Sunday, January 6, 2013

509

We heard that there would be a grand tournament in London, to see about the matter of the sword in the stone.

With the army scattered after the last battle, Salisbury found itself prey to Saxon raids.

Alex took two new manors and fought off a Saxon raid.

Baldulf and Robert were visited by Sir Brastius. Brastius told us that there would be a non-lethal tourney in London on New Years and whoever won would have the blessing of the collegium to be High King. Robert had the right to fight in the tourney or to fight on behalf of another man.

Robert called for the Brotherhood of the Band to meet. He asked who we should support in the tourney. When we told him that he should support no one, he agreed to join the tourney. We held a feast to celebrate Robert's knighthood, and Giles knighted Robert.

The Salisbury entourage headed to London. Brastius explained how the tourney would work. Our team would be Bellaus, Giles, Baldulf, Merl, and Accalon, with Robert leading us. At the feast, Merl accidentally spilled ale on one of Mark's knights, Sir Ryons the Giant. They agreed to fight each other in the lists.

The next day, the bohort took place, and Reginald participated, but we never paid much attention to who won.

Giles and Merl acquitted themselves well in the hunt.

Basil did well at falconry.

Baldulf, Alex and Giles did well at horsemanship.

Baldulf and Alex and Giles did well at lancing.

We drew Logres for the tourney, facing Duke Ulfius and his team. We talked some with King Afion's son. Then Merl talked with King Lot and met his son, Sir Gawain. Gawain and Merl went off to find women together.

The next day we prepared for the tourney. Lot defeated Iner. The Centurion King defeated King Allen (Nanteleod's son). The day ended.

The next day, we fought Ulfius. We won, with Merl managing to knock out both Accalon and Ulfius. Eskin defeated Durfel.

The next day we drew Lot. The Centurion King defeated Eskin. We convinced Brastius to let us fight in the afternoon, to avoid Sir Gawain's prowess at noon. I fought the Pict. Giles fought Gawain. Merl fought the giant. We were doing well, when a call went up from the crowd that the sword in the stone had been drawn. We halted the fight to go see what was happening. Older knights were trying to pull the sword from the stone. Finally, Brastius let a nearby boy try. He pulled the sword from the stone, and when he did, trumpets from heaven blared and a beam of light beamed on the boy and we realized the boy was Arthur. Lot and the Centurion king complained. Some knights bent their knees to Arthur, but Lot and the Centurion king swore they would never bend knees to Merlin's fake king. Robert told us to walk away from the scene, and we all did, except Giles who walked to Lot.

Merlin called for calm, and told us that the most honorable knights would keep watch over the sword until Candlemass, when the best knights in the land would get another chance to pull out the sword. Merl was asked to provide the honor guard. He picked Aleks and eight other knights to serve as watchers with the knights of the other nine most honest knights.

We heard that Arthur's most ardent supporter, Leodegrance, had left in order to defend his kingdom against Sir Ryan's assault. We talked with Robert and convinced him to support Arthur if he could draw the sword again.

At Candlemass, Arthur removed the sword again, and many knights swore allegiance to Arthur, including Robert. Lot forced the ceremony to repeat a number of times until, on Pentecost, the people rose up for Arthur, and Lot and the dissenters were forced to leave. Arthur was knighted and given the arms of the Pendragon.

Giles received a letter with the name of Castle Garloth on it. When he went, the castle appeared abandoned, except for a huge black rock. At the end of the hall was Morgan. She told Giles that Briton was in great danger: if Arthur became king, it would be the end of Briton. She told Giles she would have need of him in the future.

 

508

We heard that Mark and Cerdic had allied. Nanteleod said he was determined to finish off Cerdic. We rode to battle and I noted that King Aelle was there. We had about 18000 troops and they had about 27000 troops.

