Estregales

Irish/British Christian

The Irish are definitely part of the realm, yet are many times considered to be minor characters ranging from enemies to those who can’t be taken seriously. Yet, one must seriously look at the Irish overall. After all, they had two colonies on British soil, one in Cornwall and one in Cambria. The Irish were just as apt to fight against the Picts and Saxons and British as among themselves. In many ways, the Irish have two distinct cultures within them. The first is the wild tribal warrior, inferior to a normal knight, but with numbers to back him up. The other is a cultured individual able to rub elbows with any knight in court. They are singers, poets, and bards. They have a rich history no matter which world they come from.

Estregales was given to the Irish by Macsen Wledig in the late 4th century, with the understanding that they would help to defend Cambria against the piratical excursions of their wilder cousins from Ireland. This arrangement worked well enough until the Irish incursions picked up momentum again and forced the Estregales Irish to choose between the Cambrians who mistrust all Irish and the invading Irish who would have seen them as traitors.

## History of the Region

### 5th century prior era vulgaris

**c. 500 p.e.v.:** Milesian (the Irish) invasion of Ireland.

### 4th century era vulgaris

**383 e.v.:** King Macsen Wledig (father of Constantin and grandfather to Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther) invites Eochaid Allmuir and the Irish Deisi tribe to move to Estregales, in southwestern Cambria, in return for their promise to defend the land against other Irish. Then King Macsen Wledig invades the Roman Empire with his army, and makes himself the Emperor, until his death in 388.

**395:** Niall, High King of Ireland, sacks towns in western Britain. The Estregales Irish fight against their cousins on the side of the Cambrians.

**398:** The Roman commander, Stilicho, comes to Britain and repels an attack by Picts, Irish and Saxons, restoring Roman power in Britain. This includes naval campaigns making the British Sea temporarily safe.

### 5th century era vulgaris

**405:** With Roman garrison leaving to protect Italy, the Irish start raiding again. Irish High King Niall dies in the British Sea while the Irish are raiding the southwest and northwest coasts.

**408-415:** Britain devastated by Saxon and Irish incursions and internecine warfare.

**415:** British leaders convene the Supreme Collegium to select a High King. The Collegium offers the crown to King Aldronius of Brittany, the son of Macsen Wledig, who cedes it to Constantin, his younger brother. High King Constantin ennobles the best men of each tribe as knights, in return for military service, and manages to bring peace to Britain, for a while. He gives his sister in marriage to King Vortigern of the Ordovices and the Silures, a powerful Cambrian king.

**423:** Constantin sires his first son, Constans, whom he entrusts to a monastery in the White City.

**433:** Constantin’s next son is born and named Aurelius Ambrosius for his distant relative St. Ambrose.

**435:** King Vortigern defeats King Aed of Estregales and King Clotrius of the Demetae, over a border dispute, and forces King Aed to give his eldest son, Urb, as a hostage to Vortigern’s court.

**436:** Constantin sires his last son, Uther. Guithelinus, Archbishop of Londinium, fosters both Ambrosius and Uther.

**437:** Prince Triffyn Farfog, King Aed’s younger son, marries the only child of King Clotrius, Princess Gwledyr, and thus becomes the heir of the Kingdom of the Demetae.

**438:** King Aed of Estregales dies, naming Triffyn as his successor. Vortigern releases Prince Urb to contest the kingship, but thanks to the help of his father-in-law, Triffyn is able to defend his claim against his older brother, who dies in the attempt.

**439:** An army of invading Irish has landed at the mouth of the River Severn. King Constantin brings his army of professionals, musters the local armed forces, and engages the Irish in battle. The Irish of Estregales are looked on with suspicion, and with a good reason: King Triffyn sees this as a chance to weaken King Vortigern, his rival.

**440:** King Constantin is murdered by one of his own guards, an Atrebates knight. The entire kingdom is thrown into disorder. King Clotrius dies and according to his will, leaves his kingdom to his son-in-law, King Triffyn of Estregales. Estregales takes over Demetia and launches raids against the Ordovices and the Silures.

**441:** King Vortigern returns to Cambria and restores order. He then marches with his army to Estregales and demands that King Triffyn of Estregales pays reparations for the unwarranted raids or else. Faced with the large army of the Cambrians, the King of Estregales submits to this humiliating ultimatum.

