Autumn 2014

Caves of the CircindAn Arthurian Adventure for RuneQuest 6/Mythic BritainChester: The City of LegionsPendragon Adventure: ‘The Dragon Hoard’Whispers Around The Realm

STYGIAN FOX

Dragons of BritainThe

THE JOURNAL OF GAMING IN ARTHUR’S BRITAIN

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T.H. White, The Once and Future King

ContentsNight of the Long Knives

Contents

Noble Edicts Editorial by Steff Worthington

The Caves of the CircindA Mythic Britain Adventureby Lawrence Whitaker

Knightly Quests‘The Bound Rose’ A mini-adventureby Chad Bowser

A Seat At The High TableAn Article on Court Admittance by Steff. Worthington

The City of LegionsA location for Pendragon, Age of Arthur, and Cthulhu Invictusby Steff. Worthington

Whispers Around The RealmPlot nuggets and ideasby Steff. Worthington

Ring DesignJewellery Craftingby Daniel Neugebauer

‘The Dragon’s Hoard’A Dangerous Pendragon Adventure by Weli-Matti Pelkonen

Gratitudes & ComplimentariesLinks to our contributors

WritersSteff. J Worthington, Lawrence Whitaker,

Chad Bowser,Daniel Neugebauer,Weli-Matti Pelkonen

ArtistsSteff. J Worthington,

Colin Driver, Mike Wolmarens, Outland Creative, Anodyne, Ashensorrow, Take27 Ltd, Atistatplay, Elevit Stock,

Indeed Stock.

Cover art: ‘Powerful Knight’

by Dmitry Tereschenko

Direction & EditingSteff. J. Worthington

Copyright

Submissions & Contact

steffworthington@hotmail.com

We are eager for submissions and this magazine can only continue with your help. Please e-mail

your submission idea to the address above.

Dragons of Britain is a magazine dedicated to the world of Arthurian gaming & RPGs ‘King Arthur:

Pendragon’ is copyright 2013 Greg Stafford & Nocturnal Media. ‘Age of Arthur’ is copyright 2013

Wordplay Games. ‘Mythic Britain’ is copyright 2014 The Design Mechanism’. This free fan based magazine is not for sale and is a work of fiction.

No similarities to real world people (still living or sleeping underneath a hill) or events are intended.

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Some of you may have noticed this issue is late. Very late actually. I tried my best to get the issue out in time but unfortunately there wasn’t enough content to fill an issue. This issue wouldn’t have happened at all without the likes of Loz Whitaker, Chad Bowser, Daniel Neugebauer, and Weli-Matti Pelkonen stepping in at the last minute.

I doff my cap to you Sirs! Seriously, thank you for helping out.

In terms of things that have hap-pened since last issue, my own gam-ing group are hooked on Pendragon and love the generational aspect of it. Mythic Britain teasers have been released (which are included in this issue) and that looks amazing.

I’ve also decided to step back from my own Arthurian RPG project for good. ‘The Bear of Britain’ was insti-gated from a desire to have a non-magical, mostly historical Arthurian game based around the Keatman-Philips theory of Arthur, but it seems like Mythic Britain may be close to that so it makes sense to enjoy that, tweak it where I need to to fit my idea of Arthur, and focus on other projects.

As for the next issue, well that re-mains to be seen. I have a great scenario from Ben Quant to place in next issue but I need more content. I’m happy to receive fiction, ad-ventures, articles, and art. I’m also happy to feature ads for any events or companies (no matter the size of the company) to promote their Ar-thurian products. They will be free (due to the restrictions on the art I use) so if you have anything please send it me in a form I can use (Adobe or Word with art/images separately) to the e-mail address on the contents page. The average downloads for each issue is roughly 100 per month (so issue 1 has been downloaded about 900 times) Also, if you have had any thrilling adventures that you’d like to share with the readership then send them to me and I’ll write a summary page!

Until then, I’ll keep the marsh light on so you don’t get lost out there while searching for weird swords held aloft by scantily clad maidens.

Steff. Worthington

Noble Edicts

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Caves of the Circind

A Mythic Britain™ adventure byLawrence Whitaker

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Caves of the Circind

A Mythic Britain adventure by Lawrence Whitaker

Merlin, the High Druid of Britain, sends the characters to retrieve the fabled Coat of Beisrydd, one of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain. To succeed they must find the help of the hero, Gawain, uncover the mysteries of Lindisfarena, and defy the wrath of Mawgaus, Druid-King of the fierce Circind Votadini - a powerful animist known to eat the brains of his enemies.

The search for the Treasures of Britain continues as Merlin sends the characters into the Pictish lands in a bid to retrieve the Coat of Beisrydd. Here they will encoun-ter the Druid-King Mawgaus and his brutal Pitcish tribe, the Circind. They also gain an ally in the form of Gawain, son of King Lot, the Votadini ruler of the Gododdin kingdom. Gawain knows where Mawgaus has hidden the Coat of Beisrydd and, being a northernerhimself, knows the wild country of Circind.

The Coat Of Beisrydd

The full name of Beisrydd is Pa-darn Beisrydd ap Tegid. The name translates as Paternus of the Scarlet Robe, son of Tegid, and the name Tegid is a Goidelic pronunciation of the Roman name Tacitus. Beisry-dd hails from a Roman family that was among the first to come to Brit-

ain, settle, and learn the way of the Celts rather than subjugate them, as was the general tradition. Beis-rydd’s ancestors learned the ways of the Old Gods, married into the local clans and, although they re-mained Roman, were accepted as Britons becoming very much like them. Beisrydd lived two hundred years ago and, accompanied by a druid of the north, went in to the Otherworld where he performed a great service for Arawn, the King of the Otherworld. Beisrydd was noted for the scarlet cloak and tu-nic of his family, and was known as the Prince in Scarlet: such was his service to Arawn that he was rewarded with a coat of armour impervious to rust, mortal weap-ons, and which will fit any person, of any size, who is deemed suitable to wear it. The Coat passed into the hands of the Votadini tribe and be-came a treasure in the care of the southern Votadini who would be-come the kingdom of Gododdin.

However, the coat was stolen by theCircind Votadini who claimed it rightly belonged to them. It was hidden by the Druid-Kings and is said to be well-protected. Only a handful of Circind Votadini know the coat’s true whereabouts, and they are not going to surrender it to anyone, even someone as pow-erful and influential as Merlin.

Merlin’s Instruction

It is likely that several weeks - if not several months - have passed since the previous scenario, allowing the

This scenario is taken from the forthcoming RuneQuest sup-plement, Mythic Britain. It acts as a sampler for the book but is also complete and playa-ble in its own right, with maps and Non-Player Character sta-tistics provided. Do note that it is intended for a party of about 6, reasonably competent char-acters, with combat-related skills in the 80% or higher area. If used with beginning, lesser-skilled, or fewer characters, then the skills and numbers of the foes should be adjusted ac-cordingly.

About ‘Mythic Britain’

Mythic Britain is a forthcom-ing sourcebook for RuneQuest 6 that details the lives and heroic exploits of post-Roman Britain. It is darker and more gritty than Pendragon and promises savage warfare and legendary exploits.This scenario can be played with RQ6 and Mythic Britain is out in November. See more here: http://goo.gl/hFDQdy

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characters time to rest, heal possi-bly, and catch-up with their more routine lives.

The High Druid gathers the char-acters together at wherever is convenient to the campaign. This could be at Ynys Wydryn, but Mer-lin is prepared to travel to engage the characters in this latest quest for a Treasure of Britain. He re-counts the above history of the Coat of Beisrydd to the characters, and concludes by saying ;

“Mawgaus rules the Circind and he and I have always been ene-mies. He denies Britain this treas-ure out of hatred for me, so there is no way that I can be involved

in its retrieval. I do not expect Maw-gaus to be persuaded either: he has a habit of eating those who displease him. No, I rather think you’re going to have to steal it...”

The coat’s location is protected by certain Votadini ancestor spirits and even Merlin has been unable to de-termine its precise whereabouts. But, he says, there is one who is willing to help: the warrior known as Gawain.

“Gawain is the son of Lot, king of theGododdin Votadini. Lot’s ances-tors let the coat be stolen into the keeping of the Circind and, because Gawain has no love for his father, he is prepared to help us steal the Coat of Beisrydd from Mawgaus. It will

The Coat Of Beisrydd

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not be easy, but Gawain claims to know where the coat has been hidden, and he knows the Circind lands. You will travel into Brigan-tia first and meet with Gawain; he will then be your guide as you go beyond the Great Wall and into the Pictish lands of the north. After that, it is up to you. If you recover the coat, bring it to me at Caer Ysc, capital of the Brigantes lands.”

Journeying to Brigantia

The lands of Middle Britain are a mixture of deep forests, roll-ing hills, sheltered valleys, and wide pastureland. Merlin tells the characters to go to Caer Ysc to find Gawain; the hill fort of Queen Elliw of the Brigantes, the ruler Gawain has chosen to serve as a hired sword. The journey to Caer Ysc should be uneventful and rea-sonably easy going. At this time of year the weather is more agree-able and may even be warm and sunny for the most part, mak-ing travel a pleasure more than a chore. The characters pass to the north west of the old Roman city of Eboracum and must cross several rivers before picking their way through the deep woodlands that make up the northern part of the Brigantes territory. They fre-quently see the old, pagan mark-ers of the Brigantes: leering and ominous faces carved into both rocks and tree-trunks, often with swirling designs.With a little less frequency the

characters encounter hamlets and villages: simple collections of roundhouses with corrals and pens for livestock and peopled with wary, but welcoming, locals who are hap-py to offer a little food, a little ale or mead, and a dry roof to sleep under. The Christian religion has taken firm root in Brigantia: the signs of the cross are everywhere and some of the villages have crude chapels and a priest or two. These Brigantes Christians do not seem too per-turbed by Pagans: clearly something of the Old Gods still lingers in their hearts although the blessed Saint Brigid has replaced the propitiation of the local forest spirits, and there are no druids to be seen.

Eventually the characters reach Caer Ysc, the sprawling hill fort built long ago by the founders of the Brigantes tribe. Caer Ysc encompasses several low hills and is more an enclosed town than a hill fort in its strictest sense. The characters are intercept-ed by mounted patrols several miles before reaching Caer Ysc’s boundaryditches but once it is established that the character are coming peacefully, the Brigantes war band patrol pro-vides an escort into Caer Ysc’s heart.

Given Ysc’s area, there are several small villages, all a part of Caer Ysc, inside the palisade. Lodging and other amenities can be easily found, and the Brigantes prove to be very hospitable people. They are keen for news from the south and God and Jesus are praised as news of victo-ries over the Saxons is delivered. If

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anyone asks about Gawain it is clear the name is known - as is that of Teneu, his sister.

It transpires that Gawain has trav-elled much throughout Britain,hiring his sword to Dumnonia, Powys and Gwent in recent years.

“He is a good servant of Christ, now,” someone tells the charac-ters. “But he still hates the Saxons and the Picts.” With a little ques-tioning the characters can learn a little more about Gawain’s hatredfrom his kinsmen - and the way his own father tried to murder hissister.

Gawain has now sworn his service to Queen Elliw and has quartersnear her hall. Gaining introduc-tions isn’t difficult: successful Customs or Influence rolls are enough to gain the right level of assistance.

Gawain of the Votadini

The man the characters seek can be found chopping firewoodoutside a modest roundhouse not very far from the Great Hall ofQueen Elliw. Gawain is not espe-cially tall or broad; in fact, he isquite unassuming, but, stripped to the waist, his athletic physiqueis unmistakable: he is muscled, fit and, most likely, fast. His chest,back and arms are coated in swirl-ing black and red tattoos typical of the Votadini tribe. Votadini get their first tattoo at the age of

eight, and then one is added every year: many are completely covered in tattoos, and this why the Romans called them ‘picts’, or ‘painted ones’. Gawain’s tattoos though, only cover his upper body; elsewhere he is free of them. His hair is dark, coarse, and tied in a severe ponytail. His beard is neatly trimmed though, and his brown eyes have a softness to them. He pauses in his work as the charac-ters approach and nods when they ask if he is the Gawain they seek.

“And you’ll be the ones the druid sent,” Gawain says. “Whether you are or not, we’ll not be idle while we talk; find axes and help me finish this lot.” He in-dicates the pile of logs that need splitting and it is obvious the characters have to assist if they need to earn his trust.

The WarriorGawain

Teneu

If the characters ask Gawain about his sister, Teneu, he re-mains silent and flashes an angry look. Gawain suspects that King Lot still wants Teneu dead for shaming him: she lives under Queen Elliw’s protec-tion now, and has a new name. Gawain is not about to reveal it to anyone. When he leaves with the characters he doesn’t even let his sister know that he is going - just in case the char-acters are spies for his father and try to follow him.

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While they work Gawain listens to what the characters say or ask and replies that he does, indeed, know where the Coat of Beisrydd is lo-cated.

“I fought with the Circind against the Caledonii for a time,” Gawain says. “Several of them bragged about this coat of mail made by the gods and how it was now a Circind prize and treasure. All of them claimed they touched it, or wore it. When drunk, a couple told me where it’s meant to be. No rea-son not to believe them. Many’s the truth uttered through drink.”

If asked why he wants to help take it from the Votadini, he shrugs. “My father tried to murder my sis-ter. He’s tried to murder me. He had Circind help both times. If I can take something of their’s, it’s fair compensation for them trying to take my life.”

After finishing the wood splitting, Gawain fetches a pale of water, washes, then dons a simple tunic that he fetches from his round-house.

“I’m going to pray now, before sup-per. Come, if you want.”

He then disappears in the direction of the impressive wood and stone chapel where others are going for early evening prayers. Christians, naturally, will join the assembly, but there does not seem to be any admonition for pagans who choose to remain behind. After prayers

Gawain invites the characters into the Great Hall of Queen Elliw. It seems Gawain’s status as a warrior grantshim the privilege of dining amongst the queen’s people and, with Gawain, the characters are made welcome. The food is good, and prayers precede each course. Finally, Gawain is called to the high bench where it is obvious he is explaining who the characters are to Queen Elliw. She talks earnest-ly with Gawain but does not acknowl-edge the characters. When he returns, Gawain explains.

“I told them I’d agreed to help Arthur. The queen does not like or trust Mer-lin so, if she asks you, you’ve come from Arthur and it’s because I owe him a service in the south. Do you un-derstand?”

Insight rolls, successfully made, gather that either Queen Elliw would disapprove of Gawain leading the characters in search of the Coat of Beisrydd: critical successes go deeper and gather that Queen Elliw would probably want the coat for herself, if she knew the truth of this mission. Despite the Thirteen Treasures being of pagan importance, there is still enough belief in the old magic of Brit-ain for Christians to want these treas-ures - perhaps to deny the pagans any chance of accruing power.

Journeying to Circind

Gawain tells the characters that, to find the Coat of Beisrydd, they need to travel far north, to the Pictish king-dom of Circind.“We can go overland, but it is long and

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dangerous. We have to cross the Great Wall the Romans built and then venture through my father’s lands of Gododdin. After that we have to either head west around the firth, which crosses into the lands of the Caledonii; then we have to travel back east and close to where Mawgaus, king of the Circind, has

many scouts. Instead, I suggest we go by boat. Faster, safer.” If any characters object to a sea journey, Gawain mere-ly shrugs: “Then good luck in finding what the druid wants. I’m risking my life helping you as it is; I shan’t risk it any more than I need to by traipsing through my father’s lands.”

