Merlin Monroe et alia

I just had an idea for a grayish-morality, sympathically villainous organization for my upcoming 1020s City by the Bay (San Francisco) CoC campaign, currently tentatively titled "The Fog Hides", "Who Are You When the Fog is in You?", and/or "When Will the Fog Reach Home?" My group is full of queerdos, mostly all involved in a chain of nonmonogamy ("polycule") around the new eldritch monster in my life. PCs: Lesbian journalist who came to SF to get away from homophobic Orthodox Jewish family Chinese-American waiter struggling to resist the tong violence they've been pushed into by racist society parapsychologist/former freakshow act who doesn't realize he's a deep one hybrid ghoul zealot, deity tbd Thought I'd start with the adventure "The Ferry Ride" from *Secrets of San Francisco*, in which a midnight ferry ride is interrupted by a mysterious junk (Chinese boat) carrying Mythos-opium. Masked people then sneak on & take the cargo, implying that they knew it was there & had something to do with its passage from China to the Bay without a living soul on board. Here's the idea. What do you think? Point me at inspirations? Any ideas to flesh it out? A small cult (name TBD) of Uranians (homosexuals) worships the Magnum Innominandum/Nameless Mist & Hastur. Hearing their entire life that they harbor the Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name, they take these beings as patrons, as unnameable as their love. The cult fought (met?) in China during WWI, discovering nightmare opium & hatched a plan to smuggle it into the States by TBD magical means for TBD ends (possibly just money). I'd make them the primary lurking threat to start the campaign, leading (hopefully) to my PCs finding it difficult to oppose them, as they certainly understand what homophobia feels like. At that point, it would be up to the players whether they become allies, enemies, frenemies, enimallies, a resource, a project, whatever. Thoughts? Ideas?

Is there any really juicy lore about the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury? One of my PKs has a thing with it, and I'm looking for cool stuff I can weave into the story.....

I've been reading Beyond the Wall to research my Pictish knight's background (Uhtred mac Doughall mac Unust mac Cadal, called le Beau) ~ but we're in 480 e.v. and that book is set in 521 e.v. or so? It's definitely helping me get an idea of geography and culture and things, but most of the characters named in the book I feel the need to not use, since I can't assume they are around ~ or even born yet! ~ 41 years before the book is set. Does anyone have any info on, like, who ruled Escoce or Caithness or Lothian in 480? Or just anyone cool running around Caledonia at this early date? (ftr, Uhtred is a child of the Decantae, whose grandaddy killed Constantin in revenge for Constantin having his way with Unust's sister and maybe being his nephew's daddy. Unust and his family came down to Jagent at Vortigern's request, but Doughall came back to Salisbury after being sent to fight in Aquitaine as a dissenter to woo AEife, Uhtred's mama.)

So we have Paladin, obviously, and according to this post https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/14108-current-future-pendragon-6th-edition-books/?do=getNewComment we're gonna have a book on the Matter of Greece and the Matter of Japan. I'm thinking about this, and . . . Y'know, those two are the ones that I've definitely heard the most about over the years, and the Matter of France only makes sense as a follow up to the Matter of Britain, but.... there are 1.5 other canonical Matters left unaddressed (the Matter of Rome and the Matter of Spain) and like.... I would quite enjoy if the game (at this point we're needing a name for the engine itself, tbh) applied much more globally ~ the Matter of Kuru, for example (based on the Mahabharata) or the Matter of Teotihuacan (Quetzalcoatl and Xochiquetzal and them) or, for that matter, the Matter of the Conquest (Cortez and Cuauhtemoc and Malinche and all that) or the Matter of Mali (Sundiata) or or or.... Do y'all think any of that is likely? If they were to do another Matter after the Greece and Japan books, what do you think it would be?

Hmmm.....my question about other Pendragon Engine games (Powered by Excalibur?) brought my idea about a Matter of Pride campaign up again. That is, a Great Pendragon Campaign equivalent tracking the history of queer liberation in the US stretching from 1927 or so to 2013 or so, with the initial "family history" equivalent dating back to 1887 or so (maybe longer once I actually read BoSi). That would cover things like cowboy culture being a home for disaffected/illegal lgbtq+ (or equivalent) people, the Boston Marriage, the development of the identity of homosexuality, the Homophile Society/Daughters of Bilitis era, the powerful effect of World War 2 on queer history, Stonewall/Compton's Cafeteria, gay lib, AIDS, ACT-UP, Will & Grace, etc. The biggest question I have before I can get started, really, is with what I might replace Pendragon's cultures ~ there's 5 in Pendragon mainstream. So far I've had two sets of ideas ~ one socioeconomic (Urban, Suburban, Rural, Homeless, and Immigrant) and one regional (West Coast, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast). Of the two, I'm happier with the latter, but I'm not certain that'sn the way to go ~ whadday'all think?

