Before Plantagenet – A House d’Anjou AAR

[codie]

While I do feel sorry for poor Margurite here, I'm sure Aines would find her daughter's attenpted betrayal of Ademar to be rather amusing, as it was Margurite who hated her mother for betraying her father.... I hope that Margurite can live for another decade, but it's not looking good for her.... I also like how Margurite noted Geoffrey's hypocrisy when he scolded Guilhem.... Great job, I really enjoyed it!

 

[Specialist290]

Marguerite may not have passed on just yet, but I get a feeling that her time draws short. When you lose the will to live at that age, it's usually only a matter of time -- the only question remaining being whether she will pass quickly or simply linger and wither away. For all her flaws, neither is something I'd wish on her

 

[alscon]

Marguerite has always been driven by stubborn hate, and if that leaves her, then her time is indeed short. But Adhémar who is trying to prove himself as Geoffrey's loyal lapdog is certainly not a person to replace.
Still, there's hope for her. Her love for her children focuses more and more on Alias. Aines is somewhat accepted, but she'll never forgive her. And Geoffrey - that last realization makes me think that Marguerite won't die too soon. She's channelling some of her hate of the late king towards the current king.

As for Alphonse - that man has the worst luck. Captured as a child by Champagne, lost father and crown. Used his inheritance of Normandy to take some form of revenge against those who have taken his father's title, taking part in shattering France. Gaining respect through wise rule, only to almost die of cancer.
That cancer is miraculously cured without him losing any body parts, and he seizes his birthright, the crown of France, gets hailed as "the Great". And now, he ventures into Iberia - and gets reduced to a vegetable. His story is truly tragic.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

France has had a rough time in general, I think.

 

[JSB217118]

It's sweet that Ness tried to visit her sister. I wasn't able to read for a while. I won't be able to post all these detailed posts for a while. Guilhielm seems to be taking his bastard siblings in stride. His estrangement from his father comes from other sources. I suspect that Elf will not take the news well. Their will be tensions in the future, especially with Geoff 3's increasingly obvious unfitness for command. Guilheilm's place is secure and the boy will never be heir, but I would not be supprised if Anna's little boy finds himself landed or wed to an heiress, something Elf will feel should be given to her second son.

 

[stnylan]

In response to this post from the 10th March

I was very much expecting Geoffrey to throw Adhemer out of his ear, but it appears Adhemer's cutting remark was enough to finally jolt the young man into something akin to sensibility. I swear though I think one could sometimes wallop Geoffrey with a fencepost and he wouldn't notice if he were distracted by "family pursuits".

But he did focus. The conversation with Sarrazine was rather touching. The conversation with Phillipe less so ... but I would not completely abandon hope the man may yet remember it. In this moment it unlikely that he would have believed Geoffrey, but in due course he might - might - think about it in a clearer fashion. Or might not. Geoffrey has a master of making a bed he does not wish to lay in.

And so to Berard and Edouard. Edouard - I have so much sympathy for the poor beleagured (beGeoffreyed?) man. He just feels tired. Tired of all of this ... again. It's like he can see his life stretch out before him having to deal with yet another transgression by the King. And Berard, Berard decision is a mercy - and hopefully it will help Geoffrey. But we have seen Geoffrey make extravagent self-declarations before.

 

[stnylan]

In response to this post from 17th March

“Can the two of you stop speaking to each other and address me?” Ælfflæd demanded.

This made me laugh As Elf says the sisters can be entertaining - but they do surely harp on at each other. It's like they "enjoy" each other so much that any other person present is just a ... part of the stage in which they conduct their work, which involves much audience participation.

What also strikes me here is Elf's self-knowledge of her temper. "That she had, in anger, again abandoned him" - I do think that if Geoffrey were to make a suitable approach he might be surprised. Of course, knowing Geoffrey there is every chance he would ignite her fire again. And I note that her haven watching her scene is shown to be an entirely false one, with the sisters sniping at each other and plotting. I find the child at play, a grim future being decided whilst he misprounces his mother's language, to be a true sign of the dark undercurrent to this world marred by the ambitions and passions of highborn men and women both.