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During the ride the characters have an opportunity to try to get to know Gawain better. He is a very quiet, thoughtful man; he rarely speaks and it requires a Hard In-fluence roll to get more than one-word answers from him. If the characters do encourage him to talk, they learn 1d6 of the follow-ing:

1. The Votadini are split into two factions: north and south. The northern tribe is known as the Circind and that is also the name of their kingdom. The southern tribe, ruled by King Lot, controls Gododdin. There is no love lost be-tween Circind and Gododdin: the Circind are barbarians, murder-ers and cannibals. The Gododdin are more like the Caledonii.

2. It was the Votadini that con-ducted the raids south of the wall that triggered Vortigern’s desire to conquer the Picts once and for all. “The Votadini defeated the Roman9th Legion,” Gawain says. “What hope did Vortigern and a few Sax-ons have?”

3. King Lot has a fierce temper and hates the Celts of the south, espe-cially the Brigantes. But he hates the Caledonii just as much.

“His rule is based on hate,” Gawain says. “He even hates himself.”

4. Gawain became a Christian only recently. Before that, the Old Gods had been strong with him.

He cannot be swayed and neither will he reveal the coat’s location: the characters have to do as he says. The closest place to obtain a boat is at the fishing village of Red Marsh, a day’s ride to the west. From there, it is a 160 mile sea journey around the western coast, turning due west into the huge firth, or bay, Gawain referred to.

The boats in these parts are simplefishing vessels that are not ca-pable of travelling too far from the shore; but, with a good wind and a decent captain, it should take no more than two days to reach wherever it is Gawain has in mind. Once agreement is reached, Gawain recommends leaving at dawn the next day.

Caer Ysc to Red Marsh

The journey to Red Marsh takes around a day by horse, and mounts from Caer Ysc are provid-ed. It is a gentle journey that fol-lows well defined trails through the surrounding forest, eventuallywinding into the hills to the west. The hills are sparse moorland and from the summit the characters can see across to the west coast of Britain. Gawain reins his horse and points-out the village of Red Marsh.

“Village is too grand a name,” he says. “A group of hovels is more like it. If we pay the people in sil-ver, they will be grateful. You do have silver, don’t you?”

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“I still feel the presence of the spir-its, and I know that the Old Gods exist. But the One God is real also, and this is the time of his power. Does it matter which god we wor-ship as long as we are sincere?”

5. He owes Merlin a debt.

“The druid helped me in a time when I needed help the most: ‘If I help get him the armour, my debt is paid. I look forward to that day.”

(Merlin helped hide Teneu and Gawain when they fled Gododdin; he created certain spirit charms that ensured King Lot could noteasily find them south of the Great Wall).

6. Where they are heading is on the coast. “This is one of the reasons why a ship is better. Along with every-thing else I told you.”By the late afternoon the party reaches Red Marsh. It is aptly named: the coastland hereabouts is low-lying and waterlogged.

Horses have to be led through nar-row, raised trails and across make-shift firm ways made of logs and reed mats. The group of reed, wat-tle and daub and moss-roofed huts stands back from the sandy beach, crouching behind grassy dunes that offer the only shelter from the northerly winds. Three simple boats are pulled onto the shore: long, wide-beamed boats with oars and a single mast - typical fishing

vessels: leaky, uncomfortable, but sturdy. The horses will need to be left at Red Marsh, but the boats are large enough to accommodate up to 18 people.

The locals are nervous and wary. Although Brigantes they have lit-tle communication with Caer Ysc, and worship both the Christian God and the Celtic God of the sea, Manawydan, just for good meas-ure. They are scared of warriors and do nothing to upset the char-acters. There are twenty villagers altogether - a mix of ages, but with men dominating. Over a simple meal of fish stew, Gawain tells the villagers a boat is needed. “We will pay 1 piece of silver for each day we keep the boat away from fishing. We pay another silver piece to the people who sail it for us. We pay another silver piece for you to look after the horses while we are gone. We will pay a silver piece for their safe return when we get back. We pay one last silver piece for your si-lence. We were not here. We nevercame. That is about 10 pieces of silver you can earn by helping us -more than you would make in a month.”

The Red Marsh villagers readily agree. If the characters want to try to barter, Gawain flashes them a dangerous look. On the waves, they will be at the boat captain’s mercy; if they are generous now, they are ensured safe passage home. Up-set them or insult them, and they might find the boat gone after they

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have finished their task in Circind.

By the time the arrangements have been made, it is too late to sail, and the owner of the boat nominated to take them north says it will be bet-ter to sail at dawn.

“We will pass the isle of Lindis-farena,” he says. “The currents are strong and the winds tough. Betterto sail at dawn and reach Lindis-farena by dusk where we can make shore for the night.”

Lindisfarena

The next morning, the sky is over-cast and the winds strong. The boat owner, Nubh, is reluctant to sail but conducts a short ritual that involves reading various peb-bles thrown onto the sand and claims it is safe enough - although hard work. Supplies are loaded - Gawain says it will take two days to reach where they are going, and take two days to return, with per-haps two days there - and the ship is dragged down to the sea by the villagers and the characters scram-ble aboard.

The sea is, indeed, rough. Un-less the characters have a previ-ous occupation as fishermen, the chances of sea-sickness are high. The ship sails for six hours before reaching Lindisfarena; each char-acter must make a Hard Endur-ance roll. If the roll is successful, then seasickness is kept at bay. If the roll is failed, then 1d6 hours is spent hanging over the edge of

the boat, vomiting and wishing for death.

Every 3 hours so afflicted imposes a level of Fatigue on the character.This is recovered after a decent night’s sleep. Gawain and Nubh are unaffected: clearly Gawain, who grew-up near the sea, has ro-bust sea legs, and Nubh concen-trates on guiding the ship. He al-ways keeps land in sight, but the shore is still distant and the waves pummel the small craft as it rises and falls with the sharp swells.

As the light begins to fade, Lindis-farena appears ahead. A small, rocky island, it is separated from the main shoreline by a narrow causeway of sand which is only ac-cessible at low tide. The western end of the island is dominated by a large tor of rock overlooking the sea. Nubh steers the boat north of the island and then tacks hard around to find a sheltered cove not far from where the ground slopes towards the sandbank causeway. The characters and Gawain have to disembark and guide the boat onto the shore, wading waist and knee-deep through the surf, until the ship is secure. Nubh says that island is home to a druid who lives in the caves on the south side of the tor; if they give him some food and ale (which they have brought), he’ll be happy enough and may even call on the local spirits to calm the seas the next day.

Camp is made in the shelter of the rocky cove. Within an hour or so,

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Perception rolls pick-up move-ment coming from the south.

A single figure, quite tubby, wad-dles across the rocks. He is dressedin shabby, threadbare robes that are barely held together, has barefeet, and short hair, shaved at the front in the familiar tonsure of a druid. He waves his arms franti-cally and, in thick northern accent,calls out in Brythonic, “I’m peace-ful! I’m a druid! I’m hungry!”

Ofydd

The druid is called Ofydd and he has lived, alone, on Lindisfarena longer than he can remember.

“The island is alive you see, the Great Spirit Lindis is all around and she called to me to be her guardian, so here I am. I cannot leave, not until she tells me to, and I shall most likely die here. Have you any ale?”

Given food and, especially ale, Ofy-dd becomes effusive company. Oc-casionally, the Votadini from Go-doddin come to Lindisfarena but they haven’t been here for several years. Only local fishing vessels make any stops, and then only to shelter for the night and to ask Ofy-dd to call on Lindis to grant calm seas.

“A Christian priest came to drive me out two years ago,” Offyd says, “but Lindis took offence. He slipped on the kelp and dashed his brains out just over there.” He points to

a small cairn marking the priest’s burial site. “There’ll be no Chris-tian churches on Lindisfarena, you mark my words!”

It seems customary for Ofydd to repay any small kindness by com-muning with Lindis and request-ing calm seas. Once he’s eaten and drunk his fill, he sprawls out on his back, arms and legs spread, staring at the sky, and lapses into a trance, calling Lindis’s name over and over. His eyes roll back into his head and he passes into the Spirit World. Any druid character can accompany Ofydd if they wish: Lindisfarena is intensely magical and the links with the Spirit World are strong: attaining a trance is at an Easy grade of success.

The passage below describes what happens to Ofydd on the Spirit World: those observing in the Mor-tal World see the druid start to spasm and fit, his lips foaming, limbs flailing violently: he is un-der assault in the Spirit World and there is nothing the characters can do to save him. A druid might be able to summon spirit help of his or her own to assist Ofydd - although the spirit attack is very powerful.

The Ancestors

On the spirit world, Lindisfarena is a wide, grassy, peaceful island filled with buttercups and bird-song. Lindis herself appears as a dark-haired maiden sitting by the sea strumming a harp and calm-ing the local natural spirits with

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her songs. Ofydd, tall and hand-some, presents her with gifts of food and drink brought from the Mortal World. Suddenly, from the north, the sky grows dark and rapidly be-comes black. Thunderheads roll across the waves, turning the peace-ful sea into a roiling storm. Two chariots are born over the waves, bearing-down on the small island. Each chariot is driven by a fierce, tattooed, scarred, spiky-haired war-rior, eyes blazing with fury. Spears are hurled as the chariots close on the beach: one strikes Lindis and the second strikes Ofydd. The war-riors laugh and spur their chariots forward so that the wheels crush the bodies of Lindis and Ofydd; then they wheel and ride north, back the way they came.

Druid characters can try to attack the charioteers with any spirit allies they might have, but both ancestor spirits are Intensity 5 creatures and likely to shrug-off any damage that might be done to them before kill-ing any lesser foes.

These are Votadini ancestor spir-its - Cing and Cruithne - who guard the spirit borders of Votadini lands against those who would steal and pillage. The Spirit World is aware that someone is coming to steal the Coat of Beisrydd and this is a warn-ing from the Spirit World that the Circind Votadini will defend what is their’s.

The spirit Lindis has the recurring trait and so will eventually recover from her ordeal, but Ofydd perishes on the Mortal World, although, in

time, his spirit will come to live with Lindis once the correct burial rites are performed.

If the characters bury Ofydd (Cus-toms rolls help determine thecorrect rites in this part of the world) correctly - and not merelybury his remains under rocks, as he buried the Christian priest- Lindis herself manifests on the Mortal World as the rites for Ofy-dd’s burial conclude. She appears now as a black-haired youngwoman, clad in black robes, her feet merging with the substance ofthe island as though she has grown from it. She manifests high on the rocks, overlooking where Ofydd is laid to rest. She calls down to the characters and beckons for one of them to ascend.

“Ofydd served me well and he will come to me, in time, in my gold-en realm. I give this to you with thanks from Lord Arawn: it should be taken to the High Druid, for it is something he has long-sought.”

She hands over a stone knife. It does not appear to be anything special: a flint blade with a crude bone handle wrapped in old, frayed leather. However, a suc-cessful Pagan Lore roll by a druid (or Formidable Pagan Lore roll by an non-druid character) recog-nizes this as the Knife of Farchog, one of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain and a knife that, with one cut, can serve twenty at a feasting table. Even though it is a simple, mundane-looking thing, a Trance roll or Formidable Insight roll

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picks-up on the natural, magi-cal aura it radiates. Viewed in the Spirit World the knife gleams and appears as though newly-made (although is still a simple tool of flint, bone and leather). Once the knife is passed to the characters, Lindis fades from view, returning to the Spirit World.

Gawain understands the ominous events that befall poor, hapless Ofydd:

“The spirits of the Votadini ances-tors know we are coming. This is a warning to stay away. Mawgaus and his headtakers will be ready for us.”

If the characters investigate the cairn where the Christian priest is buried, they find the skeletal re-mains of a man, his brown robes rotting away, clinging to the bones, and a wooden crucifix around the neck. The skull has been caved-in, but a successful First Aid roll indi-cates that this was no fall: the back of his head is completely crushed - the result of a repeated battering by some blunt object. Ofydd most likely did it using a nearby rock. Gawain insists that the Christian priest should be reburied and a cross placed to mark his grave (there is plenty of driftwood on the beach to fashion a crude cross). Gawain buries the priest himself if no one else will help, and he kneels and prays for the man’s soul, beg-ging God to forgive his murderer.There is also the opportunity to investigate the caves where Ofy-dd made his home. Across a nar-

row cave mouth at the base of the southern cliff is a make-shift screen of dried seaweed, grass, reeds and packed mud. Inside the cave (which extends about 20 feet into the cliff) is a stinking bed, made from more rushes, reeds and dried weed, cooking utensils, a hearth close to the cave entrance, and, hidden in a niche, covered by a carefully placed stone, various items of jew-ellery, some coins, and a few trin-kets that have been scrounged or given to the druid over the years.

They come to about 30 Silver Piec-es in total, and amongst the treas-ures, if it has not already been given to the characters, is the Knife of Farchog. Customs rolls remem-ber that stealing from a druid is forbidden, and these items should be either left or interred with his remains. Only the knife, which is clearly magical, can be safely tak-en, although a Pagan may need to successfully overcome his Pagan passion with Willpower to have the strength of will take the knife.

Nubh, having witnessed these weird and sinister events, is terri-fied. He is all for turning back to Red Marsh and the characters will need to convince him otherwise by overcoming his Willpower with their own Influence rolls. Offer-ing him an additional 1d4 Silver makes the Influence roll one grade easier.

The Firth

The next day’s sailing is as rough as the previous day. The waves roll

17

As an alternative way of handling this whole en-counter, the characters could simply find the Knife of Farchog on Ofydd’s body, or hidden amongst his pos-sessions if they search his cave.

Indeed, they could even ar-rive in Lindisfarna just af-ter the Ancestor Warriors of the Votadini send their warning against helping the characters, leaving behind Ofydd’s corpse for the char-acters to find.

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little ship approaching, but Maw-gaus will know thieves are coming because the ancestors spirits he worships will have told him. Per-haps though, we may be lucky andhe won’t be expecting our arrival just yet.”

The characters have to help row the boat while Nubh steers and Gawain watches for somewhere suitable, squinting into the half light. Eventually, after perhaps an hour, he sees somewhere suitable and guides Nubh towards it. A nar-row, gravelly cove has been carved into the landscape. The upper part is covered with undergrowth, obscuring anything below from casual sight. Once more the char-acters have to wade into the water to guide the boat safely aground, but once this is done, it is clear that the hiding place is good enough. The boat is tough to see from either above or from the water.

Gawain suggests a few hours sleep, but that they should leave before dawn, making the most of the darkness to keep out of sight of the Circind. Now, he reveals a little more about where they are headed.

“If we follow the northern coast of the firth we come to a beach and cliffs. In the cliffs are several caves. On the land above them is a broch, used by the Circind patrols as shel-ter and watch tower for the coast. That is where we search for the Coat of Beisrydd, for that is where Mawgaus has hidden it.”

and rain lashes the deck. There is no shelter from wind or rain, and, as well as feeling sea-sick, charac-ters are cold and miserable.

The mood is sombre. Both Nubh and Gawain pray frequently and every lurch of the boat is enough to have Nubh calling to both Jesus and Manawydan for mercy. To-wards dusk the sea begins to grow calmer and Gawain goes to the prow of the boat and squints into the distance. The headland is vis-ible, and before it the sea cuts into the land to the west, forming the wide, jagged bay Gawain calls The Firth.

“To the south is Gododdin, my home.” He says. “North is Circind. The Firth marks the division be-tween the two clans of the Votadini. We head now to the north shore.”

Gawain tells Nubh to head for the northern bay but to keep followingit on the sea-ward side. He wants to find a safe and secluded landing place where Nubh can wait.

“We will head west to where we need to be, but there are many hid-ing places along this coast where Nubh can stay safe.”

Gawain is also pleased because they have arrived at their destina-tion at night. He explains that there are Votadini patrols along the vari-ous coastal paths to protect against raids from Gododdin.