I was going over the spiritual information in Beyond the Wall cuz one of my characters is a Pict and I really enjoyed the writeups of the samhladhs ~ it felt more in tune with my (very vaguely) analogous spiritual experiences and understandings than other similar rpg interpretations of similar things. It got me thinking.... KAP itself is, quite rightly, focused on knights and we all know the awkward position magician PCs have had in it through the years, but/and has everyone tried to adapt KAP for an all-magician kind of campaign? Either, like, an all-PCs-are-Ladies-of-the-Lake kind of a thing or like mebbe something vaguely like the Matter of Hogwarts or some other kind of all-magician campaign? Or, since warriors can also invoke spirits, perhaps just ~ has anyone done like a KAP campaign set entirely in Caledonia/with Pictish PCs? (or analogous other setting situation)

Do please send me the map when you do, if you would! What year in-game would they have come into being? Female knights would play into a big theme of my game (since my two ace players, one cis-ish and one nonbinary, both created ladies-masquerading-as-knights ~ Sir Briant took her dead brother's name to prevent an evil Aunt from taking the family estate and Sir Jasper was told by the Cymru that adopted her that she had to pretend to be a man in order to be sure of inheriting his manor) Do you know where I could get a quick breakdown of the character and their themes? I'ven't read the Faerie Queene yet. Also, when does Artgualchar become the earl, is that an identifiable thing? Thank you, all three of you for your responses!

I'm wondering about building up the background of Sir Sansum ap AElwyn Wuerense, called the Stormcloud, the step-father of one of my PKs, Sir Uhtred mac Doughall, called le Beau. Is Wuerensis ever detailed in any of the books? Online resources? Or are the scant bits in Book of Uther all/most of what I have to go on?

I think the difficulty is that I'm having trouble finding the action of Trusting-vs.-Suspicious conflicts. Like, when I imagine various and sundry scenes in which I might want someone to make a rule, I find myself asking "Can you?" questions (which are Skill questions) rather than "Do you?" questions (which are Trait questions ~ mebbe also Passion questions? *shrug* I dunno, Passions are my biggest GM weakness atm).....

I'm having some trouble figuring out how to set up a Suspicious v. Trusting dilemma/challenge.... How do y'all do it? What are some good examples film y'all's games?

oof. Player Knights will be the death of me, in all the best ways. We're in 480, the first year of the Book of Uther. Revna Friggasdottir of Skane, a.k.a. Sir Jasper ap Hewgon, who was told by Merlin the Magician that a new type of warrior was coming whose power came from the force of their virtue rather than the strength of their arm, and that he was the first, the Knight of Women, struck down the newly minted Sir Madoc ap Uther ap Constantin within a single medieval hour of his recognition by his father. Why, you might ask? Because his second in the Knighting Ceremony was Sir Gouvernail, who had struck Jasper down before he called upon the power of his goddess to rise him up and strike Gouvernail down for his continued attempt to slake his thirst upon the ahem virtue of a servant girl. So, this session, they arrive at the battle-camp near Bodenham for the Battle of Salisbury, and a deathly ill Aurelius Ambrosius summons Sir Jasper to his tent. Where he proceeds to yell and rage at the Cymru-adopted Northman for slaughtering his way up Aurelius's family tree. After some quite skillful oration on the part of Sir Jasper and his friend Sir Briatn ap Gerin, styled of the Open Hand, the High King relents and scars Sir Jasper's face (quite consensually) to balance the scales. Jasper being so happy and willing to do it as a way to make things right (cuz Northman, duh) really made it hit extra hard when I as DM stepped in to say, "And with that wounding of the Knight of Women by the High King, Guinevere's marriage is doomed." Anyway, Revna proceeds to use the blood to bless the High King with healing.... ....and crits the Generous roll!!!! I left it somewhat ambiguous, but/and it's gonna feel hella cheap and deprotagonizing if I let Eopa just give the Pendragon a higher dose of stronger stuff and kill him anyway. What do I do??? How do I get rid of Aurelius Ambrosius to allow Uther his reign? How does everything change if Sir Jasper has saved the Pendragon's life? Any ideas?

I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier this month ~ does "The Matter of Pride" strike any ideas in you? Say.... 1945 (with the return from the war) to 2025? (80 years, the same length as the GPC). Family lines sometimes hereditary (cuz queers do child sometimes, whether the usual way or by adopting) but likely more love/relationship based (my PC is the lover of the lover of the lover of my original PC). Pride switching off with Valorous as the primary Virtue of knighthood, romance existing alongside playing home (a.k.a., gentlewomanliness) and fierceness (a.k.a., chivalry), etc.

