The Warband

Bradán ap Cadell (Ronnke)
Meadhbh verch Cadell (Melissa)
Marcus and Echo (CommJunkee)
Heddwyn ap Idris (Gigermann)
Aedán ap Dewar (Winston)
Simple Angus (Herodian)
Gwion ap Enfrys (Andricus)

Act I: In Hot Pursuit

  • 12 March, 457 Anno Domini Nostri Iesu
  • Gwion is on horseback, so he makes better time than the infantry he is pursuing – there is an old Roman road that the infantry appear to mostly be following east – the terrain here is pretty flat (for the most part) but there are enough hills still covered in snow & ice to occasionally slow him down.
  • An hour or so passes as he pursues Lord Brochfael – he tops a small hill and is able to see the infantry line a 40-50 yards or so away. They are stopped and arrayed in a loose half circle facing away from Gwion as Lord Brochfael stands in their front. All of them appear intently focused on a small valley before them.
  • He seesAeronwenDemonSpiderArt this as hinky and decides to secure the horse to a tree out of sight, then sneak forward to see what is going on. As he does, he notes that a great mist has enveloped that valley and it is moving unnaturally. A woman emerges from the mist and Gwion recognizes Aeronwen, a woman from Vertis who he recalls died in a fire. Lord Brochfael strangely seems to defer to her and begins to give her a report on Bradán’s activities of late.
  • Suddenly, she stops him, visibly sniffs the air and calls him a fool as she looks directly toward where Gwion is hidden. The mist behind her darkens suddenly and then coils around her, seemingly tearing her skin from her bones. At the same time, her body swells and distorts. The warriors with Brochfael scream in surprise and terror – most drop their weapons & spears as they flee, but one bellows and charges – as she grows and transforms into … an evil spider-demon thing. Gwion simply faints in sheer terror.
  • He wakes to find the Beast looms over him, securing him in place with one thick leg. It sniffs again, visibly, and declares in an evil-sounding voice with lots of reverb and bizarre clicking noises that cause his teeth to ache, “How very lovely. One of the Scions. We have been seeking you … and you have been seeking us for the harm we did you.” The implication here is clear, that … it was responsible for his family’s death. She holds Lord Brochfael in one hand (that suddenly has long talons) and, without really looking at him, squeezes – there is the sound of bones snapping. The Beast drops the man to the dirt and he hits the ground with the sound of wet meat striking rock and Gwion can see the bodies of the warband scattered behind her. “We thank you for not making this harder than it should have been.”
  • A woman clears her throat – Gwion vaguely recognizes her as someone he saw in Bryn Euryn – and flatly declares, “You trespass on lands not your own, Creature. Begone. This one is not for you.“ It is a little disconcerting to Gwion here – the Beast towers over both of them and this woman is just … just a woman … she should be crushed, swept aside, consumed like all the rest…
  • But instead the Beast snarls and clicks and clacks, but bizarrely, recoils away from the woman as the mist envelops her and she is gone. the strange woman scowls as she watches the mist recede before kneeling alongside Gwion to help him up. She says to him, “Rest easy, lad. You’ve have a busy day. You’re fortunate to be all in one piece.”
  • He immediately demands to know what the hell that was and the still distracted looking woman responds with, ‘A woman who gambled away her soul for power and is now consumed by it for she knew not what she dealt, nor does she have the wisdom now to understand her peril.’ She shakes her head. ‘But the Beast is not your concern for the moment. Think not of this creature. Return to Rhos and tell your Lord of what you know.”
  • And a moment later, Gwion no longer remembers the Beast. He only recalls discovering Lord Brochfael’s men who appear to have been set upon by some unknown force who butchered them. He starts to head back to his horse and briefly glances back …
  • The strange woman is not there.