“I doubt they will have seen our

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forts supply the warriors who patrol the Gododdin border and also sup-ply the warriors who guard the Coat and watch the coast for potential sea-raids.

The caves are cut from sandstone. The rock is soft and easily worked, and this has allowed the Votadini to carve a secret tunnel and chamber between the broch and the Spring Cave. It is here that the coat is hid-den. The caves are close to the beach, which is a wide plateau of wave-cut rock; the Spring Cave is 90 feet from the low-tide mark, whereas the oth-er caves are only 30 feet or so from the water. The sea no longer reaches into the caves, although it did at one time, and the druids have carved in-scriptions to Manawydan - fish - into the cave walls to act as wards against the sea’s intrusion.

No one lives in the caves, but once a year, at high summer, Mawgausleads a ritual where animal and hu-man sacrifices are made to Aywell in the Cave of Serpents. This per-petuates the magical links between Aywell’s realm and the Mortal World and also pleases the ancestor spirits charged by Aywell to protect these caves. These spirits are Cing and Cruithne, the ones sent to kill Ofydd and subdue Lindis. They watch the coasts from the Spirit World con-stantly and provide Mawgaus with warnings of likely attacks. They can only bring direct harm to those who are in the Spirit World, or passing into Aywell’s Realm: but they can forewarn the Votadini, ensuring they are always ready for their en-emies - no matter what precautions

The Caves, The Brochand The Coat

From here-on, the characters need to plan how they intend to locate and steal the Coat of Beisrydd. Gawain knows the coat is kept here, but he does not know if it is kept in one of the caves (and if so, which one) or in the Broch. In ac-tual fact, the coat is held in a secret cave beneath the broch and is ac-cessible either from the broch or from the Spring Cave.

About the Area

The Circind call this is area Aywell Uamh, which means Aywell’s Caves. Aywell is one of the chief gods of the north and these caves, the druids hold, lead into his lands in the Realm of the Gods. For gener-ations the Votadini of Circind have made sacrifices to Aywell in the caves and inscribed many charms, prayers and symbols into the cave walls. Given the sacred nature of the caves, hiding the Coat of Beis-rydd here makes sense, although one would never leave it complete-ly unguarded. So the broch that has been built above one of the caves is a permanent garrison for the warband chosen by the Druid Kings to protect the coat from intruders- not that any intruders have ever come before.

The countryside inland from the caves is relatively flat, reasonablywell-wooded, and within a day’s ride of three Votadini hill forts, to the north-west and west. These hill

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over the Circind.

The Cave of Serpents stinks of death: ancient blood that has seeped into the earth, old bone, and the fear of the creatures and men who were sacrificed. It is also magical. A druid lapsing into a trance sees that the rear wall of the cave disappears (although it looks, and feels, quite physical to anyone not viewing the cave from the Spirit World) and a long, sloping tunnel replaces it. This tunnel leads into the Realm of the Gods and emerges in the feasting hall of Aywell where the Votadini ancestors celebrate their immortality with song, war, drinking, hunting and tormentingtheir enemies. To non-Votadini the tunnel represents a terrifying pas-sageway into a ghastly, barbaric and enemy realm: not that non-

those enemies might have taken.

The Caves

There are three main caves.

The Cave of Serpents

The Cave of Serpents is a long, nar-row cave (30 feet in diameter) that penetrates 150 feet into the rock and slopes steeply downward be-fore levelling. It is high-ceilinged; 9 feet high overall and 12 feet at its highest point. Halfway into the cave is a hand dug pit where the ritual sacrifices are carried out. Bones - animal and human - are strewn all around the pit and ex-tend almost to its back wall. Next to the pit are carved two serpents, one above the other, and these rep-resent the rule of the Druid Kings

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Pictish symbols recognising the power of the local water spirit, who manifests in this cave as a natural spring of fresh water in the far cor-ner. The water spirit is a daughter of Mm but has no name mortals can pronounce.

The general magical nature of all the caves allows her to take shape in the Mortal World, forming from the water into a child-sized, aque-ous creature with wide eyes, long, watery hair, and a curious expres-sion.

Mortals fascinate her, but they rarely come, save to leave a few of-ferings of fruit and ale. She is child-like and adores games - especiallyriddles and guessing games. If a mortal plays a game with her and wins, she provides three truthful answers to three questions relat-ing to the caves, the broch or the nearby countryside. Abstract the games as a Social Conflict test. The water spirit uses her Spectral Riddling skill of 77% while the character chosen (and there can be only one) uses Insight to guess the riddles she sets. If she loses, she disappears into her pool in a petu-lant tantrum, causing the water to boil and hiss angrily.

On the other side of the cave to the spring is the entrance to the tun-nel leading both to the broch and the cavern where Beisrydd’s Coat is hidden. The entrance is blocked by a massive slab of sandstone set flush with the cave floor. It re-quires a successful opposed test of

Votadini can reach it: Cing and Cruithne guard the tunnel - they ride up from Aywell’s hall in the chariots and hurl spears at, or ride over, intruders. They can be en-gaged in Spirit Combat, but they are extremely tough opponents. Their spirit statistics can be found on page 34. Note also that Cing has the Demoralise Folk Magic spell: if he strikes with his spear, the De-moralise spell also takes effect, as well as any Spirit Damage from the weapon itself.

Manawydan's Cave

This cave is a third of the length of the Cave of Serpents and is kept sacred to two gods: Manawydan, God of the Sea, and Mm, the Vo-tadini Goddess of Fertility. Inscrip-tions of fish, animals, doublecirclecharms and other carvings are all over the walls of the cave, protect-ing it from the sea and calling for blessings for the farmland further inland. The Druid Kings do not lead the rituals here; that is left to the fe-male druids and druids-in-training to do. Although Manawydan and Mm are important gods, Aywell is the most important and so requires the attention of the Druid Kings.

Aside from food remains and gen-eral detritus, there is nothing else to be found in here.

The Spring Cave

The Spring Cave is 36 feet in di-ameter and 90 feet long. Like the other two, its walls are etched with

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wide, but high enough for anyone of SIZ 15 or lower to walk upright; SIZ 16 or higher must stoop, and all physical skills undertaken while stooped are one grade harder. The passage runs for 150 feet in a straight line before widening into a man-made chamber. This is where the Coat of Beisrydd is kept: on the northern wall of the chamber is a hand dug niche, 3 feet above the floor, 3 feet high, one and a half feet wide and 3 feet deep.

The Coat of Beisrydd

Inside, wrapped in a bear skin, is a coat of finely woven iron mail that gleams as though newly forged and crafted. It is heavy when lifted, but when donned it fits every size and seems to weigh nothing at all. No mortal weapon can damage the armour and it never rusts and nev-er needs polishing. It protects just as any coat of mail does, providing 5 Armour Points to the Chest, Arms and Abdomen, but it does not con-tribute its ENC to the Strike Rankpenalty.

Furthermore, it looks like no ar-mour anyone has ever seen. Its links are so finely forged and tightly woven that it seems to shim-mer and flow, almost like water. Certainly no human smith could make such a wonderful suit of ar-mour and it was, indeed, crafted by Gorfannon the Smith for the Prince Beisrydd in the Scarlet Robe as thanks for his service to Arawn of the Other World.

Perception versus the Craft skill of the tunnel’s creator (74%) to de-tect. It then requires three success-ful Brawn rolls to clear enough dirt and dust away from the edges to gain a reasonable purchase and lever the slab up. Beneath it is a 12 foot drop into the tunnel, which leads deeper into the bedrock. The shaft is only 3 feet wide and can be climbed down easily enough with Easy Athletics rolls. Once inside the tunnel though, it is pitch-black.The tunnel is a three and a half feet

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Mawgaus and, terrified of what the Druid King would do to them if he were disobeyed, keep to their instructions: however, because the ancestor spirits Cing and Cruithne have warned Mawgaus of enemies approaching the caves, Mawgaus has sent orders for the armour to be protected while he and his war band ride for the broch from the north.

The broch is home to a war band of 20 Circind Votadini, chosen from among the clans of the nearby hill forts. To protect the Coat of Beisry-dd they deploy thus:

•Six come down from the broch to the mouth of the Spring Cave and form a small shield wall across the entrance, preventing escape (with-out a fight) along the coast.

•Four warriors are present in the chamber to directly protect the ar-mour.

•Six more warriors watch the coast from cliffs above the caves, using bows and spears to attack anyone fleeing along the beach.

•Four more warriors remain in-side the broch to attack anyone who overcomes the guards in the armour chamber and tries to es-cape through the broch itself.

All the Votadini warriors are un-der orders to take these intruders alive. Mawgaus wants them so they can be sacrificed to the ances-tors, their brains eaten by himself

The Broch

Located atop the sandstone shelf, 60 feet above the Spring Cave, the broch is built 30 feet high, 45 feet in diameter, and built with two concentric walls of stone, with a stairway within the gap created by the two walls leading to the up-per floors. The roof is made from a cone of trimmed logs with a smoke hole at the apex for the central fire that is kept burning on the broch’s ground floor.

Slits in the outer wall allow the warriors who form the garrison tokeep watch across both the coast and inland. Where the outer wallmeets the wooden roof, a sturdy wooden platform has been builtaround the circumference allow-ing for proper watch patrols at the broch’s summit.

Inside the broch is divided into three levels (see page 34).

The ground floor is the living area; the first floor is the sleeping gallery and the upper floor is stor-age - mostly for weapons and gear.The broch’s warriors hunt for food every week, finding deer in the nearby forests, and there are plen-tiful fresh water sources, includingthe spring in Spring Cave. The ground floor has a vertical tun-nel leading down, directly into the secret chamber where the Coat of Beisrydd is held. The warriors are forbidden to enter the cham-ber unless directly instructed by

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ing that he is a formidable druid - even though he is like no druid any of the characters are likely to have seen before. He hunkers down be-fore the characters, staring at them for a long time. He tells the guards,using Goidelic, to give them food and water, but he does not ordertheir bonds to be released. Then, he changes to flawless Brythonic.

“Merlin sent you to steal the ar-mour. I know this. I am friends with many spirits who watch our borders and our treasures. They told me through dreams and omens. Merlin sent you because he fears my power. He cowers, like a Christian, behind the Great Wall and sends his puppy dogs to do what he is afraid to do. This is whyBritain is broken: because Merlin is unfit to mend it. Here is what I will do. One of you will live and not be harmed. The rest of you shall be sliced open, your blood drained for ink for my tattoos, your bones broken and your heads boiled until your brains shrink and I can swal-low them whole. The one who liveswill watch all of this. Then he will be given your skulls in a sack to take back to Merlin as message from his friend Mawgaus. This iswhat we Votadini of Circind do to thieves. You have until dawn. Choose which of you will live. The rest can prepare for your painful passing into the Other World.”

Mawgaus is icily calm as he de-livers this speech. There can be no doubting that he means every word, and his retinue of warriors,

and his personal retinue,and their blood used as ink for more tattoos.

Capture!

If the characters are captured they are held in the broch on the ground level until Mawgaus arrives, ap-proximately 8 hours after their capture. The Votadini confiscate weapons and armour, stripping the characters as much to humili-ate them as anything else.

Their hands and feet are bound with long, strong, leather thongs which are tied tightly enough to cut into the flesh. Four warriors guard the prisoners while the rest go about their usual chores: patrols, hunting and fetching water. This may offer the characters a chance to escape, if they can break their bonds (Herculean Brawn rolls or Herculean Sleight rolls to untie the knots somehow) and overwhelm the guards. Their equipment is thrown into the storage area on the top floor of the broch.

Mawgaus, when he arrives, is a terrifying sight. He comes with his personal retinue of twelve warriors. All of them are heavily tattooed, but Mawgaus stands-out. Tall and imposing, his long hair is spiked and bleached white. His body is a mass of red, blue and black swirl-ing designs and it seems that no part of his flesh is unadorned: he truly is a pictii - a painted one. His eyes are dark and piercing and he radiates power. There is no mistak-

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he will call on Mawgaus to let the characters survive and take him as a sacrifice instead. Gawain does not fear death. His faith in Christ is all he needs. If this is agreed to, Gawain insists that the characters find his sister, Teneu, at Caer Yscand tell her what has happened, not to be upset, and that he will wait for her in God’s Kingdom. It will require the characters to suc-ceed in a Herculean Influence roll to convince Mawgaus to accept one sacrifice, but when the Druid King learns it is King Lot’s son, he is open to persuasion.

Gawain as a rescuer. If the Games Master has decided to let Gawain

standing behind him, leer and grin as he describes their fate. Then, he goes to the upper level to sleep leaving four of his personal war-riors to guard the characters and observe as they make their choice of survivor.

Escaping from Mawgaus and the Votadini will not be easy, but it can be done with some ingenuity and help from the circumstances of the scenario. The following are op-tions and tools that can be used to help the characters survive the fate Mawgaus has promised them.

Gawain volunteers himself. Gawain is a noble warrior and

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plode through the floor and walls in a similar manner to the broch being hit by lightning. The result isenough confusion for the charac-ters to take advantage and make their escape.

The Knife of Farchog. One of the knife’s powers is to serve twenty people at a feast: while it is not de-signed as a weapon, it can be used to help escape. If a character suc-cessfully makes a Pagan Passion roll, the knife’s power can be acti-vated - with one slice it can sever up to 20 bonds with a single cut.

An Insight or appropriate Lore roll might be necessary to work-out that the knife can be used in this way. And, although not intended to be as an offensive weapon, itis capable of inflicting 1d2 points of damage and the Bleed Special Effect; if the wielder of the knife successfully inflicts a cut on one enemy, up to 20 enemies also suf-fer the same cut, in the same place, for the same damage. The charac-ter uses a Combat Style involving knife, or uses Unarmed.

Resisting the Bleed Special Effect is handled as a Group Sorting Roll (page 79 of RuneQuest).

The Sacrifice

Escape need not come in the time between Mawgaus’s ultimatum and dawn; it can come in the prep-aration for the promised sacrifice.The characters, if they have not escaped, are dragged down to the Cave of Serpents. This is where

escape (see boxed text on page 15) and return later to help the char-acters, he is able to sneak into the broch, or create a suitable diver-sion outside, giving the characters the chance to flee Mawgaus and his men. Games Masters shouldimprovise the nature of the diver-sionary tactics.

Working a miracle. Christians can call upon God to work a miracle (and if there was any time to call for a miracle, then this might be it). If no priest is present, then the roll is made against the Christian Pas-sion score. Gawain can also help by calling for a miracle too. If suc-cessfully called for, God sends an immense storm during the night. Thunder cracks the heavens and lightning lashes the countryside, striking the broch’s roof and caus-ing it to cave-in. The characters must make Formidable Athletics or Evade rolls to avoid taking 1d10 damage from falling wood and ma-sonry, but this plunges the broch into chaos as men fall through the broken upper storey and crash to their deaths on the stone floor be-low. The characters have a chance to make their escape as the Circind forget their immediate orders and try to save themselves.

Help from the Spirit of the Spring. If the characters encountered, were polite to, charmed, or let the Spirit of the Spring Cave win the riddling contest, she is aware of their pre-dicament and prepared to help. She causes the waters of her spring to build-up in the sandstone lay-ers beneath the broch and then ex-

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This is, of course, a ghastly situa-tion for the characters to find them-selves in and, unless a swift (and miserable) end to the campaign is needed, then some last-ditch es-cape attempt should come at this point.

