We went to war with Cerdic with Nanteleod on our side at Levcomagis. In a hard-fought battle, we defeated Cerdic.
A few days later, we fought again in Hartford at the city of Royston. We won, but heard that Ulfius had been defeated in Silchester.
The men started to complain about their tenure of service, but Nanteleod gave a magnificent speech, and we continued to Essex and fought again.
We won (killing the last son of Aethelswith), and driving Cerdic into the sea.
Nanteleod was declared high king of the Britons, and we swore fealty to him.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Posted with Blogsy
503
Baldulf
Ektor arranged for court to be in Amesbury this year, so that the realm could pay its respects to the slain Luceers.
We were visited by Cerdic, an envoy from Mark, and an envoy from Nanteleod. Also a man named Sir Caydor.
We saw Bishop Dewey, looking impossibly old and haggard. Ulfius was also there. At the last moment, Morgan arrived, causing a stir among the people. She stopped to ask Giles if she could meet with him after court, alone. Akalon spoke to me, and told me that he had finished his winter with the Wallingfords, and believed that they were loyal. Belaius is probably more loyal than Basil.
Sir Caydor approached me. He was a knight of Gorloi, whose lands were taken by Uther, but his lands were never returned to him.
I forbade Jenna from traveling with Cerdic.
Sir Uffo, envoy of Mark, offered his condolences on the death of Luceers, and asked for help fighting Nanteleod off. He also brought a gift for Merl, a dragon pin that belonged to Uther.
Sir Merl and Kay embarrassed young Arthur with a prank.
Ektor told me that Kay said that his girlfriend had heard that Cerdic had arranged to sneak out of the house with Jenna.
We talked with Cerdic and agreed to fight Aelle this year. I confronted Jenna about her communications with Cerdic and ordered her to give me all of his communications.
We went to battle with Aelle in London. We found ourselves trapped between Aesh's forces from Kent and Aelle's troops from Portsmouth. We headed west into the smaller force, trying to get back to Salisbury. We won the battle and headed back to Sarum.
Back at Sarum, a maid treacherously let in some Saxons to capture Jenna and Robert. Damien and Marius and a random guard tried to defend the keep. I fought the ones who got through to my chambers. Jenna recognized that the Saxon who led the battle was Cerdic's brother. We knighted Marius and sent him with word to Nanteleod that we would swear fealty to him if he helped us kill Cerdic. Marius was, of course, completely enthralled by Morgan.
Robert was sent to live in Escavalon with Electus, Nanteleod's son. Damien went with him to protect him.
Ektor arranged for court to be in Amesbury this year, so that the realm could pay its respects to the slain Luceers.
We were visited by Cerdic, an envoy from Mark, and an envoy from Nanteleod. Also a man named Sir Caydor.
We saw Bishop Dewey, looking impossibly old and haggard. Ulfius was also there. At the last moment, Morgan arrived, causing a stir among the people. She stopped to ask Giles if she could meet with him after court, alone. Akalon spoke to me, and told me that he had finished his winter with the Wallingfords, and believed that they were loyal. Belaius is probably more loyal than Basil.
Sir Caydor approached me. He was a knight of Gorloi, whose lands were taken by Uther, but his lands were never returned to him.
I forbade Jenna from traveling with Cerdic.
Sir Uffo, envoy of Mark, offered his condolences on the death of Luceers, and asked for help fighting Nanteleod off. He also brought a gift for Merl, a dragon pin that belonged to Uther.
Sir Merl and Kay embarrassed young Arthur with a prank.
Ektor told me that Kay said that his girlfriend had heard that Cerdic had arranged to sneak out of the house with Jenna.
We talked with Cerdic and agreed to fight Aelle this year. I confronted Jenna about her communications with Cerdic and ordered her to give me all of his communications.
We went to battle with Aelle in London. We found ourselves trapped between Aesh's forces from Kent and Aelle's troops from Portsmouth. We headed west into the smaller force, trying to get back to Salisbury. We won the battle and headed back to Sarum.
Back at Sarum, a maid treacherously let in some Saxons to capture Jenna and Robert. Damien and Marius and a random guard tried to defend the keep. I fought the ones who got through to my chambers. Jenna recognized that the Saxon who led the battle was Cerdic's brother. We knighted Marius and sent him with word to Nanteleod that we would swear fealty to him if he helped us kill Cerdic. Marius was, of course, completely enthralled by Morgan.
Robert was sent to live in Escavalon with Electus, Nanteleod's son. Damien went with him to protect him.
502
Luceers' wife, despite the return of her son Merl, appeared to be ill.
Baldulf heard the court women gossiping that King Mark had been gaining ground in the north, and he was making a fine figure as a potential high king. One of the women whispered about some northern and western dukes and kings who had sworn allegiance to Nanteleod at a feast he held, and there were whispers that they were under the sway of Morgan's potions and magic. Nanteleod had threatened Camillard, whose leader, Leodegrance, had offered his daughter to any worthy lord who rose to his defense. Nanteleod also seemed to be deliberately provoking Mark.
At court were Cerdic, Ulfius, and emissaries from Leodegrance.
At Leslie's manor, a small band of Saxon knights arrived and ask to speak with him. They wanted him to convince Giles to come to the border and meet with Aelle.
Ulfius wanted us to fight with him again against Aelle.
Cerdic wanted us to give him two shares to offset his losses in last year's battle. We agreed to help in return for future duchies.
We sent Akalon to spy on the Wallingfords.
We decided to send Luceers and Damien to meet with Nanteleod, and the rest of the knights headed to meet with Aelle.
Merl, Giles and Leslie moved out to meet with Aelle in the space between the camps. Aelle wanted Giles to come with him to fight Aethelswith. Giles agreed to take our knights with Aelle to fight Aethelswith, and then to send Cerdic in to fight Aelle once his forces were weakened.
We headed north with Aelle.
Damian
Luceers arrived in Camillard and explained his plan to talk with Nanteleod. As we rode to meet Nanteleod, outside of Camillard, we met a knight in service to Baron Quintus who blew a horn and rode quickly away. As we started to ride away, we heard hoofbeats coming toward us. We turned to meet them, and about 30 knights arrived. They told us that their lord wished us to dine with him. We agreed to go with them.
They attempted to get us to relinquish our weapons, but Luceers talked them into keeping his, and I chose to stay in the courtyard instead. We found that a lady had recently arrived to heal Baron Quintus. She had been sent by Morgan to keep us from reaching Nanteleode-- for our own safety. A maid named Amanda convinced us to rescue her lady Drusilla and she would show us a way out. We fought some knights to get to Drusilla. In the tower we found a knight wearing the heraldry of one of the fey knights. We attempted to combat him, but he was far too powerful. Luceers was slain and I was captured.
Leslie
At the battle with Aethelswith, I was smote a grievous blow in the first charge and was saved by my squire. Giles defeated an Angle prince and captured him for ransom. As Aelle's troops broke Aethelswith's line, Giles ordered his troops after Aethelswith as he tried to get away. In a massive swing, Aethelswith was destroyed by Giles, turning the tide and allowing us to win the battle.
We found out that Cerdic's army was still three days away. The knights feasted with the Saxons, and Giles was given treasure and Aethelswith's axe.
Three days later, Cerdic arrived and Giles gave the order to attack Aelle. Aelle cursed Giles for his treachery, and the battle was joined. We fought valiantly, but neither side could get the upper hand,and the battle ended indecisively.
At the end of the year, Damien was released and brought Luceers's body back. There was much grieving.
Mark never arrived at Camillard, and Leodegrance surrendered to Nanteleod.
Giles returned to Morgan for another potion.
Baldulf heard the court women gossiping that King Mark had been gaining ground in the north, and he was making a fine figure as a potential high king. One of the women whispered about some northern and western dukes and kings who had sworn allegiance to Nanteleod at a feast he held, and there were whispers that they were under the sway of Morgan's potions and magic. Nanteleod had threatened Camillard, whose leader, Leodegrance, had offered his daughter to any worthy lord who rose to his defense. Nanteleod also seemed to be deliberately provoking Mark.
At court were Cerdic, Ulfius, and emissaries from Leodegrance.
At Leslie's manor, a small band of Saxon knights arrived and ask to speak with him. They wanted him to convince Giles to come to the border and meet with Aelle.
Ulfius wanted us to fight with him again against Aelle.
Cerdic wanted us to give him two shares to offset his losses in last year's battle. We agreed to help in return for future duchies.
We sent Akalon to spy on the Wallingfords.
We decided to send Luceers and Damien to meet with Nanteleod, and the rest of the knights headed to meet with Aelle.
Merl, Giles and Leslie moved out to meet with Aelle in the space between the camps. Aelle wanted Giles to come with him to fight Aethelswith. Giles agreed to take our knights with Aelle to fight Aethelswith, and then to send Cerdic in to fight Aelle once his forces were weakened.
We headed north with Aelle.
Damian
Luceers arrived in Camillard and explained his plan to talk with Nanteleod. As we rode to meet Nanteleod, outside of Camillard, we met a knight in service to Baron Quintus who blew a horn and rode quickly away. As we started to ride away, we heard hoofbeats coming toward us. We turned to meet them, and about 30 knights arrived. They told us that their lord wished us to dine with him. We agreed to go with them.
They attempted to get us to relinquish our weapons, but Luceers talked them into keeping his, and I chose to stay in the courtyard instead. We found that a lady had recently arrived to heal Baron Quintus. She had been sent by Morgan to keep us from reaching Nanteleode-- for our own safety. A maid named Amanda convinced us to rescue her lady Drusilla and she would show us a way out. We fought some knights to get to Drusilla. In the tower we found a knight wearing the heraldry of one of the fey knights. We attempted to combat him, but he was far too powerful. Luceers was slain and I was captured.
Leslie
At the battle with Aethelswith, I was smote a grievous blow in the first charge and was saved by my squire. Giles defeated an Angle prince and captured him for ransom. As Aelle's troops broke Aethelswith's line, Giles ordered his troops after Aethelswith as he tried to get away. In a massive swing, Aethelswith was destroyed by Giles, turning the tide and allowing us to win the battle.
We found out that Cerdic's army was still three days away. The knights feasted with the Saxons, and Giles was given treasure and Aethelswith's axe.
Three days later, Cerdic arrived and Giles gave the order to attack Aelle. Aelle cursed Giles for his treachery, and the battle was joined. We fought valiantly, but neither side could get the upper hand,and the battle ended indecisively.
At the end of the year, Damien was released and brought Luceers's body back. There was much grieving.
Mark never arrived at Camillard, and Leodegrance surrendered to Nanteleod.
Giles returned to Morgan for another potion.
501
Leslie
Sir Giles and I were asked to escort Sir Luceers to the marriage of Morgan in Lothien.
Baldulf
Prince Mark arrived with fifty knights, and came to meet with us. He wished to marry Countess Ellen in return for his lending us some knights to take the Cattalous. We told him we would consider. We also planned to send our knights north with him partway to Camillard.
Sir Amir from Silchester came on behalf of Ulfius for aid against Aelle.
Lady Amarath was with an old knight who claimed Basil Wallingford raped his daughter. When Basil was accused, he demanded trial by combat, and Hansel almost answered him, when Luceers accepted the challenge.
I talked to Cerdic and convinced him to help us fight Aelle in Silchester, and in return he would get some of the eastern Silchester lands.
Luceers talked to Lady Amarath about marrying Basil Wallingford, but she was not interested.
On the day of the duel, I convinced Basil Wallingford to pay restitution to Sir Gorim for his daughter, and avoided the duel commencing.
We sent Damien, the Wallingfords and Cerdic to Silchester. Giles, Luceers, and Leslie were sent north to the wedding.
Leslie
As we headed north, we heard that Oleg, the enemy of Giles, was in the train. We also received a letter from Ellen that she wanted to arrange a marriage between King Leodegrance's daughter, Guinevere, and Robert.
Mark told us that his goal was to unite all of the Britons under one king, so he was going from place to place looking for allies.
