Character Sign Up (1096 AD)

[Lucius Malfoy]

Setting will begin in the year 1096 AD and all characters will be gathering in Byzantium.

Players may sign up to four characters. At this point, only one of your chars, the main one, may have a social rank which was rolled with troop numbers.
Be aware that the Knightly, Bourgeois, Free, and Servile ranks may be chosen for free, at will, without cost or roll. Anyone who wishes to sign up a knightly or lower ranked character, they may do so at any time.
Your three other characters may be considered either family members and retainers that are following you along the Crusade.

Requested Rolls and Results (Troop roll in parentheses)
Lucius Malfoy: Noble - 92, Princely (4,600)
Celsius: Clergy - 79, Episcopal (2,100)
Bastard Feudalism: Noble - 64, Comital (4,840)
Ace_General: Noble - 29, Knightly (1,000)
MuttonChops: Noble - 57, Lordly (950)
Zeus Almighty: Noble - 48, Lordly (2,800)
Narsils_Shards: Noble - 85, Ducal (3,900)
Xion: Noble - 73, Comital (2,840)
Vernon: Noble - 6, Knightly (1,200)
Jokern: Noble - 24, Knightly (700)
Oznerol: Noble - 68, Comital (4,680)
Iron Aquilifer: Noble - 95, Princely (5,230)
Julia Domna: Noble - 76, Comital (1,720)
Eredin: Noble - 51, Lordly (2,650)
Skylord: Noble - 43, Knightly (500)
Lord William: Noble - 73, Comital (1,720)

[The Mad Skylord]

Maelcoilum, Toiseach of the Scotti, Thane of Dundee




AGE: 39
RANK: Thane/Toiseach
FAMILY: Caitlin(wife), Boru(eldest son), Diarmad(youngest son), Catriona(daughter)
BIO: Malcolm spent his childhood the way any young son of a thane would, learning to read, write and fight. He proved to be quite good at it, too. Skilled in arms, diligent in study. As the years rolled on, Malcolm finally came of an age to be sent as a young guest to another house. His father manged to arrange his accommodation in the household of the Thane of Ayrshire , and he took the chance with enthusiasm.

After his years of training, he returned home where he fought Viking invaders for many years. Once his father had died, he took on the titles of Thane and Toiseach, intending to serve Scotland well.

After many years as Thane, the First Crusade was called! Malcolm chose to lead the contingent of Scots to the Holy Lands. With him went the Thane of Krief. Many other Thanes sent their sons, with small bodies of troops. In the end, they mustered 500 men, a respectable host for such a small country. They marched off the fight in the Holy Lands, and to carve out a domain for themselves. But most of all, they intended to do Scotland proud in the Eyes of God.







Angus, Thane of Krief
A highlander who serves as Malcolm's second in command. He rules Krief, a province in the Highlands of Scotland. The two men are very close friends. Angus is renowned for his totally colossal strength, despite being quite short, and his absolutely brutal temper. He is well known for being a brawler and is well known for starting brawls.

[Mary The Quene]

Annalisa

Annalisa (20 years) was born as the daughter of Count Roger Borsa who rules over a vast territory in Southern Italia. When she was born in 1076 it was said that her future would be a bright one and her destination would be in the east. Now her life is far from being bright according to her father and he deems her as 'unworthy' due to ambitions. According to her religious conservative father, taking part in the Crusade would make god forgive her past sins and therefore she was tasked to take part in the crusade along with a small amount of his men to help the crusaders. For Annalisa it might be the perfect opportunity to escape from her father's strict control and start to develop her own personal ambitions. However her father had send a friend with her to keep control of her and to command the troops on the battlefield. For now he might be useful for Annalisa due to his expertise on the battlefield but must he hinder her plans then she might easily get rid off him.

She is highly fascinated by other european states and might be quick to socialize her with important persons of other states to improve her standing and to make her father jealous. She aims to control a portion of the levant and to establish a new dynasty. For now she is not married ( one of the reasons why she is deemed unwhorthy of her father) but she might look for a new husband during the crusades, especially among the high standing men. Among her more controversial personality she is known for her kindness and justice to the common people under her rule. She also adores art and literature.

