Nocturnal Crusader (Defiant)
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Nocturnal Crusader
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1092
The Crusades in Leon were grim indeed. The Church and England were losing the battle in the south west and all the armies of England sent there could not penetrate the vast bastions of the Turkish Muslims. One such army leader was Sir Bernard Richardson (Duke of Sherborne), the favourite of King William the 1st or, as he was better known, William the Conqueror. Sir Bernard was in such dire need of help, for fear of losing the Kings trust, that he turned to the only man he thought strong enough to turn the tide in their favour. The Earl of Wareham, Sir Donald Buckholder.
Sir Donald the Nocturnal (as he was known) was a man, and county, unto himself. So much so that even King William asked of him no taxes as any collector he sent there never returned.
Sir Donald’s prowess on the battlefields were second to none. Many times he was heard telling that he was the leader of armies, not of countries. This was, most probably, the only reason he never looked to usurping King William and taking the throne. He enjoyed pitting his wits against the greatest of enemies. For the thrill of the battle as well as the raping and pillaging.
Sir Bernard knew that Sir Donald was stationed at this time in his castle in Wareham as all ports at that time were far too busy for Sir Donald to ship out on another battle search. He sent a messenger (about the only people allowed into Wareham without fear of not returning) with a letter explaining the plight of his army in Leon. He promised Sir Donald in this letter, to remove all his troops from the area to allow Sir Donald the freedom of the land for him and his 1000 Nocturnals.
A week later, the messenger arrived back in Sherborne with an answering letter. Sir Donald told Sir Bernard that he would leave that very night for Southampton and to have forty ships prepared and at his disposal to leave immediately. The letter finished, however, with:
"I ask that my payment not be made to me in gold or jewels. I demand, in return for this service I provide you, that all the land and all that is on it in Dorchester be mine upon my return. As you are aware, I take with me no caravans and only ten horses on my travels, hence we march on foot for Southampton, which I estimate to take me 3 weeks and 3 days to reach. If, when I arrive there, there are no parchments declaring the land be mine upon return, I will turn my 1000 men around and march upon Sherborne to seize your land and all upon it under the banner of the Nocturnals.
Yours
Sir Donald Buckholder"
This certainly surprised Sir Bernard some what for such a thing to be demanded. He knew full well that Sir Donald would not go to battle for the love of his country and was prepared to go to the King to ask for the amount that Sir Donald may ask for, declaring that the money be for his troops. That way there would have been no need for King William to be aware of this arrangement, as it was common knowledge that The King saw Sir Donald as a traitor to the country, and many other things besides. But to be told that he either give Sir Donald this land, which was not even his own, or forfeit his own land and estates? Either way, the news would have to be told to The King that either Dorchester or Sherborne was under the rule of one of his enemies. This was bad news indeed.
Sir Bernard left that very afternoon for Dorchester to see his cousin, the Earl of Sherborne, Sir James Richardson, to explain this unfortunate turn of events. It took Sir Bernard 6 days on horseback to reach his cousin and, upon arriving there he demanded an immediate audience with his Cousin, Sir James.
After explaining the situation to his cousin, Sir James was furious that Sir Bernard had made such a foolish mistake in asking for help from such a tyrant as Sir Donald. After calming down, however, he could see that the deed was done and could not be undone. He knew his cousin, Sir Bernard, was foolish and bull headed but did not want to see Sherborne ruled by such a man as Sir Donald. He also knew that Sir Donald now had his sights set upon expanding his land and it would not be long before he marched upon Dorchester and took that also, considering that Sherborne would then be in the middle of both Sir Donald's lands at that point. The options were then that they either legally pass over all deeds for the land of Dorchester or, deny Sir Donald the land of Dorchester and prepare for battle when Sir Donald had the power of both Wareham AND Sherborne. This aside, there was also the fact of losing favour with King William who would not look kindly upon civil war in the south of England when the Crusades were underway. All this and both Sir Bernard and himself would be turned out into the cold by The King for allowing such a matter to escalate to such a point in Leon, that a man, known to be his enemy, was asked for aid before The King knew anything about such matters.
Sir James bid Sir Bernard to stay the night at his castle and to give him some peace so as he could ponder over this predicament.
