The True Skull: I already answered in PM, but I would point out for anyone who would read my answers to the Reviews, I never said ALL Shonen mangas, but SOME mangas shonen have main protagonists who crush their enemies without any difficulty, repetitively, episodes after episodes... and these mangas are of no interest because of the lack of story twist. One example of this kind of manga is One Punch Man.
L'étranger0: Merci.
Aline1: Indeed. The synopsis of Order ab Chaos is much more advanced in my head than what I wrote and of course, I confirm, you're right... But you're also wrong. I would just say that the Empire and the Bretonians are not the only powers interested in Marienburg. Moreover, in this chapter, we will meet emissaries of a new regional power... which will be very important for the next Arc plot.
Peroncino: People ARE ungrateful, not particularly the Marienburger. Hakuno is too soft for burning down a city. But considering what's going to happen to Marienburg... the inhabitants will probably regret that the town wasn't burned to the ground.
Boyzilla: I simulate the situation using Warhammer Total War II so that it looks like a situation in a Total War game is not a mere coincidence. In my simulation, the Bretonians took Marienburg but (since it was Hakuno the governor) I put no form of repression and taxes at least... I failed to keep the city. Nota Bene: the story I write is not the result of a single party's simulation, but the synthesis of several ones... that being said I have never managed to keep Marienburg by being nice.
In fact, from my initial draft, my goal was never to make Hakuno a queen or a duchess. I remind you what I said at the very beginning, Order ab Chaos is a crossover aimed at implementing the Knights of the Round in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. I chose the Extraverse version of the knights just for a little variety (and also for Hakuno super cute Head Tilt!). I never wanted the Knights of the Round to stay in Marienburg forever. No, I intend to take them where their logical place is! Think about it for a moment, the Old World looks like Renaissance Europe. What is the most logical place where Great Britain's knights want to settle, taking into account geography, but also geopolitics? There is a place in the Old World that looks "surprisingly" similar to the British islands of Arthur's time. A large island invaded on all sides and where the population is divided into rival tribes that constantly fight...
Thank you for your comments. I hope you enjoy this new episode like I enjoyed writing it.
Author's note: Attention this chapter uses non-canonic information about the Warhammer Fantasy's universe!
Firstly, the information on the island of Albion comes from an unofficial supplement created by the players of the Warhammer miniatures game. Although it's an unofficial supplement, I didn't invent anything. This unofficial supplement is extrapolated from (the rare) Game Workshop data on the island of Albion. In the first place, the existence of this unofficial contribution can only be explained by the lack of available canonical information about Albion and the need for players to fill this void.
Secondly, in this chapter, I will write about towns and Bretonnia's lordships not mentioned in the pen and paper RPG, the videogames, or the miniatures game. The reason is simple... Although Bretonnia is the second-largest human nation by size and the first by population, she canonically only has a dozen cities and as many castles. That is a very small amount for a country that is supposed to be populated by millions of people. Medieval France - which serves as a model for Bretonnia- had more than two thousand towns and 1388 medieval castles! The towns and seigneuries that I would add in this chapter, as in the following chapters, will be inspired by medieval French towns and seigneuries like in officials Warhammer's supplements.
But the true reason why I add these cities, castles, and seigneuries is paradoxically my respect for the official canon of Warhammer Fantasy.
I don't want to kill important Warhammer lords just to make room for characters I invented or imported from the Fateverse... so.
I realize I'm going to offend some of my readers (again). Please accept my apologies. But you will admit that the lack of canonical information and the inner contradictions of the Lore force me to extrapolate...
Veritatem Dicere
(Truthsayer)
"The misty island of Albion has seen as much bloodshed and war as the rest of the known world. Albion is considered a wet swamp and tormented by bogs and reports of recent incursions show many clashes against the so-called more advanced invaders. However, a closer examination of the campaigns on Albion shows that indigenous armies are just as deadly as those of the so-called 'civilized' nations."
Encyclopedia of the Old World
On the west bank of the Reikr was the small Bretonnian town of Beaufort. Despite its proximity to Marienburg, the town was relatively protected from land-based attacks from the city of merchants thanks to the marshes that extended to the south. In peacetime, this river port lived off the timber trade. In fact, Beaufort was pretty miserable. The houses were mere shacks made in cob. The streets were paths that the rain had made muddy. And the defenses consisted of a palisade guarded by lumberjacks dressed in Robin Hood-like outfits with hats adorned with a feather. They were bowmen who specialized in forest ambushes.
