don Iñigo Díaz de Haro, ambassador
It is the year 1312 anno Domini.
My name is Iñigo Díaz de Haro, I'm 47 years old.
I'm illegitimate son of don Diego López V de Haro and I'm bearing his coat of arms with his personal blessing. I belong to the clan of Haro, family of rich barons and magnates.
Haro family has family ties to royal families of León, Portugal a Castile. The clan controls the rich Bay of Biscay. They contributed to the founding of the rich city of Bilbao. My favorite Rioja wine comes from Haro.
I served as a young man in the court of King Alfonso X., where I learned to serve at court, perform music, weave the web of high politics and diplomacy. With the court scholars and the best swordsmen of Toledo, I studied the art of war, man-to-man struggle, and Moorish subtlety in handling weapons.
In the service of King Alfonso' son Sancho, I fought in many battles. I have also proved to be a trusted mediator and escort to messengers negotiating the papal dispensation for the children of Queen Maria and King Sancho.
Today I serve as the envoy of Queen Widow Maria de Molina and King Ferdinand IV. My job is to travel to the European courts of the Roman Empire, spread the glory of my lord and lady and our kingdom, and above all to recruit warriors for another crusade against the Sultanate of Granada.
I have a small armed escort of my own, and in every kingdom I ask for armed protection of a local noblemen.
We travel by boat to Provence, through the Gotthard Pass to Constance, Munich, Salzburg, Linz, Freistadt, Novohradské Mountains. The first steps took me to Hradec Králové for a tournament, getting into the political atmosphere of the eastern half of the Czech Kingdom. Then we headed to Prague to meet Alvaro Oviedo, a former astrologer of Alfonso X., who traveled to the Prague court after the fall of Alfonso X. and the dissolution of part of the Toledo School.