MacDidz: The Scottish Blog

[Didz]

I also loved the picture of the sheriff of Nottingham.

I tried to find out who the Sherriff of Nottingham really was, but stumbled upon the picture of Alan Wheatley the actor who played him in the Robin Hood films instead. In fact, as someone pointed out on one of the sites I visited, Nottingham Castle being a castle would not have been the residence of the Sherriff of Nottingham anyway, but would have been the responsibility of a Constable, hence the idea that Alan Wheatley was being sent to meet with King Edward whilst the Constable stayed in the Castle just in case of treachery.

I thought about getting Robin Hood involved in the story, particularly when the English Army spent the entire Winter camped in Sherwood Forest, but I decided that might be a bit too corny.

The thing that has surpised me as I've been writing this blog is the extent to which fate has favoured the Scottish. The rapid deaths, first of Pope Gregory and then Pope Aczo were an amazing coincidence which left Scotland with a 10/10 Pope-o-meter rating even after taking York and Nottingham. One can seriously understand why Edward would be convinced that God favours his cause and it's interesting that as I've followed through on this theme so Edwards traits in the game have followed suit.

Both in the game and in the story Edward is becoming ever more convinced of God's hand in his destiny.

The only time this ever seemed in doubt was at the battle of Nottingham when Rufus and his army of Knights emerged from Sherwood forest. That really was a shock, and I can only assume that the AI had rapidly recruited these extra knights just before the battle. I thought at that point that the battle was lost and if the AI had handled King Rufus better that might have been the case.

Instead it produced a great story line and a nail biting epic battle that decided the future of England and changed the course of history.

[trickydicky]

Great work Didz, fantastic reading.

I just wish I had your panache and writing style, and I might give it a go myself.

[Andres]

Great work MacDidz

[Didz]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it.

One of the things I’ve noticed whilst doing this blog is the strange relationship which develops between the game and the story.

To begin with the game play drives the story, but as the story develops there is a subtle shift of power and I found myself modifying my game play to fit in with the logical plot development dictated by the blog. Even in the battles and sieges I found myself contemplating how I would write up the report and what Edward would say and do as the events unfolded.

So, I am presented with an interesting quandary at this point.

My Scottish Campaign has reached a logical break point. Edward has united the kingdom under Canmore rule and the hated Normans have been driven out, back to their domains in France.

Under normal circumstances I would merely cross the channel and finish them off in accordance with the Short Campaign victory conditions, but this doesn’t make a lot of sense story-wise and so I’m reluctant to force Edward to do it.

Edwards initial goal was merely to drive the Norman’s out of England and he has achieved that. His expectation was that the King Phillipe of France would use the opportunity presented by the Scottish invasion of England to fulfil his own objectives and seize the Norman possessions on the European mainland. That was why Patrick was sent to speak with the French king and negotiated the alliance with France.

The fact that the French did nothing is a considerable disappointment to Edward, but he is equally aware that if Scotland crosses the channel and begins to seize castles and cities in Normandy then the French King is likely to be somewhat annoyed and it may even damage their alliance. So, both Edward and myself are reluctant to begin a fresh chapter of our story with an illogical invasion of mainland Europe.

That leaves me with a problem of what if anything to do next.

I could just call it a day, and end the blog here. It is as I’ve already mentioned a logical break point. The other possibility is to continue but explore some of the other aspects of the game.

For example it would be interesting to see if Edward could persuade, or provoke, the French into attacking the English in Normandy.

The other logical mission might be for Scotland to try and expand its domination of Africa.

It already has established trading interests around Timbuktu, perhaps its time to establish a Scottish settlement down there and begin colonisation.

That would almost certainly mean war with the Moors and would also present some huge logistical problems, requiring heavy investment in the navy to solve. Likewise, there is the challenge of gaining diplomatic acceptance from both Spain and Portugal, who could make things very difficult if not properly handled.

My preference is to go for the African Colonisation option. Its not the easiest route to victory but it might be fun to attempt and it will change the pace, focus and direction of the story line.

[StoneCold]

There is also the crusade option. :) Nice read.

[valhalla89]

or you could always go to war with the danish and take scandanavia... and continue east into latvia and russia.

good AAR ive been looking for a good read like this for a long time. I currently am away from home until middel of August and cant play the game at all until i get back. So reading AARs is like the best and closest thing i can get to playing myself ;). Thanks m8.

[nara shikamaru]

Didz, your account of the Scots is great, very well put, and interesting along the whole journey. Now the question is do you have the reolve to keep writing. Like the resolve your King had to take England? If you do then please keep going, if not, then that is fine too, you have reached the end of your writing thoughts for this particular game. But maybe you could do one for another faction if your done with the Scottish one?

