Records: Arelat Redefined

## **The Polite Conquest**

The Audit and Rectification that *King Édouard of France* started in Paris was carried forth by *King Rickard of Aquitaine*. With four Regiments behind him, Rick first circled north and quietly annexed the small jurisdictions that fell between the cracks as the Edwardian duo had Marched across northern France.

The Four Regiments of Rick were seen as the Armies of God by some, and interpreted as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by others. Either way, the mere sight of horseless carriages and the weapons of war upon them was enough soil pants in surprised onlookers.

If the visual presence alone didn't do it, the rumors and stories of the Regiment's combat power did. This saved lives as the soldiers could employ noble restraint rather than brutish compliance measures. This created a new legend that would follow the Regiments: *the Polite Conquest*.

The paths of the four regiments diverged and converged a dozen times, stretching across the north and coordinating with Rickard as he showed up to knock on castle doors and offer cake or death. In the space of a week and a half, this canvassed most of the territory that an alternate timeline might've known to stretch as far as Belgium.

Some were stable after the Edwardian visit, some warranted another visit just to spread the word deeper into the Empire. This included the likes of the County of Picardy, the County of Boulogne, the County of Ponthieu, the County of Eu, the County of Vermandois, the County of Nevers (again), the County of Rethel and the County of Artois.

With a magically-infused oath to the King of France, these territories made their switch from the Holy Roman Empire to the Kingdom of France. Most of them did it with a smile, and some of them did it with a grimace if only because they had to change their trousers as well.

### **The Unanswered Question**

One thing nobody was sure of just yet was who was in the line of succession to inherit the Crown of France. Given Crown Prince Edward's role for England, that was an obvious choice. Given that the new King of France had just elevated Richard to King of Aquitaine and made him Steward of France, that... also was an obvious choice.

It was splitting hairs, or splitting heirs in this case, but there were different connotations to each and that mattered. King *Edward* (not Édouard) was the modern reincarnation of *King Arthur*. From carrying Excalbur to the commanding *Blood and Thunder*, he was a holy defender. The truth-enhanced A&R of England and France alike demonstrated wisdom, justice and leadership that held nobility accountable. That was absolutely huge.

Crown Prince Edward was a hero in his own right. The legends of him fighting the forces of evil during the Devil's Teardrop had spread to every hamlet in Europe. That he stood in the human chain to save the life and soul of Dauphin Charles marked him as a hero. He would be a great king.

Rickard, on the other hand... *was the Magus*.

Rickard was *not* Blood and Thunder, but he'd been witnessed on the battlefield outside Calais fighting with indescribable ferocity. Some might say that was easy to do when equipped with the sword and wand that he had, but he himself forged those tools. Whether one looked at him as from the cloth of the biblical magi or a reincarnation of Merlin himself, he was visibly operating at a level *above mortal*.

That worked both for and against him via country wisdom. In this newly protestant Catholicism, the new tool for formulating theological opinions was the annotated concordant bibles printed in their own vernacular and distributed by no less than the individual now leading those four apocalyptic Regimental horses. The symbolism was out of his control and the ideas people had would conform only to what preconcieved notions they already felt. The one thing that did give Rick pause: *the smell of gunpowder was often interpreted as biblical sulfur*...

### **Hello...**

The widest canvas was to the north, where a regiment (or more) would show up as ostensible motivation to the local aristocracy to make a quick decision. Bonus: they weren't being deposed, they were simply switching allegiances from the Empire to the Kingdom. That made it much easier. This included the likes of the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Hainaut, the Marquisate of Namur, the Duchy of Limburg and the gently-divested Prince-Bishopric of Liège.

The caveat: this assumed they passed the A&R, which some did not. Rick personally helped them find succession plans in a matter of moments. For the monsters hiding in noble's clothes, facing the Four Horsemen of the Regiments was indeed their Last Judgment, but 9 times out of 10 (the actual number of nobles found guilty of capital crimes), Rick gave them a chance to die on their feet. The duel rarely lasted more than a few seconds.

