Year 497: The Serpent's Tower

General Summary

For the prior session, see Year 496: Negotiations. For the following session, see Year 498: On Moral Grounds.

"Show no mercy." - Merlin the Magician

In Salisbury, a small group of nobles are plagued by the same dream; a nightmare in which a giant serpent destroys the church of a small village and then forms into a tower on a nearby hill, releasing a flood of snakes upon the countryside to kill and steal everything in their path.
One of these nobles, Mars of Winterbourne Stoke, awakens to find her grandfather Lord Brugyn in her bedchambers with a young woman. He apologizes for waking her and introduces her to Lady Glenis, his new wife. He explains that he got married for strategic purposes during these difficult times, and asks Mars to reconsider her reluctance and settle down with a knight. Mars refuses and asks Lord Brugyn to leave, which prompts him to remind her that he is merely allowing her to live in Winterbourne Stoke, of which he is the acting lord.
Awakening from the same dream, Sir Alwyn of Oxenwood begins to get ready for the day when he is informed by one of his two remaining household knights Sir Leo that they have received a messenger from Sir Alwyn's squire Blaen. The messenger states that Blaen he cannot leave his manor of Idmiston to attend to his squirely duties, citing chaos in the household caused by adding three young wards Clover, Nyneve, and Kyffin to the children already living at Idmiston, his cousin Lady Viver's children Lili and Dafi. Sir Leo offers his own headstrong squire Arthmael as a temporary replacement, suggesting that Sir Alwyn dismisses Blaen for the unprecedented slight. Sir Alwyn agrees.
Arriving for the meeting of the Inner Council of Sarum at Sarum Castle, the two are introduced to the visiting Sir Brastias, the former captain of King Uther Pendragon's King's Guard and currently the most sought-after wandering knight in all of Britain. Sir Brastias tells them the dire news that after nearly a century, the council of the Supreme Collegium has dissolved, since the few surviving legates were reduced to infighting when unable to come to a conclusion regarding the next High King of Britain. He also tells them that Sir Alwyn's liege lord Duke Corneus of Lindsey has been discovered alive after being presumed dead for years, and is beginning to rally his army to recapture his castle of Linden Pool from northern Saxons. Sir Alwyn reflects on the news, realizing that he will be bound to leave and support his lord if he is called to do so.
The trio are shortly joined by councilmembers Countess Regent Ellen of Salisbury, Sir Edward of Upavon, Sir Drystan of Tilshead, Teacher Bolton, and Bolton's assistant Brother Bowen. Beginning the meeting, Teacher Bolton informs the council of unrest all across Britain - King Nanteleod of Escavalon is still at war with King Dirac of Estregales, King Pellinore de Galis is fighting to regain his kingdom from the allied Cambrian hill tribe chieftains knows as the Three Cadlews, and their new ally Cyning Cerdic of Wessex is invading the nearby Isle of Wight after the island refused to pay tribute. Though the council refuses to send men to aid the Saxon king's cause, they do decide to return his son, their hostage Ætheling Cynric, to ensure there are no hard feelings between them. Mars asks Teacher Bolton why she can't be a knight, and unsuccessfully attempts to convince Countess Ellen to knight her.
The knights and Mars first choose to travel to Silchester Castle at the invitation of Duke Ulfius of the Vale, hoping to ask the most powerful remaining lord in Logres for an alliance. As Mars bullies the duke's meek son Uffo, Sir Alwyn, Sir Drystan, and Sir Edward relay the problems Salisbury has been facing. Duke Ulfius notes that Cyning Æscwine of Essex had asked Silchester for the same tribute as Salisbury, theorizing that the unreasonable request was merely intended to be a show of power.
The councilmembers finally request that Silchester and Salisbury form a coalition, only for the duke to reveal that he is currently bound to a deal with the Saxon Cyning Ælle of Sussex. He encourages Salisbury to ally with Sussex as well, stating that Cyning Ælle is very charming, very powerful, and had offered a flexible and reasonable tribute agreement. He notes that strategically he cannot ally with Salisbury if they do not ally with Sussex, pointing out that they may soon find themselves on opposite sites of a battle - however, if they do ally with Sussex, he is willing to provide footmen, knights, and funds to Salisbury as if they were part of his own duchy, even entertaining the possibility of marrying Countess Ellen and raising her to duchess to incorporate Salisbury into his duchy. He further explains that he foresees war between the southern Saxon kingdoms in the near future and opines that Cyning Ælle, an expert seaman with a port kingdom and near-endless supply of eager reinforcements from Saxony, is the strongest horse to back in the race. After ejecting Mars for arguing with the duke over refusing to knight her and his alleged love for Saxons and Cyning Ælle, Sir Alwyn thanks Duke Ulfius and promises to consider his proposal, asking him to arrange them a meeting with the Saxon king.