[Didz]

1104: A Kingdom United
With the year drawing to a close Edward settled into London's White Tower and began to contemplate the future.

Scotland was still at war with the English who retained their possessions in Normandy. However, Edward had no desire to pursue a campaign against them on the mainland of Europe, particularly as it might damage his alliance with the French.

Instead, he resolved to send emissaries to both the English and French with a view to improving their attitude to his new United Kingdom. At the same time he hoped to encourage them to begin viewing each other as enemies.

Likewise, Edward wished to foster improvements in the relationship with the Danes in the hope that they would continue to refrain from pursuit of their previous demands for restitution of their Northumbrian kingdom and the City of York.

Edward wanted to focus his attention on trade and, in particular, the trade established between Scotland and the Dark Continent. The Scottish treasury was already receiving 2,064 florins per year from trade in African gold and this trade was due to double as soon as the new merchants his brother Edmund had dispatched arrived in Africa and established their trade routes.

The money from this trade was vital to the future of the United Kingdom and Edward was keen to ensure that it was both exploited to its full potential and protected from interference.

He began to draft ambitious plans for the settlement and colonisation of Africa, but first he realised that if this trade was to be protected he would need to keep the sea lanes clear of both pirates and competition and that meant commissioning ships, to carry his armies and protect his ports. It also meant even more diplomatic efforts to keep potential rivals happy and distracted.

Edward explained his vision to the council of nobles who suggested that his immediate goal should be to close down the Muslim trade routes already operating in the area by blockading the port of Marrakesh. [New Mission]

Edward pondered this advice which seemed much too heavy handed for his liking. Blockading Marrakesh would almost certainly lead to a protracted war with the Moors and Edward was not convinced that this would be in his best interests or that of the merchants.

Rewards and Rebellions

Edward decided there was time to consider the councils advice before he needed to act. But first, now that the four kingdoms were united, Edward realised he must reward those who had helped him to achieve this goal and so over the course of the next few months Edward set about making sure this was done.

Land was re-allocated amongst the nobles who had supported him during the campaign, stripped from the estates of those who had made the mistake of choosing the wrong side. Three hundred and sixty new knighthoods were granted amongst these new feudal vassals to bolster Edwards Army.

At the same time Edward did not forget the soldiers themselves. The mercenaries who had flocked to Edward’s banner when he needed most were now idling in the streets of London and Nottingham costing him money to retain.

Edward decided it was time to send these men home and after a feast of thanksgiving for the army and their victories the Welsh and Irish mercenary companies were paid off and disbanded having given Edward a solemn oath that they would not revert to brigandry within the borders of his realm.

However, not all the mercenary companies were discharged. Edward retained the services of the five crossbow companies, some of whom had fought alongside him at the siege of Inverness twenty-two years before and had been with him throughout the campaign. These men were grizzled veterans now and had proven both their value and loyalty. Edward felt safer with them around him than his own nobles and so they were kept on and joined the garrison of London.

Finally, to give thanks to God and St. Andrew for their support, particularly at the Battle of Nottingham, Edward ordered the construction of an Abbey church dedicated to St. Andrew in the City of London.

The United Kingdom was thus settling smoothly into its new role even though not all were as thankful for the blessings bestowed upon them as Edward.

The Earl of Shrewsbury, one of those unfortunates who had chosen the wrong side in the war, and had lost most of his estates as a result, had spent the last of his fortune organising rebellion against Edwards rule in the west country. This rebellion was said to be well equipped even if it was quite small and if energetically led might pose a threat to Caernarfon whose garrison had previously been depleted to provide troops for the Siege of London.

Edward had already sent Wallace to investigate their strength and movements and resolved to deal with the Earl of Shrewsbury personally if need arose.

The Makmartine Mystery

The only other concern on Edward’s mind as he sat in the White Tower and watched to snow fall on the city outside was the news that his brother Edmund had adopted a twenty five year old knight as his son.

The man Cennédig Makmartane was a good knight by all accounts but Edmund already had three sons and Edward was puzzled by his decision to adopt another.

If it had been Alexander, then Edward would have understood. His younger brother had only managed to sire two daughters so far and needed a son, but Edmunds motives were curious and Edward resolved to ensure that Makmartane was separated from his new father as quickly as possible and given some useful role in a distant land.

[Didz]

Summer 1105

Wallace reports from the West Country that the Earl of Shrewsbury has raised and equipped 120 armoured swordsmen and a company of long bowmen to his cause. Wallace was unable to be sure of the exact number of bowmen but plans to infiltrate their camp and will send another report as soon as he is able.

Meanwhile, the Scottish fleet patrolling the channel have driven off a fleet of 150 English cogs which it believes were planning transport an English Army of 1,300 men across the straits of Dover to London.

