MacLaaran Historical Information
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This is an account of the history of MacLaaran as I know it. Details are available for the curious in the MacLaaran library and the many biographies of Our members. It is currently 1323 (2009). Let Me walk you through Our history year by year.
1173 After being defeated and captured in battle in 1173, King William the Lyon yielded the independence of Scotland to England.
1189 Richard I, The Lion-hearted of England restored the independence of Scotland in exchange for cash to support the Third Crusade. The wealthy, Laird Andrew MacLaaran, had helped provide funds to restore William as the King of the now independent Scotland.
1200 Laird Andrew MacLaaran marries Angela and buys the land from Matthew MacDougal and begins erecting Castle MacLaaran with the aid of Ian MacLeod. There are constant problems between the MacLaarans and MacDougals.
1201 Ian impregnates Angela although Andrew believes the boy is his son.
1202 Robert MacLaaran was born
1204 Sara MacDougal was born, the only daughter of Matthew MacDougal
1212 Castle MacLaaran was finally completed and the village was prospering
1214, William the Lyon passed away and Alexander II became the King of Scotland. Robert MacLaaran was 12 at that time and Sara was 10 and they had never really met, or at least had never noticed each other. The new King meant very little for the children, but the politics of Scotland began to change. The young Alexander was aggressive and immediately began efforts to drive the Vikings out of the Western Isles.
1220 Robert meets Sara at the May Day race. They fall in love and Robert impregnates Sara. Laird Andrew dies of heart failure after hearing the news. When Robert insists on telling Matthew MacDougal that she was carrying his child, Matthew has his sons slit Robert's throat. Ian MacLeod manages to grab Sara and leaves MacLaaran with Angela MacLaaran as his mistress. Ian created a pendant for Sara to wear that in gypsy language told who she really was.
1220 The MacDougals just assumed illegal control of the MacLaaran lands and let the castle fall into ruins.
1221 Sara's daughter, Roberta MacLeod, was born
1225 Sara passes away and gives Roberta the pendant on her deathbed
1241 At the age of twenty, Roberta MacLeod married Bryce Sinclair
1260 Roberta gives birth to Lavena
1284 Lavena dies after giving birth to the twins, Heather and Breanna. Bryce Sinclair raised the twins.
1306 Robert the Bruce is crowned King of Scotland where he rules to this day (until 1329)
1307 Laird Marc and seth arrived, obtained ownership of the lands and began rebuilding, much to the dismay of the current MacDougals.
1313 Athelhampton was attacked and Kyle is saved from death by lava. They form a bound which has never been broken. After failing to find lava's mother and sister in the burned out remains of the village of Hampton, they head North, eventually crossing the border into Scotland.
1314 Kyle and lava discover Gaspard Castle in January and deal with a ghost.
1314 Kyle and lava find MacLaaran in February, meet Laird Marc and join MacLaaran
1314 Kyle and lava return to Gaspard and meet Angelica Gaspard
1314 March 20th James MacGregor joins MacLaaran.
1314 April 15th Lady Payton joins MacLaaran
1314 April 20th Lord Gray joins MacLaaran
1314 April 25th Friar Henry joins MacLaaran
1314 The Battle of Bannockburn between King Robert and King Edward takes place and the Scots defeat the English
1314 December 10th nicole {CM} joins MacLaaran as a servant.
1314 November 20th Lady Raven joins MacLaaran
1314 December Larid Marc lost at sea
1315 October 11th Sir Tristram de Liones left Cardonia and joined MacLaaran
1315 December 1st Cricket joins Maclaaran
1315 Mark MacDougal finds Heather and kills her, assuming she is an heir to the MacLaarans
1315 Bryce gives the necklace/pendent to Breanna.
1315 Mark MacDougal (NPC) and his three brothers, who hated Breanna, tried to overthrow Marc and the current MacLaaran Castle leadership, but they were repelled in a vicious battle along the main road between MacLaaran and Gaspard.