There is so much else going on here though as well. Marguerite's concerns about Essa I am sure are sincere. I am not sure they are genuine. Marguerite was (and is) a plotter, and so sees plots everywhere. I think Elf is right to be skeptical - but also right not to reject things out of hand. They must be weighed. The truth about Agnes may be bitter, but I note so very soon she misses Agnes again. I think chosing to go to Marguerte, to "play along" is an interesting show of maturity. But she must make sure she plays Elf's game, not Marguerite's.

Aevis - you know out of both sisters I rather thing I prefer Aevis. I can quite understand her thinking Elf fortunate to have a husband of near her own age. I have the feeling we will get to see the sisters more.

Finally I like the bookending of the update. It often shows a journey and here we see a child's play as being a haven from the world - albeit one impinged on by plotting - to one where her thoughts have once again been overtaken by the world.

 

[stnylan]

In response to this post from 24th March

Well that didn't take long did it? Geoffrey - like his father and grandfather - really is incorrigible.

I really did enjoy Alias. The audacity of youth ... really if he got over his dislike of Berard they could form a "we like Geoffrey but we think he can be an idiot" club. Come to thnk of if there might be quite a few members of that club. I think his dislike of Berard though does show a thing Geoffrey may have to deal with - the perception of nefarious influence even when none truly exists. "Evil Advisors" is a refrain that haunts many a mediaeval monarch.

Edouard bears much important news. I call cliffhangar!

But since I am reading this nearly six months after this update I don't have to wait and can just read on - and so I shall take full advantage of my inexcusable tardiness with this fine tale and proceed to do so!

 

[stnylan]

Response to this post from 31st March

I think Marguerite might be especially averse to having her children go on another Iberian adventure, seeing how that worked out so well in the past.

Picking up on something @Specialist290 said in response to this same update, with a bit of prompting and rehearsal Geoffrey can perform quite well. When confronted by an unanticipated request - Guilhelm here - he often struggles. He just does not have the lightness on his feet of his father, or the indomitable will of her grandfather. Yet, anyway - but he does posses a growing confidence, albeit a confidence that grows in fits and starts. But here, with Guilhelm, his position feels defensible - but if he had been his father other promises would have followed. Assurances. Leaving Guilhelm empty-handed was not a great move.

Also, Geoffrey really ought to take notes on how he is being played by the Arrigo, for Arrigo is plucking his strings and making Geoffrey sing very sweetly.

 

[stnylan]

In response to this post from 7th April

Oh Alias so innocent: “The snake! To plot against blood! And a boy not even fully grown!” To be sure the King of Navarre is not blood, but still a boy not fullly grown. Well, innocent is not truly the right word, but perhaps he share sa certain lack of introspection common to this family. And secrets ... if this family tells of anything it is that secrets fester.

I didn't foresee Guilhelm's play at the Council at all. I mentioned earlier that Geoffrey should take notes from Arrigo - he should take notes from Guilhelm as well. As both Essa and Adhemer pointed out this can only delay, it is more annoynace that true threat, so I am not sure this politicking is actually wise on Guilhelm's part, but the way he maneovured Geoffrey the young King should pay heed. He must not neglect his realm, as he has been doing.

In these last updates I have read we have gone from Geoffrey wanting to throw Adhemer out on his ear for speaking truth, to now truly listening to him, carefully, considerately ... I know Geoffrey is changeable, a man of his passions both fair and foul, but it is a noticeable difference I feel.

 

[stnylan]

In response to this post from 14th April

News comes thick and fast. First of Essa - now of Thoræd.

Guilhelm - seems to have forgotten whatever victories he may have had, they are but temporary. He is doing himself no favours ... but for the moment he needs to be handled carefully. And publicy one can excuse him due to his apparently uncontrolled grief. Actually I have some sympathy for him - and he is a very bitter man. A bitterness that betrays him. But also ... I wonder how much he truly cares anymore? Cares for consequences I mean.

The news from England though ... there is so much hope and peril contained therein.

 

[stnylan]

In response to this post from 21st April

Oh Elf ... your played Marguerite's game and now your essential good nature punishes you for it, and now you fall prey to Adelise's. In an earlier update she reflecter on her own bitterness and anger, and there is plenty of bitter memory on display here as she contemplates her father. Of what he was. Of the shrunken thing he became. In that earlier update she reflected how it must have broken him to chose between her and her mother ...

