The Third Crusade
In 1169, a Kurdish mercenary general in the pay of Nur ed-Din, the Emir of Damascus, was made governor of Egypt on the death of his uncle. Five years later, with his master the Emir dead, this general took the throne of Damascus from the Emir's squabbling relatives, and thereby uniting Egypt and Syria - the two great states of the Muslim near east - for the first time in centuries. He preached a message of vengeance against the Christian states; an Islamic Crusade; a Jihad. By 1183 he had retaken the Christian principality of Aleppo. In 1187 he conquered the Kingdom of Jerusalem and retook the Holy City for Islam, ending 100 years of Christian rule there. His name was Salah ad-Din - The Will of the Faith - known to the west as Saladin.
	The news of the loss of Jerusalem sent a shock through Europe. Pope Urban was so surprised that he dropped dead upon hearing of it. It jolted Europe out of its complacent ignorance of events in Outremer. A major effort to rectify the military situation in Palestine was organised, and all of the great princes of Europe would have to play their parts. A galaxy of stars made ready to set out for the East; King Richard of England - a military genius if occasionally an incautious politician. Philip II 'Augustus' of France - the political web-spinner who created a unified France from a collection of petty fiefdoms. And most of all, Emperor Frederick 'Barbarossa', a hero King who had succeeded in imposing his will on the fragmented states of Germany, and who now saw that the reconquest of Jerusalem would be the crowning achievement of his already long and distinguished life.
It is now 1189, and the fate of the land of Christ (and of course Mohammed) will be decided by the greatest men of their time. As well as the Crusaders - English, German, French, and Sicilian - and the opposing Abbasid Empire of Saladin and his relatives, the game will also deal with the fractious princes of Outremer, many now looking to regain their lands, with the disputed succession to the throne of Jerusalem, and with the various other powers of the region: the wealthy but weak and divided Empire of Byzantium; and Kilij Arsalan, warrior king of the Seljuk Turks. Finally, the Knights Templar and Hospitaller, the rival Italian city states of Pisa, Genoa and Venice, and the feared Assassins will also be played. The game will span several years, following the path of the Third Crusade from its starting points in Europe in 1188-9 through to its attempt to reconquer the Holy City of Jerusalem in 1191-2. It aims to reflect not just the military and logistical difficulties facing the participants, but also the complex and shifting political situation in the region. Crusaders must raise and maintain an army and shepherd it halfway across the known world, from Europe to Palestine, deciding between the slow but sure land route, or negotiating for sea passage with the grasping Italian merchant cities. Although the fighting to regain Jerusalem forms the core of the game, equally if not more important for the locals will be how to achieve a political and military settlement for Outremer which will last once the Crusaders have returned home.