We took the Salisbury knights to face the Cornish knights. Early in the battle, things went poorly for Cerdic. After pushing back the Cornish knights, we spotted some Saxons led by one of Cerdic's sons, and we moved on them. We pushed them back, including their giants (I was knocked unconscious) and found some Saxon knights fighting Nanteleod and his bodyguards. We engaged them, but were unable to stop them before they killed Nanteleod. Nanteleod's forces broke, and Sir Giles and Sir Parrigin were captured by Saxons.

We also heard that Duke Corneus of Linsey had died, poisoned by an unknown assassin.

 

507

Aleks

In the winter, we were told that King Nanteleod wanted to hold court at Sarum this year. We thought it was so he was within striking distance of Cornwall.

Merl and Kay approached me with a joke to play on Arthur and my sister. But I suggested that a better way to "toughen up" Arthur might be to have a squire tournament. Kay approached Giles and got him to agree. My squire, Ardwen --my younger brother--was defeated by an unknown squire.

At court, there was not much business. But we did hear that Cerdic had gone to parley with Aelle and they had formed an alliance. Prince Mark arrived as well,but there was great tension between him and his knights and those of Nanteleod. Prince Mark asked Baldulf to renounce Nanteleod and join Cornwall. Otherwise, he feared that Nanteleod would attack Cornwall and leave us all weakened against the Saxons. We had a grand feast, but Morgan appeared disgusted by all of it.

Baldulf talked with Morgan and tried to convince her to not war with Cornwall. She played coy, but said she would consider it.

The elder knights met with Nanteleod and convinced him to war with the Saxons this year.

In the hall, Sir Parrigin said that he would go to ask Baldulf for his daughter's hand in marriage. He asked, offering the sword of a king in the north, and Baldulf told him he must prove himself in battle first.

Nanteleod announced that we would fight Saxons, but first we had to fight Cornwall. We all gasped at the change in plans. Then Nanteleod collapsed and was rushed from the room.

The young knights prepared to go find Merl a wife. We traveled to the Feywild, but Merl remembered that there was a huntsman who sometimes helped knights traverse the forest. We traveled and found Sir Marin, the huntsman (the same knight who had his dogs slain by Baldulf years ago). He offered us his hospitality, even finding that I was the son of Baldulf. But he offered us the damned stew again, and we insulted his wife again, and so he exacted our help in a quest in order to get his service. We went to hunt a horned lion. I was knocked unconscious, but Merl and Marius managed to down the beast.

We returned to Sir Marin's house, and Merl took over the stew duty (which seemed rather un-knightly). Marius and I mocked him. We stayed for three weeks and rested, and finally we were able to head into the Forest Savage. We passed the towers of the knights we found earlier, but their towers were in ruins. We stopped at Southhampton, but found that Leslie was away, and all the men had left to go to war with Oberon's kingdom. We headed on to Magogs castle, but found that the king was off at war, as well. Merl played chess with the dwarf, and Merl lost, but the dwarf told us how to get to the king.

We reached the king, and he told us that he could not release Lady Vythalin, without a replacement, for she guards the magic of the spring. Magog told us that Oberon had a knight who was immortal and could only be wounded by a virgin knight, and Sir Marius announced that he was a virgin. Magog asked what Marius would want in return for his service, and Marius said that he would like Vythalin. Merl expostulated, and wracked his brain for another way to defeat the Knight of the Moon. Titania finally told Merl that the knight was also quite fond of poetry, and Merl set off to meet the knight before Marius. Merl sent a loose fairy woman to Marius, and she seduced him, making him unfit to fight the Knight of the Moon.

Merl rode out to meet the knight. They had a poetry competition, and Merl won. The Knight of the Moon rode away. Titania then told Merl that he owed her a favor for her help. Renee took a rose of hers and she wanted it back. Merl agreed to return it to her. Titania told Marius that if he could get the rose and give it to Vithalin first, she would love him first.

