Play as/with...?

[Bora]

hi!

i know that you can play every country that is in the game. but i like to know if you can play as/with persons like:

eduard the "longshanks", robert de bruce, william wallace or Vlad "dracula" tepes?
... i think everyone should now that dracula was not a vampire, he was the leader of a part of rumania called "wallachei"

[Gorgoroth]

I don't think that Vlad Tepes should be in any history game. He was a crazy killer, nothing more.

"
The Atrocities of Vlad Tepes
More than anything else the historical Dracula is known for his inhuman cruelty. Impalement was Vlad III’s preferred method of torture and execution. Impalement was and is one of the most gruesome ways of dying imaginable, as it was typically slow and painful.



Vlad usually had a horse attached to each of the victim’s legs and a sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body. The end of the stake was usually oiled and care was taken that the stake not be too sharp, else the victim might die too rapidly from shock. Normally the stake was inserted into the body through the buttocks and was often forced through the body until it emerged from the mouth. However, there were many instances where victims were impaled through other body orifices or through the abdomen or chest. Infants were sometimes impaled on the stake forced through their mother’s chests. The records indicate that victims were sometimes impaled so that they hung upside down on the stake.

Vlad Tepes often had the stakes arranged in various geometric patterns. The most common pattern was a ring of concentric circles in the outskirts of a city that was his target. The height of the spear indicated the rank of the victim. The decaying corpses were often left up for months. It was once reported that an invading Turkish army turned back in fright when it encountered thousands of rotting corpses impaled on the banks of the Danube. In 1461 Mohammed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, a man not noted for his squeamishness, returned to Constantinople after being sickened by the sight of twenty thousand impaled Turkish prisoners outside of the city of Tirgoviste. This gruesome sight is remembered in history as "the Forest of the Impaled."

Thousands were often impaled at a single time. Ten thousand were impaled in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu in 1460. In 1459, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, Vlad III had thirty thousand of the merchants and boyars of the Transylvanian city of Brasov impaled. One of the most famous woodcuts of the period shows Vlad Dracula feasting amongst a forest of stakes and their grisly burdens outside Brasov while a nearby executioner cuts apart other victims.

Although impalement was Vlad Dracula’s favorite method of torture, it was by no means his only method. The list of tortures employed by this cruel prince reads like an inventory of hell’s tools: nails in heads, cutting off of limbs, blinding, strangulation, burning, cutting off of noses and ears, mutilation of sexual organs (especially in the case of women), scalping, skinning, exposure to the elements or to wild animals, and burning alive.

No one was immune to Vlad’s attentions. His victims included women and children, peasants and great lords, ambassadors from foreign powers and merchants. However, the vast majority of his victims came from the merchants and boyars of Transylvania and his own Wallachia.

Many have attempted to justify Vlad Dracula’s actions on the basis of nascent nationalism and political necessity. Many of the merchants in Transylvania and Wallachia were German Saxons who were seen as parasites, preying upon Romanian natives of Wallachia. The wealthy land owning boyars exerted their own often capricious and unfaithful influence over the reigning princes. Vlad’s own father and older brother were murdered by unfaithful boyars. However, many of Vlad Dracula’s victims were also Wallachians, and few deny that he derived a perverted pleasure from his actions.

Vlad Dracula began his reign of terror almost as soon as he came to power. His first significant act of cruelty may have been motivated by a desire for revenge as well as a need to solidify his power. Early in his main reign he gave a feast for his boyars and their families to celebrate Easter. Vlad was well aware that many of these same nobles were part of the conspiracy that led to his father’s assassination and the burying alive of his elder brother, Mircea. Many had also played a role in the overthrow of numerous Wallachian princes. During the feast Vlad asked his noble guests how many princes had ruled during their lifetimes. All of the nobles present had outlived several princes. None had seen less then seven reigns. Vlad immediately had all the assembled nobles arrested. The older boyars and their families were impaled on the spot. The younger and healthier nobles and their families were marched north from Tirgoviste to the ruins of his castle in the mountains above the Arges River. The enslaved boyars and their families were forced to labor for months rebuilding the old castle with materials from a nearby ruin. According to the reports they labored until the clothes fell off their bodies and then were forced to continue working naked. Very few survived this ordeal.

