Gwynedd
The Kingdom of Gwynedd is a founding realm of Belegarth and is the oldest continuous unit in Dagorhir and Belegarth.
Basic Information
Founding Location: Dale City, Virginia
Founder: Prince Kensmen Syr Trystyn Wyndhyvn
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Number of Members: ~75
Practices: Richmond VA, King George VA. See Discord for details.
Website: Kingdom of Gwynedd
Discord: Cambria Battlegames
Affiliated Units: Galatia (Richmond, VA); Indomar (NoVA/MD)
Ruling Body
His Royal Majesty Sir Vashala of House Wyndhaven, Rex Dei Gratia
Lord Sir Taaaaal of House Galatia, Dux Bellorum
The History of The Free Company Of Gwynedd
When the legions of Rome left the rocky shores of Wales for the last time, the Kingdom of Gwynedd, the northernmost of the traditional Welsh kingdoms, was in utter chaos. With the facade of Imperial order broken, petty warlords and foreign barbarians were free to openly and brutally pick apart the scraps of the once prosperous nation. King Owain Wyndhaven of Gwynedd was dead, killed in the Irish Wars. His son Prince Trystyn, studying far from home on the the Isle of Ynys Mon, hastily returned to his native land to restore order and succour his people. To this end he established the first Free Company of Gwynedd, recruiting warriors from the disheartened tribes of the rugged mountains and fertile valleys of his beautiful country. Many warriors who heeded his call went on to great deeds of fame and renown, fighting for their families, their land, and their Celtic ways.
Trystyn's first companions were his brothers, Finn and Fost Wyndhaven. Together they organized and trained the seasoned warriors and green youths alike who gathered in the Fall of 4(19)82 at the dun-fort of Mount Snowdon (The White Dragon Hobby Shop). Amongst these early comers were the famous Black Dragons, including renowned heroes such as Lord Syr Kensmen Talon of Arcadia, Kensmen Oron the Wolf, Kensmen Dunryk of Gor, Great Grand Kensmen Oonah Groinsplitter, and Syr Fluterflam. House Wyndhaven and the army both were greatly bolstered by the appearence of Syr Kensmen Llyr Corwyn-Wyndhaven, Prince Trystyn's cousin and a fierce battle leader. Finally when this impressive force had gained sufficient renown it attracted the attention and membership of the legendary Grand Kensmen Iskendar the Grim and his companion, Grand Kensmen Balynar the Elder. It would be these two champions who would forever establish the name of the proud and mysterious order of the Kensmen on the misty battlefields.
Together these Kensmen, Knights, and other warriors pacified the lands of Gwynedd. From there they launched daring raids into neighboring lands, which they soon brought to heel as tributaries and bald conquests. Thereafter Prince Trystyn's elder sister Princess Rayne Wyndhaven returned to the now-peaceful Gwynedd, and was awed by its might and prosperity. Extolling the wealth of the nation and her brother's great deeds, she asked that Prince Trystyn promise to grant her a single boon. Tipsy and flush with victory, he rashly agreed to give her anything she might ask, excepting that it be to the immediate detriment of the land. Rayne therefore demanded that a Kingdom be established right away, with herself as its ruler. Caught and honor-bound by his Word, Prince Trystyn acquiesed, and Princess Rayne was made Queen by her own hand. Even as the crown rested on her head, however, Rayne knew full well that she would require the loyalty of the Free Company to maintain her rule. She immediately named Trystyn as her Prince Regent and Heir, and gave him full control of their armies, and co-ruled with him, though secretly her heart burned with dreams of absolute and unchallenged power.
The Kingdom then grew swiftly and prospered, its army winning renown wherever it fought. As Prince Regent Trystyn's victories mounted, Queen Rayne grew more and more to perceive him as a threat to her power and prestige. Ever scheming, she invited some old allies of Trystyn's, the Rangers, to visit her at Gwynedd's White Dragon Castle, the capital and seat of the monarchy. Trystyn had shared some earlier adventures abroad with these Rangers. Though he had left them in peace to heed the call of his beleagured homeland, they were thralls to the envy with which they viewed his prestige and wealth. They showed up in Gwynedd with harm in their secret hearts for the Prince, and plotted his downfall with his treacherous sister. At court a fierce rivalry developed, in which the Rangers attempted to undermine Trytan's reputation with the Free Company. Perceiving their ill-intent, Trystyn wasted no time pressing the matter to a conclusion by calling for personal combat. In the brutal and bloody match which followed, it seemed to all that Trystyn had been slain by the Rangers' leader, Faulknera. In sooth, he was only grieviously wounded, and was spirited away to be healed by his Brother Finn the Paladin. He secretly returned to his beloved land of Anglesey, the Isle of the Druids, to recover and live in exile and resume his studies incognito.
Quenn Rayne wasted no time in naming Captain Faulknera as the new Prince Regent of Gwynedd, investing him with all of Trystyn's lands, titles and wealth, thinking the latter dead. This angered many, including most of Queen Rayne's own family, the Wyndhavens, who despaired to see Trystyn's name besmirched and his wealth distributed to an upstart faction. The Kingdom then went into a slow decline, as soldiers deserted, peasants emigrated in the night and the morale of the Free Company began to wane. Once fertile fields fell fallow. Military defeats were suffered for the first time. Land and cattle were lost to neighboring tribes and to other, more sinister enemies. One morning, Prince Faulknera was found inexplicably dead. The cause of death was uncertain, though the petty politics of the court factions were universally blamed. Faulknera's corpse was carried away by his loyal Rangers, and he and they were never heard from again in Aratari lands or elsewhere. Queen Rayne was left to rule what was left of the Kingdom with her remaining Knights and Kensmen as best she may, though it was not to last. The story is told that one fine Spring day, Her Majesty Rayne was leaning out of a tower window to pluck a rose from the vine growing there. She leaned out too far to pick a particularly perfect flower, and fell to her death on the cobblestones below. Rumours of a black arrow shot from nowhere circulated, though remained unsubstatiated.
