Lonely Star

Pendragon Play Report - Year 3, Session 1

opening

WE'RE FUCKING BACK Y'ALL.

Last session, known as The Bad One, we went through the grueling battle procedure for Pendragon and I personally almost died. This session we recovered. Told you I'd bounce back.

Sir Valerius couldn't be here for it due to another engagement, unfortunately, but we pressed on with Sir Eogrim and his squire Elias.

Also before the session I mentioned that Arthur will be surveying the British Isles soon, so people will now start using surnames - totally not because I ended up with many NPCs called "William" from the same location.

Flashback, Autumn 111 (Year 2)

We started the session with a meeting between Eogrim and his cousin on his dad's side, Sir William Kirkeby, 29 - consequently also Elias' cousin.

He explained to our boys the following: he had married a lady from Gwynedd (a kingdom currently kingless due to the events of last session) and came into a bit of money, but she passed away in some mysterious event and he needs to go questing in the Holy Land. He doesn't know how long he'll be gone, but he expects it to be years, if he even returns.

The situation is that his wife's lands, which is just a little £3 per annum (it takes like £4 to support a poor knight), will then pass onto his 8 year old daughter Matilda. He needs Eogrim to be Matilda's warden until she turns 16, whereupon she'll marry a neighboring family who's mostly taking care of security - the lands will go to them with the marriage, so they want to make sure the land stays safe and uninvaded.

Either Eogrim accepts or looks for their other cousin, John, who's a Dane from Surrey, but Eogrim accepts the charge, and so the seasons change.

Late Spring 112 (Year 3) - The Wedding of King Arthur

Autumn, winter, and the early spring comes and goes, and we're for the wedding of King Arthur and Guenevere. There's Mass, a long ceremony, Morgan le Fay is suspiciously away, much largesse, etc. After it, everyone comes to the great hall for the wedding feast and the guests each gift the couple something as well as receiving a gift in turn.

Before that, though, Arthur announces his big plan for Britain: he doesn't intend to rule these islands. He's the High King. Rather, he'll be the Watchdog of the isles, the Watcher King, making sure no threat from the Other Side imperils the Isles.

In return, however, he makes a few decrees to be respected by all of the land, which are mostly peasant demands.1

People get angry, some get excited, but the party continues. The first to give gifts is the bride's father, King Leodegrance, who brings everyone to an old Roman amphitheater outside of Cair Lion and reveals within it a huge... round table! He also provides 100 men of good standing and Arthur names 28 others, but not our players, naturally.

What this also means is that our players, who were household knights of Arthur, will me dismissed from his service after this year since he already has 100 knights of Cameliard to serve him.

Then we moved on to the Feast.

Seating arrangements were randomized. Eogrim ended up sitting next to Sir Geraint of Devon and his new wife Enid, oldheads will recognize them, as well as Constable Baudwin of Britain, a very important dude and constable of the realm. Elias snagged a crit and got a seat at the table - something he shouldn't have, as a squire - and ended up sitting between Gawain and the newly found Sir Sagramore. An attractive, muscular, black-eyed and tanned Greek lad of 22.

1st Round

Eogrim draws the Love Poem card, where Geraint asked for help making a poem. He failed his roll so him and Geraint put their heads together and couldn't come up with anything good.

Elias decided to flirt with Sir Sagramore (after I goaded his player a bit lol) and got a surprising success, but Sagramore was too chaste for it. Still... he got an in. Plus, Sagramore was already well-disposed towards Elias just because of their personalities.

In the background, the great lords are asking for their gifts. Of note, the former Prince Mark asks to be recognized king of Cornwall by the Overking, and Arthur grants it.

2nd Round

Eogrim draws the Awkward Conversation card, so Baudwin of Britain engages him on a discussion about hunting, but he picks up a few basics through context and navigates well.

Elias draws the More Drink card, which makes our whole operation more chaotic as everyone needs to roll Indulgence to check if they'll get drunk, as well as check every following round if they'll pass out. Both do, naturally.

From our NPCs, only Constable Baudwin and Lady Enid stay sober, the rest get drunk.

In the background, Archbishop Dubricus of Britain asks for the right of Sanctuary to be granted to all of the churches in Britain, and Arthur concedes it.

3rd Round

Eogrim draws another card, Christian Virtue. He keeps it to gain a plus in a few skills. Basically, Archbishop Dubricus came back and sat on the other side of the table from him and is now part of the conversation.

On the Elias front, emboldened by drink, he flirts with Sagramore once more... and SCORES! Both of them get out of the feast and into the stables for some swordfighting practice.

4th Round

The "More Drink" card we drew before means that the players have been rolling every round since then to see if they'll pass out. This turn, Eogrim does, and Elias gets a critical so he sobers up. Probably while also having a touching moment with Sagramore.

Geraint wakes up Eogrim, though, because it's time for the ordinary knights to ask their gifts.

Eogrim asks for Elias to be knighted, so people went after Elias... who was found coming

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out of the stables, quickly followed by Sagramore.

People commented and whispered but Elias was promptly knighted by King Arthur's hand and asked his own boon. Elias asked to serve a worthy noble, and Arthur promised to refer him to someone of trust.

