The opening moves - Preparation for War
Prince Edward is dispatched north with the vast bulk of Scotlands army to subjurgate the rebel highland clans around Inverness, hiring a unit of crossbowmen and a band of Irish Kerns en-route. Edward slaughters the rebel Highland Clans with brutal efficiency effectively doubling the Canmore's land holdings at a stroke and then returns to Edinburgh leaving his brother Edmund to placate the city and keep order. The 'motte & bailey' at Inverness is torn down and replaced with an village settlement.

Meanwhile, his father has been taking steps to deal with the economic state of the Scotland. A merchant 'Gwain of Fife' is commissioned to find the trade route to the fabled riches of Africa and is provided with a ship to carry him into the heathen lands to the south. Amazingly he makes it all the way to Timbukto and before long the Scottish court is receiving 472 florins per turn in gold from the mines in Africa.

Bouyed by this success King Malcolm immediately commissions a second merchant and a cog to carry him and dispatches them both south to join Gwain.

Meanwhile, farmland improvements bring additional tithes from the local lowlanders of Edinburgh and Inverness and a port is built to encourage the trade of locally produced dyes with Denmark, Ireland and England. realizing a further 400 florins in trading duties.

To increase trade, Patrick Macdougal is dispatched to Europe with instructions to meet and greet as many other factions as possible and enlighten them as to Scotlands existence and its value as both as a supplier of quality dyes and as an ally.

King Phillipe of France immediately recognises the value of an ally with an interest in the future of England and forms an alliance. The Danes formalize their existing trading arrangements, as do the Germans, Milanese, Venetians and Sicilians as Patrick wends his way southwards towards Rome. Finally, Patrick presents his credentials to His Holiness the Pope and is even successful in securing an alliance between Scotland and the Papal States.

With its economy and diplomatic status secure and still improving, Scotland now looks to secure additional local support and expansion.

Prince Edward and the army is sent to Ireland to secure the support and resources of the Irish to their cause. A brief and bloody battle outside Dublin secures Ireland for the Canmores. King Malcom dies at about this time and so the brutal Prince Edward is now King Edward I of Scotland. He sensibly decides to leave the administration of Ireland to his more reasonable brother David and readies his army for the sea crossing to Wales.

The English Prince Henry has captured York by now and the Scottish court is being pestered by a rather demanding and arrogant English Princess. However, Alexander Canmore though young in years refuses to accept any of England’s demands for tribute and the princess is sent back across the Scottish border with a flea in her ear.

After a brief and typically bloody siege, Caernarvon Castle falls to King Edward's combined Scottish, Irish and Welsh army completing the tri-partite anti-English union and giving Scotland a strong castle on England’s western borders which will curb its freedom to send armies to the north.

All the Canmore brothers are now married, though I am concerned to note that they all seem to have married their own sisters, or at least cousins.

Edward to Marjorie Canmore
Edmund to Mabel Canmore
Alexander to Danea Canmore
David to Ealusaid Canmore

This is either an indication of the lack of suitable noble women in Scotland or a lack of imagination on the part of the Canmore brothers.

Mental note 'Import more posh 'totty' to Scotland'. In the meanwhile, its time to build brothels.

War with England now seems to be the next logical step, though it may be best to wait until King Phillipe is ready to reclaim his possessions in Normandy.

Part 2: The War Clouds Gather

1086 AD: A large English army is gathering near York and Alexander Canmore hires addition Irish mercenaries to bolster the defense of Edinburgh in anticipation of an imminent assault. In fact, it proved an unnecessary precaution as the English merely dithered near York seemingly unwilling to march either North or West.

1095 AD: Kyle Canmore is born?
When asked the reason for the strange name her mother merely shrugged and said it was suggested by her neighbors.

1096 AD: Every Scottish controlled city and castle now has its own counter-intelligence spy in residence, to prevent the English causing unrest and loss of income. The next objective is to establish if the English have more than one army in their kingdom. If they have not then the situation will be ripe for a rapid assault on either Nottingham or York.

1097 AD: Bad news reached Edinburgh today that the pioneering merchant 'Gawain of Fife' was killed by an earthquake in unholy lands to far south. His place has been taken by Gille Patrick, a merchant from the Shetland Isles.

