Remember, game start is on the 6th of August, so make sure you're all signed up by that time so you can take part in the opening events.
Player Claims
Player claims, either carried over from last game or claimed for this time around:
The Royal House of York: Edward V: Gandalf Elizabeth Woodville, Dowager Queen: Oznerol Richard, Duke of York - Edward’s younger brother: Skylord Edmund, Duke of Bedford – Edward’s youngest brother: General Brewster Elizabeth of York – Edward’s older sister: Alexandrine Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Bourchier – Edward’s illegitimate half-brother: Jokern Henry Fitzroy – Edward’s illegitimate half-brother by Queen Margaret Percy: Della Eleanor Fitzroy – Edward’s illegitimate half-sister by Queen Margaret Percy: Della Cecily Fitzroy – Edward’s illegitimate half-sister by Queen Margaret Percy: Alexandrine George, 1st Duke of Clarence – the King’s paternal uncle: Lucius Malfoy Richard, 1st Duke of Gloucester – the King’s paternal uncle: Barry Goldwater
The Remnants of Lancaster: Edward of Westminster, King-in-exile: Dirty Chai Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter: Gandalf Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond: Oznerol Aubrey de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford: Barry Goldwater Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland: Lucius Malfoy Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (In Exile): Gandalf.
The First Peers: George Neville, Archbishop of York: Lucius Malfoy John de Mowrbay, 4th Duke of Norfolk: Jokern John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk: Oznerol Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham: Dirty Chai
The Earls: Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers: Oznerol Thomas Grey, 7th Earl of Salisbury: Oznerol John Neville, 1st Marquess Montagu & Earl of Westmorland: Lucius Malfoy John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury: General Brewster Roger Kyriell, 1st Earl of Monmouth: Barry Goldwater Edmund Kyriell, 1st Earl of Cambridge: Barry Goldwater Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Wiltshire: The Mad Skylord William Mercer, 1st Earl of Worcester: Lord William (?) Hugh de Courtenay, 15th Earl of Devon: Xion John Grey, 4th Earl of Tankerville: Barry Goldwater Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare: Xion FitzAlan, the Earls of Arundel: Iron Aquilifier Hastings, the Earls of Northampton: Trot Joan Neville, heiress to 1/3 of Kent’s estates: Alexandrine
The Barons and Knights: Thomas Howard, 2nd Baron Howard: Jokern John Wenlock, 3nd Viscount Wenlock: Xion Richard Grey, Baron Bonville and Harrington: Oznerol Boleyn Family: Della. Sir William Stanley: Skylord Sir Ralph Neville: Della De Ros, Barons de Ros: Lord Dread
Unclaimed Characters/Families of Interest: Bourchier, the Earls of Essex The Bishop of Durham
Humphrey Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
Isabel Neville, Baroness Fauconberg, Countess of Lincoln, heiress to 1/3 of Kent’s estates Mary Neville, Lady Montagu, heiress to 1/3 of Kent’s estates
Stafford of Hooke, Lords of Southwick Berekely, Barons Berkeley
De Barry, Barons Barry and Viscounts of Buttevant
Roche, Barons de Rupe
Grey, Lords Grey of Ruthyn
Fitz Maurice, Barons Fitzmaurice
Herbert, Lords of Raglan
timeline
1461: -On the 29th March, the Yorkist army of Edward IV and the Lancastrian army of Henry VI meet at Towton, Yorkshire. In mud and snow, they fight, and, though outnumbered, the Yorkists win the day thanks to the timely arrival ofthe Duke of Norfolk, whose forces had been separated from the main force by a severe snowstorm. -The Lancastrian forces melt away, and Henry VI flees into exile with his wife and child. Edward returns to London victorious, the new King of England. -Edward ,however, is merciful, and pardons the vast majority of the Lancastrian lords who surrendered in the aftermath of Towton.
1462: -King Henry and Queen Margaret of Anjou flee to France, along with their son, Edward of Westminster. They begin to try and gain support from the French King, Louis XI, to regain the throne of England. -Edmund Beaufort, the Duke of Somerset and the commander of the Lancastrians at Towton, has fled to Scotland. He begins to bargain with the Scottish Queen Dowager, Mary of Guelders, for their support.
1464: -Edward IV, in secret and dubious circumstances, marries Elizabeth Woodville, a Lancastrian knight’s widow. -Lancaster bargained for the support of France through marriage and Scotland through the secession of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Margaret of Anjou’s forces land in Cornwall with a French army at her back. Much of Wales, as well as Cornwall, answers her call. -Edmund Beaufort leads an army of Scots down from the north in Lancaster’s name. The Earl of Surrey marches north to meet the threat, whilst the Earl of Northumberland eagerly joins Beaufort’s army. -Edward IV quickly gathers his forces and marches to deal with this Lancastrian threat. The armies meet at Wallingford, in Berkshire – one of the most infamous battles in recent memory. At the parley, York was shot, and nearly killed, by a marksman under the orders of the vengeful Lancastrian Queen, Margaret of Anjou. With the King carried from the field, the veteran Earl of Kent, along with Norfolk, assumed command of the Yorkist forces. What followed was a massacre. The Earl of Devon, either out of outrage or sensing an opportunity, betrayed Lancaster, with the partisans of the Red Rose being hacked down from both the front and rear of their army. They were defeated, Margaret was captured, and not for the last time, Lancaster had been betrayed. -In the north, news had not yet reached Beaufort of the tale of Wallingford, or else he may have been warier of false friends. Percy betrayed Lancaster just as Courtenay did, the Duke of Somerset finding his death upon the battlefield against the combined forces of Surrey and Northumberland. -With no army and no allies, Henry VI, Prince Edward, and a mere few companions remain in France, adrift in the waters of exile.
1465: -With Edward indisposed, the Duke of Norfolk seizes the governance of the realm, pressuring the King to marry Northumberland’s daughter once he has awoken from slumber. Edward and Margaret Percy are crowned together in Westminster Abbey ,and it appears as if new age will be ushered in by the golden King and his radiant Queen – who quickly falls pregnant with a girl, Eleanor. -Norfolk completely seizes control of the government. He declares Edward as having relapsed, and confines him within Windsor Castle, ruling England as Lord Protector. With Norfolk having overreached, he is quickly turned upon – a few months later, the King returns to London, and Norfolk is forced to beg for mercy from the King. Though some question his judgement, the King grants this favour to his old friend, so long as he never returns to court again. -Edward of Westminster flees to Provence, relying on the charity of his maternal grandfather, Rene of Anjou, to provide for his livelihood. Henry VI retires to a monastery, formally resigning the crown to his son. Only Baron Clifford, William Beaumont, and John de Vere bear witness; the last of the true Lancastrians did not turn their coats. -
1466: -Edward begins a campaign against the Scots, with the aim of recapturing Berwick. Edward leaves Margaret Percy pregnant with a daughter, who is named Cecily. -Elizabeth Woodville takes up residence at Baynard’s Castle, London, and is openly known as the King’s mistress – she calls herself his Queen. She has already borne him a daughter, Elizabeth.
1467: -Elizabeth Woodville bears Edward a son, Edward of Grafton. Margaret Percy feels more and more marginalised by the growth in popularity of this apparent Queen.
1468: -The campaign ends as soon as it begins. Edward returns home, having made peace witht he King of Scots in exchange for a ransom and a promise of marriage. -In Edward’s absence, Elizabeth named herself as Edward’s true wife, before witnesses, though the King returns to ensure civil war does not break out within the capital. Elizabeth returns to Baynard’s, in disgrace, whilst Edward reconciles with Margaret Percy. She becomes pregnant.
1469: -Margaret and Edward’s marriage begins to break down, and he finds solace in the charms of Elizabeth Woodville. -With Archbishop Francis O’Neill bringing the matter to the Pope’s attention, His Holiness commands it to be resolved. A synod is called at Lincoln Cathedral to decide the matter of who Edward’s rightful wife is, in the eyes of God.
1470: -The trial proves eventful. Francis O’Neill, the representative of Margaret Percy, utterly humiliates himself, sabotaging Percy’s entire case. The trial ends prematurely, with Woodville declared the rightful Queen overwhelmingly. Margaret and Edward’s marriage is annulled. She is settled with an estate in Kent along with an annual pension, where she shall reside under guard with her children. -Margaret, having fallen pregnant before the trial, gives birth to a boy. To spite her former husband, she names him Henry, for her own father… And the Lancastrian King. -Francis O’Neill, charged with treason following a heated exchange with His Majesty, commits suicide. -The Duke of Clarence begins preparations for a campaign into Ireland.
1471: -Elizabeth Woodville is quickly crowned in Westminster Abbey, a lavish ceremony designed to cement her position as Edward’s rightful Queen. -Edward passes the Act of Succession through Parliament, formally declaring Elizabeth Woodville as his rightful wife, her children as his lawful heirs, and Margaret Percy’s children to be bastards born outside of wedlock, with no rights to the throne. -Edward of Lancaster, self-styled as King of England, becomes a mercenary in Italy, hoping to build up a force for himself to retake England. He is captured in a skirmish with the Genoese.
1472: -Lord Stafford and Lord Suffolk go to Burgundy on a diplomatic mission, their purpose being to arrange the marriage of the King’s brother Richard to Mary of Burgundy, Charles the Bold’s daughter. -Lady Percy attempts to escape from captivity with her children. Naturally, she is caught. -England begins to train and equip a ‘royal army’ and ‘royal navy’. A foundry is constructed at Woolwich, with the aim to begin the manufacturing of gunpowder weaponry.
1473: -A grand tournament takes place at Smithfield, not far from London. Somewhat surprisingly, the unheralded Sir John Stafford claims victory, defeating Lord Worcester in the final tilt. -Lady Percy is separated from her children and confined to the Tower of London. She promptly disappears from the public eye, whilst her children are fostered amongst loyal Yorkist families. -Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, weds the Queen’s sister Katherine Woodville at a lavish ceremony at Lincoln Cathedral. -Edward of Lancaster’s ransom is paid… By the French King. Edward becomes a member of Louis’ court.
1474: -The King, after spending the last decade securing peace with Scotland and alliances with Aragon and Burgundy, finally makes his move. With a large army and navy at his back, Edward declared his intent to revive the English claims to France and reclaim the lands lost by Henry VI so many years ago. -English forces land in Calais, ferried over by the Royal Navy. With the army gathered in the last English toehold on the continent, Edward makes for Normandy.
1475: -The Battle of Aigneville marks the beginning of a renewed phase in the Hundred Years War between England and France. A token French force defending Normandy is defeated by the English army with relative ease. -Neuss finally falls to the forces of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, having been a significant delay in his campaign.
1476: -Meanwhile ,in Ireland, the English forces consolidate their grip over the newly won territories in the Earldom of Ulster. The campaign is brought to an abrupt end, with the treasury dedicated entirely to the war with France rather than paying the soldiers to fight elsewhere. -Charles the Bold opts to invade Lorraine rather than push into Champagne, taking the town of Nancy. Charles, from Nancy, marches against the Swiss. He suffers a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Grandson. -The English fleet blockades Harfleur and le Havre, with the army occupying several towns in Normandy and laying siege to Rouen. The French, wary of another Agincourt, keep the English at arm’s length. -Charles is defeated again at Morat, in June. -Many small skirmishes take place throughout Normandy. The largest, at Coudray, ends in French victory, clearing the way for the French army to break the siege ofRouen. -The English narrowly defeat a French force at Hacqueville. Later in the year, Rouen is taken by siege, opening the way for English expansion into Normandy. -Charlesis forced from Lorraine, with Nancy lost to Rene.
