Sir Taedi's player was unable to attend the second half of our 515 session due to some unfair real-life problems. So we had a bonus adventure for him, to explain what he was doing while everyone else was off saving Logres!
Shortly after the knights of Salisbury left the Wasteland, while travelling through the backwaters of Malahaut, Sir Taedi's horse threw a shoe.
This was very unfortunate. The travelers were moving swiftly, as they needed to find the Whetstone of Tudwal Tudclud and return to London before Pentecost. Sir Taedi would be unable to keep up with them, and once they left him behind, it was unlikely that he would be able to catch up. They would just have to leave him behind. So they departed, and Sir Taedi backtracked: he remembered seeing a village on the horizon two, or maybe three hours ago.
He rode slowly back north, along the bank of a river too wide to ford. Before too long, he reached a stone bridge that spanned the river. A mounted knight held the bridge; his squire lay in the grass nearby, with a blade of wheat in his mouth, staring up at the clouds. The knight waved to Sir Taedi (almost falling off his horse in the process), introduced himself as Sir Victor, and challenged him to joust. Somewhat bemused, Sir Taedi asked what the stakes were. This made Sir Victor pause for a minute, for he had not realised that some manner of stakes were customary - he just wanted to practice his jousting skills! Sir Taedi suggested that the loser should offer hospitality to the winner, and Sir Victor cheerfully agreed. The two charged, and Sir Victor's lance struck a very glancing blow to Sir Taedi, which barely rocked him in his saddle. On the second pass, Sir Taedi's lance flung Sir Victor from his saddle. The other knight fell, and caught his foot in the stirrup, being dragged along the ground for some way. His squire rushed to rescue him. When Sir Victor was freed, he removed his helmet, revealing a simple and smiling face. He was pleased to have lost, and he invited Sir Taedi to come and have dinner with him.
Sir Victor's home was a squalid little village. He took Sir Taedi's horse to the village blacksmith Dafydd to be re-shod, and then invited his guest to his manor for dinner. It was barely larger or grander than the peasants' houses. In fact, many of his tenants ate with him, and he ate the same simple food as they did, while animals ate in the rushes on the floor around them. Sir Taedi found it strangely comfortable. The two knights talked of the news from the south, and Sir Victor revealed how he dreamed of leaving home, seeking adventure and finding a wife. That night, Sir Taedi slept on the ground in the hall, curled up with a pig for warmth; the next day, when he rode out, Sir Victor rode with him.
Later that day, the two adventurers met another knight upon the road. This knight called to Sir Taedi as if he recognised him. Sir Taedi thought that the knight's coat of arms, a crimson moon, looked familiar, though he could not quite place them. He played along, hoping the other would say something to jog his memory, as the Moon Knight greeted him and asked how he had been since they had last met, asked if he'd had any success since then, and admitted to very little himself. Then the Moon Knight saw Sir Victor and challenged him to a joust. The loser would offer military service or scutage to the winner. Sir Victor cheerfully accepted, and was immediately bowled from his saddle by a mighty blow. The Moon Knight introduced himself to Sir Victor as Sir Einion, and asked the two to accompany him to where his other followers were gathered, to reclaim the ancestral home and rescue the sister of... "Sir Dai?" Sir Taedi quietly spoke to Sir Victor and decided to play along, so that Sir Victor could take part in his first adventure.
The three knights rode towards a nearby village, while the two knights subtly pumped Sir Einion for more information. He revealed that one Sir Meurig had dishonourably slain the local lord, Sir Heilyn, in an ambush. Sir Heilyn's daughter (and Sir Einion's lady love) Gwladys was his prisoner, but his son Sir Dai, who had the same heraldry as Sir Taedi, had escaped and met Sir Einion, and the two had agreed to muster support to reclaim the castle. Sir Einion commented on how 'Sir Dai' seemed different to before, and Sir Taedi improvised wildly.
At a village near the castle, they met the other three knights that Sir Einion had already recruited. Sir Powell was a drunken sot, Sir Sian a religious fanatic, and Sir Aidan a cross-eyed birdwatcher - not an inspiring army! Sir Aidan also confronted 'Sir Dai' about his gambling debts, and Sir Taedi continued to bluff, promising to pay 'his' debts once they had recaptured the castle. Sir Einion and Sir Taedi then made a plan to attack, leaving Sir Taedi bemused by how pitiful the defenses were. They planned to attack on the next day, but Sir Taedi and Sir Victor sneaked away to attack the castle that very night.
