Konrad Kyeser
Military engineer
Konrad Kyeser is a supporting character in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. He is a master military engineer that constructs the trebuchet during Siege.
Biography
At one time, Konrad was an engineer for King Sigismund. However, the failed battle at Nicopolis caused an argument which turned them apart.
Konrad Kyeser is first mentioned to Henry by Master Tobias Feyfar during the quest Siege. Tobias has been asked to build a trebuchet, but as a man only experienced in mine shaft engineering, he knows he will need better help. He asks Henry to seek out Konrad Kyeser, a man with past experience of military engineering. This begins the quest Rocketeer.
Henry meets Konrad at the Sasau Monastery, where he is living in the ground floor of the Custodian's House. Upon hearing Henry's request for aid, Konrad asks Henry to help him get out of his contract with Master Builder Karel temporarily. Konrad suggests that it would be impossible to convince Karel to let him go and that they must either forge the Abbot's seal and signature by obtaining Karel's commission, or if the player doesn't want to cheat Karel, they can make sure he's short of money to pay for Konrad's wages.
Once the contract is temporarily stopped, Henry returns to Konrad to find him in a state of anxiety. He is terrified that Sigismund has sent assassins to get him. He suspects an old colleague, Baron Peychar, is responsible and asks Henry to find out what is going on before he will step foot outside the house. Henry promises to hide in the garden after dark and catch whoever is antagonizing Konrad. Once it turns out to be Peychar, Henry has the option to let him go or kill him there and then. If the former is chosen, Peychar will later turn up outside Talmberg to try again, where he is taken down by Henry and the guards once and for all.
After Peychar has been dealt with at the monastery, Konrad will agree to travel to Talmberg where he will meet with Tobias Feyfar and begin construction of the trebuchet.
Codex entry
1366 - c.1405 Konrad Kyeser of Eichstätt was a military engineer, a supporter of King Wenceslas IV and the author of Bellifortis, a manual on the military arts, which is the oldest example of a 'Kriegsbuch' to appear in the Bohemian territories. Written in Latin hexameter, the book consists of 140 parchments with somewhat incomprehensible text. It is accompanied by elaborate drawings by Kyeser himself. The book must have been very popular at the time of its writing, as testified by the fact that more than thirty manuscripts have survived to this day.
Konrad Kyeser’s loyalty to the Bohemian King is attested by a number of drawings in the Gottingen manuscript, in particular a depiction of the king’s royal tent with a number of the symbols typical for Wenceslas IV, such as a torse (wreath) and the letter W. The main text is prefaced by a prologue and a long dedication to the King of Germany (Rex Romanorum), Rupert III of the Palatinate, which was probably an attempt to ingratiate himself into his services. Unfortunately, we will never know why he did not dedicate his work to Wenceslas IV.
The ten chapters of Bellafortis are devoted to weaponry, siege warfare and the use of various techniques for besieging towers and castles. They also include prescriptions for making medicine and instructions for preparing baths, information about torture devices, and even an illustration and description of a chastity belt. The book concludes with an 'epichedion', a personal elegy written by Kyeser himself with his portrait and personal details (parents and date of birth), as well as a horoscope from May 1402.
Bellifortis is an adroit compilation of military engineering and technology well-known in Kyeser’s epoch. The author based his book on various previous works, including De Mirabilibus Mundi and Liber Ignium by Marcus Graecus. Some parts are also based on personal experience.
