520

We went to court, and found many empty seats. Arthur told us that we had won the peace, and he gave us gifts. Merl was made Duke of Sussex. Senorix was granted Netherwallop, Middlewallop, and Overwallop manors and Byrhtnoth's sword. Arthur gaves Cerdic to Senorix to kill as payment for his Christmas gift, but Senorix showed mercy and had him swear fealty to Arthur and return to his lesser lands. I told my story of the battle, and Arthur gave me the manors of Ford, Falk, and Laverstock. And for saving his life, he gave me a ring which he said was given to Cerdic by Vortigern. Jacob and Eddard were also granted manors.

Giles the Younger and I were inducted into the Round Table. Senorix entertained some marriage offers from the Ortneys, Cerdic for his daughter, and Basil Wallingford's wife. Senorix decided to marry Lady Britta of Ortney.

In the winter, my apiary was stolen. 

519

At the beginning of the year, Arthur asked Snorix to join his round table.

At my wedding, we heard about the white knight, who would not say his name. We also heard that Merlin disappeared at Arthur's battle and had not been seen since. We also heard that King Pellinore had returned.

In the spring, we headed to Carleon, along with all of the knights in the kingdom. Arthur announced that this is the year when Aelle said he would destroy us, and while foreign knights were coming to our banner because of our honor and chivalry, the brothers of Aelle were massing on the continent, along with the four kings--Aelle, Aethelberht, Cerdic, and Eosa-- and their 40,000 soldiers. The people murmured, but they fell silent when two women entered--Morgan and another woman. Arthur asked why the witch had come here. She said that she had seen portents that marked this as the darkest year, and she had come to offer her aid, since Merlin was gone, and she wished to protect her people, the Britons. Arthur agreed to her aid and allowed her to accompany him into combat.

Arthur asked for a knight to volunteer to take a message to King Mark, and Giles the Younger volunteered, but then Jenna said that she would take the message.

(Baldulf)

Baron Belaus Wallingford came to visit me to try to get me to fight in the battle, but I was too weak.

(Roderik)

The army headed across the Enborn river and was ambushed by Aelle.

In the first charge, Giles the Elder was killed.

Damien was able to cross blades with both Eosa and Aelle.

We were forced to retreat back across the river to the city of Donnington.

Rain continued to fall. Morgan arrived and asked Merl to get her to the Saxon witches in the next day of battle.

We fought some more, and Basil Wallingford went down and was lost.

Doddinus died. Sagamore is dead.

The second day of battle ended, and Arthur was able to find an advantageous hill to fight from the next day.

On day 3, we saw three real giants in the Saxon forces, and a white dragon flying overhead. Arthur said today was our victory and he charged. A red dragon flew out of the clouds and dragged the white dragon off.

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518

At court, Merl was honored for bringing Yeofun in to Arthur's vassalage.

Some knights arrived and whispered to Arthur about Baercun, in the north, falling, and he stormed out of the room, upset. Merl and Kay were appointed to defend the south while Arthur took the army north to rescue Baercun.

We went to fortify our area, while Gavin and Senorix scouted. They both found that forces were moving to meet with Cerdic in the south. Senorix also found a dead giant with a chest of money that was headed for a mercenary force. Senorix also found a yale to kill.

Reginald, the messenger, returned with Sir Doddinus, who was injured. He related that they were lured into a trap and their army scattered, and Arthur was lost.

Senorix and I headed north with Gawain and Kay to find Arthur, and Merl and Giles stayed to defend the south.

The Saxons arrived in the south, with an army made mostly of Cerdic's forces. They asked us to surrender, but Giles refused.

The rest of us made it to Lincoln, where Arthur was lost. In the woods, we could hear occasional battles. We were set upon by berserkers, but we dispatched them. We were later ambushed by Saxons, and in the battle, I saw a blue light. It was coming from a lady by a lake. I rescued her from some Saxons and she said that she had a potion that she needed to take to heal Arthur. I was forced to leave my companions to go help the woman. I followed the woman until I came by a clearing where Aelle spoke with his son. I avoided them and headed another way that took me through a barrow. In it, I was faced with a spectral warrior whom I placated with some money. I was able to get the woman, Nineveh--who I thought had died in court, to Arthur, and gave him the potion. He was healed, and he told me to rendezvous with Giles the Elder at Castor and meet again with Arthur at Eberkham.

