Chapter 1 (Prelude to Gameplay)
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Lamentations for a Lost Homeland
A CK3 AAR
Kingdom of England, 1066 AD
The King was dead.
It is often said that with every ending comes a new beginning, and for the people of England that ending had arrived on their shores on the cursed year of 1066 AD.
Despite his valiant efforts, King Harold II Godwison had fallen at the Battle of Hastings. His reign as king may have been short, but even as an Earl his feats had already turned the future King Harold into a legend. Following on the footsteps of his father, the great Earl Godwin, and of his troublesome brother Sweyn Godwinson, King Harold had forged a path of his own. His struggles against the crown and the late King Edward "the Confessor" had solidified the status of the House of Godwin as the leading men of England. His triumph over King Gruffyd ap Llywelyn and his subsequent wasting of the Western Kingdoms had brought the quarrelsome Welsh to their knees, and his victory at Stamford Bridge over the legendary Viking King Harald "Hardrada" had put an end to the Viking Age. Now, with his death at the hand of the barbarous Normans, King Harold Godwinson surpassed the status of legend and had become a martyr, a symbol to whom all Christians, and especially the English, could look to for courage in their struggle against their foes.
Of course, at the time, the opposite had occurred. Upon realizing their king had perished, fear began spreading among the rank and file of the fyrd, and what began as a small trickle of warriors leaving the battlefield, soon turned into a panicked rout. As they fled, the terrified conscripts began letting go of their shields and weapons, for they had become a heavy burden that only served to slow them down as they ran. The clatter of their arms falling was only outdone by their wailing screams as the Norman and Breton cavalry cut them down in pursuit. It was a cacophony of pain and misery. As more and more members of the fyrd joined their flight, cracks began appearing in the English shield wall, and the huscarls that so dauntlessly held the line that day, soon joined their retreating compatriots, as their dwindling numbers became too few to fill the gaps in the formation.
They were all heading North, into the wooded hills of the Weald, where they knew the Norman horses would struggle to chase after them. There, the English would be right at home, hidden by the dense mass of bush and trees, waiting to ambush the Bastard's men behind every hill. What few remaining thegns were still alive, quickly began reassembling their forces in order to halt the Norman advance. Ancient ditches were dug up and refitted to trap and punish their pursuers, and scouts began sneakily tracking every movement of their foe. In the Weald, the people of England would begin making their stand, for the Battle of Hastings would not be the end of the Anglo-Saxons, but merely the start of the war, of their resistance, and the dawn of a new beginning.
The Norman bastard would soon find that conquering that island at the end of the world would not be an easy task.
A CK3 AAR
Kingdom of England, 1066 AD
The King was dead.
It is often said that with every ending comes a new beginning, and for the people of England that ending had arrived on their shores on the cursed year of 1066 AD.
Despite his valiant efforts, King Harold II Godwison had fallen at the Battle of Hastings. His reign as king may have been short, but even as an Earl his feats had already turned the future King Harold into a legend. Following on the footsteps of his father, the great Earl Godwin, and of his troublesome brother Sweyn Godwinson, King Harold had forged a path of his own. His struggles against the crown and the late King Edward "the Confessor" had solidified the status of the House of Godwin as the leading men of England. His triumph over King Gruffyd ap Llywelyn and his subsequent wasting of the Western Kingdoms had brought the quarrelsome Welsh to their knees, and his victory at Stamford Bridge over the legendary Viking King Harald "Hardrada" had put an end to the Viking Age. Now, with his death at the hand of the barbarous Normans, King Harold Godwinson surpassed the status of legend and had become a martyr, a symbol to whom all Christians, and especially the English, could look to for courage in their struggle against their foes.
Of course, at the time, the opposite had occurred. Upon realizing their king had perished, fear began spreading among the rank and file of the fyrd, and what began as a small trickle of warriors leaving the battlefield, soon turned into a panicked rout. As they fled, the terrified conscripts began letting go of their shields and weapons, for they had become a heavy burden that only served to slow them down as they ran. The clatter of their arms falling was only outdone by their wailing screams as the Norman and Breton cavalry cut them down in pursuit. It was a cacophony of pain and misery. As more and more members of the fyrd joined their flight, cracks began appearing in the English shield wall, and the huscarls that so dauntlessly held the line that day, soon joined their retreating compatriots, as their dwindling numbers became too few to fill the gaps in the formation.
They were all heading North, into the wooded hills of the Weald, where they knew the Norman horses would struggle to chase after them. There, the English would be right at home, hidden by the dense mass of bush and trees, waiting to ambush the Bastard's men behind every hill. What few remaining thegns were still alive, quickly began reassembling their forces in order to halt the Norman advance. Ancient ditches were dug up and refitted to trap and punish their pursuers, and scouts began sneakily tracking every movement of their foe. In the Weald, the people of England would begin making their stand, for the Battle of Hastings would not be the end of the Anglo-Saxons, but merely the start of the war, of their resistance, and the dawn of a new beginning.
The Norman bastard would soon find that conquering that island at the end of the world would not be an easy task.
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