The Great Game

Probable PCs

2008-09-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

PCs, Bent must be there, you can choose amongst and customize the others.

Bent Svendssøn, 19, the son of a minor magnate, but doughty warrior, of Vendsyssel. Going abroad for the first time to serve his King (Svend supports a supporter of Knud Magnussen), or rather, will attempt to get accepted in his King's Hird. Solid man, no boaster, but not a coward either. Slow to anger, but hard to deal with if aroused. Polite and stiff-necked with a sprinkling of pride and temper that Kolskeg tries to counteract. Big man with handsome if not beautiful features and proficient with Sword, X-Bow and Lance, owns armour (+2), helmet and warhorse, not exquisite but still, quite an intelligent young man. Knight/Warrior (O) (Off).
Kolskeg Bårdssøn, 23, Son of Thord den Frigivne, Bjarne's foster father, and thus his foster brother. A broad and squat blackbearded man of great strength, Kolskeg fights with an old-fashioned Danish Axe and Longbow, but can afford no armour. He accompanies Bent on the latter's journey to the King, acting as a squire and companion. In general he is a gentle man, with much knowledge of local flora and fauna, and a moderating influence on Bent, who has the pride becoming a Huskarl/Knight, but have no doubt that he can fight. Warrior (S)
Høskuld Hrutsson, 18, Icelander on his (much-needed) "Dannelsesrejse". Left Iceland steering father's Knarr to Norway with fish and Walrus ivory, but on advice from Great-granduncle Erik he took ship to Denmark instead, aiming to sell his wares in Slesvig where he is now bound. Høskuld is a Skjald and a hothead. Full of pride, vanity and attitude, he makes up for his size with fervour, for he is indeed just below average size, somewhat slender, and a bit of a prettyboy. As all Icelanders he is the true friend of his friends and a jack of many trades, but has a bit of an attitude and is quick to form verses. Owns chain shirt (+1) and helmet, longbow, sword, spear and shield. Warrior (O) (Off).
Giraut, 24, A French Cistercian monk in Denmark trying to find new healing herbs, spices and such. Has read and believes the works of Pierre Abélard, but is smart enough to keep that very secret. Studied in Paris, and very learned, having read ancient Greek, Latin and Arabic texts as well as current philosophy. Might have an ulterior motive for going to this far and barbaric corner of the world. Gentle and soft spoken, and not yet fully fluent in Norse. Crew (O) with sling and little else, as a man of God he does not fight and will be horrified at the fighting Danish Churchmen like Absalon.
Losaneta uxore Perrerii de Chablo, aka Constanza, 17, a Languedoc trobairitz run away from an arranged marriage with a Crusader who could be her father, but with a good name in need of her family's fortune (armed pilgrimages being expensive). Of low (but wealthy) Languedoc nobility, and with her head full of the romantic dreams she sings and compose about, she has fled to this remote corner of the world hoping that she can hide her identity and perform without being hauled back to her family. Constanza is a Spanish (Castilian) name she uses to hide her real identity. She tried performing at Øystein Haraldsson's court in Norway, but the barbaric and ever-warring Norwegians simply could not appreciate her songs of romance, courtly love and chivalry, but preferred Icelandic Skalds' praise of war and glory. So she and her fiddle has taken ship back to Denmark which, though violent and warring, has at least a modicum of civilisation and where Skalds and German minnesänger are both welcome. Constanza has a great potential as "embedded artist", but unless she gets firmly attached to a Royal, Earl or Ducal court soon, she will be but a Jongleur, a street juggler, despised by the nobility. Inside her soul, this young girl of great beauty dreams of a knight on a white horse (almost literally), to carry her away. But since she is unlikely to find such in these remote parts, she is trying to find a court and attach herself to. (o) (Crew) with sling and dagger.

Setting/Situation

2008-09-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

The setting is Denmark of the mid twelfth Century AD, a land torn by strife and different loyalties, a land where Christianity has gained a firm foothold and the old Norse Gods are almost forgotten; except perhaps by a few, thralls, "Wizards" and "Witches". I have taken the liberty to assume it is so, but we do not know. We must but assume that Christianity has a firm hold on religious life in Denmark. I will gladly discuss this, but not here. Before I ramble too much and get sidetracked I shall forthwith leap to try and set the mood for the campaign.

It is a time of strife in the North, both Norway and Denmark has been wracked and torn by civil war for generations, and Sweden is hardly united yet with the various regions' populations eying their new kingdom-mates suspiciously. Most changes of Kings are accompanied by murder, feuds, strife and risk of war or outright war. In Denmark the many descendants of the fertile Sven Estridssøn (Monarch 1047- 1074 AD and remarked even in his own less sensitive time to have been fond of women and siring many a child from a horde of concubines) is still fighting for the throne with shifting alliances of magnates each attempting to put their own pretender on the it.

For the people it has been ill times indeed. Ruthless magnates as well as more benevolent ones has worked to further their own ends while the power struggles has raged, and only rarely has a King had enough power and backing of those magnates later evolving into the nobility to actually ensure prosperity. Meanwhile the Vendish Vikings from the south coast of The Baltic has taken advantage of the weakened defences of the realm and has pillaged, plundered and settled in traditional Viking style, themselves being under heavy pressure from the German expansion eastwards. Their sea rovers as well as local magnates exploiting the situation to take up their forefathers'' Viking ways has smothered trade, just as robber knights/magnates, outlaws and local feuds has made the lot of the commoner uncertain at best. Law rarely reaches further then the sword or spear, and the willingness to use it, and though a time of church-building and prosperity it is also a very violent and turbulent time. And a time where heretics and witches thrive uncontrollably as those responsible for controlling it and supporting the church are busy killing each other. Most commoners duck their heads and try to get by as well as they can, praying fervently to White Christ that a King strong enough to ensure peace will soon come, and struggling to build local defences and structures to defend themselves, but so did their fathers…

Currently the summer sun is shining on a nation nominally at peace with itself, the three pretenders, Svend Erikssøn, Knud Magnussøn and Valdemar Knudssøn have been forced to a nominal ceasefire by threatening intervention from Duke Heinrich der Löve of Saxony, a Prince and Duchy more powerful at the moment than Denmark, and a dominant factor even in Frederich Barbarossa's Holy Roman Empire. This intervention and threatening takeover has forced the Danish magnates to unite and enforce a peace between the pretenders, but for how long? Rumours speak of all three gathering forces, building alliances and gathering resources for another attempt at winning the throne.

In effect Skaane is ruled by Svend, Sjaelland and Fyn by Knud and Jylland by his ally Valdemar, a division they shall later agree to continue at a meeting in Ringsted in early August that is already agreed upon.

This tense situation is where the game begins a game which stakes on a smaller scale reflects the Great Game for the throne…

Introduction

2008-05-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, I promised Moifie a Skirmish game set in 12th century Denmark, a period of which I have some small knowledge. However, Real Life interfered and we have played many a game with Normans and Saxons in his Robin Hood games, and the units in a 12th Century Denmark game would essentially be the equivalents of Normans and Saxons. So I have been musing and sort of decided to do a campaign based around the Great Bog find from Illerup Ådal http://www.illerup.dk/ from around 200 AD. However, I know that Jan/Moif is very keen on a 12th Century Denmark Game, and I think I have an idea how to run it. It will be a while in gestation, but it shall be published here as it ripens and matures.