Petair is ordered leave Bruges and move south to report on the strength and dispositions of the English between Bruges and Caen.

Winter 1105

A guild of swordsmith's approaches Edward and is granted a Royal Charter to establish themselves in Nottingham.

Merchant captains returning from the Moroccan coast report that the King of Portugal has declared a holy war against the Moors and that his armies are already crossing the Gibraltar straits into Africa. Edward is not sure if this is good news or bad. A war between the Moors and Portugal might distract the Moors from any interference in Scottish trade but at the same time Portugal might become a more aggressive competitor for that trade than the Muslims and much more awkward to handle if force became necessary.

On the other hand, if the King of Portugal can be persuaded into an alliance then perhaps Scottish ambitions in North Africa can be bolder and more in tune with the aspirations of the council of nobles.

Petair reports that he has successfully gained entrance to the City of Caen, and can confirm that this is the last city still in English hands. It appears that the French beat the English to Rheims.

The English are ruled by King Robert, a monarch with little battle experience but a reputation as a noble and religious ruler.

Petair was unable to discover any vices associated with either him or his son Prince Godfrey.

It appears that King Robert is more concerned with the threat of potential French aggression than he is with invading the United Kingdom. However, he does have a large army commanded by Nigel Basset camped outside the city.

This army represents the best of the troops which the City of Caen is able to provide.

Edward viewed the report with interest, concluding that King Robert and his English refugee's were no longer a major threat and could be left to the mercies of the French. Petair is order to keep a watching brief on them and to report any change in their circumstances.

Summer 1106

The Abbey Church completed in London and dedicated to St. Andrew. The Pope sends Edward his thanks and appreciation for dedication of another house of god. (Pope-o-Meter Rating 8/10). The upgraded defences to Caenarvon Castle are also completed.

Wallace reports that he has managed to infiltrate the rebel camp of the Earl of Shrewsbury and can confirm that his army consists of 120 Armoured Swordsmen and 120 Long bowmen. Edward plans to march on the West Country as soon the feudal knights from Edinburgh arrive in London.

Edward appoints MakMartane as Constable of Carnarvon Castle ensuring that he is kept as far away from Edmund his adopted father as possible, and placing him in a position where his future dispatch to North Africa will seem a perfectly logical decision.

[Didz]

Winter 1106

News reaches London that an English fleet is lurking off the coast of Brittany and attempting to prey upon Scottish merchant fleets rounding Ushant. A fleet of cogs carrying the merchant Domongart Broune to Africa has already been forced to flee back up the channel to avoid interception. The Channel Fleet has put to sea to deal with the threat.

Edward also commissioned a line of beacons and watchtowers along the south coast from Kent to Penzance to watch the sea and report the movements of hostile shipping in the channel and around the Cornish Peninsula.

Angus Stewart reports from Paris that he has spoken with the French, but that they are reluctant to attack the English domains in Normandy at this present time. It appears that the war with Spain is not going well for the French. Bordeaux has recently fallen into Spanish hands and King Phillipe is unwilling to start another war under such circumstances.

Edward is unable to offer any assistance to his French allies at the moment as his treasury is already overstretched with preparations for the defence of the realm and the colonisation of Africa. Even work on the improved defences of Edinburgh has had to be delayed by a year due to shortage of cash.

Summer 1107

The English fleet commanded by Admiral Simon foolishly pursues the trade fleet carrying Domongart Broune up the channel and runs straight into the Dougall's Channel Fleet moving to intercept it. The English are complely overwhelmed and forced to flee westward enabling the Scottish trade fleet to round Ushant unopposed and continue on its journey to Morrocco.



Makmartane reaches Nottingham en-route to take up his new appointment at Caenarvon and stops off in the city to have the weapons of his bodyguard replaced by the swordsmith's guild.

A new fleet of trade ships is commissioned in Edinburgh and sails via the Shetlands for the Bristol Channel. The first of the old cogs are decommissioned to be replaced by these stronger and faster Holks.
Winter 1107

The newly built watch tower at Penzance immediately sights the remnants of Admiral Simon’s English Fleet off Lizard Point. Whilst, the one in Kent reports another small English fleet under Admiral Humphrey trying to slip down the Channel from the East. The Channel fleet pounces on Humphreys fleet and chases it down the Channel inflicting heavy losses.

[Didz]

The Battle of Shrewsbury 1107 AD
Makmartane marches from Nottingham with an army to deal with the Earl of Shrewsbury’s rebels in the West Country.

Deploying his archers on a low ridge overlooking the rebel camp Makmartane orders his knights to move around the enemy and position themselves on both flanks, whilst he and his bodyguard move to block any escape to the West.

Seeing Makmartane and his bodyguard moving past his left flank towards his rear the Earl directs his longbowmen to close on them and try and bring down the Scottish nobleman.

