Stansted Manor, Bourchier Estates

[Pontifex Maximus]

House of Bourchier



SIR THOMAS BOURCHIER

Status: Married, to Mary Woodeville
Titles: None (Coneservator)
Children:

Edward Bourchier (1473)

Properties:
1. Hadleigh/Rochford - Rich Income.
2. Maldon/Faulkebourne - Prosperous Income.
3. Braintree - Prosperous Income.
4. Dunmow - Prosperous Income.
5. Rayleigh - Rich 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 Charisma.

- 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.

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).

Traits (6):
+2 Charisma
+2 Survival
+2 Wealth

HUMPHREY BOURCHIER

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).

Addiitonal Traits (6):
+2 Charisma
+2 Survival
+2 Wealth

Thomas Bourchier, 1468

THOMAS BOURCHIER

Status: Unmarried
Titles: 3rd Duke of Aumale, 4th Earl of Essex, 3rd Baron Donnington
Children:
Properties:

Phlegmatic:
- 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.

Choleric:
- 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.


Traits (6):
+1 Charisma
+1 Survival
+1 Wealth
+1 Battles

Family Tree

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). Elizabeth Plantagenet (1482) 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, married to Harold Kyriell (1464). Edward Bourchier, 1st Baron Donnington, 3rd Earl of Essex (1439), married Margaret Neville. Thomas Bourchier (1468). -Roger Bourchier (1484, bastard) 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). Richard Bourchier (1484, +2 for childhood rolls). 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 Humphrey Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury (1440-). -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.

Levy and Household Guard

Naval Forces Men of the Levy Standing Forces

Essex Improvements

1. Hadleigh/Rochford - 400. Tier I - Tenant Homesteads: +5% province income - Peasant Patrols: -1 hostile raiding rolls in this province - Blacksmith Charters: -1% troop upkeep and recruitment cost 2. Maldon/Faulkebourne - 350. Tier I - Tenant Homesteads: +5% province income - Blacksmith Charters: -1% troop upkeep and recruitment cost - Increased Garrisons: Adds a garrison of twenty soldiers to the province (14 yeomen archers, 6 yeomen footmen) - Reinforced Gatehouse: +1 siege defence to castle/manor - Peasant Patrols: -1 hostile raiding rolls in this province - Fishing Wharf (coastal or river only): 2% discount on the purchase and maintenance of ships. 3. Braintree - 350. Tier I - Tenant Homesteads: +5% province income - Peasant Patrols: -1 hostile raiding rolls in this province - Blacksmith Charters: -1% troop upkeep and recruitment cost 4. Dunmow - 350. Tier I - Tenant Homesteads: +5% province income - Peasant Patrols: -1 hostile raiding rolls in this province - Blacksmith Charters: -1% troop upkeep and recruitment cost 5. Rayleigh - 400 Tier I n/a

Regional Bonus

Essex: Forested: Plentiful woodland in this county provides those who hold estates here with a plentiful supply of timber. -5% on construction costs for those whose primary estate is located here. Provincial Bonuses: Stanstead Castle/Manor: The former seat of the very powerful De Bohun earls, this castle is a formidable symbol of their legacy. +3 siege rolls, -2 raid rolls.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Thomas Bourchier fetches quill and ink and inscribes the following on a blank parchment:

Epping/Nether - (Prosperous Income.)

Ongar - (Prosperous Income.)

Rayleigh - (Rich Income. )

Walden - (Prosperous Income. )

Tendring - (Prosperous Income.)

He remembers the promises of his brother, they rang in his ear. He had forced the man to reduce the agreement in writing. If he brokered deals to purchase most of the lands in Essex he would himself be granted land of his own. It was the promise of his own demense, his own lands, and his own title. It was the surest way he knew of to achieve his life's ambitions.

[Oznerol]

A man wearing the royal livery arrives to Stansted, requesting to be granted a private audience.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Thomas Bourchier, Edward's younger brother, received the guest in the main hall of Stansted.

[Oznerol]

"Sir"

Said the messenger. I have a message:

My Lord Essex, mighy and noble

The regents cannot deny my right to rule in my son's stead, or at least not having a share on the regency. They do so out of greed and wanton ambition, out of arrogance and unknown schemes. Such thing cannot continue without any hindrance: my son, the king, God bless him, is with us, and he and I are both willing to change all this. We await in London currently, trying to gain access to the city and oust the arrogant regents, to place instead a council of regency headed by me, until my son is declsred of age. Both dukes only desire to rule to follow their own desires and pursue their own agendass: that cannot be. Support my claim, as you did in the council, and your dukedom shall be restored, and your brother, Edward, who I can rightfully call my brother, shall become an earl on his own. Never shall be said that I am not generous with my friends and kindred.

