[i]The Land and the King are One -Various[/i] The Lady Igraine is dead and Uther Pendragon sits alone in Camelot. In his youth, he earned his title through skill, bravery, and an unmatched fierceness in battle. But it has been a long time since he was young. A long time since he could wake in the morning without pain already weighing down his old bones until they feel heavier than lead. A long time for the matter of death to weigh on his mind. In that time, the rumors have passed that he took his throne not merely through force of arms but through betrayal. The rumors have passed that Merlin aided him through Fae magic and cunning. The rumors have even passed that he conceived an illegitimate child, born when his wife Igraine was yet sworn to another, his greatest foe. Now he is old, alone and pained. Yet he does not wish to die. The land too is old, and pained, and because its king clings to the world as he is, so too the land clings to its frailty and will not change or grow. Times that were bountiful under the protection of Uther’s reign are now worried times, where families wonder at the touch of the first frost whether they will live to hear the crackling ice that signals the spring thaw. The druids and the priests who are about in the villages do what they can, where they can, and things are better where people remain loyal and true. But so long as there is rot at the heart of Camelot, there is no hope of change. These words have been passed among the knights outside of Camelot of the goings on in the high kingdom of Britain and most especially Uther's domain of Logres. [hider=The Lily Knight's Tale] It’s said that not so long ago a gallant young knight, who is called the Lily Knight, left her local manor near the forest Sauvage and took her squire, her horse, and her lance and set out for Camelot. There was to be a tournament there, for Uther Pendragon still holds tournaments and offers rewards for those who show skill enough for his court. Yet, the knight said that she was waylaid on the road. Not by bandits, who would not dare such an assault on her staunch mail and the shining argent lily on gules that adorned her shield and proclaimed that she knew no fear. No, she was waylaid by druids in service to Uther who claimed that the tournament was canceled and the king was in need of valiant knights to search on his behalf for relics. What they did not say was their purpose nor their need, merely that they served the king. They evaded her keen eyes and bowed and scraped in the road. They dissembled in their words and sought refuge in their roles and their quests. Surely a request from the servants of the king was not one to be questioned? The Lily knight was troubled enough at their cold demeanor and evasive words that she departed and returned home to check on the safety of her villages. She found them whole and safe, for the most part. However, in her brief absence, strange beasts not natural to the wood troubled her people. Their fields had been ripped askew, their sheep slaughtered and the blood drunk dry. It was no small matter to track the beasts and drive them off, and she found the bodies unnatural as though animated by some dark spirit. She was yet more troubled at this, fearful that old things had been disturbed and the land angered. Her people safe again, she now travels amongst the towns spreading word of the kings’ agents and encouraging the knights errant to see to the safety of their people before running off on reckless errands. Or worse. [/hider] [hider=Rumors told by the Branch Knight] “Did you hear, starlings? I’ve heard that...” # King Pellie’s riding up and down the hills with her nets, chasing a creature like a swan-necked leopard and a bark like a hundred hounds! She’s half-mad after losing her wife, and even drew on the Lily Knight when she offered to help catch the beast! Does she think herself Gwyn the Huntress with her white-and-red dogs? # The White Horse of the Downs has been wandering at nights, vast and strange against the stars, before lying itself back down on different hills come dawn. And the Giant of the Chalk spoke at Midsummer! It declared something about a beastly maid holding the fate of Britain in her hands... # Speaking of summer, Estragales had one of the worst I’ve ever seen. The heather’s brown and brittle, the corn’s mouldering when it grows at all, and when it wasn’t dry as bone it was because black squalls were roaring in from sea. The worst part is that this is the third bad year in those parts, and some villages are turning to banditry just to get by. No, I take it back— the worst part is that all of Britain is following along. When was the last time you saw rain? Thought so. # If you ride the Fens of Cornwall, cover your heraldry. Hereward the Wake has a special hatred for knights, and last I heard, that wily outlaw is holding Lady Lamorak and her arms to ransom! Whoever they really are, they wear a wolf pelt, and all the beasts of the field and birds of the air are on their side. # The Thrush Knight, Lady Madelyn, is hurt bad. I visited her at the monastery in Bath, but she was incoherent in her fever, talking about rivers and dragons and doom. Just because the women of the rivers are making themselves scarce doesn’t mean there’s a troubling reason for it— they’re just following one of their odd laws, I’m sure. And how would a dragon catch river-spirits, anyhow? # Be careful riding by Forest Sauvage — there’s a knight in black who roams there, challenging knights to jousts for service. I met Lady Abigail who told me all about her year and a day in bondage as a maid at the knight’s grim castle, deep within the woods— and how she worked alongside goblins and a Roman princess! [/hider] [hider=The Stag Knight’s Wise Words] I’ve ridden the length and breadth of the kingdom. When I was young and my