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Stories with Dice
The Sword Campaign S1 E5: A Pendragon Actual Play Podcast
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The Battle of Carlion continues! King Arthur is unhorsed, and Count Robert stands alone against a massive Saxon warrior. Will our Salisbury Knights rush to aid their new king or defend their liege lord? As decisions weigh heavily and arrows darken the skies, the fate of Britain hangs by a thread.
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Welcome to Stories with Dice. This is the Sword Campaign, a Pendragon actual play podcast using the sixth edition starter set from
Welcome to the Sword Campaign
SPEAKER_02Chaosium. If you're enjoying our actual plays, please subscribe to Stories with Dice so you 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. Last time, on the sword campaign, a young squire named Arthur defied all odds, pulling the sword from the stone and claiming his destiny as the boy king. Count Robert and our loyal Salisbury Knights knelt in fealty, pledging their swords to Arthur's cause. Yet not all were so moved. Many lords departed in defiance, refusing to acknowledge the boy as their sovereign. At Carleon, our Salisbury Knights bore witness to Arthur's coronation, a fleeting moment of fragile hope in a divided land. But the peace was short lived. The armies of six northern lords marched against the city, sacking the outer villages and a brutal show of force. Arthur soon understood that victory could not be won from behind walls. With courage and resolve, the boy king rallied his forces to meet the enemy on the
The Battle of Carleon Begins
SPEAKER_02open field. The Battle of Carleon had begun. Welcome back to the Sword Campaign. I'm joined as always by our Forever GM, who's now a player. Ed, who is playing Sir Ian. Why am I there, Forever GM? Hello? I I don't know. That is an answer that is a question for you to answer. Pete, who is playing Sir Heist Histelwind. Yep. And Tony, who is playing Sir Caradon.
SPEAKER_01Hello everyone.
SPEAKER_02Happy to be back. So we open on a raven soaring through the air against the slate gray sky. The camera sweeps along with the bird as it watches the land below, a churning sea of armor and banners, as King Arthur's fifteen hundred strong host charges against the armies of the North, who outnumber them nearly two to one. The raven lets out a harsh cry as the armies crash together in a violent storm of steel and grit. The camera tighten on the battlefield, drawing us deeper into the fray. It's a swirl of chaos as men on foot and horseback collide in a brutal struggle. The ground is wash in blood, littered with the corpses of men and horses. Through this maelstrom, the knights of Salisbury charge, cutting through a Saxon shield wall with relentless fury. Then the camera shifts to King Lot, raising his heavy mace, charges. With a brutal swing the weapon crashes into the head of Arthur's horse, sending the animal reeling to the ground. Arthur tumbles, swallowed up by the churning mass of warriors. Okay, so you're deep in the fray now. The boy king has just gone down and you've lost sight of him in the crush of bodies. But before you can act, a sharp cry pierces the clamor of battle. Oswolf You turn and see Count Robert on your opposite flank, his blade drawn. He stands alone among the bodies of his fallen bodyguards. A massive Saxon warrior looms before him poised to strike. You knew him once as Sir Owen, one of Salisbury's best knights. Oswolf and Robert are both on foot. What do you do? Do you fight your way to aid the boy king or rush in to aid Count Robert?
SPEAKER_04Decisions.
Decisions in the Fray
SPEAKER_01Well we we owe homage to Count Robert, I think the decision is clear to me. I think so.
SPEAKER_04I think it is wheel the horses round and the three of us rush towards that day, Sir Osla.
SPEAKER_03A moment of hesitation with Sir Historin as he sees his new king unhorsed. But as soon as Sir Ian takes the lead, he knows where he has to go.
SPEAKER_02Sir Ian, you are the Conroy commander, so please make a battle roll
The Charge of the Knights
SPEAKER_02for me. So you you you turn your horses around and you start riding toward the aid of Count Robert. You are you come under fire by arc by Saxon Bowman. So what did you get? You had a nineteen?