God and his heavenly court shall bestow their blessings upon us. Shall Mary be merciful of her folk and children.

I pray every day for this to be solved bloodlessly. By my own hand, at Eltham.

(Signed and sealed)

[Lucius Malfoy]

A messenger arrives for Thomas Bourchier.

My good Sir Thomas,

The time has come, prepare to raise your men and prepare to move against London. I have secured the aid of Lord Hastings, my brother, the Duke of Gloucester, and other nobles from across the realm. We plan to gather our men at Worcester Castle and then move south with great haste. May God be on our side!

Signed,
Duke of Clarence

[Pontifex Maximus]

Thomas arrives back in Stansted from London

[Trot]

With the wars over William Hastings arrives to discuss some business with Sir Thomas.

[Pontifex Maximus]

He is welcomed within and greeted by Thomas

[Trot]

William Hastings had now been on two campaigns with the knight and greeted him warmly.

"Sir Thomas how have you fared of late?" He begins.

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[Pontifex Maximus]

"Well I have a seat pf the privvy council and nothing else to show for having led my family in two wars." he said glumly "all in all I would have hoped things had come out better, but alas." the wars had been futile, for the Woodeville faction was no less entrenched in government and no bokns had been granted for loyal service to the King

[Trot]

Hastings snorts. The queen was pusted, but her family and their allies had only gained in strength while others had bled for the kingdom. "The Queen remains free and your brothers killers seem to be allowed to wander the realm freely. We ousted the queen from her perch, but her hands have not been completely removed from power." At least Lancaster would not trouble the realm anymore, it was the queen that weighed heavily on Hastings mind.

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[Pontifex Maximus]

"It is a sad state of affairs indeed." Bourchier agreed "the wench remains excommunicated, not that she seems to care."

[Trot]

"I doubt that woman cares for much beyond her own lust for power." Hastings begins dryly. "That power cannot be allowed a base for it to reestablish it self." Hastings pauses before continuing, "If the king will not take action then it falls on us to ensure that cannot happen. Woodville's alloes should not be allowed to lick their wounds and rebuild strong as ever." They had barely beaten the host Woodville had managed to amass once, and he did not see them weakening afterwards.

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[Pontifex Maximus]

"Again, I agree." he replied "I was able to raid their lands before the settlement, but I fear such a superficial blow will not keep them down for long. We must gain advantages in other ways now, possibly without the use of force."

[Trot]

Hastings drums his fingers on the table thoughtfully. "Mercenaries are not exactly known for their honorable conduct. It would be a shame if many of Lancasters defeated men turned to Banditry." Hastings muses. "Perhaps some did and they are burning lands around England?" He pauses considering what else could be done to see the Woodvilles influence weakened. "And it would be a shame if it was discovered that the Woodvilles were plotting against the crown. How would the king react to discovering his mothers kin was moving against him?"

[Pontifex Maximus]

Thomas smiled wryly. "A good cover indeed my lord." he said with a rare grin "I shall be sure to use it. As for continuing disruption, I wpuld consider it a miracle if many current lords approved of the king's choice in a wife. This might be used against them."

[Trot]

Hastings considers for a moment. "The lack of a public royal wedding would indicate someone in power disapproved of the union." Hastings himself did not care about the queens birth, but their would be many in the nobility that did. "Perhaps there is some thing that could be done there." He continues to drum the table thoughtfully. "The evidence would have to be convincing to sway the king though." He ran over his options in his head. They would have to proceed with caution whatever they did. The king still seemed to count the Woodvilles as friends, and a wrong move could see both him and Thomas punished.

[Pontifex Maximus]

"The woman is an upstart, and her father even more so." Thomas said with some malice. Where was the so called duke of someraet while he bled and sweat for the king? Irregardless, he continued. "What you say is true enough. Some division must exist, and if it does, we must exploit it."

[Trot]

"Yes and I intend to find others who want to see Woodville's ousted for good." He had some ideas of who would be willing to move, "the royal Dukes Clarence and Gloucester might not be happy with how things turned out." He shakes his head. "We can begin by finding cracks in the queens loyalists that we can exploit. People we can move on with little worry of retribution from the crown while we gain support on the privy council and among the high offices.