Blade, Lance and Ax

[Gandalfus]

"I regret to inform you that the assembled lords here have all sworn oaths to King Edgar, descendant of that same Ethelred your father's uncle dethroned. And we're not the sort to break oaths easily, are we now, my lords?" Richard looked to his peers. Edgar had done his family no wrong, quite the opposite in fact, and in any case the fate of Robert of Mortain lingered still in his memory as the natural & divinely ordained consequence for oath-breaking.

For his part, the Earl of Nottingham simply grunted, "That's quite right."

“Perceval speaks the truth, I am sworn to Edgar as my father was to Canute.” The Earl of Northampton replied, this wasn’t a fight he wished to have. “Though I do wonder, if my cousin seeks a second crown why has he not come personally to claim it?” Waltheof questioned, Canute was clearly a formidable man in his own right, but it was odd that Sweyn himself would not rise to lay his claim.

”My father has been delayed.”

The Dane grunted, looking over to the Earl of Northampton.

”If you won’t join me, I can only give you mercy in my victory. I will give you all the chance to yield the field and give me York, or else I will chase you from it.”

[Barry Goldwater]

Gerbod nodded, proceeding in Latin himself. "It would seem our forces have similar numbers, then. In my opinion, we would do well to face them in the field. I have no personal experience with the northmen in battle, but I have heard that they favour infantry, rather than heavy horse. On the plains, we have a considerable edge with our cavalry, whereas on walls, we'll have no such advantage." He looked around the tent. "Do you have a map of the area? It would seem we've been given some time to prepare, and we would do well to use it. Choose our battlefield to our own accord, perhaps even set an ambush."

Waltheof thought this was a good compromise, Latin came easily to him after the years of clerical training he underwent. “Gerbod is right, the Norsemen will bring superior infantry to the field. My huscarls are outmatched by none, but I only have so many to bring to bare.” Norman sergeants were no joke in their own right, but they paled in comparison to the cream of the Saxon and Norse crop. “Cavalry will be one of our few advantages, and if we are going to face them in the field it would be wise to force a confrontation on terrain allowing them full mobility.” The Norman knights had made their weaknesses readily apparent in the Saxon rebellion, or so the Earl had heard, and he sought to cover those weaknesses. The Dane crossed his arms in thought. “The alternative sacrifices the lands for the hope of reinforcement.. ontop of that concern I doubt York can properly contain the entirety of our forces, including supplies, animals, and noncombatants.” Allowing the Danes free reign over the countryside didn’t sit well with Waltheof, but it still had to be discussed even if it were ultimately rejected.

"We'll face them in the field, then." Richard said decisively, nodding at all of the other peers at the table. "Even if York could hold all of our soldiers, assuming the Danes don't just assault our walls with their numerous and mighty heavy infantry, they'd be content to starve us out while laying waste to the countryside and treating our subjects as their ancestors did. And I won't have that, not if we can still do anything about it." The open field would allow them to maximize their cavalry advantage, as Gerbod and Waltheof had pointed out. Better to take their chances out there, than to get carved up on the York city walls where their heavy horse would be useless or be starved into submission while more Danes landed to reinforce the army already present and rampage across the north.

"And you're sure they have around four thousand men?" It was Nottingham's turn to ask questions now. "Four thousand or a little over that...the Danes will outnumber us, I do believe, but theirs won't be an insurmountable advantage. As long as we don't do anything stupid, like charging at them blindly, we'll have a chance at defeating them." The memory of the Second Wye still smarted in the elder Perceval's brain. To do what the Conqueror had attempted against a smaller, exhausted force, but against a large and fresh one this time, would be suicide. They'd have to think their deployment and tactics through more carefully, to be sure.

”My father has been delayed.”

The Dane grunted, looking over to the Earl of Northampton.

”If you won’t join me, I can only give you mercy in my victory. I will give you all the chance to yield the field and give me York, or else I will chase you from it.”

"I regret to inform you that we can't do that, any more than you could just abandon Ribe to us should we have been the ones to make landfall on your shore instead." Northumbria answered grimly, shaking his head. So the Danes were truly coming to conquer, then, and battle would be inevitable. At least Canute had just admitted this wasn't their full strength.

[Gandalfus]

”Then go with God, my lords. We will make war on you. Those captured will be offered ransom and treated as honour demands. I have nothing more to say.”

A priest had dutifully been noting down the exchange. Canute gave him a nod and, just like that, Sweyn’s most warlike son departed to begin to prepare his men for a battle that had been inevitable from their very landing.

[Pericles of Athens]

“Know you and your men will be given the same due respect, I assure you.” Waltheof replies, making the sign of the cross as the Norsemen left. It boded ill that he would be forced to fight his own kinsmen in this battle, and in more battles to come if Sweyn was truly coming to reinforce Canute’s position.
_____________________

Waltheof turned toward Nottingham with a grunt. “As sure as I can be, my men took count as they swept ashore along my coastline.” He replied plainly. “But the ships had yet to be emptied entirely, and more raiders may have joined from further up the Humber.”

[Gandalfus]

The Danes had assembled upon a flat plain to the east of the city, and the English had placed themselves between both Canute and his goal.
Apparently, Waltheof's count was off, but not by much - the Danes now numbered five thousand, as they had collected those raiders that had ran aground around Holderness and in the valley of the Humber. Clouds made the day seem a little dimmer, and the recent rains had made the earth thick and slippery, like treacle. It was supposed to be spring, but April was notorious for its showers. This year was no different.
The English have the incentive. They are all that stand between the Danes and York, a city rich with Anglo-Danish heritage. Many aristocrats still have Danish sympathies, even, having been placed there in the time of Canute. To them, a West Saxon was just as alien as a Norman or Frank. Perceval had nothing to gain and everything to lose, with the whole north in danger of falling if the vikings gain a foothold.

[Xion]

Army of de Tosny

Raoul II de Tosny, Siegneur de Scarborough - +2 Survival, +1 Duels, +3 Battle Robert de Tosny, Siegneur de Bedale - +3 Duels, +2 Survival, +1 Battles 50 Knights 150 Serjeants 105 Knights 142 Serjeants 223 Fyrdmen 109 Hobelars 199 English Archers 199 English Footmen

The army of de Tosny arrives at Flaxton and while the men begin to establish their encampment, Scarborough and Bedale ride to the main encampment to request a meeting with whoever is in command of the army.

[Barry Goldwater]

The Tosny brothers are shown in to the command tent of the gathered Earls (and Gerbod)

[Xion]

The Tosny brothers are shown in to the command tent of the gathered Earls (and Gerbod)

Robert de Tosny would do a slight bow to the gathered earls, followed by his brother Raoul, who had a scowl upon his face, it seemed out of the lords who met at Northumbria's castle regarding the Vikings, he was the last one to be informed of where the army was mustering, and that was after York had fallen to the enemy. "Hail, my lords." "It is unfortunate our forces are to join yours after York, the Vikings must've encountered and slain the messenger sent to Scarborough to inform us about the mustering point." "If one was even sent." Scarborough thinks to himself.

[Barry Goldwater]

"It doesn't matter now." Perceval waved his hand dismissively. "All that counts is that you're here now, and your men have joined ours. Combined with the soldiers of Chester and Lincoln, we should have enough to chance another attack on Canute's lines."​ Ever forward and don't look back, or so his own saying went.