Orleans, Capital of the Kingdom of France
Charlemagne, a young man not yet over 25 and a second-rank soldier in the French army, was well accomplished. Already he had earned fame by both soundly defeating the Goth tribe barbarians and then driving his team of settlers and soldiers to claim the area before either Roman or Spanish team could. He followed that up with an unprecedented expedition to the endless waters of his south. There he came upon several chains of islands, which now provide invaluable ports for trade aswell as a way of maintaining ships closer to any potential threats.
With a track record this good, Charlemagne thought this invitation from the King was surely about a promotion...a big promotion. Dressed in formal military garb (the French Army was the first to adopt such a thing), the young soldier shook hands with the Palace Guards, showing the invitation. The guard on the right tapped on the gigantic gold doors and they swung open slowly.....
And Charlemagne was never even a little bit skeptical...
The castle was magnicent to be sure. Many a gold and mineral plunder had been sent to construct this fabulous structure, of which many stories had been made. Charlemagne boldy climbed up flights of stairs, going up three stories, opening doors like he owned the place....until he realized very embarrasingly...he had no idea where the throne room was. He asked a servant whom told him the location but gave him a cold stare, almost a pity stare. As Charlemagne went up the stairs to the throne room, he started noticing more of these stares, people lowering thier heads if he looked at them, and an overall atmosphere of tension. Something was not right.
Finally he made it, the doors to the throne room were just outside. Showing his invitation to the throne room guards, much like he had to the outside guards, he was allowed entrance. The throne room was extravagant aswell, as one could guess. Windows wound around the room, draperies with fanciful depictions of battle hanging from them. It was a dark room, the only true light spots being the throne itself and the door. The rest was dimly lit with weak flames. Charlemagne noticed right away the absence of King Richard...the throne was empty. As Charlemagne left the brightness of the door area to venture to the throne itself, a man appeared. Surprised, Charlemagne nearly fell over. Gathering his senses again, Charlemagne asked "Sir, who are you? Why are you here?" The man lifted his hand, as if to stop from further questioning,"Young warrior, I am here to warn you. The King is not well, he is a sick and cruel ruler. You are better off to leave now." Charlemagne glared at the man, who was robed much like a monk in RL. Charlemagne thought, surely this man is lying, no...certainly he is lying! "Old man, leave this castle before I tell of your blasphemy!" Charlemagne was now visibly angry, pointing his arm towards the door. As the old man complied and walked towards the exit, he stared at the young man and said,"Be careful."
No sooner had the robed man left, then another robed man entered, only his robes were encrusted with jewels and were large, overbearing, and obviously a homage to his incredible wealth. He came through the same door the old man had, blowing past Charlemagne as he huffed his way to his throne. It wasnt until he was sitting firmly in the seat that he noticed him. The King's eyebrow arched up curiously. Who was this boy who had entered his throne room? "Boy! Come into the light and state your name." Charlemagne was nervous now. He had waited for this moment to come many a day, and now it was finally here. But something...still seemed off. Maybe it was a cumulation of the stares and the old mans words. He shook the feeling off and approached the King, "Your majesty, I am second-rank soldier Charlemagne. Conquerer of the Gothic lands and capturer of the islands of the Great Sea. Here is your invitation that you bestowed on me." Charlemagne handed the invitation back to the King. The King scanned over it carefully...his eyes lit up as he remembered,"Oh yes, Knight Charlemagne. I have been waiting for you."
King Richard started chuckling to himself,"Yes knight, you are quite a hero of the people. Perhaps you should be promoted to general..." At the sound of this, Charlemagne was quick to respond,"Oh yes, that would be terrific sire!" Now the King jumped from his throne. The King was not a light footed man, but he appeared to have a rather muscular frame. He pulled out a sword, edging it dangerously close to Charlemagne,"but I wont." He viciously slashed at the side of the young knight. Charlemagne yelled with pain, the sword had struck true on his right side. He doubled over with pain, and tried to regain his footing. The large gash made sure he could not. The evil King stood over him, laughing in his agony,"Foolish boy. You are nothing to me but a criminal of this land, trying to take this kingdom for yourself. But you cant, its mine. All mine. Now you will be locked up forever, another trophy to my accomplishments." The words bellowed through the room and was like salt to his wound. "Guards, take him away." were the last words he heard before he blacked out...
Orders
-increase education
-increase army
-keep military on alert