Stories with Dice
Stories with Dice is an actual-play podcast where a fellowship of everyday gamers explores fantastical worlds, distant futures, and parallel realities through tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) from Free League Publishing, Chaosium, Modiphius Entertainment, and more.
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Stories with Dice
The Sword Campaign S1 E2: A Pendragon Actual Play Podcast
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Join our brave knights as they ride with Count Robert to the Sword in the Stone Tournament at St. Albans. Challenges await on the road, and at the tournament, where Excalibur itself may be claimed by one deemed worthy.
Pendragon Theme by AleXZavesa via Pixabay
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Welcome to Stories with Dice. This is the Sword Campaign, a Pen Dragon actual play podcast using the sixth edition starter set from
Introduction to the Sword Campaign
SPEAKER_01Chaosium. If you're enjoying our actual plays, please subscribe to Stories with Dice so you'll never miss an episode. Don't forget to rate and review us. It really helps others discover the podcast. Follow us on social media to stay updated, share your thoughts, and join the conversation. You'll find the relevant links in the description of each episode. As always, thank you for listening. Last time on the sword campaign, after a raven haunts her son's banner, and dark dreams trouble her sleep, Lady Ellen sends three loyal knights to find Count Robert, who left two days ago for the sword and stone tournament at St. Albans. On their journey they come upon a grim scene, their former mentors slain in a brutal ambush. Following tracks into a forest the knights are swept into a sudden disorienting storm, and find themselves at Amesbury Abbey. There the abbot warns of ravens circling Stonehenge, prompting the knights to investigate. At Stonehenge, they witness a vision, an ancient tree and a sapling, and ravens that form into an old man who asks whether they will nurture the sapling or remain in the shade of the
The Knights' Oath
SPEAKER_01old. Returning to the abbey they're shocked to discover that Count Robert has been hiding there. The slain knights were his own retinue, ambushed by Saxons with the aid of a traitorous knight, burdened with guilt for having fled. He now seeks their support at the tournament, hoping to prove himself worthy as Salisbury's Count. Welcome back. It's episode two of the Sword Campaign, so we're in the kitchen of the Abbey. It's nighttime, there's a roaring fire and the fireplace, and the Count, Count Robert, has asked you all to accompany him to St. Albans, to the tournament. He wants to earn back his honor. He feels that his his cowardice in the battle, he dishonored himself, he dishonored his family, and he feels also that this traitor that was in his midst, this household knight that turned out to be a Saxon spy, right under his very nose, sort of shaken him and made him sort of question all of his judgments. So so he's he's essentially asked you all to to accompany him to St. Albans. So what would you like to do?
SPEAKER_00How will you respond? I will say, of course. I'm not really I mean I'm still on my on my knees, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and he had he has his hand on your shoulder and he pats you and and he says, Thank you, Sukaradoc. What say you, Suryan?
SPEAKER_03Suryan basically gets down on his knees straight away and says, Of course you've never lost my my loyalty. It is it is it is a wonder that you managed to survive. I'll follow you until well, the end of the world. You're far too kind, Suryan.
SPEAKER_02Sir, you have my sword also. Brave knights who died would have felt they died in vain if you had not survived, sir. Whatever is our path lies in the future, that is what they bought for you with their blood. Well spoken, sir. Well spoken indeed.
SPEAKER_01Surin uh looks at Sir Hislain and says, Mm, that's pretty good. And we we will answer this treachery. But first the land needs a king, and that is far more important than one man's honor. Let us rest up this night, and we shall ride in the morning. Yes, my lord. So the abbot shows you all to your to your guest
A Grim Warning
SPEAKER_01quarters, and as he as he takes you into your rooms, he whispers very sorry, I had to keep that from you, sirs, but Sir Robert was adamant that that we had a better sense of your intentions before before he revealed himself here. I'm afraid this treachery has shaken him. But I knew when I first saw you that you were all honorable men. Nights to you, sir, and we will speak in the morning. So the night goes by uneventfully, and you wake in the morning, there's light rainfall outside. You go downstairs, there's a meal prepared for you, and the abbot is advising as you as you go downstairs the you sort of walk into the middle of a conversation, the abbot is advising uh Sir Robert to avoid the the King's Road and to take the old merchant's track across the Salisbury Plain. He thinks it's wise to avoid Silchester County altogether. But more importantly, Lev Lev Colmagus and Chilchester City. Just out of an abundance of caution. And Sir Robert is sort of arguing against that plan of action. He doesn't feel like skulking about that would be even more dishonorable than the dishonor that he already feels. And then when he sees you come down, he asks you all for your opinions.
