Godwin, did I ever tell you about my bastard son, Henry of Skalitz? Raised by his peasant blacksmith adoptive father who he saw struck down in a raid on his hometown that led to its total destruction, he managed to escape on horseback whilst being pursued by experienced Cuman riders, seeking refuge in neighbouring Talmberg. There, he plotted an escape to return to the burned-out ruins of Skalitz where he met a band of bandits and was beaten nearly half to death, but was saved by some local miller's niece, escaping to Rattay. From there, he was employed as squire by the local Lord Sir Hanush, and went on to infiltrate a band of Sigismund-backed mercenaries, unravelling a mass counterfeiting operation in the space of a few days. He was then sent to find the hiding place of these bandits by posing as a monk in the Sasau monastery, having to perform their routine tasks such as transcribing latin documents, despite having only learned to read several hours prior. After finding their well-fortified base in Pribyslavitz (which he later became bailiff of, but that's another story), he was captured, but somehow managed to escape. Meanwhile, the bandits had taken Talmberg, and he assisted in a daring night-time raid with his future lover Sir Hans Capon to rescue several villagers trapped its walls. After assisting in recruiting the only engineer in 100 miles who could build a trebuchet, he took part in the subsequent battle, freeing the hostages including the lady of the castle Stephanie who, unbeknown to anyone at the time, he had previously impregnated. Despite all of this I continued to give him the cold shoulder, refused to legitimise him, and have now sent him on his next task as a glorified postman.
And he was a good son.
