Maers Journal - Entry One

Upon leaving Tonsberg to begin my bardic odyssey, I came upon an unusual man in one of the nearby villages, who advised me that if I wished to seek a great saga I should travel across the sea to the northern reaches of Britannia, to a land known as Strathclyde and a town there called 'Al Clut', where the people fought against fiercesome savages known as 'Picts'. Upon reaching there, I came across the King's own bard, Donal MacLugg, and after some conversation he offered to introduce me to His Majesty, King Ceretic.
On the day when court was held, Donal did call me before King Ceretic, who wisely questioned myself and those others present seeking audience as to their intentions. After convincing him of my willingness to serve for his benefit while in his lands and receiving his armring in token of the pledge, the court was interrupted by a messenger, who announced that Picts were making an attack on nearby farms. King Ceretic was most concerned as his Queen, Boudicca, was still not returned from her visit to the farms where she was performing blessings on the crops. Court was quickly adjourned with King Ceretic bidding all present to use the opportunity to show our usefulness in repelling the attack.
The Picts were indeed fearsome; some had stripped themselves naked and painted themselves blue and were frenzied in their attacks. Yet my companions seemed equal to the task, amongst them were a woman with fiery red hair who seemed to be skilled in magickal arts, a fighting man wearing Roman armor who follows the Christian faith, another fighter with the look of a northern man, a foreigner from Persia who had an affinity for manipulating fire, along with several of the King's men. One of them, called Anghus, was nearly felled in the battle. Amongst our foes was a Pictish shamaness wearing a bear's head as a hood and covered in bones and feathers; she used magickal skills to deter our efforts, but in the end we prevailed. Of the Queen we found no trace, only a trail of many footprints heading towards the coast...