What are the deeper powers of chaos within Dark Europe right within the backyard of the English countryside? Why do dark cult roots run deep within the confines of the darker corners of Europe? What does this have to do with another part of a classic TSR adventure? Let's pull the sword from the stone and get right on to the throne.
I've already spoken about the 81 John Boorman Excalibur film at length but I want to go deeper still into some of the background and depths of running this with the Lion & Dragon Rretroclone system.
Now the other day I was speaking about B3 Palace of the Silver Princess & it being cursed by the Morgan Le Fey line to be taken off to Fairyland?
I've already spoken about the 81 John Boorman Excalibur film at length but I want to go deeper still into some of the background and depths of running this with the Lion & Dragon Rretroclone system.
Now the other day I was speaking about B3 Palace of the Silver Princess & it being cursed by the Morgan Le Fey line to be taken off to Fairyland?
Now why would they do that? Well because the adventure location of B3 might hold what might be considered one of the holy relics of Christendom in the Holy Grail. Or least that's the thought of the forces of the Catholics during the Catholic Intervention.
What's actually in the dungeons of B3 is much more dangerous. The palace has warped back into the Welsh countryside in a nice little hidden valley and the following rumor has been making its rounds within the groves of various witch cults and into local taverns across England.
"Not long ago, the valley was green and animals ran free through golden fields of grain. The Princess Argenta ruled over this peaceful land and the people were secure and happy. Then one day, a warrior riding a white dragon appeared in the skies over the castle, and almost overnight the tiny kingdom fell into ruin. Now only ruins and rumors remain, and what legends there are tell of a fabulous treasure still buried somewhere within the Palace of the Silver Princess."
There is a faction of upper English royals who have been at the helm of steering England's course in world events for a very long time & they're inner circle has been lead & advised by the unliving head of Bran The Blessed.
"The survivors are told by a mortally wounded Bran to cut off his head and to return it to Britain.[3] For seven years the seven survivors stay in Harlech, where they are entertained by Bran's head, which continues to speak. They later move on to Gwales (often identified with Grassholm Island off Dyfed) where they live for eighty years without perceiving the passing of time. Eventually, Heilyn fab Gwyn opens the door of the hall facing Cornwall and the sorrow of what had befallen them returns. As instructed they take the now silent head to the Gwynfryn, the "White Hill" (thought to be the location where the Tower of London now stands), where they bury it facing France so as to ward off invasion. The imagery of the talking head is widely considered to derive from the ancient Celtic "cult of the head"; the head was considered the home of the soul."
Bran begins to appear in the adventurers dreams warning them of the dire threat they face within the dungeons of the palace. Wizards & other occultists might be familiar with him through his legendary presence within the production of brazen heads.
The Catholic forces think that one of the final resting places of the Holy Grail is within the Palace but in actuality its the unliving abomination in the form of
Efnisien! An undead giant who sacrificed himself to destroy Bran's Cauldron of Rebirth against his half brother's enemies! But the dead don't rest easy once touched by the occult forces of chaos!
The bloodline of Efnisien runs straight through Mordred's veins & has been the source for much of the headaches for the Morgan line! Many of the characteristics of both run from the source.
"Mordred (referred to as Modredus) is found in Geoffrey's Historia, written around 1136; here, he is portrayed as the nephew of and traitor to Arthur. The account describes Arthur leaving Mordred in charge of his throne as he crossed the English Channel to wage war on Emperor Lucius of Rome. During Arthur's absence, Mordred crowns himself king and lives in an adulterous union with Arthur's wife, Guinevere. Geoffrey does not make it clear how complicit Guinevere is with Mordred's actions, simply stating that the Queen had "broken her vows" and "about this matter... [he] prefers to say nothing."[8] This forces Arthur to return to Britain to fight at the Battle of Camlann, where Mordred is ultimately slain. Arthur, having been mortally wounded in battle, is sent to Avalon.
"Not long ago, the valley was green and animals ran free through golden fields of grain. The Princess Argenta ruled over this peaceful land and the people were secure and happy. Then one day, a warrior riding a white dragon appeared in the skies over the castle, and almost overnight the tiny kingdom fell into ruin. Now only ruins and rumors remain, and what legends there are tell of a fabulous treasure still buried somewhere within the Palace of the Silver Princess."
