Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 62.142.248.1

Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 6
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4. Detail Names: For each Name, in order from the
most recent to the oldest, perform the following steps in
order.
4A. Find Name’s Status and Funeral: Roll 3d6 and
compare the result to your total number of names using
the Ancestor Staus table in the sidebar on the preceeding
page (use the lowest row that counts).
When checking your father, he may still be alive: check
the Father’s Survival Table (Pendragon page 52).
The different grades of Saxon burial are explained on
page 129. Similar grades of funeral according to rank
apply in every culture; for Christian knights, a sumptuous
burial probably means entombment in a cathedral.
Players are encouraged to mark likely burial places on the
campaign map: everyone should know where to find
their ancestors.
Example: Oswy’s father is dead and received no noteworthy
burial. He is buried in the Haestingas common
burial grounds.
4B. Choose Name: Choose a fitting name for your for
your ancestor from the various cultural names. If the
name is Great you can choose it in this fashion or, better
yet, pick it from the pages of history. Every name mentioned
in Pendragon histories or gazetteers, or the books
of history and legend cited in our bibliographies, is a
Great Name. Do not pick a name that puts you in the
immediate family of a living major hero or national king
(no extra brothers for Beowulf, Lancelot, or Arthur).
Most names are your direct male ancestors. This does not
necessarily mean that all male ancestors are named in the
lineage: some may have been skipped or switched with
other relatives for reasons of prestige. Up to a quarter of
your lineage names can be collateral or female ancestors,
instead. Picts, Erainn, Cimbri, Finnar, and other “primitive
cultures” can ignore the direct male line altogether.
Remember that you automatically add your father’s
name to the lineage in your birth phase. Other automatic
lineage names come from character generation: you
may already be descended from a Saxon god or a Celtic
clan chieftain. Include all these names in your lineage
regardless of what you rolled.
Example: Oswyi late father was named Dudda. Dudda is
not remembered by history - but he will be remembered
by Oswy.
4C. Choose Associated Event: Assign the name to an
event in the Historical Phase when he flourished: thus a
Saxon name from Phase -2 could have participated in any
one of the events listed for Saxons in that Phase. With the
GM’s discretion, you may create an alternative event for
that Phase - raidingtrading voyages, quests into the
Otherworld, dynastic weddings or feuds, pagan spellcasting
or Christian evangelism -that is historically and culturally
appropriate.
Decide how your ancestor participated in that event. If he
was a Great Name, this may be already known. If not, be
reasonable: if you descend from common warriors or
ceorls, your ancestors probably weren’t leading battles or
forging treaties - but they may have been retainers of
the Great Names who were.
Once you decide, write this down in a simple statement
beginning, “Son of [name] who.” and followed by no
more than seven words (“Son of Horsa who killed
Katigern but himself died at Aegelesthrep”). A name
counts as one “word” despite its length (“King Uther
Pendragon”).
For Mythic Phase names, you can either skip these details
or, working with your GM, construct some likely events
from your culture’s mythology and from late Roman history
- the “Age of Migrations” when folk like the Franks,
Germans, and Huns seized their territories in the crumbling
Roman Empire. Mythic Age events and names can
follow any order, but only the last name can be a god.
Example: Because Oswy comes from Haestingas, his player
decides to consult the Haestingas Chronicle (Chapter 5)
as well as the Saxon Chronicle (Chapter 2). Dudda, it is
decided, was a simple ceorl who brought a great stag for
the wedding feast of Anlaf and Glesni in 451. “I am Oswy
son of Dudda, who helped Anlaf wed the Roman
princess. ”
5. Make Lineage: String together all the statements created
by steps 3A-C into a consecutive lineage.
Example: Oswy’s player has decided that the Phase -3
ancestor was a Saxon federate living near Anderida during
the great Irish raids. The Mythic Phase ancestor was a
mercenary warrior who fought against Magnus Maximus.
“I am Oswy son of Dudda, who helped Anlaf wed the
Roman princess, son of Ingeld, who slew many Irish
defending Anderida, son of Bassa. who marched with
loyal legions against Magnus.” None of these names
turned out to be Great, but Oswy is very proud of them
anyway.