Recently I got back into GMing and ran a short few week mini-campaign for a group of friends. I ran Wolves of God which is an OSR game by Kevin Crawford set in a Dark Ages England with Magic. I love the setting.

So here is the recap of what we did.

The intro hook

It has been 710 years since the birth of Our Lord and three hundred since the Romans left. Though we British have done what we can to cleanse the land of the taint of paganism and the Romans, much remains undone. The wild - whether forest, mountain, or sea - ever resists order. As you have come into manhood, your desire for fame and glory has rightly grown. And with that desire has come the knowledge that you must prove yourself and defend the weak and the powerless from the depredations of evil - whether from man, beast, or monster. Recently, rumor of a new king in the south of England has reached your ears, a king doomed to unite the Isles and to lead to their downfall. From your small island of Eystan situated off the eastern shore of Northumbria, just south of Hadrian’s Wall, King Holmric has given you one last quest before knighting you and sending you south to fame and glory and to join in service to this new king, Arthur, as he is called. Father Padraig, the island’s hermit, monk, and holy fool, has requested help with some recent bandit incursions. The King seems concerned with Fr Padraig. He has often been found beaten or stripped or half-dead or near-starved and has never before asked for help. For him to make a request of another seems, perhaps, ominous. The King has said that after you resolve Fr Padraig’s problem, he will knight you and send you south.

Session 1

When last we left our knights-to-be, they collected themselves to meet Fr Padraig and assist with his bandit problem. After failing to collect bread from the town for the fool, they set off. After a few hours travel, Osric noticed a squirrel sitting on the side of their path keeping pace with them. They quickly noticed that the squirrel was leading them on the best path to Padraig. They met Padraig atop the cliffs on the northeastern shore of Eystan. After a brief discussion of the bandit attacks, they were introduced to his squirrel companion, Juniper. Padraig described the bandits attacking for the last three months on Sunday and Ascencion just after midnight - beating him, mocking him, and stuffing food into his mouth - nicknaming them Levi and Reuben.

Our heroes spent the rest of the day foraging for berries and enjoying restful sleep. The next morning Osric looked for a vantage point from which to observe the four paths from this cliff top down the 200 feet to the shore while Edmund and Wuffa searched the paths to determine where the bandit’s boat made berth. They found a pole with a rope driven into the shore of one of the paths. Edmund noticed that the path up was well hidden from the shore. They removed the pole and burned it on the clifftop.

That night Edmund took first watch and fell asleep, only to awake with a start upon hearing thudding from below. When Edmund awoke, he saw two figures beating Padraig and ran toward them with a scream and spear brandished. Edmund exchanged a few words with the bandits, but they offer no answers. After a few seconds Osric and Wuffa awoke to the distant screams and began running…

Session 2

When last we left our knights-to-be, Edmund stood spear toward the bandits, asking them, “Who are you? And what are you doing?” While the bandits were reticent to respond to questioning, upon Edmund’s inquiry into why they were so mistreating a good Christian man, one of the bandits, the one Padraig called Levi and whose name we shall find out is Pyll, began screaming about the Christian incursion into this land destroying their ability to follow their gods, to divine the future, and so famine has struck them. By the time Thrydwulf and Osric arrived, Edmund calmed the situation down enough that they were able to discuss the pain that has forced them to attack Padraig. After Osric’s judicious prayer to Turn the Sinner, our knights-to-be determined that the bandits were attempting to corrupt Padraig, as killing him would only cause another to take his place, but preventing him from partaking of the Eucharist would diminish the influence of Christ.

The bandits were convinced that perhaps Christ was worth following as his power overshadowed the power of their gods. Their town had killed one Christian and eaten another that had come to witness. Neither Owain or Pyll seemed eager to return to Fossnor at this point, but wished to learn more of Christianity (Owain having no living family. Pyll having a wife he would rather not see. And neither eager to return in failure to King Cadwallon or Priestess Ceridwyn.). All six of them returned to the town the next morning. Padraig having informed them that he would see them in three days and thanked them with a wineskin of what he said was either urine or a healing drink.

Upon entry into the town, Owain and Pyll were left with Fr Euphrosynous to discuss Christ as our knights-to-be went to report to King Holmric. Neither the king nor his right-hand man seemed pleased bandits were left with the Father and so Gesith Wulfgar rushed out to watch over them. Wuffa gave Padraig’s wineskin as a gift to the king. Three days later, the town gathered for a symbel-feast to celebrate our heroes. The drink from Padraig’s wineskin served as the first filling of the feast-horn, and, thankfully, it was filled with something drinkable, if salty. Thrydwulf, speaking on behalf of our heroes, promised to bridge the wall to Fossnor, to end their suffering, and to do this in Holmric’s name. Thyle Lucius mocked their ability to perform so great a task against so great a foe, especially when the group would pass along a “gift” from Padraig. In wisdom, Thrydwulf reminded Lucius that just as Christ gave the adulterous woman mercy so we must give mercy to our enemies. During the feast, each now-knight was given a gift befitting their honor and ability. Gesith Wulfgar encouraged the knights to head north immediately to deal with King Cadwallon while Lady Bexwen and Padraig encouraged them to go south first. And so the feast concluded in joy.

Thus have our heroes obtained the knighthood and prepare for their journey south…