The Changeling: Byzantium 1203

[Sargon]

Ok, something I knocked up a while ago, but still being written. The Angeloi were a disastrous dynasty for the Byzantines, so here something weird arrives to throw a spanner in the works for, well, everyone.

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The Changeling: Byzantium 1203

Part I: The Emperor of the Romans


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Morning, 19th July 1203, Constantinople, Empire of the Romans

Isaac II was once more Emperor of the Romans, having been released by his own citizens after Alexius III had fled. However, the assembled host of the Crusaders outside the city were not happy with this state of affairs and were insisting his son be crowned alongside him as Alexius IV.

Those who had freed him were not aware that events were about to deviate from the history which had been established in this dimension and resulting in a new branch forming within the ethers of the flux. As he was led out of the dungeon he had been languishing inside for eight long years and into the palace where he had been proclaimed Basileus once more, an invisible force diffused itself through his skin. It was almost like a caress as it spread throughout his form, settled itself into his consciousness and prepared to take control. Of course, he would still be Isaac to those around him, but something had entered his mind and now mixed with his essence to become the dominant entity within his body. Carefully camouflaging itself inside him with impossible knowledge and abilities, it would in time transform things utterly. People would soon notice some changes though - as if he had gained a new lease of life and concern for his Empire.

The Emperor blinked and it was soon apparent to those around him that a miracle had occurred. The blind old man could see once more! Had his eyes not been put out by Alexius III? Yet here he was, clearly able to see. The news spread like wildfire amongst the highly religious populace. The Patriarch arrived and after being permitted an examination of the Emperor announced that it was a blessing from God and not some foul trick of the Devil.

Isaac, or rather the entity that was within Isaac smiled inwardly as he looked at the energiser on his finger which pulsed a little. So easy to influence were those in close proximity to him. And there was the little matter of some things he had brought with him, some carefully hidden so that no person could see them, yet some very visible indeed, although one had to be in the right place to see them of course.

An eidikos* rushed into the room with incredible news. It appeared the chambers in the treasury were now filled with gold and silver! The Empire was no longer teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, and that meant one thing that was of immediate importance: The Crusaders could be paid off.

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*treasury official


Sargon

 

[Sargon]

Next part.

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The Changeling: Byzantium 1203

Part II: The Doge of Venice


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Midday, 19th July 1203, Venetian Flagship, Golden Horn, Constantinople, Empire of the Romans

Enrico Dandolo was not a happy man. He'd managed to divert this Crusade from Egypt to benefit Venice and it was a bonus it had managed to encounter circumstances that allowed him to address a grudge for being beaten up in the city decades before. He liked having the Emperor (whichever one that happened to be was not important to him) twisted around his little finger and extracting as much from him and his Empire as he could. His ever calculating mind had known damn well the accursed Greeks didn't have the money to pay up the amount the Crusaders wanted which would be the trigger for a new assault and even if that was not successful, then more concessions. Land perhaps, or maybe more of their precious treasures they kept locked behind those walls. Now in front of him was this upstart delegation from the palace offering to pay off the complete sum owed to the Crusaders and his fellow leaders were looking like they were tempted to accept it since they wanted to get on with the Lord's work by heading to Egypt and then Jerusalem. It had to be another trick to delay things!

He glared up at the walls which he could not see, but knew were there. Maybe he could demand more out of these so-called Romans if he slipped the knife in deeper. That blind, incompetent old fool would have to not only hand over more, but have his son in place alongside him on the throne as well. Dandolo snorted to himself. He himself was blind, but he wasn't incompetent and he relished the idea of guiding events and people to his purposes. Now, that Alexius was the sort of person he could negotiate with, definitely pliant and willing to cough up as much as it took to get rid of the fleet that rode upon the waves here - just the sort of person that was useful to have about.

He snorted once more. He'd heard some silly rumour that Isaac had managed to get his sight back but that merely served in his mind as more proof these people were superstitious fools and frightened enough to believe anything. He believed it wouldn't take too much to manipulate them into giving over more concessions as well, after all, had they not just deposed Alexius III for his lack of success in dealing with himself and the others? He would get a few more Emperors toppled too if it meant he could squeeze a bit more out of the Empire and its people. Maybe he could even see the whole thing smashed in and him master of the lot. That would require him having to work on the other leaders here a little more, or to be more exact that is, to work on their greed. He imagined that shouldn't be too hard. There was more revenge and profit to be made here after all.

Dandolo couldn't see the figure that gazed down from the walls at him and was making his way closer to his position, but he still felt a jolt of great uneasiness shoot through him as a nearby solider yelled out that it was the Emperor himself. And he was apparently walking without anyone guiding him.

