Thy Serpentine Invictus

quick update. not the HUGE update promised but it will be about Cerball and the Irish developments as I can get them out of the way.



A Dog Is A Dog, But A Wolf Is So Much More
The History of Cerball mac Dúnlainge
“War is the only proper school of the surgeon. " - Hippocrates


To explain the motives of Cerball mac Dúnlainge would take a lifetime, to understand them not as much. The High Kingship of Eire was his goal, dominion over the Isle was his target and he would do all in his power to achieve it.

As King of Osraige, a former vassal to Munster but now in part to the destruction of the Norse kingdoms across Eire had reduced Munsters grip on the smaller nearby kingdoms to virtually null as Cerball no longer needed their assistance or control and Osraige had secured an alliance with King Anarawd ap Rhodri of Cymru who sought the end to raids against his kingdom and more importantly end the pain that followed him following his brothers deaths.

Cerball was not the "Dane Killer" as many perceived him, he was smart and extremely calculated and even from time to time allying with the Danes to further his own goals but seeing the chance to firmly establish his rule over Munster & to expand Osraige in all directions Cerball began the campaigns against the Norse & the Norse-Gaels, brute force and swiftness his weapons and tools to despatch them with. Cerball chose his allies carefully, his last ally Horm, a Norse warlord, suffered rather ironically at the hands of Anarawds father, Rhodri Mawr.

The campaigns were succesful and had further established Cerball as THE powerbroker in the southern lands with Munster unable to quell the rising support for Cerball who unashamedly began using the tome "The Wolf of Osraige", a term used by the Cymro who had witnessed his ruthlessness in the campaign against the Norse of Dublin and of Wexford. Cerball quickly expanded Osraige southwards merging with Munster after Dúnchad mac Duib-dá-Bairenn, King of Munster was executed on the battlefield following Cerball's shock attack on his lands and after mustering only a fifth of the men Cerball had called to him King Dúnchad suffered a humiliation worse than death by being stripped naked by Cerball and paraded around by the wolf who upon growing bored of the King's humiliating torture sked for his fealty and crown but despite the methods used by Cerball Dúnchad staunchly refused and in turn was given a swift execution by beheading.

Cerball, the wolf of Osraige was now King of Osraige,Munster & of Leinster and now set on his path to claiming the High Kingship of Eire, a title currently held by his sisters husband. The remaining powers in Eire were the Ui Neills of the north and of the south & the Dal Riata in Ulster & also the Lordship of Dublin, ruled over by Lord Rhys, Anarawds father in law.

In the year 879 Cerball and Rhys came to blows over the remaining Norse-Gaels who had fled the destruction of Dublin and other Norse-Gaelic kingdoms and towns in Eire, these refugees were not wanted in the Irish Kingdoms nor wanted by the Norse kingdoms either, their only hope lay in Rhys who welcomed them but demanded fealty and for them to work off their debt to the King of Cymru. Cerball whose growing xenophobia over the people who once were his allies and enemies grew quickly and in the summer months of 879 launched an offensive strike at the Lordship's outlying lands as a measure of strength and to test the fires. Unfortunately for Cerball, Rhys was not a fan of the wolf and had begun talks of an alliance between the southern Ui Neill's and himself representing Cymru & his Lordship, with the southern Ui Neills agreeing in part to the establishment of a seperate Norse-Gaelic kingdom away from their territory in the south, something that Cerball disagreed on entirely as the new 'refugee' state would come within and take his land off of him and land that was bountiful to Cerball.

In August 879 Cerball attempted to take Dublin by force but was met by local Norse-Gael soldiers who assisted by Cymro of Dublin & Ui Neill soldiers repelled and chased Cerball back to Osraige where upon their demands he accept their proposition or suffer the same fate he had given Dúnchad a year previous, he accepted but only if the lands of Iarmumu & Desmumu were given only as he claimed "they are not of use to me not to my people and I would gladly give them up". The deal was done. the Norse-Gaels would receiev the southern tip of Eire as their own whilst Cerball's power lsut was allowed to reform itself once more but should he try to re-enact the scenes of Dublin once more he would face the one person he knew he could not beat, Anarawd ap Rhodri.

In the winter months of 879 and the early cold of 880 King Cerball of Osraige, Munster & Leinster recieved the title High King of Eire after welcoming his sister and her second husband, Áed Findliath who had been bestowed the title of "King of Tara" succeeding her first husband in the role. Growing weary of not achieveing his goal quick enough Cerball lured Áed whilst hunting and after employing men from the nearby Norse region to kill the king, Cerball quickly began his plot and with relative ease had the High King killed and made to appear as if it was of true Norse savagery instead of the Norse-Gaels, marking the body of Áed with runes alluding to the Norse gods of death and war.