I read this update, and the image in my mind is of a leaf on the breeze, tossed by a gust one way, and then another, in a tumult.

The politicking in England ... I don't say it is not important. Of course it is. But I think it pales compared to the sorrow of Elf once again being twisted by another. Her ambition for her son is such an easy thing to abuse, and so many make use of it.

 

[stnylan]

Response to this post from 28th April

The insistence upon 'Lady' Ælfflæd is calculated to insult. It is almost as if the good Chancellor actually wants this war. Either that or he is just being dense. For a man who is oestensibly there to ensure the security of the new King it seems strange to keep insulting the threat. Unless he things war is inevitable ... which, to be fair, it might be. Still it does him no credit whatsoever.

I think most though this updates makes me regret that Elf and Geoffrey do not combine more often - when they do work together they can be a formidable team. Their conversation here - their support of each other, is actually quite heartening. And yes, they are talking about plotting murder - but their fears are real (may or may not be justified, but real) and they do share a great bond in the form of their son. And .. they actually do know each other quite well. Geoffrey clearly knows the source of her indecision, she knows the way he turns to the church.

Finally I have to applaud Emmanuel for the deft manner in which he handled that interview with the King. Very adroit with words

 

[stnylan]

Response to this post from 5th May

“Reading what?” Berard asked.
“Books,” Geoffrey said. “On Roman history. Britain specifically.”
“Truly?” Berard asked. “You must be desperate.”

I admit - this made me laugh

Berard should really have been on the Council instead of Essa - and now he is. I think he will do well, though for those who think there is a malign Perigord influence will not think so (looking at Alias). However between him and Adhemer it feels like Geoffrey does now have a couple of stalwarts he can fully trust has his own interests at heart, even when they disagree with his passions (I note that six months is about all Geoffrey can do to restrain his passions). What is notable though is how Geoffrey - again - takes seriously Adhemer's advice. But also his pride in his Queen reflecting on the meeting with the English Chancellor. "You should have seen..." - personally I think Adhemer's slighly curt response is because he knows just how Geoffrey gets wrapped up in moments and does not appreciate the larger reality, but Geoffrey is not wrong to proud.

I have said how I think Geoffrey and Elf make good partners when they work together, when they have a common goal. I think there is more evidence of that now. I also don't think Geoffrey really understands how unusual his upbringing was, surrounded by books and learning. Elf's ignorance should be no surprise. (also, a Saxon might not be so enthralled at the success of a 'celt' fighting off invaders to Britannia if Geoffrey thought about it for a while longer, but then Geoffrey's mind does not run that way - but I digress). Even so there is a sense - not of love (I will not say they are past that being a possibility, but it is not what is going on here), but of partnership.

Though ... I sadly note that Elf once more remains but a leaf in the breeze. If she does this, she will yet again be acting out someone else's plan.

Oh Elf, I do hope you find space to be yourself at some point, to become more than someone else's plaything.

 

[stnylan]

Reponse to this post from 12th May

And typically Geoffrey makes things more difficult than it needs to be.

You know though, this plotting reminds me very much of his father. His father was adept at the political game - but especially has he did a time or two fall into the trap of thinking that people would act as he thought was rational. His son may well be doing the same here, and Berard is right to warn him of it. Not that Geoffrey is listening. His passions - not just of the bedchamber - really do overcome him. Guilhelm, you sorry sot, but denying Geoffrey Navarre look what you have wrought.

I wonder what Marguerite's reaction to all this will be?

And once again, Elf, trapped.

 

[Chris Taylor]

... the reason I used Agnes here, despite my wife's distaste for my use of ghosts ...

Although ghosts are not my favourite narrative device, if there's any Paradox grand strategy game where they might be contextually appropriate, surely it's the Crusader Kings series.

You could always mention to your wife that the historical Macbeth ruled just 50-odd years before your first use of ghosts (1109, at Foulques' death). And the current generation of Anjou are roughly contemporaneous with the oldest written record of the legend of Amleth (Hamlet), prince of Denmark. Both stories feature ghosts prominently in their best-known 17th century adaptations by Shakespeare. In this TL, some ghosts would surely become on-stage portents in any 17th century history plays adapted from the tales of your Anjou dynasty.

