Alternate history: the Anarchy of King Stephen.

[King Henry V]

You find your manservant and quickly order him to ask for the presence of all the major surviving barons who are not seriously wounded behind the keep tower, where there is no one to disturb you. The wounded lords limp into the area sealed off by your bodyguards and sit down on hastily prepared seating. You decide to jump straight to the matter at heart.
“My lords, without further delay I must inform you of news that I have just learned. Amid Robert of Gloucester’s abandoned camp several chests containing correspondence have been found from many castellans, barons and prelates of England informing Gloucester that he has their allegiance and that they will hold their castles against me once he returns from Wales.”
You give a few letters to the nobles whilst you tell them of all the strongholds that will support the rebellion. The shock is apparent on everyone’s faces.
“Our losses in the battle have been too great to allow us to continue with this campaign against the Welsh,” you say. We have achieved what we have set out to do: the flower of the Welsh army lies dead in the valley and we have punished them for their incessant raids, they will not trouble us for many years to come. However, we do not know the state of the realm, therefore we must hurry back to England where an army can be raised to deal with these rebels. In the mean time, I think it best that we keep this between ourselves until we reach safer lands where we may feel out the ground. When we have found out the full scale of this rebellion, then we shall tell the army, but for now I feel that discretion is the better part of valour. ”
“I am sure my castles of Chepstow and Usk will remain steadfast in their loyalty to your majesty,” says Gilbert of Clare.
“As will Worcester,” Robert Beaumont reassures you.
“I thank you for your help,” you bow to them both. “We shall depart two days from now and march down the Usk where we will find whatever food there is. I doubt we will receive much resistance from the Welsh now that we have smashed their armies.
There is a shout from the walls and a young squire runs up to your circle of guards where their spears from a barrier against any outsider wishing to intrude upon this secret council.
“I have news for the King!” shouts the boy to your implacable guards.
“Let him through” you order the soldiers and you beckon the squire in. “What is it?” you ask him.
“Sire, there is a party of riders outside. It seems as though they come in peace.”
Once again, your tired limbs scramble up to the parapet where you are able to see half a dozen horsemen ride across the battlefield. Their shields are up-turned and green sprigs are tied to the lance on which flaps the banner of the great eagle of Powys. It seems that they have indeed come in peace.
You climb back down to the bailey where you give orders for twenty knights to prepare themselves to ride out of the castle whilst a servant quickly helps you don your coats of mail and fasten your swords belt. Your joints ache painfully as you clamber onto your horse and ride out of the gate, accompanied by your party of knights. Your red banner of the centaur flaps in the breeze as you gallop down the hill. You are determined to look as powerful as possible to the Welsh and not allow any weaknesses to be visible.
You rein in your horse where the Welshmen stand amid the corpses of the field.
“We bid you greetings, lord,” one of the Welshmen says. He is a slender man, with dark oily hair, a long nose and bony fingers.
“May I know who you are and what your business is?” you demand of him brusquely.
He gives you a short, syrupy smile showing off a set of perfect white teeth. “I am Hywel ap Madyn, and I speak for my Lord Owain ap Gruffyd, King of Powys.”
Your ears prick up at this. “How so? What of Madog,?”
“King Madog ap Maredudd, alas, has been taken from us as he died heroically in the recent battle, and now surely resides by Christ’s bosom.”
“So what do you want of me? Peace?”
Hywel leans towards a young man and murmurs into his ear. The man seems to be in his early twenties and bears a haughty look. He has a long, gaunt face with hollow cheeks, thin lips and deep black eyes. His head of thick black hair that falls down to his shoulders is crowned with a silver coronet. He is obviously the Prince Owain of Powys.
The prince talks to his interpreter in Welsh before Hywel addresses you. “My Lord King is the rightful sovereign of Powys and is so recognised by all the lords and the people of Powys. However, Gwynedd, whose soldiers control all the major strongholds in Powys including Mathrafal, where all our kings have been acclaimed since the dawn of time. They recognise a usurper, Bleddyn ap Moriddig who is cousing of the late King, as ruler of Powys and it is only thanks to the help of Christ and His Angels that King Owain managed to escape with his life from the assassin’s blade.”
You give him a derisory stare. “What do petty arguments over petty princedoms concern me?”
Hywel bridles at the insult. “My lord, Gwynedd is no friend of yours. It is the major partner in the alliance that fought against you only a few hours ago and their ties with Robert of Gloucester are strong.” He pauses. “Furthermore, if am not mistaken, has not Gloucester’s defiance extended somewhat further than this fair country?”
You look at him with cold hard eyes as he reveals his hand. You give a brief nod.
He continues. “Though the battle has claimed the lives of many brave Welsh warriors, the Lord has surely smiled on the soldiers of Powys, most of whom, thanks be to God, have survived. Unless I am yet more mistaken, as your majesty will want to return to your lands with all haste, you will no doubt want to march down the valley of the Usk. The Usk is a narrow valley, with steep, high hills. A handful of men could cause much damage to anyone marching through.”
You give a wry smile. “So what do you want?”
“We require soldiers. Though King Owain has the wholehearted support of the people and of Righteousness, and though the army of Gwynedd has been shattered, they still control many fortresses. To reduce these strongholds we will need good, heavy soldiers. Furthermore, our people have suffered much hardship due the devastation of the Wye valley. We fear famine this winter. If the Usk is also to burned, our people will be severely weakened and Gwynedd will find their task of subjecting Powys all the easier. We therefore request that twenty-five carts of grain be delivered before the first frost and that you refrain from pillaging the Usk valley. We shall supply you with whatever food we have and we shall assure you of safe conduct and in return you will give us three hundred men-at-arms. Do we have an agreement?”