SPEAKER_04So I got a nineteen, so I figured that I I go to sort of like turn the Conroy, but I'm kind of like diverted. Probably I haven't seen the lie of the land, and I can't sort of like go stumbling straight through either like a bit of undulating terrain or something. Maybe that's where the arches are. So I have to kind of wheel around them. So I'm kind of like stuck, I suppose.
SPEAKER_02So this means that it'll take you two rounds to get to Count Roberts. So within those two rounds, you will be suffering a missile attack. Now your shields will impose their missile attack penalties against the archers, and the kite shield missile penalty is a negative ten.
SPEAKER_04So presumably as we're sort of like wheeling around, we're kind of putting our shields up and making ourselves as small as possible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because you immediately come under fire. Okay.
SPEAKER_01So just lift our shields to protect our heads and our bodies as much as we can.
SPEAKER_04But I guess if I'm leaning forward, I want to protect the horse's head as well to a degree.
SPEAKER_02Let me know what posture you're taking. So it's going to take you two rounds to to get to Count Robert, and in those two rounds, the archers will be able to fire upon you. Question. I think probably just the standard. So Valorus only allows you two normal rounds. Reckless will allow you three rounds. Prudent only allows you one round. So it would have to be reckless then. If if we're not going to be able to get to say Count Robert, then remember the Saxon Oswolf is the guy responsible for the death of the knights that you all that you all squire with. Yeah, well.
SPEAKER_01So we can roll for hate against Saxon, right?
SPEAKER_04Actually, Marco, the um the roles that passions and stuff, does that is that every session? It is every day, and this is the same day.
SPEAKER_02Okay, fine. No problem. Okay, well, yeah, recklessly is
Reckless Actions and Consequences
SPEAKER_02then. So Reckless will add one D one D three to your morale.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Let's uh roll D3. So we'll call that three. That's a plus three. So I'm on 1518. No, we're on eighteen. So now we must use the reckless action for at least the first combat round. Oh, okay. So the first thing we have to do is just be reckless for the first time. Okay. But we're but we're basically defending, aren't we, for the first round, I'm guessing.
SPEAKER_02The first two rounds, because you failed your battle rule. Yeah. Okay. Cool.
SPEAKER_04And so yes, it's um basically trying to figure out whether or not we just kind of like ride through it and hope for the best.
SPEAKER_02I assume that we can't like dodge it because of the No, so you can do the zigzag action, but you're doing a mounted charge, right? That's what you Is that what you guys want to do? Okay.
SPEAKER_04Well, well, we are we close enough to the actual arches to try and disrupt them or No. No, okay, so So Sir Ian, give me a charge roll. Charge roll, okay. See how well we do this. Okay, I got a 16, which is a fail. Not really kind of I've lost the layer of the land in my hatred of the Saxons.
SPEAKER_02Did you do it from the skill tab or from the combat tab? Uh from the skill tab. Okay, that's why my roll won't resolve. Alright, I'm just gonna roll on the table here. I rolled a six. Damn it. So the damage is nineteen, so you can deduct your armor from that. So take away the armor, take away the uh and oh the shield does that also count? No, just the armor. Because you've already used the shield. The shield already gave you the negative ten to their attack. Okay, right, cool. Out.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Thank goodness I'm wearing my armor with all the arrows hitting it. I take nine damage.
SPEAKER_01Not at all. I stick it from your leg.
SPEAKER_04Ow. I can't change my hit width, unfortunately. You can't? Uh yeah, you have to add a wound. Oh, okay. Come back. Wounds. Oh, okay, right. Add a wound. So damage size wound, and then I happen. Or will it automatically deduct the um armor? It won't, I don't think. It won't. Okay. No, you're correct. It does not. Okay, so I take the nine. Uh, and so the nine is not below my knockdown. Uh so it's not over my knockdown, it's not over my major wound.
