Kingdom of Morfil

                               

The Kingdom of Morfil is a Breton realm in north-eastern High Rock.

Geography
(needs tidying)

The Kingdom of Morfil rules over a large peninsula in eastern High Rock, protruding into the Bay of Whales. The northern coastline is sheer cliffs and grey sand beaches, beset by rains and storms blowing in from the Bay. The eastern region is largely uncultivated woodland, beyond which the boundaries of the realm are contested by the marcher lords.

The central region is open pasture, with the landscape steepening into moorland towards south-west. These uplands eventually reach the foothills of the Wrothgarian Mountains. The mountains are the source of the Caregos River, which flows north-east through the kingdom, emptying into the Bay of Whales. It is at the mouth of the river where the city of Morfil stands.

Quick Summary (to be worked into Detail)

 * King Seguin XI dies in 3E 386. Much of his reign is spent warring against the neighbouring Kingdom of Halen, which he possesses a strong claim to. He is a popular monarch, commanding the respect of highborn and lowborn alike.
 * His grandson Seguin XII succeeds him. He is enthusiastic about chivalry and pageantry, though he is feeble-bodied and does not participate in kingly sports like jousting and hunting. His court becomes a colourful hub of entertainers. This, coupled with the king's reckless munificence, brings the kingdom to near financial ruin.
 * The nobility perceive the king's weakness and begin to flout royal orders, and numerous royal officials are assaulted. This culminates in the open rebellion of two earls, whose revolt is cut short by the perfidy of the Duke of Esgair.
 * A parliament is summoned and the king declares war on the kingdom of Halen as a means to reunite the realm. The parliament agrees to new taxes to fund this campaign, against which the king's council borrows substantial sums of money.

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Detail
King Seguin XI died in 3E 386 and was succeeded by his grandson, who was proclaimed King Seguin XII. The late king's son, the Prince of Tryfer, had died at sea a decade earlier. Seguin XII inherited a kingdom at peace following the Treaty of [Treaty] in 3E 282, which brought an end to the six year war between Morfil and the neighbouring Kingdom of Halen.

His grandfather was the paragon of chivalric kingship, earning the epithet 'the Bold ' by gallantly leading his armies into battle. As the grandson of Eustache III of Halen, his claim to the kingdom of Halen was indubitable. Seguin XI rallied the knights and nobility of Morfil by reinstituting the defunct Order of the Whale, rewarding those who joined his campaign with admission into this exclusive fellowship.

Seguin XII was not his grandfather. He lacked his predecessor's strength of mind and body, avoiding exertions like hunting and jousting. The king was, however, a great lover of the performing arts. His court was filled with musicians, troubadours, acting companies and jesters who enjoyed generous royal patronage. The king's open-handedness placed great strain on the royal treasury, and within three years of assuming the throne the plentiful coffers bequeathed by his grandfather were empty. Lutes and ass's ears did little to daunt the king's vassals. Royal warrants were flouted and the king's officials were assaulted.

 

Defiance escalated into revolt in 3E 289, when the earls of [Earldom 1] and [Earldom 2] took up arms against the king after the former was summoned to court on the charge of treason. The penniless king was incapable of raising an army to oppose this rebellion, and his calls to arms were met with equivocation or silence from his vassals. Worse, a spy reported that the Duke of Esgair had departed his castle  'with a great many horse'. It was feared that Aymar the Black intended to join the rebellious earls, perhaps with the intention of claiming the throne for himself. Their fears were seemingly realised when the duke pitched his encampment at a short distance from the rebels, and began to exchange messages indicating his support. Aymar summoned – in an unmistakably kingly fashion – the earls to his presence, sending his son (the earl of Craith) as a hostage to the rebel encampment to demonstrate his good faith.

 

As the two earls entered Aymar's tent, they were stabbed to death by the duke's servants. The Esgair cavalry then fell upon the rebel encampment, slaughtering and scattering the bemused and leaderless renegades. In the chaos the earl of Craith escaped unscathed, though it was obvious that his father had knowingly placed him in mortal danger. The duke sent the severed heads of the traitors to the capital.

 

By treachery the rebellion had been quashed, but the vulnerability of the king had been laid bare. King Seguin took lesson from his grandfather, who appreciated that war was necessary to unite the realm. An amnesty was declared and a parliament of was summoned, convening in early Sun's Dawn 3E 290. At this gathering the king announced the resumption of war with the Kingdom of Halen to  'make good our title to that kingdom', promising lands and ransoms to those who joined him on this campaign.