This is my first AAR, so any feedback is appreciated.Also I am not experienced with image editing, so i cannot resize the second part of the family tree properly.


The Kingdom of England and its duchies in the year of the Lord 1258:




The royal family:



Chapter 1 - Preparing the invasion


 The royal court in London(1258 AD)

‘Milords, now we have to decide where we sent our army under the command of Phillip Plantagenet. Our economy cannot afford a standing army which does not move’, opens the Leader of the royal court, Lord Jaime Farewell, the session of the King’s counsel. Directly the present Lords begin to whisper, all of them with their own plan, where to send the army.


‘Milords’, King Edward begins,’ It would be very pleasant, if you all stop talking. In the next year our fleet is ready to sail to its destination and we all know where it's. It's the coast of Scandinavia.’


‘But your grace, we cannot ignore the situation on the European continent. It seems like all European Kingdoms have decided to attack our ally, the Holy Roman Empire. We have to attack France in Caen and help our ally by reconquering our land in France, which we have lost in the past. Otherwise no one would wants to enter an alliance with us, if we now don't help our ally’, interrupts Gregory Dudley, Lord of Dublin, Edward.


‘Who do you think are you talking to? I am your king and I did not remember that I allowed anyone to intercept me in my speech. You should not expect me to be merciful, because you are an old senile man, Lord Dudley. We cannot risk a war with France in our current situation, we may have the favour of the papacy, but who knows how long? Also the European continent is full of conflicts everywhere and we cannot capture enough regions in France to have a defendable position or am I the only one who knows the map of France?’
Small laughter echoes through the hall.
‘Milords, I hope that no one of you will ever doubt my decisions again. Next year Phillip will sail to Norway and conquer the first coastal cities. Our task will be to send reinforcements and supplies, so prepare yourselves and your land to pay the taxes we need. Also we will show the Pope who is the real Ruler of our Kingdom. I am not going to listen to a Pope who sits all day in Rome and is just planning how to stop all growth of our Kingdom. To achieve this I have sent Edward Moore, our master assassin, to Rome, so he can ensure that the Pope keeps still while Phillip defeats the Norseman.’

The Lords look at each other unsure whether they should talk or not.

‘The session is now over Milords’, says Lord Farewell and ends the council.

‘It's good that the King didn't decide to execute Lord Dudley for his breach’, murmurs Lord Farewell to his ward, the young Jacob de Juliers, as he leaves the council hall.’ It would not have been a good ending for such an important council. Listen to me Jacob, soon will the time come, when our King will die. The question is, will he die peacefully in his sleep or will someone help him on his way to hell?’