SPEAKER_02Okay, cool. So make a second charge roll against the second archer who's after you. He rolled a 16. Okay. And that is a pass. Okay. So he has a partial success. He no, he doesn't. He failed. He completely failed. So the arrow goes right over your head. Cool. Sur Histalwin. Roll your charge. He has a seven. Okay, so you have a success, he has a partial success. So a partial success versus a success means that you suffer damage minus your armor and your shield. So that damage is so 13 damage minus your armor and your shield.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so yeah, that's yeah, it doesn't get through then.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so it just ping right off your right off your shield. So the next one who attacks you has rolled a 10, and that is a critical success.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Right. So it's another charge roll from me. Correct.
SPEAKER_04Oh dear. Shower by that rolls. I just like I just saw I just saw uh Marcus' face.
SPEAKER_03He was like 10 piss six. Ouch, so that's your total, 26. Oh, yeah. So that yeah, minus my armor, that's 16 damage. 16 is major wound. Go your knockdown. It does it goes over my knockdown.
SPEAKER_02And it equals major wound. Yeah, so make a dex roll to stay on your horse. Ooh. I am on a horse. I I think it's just 1d6 for falling off a horse. Yeah, I believe.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It was not 10 d6. So you you get bad enough, right? You get you get porcupined with the arrows, Sir Histowin, and you fall right off your horse, taking an additional three damage, and probably some of your dignity.
SPEAKER_04And you say it was also a major wound as well.
SPEAKER_02Yes. If it if it says equals, yeah. Yes. So I succeeded. You're on mute. Sorry, I just found it. I'm rolling success. Ooh. Okay, you both roll a seven. That is a tie. We win. The end. Let me just roll his damage. But I should be winning something. You get to use your shield and your armor, I think. You get to use your shield and your armor. So you can deduct your shield and your armor from that 18.
SPEAKER_01So that means that if my shield AP is six and my and my medical code, how does it work? Because it's 10, not total. So it's 16. So 16. So 16 total. So I may get two.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Excellent. And now that the second archer comes after you, he has failed. Make your roll.
SPEAKER_01You want me so I could fall from the horse. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Fine. I do. I want you to fall from your horse and reopen that all. Okay, but that's okay. That wasn't a like a fumble or anything, was it? No. No. Okay, nineteen.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Yep. So But you didn't you didn't take your knockdown damage though, did you?
SPEAKER_02No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01No, no. My no dummy's 14, so.
SPEAKER_02No, the the the archer failed as well. So like the arrows just are flying over your head as you're charging
Rallying for the King
SPEAKER_02forward. And that was the first round. So now I have to make a decision.
SPEAKER_04Do we wheel and protect Sir Histowin or continue to the Lord? Ooh. I think I think I might need to make a pass roll towards my homage to Robert, I think.
SPEAKER_01Are you even aware that she fell? Are we even aware? I think you can be aware of that, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Let's just see whether or not No, no. Sorry, Mr. Sir Histoin.
SPEAKER_02You're on your own. Make your charge roll, sir Ian? Yeah, you you see him fall, but you see him fall, but your your homage to your lord is more important than than any one man's life.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean it if there's just no there's no sort of like change in that, right? Okay, let's see. I continue the charge.
SPEAKER_02Okay, that's okay. You both failed. You both failed. So arrows are just whizzing by you. Maybe some of them are, you know, getting pretty close, whizzing by your ear.
SPEAKER_04I think I just realized that I'm just having to just go straight forward. There's nothing else I can do. So there's no real tactics in this apart from just go, go, go.
SPEAKER_02Exactly, exactly. And you know, all around you, people are fighting and this clanking of swords and screaming and whatnot. So make another charge roll for the second archer. Okay. Hooray. That's a success. Okay, yep. And he failed. More are more arrows just flying by you. I did forget to roll to see if the arrows hit your horses. So we'll do that next. Oh, that is a critical hit. Roll your charge, Sir Karadoc. And and that's a 19.
SPEAKER_01So failure. So now let me see. Here actually. If it is critical.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it is your horse that gets hit by a critical.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So we're going down that. We don't but I did love this horsey. Sorry, Baska. So your horse takes 37 damage. Does it have any armor, this charger horsey?
