>>22328448

>Do you attend?
>Do you fuck off for Sicily, Spain, and more Crusading?
>Do you Other, write-in?

>>22328458

Avenge our fathers death. Look for leads about the assassin and who he works for so we may see justice done. Fuck the grandmaster, Its time for revenge.

>>22328448
>Do you attend?
Hell yes, we need to see about getting a decent candidate in and offing whatever shit sent the assassin. Also, around what year are we? Curious at the situation in CK2 >_>

>>22328550
The year of Our Lord is Eleven Forty-Eight, and the Month is September. We began changing things from the real, historical timeline, with the capture of Damascus during the Second Crusade, which historically failed epic bad. And then goddesses.

Attend. The Scots need to be represented at the meeting at the very least.

>>22328458
>Attend, maintain proper civility with whoever gets the proper title, hopefully it becomes someone amenable to our suggestions like dad was.
Afterwards we should probably see to our fathers estate. Best not to let anyone attempt to seize what is ours, dad would not like that. After that, provided he was murdered in Damascus, we head back there and handle both looking for leads as to who killed him, and make good on the deals we handled in byzantine and whatnot. At least until things stabilize.

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>>22328458
>>22328448

>Do you attend

Mustering your intestinal fortitude, you hug Marie, Aine, and give a swift kiss to Asherah, ignoring her startled glance, before turning and marching into the Grand Hall. There, laid out in his armor, a white surcoat with black cross, with a black cape and white cross below him, is your father. Strangling back your soft cry of anguish, you feel tears prickle your eyes. Manfully pushing your emotions to the bottom, you force yourself to become calculating and cold. The Sergeant at Arms of the Order demands attention and respect for the dead, and then summons you to the Grandmaster's Chair.

"As the son of the Grandmaster, and the heir of his estate, William MacMahon of Damascus will stand forth, and be granted the right of presiding over the following issues! Namely, the Voting of the new Grandmaster of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the expulsion of several Knight-Brothers that have failed to uphold the Order's honor, AND, the issue of the Jihad called against Rome, the bosom of the Faith of all true Christians and Men of God, and the Seat of the Vicar of Christ on Earth, the Pope. Please stand forth, Knight-Brother William."

Huh. So there's a jihad on for Rome, then. That can't be good, but if it doesn't have enough support, it'll go nowhere but the bottom of the sea. That said, you wouldn't want to be the commander of the Papal Guard right now. You're about to stand forth, like asked, when something hits you. Your father is dead, you're about to vote on his successor, and you never told the man you loved him, even if the love felt by you both was a distant, not-close sort of love.

>Do you stand forth?
>Pretend we're not here. No one has recognized us, thanks to the beard we're sporting.
>Demand we be voted Grandmaster. We have a vision for the order! Write in what that would be.
>Escape before the doors are closed oh god why are you here run now.

>>22329165
>Stand forth
We aspire to greater heights than simply control of this organization. If anything, not making a show about knowing the circumstances of our fathers death unless they question about it. Then we get to lay into them. Other than that, we maintain civility.

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Waiting on more responses.

>>22329165
>Do you stand forth?
Fucking man up, grit teeth.

[x] Tell everyone to be careful for Assassins.

Why are you so slow op?

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>>22329165
>Stand forth

You grit your teeth, and begin the slow walk towards the raised dais and the Grandmaster's chair, feeling silence descend around you, like a storm descends on a ship. Or, more accurately, you suppose, a Turkish raiding band descends upon a village. Some of the assembled men slap your back, or applaud you quietly.

Silently, you arrive to stand in front of the Grandmaster's, your father's, chair, and seat yourself upon it. The Sergeant at Arms orders the doors closed, and now the only people in the room are Knight Brothers of the Order, and the pages. They show the Brothers to their seats, and then you're handed the Grandmaster's sword, at least for now, to symbolize your heading this meeting of all Knight-Brothers in the Order. You gaze at them all, wondering why Dad had to go and die, and no voice gives you assurance he died doing what was necessary, what was just. Nothing is there to comfort you. But duty.

What first?

>Jihad against Rome
>Expulsion
>Estate
>Voting

>>22329748
>Jihad against Rome
>Expulsion
>Estate
>Voting

In that order. Jihad seems the most pressing. Expulsion next as penance acting as defenders from the Jihad might be a fitting punishment. Estate next because it only makes sense to get the old mans affairs in order before selecting a new chief. This way it does not appear that we are being a little greedy shit about it.

>>22329748
Defend the Pope!

Defend Christendom!

I have no idea how the muslims could do this after we defeated so many of their number in the holy land! Defeating them in Rome will cripple them for generations!

>>22329748
>Jihad against Rome
Snuff this one nice and quick

>>22329748
>Defend Christendom!

