The Rose and the Dragon - Casting

[size=150]The Great Hall[/size]

Full cast list

Baroness Elaine Thamesly - The Baroness of Thamesly, playing host to several important families from across England (Thamesly) - Nicole Boyce
Percival Thamesly - The Baroness’ only son and squire to Sir Geoffrey, soon to be knighted (Thamesly) - Frederick Conquer
Joanna Thamesly - The Baroness’ eldest daughter and a widow (Thamesly) - Linda Cormack
Alice Thamesly - The Baroness’ younger, often overlooked daughter - Samantha Wilson
Edwin Faulkner - The Baroness’ steward, close advisor and friend (Thamesly) - Robert Shaw

Sir Geoffrey de Belmore - A local knight sworn to the Baroness, her only son is his squire (Thamesly Knights) - James Cooper
Sir John Eldridge - A local knight sworn to the Baroness who distinguished himself during the Crusades (Thamesly Knights) - Stephen Brough
Edward Hughes - Sir John’s tired-looking squire, an orphan (Thamesly Knights) - Mandos
Sir Henry Hawkwood - A knight sworn to the Baroness, wounded during the Baron’s War (Thamesly Knights) - Mike Bartlam
William Hawkwood - Sir Henry’s son and squire, eager to prove himself (Thamesly Knights) - Lee Hutchinson
Agnes Hawkwood - The worried wife of Sir Henry (Thamesly Knights) - Nicole Cooper
Sir Edmund de Beaumont - A local knight sworn to the Baroness, recently returned from the Holy Lands (Thamesly Knights) - Richard Hawkes
Rosalind Star - The Baroness’ handmaid and companion who grew up in the local village (Thamesly) - Genevieve Mrost
Emma Star - Rosalind’s daughter and Alice’s closest friend -

Lord Roland de Clare - 3rd Earl of Gloucester, fought on the wrong side of the Baron’s War (de Clare) - Anthony Doornebosch
Lady Catherine de Clare - Lord Roland’s determined and driven wife (de Clare) - Jacqueline Brasfield
Richard de Clare - Roland’s son, an accompished swordsman (de Clare) - Reuben Strom
Cecily de Clare - Roland’s aged and waspish mother (de Clare) - Emily Riordan
Guye de Corbeau - Lord of Long Buckby, a small village in Northampton (de Clare) - Tim Creegan

Lord Robert de Vere - 3rd Earl of Oxford and The King’s Justice, widely known as a turncoat (de Vere) - Hamish Meads
Lady Isabel de Bolebec - The pious wife of Robert de Vere, Countess of Whitchurch by birth and Countess of Oxford by marriage (de Vere) - Nicolette Brown
Hugh de Vere - Robert’s talented and proud son (de Vere) - Christopher Evans
Hawise de Vere - The wife of Hugh de Vere (de Vere) - Daena Dixon
Margaret de Vere - The headstrong daughter of Hugh de Vere (de Vere) - Saskia Rose van well
Lora de Vere - Robert’s daughter, eager to stand out from the rest of her family (de Vere) - Bethany Strom

Lord Roger Foxbury - Lord of Warrington Castle and a notorious rake, though passionately loyal to the throne (Foxbury) - Bryn Jones
Maria of Galatone - Companion to Lord Foxbury, and part of his official retinue (Foxbury) - Mani
Mary Woodhouse - A widow, and retainer to Lord Foxbury (Foxbury) - Maria Bryleva

Arthur, Duke of Sant-Malou - A visiting Duke from Brittany, travelling to pay homage to the King (Independent) - Mark Wilson
Desmond Crane - Arthur’s retainer, companion and bodyguard (Independent) - Matthew Challenor
Philip Fitzroy - A bastard from the Plantagenet line and a close advisor to the King (Independent) - Fraser Peat

Eleanor of Brittany - King Henry’s cousin, imprisoned on the orders of his father (Eleanor) - Abigail Simpson
Matilda Plantagenet - Eleanor’s sister, also imprisoned (Eleanor) - Nicole Landers
Elizabeth Lovell - Eleanor’s trusted handmaiden and close companion (Eleanor) - Stacey Goodwin
Peter Stanley - The King’s Man, sworn to guard Lady Eleanor (Eleanor) - Martin Clyde

Bishop Osmond Blythe - The bishop from nearby Salisbury, but born in Thamesly (The Church) - Yahn Darkwood
Abbess Constance Eglantine - The Abbess of the Abby of St Margaret’s (The Church) -
Sister Brigid - A young nun in the company of Abbess Eglantine (The Church) - Serena Owen

