Milron Roachman

**Milron Roachman** is a businessman, religious figure, entrepreneur, author, politician, and philanthropist. A mysterious and eccentric figure, Roachman has been present in history since the 1100's.

## Early Life

The exact origins of Milron Roachman are unknown, but the earliest records of him date to 1125, when he became the mayor of the town of Lindenfels. Records show that in 1132, Roachman had nearly half of the town executed for no clear reason. Later the same year he declared Lindenfels and its surrounding areas an independent kingdom, which he named "Roachman's Paradise". The surrounding towns banded together to quell his rebellion sparking a conflict which lasted until 1136, with Roachman's defeat and imprisonment. In 1141, Roachman escaped from prison with the aid of the first of many of his secret orders and cults: The Order of Roachman's Paradise.

Upon his escape, Roachman sought refuge in England, which was currently in a state of civil war known as The Anarchy. Roachman soon began exploiting the situation, creating a vast criminal empire that stretched across England. After The Anarchy ended in 1153, it became clear that Roachman was a danger to the throne. In 1155, King Henry II began working to undo Roachman's influence, but Roachman had become too powerful. Finally King Henry II ordered a group of assassins to take out Roachman, and thus began The War of Assassins which lasted until 1158, when Henry II officially banished Milron Roachman from England forever.

Records are unclear, but it appears that Roachman traveled through Europe and parts of Asia from his banishment until around 1196. It was in this year that Roachman is recorded to have settled in Prague. He is not mentioned in any records from then until 1258, when he was brought on trial for witchcraft. According to the court proceedings, Roachman had started a horrible unnamed cult which had been secretly kidnapping and sacrificing citizens for nearly 20 years. Roachman was sentenced to death, but his cult raided the prison and he escaped.

## The Roachman Civil War

From around 1260-1450 there are few records of Roachman, though he himself claims he ran a bookshop in Moscow from 1372-1418; however, it should be noted that there is no record of this. In 1454, Roachman appears to have begun a spice company in London, a business that collapsed in 1473. Roachman appears to have spent much of 1473-1477 in an inn just outside of London, running up an enormous tab that resulted in his arrest in April of 1477. Roachman's prison term was extended in 1479 when it was discovered that he had previously been banished in the 1100s. During this time, Roachman was interrogated and studied due to his extended lifespan. No solution was discovered as to how he had lived so long, and it is recorded that Roachman had been alive for nearly 700 years previously.

During his time in prison, Roachman brainwashed many of the inmates and guards, thus beginning his notorious Order of The Roachman Prison Experience. In 1491 it was discovered that the entire prison was under his control and King Henry VII ordered a siege of the prison. During the ensuing battle, Roachman escaped with 11 of his followers and fled to Uttoxeter. Enraged, Henry VII sent a battalion of soldiers to capture Roachman. By the time they arrived, however, Roachman had united Uttoxeter and the surrounding cities under his flag. A ferocious battle occurred that resulted in the destruction of Uttoxeter, though with great casualties for Henry VII's men.

Roachman and his men retreated to Ashbourne where he began a mass recruitment campaign. Henry VII, meanwhile, began assembling an army in Derby. Roachman sent spies throughout England and soon discovered where Henry VII's men where. Having previously planned on a capture of Derby, Roachman scrapped his plans and set his sights on Sheffield. On March 3, 1492, Roachman and his army began the Siege of Sheffield. Upon hearing of this, Henry VII began to move his men from Derby in an attempt to corner Roachman, but Roachman had set up small groups of resistance fighters in many villages along the way, who would burn villages and towns in order to create obstacles for Henry VII, as well as ambush his army frequently, destroying morale. By May 23, Sheffield belonged to Roachman, whereas Henry VII had only made it as far as Chesterfield.

Public support for Henry VII was waning (The War Of The Roses having just ended a few years previously), and people came from as far as Manchester to join Roachman, under the assumption that Roachman intended to take the throne for himself. However, Roachman had not stated any clear goals, and it is now known that all Roachman wanted was to settle his tab and end his official banishment. Nonetheless, Roachman began to be seen as the only man who could unite England for good, which caused many problems for Henry VII and his men in Chesterfield. The summer of 1492 passed without any major conflicts, but in September Henry VII was ready to strike.

On September 20, 1492, Henry VII began to lay siege to Sheffield, which had become heavily fortified. Roachman's forces were able to hold and by the 24th Henry VII pulled back to Dronfield. Early on the 25th, Roachman's army attacked Henry VII at Dronfield in a bloody battle which large casualties on both sides. Roachman pulled back by dusk, retreating to Sheffield. Henry VII, sensing an opportunity, drove his battered army straight ahead to Sheffield where the fighting continued. Roachman, losing men fast, sent a messenger to Manchester requesting the town come to his aid. The mayor of Manchester refused, inciting riots throughout the city. By September 29, Roachman was desperate, but was unaware that Henry VII's army was at the breaking point.

