The plot

England:
Beginning of the 13th century, time of John Lackland’s ruling. More than one hundred and fifty years have passed since England was conquered by William the Conqueror. England is going through harsh times. Despite the huge lands belonging to the English crown and dozens of castles around the country, strength of royal power weakens as every year passes by. Large feudal lords continue to grow in strength and gather power in their hands. Some of them even don’t want to support their king and do not participate in his wars. The French recently captured castle Château-Gaillard, which was considered to be impenetrable. For French, the Gaillard citadel was the only major barrier to stop them from invading Normandy. Now, when this barrier no longer exists, Phillip II took control of all the continental part of Normandy. They say it happened because John Lackland made some alterations to castle planning designed by Richard I. In any case, putting Normandy aside, English crown has enough problems on Britannia itself – kingdom can be engaged in a war at any time, fighting at two fronts at once – with Scotland in the north and disobedient Wales on north-west. Adding more to this grim situation, uneasy unrest is growing up on Irish territories. English crown is set for truly hard times right now, which require a heavy hand and rightful decisions – decisions worthy a true king.

Lords’ Alliance:
England entered the time of troubles, the nation is being ruled by a man who is enduring failures one after another, and who is not in the best relationships with the church. John Lackland is involved in many wars, always asking for money to cover for his crusades. The king frequently provides fiscal and political pressure on large feudal lords of England, which occasionally leads to acts of open despotism. No one likes such behavior but the king’s still a king and barons are willing to tolerate such in order to preserve the kingdom. Royal rule weakens with each passing day, predecessors of John did not pay much attention to their homeland, while participating in crusades and seeking fame in the Middle East – everything has changed since the times of William the Great. England is not the country it used to be, a country where king decides on all the issues, time is different now, each significant move should be made in discussion, taking into account the wills and desires of lords and barons of England.

Scotland:
Beginning of 13th century, Scotland is being wisely ruled by aging King William the First, nicknamed the Lion. Throughout his rule he showed himself as a good commander, he fought the English many times and once was held captive by them, he survived the fetter and later brought back the independence for his country from the English crown. William the First masterfully rules his kingdom. The king is old, but he has a direct successor, which only reinforces his positions among the royals. Despite the fact that Scotland regained its independence from England peacefully, paying in part for the crusade of Richard the First, and is now formally in good relations with it, people of Scotland hate the Englishmen, and real relationships between two kingdoms are very tense – a bloody war can start at any moment. From the political point of view, neither of the sides wants this bloodshed right now, but King John’s arrogance cannot be ignored forever, and Scotland sooner or later will have to make its move.

Wales:
Beginning of 13th century is a questionable time for Wales, from one side all Welsh kingdoms were ruled by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, which was not seen for over one hundred and fifty years (since the ruling of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, before the Norman invasion of Britannia), from the other – controversial events taking place around the English crown, participating in which plays an important role and could decide the fate of the whole kingdom. Officially, Wales and England are allies, due to the agreement reached with ruler of England – John Lackland, but Llywelyn ab Iorwerth has to be always ready, since king of England is not in the best of relationships with barons loyal to him, and anything can happen. Moreover, Wales is forced to fight with lords of the Welsh Marches (border of Wales and England), who sometimes do not show respect neither to Wales nor to England. The king has to remember one thing – since the conquest of Britannia by Normans, English are always trying to take back the welsh lands for themselves and that any truces between two kingdoms are just but a calm before the storm, because lion never lets his prey out, if he knows he can have it.


Norway:
During the Viking invasions into Britannia, Scandinavians managed to capture a huge amount of lands from the west and north sides of the archipelago and establish their rule there. Most of these lands were reclaimed by other kingdoms, but Norwegian presence on the archipelago is still being felt, with Isle of Man, Orkney and Hebrides islands still being loyal to young and ambitious Norwegian king Haakon the Fourth – they are the stronghold of Norwegian crown in Britannia and thanks to a powerful navy of this country they are not threatened by anything. Despite this situation, rumors circulating among the people say that Scottish king wants to reclaim Hebrides, which worries the people and the king. This situation cannot be allowed to occur, especially now – during the “golden age” of Norway. Haakon the Fourth will carefully watch over the political situation in Britannia, and if need be will remind the Scottish, and others too, how things were done during the times of Cnut the Great. But as for now, Norway can peacefully trade with England, as it brings some good profit to King’s the treasury.

Ireland:
Beginning of 13th century is a good time for Ireland. Despite that Norman conquest of this country is still taking place, king of England John Lackland is focused on the problems of the local nature that occur closer to his home, and pays nearly no attention to what is happening on Irish territories. Local lords are participating in uncoordinated and fractured politics of ruling the lands, which gives hope to the Irish people – a hope that someday a man will rise that will throw back the Englishmen and resist their pressure. And the day has come – a man with the iron will is slowly rising in power and appearing on the political arena of the country, his name is Bryan O’Neil. He is decisive, brave and cunning, a warrior, who respects the old ways – the laws of the ancestors. Here and there small uprisings occur, to which King John pays no attention, but there is a possibility that this tendency will not stop and the English crown will soon hear about the name of Brian O’Neil. Bur for now, officially under the rule of its English lords, Ireland is building up forces to take their first step towards its independence. Shall it succeed or fail wholly depends on the man Irish people will choose to follow.


Additional information and political map of Britannia:
For now the borders of kingdoms looks something like as shown on the map above. Special symbols mark areas of first possible conflict zones. Order-kingdoms will receive their first targets in the nearest time, but for now we can say that the storyline on the north of Britannia has officially started.

All those participating I wish the best of luck, and I hope our game will be exciting and full of surprises. All other news and important updates will be posted in this topic.



Those who want to see the in-game political map of the orders are asked to click on the image below: