Year 500: Knighthood, Redefined
General Summary
For the prior session, see Year 499: Black Annis. For the following session, see Year 501: Morgan le Fay.
"Caerwent has fallen to the Saxons." - Dowager Baroness Rosalyn from Behind the WatersIn the Logrian county of Salisbury, all attention is turned towards the nearby kingdom of Cornwall - some see the rapidly expanding kingdom as a threat to Logres and fear Salisbury will be conquered next, while others welcome King Idres of Cornwall as a much-needed leader during this chaotic time. At Oxenwood, newly titled Baron Alwyn from Behind the Waters and his wife Baroness Winnie are spending time with their newborn daughter, Eleri. Baroness Winnie advocates for building a leprosarium on their land to help the sick, then suggests that Baron Alwyn abdicate his duties as castellan of DuPlain Castle to Blaen of Idmiston, who will be knighted this year, so the two can return to the Castle Behind the Waters. As Baron Alwyn considers it, his wife rushes him out for the knighting ceremony at Sarum Castle. At Winterbourne Stoke, Mars is preparing for her knighting ceremony, having forgotten to spend the evening before in prayer and reflection, when is interrupted by her household knight. He informs her that that there have been disturbances around her grandmother Lady Arianwen's abandoned almonry, and tells her that it is her duty to investigate. After arguing with the knight and trying to delegate the work, Mars quickly finds the homeless Kyffin of Winterbourne Stoke and Nyneve of Idmiston squatting in the building and tries to kick them out. Kyffin instead informs her that he has discovered that he is his father Sir Amlyn's heir to Winterbourne Stoke, not her, and that he will be moving into the manor. He tells Mars that she will be allowed to remain as his guest, but only if she behaves. Mars locks the pair in the almonry to deal with them later, and leaves to Sarum. As guests start to arrive at Sarum Castle, gossip begins as everyone notices that Blaen of Idmiston has not arrived for his knighting ceremony. As the ceremony is delayed, Archbishop Dubricus makes an appearance and denounces the knighting of Mars on behalf of the Roman Christian church, on the grounds of her being a woman. As he argues, Dowager Baroness Rosalyn from Behind the Waters arrives in full armour and announces that the county of Caerwent has fallen to a new group of Saxons. The dowager baroness pulls Baron Alwyn aside and sadly informs him that the Castle Behind the Waters was captured by Saxons. She demands that he does not tell Baroness Winnie, because she knows her daughter and knows that she would die trying to take it back. She tells her son-in-law to lie and make up excuses as to why they can't return. Before departing, she gives Baron Alwyn their family heirloom, which was rescued from the castle: a magical doublet that is said to draw on the strength of one's love for their family to protect them. Unwilling to wait for Blaen any longer, the ceremony begins. With Sir Drystan of Tilshead acting as a proxy for Countess Regent Ellen of Salisbury, Sir Mars is knighted and swears homage to the countess. She is then gifted a Roman shield by her step-grandfather Lord Brugyn of Appleton Thorn, and completes the ceremony of the leap, rushing onto her horse and riding off. The festivities die down, and Sir Mars returns for the Inner Council of Sarum meeting. As the meeting begins, Lady Indeg immediately brings up the fact that there was a strange man leaving the countesses chambers, and Countess Ellen reluctantly admits that an envoy of Prince Mark of Cornwall attempted to ask for her hand in marriage but that she refused. The council discusses the threat of Cornwall, who is currently sieging Salisbury's southern neighbour county Dorset, but are unable to come to a consensus on how to move forward. The knights of the council are reminded by Teacher Bolton that they have been invited to the wedding of King Nanteleod of Escavalon and Princess Alene of Somerset, and are also asked to visit Idmiston and check on Blaen, but first decide to travel to Winchester to meet with Cyning Cerdic of Wessex. In Wessex, the Saxon king confirms that Kent and Sussex are going to war, but notes that with the Frankish mercenaries joining Kent's smaller army and Cyning Ælle of Sussex's chief strategist Duke Ulfius of the Vale and his men departing to reclaim Caerwent, the