[OOC] The Fall of Jerusalem

[Marduk]

"When the siege had been set up, some of the leaders of the army met a hermit on the Mount of Olives, who said to them, “If you attack the city tomorrow till the ninth hour, the Lord will deliver it into your hands.” They replied, “But we do not have the necessary machinery for storming the walls.”

The hermit said, “God is all powerful. If he wills, we will storm the walls even with one ladder. The Lord aids those who labor for the truth.” So, with whatever machinery they could construct during the night, they attacked the city in the early morning, and it lasted till the third hour. The Saracens were forced to retreat behind the inner walls when our men broke down the outer wall, and some even climbed the inner walls. But when the city was about to be captured, in the confusion of desire and fear the attack was interrupted, and many of our men were killed. The following day no attack was attempted.

The holy city of Jerusalem has come under siege by the crusading Franj armies; before it have fallen Nicaea, Antioch, and Edessa. Jerusalem herself is damaged, having fallen to the Fatimid Dynasty one year prior; the Egyptian rulers felt that they could defend the city of roughly 20,000 souls better than the Turks. To prove it, they captured the city and installed their own garrison. After securing the holy city, Egypt extended an offer of peace to the invading armies. They were rebuffed; no amount of political maneuvering would deter them from seizing Jerusalem.

Unable or unwilling to install a permanent army at a time when the crusading armies, however, the city only held 3,000 fighting men by the time the the combined armies of Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse arrived. They had met with relatively little resistance and made good time, as few of the local leaders were loyal to their Fatimid overlords. Many in fact offered their help. So Egypt was left scrambling to mass a relief force to break the siege.

The crusading army was, however, rather deteriorated by the time it reached Jerusalem. Only 13,000 men had survived the war thus far, and they had used up the gross majority of their supplies. They would not be able to outlast Jerusalem; the Fatimids had prepared for their coming by poisoning or destroying each source of water for miles around the city and expelling the christian populace. They had no choice but to attempt to breach the walls. A frontal assault was attempted on June 13th, but it was turned back by the garrison. The final assault would not occur until one month later on July 13th.
------

The Rules:

There is required post length; brevity is after all a key creative skill and I would rather read four lines of poetry than fifteen lines of clinical description! Just be sure your reply adds something to the story and moves it along in some way.

Uh, you know, all the standard 'Don't be a d-bag' rules. And all the forum's rules too.

Try to keep your characters and actions era and region-appropriate! You're going to need a good justification for having a katana, and that glock isn't going to go over very well!

As an addendum to the above: This IS a fantasy world and realism need not always apply. A whole plethora of new elements are being introduced with that and you're more than welcome to create and innovate! What if there were actually sorcerers? What if dragons lived in Jerusalem? How would that affect daily life and tradition?

We will be starting the game inside Jerusalem. You may play anybody or anything that could conceivably be in the city! Within reason. You know what, last time I said that it came back to bite me, so I reserve the right to request modifications.

A note on religion: By its very nature, there is likely to be heavy Christian-Moslem tension. Know this going in. There's a whole lot of zealots floating about at this time period! I ask that folks take this with a grain of salt and refrain from being offended when your favorite patrons are insulted. It wouldn't be a holy war without a dash of piety and intolerance.

Creating Your Character
A helpful guide by Doctor Belasco
Give it a read, if you haven't already! Even if you already know how to make a character, which I'm sure most of us do by now, it's good stuff!

Character Template

Name:
Age:
Sex:
Race: There are a lot of different kinds of human. But this field is here because you don't have to be human. Marduk's a dragon, after all.
Personality:
Appearance: Description required, picture optional.
Skills: Singing? Dancing? Disembowling Infidels in a stylish yet menacing manner?
Equipment: If applicable, you can detail your kit at the start of the RP.
Background & History:

This RP is currently closed to newcomers. Feel free to express interest and I will drop you a line if space opens up. As for those of you who weighed in on the interest check, I'll need your character sheets before we can move ahead.

[Marduk]

Placeholder 'n stuff. My CS will go here when I get it finished.
Actually, I might just edit all character sheets into this post. Seems cleaner than having them all in the intro. We'll see.

[Jinxer]

Reporting in!

