Maps of the Realm

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Regions Of Britain

Map of Britain

Market Towns Of Logres

County Salisbury

Player's Map of Salisbury

Player's Map of Manors

In and Around Salisbury

Ambrosius' Dike

Aurelius Ambrosius, the first Pendragon and brother of Uther, built these massive earthworks as a part of a defense system against the Saxons to the east. Too large to be manned as walls, these were used to observe the moving army, hinder its approach, and hide an ambushing defensive army. They now mark the northern boundary of the county.

Amesbury Abbey

Aurelius Ambrosius established this monastery, which is still supported by royal funds. It is a double-abbey, having facilities for both men and women. Although this is within the county, it is actually a fief of the Church and contributes no income to the earl.

Avon River

This river is one of several of the same name in Britain. It is the main drainage of the Salisbury Plain and continues to flow southward through the Camelot Forest and Dorset to the British Sea. It is navigable by coastal ships that sail all the way up to Wilton.

Badon Hill

This is an ancient hill fort. Its great destiny lies in the future after the Saxons have overrun a large part of Britain.

Bath

The main city of Somerset is called in Latin Aqua Sulis, or the Baths of Sulis, because of the magical healing properties of its springs. It is three days ride from Sarum, in the land of Somerset.

Bokerly Dike

This is a north-facing bank and ditch built in Roman times to separate tribes that have, since then, become extinct. It now marks the boundary between the counties of Salisbury and Dorset.

Bourne River

A tributary to the Avon River. Many villages and farms dot the valley.

Calne

This is a fortified city that serves as the local market and is part of the fief of Clarence. It is about two day's ride from Sarum.

Camelot

Camelot is a small city about two day's ride from Sarum, the center of the county of Hampshire. It was an important Roman city but deteriorated badly before and during the Saxon occupation.

Camelot Forest

This is a dense forest that forms the southern border of Salisbury County. It is inhabited by both normal and fabulous beasts.

Campacorentin Forest

This dense forest lies several days’ ride north of Sarum. It stretches for many miles, primarily east and west, and encloses many holdings, some of which are still independent of the king’s rule. Like all forests, it houses many strange creatures but is especially noted for a pair of huge night-black lions that periodically terrorize nearby peasants. A persistent rumor about the forest tells of a rich princess imprisoned in a tower surrounded by a garden of giant, thorny roses.

Cirencester

This was once an important Roman city and is now the primary seat of the Duke of Clarence. It is about four day’s ride from Sarum.

Clarence

The Duke of Clarence feuds continually with the Duke of Gloucester.

Colingbourne Wood

This woodland is a favorite hunting place for knights and com- moners both. It probably has no exotic animals or faeries.

Devizes

This is a market town with a motte-and-bailey castle. It is about a 1 to 2-day ride from Sarum.

Du Plain Castle

One day’s ride from Sarum, this town marks the eastern boundary of the county.

Ebble Castle

This is an old motte-and-bailey castle made mostly of wood, but still serviceable in defense. It is the most southern settlement of the county.

Ebble River

A tributary of the Avon River, this river valley is not densely in- habited. Menaces often come out of the surrounding Camelot Forest. Of late, the river has been plagued by a school of repulsive water leapers that prey upon small boats.

Figsbury

This is one of the numerous hill forts on the Salisbury Plain. It has been abandoned since ancient times. Sometimes on Midsummer’s Eve, it is said, the sounds of groaning men and clanking chains can be heard coming from the ground beneath it.

Glastonbury

Glastonbury is one of the most sacred places in Britain, for it was here that the first Christian church was built. Before that it was sacred to Don, the earth mother, and was a magical entrance to the Otherworld. An abbey is there now.
Glastonbury is about four day ride from Sarum, within the County of Somerset.

Gloucester

Gloucester, called Glevum in Latin, is the most important seaport of the western coast, located near the mouth of the Severn River. It is ruled by the Duke of Gloucester, a rival of the Duke of Clarence. It is about five-day uninterrupted ride from Sarum.

