Richard Merrick was born the bastard son of a king, his mother was a member of the red clover clan. Some considered to clover men to be the best archers in England, others said they were the best archers in all of Europe. This was a talent they would need for like Richard they had sworn to fight for his father in the coming war with France. They were given the status of freemen and promise that when the war was over they would have a homeland of their own, something they hadn't had since the Welsh had overrun their lands ,some 50 years before Richard had been born.