Current World Events (IG)

Shadow Accord takes place concurrently 800 years in the past. This means that the IG date is December 21, {{#expr:2024-800}}.

The following notes are provided by the Storytellers to help current, new, and returning players understand what is going on in the larger world which may effect them - or that they may have heard of.

It should be noted that while these notes are definitive and specific to the game, normal research about the time period still apply. Please remember that travel times and news travels VERY slowly compared to today. Travel from Southern England to Northern England (Summer time, via Roads) takes a little more than a week. Northern England to Rome: 3 months. And again those are under the MOST ideal conditions. Time what you know accordingly.

While all character factions may know what is going on with Human affairs, specific faction knowledge is restricted to your faction only.

May 1215

Human

Politics
The human Barons are marching South to London to force King John to stop taxing them so harshly, to stop warmongering, to agree to be bound by the same laws as all the other nobles. There are some loyalists, but the vast majority of nobles, knights and men of wealth have sided against the King. The Archbishop of Canterbury is working with the rebels to try to bring things to a peaceful, but favorable, resolution.

The Roads
Right now, the roads all over England are full of people. There are soldiers marching in groups under the banners of many barons and lords. There are bandits, taking advantage of the fact that most of the armed men are moving South. There are camp followers trying to follow all of the groups. There are deserters who ran away from their homes when their lords tried to call them up to serve as spearmen. If you are taking the roads, the soldiers or bandits might try to take your horses, weapons, or valuables, to either support their lord or to fill their pockets. If you are well armed and traveling, a knight or a lord might try to conscript you into their service. This is not a good time to be on the roads.

The Church
Previously, the Prince Bishop of Durham left England to go to Rome to get the Pope's blessing. On his return trip, he died while in France. This happened in the Autumn of 1214 (last Fall). Over the Winter, the church folk of Durham County came together to determine whom they would elect to be ordained Prince Bishop next, and they have decided on naming Morgan FitzHenry, the bastard brother of King John. This vote took place before April's game, and now Morgan has begun serving as the Prince Bishop. Word has been sent to Rome for the Pope's approval.

The Continent
France is rising in power. They just decisively defeated the armies of their chief rivals (the English, the Castilians and their allies, and the German states), and they now have the Pope's favor.

Shifter

The Moon Bridges
The Silver Fang King has ordered that the Moon Bridges be closed. The bridges held by Silver Fangs, Warders of Man, Bone Gnawer, Shadow Lords, and Children of Gaia, are all under constant guard. Anyone who attempts to use them is attacked immediately, because if they are defying the High King's order, they must be part of the problem. The bridges held by Fianna and Fenrir are not following the King's orders, but no one they have sent to any of the other septs has returned. They are, justly, concerned, and have begun to hunker down. Anyone who simply appears at one of their bridges will also likely be attacked.

Vampire

Vampire Domains
Many of the mid-level vampires within the Fiefs of Avalon joined together with Sir Lucas, the childe of John of York, to march south, hiding within the human armies, so that they can force Mithras to reorganize power within the fiefs, at least according to their public plans. Their private plans are, of course, private.

Wraith

The Sea of Shadows
There is a storm brewing that has isolated the Shadowlands reflection of the British Isles. If your PC is coming here from somewhere else, they either needed a skilled Harbinger to find them new byways to get here, or they had to take a boat across the stormy seas. Both ways are full of danger. Recently, even Harbingers have begun getting lost. The number of specters and plasmics has gone down in the region, and no one can identify why.