SPEAKER_01Has 55, AP has seven. So that means it takes 30, 30, HP, 55. So yeah, 20, 25, 4 horsi.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so give me a horsemanship roll to keep your animal under control. He's been badly wounded. Yeah, I pass. Okay, yeah. So you you're you know, your horse is peppered with arrows, he's got arrows sticking out of his body, and with your skill with the animal, you you keep him charging forward toward your count regardless of the danger and the pain that he is feeling. The second archer against you failed. He actually fumbled. Then he to roach. Okay. So he to roll charge. Yep, roll charge. And I pass. His bowstring breaks. As he's pulling the bow back, the bowstring just snaps. So now you have reached your lord. You guys have one more round left. Let me see. I'm just gonna roll here. Say what did we come across? Yeah, so while you were charging forward and deflecting those arrows and coming under heavy fire, you witnessed Oswolf and Count Robert locking swords, their sh, you know, their shields clanking. Count Robert is overmatched. Oswolf is bigger than him, a better skilled warrior. And so he's just like hounding him with the shield, knocking Robert back, swinging his sword. Robert is deflecting it with his shield, but then at one point he leaves himself open and he gets swiped and he gets knocked to the ground. You see Robert on the ground, and Oswolf over him is stepping forward with his sword to run him through. What do you guys do?
SPEAKER_04Well, I'm gonna run straight towards him. I've got my sword out, so I'm just gonna Are you dismounting? God no is like charge past him and just like smack him from behind with the sword. I'm not showering or anything.
SPEAKER_01I'm just
A Spear's Vengeance
SPEAKER_01Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna take one of my spears and toss it to this guy. You're gonna throw a spear?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, you can throw a spear at him. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because I only have for a spear, I only have six. So that uh it's six, it's not eleven, because the maximum is your horsemanship. So I guess it's just a six. So because I'm passing by with the horse, I will just try to hit him with the spear. I mean from the distance before we get close. Should I just roll? Give me that roll.
SPEAKER_00And you have a plus five. Oh, thank god. Because I got seven.
SPEAKER_02Because because you're on a you're on a horse and he and he is not.
SPEAKER_01Okay, pass.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so give me the damage.
SPEAKER_01Give me a second. It's quite a bit. Twenty-six. Twenty-six. That's why he did it, because it also does a lot of damage. I pass by with my spears like while I shout for my lord.
SPEAKER_02So the spear hits him, let's let's say it hits him in his back, and he falls forward onto the ground. The spear is sticking out from him.
SPEAKER_04Nice. Yep. Attack him with my sword.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, this is happening simultaneously. So, like as he gets hit by that spear, you might also you know swipe him with your sword and give yourself a plus five because he's on foot and you're and you're mounted. Right.
SPEAKER_04Uh yes, I hit him, and I do an enjoyable twenty-two damage to him. Okay, so I'm gonna let you pass by him.
SPEAKER_02So as you pass by him and a sp a spear flies through the air and jabs him in the back, and the front of it comes out the other side from his you know from his chest. You come up alongside him and and that's I'll let you describe how exactly you you it you hit him with your sword.
SPEAKER_04I yeah, I kind of like right up, see the spear sort of jutting through him. Is it a slash or is it a jab? Um it's gonna be a jab, so I I tell you what I'm gonna do, I hit him with so much force that as I jab him down into his between the the place between his neck and his shoulder, the jars out of my hand, leaving my sword stuck through his shoulder blade and kind of coming out of his left armpit. And then I kind of wheel I I pass by and then wheel the horseback round to essentially go to to Count Robert's aid.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you see, so the two of you see Oswolf, Sir Ian's sword is sticking out of his where his neck meets his shoulder. The hilt of the sword is just like sticking out right there, and there's just a fountain of of blood coming out of his coming out of that wound. He's got he's got a Saradox spear protruding from his chest, and he's just starts gurgling, and his his eyes go wide and he just collapses onto the ground.