Enrico Bonafacco

Enrico Bonafacco (52 years) born in Tusculum was a loyal general to Count Roger Borsa and served him faithfully for many years. Like the Count he's religious very conservative and doesn't deem Annalisa very high due to her ambitions. One of the reasons why he takes part of the crusades is to keep an eye on the daughter of the count, he wants to keep Annalisa on the right pad so that she might go to heaven. However as warrior he is an experienced warrior that survived many winters. He took some 1720 men with him to take part in the crusade. Although being directly under the command of the count's daughter it is suspected that he messages the count on his daughter affairs. For now they respectfully cooperate but the two conflicting personalities might soon change that.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Julien de Baalun, Baron of Baalun and Lord of Soissons

Full Name: Julien de Baalun, Baron of Baalun and Lord of Soissons
Nicknames: The Bastard of Baalun and the Quarreller
Age: 27
Marital Status: Married to Constance d'Evreux, an heiress from Nomandy
Children: Maurice de Baalun (10 year old) and Constance the Younger (7 years old)

Julien de Baalun, born as Julien Capet, is the bastard half-brother of Philippe Capet and Hugh de Vermandois, and the middle son of Henri I, King of France. Questions of his paternal and maternal began to rise shortly after Philippe I began his personal rule. As a gesture of kindness to his half-brother, the King legitimized his half-brother and confirmed his parentage with Henri I, granting him extensive lands in Maine, around the castle and city of Baalun. Despite the generous offer of legitimization, Julien accepted the surname, de Baalun, as a sign of humbleness and to remain outside the possible succession intrigue that the Frank could be dragged into. An arranged marriage was meditated by Hugh de Vermandois, acting on behalf of the King, which ensured Julien de Baalun married a rich heiress from Normandy, a woman by the name of Constance d'Evreux. With her brought a substantial dowry and the gratefulness of Julien.

When William the Bastard conquered England, Julien would return to the French homelands, selling his holdings in Baalun to the Count of Maine, Robert de Normandie. As compensation, King Philippe granted holdings in Soissons, making Julien the Lord of Soissons. It was here that his reputation became known more to the courts of Paris. Julien was noted for his loyalty to the French Crown and his grateful attitude towards his royal half-brother, but there were darker aspects to the seemingly noble character. He was a man of boastful words and deeds, resentful to those who do him wrong, even if he is wrong, and had a fierce temper that was easy to provoke. His home was constantly filled with arguments and the boisterous yells of Julien, earning him the nickname the Quarreller among his retainers.

When the First Crusade was preached and the standards were being raised in the name of God, Julien saw this as a chance of opportunity for fame and riches. He gained loans from the King by selling back the lands of Soissons back to the Crown and gained further moneys from Lombard merchants in Paris. After ensuring his wife and two children were comfortably housed with Hugh de Vermandois, Julien would raise a host of soldiers and begin his march for the Gates of the East, Constantinople...

Secondary Characters (two left)
Arluin de Soissons

[Oznerol]

he Christmas day anno domini 1066 my father was crowned as King of the English; the blood of the Saxons still soaking the soil that once was theirs. That was thirty years ago, when I was but a mere youngster, a wild and wrathful young man who stood as his father’s sole heir. Since, I have been robbed of my rightful inheritance, humiliated, cursed, defeated and exiled; my younger brothers have usurped the crown which is mine by right of birth and upbringing. I remember how my mother, God have mercy of her gentle soul, cried when she knew of the unrighteous usurpation committed by my loathsome brother, he shall rot in hell for all eternity.

I have swung a sword since I have memory; I have pillaged, burned, raped and killed from Caen to the Vexin, killed men with my bare hands reducing them to a bloody pulp. I unhorsed my father, routed my siblings and brought mayhem, fire and blood, to their lands. I am a scourge, one so terrible that the King of the French had to stop me. Or at least he tried. But I am a chosen of the Almighty to rule and be obeyed. I am the Duke of Normandy, the rightful King of the English and there is nothing that will stop me from claiming what is mine, or claiming a crown elsewhere.

