There were more hardships than just these as well. Elspeth, younger sister of Sir Donna, had vanished seemingly without a trace. She had been assigned to a menial quest by Marshal Helbur as a part of her training, but had abandoned her comrades and never returned. No search party could find sight or sign of her. Abbess Esther was also missing from Amesbury Abbey. She had received a vision from Saint Gwiona of the Holy Grail, the legendary vessel from which Christ had drunk at the Last Supper, which had caught the blood of the Son of God when he hung upon the Cross. After praying, Esther realised that she had become too political. She therefore had departed Amesbury under the name of 'Naomi' to become a hermit, to purify her soul and to seek the Holy Grail. Her long-time assistant Asher became the new Abbess.
With the spring came an emissary from the Saxons. Herga's smile was as sharp as a sword, and she had a task for Salisbury to perform for their new liege lord. King Cerdic had his eyes on the neighboring county of Dorset. He wished for the knights of Salisbury to go there as his emissaries, to persuade them to ally themselves with Wessex. If the knights succeeded, their annual tribute would be reduced. If they failed, Wessex would invade Dorset, and the blood would be on Salisbury's conscience. Although it grated upon them, the knights of Salisbury accepted this charge. Marshal Helbur, Sir Donna, Sir Edwin, Sir Mabon, Squire Julius and Svenhilde would travel to Donchester to persuade their senate to yield to the Saxons.
The group decided to travel by the direct route, through the Modron Forest. Rumour said that there had been an increase in brigandage in the Forest, but the knights were not worried. It was reputed that a Brigand King controlled the bandits, and took 'tribute' from those who passed through his self-proclaimed domain, so the knights prepared gifts for him before entering the forest. This was a wise precaution, for the group was soon captured by the Brigand King, the flamboyant Sir Fflergant, and his men, who offered them his hospitality by taking them blindfolded to their home for a feast. Sir Fflergant flirted with Svenhilde upon the way. They also learned the story of Sir Fflergant - a lordless knight, he served King Nanteleod as a mercenary. Upon the King's death, he grew disillusioned with the state of the world, and had decided to take those of a like mind and start their own kingdom in the forest.
When they arrived at the camp, Sir Donna was shocked to discover her sister Elspeth there. Elspeth had eloped with Sir Fflergant. Furiously, she attacked Sir Fflergant, but was restrained by the others. Meanwhile, a fortune-teller called Rollo predicted Sir Helbur's future, and Sir Edwin demonstrated his amazing strength by wrestling one, then two, then four, then six men at once. Sir Donna had a quiet and furious reunion with her sister, and stormed off. Svenhilde tried to comfort Elspeth, but was rebuffed - Elspeth blamed her for Sir Fflergant's behaviour.
Following the feast, the bandits agreed to let the knights pass through safely to Donchester. When they arrived, they were soon admitted to see the Senate. However, none of the Senators were interested in entertaining their proposal. Praetor Jonathel congratulated himself for defeating the Cornish nine years early (although in truth the Cornish had defeated themselves by over-extending their lines) and was confident that he could defeat the Saxons as well. In fact, he intended to declare himself Rex (King), as many others were doing in the wake of King Nanteleod's death. Following the disappointing meeting, each of the Senators quietly arranged to meet with the knights, All of them wished for the knights to back their particular cause - plotting to support Jonathel, or supplant him for the greater good, or for their own good. The knights refused them all.
Meanwhile, the group saw a familiar face: Briar, the brigand vintner. Feeling suspicious, they followed him and discovered that he was visiting the house of Sir Corval, one of the senators. Sir Corval was mustering a small force, and the knights realised that Briar had betrayed the bandits to their doom. For Elspeth's sake, they could not let this happen: they raced back into the forest to warn Sir Fflergant. He did not take the problem seriously, assigning one of his men, Tom the blacksmith, to keep an eye on Briar, while he moved his camp. Sir Donna refused to leave, and stayed with the bandits, but the other left for Donchester.