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Hopefully that whets the appetite a bit more.

 

[Sargon]

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The Changeling: Byzantium 1203

Part III: The Entity Inside
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Midday, 19th July 1203, Sea Walls overlooking the Golden Horn, Constantinople, Empire of the Romans

Isaac, or rather the entity within the one that was called Isaac looked down from the sea walls. He had already ordered them to be raised higher and the assembly of materials to enable it were under-way as he knew there was no time to waste. He had also ordered that a programme be initiated to rebuild the much neglected Imperial Navy, which Isaac himself had run down in the past due to cost concerns. In the history he had observed, the Venetians would use platforms connected to ships' masts to take control of the walls. Should the Doge and the Crusaders fail to take the payment, then it was only prudent to make sure the walls ended up higher than the masts and that avenue of taking the city be denied to them.

Pausing his walk, he glanced around him and noted that his guards were far enough away to allow him some privacy. He spoke quietly to himself, no one realising that his words were being picked up by the energiser on his finger.

"Study Note: The Venetian Doge, despite being blind and aged, indeed casts a most impressive and formidable figure stood upon the deck of his flagship. The chronicles do not exaggerate his strength of presence. If this city's walls were able to collapse from the willpower alone directed upon them, then he would be the one to wield such. It would of course be possible to absorb him and take over the expedition, yet that would not be so interesting. Besides, I am rather enjoying my time thus far within the present host body. Consequently, change will arrive in a way that is fascinating and is of interest to me.".

He stopped talking into the awesome device that wasn't just a glorified recorder, but was possessed of other useful functions. His former masters would not be happy with what he was doing here as their calling was less trivial than this, but he had become a renegade long ago and travelled throughout the cosmos and dimensions finding worlds and situations that interested him. He had been a respected and admired protector of people once, even going against his masters to do so, but he had been forced to undergo a rather nasty ordeal by Cold Flame within the nether world of his own people which was meant to purge him of his "faults". It had worked too well, changed his personality for the worse and he had turned against those he had sworn to protect, thus forcing him to attempt to carry out the original judgement of his masters which he had previously decided against and had resulted in his casting out. In the end a battle with one of his own blood had seen their energiser energy pulses mistakenly merged together in a freak occurrence and had led him to retreat inside a mountain as an intangible being, his physical form having been erased by the feedback in his energiser.

Much had happened since then and he had visited many other areas of history and initiated new lines within the flux - this was merely the latest stop. Ever since the process of reversing the intangibility had started all that time ago, it had resulted in some of his former personality returning, but with added quirks, and the loss or modification of some abilities. He was still mostly intangible and not restored to full physical form, so the usage of a host body was necessary, yet he was able to repair certain amounts of physical or mental damage in such hosts and even handle some objects in his almost intangible form by itself with a bit of effort. His energiser had also had some issues affect it as a result of that past battle, so a number of functions were now unavailable. It had come with him, carried in his ether, and as always came in the form of a ring resembling a stylised skull on his finger whether he was in intangible form or manifested as such on his host. A perception filter made it look like a ring appropriate to the individual and surroundings he happened to be in, thus the skull design would draw no notice. In this time he was currently in, it would appear odd that a Christian would wear such an item of course, so it was most fortunate this facility was a part of the ring's features that still operated.

In time perhaps he could restore himself and repair the energiser to full utility and mayhap put things right in his own time, but for now his present character dictated otherwise and the urge to interfere in history had been a new personality flaw too great to resist. It had been going on for quite some time now in different dimensions and eras, yet the passage of time was of little concern as he was not limited to short lifespans such as these humans.

And so it was that the entity residing within Isaac II looked down upon Enrico Dandolo. He knew about this period of history, and he knew that this man may yet still have the guile to cause trouble. Dandolo however would find that Isaac II would have some surprises in him besides the restoration of his sight.

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[Sargon]

Another part:

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The Changeling: Byzantium 1203

Part IV: Boniface of Montferrat​

Afternoon, 19th July 1203, Crusader Camp near the Land Walls, Blachernae, Constantinople, Empire of the Romans


Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat had been very pleased to hear of Isaac's offer to pay the sum in full owed to himself, his men and the expedition as a whole. He had been the one who had made the arrangement with Isaac's son, Prince Alexius, in the first place, and it now seemed the deal had been honoured, along with the pledge of troops for the Crusade. In his view, there seemed little to keep them here, and once the sum had been paid, then that would be the Venetians and their damn Doge paid off as well.