Considia Apis Though everyone knows the truth of considia’s parentage, without the Pendragon’s official recognition, it matters only in Aurelius’s doting on this third daughter of a lady-in-waiting of Bees Clearing manor in County Ascalon, near the border with Cornwall. The gossips say that her father merely wants to protect her from the roughness of her uncle, the current heir apparent. Uther is a sweaty, mighty-thewed terror on the battlefield, not an ambitious politician, but perhaps it is indeed best for Considia that she not be between him and the throne, should anything happen to Aurelius Ambrosius. Her cognomen is a bit humorous, considering her home. That was merely a side benefit of the name, however, as it was a name given her for her legendary work habits. A beauty of twenty-four years upon this earth, she stands as an inspiration to most of the inhabitants of Logres, of any gender, and a shame to the rest. In truth, she has a poor reputation among those who have worked with her. Though her domestic skills are impressive, her opinion of them is moreso. Well, to speak more honestly, it’s not that she thinks overmuch of her own skills, but that she thinks overless of the skills of others. The highest compliment she has paid to another women was concerning her very own sister’s needlework: “It’s good,” she said, “but not perfect; would you like to know how to do it better?” Most often, she is of the strident and vocal opinion that others’ efforts are only inhibiting the work. It’s probably just as well that she can (and does) leverage a well-developed understanding of the law, mos maiorum, and customs of the court to avoid working with others, as few want to work with her,. That being said, the old wagtongues whisper that she is a treasure of a wife hidden in plain sight, who will be a blessing to whoever can win her hand. Considia keeps her ash-blonde hair in a simple, practical style beneath which her brow’s constant furrow can be seen and her blue eyes can focus on whatever her long fingers and visibly strong muscles are doing. Her hate of the Irish is as fiercely burning as any Cornish Knight, and is matched only by her loyalty to the High King Aurelius Ambrosius Pendragon, though both are tempered somewhat by an honor that is nigh unimpeachable.

Tulliola Rufa Gnaeus Asinius Agrippa, at home in the wilds as is everyone in his family, served under King Vortigern as a scout during the Pictish invasion of 444 and 445. This allowed him, alone and unarmored by the domestic faith of his battlemates, to witness the strange rites of those diminutive foreigners. To this day, tales are told of Asinius Agrippa’s mercy, as he saved the life of a Pictish Druid in order to learn of their gods and spirits and ways. The druid spoke well, and Agrippa took on the Heathen worships. A tiny little wisp of a thing, the 16-year-old Tulliola is the fourth feminine issue of his first son’s loins, and maintains to this day the foreign rites common in her family. All of these names are familiar to the Pict-descended Sir Uhtred mac Doughall, styled le Beau ~ His own stepfather, Sir Sansum, called the Stormcloud, is descended from Gn. Asinius Agrippa’s first cousin. Tulliola’s brilliant red hair has caused much stir in her short life, with clucktongues whispering of beastly sexual desire and moral degeneration, spinning tales of Satan’s touch and a vampiric witchery. No few of the more boorish knights have opined that this rumored lack of inhibition might be a fun diversion, for she is known as a beauty. Her blue eyes and patrician nose regard all this fuss with a quiet stillness that is otherwise quite unknown on her expressive countenance and a silence that contradicts her reputation for speaking the Gods’ truth at all times. If Sir Sansum’s dislike of the Picts is a common affliction in his line, that perhaps is the best explanation for the poverty of Tulliola’s family, a marked oddity amongst the wealthy lords and ladies that attend upon the Pendragon. Their shared Roman culture, ever rarer in Logres with each passing year, perhaps explains her presence, in turn. The situation has left Tulliola with a shrewd eye for quality, carefully selecting every item and experience to be the absolute best of that thing she can acquire ~ knowing that she cannot fill her life with luxury, Tulliola wants those fine things she can acquire to be as fine as is humanly possible. Though she is known to be an ideal of service to her liege lord (the castellan of Warcastle in Wuerensis) and of a lady’s honor, both fade like stars in the dawn before the love she feels for her father, her family, and her ancestors.

Estrigyr ferch Nadwg, called the Stone Wall Mentioned in the same breath as Barrok’s eligibility is that of her constant companion, the deaconess Estrigyr. Her high cheekbones hold up hazel eyes that seem always half-closed, and her voice soothes the skin itself like silken velvet. Those boorish knights wont to categorize the ladies of the court by their hair color have oft suggested that Estrigyr is the prettiest of the dark blondes in the Pendragon’s court. The late-born 6th daughter of the Hertfordite chamberlain, in a family line littered with clergy and theologians, much hope had been placed upon her to be an exemplary wife like her five older sisters had been. She disappointed every wagtongue who burdened her with those expectations; a gentlewoman she was decidedly not. Those tongues soon turned from wagging to clucking, and that clucking grew louder when a pestilence struck her manor and killed her husband and children, leaving Estrigyr the only survivor. The hardiness thus displayed, and perhaps other qualities as well, have earned her the epithet “the Stone Wall”. Faced with disapproval and rumor, Estrigyr sought and gained ordination as a deaconess and an appointment to a quite minor position in Aurelius Ambrosius’s retinue, hoping to wiggle free from her past and her grief. It is in that office that she was assigned to Barrok when the younger and foreign girl arrived in the Pendragon’s court as a catechist and a teacher. In this, she has found the success she needed to push back against the evil stories that haunted her, for she is, if anything, more of a scholar than her student. Her library is starting to become a legend among the nobles surrounding the High King. Knightly jokes portray her as cold and uninterested in all the usual tactics knights employ to win the favor of their chosen ladies; the more compassionate stories say that she remains faithful to her dead husband. A very passionate woman, noted for the fierceness of her matched love of her family and loyalty to her lord, as well as the fervency of her welcome to any who might need it and the impregnancy of her honor, she is almost never seen outside the company of her young charge, than whom she is half again as old.