege the castle.
They had to hurry though, as it appeared another pagan leader was gathering forces to strike at the sieging Germans, yet due to their barbarian incompetence it took them too long to be usefull.
Our men had set up camp on the banks of the river and the Hochmeister ordered to build a pallisade from the coastline, between the castle and the woods, cutting off the besieged from their aid, not that it would have mattered.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

On the night of the 25th, God had granted them with a new moon, so under the cover of darkness, the Hochmeister ordered the attack, in all silence his forces attacked the walls with ladders from all sides.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As it turned out, the lazy pagan dogs had forgot to put up enough sentries, I wish I had been there, to see the look on their faces when they were woken up with a shower of arrows from their own walls!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It appeared that not even this was enough to quench the bloodthrist of their leader, and he rode out with his horde.
But by the will of the Divine Might, he was skewered by a javelin, just like many of those knights at Schaulen.The messager told us how their cheers hallowed the dark skies when they learned of the news.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The remainder of these pirates ran back inside, faster than they had come out, but were welcomed back with even more showers of arrows.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Wether they all burned or not, I do not know and do not care to ask, we can but pray that the fire might have purged their heathen souls as it burned their bodies.
But victory was ours and it was sweet, with barely any losses the Hochmeister had captured the most important fortification in Western Lithuania. Now the other pagans are left outiside to gaze at their lost powerhouse. If they attack, our armies will march out to aid the Hochmeister and his men, but I suspect the dogs will run back into the woods and hide, as they usually do.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Radzeer]

Good start! I really like BfB and I'm glad to see a story using that.
If I may have one comment: don't put pictures in separate spoilers, it's too many clicks!
Good luck, I'll be following.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Good start! I really like BfB and I'm glad to see a story using that.
If I may have one comment: don't put pictures in separate spoilers, it's too many clicks!
Good luck, I'll be following.

thanks, that is really motivating post, so I'll definitely continue the tale. As I usually have one day to gather footage every week, I'll try to find some moments to correct/improve my older chapters (or is that against the ethics of AAR's?)

[Radzeer]

I'll try to find some moments to correct/improve my older chapters (or is that against the ethics of AAR's?)

No, you can correct/tweak older chapters at your convenience. The general rule is not to change anything that would alter the storyline as people usually don't go back and read previous chapters. But if it is about technical stuff like how you link pictures, format text, tweak grammar etc, that should be fine.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Part IV. Sad news from the West, Good news from the North and Rumours from the South

18th of November, 1253

Father,

It saddens me to find out Johannus has taken ill, especially with this early winter striking down upon the lands. These next few months will be hard, probably harder than other years, but Johan is strong and I am fully confidend that he will come out a stronger man. Though I have been questioning myself what great mischief he must have committed that Almighty God would cures him with this Typhoid fever.Tell him I pray for him at mass and that he should do the same.
But it saddens me just as much you keep believing that quakery from that mad old hag from the village, I know we have had this discussion too often already but you are only causing harm to yourself and the rest of the family!
SHE IS A WITCH, every one in the county agrees, the abbot has demanded her to be inquired yet you keep protecting her! It does not make sense: either she is not a witch, in which case the bishop will prove so and she will have nothing to fear.
Or she is a witch, and thus that Satanic whore deserves to be strangled and burned like the rest of them. I have seen the witches being burned at the stakes in Konigsberg, they are a digusting sight: half-beast, half-woman, with head like spiders webs, discoloured hands and feet and eyes without a soul in them, finally they are being driven out of the woods and dealt with. I do not weep for those who already have comitted their souls to hell.
Would you truley trust the health of your son, your eldest one above all, he that will once inherit all that is now yours, to someone that looks more disgusting than the people she 'helps'?
I am aware that my words might not change your mind and that here, in the thick forests of Bartia, I am too far away to make you see the truth behind her lies, yet I urge you father: Repent! These curses by our beloved Lord will not end untill you start protecting the piety of the county you swore to serve. Who knows, this might be the reason Johan was afflicted in the first case.

