Subject:
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Re: New little soldier dudes
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.pirates
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Date:
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Tue, 8 Feb 2000 08:37:38 GMT
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Viewed:
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1655 times
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Hi,
Lance Scott wrote:
> In lugnet.pirates, Richard Parsons writes:
> > Gentlemen,
> >
> > Since the new castle has arrived in Oztrailya this week, and I have found
> > myself rather enamoured with the little soldier dudes (the good guys), and
> > the king, I will need some details before I can include them in my little
> > nook of the Legoverse.
> >
> > It seems to me that the King of England, around the 12th century sometime,
> > was going over to France for some exceedingly important reason, got caught
> > up in some sort of temporal rift (I mean they happen all the time in Trek,
> > why not the English channel, what?), and ended up arriving in 19th century
> > Port Block.
During the 12th century, an English king would likely be going to France to oversee
his kingdom/squabble with the other vassals of France or to engage in a Crusade.
The Angevin Empire really flourishes in the 12th-14th centuries, and at one point
it contains nearly half of modern France. (However, the English king remains a
nominal vassal of the French king--this becomes important later, when Henri IV
wants to eject the silly English pig-dogs. He achieves it by outmanoeuvering the
English through feudal custom.)
> Little known fact, there is an entire series of "bermuda triangle" areas around
> the world. Including one in the South Pacific.
>
> Obviously the garrison, being at the service of the King of
> > England, would, in reasonably short order, find themselves at the 12C king's
> > disposal.
>
> There would be an incredible amount of chaos if an antique ship flying the
> ancient standards were to drag into port. They wouldn't know the flag signals,
> and would probably be fired upon under the assumption they are some of those
> wicked Frenchmen trying to trick the stalwart soldiers of the King. The
> official language of diplomacy was French at that time.
Not really. The official language of diplomacy was Latin until the height of
the reign of Louis XIV (about 1680, really). French was, however, the language of
the English court until the mid-14th century, and it was still expected to be known
by educated aristocrats. However, this was also true of Latin.
In fact, this might be even worse than merely French--they might think it's a party
from the Vatican, come to bring the Anglicans home. ;)
> Once the survivors are picked up from the harbor, they would probably be thrown
> in the closest madhouse as insane.
Their English would certainly be much gibberish--the English of the immediate
post-Norman kingdoms was such a pastiche that even Caxton didn't standardise
it--until well after Shakespeare, you still had communities on opposite sides of
the same hill who could barely understand each other. (Even today, you
occasionally run into people who can tell where a local English person is
from--down to the *street*. It was--and sometimes is--that specific.) So the
King's English in this period, well, it isn't; and the English he might speak is
going to be very sketchy and not nearly as colourful as that of his sailors.
However, the fellows at Port Block would be hard-pressed to recognise either
language as English (and they would likewise have difficulty). Only swear words
would be common. The universal language--the tongue of the gutter!
> You never know, the king might even commandeer every ship he can
> > find, and sally forth to Great Brickain to claim his birthright. Are you
> > ready for this Tony? Imagine what the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
> > might have been like if England had been under the command of a 12th century
> > house.
>
> How about this? They find a small archipelago, conquer the Natives, and
> attempt to build an Expeditionary Force. Once they have it built, they sail
> about trying to locate the Brickish Isles. Not having a map makes it a lot
> harder (and funnier) as they encounter merchantmen (who would think they are a
> bunch of loonie pirates), pirates (who would think they were loony merchies).
>
> Sooner or later they will have to "aquire" a more modern ship to make it more
> of a challenge, and that leads to a whole new opportunity for comedy as they
> try to learn to sail a modern warship.
>
> Finding it more fun to be lolloping about on the high seas Piratin' an all,
> gives us the one, true Pirate King carving a new Empire out of Polynesia.
There's another possible trajectory here, and one that plays into the piousness and
Latinness of the English kings of the 12th-13th centuries: The Crusades. The
first call, IIRC, was 1095; so it pretty much spans the entire period.
How about the Crusades and the search for Prester John's kingdom? All you need is
some high-stepping Duke or Prince (or King if you prefer) to show up at Port Block
assuming this is the powerful Christian nation of Prester John. All of the signs
would be there--mighty forces, great riches, a wonderful climate, strange machines,
Christian icons, and a strange yet familiar speech not wholly unlike their own.
These would be the allies a pious English king would seek to help liberate the Holy
Land! Alternately, the Polynesian/Micronesian/Minifignesian natives might be seen
as "allies of the dread Saracen," entirely to their surprise, and subjected to the
depradations of this odd fellow out of time until the hardies of Port Block can
find him and take him out of circulation.
Just a thought--time travel in any direction is always problematic in a storyline.
Truth be told, I'd most clearly believe the "insane asylum" model of dealing with
this fellow; many people who claimed to be historical personages (Napoleon XIV,
"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Haaa", anyone?) and who had a great deal of
knowledge--sometimes including period speech--were committed and sedated. However,
showing up with a ship and possibly a Royal Seal thought missing for centuries
might stir some interest. How about if part of the story is getting this King back
to where and when he belongs--because he has a history *after* the time he
vanishes?
Otherwise, sic gloria transit mundi...
best,
Lindsay
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: New little soldier dudes
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| On Tue, 8 Feb 2000, Mr L F Braun (<389FD5D2.E6A0A53D@....msu.edu>) wrote at 08:37:38 <snip lots historically accurate stuff> (...) My thoughts. (...) But not in a small Australian outpost, I wouldn't think, unless there was an expert in English (...) (24 years ago, 8-Feb-00, to lugnet.pirates)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: New little soldier dudes
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| (...) Little known fact, there is an entire series of "bermuda triangle" areas around the world. Including one in the South Pacific. Obviously the garrison, being at the service of the King of (...) There would be an incredible amount of chaos if an (...) (24 years ago, 7-Feb-00, to lugnet.pirates)
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