The False Sword of Accolon

A king is about to fight his friend. The friend carries Excalibur; the king has been given a counterfeit. Morgan le Fay has arranged both sides of the duel, and twenty imprisoned knights will pay for the outcome. The characters have one evening and the following morning to uncover the deception.

At a Glance

Adventure	Arthurian mystery, rescue and trial by combat
Characters	Four level-9 adventurers
Rules	D&D 2024
Length	Two or three sessions
Where	The lands of Sir Damas and Sir Ontzlake; the Silver Well
When	The afternoon before the duel; the duel is at 9 a.m. tomorrow
Central choice	Save the king, rescue the captives, expose Morgan—or bargain with her agents

The Woman Beneath the Oak

Rain drips from the bare branches of an ancient oak. Across the ford, men are driving stakes into a meadow. A blacksmith is fitting iron rings to a wooden barrier. By tomorrow, the pasture will be an arena.

A young woman steps into the road and holds out a broken silver signet. “My father is in that hall with nineteen other knights. Sir Damas says he will free them if his champion wins. But none of them would fight for him. Now a stranger has agreed, and they mean to spill blood for a strip of land.”

Lady Edda Hurn is the daughter of Sir Tarin, one of twenty knights imprisoned by Damas for refusing to fight his brother, Ontzlake. She wants her father out of the hall alive. She offers a purse of 50 gp immediately and a written promise of 750 gp from Ontzlake’s household when the prisoners are freed. She has no reason to suspect that the anonymous knight who agreed to fight for Damas is King Arthur.

Edda has three useful facts. Her father recognised the stranger’s voice. The rival champion is lodging at the Silver Well. A woman in Morgan’s colours has arranged to deliver a sword to the field in the morning. Edda can guide the characters to Damas’s hall, Ontzlake’s manor or the well. Nothing in the opening depends on a successful check.

The urgent decision

The duel is publicly set for the first hour after morning Mass, 9 a.m. tomorrow. The party can seek lawful release for the prisoners, discover the champions’ identities, catch the sword-bearers or arrive at the field and intervene in full view of the court. All four approaches work; the characters need not solve every mystery to save a life.

Behind the Two Swords

Sir Damas claims the ford pasture and has been imprisoning wandering knights who refuse to uphold his claim by combat. His brother Sir Ontzlake has the better claim but is injured and cannot fight. Arthur, travelling without his royal household, accepted Damas’s challenge to secure the release of the prisoners. Sir Accolon of Gaul volunteered as Ontzlake’s champion. Neither knows the identity of the other.

Morgan le Fay wants Arthur dead and Accolon raised in his place. She has placed the real Excalibur and its protective sheath in the hands of an emissary bound for Accolon. A second messenger will offer Arthur a convincing copy of both sword and scabbard immediately before the duel. The false steel is brittle. The deception gives Accolon a lethal advantage without either knight knowingly agreeing to murder his friend.

Accolon is not innocent. He has already promised Morgan he will give the unknown champion no mercy. He does not know that the champion is Arthur. Once he knows, he must choose between his oath to Morgan and his loyalty to the king. Damas is a cruel jailer, but he knows nothing about Morgan’s substituted swords; exposing Morgan does not automatically settle the brothers’ dispute.

Person	What they want	What changes their mind
Edda Hurn	Her father and the other captives freed	Proof of a safe, enforceable release
Sir Damas	The disputed ford and an obedient champion	A witnessed ruling, Arthur’s identity or the failure of his champion
Sir Ontzlake	Justice without bloodshed	Evidence of the trap; he will ask Accolon to withdraw
Accolon	Victory and Morgan’s favour	Learning the opponent is Arthur; a direct appeal to his honour
Morgan’s servants	The two swords delivered without questions	Capture, exposure or a credible bargain for their safety

Only four moments matter

When	What happens if no one interferes
Today, 3 p.m.	Edda approaches the characters at the ford.
Today, 6 p.m.	Morgan’s dwarf emissary reaches Accolon at the Silver Well with Excalibur and its sheath.
Tomorrow, 8:45 a.m.	A courtly damsel approaches Arthur with the counterfeit, claiming it is a gift from Morgan.
Tomorrow, 9 a.m.	The two masked champions ride into the field for the duel.