1315 Breanna discovers that She's truly a descendant of both the MacLeods and the MacDougals.
1316 January 4th Deadly Whisper aka Endane DeMarco joined MacLaaran.
1316 April 1st Clanninda joined MacLaaran as a Commoner and baker
1316 April 10th the famous Iberian Vixen, Lady Damiana joined MacLaaran.
1316 April 11th Sir Robert and Lady Campbell joined MacLaaran.
1316 May 1st the Viking, Ragnar, joined MacLaaran
1316 June 2nd ceanna {CM} joins MacLaaran as a servant.
1316 June 6th Lady Aspen Starwood joined MacLaaran in her petticoats
1316 July 15th the French Lady Elizabeth Marie D'Arnet joined MacLaaran, but hasn't been seen lately.
1316 August 1st Lady Michelle joined MacLaaran, but hasn't been seen lately
1316 August 1st cyn {JM} joined MacLaaran as a servant
1316 August 3rd zandra {CM} joined MacLaaran as a servant
1316 December 2nd Real Chenard, our barrister, joined MacLaaran.
1316 Laird Marc was apparently lost at sea when trying to return to Normandy as their new Duke.
1316 Emil Al-Fazul (NPC) made two attempts to steal the medallion and failed as We drove him off.
1316 Garth (NPC), one of Emil's favorite mercenaries, kidnapped sarah (NPC) and harassed lava. He was captured, found guilty by the MacLaaran Magistrate, Alan MacRumpole (NPC) and hung. He did show up as the Castle Armoury Ghost, but a séance managed to dispel that threat.
1317 October 1st Tim the Enchanter joined MacLaaran
1317 In March the Hampton trip by Kyle and lava began when we received word that Edward Hampton wanted to purchase my Athelhampton lands for his son Phillip.
1317 Dami deals with her uncle and Sebastian
1317 Ragnar attacks the English towns south of the Scottish border.
1318 Matheus Croom joins MacLaaran and reopens the smithy shoppe
1318 Dami was lost at sea trying to meet Aldrich Millner, but was recovered by Tris, Matheus and Kyle. Aldrich Millner disappeared at the same time.
1318 ceanna learns to hip bump Tim
1318 Kyle sold Athelhampton and lava inherited Hampton. The English Crown purchased Hampton Castle and the surrounding lands for the sum of 300,000 gold sovereigns. That amount will be paid over a six year period in 50,000 sovereign increments per year. With our new funds Kyle purchased the now empty carriage shoppe and lava moved her coffee and gift shoppe into the larger two story building next door.
1318 James opens Clann a' Ched and takes cyn and Cricket off to the glen.
1318 Tris and Gray purchased the Velvet Hammer from James MacGregor and Aspen Starwood purchased The Iron Lance and refurbished it.
1318 MacLaaran sheep are moved to the glen for care and protection under James MacGregor
1318 Real Chenard opens his barrister office and helps Aspen get her petticoats back
1318 Lady Callie has her baby
1318 Lord Gray and Lady Payton marry
1318 August 15th Serenitee joined MacLaaran and took over the Lady's dress and lingerie shoppe.
1318 October 1st Praegorn joined MacLaaran and purchased the MacLaaran Herald.
1318 Lord William Henry le Taillur joined MacLaaran
1318 Aspen moves over to the glen
1318 Our servant, spiorad, returned although she didn't accept her old collar. She has a cave up in the forest where she resides with some wolves.
1319 One of Tim's relatives visited in January and revealed more information on our traveling enchanter. That was Seamus.
1319 Will and Dami handfasted in February and new chambers were set up for them on the 3rd floor. They now have two ships and are traveling afar for merchandise that William is selling throughout Scotland.
1319 In February Lunar Shadows joined MacLaaran and we built her a nice new cottage just east of the village.
1319 spiorad requested the use of the empty servant's rooms when the weather makes it better for her to remain here instead of her mountainside cave.
