Wednesday Pendragon Campaign

Session 029 - Madoc’s Penance, New Manors, and the March

8 min read

In-game year: 488–489

Summary

The company’s pursuit of Sir Madoc ends at St. Mary Bethlehem not in a fresh affair, but in a painful family revelation. The nun with him is Meredith, his mother, sent to the nunnery after giving birth. Millicent apologizes for the misunderstanding, and Madoc breaks down over his belief that he has ruined his honor through the Lady Rhianneth scandal and possible bastard child. Millicent forgives him and promises that any child will be provided for, but Madoc refuses easy absolution: he means to seek a priest, take proper penance, and prove himself worthy again. His penance becomes six months of chastity and the saving of ten families.

The company also faces the collapse of old status and the beginning of lordship. Sir Madoc has spoken to Count Roderick of Salisbury on their behalf, and several vacant manors are granted to the knights as vassal holdings: Drustin receives Yarnbrook, Millicent receives Heywood, Assterius receives Bratton, Liam receives Edington, and Sir Geraint receives Coulston. The manors bring glory, oddities, and immediate responsibility. Winter is poor, famine bites, and several of the new lords discover that land means bills, hungry peasants, and hard choices. Yarnbrook is especially desperate, and Geraint gives Drustin four pounds to help feed its starving families.

As 489 begins, three calls compete for the company: Uther Pendragon summons knights for Cornwall, Madoc calls for heroes to aid Duke Edaris of the March, and the Church calls good lords to stay home and tend the famine. The company chooses Madoc’s call and rides to Oxford, where Madoc appears in a strange mouthless porcelain mask, silent and suffering madness. At Lambor Castle, Duke Edaris warns that Angles fill the nearby forest and siege may be days away. When Madoc wordlessly motions for an attack, Millicent judges him unfit, confines him safely in the castle’s oubliette, and leads the company into the forest herself.

The knights encounter two ogres. After falling back long enough to armor, they return mounted and organized. Liam and Assterius take the southern ogre while Millicent, Geraint, and Drustin press the northern one. Liam kills the southern ogre; Geraint kills the northern. Recognizing that two ogres only five kilometers into the forest is probably a warning rather than an invitation, the company falls back to Lambor Castle to regroup and check whether Madoc is still safely confined.

