Criminal to the Core

[Semper Skye]

Vaasco Sanchiz

The Man

Vaasco Sanchiz, is five foot 10 inches tall, approximately 195 pounds.
He has brown hair and whiskey brown eyes.
He is 36 years old, born sometime in the deepest of winter in the year 1297
to a peasant mother and father, somewhere in the rich valleys of Algarve region, Portugal.

1310… A peasant boy is mistreated by the son of an aristocrat, and the peasant boy retaliated by assaulting the aristocrat’s son. An old knight intervenes and rescues the lad from the King’s constabulary. In turn, the lad would become the old knight’s squire.

1313… The old knight dies leaving the young squire, age 16, to serve the Portuguese King. In less than three years, the young squire would live in the legacy of the old knight, vowing to be better than ever expected. By the time he turned 19, he had become a knight far ahead of his peers. The King summoning him to the dais, he would be granted the title emissary to Venetia, a place the King needed youth to charm the old realms.

1316… Venetia…. A young, brash 19 year old Portuguese knight and emissary to Venice had arrived with high expectations of a future serving his King. Though he vowed an oath of chastity as a knight, his loins burned for the touch of a woman. The experience twice before, being his first, often made him reconsider his vows. And when his comrades, jealous of his abilities, lured him to Venetia’s premier conservatory of sex, the Vai Laietana. Determined not to be embarrassed before his comrades, he chose a young beautiful girl… A few glorious nights would last a lifetime.

1317… Vaasco was ridiculed by his peers and their high society parents for his lack of lineage… Anger began to set in… conversation was reserved and he became a social recluse… all the while, the girl in Venetia remained upon his mind… a peace of sorts. Those high society people eventually convinced the King that Vaasco should be assigned to the fields of battle for Portugal instead of the home defense.

1320… The battlefields of Portugal and Spain are nothing compared to the cutting tongues of polite society, but Vaasco has never been very “polite.” Still, the battle-hardened veteran fought for his King… with his “noble” peers gaining the accolades. Years of pent-up anger remained bottled.

1325… He becomes the commander of Soldados de Ventosa (Soldiers of Ventosa), a form of light cavalry. His personality now an outlet for the horror he witnessed at war, it’s now his fortune. His personality speaks for itself… He never shied away from womanly affection, but never accepted close friends… he is very restless, dissatisfied, and irritable… he automatically engages in general communication only to prevent others from being suspicious of his behavior… he considers requests from people as impositions… he continually sets himself apart from others… he is enamored with living a life of excitement, at whatever expense… he habitually experiences anger as a way of life… he lacks empathy… and he feels no obligation to anyone except his own interests… and Luiza.

1330… The “Butcher of Toledo” is born… Toledo is destroyed… a man becomes a criminal, pursued by two countries.

The Reason

Though the Christian Reconquista officially began in 718, it didn’t accelerate until the 11th century, when King Fernando I united Castilla and León, which provided a strong base from which to reclaim the territory for the Christians. Portugal was fighting for its own sovereignty and the groundwork for this sovereignty was laid in the Battle of São Mamede in 1128, when Dom Afonso Henriques (Afonso I) declared independence from Castilla and León. The following year, after the victory over the Muslims in Ourique, Afonso named himself the first king of Portugal.

With the help of the Knights Templar, the new monarchy battled Muslim forces, until 1249, when the forces of the Reconquista under Afonso III had defeated the last remnants of Muslim power with campaigns in the Alentejo and the Algarve. The Christian kings, led by Dinis I (1279-1325), promoted the Portuguese language above Spanish, and, with the Treaty of Alcañices (1297), settled border disputes with neighboring Castilla, asserting Portugal’s identity as the first unified and independent nation in Europe.

But the border disputes rose from the ashes of agreements. Intense diplomatic relations maintained between the Portuguese and Castilian-Leonese monarchies were blood-stained with a series of agreements relating to the internal problems of each kingdom, the mutual relations and the general political situation on the Iberian Peninsula. The occurrence of frictions resulting from dynastic rebellions of the nobility in which both monarchies usually collaborated closely. Castilian expansion and the resulting imbalance of power in its favour, was the cause of the gravest tensions.

