Eric ran at a gallop on his horse for about a quarter of an hour and, only realizing that he was not being pursued, dropped speed and went easy trot. Toward evening, he met a small group of clerics and asked them about the area in which he is and what cities in the district. It turns out that in the daytime passage to the north-west, the border town of Basel was located. I went to him. At night he was able to stop at the tavern of a small town Olten, which stood next to Aarburg, neatly on the other side of the river. The next day I decided to go faster, and by trotting, by noon, I reached my destination. At the gate, surprisingly, they let him through without any problems, they did not even ask who he was or where, and did not take the fees. Apparently its appearance had affected - on horseback, in chain mail, helmet, with a sword and crossbow. So commoners do not go mostly, but noble people do not like it when they are stopped. In Basel, he did not particularly linger, just crashed on the bargain, where he was able to exchange his strange, massive sword of bicentennial aging, which he was barely pulling, because he weighed a half kilogram or so, on a comfortable Hungarian sword, weighing only eight hundred grams, why stale from the seller. And since there was much more in the sword of metal, and buyers for a sword for four years did not appear, the seller also paid Eric two denarii. Asking the price to new armor, our hero very quickly rolled his lips back, so much so that his teeth could be seen. He missed even half of the new mail, not to mention the smart and beautiful scaly and lamellar kits made in the lands of the Slavs and Hungarians. So he went for a couple of days on the market, licking on delicious devices. By the way, like the market, he learned about the most expensive coins in this region and their course. The most frequent guests were four coins, this is a stamp that is minted in Vienna, denarius and a marriageate that are equal to each other and obol. For one brand, 192 denarii or 412 obols are given. Although the rate may fluctuate, as coins may not be local, and therefore by weight and composition are different. It was funny that in the course were almost exclusively silver coins, and the few gold coins from the East that fell into Europe, very quickly went to the treasury and jewelry. About the people in general, almost nothing said, only occasionally smirking inexperience of the youngster and explained that the coins from such a despicable metal takes only a rare mole.
By the end of the second day, he realized that he was wasting his time, and decided to assess the situation, for starters. So - he is Baron Eric von Lenzburg and a legitimate contender for flax vassals to his very influential cousin Count Ullrich Kiburg. The hereditary possessions were an old castle, requiring serious repairs and nine villages of 50-100 inhabitants with the corresponding agricultural lands, eight of which stood far from the castle in a separate enclave. In the courtyard danced 1196, which means that the level of agriculture was absolutely terrible, and these lands gave very little income. What are his chances of capturing his hereditary possession? Honestly speaking - very small, since for the squad he is not an authority, even if Karl dies, Rudolph will take his place, most likely, as he is not only a knight, but also an experienced person. His cousin, although young, but clever, and therefore easily support a new dynasty of barons, especially since the previous one has some rights to his title and can potentially be dangerous. In short - he does not shine in the current situation. Of the property he has only a young mare, a worn aketon, chain mail, breathing heavily on the incense, an old helmet, a saber, a crossbow and a dagger. In total, less than a third of the silver mark is obtained, even with coins taken into account. As they say - for Athos it is too much, and for the Count de la Fere - too little. I will explain - the fact is that it is quite possible to start a good farm with this money and quietly, peacefully living huddled somewhere in the corner and working from dawn to dusk, in order to eat, however, for a nobleman, even such a small as he, this money is clearly is not enough. That is, there is also a nerd, although, as a "starting pistol" will completely come down . . What is his position? He is a strong young guy of 14 years old, who managed to escape from the clutches of a very dodgy predator - his beloved uncle. Now he is actually in a clean field, without a stake, without a court and without prospects. Unless to go as a volunteer to some petty nobleman. The situation is still obtained. So you need to think hard and understand what he wants here - in a new body, a new world and a new status? The first thing that comes to mind - it's good to live, that is, not strongly straining to eat delicious and softly to sleep. To achieve this goal, there are only two ways: the first - to become a trader, the second - to attach to the title of the land and live with them. Of course, being