The Kingdom of Camelot During The Grey Dynasty

Throughout history, Camelot has always been a quaint little castle in the north of Kandarin, with Kings and Queens of Ardougne typically appointing a vassal to rule the vast open lands of northern Kandarin on their behalf from Camelot. Other times, Camelot has been an independant state ruled by a king, but it was a small, feeble nation with no sway in Kandarin, nor the world.

However, things would not always remain so.

The dawn of the Sixth Age saw the Grey family seize control of Camelot and the surrounding landscape. Nothing more than just a castle and a handful of villages. But it was when Reynard Grey, the 2nd King of Camelot during the Grey Era, stepped down from the throne, and a boy of just sixteen years of age stepped up to the throne.

This boy was Sennis Grey.

And he would mould Camelot into something never seen before.

The Ascension.
This tale of Kings and Kingdoms begins back on the day when Reynard Grey left his throne and his kingdom to his sixteen year old, motherless boy. Sennis. A handsome lad, he was never viewed as ... Kingly material. With anxiety that racked his speech and confidence, no one ever saw Sennis worthy of being more than a prince, and some detested the fact he held the title of Crown Prince, as opposed to his brother, Ottican.

Sennis' coronation was held in private, conducted by a very old priest of Saradomin - even though Sennis had certain reservations about Saradomin. The Deity of Order struck him as ... unpure. Incomplete, perhaps. Either way, Sennis found himself on the path of Saradominist beliefs, but believed it needed to be more righteous. Only a few nobles attended Sennis' coronation, simply because was what all Camelot was. 'A few nobles', and a boy king.

Regardless of the factors weighing him down, Sennis took his father's place as the King of Camelot. While Sennis may not have been the most fantastic speaker at the time, he did have nice organizational skills, and having being bred and born in a Castle, was versed enough in the games of politics. Since Camelot was an independant state, the threat of some larger nation such as Asgarnia, Ardougne or Yanille was constant. His first order of business was to ressurect the Knight Order of the Round Table - the previous generation of Knights had all grown old or been slain.

Sennis' appointed Sir Richard the Bull - one of the few remaining Knights - as Champion of the Knights. He also appointed Joseph La Roche as his personal steward, and Dame Maegan, Sir Vey and Sir Arken as new Knights of the Round Table.

Uneasy Starts.
Camelot was a small nation. A land rich with natural resources, but with a population too unskilled or few to harvest them proportionately. Seers' Village - famous for the region's trademark maple syrup - made up most of Camelot's population along with Catherby, which was a sizable fishing down. Sennis didn't like seeing his people living so ... basically. And the worst part was, the Camelite citizens were perfectly happy. They didn't know there was a better side to life other than working ten hours a day with two bowls of soup to keep them full. It - it pained Sennis. It pained him to know that he had all the foods in the world, but they had bread and soup.

He promised to change it.

But there was a lot of other things to change, first. Sennis was faced with a grave issue come the first winter of his reign of King, and he had only ascended during the summer. As the cold arrived, the North began plagued with snow, and the Fremenniks of the Northerlands would be short of food. It was a common thing at winter to have Fremenniks raid farms in the northern reaches of Camelot, to slaughter animals and farmers alike, and steal their food and gold.

But - ... the Fremenniks had pillaged most isolated farmland and villages in the northern reaches of Camelot, and no one sought to live that far north with the threat of raids so high. Slowly by slowly, the Fremenniks were forced to come further south into Camelot on their quest to find food. Closer, and closer south, closer to the main regions of Camelot.

Camelot's best soil was around Southbound Lake, and thus, many, many farms were built around the lake of northern Seerhaven. If the Fremennik discovered this farming paradise, surely they would bring over an army to conquer it all. Sennis couldn't afford to lose those farms, or the people who lived on them.

Camelot's largest fighting force at the time was a volunteer militia, and they were poorly armed and equipped. The Knights were very skilled and deadly, but they were far too few to turn the tide of war. Issuing out a summons for as many militants as possible, Sennis sent Sir Vey and Dame Maegan north to Southbound Lake in attempt to delay the Fremenniks.

In the snowy forestland - just north of Southbound Lake's many farms - Maegan and Vey clashed with the Fremenniks, desperate to turn them back before they discovered the plentiful farmland. The Fremenniks - under Eirkir - numbered at ten altogether, while the Knights were just two. Despite all their skill, all Vey and Maegan could hope to do was to defend and ward off the Fremenniks in time for the militia.

Just in the nick of time, the sound of the Seerhaven Militia - around fifty men clad in iron chainmail and leather, pikes held in hands - came about. Although the Fremennik knew that they were stronger and better armed then the militia, they knew they couldn't hold out against fifty men. They fled.

The only death on that day was that of a small farming family slightly north of the lake - a farm the Fremenniks had managed to pillage. But those deaths were enough to weigh Sennis' conscious with guilt. This - this couldn't go on, the Fremenniks had barely missed Southbound Lake, and the chances of a narrow victory like that were slim. Something had to change.

The Coming of Red Company.
As Sennis remained within the walls of Camelot Castle, racking his brains for a way to fix the nation and defend it with the Fremennik brutes, the answer came to him. The answer arrived at the gates of Camelot Castle on a cold evening, two weeks before Christmas. The answer came in the form of a man named Thessaly Grimdark, a proud man with an ambition to lead an army.

Sennis was grateful for any aid - anything to repel the Fremenniks before it was too late - although, being a complete stranger, Sennis didn't expect much from Thessaly, although he would certainly appreciate his efforts. He gave permission for Thessaly to recruit men to become soldiers in Catherby and Seerhaven and he donated a small amount of gold - against his better judgement - so that Thessaly could equip these soldiers. Sennis promised great rewards if Thessaly could fight back the northern menace that was the Raiders.

There were reports of skirmishes all across the northern reaches of Camelot - Sennis had deployed nearly all the militia there, around 150 men, and they were still not faring well. Men were being slaughtered and the Fremenniks made prolonged stays in the kingdom by buring down some of the valueble maple forestland to sustain themselves. The situation was dire.

Just when the Fremenniks were pushing towards Southbound Lake now - around sixty to seventy raiders, with raiding parties having combined to combat the militia - Thessaly stayed true to his word. Men, clad in proper steel and iron armour charged the Fremenniks - around sixty men, Thessaly had gained - and they all wore light armour meshed in with the steel and iron; mobile and defensive. Thessaly had ordered each and every one of the soldiers to wear a red cloak.

A brief and bloody battle occured. The militia made a fine distraction against the Fremennik Raiders, while the soldiers attacked the preoccupied Fremenniks alongside the Knights. It soon became clear to the Fremenniks that these soldiers were much better than the militia, and as their fellow raiders were quickly killed, the northerners retreated. Thessaly wasn't the kind to allow the disease to retreat and let it fester - he pursued, and killed as many raiders as he could.

Camelot had triumphed again - although it wasn't so narrow this time.

Thessaly returned to Camelot, welcomed as a hero. Sennis offered him a seat on his Table, and the opportunity to lead Camelot's national army. Thessaly accepted, and told him it would be called the Red Company, because of their red cloaks.

Thessaly's army efforts were supported by the  government's budget now, and Thessaly - or Major Grimdark - set at work at building up the Red Company to become a true army. He began sourcing ore from the small mining town of Vaterra by the old Dwarven Coal Trucks and began to build better armour and weapons for soldiers. He ordered many bows from the lumber yards of McGrubor's Woods, and arrow production was increased tenfold.

And of course, he recieved many, many, red capes.

The Red Company estate was built near Southbound Lake, north of Seerhaven, to ensure the Fremenniks had gone for the rest of winter.