hair the tawny color of fresh wheat, I fought with King Uther in his vanguard. Let me tell you, the land has seen a lot of good from his peace, however he got it. If you ask me, we have Merlin to thank for much of that, a shame he’s missing now, so I’ve heard. Times may be hard, but people haven’t forgotten that they were once harder. The difference between having a fire and a roof and being out in the cold is a real one, these old bones know it. But I’ll tell you this, if I tell you anything. A roof without bread is a frail shelter indeed. Think on that when you travel. Remember your humility and your knightly oaths. Remember that generosity, not force of arms will be your greatest strength. If you take your due and depart, you’ll be no better than bandits, and you’ll have nary a soul come to join your banner when Uther comes to find you. He will at that, mark my words. Don’t think you can ride about sowing dissent with your theories that it’s his fault the wheat’s shriveled and the mead’s bitter. Best then, to show some nobility on your parts. Show the people that there’s a better choice for them than old King Uther and prove to them before you need them that they can rely on you to honor your oaths. [/hider] [hider=The Dragon Knight's Defeat] The holy city of Jerusalem is governed by many rituals and many laws. The pious pilgrim might find divine revelation in accordance with these rituals. The impious pilgrim, however, may find just the opposite... Selzi Ikaros, the glorious Dragon Knight of Antioch, had been sent on pilgrimage by her devout mother in despair at her daughter's behaviour. Sent in the company of a retinue of priests, monks, and with the assistance of the most sober-minded of her companions Felii Instansi, this journey was sure to bring some measure of divine calm to the hot-headed warrior. But the mother underestimated. Selzi had the aspect of the boar to her - she desired to feast, to fight, and to revel. She was a mighty warrior with muscles like steel cables cables and without parallel in the jousting lists and she had no respect for these soft religious creatures that surrounded her like sheep. As soon as she reached the holy city she prevailed over Felii and spirited her away from the procession. They instead went through the bars and back streets of the city like a whirlwind, Selzi corrupting the naive Felii with drink and vice, engaging in brawls and robberies and behaviour entirely unbecoming of two young knights. After many nights of hard drinking the two of them walked from the city, laughing and carrying each other. Selzi walked ahead, and then turned to face Felii to show off the goblet she had stolen from a church. Walking backwards, she stepped into the centre of a crossroads. Walking backwards, away from Jerusalem, into a crossroads - this is one of the many ritual taboos that a more attentive soul would know to avoid. It isn't clear who the woman they met there was - a djinn, perhaps, or a wizard, or even the devil herself. But she sat atop the lamp post and smiled at the drunk and tarnished knights and offered them wishes three. She had not even had time to raise the topic of the price before Sir Selzi interrupted her with the same thoughtless arrogance that governed her whole life. "I wish," said Ser Selzi, as confidently as the horns of war, "for the strength of a hundred knights. I wish for the glory of a hundred kings. I wish for the wealth of a hundred lords." And so she of the crossroads smiled and shrugged. She hang down from the burning lamp-post by her feet like a bat and plucked the icon of the dragon from Selzi's shield, and with a symphony of fire, the knight and the dragon were one. Roaring in fury and horror, the wyrm clawed at itself, causing scales to fall as rain before flying away into the night. "And for your wish, little dove?" asked she of the crossroads with a smile like ice. "Turn her back!" blurted Ser Felii, aghast at the terrible curse that had befallen her friend. "Release Selzi at once, I command you!" "Ah," said she of the crossroads. "That will carry a heavy price indeed. She had three wishes, so you must do three tasks for me to undo them." "Name them," said Ser Felii. "Firstly, you must cleanse yourself in a cathedral not of Rome," said she of the crossroads. "Then you must hear a king weep and beg for mercy. Finally, you must walk through Ser Selzi's own fire without being burned. When these terms are met then I will return Ser Selzi Ikaros to human shape." But, said she of the crossroads in her malicious mind, even then Ser Selzi will not be free of the price of her own wish. [/hider] [hider=The Enchantress?] It is said that there is an enchantress who keeps a place of power within a deep lake in the woods. Her name is Nimue, though it is not known how her name came to be whispered among the people. It is said that she possesses the true sword of the king. It is said that even if she will not grant her sword, she can be persuaded to grant her blessing, the sacred purity of the lake that is evil's bane. But she has not been seen by any knight still living. Those with wisdom say that her time has not yet come, and may never come if Uther Pendragon achieves the immortality that he seeks. [/hider] Below is a map of Britain at the start of Uther's reign. In this campaign, he is already old and his success has united most of these lands, but their unity is a loose federation of oaths and vassalage, and most people alive remember a time in their lifetime of greater independence. [hider=A map of Britain] [img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/the-great-pendragon-campaign/images/a/a4/Uther-Political.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190608050037[/img] Source: https://the-great-pendragon-campaign.fandom.com/wiki/Britain?file=Uther-Political.jpg [/hider]