Aftermath of the Battle
SPEAKER_02Feel vindicated. That was awesome. Um but realize we're still in a we're still in a melee, right? You're still in a melee, exactly.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_01And well done. Should help our our leads. I agree, Sir Carodoc. Dismount now my horse with my shield and my sword.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Get close to between my sword. Yeah, and I have to just combat happening around us at the same time?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean you're in the middle of you're in the middle of like, you know, over 1500 people trying to trying to murder one another. So yeah, there's but they're they're too you know, they're too busy trying to stay alive and murder the other guy that they're like, you know, they're Yeah, I think we should ask our squires to grab Calon Robert and then we should retreat.
SPEAKER_01What do you think, Sadien? We should retreat to the back, take care of our injuries and sir see if Sir Estherwin managed to get back too.
SPEAKER_04Yes, I think that's probably wise, unless our Lord wishes to do something else.
SPEAKER_03Make your squire rolls. Sir Isterwin, you can make yours as well. But I'm squireless at the moment, because my squire is serving Cat Robert.
SPEAKER_02Oh, was that St. Albans, right? Or no, that was yeah, that was before you even got to St. Albans. Oh right. So like a couple of weeks that at least two weeks have gone by since then. So he he's acquired another squire. Right. Okay.
SPEAKER_04The love of God, Felix, where the hell are you? I rolled a nineteen. No idea where Felix is. Hi Critical my Owen. My Owen Squire. So This is how you squire. Mine is how you don't squire.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay. So yeah, so you're calling for your squire, Sir Ian, and you're like, Felix, Felix, and and looking around, you can't find him anywhere. He doesn't arrive. Sir Karadoc, you you call for your squire. I I forget his I forget his name off the top of my head. Owen. Owen, you call for Owen, and almost instantly, like he was shattering you the whole time. He just like appears like out of nowhere. What would you like him to do?
SPEAKER_01I want him to take care of our lord. Okay. I'm okay. I'm all right. I don't I don't require any help. Yes, sir. Check him, sir. And I'm just guarding him with a shield and the sword, like taking if anybody approaches while he let Owen to the end. He had a critical success, so there you go.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so so Owen has has very hastily provided first aid to Count Robert and is now bearing him from the field. So he's the you guys are all retiring to the rear, and he's he's carrying him. So when did you make your role? Yeah, yeah, one success. Okay, so yeah, so your squire arrives. So he he tried to provide first aid to you. It hurt a lot whatever he was doing as he was bandaging you up. But you know, you won't know if what he did actually helps you until much later. So but that also means that no one else can give you first aid for the rest of the day, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_03I think that's what he probably attempted to remove the arrow shelf.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. Ouch. So uh yeah, so they're all bearing you guys back to the rear of the battle. So you're retiring to the rear. So that's what happens during battle turn four. You're retiring to the rear. And that immediately restores 1d6 points of your morale. But your morale, so your morale can never go above whatever its actual value was originally. But about 22. Okay. And as you're as your squires are helping you all to the rear, you can hear someone shouting as other others or other knights or wounded knights are retiring to the rear as well, and you can hear one of them saying his to a companion, King is lost, Arthur. I fear Arthur is gone. No, no, do not say such a thing. Have have heart. The battle is lost, my friends. The king is gone. And so this this malaise starts to set in amongst the amongst the the knights and the foot soldiers in King Arthur's army as word of the of his having fallen starts to spread across the battlefield.
SPEAKER_00I asked these people, what happened? Where did you last see him? I saw him next to King Lot. Aye, his horse went down and him with it, and no one has seen him since. Where is the banner? Where is the banner of the king? We must go and save him. We have we retrieved his banner from the horse from the corpse of his dead horse. The king was was nowhere to be found.
SPEAKER_01Capture by King Lod. Serian, we should do something. I can roll for my passion, King, if that's okay. Can I do that? Can you do what? Can I roll for loyalty king? Just to see. Yeah, what what's what are you trying to do with it? Just trying to convince Serian to go and get get back in the thick of it to look for him.