Act II: The Bloody Bridge

  • Back at Bryn Euryn, the forces of Rhos have gathered.  All forces but those of Lord Brochfael have assembled; the various Lords are armored and geared up as well.
  • Initially, Heddwyn is still on the hill, monitoring the Irish to ensure there are no surprises or last minute diversions. The messenger boy arrives and tells him Druid Adaryn said to give him these: two acorns that Heddwyn can feel nearly vibrating with magic. As to what they are, well … that’s probably another irritating druid riddle that he is to figure out himself.
  • Lord Hywel has finally started to sober up and will apologize most profusely to Bradán and Baron Owain – he does not have a warband, you see! Times have grown very tough for him so he has been unable to afford one.
  • The assembled warriors are all looking at one another with trepidation – some are hungover, some are partially drunk, some are drinking for courage, but all of them have, by now, learned of the force assembled before them.
  • Baron Owain gives a great speech about duty and honor and all of the men being better than the attacking Irish that fires everyone up and Bradán adds his own flair to it. The GM sort of envisions it like this but not given by the Imp.
  • Addiena wishes her brother good fortune, then pleads with Bradan to see to his safety if possible. She tells him that she will pray for his victory as well – note that she is organizing the people of Bryn Euryn and is armed with a wide-bladed dagger.There are many men who are staring at Marcus with some consternation. Word has spread that he is back from the Otherworld which they are unsure whether to take as a good omen or ill. He ignores them and concentrates on preparing for the long march.
  • During the march to the battlezone, Lord Idnerth will ask of Heddwyn what the omens are, whether they march to victory or death; the bard offers in the positive … and word quickly spreads.
  • Morgan asks Lady Goldeneyes if can stand at her side during the shieldwall – he promises that he will do his best to protect her ‘weak’ side (in that, the side that does not have a shield in it.) Meadhbh is not amused and tells him she doesn’t have a weak side. Marcus is greatly amused at the byplay and offers encouragement to Morgan to ‘keep trying to wear her down.’
  • Angus’ little hawks range around the war force and, as far as the warriors are concerned, just look like local peasants. They are thus ignored.
  • Gwion will catch up with the Rhos force shortly before the battle begins and can advise Lord Bradan of what he’s learned. Or rather, what he thinks he’s learned.
  • As they are approaching the expected contact point, Meadhbh can feel wolves in the region, ranging around them but mostly trying to steer clear of the Two Legs.
  • The Rhos force reaches the bridge just as the Irish do as well and the leader of the Irish stalks forward with only his three druids and one trusted man to defend him. Owain immediately decides to reciprocate and summons Bradán and Heddwyn. Realizing he is meant to be a translator, the bard produces one of the acorns and instructs Marcus to put it in his mouth, much to the other man’s confusion. The former Roman trusts his cousin, though, and does so, then returns the acorn. Heddwyn consumes it and lo! He can speak Irish!
  • As the two leaders move to converge, Heddwyn pushes by the Irish and continues closer to their warband where he bellows in Irish, “You are trespassing on the lands of the Welsh gods and any one of you who does not wish to anger those gods may leave now and be spared their wrath! Should you fall here, you will never see Tír na nÓg!“
  • As Owain does not speak Irish, he does not know what is said and unconsciously echoes the bard when he tells the Irish leader they are trespassing and must turn back or face death. The massive man responds with, “Tell him, druid, that I shall pillow my head on his corpse this night. Tell him his wife will be my whore, and that when I’ve exhausted her, she shall be the pleasure of my slaves. And tell that beardless fool (at Owain), that I shall cut off his hair and make it a plaything for my daughter’s cats. Tell him I shall carve a drinking cup from his skull and feed his belly to my dogs. Today, his black soul will go to the terrors of the Otherworld and that it will squirm in a circle of serpents forever. The memory of his death will amuse me in the long nights to come. Tell them all that, druid.“
  • Heddwyn translates this as “He said no” and Owain declares that they will fight then. He turns and walks back to the Rhos forces, banging his spear against his shield to alert them that battle is imminent while trusting Bradán to cover his back. Rather than just leave, Bradán loses his temper and instead tries to provoke the much larger by spitting in his face; the man’s second pulls him away a hair’s breadth away from him drawing steel and attacking right then.
  • The battle begins with sounding of horns and a wild charge. Both sides throw themselves at one another, but Bradán has managed to hold his troops back until the optimum time and the slaughter is terrible. Axe and sword and spear fly as the Irish wade into a kill pocket and are cut down remorselessly. Baron Owain is covered in glory as he throws down many Irishmen and so too is Lord Hywel, surprising everyone. Marcus draws much attention as he lays about with his sword – he never attacks first but when he counters, his blade destroys his foe’s shield and more often than not, leaves a man in the dirt. The bridge is slick with blood and entrails and shit, but the Irish have taken the worst of it: fully half of their force is now dead or dying.
  • Sensing the moment is right, Bradán orders a false retreat, hoping to lure the surviving Irish into an even more brutal slaughter – it works flawlessly and the Rhos warriors unleash their battle fury, cutting down all who they face. The Irish force is already broken when Meadhbh finds herself facing off with the leader who is already wounded. They exchange blows but his injuries and her quickness soon result in him falling. To the disbelief of the few surviving Irish, the warrior woman with the glinting golden eyes rams her blade through the man’s throat, killing him instantly. A retreat is attempted, but Rhos will not be denied its victory and the warriors swarm forward, cutting down all but a tiny few who manage to escape.
  • Victory. It has never tasted so sweet.