However, this was a poor decision. As the Welsh longbowmen rushed to close to within range of the Scottish knights they allowed a wide gap to develop between themselves and the armoured swordsmen and Makmartane was not about to ignore that sort of opportunity.

Suddenly Makmartine and his bodyguard swung left and instead of heading across the longbowmens front they began bearing down on them directly. The Welshmen skidded to a halt and loosed a hasty volley of arrows which brought down two of the Scottish knights, then Makmartane and his retinue were upon them and cutting them down with their newly improved swords. Fifty seven were cut down and the rest threw down their weapons and surrendered.

Meanwhile instead of trying to aid his Longbowmen Shrewsbury and his armoured swordsmen had decided to try and drive Makmartanes archers from the ridge above them. This action was predictably futile, as in their heavy mail the swordsman had no hope at all of catching the nimble peasant archers and merely ended up chasing them around the ridge until Makmartane and his knights finished dealing with the longbowmen and returned to finish them off with a well timed charge.


The Earl of Shrewsbury is ridden down and killed during the pursuit.



Makmartane gains +1 Dread and +1 Loyalty as a result of this battle.

[Didz]

Summer 1108:

We cannot trust the Portugeuse
Patrick MacDougall our ambassador to Rome reports that he has met with his opposite number from the Kingdom of Portugal.

MacDougall was successful in negotiating rights of trade with the Portuguese but was unable to gain agreement for anything more. In his opinion the Portuguese are not to be trusted, they are allied with Spain and thus by association friends with the English and enemies of our allies the French. Their armies are said to be strong but their treasury is meagre and currently they only govern four cities.

What God Provides
A papal messenger arrives in London bearing word of his Holiness' distress at the continued hostility between the Scots and their English brothers in Christ. The messenger expressed the Popes urgent desire that all hostilities should cease immediately. Edward expressed his own desire for peace, stating that whilst the war against the English had been a holy one led by God himself and aided by Saint Andrew, that war had acheived its aims, and he had no reason to continue it now that Scotland had freed the English from their Norman oppressors.

However, he went on to point out that the Robert the King of the Normans seemed unwilling to accept the will of God. Even now his ships were stalking innocent Scottish tradesmen going about their lawful business on the high sea's. Such actions were not those of a Christian King, but of a pagan pirate and if peace was to be sustained these pirates must first be scourged from the sea.

As a dutifull Christian he would do nothing to seek further quarrel with King Robert, but if God were to provide him with an opportunity to rid the world of the pirates sailing under his banner then who could claim that he was wrong to carry out God's will.

And God did provide. A few days later Petair reported that 22 ships commanded by the English Admiral Simon were boarding an English Army of 1,300 men from the coast of Normandy.

A detachment from the Channel fleet caught Admiral Simon trying to put to sea and completely destroyed his fleet drowning the entire English Army in the channel, whilst the remainder of the fleet closed with the remants of Admiral Humphreys fleet and destoyed it off the coast of Cornwall.


Edward sent word to the Pope. "God offerred me a chance to acheive peace, and I accepted it as a grateful servant of the Lord."

With every known English Fleet destroyed and their military strength greatly reduced Edward truly beleives that there is now a chance for peace with the English. [Pope-o-Meter rating dropped from 8/10 to 6/10] What Edward did not realise as he sealed his message to the Pope was that God and the Pope were about to conspire together to deal him a joker from the bottom of the pack which could make war with the English seem like a blessing by comparison.

[Didz]

Summer 1108: For Saints and for Sinners

Edward was aware that there was a problem amongst the Christian community in his Kingdom. Ever since the Battle of Nottingham there had been a growing unorthodox belief in the special status that the people of the United Kingdom held in the favour of the Lord. Edward was not unsympathetic to this view himself and had perhaps unwisely intimated as much to the Pope on several occasions.

However, things began to take a more serious path soon after Edward paid-off the Irish and Welsh mercenaries and sent them home.

These men returned home rich with gold from their conquests and stories of Gods intervention in their victory. For most of these men the stories were just a good way of becoming the centre of attention in the local tavern, and impressing the wenches. Over time the stories were embellished and improved upon to keep them fresh and exciting.

But for a select few, who were unwilling to labour for their living, not skilled enough to become tradesmen, or too foolish to use their fortune wisely, the stories became the basis of their personal survival. They quickly found that the stories tied in perfectly with the growing belief in Gods special relationship with the people of the United Kingdom, and that by preaching these stories they could attract both money and personal favours from a growing flock of believers.

