crumbsforsparrows

[crumbsforsparrows]

0.5 A First Born Son, but not a prince

As the months progressed, the intensity of Joan Sparrow's grief abated, if only because of the sheer overwhelming weight of her new life.

She found herself at once in both the most enviable and unenviable of circumstances.

She owned her own property, she had livestock, her own crops, and her own shelter. As harvest drew near she knew she'd never have to dread the wrath of a landlord's ire over a disappointing harvest. Everything she planted - everything she built would be hers... but not hers alone

Within her new community she styled herself as a young widow and inspired by her cheerful disposition in the face of her suffering the village rallied around the young woman.

During this time, she became particularly close with a local woman, Naomi Hugget - the wife of a fisherman. She was a great source of advice and comfort for Joan as her time drew nearer.

And as night fell on the first day of snow, the moment finally arrived.

And Joan was no longer alone. Diggory Sparrow made his way into a cold, but welcoming world.

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0.4 Small Mercies and Great Expectations

With the royal wedding drearily completed The High Jacoban Priest Benedict went about his second most important - and time sensitive mission of The Watcher. To deal with the peasant Sparrow girl as the King ordered.

The holding was meager in the priest's estimation but a generous offering for her silence on the embarrassing matter. The Sparrow would be gifted lands to keep within her insignificant family for generations to come - a gift from the one who had loved her.

And as fates would have it, those generations would start coming sooner than one could have expected.

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Interlude: Formal Introductions to Generation 0

King William Simtagenet Born 1249 Traits: Overachiever, Adventurous, Gregarious

Queen Joan Simtagenet (Simlette) Born 1249 Traits: Insider, Romantic, Quick Learner

Joan Sparrow Born 1249 Traits: Cheerful, Romantic, Alluring

(Gameplay Note: Joan Sparrow is actually our Gen -1 founder as the two families are slightly out of sync as far as the UDC rules are concerned) (The doubling up on the names is a happy accident as I randomise each name in my game - Joan is in the pool of common names so it does pop up more often than others, but it was still very lucky)

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0.3 The Somber Wedding

The usually bustling castle was eerily quiet upon WIlliam's return. King Ferdinand had taken to his bed upon hearing the news of The White Ship. Listlessly and without eye contact he handed William the crown.

William was then taken to meet his future bride. The Lady Joan Simlette was an astute woman, who even in her youth had an inherent understanding of the undercurrents of courtly life.

With the court largely in mourning for their losses the wedding of King William and Queen Joan Simtagenet was a somber and austere event. The pair met, were blessed by the Jacoban High Priest and subsequently married.

The young king knew he could be happy with his new wife. She was charming, beloved at court and they shared an easy tenderness with each other that could in time become more. But he was haunted by his clandestine departure from Windenburg. By the thought of Joan, his Joan. There wasn't much he could do, not without heaping another pain upon his family. But the King put ink to parchment.

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0.2 The White Ship

The morning of the departure of The White Ship came too quickly for the new lovers.

The normally cheerful Joan struggled to smile as the party filed bleary headed into the ship. The night before had been a riotous one - even the captain, it's to be said, was seen cavorting at the local tavern - anticipating the pay transporting his royal cargo would surely bring him by the end of the next day.

Always the romantic, she had fallen deeply and quickly in love with the gregarious young lord.

Pulled partially by her charm, and partially by his reticence for an early hungover morning on the choppy sea, William Simtagenet made the fateful decision to remain in Windenburg - soothing an angry uncle - he assured himself - was sure to be an adventure if nothing else, and he did love an adventure. And to be sure, a cousin was hardly a key player in the upcoming festivities.

Within moments of the ships departure the bright day broke into an unprecedented storm.

Helpless, William watched on as the White Ship struck a rock just off the harbor. Later, witnesses would attest that the Prince Oscar Simtagenet had been rescued but commanded his small boat return to the sinking vessel in an attempt to rescue his sister. The smaller ship was swarmed by struggling victims and capsized. In the span of one morning the royal family, along with a generation of the court had been destroyed. But William Simtagenet had stayed ashore. He was no longer unimportant. He was no longer someone the Jacoban Church could meekly side-eye and sweep under the rug.

And now, he had a bride waiting for him back home.

(And if this sounds too convenient for you - do I have the Google Rabbit Hole for you - The White Ship Disaster of 1120 - from which I ripped this little bit of Sim-Theatre)

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0.1 A Royal Visit to Windenburg

In the summer of 1264, a cohort of the most noble and influential young people of the court descended upon Windenburg.

Among the great and the good were the three adolescent children of the reigning King Ferdinand Simtagenet. The Crown Prince Ferald Simtagenet, the socially sensitive prince was known for his bouts of paranoia and his passionate pursuit of the creative arts. Aged 16.

The Prince Oscar Simtagenet, avid hunter and enjoyer of the finer things in life. Aged 15.

And the Princess Emmeline Simtagenet. Loyal friend and avid collector of insect taxidermy - surviving writings of the Princess and her contemporaries show her to have had an intense fascination with the exploration of death.

Ostensibly, the purpose of this visit was a pilgrimage to the local church - which while small held a relic of great importance to the Jacoban church - a fragment of cloth said to belong to the much-revered Saint Beatrice (herself, known to be an ancestor to the Simtagenet line). Tradition had it so that in the months leading up to a royal marriage a visit to this sacred site ensured a happy and more importantly fruitful union.

In actuality, this pilgrimage was not quite the austere event King Ferdinand had planned. Nectar, dancing and song were the key pass times during this infamous holy trip. It is during one of these frivolous nights, it is said that a minor cousin of the royal three, William Simtagenet met and became enamored with a local peasant girl, Joan Sparrow.

It's the kind of union that could, in any other circumstance have been somehow legitimised - a noble cousin found, a title laid upon a father - something to bring this meager woman to a more forgivable standard (given the appropriate amount of groveling). If not for the White Ship.