Prologue
No war is as fruitless as a battle between blood. Yet, I see this truth and know it woefully. There were five of us in all. A band of brothers we were with me as the oldest. With so many of us, conflict could do nothing but occur. Except, it was not only between us but with our parents also.
They were taken from us—our father murdered and our mother dead by her own hand that was driven by grief. To the five of us, we were left a shack house in the middle of the great Ethiopian valley amongst the forests and the clothes on our backs.
With nothing to lose, we gathered what food we had left and set out into the wilderness. To make sure none of us ran out of food on our journey, we divided the food up evenly and then set off in different directions as to not tempt the idea of one of us robbing one of our other brothers of their food when our own stocks became low.
I myself left toward the north where I followed the Nile until I reached Egypt. From there, a glimmer of hope ran through me as I found a new household, enough food to satisfy my adolescent hunger, and safety at last.
A few years passed before I was old enough to set off and make a life for myself on my own. My destination was Europe where I joined the military of the Holy Roman Empire. Almost immediately, I was put on the frontline in a war between the Empire and a collation of Italian city-states. The fighting was brutal with my fellow soldiers—men who I saw as brothers—being slain on all sides of me while I fought on.
The end to this war was a stalemate like the many times before where the Holy Roman Empire tried to conquer Italy to no avail. This time, however, the people showed their outrage because of the loss of loved ones and the staggeringly high taxes for no gain at all. They forced the current emperor to abdicate his throne leaving a power vacuum that anyone could fill.
Though many high ranking officers and nobles rose up and tried to take the throne, all who attempted to gain the title of emperor were often murdered by other competing lords. This corruption destabilized the situation more to the point where riots and mass burnings took place to show the peasants’ demand that order be restored.
The land had entered a time of chaos, but a solution was right around the corner. During my time in the war, I had gained much recognition due to my brutality in battle while sustaining few wounds. Soldiers would even walk over to me and ask questions about battles that I participated in or my thoughts on the situation happening in the empire.
People respected me and even valued my thoughts on the important subjects going on in the world. This got me thinking, but my thoughts were not directed toward any goal until one of my close friends named Ferrum—who I met in the army—gave me this suggestion: “You have so many people who support you and will support you in anything that you do. You’re the only one that can end this madness that is going on.”
He was right. If I could not take the throne with a whole group of soldiers behind me, who could? So, in preparation to fight against all of the remaining lords who sought after the throne and defend it once it was mine, I met with every soldier I could and instructed them to bring back two allies who would join our ranks. Soon, there was an army of thousands at my command.
With this army, I marched straight toward the capital in Frankfurt and declared myself emperor. Like flies to rotting meat, dozens of lords raised their own armies and marched to Frankfurt to rid another pretender from power—or so they thought.
I expected this and stationed my army in a forest near to the city while a garrison of militia was left behind to protect against a siege. In no time, the opposing lords arrived and besieged Frankfurt as expected. They demanded that the new emperor reveal himself and I did.
With the cover of night, my army charged out from the forest and attacked the besiegers camp. They were taken by surprised and then slaughtered by my soldiers. Every lord that was present was captured and then paraded through the city the next morning to cement my position as emperor.
It had been done. Order was restored and I held sole power over a massive empire. The deed was unimaginable—like Alexander conquering the Persian Empire—but it had been done. Yet, when I look back on that moment when I sat down on that throne and saw hundreds of people—men, women, children, prisoners, and friends—all prostrate before me, I can not help but still feel empty.
While I succeeded in making a name for myself, my family remains deceased and scattered to the winds. Not knowing if one or any of my brothers are still alive cuts deep within my soul, but I accepted the thought and moved on for a new life was ahead of me.
With my past behind me and a Golden Age in the history of my life and of the Empire before me, I dropped my name given to me by my parents and dawned not a new name but a title. It would have to show my affinity for war and how I dominate the age I live in. That title would be Medievalwarfare.
It’s a great story, is it not? However, my tale is only just beginning. War has broken out once again, and I am at the forefront of it. Meanwhile, an unavoidable presence of evil and darkness looms in the air and watches me every day and every night. A great upheaval is coming; I am sure of it. When it comes, though, fear shall not consume me for I am Medievalwarfare.