God has shown me a path to redemption, triumph and glory, one straight to Heaven, God’s grace and absolution. I have taken the cross and I will depart to the Holy Land. Those heathens will taste my sword, I will recover what the Greeks lost. God will provide me with the means to rule, to rule over lands where He once breathed and died, the Holy Land, the patrimonium Christi. I shall free the Sancti Sepulchre and the cross shall again domain the blessed city of Ierusalem, the City of David. My duchy was mortgaged to my brother William to fund this blessed expedition and I have gathered half the nobility from Normandy all of whom have taken the cross and swore to fight the Saracens along their liege.

I descend from Charlemagne, Rollo the Norman and the counts of Flanders. I am cousin to a true saint, the blessed Edward, whose soul sits next to God himself in Paradise. I am Robert, duke of Normandy, rightful King of the English and a servant of God almighty. Fear my wrath and kneel before me!

SIGNUM FECIT.
--------------------------

istory and God are witnesses of the deeds and misdeeds of Robert, so-called Curthose a nickname of uncertain origin, likely bestowed by his disgruntled father. This is a story too long to be written down in this most humble account of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But we shall describe his person and character: a ruddy, robust and rather large man, strong and fearsome. Duke Robert resembled in so his royal father, but in everything else he looked like his blessed mother, Queen Mathilda, having inherited her darker hair and eyes. Still he was similar to his brother, our King, William Rufus.

The duke was wrathful, intolerant, a wastrel, prone to laziness and inaction, a committed sinner, for he was lustful, greedy, envious, prideful and gluttonous and he sinned frequently. However he was brave and bold to the point of insanity and extremely jealous of his own dignity and honor. A good man-at-arms, he somewhat skilled leading his men to battle, but Robert was terrible plotter and schemer, always too openly boasting his ideas, plans and ambitions. He was unable of greater subtlety but still driven by his enormous ambitions. The duke Robert was kind of pious, but his own laziness, debauchery and erratic behavior prevented him from being a true son of the Church, preferring the company of harlots and jesters of lowly origins and sinful character.

Still, as son of King and scion of dukes he was commanding, powerful and terrible in anger, when roused. Duke Robert, all his faults considered, was still sly and astute, even if not the brightest man of all Christendom. The Duke took the cross to atone his sins and only God the almighty knows what will happen next.

CANONICUS ORDERICUS FECIT.

-------------------------

Full Name: Robert de Normandie
Nicknames: Curthose
Titles (in pretense): Duke of Normandy.
Age: 45
Marital Status: Widower of Margaret de Maine.
Children: Richard (illegitimate, courtier of William Rufus), William and Maud (married to Helias de Saint-Saes, count of Arques)
Host: 4,680 men.
Retainers: Helias de Saint-Saes, Orderic

[Iron Aquilifer]

Application

Name: Theodoric II Chatenois von Lothringen, Duke of Lorraine
Nicknames: The Valiant
Title(s): Duke of Lorraine
Age: 41 (b. 1055)
Martial Status: Widower of Hedwige von Formbach (d. 1076). Married to Agnes von Waiblingen
Children: Simon (b. 1075) Heinrich (b. 1088) Ida (b. 1088 d. 1088) Hildegard (b. 1090) Petronilla (b. 1092 d. 1094) Theodoric (b. 1094) Konrad (b. 1096)
Host: 5,230 -
Retainers: - 1569 knights; 1308 men-at-arms; 784 archers; 785 footmen; 784 spearmen

​

Son of Gérard IV, Duke of Alsace and his wife Hedwige von Namur, Theodoric the Valiant was named duke of Lothringen (Lorraine) in 1070 upon the death of his father. His appointment was challenged by Theodoric II von Bar. Emperor Heinrich IV confirmed Theodoric von Lothringen to the duchy, ensuring the loyalty of the duke during the Saxons Wars and saw to it that Theodoric supported the Emperor against the Papacy. This loyalty can also be attributed to Theodoric's link to Konrad II. Following the death of Heinrich von Speyer, Adelaid von Alsace remarried, this time to Count Adelbert de Bouzonville. The Aelbert in question was father to the Count Gérard von Metz, who in turn was the grand-father of Theodoric the Valiant. It is widely believed to be this blood-link has been the reason for much of Theodoric's rise.