[Lord Winter]

I think we should agree, While we cant easily spare 300 men at arms, The welsh could probably kill off close to 300 in ambushes or worse a few loyal lords. The soldiers it sounds like will go to good use and we could possibly turn the welsh in to a political puppet.

[AntiochusIII]

Now, first of all: Powys is as desperate as you are. That disaster at Dinas Bran was crippling to all because of the mass slaughter of Welsh nobles.

Second, their only bargains are:

1. To support you in the up-and-coming struggle, probably step up the raids...IF they survive the crisis in Welsh power structure that we initiated.

2. To leave you alone throughout the dangerous march.

We do not know the temper of this Welsh prince, and how trustworthy he could be. With those men-at-arms gone, he could've easily backstabbed us. Or he might not. Desperation breeds randomness. They might become our invaluable ally on the backs of the rebellious Anglos, or they might betray us at first opportunity.

Now, their demands include these two things:

1. We have to give up 300 fine English men-at-arms for them to defeat Gwynedd, allowing Powys to dominate what's left of the Welsh, presumably. If he loses, though, Gwynedd will dominate what is left.

2. We cannot forage the Usk valley for food.

The first is obviously detrimental, the second might actually speed us up if we are well-supplied, or not.

The benefits are to reduce the chance of Powys bogging us down, and probably gain an ally behind the enemy lines. The detriments include the loss of three hundred precious soldiers and the possibility of betrayal.

I would not be so decisive but propose back to him to aid us immediately in trying to catch, or bog down, Robert of Gloucester. This is what we truly need. If he can't give us this, I don't see the point of allying with him: the risks of a Welsh ambush may be unattractive, but what teeth does this viper has after so hard a fall? Why lose the precious warriors now that their iron fists might soon be needed? Besides, the troops would absolutely aware that something is not right when you allow the recently defeated foe to have three hundred of your men away for safe passage home...

In truth, I'd rather fancy gaining Powys as an ally and the dominant force in Wales, rather than Gwynedd, as it is much closer to the majority of the Marcher Lords, and you will have its gratitude (presumably), while Gwynedd might go on to disturb Chester, our possible destination. But the cost they're demanding is not worth it. Remember, our army is barely above (less?) the thousandth mark. Three hundred is a lot.

[King Henry V]

As with all diplomacy, the terms are negotiable.

[King Kurt]

We should negociate with this Welsh prince. We should include in our demands
1) The capture, or at least, knowledge of where he is, of Robert of Gloucester.
2) A hostage of suitable rank.
3) We should only give them 200 men - our force is small, so its size is relative. In fact a smaller force might be swifter. We need to get to England quickly and raise an army.
4) We should issue our potential welsh allies permission to raid our enemies - would help with tieing them down. I would see this a bit like a letter of marque issued to privateers.

[Kraxis]

Ok this could very well be dangerous.

If Powys is strongenough to ambush us, and their army managed to survive, mostly, then why do they need our troops?
Either it could be a trap or they are bluffing. I estimate the last. We could likely survive the trek home without much trouble. But!

Since they are bluffing they are also sincere. They would prefer us as friends.
Thus I propose that they get not a single soldier until we are out... Meaning we have the entire army with us.
The prince will travel under our protection with whatever bodyguards he has until that point (hostage, but strong enough to help in case of Gwynedd attacks).
At that time we hand over enough troops to help him subdue Mathrafal, I suspect 150-200 will be more than enough. That should firmly set him on the throne in the view of the troops and people.
When that is done we should be home taking stock of the matters at home and in a better position to see if we can help with a few more troops to gain an ally/puppet (we should demand that for the help), or rather leave Wales in an almost perfect unbalance where neither side is strong enough to overwhelm the other within a good time.
Food they can get when we get out, it is not a major matter out there, in here it is. The food we have will last us out of Wales, it is doubtful Powys can/will provide enough for us when they demand food in the first place.

We must remember we are the strong party here, so we are the ones to make the demands, and I think my demands are fair enough to get a positive response.

Should it be forcibly rejected we could still take him hostage. And while in our custody be treated nicely, shown that we had no intentions of tricking him and at the end still hold our deal of the bargain open. The time it would take to get out would likely see him calm down a bit and be more open to our suggestion.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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