The Pendragon Chronicles (A Chronicle of the Pendragon's Rulers of Wales)

[Asantahene]

All of it bar Lincoln and soon to be Chester hint hint, I won't spoiling anything else but England goes through quite a few kings in the next chapter.

So they're still quite territorially strong huh? Be careful my King. Nothing to unite the English like a war with a foreign invader hehe

 

[Saxon125]

The Reign of King Meilyr Pendragon Chapter II

Three years of peace and consolation followed the birth of Meilyr’s children. Money was gathered, forces trained and military buildings were built with zeal. Finally in the last months of 995 Meilyr began his plan to weaken England by sending Assassins to kill Swaefraed the current king. The killers were successful and his much hated son Werestan became king. Werestan was a scholarly man with a lust for ambition but also suffered from paranoia, because of this he was hated by a large majority of his vassals and it was easy for Meilyr to arrange his assassination. On the 29th of March that year he was blown up in a manure explosion; however his orchestration of the assassination was discovered. Now an infant sat on the English throne, and it was time for Meilyr to press the first of many claims to weaken England.

The claim itself was on Chester a county over the Welsh border. The first few weeks were spent by both sides gathering their forces; The Irish levies congregated in county Dublin and took ship to Cumberland where they met up first with the Scottish forces and then the Welsh army, this host numbered well over 15000 men in total more then enough to match the combined English levies.

The English meanwhile, gathered there forces and set to work attacking the Lothian trade posts spread throughout the Kingdom. This did little to hamper the Welsh, who pursued them across England and trapped them in Cornwall as they looted the trade post; tapped with no way forward and no way back the English stood there ground in the county and let the Welsh come to them so beginning the battle of Tintagel.

The Battle of Tintagel - a documented account by Owen the Monk - January 997

The battle of Tintagel took place over several days in October 996 on a flat grassy plain in Cornwall. It was one of the largest battles of the period, with the combined might of the Welsh army of 15000 men versus the English forces numbering roughly 10000 men. The Welsh forces were diverse with roughly 8000 light and heavy infantry, nearly 4000 archers and roughly 2500 cavalry with 2300 of that number being light cavalry. The English had roughly 6000 infantry, 2500 archers and 700 cavalry. Strangely their army was led by leaders who had little martial experience, while the Welsh were lead by skilled leaders in martial warfare.

The battle started with a barrage of arrows, with the English losing nearly 2000 archers, compared to the 600 Welsh losses. The Welsh taking advantage of their numbers charged across the plain with Galloglaich infantry and Scottish highlanders leading the charge. The English barely had time to form a shield wall before the host slammed into it and an all out melee began. Elsewhere on the field King Meilyr led the Welsh cavalry into the English mounted forces and routed them after heavy fighting gaining valuable combat experience. The Welsh infantry meanwhile continued their slugging match with the English and the lack of skill of their commanders began to show itself. The English right flank broke and chaos insured as the other flanks were attacked from behind by the Welsh cavalry. The English routed and fled the field having lost 6000 men in the battle compared to the 2000 Welsh losses. The remnants of the English forces was caught and slain in the county of Devon, leaving the Welsh virtually unchallenged and making victory even more possible.
​

Shortly after the battle Meilyr found out his wife was present and a daughter was born the month after, she was called Alice. By January 997 victory seemed close for the Welsh, but then news reached Meilyr that the infant king had been cast off the throne in a bloodless coup. The ruler of England was now Ethelweard, who was descended from King Hacon. As such the war ended but Meilyr pressed the claim again days later and England could only raise 4000 men to oppose him. Meilyr fought the English using his own levies and made excellent use of the divide and conquer strategy, sending his retinues to destroy small English forces to prevent them from into a sizable threat which allowed his other forces to besiege Chester and London unhindered.

The war was won by July 998 and Chester passed into Welsh hands. The English forces were broken and spent and would take years to recover. Meilyr had shown that it was possible to fight the English and win. But would he be able to form Britannia?

 

[Saxon125]

Just want to say thank you so much for your support for this AAR. As of today nearly 8000 people have viewed it. In truth I never expected it to get that many. Still thank you everyone for reading and commenting. The next chapter will be out later today.

Saxon

 

[Saxon125]

The Reign of King Meilyr Pendragon Chapter III

The next few years would be peaceful for Meilyr and the three kingdoms it was a time to rest rebuild and to control vassals. On the 18th January 1000, news reached the Meilyr that one of his own vassals Duke Rhun of Powys was gathering forces to seize the Welsh throne. Meilyr arranged for him to be assassinated a few days later, unfortunately the assassin was caught and implicated him and to make matters worse the Duchess of Powys found even more evidence and used it to inform the other vassals that he had broken his feudal contract.

