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The Mann on the Island

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Book One:
Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Unfortunate, Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Cruel
Chapter 2:
Conquest and Corruption
​


When Duke Gofraidh sent word to his court that the County of Tir Eoghain had been liberated on 2 August, 1077 he expected only good news and even cheer to return to him as he marched his reinforced host of 1,000 eastwards to the county of Ulaid. What he received a few weeks after his missive went out were numerous complaints, quarrels, and even a few threats.

The foremost of the complaints came from Gofraidh’s wife, Raghild Maria Haraldsdotter. In her letter she confessed that she feared for the lives of her children due to the growing rebel movement on the Western Isles. As a result their daughter, Ingrid, was to be sent off to her uncle, Duke Feal of Orkney. She further complained of the dwindling amount of food which found its way to the keep’s table, claiming that this was due to numerous pockets of bandits who have recently organised under a mysterious leader.

Next came the missive from his steward who begged that his liege come back to the Western Isles and abandon the campaign. Much to the duke’s chagrin the steward went on further to report that many nobles from the county of Carrick have made their way to the Western Isles, seeking refuge from Count Donnchad of Uliad’s marauding horde. In truth the Count had been in Carrick for nearly five months now, according to the Chronicles of the Western Isles, and had spent his time pillaging and wreaking havoc in the more remote settlements before besieging Carrick’s walls. Though the duke nor his council knew this and Gofraidh’s steward went on to claim that there may be hope to beat Count Donnchad to Carrick’s walls.

Lastly was a message from the entirety of his council. The collective heads, likely backed by the infuriated country barons, demanded that the duke cease his pointless war or face starvation. In the light of the crisis on the isles Gofraidh’s supply lines would be reduced to such a point that they were negligible. While the duke probably took this as the result of personal grivences with his leadership- which explains his later backlash against the nobility on his return a year later- the islands had suffered a devastatingly bad harvest due to a lack of farmers, a drought, and a poor seed selection.
Faced with a situation which teetered on the brink of civil war, Duke Gofraidh continued on his campaign none the less. In his diaries he recorded:

“to hell with these soft nobles and their love of my wine. To hell with these
baseborn fools who would rise up against me. To hell! To hell with it all as I make hell on this earth!”

And with this sentiment the Duke sent a gift of his success to his court, Marshal Artuir’s head with a note in his mouth which read “Dine on this.”

The duke marched for Ulaid.

End of Chapter 2​
 
The revolt has been brewing for about 5 years now, so it is about time that it begins to boil over. Though, the duke really does deserve it seeing as how he is a poop-poor leader who is more concerned with looking awesome and doing what he pleases than actually governing his people. He's like Bohemund from the Guiscard's AAR, but far less intelligent and capable (so maybe he is more Silvester like?)
 
Book One:
Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Unfortunate, Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Cruel
Chapter 3:
Unfortunate Ends
​


The unlikely and underhanded victory Duke Gofraidh had won against both his own court and Count Donnchad was soon eclipsed by yet another province falling to the count. Always at least a step ahead of the duke, Count Donnchad had crossed into the County of Carrick’s more remote areas early in 1077 while Gofraidh was still gloating over his victory against Marshal Artuir, but it was not until early September of 1077 that Carrick proper fell to Count Donnchad’s swift moving host. Initially unknown to both Gofraidh and his court, the nobility of the Western Isles soon had the pleasure of hosting numerous fleeing barons of the defeated Carrick.

Through these refugee-nobles, Gofraidh’s barons learned of the course of the war through eyes tinged with little hope in their liege. They heard of Tir Eoghain’s fall and the duke’s month long dance with the Ulaid Marshal; they heard of the ways their liege ravaged both his own land and his enemies in ways which were unchristian; they heard of the rising star that was Count Donnchad and his victory after victory, how he was always a step ahead of Duke Gofraidh, and how the supposed enemy was a kinder man than their own lord. Simply put the nobility of all ranks grew tired of Gofraidh’s dangerous governance over them and met in a quorum which was initially nothing more than a gaggle of outraged barons- even a few of Gofraidh’s inner circle and counts. While at the time they were only a small threat to Gofraidh, come two years later they would shape the fate of Gofraidh’s reign for better and worse.