His first wife, Hedwige, daughter of Count Formbach, died several months following the birth of their firstborn son, Simon. The complications due to the birth left Hedwige with a constant illness until her unfortunate demise. It was this death which saw Theodoric's candidature for the hand of the Emperor Heinrich IV's young daughter, Agnes. The two were betrothed to one another in 1079, when the girl was only seven years old. Married in 1086, the two have four surviving children, their most recent child being born while the duke was on the march to Constantine.

Being both relation and son-in-law to the Emperor has had its benefits, including access to wealth and influence other dukes could only dream of possessing. A future contender for the Imperial throne, Theodoric has allowed his sense of religious fervour guide his eyes away from political ambition and towards the glory of God. With the turmoil within and without the Empire causing many to seek a better life, Theodoric has been granted the blessings of clergy and liege for his march east.

With his eldest son Simon being left the now impoverished ducal title of Lothringen, Theodoric has gone ahead with the fighting men while his young wife and children remain safe in the Empire. When the holy lands are conquered, they will be sent for.

[Pinkerton]

Guy de Villehardouin

Knight of Villehardouin
Born in 1065 A.D.

Guy is the son of Guillaume de Villehardouin, the first knight of Villehardouin. His father was granted the title and a small portion of lands in Villehardouin due to his services to the Roi. He married a local noblewoman and sired two children: Guy and a stillborn lass. He arranged Guy's marriage to another prominent noblewoman before perishing, victim to a hellish fever.
When his father died, Guy was only twenty five years old. He inherited the lands and the title and has ever since ruled without much complications. He had three children with his wife Constance: Geoffrey, Mathilde and Julien
Being a believer he saw the First Crusade as an opportunity to show his devotion to the Lord. But he also recognized the chance to gather power and renown in far away lands.
Without much hesitation, he gathered his men and made his way to Byzantium.
Deus Vult!

Name: Guy de Villehardouin
Titles: Knight of Villehardouin
Marital Status: Married to Constance d'Mersault, local noblewoman in the rural area near Troyes.
Children: Geoffrey (born in 1085 A.D.), Mathilde (born in 1087 A.D.) and Julien (born in 1090 A.D.)
Host: 1,200 men

[Celsius]

Name: Robert de Bourgogne
Born: 1059 (Age 37 years)
Titles: Bishop of Langres
Notable Relatives: Brother of Odo I Borel "the Red", Duke of Burgundy (1079-Present); Brother of Henry, Count of Portugal (1096-Present); Grandson of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy (1032-1076); Great grandson of Robert II, King of France (987-1031)
Host: 2,100 men

Bio: Born in the ruling Burgundian nobility, his prospects as 3rd son were never bright in terms of ducal power. However, his named carried much weight and with it he intended to make the best of it. Having been made Bishop of Langres in 1085, no doubt due to his name and ruling relatives. Technical second in line to the Duchy of Burgundy after his 12 year old nephew Hugh, Robert has given up claims to any titles in order to stay a dedicated member of the Catholic Church. As the call for Crusade echoed throughout Christendom, Robert, along with hundreds of Burgundian supporters, joined the ever growing force to liberate the Holy Land.

[Ace_General]

Something something something, the rody in a drunken stupor manages to get send back in time due to a night in a tavern involving a witch 2 dogs, 6 whores and a decendent of one of the Rufians to real world 1085, something something hooks up with the family, something something, decides to go on crusade so the witchcraft that transported them doesnt send them to hell.

