Jump 405: Crusader Kings

Jump #405: Crusader Kings
>Six of Swords (Science): Passage from difficulty and progress towards a solution. The road to recovery.
>Age: 21
>Location: Middlesex, England, A.D. 769 (-50)
>Government: Feudal (-150)
>Religion: Catholic
>Focus: Learning (-100)
>Drawbacks: (+1200) Great Defensive War, Sunset Invasion
Not only will there be the harrowing attacks of Saxons and longboats, but I'll have invaders from beyond the western horizon crashing across our shores in untold numbers... if ever there was a time that Brittania needed Arthur to return, it is now.
>The Word of Mercy (Free, Catholic)
Converting people from one religion to another is part and parcel of the world in this era. I'd be a fool not to use this to the best possible ends.
>Christendom United (1800, Catholic)
It's good to know that when an outside threat shows, those of the same religion will stand shoulder to shoulder.
>Assimilation, Adaptation (1600)
If there are useful traditions, why not bring them in? It's common sense - but by the same token, replacing the harmful ones with our own helpful ones.
>The Religion of the Sword (1400)
Sure, Catholicism is not exactly a religion of the sword, but there is a time to all things. Even violence. It's helpful to know that conquest will bring those we've brought under our banner to think in similar ways to us.
>A Keen Eye (1300)
Considering the hazards that I'll be facing in building a nation practically from scratch instead of taking one that already exists... I'll need to be able to keep an eye out for all things.
>I Am The State (1100)
You mean senate.
I kind of like that no one is actually going to break laws unless they'd do so with the knowledge that I'm standing there looking at them while they do it.
>Dedicated Student (Free, Learning)
A wise king learns both from the world and from those who went before and recorded their knowledge in scrolls and books.
>Knower of the Unknowable (1000, Learning)
It's nice to know that I can grasp even the crazier scholarly subjects, and suss out hidden subtext where others wouldn't even see it.
>Salacious Scholar (700, Learning)
What was that? Guarantee to find a true scientific explanation for the mysteries of the multiverse? DON'T MIND IF I DO.
>Duty And Honor (Free, Feudal)
Having a chivalric code, even if it's a little early, will be extremely helpful. A code of honor can help create an honorable people.
>Capable Council (600, Feudal)
Helps that I'll be able to get professionals working for me, and everyone who works for me has a minimum level of professionalism. Not to mention other perks that ensure that everyone who works for me will rapidly grow in competence.
>Splitting Heirs (400, Feudal)
Well, it's DEFINITELY helpful that I'll be able to find good matches to continue my line. And it's nice to know that all of my descendents will be visibly identifiable.
>The Sun Jumper (0, Feudal)
This is a must, for my plan here. To be considered all but unquestionable, to have an absolute rule over the kingdom I build.

Three words: The Real Fake.

It is said that in the Year of our Lord 769, a haggard-looking man in battered armor was seen wandering into what was then called the kingdom of Essex. This was quite a sight, and unexpected at that - despite his armor being ancient, rusted and falling apart. He politely declined offers of food and drink, and told those who questioned him that his name was Arthur, that he had returned from the isle of Avalon, and would be going hence to the port of London for a spectacle that all should see.

Once he arrived there, he bade attention be paid to a herefore unseen anvil on a stone, with a white blade driven into it nearly fully to pommel, and bade one and all to pull it out. The learned said 'twas written on the anvil that he who could remove the blade would be crowned the king of all England.

And many did try; some attacked him, calling him a devil or a pretender to the crown himself, but he handily dispatched those who attempted without causing them permanent harm, and without a scratch himself.

The sword remained in the stone for forty days and forty nights, and gained the attention of the various English kingdoms nearly immediately. It was noted that those with more authority could cause the sword to budge, though not dislodge far, and as such the various kings came and tried. Sigeric of Essex pulled it half free, but it sank back in as soon as he let it go. Beorhtric of Wessex pulled it nearly as far. The self-styled King of the English, Offa of Mercia, was able to pull it all of an inch, red in the face and huffing in anger.