Indeed, Henry VII had been setting large fires outside of Sheffield to mask the dwindling size of his army. He hoped that Roachman would cave in to pressure before his army collapsed, a ruse Roachman was beginning to fall for. In Manchester, however, support for Roachman was great and the rioting had put the local government under pressure. On October 1, the Manchester descended into anarchy, and a messenger was sent out to inform Roachman. Henry VII, meanwhile was planning a desperate attack that would no doubt break the rest of his army but he hoped would terrify Roachman into surrendering.

On the morning of October 2, Roachman received the news about Manchester and hastily made plans to retreat there. As he did, Henry VII began his attack, thinning out his troops to make it look like they were attacking from all sides. Roachman, determined to get to Manchester, directed his army to set fire to Sheffield, and push through the west side of town to retreat to Manchester. Expecting a larger resistance, Roachman was able to escape easily with a little over 1000 men. Henry VII's army had dwindled to 350 men. The fires at Sheffield raged for weeks, and Henry VII and his army struggled to contain the fires. Roachman made it to Manchester on October 3, though the news of his actions at Sheffield had a devastating effect on morale.

It was not long before Henry VII learned of Roachman's whereabouts and news of the true size of Henry VII's army had reached Roachman, infuriating him. The people of Manchester were quickly growing to distrust Roachman, fearing he would destroy their city as well, but Roachman realized that victory was in his grasp. He gathered up as many men as he could, 1,784 in total, and guessed that Henry VII had returned to Chesterfield. Henry VII, however, remained at Sheffield, having set up camp there in an effort to restore law and order and give aid. A mass execution of people deemed traitors occurred there on October 6, further lowering morale of the people.

On October 9th, Roachman reached Chesterfield to discover that Henry VII was still at Sheffield. Enraged, he immediately began the march to Sheffield, reaching it on the 10th. Henry VII was greatly underprepared for an attack, but was resolute and thus another battle began. Henry VII was quickly defeated and brought before Roachman where he formally surrendered, ending the Roachman Civil War.

Roachman laid out his terms immediately, which consisted only of his tab being cleared and his banishment and prison terms ended. There was immediate outrage and both Henry VII's remaining men and Roachman's own army grabbed Roachman with the intent to kill him. Roachman still had The Order of The Roachman Prison Experience, who managed to utilize to chaos to facilitate Roachman's escape. In the aftermath of the war, Henry VII began rebuilding Sheffield and the surrounding areas, though his popularity never fully recovered.

## The New World

Realizing that he could not stay in England, Roachman fled the country entirely and left for Spain, arriving there by December of 1492. News of Roachman's antics had been spreading across Europe, as was great disdain for him, so Roachman elected to keep a low profile. The Order of The Roachman Prison Experience re-organized itself as The Order of Roachman, and devoted itself to his protection. They took up residence in an abandoned estate about 20 miles outside of Leon where they mostly kept to themselves, only leaving for supplies.

At some point in 1493, word of Columbus's discovery reached Roachman, who had been considering a relocation to Asia to avoid Europe's disgust with him. Indeed, in May of 1493, a special army had begun to assemble made of mercenaries and soldiers from England, Spain, and Italy, designed to find and capture Roachman, lest he cause an uprising elsewhere. Roachman decided that he needed to gain passage to what was then believed to be the West Indies. Preparations were begun in 1494, with the intent to hijack a ship and sail it to the West Indies.

By 1496, The Order of Roachman had found the ship they believed would work best and hastily prepared to steal it. The Spanish government was beginning to realize that Roachman was near Leon, so time was running out. In May of 1496, Roachman abandoned his dwellings and rented an apartment in Ponteverda where waited for the day the ship would be stolen. That day arrived on June 3, 1496, when Roachman and The Order of Roachman hijacked a ship which came to be known as *Roachman's Salvation*, an operation that resulted in the deaths of 56 people.

There are no records detailing the journey of *Roachman's Salvation*, or of where or when they reached The New World. Milron Roachman claims he wrecked the ship off the coast of Greenland and spent 60 years building another ship, which he used to sail to somewhere off the coast of Canada. He then claims that he burned the boat and wandered southwards for a series of adventures he refuses to comment on.

It has recently been discovered that Roachman may have taken up residence in New Amsterdam at some point in the mid-1600's. In any case, Roachman has appeared to have had at least one residence on Manhattan for centuries.

