House of the Cinque Ports

From Requiem Uk

Name: [Guild] House of the Cinque Ports (sometimes called the Cinque Ports Fleet)

Overview: The world�s busiest, international, passenger port, Dover is the �Gateway to Britain and the rest of Europe�. It is the only head [cinque] port to remain a major port today. The harbour is thronged with cross-Channel ferries, cargo ships, cruise liners and yachts from the thriving marina and the Dover Watersports Centre.

Founding date: The House of the Cinque Ports was one of the first Guildhouses to be founded in Great Britain. There is evidence of it being in service before the Cinque Ports were created, and it is certain that when the Fellowship of Cinque Port Pilots were formed in 1526 there was a presence which can be linked with the Guild of Marathon in Dover. The official date of founding is said to be 1616, the same as the Jury of the Court of Lodemanage took to overseeing the induction of new Pilots to the Brotherhood but no physical evidence can support this date.

Main serviced provided: Message, goods and people transportation (land and sea) through agents of the Guild, a Chapterhouse of the Kestrels Motorcycle Club provide extra agents for delivery of messages, letters and small goods by road throughout Great Britain and Europe.

Membership criteria: Members of the House of the Cinque Ports reside within Dover or within the county of Kent, have holdings within it or are able to travel there quickly � some members reside within London. Other members have interests legally registered within Dover � some Marathonites belonging to this House spend the majority of their time at sea. It goes largely without saying that they should have membership within the Invictus and Guild of Marathon both.

Employees: There are several employees, retainers working for Marathonites, who staff the House of the Cinque Ports and ensure its smooth operations when the Master is at sea and no Agents are available. Amanda Murphy serves as administrator to the House, in addition to her work overseeing the global accounts for the Guild and watching the legal implications of Marathon activities. Matthew "Mace" Compton is a member of the Kestrels Motorcycle club and he operates a chapter of them within Kent (centred on Dover), many of whom carry messages and smaller items on the behalf of the Guild.

Please note that senior agents of Marathon who belong to this house often take the title of Captain regardless of their naval bent � this reflects the import that sea travel had and has to the Invictus of Kent. The Master of the House often adopts the title of Commodore or even Admiral, again just an affectation.

History: Much of the early history of the House of the Cinque Ports is unclear due to a loss of records (prior to a copy being kept by the Worshipful Company of Scriveners) but it seems clear that there was a Kindred operation within Dover before was formed by Royal Charter in 1155 catering to the First Estate. It seems likely that the Unconquered were involved in some way with its formation and the name St. John or St. Jean first appears during this period � leading to some speculation of a member of the Unconquered who travelled to England with the Norman invasion nearly a century earlier.

St. Jean appears connected with both with the Fellowship of Pilots or Lodesmen formed in 1515 and with the Fellowship of Cinque Port Pilots which was formed by charter in 1526 and to have been, at one time, named Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Again it is unclear if this is the same Kindred, or indeed that this St. Jean was Kindred at all. The official date of founding is said to be 1616, the same as the Jury of the Court of Lodemanage took to overseeing the induction of new Pilots to the Brotherhood but no physical evidence can support this date. What is certain is that after 1616 the name of St. Jean but that the first Guildmaster of the Cinque Ports was written as a Captain William St. John, who appears to have held the post from the time of the Restoration. The earliest surviving record dates from 1661 (one year after Charles II took the throne) which commends Captain St. John for the efficient delivery of wine to Lady Rosemary Wroth and the care taken of her vessel.

The 1700�s saw the rise of importance of Dover to the Unconquered as the majority of traffic to the continent of messages and goods went through the hands of Marathon and the House of the Cinque Ports, and it was during this period that the odd custom that senior Agents were called Captain was born. For the most part members of the Cinque Ports house were naval men and women with ships of their own, but even landsmen took to being granted the title from respect. Captain St. John took the title first of Commodore, and later Admiral. Much of the business of the Guild was done afloat � the land operations being based from warehouses and counting houses, with comfortable havens maintained for passengers and travelling agents of the guild.

Towards the end of the 1800�s Captain John Wilberforce was made assistant to St. John, formally taking the position of Guildmaster in 1826. He remained as the de facto head of a coalition of sea captains through to 1900 when another grew to challenge him. Captain Charles Brompton took the title of Commodore from Wilberforce just before the start of the Great War, something which hit Marathon hard as merchant shipping became at risk and used for government activities. Smugglers to the continent and agents in the merchant navy became the order of the day, which resulted in some downsizing of the Guild�s operations which were not back at full capacity for the Second World War.

After World War 2 Great Councillor Moray moved to Dover and took direct control of the operations there� giving sometimes secretive or strange tasks to some of the Captains as he continued his great reform designed to revitalise Marathon. Another blow hit Marathon in the 50�s as Kent was lost to the Carthians � it was considered odd by some that the Invictus refused to accept this, but to Marathon it was essential that Dover remained open to them. Captain Miranda Hawthorne was one of the Agents Moray made much use of and after the return to Kent to the Invictus whilst Captain Brompton was made Warden and Viscount of the Cinque Ports it was Hawthorne who rose to be Commodore, allowing Moray to leave the House once more sailing under a weather eye.

House of the Cinque Ports: in game terms the House of the Cinque Ports has access to the following merits:

• Haven: location 2 (Captain Hawthorne 1, Amanda 1)
• Haven: security 4 (Captain Hawthorne 1, Dix Lee 1, Amanda 1, Mace 1,)
• Haven: size 2 (Captain Hawthorne 1, Amanda 1)
• Staff: bikers, smugglers (Mace), guildhouse staff (Amanda)
• Allies: police 1 (Mace)

IC Contact : The Office of the House of the Cinque Ports, Dover, England

OC Contact : Rik Sowden