>>517761468Godwin, did I ever tell you about my bastard son, Henry of Skalitz? Raised by his peasant blacksmith father who he saw struck down in a raid on his home-town 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 miller's niece, escaping to Rattay. From there, he was employed by Sir Hanush, the local Lord, as squire, and went on the infiltrate a band of Sigismund-backed mercenaries, unravelling a mass counterfeiting operation in a matter of days. He was then sent to infiltrate 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 a few hours prior. After infiltrating the bandit 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 inside the castle walls. After recruiting the only engineer in 100 miles who could build a trebuchet, he took part in a subsequent raid to free 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 continue to endanger his life at every turn, refuse to legitismise him, and have just sent him on a new mission as a glorified postman.
And he was a good son.