Head of this council was none other than Duke Gofraidh’s over worked and very stressed wife, Raghild Maria Haraldsdottir Yngling. Other than possessing a long name, by the early winter of 1077 she had inherited the long list of grievances lodged with her lord husband before he had set out to war. Pressured by terrified nobles, furious burghers, and vengeful peasants, the duchess’s only comfort seemed to stem from the clergy. As the peerage, both Western Isle natives and Carrick refugees, continued to rail against her husband’s rule, Duchess Raghild increasingly spent time with the Dioceses Bishop of the realm, Harald of the Western Isles. Born and raised on the islands, Bishop Harald took the matters of the realm to heart- more so when the matters revolved around the fact that Gofraidh’s lethargic ways of governing saw the destruction of the isles. It is likely due to Harald’s coercion that Duchess Raghild swore on New Years Eve of 1078 that she would act for the ‘good of the duchy,’ an oath which would lead her down a path that eventually unravelled her husband.

But matters at his home were far from Gofraidh’s mind as he lead his freshly reinforced host of nearly 1,000 men. Oblivious to the storm brewing to the north, the duke won a swift victory against the defensive force Count Donnchad left behind in Ulaid and proceeded to capture then promptly plunder every village, hamlet, and town he came across. Without a proper supply line, Duke Gofraidh resorted to leading his army as if he were a bandit king, cutting out large swaths of ripe fields and pressing the farmers he robbed into his host.

Swelled with green soldiers and food Duke Gofraidh and his host remained fairly well-supplied as they marched right up to the walls of Ulaid’s Keep and subsidiary town. When he entrenched his forces outside the wooden walls in early May of 1078 to begin preparations for the forthcoming siege, Gofraidh had little knowledge of the plotting nobles or the swiftly returning Count Donnchad. In fact as he supped on stolen grains and meats, boasted his future victories to his men, and bedded every woman- willing or otherwise- he set his sights on, Duke Gofraidh was the happiest man in the known world.


 
Ehhh, I have a distinct feeling that this update is lacking a certain 'something', but I am not quite sure what it is. I think I may just be having some trouble getting back into this style of writing.
 
Uh, more drama maybe?
It is still well written, but more depth about the home some situation, how 'dramatic' it is, not just facts that everyone dislikes the duke. ;)
 
Book One:
Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Unfortunate, Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Cruel
Chapter 3:
Unfortunate Ends
​


For once Duke Gofraidh was greeted with good news. On the 25th morning of June Gofraidh received word that Count Donnchad had landed in Ulaid, his army in tow- and that Gofraidh’s Marshal, a rather unknown figure by the name of Fingal of The Western Isles or Jorunn of Argyll depending upon the source, had caught Count Donnchad unawares with the small contingent of scouts Gofraidh had put under his marshal’s command. During the brief, but none the less devastating, battle the duke’s marshal managed to swing around the count’s van and spear lines to launch an attack on Count Donnchad’s supplies, rendering them little more than ashes.

Though this was not without a cost; nearly all of the marshal’s men were captured, pressed for information, and then slain and the marshal only barely escaped his own death by sacrificing an arm. Battered and half-dead he returned to his liege with the news that Count Donnchad was marching hard in the direction of Ulaid. A battle was imminent.

However, here the story deviates from Duke Gofraidh’s exuberance over the forthcoming critical battle in his unpopular war and instead focuses on the home front, where the true face of the enemy was emerging.
Glimpsing at what remains of Duchess Raghild Maria’s diary it is easy to see that at home the political fallout from Gofraidh’s nonchalance manner of governance was reaching dangerous levels.

“28th of February, 1079.

I have witnessed many troubling events in my life and as a princess- trueborn or otherwise- I have steeled myself to the hardships which ensue, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to simply pass through these... trying times. My lord husband, in his infinite wisdom, has taken another proposal from the barons council and destroyed it, decrying them as usurpers of powers rightly granted to him by God and demanding that they disband and go back to their estates immediately. The barons did not take this well.

Particularly the burghers have been forming a staunch disliking of my lord husband, likely due to his heavy handed Steward- a most disgusting, self-serving man who is a native Gaelic- who exacts such high taxes that even I am appalled- and wonder where these funds find themselves, for I have not seen a meal of any note in months. They requested that, in the light of a destructive triad of rebelling peasants, rampant thievery, and rapacious stewards, any and all mercantile matters have precedent before that of the lower-born, clergy, and nobility. My lord husband, in a rare moment of dubious clarity, of course voiced his own opinion turned order that they be promptly refused for fear of antagonising the other groups.

However, the problems only continued to mount. Despite my lord husband claiming a victory over the Irish Count sometime late last summer and taking his stronghold and title in return for the well being of the count’s family (whether or not they still are alive I am not sure, there are many rumours which point to many different outcomes and my lord husband adamantly avoids the topic of the fate of Donnchad’s family) and a fair share of our already empty treasure, the nobles are not pleased, the peasants are not pleased, his advisors are not pleased, even I find myself doubting the validity of my lord husband’s word when he speaks it.

