Initium!

July 10, 1010:

Marakhin:

On March 29, the ship carrying Countess Anne-Sophie of Raberne, Count Pierre-Luc of Lacardy and their crusader vassals were captured by pirates in the Marakh seas as they attempted to sail past the Marakhs' lands to Bilgosh.

Many of the sailors and crusaders perished defending the ships, but the two nobles were taken captive, and are currently being ransomed by unknown Marakh corsairs. The fate of the remaining crusaders is unknown.

Allondell and Chardreau:

With the capture of the Chardrois counts highlighting the dangers of the seas south of Marakhin, the Kings of Allondell and Chardreau abandoned any plans of sailing to Bilgosh.

While the crusader kings had not decided on a sea route, they had begun to arrange for goods that they would need on a sea journey, such as barrels and hardtack, as well as coopers and other hirelings. Abandoning plans for sea travel thus represents a considerable loss of money to the kings. However, most of their courtiers believed that a loss of ships or life to Marakh raiders would be far more damaging to their cause.

In Kislevia, Allondine and Chardrois ambassadors intensified their negotiations with King Gregor, and were seen at court on a daily basis.

Kislevia:

On April 18, King Gregor announced his support for the Bilgosh Crusade and would grant passage to his peers, the Kings of Chardreau and Allondell, and their armies.

Rumors at court say that King Gregor, who had been reluctant to admit his rival Allondell into his lands, was persuaded by both pressure from the Collegium and by a trade deal with Allondell, through which Kislevia will receive iron from Allondell's mines in the New Counties. King Gregor did not pledge to join the Crusade himself.

On April 25, King Harold of Allondell and King Robert of Chardreau ordered their armies to gather so they could head north and then west towards Bilgosh.

As of their departure, no deal had been reached with either Zdunarova or the various dukes of the Steinlands; the crusaders' path must cross one or the other to reach Bilgosh. Courtiers with the two crusading kings stated that the two kings are determined to send their armies through the Steinlands with or without the Steinlanders' consent, and are hoping to reach an agreement before the situation grows sour.

Steinlands:

As the crusading armies of Allondell and Chardreau passed through Kislevia, diplomats sent in advance were able to successfully negotiate a route through three of the Steinlands duchies in order to reach the Bilgosh border. Launenberg and Silbermark welcomed the crusaders' armies in advance, with the Duchess of Silbermark even agreeing to join the crusade. However, it is not clear which came first: the crusaders' entry into Alsoria or Alsoria's announcement that it would admit the crusaders.

Alsoria, Steinlands:

The crusader kings, King Robert of Chardreau and King Harold of Allondell, made camp in Alsoria, along the Bilgosh border, to gather their armies and to ready attack plans with other crusaders.

While the two countries' vassals are present in large numbers, and most of the religious military orders have also gathered along the Bilgosh border, the crusaders expressed dismay that only a small number of Hesket's swords-for-hire and other adventurers seemed to have answered the Collegium's call. King Robert has reportedly told his generals that he "expected larger numbers of the freely-wandering persons and mercenary types" and was worried about having insufficient numbers of healers, irregular troops, and other types of problem-solvers.

Duvarna, Bilgosh:

On July 15, the liberation of Bilgosh began, as Kings Robert and Harold led their armies over the hills into the lands of Overlord Emilian, advancing on the town of Duvarna.

They were met by the gathered forces of Dark Lord Nedelcho, a necromancer, and Dark Lady Stoyanka, believed to be a vampire or werewolf. Their unholy armies were a seemingly ragged collection of monsters and militia. The crusaders were initially optimistic, seeing the smaller numbers and apparent disorganization of their foes, but their outlook darkened when many of the knights' horses spooked at the sight of oncoming wolves, and refused to advance. Lacking support from the mounted forces, the infantry were left vulnerable on their flanks and fanned out at the edges.

The religious orders summoned their divine energies against the shambling hordes of zombies sent forth by the necromancer, but many of the churches' knights have only limited clerical magic, and found their strength rapidly drained as wave after wave of walking corpses advanced on the crusader armies.

A powerful sense of dread, believed to be the result of unholy ritual, then washed over the crusaders, and none present were able to ascertain its origin nor find a way to reverse it. Morale plummeted, the crusaders' front line fell apart, and the battlefield turned into chaos. The crusaders' front ranks collapsed into isolated pockets fending off unholy foes; the fates of the leading crusaders, including the two kings, is not known. Leaderless, the crusading armies scattered, with some attempting to head back to the camp in Alsoria and others dispersing into the hills seeking any kind of safety.