Yseult LeFleur - A visiting French noble (The French Guests) - Aurélie Houdelette
Tallis Valois - A visiting French noble (The French Guests) - Lucy Brychkova

[size=150]The Greenwood[/size]

Full cast list

Mama - The head of a Traveller family (Irish Travellers) - Rowena Knill
Papa - The enforcer and protector of the Travellers, likes to gamble (Irish Travellers) - Tigger
Neroli - A dancer and entertainer (Irish Travellers) - Beth St Claire
Siobhan - Neroli’s younger sibling (Irish Travellers) - Leslie Sanderson
Findlay - A gambler and general ne’er-do-well (Irish Travellers) -
Teagan - A townswoman who has taken to the road and is begging for a living (Irish Travellers) - Leela moses

Adam - A deserter from the Oxford army and a coward (Deserters) - Jonathan Gilbert
Walter - A deserter from the Oxford army, looking out for his friend (Deserters) - Sypher Hawken
Stephen - A deserter from the Gloucester army (Deserters) - Jonathan Trevarthen
Cecily - Pregnant young woman, was a camp follower of the Gloucester army (Deserters) - Willow Mara

Simon Wood - Leader of a group of woodsmen and women in the Hens Wood (Woodsmen) - Jarratt Gray
Geoffrey Hughes - A woodsman, and husband of Hannah Hughes, wants to be a soldier (Woodsmen) - Gareth Sandford
Hannah Hughes - Wife of Geoffrey Hughes, camp mother and peaceful (Woodsmen) - Sarah Daymond
Catherine Belmore - A woodcutter with friends in low places (Woodsmen) - Mila Krstik

Hugh Weaver - A sinner on the road to absolution (Pilgrims) - Jarred Blakiston
Ralf - A holy hermit, the next great Archbishop of England - in training (Pilgrims) - Steve Dalby
Isabella - On the road to see a great relic, an adventurous spirit (Pilgrims) - Rebekah Spink
Nancy Dale - A pilgrim in search of the truth and souls to help (Pilgrims) - Elizabeth Read
Matilda Brewer - A pious woman trying to save the soul of her dead child (Pilgrims) - Kara Jensen

Thomas Cutter - Leader of the Savemake outlaws (Outlaws) - Kerry Pellett
Jeremy Wallace - A jolly outlaw, and second in command of the outlaw band (Outlaws) - Brent Jackson
Gemma Day - A woman living among the outlaws (Outlaws) - Kirsten Goodall
George Fisher - An outlaw with a violent past (Outlaws) - Dave Luxton
Clarence Wood - A fresh-faced young lad (Outlaws) - Philip McMann
William Bywater - Villager who was unjustly outlawed (Outlaws) - Tim von Ahsen

Eluna Thrice Born - A wise, timeless beauty with an otherworldy charm (Wise Women) - Ellen Boucher
Marianne Foxglove - A strange woman who speaks in riddles and has visions (Wise Women) - Michelle Burt
Tansy Feverfew - Beautiful, wild and ambitious, truly a free spirit (Wise women) - Prema Cottingham

Two pints Quinn - A drunk old knight (Vagabonds) - Curtis Vowell
Ancient Ned - An old soldier and a scoundrel (Vagabonds) - Todd Waters

Blackwolf - Leader of a band of runaways in the forest (Wildings) - Nick Wolf
Jackdaw - A shy young huntsman (Wildlings) - Jack Waller
Sparrow - A cheerful young woman (Wildlings) - Vivian Fittall
Mouse - A young person, dressed entirely in grey, quiet and watchful (Wildlings) - Angel Liang
Rabbit - A young man, dressed in furs and leathers (Wildlings) - Rhys Tunley

Osbert - The leader of a troupe of travelling players (Players) - Andreas von Knobloch
Eva - Osbert’s pragmatic daughter (Performers) - Jade Hallamore
Alan - A former monk who has taken up acting (Performers) - Tk Cram
Margery - A talented comic actress (Performers) - Samantha Boston
Constance of Bristol - A lovestruck young girl (Performers) - Lisa Aronson

[size=150]The Village[/size]

Full cast list

Harold Ayling - The richest man in the village (Ayling) - Eamon Zink
Joan Ayling - A woman of wealth and ambition (Ayling) - Sophie Henderson
Godwin Ayling - A proud and ambitious young man (Ayling) - Michael Carter
Rose Ayling - The pampered daughter of the wealthy Ayling family (Ayling) - Clare Stones

Nicholas Baker - The village baker, an outsider who accepted serfdom to marry (Baker) - Ronan Whyte
Christina Baker - The baker’s wife, a happily married woman (Baker) - Catherine Pegg

