491 AD: Christmas in London and the Invasion of Cornwall

At the end of the year 490, messages were sent throughout Britain to the lords of the Supreme Collegium, calling them to London. It had been many years since they had last gathered and appointed Aurelius Ambrosius as High King. Now there was another who sought that hallowed rank, and whose deeds warranted his obtaining it: his brother, Uther Pendragon, wielder of the sacred sword Excalibur, victor of the Battle of Lincoln. For long years this had been Uther's ambition, for by uniting Britain he would finally have the power needed to truly take the war to the Saxon invaders at last!

Amongst those who travelled in the retinue of Earl Roderick, who held the Collegium seat of Sarum, were Sir Aeronwy, Sir Arnulf, Sir Gherard, Sir Cadfael and Sir Albrecht - all of whom had personally been involved in aiding Uther in his quest in the previous years. Four of these knights had even journeyed to Faerie with Merlin to obtain Excalibur for Uther. All of them hoped for a united Britain.

The knights had their own ambitions, however. Sir Albrecht sought to spread his Wotanic faith. It had suffered something of a setback recently - after the destruction of Malksham, Sir Albrecht was summoned before Earl Roderick and emissaries of Gwiona of Amesbury, to answer for his attack. Saint Gwiona recognised that Christians had also some culpability for what had happened, and while she sought justice, she also desired reconcilation and an end to religious conflict. Therefore she had demanded a weregild from Sir Albrecht in order to rebuild Malksham, and an oath from Sir Albrecht that in the future he would allow no harm to come to the Christian Church, or to womenfolk. Sir Albrecht was unhappy with the oath, but recognised that he had no other choice and agreed to the terms.

Alongside Sir Albrecht rode a young woman knight who had sworn fealty to Saint Gwiona. Her name was Sir Esther, and she was the younger sister of Sir Percival. Although she had wished to become a nun, she left the monastery upon the death of her brother to manage his estates. She was also tasked with liasing with Sir Albrecht to ensure no further conflict, and with overseeing the reconstruction of Malksham. She, too, had personal goals in London - to spread the influence of Gwiona and her pacifistic, feministic version of Christianity further throughout Britain.

Sir Cadfael was trying not to attract the attention of Earl Roderick, since the Earl was furious with him after refusing a political marriage to a lady of Somerset. He would have been left behind, except that King Uther explicitly wished for the knights who had obtained Excalibur to be present at London. With his retinue was his wife, Violette, in disguise. Sir Cadfael usually spent the winter at Illwind Castle, but since that would not be possible this year, he had decided to show his wife the world outside the Campecorentin Forest and to take her to see the capitol.

Sir Gherard's goal was the same as it had been for many years - to find a rich wife of higher status to marry. Sir Aeronwy's was similiar - she was seeking a man to father her child. After years of trying, she was beginning to feel that her husband (to whom she had never been particularly loyal in the first place!) might be impotent - and there would be many lords at London to seduce. Sir Arnulf was also interested in finding a wife, but his primary concern was to help out his man - for he and Prince Madoc had become lovers after Sir Arnulf had helped to save the Prince's life the previous year.

The Christmas feast began with a day of prayer and fasting, to remember Our Lord's birth into the world. Not all of the knights believed in this, since not all were Christians, but lip service was paid. In the evening, the feasting began. Uther's court, and the other lords of the Supreme Collegium, were gathered around a special table that Uther had had prepared for this moment - a round table, where no man sat above another, to symbolise how all those who sat down were lords and heroes of note. It was a simple piece of propaganda, but popular propaganda for all that. Now that the prayers were said, and the winter celebrations were beginning, it was time for the knights of Salisbury to set about accomplishing their various aims.