Thus, stories began to grow that Christ was born in Scotland , that Jerusalem was founded in England’s green and pleasant land. That the Holy Lamb of God was first seen on the hills of Wales, and the Holy Ghost walked freely across the bogs of Ireland. The people of the United Kingdom were Gods chosen, especialliy blessed and destined to inheret the Kingdom of Heaven and those of other nations merely servants and inherently inferior.

The most well known preacher of this new belief was Mataad Nevell a Scotsman from Inverness who had managed to convert 30% of the population of Northern Scotland by his teachings. But there were at least two others known as Primus and Isaac.

Belief in these new teachings was highest in the Scotland, Ireland and Wales where the message was readily accepted by those who had fought and profited from the war with England. Understandably, it gained much less support amongst the English of London and Nottingham who it was said had fallen from Gods grace by allowing a Norman to take their throne.

Inverness = 30% Heretic
Edinburgh = 24% Heretic
York = 24% Heretic
Wales = 22% Heretic
Dublin = 17% Heretic
London = 1% Heretic
Nottingham = 0% Heretic

Edward considered such belief’s harmless, if not actually beneficial to Kingdoms spiritual well-being, he may even have agreed with some of the preaching’s of these new prophets, which after all supported his own view that God favoured his destiny.

But the Pope was not so tolerant, it was Edward's brother Edmund who first sent warning to London that Domencius Boctarius, a Papal inquisitor, had arrived in Edinburgh intent on routing out the source of these heretical belief’s and restoring the Kingdom to the true word of God.

Edward responded to this news with alarm, now was not the time to explore questions of theology, now was the time for unquestioning conformance. He immediately suggested to Edmund that this would be a good time to visit the swordsmiths guild in Nottingham to upgrade his weaponry, whilst at the same time instructing the priests of the Scottish church to demonstrate their own enthusiasm to assist the Papal agents as far as they are able.

Scotland quickly became emptied of nobility and full of priests.

[Didz]

Summer 1108 - Summer 1110: Good Christians All
Over the next 2 years Edward set about proving to the world what good Christians, he and his people were.

New churches were built in Inverness and Dublin prompting approving messages from the Pope [Pope-o-meter rating raised from 6/10 to 7/10] and the Scottish priests busied themselves following in the wake of their heretic rivals trying to counter their teachings.

However, attempts to actually denounce the heretics all failed miserably. Even Domencius and his inquisitors seemed incapable of denouncing their teachings which did nothing to help the position of the Catholic Church in Scotland at all.

If anything the influence of heretic’s like Primus actually grew as a result of their repeated examination and release by the inquisition.

Primus, a huge highlander with a massive bushy beard, who liked to wear a wimple and a black robe, like an oversized hairy nun, was actually arrested three times by the inquisition, but on each occasion Domencius questioned him and then ordered him released.

Eyewitnesses to these examinations claimed that Primus answered each of question put to him with a long, passionate speech which due to his strong accent was completely unintelligible even to fellow Scots and which the inquisitor could not possibly have understood.

Nevertheless, the Italian priest had refused to listen to any translation offered and instead had released Primus on the grounds that he had heard him utter no blasphemy.

Frustrated by the lack of progress Edward called a council at Nottingham, which remained the only untainted area of true Catholicism in the Kingdom.

“This is nothing but a farce,” he railed “this inquisition is supposed to be here to cleanse our land of heretic’s not increase their credibility. Does anyone understand what this inquisition is trying to do?”

“Nobody understands the Scottish Inquisition.” Replied Edmund “This Domencius seems unable prove anything against Primus, and now we hear from our Brother David in Ireland that Mataad Nevell has surfaced over there. We will be seeing inquisitors in Ireland next. At this rate we will never be rid of them.”

“Aye! In the meantime the English and Danes grow bolder every month, religious unrest disrupts our tax income, and the Jews abandon our markets for safer places.

Our treasury is suffering and without money we can neither build churches nor ships. We lost two years on the upgrades I ordered to the defences for Edinburgh and we are still no closer to colonising Africa now than we were when this inquisitor arrived.

If that were not enough, Wallace tells me that there is an English army camping outside Bristol and a Danish army south of the Thames.


Whilst we sit here with our hands bound by papal edicts waiting for an inept priest to get around to burning a ‘hairy nun’ our Kingdom suffers. Well my patience is done, we shall leave this Papal clown to his games and concentrate on our African trade. What little money we receive will be spent where it is needed on ships, mines and markets. If God wants churches he can first rid us of this pestilence.”

The council felt that it was time to finish matters with the English once and for all recommending that Edward ignore the Papal edict and lay seige to Caen. Their advice was noted but Edward refused to commit to such a bold plan.

Summer 1109 Bad Timing for Lovers
The kings daughter Mariot came of age this summer and Edward was approached by the noble knight called MacBethad for permission to marry her.

