One Brief Shining Moment

[Prince_Asuryan]

As the unearthly voice filled the hall, John found himself struggling to tear his eyes away from the young beauty he beheld. It was only because he knew she was the wife of Gorlois that he did not leap to his feet to talk to her.

OOC: Rolled passion and lust to see what John did. He failed both, which is good.

[Bob of Beleriand]

Sitting mystified for a short time, Alain could not comprehend the manner in which the assembled men were so utterly enthralled by Lady Ygraine. Surely it was without doubt she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, but not so much so that her mere presence was sufficient to cause him to forget himself so utterly.

[Calarion Sapherior]

Igraine finished her song, curtseyed to Uther, and left, but his eyes remained upon her intently. Gorlois, meanwhile, looked suddenly troubled. Sporadically, conversation returned to the hall, but the Duchess remained upon everyone's minds for the rest of the night.

As winter deepend, it became clear that she had never left people's minds. Over the next few weeks, it became obvious that everything but Igraine had left King Uther's mind. Meeting with the Supreme Collegium was forgotten entirely as Uther began to organise dances, falconry, feasts, hunts and more... all so he could spend more time with Igraine. The royal wards for the knights of Salisbury who had saved his life were forgotten about. The Supreme Collegium was forgotten about. The mood at London took a sharp turn, as men began to decry the King's obvious lust for a married woman.

ooc: Second round of actions time!

[Prince_Asuryan]

Despite the Kings apparent disregard for the Collegium, John continued to try and ingratiate himself with the various nobles of the other countries. He spoke to them, especially those who's daughters remained un-wedded now that Uther had forgotten the promise of royal wards. However, his plan was askew somewhat with the memory of Lady Igraine. As one of Uther's subjects, John remained steadfast in his comments that the King did no wrong, but in his heart, he knew that Pendragon was treading a fine line.

OOC:

Loyalty (Lord): 11 (to defend Uther's position)

Courtesy: 12 (dammit)

[cidracin]

Aaron, like John, strongly defended Uther's name and innocence while in the presence of nobles from other lands. However as the the King's obsession became more apparent and his actions bolder, Aaron's words in defense of the Pendragon were becoming hollower and more half-hearted every day. One nght when the mood of the court was particuarly low, Aaron decided to try and lift the spirits assembled nobles through song. That night Aaron sang many songs and as a rule the songs were all bright and happy in nature. Aaron performed all the songs skillfully and thankfully the mood of the court that night was elevated and the tension eased somewhat, though certainly not entirely. However the change did not prove to be lasting as the next day the grumblings against Uther grew even louder.

OOC: Singing 5(passed)
This will be my last post until Friday because I'll be travelling out of town and likely won't be able to get online.

[Etherion Fenix]

As time wore on it seemed impressing Igraine would be a fools errand. Still, there was royal wards to be had and a nice hunt for a big Boar or Stag would go down a treat. It took some time to get away from the filth of London to some real forest in which to find some game. In the end it proved fruitless, near any beasts at all were present, merely the odd Rabbit which even still evaded his skill this day.

[Bob of Beleriand]

Alain lounged back lazily, the sun warming his face.

"I know you, you're Sir Alain!" You helped find the King's blade, Excalibur." Exclaimed a woman's voice. Alain opened his eyes quickly, too quickly, startled by the voice the sun blinded and bewildering him momentarily. The glare having faded, Alain saw the stranger that approached him, a young woman clad in a plain emerald gown.
"I had heard High King Uther personally invited you to London, why are you not out here alone instead of with him? Or does he even remember you? He seems to be more concerned with the Duchess of Cornwall of late, hmph."
Although his senses had fully returned, Alain remained bewildered for a moment longer. "Who are you?" He finally asked.
The woman paused, her brows furiously knitting for a moment as if puzzled by the question. "You may call me Tegan!" She beamed.

---

Over the following month, Tegan found Alain several more times striking up conversations at the most unusual of times. Alain was puzzled at first but he soon came to appreciate her energy and company. It struck Alain as odd however, when he occurred to him that she wore the same emerald gown every time they met.

[Prince_Asuryan]

John continued spending his time on the hunts and falconry's of the court. He disliked the formal conversations that feasts and balls entailed, while dances and songs only made him look foolish as he had never bothered to learn his courtly graces. He was forced to take part however, in order to maintain his appearance.

In one particularly difficult dance, that required much spinning and leaping, John finally achieved the inevitable, and missing a step, lost his footing. His subsequent tumble took him crashing into the man next to him, bowling them both over to the great amusement of the spectators. Sheepishly getting to his feet, John offered his hand to the man, who was already being helped up by two guards.

