[[news:7]]

News Turn 7

Still No News of the Crusade

The Pope, many Byzantine officials and the leaders of several Spanish and Italian cities are starting to speak of the inevitability of the wrath of the saints on those who spoil, loot, pillage, plunder and destroy. With no trace of the Crusade found, not even inside the sea serpent (which was also not big enough to eat an entire Crusade) it is presumed by many that they brought down the wrath of some god or other on their lawless travels.

There is starting to be talk of crowning Prince Regent Geoffrey as King, as with his mother and older brother vanished his claim is only opposed by Prince John, or his aunt, the Queen of Ireland, or his sister Eleanor of Castille (possibly married to Katrina of Maldon).

Things Slowly Returning to Normal

With stable government and the return of the royal writ of justice, law and order is starting to return to England. The Thieves Guild are said to have disbanded somewhat and the outlaws of Nottingham will hopefully be dealt with in six months or so. A rough peace with Scotland is rumoured and all that is needed now are formal treaties with Wales, France and Ireland. People should feel free to go about their normal business.

One Small Problem

Following the complete lack of an apology from the Firebird, the Holy Roman Empire, while keen to stress that they are at peace with the rest of the British Isles, is said to be making the necessary preparations to declare war on the Collegium Profanum. The HRE have issued a royal note of pardon to Aelindis of the Marsh, along with an invitation to take up a minor governmental post in the HRE in return for her work to help the Alpine villages who bore the bront of the Collegium's nonsensical behaviour.

The Collegium have another six months to make the necessary reparations, including an apology from the Firebird and handing over James Tilley alive.

Rosamund Clifford Convicted of High Treason

Rosamund Clifford, the self-styled Queen Regent, was found guilty of high treason in front of a trial with many witnesses. despite a rescue attempt, she was executed by beheading. Normally a traitor would die by hanging, drawing, and quartering—a messy, slow, and painful business—but Prince Geoffrey commuted the sentence.

Allie the Upshot Outlawed Once More

All possessions and titles held by one Alyson Barnsdale, also known as Allie the Upshot, are hereby attainted and belong to the Crown. She and her habitual companions are declared outlaw. 800 marks [ooc: a mindboggling sum] for her head, says the Chief Justice.

New Lord and Sheriffs of Nottingham

Demetrius Khages and the Kelpie Lampo are now joint Sheriffs of Nottingham. Khages in addition holds the lordship of the city.

New Reeve of the Fens

Samuel, formerly the Constable of Ely, is now the Reeve of the Fens with full responsibility for law and order in that area.

Irish Unrest

The pagans in Ireland are revolting. They threaten to come destabilise England if they are not helped. Didn't someone say there's a damn good reason to prevent this? (Was that person Dii Casses?)

Queen of Scotland Crowned

After intense debate between the lairds of Scotland, a new monarch has been chosen in the wake of King Domnall's death. Queen Wilfrida Hunter now sits upon the throne, ruling with the help of her new husband, Gregor Rivers of London. Does this mean a new era of cooperation between the north and the south? An intense aurora was seen once again over the entirety of Scotland at around the time the coronation took place.

Fun and Frolics in France

Adelise of Aquitaine—do we call her Lady Iffley now? enquiring minds want to know—has been said to be the first to perform (alongside her friends Aleyn and Edith) some recently discovered songs from the time of Charlemagne. Rumour has it that at least 50% of them are rude rhymes about Queen Guinevere.

Hard Winter hits the North of England

The winter hit the North of England particularly hard this year, without outbreaks of sickness everywhere. The Ouse was frozen well into spring, preventing normal trade and provision of York, until, weirdly, three separate parts of the ice jam suddenly turned—we are not joking—into butterflies, cats (which sadly sank and drowned) and, apparently, into notes of music.

With these three large areas taken out of the ice, the river slowly started to thaw and the ice started to move downriver at last. Was it whatever happened at Fountains that did this?

House Ravensworth Accursed?

House Ravensworth has lost many of its scions, men, women and children, to severe bouts of ague and the bloody flux, brought on and exacerbated by the harsh winter and the shortage of herbs to treat the extended sickness periods in the area. Are they truly cursed? That unnatural wailing was heard on the night of each and every death….

Anglers on the Ouse Mystified

Anglers have reported either pulling up a cat with a fishtail on the end of their lines, which hissed before trying to take off their face, or finding fat fish-tailed cats in their creels and baskets, happily curled up having eaten the catch. When spotted, they dive into the river and vanish.

They have been reported as far as where the Ouse meets the sea. Seacats? There are seahorses and sea cows, but cats have never before been reported.

Goings-on at Godstow

Apparently the interruption of normal services at Godstow was due not to any supernatural means, for once, but simply by the second-best troubadour of France entertaining the inhabitants. With the performance said to be simply divine by those who really should know the divine when they see it, this raises the question–what is Bertran de Born, the best troubadour, actually like?

Think you can Cut a Deal? Know a Loophole When You See One?

Then come to the Pontification in Barcelona, the contest between the keenest, most finely-tuned, legal, pedantic minds on the face of the earth. A tenet will be set, and the finest minds of human and fey will argue for three days in front of an impartial judging panel headed by Her Majesty Clara of Aragon herself.

In addition to world-wide respect, the winning team will be considered as fitting candidates for Queen Clara's hand, as only the most agile mind can match hers, and she has decided that her husband must be long-lost on the ill-fated Crusade.

Rumours

  • Is it true that Queen Nest of Deheubarth has no named heir?
  • The Holy Grail is in the Baltic Sea.
  • Who is Don Quijote and how did he broker that deal in Spain?
  • The Pact of Anna binds all to do the will of King Arthur.
  • The Holy Grail is an instrument of torture.
  • Lady Patience and the Duke are a couple.
  • Katrina of Sicily is married to Osmerion of the Wild Hunt.
  • Katrina of Sicily is married to Dii Casses.
news/7.txt · Last modified: 2015/12/01 17:10 by gm_cecily
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