However, just outside of the camp, they found the dead body of Tom. Briar had escaped to tell Sir Corval where the Brigand King's new encampment was. The knights raced north, with Julius following the tracks to discover where Sir Fflergant was now, and arrived shortly before Sir Corval's forces. Svenhilde and Sir Mabon made a distraction - Svenhilde's singing drew some Dorsetmen's attentions, and the two galloped off on Sir Mabon's horse with the Dorsetmen in pursuit. Meanwhile, Sir Helbur, Sir Edwin and Julius rushed in to join the melee.
The bandits were doing poorly against the men-at-arms and knights of Sir Corval. Sir Donna, fierce with despair, slew all who would approach her. Sir Fflergant dueled Sir Layamon, the commander of Sir Corval's force, before being stabbed in the back by Briar. Sir Donna cleft her way through all opposition to save Sir Fflergant as he fell. Sir Edwin attacked Sir Layamon and slew him, while Julius failed to catch Briar as he fled. With these sudden reverses, Sir Corval and his forces routed, leaving a depleted bandit force victorious to bury their dead.
After the battle, Sir Donna insisted that Sir Fflergant would be coming back to her estate at Broughton, and Elspeth reluctantly agreed. He was unconscious following the battle, and could not have proper care in the forest. Those who wished to accompany him could do so, but most of the survivors decided to remain in the forest, now led by Sir Trentis, a landless knight.
With this situation resolved, the group traveled south to the coast to the town of Lulworth, The sea beats against the coast there, and the shore is marked with faerie barrows as the group rode up to the small town. Near Lulworth, under the light of the full moon, it was reputed that ghostly armies marched upon the road, and the group wished to discover the truth of this. It was however still a week until the full moon, and so the knights had some time to pass. Edwin gathered seashells for his lady wife, Sir Mabon wrote love poetry to Svenhilde, Sir Donna found a scarecrow that looked a bit like Sir Fflergant and beat it to death. Sir Edwin spoke to Sir Mabon about how inappropriate it was for a knight to do menial chores. Sir Helbur and Svenhilde spoke about the girl's future.
After a week, the knights went out under the light of the full moon to investigate the spectral army. In the darkness they could see the flickering forms of Roman ghosts, marching down the forest road. Sir Edwin looked at their formations very carefully, while Sir Helbur approached and tried to communicate. One of the Roman commanders turned to him, and the horror of encountering another ghost aged Helbur even further. However, he was not able to understand what the ghost said, and so the phantom legion marched away and vanished in the fog.
The group returned to Donchester for a second attempt at persuading the Senate to surrender to the Saxons. This time, some of the Senators are upset, since Sir Corval knew that they aided the Bandit King - but Sir Helbur managed to defuse the situation. Svenhilde attempted to use an augury to persuade the council, but they ignored the results and began arguing about what the omens meant. There was no hope for them. Disheartened, the group returned to Salisbury.
Later that year, word came that Praetor Jonathel was murdered as he was about to declare himself Rex, and the Saxons invaded a leaderless Dorset and were easily able to subjugate it. Svenhilde and Sir Helbur decided to get married. Svenhilde traveled to Thornstead to meet Rhiann, her magical tutor - who revealed herself as the witch behind the events of two years ago. She had been trying to secretly corrupt Svenhilde to become her apprentice, but the Thulian maiden had proven annoyingly resistant to corruption, and now was no longer a maiden. Rhiann intended to murder her apprentice, when something happened. Svenhilde was partially unconscious after being magically attacked, and so she did not know what happened when someone intervened on her behalf and destroyed Rhiann utterly.
As the autumn leaves fell, word came of a strange miracle from London. In the courtyard of the Church of Saint Paul, a miraculous sword had appeared, and those men old enough to remember the time of Uther Pendragon said that it was Excalibur, the Sword of Victory. The sword was driven through an anvil which sat atop a stone, and upon it were the following words:
Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England
Meanwhile, the group saw a familiar face: Briar, the brigand vintner. Feeling suspicious, they followed him and discovered that he was visiting the house of Sir Corval, one of the senators. Sir Corval was mustering a small force, and the knights realised that Briar had betrayed the bandits to their doom. For Elspeth's sake, they could not let this happen: they raced back into the forest to warn Sir Fflergant. He did not take the problem seriously, assigning one of his men, Tom the blacksmith, to keep an eye on Briar, while he moved his camp. Sir Donna refused to leave, and stayed with the bandits, but the other left for Donchester.
