Decoy
Regular
So, being bored today at work, I decided to write an account of my character's adventures. I think it's interesting enough to bear sharing with others. According to my girlfriend, it's boring and reads like a history textbook. Aside from a few embellishments regarding my characters childhood, these events are presented exactly as they occurred.
I'd be interested to read of other people's adventures.
My name is Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim. I was born to a Scottish noble, Maíl Cholium mac Dunall, in the autumn of 1225. My family had lost their ancestral holdings through a series of events some years ago and remained deeply in debt, so as a child I was sent to a fellow nobleman, Eóghan mac Dubhghaill, to receive courtly training and to learn prowess of arms. Life in the court of Argyll was not unpleasant and I grew swiftly to manhood. During my sixteenth year, I was released from the service of Lord mac Dubhghaill and returned home to my father and mother. In the winter of 1242, my mother took ill and died. The priests said she had been afflicted with a choleric distemper. They said that, as a good Christian woman, her place in Heaven was assured, but my father and I found little comfort in their words. I lived with my father for many years, maintaining his meager properties in an effort to spare him in advancing age. He passed away in the spring of 1257 and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey. His remaining property was confiscated by his debtors and I was left with little to make my way in the world.
Without any clear direction, I took to the road, thinking that perhaps God would reveal the path that He had set for me. I arrived at the town of Sterling and, taking up residence at a local tavern, overheard a conversation between a few of the local traders. They spoke long of what goods were available from different regions and where they would sell. They painted a picture in my mind of wealth easily obtained, and of adventure on the open road. I used what little funds I had available to purchase a load of goods and set off with a small party of fellows hired to act as guards.
My trading career lasted the better part of a year. My travels crossed the length and breadth of the known world, from the frozen paths of Norway to the burning sands of the Mamluk Empire. I managed to amass a considerable amount of gold and begain investing in operations of my own. From wine presses in Cairo to Blacksmiths in France, I continued to build a network of businesses that could reliably supply me with means to pursue other, less secular matters.
In the course of my travels, I had become acquainted with the plight of the Christian kingdoms of the Holy Land. They were hard-pressed to survive the relentless assaults of the Moorish Mamaluks and the pagan Mongols. I offered my sword in vassalage to the King of Jerusalem, Conradin III, using my various production facilities and the newly-granted fief of Seleucia to support the raising of an army.
Many battles were fought and many victories won, both among the Saracens and the Mongols and the Kingdom of Jerusalem broadened its influence and territories. The Orthodox Empire of Nicaea, having recently completed annexation of the lands of the Latin Empire, declared war on the growing Crusader States, perhaps in an effort to expand further into the Anatolian peninsula. Though who indeed can fathom the purposes of the Greeks?
It was at this time that a stroke of good fortune fell upon me. The forces of Jerusalem were campaigning along the western coast of Anatolia and the King requested that I scout an area to the north. During my journey, I came near unto the great city of Constantinople and immediately perceived that the walls were critically under-manned. Without consulting my fellow lords or the King, I immediately lay siege to the city. My force of men was small, but sufficient to assault the walls, once proper implements of scaling had been constructed. We captured the city with all haste and I immediately dispatched a message to King Conradin requesting both additional manpower and that Constantinople be granted to me as a reward. The king assented after conferring with the Lords of Jerusalem, amongst whom I had become well-liked.
I ruled Constantinople under the banner of King Conradin from the winter of 1257 until the summer of 1258. From there, I managed to extend my personal influence and that of the Kingdom of Jerusalem as far east as Phillopoplis. Constantinople flourished under my rule and, upon reaching a truce with the Byzantines, we had a period of peace and open trade. But over time, my heart and my eyes turned northward, and I longed for the land of my home. I requested an audience with King Conradin and asked that I be relieved of my vassalage so that I might return to Scotland. The king was loth to comply, for we had become fast friends since my arrival. He granted my request, however, and we parted with oaths of friendship.
Thus I began the long journey homeward, along with my trusted companions and a company of veteran soldiers, hardened by many battles. Over the wide lands of the east we passed and through the realm of the Holy Roman Empire. We crossed the North sea, and on a fair autumn morning my heart leapt in my breast to see the emerald shores of my home glimmering in the sunlight. My welcome in Scotland was less than I had hoped. The country had fallen on hard times and the people seemed to view me with distrust as an outsider. Perhaps I should not be surprised that it was so, riding into Sterling on an tall Arabian horse, clad in a crimson coat of plates and a Rus war-mask covering my face.
I arrived in Sterling during a time of celebration. King Alaxandair III was hosting a tournament and feast in his castle above the town. I entered the tournament and, much to the surprise and chagrin of the usual participants, won the day. At the feast, I pledged fealty to the king and was welcomed by the other lords, though with little apparent enthusiasm. It was at this feast that I was first introduced to Lady Jean of Bute. I found myself at once captivated with her and, risking offense, informed her of my affectation. She was, and is, a most clever woman, expressing returned interest and chiding chastisement in the same turn of phrase. Her brother, William Longleg, would not permit me to visit her, however. Regardless, we managed to find other, less rigorously regulated ways to spend time together.
