I've just run the year 497 and my PKs have really kicked over a hornet's nest in Hampshire. Cerdic asked for help in attacked the Isle of Wight, and while his army was over there the PKs lead the army of Salisbury down into Hampshire and Pillaged the area. In particular they made certain that they burned down Cerdic's new settlement built over the river from the Roman Hantonne.

They were hoping to have allies to help them deal with whatever Cerdic did next.

However they'd offended Dorset, who gave them a curt "no" and have started digging the Bokerley Dyke. Silchester has allied with Aelle and won't do anything that might offend his new Saxon friend without his say so. Marlborough meanwhile (which I've got as a part of the Duchy of Clarence) has it's hands full now that the border way between Clarence and Gloucester has really kicked off.

So they're alone and Cerdic's angry, and he outnumbers Salisbury by about 2:1.

So what would he do?

Would the other Saxons pitch in and help him put Salisbury back in their place? On the one hand they shouldn't work too closely together as their all rivals, but the brave "little County that could" sets a bad example to all the others and it's in their interests that they get beaten down.

I don't see a need for Cerdic to conquer Sarum, but I can see him just burning the rest of the County while Salisbury's army hides behind Sarum's nice new walls.

How far would he go?

He is a Saxon, he can go to any extremes!

I think you have an interesting situation going here, Oly, but I think you should pose the question in another way?

What do you want to happen? What potential does this situation have to enhance stories and get the players knight involved? That is the angle I would take on this.

1) Cerdic invades with all his army. The theme becomes a fight against the odds.

This opens up for a dramatic Court session where die hards think that the army of Salisbury must meet him in the field to protect their manors and commoners. Lots of roleplaying opportunity: do the PKs hate Saxons? Are the Prudent? Are they glory hounds? Do they have enemies and court, and so would say the opposite.

This can lead to further complications down the line. "You sold our county to the Saxons, and my manor got plundered. I will have my revenge (on the PK, not the Saxons). "Your rhetoric skills convinced the earl to deliver battle, and my father died in a battle we could not win". And so forth.

This scenario could led to a situation where Cerdic conquers a part of the County, for further complications. Or a dramatic siege of Sarum, where the PKs could have to hold a part of the wall against Cerdics heorthgeneants.

2) But if you don't like that line, dealing with the devil may be fun, especially if some but not all your PKs have high Hate (Saxons). Let Aelle give Salisbury a deal. But the cost is high - lot of treasure, or perhaps the earls son and another important knight - PK - will have to marry Saxon women to make the alliance strong. Another Court session comes into mind, where tempers flare, and things can go either way: "You sold us out to the Saxons, and now we have to fight other Cymric with Aelle". "We could have gotten help in this doomed struggle, but your hatred put a stop to that.

And there are certainly lots of other options that could give your PKs a role in what will happen ...

Excellent points!

You must also consider who Cerdric is. He is the son of Vortigern and Rowena (daughter of Hengist) (GPC, p.46). He is not a normal Saxon as Aelle. He is half Briton and there are many out there who still might have loyalties to Vortigern.

He might even throw the PCs a curve and lodge a legal complaint seeking recompense.

There are indeed lots of role-playing ideas, including the pressure of marrying the countess to someone to help protect the lands.

Robert Schroeder

Thanks for the responses :)



What do you want to happen? What potential does this situation have to enhance stories and get the players knight involved? That is the angle I would take on this.

In terms of plot, as you've highlighted, I can see all sorts of interesting ways for this to go. Anything from Salisbury falling to the Saxons (and the PKs and their families fleeing vowing to retake the county some day) to Salisbury actually managing to defeat and kill Cerdic (bring forward the battle of Nettey Marsh) has all sorts of appealing aspects and stories that would unfold out of them.


But if you don't like that line, dealing with the devil may be fun, especially if some but not all your PKs have high Hate (Saxons). Let Aelle give Salisbury a deal.

Now that's an interesting option....

One of Aelle's sons turns up and offers that if tribute is paid to both Cerdic and Aelle, wergild paid to Cerdic for the damage done and Salisbury becomes a loyal "vassal" of Aelle then Aelle can make all the problems go away. If not Aelle would be happy to watch Salisbury burn, and might even help out.

And yes I do have a Knight with a very high hatred of Saxons in the group, so it does open up lots of dilemas.