Name: Rhiannon Jones
Age: 15
Sex: Female
Race: Human (Ellyllon)
Personality: Whimsical and a lover of festive occasions, Rhiannon revels in the joyous moments of life and is otherwise a subdued girl, forced into modesty and muteness by her label as a possessed woman.
Appearance:

Picture

Rhiannon is a young woman standing at five foot and four inches tall. Emerging into womanhood she has already started to become a beautiful woman with fiery red hair that curls naturally into neat ringlets at the tips and clear blue eyes. Her pale skin has tanned very slightly under the hot Outremer Sun but it is still clear that she is from the Northern fastnesses of the world. Lightly freckled but otherwise clear-skinned, she is healthy and has a ready smile able to melt the heart of even the hardest of warriors.

Dressed in penitential clothes, symbolizing the purpose of her Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, her hair is largely hidden underneath a simple white cowl and she wears a dusty black habit with a wooden cross hanging from a ring of beads around her neck. Simple sandals have replaced the poor leather shoes that wore out early on her journey.

Skills: Rhiannon studied (informally) under a Welsh bard at her father's lord's court and has a talent for singing and poetry, only enhanced by her lyrical voice. Like any of her people from the lands of Gwynedd (modern day Caernarfonshire/Anglesey) Rhiannon is hardy and used to a hard, rural life constantly under threat by newly arrived Norman raiders carving out their Marcher Lordships from her people's land; she has rudimentary skills in the art of healing using herbs and is more than capable of thrusting her hunting knife through a weak point in a man's mail shirt.

Her skills as a Ellyllon are slowly coming to light, now that she has discovered her identity, but are mostly limited to manipulating humans through singing or poetry, uncontrollable prophetic visions and instances of immediate understanding when she makes contact with someone.

Equipment: A small hunting knife constructed of simple iron with a crafted bone handle. A wooden crucifix.

Background & History: Rhiannon was born a serf in the northern mountains of Gwynedd just as the Normans arrived. To begin with her people rejoiced at the defeat of their ancient enemies but then the military might of the new conquerors turned against the Welsh and began to carve out lordships from their land. Her entire life has been spent with a wary eye on the misty horizon for a band of raiding, mailed Normans sweeping down to take what little her family had.

As she grew older she was given work at the uchelwyr's (local gentleman) manor as a maid and there she learned from the Bard who had obtained patronage from the uchelwyr. It became apparent that she had a talent for singing, and to some degree dancing, and poetry and more attention was paid her by local men as her beauty became accentuated by her advancing years.

At the age of 13 some of the interest waned after a rumour spread that she had sung an older man who had shown her undue attention to his death under the powerful flow of the swollen river; it was whispered that she was a siren but the man was known as a drunkard and such rumour faded quickly. However a year later she calmed a stampeding herd of cattle with a tragic ballad. The farmer rather than being grateful accused her of witchcraft and the young girl was taken before the village priest. Claiming his inability to exorcise the evil spirit within her, but convinced Rhiannon could be saved, the priest ordered that she and her family, in case they too had been afflicted by whatever malignant spirit possessed her, should go on Pilgrimage to the Holy City.

News had not yet reached the family of Pope Urban II's speech at Clermont, any such information taking much longer to penetrate the remote and isolated communities in Wales' mountainous territory. It came as a shock, therefore, when they heard of the tragic end of the People's Crusade and it was only on a merchant vessel heading for Acre that they received news of the Armed Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Nearing the end of their journey the family decided that it was merely another test and made their way to Jerusalem where they were allowed entry; the wealth Pilgrims brought was still enough to overpower much religious hatred.

The family have now taken refuge in the Patriarch of Jerusalem's residence despite the friction between Latin and Orthodox teachings.

[Marduk]

Great to have you aboard, Jinx! Accepted.
A couple questions though.
Who's the patriarch of jerusalem? Is that a religious station or something?
Aren't the sidhe a type of fairy?
Oh, and the christians were expelled before the siege. Is she meant to have escaped notice, hence having taken 'refuge', or?

[Pearion_Rehtyer]

Name: Hayate Olgart

Age: 24

Sex: Male

Race: Human, European

Personality: Hayate is very noble and takes honor into account, you could say somewhat like your standard knight. Though he is a bit different than that. He is not very serious when not in battle and has an odd fondness of tales of dragon-slayers.

Appearance: Hayate can normally be seen wearing his gold trimmed armor even out of combat, despite how heavy it is. Though if one finds him out of combat, he will likely have a sky blue tunic with a cross emblazoned on the center, and leather kilt over his legs. His hair is blonde and swept back, and his eyes are blue. He is noticeably well-built, though this is hard to tell apart from his size with his armor on. The armor itself has a rather excess amount of bulk in the feet and hands (gauntlets and greaves to be more percise) and is made of steel with a silver polish and gold trim.