King Edward has ordered a watchtower placed on the Welsh border enabling the movements of the English in Mercia to be monitored. This seems to confirm the belief that the English only have one army and are torn between using it to attack Edinburgh and protecting Nottingham and York.

A strategy is established which will bait this English army either to the North exposing Nottingham to a rapid assault by the army of Wales, or to draw it into Wales allowing Prince Alex's army to march on York.

1098 AD: All is set for the invasion of England. The final preparations are in place and the mercenaries hired. Then just as they were poised to strike the war has to be suspended when a Welsh uprising on the island of Anglesea threatens Caernarvon Castle.

Part 3: The Battle of Anglesea
When news of the Welsh uprising reached King Edward at Caernarvon he wasted no time in calling for his charger and set forth with the entire of his army for Anglesea.

The Welsh were marching on the castle but when they saw the Scottish king and his host approaching they baulked and fell back to the coast. However, Edward was in no mood for prolonging matters and urging his men forward forced the Welsh to give battle by trapping them against the sea.

Battle lines are drawn. Mercenary crossbowmen to the fore, open fire on the advancing Welsh.

Away the Scots: With the Welsh infantry committed the border horse deployed on each flank of Edward's army charge the exposed Welsh Longbowmen.

Away the Irish: The Irish charge to finish the rout of the Welsh infantry.

An uprising quelled The surviving Welshmen throw down their weapons.

The battle over Edward and the army return immediately to Caernavon determined to waste no more time on trivial matters. Messengers are sent to his brother Alexander in Edinburgh to ready his army to march south on York.

Winter 1099 AD: News from England and the army marches South.

Messengers from Ruadri Wallace, the agent sent to gather intelligence on the English, inform Edward that the English have made an alliance with Spain and that as a consequence Prince Henry has left the English army and gone. Wallace assumes that he has gone to London but cannot say for sure.

However, the English army has been left in the charge of a mere captain.

Wallace estimates its strength to be somewhere in the region of 2,000 men, but at least a quarter are nothing more than armed peasants, no more than 300 are archers and these of poor quality, and only a handful are knights.

Furthermore, Wallace confirms that there is no garrison in Nottingham Castle. Only King Rufus is in residence guarded only by his personal retinue of knights.

Edward studied the report for some time as if some clue in its content would reveal an English trap or deception.

Why would Rufus sit alone in Nottingham and leave his only army leaderless?

Were the English trying to provoke him, to trick him into sticking his head in a noose, or was this truly a perfect opportunity to be grabbed and wrung for all it was worth?

Well trap or not he would not be the one to trigger it. He called for his equerry. 'Take a message to Edinburgh, tell my brother that all is set and that he is to march on York immediately, inform him that the army in Wales is already on the road for Nottingham and that he is too waste no time. is that understood?'

The equerry nodded 'Shall I inform the captain of the army to prepare to march, sire?'

'No! just send the message.' replied Edward. 'And inform Wallace to keep me updated on the movements of the English Army'.

If there was a trap it must be triggered but not by him, not by him.

Edinburgh: A few days later
All is bustle and haste as Alexander Canmore gathers his troops and heads south.

He had felt it prudent to leave a small garrison in Edinburgh, particularly as there had been reports of Danish ships patrolling off the east coast. He had hoped to hire more men as he marched south but funds had proved sparse since the death of Gawain the merchant and so his army was less impressive than he had hoped.

Nevertheless, his brother the King had assured him that the English garrison of York was weak and he was already on the march to Nottingham and would draw the English away from York. So, it was unlikely that the English would prove too much of a problem.

Alexander marches south.

Summer 1100 AD: Edward finally marches
York is under seige, but Wallace confirms that the only movement from the English was a rather hearthearted attempt to block the road from Caernavon to York.

Re-assured by the news Edward finally musters his troops and marches east, avoiding the dithering English army he heads directly for Nottingham and the English King.

Even now with two Scottish Armies on their land and their King under threat the English Army dithers and does nothing. The only action from the English is to appeal to the Pope, who sends a terse note to Edward informing him that he is to cease all hostilities against the English immediately and return to his own lands. 'This is a strange note to be sending to your most loyal and trusted ally.' he commented 'Inform his holiness that we shall be in our own lands soon enough, once we have thrown the English out of them.'
[With a Pope-o-Meter rating of 8/10 I was reasonably certain that the Popes threat was a hollow one, but nevertheless secretly Edward was concerned.]