1477: -The French fleet attempts to break the blockade of Le Havre. It is decisively defeated by the English navy under the command of Admiral Stanley. -Le Havre is secured after a short siege. From their base at Rouen, the English concentrate their forces upon taking Evreux. -Charles returns once more to Lorraine, and is met once again by the pikes of the Swiss. At Nancy, Charles is killed in combat, and his army disintegrates. The Duke of Gloucester rallies what soldiers remain and returns to friendly territory; the vast Burgundian inheritance lies in hands of Charles’ infant son, Philip. -The English launch raids into central France and western Normandy, but they are met with fierce resistance. For the rest of the year, they quarter in Evreux and Rouen.
1478: -King Louis, sensing weakness, invades the Burgundian territories, laying siege to towns loyal to the Duke. Richard of Gloucester opposes them in the north, but the Duchy itself is defenceless from French occupation. -News of Charles’ death reaches Edward at Rouen. Frustrated, he leads a force south ,towards Dreux, to bait the French into an attack. -The French attempt to besiege Dijon. Richard achieves a costly victory at Coutiches, blocking the French probe into the Burgundian Low Countries. -Taking advantage of soldiers leaving to join the fight against France, the Irish rebel, with the various clans seizing back various territories in southern and northern Ireland. -Edward places Dreux under siege.
1479: -The Irish rebellion continues, and although the English brutally repress any dissent, many of the vast gains quickly acquired in the Irish War of 1475 are lost. From Carrickfergus Castle, Clarence still however maintains a strong grip upon Ulster. -Surely enough, the French react, and Edward quickly finds himself being encircled at Dreux; French forces approach from both the west and south. -Edward abandons the siege. With a forced march west, he crosses the Eire and engages the French at Raville, defeating a French army that was extremely surprised to face the English so soon. -However, with the route back to Dreux cut off by the other French force, Edward is forced to retreat north, back towards Evreux. -Burgundy negotiates a separate peace with France, with Gloucester excluded from the secret negotiations. Richard makes his way to Normandy to link up with Edward’s forces.
1480: -In the early winter months, the English and French met near the hamlet of Quessigny, on the road to Evreux. This engagement is by far the bloodiest battle fought on French soil since Azincourt, with thousands lying dead without a clear victor. Both sides withdraw from the field battered and bruised, and without the decisive victory they desperately sought. -With the English proving a potent and irritating thorn in his side (with Brittany now weighing up an alliance with Edward, fearing the same treatment as Burgundy at the hands of Louis) Louis XI opens negotiations with Edward, who sees the continuation of the conflict as fruitless. Skirmishes continue until ceasefire is agreed in the summer. -By August, the two had met at Picquigny, not far from Amiens. Upon the 29t h day of August the two monarchs signed a treaty; effectively a bribe to remove Edward from French soil. An exorbitant sum was paid, as well as the restoration of the ancient Duchy of Aquitaine to Edward’s control. -Edward of Lancaster was also to be ransomed into English hands, but the sum was never paid; the last of Bolingbroke’s heirs had either perished or fled into exile ,along with his last companions. Henry Holland and Henry Tudor are now the last Lancastrian heirs of any notoriety in England -By the years end, Edward had returned to England, the end to the bloodshed marked by a great Christmas celebration held within Greenwich Palace.
1481: -James Neville, 3rd Earl of Kent, perishes from illness without issue. His property is divided between his three sisters, who have now become the most attractive marriage prospects in all of England. -Ireland is finally at relative peace, though many of the clans now live outside English rule once again. Warfare is frequent, as usual, though smaller in scale. -Edward, King of England, passes from a debilitating illness acquired whilst on campaign in France. His final command is to charge the brother present at his bedside, Richard, to form a regency council until the Prince of Wales reaches hismajority. With the potentially stabilising force of Clarence still residing in Ireland, unaware of the King’s demise, the Queen’s faction and the Duke of Gloucester’s allies will undoubtedly view for control over the young king.
Notable deaths: Anthony Neville, Marquess of Somerset and Earl of Kent – perished in the skirmish at Coudray. Henry Bourchier, Duke of Aumale etc – critically wounded at the battle of Quessigny. Dies from severe wounds.
Last edited by Gandalfus; July 28, 2017 at 01:31 PM.
Born on September the 4th, 1454. 7th Earl of Stafford since 1458; 8th Baron Stafford and 2nd Duke of Buckingham since 1460. Granted partially of his honours in 1471 and livery of his lands in 1472. Wed to Catherine Woodville and granted full of his honours as well as royal arms in 1473. Knight of the Bath since 1471, Knight of the Garter since 1474, and Knight of the Golden Fleece since 1472. Became Lord High Constable in 1474.
2nd Duke of Buckingham since July the 10th, 1460;
7th Earl of Stafford since May the 22nd, 1458;
8th Baron Stafford since July the 10th, 1460;
Holds the feudal Honours of Stafford, Maxstoke, Brecon, Newport, Tonbridge, Huntingdon, and Thornbury.
By informal right of his ancestry to the Earls of Hereford via Anne of Gloucester, Henry holds the great office of Lord High Constable since 1474.
In wardship of his cousin Edward Stafford, he takes guardian ownership of the lordship of Stamford until Edward comes of age.
Genealogy
Paternal Great-grandmother: Anne of Gloucester, heiress to Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham, and Eleanor de Bohun
Paternal Grandfather: Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, whose mother was Anne of Gloucester
Paternal Grandmother: Anne Neville, whose father was Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmoreland
Father: Humphrey Stafford
Mother: Margaret Beaufort
Maternal Grandfather: Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, who was grandson of John of Gaunt and cousin to King Henry V
Maternal Grandmother: Eleanor Beauchamp, whose father was Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick
Relations
Brother of Humphrey Stafford, who died in 1478 in Burgundy.
Nephew of John Stafford, Lord Stamford, who died in 1476.
- Cousin of Edward Stafford, lord of Stamford (born April 8, 1473).
Nephew-in-law of John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury.
- Cousin of Elizabeth Talbot, born in 1473.
Nephew-in-law of Aubrey de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford.
- Cousin of Elizabeth de Vere, born in 1464.
Nephew-in-law of Sir William Stanley.
- Cousin of Henry Stanley, born in 1472.
Nephew of the deceased Beaufort 3rd and 4th Dukes of Somerset
Brother-in-law of Elizabeth Woodville, Anthony Woodville, and their many siblings.
Uncle-in-law to Edward V and his siblings
Other characters of import...
- Henry 'the Younger' Stafford, Buckingham's son and heir; born March 4, 1475.
- Edward Stafford, Lord Stamford & Buckingham's cousin and ward; Born April 8, 1473.
Last edited by Dirty Chai; August 05, 2017 at 05:06 AM.
Titles: 1st Marquess of Montagu, 3rd Earl of Westmorland, 6th Baron Neville de Raby Age: 50 (b. 1431) Marital Status: Widower of Isabel Ingoldesthorpe Children: 3 sons
- George Neville (b. 1461), married to Elizabeth de La Pole (b. 1468), daughter of the Duke of Suffolk.
- Richard Neville (b. 1464), married to Mary Neville (b. 1465), daughter of the Marquess of Somerset.
- Thomas Neville (b. 1471), betrothed to Elizabeth Kyriell (b. 1470), daughter of the Earl of Monmouth. Traits (6 points): +2 Survival, +1 Personal Combat, +1 Battle, +10% Wealth Temperaments: Melancholic
- Meticulous: +1 detection rolls, -5% movement speed.
- Pessimistic: +1 to survival rolls, -1 Charisma. Supine
- Submissive: -1 to Charisma, -1 Battles, +1 to assassination & escape rolls.
George Neville, Archbishop of York
Titles: Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England Age: 49 (b. 1432) Marital Status: N/A Children: N/A Traits (6 points): +2 Survival, +2 Charisma, +2 Assassin Temperaments: Supine:
- Amiable: +1 Charisma, -1 to duel rolls.
- Idealistic: +1 Charisma, -1 to rout/assassination/escape rolls. Melancholic:
- Meticulous: +1 detection rolls, -5% movement speed.
The Three Sons of Montagu
Family Ties
WIP
Estates
Total Income - £1,850 Norfolk
11. Freebridge/King’s Lynn/Castle Rising - Prosperous Income.
12. Docking - Prosperous Income.
Titles: 1st Duke of Clarence, 1st Earl of Leicester, de jure uxoris 18th Earl of Warwick, and de jure uxoris 7th Baron of Montagu Age: 32 (b. 1449) Marital Status:
- Widowed, formerly married to Isabel Neville, the late Countess of Warwick
- Betrothed/Married to Lady Howard, daughter of Baron Howard Children: 3 sons and 1 daughter
- Edmund FitzClarence (of Windsor, acknowledged bastard) (b. 1465)
- John Plantagenet (b. 1466)
- Humphrey the Lame Plantagenet (b. 1471) (d. 1473)
- Margaret Plantagenet (b. 1473) Traits (6 points): +2 Battles, +2 Survival, +2 Personal Combat Temperaments: Choleric:
- Bloodthirsty: +1 Battles, -1 Charisma.
- Ill-Tempered: +1 Duels, -1 Battles. Sanguine:
- Confident: +1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character.
Children of the Duke of Clarence
Family Ties
WIP
Estates
Total Income - £5480 Gloucestershire
10. Gloucester - Prosperous Income.
12. Dean - Average Income.
14. Lydney - Prosperous Income.
Leicestershire
4. Lutterworth - Average Income.
Warwickshire
1. Alcester/Aston Cantlow/Studley - Average Income.
2. Stratford/Breaudesert - Average Income.
5. Warwick/Coventry - Average Income.
6. Rugby - Average Income.
7. Atherstone/Astley/Hartshill - Average Income.
8. Meriden - Average Income.
Worcestershire
1. Bromsgrove - Average Income.
5. Droitwich - Average Income.
6. Upton/Malverin/Hanley - Average Income.
7. Pershore/Strensham - Average Income.
8. Evesham/Elmley - Average Income.
Yorkshire
32. Kirkby Moorside - Average Income.
33. Helmsley - Average Income.
Richmondshire
7. Bedale - Average Income.
Northumberland
8. Hexham/Langley - Sparse Income. FitzClarence Lands
Total Income - £900 Leinster
16. Carlow - Average Income.
24. Castlecomer/Foulksrath/Ballyragget - Average Income.
25. North Waterford - Average Income.
House of Percy
Earldom of Northumberland
Percy Household
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
Titles: 4th Earl of Northumberland, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, 3rd Baron Egremont and 7th Baron Percy Age: 32 (b. 1449) Marital Status: married to Elizabeth de Vere, sister of Audrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford (barren) Children: 2 daughters and 1 son
- Eleanor Percy (b. 1469) (d. 1473)
- Edmund Percy (b. 1471)
- Elizabeth Percy (b. 1473) Traits (6 points): +2 Battle, +2 Survival, +1 Logistican, +1 Personal Combat Temperaments: Choleric:
- Bloodthirsty: +1 Battles, -1 Charisma.