Cerball had acheived his goal finally and in the month of February was annointed by the church and proclaimed High King of All Ireland, a move that sent ripples and shockwaves throughout the land especially to both branches of the Ui Neill clans instigating a power struggle that would soon see everyone at one another's throats.

In 880 Cerball had his brother Riacán mac Dúnlainge installed as king of the Norse-Gaels, whilst not in violation of the treaty forced on him by the triumvirate of the Ui Neill clans and Rhys it was a loophole sure enough to anger and cause further tension between the kingdoms and lordship. His brother was annointed King Ragnar of Hibernia & the Norse-Gaels.
 
880 A.D. UPDATE MAP.

9issye.png
 
For couple of weeks this thread will be inactive due to the fact I will be extremely busy helping my girlfriend move and redecorate. But In my spare time I am going to do my very best to finish the mega update. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Anyone want to take a guess what will and is happening in mainland Europe during the expansion of Anarawd?
 
More Nordic kingdoms. Normandy will be a Duchy from the start, if not an independent kingdom. Stronger Viking influence everywhere, earlier conquest of Sicily and discovery of Greenland and the Americas.
Any chance of us getting Devon and Strathclyde any time soon? I don't wan't any Saxons west of the Pennines by 1000!
 
More Nordic kingdoms. Normandy will be a Duchy from the start, if not an independent kingdom. Stronger Viking influence everywhere, earlier conquest of Sicily and discovery of Greenland and the Americas.
Any chance of us getting Devon and Strathclyde any time soon? I don't wan't any Saxons west of the Pennines by 1000!

If anything I plan on having more sporadic Viking/norse kingdoms and duchies. Using a simialr pattern of the Varangian expansion but more akin to the Norse being forced outwards from the centre of Europe to the east and the western edges of Europe itself.

I'm sorry I've not posted in AGES. Girlfriend moved out of her old place into a new chateau and I've been helping with that so I've temp neglected this TL but I am focused on it. Never stop thinking of new things
First part of the update will follow this one.
 
The Wind Is Changing.
The End of The 9th Century Is Close At Hand Part One
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode, sans-serif]“If... " [/FONT][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode, sans-serif]- [/FONT][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode, sans-serif]Spartans[/FONT]​