The timing of this request was bad, the King was troubled by more pressing concerns and rejected his daughters suitor. Instead he resolved that his daughter must be sent to Europe in the hope of improving the Kingdoms relationship with one of the Iberian Princes. Mariott was packed onto a ship from the channel fleet and landed at Bruges to begin her journey south to an uncertain future.

Edmunds son Cathal also came of age, at this time and Edward appointed him Constable of the Tower of London and Duke of Kent.


Patrick Stewart the Kings man in Rome reported that Emperor Henry, The Holy Roman Emperor had been excommunicated by the Pope, which would probably reflect badly on their allies the Spanish.


Edwards own alliances with the French and Sicilians were meanwhile growing stronger

[Razor1952]

Great stuff MacDidz.

MTW2 I think really lends itself to rp immersion much more than rtw or civ4. Both those had specific strategies peculiar to that game set up, MTW2 IMHO has a much more logical strategy setup, which means your blog reads like real history.

I await further installments.

[Magraev]

Great story!

Heretics can become a real nightmare if they grow strong. Goodbye public order and hello pagan magicians, inquisitors and nasty traits!

The new nerfed inquisitors seem to be rather ineffective, and that makes the heretics even stronger. The only more scary thing is an angry witch.

[Didz]

MTW2 I think really lends itself to rp immersion much more than rtw or civ4. Both those had specific strategies peculiar to that game set up, MTW2 IMHO has a much more logical strategy setup, which means your blog reads like real history.

I must admit I am finding that writing the blog is adding immensely to my enjoyment of the campaign and making me explore area's of gameplay which in a normal campaign I would have overlooked.

This is something like my eighth campaign and yet I am learning a lot from it by being forced to consider everything in more detail. So, the blog is proving a useful tool for focussing my attention as well as bringing characters to life.

The new nerfed inquisitors seem to be rather ineffective, and that makes the heretics even stronger.

I must admit I was surprised at just how ineffective the inquisition was. I was expecting flames and torture, I was even concerned about the survival of some of my nobles. But the guy they sent to Scotland was a kitten rather than a tiger.

Anyway, I've read Neocats Guide to handling priest now so hopefully I can begin to counter the growing plague of heresy contaminating Scotland.

[Didz]

Winter 1110: Diplomats, Priests and Princesses
Princess Mariot arrives at Paris and meets with Prince Henry of France. She sends back the interesting news that our allies the French are now also allied to the Moors of North Africa. Princess Mariot gains +1 Charm from her time at the French court and then continues her journey south towards Spain with her overly attentive guards.

Angus Stewart has met with King Charles of Denmark to discuss the recent tresspass of Danish troops in Kent. Edward was surprised to hear that Denmark only held Antwerp, Bruges and Stockhold plus their capital. Angus beleives that they are reliable although they still refuse to accept a formal alliance with Scotland.


The priest Feradac Besat is persuaded by Primus ‘The Hairy Nun’ that the Scots really are Gods chosen people and joins him in his quest to convert all Scots to Nunism and take up the tartan cross.


Summer 1111: Home again, home again, jiggerty jog.
Domencius the Inquisitor has returned to Rome having found no evidence of heresy in Scotland. In the meantime, Jamie Canmore has come of age and he and his father Edmund decide to return north to Scotland to visit their estates.


Religious unrest in Scotland is growing, Federa and Primus have converted 36% of the Scots to their teachings and religious unrest in Inverness has risen to 70%.

Edward orders sends Patrick Stewart in Rome a further contribution of 500 Florins for the Papal Church gaining further favour with the Pope. [Pope-o-meter 8/10]

Stewart notes that at present Scotland is the only Catholic faction with a formal Papal alliance, and that the Papal States have expanded into Florence and Tripoli.

Another priest, Ranald the Unorthodox, abandons the Catholic faith to join the heretic Isaac in his beleif that wealth is the blessing of the Lord rather than the root of all evil, and sets about getting as blessed as possible.


Winter 1111: Petair gets careless
The Guild of Master Explorers are granted a charter to establish themselves in Edinburgh.

News reaches Nottingham that the English of Caen have executed Petair for spying, a fresh agent will need to be sent to Normandy to keep an eye on King Robert and his kingdom.

The defences of Edinburgh have finally been upgraded after three years of delay and York now has a port.

The situation in Inverness continues to deteriorate with religious unrest now at 80%, with more and more Scots taking to the tartan habit.

Allan of Berwickshire has been landed in Spain and has reached the Spanish court at Toledo. There was nobody there to greet him but he has established that Spain is much weaker than we thought with only four settlements under its control and that it is allied with the Excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor.

News reaches Nottingham that the Mongols are approaching from the East.


Summer 1112: My son and heir.
Prince Kyle the eldest son of King Edward comes of age, and Edward begins to consider the best way to prepare both his son and his brothers sons Cathal and Edward for their future roles in the Kingdom.

