Cadavera Vero Innumera II

the Persian army numbered half a million men was beaten by a mongol army less than half that size.  the governors of outlying cities were executed by pouring  molten silver into their eyes and  throats. The capital city of Samarkand which was expected to withstand our siege for a year fell in five days.  separate mountains were made embodying the skulls of men, women, children, horses, dogs and cats. they roamed the streets in wonder at the opulence of the Persians, drinking at their fountains and gorging themselves on sherbet and tropical fruit. for a man born in a tent, it seemed as if Balthazar khan had torn open the gates to heaven itself.   

                 "who was this man?" Griswold exclaimed, to threaten the conquerors. unlike the other covetous rulers, Balthazar did not manifest any affectations towards aristocracy and royalty, he was interested solely in conquest. some said that he was trying to marshal  a legacy to rival that of alexander the great. all of the  barbarians wanted to possess Rome, as if it would buy them instant legitimacy as a world spanning empire. unlike most of the other barbarians, however, Balthazar was actually going to get his chance. the old priest hung his head as he related what happened next and i could judge by his state that the weight of the memories caused him great sorrows. Balthazar would stop at nothing until he reached his goal of ruling the roman empire.      

The ravaging of Gaul was unprecedented. People were tortured, their bodies torn asunder by wild horses or their crushed under the weight of rolling wagons. Their unburied limbs were abandoned on the public roads as prey to dogs. Heads on stakes stretched from Gaul cleared back to the Onon river from when the Mongols had come. they lay siege to orleans for  Balthazar had learned much of siegecraft since he had faced the walls of samarkhand but as the mongols set to their fell task, a great wispy clouds of dust appeared above the horizon. Gustav and the roman army had come.

                     "And now" said temulun, "is where i entered the story"   the battle between the mongols and the romans was fought at the end of 1220. the romans were commanded by Gustav jelme, a decorated general who had 

 been held hostage by Balthazar when he was a boy. Gustav knew Balthazar and knew the mongol ways. since he had returned to the western empire, Gustav had  done more than any man to keep Rome alive  throughout the period of barbarian invasions. the mongols were eager for battle. Balthazar's  shamans looked at the entrails of cattle and the colour of sheep bones and prophesized that the mongols would meet defeat on the catalaunian fields. however, they also foresaw that the commander of the opposing force would be killed. Balthazar must have thought this a fair trade because he brought battle to Gustav.