Fleeing the Caves

The ideal scenario is that the char-acters retrieve the Coat of Beis-rydd, evade capture and hightail it to their hidden ship. Mawgaus and his warriors will give chase, hurling spears and loosing arrows at the characters as they make for the secret cove where Nubh waits for them. Conduct the chase as a desperate flight for survival but an opportunity for combat. Maw-gaus’s warriors are far more com-petent than those who garrison the broch, and Mawgaus will not

Mawgaus intends to sacrifice them, one-by-one, with the nomi-nated character to be saved watch-ing. The intention is to stake-out each character, in a spread-eagle position, on the floor of the cave in a line. Mawgaus then slices the throat of each victim and sets a bowl (made from a human skull) by each neck to collect the blood. As he moves to the next character, one of his warriors slices-open the belly of the previous one and care-fully arranges the entrails so that they can be seen by all watching. Once the characters are dead, their heads are severed and plunged into a cauldron of boiling sea water, and left to cook until all the flesh has been cleaned from the bone. The shrunken brains are extracted and served to Mawgaus and his warriors: the remaining skulls are given to the character nominated to return to Merlin.

Gawain as the Escape Card

Games Masters might contrive to have Gawainescape if the characters are overwhelmed and taken prisoner. He can be used as a deus-ex-machina to help the characters escape at a later point, appearing at just the right time in the scenario.

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The return to Red Marsh is un-eventful. The people of the fishingvillage have kept their side of the bargain and expect payment as promised, which Gawain ensures the characters pay, if they seem re-luctant.

As the characters make their way back to Caer Ysc, a lone figure can be seen on the path ahead, stumping determinedly along. It does not take long to recognize the figure of Merlin, even though he wears a hood over his head and has changed from his usual druid robes into less recognizable travel-ling garb. He greets the characters, insists they dismount, make camp, and tell him what happened. Nat-urally he wants to see the Coat of Beisrydd and is delighted when the characters display it. But, if they also bring forth the Knife of Farc-hog, he is overjoyed.

“So Ofydd had it all along, did he? The sly old goat. I suspected as much but couldn’t be sure. I thought perhaps Lot had it. But this is splendid! Splendid! I had not expected you to bring-back one treasure, let alone two”

Gawain watches Merlin sullenly and, finally, asks the druid if his bargain is now repaid. “To me?” Merlin asks. “Of course. You owe me nothing. Never did. You simply used this ‘debt’ as an excuse to get back at your tribe. But I’m grate-ful for your help. Even if you are a Christian these days.”

let the characters run-off with the Coat of Beirydd without a strongfight; it is possible the characters will be injured and some may evenbe killed in attempting to get away, but, once Nubh’s boat puts to sea, the Circind must abandon the pur-suit and let the characters go.

Mawgaus though, is not with-out one, last, trick. Watching the characters flee, he curses them, howling his curse so loudly that it carries across the waves to the character’s ears. He curses their loved-ones to die within a year and a day, and promises that the lord Aywell, God of the Votadini, will deny them - and the charac-ters - the right to the Other World for all eternity. Have the characters make Willpower rolls modified by their Superstition. If the Will-power roll is failed, then the char-acters believe the curse. It is up to the Games Master how the curse then manifests (and whether it is, in fact, real), but Mawgaus intends its effects to be long-term, subtle,and a slow retribution for their theft of the Circind’s treasure.

Concluding the Scenario

Gawain is quiet and reflective on the journey back to Red Marsh. The sea is still as rough as before, but this time Nubh avoids Lindis-farena and beaches for the night in a small, secluded cove. Gawain prays, alone, and only speaks if questioned - and then only gives the briefest of answers.

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Gawain has never remained in the same community for very long, flit-ting between Powys, Gwent, Elmet, Dumnonia, and even Kernow. He knows he is hunted, and he knows Uidre the Warrior in Green hunts him. Soon there must be a reckon-ing, but for now he has been able to keep himself several steps ahead of Uidre, using a variety of names (Gwalchmei, Gualguanus, and Gauvain, for instance) and invent-ed histories.

The bounty on Gawain’s head is substantial: a man’s weight in sil-ver, so it is said, or half his weight in gold.

Full NPC stats follow at the end of this section.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this taster for Mythic Britain. The book will be on sale in November 2014.

In the meantime, if you have not discovered RuneQuest yet, there’s plenty available...

Gawain is angered at this, but Mer-lin doesn’t care.

“I can tell you now, though, that Ar-thur wants you. Or if he doesn’t, he soon will. Come to Caer Cadbryg. Bring Teneu and don’t leave it any later than when the first leaves fall from the oak trees. But, for now, go home. Go to Caer Ysc and rest. I have work to do”

The characters are urged to return to Caer Ysc with Gawain. Merlin says he needs no accompaniment, but if they want something to do, they should go to Caer Cadbryg without delay. “Arthur will have work for you,” he says. “Things are getting interest-ing”

About Gawain

The youngest of Lot’s children, Gawain is extremely close to his siblings but especially so to Teneu, his sister. When his father threw Teneu to her death, the spirits of Curia saved her and brought thatnews to Gawain in a dream. The young warrior knew he must get Teneu to safety and, although he had been a loyal Votadini warrior,serving in Curia’s warbands, he was certain Teneu would never besafe while in the Pictish lands. He therefore brought her south, to the land of the Brigantes, and foreswore his oath to his father and Curia, becoming a wander-ing Pictish mercenary, prepared to fight for whichever chieftain might need his spear and sword. In the ten years since he fled Gododdin,

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Non-Player Characters

Gawain-ap-Lot

Characteristics Attributes 1d20 Location AP/HPSTR: 16 Action Points: 2 1–3 Right Leg 2 /6CON: 11 Damage Modifier: +1d4 4–6 Left Leg 2 /6SIZ: 17 Magic Points: 13 7–9 Abdomen 2 /7DEX: 10 Movement: 6 metres 10–12 Chest 2 /8INT: 11 Strike Rank: 7 13–15 Right Arm 0 /5POW: 13 Armour: Leather 16–18 Left Arm 0 /5CHA: 13 19–20 Head 0 /6

Skills: Athletics 55%, Brawn 62%, Customs (Celt) 75%, Endurance 54%, Evade 44%, Insight 52%, Language (Brythonic) 45%, Language (Goidelic) 90%, Lore (Strategy and Tactics) 46%, Perception 53%, Survival 65%, Unarmed 57%, Willpower 45%, Stealth 59% Passions: Love Teneu 90%, Loyalty to Queen Elliw 70%, Oath to Merlin75%, Distrust Merlin 77%, Christian 59%

Combat Style: Gododdin Warrior (Spear, Sword and Shield: Trait, Mounted Combat) 81%

Weapon Size/Force Reach Damage AP/HPShortspear M L 1d8+1d4 4/5Longsword M M 1d6+2+1d4 6/10Celtic Shield H S 1d3+1+1d4 4/15

Typical Circind Votadini Warrior

Attributes 1d20 Location AP/HPAction Points: 2 1–3 Right Leg 2 /6Damage Modifier: +1d2 4–6 Left Leg 2 /6Magic Points: 11 7–9 Abdomen 2 /7Movement: 6 metres 10–12 Chest 2 /8Strike Rank:10 13–15 Right Arm 2 /5Armour: Leather 16–18 Left Arm 2 /5 19–20 Head 2 /6

Skills: Athletics 59%, Brawn 62%, Endurance 62%, Evade 56%, Locale 66%, Perception 64%, Ride 85%, Survival 67%, Unarmed 59%, Willpower 62%Passions: Loyalty to Mawgaus 80%, Love Battle 70%Combat Style: Circind Warrior (Sword, Spear, Sling, Shield: Trait, Skirmishing) 75%

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Weapon Size/Force Reach Damage AP/HPShortspear M L 1d8+1d4 4/5Longsword M M 1d6+2+1d4 6/10Celtic Shield H S 1d3+1+1d4 4/15

Mawgaus, Druid-King of the Circind Votadini

Characteristics Attributes 1d20 Location AP/HPSTR: 13 Action Points: 3 1–3 Right Leg 0 /6CON: 14 Damage Modifier: +1d2 4–6 Left Leg 0 /6SIZ: 14 Magic Points: 18 7–9 Abdomen 2 /7DEX: 10 Movement: 6 metres 10–12 Chest 0 /8INT: 18 Strike Rank: 14 13–15 Right Arm 0 /5POW: 18 Armour: Leather 16–18 Left Arm 0 /5CHA: 14 19–20 Head 0 /6

Skills: Athletics 37%, Brawn 33%, Customs (Celt) 100%, Endurance 49%, Evade 44%, Insight 95%, Language (Brythonic) 90%, Language (Goidelic)100%, Lore (Ancestor Spirits) 90%, Perception 84%, Unarmed 46%, Willpower 85%Magical Skills: Binding 90%, Trance 95%Passions: Loyalty to Circind 100%, Pagan 100%, Hate Christians 90%Combat Style: Gododdin Warrior (Spear, Sword and Shield: Trait, Mounted Combat) 81%

Weapon Size/Force Reach Damage AP/HPShortspear M L 1d8+1d2 4/5Longsword M M 1d6+2+1d2 6/10Celtic Shield H S 1d3+1+1d2 4/15

Mawgaus is a potent druid. Although he has no bound spirits, he has pow-erful spirit allies in the form of a High-Wing, an eagle Predator Spirit who hunts for knowledge whenever Mawgaus consumes a new brain, and Lu-ithna, his personal Ancestor spirit who grants the druid several spells. Mawgaus can easily enter the Spirit World and command other spirits as he so needs, but High-Wing and Luithna are his trusted and most favoured spirit allies.

High Wing (Intensity 4 Predator Spirit) Spectral Claws and Beak 98%, Stealth 98%, Willpower 88%

Luithna (Intensity 5 Ancestor Spirit) INT 17, POW 34, CHA 12

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Lore (Celt) 134%, Spectral Circind Warrior 96%, Willpower 74%Luithna knows the Theism miracles Corruption, Fear and Heart Seizure. They are cast at Intensity 5 and on a successful roll of 50% or less. Although Luithne provides the magic, Mawgaus channels it, using his own Magic Points to do so.

Cing and Cruithne: Ancestor Guardians of the Circind

This malign pair are two of the Great Ancestors of the Votadini, heroes from ancient times who have pledged to guard Circind’s borders and destroy its enemies.

Both are Intensity 5 Ancestor spirits, and Cing commands Folk Magic spells that can be cast are their enemies in the Spirit World.

Cruithne has the Discorporate ability at 70%.Mawgaus can call upon both spirits to aid him, if needed.

Ancestor INT, POW, CHA Customs & Lore Spectral Combat & Abilities(Intensity) Willpower

Cing (5) 10, 31, 14 120% 95%, 111% Folk Magic 124% (Bladesharp, Demoralise, Fanaticism)

Cruithne (5) 12, 33, 8 124% 70%, 116% Insight 120%, Discorporate 70%

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warns them that a curse has been placed on the young woman and only if the ransom of seven fairy steeds is paid, will she be freed. If the elf lord is attacked, he shim-mers away to Fairy. An alternate plan exists, however. A successful Awareness roll reveals a portion of a carving on a wall behind thorn bushes. Clearing away the thorn bushes reveals text carved into the wall, “Only those able to look past the misdeeds of others may suc-ceed.” The most Forgiving knight must be the one to remove the blanket.

Glory: 50 Glory per knight for rescuing the maiden.

and DrivethruRPG! Setting: A ruined castle deep with-in the Forest Sauvage

Problem: Inside a keep covered in thorn bushes, a beautiful maiden lies trapped on a bier, surrounded by a blanket of thorns. Anytime a knight tries to remove a branch, the thorns push closer on her skin. While the maiden’s eyes are open, and she takes breath, she responds to no stimuli other than the thorns. As the thorns push against her skin, she moans in pain.

Secrets: The maiden, although hu-man, grew up in Fairy under the guidance of an Elf. She was recently kidnapped by another elf lord and is being held hostage until her fos-ter father can pay for her release.

Solutions: If the knights try to re-move the thorns, the hostage tak-er appears from the shadows and

Knightly QuestsShort Adventures

Chad Bowserby

The Bound Rose

Magna draconis arturius rex

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course, if a Gamesmaster has an ulterior motive to progress an ad-venture or intrigue then this advice can be thrown out of the window. The play’s the thing!

Whether the local ruler is the chief-tain of the Gododdin or Earl Robert of Salisbury, the British seem to all have a trait in common; the sanc-tity of hospitality. Some civilised Earls may wish to be chivalrous and have their king think well of them, some Christian homestead-ers may see it as a duty to help strangers, but even Pagan barbar-ians see the benefit in letting stran-gers, and their own people, see the value of their largesse.

Not all settlements contain a wel-come. The Votadini Circind are a notable example (see this issue’s Mythic Britain adventure) and a local lord’s reaction may depend on the setting and if you are a tra-ditional enemy, but by and large,

One of the benefits of knighthood, nobility, or fame of skill is that in most civilised places across Britan-nia, a wanderer is sure to find a bed to sleep in, a hearth to warm their bones on a chilly Winter’s night, and hearty fare to ease his hunger. While this is more likely to be the case in Pendragon than Age of Arthur or Mythic Britain, it depends on who the visitor is and what their reason for seeking an audience with the king, lord, earl, or chieftan is.

The following ‘knotwork diagram’ shows exactly who can gain access easily to the local ruler depending on their standing and role in soci-ety. While it is fair to say that each situation is different, Cambrian hill chieftains or the Gaels of Dal Riada may be far less welcoming than Arthur at Camelot for exam-ple, it’s a good generalisation to keep in mind when Player Charac-ters arrive in a new settlement. Of dr

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act that it is left to Saxons. The Night of the Long Knives/Brad y Cyllyll Hirion, where Saxons drew their hidden daggers against their British counterparts at a feast dur-ing peace negotiations, is seen as one of the most despicable and treacherous acts of British history.

The Rings and Bars

an enemy won’t harm you while in his stead or mead hall. He may do all he can to make you feel un-comfortable, but he won’t actually harm you until you’ve left his cas-tle surrounds. At that point, he is released from the bonds of hospi-tality and may do as he pleases. Killing a guest is such a nefarious

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The Wheel Explained

The image to the left shows 3 concentric circles, or rings, de-picting the various distance from the lord’s table. The impor-tance of the individual is indi-cated by how near their position is to the centre and at the top. Therefore, Foreign Dignitaries, while being on the same ‘bar’ as Famous Merchants are seen as much more important.

Consult the ‘Rings’ when the player characters are at home or have settled into somewhere new, and consult the ‘bars’ when visiting a lord or chieftain for the first time. Entry onto the wheel itself is decided by the guards or chastelain when your player characters first arrive.

F�eLeaders

Table

Family in Adoption,Marriage, &

Blood

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Noble Families

Household Guard

Other Slaves and Servants

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Likely entry point for Player Characters

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ily. The will be chosen from noble or battle hardened families and would normally reside in the quadrant ‘No-ble Families’. Trusted Aides are those valued counsellors who attend to the needs of the kingdom or duchy on behalf of the lord. They may be ma-gicians, physicians, tax collectors, or anyone who may prove useful and trustworthy to their lord and be em-ployed exclusively for that purpose. Noble Families are those who have no relation to the lord but are still part of the hierarchy at play. They may be very distantly related, were elevated in the past through largesse, wealth, or right of might. They may also be rivals to the current rulers and may supply endless intrigue. Family in Adoption, Marriage, and Blood will be the closest to the lord, chieftain, or king. Their seats will be either side and at right angles or in front of the king or lord’s table in civilised/feudal soci-eties, and will be alongside the walls nearest the chieftain’s table in bar-barian cultures. The lord can usually trust those sat at these tables. Oaths of fealty would still be given, like all subjects, but they’re mostly redun-dant as the curse ‘Kinslayer’ would travel around the kingdom faster than Shadowfax.