I was granted the fief of Carluke, a single village nestled in a forest overlooking the sea. In truth, it was little more than a collection of straw-thatched huts; a startling contrast to the opulence of my ornate halls in Constantinople. But these were my people. The earth upon which I tread was Scottish soil. To me, it was a worthy exchange.
After the feast concluded, King Alexandair held a war council to assess the state of the kingdom. It was here that I learned how dire things were for my countrymen. The English had pushed north and captured Edinburgh Castle, Urquhart Castle, Dingwall Castle and their surrounding territories. A truce was declared when King Henry became engaged in a war with France to the south. Afterwards, the Irish had come across the channel in force and taken Kildrummy Castle and its lands. Only Sterling and Glasgow remained in the hands of the Scots.
After the council was concluded, I took the initiative and immediately assembled my forces and marched on Kildrummy Castle, as it was lightly garrisoned. The castle fell with few losses and I requested that the king grant it to me as a stronghold from which I could direct defense of the north from the Irish incursions. My request was denied; the king bestowed the castle on one of his more vigorous supporters. It seemed foolish to me for a king to play court politics when the very survival of his kingdom was at stake, but being a loyal-hearted Scotsman, I yielded to his decision.
The fool to which he had given the castle, and fool I will call him, took no steps to fortify the castle and garrisoned it lightly. In addition, the king and his lords refused to leave the safety of their halls. Their villages were burned and their people put to the sword and still they did nothing. As a result, before the week had ended, the Irish once again held the castle. Refusing to be so easily cowed, I again assaulted the fortress and was again victorious. In my dispatch to the king I stringently admonished him to do what was best for his kingdom and not for his courtiers. Again I was rebuffed. The king’s return dispatch simply stated that the castle would not be given to me.
It was at this time that I was forced to make a difficult decision. In the end, my loyalty lay with my country and my people, rather than a foolish king and his cowardly lords. I sent a dispatch proclaiming myself as an independent state. I did not pretend to kingship, but rather took on the title of Marshal of northern Scotland. I was determined to defend my homeland against invaders, with the help of the established monarchy or without. Though not a king in name, I found it necessary to act as one, at least in administrative matters. I took pledges of vassalage from several of my companions who offered to aid me in my efforts to secure the kingdom. Once well-established at Kildrummy, we conducted patrols and reconnaissance and beat the Irish back at every encounter. Soon they requested a truce and the kingdom of Scotland had peace, for a short time.
In the course of the war with England, France had secured several holdings across the island. A truce was called between the two powers and, for reasons that I do not know, the French saw fit to declare war on Scotland. Still the lords issued not forth from their strongholds. My companions and I made every effort to thwart the incursive French, but we were outnumbered at least ten to one. Soon, Glasgow fell to their hands.
Again, God smiled upon me, for in their haste, the French left the city with little garrison of troops. After ensuring that their main force was far in the south of the island on other business, we laid siege to the city and brought furious assault to the walls. It fell in hours. We hastily fortified it’s walls, erected new defenses, and reinforced the garrison with hardened veteran soldiery. Glasgow was secure.
I sent many dispatches to the King requesting that he marshal his lords and offer battle against this foe for the survival of his kingdom. They were all ignored. Soon, the French returned from the south and laid siege to Sterling. Seeing that no hope now remained for the survival of the king and his lords, I rode, alone and in all haste, to Sterling. I passed through the siege lines during the night and stole into the city through secret ways that I learned well as a child. I made my way into the castle and declared my intent to see Jean immediately. Her personal guards gave way before me, such was the urgency of my countenance. We embraced in sight of all who could see and I requested her hand in marriage, despite her brother’s refusal. She assented and we were wed in haste, our ceremony accompanied by the reverberations of the French artillery pounding ceaselessly on the walls of the city. Afterwards, I fled with my new bride out of the city and back to the safety of Glasgow. We received word the next day that Sterling had fallen to the French and all therein were presumably put to the sword.
As the last known surviving lord of Scotland, I was crowned David II, King of Scotland on Christmas Day, 1259. The crown was placed upon my head, the royal crest emblazoned on my shield. I have since ruled, my queen at my side, from my halls in Glasgow. The French, still in respite from their wars with England, are unrelenting in their advances. We have attempted to retake Sterling, but have been beaten back by vastly superior numbers at each attempt.
Even as I write this, our army has surrounded Sterling and our artillery batter the walls. The main force of the French army is en route hither. We have a long, hard fight ahead of us. But we stand resolute. We will not rest until Scotland is once again free.
I'd be interested to read of other people's adventures.