[Lord William]

Name: Richard Neville
Born: 1079 (Age 17 years)
Titles: Earl of York and Lincolnshire
Host: 1,720 men

Bio: Richard Neville 1st generation of his house to be born on English soil, his family arrived in England during the Norman invasion when his father earned the earldom of York. Richard's father past away in 1094 from an infected wound which he got while hunting wild hogs. As the oldest Son of the house, Richard inherited everything. As the pope called the crusade Richard rallied his troops to the beacon of the church. His goal is to liberate Christendom and all its holy places, but more importantly to make a name for himself and his house

[Gandalfus]

STEPHEN OF AUMALE
de jure Lord of Aumale



Stephen was born in 1070, the son of Odo, Count of Champagne, and Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale and sister to the Conqueror. Becoming Lord of Aumale in 1088, Stephen showed himself to be an ambitious, boisterous, and rebellious vassal of King William Rufus, his first cousin. Constantly he schemed to acquire the throne of England, and in 1095 he was part of a conspiracy to topple the King and place himself on the throne. However, the scheme failed, and fearing retribution, Stephen fled back to Normandy, where he remained out of the King's reach. Stephen stayed in his ancestral lands in Aumale until the beginning of la croisade, which he viewed as an opportunity to gain new lands. Selling off his lands in Aumale to the King as "penance", Stephen raised a sizeable force to accompany Robert Curthose to the Holy Land.

-----

Name: Stephen of Aumale
Title: Lord of Aumale (Technically, revoked by King William, so he's not really got one)
Age: 26 (Born in 1070)
Notable Relatives: William Rufus, King of England (Cousin) Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy (Cousin)
Host: 2650 Soldiers.

[Jokern]

Deleted.

[MuttonChops]

House Irmelhausen
Age: 33
Title: Freiherr
Married: No
# Soldiers: 950

190 Footmen
190 Spearmen
142 Archers
190 Men-At Arms
237 Mounted Knights

Richalm von Irmelhausen

Title:
or simply as Richalm the Poor, is a German crusader from central Bavaria. He arrived in the East months earlier together with the peasant contingency of the crusade; as one of the few with martial training and a title to his name (however insignificant), he became a lieutenant and assumed a number of volunteers, despite only coming with a handful of mounted knights. The disorder of the march and the resulting massacres along the way has dampened Richalm's enthusiasm but he has continued faithful to the vow he took before leaving his native home: to reach the holy sepulcher and to kneel at its altar or die trying. And he nearly died, in the siege of Xerigordon, where him and his fellow Germans were besieged by a surprising Muslim counter attack. He barely managed to escape during a desperate sally out of the fortress.

Of the thousands that came only hundreds remain; many of whom have been reorganized by Richalm into a small fighting force. With this force he hopes to continue to the holy lands and avenge the losses at Xerigordon.

[Mors Vigilia]

Name: Thomas
Age: 25

Born as the result of a border raid from Poland into Bohemia, Thomas was raised in a tavern after his mother died from birthing him. For most of his life he spent his days and nights working at that tavern, from cleaning to travelling to and from the market, and everything in between. In his seventeenth year the old couple who ran the tavern handed it over to Thomas. They had become his surrogate parents over the years and although they had made him work hard they had never given him more than he could do.

Thomas ran the tavern by himself for seven years. Where before he had been a quiet young man, this forced him to come out from his shell. He quickly became quite charismatic and even attracted the eye of one of the local town’s more celebrated girls. They were married outside of the tavern and people came to celebrate from all of the surrounding areas – mainly because they’d heard that no one would be required to pay for their beer that day!

Thomas first realised he was cursed in 1095. The loss of a new wife can hit a man hard, even more when her death mirrors that of his mother’s. The new-born daughter died three days later, unnamed, and buried in a small service with her mother. Struck by depression, Thomas considered packing up his meagre possessions and just leaving to nowhere in particular, but he couldn’t do anything other than remain cemented where he was a find minimal comfort in his routines. It was the Council of Clermont that finally stirred him from repose – going to Jerusalem would break the curse that God had given him! He could hardly free it from the Saracen oppressors, but he could be there when it was reclaimed! Surely that would be enough.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Taking only what he needed, Thomas left the tavern unlocked and available for whoever wanted it. He was going to find salvation – and most probably death – in the Holy Lands. It wasn’t long before he found a small group of likeminded travellers, heading the call to Byzantium and beyond.