Act III: An Unexpected Opportunity

  • The battle was wholly one-sided, with Rhos taking only a few casualties. No one expected such a great victory (certainly not the GM!) but they still have another warband to face in the east. Heads are taken and put upon spears – Bradán shows once more his ruthlessness by decapitating the leader, cutting off the corpse’s manhood, and cramming the shaft into the dead man’s mouth. Morgan offers to carry the trophy upon his spear. Still, he proves his merit as a war commander by visiting with each man and telling them how well they fought.
  • Marcus finds himself the center of much attention as well and many warriors begin referring to him as “Shield-Breaker,” presuming he knows some ancient Roman trick that made him so terrible to face. Uncomfortable with this, he lets them all continue to think this and tries to ignore the sense of smug satisfaction radiating from the sheathed sword at his side. Surely he is imagining that…
  • Heddwyn is slightly surprised to discover that one of the three Irish druids has been slain – this is in violation of the Celtic code but no one knows who was responsible and everyone presumes that the man was killed in the melee or during the attempted (and panicked) retreat.
  • Baron Owain was lightly wounded and declares his intent to lead the other injured to Bryn Euryn (along with the loot.) This Bradán agrees to, especially as it gets his lord out of the battlefield, and the rest of the warband immediately march out. Within the hour, as the sun vanishes and night falls, the excitement of the victory begins to wear off and the men all find themselves fighting exhaustion. Bradán does what he can to keep their morale up during the long hike.
  • As they reach visual contact of the second warband, they find them just … sitting around. Druid Adaryn stands before them, with a great line of spears thrust into the ground and capped with skulls. A ghost fence! None of them have seen such a thing in their time, though it was spoken of often in their father’s age. The druid turns and returns through the Rhos force once they have assembled, pausing very briefly to frown in Gwion’s direction, as if he sensed something…
  • BruinnTheRedThe Irish leader advances alone and Bradán instructs Heddwyn to join him as he strides forward, reclaiming the spear with the dead Irish leader’s head from Morgan. At the sight of the head, the bearded Irishmen they are to me visibly snickers and Heddwyn can see just how amused and pleased the man is at the sight. This man, unlike the other, introduces himself as Bruinn the Red, and he is well-named, with bright copper hair and a very manly beard. When Heddwyn introduces Bradán, he does so by automatically adding the nickname Ddidostur (or ‘the Ruthless’) to the name without bothering to discuss this with the general. Bruinn is greatly amused at learning that the other Irishman died at the hands of a woman, then explains that they have put him in a difficult position. The dead man was his father’s son and by custom, he is obligated to seek vengeance … but at the same time, he is also in their debt because he hated Little Niull and wished him dead. Now that he is, it means Bruinn is his father’s only heir.
  • Heddwyn pounces. Perhaps an arrangement can be reached, he offers. Something that would satisfy the obligations of honor while preventing further bloodshed. They discuss options before finally agreeing that Bruinn will lead his force south to raid Rhufoniog – he and his men were only along on this for loot, and none of them will care where it comes from. Besides, with Niull dead and none of his warriors coming back, Bruinn returning with plunder will be seen as a great success for the surviving brother.
  • During this conversation in Irish, Bradán stands quietly, studying the Irish force and mentally planning. There are about as many of them as Rhos warriors and the manliness of this guy’s beard seems to indicate he will not be a great fool like the other man. When Heddwyn explains what he has arranged, Bradán considers it for a moment, then agrees. This maximizes Rhos’ success and minimizes their losses. He and Bruinn shake hands, one warrior to another. The Irish pack up and head south, eager for plunder.
  • Just in case, though, he and the Rhos warband do not return to Bryn Euryn until they see Bruinn’s force, now laden with treasure and captives, return to their ships and set sail with the morning tide.
  • As the new day dawns, the Rhos warriors return to Bryn Euryn, flush with victory. All in all, it has definitely been a good day for them…