Summer 1100 AD: Alexander assaults York.
The English having failed to surrender the city, Alexander decides that an assault is unavoidable. Therefore, choosing what he considers to be the weakest part of the City defenses he draws his army up ready for the assault

Supported by his crossbowmen a force of Irish kerns use a ram to batter a breach in the city walls. With the breach established Crossbowmen move forward to clear the English defenders from the breach.

Unable to do anything to protect themselves the English defenders are flensed by concentrated crossbow bolts.

In desperation the English charge troops through the breach to drive off the Scottish crossbowmen. Only to be decimated and broken by the concentrated fire of the Scots Archers and crossbowmen beyond the wall.

With their spearmen routed the entire English garrison surrenders the walls and retreats towards the city centre.

At this point Alexander makes a mistake and orders the Border Horse to pursue the English into the city in the hope of cutting them down before they can rally. The border horse charged into the town hacking and hewing their way through the streets in pursuit of the routed English spearmen, only to turn a corner and run heading into a group of mailed English Knights. Whereupon, they in turn were cut to pieces and fled the field. Proving once again that cavalry are neither mine nor the Scottish strong point.

Alexander attempted to save his horse by ordering the Irish Galloglaich axemen forward and these eventually drove off the English Knights forcing them to withdraw to the city centre with the rest of the army.

The crossbowmen were then ordered forward again to cut down the English in the town square.

This triggered a series of six or seven costly counter-attacks by the English horse in an attempt to drive off the crossbowmen, each attack resulting in the crossbowmen withdrawing behind the Galloglaich and more English horse being cut down with axes.

The English general is cut down during one of these charges.

The death of their captain knocked the last of the fight out of the English garrison and they retreated once more to the city centre. As the first Irish troops reached them they surrendered the keys to the city.

Casualties had been relatively light except amongst the border horse but the City of York was safe in Scottish hands.

Winter 1100: Nottingham
The first frosts of winter found Edwards army camped outside the walls of Nottingham Castle preparing for the imminent assault. The army was cheered by the news that York had already fallen to Alexander and all looked forward to the plunder which Nottingham would provide, not to mention the warm beds, ale and women.

The army was poised to strike when news reached Edward from his agent, Wallace, that the English had finally stirred themsleves from the Welsh borders and were approaching from the west through the forest of Sherwood.

“Yer can allays trust the damn English ta ruin a good party.” cursed Edward “Muster the men, lets teach 'em how we Scots deal wi' gatecrashers.'

 

The Battle of Nottingham
The area from north to west of Nottingham is one huge forest. The forest of Sherwood was a Royal hunting ground used by the English king and so was preserved from clearance by local peasants and farmers. However, Edward managed to find an area of higher ground which was large enough and clear enough to deploy his army upon.

The way Edward deployed his army was becoming almost a standard for the Scottish king. The infantry formed two lines with the crossbowmen in front and the archers sandwiched between the first and second line, whilst the border horse formed up slightly behind each flank ready to fend off any threat or launch an attack on the enemy reserves.

Scouts soon reported that the English were approaching through the forest to the west and Edward rushed his army forward to deploy across their line of advance, and to allow his crossbowmen a clear field of fire as they emerged from the tree-line.

The English infantry baulk under the heavy fire but the English knights spur forwards and hurl themselves at the Scottish line driving off the crossbowmen and impaling themselves on the wall of lowland spearmen and Irish axemen forming the Scottish first line.

With the English Army now locked in close combat with the Scottish battle line the Border Horse on the flanks of the line sally forth to drive off the English archers. Fighting is fierce and bloody, the Scottish first line is driven in by shear weight of numbers and Edward is forced to commit his second line to protect his archers.

Finally, the English have had enough and their Knights attempt to extracate themselves from the slaughter. The English general is either too slow or too brave and is cut down by Scottish spearmen.

Their Captain dead the English lose heart and flee to the South presumably heading for London their last place of refuge. The border horse chivvy them from the field whilst the archers and crossbowmen use them for target practice. The rest of the army began catching their breath and looking for loot or friends amongst the corpses that littered the hillside.