Not all of these goals were achieved over the winter. Sir Arnulf took the opportunity to sleep around in the licentious atmosphere of the winter celebrations - justifying it as a way to seek allies for his Prince. For Sir Arnulf, this led to the wife of the Earl of Doncaster growing jealous with him and attempted to sabotage the knight's saddle - fortunately, Sir Arnulf's loyal squire Helbur noticed this and saved him. Sir Arnulf also made further enemies during the Feast of Saint Stephen, when gifts are traditionally handed out. Earl Roderick wished to reward the knight, who had fought so valiantly at the Battle of Lindsey, as well as bind him to Salisbury (since Sir Arnulf technically owned no land of his own, after leaving Leucomagus - he was living in Salisbury only to look after his dead sister-in-law's estate). Furthermore, the Earl knew that honouring Sir Arnulf would infuriate Sir Rhisiart of Leucomagus, whom he hated. Therefore, Earl Roderick offered Sir Arnulf the hand of his daughter, Lady Jenna, in marriage, as well as the city of Tilshead. Sir Arnulf accepted - making himself an enemy of Leucomagus (who had wished for Jenna's hand for himself), as well as the other, longer-serving knights of Salisbury who felt that Sir Arnulf was an interloper and an upstart.

Sir Arnulf's winter continued in a similar vein when the knights went hunting in the woods around London. The brave knight became separated from his companions in the thick winter fog. He heard the sound of hunting horns and travelled towards them - only to find spectral hounds attacking him from out of the fog! It was the Wild Hunt, which was said to ride over the deepest hours of midwinter! Sir Arnulf fled, his horse being slain by the hounds of the Hunt, but was unable to escape. Brought to a halt, he challenged a ghostly stag-headed Huntsman to a duel, and managed to brutally defeat the spectre - but refused to execute a fallen man, and instead showed mercy. This sign of mercy was not a good idea, and the hounds of the Hunt attacked him, tearing at his flesh savagely. They surely would have slain him - but a brilliant entity clad in light drove them in terror away from the fallen knight. As Sir Arnulf's senses returned to normal, the shining form revealed itself to be Merlin the Enchanter, come to rescue him. The bloodied knight was dragged back to the castle, and spent the rest of the winter recovering in bed.

Sir Gherard had considerably more success than Sir Arnulf. He managed, very early on, to seduce the Dowager Baroness of Devon, Lady Edwina. The older woman had been widowed, and so her son was now the Baron - but she was looking for a new partner, while Sir Gherard had been looking to marry upwards for some time. However, the match was not just one of convenience - the two swiftly grew very fond of one another. Earl Roderick approved the match as well, for it strengthened connections between Salisbury and the small barony of Devon. So Sir Gherard achieved a happy marriage to Lady Edwina of Devon.

Sir Albrecht had intended to spread the Wotanic faith. He had made a stop on the way to London to do so, to visit Dorchester-on-Thames, in Rydychan. There was another Saxon community there, also from the first Saxon settlers under Magnus Maximus a hundred years earlier, who were also experiencing a Wotanic revival as a result of Sir Albrecht's actions in London. They, however, were led by a man called Acwel Raven's-Cloak, who was putting himself forward as the leader of the nascent religious movement. Sir Albrecht went there, intended to murder the challenger to his position, but instead he found himself talking to the older man and accepting that Acwel had more experience and knowledge of Wotanism. Sir Albrecht accepted Acwel as the leader of the faith, and in exchange was taken on as Acwel's chief disciple and heir. Acwel promised that in time, he would even teach the knight the secrets of runic magic!

Once but he found himself with very little opportunity to do so. He found himself challenged almost immediately by a small, round, pink-faced, moustachioed knight - Sir Hubert (who was quickly dubbed 'the Pig Knight') Sir Hubert continually challenged Sir Albrecht to a fight over religion, but the much larger Sir Albrecht, considering how he now had a 'minder' in the form of Sir Esther, decided not to respond to the taunting. A bigger problem was the new Archbiship of Canterbury, Iestyn. This Archbishop immediately proved himself a schemer, and attempted to manipulate Sir Albrecht and Wotanism. If Sir Albrecht would lead the Wotanist movement to destroy the heretic Saint Gwiona of Amesbury, the Archbishop said, then Iestyn would raise the oath that Sir Albrecht had been forced to swear. Otherwise, the Archbishop would dedicate the church to destroying Wotanism entirely. Sir Albrecht found himself torn - he despised the Archbishop and resented being manipulated; on the other, his oath sat heavily upon him and he wished it removed, and vengeance against Gwiona for forcing it upon him would be very satisfying!

