The House Under God, Part 2: The Plague

The great city of Jerusalem, what a site to behold. Count Nicola is awestruck by the exotic people and places, and humbled by the great religious sites, testaments to their respective faith.

A depiction of the Jerusalem under the kingdom of the same name.

The trip is not wasted, and historical accounts from Orvieto mention his appreciation of the city.

These same accounts also mention his return.

A year later, and an heir is born to the count. Young Camilla looks to be the future of the house, and despite early signs of illness she manages to pull through.
(I have matrilineal marriages turned off, so I really couldn't give a damn about female heirs).

Word comes Cagliari, Muslim invaders from the berber coast have invaded with the intention of seizing the entire island. Nicola quickly rallies his troops to aid his mother, and protect his inheritance.

Rumors of a plague reach Orvieto, some say a great scourge has struck lands far to the east. While sympathetic to any who may be suffering, Nicola dismisses the claims as little more than hearsay. After all, its not as if there aren't frequent disease outbreaks in Europe.

There are of course more pressing matters than the silly superstition of peasants and foreigners. The Papacy fights alongside Orvieto men in a struggle against the Berber invaders...

Genoan mercenaries under contract with the Papacy engage Berber invaders in the battle of Cagliari.

...and they suffer an embarrassing defeat. While the defenders are still clearly in a position to win the war, the loss of a cardinal and the Doge of Pisa is a hurtful blow.

Accounts of the battle are limited and many appear to exaggerate the results, however historians estimate somewhere around 5000 men lost between both sides.

Despite the loss at Cagliari, the Moslem threat is crushed in subsequent battles. The war ends in a decisive victory.

Not all is well however, as it seems that Nicola contracted Syphilis not long after.

Of course, syphilis is a minor worry compared to the menace that threatens house d'Orvieto now. The plague has reached Italia, and in its wake it leaves only food for the crows.

And before I can even close the gates someone infects. What the hell was my ruler doing, giving back massages to peasants?

Here it is ladies and gents, come to end this AAR preemptively.

SLAM! I may be infected, but I ain't letting the rest of that filth contaminate my family. Only I'm allowed to do that!

Count Nicola officially contracts it, though it was pretty obvious before.

I'm sorry, I'll be switching in and out of character depending of the context from now on. I'm just not sure how to write up a realistic situation in which historians discuss count Nicola getting his b-hole pumped, which then somehow cures the plague.

"enjoy each other's company". Yeah, sorry Yoel but I'm not sure quite what you mean by that after the whole "treatment" thing. I'll just brood some instead.

Okay, maybe I spoke too soon. I'll admit, you do know your stuff Yoel.

While his immediate family remains safe, some of Nicola's distant relatives passed on. This did help to consolidate his power base.

The plague spares no one from its onslaught.

That doesn't stop Nicola from pursuing a male heir though.

Camilla contracts the dreaded plague. Its not long before she succumbs to the illness.

A new heir is born though. Little Giorgia is a worthless female though, and I betroth her to the king of Aragon for an alliance and some prestige.

A young monk by the name of Ugo arrives at court. The worst of the plague has past, and theology has always interested the count. He is invited to stay for some time, to rest him for his pilgrimage.

Death comes for count Nicola. Whether the man is a crazed killer who has convinced himself he is death, or whether it truly is death himself matters not. The end while come in the form of a blade if Nicola cannot win.

I take white. I had a plan to actually write up the chess game and what exactly happened along with pictures, but I can't remember how I played the opening game of the game I wanted to model it off. I'll just paraphrase what happened.

I open with the Queen's gambit. Unfortunately, death doesn't take the gambit and instead plays defensively. This still works out in my favor however, and after maneuvering I manage to trade my knight for a valuable knight in the center, and it leaves my bishop in a powerful position. I also manage to force a trade with his queen for my rook. I maneuver my other rook and my queen to start attacking his king.

Things go south though, as I overlook a move and my rook and bishop get forked(pretend the text says rook). Then we enter into a deadly endgame where I'm heavy on the defensive, and I'm just trying to keep my queen and bishop from being lost.

Oh, forgot to mention, the game I played would've been super easy to win if I hadn't accidentally forgot about being back-rank mated. I was in such a strong position that I didn't think it would be a problem, but I late my opponents rook sneak into a position where it was threatening to do so. I had to play defensively from there and I allowed black's pieces to get back in play.

Time itself stands still as Nicola makes his final move. In a game that seemed to have lasted hours, he finally sees it. His queen moves to f7.

"Perpetual check, its a draw" he says.

Death is annoyed, but he guesses that he never specified what would happen if neither person won. He just takes Nicola's syphilis away and gives him a little health bonus.

(Alright, well a weak ending but whatever I can't be bothered to either dramatize it more or write up a synopsis of the game. The real game I played ended in an anti-climatic draw after a hard fought battle. See you next time!)