More than once, the Beastmen and the Orks who had invaded the Marches of Couronnes had perished under their arrows and by their unknightly tactics, so despised by the knights of the kingdom... but so effective.
But today the streets of Beaufort were empty, the whole population gathered in the small port. It must be said that several ships had docked, surrounding a ceremonial galley at the stern overloaded with gilding.
A motley mixture of civilians, servants still wearing the blue and yellow livery of the valets of Marienburg's New Palace, mercenaries of various origins and halberdiers in doublet and chaperones adorned with feathers were busy unloading the ships.
In front of the house of the Burgomaster of Beaufort stood a teenage girl dressed in the brown uniform of the Tsukumihara Academy with a black turtleneck and black pantyhose. She has long wavy brown milk-chocolate hair and eyes.
Beside her, but a few steps back stood another woman who did not seem any older. She had blond hair as if powdered with gold, and gathered in a braid rolled up on the back of her head, tied by a blue ribbon that waved slightly under the effect of the wind.
Despite her small size and graceful appearance, she was dressed in an improbable armored dress with gauntlets, iron boots, a pectoral decorated with blue lines, and a sort of skirt of metal plates protecting her hips. Below, she was dressed in a blue dress decorated with gold lines and a white petticoat.
Hakuno Kishinami and her Servant Saber.
The Heroic Spirit approached the Sovereign of the Moon:
"Master, we must hurry the unloading of the ships, we are in danger here."
Hakuno approved of Artoria's words with a simple movement of the head, she was a woman of few words.
Despite the impassiveness of her face, Hakuno's eyes continued to roam the landscape around her, noting the light of day waning as the sun approached the top of the Pale Sisters Mountains.
Yes, the region was not safe. And if her enemies attacked here, the people of Beaufort would be massacred with her supporters.
She would have tried to continue to the seaport of Savern, better fortified and especially further away from Marienburg. Unfortunately, the ships with which they had fled the city of merchants were only capable of river navigation. The galley didn't even have a sail! And the Sea of Claws was the hunting territory of the Druchii privateers. The Dark Elves maintained a blockade around Ulthuan. They had their base in Nagronath a Black City on the northern shores of Albion Island.
But continuing overland wasn't much safer.
To the west, in the mountains, the Ork tribe of the Broken Teeth controlled the ancient dwarf city of Grung Zint. And of course, the Marienburgers were now their enemies. They must have already gone after them.
The fugitives had no horses and would have to walk, cluttered by everything they had taken with them. In fact, they were at the mercy of any potential prosecutors.
They had advanced for two days, bypassing the marshes of Marienburg which formed the estuary of the Reikr. The fugitives had already been in the Duchy of Couronne since their arrival at Beaufort. Specifically, the area north of the marshes and east of the Pales Sisters was the Marches of Couronne. But Hakuno was worried. She knew she couldn't relax until she was safely behind the ramparts of the Tancred Castle, a border fortress that had withstood all the Marienburgers' attacks over the past centuries.
With one thought, Hakuno made a translucent screen appear. Their progress was slow, but fortunately, they could not get lost. The map that appeared was updated in real-time and more accurate than a GPS navigation system. It's impossible to get lost when guided by the Moon Cell automaton.
But Hakuno's nod of approval turned into a frown... Three living forms were nearby. And the Moon Cell didn't signal ordinary animals, so it must have been intelligent beings... or ferocious predators. Without a doubt, they must have seen the Marienburgers coming because they were heading towards them.
Hakuno turned to the left and blinked... three individuals? She saw only two. They were well-built men, broad-shouldered, shirtless, and clothed in checkered breeches and animal skins. They were bearded and their hair was shaggy and long. One of them had a fire-hardened wood spear, the other had a sword on his belt. It was only then that Hakuno realized that the two newcomers exceeded in size the trees of the nearby forest!
"Giants!"
Hakuno turned to Artoria. She had just spoken. King Arthur, with her eyes wide with anxiety, looked at the two colossi advancing towards them. Kishinami turned to them again as the colossi stopped and everyone rushed to arm themselves.
"Peace, we don't want to attack you!"
It was not the Giants who had just spoken, but an ordinary-sized man who walked with them. He was tonsured in a strange way, from one ear to the other, so as to clear the forehead. His hair and long beard were of the color of snow. He wore a sort of three-pointed crown and was dressed in white. On his belt, he had a gilded bronze sickle. The old man leaned on a stick that radiated with a soft light.
