The Story of Sir Pendragon and Erelan Black Print
The race of Aldonar was long reviled by many, especially those of a goodly persuasion and none more so than members of Halmaddons Heights.  The hatred of the Aldonar was so intense that an entire Sect was formed to combat them, the Knights of Mandragon.  

The Knights of Mandragon are a small sect within the Heights that have dedicated themselves to the eradication of the Aldonar in all its forms.  Their order was set up by Sir Vincent Seutonius, a pious Knight who was utterly devoted to his family and in particular modelled himself on his uncle, Sir Mandragon.  Unfortunately Sir Mandragon met a cruel end at the hand of a vile Aldonar called Erelan Black, which was the primary reason for Sir Vincent setting up the order of the Knights of Mandragon in memory of his fallen uncle.

The fall of Sir Mandragon is a sorry tale of woe for his family and a lesson that revenge can lead to despair and justice is not always found.  This tale started with Sir Pendragon, the father of Sir Mandragon.  Sir Pendragon was a noble and lawful Knight who stood to protect the weak against the tide of evil.  He excelled in knightly combat and prided himself on seeking out powerful evil foes and challenging them to single combat.  He defeated many evil foes, with none being able to withstand his devotion and skill.  At the same time there was a young prince of the Aldonar, called Erelan Black, who had also developed somewhat of a reputation for excelling in knightly combat and defeating many goodly knights.

It was only a matter of time before these two powerful and opposing Knights would engage each other in a knightly duel to see who the pre-eminent knight upon Orin Rakatha was.  The scene was set and the two Knights and their squires met in a bright wood during High Sun.  The fight was spectacular and long with the skill of both Knights clearly evident, it was a joy to watch their dance of death and their squires looked on with open mouths, expressing their awe and admiration of the spectacle before them.  For a while it seemed that the pair were evenly matched with none of the two Knights being able to gain the upper hand, each Knightly ability being resisted by the other.  As the battle continued Erelan Black resorted to using the Evil sphere through his blade, but was easily resisted and turned aside by the devotions of Sir Pendragon.  As the battle continued it was Erelan Black who started to tire and falter as Sir Pendragon pushed the advantage.  Eventually Erelan Black stumbled and Sir Pendragon saw his opening to strike a fatal blow.  However at the last moment, Erelan Black turned aside the blade of Pendragon and dropped his shield to plunge a small dagger into the side of Sir Pendragon.

Both knights recovered their poise and Sir Pendragon looked down at the small wound in his side, confident that it was an insignificant wound.  The fight continued but Sir Pendragon started to move slowly and feel sluggish, his vision started to blur.  It was then that he looked upon the blade of Erelan Black that had been cast aside and he saw the remains of some liquid upon the blade.  He realised he had been dishonoured and laid low by a vile poison, what an ignoble end for such a valiant knight.  It was only a matter of time before Sir Pendragon stumbled again and fell to the blade of Erelan Black.

As Sir Pendragon fell his squire rushed to his side to pay the last rites to his fallen master.  Erelan Black slew the squire and buried his body within an unmarked grave, alongside his master, so that none would know of his cowardly act, using poison in a duel.  Erelan Black then left the scene of the battle to proclaim himself the greatest knight upon Orin Rakatha.  The wood where the duel took place was named Pendragon Wood in honour of the fallen knight.

Sir Mandragon was devastated at the loss of his father and vowed that he would avenge him.  He gathered a group of like-minded knights from Halmaddons Heights to take the fight to the Aldonar and seek out Erelan Black.  However, whilst Sir Mandragon was a noble and popular Knight, his skill did not match that of his father.  Eventually Sir Mandragon tracked down Erelan Black, in the very wood where his father was slain and challenged him to single combat.  Erelan Black accepted and the dual began.  Unfortunately it became quickly evident that Sir Mandragon was outclassed and he struggled against the superior foe, finally falling beneath the repeated blows of Erelan Black.  Not content with this easy victory, Erelan Black defiled the corpse of Sir Mandragon and got one of his Dymwan allies to raise the corpse as a foul undead.  There is a waystation within Pendragon Wood that was renamed Mandragons Folly to reflect this tragic turn of events.

Thus were the Knights of Mandragon formed.

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 September 2018 11:34