Back in the south, Merl and Giles fought the Saxon force. Gavin was gravely wounded.

<New session>

While I found Arthur, Senorix and his crew killed many Saxons and captured one of Aelle's sons. They then proceeded to try to track me down. They arrived at a place where battle was about to be joined between Sir Kador and Aelle's troops.

Looking for Giles, I came across a pool with 7 gold cups on it, and a magpie watching me from a tree. I pondered over the pond, but eventually I moved on.

At the battle in the south, Merl and Giles managed to drive Cerdic's forces back and win the day.

At Senorix's battle, he and his men were beaten back and forced to flee, but as they fled, they saw a white haired knight, clad all in white go charging into the Saxons.

I finally found Giles and his Pict army. He agreed to go with me. We headed to Eberkham, and when we arrived, we found Arthur's army gathered outside the city. We engaged in battle with the city. We dealt massive damage with our unit, but the battle winds blew against us and we had to retreat.

In the winter, I married the daughter of Giles the Elder, to replace Courtney, who had died last winter.

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517

Merl had been living through the winter in a tent outside, where the snow fell heavily. He tried a rhubarb experiment, but seemed thwarted by his curse no matter what he did--within a few hours the food would rot. Giles and I rode to see how far the snow extended, and Giles almost died from exposure. As we rode back, we saw two knights--Sir Gawain and his brother Gareth--who were looking for Merl. Gawain told us that they had spent the entire summer chasing Cerdic's Saxons, who refused to meet them on the field. We returned to the keep and talked to Merl. He decided to head to the woods witch with Gawain, while the rest of us headed to the Saxon village.

The witch told Merl that she thought the ward made by her mother for John may be causing the problems. She offered to help Merl if he swore an oath to never build a Christian church in his lands. Merl swore to not build a church unless directly ordered by Arthur and to give her his son Gryphon.

Merl brought the witch back to the keep. The Saxon villagers said the witch had stolen one of their children. Senorix tried to attack Merl, and I had to restrain him. Tor threatened to leave. Senorix argued that the witch and Chandler were working together to keep lords out of the manor. Merl confronted the two of them, and in a fit, Merl smashed the witch's head and then seemed to realize what he had done and ran out of the room. Gavin chased him down and tried to reason with I'm, and the two wound up getting lost. The rest of us ate and napped. We showed the dead witch to the villagers. Two days later, Merl and Gavin arrived, frost burnt.

Merl asked Chandler to show him where the Wakely's possession were stored. He showed us a pile of letters from William's wife and a chest from John.

Merl buildt a henge and I rebuilt the church. The food finally started to get better. Merl sent for Vythalin and more food. She came in the spring, bringing Gawain with her. We threw a festival, and even Sir Kay came, along with two young knight, Sir Sagamore and Sir Doddinos--also Sir Bedivere. Vythalin had organized a hunt, and the knights grouped up. Sir Gawain, Giles and I stayed behind. I saw Gawain leaving Vythalin's room.

Gawain and Giles found nothing on the hunt.

Merl and Tor found a fallow deer and beat it with clubs. They won the hunt.

Senorix and Kay found a bear and killed it.

Doddinus and Sagamore didn't return.

The party went on, and finally Doddinos and Sagamore arrived, bloodied and injured and escorting two noble women. They said that they had found these women in a coach being attacked. The young knights defended them. We mounted up and went to find the Saxons. Merl led us over the river, cutting them off before they could reach their main group. We fought. We defeated the Saxons and rescued Baron Porten. Merl rescued his daughter. We took a prisoner and he told us that their chieftain Eofan wanted to meet with Merl.

We found Sagamore and Doddinus arguing about who was better. They challenged each other to a duel.

