the Earl is silent for a short time as he turned the idea over in his head. "It's possible. I'm sure the King won't be too pleased that the Sheriff wasn't pocketing the money."

"And I shall personally guarantee you a hearing, whatever that varlet Longchamp might say," the Earl of Essex adds. "I think between us Lord Crehen and I have enough authority to gain that much."

Courtesy roll, success

Total
1 failure
4 success
1 critical success

Although the eels made life a challenge, Mandeville was able to dodge the worst of the shoals. +2 boating, +5 Glory. It doesn't occur to Mandeville to try to take anyone out (not Reckless, not Vengeful). The Chain Mandeville successfully steers to avoid the Chain. 3 successes The Essex knight strugg...

The Earl of Essex's boating skills are nowhere near the peerless artistry of de Redvers, but his people are also a people of rivers, and very familiar with the lower reaches of this river in particular. He manages the current excellently . (10 Glory) The knight of Essex pulls like a dog, carrying th...

William de Mandeville, backed by some de Ferrers money, puts in a bid of 2500 pounds

Courtesy roll for bid, tn 16: 1d20 10

Essex, again. "The Armenians in Cilicia were helpful in years past, but I hear that the Seljuks are giving them troubles of their own. Cyprus is nearby, but it is Greek and is ruled by a Komnenos."

"The armies of England and of France will depart from Provence and land once at Messina, where we may pick up some of your Grace's sister's people," Essex says, "before landing at Tyre. There is not much we can do about the German army, as it is progressing by land, but we are told that it will be a...

Mandeville voices his support for this option. "Less exposure to time at sea for the armies is all to the better. We will be traveling late in the season, and I had much rather experienced hands were tangling with the weather on the ocean."

Mandeville clears his throat. "The situation has gone from troubling to difficult. The bandits that plagued us on the road last month confessed that they were in the employ of the Duke of Branicevo. We arrived in Nis, but it seems there is some difficulty between the Bulgars and the Greeks, which ha...

Essex reaches into his belt, from where he retrieves a fairly substantial bit of paper. There is a seal affixed to it, but on the side facing the Earl.

He begins. "To Our Brother Richard, King of England, Duke of Normandy and..."

Standing against the wall to the right, with his arms crossed and a pensive look, is the aging but frightfully famous William de Mandeville.

The Earl of Essex's effort was well played. He knew his station, selected his line, read it at the right spot, but read it in a dry monotone, after just a half-breath's pause from the end of l'Ecrivain's line, rather ruining the effect. "Of Brutus that man bold of hand," Success, Success, Crit Fail!

A respectful distance behind the Lord Chancellor comes a magnificent sight, and though the man bearing the wide cushion is important, almost no one takes in the noble face of the famous Earl of Essex. For resting on that cushion is the object all have been waiting to see--the crown itself. That maje...

To his servant Robert, the Earl of Essex replies, You are undertaking a significant risk, Sir Robert. One, I must add, which we have counseled you against at the time we entrusted your charge to you. The coronation is precisely the moment of gravest concern; you will have brought that which was to h...