We headed north, through the forest, with Giles leading us, but Luceers was lazy and we were delayed. We fought some bandits, but easily defeated them. The next week we found a Christian shrine, but ignored it. The fifth week, we encounter some bandits. The sixth week we headed into Lothien, and found it strangely peaceful. We were ushered to Morgan and her family and talked with her and Lot. We planned to ride in 7 days to Nanteleod's lands for the wedding.
I heard the name Worthingtons-- they had done horrible things to my family in the past. I was confronted by one of the Worthingtons who spoke ill of my family, but all I could do was agree with him.
Giles sang a song, and Luceers did a consultation with the local bishop.
The next day, I was talked into gambling with the Worthingtons, and I lost a lot of money. Giles sang some more, and Luceers talked with Morgan, who tried to convince him to stay with her as company in Nogales, even suggesting that she could convince her husband to give him some lands. But he refused.
The next day, the Worthingtons invited me to speak in front of the assembled lords, and I delivered a great speech on "second chances." Luceers encountered a knight beating a peasant, and intervened.
The next day, I encountered one of the Worthington's women, and she attempted to flirt with me, but I froze as usual. Giles went falcon hunting with his friends. Luceers heard a Worthington speaking ill about me and Baldulf.
The next day, Luceers went falconing and Giles sang some more. I fought one of the Worthingtons and won, gaining some measure of my self respect back.
As we prepared to head out, Giles spoke with Morgan about longevity potions. She told him that he needed to bring her a dead unicorn to make the potion. When we passed a forest, Giles decided to head into the forest to find a unicorn, and Luceers and I tagged along. After a few hours, Giles was on the trail of a unicorn, but only Giles and I were able to get close to it. I thought we were going to ride it, but Giles slew it, just as he had done to my horse. That night, Luceers had a dream about a woman in a wedding dress and a golden haired man with a black dog who killed an older version of Robert.
The next day, Morgan rode to us and told us she has had a vision that was similar to the one Luceers had. She said that in two days, we would pass a place of great fey power, and she could do a ritual to help interpret the dreams. She made me a potion to help me play the lute so I could distract the guards and the others could go to the site of power.
Giles and Luceers went with Morgan to do the ritual. I finally wondered where they were and headed off after them. When I arrived I found five ghostly knights appearing around the henge. I sounded an alarm and charged into the nearest one. We battled the spectral knights. A large knight came out of the mist and took Morgan into the mist. Giles headed into the mist after him. Luceers interrogated the remaining knight and found that the large knight had taken Morgan to his kingdom. We followed Giles into the mist and into the fey lands.
Our captive told us that we would not make it past their champion, Merl. We passed some women who tried to distract us, but we rode on. We eventually came upon a gathering of court with much food, but we were not distracted by it, and we arrived at the castle, where Merl awaited us.
Luceers said that he is Merls father, and Merl told him that he felt abandoned. Luceers told him to stand aside, and Merl refused. But Luceers refused to fight,and Merl broke down crying, and father and son hugged. We entered the castle and found the throne room empty. We found a massive library and a book of spells open to a mind control spell. We headed into a room overlooking the sea, filled with plants. Giles found a plant that was a component for the mind control spell, but the petals had been plucked. When we made it outside, we found Morgan following the golden haired knight with the black dog. She called for help, but the knight seemed confused. I realized that Sir Dulahan was ensorceled. Luceers attacked the man, wounding him. I rode past and grabbed Morgan. The dog barked, trying to scare me, but I ignored it. Luceers and the man continued to fight, and Giles joined the fray; they dropped the knight, and as he died, the castle and the world started to fade away. Giles took his body and we rode away.
We finally arrived in Norgales where we watched the wedding. While Nanteleod was at first controlling, by the wedding, he seemed under the thrall of Morgan. We returned home late in the year. Luceers took Merl to his mother and we found out that our forces had lost the battle in Silchester, but had kept Aelle from gaining too much territory.
Sir Giles and I were asked to escort Sir Luceers to the marriage of Morgan in Lothien.
Baldulf
Prince Mark arrived with fifty knights, and came to meet with us. He wished to marry Countess Ellen in return for his lending us some knights to take the Cattalous. We told him we would consider. We also planned to send our knights north with him partway to Camillard.
Sir Amir from Silchester came on behalf of Ulfius for aid against Aelle.
Lady Amarath was with an old knight who claimed Basil Wallingford raped his daughter. When Basil was accused, he demanded trial by combat, and Hansel almost answered him, when Luceers accepted the challenge.
I talked to Cerdic and convinced him to help us fight Aelle in Silchester, and in return he would get some of the eastern Silchester lands.
Luceers talked to Lady Amarath about marrying Basil Wallingford, but she was not interested.
On the day of the duel, I convinced Basil Wallingford to pay restitution to Sir Gorim for his daughter, and avoided the duel commencing.
We sent Damien, the Wallingfords and Cerdic to Silchester. Giles, Luceers, and Leslie were sent north to the wedding.
Leslie
As we headed north, we heard that Oleg, the enemy of Giles, was in the train. We also received a letter from Ellen that she wanted to arrange a marriage between King Leodegrance's daughter, Guinevere, and Robert.
Mark told us that his goal was to unite all of the Britons under one king, so he was going from place to place looking for allies.
We headed north, through the forest, with Giles leading us, but Luceers was lazy and we were delayed. We fought some bandits, but easily defeated them. The next week we found a Christian shrine, but ignored it. The fifth week, we encounter some bandits. The sixth week we headed into Lothien, and found it strangely peaceful. We were ushered to Morgan and her family and talked with her and Lot. We planned to ride in 7 days to Nanteleod's lands for the wedding.
I heard the name Worthingtons-- they had done horrible things to my family in the past. I was confronted by one of the Worthingtons who spoke ill of my family, but all I could do was agree with him.
Giles sang a song, and Luceers did a consultation with the local bishop.
The next day, I was talked into gambling with the Worthingtons, and I lost a lot of money. Giles sang some more, and Luceers talked with Morgan, who tried to convince him to stay with her as company in Nogales, even suggesting that she could convince her husband to give him some lands. But he refused.
The next day, the Worthingtons invited me to speak in front of the assembled lords, and I delivered a great speech on "second chances." Luceers encountered a knight beating a peasant, and intervened.
The next day, I encountered one of the Worthington's women, and she attempted to flirt with me, but I froze as usual. Giles went falcon hunting with his friends. Luceers heard a Worthington speaking ill about me and Baldulf.
The next day, Luceers went falconing and Giles sang some more. I fought one of the Worthingtons and won, gaining some measure of my self respect back.
As we prepared to head out, Giles spoke with Morgan about longevity potions. She told him that he needed to bring her a dead unicorn to make the potion. When we passed a forest, Giles decided to head into the forest to find a unicorn, and Luceers and I tagged along. After a few hours, Giles was on the trail of a unicorn, but only Giles and I were able to get close to it. I thought we were going to ride it, but Giles slew it, just as he had done to my horse. That night, Luceers had a dream about a woman in a wedding dress and a golden haired man with a black dog who killed an older version of Robert.
The next day, Morgan rode to us and told us she has had a vision that was similar to the one Luceers had. She said that in two days, we would pass a place of great fey power, and she could do a ritual to help interpret the dreams. She made me a potion to help me play the lute so I could distract the guards and the others could go to the site of power.
Giles and Luceers went with Morgan to do the ritual. I finally wondered where they were and headed off after them. When I arrived I found five ghostly knights appearing around the henge. I sounded an alarm and charged into the nearest one. We battled the spectral knights. A large knight came out of the mist and took Morgan into the mist. Giles headed into the mist after him. Luceers interrogated the remaining knight and found that the large knight had taken Morgan to his kingdom. We followed Giles into the mist and into the fey lands.
Our captive told us that we would not make it past their champion, Merl. We passed some women who tried to distract us, but we rode on. We eventually came upon a gathering of court with much food, but we were not distracted by it, and we arrived at the castle, where Merl awaited us.
Luceers said that he is Merls father, and Merl told him that he felt abandoned. Luceers told him to stand aside, and Merl refused. But Luceers refused to fight,and Merl broke down crying, and father and son hugged. We entered the castle and found the throne room empty. We found a massive library and a book of spells open to a mind control spell. We headed into a room overlooking the sea, filled with plants. Giles found a plant that was a component for the mind control spell, but the petals had been plucked. When we made it outside, we found Morgan following the golden haired knight with the black dog. She called for help, but the knight seemed confused. I realized that Sir Dulahan was ensorceled. Luceers attacked the man, wounding him. I rode past and grabbed Morgan. The dog barked, trying to scare me, but I ignored it. Luceers and the man continued to fight, and Giles joined the fray; they dropped the knight, and as he died, the castle and the world started to fade away. Giles took his body and we rode away.
We finally arrived in Norgales where we watched the wedding. While Nanteleod was at first controlling, by the wedding, he seemed under the thrall of Morgan. We returned home late in the year. Luceers took Merl to his mother and we found out that our forces had lost the battle in Silchester, but had kept Aelle from gaining too much territory.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
500
Ektor came to Giles, and told him that we needed to go find Damian. While most of the knights were going to keep their word in helping Cerdic take Chichester, Sir Giles would take two young squires, Leslie and Gavin, and test them to see if they were ready for knighthood.
Here starts the tale of Leslie.
Gavin and I arrived in Sarum to ride with Sir Giles. Giles took us on a hunt for a boar to test our wilderness skills. Gavin found a boar, and Gavin and I quickly slew it. When it was my turn, I failed miserably at finding a boar, even leading us near Saxon territory. I also lost Gavin's falcon while trying to fish, and then Gavin got us lost tracking a fallow deer. Not a stellar performance if we were trying to impress the mighty Sir Giles.
At feast that night, we noticed that we were being watched by Patricia and Brea, two young noble ladies. Brea is Delan's youngest sister (but she would prefer to be a nun), and Pateicia is the oldest daughter of Sir Bernier (in Salisbury mainly as protection against further insurrection by her father). We talked to the ladies, but I have always been horribly inept around women. Gavin attempted to impress them with a story, but his story turned into a long, rambling mess of a narrative. Brea, however, gave me a kiss on the cheek. Perhaps, I only shone in comparison to Gavin's story.
The next day, we raced horses, and I fell off in the second stretch. Gavin, gallant friend that he is, returned to help me, and we raced the last stretch, but I fell again. Gavin won the race, and while I was disappointed to lose to Gavin two days in a row, my disappointment was short-lived when Sir Giles rode up and killed my horse for its impertinence in throwing me twice. The massive bloodshed cleared the stands of the ladies, no doubt in shock over such a bloody spectacle. Sir Giles replaced my horse with one from his own stables, which was most courteous, and I felt privileged to have seen first-hand the mighty stroke of Sir Giles. Not many men could sever a horse's head from its body with one swing.
Over the next few days we rode to Silchester to find some Saxons to test our arms against. We came across a camp of eleven Saxon scouts. I laid out a plan for us to attack a small group, and we attacked them in the open field as they left the camp. My horse was hit by javelins and kept me out of the first part of the battle. But once I joined the battle, we defeated the Saxons and attended to each other's wounds.
We returned to Sarum, and found a certain malaise in the air. Brea and the other women had been crying. There had been a raid in the northeast, and Sir Leo had been killed by a band of Aelle's men, who carried off Sir Leo's family and ambushed his knights, killing seven of the ten of them.
Baldulf in Court
The remainder of the brotherhood of the band met and decided to try to find replacements for the three missing knights.
Aelle and Aethelswith both offered to pay us (1 wall) to fight with them against the other Saxon leader. We ignored their requests..
King Port threatened us to stop allowing Cerdic free passage. We also ignored him.
We heard that King Lot had defeated the Picts.
The remaining Wallingfords arrived at court. They asked to not ride with us to Chichester and instead go to Silchester to rescue Leo's family. We granted them leave.
We also added another section onto the wall.
We found Ektor and Arthur in the Band's room, and noticed that the lad looked a lot like Madoc. Ektor was explaining the virtues of Roderik and how he had always listened to his good advisors.