- Impulsive: +5% movement speed, -1 to detection rolls. Phlegmatic:
- Austere: +5% income, -1 Charisma.
Edward Percy, Baron Poyning
Titles: 6th Baron Poynings Age: 17 (b. 1464) Marital Status: Betrothed to Elizabeth de Vere (b. 1464), daughter of Audrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford Children: N/A Traits (6 points): +5% Wealth, +2 Survival, +1 Personal Combat, +2 Charisma Temperaments: Phlegmatic:
- Austere: +5% income, -1 Charisma.
- Empathic: +2 Charisma, -1 to battle/joust/duel rolls. Choleric:
- Ill-Tempered: +1 Duels, -1 Battles.
Family Ties
WIP
Estates
Total Income - £2150 Yorkshire
26. Northallerton - Average Income.
House Hastings were Knights sworn and loyal to house York until the Barony of Hastings was created for Ser William.
Characters
William Hastings, the first Baron of Hastings, and Earl of Northhampton
Born 1431
Age 50
Married Kathrine Neville
Children
Edward Hastings Born 1464
Anne Hastings Born 1466
Richard Hastings Born 1469
Elizabeth Hastings Born 1471
Bio
William was born to Ser Leonard Hastings in 1431
A minor knight loyal to the Lords of York. He served Loyally as high sheriff of Warwikshire and Leincester in 1455, and was knighted for his bravery in the battle of Towton. After the crowning of King Edward, he was given the titles of the Barony of Hastings and the Earldom of Northhampton. After which time William went to tend to his estates providing troops to the Yorkish cause when called for.
Temperament
Phelgmatic Reserved: This character is a stoic who generally keeps to him/herself and exercises strict control over their emotions. While this means they're not likely to make reckless moves in court or on the battlefield, they can come across as unfeeling robots to others. +1 battle rolls, -1 Charisma. Austere: This character disdains pomp and pageantry, instead preferring a plain & simple (the uncharitable might say 'rigidly spartan') lifestyle. +5% income, -1 Charisma
Melancholic Meticulous: This character loves to analyze situations down to the last minutiae before acting. On one hand this means they'll probably have a clear picture going in, on the other their decision-making abilities could easily become paralyzed as they spend too much time analyzing and not enough acting. +1 detection rolls, -5% movement spee
Skills
+2 Battles
+2 Personal Combat
+1 Survival
+1 Wealth
Edward Hastings, Heir to the Ealrdom of Northhampton and the Barony of Hastings
Born 1464
Age 17
Unwed
Bio
Unlike his father Edward was born to nobility and quickly became accustomed to the social graces of court.
Temperament
Sanguine Confident: This character is very self-assured, brimming with confidence and difficult to shake even under pressure. However, taken to an extreme, they can show a suicidal disregard for their life and the lives of others, and fail to take...well, failure into account when planning. +1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character. Sociable: This character is an extroverted social butterfly, capable of making friends left and right. However, they have little time for 'boring' matters like finances, and are more interested in buying flashy things to show off to their friends than managing their wealth. +1 Charisma, -2% income
Supine Idealistic: This person is a strong believer in higher ideals and the innate goodness of man. On the one hand they tend to be inspiring and uplifting figures, on the other they can be taken advantage of by those who live well beneath their expectations. +1 Charisma, -1 to rout/assassination/escape rolls.
Skills
+2 Charisma
+1 Battles
+1 Personal Combat
Richard Hastings
Born 1469
Age 12
Temperament
Choleric Bloodthirsty: This character is hotheaded and loves to jump into fights, lethal or otherwise. This is not something others find endearing off the battlefield, though. +1 Battles, -1 Charisma. Impulsive: This character acts before (sometimes, without) thinking. They might move and decide more quickly than others, but their recklessness can lead them to disaster as well. +5% movement speed, -1 to detection rolls.
Phlegmatic Reserved: This character is a stoic who generally keeps to him/herself and exercises strict control over their emotions. While this means they're not likely to make reckless moves in court or on the battlefield, they can come across as unfeeling robots to others. +1 battle rolls, -1 Charisma.
Skills
+1 Survival
+1 Personal Combat
+2 Battles
John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, 3rd Earl of Waterford, 1st Earl of Ormond, 9th Baron of Talbot, 12th Baron Strange of Blackmere, 8th Baron Furniwall.
The families estates and income
Provincial Bonuses
The Talbot family
Prest d'accomplir
Last edited by General Brewster; August 03, 2017 at 03:16 PM.
Age: 29 (born 2 October, 1452) Spouse: Mary of Burgundy (24, b. 13 February 1457) Traits: 6 pts
+4 Battles (base 3, +1 from 'Reserved' trait)
+2 Personal Combat
+2 Survival (base 1, +1 from 'Pessimistic' trait)
+5% income (Austere)
-2 Charisma ('Pessimistic' and 'Reserved')
Temperaments:
Phlegmatic - dominant: - Austere: This character disdains pomp and pageantry, instead preferring a plain & simple (the uncharitable might say 'rigidly spartan') lifestyle. +5% income, -1 Charisma.
- Reserved: This character is a stoic who generally keeps to him/herself and exercises strict control over their emotions. While this means they're not likely to make reckless moves in court or on the battlefield, they can come across as unfeeling robots to others. +1 battle rolls, -1 Charisma.
Melancholic - subservient: - Pessimistic: This character is always looking at the negative side of things. They may be right in some cases - when you suspect every man you meet to be a bad guy, you're probably right at least one out of ten times - but it doesn't exactly make them endearing. +1 to survival rolls, -1 Charisma.
----------------
Richard, Duke of Gloucester is the youngest son of his namesake Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and failed claimant to the English throne. From birth he was afflicted with scoliosis, a disorder that left his spine unnaturally curved and forced him to wear heavy padded clothing to mask the resulting hunchback. Despite his disfigurement, Richard grew up to be a diligent lad, who would rigorously spar until he collapsed from exhaustion in an (unsuccessful) effort to set his back right. He also got along with his family, who by and large loved and accepted him even in spite of his humpback, from his parents to his elder brothers Edward, Edmund and George and his many sisters from Anne, future Duchess of Exeter to Margaret, future Duchess of Burgundy. In return, he gave them his similarly unconditional love and loyalty.
What a shame, then, that his father York and brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland were killed at the Battle of Wakefield and their heads spiked above Micklegate Bar when Richard was only eight years old. And so, for the first time in his life, the soon-to-be Duke of Gloucester - then living at Middleham Castle, the seat of his father's Neville ally the Earl of Warwick, and acquainted with his host's daughters - learned true hatred and wrath.
Like their remaining middle brother George, Richard was too young to help Edward of March avenge their butchered kin. Nonetheless this quiet and ponderous last son of York understood what it meant when that eldest brother of theirs returned in glorious triumph from the battlefields of Towton to be crowned Edward IV, and even before hitting puberty he took in the sight of the head of Margaret of Anjou - the Queen of the House of Lancaster, and the woman who had York and Rutland's heads spiked - rolling on Tower Hill after a later clash at Wallingford with a decidedly unchildlike nonchalance. Upon reaching the age of 14 two years after that, he was assigned as ward to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and a former Lancastrian who had demonstrated his own allegiance to York by helping to destroy the Lancastrian Duke of Somerset and his Scottish at Carlisle soon after Wallingford, and served diligently in his new capacity for four years. In that time he unwittingly played a small but crucial part in causing the downfall of another Margaret, his guardian's daughter Queen Margaret Percy; it was he who recovered his nephews borne by Margaret after she handed them off to a Flemish artist, and honestly informed both Edward IV and Northumberland that Margaret had told him that she trusted that Fleming more than anyone else in the court (for some reason which she did not explain to him in particular), which in turn planted the seed of fear that she was having an affair behind Edward's back in the minds of half the realm.
Having been emancipated at 18, the young Duke of Gloucester was assigned to serve as Lord Chancellor of Wales and later Lord Captain of Calais, and again he served quietly, faithfully and dutifully in both offices. Some years later, while his other brother George of Clarence was fighting in Ireland, Richard was married to the noble lady Mary - then only living child to Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy, Europe's wealthiest and most warlike magnate; as it turned out, the marriage was key to a renewed Anglo-Burgundian alliance against the Crown of France, whose wearer King Louis had supported the House of Lancaster against Richard's own House of York time and again. Soon after conceiving a son with his new wife, Richard was directed to aid his father-in-law in a war against the German city of Neuss, which had done him offense by evicting Burgundy's ally from their halls of power, and to bring him round to support Edward IV's own invasion of France. This Gloucester did his best to accomplish, helping Charles storm Neuss' walls and reduce its gates to splinters with gunpowder-filled 'rams' before 1474 ended.
Unfortunately for all parties involved Charles was a muleheaded man with more ambition & pride than sense, overly determined to realize his dream of a new Lotharingia stretching from the Low Countries and the Moselle Valley to Arles, and drunk on his victory over Neuss he decided to press his luck with an invasion of Lorraine rather than any actual part of France. Disgruntled though he may have been at being ignored, the ever stoic and dutiful Richard followed his father-in-law into defeat after defeat at the business end of Swiss pike columns, until Charles finally got himself killed at the 1477 Battle of Nancy where he attempted to take on a Swiss and Lorrainer army several times larger than his own in the middle of a snowstorm. Richard was left to pick up the pieces that were left of the once-proud Burgundian army, and combining them with his own battered English detachment, he led this badly bloodied host on a desperate struggle to preserve the Burgundian possessions from French encroachment and at the same time assist his brother's armies in western & northern France wherever he could. In these dark years where he frantically raced from battlefield to battlefield and engaged French armies often several times larger than his own with little room for personal comfort or even sleep, the only help he got from home came in the form of the Dukes of Buckingham and Suffolk, the brother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth Woodville and husband to his older sister Elizabeth of York respectively. With their support, and despite the odds arrayed against him, Gloucester managed to keep Burgundy in the fight and persist as a thorn in France's side until 1479, when to his deep anger and disgust the Burgundian peers cut a separate peace deal with their French adversary behind his back and that of his other sister Margaret, Charles the Bold's widow.
Abandoned by the Burgundians, Richard and the other Englishmen made their way to Normandy, where they linked up with the main English host under Edward IV himself and were present at the great yet greatly inconclusive bloodbath of Quessigny, 1480. He was present at the signing of the Treaty of Picquigny later that same year, where the five-year war was brought to an end and yet England managed to secure only a slice of Aquitaine for all their efforts and all the blood shed; a great injustice, Gloucester thinks, which he blames on the Burgundian nobility for abandoning the fight. Since then, Gloucester returned to his duties as Lord Captain of Calais, and privately seethes with resentment over what could have been. Coincidentally, his focus on the southern half of the Kingdom of England has also left him in position to attend his eldest brother's deathbed, bringing him both unmeasured grief and hidden opportunities to slip out from the shadow of the Sun of York...