**442:** Some minor inter-tribal raids continue in Cambria, but the King of Estregales is careful to keep a lid on it, to avoid giving King Vortigern an excuse to invade.

**443:** Young King Constans is murdered by his Pictish bodyguards. King Vortigern executes the murderers immediately and is selected to be the next King of the Logres. Due to his new duties, he gives his old two-part kingdom to his sons: Vortimer becomes the King of the Silures and Katigern the King of the Ordovices. The younger brothers of King Constans are presumed to be killed by the power-hungry Vortigern.

This is bad news for Estregales, for Vortigern has no love for the Irish. The King sends out emissaries to try and find some allies against the Cymri, expecting an attack that is sure to come...

**444:** The Picts and Brigantes stage a massive invasion of Logres, with their armies occupying much of Coritani lands, and bands of raiders penetrating all the way to Glevum, where King Vortigern is basing his court. With the Cymri busy with the Picts, the Irish of Estregales see their opportunity for some payback and start raiding their neighbors again.

**445:** The Pictish raids deeper into Logres increase in intensity, as do the Irish raids in Cambria. King Vortigern is unable to gather an army to oppose them, surely a sign that his grip on power is slipping!

**446:** Vortigern orders his sons Vortimer and Katigern to bring as many of their warriors as can possibly be spared to fight Picts in Logres! This gives Estregales an unparalleled opportunity to strike deep into Cambria, into lands which have not yet been stripped of loot with only few defenders to guard them. The Irish of Estregales seize this opportunity with both hands, and return home laden with loot.

Alas, news soon come back that the combined army of Logres, reinforced by some foreign mercenaries, have managed to defeat the Picts and drive them from Logres. The Cambrians are returning, looking for vengeance. The Irish prepare to defend their homes.

**447:** Vortimer and Katigern lead the Cambrian warriors against the Irish in Cambria, to avenge the last year’s raids. Their attacks expel the Irish from the Llyn Peninsula in Gomeret, and cause devastation throughout Estregales, forcing the King of Estregales to sue for peace. He and his people are forced to pay tribute to the victorious Cambrians.

**448:** Estregales is having to pay the tribute, but still the Cambrian warriors raid them for sport, while the proud warriors of Estregales are forced to hold back rather than repay the insult with counter-raids. The King of Estregales looks again to Ireland for help.

**449:** Estregales continues to suffer under the Cambrian yoke, being the target of vengeful raids still. It is clear that the situation cannot be remedied without the help of the High King Loegaire of Ireland, and thus the King of Estregales risks it by sending a force of his warriors to help the High King in his battles.

Some good news is coming from Logres, however. More Saxons are arriving daily, to help to reinforce the Saxons fighting against the Picts in Caledonia, but this is also leading to a rift between Vortigern’s Cymric subjects and his new Saxon favorites. Any dissension between the enemies cannot but help Estregales.

There are rumors of some half-men, half-horse creatures ravaging the continent. A learned bard informs everyone that they are called the centaurs by the wise Greeks.

**450:** High King Vortigern marries Rowena Hengestsdohtor, the daughter of the Saxon King Hengest, this year in a lavish celebration. Hengest receives half of the lands of the Cantii as her bride price, corrupted to Kent in Saxon language. The leader of the Cantii protests that half of his tribe’s land has been given to foreigners. Vortigern has him arrested and swiftly executed for high treason. This tyrannical action causes grave concerns among the other noble British: could they be the next? Furthermore, in order to marry Rowena, he put aside his first wife, Severa, the mother of Kings Vortimer and Katigern, who stormed out of the wedding in protest.

The King of Estregales sees a good opportunity to take the war to the Cambrian kings, now that they are feuding with their father and less likely to get help. He sends messengers to High King Loegaire to inform him of the situation and urges preparations for an invasion the following year.

**451:** Those half-human, half-horse centaurs from before? Apparently, they are called the Huns, and they are attacking Gaul. Vortigern, the fool, is sending warriors to fight the Huns, leaving the land weakened of defenders just as High King Loegaire is about to launch his invasion. The gods smile upon the Irish! High King Loegaire launches a massive invasion on northwestern Cambria, coordinated with another prong of attack from Estregales to southern Cambria. The Cambrians are defeated in two battles, Bangor and Carmarthen.

