Last year was a bad year from the Cymru.
The Saxon King Aethelswith, reinforced from the continent by King Hengest, pillage Caercolun in the east. After fierce fighting, Duke Lucius is forced to retreat to Colchester. British refugees flee into the Quinqueroi Forest but are pursued and enslaved by the hundreds. Combined with the stalemate in Sussex, and the mood at court is gloomy.
Word reaches Sarum that the King has been in a foul mood all winter, and has had many secret meetings with his barons, who likewise come away in foul moods.
You hear news that the lands of Hampshire and Sussex were raided, and Caer Colun was pillaged.
Rumours reach you that King Uther, who all now has designs to be High King of Britain, has begun plays through the Supreme Collegium. Rather than make war to enforce his will, he seeks to follow the path of the great High Kings before him and attain that position through election. The greatest Briton High Kings were all elected: Constantine the Great, Maxen Wledig, Aurelius Ambrosius, and even evil Vortigern. Succeeding at an election would provide Uther significant legitimacy as High King, and with the Saxons pillaging the south and east, conquering the other kingdoms would be wasteful.
In Sarum, the Earl forgoes jongleurs and minstrels at the feast. It feels more like a war camp than a celebration of the Christ Mass. In his speech at the feast, the Earl urges his knights to embrace the arts of war. Britain is under siege, he says, and it is up to the knights to free her. Now is not the time for poetry. His gifts to each of his vassals are in the same vein. Each of you receives a new sword, five new spears, a new shield (6), a new suit of armour (10 armour/-10 DEX/Heavy). Not all his gifts are so martial - each knight also receives a new set of clothing worth ?1 in your family colours.