Sir Albrecht's 'minder', Sir Esther, also wished to spread her religion at London, although she had somewhat more success than Sir Albrecht did in that regard. She spoke to King Leodegrance of Cameliard, whose wife was pregnant. The King proved most amenable, and agreed that, should his wife be delivered of a girl, that Amesbury should send a nun north to Cameliard to act as her tutor. In addition, Sir Esther learned of a Saint Dewi in Escavalon, known as 'the Waterman' for his devotion to temperance - in fact, it was said that he had miraculously changed wine into water! Sir Esther arranged for a messenger to take news to Saint Dewi from Saint Gwiona, to begin talking to him about the Saint officially recognising Gwiona's movement. Day by day, Gwionaism was becoming more mainstream!

In contrast to everyone else, Sir Cadfael had a quiet winter. As usual, Sir Cadfael heard all of the major political rumours that were circulating: that the Supreme Collegium was to decide what should happen to the two seats which had been lost to the Saxons. The two major factions which sought them (in exchange, no doubt, for their support for Uther) was King Nanteleod of Escavalon, who already controlled several seats; and King Lot of Lothian, an extremely powerful land-holder north of the Wall, yet one who did not control any seats on the Supreme Collegium. However, Sir Cadfael was not very interested in the politicking. He had brought his wife, Lady Violette, along with him, and during the Christmas celebrations he slipped out of the castle with her and showed her the sights and sounds of London. A good time was had by both!

Sir Aeronwy also used the opportunity to sleep around (even managing to seduce the Duke of Gloucester!), as well as to spread her own religion. As a good pagan, she knew that the Feast of Saint Stephen was once known as Wren Day, and so she took the opportunity to hunt down a wren and parade it through the town, according to custom.

Sir Aeronwy also signed up for the great tournament on the day of the Feast of Saint Simon Stylites, as did Sir Gherard, Sir Cadfael and Sir Albrecht. (Sir Esther did not like violence, and Sir Arnulf was still recovering from the Wild Hunt). All four knights managed to reach the final eight contestants. Sir Aeronwy duelled another woman knight, Sir Diane of the Green Isles, an Irish knight whom Sir Aeronwy quickly became friends with. Sir Diane proved the more skilled of the two, and defeated the pagan woman. Meanwhile, Sir Gherard was defeated by Sir Ector, a genial knight who generally dwelt in the Black Mountains of Wales, and Sir Albrecht finally was given the opportunity to fight, and easily defeat, Sir Hubert the Pink. Sir Cadfael fought with an old adversary - Sir Cador of Cornwall, whom Sir Cadfael had insulted years earlier before the Battle of Mearcred Creek. Sir Cador handily defeated Sir Cadfael, then yielded to him to show that the old grudges were forgiven and that Cornwall stood on the side of Logres, now and forever! Sir Cadfael then fought Sir Ector, overcoming him without too much difficulty, while Sir Albrecht dealt such a terrible blow to Sir Diane that she suffered brain damage and became addled in the head. The final of the tournament was to have been Sir Cadfael against Sir Albrecht, but the wounds that Sir Cadfael had suffered fighting against Sir Cador burst open, and so Sir Albrecht was declared the winner.

While all this was happening, the wife of the Earl of Doncaster made another attempt to murder Sir Arnulf in his bed. Sir Arnulf wrestled with the assassin, and fortunately his squire Helbur had stayed behind with his master rather than going to watch the fighting, so Helbur was able to save Sir Arnulf's life. Weakly, Sir Arnulf began to consider betrothing his baby daughter to the young squire, who had done so much for him.

There were various other events during the Christmas feasting as well. Helbur told the story of how the knights had achieved Excalibur at one of the feasts, impressing lords whom Uther wished to sway to his side. Gifts were given to them, by the Earl, by the King and by the Prince. Much wine was drunk, and the knights took part in a riddle-game (which they did not do well at) and in carolling. Particularly fun was singing 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', where the lines were improvised by each knight in turn:

Twelve pink pig knights
Eleven useless squires
Ten Saxon heads
Nine shooting stars
Eight breaded plates
Seven effing pounds
Six sharpened battle-axes
Five bowls of stew
Four judgemental women
Three French pastries
Two horns of mead
And a partridge in a pear tree!