'My apologies Sir, it appears my dancing skills are not what they should be.'

'You Oaf!' snarled the man, 'Does your brain work as slow as your feet, or do you make a fool of yourself on purpose?' With that, he turned on his heel and stormed from the room.

As John watched, bewildered, the man next to him spoke low in his ear. 'That was the King of Roestoc, a man famed for his short temper. I would watch your back if I were you, for he does not take embarrassment well...'

John took the advice carefully, noting that for the following weeks, men in Roestoc's colours were watching him carefully.

OOC: Forgot to say that this was failed courtesy.

[Calarion Sapherior]

Year 490

The winter dragged on. The worst of the snow was over now, and every day was a little longer, a little warmer. Yet it had become apparent to all that nothing was so warm as the fire of King Uther's ardour for Ygraine. He hounded her ceaselessly and shamelessly. In disgust, the members of the Supreme Collegium began to leave, one after another. Uther's dreams of becoming High King were lost forever now, and there was little sign from the Pendragon that he even cared. The lords who were not vassals of Uther had all left, and some of those who were his vassals had begun to request permission to return to their homes. These were absently granted - with one exception. Duke Gorlois sat and stewed, furious and miserable and embarassed, as his liege lord attempted to seduce his wife and cuckold him.

ooc: Last round of actions over winter, plus it's time to do the Winter Phase stuff!

[Prince_Asuryan]

John watched in despair as the various rulers departed from London. All that hard work that they had done, all the blood they had spilt and all the friends they had lost - for nothing! He became moody and distant as the winter wore away, and despite his attempts to keep his fellow knights upbeat about the collegium he too began to admit that Uther was not the king they had hoped for.

OOC: Rolled a 14 - I originally went for hunt as I was more likely to pass. However, failure anyway makes speech more realistic and better for failures.

[Etherion Fenix]

Sensing the mood souring and wishing to liven peoples spirits, or at least others spirits. Galan decided upon a rousing sing-song as the winters eves began to shorten once more. Thus when it came time for his own piece he managed a rousing multi-versed rendition of an old family classic. It featured Hedgehogs, it featured goats, it featured a bit of buggery, but always in good jest. Those with vivid imaginations and could make out the slurred words certainly got a treat that night.


OOC: Ho ho, a 1 for singing.

[Bob of Beleriand]

Were it not perhaps for the continued, albeit previously unasked for, and appreciated company of Tegan Alain's spirits would have undoubtedly fallen. For a brief moment Alain had seen what he had thought would be a united Kingdom under Uther, instead they had been dashed and squandered by petty lust.
Despite his friends being present in London, Alain found himself alternating between the company of Tegan and his new friend, or rather an old friendship renewed with the Duke of Cheshire. It seemed hard to fathom forgetting such a figure, but lost within childhood memories, Alain recalled the man, a friend of Sir Pedivere's too no less. His fondness of a laugh, combined with a boisterous laugh of his own made for an approachable, easy going man that was far more approachable than his station might suggest.

[cidracin]

One night at court several weeks before the mass exodus of foriegn rulers from the Collegium began Sir Aaron was having a quiet drink while he brooded over the Pendragon's everworsening behaviour. The night was growing late and the halls were sparsly populated as most of the court had already retired to their chambers. Aaron soon found himself ripped from his contemplation when was approached by an older man seeking an opponent for a game of chess. Aaron was about to decline until he recognized the stranger as none other than King Leodegrance of Cameliard! Despite the fact that he was a marginal player at the best of times the young knight accepted the King's invitation. The two men passed the next couple of hours playing a few games of chess. Both king and knight took an immediate liking to each other and by the end of the night all formality was gone and the two men were chatting merrily. Over the remainder of the winter, the two played chess and drank togethor almost every night and often hunted togethor during the day. By the time court began to disperse a deep and lasting friendship had been formed between the two men and they parted ways like the oldest of friends.


OOC: Courtesy 3. Criticalled

[cidracin]

Like King Leodegrance, the King of Stragorrne too departed the Collegium earlier than planned disgusted by the appalling behavior of the Pendragon. With him went Lady Mairin and Aaron was saddened to see the fiery redhead go. For even though his attention like many men had been drawn towards the Lady Igraine for a time after her arrival, the young knight came to his senses quickly and soon continued his pursuit of the beautiful Mairin. Over the course of the winter Aaron spent several wonderful evenings in redhead’s company, for she was both intelligent and very passionate and never boring.