Scene/Beat Log

  • St. Mary Bethlehem resolved: The nun with Sir Madoc is revealed as Meredith, his mother, not a lover.
  • Madoc’s shame: Meredith explains that Madoc believes he has forsaken his honor through the Lady Rhianneth scandal and possible bastard child.
  • Millicent forgives him: Millicent says that if there is a child, they will provide for it.
  • Penance sought: Madoc refuses easy forgiveness and seeks a priest at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
  • Stop disappearing: Millicent catches Madoc trying to slip away and tells him he can seek penance, but he must stop lying and vanishing.
  • Merlin missing: Liam hires local children to search for Merlin in London, but they find nothing.
  • Drustin’s devotion: Drustin prays or near-prays to Merlin, but Merlin does not answer.
  • Silk underpants: Assterius buys the silk underpants previously recommended by Archbishop Dubricus.
  • Geraint’s guess: Sir Geraint reasons that Merlin likely seeks the lost sword.
  • Madoc’s penance: Madoc must remain chaste for six months and save ten families to make amends for the one he broke.
  • Vassalage: Count Roderick of Salisbury grants the company vacant manors, making them landed vassal knights.
  • New manors: Drustin receives Yarnbrook, Millicent Heywood, Assterius Bratton, Liam Edington, and Geraint Coulston.
  • Manor oddities: Coulston has erotic Greek water-nymph mosaics, beeswax/honey, gardens, and cleared wastes; Edington has extra peasants, an abbey, a leprosarium, and an eternal spring; Bratton has irrigation ditches and an oak grove with excellent pigs; Heywood has a horse herd, lush forest, and a torture chamber; Yarnbrook has a lead-roofed hall, deer park, pagan barrow, and serious hardship.
  • Bad winter: Poor weather and failed stewardship leave several knights supporting themselves poorly; lordship immediately proves expensive.
  • Yarnbrook starving: Many peasants have died in the wars, famine grips the manor, and Drustin feels trapped by the inheritance.
  • Geraint’s gift: Geraint gives Drustin four pounds to feed some of Yarnbrook’s families.
  • Lilwen entrusted: Drustin leaves the relief money and local management with Lilwen, a sixteen-year-old local girl.
  • Three calls of 489: Uther calls knights to invade Cornwall, Madoc calls heroes to the March, and the Church calls lords to stay home against famine.
  • Choice of the March: The company chooses Madoc’s call and rides to Oxford.
  • Masked Madoc: Madoc appears wearing a strange mouthless porcelain mask or helmet and does not truly respond.
  • Castle Lambor: At Lambor Castle, Duke Edaris of the March warns that Angles fill the surrounding forest and siege may be near.
  • Millicent confines Madoc: Millicent judges Madoc unfit, leaves her squire to watch him, takes Madoc’s squire, and has him held in the castle’s oubliette.
  • Into the forest: The company rides into the forest to confront the Angles.
  • Ogre ambush: Two ogres find the unarmored knights; the company withdraws on horseback to armor.
  • Drustin recalled: Drustin tries to stay behind alone to buy time, but Millicent commands him to withdraw and he obeys.
  • Mounted counterattack: The armored company returns and attacks the ogres, with Liam organizing a rough line formation.
  • Southern ogre slain: Liam lands the killing blow on the southern ogre.
  • Northern ogre slain: Geraint lands the killing blow on the northern ogre.
  • Fallback: The company chooses not to press deeper into the forest and falls back to Lambor Castle.

Characters (appeared / impacted)

  • Millicent — Forgives Madoc but demands honesty; becomes Lady of Heywood; confines Madoc when he appears mad and leads the company in the forest.
  • Sir Madoc — Learns/accepts penance for the Rhianneth scandal; later appears masked, silent, and mad while leading the March relief.
  • Meredith — Madoc’s mother, a nun at St. Mary Bethlehem, gracious to Millicent and concerned for Madoc.
  • Liam — Searches unsuccessfully for Merlin, becomes lord of Edington, chooses the March, and kills the southern ogre.
  • Drustin — Becomes lord of starving Yarnbrook, entrusts relief money to Lilwen, struggles with despair, and fights the northern ogre after obeying Millicent’s withdrawal order.
  • Assterius — Becomes lord of Bratton, acquires Dubricus-recommended silk underpants, and fights the southern ogre beside Liam.
  • Sir Geraint — Becomes lord of Coulston, gives Drustin money for Yarnbrook’s hungry families, and kills the northern ogre.
  • Lilwen — Sixteen-year-old Yarnbrook local entrusted by Drustin to stretch the relief money while he rides to the March.
  • Duke Edaris of the March — Warns that Angles fill the forest around Lambor Castle and expects siege soon.
  • Merlin — Remains missing after fleeing the feast; neither Liam’s search nor Drustin’s devotion finds him.

Loot / Rewards / Glory / Notable Rolls

Consequences & New Facts

  • Sir Madoc’s mother is Meredith, a nun at St. Mary Bethlehem.
  • The possible child from the Lady Rhianneth scandal remains unconfirmed; Meredith intends to send messengers.
  • Madoc’s penance requires six months of chastity and saving ten families.
  • The company are no longer merely household knights; they now hold manors as Salisbury vassals.
  • Yarnbrook is in famine crisis and lacks enough food for all its families.
  • Merlin remains missing and unresponsive.
  • Uther Pendragon is calling knights against Cornwall, but the company has chosen the March instead.
  • Madoc is suffering madness behind a mouthless porcelain mask and is confined at Lambor Castle for his own safety.
  • The forest around Lambor Castle contains serious threats, including ogres, and the Angles may be preparing a siege.

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