SPEAKER_04Seren looks kind of a bit confused because he's having to make a non-active decision. And so I'm looking around to Hustwin, sort of like the most senior of us three.
SPEAKER_02Sir Histowin has five hit points. You're on you're unconscious. Oh my goodness. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I look at him go, shit, okay. Let's go find him.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's looking at Council Robert is in good condition and guess he's well taken care of. And in the back.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly, yes. I I guess that's Sir Histowin's squire is taking care of him, and now that we've brought him at the back, Carl Robert's um squires are dealing with him, so we don't have to worry about that anymore. Exactly, yeah. Uh yeah, we I guess we'll get back on our horses and go and see we can trail back to see if we can go to where um Arthur had fallen.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I'm gonna change my horse because I don't know if I have another work horse. I don't.
SPEAKER_02I think we've only got the one each, I think. Your squire had a critical success. Let's say he found you a fresh horse. There's bound to be a fresh horse around here somewhere from a dead knight. Let me roll the intensity of the battle. I succeeded. So that means that the encounter is rally the division. Ooh. So that's encounter five. Suddenly you see the entire like an entire wing of Arthur's army has cracked, and all the foot soldiers and the knights are have turned and they're starting to flee off the battlefield. So we can assume that you guys have like horns and you know the the battle calls for divisions. For division, you know, like the the certain calls that you would make to like to give orders, right? So any either one of you can make a play instrument role to to do that.
SPEAKER_01Uh I've got eight in it. Play instrument. Play instrument, I can. Give it a roll. What is it?
SPEAKER_04The play instrument? I think of top of the second column. Right at the very top, I've recognized. It's called play and then in bracket instrument.
SPEAKER_01Uh play. Okay. Yeah, I have a six fine.
SPEAKER_04You might want to also do it, Seren. Nineteen. I I shall also I shall also do it. It's not like that.
SPEAKER_02No. Okay, so you've confused you're confusing everyone on the battlefield. What are you doing? So coming back, it's not like this, it's like this. No, it's like this. So yeah, they're just they're they're running off, they're still running off the battlefield. Some of them are not confused, they're not sure what orders you're giving. You're still right, who knows? No, you can you can try to persuade them with or eight if either of you have a good or eight skill. Half a nine.
SPEAKER_01I mean, can I roll for loyalty for my king and try to do the orate? Like try to run.
SPEAKER_02Uh you can only use the passion once per day, and you used it last session, which is until two days or sessions.
SPEAKER_01No, no, for the king. Loyalty for the king. I didn't use that one.
SPEAKER_02It's just one passion. One passion for the first time. Uh one passion in total.
SPEAKER_01Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry.
SPEAKER_02That's okay. Do you guys want to want to try to do this? Sure. Well, give it a go. I think Sir Histowin is actually I think Sir Histowin is actually the best orator of the bunch, and he's unfortunately hadn't used my passion either, so yeah.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Uh do you only want one of us to roll? Or yeah, one of you should roll. Tony said it was a nine. And I'm gonna be nice and give you a plus five.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna have rolling.
SPEAKER_04I'll be kind of like poking you in the side saying, say this, say that's Jeff.
SPEAKER_00So tell us what you shout to these cowards who are running away. You turn around.
SPEAKER_01Let's run inside and think of it. Let's get this terrible, terrible knight out of here.
SPEAKER_04Let's go. I kind of add in the background, give your life your new king, or something like that, and sort of like raise my spear.
SPEAKER_01My sword. Lifting my sword, then Okay.
SPEAKER_02And y are you on your horse? Yes. We're going straight. Maybe you, you know, your horse like rears up on its hind legs, and you've got your you've got your sword up and you're like, for the king. And then it's flashing around. Yeah, and then everyone uh the the division stops and they're and they're looking at you inspired, and they they they reform into their lines, and they they stand on the defensive ready for the next battle turn. And so you all receive a plus one to your honor, and uh we move on to the next battle turn.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so Marker, who's in charge of the line of soldiers and I'll bride to them, whoever the most senior knight is.