Following this blow to vassal relations, Meilyr found out that his wife was pregnant once again on the 9th June 1000. In November Meilyr ordered a feast to be prepared in the capital. Accounts suggest that the food was lavish and the wine flowed freely, fire eaters and minstrels also played at the feast. As the festivities continued over the following months, Beorngyth gave birth to yet another son on the 10th January 1001 he was christened Ysfael. Days later Bishop Maredudd was sent to prison by Meilyr after brutally killing a servant with a dagger.

The rest of the year passed without incident, in November the Pope requested that Scotland pass papal investiture to comply with church doctrine, not wanting to anger the Holy Father Meilyr agreed. The following March, Beorngyth was pregnant once again. Things began to further improve for Meilyr in June for a claim on the county of Shrewsbury had been fabricated. In October a daughter was born she was named Beorngyth after her mother.

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Just a quick chapter as a quick interlude of sorts, I skipped a few years after this update, so I will be continuing the next chapter in 1005 or 1006. War with England is on the horizon, expect the next chapter in a few days.

 

[DensleyBlair]

Meilyr's doing well. It's promising to see excursions into England, and I'm great looking forward to seeing whether he'll be able to make any significant progress towards forming Prydain. Considering his lack of aversion towards getting work done via more underhanded means, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he decided to take a less noble route to achieving the goal.

 

[Saxon125]

Meilyr's doing well. It's promising to see excursions into England, and I'm great looking forward to seeing whether he'll be able to make any significant progress towards forming Prydain. Considering his lack of aversion towards getting work done via more underhanded means, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he decided to take a less noble route to achieving the goal.

More excursions next chapter my friend. actually his son will have a weak claim to England. So I may just create Britannia without the use intrigue.

 

[bkj123]

What are you going to do after you form Britannia?
And great job on the new chapters! I guess the last two kings didn't last very long, did they......

 

[Saxon125]

What are you going to do after you form Britannia?
And great job on the new chapters! I guess the last two kings didn't last very long, did they......

Honestly I have no Idea... Any Suggestions are welcome, and yes Arthur and Lylr lasted less then 10 years.

 

[eliaspays]

More excursions next chapter my friend. actually his son will have a weak claim to England. So I may just create Britannia without the use intrigue.

Yes! The Empire of Prydain shall be founded!

 

[Saxon125]

The Reign of King Meilyr Pendragon Chapter IV

A few years passed before Meilyr plan to weaken England further could be set in motion, in May 1005 a claim on the county of Lancaster was fabricated. Also in November Beorngyth was found out once again to be pregnant with a daughter being born on the 10th of June the next year. Also that year in October a claim on the county of Westmorland was fabricated.

By July 1008 the truce had expired and war with England was possible, Meilyr decided to press all of the county claims he had acquired and so a second war with the English began. The English who had already gathered their forces for another war on the European mainland, resolved to once again attack Welsh trade posts rather then attacking the divided Welsh forces. The entirety of the Welsh forces combined to form a mighty host of 18000 men and pursued the English forcing them into Cornwall and engaging them at the battle of Restormal.

The Battle of Restormal - a documented account by Owen the Monk – December 1008

The battle of Restormal was eerily similar to the battle of Tintagel 11 years before. It took place once again on a grassy plain and the English were once again fighting for their lives. In fact many believe that the English lost the battle due to low morale because of their close proximity to the site of the battle of Tintagel where 6000 Englishmen had lost their lives over a decade before. The English themselves only had 9000 men compared to the 18000 Welsh forces. The battle itself was short and bloody for the English forces, their outnumbered army fought hard, but eventually the left flank broke under the sheer manpower of the Welsh with the right flank following shortly after and they encircled the English army The English rallied their forces and tried to break out they succeeded in allowing roughly 3500 men to flee the field at the cost of nearly 6000 English lives. The Welsh only lost roughly 1700 men in this conflict. The remaining English forces were caught and slaughtered in Devon a few days later at the battle of Exeter. ​

With the English forces severally weakened, Meilyr once again made use of his divide and conquer strategy. He split his army into roughly three 4000 men forces and sent them to London Lancaster and Westmorland to siege the counties. The remainder of the army was sent around the country, removing newly raised English forces and not allowing them to form into a sizable force allowing the siege forces to continue their work unhindered. By January 1010 the war was won and England was even weaker then before, and several more counties had fallen into Welsh hands. The duchy of Lancaster was usurped shortly after and Lancaster and Westmorland given to Prince Rhys along with the duchy. Shrewsbury became a royal fief, now could Meilyr hold onto these newly acquired lands…

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Even more of England falls under my control. Now we have a few years of truce for more consolidation, soon England will fall to Welsh close harmony singing...