Throughout his reign Vlad continued to systematically eradicate the old boyar class of Wallachia. Apparently Vlad was determined that his own power be on a modern and thoroughly secure footing. In the place of the executed boyars Vlad promoted new men from among the free peasantry and middle class; men who would be loyal only to their prince.

Vlad Tepes’ atrocities against the people of Wallachia were usually attempts to enforce his own moral code upon his country. He appears to have been particularly concerned with female chastity. Maidens who lost their virginity, adulterous wives and unchaste widows were all targets of Vlad’s cruelty. Such women often had their sexual organs cut out or their breasts cut off, and were often impaled through the vagina on red-hot stakes. One report tells of the execution of an unfaithful wife. Vlad had the woman’s breasts cut off, then she was skinned and impaled in a square in Tirgoviste with her skin lying on a nearby table. Vlad also insisted that his people be honest and hard working. Merchants who cheated their customers were likely to find themselves mounted on a stake beside common thieves.




The End of Vlad III
Although Vlad III experienced some success in fending off the Turks, his accomplishments were relatively short-lived. He received little support from his titular overlord, Matthius Corvinus, King of Hungary (son of John Hunyadi) and Wallachian resources were too limited to achieve any lasting success against the powerful Turks.

The Turks finally succeeded in forcing Vlad to flee to Transylvania in 1462. Reportedly, his first wife committed suicide by leaping from the towers of Vlad’s castle into the waters of the Arges River rather than surrender to the Turks. Vlad escaped through a secret passage and fled across the mountains into Transylvania and appealed to Matthias Corvinus for aid. The king immediately had Vlad arrested and imprisoned in a royal tower.

There is some debate as to the exact length of Vlad’s confinement. The Russian pamphlets indicate that he was a prisoner from 1462 until 1474. However, during this period he was able to gradually win his way back into the graces of Matthias Corvinus and ultimately met and married a member of the royal family (possibly the sister of Corvinus) and fathered two sons. It is unlikely that a prisoner would be allowed to marry a member of the royal family. As the eldest son was about 10 years old at the point Vlad regained the Wallachian throne in 1476, his release probably occurred around 1466.

Note: The Russian narrative, normally very favorable to Vlad, indicates that even in captivity he could not give up his favorite past-time; he often captured birds and mice and proceeded to torture and mutilate them. Some were beheaded or tarred-and-feathered and released. Most were impaled on tiny spears.

Another possible reason for Vlad’s rehabilitation was that the new successor to the Wallachian throne, Vlad’s own brother, Radu the Handsome, had instituted a very pro-Turkish policy. The Hungarian king may have viewed Dracula as a possible candidate to retake the throne. The fact that Vlad renounced the Orthodox faith and adopted Catholicism was also surely meant to appease his Hungarian captor.

In 1476 Vlad was again ready to make a bid for power. Vlad Dracula and Prince Stephen Bathory of Transylvania invaded Wallachia with a mixed contingent of forces. Vlad’s brother, Radu, had by then already died and was replaced by Basarab the Old, a member of the Danesti clan. At the approach of Vlad’s army Basarab and his cohorts fled. However, shortly after retaking the throne, Prince Bathory and most of Vlad’s forces returned to Transylvania, leaving Vlad in a vulnerable position. Before he was able to gather support, a large Turkish army entered Wallachia. Vlad was forced to march and meet the Turks with less than four thousand men.


