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The Dragon's Head - Heirs to the Once and Future King

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Gotya64 said:
Thank you for the great honor! :eek: I hope my AAR continues to hold your interest! I am quite honored indeed! I feel like I've let some promises slide though as I most certainly did not add an update when I promised, and I've been so busy with college that it may not happen until later this week. I've got the update 80% written, so there will be an update someday.
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Eh no worries I once promised an update on my Welf AAR and didn't post for like two or three months if I remember right, due to college and work.

And you are welcome! I am quite sure it will continue to hold my interest.
 
Once again I would like to thank Tanzhang and tnick for their recognition of my writing. You don't know how much it means! Those recognitions make it all the harder to announce that I am forced to indefinitely postpone this AAR. Having the tech savvy of a skunk, I missed the minor (and major) symptoms of an impending hard drive failure, and now I am paying the price. So long to my CK2 documents, save games, installs, and screenshots (not to mention the dozens of files needed for college. What a pain). For those curious, I'm typing this from my phone.

For those who care though, I will eventually try to start another AAR, hopefully one that interesting enough to capture the attention of a few readers here. In the meantime, I shall scour the forum for AARs and pester you all with my comments! Of course, there may be a miracle and my files may be saved, or else I might try to closely mimic this game on a completely new save. We shall see.

Once again, thank you and I am happy to be a part of this community. :)
 
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Gotya64 said:
In the meantime, I shall scour the forum for AARs and pester you all with my comments!
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I'll hold you to that! ;)

Sad to hear about your tech troubles. Always annoying when things like this burst up on you. Hopefully you'll be back on track soon.
 
Life does tend to get in the way of these things. That, and the game doing screwy things (ie randomly corrupting all your saves) in the middle of an AAR. Great one so far. Can't wait for the update.
 
Gotya64 said:
For those who care though, I will eventually try to start another AAR, hopefully one that interesting enough to capture the attention of a few readers here. In the meantime, I shall scour the forum for AARs and pester you all with my comments! Of course, there may be a miracle and my files may be saved, or else I might try to closely mimic this game on a completely new save. We shall see.

Once again, thank you and I am happy to be a part of this community. :)
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That's the spirit, my good man! Life (or your PC) knocks you down with the force of hammer, and yet you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and shake your fist at the universe screaming Fu, er, Screw You Universe! I hope you keep your word and write a second AAR someday, and in the meantime do read and comment on as many AARs as you possibly can - it worked for Densley and it can work for you too! :)
 
I appreciate the support, and would also like to add that it is still not for certain that all my files are lost, and I will resume this AAR immediately if they are not (when I get my computer back, of course). It would be quite the shame if it didn't, as there is quite the interesting scenario approaching.
 
Huzzah!
 
Chapter III – Confederation​

Erwan’s ascension to power would prove to have an immense effect on Welsh history, but for the time being it appeared the status quo would remain essentially unchanged. The petty states of southern Wales continued to bicker and weaken each other, while the apparently magnanimous north did not intervene.

The primary reason for this was Erwan’s wholesale assault on the Catholic Church. Under King Bleddyn, the bishops of Gwynedd grew incredibly powerful—far exceeding that of the elected mayors or municipal police chiefs. Free investiture laws allowed Bleddyn to sell the bishoprics to the highest bidder, and the result was an incredibly wealthy clergy that could essentially veto any decision they deemed objectionable.

The whole battle started over a friendly conversation about divinity between Erwan and the parish priest of a local church. When word got out about the king’s cynical views, the bishops began pressing for even more power, and Erwan even received a papal emissary asking that he no longer interfere in church affairs.

King Erwan responded with an unprecedented decree that would cripple church power under his rule. The new law stated that bishops and their dioceses would be subject to the city laws in which they resided—in other words, secular laws now superseded church law. The inevitable outcry and administrative conundrums prevented any thoughts of expansions. A number of rebellions to restore Bleddyn to the throne paralyzed the kingdom’s borders for nearly fifteen years.


Erwan symbolically taking the staff of governance from a bishop.​

At the turn of the century, however, and just past Erwan’s 60th birthday, things finally began to change.


________________________​


Wales​

Erwan pulled his horse to a stop and climbed down from the mare. A crisp morning breeze brought with it the smells of spring—the sweet nectar of the blooming flowers and the salty wind from St. George’s Channel. He gazed at the rolling green hills and rich pastures, and as he did he realized he loved it here. No war, no treachery could touch him in this place. He smiled, for his long morning rides into the countryside seemed to rejuvenate him—to restore youth to an aging and increasingly frail body. Solitude, it seemed, was now his closest friend.

