In the Year of our Lord, 1400, January 1st
Manburg castle:
Overlooking his castle from his chamber, duke Rudolf II was deep in thought. In the eyes of his subjects present in his room he seemed to be distressed. The light from his blue eyes that were once full of life and vigor was slowly fading, and the lines on his face were becoming more and more apparent with old age. The duke was in his late sixties, he knew his time had passed. But this is not why he is seemingly upset. The Austrians to the east have been expanding recently, absorbing the duchy of Styria only few years prior. Manburgian sources say the Austrians have once again turned their attention west. The fear among the levies is becoming a problem as many have started moving inland, away from the border, fearing Austrian retribution who’s duke seemingly still feels like they were unlawfully stripped of land during the Austrian succession war. The old truce between the two duchies ended nearly two decades ago and the recent militaristic activity of the Austrians is unsettling. Suddenly a herald barges in through the main door: “Sire, I bring word from the Duke of Linz.”- as he passes the note to the chamberlain of the castle, Ulrich von Meinhaus. Rudolf slowly distanced himself from the window reaching for the piece of paper who was handed to him by the chamberlain. The note reads:
“To His Royal Highness, Duke of Manburg Rudolf II, Good duke, we encourage you to stay strong in these troubling times. The forces of the Austrians are no doubt preparing for something leery. Court of Manburg may rest assured their brave troops will be accompanied by the might of the Duchy of Linz if the Austrians dare to cross your borders. Our numbers may be unfavorable but our men are more than able to bring the might of the Austrians down with their bravery and skill, as proven many times before. -Duke of Linz, Hartwig von Glauenburg”
As the old man finished his read, the look on his face appeared to be improving, albeit his eyes still emitted concern. The duchy his father left him to keep is now under threat by an army of fifteen thousand Austrians, according to the latest reports. The duchy of Manburg can only raise six thousand regular troops, and although Duchy of Linz can raise just as many, chances are they will not be able to send all of them. They have had problems with the Bavarians over the past years and the duchy can spare only so many troops to be able to defend itself in case of a perfidious attack of those snakes from the north. Duke’s son and heir, Rudolf III, an already well established and renowned high noble of the duchy, has been busy with diplomacy. With the apparent rise of Vienna after decades of dealing with unrest, the rising Austrian eagle is threatening sovereignty of it’s former vassals yet again. However, times have changed. The old years when the new nations were euphoric with newly established freedom, cutting off all ties with Vienna and dealing against them together had past. Over the thirty three years that had passed since establishment of the new states they have grown too far apart to effectively make a united stand against greater powers. In this regard Rudolf III has been secretly attempting to establish the old ties with the former Austrian vassals in attempt to fight them back together and give them a finishing blow that would put the Habsburgs out of the political as well as living world for good. Sadly, he did not have much luck as the farthest states see no profit in fighting the Austrians like Tyroleans, who are not bordering the Austrians directly and are instead focusing their defense against their own neighbors. Others, like Duchy of Carniola, have fallen victim to other greater powers who expanded their influence over the small and weak new states. Prince-Bishopric of Salzburg on the other hand established a peaceful diplomacy with the Habsburgs, attempting to deter them from attacking with courtship and gifts. A pathetic and slimy politics that only the kind of weak invertebrate snake could conduct. The only remaining states that are directly under threat of Austrians are the Carinthians to the south, Duchy of Linz to the west and ourselves. Rudolf III with his entourage is currently en route to the Carinthian court in Sankt Veit in an attempt to sway them to join the defensive league. However, the Carinthian Duke has had some territorial claim disputes with the Glauenburgs of Linz over the Austrian land that lies between them which might prove to be a defining issue to maim Manburg’s efforts to form an anti-Austrian coalition.