The next day we had a jousting tourney. Giles bested me. Senorix bested Tor. Merl bested Bedivere. Gawain bested Kay. In the second round, Gawain bests Merl. Giles beat Senorix. In the third round, Giles won the Peasant's Tourney.

With the culmination of the tourney, we felt the curse on the manor lift and the ghosts leave.

Sagamore and Doddinus dueled for three hours, but the winner was undecided. They both bet they could kill more Saxons in the coming year.

We went to meet the Saxon thegn, Yeofun. Merl parleyed with Yeofun. Yeofun told us that Aelle and Cerdic would destroy us all. However, he agreed to swear fealty to Arthur

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516

Merl took us north to our valley to start reclaiming Castle Wakely--with Senorix, Giles, Tor, Gavin, and myself. Senorix went exploring and found a lot of bones. Merl found a burnt out manor house with a palisade.

I was on the Essex side of our lands and I became lost, and it started raining, and I found myself near a cave. I chose to rest outside of the cave in the rain, and in the morning, one of my horses was missing. When I met back with the others, we discussed what we saw and concluded that a dragon must have been nearby.

The next day, we searched the lands some more, Senorix and Giles found a dilapidated bridge across the river. They also found a manor house that had collapsed but had a workable mill. He also found a Latin scroll that he was unable to read--except to know that John Wakely was mentioned. Merl found a third manor--this one was standing and the hall was mostly intact and had an intact road that led into Salisbury, apparently cleared by a number of horses. I found myself in a very thick forest. I found a house with a henge around it. An old woman in it was the seer for my grandfather, Emrys.

On the next day, Merl headed west and found a road that connected to a large road and found himself on a ridge, and below him a few hundred yards away was a Saxon village surrounding a manor house--outnumbering us and our 50 knights 3 to 1.

Senorix headed south and left the valley into Silchester and saw a number of Saxons. He turned back, and as he did he found a small Roman fort that needed some work. There was a bear in the fort. They killed it. Senorix ripped the bear pelt off. They also found a cemetery with a skeleton. Senorix found a signet ring.

I headed East. My horse stumbled in a hole, and poking around I found a mass grave.

The next day we headed east and went past the mass grave and found the castle. The stone wall and the keep were intact, but the church had been burnt down. Chandler, an old man, lived in the castle. He told us that Sir Declan killed himself after trying to reclaim the Wakely estate. Then Storn, a Saxon, came and set up a village to the east, and then the whole family left. We set the peasants to planting fields. We found out from Chandler the history of the old Wakelys. Then he took us to our rooms. When checking out the master bedroom, Senorix tried to throw himself from the ledge, but Chandler stopped him.

We explored a secret passage. When Merl went through, he heard some singing and was scared. Giles and I checked it out and found a ring with some blood on it. Chandler showed us the other secret passages.

Senorix and Tor caught some Saxon villagers, and they told us that Winferth led the town to the east. While we were talking, the mantle in the great hall suddenly dumped its contents.

We went to see the Saxon village to the east. Winferth agreed to swear fealty to Merl.

Back at the castle, we got ready for bed, and Senorix saw Chandler leaving the castle. Senorix followed him and found him talking to two men on horseback. They talked and the men give Chandler a packet, and then he returned to the castle. Senorix confronted him, and they came to an agreement.

We sent a rider back to Arthur for reinforcements but they never made it through. The rhubarb crop was good, but the food decayed quickly in the castle. We went to find where the man at arms was. We found his mutilated body and tried to find the dragon cave. Merl charged into the cave and was mauled by a massive bird. Although Senorix and Merl were seriously injured, the rest of us defeated the griffon. We also found Sir Donald's sword Aglovaine. We headed back to the keep.

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515

My wife, Lady Courtney, asked to throw a party for the other knight's ladies, and I agreed to foot the bill for a dinner for unmarried knights and maids. The most eligible bachelors were Sir Basil Wallingford, Sir Hervis the Rebel, Sir Galligantis, and Sir Travar (son of Brian the Giant). The most noteworthy woman was Lady Jenna. The most eligible ladies were the daughters of Giles, Luceers, the daughter of Bernier, and the daughter of the eldest Wallingford.