Intercepted messengers do not reach their destinations. A confiscated sword is not magically replaced. The characters have enough time to investigate and rest if they plan carefully; once the duel begins, resolve any player intervention through ordinary turns and decisions.

The Ford and Its Five Locations

The ford is a compact rural lordship, not a labyrinth. The oak, Damas’s hall and the trial meadow are within a fifteen-minute walk of one another. Ontzlake’s manor lies another twenty minutes east; the Silver Well stands on the wooded road between them. A disused mill track follows the river from the hall towards the well. These routes are common knowledge, and locals will give directions freely.

Location	What draws the party there	What can change
1. Damas’s Hall	The imprisoned knights and Arthur’s false identity	Free captives; obtain testimony; confront Damas
2. The Smithy and Stable	A strangely new sword in an old scabbard	Expose or seize the counterfeit
3. The Silver Well	Accolon and Morgan’s first messenger	Recover Excalibur; persuade Accolon
4. Ontzlake’s Manor	The injured lord and a disputed boundary charter	Negotiate a lawful settlement
5. The Trial Meadow	The public duel at nine in the morning	Stop the battle, fight, testify or let it proceed

1. Damas’s Hall — Twenty Knights Behind One Door

The hall is warm with peat smoke and the smell of wet wool. The lord’s banner hangs above a trestle table. From the inner passage come the scrape of twenty men shifting on straw and the rattle of a barred door.

Damas admits to holding twenty armed knights as surety for his claim. He calls it customary justice; his own reeve knows it is coercion. The prisoners occupy a guarded timber gallery behind the main hall, not individual stone oubliettes. They are hungry, bruised and angry, but alive. Two sentries watch the main door and a third brings food through the kitchen passage.

Sir Tarin Hurn tells the party he once served Arthur and heard the anonymous champion speak. He recognised the king’s voice and a familiar oath; he did not see the king’s uncovered face. A signed roll records all twenty prisoners, including Tarin, and proves Damas’s coercion. The roll can be inspected by a petitioner before the reeve, taken from the steward’s chest or copied by a sympathetic clerk. A DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check gets the clerk to provide a copy privately; testimony about the imprisoned men needs no roll.

Ways forward: Demand a public hearing; persuade the reeve to witness Tarin’s evidence; obtain access under the guise of bringing food; or free the knights by stealth. The kitchen lock can be picked with a DC 15 Dexterity check using Thieves’ Tools. Breaking the barred door requires DC 18 Strength (Athletics) and alerts the hall. The guards seek reinforcement and try to keep the prisoners contained, not slaughter helpless captives.

If the prisoners escape, Damas loses much of his leverage but still claims the ford. Arthur’s identity remains an independent discovery. If the characters confront Damas with Arthur’s seal or sworn evidence, he tries to postpone the proceedings until he can discover whether the traveller truly is the king.

2. The Smithy and Stable — The Counterfeit

Under the stable awning, a young smith wipes a blade with an oily cloth. Its scabbard is worked in the rich pattern of a king’s household, but the steel inside looks newly ground. The smith watches the road before whispering, “That was never made for a knight to survive a fight.”

Brynna Vell, a smith’s apprentice, was compelled by Morgan’s agent Maer to grind and polish a brittle copy of Excalibur. She marked the tang with three slanting cuts, in case she needed to identify her own work later. Maer is holding the weapon for Morgan’s damsel, who intends to carry it to Arthur at the meadow the next morning. Maer was promised money and advancement, not told the victim was the king.

Brynna will speak openly if given protection. A DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals the new maker’s cuts beneath the hilt; Detect Magic notices illusion on the wrapping, not on the steel. The scabbard’s apparent royal ornament is false. Breaking the glamour, comparing the sword to a description from Arthur’s household or showing it to a trustworthy witness exposes the counterfeit. No magic is required to establish the fraud.

Maer tries bribery before violence. He keeps the blade in a strong chest (AC 15, 20 HP; DC 15 Dexterity using Thieves’ Tools). Seizing it stops the delivery. Maer’s accomplice can escape on horseback, but cannot produce another Excalibur overnight. If questioned or spared, Maer names the woman who pays him and describes a second messenger heading for the Silver Well.