There is a faction of upper English royals who have been at the helm of steering England's course in world events for a very long time & they're inner circle has been lead & advised by the unliving head of Bran The Blessed.
"The survivors are told by a mortally wounded Bran to cut off his head and to return it to Britain.[3] For seven years the seven survivors stay in Harlech, where they are entertained by Bran's head, which continues to speak. They later move on to Gwales (often identified with Grassholm Island off Dyfed) where they live for eighty years without perceiving the passing of time. Eventually, Heilyn fab Gwyn opens the door of the hall facing Cornwall and the sorrow of what had befallen them returns. As instructed they take the now silent head to the Gwynfryn, the "White Hill" (thought to be the location where the Tower of London now stands), where they bury it facing France so as to ward off invasion. The imagery of the talking head is widely considered to derive from the ancient Celtic "cult of the head"; the head was considered the home of the soul."
Bran begins to appear in the adventurers dreams warning them of the dire threat they face within the dungeons of the palace. Wizards & other occultists might be familiar with him through his legendary presence within the production of brazen heads.
The Catholic forces think that one of the final resting places of the Holy Grail is within the Palace but in actuality its the unliving abomination in the form of
Efnisien! An undead giant who sacrificed himself to destroy Bran's Cauldron of Rebirth against his half brother's enemies! But the dead don't rest easy once touched by the occult forces of chaos!
The bloodline of Efnisien runs straight through Mordred's veins & has been the source for much of the headaches for the Morgan line! Many of the characteristics of both run from the source.
"Mordred (referred to as Modredus) is found in Geoffrey's Historia, written around 1136; here, he is portrayed as the nephew of and traitor to Arthur. The account describes Arthur leaving Mordred in charge of his throne as he crossed the English Channel to wage war on Emperor Lucius of Rome. During Arthur's absence, Mordred crowns himself king and lives in an adulterous union with Arthur's wife, Guinevere. Geoffrey does not make it clear how complicit Guinevere is with Mordred's actions, simply stating that the Queen had "broken her vows" and "about this matter... [he] prefers to say nothing."[8] This forces Arthur to return to Britain to fight at the Battle of Camlann, where Mordred is ultimately slain. Arthur, having been mortally wounded in battle, is sent to Avalon.
A number of Welsh sources also refer to Medraut, usually in relation to Camlann. One triad, based on Geoffrey's Historia, provides an account of his betrayal of Arthur;[9]
in another, he is described as the author of one of the "Three
Unrestrained Ravagings of the Isle of Britain" – he came to Arthur's
court at Kelliwic in Cornwall, devoured all of the food and drink, and even dragged Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere) from her throne and beat her."
Certain radical factions among the witch cults want to see the monster of Efnisien released among humanity. The legacy of Efnisien is that he is now worshiped as a twisted chaos resurrection god?!
Because of the palace's time within Fairyland tossed about like a ship upon the forces of weirdness & chaos. Efnisien has become even more twisted then he was before & only the PC's can keep him chained up in the dungeon. There's also the fact that someone or something has been putting the pieces of Bran's cauldron of resurrection back together again with magic most foul. What sort of possible Lovecraftian powers might have had a claw in this? Clark Ashton Smith's Mother of Toads (1934) goes into the dark connections to a possible source for the Frog Princes behind the powers of the other side of the Le Fey lines.
Certain radical factions among the witch cults want to see the monster of Efnisien released among humanity. The legacy of Efnisien is that he is now worshiped as a twisted chaos resurrection god?!
Because of the palace's time within Fairyland tossed about like a ship upon the forces of weirdness & chaos. Efnisien has become even more twisted then he was before & only the PC's can keep him chained up in the dungeon. There's also the fact that someone or something has been putting the pieces of Bran's cauldron of resurrection back together again with magic most foul. What sort of possible Lovecraftian powers might have had a claw in this? Clark Ashton Smith's Mother of Toads (1934) goes into the dark connections to a possible source for the Frog Princes behind the powers of the other side of the Le Fey lines.