## The Revolutionary War

By the 1750s, enough records exist to confirm that Roachman had opened a series of successful inns and pubs throughout New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. Roachman was on the fast track to being one of the wealthiest people in The Colonies, and Britain was beginning to take notice. In early 1764, it was brought to King George III's attention that Milron Roachman was still alive, and was prospering in The Colonies. Recalling The Roachman Civil War, King George III began to fear that Roachman may have plans to take The Colonies for himself. In an effort to disrupt Roachman's businesses, George III passed the Stamp Act in 1765. This led to increasing distrust in The Colonies, and a series of events that led to the American Revolutionary War.

Milron Roachman seemed relatively unaffected by the Stamp Act, especially since it was repealed the next year. In fact, by 1767 Milron was the 3rd richest person in New England. George III sent many spies out and kept a close eye on Roachman, causing him to ignore distrust among colonists towards Britain. Despite increasing evidence that Roachman had nothing in particular planned and in fact was just trying to enjoy his wealth, George III became obsessed with killing him, certain that it could be done.

In 1775, war broke out, causing Roachman to have to choose a side. Having increasingly become aware of George III's interest in killing him, Roachman elected to side with the revolution and began funding the army. This only escalated the conflict, as George III believed that this had been the plan of Roachman all along and was determined to eliminate him once and for all. The Order of Roachman had sent spies to Britain in 1774, thus Roachman was quickly made aware of this plan. Sometime in mid-1775, it is believed that Roachman met with John Adams, Thomas Paine, and at least 3 others in one of his pubs in Manhattan and inspired them to break off with Britain. This inspired Paine to write *Common Sense* and later led to the Declaration of Independence about a year after the meeting.

After the Declaration of Independence, Roachman and others began to become aware that they would need help to defeat Britain. Roachman floated the idea of seeking help from Italy and the Vatican, but this was abandoned in favor of seeking out aid from France. Uncertain of this idea, Roachman sent several of his followers to Prague to establish a secondary base of operations. This became the Eastern European wing of The Order of Roachman, and set the stage for Roachman to become one of the most powerful people in history.

Following France's treaty with the United States in 1778, Roachman decided to set up a wing of his order in Paris. This caused some concern from various leaders in the Revolution, who believed Roachman was losing focus or had perhaps lost faith in victory. Roachman, who was increasingly distrusting the leaders of the Revolution, became aware of this through his many spies, but kept silent about it. As the war continued, Roachman began losing more money than he was gaining and began to close his businesses. By 1781, Roachman had closed all of his businesses was was finally broke. Unable to continue assisting in the war, Roachman left for Paris, to the great disgust of everyone from Washington to John Adams, who publicly denounced him.

## Life in Paris

Due to his continuing habit of being a thorn in Britain's side, Roachman was greeted with celebration when he arrived in Paris. King Louis XVI threw him a lavish party that lasted nearly a week. Roachman in turn regaled everyone with tales of his adventures during his years following the Roachman Civil War.

Shortly after his arrival, Roachman took out several huge loans and began opening several businesses ranging from pubs and inns, to watermills and blacksmiths. Most of his businesses were very successful as he became incredibly beloved in France. Despite this, The Order of Roachman began to set up dungeons and torture chambers in secret throughout the Paris catacombs. Roachman, meanwhile, sought to reclaim his previous property near Leon and began petitioning for an invasion of Spain, a petition that fell flat.

In 1787, it was brought to Louis XVI's attention that The Order of Roachman had been kidnapping and sacrificing hundreds of French citizens. Roachman's spies soon informed him that the king had caught on and quickly fled Paris, disappearing for several years. During his time in hiding, he founded The Order of Revolution and began using his wealth to increase distrust in the monarchy. In 1788, it is believed that the Marquis de Sade joined The Order of Roachman, and helped Roachman secretly gain control of the Bastille.

## The French Revolution

In 1789, Roachman's began to benefit from his work as The French Revolution began. King Louis XVI was acutely aware that Roachman had played a major part in the revolution but was quickly becoming powerless to stop him. Roachman returned to the public eye in May 1790, when he rode into Paris on a white horse and declared himself emperor. However, the revolution had gotten out of even his own hands by then and he was seized and imprisoned. In June, he escaped into the catacombs.

George III, still outraged from the loss of his colonies, and wishing to quell the rebellion in France, participated in the First Coalition in 1792, seeking to find and destroy Roachman. During this time, Roachman became increasingly ill and began having visions he claims predicted Napoleon, Edison, and the invention of airplanes. The Order of Roachman was desperate to get a handle on the situation in France for the benefit of Roachman, but their efforts all seemed to fail.

