Okay, I've been running a game based in my home nation and I've been thinking a bit.

Okay Britain has it's magical weirdnesses and all most notably one of the more beefy power line systems in the world (it and the ring of ire are the ones that seem to get mentioned.) Dragons seem to have a large scale interest in sites of power in general and power lines in particular (okay the asian dragon lines may be a special case on that).
However despite this the Welsh Greats (Rhonabwy, Celedyr and the Sea Dragon) seem to have little interest in England. Celedyr has holdings in Scotland and Wales (Transys' major areas Caerleon and Silicon glen), but nothing of note in England. Even SKs presence seems minimal. Why is this? Does it have anything to do with St George Englands patron saint and a notable dragonslayer? Given the lack of reptilian awakened in Tir Nan Og the patron saint myths seem to have some sort basis in fact. That was the first odd thought.

The second is probably odder. By some references in SR material Harlequin was Richard the Lionheart. Fine and dandy you say, but says I one of the more notable characteristics on Richard was a tendency to be out of England as much as he can be during his reign. Again I ask why. What is it about England that means that Dragons and Immortal elves are shall we say discouraged from spending time in England, given some suppositions about the origins of Immortal elves (dragon blood) I'm inclined to say England is guarded against Dragons.

Simply put I'm looking for any ideas as to who, what and why.

Well as far as the dragons go, in the 4th age, their territories were a bit smaller than some of the 6th age dragons are claiming. Lung and Ryumyo for example are claiming huge areas, and Lowfyr seems to be going for a good chunk of Europe. Perhaps Celedyr and Rhonabwy are staying to a more traditional size. "This place is mine, no more no less." look at Ghost walker and Hestaby for example. Ghostwalker directly controls one city, hestaby directly controls Shasta, and has influence in th Tir. You can bet that Celedyr and Rhonabwy both have influence where they're at, btu only directly contrl their land.

Dig back farther into England's mythic past. Sadly, my memory isn't cooperating right now, but there was a time, before England was even called Albion, that it was referred to as a being's Island, much like Ireland is referred to as Erin's Isle. I do remember that creature was supposed to be a giant of some kind and ruled the entire island, but not Ireland too. Perhaps that creature has been calling the shots behind the scenes and drives off anyone who it deems a threat? It could be something like a very powerful free spirit that can appear as a huge giant. If that is the case, it probably has understandings with the few dragons that live. As for the metahuman magical groups, maybe it has understandints with them too or it is just watching to smash them if they get too powerful. Maybe part of its purpose is to guard all those mana lines and power sites from abuse?

As for Dragonslayers, that could be possible. If they fought dragons prior to the awakening, they might has an advantage because the dragons would be weaker. Also, they probably fought lesser dragons, not the great dragons like Lofwyr, since they almost certainly could have killed a knight even if reduced in power. The London Sourcebook also spoke of what you might call least dragons running around in Wales and some other places. They looked like dragons, but had the minds of animals. Perhaps those are what the knights fought. Given the engravings and paintings, the dragons weren't very big, at least not compared to the Great Dragons.

About the spirit. There was a published adventure that took the characters to Loch Ness. There they met a very powerful free spirit, something like Force 12 or 14. If a thing like that claimed Loch Ness as its domain, just thing about the spirit that could claim all fo England.

Must be the english food (just kidding).

According to folklore, the dragon in the area where I live in was slain in the 7th century or so, by king Siegfried of Xanten (other stories I've heard say George the Dragonslayer).
Appearantly it didn't stop Lofwyr from claiming it.(not that this more than a peripheral connection to the topic, but I just like that story .)

If I remember correctly, England has a lot of mythological creatures in it's, well, mythology. After the awakening, they could be very powerful.

Ah, fun and games...

There's England (a country on the island), and then there is Great Britain (the island). There are a slew of myths and legends that apply to the various cultures and peoples of Great Britain (as well as the rest of the archipalego and Brittany), but relatively few dragon tales to England itself.

That said, I wouldn't say dragons are not interested in England. The Dragon Lands, of course, hold a much higher number of dragons, but of their inhabitants Celedyr at least has several major interests in England through the Knights of Rage and the former H.K.B/Transys Neuronet.

The druids might be part of the answer, of course: having large politically influential and not magically unsavvy groups to work against can be a downside. THen again, the druids might not have had any luck at all if a dragon had been moving against them from the start. <shrug>

One item that might hold part of the puzzle you're looking at is nearby Tir na nOg, which is actually unique among nations in having no dragons - resident or visiting.

I know they merged w/ Transys and Erika, but I thought HKB was still independent. Hence all the stuff in Runner Havens, and the short fluff in Street Magic in the magical groups section.
Perhaps it was Erika you're thinking of, not HKB?

Could be.

[/edit]Ah, I remember what I was thinking. Celedyr (through Transys) was taking big white bites out of HKB's ass before the merger and still nibbling after. So not swallowed whole, no. My bad.

Yeah, that I remember. I have a character in a campaign dealing with all of that so I was wondering if I'd missed something.

Mostly I like the idea of Britain having an underlying powerful spirit, mostly centred in England, that the powers of the world avoid being around. I particularly like the idea of either side in the current political set up in Britain trying to wake believing that it would be on their side...

This is all ideas I've had floating around for awhile, and they've combined with watching some Robin of Sherwood, to give some increasingly odd ideas about what is happening in Britain in 2070.

As a complete aside the appearance of Nessie as a free spirit in Imago is just proof that belief shapes magic.

Well in Excalibur the spirit was called The Dragon of Britian and Merlin served it, as did Arthur. So maybe the PenDragon is the Spirit of England.

I've been wondering about this too (mostly in reference to Canadians, but hey.)

Is there still a King of England? How about Parliament? (It's a stretch for me to believe that the English, that most conservative of peoples, would have given both these things up for reconstituted druids, but hey)

And how about the British Commonwealth? Do the Aussies and NZ still have King George the Nth on their money?

For details on the situation of the monarchy, the Lord Protector's regime, Parliament, the different parties, the New Druidic Movement, the Underground, the Great Lay War, and Pendragon (at least as they stood in 2064), I suggest reading Shadows of Europe (and the London SB if you can find it). Things seem to have only gotten worse following the Crash 2.0 with the Pendragon disappearing in the chaos (at least according to Street Magic)

So in Street Fighter terms, it's The Patriot Act II Turbo?

The way I'm seeing England is that the LPO has serious control in the south London is tied up tight as is Birmingham. Here the LPO does as it pleases pretty much. In some northern cities they have more problems Mersey sprawl the main location for my current game is due to the power of the Underground here (and general anti government feeling) the LPO treads more carefully, it just doesn't have the manpower to cope if the city errupts (not without loosening the hold on London). Tynesprawl I have as mostly barrens after the LPO used it as an example (it always was the home of the annoying socialists). I also have the Underground and associated groups very disparate and they are hardly forming a united front.

Basically the north/south divide is rapidly shifting from poor/rich to anarchy/totalterianism. I have a proper submission WIP about this to submit at some point.

If there is a powerful spiritual force in England (probably Albion and other giants) both sides would expect it to support them. I suspect it will support the true king, whereever he is...

Hey Synner what did happen to the Crown Princess' alledged child?

Cool, I must admit I'm presuming that the child has been fostered to someone in secret (it seems traditional). I'm using it as an excuse for jack the Ripper shennanigans...