-Varna Crusade time boys!
“And then you were the furthest away from your country than you ever thought possible and your father was helpless to save you…”
With an Ottoman garrison in Wallachia, it allowed the new Beylerbey of Rumelia, Kasim, to launch raids in southern Hungry. Wladyslaw and the Hungarian Diet gave Hunyadi authority over the South Hungarian border in order to intercept such raids. But his victories were defensive and thus did not progress in killing the Turks. Cardinal Julian Cesarini came forth from Rome to the Castle of Hunyad.
Gathered on the balcony were Despot Durad Brankovic, Voivode Janos Hunyadi, Voivode Miklos Ujlaki, Voivode Mircea Draculesti, Count Fruzhin Shishman, and the King-Grand Duke Wladyslaw III Jagiellon. Usually the six of them would’ve met underground in the dungeon of the Order of the Dragon but Cesarini is not a member.
Durad is a man of average height and grayish black hair. He wore red armor with a white eagle over his chest and back. His authority of Serbia included the capital of Smederevo to the river Drina, the region of Rascia, and the Black Mountain. His city of Nis and Kosovo was currently under control of Kasim.
Fruzhin was a dark haired man with a square jaw. He wore his hair short with a goatee on his face. His armor was gold with three black lions across the chest and back. Fruzhin is the commander of Temes, on the border of his homeland Bulgaria. He was Tsar there for a short period of time until defeated by the Ottomans. His greatest desire is a third Bulgarian empire.
While Mircea is only 15 here, Wladyslaw was 19 years old. He had long blonde hair descending just past his shoulders. He wore white boots, red pants and a red royal coat over a pink tunic, a scarf of white feathers around his neck and three crowns. Wladyslaw came from Lithuania and was elected Grand Duke by the other dukes. The Polish Szlachta (nobles) also voted him their king. Then Hunyadi and the Hungarian nobility ensured he was King of Hungary over a Habsburg. So he rules over the main region of Lithuania, Belorussia, Ruthenia, Poland, Galicia, Nitra, Hungary, and Croatia. Then also a part of his personal empire were the vassals of Moldavia, Transylvania, Serbia, and Mazovia. This was practically all of Eastern Europe that was Christian.
Cardinal Cesarini was just an old bald Italian man. He wore a bright red robe over black tunic and pants. “Monarchs under the blessings of God, I bring a Papal Bull to you.”
“Yeah, read it out loud,” Wladyslaw said, his legs stretched over the table. The others were all standing and there was only one other seat. But sitting there meant the king’s boots were in your face. One could simply move the chair but no one did for the Cardinal so he decided to keep standing as well.
“It is simply a call to attack the Ottomans by the end of this year, from the Pope Eugene. This is a great call directly to the Kingdom of Hungary as you are the Ottoman rival. The German, French, British, and Iberian are too far away. Eugene and I both agree that right now, the Turks will be vulnerable to attack.”
“Let me be the first to speak,” Mircea asked, stepping forward.
“You’re technically third but go ahead,” Wladyslaw responded.
Mircea raised an eyebrow but then continued, “I was only able to sneak away because the Turks watch only over my father. Don’t mistake our current status as a betrayal against Christendom but it is something conjuled on us. This has happened before, right Sir Brankovic?” Durad nodded.
Ujlaki asked, “why bring this up? What are you about to say to the Pope’s order?”
“Deep apologies…since we are already schismatic…but my father wants neutrality in this war!”
Cesarini got a little intense, “the Schism will soon be healed, we are arguing with that with several councils with the Greek Patriarch! Moldavia has shown great example by converting to Christianity and they are still Vlachs. Why can’t you?!”
Ujlaki added, “even Durad is joining us while still having his own Patriarch. Durad and your father are both original Dragons, to not attack the Turks disobeys the wishes of Sigismund.”
Mircea said, “It is healthier to be this way. Well, my father knows the Turks are richer than ever-”
“Because you keep feeding tribute.”
“…and they have more troops than ever-”
“Because they are allowed to keep raiding with no recourse.”
“And that Murad is not hellbent on violence. He hasn’t really launched real campaigns in years.”