Mott Bywater - A desperate woman on the edge of destitution (Bywater) - Alexcia Voudouris
Walt Bywater - A young man recently returned from serving in the army (Bywater) - Daley Jarreau Winterstein
Will Bywater - A young man recently returned from serving in the army (Bywater) - Shaun Gibson
Bridget Bywater - A young woman with an uncertain future (Bywater) - Josie Jackson

Edward Cotter - A poor but honest serf (Cotter) -
Margaret Cotter - Maid to Joan Ayling (Cotter) - Anne-Lise Mornard
Young Edward Cotter - A poor shepherd boy with a kind heart (Cotter) - Phillip Brown
Anne Cotter - A sensible young woman, maid to Rose Ayling (Cotter) - Nora Czaykowski

Robert Eastefield - The village Hayward and a respected leader of the community (Eastefield) - Scott Kelly
Maud Eastefield - A strong-minded woman and leader of the Wives’ Guild (Eastefield) - Naomi Guyer
Emma Eastefield - A recent widow struggling to manage her lands (Eastefield) - Anna Klein
Little Richard Eastefield - A youth with heavy responsibilities (Eastefield) - Charles Jackson

Greedy John Miller - The village’s unscrupulous and ambitious miller (Miller) - Joseph Outram
Beatrice Miller - Wife of the upwardly mobile Miller family (Miller) - Lynn Saddington
Simon Miller - The miller’s son, and a brash youth (Miller) - Conan Stott
Eleanor Miller - Overlooked by her family, Eleanor looks out for herself (Miller) - Abigail Laurent

Granny Notegood - A tough old woman, Matriach of the Notegood family (Notegood) -
Roger Notegood - A poor but dishonest serf (Notegood) - Paul Taylor
Edith Notegood - The wife of Roger Notegood who struggles to maintain order in the family (Notegood) - Hannah Jackson
Lazy John Notegood - A shiftless, lazy young man (Notegood) - Chris Hoggins
Maggie Butcher - A young widow enjoying her new found freedom (Notegood) - Holly Hudson
Matilda Notegood - Roger Notegood’s manipulative daughter (Notegood) - Brittany Low

Christopher Oakes - A poor serf with too many sisters to take care of (Oakes) - Patrick Cummuskey
Estrild Oakes - A spinster who receives holy visions (Oakes) - Caitlin Mcfarlane
The Widow Agnes - The priest’s housekeeper and the subject of much gossip (Oakes) - Liz McCombe

Father Benedict - The village priest, struggling to retain the respect of his flock (The Church) - Gary Freedman
Peter the Woodward - A gamekeeper turned poacher (Woodward) - Allen Shaw
Jane Star - The town alewife, who has been making a tidy profit from thirsty soldiers (Star) - Tara Dalefield

Old Mother Pole - Matriarch of the Pole family and village midwife (Pole) -Erica Donald
Ralph Pole - The village Reeve (Pole) - Benjamin Seymour
Mabel Pole - The Reeve’s self-important wife (Pole) - Anneke Smitheram
Henry Pole - The Reeve’s rebellious brother (Pole) - Joshua Marshall
Catherine Pole - The outspoken wife of Henry Pole (Pole) - Stephanie Pegg

Thomas Wooler - A wealthy wool-merchant from Bristol (Wooler) - Raoul Griffiths
Alice Wooler - A wealthy wool-merchant’s daughter (Wooler) - Lucretia Griffiths

[size=150]The War Camp[/size]

Full cast list

Captain Benedict Cottingham - The captain of the Gloucester soldiers, leads from the front (Gloucester) - Nick Pitt
Sergeant Roger Altard - Sergeant in the Gloucester soldiers, a bookish veteran of the Baron’s War (Gloucester) - Sam Thomas
Oliver of Loxley - A thinker who has fallen into hard times, getting by as a footsoldier (Gloucester) - Te Kahurangi Patuwai-Findlay
Pierre de Nancy - A fiery French mercenary, brother of Jacques and husband of Dominique (Gloucester) - Jared Hansen
Jacques de Nancy - A careful French mercenary who enjoys life, brother of Pierre (Gloucester) - Kirk Jacinto
Henry Octavia - Looks rather young to be a soldier, has seen things he wishes he hadn’t (Gloucester) - Wayne Rogers
Quartermaster Arthur Folet - A hard and vengeful man, having supply problems (Gloucester) - Robert Birtles-Crute

