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View Full Version : Ganieda, Merlin's Sister - And How To Use Her



GQuail
09-28-2012, 12:51 PM
I have recently restarted Pendragon in the Anarchy Phase. At the end of the Uther Phase I introduced Ganieda, the sister of Merlin, to my group: I played her as a half sister, with the legend about Merlin being the son of a nun & a devil probably correct but his mother then went on to leave the convent, marry and have another child.

The players went on to require magical assistance on a quest and, as good Salisbury folk, refused to deal with Merlin after the whole kidnapping of Uther's heir thing. So Ganieda was instead requested for aid and she did so, albeit at the cost of the knights owing her a great favour: she basically has the leader of the group promising her a month's service from him and three other knights when she calls it in. The knight was happy to accept this as, by completing the quest, he finally won the hand of Lady Jenna.

I#'m planning on bringing this back up soon. My players are currently busy with Rydychan County, a daughter taken by the faeries of Forest Sauvage and of course the tensions of the Saxons. (They have decided, against their better judgement, that they should ally with King Ælle for now: though I suspect that may change next year when Mark of Cornwall offers a British alternative.) However, I'd quite like to use Ganieda and in particular to add a touch of the "Mists of Avalon" to her - I'm thinking she might be worried by the social patriarchy of the era (which she may blame on "the church of Christ") and seek to use the PCs as catspaws in her political goals, perhaps framing a rival male Druidic group.

Inspired by Cam Banks mentioning her alongside his Starting In Cameliard 485 (http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=1000) idea, I introduced her as a guest of King Leodegrance. I've mooted that she and Leodegrance may have some sort of romantic relationship (though it may be slightly manipulative on her part) and that might make her an influence on Guinevere, perhaps even on the whole "false Guinevere" thing.

I was curious if anyone else had used Ganieda in their games and/or had any thoughts on her?

merlyn
09-28-2012, 11:13 PM
Well, I haven't used Ganieda in any "Pendragon" games (I don't have a gaming group), but she is a major character in an Arthurian fantasy series I'm working on; I find such background characters linked to the familiar figures fascinating. I identified her with the Lady of the Lake.