The men jousters while the women talked. Sir Gavin jousted with Sir Travar, and Travar won by a broken lance. Then Gavin and I jousted and I won. Sir Giles jousted with Sir Hervis and won. I jousted with Basil and lost. Basil jousted with Galligantis, and Galligantis won. Travar and Giles jousted, and Giles won. Giles and Galligantis jousted for the right to dance first with Maid Megan, and Giles won.

The rest of us got drunk. We had a feast and then a dance. Sir Senorix stayed drunk the whole time, telling his story of dancing himself into the Feywild. Giles and Megan got along well. Later Wallingford returned with mushrooms and ordered Senorix to dance, and Senorix danced like a fool.

The next morning, we heard Jenna telling the women that she heard Sir Ulfius telling Ygraine that she was a traitor and Ygraine and Merlin told him that Arthur was the child of Uther.

The women told us that they wanted us to undertake a quest to see who was the manliest. Courtney put forth a quest to climb Mt Gorgon and get a piece of witches glass. Vivian said we should defeat the knight at St. Carolyn's bridge. Jenna said chastity is the best virtue, and so we should spend the night at the abbey of St. Whitemore. Vythalin said that love is most important and we would test that when we return.

We rode to the mountain. Gavin climbed to the top and got a number of black rocks. He gave me one, and Senorix climbed up and got his own. We then went to a bridge and fought a disguised Wallingford, and Senorix and I hit him. Then we headed to the abbey. Gavin and I barred the doors to our rooms and Senorix resisted temptation, but Giles gave his nun a kiss.

We rode back to the women. Gavin brought his woodland wife some doves on a stick. Senorix grovelled to his wife. Giles met with Megan and tried to romance her, but failed. Senorix won the overall quest and proved that the married men are more manly than the unmarried men.

A messenger from Robert arrived, announcing that Arthur had declared this a year of peace in celebration of the victory over the kings of the north, and that Arthur would marry Maid Guinevere of Camillard. We would be expected to bring gifts to Arthur and could ask for one in return.

I convinced Senorix and Giles to help me take back an abbey overrun with Saxons. We took it and headed to the marriage.

King Leodegrance gifted Arthur with a massive round table, able to seat 150 knights. Senorix gave Arthur the robe of Sir Ban and asked for the head of Cerdic. I gave Arthur the Abbey, and in return he gave me right to first charge next year. Giles gave him the axe of Aethelswith, and asked for the reinstatement of Giles the Elder's honor. Arthur granted the request and told the court that Elder Giles may go free and quest until he has redeemed himself. At the end, a peasant brought his strong son and asked Arthur to knight his son, who is the illegitimate son of Pellinore. The boy was named as Sir Tor, and was asked to sit at the high table. We noticed that Sir Gawain and his squire, Gareth, were angry at this, and complained that they would kill Tor for Pellinore's slaying of their father.

Gavin and Basil returned, and Basil returned with Sir Merl. Basil asked for the title of Oxford to be formally turned over to their family.

We saw Guinevere, and I was smitten by her. A white hart ran into the room, followed by a white hound, then 60 black hounds also ran in, following the white hound. Senorix and I were knocked to the ground by the rush of dogs. The white dog bit the hart, which escaped, and landed on the lap of a man who stood and carried the dog out. Then a woman walked in asking for her dog back before a black knight rode in and carried her off. Merlin said that we should send knights on a quest to puzzle out these mysteries. He suggested sending Gawain to find the hart and Pellinore to find and slay the knight to rescue the lady, and Senorix to find the knight and the dog, and get the dog, or slay the knight.

There was a tourney, with Logres side versus the rest.