1319 vanora joined us as a clever servant in September
1319 Sir Denton and his girl, ginia joined us in October, Halloween weekend
1319 W. Taalax Baird joined the castle in November
1319 In December Lord Benjamin St. Pierre joined the castle
1320 In February Lord William le Taillur married Lady Damiana le Taillur in a glorious event
1320 In March Lady RaeAnn Elizabeth Avondale joined the castle
1320 On March 30th, 1320, We held a council meeting and added Lady Damiana, Tim the Enchanter and Praegorn to the MacLaaran Council. With Lord Gray asking to be excused from His Ambassador and council seat responsibilities, it was time to make that change
..All three accepted the assignments and took the Oath of Office
.Dami will be handling the MacLarran Events. Tim would act as Our Magician and mentor those that want to use magic within the castle. Prae, who's the editor of the MacLaaran Herald, will assume the ambassador role. He's always posting on the Webmaze message boards and can use that to advertise some of our games and events.
1320 On October 6th Tris and I had an excellent meeting with King Robert the Bruce. I went down to Edinburgh hoping to purchase the MacLaaran Castle and the surrounding lands for less than the 100,000 gold sovereigns I feel it's worth.
When We arrived I got us two rooms at the Golden Hand Inn and Tavern which is located within walking distance of the castle. After sharing a couple tankards of ale from a cute little wench that had her eyes on Tris, We headed up to the castle. They were expecting Us and escorted Us back to Robert's private quarters.
He greeted Us with a warm, friendly handshake and sent His servant, ellie, off to fetch Us tankards of their best ale. King Robert congratulated Tristram on how well His guards have protected the castle over the last few years without requiring help from the Crown. He also said He was pleased since all the taxes had been paid over the last ten years, something I had managed to do to keep the Crown from attaching the lands and selling them off.
After a short discussion regarding the current status, we settled into serious negotiations on the price for the MacLaaran lands. My initial offer was 50,000 gold sovereigns, which garnered a response of 75,000 sovereigns, already lower than my estimated value. I countered with 60,000 sovereigns. Robert smiled and said that might just work as long as the taxes would be raised to 1000 gold sovereigns a year.
Although I was about to raise My hand to accept that, Tris spoke up asking for 500 sovereigns the first year and an increase of 100 sovereigns a year for the next five years before reaching the 1000 sovereigns the King wanted.
I sat there holding My breath, hoping this effort might not anger the King and make Him back away from the deal. Instead, He just laughed a tad and accepted Tris suggested offer. Robert also said that he'd send some of his best soldiers down to help guard the gold on the return trip.
We left there two pretty happy Knights, returned to the Golden Hand. I went straight to bed, but Tris couldn't resist the opportunity to sample the servant girls below. I knew I might have to help Him aboard his horse in the morning, but I slept soundly for the first night in weeks. Soon MacLaaran would be Ours!
With the reduced price I planned to meet with the council members and decide what each of them can afford. 10,000 sovereigns was a high price. Now they can choose to spend less.
1320 on October 9th The total of 60,000 gold sovereigns must be delivered post haste to the Crown before King Robert signs the title over to us. I told him that all of the MacLaaran Council Members would share in ownership of the lands and the castle.
So, We needed to decide how many shares each member would be able to purchase and own. We were all stunned when Tim opened a back pack to reveal two gold bars and a sack containing numerous jewelry. He stated that He was prepared to purchase an equal share of fifteen percent, which is 9000 sovereigns. Tris said He could cough up 6000 sovereigns, ten percent. Prae fussed and fumed over the cost He was faced with, but after considerable conversation he said he could possibly scrape together 3000 sovereigns, five percent.
Dami spoke with Her husband, William, before deciding on Their mutual investment.I suggested that since Dami knows more about medieval food than anybody, She and Will should consider purchasing the Iron Lance that Aspen wanted to sell. That would provide an additional source of gold each year. Dami asked Prae to share in the purchase of the Iron Lance, but He declined, saying he was already stretched by The Herald and His share of the land purchase. They eventually purchased the iron lance
I had Tim's gold bars weighed and determined that they were worth five thousand sovereigns each. I'll accept those to cover His 9000 sovereign share and give Him 1000 sovereigns in return. The jewelry remains His for future taxes and such.