"Peace," he repeated, "I am Hengus a Truthsayer of Albion. My companions are Cachtorr and Bologs, two of the Giant Guardians of the Oghams."
[Oghams?!]
Hakuno recognized the mental "voice" of Taliesin. Although Astralized, Caster was still following his Master. She would have liked to question him, but Hengus kept talking.
"I am surprised to find here inhabitants of Marienburg. Can we help you?"
Kishinami made a Head Tilt:
"Help?"
The reaction of the two giants was staggering. As Cachtorr began to smile from ear-to-ear blissfully, pink hearts replaced the eyes of Bologs who collapsed backward as a geyser of blood came out his nose!
As the earth trembled from the fall of Bologs, Hengus held his hand to his chest, visibly in the grip of sickness:
"Ouch... I am an old man... my heart will not resist!"
The first confrontation with the Head Tilt Ex-Rank Noble Phantasm always left a memorable impression.
Having somewhat recovered from his emotion, Hengus thanked the Marienburger who had just offered him a glass of wine.
Saber had decided to take charge of the discussion to avoid a heart attack on Hengus.
"Excuse me, noble old man, you were talking about helping us."
The Truthsayer smiled.
"You seem surprised. Isn't that normal? The gods ask three things of us. They want us to do good, to show courage, and respect them. You seem lost wasn't it natural that I came to help you?"
Saber exchanged a look with Hakuno... they had spent too much time in Marienburg. The idea that someone could come spontaneously to offer his help... without ulterior motives, without a secret plan, without a dagger hidden in the sleeve... had become inconceivable to them. In addition to all their other defects, the Marienburgers were contagious. It was time for them to go and settle in other places, among people who were a little saner.
"I am Artoria Pendragon, a knight. This is my lord, Hakuno Kishinami the Sovereign of the Moon. We're not lost, just cluttered with lots of luggage. We're going to Tancred Castle."
The old man nodded.
"In this case, Cachtorr and Bologs will be of great help to you. They are ten times stronger than humans."
[Master, I want you to repeat what I'm about to tell you...]
Hakuno listened to Taliesin, nodded, and approached the Truthsayer.
"Sage, tell me about Annwfn."
Old Hengus seemed surprised but replied:
"Annwfn is the Abyss, the origin of all things. It is the first state of animated creatures. Do you know the name of the second state?"
Taliesin answered by the mouth of Hakuno:
"It is Abred, the Existence, that all living beings must pass through in order to learn."
Nod of the Truthsayer:
"And do you know the name of the third state?"
"This is Gwynfydd, the White World, the destiny of every animated creature is to reach Gwynfydd, the world of Power, Knowledge and Love."
Hengus nodded once again.
"Tell me Hakuno Kishinami, do you know the genealogy of poetry?"
Of course, the question made no sense to Hakuno. But that was not the case for Taliesin. Also, she repeated the poem he dictated to her:
"I am the son of poetry,
Poetry, daughter of Reflection,
Reflection, daughter of Meditation,
Meditation, daughter of Knowledge,
Knowledge, son of Research,
Research, daughter of Great Knowledge,
Great Knowledge, daughter of Intelligence,
Intelligence, daughter of Understanding,
Understanding, daughter of wisdom,
Wisdom, daughter of the three gods of Danu." (1)
There was a moment of silence and then the Truthsayer raised his eyes to the sky, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of blessing:
"It was written, the gods presided over our meeting." He then turned to the Inheritor of the Moon. "Sister, I recognize you."
And always repeating what Taliesin told her, Hakuno replied:
"Brother, I recognize you."
Hakuno's emotions were not reflected in the features of her face, she would have made an excellent poker player. But, in fact, the Sovereign of the Moon was very embarrassed.
[Caster, what does that mean?]
[I am a poet, bard at the court of King Arthur, philosopher, and sorcerer...but I am above all the Great Archdruid of Britain, master of the Sacred Order of Druidism.]
He paused and added:
[The Truthsayers are the Druids of Albion. The teaching is strictly identical. ]
The exiles went back on the road, the two giants had taken over some of the luggage and they were moving faster now. Hengus was walking next to Hakuno. Although he seems curious about the young Master, the old Druid did not interrogate her, just looking at her in silence. As for Kishinami... you couldn't say she wasn't very talkative.
Saber shook her head with a sigh... which did not hide her amused smile. The king of Britain spoke:
"Tell me, Elder Truthsayer, what are you doing so far from Albion?"
"It's a long story," smiles the druid. "What do you know about Albion?"