Denouement

  • Upon returning, Angus immediately heads to check up on the captured spy, Amlodd ap Brys, but discovers him brutally murdered, his throat slit by a knife … a knife that Angus recognizes as his own!

GM Notes:

  • Aeronwen was believed to have died in 1×04 (although none of the players bought her death, which was fine.) As Gwion was not a PC at that time, he would not have intimate knowledge of the events, but he did grow up around Vertis and would have found out when he visited.
  • Alas, no one got my Obi-Wan Kenobi line with Argante … or if they did, they didn’t call me on it.
  • The mass battle did not go as I expected. I’d intended for a brutal slog with the expectation that Rhos would eventually emerge triumphant but experience heavy casualties, but instead, we got a one-sided massacre that lasted (really) two rounds (so an hour). Over half of the enemy forces were killed in the first round (All-Out Attack will do that to you) and all but 5% were killed in the second round. The dice just did not like the Irish. At all.
  • Little Niul’s words and Heddwyn’s short-lived translation of them came from the Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell (who is turning into one of my favorite authors after I discovered him) which are a retelling of the Arthurian mythos and have heavily influenced season 2 of Casus Belli. I’d mentioned a similar scene between that book’s POV character and a Saxon (who was later discovered to be the POV character’s dad) to Heddwyn’s player and he recognized his cue.
  • The practice of the druid’s standing on one leg while “cursing” the enemy and the ghost fence both come from the above-mentioned book.
  • Lord Serigi’s killing of an Irish druid was Gigermann’s idea following Serigi critically succeeding on a Significant Action in the Mass Combat – all of the players were also handling the nobles of Rhos during the battle and determining their risk level as well as rolling for both Significant Actions and Misfortunes of War. Given that druids are considered sacred, this is a horrifying act that is, currently, something of a secret. No one knows who killed him.
  • I really feel like I dropped the ball when Bradán spat in Little Niul’s face – it caught me by surprise and I did not react like I should have. Niul should have attacked, which would have caused both forces to hesitate and require someone else to step in as Commander for the first round as Bradán was effectively doing a Significant Action. Considering he and Niul were their respective force commanders, this means the temporary commanders (probably Marcus on the Rhos side) would have had to make a Leadership check or have their force be confused for round 1.
  • The denouement comes from Angus’ Enemy disadvantage triggering – I did not want him to be set upon by assassins but at the same time, with the Enemy triggering, something bad had to happen to him so I decided that the murder of a potential source of information was the best way to go.