Grovely Castle

Not really a castle, this is an ancient hill fort of great earthworks, now mostly overgrown with thorns and wildflowers.

Hantonne

This is a part of the County of Hampshire and is the nearest seaport to Sarum. It is two days ride from Sarum.

Jagent

This city is the center of a county ruled by a militant lord who defends his ancient rights fiercely.

Kennet River

A large, eastward-flowing river, which is a tributary that joins the Thames far to the east.

Levcomagus

This city is part of the fief of the Duke of Silchester. Its steward and his brothers hold a fierce grudge against all men of Salisbury because Earl Roderick obtained the hand of Lady Ellen in marriage.

London

London is the largest and most important city in Britain. It has no lord but the king and is ruled by a council of its most important merchants. It is about eight-day ride from Sarum.

Marlborough

This is a fine castle. It is built atop a large ancient mound, believed by many to be the burial mound of an ancient wizard. It is about two days leisurely ride from Sarum.

Mildenhall

This unwalled city is the local market for the farms along the Kennet River and is held by the castellan from Marlborough.

Modron’s Forest

This dense forest, which lies to the west of the county, is named after an ancient goddess of the Britons. It is rumored to be in- habited by many wicked faeries and beasts.

Nadder River

This is a heavily populated river valley. The river is a tributary of the Avon River.

Ock River

This is the main river that flows through White Horse Vale. Its farmers visit Uffingham for their local market. It is a tributary of the Thames River.

Salisbury Plain

The Salisbury Plain is a gently undulating plain whose rivers are populated by many villages of farmers. It has also held many ancient bronze and early iron-age settlements, mostly long abandoned but occasionally resettled, as at Sarum. Only the largest of these are shown on the map, and many are unrecognized as such by the natives.

Sarum

The main county seat is a fortified city and castle built within one of the many ancient earthworks of Salisbury Plain.

Savernake Forest

This border forest is within either or both of the lands of the Earl of Salisbury and the Baron of Marlborough and has been the cause of considerable dispute between those lords. No faeries have been reported here, though Countess Ellen claims privately to have once seen a unicorn there.

Silchester City

This is one of the Roman cities of the past, now much diminished in size and importance, but still great nonetheless. It is about two day’s ride from Sarum. It is part of the holdings of the Duke of Silchester.

Silchester Duchy

Silchester is the dukedom that commands most of the lands east of Salisbury.

Somerset

This is an independent kingdom and includes all the lands to the northwest of Salisbury.

Stonehenge

This monumental structure was built by giants in ancient times and dedicated to the sun, stars, and ancestors. It consists of five concentric rings and horseshoes of standing stones and a few outlying stones, all surrounded by a mounded ditch. One generation ago, great treachery occurred here when Vortigern the Traitor betrayed the nobles of Britain to the Saxons.

Recently it was refurbished and the old magic was reestablished by stealing some great magical stones from Ireland. Now it is also the burial site for the great kings of old.

Swindon

A city to the north of Salisbury, held by the Duke of Clarence. It is important because of the quarries that lie nearby. It is about three day’s ride from Sarum.

Test River

A river that flows southward to the British Sea, the boundary between Salisbury and Hampshire.

Tilshead

A fortified city serving as the market for the local farmers. It is a one-day ride from Sarum.

Upavon

This is a large, unwalled town that serves as the local market for farmers of the Upper Avon River. It is about one day's ride from Sarum.

Vagon

Vagon Castle sits about one day’s ride from Sarum. It is a reinforced motte-and-bailey.

Wandborough

An unwalled city that is held by the Duke of Clarence. It is three days ride from Sarum.

Warminster

This is a fortified city, which serves as the local market for the farms of the upper Wylye River. It is surrounded by the Modron Forest and defends the country from incursions from Somerset. It is two days ride from Sarum.

Wilton

This fortified city is the local market for the many farms of the Nadder River and the lower Wylye River. More importantly, boats sail upriver this far and unload their goods from the coast before reloading with local goods bound for the sea.

Wylye River

This river is a tributary of the Avon River. Its farms are divided between Warminster and Wilton.