a nobleman at the land is a much more interesting prospect than just speculating with one or another property. To do this, you need to solve three problems. First, find a livelihood. Secondly, to put together a gang around itself, since ambitious loners do not live long. Thirdly, to feed the gang you need to find a permanent source of funding. So, for the first task the solution is simple - you need to steal a little. This is unaesthetic, ugly, immoral and completely non-curse, but was someone in history otherwise able to earn decent money for a short period of time? Robbery, slave trade and extortion are traditional sources of initial capital. The solution of the second problem is much more complicated. There are three problems. The first problem is the personal qualities of the candidates. Aby whom to take no meaning, and good specialists are always on the bill and they can not be caught in free swimming. The second problem is a matter of personal devotion. What will motivate these very gifted people to remain loyal to our hero? Money: This is unlikely, since in this case the devotion will end exactly when the money runs out. Here you need to think. The third problem is the problem of leadership. Having a strong, smart and enterprising people on the team, he might just not wake up one fine morning. Strangely enough, but usually these people also have ambitions and rarely they are small. With the solution of the third task in general, everything is vague and depends on how his life will turn out his life, as well as who and how much he will be able to assemble into a gang. Since it is very dangerous to loot in one territory for a long time, it is necessary to advance on a trip, and not to waste time and energy on unnecessary movements - to move slowly to the place where it will seize the land. The most reasonable in this matter was to go to the lands of the weakening Byzantine Empire, since the famous autocratic clown Alexei III was in charge there. The angel who can not grab a piece of land with only a blind and toothless rickets. Of all the territory that was under the control of this emperor, Tavria was the most tasty piece, that is, the modern Crimea, which has a very successful strategic position, both in the military and in the commercial sense. Yes, and the influence of Alexei there is almost equal to zero. But you can not go directly there, you need to collect resources and troops. For this purpose, Eric compiled a route and outlined, in general terms, work tasks that will need to be addressed in the course of the action. The very first task was to bring his equipment into working order, as it is very difficult to rob people with this garbage. From the next morning, he ordered three dozen crossbow bolts with faceted tips and went to fix the belt for the charging hook and the crossbow, or at the most crucial moment or the bow would break or the trigger would fall apart. By the end of the fifth day, he was ready to leave for Augsburg. And further to Vienna, where, according to rumors, there lived an intelligent master blacksmith, glorious in all the Austrian duchy with his chain mail and helmets. To him, Eric also wanted to go to the apprentice, in order to get used to this difficult matter in contemporary realities. From his thoughts, that he can again engage in a familiar and interesting business, he was completely excited. Of course, this will look very strange - a noble man learns from a simple peasant, but, in principle, this can be attributed to whimsy and courage. I bet I can not. Among the feudal lords will understand, but the opinion of the crowd is not interesting to him. Everything was ready, but it was unreasonable to leave on the night, so I had to spend the night in Basel. The most unexpected and, at the same time, pleasant news was that Bertha, nevertheless, was able to meet her tormentor worthily. Literally on the last day before his departure, rumors began circulating around the market, about how she not only injured his manhood with a knife, but also cut her face and neck well. He survived, although very sick, but it is still not known whether this is good or bad, since the well-known beauty and thunderstorm of women - Baron Karl von Lenzburg - was eventually not only terribly fearful but also empty as a man, having lost the most active part of his body. And this despite the fact that he is not yet married and childless! Berta herself took death from the ax, which she was hacked by the guard who ran to the baron's cries. Eric slept badly, now and then waking up - he was overwhelmed by thoughts. Yes, the Middle Ages proved to be the most natural with all its charms and customs. These are not the times to squeal about human rights with a nasal voice. Only a firm hand and an iron will are valued here, and human life costs only how much when you yourself can not take it away and have to pay a mercenary. All the rest is just the entourage, which for some aesthetics is adorned with all the filth and filth that here blossomed a riotous color under a wide variety of sauces.