The Arthuriad 3:1
The Birth of Arthus and the Death of Uthor Part 1
Greetings gentle sentients!
Grave news on the story front today. As was prophesied by Balise Uthor is beginning to suffer the second and fatal relapse of his sickness. This chapter has him making plans in the event of the barons rising up again after his death. These plans won’t come to fruition for a few years in story time, but if I can juggle the drafting with my internship, you will not have to wait a full seven years to see Uthor’s son crowned king.
525-538 A.C.
Now after the end of the war with Vortregan and the marriage feast of Uthor and Ygraine there was peace in the land. The chroniclers of later years would look to this as the high point of Uthor’s reign. In time Ygraine bore him a daughter named Brilicent, a fair and ruddy child brimming with health and vitality. Uthor rejoiced in this child, even though by the law of the land she would not be able to inherit the crown. This daughter would later be wed to Uriens of Serrena in order to bind that island with the kingdom of the mainland. She was a good woman and a devoted supporter of her brother when he inherited the throne.
Ygraine’s next child was also a daughter. The child was dark of hair and green of eye. She was christened Morganna, and she would become known as Morganna ap Fel signifying her having been fostered by the fair folk after the death of her father. In later days, she would become a sorceress of great repute, having studied under the greatest mages of the fair folk. She would be both a foe and a friend to Uthor as the changeable feyness of her mood dictated.
But the last child Ygraine bore Uthor was a son and following the counsel that Myrdwin had given him those many years ago Uthor christened the son Arthus a word signifying bear in the tongue of the Cymru. Even in the short time that Uthor lived to know his son upon this earth he could see that the words of Myrdwin his counselor were not in vain and that the youth was fair and showed promise of physical and mental strength. Uthor cherished his son above all other of his children, and as the boy grew he often wished that fate had granted him the ability to live hale and healthy in order to see his son grow into manhood.
However, Uthor knew that his time as Lord of Mercu was drawing to an end. He had had a good reign and despite the struggle with his brother which had left much ruin upon the land was loved by his people. Even as he felt the wasting sickness return and enfeeble his limbs, he knew that he had fulfilled the prophecies of Myrdwin in preparing the kingdom for the coming of his son. But he feared the rapidity and avarice of his younger barons, and knew that after he died they would likely try to seize the throne for themselves. Several indeed who lacked the loyalty of their deceased fathers had openly made such a threat when the sickness of the king became common knowledge.
So being a wise king, Uthor made preparations. He sent Brillicent into exile on the island of Serrena with Ygraine, her mother. There they would stay until Arthus came to the throne of his father. He sent Morganna into the west with her nursemaids where she was taken up by a company of the fair folk who brought her and her companions with them to the hidden land of Annain, where those people had established a refuge during the dark days.
But Uthor could not bear to be separated from Arthus who was a bright and cheerful boy of three years. This fond weakness almost proved to be the undoing of the whole kingdom. In the year 538 A.C. Ortere, Bademagus, and Devorron barons of the king rebelled and commenced a siege of the great citadel at Carmleon. There was much fighting and the champions of the king fought to their utmost. At this time Uthor was too weak to lead the troops himself and this was left to the direction of Constantine the Wise and the others of the five worthies.
The castle was of an immense girth, and the rebels forces were yet few in number in those early days of the rebellion. Thus, the forces of the king held out much longer than a seasoned tactician might have expected. But soon more barons of the king rose in revolt and joined the forces besieging Carmleon. In the winter of that year during the twelfth month near Yuletide the forces of the barons overran the city. The accounts of the devastation of that night paint a clear picture of the wrack and ruin that the young rebels visited on the city and the kingdom that night. Shops were burned and houses were put to the torch, in the wide plazas of the city women and children were slaughtered indiscriminately, and their bodies were left where they had fallen.
The men of the king tried to defend the city as best as they could, but it was a battle they would not win, though no historian has counted their valor any less for trying. In that affray Constantine the Wise, and Cambrosis the son of Corlin were slain. Constantine the Wise it is said was slain on the steps of the king’s palace itself trying to save his lord and the child from the mob that had surrounded the palace with the design of putting that ancient stone hall to the torch. Perhaps if Myrdwin would have been there the defense of the city would not have gone so ill, but Uthor had sent the wizard to Noutumbra in order to prevent the Pictrim and the Paynim from taking advantage of the kingdom’s civil discords.
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this. I realize it is a little slow and short, but next week’s post should make up for that.
As always, I would welcome any comments or feedback you have down below.
Next week should be the second part of this chapter. It’s the saddest part in the story so far, but it is hopeful at the end. If I don’t appear in your inbox for a while after next week, I wish all of you health and fortune.
Best,
Noah