Purported tomb of
Vlad III Vlad Dracula was killed in battle against the Turks near the town of Bucharest in December of 1476. Some reports indicate that he was assassinated by disloyal Wallachian boyars just as he was about to sweep the Turks from the field. Other accounts have him falling in defeat, surrounded by the ranks of his loyal Moldavian bodyguard. Still other reports claim that Vlad, at the moment of victory, was accidentally struck down by one of his own men. The one undisputed fact is that ultimately his body was decapitated by the Turks and his head sent to Constantinople where the sultan had it displayed on a stake as proof that the horrible Impaler was finally dead. He was reportedly buried at Snagov, an island monastery located near Bucharest."


He is far from a historical greatness.

[Henrik]

what a "nice" guy ! - i think it was really interesting to read :)

[Cork2]

Well, he should be made as a rebel leader, instead of a knight.

[Bora]

nice to know, that you KNOW so much about history gorgoroth,...

:cheers:

but if say "no he should not be in cause he was a crazy killer" then more of the 1/2 european leader should be taken out.
vlad was great defender of his regligion (was a christ) and he helped to draw back the turks from conquering europe.

in the part where he lifed he is a patriotic hero for most of the people. there alo is a stamp with his face on it, for example.
and that stamp is not an old one!

so the scottish people have william wallace and the rumanians vlad,.. why not?

by the way, william wallace truely was a great man but he was a little bit more rude then the movie tells us and little bit less that strategic genius. and he was married and had a child,... but there is no much to find about his family so in reality he starte fights with england cause of his opinion and not cause of love to a women
,... and he never had a relation to a fench princess or even a child together with her.

and dont put that much history in the game,... the programmers try to make it as realistic as they can without making ab oring history lesson out of it ;)

ps: dont go on castle/fortress corvin cause they say there are the gosts of the people who lifed there and and/or got killed.

[Gorgoroth]

You are right Bora, but not totally.
Vlad "Dracúl" Tepes was mostly known about his cruelty. Yes he was fighting against the turks without too much success..but this is a very small part of his "deeds".
In fact IMHO Dracúl was a psyco mass murderer, one of the most cruel man in the history. I can only compare him to barbarians, like the Huns.
It is a funny thing, that Vlad always thought and said, that hes got Hun ancestry. Heh...



PS. I don't think that we can even compare William Wallace to Dracúl. :)

[Bora]

Originally posted by Gorgoroth
You are right Bora, but not totally.
Vlad "Dracúl" Tepes was mostly known about his cruelty. Yes he was fighting against the turks without too much success..but this is a very small part of his "deeds".
In fact IMHO Dracúl was a psyco mass murderer, one of the most cruel man in the history. I can only compare him to barbarians, like the Huns.
It is a funny thing, that Vlad always thought and said, that hes got Hun ancestry. Heh...



PS. I don't think that we can even compare William Wallace to Dracúl. :)

well,.. i dont want compare him to william wallace,.. but he is the famoust person of that region,...
but i just wanted to say that "brave hart" doesnt tell the very truth of the story even if the voice at the beginning of the movie says something like that

[Henrik]

I've done a little research on Vlad tepes and it is now my understanding that many Romanians regards him a liberator because he managed to stand up to the Turks.

[Bora]

Originally posted by Henrik
I've done a little research on Vlad tepes and it is now my understanding that many Romanians regards him a liberator because he managed to stand up to the Turks.

my words :)
but i also must give gorgoroth right,... he was a madman
anyway he should be in as leader from wallachei (or whatever his country is called in the game)

[Gorgoroth]

IMHO, the first prince of Wallachia - Basarab the Great (1310-1352) would be lot better.
[[Tepes had no real success against the turks anyways.]]

[Bora]

Originally posted by Gorgoroth
IMHO, the first prince of Wallachia - Basarab the Great (1310-1352) would be lot better.
[[Tepes had no real success against the turks anyways.]]


But dont forget, the game is not a history-lesson, so dont be surpised if things dosent 100% fit to the historycal trueth ;)


well ok,.. but i stillwanan know if you can play with famous leader like:

edward the longshanks, robert de bruce, william wallace,...