Leslie, His Tale Continued
Sir Giles, Gavin, and I went to track Damian, who had been missing since he fled the battle. Giles knew that Damien had headed into the Campto Carronton forest. We found that Damien had last been seen with a knight named Galwin from Oxford near a village named Granlee in the Wallingford's territories. In the town we talked to the local landlord and found that Galwin and Damien had passed through and Galwin had been counseling Damien that the quest they were on--to find the stony hills hag--would bring him redemption from his cowardice at the battle. The hags previously had only killed knights, but the last year they destroyed an entire town, as if they were angered about something. Galwin and Damien had gone into the woods to talk to Mad Abby. Sir Giles, ever wise, warned us to never trust the fae-touched.
We headed to the homestead where Mad Abby lives. There were weapons and armor tossed all around the place. There was also an uneasy silence in the place, and we found three sets of footprints tracking all through the area, leading to and from a nearby lake. We also found a makeshift graveyard, with six graves with crosses over them that seemed to have been well tended. We also found tracks of hags leading out of the graveyard and into the stone hills. The house itself seemed as if it had been raided a few years back. All of the furniture, though broken, had been set up as if the house were still occupied. We also found, in the yard, Damien's dead horse. Gavin suggested that the knights had ridden up and met with a girl, but were then ambushed by the hags, who killed the horse and broke someone's sword. A bloodied, broken mace was also found. The hags must have fled into the mountains, pursued by the knights.
We headed back to the lake a few miles back. We tried playing the lute and searching with a falcon, but it took the careful eye of Sir Giles to find Abby's den. When we did, a young girl stepped out and called us murderers. Her family had been killed by the Wallingfords, and so Abby hates all knights. She said that the lady of the lake had given her an order to help us on our quest, but she did so unwillingly. We ordered her to take us to the hags. We spent one night at the homestead, eating berries, and then she led us into the hills.
We found the cave of the hag named Alice, and her corpse was in the cave, beaten to death with a mace. Abby took a necklace off the body and then led us off to Maude, the next hag, who lived in a nest/hut, where someone was singing inside. Gavin ran away in fear, and I was startled, but Sir Giles, of course, was unfazed and talked to her. She told Sir Giles to bleed me and she would help him. Luckily, Sir Giles challenged her to a game, instead. She said that they would ask each other questions and whoever answer first and correctly would win. If she won, she would get me. If we won, we would get information about Damien. We played the game for a while, but eventually, Gavin, who had recovered from his fear, asked, "Where is Damien?" and she raged at the twist in the game's questions, and attacked.
We realized that our swords were useless, but that other weapons worked. When Gavin hit her, she retreated, and we headed on to the final hag's resting place. Along the way, we found a knight, Sir Gotriel, a Saxon knighted in Gaul, trapped in a cage. He begged us to set him free. Ever honorable, Sir Giles set him free. We headed up the hill, and found Damien chained to the top of a hill. As we rescued him, the third hag appeared and told us we could leave without Damien. Gavin made a deal with the hag to renounce his own knighthood in order to free Sir Damien, with her warning that if he ever became a knight, she would unleash blood on the commoners. I was most aggrieved that Gavin, whom I thought would be my sword-brother until our death, had decided to renounce his knighthood.
Gavin rode off to find Abby and Luceer's son. Upon our return, I was knighted.
We found that the war in Chichester had been successful, and elsewhere, Mark had taken Dorset.
Luceers was visited by Akalon and told that his presence had been requested in the north at the wedding of Morgan to King Nanteleod (of Ireland).
The Wallingfords returned with Leo's wife and 2 of his sons and a chest of gold for the realm and a chest of gold for the Wallingfords. (1 more share)
Here starts the tale of Leslie.
Gavin and I arrived in Sarum to ride with Sir Giles. Giles took us on a hunt for a boar to test our wilderness skills. Gavin found a boar, and Gavin and I quickly slew it. When it was my turn, I failed miserably at finding a boar, even leading us near Saxon territory. I also lost Gavin's falcon while trying to fish, and then Gavin got us lost tracking a fallow deer. Not a stellar performance if we were trying to impress the mighty Sir Giles.
At feast that night, we noticed that we were being watched by Patricia and Brea, two young noble ladies. Brea is Delan's youngest sister (but she would prefer to be a nun), and Pateicia is the oldest daughter of Sir Bernier (in Salisbury mainly as protection against further insurrection by her father). We talked to the ladies, but I have always been horribly inept around women. Gavin attempted to impress them with a story, but his story turned into a long, rambling mess of a narrative. Brea, however, gave me a kiss on the cheek. Perhaps, I only shone in comparison to Gavin's story.
The next day, we raced horses, and I fell off in the second stretch. Gavin, gallant friend that he is, returned to help me, and we raced the last stretch, but I fell again. Gavin won the race, and while I was disappointed to lose to Gavin two days in a row, my disappointment was short-lived when Sir Giles rode up and killed my horse for its impertinence in throwing me twice. The massive bloodshed cleared the stands of the ladies, no doubt in shock over such a bloody spectacle. Sir Giles replaced my horse with one from his own stables, which was most courteous, and I felt privileged to have seen first-hand the mighty stroke of Sir Giles. Not many men could sever a horse's head from its body with one swing.
Over the next few days we rode to Silchester to find some Saxons to test our arms against. We came across a camp of eleven Saxon scouts. I laid out a plan for us to attack a small group, and we attacked them in the open field as they left the camp. My horse was hit by javelins and kept me out of the first part of the battle. But once I joined the battle, we defeated the Saxons and attended to each other's wounds.
We returned to Sarum, and found a certain malaise in the air. Brea and the other women had been crying. There had been a raid in the northeast, and Sir Leo had been killed by a band of Aelle's men, who carried off Sir Leo's family and ambushed his knights, killing seven of the ten of them.
Baldulf in Court
The remainder of the brotherhood of the band met and decided to try to find replacements for the three missing knights.
Aelle and Aethelswith both offered to pay us (1 wall) to fight with them against the other Saxon leader. We ignored their requests..
King Port threatened us to stop allowing Cerdic free passage. We also ignored him.
We heard that King Lot had defeated the Picts.
The remaining Wallingfords arrived at court. They asked to not ride with us to Chichester and instead go to Silchester to rescue Leo's family. We granted them leave.
We also added another section onto the wall.
We found Ektor and Arthur in the Band's room, and noticed that the lad looked a lot like Madoc. Ektor was explaining the virtues of Roderik and how he had always listened to his good advisors.
Leslie, His Tale Continued
Sir Giles, Gavin, and I went to track Damian, who had been missing since he fled the battle. Giles knew that Damien had headed into the Campto Carronton forest. We found that Damien had last been seen with a knight named Galwin from Oxford near a village named Granlee in the Wallingford's territories. In the town we talked to the local landlord and found that Galwin and Damien had passed through and Galwin had been counseling Damien that the quest they were on--to find the stony hills hag--would bring him redemption from his cowardice at the battle. The hags previously had only killed knights, but the last year they destroyed an entire town, as if they were angered about something. Galwin and Damien had gone into the woods to talk to Mad Abby. Sir Giles, ever wise, warned us to never trust the fae-touched.
We headed to the homestead where Mad Abby lives. There were weapons and armor tossed all around the place. There was also an uneasy silence in the place, and we found three sets of footprints tracking all through the area, leading to and from a nearby lake. We also found a makeshift graveyard, with six graves with crosses over them that seemed to have been well tended. We also found tracks of hags leading out of the graveyard and into the stone hills. The house itself seemed as if it had been raided a few years back. All of the furniture, though broken, had been set up as if the house were still occupied. We also found, in the yard, Damien's dead horse. Gavin suggested that the knights had ridden up and met with a girl, but were then ambushed by the hags, who killed the horse and broke someone's sword. A bloodied, broken mace was also found. The hags must have fled into the mountains, pursued by the knights.
We headed back to the lake a few miles back. We tried playing the lute and searching with a falcon, but it took the careful eye of Sir Giles to find Abby's den. When we did, a young girl stepped out and called us murderers. Her family had been killed by the Wallingfords, and so Abby hates all knights. She said that the lady of the lake had given her an order to help us on our quest, but she did so unwillingly. We ordered her to take us to the hags. We spent one night at the homestead, eating berries, and then she led us into the hills.
We found the cave of the hag named Alice, and her corpse was in the cave, beaten to death with a mace. Abby took a necklace off the body and then led us off to Maude, the next hag, who lived in a nest/hut, where someone was singing inside. Gavin ran away in fear, and I was startled, but Sir Giles, of course, was unfazed and talked to her. She told Sir Giles to bleed me and she would help him. Luckily, Sir Giles challenged her to a game, instead. She said that they would ask each other questions and whoever answer first and correctly would win. If she won, she would get me. If we won, we would get information about Damien. We played the game for a while, but eventually, Gavin, who had recovered from his fear, asked, "Where is Damien?" and she raged at the twist in the game's questions, and attacked.
We realized that our swords were useless, but that other weapons worked. When Gavin hit her, she retreated, and we headed on to the final hag's resting place. Along the way, we found a knight, Sir Gotriel, a Saxon knighted in Gaul, trapped in a cage. He begged us to set him free. Ever honorable, Sir Giles set him free. We headed up the hill, and found Damien chained to the top of a hill. As we rescued him, the third hag appeared and told us we could leave without Damien. Gavin made a deal with the hag to renounce his own knighthood in order to free Sir Damien, with her warning that if he ever became a knight, she would unleash blood on the commoners. I was most aggrieved that Gavin, whom I thought would be my sword-brother until our death, had decided to renounce his knighthood.
Gavin rode off to find Abby and Luceer's son. Upon our return, I was knighted.
We found that the war in Chichester had been successful, and elsewhere, Mark had taken Dorset.
Luceers was visited by Akalon and told that his presence had been requested in the north at the wedding of Morgan to King Nanteleod (of Ireland).
The Wallingfords returned with Leo's wife and 2 of his sons and a chest of gold for the realm and a chest of gold for the Wallingfords. (1 more share)
Sunday, August 19, 2012
499
No visitors came to see us in court this year because rumors of war were swirling, except for Cerdic, who arrived wearing Vortigern's heraldry. I could barely contain my hatred of Vortigern's son. He flirted with Jenna, but then was ready to discuss war plans. We decided on how to meet Aethelswith's army.
We met Aethelswith's forces in the field,and Sir Damian ran from the field, for no apparent reason. The battle was hard fought, and Giles lost half his household warriors, but thanks to Luceers and Giles holding a bridge against Alle, we held the field.
Cerdic appeared to Luceers during the victory festivities and suggested that we take some territories from Logres. Luceers convinced him to go after Aethelswith, and, in return, we would help Cerdic take Chichester next summer.
We geared up to chase Aethelswith, but Luceers led us into a swamp. Sir Banwain arrived and brought us some new knights. After two days we got reports from the scouts that Saxons were converging from every direction.
We chatted in the night with Cerdic. A sergeant arrived and told us that there was a disturbance. A "witch" appeared from the woods and was scaring the men. Luceers and I went to meet her--Morgan. She told us that all was lost, but the true prize was in Salisbury. We had lost something at the battle, but Morgan said that she did not know what it was. She then went back into the woods.
In the morning we got clear word from our scouts that we had wandered into a bad position, with Aethelswith to the north of us and Aelle to the south-holed up in some Roman ruins. We decided to battle Aethelswith and hoped that Aelle would choose not to fight.
We ran over some Saxons, but the army was held up. We finally fought a rather indecisive battle that saw Aethelswith chased out of the area.
Luceers slayed a giant but was also sorely wounded. After six weeks, he was finally healed, but his continued beatings from giants have left him smaller of stature.
In the winter, Luceers received a letter from Morgan that said the otherworld was in turmoil because Damian was missing. We also learned that Queen Ygraine had moved to Lot.
For the first time in a while, the news around britain was good. King Nanteloid had conquered one of the other Briton kings and then rampaged across Ireland, and Ireland has sworn fealty to him.
Prince Mark killed Baron Sextus in battle and was headed north to Dorset. Aelle angered the Jutes in Kent and they have gone to war with him.