The Modred bloodline is another area where familial events got away from the Le Fey royal family & this certainly displeased the other family's occult sponsors. There isn't simply one set of Deep Ones but two the second are the Frog Princes who are a subspecies scattered throughout the French regions. Notice that in the Lion & Dragon rule book both the Frog Men & the Fish Men are listed on the same page. The Frog Princes watch from plain sight within the swamps of Paris while the Hundred Years War rages on around Europe.
The Modred bloodline exists & from time to time an anti paladin or anti hero of the people is produced. Or perhaps these champions of chaos are the true heroes? Looking into the Arthurian literature we find yet another Le Fey candidate for Modred in Arthur's half sister of Morgause.
"Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his half-sister Morgause, though in many modern adaptations she is merged with the character of Morgan le Fay. In earlier literature, he was considered the legitimate son of Morgause, also known as Anna, with her husband King Lot of Orkney. His brothers or half-brothers are Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth.
Medraut is never considered Arthur's son in Welsh texts, only his nephew, though The Dream of Rhonabwy
mentions that the king had been his foster father. However, Mordred's
later characterization as the king's villainous son has a precedent in
the figure of Amhar (or Amr), a son of Arthur's known from only two references. The more important of these, found in an appendix to the Historia Britonum, describes his marvellous grave beside the Herefordshire spring where he had been slain by his own father in some unchronicled tragedy.[11][12] What connection exists between the stories of Amr and Mordred, if there is one, has never been satisfactorily explained.
The 14th-century Scottish chronicler John of Fordun
even claimed that Mordred was the rightful heir to the throne of
Britain, as Arthur was an illegitimate child (in his account, Mordred
was the legitimate son of Lot and Anna). This sentiment was elaborated
upon by Walter Bower and by Hector Boece, who in his Historia Gentis Scotorum goes so far as to say Arthur and Gawain were traitors and villains who stole the throne from Mordred."
The dream of Camelot ended on a battlefield & with the shattered bonds of the knights scattered in blood & wreckage. The Elven gambit did not go as planned but they fed on the remains & were able to take Arthur and the sword of power back to Avalon.
The dream of Camelot ended on a battlefield & with the shattered bonds of the knights scattered in blood & wreckage. The Elven gambit did not go as planned but they fed on the remains & were able to take Arthur and the sword of power back to Avalon.
Meanwhile the elder frog royalty far below the streets of Paris has continued to turn their unblinking eyes by erasing their own retaking of the legendary city of Ys from human memory.
"Ys was built on land reclaimed from the sea[1] by Gradlon (Gralon in Breton), King of Cornouaille (Kerne in Breton), upon the request of his daughter Dahut (also called Ahes)[2], who loved the sea. To protect Ys from inundation, a dike was built with a gate that was opened for ships during low tide. The one key that opened the gate was held by the king.[3]
"Ys was built on land reclaimed from the sea[1] by Gradlon (Gralon in Breton), King of Cornouaille (Kerne in Breton), upon the request of his daughter Dahut (also called Ahes)[2], who loved the sea. To protect Ys from inundation, a dike was built with a gate that was opened for ships during low tide. The one key that opened the gate was held by the king.[3]
Ys is described as a city rich in commerce and the arts, with Gradlon's palace being made of marble, cedar and gold.[3]
Other versions of the legend tell that Ys was founded more than 2,000
years before Gradlon's reign in a then-dry location off the current
coast of the Bay of Douarnenez, but the Breton coast had slowly given
way to the sea so that Ys was under it at each high tide when Gradlon's
reign began.[citation needed]
Most versions of the legend present Gradlon as a pious man with a
wayward daughter, princess Dahut, who “had made a crown of her vices and
taken for her pages the seven capital sins.”[3]
Princess Dahut had a lover for whom she threw a secret banquet and,
under the influence of wine, she stole the key to the gate from her
father and opened the gate, and the water submerged the entire city.[3]
Another version of the legend says that she stole the silver key to
admit her lover, mistakenly opening the sluices in the dark. [3]
St Gwénnolé,
who, according to one version, had foretold the city's ruin due to its
luxury, woke the king and commanded him to flee. He mounted his horse
and took his daughter with him. As the water was about to overtake him, a
voice called out: “Throw the demon thou carriest into the sea, if thou
dost not desire to perish.” Dahut fell from the horse's back, and
Gradlon was saved.[3]
Though this is the most common version, there's an ancient ballad
that blames Gradlon himself for leading his people to extravagances of
every kind and says that Dahut received the key from him."
