OOC Thread

[TinCow]

France has prospered under the reign of King Philip the Honorable. Her territories have expanded to encompass all of France itself, as well as England, Wales, Flanders, and Northern Spain. The realm is divided amongst four noble Houses.

In the east, the House of Anjou is the largest and most prosperous. Its Lord, Marquess Raulet Poitevin is an old friend of King Philip, and the two share much in common in their political views. Throughout Philip’s reign, the House of Anjou has received particular favor at Court and has gained immense prestige and honor.

In the south, the House of Gascony is the main rival to the House of Anjou. Its Lord, Count Guillemot de Lyon is a notorious drinker and adulterer and generally embodies everything that King Philip and Raulet Poitevin detest. The House of Gascony was the prominent leading House of France under King Philip’s father, and through his favor they were given vast resources to wage war against Aragon and Navarre. These wars were successful and secured for Gascony a strong hold in Spain. However, this front has languished for many decades now. Military resources were diverted away to the House of Anjou when King Philip assumed the throne, and Guillemot de Lyon has been publicly scorned by the King for his behavior.

In the north of France, Prince Louis, the eldest son of King Philip and heir to the throne, controls the House of Normandy. He could not be more unlike his noble father, and there has been much disagreement between them. As the Viscount of Normandy, Louis expected to gain control over the prosperous territories of England after the successful invasion and conquest, in which Louis’ armies and vassals played a key part. Louis himself earned great distinction and even surpassed his father’s skill at command to become the greatest general in France. However, King Philip believed it more prudent to spread power to the other nobles than to concentrate it in once house, particular one led by his turbulent heir. Philip believed that Louis needed to be taught a lesson in humility and politics before he ascended to the throne, and thus gave the new English provinces to his second son, Henry, who had fought well alongside his elder brother in the war. Thus, all of England and Wales is controlled by the newly named House of Albion, led by Viscount Henry.

Yet, King Philip's last years were not destined to be peaceful ones. Prince Louis did not take his father’s actions in the manner he was meant to. To him, they were a direct affront to his honor and an insult to the blood and sweat he had shed in the conquest of England. Already a man to whom dreadful actions were natural, he decided to get revenge on his manipulative father. Yet, he could not attack the King directly, for fear of losing his claim to the throne. So, Prince Louis decided to strike at his father by manipulating the long-standing rivalry between Anjou and Gascony. Anjou was single-handedly holding the front line against the Holy Roman Empire, France’s old foe. It commanded more strength of arms than any other House, but it was focused on external enemies, not internal ones.

Prince Louis used his immense popularity after the war with England to gain the Chancellorship. From there, he funneled resources to Gascony, quickly swelling the ranks of their armies. Though Anjou was still stronger, it was distracted by the foreign war. With this advantage in their favor, and the secret support of the Chancellor who continued to give them a disproportionate share of France’s treasury, Gascony declared war on Anjou, determined to seize control of several provinces and regain their old position as the preeminent House in France.

And so it was that the War of the Houses began.

King Philip the Honorable (Ramses II CP) – 55 Owns: Paris, Marseille, Ajaccio & 1 Royal Army

House of Anjou
Marquess Raoulet Poitevin (The Lemongate) – 55 Owns: Digon, Metz & 1 Private Army
Count Bohemond Chanteur (Tristan de Castelreng) – 39 Owns: Bern & 1 Private Army
Viscount Jaques de Toulouse (gibsonsg91921) – 29 Owns: Rheims & 1 Private Army
Baron Germain Arnoud (rossahh) – 26 Owns: Antwerp
Baronet Thomas Maquereau (Ichigo) – 27 Owns: Bruges

House of Gascony
Count Guillemot de Lyon (Privateerkev) – 47 Owns: Toulouse, Zaragoza & 1 Private Army
Viscount Richart Marcel (Ignoramus) – 36 Owns: Bordeaux & 1 Private Army
Baron Marcel de Brabant (PrinceofTroy) – 36 Owns: Pamplona
Baronet Michiel (deguerra) – 17 Owns: Valencia

House of Normandy
Chancellor, Viscount, and Prince Louis (OverKnight) – 36 Owns Caen & 1 Royal Army
Baron Perrin Gassou (TheFlax) – 35 Owns Angers
Baronet Bertin de Plaisians (Elite Ferret) – 25 Owns Rennes

House of Albion
Viscount Henry (Cecil XIX) - ? Owns: London, Caernarvon & 1 Private Army
Baron Hugues de Poitiers (Zim) – 28 Owns: Nottingham
Baronet Hermant Tanlay (TinCow) – 27 Owns: York

Notes:

(1) At the time the game starts, it will be treated as though Guillemot de Lyon has just made a Declaration of War against Raoulet Poitevin. Everything else will follow according to the rules. Role-play your characters however you want. Join the war, stay neutral, sue for peace, etc. Split from your House if you don’t like it, join another House, generally whatever you want, keeping in mind the background I have provided to the various Houses and characters.

(2) The rank names have not been altered to fit France. This isn’t meant to be an in-depth game, so don’t both changing them. Just refer to them as they are in the rules for convenience and clarity.

(3) If anyone has a problem with the role I have assigned them, or won’t be able to participate for any reason, please let me know.

(4) The save game file has not yet been edited. All characters will be moved to locations within their respective provinces with a few exceptions, such as some Anjou avatars who will be inside HRE territory and Gascony avatars who will be on the border with Anjou. I will not be editing the avatars or the city improvements, though, so if you want to see what your avatar or provinces look like, the save is accurate for them. Every single player will have units they already control (Private or Royal Army) or units in their ‘owned’ settlement(s) that they can immediately seize once the game starts, should they wish to. Generally, Anjou will start with stronger armies than Gascony, but they will be out of position to respond to the Gascony attack. In addition, the Chancellor will probably be giving Gascony more support than Anjou.

(5) Please do not open up other threads for this game. I want to keep this organized well, so I will make the necessary threads with the right titles after I have edited the save game. For now, just post in this thread, which will serve as the OOC thread for the rest of the game.