The bourgeoisie of Lisbon, enriched by commerce in peace, decided to support a military effort of independence and donated large sums for war expenses. The majority of the nobility, among whom national sentiment was not well developed and feudal customs based on oaths of vassalage were still obeyed, took the side of the Castile. A few nobles, however, were more attuned to national sentiment and sided with the King of Portugal.

Though history would speak of the frictions and tensions of politics and religion, of nobles, and kings, none spoke of the farmers... the peasants...the lower classes... the backbone of the nation. Portugal had fought for decades a religiously justified war of liberation ….In situations of constant conflict, warfare and daily life were strongly interlinked. Small, lightly equipped armies reflected how the society had to be on the alert at all times; these forces, capable of moving long distances in short allotments of time, allowing a quick return home after sacking a target. Battles which took place were mainly between clans, expelling intruder armies or sacking expeditions.

Not all out war, but battles that would disrupt lives... destroy families... rape the nation of its youth. This is the life Vaasco was accustom to… and the only thing he knew besides farming… which he hated with such passion. All his life he had watched his father work for the nobles, only to watch his family nearly starve. He watched both parents die needlessly in a squabble over land. It was from simple beginnings that Vaasco Sanchiz rose to become the villainous brigand.

Since Afonso IV, King of Portugal, had been in negotiations with Kings, Alfonso IX of Castile, and Alfonso IV of Aragon... In Royal communiqués, King Afonso strictly prohibited any further actions against the Castilians... but Toledo lay ahead of the army... the expanse to the Castilian plateau... and Madrid. The army on the eastern plateau had not received the King’s decree. Now with the stage set, this is the beginning of a story long untold. The story of a man, forged in the blood of a nation... a man betrayed by his own country... a man that would become infamous...

TOLEDO, the former capital of the Spanish kingdom, lay on the river Tagus. The grand city occupies a rugged promontory of granite, washed on all sides except the north by the Tagus, which flows swiftly through a deep and precipitous gorge. Towards the north, the city overlooks the desolate Castilian plateau... beyond the river it is confronted by an amphitheater of bare mountains, the Montes de Toledo. From a distance, the city appears to be a vast fortress, built of granite, defended by the river and by a double wall on the north, and dominated by the towers of its cathedral and alcazar. The absence of people in its maze of dark and winding alleys, creates a silence uncommon... Many ancient buildings had been destroyed to make room for churches, convents and seminaries.

Upon the Castilian plateau, two armies faced one another. Vaasco was in charge of light cavalry, the Soldados de Ventosa (Soldiers of Ventosa), as the army of Portugal faced the Castilians. The Castilians thought the poorly armed Portuguese army would not withstand their cavalry charge. They were so sure of this that they advanced without a plan. Upon the first impact, the Castilian horses were impaled upon the row of lances. Then the Portuguese rained arrows on the Castilian troops that were behind the stalled cavalry. Confusion, and then terror, spread through the Castilian ranks. The Castilian soldiers saw many of their leaders dead and began to flee. Against orders of the King and his General, Vaasco ordered the cavalry to give chase. Without the protection of their own cavalry, the Castilian soldiers did not stand a chance. The rest was sheer murderous acts on behalf of Vaasco and his lieutenants. The remaining Castilian army retreated behind Toledo walls. Now the General was faced with a dilemma... retreat in the face of an enemy, or take the city on the King’s behalf.

When the Portuguese’s General gave the order to storm the city, it was late night… The soldiers would climb ladders set against the walls to get into the city. The first soldiers to scale the walls were called a “forlorn hope” and were all volunteers. If they succeeded, they would earn promotions for their bravery, but, being the first, their chances of survival were very slim. Behind the walls, the Spanish sentries sounded the alarm and soon the walls were lined with soldiers raining hell from above as the Soldiers of Ventosa tried to climb. The dead and wounded began to pile up at the bottom of the ditches and men had to climb over their fallen comrades to reach the ladders. One can imagine the terror of scrambling over bodies, and climbing ladders in the night while arrows, oil, and boulders rained down from the walls.