“Yet his epithet is ghazi. That is like saying a Crusader ignores an easy chance at Jerusalem,” Cesarini said.
“Y’all beefing with a teenage messenger,” Wladyslaw muttered. They looked at him so he shrugged, “it’s easy for them to be neutral, let them. In fact, his presence here means Vlad wants to see us succeed, just not with their own lives.”
Hunyadi said, “good points, anything else, Dracula? We shall let you speak without an interruption from the Cardinal this time.”
Cesarini grew furious but stayed quiet. Mircea stepped back. “Well…the main safety in Wallachia’s neutrality is that you, Hunyadi, won’t try to replace the ruler again. Whether you fail or lose, if me or my father sits there, expect us to be neutral. We tribute to the Ottomans so they don’t Mongol us but you wouldn’t have the same goal of genocide. If you attack and we stay neutral we will thusly be playing both sides so there is no reason to attack us after your failure or success.”
“I see,” Hunyadi said. “But you must try to exorcize your country of Turks and stop their use of your forts.”
“We’re powerless. You must commit an attack that draws Kasim out of the country and then we will replenish our forts with pigs.”
“We attack Nis, simply,” Durad said.
“And then reclaim Sofia,” Fruzhin added. “From there, I will raise large Bulgarian armies.”
“You greedy Crusaders want to make a beeline for Erdine. Well, I can’t wait for my matchup against the great ghazi,” Wladyslaw said.
Hunyadi asked the most important question of the discussion. “This is a Papal Bull for Hungry but what support will we receive? To make it to Erdine quickly enough with enough forces to successfully siege the city will take a lot. Sigismund, as Emperor, should’ve been alive for that as he would’ve collected a continental coalition. Besides two, this is all that is left of the Order of the Dragon.”
A sweat bead dropped from Cesarini’s face, “we’ll see what we can do. But this Bull includes a huge fund that should help recruit mercenaries and the like.” The group groaned at him in unison.
So Hunyadi went to find the other two Order of the Dragon members but in all honesty, they are only members because their fathers were, like Mircea and Hunyadi themselves. The first option was Laszlo Garai, the Palatine of Hungary. Heading over to Buda to meet with him, Hunyadi learned an unfortunate fate. Unlike his father, Laszlo was a total nerd which is fine for a palatine. Laszlo did go around to each of the counts and bans of Hungary to recruit hundreds of troops from them to pay off their taxes. Hunyadi went to another potential ally, the Celje family, the son and grandson of Hermann II Celje.
Count Frederick of Slavonia responded, “we hate you, why did you come here?”
“Because this is most important. The Pope is sending us on one of the worst funded Crusades imaginable. Just lead an army with us. I am not even in command, it is your king Wladyslaw.”
“My chosen King of Hungary is Ladislaus Habsburg, shut the fuck up and leave.”
“One regiment, let us borrow one regiment-” but the door slammed in his face. “The Celje aren’t Dragons anymore,” Hunyadi shouted.
From behind the door, Frederick responded, “Sigismund is dead and you have no authority on that!”
A few weeks later, Hunyadi found that Cesarini did no leg work in recruiting German or French armies. Hunyadi sent money to some mercenaries like the Flemish Company and the Schwarze Guard. From Wladyslaw, only a good number of the Szlachta offered troops and the Lithuanians were at least more helpful. The Kingdom of Bosnia seemed to never respond. The Republic of Venice said they could send ships. Moldavia seemed unresponsive. Well after defeating another Turkish foray into Transylvania, Hunyadi felt ‘so good!’ about the plan to beeline to Erdine….
“I remember the prayers they chanted when they fought this time.”
In Temes, the Order of the Dragon gathered. Fruzhin, Durad, Hunyadi, Uljaki, Wladyslaw, and Cesarini…with his own army! “My guilt convinced me that I had to since no one answered my calls. Of course, these troops protect the city of Rome and they are the most elite of that army.” 40,000 knights in total. Launching from there right before winter started, the Crusaders made their way to Nis. Hunyadi and Durad rode in the vanguard. A day ago, Dracul finally ‘leaked’ the Crusader plan to Kasim Pasha to get him to defend Nis. Kasim left Wallachia in a rush. Garrisons were still left behind though but Dracul convinced the remaining generals that they would be needed for another Crusader attack at Nikopol. So they crossed the Danube, the river that protects Wallachia from Turks. Now Wallachia could be well fortified with their own troops.