The Kingdom was then suddenly again like a ship in a storm without a rudder, at the mercy of capricious fate and of her enemies. The once magnificent Free Company all but disbanded as its members returned to their manors and farms. Romes' Legions had returned, and were menacing the borders along with the monstrous and deadly Apollians, among others. Word of this reached the rocky shores of Anglesey, and Trystyn once was summoned to restore order with bold deeds and swift action. The Free Company was recalled and refurbished, heartened by the return of its leader. Many boastful beers later, great victories were won on all borders and the Kingdom restored beyond its former glory. Amongst the warriors who committed these great and memorable deeds were Kensmen Thorvaldd the Red, the Kensmen brothers Mordok, Handryk, Thorock and Helgun ap Kerrigan, Kensmen Lorick the Grand-Bard, Syr Hobbitt, the renowned Duke Half-Orc and his Braddok Boys, Duke Ragnar Blackhammer, Syr Gunter and Kensmen Syr Balynar the Younger of the House of the Red, and Kensmen Arabus (RIP) and his Vikings.
Prince Trystyn's older brother, Prince Finn Wyndhaven, was named as the new King of Gwynedd, and order and peace was restored once again to the Land. Trystyn was invested as the kingdom's first Dux Bellorum, and his other titles and lands were restored to him. The city of Thorsborg was established by Thorvaldd with the Ap Kerrigan brothers, as a haven for Kensmen and thus was home to many a fine Kensmen ever since. The rich valleysand dales of Gwynedd gave up abundant yields of grain and cattle, and the land prospered. King Finn begat a son, Prince Owen, whom he named as his heir. He was fostered by Prince Trystyn, and under his close supervision, the boy-Prince was trained in the arts of war and statecraft with the help of the now veteran Kensmen and Knights of the Realm, a matter itself the subject of a myriad of tales.
Much of the history of Gwynedd from this time forward remains unwritten, including:
The Succession Crisis and the Presumption of Syr Kensmen Mordekai the Foul of House Haldane
The founding of Dur Demarion
The Coming of Christianity, the Reign of Good King Owen and the Birth of his many Progeny
The Succession of King Lorrymar, and the Tragic Death of Crown Prince Sir Schattenengel
The Second Golden Age and Return of Factionalism
King Lorrymar's Abdication and Self-Exile.
The Reign of King Cerrydan
The Reign of King Druss.
The Subjugation of the Galatia Mercenary Company and the creation of House Galatia
The Golden Age of Good King Vashala.
The Knights of Gwynedd
Main article: Knights of Gwynedd
The Knights of Gwynedd are the oldest active Order of Knighthood in Belegarth.
The Kensmen of Gwynedd
Main article: Kensman
The Order of the Kensmen began in Gwynedd in 1983.
Religion in Gwynedd
Though Christianity is the official state religion of Gwynedd, all faiths are granted tolerance within the realm by Act of King Owen in conjunction with His Royal Council. The two dominant religions within Gwynedd are Roman Catholicism and Celtic/Norse Paganism. Currently, His Grace Zwei ap Owen is the Archbishop of Venedotia, and so the leading figure in the Gwyneddian Church. He has no Pagan counterpart.
Although The Great Houses of Gwynedd tend to fall along religious lines, these are trends and not rules. Christians may be members of 'Pagan' households, and vise versa. Still, each household can be categorized as being predominantly Christian or predominantly Pagan.
Predominantly Christian Households: Houses Wyndhaven, Corwyn, and Callahan
Predominantly Pagan Households: Houses Haldane, Tyr, Red, and Diamond Dog
Likewise, the warrior traditions of the kingdom also fall along religious lines, with Christians embarking on the path to knighthood and Pagans filling the ranks of the Kensmen. Though Pagan knights exist from early in the kingdom's history, non-Christians are no longer permitted to incept as knights by proclamation of King Owen and the Royal Council. There are no formal rules banning Christians from becoming Kensmen. Still, only a tiny minority of Kensmen are Christian.
The Great Houses
The Great Houses of Gwynedd are home to the realm's greatest warriors and statesmen. It is from these noble hearths that the kingdom draws its leadership and its stability. Entry is dependent on adoption (usually upon embarking on a swordbrotherly or squirely tradition) or birth. The Leaders of these Houses comprise the King's Royal Council and advise him for the felicity of the Kingdom.
House Wyndhaven
Founder: Trystyn Wyndhaven
House Leader: Lord Sir Druss ap Owen
This is the Royal House of Gwynedd. The Monarch and Heir Apparent come from this House, and this House only.
Notable Members: HRM Cerrydan; HRH Detaru le Trout; Finn ap Owain; Trystyn ap Owain; Owen ap Finn; Zwei ap Owen; Lorrymar Callahan; HRM Druss ap Owen; HRM Vashala ap Druss
House Haldane
Founder: Lord Talon Haldane
House Leader: Lord Enyo Haldane
Website: House Haldane
Notable Members: Talon Haldane; Tumbark the Barbarian; Tauron the B'olde; Mordekai the Foul; Kelson Haldane
House Tyr
Founder: Kensmen Iskandar the Grimm
House Leader: Kensmen Iskandar the Grimm
House Red
Founder: Kensmen Thorvald the Red
House Leader: Lord Kensmen Morte
House Diamond Dog
Founder: Kensmen Mordok ap Kerrigan
House Leader: Lord Admiral Kensmen Arabus the Treacherous (RIP)
House Callahan
Founder: Lord Lorrymar Callahan
House Leader: Lord Jonah Callahan