Year 484: A Good Team

General Summary

For the prior session, see Year 483: The Things We Do for Love. For the following session, see Year 485: The Whispering Path.

"We made a pretty good team, didn't we?" - Lady Illy of Oxenwood

In the early summer of 484 in Salisbury, the knights of the county are suspicious of the quiet and are preparing for a Saxon invasion. Over the last few months, Sir Artaire oversaw the construction of the new chapel at Idmiston, while Sir Amlyn of Winterbourne Stoke received a mysterious letter in Latin that might hint at the whereabouts of his missing wife Lady Elaine. At Oxenwood, Sir Gwyn is concerned - his sons Jesse and Jordan are very ill, and his wife Lady Illy is several months pregnant.
The knights are summoned to Sarum Castle for the christening of the new baby of Earl Roderick and Countess Ellen of Salisbury. Before the ceremony, the trio stop at the market quarter; Sir Artaire buys new armour and a mace, Sir Gwyn hires a chirurgeon to check in on his sons, and Sir Amlyn has his letter read. He learns that his wife was kidnapped by someone signed only as "B", and that he is to meet them at the abandoned fort of Figsbury. Inititally suspecting his father-in-law Teacher Brugyn, he quickly realizes that it is Sir Blains of Levcomagus seeking revenge for his foiled marriage plans.
At the ceremony, the new noble baby is christened Lady Jenna. Earl Roderick's advisors comfort him that an heir will soon follow. Sir Amlyn gives a wedding gift to Sir Jarren of Burcombe for his recent marriage to Lady Adwen, while Sir Artaire bitterly discusses their previous duel, and Sir Jarren regards Sir Gwyn coldly for taking his rightful dowry of Oxenwood. Sir Artaire tries bonding over his failed love life with Lady Gwiona, who helpfully offers that he might be cursed.
Suddenly, envoys from the Cumbrian kingdom of Malahaut burst in and announce that they are all being summoned to war. They explain that Malahaut is being raided by the Saxon warlord Cyning Octa of Nohaut and his cousin Cyning Eosa "the Giant" of Deira, sons of the legendary feared Saxons Cyning Hengest of Kent and Ætheling Horsa, respectively. Though Malahaut and Logres often are at odds over the disputed territory of Roestoc, King Uther Pendragon has longed for war and has decided to help his distant cousin King Héraut de Après of Malahaut, nicknamed "The Centurion King", combat the Saxon threat in an apparent attempt to strengthen his bid for High King of Britain. Remembering that Salisbury had recently fought the Battle of Salisbury against Cyning Octa's older brother Cyning Æsc of Kent, the man who had slain High King Aurelius Ambrosius Pendragon, Earl Roderick agrees to pledge all his men.
Before the muster at Linden Pool in Linden, Sir Amlyn, Sir Artaire and Sir Gwyn decide to visit Figsbury to meet with "B". Instead, they find an unconscious Lady Elaine, pregnant, heavily beaten, and tied to a chair. Sir Gwyn calls out that they received the letter and gets no response, so Sir Amlyn sends his squire Collin into the tower. Collin is slashed deeply across the face by a hidden knight instead of Sir Amlyn, breaking the prophecy that the long-missing Merlin the Magician had laid out for the knight. As Sir Gwyn checks for more men and Sir Amlyn practices first aid on his injured squire, Sir Artaire fights the knight - who they recognize as one of Sir Blains' hired men from the raid at Allington and the ambush on the way to the Castle at the Slippery Ford. Sir Gwyn sends his squire Rickett to take over for Sir Amlyn so he can join the fight, and then rushes into the tower to check on Lady Elaine. He finds her still breathing, and performs first aid. Sir Artaire is injured, but kills the hired knight with a crushing blow to the face from his mace, and Sir Amlyn profusely apologizes as the knights return Lady Elaine to Winterbourne Stoke. Sir Gwyn checks with the chirurgeon and is relieved to hear that his sons will live.
At the muster at Linden Pool, the knights are put in the vanguard under the royal marshal Duke Ulfius of the Vale. Sir Amlyn and Sir Artaire are assigned to the party of Earl Roderick, while Sir Gwyn leads a small squadron of his new Oxenwood household knights, Sir Lycus, Sir Leo and Sir Bar. The castle's baron Duke Corneus of Lindsey advises that Logres simply lets the Saxons and Malahaut wipe eachother out. Meanwhile, King Uther Pendragon is furious that Duke Gorlois of Cornwall has yet again failed to support the kingdom, prioritizing the birth of his daughter Morgan. Nonetheless, the army marches towards Eburacum in an attempt to surprise the Saxons. They are instead ambushed by the Saxon army firing a volley of arrows, suspecting arriving support and retreating from Eburacum through the nearby woods. Sir Artaire's horse is killed and he is thrown to the ground.
The Logrian army fights valiantly, but are utterly decimated by the Saxons. Sir Artaire's arm is severed by a heorthganat and he begins bleeding out on the battlefield, so Sir Amlyn sends in Collin to apply first aid. The Saxons start swarming inward to get to King Uther, so Sir Gwyn rallies Salisbury's army to him and they flee the battle. King Uther breaks free and the army reconvenes at the nearby Mount Damen, suffering heavy losses and captures.
The army sits in shock after their first crushing defeat in recent memory at the Siege of Eburacum, and Collin continues to try and bandage the dying Sir Artaire. Sir Amlyn receives a message from a hobilar that his daughter was born and Lady Elaine expects him back for the christening. Suddenly, the army starts to feel better and the injured start to regain consciousness. Sir Artaire sits up confused, his arm fully restored. After years away, Merlin the Magician reappears, magical staff raised high. Exhausted from the overexertion of magic, Merlin describes his plan of attacking Cynings Octa and Eosa's armies in the middle of the night while they are celebrating. Merlin retreats to rest.
Fully restored and energetic, the army marches to the Saxon base camp and ambushes the drunk, unarmed Saxons, slaughtering the men and freeing their captives. The warlords escape in the fray. With the threat managed, King Uther makes a late visit to Eburacum to meet with the Centurion King. The king of Malahaut asks that Logres helps reclaim Nohaut and Deira from the Saxons now that their military strength has been weakened, but King Uther's army has also been weakened from the battles. King Uther instead declares victory and returns his men home to Logres.
As Sir Gwyn returns home from the Battle of Mount Damen, he learns that Illy has taken a turn for the worse, and that it looks like both she and the child won't make it through the night. He tearfully says his goodbyes and Illy passes. The following day, the funeral at Oxenwood is attended by Sir Artaire, Sir Amlyn, Earl Roderick, and Countess Ellen, as well as Illy's inconsolable father Sir Murdoch of Horsington and her boss at the Sarum pub. More and more townsfolk from Shrewton, Horsington, Oxenwood and Sarum appear to pay their respects to the beloved lady and innkeeper.
Later that year, Earl Roderick asks that all squires are knighted to replenish their strength. Rickett and Ren are knighted, while Collin declares himself an esquire. A particularly harsh winter claims many of the horses at Winterbourne Stoke, and Sir Amlyn and Lady Elaine name their daughter Meinwen.

Report Date

11 Oct 2019

Primary Location

Eburacum

Secondary Location

Mount Damen