A son, named Cerdic, is born to Vortigern and Rowena.

**452:** The Cambrian tribes are reeling under the Irish onslaught. Even with the warriors returning from the continent, the Irish are still outnumbering them. High King Loegaire and the King of Estregales press on, their warriors confident with success. As expected, the Cambrians are without the support of other Cymri, and they go down in defeat in the Battle of Degannwy in the north. However, the southern Cambrians manage to blunt the attack of Estregales at Gower. The Battle of Gower ends up as a stalemate, preventing further conquests in the south.

**453:** The Irish are dismayed to learn that Vortigern has sent some Cymri warriors to help the Cambrians at last. Even worse, there is a sea battle in the Irish Sea, between the Irish and the Bretons from Brittany, costing many good warriors and ships. As the result of the odds shifting, at least momentarily, the King of Estregales sends his warriors out to raid, engaging the Cambrians in numerous small skirmishes.

In Demetia, vassal kingdom of Estregales, the younger princess is sent to the nunnery.

**454:** High King Loegaire, having spent last year gathering more warriors, arrives with a fresh army. A second army lands in Estregales. At the appointed day, both Irish armies invade along the coast, uniting the Irish gains in Cambria. The Cambrians unite their forces, too, and a battle is fought at Aberstwyth. The Cambrians are defeated and flee eastwards. The whole western Cambria becomes Irish possession, from the mountains to the sea.

**455:** The Year of Disasters. The very success of the Irish last year seems to finally spur Vortigern, the Great Enemy, to act. He leads a Saxon fleet to attack High King Loegaire in Ireland, lands and defeats the Irish High King in battle. A treaty between the two High Kings is agreed on which states in no uncertain terms that Loegaire agrees to stop assisting the Irish in Britain. To seal the treaty, Vortigern marries his daughter, Scotnoe, to Loegaire’s son. Loegaire cannot stop all individual actions, but agrees that he will not sanction any more assistance from his island.

As if this were not bad enough, a large tribe of northern Cymri, the Votadini under their famous warleader Cunedda, march to oust the Irish in Cambria. The northern Irish are soundly defeated in the Battle of Rhuddlan in Norgales, sending them retreating headlong into Gomeret. Furthermore, the Irish colonists are also ousted from Cornwall.

The King of Estregales is unable to send help to the northern Irish, as Vortimer and his Cambrians launch vicious raids against his kingdom. He accepts Irish exiles from northern Cambria and Cornwall with open arms, knowing that he will need every warrior he can lay his hands on.

**456:** The King of Estregales orders that no more raids should take place, and that the Irish will only fight to keep the lands they have already conquered. He keeps his warriors in readiness, wary of treachery, but sends forces to help fight the Votadini in Gomeret. Alas, Cunedda proves a better warlord, and the Irish are defeated again in the Battle of Gomeret. The Irish warriors and their families flee Gomeret, many of them heading back to Ireland, but some of them come to Estregales, too.

Then news arrive that eastern Britons are rebelling, protesting the high-handed policies of King Vortigern, the way he tramples on the autonomy of the tribes and gives their lands to whoever he wants. The leaders of the rebellion are none other than Vortimer and Katigern, bringing many Cambrians to the fight against the Saxons of Kent.

**457:** The King of Estregales prepares his kingdom to fight the Votadini, but fortunately they are busy subduing Anglesey this year, giving Estregales time to prepare.

In Logres, Vortigern gathers an army and crushes the rebels in Kent. Katigern dies in battle, but Vortimer is forgiven and sent back to his kingdom.

**458:** Cunedda invades the Cardigan coast, and the King of Estregales summons his warriors to fight against the Votadini. Again, the cunning Cunedda delivers death and defeat to the Irish, who retreat to Estregales. But then a miracle happens, when Cunedda dies soon after his victory. Even better for Estregales, his numerous sons split the kingdom between them, and are soon fighting each other over the inheritance.

Vortigern is rumored to be too busy with some administrative reform to pay attention to Cambria, a state of affairs that many Irish greet with a sigh of relief. Furthermore, the truce with Vortimer seems to be holding.

