Records: the Future of Wales

## **Police Actions in Wales**

The Regiment of St. George may have been projecting the will of the Crown through Western Europe but that didn't mean the Crown was without power back in England. Not even adding the allied nobles, there was still the Academy of Royal Arms, cranking out soldiers of the Royal Guard, Royal Army, allies and so on.

For Wales, Royal Guard were produced that were specific to the area. The comparative difference of Royal Guard to the average soldiers of the time and region, the contrast in training and equipment was so big, the Guard so dominant, that the Guard didn't need to bring major violence to solve problems.

Instead, the Crown treated this more as law enforcement than military operations. By September, the Welsh allied nobility was aboard, and the noble families that were aligned with the rebels were now pacified. Not destroyed, but with selective intervention, had achieved a lasting truce pending a permanent treaty, peace and integration.

### **October's Round Table**

The Welsh families were summoned to Cavalon, the recently-completed command island on the south end of the Isle of Man. When the Welsh arrived at the 5-ship pier, they found one ship parked there: *the Royal Sovereign*; a massive, magical galleon that was the flagship of the English Crown.

Down the pier to the entrance gate, with the solid yet ornate construction, this was the kind of actual-magic display that made hardened warriors weak in the knees.

The Welsh were introduced to the Keep of Wales. It was one of the smaller keeps, *but they had their own keep*. Some would stay in the Keep of Wales, others would stay in the main keep during the proceedings.

The Court of the Central Keep featured the Round Table, and it was itself *extremely magical*. There were no designated seats at the table, but as someone sat, their name, title and coat of arms magically formed before them. Add the magical lighting and the giants of the Honor Guard, and the Welsh contingent knew they were in the Big Leagues.

## **Negotiations of State**

The Welsh were beyond overwhelmed, and it took time for them to focus. England wasn't going to negotiate until they knew the Welsh were focused. The novelty of the magic would eventually fade away, becoming as normal as an egg breakfast, and at that point, concessions made because of parlour magic would lead to resentment.

This led to more magic – but magic that brought them back to earth. Literally. About to be revealed were Royal Academy, magically-produced maps of Europe that had an astonishing level of detail, were to-the-inch accurate, and had more data overlays that brought context. What's more, while most of the world would only see the maps on massive sheets, at the Round Table, the maps were magically projected in the middle for all to see.

With the maps of Wales, the opening discussions were about defining property lines – and they could do that on the maps projected there. It showed actual acreage, resources on those lands and titles, amount of population, projected taxes (best case vs actual/recent), theoretical maximum population they could support and so on. There was nothing more grounding than examining and comparing the personal stake in front of their peers.

As the peerage and baronage of Wales was parceled and refined, with a great deal of Crown space left over, it focused the Welsh into the mindset they needed to be in to take steps that would define their future.

### **The Diplomacy of Wales**

Within Wales, and given the Church divestment, the English Crown directly assumed control of the backwater County of Bishop's Castle, right on the Wales-England border, and nearby the English county of Shropshire. An area where conflict literally "came with the territory," it would henceforth be stabilized as a permanent demesne of the English Crown.

This opened up conversation about who would be the ultimate authority in the area – and that was one of the reasons the Welsh rebellion had a seat at this conversation. Not only was Owain Lawgoch (House of Aberffraw) present, but so was semi-recognized possible successor Owain Glyndŵr (House of Mathrafal). That they had both been delivered after capture said a great deal about English military power – but that they were in excellent condition, educated in captivity and prepared for the negotiations said even more for the dominance of English soft power.

### **The State of the Welsh Crown**

Right now, if there were an English Crown Prince, they were sovereign of Wales. When the Crown Prince became King, Wales rolled back into Crown Possessions. The nature of these negotiations were now led as much by Crown Prince Edward as they were King Edward IV. The stakeholders from Wales and England alike were present and accounted for.

There was also the factor of Welsh-leaning factions versus the staunch English allies. What protections did the factions have if the English pulled out? The English-allies were fairly strong themselves: if they pulled out, what guarantees did the Welsh-leaning factions have that their English allies wouldn't drive them into the sea? It was a complex set of relationships.

Between the factions, with the future of Welsh autonomy at stake, a deal is struck: Wales would be recognized as a kingdom, but have an empty royal Crown, held in abeyance for King Arthur. It would be filled instead by a steward, a Sovereign Prince who would answer to England.

The concession: England, in turn, could have other British crowns answer to it but must never take the title of "Emperor." Rather the English King may assume the title of "Crown" or "Steward" of *United Britannia*. It was semantics to outsiders, but from the connotations of titles came the flow of political power.