SPEAKER_02Sire, I believe the Abbot's advice may be good advice. And as I said before, it is more important that we get you to where we you need to be than to face any any imp impediment to that beforehand. So although the choice is yours, uh Sire, I I would suggest we follow the Abbot's advice and take the lesser road. Are you gentlemen in agreement?
SPEAKER_00Yes, in agreement. Yes. Our mission is to get to to the tournament. That's all.
SPEAKER_02And in the meantime, Sir Robert, as you are without a squire, maybe you would do me the honour of taking my squire, Neb, to uh assist you on the way there.
SPEAKER_01That is most kind of you, Sir Historwin. Thank you. I I I will be honored to borrow your squire, as it were.
SPEAKER_03He's definitely not getting mine. That's a massive dishonor.
SPEAKER_02Alright, so yeah, I just uh go over to young Neb and go, don't let me down. You're a good squire. Remember all you need to do. Do it right.
SPEAKER_01So you you have your breakfast and then your squire's ready your horses,
Journey Through Salisbury Plain
SPEAKER_01and you leave. So you take this old track through the Salisbury Plain. It's uneventful, it's dreary. About the third day you've crossed the river and uh your squires make camp along the crumbling remnants of an old Roman ruin. You know, there's like weathered stone arches and vine-choked columns that are half sunken in the earth, and uh the ruins stand at the edge of this really large carnivorous woodland. Everyone make an awareness roll for me, please.
SPEAKER_03No, we know how well that went last time. Here was a question for you, kind sir.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03The ones that we made rolls for for criticals and stuff last time, when will we do the check? Will that be sort of like every kind of episodes or uh that happens in the winter phase. Oh, okay, cool. Alright. So like the downtime between adventures, yep. So so the game doesn't allow us to kind of like do that then you have to wait until the end of the adventure and then you do it then. Is there any bonuses at all to this terrible role I'm about to make?
SPEAKER_01No, there isn't. So Saradoc has succeeded. I surprisingly I su I succeeded. I needed a five, I got two. Awesome. Okay. So the two of you as you're settling into camp, you hear uh the snap of twigs, and instinctively, you know, your your hands move to your weapons. Grab one sphere. In the dim light of the setting sun, uh you catch a glimpse of movement, you know, shadows that are too deliberate
Ambush in the Woods
SPEAKER_01to be to be animals, and then you see that there are men in the woods moving toward you.
SPEAKER_02I'll be busy helping sort out the horses as we're one squire down, as it were.
SPEAKER_01The peace of the evening is shattered by all of a sudden by these men shouting as they come out of the woods. Surin kind of like steps forward with his shield and his spear. Shouts, Who are you? Name yourselves. We'll be taking what you've got. Empty your purses, throw down your weapons, and you'll live to see the sun rise.
SPEAKER_03Surin smiles and says, Come and take it if you want. Takes a couple of steps forward.
SPEAKER_00When I hear you saying this and the answer, I pull out my sword and I say two everyone in the camp is aware that we are being attacked. And I guess I don't have my shield with me because I was just pacing around, I guess. So it's just my sword and my armor.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So our first combat. Combat. So, Marco, teach us kind sir how how combat works. How to die. Not die? We're we're we're knights, and these are ruffians. Come on, they should know their station in the place. Their place is to die on my spear.
