King Arthur: Retold (Part VIII)

II.III. Morgana le Fay, Nimue and the corrupting darkness of the Wasteland.

King Arthur:Retold is part of a fictional series reimagining and combining various Arthurian media and myths into a unique narrative. To understand what you’re reading and why, click **Here**. Artworks showcased are property of Neocore Games (2011).

Note: Images marked by asterisk () are a hybrid, created using in-game screenshots in combination with AI and editing.*

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The shard of the Holy Grail was the most powerful weapon in William Pendragon’s hand and he will need its help to surmount the great dangers in his quest to heal his father, Arthur. Its power was so great that his advisors claim it may be able to destroy the corrupted mounds infesting the land, spawning the demons.

But William knows that defeating one demon would simply produce two more. The only hope was healing his father for the land and the king are one. But how? No one knew and there was no one left to ask aside from Merlin, who had vanished years ago. When he hears about one of Merlin’s most powerful apprentices being seen in London, William makes that his next destination.

The Crumbling Citadel

London had once been Arthur’s capital and seat of power, but since the removal and loss of the Holy Grail, this once great city had fallen into ruin. Sir Caradoc, whom we already met in our tale in **Part III**, had taken over the stronghold and ruled it with an iron fist. Many refugees were allowed shelter within its walls but their lives were only a little better than the guaranteed death outside. Caradoc mercilessly killed anyone suspect of being infected and enforced strict rules over the rest. William finds a dreary, decrepit and smelly place — no longer the bright city he grew up in.

Merlin had once promised to help Caradoc with an ancient curse that manifested itself as a dark snake wrapped around his arm, but the wizard never kept his promise. After the war against the Unseelie had ended, Caradoc spent many years tracking down the elusive wizard but Merlin was always two or three steps ahead. When he discovered that Merlin’s apprentice had entered his city, he immediately sent his men to capture them.

This is what he tells William that night in the palace: that Merlin’s apprentice is a beautiful woman, half-human and half-Sidhe, named Morgana le Fay. Her power was extraordinary and she allowed herself to be caught only to test the might of Caradoc and then immediately escape using her magic. Caradoc resents this obvious humiliation and promises William an alliance against the demons if he brings her back to him in chains.

Not exactly what William has in mind, of course. Morgana was last seen in Glastonbury Abbey, once a famous holy site and a place of great power. He reveals nothing of the shard to Caradoc, who inquires about his father’s condition. He may or may not know more about the destruction of the Grail, but William doesn’t feel he can trust him. Caradoc had battled his curse for a very long time and, in the process, his mind had become twisted. He was already painfully aware of the shard’s power and Caradoc would likely kill him for it.

Merlin’s Apprentice

After days of travel across the Wasteland, William and his men reach Glastonbury Abbey. The holy place was surrounded by a small warband of the zealous Saxon knights he’s crossed paths with before: the Brotherhood of Beowulf. They were trying to enter the abbey but Morgana’s powers had set up a strong magical shield around it, preventing access.

Knowing the Brotherhood would likely kill the enchantress, William finds a way through the barrier using the power of the shard. In the process, the shard absorbs the enchantment and loses its power. A great flash of light keeps the Saxons away long enough for William to find Morgana. While distrustful, she is convinced that the Christian knights are an even greater danger for someone like her and agrees to flee alongside William.

As the Saxons approach the abbey they are soon attacked by a horde of Fomorian demons, also attracted by the unleashed power of the shard. Monstruous, rotting giants accompany the demons, striking fear into the hearts of the Saxons. Their clash allows William and Morgana to escape.

The Tower of Ash and Dreams

Morgana is very intrigued by the power of the shard, while William is entirely enraptured by her beauty and reasonably decides he would never betray her to Caradoc or anyone else. The enchantress studies the artefact and tells William that all shards seek to reunite into their original form, the Grail. In some sense, they are alive.

William inquires about her master’s whereabouts but Morgana has no answers to give. She knows Merlin must be found and the only one left to ask is none other than the Lady of the Lake. William tells her the Lady is merely an old story and likely never existed. Morgana looks at him as one would a child. They agree to form an alliance in their efforts to cleanse the land and defeat the demons and Morgana departs for the mysterious lake where the Lady once dwelt.

What I find interesting in this tale is that its focus is on the new generations. William is Arthur’s successor and Morgana is Merlin’s (her name ‘le Fay’ translates as ‘the Fairy’). Both have been dealt an ugly hand for they inherited a broken world due to the mistakes or shortcomings of their predecessors. Both are also tempted by power and drawn to realising their potential in order to shape the world anew. This is really, what all generations have always been going through.

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Nimue

The sacred lake of the Lady had now been entirely corrupted, defiled and destroyed. You may remember it being featured in **Part V** of our tale. There, Arthur merged the Holy Grail in its waters and this resulted in the defeat of the Unseelie and the salvation of Britannia.