But I do wonder how far the Saxons would work together here. On the one hand they're rivals to be Bretwaelda, on the other Salisbury cannot be allowed to set an example that other counties might follow.

You must also consider who Cerdric is. He is the son of Vortigern and Rowena (daughter of Hengist) (GPC, p.46). He is not a normal Saxon as Aelle. He is half Briton and there are many out there who still might have loyalties to Vortigern.

He's also the nephew of the current king of Kent which gives reason for Kent to throw in some of their forces to help kick down the little upstart county...


He might even throw the PCs a curve and lodge a legal complaint seeking recompense.

Who would he lodge such a complaint with though? If with Salisbury that would mean treating them as an equal, and he wants to be there King.


including the pressure of marrying the countess to someone to help protect the lands.

Another great idea!

I've also had the steward of Levcomagus loose his wife in an unfortunate accident and begin making marriage proposals that came with offers to bring Salisbury under the protection of Silchester.

I'm sure that both Aelle and Cerdic have other sons who they might well want to marry into Salisbury too. And then what of Robert? If he were to have another of those unfortunate accidents then the heir to Salisbury would be half Saxon!

Brilliant :)

I've always thought and hoped that the Anarchy period would perhaps be one of the most interesting, and this is my second time through it and I'm really making the most of it.

Thanks again for the responses :)

I totally agree that Anarchy is very fun. :)

Wasn't Cornwall flexing its muscle during these times, too? That Prince Mark is starting to look quite dashing in comparison to a Saxon princeling, too!

What of Natanleod?

In addition, 2:1 odds are not that bad, if you play to your strengths. Salisbury has a lot of heavily armed knights. Get everyone you can to safety, and then start shadowing the Saxon army. If they send out smaller raiding/pillaging/plundering groups, hammer those hard individually. If they stay together, the damage is more limited, and the ordinary Saxons soon start to get bored sitting outside Sarum's walls, with no plunder to take home...

Finally, Cerdic might not be that eager to put everything to one big battle. Even if he wins, he is spreading his depleted forces mighty thin if he aims to hold onto Salisbury, too, which I doubt. And there is the risk of Aelle taking advantage of the fact (Saxons fight together, too!).

I do agree with the previous posters that for Cerdic, getting his son to marry the Countess and take control of Salisbury via matrimony, would be quite a coup. So if I were the GM, Cerdic would be threatening to lay waste the while of Salisbury, unless such a marriage takes place. Whether he would be capable of carrying out such a threat is another matter altogether, more dependent on the abilities of the PKs. Are they famous? Do they have friends/allies outside the county? Do they have lots of loot from the raid and previous adventures? This might be a good time to hire mercenaries to help...

So what happened?....

Well Cerdic sent Cynric to Sarum and said that aside from all the damage done the burning down of Cerdic's hall was a botless crime, and so therefore unforgivable. However, Cerdid would show generosity and put this behind them if Salisbury paid tribute for the previous year, tribute for the current year, an extra lot of tribute as wergeld and gave up Du Plain to Cerdic.

Aelle then sent his son to say that Cerdic was being quite honourable about the whole thing, but that if Salisbury swore homage to Sussex then Aelle would intercede and try and argue the price down.

The Player Knights hoped to involve Aelle in the fight, they even seemed willing at one point to swear loyalty to Aelle in return for not paying Cerdic anything. Aelle's son said no, there was nothing to be gained by giving Salisbury too easy way out of the mess it was in. A Salisbury weakened by payments to Cerdic or by battle was the sort of neighbour Aelle wanted.

So in the end Salisbury just paid Cerdic all that was demanded and said no to Aelle.

If it had gone to a fight the Cerdic would have been more than happy to bottle up the army of Salisbury inside Sarum while he burned down every manor of the county and killed or enslaved anyone that lived there.

So Salisbury had a very expensive year, Cerdic claimed some of it's territory without loosing any of his men while demonstrating his "just" leadership to the Cymrics and Aelle just sat back and watched hoping that eventually this will break down and one side or the other will eventually take a beating making his life easier in future.

Thanks for all the responses on this, it's great to discuss it somewhere and to get some input on how things can shift and change.

Lots of tribute AND losing Caer du Plain? Ouch. I hope the players realize that they have just exposed the whole of Salisbury east of Sarum to Saxon raids should Cerdic be unable or unwilling to control his thegns...

A very good year for Cerdic, no doubt. He got what he wanted without a fight, and left Salisbury even less able to resist him in the future.