SPEAKER_02Uh well they're each divided up into smaller conroys, so yeah, yeah. So what's what's your what's your plan?
SPEAKER_04My plan is to continue on to where we saw Arthur fall and go there. So if if we'll just kind of make our way, that's our that's our plan.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Yeah, so you're you're riding out to that spot in the battlefield where you saw last saw last saw the boy king, and uh suddenly a a flash of light blinds the enemy forces and you hear someone shout above the chaos, It's the king! Arthur is alive and through the clash of steel and the haze of battle, you spot the boy king standing atop a crag, excalibre raised on high, and beside him is Merlin. His calm demeanor is unbroken by the bloodshed around him. And from your vantage point, even across the chaos of the battlefield, there's something unmistakable in the way Merlin is commanding the space, an intangible weight that sets him apart from the frenzy. And at that moment, from behind you you hear this roar, and you turn and look, and you can see the citizens of Carleon are surging out of the castle, armed with pitchforks and axes and other implements, and they fall upon the right flank of King Lot's army, and you hear King Lot sound the retreat, and his army withdraw withdraws in an orderly fashion from the battlefield, and the battle of Carleon is over. Though outnumbered, the boy king's army is managed to fight King Lot's army to a standstill. The King of the North withdraws to lick his wounds and plan his next
A Return to Carleon
SPEAKER_02move. Upon your return to the castle, you clean yourselves and are soon summoned to the solar, a private upper room within the ancient walls. The name Carleon means fortress of the Legion, for it was once an old Roman fort. When you arrive, attendants are attending to King Leo de Grance's wounds. He's stripped to the waist, and they're putting fresh bandages around him on his arms and torso, and nearby there's a cupbearer holding a large goblet of wine that he occasionally sips from. Ah, here they are, our brave knights of Salisbury. But but there are only two of you. What has happened to your companion?
SPEAKER_04He is coming. Um I guess he'll what be brought in by a litter of people or is he guessing he's gonna be awake by this point stuff?
SPEAKER_02Well he he will be he will have been taken to like like a house of healing sort of place and he will be attended to by uh physicians.
SPEAKER_04He he bravely uh fell while uh going to defend uh our our lord. But he is uh he is safe in uh he's in safe hands with uh the uh surgeons who are uh dealing with him as we speak.
SPEAKER_02I'm sure he'll make a full recovery. So he has not he has not passed into the other world. He's the witness. This is good to hear. You have all acquitted yourselves well today. So he just complimented you. You know, you've all acquitted yourselves well today. So like how do you react to that? Modest or proud? How do you think how do you think you respond?
SPEAKER_01I'm proud. I I guess I stand up and put my into my to my heart and say you honor me. I'd say something on the wild, of course.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so so Karak, give yourself a check to your proud trait, and Sir Ian, give yourself a check to your modest trait. And then the king he he sort of chuckles and he says, Ah, you are young yet, full of dreams of grand victories and glorious deeds, no doubt. Take heed. Today victory is measured not by conquest, but by the simple fact that our heads are not mounted on pikes and being carried back to the north. He lets out a laugh, and then he winces slightly. And before either of you can say anything, the chamber door is open, and King Arthur walks in, his cloak is brushing the stone floor, and servants trail behind him, uh and they swiftly set up a table with bread and cheese and grapes and jugs of wine, and uh he surveys the room with a measured gaze, and then he turns to the two of you and he says, I am sure you are famished. Let us sit together and eat. Oh, and uh Count Robert came with him. Let us sit and eat together. You fought well today, and I am grateful for your strength. Our kingdom will always be in need of such arms to defend
A Feast with the King
SPEAKER_02it. And then as you settle in and you all start enjoying the food and the wine that he's offered you, he says, Tomorrow morning you may return to your homes, but with your Lord's permission, I will call upon your service in the coming year. And then his expression gets a little grim as he looks out the window toward the horizon. I fear we have not seen the last of King Lot. Our kingdom is as fragile as a single thread, and we must be ready to defend it.