Queen's Blade: A Medieval Tale
Chapter I.
It was the year 1175, and the crusades were flaring more than plague rash on a peasant's arse. Jon of Bavaria was wounded, tired, and very irate about his circumstances. Europe had thrown the mother of all fits about the Saracens controlling the Holy Lands, and the church had riled up every 'God fearing' kingdom it could to pursue a ludicrous and bloody war with the Arab peoples. "I shouldn't be surprised," Jon thought to himself grimly, looking at the wounded and dead around him, the sounds of battle, pain, and struggle not far off, "The church and the kings get to reap the benefits if they win, and if they lose... well, who cares about some peasants and minor noblemen?" Tyre was a mess, it was bad enough that the bloody pope had decided to have a massive war between continents, now they were causing massacres and razing cities, he had been sent by his father as a test and show of good will, after all, favors were ripe for the taking, and if he could get some fame and fortune, all the better. Still, he was not used to the climate, or the people for that matter, there were much more interesting things he could be doing right now, such as enjoying his library or strolling through the forests at night, when he felt most at ease, however, tradition dictated that he obey his superiors and his father unless they proved incompetent or corrupt, and Joel had shown no signs of either happening.
Sighing heavily, he got up from his kneeling position and kept to the shadows, walking in a calm, methodical manner, the moon was at it's zenith, allowing him to see clearly, not that there was anything pleasant to look at, what with corpses everywhere. "Of all the times for an attack to happen, it had to be at night." He thought to himself, and he'd been finally getting some sleep. Right now, he had to get to his fellow crusaders and join with them, most likely to repel the attack, it was a shame the soldiers with him had been killed, they weren't that bright, but seemed like good men all in all. It was while he was walking that he stumbled upon a scene that would mark a determining point in his future.
