Pursuant to the discussions in another thread, I post this item to illustrate the holdings of Count Roderick, one of the most powerful men in 485 Britain.
This is the current draft of a preview of material in the upcoming Book of Warlords,
which treats all the 8 Great Nobles in similar manner

First is a description of his holdings, followed piece by piece explanations

†Roderick, Count of the Rock

Sir Roderick, by right since Time Immemorial the Right Honorable Count Salisbury, Lord of the Castle of the Rock and Castle of the Borders; Owner of the Forest of the Trench; and Lord of the hundreds of Alderbury, Andover, Branch, Dole, Elstub, Heytesbury, Pottern, Thorngate, Underditch, Westbury, and Whorweldon, all in the county of Salisbury; and further by right of Grant in Fief from the king, Lord of the Castle of the Ford of the Roe Deer in Thamesmouth, Lord of Bosmere in Caercolun, Carhampton in Devon, Higham Ferrers in Tribruit and Grimshoe in Caerwent, with diverse manors attached; and by virtue of his deeds done, held at the king’s pleasure, King’s Town Castle in Wuerensis with Barlichway hundred and its outliers, the two hundreds of Griomshoe and Mitford in Caerwent, and the hundred of Slotford in Wuerensis for the duration of his life.

This huge holding is unique for its size, but also because its parts are largely contiguous, due to its ancient nature of being held “since Time Immemorial.” The special differences from that status are noted below.
For Count Roderick the complete particulars of additional manors and rights are examined in detail in
the “Royal Charter to the Honour of Salisbury,” in the Appendices.
Sir Roderick,
He is a knight, dubbed alongside his father by Aurelius Ambrosius and proudly among the earliest to receive that great honor. War proved the family prowess and secured many ancient rights.
by Right since Time Immemorial
This particular phrase indicates that Roderick’s ancestors have held this territory for so long that it precedes any known record keeping. In practical terms Times Immemorial begins with the reign of the Romans, which ended about 75 years ago.
the Right Honorable Count
This is the proper form of address for a count.
of Salisbury,
His specific title, which is also the name of the county in which his chief manor sits. Using the county name as his title implies more than it actually gives, because no count ever rules the entirety of a county, even if their ancestors might have. Count Roderick comes as close as anyone to holding a whole county, but possess only half of it. .
Lord of the Castle of the Rock, of
The Castle of the Rock is found in the History of the Grail, which records that Josephe, the Grail King and heir to Joseph of Arimathea, preached there. It is a strong castle built atop great earthworks protecting a market town and religious buildings.
Castle of the Borders,
This second castle in the Honour of Salisbury is indicative of its greatness. Its proximity adds to the military strength of the honour.
owner of the Forest of the Trench;
This is a private forest for the count, which is unusual. Most Forests are the possession of the king himself, who may appoint Keepers, but never giving them away. Once again, this indicates the antiquity of this fief. The name of the forest comes from the huge ditch that crosses it.
and Lord of the hundreds of Alderbury, Andover, Branch, Dole, Elstub, Heytesbury, Pottern, Thorngate, Underditch, Westbury, and Whorweldon, all in the county of Salisbury;
Eleven hundreds, all contiguous and surrounding the two Salisbury fortresses, form a powerful and easily protected block of holdings.
and further, by right of Grant in Fief from the king,
After the territories that held by Roderick “since time immemorial” come lands that are held in fief but are still part of the honour.
Castle at the Ford of the Roe Deer in Thamesmouth;
This castle, removed many miles from Salisbury County, is also a part of the honour, gained some generations ago by marriage.
Lord of Bosmere in Caercolun, Carhampton in Devon, Higham Ferrers in Thamesmouth and Grimshoe in Tribruit;
These four hundreds follow the usual feudal pattern of being scattered far and wide over the map. Thus we can infer that these were granted by a prvious king, Aurelius Ambrosius, for the service of Roderick’s father.
With diverse manors attached;
This indicates that several or many individual manors, located in counties and hundreds outside of those that are named, are a part of the honour. The detailed nature of this document indicates that the lack of these listed among the lands of “time immemorial” means that no outlying manors are part of that ancient honour.
and by virtue of his deeds done,
“His” here refers to Sir Roderick, who has been rewarded for his loyalty to the king with additional lands.
held at the king’s pleasure,
This phrase indicates that the king can take these back at any time. They are gifts, not grants.
King’s Town Castle in Lambor
A fourth castle is part of this holding. Although it is some distance from the core of the honour, it is another indicator of the tremendous trust that the king has in Count Roderick.
with its outliers,
Unlisted here, nonetheless we can see that some manors are attached to this estate of King’s Town Castle.
the two hundreds of Walsham and Grimshoe in Caerwent, and the hundred of Slotford in Wuerensis
These hundreds may be part of the estate of King’s Town Castle, but the particular wording of this makes it unclear if this is so. The details of the appendix elaborate and show that only one of those in Caerwent is. The others have been gifted separately.
for the duration of his life.
This phrase reinforces that these are gifts, and will return to the king’s ownership upon the death of the count.
--------------------------------
From this the count gets £1200 per annum
He thus has an army of 120 knights and 240 foot, excluding garrison troops
Of these 120 knights, perhaps 20 are vavasours

This is pretty cool Greg. Thanks for the peek.

