Chapter 7

-First Impressions-

11th of November, 1215 A.D.

Rome, Papal States

Beginning of the 4th Council of the Lateran

Note: Innocent III was the current pope at the time.

Ugh, I really hate these councils, they are long, boring as hell, and usually no progress is made.

Varyn settled down and sat in his seat in the large pier and waited for everyone else to be seated as Innocent III commanded for the council to begin. The room was crowded with patriarchs, bishops, abbots, and envoys from the many kings of Europe. Varyn himself was the envoy representing Davyd, the King of Reikland. As he scanned the room, he saw some other nations present as well, France, England, and Hungary were all present. Including envoys from the Holy Roman Empire, Cyprus, Aragon, the Latin Empire, and Jerusalem.

I wonder if Elizaveta is still embarrassed about the whole thing between us. Should I talk to her? I haven't in a while since it happened. No, that would just make things awkward.

As Reikland sat down, Innocent III quieted the crowd and called for the council to start.

"As we have gathered here in the holy city of Rome, we must be prepared to be unanimous in any decision agreed upon and unified in any resolution reached, am I understood?"

A murmur of agreements followed and the pope, being satisfied, continued;

"Now this council will be the subject of many matters, great and small. The first on hand is the planning of a new crusade against the Muslim heathens that plague the holy lands. This cannot be allowed to continue after we have fought with such vigor already to free them."

"And to destroy and split apart our greatest ally and only buffer from the Turks in the east." a man called out from the crowd. An exchange of gasps and laughter were heard and the pope again silenced the commotion.

"It is true, the Fourth Crusade did not go as planned, and that it did not accomplish what we had hoped, but I believe that with God's will and with the right leadership, we faithful Christians can again prevail in the East!"

"What are you suggesting?" Another man asked.

Innocent III slightly smiled and answered, "I propose that unlike the last crusades, which have been under the leadership of the armies that were sent, this new crusade should be led directly by the Catholic Church itself."

A large clamour rose up, especially from the envoys and nations that were sent, but after a few minutes, order was restored.

"I know that this may not please the various kings, dukes, and counts that send troops-" the pope began before he was cut off.

"You're damn right! I'm not going to send men halfway across the earth only to be led by some priest!" Shouted England.

The pope scolded the nation and continued, "As I was saying, I know that many of you will be against this, but see it like this; in the past, our leaders that were sent often argued with one another, they weren't always loyal to the cause that was agreed upon, they sometimes carved out their own kingdoms in the east, they branched out from the main armies and foiled the plans of the crusades themselves. This is why we must have one leader agreed upon, one man to lead our men unified under the name of Christianity, and one man to have his voice heard over all else."

Again there was a commotion in the group, many agreeing, some not, and some undecided. After a while though the whole crowd eventually agreed, except for England, stubborn as ever. Innocent III then asked around to see which nations would send men, supplies, or money for the crusade. Hungary was the first to accept, stating that she and her king would gladly join the fight. Next the envoy from Austria said that his duke would likely send troops and even go to the holy lands himself. Gradually more and more men proclaimed their support for the crusade, including a count from Holland, the Duke of Bavaria, the Latin Empire, and Cyprus.

When it came to France however, he was hesitant,

"I am sad to say that unlike in the past, the King of France will not be able to send many men for the cause, as we are already at war with the heretical Cathars in the south of France right now. We will need all the manpower and supplies available at the moment to defeat them. However, I will see if there are some lords that will take the cross."

The pope seemed content with what the French nation said, "Thank you Francis, that would be most helpful." He then turned to the Celtic nation, "Varyn, you have been silent this whole time, what do you have to say? Will King Davyd join in on the crusade?"

With being acknowledged, Reikland stood up, "It is very possible that Davyd will send men and supplies. However, seeing the immense failure of the Fourth Crusade just over a decade ago, and the fact that Reikland has just finished a war with the Holy Roman Empire, the King himself will likely not be as enthusiastic to take the up the Cross. But as France has said previously, I will try to raise some men to support the crusade."

As he stopped talking the crowd again broke off into many discussions. But Reikland wasn't finished. He cleared his throat and started again, "But if I might make a suggestion?" He called out.

The pope again silenced the room and looked to Reikland, "You were saying?"

"Even though my kinsmen might not be able to participate much in this next crusade, I would like to make a proposal." He paused for a bit and then continued, "For nearly a century and a half we have attempted to reclaim the Holy Land and Christianize it, all in vain. We have been in a constant power struggle with these great Muslim states and kingdoms and have had major success and defeats from them. However, Europe; the symbol of Christianity, is not completely Christian itself!"

