Licking wounds

When Gil returned to the castle of Culhwch, he found a very different field. The king had called up his retainers and allies, and as seemed to be the pattern for the man, they responded. The field was full of tents, and camps, some of which were populated by men in armor, but a few of which were full of red haired men with bows. Far more eye catching than the hunters, however, were the small squad of 15 foot tall men huddled around a towering bonfire.

They were squat, round men with massive slabs of muscle and powerful legs, and as it turned out they were Olwen’s kinsmen. Their faces were drooping, frequently looking as if they could hardly keep their eyes open, but when they moved they did so with no less grace and speed than men less than one tenth their size.

Gil decided, for the sake of his own sanity, not to closely examine the question of a beautiful seven foot tall woman with kinsmen that were both lumpy and fifteen feet tall or more. He was just glad to have a few giants, even if Nessa could easily grow much larger than these fellows.

On the hill nearby, Gil could see the glowing white text of Lucan’s name in among the sprawling camp of Arthur’s men. More alarmingly, he saw that Ginny Weasley was also in among the army, quite close to Lucan in fact.

“Rose!” He said sharply, looking over his shoulder. “Ride ahead. I don’t know how those gentlemen will respond if they see Echidna coming straight for them. Bring Lucan’s men, and if you see any signs that she’s doing anything untoward, shoot her in the head.”

If Ginny had somehow brainwashed the entire army or something, Rose very well might be murdered after doing something like that. Gil could accept that risk since any retinue deaths during a bout were temporary, but he thought it was at least a little bit more likely that she’d been detained by someone unexpectedly badass. There seemed to be a lot of that going around in Camelot.

Gil followed along behind Rose on foot, accompanied by a placidly smiling Nimue. He was pretty tired from travel, but he couldn’t stop until he was certain that Kusai’s last unaccounted for retinue member was neutralized.

As he walked, he considered the people he’d Captured since coming to this world. They were worth the trip, that was for sure, but Gil had one fairly substantial worry he was going to need to discuss with Lucan: the matter of world vandalism. Kusai was an ass for kidnapping all the most famously virtuous and beautiful women in the British isles, but if he’d been in his own world he’d be within his rights. Let he who has not reformatted a sexy person’s mind cast the first stone and all that.

The real problem, in terms of tester and presumably player etiquette at least, was that he was going around and doing it in a world that was not his own. They were almost certainly at least minor names, canon characters, and likely important to plotlines and families within the setting.

Bayard was almost certainly fine to keep. He was a horse belonging to a rich man, and could be replaced pretty easily. Echidna was a random extra, despite her raw power, and thus probably less problematic than even Bayard. Her upper limit of plot relevance would have probably been as a random encounter for some heroic questing knight later. Balin had died in a legitimate scheme, following local custom, and was thus justifiable.

Nimue, on the other hand? She was at least nominally important, had at least one romantic entanglement, and generally just seemed a lot more tied up in important events and people. Per the unofficial code, Gil was going to need permission to keep her without being an ass, and he wasn’t actually sure if he wanted to bother asking after he saw her sale price.

T5 Nimue - 10 Credits, Tantric Art Talisman (basic binding), Potion of Eternal Love

It was positively stacked. Ten credits was nothing to sneeze at of course, but access to the tantric ritual binding and a classic “love at first sight” style potion were both top shelf rewards as well. Those potions tended to be finicky if misused, but that could be managed by having a functional brain. On top of that, it would be a real headache to keep both Nimue and Balin, no matter what form Gil resurrected him into. The two did not like each other. At all.

It almost felt like he was being pushed by the GMs. On one side was fantastical riches, social convention, and a knight errant that would be resurrected once the bout ended. On the other side? A quiet, beautiful, master mage of a magic system Gil was largely unfamiliar with but but thus far found quite impressive.

GMs were people, after all. It was entirely possible that Lucan’s GM had plans for Nimue and had asked Gil’s GM to tip the scales. It was a totally defensible thing to do, professionally polite, essentially bribing Gil to not disrupt the entire setting.

Damn it, though. Gil wanted the pseudo-teleporting girl who thought summoning a reactive, independently functional ghost army was quaint just because they weren’t realistic enough to make people pass out due to completely imaginary blood loss. He decided to ask Lucan about it when he had a moment. He didn’t think his odds were great, though.