“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle”
Kasim intercepted the vanguard just before the vanguard reached the city. “Just heavy cavalry? Are you buffoons retarded?” Kasim and Hunyadi entered a jousting match on their horses and spears. The dragon flew over head and blew down heavy winds, crushing the Ottoman horsemen. There were two more Ottoman commanders; Turakhan Bey of Thessaly and Ishak sanjak-bey of Skopje. They were easily defeated by Durad. Kasim and Hunyadi dueled equally for a short bit while Durad liberated the city. Kasim realized the great White Knight was not suddenly weaker but stalling. But now that he turned around, Durad swung for the kill.
“Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil”
Carried by great lightning, Iskander Beg of Albania brought Durad to the ground. Kasim was able to escape battle and retreat with his remaining forces. The Crusaders chased him away from Serbia. They rushed to Sofia as it got colder and colder. The villages they passed had no food to loot, due to the scorched earth of Kasim. They reached Sofia nonetheless and from there, Fruzhin called for a national rebellion of all Bulgarians. Kasim thusly continued retreating but he couldn’t go all of the way to Erdine. That would mean he failed.
“May God rebuke him we humbly pray”
Kasim learned the Crusaders were going to go through the Srenda Gora mountain passage. He collected his forces at the town of Zlatitsa and then headed over to the pass. It could be an unfortunate terrain for the Crusaders although the majority of their losses was from the cold weather. More Ottoman reinforcements came from Erdine and Hunyadi didn’t get close enough to kill any of the Beys. Then Murad came in on his giant wolf. It practically matched the dragon in size. Murad reigned down “Firtina” spells in quick succession creating a lightning storm in the area. Hunyadi thought it best to retreat here after knocking the giant wolf on its side.
“And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God”
The Crusaders would be chased by Grand Vizier Candarli Halil as they retreated to Sofia. He was super freaking easy to defeat. Sofia was abandoned as it was too war torn but many Bulgarians left with Fruzhin The gang recovered at the Fort of Belgrade, Hungary. The people there threw a huge congratulatory party and Hunyadi was a bit proud despite Cesarini’s disappointments. “We only lost 10,000 men instead of the whole flock. We embarrassed the three beys and I’ve heard Skanderbeg started a revolt against the Ottomans in Albania. The Grand Vizier and his son is in our captivity. Southern Serbia and Wallachia don’t have to pay Ottoman taxes. Lastly, we’ve shown how effortlessly it may be to attack them!” Wladyslaw was only sad he didn’t get to tag Murad before they left. Hunyadi also had to celebrate the birth of his second son Matyas. Still, months later, as money reallocated from the unpaid mercenaries to the Medici Bank, the Cardinal found they had resources for a continued attack. Then, the crisis in the Ottoman family.
“Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls, amen.”
Prince Aladdin had died! Murad completely fell apart, further depressed by the loss of his vizier. No one in his palace could console him. He sent letters of peace to Wladyslaw which further proved Hunyadi’s point that last year was successful enough. The Palaiologos city of Constantinople silently cheered and did pay the tax that year. Mara wrote to her father Durad about a continued peace because of the great loss. Meanwhile, in Amaysa, Mehmed and Vlad were completely shocked by the new report; “Death of the Sezhade and Abdication of the Sultan”! Vlad teased Mehmed about his oncoming freedom as they traveled back to Erdine.
Mehmed responded, “the reason we keep wolves is a tradition kept by those in ancient Anatolia but that makes our tribe also relatable to the brothers Romulus and Remus who were raised by wolves. If my father died instead of Aladdin then we would’ve had to kill each other, like wolves. And that would make the Ottomans as great as the Qaysers.”
