Chronicles of the de Warenne family - a Deus Vult AAR

[stnylan]

For various reasons my EU2 narrative AAR, In Memory of France is currently on hold, and I have wondered about doing a project in the interim. I have seriously pondered doing an EU3 AAR, either vanilla NA or MMG, but with the release of Deus Vult and remembering how much fun I had in my former CK AAR, I have decided to (almost) revisit the past. Thus I give you the chronicles of the de Warenne family.

This will be a (oddly enough!) be a chronicle style AAR. Ordinary text is the chronicle text. Text in this colour will be used out of character for game events and incidents.

I will keep this first post to use for useful information, such as:

Current Court

Count of Surrey: William de Warenne 9/8/9/7 Honest, Martial Cleric
Chancellor: Flandina de Seagrave 4/13/7/2 Forgiving, Honest, Charismatic Negotiator
Steward: Sibyl de Montgommery 4/8/7/8 Scholarly Theologian, Illness
Marshall: Robert FitzPatrick 8/5/2/8 Wise, Coward, Tough Soldier
Spy Master: Emma de Cherlton 4/0/8/2 Deceitful, Suspicious, Naive Puppet Master
Abbott: Richard FitzGerald 6/9/5/5 Lustful, Sceptical, Scholarly Theologian

Family
Sibyl de Montgommery (wife)
Richard de Warenne (eldest son) Trusting
Drogo de Warenne (second son) Modest
Aethelric de Warenne (third son) Saxon

 

[stnylan]

The Guildford Chronicle

Book I​

It was on the field of Hastings in the Year of Our Lord 1066 that King William defeated the Schismatic Usurper Harold, and reclaimed England for Christ, for the realm of England had fallen into decay and followed the mutterings of lepers and liars. Yet God is Just Parent, and set William upon a regal course to Save the English, even from Themselves. And following King William there were many nobles, men with strong arms and Pure of Heart, willing to do the Work of God. They fought under the Banner granted to them by the Vicar of Christ, and as Soldiers of God they were granted a Victory more complete than any that has survived from the annals of history. For few among the English Lords survived the fury of the battle, so implicit had they been in the Usurpers treachery that God Himself decreed they were no longer fit to walk the Earth. The English, seeing in their defeat the Error of their former ways threw themselves at William’s Feet. They prostrated themselves and begged forgiveness in the most piteous tones, that even William, that Stern King, was brought to pity by their cries and minded to mercy. Thus he entered London and set about the righting of the Kingdom.

Not all the Saxons had fought with Harold at Hastings. Two brothers, Morcar and Edwin, Lords of the North, had not marched south. Their own realms had been assaulted earlier that year, and they proclaimed their doubt of Harold’s cause, and hoping to show that he was to be a Lord of Saxons and Normans both the King William confirmed them in their lands. They did homage for them, and the King called them friends. There were a further scattering of Saxons, but these two were pre-eminent, and the sole remnant of the greater lords who had existed before the Usurper told his lies.

William then divided the rest of his kingdom. Some parts he kept for himself, as was his due, and some he gave to his lords as was right and proper. Now among the retinue of King William was William de Varenne. He was related to William, though only at some distance, but had through Williams’ reign shown far greater fidelity than those of a closer degree. When King William, then Duke, had nearly been denied his birthright de Varenne was in the forefront of his friends, forever fighting his foes and doing all in his power to ensure that King William became Duke of Normandy in truth as well as name, and now he had fought at Hastings once again in loyal service. To this most loyal friend King William granted many manors throughout the Kingdom of England, but in particular enfeoffed him with lands south of the River Thames, in the Shire called Surrey.

Lord William at once sent for Brothers true and faithful to the Order of Benedict and the Word of God, for he was determined to see that the Saxons be brought back to full Communion with the Church of Rome, and have the errors of their former beliefs purged and expunged. Thus it was that I, Brother Odo, found myself wrenched from my former monastery and sent to a smelly town called Guildford, where the Lord William had built a castle made of wood and where there was a church that was to my new home.

 

[coz1]

Huzzah! Though I do wish to see more of Memory of France and was (and am) certainly looking forward to your first foray into EUIII, I will gladly sit back and lap up all the chronicle writing you wish to do here.

An excellent start, stnylan! You do chronicle writing so much justice, it is a pleasure to read. Good luck.

 

[Bad Santa]

Nice ill be watching.

 

[Woody Man]

The de Warennes sound like an upstanding family, I'm looking forward to seeing their fortunes play out!

 

[unmerged(72421)]

*Subscribes*

 

[crusaderknight]

A fascinating start, stnylan. I really enjoy the Chronicle style of writing, and as coz1 said, you are excellent at this style of writing. I look forward to the many adventures of the de Varenne family.

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

stnylan returns to CK, yippie ! Lets see what it brings

 

[General_BT]

Let's see where this road leads.... good start!