As a man, Richard could hardly resemble his brothers Edward IV, Rutland and Clarence less. Where they are fair and strongly built, he is dark and slender, though years of exercise and warfare have left his muscles well-honed and taut. And where they are full of vitality, vigor and fire, he is much cooler and sterner in temperament, quiet and calculating with little love of pageantry, all bite and no bark. His experience trying to direct an entire front of the Hundred Years' War's latest phase while chronically outnumbered by the French foe, undersupplied by his increasingly reluctant Burgundian allies, and almost entirely cut off from his family and home have left him gaunter and grimmer than ever. Still, though his hunchbacked countenance and cold manner may be off-putting to many, the youngest son of York is a loyal brother and friend to those few who truly know him. Moreover, with his older brother Clarence still alive and ahead of him in the line of succession (as well as all of Clarence's progeny), none have reason to fear that this particular Duke might snuff out his nephews borne by Woodville, even if their mother's constant grasping for more power and titles has increasingly concerned him over the past years. 'Loyaulte me lie' (loyalty binds me) goes the White Boar's motto, and for the foreseeable future at least, he is determined to not give anyone cause to doubt the truth of those words.
Arms and Garter plate of Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Battle standard of the Duke of Gloucester, a common sight on the 'eastern front' of the Hundred Years' War's Yorkist phase, 1474-80
Richard's family
Mary of Burgundy, Duchess of Gloucester, Richard's wife - 24, b. 13 February 1457
Lionel of Calais, Richard and Mary's son - 6, b. 11 January 1475
Richard's other relations
Brother to George, Duke of Clarence; Anne Holland, née Plantagenet of York; Elizabeth de la Pole, née Plantagenet of York; Margaret of Valois-Burgundy, née Plantagenet of York
Paternal uncle to King Edward V, his siblings & paternal half-siblings (incl. Margaret Percy's issue and Arthur, Viscount Bourchier)
Uncle in both blood and law to Philip, Duke of Burgundy
Brother-in-law to Elizabeth Woodville, Anthony Woodville and their siblings
Brother-in-law to X Howard (?)
Brother-in-law to Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, and uncle by marriage to his children
Brother-in-law to John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, and uncle by marriage to his children
Estates and honors
House de Vere, Earls of Oxford
The De Veres are one of the oldest lines of Norman nobility in England, dating back to a certain 'Albericus' or Aubrey de Vere who was listed as a significant landowner in Essex (indeed this was where the De Veres' ancestral seat, Hedingham Castle, was built) and the Queen's chamberlain in the Domesday Book of 1086. His son and heir, also named Aubrey, was made into the first De Vere Lord Great Chamberlain of England following the disgrace of that office's previous occupant, Robert Malet, in 1133, while Aubrey II's son Aubrey III was made the first-ever Earl of Oxford in 1141. A De Vere has always held the Earldom of Oxford since, and the office of Lord Great Chamberlain as well with only a few interruptions. They have a lengthy history of getting involved in the great political disputes and civil wars of the country, and leaping from faction to faction as it suited their needs - then escaping the consequences for their oft-dizzying turnabouts, whether by attaching themselves to the victorious party just in time or making themselves indispensable to the victors even after their chosen side's defeat. Suffice to say that until recently, loyalty was not one of this house's strong suits.
Under Aubrey III, the De Veres at first fought for the claim of Matilda against that of Stephen de Blois during the Anarchy: after Aubrey II was lynched by a mob in London, Aubrey III did homage unto the Empress. His allegiance to Matilda was not ironclad however, and there were times where the new Earl of Oxford stood down and made peace with Stephen, then took up arms for Matilda again, and on and on. The end of the war saw a series of neck-breaking volte-faces on the part of Earl Aubrey, who at first hosted Matilda at Hedingham Castle where she died in 1152, then rode with Stephen to lay siege to Wallingford Castle in 1153, where he supported the Treaty of Wallingford as a compromise solution by which Stephen would remain King but be succeeded by Henry FitzEmpress of Anjou, Matilda's son, upon his death rather than his own offspring. The De Veres escaped consequences for their habit of constantly turning coats, as Aubrey de Vere kept both the Earldom of Oxford and the office of Lord Great Chamberlain under Henry II, and in fact both remained in the possession of his heirs to the present day.
Aubrey III's younger son Robert, 3rd Earl of Oxford, played the same dangerous game his father had taken part in during the time of King John. In 1215 he was among the peers who forced the unpopular John into signing the Magna Carta, for which he was excommunicated by the Pope as a rebel, and who then continued to follow the baronial party in attempting to overthrow John in favor of Prince Louis of France when John tried to avoid actually implementing the accord. The next year, Robert knelt before John and pleaded for his mercy after royalist forces took Hedingham Castle, only to turn around and proclaim himself Louis' man once again when the French prince rode into London just three months later. When John died in 1217, most of the rebel barons went back to the Angevin side, and Robert was little different: even after Louis had recovered Hedingham Castle for him, the Earl of Oxford hardly needed to think twice before going back on his oaths (again) and kneeling before the boy-king. Also like his father, Robert suffered virtually no consequences for his treacherous habits, as the new King (or his regents, rather) fully restored him to his lands and office by 1218.
Another Robert, grandson of the above, joined Simon de Montfort's rebels in the Barons' War of 1264-7. After the defeat and slaughter of the Montforts at the hands of Prince Edward, future King Edward I, at the Battle of Evesham, the 5th Earl of Oxford became the first member of his family to actually experience negative consequences for his treason by being attainted, though he continued to hold out with the other surviving rebels at Kenilworth Castle until his titles and estates were restored to him by the Dictum of 1266.
The early 14th-century De Veres were not as significant to England's internal troubles as their forebears, as they were mostly occupied by the Hundred Years' War in France. John, the 7th Earl, participated in the Battle of Crecy and later executed a flanking maneuver at the Battle of Poitiers that helped win the day for England. The same could not be said of John's grandson Robert, 9th Earl of Oxford, a close friend and even possible lover of Richard II, who took advantage of his influence to get Richard to name him Duke of Ireland in 1386. Oxford's closeness to Richard brought the disfavor of the other nobles down on their heads, and he was forced to flee the country after leading Richard's royal army to defeat against a party of rebellious magnates known as the 'Lords Appellant' at Radcot Bridge in 1387. When Robert died childless and in exile in 1392, his uncle Aubrey was restored to the Earldom of Oxford and the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, though not the 'Duchy of Ireland'.
The De Veres of the 15th century have been alternatively unimportant and in danger of losing everything they own. Aubrey, the 10th Earl's son and heir Richard, the 11th Earl, was not a particularly distinguished man save for his participation in a 1412 expedition to Normandy and his vote in favor of condemning Richard of Conisburgh (grandfather of the York brothers of today) to death at the latter's trial, but his son John emerged as a political animal and one of the most fervent supporters of the Lancastrian cause in the years leading up to the 'War of the Roses'. Besides trying to expand his power in eastern England against the supporters of the fallen William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, John committed himself to the Lancastrian party starting in 1455 (where he arrived too late to aid the royal forces against the Yorkists at 1st St Albans) and reaffirmed his loyalty to Queen Margaret in person in 1459. The De Veres hoped to wipe away the stain of treachery from their family's reputation by supporting Henry VI in the struggle for England's throne, but time after time they failed: Lancaster's power was broken at Towton in 1461, then again at Wallingford and Carlisle three years later. John paid for his loyalty with his life, falling in battle at Wallingford after the Courtenays turned on their fellow Lancastrians and the Yorkist enemy promptly crushed his lines like bugs.
Aubrey de Vere succeeded his father as Earl of Oxford following Wallingford, and managed to hold on to the family's title and lands by effectively entering a self-imposed isolation where he did not entertain thoughts of supporting Lancaster again - or, indeed, any thought at all, save that of drinking and moping. His little brother John adventured overseas to join Edward of Westminster, the Lancastrian princeling and indeed sole remnant of the senior line of Lancaster who in their reckoning is the true Edward IV of England, but has not been heard from since; little does Aubrey know, John has already predeceased him, felled on some Italian battlefield by an anonymous foe. Another brother, Richard, married a Beaufort with royal permission and sired a son, now (as far as Aubrey knows) the only hope of survival the De Vere name still has since the 13th Earl's own wife gave him naught but a mentally disabled girl and a stillborn son. This son now lives as a ward of the court, for that was what the old King Edward IV had demanded of the De Veres as price for allowing Richard's Beaufort marriage in the first place.
Sir Aubrey de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
Age: 44 (born 16 January, 1437) Spouse: Anne Stafford (33, b. 1448) Traits: 6 pts
+4 Survival (base 3, +1 from 'Pessimistic' trait)
+2 Personal Combat
+1 Battles
+7% income (from 'Haggler' and 'Austere')
-4 Charisma (from 'Austere', 'Haggler' and 'Pessimistic' traits)
Temperaments:
Melancholic - dominant: - Haggler: This character is obsessed with getting the best possible deal for themselves, and ever watchful (even paranoid) for anyone trying to rip them off. This sort of fellow is rarely the sort others like, but none can deny their ability to sniff for gold. +2% income and improves loot from raids, -2 Charisma.
- Pessimistic: This character is always looking at the negative side of things. They may be right in some cases - when you suspect every man you meet to be a bad guy, you're probably right at least one out of ten times - but it doesn't exactly make them endearing. +1 to survival rolls, -1 Charisma.
Phlegmatic - subservient: - Austere: This character disdains pomp and pageantry, instead preferring a plain & simple (the uncharitable might say 'rigidly spartan') lifestyle. +5% income, -1 Charisma.
Aubrey de Vere is not a happy man.
...or so he'd say, if he was writing the introduction to a chronicle on his life. Though he wouldn't be wrong.
The 13th Earl of Oxford is indeed a joyless fellow, prone to dressing in mourning black and alternately drinking or writing depressing poetry all the time, but he does not lack cause to be so grim. Having served the Lancastrian cause with his father since the start of the Wars of the Roses when he'd just reached maturity, then-Sir Aubrey de Vere had the misfortune to directly experience the agony of defeat at Towton, where the House of Lancaster had come so close to victory only to suddenly have their flank caved in by the Duke of Norfolk's men. He, his father, and his younger brother John seemingly bent the knee after that ordeal, but in truth they were to serve as moles, undermining the foundations of the new Yorkist regime in preparation for a second Lancastrian attempt at the throne. That attempt came in 1464, when Margaret of Anjou landed in Cornwall with a French army. Old John, the 12th Earl of Oxford, set out to join her with his second son and De Vere's might behind him, but Aubrey was left behind to administer Hedingham Castle - and just in case the battle to come proved to be disastrous.
Which it did. When the Red and White Roses once more tried to strangle each other with their thorny vines at Wallingford that year, the latter proved triumphant once more, and Aubrey's father was among the fallen. His brother had disappeared, in truth ferried across the channel while in a mace-induced state of unconsciousness to join what little was left of the Lancastrian court in France. Aubrey had to plead for mercy once again, and this time, he dismissed any thought of supporting Lancaster from his mind, for he was not about to betray York and risk the White Rose's fury a second time. Since then, the Earl of Oxford has lived the life of a recluse, only dragging himself out of Hedingham for important matters of state and spending the rest of his time in a drunken, depressive stupor within the castle walls. (admittedly, his wife birthing first a mentally disabled girl and then a stillborn boy, with the latter rendering her barren, probably didn't help his mental state) Since he went off to join the war in France, he has even come to shave his unruly ebony locks and beard less than the already sparse usual, to the point that his servants whisper behind his back that he resembles a sad, emaciated black bear.