[Gorgoroth]

Hopefully we can play with some real heroes! :cool:

[Richard Plantagenet]

Originally posted by Gorgoroth
You are right Bora, but not totally.
Vlad "Dracúl" Tepes was mostly known about his cruelty. Yes he was fighting against the turks without too much success..but this is a very small part of his "deeds".
In fact IMHO Dracúl was a psyco mass murderer, one of the most cruel man in the history. I can only compare him to barbarians, like the Huns.
It is a funny thing, that Vlad always thought and said, that hes got Hun ancestry. Heh...



PS. I don't think that we can even compare William Wallace to Dracúl. :)

and what is wrong with the HUNs?? You should not look at the huns deeds using our moral standards today. What they did was by their standards acceptable and proven effective.

Eating raw meat and drinking animal blood just yark, but its acceptable if we are still living in the pre-stone age, right? ;)

[Emhyr var Emreis]

I hope there will be some possibility to have some of my kings like at least knights from Bohemian realm. There were some good like Przemysl Otokarus I., Wenzel (Václav) II., kingo of Bohemia and Poland, and 2 of house of Luxemburg: John of Luxemburg(the Blind) and Charles IV.,HREmperor.

And don't blame Huns. They werent such a barbaric barbarians.Very good archers, very good horsemen. Also German tribes were no such barbarians when they were attacking Roman empire since 2nd cent.AD. Only in comparison with Romans they were no more than poor barbarians!

[Jerome]

Originally posted by Emhyr var Emreis
And don't blame Huns. They werent such a barbaric barbarians.Very good archers, very good horsemen. Also German tribes were no such barbarians when they were attacking Roman empire since 2nd cent.AD. Only in comparison with Romans they were no more than poor barbarians!

it depends on where you stand who you call barbarians...

personally; i think i'm the only civilized guy in this forum...:D

[Cork2]

Silence * burb * I am also civiliced *fart*. Now give me more beer!

:D :cheers:

[Emhyr var Emreis]

Pleas, don't post a post with that you don't feel like barbarian, but civilised...
It's better if sbdy who feels like barbarian sends it.
So, who. Me not:)

PS:I only didn� want you to think about Barbarians that they were climbing the trees etc.:angel:

[Gorgoroth]

Hehe, the Huns were the most cruel barbarians in the history, that is why I've mentioned them.
They killed men, women, kids, tortured them, sacked, razed and destroyed many great cities, and killed the population.
The Vikings or Vandals were nothing compared to them.

Indeed the Huns had great deeds as well. They were fierce warriors, and while Attila was the king, they had a huge empire.


"Attila the Scourge of God, King and general of the Huns; died 453. Succeeding in 433 to the kingship of Scythian hordes disorganized and enfeebled by internal discords, Attila soon made of his subjects a compact and formidable people, the terror of Europe and Asia. An unsuccessful campaign in Persia was followed in 441 by an invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire, the success of which emboldened Attila to invade the West. He passed unhindered through Austria and Germany, across the Rhine into Gaul, plundering and devastating all in his path with a ferocity unparalleled in the records of barbarian invasions and compelling those he overcame to augment his mighty army. In 451 he was met on the Plains of Chalons by the allied Romans under Actius and the Visigoths under Theodoric and Thorismond, who overcame the Huns and averted the peril that menaced Western civilization. Turning then to Italy, Attila, in the spring of 452, laid waste Aquileia and many Lombard cities, and was approaching Rome, whither Valentinian III had fled before him, when he was met near Mantua by an embassy -- the most influential member of which was Pope Leo I -- which dissuaded Attila from sacking the city."

The Battle of Chalons was one of the most important battles in the history. If the Huns win there......Europe would be totally different now.

[Bora]

still wanna know if its possible to play as/with famous rulers and leaders of that time :)

[Cork2]

I am pretty sure you can. I doubt you get to creat your onw king or knight.