The only bad news is that another band of invaders have landed in the north, a band of barbarians called the Angles
We met Aethelswith's forces in the field,and Sir Damian ran from the field, for no apparent reason. The battle was hard fought, and Giles lost half his household warriors, but thanks to Luceers and Giles holding a bridge against Alle, we held the field.
Cerdic appeared to Luceers during the victory festivities and suggested that we take some territories from Logres. Luceers convinced him to go after Aethelswith, and, in return, we would help Cerdic take Chichester next summer.
We geared up to chase Aethelswith, but Luceers led us into a swamp. Sir Banwain arrived and brought us some new knights. After two days we got reports from the scouts that Saxons were converging from every direction.
We chatted in the night with Cerdic. A sergeant arrived and told us that there was a disturbance. A "witch" appeared from the woods and was scaring the men. Luceers and I went to meet her--Morgan. She told us that all was lost, but the true prize was in Salisbury. We had lost something at the battle, but Morgan said that she did not know what it was. She then went back into the woods.
In the morning we got clear word from our scouts that we had wandered into a bad position, with Aethelswith to the north of us and Aelle to the south-holed up in some Roman ruins. We decided to battle Aethelswith and hoped that Aelle would choose not to fight.
We ran over some Saxons, but the army was held up. We finally fought a rather indecisive battle that saw Aethelswith chased out of the area.
Luceers slayed a giant but was also sorely wounded. After six weeks, he was finally healed, but his continued beatings from giants have left him smaller of stature.
In the winter, Luceers received a letter from Morgan that said the otherworld was in turmoil because Damian was missing. We also learned that Queen Ygraine had moved to Lot.
For the first time in a while, the news around britain was good. King Nanteloid had conquered one of the other Briton kings and then rampaged across Ireland, and Ireland has sworn fealty to him.
Prince Mark killed Baron Sextus in battle and was headed north to Dorset. Aelle angered the Jutes in Kent and they have gone to war with him.
The only bad news is that another band of invaders have landed in the north, a band of barbarians called the Angles
498
In this year, at court, the following people wished to speak: Sir Hampton from Ulfius (private), Prince Marc of Cornwall, Queen Ygraine, Sir Bangor de Wallingford.
We met with Hampton. He looked in poor repair. He said things had been bad in Silchester. Aethelswift had offered a massive bounty to the other Saxons in order to take Sarum. Aelle had agreed, and would send Ulfius against us.
In court, we had more knights than usual, and we were one of five kingdoms that was still free from Saxons. We heard rumors that there may be a war between Lot and Eosa.
Ygraine addressed the court. She apologized for the way she had treated us in the past, and told us that she wished to move into the abbey at Amesbury. I turned her down, but as she and Morgan left, Morgan seemed upset that we did not help her.
Marc addressed us and flattered us before offering us aid, an alliance against Baron Sextus. His home city, Jaget, was mostly undefended. We agreed to help him.
Bangor said that he brought us our share of the raiding he did last year. We banked his money (1 wall share) and built the second section of wall.
Later that night, we met with Marc and talked about Baron Sextus who had taken Ilminster and Exeter and Tintagel. He wanted us to disrupt his supply line. We agreed to help him cut the supply train, if he would help us in the future against the Saxons.
At the end of the week, Kay came to Luceers and told us that there were some men here from Ebil. We met with them and they told us that they had killed a Saxon raiding party and had heard that other Saxons were feeling us out in the South near the manors of Callus and Luceers.
We agreed to send Luceers and Sir Damian to see Cerdic, and Giles to Jaget.
Hanzel warned us not to trust the Wallingfords, but Luceers put Hanzel in his place.
On the way to Ebil, Luceers and Damian heard that a raiding party was headed to Luceers' manor. They headed to his manor and killed Saxons, with the young Sir Damian acquitting himself most regally on the field.
Giles headed to Jaget, and the Wallingfords captured some prisoners from Jaget. Giles questioned them about the defenses of the castle, and found that they consisted of only Sir Bertram, who was not a very good knight. Giles decided to fight Sir Bertram one on one, and despite Bertram's fey power, Giles won and took the city.
When Luceers and Damian got to the city, they met with the castellan. The people in the keep were happy, but the Saxons seem annoyed. They met with Cerdic, and he told them of his plans to conquer all of Britain and unify Britons and Saxons. Luceers delivered a sermon that converted a Saxon. Cerdic told him that Aethelwith had offered him money to join him. Luceers made an alliance with Cerdic and his Saxons: 1 tribute and safe passage through Salisbury in return for friendship.
We met with Hampton. He looked in poor repair. He said things had been bad in Silchester. Aethelswift had offered a massive bounty to the other Saxons in order to take Sarum. Aelle had agreed, and would send Ulfius against us.
In court, we had more knights than usual, and we were one of five kingdoms that was still free from Saxons. We heard rumors that there may be a war between Lot and Eosa.
Ygraine addressed the court. She apologized for the way she had treated us in the past, and told us that she wished to move into the abbey at Amesbury. I turned her down, but as she and Morgan left, Morgan seemed upset that we did not help her.
Marc addressed us and flattered us before offering us aid, an alliance against Baron Sextus. His home city, Jaget, was mostly undefended. We agreed to help him.
Bangor said that he brought us our share of the raiding he did last year. We banked his money (1 wall share) and built the second section of wall.
Later that night, we met with Marc and talked about Baron Sextus who had taken Ilminster and Exeter and Tintagel. He wanted us to disrupt his supply line. We agreed to help him cut the supply train, if he would help us in the future against the Saxons.
At the end of the week, Kay came to Luceers and told us that there were some men here from Ebil. We met with them and they told us that they had killed a Saxon raiding party and had heard that other Saxons were feeling us out in the South near the manors of Callus and Luceers.
We agreed to send Luceers and Sir Damian to see Cerdic, and Giles to Jaget.
Hanzel warned us not to trust the Wallingfords, but Luceers put Hanzel in his place.
On the way to Ebil, Luceers and Damian heard that a raiding party was headed to Luceers' manor. They headed to his manor and killed Saxons, with the young Sir Damian acquitting himself most regally on the field.
Giles headed to Jaget, and the Wallingfords captured some prisoners from Jaget. Giles questioned them about the defenses of the castle, and found that they consisted of only Sir Bertram, who was not a very good knight. Giles decided to fight Sir Bertram one on one, and despite Bertram's fey power, Giles won and took the city.
When Luceers and Damian got to the city, they met with the castellan. The people in the keep were happy, but the Saxons seem annoyed. They met with Cerdic, and he told them of his plans to conquer all of Britain and unify Britons and Saxons. Luceers delivered a sermon that converted a Saxon. Cerdic told him that Aethelwith had offered him money to join him. Luceers made an alliance with Cerdic and his Saxons: 1 tribute and safe passage through Salisbury in return for friendship.
497
While I prepared to go to Easter services, Luceers was visited by Akalon and his squire and Morgan. Akalon looked rough and Morgan was bewitching Merl, Luceers' son. Morgan told Luceers that she had been dreaming of the future and that Merl was going to die soon unless Morgan saved him. She said she must take him to the abbey of Conconere and past the guardians to save him. Luceers said he must first consult with us at court.
Giles was visited by the Knight of the Bright Blade who asked his permission to go to the north to visit the King of the Golden Circle, pass his test, and marry his beautiful daughter. Giles gave his permission.
The Brotherhood of the Band (the survivors, Likus and Leo) met before court. Luceers presented his case. Our other problems were that Benier was now harboring Saxons and the Wallingford brothers were still a problem. Ethfrid, a Saxon from Hengest, and Aeshwin, the Saxon from Aethelswith, as well as Belius de Wallingford, and Sir Rhongair (who was at the battle of Tintagel) wished to meet with me as steward. Luceers found out what they wanted:
We agreed to send money to Hengest, but Aeshwin killed Hengest's messenger, so we sent Giles to kill Aeshwin after he left court. But Giles failed.
Giles took the Wallingford brothers to fight Benier.
I heard that Picts were in the north, so I headed north with Luceers, Merl, Morgan, and the Knight Beneath the Waves.
We rode north until Luceers got tired. Morgan told me that she knew the way, and that I must come with her. We rode into a dark forest. Morgan heard a cry of help from a woman, but when we got off the path, Morgan got us lost. As we moved through the woods, we heard the sound of battle. We found Picts and I tried to kill them. After dispatching three Picts, I found a knight with a woman thrown across his horse who said the Picts were vassals of Lord Wolfrith. The knight is named Beomar. I fought with him for many hours, but he finally bested me.
Luceers headed into the forest to find me. He found the dead Picts, and Gavin found my trail. They eventually found a road that led north to a parody of a southern manor house filled with twenty Pict soldiers. Luceers found Sir Beomart who demanded Luceers' weapons and armor as ransom for me. The captive woman healed me, and told me that she was being forced to marry Wolfrith. Luceers tried to barter for me. Morgan appeared and said that Wolfrith knows where Concanere is. Ultimately, Beomart and Luceers fought. Luceers won and we took Beomart, for ransom, and the woman as well.
Luceers took a Pict to help him find the Golden-tusked boar, while I waited with the captive woman, Lady Alba. Luceers found the boar in two days. They followed it as it ran, and eventually it led them to a path up a mountain. At the top of the mountain, they found a temple. At the gate was a knight in old armor, praying. Morgan told Luceers that the knight is the guardian they must pass. Luceers explained his situation to the knight, but the knight told him he must go, for nothing could pass him without his death. They fought, and while they were fighting, Morgan took Merl into the abbey. The guardian knight realized what had happened and stopped fighting, and immediately began to decay. Luceers ran in and found an empty room.
Meanwhile, a party of pict hunters found me. I tried to outrun them but ran into a group of them, but I was able to kill them.
I finally met up with Luceers. He told me what happened, and we headed back, dropping Lady Alba off. Luceers had the Knight of the Waves married to Lady Alba.
Giles heard that Ashwin had begun raiding some eastern lands. He took knights from Callus, Akalon, and Likus (total 110 knights) to fight the Saxons. He met with a local lord and was told that his forces were not sizable enough to fight the 200 Saxons and 50 knights. As Giles was trying to decide what to do, he heard Saxon horns of attack.
Giles split his forces to fight the Saxons; he sent the Wallingfords to fight the rogue Salisbury knights, while Giles attacked Aeshwin and broke his spear and his axe. Giles defeated Aeshwin and then met the Saxon who defeated him earlier., and he sliced him in two.
Back at the battle. Giles matcheed up against Sir Brenier's army. In pitched battle, Giles defeated the Saxons and knights and scattered them. Giles chased Brenier and settled into a siege against his castle, and sent the Wallingfords to loot Brenier's castle. We sent Luceers to make terms with the nobles but he failed to convince them.
We divided their lands among Callus, Giles, Akalon, Likus, and the oldest Wallingford.
Giles was visited by the Knight of the Bright Blade who asked his permission to go to the north to visit the King of the Golden Circle, pass his test, and marry his beautiful daughter. Giles gave his permission.
The Brotherhood of the Band (the survivors, Likus and Leo) met before court. Luceers presented his case. Our other problems were that Benier was now harboring Saxons and the Wallingford brothers were still a problem. Ethfrid, a Saxon from Hengest, and Aeshwin, the Saxon from Aethelswith, as well as Belius de Wallingford, and Sir Rhongair (who was at the battle of Tintagel) wished to meet with me as steward. Luceers found out what they wanted:
- Rhongair was on a mission fromTintagel; Baron Sextus seemed to be planning an attack on Tintagel, and Rhongair wanted to know if the knights of Logres could borrow Giles to battle Sextus.
- Hengest and Aeshwin wanted our loyalty.
- Belius came on behalf of his brothers (e Wallingfords) to join Salisbury.
We agreed to send money to Hengest, but Aeshwin killed Hengest's messenger, so we sent Giles to kill Aeshwin after he left court. But Giles failed.
Giles took the Wallingford brothers to fight Benier.
I heard that Picts were in the north, so I headed north with Luceers, Merl, Morgan, and the Knight Beneath the Waves.