But Edward was looking for the English King. Rufus had not shown his face at the battle, although Edward knew he must be close by. He had deliberately held back his retinue of 62 knights with the intention of preserving it to deal with Rufus and his small retinue of English from Nottingham. The idea of cutting down the English King personally appealed to him and he certainly did not want Rufus to escape back into the city. So now he scanned the tree-line looking for any sign of the skulking monarch.

The sight that greeted him made his blood run cold. For instead of Rufus and the small retinue of knights reported by Wallace, what emerged from the tree's and began to march resolutely up the slope towards him was little short of another English army, and an army made up not of peasants and local levies but an army of knights.

“Ta Arms! Ta Arms! Recall the pursuit. Reform the battle-line. Ready the archers.”

As the tired and bloody Scottish Army scrambled to face this new threat Edward realized he had been right all along. It had been a trap. The English had lured him here like a fat trout with a juicy worm and now they thought they had him, but something must have gone wrong for the English had been late springing the trap, had Rufus and his knights arrived earlier when the Scots were still struggling with the main English army they would have overwhelmed him. But they had not and so there was just a chance that Edward might still win, if god and St.Andrew was with him. Crossbow bolts began to pepper the ranks of English knights plodding up the slope but with minimal effect, the English just kept coming.

The battles lines clash over the bodies of the fallen from the first battle. Rufus and his personal retinue charge the Scottish centre intent on breaking the line. The remnants of the Scottish horse attack the English flanks in a futile attempt to break their resolve.

Edward watched the struggling mass of men with growing concern. Everything was now committed to the fight except his own household and the Scottish ranks were gradually being thinned. It was only a matter of time before his men gave way under the pressure.

If he was to win this fight then Edward knew that he would have to risk all on a final roll of the dice, and trust that St. Andrew was holding the dice cup.

He could see the English Royal Standard and knew that Rufus was there in the fight near the centre of the battle. It was time to rip out the heart of this English Army or die trying.

With that he moved his personal retinue of knights around the left of his own battle line and brought them up behind the English centre where Rufus was still struggling to break through the Scottish line. With a final shout of 'Fer Scotland and Saint Andrew, KILL THE BASTARDS' he launched his charger into the midst of the English knights and began hacking his way resolutely towards the Royal Standard and the English King.

Rufus seeing the mass of Scottish knights closing on him from the rear spurred his own horse hard and finally managed to break through the Scottish battle-line and escape abandoning his standard bearer and most of his surviving retinue. Edward attempted to follow but an English spear thrust across his chest made him realize that the English had closed ranks behind their King and pursuit would be suicide. 'SCOTS TA ME! BACK! BACK! He fell back reforming behind the English line whilst the surviving infantry on the hill launched a furious charge into the English spearmen to distract their attention.

The escape of Rufus proved to be shortlived, as the English King attempted to make his way back to his own lines, Edward and his surviving knights having extracted themselves from the tangle of English spears intercepted him and Edward finally had the King v King showdown that he craved. Rufus died his chest pierced by a Scottish lance.

Their King dead the English lost heart and began to fall back down the slope and melt away back into the greenwood from whence they had come.

Pitifully few of the Scottish host survived and of the 62 knights that stood with Edward that morning only 30 now remained, nevertheless it was a victory. The English trap had failed and Rufus had paid for his deception with his life.

Edward wandered the battlefield congratulating his men and surveying the carnage.

“How many did we lose?” he asked.
“As best we can tell six hundred and sixty six, Sire” was the reply.

Edward laughed ironically “Six-hundred and sixty-six, the devils number, if that doesn't convince Pope Gregory that we are on a holy crusade to rid the world of these English devil's then nothing will. Make sure that MacDougall gets that message in Rome, I want the Pope to know what happened here today, and that God was on our side.”

Winter 1100 AD: The Battle of Nottingham (Evening)
The funeral pires were burning fiercely on the hillside, fuelled by the oaks of Sherwood and Edward was recovering from the battle in his tent and contemplating Rufus' crown on the table before him when his equerry entered.

Sire! a deputation from the city is here to plea for mercy.

Edward stirred from his thoughts picked up the English crown and emerged from the tent into the stench of smoke and death outside. A small group of well-dressed Englishmen were gathered outside under the curious and careful gaze of his surviving knights. Their leader, a well dressed man with an impressive set of whiskers, stepped forward and bowed.

