Le banquet de l'Infamie

Gathering / Conference

the infamOUs feast The army and populace are ecstatic. Cooks and ser- vants prepare a huge feast at the castle in St. Albans. The nobles are to eat in the Great Hall, while the bulk of the army is to eat at makeshift tables spread in the bailey. Knights who were notably successful in the battle may have been invited to eat in the hall too. However, the bailey is hardly less magnificent. 64 the great pendragOn Campaign At the feast, the happiness of victory incites many to excess. Temperate/Indulgent rolls are in order. If in- dulgent, the knights drink enough to pass out early. Special: Temperate. (Critical = “You didn’t drink any- thing.”) Remember whether this is so for each knight. As well, Chaste/Lustful rolls may be in order. If lustful, a knight finds a willing lass to bed down with. They leave the feast and find some private place. Knights who remain both temperate and chaste stay at the feast, filling themselves with good food, compan- ionship, convivial pleasure, and the other emotions that come along with surviving a bloody battle. Up in the Hall: Around midnight, everyone who has drunk wine or beer feels something awful happening inside them. They reel, then spasm, and begin vomiting food, then blood, and soon die from internal bleeding. The effect strikes suddenly and there is no cure, for this is the onset of a magical poison. The only way a noble or knight can survive feast- ing in the Great Hall is by getting a critical success on a Temperate roll. Of course, the servers, many of them noblewomen, generally do not drink either. In the Bailey: Many screams resound in the halls of the castle. What do the player knights do? Some may have passed out already, but may wake up from the sound. Others may be hidden away in the cow barn or some similar place, half naked with a laughing young lass, yet they may be distracted or alarmed by the terri- ble sound. (Or maybe not, in which case they will hear of this only tomorrow.) If any investigate up in the Great Hall, they witness the first fallen vomiting blood. It is clearly too late for them. The men are blue and purple, heaving up foaming red blood upon the tables, themselves, and each other. They stagger, gasping, and then crash upon the tables and floor, thrashing spasmodically. First Aid is useless, as is any other healing. The carnage is horrible; man after man falls to the floor, dying a horrible death. If the knights witness this, whom do they seek? Uther? Earl Roderick? Another? They can wade through the blood and vomit to find him if they wish. No matter, for he’s dead. They are all dead. All of them. Panic, hysteria, and frantic, meaningless activity seize everyone in the castle, the town, and the nearby countryside. Gamemasters should ask what the player knights are doing. This is a crisis, and behavior in such circum- stances is important. Checks may be given, rolls may be required. At some point, the castellan’s wife asserts order. Servants begin the grim job of removing the corpses. It is clear that someone has treacherously poisoned the meal, probably the ale or wine (or both). Everyone who survives is devastated. Hundreds killed! Terrible enough, but look at the roster of dead! The ruling class of Logres is virtually wiped out. The High King and just about all of his barons (except those in the hospital) have died. Earl Roderick is dead. The land has no rulers. The mourning is keen and grievous for the many noble dead. Even Ygraine is sad — perhaps she was fond of the king after all? Or is she only worried about her safety now? fUnerals The bodies are returned to their families, the dead borne on wagons with their best horses tied behind. A hundred black-shrouded processions crisscross Logres. The bodies of Roderick and Uther travel together, both taken to Salisbury for display, amid a mourning procession. Though it is the king, only a few nobles view the corpse: All have their own dead fathers, brothers, uncles, and so on. Hundreds of commoners visit every day of the journey, however. Earl Roderick is buried in the cathedral. Surviv- ing player knights probably attend. Uther is buried at Stonehenge, between his brother Ambrosius and his son Madoc. Glory: 25 for attending Roderick’s funeral; 100 for King Uther’s