That winter Aaron was proud to attend the knighting of his squire Bruce, who had served both himself and his late cousin faithfully and capably. Sir Bruce grown into a fine knight and Aaron expected good things from Bruce in the future. Aaron credited Aldrydd for the way Bruce had turned out since he had overseen most of Bruce’s training, after all Aaron was only two years senior to the newly knighted youth. Aaron had been assigned a young and inexperienced squire by the name of Steven.

The events of the past year had made Aaron more generous and loyal than he had been previously. Aaron also found that his singing had improved as well. Over the course of Uther’s court Aaron worked hard to increase his situational awareness, his stewardship, and his skill with a blade. Aaron’s gaming skills also increased thanks to all the games of chess that he had played with King Leodegrance.
The year’s weather had been bad and the harvests at both Dinton and the Stokes were poor as a result. Though he was disappointed by the harvest Aaron thanked the Lord that young James stayed healthy and strong all year long.

[Prince_Asuryan]

The remainder of the winter passed quickly for John. During the return to Salisbury, he found himself talking more and more to the sister of one of his fellow knights, a young woman by the name of Miranda. Soon, they were spending more and more time together and John being without a wife and Miranda without a suitor, the inevitable happened. Only a few short weeks after meeting, the couple were married, adding more fame and manors to John repertoire.

This was fortunate as the rest of John estates suffered during his long absence from home, and the dowry of Miranda was required to supply the peasantry with enough food to last the rest of the winter.

As John reflected on his past year, he realised he had become proud of his endeavours, and the kindness and familiarity Uther and the Earl of Salisbury had shown him had made him more loyal to his Lords. However, his experiences with assassins, the actions of Igraine had made him more suspicious now, especially of those not close to him. His time at London, around so many powerful people had not been wasted however, and John was more courteous now.

His fame had grown across the land, and his skill with a sword was widely accepted to be surpassed by few, though his friend Sir Alain remained one of them.

Like Aaron, John watched with pride and sadness as his squire, and now friend, Lardans was knighted. The young man had served him faithfully over the years, and John owed him his life several times over - in Chute forest, at the cliffs of Dover against the Saxons lead by Johns old nemesis Coenred, and at the gates of Bayeux against the Franks. Every time Lardans had been there to pull his master away from harm. In recognition of this, John spoke to Sir Lardans after his knighting, promising to aid and support him should he require it.

[Calarion Sapherior]

The snow was thawing when word came that King Uther was in a terrible fury. It was not hard to discover why, for the news was on everyone's lips: Duke Gorlois had fled the court with his entourage. After months of humiliation watching his beautiful young wife be fawned over by the King, he had taken matters into his own hands and slipped away in the night. But in doing so, Duke Gorlois had grossly violated the laws of hospitality. Some said that it was this terrible insult that had caused King Uther's fury; others the absence of Ygraine; whjile others remembered the years of enmity, when Gorlois's absence had led to the slaughter at Mearcred Creek five years ago. In any case, one thing was certain: Duke Gorlois's disloyalty would be tolerated no longer. Logres would march to war against one of its own.

[Etherion Fenix]

Perhaps it was a thing of the south. Certainly Galan could remember nothing of the like ever happening among his people. Still, he was a mercenary to serve and obey, to those whom paid. So where the others went, so did he.

[Bob of Beleriand]

Privately Alain commented "An oath of duty isn't applicable only when its convenient, it must be adhered to" Alain hesitated for a second pondering his line of thought, "even when common sense might dictate that it shouldn't."

[cidracin]

Aaron had not not been at Mearcred Creek five years previously so he did not hold any emnity towards Gorlois for his abscence from that fateful battle. Instead he felt sympathy for the Duke for he had endured months of Uther's disgusting antics. In fact Aaron admitted to himself he likely would have left as Gorlois had done, likely sooner. Despite his misgiving Uther was still Aaron's lord and he would follow the Pendragon to war.

[Calarion Sapherior]

The lords of Logres returned to their domains in order to muster armies for the Pendragon's muster to war. For a month the knights remained in Sarum while the armies readied themselves for war. It was during this time that the knights were assigned new squires, as Bruce, Lardans and Pryce were now knighted in preparation for the campaign, and Sir John was married to Lady Miranda, the younger sister of Sir Lardans, who had previously been his squire.

Shortly before the knights were to muster, a messenger came from Earl Arnulf of Hampshire. A new force of Saxons had arrived in Britain in Sussex, to bolster King Aelle's might. In the wake of this news, the Earl decided to leave his men-at-arms behind. Only the knights would go to Cornwall to fight against Duke Gorlois.