"What are you talking about?" A man called out from behind him.

"I am talking about the Baltics! Those lands to the east which have evaded the Christian faith for centuries and have remained pagan! There have been minor crusades in the past, mainly from the kings and dukes of Poland, but these have all failed. The tribes which occupy these lands are fierce and will not bend the knee to any foreign power. So I propose that before we attempt to cleanse the holy lands, we should make Europe itself entirely Christian. Let us instead send men to these lands in support of the Poles and drive the pagans out. The Swedes have recently done so with the Finns, why not us?"

When Reikland had finished and sat back down again, there was a murmur in the masses of the men who had gathered there. Again Innocent III had to quiet them and turned to him.

"What you have proposed, Varyn, I am interested in, but our main priority at the time is the holy lands. Perhaps after a success in the east, then we may be able to organize a crusade in the Baltics. But until then, we must be like I mentioned before, unified in our decision. So I must then ask you, are you prepared to send men and supplies to the holy lands, and to put off these intentions for now?"

Reikland couldn't be angered, it was more than he had hoped for, so he agreed to join the cause, but again informed how he would not be able to send many of any resource. The pope seemed content with that and continued on with the council.

As the council progressed for the next two weeks, plans for the crusade were set, King Frederick II was proclaimed emperor of The Holy Roman Empire, and many minor reforms to the church were made. All together it was a very eventful council, much to Reikland's surprise. But eventually it came to a close and Varyn had to return home.

Time skip to 1240 A.D.

West of the city of Elbing

Reikland was excited, his plans had finally come into fruition. After pope Innocent III listened to his ideas of the Baltics, and then proceeded to die a less than year later, Varyn persisted and convinced the next pope, Honorius III to also intact his plans. But he so died not too long after. It wasn't until after the successful sixth crusade, in 1229, was Reikland then able to persuade the next pope, Gregory IX to finally put into place his plans to christianize the Baltics. When the Teutonic Order was finally called from the holy lands to engage in this endeavour, and had been granted any lands gained in conquest in the Baltic region, Varyn himself was sent as an envoy (because it was his idea in the first place) to check up on the Order's status and to resupply them with fresh troops and supplies from Reikland.

As he was traveling to one of the Order's main settlements of Elbing, he sent the many soldiers he was marching with onwards, as he wanted to explore the lands a little by himself. As he galloped through one of the many forests, with Värjö running at his side, he stopped at a clearing in the woods when he spotted a deer far off in the distance. He dismounted and sent Värjö to cover any escape route that the deer might try to use (Värjö and Varyn can communicate with each other in a very simplistic way). Varyn then drew his bow and slowly crept closer to the deer, eventually putting his back to a tree, hidden from its sight. He drew an arrow and knocked it onto his bow, then he drew back the string and aimed, his eyes focused on the brown animal in front of him. As his breathing steadied and as he was about to launch the arrow into his prey, a loud rustling was heard to his right. The deer looked up and then bolted away into the distance, Reikland still shot his arrow, but in vain, the deer was long gone.

"Dammit Värjö! We are hunting! Don't you know how to be stealthy?!" He called out to the wolf.

But then Värjö came into sight from his left side.

"Wait, the sound I heard was from the right, so if it wasn't you…"

Varyn then heard a high-pitched cry of pain from the same direction as before. He then rushed to see what had produced the sound. A short distance away, Reikland came upon another clearing in which he saw a small child grasping its leg. Varyn advanced closer and noticed the silvery-grey hair of the child. When he had finally come into view of the child, it stared up at him in fear and backed away until it reached a tree trunk. The child then rushed behind the tree, with an obvious limp. Worried, Reikland called out in reassurance,

"Hey kid! I'm not going to hurt you! Are you okay? I can bring you to the rest of my men and get you some help!"

After waiting for a few moments, a silver haired face peeked out from the side of the tree and stared at him.

"I promise, I'm not here to harm you. I can see that you are hurt. Where are your parents?"

The child then finally spoke up, "Y-You're not going t-to hurt me?" The voice sounded feminine and had a Low German accent to it.

Then it must be a girl, she doesn't look like one though

"Of course not, who would hurt a small child?"

The girl finally stepped out from behind the tree and took a short step closer to him. He noticed how short her hair was, she also had red eyes. Sure they were different, but also kind of cute in a way.

An albino, I've never really met one before

Reikland didn't really care though so he continued, "Now, what is your name, little lady?"

The girl looked taken aback and didn't respond.