Does this make me unfaithful? I do not know, but I do know that three days past a court of justice was razed and looted by a newly formed mob- our spymaster even claims that much of the mob was comprised the burghers who my lord husband denied. They supposedly chanted ‘Gofraidh has no justice in his realm,’ burning the building down to symbolise that my lord husband’s sense of justice is so perverse that it has leaked into the very foundation of anything he erects. Yet still he glosses this over as simple insubordination and rides on his hollow victory over the Irish Count, feasting, gallivanting, and indulging in any and all pleasures while his lesser suffer.

The realm is spiralling out of control. Does it make me a dishonourable woman if I wish to be a good Christian and save it through betrayal?”



 
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I´ve just read it through and I like your writing style. It's flowing and easy to read. I also like that the updates aren't too long so its easy to catch up to new readers. Well written!

Gofraidh is truly evil! It must be awful to live in the realm where the liege does what he wants regardless of the wishes of the common people. Interesting to see how the duke handles the situation at home.
 
Book One:
Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Unfortunate, Gofraidh Mearanach Crovan the Cruel
Chapter 3:
Unfortunate Ends


“22nd of April, 1079.

Concerning yesterday’s session at court and the decisions made to simply leave the people of Tir Eoghain suffer their bandits and lack of grain- both of which caused by his marauding band he called an ‘army’- my lord husband informed me that I should not quarrel myself with such issues as it is unbecoming of a lady.”​


This is the last entry in Duchess Raghild Maria’s diary which has survived to this day. Yet while the significance of the workings behind the instrumental figure in Duke Gofraidh’s downfall is important, it is not so much more important than the events trailing Duke Gofraidh’s stint of unpopular rulings after his war.

Upon his return the duke disbanded the barons council- and when they did not disperse he did so with his sword. Slaying twelve of the ‘key’ nobles whose only crime likely stemmed from their unfortunate presence in court that day, Gofraidh deemed them traitors and heretics, robbing them of their lives then granting their estates to the clergy in an attempt to “cleanse the filth.” A shockwave followed this event and left much of the nobility stunned, but the rebellion born amongst the peasantry and burghers continued to swell unabated.

On the 25th of February the people of Lewis, the largest island of The Western Isles, swarmed over the Duke’s provincial seat of justice and burnt it down- decrying it and him an apostate of all things righteous and just. Without any hesitance Duke Gofraidh deployed a part of his retinue to disperse the mob, and when they failed to do so he rounded up as many of them as he could and hung them This act quelled the mob for a time, but come two months later in April their sentiment was taken up by the gentry when Duke Gofraidh made the unpopular decision to levy heavy taxes on Tir Eoghain for “having to come and rescue them” from a war which the duke had begun.

Faced with an increasingly tyrannical liege, the barons, courtiers, and even the duke’s vassals rallied around an unlikely figure of opposition- Duke Gofraidh’s wife, Duchess Raghild Maria Haraldsdottir Yngling. The only sources of Duchess Raghild’s ascent to such a precarious position are the few remaining entries from her diaries and the many longwinded sections of the ‘vile sorceress’ and ‘devil’s maiden’ belonging to the Annals of Ulster and the Chronicles of the Western Isles respectively.

Despite her marred remembrance in light of politically motivated texts, contemporary historians have regarded the story of Duchess Raghild Maria as one not born out of a hunger for power, but instead a yearning for peace and stability. Whether or not the duchess willingly accepted this role, by the end of May she helmed a council of nobles who staunchly opposed her husband. The following months saw the council hashing out their possible decision, ranging from outright civil war- a sentiment held by all but one of Gofraidh’s vassals- to tamer solutions like an abdication of the ducal throne. It would be the latter of these options which Duchess Raghild’s council would put forth to Duke Gofraidh some months, but for the time being waited for an opportune moment.


 
@Auray- Thank you for the interest and here is to hoping that it continues!

@Enewald- I hope diary entries introduce a bit of drama. I think for the next entry I am going to do a narrative styled piece because the nature of it warrants it more so than the quasi-history book style I currently employ!

@Everyone else- Come the start of book two I am going to introduce a few changes to how I write these pieces. While I will keep them nice and short, I am going to put more of a focus on individual characters and how -they- shape and change the course of the duchy instead of having this amorphous approach of "bland face man does this, but in the end it is all Gofraidh's fault." Also I am going to add in visuals. Maybe.

And a reminder! Post comments and such as they help me get a better grasp of what how my audience feels about what goes on, what I can improve, and what I am doing well already. Also comments are like crack-rocks to me, and I need my fix.
 
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