Saber frowned. Of course, the Moon Cell had taught her everything she needed to live in the Old World, but not much more. All she knew was the location of the island.
"I'm afraid I'm ignorant about this, so please excuse me."
The old man laughs kindly.
"Ignorance is not a crime, Artoria Pendragon. Ignorance disappears in the face of the desire to learn."
He leaned his head to the side with an interrogative mimic and Saber smiled.
"I have the desire to learn, O Wiseman."
"It is the source of all virtues, noble knight."
And Hengus summed up the genesis of the world. Long ago came the Old Ones, very wise, divine beings. They found the men, the Elves and the Dwarves, in the state of coarse brutes and taught them to weave, to cultivate the land, to work the metal. They also taught them magic. Even dragons were just children compared to the Old Ones.
At that time, the Old Ones resided on Albion. They had surrounded themselves with the most capable humans, the ones who learned the fastest, and the Giants. The first became their priests and assistants. The latter were the protectors of the Citadel of Lead, the fortress they had built on the island of Albion, and raised stones adorned with Ogham that structured the network of leylines extending over the islands.
This era ended when the gates of the Slanns collapsed, the Old Ones disappeared. Nevertheless, when Chaos swept over the world, the Truthsayers managed to protect Albion by surrounding it with a wall of mist that the ungodly creatures could not cross.
Centuries passed, the Asur of Ulthuan, the Lizardmen of Lustria and the Dwarfs succeeded in preventing the destruction of the world, slowing down the invasion of Chaos... without really stopping it.
As the power of Chaos corrupted the world, the magical barrier surrounding Albion weakened. Finally, it broke.
Albion was then invaded by the Norses, a bloody war ensued, a war that continues to this day. The Norses managed to take over land in the northern part of the main island and several other small islands. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of the Albion archipelago - the Gaels- resisted fiercely despite their internal divisions.
However, the disappearance of the magic fog attracted foreigners eager for conquests... or wealth and glory... like Curious Gaesar.
"Curious Gaesar" asked Artoria.
"A famous Tilean general from the city-state of Remas" replied Hengus. "He was at the time the dictator of his city, but his situation was shaky. He had to achieve a great feat abroad to impress the citizens of Remas and be re-elected, but also to bring back great wealth to finance his election campaign. He landed in Albion at the head of his legions. A great and indecisive battle ensued. The legionaries of Remas (2) opposed the Gaels and the Giants. Finally, after a mutual massacre, Curious Gaesar negotiated. He would be willing to leave if he were given three hostages: a Druid and two Giants."
"You" understood Artoria.
"Exactly," confirmed the druid. "We were brought to Remas laden down with chains to testify of the 'victory' of General Gaesar. But he was murdered by his rivals... which provoked a civil war and we took advantage of the mess to escape. We have been wandering for years now, going back north, sometimes finding ourselves forced to participate in conflicts but still looking for a way to get back to Albion."
Hakuno had listened to the conversation between her servant and the Druid. Even if Artoria controlled herself admirably, it was visible that the story of Albion affected her a lot. The geography and climate of the island were very similar to Great Britain, and the Norse invasion reminded King Arthur of her own battles with the Saxons.
However, a compelling beep was heard, while a translucent window appeared in front of the young Inheritor of the Moon.
It was a map of the area and a red sign with an exclamation mark flashed west of their position.
She touched the icon and an additional panel appeared with a sentence written in red.
"Hostile presence detected."
Mentally, Hakuno asked the Moon Cell to show the attackers. A third window opened revealing a marching troupe filmed by an invisible camera. Dressed in long floating tunics, short boots with lapels, and wooly hats adorned with feathers, they were armed with matchlock muskets and long swords.
Artoria immediately recognized them:
"Snaaphaans (3)."
Seeing Hakuno's face like painted with an expression of incomprehension, Saber explained:
"They are deserters from the Marienburg army. They attack isolated farms and small villages. They torture the villagers by plunging their feet into the fire to reveal the hiding place of their wealth. As a group, they are very dangerous and capable of the worst abuses. After all, they have nothing to lose, they are already promised to the gallows."
As Hakuno mentally asked the Moon Cell to count the attackers, the result was displayed on a small window that was superimposed on the map.
There were 417 Snaaphaans...
The fleeing group was larger but consisted mainly of non-combatants, with many women and children. Too numerous to go unnoticed, too slow to escape, and too poorly armed to resist. It was hard to imagine a more unfavorable tactical situation. Their only asset was Saber.
Hakuno turned to the fugitives, her last followers.