Their first challenge will be to proved their peity by taking the lead in the battle against heresy within the kingdom and overseeing the actions to restore faith in the true church. A new church is immediately commissioned in Inverness to try and counter the rising levels of heresy in the province and Prince Edward is sent to oversee its construction.

Patrick Stewart reports that Pope is pleased with the restraint that Scotland has shown towards its enemies the English and that our reputation has improved improved still further. We are now the most favoured faction with the Pope as well as his only Ally.

[Stuperman]

have you tried a heritic stomp?

you need 10 units, place them in the 9 adjecent(sp) squares besides the heritics and then move a guy "ontop" of the heritic. If done right it will kill him, this works for inquisitors too.

Love the blog.

[Didz]

have you tried a heritic stomp?

I haven't but I am aware of the technique. At the moment it suits me to play along with the heretic plot as I have young family members to train so I need to recruit a lot of priests anyway. But I'll see how it goes.

[StoneCold]

Basically the stomp works for all non-fighting units, so if you manage to find an assassin, spy, but don't have a assassin of yours nearby, turn out your nearest army for a man-hunt :). Don't let your young members be in the heretic regions for too long or they will start getting bad traits.

[Didz]

1112-1115 From little acorns.
The next three years were dedicated to the personal development of the Royal children and attempting to make the United Kingdom a land fit for them to rule.


Princess Mariot (Age 22)
Traits and Retinue: Smothering guards, Faithful Servant, Fine cosmetic’s, simplistic, respectful, natural negotiator.
Princess Mariot continued her promenade through France to Portugal. Move suitors approached the King requesting her hand in marriage by Edward remained hopefully of an advantageous match with an Iberian Prince.

He was to be disappointed as by the time Mariot reached Lisbon it was clear that neither Spain nor Portugal had any Faction Leader or heirs available to marry her. Unfortunately, she is not that intelligent either and so her future is beginning to look bleak.

The only possible candidate was a Spanish General she met in Bordeaux called Valdez the Saint. This guy actually had maxed Piety and Loyalty plus 8/10 command ability which is probably why the French are doing so poorly in their war against Spain. The bad news is that there was only an 18% chance that Mariot could charm him up the aisle but I suppose its worth a try.


Prince Kyle (Age 19)
Traits and Retinue: Pagan Magician, Good with Taxes, Mean with money, Religious, Fair in Rule.
Having supervised the construction of the mines in York, Prince Kyle has been packed off to the holy land to answer the Popes call for a crusade to Jerusalem. Edward’s comment that ‘It’ll do the lad good.’ hid a very real concern that his remaining in the kingdom would lead to a very real risk that he would be corrupted by the heretical idea’s that were still sweeping the land. Prince Kyle had already hired a Pagan Magician to help him predict the future, and things could only get worse if he remained.


Cathal Canmore (Age 22) – Duke of Cornwall, Constable of the Tower of London
Traits and Retinue: Overseer, cultured, social drinker, gregarious, dutifully religious, religiously proper, mining knowledge, ignorant.
Cathal was doing well in his new role as Duke of Cornwall, he supervised the building of tin mines in the county gaining considerable knowledge and understanding of mining and encouraged the training of an elite squad of priests to hunt down Isaac and his ‘Salvation through Wealth’ heretic’s which were gaining numerous followers amongst London’s merchant community.


James Canmore (Age 19) – The wandering Prince
Traits and Retinue: Religiously proper, delusions of illness, understands trade, sociable, superstitious, honest, religious, good with taxes, mining knowledge.
Originally sent to Inverness to oversee the building of yet another church, it quickly became apparent that the north of Scotland was not a suitable place for a such a sickly and impressionable youth. He was withdraw to Edinburgh briefly to witness the construction of the cities Merchant Wharf and then sent to Ireland to supervise the construction of the port facilities in Dublin.


Adam Canmore (Age 17) – Duke of York
Traits and Retinue: Abhors Drink, sociable.
Currently overseeing the construction of a church in Edinburgh, he is the youngest of Edmunds sons and feels unappreciated.

[Didz]

Winter 1112 The Battle of Taunton
In the winter of 1112, Edward decided to deal once and for all with the English army which was still skulking in woods and villages of Gloucestershire despite demands that it should either disperse or withdraw to Normandy.

Edward instructed one of the newly appointed diplomats Roy of Sowlis to give them one last option to vacate the soil of the United Kingdom peacefully or simply disperse and go home. But Ralph their captain refused to accept either option and so Edward gathered 150 crossbowmen and 160 knights from the fortress of Nottingham and drove them out of Gloucestershire into Somerset before forcing them to give battle near the town of Taunton.