Senorix quested for the dogs and ran into a dwarf guarding a path on behalf of Sir Pedapass and Sir Fellott who refused to let him pass. Senorix asked to speak with the dwarf's masters, and the knight told him that he had sworn an oath to Sir Abellas, the dog knight, to not allow any to pass. Sir Fellott and Senorix fought. Senorix won and then Sir Pedapass attacked him. Senorix beat him as well. The dwarf offered to join Senorix. He accepted Grond as his page, and ordered the knights to report to Arthur.

Senorix found a camp of four tents, and the white dog sat in the middle of the camp. A woman named Valerie came out, and called for the dog. She told Senorix that it was her dog, and things would go badly if he took her dog. He stayed the night and in the morning, she beseeched him to leave the dog lest violence befall him. But he took the dog. The next day, a terrible storms came upon him.

In the tourney over the land, Merl stumbled upon some Saxon spies, and killed them.

Giles came across a woman who told him that a lion had ravaged their livestock. He looked for it and it tried to eat him, but he was rescued by Sir Narow--the son of Rhynes the Giant.

I found Sir Lamarac and challenged him, and he defeated me, and I was taken captive.

<next session>

Senorix camped for the night and Sir Abellas found him and ordered him to give back the dog or fight. They fought with lances and then hand weapons, and Senorix defeated him and Abellas yielded his claim on the dog. Senorix agreed to let Abellas go, and then a woman came out and begged for Senorix to kill Abellas for his crimes against her and her sister. But Senorix was unmoved and took Abellas and the lady back to Camelot.

At court, there was a feast in celebration of the winners of the tourney. Sir Ablemor rode in carrying a dead woman across his saddle. He said that the knight (Gawain) who chased the hart killed the hart, which was Ablemor's pet. Gawain was going to slay Ablemor when his lady-love threw herself in the way, and Gawain killed her. A bit later Gawain returned and relates the same story, but said that he was returning to Camelot with the hart when he was assaulted by Ablemor's soldiers and they were going to kill him when four maidens came out and begged for his life and shamed him for not heeding Ablemor's woman.

Then Senorix returned with his entourage and related his story. Arthur had Alemor executed.

That night, Pellinore returned, riding next to a woman. He told his story--he found a young girl with her dead lover who had been killed by a lion. But Pellinore left without helping her and completed his quest. When he returned to the young lady, she had been killed by a lion. At this point, Merlin spoke up and said that the young lady was Pellinore's daughter, and that great doom would come upon him. At this point, Guinevere whispered into Arthur's ear, and he stood up and said that we are supposed to be the example of true knighthood to the world, obedient to our king and dedicated to the protection of women. Our three masters should be God, our king, and our women.

Some names are already on the round table. Other knights are also called to the table, including Baldulf, Gawain, and Merl. 37 knights fill the seats, leaving 113 seats open.

Sir Gawain came to Merl and asked him if he knows of Castle Wakely--a castle in northern Silchester. The last Wakely died in the reign of Vortigern, and the castle has fallen into disrepair. Arthur wanted the valley and castle to be restored. Merl would be the baron of this land. There are parcels for five manors there that should be parceled out to other knights. Arthur was willing to give Merl three years to get it running again. He would take 100 peasants with him and 50 men at arms.

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514

We started the year knowing that we must find Sir Alain de Gros and recruit him to help the Fisher King.

We heard rumors that King Lot was furious because his wife delivered a baby, and Merlin came and stole it while Lot was gone. Lot was mad at Arthur, and everyone expected there to be a battle with him this year. Kay was now the seneschal of Arthur.

Merl and Senorix went to see Arthur and updated him on our mission. Kay told Merl that Sir Alain was in the Tower of the Boar in the Forest Savage. Merl went to see Giles to ask him about Alain. Merl told him that he heard that Alain has three brothers and an evil daughter--called the Wild Damsel--who was working for Belors.

We headed into the Forest Savage to see if my cousin knew anything about Alain. My cousin Eddard said that Alain's brother Bruenor wanted our holding. He also heard that Alain's daughter is a demon, and that there was a painted rock in the forest, and if you placed a loaf of bread under it, she would appear and grant you a cursed wish.