Finally, on Twelfth Night, at Feast of Misrule, Sir Aeronwy discovered the bean inside her cake and was crowned 'lord of misrule'. She ordered that the entire court should be forced to wear women's clothing! Some of the knights (like Sir Ector) took to the fun enthusiastically, while others (like Archbishop Iestyn) did not enjoy this as much. Sir Aeronwy also took the opportunity to talk to Merlin, who was attending the feast incognito, as was his wont. She asked the great enchanter about his sister, Ganeida, about whom she had heard rumours. Much to her surprise, Merlin took offence at this question, muttered that he had no sister, and stalked off!

The next day was the Feast of the Epiphany, the final day of the Christmas celebrations. On the morrow, the politicking would begin, as the question of the lost seats of the Supreme Collegium would be discussed, and as Uther made his big for the High Kingship. The mood was ebullient, for everyone knew that Uther had garnered the support that he needed, and should easily be voted to become the High King. Then... disaster struck. A beautiful woman came forward to read a poem in the Pendragon's honour. She was the Duchess of Cornwall, the wife of Duke Gorlois, the beautiful Lady Igraine. Sir Aeronwy, Sir Albrecht, Sir Arnulf and Sir Gherard all fell in love with her immediately - as did King Uther Pendragon.

As the month continued on, King Uther stopped paying attention to the Supreme Collegium and to the task at hand, and instead spent his time fawning over Lady Igraine, while Duke Gorlois grew more and more furious and the Supreme Collegium grew more and more impatient. The promise of unity symbolised by Uther's new round table was gone. Eventually, realising that Uther's infatuation with another man's wife had blinded him to the needs of the kingdom, the lords of Britain began to disperse, with nothing decided - save that Uther should not be the High King. Uther continued to stalk Lady Igraine, who found it difficult to avoid his unwanted attentions, and yet as other lords left the castle, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall were forbidden permission to leave. Finally, the Cornish embassy slipped away in the night, and an incensed King Uther Pendragon used this as a spurious excuse to declare Duke Gorlois a traitor. He began to muster his armies - for a war with his own vassal, to seize another man's woman who did not want him as his wife.

Duke Gorlois summoned his forces to war, and prepared for the onslaught of the rest of Logres. The armies of the Pendragon mustered for the war in Devon. However, the conflict was wildly unpopular, with many feeling that they were simply serving as whoremongers for the Pendragon. Fighting between knights broke out commonly, and Sir Cadfael and Sir Aeronwy got into a fist-fight with some of the dissident knights. The knights of Salisbury felt betrayed by the King's actions, and none of them were happy with the war, but none of them wished to speak up about it, and all agreed to go along with the armies for one reason or another.

Also feeling conflicted were Prince Madoc and Merlin Ambrosius. Prince Madoc despised what his father was doing, with Saxon armies on Logres' borders, and wondered whether he should support the campaign against Cornwall or whether he should attempt to usurp his father's throne for the greater good - even though he loved his father dearly. Talking with Sir Arnulf about it, the Prince decided not to divide the kingdom any further, and to support his father - for now. Meanwhile, Merlin and Uther had argued loudly about whether Merlin should use his magic to win Igraine for Uther. Merlin refused to help completely, because he found the situation extremely reprehensible, but now he visited Sir Esther (since he had trusted and respected her brother) for advice whether he should, in fact, help Uther - for many men would die in the King's war, men might not die save that Merlin was keeping his hands clean.

The army marched westward into Cornwall, to find that Gorlois was occupying the fortress of Castle Terrabil, while his wife Igraine was kept safe in the coastal fortifications of Tintagel Castle. The siege of the castle was long and hard, and King Uther himself fell sick - from frustrated love, it was said. Then, after several weeks had passed, Gorlois and his knights sallied forth for a night attack upon Uther's encampment. The knights of Salisbury were caught largely by surprise, with only a few managing to find armour or steeds before the battle was upon them and they were forced to fight Duke Gorlois' knights. King Uther was not present, and so Prince Madoc attempted to rally the defenders in his place. However, Duke Gorlois himself was present in the raid, and attacked Prince Madoc from behind, putting his sword through the back of Prince Madoc's head! Sir Arnulf saw his lover die and, in a fury, he struck the Duke nearly asunder with a single mighty blow. With Gorlois' death, the now-leaderless raid fell apart, and Castle Terrabil fell.