"No name? I guess then I shall grant you one! Let's see, what is a good name for a girl? Maybe-"

Reikland stopped as he heard a faint mumble from the girl, "What was that?"

"It's J-Julchen." the girl muttered softly.

"Julchen? Quite an interesting name, I haven't of it before. Though perhaps it suites your intriguing appearance."

Again the girl didn't respond and Reikland was feeling a little weirded out.

"So Julchen, are you going to talk to me or what? I can get you help for your leg."

Julchen finally spoke again, however she avoided his eye contact, "I'm sorry mister…" she trailed off, not knowing his name.

Reikland smiled and bowed down to the little girl, "Varyn Fjøsson at your service M'lady."

The girl giggled slightly but then her red eyes opened wide in surprise, "Wait, you mean that you are…" Julchen trailed off again and averted her eyes once more, "Reikland?"

"The very same." Varyn smiled.

"Well I'm sorry mister Reikland, I was a little surprised, because almost everyone assumes that I am a boy when they first meet me. That is if they don't try to burn me or drive me away, claiming that I am a witch or some demon."

Reikland was shocked to hear this, how could someone do that to an innocent child?

"Is it because of your albinism?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

The girl nodded and shyly looked away.

"Well Julchen, I do not care that you are an albino. In fact, I think that it is awesome that you are so unique! Not many people are albino, so you should feel special!"

Julchen looked back at him in awe, staring at him with those cute little red eyes, "Y-you think that I am a-awesome?" she stuttered, probably not used to being complimented on her strange appearance.

Reikland took a step closer and knelt down in front of her and grinned, "Yes, I do. Now how did you hurt your leg, and where are your parents?"

As Julchen was about to answer, a giant dark grey wolf burst through the bushes close by with a rabbit in its mouth. It then proceeded to drop the rabbit and make its way to the little girl, who, petrified by fear, stood still. The wolf then stopped when it was close enough and sniffed her curiously. Julchen responded by whimpering and turning to Reikland for help. Varyn chuckled and stood up.

"Värjö! Down!" he commanded. The wolf obeyed and sat his rump on the ground, still staring at the albino girl.

Julchen stared at the two of them in astonishment and tried to speak cohesively, but failed, "Y-You… c-can c-control t-that… thing?!" she managed to stutter.

Reikland again smiled and patted the wolf on his head, "There is no need to fear Julchen, Värjö here wouldn't hurt a fly without my command. He is mainly harmless."

"A-And if y-you did command h-him to?" she asked, still not trusting the giant wolf. Reikland couldn't blame her though, Värjö could be very intimidating.

"Better hope to not find out. But he is the best companion a nation could ever have, I mean the two of us have been together through thick and thin for more than a millennia!"

Seeing that the girl still had not moved from her spot, Reikland tried to make her feel more comfortable around the large wolf.

"You know, if you still are afraid of him, try petting him."

"Are you sure he won't try to bite my hand off?" she asked.

Reikland put one hand on his heart and bowed, "I promise on my life that you will be safe."

And so, the silver haired girl hesitantly limped towards the wolf with a hand stretched out. As she got within touching distance, she stopped and didn't continue any further. With this strange sight, Värjö tilted his head in a very cute puppyish manner. Julchen smiled and finally put a hand on the fur by his shoulders. She started to move her hand back and forth and she grinned,

"His fur is so soft!" she exclaimed.

As she continued to rub his backside and his head, Värjö leaned in and started to lick her face. Julchen giggled and laughed.

"See? I told you he was harmless!" Reikland snickered at the sight of the girl being licked vigorously by the wolf that greatly outweighed her. Eventually the wolf tried to climb on top of the smaller girl and he licked more fiercely.

"Okay Värjö, that's enough." Varyn commanded, pulling him off of the girl. "Sorry about that, he can kind of get a little too friendly sometimes."

Julchen was still smiling despite it all, "No, It's okay." she said, standing up and brushing herself off.

"Now, do you want to tell me what happened?" Reikland asked, gesturing to her bandaged leg.

Julchen timidly glanced at the injury, she then took a deep breath and began to explain, "W-Well this is from a day ago when on a trip to the nearest town, I was attacked by a group of villagers who wanted to kick me out, claiming I was a demon. I tried to escape as fast as I could, but one of the peasants stabbed my leg with a sickle. I only managed to limp away into the woods where I was hiding until you found me."

Reikland was horrified, stabbing a small child? A girl nonetheless? He felt a wave of sympathy wash over him for the albino girl, he then vowed to help this child in any way possible.

"May I see the wound?" he asked, wanting to examine it.

