King James sat erect on his throne, a steely glint in his eye. He knew he had a commanding figure, but felt the effect was somewhat lost due to his throne being in a tent. He cleared his throat. "So Bryggan, you say.."
"KING Bryggan", interrupted Sitvek.
James scowled. "So... you say that we of Acre should join you. You say we should support your endevours after you have slaughtered our villagers and townsfolk at the time of strat when all good people believe conquests are over and the only fighting should be done in the field for entertainment and XP. You were a peasant when I met you, a mere nobody with a sword and rabble of gangsters with broken weapons who managed to capture a fief because you were too stupid to figure out battle times. A 5:17 am EST battle that only one Euro showed up to defend.
"You, who stood before me, quaking in your boots, offering vassalage for fear of invasion of other factions. And I, admiring your spirit and taking pity on your noobness, took you under my wing and even, albeit foolishly, made you a lord. Yes, you fought battles for us. You always insisted on being in the front lines, but then again, you had nothing to lose and everything to gain. How many times have you boasted about your battles? Yet do you mention the troops and gear and silver I gave to your army to take Slekzh Castle? Do you tell tales of how Bravo stayed up all night to reinforce your men in time when you failed to capture a Squid fief and got tied up by their field armies. Are there any songs of how Blue rushed men and equipment after you ran from the Squid armies after robbing an unarmed trading caravan. Which you sadly lost in a flag cap?"
"Ah, yer majestickness," Bryggan answered, "these are good reminisces, and they almost bring a tear to my eye for all the fun times we had. And truly, truly I wish we could all go back to those old days when things were simpler and people were happier, and roll calls actually occurred. But news and events have changed everything, and we can not go back.
"First of all, that cleric, the late Brother Berend Henrik the Fearful proved beyond any shadow of a doubt my lineage, which is not only royal, but mega-royal. We gave him an hour to research my family tree, and he assured me that I am Bryggan, son (here is a long boring genealogy)
of Handul the caravan guard, son of Belgul the sheep herder, son of Kamrun the muck scraper, son of Kirlaus, son of Thelia the Emperor's daughter and Kaldaus, the son of the Duke of Swadia, the son of Kaldar, the son of Tristan, the son of Orlando, the son of Eric the Viking, the son of Ragnar Lothbrok, the son of Asterix, the son of Conan the Barbarian, the son of Woten, the son of Bob the builder, the son of Groo, the son of Agun, the son of Uhbich, the son of chadz, the son of Armagon.
"So I am of royal blood, despite my somewhat humble beginnings, and this has been shown in my will to fight. When it was just me and Dirk, we had fought more battles than most factions. And we were not pussies either. We did not sit there and trade for months and months. Once we could afford whatever gear was available, we fought. I did not know why back then, but now I know.
"For it was not just Berend Henrik the Fearful, but our very own holy Arch-Bishop Albus who prophesied this. He did one of those chadzian rituals what with the praying and beads and holy water and stuff. But he says he saw me and my allies, the good Wardens of the North, spreading west where we will pool up our resources for the next campaign. And this is true, for Albus saw it in the blood... um, blood of chadz! Which he spilt for
us in pre-alpha. Cuz Albus is a chadzian. And a Bishop now. I made him one."
James sighed. "Bryggan, what can I say? Whereas I cannot say I truly trust Albus as a man of chadz, I have seen you have been victorious lately. I do not know how chadz works, or why He gives victory to those who seem to be against His Ways, other than the fact that most people stopped caring, or are stricken by the plague of Ayufkay. But it is said that even chadz himself worked with Tydeus, so I too, can make a deal with the devil."
"Damned straight you can," answered Bryggan.