The King's Table would be the goal of most visiting knights and warriors. In some cases they may not actually have a choice as any paranoid lords will re-quire visitors to come before them in their halls and explain their intent. Getting to that table may depend on who your player characters are. If we take it for granted that the majority of

Starting at the outer ring we see there seats furthest away from the lord belonging to Trusted Slaves (those such as wet nurses and educators who have served their masters for many years and are treated as extended family), Other Slaves & Servants are at the lower end of the wheel and therefore are of least importance in the lord’s household, or village (these are the people who serve food and drink at feasts or till the land and keep the beasts. Normal slaves would not be allowed in the hall or keep so if these are present, they are the cooks and servers. Despite being on the wheel, their position shows their relative importance in soci-ety, not their position in the hall), The Peasantry are those villagers without a specific and valued trade but who are free men. Seen as higher than Other Slaves, equal to Craftsmen, and lower than ‘Trust-ed Slaves’ they run the bawdy house, are town militia, or farm-ers. Craftsmen & Men of Means are essentially the middle class of feudal society. They are the met-alsmith, the Fletcher, the Clergy not from noble families, and Ship-wrights.

The second ring shows those near-er to the lord’s table and those who will eat in the mead hall or castle. They will be a familiar sight to the lord and will be known to him. The Household Guard are soldiers or warriors specifically chosen by the lord or chieftain to protect his fam-dr

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the mead hall as wanted men then that very same peasantry may be an angry mob with whom the player characters will have to contend. Of course, if the local leader treats his peasantry terribly they may face cheers or requests for help.

Similarly, if they have a dispute to put before a lord and are base knights or low clergy (or even just common-ers) then they may use the ‘Plaintiffs & Base Heralds’ bar to approach the lord’s table. They will pass via the peasantry (entry is always via the bar containing the script), they would then meet with an appropri-ate Trusted Aide, who will then, if necessary, take you before the lord. After an audience, the player char-acter may then be addressed, ques-tioned, or helped by a member of the lord’s extended family and may learn intrigue or scandal, before

being escorted out of the keep by one of the Trusted Slaves.

Whilst it shouldn’t be set in stone and expect-ed by the players, use this diagram as a brief guide on how nobility and royal households are built and organ-ised. The king, lord, or chieftain can’t see just anyone and unless it is of vital importance the second ring should be able to deal with mun-dane matters.

their party is made up of Famous War-riors then their route to the local lord will be via the bar that takes them past the Other Slaves in the castle or mead hall as they are taken through the working parts of the keep and given some meagre food and drink before they are then vetted by the House-hold Guards for security reasons, then taken to the Kings Table to speak or perform in front of the lord. After doing so, and if they intend to leave and not stay as guests, they will then be thanked, paid, or spoken to by the lord’s Trusted Aides, They will then pass the Peasantry who will no doubt gaze in wonder as a bard or warrior of notoriety passes through their ranks based on gossip from the court/mead hall. Bear in mind it is important how the knights/warriors comport them-selves. Passing through the peasantry on the way out of the settlement may not seem like much but if they leave

dracones britanniae

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The

City of

Legions

Before Rome...

Long before the Romans arrived 30 years after their invasion, there were members of the Cornovii camped along the estuary. They would have fished with coracles and nets and spear and have led a quiet life. What happened to them once the Romans arrived is not known but it is unlike-ly to have been violent as historical records and stelae record that local chieftains would often send their sons to the fortress for military train-ing. As the Roman fortress was also known to have the largest non-mili-tary settlement attached to a fort in Britain, it is likely the locals just lived alongside the fortress. What better way to protect your clan than live next to a Roman fortress?

The Roman Era

When the Romans established their

legionary fortress in AD79 a map by Ptolemy noted it was in the lands of the Cornovii and named ‘Deva’. While the name stuck for centuries as a name for the settlement, it is now considered by many as the name of the local river goddess. The word sur-vives somewhat today in the Welsh word Dyfrdwy (Eng: Dee) as the name of the river that flows from Llyn Te-gid (Bala Lake in Gwynedd) through Llangollen, then Chester, and finally past Parkgate on the Wirral before it joins the Irish Sea, however in Ro-man Times the estuary started prop-er at ‘Deva’, or to give it the Roman name at the time; Castra Legio.

While there were other legions on ocassion based at Chester, it is the twentieth legion for which the city is known. With the legions II Pia Fi-delis, then the XX Valeria Victrix sta-tioned on the bluff that overlooked the Dee, it’s easy to say why raiders

A Look at Chester Throughout the Agesin Historical Terms, King Arthur Pendragon,

Cthulhu Invictus, and Age of Arthur

Chester’s Naming

The City of Chester has gone through many name changes in its history. In the main text I use all the names equally and frequently change names to help the reader grow ac-customed to how interchange-ably the names were used. Deverdoeu - ‘Brythonic’Deva - Roman (Latinised form)Castra Legio - RomanCaer Lleon - Cymric/WelshLegercyestre - SaxonCaer - Modern WelshChester - Modern English

Natives of Chester are called ‘Cestrians’ by both English and Welsh people (the first ‘C’ being an ‘S’ sound as in ‘SESS-tree-ens’).

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from Ireland and the Pictish north stayed away. The site grew prosper-ous, stable, and populated enough to be considered as the Roman cap-ital of Britannia Superior for two years before the anticipated invasion of Ireland was called off. The fortress’ role was chiefly naval and was used as a departure point for the Roman expedition that circumnavigated the north of Britain in AD84, and sup-plied the armies that subjugated the north throughout those campaigns.

Roman Buildings

As well as the normal buildings you would expect to find in a Roman town, there were also unusual dif-ferences. Worship of the local deity (now Romanised as Minerva) was present in temples and shrines and a huge Amphitheatre was present.

The Forum a large public open space usually used to trade goods and act-ed as a market. It also became a place where public political discourse took place and proclamations from at home and the empire were read out.

The Principia is the administrative headquarters of the fortress and larger city. It would have looked like a large courtyard surrounded by col-onnaded offices and dealt with the day to day needs of the legion and the citizens nearby.

The Basilica was a great hall at-tached to the Principia and would have been used to address soldiers and to present promotions awards, and news meant only for the troops.

The Praetorium was the command-er’s residence and would’ve been the single largest dwelling.

The Thermae, or baths complex, would have been enjoyed by many who took advantage of the superior technology enabling hot and cold wa-ter. There were two (that we know of) in the city, One by the south gateway of the Via Paraetoria (now Bridge Street) and inside the city walls, and one by the docks.

The Valetudinarium, or hospital, was a large building behind the Prin-cipia and dealt with the legions med-ical needs.

The Ludus and Amphitheatre was the largest building of it’s kind in Britain seating almost 10,000 people and has recently been offered up as the possible ‘round table’ of Arthu-rian legend. This writer, and many scholars, remain to be convinced.

The Portside would have been a live-ly place with sailors from as far as Eastern Spain unloading their wares here. While the area would’ve gained a reputation for rowdy behaviour and therefore leading to many ad-ventures, it is worth bearing in mind that this was a regimented military camp and risky behaviour would have been dealt with efficiently.

The Mansio is the official coaching house and is a possible place for vis-iting PCs to stay. There is still an inn on this site today known as the Gold-en Eagle. The sign over the door still bears the Imperial Eagle.

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With shrines to Minerva (paying tribute to Deva, who may have been a local version of the British goddess of wells and springs named Coven-tina) cemeteries, a parade ground, houses, and stores, this would have been a very active and busy city at the height of the Roman occupation.

Initially the walls were wooden pali-sades built with a run on top and complete with wooden gateways to allow entry into the city until they were replaced with stone after the Twentieth Legion arrived in AD90 from the newly abandoned Viroco-nium (less suited for use now the nearby tribes had been pacified). Vi-roconium has been proposed as the site of ‘Camelot’ in King Arthur: The True Story by Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman.

After AD122 Chester’s importance seemed to wax and wane depending on the fortunes of the province and the larger empire. Legions were tak-en away to war elsewhere in Britain or in an attempt to ‘seize the purple’ (claim Emperorship) and either even-tually returned in reduced numbers or were roundly defeated and needed reconstituting. In fact, for much of the 2nd century, the city was quite run down and some barracks were used as open rubbish dumps despite the large civilian settlement that had grown at Heronbridge a few miles down the road.

In 197 Emperor Septimius Severus dispatched a new governor, Virius Lupus, to Britain and Chester was refurbished greatly during that time. In time, the wolf (Lat. ‘Lupus) would come to represent the city and still does today on it’s coat of arms. In the third century Chester gained a mixed garrison of the XXth, IInd, and Sar-matian cavalry but it’s military days were numbered. It was occupied by some soldiers and civilians up to 383 but the legions had left. Honorius’ letter telling the Britons ‘to look to their own defences’ was just telling Cestrians something they already knew.

The region and the city would be contested by Gwynedd, Powys, Mer-cia, and Northumbria and defended from the Irish, Picts, and Saxons but in reality, Chester never saw prosper-ity, or even a permanent population, again until the late 7th century un-der the protection of King Æthelred of Mercia.

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The Legionary Fortress facing North West

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Members of the Cornovii tribe move into the lower Dee Valley and their worship of Cernnu-nos (the horned god) begins to change to the river goddess Deva. The settlement is named ‘Deverdoeu’.

The Cornovii accept Ro-man rule around AD 79 after Caratācos (Caratacus) of the Catuvellaunii is defeated in battle and the Druids of Ynys Mon are wiped out. A town begins to grow about the for-tress. In AD61, Bwddica of the Iceni revolts.

Deva is chosen as Britannia Su-perior’s capital but only tem-porarily while plans are made to invade Eire.

With Brigantia and Cambria subdued interest in Deva wanes in the empire. New building is halted and a period of decline sets in.

Emperor Severus travels to Britain and orders the mainte-nance of Deva. Buildings once restricted to the military (such as Baths) become open to oth-ers. With a mixed legion, aux-iliaries, and Sarmatian horse-men occupying the fort, the city begins to transition into a civilian settlement, espe-cially after Severus’ death in Eboracum in AD211. In AD184 Lucius Artorius Castus leaves

As Roman rule appears to slip, local chieftains, once loyal to or wary of Rome begin to strengthen their rule. Gaels and Picts begin to harrass the Isle of the Mighty.

A local family rises to promi-nence. Rising within the Ro-man civilian structure with their sons entering military service, they would eventually become the Randalls.

Members of the Cornovii tribe moving into the Dee Valley cause the Fae to retreat deep-er into the woods on The Wir-ral. Herne the hunter is seen less and less and his worship is replaced by Sulis.

A party of Roman and Celtic warriors from the Deceanglii and Cornovii attempt to in-vade Faerie with disastrous re-sults. The fort becomes poorly manned and is threatened by Irish raiders. Trust in it’s de-fences wanes.

While the Roman culture re-mains, the local citizenry start to see themselves as commu-nal defenders rather than rely-ing on Roman legions.

Faith does not return until the visit by Emperor Severus. He brooks no talking of spirits or the Fae and concerns himself with the forthcoming invasion of upper Caledonia.

Members of the Cornovii tribe seize the degenerate Lacertii lands and chase the tribe into the dark forest. The Lloigor deep in the Dee Valley are temporarily without worship-pers. The Lacertii begin to es-tablish a new temple.

A Roman Commander estab-lishes the fortress and a shrine to Sulis in the hope that it will wash away the corruption that deforms the local children in the forest to the north and east of the city. This ‘plague’ is due to the Lloigor reaching out to their old adherents and an attempt to establish new worshippers.

After a raid on the hidden tem-ple to the Lloigor (and possi-bly Ghatanathoa) by a party or Celtic and Roman warriors in the Wirral forest, word passes around the Roman authority that Deva is cursed and the city becomes irrelevant to Ro-man plans.

Emperor Severus visits Deva and uses a cursed druid to commune with the Lloigor in the Wirral forest, near the overgrown temple. He ima-gines them to be ‘dark Celtic spirits’ and entreats them to give him aid in his forthcom-ing war in Caledonia. Using preternatural magicks his wish is granted. However, Severus dies of a strange corruption before he can use his gift from the Lloigor on the Picts.

Pre-Roman

The RomanArrival

AD100 - 150

AD150 - 250

A Cestrian TimelinePendragon Age of Arthur Cthulhu InvictusProbable HistoryYearYear

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Britain and leads his knights into battle in Gaul creating a tradition of horse borne war-riors that lasts until well after the legends of Owain Ddant-gwyn, the Bear of Britain (a possible candidate for ‘Arthur’) rise.

The slow demise of an empire leaves ripples in it’s people. While the garrison was still be-ing paid in locally minted coins and they may have referred to themselves as members of the XXth, they were a legion in name only. Most of the fight-ing men had gone north to fight the Picts in AD306 and had died or just not returned and the civilian population were being pressed into mili-tia service and to the upkeep of the walls against Irish raid-ers who were becoming more bold. Despite being known as ‘the city of the legion’ and ‘the city of eagles’ for 2 centu-ries, it was a poor reflection of its heyday and had nowhere near a legion of defenders. It is at this point the city’s civilian population begins to outnum-ber the garrison.

Deva continues to evolve from a military fortress into a civilian centre. When Magnus Maximus (Macsen Wledig) withdraws the remaining le-gionaries from Deva to fight in Gaul in AD383, the civilians take over the defence of the city completely. Irish raids in-crease.

At this time the City of Legions is crying out for direction and leadership. Discarded by Rome , a member of the Hel-wyr Darian (‘The Shield Hunt-ers’ ) family weds a Romanised Germanic merchant based in the city. In order to capital-ise on the family name and dowry, the merchant adopts the Germanic version of his wife’s name, Randalúlfr. (Later changed to Randall (‘Shield’)).

His name takes on a special significance as he oversees the civil defences while the legion-ary commander of the fortress oversees the military fortifica-tions.

Many in the city, including some of the older soldiers, see Randall as the future of the city of legions and not the dis-interested Roman Empire.

The local Roman commander protests his orders from Maxi-mus to leave the city and jour-ney to the continent and is replaced. Randall waves the legion gleefully goodbye as they leave knowing he will soon be ‘Dux’ and in sole com-mand of the city. His son, who was an auxiliary until he was

The Fae consider the Ro-man influence a blight upon the land but aware of subtle machinations that may bring Rome’s downfall. The Fae bide their time.

The Fae of the Seelie Court en-courage the Picts of the north to forego their promises of peace and invade. Part of the Fae wants to manipulate the Picts into freeing the Fae sites currently taken by Romans (such as Deva) but most fall in line for sport. The Picts re-alise too late that they are just pawns in a larger game that is being played merely to pass the time and relive boredom in the Seelie Court.

The Romans inflict a heavy loss (despite losing a legion) upon the Picts and peace reigns for a time. The Fae are both in-censed at losing their pastime but also filled with admiration at human tenacity.

The Seelie Court present in Lyonnesse starts to become inquisitive other realms, espe-cially those that are showing individuality from the Roman Empire but also retain civili-sation. It severs it’s ties with the barbaric tribes and opens talks with Armorica, Kernow, and realms such as Urbe Le-

The resurfacing of ancient treasures of the Britons lulls the lloigor into a temporary sleep.

The cult surrounding the lloigor begins to grow even as the Lacertii finally fade from history. Birth defects and dark forsworn magicks inflict their toll on the people of the for-est who begin to fade from the mortal plane. Woodsmen abandon the forest claiming they are followed by shadows.

The lloigor refocus their atten-tions on the city in an effort to expand their power further.

The locals see the manipula-tions of the Lloigor as a sign or Roman decadence and greed and begin to rebel against Ro-man excesses.