The General was about to stop the siege when the wall was finally breached. Soon Portuguese soldiers were pouring into the city and the Spanish general ordered a retreat, his forces leaving the city and eventually surrendering… only to be slaughtered as they lay down their arms by Vaasco’s light cavalry.

In some ways, though, the horror was just beginning. A rumor flew through the Soldados de Ventosa that the Commanding General authorized three hours of looting. The rumor was false; the General never allowed looting, but the damage was done. Sanchiz had planted the seed...and his men fueled revenge for the bloody battle upon the city’s innocent citizenry… the looting, pillaging, killing, and raping lasted not three hours, but three days. As the General withdrew his forces from the city, Sanchiz ordered the slaughter of all the inhabitants of Toledo... sparing none... not women, not children, the aged, nor the infirmed. As many as three thousand were killed, and the streets ran red with the blood of innocence. Then he razed the town. These actions earned Vaasco Sanchiz the title of “Butcher of Toledo...”

But with the slaughter and destruction of Toledo, Vaasco and his three lieutenants were arrested, charged with treason, and sentenced by the King to be beheaded; but it was a long way back to Lisbon... the four men escaped and fled Portugal, seeking death and destruction further into Spain. Considered an outlaw by Portugal and the kingdoms of Spain, Vaasco and his lieutenants seek out lives elsewhere to pay for their king’s treachery.

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The Outlaw

"Profit and Power... what more could a man ask for..."

For the heart of Vaasco was neither dark nor golden, neither bestial nor angelic. Instead, he had at its core, a profound sense of unassuming nature —never hesitated to go elsewhere to seek what he lacked. ‘Brigandage’ was never so important that it won out over a primordial desire for what is nothing but shadows and darkness.

“A runaway from righteousness, a robber,
a committer of sacrilege, an arsonist and a murderer,
more cruel than Herod
and more debauched in his insanity than Nero."

Fellow Briganders, and townsfolk alike, whose boast it was that the Butcher of Toledo had personally killed 455 persons with the greatest refinements of cruelty, and who wore at his belt the skull of one of them, out of which he used to drink human blood at mealtime; he drank his own blood as well; indeed, he “never dined without having a bleeding human heart on the table.” This was the man whom Kings loaded with gifts and decorations, and addressed as “Our good Friend and faithful Support of the Throne.” …As long as there was coin and power to bestow… for Vaasco would never aid one, lest he was able to profit.

The Lady

Luiza de la Segovia is a notorious courtesan in Toledo. She is renowned for her independence although she’s a kept woman. Luiza had always been proud, honorable, and sticking to her principles. Her version of revenge on the men who have hurt her in the past, as well as life’s cruel circumstances, had pushed her into her current profession. However, it has not changed her character at all. Many times through her life, she chose her protector, bedded him, and then discarded him. When she said goodbye, she did not look back.

.......

A tale full of exuberant self-aggrandizement, in a timeless world in which she was the dazzling sun and all the great men she had known were mere twinkling stars.

The tale Luiza told was a composition of light and dark, a landscape rather than a body… the image of a continent divided by a sword's shadow. One side is bright and orderly, the world of decent society, through which a respectable woman walks as if on a path through Turas Lan Gardens. The other is a glowering, tumbled wilderness of precipices and ruins like those of Toledo. Her tale traversed Europe at will, stepping from night to sunlight and back… but any woman who once crosses the shadow of the sword can never return.

Despite her entry into the thirties, Luiza’s sensuality is beautiful… and her physical beauty can be altered thru cosmetics… re-introduced to tenderness of the ages through Vaasco’s steeled love for her. Her conflicted thoughts and actions for the future as she tries to deal with a man who lives two sides of a coin.

“There are wealthy Kings who would be pleased to pay ransom to stop the bonds of Morocco and Spain… Toledo is at its end… and you are at the beginning… but you must flee… for the hounds of Spain would see you drawn and quartered.”

“I shant leave you… not again… for I shall not know where you go…” With the slightest movement, he grabbed her by the arm and spun her to him… The dark hair fluttered all about her head… With a look that bore the love they had endured over the last decade, he kisses her… the passion that burned within them both rose… and the raging flames outside their villa broke the darkness of night.

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