The Tax Assessor at Claux
This action follows on from those at St. Rollo. There first there was an attempt to poison the Tax Assessors party, nipped in the bud. Then Vicar Barnabus with outlaw allies tried to attack the Tax Assessor’s party in the Abbey Hostel. It failed because the party were awake and expecting to ride out later this night. They had ridden thirty myles from Charles tiring their mounts but Squire Fier was bringing spare ones in easy stages. In fact Squire Fier, entrusting the spare mounts to head Groom Bried, had attacked Verston Manor. The banished knight Sir Leon Perdieu, who was Fier’s rival for the hand of Lady Sabine, held this. He gets the information that Sabine is with the Tax Assessor at the Abbey, from his brother the Abbot. Intending to ambush the Tax Assessor the following day, he sends for more of his forces with Squire Gauntlet. In the event Squire Fier kills Sir Leon (in fair fight) and takes the manor before Gauntlet gets there. Gauntlet then meets up with Vicar Barnabus and the repulsed outlaws. Together they start to prepare an ambush position, expecting it to be ready by daylight. However Morgana leads out her force in the small hours, when the intended massive pit trap is too small to be significant. She fights her way through the ambush, aided by the failure of one unit of outlaws under Humfon to attack her in the rear. Vicar Barnabus is taken prisoner and agrees to turn crown evidence against Sir Christopher regarding the taxes. Squire Gauntlet, badly wounded and unconscious is also taken. With Squire Fier in the lead Morgana’s force proceeds at an easy pace the seven myles to Claux, now shown as on the table.