When 30 men from the XXth try to escape to the woods they are captured and put on military trial for their lives. Lo-cals threaten revolt if they are not freed. The commander ex-ecutes them and the ensuing riot costs 120 more lives.

An ‘Emissary’ enters the city from the forest and claims to speak ‘for the ancient spir-its who own this land and its people’. This cloak clad human craves an audience with the commander in the now di-lapidated fortress. The civilians fear the Emissary and beg the remaining Romans to kill him

AD250 - 350

AD350 - 400

Pendragon Age of Arthur Cthulhu InvictusYearYear Probable History

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The Notitia Dignitatum, com-piled c.AD400, lists no troops in Deva nor the Twentieth any-where else in Britannia. Any re-maining Romans in Britain are taken to fight on the continent by Constantine III in AD407 and they never return.

Honorius sends a letter to the British advising them to “Look to your own defences.” A powerful warlord, Gwrthey-rn (Vortigern), assumes con-trol during a council meet-ing in London and begins to organise the defences of Britain against the Picts and Gaels. Gwrtheyrn is the lord of the region that will become Gwynedd (which includes Deva) and has experienced their depredations first hand.

Vortigern invites the warlord Cunedda to move his tribe from the lowlands of Scotland to North Wales. When Cuned-da takes up residence in Deva (now called Caer Lleon and Castra Legio) he orders repairs and bolsters the defences of the coast from Chester to Caernarfon. Vortigern invites the Saxons to Britain to defend against the Picts. The ‘Night of the Long Knives’ occurs and leaves a power vacuum throughout the kingdoms.

hobbled in a riding accident, knows better and fears for the city’s safety now the sol-diers have left. He instigates a standing militia and tries to instil Roman drill into his men with only partial success initially but eventually does such a good job that when Constantine III arrives in Castra Legio in AD407 he takes the militia with him. The city is left undefended for a short time.

The Randalls pledge their fe-alty to Vortigern, high king of Britain, and appeal for help against the Irish raiders. Vor-tigern sends a small force but is ultimately powerless to stop their continued raiding. He simply doesn’t have the men at hand to defend all of the island of the mighty. Vortigern begins to eliminate his rivals.

Cunedda and his sons move to northern Cambria to help protect the region from Irish raiders. His reputation, and his treatment of Irish camps in mainland Cambria, makes the Gaels fearful of raiding. The Picts are another matter. Areas far to the north of Caer that trade with the city suffer predation by the Picts and Vor-tigern appeals for Saxon mer-cenaries to fight for him. He is ultimately betrayed.

Vortigern allies himself with

gionis using human agents. The Seelie Court begins to en-gage with the world while the Unseelie Court withdraws to the forests.

Lyonesse lends Urbe Legionis the sceptre of Lluw which pro-tects the city from flooding and the river from silting up.

The Picts and Gaels attack in fear that the Britons have al-lied with the Fae and will be-come unstoppable.

Honorius’ letter arrives to a much depleted garrison and the locals begin to organise a defence to protect the city. A riot causes the Sceptre of Lluw to disappear. Predations by foreigners increase dramati-cally. One of the last Roman military leaders takes over control of the city in a civilian role and names himself Agri-cola after the past emperor.

Agricola and his sons invite the clergy to the city and make peace with their neighbours. The local tribes see the benefit of trade and keeping a strong ally in the area.

While the population shrinks marginally, the defences hold and Agricola leaves the safety of the city to his eldest on his death bed. The Fae begin to take a more active role in the human affairs of the city now that Christianity is embedded in the city.

and to burn the forest. The Ro-man Praetor is asked to leave the city and take the soldiers with him. The praetor denies the demand from the Emissary and is found dead the next morning.

The Roman garrison com-mander hires Gael and Pict mercenaries to destroy the temple but after suffering hor-rific losses to the ‘Shadows in the wood’ decide to raid the city instead for some meagre valuables.

With the city now defence-less after the withdrawal of the remaining Roman troops, the citizens abandon the city. they move eastwards into the newly established kingdom of Tegeingl and south to Powys. Many people set up farms a few miles from the city and take stone from the walls to shore up their own dwellings.

After a brief period the city is reoccupied but not by the liv-ing.

Vortigern invites Cunedda and his clan down from Godod-din lands to take the city in his name and to rule as a noble house. Cunedda and his sons lose many friends trying to take the ‘City of Ghosts’ from their cursed inhabitants.

They are given shelter at De-gannwy by Vortigern and many civilians follow them as more and more of their kin are abducted in the night from the nearby area only to reap-pear on the city walls as dark

Abandoned by Rome

AD410

AD410 - 450

Pendragon Age of Arthur Cthulhu InvictusYear Probable History

Gwerthefyr (Vortimer), Vorti-gern’s son, rebels and fights the Saxons but later dies and Vortigern regains lordship over Britain. He is eventually overthrown and his castle in Gwynedd is burned down with him in it (possibly by a reckless Einion).

Einion succedes his father in AD470 and the governance of the new kingdom of Gwynedd is split into Gwynedd, Ceredi-gion, and Meirionydd. He ac-quires the kingdoms of Rhos, Tegeingl (which contains Deva/Caer), Powys, and Peng-wern in the power struggle after the ‘Night of Long Knives’.

the Saxons and gives them more land. British nobles are outraged and recall Ambro-sius Aurelianus back from his wars against the Goths on the continent. Ambrosius realises that there is no peace with the tyrant Vortigern.

The current Randall dies on the ‘Night of the Long Knives’. Ambrosius Aurelianus escapes to Brittany.

He raises an army and, with his brother Uther, defeats Vortigern who retreats to his castle. A young Merlin demon-strates why Vortigern’s castle extensions keep falling down. Contrary to advice he contin-ues with the build but sub-sequently dies in a fire there. Ambrosius becomes high king briefly before he dies and the title passes to Uthr.

Arthur is conceived at Tintagel and is then hidden at Penllyn (Bala Lake, Gwynedd). Uthr is poisoned at St Alban’s leading to his madness and death.

The Randles (as they are now known) shows fealty to Nor-gales (Tegeingl) in order to bolster the defence of the City of Legions. Norgales accepts responsibility for it’s protec-tion now that the Irish threat is much reduced. The sword in

Worries in wider Britain avoid the city and it grows in a peaceful and stable manner. Vortigern, now the high king, places more troops and ships at Urbe Legionis to defend it against the attacks by the Gaels and Picts. Word reaches the city of a great druid born elsewhere in Cambria. Attacks by outsiders drop due to mer-cenaries.

The Saxon mercenaries rebel and Arthur is born. The Night of Long Knives robs Britain of it’s finest marshals and lords.

Aurelius Ambrosius launches a campaign from a staging post at Urbe Legionis against Vortigern and defeats him. He names the city “His war-like capital” and is crowned ‘Ben-Ddraig’ or Guletic (Pendragon) of all Britain.

The Fae begin their manipu-lations in an attempt to rid Powys of Men but fail. Urbe Legionis begins to become a starting point for adventure into the dark forests of north-ern Britannia.

Ambrosius and Uther both die fighting the Saxon at Verula-mium. The ‘Boy King’ assumes control and continues the fight.

Agricola (IV) of Urbe Legionis promises his daughter Guin-hyfar to Arthur to secure an ally if Powys or the Gaels at-

guardians made of shadow.

The Lloigor now has an unliv-ing army with which to extend their power. They move west-ward and eastward and Vorti-gern hires Saxons to fight the menace. They betray Vortigern and turn against the Britons out of fear of the Lloigor. Vor-tigern sets fire to his own keep and dies after a ‘Shadow’ gains control of his gatehouse.

The Lloigor possess a Saxon chieftain and then murder all the British guests at a peace conference.

Aurelius, away fighting Corn-wall at this time, rouses his troops and prepares for the ultimate battle against the ‘Shadow World’ present in north western Britain. A young Merlin begins to search the land for the fabled ‘Thirteen Treasures of Britain’ to aid Au-relius in the fight. As they en-ter the region (around 50 miles from Deva) they see desolation and a blight that stunts crops and kills livestock and farmers. When they arrive at Deva they find it is empty in the daylight. A ruined ghost town, but as night draws near the Britons start to see shadows move on their own. Aurelius utters the words “There is no life for leagues all around, yet we are not alone.” and sends his her-ald to implore Uther to send aid. Aurelius and his army are never seen again.

AD450 - 500

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Einion dies in AD500 and is succeeded by Cadwallon Lawhir (who assumes the rule of traditional Gwynedd (from Anglesey to Tegeingl (Flint-shire) and his brother, Owain Ddantgwyn, assumes lord-ship over Powys). Caer/Castra passes into the hands of Pow-ys at this time. It is in a much reduced state and population.

In AD510, Owain relieves the beleaguered king of Deheu-barth (SW Wales) atop Baddan Hill (nr Bath) and annihilates the local Saxons. Afterwards, Owain is referred to as ‘The Bear’ (cym. Arth, lat. Ursus). His sword is named Dyrnwyn (White Hilt) and takes on a sa-cred significance.

In AD534 Cadwallon, a few years after destroying the last Irish camps on Angle-sey, dies. His son, Maelgwn, is passed over for the crown in Degannwy in favour of his uncle, Owain, lord of Powys and Rhos. At this point, Caer/Castra is a frontier town, quiet and poorly manned and main-tained.

Some years later, Maelgwn raises arms against his uncle Owain (‘Arthur’) in pursuance of what he sees as his birth-right. The battle of Camlann takes place and Maelgwn kills ‘Arthur’ but his army is deci-

AD500 - 550

the stone appears in London.

Saxons besiege London. Upon hearing the news, Duke Ran-dle repairs the walls of the City of Legions and presses more men into the militia. He uses his grandfather’s knowledge of roman drill and the city be-gins to punch above it’s wait in local skirmishes. London is re-captured. Picts begin raiding again during the anarchy that grows in a country without a high king. In the chaos, Castra (Cheshire) rises and provides political and resource support to Norgales and then surpass-es it. While it is still a vassal to Gomeret (Gwynedd), through political and marriage alli-ances Cheshire acquires Dinas Bran, home of the Norgales nobility.

Dux Randle follows his duty and oath to Norgales and re-luctantly enters battle against Arthur at Bedegraine. He suf-fers minor losses. Randle is dis-gusted with the rapine and pil-lage committed by Lot’s forces elsewhere in Cambria.

In the Battle of Castle Terrabil, Lot falls and Lothian and Nor-gales sue for peace amid the corpses of their kings. Randle falls also and his son pledges fealty to Galihodin, new king of Norgales who, in turn, pledges to Arthur. The City of Legions continues to grow and rise in stature. It becomes

tack. Arthur has continuing success against the Saxons af-ter raising the Sword of Albion.

Arthur relieves Caradoc at Mons Badonicus. Merlin disap-pears and goes mad from the slaughter.

Picts and their Angle allies at-tack the city. Arthur has fore-seen the city’s vulnerabilities and arrives just in time with an army. He smashes the Pict and Angle army.

The Fae who lent their power on the side of the invaders against Christian and Roman Urbe Legionis in the battle are destroyed and the wood-land around the city is torched and tilled for planting. The Fae withdraw from the area and create new Earthly holds over the Mersey, Weaver, and the Wych Brook.

The Mordred Rebellion takes hold. Having lost faith in the King, Agricola (V) sides with Mordred in his dispute.

Once again, the beauteous peace which has reigned over Britannia since the defeat of the Saxons is broken by the war between the noble hous-es of Britain.

Mordred and Arthur meet at Camlann and destroy the hopes of the Britons. Arthur is

Uther sends no aid and in-stead crowns himself High King. He begets Arthur on the Enchantress Ygraine and kills her husband Gorlois.

Arthur rises and defeats the Saxons at Caer Baddan. Arthur cannot extend his realm into the Lloigor created area of desolation so Merlin tells Ar-thur to march on Deva holding the flaming sword Dyrnwyn (Excalibur) to dispel the Shad-ows. Merlin goes ahead to dis-pel the Lloigor using magic to avoid bloodshed on the British side. Despite using the ‘Ring of Elenud’ which granted invis-ibility, to sneak into the for-est, Merlin is never heard from again.

Arthur leads his army to Deva where the Shadow army is waiting. Despite heavy losses he is triumphant and burns much of the Wirral forest. No temple is ever found.

Arthur’s nephew finds a strange artifact in the burnt wood and secretly withdraws to Degannwy. Arthur names him coward and traitor for leaving the army and taking home his men before he was relieved.

Maelgwyn (Mordred) refuses calls to return and begins to worship the strange idol he found near Deva. It tells him secrets such as Arthur being his incestuous father as well as his uncle. It promises him all of Britain and he would be called

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mated. He returns to Degan-nwy and later dies of plague in AD547. He is succeeded by his son Rhun Hir. From him, the line of Gwynedd contin-ues until 1719 and included King Henry VII. The line ended without issue. The line was resurrected through marriage (illegitimacy being allowable terms of lordship in Welsh law) and continues to this day with the 11th Baronet of Bodel-wyddan.

‘Arthur’ is survived by his son Cynlas who frequently raids on his neighbouring kingdoms. The line ends with him some-time in the late 6th century. It was at this point that the city ceased to be referred to in any Latin sense and was called Caer and Legercyestre.

While Caer remained a city in Powys it also remained a seat for nobility, the Cadelling dy-nasty (tracing their line back to before Cyngen and Vortigern). Caer remained an important, if poorly maintained settle-ment, until AD616. When Selyf came to the throne of Powys in AD613 he was a young boy and this prompted Northum-bria to attempt an invasion.

The young Selyf of Powys, Cad-wal Crysban of Rhos (at that point a Cantref of Gwynedd) and possibly Mercia (led by Cearl) faced an army of North-

prosperous and moderately independent. It’s Roman ways continue and the trade and se-curity situation improves with Arthur’s invasion of Ireland. The Wirral forest opens up to adventure and many strange beings are seen (including Gawain’s ‘Green Knight’).

In AD543 the Wasteland reach-es Cheshire and causes great hardship and a reversal of for-tunes.

In AD564 Mordred stirs gossip and the War of Britain begins. Cheshire sides with Lancelot and later, at Camlann, Dux Randle dies fighting alongside Mordred.

The King, his adversary, and the dreams of the Britons are now dead. History reasserts itself.

In AD616 at the Battle of Ches-ter (at the time known as Caer and Legercyestre) the ‘Hen Gogledd’, or ‘Old North’, is sep-arated from southern Britain. Cumbrian as a language and a people will die out and join their ancestors.

At this time Chester begins it’s long decline as lesser men vie for lesser glories and king-doms. Players may wish to

taken to Avalon to heal and to be tended by the Fae in peni-tence for their interference in mortal affairs. Their magicks will assure Arthur’s return when Britain is once again un-der the heel of invaders.

The magic of Britain begins to disappear as the once and future king leaves the Earthly realm.

The Fae start to see their world dwindle and power fade. Bar-barous men begin to chop down their sacred places. The number of men begins to warp reality away from magic and wonder and to industry.

The Fae realise that it was Ar-thur and the Sword of Albion that kept them in the mortal world and they begin to real-ise that it is time for the kings of Men to rule without inter-ference by the Fae.

Now only echoes of the Fae, coupled with the stories of their exploits, remain. There are shadows in forests, a blur in the corner of your eye, and the feeling that you are being followed but that is all that is

Wledig and Pendragon, feared among other nations. If only he would remove Arthur and replace him.

Mordred and Arthur meet in battle in a valley near Llyn Og-wen and both die. The Lloigor corruption fades away with the Dee Valley now uninhab-ited. Locals regard the whole region as haunted and say that an undead Magician now haunts the walls of the an-cient Roman city on the Dee. At night, even though many miles away, there are some who can still hear whispers from the walled city.

