Dark Days of Albion

"Tha's enough o' tha'." Drostan said, tying the Duke's hands together before releasing him from the tree. "Ye can tell the king when we get back...I'm sure he'd be glad to hear whatever drivel ye're spoutin' now."

"Why do you defend that good-for-nothing, deadbeat king?" The Duke asks again. "Do you not know why my uncle is dead? It was because of an infatuation Uther had for my aunt!"

"So ye say." Drostan agreed amiably enough. "But I reckon someone else'll be tellin' a different story from ye."

"It's true, Drostan." Merlin says with a guilty look and heavy sigh.

"Oh. Well, good thing I dinnae care in the first place." Drostan said cheerily. "C'mon, we got ta get back t'Camel Lot."

"Wait, you don't want to hear the story of my uncle's death?!" The Duke says.

"Nope! Now move yer panty-waisted, sniveling arse along before I decide yer more trouble than I'm willin' ta put up with and behead ye."

"I personally would love to hear it."

"Well, sit down, then, it's going to be a long tale." Merlin says.

"Besides, I'm tied up to a tree!" The Duke yells. "How the hell am I supposed to move or even sit down?"

Mycrodeeth wrote:"Tha's enough o' tha'." Drostan said, tying the Duke's hands together before releasing him from the tree. "Ye can tell the king when we get back...I'm sure he'd be glad to hear whatever drivel ye're spoutin' now."

 

"If your legs are tired, please sit down." Merlins says to the group.

"Could we hear the story on the way?" Ivor asks "the sooner we reach Camelot, the better."

"Alright." Merlin says, and everyone begins walking.

"It was over a year ago when it all began." Merlin began his story. "Uther was beginning to restore peace to a land that had seen more than its fair share of war for the past half-century. The Saxons- whom Uther and his older brother Aurelius defeated at Badon Hill, with the help of Gorloris, the last Duke of Cornwall- have retreated and nothing has been heard of them since.

"Just to think it all began with pure lust. At a banquet celebrating the defeat of the Saxons, Uther became infatuated with Gorloris' wife Igraine. He made every attempt to be with her. Igraine took note of this and informed her husband, who left Uther's court shortly afterwards.

"As you can imagine, Uther was beyond furious- actually, that would be an understatement. So hot was his head he could've melted his crown. In fact, he was so wrathful he went to war with Gorloris. All because of his lust for Igraine.

"When it became clear that magic was going to be needed to obtain Uther's wishes, Uther turned to me for help. I was reluctant to do so, for I never use my magic to help people with their selfish desires, but Uther was persistant. In the end, I struck a bargain with him: If I helped him get his desire, he would give me the result of his lust, for I forsaw that, through this act of adultry, a king- perhaps the noblest king there ever was- would be born. he agreed to my terms and I turned him into the likeness of Gorloris. He easily got past the guards and went to Tintagel- where Igraine was currently located. Igraine thought Uther was Gorloris and- well, I'm not comfortable talking with you about that sort of stuff, but I will say this: it was three hours after Gorloris was killed when Arthur was conceived.

"During Igraine's pregnancy, she learned the actual Gorloris was killed three hours before he supposedly- well, you know- and wanted to know the actual identity of the father of her child, whom she later learned it was actually Uther's- a fact that gave her peace of mind after thinking about who it was that night who saw her in her chambers. The rest, you surely can speculate.

"I'm ashamed of what I did, but trust me on this: I will make sure this boy is raised in a proper family where he will be the great king I saw in my vision!"

With that, Merlin finished his tale.

(Sorry if this story makes people awkward. I didn't know how else to word it and it actually happened in the legend.)

"So who were the people at the Stone Circle?" Ivor wanted to know.

"The people at the Stone Circle were part of the Picton Cult." Merlin says. "They were planning on using Arthur for some obscene ritual."

Just then, Camelot comes into view, and the rings of the bells in the castle reach your ears. Merlin's face falls, and he says "Alas! Uther must've been taken by the angels to Heaven."

"Or the demons took your rotten king to Hell!" The Duke says, clearly not affected by the bell ringings.

"You certainly are rude to your deceased king" Ivor says with a slight hint of anger "He is our King after all. I mean was our King."

"May he rest in peace." Elvia added.

"Aye." Drostan affirmed solemnly.

"This is a sorry day." Merlin says. "For the moment, our group must break apart. Your statuses as Knights of Camelot will still be active, but we must go into hiding in case of a retribution by the Picton Cult. Hide where you will. As for me, I will take Arthur to Sir Ector- one of Uther's vassals- to be raised by him alongside his son Cei. You will know when the time is right for returning to help in Camelot's struggles."

Elvia started to panic at the prospect of having to figure out what to do with herself. She didn't know what to do.

"Good luck, everyone." Merlins says, waving to the group. "I wish thee well, and will see you again someday."

And with that, Merlin vanishes into the woods with Arthur.

"I shall be leaving for my fathers castle and take care of his forest."

"I shall be leavin' for...somewhere, at any rate."

15 years has passed since Uther's death. The nobles of the Kingdom of Camelot are bickering about who will become the next ruler, and it looks like blood is going to be shed if the situation is not handled. Before things can get out of hand, a sword mysteriously appears in a stone in a courtyard in London. On the side of the stone is written, 'Whomever shall remove this sword from this stone shall be the rightful King of England.'

After the failed attempts of pulling the sword from the stone, the nobles decide to host a tournament to decide the next King of England. As Knights of Camelot, it is your duty to attend the tournament.

The night before you leave, you have a strange dream:
You find yourself on a battlefield before a great walled city. You cannot see clearly through the darkness, nor can you find your way around the corpses.

Yet behind you, there is a light that is growing. You turn around and see two figures standing on a rocky ledge. One of the figures is clearly female, though you cannot see her face. the other- a male- is holding his sword above his head, sword pointing towards the sky. Behind the two figures, an army stands ready.

You wake up, having no idea what to think of the dream. Yet one thing is clear: it is time to return to defend Camelot.

Drostan obligingly began his journey to Camelot atop a fine horse.