Derailing Cornwall

[ArkSvid]

 

I'm a player in an ongoing Great Pendragon Campaign, and we just had one of those moments that's exciting enough I want to share.

While our party has had some influence on the world, we hadn't done anything big enough to mess with the Canon Timeline until now. When the Anarchy started our PKs focused heavily on diplomacy and trying to secure allies, with my knight dreaming of reuniting Logres through mutually beneficial alliances (not even remotely likely, but a man needs a goal.) Dorset was quick to jump onboard, and Jagent eventually joined with the promise that we would protect them from Cornwall's expansionism.

When Cornwall invaded Devon the PKs were ready to go charging in and nip Cornwall in the bud, but Countess Ellen vetoed that plan. She believed we had too many of our own problems in Salisbury to waste knights on what she viewed as an already lost war (tbh she was almost certainly right about that.) However, come 499 Cornwall invaded Jagent, and we were obligated to support the defense.

At practically the last minute, we made a diplomatic trip to the Kingdom of Somerset and convinced them to come to Jagent's defense. When Cornwall began their invasion, they found themselves not just facing the armies of Jagent, but also Salisbury, Dorset, and Somerset all together.

The war in Jagent was pretty rough from our party's perspective; while we captured a ton of Cornish knights, by the end of it one of us was dead and everyone else unconscious. However the campaign overall was a total success; Cornwall's army was devastated by our alliance, and lost 2/3s of its invasion force while trying to retreat. The last we heard, Jagent and Somerset had pursued the Cornish army into Devon and were in the process of liberating the county. Our knights were unable to join (on account of being stuck in a hospital or underground,) but if things go well we may see the newly freed county of Devon joining our alliance.

I've been avoiding spoilers for what's coming up in the campaign, but I do know that Cornwall was supposed to devour Jagent and be a major player in the future. As things are going now, they're on the path to becoming a rump state that serves as a lesson in one's reach exceeding their grasp. Really looking forward to seeing how this weaker Cornwall plays out in the future.

[SaxBasilisk]

You might not be too far off from GPC, as Jagent's position is... funny.

Yes, GPC assures us that Cornwall conquers Jagent in 499. Yet in 510, the Earl is one of the nobles who pledges fealty to Arthur in Easter. That doesn't mean he's actually in control of the territory... but in 534, there's a tournament in which knights from Jagent oppose those from Cornwall and Brittany, implying independence.

Further complicating the issue, the Book of the Warlord places Jagent castles the hands of King Idres or his vassals up to the Conquest Period. (King Idres should be dead by this time, but whatever.)

Even further complicating the issue, I've been working with one of my players who has decided to update the GPC maps for each year. (I'd post them, but they're essentially derivative works.) If you look really closely at the border between Logres and Cornwall in the Boy King period in the semi-annual maps from GPC, Jagent does appear to be in Logres.

My guess is that Greg changed his ideas of Jagent between Boy King and GPC, and nobody (to my knowledge) caught the difference, because nobody cares about Jagent.

In my GPC, I just shrugged and told my mapmaker that something happened when we weren't paying attention. Your campaign is yours, but I'd definitely give the players a win if I were in your shoes.

(Also, don't forget that Idres and Mark are also the kings of Brittany, so it would be less of a rump state than the focus on Britain would give it.)

Edited July 27, 2022 by SaxBasilisk

[Tizun Thane]

On 7/27/2022 at 3:11 PM, ArkSvid said:

I've been avoiding spoilers for what's coming up in the campaign, but I do know that Cornwall was supposed to devour Jagent and be a major player in the future. As things are going now, they're on the path to becoming a rump state that serves as a lesson in one's reach exceeding their grasp. Really looking forward to seeing how this weaker Cornwall plays out in the future.

Or maybe they will come back next year with a bigger army, while the Saxons are invading Salisbury... The kingdom of Cornwall have indeed many lands in Brittany. We'll see. Anyway, nice little tale.

T

[ArkSvid]

On 7/28/2022 at 10:25 AM, Tizun Thane said:

Or maybe they will come back next year with a bigger army, while the Saxons are invading Salisbury...

Funny you should mention that. The reason Salisbury didn't join Jagent and Somerset in the liberation of Devon is because the moment the Jagent campaign was over, our army had to immediately turn around and run back home to prepare the defenses against an invasion by Essex.

Our upcoming session is probably going to be those of us who have recovered enough to fight jumping right from bed to the front lines.

 

Regarding Cornwall coming back, it's definitely a possibility. But our GM has been portraying Cornwall's rapid expansion as being fueled by the loot they take from the county they'd conquered in the previous year. By stopping them from taking Jagent (and potentially taking Devon back from them,) we've thrown off that momentum. They certainly could come back in the future, but they'll need time to rebuild, giving us a chance to prepare.

