Medieval: Kingdom Come: Deliverance

The middle-aged, robust man's name was Jan Jessica.

Jan is a common Czech name, and it means the same as the English word John.

He was born in 1360 in the village of Tronov in the Kingdom of Bohemia to a not-so-wealthy knightly family. His family coat of arms was a red lobster.

According to the naming rules for knights, his real name should have been Jan Tronov. However, when he was 11 years old, he was hit on the left cheek by a sharp object while playing with his friends, injuring his left eye. So people began to call him "Jeska," which means one-eyed dragon.

At the age of 12, young Jessica was sent to the Bohemian court to serve as a knight's squire. Following aristocratic tradition, he also learned combat and horsemanship, developing considerable skills.

At the age of 18, his father died, and he left the court to return to his hometown of Trotsnov, hoping to inherit the family estate. However, he discovered that his family was burdened with heavy debts. The lenders disputed the inheritance rights to the Trotsnov estate and attempted to disinherit Deshka.

Jessica once organized a small armed force of loyal followers to defend his territory, and even engaged in small-scale clashes with those vying for control. However, facing pressure from all sides, Jessica had nowhere to turn for help. In the end, he chose to relinquish some of his territorial rights in exchange for cash compensation, and he went from being a minor knight-noble to a local gentry.

The nobles, however, were not satisfied and forcibly seized Jessica's remaining meager lands and property, turning him into a true outlaw. Forced to leave home and wander with his companions, he was forced to leave.

The driving force behind all of this was the Rosenberg family, a German family that had long dominated the south by lending money, seizing land from minor nobles, and using cunning and force.

Suffering injustice, Jessica began building his own mercenary force and even became sworn brothers with Matthew, the leader of a bandit gang. Jessica even personally killed a collateral member of the Rosenberg family. Testimony received by the lord's court revealed that they robbed highwaymen, seized the money and goods of passing nobles and wealthy merchants, kidnapped them for ransom, and even attacked towns—they committed virtually every imaginable atrocity.

As a result, Jessica's name appeared on the official long wanted list, and occasionally even ranked near the top.

But in Jessica's view, they were simply living the life of Robin Hood, outlaws. And their only original sin was poverty—poverty that prevented them from making a living through legal means.

Jessica and her gang soon faced severe retaliation. Government forces conducted multiple raids, capturing many bandits. Later, even her close friend and bandit leader Matthew was not spared, and was executed after being brutally tortured and forced to confess.

He couldn't be a knight, and he couldn't be a bandit either; his future was shrouded in gloom. But an unexpected event changed Jessica's future.

In 1396, a civil war broke out in the Duchy of Moravia, a vassal state of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The elder brother, Jobust, and the younger brother, Prokop, fought a long battle for the title of Duke of Moravia. Jessica led his brothers to join Prokop's forces and became a valiant general under Sir Jan Sokol of Lamberg.

This civil war lasted from 1396 to 1402. The protracted civil war attracted a large number of Moravian bandit knights who had lost their territories and were willing to fight for the sake of fighting, resorting to any means necessary.

In 1402, Wenceslaus IV, Prokop's supporter, was imprisoned by King Gigi. Jobst then seized the opportunity to defeat and imprison Prokop, thus ending the Moravian Civil War.

On March 23, 1403, King Gigi, who had already occupied Prague, launched a surprise attack on Skalitz, a silver mining city under the control of the Royal Overseer Radji, in order to suppress opposition within Bohemia. He then ordered the Cumans to hire mercenaries to plunder the area.

This event is known as the "Skaritz Tragedy".

Such brutality, far from having a deterrent effect, instead aroused the rebellious spirit of the Bohemian nobles and people. The royal magistrate Radji formed an alliance with Hannah of Ratländ and Davies of Talmuburg, raising the banner of armed resistance against King Gigi and calling on all parties to work together to rescue His Majesty Wenceslaus IV.

Sir Jan Sokol of Lamberg was a staunch royalist. He analyzed that King Gygi of Hungary was able to maintain his position in Bohemia because there were too many traitors. And the biggest traitor was Count Otto von Polgar, the chief steward of the noble alliance.

The League of Nobles, as the name suggests, was an alliance of nobles united to limit the power of the king. Its essence was the fragmentation of power among local lords, with key members including the Polgár, Rosenberg, Oritz, Hornstein, Riesenberg, Constant, and Liechtenstein families, among others. Otto von Polgár was undoubtedly a key figure among them.

Otto von Polgar was a staunch supporter of King Gigi, not only helping him to communicate and maintain the alliance of nobles, but also raising taxes to make money for him, which greatly enriched King Gigi's treasury.