Thomas didn’t know a thing about the Gezeroth Tatenu until the night where his small group camped by a famine-hit town. Other groups of pilgrims had passed by them now and then, but this night one had obviously turned back for a nefarious reason. The flames rose from the town quickly, and many dark figures fled it as soon as they could, some towards the direction of Thomas’s camp. One figure madly stumbled through, yelling in an unfamiliar tongue and rushing right at Thomas! His belt knife was automatically at his hand to defend himself as the dark figure coalesced into a tall Jewish man who had earlier pointed out this place as a good campsite for them. Time seemed to slow as the man ran straight into the point of Thomas’ knife, splitting his gut. As the man died, Thomas considered the lack of shock that he felt at having killed a man. His shell had returned at the death of his wife and now everything else was just adding an extra layer of thickness… I didn’t matter. Where he was headed, he would be forgiven for everything…

It was a slow and troublesome road to Constantinople. Others became sick and/or fell away from the group, and often there was nothing to eat or drink. There were thousands of others ahead of them, and thousands behind, and often Thomas would find himself trudging through a recently burnt out town or field of corpses before coming to a stop at Niš. Finding himself within tens of thousands of people, Thomas was ferried over to Constantinople where he has waited for the true Crusaders to arrive. Many others came and passed through the city, but he had seen what they had done. Jerusalem would be retaken, but not by those… Others would come.

[Zectorman]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Name: Berthold II of House Zähringen, Duke of Swabia (former)


Age: 36


Wife: Agnes, daughter of Rudolph (Former duke of Swabia, pretender to German Throne)


Sons: Berthold III (11), Conrad (6)

Host: 4140

Having backed the wrong king and fighting a losing battle against the rising house of Hohenstaufen, the now deposed Duke of Swabia has sold his lands off and taken every man loyal to him to the holy land. Swept up in the call of arms, and his loyalty to the Papacy that had supported him in his hard times has made his choice easy. He hopes to use whatever remaining power he has left to gather as many as he can and regain some of his pride and hopefully gain in service to his god.

[Dirty Chai]

SIEGFRIED OF MAYEN

"SIGUFRED FON ASKANAR UNT URLAMÜNDA, PFALZAGRĀFO BĪ RHIN, HĒR FON THER NIDARMOSEL, GRĀFO FON MAYEN, HĒR FON THER LAACHE, GRĀFO FON GLIBURG, GRĀFO FON URLAMÜNDA, HĒR FON THER NEKARTAL, GRĀFO FON ALZA..."

.. Siegfried of Ascania and Orlamünde, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Lord of the Lower Moselle, Count of Mayen, Lord of the Lake, Count of Gleiburg, Count of Orlamünde, Lord of the Neckar Valley, Count of Alzey..

Best known as Siegfried of Mayen to the Crusading histories, once Count Palatine of the Rhine, enemy of the accursed Salian Emperor, and, perhaps if fate had gone differently, a would-be king in Germania, was born in Ballenstedt, Anno Domini 1072, in the Saxon Ostmark, to Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt and Adelheid of Meissen.

Siegfried came from among the Saxons and Thuringians, from families who defied and fought with the Salian Emperor Henry IV throughout his reign, Siegfried's own father losing his life in the feuding. His later stepfathers were friends of the Emperor, but from them he inherited the whole of the fertile Rhineland from the Ahr River in the north down to the beginning of the Neckar Valley in the south.

Back in Germany, had a Crusade not taken away the spears and swords, Siegfried would likely have been another anti-king, 'succeeding' his uncle Egbert II of Meissen in the lordly struggle against Imperial arrogance. But less than a year after coming to reign in the city of Mayen, the Pope called the Crusade, urging the quarrelsome and the feuding to cease fighting each other, and to march east to aid the Greeks.

Though his birth and childhood are recalled in brief, Siegfried of Mayen first arrives in the chronicles as a full character, recounted first hand, in 1096 as he arrived in Constantinople to join the other lords of Christendom waiting to go east.