Thoughts of the shrewd yet arrogant Dandolo caused his temper to rise somewhat. The wily Venetian had effectively taken control of the whole Crusade because of the matter of money that the Crusaders owed him for the rent of ships and supplies. yet it was he, Boniface, who was supposed to be the main leader here. However, ever since leaving Venice, he had increasingly been made to play second fiddle to the man and that had rankled a lot. As far as he was concerned, this was a good opportunity to re-assert control over the expedition, and head for Egypt, which had been the original plan before the Venetians had decided to take things over for their own purposes.

However, it seemed that the promise of payment as well as the other pledges being honoured were not enough for the Doge. Ever since the news had come out about the Emperor's willingness to hand over the sum, the ancient leader had been peddling his view that since they were here, they were in a good position to extract further concessions from the Greeks and that the Emperor's willingness to pay was probably a delaying tactic. The other leaders had been happy at Isaac's offer and were not proving easy to persuade that it was a trick of some sort, but the bishops leading the other contingents had been somewhat interested in Dandolo's insistence upon extracting further concessions, although they were worried at the developments regarding Isaac's return of sight. The Marquess wondered about them as they had not exactly been completely forthcoming about sharing the finer details of various communications they had had with the Holy Father in Rome with everyone else, remarking they were merely church matters that didn't concern anyone with any import.

Boniface was well aware that the main reason they were staying was because of the Venetian's grudge against the citizens of the City for depriving him of his sight in a scuffle years ago. He was not sure whether he believed that tale or not, and even if he did, it wasn't important to him. It could well be another of the man's insidious schemes to manipulate events to his advantage for all he knew.

However, the other main issue resting upon his mind on this hot day was the apparent recovery of old Isaac from the blindness inflicted upon him by the previous Emperor. The news had spread around the Crusaders and had caused some apprehension. That had turned into marked nervousness once the Emperor had been confirmed to have been spotted walking along the walls of his city unaided and looking far from sightless as he did so. Whether it was real or not, it was not a good thing morale-wise, and it had shaken some of his men. The Greeks were celebrating it as a Blessing from God, and if indeed it were, then many whispered that they would be fighting against Him and those favoured by Him. Surely a dangerous and unwelcome thing to do.

Boniface sighed as he made his decision and gripped the pommel of his sword tightly in the habit he had developed when he wished to reassure himself of things. He was going to take his money and make efforts to continue the Crusade to Egypt. He had sworn an oath to God that he would wage a Crusade, and he intended to honour that if at all possible. Fighting the Greeks and being diverted from Egypt were not part of that oath. He would try to persuade the others to come with him of course, but that left the issue of the Venetians keeping to the original deal by continuing to provide their ships and supplies to the Crusade. Boniface had a feeling Dandolo would not be easy to convince on this particular point, but perhaps with the extra money acquired from the deal with Alexius he could procure some ships and sailors from elsewhere.

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Comments and discussion, as always, are welcome.

 

[Sargon]

Sorry for the delay. Not been an easy year. Have some more, good readers. And "Pairis" is a place in Alsace before any confusion may set in:

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The Changeling: Byzantium 1203


Part V: The Bishops of Halberstad and Pairis​

Late Afternoon, 19th July 1203, Venetian Fleet, Golden Horn, Constantinople, Empire of the Romans

A boat slowly made its way towards the ship that was resplendent in banners and bore the Venetian Doge. The two men in the boat had been talking heatedly for some time, but they fell silent as they reached the vessel and made their way to the main deck where the sightless leader awaited them. His visage didn't appear to be particularly happy.

Bishop Conrad of Halberstadt stepped forward and spoke, "The day's events are of concern to us. What thoughts do you have upon the matter?". His companion, Bishop Martin of Pairis, looked expectantly at the aged man. He was sure that whatever Dandolo had to say, it was bound to be interesting.

"Come. We shall repair to my cabin. I wish to speak privately with you both.". He made a gesture with his hand and a nearby attendant helped guide him to his private quarters, the two churchmen following him inside. After being led to his chair beside a table in what was a surprisingly Spartan room for one of such august status, he gestured for the man to leave them undisturbed unless called for and invited the others to sit. Both took a chair and settled themselves down.

"It is my feeling that the man who was seen upon the walls was some clever trick or foul machination. There is no miracle and we must challenge it.". Dandolo struck his fist down upon the table, causing an empty goblet to fall to the floor which somewhat startled the pair of division leaders who commanded troops from the Holy Roman Empire.

Martin leant forward, and spoke in almost hushed tones, "Miracle or not, it has made the men nervous. We already have the problem of the Holy Father's excommunication on this entire enterprise after we took Zara. We have kept that from the men to ensure the stability of the whole expedition. We stand to lose even more should he decide that this IS a miracle.".

