Characters/Claims Thread
In 1377, Richard II inherited his crown from his grandfather, the renowned Edward III, at ten years old, and quickly assumed rule over a kingdom deeply in debt thanks to decades of ceaseless war with the Crown of France. Territories had been lost as quickly as they were won, great victories followed humiliating defeats. Disease and warfare slaughtered in equal measure. Squabbles erupted as councillors vied for control over the young and erratic king, whilst the complaint of the peasants only increased. At the tender age of fourteen, Richard was forced to quell a disenfranchised and overtaxed mob of peasants that had sacked London itself and threatened to tear the very fabric of the Kingdom apart by the sword.
Richard and the Lord Appellants: Arundel, Gloucester, Nottingham, Derby and Warwick.
Though this Peasant's Revolt was crushed by the young king, Richard has only ever become more and more unpopular. His policy of pacifism against France and his costly marriage to Anne of Bohemia polarised the aristocracy of England, who view the king as being a poor substitute for his warlike predecessors. To worsen matters, the King excluded the premier peers of the realm from his councils - his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, for example. Instead, Richard favours handsome flatterers and lowborn upstarts such as Robert de Vere and Michael de la Pole: now Duke of Ireland and Earl of Suffolk, respectively. Richard's lack of a male heir renders him vulnerable, and already disputes have emerged over the succession to the childless monarch. Roger Mortimer, Henry Bolingbroke, Edward of York and even the Hollands are touted as possible successors, whom all come with their respective allies and rivals that would spill blood to prevent them ascending the throne of England.
Herein lies the roots of the Lords Appellant. The French are allowed to threaten England itself without rebuke. Taxes have risen towards unprecedented levels. To make matters worse, his strongest supporter, the Duke of Lancaster, left England to pursue his wife's claim to the crown of Castile. With the King now vulnerable, the Appellants struck, putting through measures that would not only restrict the King's control over the country but also arrest his staunchest followers, men such as De Vere and de la Pole, on charges of treason. Its 1387, and De Vere has raised an army loyal to the King and marches on London to liberate his liege (and rumoured lover), though his enemies Henry Bolingbroke and Richard FitzAlan stand in his way...
Political Map With Key
Notes:
- If you're neutral, don't feel pressured to remain so. Really, it would benefit the game if you joined one of the two starting factions in some capacity.
- You may claim up to an advisory maximum of 2/3 starting families/titled nobles. There's plenty enough to go around.
- Claims are not "First come, first served." Stake a claim on whichever characters you'd like, and if the claimants cannot resolve it it will go to a roll.
- Moderators reserve the right to bar players from certain roles based on past reputation or character. Most likely this won't apply to 99% of the playerbase.
- Don't feel pressured to play exactly according to history. Outside of the key characters, quite a lot of leeway is given with customisation as long as the family name is left intact. However, be mindful that the nobility of England is heavily intermarried and thus changing characters could result in some discrepancies which will have to be resolved between players.
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