After relaying this information to the countess, Sir Brastias divulges that while he has heard that Cyning Ælle is as charismatic as they say, he also harbours a near-bottomless cruel streak. The councilmembers are also told that their meeting with Cyning Æscwine of Essex has been postponed, as the Saxon lord is recovering after he was defeated in battle by a coalition of lords in nearby county of Hartland.
For their next item on the agenda, Countess Ellen thanks Sir Alwyn again for his generous contribution in fortifying Sarum, which is roughly a quarter complete. She admits that she cannot offer him a barony, the usual reward for a gift of this size, because baronies are granted exclusively through the king. She instead offers him the position of castellan at DuPlain Castle, a fortified castle on the border of Salisbury and Wessex. The countess explains that the position will come with additional border patrolling duties and responsibilities, but will provide additional income and political standing. Sir Alwyn agrees.
The council next chooses to investigate a series of small raids near Shrewton, an abandoned manor and village that was owned and managed by Sir Alwyn's uncle Sir Gwyn before his move to Oxenwood. As they prepare to leave, Sir Verius - a knight that Mars' uncle Sir Amlyn had previously garrisoned with at Tintagel Castle - arrives and asks to be taken to Amesbury Abbey. Since the group had planned to stop at the nearby abbey to ask for more information regarding the raids anyway, the knights decide to escort him.
Along the way, Sir Verius explains his reasons for seeking the abbey and the grim situation currently facing Tintagel. He exposits that during the conquest of then soon-to-be High King Aurelius Ambrosius Pendragon decades ago, half of the nearby southern kingdom of Cornwall broke rank and joined Logres in the fight against High King Vortigern. As a result, the half-kingdom was annexed from Cornwall and adopted by Logres as a duchy under Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, which enraged Cornwall's king. While High King Aurelius Ambrosius supported Duke Gorlois' constant efforts to retain control of the new duchy, his successor King Uther disliked the duke and refused to supply any men or resources to the fight. As a result, Duke Gorlois was constantly too preoccupied to answer the king's summons, further deteriorating their relationship and eventually helping lead to the civil war resulting in the duke's death. With no duke to rally behind and no king to retaliate, King Idres of Cornwall has been mounting increasingly stronger attacks against Duke Gorlois' former stronghold of Tintagel Castle. Sir Verius intends to speak with Queen Ygraine, the queen of Logres and duchess of Tintagel, who has taken refuge at Amesbury Abbey after the death of her second husband.
Arriving at the abbey, Abbot-Bishop Dilwyn allows the knights inside but informs them that no queen resides there, since Sister Ygraine has taken up the cloth and abandoned all titles. As Mars fails to bond with the nun's bitter teenage daughter Morgan, Sir Verius repeats Tintagel's problems to the former queen. Sister Ygraine is sympathetic to the plights of her former duchy, but confesses that as a nun of British Christianity she holds absolutely no political power in Cornwall or anywhere and is unable to help in any way. Sir Verius leaves defeated and Sister Ygraine returns to her studies. Before leaving, Sir Alwyn asks the abbot-bishop about the nearby bandit attacks. Abbot-Bishop Dilwyn confirms that there were some minor night raids with mostly food stolen, claiming that the abbey would have freely given to the attackers if they had been asked.
At Shrewton, Sir Alwyn attempts to enter the manor when he is attacked by a man with a dagger. Noticing the assailant in advance, Sir Alwyn holds off his attacker, when Mars recognizes him from the Battle of St Albans as Sir Tathan, the Irish former squire of Sir Alwyn's uncle Sir Penwyn. Demanding answers, they learn that Sir Tathan has been living in the abandoned manor with his aunt Lady Aoife, the widow of Sir Alwyn's uncles. As Lady Aoife could no longer afford a nursemaid to tend to her sons after the death of Sir Penwyn, she was forced to leave her position waiting on Countess Ellen's children to watch her own children full-time. Unaware of living relatives and unable to secure a position as a household knight, Sir Tathan resorted to theft to feed the family. Lady Aoife points out that she is still technically the dowager lady of Shrewton and begs Sir Alwyn not to turn them out, and he instead scolds them gently for not reaching out for help and offers them the opportunity to live at Oxenwood again. Lady Aoife is upfront about her desire to not remarry again, but is very gracious and moved by the offer and accepts. Sir Alwyn offers Sir Tathan the position of household knight, replacing Sir Lycus, who had abandoned his post years earlier.