Edward drew his army up on a low ridge overlooking the English army which then attempted to attack and drive off his crossbowmen, allowing the Scottish knights to envelope their formations and destroy them piecemeal with well time charges in the flanks and rear.


With the last English troops removed from the United Kingdom Edward returned to Nottingham Castle.

[Didz]

1115: Know your enemies, know your friends.

Edmund had done as Edward requested recruiting three more diplomats and an additional spy to monitor the potential threats along Scotland’s trade route to Africa.

So, by 1115 Scotland had established five foreign embassies each with a resident diplomat.

Each of these diplomats had submitted their initial reports and having dealt with the English at the Battle of Taunton Edward settled down with his council of ministers to analyse the information which had been provided.


The first re-assurance Edward gained from this information was that Scotland and her ally France were both supremely powerful and with seven settlements each were much larger than their immediate enemies England and Spain.

Only the Holy Roman Emperor held more territory than Scotland though He was currently ex-communicated and so might not hold onto it for very long.

Economically, both England and Spain have drained their treasuries dry hiring troops to fight their respective wars and only Scotland and the Papal states seem to have any significant wealth.

In addition to the comparison of power and wealth, Edward had a chart drawn up to help him understand the diplomatic and military relationships between the various kingdoms.


This clearly showed that Spain was the centre and of an alliance of five factions, Spain, England, Portugal, HRE and Milan. Together this alliance could call upon the resources of at least 20 provinces.

Opposed to this loose coalition was Scotland and France with 14 provinces but with the potential support of the Papal States and the Pope. It was also clear that Denmark through its alliance with Venice ought to be a potential ally of France and Scotland, as Venice was already at war with the HRE.

However, for the moment, Denmark seemed determined to remain neutral. But there was no doubt from the chart where its friends ought to reside and with Denmark came to possible support of Poland.

Once more the council proposed that Scotland should continue its war against the English by capturing the city of Caen. This would not only swing the balance of power in favour of the Franco-Scottish alliance but remove a potential threat to France allowing it to concentrate all its resources against Spain and would give Scotland a base of operations on the other side of the channel should they need to assist France actively against the Spanish.

Edward recognised that this might well be a sensible course of action. However, Micheil of Argyll had revealed the worrying information that Portugal has already captured the city of Madagascar from the Moors and Edward is now torn between the desire to beat the Portuguese to Timbuktu or finishing off the English. If Caen was to be attacked then it would need to be a quick seige, and that required catapults which Edward did not have. "Give me a catapult and I will give you Caen." he muttered

In the meantime Edward decided to extend his network of embassies to include Venice, Poland and Milan, as he was keen to discover if Venice wished to join the Franco-Scottish Alliance and what if any power Milan and Poland might be able to contribute to their friends.

[Didz]

Summer 1114: Barbecue Time at Last

Edwards ‘War against Heresy’ finally achieves a minor victory. One of Cathal Canmores newly trained ‘Anti-Heresy Squad’ called Stuart Macgoulchanne managed to corner the heretic Isaac and have him denounced and burned as a blasphemer.

One down four to go….the Pope has also sent yet another inquisitor to Scotland, and this guy actually looks like he might know what he’s doing.

Hopefully, this will be the turning point in the war against heresy.

[gibsonsg91921]

great blog macdidz- cant wait for the next installment

[valhalla89]

yea, really entertaining read, im checking in every other day or so. i really like how your changing the influence of the game from the normal conquere, war, "bam bam bam" story to a very complicated, character filled, and political game. props, and thanks again.

[Didz]

Summer 1115: Another new Pope.
News from Rome: Patrick MacDougall sends word that Pope Alexius died last year (1114) and the Pope is now Petrus of Hungary. However, Patrick confirms that this change of leadership has done nothing to diminish Scotland’s special relationship with his holiness. [Pope-o-meter Rating 10/10]. In fact, only Hungary itself can match Scotland in the favour by which it is seen in the eyes of the Pope

[Didz]

Summer 1115: Another new Pope.
News from Rome: Patrick MacDougall sends word that Pope Alexius died last year (1114) and the Pope is now Petrus of Hungary.

However, Patrick confirms that this change of leadership has done nothing to diminish Scotland’s special relationship with his holiness. [Pope-o-meter Rating 10/10]. In fact, only Hungary itself can match Scotland in the favour by which it is seen in the eyes of the Pope.

[Didz]

Summer 1115-1116: The African Trade

Trade with the Dark Continent is growing rapidly, Scotland now has five merchant houses operating from Timbuktu, realising a net income of 5,480 florins per annum for the Scottish treasury, in gold and ivory.

The only minor setback recently has been the death by natural causes of the merchant Gille Patrick of Shetland and he will need to be replaced before income can be restored to its full potential.