Countess Ellen's court is held at Sarum.
Special Guests
Gossip
“Did you hear about the sword? The one in the stone in London City? It has writing that says it is for the king of Britain to pull out! What do you think?”
“Let me tell you, this looks like another one of Merlin's tricks, doesn’t it? Smacks of magic, so it must be him. Not the Lady of the Lake — she doesn’t care about the king and all. What do you think he’s up to?”
“Merlin? It’s a trick. Don’t you think we should all go take shelter at the abbey? Or maybe find some king out west who is still alive and beg to work for him?”
“As if the nuns will do a better job of protecting us than our knights. And life is hard enough here without being a refugee begging for food.”
“Then don’t you think we should just up and move to Brittany or something? Will the knights escort us there? Isn’t it Idres, and isn’t he a powerful king?”
“Listen, darling, no one wants you but us. We’ve got important business here. Do you know how to put out a fire? Are you ready to lug rocks for the walls? You can run away if you want. But if you are staying here, you’d better be ready to work like a giantess to save your life.”
News
Courier from Ulfius: “We need a king. A legitimate one, not that nonsense about the sword. The Supreme Collegium is going to meet at Silchester City. The candidates are coming from all across Britain. Ulfius is largely recovered from his wounds.”
Sir Brastias: “In London, at Saint Paul’s, there is a sword struck through an anvil and a stone that miraculously appeared in the courtyard. It has writing on it that says, ‘Only the king will pull me out,’ or something like that. It didn’t budge for me!
“Saxons everywhere are moving. They are in small groups, so we ought to fight them. The King of Malahaut sends word that Pict scouts are being seen all across the north. Merchants say that Irish ships are massing in the west, the Saxons are already on the march in the east, and that bastard Idres from Brittany is going to attack from the south.”
The Countess
Prince Aescwine is the son of the King of Essex. He is here to discuss peace and tribute. He says that if we pay tribute to him now, he will guarantee peace for us and protection from any enemy who invades. He wants 100 cattle and 100 pounds of silver. He stresses that he does not demand our vassalage, though such an expression of loyalty would require less tribute and get us even more privileges.
New Walls: Among other topics of discussion is the building of new walls around Sarum city and the castle proper. They ought to be built of stone to increase their defensive value. It will cost £20 to enclose the castle, and £100 for the entire city.
It takes about a summer to build one of these walls with the available help, so the city could be enclosed after four years of work, or it could be enclosed in one year by a wall that was only one-quarter the full normal height.
Money needs to come from outside sources, but this project should be undertaken. The county itself generally has no extra money to spend for this. This is where knights come in, of course, as benefactors.