I've been tinkering with the timeline (which so far as been far more open ended and less detailed than in first edition) and wrestling with whether Avalon should have a "Realist Protectorate" in its recent history. Obviously Cromwell's Protectorate was well after Queen Elizabeth, but it was before the 1660s - in fact its the regime that the "Restoration" was a "restoration" from.
If I include it in recent history, it would be something like Margharet and her Castillian husband having fled a Objectionist uprising tied to the War of the Cross, creating a hardline Realist Protectorate in Avalon. Margharet still lived though in exile in Castille. It's when Margharet dies several years later than Elaine reappears with the Graal. At the time the Lord Protector is waging a war of conquest in Inismore. Elaine throws her support behind O'Bannon, and we get the satisfaction of O'Bannon beating Not-Cromwell to death in man-to-man combat. The bulk of the Realists flee the new magical regime, westward to Acadia.
Pros: Weaves in the "Restoration" elements appropriate to the era as Elaine is reopening theatres, the arts, and everything else the Objectionist-extremists repressed. Hero of Not-Ireland getting to beat Not-Cromwell to death is cool.
Con: Would Realism have been a big thing in Avalon before Elaine returned magic to the land? I'd assume over the last millennium the most common magic in the land would be the occasional Porte Sorcier among the Montagine-blooded members of the nobility. Maybe the Civil War and the Protectorate should be something hanging in Avalon's future after the tragic fall of Carleon?
Tue, 02/21/2017 - 02:16
#1
Nathan Henderson
Avalonian Protectorate
Avalon
I applaud including a Cromwellian analog and have tinkered with the idea myself. While the thought of the O'Bannon beating the man to death is fantastic, I think Not-Cromwell is such a compelling Villain that you may want to introduce him to the current timeline rather than put him in the past. That's what I'd do, at least.
What if Elaine were incapacitated/stripped of power somehow? Perhaps she's called to the land of the Sidhe for a period of time along with the O'Bannon, and the Lord Protector Not-Cromwell takes over Parliament (as well as Avalon). Inismore would rebel without the O'Bannon/Elaine alliance present, and Not-Cromwell would move in to pacify the rebels.
The Triple Kingdoms Alliance is shaky and a civil war is more interesting than maintaining that alliance, in my opinion. There's tremendous drama to be found with Avalon attempting to exert influence over its neighbors.
I'm not a big fan of the Realism movement and won't even have it in my campaign. But if I did have it, it would make sense for it to happen after Glamour magic returns. It should be a new movement that comes about in reaction to the return of Glamour.
Yeah, I think you're right - it makes more sense as a reaction to Elaine's rule following the tragic fall of Carleon (ala La Morte de Arthur).
I wonder if timing though would make the Avalon Protectorate an ally of the Montaigne Republic... which of course contrasts with real history where Britain was a vehement enemy of the First Republic.
I don't see why you can't have your cake and eat it too. Not-Cromwell has died at the hands of the O'Bannon and thrown movement into disarray. Some have fled across the sea to Arcadia, others have gone underground in Avalon and Vesten (think Willaim III and the Jacobites). Recently, a charismatic member of Parliment has arisen to a position of influence and has begun to reassert Realist agenda– neo-Cromwell. He is leveraging the recent confusion and panic with the return of the fae and the glamour lands (sound familiar) to consolidate power and insulate himself from opposition. Perhaps he has help from shadowy allies and support from the Vendel League.