The year of 878 saw the various Kingdoms and fiefdoms of Britannia begin their claims for supremacy and dominion over the lands claimed and ruled over by the now deceased Alfred of Mercia who before his passing at a terribly young age bequeathed his kingdoms and tributaries to King Anarawd ap Rhodri of Cymru. A move not popular with many Anglo-Saxon lords who in disgust began what was to be known as the 'Schism' forming themselves into an alliance of Angles, Saxons & Jutes known as the Anglecynn & their first duty was to create a Kingdom free of Britons and free of Norse.
In the early months of 878, Anarawd received into his court many men of learning, philosophical and physical, for he had learned many things in his campaigns across Mercia, Eire, Kernow & in Cymru and he realised that no matter where he went his army came up against the fortifications of their enemies and that they could easily be burned or torn down with bare hands of men, something needed to change because if he could do it then what was stopping the Norse,the Anglecynn or perhaps something else from marching through his Kingdom and to the gates of Aberffraw and raising the Kingdom from its core outwards. If the Romans of Constantinople could create great citadels hewn from stone and other Kingdoms and would be empires like the Franks could do so also then why not Cymru, why couldn't Cymru carry on the tradition of stone fortification, the Brythoniaid[1] of Cymru needed to be secure in their homes and Anarawd began the first steps to securing their safety.
Stone-smiths and sculptors from across Europe arrived in Cymru & Kernow ready to line their pockets with royal gold from Alfred's coffers that Anarawd had 'inherited' upon his friend's death, these new Caer[2] would provide Anarawd and his Kingdom the chance to expand and impose his rule over his new Mercian & Wessex tributaries. The need for the new Caer was a necessary move for Anarawd who in February 878 agreed to the establishment of several Caerau[2] across his realm, with his capital being established at Aberffraw upon Ynys Mon, his ancestral home. Other Caerau being built on the ruins of Tintagel, upon the old Roman fort of Isca at Caerleon, another at the growing Gwyr port-city of Sweins Eye/Aber Tawe in southern Cymru and plans for another deep in the heart of Mercia, a sign of the changing times.
The need for these Caerau was none too obvious during the late days of February 878 when the Wessex city of Glowancestre[3] was raised to the ground by Anglecynn loyalists who now seeing themselves as the only true Anglo-Saxon people left on the isle following the decision of Alfred & his council to accept a Brythonic line of succession due in part to Alfred's impotency, they now were willing to use any means to secure for themselves a new Kingdom despite lacking in a monarch.
The city of Glowancestre had recently seen an influx of Cymry following Anarawd's tactics of repopulating the hastily departed areas that the Anglecynn had left in their march to Anglia and also in an attempt to displace the local populace and strengthen the Brythoniaid presence in the region. This move was not a popular one but it was a common and the growing number of Cymry into Wessex & Mercia had been met with resistance by locals and even by the councilmen that served Alfred who sided with Anarawd following the schism of Anglo-Saxon society. On the last day of February Glowancestre was raised to the ground in several hours of carnage with every Briton within its walls slaughtered at Anglecynn hands, the locals who allowed to leave and settle elsewhere or travel to Anglia where the new Kingdom was being forged. The plumes of smoke rose for miles and could seen as far away as Tintagel & Aber Tawe and especially in Chippenham where Anarawd for the moment resided to take care of royal concerns. In a rage it is said Anarawd forced his Saeson[4] advisor's outside of Chippenham and threatened to cut off each of the 6 men's tongues, fingers and even their 'appendages' if they were to have been found to have been part of the massacre and burning of Glowancestre. Two of the advisor's confessed thinking the young King would not have the audacity to carry out his threat of dismemberment, knowing they needed them to help smooth out his transition to King of Mercia & Wessex, unfortunately they were wrong.
One advisor's hands were bound in front of him with a blade clasped in between his palms whilst two ropes tied around his arms as he was strapped to a support beam, the ropes were quickly yanked by a rider on horseback bringing the blade into the ribcage of the traitor, driving the blade into his heart before being dragged by horse for several miles to ensure the traitor was dead enough and to serve as a warning to the other advisor whose fate was yet unclear but in the end he was allowed to leave freely, albeit minus his tongue.



He'll be going exactly where I think he'll be going, the traitor, but then again, you cant trust a Saeson, even in death they'll cause you grief. I recall a story told by Gildas of Gwrtheyrn[5], the man who alongside his council allowed these dogs to settle in OUR lands and live side by side& as soon as they settled they demanded more and more, mercenaries that is all they were and that is all they should be, watching as 'Y Ddraig Goch'[6], the symbol of our people became outsiders in our own lands, the perennial struggle between the red dragon of our world and the white dragon of the foreign hordes for dominance I thought was merely a tale told by our fathers to remind us who we are, mere stories but every story has its roots.
They will be driven into the sea from whence they came. I refuse to accept any peace with the Saeson scum, they kill as women and children sleep in their beds and we will not accept any reason for that to be just. I will not repeat the mistakes of Gwrtheyrn! I will take the approach that his son favoured, Gwerthefyr[7]. He was like my father, knew the dangers and strived to ensure that this land does not fall back to the rule of foreign devils.
Ynys Brydein[8] will be ours again and our children and their children will not know a time when war was an everyday matter of life, no, they shall know only the glory of Anarawd ap Rhodri, son of Rhodri Mawr & ancestor to the great High Kings of the Britons... Kill the rest of the council, and make it swift”



Under the pretence that the remaining council members had plotted also against Anarawd they were executed on March 1st, the feast day of Dewi Sant[9]. The council of advisor's was now populated by Cymry from the various provinces of the kingdom, mainly lords and minor princes who had once been rebellious towards Anarawd and opposed his expansion into Morgannwg & Gwyr, now sat on the what was united council of Mercia-Wessex & Cymru. Their first meeting ended with the agreement that the borders be redrawn with the rebuilding of Chippenham and Glowancestre using the new Caerau plans. Also discussed was the plan for the Anglecynn whose efforts in causing panic amongst the Cymry had succeeded to an extent



April 879 and news from the mainland of the death of King Louis II of West Francia was announced, his rule lasting only two years but he too knew the power of the Norse was growing especially following the near destruction of the Norse kingdoms in Britain as the Norse who fled began assisting their cousins in striking at Frankish settlements and lands. The divided realm of the Frankish empire now ruled over by Louis III & Carloman who ruled the western and eastern portions of the empire respectively whilst their cousin Charles 'The Fat' ruled over the Italian portion of the old Frankish empire.