 

[stnylan]

Response to this post from 19th May

OK - I laughed very much at the Marguerite mix-up. That was a really fun way to end the update. Guilhelm is a snake, and I do not envy his new bride her wretched husband. And ... Guilhelm must really hate himself, trying himself yet closer to the Angevin family. Foulquesson not being the most ... congenial ... of Angevins.

The not-Council meeting was refreshingly frank. Perhaps a good sign for the future? Geoffrey's time so far has been a yo-yo ride of good and bad. But not forcing the issue, waiting, that is hopeful.

 

[stnylan]

Response to this post from 26th May

Oh Geoffrey. You have this knack of wanting to turn friends or would-be friends into enemies. If this keeps up he may yet give Ivan the Terrible a run for his money. It must sting to be outwitted by Martinus, yet again. When will time rid Geoffrey of this turbulent priest?

It is good to see both Beatriz and Ancel again. Ancel ... he appears to have committed that greatest of crimes: doing what an authority tells him to do. It is terrible when people do that. Authority figure just speaking, passing time, and then someone dang it goes an actually listens. Not just listens but acts on it. The nerve! Now I could make this seem like a mess of Geoffrey's own making, but I won't because it is not really true. But his response to the news very much is. A man of passion - there is very little half-way with Geoffrey. Especially so energised regarding England right now it should not be a surprise. But it betrays him, and it betrays him here. I note with a measure of some gratification that he did actually listen to Adhemer, but even though he is following that advise his event view on Adhmere is simple: coward.

I also had to chuckle about Geoffrey finding his inquisition of Ancel to be tiresome - though I do understand. It is excessively tiresome when one keeps finding evidence of one's over-reaction and of one being wrong. Don't I know it all too well?

I wonder how Beatriz's meeting with her mother went?

And, inevitably, I almost wonder if - I was tempted to say when, but I am doing my best to give Geoffrey benefit of the doubt - if he lays with Duchess Marguerite.

But to England we go. His father would say Alea Iacta Est. Our Geoffrey, being somewhat harried by all the talk and chatter, probably just wants to hit someone. In that ... more like ihs grandfather. And ... to be fair ... his grandfather is probably the better person to channel when it comes to hammering the English.

 

[stnylan]

Response to this post from 4th June

When Elf finds her core of strength she really is magnificent. It may be buried deep at times, but it is there. I so wish she would discover it more often and deploy it for her own worth.

And yes ... her life holds terrors that none should ever know. They haunt and harry her - but if Marguerite thought she was broken she was always wrong. The evidence has been plain as the nootide sun: Elf is not broken. Hobbled, maybe. But a broken women would not have stoop up to Geoffrey or Martinus both. A broken woman would not have school the English chanceller on matters of courtesy.

In other words I see in Elf a very human figure, who in her relatively short life has experienced more that pretty much any other character in this story yet has. Even those who have lived to a ripe old age. That she does not always know herself ... does not surprise me.

Yes, I think it is quiet clear I am on the side of Queen Ælfflæd. I really wish Geoffrey would give her a book on Æthelflæd.

I also want to speak a moment about Guilhelm here. Obviously I think little of his plotting, but I want to acknowlegde his essential loyalty here. He may disagree with the King, oppose him, and all the rest - but Geoffrey remains his King. He is here fighting a war he voted again, but he is fighting it. He may be a fool in politics. He may be, in some things, an opponent. A definite stone in Geoffrey's boot. But still, when the fighting comes, a loyal lord.

 

[stnylan]

Response to this post from 11th June

Foulquesson is a bit of an arsehole. Let's be honest, often more than a bit. But you always know where you stand with him - dishonest he is not. There is a simple directness to him. I even believe his general approval of his nephew is not feigned (leastways when comparing to the older Geoffrey). I wan't say it was 'good' to see him again, but this is his element.

And Geoffrey has emerged from the fight unscathed, which is the main thing. I wonder if you will show the family reunions in the aftermath? Will have to quickly jump onto the next post to find out.

He is, of course, right. He must let Alias fly on his own, and soon. But this English prisoner gives a harbinger of what is to come. England shall not easily be won.