HRE NES II: Der Aufstieg

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by appleciders
A tiny little nitpick about the update: Not to rain on my own parade, but the stat block doesn't reflect that- I still have a big old surplus from Venetian trade. Should I assume a loss of 1100 d. from that? That would be the value of the Venetian trade for me. Also, does this collapse my trade deal with Bohemia, because I was trading Venetian goods? Because if it does, then I'll do this:

You are fast, you know that? I had just finished the update, and I thought to myself, "oh, I haven't cancelled those trade routes yet, I'll just do it tomorrow and nobody will notice." But you just had to ruin it

It will be corrected presently. It does collapse your trade routes with Venetian goods; this includes the new deal with Saxony (lead/glassware) as well as your deal with Bohemia and anyone else who is receiving Venetian goods channeled through you (you're trading sugar to Franconia, too).

Edit: We should be good now. Basically, except for Swabia, everyone's trade has collapsed.

[Micha]

Originally posted by Cyclotron
Basically, except for Swabia, everyone's trade has collapsed.

Damn you, old man!!!

Five denarii to the first person to identify that quote!

[Nimitz]

Duke Vratislaus of Bohemia to Duke Arnulf of Bavaria
That would be perfectly acceptible.

OOC:
Well I still have the Polans

[appleciders]

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to King Heinrich of Germany and Duke Eberhard III of Franconia
My friends, the collapse of my Venetian trade routes has left me with few foreign products for trade. Until the Venetian route is reestablished, would you accept an equal value of Bavarian salt in trade, that we all might retain the economic benefits of trade?

[foolish_icarus]

Duke Eberhard of Franconia to Duke Arnulf Bavaria

I accept your sensible proposal.

[Micha]

King Heinrich of Germany to Duke Arnulf of Bavaria

While our nobility would of course prefer oriental goods, we accept the temporal substitution with salt. My friend, our people have suffered enough from this war against the heathens, but there are formal constraints to negotiations with the enemy. I would have preferred to hear your opinion about the Magyar peace proposal, instead of you accepting it on your own without further correspondence with your liege. Please note that I say this as your friend, but in order to maintain stability the feudal hierarchy needs to be enforced in practise.

King Heinrich of Germany to all German Dukes (SECRET)

My brethren, we need to discuss our stance regarding the recent revolts to our west. The pretender to the throne of France has offered us the County of Friesland should we help him secure his ascension to the crown. With Friesland as a German Duchy, we would strengthen our troops base, our trade values and our naval power. The second conflict is that of King Rudolph of Burgundy against the Emperor; King Rudolph has always been a trustworthy ally of us, as you all will surely remember. The emperor has betrayed us and offers no protection against the heathens to our east. But he is strong and entering the conflict in the open might encourage opportunistic foes to grab what is rightfully ours. What are we to do?

[Nimitz]

Duke Vratislaus of Bohemia to my lord King Heinrich of Germany
I agree that we can not directly enter this conflict of the italians at this point. The King of Italy has even in this weakened state great strength and we are still recovering from the pagan's raids. I say we offer support in another way we help fund the enemies of the king. There is much profit to be made this way and it would help weaken the king while keeping us away from open conflict with him till we are ready. Now as for France how trust worthy is the one who has made this offer to you my lord? If he is not he may just use us and then leave us with nothing. If his word is trustable or we can make sure we get what is our right then we should support him if he has a good chance and only then. If he should fail I would hate to be flanked on all sides by enemies!

[Cyclotron]

Duke Burchard II of Swabia to all German Dukes
You all know well where I stand on the issue of the Italian war. I believe that it is imperative for us to support King Rudolph, who has aided us most generously against the Magyars. Surely Duke Vratislaus remembers the Battle of the White Mountain, fought to regain his own city of Prague, in which the Burgundinians shed their own blood to ensure a German victory. How can we turn our backs from him now?

The forces of the Emperor may be strong, but a much lesser German army could hold the Alpine passes against him easily. The mere fact of Germany's declaration of war would be immensely helpful - with Germany against him, Berengar would be forced to commit troops to his borders with Bavaria and Carinthia, splitting his forces and making King Rudolph's job immeasurably easier.

I urge a German declaration of war on the Emperor. It is time we demonstrated that we are men capable of returning favors.

[foolish_icarus]

Duke Eberhard to all German Dukes :

I can only echo what Duke Burchard has said: We should support King Rudolph against the self-styled 'Emperor' Berengar with all our strength.

As for the French struggle amongst themselves, I believe we should stay out of it altogether.

To the King, I must ask, what of the Magyar proposal? Does Arnulf's acceptance stand? What is to be our stance with the horsemen in the future?

edited because I can't remember my damn ruler's name

[Cyclotron]

Ducal Herald to Duke Arnulf of Bavaria
My Lord, you have my deepest apologies - My attempt to have your message delivered to the Magyar Fejedelem has failed. Our messenger reached Pressburg, only to be informed by the men of Gyula Levente (who is camped there) that the Fejedelem was not interested in negotiation or correspondence. The Gyula made it clear (through his translator, a Carinthian slave) that if the terms of the Fejedelem's proposal were acceptable, we must do as instructed, and have the King present at Pressburg with Zoltan, his horse, and an unmarried German noblewoman; if we fail to do any of these things, no truce will be established. Levente refused to read or even accept our message. Our messenger was prohibited from advancing any further into Magyar territory. Again, my Lord, I apologize.

[Micha]

OOC: It smells like a trap. The noblewoman part is just a ruse, so we feel safe. Good job, Cyc, now there are two alternatives, both of which may be disastrous... You are so evil!

[foolish_icarus]

You know, we could actually swallow our pride and just assent to the Fejedelem's terms and have peace on that border for probably 10 or 20 years. But then, we are Germans. Cyclotron doesn't really expect us to accept the terms. He's given us this chance and, sense of fair play indulged, will be more than happy to embroil us in our well-deserved three front war

In a way, it's better to be slaughtering Christians than heathens. After all, any of Berengar's men we run through have a decent chance of being saved. Whereas we should, out of a sense of Christian charity, give the Magyar a chance to convert before we kill them. See, our wars are all about saving souls.

[Micha]

OOC:
But then, it isn´t your head which will be stuck on the tip of a spear in Pressburg...

[appleciders]

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria to All German Dukes

I'm inclined to accept the Fejedelem's offer- with the Swabian contingent pulled out and this fresh infusion of Magyar troops, I'm not looking forward to fighting that war, and I remind you all that I've been fighting it myself for quite some time, acting as the buffer between the Magyars and the rest of Christian Germany. I urge King Heinrich to accept this peace, and give Germany the chance to act on the other fronts that need it. I realize some risk is inherent in this proposal, but I think it is a risk we must take. The Magyar will never be truly defeated by force of arms; the best way to achieve a permanent peace will be through conversion, which we will only be able to attempt when priests entering their lands are not executed out of hand.

The Emperor, on the other hand, seems quite defeatable right now, and I think we should look to supplant him with Rudolph of Burgundy. Rudolph is a man who has been sympathetic to the German cause for quite some time, and we both owe him the favor and stand to gain much from his taking the crown.

[foolish_icarus]

Duke Eberhard points out (only to his fellow Dukes and King, of course) that it doesn't actually have to be the King that goes to Pressburg. We could just pick someone and tell the Magyar he's the King. Of course, they could be a little piqued if they somehow found out.