**459:** In an abrupt shift of circumstances, the Irish of Estregales end up allying with a branch of Votadini who are now settled in Cardigan against other Votadini in Gomeret! Not only that, but a third ally in the coalition is Vortigern’s third son, Paschent, leading Cambrians who just a few years ago were mortal enemies of the Irish. It is a funny old world. A battle is joined near Aberstwyth again, with Cymri killing Cymri while the Irish make sure that the war continues; the battle ends inconclusively, with both sides bled. There are minor incidents with Vortimer’s subjects, but nothing major.

**460:** Estregales leans on Cardigan, which is weakened by the losses of the previous year’s battle. The King of Cardigan marries the princess of Estregales, and accepts a position as a vassal king to the King of Estregales, his new father-in-law. Estregales sends forces to help to defend Cardigan against incursions from the other Votadini kingdoms.

**461:** Vortimer raises a new rebellion, re-energizing the British against the Saxons. He marches his army to Kent and forces the Saxons to retreat to Thanet. In Cumbria, the Brigantes, the Parisi and the northern Britons join Vortimer in his rebellion, and attack Nohaut and Deira. Vortimer is crowned King of Logres by the rebels, replacing Vortigern, and makes his seat in Grantabridge. The King of Estregales listens to this with good humor; the more the Cymri kill one another, the better! Indeed, another internecine battle is fought in Norgales, with lots of blood spilt with little gain.

**462:** News arrive that Vortimer has died against the Saxons! The King of Estregales decides that this frees him of his promise to follow the truce, and he leads his Irish and his vassals in Cardigan against the leaderless Kingdom of Escavalon. The Battle of Kynke is an Irish victory, and they chase the defeated up to the Nan Forest.

**463:** The most marvelous thing has happened. Under the guise of peace negotiations, the Saxons betray and slaughter the Cymric nobles in Logres, taking High King Vortigern as prisoner. The threat of Logres interfering in the conquest of Escavalon vanishes in the Night of Long Knives, as the people of Logres are too busy defending themselves against the Saxons to worry about the Irish. The King of Estregales subdues some Cambrian mountain tribes on Black Mountains, who have been raiding his new land acquisitions.

**464:** The King of Estregales marches against Escavalon again, and the people of Cardiff surrender without a siege. However, the people of Carlion do not, and the assault against Carlion’s walls, built by the Romans, proves more costly than effective. The King decides to wear them out instead, sending raiding parties to ravage the countryside to starve Escavalon into submission.

**465:** The old nemesis of Estregales, Vortigern, returns again. He has managed to unify Cambrians again, and now leads them to rescue his former kingdom, Escavalon. A battle is joined near Cardiff, and a defeat turns bloody as the town closes its gates to the retreating Irish. The King of Estregales is cut down by the closed gate, but his son, Prince Canan, manages to extract most of the army from the debacle.

**466:** The crown rests uneasy on the brow of King Canan. His kingdom is hemorrhaging vassal kings, as each tribal leader hastens to assure High King Vortigern of his continued loyalty. Even his brother-in-law, the King of Cardigan, switches sides with unseemly haste. Realizing there is no chance whatsoever that they can stand against Vortigern’s army in open battle, Canan orders his people into their strongholds, and try to hold on as long as they can. The countryside is ravaged by the enemy army, and the strongholds are assaulted and taken one after another, their defenders put to the sword. There seems to be no hope.

Then, suddenly, the enemy army leaves, without extinguishing Estregales from the map. At first no one knows why, but then the news reach Estregales: King Aurelius Ambrosius, the brother of the High King Constans who was murdered by Vortigern, has invaded Cornwall with an army! He has come to overthrow the usurper and to put things to right! He has already defeated the Saxons and is marching towards Cambria.

**467:** King Canan decides to throw his lot in with King Aurelius Ambrosius. After all, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” as the saying goes, and no man can be worse than the hated Vortigern. In a meeting with King Aurelius, King Canan reminds Aurelius of the long-standing ties between Estregales and the House of Macsen Wledig, Aurelius’ grandfather, who invited the Irish to Cambria in the first place almost a century ago. King Aurelius welcomes the Irish into his army, promising to honor his grandfather’s pledge to them in return for their service.