Yarnbury

This is one of many ancient earthworks. It encloses almost 30 acres within its bank and ditch. Every Beltaine, the local peasants bring all their cattle here and drive them between two big, smoky fires in a pagan ritual.

Traveling the Realm

Traveling is not just a matter of simply going from one place to another. In addition to the problem of not knowing your route are the problems of traveling safely and finding safe accommodations. This increases travel time.

Travel is usually safe within the demesne of a lord unless, of course, the local lord lives by robbing travelers weaker than himself — which is regrettably quite common outside of Logres. As well, groups of bandits often hide near roads and tracks through forests and wild lands to waylay the unwary. Journeyers must always be on the lookout, perhaps even sending out scouts, a process that slows them down considerably.

Finally, stopping to eat and rest is common. In particular, persons not used to travel, especially women or children, require more frequent stops.

Accommodations

Knights normally stay at some castle, manor, or other settlement along the way. Hospitality is an honored tradition, and the standard custom is to help any traveler according to his or her status. See “Hospitality” in Chapters 1 and 4 for more information on the laws of hospitality.

Most people travel very little and are likely to be starved for information and gossip about the outside world. Thus strangers who are known not to be enemies are welcome, and if they are entertaining, then they are more welcome. No payment is expected from the visitors.

Of course, not everyone is allowed entry. The normal procedure
is for a party to ride to the gate and knock, blow a horn, ring a bell, or simply shout until someone comes to listen to them. This person is usually called the porter because his job is to tend the Porte or door. Porter is a rather prestigious job at any location, despite normally being a commoner’s position since he determines who enters immediately or enters later.

The porter is fully authorized to ask who the visitors are and what they want. He may decide to allow entry right away, especially if the visitor is known to him, but more likely will go to his lord and relay the information before making a decision. The travelers wait patiently outside, perhaps in the rain or in the dark.

If it is an enemy who has inadvertently come to the door, the porter simply stalls for a while, perhaps exchanging bitter or insulting words with the travelers, while knights and soldiers arm and prepare to rush out and capture the foe.

Once guests enter a castle or manor, they are shown to the long hall or bedroom where the lord welcomes them, interviews them, and instructs servants to show the guests their accommodations. Occasionally they are shown to a place to wash up before seeing the lord.

Accommodations for visiting knights are normally in the great hall, where the household knights and ladies also sleep, unsegregated (but also without much privacy). Honored guests may be given a chamber or tower room to themselves, but most likely will have to share it with the rest of their party. These rooms are normally the residences of someone else, who will have been forced to give them up for the guests. Only a great palace has enough space to give individual guests their own private quarters.

A worthy visitor will have pages or women assigned to help him disarm, disrobe, and wash. Washing may be from a public basin or — the luxury of luxuries! — a hot bath. Women servants commonly help men bathe without any necessary sexual implication (but plenty of opportunity…), though the reverse is most certainly not true.

Monasteries have similar customs. Separate rooms are often available for those of different social ranks, thus keeping the nobility away from the commoners. Particularly high-ranking individuals may actually be offered the quarters of the abbot himself.

Where no noble accommodations exist, knights may seek to stay at peasant dwellings. The traveler goes from building to building asking for hospitality until someone tentatively agrees. The commoner complains that he is poor with nothing to spare, and the traveler offers to compensate somehow. They dicker over the price until an agreement is reached. Nothing is guaranteed except what is agreed upon by both parties. Remember that commoners are usually reluctant to allow powerful strangers into their houses, and may recommend someone in town who is more affluent and less suspicious. Out of these individuals’ hospitality will — within the campaign, but not in Uther’s time — grow public inns.

Inns are not yet known at the start of the campaign. They arise later, in cities but only rarely elsewhere, and will be frequented mostly by pilgrims and merchants. They are generally of very poor quality, unlikely to have private accommodations, a menu to choose from, or food other than common peasant fare. The inn is likely to house everyone in a single large common room with a single fireplace, with the space closest to the fire charging a premium rate.

If no accommodations can be found, knights do what soldiers have always done — camp out on the cold, hard ground.