We headed north to the edge of Logres and the manor of Sir Renee. As we arrived we got the sense that something in the forest was following us. We tried to track it, but even with Merl's dogs we had a hard time catching it. We heard a man weeping in the woods, and we approached. We found a man of noble birth, completely naked, bawling for Mona. Merl and he wrestled, and Merl appealed to his pride and finally brought him to his senses. He told us that he was there to get the rose to win his Mona. Merl invited him to come along with us. Sir Vincent, the naked knight, told us that Sir Renee had a guardian who protected the rose.

We rode to the garden, and found a suit of rusty armor, which came to life as Merl entered the garden. It challenged Merl and told him that we could only enter the garden if we swore to not take anything from the garden. I agreed to the oath and was able to see the rose, and all the other flowers that inspired passions, but I took nothing. Merl announced that he would take the rose and the rusty armor attacked. Merl and I fought the armor, and Marius sneaked past us to try to get the rose. We defeated the rusty guardian, and Merl and Marius attempted to get to the rose, fighting snakes and a maze to get through. Marius failed. Merl made it through the maze, but when he got to the flower, the woman convinced him to get a flower to incite his hatred for Saxons instead of the rose. Merl also took a flower for Marius that would invoke his passion against Vithalin.

We returned to get Vithalin,and Merl told her that she had been released. Merl went to find Titania and told her that he failed at his quest. She told him that it was of no concern as the flower was not hers.

When we returned, we heard that Giles and the Duke had taken London. The rest of our knights went with the king and attacked Somerset, taking the city of Dorset. We heard that King Ydris had brought reinforcements for Mark. Raiders from Cerdic disrupted our crop production. In the north, King Lot invaded Malahaut, forcing the Centurion King's army to retreat.

506

Baldulf

Court this year was held in Eschavolon, where I had to go to swear the fealty of Salisbury to Nanteleod's kingdom. Everyone of importance in Salisbury went.

At court, we noticed that Morgan had a number of ladies waiting on her, but none were nobles. Also, a number of knights followed her around, including Giles.

A group of knights from Cornwall were also in attendance, and made everyone nervous.

Nanteleod announced that the Collegium had voted that he should be High King. He also said that he was going to give the land of Avalon to his wife, Morgan, and he announced that Sir Elain was his son, and he named him his heir.

During the night, Prince Mark of Cornwall and Prince Elain taunted each other throughout the night, and they seemed to hate each other.

Leslie

Late at night, Kay told us (me, Marius, and Merl) that Morgan had told him that there was a creature in the woods called the Great Huntsman and that we could get great glory from killing it. We headed into the woods and waited, but we didn't find anything. While we were joking around, we heard laughter, and realized that we had been followed by Robert and Arthur. And at that point, the Huntsman appeared with his pack of spectral dogs. We battled.

We demolished the dogs, but could not hurt the Huntsman. Marius grabbed Robert and rode away. The Huntsman charged after them, and an old, bearded man stepped out of the woods and scared off the creature. In talking with him, we learned that his name is Merlin.

He told us that the way to kill the Huntsman is only known by Magog of the Forest Savage. Marius suggested that we could give Robert to Merlin for safekeeping until we found a way to kill the Huntsman. We refused the suggestion and headed to the Forest Savage.

Kay and I argued about who was smarter before we ran into some laughing magpies. One of the magpies said that it was watching us, and I slew it. The other magpies flew away, and we continued on. The road got darker. We crossed a dangerous bridge and found ourselves in front of a castle. A man stood by the road and called out to us, and invited us into the castle of Sir Garmin. In the castle, we found all sorts of pleasures: gaming, oratory, singing, dancing, etc.

Two days later, Kay snapped me out of my reverie two days later. But Marius and Merl were trapped in their dreams.

Back at the castle, the older knights realized what had happened. They sent Giles, Akalon, Damian, and Reginald the watchman to go track the missing knights. Before they left, Giles and Akalon stopped to talk to Morgan. She told them that she sent the knights out to fight the Huntsman, but she saw no reason why Robert would have gone. She also told them that the Huntsman could only harm his single prey, and all wounds inflicted on others would disappear in the morning. She and her ladies were trying to confuse the Huntsman, so he would not find his prey.