We rode north until Luceers got tired. Morgan told me that she knew the way, and that I must come with her. We rode into a dark forest. Morgan heard a cry of help from a woman, but when we got off the path, Morgan got us lost. As we moved through the woods, we heard the sound of battle. We found Picts and I tried to kill them. After dispatching three Picts, I found a knight with a woman thrown across his horse who said the Picts were vassals of Lord Wolfrith. The knight is named Beomar. I fought with him for many hours, but he finally bested me.
Luceers headed into the forest to find me. He found the dead Picts, and Gavin found my trail. They eventually found a road that led north to a parody of a southern manor house filled with twenty Pict soldiers. Luceers found Sir Beomart who demanded Luceers' weapons and armor as ransom for me. The captive woman healed me, and told me that she was being forced to marry Wolfrith. Luceers tried to barter for me. Morgan appeared and said that Wolfrith knows where Concanere is. Ultimately, Beomart and Luceers fought. Luceers won and we took Beomart, for ransom, and the woman as well.
Luceers took a Pict to help him find the Golden-tusked boar, while I waited with the captive woman, Lady Alba. Luceers found the boar in two days. They followed it as it ran, and eventually it led them to a path up a mountain. At the top of the mountain, they found a temple. At the gate was a knight in old armor, praying. Morgan told Luceers that the knight is the guardian they must pass. Luceers explained his situation to the knight, but the knight told him he must go, for nothing could pass him without his death. They fought, and while they were fighting, Morgan took Merl into the abbey. The guardian knight realized what had happened and stopped fighting, and immediately began to decay. Luceers ran in and found an empty room.
Meanwhile, a party of pict hunters found me. I tried to outrun them but ran into a group of them, but I was able to kill them.
I finally met up with Luceers. He told me what happened, and we headed back, dropping Lady Alba off. Luceers had the Knight of the Waves married to Lady Alba.
Giles heard that Ashwin had begun raiding some eastern lands. He took knights from Callus, Akalon, and Likus (total 110 knights) to fight the Saxons. He met with a local lord and was told that his forces were not sizable enough to fight the 200 Saxons and 50 knights. As Giles was trying to decide what to do, he heard Saxon horns of attack.
Giles split his forces to fight the Saxons; he sent the Wallingfords to fight the rogue Salisbury knights, while Giles attacked Aeshwin and broke his spear and his axe. Giles defeated Aeshwin and then met the Saxon who defeated him earlier., and he sliced him in two.
Back at the battle. Giles matcheed up against Sir Brenier's army. In pitched battle, Giles defeated the Saxons and knights and scattered them. Giles chased Brenier and settled into a siege against his castle, and sent the Wallingfords to loot Brenier's castle. We sent Luceers to make terms with the nobles but he failed to convince them.
We divided their lands among Callus, Giles, Akalon, Likus, and the oldest Wallingford.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
496
The year began with Ector coming to visit me to see if he could assist me as I began to run Earl Roderik's lands, and to warn me; he was in Ainsbury at Christmas and heard thatBishop Dewey was mad that I, a pagan, was ruling in Roderik's stead.
Meanwhile, Giles heard that a large entourage, headed by Baron Sextus, was headed toward his estate. Sextus invited Giles to make war on the weaker lands without kings--particularly Exeter and young Prince Mark. He told Giles not to speak of his plan to me.
In the spring, the Brotherhood of the Band met before the court times. While Luceers rode to the meeting, he met Merlin in a forest, and Merlin told him that a Saxon called the Knight of the Tusks would be traveling with some very important cargo to Essex from Malahaut, and he must not be allowed to reach his destination. If he went after the knight, Luceers might find information about who killed Uther and the other kings.
A Saxon visited us at Salisbury, Prince Aeswine--son of Aethelswith demanded 100 pounds of silver or an equivalent amount of cattle before summer. Jenna told us that we have a spare 100 pounds a year and could raise more if we taxed the banner knights. We also have three unclaimed holdings. The walls of Sarum have not yet been finished--costing 20 pounds to finish for the castle, or 100pounds for the whole city.
Lykus told us that he had been approached by Sir Bernier, who had been meeting with the Eastern bannerets, and their oaths have been broken with the Earl, and we should swear fealty to Ulfius. Giles told us about Sextus. We agreed to have Ektor take Elid's position as trainer of knights. We sent Akalon to find out which other lands have been propositioned by the Saxons.
A week later, he told us, right before the muster, that Brastius had signed with Hengest. Ulfius had vowed to fight Aelle. A new Saxon king, Cerdic, had arrived in the south. Leodegrance had agreed to pay tribute to Aethelswith, but not fealty.
Akalon talked to Luceers, and gave him a message from Lot at the behest of Lot's wife. He also told us that King Lot is not to be trusted. The note tells Luceers about Lots high regard for him, and warned him of the dark times coming in the South, and invited him to take five manors from him and swear fealty to him.
We had three guests--Brastius, the Countess of Rydychan, and a courier from Duke Ulfius. Only about half of the knights showed up for muster; most of the absences are from the Eastern knights. Luceers addressed the knights. We noted that Sir Lesar was notably upset. We met with the Countess, and she told us that the Wallingford brothers have taken her lands. Sir Hanzel volunteered to fight the knights, but we told him to wait until we decided what to do. Brastius told us about the sword in the anvil in London and encouraged us to join with Hengest. The courier from Ulfius told us that we need a king and that the Colegium would decide on a new high king that summer.
We decided to send Hanzel to help the Countess. We sent Callus and the knights to take care of Bernier. The rest of us headed off to find the knight of the tusk. I left Jenna to run the kingdom. We stopped by the abbey to see Countess Ellen, and Luceers convinced her to return to help Jenna. Luceers brought Ellen and Father Bastile back to Salisbury, for the Father to baptize me, fulfilling my oath to Luceers, and hopefully putting a further briar in Dewey's saddle.
Giles tracked the knight of the tusk. We found him and his entourage-a handful of archers and some slaves- at a tower. We attacked his archers and swel them, and then turned to face the knights. Giles faced the leader and unhorsed him and then killed him. We found that one of the slaves is Sir Valinar of Linsey., and he swore fealty to Giles. We retrieved a parcel from the tower and two small barrels of poison. The parcel contained gems and jewels--like household jewelry from a noble--and a note from the Centurion King of Malahaut thanking Aethelswith for the use of his men.
When we returned home, we found that Callus had battled Bernier and been forced to retreat. Hanzel also was repelled by the three brothers.
We heard gossip:
*King Lot has a new son.
*The Irish are warring in Gales.
*King Clovis the Frank has converted to Christianity.
*The Colegium could not make a decision on who should be king.
*Aethelswith attacked King Leodegrance for not paying tribute, but lost.
*Ulfius allied with Aelle.
The winter was mild, and we all made improvements to our homes--mainly fortifying against the inevitable wars that will come.
Meanwhile, Giles heard that a large entourage, headed by Baron Sextus, was headed toward his estate. Sextus invited Giles to make war on the weaker lands without kings--particularly Exeter and young Prince Mark. He told Giles not to speak of his plan to me.
In the spring, the Brotherhood of the Band met before the court times. While Luceers rode to the meeting, he met Merlin in a forest, and Merlin told him that a Saxon called the Knight of the Tusks would be traveling with some very important cargo to Essex from Malahaut, and he must not be allowed to reach his destination. If he went after the knight, Luceers might find information about who killed Uther and the other kings.
A Saxon visited us at Salisbury, Prince Aeswine--son of Aethelswith demanded 100 pounds of silver or an equivalent amount of cattle before summer. Jenna told us that we have a spare 100 pounds a year and could raise more if we taxed the banner knights. We also have three unclaimed holdings. The walls of Sarum have not yet been finished--costing 20 pounds to finish for the castle, or 100pounds for the whole city.
Lykus told us that he had been approached by Sir Bernier, who had been meeting with the Eastern bannerets, and their oaths have been broken with the Earl, and we should swear fealty to Ulfius. Giles told us about Sextus. We agreed to have Ektor take Elid's position as trainer of knights. We sent Akalon to find out which other lands have been propositioned by the Saxons.
A week later, he told us, right before the muster, that Brastius had signed with Hengest. Ulfius had vowed to fight Aelle. A new Saxon king, Cerdic, had arrived in the south. Leodegrance had agreed to pay tribute to Aethelswith, but not fealty.
Akalon talked to Luceers, and gave him a message from Lot at the behest of Lot's wife. He also told us that King Lot is not to be trusted. The note tells Luceers about Lots high regard for him, and warned him of the dark times coming in the South, and invited him to take five manors from him and swear fealty to him.
We had three guests--Brastius, the Countess of Rydychan, and a courier from Duke Ulfius. Only about half of the knights showed up for muster; most of the absences are from the Eastern knights. Luceers addressed the knights. We noted that Sir Lesar was notably upset. We met with the Countess, and she told us that the Wallingford brothers have taken her lands. Sir Hanzel volunteered to fight the knights, but we told him to wait until we decided what to do. Brastius told us about the sword in the anvil in London and encouraged us to join with Hengest. The courier from Ulfius told us that we need a king and that the Colegium would decide on a new high king that summer.
We decided to send Hanzel to help the Countess. We sent Callus and the knights to take care of Bernier. The rest of us headed off to find the knight of the tusk. I left Jenna to run the kingdom. We stopped by the abbey to see Countess Ellen, and Luceers convinced her to return to help Jenna. Luceers brought Ellen and Father Bastile back to Salisbury, for the Father to baptize me, fulfilling my oath to Luceers, and hopefully putting a further briar in Dewey's saddle.
Giles tracked the knight of the tusk. We found him and his entourage-a handful of archers and some slaves- at a tower. We attacked his archers and swel them, and then turned to face the knights. Giles faced the leader and unhorsed him and then killed him. We found that one of the slaves is Sir Valinar of Linsey., and he swore fealty to Giles. We retrieved a parcel from the tower and two small barrels of poison. The parcel contained gems and jewels--like household jewelry from a noble--and a note from the Centurion King of Malahaut thanking Aethelswith for the use of his men.
When we returned home, we found that Callus had battled Bernier and been forced to retreat. Hanzel also was repelled by the three brothers.
We heard gossip:
*King Lot has a new son.
*The Irish are warring in Gales.
*King Clovis the Frank has converted to Christianity.
*The Colegium could not make a decision on who should be king.
*Aethelswith attacked King Leodegrance for not paying tribute, but lost.
*Ulfius allied with Aelle.
The winter was mild, and we all made improvements to our homes--mainly fortifying against the inevitable wars that will come.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
495
In this year,, the Saxons moved south, and word came that Saxons had taken one of our northernmost cities. We massed at St. Albans and the Irish king sent troops to bolster our ranks to about 2000 knights and 7000 foot soldiers. Uther ordered a full charge to try to catch the Saxons in the city. We realized that it was an ambush, but Uther's forces did not turn aside and they were slaughtered. The next day 15000 Saxons met us in the field at the Battle of St. Albans.
In the battle, Brastius was felled, but Uther shattered Hengest's weapon with Excalibur and the Saxons fled the field.
We feasted at St. Albans. While partying, we heard screams from the great hall and found people in the hall poisoned and dying. Roderik, as he died, told me to protect his family, and I took the women back to Salisbury. Only a few kings survived.
The Brotherhood of the Band was called together. Elid had died in the hall. The rest of us were tasked to decide what to do with rulership of Salisbury. We agreed to have me act as leader, and I would marry Jenna.
We returned and lay Roderik to rest. I married Jenna. Ygraine moved into an abbey. Roderik's countess went into grieving.
A dark year, with grim forebodings for the future
In the battle, Brastius was felled, but Uther shattered Hengest's weapon with Excalibur and the Saxons fled the field.
We feasted at St. Albans. While partying, we heard screams from the great hall and found people in the hall poisoned and dying. Roderik, as he died, told me to protect his family, and I took the women back to Salisbury. Only a few kings survived.
The Brotherhood of the Band was called together. Elid had died in the hall. The rest of us were tasked to decide what to do with rulership of Salisbury. We agreed to have me act as leader, and I would marry Jenna.
We returned and lay Roderik to rest. I married Jenna. Ygraine moved into an abbey. Roderik's countess went into grieving.