"Gentlemen. Men that aren't so gentle. I am honored that you would allow me this, and so soon after Father's de-" You choke back tears, before soldiering bravely on. He managed to give that to you, at least: The will to do your duty no matter what.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen. I would like to submit for the Order's attention, a recently called Jihad against Rome. Our spies, undoubtedly at great risk to themselves, have given us reports that an army is massing in Persia, to march to our Holy Land, recapture it for the infidel, and then take ship for Rome, and from there the undefended heartlands of Christian Europe. I motion that we muster the full strength of our Order, and our personal armies, and march to meet the infidel before they ever recapture the Holy Land. Should we fail, however, we will fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the sea, and then we shall make them pay for every mile with blood and dead. That, gentlemen, is my motion." Should the combined arms of Christendom fail to defend the Holy Land, then at least her sailors should be able to defeat the camel-riding infidels, you think darkly. You're about to continue in that vein, and an inspiring one, you think, when an older, though well respected, Hospitaller rises and requests the floor. You yield to him gracefully, not wanting to disgrace the Order or your father.

"Gentlemen, I do not rise to agree or disagree with Knight-Brother MacMahon's motion. Instead, I rise to disagree with his title of Knight-Brother. William MacMahon, bluntly put, should not be one of us! He is a bastard, unacknowledged until recently, if even then, and only the tolerance of his father allowed this illegitimate bastard to rise higher than stable-boy or Sergeant! This man should not wear the mantle, he should not wear the surcoat, and he should not! I repeat, he should not be allowed to negotiate with one of our traditional enemies, the Byzantines, on behalf of our Order!"

(1/2)

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>>22330233

"Instead, Brothers, I submit the motion to expel Knight-Brother William MacMahon of Damascus from our order, causing all agreements he made with ANYONE in our name, to be null and void!"

Oh. This can't be good. Thinking quickly, you're about to reply that you have only ever served the goals of the Order, as defined by your father, and according to his wishes, when the entire room stands and begins yelling agreement and disagreement. It's chaos on the order of a small battlefield, and this time you have no trusted lieutenants to turn to for help or advice or even to give orders to. Instead, it's all you.

>What do?

>>22330233
"Our only 'enemies' are the enemies of Christ, the foul heathen that seeks to plunder Holy Rome. All good Christians must set aside secular grudges in defence of the divine. We must march together or suffer at Moslem hands.

You would suggest that we leave good Christians without aid, without hope, in the face of heathen aggression. You would stab a man who loves God in the back when the armed heathen is at the gate. You are a coward and a fool."

>>22328448
>in byzantijne
rome.

They'd have called it rome at the time. Specifically, the roman empire. Byzantine is a more recent term.

Hm.

We may have to be or act more pious to appease some of these people.

Perhaps we should take some kind of vow?

>>22330267

You stand, and with the Grandmaster's sword, strike the table in front of you and running down the room. "SILENCE WILL BE HAD!" At that, all the Knight-Brothers fall silent before your anger, and grief.

"Our only enemies, Knight-Brother John, are the foul heathens that seek to plunder, loot, and rape Holy Rome. All good, and honest Christians, must, and should, set aside secular concerns and grudges in defense of the divine. Our Lord Christ loves us all, despite any falling out his stewards on Earth have. If a strengthened Roman Empire means we give them concessions to territory in the Northern Levant, if it means military and naval aid against not two, but three, infidel powers, then concessions we should make! Bickering like little girls will get us nowhere! Act the men I know you to be! I vow, before you all, that I shall not stop fighting the armies and nations of the infidel heathen Islam until their holy cities of Mecca and Medina burn, as they would wish to burn Rome! I do not care if you cast me out of an Order I have loved since the day I was accepted. But know this: I shall die before I accept the shame of letting another man be the first to defend Rome." Your impassioned plea finished, you collapse back into your father's chair, as applause spreads among the room. Heartened by your speech, the men arguing for you to be kept in the Order begin shouting for you to become a candidate for Grandmaster. Neither wise, nor experienced enough, you tell them you'd do no such thing. Instead, you will support...

>Knight-Brother Alexander, a grizzled veteran of several campaigns at 57 years of age.
>Knight-Brother Walter, an experienced diplomat and spy, but also a veteran, of 49 years.
>Knight-Brother Pierre, an old hand at defeating infidels, but also an intelligent man of 54.

>>22330560
Damn son they old!

I say Brother Pierre.

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>>22330560
>Knight-Brother Pierre

"I shall support Knight-Brother Pierre de Lyons. As a medical brother, he did his best to save, and preserve lives. However, when the infidel grew too bold, and assaulted the hospital he was working in, he picked up a sword and defended his patients with all the skill he had, driving them off. Knight-Brother Pierre is an intelligent, wise man, and he is, in my humble opinion, the best choice to lead our Order through these turbulent times." A little more than half the voices in the room break out in agreement, before you silence them all once more.

