Year 496: Negotiations
General Summary
For the prior session, see Year 495: St Albans.
"There are those who win and those who lose. You need to decide whether you want to win, or whether you want to lose." - Cyning Æscwine of EssexFollowing the now-infamous Feast at St Albans, Britain has been plunged into chaos. With King Uther Pendragon dead, the few remaining earls and dukes of Logres squabble over border disputes while emboldened Saxons carve out new swaths of land. Kings from Cambria, Cumbria and Caledonia begin to vie for the throne of High King of Britain, hoping to restore order. Most of central Logres has been overtaken by the otherworldly Forest Sauvage stemming from Leicester Forest, believed to be a mystical attempt to reclaim the Sword in the Stone and return Excalibur to the Faerie Realm. In Londinium, warriors from all over the world are gathered to attempt to pull the infamous sword from the anvil. Acting as representatives for Salisbury, Sir Alwyn of Oxenwood, Mars of Winterbourne Stoke, and Sir Alwyn's squire Blaen of Idmiston try and fail to retrieve the weapon. As they do so, they reflect on the circumstances that led them to Salisbury in late 495. After the death of Sir Alwyn's uncle Sir Penwyn at the Feast of St Albans, the young knight left his home of Hallington in Linden to act as lord of his uncle's estate of Oxenwood in Salisbury. As he left, his twin sister Lady Arwen informed him that she too was leaving, to seek out the Ladies of the Lake in an attempt to explain the secretive magical talents the siblings had developed, which Sir Alwyn tried to hide in order to keep his knighthood. With her brother Asher poisoned in the feast as well and her step-grandfather Lord Brugyn trying to pressure her into marriage, Mars left Appleton Thorn in the nearby Cambrian duchy of Cheshire to try and find the culprit behind the poisoning. Lord Brugyn reluctantly offered Winterbourne Stoke in Salisbury as a place of respite, which Mars initially rebuffed before settling in. At Lighthorne, in an apparent attempt to rid himself of any recognized challenges to his title, the bastard Sir Rhyladd ap Eiffin sent his legitimate younger brother Blaen and his cousin Dowager Lady Viver of Blackdown away to manage the family estate of Idmiston - most recently held by Rhyladd's own bastard son Sir Valerius ap Rhyladd, who died in the Battle of St Albans before the feast. Blaen was unsettled to learn that Lady Viver's feral, unnatural toddler Dafi was somehow only a few months old and wondered if their family is cursed again. In 496, the trio walk through Londinium when Mars catches three children attempting to pickpocket them. She confronts the vagrants and demands their names, learning that they are the orphaned former wards of King Uther who were abandoned after his death and Queen Ygraine's retirement to Amesbury Abbey with her daughter Morgan of Tintagel. The eldest, a girl named Clover, speaks for the group, but Mars quickly begins to argue with the youngest after learning he is her orphaned cousin Kyffin, who holds strong, incorrect opinions about his late father Sir Amlyn and his alleged involvement in the Feast at St Albans. After realizing the middle child is his cousin Sir Artaire's orphaned daughter Nyneve, Blaen offers all the children a place at Idmiston. Returning to Salisbury, the three attend court at Sarum Castle to report to Countess Regent Ellen of Salisbury that their attempts to retrieve the sword were unsuccessful. The countess summons the newly formed Inner Council of Sarum consisting of Sir Alwyn, Sir Edward of Upavon, Sir Drystan of Tilshead succeeding his late father Sir Amig, and Brother Tewi's successor Teacher Bolton, with Teacher Bolton's assistant Brother Bowen taking notes. Despite Countess Ellen's protests, Mars considers herself among the council as well. After Teacher Bolton briefs the lords on the pressing matters facing Salisbury, the council decides to answer a summons from Ætheling Sledd, whom Teacher Bolton describes as the prince of the dangerous emerging Saxon kingdom of Essex. As they leave, Countess Ellen's young daughter Lady Jenna of Sarum asks them to deliver a letter for her. After having the letter address read by a local scribe in Sarum, the council notice that the intended destination of Levcomagus is on their way and choose to deliver it themselves. After arriving at Levcomagus and giving the letter to a guard, they realize that the recipient is the middle-aged city lord Sir Blains. After brief hesitation over Sir Blains' cruel reputation and the age difference between him and Lady Jenna, they decide not to pry in the young lady's business and continue on their journey to Colchester in Essex. In Colchester, Ætheling Sledd quickly directs the council to the ruler of Essex, his father Cyning Æscwine, who is focused on a game of tafl against himself. The Saxon king informs them that he is