The next morning we went looking for Alain's tower, which was said to move locations. As we left, Eddard pulled Giles aside and told him that he was in love with Giles's sister, Christine.

We found ourselves going through a swamp and were forced to dismount. Senorix and Merl noticed some large eyes, and then Merl was attacked by a bizarre creature and pulled into the water. Senorix threw a spear at the creature in the water and hit it. We slew the creature, and Giles saved Merl from drowning.

Our passage was blocked by more frogs, and so we headed into the hills, wasting a day. We found some large human tracks. Merl tried to avoid the giants, but we were spotted. Merl decided to attack, but lost his nerve and ran into the woods, screaming. The other three of us fought the giant, and I dealt the killing blow, even though Senorix wanted to grant the giant mercy.

Senorix tracked Merl into the forest and found where the trail ended, but Merl was not there. We found a ring of mushrooms, and Senorix danced in them (oh, magnificent dance!) and disappeared. Giles and I tried to dance, but did not disappear.

In the fairy world, Senorix found a knight with a white shield and a knight with a black shield entertaining a beautiful woman. Senorix talked to the white knight, who said that he owed Merl a third pass. He introduced Senorix to the lady, Titania, and said they were entertaining her, and asked Senorix to entertain her with his skill. He showed them some mace work. He then explained he was looking for Merl. Titania explained that Merl had entered the glade, but was most conflicted. She did not believe he would return to the mortal realm without some symbol or person that would remind him of the importance of his place in the mortal realm.

When Giles and I awakened, Senorix was there. Then a wild man calling himself Gavin and his wife appeared and exclaimed that he was looking for Merl. We told him that we had recently lost Merl. Gavin was shocked to find that Merl had been found and then re-lost. We invited Gavin to join us, and he led us to the Tower of the Boar.

We were brought into the castle, and we saw people preparing for war. We met Sir Alain, and he said he was preparing to go to war in the fields of Joy. When I asked him about Eddard's manor, he said that he claimed it because his relative had been killed by my father. We almost fought, but Senorix's calm prevailed. Alain told us that if we could rescue his daughter from Belors power, he would cease to work with Belor. He told us that his daughter loved unicorns and found one slaughtered in the woods and made a pact with some power, possibly Belor, to protect the creatures of the forest.

We headed off to find the daughter's stone. At midnight, we put bread on the stone, and heard hoofbeats. A few moments later, a woman on a black pony, wearing only a cloak appeared. We talked with her, but tried not to make a wish. Finally, Senorix wished that she would be able to talk with unicorns again. She said that she would renounce her ways if we could prove that unicorns would return to her. We headed back to Eddard to see if he had any virgins that could help us get a unicorn. He said that we should check the nearby town of Etroit. We headed there.

The old woman, the wife of the knight whose hounds Baldulf had slain years before, who lived there served us some, predictably, horrid stew and asked if Eddard had changed his mind about marrying her daughter, Courtney. We told her that we were looking for a virgin to find a unicorn. Her daughter agreed to go with us.

We then tracked a unicorn and found a small one. Courtney met with it and we led it back to the stone. The Wild damsel saw it and cried, renouncing her ways. The unicorn went to her and she was freed from her evil power. She gave us a token and told us to give it to her father.

We returned to Alain and gave him the pendant, and he agreed to turn against Belor. We headed to the field of Joy and met with the Kingfisher. He told us that a fearsome battle was being fought at Castle Terrible, and we needed to decide which battle we should join. Gavin left us to help Arthur, but the rest stayed to fight with the Kingfisher.

At Terrible, Rhynes called out Arthur, and Arthur defeated him.

At Joy, we defeated wave after wave of fomorians and giants. As we fought harder, Arthur's forces won more, and Lot's forces were defeated.

We won the battle of Joy and the Kingfisher gave us a boon, but told us that we would never be able to return to his lands, but his vassal in Glass would fight for our king anytime he needed her.

When we returned, we heard that King Claudius had attacked King Ban and Bors, killing them both. Supposedly their wives were able to get their sons away without dying.

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