I for myself see what blessings are recieved by those who serve our Heavenly Lord with all their heart:
A few weeks after I sent you the letter about our glorious victory at Ragnita, word arrived that Grosskomtur Anno, the second of our Order, had started an invasion of Samogithia. As most of the tribal lords had moved their forces south to deal with new threats coming from our newly aquired fortress, the northern defences of Siauliai were poorly defended. Our leaders are truely magnificent tacticians, as the Grosskomtur used this opportunity to strike and start dealing with these most brutal of all pagan tribes.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Not soon afterwards, all able Brethren were summoned to Mariënburg, where we were asked by the Lord High Marshall himself, Herr Luther Balk, to join him and to reinforce the expedition that the Hochmeister had undertaken. His words made such an impression on my mind that I can recite them without problem:
"Brüder!
We all know that you are here, only driven by the desire to do God's work, and willing to give your life so that it can be done if that is what is God asks of you.
But I can assure you, our Heavenly Father has not and will never abandon us, which is what cannot be said from our foes: those who refuse to accept the True Word of Christ!
On the conterary, the Lord has been kind and has granted us victory upon victory in our ongoing quest: Ragnita has fallen to the forces of our Hochmeister, and the north of Samogithia is crumbling as our Grosskomtur and our brethern from Livonia are crusading their way south.
It will not be long before their forces meet and all together shall go for the heart of the Lithuanian lands, and drive their swords through it, as so it is God's will!
But between them and Vilnius still stand vast hordes of pagan warriors: bloodthristy animals that do not deserve the salvation we are offering them! They will be hunted down like boars and speared by our holy lances. Like the Jews once mercilessly speared our Lord Christ!
Yet we, and only we are the only hope for so many souls that are not yet baptised, and do not yet know that God loves them like he loves all of us! It is why we are here and what we shall do from henceforth.
You have all vowed your loyalty to the Order, and now your Order asks you to march with me: we will march to the East and stand next to our brothers who are already valiantly forfilling their vows in the dark forests of Lithuania.
I know that no one on this square lacks the courage and piety to follow me, so here I stand and ask you:
Will you follow me into darkened lands, and do the work of our Lord Holy God?"

Of course I do not need to tell you that the following moment, a wave of roars and shouts made the entire plaza tremble. Men proudly bashed on their shields and held their swords up high, lustering in the morning sun, as did I, after which all sang 'Christ ist erstanden', our hymn to Christ. Both uncle Siegfried and me signed up that day to take part in the expedition. the d me
After one more week of preparation, we commenced ourcedour march in the first snow of this year,our hearts and bodies warmed by our devotion to Christ and the glory that awaited us at the horizon.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

After a week's marching, we had set up camp near Heilsberg, one of the last major settlements before going into the vast, dark woods of Sudovia.
A small caravan passed, but suddenly there was a deal of shouting and snowballs and stones were flinged at a cart, in which an older man was chained by hands and feat. The few sergeants that were guarding the cart did not make any impression to interfere, yet encouraged my companions to insult the man.
Herr Balk asked the caravan to hold up for a while and discussed for some time with it's officer, as it appeared they came under orders from the Hochmeister himself.
I used this time to talk to one of the sergeants, it turned out the man was a Samogithian tribe leader and had been captured in a raid on a small village just beyond our newly conquered provinces. He himself had taken part in the raid and described proudly the actions of that day:

In the early morning of the 5th, a small band of knights and accompanying tribesmen had arrived at Rasania, or a similar place which was unknow to me. God had granted the advantage to our men that day: A blizzard was raging, which allowed the raiders to get into the village without being noticed. These were not commen tribal warriors, but Strutere: men who have made an art of raiding and who are experts and ambushing.
I heard of these men before, but never saw any: they are said to be a grim sight, and usually the last one of their enemies. They are clad in wolfskins and use axes to hack into armour and cripple horses.
As the blizzard settled up, it was already to late for the natives to try and force our men out, the small militia force that hastely put themselves in the village center was crushed by a charge of our knights.
Victory was swift and the tribals started looting the village, as they often do as compensation for their services.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In the great hall, the leader was found, guarded by a few surviving militiamen, after he explained who he was, he was taken prisoner and put on a caravan to Mariënburg, where he would be questioned and converted, if he chose to accept the Word of Christ.

I looked into the cage and saw the man, if that is what you call such a thing: covered in crude animal clothing, unwashed, unshaved, with a wild look in his eyes, hairy hands and feet and stinking like a corpse in the sun. Though I am not that far from my homelands, I realise I have entered a completely diffrent world, where the peoples are nothing like at home.