SPEAKER_01That that's how it works. So I'm gonna teach myself as well. So the everyone declares their combat actions, and then you resolve those actions, and then you have the winner's outcome, the loser's outcome, and then you proceed again. Or okay. Now I think I did a little bit of reading about this. Yeah, so so when you declare your actions, all the the player knights and the enemy combatants state what they intend to do this round, including what weapons they're wielding, naming targets, naming opponents.
SPEAKER_03So I've got a spear, so I think that's long, which means that I get a bonus to fighting people with unless they've got a long weapon. Correct. So it's gonna be always for me, I suppose, tactically fight with a spear. If the spear is then lost, then it's swords. So yeah, so I've got my shield and I've got my spear, and that's how I'm gonna fight until I lose that, and then I'll draw draw a sword.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so one of them is hanging back, and it looks like he's gonna throw a spear at Sir Histowind. The others are charging forward to engage you with their swords.
SPEAKER_00I will be holding position, try to, you know, kind of block them from reaching the camp and the people that are unaware. So we'll just either defend, I guess, or just engage. I mean, depending, because if they're charging at me, I'm just holding position with my sword at the ready.
SPEAKER_03First thing I'm gonna do is quickly roll because I am quite reckless when it comes to combat. So I'm just gonna go ahead and reckless check. Excellent. I like that. Yeah, I'm rushing in. So shield, spear, and I'm gonna go into whoever is in the front, whoever that might be. And I'll be fighting at long range until otherwise. So whichever whichever random one it'll be. So you can tell me it's the spear guy, or it could be the the the I don't mind, whichever guy you want it to be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm gonna have you so yeah, you're you're engaging with the men that are charging forward with the swords. Because the other guy is hanging back. So to get to get to him, you'd have to go through them. Okay, so I'll be at long range for them, so that's quite good.
SPEAKER_02And Sir Histalwind. Well, if I've been caught unawares, I'm just gonna do my best to avoid getting hit by the spear that's being thrown in my direction.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So Sounds like you're gonna try to evade, right? Yeah. Okay. Okay, so uh Sir Histalwind, you're gonna roll movement against so basically combat in Pendragon is opposed roles. This guy is gonna roll his spear, he's gonna try to get below his value, you're gonna try to get below your movement value, but you want to get higher than his roll.
SPEAKER_02Okay, dear. Well, I got lower, but not higher than.
SPEAKER_01Although that's that's well, that's actually not bad. That's a tie. So the damage is 16, and you're gonna re you're gonna deduct your your armor and your shield. So it looks like it looks like it looks like Sir Histowind, you've completely deflected the so he throws the spear at you, and you know, you you knock it out of the air with your with your shield. All right. Sir Ian.
SPEAKER_03Yes, now do I roll the spear on fountain? Yes, I do. I get to add five because I've got a long weapon. See what I get. Well, I get a seventeen, which is a no.
SPEAKER_01Uh see, well actually so you're okay, yeah. So these guys can't even engage in you at the moment because they're too far you're too far away. So you can ignore the roll I just made.
SPEAKER_03Oh so I got a critical. So it's normally 12 plus five is seventeen, I roll the seventeen. So I roll for damage, I guess. So that's 17 damage. What did a critical do? You can add an additional 4d6 damage. So 17 plus 12. Uh 29. Yeah, you've killed him. So you just run him through. Yeah. On which case that that's right. Well, I basically run him through the spear, and I just need the spear and I just then go to pull my
First Combat Encounter
SPEAKER_03sword out. Yeah, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00And to care of that. I was just defending and trying to block the the other two or whoever is trying to go through, just to block them to reaching camp, and the people are with and are waiting back in camp.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so roll You're doing a defend.
SPEAKER_03Help me out here, Ed. Oh, you get plus five to your um, you get plus ten to your uh to your uh weapon skill. Okay. So whatever weapon you're wielding, Sakaradoc. But if you defend, you can't attack. So you just so this turn you basically just are defending off of the attack. Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Success. That's a success. Okay, perfect. So you take no damage, but you deal no damage of any kind to your opponent. So the two of you are locked in combat. You're using your sword, right? And so yeah, so your swords are just clanking back and forth. So the the guy who threw the shield who threw the spear at Sir Histelwind, he is knocked in arrow. So now we're in the second round. Everyone can once again declare their actions. So this guy is gonna shoot a bow at Sir Histelwind.
