Tyranny of Steel

A mature and beautiful lady was sitting across from a handsome Lord within the Duchy of Luxembourg, this man by the name of Hilmar Von Senheim and was a prominent Count within the Ducal Court of Luxembourg. The Lady across from him was an agent of Austrian intelligence, and had approached the Count to gain his support for the various Rebels that were being trained in his territory.

Hilmar was a cautious man, and he knew the winds of change were blowing, Berengar von Kufstein had risen through bloody conquest to become King over half of the German States, The armies of Austria were indomitable, and unfortunately for the count, his liege had provoked the tyrant of steel.

He was looking for a way out from the violence that he knew was about to occur, thus when an agent of the Austrian Crown approached him, he was more than happy to entertain her in his home. At the moment they were eaten some rather bland mutton, with a side of watered down ale. Despite his wealth and power, it had become incredibly difficult to get his hands on Austrian ingredients.

After all, Austria held a stranglehold over trade with the East via their byzantine connections, and with the attack on his life, he had moved to isolate luxembourg from many facets of trade that had once made their lands wealthy. Hilmar was no fool. He could tell by the displeased expression on the Austrian beauty ’s face that she was rather displeased with the bland food, and thus apologized for the lack of spice.

”My lady, I must apologize for the lack of taste in this food. As you should be aware,Berengar has set up several embargos against us after my Liege ’s foolish attempt to claim the man ’s life. With your master shutting down his black market and calling on his allies to sanction us, it has become rather difficult to get my hands on the spices necessary to make a good meal. ”

Despite the bland mutton, the woman did not stop eating it, a free meal was a free meal, and even if it failed to meet her tastes, it would at the very least fill her stomach, thus she sighed heavily before expressing her thoughts on the matter.

”Your master is a fool for attacking my King. If you think Berengar is being merciful by not invading the North, guess again, I probably shouldn ’t be telling you this, but since you have taken pity on little old me, I guess I will give you a hint about what is going on behind the scenes…

As we speak, Austria ’s special forces are training the common people to rise against your master. They are being equipped with sufficient arms, munitions, and the tactics necessary to bring your transportation and logistics to complete and total halt. Assassinations of nobility, and ambushes on your troops, are about to become a common occurrence. If I were you, I would think well about where your loyalties lie.