As we stayed at Heilsberg for a few more days to refill our supplies, I also heard rumours, coming from merchants and richer townsfolk.
Some of our envoys had been sent south by the Hochmeister, just before he left to fight up north. They encountered a tribe known as the 'Golden Horde', these are Easterlings who have conquered some of the Rus' principalities and now rule over them as their own lands. It is said that their kingdom expands further than a Western man has ever travelled. They have shown hostility towards Poland, raiding farms and villages, but little interest in the Lithuanian lands.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I would expect that we would go to war to these barbarians, as they threaten our Christian allies and are not the slightest interested in the Word of God. Thus, they are barbarians and heatens no diffrent from the pagan Lithuanians and thus also should be dealt with.
Instead, the envoys talked about trade and other trivial matters and have made several agreements with them! I do not understand this course of actions but I can only conclude that another war would strain our resources even more and would only endanger our original mission: to convert Lithuania. Yet I hope correct actions are taken in time, before we face an even bigger problem once we deal with the first one.

Uncle Siegfried not to worry about the Easterlings too much for now, and that I should focus on our expedition, as we will march onward into the vast forest and thick fog.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Part V. New experiences

9th of January, 1254

Good father,

I have not recieved any word from you since my last letter, I assume your letters have gone missing somewhere, as we are somewhat cut off from the world in these forests.
Yet as I write these words, I can assure you that you are no longer talking to the youngest of your children, but to a new man, crowned with my experiences of the last few weeks.

We arrived at the region of Ragnita a week before Christmas, where we stayed at a smaller encampment near the river. Here we waited for orders to join up with the main force. Through the course of a few days we waited, prayed, and heared news from messagers that passed by from and towards Ragnita. On Christmas eve, a rider arrived with news arrived that the small garrison of Siauliai had finally crumbled, but that our Grosskomtur had been greatly injured during the final assault. This is a terrible blow for the campaign, and all of us pray that he will recover very soon.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But all demanded revenge for this assault on our nearly holy and beloved leader and holy! Balk tried to calm the troops down, claiming that the enemy is no longer in these lands, but further inland. Siegfried and some of his comrades waved away this argument: stating that these lands may have been occupied, but not yet Christened. Heathens lived in the surrounding area, and all heathens were responsible. The next morning, a raiding party left for a small village which we had passed by just before arriving at the encampment. Siegfried himself had taken command, I was to stay close to him,as this was my first taste of battle.

The forests here are even thicker than I imagined, and the fog covers everything like an icy veil. But nonetheless we advanced in the morning. Our native scouts were eager to join us in our act of revenge, but I feel that they desired loot more than justice.

As we approached the village, the fog was already lifting up, and we could hear warning shouts and the town bell being rung. Our cover was blown, but our spirits still high.
As we marched through the first street of the village, a group of lumberjacks and peasants were gathering to resist us while doing our Holy task, but the knights dashed forward and rode them down.
I too charged forward, but by the time I reached the front line, the peasants were already running, seeing how they could not resist our might. The knights charged onward, cutting down the remaining assailants who tried to flee and hide, unable to stand their ground like real warriors.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As we followed the cowards back up the hill on which they appareantly built their town center, Siegfried halted the charge and ordered us to regroup, as we did not know to expect any ambushes in our pursuit. The native tribesmen we brought along started to set fire to the houses, after emptying them of all their valuables and inhabitants.
Many knights joined them in this pillage, but uncle Siegfried, a few other knights and myself dismounted and marched up the hill, accompanied by a band of Sudovians, watchfull of potential assaults from above.
But when we eventually arrived at the top, we faced a group of villagers, about 50 or 60 of them, mostly males, some armed with pitchforks and other simplistic tools. We advanced slowly, shields and swords ready for if they would sally forth. Suddenly, one of the peasants threw his fork at us, it landed in the ground, way in front of us.
At first I actually thought he threw away his weapon to surrender, but Siegfried saw it as an attempt to taunt us and ordered to charge onward.
The villagers had pinned themselves up on their hill which was ment to protect them, and as our lines clashed there were many, violent screams and a lot of confusion. I wrestled my way to the front line, where I saw how Siegfried brutally stabbed and then slashed into a pagan man, followed by a shout: "They are heathens, this is God's Will!"
In the final push that followed, I too found myself facing a pagan, it all happened quick, but I can clearly remember the look in his eyes for some reason: I think it was a mixture of fear and rage, but I thrusted forward my sword and skwered him.
The weight on my sword became heavier as he started to sink through his legs, and after I pulled it back out, I could feel warm blood dripping through my mail mittens. I was dazed for a moment there, but shouts of victory around me woke me back up.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