SPEAKER_03Sir Ian, what are you doing? I'm gonna pick the next person and I'm going to attack them with my sword.
SPEAKER_02And Sir Histelwind, what are you doing now? I'm gathering myself together and stepping forward to uh my fellow knights. Okay, so you're gonna attack as well? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00And what is Sir Robert doing?
SPEAKER_01So yeah, he was taken unawares, and now he's joining the fray, he's coming out of his tent, and he's got his sword handy. Okay. Alright, so an arrow just flies wild and hits into a tree as he attempts to shoot Sir Histelwind as he engages in melee with the other the other bandits.
SPEAKER_03Sir Ian. Okay, well, my other guy that I'm now fighting, I'm just going to bash him. It's what I do well. It is what you do well, that is true. So I have a look of glee on my face. And so I'm gonna attack our little friend with a sword. No bonuses this time, just a straight roll. Hopefully I don't mess up. I succeeded. I've got I've got twelve. Well, he f he rolled a he rolled a twenty, so he fumbled. Right, so one sword coming up. Sixteen damage. And what kind of weapon is he fighting with?
SPEAKER_01A sword. You've just knocked him unconscious, you've given him a major wound. So you can tell us exactly how how you knock this guy down.
SPEAKER_03So I run the other guy through, I pulled out my sword, I go to face the other guy, I kind of slash at him, and as I slash at him, he tries to hit me, I whack away his sword, and I just smack him with the pommel of my um my sword instead of like the blade. Just crack him across the skull, uh, which kind of cracks his skull and he just falls like a sack. I just stand over him to the next person.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Securidad. I will attack one of the bandits, the one that they have in front, I guess. Okay. He will defend himself. Eleven. So it's critical for me. Nice. Because my m my sword is eleven and it got an eleven.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so okay, so it's eleven critical, and he had a normal success. I think he got damaged his weapons and stuff as well, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's quite a brutal game. It only counts as two d6 for me, my critical. I guess it's fine. Renny's five. My god. Okay, you're you describe to us how this goes down. You've you've killed him in one blow. I will just with my sword, I will just basically cut his ankle.
SPEAKER_01Alright, his head goes flying. And the the guy in the the guy in the back with the bow, you hear him say, We're not getting paid enough for this, and he just turns
Interrogating the Bandit
SPEAKER_01and runs. If you wanna if you want to try to chase him, we can both essentially roll opposed move rolls and whoever wins.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'll I'll chase in. Yeah. Yeah, he attacked me, I've got my eye on him. So as soon as he starts fleeing, I'll go after him.
SPEAKER_01All right. So yeah, so he runs into the woods through the ruins, these old Roman ruins, and you've you chase after him and and he he stumbles on a vine and and trips and falls, and you just you grab him and scoop him up and bring him back to camp. And he's kicking and screaming and like, no, no, let me go, let me go, you filthy knight. And he's like spitting on the ground at your feet.
SPEAKER_02Well, he said something about being paid. Who's been paying you?
SPEAKER_03I'll not talk. I'm gonna pull my knife out, and I'm just gonna like stab him in the hand. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Roll for me your No, your place merciful or cruel, no? Your cruelty, no?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, merciful or cruel.