Returning to report the solution and Lady Aoife's upcoming reinstatement as nursemaid to Countess Ellen, they learn that Cyning Cerdic has successfully captured the Isle of Wight and granted it to his returned son. They have conflicting feelings about this development, grieving the further loss of Cymric lives and property while understanding that keeping their Saxon ally powerful and happy is an unfortunate necessity. As they adjourn the council for the remainder of the year, they are told that an odd young boy has arrived at court looking for heroes to save all of Britain. Amused, they decide to meet with him to entertain his request.
Meeting with the strange child, he addresses them by name and remarks that he remembers more of them being present for this. He tells them that he knows they have dreamed of the Serpent's Tower, and needs their help preventing it's construction. Once out of city limits, the child reveals himself to be the exiled Merlin the Magician, disguised with a glamour spell. He informs them that they will need to travel through the expanding Forest Sauvage, and secretly recognizing latent magical ability in Sir Alwyn, hands him an enchanted magical sundial that will prevent the strange time-bending temporal effects of the forest.
Merlin proceeds to tell the group the tale of a small village named Medbourne in Leicester Forest. According to the archdruid, it was recently the land of a humble knight named Sir Staterius, whose naïve daughter visited a well that served as a gateway to the Faerie Realm on the spirit night of Nos Galan Gaeaf, and was impregnated by evil faerie incubus. The girl died giving birth to the child, a creature known as a fiend, which Sir Staterius named Gorboduc. Sir Staterius raised the increasingly violent boy, but the boy grew very rapidly and reached full adulthood by the time he was seven years old. At nine years old, Sir Gorboduc rallied a gang of thieves and slew his grandfather, overtaking the town. Merlin warns that in the two years since, Sir Gorboduc has enslaved the town and forced them to build a sinister magical tower, where he intends to drag the young maidens of Medbourne to impregnate through incubi and create an army of monsters like him.
Arriving at Medbourne, Sir Alwyn, Sir Edward, Sir Drystan, and Mars recognize it as the town from their dream - with the church simply burned to the ground by bandits instead of melted by the acid breath of a giant serpent. Merlin explains that it was the church of Saint Helen, also known as a deity named Helen of the Wells, and tells them to invoke her name if they need help. Ordering them to show no mercy, Merlin departs to make preparations for an unknown task, stressing the importance of their mission. Traveling to the motte that contained the Serpent's Tower in their dream, the knights find peasants slowly constructing a castle. After debating whether or not to attack the patrolling guards, they instead talk to a peasant overseeing the construction and attempt to gain an audience with Sir Gorboduc. After arguing with the brusque foreman for several minutes, they eventually are taken to a large house in Medbourne where they are to await Sir Gorboduc.
As they wait in the house, several armed footmen enter in waves and stand guard. Eventually, the large Sir Gorboduc and his lieutenants arrive and ask the knights to state their business. When Sir Alwyn mentions seeing the tower in his dream, the fiend grows concerned and sends one of his lieutenants off on a task. He offers the councilmembers food and drink, and while Mars tests whether the fare is legitimate and not poisoned, Sir Alwyn realizes that Sir Gorboduc is just stalling for reinforcements. The lieutenant arrives with more men, outnumbering the knights more than three to one, and Sir Gorboduc orders them to kill. As the knights cut through the footmen, Sir Drystan drops his sword when his hand is shattered and is rendered unconscious by a powerful blow to the head. Once Sir Edward, Sir Alwyn, and Mars bravely dispatch the footmen, the powerful lieutenants begin to fight the knights and are able to fell Mars as well before they too are defeated. Realizing their weapons stand no chance against Sir Gorboduc's powerful armour and noticing reinforcements on their way, Sir Alwyn cries out to Helen of the Wells. With a burst of freezing air, Sir Gorboduc is confronted with the bloodied, armoured ghost of his grandfather. The reinforcements flee in terror as Sir Gorboduc begins a ritual to banish the spirit of Sir Staterius. Exhausted from his spell, the fiend curses his cowardly underlings and admits defeat. Sir Alwyn beheads him and turns to apply first aid to Mars, who then recovers Sir Drystan.
As the knights make their glorious return to Salisbury, they learn the unfortunate news that Tintagel has surrendered to King Idres in Cornwall. Not letting it damper their mood, they regale the countess with their impressive tale of their own fight. The countess reminds them that one of them now legally owns the partially constructed castle. Having already been granted castellanship of DuPlain, Sir Alwyn concedes ownership of the Serpent's Tower to Mars.
That winter, Salisbury suffers as it is hit with harsh weather conditions and Saxon raids.

Rewards Granted

Sir Alwyn of Oxenwood was granted castellanship of DuPlain Castle. Mars of Winterbourne Stoke gained ownership of the  Serpent's Tower.

Report Date

06 Nov 2020

Primary Location

Silchester Castle

Secondary Location

Leicester Forest