1388

[Gandalfus]

On December 19th, 1387, at Radcot Bridge in Oxfordshire, Robert de Vere attempted to bypass the hostile forces of the Earl of Arundel by crossing the Thames at the twin bridges. The Appellants heldd sway over London and King Richard, and the threat of deposition hung as heavy over the King's head as the blade of Damocles.

Bolingbroke's pikes were waiting for him, blocking the crossing. Oxford tried to force the matter - ordering his men across nonetheless. At the first shock of Bolingbroke's pikes, his men, King Richard's finest Cheshire soldiers all clad in the White Hart livery, ignominiously turned and fled from the field. De Vere himself, through luck or good judgement, managed to escape with his life, tearing off his cuirass and leaping into the river. His life now forfeit, De Vere has undoubtedly fled to Ireland or some other safe haven.

Richard himself was not so fortunate. The waning days of 1387 have come to a close, and no news of Oxford's victory have reached the King in London. Instead, the new year has brought the Lords Appellant returning in triumph, with Oxford's army broken and the Duke himself presumed dead. In the halls of his palace King Richard waits, powerless to stop these magnates that have called for an end to his wilful misrule.

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The game will begin with the opening of the Merciless Parliament of 1388, in which the majority of the King's favourites were convicted of treason and the King's power restricted. Richard is practically reduced to a puppet of the Appellants.

The other event will be Gaunt in Spain, along with whoever wants to be there, really. That event will simply be the conclusion of his campaign in Spain and then his return to England; its really a sideshow when compared to the main event.

[Dirty Chai]

As per the consortium of 1383 in which the Earl of March's estates are held until the age of majority by these individuals, these 5 lords get the following extra incomes per year as they hold the steward rights over Mortimer lands until Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March and 6th Earl of Ulster, comes of age and receives his full honors and liveries.

Sir Thomas Mortimer: £1,025
Earl of Kent: £1,000
Earl of Arundel: £1,000
Earl of Northumberland: £1,000
Earl of Warwick: £1,000
Lord Neville: £1,000