SPEAKER_03I am well well, I I'm actually merciful, so as my higher trait. So I will roll to see whether I do it, right? Yes, exactly. I want to fail this, which I fail spectacle on a 19. Okay. So let me let me roll my cruel hang on. Got a one. All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um as far as I'm concerned, because I've got quite a high uh one of my passions is station, so I'm very much everyone has a certain place within society. He's a bandit and a thug, so therefore he he he's he's close to being sort of like a servant that takes out the dishwater, maybe less so. I have no compunction in torturing him until he gives up the information that we require. So tell me how you're doing that. You're So I stab him in the hand to start with and go, we'll talk. If he doesn't continue to talk, then I'll take each finger in turn and slice each finger from his knuckle down to his nail.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And the the two of you are how are you reacting to this Saradoc and pistol win?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm I'm kind of okay with this, as yeah. It's it's something that needs to be done. I I my cruelty is a little bit more than my uh Okay. I can I can it's just the way of things. We need the information. He's a low life who's already tried to kill us, so I don't have a problem.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and me being totally arbitrary, I find is okay. I mean, why not? I mean, there's some any other way of getting information as any other. So I'll And this guy is already dishonorable.
SPEAKER_01He has no honor, so Exactly. Yeah, okay. So as soon as you stab his in stab him in his hand, he just starts screaming bloody murder, and he's like, Okay, okay, okay, Sir Blaine's, Sir Blaine's paid us. Who is that? Sir Blaine's is the steward of Levcomagus, which is a town in Silchester County. What us specifically, or just anyone on the road? And he looks at Sir Robert and he says, The hunting hill. Don't ask me why we didn't ask, we just get paid.
SPEAKER_03Can somebody give me some thoughts to eat? You won't need it when I stab him to death. And then I smile. His eyes go wide. What? But I I told you what you wanted. Yes, and and that is what you should have done. From the beginning. For fuck's sake. I look at the others and go, what do you want to do?
SPEAKER_00I would say Sir Robert should decide what is the fate of this thug. He's our lord at the end, and this is his.
SPEAKER_03I can curse a carado. I wouldn't want to have Sir Robert sully his hands with this sort of thing.
SPEAKER_00No, wouldn't do it. But he should decide his fate.
SPEAKER_01Sir Robert says Sir Ian, put this man out of his misery. He has told us all he knows.
SPEAKER_03Sorry, nothing personal.
SPEAKER_01No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_03And I'll basically hold him down and just basically stick my my my dagger into his throat.
SPEAKER_01Okay, and blood is just gushing out of his throat as his life drains out of him. And he just dies right in front of you. Sir Blaine's the steward of Lev Comagus, he has called upon my mother of late since my father died. He never did forgive my father for winning her hand in marriage.
SPEAKER_00Do you believe that he would have something to win by
Secrets of Sir Blaine's
SPEAKER_00kidding you? That she could marry him instead?
SPEAKER_01It makes no sense. It makes no sense. She certainly wouldn't marry him if they murdered me. Unless their goal was to kidnap me. Yes, we will not let petty thugs come between us in the tournament. Let us rest for the night and in the morning we shall continue. Perhaps we should travel a little bit further along.
SPEAKER_03We would probably need to uh dispose of These bodies.
SPEAKER_00And that the squires candle. I will stand her tonight.
SPEAKER_03See if you can find anything of any value on the bodies and dispose of them. A body there's a lot. And I'll kind of like I'll walk with him to the bodies. Where did where did these bodies come from? It smiles, I pull my spear, like I wench it around till I get it out of the body. Did I did I miss another battle?
SPEAKER_01Nick's you're gonna have to keep your eyes on what's going on. I know, I'm sorry, Sarian. I'll try to do better. Just my my mind, you know, it's it wanders sometimes.
SPEAKER_03Drop my eyes. Well, you and the rest of the squires dispose of these. And and bring us whatever else you find of any value with them. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so they they find nothing of value on these guys, they don't have any money on them. Their weapons are of poor quality, they're not worthy of your, you know, of of knights. They dispose of the bodies, they sort of burn them in a heap sort of far away from from where your camp is. And the evening goes by, the night goes by uneventfully after that. There's and the next day the rain is, you know, it's
Arrival at St. Albans
SPEAKER_01it's no longer raining. There was like a light rain before, but it's still overcast, and your squires uh break camp, get your horses ready, and then you you uh continue on towards St. Albans. And uh it takes you about three more days to get there. And it's the late afternoon when you reach the outskirts of the ruins of a old Roman city, and as you crest a low hill, you see tents and pavilions and brightly colored banners snapping in the wind, and beyond the tournament field, there's this little hamlet and a church, both built from the nearby ruins, the stones, the old Roman stones, and you see knights and nobles they've gathered here, their coats of arms are fluttering atop their camps, and you see these knights are coming off the field. They've just had a they've just had they've just completed a tournament. If anyone wants to roll recognize to see if you know who these knights might be, you can do that.
