Linked chronicle page: Session 010 - The Silent Town of Wells and the Ogre of the Marsh
Orders from Sarum
Uther dispatches the conroi from Sarum to Wells: compel towns to swear allegiance or be put to the torch.
To ensure loyalty, Knight Commander Sir Kenian takes command; the conroi is folded into his enschild (knights + squires + ~2× men-at-arms on foot). They have ~16 footmen.
Silent forest, empty town
- The forest route narrows to single-wagon width; Drustin scouts ahead; footmen secure flanks.
- Beon notices the forest is unnaturally silent (no birds/insects). Kenian is convinced to don armor.
- Wells is surprisingly large (~1,000) but completely empty; people seem to have left calmly.
- Beon notes fairy offerings (food at thresholds); left undisturbed.
- Drustin finds tracks: entire population + wagons headed into swamp (fleeing Uther or toward Glastonbury).
The abbot and the messenger
- Liam investigates the church: the Abbot of Wells is hanging from a chandelier with an apple in his mouth.
- The abbot reports a messenger demanded the town’s boys muster at Sarum “in Uther’s name” and threatened Lady Wells; villagers killed the messenger and fled to the marsh.
- Drustin finds the messenger at a pagan shrine: in knightly tabard, arms unknown, ritually strangled and bound upright.
Kenian prays over the dead and considers burning Wells, but the conroi counsels restraint; they camp.
Horses vanish → gateway and the Cu‑Sith
By morning, offerings and horses are gone; tracks lead toward the swamp. The group follows, leaving most baggage in Wells. Torches burn near an ancient gateway cut into a cliff.
A giant green wolf (ox-sized) appears: a Cu‑Sith (Wells).
- Kenian, Lycus, Leo, and Aspara form up.
- Leo wounds it but is mauled to death.
- Liam is briefly paralyzed by fear; calls for Smallberries to fetch his spear.
- Drustin falls into melancholy, then reengages.
- Beon lands decisive strikes; the beast falls.
Kenian identifies it as a Cu‑Sith (faerie wolf). Footmen safeguard Leo’s remains. Aspara gives Drustin effective first aid. Beon takes wolf teeth as trophies (Kenian disapproves).
The ogre cave
A cave reeks of rot; tunnel too narrow for two to fight abreast. Inside: a grumpy ogre with enormous mace.
- Kenian orders a fighting retreat to reach better ground.
- Liam/Drustin set a spear line at the entrance; Aspara and Lycus join.
- Beon disarms the ogre by striking its wrist.
- Liam finishes it with a spear thrust through the eye.
Hidden passage / Glastonbury lore
Lycus finds a hidden passage leading south. Cai’s lore:
- Joseph of Arimathea brought the Grail to Britain; founded the Abbey of Glastonbury near the pagan Tor.
- The marshy Avalon area is a “thin place.”
- Ynys Wydrin = Tor of Glastonbury (pagan gateway to shadow world; Christians see a gate to evil).
- Summerland’s king is pagan; Uther may want to secure Glastonbury/the gate.