When Mehmed returned home, he repeated this to his father who subsequently made him sultan. Marud then went to live in Bursa in a castle the family had there. Vlad watched first hand that this 12 year old kid succeeded the throne in great ease. Every night, Vlad thought about killing him but simply overheard his conversations with Mara. The boy was worried about the janissary rebels fomenting rebellion and an advantageous Crusader attack. “Any smart warrior like Hunyadi would spawn camp a king in their first year, before they have consolidated their rule. I will be dead by the end of the year” he sobbed out. Vlad reasoned the boy was going to be found at the bottom of a bridge on his own will.
Cardinal Caesarini was certainly exploitative enough to call for a second wave of this Crusade. “We still have many men stored in Belgrade and more can more quickly be called upon this time. Hunyadi, just one more run.”
Wladyslaw argued, “hey, he’s named after the first Roman Emperor, this could easily lead us to victory. When I take Erdine, I expect the Palaiologos to be my vassal along with Fruzhin’s Bulgaria. There’s too many Turks in Asia’s interior but the Greek coastline will fall to us too. There also isn’t more than two Ottomans to replace Mehmed so the Karamans will just replace them in Asia.”
“Let’s just burn Turk,” Durad argued. “Worry about the spoils when we achieve them.”
What could Hunyadi say? They only released the Vizier for a peace treaty weeks ago, its not like they are betraying such a peace treaty, right? They gathered again at Belgrade with a much larger force including fully hired mercenaries from French lands and Germany. There were Burgundians, Czechs, Bosnians, Prussian, Bulgarians, and Ruthenians to name a few. The Venetians were a certified yes in using their ships to block any crossing in the Dardanelles. Mehmed and Vlad were in Asia dealing with an invasion from Emir Ibrahim II Karaman. Well, Vlad was just discouraging all of his attack plans. With the Dardanelles blocked, occupation of Bulgaria should be easy. So they sailed down the Danube to Nikopol, defeating the bey there and taking the fort.
Here, Dracul and Mircea met with Hunyadi, “you think because you got here that it will be easy pickings?”
“It’ll be easy until the young sultan catches up. And even then we should present a great challenge.”
“Fool, the Ottomans have an endless supply of forces. You go anywhere near Erdine and you will simply be swamped by Turks and more Turks. All of your troops will convert to Islam and suddenly you will find yourself at the front gates in front of Saint Peter.”
“Then what’s the army standing behind you for?”
Vlad turned around saying, “I am unaware of what you speak of.”
Mircea raised his pike and the 7000 Wallachian knights behind him raised their own in an echo. I don’t like this ‘both sides’ thing that much, Hunyadi thought but right now there was no reason to argue.
Next on the map was Tarnovo, the most recent capital of Bulgaria. Fruzhin started another Bulgarian revolt here and captured the city in completion. Then the crusaders headed to the coast, as it was easier to scale than the Balkan heights and there would be support from the sea soon. This was the region of Varna…
After leaving Karaman, Mehmed was in great fear and tears, “oh no, they were going to capitalize on my first year. This is the worst thing to happen. If only I was older,” he cried.
“Sucks, only if we had a gifted student as ruler,” Vlad joked.
The duo stopped at Bursa to speak with Murad. “Son, you are the sultan. You can either attack them head on or manage some kind of peace. Although it is strange for Wladyslaw to break the treaty, he must be a manner-less ruler.”
“Father, they blocked the ports and I have not powerful enough magic to stop Hunyadi. You’re sending your son to die.”
Murad sighed, “think of it this way, if I were dead, you have the same problem. What is Skanderbeg doing?”
“Still in revolt! They took Nikopol and Tirnovo so Kasim must be dead! And father you are not.”
Vlad held back Mehmed, “give it up kid, the old lady’s singing.”
Mehmed shrugged him off and then said, “Murad, if you are a ghazi, your sultan calls you to war. If you are the sultan, your people need you!” Murad relented…
With a payment to the Republic of Genoa, Ghazi Sultan Murad II was able to have ships brought to Koceli. Thousands of Ottoman soldiers came onto each and then were transported to the Gulf of Varna. Vlad was still accompanying Mehmed along with his old classmate Zaganos who was now a general.