There are large fresco & artworks in the palace of B3 that depict not only Ys but its connection to the Elven rebellion & its occult connections to the Deep One royalty. There are shades of both Lovecraft & Clark Ashton Smith here. There are echoes here of CAS's The Holiness of Azédarc.
The return of the palace of B3 could be a tipping point for the Protestant's decline within Bohemia. The witch cults are soundly & quietly defeated in certain key areas of Europe & key occult forces are soundly defeated.
"The Catholic League's army (which included René Descartes in its ranks as an observer) pacified Upper Austria, while Imperial forces under Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly, pacified Lower Austria. The two armies united and moved north into Bohemia. Ferdinand II decisively defeated Frederick V at the Battle of White Mountain, near Prague, on 8 November 1620. In addition to becoming Catholic, Bohemia remained in Habsburg hands for nearly 300 years. This defeat led to the dissolution of the League of Evangelical Union and the loss of Frederick V's holdings despite the tenacious defence of Trebon, Bohemia (under Colonel Seton) until 1622 and Frankenthal (under Colonel Vere) the following year.[35] Frederick was outlawed from the Holy Roman Empire, and his territories, the Rhenish Palatinate, were given to Catholic nobles. His title of elector of the Palatinate was given to his distant cousin, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. Frederick, now landless, made himself a prominent exile abroad and tried to curry support for his cause in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark-Norway.
There are large fresco & artworks in the palace of B3 that depict not only Ys but its connection to the Elven rebellion & its occult connections to the Deep One royalty. There are shades of both Lovecraft & Clark Ashton Smith here. There are echoes here of CAS's The Holiness of Azédarc.
The return of the palace of B3 could be a tipping point for the Protestant's decline within Bohemia. The witch cults are soundly & quietly defeated in certain key areas of Europe & key occult forces are soundly defeated.
"The Catholic League's army (which included René Descartes in its ranks as an observer) pacified Upper Austria, while Imperial forces under Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly, pacified Lower Austria. The two armies united and moved north into Bohemia. Ferdinand II decisively defeated Frederick V at the Battle of White Mountain, near Prague, on 8 November 1620. In addition to becoming Catholic, Bohemia remained in Habsburg hands for nearly 300 years. This defeat led to the dissolution of the League of Evangelical Union and the loss of Frederick V's holdings despite the tenacious defence of Trebon, Bohemia (under Colonel Seton) until 1622 and Frankenthal (under Colonel Vere) the following year.[35] Frederick was outlawed from the Holy Roman Empire, and his territories, the Rhenish Palatinate, were given to Catholic nobles. His title of elector of the Palatinate was given to his distant cousin, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. Frederick, now landless, made himself a prominent exile abroad and tried to curry support for his cause in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark-Norway.
This was a serious blow to Protestant ambitions in the region. As the
rebellion collapsed, the widespread confiscation of property and
suppression of the Bohemian nobility ensured the country would return to
the Catholic side after more than two centuries of Hussite
and other religious dissent. The Spanish, seeking to outflank the Dutch
in preparation for renewal of the Eighty Years' War, took Frederick's
lands, the Electorate of the Palatinate. The first phase of the war in
eastern Germany ended 31 December 1621, when the prince of Transylvania
and the emperor signed the Peace of Nikolsburg, which gave Transylvania a number of territories in Royal Hungary."
Events had only begun in Germany and old haunts within the Black Forrest were stirring! Mankind had made strides and gains
But these gains were paid in blood & more chaos allowing the forces of the growing darkness to move across Europe mostly unchecked & unseen. This sets up the things very nicely in Germany coming up!
Events had only begun in Germany and old haunts within the Black Forrest were stirring! Mankind had made strides and gains
But these gains were paid in blood & more chaos allowing the forces of the growing darkness to move across Europe mostly unchecked & unseen. This sets up the things very nicely in Germany coming up!
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