1400: Britannia Ablaze

A new century dawns, and after a century of famine, plague and war, Britannia braces for what's to come. A usurper seizes the throne of England in a coup, becoming the first Lancastrian monarch, thrusting the realm into chaos. Though few wept for his unpopular predecessor's passing, plenty of the English nobility have become to question the new King's authority. The Duke of Northumberland, head of House Percy, once a supporter of the Lancastrian claim, now draws his blade in revolt after suffering a series of insults and injustices at the hands of his new monarch. Though still outwardly loyal, the Duke of York, head of a second cadet branch of the Plantagenet dynasty, has begun to consider his options. He too has a claim on the throne, one that some Lords and Ladies say is stronger than the Lancastrian one.

In Wales, a native noble with a distant claim to the Welsh Kings of Old, who initially rose against his local Anglo-Norman overlords over repeated illegal seizures of his lands, has been proclaimed the rightful King of Wales by his now large following. This Welsh Revolt has spread like wildfire, as many thousands of commoners and native lords join in the endeavor to finally free their lands from foreign rule. The conflict has thus far been in the Welsh favor, as they have taken nearly all of the English castles in the land, though at great cost. Across the sea in Ireland, the free Irish states have been unified by a new High Queen of an ancient lineage. Now she wages war on the Anglo-Irish Lords in the east who still owe fealty to the English throne.

To the north, the Kingdom of Scotland, a historical foe of England contemplates what it shall do. Even beyond Britannia, there are many more powers that watch the growing conflicts with great interest, awaiting advantageous opportunities.