I've asked lava to purchase fifteen percent at 9000 sovereigns using the gold she receives each year from the English Crown. I'll use part of the fortune I received by selling Athelhampton to purchase the remaining fifty percent at 30,000 sovereigns assuming that Will and Dami might only buy five percent if they also purchase the Iron Lance.
30,000 Kyle, 9,000 lava, 9,000 Tim, 6,000 Tris, 3,000 Dami, 3,000 Prae = 60,000 Total
1320 In November Kyle, Tris, Tim, Prae, Dami and lava finally actually purchased MacLaaran including the castle, the village and surrounding lands for 60,000 sovereigns
1320 In December Nova joined the castle and promptly was hired at the Velvet Hamme
1321 - Megana joined MacLaaran in June
1321 - August 14th, Prae and Seren announced their engagement
1321 spiorad rejoined MacLaaran during the summer
1321 - Allure joined MacLaaran in October
1321 - Serenitee and Prae were joined this year in a wonderful beautiful wedding. Of course, Tris added some humor with a lost ring. I enjoyed playing the NPC priest.
1321 - zandra returned in October
1321 - Tyra joined MacLaaran in December
1322 - Lady Mystique and ~*Bella*~ joined MacLaaran in January
1322 - Sionnach joined MacLaaran in January
1322 - Altharen and Krull Morpork joined McLaaran in January
1322 - Kyle began collecting the taxes that are due to the Crown on April 15th. 600 gold sovereigns this year, per the arrangement Tris helped negotiate. Here is what we each owe this year.
Kyle at 50% = 300 sovereigns
lava at 15% = 90 sovereigns
Tim at 15% = 90 sovereigns
Tris at 10% = 60 sovereigns
Dami at 5% = 30 sovereigns
Prae at 5% = 30 sovereigns
1322 - Lord Talon, Devona, Nadia and Lilith MacBeth joined MacLaaran in February
1322 - On February 9th Sionnach was found dead, killed by an arrow in the chest that occurred as his cabin was robbed. Elliot MacKenzie was the guilty party and was captured, tried, found guilty and hung.
1322 - Altaren and Devona purchased the Iron Lance from Will and Dami in February after a long period of serious bartering
1322 - The annual Joust Tournament commenced with a confrontation between Sir Kyle and Sir Tristram on Thursday, February 21st.
1322 - Devona wins the MacLaaran belt by dropping Altharen
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Lady Aubrey Anna, Lady Deliana O'Finnin, Nadia and Brenna joined MacLaaran in February and March
1322 - Gertain, the Smithy and indria, Devona's puppet, joined MacLaaran in April
1322 - Gertain, the Smithy disappeared a few months later
1322 - On November 23rd, Tim The Enchanter informed Us that he was leaving for Ireland. I returned His share of ownership of MacLaaran, 9000 gold sovereigns. Our wealthy lava paid Tim offand increased her ownership shares
- With Tim gone the ownership of MacLaaran is as follows after paying King Robert the Bruce 60,000 gold sovereigns: 30,000 Kyle 50 percent, 18,000 lava 30 percent, 6,000 Tris 10 percent, 3,000 Dami 5 percent, 3,000 Prae 5 percent.
1322 - ceanna also arrived that week saying would not be around much, if at all. . A sad and painful week.
1322 - During the final weeks of 1322, Devona informed me that she has released puppet's collar since Dev couldn't be around enough.
1323 - Remember our taxes are due to the King before April 15th. Kyle will began collecting the taxes from the various owners. 700 gold sovereigns this year, per the arrangement Tris helped negotiate. Here is what we each owe this year.
Kyle at 50% = 350 sovereigns
lava at 30% = 210 sovereigns
Tris at 10% = 70 sovereigns
Dami at 5% = 35 sovereigns
Prae at 5% = 35 sovereigns
1323 - Wishing E/everybody a Happy New Year as life in MacLaaran carries on. I plan to try and offer more activities in our castle, especially our games, and even complete a role play regarding the MacDougals in January.