Malkyn Bonewits - Herbalist and wise-woman with an open mind, helps to tend wounded soldiers (Gloucester) - Cheryl Frederick
Cristiana Whitstable - A rebellious, flirtatious young woman who seems to enjoy life as a prostitute (Gloucester) - Harriet Howard
Peyton Lane - An idealistic poet with a fertile mind, ambitious to become a famous bard (Gloucester) - Zanni
Vivian Odell - A pawnbroker with many business connections, looking to build a fortune (Gloucester) - Kay Pakai
Zane Longsword - Bodyguard to the pawnbroker Vivian Odell, a man of action with a loyal heart (Gloucester) - Russ Kale
Dominique de Nancy - Entertainer and wife to Pierre, a shady French woman prone to fits of temper (Gloucester) - Anna Cruse

Sir Walter Prime - The Oxford captain, knighted for bravery but rather disorganised (Oxford) - Jordan Henare
Sergeant John Bulwick - Keeps the unit together like a family, father of Janet Bulwick (Oxford) - David Harrop
Asher of Kent - A reluctant footsoldier but passionate gambler (Oxford) - Stuart Hooper
Rulf von Orange - A righteous Christian and driven man-at-arms (Oxford) - Jonathan Ferris
Edmund Whiteasp - A pardoned murderer and ruthless fighting man, son of Winifred Whiteasp (Oxford) - Dan Carleton
Quartermaster Francis Malet - Husband of Sybbl Malet, a resourceful quartermaster (Oxford) - Scott Marks
Peter Poorstock - A widower fighting as a footsoldier alongside the man who killed his wife (Oxford) - Jamie Boyle

Arabella Garter - A sober-minded whore, seeking redress for an ugly scar on her forehead (Oxford) - Nik Crombie
Winifred Whiteasp - A busybody brewer who dotes over the whole camp, mother of Edmund Whiteasp (Oxford) - Rebeccah Curtis
Anna of Greystoke - A free-spirited collector of trinkets, makes a living through tinkering (Oxford) - Anna Northey
Janet Bulwick - The nervous messenger for the Oxford camp, daughter of Sergeant John Bulwick (Oxford) - Chloe Elmore
Leslie Avonside - A juggler and entertainer who enjoys playing the fool, friends with everyone (Oxford) -
Cassius Dover - A seasoned hunter seeking to prove his martial prowess (Oxford) - Darren Webster
Sybbyl Malet - An inquisitive fortune-teller, wife of quartermaster Francis Malet (Oxford) - Monica Hill

Captain Simon Edbrooke - The Thamesly captain, an enthusiastic fighter, husband to Matilda Edbrooke (Thamesly) - Derek Tomes
Sergeant William Ormond - An embittered crusader, uses his experience as a chirurgeon to tend his men (Thamesly) - Ivan Sergeevich Essin
Rowan of Horsely - A boastful footsoldier with shifty ambitions (Thamesly) - Glenn Patel
Fendral Kendrick - A fallen knight with a big heart, previously maintained by Baroness Thamesly (Thamesly) - Sam Blood
Gilbert Trowbridge - An adventurous young man who ran away from home and became a footsoldier (Thamesly) - James Storey
Ulric von Hammersmith - A pious armourer, recruits soldiers for Thamesly (Thamesly) - Porl Bowdler
Quartermaster Leofrick Vernon - The Thamesly quartermaster, a shrewd operator who lives large (Thamesly) - Andrew Hart

Monica Bella - An adventurous Italian fortune-teller, the focus of much male attention (Thamesly) - Zara O’Rourke
Juliana Octavia - A local girl with a gift for dealing with men, making a good living as a whore (Thamesly) - Natasha Coleman
Matilda Edbrooke - An earnest seamstress who doesn’t like trouble, wife of Captain Simon Edbrooke (Thamesly) - Antonia Brown
Helena Woodhouse - A quick-minded, gossipy chandler entertaining a number of juicy rumours (Thamesly) -
Cedany Harbour - A troubadour whom trouble seems to follow, works with Ellyn Ardew (Thamesly) - Claudia Dorr
Ellyn Ardew - A deft gambler and troubadour, met Cedany in London and has been training her (Thamesly) - Abe Horrocks

Some folks have asked about ideas for costuming, so we’ve put together a 1-page guide with some suggestions and illustrations:

Costume Guide (2 MB PDF)

Thanks to Idiot for writing this, and to all the writers for their efforts in getting casting done.

I had some trouble getting links to work in the PDF. If anyone can help me doing that from a Word document, drop me a PM or email. In the meantime here are the key links:

General
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1200%E2%80 … an_fashion
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1100%E2%80 … an_fashion

Men
angelfire.com/ia2/barony/new … pstxt.html
maniacalmedievalist.wordpress.co … rming-cap/
garbindex.com/cloak/patterns.html
pinterest.com/pin/514465957403317332/

Women
angelfire.com/ia2/barony/new … pstxt.html
maniacalmedievalist.wordpress.co … rming-cap/
virtue.to/articles/veils.html
virtue.to/articles/coffee.html
pinterest.com/gbertholet/medieva … -piecrust/

And then I see the unfortunate missing word in the short version: "If you dress “medieval that should be good enough to not look out of place”

Fixed. :wink:

We’re aiming to start sending out character sheets this weekend.