Count Palatine of the Rhine since 1095

Age: 24 in 1096 AD
Born: 1072 AD

Troops: 4,840 men
726 Footmen
726 Spearmen
726 Bowmen
1210 Men-at-Arms
1452 Knights

[Zeus Almighty]

Name: Wynebald FitzTurstin
Age: 32
Title: Baron of North Cadbury
Alias': Wynebald of North Cadbury, Cadbury's Cunning, The Couth Captain

Son of Turstin as his name suggests, he is the oldest son and heir to the North Cadbury. His father fought with William the Conqueror, one of his more reliable companions. Wynebald is much the warrior his father was, but a little more educated as he had a much more formal education. His father however fought for a cause, It's what made him known. Wynebald has no such claim to fame. His name and his smooth tongue have however gathered him a well sized army as he took the call to ride forth for God and Land.

WIP: weak I know, I'm still piecing it together.

[Ace_General]

EDIT: Bastard son of Polish King Boleslaw the bold, made a knight and decided to lead a mercnary company which decided to take up the cross
The leaders and key characters in the company

Name: Stepan Boleslawavich
Age: 33
Title: Knight in the kingdom of Poland, Landless, ex mercenary leader
Bio: The Bastard son of the last king of Poland, Boleslaw the bold. Was a Mercanary, decided to take up the cross and was given a royal banner of Poland and an offical blessing and sent off on his way by his uncle, King Wladyslaw, as a token contribution to the main crusades while Poland was caught up in the Wendish Crusades, as well as to send off a potential claimant to his thrown, as the current king owed his throne to Stepan's father, Boleslaw being deposed several years earlier




Bolesław Potocki
age: 44

Gehard Müller
Age:53
Bio: Older German Mercanary

[Lord Dread]

Bartholomeus von Höchst

Born: 1062 (Age 34 years)
Titles: Papal Legate, former abbot of St. Justinus in Höchst

Host: 2,100 men

Bio: Being the third son of a minor Freiherr, Bartholomeus became pretty early a Benedictine monk in St. Peter at Erfurt, thus bringing him later on in a good position to became a friend of the later Archbishop of Mainz Ruthard, who became at 1080 abbot of said monastery. When his former abbot became archbishop, the church of St. Justin was donated towards the Order of Sain Benedict in St. Alban, thus allowing Ruthard to put his diligent friend into a higher position for at least four years.

Due to the inner conflict within the church, caused by King Heinrich IV., Bartholomäus was always in a questionable position, when it came to affairs of the church as the Archbishop supported the cause of the King and thus was standing against the interests of Pope Urban II. During later years, however, the loyal position towards the Saliers began to crumble, forceing Ruthard to send the mostly unknown Bartholomäus to the papal court as a messenger in terms of political affairs and how to treat the current situation. Impressed by the diplomatic, but calm tounge of the Benedictinian abbot, Urban II. named later on Bartholomäus as an advisor in agreement with Mainz, before a year later, he was named Bishop to support as a Papal Legate the ongoing crusade.
Though unexperienced and slightly new to his office, Bartholomäus accepted his holy mission and travelled along with a 2,000 men strong host of pious followers to the walls of Constantinople to uphold the interests of the Church even in the Far East of the European Continent.

[Alex the Bold]

Abso of Burgundy

Family: Unknown

Age: Late 40s

Bio: Abso has hada typical monastical life. The sixth son of a poor family of farmers, heentered a monastery in Burgundy as a boy. There he lived a strict lifeaccording to the rule of St Benedict, while at the same time studying the Holy Scripture. Showing a talent for language-learning, he was taught ancient Greek and Latin, whilelearning to speak German and Italianfrom the other monks. When in his twenties, Abso spent five years in differentmonasteries in Spain, getting in touch with both the Spanish and Moorish cultures, while learning Arab. As a result of his travels and education, he isa learned man and as a result he has been serving as retainer of the localvicar-general.

When the First Crusade was called, Abso was chosen by the vicar-general to accompany the Robertde Bourgogne, Bishop of Langres to the Holy Land,mostly due to his fluent Arabic and the vicar’s admiration for the monk’s talents.

While a ferventsupporter of the Crusade, Abso does not only aspire to travel to the Holy Cityof Jerusalem and walk in the footsteps of Christ, but inspired by the Latin historians, he wishes to write a chronicle describing this bold expedition.