We were succesfull, our revenge was complete. The natives started to check the bodies for valuables and put some of the suffering ones out of their misery. Siegfried put his hand on my shoulder and we both looked from the edge of the hill to the village below, though part of it was obscured by smoke.
"Today you have become a real man,Wilhelm. Your family will be proud of you, and God will reward you for your work in his name."

I must admit that it was hard for me to find sleep that night, but I find confort in the fact that I have finally started doing what I was sent here for, and hope that I will continue to forefill my task better in the future.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Note I

Excerpt from the Codex Admont, written in 1237 A.D.:



'Christ ist erstanden

Von den Marter alle

Des solln wir alle froh sein

Christ will unser Trost sein

Kyrieleis'

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

I know I havn't put much work in this so far, but I've had a lot of things to take care of in my personal life.
Since in the meantime I havn't seen much response on this, I would like to ask if there are people who still follow this and would like it to continue, because the campaign goes really slow when you are trying to put a story in it.

[Tigellinus]

I only found this now. Noticed it because you commented on it

A good read so yeah I'll be following

CONTINUE!

Thanks

Tigellinus

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

I only found this now. Noticed it because you commented on it

A good read so yeah I'll be following

CONTINUE!

Thanks

Tigellinus

Good, that's all I needed

(and +rep for using same profile picture )

[Tigellinus]

Haha wow thanks mate!

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Part VI. Feeling like Sisyphus

12th of June, 1254

Father,

It has been long, too long since I have written a letter, but my days are full and letters barely reach their destination. I write you first and foremost to inform you I'm not dead yet. On the conterary, I'm in the prime of my days.
We spent most of our time this winter and spring rebuilding the fortifications of Ragnita. I am thankfull you taught me what work was in my youth, good father, because it helped me greatly in the constructions, it seems that some of my fellow sariantbrüder never wielded an axe or hammer if not as a weapon.

I was not able to see the finishing of the constructions though, as we recieved our orders to march yesterday. I have just departed in a caravan to join up with the Hochmeister.
The offensive has been launched.
We could not go on unless our northern flank was covered, since the pagans relish in attacking honourable knights in the back and making them die of starvation rather than face them in the field. But all that has been dealt with: in the late days of January, Manfred Stoss took a part of teh northern army and sieged Upite, tha last Pagan stronghold in Northern Samogithia.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The unorganised rabble that was meant to defend the castle was quickly overtaken, and thus the entire province of Samogithia is now under our control.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Under our control, only by boundaries unfortunately. For shortly afterwards I was been confronted once again with how much harder our task actually is than I make it seem. Yes, I write about the endless streak of victories by our commanders, but at the same time there is much more work to do with the conquored lands.

A few days after the fall of Upite we recieved orders to march out and join the main army to the East. After a days march we arrived at the next fortification, a wooden castle near the river bank. All there was to welcome us were some plumes of smoke and a shattered gate. We all knew that this was not going to be a pleasant night, but upon entering the castle we were stunned by the remains of a massacre that had taken place here. I can but imagine what hell on earth had been going on but a day before

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It is during moments like this that I start questioning what we are doing here. Where ever our armies are present, we subdue the pagans, we bring the word of Christ and order. But as soon as the main armies leave, the dogs that were hiding in the forests enswarm the settlers and garrisons left behind.I feel like Sisyphus, the ancient King of Corinthe. Forever doomed to push up that heavy boulder, yet it would never stay up there, just like order here seems to keep and go like the tide of the sea.

We buried all of the garrison members, even though most of the bodies were completely frozen in their twisted poses. I even accidentaly broke of a finger of a knight while trying to get his arms in a more rustic shape.
We stayed for the night, our watches more cautious than ever, but it went by without issues. The next day we marched on to the gathering, determined to avange yet another insulance to God.

