Knight's Tale - 486

Sir Tristian's Tale

At my lords request, we march for Silchester, there we gather with the rest of the Kings army to prepare for battle against the Saxons, I can look around and see many of my fellow Knights nervous, though I look at Sir Jayden and see an award winning grin on his shoulders, and I cannot blame him, for I too wore such a grin, a chance to prove to Sir Osbert what I can really do, for Saxons if nothing else would at least prove a worthy foe to test my mettle against.

At Mearchred Creek we did battle, charging in with lance in hand, I effortless dispatched my first opponent, however we were ordered to fall back, a mistake on Sir Elads part as it put all of us in great danger. Luckily Sir Osbert efforts in my training were not wasted as I pushed back my next foe, and with the tides shifting I once again showed my mettle, slaying anyone who stood in my way until the battle was done, where I took pity on the foes in front of me, and let them run away, but not before giving him a nice scar to remember me by.

Winter Court this year was depressing, much had happened and people were worried, many of the festivities simply did not occur, nor did I get a chance to see the one I secretly like….

The Year is 486 and the mood has improved if only slightly, we knights assemble to Sarum in order to do our duty to our Lord, Earl Roderick, sadly that duty was simply Garrison and patrol duty, no doubt due to the embarrassment that Sir Elad received by the hands of Jayden and Morah. Nevertheless, we did our duty, and in doing so we came across an old man who was in need of aid, at his request we went to secure his goat, however this was no ordinary goat… the thing was MASSIVE!! I mean come on! How did he grow such a beast!? You’d think he fed it with grains and oats from the Heavens themselves!! It was at this time we came across a foul giant that was assaulting the poor beast, we swiftly charged in and with one mighty thrust from my blade I slew the beast, to ensure that the beast was dead however, I got off my steed and delivered a rather fancy Coup de Grace. Upon our return to the old man, his appearance changed into a rather familiar figure, Merlin. It appears he had in need of our assistance in a matter. We followed him into the woods when we were besiege by some weird figure on top of a horse with four arms, and we did battle with it, and in the end it appears we bested it, because apparently it got a lucky blow and knocked me out…. Damn Faerie creatures and magic, such pains they are to deal with, give me Saxon hordes any day… At least they fight fair…

Sir Morah's Tale

Now let me tell you of Saxons scum. Sir Morah wasn’t just called to Sarum to be knighted. You might remember I told you war was waging and men were needed. Very shortly after the knighting Sir Morah and his friends set of to fight in what would become the Battle of Mearcred Creek. You might have heard that the battle ended indecisively. This was indeed the case as the battle went back and forth for several hours. After the initial charge the unit your great great grandfather was in was foolishly ordered to pull back. This mistake almost cost the battle. Were it not for Sir Morah and his friends valor and strength to pull the fight back King Uther would have likely been defeated on this day. After the battle Sir Morah and his friend Sir Jayden’s pride led them to berate their commander, Sir Elad, for his folly in front of the Pendragon himself! They are lucky he didn’t have them killed for their arrogance, but they didn’t get out without penalty for Sir Elad held a grudge for them after that.

Winter that year was quite boring as Winter Court was but a shadow of what it could since the Pendragon was busy dealing with some problems of state. Spring started out that year no more exciting as Earl Roderick had Sir Morah and his friends hold garrison duty. While honorable and worth of glory garrison duty is, it is not a knight’s first choice for adventure. However, one patrol would change the tone of the entire summer.

Patrolling is part of a knight’s responsibility during garrison duty and Sir Morah and his friends were not ones to shirk their duty. On one of their patrols they came across an elderly man claiming to the knights that his goat had run off and he desperately need their help. Helping the peasantry is very important for a knight and the group, albeit not eagerly, set off to help the old man. They quickly spotted the goat and upon further inspection found it to be huge. It was easily the size of a horse. Their approach spooked the goat and it ran into the forest. The knights chased after it and after a few minutes they lost sight of it over a hill. Soon after they heard the pain stricken cries of the goat coming over the hill. They quickly rode up the hill and found the goat being held by a giant. Now things were getting interesting. Finally it was time for the knights to do something worthy of their station. All the energy the knights had yet to use this summer was quickly put into one furious charge at this creature. Sir Jayden led the charge and dealt a sound blow to the creature knocking the tree it had in its hand to the ground, Sir Tristian followed and finished the creature off with a second blow. While Sir Morah followed quickly behind Sir Tristian he got there after the creature was just felled.

Now all of you have surely heard of Merlin the Druid. When they returned the goat the old man magically turned into Merlin himself! This was a test for the knights for Merlin had need of their help. They began off into the woods and immediately something seemed off to Sir Morah. Your great great grandfather was quite knowledgeable about things relating to the Faerie World and immediately realized they were heading there. Not seconds after arriving in the Faerie World Merlin said he had something to do and we needed to protect him. A monster of Green Goo stood before the brave knights and charged them. This creature was a man and a horse with 4 arms each wielding a weapon. The brave knights fought this beast and slowly they began to fall to it. After both of his friends were down and Sir Morah was the last standing, he too took a mighty blow that put him on the ground, or so the monster thought. As the monster crept away towards the druid Sir Morah stood back up and finished the creature with one last swing of his sword! And that children is where the green sword we have comes from, for Sir Morah took it after slaying the beast as a trophy of the accomplishment.

Sir Jayden's Tale

The Battle of Mearcred Creek, The first battle in which I fought as a knight. War is an interesting subject. At no time in my life was I more afraid, yet nor has there been another moment more exhilarating. One false move could end in death.

Before the battle was met I had decided to look upon the field of battle. It was at this time that I discovered the land from which our army was supposed to fight upon was wet and muddy. This would have led to a serious disadvantage to our knights and the rest our men. How the King missed this was beyond me. Upon realizing this I immediately tried to alert King Uther but was blocked from entering his tent. Unable to alert the King I went to Sir Elad with the information, and he had gone to Earl Roderick who was able to inform the King.

Know that while being engaged in mortal combat with the enemy may be a scary experience, there is nothing more terrifying on the Lord’s Earth then being in front of the King. It was an honor to advise him on the upcoming battle but never before in my life had I had to carefully choose my words.

Now onto the matter of Sir Elad. During the Battle of Mearcred Creek he was the commander of our eschille. I now believe this to be a mistake. He may have been the man to train us, but mistakes in battle lead to lives being lost. Sir Elad’s command to pull back after the initial charge was such a mistake. If it wasn’t for the efforts of myself and my fellow knights Sir Morah and Sir Tristian our eschille would have been destroyed. After the battle though, Sir Elad was given the credit for our actions. My blood was boiling. I do not know if it was due to my nerves after nearly dying in combat or if I truly felt slighted by Sir Elad but I had to do something. Sir Morah and I confronted Sir Elad on his tactical mistakes during the the battle, especially that first pullback that nearly led to our deaths. I am not sorry for what I did.

It seems that I may be making an enemy in Sir Jaradan for during Court at Christmas he had challenged me to a duel to the death. He may have had too much to drink, but I believe I should be careful around Sir Jaradan from now on. I may have to end this feud one day, and that would have deadly consequences.

The Green Sword wielded by both Sir Morah and Sir Jayden, taken from the vanquished Nukulavee.  While wielding the Green Sword, the knights cannot be disarmed.  The sword is also cursed.  The knights cannot willingly discard the sword and as long as they wield it they receive a permanent check to their Cruel Trait.