“Your majesty, I am Alan Wheatley and I have the honor to be the Sheriff of Nottingham. I am here together with this deputation, and on behalf of the Constable of Nottingham Castle to negotiate terms for the surrender of the keys to the fortress.”

“Da yer have any daughters Mister Wheatley?” asked Edward pretending to inspect the English Crown in his hand.

The Sheriff seemed perplexed “Yes, sire I have a daughter. Her name is Marion.” he replied.

“Then my terms are quite simple Sheriff. Tell you and yer friends, both here and in the fortress that if they hand over the keys to the Fortress to me tonight I will offer them and their families my protection tomorrow, when my army enters the city. If they do not then they can remain where they are until my soldiers find them and meet their fate like the rest of the population.”

But, Sire surely we can discuss.... began the Sheriff.

“There is nothing to discuss, Sheriff. You can see the state of my army. Thanks to your King I have less that thirty knights remaining, and much of my army are hired thugs. Do you think I can deny them the spoils they have fought hard for here today. I can offer you and your friends protection but nothing more. Accept it now or negotiate with my soldiers tomorrow.”

“You leave us no choice. Sire!”

“There never was one. Hand my men the keys and go with them to gather your people together in an easily defensible location, then stay there until what must be done is over.”

The next morning Edwards army sacked Nottingham, claiming the warm. beds, ale and women that it craved. Whilst the castles dignitaries and their families cowered under the protection of Edwards knights.

Summer 1101: Nottingham Castle

Sire! Wallace reports that the English are still skulking about in the forest to the west and that another small English army has left London and is marching North, probably to join them.

Another small army. repeats Edward scornfully Another small army, like the small army that Rufus brought with him last year. De'yer think that Wallace has learned to count yet, or must we discover what small really means to him only when we count the corpses on the funeral pires.

“Tell, Wallace that I want ta'know how many English not how big they are and that if he cannot count them on his fingers and toes then I shall relieve him of them.”

Aye Sire! I'll make sure he gets the message. Replies the equerry. Also, I am afraid there is bad news from Rome, Sire.

Bad news from Patrick. Did the Pope not get our message?

“Nay! Sire I'm afraid he did not. It seems his Holiness Pope Gregory died before Patrick could deliver our message. The new Pope has called himself Pope Aczo and comes from Portugal, so I am told.”

“He died...my God he died. Thats the best news I've heard all week. Can there be any doubt now that God favors us. What do we know of this Portuguese Pope, does he favour our cause?”

“MacDougall, writes that he is quote 'utterly corruptible', Sire”

“Ha! Ha! Saint Andrew's bollocks” guffaw's Edward thumping the table in excitement “God has truly smiled on us today, lets waste no time then, have a chest of 500 florins dispatched immediately to Rome with a note congratulating his holiness on his new errm!....calling, and assuring him of the full support of Scotland in his future success. Patrick can deal with the details, just make sure his holiness is in our pocket before we march on London, and let Patrick know there will be more gold to come if he needs it.”

Winter 1101: A time of consolidation and change
With most of England under their control the Canmore's spent the winter of 1101 consolidating their hold on their lands. Troops were rested and retrained and fresh troops were raised to help stabilize their control of their existing lands.

Edward remained in Nottingham, intent on preparations for a march on London in the Summer. The capture of the fortress of Nottingham provided the Scots with some of the most modern facilities for producing armour and weapons available at the time and Edward is engrossed in plans for their future incorporation into the army.

Fresh news arrived from Patrick MacDougall their man in Rome. I regret to inform your majesty that Pope Aczo the Corrupt died before I was able to deliver your gift of 500 florins. However, you will be pleased to announce that the college of Cardinals have just appointed a candidate from our allies in Sicily to the papal throne. I have met with Pope Alexius and he sends greetings to you his most loyal, faithful and trusted servant, and wishes you well in your endeavors.

It appears that God has some pride after all, or perhaps just a sense of humour. [Scotland's Pope-o-Meter rating rockets back up to 10/10]. Edward was becoming increasingly convinced that God really was on his side and the side of the Scots, he had never been a particularly pious man but it seemed to him that the facts spoke for themselves even if some of the heretic's wandering the country claimed otherwise.

