Year 494: Ambassadors
General Summary
For the prior session, see Year 493: Uther's Shame. For the following session, see Year 495: St Albans.
"Let us toast, to an alliance between Estregales and Logres!" - King Canan of EstregalesIn the Logrian county of Salisbury, Sir Valerius is overseeing the chopping of wood at his manor Idmiston when he is visited by Princess Alene of Somerset, looking for her friend Sir Artaire. Sir Valerius sadly informs her that Sir Artaire has died, and invites her in for tea. After flirting over tea, the princess departs, and Sir Valerius heads to Sarum to meet with Earl Roderick of Salisbury. At Upavon, Asher of Appleton Thorn is upset after learning that the knight he is squiring for, Sir Edward, was the man who took his cousin Meinwen of Winterbourne Stoke on as a page before her fatal accident. Sir Edward coaxes Asher from his room, insisting that they need to answer the earl's summons. He reluctantly agrees. At Oxenwood, Sir Penwyn's wife Lady Aoife gives birth to a son, Niles. Sir Penwyn leaves to Sarum Castle early, where he meets with Earl Roderick and Sir Hywel of West Lavington, the county marshal. Impressed by his competence in the Saxon ambush in Malahaut the year prior, they offer Sir Penwyn the chance to apprentice under Sir Hywel, to take over as marshal once he retires. Sir Penwyn accepts. Sir Edward and Sir Valerius arrive, and Earl Roderick explains that they have received word from the mysterious royal advisor Lady Nineve that the Easter Court is canceled, as King Uther Pendragon is still recovering from his dueling injury. Instead, they are to travel to Cambria to meet with King Canan of Estregales and his vassals to try and secure an alliance for the upcoming war against the Centurion King of Malahaut. Earl Roderick notes that King Canan and King Uther are on poor terms, as the former refused to supply troops to defend his own kingdom in the Battle of Menevia in 480, so they will need to act diplomatically. He hands them a letter for King Canan and instructs them to travel to Gloucester in the county of Glevum and meet with Duke Eldol of Glevum, a former vassal of King Canan, who will safely lead them as an envoy into Cambria. On the way to the market outside Sarum Castle, Sir Penwyn strikes up a conversation with Sir Edward's squire Asher. He learns that he is the son of Sir Ioan of Appleton Thorn, whom Asher believes was a great knight. Sir Penwyn and Sir Valerius shatter the boy's dreams, recalling his father's shortcomings. After shopping, the knights are approached by a strange old man muttering about the war and the future, and wonder if he is the exiled Merlin the Magician in disguise. Ignoring Sir Edward, he gives Sir Penwyn, Sir Valerius, and Asher mysterious bottles of liquid, insisting they are important for the trials to come but failing to describe their use. As the man departs, Sir Valerius recognizes the Roman snake symbol on his bottle and guesses his substance is a healing medicine; Sir Penwyn identifies his as toxic goat blood and Asher's as deadly dragon venom. As the knights make their way to Gloucester, Sir Edward teaches Asher courtly skills while Sir Penwyn and Sir Valerius test their strength against each other. Sir Valerius is injured, and decides to test his concoction. He drinks the liquid and is surprised to find his injury has healed completely, accidentally dropping the bottle and smashing it. In Gloucester, the knights find the elderly Duke Eldol ill. He insists that it is a mere seasonal flu, and asks his bickering grandson Sir Heli and great-grandson Sir Chaleins to accompany the Salisburians to the border in his stead. On the way, Sir Heli and Sir Chaleins argue and try to gather the knights' opinions on who should be the proper heir to the dukedom - Sir Chaleins, the grandson of Duke Eldol's eldest son, or Sir Heli, Duke Eldol's eldest living grandson. Sir Valerius tries to recall his studying of primogeniture law, but fails to come to a conclusion. As the knights bid farewell to Sir Heli and Sir Chaleins and cross the border into Escavalon, they are greeted by the guard Sir Alain de Carlion. Upon stating their business, he mentions that he was stationed on garrison duty at Tintagel Castle with a knight from Salisbury, Sir Amlyn of Winterbourne Stoke. The knights mention that they knew him well, and Sir Alain admits that he doesn't believe the rumours about him. He then takes them to Carlion to meet with his king, King Nanteleod of Escavalon. The ambassadors dine with King Nanteleod of Escavalon and explain their mission. The king confesses that while he would love to help, his kingdom is sworn to Estregales and he must