The recent mass influx of Viking refugees from Britain and a more resurgent Norse threat was now banging at the door of Europe with the Vikings spreading out and even forming Kingdoms of their own in mainland Europe. They were no longer a raiding menace, they were ready to rule and although it seemed that their power was on the wane on the shores of Britain there were more powerful men ready to take the mainland by force and sheer brutal will, one of these men was named [FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]H[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]r[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]ó[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]lfr[/FONT], a proud Viking warrior who did not want mere payment to leave, he wanted a kingdom to call his own. In the previous years gone by coinage would be sufficient enough to pay off lesser men but [FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Hrólfr[/FONT],was not a lesser man & now the two descendants of Charlemagne were ready to unite against the oncoming storm of heathen berserkers arriving from the hyperboreal wastes of Scandinavia.



[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]H[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]r[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]ó[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]lfr the North-man as many began to name him, also Hrólfr the Scourge or Hrólfr the Ravager began his campaign for conquest against the western Franks whose King Louis III sought to appease the bloodthirsty Norse with gold, if only his ancestor Charlemagne were alive to see the cowardice in Louis' motives. The Norse of Hrólfr marched quickly or to be precise sailed quickly down from their homeland and to the north-western Frankish coast and began to raid and assault towns and villages all along the coast, officially he was a lesser lord, a Jarl in the service of King [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Sigfred, a Norse-Dane who had also began his campaign against the Franks in the years previous. Louis began to take drastic measures to prevent the northern shores from being pillaged and began to create a fleet to challenge the Norse supremacy and Pirates that ravaged the waves of the sea and the lands of the Franks. Carloman was of a similar thought, he knew the Norse although greedy for money and wealth were not to be trusted and no amount of gold would ever secure a lasting peace and so only trying to emulate their great-great-grandfather Charlemagne's prowess in conquering people and forging an empire Carloman began to march his own army of Eastern Franks not against the Norse but against the Croats to extend the rule of East Frankia once more.[/FONT]



[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]The Croatian state was perched between the Romans of Byzantium, the Bulgarian empire, the Italian Kingdom of Charles The Fat & by Carloman himself. He sought Dalmatia for his own kingdom, a perfect route to expand through, utilising the Adriatic to it fullest potential and touching the very borders of the Byzantines themselves, such glory could not be wastes. The Croatians though had seen so many rulers in the short term it was a marvel the state was able to survive but through patronage of the Pope in Rome himself the Croat Princes had become strong.[/FONT]



[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]In 879 Duke Branimir ascended to the title of Duke of the Croats and began to declare his people's independence from both Frankish & Byzantine influences fearing that they were quickly becoming too frankicized or influenced by the Byzantines too much. A move that brought annoyance to the Byzantines but provided Carloman with an ample opportunity to expand once more. In the summer of 879 the grand army of Carloman entered the Duchy of Croatia and overran the Dukedom with ease, quickly annexing the Duchy in one fell swoop, Carloman quickly proclaimed the Duchy “A province of the Eastern Franks”. Duke Branimir was allowed to remain in power but now was a vassal of the Frankish King.[/FONT]



[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]To Be Concluded...[/FONT]






[1] Briton.
[2] Fort/Fortifications
[3] OTL Gloucester
[4] Saxon: Slur
[5] Vortigern
[6] The Red Dragon
[7] Vortimer, Vortigern's son.
[8] Isle of Britain (Old Welsh)
[9] Saint David
 
A Taste of Brimstone.
The End of The 9th Century Is Close At Hand Part One

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode, sans-serif]“Religion is hate, religion is fear, religion is war, religion is rape, religion's obscene, religion's a whore" [/FONT][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode, sans-serif]- [/FONT][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode, sans-serif]Kerry King[/FONT]​


879, the Anglecynn's attempts at destabilizing the Kingdom of Cymru continued to accelerate at a quickening pace in the face of growing open conflict with Anarawd's expanding domain. This confrontation led to the establishment of the edict of Gwynedd, a declaration that all peoples not born of either Brythonic ancestry or within the lands ruled by King Anarawd within the past decade are herbey enemies of the state and such shall be forcibly expelled from the Kingdom and failing that, any and all resistance to the edict shall result in imprisonment and possibly execution.