The war was now over. King Uther now controlled Cornwall, and married Igraine after barely a month had passed. The Dukedom itself was dissolved, its lands divided up amongst faithful followers of the Pendragon. Gorlois' surviving followers fled or were slain. The Duke's three daughters Morgause, Elaine and Morgan were promised in marriage to King Lot and his supporters, in an attempt to create new alliances after the disastrous events in London, while Sir Cador was to be hunted and put to death as a traitor's son. It was Sir Cadfael who eventually discovered Sir Cador, hiding out in a village on the coast. Sir Cador had grown disillusioned with Logres and the institution of knighthood, and so Sir Cadfael helped Sir Cador fake his death, bringing in the knight's coat of arms as a sign that he was no more.

Meanwhile, the other knights confronted Merlin about his part in what had happened. They knew that he had gone to see Uther again shortly before Gorlois' death, and they knew that Uther had been missing on the night of the raid - in fact, his absence was what had prompted the midnight attack. Furthermore, rumours said that Duke Gorlois had visited Tintagel to lie with his wife on the very night that he had been slain at Castle Terrabil! Merlin admitted that he had used his magic to help Uther disguise himself as Gorlois, in order to rape Igraine. His visions had revealed that a great good would come as a result of their union, and the magician used this to bitterly justify his actions. One woman had been raped? Far worse happened after any battle! And the results of the one night's ill deeds would have immeasurable impact upon the destiny of the world! Everyone could tell that Merlin was simply trying to justify his actions to himself - and as they had also taken part in the campaign, they hoped that he was right, so that they could reconcile their own parts in the sordid war to themselves.

There was further ill news. Through his actions, King Uther had proven unworthy of the sword Excalibur, and overnight the magical blade vanished. Furthermore, the Saxons took advantage of the internal conflicts. King Aelle of Sussex had attacked Caer Anderida, on the southern coast, and slain all of its defenders, capturing it for himself.

The final events of the year were Sir Albrecht's. He spent a long time contemplating the words of the Archbishop Iestyn at Christmas. Should he betray Gwiona, and bow to the blackmail? Unsure what to do, he went to visit his mentor Acwel Raven's-Cloak that winter, who told him exactly what he should do. No man should try to manipulate a follower of Wotan! If this Iestyn sought a conflict with Wotan, then Sir Albrecht should give him one - by putting an axe in his skull! Sir Albrecht agreed immediately, and summoned many of his followers to lead a raid on the Archbishop in Saint Albans.

Before he left, Acwel told him that it was time he learn the secrets of the runes, for they might help him in defeating the followers of Christ. However, a sacrifice would be needed - and so Sir Albrecht tore his own eye from its socket as an offering to Wotan, just as Wotan had given his eye to gain wisdom from Mimir. As a result of his sacrifice, Albrecht gained mastery of three runes: Wynn, the rune of happiness; Feoh, the rune of cattle; and Hagl, the rune of winter.

Sir Albrecht led his army secretly to Saint Albans, and waited for the dead of night. He then secretly entered the town and carved Hagl into the streets of Saint Albans, summoning a terrible blizzard. In the middle of the blizzard, the Wotanic army entered the town and attacked the cathedral there unawares. Sir Albrecht was now forsworn, for he had broken his oath to Saint Gwiona, but he did not care. He broke into the cathedral and found the archbishop sleeping, woke him so that he knew Sir Albrecht - and then split his skull asunder with his axe.

Sir Albrecht enters Saint Albans Cathedral in search of vengeance. Art by Sir Aeronwy's player.

 

By this point, the defenders of Saint Albans, led by the lord of the town, Sir Julius, had rallied, and the followers of Wotan were surrounded, forced back against the walls of the church, and were being slaughtered. Sir Albrecht emerged and slew many of the guardsmen, withstanding blow after blow until he was the last man standing. His axe was broken asunder, and he was reduced to fighting with his bare hands, but no man dared approach him. Even a fully armoured knight charged the berserk warrior - only for his horse to be wrestled to the ground, and the man to be slain by Sir Albrecht's bare hands. Finally, Sir Julius struck down Sir Albrecht, whose spirit left his body to join the einherjar in Wotan's hall of Valhalla.

Sir Albrecht's mother is not happy about the Christians killing her baby boy - Art by Sir Aeronwy's player

RIP Sir Albrecht, 457 - 491. Slain after murdering the Archbishop of Canterbury.