Also, to his great misfortune, he didn't die in France either. Though struck in the head at Quessigny, unlike his father he managed to survive, and it was reported that his first words on waking was to ask his physician if he had perished or at least, sustained a fatal injury; when told that no, he would in fact live, the Earl sank back into his sheets with a frustrated groan. Besides a head injury and a terrible haircut, Aubrey brought back from France a bastard boy he calls simply 'Francis Vere' (note the missing 'de') - a son of his own at last, though ironically a bastard who could not inherit and who he dares not even consider legitimizing for fear of the offense it'd cause his Stafford wife, Margaret Beaufort and the royals who sanctioned his brother's marriage - though (as a side-effect of being constantly drunk) he barely remembers bedding the lad's mother.
Sir George de Vere
Age: 31 (born 28 November, 1450) Spouse: None Traits: 6 pts
+4 Personal Combat (base 3, +1 from 'Ill-Tempered')
+2 Logistician (+15% movement speed total, +5% from 'Impulsive')
+2 Survival (base 1, +1 from 'Upbeat')
-1 Battles (from 'Ill-Tempered')
-1 to detection rolls for enemy armies (from 'Impulsive')
Temperaments:
Choleric - dominant: - Ill-Tempered: This character is ornery and seems to explode at the slightest provocation. While they've gotten into enough fights to toughen them up, a person who's as easily baited as a bull that sees red won't make a good commander. +1 Duels, -1 Battles.
- Impulsive: This character acts before (sometimes, without) thinking. They might move and decide more quickly than others, but their recklessness can lead them to disaster as well. +5% movement speed, -1 to detection rolls.
Sanguine - subservient: - Upbeat: Nothing seems to get this character down. They're perpetually smiling and looking on the bright side of even the darkest developments, truly the kind of optimism that can be infectious...or delusional, if the situation is bad enough. +1 to surviving non-battle death rolls, -1 to post-battle rolls (captivity, death, wounding).
George de Vere is the fourth son of old John de Vere, the late 12th Earl of Oxford, and thus younger brother to Aubrey, John and Richard de Vere. When his father was killed and a wounded John Jr. sailed for France in the disastrous aftermath of Wallingford, George accompanied the latter, having been serving as his squire at the time just as Richard was for their oldest brother, now the 13th Earl of Oxford. From that point onward George was firmly enmeshed in the retinue of the exiled Lancastrians, accompanying them to Tarascon and Italy: it was in the latter that he won his spurs, being knighted by his big brother after directly participating in a battle for the first time at the age of eighteen. Two years later John himself died, felled on the battlefield of Albenga by a Lombard halberd, to George's great grief. He flew into a rage and threw himself into the ranks of the foe, which was an incredibly bad idea that would have gotten him killed (what with the Lancastrian mercenaries' chosen side having lost the battle at that point) had Clifford and Beaumont not dragged him away.
When Edward of Lancaster himself was captured two years after that and the Lancastrian 'Sovereign Company' was thus reduced to just Clifford and a handful of lost and/or stubbornly loyal souls, for the first time in his life George seriously debated deserting the wilted Red Rose's cause, his usual optimism finally markedly dented. However, De Vere honor and Lancastrian loyalty ultimately kept him hanging around long enough to hear of Edward's ransoming by the King of France. Now for better or for worse, this temperamental fourth son of Oxford remains at the side of 'Red Ed' in exile and hopes that one day they will beat the odds to return to England in triumph, unaware that his own elder brothers back home have opted to back rather different horses while he and John were gone.
Oxford's household
Anne de Vere, née Stafford, Aubrey's barren wife - 33, b. 1448
Elizabeth Percy, née de Vere, Aubrey and Anne's mentally challenged daughter, married to Edward Percy - 17, b. 28 June 1464
Francis Vere, Aubrey's son with a Norman harlot - 3, b. 15 January 1478
Mary de Vere, Aubrey's sister and a nun at Barking Abbey - 42, b. 10 August 1439
Joan Wenlock, née de Vere, Aubrey's sister and wife to a Wenlock - 38, b. 9 May 1442
Elizabeth Percy, née De Vere, Aubrey's sister and barren wife to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland - 35, b. 16 June 1436
Richard de Vere, Aubrey's third brother and heir presumptive to the Earldom of Oxford - 32, b. 13 May 1449
Joan Beaufort, Richard's wife - 48, b. 1433
Robert de Vere, Richard and Joan's son, living at the Yorkist court in Westminster - 6, b. 29 October 1475
Thomas de Vere, Aubrey's youngest brother - 29, b. 11 July 1452
Oxford's estates and honors
House Kyriell, Earls of Cambridge and Monmouth
Left: The arms of Kyriell of Cambridge. Right: the arms of Kyriell of Monmouth, AKA the 'White Kyriells'.
The Kyriell or De Criol family is a very new one to the nobility of England, having been completely unheard of prior to the 14th century: something shown even in their physical looks, as their hair is typically a darker honey-like shade of blond, not the truly fair and golden color considered desirable by the higher nobility and royalty. Until about 1245 they were a family of Kentish serfs among a sea of other nameless peasants descended from the Saxons who were subjugated by the incoming Norman aristocracy, who lived in the obscure hamlet of Criol (which no longer exists, thanks to the Black Death) and toiled day in & day out for their local noble overlords. The family's fortunes began to change with one 'Edward' in 1245, who through a combination of hard work, careful conservation of what little resources he had, and sheer luck in having a more lenient master than most villeins, managed to become the first free tenant in the history of the De Criol family: thus, he won the right to marry without the lord's consent and the right to not be arbitrarily kicked out of his house. Naturally, he immediately set up a match between himself and the daughter of the wealthiest merchant who didn't turn him away on sight in an effort to increase his wealth. The Kyriell free peasants persisted in this course and eventually reached the height of a peasant's life with Edward's grandson Baldric 'the Beekeeper', said to be the greatest beekeeper in Criol. His job made him wealthy and renowned (for a peasant), until it didn't - in 1298 he accidentally provoked his bees and was stung to death by them, leaving behind a heavily pregnant wife who now had no way of supporting herself.
Baldric's wife gave birth to his only posthumous son and used what strength she had left to leave him on the Criol church's steps before passing, and the boy Edmund was raised by the priest who took pity on him. Edmund grew up to be someone who had a promising career in the Church, until he threw that all away by being caught in bed with a baker's daughter by the priest who had been more of a father to him than the dead Baldric. He promptly fled out of a window, then departed Kent and eventually ended up in service to a Sussex knight, Alan of Pevensey, who was fooled by his decision to sign everything as 'Edmund Kyriell' instead of 'Edmund de Criol' and was further impressed by his literacy & talent at arithmetic. Edmund thus became this knight's household steward, and after helping him dodge some taxes secured the man's promise to take his own son John under his wing. Thus did John Kyriell become the first Kyriell to become a page, then squire, and finally a knight after saving his master's life from bandits in the Weald. It was he who purchased estates near his father's native Criol in 1343, where he built the Kyriell family residence: Westenhanger Manor, which he secured a license to crenellate in 1346 due to the French threat looming on the other side of the Channel. Although John was too busy fortifying his manor to fight in the Battle of Crecy, he did serve as a minor foot-knight on the English front line at Poitiers, one of many whose names were lost to all record save that of the Kyriells themselves.
The Kyriells did get at least a footnote in the history of England thanks to the actions and fate of their most recent patriarch, Sir Thomas. It was he who led the English army to disaster at Formigny in 1450, costing England the duchy of Normandy forever, though he himself blamed ill luck (his men had taken the French cannons in a countercharge and could have won had a Breton force not suddenly appeared on their flank, or so he claimed) and the strategic blunders of his superior the Duke of Somerset for the calamity. As a Member of Parliament, Kyriell closely bound himself to the Yorkist cause even in its infancy and openly fought in Yorkist ranks from Blore Heath onward, to the point where the Earl of Warwick arranged his election to the Order of the Garter in February 1461. Alas, just over a week later, Thomas was captured and executed by the Lancastrians after the 2nd Battle of St Albans, having been left behind to guard King Henry VI: it is said that Queen Margaret asked her son, Edward of Westminster, what deaths he and his compatriot the Baron Bonville should die, at which point Edward readily answered that their heads should be removed. He left behind two sons, Edmund and Roger, to carry the Kyriell name onward and avenge him, if they can.
And avenge him, they did! The Kyriells fought with distinction at Towton as members of Edward IV's bodyguard, and again at Wallingford where Edmund commanded the Yorkist cavalry. Moreover, they witnessed the execution of the Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou, one half of their father's killers. Aside from finally getting some measure of vengeance, both brothers also ascended into the ranks of the English peerage proper. Edmund was made Earl of Cambridge after Towton, while Roger was made Viscount Kyriell and later Earl of Monmouth, and even married the sister of then soon-to-be-queen Elizabeth Woodville. They further profited from their support of their new sister-in-law against Margaret Percy in the 'Affair of the Two Queens', and it was not long after the great trial at Lincoln that Edmund was made into the guardian of Edward IV and his chosen Queen's eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales: a task in which he has done his level best to mold the future King of England into a just, caring and responsible ruler worthy of being called 'the glory of the noble kingdom', as a Brescian poet would say, even when the French war called him and his sons away and left the royal lad with only his natural daughter for company. In that war, once more the brothers Kyriell served Edward IV and the House of York bravely and loyally, and since its conclusion at Picquigny a year ago they have returned to Wales - Cambridge to continue tutoring the now not-so-little Prince, and Monmouth to govern his own estates once more.
Sir Edmund Kyriell, Earl of Cambridge
Age: 42 (born 9 April, 1439) Spouse: Emma Alderman (40, b. 25 July 1441) Traits: 6 pts
+3 Personal Combat
+2 Battles (base 1, +1 from 'Confident' trait)
+2 Survival
+1 Wealth (5% income bonus)
-1 Charisma (from 'Bloodthirsty')
Temperaments:
Sanguine - dominant: - Confident: This character is very self-assured, brimming with confidence and difficult to shake even under pressure. However, taken to an extreme, they can show a suicidal disregard for their life and the lives of others, and fail to take...well, failure into account when planning. +1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character.
- Upbeat: Nothing seems to get this character down. They're perpetually smiling and looking on the bright side of even the darkest developments, truly the kind of optimism that can be infectious...or delusional, if the situation is bad enough. +1 to surviving non-battle death rolls, -1 to post-battle rolls (captivity, death, wounding).
Choleric - subservient: - Bloodthirsty: This character is hotheaded and loves to jump into fights, lethal or otherwise. This is not something others find endearing off the battlefield, though. +1 Battles, -1 Charisma.