However, just outside of the camp, they found the dead body of Tom. Briar had escaped to tell Sir Corval where the Brigand King's new encampment was. The knights raced north, with Julius following the tracks to discover where Sir Fflergant was now, and arrived shortly before Sir Corval's forces. Svenhilde and Sir Mabon made a distraction - Svenhilde's singing drew some Dorsetmen's attentions, and the two galloped off on Sir Mabon's horse with the Dorsetmen in pursuit. Meanwhile, Sir Helbur, Sir Edwin and Julius rushed in to join the melee.
The bandits were doing poorly against the men-at-arms and knights of Sir Corval. Sir Donna, fierce with despair, slew all who would approach her. Sir Fflergant dueled Sir Layamon, the commander of Sir Corval's force, before being stabbed in the back by Briar. Sir Donna cleft her way through all opposition to save Sir Fflergant as he fell. Sir Edwin attacked Sir Layamon and slew him, while Julius failed to catch Briar as he fled. With these sudden reverses, Sir Corval and his forces routed, leaving a depleted bandit force victorious to bury their dead.
After the battle, Sir Donna insisted that Sir Fflergant would be coming back to her estate at Broughton, and Elspeth reluctantly agreed. He was unconscious following the battle, and could not have proper care in the forest. Those who wished to accompany him could do so, but most of the survivors decided to remain in the forest, now led by Sir Trentis, a landless knight.
With this situation resolved, the group traveled south to the coast to the town of Lulworth, The sea beats against the coast there, and the shore is marked with faerie barrows as the group rode up to the small town. Near Lulworth, under the light of the full moon, it was reputed that ghostly armies marched upon the road, and the group wished to discover the truth of this. It was however still a week until the full moon, and so the knights had some time to pass. Edwin gathered seashells for his lady wife, Sir Mabon wrote love poetry to Svenhilde, Sir Donna found a scarecrow that looked a bit like Sir Fflergant and beat it to death. Sir Edwin spoke to Sir Mabon about how inappropriate it was for a knight to do menial chores. Sir Helbur and Svenhilde spoke about the girl's future.
After a week, the knights went out under the light of the full moon to investigate the spectral army. In the darkness they could see the flickering forms of Roman ghosts, marching down the forest road. Sir Edwin looked at their formations very carefully, while Sir Helbur approached and tried to communicate. One of the Roman commanders turned to him, and the horror of encountering another ghost aged Helbur even further. However, he was not able to understand what the ghost said, and so the phantom legion marched away and vanished in the fog.
The group returned to Donchester for a second attempt at persuading the Senate to surrender to the Saxons. This time, some of the Senators are upset, since Sir Corval knew that they aided the Bandit King - but Sir Helbur managed to defuse the situation. Svenhilde attempted to use an augury to persuade the council, but they ignored the results and began arguing about what the omens meant. There was no hope for them. Disheartened, the group returned to Salisbury.
Later that year, word came that Praetor Jonathel was murdered as he was about to declare himself Rex, and the Saxons invaded a leaderless Dorset and were easily able to subjugate it. Svenhilde and Sir Helbur decided to get married. Svenhilde traveled to Thornstead to meet Rhiann, her magical tutor - who revealed herself as the witch behind the events of two years ago. She had been trying to secretly corrupt Svenhilde to become her apprentice, but the Thulian maiden had proven annoyingly resistant to corruption, and now was no longer a maiden. Rhiann intended to murder her apprentice, when something happened. Svenhilde was partially unconscious after being magically attacked, and so she did not know what happened when someone intervened on her behalf and destroyed Rhiann utterly.
As the autumn leaves fell, word came of a strange miracle from London. In the courtyard of the Church of Saint Paul, a miraculous sword had appeared, and those men old enough to remember the time of Uther Pendragon said that it was Excalibur, the Sword of Victory. The sword was driven through an anvil which sat atop a stone, and upon it were the following words:
Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England
