A Tale of Two Romes.

READING AID

Anecdotes and sayings

"Woe to the weak man who weds a daughter of the Kennedy Dynasty, for he will so find himself under her sword and his men at her will, But blessed fortune to the strong man, who will find his lands and fortune grow" Rhegged Prince of Gwynedd in a letter to his cousin upon hearing of his marriage to Princess Aslaug

"When asked by her counterpart from south rome "why do you have armour, horses and arms for war?" The north Roman Princess responded "Why do you allow yourself to not?"

"The North Romans are an odd people they'll eat anything that will fuel their hunger for war"

________________________________________________________________________________

MYTHS

THE WHITE LION OF THE NORTH: Mythical guardian to the people of the north, The lion was encountered by Mordred and Arthur during a hunt in the north. Arthur attempts to kill the lion with his bow however Mordred stops him explaining that the Lion is the Guardian beast of these lands and is the last of it's kind. The Lion has never harmed a human and when a famine or disease spreads in the north, Villagers say they will awake to find a freshly killed stag outside their doors with the throat mauled by the lions jaws. Mordred then explains to Arthur that his father had told him before he left to go to war, "The Lions way of leading is not through fear and violence, But respect and mercy and one should not hunt like the lion but lead like him".

THE GIFTING OF CRAFANCYLLEWOD : After Mordred threw the sword into the sea it was carried onto the shores of Asgard where Odin knowing of its significance had the Dwarves Thoi and Hthoi repair it, However after centuries in the seas it would need new metal, and the only metal that could be used to re-forge a blade of legend is that from either its mother or sister blade. 

The wise god Odin sent his two Ravens to Midgard to find the lost shards of Excalibur. The four pieces had drifted with the four winds and so the ravens flew around all of Midgard for 400 years until all four were found. Sensing that the Blades true master had come of age and would be visiting him soon, Odin had the Dwarves reforge the blade as quickly as possible. The blade should have taken 1000 years but the Dwarves finished in 10, however as the Dwarves presented the blade to Odin they informed him that the great speed in which they worked had caused a massive wind storm in their work shop and the blade would constantly cool as they forged. The results was a shorter blade but one 1000 times harder than both it's mother and sister. With Crafancyllewod in hand Odin traveled to Midgard in the form of a white lion, and stalked the forests of Uppland knowing that Bjorn son of Ragnarr would bring the Chosen one to his realm to offer him his daughter as a concubine. 

Then Odin began to hunt,  killing men and bests, until Bjorn 'Ironside' would call for a hunting party to slay the beast, led by The chosen one King Dy'Tyrex of Strathclyde. Odin waited patiently until the young king was alone, and then pounced The blade fixed between his jaws he attempted to slash the king. The young king hearing the snap of foliage leaped away just in time, and managed to land a blow to the lion's side as it leapt from the brush. That is when Odin shifted from the lion to man and spoke to the young King "You will do well to remember this day young one, for I expect great thanks for returning your ancestors blade when I carry your soul to my halls, Reforged by dwarves and with with the four shards of Caledfwlch, Crafancyllewod shines once more." Odin then stabbed the blade into the ground and disappeared into a cloud of Ravens. King Bjorn of Uppland and his men upon seeing this sign from Odin rushed to the location, only to find Dy'Tyrex kneeling and praying words of praise to Odin with sword still in the ground, his right hand grasped around the grip, his left bare on the blade. The king then stood and pulled the blade with his right coating it in his blood as it cut his left. The young King speaking in his Brythonic Tongue would swear that this blade will always mark the true king of the Britons.