3. The Silver Well — The Knight Who Must Choose

Water springs from a silver pipe and falls into a marble basin. A horse stamps in the ferns. Beside the well sits a knight with a folded cloak across his knees, staring at a magnificent sheathed sword. He looks up with the weariness of a man who has mistaken a command for a duty.

Sir Accolon has taken lodging near Ontzlake’s land. At 6 p.m. a dwarf acting as Morgan’s emissary arrives with Excalibur and its sheath, commanding Accolon to fight without mercy as he promised Morgan. The messenger knows the gift is the king’s sword but not the full design of Morgan’s plot. Accolon is neither enchanted into obedience nor rendered incapable of honour; his decision is his own.

Before the delivery, Accolon wears an ordinary longsword. Afterwards he carries Excalibur and its protective sheath. The characters may question the emissary, intercept the gift, ask Accolon what Morgan expects, or reveal that the rival champion is Arthur. Accolon initially doubts an unsupported accusation against Morgan. He will, however, allow the characters to speak rather than drawing his blade simply because they know her name.

Appeal to Accolon: Showing Arthur’s signet, obtaining Sir Tarin’s sworn testimony, or bringing Arthur face to face with Accolon convinces him that his opponent is the king; no check is required once the proof is sound. Without proof, a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check earns a pause while Accolon sends to Ontzlake. If convinced, he surrenders the sword to Arthur or places it in the marshal’s custody and renounces the duel. He must still answer for his promise of an unmerciful killing.

Stealing Excalibur is possible but attracts immediate pursuit by Accolon and Morgan’s servants. Its return to Arthur becomes a major question at the end of the adventure. The weapon is not a treasure parcel.

4. Ontzlake’s Manor — The Better Claim

Sir Ontzlake lies in an upper chamber with a recently splinted leg. His steward has the ford charter, a map of the boundary stones and two witnesses to the river tolls. Ontzlake seeks lawful judgment; he does not want a stranger killed for his sake. His household is willing to honour the promised 750 gp if the twenty captives come out alive.

Ontzlake’s clerk gives the party Accolon’s whereabouts. Ontzlake can petition the marshal for a postponement. With the false sword, proof of Arthur’s identity or an admission by Morgan’s agent, he immediately sends the petition; without such evidence a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check persuades him to seek an inquiry. A settlement restoring the ford’s tolls to Ontzlake and freeing the prisoners ends the land dispute, whether or not Morgan’s full treason has been established.

If challenged, Ontzlake acknowledges that Accolon volunteered, but he never asked him to murder his opponent. If the party has already brought Accolon to the manor, the two can withdraw the challenge together.

The Trial Meadow — Before the First Blow

The meadow is filled with banners, horses and spectators. Two mailed riders enter from opposite ends, their helmets closed. A veiled damsel approaches one knight with a sword wrapped in royal cloth. At the far rail a clerk is beginning to read the judgment. Across the field the other rider draws a blade that flashes like running water.

The field is 120 by 80 feet, with an 80-by-50-foot fenced fighting ground at its centre. Two ten-foot gates face east and west. A rail along the north side separates onlookers from the judges. A shallow ditch runs beside the southern fence. Use the layout below for miniatures, not a photorealistic regional map.

At 8:45 a.m. Morgan’s damsel presents Arthur with the false sword and scabbard. He accepts, believing his sister has returned his weapon. If the messenger has been intercepted, he keeps an ordinary longsword instead. If the party has already identified both champions, either can lift his helm and stop the duel here.

At 9 a.m. the marshal calls the champions to combat. Arthur rides from the west gate, Accolon from the east. The crowd expects a formal trial, not a public assassination. The characters can shout a warning, display proof, demand the helms be opened or enter the ground. A clear warning about the king’s identity is heard from the rail without a check. The marshal halts the contest long enough to inspect the helmets and swords. The PCs do not need to defeat a guard patrol to be listened to.