At this point, our cat Nimue decided to help. She began to attack a model castle that sat on the table, shoving her nose through the gates, picking up and carrying off cardboard defenders, and nearly knocking the castle - and herself! - off the table. Once we had stopped laughing enough to be able to breathe again, we continued.
The 'castle' turned out to be more of a large house. The two knights noticed that an upstairs window was open, and used Sir Einion's siege ladder to climb into the house. They were greeted by a screaming maiden, who shouted at 'Sir Dai', her brother, for invading her bedroom. Sir Taedi tried to explain, thoroughly perplexed - wasn't she supposed to be in the dungeon? At this point, Sir Meurig burst in (Gwladys screamed again, brandishing his sword at the intruders in his sleeping attire, and confronted 'Sir Dai', who had last been seen fleeing like the coward that he was. At this point, Gwladys finally realised that Sir Taedi was a foot taller than her brother...
The deception was finally up. Sir Taedi confessed everything, and admitted that he had been pretending to be Sir Dai for the adventure, and to help right a seeming wrong - that may or may not have happened. Sir Meurig told him that Sir Heilyn had murdered his father, Sir Wynfar, years ago. He had just sought revenge, and to reclaim his ancestral homes - but he had seen to it that those he had slain had been given a Christian burial, and he had not laid a hand on Gwladys. Sir Taedi agreed that this showed he was an immensely patient man! The two men forgave each other, but Sir Meurig asked that Sir Taedi and Sir Victor would help to end the current situation peacefully - and hopefully get Gwladys out of his hair!
At this point, the sounds of the 'attack' (of four knights) came. The knights hurried outside to negotiate, as the knights charged the castle. Sir Powell collapsed, drunk; Sir Aidan tripped on a rock; Sir Sian stopped to superstitiously avoid stepping on a crack. Only Sir Einion made it across the courtyard to the castle door, which the two knights slammed in his face. They then had a guard run for Gwladys, who came down to Sir Einion and explained everything. The battle was over!
Sir Taedi and Sir Victor thought that it might be time to slip away now, but Sir Meurig cornered them and declared that their promise had not been fulfilled, for Gwladys was now refusing to marry Sir Einion! She could not possibly get married without a proper dress and without a dowry! Sir Meurig was desperate to get rid of her, and so he split tasks with Sir Taedi and Sir Victor: Sir Meurig would go on the Quest of the Wedding Dress, while they would ride on the Quest of the Dowry. They quickly searched the castle for anything that would do - a nice dinner service, perhaps? Then Sir Taedi remembered folk-tales that he had heard that men of old had buried their treasure in faerie barrows nearby.
A few hours later, the two knights reached the village where the ancient gold was said to be. The villagers 'recognised' Sir Taedi as Sir Dai. Apparently Sir Dai had been there a week ago and hired many mules, and a good spade. Sir Taedi was now getting thoroughly sick of Sir Dai - especially when they reached the mounds and found that Sir Dai had already dug them up and taken all the gold! Sir Victor gloomily predicted that Sir Dai probably meant to flee to the continent, but Sir Taedi decided to give chase.
The tracks led to the city of Winteringham, on the River Humber. There, the two knights asked around. No one knew where Sir Dai was, but they remembered an extravagantly rich knight and his two henchmen, who had indeed been seeking passage to the continent. When Sir Taedi and Sir Victor met up again in a tavern, a drunken man asked Sir Taedi for money, insisting that he was a knight - and Sir Taedi realised that it was Sir Dai. Sir Dai had fled his castle when it had fallen, met Sir Einion on the road and lied about fighting alongside him to reclaim it, and then fled to dig up the gold and escape. However, he had met two sycophants who managed to fleece him for all his gold, his armour, his sword and his horse, and then took his place on the ship. Sir Taedi challenged him to a joust outside of town (Sir Victor lending Sir Dai everything that he'd need) and then finally lost control, charging with a murderous scream. Sir Dai panicked and fled, with an irate Sir Taedi close behind him...
And so their work was done. Sir Dai was dragged back home - the debtor serving as a sort of dowry. Sir Einion and Gwladys got married. Sir Meurig finally got some peace and quiet. Sir Victor returned home, having finally experienced an adventure. And Sir Taedi began the long ride south, determined never to tell anyone the story of what had happened.
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