The Battle of Salisbury

With Prince Uther and his newly recognized bastard son, along with the great wizard Merlin occupied to the west driving back an army of Irish invaders. High King Aurelius journeys with the remaining British forces to face the Saxon army invading Salisbury.

During the march Aurelius begins to show signs of illness but brushes off worry insisting it is merely a small cold that will not hamper his ability to lead the army. The illness continues to worsen over the ensuing days of the march and by the time the armies face each other on the field the king is noticeably weakened.

The initial stages of the battle are brutal, the forces involved are vast in number and the fighting is fierce but the British seem to be slowly taking the upper hand when tragedy strikes and High King Aurelius Ambrosius collapses dead in the field, not from an injury sustained in battle but from the perceived illness that had been plaguing him over the last few days.

The loss of the king causes chaos in the ranks of the British forces as cries of, "The King is dead!" Echo up and down the ranks, within the High King's own battle group his death distracts his bodyguard enough that they are cut down by a surging Saxon army.

Seeing the royal standard fall, Wmmffre, a newly knighted member of Count Roderick's household, fights his way to the fallen king and raises the royal standard back where it can be seen by the British troops.

This act allows Duke Gorlois of Cornwall to rally the British army and lead a charge of the reserve forces against the Saxon horde. Elsewhere Sir Vel Tullius Cicurinus, of Salisbury manages to rally a force of British forces of his own and he leads a second charge from left. The two charges in concert crush a large number of the Saxon forces between them and switch the momentum of the battle back towards the British army.

King Aesc manages to escape with a portion of his forces but Saxon losses are astronomical.

After the battle it is determined that High King Aurelius was poisoned by an unknown person disguised as a monk healer travelling with the royal retinue.