Laszlo Hunyadi, Janos’ first son at 13 years old, spotted the Genoan ships in the Gulf nearing the shore. Despite not flying any Ottoman flags, there were obviously Turks on ships. But the Crusader encampment was lowkey trapped by Lake Varna to their west, the stream to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The Turks were sailing to land in the north. Cardinal Cesarini was suddenly more than ready to return home.
“Oh nowwww we’ve done enough to further the domination of the Christian faith,” Hunyadi said.
“Yeah, you’re acting kind of bitchy right now,” Uljaki responded.
“What do you- listen, we could better secure Bulgaria if we leave immediately.”
“No,” Hunyadi argued, “it’s just the child sultan. Right now, its impossible for thousands of us to leave safely and yet defeat is also not acceptable. We’ll stand our ground right here and now.”
“That was a hard line, I agree” Wladyslaw said. “And I do command this Crusade but Janny, what could we do?”
“Here’s the formation…”
So the Turks landed in the north by noontime. Murad expected they didn’t have enough time to strategize a great formation that could surgically massacre Crusaders so he just went with simple lines of calvary. He and his great wolf sat on a little hill watching the battle transpire. Mehmed watched with his twin wolves, looking over his notes to assist his father. Vlad spotted his brother in the foray and descended back into the shadows. Farway from the Turk camp, he disguised himself with his own invented spell “Masca”. This spell disguised him in Crusader armor. Then he went to the king’s tent.
Hunyadi watched the battlefield with as much attention as Mehmed while holding down the feral Wladyslaw. “He’s right there. I can kill him…let me go!” Hunyadi watched as the Papal Army and Cardinal Cesarini successfully bombarded Turkish cavalry with cannons and “Bruler”. But then, without command, Cesarini followed the disintegrating wing. Mehmed took notice and followed behind with around 500 horsemen. He chased on all fours with his dogs on either side. The calvary struck the Papal Army’s behind and they started to clash. Crawling between the horse hooves, Mehmed eventually found himself on Cesarini’s ride.
“So I hear you are Julian Cesarini?” The man looked back in his steed completely aghast. “Now I think a ‘Julius Caesar’ has to die every time a Roman Empire is born, right?” before beheading the Cardinal. Then the Papal Troops were crowd-crushed.
General Mihaly Szilagyi, Hunyadi’s brother in law, pushed forward to attack the Ottoman center. Hunyadi strapped Wladyslaw to the ground and told him, “don’t attack the sultan until I give you the signal. It’s not just Mehmed here.”
Hunyadi left on the dragon and provided support to the collapsing right wing before helping out Mihaly. The dragon can’t breath fire but his large wings blew large breezes and that on top of Hunyadi’s “Tourner” spell created tornadoes on the Turkish side of the field.
“HEEEEELP!” Wladyslaw screamed. Immediately, Mircea and Laszlo Hunyadi were by his side.
“What’s wrong with you?” Laszlo asked.
“I think he’s just an idiot,” Mircea responded.
The disguised Vlad broke into the tent, “hey king, you gotta attack the sultan now.”
“That’s what I’m saying, untie me and let me cook!”
Uljaki and his troops came to support Mihaly and Hunyadi. The giant wolf now began to support the Turks that they attacked. Murad did not join as he spotted four horsemen racing down toward his tent; Wladyslaw, some kid, Mircea, and Laszlo. In the back of the formation were Durad and Fruzhin who thought that the King’s charge was the sign of an all out attack. They rushed forward.
Mehmed returned to the hill from behind and was surprised to see his father standing outside. Then he spotted the attacking group not twenty feet away. The group fired preliminary spells that Murad deflected or negated with ease. “Fret not son, it’s like I said before. Those who die here will be martyrs but those who kill will truly be ghazis!” Equipping the Sword of Osman, Murad leapt into the air and swung down causing an air slash that bent the space of the battlefield. The four twisted all about before falling off their horses in a roll. Wladyslaw jumped off Vlad thinking, what a crazy attack, he really is a crazy strong guy. “Užkariauti” is a Lithuanian technique that boosts the speed of the user. Using that, he punched Murad into the hill. Vlad summoned a black raven and rode it over following Murad’s crater. Mehmed turned to join his father but then Mircea and Lazslo fired “Marteau” at him which was intercepted by the dogs.