 

[Sir Humphrey]

Interesting start.

 

[stnylan]

coz1Thank you. It's nice to get back in the swing of things, and hopefully this will lead to me be able to start writing once again in Memory.

Bad Santa Thank you

English Patriot Well, certainly in the point of view of one Brother Odo. Never trust a chronicler

CyreidelGlad to have you along

crusaderknight Many thanks indeed. Let us hope I get to the stage where it is indeed family, and not just William

VeldmaarschalkWell, I am writing this nearly contemporaneously, so I have no idea what is about to happen next either!

General_BT The road goes ever on and on...

Sir Humphrey Thank you. Long may it continue to be so!

 

[stnylan]

Book I.2

The Lord William de Varenne had spent Christmastide at London with the King, and there was solemnised his wedding to the Lady Sibyl, daughter of Lord Roger de Montgommery who was granted lands in Sussex and Salop. With her came a number of ladies, for she would have found a life in Guilford too cruel an exile without any company of her sex. Thus she was accompanied by her cousin and foster-sister, Lady Talbot, and two well-born ladies though of lesser stature who had been her tutors in her tender years, Lady de Cherlton and Lady de Seagrave. There were so few of us in those early years that Lord William had little choice but to entrust the keeping of his correspondence and the day-to-day affairs of managing his estate to his wife and her companions, for there were no others of suitable rank that could perform these functions. I am also told that it is not uncommon for the Normans to have their wives manage their estates as they are so frequently at war, but I know not if this is true as I entered the monastery at an early age and had little experience of the world before my translocation.

My new brothers and I – for there were twelve of us from a number of different houses – were led by the one who was to be our Father and Abbot, Robert FitzGerald. He had entered the priesthood at the behest of his father, for he was illegitimate and his father thought that only through his vocation could he be saved from Hell’s fires. I once heard Father Robert say that his father was more worried by his own fate than his son’s, but when news reached us some years later of his death he ordered us to say prayers for his soul without rancour. But I digress. We arrived with our books and some small vessels that had been donated by our mother houses, and a bible that had been sent from the Great House of Cluny, but little else. The church we occupied was little more than a wooden shack, and we lodged in filthy huts that did nothing to keep out the wind and little to protect us from the rain and mist of the pernicious land. Yet we resolved that the elements, roused no doubt by some evil-doer seeking to vanquish us, would not defeat us, and thus we stayed. And that summer we erected a proper hall, though we would have to wait for a time before we could construct a proper church.

7 Liberal Arts discovered in Surrey

That first year was filled the necessity of taking stock of the land that King William had granted our Lord, and of him surveying it. Some he kept for his own demesne, and some he granted out to various knights for terms of service. He made it his priority to become master of this land, and since he knew it not he spent much of his time in the saddle going from place to place so that he became acquainted with the whole. Yet this was a work of many months. The people were surly, and refused to speak a civilised tongue yet guttered along in their mongrel speech. Our hearts were gladdened however when we learned that the Lady Sibyl was taken with child. Finally in November Lord William received a noble, a bastard scion, Lord Robert FitzPatrick, who had been recommended to Lord William by the King. He was a proven captain of men, whom God had granted a fine mind that saw things clearly. In that winter many where the problems that seemed intractable, but we had but to call on Lord Robert and he would cut through the knottiest tangle as if he were Alexander.

Sibyl expecting child

Thus passed our first year at Guildford.

​

 

[coz1]

The new wife should help breed a decidedly diplomatic son...we can hope (Doh! I messed up the wife with the chancellor. Well, a bastard can be useful, right?)

Things begin slowly, but are sure to pick up. Life was never so calm for too long.

 

[Woody Man]

Lets hope its a son!

No doubt the de Warrenes could stand to gain something from the Saxon rebellions, or possibly from war with France, but its definately best to keep on the side of the King. For now that is..

 

[unmerged(59737)]

*Subscribes*

 

[crusaderknight]

That's quite a good court you have there. And hopefully Sibyl will give birth to a son to carry on the de Varenne name!

 

[General_BT]

Hopefully there's a son. Though when you need a son most is sometimes in game when you don't get one!

I have to say, I really like the mixing of the chronicle form of narration with the small notations of what events happened in game in a different color. Connects the game and the story together quite well. That, and the black and white images of the characters is just masterful.

 

[ComradeOm]

Good reading so far. I have no doubt that de Varenne will rise above the challenges posed by ignorant locals.

 

[Lordban]

I have to say I am impressed by the quality of your writing, Stnylan. And I'm curious as to where you are going to take the de Warennes

 

[unmerged(31261)]

Good stuff Stnylan. Looking forward to seeing how things develop. And very curious to see what dimension playing the Deus Vult expansion offers in terms of court rivalries etc.