KING HENRY'S WAR... BRING ME THE HEAD OF BROTHER GILBERTUS!

DURHAM 1173...

Following the debacle at the village of Burnhope, the Bishop of Durham flew into an uncontrollable rage as Guy de Brioche and Henri d'Eclair stood before him and tried to explain just what had gone wrong! Yes, the grain supplies had been safely delivered to the episcopal granary at Lanchester, but at such a cost; five of the Bishop's archers had been killed, his spearmen had brought shame upon the House of de Puiset by fleeing from the battlefield and d'Eclair himself had been wounded by the renegade monk, Brother Gilbertus! 

The Bishop sank back onto his seat, head in his hands, and whispered, "O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this turbulent Priest?"

"I have news of your 'turbulent priest', my Lord," said Henri de Neufmarche, the young captain of the Bishop's Guard.

"Thank the Lord there is one man in my employ that I can rely upon," said the Bishop, "Take de Brioche and whatever footmen you need and bring this Gilbertus back to me."

As the young knight turned to leave, the Bishop looked up and smiled, "Oh Henri! Take de Morville with you, he has experience in these matters!"

*

de Neufmarche's plan was to arrive at the village of Ebchester just after dawn, find the rebel priest and hasten him back to Durham before any local trouble makers could intervene!

Guy de Brioche lead the de Puiset crossbowmen quietly through the church yard of Saint Ebba's church, while de Neufmarche, Hugh de Morville and a group of spearmen swept into the village to begin searching each of the buildings in turn.

However, before the raid could even begin to unfold, one of the crossbowmen, unusually alert, noticed a mysterious figure peering from the east window of the church and raised the alarm, causing a panic amongst the raiders.

de Neufmarche and his Priest Hunting Party, sweep into the village expecting a difficult and time consuming search, but a hawk-eyed crossbowman spots Brother Gilbertus at the window of the church!

Gilbertus hurriedly realised that the Bishop's men had arrived searching for him and made a dash across the church to exit out of the west door, hurling himself over the wall, in a flurry of flailing habit, intending to make his escape through the back lanes of the village. 

What de Neufmarche was unaware of however, was that Fulke Everill, the leader of the band of Wolf's Heads had arranged to meet Brother Gilbertus and take him to the safety of the Outlaw's secret hideout, deep in the nearby forest.

As Gilbertus sprinted away from the church, in a most unholy fashion, the Outlaws had begun to arrive in the village, equally unaware that the Bishop's forces  were already hot in pursuit of the rebellious priest.

Remembering his previous encounter with Gilbertus at Burnhope, and still smarting from his subsequent scolding at the hands of the Bishop, Guy de Brioche dashed across the church yard in an attempt to intercept the priest, but Brother Gilbertus was already over the wall, taunting his adversary as he made good his escape. 

Good Fortune, was, however, about to desert Brother Gilbertus...

Henri de Neufmarche was not about to give up on his boast that he would capture Gilbertus and take him back to Durham in chains!

The Captain of the Bishop's Guard gave the order to one of the crossbowmen to bring down Brother Gilbertus and a crossbow bolt whizzed through the air and lodged itself in the priest's left shoulder.

Fortunately for the wounded priest, Fulke Everill arrived just in time to help him continue his bid for freedom, using his bow to keep the heads of the pursuers down.

The advantage in this encounter was swinging wildly from one side to the other, just as it seemed that the Bishop's men would get their hands on their prize, fate intervened to give the rebellious Brother the upper hand and deny de Neufmarche the prize he so desperately wanted.

Not only was their prey slipping through their fingers but, more and more rebel forces began to arrive in the village to help Brother Gilbertus make good his escape. First a group of Armed Peasants and then a group of Outlaw spearmen appeared to tilt the balance against de Neufmarche.

The Outlaw bowmen took up a position in cover near the village pond to launch a volley at the Bishop's spearmen, forcing them to abandon their advance along the main thoroughfare through the village. 

The quick thinking de Neufmarche sent the spearmen hurrying forward along a back lane, hoping to out flank the bowmen and cut off Brother Gilbertus' escape. At this point, a mysterious figure appeared from the woodland to the south-west of the village.

Raynard de Blaye, the mysterious hermit of Haunshale, is an apostate crusader, originally from Normandy, who participated in the Crusader invasion of Egypt in the 1160s, where, it is said, he encountered a young Muslim nobleman, believed to be Saladin, who converted him to the ways of Islam! Having heard the commotion coming from the village, de Blaye made his way through the woods and quickly assessed the situation unfolding before him. As de Neufmarche made his way round to the back lane to join the spearmen, the former crusader advanced to challenge the young captain to combat.

Initially, de Neufmarche gained the upper hand, but the veteran crusader's experience began to tell and, although neither man was able to land a blow on the other, the captain began to tire and found himself being pushed back.

Over at the other end of the village, the spearmen were engaged by the Outlaws, to give Brother Gilbertus time to make his escape and the Bishop's forces faced the prospect of returning to Durham empty handed. With the exception of the Armed Peasants, who suffered a withering volley from the crossbowmen, the Outlaws were able to withdraw from the village and make their way into the safety of the forest.

This was an unusual encounter, not least because of the complete lack of any major fighting! The action was dynamic from the start with Brother Gilbertus being discovered on Turn 1 in the church... this was a random event generated by the roll of a D6, but it meant that the scenario turned into a desperate pursuit through the village, with the Outlaws simply playing a delaying roll, while the "troublesome priest" escaped, in spite of the wound suffered at the hands of de Neufmarche's crack shot crossbowman.

Next time, a more conventional skirmish, with lots of gritty fighting, is on the cards, as the Bishop of Durham's weary troops stumble across the Royalists marching to deliver essential supplies to the people of Burnhope village.