obey whatever King Canan decides. The next morning, he takes the knights out falconing and is impressed by Sir Penwyn's birdsmanship. He agrees to take them to see King Canan. As they set out into Estregales, they come across King Branvarn of Cardigan speaking with a hill tribal leader, Chief Cunedag of Ystrad Tywi. Chief Cunedag challenges them to a race over the dangerous hilly countryside, and King Branvarn, Asher, Sir Penwyn and Sir Valerius agree, throwing money in the pot for the winner. Sir Penwyn dominates the race and takes the money, earning the respect of the king and the chief. As the knights arrive at Pembroke Castle, they are informed by King Canan's surly steward Sir Orcas that the king is away, but that he will refuse to help Logres because the king should always put Estregales first. King Canan's sons Prince Dirac and Prince Lak invite the ambassadors on a hunt while they wait, asking Sir Orcas to attend. On the hunt, Sir Edward gets lost while Sir Penwyn and Sir Valerius track and hunt a dangerous boar. Sir Valerius is deeply wounded, but Asher comes charging in and lands the killing blow before Sir Penwyn can strike the beast down. As they collect Sir Edward and return to Pembroke to find a chirurgeon for Sir Valerius and to feast on roast boar, they discover that the household staff is packing because the king has chosen to stay at his castle in Carmarthen. Prince Dirac invites the knights to tag along. In Carmarthen, the ambassadors find King Canan lost in his thoughts. He asks them to walk with him through the village. He explains that this village is where Merlin was born, grew up, and performed his first healings, regaling them with stories of Merlin's birth from a nun mother and demonic incubus father, and his baptism to ward off evil. He tells them of an oak tree Merlin blessed to protect the town, and shows them the fountain where Merlin first met Lady Viviane - his apprentice who was said to be born from the Pagan goddess Diana herself, and who joined the Ladies of the Lake after Merlin prophesied that they would forever love each other, but their love could never be. The pensive king tells the knights that he holds no ill will towards King Uther, but he believes that his attempts to solve every problem with violence are misguided. He explains that he didn't help defend his land against High King Gillomanius of Ireland because most of Estregales consists of welcome Irish settlers looking for a better life, but King Uther had refused to listen and killed the Irish invaders anyway. Returning to Carmarthen Castle, King Canan has the ambassadors' letter read and, with some persuasion from Sir Valerius, agrees to help Logres in their war. They feast on roast boar, and the hero of the hunt Asher is awarded a prestigious spot at the king's table alongside King Canan, King Branvarn, and King Nanteleod. After the feast, Prince Dirac hands King Canan a goblet and he toasts to their new alliance, but Sir Valerius realizes the wine is poisoned and knocks it from the king's hand, accusing Prince Dirac. As chaos erupts and the prince swears he is innocent, Sir Orcas murders King Canan and declares that the king should have put Estregales first. Sir Penwyn and Sir Valerius quickly avenge the king but Sir Valerius exacerbates his prior wounds and falls unconscious. As Sir Valerius' squire Cwtch performs hasty first aid on his knight, the stunned new King Dirac admits that he will do his best to honour his father's last decree, but that their kingdom has a large period of transition ahead of it. He asks the knights to return to King Uther and tell him of King Canan's fate. As Sir Valerius stays behind to receive medical treatment, Sir Penwyn and Sir Edward return to Logres and quickly ride to the White Tower in Londinium, but are greeted by Lady Nineve instead of King Uther. She hears their tale and promises to relay the message. Back in Salisbury, Earl Roderick informs the knights that Duke Eldol has died, and that the Saxon warlords Cyning Octa and Cyning Eosa have pressed into Logres, capturing Linden Pool and seemingly killing Duke Corneus of Lindsey. He makes a contingency plan for all knights to bring their families and livestock to be locked in Sarum Castle if the Saxons arrive, and asks if the knights' squires would like to knighted early to help in the coming war. Sir Penwyn's squire Tathan readily agrees, but the cautious Asher admits that he doesn't feel ready. Earl Roderick reassigns Asher to Sir Penwyn to be trained, giving Sir Edward one of his own squires. Later that winter, a healed Sir Valerius returns home to Idmiston.
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