Therefore, Sir Sokol arranged for a bandit knight named Heinicke, a drunkard, to plunder the area around Silver Kurtenberg to undermine von Polgao's tax policies; he also sent Jessica to plunder von Polgao's new territory of Troski, hoping to lure him back from Prague. Once von Polgao left Prague, the noble alliance would be leaderless, and its support for King Gigi would greatly diminish. This would make it easier for royalists to lobby for a split.

This can be considered a European version of the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao".

Now, Yandjeska finally led a few old buddies to Troski and successfully carried out a robbery, seizing a sum of money.

"Just as I predicted, because the red griffins have disrupted the balance, things will soon get chaotic here, and there will be more and more bandits. What we need to do is find a camp, gather the bandits, and recruit more men."

Jessica arranged it this way.

"Those bandits and rioters aren't exactly well-behaved."

Michael, the second-in-command, curled his lip.

"All we need is a bunch of desperados, they don't care if they're rotten or not. As long as we achieve our lofty goal, a few flaws don't matter."

Jessica didn't care; he only cared about his old brothers who had gone through thick and thin with him. As for the temporary recruits, they could all be used as cannon fodder.

"You guys are disgusting."

Catherine the cow, the only woman in the gang, expressed her contempt for their actions.

Jessica looked helpless.

Catherine, in her thirties, was originally an ordinary peasant woman from the south. However, due to the invasion of the Hungarian army and the rampage of the Cumans, her husband died, and she was being humiliated when she was rescued by Žižka.

Jessica remembered his wife, who shared the same name but had long since died, and out of pity, he took her with him to Trossky, far away from the hometown that had caused him so much pain.

There is a woman in the team who can inspire everyone's fighting spirit, but Catherine's sharp-tongued personality can sometimes make them feel very frustrated.

"Hey boss, how about we go and get to know this Red Griffin? He sounds pretty impressive; maybe he could be an asset to us."

"Quick Horse Hert suggested."

"Peter the Red Griffin? Rumor has it he's some kind of forest hero like the Matthew brothers."

Janjeska was very interested in Peter's story.

Gambler Zwick and archer Mark also showed interest, saying, "Maybe he'll become our sworn brother, prepare a feast, a bath, and comfortable beds for us, and then we'll do something big together."

"Your pipe dream is laughable. I don't believe in free lunches, and I certainly don't believe in the righteousness of robbers."

Catherine then poured cold water on everyone's enthusiasm with her sharp tongue.

"Ahem, Catherine is right. We've just arrived, and it's not advisable to have too much contact with them before we understand their personalities."

Jessica added, "Moreover, he is merely a bandit seeking self-preservation in the forest. We, on the other hand, are righteous men with a mission to save our nation. Let us not forget our noble goal: to rescue His Majesty Wenceslaus IV."

"How do we do it?"

Everyone shrugged.

"Small-scale operations won't do. Robbing caravans and capturing executives are trivial matters that won't interest this old fox. We have to pull off a big heist! Only then can we earn enough merit to be knighted when His Majesty returns."

Jessica, displaying her leadership qualities, painted a rosy picture for everyone.

"Boss, what are you planning to do?"

Everyone became interested.

Jessica grinned and said, "How about taking a castle? Even the fall of a knight's castle is a major event that will alarm the council of nobles. To appease his vassals, Von Polgar will surely come back to investigate. Then we'll have a much better chance."

"Trowski Castle is not easy to attack; it's too strategically important."

Michael, the second-in-command, shook his head.

"We also have Semih Castle and Nebakov Castle to choose from. We'll decide which one to choose after we've studied them in detail. Catherine, I need your help."

Jessica then turned her gaze to Catherine.

"Tell me, as long as it doesn't involve me going up and chopping people up, I'll agree to anything."

Although Catherine has a sharp tongue, she is also a grateful person and wants to repay Jessica's kindness.

"I've analyzed the battle against the Red Griffin Peter. Behind the ingenious design and ambush, there must have been accurate intelligence support. So I hope you can act as our informant, infiltrate Trossky Castle as a cook, and provide us with intelligence. Of course, if you're unwilling, I can find another way."

Jessica suggested.

"Of course, I can be a cook. What kind of job can a woman my age do? It's not easy to be a maid."

Catherine was as sharp-tongued as ever, but there was a hint of resentment in her words.

Jessica was a little exasperated. Had she said something wrong? She hadn't said that Jessica wasn't young and pretty enough to be an important person's maid. She just felt that the position of cook was less appealing.