Malurous: I guess I had to get influenced from somewhere. There’s a lot of chopping needing doing so I’m sure you’ll be sated for a while yet.
Keinwyn: Thanks. I looked that up then started looking around, and I think I’ve come up with a good set of names for receltified England. That can wait until the unification through, which I’ve already written a decision for. Just wait and see.
The Messenger: Thanks, I think.
Chapter Two: The Real Threat
The invasion began. The three pagan nations of Britain allied against the last bastions of Christendom on the Isle. While troop numbers remained fairly even, the English were still suffering from internal dissent after their failed attempts to liberate their allies in Portugal. In a prolonged war, we had the upper hand.
Initial moves were for the English to cross into Wessex while the Pagan Alliance invaded from the north. We believed that, with luck on our side, the English castles would fall first and grant us the victory.
Duke of Wessex (the 2nd): Sire, are you certain you’ll come and ambush the English from behind while they’re coming towards my palace?
Conan: Of course.
He pats the Duke on the back and leaves after placing the ‘Besiege me’ sticker there.
Unfortunately, the walls of Salisbury fell before any progress could be made by the Alliance. The English immediately turned around to deal with the invasion on their home soil. The combined Cornish-Welsh army waited in the forests of Oxfordshire and used them to achieve a decisive victory that sent the English remnants scurrying away. Conan pursued them with the rest of the army while the Welsh were trusted to continue the siege of Oxford.
Conan: He pulls his sword out of the final Englishman and wipes it off before slumping down and catching his breath. How many months did we waste chasing them?
Exeter: Four, sire. Maybe you wouldn’t be so exhausted if you didn’t charge into the heart of the melee each time we caught up with them?
Conan: Never!
Lashing out with his sword, Conan manages to bisect a couple of unlucky corpses
Exeter: Right! Got it! You’re the king, after all.
Meanwhile in the north the Welsh had done an admirable job fighting the Scots, even managing to take their capital. With most of the Scottish court under our control, we secured a favourable peace treaty and took them out of the war. England was now alone.
With no allies and no soldiers, the fate of England was sealed. Wales took advantage of our abandoning Oxford to chase the English army to claim the province for themselves, while the rest of the nation was incorporated into Cornwall. Victory was accomplished! The Anglo-Saxons had lost their greatest nation and only the weaklings of Lancaster remained. However, I could not shake the feeling that it wasn’t over yet.
Following this, Conan moved his throne temporarily to London so he could handle the affairs of state while being close enough to his army to deploy should the English rise up again. It was the right call, as there were several rebellions amongst discontented English Christians which had to be put down through his usual method. Meanwhile, the lords in Exeter took the chance to expand the royal bureaucracy so the King wasn’t so closely linked with vital administrative roles.
While the pacification of England continued, the campaigns against the remaining Christians continued apace, this time spearheaded by Wales. They invaded and took a long tract of territory from the Scots. This was the time we, by which I mean the nobility as his Immortal Majesty was having too much fun chopping up rebels, realised we were in great danger of being overshadowed by our neighbours and possibly becoming the lesser partner in the Celtic reclamation.
Not that the Welsh weren’t appreciative for our aid. Some Welsh nobles made generous donation for our support in the last war with Scotland. The money immediately went to finance an expansion of the military as well as paying for druids to begin ceremonies across England to bring the Christians back to the right faith.
The next few years were fairly quiet, so this would be a good time to lay out some of the developments in Europe, particularly on the advance of Islam. The Khans continued their march westwards with both Moscow and Warsaw coming under their control. In Iberia the Christians are close to annihilation, but their salvation may come in the form of a massive battle for dominance between Badajoz and Zaragoza.
Further attempts to bring the outlying nobles under control caused one in particular to declare himself true King of Cornwall. I’m sure you can guess what happened to him as soon as Conan showed up.
Efforts to bring the old ways back to the English were not going as smoothly as anticipated. Constant uprisings were hindering the druids, not to mention it was hard to tell which people were merely mouthing the chants and secretly had chapels in their homes. To remedy this, we brought in one of the foremost druids in the land.
Maban Penhaligon stand in front of the throne, smoking a pipe and wobbling slightly.
Exeter: So, can you help us?
Maban: Sure, dude. Just make sure no one touches my crops and there’ll be enough for everyone!
Exeter: For what?
Maban: Real trippy visions, man. One taste and it’ll be obvious who’s gone on a quest into their mind. Like, a coming of age thing. I’ll be cool. Want some?
He holds out his pipe to Conan and Exeter
Conan: Will I get visions of battle and carnage?
Maban: Dude, this is a plant of peace, not war.
Conan: Then I’m not int-
Exeter: We’ll use it for the common man; men who don’t need to be warriors.
Maban: Cool.
As we continued to prepare for the inevitable war with Wales, we were able to convince Conan to impart some of his famous knowledge onto the young new recruits of Cornwall. It was...interesting to say the least. Poor Duncan might not walk again, but at least it scared the rest of them into line.
Meanwhile, Wales continued to press its claim to be the champion of the Druidic faith and master of the Isles by finishing off the remnants of the Lancaster Christians. Now, every south of the Scottish capital was under rightful pagan control. However, the rivalry between Cornwall and Wales looked ready to hit breaking point. All it would take was a single diplomatic spark, and it just so happened that one existed.
Northumberland. A close ally of both sides in the rivalry but yet inferior to either of them. Control of these loyal Anglo-Saxons could determine the fate of the Isles. Things were about to get serious.
To be continued...