SPEAKER_03So Ian is like wide-eyed country bump kid looking at all this really cool stuff that's happening. Recognize, you say. I think it's actually a skill line. Yeah, I will try it. Yes.
SPEAKER_00I'm only five, so yeah, we'll all try it. I recognize I succeed with Athele.
SPEAKER_03I'm so taken in by by all the cool stuff that's happening, but I'm not really looking at any one particular thing. It's just this fluttering of penance and all the rest of it. I'm like, ooh, this is amazing.
SPEAKER_01So uh so Sukaradok, you see, you recognize that the knights that are coming off the tournament field are the knights of Malahat, and they're led by a king whose nickname is the Centurion King, and that he was just victorious against the Knights of Lioness, which are which were led by King Meliodis. And everyone is now streaming up the hill, following the Centurion King as he enters the eaves of a nearby forest, and and you see they're all starting to circle around the sword and the stone. And the centurion king approaches so with a confident stride, he he approaches this moss-covered stone and and he he grips the hilt of Excalibur and he pulls with all of his might and his his muscles are straining. You can see the veins popping up in his neck, but he can't he can't get the sword free from the stone, and he tries again and he's grunting in frustration, but the blade refuses to budge. And then all the onlookers, the commoners, the nobles, the other knights, they all sort of murmur their disappointment as the king steps back defeated and sulks away back to his tent. And then everyone else starts to make their way to the feasting tables uh where minstrels and jesters await to entertain everyone for the evening. Hey, hey, c can we go and see the sword? Yeah, you're you're yeah, yeah, you're absolutely you followed them up there. I I I imagine you would have done that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, visions of grabbing the sword and pulling it.
SPEAKER_00I'm not worth that. If I understand this correctly, whoever wins eight day has the right to pull the sword to try to pull. Correct. So my guess is that Count Robert probably also wants to do this or No, I wouldn't be so sure about that.
SPEAKER_01Let's be push him to make a sneaky pull on the side. The Count is more interested in having a king and and having that king make his his title official. So yeah, he's he's just here hoping that there is one worthy here who can pull the sword from the stone, and that's the person that he will kneel to. And that's something he would have told you on the road, you know. He has no aspir he has no aspirations, he's he has no aspirations to be.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, just to confirm, yes, basically, if he told us, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so we probably need to pitch our tents and we send the squires to do so. Should we pay respects to anybody that we know of or anything?
SPEAKER_03My Lord Robert, who is leading the tournament? He was the sitting count, I suppose.
SPEAKER_01It was the the grand collegium that put the tournament together, so it was all the the the high nobles.
SPEAKER_00What do you wanna do, Count Robert? Do you wanna go see anybody? Is there anything you should do tonight?
SPEAKER_01Well, at the moment I am famished, and this feasting table looks mighty appealing. It has been a long road. I I am more than happy
The Grand Feast
SPEAKER_01to do that. Enjoy yourselves, gentlemen. Yeah, so the tables are abuzz with you know conversation as nobles are are eating and they're feasting on lavis dishes, and the air is rich with the aroma of, you know, roasted meat and mead and none of you are famously temperate or indulgent, right? Not famously mad. No, okay.
SPEAKER_03Have a look, why am I? And then I'm more indulgent, so yeah, I I probably I'm I I probably eat more on and drink more than I should to enjoy myself, but I'm not really kind of give me a give me an indulgent role.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I think I'll join you in that after that stressful encounter we've had.