[cidracin]

Aaron's misgivings at Uther's march against Gorlois only increased with the news that Uther intended to continue his march towards Cronwell in light of the arrival of Saxon reinforcements from the main land.

[Etherion Fenix]

The news of the saxons troubled Galan. They should be putting their attentions towards the rabble rousers rather then the slights and impropriety that was occuring. There will be little glory from this. Still, he kept his mouth tightly shut, best not to bad mouth those who pay.

[Bob of Beleriand]

"Congratulations, Sir Pryce, you certainly endured more than your share on your path to this point. I'm beyond certain you will prove to the world to be a grand Knight. Should you ever require my aid or assistance it is yours." Alain made an effort to speak only to this event, it served as a distraction to the fact that they were to go to war against their own.

[Calarion Sapherior]

It was only two years ago that King Uther had last raised an army to fight against Gorlois of Cornwall; now the hosts of Logres assembled once more in Somerset, before marching to the west to bring the Duke to justice.

And Gorlois hid.

Within a week, the duchy of Cornwall was under the control of the King. But still his fury and lust seethed within him, for two castles still stood against him, and in those two castles were the two targets of his fiery emotion. In Castle Terrabil, Duke Gorlois held out with his armies, and the host of Logres camped outside and vented its fury upon its walls. His wife and only a few retainers remained in the other, the castle of Tintagel - but it was impregnable to any assault, for it sat on a promintory over the roar of the tides, with only a narrow rocky path leading out to it. Within its foam-washed walls, Ygraine would remain apart from Uther forever. The king raged and fumed, and so it fell to Prince Madoc to direct the siege of Castle Terrabil.

ooc: There's two possible paths at this point. Do you want to get some glory, or maybe see something very very important to the main storyline?

[Prince_Asuryan]

John was unhappy with the Kin's decision to wage war on Gorlois, but he made no comment, instead careful to maintain his oath of loyalty which was to the Earl and the King. He was even more concerned with the landing of the Saxons. He well remembered the actions of two years hence when so many of his own men had fallen defending all of Salisbury.

As they camped in Cornwall, John heard of the decision to split the army, with Prince Madoc leading the forces against Tintagel. John was undecided and uncaring against which force they fought. However, he was sure that Madoc would put them against the one most likely to end their lives, so sure was he that the Prince still maintained a grudge after the events of France.

OOC: damn I missed a fair bit... I really hate work.

Errm, I don't mind. I'm a glory hound at heart, but the storyline is always good. I just figure Madoc will send us somewhere to die, but I'll go with the others.

[cidracin]

All throughout the Pendragon's march upon Cornwall Aaron's mood was sullen and gloomy. For Aaron knew that the armies of Lorges should be heading out to fight King Aelle and the Saxons, not Duke Gorlois and the men of Cronwall. One day word reached the knights of Salisbury that Uther would be leaving the command of the siege of Tintagel to Prince Madoc and riding to Castle Terrabil. Aaron was quick to voice his desire to accompany Uther away from Tintagel and Madoc. While he had never had the displeasure of meeting Madoc he knew of the Prince's actions in Soissons and that they had resulted in the death of Aldrydd. Though he did not know whether Madoc bore him any ill will personally, Aaron did not want to serve under the Prince if he could help it and also had no desire to wet his blade with the blood of the men defending Tintagel.

OOC: I vote we go with Uther.
Also my bad on mixing up the castle names.

[Calarion Sapherior]

ooc: No one is attacking Tintagel. It's impregnable to assult. Madoc is attacking Terrabil, and Uther is sulking.

[Bob of Beleriand]

"This is an extended siege, or an exercise in patience. In either case you should make yourselves comfortable and find a way to pass the time, the castle is impenetrable." Alain clarified the situation to the others with a small yawn.

[Etherion Fenix]

"I'm not one for patience when a good bust-up could be had. I'm paid to do what you will, but Lads, I'd certainly prefer to go bash some heads then lounge around. Just my view."

[Calarion Sapherior]

Two weeks passed outside the walls of Castle Terrabil. Prince Madoc directed attacks upon the fortifications nearly every day, but these grew ever more desultory, to the jeers of the defenders. The only way that Gorlois would be defeated would be if he was starved out, which might take a month or more. So the army of Logres settled in to wait.

One rain-swept night, after the knights had retired to sleep, there suddenly came a horn call. It sounded again, and was suddenly cut off. Now the bustle of new sound could be heard - the sound of fighting!

ooc: Pick one thing to do - go to the fight; get armoured; get a horse; or something else.