The Saxons capitalise on the British infighting and take lands that will one day be-come England. Every few decades courageous adven-turers search the ruins in the day looking for Arthur’s sword but they are always anxious to leave before sundown.

Stirred on by stories of Arthur’s exploits, his descendant, Selyf of Powys, attempts to find the blade with his uncle Cadwal-lon Crysban of Rhos. He jour-ney’s to the city with his army only to learn that the Angles in Northumbria have thought the same and sent an army (to deny the blade to Selyf if they must, or retrieve it for King Æthelfrith if they can.

Despite bringing 200 monks to plead to God for victory, Se-lyf and Crysban are cut down. The monks share their fate.

After Arthur

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umbrians at Chester led by Æthelfrith and were defeated.Æthelfrith had the 1200 monks who had arrived to pray for the Britons executed before the battle for praying for a British victory. His troops would later bury the monks heads under the streets of Chester.

The city would soon depopu-late and stone taken from the city walls to repair farmhouses and wells nearby would give the city a reputation as being ‘The City of Ghosts’, partly be-cause of the dead warriors and monks who lay in and near the city, but also because of the wind howling through the gaps in the walls.

Despite the Northumbrian vic-tory, the city passed into Mer-cian hands but would remain largely unoccupied (save for a few squatters) until AD907 when it was re-fortified by Queen Æthelflæd against Norse incursion (the Norse had raided Chester in AD893 and had found it abandoned).

In time the city would be con-trolled by the Welsh, Danes, Mercians, Northumbrians, Normans, and the English. It has left the city today with an enormous wealth of history and an appreciation for an-cient treasures.

continue service to this city in order to ‘rage against the dying of the light’ as Dylan Thomas puts it, but Greg Staf-ford fears it may become an anti-climax to the great cam-paign and who am I to argue?

Apart from a brief time when Cestrians sang Hallelujah from the city walls managing to de-ter Dublin Vikings, the history of the city is pretty much as history has written.

It would not see a prominent role in British life until the Mer-cian era.

left of the Fae in our world.

Probable History reasserts it-self.

Feeling that Deva is some-how cursed, Æthelfrith has the monks’ heads buried in the ground of the city in order to hopefully cleanse the area of it’s vile corruption. The blade was never found and may rest their still. The Lloigor and oth-er mythos entities and powers remain quiet and hidden from view and begin to plan their long reprisal. For what is 1500 years to the Lloigor?

Pendragon Age of Arthur Cthulhu InvictusProbable HistoryYear

AD534

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of the Jewish Quarter, was beaten and robbed near to the City Cross.

It was daylight and she suffered much indignity and shameful treatment at the hands of her as-sailant. The city guard are looking for a fair haired youth who may be in the possession of a sum of gold beyond his natural means. All who encounter this base fellow are to send word to the city guard.

Elsewhere In Logres

A strange beast has been seen wan-dering the hills north of Windsor and along the banks of the Thames. Seemingly made of the bloody part remains of a man which can de-tach its head and throw it after its prey, the horrific creature has been suspected in the disappearance of 3 landed knights. Travellers are urged to take care on their journey and to stick to the roads and paths frequented by honest folk.

A mysterious portent has been seen in the sky of northern Britain. In the heavens was seen a great mane of fire crossing the sky akin to a red dragon in flight. It is un-known whether this be a portent which reveals the doom or destiny of the British people.

In Camelot

A squire from the house of a Saxon out-law arrived, rather timidly, at court and announced that Sir Kay had been cap-

tured. This is seen as a direct chal-lenge by the knights of the court and nothing else, as the court re-gards well the words of Kay in latter days that he “If honour doth reside in me, would not be ransomed.”

The king did inform the squire to leave in comfort and safe-ty and to bear hence this mes-sage to he who sent him. “Tell your master that my knights do lift themselves from their pre-sent labours and seek to escort Sir Kay from his revelries and adven-tures in lesser lands.”

Once the squire had departed, the King then bade a company of good knights to travel to this villain’s land and to relieve this ‘Turquine’ of his ‘prize’ and, if God wills it, to visit upon him the King’s justice.

This past evensong a widow of the town Mistress Bello, a seamstress

Whispers Around the Realm

A look at some of the gossip, tales, and rumours around Arthur’s realm

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trusted? Only this week 5 children sought refuge in the keep of good Duke Derfel of Lindsey. Their fam-ily had been murdered and their farm burned as they hid. Luckily, they ran from the farm as the Sax-ons left. The Duke has found them a home with a childless couple of Lindum, given them a small sum for their welfare, and charged his knights to seek out these foul brig-ands.

Outside Logres

Rumours of a cessation to raids by the Irish seem to be borne out as King Mark has arranged a mar-riage for himself with the daughter of King Anguish of Erin. It is said that the princess Iseult is one of the fairest women in the mortal realm and it has only been Anguish’s wrath that has deterred some from speculating that her fair visage comes from consort with the Fae.

Those knights not in current ser-vice or questing are invited to at-tend the Peningues Tournament near the City of Legions. Duke Ran-dle offers a wondrously bejewelled and golden ring as prize goods and asks that all knights bring their lin-eage and warrant to the Duke’s pa-vilion in the small town so that he may properly greet all worthy men.He has regarded much of the brav-ery of Sir Mordred and Sir Lancelot and much desires their company.

The bard Eifor has taken up an of-fer of employment from Duke Es-can of Cambenet as his personal musician. Duke Escan will be no doubt popular with his guests.

Sailors in the Solent, who took shelter in a tempest of seemingly unnatural qualities, have reported a most disconcerting sight. They al-lege that they suffered some small waves that rocked their boats and peered overboard to look down upon the pate of huge blue giant, some 20 feet down, as he was walk-ing out to sea. Taking the depth of the sea into account this would mean the ‘Blue Fathomed Giant’ would be at least 50 feet high. While there was no sight of a crown or trident, the locals have taken to believing the giant was Neptune himself.

Of late, the land of Hertford has been doubly unfortunate being prey to wandering Saxons and a blight that has stolen the crops of their health. The people are en-famished and the good people of happier lands have offered meagre portions to lessen the trials of the good folk of Hertford. Earl Gilbert has been chastised by the King for not doing more to help his subjects.

Any knight wishing to do duty to the King and the commonfolk can offer their men-at-arms to protect the grain leaving Camelot or can give alms for poor relief at Hyde Abbey in Camelot.

Every week we hear more of the treacherous and impious Saxon raiding and razing villages in the east. While feigning tempo-rary loyalty to Arthur through his lords, they continue their rampant destruction of persons, chattel, and hearth. Are they ever to be

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dracones britanniae

1 – Wood

2 – Iron

3 – Bronze

4 – Silver

5 – Bones

6 – Stone

7 – Amber

8 – Gold

9 – Platinum

10 – Glass

Rings are one of the oldest items of jewellery. The oldest known rings are 21.000 years old. In Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur rings are used as tokens of love, distress or iden-tification. The design could be very simple or rather complex with dif-ferent metals and fine craftsman-ship. Whoever finds, inherits or wins a ring (perhaps in a game of riddles in the dark), could use these generator tables to design it very quickly and with some sur-prises.

This ring is made of…

Just roll a D10 to find out of what the ring is made of:

"But all things which that shineth as the gold,

Ne'er is no gold, as I have heard it told,"

- Chaucer

Ring DesignBy Daniel Neugebauer

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iae 6 – Coat of arms.

Roll a D6: 1 = family of the king 2 = noble family 3= knight of the round table 4 = notable knight 5 = poor knight 6 = extinguished family line.

7 – Religious symbol Roll a D6: 1 = Christian 2 = roman 3 = pictish 4 – Arabian 5 = saxon 6 – druidic.

8 – Inscription of a motto. Roll again!

9 – Pearl. Roll again: Even: a white pearl; Uneven = a black pearl.

10 – The ring is made of two dif-ferent materials and is very artful. Roll again on “The ring is made of…”.

1D10 Characteristics

Now its time for something special. Are there any characteristics on that ring? Just roll a D10 to find it out!

1 – A secret compartment for poi-son or medicine.

2 – The whole ring is just a cheap copy.

3 – The ring is damaged or messy.

1D10 Ornaments

Now the ring gets some ornamen-tation. Naturally there isn’t much space on a small ring, so you get only one roll, but you could always add an inscription on the inner surface. Roll a D10.

1 – True Gem. Roll a D6: 1 = ruby 2 = emerald 3 = amethyst 4 = sapphire 5 = opal 6 = diamond.

2 – Gem. Roll a D6: 1 = quartz crystal 2 = turquoise 3 = obsidian 4 = tiger’s-eye 5 = lapis lazuli 6 = malachite.

3 – Head of an animal made of gold. Roll a D6: 1 – boar 2 = falcon 3 = snake 4 = unicorn 5 = deer 6 = dragon.

4 – Christian relic. Roll 1D6: 1 = Ash 2 = drop of blood 3 = hair 4 = splinter of wood 5 = splinter of bone 6 = piece of cloth.

5 – Inscription of a name. Roll again!

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dracones britanniaeway home.

9 – The ring is blessed by a holy person! Once per day the knight gets a +5 on a roll of his choice by invoking their deity’s name.

10 – The ring sends 1D6 strange dreams in the night. After that, the effect is gone. For each night roll a D6:

1 = Bad dreams of dark woods (re-ceive a check on cowardly)2 = dreams of quiet lands (receive a check on temperate) 3 = erotic dreams (receive a check on lustful) 4 = religious dreams (receive a check on pious) 5 = bad dreams of battles (receive a check on cruel) 6 = Dreams of King Arthur (receive a check on just).

4 – A legend told that this is the ring of… Roll a D6: 1 = a Christian martyr 2 = a beautiful Lady 3 = a legendary warrior 4 = a foreign king 5 = a wise scholar 6 = a Fae magician.

5 – The ring is cursed! Once per day the knight gets a -5 to a roll of the gamemasters choice.

6 – The ring was stolen in the last D6 Days!

7 – A lady far, far away has a copy of the ring.

8 – The ring could not be stolen. It must be received as a gift or be won in a fair fight, otherwise it finds its

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to extend the adventure and stretch the encounters out.

A Suspicious Lord

Having a bunch of knight with a caravan of packhorses moving through one’s territory can make any lord to worry about a poten-tial raid, let alone a suspicious one. The Player Knights might have to explain their purpose, and while stopping them while they are on the King’s Road is not an option, the Lord can certainly make his ill will known by barring them from his hospitality or even send-ing knights to shadow the Player Knights just to make sure that they are not up to something.

Off the King’s Road, things might escalate even more, even to vio-lence. Explaining things to the Sus-picious Lord might require Cour-tesy and Trusting vs. Suspicious rolls. Lying to him would definitely be a case for a Deceitful roll as well, and on a failure, the reaction

The Premise

The Player Knights’ Lord has heard of a dragon guarding a pile of treas-ure in a cave in the Pennine moun-tains, near Leeds. He sends the Knights off to kill the dragon and claim the treasure for their Lord.

Needless to say, Loyalty 16+ Knights should be jumping at the opportu-nity to serve their Lord, especially since if they pull this off, there is every expectation of gaining their Lord’s (further) favor and rewards.

The Lord provides the Knights with 15 packhorses (sumpters) and 5 grooms on rouncies to look after the packhorses. This is in addition to the squires and any other entou-rage the Player Knights would take with them.

Trouble along the way

These are some potential ideas for the GM to throw at the Player Knights along the way, if they wish

The

Dragon’s Hoard

An Adventureby Weli-Matti Pelkonen

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ally harming the old man). Threat-ening his granddaughter (a pretty young lass, making an appearance after a while to bring Old Neddig something to eat and drink) would be more efficient, but certainly not very chivalrous (Honor penalty is possible, as are Arbitrary and Cruel checks).

Old Neddig knows the story of a white dragon that used to roam in these parts. Its lair is reputed to be further north, in the mountains west of Aldborough. He is able to give an approximate location. If his help was gained by Folk Lore or a generous payment, he would warn the knights that in the stories the dragon knows magic, being able to call shrouds of mist to rise to hide it from the heroes seeking to slay it. He also warns them that the drag-on thinks naught for lying to the heroes to get them to lower their guard. Should he be asked about the route over the mountains and he is well-disposed towards the PKs, he would tell him about the Giant Huw who lives there (see be-low).

The Player Knights have a choice of which route to take from Leeds:

1) Try to go over the mountains (crosscountry, slow and hard trave-ling), or

2) Go back on the road and go via Aldborough (easy riding).

Over the Mountains

This is a very difficult crossing for horsemen, made all the more

would be bad, potentially causing the Lord claim that they are liars and thieves, which can escalate to duels of Honor.

Bandits

A big caravan like that will attract attention from bandits as well. This can range from large bandit groups (probably at least 4 times the Player Knights number, possi-bly led by a robber knight) attack-ing openly to smaller ‘gangs’ (1d6 Bandits) trying to sneak in at night to steal a couple of horses and scamper (Horsemanship, Hunt-ing to catch them).

Wrong location

Once the Player Knights reach Leeds, none of the locals seems to know what dragon they are talk-ing about. They’d be directed to Old Neddig, who is a blind old sto-ryteller. Old Neddig doesn’t have much respect for knights, but a suc-cessful Folk Lore roll and an ale or two would get Old Neddig started with his stories. On a failed Folk Lore roll, Old Neddig might ask the Player Knights why he should help them? Payment is possible, the size of which would determine how much information Old Ned-dig would give (possibly a Gener-ous check, if the Player Knights are spending anywhere near to £1).

Threatening Old Neddig personally would make him laugh bitterly and ask if that makes the intimidating knight feel brave, to be threatening an old blind man (Proud check to take offense, Cruel check if actu-

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Club – 15 (Damage 15d6)

Thrown Rock – 10 (Damage 6d6, a shield gives an armor bonus to the defender, not a skill penalty to the thrower, due to the size of the rocks, the total armor is halved)

Valorous Modifier: -5 (divided amongst the knights seeking to en-gage him)

When encountered, Huw is block-ing the road and demanding a toll. Huw does not like intruders on his mountains, and he dislikes knights, many of whom have tried killing him before. Still, he is not a total idiot, and if the Player Knights try to negotiate with him, he would demand half of their horses as his price for allowing them to move on unmolested. If the Player Knights offer just sumpters, he would complain that they are trying to fool him by giving him the small-est horses, how about a couple of those big ones (warhorses), in-stead? However, a couple of extra sumpters would make him happy. This might cost the Player Knights most of their packhorse allowance, or even more...

If the Knights refuse him and pre-pare for a fight or try to flee, he would start throwing rocks at them. At long distance, his aim is not that good, but there is a lot of horseflesh there to be hit, +5 to his skill but the target is determined randomly. Once the PKs ride closer to engage him, he has two more rounds to throw rocks at them. The knights’ shields would give +6 to the knights’ armor rather than

so by the fact that a Giant named Huw lives in these parts. The trip is about 30 miles of very bad terrain, so it takes about a week for horse-men to cross it, if their guide rolls a successful Hunting roll at -5. Failure means that they are back-tracking and take another week to try and find their way through. A critical Hunting roll allows the Knights to avoid the Giant and get through speedily, while a Fumble means that they are lost, meet the Giant and roll at -10 from now on for all other Hunting rolls.

Each week of travel, each rider has to roll Horsemanship. A failure means that at some point, he takes a fall from the horse, with 1d6 of damage. A fumble will cause a cat-astrophic fall, 3d6 damage and a lamed horse that needs to be put down or an outright dead one. Unridden horses roll their DEX and on a Fumble, they lame them-selves. If they are carrying a load of 150 lbs, they fumble on 19-20, and if 200 lbs, on 17-20. They are likely to lose a couple of horses on these hills, but they are likely to be cheap sumpters.