On Day 4, we roused Merl from his dream gaming. And Marius awakened as well. We moved on, looking for Magog. We eventually came across another mott and bailey castle, with the drawbridge up. The knight of the castle, Sir Eave, said that we could only pass over the river if we bested him in a riding test. We raced, and I fell off, of course. The others raced on, avoiding pits and spikes. While the rest continued on the horse race of death, I went into the castle and attempted to lower the drawbridge, while the guard tried to stop me. I got the drawbridge open, and shut the gate and told Sir Eave that he could have his keep back when he brought back Marius. He collected Marius and we crossed the bridge.

As we rode, we saw a dove fly across the bend, and when we turned around the corner, we came across a small, walled city. We rode through the city. A citizen told us that we should see Sir Felix. At his house, he invited us in, to the sound of women's laughter. We went in and saw many women. Merl wrote some poetry and Felix invited us to stay for dinner so Merl could read some of his poetry. Arthur tried to stay, but we dragged him away, and we headed on.

A day later, we arrived at a massive castle worked by silent peasants. Merl made a fart joke and a peasant laughed. When he laughed, a griffon arose out of the woods and attacked the peasant. Merl leaped to defend the peasant, and we all joined the fight. Robert and Marius were almost killed, but Kay slew the griffin with a well-placed arrow.

The peasant told us that Magog is a turbulent man whose temperament changes day to day. We arrived at the castle which is huge, but only a dwarf is there. He told us his lord would be here soon, and then disappeared. A dandy in the corner welcomed us and told us that he was the one who decided who could see Magog. The first day we had to best him in falconry to see the king. I, for a change, was magnificent and was allowed to pass into the private banquet hall of Magog.

He offered me a castle if I joined him. I made sure that he would tell the others how to kill the Huntsman. I became The Lord of Southampton in service to Magog. Magog told the others that they must go to the town of Stevington and dip their weapons in the fountain.

A servant told the group how to get to Stevington, and the group headed off. They followed the directions and arrived. They met Lady Vithelen, a most beautiful woman, who handed each knight a chrysanthemum. She told them that only an honest man may draw water from the well, and only one man may come with her. Sir Merl went with her to the fountain. She asked Merl what he is most afraid of. He said, "his father." As she talked, her gown fell slightly open, and Merl and the woman made love. She asked Merl to remain with her and marry her. Merl refused and took the water from the well.

After leaving the well, they became lost, trying to get out of the fey wild.

Damien

Meanwhile, I caught the trail of the missing knights. We headed into the Forest Savage, but got lost. Five weeks later, Giles led us into the Feywild. We came across a castle where the castellan told us that there was a man in the castle that said he is the best warrior. Giles did not rise to the bait, and we rode on by. Next we came across the castle of Sir Eaves, but we rode across the drawbridge. Next we arrived at Southampton, ruled by Sir Leslie. Leslie told a long story to delay us, and Akalon was enraptured. Reginald and I were ensnared by Leslie's wife's sisters, and Giles moved out on his own.

Finally Giles arrived at Magog's castle and passed the falconry test. Magog attempted to sway Giles to join him. He also told Giles that Giles was ensorceled, and could use his one wish to remove the effect of the spell. Instead Giles asked to have everyone transported out of the Feywild. We were all reunited, and we heard the horns of the Huntsman. Merl sprinkled the holy water, and we went to battle.

Merl and Akalon destroyed the Huntsman.

We returned to court and told our story. Morgan seemed visibly relieved when she heard the Huntsman had died. Salisbury swore fealty to Nanteleod, and we finally headed home in late September. It was obvious that there would be war between Mark and Nanteleod the next year. Kay was knighted, and Arthur became his squire.

In the winter, Sir Giles's wife died, ending the betting about whether Giles would die in battle or at the hands of his wife.

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