“So you want to duel me…” Mehmed said before floating off into the air. Mircea summoned his own black raven to hang on and attack from the air. Laszlo, followed by a crow, leaped at Mehmed although the kid blocked his punch. Well, they are the same age. Flying behind him, Mircea fired “Orbi” but again, a dog intercepted it going blind. Mehmed threw a punch at Laszlo, turning his face. Then Laszlo threw a strong hook in return and the two just started beating on each other as they slowly fell down. Crows flew with every punch but the dogs intercepted their flights.
Murad started pacing back as Wladyslaw reigned down spears that froze the ground they stabbed into. Wladyslaw was giggling as he stood on the black raven Vlad hung from. Finally, Murad created enough space from his son’s own battle, brought his sword back and swung with “Gok Yagmur” sending a wave of torrential water bashing Wladyslaw. Vlad dropped from the bird and fired “Raia” spells at Murad who dodged and blocked them. Then Vlad hit the ground and rolled disappearing in the shadows of the grass. Murad was a bit confused but refocused to Wladyslaw who teleported behind him and stabbed with his lance. The two started swinging their blades while throwing hammer spells in between to chip away at each other.
Really angry that Wladyslaw disobeyed his command, Hunyadi rushed at the two fighting. Mircea descended to pressure Mehmed with his pike. Mircea and Laszlo found trouble in the fact that the dogs tanked every hit that he was not able to block himself and so he could counter-attack quicker. But the battlefield echoed a loud scream as Murad cut Wladyslaw in half. It was Wladyslaw’s own scream. The dragon sped to tackle Murad but the giant wolf grabbed it’s tail from behind and pulled. Hunyadi jumped off and launched his large white aura punch on Murad. The sultan already teleported away. Helplessly, Hunyadi watched Murad unleash “Kara Kar Fırtınası” freezing the majority of the Crusader army. He ordered a mass retreat and collected some of the troops with his dragon. But most of the 40,000 had died. Murad mercifully let the Crusaders flee in which every direction they wished as he collected his army.
Vlad reappeared next to Mehmed, “whoa, I went to take a piss, what happened?”
“You weren’t here to protect me. Thank my father for your continued life,” Mehmed said.
“Dracula, you piece of shit,” an injured Zaganos shouted out. “You should die much sooner than Mehmed, no matter how much piss you have to pee.”
“Shut up retard, we literally won.”
The scattered Crusaders returned home in their own ways. Hunyadi somehow found himself in a Wallachian prison. “I think my men mistakenly captured you,” Dracul said behind the bars. “I apologize for their folly, forgive them.”
Hunyadi leaned against the wall of the prison, standing, and said, “so free me.” He had been stripped of his armor and just wore a brown tunic and green pants.
“Now hold on, you are no greater or more successful than me. You failed to defeat the Sultan in finality like the rest of us. How does it feel to go to war but survive knowing you failed?”
“It feels like I can try again. And I will. Murad’s mercy will be his own undoing.”
“So even the old sultan came. He didn’t die, he would’ve come to protect his son. My prediction of you being outnumbered was correct. They are soon to recover Nikopol and Tirgostive I think. You really shouldn’t have wasted your time this round and your troops.”
Hunyadi rolled his eyes, “I think I will actually be more aggressive from now. There is some merit in being offensive and not defensive. Did your people see Wladyslaw return?”
“No and the Hungarian estates are waiting for either one of you to show up. But I went to Varna myself and there was no Wladyslaw remains.”
“Hmm…did anyone tell you he was cleaved in half?”
“No.”
“Well, Vlad, let me out. I apologize and won’t bother you.”
“Let you out…well I hope you understood my son’s message last year. That we should not be bullied for being forced to serve the Turks. There is not only the destruction of our people but my two other sons. Murad holds them hostage. Durad even went through this with his daughter so you must understand it brings greater emotional pain to us to betray you. Even right now, I could let you out but to Murad to exchange my sons. Then Wallachia would be truly independent.”