Maybe Hellawes? Lucan didn’t seem terribly attached to her at least. That, and he could always frame it in terms of giving Lucan Credits so Kusai would take those instead of Ragnell if he won.

Thankfully, Lucan noticed Gil’s team flickering into existence and had elected to come out to meet him. His face grew terribly grim as he saw the scant handful of his men that had come back, but he ordered the soldiers to let Gil and Echidna approach unimpeded.

“What happened?” He asked, “What of King Anguish?”

“Dead.” Gil said, leaning close and keeping his voice down. “His lady was taken, and most of his men killed. I’m sorry. The only good news I can offer is that we were able to slow him down substantially. He won’t be able to fly around as he has been, not anymore.”

Lucan nodded, the lines on his face deepening.

“I suppose that’s something.” He said, “What do their forces look like? How many men?”

Gil sighed. He supposed it made sense that Lucan would assume that Kusai somehow had a conventional force in his back pocket.

“Their rank and file are perhaps fifty beasts, but that’s not what I’m worried about at the moment.” Gil said. “There’s a woman named Ginny Weasley in this camp. What is she doing?”

Thankfully, it turned out that Ginny was in fact a prisoner, subdued and brought in by some young hotshot by the name of Lancelot. Rose knew of him from her Lily side, though only enough to say that he was one of the big names in the same category as Gawain.

“Well he’d need to be if he could take on a T5, even if she is a backliner.” Gil said. “We got lucky. Very lucky. How is she being restrained?”

“By oath.” Lucan said. “She has promised not to attempt to escape or disrupt our forces in any way so long as she remains our prisoner, and in return we are allowing her some liberty under light guard.”

“Are you mad?” Rose asked, almost offended by Lucan’s answer.

Gil held up one finger.

“Now, is this the same type of oath binding Hellawes and your soldiers?” He asked.

“Of like nature, but not of like kind.” Lucan said grimly. “I do not believe any oath of fealty would be binding on this one, but a lesser oath is still of utility. Were it my choice, I would have bound her to leave on the condition she stay out of this conflict entirely. She refused.”

Gil nodded thoughtfully. He was fairly certain that Lucan’s binding, tied to his sword Caliburn, was a local variant of Signed and Sealed, a much more flexible version of Gil’s soul pact binding. If someone swore an oath on his sword, that was it. They would not be able to break it, though exactly what the enforcement mechanism was varied a lot.

“Have you interrogated her?” Gil asked.

“Nay, Gil.” Lucan said, mildly offended. “We would never subject a lady to the question. Even men are rarely so abused in this happy kingdom.”

Gil sighed. He was fairly sure that meant that Lucan thought of torture and interrogation as basically the same thing. The fact that he then proceeded to reject them both was very noble, but also quite stupid. Not worth correcting him at this time, though.

“I suppose that’s fair.” He said. “I’m sure you’ve noticed Cindy here? If you could bind her in a similar manner, we can probably let the two of them stick together. Deal, Cindy? You agree to sit out the rest of this bout, and in return we don’t kill or harm you?”

He kept his voice light, but he was definitely hoping she’d go for it. Clust would almost certainly be able to listen in on their personal conversations, and he didn’t get the impression Cindy was very close to her red haired coworker. Most of the subjects they’d be likely to discuss would be at least marginally interesting to their hosts.

“I… sure?” She said, “The Red Wings didn’t look like it had much chance of flying again anytime soon. Not much I can do even if they rescue me.”

Lucan held out Caliburn, pommel first, and there was something about it that felt menacing. It didn’t glow, or hum, or radiate heat, but it felt as if it should be doing all of those things at once.

“Swear it upon this blade.” He said, his voice soft, almost reverent.

Cindy, slightly nervously, touched the pommel with a single finger and repeated the promise as best she could in her own words.

“I accept your oath, Cindy Aurum.” Lucan said gently. “Stand, and walk in the Lord's grace.”

“Okay?” Cindy said, drawing the word out.

Only a few minutes later, Cindy was allowed into a small tent guarded by a pair of handpicked knights known for their good conduct and sharp ears respectively. Within, she found a girl that was not her friend, but was at least her coworker.

“So, they got y’all too?” Cindy said almost immediately, walking in and laying out the bedroll she’d been handed.