I'll try to write again when I arrive at the main assembly, before we march of for the final assault.

Wilhelm

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Note II.

From Homer's Odyssey:
Book 11, line 590:

"Aye, and I saw Sisyphus in violent torment, seeking to raise a monstrous stone with both his hands. Verily he would brace himself with hands and feet, and thrust the stone toward the crest of a hill, but as often as he was about to heave it over the top, the weight would turn it back, and then down again to the plain would come rolling the ruthless stone. But he would strain again and thrust it back, and the sweat flowed down from his limbs, and dust rose up from his head."

[Swaeft]

Great Job man, I'm loving the story! Keep em' coming, tiger! Have some rep!

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

I hereby wish to apologize to the readers for the retarded contents of my skull, which have made me forget to take a sufficient amount of snapshots from the battle, described in the next chapter...

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Part VII. Plan Visby

28th of September, 1254

Father,

It seems your letters are still unable to reach me here in these vast woods, it saddens me, for I am really anxious to learn how things are going back home. Still, I assume there are more important documents to be carried across the roads, and it's not an easy task to get information delivered where it is needed around here.

I write you from our encampment, surrounding the village of Veliuona. We have been besieging this village for about a month now. This is a rather long time, knowing that there's hardly any defences put up, and that we outnumber the Lithuanians with nearly 3 to 2, without even considering the massive amounts of knights and cavalry we have among us.
It appears our Hochmeister has decided to wait: he's not willing to risk his horsemen in charging uphill into a series of ambushes and stockades and wants to keep as many men as possible alive for the upcoming battles.

And there will be battles coming up soon, we have recieved word that a massive horde of Lithuanians is marcing towards us, but the woods, swamps and lack of infrastructure in this heathen lands slows them down greatly. They will probably not reach our position before winter

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

We continue to wait, untill the defenders of this forgotten hill are finally starved enough to come out and face us.
And when they do, we'll ride them down.

For we have need for a glorious victory, as I'm sure you have already learned about our failed undertaking.
In case you have not, I shall hereby inform you of the disappointing expedition, christened 'Plan Visby':

Of course you allready know about Visby, capital of the Isle of Gotland, known for the pirates bases over there which have been a thorn in our merchant's side for many decades.

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Seeing the opportunity to finally rid us of this pest, Grosskomtur Anno sent out an expedition, led by Reinold Orseln: he's a young general, even younger than me, and also a better pencil-pusher than a warlord, in my opinion. Still, he's a member and commander in our order, and thus should be capable of showing his potential.

He was given an army and orders to march for the docks at Riga, where a fleet, large enough to carry him and his men to Gotland, was being constructed, specifically for this occasion.

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The crossing appareantly went better than expected, but upon arrival our brothers found out they were not the only ones with their eyes lurking at Visby:
A Swedish force had already landed 2 months earlier and was sieging the city.

Orseln was furious, and it's said he contemplated briefly to attack the Swedes, and then to take the city for himself. It's as good as certain the Swedish king new about our plans, for our merchants had been making arrangements concerning the new trade routes that would originate from the captured ports. Perhaps he assumed that we would help them, but Orseln, when he eventually calmed down (appareantly by breaking the nose of the messenger who brought him the news), ordered the men to get back on the ships.

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I cannot begin to describe what a failure this is for our Order, a costly army, raised for nothing, an expensive fleet, built for a trip across the Baltic Sea, and the entire Scandinavian nobility, laughing at our foolishness.

What will happen now, I do not know: there will not be any war with Sweden, of this I am sure: we are here to fight Pagans, not our fellow Christians. Though on the other hand, I've also heard rumours that there is soon a second war coming up.

The following lines are purely hypothetical, and I hope that they are not read by any one other than you, good father.

Our generals in the North, near the border with Novgorod, have noticed that several villages have been rising up against us. Some regions even had to be evacuated after open revolt. Lacking the means up due to the expeditions in Samogithia, the Grosskomtur had decided to leave them be for now.
In the meanwhile however, it appears Novgorod has seized this opportunity to spread their influence over this no-mans-land. This is another stab in the side of the Order's honour, and I assume that these newly raised armies will have to prove their worth in the far east, against those false Christians.