SPEAKER_03No, I I fail. So I'm have I have enough to make me feel better. So now give me give me the temperate role. See whether or not I I I think no, I completely botched the fumble the the temperate role. Okay, so now it's your choice. You can choose which way to go here. I'd probably I'd probably go, oh I'll have a few, I'll have a bit more, maybe a few more drinks, and I'll think no I should stop. But then I probably get because I you know I'm only 18, and this is probably my first kind of like being away from home, I suppose. Right. And so all the other knights are probably drinking more, and probably I want a fanboy over them, right?
SPEAKER_02So I do the same sort of thing, and I This is really fine-tasting mead and better of me, and I'm starting to tell stories of my daring doom, although the I haven't got that much to talk about it. I talk about it in such a good way, I actually have a small audience who are impressed by my tales. So, Keradak, did you uh do you want to give a a roll?
SPEAKER_00Actually, I'm you know taking into account what has happened already to us on the way here, and and you know, I'm 14 suspicious. So I'm wondering if I will just keep guard up and basically not eat and just seeking everyone who's looking bad our Count Robert. We've already heard of a couple of knights who are after Count Robert. So I'm gonna be like not really eating, but just looking at every so I don't know if you want me to re-roll for suspicious or I just that's enough.
SPEAKER_01Uh no, if you want to choose to be suspicious, that's fine. I'm gonna choose. Give me an intrigue roll. Intrigue, yeah, okay. And what's your what is your intrigue, by the way? Nine. Okay, add five to that. So it's fourteen. So you want to get a fourteen or lower? Yes, six. Okay. I think we found the dad of the group, right? Yeah. So you see these two lords speaking at the end of the table, or they're they're at the table directly behind you, actually. So they're they're sitting directly behind you, and they're sitting next to each other, and you overhear them talking and you kind of, you know, maybe you glance over your shoulder a little bit. And you hear one of them say, Lot's ambitions are as plain as ever. He may wear the crown of Lothian, but he still covets the high king's throne like a wolf with blood in its eyes. And then the other man says, Aye, the sword and the stone is all well and good for stories, but Lot isn't one to leave such matters to fate. I hear his packs are already sealed with some of the lesser kings, and then the other guy says The fool draws the sword may claim it, but they'll need more than that to keep it. Now roll me recognize Sir Karadoc. Yeah, you don't you don't recognize these men by their by their um their coats of arms. You don't know who they are. What is this person that they're speaking of? Uh they're talking about King Lot. He's the king of Lothian, which is him or he's the most well you've heard of him, you've heard of him. He's the most powerful knight. I mean, uh he's the most powerful king in the north. He's right in the north, isn't he?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Like right right at the top.
SPEAKER_01He never bowed to King Uther, and he always coveted the the high the the role of High King, even as Uther tried to even as Uther aspired to that to that title. So yeah, it just it just sounds like he will not abide by the the terms of the
Whispers of King Lot
SPEAKER_01tournament.
SPEAKER_00But and he w he is probably around.
SPEAKER_01Yes, most definitely.
SPEAKER_00Well we haven't seen him yet.
SPEAKER_03No, you don't you haven't seen him yet. He'll turn up, I'm sure. Give him the evil eye when that happens. Or sublanes will kick out somewhere along the line.
SPEAKER_01The other two of you, uh give me intrigue roles as well, but because you're you are indulging, you'll take a negative five. Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_03Well, let me uh take minus five and I guess I need a one, right? I need I need a one or two and twenty.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm not God. Did you just fumble there? Yeah. You chuck on a chicken.
SPEAKER_03On a chicken bone, and you let you I'm I'm trying to help I'm trying to help Sir Histowin basically get over a coughing fit. We see nothing. We're too invested in getting drunk, eating more than we need, and just yeah, way enjoying ourselves.
SPEAKER_01Right. And sir Sir Robert is is he's not overindulging, but he's he's with the two of you. Enjoying, you know, he's enjoying himself. But Sir Karadoc, so as you overhear that conversation between those two gentlemen whom you don't recognize, you see a knight approach one of them and leans over and says in a low voice into his ear, which you can overhear, Oswolf knows better than to show his face around here. I don't think we have anything to worry about, Sir Blaine's.