A dark year, with grim forebodings for the future
494
We each went to do our duties assigned to us by Roderik in the previous winter. Giles went to war with the Saxons, Luceers to diplomacy with a northern Irish prince, and I to tend to Roderik's estate.
Sigerius from Gaul would be visiting Roderik's manor, and I would be taking care of him.
I met with countess Ellen, and she welcomed me to the manor, and let me know that there would be a dinner of welcome that At dinner, Sigerius was an ass. I put him in his place, and he ordered me to find him a hunt the next day. Ellen told me that Bishop Dewey wanted to meet with me the next day. And she wanted to talk with me at the garden that night. When I went to visit Ellen, I chatted a bit with Jenna about her romance and then met with Ellen. She tempted me, but I resisted her advances and turned the conversation to talk of her daughter.
I met with Dewey and a young woman. I ruled against Dewey's scheme to steal the woman's estate, and talked to Hanzel about his prospects of marrying the young noble woman.
I sent the women away from Sarum in order to make Sigerius bored, and after a few days of minimal rations, he left.
Luceers met with a knight sent by Akalon who said that Akalon needed his help about two days to the north. Luceers and Ektor headed north and met with Akalon. Luceers to.d Akalon he would spend two days to find Ygraine and Morgan, who had been captured by bandits. But then he reconsidered, thinking it may be a trap, so he left Akalon to his business. Akalon told Luceers that if Ygraine was killed, he would have words with him when he returned. Ektor got them lost as they headed back to the path to the Irish king. When Luceers took the lead, they became lost in the Forest Savage.
Luceers arrived at the coast, about a week and a half late for his meeting. The knight he met offered an assassin to Luceers to kill the Irish king, and rid Britain of one more foreign invader, but Luceers refused such "generosity."
Luceers arrived at King Canan's castle. Luceers presented his case, but the king's response was noncommittal. The next morning Luceers was awakened and told to ride with a contingent of Irish knights to another castle. They feasted, with Luceers at a place of honor. The king asked about King Lot who had already been to see him. Luceers told what he knew, and the king left, and then the entourage rode north to another castle.
Luceers composed a song and sang it, and the next day the entourage rode into the mountains. They met some tribal leaders loyal to King Canan. And they repeated this routine of riding and meeting vassals for about two weeks, and then he introduced Luceers to his oldest son. He ordered his son to fight Luceers. They fought to first blood, and Luceers felled the son with one blow. The king grunted and left again. They went to another castle and the king abruptly turned to Luceers and told him that he would fight with Uther next summer. They partied all the way back, and one night, Luceers saw Sir Alain Corleone give poison and a bag of coins to Sir Orkis. Luceers took the poison from Sir Orkis and kicked him out of camp.
Meanwhile, Giles found that Roestock was preparing for war when he arrived to ask for Afion's help. Afion agreed even though he was scheduled to go to war, as ordered by Lot.
Callus met Giles at Ebble. He suggested that they could either go <unintelligible> or go to the aid of Cairsbrook. Giles wanted to go to Cairsbrook. When they arrived, they saw that they were outnumbered 2 to 1. Giles decided to ambush them, but his ambush failed. He charged in with his five knights as the vanguard unit. Giles continued to fight, pushing farther towards the Saxon prince. The battle turned against Giles as more Saxons arrived. Giles kept fighting,but the battle was not going well. However, Giles fought his way to the Saxon leader.
Giles was finally relieved by the troops coming out of the castle, and the tide of battle turned, and Giles held the field, but he was unable to capture the Saxon king.
Roderik returned, unsuccessful in his trip. We told him about our jobs.
I swore to Roderik faithfulness to Jenna if he allowed me to marry her.
Luceers and Giles went to visit Akalon. Akalon told them that he found Ygraine and Morgan in a tower with dead guards--killed in a strange way, as if they had burst from the inside. Further inside he found the kidnappers dead as well. Morgan was tending to her shaken mother, showing no emotion, and when asked what happened, Morgan said , "They got careless."
He also told them that Lot had talked the northern kings into attacking the northern Saxons. But the Saxons annihilated the northern army, and they are most likely headed south.
The winter was mild, and none of our families suffered.
Sigerius from Gaul would be visiting Roderik's manor, and I would be taking care of him.
I met with countess Ellen, and she welcomed me to the manor, and let me know that there would be a dinner of welcome that At dinner, Sigerius was an ass. I put him in his place, and he ordered me to find him a hunt the next day. Ellen told me that Bishop Dewey wanted to meet with me the next day. And she wanted to talk with me at the garden that night. When I went to visit Ellen, I chatted a bit with Jenna about her romance and then met with Ellen. She tempted me, but I resisted her advances and turned the conversation to talk of her daughter.
I met with Dewey and a young woman. I ruled against Dewey's scheme to steal the woman's estate, and talked to Hanzel about his prospects of marrying the young noble woman.
I sent the women away from Sarum in order to make Sigerius bored, and after a few days of minimal rations, he left.
Luceers met with a knight sent by Akalon who said that Akalon needed his help about two days to the north. Luceers and Ektor headed north and met with Akalon. Luceers to.d Akalon he would spend two days to find Ygraine and Morgan, who had been captured by bandits. But then he reconsidered, thinking it may be a trap, so he left Akalon to his business. Akalon told Luceers that if Ygraine was killed, he would have words with him when he returned. Ektor got them lost as they headed back to the path to the Irish king. When Luceers took the lead, they became lost in the Forest Savage.
Luceers arrived at the coast, about a week and a half late for his meeting. The knight he met offered an assassin to Luceers to kill the Irish king, and rid Britain of one more foreign invader, but Luceers refused such "generosity."
Luceers arrived at King Canan's castle. Luceers presented his case, but the king's response was noncommittal. The next morning Luceers was awakened and told to ride with a contingent of Irish knights to another castle. They feasted, with Luceers at a place of honor. The king asked about King Lot who had already been to see him. Luceers told what he knew, and the king left, and then the entourage rode north to another castle.
Luceers composed a song and sang it, and the next day the entourage rode into the mountains. They met some tribal leaders loyal to King Canan. And they repeated this routine of riding and meeting vassals for about two weeks, and then he introduced Luceers to his oldest son. He ordered his son to fight Luceers. They fought to first blood, and Luceers felled the son with one blow. The king grunted and left again. They went to another castle and the king abruptly turned to Luceers and told him that he would fight with Uther next summer. They partied all the way back, and one night, Luceers saw Sir Alain Corleone give poison and a bag of coins to Sir Orkis. Luceers took the poison from Sir Orkis and kicked him out of camp.
Meanwhile, Giles found that Roestock was preparing for war when he arrived to ask for Afion's help. Afion agreed even though he was scheduled to go to war, as ordered by Lot.
Callus met Giles at Ebble. He suggested that they could either go <unintelligible> or go to the aid of Cairsbrook. Giles wanted to go to Cairsbrook. When they arrived, they saw that they were outnumbered 2 to 1. Giles decided to ambush them, but his ambush failed. He charged in with his five knights as the vanguard unit. Giles continued to fight, pushing farther towards the Saxon prince. The battle turned against Giles as more Saxons arrived. Giles kept fighting,but the battle was not going well. However, Giles fought his way to the Saxon leader.
Giles was finally relieved by the troops coming out of the castle, and the tide of battle turned, and Giles held the field, but he was unable to capture the Saxon king.
Roderik returned, unsuccessful in his trip. We told him about our jobs.
I swore to Roderik faithfulness to Jenna if he allowed me to marry her.
Luceers and Giles went to visit Akalon. Akalon told them that he found Ygraine and Morgan in a tower with dead guards--killed in a strange way, as if they had burst from the inside. Further inside he found the kidnappers dead as well. Morgan was tending to her shaken mother, showing no emotion, and when asked what happened, Morgan said , "They got careless."
He also told them that Lot had talked the northern kings into attacking the northern Saxons. But the Saxons annihilated the northern army, and they are most likely headed south.
The winter was mild, and none of our families suffered.
493
Late winter:
We found that Sir Alain de Corleone had taken over in Castle Tintagel. Luceers wife was concerned with Claudus's wife finding another husband. A squire arrived at Luceer's manor. He is the squire of Sir Lykus, and he bid Luceers to come with him secretly to meet with his master at Castle Ebble. Luceers left a message with his younger brother about where he was headed and headed off.
Giles had spent his time avoiding his wife who had been grieving the death of her son. A young boy named Edwin came to see Giles and told him that his knight, Sir Leo, wants him to come to Castle Ebble in secret. Giles also heads off.
A priest arrived at my manor. He wanted money and I sent him away. Then a squire, Banwin, of Sir Elid arrived and asked me to go to Ebble. I also set out on the road to Ebble..
Luceers got lost and wound up fighting Saxons. He accidentally dropped his sword, and was defeated, despite killing two of the four Saxons.
Giles and I arrived at Ebble and met up with Lykus and Elid. Giles told the story of his ensorcellment by Merlin. We heard news that King Pellinore had abandoned his kingdom to find and kill a mythical creature, and his family is offering a reward for his return.
We waited three days, with still no sign of Luceers. Then Hansel arrived and told us of Luceers' defeat. We suggested we go get him. Elid says it seems like a good initiation test. He told us of the Brotherhood of the Band, an elite group dedicated to helping Salisbury and invites us to join. We left to find Luceers.
Meanwhile, Luceers was visited by the Saxon chieftain, who demanded to know where Giles was. Luceers, weak from hunger and thirst, told the Saxon where Giles has his manor. Half of the Saxon warriors left, heading north to Salisbury. We sent Hansel to warn Roderik, and we charged the remaining warriors. Elid went to rescue Luceers while the rest of us fought the Saxons. We took the village, and headed to the nearest Briton village to have Luceers and Leo checked out by a surgeon. Giles headed home to protect his family from the other Saxons.
He arrived home just in time to prepare for the Saxon assault. But, despite Giles killing the Saxon chief, the Saxons destroyed his manor, although his wife escapes.
We spent a couple of weeks in Carisbrooke and Luceers healed some. Lykus invited Luceers into the Brotherhood. When we headed back,I stopped by and gave Giles his share of the loot from the Saxon village, in part to replace what he lost in the battle.
We learned that there was no muster this year. Roderik invited us to talk with him. He told us that court was troubling because Uther was ill, possibly due to the loss of Madoc and his new child. Uther had told Roderik to head north to meet with the Northern kings. He asked us to choose another knight and head north with him. We chose Callus to go with us. We swung by to pick him up in Chalke. Callus wanted to go fight Saxons in the south as revenge against the Saxons who attacked Giles' manor. But he finally agreed to go with us.
We met Nineve on the road and she told me that we must go left while Roderik goes right. I talked Luceers and Giles into going with me to the left, in part because Nineve said Luceers must go left. When we went left, we saw Sir Edar's horse and a man laying on the ground. Luceers talked to him and found that the man could not move or remember his name. I thought that he might be Sir Edar. Hansel said that Edar's condition was caused by the White Dwarf Giantess. She is married to the Black Dwarf Knight. Giles tracked them to their camp.
We found the dwarf knight, and when he would not answer our questions, he threatened us and Luceers and I attacked. We beat him until he gave up. His wife told us that she cast a spell on Edar's sword and gave it to a knight. And she gave his shield to a giant. And his armor to a wyrm. Without his arms and armor, Edar would not recover his memory. The knight and his wife left.
We headed to find the knight with the sword. He is known as the Knight of the Bright Sword. He has collected a lot of glory taking swords from knights. He offered us drinks from a neverending decanter and told us that he did have Edar's sword. Luceers convinced him to give us the sword since it was stolen from Edar. We gave it to Edar and he remembered that he was on a mission for the Queen under the Waves. We headed on to face the giant. We convinced the Knight of the Bright Blade to help us with the giant and the wyrm.
We found the giant's lair, covered by bones of knights,and when he saw us, he charged us. but we beat him down. We retrieved the shield and took it to Edar. We also found that Merlin was born near here and got his start healing the sick in the area. When we gave Edar his sword, we found that his mission had something to do with Luceers and that he was the paramor of the Queen under the Waves. We left to fight the wyrm. The Knight of the Bright Blade gave us some advice on fighting a wyrm.
