Records: Rick Reinforces English Regency

## **Correspondence Only Goes So Far**

The recent English reach toward Federalization had happened with Rick in close conference with the Plantagenets of the Royal Household of England. The difference, however, was that Rick's presence was entirely via magical communications – *Scrolls of Correspondence*, specifically.

This had allowed near real-time communication from the Prince of Aquitaine to the King of England. There were developments, though, that correspondence simply would not suffice. They needed the physical presence of Prince Richard in London.

### **The Optics of War**

The specific words of leaders were rarely repeated, and that's where the actions spoke louder than words ever could. After John of Gaunt failed miserably in his French war ride, the English countryside took a very dim view of the duke. After Prince Rick's Glow Stones help win back territory, the English countryside loved him. After Prince Rick demolished the siege of Calais, word spread to England, through France and as far as Russia.

The downside was that England itself hadn't responded. This was asking the impossible: that kind of time table was not the way the world worked, but Prince Rick's war wagons had redefined what impossible meant. Aquitaine had filled the breach, but the substitution diminished the potency of England in the eyes of Europe.

England – *specifically* – needed to respond. Sending away the Regiment of St. George, however, would take away the one point that kept any sense of security for the region. The Devil's Teardrop, and the dead that had walked the streets because of it, had a profound and lasting impact on London. The royal response was the one thing that kept the fear at bay, so losing the royal responders would spark a mass exodus of London.

There was one possible exception: a substitute. Just as Richard had substituted for England in the relief of Calais, the war hero *Magus* could soothe fears in London while the King and Crown and Prince were gone.

## **The London Trade Role**

The population distribution was still primarily rural versus urban, and stories like the Devil's Teardrop didn't exactly make people yearn for the city. The problem for London, especially it's vulnerable (mortal) population, was that it was quickly becoming a trade conduit of unprecedented importance in collecting duties on imports and exports.

As much gold as Richard (or at this point, the Order of Merlin) made, the actual collected tax was starting to account for a significant percentage of government revenue. That was another reason they needed to keep London's "consumer confidence" stable (and away from any form of "anarchy").

If there was a glimmer of back-up plan hope, the traditional trading centers, especially to the east, were booming. London was still in recovery mode, while York, Winchester, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich and Thetford were all trading with France, the Low Countries and Germany. The North-East of England traded with partners as far away as Sweden and cloth was again being imported to England through the mercery trade.

Far more than militarization, trade was the lifeblood of England. A quick look back: by 1297, 120 new towns had been established, and in 1350 – by when the expansion had effectively ceased – there were around 500 towns in England. Many of these new towns were centrally planned: Richard I created Portsmouth, John founded Liverpool, and successive monarchs followed with Harwich, Stony Stratford, Dunstable, Royston, Baldock, Wokingham, Maidenhead and Reigate. The new towns were usually located with access to trade routes in mind, rather than defense, and the streets were laid out to make access to the town's market convenient.

## **Prince Richard's Arrival**

There was plenty of pomp and circumstance to the arrival. It was a "Welcome Home" and the recognition of a Champion of England. Most of it was genuine affection but there were gestures and symbols that kept the legend of the Magus front and center, especially as the Regiment prepared for departure.

The Prince arrived in a Bordeaux-built ship that was perhaps closest to a clipper style. Nothing quite like it had been seen anywhere else (outside Bordeaux), this 1,500-ton hull wasn't wooden, it was ceramic. Enchanted and partially magically-built, it was light gray, with dark gray highlights, and as sleek as a shark. Even standing still, it looked like it was moving and some thought it might've flown there.

After the grand arrival, it re-moored at Redcliffe, at the Royal Navy docks – and went out once a week with special guests. Just outside the Thames, Dutch sailors clocked it doing 40 knots – and that word spread, too.

### **Bolstering the Crown**

The Regent, in the absence of the King, was Queen Joan. She had the full support of the Privy Council, though she would only be minimally involved in the administrative Court, which would operate on maintenance level while the king and crown prince were overseas.

With the exception of Prince Richard, who would be in regular parlay (or just out-and-out argument) with Council members and courtiers about theory of government, the direction of the Magna Carta, the inclusion of laws and principles, and so on.

### **A Difference of Opinion**

The day before the departure of the King and Crown Prince, there was a very visible argument between the sovereign and the *second son*. The English mission was visible revenge for the destruction of Calais. This was as much for the deterrence and prevention of a repeat as it was to send a message to the rest of Europe.

This was to be a war ride and god help the souls who found themselves in the path of the English. If things went right, they'd bring House Valois to its knees and perhaps take possession of France.

Prince Richard didn't contest the possibility of displacing the House Valois, but the war ride were not the way to do it. The King was livid, but restrained. Even the Crown Prince, possibly a closet Jesuit himself, defended the concept as less overall bloodshed than a pitched battle.

It was without question that England could destroy House Valois if Aquitaine contributed its *three* regiments to the war effort, but this was about English optics. England wasn't asking and Aquitaine wasn't volunteering.

Now seemingly on record as against Fabian tactics, even that wasn't entirely accurate. Prince Rick was against large-scale industrial warfare, but was not against surgical disruption behind the lines.

Either way, the *Magus* was now on record for disagreeing with the *King of Blood and Thunder*. Only *Edward the Peacemaker* stood between them.

### **The Frenetic Pace of the Prince**

After the departure of the Edwards, the Prince was non-stop on the ground.

Back and forth between the seat of Royal government (currently at Windsor Castle), Rick spent a great deal of time at the massive hole in the ground that was only now starting to be filled in where the town (and palace) of Westminster once stood. What had started with a partial collapse of the palace had led to an overhaul that wiped the surface of Westminster and dug down, before starting to fill it back up again.

Beyond Westminster, the Prince was a regular at the Tower of London, the new castle that housed the Regiment of St George, the home of the Royal Academy, east to Rainham and the Royal Company, easter to the Royal Order of Merlin in Leeds Castle (Kent), Cambridge, Oxford, then back to London. He kept widening his circle until he was making it from Dover to Penzance.