The Court of Camelot Arthurian Pantheon “YET some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross. I will not say it shall be so, but rather I will say: here in this world he changed his life. But many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse: Hic jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus (Here lies Arthur the once and future king). “ - Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory “So there’s a few floors of military police, six confirmed sorcerers, a couple dozen spartoi, and an elite squad of werewolf warriors? I thought you said this was going to be hard.” -Joe Ortega, Lancelot OVERVIEW The gods often concern themselves with stories of creation, of times before men, when the divines and titans shaped the fabric of the world. If you look for primal tales at the dawn of eternity, keep looking: you will not find them here. The stories of Camelot are the stories of heroes, of those bound by fate and those who conquered it. The first court of Arthur was made up of Scions of the Welsh and Irish Pantheons, with a few from even stranger heritage. They gathered together in Britain to protect mortal men from wicked fairies, dragons, and the incursions of foreign Scions and Titanspawn. As their legend grew, so too did the breadth of their cause. At the height of their power, Arthur and his fellows took a solemn oath upon the Round Table. As heroes of equal power and fervor, they each swore to eternally defend mankind with all of their strength. Unfortunately, it would not be a great foe which ultimately defeated Camelot. By their own hand, the invincible fellowship of heroes was no more. Their ichor dried up and none of their bloodline remains. But Fate has other plans. The oath of eternal protection reshaped the destiny of the World. In times of great need, when the future of mankind is in question, the hand of Fate reaches out and assembles the Knights once more--choosing from the best of humanity to fulfill the promise of Arthur. Joining the Court The Court of Camelot is quite different from the other Pantheons in that there is only one Scion at any given time for a divine parent. All of its members are both Chosen and Incarnated Scions. They are Chosen, as any human being who exemplifies the traits of their divine parent may rise as a Scion. They are Incarnations, as their Fate and the Fate of their divine parent weaves together to create a new destiny. He who is chosen as the Scion of Arthur is, metaphysically speaking, no different from the original. While he retains his mind, body, and soul, the ichor shouts to the cosmos: “Here is Arthur, King of Knights”. The birth of a Scion is largely done by Fate, through a process known as the Selection. The Selection, acting on the oath of the Round Table, only creates new Scions when the fate of mankind is in danger.. This danger need not be immediate and pressing; it’s rare that a Scion of Camelot is even remotely aware of the battle they were called to fight. It may be decades away from the moment of their selection, but it is always coming. The Court of Camelot is rarely assembled in any meaningful numbers. Most often, only a precious few are called to action in any given time period. While more dangerous times seem to attract more knights, there have been occasions where only one has been called, despite the apparent end of the world. There also seems to be no rhyme or reason for which Knight is called. Auguries and Divinations may say that Gawain will adventure once more soon, but there is little reason given to why the Sun Knight and not the the Knight with Two Swords. The Visitation While it is the power of Fate that chooses a new Scion, the Visitation is not without ceremony. The Ladies of the Lake, ancient fairies whose own fate is bound to the Courts, appear to those on the cusp of realizing their power. They will often test the mettle of the candidate in the days or weeks before their awakening, presenting some trial or posing a question the soon to be Scion must answer. Performing well can earn the favor of the Ladies, who are the ones that grant Birthrights to the Scions, and many Ladies continue on as Guides for the fledgling knights. At the end of the Visitation, the Lady will inform the Scion of the name of his predecessor, usually referred to as his Epithet, and grant them some small insight into the conflict they must someday face. The Rite of Succession Much more rarely, a Scion of Camelot may choose to give up his Epithet and power to another. The reasons for doing so are deeply personal, but have included things such as family or suffering from wounds that even a Scion may not recover from. This functions much the same as the Selection of Fate, save that it is the original Scion who observes and judges a potential. Once they have made up their mind, Fate swirls about the Scion and his protegee, slowly transferring the weight of his karma and power. A Visitation is necessary, as the Knight is bound to tell the recipient of his new duties and name before the process is complete. At the end, the original is stripped of his Ichor and a new Scion of Camelot is born. The “parent” Scion often continues to possess some of his power in the months to come, but like the embers of a dying fire, it will eventually be snuffed out. The echoes of their power sometimes manifest as an appropriate Supernatural Path, but most become normal humans. This process is permanent and irreversible--once given, the power can never be taken back. Principal Members There have been many members of the court of Camelot, from as few as twelve knights to well over one hundred. The Knights that follow are the most famous or integral members of the legend. Arthur Aliases: King Arthur, Arthur Pendragon, Artor, Artorius, The Once and Future King, Red Dragon of ​ Wales Lord of knights, the once and future king. The central character of Camelot and possibly the most famous king of all myths. He was known for his skill in combat, his talent for leadership, and for his panoply of magical items. His divine right lent legitimacy to the British Monarchy for generations, while his Round Table inspired notions of egalitarianism and equality. He has been seen as a figure from the Mabinogion, as a Roman General, and as a conglomeration of the deeds of historical kings, but the truth of the world is not so simple. While most Scions awaken in the prime of their life, usually as young adults, Arthurs tend to be chosen much earlier than that. Like their progenitor, Arthurs are thrust into their position at unstable ages. Given power and responsibility that would make experienced politicians sweat, the boy (and girl) Kings must balance growing as a person with growing as a sovereign. The youngest known Arthur was only eight years old when he took up his own Excalibur, a baseball bat, and went to fight the Werewolf Unit of Nazi Germany. Arthurs are usually the eye of the storm; the center which the tumultuous passions and drives of heroes swirl around. Firmly dedicated to both their friends and their ideals, Arthurs have historically struggled with keeping their bandmates on task and off of each other’s backs. Callings: Guardian, Judge, Leader ​ Purviews: Epic Dexterity, Epic Stamina, Epic Strength, Order, Prosperity, War ​ Balin Aliases: Balin the Savage, The Knight with the Two Swords ​ Sir Balin is not what most people think of when you ask them about the Knights of the Round table. A poor knight from Northumberland, Balin was quickly made an outlaw for beheading one of the Ladies of the Lake in Arthur’s court. Despite this, he came to aid King Arthur against the rebel alliance of Kings, performing such feats of prowess that even the other knights of the round compared him to a demon. While he and his twin Balan would kill each other in a duel, Balin’s later adventures would plant the seeds for the Quest for the Holy Grail and the battles between Lancelot and the other Knights. While Balin had unmatched strength and a virtuous heart, his reckless actions often caused more problems than he solved. The recent Hundred Kami War in Japan is another example of Balin’s misguided help backfiring spectacularly. Scions of Balin are a courageous lot, even by the standards of Heroes. Prone to strong action and with a firm moral compass, they strike out against the villains of the world without regard for their own safety. Perhaps because of this, Balin’s Scions seem to cause trouble despite their best intentions. There’s an air of bad luck about them, and Balins tend to arise from the poor, the downtrodden, or the unwanted of society. Scions of Balan never appear unless there is a Scion of Balin already present in the world. The two are irrevocably bound by Fate to be both ally and enemy, and to have a hand in each other's ultimate doom.