Pendragon
Blessing Arcanum Dice pool Traits
Swearing an Oath Fate •• Pres + Pers -
Lucky Coin Fate ••• Pres + Occ T
Sense Strength & Weakness Fate ••• Int + Invest -
Forbidden Fate Fate •••• Res + Subt 1M
Sanctify Oath Fate •••• Pres + Exp -
First Impressions Mind •• Pres + Soclz -
Mental Shield Mind •• Res + Occ -
Augment Mind (social only) Mind ••• Int + Aca 1M
Will of Fire Mind ••• Pres + Exp 1M
Precognitive Ordeal Time •••• Res + Occ 1M

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Pendragon%20Crest%2033.gif

Nature: Proxiumus dynasty
Parent Path: Acanthus
Parent Order: Adamantine Arrow/Silver Ladder
Nicknames: Arthurians
First Encountered: P2.1 "The Fall of Constantinople"

Oblations: Leading a team or group during conflict, keeping vigil in a chapel, coronation rituals, participating in a physical tournament/championship, actively managing & making important decisions for a large organization (f.ex. CEO of corporation, be on city council, etc).

Character Concepts: Idealistic young politician, eager historian, business executive, police officer, cult leader, team captain in national sports championships.

History
The tale of the Pendragon family is a complicated one, made even moreso by conflicting accounts and fragmentary sources.

By the earliest accounts, the first man to bear the name Pendragon (from Pen Draig, meaning «head dragon» or «chief dragon») was Ambrosius Aurelianus, or as the Welsh call him, Emrys Wledig. He took the name for himself after seeing a comet shaped like a dragon crossing the night sky, and his banners also bore the image of a dragon. Perhaps this was the moment when magic entered his family's blood.

After the Saxons invaded Britannia in the 5th Century, the survivors rallied under his flag and stood against the invaders; the Red Dragon of Britannia at last gained the upper hand against the White Dragon of the Saxons (though perhaps there were deeper truths hiding in that tale).

Ambrosius was of Roman blood, but born in Britannia. Gildas the Wise says he won his battles «with God's help», (though by some accounts he was a follower of the Mithraic mysteries) and that his parents had «worn the purple.» Whether this is supposed to place him as the son of a Roman Emperor (perhaps Constantine III, who declared himself Emperor of all Britannia) or as a man with a long military history (for the military tribunes also wore a purple band) depends on who you ask.

But it was Ambrosius' brother, Uther Pendragon, who would pass on the name to its most famous bearer. Uther was in love with the Lady Igraine, and, through the aid of the great wizard Myrddin Ambrosius (whose connection to the Pendragons varies widely from tale to tale, but théarchs and arrows alike speak of him as a powerful Acanthus of the Silver Ladder who wove Fate to bring about the perfect city and the perfect king) disguises himself as her husband and sleeps with her, while her husband dies that very night (though through no action on Uther's part). From that union was born Arthur Pendragon.

Many tales could be (and indeed have been) told about King Arthur, but we shall focus on his family. Famously unable to conceive a child with his wife Guinevere, he still sired a child with his sister Morgause (herself a sister of Morgan le Fay). Either his sister or half-sister (accounts, again, vary), Morgause (also known as Gwyar or Anna) slept with Arthur while neither was aware of their familial relation, and so was born the traitor Mordred. The Guardians of the Veil sometimes whisper that Mordred was one of theirs, for his name comes from the Latin «moderatus», meaning to «keep within measure» or «to abate excessiveness». The Guardians saw in Camelot a great threat to the world and chose to act. All thrones are false.

But back to Mordred. Whether one believes the account where Morgause and Arthur were simply mistaken in their union, or if he raped her, as some say, makes little difference in the events which transpired later. When Arthur learned of a prophecy where a child born on May Day (as Mordred was) would destroy him and his kingdom, all children born on that day were sent away in a rickety ship, which sank into the waves. Only Mordred returned from the ocean, swearing revenge upon Arthur. In 537, at the Battle of Camlann, they clashed, and Mordred was slain while Arthur was fatally wounded. Legend famously tells us that Morgan le Fay then brought his still body off to Avalon in order to be healed, where he still rests and will return only in the hour of the country's greatest need. Thus ended the age of Camelot.

But the Pendragon line did not end there. Mordred had two sons, Melehan and one who goes unnamed (both apparently later slain by Bors and Lancelot), but no mention is made of their children. The Pendragon line lived on, in the shadows.

Members of the Pendragon Dynasty today fall into one of two camps. Either they are the descendants of Mordred, or of Uther's other children (or so they claim; some say that all are descended from Mordred, and those who claim otherwise are lying, for Uther is never said to have other children in the stories). On the one hand, to be descended from Mordred is to be branded with the name of one of the greatest traitors of all time, and yet it also gives one the blood of King Arthur himself. To be descended from Uther is less of a black mark, but also less glorious.

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Curse
The Pendragon Dynasty has a history of burning brightly, but none too long. Perhaps through some mystical connection with the comet which crossed the sky, perhaps simply because that is the fate of great kings. Whatever the reason, each Dynast has a Bane (see the Destiny Merit, Mage: the Awakening page 81, for details), though no attendant Destiny. The Bane has a rating equal to the highest Blessing in Merit dots (so a Dynast who can fortify his mind with a Mental Shield has a 3-dot Bane). If an Arthurian ever Awakens and develops a Destiny, his Dynast Bane is either separate to the one from his Destiny or, in cases of particularly powerful Banes, the Destiny Bane is the same as the Dynast Bane, and the dots are added together. (ST comment: not entirely sure about this one, but haven't managed to come up with anything else that fits yet has sensible mechanics, so we'll go with this until something better presents itself)

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Known Members

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To list of organizations

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