Conrad nodded in agreement. "But why should it be a miracle? I have thought about it and I say it could easily be the Devil's work, after all, these Greeks are heretical. That Isaac may have granted all the items we agreed to with his son before we arrived here, apart from one of the most telling. He won't agree to submit his church to that of the rightful one in Rome. Yet his son made that promise to us and now the father rejects it. It is the work of the Devil I tell you!".

A smile spread across the features of Dandolo, wolf-like in its aspect. "My thoughts exactly gentlemen. If such a message could be spread about our men and the other leaders, then they will believe it as evidence of evil at work. They are the ones who have taken God's oath, not these schismatic Greeks, and that must be impressed upon them. Our goal should be to attain their submission to the Holy Father's congregation, and thus, he will see that we were right to come here and root out the evil that resides within those city walls, perhaps more urgently in need of addressing than that which is in Egypt. What better gift to expunge his order of excommunication and welcome us all back into the fold than that of the Greeks submitted to his religious authority? We will insist upon that condition and upon Prince Alexius set upon the throne as was agreed. It is no more than was already agreed to in good faith with the son of the Emperor.". Inside him, the Doge cared little for the excommunication, it was merely an inconvenience, yet the whole thing played nicely into his hands at this time if he could convince them of the necessity of stamping the Pope's authority upon the Greeks and therefore return home to be praised rather than shunned.

Rubbing his temple, Martin was still somewhat cautious. "If we can accomplish what you say, then it is a worthy enterprise. However, there is still the problem of the other leaders. I'm not sure Boniface will be quite so easy to persuade. he has links to the Greeks via a family marriage in the past. What if he were to reveal the nature of the Holy Father's letter to the men? It could cause the whole expedition to fall apart. He has kept quiet this far, such as we all have despite our misgivings we have had ever since the Holy Father excommunicated us, yet we kept on in the hope that God would indeed see us through. Indeed, also for the fact that we had to pay the debt we owed you, or how should we have carried on to Egypt or even returned home without great hardship?". He hoped the Doge could rationalise something out of that, yet his conscience still plagued him.

"Should they do that, then all hope for this Crusade would be over and they will all return home in disgrace achieving nought. I have the ships, and they will not be going to Egypt without the use of them, or even have an easy journey home for that matter should they be brazen enough to do such a thing. They would be left here and obliged to make their way across the bandit infested mountains and war-torn lands that lie between here and their homes. And what of the men you may ask? They would lose faith in themselves as well as their leaders. It is too big a risk for the other leaders to take, and even if they do, then we can use it to our advantage and tell all the men that the only form of redemption can come when this city is one with Rome in religious terms. That will give them the faith to rally, return home with honour and success and be welcomed back into the arms of the Church. If the Greeks try our patience, we should try to extract further concessions from them such as land to appease our nobles assembled here.". Dandolo was rather enjoying the situation at the moment now he had something to plot about, and he knew the value of material acquisitions to all men, religious or otherwise. Those usually added incentive and helped to quell arguments in his experience.

That seemed to satisfy Martin somewhat and he nodded in agreement. "It seems a reasonable course of action and a plausible way of handling the situation.". He turned to Conrad who had been listening with interest. "What say you?".

Conrad paused a moment as he studied the table for no particular reason other than it was there. "What about Isaac? If he is evil, then our men will want him dethroned. Their patriarch and people are convinced it is a miracle, and we may convince our men, but not them.".

Dandolo had been expecting that thought. "That is indeed a problem. However, they will have little choice to agree as we will not leave until they do, and no city, however large can withstand a siege forever. God is on our side. What does it matter if the Greeks think it is a miracle? Our men will not and that is what is important here. Their Emperor has proven himself an incompetent fool over these last twenty years, and Prince Alexius will see things our way. After all, he is sure to be less than happy at not having the throne that was expected to be his - I think it may be likely for him to find ways of dealing with his less than lucid father.". Although he remained sure that Alexius would do all he could to make sure his part of the deal was honoured in full, the Doge was still somewhat worried about Isaac. He would have to work out some arrangement with Alexius as a precaution perhaps. He turned his attention back to Conrad."So, are we agreed?".

Conrad nodded. "I agree. One thing. It is of course better not to have a direct meeting with Isaac as we would surely be tainted by his maleficence. It would best be done through Prince Alexius and his supporters.". There was another meaning in his words and it was clear enough to the others as they agreed with another nod - the further they kept Isaac away from their men, the more convincing it would be regarding their claims of protecting them from his evil - plus they would not be unnerved by his sight, restored or otherwise. And Conrad had the odd feeling he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know if the Emperor's sight was back or not.

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Comments are of course gladly received.