It has been a while since my son Ricky and I played a "knights of the dinner table" game. In the meantime, he's gone to a lot of effort to grow up in other ways. He's married now. I am more grey. Here we are, set up for the latest chapter in the "saga" of the tiny mountain realm, which still remains nameless:
Chapter Six
A few years pass. Nothing is heard of Al-Masaffah since his humiliation before the walls of king Merlin's castle.
There are rumors of a new and powerful hill bandit who preys upon caravans passing south of the tiny mountain kingdom. Pilgrim traffic is scant in these parts, but such as there is seems to go unmolested. Thus the neighboring crusader fiefs and the Military Orders are not motivated to spend their resources to root out a pack of bandits who are not a threat to them or their coreligionists.
Prince Richard's brother Conrad is getting married. The girl must be brought to the royal castle for the marriage, so Richard volunteers for the duty of escorting the girl. The family alliance will benefit the tiny kingdom very little, but the prestige of her ancestry is a plus. She travels with a younger sister who is more Amazon than maiden, and this vixen brings her arms with her and marches with the foot troops of Richard's retinue. He has left just under half of his men to guard his own castle in his absence. But he does not feel comfortable traveling without his champion, Sir Alexander, and the castle guard is given to another knight.
A large force of Muslims blocks their way
The entourage nears the royal castle, when suddenly, issuing from the surrounding hills, a mostly mounted force of Muslims blocks their way. At their head is the chieftain of the local hill bandits, and despite his altered appearance, it is easily descried that this is none other than the emir, Ibn Ali al-Mumit al-Masaffah. And he is "repaying" king Merlin's magnanimity with treachery. The emir's humiliation has wormed into his soul and now he sees his neighbors as implacable enemies of his faith. His accouterments are strange, dragon-like even, and he is flanked by his best troops bearing long lances. Their bows are kept cased, as Al-Masaffah has determined that no risk to the girl is to be allowed: she is to be seized without harm and carried away for ransom.
Prince Richard swings his force to the south side of the vale
Al-Masaffah rides forward to personally meet him. His Turcomen ride to the other side of the vale to cut off any break in that direction. With king Merlin's castle a scant few miles to his rear, Al-Masaffah has chosen this spot to squeeze off any chance for escape. But he has little time, for the ambush has been seen from the walls far above on the slopes of the mountains. Richard's father has saddled up a rescue party and is riding as swiftly as may be down the steep road to the valley floor. (we rolled a twelve on 3d6 for the entry turn of the relief force)
Richard moves his cavalry to the right, exposing his infantry to view
The princess is mounted on a black caparisoned palfrey (we wanted a mounted girl figure of course, but had to make do).
Al-Masaffah is unhorsed!
His warhorse is shot out from under him, but he lands nimbly and rushes forward madly his eyes blazing.
The mounted forces collide
The Turcomen cut across the vale toward the right flank of the prince's company
One of Al-Masaffah's askaris takes down one of Richard's knights
The Muslim lance pierces the destrier and it falls, pinning the knight beneath it.
The athletic princess gets up and stands on her saddle to get a better view of their prospects. It is looking dire!
The Turcomen enter the melee
Al-Masaffah on foot, and one of his askaris, charge forward to the relief of his other askaris who are briefly outflanked by the prince's infantry. The princess's Valkyrie sister can be seen wielding a large poleaxe between two other men-at-arms.
In quick succession, the Christians suffer several more casualties
All of the effective fighting is on the part of the Muslims. Ricky's dice are as bad or worse then his dear old daddy's in Chapter Two!
The princess's guardians are all engaged and she is unprotected. She moves to the left, hoping for a way to escape the Turcomen.
Richard's marksmen suddenly have an open field, but they don't hit a single target!
Richard is on the point of conceding defeat, look familiar? :)
The Turcomen fail to successfully engage the marksmen in hand combat
The luck of the bandits was mixed, as one of the Turcomen was unhorsed, while one had his horse stumble as he tried to cross the fallen bodies. He landed on his feet however and quickly remounted. One Turcoman slipped in behind prince Richard and unhorsed him. Richard landed on his feet.
Al-Masaffah dropped the man-at-arms in front of him like a sack of potatoes
And then the emir moved immediately to confront the princess, who reared her horse back but fell off in her sudden alarm at the emir's horrible presence. The askari to his left brought her sister down. All is lost.
As the emir mounts her horse and drags the princess over the saddle before him, prince Richard sues for surrender. (turn seven, not even close)
The emir accepts the surrender of the Christians. He is not feeling magnanimous now! His prisoners have their hands bound and must lope beside the trotting horses or be dragged behind if they falter. He retreats swiftly into the hills and his pursuers arrive on the stricken field. There are no dead warriors, since the fallen were only wounded, though some of them quite severely. Broken weapons and a few dead horses litter the ground where the furious and very brief melee resulted in the capture of king Merlin's son and his future daughter-in-law.
The emir Ibn Ali al-Mumit al-Masaffah wastes no time in enjoying his victory and sweet revenge. He demands an enormous ransom for the return of all his prisoners. Then he changes it to just prince Richard and the two women. Then he changes his mind again, and seizes the "Valkyrie" for his own harem: the exorbitant ransom is now only for the king's son and the bride of his other son, Conrad. All the other prisoners are to be ransomed only for a full doubling of the already impossible demanded ransom.
The king despairs of ever raising such a huge sum. But when he is counseled to appeal to his friends, he at last bestirs himself after months of inactive depression, and asks for aid from his friends among the Military Orders. Also he raises a heavy loan from the Jews. By dint of these timely aids he is able to raise the money to obtain prince Richard's release and that of prince Conrad's bride. But the interest on the huge sums he has borrowed will soon beggar his tiny realm if he does not come up with something quickly.
Richard will not consent to being released, even to the point of all their deaths, unless his faithful champion Sir Alexander is allowed to join the two of them in freedom. Al-Masaffah spends months swinging back and forth between allowing this and threatening every Christian soul inside his fortress with death. Finally he delivers up the three of them to the safety of king Merlin's troops outside the walls.
Now the marriage is to be held, but Conrad refuses until the family honor is redeemed. The princess his future wife cannot rest or sleep while her younger sister remains a prisoner of the emir, "violated" as a concubine in his harem, for she refuses to convert and marry him. In his anger, he offers prince Richard's men a choice between converting to Islam or death. A few of them accept Islam. The rest dare the emir to do his worst. He decimates the stubborn Christians, then sells the balance of them into slavery instead.
The resolve of king Merlin's people is fixed. They will not rest until the bandit Al-Masaffah is brought down.
Appealing to his allies further, the king and his advisers meet with the Military Orders nearby. Plans are laid and spies set to watch for the emir's movements. He does not leave them long to wait. His intent is now to ride his prestige and ally with the neighboring emirs, his former rivals and superiors. Superiors no longer! Now they wish nothing better than to accept the leadership of such a successful warlord.
Al-Masaffah leaves a small garrison to protect his fortress and marches forth to join his allies. The spies of king Merlin bring him word and he gathers his troops at once, sending word to the Preceptor of the Order. All three forces, Richard's, Merlin's and the Teutonic knights and Templars joined together, converge on the point where the Muslim bandits must cross a rapid mountain stream. The emir's force debouches from the mountains onto the valley floor and sees the Christian army drawn up for battle with the stream at their backs.
Grinning eagerly, Al-Masaffah sends his cavalry out to the left and right, his infantry in the center, and moves forward to engage in battle....