The Winter also brought sad news that Queen Margaret, the mother of Alexander, Edmund and David Canmore had died. King Edward was the son of their fathers first marriage to Ingibiorg, daughter of Finn Amasson, widow of Thorlinn, Jarl of Orkney and thus had Norse blood in his veins, which some say accounts for his fierce and brutal ways. Nevertheless, Edward viewed the death of Margaret as an omen of the changes to come, ambassadors from the Danish court were becoming increasingly demanding over the rights of they thought they had to land in Northumbria, and in particular to York. Queen Margaret had kept these whining Vikings under control but now she was gone Edward realized it would only be a matter of time before the Danes decided to try and recover the land they had lost to the English at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

Edwards only hope was that he could finish the English, before the Danes became too much of a nuisance.

Summer 1102: Nottingham Besieged
As the Winter of 1101 retreated so the English advanced. A number of them had spent a cold winter in Sherwood Forest living on their former masters deer and terrorizing local travellers. Now bolstered with fresh men from London they laid seige to Nottingham Castle.

They made a big show of constructing a ram and some scaling ladders but seemed less excited about actually using them, and Edward's initial concerns about the ability of the garrison to resist an English assault subsided. The passive behavior of the English merely encouraged the Scots to become bolder. They began making sallies from the castle to harry the English, at first in small numbers and eventually in strength.

The English proved to be equally unwilling to face the Scots in the open as they were to face them on the walls of Nottingham and at one point the Scots were able to drive them from their siege works and take possession of their siege engine and ladders.

Eventually, after much wasted loss of English lives they gave up altogether, lifted the siege, and retreated back towards London.

Trouble with the Danes
It was soon after the lifting of the English siege of Nottingham that Edward was informed of the first trouble with the Danes.

Danish ships had been seen patrolling off the Scottish coast for months but in the late Summer of 1102 they began to attack trading vessels entering and leaving the port of Edinburgh. Edmund had sent ships of armed men to drive them off and had been successful in doing so, but the loss of Danish lives had meant that relations with the Danish court were now hostile and Edward was worried that this would become a distraction from his main objective of London.

He commissioned the building of three new Holks in Edinburgh, in the hope that this would dissuade the Danes from further aggression and sent his own ships across the North Sea to scout the Danish coast and establish whether the Danish were massing for an invasion. Initial reports suggest that they are not, but Edward is convinced it will only be a matter of time unless he can do something to mend the rift.

A diplomatic mission is called for and Edmund is instructed to look for a suitable emissary.

Summer 1103: Wallace goes sightseeing in London
Whilst Edward made finishing touches to his preparations to march, Raudri Wallace made his way to London. He quickly confirmed that his previous assumption that Prince Henry was in London had been correct, and that the new King Henry was resident in the city accompanied by an army of about 400 men, including a personal retinue of 62 knights and 21 Archers. The rest of the army were spearmen of varying and dubious quality.

Winter 1103: Remember the Danish.
Edmund sends word from Edinburgh that he has found a volunteer suitable and willing to go and talk to the Danes. He is a Stewart by the name of Angus and will sail for Antwerp in the next tide. Edmund also explains that he has taken the initiative of attaching a man called Gille Petair to Angus Stewart's staff. Petair can do a reasonable impression of a Frenchman, and smells strongly of garlic (or worse). Therefore, it is hoped that he will be able to acquire any information which the Danes might not be willing to disclose to Angus. He also reports that the latest scouting reports from the ships patrolling the Danish coast confirm that a large Danish army is massing near Antwerp and that a powerful Danish fleet lies off the coast near Bruges.

Concerned but satisfied that all that can be done to placate the Danes is being done, Edward marches south with his army intent on dealing with the English presence on the Island once and for all.

He is joined en-route by 160 mailed knights from Wales. In fact, the army marching on London could hardly be called a Scottish army. Whilst, it did include 240 Scottish Archers and the 62 Scottish Knights of Edwards personal retinue, the remainder were either mercenaries, Welsh or locally raised English Knights keen to win favour with their new King.

Summer 1104: London under siege.
As Edward approached London news reached him that King Henry had appealed for more troops and hastily increased the size of the London Garrison. It now consisted of over 800 men more than double the figure quoted by Wallace a few weeks ago.

Unperturbed Edward also appealed for more troops, hiring 150 Welsh volunteers and calling for a further 150 highlanders and 80 horse to join him from Nottingham.

