Sunday 24 May 2015

513 AD: The Battle of Castle Terrabil

The tragedy of the May Babies was on everyone's lips. There were many different theories about who was responsible and why - Arthur, Merlin, Lot, Morgause, the Ladies of the Lake, the faeries, or others were all blamed by one party or another. Svenhilde cast a divination to see a vision of a ship at sea in a storm with no crew, and rows of babies under the decks. The ship broke apart, and the babies were washed away into the ocean - save one, which was snagged upon the rocks. As the storm and the vision abated, Svenhilde could see a fishing vessel travelling out to the reef...

Whatever the truth of the vision, certainly King Lot blamed Arthur for what had happened. Once again, he allied with other rebellious kings and marched south to join them. King Arthur's forces met them in Cameliard, near Castle Terrabil. His goal would be to defeat the army of Norgales first, before King Lot's forces arrived to reinforce them. 

The night before the battle, Sir Edwin, Sir Fflergant, Sir Mabon, and Lady Svenhilde all prepared in their own way. Svenhilde oversaw the establishment of the healers' tents, and ensured that it was all fully equipped, with the aid of Sir Mabon and Lady Elspeth, Sir Fflergant's wife. As they returned to their tents, some drunken soldiers began to throw mud at Svenhilde, calling her a witch and a fornicator. Saint Dewi's tirades against her had had an audience, evidently... Elspeth hurried a shocked Svenhilde away, while Sir Mabon chastised the soldiers and convinced them to back down. 

Meanwhile, Sir Edwin gave an inspiring speech to his troops and led them in prayer. He was somewhat upset when his enemy, Sir Telifan, led his followers to join Sir Edwin's prayers, but permitted it. As he returned to his tent, he saw two furtive-looking knights leaving the camp, too far away to confront. One of them had two swords. Sir Edwin remembered Sir Balin, the Knight of Two Swords, and his brother Sir Balan from the previous year, He reported their presence to the command tent, in case they were here as spies, and then retired for the night. 

At the same time, Sir Fflergant, furiously drunk, stumbled out of his tent to urinate. He was in a filthy mood, brooding upon the upcoming battle. For he had a special, personal reason to hate the King of Norgales. As he pulled up his breeches, he saw two guards escorting a massive prisoner through the camp. Somehow, it was none other than King Ryonce of Norgales himself! Sir Fflergant lost control of himself. He drew forth his sword and with an inarticulate scream, buried it in the King's chest. The men at arms were aghast and asked Sir Fflergant to come with them to explain himself to King Arthur, but Sir Fflergant refused, and fled the encampment entirely.

The next day, word was spreading throughout the camp about Sir Fflergant's deeds. Two unknown knights - almost certainly Sir Balin and Sir Balan, hoping to return to King Arthur's good graces - had captured King Ryonce and delivered him to the camp. Elspeth explained Sir Fflergant's motives to Svenhilde: during the anarchy, Sir Fflergant's older brother Sir Aaron had led a force to aid Cameliard against King Ryonce. Knowing that King Ryonce was obsessed with defeating kings, Sir Aaron lied and claimed to be the Brigand King - in other words, his younger brother - and challenged King Ryonce to single combat. King Ryonce broke the rules of honour and had Sir Aaron treacherously slain and shaved, and added his beard to Ryonce's cloak. 

The battle began, with Sir Edwin performing mighty deeds of honour. Back in the first aid tents, Sir Mabon, Lady Elspeth and Lady Svenhilde worked hard to save the lives of the wounded that were brought to them. Everyone wondered when King Lot would arrive and inevitably outflank King Arthur's army, but as the day dragged on, they did not appear, and so the forces of Norgales were defeated. Finally, King Lot arrived (the knights suspected, rightly, that Merlin had some hand in this), as did further reinforcements: a small force led by King Pellinore! Furthermore, Sir Balin and Sir Balan emerged from the trees and began doing mighty deeds of arms, destroying King Lot's flank single-handedly. Eventually, King Lot and King Pellinore confronted each other in a vicious duel, before King Pellinore finally slew the King of Lothian. With his death, the last soldiers routed - the battle was won.

Back in the first aid tents, Svenhilde was shocked when one patient, a knight with a mangled arm on the verge of death, reclaimed consciousness and refused her help. He didn't want a witch touching him. Svenhilde knew that none of the other healers would be able to save his life: only her magic would suffice. She decided to ignore the knight's objections, and to save his life.

Sir Edwin, meanwhile, discovered the body of Sir Telifan on the battlefield. His rival was extremely badly wounded, but begged to confess his sins and gain Sir Edwin's forgiveness. He had falsely accused others of heresy so that he could claim his lands, but he had done so for the greater good, against people who he felt were evil. He regretted how his actions had torn the last members of the Knights of Saint Gwiona apart. Now he was afraid what the results of his lies would be in the afterlife. Sir Edwin tried to comfort him - and then realised that Sir Telifan had died without hearing any of his words.

With the battle over, the rebellions against King Arthur had come to an end. Twelve kings had died that day, and King Arthur took control over their land. With King Idres of Cornwall among the dead, King Arthur confirmed Sir Edwin as the new Earl of Devon, restoring his ancestral lands to him. This would be the end of his adventuring career. Before he departed, Svenhilde sought his advice about the harassment she had been suffering and confessed how afraid it made her feel.

A great feast was held to commemorate the victory. The heroes of the day toasted each other, and King Arthur took Lady Elspeth aside to tell her that he would not hold her responsible for Sir Fflergant's actions - but that her husband was by his own deeds an outlaw. Meanwhile, a drunk Sir Kay began to abuse Sir Mabon for being a coward and keeping to the healers' tents rather than fighting, again. He insisted that Sir Mabon remove his sword belt and leave the knighthood in shame. Sir Mabon was about to comply, when King Arthur stopped him. Compassion and loyalty were no less virtues than prowess and might, and all men who do good according to their own abilities were to be honoured, not chastised. Too long had they valued over war over peace. The King appointed Mabon to his service, to lead the efforts to rebuild and restore the damage from years of warfare.

Upon their return to Salisbury, Lady Elspeth was 'kidnapped' by the followers of her husband, who took her to him in the forest. Sir Fflergant tried to convince her to live as an outlaw with him again, but this time she refused. Sir Fflergant refused to return until he felt that he had earned it, and announced that he would depart upon a perilous quest to earn her forgiveness - he would find her lost sister Gwin in the Forest Sauvage, and reunite the sisters. Sir Fflergant departed upon his quest, and Elspeth, shaking her head at her husband's foolishness, returned home for the winter.

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