“Oi, come on. You’re not about to do that.”
“Depends on who I trust more. I give you to Hungary and the only reason you should come to my capital again is to give my children a wife or offer a new anti-Turk coalition.”
“I understand.”
“…but you don’t agree?”
“Sire, sire,” a servant came dashing to Dracul. “Someone’s here to see you. They said they are your most important ally.”
“Really? Take me to them. Until tomorrow, Hunyadi.”
Hunyadi tried to reached for the Dragon but he was chained to the wall. “Vlad! Vlad!!!”
On the Danube, at the city of Giurgiu, there was the last Ottoman garrison within Wallachia. It was completely on fire and in ruins. There was a galley in the river with a unique flag. The Burgundian Cross! Dracul fell to his knees in shock. Then on the mast there was someone waving his hat. “AHOY! It’s a wonderful day. I captured the Turks here!”
Then Mircea landed next to his father, “Dad, this man has come here through the River and asked for my assistance in taking the fort but I don’t know if that breaks our relations with Murad.”
“Uh…uh…sir, who are you!?”
The man descended upon the two. He answered, “I am Waleran de Wavrin!” He was a little tall with ruffled brown hair and a chiseled jaw. He wore a white coat and blue pants. Across the coat was the red Burgundian Cross. “The Good Duke Philip of Burgundy sent me on the Crusade. We sailed around the continent and blocked with the Venetians. When the Genoans passed by, we let them because they have ports and Crimea and didn’t think they were doing anything else. But then later, we learned they transported the sultans directly to you guys! You got crushed! We apologize and came to late for a clutch victory. Well…it’s only been five weeks and we didn’t hear anything from Wladyslaw, Hunyadi, and Cesarini so the Venetians wanted to know if they were still getting paid. But I looted and rooted the Anatolian coast line. I got lots of treasure, those Turks have a dogshit navy. Let’s see, apart from my cut, Phillip would’ve made 200,000 ducats from this trip. What a great guy.”
“Uh huh uh huh. Waleran? I’ve never heard that name but thank you. Did you attack this fort before my son noticed?”
“Yup. I was really surprised to see them there. I did not expect it at all.”
“And they for sure only saw your flag?”
“Yup, I wave it as high as possible. Everyone needs to know the greatness of Burgundy.”
Dracul gave a thumbs up to his son, “you did good”.
“Oh and just to let you know, the captured troops are tied down near the fire buuuut not close enough to kill them. A nice filet mignon if you would. I would like to kill more Turks and at least equally the number of Crusaders killed.”
“A nice what? Nevermind, thank you for your services.” Dracul dashed over to the captured troops and had his men untie them. They were allowed to cross the bridge to the Bulgarian city of Ruse. With their backs turned, Dracul fired the “Despica” spell that killed the army in a single large slash.
Dracul, his son, and Waleran then went on into Ruse and ravaged the Turks. The Bulgarians there were liberated and brought across the river. Thousands of Turk civilians and soldiers died as they made their way down the river to Nikopol which was captured once again.
After weeks of raiding, Vlad came to Hunyadi in prison again. “Vlad, every day I spend here is a day closer to your ruin.”
“I did forget about you. Want to know why? I met a Burgundian pirate who helped me ravage the Turks. We slaughtered wives and children, we were true mongols. None even escaped to tell the sultan about it. So you understand that when the beylerbey comes by, my own children are practically forfeit and so we are both at war with Murad? But two of my Wallachian lives for thousands of Turks is a fair price.”
“A little bit of psychotic behavior but I could forgive you. Free me.”
“Sire sire, this man could not be stopped,” shouted a soldier.
A tall brown hair man stepped on the soldier and get stomping for Dracul. Dracul slashed off his arm with Raia and said, “relax, who are you?”
The man did not want to show pain and said, “I am Lorinc Hédervári, Palatine of Hungary. We discovered you have been hiding Janos Hunyadi and now I know the truth. Release him, lowly prince.”
Vlad pulled the lever and said “I thought he might like it better here, away from the politics of Hungary.”
tdwriter 