Julchen very hesitantly agreed and as Varyn unwrapped the blood soaked bandage, he got a closer look. What he saw astonished him, the wound looked mostly healed! The gash had mainly sealed and the skin was surrounding still was already clearing up.

Reikland then suspiciously glanced at the girl, "Julchen, this wound looks nearly healed, and about a few weeks old. Either you have some magical powers, or you're lying to me."

The albino then embarrassingly looked away and didn't answer him. Reikland was getting more skeptical by the moment.

"Julchen, where are your parents?"

After a few moments of silence, the girl finally looked towards him and spoke, "Okay fine, I give up. I am not just a little girl, I am the representation of the Teutonic Order itself. I was sent to this horrid place by the pope in order to Christianize the Baltics. But I hate it here! The holy lands were much better! There, people wouldn't hurt me for what I looked like, they barely even cared! It was warm all the time, but here it is rainy and cold! I felt at home there with my friends! Now I am stuck here with this huge task upon my hands, along with the natives trying to burn me at the stake! I wish that I vas never sent here!" When she was done, she had tears welling in her red eyes, and her whole face was flushed.

Reikland was at the very least surprised. Why would there be a representation of a relatively new military order?

Then again, there is one for the Knights Hospitaller. (This character will eventually evolve into Malta)

Reikland also felt guilty, he was the main reason why she was sent here. But he didn't even know that she existed! How could anyone blame him? Varyn sighed, "I never would have thought, usually when a new entity is born, the rest of the nations find out pretty swiftly, but you, you must be fifty years old already! But I do guess that explains the healing factor, and your unusual appearance, but I don't get it, did you not have any bodyguards or men protecting you when you were hurt?"

Julchen shook her head, "No, I was alone. The knights don't usually like to be around me, and they neglect me quite frequently. That is partially why I hate it here so much, I am very lonely."

Again Reikland felt guilty for having caused this, but perhaps he shouldn't mention that now. But maybe he could help her out, that was the reason he was there in the first place.

"How dare they! Well Julchen, you need worry no more, because I promise to you that I will do anything in my power to aid you! If you are wondering what a nation like me is doing here, I was sent to check up on the status of the Teutonic Order and to resupply you with men and supplies. So while I am staying here, I will try to help you in any way possible. Don't fret little one, things will change for the better."

With this being said, Reikland carried Julchen in his arms to his horse that he had left behind, and together they rode to the encampment that the Reikish troops had set up some leagues to the north east, all with Värjö sprinting at their side. When they finally reached the camp, the sun was beginning to set and one of Varyn's lords came up to greet them.

"Varyn, it is good to see you my argevylde!

We have been waiting patiently for your return, but by your orders we set up camp for the night." The man then noticed the girl clinging onto his back. "I-I see that you have brought a guest, an albino one too."

"Ah, Syr Yorrun! I am glad to know that I was well missed by my fellow cyraddei! You have done a good job of leading the men in my absence, I shall remember this! But if I might have a word with you alone?"

"O-Of course my argevylde!"

Reikland led Julchen to a man trained in the medical arts to help her leg. As he left her in the man's care, he went with Syr Yorrun to a secluded area of the camp to talk.

"What do you want to speak to me about, Syr Varyn?" The man asked, slightly scared.

"Do not be afraid my friend, I only wish to discuss the girl." Reikland whispered.

"Yes, I was wondering why you brought that djavel with you!" he cried.

"First off, don't call her that or anything negative ever, and I mean ever again. Second, this girl is to be treated like the Queen of Reikland herself, now and for forever. We will care for her every need and treat her like royalty. Third, she will be addressed to kindly and with respect at all times. Fourth, no harm or insult shall come to her in any way. Fifth, as long as it is not unreasonable, everything this girl requests or asks for, shall be carried out. I will expect all of these things from you, and every man in this entire camp, do I make myself clear?" Reikland demanded.

Syr Yorrun had shrunk several inches away from Varyn and nodded his head fiercely, "Y-Yes Syr!"

"Good, because if I hear or witness any of these actions not being carried out by you or one of our men, I will not hesitate to personally castrate that man in the slowest and most painful way possible. Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes Syr! I shall relieve this command to everyone in the camp!" Syr Yorrun started to walk away when he stopped and asked, "But if I may inquire, what is so special about this girl?"

"Why I am glad you asked." Varyn grinned, "This fine lady is the incarnation of the Teutonic Order, and you and all the men I have brought to these lands shall serve her loyally until your deaths."

Translations:

Reikish:

Argevylde: lord/commander

Cyraddei: comrade/companion

Djavel: devil

Syr: sir