"I shall put the matter to a vote, then. The Knight-Brother with the most votes shall become the Grandmaster. Please, gentlemen, refrain from voting for me. I neither want, nor need such a position at my tender young age." You give the room a rueful grin, and then the pages start handing out quills, ink, and scraps of paper.

That taken care of, it'll be a while before the vote is finished, with power brokering being done, votes bribed, exchanged, and sold, almost like a Papal Conclave. Not quite as corrupt, but at least there's no open bribery. The impassioned speeches begin, and so does the boring part for you: Listening to them all.

>Do you stay awake and listen?
>Take a quick nap.
>Other?

>>22330896
Listen, it's our duty.

Did you die OP?

>>22330896

>Stay awake and listen

You stay awake and listen, and truth be told, some of the arguments are quite impassioned. Common sense, reason, faith, and logic are brought to bear, by all the sides seeking their candidate achieve Grandmaster status, from all the accounts you've read, the previous election came to blows multiple times. This time the vote is in French, as Latin had been declared too unwieldy to use for something as important as this, since not all Knight-Brothers were fluent in it.

One of the better arguments you hear is in favor of Brother Alexander.

"Does it not stand to reason, that as we are about to embark upon a war, most assuredly, despite our wishes to the contrary, we should have an experienced veteran of many battles and several campaigns at the helm of the Order, during these tremulous times? Knight-Brother Alexander is humble, intelligent, and merciful to surrendered foes! I had the honor of serving beside him multiple times in a previous campaign, and it is my belief that he would serve this Order well as Grandmaster."

A good argument, but simply one of several more you're forced to hear. Finally, after nearly two hours, the wheeling and dealing is finished, and the voting begins. Each man writes the name of who he wishes to be Grandmaster, before finally you're given the votes to tally.

"Knight-Brother Walter wins, with sixteen votes to Pierre's fourteen, and Alexander's ten. I give the Chair of the Grandmaster, and the Sword, in addition to the floor, to Grandmaster Walter."

You stand, and then make your way to Walter's now empty stool, while he ascends to the chair.
Thanking you for graciously not delaying, he launches into an acceptance speech, promising to try and do what's best for the Order, as well as Christendom.

>>22331352

With Walter's election, the rest of the meeting goes smoothly. Your father's estate, for the large part, was left to you. You now possess lands directly outside Krak de Chevaliers, with all of his previous wealth. Some of it, land and money, goes to the Order, and another portion to Mother Church, but overall, you're now richer than you were. The Order will dispatch several experienced soldiers to Sicily and Rome, in order to prepare the defenses there, but God willing, they won't need to see use. The rest of the Order will stay in the Holy Land and prepare for war. The Brother-Knights to be expelled have been given dispensation to perform their penance by serving as infantry during the land war here in the Levant and Holy Land. You beg allowance to leave before anyone remembers you're to speak your father's eulogy, but you're denied.

>Remind them of his dedication to the Faith?
>Remind them of his military career?
>Speak of neither, but instead simply the man you knew as father?

>>22331352
Kneel and vow to serve him honourably in the field, that he is your captain and grandmaster, though not the one you wished he is the one who know reigns and you will serve him with all fidelity.

>>22331410
All three. Let's get one last big speech before we retire for the night.

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>>22331410

You kneel to Walter, Grandmaster of the Hospitallers, and take the traditional vow of servitude.

"I, William, son of Raymond and Mhairaid, do vow to serve Walter, Grandmaster of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the field of battle most nobly. You are my captain and my Grandmaster, and I shall serve you with all fidelity." The sentiment is echoed through out the room, before everyone assembled stands, and circles around the table with your father upon it.

"What shall I say, that the men in this room do not know? That Raymond du Puy de Provence was an honorable, a noble man? That he fought with the courage of a lion, and the skill of a wolf? That he was always dedicated to the tenets and creeds of the Christian faith, though at times he did not understand, or even questioned? No, I shall not. You all know that man. The man you don't know, is the man I know. I didn't know him as Grandmaster or 'sir', or 'Lord'. I knew him as 'father.' When my mother died, he took me in as a trueborn son, and allowed me to eat at his table. He was there when I scraped a knee, climbing the fortress walls. He was there to hold me when I fought with other boys. And though he did all of these things, not simply as a man, he did them as my father, even as I was his bastard. And Father didn't just see me as that. He looked at me and saw the man I might become. So he did his best to bring that man out. And I hope, in the days to come, I honor his life, as we honor him in death now. Thank you, brothers."

All right, guys. We're done for the night. I have to get up and do stuff with people tomorrow. Thank you gentlemen for participating, and I hope to see you next time.


I'm going to try and run Thursday or Friday night, probably 8 PM CST. See you next time!