 

[Asantahene]

Nice work!

To what would you attribute the ease at which youve been able to acquire large parts of England?

 

[bkj123]

Any ideas what you'll do after you make Britannia?

 

[eliaspays]

Nice!
What is the state of the world in general?

 

[Saxon125]

Nice work!

To what would you attribute the ease at which youve been able to acquire large parts of England?

Probably the AI attacking my trade posts instead of attacking my divided welsh forces, both times I have been at war I have caught them in Cornwall and dealt them a crushing blow. Honestly I thought fighting England would be hard. I was wrong.

Any ideas what you'll do after you make Britannia?

Maybe Brittany but anyone is welcome to give ideas. I will consider them.

Nice!
What is the state of the world in general?

There will be a world interlude when Meilyr dies and his son takes the throne. So you will have to wait.

 

[Saxon125]

The Reign Of Meilyr Pendragon Chapter V

Days after Meilyr’s victory against the English an Assassin sent by Ethelweard attempted to slay him in bed, while the assassin wounded him he was unable to kill him. Enraged by this Meilyr sent Assassins of his own after the king who killer was never discovered. He died days later from multiple knife wounds. With the death of Ethelweard, the treaty against England was no longer valid allowing Meilyr to press Rhys’s de jure claim on Derby. The war itself was bloody and short but tragedy struck near its end, Meilyr was rendered incapable on the battlefield by an axe blow to the head.

Days later Ethelweard surrendered the county, for he was dealing with a revolt within his own lands. Meilyr the Great would die less a month later on the 30th November 1011 a shadow of the man he once was. He had taken the fight to the English and died because of it could his son Rhys form Britannia and prevent civil war…

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Well that's 3 Pendragon kings who became Incapable, still World Interlude Next then King Rhys who might struggle in his early years...

 

[eliaspays]

Foolish king of england, as if he could even get close to defeating the noble welsh forces.
+1 for going after Brittany next. Then Spain.

 

[Saxon125]

Foolish king of england, as if he could even get close to defeating the noble welsh forces.
+1 for going after Brittany next. Then Spain.

True the English never had the forces to beat me once... Not Once!

 

[Saxon125]

World Interlude 1012

Rhys sighed and closed the chronicle, another king written about only many more to go. Meilyr reign was done, now to move on to King Rhys. Rhys got of his chair and was about to go searching for relevant material when a tune that was only played at particularly deadly weddings was heard down the corridor. Moments later the King strode in playing a violin, Rhys stood there waiting with his arms folded while he finished the tune then he spoke. “Really of all the songs you choose to play on that hunk of wood you choose that one, the one that usually results in the brutal death in either one person who everyone hates or a group of people they respect”. “Indeed now spare me your lectures let us look at the maps” replied the King. “I suppose we should” muttered Rhys as he led the King to the table.

The Isles as you know are mostly under Pendragon control, Meilyr made some gains into English territory during his reign gaining control of several counties in the Duchy of Lancaster and the county of Shrewsbury. England is now going through a period of civil war.

In the region of Scandinavia, Norway is emerging as the dominant power in the region under the reign of King Anders. Denmark who went through a period of paganism has once again fallen under the cross and has inherited the province of Upland. Though the duchy of Sjælland is ruled by the former Danish king who is pagan. The Satakunta tribe has taken over parts of Finland, but the Rus still control the Karelia duchy.

In central Europe the Karling dynasty is still strong, holding multiple Kingdoms. Beyond that the eastern Kingdoms such as Poland and Hungry have messy borders.

In the Iberian Peninsula, The Spanish are not fully united against the Muslim threat, but have been able to halt a Jihad that threatens the region. Only Asturias could pose a threat to the Muslim invaders.

In the East, The Byzantines are strong and have made small incursions into Outremer, though Muslims still hold Jerusalem. Elsewhere Bulgaria is still alive and kicking but may soon be swallowed the Byzantines.

“Very good my tiny friend” said the King continue your work and you may get a raise and with that he walked out once again playing the violin. Rhys gave him the finger as he walked out.

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Finally got round to finish writing this. I'll try and get the a few chapters of Rhys's reign out this week.

 

[Asantahene]

Nice informative update though nonetheless

 

[Saxon125]

Nice informative update though nonetheless

Cheers for that, Sometimes I either can't bring myself to write or just don't get round to it. Hopefully Rhys will become Emperor of Britannia