Skills: Pain tolerace and raw strength are likely the most notable of his skills, though he was trained a bit in politics so he knows how to negotiate fairly well. He doesn't really have fun skills like singing or dancing though, but does have good humor. His most unique skills have to do with his equipment though, and technically anyone could use them as such.

Equipment: Experimental Jet Greaves and Gauntlets integrated as part of his armor. They are fueled via magic charges and allow him short bursts of strength in his attacks, or a quick burst of movement. He carries a small pouch of supplies to refuel his 'jets' and also has to fix up the devices sometimes if they sustain too much impact.

Background & History: Hayate is a fairly wealthy knight in England. And had served the throne for three years, though recently suspicions have fall on him due to some peasants speaking of him using witchcraft on the fields of battle.

Hayate's grandfather was working on a simple use of magic, the twisting of the design of world, to create a new weapon. Due to the topic of heresy coming up. His grandfather was searched, and handed off his research to Hayate to hide it. Word was that Hayate's grandfather was killed despite no evidence being found, and Hayate continued to hold onto his research. He enlisted as a knight eventually, not resorting to his magic devices unless he was certain he had to, though recently his ability to survive situations that he should not be able to has been brought up and he has been slightly more wary of using it.

His trip to Jerusalem is both in part to avoid getting in combat again, and to show his faith in Christianity. He hopes the trip will drive suspicions away from him lest he meet the same fate as his family member.

( Sorry if it's not so great. I fail at history stuff like I said before. Wasn't exactly sure what to do. )

[Jinxer]

Marduk said
Great to have you aboard, Jinx! Accepted.A couple questions though. Who's the patriarch of jerusalem? Is that a religious station or something?Aren't the sidhe a type of fairy?Oh, and the christians were expelled before the siege. Is she meant to have escaped notice, hence having taken 'refuge', or?

The Patriarch is the leader of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem (there's also one in Antioch, Constantinople etc. Look up the Pentarchy of the Church - Rome is technically just another one of the Pentarchy).

They were expelled and allowed back several times - the revenue from Pilgrims meant that the Caliph actually made efforts to ensure the safe travel of Pilgrims to Jerusalem; Pope Urban II's speech at Clermont of atrocities committed against the Christian people were vastly exaggerated and far from the actuality. In fact without the Pilgrims Jerusalem would have been a remarkably poor city.

And yes, the sidhe are from Tir Na Nog and are essentially fairies although the myths are very vague and various; you could essentially call them immortal humans from another world.

The Patriarch was still a fairly respect figure in Jerusalem and his compound was fortified so even when the other Christians were slaughtered by the Muslims to prevent an attack from within the compound went relatively unscathed.

(These are technicalities/minor exceptions/details but I like to take advantage of them where they are - they're the most interesting parts of history!)

[Marduk]

@Jinx: So Rhiannon is a sidhe, but she doesn't know it - this being origin of her powers/possession. Correct?

I'll have to do some research on the pentarchy when I get home! I agree with you though; those little bits are what makes history fun. ^-^.

Do you know if I happen to have my estimate of the city's population about right? 20-30k?

Also! I'll be posting a response to Pearion's character later tonight. But for the moment, I think it's highly amusing that Hayate comes from Norman-ruled England. He serves the crown of King William II, if I'm not mistaken. I wonder if that will affect his interaction with Rhia at all?

[Jinxer]

Yes that's right - she's actually a sidhe (born as one) but has no awareness of her own power or identity as of yet. Still, she has the hunting knife for now...

Let me look it up and I'll edit here with the answer - the population changed so drastically all the time it's difficult to remember!

Possibly; although the Marcher Lords were as much a pain in William Rufus' side as they were to the Welsh - Rhiannon will certainly be quite... xenophobic however.

I have it at about 30,000 - the 20,000 figure may well be referring to the post-siege population (historians generally accept over 10,000 were killed after the siege, although the estimates vary from 3,000 to over 70,000).

[Ontos]

I almost want to make a time traveller who is trying to write a history paper on another topic and accidentally time-travelled here.

[Marduk]

@Ontos: I'm.... uh... not really sure what I think about the time-traveler idea! xD. It could either be neat or really bad. I'm wary of denying it outright but I'm equally wary of sanctioning it.

@Jinxer: Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. I don't think the exact number killed really matters for us though. We won't be doing any surveys. All we'll see is "a great slaughter".