Edmund is the eldest son of Sir Thomas Kyriell and his wife Cecily Stourton, and the closer of the two to their father. Thomas's busy life, particularly his service in France, kept him away from home for most of Edmund's childhood, but he never failed to bring the lad some trinkets bought in Normandy or Calais on the rare occasion that he did return, and was the man who arranged for him to be taken in by a nearby family of other Kentish knights as a page. When the Wars of the Roses began, Edmund practically jumped at the opportunity to fight alongside his old man and set out with fellow Kentish Yorkists to join the army of Richard of York as a squire, which was where he met his father again for the first time in years. He ably served the Yorkists from Blore Heath onward like Thomas did, in the process gaining a reputation for displaying reckless bravery and bloodthirsty passion, and had so distinguished himself at Mortimer's Cross that he was knighted on the same day that his father was made a Knight of the Garter with the support of the Earl of Warwick.
Unfortunately those ceremonies would be the last time that father and son would see each other, as Thomas was executed eight days later at the conclusion of the disastrous 2nd Battle of St Albans: Edmund was still with the army of the Earl of March alongside his brother Roger and thus was not present to even attempt to save their father. The knowledge of his father's execution (or murder, as he would call it on account of being a Yorkist who recognized only Edward of March as his King) at the hands of the Lancastrians instilled a burning hatred for the House of Lancaster in Edmund's heart and made the war personal for him. As the head of his shrunken family, he now continues to fight for the House of York and considers avenging his father by helping to destroy the House of Lancaster in any way he can to be his chief priority, with personal enrichment naturally coming in a close second.
Edmund has lived quite well since the Battle of Towton, having first been elevated to the Order of the Garter and awarded the Earldom of Cambridge almost immediately after the Yorkist victory. Though not a particularly proficient politician unlike his much slicker brother, he did make the honorable and - as it turned out - right choice to back his sister-in-law Elizabeth Woodville against Margaret Percy in the clash of the rival queens, resulting in him eventually gaining wardship over Woodville's young son with Edward IV: Edward of Grafton, Prince of Wales and future King of England. Though the bookish and reedy royal lad did not prove to be nearly as martially inclined as his father or Cambridge himself were, Cambridge came to understand this and placed more emphasis on military lessons for the mind - there were still lessons on equestrianism, archery and sparring with various weapons, of course, but they were gradually eclipsed in importance by wargaming and the reading of books on the wartime exploits of history's great leaders, from Julius Caesar to Alfred the Great to the Black Prince. And though the King had commanded Cambridge to impose a strict schedule on his son, there would always be time between/after lessons and on Sundays for Grafton to play with Cambridge's own children who had followed him to Ludlow: his relatively level-headed eldest Harold, until of course he had to depart to squire under the Duke of Buckingham in 1477; his second son Thomas, the one most like the father in looks and belligerence, until he too left Ludlow to squire for Lord Hastings of Northampton in 1479; and his natural daughter Soleil, the Prince's friend since they were toddlers, before Edward's mother had been recognized as Queen and he as heir to the kingdom. When the war in France called him away, Edmund nonetheless continued to direct Edward's tutors and the Ludlow staff as best he could and wrote letters to the Prince and his daughter himself, and noted that both of them had better handwriting than he did.
All in all, with a tight daily schedule six days of the week; a variety of capable tutors ranging from humble Franciscan friars, to stern Dominicans, to academics from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge who could recite obscure historical details off the top of their heads; filling but modest meals such as ginger-and-greens soup or fresh trout baked in clay or honey-basted rabbits, with the truly lavish and kingly foods restricted to holidays; and moral lessons on the importance of virtue and the responsible wielding of power, often issued by himself and later directly demonstrated when Edward became old enough to accompany him as he administered justice across Wales and the Marches, Cambridge has done the best he can to raise Prince Edward into a king capable of leading England into a golden age, all without spoiling him. As he beholds the kindly and intelligent young man the Prince of Wales is growing into, the Earl cannot help but feel pride and satisfaction, both in having fulfilled his duty (as far as he was concerned, anyway) and in having witnessed a boy he has come to care for like a third son turn out well. His hope is now for the lad to take the throne of England, and to reign long & justly in his own right - with not a soul to weigh him down with their strings, ideally.
Edmund is a bold and passionate man: always up for a good fight, often blunt to the point of harshness with his words on the rare occasion that he isn't smiling or jesting, prone to rambling and spewing streams of consciousness at the nearest listener when agitated, and possessed of a fiery loyalty to the House of York like his departed father. Still, he does not lack a gentler and more understanding side (as the Prince of Wales and his children can surely attest) and is overall a more trustworthy man than his brother Monmouth, a consummate politician who is more willing to lie and engage in intrigue than his straightforward and (sometimes brutally) honest self. He has a wife, the daughter of a member of London's Worshipful Company of Mercers, thanks to a marriage his mother had arranged: he had never met the girl Emma Alderman, two years his junior, before, but on the occasion that he wasn't off fighting battles he found her presence bearable - at the very least she did not stink of fish, as a daughter of one of London's Fishmongers would surely have. Having been raised in fairly poor conditions for the gentry, the barely literate Edmund is also close to the peasantry and shares many of their strange superstitions to the point of carrying a pouch of lucky charms in his pocket at all times, which his better educated brother scoffs at.
Sir Roger Kyriell, Earl of Monmouth and Viscount Kyriell
Age: 38 (born 18 October, 1443) Spouse: Anne Woodville (43, b. 1438) Traits: 6 pts
+5 Charisma (base 3, -1 from 'Reserved' trait, +3 from 'Empathic' and 'Sociable' traits)
+2 Battles ('Empathic' and 'Reserved' cancel each other out)
+1 Logistician
+1 Wealth (8% income bonus, +3% total from 'Austere' and 'Sociable' traits on top of the 5% base)
-1 Personal Combat (from 'Empathic')
Temperaments:
Phlegmatic - dominant: - Empathic: This character is strongly attuned to the emotions of others and cares for them, making them great friends or kinsmen to have - but poor warriors and generals. +2 Charisma, -1 to battle/joust/duel rolls.
- Reserved: This character is a stoic who generally keeps to him/herself and exercises strict control over their emotions. While this means they're not likely to make reckless moves in court or on the battlefield, they can come across as unfeeling robots to others. +1 battle rolls, -1 Charisma.
Sanguine - subservient: - Sociable: This character is an extroverted social butterfly, capable of making friends left and right. However, they have little time for 'boring' matters like finances, and are more interested in buying flashy things to show off to their friends than managing their wealth. +1 Charisma, -2% income.
Roger is the second son of Sir Thomas Kyriell and Cecily Stourton, and thus younger brother to Edmund. Unlike his uncouth brother who preferred to spend his childhood days fighting dummies and the servants' sons, the more contemplative and reserved Roger paid attention in church, struggled mightily to learn how to read, and - though he also likes to talk a lot - can generally remain coherent when agitated or excited. He learned how to fight as well of course, as only befits a son of a knight, but was routinely clobbered by his bigger and stronger brother in their sparring matches, and maintains that his true weapon was inside his skull rather than any tool in his hand. When the sons of Kent were called away to fight in the Wars of the Roses, Roger dutifully followed at the age of thirteen and killed his first man a year later in a minor skirmish, to the approval of his more bloodthirsty brother Edmund and zealously loyal father Thomas. He was knighted at the same time as Edmund for his service at Mortimer's Cross, and like him was not present at 2nd St Albans, thus mercifully avoiding the miserable sight of his father's death. He continued to follow the Yorkist army to London, where their master Edward of March was acclaimed King, and together with his brother awaits an opportunity to avenge their father.
Roger has profited greatly from his and his brother's loyalty to the House of York, which saw him elevated to first Viscount Kyriell and now Earl of Monmouth - setting him on equal footing to Edmund, who had been named Earl of Cambridge all the way back in the aftermath of Towton. Being based out of White Castle in Monmouthshire and using a white-tinted variation of the traditional Kyriell arms, his junior branch of the family would in time be known as the 'White Kyriells' to differentiate them from the senior line under Cambridge. In the late 1460s he married Anne Woodville, second eldest of the 1st Earl Rivers' daughters, which proved mighty convenient when Anne's elder sister Elizabeth challenged Margaret Percy for the position of Queen not long afterwards. Naturally Monmouth took the side of his sister-in-law, spending many a night riding across London and the countryside to secure allies and spread rumors of Margaret's supposed dalliance with a Flemish artist to all who could hear while his elder brother secured a key witness for Woodville's party. Their efforts paid off, as Elizabeth and her chief legal representative Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury went on to crush Percy and her attorney, Archbishop Francis O'Neill of York, at the 1469 Council of Bishops in Lincoln.
Roger's reward following Woodville's victory was an advisory position on the King's council, where he continued to put his diplomatic finesse to use in various overseas missions for King Edward: most importantly, a jaunt to Italy which saw him bringing enough money home to strengthen Edward's royal army ahead of the war with France. Though not nearly as capable a warrior as Cambridge, Monmouth nonetheless dutifully accompanied his brother, liege and soldiers to France in 1475 and served as best he could, typically overseeing sieges or commanding his men from the rear instead of raring to lead assaults or fighting on the front lines as Edmund preferred. Feeling more relief than anything when the war came to its conclusion, Monmouth headed home in 1480 to reunite with his family, including an astonishingly quick-witted son conceived right before he departed for France.
Cambridge and Monmouth's households
Cambridge:
Emma Kyriell, née Alderman, Edmund's wife - 40, b. 25 July 1441
Harold Kyriell, Edmund and Emma's son, betrothed to Elizabeth Bourchier (b. 1464, daughter of John Bourchier 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby jure uxoris) - 17, b. July 24 1464
Thomas Kyriell, Edmund and Emma's son - 14, b. March 25 1467
Soleil of Berwick, Edmund's daughter with a camp follower from the Borders - 14, b. October 7 1467
------------------
Monmouth:
Anne Kyriell, née Woodville, Roger's wife - 43, b. 1438
Elizabeth Kyriell, Roger and Anne's daughter, betrothed to Thomas Neville (son of John Neville Marquess of Montagu) - age 11, b. 18 February 1470
Cecily Kyriell, Roger and Anne's daughter - age 9, b. 8 May 1472
Catherine Kyriell, Roger and Anne's hunchbacked daughter - age 8, b. 6 July 1473
Gwyn Kyriell, Roger and Anne's daughter - age 6, b. 25 May 1475
Richard Kyriell, Roger and Anne's gifted son - age 5, b. 16 June 1476
Cambridge's estates and honors
Monmouth's estates and honors
House Grey of Tankerville, Earls of Tankerville
The Greys of Tankerville are a fairly recent addition to the English nobility, having only gained land first in the early 14th century with Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton, a knight from Northumberland who was a noted participant of the Battle of Bannockburn. Thomas' bloodline entered the peerage in 1418 when his grandson, Sir John Grey of Heaton, was made the first Earl of Tankerville for his valorous service in the battlefields of France and loyalty to the reigning House of Lancaster. John further brought the barony of Powis into his grasp with a strategic marriage to Joan Cherleton, eldest daughter and senior heiress of the last Baron Cherleton who held properties in Wales and Shropshire, that same year. Sadly, John did not long enjoy his new rank - he died about two years later. His son and successor Henry, 2nd Earl of Tankerville, burnished the prestige of the Greys of Tankerville with his marriage to Antigone Plantagenet: she was the sole surviving issue of Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester and youngest brother of the same Henry V who the 1st Earl had served so diligently, and (the Greys claim) his mistress-turned-wife Eleanor Cobham, the latter being a driving force behind her legitimization. In 1447 Humphrey was unjustly arrested and murdered on charges of treason by his enemies at court, including the Beaufort clan and Queen Margaret of Anjou...which may have been why Antigone's son Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Tankerville, aligned himself with the Yorkists against his distant Lancastrian cousins when the Wars of the Roses erupted eleven years later.
