Anan:Setting
Contents
Society[edit]
King and Vassal[edit]
"With joined hands, he shall say thus ~ I become thy man of such tenement to be holden of thee, to bear thee faith of life and member and earthly worship against all men who live and can die, saving the faith of my lord and his heirs..."
The overarching structure of society is the pledge between the King and his lords and the lords and their vassals, the knights. The King holds the land, and by word and deed he grants it to his lords, the barons. These barons, in turn, grant the working of his deeding to the knights, who manage the village, crops, animals, meadows, and woods.
By royal order, the barons dwell half the year in the realm of the King while their families dwell in the baronial demesne, at their manor. The barons’ Knights dwell all the year at their keep in the seat of each deeding, apart from the baron and his family. Save for the King’s Tax, all the wealth of cash and crop go to the baron and his knights, to keep his deeding in good order.
Motte and Bailey[edit]
The knight at the seat of his baron’s deeding lives in a c. 11th century Motte and Bailey style keep, that is a hewn wooden wall (bailey) set atop a mound of earth (motte) surrounded by a ditch or moat. The bailey encloses the knight’s keep, a wooden hall where the knight and his family live. The keep is reached by a suspended bridge that spans the moat to the gate of the bailey.
Toft and Croft[edit]
The knight, in his turn, leases the Baron’s deeding to villagers, farmers, and freeholders in exchange for his protection. All the knight’s tenants must tithe part of their crops and animals and handiwork to their knight. They must also commit part of their week to working the knight’s land.
The tenants are thus entitled to work and live on their own allotment of pasture (toft) and garden plot (croft). In times of war, the surrounding tenants may take shelter in the knight’s keep for as long as the threat perseveres.
Crusade and Cavalcade[edit]
In exchange for their lease on the land, the barons’ knights and their lesser born sons are bound to the service of the King, who may call them to serve at his whim. Only the knights’ eldest sons are released from this duty, until he is head of the household.
The King may call his vassals to a great quest (crusade) that increases the glory and fortune of the Kingdom in the world. The King may call his vassals to a minor quest (cavalcade) as such is the need within the Kingdom.
Setting[edit]
The Lords of March and Sand[edit]
Four generations ago, there were no Kings in Tintovantum, only war. The Marcher lords fought across the mountains with the Sander lords in the North for blood and reasons time out of mind. Always on the coasts, were the Aedgyth raiders taking what and who they found there. It was a dark time where a man looked no further than the sword his hand held, and a woman watched her sons cut down, one by one, by other sons. Only the Wild Gods reveled thus.
Then, in the South and in the summer, a King came to Tintovantum. He was called Tintagel, and he was a lord of Nantgallum. With him, he brought six generals: Tréves, Thanceastre, Thanet, Tandreg, Tangustel, and Tentvantius. The King and his generals with their great armies behind them drove back the Aedgyth raiders to the sea and brought peace to the land of the March. The lords of Sand, being still firm in the old ways of the Wild Gods, were slow to come into the service of the King, but in the winter the King added four more generals to his service: Lomond, Lothian, Llandav, and Llanbadern.
The Realm of the King[edit]
In his dying years, the King took for himself the eastern realm, beyond the river Trahern. There he built the great keep of Sorel, which he named for his son, to stand fast against the Aedgyth raiders from the far East. To his six generals, he gave the lands of the March in the South to keep for their sons. And, to the four generals newly come, he gave the lands of the Sand in the North.
The ten generals swore themselves in service of the King in exchange for this deeding, and the King named them barons. The King’s ten barons then knighted those around them who were worthy and, out of these, chose one to be knight of the baron’s fortress keep. The King granted the barons leave to build a demesne for their family, but the King’s ten barons dwell with the King in his realm.
The Wild Gods from the Older Time[edit]
In the years before the King, the Wild Gods walked with men, raising stones and counting stars and performing feats in battle. Father to all the Wild Gods was Herne the Hunter, with his pack of hounds that chase across the hills and sky. Mother to them all was Maeve the Triple Goddess, whose eyes are those of a deer, whose hair is the center of the daisy, and whose skin is the snow on the Umbria.
Herne and Maeve cut the year into four portions, one for each aspect of the Goddess and one for Herne’s Hunt. These are: Lammas, for the birth of the Goddess (spring); Brigid, for the ripening of the Goddess (summer); Uaman, for the war between Maeve and Herne (fall); and Danu, for Herne’s Wild Hunt (winter). Danu is also the name of Maeve’s son, who becomes his father when the goddess is born at Lammas.
The God of the Kings[edit]
The God of the Kings is pure in aspect because He never walked among men. Instead, he charged his saints to suffer and die as men so that His people would ever strive toward Him. God sent His saints to be the worldly embodiments of worship so that his people might worship his aspect though they are far from God. The King has decreed that every demesne, keep, and village must raise a shrine or church to Saint Micael the Healer, the patron saint of Tintovantum. These places of worship are kept by the clergy of Healers, who preach learning and wisdom in the world.
According to St. Micael, the year falls as thus:
Deep Winter ~ Nov. 1 (Candlemas) to Feb.1 (Maelmas), with Micaelmas on Dec. 24
Furrowing ~ Feb. 1 (Maelmas) to May 1 (Sorelmas)
Lammas ~ May 1 (Sorelmas) to August 1 (Iarngallonmas)
Harvest ~ August 1 (Iarngallonmas) to Nov. 1 (Candlemas)
The King’s Laws[edit]
Acts Punishable by Hanging:
Treason ~ the act against the King’s interest or the interest of his sworn barons and knights
Trespass ~ the act of straying inside the boundaries of the King’s Wood or Tintagel, the Realm of the King, except on invitation of the King
Acts Punishable by Burning:
Blasphemy ~ speaking against the teachings and wisdom of the Church of St. Micael
Sacrilege ~ performing witchcraft or curses in the manner of demons or sorcerers
Acts Punishable by Confinement:
Murder of a villager or freeholder without provocation
Theft of belongings or provisions
Acts Punishable by Fine:
Injury of a villager or freeholder without provocation
Plowing, planting, or harvesting out of turn or space
Failing to attend Sunday Mass
Leaving their lord’s village without permission or settlement
The application and adherence to these laws varies wildly from place to place. In general, the laws are more strictly enforced in Sand, where infraction of these laws is also greater.
When someone has broken the King’s Law, guilt and punishment is decided in the lord’s Hallmote. The accused must defend him or herself before the lord and a council of villagers.
For someone found guilty of treason, he or she may avoid hanging in two ways: by claiming “benefit of clergy” and joining the church of St. Micael as a cleric; or, by claiming “sanctuary” and remaining within a church, yard, or altar of St Micael for forty days, after which time he or she may be branded as a traitor and exiled from the shores of Tintovantum.