When we found the beast, Giles drew the wyrm out of his cave with a boar call. We battled it. Luceers fell off his horse and was severely burnt by the dragon's breath. Between the Knight's great attacks and Hanzel's perfect throw of a torch, we killed the beast.
We gave the armor to Edar, and Luceers had Edar swear an oath (and us) to not raise arms against each other. When he recovered his memory, he told us that he had come to warn Luceers that his queen had sent an assassin to kill him at Christmas.
We headed on to meet Roderik. When we reached the city, the guards turned us away and told us that Roderik was also sent away. We headed back and found Roderik. Callus and I headed to the city and Callus bullied the guard until we were allowed to see King Afion. He sent his wife with us to heal.
Roderik told us that he had no luck getting into the castle. Luceers went to see Lot, and while we went through the city, someone called out to Giles. It was Sir Balwin, who fought with us at the battle of Linsey. He also warned us to turn away. We met with Lot's wife, Queen Elaine, who Luceers had helped to wed Lot. We met with Lot, and he told us that some of the northern kings wished to fight with Uther. And one of the northern kings had brought Aella to the north as a potential ally with the kings against Uther. We told Roderik about the meeting. We prepared to ride out at night. As we headed south, we were trailed by northern knights and Giles led us away from them through the paths. As we got closer to the south, we grew tired, and the pursuers caught our trail again, but we moved into the safety of Uther's kingdom.
After Roderik met Uther, he told us that we will bolster the armies in the north, but not yet attack. Uther would send envoys north to gain support from the Irish king, and he wanted to send Luceers north. Roderik would go to gain support from Brastius. My job would be to take care of Roderik's family while he is gone. Giles would lead a number of families against the Saxons.
During the winter leading into 494, my family was stricken, and I lost my oldest twin son and my illegitimate daughter, and a cousin to the icy grip of winter.
We found that Sir Alain de Corleone had taken over in Castle Tintagel. Luceers wife was concerned with Claudus's wife finding another husband. A squire arrived at Luceer's manor. He is the squire of Sir Lykus, and he bid Luceers to come with him secretly to meet with his master at Castle Ebble. Luceers left a message with his younger brother about where he was headed and headed off.
Giles had spent his time avoiding his wife who had been grieving the death of her son. A young boy named Edwin came to see Giles and told him that his knight, Sir Leo, wants him to come to Castle Ebble in secret. Giles also heads off.
A priest arrived at my manor. He wanted money and I sent him away. Then a squire, Banwin, of Sir Elid arrived and asked me to go to Ebble. I also set out on the road to Ebble..
Luceers got lost and wound up fighting Saxons. He accidentally dropped his sword, and was defeated, despite killing two of the four Saxons.
Giles and I arrived at Ebble and met up with Lykus and Elid. Giles told the story of his ensorcellment by Merlin. We heard news that King Pellinore had abandoned his kingdom to find and kill a mythical creature, and his family is offering a reward for his return.
We waited three days, with still no sign of Luceers. Then Hansel arrived and told us of Luceers' defeat. We suggested we go get him. Elid says it seems like a good initiation test. He told us of the Brotherhood of the Band, an elite group dedicated to helping Salisbury and invites us to join. We left to find Luceers.
Meanwhile, Luceers was visited by the Saxon chieftain, who demanded to know where Giles was. Luceers, weak from hunger and thirst, told the Saxon where Giles has his manor. Half of the Saxon warriors left, heading north to Salisbury. We sent Hansel to warn Roderik, and we charged the remaining warriors. Elid went to rescue Luceers while the rest of us fought the Saxons. We took the village, and headed to the nearest Briton village to have Luceers and Leo checked out by a surgeon. Giles headed home to protect his family from the other Saxons.
He arrived home just in time to prepare for the Saxon assault. But, despite Giles killing the Saxon chief, the Saxons destroyed his manor, although his wife escapes.
We spent a couple of weeks in Carisbrooke and Luceers healed some. Lykus invited Luceers into the Brotherhood. When we headed back,I stopped by and gave Giles his share of the loot from the Saxon village, in part to replace what he lost in the battle.
We learned that there was no muster this year. Roderik invited us to talk with him. He told us that court was troubling because Uther was ill, possibly due to the loss of Madoc and his new child. Uther had told Roderik to head north to meet with the Northern kings. He asked us to choose another knight and head north with him. We chose Callus to go with us. We swung by to pick him up in Chalke. Callus wanted to go fight Saxons in the south as revenge against the Saxons who attacked Giles' manor. But he finally agreed to go with us.
We met Nineve on the road and she told me that we must go left while Roderik goes right. I talked Luceers and Giles into going with me to the left, in part because Nineve said Luceers must go left. When we went left, we saw Sir Edar's horse and a man laying on the ground. Luceers talked to him and found that the man could not move or remember his name. I thought that he might be Sir Edar. Hansel said that Edar's condition was caused by the White Dwarf Giantess. She is married to the Black Dwarf Knight. Giles tracked them to their camp.
We found the dwarf knight, and when he would not answer our questions, he threatened us and Luceers and I attacked. We beat him until he gave up. His wife told us that she cast a spell on Edar's sword and gave it to a knight. And she gave his shield to a giant. And his armor to a wyrm. Without his arms and armor, Edar would not recover his memory. The knight and his wife left.
We headed to find the knight with the sword. He is known as the Knight of the Bright Sword. He has collected a lot of glory taking swords from knights. He offered us drinks from a neverending decanter and told us that he did have Edar's sword. Luceers convinced him to give us the sword since it was stolen from Edar. We gave it to Edar and he remembered that he was on a mission for the Queen under the Waves. We headed on to face the giant. We convinced the Knight of the Bright Blade to help us with the giant and the wyrm.
We found the giant's lair, covered by bones of knights,and when he saw us, he charged us. but we beat him down. We retrieved the shield and took it to Edar. We also found that Merlin was born near here and got his start healing the sick in the area. When we gave Edar his sword, we found that his mission had something to do with Luceers and that he was the paramor of the Queen under the Waves. We left to fight the wyrm. The Knight of the Bright Blade gave us some advice on fighting a wyrm.
When we found the beast, Giles drew the wyrm out of his cave with a boar call. We battled it. Luceers fell off his horse and was severely burnt by the dragon's breath. Between the Knight's great attacks and Hanzel's perfect throw of a torch, we killed the beast.
We gave the armor to Edar, and Luceers had Edar swear an oath (and us) to not raise arms against each other. When he recovered his memory, he told us that he had come to warn Luceers that his queen had sent an assassin to kill him at Christmas.
We headed on to meet Roderik. When we reached the city, the guards turned us away and told us that Roderik was also sent away. We headed back and found Roderik. Callus and I headed to the city and Callus bullied the guard until we were allowed to see King Afion. He sent his wife with us to heal.
Roderik told us that he had no luck getting into the castle. Luceers went to see Lot, and while we went through the city, someone called out to Giles. It was Sir Balwin, who fought with us at the battle of Linsey. He also warned us to turn away. We met with Lot's wife, Queen Elaine, who Luceers had helped to wed Lot. We met with Lot, and he told us that some of the northern kings wished to fight with Uther. And one of the northern kings had brought Aella to the north as a potential ally with the kings against Uther. We told Roderik about the meeting. We prepared to ride out at night. As we headed south, we were trailed by northern knights and Giles led us away from them through the paths. As we got closer to the south, we grew tired, and the pursuers caught our trail again, but we moved into the safety of Uther's kingdom.
After Roderik met Uther, he told us that we will bolster the armies in the north, but not yet attack. Uther would send envoys north to gain support from the Irish king, and he wanted to send Luceers north. Roderik would go to gain support from Brastius. My job would be to take care of Roderik's family while he is gone. Giles would lead a number of families against the Saxons.
During the winter leading into 494, my family was stricken, and I lost my oldest twin son and my illegitimate daughter, and a cousin to the icy grip of winter.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
492
We met in Tintagel for court, and found that Ygraine was pregnant. Ygraine delivered a son during the court.
Luceers met the Lady of the Lake and she told Luceers that it was time for him to repay her favor. She said that she had made an error in her prophecy, and Madoc was not the traitor. She called on her favor from Luceers and told him that he must bring all of us to meet with Merlin for, "The fate of the Pendragons depends on this."We met with Merlin and followed himinto the woods. He headed into a fog and returned with a baby, telling us to guard him. Knights, including Sir Brastius, followed him out of the fog, and we moved to intercept them. Claudus was killed in the initial clash. One of the knights recognized me. Brastius recognized Giles, and Giles told Brastius where Merlin went. Brastius headed off and we heard more sounds of battle. We found more of our warriors from Salisbury dead when we arrived, and we trailed Brastius. We found him in the morning, looking dejected. He said that he would tell Uther that we were at fault. We decided to head back to Uther.
When we arrived, Brastius was outside the throne room. He told us to return to our lord. We went to see Roderik, and told him our story, and Roderik told us to wait. We waited for three days with Sir Oleg guarding the door. Giles, who had been bested by Oleg in the battle at Terribal, left the room to fight him and was smote mightily and dragged to the dungeon.
Bishop Dewey was brought to us to hear our story. Luceers told the story., and the bishop left.
A few days later, Giles was brought back to us. We were to be tried by a jury of our peers--Ulfius, Brastius, a Cornish knight, and Eloise's husband.
Eventually we were brought to the court. Morgan pled for Luceers. We each pled our case. Roderik pled for us as well, and Dewey spoke for us, too, saying that we were ensorceled. Uther declared us innocent and turned us over to the bishop for purification, and he ordered a death sentence on Merlin. Word went around that we are known as the Knights who Condemned Merlin to Death. We underwent the bishop's silly purification.
During the winter, Giles lost his son
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
491
Luceers went to Tintagel, and Giles and I went to Terribal.
Luceers saw Uther and Merlin having an animated discussion before the two left camp. Luceers talked to Ektor about it, but Ektor convinced Luceers to not worry about it. They went on patrol, and while they were patrolling, a thick fog rolled in.
Meanwhile, Giles and I were attacked in a surprise assault from Duke Gorloi. We had our squires assist us with our armor and we mounted our horses. We fought our way to Madoc's banner where he was swamped by Gorloi's knights. Giles was unhorsed by his opponent, and Madoc was cleaved in two by Gorloi. Delan attempted to attack Gorloi, but Gorloi beheaded him. While Gorloi was distracted, I speared and killed him. I attempted to draw off three Cornish knights, but one unhorsed me. With their leader dead, the Cornish knights dispersed, and I returned to find Ulfius grieving Madoc'sdeath. Ulfius congratulated me and gifted me with Gorloi's sword.
At the same time, at Tintagel, Luceers saw Duke Gorloi ride out of the castle.
We left Giles and the wounded behind and headed for Tintagel.
At Tintagel, Luceers learned that Gorloi had been killed before Luceers saw Gorloi him ride from the castle.
We arrived at Tintagel two days later, and talked with Luceers and Ektor. Uther found out that his son had died.
The next day Brastius attempted to parley with the castle. When he returned, he told Luceers that the Duchess would only parley with Luceers. Luceers went unarmed into the castle. Morgan was happy to see "her protector." Luceers parlayed with Ygraine, and attempted to broker a peace. The Cornish knights only wanted to fight, and did not want to swear fealty to Uther. Luceers convinced her to talk to Merlin about a treaty.
Luceers returned to camp to find Merlin. He tried to convince Merlin to help, and Merlin agreed. At the castle, Luceers played with Morgan, and Morgan sang a song in a strange language and told Luceers that the white lady taught her the song, and the ability to tell the future. She said that Luceers would have a baby this year.
Merlin returned to camp and told them that a deal had been brokered: Uther would marry Ygraine to create the peace.
Roderik came to us and told me that he wanted me to be his bodyguard on a journey. Lucas was wanted by the king to stay and keep Tintagel for him. I had to leave Cornwall because of the hatred felt by the knights against me.
