Selwyn Bowen

Selwyn Bowen is the son of Bedwyr, and Cerys Bowen making him a member of and second in line to the power of House Bowen.

Selwyn Bowen was born the second son of his father Bedwyr and this meant that he was extremely close to his older brother that he came to idolize. His older brother would gain command of Caemlyn and from here everyone was proud of how accomplished he was. A month before Selwyn was going to leave for Caemlyn to train alongside his brother the city came under a suprise siege from the Kingdom of Bretonia, and after a week long battle the city fell. Hearing the news that his brother and his family were basically extinguished changed something in the soul of Selwyn of whom came to despise the Bretonians. He would for months leads raids against Bretonian villages using a force called the Wellish Reavers which would land on the defenceless coastlines and swarm over the lands, before retreating before their enemy arrived. Selwyn Bowen would lead his person forces to the town of Swansea where they would attempt to assasinate the Welsh general Cadwallon Cadfanand, but following weeks of watching him they were discovered and Cadwallon Cadfanand would reveal what actually happened leading to their departure from Swansea and movement towards the fortress of Fadog. At the fortress of Fadog the group would infiltrate the walls and during this time hidden in the fortress they discovered that the fortress was now occupied by Bretonian loyalists and the group would murder Chief Ydewel Medicus and many of his followers including several Bretonians before retreating from the fortress leaving it to be captured truly by the Bretonians two weeks later.

History

Early History

Selwyn Bowen was born the second son of his father Bedwyr and this meant that he was extremely close to his older brother that he came to idolize. His older brother would gain command of Caemlyn and from here everyone was proud of how accomplished he was.

Fall of Caemlyn

Main Article : First Battle of Caemlyn

The Fall of Caemlyn
You betray everything we stand for if you abandon this city. Turn back now General Cewe and one day you will look back and wonder how your whole life fell apart. Turn back now and become an oath breaker.

“If this letter finds you then I have fallen. Most likely your father discovered what I tried to do and had me killed, or perhaps I just died. Either way whatever has happened to me I thought you should at least know the truth. I saw the way they looked at us, as if we were somehow less then the rest of them just because I was a concubine. I just couldn't accept it anymore son. I couldn't take it for one more second. What I did I did for you and your sister. Read this and then burn it. Do not let my taint hurt you. Rule Gwent. Rule this land son.”
— Cerys Bowen

The start of the First Battle of Caemlyn can be drawn to the point that the Bretonian envoy Brusant Geliante would be sent to Caelyn on the command of the King and his mission was to expand trade with the Kingdom of Gwent of whom was very open to this idea but during his time there he would fall in love or obsess over the daughter of one of the princesses of Gwent in the form of Catrin Bowen and this would lead to his moral collapse and eventually becoming very hateful towards the Welsh. The fact that she was no more then nine made his behavior quite uncomfortable and he begin to become the target of insults including being beaten by a stick by angry Welshmen who saw him attempting to sexually assault the princess. All of this was unknown to everyone the work of Cerys Bowen of whom was tired of the way she was treated by the King and the fact that her children were further down the line of succession due to her role as a concubine and seeing an opportunity to spark conflict and hopefully kill the king she would use alchemy to manipulate Brusant into an unhealthy affection for Catrin. It was finally the actions of the Bretonian diplomatic envoy Brusant Geliante that would spark the Bretonian aggression towards Caemlyn when following a meeting with the Welsh leadership of the city his attempts at gaining secret bribes were rejected and this angered him to the point that he would finally have his own entourage massacred and framed the Welsh to be the culprits. Following this act of aggression he swayed the court of Londinium to his side upon returning and King Phillip Eisenburg IV. himself would raise an army in complete secret and mobilize it towards Caemlyn.