The sound of hoof beats interrupted Erwan’s thoughts, and he turned to greet Chancellor Martin, now old and fat, as he rose up to the king. He was soon followed by Marshal Goronwy.

“Ah, here is he, Goronwy,” Martin huffed. “We thought we lost you there, my liege! Quite the horseman you are.”

Erwan smiled. “That was the idea.”

“We received a courtier today bearing news from the south,” Goronwy said, stepping forward. “It seems our dear old friend Bleddyn Mathrafal has come to haunt us from the grave. His rather extensive family has returned from exile in Ireland and taken refuge in the court of Count Rhydderch, of Dyfed. They’ve been appealing to the ruling lords in southern Wales to back their claim to our lands.”

“And?”

“And…it appears they’ve succeeded. The counts of Dyfed and Gwent, as well as the Queen of Glamorgan, have entered a protective alliance of sorts. Any action against one would mean war with all three, though I imagine it will not be long before the coalition is marching on our lands.”

​

Erwan slapped his thigh in frustration. “Fifteen years and not once have I showed signs of aggression towards the south, and yet here they are, prepared to make war with me. I don’t understand this nonsense.”

Chancellor Martin cleared his throat and stepped forward. “To be frank, my lord, it is because you are a Breton, and to the shallow-minded such as our southern neighbors, a Breton belongs in one place: Brittany. To these entrenched minds, Welsh lands can only be ruled by the Welsh, no matter the character of the incumbent or the usurper. These forces will not rest until you are chained to the bottom of a ship as you are dragged back to the continent.” Erwan raised an eyebrow. “Excuse my imagery, my lord,” Martin added.

“That being said,” Goronwy added, “I believe our best option at the moment is a preemptive strike against the coalition.” Martin was nodding. “Given time, the southern lords will find allies among the Irish—there is no great love for your there. They may also manage to enlist the help of the Scots given enough time, and that would mean certain defeat.”

“A preemptive attack,” Erwan repeated.

“Aye, sir.”

The king considered this carefully. At 60 years of age he was not sure he could bear the stresses of war again. Should he pass away, his only son and heir Herri would have to travel all the way back from East Anglia, and in that time the war could easily be lost.

“My lord, should you not feel inclined to directly be involved in the conflict, you have a bevy of capable advisors at your disposal.”

“Nonsense, Goronwy,” Erwan snapped, irked at the affront to his honor. “If we are to war, I will lead them.”

“And are we to…?

“Yes.”

With Erwan’s consent, preparations began immediately throughout the realm. For the first time, the king opted not to offer employment to the roving bands of mercenaries, figuring that it would help his subjects view him as a legitimate ruler if he marched with Welsh soldiers at his back rather than a contingent of foreign warriors. With the levies he received from his barons, Erwan instituted a system of strict organization and leadership, seeking to maximize the fighting power of his soldiers.

At the same time, the Welsh Coalition was also trying to cobble together its fighting force. Bishop Kavan of Fawr, Erwan’s spymaster, infiltrated their camp and reported with smugness that the coalition was plagued with internal problems at all levels. Supply distribution was haphazard at best, and a sizable amount of soldiers were forced to desert rather than face starvation. The lords themselves bickered and fought over who would ultimately command the army. The disagreement would cost them dearly, as King Cador of Cornwall (a Breton whose father had managed to secure independence from England) abandoned the cause completely and returned home, while Queen Llecci of Glamorgan informed the other two counts that she would fight King Erwan separately.

When news of this reached Erwan, the king immediately gave the order for the invasion to commence. A mere skirmish was all it took to put the Count of Dyfed and the Count of Gwent on their heels. Erwan’s army, seven thousand strong, pursued the coalition force to the coast of Southern Wales, where it was surrounded and destroyed in its entirety.

Queen Llecci, or the Lady of the Horse, as she became known to her friends and enemies, followed Erwan’s example and crossed the border into Northern Wales as Erwan was distracted by the other two counts. As her moniker suggests, she was a master with horses and commanded an army composed almost entirely of mounted soldiers. Despite being only the age of 18, she possessed an uncanny talent for organization and strategy, and quickly became quite a thorn in the side for Erwan.