"We need to dig in. Use the luggage to make a barricade."
Artoria agreed. As always, her Master's orders were excellent. She understood the situation in an instant and made the most of it.
The man stopped and then lit the wick of the serpentine lock with his smocking pipe.
In front of him, the first row of arquebusiers fired. The cascade of detonations produced a grey-black cloud with a pungent smell. Then, the shooters retreated and the Snaaphaan advanced with a dozen of his comrades to take their place. He laid the barrel of his weapon on his fork and shook it. The arquebuse - the ancestor of the musket, himself the ancestor of the rifle- was a very heavy weapon, not easy to handle and of limited range. Nevertheless, a bullet could pierce steel armor and kill a knight in one blow.
The man pulled the trigger of his weapon and the gun coil slammed down violently, putting in contact the lit wick and the priming gunpowder. A new salvo sounded. In the hands of the Snaaphaan, the weapon rushed like a horse, shaking his arms.
Without delay, he took his smoking weapon in one hand, the pitchfork in the other, and rushed back, crossing the shooters who replaced his section.
As they set up to fire, the Snaaphaan began reloading his weapon at the rear of the formation. It was a long and complex operation. First, you had to clean the non-consumed powder that was clogging the gun tube with a swab. Then, pouring powder, a bullet and to keep this bullet in place you have to push a bit of vegetable stuffing at the bottom of the barrel with a stick. Then you had to pour a little bit of priming powder into the touch hole on the back of the gun.
Once this was done, the Snaaphaans moved from their position at the rear of the arquebusier formation to the intermediate position. They then lit the wick of their serpentine lock and waited for the front row to have fired to take their place.
This method - called evolutionibus (4)- allowed arquebusiers to fire continuously, transforming formation using this weapon of many defects into a war machine of terrifying efficiency.
On the other side, Hakuno had only a few crossbowmen. They were poorly trained militiamen and terrified of the situation. They responded between rounds but had not yet struck an enemy. On the other hand, the bullets of the arquebuses had already killed a dozen people... and twice as many wounded!
Fortunately, Hengus was at the bedside of the victims. The Druid raised his staff and laid a hand on the wound of a bleeding young woman. He concentrated. The young mother who was dying shaking her crying son's hand began to breathe with less difficulty. Hengus stood up and threw away the spherical ball of lead that he had removed from the body of the innocent victim. His face reflected disgust. Druids were non-violent... but they could forget that principle when lives were at stake.
The Giants had no such scruples.
Bologs had just ripped a huge stone from the ground. Lifting it up as if it were a small cushion, he threw it... it fell back in the middle of the Snaaphaans, turning three shooters into gooseberry jam. A catapult would not have been more effective!
Unfortunately, they only had two Giants.
Kishinami turned to her Servant:
"Saber!"
Artoria confirmed with a simple, determined nod.
She jumped over the barricade and ran... as fast as the wind! Her invisible sword in hand, the blurred silhouette (afterimage) of the King of Knights suddenly materialized in several places of the battlefield, while the Sword of the Wind King described complex patterns that the bluish prana rendered fluorescent.
A dozen marauders collapsed. Saber stopped. Excalibur was no longer completely invisible. The blade was bloodied and drops of blood had splashed on the beautiful face of the King of Knights. Yet... yet... she was never more beautiful than covered in blood. A beauty that inspired fear or respect... the beauty of a being who had sacrificed her humanity in exchange for the power to protect her kingdom.
The Snaaphaans were receding, frightened by Saber's appearance. They were uneducated, illiterate mercenaries... but they felt well that they were facing a supernatural being. These frustrated thieves instinctively understood that their swords and arquebuses were powerless against such an adversary.
Their leader shared their taste for violence and rapine. However, unlike them, he had a thin veneer of sophistication. Dressed in expensive clothes, his fingers covered with rings and jewelry, he wore a cuirass, and two beautiful flint guns passed over his belt. He did not have the almost animal instinct of his lackeys. And his higher intelligence was not really an asset in this situation. His personal experience had taught him that number was strength, and Artoria was alone. He took in hand one of his pistols, aimed, shot.
He was right on target and the lead shot hit Saber in the forehead.
Fast as she was, the Servant of the Sword could have dodged the attack or trimmed the ball with her gauntlet. She did nothing. Stoic, she let the bullet crash between her eyes... because the Snaaphaans' captain couldn't hurt her.
Three things can hurt a Servant: a magic weapon, magic spells, or any ordinary weapon held by a supernatural creature.