armies are very evenly matched. They decide to use this window of opportunity to capture the city of Levcomagus from Duke Ulfius' county Silchester. In lieu of tribute, Cyning Cerdic requests that the knights hire spies to gain more information on Levcomagus. Sir Mars and Baron Alwyn hire a troupe of jongleurs to travel to Levcomagus as entertainers, secretly acting as informants. Returning to Salisbury, the councilmembers decide to check on Idmiston. They find evidence that the manor had been abandoned hastily, and investigate. They discover a mortally wounded steward, Ronan, who tells them that Blaen was "taken home", and then dies. Searching the home, they find a letter on the table and take it to a scribe in Sarum to have it read. From the letter, they learn that Blaen's brother Sir Rhyladd of Lighthorne and his mom and sister-in-law Lady Briant of Lighthorne had arranged to come to Idmiston for a family meeting. They decide to travel to Lighthorne in the county of Wuerensis to investigate. Sir Mars, Baron Alwyn, Sir Drystan, and Sir Edward of Upavon arrive at Lighthorne but find Lady Briant unwilling to answer their questions, insisting that Blaen is at home in Salisbury. Not wanting to openly violate knightly customs in front of Sir Drystan and Sir Edward, Baron Alwyn sends them to scout around the manor while he and Sir Mars devise a way to break in. They discover a barred window leading to the cellar dungeon, and Sir Mars is able to squeeze through - but quickly realizes she is in over her head when she finds Idmiston's adult residents Blaen, Dafi of Blackdown, Lady Audrey of Idmiston, Dowager Lady Viver of Blackdown and Mervyn, esq. being interrogated by Sir Rhyladd. Sir Mars learns that Lady Briant had Dafi kidnapped and replaced through a pact with the Faerie King of Sauvage, believing that Lady Viver didn't deserve a son. The Lighthorne residents both blame Lady Viver for the death of Lady Briant's sister Lady Elidia and the disappearance of Sir Rhyladd's father and Lady Briant's first husband Sir Eiffin of Lighthorne. Sir Mars makes herself known to Sir Rhyladd, and he instantly attacks the girl as an intruder. After exchanging blows, both knights are left unconscious and gravely injured. Baron Alwyn watches this from the window, and runs to the door to ask again to be allowed inside. As Lady Briant refuses, the baron tells her to check on her husband. After doing so, the panicked lady quickly lets Baron Alwyn inside if he promises to perform first aid. Baron Alwyn agrees to do it on the condition that all the captives are let free, and Lady Briant hastily agrees. After the wounds are mended and the prisoners are freed, Baron Alwyn attempts to leave his disliked companion Sir Mars behind. Dafi rescues her anyway. The knights return to Salisbury to deposit the freed captives and heal. They learn that after an attempted assassination at King Nanteleod's wedding, Escavalon has allied with Brycheiniog and gone to battle against King Dirac of Estregales once and for all. Blaen's knighting ceremony is rescheduled for the following year. Their jongleurs return and inform them that Levcomagus has a temporary citylord in place named Sir Beven as Sir Blains of Levcomagus had no heirs or successors, but the city is still reeling from the siege and figuring out how to move forward. They also learn of weak points in the city defenses, and report this to Cyning Cerdic. With armies from Wessex and Salisbury, the king leaves to take the city. At Winterbourne Stoke, Sir Mars adjusts to living under her cousin Kyffin. Preparing excuses for why they cannot return to the castle, Baron Alwyn returns home to Oxenwood to find his mistress Lady Clover of Meadowstream with twins - and his wife demanding an explanation. That winter, spirits are higher as they learn that Dorset is the first county to successfully repel King Idres, who has retreated to Cornwall to regroup. Kent and Sussex's combat resulted in a stalemate with both armies retreating, but with heavy losses on both sides. King Nanteleod defeated King Dirac, forcing his former liege lord's kingdom of Estregales to swear to Escavalon. Levcomagus is successfully captured. Meanwhile, the Saxons who conquered Caerwent have taken to naming their new kingdom Anglia, and are refusing any attempts at alliance.
Rewards Granted
Sir Mars of Winterbourne Stoke was knighted.
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