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Of course I do not know what God's plans are for the future, nor those from our leaders. All I know is that there are 1000 Lithuanians starving on the hill I'm facing right now, and when they come out, driven mad by hunger, cold, or disease, my sword is ready to welcome them and rid them of their problems.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

Part VIII. Target in sight

3rd of March, 1255

Dear Father,

I tremble with anticipation as I write these words. I can actually see the city of Vilna from the walls on which is my post.

A week after my last letter, I woke up with the sound of horns coming from Veliuona, we saw a cloud of dust above the hillridge, and not soon after, the defenders of the village coming for us.

Since we anticipated an attack for several weeks, the men were at their positions in the blink of an eye, ready to take that rabid mob head-on.

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What ensued was barely worthy of the name battle, the pagans were so driven by desperation they did not bother to form up decent ranks, it was more a sort of collumn that came rolling down the hills. They made easy targets for our archers.

Our cavalry, in the meanwhile, came riding from both flanks and after reforming, charged into both flanks, utterly crushing the column. I saw how our finest, the Ritterbrüder, completely destroyed a group of spearmen in a single charge, without sustaining casualties. It astonishes me that we havn't taken all of the Pagan lands yet with such formidable units.

A few of the smaller mounted groups showed a bit of resistance, but as soon as that collumn had appeared, it retreated again up the hill. Or at least, they tried, our cavalry charged on and rode most of them down before they were at the foot of the hill.

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this is the only picture I have of the battle, all the others have gone lost in some mysterious ways, for which I apologize

It was total victory, and as soon as the army had regrouped, we set out to march on our main target: Vilna.

Though we had only marched a few weeks, when our scouts reported that the massive army, the pagans have gathered as a last defense, was right across the Dubysa, which we had to cross .
Our armies were but 2 miles apart, yet our Hochmeister did nothing. Uncle Siegfried, who has recently been promoted to member of the strategic counsil for his background with the Sword-Brethren, told me he and some of his fellow council members urged to attack, to deal with the Pagans there and then.

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Yet our Hochmeister pointed out our key to victory were our heavy knights, and that we could not take advantage of that in a battle over a river crossing, not even with God's help. That pretty much silenced the council, and we camped at the river for a few days, when our scouts came with new reports that the Pagan army had vanished, and the road was clear.

At first, we were suspicious of ambushes, but it soon became clear the Pagan army had actually fled, and spies reported that they had even left Vilna behind them.

I do not know what is playing in the minds of the leaders of these heathens, but it seems God has driven them mad with confusion and fear.

As we marched through the Lithuanian heartland, the first snowflakes fell down from heaven. We spent 2 months heading to reach the gates of Trakai, we 'converted' the local area, which was much more densly populated than the vast wilderness we had left behind us.

Trakai was virtually undefended, it seemed that the local lord, Traidenis von Dokshitsy, had sent all his men away and awaited his inevitable devine verdict.

We besieged the castle, but it was more like camping, we reorganised and resupplied. We sent out our second-in-command, Luther von Balk, with whom I had travelled towards the main army, to negotiate, since fighting over the castle would be a waste of time and his life.
For 7 days, he would ride up to the castle and offer our terms, yet every time, there would be no respons, simply grim silence.

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With the first thawing, we decided to have waited long enough, the Hochmeister ordered some pagan troops to flank round and use ladders to enter the castle from several sides at the same time.

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Luther von Balk was, again, waiting at the gates, expecting some sort of response. After an hour, the gates were opened by some of our mercenaries, it turned out that the von Dokshitsy had poisoned himself, he was found in his meeting hall, with a cup lying next to him on the floor. What had remained of his bodyguard chose to end their own lives with their swords rather than face death at the hands of our mercenaries.

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And so, Trakai was taken in a slightly awkward mood, but none the less a victory, one which had not even costed a single drop of the Order's blood.

I fear that Vilna itself will not go down without a fight, but our intelligence informs us we outnumber them greatly, and that 'last hope' army that fled from us earlier at the river crossing, has vanished in the woods of Eastern Lithuania.

Before the end of the year, we'll have Vilna, and what remains of the pagans will be mopped up without a single drop of sweat, yet I hope I will still be able to get promoted to a full knight before this crusade ends.

I'll write again soon,
Wilhelm