[b]September 15, 1067 - January 4, 1069[/b] [hider=Roster] [list] [*][b]Hood[/b] - Earl Murchad Ua Cheinnselaig of Dublin[/*] [*][b]The Nexerus[/b] - Duke Robert de Normandie of Normandy[/*] [*][b]Vortex[/b] - King Svend II Estrid of Denmark[/*] [*][b]HollywoodMole[/b] - Petty King Konan de Rennes of Breizh[/*] [*][b]Richard III[/b] - King Malcolm III Dunkeld of Scotland[/*] [*][b]Gowi[/b] - King Blydden of Gwynedd[/*] [/list] [/hider] Welcome back to [i]Crusader Kings II: The King in Dublin[/i], which is a terrible title because the Earl in Dublin is still a very long ways away from being king in or of anything. Tonight we'll be focusing on Scotland and England as one descends into chaos and the other reaches peace. As reported by Godric Goddwinson of MSNBC England, Duke William of Normandy, called "the Conqueror" after his victory over King Harold II of England and Earl Rhiwallon of Wales, had the standing regime in Westminster by the throat before succumbing to the flu in October of 1067. This turn of events allowed the English and their Welsh allies to regroup before tackling Norwegian king Harald Hadrade once more. Meanwhile, earlier reports of King Malcolm III Dunkeld of Scotland portraying the king as a fair and just ruler were largely inaccurate, as it was revealed that the man is prone to fits of anger and is reputed to be avaricious and slothful, a toxic combination of personality traits that earned him the moniker of "the Cruel" and gave birth to open rebellion. [b]The Scottish Crisis[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/xi1tkMb.jpg[/img] [i]The territories of Earl Murdoch of Strathearn (Green) and King Malcolm III of Scotland (Red)[/i] The Earl Murdoch of Strathearn's rebellion began in mid October of 1067 while Duke William de Normandie lay dying in his sickbed. Declaring his intentions of deposing King Malcolm III Dunkeld and replacing him with the hitherto unknown Prince Malsenanct, a distantly related but suitably plausible rival claimant to the throne, the rebel Murdoch rallied over three thousand soldiers to his cause and launched a lightning war against King Malcolm III. While Strathearn is but a single county, Murdoch's forces were able to swiftly cut off and destroy Malcolm's gathering levies before launching an assault on Gowie itself. By January 2, 1068, Murdoch and his army had lain siege to Gowrie while King Malcolm's battered forces regrouped in the province of Fife. While King Malcolm III found significant support from the Duke of Lothian, those two thousand soldiers were forced to tackle another foe. In a strange twist, King Malcolm's brother and the Earl of Atholl, Malmure, declared his own revolt against the Scottish crown and called some 1600 soldiers to form a small but significant army. While Malmure's forces were destroyed by the Lothian and Scottish forces, between suppressing the new rebel and fending off an untimely arrival of Viking raiders the Lothian-Scot forces were taxed beyond hope of confronting Murdoch in battle. Gowrie fells by Christmas of 1068, after less than a year of siege. It seems that King Malcolm III's capitulation is no longer a question of if it will happen, but rather when it will happen. [img]http://i.imgur.com/pyyQyhx.jpg[/img] [i]Scottish forces engage Viking raiders from Vasterbotten.[/i] [img]http://i.imgur.com/4JGVAEg.jpg[/img] [i]Murdoch's rebel army lays siege to Gowrie while the Lothian-Scot coalition defeats Malmure in the field.[/i] [b]England and the Scandinavian Bloc[/b] With the fall of William the Conqueror, King Harold II of England was nearly out of the woods of war. The Norwegian invaders had been largely dealt with, but while the King Bleddyn of Gwynedd and he allowed their armies to regroup and reinforce themselves, Harald Hadrade called in reinforcements. The Scandinavian Bloc is a web of marriages centered around Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, but reaching as far as King Gudrod of Soreyar (an independent kingdom on Scotland's western coast) and the High Chief of Kiev. Any one of the three Scandinavian kingdoms can pick up their marriage-alliance batphone and call in reinforcements from across Europe, and this is precisely what Harald Hadrade did. Fortunately for England, the Bloc's response was limited to a few hundred soldiers, and the combined forces of King Harold II, the Earl Rhiwallon of Wales, and the Earl Hacon of England were able to prevent the Scandinavians from regaining any ground. [img]http://i.imgur.com/wGJj57u.jpg[/img] [i]The Earl Hacon smashes the Scandinavians laying siege to Westminster.[/i] [img]http://i.imgur.com/hJisguO.jpg[/img] [i]Peace reigns in England, at long last.[/i] On a related note, an interaction between Gowi and Vortex's houses came to pass when Asbjorn Ulfrsen, brother to King Svend II Estrid of Denmark, was captured in battle by Welsh forces and imprisoned in the dungeons beneath King Blydden of Gwynedd's castle. The war ended before the year's end, with the Scandinavian Bloc pulling out of England and leaving the island altogether. Asbjorn Ulfrsen was returned to Denmark soon after, which is well and good because another war swiftly reared its ugly head. The Scandinavian Bloc is facing its most dangerous opponent yet in the form of anarcho-heathen warlord Erik the Heathen, a Swedish rebel who has rallied the northern half of the country against its reigning king. The Scandinavian Bloc has rushed to end the civil war and suppress Erik the Heathen's rebellion, but only time will tell what becomes of Erik and his rogue kingdom. [img]http://i.imgur.com/hsK3MdO.jpg[/img] [i]Erik the Heathen and Northern Sweden in open revolt against their King.[/i] [b]Measles in Ireland[/b] If you needed any further convincing that Ireland is a terrible place to be, here it is. An outbreak of measles has emerged, starting in the southernmost reaches of the island and slowly advancing north. The Kingdom of Mumu is taking the brunt of the infection, but it seems to be only a matter of time before the disease sweeps the entire island. We Dubliners will weather any storm. Other than this, however, nothing of note took place in Ireland. [img]http://i.imgur.com/4oykrM6.jpg[/img] [i]Measles spreading across Ireland.[/i] [b]All Quiet on the Southern Front[/b] The realms of King Konan de Renne of Breizh (proto-Brittany) and the young Duke Robert de Normandie were both quiet this year. The Duke of Normandie provided two thousand soldiers from the province of Rouen alone, and several thousand more for the King Philippe's Grand Army, which, it is hoped, will turn the tide of the war against the Holy Roman Empire. The H.R.E. and its armies has maintained its foothold across the border on French territory, and a ten thousand strong army of Germans and their Hungarian allies has planted its many boots in the province of Gent. Without the centralized army to defeat the forces of House Salian, it seems to be only a matter of time before the castles of Gent fall and the territory falls into German hands. [img]http://i.imgur.com/RlsuWDY.jpg[/img] [i]The combined forces of Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire lay siege to Gent.[/i] [url=http://i.imgur.com/3dXEMsn.jpg][img]http://i.imgur.com/3dXEMsn.jpg[/img][/url] [i]The world as it stands.[/i]