The captain of the Snaaphaans was just an ordinary man holding an equally ordinary weapon. Artoria had nothing to fear from him.
The Skill Charisma (B rank) of Artoria was not the result of some supernatural power, but of her long years at the head of Camelot's armies and on the throne. She learned long ago to put herself forward to strengthen the courage of her allies... and terrorize her enemies.
Again, the effect was spectacular.
As the captain turned purple and mechanically backed away, the majority of the Snaaphaans exchanged terrified looks.
The captain was the first to recover from the shock. For his misfortune, he was a rationalist, an endangered species in the Warhammer universe. If one bullet could not hurt Saber maybe ten, or a hundred could make the score. Nothing could resist an arquebus salvo.
Hysterical he ordered his men to fire.
Accustomed to obeying, they obeyed.
The salvo resembled thunder and a new acrid cloud formed around the men. Fifty arquebuses had just fired simultaneously. Yet... Artoria was unharmed.
Her image vacillated, became blurred... and appeared simultaneously near the captain.
The man collapsed, sliced in half from shoulder to hip.
The death of their leader broke the spirits of the chicken thieves. Terrified of this invulnerable opponent who seemed to exist in several places at once, the Snaaphaans fled.
At this moment, the silvery bell of a trumpet sounded.
All eyes turned towards the hill. Knights in armor had just appeared, guided by a man in deep purple plate armor with gold pieces. A banner was slamming over the men. The background was red and white, with a black sword and an eagle whose colors were inverted from the background.
"Pour la marquise Patricia, pour le bon Roy Louen, pour la Dame, sus aux ennemis de la belle Bretonnie!"
Artoria shudders.
Like every Servant, she had the ability to feel the presence of another Servant. And this ability had just woken up. It was impossible, only Hakuno could summon Servants... then she recognized him!
The man charged at the head of the other knights. He held no weapon. His eyes were of a light purple hue and his hair was of the same color. Said hair was incredibly spiky and gone over to the left.
A Snaaphaan armed with a halberd tried to pierce him. He grabbed the weapon and turned it against his user, cutting the scoundrel in half. Although it was a footman weapon and he was on horseback, the knight used the halberd with incredible dexterity. When he abandoned it in a corpse, he seized a sigmarite's two-handed sword, a Zweihändler, and used it just as effectively.
For Artoria this wasn't very surprising. One day, in Ireland, this knight had fought with a simple branch fallen from a tree against a giant snake as long as a tree(5).
Of course, in the face of such enemies, chicken thieves offered little resistance; most marauders fell while fleeing.
The knight in deep purple armor turned around and headed towards Saber. The expression on his face was strange. While he had faced the Snaaphaans with a sort of exaltation, he was now in the claw of doubt, anxiety, but also seemed to gather all his courage for the trial that awaited him.
Arriving in front of Artoria, he descended from a horse and knelt with his eyes lowered to the ground, like a scolded child:
"My king, I have returned to you, ready to serve as I have sworn to do."
Artoria looked at him for a brief moment with a mixture of many contradictory feelings like wrote on her face. However, she replied in a soft and firm voice, not betraying anything of her inner conflict:
"Get up, Sir Lancelot, my friend."
Author's note: many people wondered why I had taken Taliesin as a Caster-class Servant. There were many Magi more famous than him. Yeah... but he is the Archdruid of Arthur's time. Now - since the beginning- I had planned to send Hakuno to Albion. And he will be immensely useful on the spot.
(1) This is an excerpt from the Colloquium of the Two Sages. The three gods of Danu, are Danu (or Dana or Anna) the mother goddess, her husband Carnu (or Cernunnos) the master of the Wild Hunt, and their son Lugh, "equally skilled in many arts".
(2) Tilea is the equivalent of Italy, and Remas is the equivalent of Rome in the Old World, the city has an army based on historical Roman legions... Imagine! Roman legionaries with scutum shields in the shape of roof tiles, lorica segmantata armor, Pilae... but also with crossbows, arquebuses, and cannons! Yes, the Old World is a total mess...
(3) In Dutch: "chicken thief". The term is at the origin of modern French "chenapan" (scoundrel, marauder).
(4) Evolutionibus can be roughly translated as "drill".
(5) Knight of Owner: A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands is a skill used by Lancelot for the first time in Les Merveilles de Rigomer (The Wonders of Rigomer) a novel of 17 270 verses written by an anonymous author (a certain Jean) in the thirteenth century, and reused in the Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Mallory then Lancelot was forced to fight Phelot unarmed.