Earl Richard loyally served the Yorkists, though his only known battlefield performance was at Ludford Bridge where the Lancastrians vanquished him and his allies thanks to the treachery of Sir Andrew Trollope. As a result of that defeat and his continued loyalty to the House of York, Richard was attainted by the Lancastrian regime a year later. When Edward IV crushed his foes at Towton, the Greys regained their Barony of Powis, but as with all other English lands in France, Tankerville remained lost to them.
Or so many, Richard himself included, thought at the time.
As it turned out, the Lord had a different fate in store for the Greys. In 1473 Richard's son and successor John, then just the thirteen-year-old Baron Powis, became the ward of Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and brother to the Queen of England. Rivers and Powis shared similar scholarly interests (indeed Powis was especially pleasantly surprised by Rivers' sponsorship of William Caxton's printing press), and it was not long before Powis was proud to consider his guardian a good friend and to see his sister betrothed & later married to one of Rivers' brothers. When war with France came two years later, Powis followed Rivers and the rest of the Woodville brothers across the Channel, serving with loyalty and valor under the royal standard of England as he grew old enough to be knighted by and emancipated from his guardian. At the war's end in 1480, he was restored to his father's title of Earl of Tankerville, though Tankerville itself (along with the rest of Normandy) remained out of his hands when the map was redrawn at Picquigny. Now returned to his Welsh estates, the newly minted 4th Earl of Tankerville looks to the rest of the Cherleton inheritance as the most obvious way to sate his desire for further restored honors.
Sir John Grey, 4th Earl of Tankerville and Baron Grey of Powis
Age: 21 (born April 23, 1460) Spouse: Anne Herbert (17, b. 1464) Traits: 6 pts
+3 Battles (base 2, +1 from 'Confident')
+2 Wealth (12% income bonus total ,+2% from 'Austere' and 'Sociable' traits)
+1 Charisma
+1 Logistician (5% movement speed)
+1 Survival (from 'Upbeat')
Temperaments:
Sanguine - dominant: - Confident: This character is very self-assured, brimming with confidence and difficult to shake even under pressure. However, taken to an extreme, they can show a suicidal disregard for their life and the lives of others, and fail to take...well, failure into account when planning. +1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character.
- Upbeat: Nothing seems to get this character down. They're perpetually smiling and looking on the bright side of even the darkest developments, truly the kind of optimism that can be infectious...or delusional, if the situation is bad enough. +1 to surviving non-battle death rolls, -1 to post-battle rolls (captivity, death, wounding).
Melancholic - subservient: - Haggler: This character is obsessed with getting the best possible deal for themselves, and ever watchful (even paranoid) for anyone trying to rip them off. This sort of fellow is rarely the sort others like, but none can deny their ability to sniff for gold. +2% income and improves loot from raids, -2 Charisma.
John, the first Baron Powis and now fourth Earl of Tankerville, comes from an illustrious line of both English and Welsh magnates. Through his father he is the sole heir to the legacy of Humphrey Plantagenet, the Lancastrian Duke of Gloucester and youngest brother of the famed Henry V who (as far as the Greys were concerned, anyway) was unjustly persecuted by the corrupt Cardinal Beaufort of Winchester, 'Jackanapes' the 1st Duke of Suffolk and the late Red Queen Margaret of Anjou, for his paternal grandmother Antigone was Humphrey's legitimized daughter; and he is furthermore the senior descendant of the Mathrafal princes who once ruled Powys, as his paternal great-grandmother Joan de Cherleton was the elder daughter of Edward de Cherleton (Joan's younger sister Joyce married into the Tiptoft family, which has since died out in the male line and been replaced by the new House of Mercer), a female-line descendant of Powys' last sovereign ruler Owain ap Gruffyd through his daughter Hawys Cadarn. On his mother's side John is a descendant of the Hollands and the House of York, albeit illegitimately, as his maternal great-grandparents were Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent and his mistress Constance of York, only daughter of the 1st Duke of York. With such a pedigree, John is quite proud of his family history, and justifiably so.
Moreover, having Anne Herbert, daughter of the same William Herbert who gained and lost the Earldom of Pembroke from/to the Tudors due to the arbitrary whims of Edward IV early in his reign, in 1471, John has further reinforced his noble Welsh blood. The girl's grandmother was after all none other than the Star of Abergavenny: Gwladys, daughter of the famous Welsh loyalist Dafydd Gam who died fighting at Henry V's side at Agincourt. The marriage was consummated at last on a cool winter night in Rouen 1479, where Anne had followed her husband to the war in France, and bore its first fruit a year later: a son, named Richard, was born to the couple in 1480.
John's father Richard, the 3rd Earl of Tankerville, fought on the side of the House of York during the War of the Roses. For his loyalty to Richard, Duke of York and later Edward IV, the Earldom of Tankerville was attainted by the Lancastrian court in 1460, and to the Greys of Powis' irritation it was never resurrected even after the Yorkist victories at Towton and Wallingford. He thus died in 1466, known only as 'Lord Grey of Powis'. Despite his youth, Richard's proud and brave son John hoped to reverse that and reclaim Tankerville, especially with war with France on the horizon. His hopes were partly realized after the war in France, when the Earldom of Tankerville was indeed restored to him - though not the castle and village of Tankerville itself, which remained part of France. With one part of his inheritance restored to him, John now looks to the rest of it; that is to say, the other half of the Cherleton inheritance, and if another war with France is in God's plans for England - then, hopefully, finally Tankerville itself, which he had the agony of sighting without ruling while marching with the rest of the King's army in Normandy.
The Grey of Tankerville household
Anne Grey, née Herbert, John's wife - 17, b. 1464
Richard Grey, son of John and Anne - 1, b. 18 December 1480
Elizabeth Woodville, née Grey, John's sister and wife of Richard Woodville - 19, b. 29 June 1462
Grey of Tankerville's estates and honors
Last edited by Barry Goldwater; July 29, 2017 at 10:12 PM.
EDWARD OF GRAFTON,
KING OF ENGLAND, KING OF IRELAND, KING OF FRANCE, DUKE OF AQUITAINE.
DATE OF BIRTH:
1467 - 14 years of age as of 1481 Anno Domini
TRAITS:
+2 Charisma
+2 Wealth
TEMPERMENTS:
- Idealistic: This person is a strong believer in higher ideals and the innate goodness of man. On the one hand they tend to be inspiring and uplifting figures, on the other they can be taken advantage of by those who live well beneath their expectations. +1 Charisma, -1 to rout/assassination/escape rolls.
- Submissive: This character is the sort of person others can easily walk all over. On the other hand, they're generally regarded as beneath suspicion, and if they ever find their spine they could easily strike back without their foes seeing it coming. -1 to Charisma, -1 Battles, +1 to assassination & escape rolls.
- Meticulous: This character loves to analyze situations down to the last minutiae before acting. On one hand this means they'll probably have a clear picture going in, on the other their decision-making abilities could easily become paralyzed as they spend too much time analyzing and not enough acting. +1 detection rolls, -5% movement speed.
BIO:
Edward of Grafton was born at Baynard's Castle to Elizabeth Woodville, with little pomp and ceremony, being, at the time, nothing more than one of the King's many illegitimate children. The subsequent saga of King Edward's marriage, leading to Elizabeth Woodville being crowned Queen in 1471, transformed the fortunes of this royal son. Now the heir to England's throne, the now Prince of Wales was sent to Ludlow Castle to be tutored under the watchful eye of Edmund Kyriell, the Earl of Cambridge. Rarely seeing his father, Grafton's daily interactions were mostly with Cambridge, his other tutors, and the other children that had been jostled into the Prince's household by parents eager to see their children become playmates with England's future King. His thin frame and lanky gait makes him ill suited to martial pursuits (no matter how hard Cambridge tried), and thus the boy has instead dedicated himself to the gaining of knowledge, with a keen sense of justice and a sharp intellect to match. Grafton is dedicated to being the romanticised ideal of the benevolent monarch; isolated from the royal court, the now-king has grown up away from the type of cutthroat courtly politics that saw his father gain the throne and his mother supplant Margaret Percy as Queen. The king is best described as naïve, prone to believing in the innate good of man that is spurred on by the just rewards the virtuous shall receive in heaven. Now this boy wears the crown of England, his hand undoubtedly to be guided by whoever asserts themselves as the true power of English politics.
The Hollands
HOLLAND OF HUNTINGDON DUKES OF EXETER, EARLS OF HUNTINGDON, MARQUESSES OF DORSET
Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset
SIR EDMUND BEAUFORT
4th DUKE OF SOMERSET IN EXILE
Age:
Born 1438. 43 in 1481 Anno Domini.
Marital Status Married, to Margaret of Guelders, since 1465.
Children: Joan Beaufort, born in 1465 (16)
Edmund Beaufort, born in 1468 (13)
Traits:
+2 charisma
+3 survival
+1 battles
Temperaments:
- Meticulous: This character loves to analyze situations down to the last minutiae before acting. On one hand this means they'll probably have a clear picture going in, on the other their decision-making abilities could easily become paralyzed as they spend too much time analyzing and not enough acting. +1 detection rolls, -5% movement speed.
- Pessimistic: This character is always looking at the negative side of things. They may be right in some cases - when you suspect every man you meet to be a bad guy, you're probably right at least one out of ten times - but it doesn't exactly make them endearing. +1 to survival rolls, -1 Charisma.
- Amiable: This character is a pleasant person who tries very hard to get along with everyone s/he meets. Indeed, perhaps too hard, at that...they also tend to excessively seek validation from others, and at worst can be described as clingy ticks. +1 Charisma, -1 to duel rolls.
Bio: For almost twenty years, Edmund Beaufort has been an exile, living in the court of James III by virtue of being his maternal uncle - the fact he had to marry his own brother's widow being a continuous reminder of how he wound up in this predicament in the first place. He has not lived uneasily, of course, and has always been viewed with an irritating kind sympathy; the kind one would give to a stray puppy or a starving orphan child. It was humiliating, at first, the King of England's own cousin, Gaunt's own great-grandson, living off the charity of James of Scotland (who is also apparently a second cousin, or some such) but Edmund gradually adapted to the newly found irrelevance. He became friends with James, even, though his lack of political power placing him securely out of the limelight of Scotland's power politics. Hatred of York, and Northumberland in particular, still simmers, though eventually that has given way to a dull mixture of anger and grief, exacerbated by his sole surviving brother's death from sweating sickness earlier in the year of 1481. Now, praise be God, the Yorkist pretender lies upon his deathbed, news that has only served to galvanise the last of the Beauforts from his long ennui. No business should be left unfinished, not least vengeance for his father, brother, and for Lancaster, whose heir resides in exile across the channel hopefully wishing for the same vindication.