Final Round

Elias got the "Gossip" card but failed and it had no further effect.

Eogrim got the "A Serving Girl Flirts With You" and failed the roll due to being too drunk - we commented on how he made The Expression from Disco Elysium at the young lady and promptly sent her away.

aa

The Wedding Tournament

After the feast, everyone still awake carried the king and queen to their bed and closed the curtains for them to do their kingly and queenly duty. The player knights slept in beds within the royal bedchamber too. During the night I asked for Energetic and secretly rolled Awareness, but none of them had much success. Only Eogrim had a strange dream with sword noises and a woman screaming. He semi-woke up during the night to see the queen walking back to her bed and went back to sleep.2

Next day, there began the Wedding Tournament, which would last for the rest of the month. Just guys being dudes and jousting one another.

A few days thence, on the 11th and 12th, Eogrim and Elias each had their match and both lost, thus ending the Tournament which I thought would be the second half of the session. lol

We skipped to the end of the tournament, on the 25th, Sir Hervis de Revil wins the joust but the players don't know who he is and neither care. They're taking the opportunity to chase the rumour they heard during downtime about there being the best wine in the world up in Gwaelod, a sub-kingdom of Gwynedd. And also pay a visit to little Matilda while they were there.

The Road to Gwaelod

They left on the 26th of Late Spring. It was pouring rain but they soldiered on anyway.

With this sad tale out of the way, Eogrim and Elias joust the man in turn. Eogrim is almost killed by the experience and Elias is unhorsed before anything too terrible happens.

Elias says "It's unfair" to the man as they pass and exchange a meaningful look.

Later along the path they meet two peasants, one of whom seems ill with a disease that the other calls Hag's Breath, and is taking his partner to a wise woman nearby. With Eogrim in such a bad shape and Castle Pleure still over a day ahead, not wanting to sleep on the road, Eogrim follows them.

It takes them 6 hours to get there but they find an old crone. To the peasants, she says she can't help with that - he's caught the breath of Yr Hen Wrach, here's a poison to make him die painlessly - and to the knights, she throws in an awful tasting potion and says she'll look after Eogrim, but that the cursed knight on that bridge is related to Yr Hen Wrach.

This weird old crone seems to know quite a bit about the situation, because she somehow knew about the knight on the bridge before Elias told her anything. Even so, she says she can help with the cursed knight - if they're feeling charitable - if they can dispatch the monster living on the mountainside that's preventing her from harvesting delicious blackberries.

Elias thinks a bit and... we end the session!

DM Shop Talk

reflecting

I don't really have much to add this time around. The feast was very fun this time because I prepped for it, prerolling everything made a HUGE difference. Sure, I wasn't particularly surprised by the results, but I WAS surprised with Elias seducing a future member of the Round Table lol

This time they've also embarked on their first ever proper journey, chasing a rumour I've given them instead of just witnessing important events.

On top of that, I've also already established that I'll cut them off from Arthur and put them in a lesser court, as well as sowing an interesting relationship with Sagramore, and playing up the family drama angle!

Will Eogrim and Elias selflessly take on a possibly dangerous quest just for the sake of some cursed guy who almost killed them? Will Eogrim finally shape up into a responsible adult and quit being a drunkard as he parents his cousin's daughter?? Will we discover who's the dom and sub in Elias' and Sagramore's relations???

Find all of this and more, next time... on...

SUNRISE QUEST!

ending

  1. If you're curious, they are: (1) Every town and village will be able to prosecute preachers for misbehaving and seek recourse with the Crown, if the bishop is unwilling to preside over Justice. (2) Britons shall never be slaves or held as slaves, including the villeins or serfs, for when God created Adam and Eve, who was then gentleman? The peasant will still be expected to work his lord's manor in exchange for protection, but the lord shall now be expected to respect his peasantry and provide for them, not merely extract. (3) Rights of fishing and hunting small game are now extended to all Britons, since when God our Lord created man, he gave him power over all beasts. The hunting of fowl and large game may be bought from the lord. (4) All of the forests and meadows that were not bought, but were appropriated over the course of the Anarchy and other tumultuous times, shall revert back to the village to be held in Common. (5) Many fields cannot produce enough to pay the rent demanded for them. Honest men - King's Men - shall inspect these lands and set a fair amount of rent for them, so that farmers need not work for free, because each day's work deserves its pay. (6) Punishments shall not be meted out in an arbitrary fashion, but rather according to the punishment. All men should be judged in accordance with the old written law, according to the case's merits, and with the God-given wisdom of the lord. (7) And what touches all shall be approved by all, therefore it will be invoked next Pentecost, and every Pentecost thence, Arthur's Bench will hear the case against any king or lord who dares to disrespect His law, God's law, on the Isles. May the sword Excalibur strike down any who oppose these fair and just laws.

  2. This was the event of the False Guinevere for all my vulgateheads.

  3. A custom monastic order of Celtic Christianity - or, that is, a forgotten order from that time long long ago in Gramarye. They wear russet.

  4. To the Tristan fans: yes, that Castle Pleure.