Lady of the Horse​

Try as he might, Erwan could not catch the young queen and her band of horsemen. Her pillaging and plundering severally damaged Erwan’s farms and cities, and for nearly three years Erwan vainly pursued Llecci through his own territory. Finally, he gave the order to abandon the chase and go directly to the source of the problem—her home province of Glamorgan. He left his own people to the mercy of the Lady of the Horse (ignoring Marshal Goronwy’s protests), and proceeded to systematically lay waste to the lands under Llecci’s domain.

The war would go down as one of the most brutal and bloody wars in Welsh history. Chancellor Martin would write in his memoirs, “such cruelty of man has never been seen by the civilized peoples of Europe. It seems Christ himself would avert his eyes from these horrors that I now look upon.” It burdened Erwan heavily, and his sadness only worsened as news of the death of his only son and heir Herri to smallpox reached him from England. He frequently fell ill, and it soon became apparent that the war must end soon. A peace delegation was dispatched to find Queen Llecci, and they returned with the message that the Glamorgans would meet them in Ireland at a neutral location. Dublin, ruled by the Earl of Leinster, was chosen and King Erwan set sail soon after with Marshal Goronwy. Cador, the Breton King of Cornwall, was also in attendance to see that his interests were not infringed upon.

The peace negotiations were tense and it soon became clear the two parties were at odds. Erwan demanded that Llecci swear fealty to him and pay full reparations for the havoc wreaked on his realm, while the Lady of the Horse would settle for nothing less than Erwan’s crown. For days they bickered and argued, and after a week of fruitless negotiation Erwan reluctantly sent Goronwy back to prepare for the war to resume.

It was at that time that Chancellor Martin suddenly appeared in Dublin, with a plan to do no less than unite the Welsh lands under a single banner. Martin had been unable to travel with Erwan, as he was wracked with a cough and fever so severe that the king feared he would return from Ireland to find his friend had passed away. But there he was, and though barely able to walk, the chancellor still possessed the same fiery tongue that made him famous on the continent.

In fact, it was from the continent that Martin borrowed his idea. Even as a young Castilian diplomat, he had always been a great admirer of the Holy Roman Empire and its system of elected rule. A vassal was far less likely to rebel against an elected monarch, and chances are they would vote for a capable ruler. Before coming to Wales, Martin had attempted to convince the Christian kings of Iberia to adopt such a system, arguing that unity would surely push the Muslims out of the peninsula. Martin’s ideas were rejected, however, and the diplomat left Iberia for Erwan’s courts. It was these ideas that Martin now brought before the peace delegation.

Under Martin’s proposition Wales will be united as a confederate kingdom of three sovereign dukedoms (Deheubarth, Gwynedd, and Cornwall). The king of Wales would be elected from among the three dukes upon the previous monarch’s death, and would receive the power to call the other dukes to war in defense of the kingdom. The vassals would remain essentially autonomous and free of the elected monarch’s influence. In addition, war would require the unanimous vote of all the vassals in the kingdom.

Though Erwan’s reaction was lukewarm at best, Queen Llecci found the system brilliant, and eagerly offered her support to Martin. The King of Cornwall, however, found the idea so insulting that he instantly departed the peace negotiations and headed for home (the phrase “a Cador heading home” would later become a Welsh idiom describing someone that quits the moment something doesn’t go their way). Reminded of the war’s excesses and also of his own chivalrous heritage, Erwan reluctantly conceded to an elective monarchy, provided he receive the crown. Queen Llecci received the provinces belonging to the traitorous counts (who were summarily banished from the realm) and in return swore fealty to Erwan. The absentee King Cador, it was decided, would be offered a second chance to join the newly formed Confederate Kingdom of Wales.

And so, in the Year of Our Lord 1102, November 12, a new king was crowned.


Coronation of King Erwan I​

​

“God has willed it and His Holiness in Rome has approved it, that in this year 1102, Erwan Pendragon shall henceforth be known as King Erwan I, King of Wales and Defender of the Faith by the Grace of God.”

- Bishop Leandry, Papal Legate to the British Isles


Wales, 1102​


Dynasty Map of the British Isles, 1102​


Europe, 1102, including a Khanate of Jerusalem​
 
Oh, and apologies for the lack of gameplay pictures. While I retained all of my files and saved games, the uninstall of Steam meant I lost all my screenshots.
 
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