The Welsh Counter

“We are the princes of Wales. Together we can squire for a few years, and I truly believe that when we return home we will be the great leaders our fathers hope us to be. We can change Wales. We can make it something to be truly proud of.”
— Selwyn Bowen

Selwyn Bowen is training in the yard of the fortress of Cardif preparing to leave for the city of Caemelyn where he will squire under his brother and learn from his father there as Caemelyn was the capital of the Welsh cultural lands. News reaches him at Cardif that Caemelyn has come under siege a few days before he is to leave and he joins with Berwyn Silures, Llyr Gangani, and Deiniol Demetae of whom were all his friends and major princes of Wales of whom together would raise a large force from Cardif and move towards Caemelyn. They travel by horse ahead of the main army but by the time they reach Caemlyn the city has clearly fallen as the Bretonians have set the city on fire and Selwyn is forced to have his friends deal with the heavy stream of Welsh travelling west down the road away from the city and what they are telling Selywn is a massacre in the city including the public execution of his father, mother, and brother.

The Battle

Selwyn joins the commanders of the army in trying to regain control of the city but they are are forced to retreat as the Bretonians send out waves of refugees and with Bretonians all over the walls the Welsh are forced to meet with the Bretonians when they send out diplomats. Negotiations do not go well with Selywn basically forced to leave the meeting as the Welsh generals Gebon Cewe, Cadwallon Cadfanand, and Ydewel Medicus convince the others that they should pull back as they cannot defeat the walls of Caemlyn with their forces.

Retreat

The chapter ends with Selwyn having one last look at Caemelyn before turning away and leading the refugees and army back to Cardif, but just as he turns he hears a women scream and sees his mother coming towards him and he hugs her realizing that she had somehow survived the massacre at Caemelyn.

Raiding the Bretonians

He would for months leads raids against Bretonian villages using a force called the Wellish Reavers which would land on the defenceless coastlines and swarm over the lands, before retreating before their enemy arrived.

Attempted Revenge

Selwyn Bowen would lead his person forces to the town of Swansea where they would attempt to assasinate the Welsh general Cadwallon Cadfanand, but following weeks of watching him they were discovered and Cadwallon Cadfanand would reveal what actually happened leading to their departure from Swansea and movement towards the fortress of Fadog.

Deciept at Fadog

At the fortress of Fadog the group would infiltrate the walls and during this time hidden in the fortress they discovered that the fortress was now occupied by Bretonian loyalists and the group would murder Chief Ydewel Medicus and many of his followers including several Bretonians before retreating from the fortress leaving it to be captured truly by the Bretonians two weeks later.

Second Battle of Caemlyn

Main Article : Second Battle of Caemlyn

“The Battle of Caemlyn told everyone that the Welsh were not painted savages. The Welsh were a coordinated group with a complete mindset of getting back what they percieved to have lost.”
— Jesse Eisenburg

Lindsay went to Caemlyn on official royal business as they wanted her to use her popularity to calm the situation in Caemlyn as the city was coming under constant attack and there wasn't really anything the Kingdom could do to stop this at the moment without jeporadizing the operations in the north. When she arrived in the city she was suprised at how beautfil the city was but it was quite clear that the people were tense and the situation was growingly a problem. She spoke to a number of local leaders and over the course of a few weeks she was able to make the situation better through promices that certain supplies would be provided from the capital along with a troop force of some 15,000 men at arms. As she was preparing to leave the cities scouts came to be aware of a large Welish army west of the city. With the army simply rampaging about and destroying crops the Caemlyn force was forced to march out of the city and do battle. When they connected with the Welish the battle was rather easy, as the Welish appeared to have little interest in ambushing or doing anything sneaky. Lindsay watched the Caemlyn force gain victory from the balcony of the cities palace and it was while watching this that she heard the first cries of the Welish elite forces that had silently infiltrated the city. The Welish were able to kill their way into the palace and once inside they took hold of Lindsay and were able to use Welish loyalists in the city to escape through the tunnel system beneath the city.

Family Members

Relationships

Terfel Beavin - Friend Selwyn Bowen and Terfel Beavin would grow close after Terfel was placed in charge of the education of Selwyn and during this time Selwyn came to see Terfel as a father as he had very little respect or love for his own weak willed father.

Lindsay Eisenburg

POV Role

Lands of Albion

Main Article : Lands of Albion