But the lake Morgana finds lacks any power or mystery: it was a desolate, dry broken land and there she sees a great, black tower. This is the Tower of Ash and Dreams. And it’s empty, save for a magical stone that can inscribe memories. Within it, Morgana sees what actually transpired: Merlin had also come to consult with the Lady and attempt to heal it but was confronted by a Seelie sorceress called Nimue. After a challenging, likely very flashy battle, Merlin is defeated when he tries to defend the Lady from Nimue’s magical assaults. The stone reveals his capture at Nimue’s hands and it seems to also mark the final glimpse of the Lady herself.

What to do now? Well, as a half-Seelie herself, Morgana knows where to find them: Virconium, the once great capital of Prince Owain, later destroyed by the Unseelie (we saw that in **part III**) and now taken by the remnants of those few Seelie who never returned to their world. With all portals closed, Tír na nÓg was forever lost to them, so these Seelie try to survive in the human world, confined in the ruins of this city.

Worth noting is that Viroconium was an actual ancient Roman city and its ruins can be still found today in Wroxeter, Shropshire.

William’s Cleansing

Meanwhile, William is forced to slaughter more and more kings. Most of them were lost to the cursed plague and driven to madness, but in his campaign of slaughter, it’s difficult to tell if William always took the time to investigate. Were they all really corrupted beyond salvation, or perhaps with time and patience they could be saved? But this was a Christian ideal, still new in the land. Their God claimed forgiveness, the ultimate antidote, perhaps, against the evil.

But William didn’t know all this. Or perhaps he didn’t care.

()*

The people first praised William and hailed him a hero, for he freed them from tyranny. But without their kings, all these kingdoms soon collapsed from within, decayed by confusion, starvation and anger. Was this the curse that turned people mad, or was this simply humans being human?

After some time, William is informed of a new group of refugees, coming from beyond the northern borders of Bedegraine Forest, towards an area they knew little about. They claimed to be Romans, fleeing the same evil plague. It had taken their emperor, or better said it had convinced one of their own that he is one. Of course, this new threat is none other than Septimus Sulla, whose story we explored in **Part VI**. Commanding an entire army of undead Legions, Septimus had burnt his short-lived new Rome to ashes.

The only ones who managed to survive his evil was a small group led by none other than Naevia, Septimus’ dead wife he had resurrected — an act which marked his complete downfall. Understandably, poor Naevia was brought back from the dead against her will and stuck inside the body of another woman. Then she was forced to watch as whatever had remained of her husband destroyed their home and scorched their lands with his hatred. Yeah, I’d be pissed off too.

Naevia Sulla greets William inside her makeshift camp where she offers him wine. Afraid of getting poisoned, William asks her to drink first and Naevia reveals that she can’t, for inside her hood she has no face left. She tells the son of Arthur of what happened to her, how she was brought back to life inside the body of another but all bodies still rot. Her existence is a living hell and she wants nothing more but William’s help against her husband, Septimus.

But why should William even care? Because, Naevia reveals, a shard of the Grail had driven Septimus to madness, convincing him it was the spirit of Emperor Hadrian who had come to his aid in restoring the great Roman empire. It was all a lie and there was nothing left of the man she once loved. Another shard was precisely what William was searching for, so he accepts her aid.

Together, they aim to strike against Septimus and his dead Legions. From his decrepit fortress in Eboracum, Septimus speaks:

“People of the realms, hear me! I am the Emperor of New Rome, bearer of Jupiter’s wrath and the rightful ruler of all Britannia! The gods have sent me to protect this world from itself and the shadows that tear at its foundations from within! Kings and lordlings of the south, yield to my might!”

()*

The Courts of the Seelie

Morgana’s arrival in Viroconium is warmly acknowledged — the Seelie know her well but Morgana has always felt more human than one of them. All her life she’s been dealing with very human problems and a very human body, so the Seelie’s ethereal nature remained mostly unrelatable for her.

Also, the Seelie lived according to very strict politics in their grand Courts. Despite their exile, the Fairy-folk had tried to maintain their way of life and these courtly rules were strange and alien to Morgana. She simply never understood them and their complicated rules, and often even forgot or ignored what the proper etiquette was when addressing a member of the Seelie.

Because of all this, confronting Nimue was no simple matter and required a formal duel. A magical duel according to the rules of the Seelie. A victory would allow Morgana to demand anything she wanted and the loser was magically bound to comply.

But to win this duel she needed strong allies and one day she finds one not among the Seelie but in the form of another ancient creature: a faun. This was an enigmatic creature with goatlike features, horns and hooves. He also came from the world of the Seelie but even there, they said, he was somewhat of a rarity.

The faun tells Morgana his flute can be of great help against Nimue’s powers but in exchange he demands Morgana’s memories. Only a handful, nothing more, the faun tells her. Morgana agrees, thinking nothing of value would be lost but soon all her childhood memories, good and bad, disappear. With his prize, the faun vanishes and leaves the flute behind.

It’s a very interesting symbolic event: to obtain power, Morgana must sacrifice her memories (or her past as they are the same thing). A harsh price to pay, suggesting also that the memory of the faun itself vanishes alongside him. Mythologically, this is quite accurate because our collective memory of the faun itself is hazy at best.

With the faun’s flute Morgana prepares for her duel with Nimue. Will it be enough to win her this battle?

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