In March of 1793, Roachman announced to his followers that he believed he was near death and decided to hold a healing ritual. During the remainder of spring, The Order of Roachman began kidnapping hundreds of people, with some estimates putting their kidnappings in the thousands. On May 20, they gathered in large area they had recently built in the catacombs which they named the Hall of Roachman, and slaughtered all the people they had kidnapped in a most horrific ritual that lasted 3 days. On June 1, Milron Roachman awoke fully recovered and he and his followers celebrated for the entirety of that month in a drunken feast that resulted in the death of 16 of his followers.

In July, Roachman decided the time had come to leave France to its fate, and elected to relocate to Prague.

## Time in Prague

By September, Roachman had already opened 3 inns in Prague and was working on a legal firm. However, Roachman was not well liked in Prague, and the local government began looking through records with the intent to find past crimes. Early in 1794, they found his previous charge of witchcraft and decided to bring him to trial for murder, but Roachman was made aware of this almost immediately, and began a philanthropy organization, wildly spending in order to increase the way of life for everyone in the city. Support for him began to grow and by the time the charges were brought against him in August, the public was fiercely divided on him.

Roachman was arrested on August 17, and brought to trial on the 19th. The Order of Roachman quickly worked to incite violent protests and rioting soon broke out across the city. A fire soon erupted that destroyed nearly a third of the town, but the charges were not dropped. On August 28, an extra charge was added implicating him in the riots of the previous week, which only served to incite more violence.

Despite the violence, the trial against Roachman continued. The Order of Roachman soon turned to blackmailing and bribing the leaders of Prague, a strategy which proved effective. The trial was put on hold and on October 3, Roachman was finally released with all charges against him dropped. His supporters took to the streets to celebrate, and carried him on their backs throughout the city.

Returning to work, in 1795 Roachman opened a coal mining operation and quickly doubled his profits. Roachman began work on an elaborate mansion just outside of Prague, all the while increasing his philanthropy and aiding in the rebuilding of Prague. Public support for him continued to grow in the next few years, prompting him to run for mayor in 1799.

### Campaign For Mayorship

Milron announced in 1799 that he was running for mayor, against Jan Neuber. Neuber had consistently criticized Roachman, citing his role in the fire of Prague as well as his role in the French Revolution, as wall as the Roachman Civil War. Popularity remained strong for Roachman in Prague and the surrounding areas. As the campaign continued, it became immensely clear that Roachman would win, resulting in Neuber becoming very resentful and deciding to take the city by force.

Neuber formed a gang near the end of 1799, who began vandalizing Roachman's properties and attacking his supporters. Roachman was incensed and requested help from current mayor Ondřej Steiner. Steiner was opposed to Roachman, considering him a scoundrel and thus ignored his requests. Roachman began speaking out against Steiner, turning public opinion sharply against him.

Meanwhile, Roachman had been using his spies who had remained in Paris to inform Francis II of developments there, and had begun giving him strategic counsel in the fight against France. This led to Francis II publicly speaking out in favor of Roachman and against Neuber and Steiner, an action that compelled Steiner to resign in December. Neuber, however, gave up all hope at winning and sought only to extract revenge, resulting in increased violence from his gang.

George III, though an ally of Francis II in the French Revolutionary Wars, was still obsessed with killing Roachman and thus secretly began aiding Neuber. In January, a team of undercover British forces arrived in Prague and began working with Neuber in causing violence, as well as creating a large amount of propaganda. With the aid of George III, Neuber found he was able to turn the tide of an election that was beginning to become an all-out civil war. In February, Neuber began seizing control of neighborhoods on the Eastern side of town, kicking out all who were not loyal to him. The Acting Mayor faced sharp criticism for his inability to control the situation and he stepped down.

The next person in line for the position of Acting Mayor also resigned, which lead to a series of resignations all across the local government. Francis II deployed a battalion to Prague to try and gain control of the situation, but Neuber was still able to gain ground in Prague. George III continued to give Neuber men in secret, believing that this was the moment in which he could finally neutralize Roachman. By April, Neuber had seized control of Town Hall and was poised to take control of Prague by force. Roachman personally met with Francis II in Vienna, requesting more aid. Francis II was unable to give him more aid, forcing Roachman to return to Prague with the prospect of defeat.

Upon his return to Prague, Roachman considered his options and decided he had no choice but to concede the race to Neuber. On March 14, Roachman dropped out of the race, handing a victory to Neuber. George III, infuriated that he had missed a chance to kill Roachman, removed his men from Prague. His involvement in the campaign would not come to light until 1911, when secret records were made public.

Neuber had little public support and was not able to officially take office until June. Roachman decided to leave Prague, shutting down his philanthropic organization in July. It is believed that Roachman put a curse on the Mayorship of Prague, as the 3 mayors who succeeded Neuber all died in office.

## Return to America

In September, Roachman moved back to America. Using what remained of his wealth, he bought a property on Long Island with the intention to lay low. However, his return was met with protest as many saw him as a traitor.