Last edited by Gandalfus; August 05, 2017 at 11:07 AM.
Temperaments: Sanguine: - Confident: This character is very self-assured, brimming with confidence and difficult to shake even under pressure. However, taken to an extreme, they can show a suicidal disregard for their life and the lives of others, and fail to take...well, failure into account when planning. +1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls.
- Sociable: This character is an extroverted social butterfly, capable of making friends left and right. However, they have little time for 'boring' matters like finances, and are more interested in buying flashy things to show off to their friends than managing their wealth. +1 to NPC reaction rolls, -2% income.
Choleric: - Bloodthirsty: This character is hotheaded and loves to jump into fights, lethal or otherwise. This is not something others find endearing off the battlefield, though. +1 Battles, -1 to NPC reaction rolls.
Last edited by Pontifex Maximus; July 30, 2017 at 11:18 AM.
The House of Mowbray is one of the countless noble families that originate from Normandy, accompanying William of Normandy as he claimed the throne of England. While from humble origins, being founded by Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances, are today among the most powerful influential families in England, as well as claiming descent from several Kings of England. However, time and time again have they rebelled against unpopular and tyrannical kings, from William Rufus to King John and Richard II. It was under Richard II that they were granted the title of Duke of Norfolk, through their descent from Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk and for aiding the king in getting rid of his rebellious uncle Thomas of Woodstock.
During the War of the Roses, the Mowbrays sided with Richard, Duke of York, though swore allegiance to Henry VI after the Battle of Ludford Bridge. Aiding the young Edward IV to claim the English throne at the Battle of Towton, the family has enjoyed great personal favor with the Yorkist king, holding important positions on the Edward IV's council. However, their sun slowly set after the 3rd Duke of Norfolk tried to coup the king and rule as Lord Protector. Despite this betrayal, the Mowbrays were mostly spared and kept their titles and lands. With the passing of the old duke, John Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, served the Yorkist dynasty diligently as a commander during the latest war with France.
John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk
John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, 1st Earl of Surrey, 10th Baron Mowbray, 11th Baron Segrave
Name: John de Mowbray Titles:
4th Duke of Norfolk
1st Earl of Surrey
3rd Earl of Nottingham
10th Baron Mowbray
11th Baron Segrave
Knight of the Garter
Earl Marshal
Age: 37 (born 1444) Marital Status: Married to Eleanor de Mowbray (née Neville), age 34 (born 1447) - barren Children: 2 sons; William de Mowbray (age 18 - born 1463), Edmund de Mowbray (age 16 - born 1465) Temperaments:
Sanguine
- Confident (+1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character)
- Sociable (+1 Charisma, -2% income)
Melancholic
- Meticulous (+1 detection rolls, -5% movement speed) Traits (6 points):
Battles +2
Survival +1
Duel +2
Charisma +1
Mowbray family tree John de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (1415-1472), married Eleanor Bourchier (1417-1473)
John de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (1444), married Eleanor Neville (1447)
William de Mowbray, Earl of Surrey (courtesy) (1463), betrothed to Elizabeth Holland (1468) Edmund de Mowbray (1465)
House of Howard
The Howard family claim to be descendants from Hereward the Wake, a Mercian warlord who resisted the Normans after the Conquest in 1066. Whether these claims are true or not may never be discovered. What is known is that the Howards took their first step into the limelight when they married into the Mowbray family in the late 14th century, earning them important family connections - a royal line going back to Thomas of Brotherton, son of Edward I. They can also claim another line of royal descent through an illegitimate son of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, the second son of King John.
Currently, the Howards have served the Yorkist dynasty for many years. Instead of joining the great crusade on the continent, they sailed to Ireland to serve the Duke of Clarence in his campaigns to consolidate English rule over the Irish clans. A successful endeavor, earning the baronial family both lands and a marriage to the Duke of Clarence himself. However, with another marriage to the Woodvilles, the allegiance of the house may be divided with the looming struggle between the Woodvilles and the late King Edward's brothers.
John Howard, Baron Howard
John Howard, Baron Howard
Name: John Howard Titles:
Baron Howard
Age: 56 (born 1425) Status: First marriage to Katherine Moleyns (dead 1465), second marriage to Margaret Chedworth Children:
- 5 children by his first wife: Thomas Howard, Isabel Howard, Anne Howard, Jane Howard, Margaret Howard - 2 children by his second wife: Katherine Howard, Mary Howard Temperaments:
Phlegmatic
- Austere (+5% income, -1 Charisma)
- Empathic (+2 Charisma, -1 to battle/joust/duel rolls)
Sanguine
- Confident (+1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character) Traits (6 points):
Survival +1
Personal Combat +1
Wealth +2
Charisma +2
Sir Thomas Howard
Sir Thomas Howard
Name: Thomas Howard Titles:
Knight
Age: 38 (born 1443) Marital Status: Married to Margaret Woodville (1454-1478) Children: 2 sons; Robert Howard, Charles Howard Temperaments:
Melancholic
- Haggler (+7.5% income and improves loot from raids, -2 Charisma)
- Meticulous (+1 detection rolls, -5% movement speed)
Supine
- Amiable (+1 Charisma, -1 to duel rolls) Traits (6 points):
Battles +2
Survival +1
Personal Combat +2
Charisma +1
Sir Robert Howard (1385-1436), married Margaret de Mowbray (1391-1459)
John Howard, Baron Howard (1425), first marriage to Katherine Moleyns (dead 1465), second marriage to Margaret Chedworth (1436)
by Katherine Moleyns
Sir Thomas Howard (1443), married Margaret Woodville (1454-1478)
Thomas Howard (1472-1473) Robert Howard (1474) Charles Howard (1477)
Nicholas Howard (died 1468) Margaret Howard (1445), married Sir John Wyndham Anne Howard (1446), married Sir Edward Gorges Isabel Howard (1448), married Robert Mortimer Jane Howard (1450), married to George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence
by Margaret Chedworth
Katherine Howard (1472), betrothed to Henry Fitzroy Mary Howard (1473)
Katherine Howard (1430-1473), married Edward Neville, Baron Bergavenny
Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Bourchier
Arthur Plantagenet, one of the illegitimate sons of King Edward IV, was born in Calais to an unknown mother. Spending his whole life as a bastard at his father's court, it did not stand compared to any other noble son in any significant way. He was taught to read and write, to ride a horse and fight with sword and lance, everything he would need for his manhood to one day earn his own place in the world.
Arthur Plantagenet
Name: Arthur Plantagenet Titles:
Viscount Bourchier (jure uxoris)
Age: 20 (born 1461) Marital Status: Married to Anne Bourchier (1463) Children: None Temperaments:
Choleric
- Ill-tempered (+1 Duels, -1 Battles)
- Impulsive (+5% movement speed, -1 to detection rolls)
Sanguine
- Confident (+1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character) Traits (6 points):
Battles +2
Survival +2
Personal Combat +2
Last edited by Jokern; August 01, 2017 at 03:21 PM.
Status: Married, to Margaret Neville Titles: 3rd Earl of Essex, 1st Baron Donnington Children: Thomas Bourchier (1468) Properties: 1. Hadleigh/Rochford - Rich Income. 2. Maldon/Faulkebourne - Prosperous Income. 3. Braintree - Prosperous Income. 4. Dunmow - Prosperous Income. Sanguine: - Confident: This character is very self-assured, brimming with confidence and difficult to shake even under pressure. However, taken to an extreme, they can show a suicidal disregard for their life and the lives of others, and fail to take...well, failure into account when planning. +1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character.
- Upbeat: Nothing seems to get this character down. They're perpetually smiling and looking on the bright side of even the darkest developments, truly the kind of optimism that can be infectious...or delusional, if the situation is bad enough. +1 to surviving non-battle death rolls, -1 to post-battle rolls (captivity, death, wounding).
Choleric: - Ill-Tempered: This character is ornery and seems to explode at the slightest provocation. While they've gotten into enough fights to toughen them up, a person who's as easily baited as a bull that sees red won't make a good commander. +1 Duels, -1 Battles.
Status: Celibate Titles: Archbishop of Canterbury Children: N/A Properties: tbd
Phlegmatic: - Austere: This character disdains pomp and pageantry, instead preferring a plain & simple (the uncharitable might say 'rigidly spartan') lifestyle. +5% income, -1 Charisma.
- Empathic: This character is strongly attuned to the emotions of others and cares for them, making them great friends or kinsmen to have - but poor warriors and generals. +2 Charisma, -1 to battle/joust/duel rolls.
Sanguine:
- Upbeat: Nothing seems to get this character down. They're perpetually smiling and looking on the bright side of even the darkest developments, truly the kind of optimism that can be infectious...or delusional, if the situation is bad enough. +1 to surviving non-battle death rolls, -1 to post-battle rolls (captivity, death, wounding).
Family Tree: William Bourchier, married Anne of Gloucester:
-Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex and Derby (1404-1473), married Isabel of Cambridge (1409-1473):
William Bourchier, 2nd Viscount Bourchier (1430-1472), married Joan Neville:
Anne Bourchier (1463) 3rd Viscountess Bourchier, married to Arthur Plantagenet (1461).
Isabel Bourchier (1464-1473).
Eleanor Bourchier (1466-1473).
Henry Bourchier, 2nd Duke of Aumerle, 2nd Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Derby, 3rd Count of Eu, 8th Baron Scales (1433), married Lady Elizabeth de Scales, Baroness Scales:
Henry Bourchier (1464), Earl of Derby. Isabel Bourchier, Married to Lionel Woodville (1471).
John Bourchier (1472).
Eleanor Bourchier (1473).
Humphrey Bourchier (1437), Archbishop of Canterbury.
John Bourchier, 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby (1438), married Elizabeth Ferrers.
Elizabeth Bourchier, berothed to Harold Kyriell (1464).
Edward Bourchier, 1st Baron Donnington, 3rd Earl of Essex (1439), married Margaret Neville.
Thomas Bourchier (1468).
John Bourchier (1471-1473).
Laura Bourchier (1440), married John Courtenay.
Fulk Bourchier (died young).
Thomas Bourchier (1442), married Mary Woodville.
Richard Bourchier (1471-1473). Edward Bourchier (1473).
Hugh Bourchier (died young).
Florence Bourchier (1446), married Anthony Neville, Marquess of Somerset, Earl of Kent, Lord Fauconberg:
Isabel Neville (1462), married to John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (1461).
Joan Neville.
Mary Neville.
James Neville.
Isabella Bourchier (died young).
-John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, married Margery Berners:
Humphrey Bourchier, married Elizabeth Tilney:
John Bourchier.
Joan Bourchier, married Sir Henry Neville (died 1469)
Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Latimer.
Thomas Neville.
Joan Neville.
-William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin, married Thomasine Hankford:
Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin.
Blanche Bourchier.
-Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury (1405-1473).
-Eleanor Bourchier (1417-1473), married John de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (1415-1471):
John de Mowbray, Earl of Surrey, married Eleanor Neville:
William de Mowbray.
Edmund de Mowbray.
Last edited by Pontifex Maximus; July 30, 2017 at 11:11 AM.
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