“Yeah.” Ginny said morosely. “Broke my wand. Now I’m useless, even if He rescued me.”

Cindy sat down and gave Ginny a hug. She knew the girl had been hit a lot harder than most by Lord Kusai’s… thing. She was almost as bad as Rosa as far as obsession, and a lot less secure in her position. She was powerful, but there were several other women with almost exactly the same powers back home. Even if it really wasn’t her fault, neither Lord Kusai nor Ginny herself would ever properly blame the man who sent her out alone into enemy territory.

“There, there honey.” Cindy said, rubbing the redhead’s back. “It’s not like you had your bag with you, right?”

“No…” Ginny said. “You’re right. I promised not to try to escape, but if I get my bag back I should be able to do… something. I’ve got my broom in there, at least.”

“That’s the spirit.” Cindy said, “Let’s get you cleaned up, ok?”

Outside, Clust listened carefully. He didn’t know exactly what Sirs Gil or Lucan would do with this information, but it certainly seemed relevant. He walked to where the lords were gathered around a table, and shared what he had heard.

••••••••••

The Knights of the Round Table were willing enough to hear out Gil’s report. They accepted the fantastical without much question, which Gil found rather refreshing in its own way. He only needed to sculpt his delivery a little bit to keep them with him.

“My wife is capable of observing them remotely,” for example, was accepted without comment. They were far more disturbed by even a sanitized version of Kusai’s recruitment process, as observed by Rose by teleporting to and from her quill.

“He can take hatred, even quite well founded hatred, and convert it into love in the hearts of those who are themselves pure of heart and know love.” Gil explained. “I believe it is what he is so brutal. No good woman would fail to hate him with unearthly passion after he kills their husband, even if the marriage was loveless they’d at least resent the man. It takes time, though.”

“How long?” Arthur asked, clearly disturbed. His own wife had been targeted after all.

“I don’t know. What I do know, is that he’s decided to stay in Castle Anguish for the moment.” Gil said. “Now, we are going to need to make a choice. A tactical choice.”

The men around the table grew quiet as Gil laid out the options.

“We can seek him out in his broken fortress. He’s weakened, but he still has his greatest champions at his disposal.” Gil explained. “Many men will die if we do this, but it’s the best chance of saving even a portion of the women he has taken. Each and every one of them will vanish alongside him if he has stolen their hearts, to return to the world from whence he came.”

That wasn’t strictly true, as Gil could technically use his own reward budget to buy back Kusai’s kidnapped women and sell them on his way out. Doing so would no doubt result in several gacha rolls for Gil and several horrified widows appearing with no memory of Kusai in the shattered remnants of their own homes, surrounded by slaughter. It wasn’t exactly an ideal option, and Gil wasn’t going to lay it out as a default.

Gawain, having found out that his sister was among the taken women, looked ready to jump on a horse and roll out immediately. Arthur held up a hand, and with a troubled expression asked Gil to continue.

“Our second and I suppose third choice is to lay siege to his castle or else remain here.” Gil said. “Our foe does not appear to have an easy method of traveling to the mainland, and Merlin has invited anyone he sees to be in danger to shelter with the Twyleth Teg. We, or to be blunt our prisoners and Lady Olwen, remain his only viable targets that he can reach overland. I believe that the red haired woman Lancelot brought might be capable of flight and may serve as transit for him if he can release her. He will likely come to attempt to crush this fortress, but we will not be caught unawares and there are many among you who can match Balin’s valor and nearly match his skill. I might be able to devise some method to draw him out, as well, so there is some chance that we might yet save those held in bondage.”

Gil wasn’t certain that Kusai would come here, nor did he know much about the Twyleth Teg other than that they were a mystical folk similar to Olwen’s kinsmen in some ways, but it sounded about right. The knights seemed disinclined to leave the “new recruits” to rot, so Gil didn’t linger on that option and tossed in the extra bit about drawing Kusai out to placate them.

“The last and surest route would be to join the Twyleth Teg in their defense.” Gil said. “This would of course leave all Ireland at his mercy for a time, but given that his desires are quite plain, he would no doubt pursue us as best he could whenever he was able. You must decide now, and we must decide then how to go about it. I do have a plan to even the odds, but it will rely on your cooperation to pull off.”

••••••••••

So, knights, what say you?

https://strawpoll.com/ajnE12xXmnW