In-game year: 484
Player synopsis
Summary
An envoy from Eboracum (York) brings alarming news: York fell to Saxons last autumn. Though York lies in Malahaut’s lands (a northern kingdom that never swore fealty to Logres), its envoys now appeal directly to Uther—signaling how severe the Saxon advance has become.
Madoc joins the conroi
Sir Madoc joins Millicent’s conroi to learn warfare. Millicent plans a northern route (Sarum → Cirencester → Lambor → Lincoln → York). Uther’s main host will gather at Silchester; Duke Erof of Cornwall marches separately north, his loyalty still viewed with suspicion.
Suspicion in camp: detentions and “holing”
As the company seeks information on dispositions, Bruce (Roderick’s unsettling agent) detains Drustin as a suspected Silchestrian spy; later Liam is detained as well.
Meanwhile Geraint discovers black-armored officials with pointed hats and hooked polearms throwing peasants into pits (“holing”), claiming they are Silchester agents. Millicent forces them to stop; the pit contains commoners and the detained Drustin/Liam.
Bath scriptorium: weakness in York’s walls
In Bath, the company consults abbey records and fortification plans for York. The walls are formidable; however, a possible weakness is identified: a drain where the River Foss passes through the wall.
Drimant and the Black Dog
Millicent notices a blue-robed bard watching them: Drimant, a neutral chronicler trained by the Ladies of the Lake. He warns of an omen on the northern moors: a great Black Dog of the Moors with a man’s face whose bark foretells death. He also suggests magic may have strengthened York’s defenses.
When Liam recounts his bargain with the Lady of the Well, Drimant is horrified and suggests Liam may have bargained with a demon; he advises the rubies should eventually be recovered/returned.
Sherwood ambush
In Sherwood Forest, they find Lady Triamors bound backward on a terrified donkey, an apple forced into her mouth. When freed, she screams “Ambush!” as Saxon huscarls charge.
Among the attackers is Ælflaed, a stunning Saxon warrior whose beauty has a bewitching effect—briefly disorienting Millicent and Assterius. Drimant vanishes and reappears behind Ælflaed, knocking her unconscious with a simple branch while chanting.
Millicent is nearly killed by a huscarl blow; Madoc rushes to defend her. The company prevails; one huscarl surrenders.
Interrogation reveals the “Saxons” claim they were attacked earlier by warriors bearing yellow and red shields (possibly from lands near St. Albans/Essex) and were trying to steal horses to survive.
Lincoln under siege
The company reaches Lincoln and finds it under siege by the Angles of Anglia.
Timeline entries to add
- (484) — York falls; Malahaut appeals to Uther; Madoc joins the conroi. (Source: Session 015 - The Road to York and the Ambush in Sherwood)
- (484) — Sherwood ambush: Ælflaed appears; Millicent nearly dies; Drimant intervenes; yellow/red shield faction is implicated. (Source: Session 015 - The Road to York and the Ambush in Sherwood)
Next: Session 016 - The Centurion-King, the Well of Wilderspool, and the Hag of the Dead