While riding back to Salisbury, I heard Uther saying that he needed an immediate wedding with Ygraine. Brastius said it was too soon and he didn't trust her. Roderik also felt that it was too soon, and we should fight the Saxons, but Uther was adamant. The marriage would be in London. We arrived at Stonehenge where Aurelius and Pendragon are buried, and a tomb prepared for Uhter. Madoc was placed within. We headed home.
Ygraine told Luceers to make sure that the eastern knights stayed away from her. Luceers tried to run the castle well, but failed, as he is wont to do. Uther's knights were unhappy with being removed from Ygraine. The Cornish knights talked against Luceers, but he calmed them with his oratory. Luceers tried to make himself part of the guard for Ygraine,but she rebuffed his offer.
At home, Giles found himself berated by his wife for not getting control of Tintagel. She told him that they must avoid contact with Luceers' family. She referred to Luceers wife as a witch and his adopted son as a beast. She told Giles that she expects a castle next year.
Callus visited Giles. He has a terrible scar that he received in a battle with Saxons at Pevensey. The Saxons slaughtered and sacrificed the people of there. He told Giles that they have been ordered not to ride against the Saxons, despite the massacre.
Ygraine showed a message she received from Uther that their marriage must be held Immediately in London. She said that she would not go to London, and she wanted the marriage to be held in Tintagel. He agreed to send a message to Uther. She also wanted to continue the pact she made for her older daughter Morgausa to ride to be married to King Lot. Luceers agreed to that as well. The message must have worked for Uther prepared to be married in Tintagel.
When I returned home, I found an extra three year old daughter wandering around the house. The daughter is obviously mine-with a vengeance arm- so I convinced my wife that I have never been to Pevensey (where the girl is from) and named the girl Cinderella and gave her to some peasants to raise.
When Mary arrived at Tintagel, she told Luceers of Lady Elaine's suspicions, and helped Luceers prepare for the upcoming wedding. But they prepared horribly, as Luceers is wont to do.
Roderik told me to wait in Salisbury and not go to the wedding because of lingering animosity about my slaying of Gorloi.
At the wedding, Luceers noticed that Ygraine is already pregnant.
Roderik picked up Giles to go to the wedding.
The wedding was strangely decorated and four bishops presided over the ceremony. But Uther and Ygraine were married.
There was some intrigue at the wedding as Luceers and Giles could not keep their wives in check.
The happiest and saddest event happened during the winter. My wife, Adwen, passed away in childbirth. I hope she finds peace with her god. Even in death, she served me well, delivering for me another son, whom I named Ardwen after my wife.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
490
490
Luceers was married. At the wedding we heard that Igraine was at court a lot, and that her anceestor was the queen under the sea.
We were called to court early because of our glory, and we were met by Elid. We met Roderik and his son, Robert. Roderik asked us what we thought of Madoc and Uther, and then asked us to perform a task for him. Roderik wanted us to head to the north to bring Madoc back from Mallahot where he had fled after the battle in Gaul. He sent the shield of Aurelius with us as a sign for Madoc. He told us to tell our wives we were headed to Cornwall, and not tell anyone of our mission.
We headed north through the swamp to Mallohot. I was worn out from the ride through the mud. We talked to people in the village and found a woman who works in the castle who might be able to tell us more about if Madoc was there. She said that she had heard that Madoc has been back, but she thought that he was now in Linsey with the other Northern kings.
We headed to Linsey and found where the knights and kings were staying. Outside the city was Rheged. We also found the manor of the duke of Cambenet. Kings Lot and Gorloth were in the city together. The king of Roestock was in a keep.
We met with Afion, king of Roestock. At Giles's prompting,we found that Madoc was in Castle Linsey. The kings were together to discuss an alliance against King Hengest, who has giants. Afion agreed to take a note to Madoc that asked him to meet with us.
Madoc met with us. We showed him the shield,and Luceers attempted to convince Madoc to come back. But he had agreed to stay and fight the Saxons. He would come back with us if we convinced the southern kings to help the northern kings.
We headed back to Uther and told Roderik of the situation, and Roderik told Uther. Merlin convinced Uther to go North.
When we headed north, we found that the Saxons had gone through King Mark's land and were attacking Linsey. Our forces were 2000 knights and 5000 foot soldiers against 10 to 15000 Saxons. Bad omens on the Saxon side had made them nervous, and Uther's sword Excalibur made them moreso. Giles rode with Madoc in the first charge, and Gorloi asked Luceers to protect the left flank. I rode with Roderik and Akalon and Lot.
We crushed the Saxons, with Giles capturing the banner, and Me killing Akteh, the Saxon war chief.
We then celebrated at Linsey for a couple of weeks. Luceers told lots of lies about his battle prowess--which once again truly centered on being beaten by a giant. I found some available maids, and Giles recovered from his head injury that has left him scarred. Akalon came to me. He told me of a feast being held in the honor of the best knights. He also told me to be careful of Lot, that his ambition borders on evil, and he should be watched. Giles was also invited to the feast.
We attended the feast with the other notables including Sir Alain. Our wives sang the chorus for Ygraine, andUther manifested a deep lust for Ygraine.
Gorloi invited Luceers to Christmas Court. Morgan wanted to see Luceers and Akalon. Luceers felt uncomfortable around Morgana; finding her dark and aloof and brooding. However, he sang for her, and she finally smiled and told Luceers that she knew the fairy princess was right when she told her that Luceers would be her protector forever. Uther would not let Gorloi leave the court, and Gorloi came to Luceers and asked him for a favor--to leave the pig gate open so Gorloi and Ygraine could flee the court and Uther's lustful gaze. Luceers and Akalon agreed. Gorloi and his family left. Uther was incensed. Uther ordered his knights to chase them down, but a sudden snowstorm kept them from leaving, and trapped Luceers at court for the winter.
In the winter, my squire, Sam, was knighted,and I retained Thomas as my new squire. It was a harsh winter, and I lost two horses, but my family was well, and my brother, newly ensconced in the Forest Savage had another child.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
489
Late in the winter, Prince Madoc passed through Salisbury, staying with our lord Roderik. After he left, he headed to our domains, starting with Luceers.
He offered condolences on the death of Luceers's wife and asked if he would be ready to take the field in the spring. Luceers was a great host and composed a great ode to the Battle of Somerset for the prince. Prince Madoc announced that he planned to continue the war against the Saxons in the summer.
Giles, however, was a horrible host, feeding Madoc gruel and turnips, but Madoc likes him anyway because of his warrior spirit. They gave each other gifts. Giles gave Madoc the Axe of the Saxon on the bridge, and Madoc gave Giles a horse and the chance to lead the charge at the battle in the summer.
Then the prince visited me. My hospitality was good, as befitting one of Madoc's station. We chatted about battle, and he told me a secret. (Akalon has been a spy in the northern kingdoms,and they will help Madoc and Gorloi defeat one Saxon king, while Salisbury fights Aella again. But Uther has been smitten by a Frankish princess sent to be married to Madoc and may not take the field.
In the summer, Court is in London, but Roderik took no knights with him. Sir Ector offered to take care of Luceers' daughter while he is away in the summer.
Akalon visited Giles and wished him luck in the coming battles. We find out that Delan has plans to we'd Jenna (Roderik's daughter) in the summer, even though she is well above his station.
Roderik was late returning from London, and when he did return, he was in a somber. Luceers tried to keep the men's spirits up and distracted from the unease created by our lord's mood. Apparently Roderik plans to only muster knights, and not footmen for the battles in the summer. I talked to Elid and found that Uther had decided to send troops to fight the Franks instead of finishing Aella. Roderik's leaves for Gaul.
Roderik leaves us and Delan for garrison duty. I am untowardly cruel to the younger knights in frustration, hating that I am back in the towers where my father avoided glory, but Luceers tried to sooth their hurt egos.
While we waste out time in the towers, some peasant pilgrims arrived. They reported Saxon raiders on the road to the south, even burning a village in Logres. We decided to patrol for Saxons. We found a village raided three days earlier, and the Saxons seem to be looking for Steeple Lankford--Giles' holding. (A big Saxon was looking for revenge on the one who killed his brother on a bridge.)
One night, Merlin appeared to talk to Giles. He wanted us to protect Nineve, the nymph, on a trip to consult an oracle about whether she should support Uther. After some discussion, we travelled a day west and north. Nineve has seen visions of a sad time ahead but she needs confirmation at the Ring near the Forest Savage. We travel in the rain for several days.
Nineve told us that she must run an errand. Luceers flirts and deserts the ladies in waiting while Giles and I met a hermit in the woods who asked where we are going. Nineve said we were going to see Dame Oir. The hermit asked for our cloaks in return for telling us where the Dame was, but only Nineve was willing. The hermit did not like her cloak and went off muttering.
Back at camp, Luceers found love with the ladies.
Giles and I were questioned by a noble woman who asked what makes us good men. I said duty to my lord, and Giles said he's not a good man. She asked if there is any reason a man should not keep his word, and we both had reasons.
(Luceers resists the ladies.)
We went through a field of poppies, and I was forced to carry Nineve and Giles as they fell asleep.
(Luceers resists the ladies.)
We finally arrived at the hut of the wise woman. The old woman is the mother of Balin, who Nineve says will one day be a good knight. I recognized that Balin is a young man who lives in Cornwall. Nineve fed the old woman a potion that kills her. She gave me a ring to deliver to Balin in Cornwall.
(Luceers resists the ladies.)
It takes us three days to get back. (Luceers cannot resist the ladies. )
We headed north to the forest. The forest was restless because the kingdom is restless. The forest itself seemed to try to confuse us but Giles found the way through. On the next day, though, Giles had a harder time and the path led us to a village with a strange well with a large cross and Gaelic writing, which told the story of Helen, the spirit of water, who protects the area. There was a church and a tower under construction by peasants being whipped by overseers. Lord Gorboduc wanted the tower to be built in haste. We saw the Lord. Luceers spoke on behalf of the peasants but the lord dismissed us. Giles noticed that the lord had a scaly hump. We talked to the village priest and he told us to wait til evening. The priest insulted me, despite my desire to help his "flock."
That night, I caught the lord's soldiers taking babies into the tower. When i stopped one, he went to tell Gorbaduc, and shortly thereafter, the lord came down with his men. Luceers, following some superstition taught by his religion, threw water on the lord, and then we all fight. Luceers prayed during the fight and a cold wind and a knightly ghost rose from the well and points at the lord, helping us despite our impiety toward the old ways. The warriors scattered in fear, and the ghost disappeared. Gorboduc attacked me and Luceers. We slew him. I claimed his chainmail and won the town in a draw of cards. I'll send Isdernus to look after it, and get rid of that rude priest.
We headed back out through the forest and Giles led us well for one day and then got us lost again. As we travelled, a knight came out of the woods, surprised to see travelers in the woods. We recognized him as Sir Merrin the Beast-Knight. He invited us to dinner and we dined with him and his wife. She cooks her specialty, a horrible stew that honesty could not let go unmentioned by Giles and I.
The next morning Sam told me that his horse was killed by Merrin's dogs. I accused his wife of releasing the dogs and she denied it. As I left, I saw the dogs with their bloody maws, and I felt my arm twitching. Before I quite knew what had happened, I had slain every dog.
We finally arrived at the ring and found Picts there doing a ritual. We tried to intimidate them and despite Giles falling from his horse, the Picts left.
Nineve did her ritual and announced that Merlin is right. Uther must be high king, but his son will betray us all.
We returned home to find that Roderik and his knights had returned. They told us that when they arrived in Gaul, Callus heard Madoc talking to a Roman emissary. He said that he would only fight at one battle for one city. Madoc killed many Franks. Ektor won great glory by rescuing the Roman leader. They were one day from the Frankish king and Madoc left. The Roman called Madoc and Uther oath breakers. The next day Claudius defeated the Romans and the Franks now rule all of Gaul. The knights returned home, but the men grumbled against Madoc. (Perhaps Nineve's divination was correct.)
There was also news that the Saxons are reuniting and did some damage to some Southern towns. We ended the winter with people disgruntled and confused.
The winter time was good for me again, and despite a brief illness for the boys, the winter went well. Adwen has delivered me another child, a daughter.
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