[Jinxer]

Fair enough; although there are plenty of interesting accounts from the slaughter:

The image of Godfrey of Bouillon and his closest band of knights having to wade through blood to kneel before the tomb of Christ is quite... powerful (although I believe it was a Muslim source describing this and they claimed upwards of 70,000 people were slaughtered when the population was only around 30,000 so...)

I am rather looking forward to this :3 (and I promise to tone down the history nerdism!)

[Marduk]

We like nerds here! Just be mindful that this is not meant to be a reenactment - the history serves as a backdrop to the roleplay! But you seem very aware of that. c:
Feel free to weigh in any time you have something to contribute. xD.

Also, I'm pretty sure both sides claimed the slaughter was worse than it was! Many crusaders gave accounts just like that, saying how the blood ran in rivers up to their knees and filled the streets. One account claimed there were 60,000 fighting men in the city - double to triple the actual population, and upwards of twenty times the garrison!

[Briza]

I am hoping to introduce my character later this evening. (Oh, I am sorry. I did not realize the RP is closed.)

[Jinxer]

Marduk said
We like nerds here! Just be mindful that this is not meant to be a reenactment - the history serves as a backdrop to the roleplay! But you seem very aware of that. c:Feel free to weigh in any time you have something to contribute. xD.Also, I'm pretty sure both sides claimed the slaughter was worse than it was! Many crusaders gave accounts just like that, saying how the blood ran in rivers up to their knees and filled the streets. One account claimed there were 60,000 fighting men in the city - double to triple the actual population, and upwards of twenty times the garrison!

Indeed, they claim they slaughtered 10,000 Muslims on the Temple Rock alone which is... well, yeah... in any case lots of people died! And defeating a 60,000 garrison with 15,000 starving, thirsty Crusaders would be quite a feat if that were true!

[Marduk]

I believe the passage ended with "But by the grace of God all things are possible!".

So it was -that- kind of exaggeration.

[Iluvatar]

Name: Mordecai of Galilee
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Race: Human, Galilean, Messianic Jew (a Jew converted to Christianity)
Personality: A wise, knowledgeable, almost Gandalf-like figure, Mordecai believes that all things are ordained by God, and therefore obtains a deep peace - what will be will be.
Appearance:

Mordecai dresses in simple grey or brown robes, and carries an ornate oaken staff at all times. Not one to fuss over special, so-called religious garments, he knows that God does not judge people by their clothing, but by their actions and whether they accept Him. He sports a long, grey beard and hair. His body, once strong, is slowly declining as he ages.

Skills: He is skilled in basic 'magics' - as a descendant of an Early Church elder, he had retained the gifts of healing and small miracles (these were genuine gifts to Early Church members mentioned in the Bible). He is also proficient with a bow, and uses his staff as a club in close combat.

Equipment: Ornate Oaken staff, bow, a quiver full of arrows, assorted healing tinctures and remedies.

Background & History: Mordecai became a Messianic Jew at an early age, along with the rest of his family. He left his home in Galilee after repeated raids by Saracens, and headed for Jerusalem. There, he kept his religion hidden from the Muslim authorities, and met in secret with other Christians and Messianic Jews at night. He later married one of these, a kindly lady by the name of Naomi, and fathered four children. So far, the two eldest sons have been killed in the Crusades, forced to fight by the rulers of Jerusalem. His wife, daughter and youngest son are currently living in hiding with him, and hope to escape the city and join the Crusaders.

I hope I got the history stuff correct, but I know for a fact there were Christians and converted Jews living in hiding in Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades - albeit very few in number.

[Marduk]

Accepted! Glad to have you aboard.

[Marduk]

So guys, a quick poll before I write the IC tomorrow.

Do you want to start DURING the breach of the walls and flee the city, or some time before and begin at a more leisurely pace?

[Iluvatar]

Marduk said
Accepted! Glad to have you aboard.

Thanks :D

Marduk said
So guys, a quick poll before I write the IC tomorrow.Do you want to start DURING the breach of the walls and flee the city, or some time before and begin at a more leisurely pace?

I dunno. I'll wait to see what others think before I decide.

[Pearion_Rehtyer]

Well if we started during things would get moving along quickly, which would be kind of neat. But if we start shortly before it would give the characters a chance to build a bit of trust without the hectic-ness of the city being under attack. I think as much fun as it would be to start during the attack, we should probably start slightly before it.