The following morning, Sir Bernard awoke from a terrible dream, in which his castle back in Sherborne had been laid siege upon by hundreds of blackened demons. Each with the symbol of the moon on its chest. Knowing this to be a dream did not douse his panicky breath however, as he knew that the dream was not that far from the truth if this problem with Sir Donald was not resolved in his favour. The only difference from his dream would be that the demons would be in human form with the symbol of the moon on their chests and would be lead by someone far more dangerous then the Devil himself.
After dressing, he made his way to the stables to attend his horse and then headed to the dining hall for breakfast wanting to further discuss the situation with his cousin. Hopefully, he thought, that would blow the troubling dreams from his head. He was therefore disappointed to find that he would be dining alone that morning. His fears worsened.
It was late afternoon by the time Sir James appeared in front of his cousin. He led him into his study and asked him to sit. Sir James gave Sir Bernard two envelopes, explaining that in the first, addressed to Sir Donald, was a letter signed and stamped in his name and coat of arms, proving it to be a genuine letter from himself. It was legal documentation giving Sir Donald Buckholder all the deeds to his land and everything in those boundaries upon the return of Sir Donald from Leon. The other envelope was addressed to General Abbott and Sir James explained to Sir Bernard that he was to read it now and then sign and stamp his on signature and coat of arms to it. Sir Bernard opened the unsealed envelope addressed the General in charge of his own army in Leon. As he read further and further, his eyes became wider and wider.
Sir Bernard looked up at his cousin, still with the look of utter astonishment on his face. "Will this plan work?" he asked. "It has to!" replied Sir James.
The secret letter to General Abbott from Sir James was as follows:
"Dear General Abbott,
I am writing on behalf of my cousin, who I will be showing this letter to shortly, because of the fact he has foolishly made a pact with the Devil.
Roughly 3 weeks after you receive this letter, Sir Donald the Nocturnal will be arriving at the docks there. He will believe that he carries with him a letter summoning you to retreat from the area and allow him, and his men, full access to that land for him to remove the problem of the Turks. However, please take this letter as your orders.
Upon his arrival, I ask that you act as if you are removing your troops to sail away, do not let on to even your most trusted and senior men of your true intentions at this point. You will march your men back to your ships, board them and set sail for England.
When you feel that you are far enough away that you can not be seen even by the most advanced of telescopes,at a guess I would predict that to be around 3 days travel, weather permitting, I want you to make a full turnabout and head to a safe and secretive position for your ships that you will locate in the 3 weeks you have left before his arrival.
After 4 days waiting, as this should be a week since the arrival of our problematic friend and enough time should have passed for them to be far enough away from the docks to know of the next stage of our plan, I ask that you send as many men as you see fit to commander their ships and have them head home to England.
A letter is already on route to my very own general in the field over there, General Oaks, as I write this letter and so will be aware of what is to follow before your good self. He will have no contact with Sir Donald as you will and so I have to be less secretive in getting the letter to him as I do you.
He will have a scout at the docks watching for when you commandeer Sir Donald's ships and, when this have occurred, my General and men will head towards the forts of our troublesome Turks and check on Sir Donald's progress. Once Sir Donald is done and starts heading back to his ships, General Oaks will follow at a safe distance.
My plan, therefore, is for you to attack with everything you have from the North of Iberia and for my men to attack in a pincer movement from the South.
I understand that you will be dubious upon hearing my plan but I'm afraid that this is indeed a dire situation. If you make it out alive but defeated, then please do not return home. There will be no home for you to return to as Sir Donald will own it all.
Yours Faithfully
For God and Country
Sir James Richardson
Sir James explained to his cousin that another messenger was prepared at the stables to take this letter all the way to Leon, Sir Bernard signed the letter and then, with his ring, stamp sealed the envelope with hot wax. Sir James then told Sir Bernard to write his own letter to General Abbott and have it sent to the docks to await the arrival of Sir Donald. This letter would tell General Abbott to remove his troops from Leon and allow Sir Donald to take charge. The plan seemed like a good one, but this was no ordinary man they were dealing with. This was the man who had broken the spirits, and necks, of highly trained samurai in the Orient just because he found their women more attractive then those at home. The man whose very name brought fear into men's, and women's, hearts and souls all across Europe. The man who had marched his men from one side of France to the other, raping and pillaging as he went, without a single French soldier raising a hand for fear of attracting his wrath.
'Work in progress'