looking to make a lopsided alliance with Salisbury, where they will provide Essex with large annual tributes of cows and silver in exchange for their protection. The council attempts to renegotiate, but the king firmly insists that he will send no men to help Salisbury in their wars and will not haggle on the tribute - the tribute will remain at full price and he will only assist in defending Salisbury if they are being attacked. He declares that he will only consider their offer if they swear fealty to him, but he does not demand this as a condition for their alliance. The council asks for time to consider the offer and are given one year, but Cyning Æscwine warns that if they delay, Essex will invade Salisbury. After discussing the deal on their way to back to Salisbury and relaying the message to the countess, the council find themselves unable to reach a consensus. Sir Edward suggests paying the annual tribute, which Teacher Bolton notes the county cannot sustain for long, while Sir Drystan calls for war, which Countess Ellen notes the county cannot afford to fortify against. Sir Alwyn generously offers to singlehandedly pay for the construction of new walls around Sarum, recommending that they should pay the tribute until the fortifications are constructed before attempting to renegotiate. Blaen proposes they send a letter to Duke Ulfius of the Vale, an ally and currently the most powerful man in Logres, to meet regarding an alliance against Essex. As they await a reply, they decide to forge a new allegiance by assisting against a Saxon raid in the nearby county of Hampshire. As they make their way through Hampshire, they find that the county has already been entirely conquered, relatively peacefully, by a new invading force of Saxons, who have declared the county the new Kingdom of West Saxons or "Wessex". Arriving in the capital of White City, Sir Edward, Sir Drystan, Blaen, and Mars surrender their weapons while Sir Alwyn sneaks in a dagger as they meet with the new king, Cyning Cerdic of Wessex. They are surprised to find Cyning Cerdic to be a gentle, well-spoken, half-Cymric man who is remorseful for the deeds his men are committing but finds them necessary. He states that he is the son of High King Vortigern and Cyning Hengest of Kent's daughter Queen Rowena, and that his goal is to simply have Saxons seen as equal citizens and live in harmony with the Cymri. The king asks the council to bring his offer of a feast to the countess, openly admitting that he cannot hold his new kingdom without allies. Distrustful of his pleasant demeanor, the council is hesitant, but he offers them his son Ætheling Cynric as hostage as a show of good faith. As they return to Sarum, the council contemplate different strategies using Ætheling Cynric as a bargaining chip, even considering using the prince to pit the Saxon kingdoms of Wessex and Essex against each other. After delivering the feast invitation to the countess, they decide to keep Ætheling Cynric at Sarum Castle and bring Countess Ellen to Wessex without him. Cyning Cerdic is visibly annoyed by the slight, but is placated when the knights lie, explaining that it was simply a safety precaution and promise that they will return his son shortly. At the feast, the Salisburians are waited upon by Cymric servants instead of Saxon ones, and are surprised to see that the servants don't seem to mind serving their new Saxon lord. The sociable lords and ladies are able to regain the king's favour as Mars mocks Blaen's ineptitude with women by jokingly seducing a serving maid that he had failed to comfortably talk to. The council, however, find themselves less enamoured with the king as he champions the more problematic aspects of feudalism and floats the idea of a political marriage with the countess. As the feast concludes, Cyning Cerdic formally proposes an alliance between Salisbury and Wessex, asking for an oath of homage from Salisbury as their recognized liege lord. He reasons that he intends to rule as High King like his father, and if he is successful they will have to swear homage to him anyway. In return for their loyalty, he promises to protect Salisbury, fight their wars alongside them, and help pay their tribute to Essex. Hesitant to swear homage to a Saxon and unwilling to make a decision before meeting with Duke Ulfius, the council counters his offer with a temporary trial alliance of four years, the time it would take to fortify Sarum against Essex. After some consideration the king accepts, but cautions that since they did not agree to be bound by oath, they may find themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield in the future. He also adds the condition that they must return his son promptly. As the council returns to Salisbury, they reflect on their new allegiance, their captive, and their deadline, and begin to plan.
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