At the end of the forty days, with many a wary eye upon him, he approached the stone. He drew it out, without the slightest pause or hesitation, as a light from the heavens illuminated him in a golden pallor; the sword was placed back in the stone, and he invited one and all to try once more. And many did, all of the kings, with results identical to before. Again Arthur drew the sword, and asked if those around had doubt. And then he said that he had once been king of England, in years past, and intended to become such again. To make England whole, to heal the division between all English and to protect it from outside threats. But all in time, and he would not be seizing power unjustly.

It is known that two years hence, Sigeric abdicated his throne and delivered Essex into the hands of Arthur, who was said to have been in the employ of Essex's militia. Mercia was remarkably displeased by this, as Essex had been considered a client state of theirs, but the war waged by Mercia was remarkably short and won by the much smaller state thanks to its ready military. Thus the majority of England was brought under Arthur, who put thousands to work building roadways, facilitating trade between the various cities of England.

East Anglia attempted to revolt, but after Arthur himself came and spoke to them, they agreed to become a part of the kingdom of England. Wessex joined the alliance via marriage to Arthur's eldest son, becoming a de facto principality within England; following Arthur's death, Northumbria attempted to capitalize on what they expected to see as instability, only to find England ready and willing to counter them and turn the tables.

Arthur II pressed the advantage and brought the remainder of England under his control rapidly, the Kingdom of England proper being formed in A.D. 800. Not long after this happened, Wales was likewise brought into the fold, but after that attention was turned toward improving the infrastructure of England. Education. Farmland. Milling techniques. As well, every male citizen was required to serve in the military for four years, though in addition to drilling with combat techniques, they were used as engineers and laborers to build walls and roads.

While England fought the relentless Norman invasions that attempted to sack London nearly every decade from 850 onward, Arthur's family headed to the Continent. It seems that a common trait was that his family was... ahem, fruitful; they ingratiated themselves with many throughout Europe, married into several minor and major dynasties, and generally carried a great deal of goodwill about.

In time, the Great Schism was mended at a point when Jerusalem had been briefly brought under the control of the Church before it was promptly lost once again. The Pendragon dynasty, over the course of the next two centuries, came to intermingle with virtually every noble house in Europe and western Asia; they were there at the forming of Russia, Prussia, Spain, the restoration of France, even political change in India... and the eventual formation of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe, which England itself was mercifully not a part of.

Eventually, they were able to beat back the Norman attackers, after three centuries of intermittent conflicts in which they honed war to an art form - an art that they exported to the noble houses they controlled, that they used to retake Jerusalem and continue through the Arabian peninsula as well as across Africa. Of course, when everything seemed to be settling down at last, this is when things had to go wrong.

Strange men, with strange customs, arrived and wished to buy land in Europe, Ireland, and England. Strange men with strange ships that looked like nothing so much as the Norman longboats at their heart, though larger... much larger. And when rebuffed, it was but a handful of years before more of these ships appeared. Ships that disgorged warriors armed with strange, frightfully sharp weapons that cleaved through armor and even broke some shields. A hundred thousand of them... and that was just the first wave.

Ireland and Scotland both petitioned to join England for safety immediately, while all of Europe banded together to fight these invaders. These... Aztecs, worshippers of wicked gods, that sacrificed men on pyrimidal altars, that tore out hearts and chopped off heads.

One hundred years of war between Europe and the Aztecs ended in victory, but at a horrid cost. Two hundred million Europeans dead. A hundred times more killed by their plague than their warriors - the Black War and the Black Death went hand in hand. Certainly an event that changed the course of history as it is known.

But it was not without repercussions. The war strained the relations even between friendly nations, and the plague lingered on even after the war was won. In 1445, the Holy Roman Empire shattered, but even that was little more than a formality; the superstate that covered much of Europe had been effectively dead since 1400.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland cast its gaze across the ocean.

England would never be slaves.

... why do I hear the opening guitar riff to Roundabout?