Ironsides Family/Bowie/Tale of the Crusade

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The Tale of the Demon of Dwilight's Crusade to Sallowtown

As spoken by him at a bar in Muspelheim to Count Garad Jhaelen Irsei of Nimh, during Duke Bustoarsenzio Peristaltico's tournament in the Autumn of 11 YD.

Roleplay from Bowie Ironsides

Message sent to all nobles at the tournament (34 recipients)

Leaning back on his stool and splashing down the fresh cup of rum, Bowie smiles and reminisces.

"Ohh Count, there is no land more beautiful in Dwilight than the Desert of Silhouettes. Those who say it is nothing but sand overlook its essence as a place of quiet and serenity, of danger and mystery, of endless possibilities and freedom. There is really no place like that desert and I very much miss it."

He readjusted himself to continue,

"As for the Crusade, it all began when I first escaped Fissoa as a crook. Fissoa was, and probably still is, a very plain, monotonous, and drab place. Though looking back I cannot say I am grateful to be possessed by a demon, at the time it seemed like a welcome contrast to that banal life. Did you know I was their Judge? Yep, and it still did not satisfy me. Anyway, fleeing Fissoa I heard about a city near the desert that was untainted by nobles from across the sea. It was ruled only by its indigenous tribes, but had fallen into decrepity and hopelessness. Similar to myself at that time. I desired to create a home for myself, a sanctuary where I would not be subject to others who believe they, by their "titles" and "blood," were better than me, a Prince!

"Back then my family had friendly relations with the family who ruled D'Hara and so I set my direction there. The Dragon Queen, whom I now lovingly call the Old Bat, made a contract with me that gave me the only claim to Sallowtown, and her aide in capturing it, if I helped her takeover Port Nebel from Shadovar. AND, she forced me to give her 150 gold, which I did. I did everything we agreed to, even helped after the takeover to construct the emerging realm of D'Hara; but she never mentioned my city, nor answered my insistent pleas to begin preparing for takeover. Months went by and I integrated into D'Hara. There were other things that went on during this period, like the beginning of my feud with the current Dragon King, whom I lovingly call the Cabbage. During this time D'Hara's internal affairs became a mess and the Old Bat went nuts. The Cabbage, who was the General and the Marshal of the D'Haran army (and if the Dragon Queen had listened to me earlier none of what I am about to describe would have happened), decided enough was enough and initiated a rebellion. So, at this point I had a contract from the Old Bat that gave me sole claim to Sallowtown and the promise of D'Haran aide. When the Cabbage approached me to support his rebellion I said "What will you give me in return?" and he made a solemn oath to give me the city of Sallowtown with the aide of D'Hara. I said "Alright," and we deposed the Old Bat. She still owes me the 150 gold she took from me for that contract.

"Once again I participated in the construction of D'Hara. This time was much better than before, but the Cabbage started playing the same tricks the Old Bat played. I, for months, would try to persuade the military council to begin preparing for the takeover of Sallowtown. I even offered to plan the whole thing, organize a fundraiser, lead the expedition and everything. The Cabbage was non-committal. Eventually I just decided to do it myself. There is another digression which must be explained before I can fully speak of the Crusade. During my stay in D'Hara, from the very beginning, I witnessed the rituals of the Way of the Dragons. I became the very first convert of the Way of the Dragons after the Great Prophet made his temple in Raviel. Eventually down the road, I am unsure if this was before or after the Dragon Rebellion, the Great Dragon Sallow visited me and found me worthy to be his incarnate. I cannot say what criteria he used to judge that, but from the moment he burned his claw into my chest to the day I was thrown out of the city, I was the Prince of Sallowtown. I do not know if he still allows me that right. I still bear his mark, and still have kin in the city (my son). Now to return to my tale. After realizing the Dragon King was not going to put any effort into his side of our deal, I decided to do it all myself. With the zeal of Dragon Sallow I preached the Crusade for Sallowtown. Thankfully, there were a few mighty names who saw the merit in my plans and joined me. We crossed the Qubel Channel and entered the city as liberators of strife and starvation. For a season, if I remember correctly, I was the actual Prince of Sallowtown. Then my old ways caught up with me and the tribes discovered I was...with one of their young princesses who was arranged to marry some other tribal prince. In fact, I impregnated her. They were not very happy about that and ignored my religious position as their living god and threw me into the Qubel Channel. I vowed I would return and went back to D'Hara. Since then I returned to Sallowtown only once (officially) as I was escaping my sentencing for plotting a rebellion against the Cabbage. But that is another tale altogether."

Bowie sat back satisfied.

Bowie Ironsides (Knight of Giask)