[MAR-FB] Pre-game Jitters

[Khorne]

"The King sends his regards, blackbird", the face-wrapped assassin spat in Rein's native tongue, though so heavily accented that it belied his likely Styrlander origins. The assassin stood over his victim with a hateful look in his eyes and he drove his sword through the Lord of Riesmond a final time. Yanking his blade free, the Lord spat out blood as life left him.

There had been little time for self-defense, as the skirmish - if it was even worthy of the term - was over almost before it started. A surprised Rein van Helborg and his guard, master-at-arms Georg the Grey, had been caught off-guard and overwhelmed by several assailants, during a short evening stroll over Londa's Queensbridge. The assailants vanished and slipped into the twilight as fleet as they had come.

Later that night, similar attacks would target other members of Rein's retinue until most key figures were killed. While the Royal Court later denied all knowledge, and the King himself was most likely not even aware of the actions some loyalists had purported in his name, it was clear the attacks had been carefully planned and perpetrated by the royalist faction.

Tenions between them and the more independence-favoring Riverlands Trade League had been at a high for a while, and the participation of Lord Rein in the Royal Joust did not help matters, as many royalists found it disgraceful that an ungrateful, nigh-rebellious Carolean lord had come to Londa to take part in a joust in honor of the late Queen. An outright mockery of the crown.

Despite the King's lamentations at the violence during his own joust, there was never any official investigation into the murders. Local authorities were quick to apprehend some local lowlifes with well-known criminal backgrounds, but it was obvious to most that these were just scapegoats. Nevertheless, under torture they supposedly admitted to being the "Queensbridge Murderers", and the case was closed.

It was clear though, that after the debacle of the King's Temple Tax to alleviate the strain on royal coffers and Carolean priest Birger Jung's heavy reaction against it, with subsequent unease and tensions, that this too would only help fan the flames of Carolean resentment against royal authority and that this action would not go without a reaction.

 

Another angle.

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History warns us: beware of bridges. Small build to expand the world, because nothing says "late middle ages" like some good-old backstabbing factionalism and assassinations. The death of the ill-fated Lord Rein van Helborg was alluded to when I posted his entry and helps to further a general story line. A replacement candidate for his place in the joust stands ready! 

[NOD]

These scoundrels murdered participants who were taking part in a peaceful tournament. The Riverlands Trade League will likely investigate who the real assassins are.

 

Interesting history and a well-built bridge. I'm curious to see who the replacement candidate is.