Winter 1104: News from the Angus in the Low Countries
News arrived from Angus Stewart confirming that despite being driven slightly off course he and Petair had managed to reach the Low Countries and were put ashore near the Danish held port of Bruges.

Here Angus had presented his credentials leaving Petair to wander off and check the state of the Danish Army and the ships in its port. It appears that Angus was well received and was able to secure agreement from the Danes for an instant ceasefire. Not only that but he was also able to restored the Trade Rights between the Danes and Scotland and was even able to sell the Danes copies of the latest Scottish maps for 80 Florins.

The Danes seemed genuinely relieved to have the threat of war removed from over their heads and their army has already been moved from the coast to reinforce the defenses of Bruge.

Income from African gold mines almost doubled
Edmund was able to confirm that another Scottish merchant has managed to establish himself as a gold trader in Africa and that future income from Africa is expected to rise to somewhere close to 2,000 florins per year. In addition, two more merchants are en-route to Africa even as he writes with the intention of seeking further trading opportunities in the area.

Winter 1104: The Seige of London
Cheered by the news from the Low Countries Edward made final preparations for the assault on London.

The small English army just to the West of the Scots, is a group of peasants who foolishly decided to join King Henry in the City at the last minute.

Edward took his time studying the defenses of London, looking for a weak point at which to focus his assault. Eventually he decided upon the north-eastern corner of the city defenses where the city wall had been diverted to avoid several farms and consequently did not have such strong defensive towers.

The assault commenced with the two siege towers manned by the English Knights heading for the north wall. However, it was not long before fire arrows from one of the defensive towers set one of them ablaze.

Fortunately the second tower reached the wall safely and the knights commenced their assault.

With the main assault underway Edward ordered forward the Welsh ladder teams in support.

As the assault developed the Welsh on the left of the attack found themselves unopposed, and with a clear run to the cities East Gate. This was not their intended objective, as Edward had planned to move right and capture the North Gate but nevertheless they made a run for it and captured it without further opposition.

In the meantime, Edward had ordered the first of his crossbow units to reinforce the troops on the North Wall, but as these men scaled the ladders they were met with a counter-attack from a fresh unit of English Spearmen, and Edward had to recall his knights from their advance on the North Gate to drive them back.

With his capture of the North Gate delayed by the English counter-attack Edward decided to switch the focus of his assault to the East Gate rushing all the troops still outside the city round to the East and into the city.

When news that the Scots had penetrated the East Gate reached the English on the North Wall they abandoned their counter-attack and fell back towards the City Centre.

At the same time fresh units of English spearmen launched a counter -attack against the East Gate in the hope of driving the Scots back out of the city. The troops from the North Wall are rushed to the East Gate to assist in its defense and major battle develops in the streets.

Eventually, the Scots prevail and the Highlanders pursue the surviving Englishmen towards the City Centre.
A brief lull settles over the battle at this point as both sides prepare for the final confrontation in the City Centre. Edward's Welsh mercenaries form a shiltron at the head of the street backed up by dismounted knights to block the street and protect the Scottish Archers forming behind them.

With preparations in place the Scottish Archers begin to fire arrows into King Henry's personal retinue of Knights forcing them to react or die where they stand. The English King leads a furious charge which engulfs the Welsh shiltron and embeds itself in the supporting English Knights. The Welsh are overwhelmed and die to a man, but Henry pays the ultimate price, cut down by his former subjects, or perhaps one of the highlanders who seem to have involved themselves in the fight.

Their King dead the English Knights lose heart and the handful of survivors fall back to the City Centre allowing Edward to bring forward his crossbowmen to finish the job.

The Crossbowmen continue to slaughter the Englishmen crammed in the City Centre until they eventually throw down their arms and surrender. Victory!

The entire of England is now under Scottish control and the Union is formed under the leadership of Edward, King of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.

The City of London was sacked realizing 13,039 florins for the Scottish treasury, and earning Edward the reputation of being a 'merciless mauler' (+3 Dread). When news of the victory reached Edinburgh, so many Scottish Knights flocked to join the army and share in the glory and spoils that Edmund was able to add four units of Feudal Knights to his garrison. (Mission: Reward)

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 colonization of Africa, but first he realized 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 organizing 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.

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 defenses 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 Armored 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.