Session 1 - Prologue
Player Characters: Barbara Crowley (Level 0 Thief), Christopher Crowley (Level 0 Magister), David Underhill (Level 0 Fighter), Dawn (Level 0 Thief), Duncan (Level 0 Scots Man), Elizabeth Saintjohn (Level 0 Cleric).
YEAR 1453, JULY
Frogland, Battle of Castillon.
The Loss of Castillon was one of the worst defeats ever suffered by Albion. After this, the Frogmen reconquered all of the Anglish lands on the Continent with the sole exception of Calais.
(Scene 1) Lord Crowley (accompanied by his sons, Alexander and Christopher) is serving in the Albion army under the command of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. The Earl leads his army into a fortified Frogmen encampment without waiting for reinforcements, believing that the enemy was retreating, and refuses to withdraw even after realizing the strength of the French position, causing his men to suffer extensive casualties from the Frogmen knights, dark magics, and walking dead. Commander Talbot's horse is hit by a foul magical projectile and dies, pinning its master under him; despite the Crowley's attempt to save him, a frogman knight kills the Anglish commander. The Anglish army is routed, Lord Crowley and Alexander manage to control their unit for an organized retreat. Christopher is knocked down by a frogman spear, his horse rides away with him and he is separated from the others and lost.
(Scene 2) Against his will, David Underhill is fighting on the fringe of the battle. He notices the horse with the unconscious knight and controls the beast, saving the young man. Revived, Christopher joins forces with Underhill in organizing a retreat to save as many lives as possible. They are joined by refugees loyal to Albion. On the way they are attacked by frogmen and human soldiers, and after a desperate resistance they manage to help the refugees cross the channel back to Albion. The two then escape to Calais.
Albion, Crowley Estate in Northumberland.
(Scene 3) Barbara Crowley hears from her mother the story of how Lord Crowley saved her during the war and they fell in love "like in the tales". Later, she entertains Owen Hautreeve, one of her many suitors. Supposedly the young knight was hurt during a tournament and missed the opportunity to travel to Frogland to fight in the battle, but she tests him until she's sure he faked his injury to avoid the war. She believes him to be a coward and not at all bright, but enjoys his good looks. While Barbara and Owen are together, a jealous Duncan observes from afar, until interrupted by Dawn, who pressures him into talking about his past.
YEAR 1445, Flashback. Duncan remembers how he became friends with a hostage taken by his clan - young Christopher Crowley, who taught him how to read.
YEAR 1451, Flashback. Duncan recounts how he fell in love with the daughter of the leader from an enemy clan, who was betrothed to his own clan’s future leader (his cousin). That marriage was supposed to bring peace between the clans, and when they were discovered, Duncan’s cousin challenged him to a duel. He preferred to run instead of risking killing a kinsman, and his lover followed him. They were ambushed and tried to escape, but she was wounded in the fight and bled out. Going into a rage, Duncan killed many of his kinsmen that day, and ran away to the south. He sought out the young Anglish nobleman who had been his hostage and now Duncan serves House Crowley as a bodyguard and hired sword.
Albion, a Monastery in Northumberland.
(Scene 4) The acolyte Elizabeth (formerly a servant of the Crowley family before she was chosen by the Unconquered Sun) receives Urswick, a priest of the Church. The priest orders her to perform a series of unimportant tasks as part of her duties, and she complies. One of the tasks was to retrieve a relic of the Church - a golden sun disk - from one of the monastery's guarded rooms for cleaning. She brings the relic to Urswick, who keeps it and dismisses her. On the following day, he is nowhere to be found and she discovers she was manipulated into unknowingly stealing the relic for him. She secretly vowed to retrieve the item, and leaves the monastery to ask for help at the Crowley Estate.
Calais, Last Anglish Fortress in Frogland.
(Scene 5) David and Christopher are reunited with Lord Crowley and Alexander. When they arrive at the camp, they hear Alexander trying to convince Lord Crowley to not look for Christopher; "The boy was useless", he says. David barges into the tent in defense of the young man, telling how his strategies and planning saved many people. Alexander and David immediately hate each other and Lord Crowley has to intervene to avoid bloodshed. That night Lord Crowley tells Christopher he doesn't care if he's not a warrior and that he'll arrange either the best tutors so he can become a magister or the best teachers if he wants to practice his sword skills. He also recounts how his wife was a noble with ancient lands in Anjou, now under frogmen dominion; and says he fears they will never recover Eleanor's ancestral home. On the following day, the three cross the channel back to Albion.
Albion, Crowley Estate in Northumberland.
(Scene 6) Elizabeth is received by Barbara and Dawn; she tells what happened to her. Barbara says she can stay there and the three women spend some time sharing their misfortunes (Barbara sounds annoying, since her "misfortune" is being too pretty and having many rich suitors). Outside, while on patrol, Duncan notices someone unknown in the manor's grounds. He follows and notices the man preparing to shoot a crossbow at the three women. Duncan quickly attacks and kills the man before he could shoot. When the three come see what happened, both Elizabeth and Dawn believe the man was trying to kill her, and even Barbara is not sure she wasn't the target - unfortunately, as the would-be-assassin is dead, they can't be sure. After being scolded, Duncan investigates the body and finds a note scribbled in a language none of them understand; they keep it to ask Christopher about it (since they know he speaks many languages) upon his return.
(End of Session 1)