During the early months of 879 many people began to rise up against Anarawd, fearing he was becoming overwhelmed with power and being driven to the brink of madness by it. His edict and 'purges' of the Anglecynn drew much anger from the anglo-saxon communities and began forcing those whom had sided with him to switch allegiance to the armies and kingdom forged by Odda of Devon, now King Odda of Anglia.

The borders of the now decrepit Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and fiefdoms were now redrawn and claimed by Anarawd, setting up new plans for new Caerau across the lands to ensure like the Romans before him, that all the people were loyal by the end of the sword and lived or not loyal at all and face down in a ditch.

With Glowancestre now becoming a temporary residence for the King whilst his campaign of assimilation and expansion amognst the remaining Anglo-Saxon enclaves unfortunate to be allied to Odda and moreso unfortunate to be located deep within Anarawd's territory continues apace. The King too in the month of March celebrated the birth of his first child, Idwal who upon birth received the title 'Prince of Powys & Lord of Caerglowy[1]".

The year 879 also heralded news from Eire that Cerball of Osraige had begun vicious attacks upon his neighbours and using Anarawd's name and newly gained reputation in Ireland began expanding his own realm garnering a deep loathing of Anarawd from the Kings and princes of Eire. Cerball's vision of a united Eire under him was to be dealt with by Lord Rhys of Dublin seperately by order of the King.

News in mid-late 879 of a resurgent Norse threat in Jorvik became apparent when the Jorvikmen encroached on the borders drawn up years ago and began to burn crops and steal livestock and supplies from towns and forts along the Jorvik/Cymru border. News of this nuisance reached Anarawd as he was beginning to send an army to Llundain[2] to reinforce against the increasing attacks by the Jutes of Kent who though allied with Odda fought for their own independence with Llundain or Lundenburg to be their capital. Their route to independence diverged from their brethren who joined with the Anglecynn in Anglia due to the belief that the lesser of two evils is still no true path for any man to take.

By December 879 the attacks on borderlands of Cymru & Jorvik intensified with the Norse beginning full attacks against Cymry troops and the sacking of an unfinished Caerau town in the province of North Mercia, the Jorvik raiders announcing their intent to not let their Kingdom fall into the plight their brethren in Argyll, Eire & Anglia had suffered at the hands of the Cymry of Anarawd and also of the united Kingdom of Picts & Scots known to the Norse as Alba and known to Anarawd as the men whose lands fall within Yr Hen Ogledd, his familys and his ancestors old domain before the Angles pushed north and took it from them and pushed them to what the Angles of Northumbria called Cumbria.

By the turn of the decade the Norse were once again strong having taken the old Roman wall of Hadrian for their own and training many more men in the berserker tradition to combat the eternal berserker style of the Picts & Scots that seemed to force a stalemate between the two warrior cultures.

Argyll had united with Mann under one King who was merely a vassal to Jorvik whilst the remaining Norse & Norse-Gaels in Eire were given freedom to leave or the chance to dwell in the southern lands of Leinster ceded to Dublin following Cerball's defeta at the hands of an allied force, the new Gaelic Norse lands became dubbed the land of Hibernia following the old Roman name for the isle and although the land was coarse and rough the now loyal and not as unatmed and barbaric Norse-Gaels of Eire would prove to be a somewhat promising addition to the fabric and melting pot of the lands of Eire and overall to the British Isles as a whole.




Part Three ComingSoon.



[1] Gloucester/Glowancestre/Caerglowy
[2] London
 
only 18 more posts until I hit the year 900. And then I begin to get into my flow and a new dawn.

Any suggestions? Ideas or anything else you would like to comment on?
 
Dammit. Need to put this thing on hiatus, so busy right now and no time to add to it at the moment.
Sorry for those small few who followed it
 
Not long. I am in the process of either rewriting the entire thing. Placing more detail on the power struggle of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and also maybe a longer Cornish campaign.

But It will return soon owain.
 
This thread has died. I will necromance the bastard in a new shape and form soon. just been so busy for months. so please keep your eyes peeled for a new thread and story based on this. shall be hopefully better
 
Okay. Sounds good. Diolch, at the very least, for partially inspiring my own first Tl, which should be up soon, and not giving up on this like some people would have.
 
its already been reposted, well the first part has. under the new name

the sadness will never end

part 2 is up tomorrow :)
cant wait to see your tl
 
I forgot about this until recently, should've put more effort into it so I think I will. I'm going to write a good hundred years worth of story offline and then bring this story back. Been far too long to necro this thread so I'll make something new and re-use this old story of mine.
 
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