We are up to 515 in the GPC. The player knights kept Salisbury together (though Sarum did get a little bit burned down..ahem).

Might be interesting to send some of the officers to the old far flung holdings that were not really 'held' during the anarchy but that the boy King will have restored to his Eager Vassal, Roderick's son. Could be a few problems to sort out though I imagine they should give Bosmere in Caercolun a wide berth. :)

In my GPC the player knights negotiated for Robert to be named by the restored Countess as 'Baron Wallingford' after cpmpleting the adventure of Rydychan using some of Roberts household knights. I presume this document would not necessarily reflect such subinfeudations (or perhaps land gained through marriage) or would it be amended?

Fantastic. I am excited !!!!

Going to use this in court, next year great stuff!

There may be some changes to this in the final published version

There may be some changes to this in the final published version


Greg are you writing in other counts who also have holdings in Wiltshire and would be likely guests at the annual: feasts; hunts and tourneys? Also, giving them noble friends?

There may be some changes to this in the final published version


Greg are you writing in other counts who also have holdings in Wiltshire and would be likely guests at the annual: feasts; hunts and tourneys? Also, giving them noble friends?

I am working on a detailed county of Salisbury, which will designate the holders of the hundreds
It will name the overlords who hold them, but not their friends
Such details are beyond my conception of what a game author ought to supply

I am working on a detailed county of Salisbury, which will designate the holders of the hundreds
It will name the overlords who hold them, but not their friends
Such details are beyond my conception of what a game author ought to supply

Sorry, I was not clear. I meant Count Roderick and the other Warlords.

It would be useful for GM to know the cabals of nobles whom exist in Britain. Having Factions would be useful. A character like Mordred would only need to turn the leaders of them and the followers would follow as always or a Arthur to only reawaken the heart of one noble to cause a massive shift of power. Having Nobles whom hate each other and would never join a group containing the other is also very useful info to GM.

Sorry, I was not clear. I meant Count Roderick and the other Warlords.
It would be useful for GM to know the cabals of nobles whom exist in Britain. Having Factions would be useful. A character like Mordred would only need to turn the leaders of them and the followers would follow as always or a Arthur to only reawaken the heart of one noble to cause a massive shift of power. Having Nobles whom hate each other and would never join a group containing the other is also very useful info to GM.

Once again, I do no t believe that is is necessary for the designer to detail everything
The significant groups are evident: de Galis, Orkney and de Ganis
The fact that they are all killed and the whole island starts over again with the Boy King leaves the GM room to develop the other factions that he wishes
The focus of the game is on adventuring knights, and if a GM wishes to expand its political realm of play then the supplements will provide the essentials of play, but not the details

The significant groups are evident: de Galis, Orkney and de Ganis


You know how much study it took me to figure that all out?
Also who are in charge of these clans, where are their homebases, who belongs to what clan, what other famous families are aligned to which clan. Especially in the Twilight Period the politics came out in all my campaigns. PK are by that time important knights who the clans try to recruit. Also it being peace and to show the (moral) decline of the land, the game turns very political (ok, I have bad opinion about politics). Hence knowing the details of the political realm is very important for my game. I had to make a lot up, the current game does not provide the essentials (except for the last names of some NPCs).
I would love a supplement that would detail all this..

fg,
Thijs

+1

The significant groups are evident: de Galis, Orkney and de Ganis


You know how much study it took me to figure that all out?
Also who are in charge of these clans, where are their homebases, who belongs to what clan, what other famous families are aligned to which clan. Especially in the Twilight Period the politics came out in all my campaigns. PK are by that time important knights who the clans try to recruit. Also it being peace and to show the (moral) decline of the land, the game turns very political (ok, I have bad opinion about politics). Hence knowing the details of the political realm is very important for my game. I had to make a lot up, the current game does not provide the essentials (except for the last names of some NPCs).
I would love a supplement that would detail all this..

fg,
Thijs


I can relate with Greg on this one. The only thing you can give is the starting position. If the PKs have influence on the political situation things will develop differently. This means that the GM still has a lot of thinking to do about who goes with whom. And of course the actions of the PKs will influence the outcome a lot. This makes each game unique and hence it will be difficult to make a supplement with the right links between factions.

This makes each game unique and hence it will be difficult to make a supplement with the right links between factions.


No, you want a supplement with the right starting links between factions, in high detail. Then you should also have details where things will go if players dont intervene (because that's the information you gain from your intrigue skill and sometimes players will allow things to develop naturally and only intervene when needed.

fg,
Thijs

No, you want a supplement with the right starting links between factions, in high detail. Then you should also have details where things will go if players dont intervene (because that's the information you gain from your intrigue skill and sometimes players will allow things to develop naturally and only intervene when needed.


Agreed.


T.

The thing also is: battles, manor-management etc.. are mostly rules. Many people house-rules those often anyway. (If I wanted rules-books, I'd play DnD). However setting information is 'canon', the only source is Greg. Of course, every GM will then take that info and make his own personal Pendragon-verse from there, but the base is the same. So I certainly favor any (detailed) setting book in the future. That's why I made that map of all manors (that setting-info), that why I love knowing all Holdings of Count Roderick, etc..

Sorry, was ranting.

fg,
Thijs