Each week of travel, there is a chance of meeting the Giant, Huw. This chance is up to the GM, of course, but a suggestion is to make it 1-10 on 1d20.

Huw the Giant (Standard Giant, Glory 250 for de-feating him)

SIZ 40, DEX 5, CON 30, Armor: 25, HP: 70M

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er Knight spokesperson can roll Courtesy to start with, and can then come up with some innocu-ous reason why they are travelling with so many packhorses (Deceit-ful vs. Suspicious 16 of the leader of the Malahaut knights). Failure in either, or telling the truth, or having a Round Table Knight or a Player Knight who is well-known in Malahaut (let alone notorious) will mean that they will be firmly requested, by force of arms if nec-essary, to visit Eburacum to see the King of Malahaut.

The King of Malahaut is a suspi-cious and greedy man, and if he hears of a dragon’s treasure for the taking, he claims that since it is in Malahaut lands (even if that is debatable), it belongs to him. But if the Player Knights help, they will certainly be richly rewarded. He also sends some of his knights and soldiers along (to ensure the PKs don’t try to abscond with the treasure), as well as wagons for the treasure. The Malahaut knights are there mainly to see for the treas-ure’s safe arrival to the King, but can be convinced to help against the Dragon with good rolling.

If the Player Knights refuse to co-operate with the King of Mala-haut (not smart), the King will be unhappy with them, and will de-tain them at Eburacum. They are treated according to their rank as ‘guests’ rather than flung into the dungeons if they have already re-vealed the location of the dragon’s lair. If they have not, they will get to visit the dungeons of Eburacum un-til they are willing to be more rea-

-6 to Huw’s skill, as the rocks are big and heavy enough that even a hit on the shield might break bones rather than just bounce off. Remember that the total armor is halved against rocks (Armor of Honor protects at full +3 value). If he hits a horse with a rider, roll 1d2 to see whether he hits the man or the horse. If the horse is killed/crippled from under a charging knight, the knight takes 2d6 dam-age from the high-speed fall (ar-mor doesn’t protect). He can be at-tacked by two horsemen at once, but he does not suffer any un-mounted penalties nor do lances get that +5 bonus, because of his size and the length of his arms and the club. Huw’s tactics depend on the GM: he might easily split his skill at first and then start concen-trating on single opponents when he gets frustrated. His high Dam-age and Armor values mean that he is a very dangerous opponent, and the knights likely need critical hits to bring him down. If Huw gets badly wounded (Major Wound, half hit points), his morale may shake, and he can try to flee. The Player Knights have the option of letting him go at that stage (and gain Prudent checks). If they fol-low him, he would fight to the end like a cornered (Giant) rat.

Go via the Road

They’d encounter a patrol of Mala-haut knights (dozen or so) at the crossing south of Tadcaster. The Malahaut knights are suspicious to see a group of knights with so many empty packhorses, clearly they are up to something. The Play-

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The dragon welcomes the knights to its lair (for it is an intelligent drag-on, not a mere wyrm). It introduces itself as Medreth the Many-Color-ed, and asks the Player Knights for their names. It is quite willing to talk with the Knights, claiming to have been alive when the Romans came for the first time.

It also claims that the hoard is cursed, and will bring death and destruction if stolen. The dragon will happily lie about anything in order to convince the Knights to go away and leave it alone (Deceit-ful 20), making up stories of other dragons and their hoards (some of which might be correct, leading to other Pennine Wyrm adventures in the Perilous Forest book). It would even let the Player Knights to take a double handful of gold, each (about £100), if they press enough.

Depending on its perceived chanc-es, it might take an opportunity to try and attack a Player Knight who is bending down to pick up his share of gold (thus without shield and sword if he is using both hands), netting the Dragon a potentially unopposed attack at +5 (if the Player Knight stated be-ing careful, a DEX roll to evade; if he had his weapon or shield in hand, Weapon skill can be used at -5 for combined action instead). If the Player Knights are fooled/in-timidated by the dragon, Medreth is quite willing to let them depart... for now. But do see Nocturnal visit, below.

sonable. The King will send some of his knights after the Dragon’s treasure. It is up to the GM whether they manage to defeat the dragon or if they fail (number of survivors also up to the GM). If the attempt is a failure, the King might attempt to convince the Player Knights to help, in return for their freedom, requiring solemn oaths from them to defeat the dragon and return to Eburacum with its treasure. Should they do this, the King sends them on their way with the escort of knights, soldiers and wagons for the treasure, as above (see sidebar for stats).

The Cave

The Player Knights no doubt wish to try and time their arrival to the morning, in order to have a full day to do their thing. The cave is up on a steep mountain side, hors-es would be likely to break a leg going up, especially if it is faster than on a walk. The cave itself has a tunnel about two men wide, high enough for people to walk upright. It inclines downwards slightly. The knights will have to carry torches for light.

After maybe 100 paces, the tun-nel opens up into a large cavern. There, maybe another 20 paces from the tunnel, is a pile of gold and silver coins, upon which lays a big, sinuous, winged dragon, its white scales reflecting the torch-light. There is more gold there than the Player Knights have ever seen, or even thought existing in the whole Britain! A king’s ransom and more!

Malahaut escort:

3 knights, 3 mounted ser-geants, 10 spearmen, 10 arch-ers, 5 wagons.

Sir Rhun (Glory 5449)

A middle-aged, trusted rich vassal knight of the King, lead-ing the escort. He wouldn’t take risks.

Statistics: 13/7/12/12/9, DMG: 4d6, UNC: 6, HP: 25

Sword-20, Lance- 17, Horse-manship-16, Loyalty (King of Malahaut)-16.

Sir Tudfwlch (Glory 2140)

An experienced household knight. A reasonably gregari-ous man, he might even be-friend the Player Knights if they act friendly towards him, and that would incline him towards helping the Knights against the Dragon.

Statistics: 18/10/13/15/14, DMG: 5d6, UNC: 8, HP: 33

Sword-17, Lance-14, Horse-manship-13, Loyalty (King of Malahaut)-17

Sir Aeddan (Glory 2060)

A young, household knight, a recent addition. Cold, merci-less eyes. Intrigue: Sir Tudfwlch mentions that Sir Aeddan is skilled for his age and got his position by killing a knight who insulted him in a duel. He has a bit of a reputation already for seeking Glory. He would join the Player Knights if offered a slice of the reward, and might even turn against

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attacked. He can continue rolling each round. The dragon attacks first those who can see it, of course.

The Hoard

There is around 240,000 silver de-narii (weight around 1000 pounds, worth £1000) in the pile and an-other 100,000 gold aurei (weight around 2500 pounds, worth £50,000). The coins are from the Roman era, mainly late first and second centuries. Each sumpter can carry 100lbs easily, 150lbs OK enough and 200lbs in a pinch for short distances. If the Player Knights are planning on returning across the mountains, they ought to pack light (100 lbs) or their horses will suffer penalties. Spare rouncies manage around +50 lbs in comparison to sumpters.

If the Malahaut knights are pre-sent, they are demanding that the hoard should be returned to Ebu-racum so that the rightful owner, the Centurion King, can divide it. However, if the Player Knights think of suggesting it, they would be happy to let the Player Knights take the silver and the Malahaut Knights take the gold. Any 50/50 split is strenuously contested, by force if need be. The wagons the Malahaut knights have will easily transport the loot.

If the Malahaut knights are not present, but the Player Knights se-lect the road through Aldborough out of here, they will run into a Malahaut patrol the next day and get to explain the loot; a trip to Eburacum would result, or a fight.

The Dragon

Medreth the Many-Colored

It is actually a smaller dragon than it appears to be (thanks to the illu-sion magic of the lair), about the size of a big wyrm. Unlike wyrms, it doesn’t regenerate.

Bite-20, 9d6 damage. Flame breath-15, 3d6 damage, armor doesn’t protect. (Simultaneous with the Bite; Shield protects on a partial success. Can also be used as the PKs are charging against one opponent or to split the dice against multiple opponents, forc-ing a Valorous roll.

Roll weapon skill to get the shield armor bonus.) Armor: 20 HP: 100 DEX: 25 (Slippery rascal, will try to evade and flee when at half hit points. There is a tunnel leading further down into an underground river where the dragon will dive into and swim to safety. If it man-ages to flee, it will cause problems for the Players later on, especially if it knows who they are.) Valor-ous -10 (divided by the number of knights attacking)

Special: Should the Players decide to attack, the lair of the dragon is filled with magical mist. Roll the Player Knight’s Honest vs. Deceit-ful 16. On a success, he is able to see through the magical mist and is able to attack the dragon; no fur-ther rolls are needed. On a partial success, he can’t see the dragon to attack it, but can fight normally if the dragon attacks him. On a failure, he will fight at -5 if he is

his compatriots if offered a big chunk of gold. Needless to say, if this happens, he would expect to be compensated with silver once the gold turns to leaves. And well compensated (£100 at least), at that, given that he just made himself a pariah amongst the knights by turning on his lord. If given the silver, he would establish him-self as a reasonably successful robber knight with a band of followers and potentially be an object of a future adventure. If he is not given the money, he will blame the Player Knights and plot revenge. They now have a robber knight dedicated towards raiding their manors when he gets a chance.

Statistics: 16/10/18/13/9, DMG: 6d6, UNC: 7, HP: 29

Sword-16, Lance-10, Horse-manship-14, Loyalty (King of Malahaut)-13, Selfish-16, Vengeful-16, Cruel-16, Hon-or-8

The knights’ equipment would be average for the campaign era, except for Rhun who would have a slightly better kit, if available. For instance, in the Romance Era, everyone might have reinforced chain and chargers, while Rhun might have partial plate armor instead.

Sergeants: Sword-14, 5d6, ar-mor 10+6, [14/10/14/14/10], HP: 28 Spearmen: Spear-12, 4d6, armor 4+6, [11/10/12/13/10], HP: 24 Archers: Bow-14, 3d6, armor 4+6, [11/10/12/13/10], HP: 24

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that the tide is turning against it or if it is facing a coordinated attack from numerous knights (and sol-diers), it will prefer to flee and fight another night! Of course, after this surprise, the Player Knights are un-likely to sleep soundly again for a while...

If the Dragon escaped during the fighting in the cave, it is unlikely to try attacking the Player Knights. After all, it is now badly wounded (half HP or even less?) and the they have clearly shown themselves to be capable of hurting it. Revenge is a dish best served cold, they say... (see The Aftermath, below).

The Twist

Of course the gold coins were fa-erie gold, turning to leaves after a full day out of the cavern has passed, in the following morn-ing. If the Malahaut knights got palmed off with the leaves, and the Player Knights are still present, they would demand to take the sil-ver to Eburacum, never mind what has been agreed before. If they knew where Player Knights went, they might give chase, knowing that they will otherwise come off very poorly when the King wishes to know where his treasure is.

The Return

If the Player Knights are returning with a caravan laden with silver, they will need to be vary careful with regards to bandits and espe-cially robber knights. The word would spread quickly, even outrac-ing the Player Knights. As long as

If they choose to go over the moun-tains, see the previous description of that route. Of course, they may have already slain the Giant and thus will not meet him again.

Nocturnal visit

If the Player Knights were fooled/in-timidated by the Dragon, it makes an attack in the middle of the night, wishing to wipe these interlopers out rather than let them report to their Lord; after all, that might lead to more valorous knights be-ing sent next! If Player Knights have posted guards, Awareness at -5 would give them a warning, al-beit not a long one (no time to put on armor). Thanks to the darkness of the night, the Player Knights would suffer -5/+5 modifier to the dragon’s benefit, as the dragon has much better night vision.

The Dragon would swoop in and collapse tents in its first attack to entangle knights (and soldiers, if any), and then try to kill them one by one as they struggle out. An ad-vance warning would allow them to rush out with their shields and weapons, otherwise they have to roll DEX each round to get out. It will take at least a turn of move-ment for the knights to start con-verging on the Dragon, once they are out of the tent. If they were forewarned and manage to present a solid front, the Dragon might in-stead attack their horses; it is a cun-ning, smart dragon with centuries of experience at staying alive, and the GM should play it like that. The saving grace is that the Dragon is very much not suicidal. If it seems

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it, by safely transporting it to Ebu-racum. However, he will reward each Player Knight with £20. He is not concerned about the Player Knight’s Lord, who, in turn, will be a bit displeased by all of this. Cour-tesy and Loyalty Lord rolls might blunt his ire, as well as giving some of their reward to him. Good roll-ing would see his ire directed more towards the King of Malahaut and not his trusted knights, who have deserved their reward.

Option C:

The Player Knights bring the silver to Malahaut, but needed the help of the Malahaut knights to defeat the dragon. As such, the King de-cides to split the reward between his men and the Player Knights, and each Player Knight gets only £10. See Option B for the Player Knights’ Lord’s reactions.

The Aftermath

The treasure should have been good for at least a few hard fights. Furthermore, if the King of Mala-haut got the silver, he might hire a big group of Mercenaries and cause some trouble up in the North by conquering some of those small, independent Pennine lord-ships. Even if the dragon is gone, the ‘cursed’ treasure will still cause death and destruction...

If the Dragon is still around, it might become a recurring villain for the Player Knights. Certainly, any damsels of their acquaintance might be targeted; it is practically a tradition! Medreth might also raid

they manage to stay on the King’s Road, the higher nobility would not dare to upset King Arthur by rob-bing them, but individual knights might decide that the loot is worth it.

See the previous chapter on ‘Trou-ble along the road’ for some ideas.

The Reward

The rewards the Player Knights gain depends on how they man-age the adventure. The rewards are roughly calculated for 3-5 Player Knights. For 2 Player Knights, dou-bling the reward might be in order, and for 1 Player Knight, tripling it would not be out of place for such heroism!

Option A:

The Player Knights return to their Lord with the full silver amount. The Lord is very pleased and gives each of them £50 in silver, or an enfeoffed manor, whichever each Player Knight would prefer. If they fought Malahaut knights to achieve this, they are declared outlaws by the King of Malahaut, and should stay away from that Kingdom if they know what is good for them.

Option B:

The Player Knights bring the sil-ver to Malahaut, but did defeat the dragon on their own. The King of Malahaut claims the hoard for himself, as the heir of the legions of Eburacum, whose paychest this hoard clearly comes from. And af-ter all, his knights helped to secure

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scription in the afore-mentioned sidebar. GMs should feel free to let him get beefed up a bit during a year or two in order to make him more equal to the Player Knights, if necessary. A Hate (PKs) would be a suitable Passion for him.

their manors, whether they are present or not, depending on how dangerous it feels the task is. Is it trying to lure a Player Knight out to duel (which the Dragon is likely to win), or is it just trying to pester the knights in order to punish them for its losses? That is up to the GM.

Sir Aeddan could become a recur-ring foe for the Player Knights as well, depending how the situation was handled with him. See his de-

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Gratitudes & ComplimentariesTHE GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS WHO HAVE MADE THIS ISSUE OF THE DRAGONS OF BRITAIN POSSIBLE. THEY'VE STEPPED UP. NOW IT'S YOUR TURN.

Lawrence WhitakerWriterContact: designmechanism@gmail.com

Weli-Matti PelkonenWriter

Contact info is weli_matti@yahoo.com

Colin Paul DriverArtist and CartographerContact: colinpdriver@gmail.comExamples: www.bitbrush.net

Chad BowserWriter

Contact: http://www.chadbowser.com/

Daniel NeugebauerWriterContact info is cdanielneugebauer82@gmail.com

STYGIAN FOX