#rastapopoulos

Tintin isn't nobility, but as his ability to read and write is key to his character, I reminagined Tintin as a monk. Brother Tintin is more interested in rooting out corruption, solving crimes and bringing truth and justice than he is in copying manuscripts. He's old enough to graduate from being a junior monk, though his Abbot would like for him to work on his obedience! His dog, Milou, is an Irish wolfhound, as wire fox terriers did not exist yet.

At 15, Brother Tintin is sent with crusaders to follow them into war. He writes down everything he sees, and continues travelling East, getting increasingly appalled by the violence, and the war itself after he meets with locals. He encounters Rastapopoulos, an opportunistic double-crossing agent of both Turkey and the Byzantine empire.

He travels as far as China, where he encounters Chang, a boy his age, being swept up in a flood. They discuss faith and spirituality and become firm friends. When Chang first sees Tintin, he thinks he's a ghost!

Haddock is a merchant sailor Tintin meets on his way home, and Calculus joined the monastery years before Tintin did - formerly a court physician for the King of Syldavia, he fled the kingdom after falling out with them. Upon arriving at the monastery, he paid the Abbot a large sum of money to live out in the monastery under a new name, becoming their herbalist and working on all sorts of odd experiments with alchemy, diving bells and medicine. He rarely sought contact with the outside world until Brother Tintin was assigned to be his assistant - Tintin's writings of far flung places piques his curiousity and bravery once more. However, during a grand feast to mark the meetings of several kings, including the kings of Borduria and Syldavia, Brother Calculus goes missing...

One morning during prayers, Brother Tintin receives a vision of Chang stranded in the mountains after a bandit attack, calling his name. Believing it to be a call from God, he disobeys his Abbot and leaves, heading East, with nothing but faith in his friend.