I’ll post any updates about this here - as you can imagine it’s quite a load to send out so many characters, so there may be a little slippage in some cases.

Village character sheets are going out now.

Also, a slight juggle in the cast:

Joan Ayling - A woman of wealth and ambition (Ayling) - Greta Vanasche
Walt Bywater - A young man recently returned from serving in the army (Bywater) - Blair Purkiss
Will Bywater - A young man recently returned from serving in the army (Bywater) - Shaun Gibson
Lazy John Notegood - A shiftless, lazy young man (Notegood) - Chris Hoggins

Thanks Idiot.

The Village character sheets were sent out last night, and the sheets for The Great Hall, The Greenwood and finally The War Camp will be emailed out over the next few days.

If you’re keen to read something about the setting while waiting for your character, we’ve put together a guide to the setting. You don’t need to read this, everything you’ll need will be on your character sheet, but it may help give you a broader idea of the setting.

Thanks very much to Russ for his beautiful illustration of the map of the Barony on the last page, and to Bryn for his help with layout.

If you’re in The Village, please note that the guide has been updated after you were sent a link to it yesterday, and now includes a guide to gambling dice games.

The Great Hall sheets have just gone out, with 2 new additions to the cast:

Alice Thamesly - The Baroness’ younger, often overlooked daughter - Sinèad Miller
Emma Star - Rosalind’s daughter and Alice’s closest friend - Molly Peters

As of yesterday all character sheets for The Rose and the Dragon have been sent out to players who have been cast.

If you’ve been cast but haven’t received your character sheet yet, please let us know at the.rose.and.the.dragon.larp@gmail.com

Everything you need is in the email, although you may also find the Costume Guide useful (we should really have linked to it in the emails). There won’t be any additional written briefings beyond what’s been released now.

A printed copy of your character sheet will be provided to you on the day, along with your name badge, something to represent your pennies and farthings and any document props. If you’re unable to provide any of the other props that are listed, please reply to the person who sent you your character sheet and we’ll see if we can help.

We’ll have some copies of the other setting briefings floating around. We won’t be providing copies of the additional briefings (beyond your character sheet) to each player, as they are optional reading and we don’t want to drown you in paper. Your character sheet is all you really need to read to play.

Note that you will get the benefits of any armour listed whether you have something appropriate to wear or not. So it’ll be great if you can look the part, but there is no disadvantage if you can’t. If you have opted for rock-paper-scissors for combat, you also don’t need to have any larp-safe weapons to represent weapons listed on your sheet, all your armaments are represented in the Fighting Number on your name badge. But you’re welcome to wear one for the look if you have access to one. Please do not bring any non larp-safe weapons (metal or wooden, sharp or blunt) to represent your weapons as we do not want any risk of them accidentally being used.

If you have any questions that you think would be of interest to a lot of players, feel free to ask here. Otherwise please drop us an email.

Hope everyone is enjoying their characters, very excited for the big game!

Note that we’re not allowing larp archery at the flagship. Plenty of people have opted for rock-paper-scissors, and we don’t want stray arrows in the dim light hitting people who don’t want to be involved in foam weapon combat.

For the same reason, we will ask all foam weapon combatants to carefully check that other characters have a black name badge before engaging them with a foam weapon. If their name badge is white, you must use rock-paper-scissors instead.

Combat isn’t a central focus of the game for many characters, I just wanted to be clear on the boundaries in case you do end up in a scrap.

This is the heraldry for the three factions present in the War Camp (with their lords in the Great Hall).

[size=150]Oxford[/size]


Quarterly gules and or, in the first quarter a mullet argent

[size=150]Gloucester[/size]


Argent, three chevronels gules

[size=150]Thamesly[/size]


Azure a rose Or

As we mentioned in the Costume Guide (2MB PDF), for soldiers just having the colours of your faction might be nice, to tie your army together.

Are shields allowed?

Footsoldiers, men-at-arms and knights in the War Camp can have larp-safe shields that are appropriate to your characters, if you choose.

This is noted on most of the soldier character sheets, but we may have missed some.

However, I wouldn’t think you’d be wandering around with them unless some sort of engagement kicks off. They’d just be available in the camp somewhere handy in case of trouble.