[Voord 99]

What King Idres should obviously do is get help from Ireland, in return for agreeing to pay tribute.  This will have no consequences in the future whatsoever.  🙂

[ArkSvid]

So, um, about that Saxon invasion

We rolled ridiculously well and routed the invaders within five hours of them crossing the border

When they tried fleeing home through Silchester, the Silchester knights broke the truce they had with Essex and wiped out the survivors

Then Silchester decided "hey Essex just lost a big chunk of it's forces, time to kick them while they're down" and invaded Essex

Half of Essex's entire army just got wiped out because we couldn't stop rolling criticals. Cornwall's being driven back. I have no idea what the balance of power's going to be like by the end of this but things are going crazy

[Morien]

I am so biting my tongue as I wish to avoid spoilers. 😛

[ArkSvid]

7 hours ago, Morien said:

I am so biting my tongue as I wish to avoid spoilers. 😛

As much as I want to avoid spoilers the fact that I already knew what the historical borders of Essex are before we started the game has spoiled me a bit already. 😅

Let me dream of a world where Essex gets crushed and never rises to prominence; it'll keep my hopes up until the inevitable 10 billion strong Saxon army shows up.

[Brown]

On 7/27/2022 at 10:12 AM, SaxBasilisk said:

 If you look really closely at the border between Logres and Cornwall in the Boy King period in the semi-annual maps from GPC, Jagent does appear to be in Logres.

My guess is that Greg changed his ideas of Jagent between Boy King and GPC, and nobody (to my knowledge) caught the difference, because nobody cares about Jagent.

In my GPC, I just shrugged and told my mapmaker that something happened when we weren't paying attention. Your campaign is yours, but I'd definitely give the players a win if I were in your shoes.

 

Unrelated to the OP topic, but I thought I'd mention here that the maps in the GPC are wildly inaccurate and shouldn't be relied on for an accurate representation of what is going on in the campaign. The easiest way to see this is the whiplash one gets from looking at the first map in 510 and comparing it to the second. My point being, don't try to interpret too much from the map other than very general ideas - I'd instead follow what is actually written in the GPC and infer what that means for your own maps. As someone who also makes maps, my policy has become my interpretation of campaign events is more important than any official sources, as the sources conflict far too often to rely upon.

Edited August 4, 2022 by Brown
less spoilery

[Brown]

 

On 7/27/2022 at 8:11 AM, ArkSvid said:

 

I'm a player in an ongoing Great Pendragon Campaign, and we just had one of those moments that's exciting enough I want to share.

While our party has had some influence on the world, we hadn't done anything big enough to mess with the Canon Timeline until now. When the Anarchy started our PKs focused heavily on diplomacy and trying to secure allies, with my knight dreaming of reuniting Logres through mutually beneficial alliances (not even remotely likely, but a man needs a goal.) Dorset was quick to jump onboard, and Jagent eventually joined with the promise that we would protect them from Cornwall's expansionism.

When Cornwall invaded Devon the PKs were ready to go charging in and nip Cornwall in the bud, but Countess Ellen vetoed that plan. She believed we had too many of our own problems in Salisbury to waste knights on what she viewed as an already lost war (tbh she was almost certainly right about that.) However, come 499 Cornwall invaded Jagent, and we were obligated to support the defense.

At practically the last minute, we made a diplomatic trip to the Kingdom of Somerset and convinced them to come to Jagent's defense. When Cornwall began their invasion, they found themselves not just facing the armies of Jagent, but also Salisbury, Dorset, and Somerset all together.

The war in Jagent was pretty rough from our party's perspective; while we captured a ton of Cornish knights, by the end of it one of us was dead and everyone else unconscious. However the campaign overall was a total success; Cornwall's army was devastated by our alliance, and lost 2/3s of its invasion force while trying to retreat. The last we heard, Jagent and Somerset had pursued the Cornish army into Devon and were in the process of liberating the county. Our knights were unable to join (on account of being stuck in a hospital or underground,) but if things go well we may see the newly freed county of Devon joining our alliance.

I've been avoiding spoilers for what's coming up in the campaign, but I do know that Cornwall was supposed to devour Jagent and be a major player in the future. As things are going now, they're on the path to becoming a rump state that serves as a lesson in one's reach exceeding their grasp. Really looking forward to seeing how this weaker Cornwall plays out in the future.

Fantastic story! I think this is a great representation of how things can go in Anarchy. Thanks for sharing

Edited August 4, 2022 by Brown