Gawain
knight
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Son of Morgause, knight of the Round Table, nephew of King Arthur, the successor of the throne (in case Arthur will have no kids). His brothers were killed by Lancelot.
Pagan/Christian
Your auntie is a witch, your parents were pagans… but the Arthurian throne is Christian. And you saw the miracle of the Holy Grail. That was the proof of the new God’s power. If he only wouldn’t be demanding such annoying things as chastity and humility.
“There is a natural order in things. Man is subordinate to God, the lord is subordinated to the king, a son is subordinated to the father, a wife to her husband, a woman is subordinated to the man. In this order.”
You are a son of King Lot of Orkney and Morgause, the half-sister of King Arthur. That makes Morgana your aunt, and Arthur your uncle.
You joined the court together with two brothers before Lot‘s rebellion (2nd civil war). You stayed faithful to Arthur but refused to fight against your father. When your father died under Pellinore’s spear (Pellinore is one of the knights of the Round Table), you promised him to avenge him, but Arthur didn’t let you act upon it.
You were rather cocky at that time. You were strong, a great knight, and very handsome. Ladies loved you. They even nicknamed you “The knight no woman can resist”. Even your own auntie Morgana tried to seduce you. The queen as well. You couldn’t resist sleeping with Guinevere – the idea of sleeping with the queen was just too exciting.
Sons of Benoic came to court: Lionel, Bors, and Lancelot. Bors started to date Elyzabel (cousin and maid of the Guinevere) but you seduced her, just for the fun of it. Soon after, Elyzabel and Bors broke up. You didn’t care much.
Your love for adventures was put on hold for a while when Arthur asked you to marry fairy Ragnelle. You agreed on the condition he would make you his successor in case he won’t have any kids. The fairy was an ugly old hag, but when you took her to your bed, she turned into a beautiful maiden. (see the Fairy Business)
“You have two choices,” she told you. “Either I will be a beautiful maiden for you in the night, or during the day.”
You let her make her own choice and the curse was broken. To your satisfaction, Ragnelle remained a beautiful lady by day as well as by night. You were a lucky man, but not for long. You couldn’t ignore that she, being a fairy, didn’t quite belong here, among the knights and the nobility. She stood out like a sore thumb, a beautiful lady but with no family, no heritage, no status that would earn her respect. The passion between the two of you slowly died out.
Then, Arthur accused Guinevere of being an imposter, sentenced her to death, and Lancelot came for her rescue and killed two of your brothers (see False Guinevere). You swore vengeance, but Arthur pardoned Lancelot and you are forbidden to make any move.
In a meantime, Morgana introduced you to your brother Mordred. He should have been drowned at birth (see Civil Wars) but survived thanks to Morgana. He was the reason your father went to war. He was in hiding and keeps pretending he is Morgana’s son. Then, you noticed your mother Morgause is getting fatter and understood she is pregnant. You made her tell you the truth: the father was Lamorak, son of sir Pellinore, the man who killed your father. Together with Mordred, you ambushed and killed Lamorak. You threw Lamorak’s head to your mother’s lap and made her promise she wouldn’t tell a living soul. You wanted to kill her baby but she managed to give birth in secrecy and said the baby died at birth. You didn’t believe her until she showed you the body.
There was one way how to take revenge on Hector – one of the knights who protected Guinevere. You slept with his wife. Perse. She was great. And you slowly started to love her. Unfortunately, your wife’s curse came back. She remained beautiful during the day, but she was ugly at night. You stopped sleeping with her completely. She knew the real reason, but you never admitted it.
Then, the Holy Grail happened. During your journey, you had been found by a young boy called Wallis Perceval who told you there is a knight in captivity. You went to save him and killed two bandits who were holding him just to learn it is Lionel.
You returned to the Camelot because Arthur said he might need you. There are kings coming and you understand it might be hard to ensure the security of the kingdom.
There are several tasks waiting for you. Firstly, you need to see how to get rid of your wife Ragnelle and Perse’s husband Hector. You might find out if Hector is having an affair and discredited him. You are pretty sure Ragnelle loves you and has no lover but maybe you could frame her. But it would make you look bad. You have no desire to be known as somebody whose wife is cheating on him. It might be better just to poison her. Also, you still have unfinished business with Pellinore. He killed your father. You want him dead. And you want to kill Lancelot as well. Finally… if you are to succeed Arthur, you have to be sure his position is not threatened. Support him as much as you can. Or, if you will see he is falling, see if you can replace him. You are his successor after all.
Morgause: despite her age, your mother is a beautiful woman. You simply disapprove of how she is flirting with everybody, and you can’t stand her not respecting the memory of her deceased husband as every proper widow.
Morgana: there was always a tension between you. If she wouldn’t be your aunt, who knows… But you refused all her attempts to seduce you, even though you rather enjoyed her company.
Arthur: he is a great ruler. And you understand well why he loves his wife so much. You would follow him until the end of the world.
Bors: he is your brother in arms. You respect that. But it was such a pleasure to seduce his girl. Just for fun.
Lionel: you had never liked him, but he is a king now. And you saved his life. He owes you one.
Lancelot: such an admirable man… and doing something so cowardly like killing an unarmed man who showed enough bravery to stand in his way. You can understand – it was for love. But still… they were your brothers. It is not like you especially loved them, but you have your duties.
Elyzabel: cousin of Guinevere. She fell in love with Lancelot but couldn’t have him, so she chose the second one closest to him: Bors. And you seduced her anyway and kicked her away.
Mordred: Mordred is hard to understand. Even though he is your brother, he seems to have been much closer to Morgana than to Morgause, and he doesn’t show you enough respect as he should to an older brother. He is sly as a fox, and probably much more clever than you are.
Percival: what a fine young man. He will be something one day.
Pellinore: you need only one excuse and you will dispose of that man who killed your father. Sadly, he was always very loyal to Arthur and you never had an opportunity.
Hector: he used to be your friend, but then he joined Lancelot. He is going down along the way.
Perse: Hector’s wife, and your lover. Together, you are plotting how to get rid of your wife and her husband.
Ragnelle: your wife may be a kind person, but the marriage was trickery, and honestly, how could she expect you will be sharing only her bed? No, you didn’t admit any adultery to her, yet now she is an ugly beast during nights. Of course, you don’t sleep with her now. She is becoming quite a nuisance. Pity, she is truly beautiful during the days.
You are meant to be the king one day. You need to support your uncle, King Arthur, and protect the integrity of the kingdom. See the Political map to understand the situation better. If needed, you might even make a move against his decision and insist he must resign. At the same time, there is a lot of revenge you want to take. Some people are going down.
TODO
- Evaluate the power of all kings: Arthur, your mother Morgause of Orkney, Morgana of Gore, Mark of Cornwall, Irish King, Lionel of Benoic, Claudas with the support of Roman Empire, King Galeholt, and Corbenic. See what is Arthur going to do. If he would decide to endanger the Kingdom, you might step against him and start to make a coalition.
- Meet with your lover Perse. It is a long time since you saw her last time and you long for her.
- Find proof Lancelot and Guinevere are having an affair so you can expose them and have your revenge on Lancelot.
- See how to get rid of Hector. Does he have a lover? Some servant might spy on him. or his wife. If you can discredit him, you might get rid of him for good.
- Find a way how to get rid of Ragnelle, your wife, and how to kill Pellinore. You can challenge him to duel or you can try to get poison from one of the priests or mages. You can also announce Ragnelle is not a human and therefore not suitable for a Christian marriage.