Rudyard IX: Regent of Ruin, Duke of Dust, Monarch of the Empty Court, King of the Beggars - JamesW

Player: JamesW
Faction: Latin States, Crusader Kingdoms
Email: rudyard@crusade.chaosdeathfish.com

Rudyard IX is the King of Jerusalem's beggars. Blue, if slightly soiled, blood runs through his veins; his complexion, though it has a certain ground-in quality, is well-scrubbed, and every man without a roof in Jerusalem bends the knee to him. A quirk of tradition gives him the right to attend court; not only is it considered unlucky to break with tradition, but it is also considered prudent to ensure that those in a position of authority have regular access to a man who is said to have eyes everywhere.

Hit Me Harder, Heathen

Extracts from “The Welfare of the People” by Wilfred Smythe.

[…] of course, charity was not the only answer for the poor. Following the example of the city of Jerusalem a growing number of cities found themselves to have “kings” of beggars. It was always in the interests of these kings to ensure that their subjects were fed and clothed, providing a basic if not always enjoyable level of sustenance. With organisation the beggars of the city became almost a guild, looking out for their weakest members and able to apply pressure (either through moral persuasion or simply throng of bodies) upon the merchants of the city.

Most kings also followed the example of the line of Rudyard in Jerusalem by becoming more than adept at discovering information than others wished kept hidden. Beggars saw much of the movements in their cities and this could often be turned to gold or food by a cunning king. Under the High Kingship of Jerusalem, first informally established by King Rudyard IX, the beggar kings of individual cities also shared information with one another to further enhance their influence.

This is one reason why the more conventional rulers of these cities seldom moved against the beggar kings. Instead informal arrangements were made, leaving the poor to their own devices […]

Extract from “Jerusalem: A History of the Holy City” by Alexander Youngson, Cambridge University Press (1949).

[…] still a King of Beggars to this day in the Holy City. I have met King Rudyard XXVII myself and found him to be a canny fellow, learned in each of the languages spoke in his city and surprisingly knowledgeable about the politics of England and beyond. After so many generations there is little physical resemblance to the single surviving portrait of his most famous ancestor, Rudyard IX, but I think that illustrious monarch would be impressed by the care with which his descendant tend to his people still […]