As the Regiments criscrossed the northern areas, King Rick bounced between them in a train of five horseless carriages that often traveled as fast 70 miles an hour over flatter (or muddier) roads. Their pace and movement was constant, and it would've killed horses, but the Royal Caravan secured a mostly-bloodless annexation of what was now a new *Northern France*.

## **Burgundy in a Bottle**

By the 11th of May, they'd reached the old French Duchy of Burgundy. Swinging through Dijon, they found Philip the Bold had already vacated the premesis and reported to House Valois headquarters back in Paris.

The Burgundy SA, recruited, reclaimed and trained by Rickard himself, had the grounds of the Palace of the Duke of Burgundy prepared for the arrival of the Quad Armies. Under construction now for about 15 years, it was not unreasonable, but would likely be razed and rebuilt by a CCC-led team that would give it the magic it deserved.

After taking a day to rest, the armies were off again for a lower tour. The first stop was the Free County of Burgundy, then held by Margaret I, who had fled Flanders when the Edwardian wave passed through. There was no running when the four Regiments surrounded Dole and advanced before a defense could be organized. She'd already forfeit Nevers and Rethel to France, and now lost Burgundy. She herself was given a purse large enough to last her the rest of her days and sent toward Frankfurt to spread the word of the Fury of France.

The Imperial City of Besançon fell two days later in another four-sided lightning attack that didn't bother to use artillery, but used the speed and armor of the wagons to be on the fortress before they knew what hit them.

The Quad traveled north, along the Saône , stopping long enough to formally add the Luxeuil-les-Bains to territory of France. Then it was north again, along the Moselle through the lower Duchy of Lorraine. Local forces were avoiding contact at all costs and this accelerated the tour as they reachted the first of the Trois-Évêchés (the three Bishoprics within Lorraine). None of them had yet found a way to comply with the divestment order of Rome.

The Steward of France helped the Bishopric of Toul to gracefully step down. The Duchy of Bar, already a part of eastern France at the time, House of Scarponnois, had survived the A&R more or less intact and welcomed the Quad as they rolled through on their way to the Prince-Bishopric of Verdun. At the second of the Three Bishoprics, arguments were short and pointed, and the Bishop was sent back to Rome.

On the way back south, the Quad was traveling further east and generally scaring the daylights out of german farmers. The Prince-Bishopric of Metz gracefully stepped down as the Quad rolled to Lorraine's capital of Nancy.

The final stretch, and the deepest push east, was into the Province of Alsace. Basel was still in ruins after the Rhine rift earthquake of 1356, one of Europe's worst, and the whole area was depressed after a series of harsh winters, bad harvests and the Black Death. Recent Pogroms against the Jews was indicative of grasping at straws to blame somebody and take action – and the Jew-friendly Plantagenets were now rolling through.

The nominal capital was Strasbourg, and they fell first to make a point. The ten Imperial Free Cities, including Mulhouse, fell quickly afterward. The first of the cities putting up what they thought was going to be a fierce fight and wound up being an embarrassing stand to lose life. The following nine gave token resistance.

The last, and perhaps least, was the *Comté de Montbéliard*, seated in the city of Montbéliard in what would otherwise be known as Franche-Comté. Then under Stephen of the House of Montfaucon. He was perfectly amenable to a French transfer.

Everything north of Burgundy, including mostly German-speaking Alsace, was part of the northeastern expansion of France and the "statement of protest" against the Holy Roman Empire for their actions at Calais. The statement was being heard loud and clear.

## **The Reconstitution of the Kingdom of Arelat**

Regrouping and refreshing in Burgundy, notice was sent to the Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire that House Plantagenet was assuming the Kingdom of Arelat. The *reconstituted* Kingdom of Arelat.

Word went east and south regarding the consolidation about to happen. Jurisdictions were welcome to send representatives, but within the next month, the Swiss cantons and entirety of Savoy would join Avignon and Provence in the south to complete the *new* Kingdom of Arelat.

Either way, it was a win-win for King Rickard: if they fought, they'd group up and leave themselves an easy target for the artillery. if they split up, they be taken out by small arms. If they surrendered, then they built rapport and saved lives.

For the last few days of May, the Crown of Aquitaine occupied Burgundy and prepared for the push south.