If the characters intervene

• Expose the king: Arthur removes his helm. Accolon recognises him; the challenge stops unless Accolon chooses open treason. Arthur orders Damas to release the prisoners and convenes an inquiry.
• Expose the sword: Show the forged tang, Brynna’s testimony, the intercepted blade or the messenger’s orders. The marshal impounds both weapons and suspends the trial. The land dispute remains to be settled.
• Call Accolon out: With proof of Arthur’s identity, he can surrender. With only an accusation, he asks for a witness or a pause to question the messenger.
• Fight in the lists: Roll initiative using the statistics below and the linked Arthur reference. The guards act to protect the crowd, not as an arbitrary lethal wave of enemies.
• Let the duel run: Arthur discovers that his sword is false when it fails under blows. The Lady of the Lake comes to his aid, Excalibur falls from Accolon’s grasp, and the king recovers it. He defeats and grievously wounds Accolon. This is the tragic course of the tale, not a compulsory outcome after the characters have altered events.

If PCs enter the arena, do not run an unstoppable cinematic sequence beside their turns. Use initiative, positioning and actions. Once their choices have changed the duel, the legendary ending no longer overrides the result. Arthur’s sword only breaks if the counterfeit was actually delivered and used; see the rule below.

D&D 2024 — Encounters and Adjudication

This adventure is primarily about rescuing captives, recognising a friend and bringing evidence into a court. A level-9 party can overpower ordinary guards. Their challenge is doing so without provoking a feud, letting Morgan’s agents escape or losing the right to speak before the marshal.

At the table: checks and obstacles

Action	Resolution
Have Edda explain the prisoners’ plight	Automatic
Get a friendly clerk to copy the detention roll	DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion)
Open the prison’s kitchen lock	DC 15 Dexterity with Thieves’ Tools
Break its barred door	DC 18 Strength (Athletics); loud
Identify new tool marks on the counterfeit	DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation); Brynna can identify them automatically
Delay Accolon while evidence is fetched	DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion), unless proof is already presented
Open Morgan’s agent’s chest	DC 15 Dexterity with Thieves’ Tools; AC 15 and 20 HP
Demand the champions unmask in open court	Automatic when there is a credible warning about their identity

The false sword

The counterfeit is a mundane longsword with a weakened tang. It has no magic item bonuses or protective scabbard powers. A character inspecting the exposed tang sees the new cuts and poor workmanship. If the weapon is actually used in the duel, it breaks after its wielder lands the second melee hit against an armoured opponent; that hit deals its normal damage and leaves the hilt and broken blade as evidence. If the party takes the sword away, the break never happens. The broken hilt can be used as an improvised weapon under the usual rules.

Excalibur and its sheath

This is Arthur’s unique sword, not a second magical copy. In Accolon’s hands it gives his attacks +11 to hit and 11 (1d8 + 7) Slashing plus 7 (2d6) Radiant damage, following Accolon’s established 2024 statistics. The sheath is in the same parcel and is part of Arthur’s continuing legend; the adventure does not create a separately tradeable version with additional powers. If intercepted, both objects remain where the PCs actually take them.

Sir Accolon of Gaul — CR 9 (5,000 XP)

Medium Humanoid (Human), Neutral. AC 20 (plate, shield); Initiative +2 (12); HP 156 (24d8 + 48); Speed 30 ft.; Proficiency Bonus +4. STR 18 (+4), DEX 14 (+2), CON 14 (+2), INT 10 (+0), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 16 (+3). Saves STR +8, CON +6. Skills Athletics +8, History +4, Insight +5, Perception +5. Passive Perception 15. Languages Common, Gaulish.

• Brave. Advantage on saving throws against being Frightened.
• Sworn Duel. His first Longsword attack on his turn against a creature that damaged him since the end of his last turn gains +2 to hit.
• Multiattack. Three Longsword attacks, or two Lance attacks while mounted.
• Longsword. Melee Attack Roll +8; reach 5 ft.; Hit 8 (1d8 + 4) Slashing. Replace with Excalibur’s attack while he carries the genuine sword.
• Lance. Melee Attack Roll +8; reach 10 ft.; Hit 10 (1d12 + 4) Piercing.
• Parry (Reaction). Adds 3 to AC against one melee attack that would hit him, if he can see the attacker and is holding a melee weapon.

Accolon’s morale: He tries to disable intruders rather than kill strangers who bring a warning. A demonstrated connection to Arthur can end the fight. If he knows he is attacking his king, continuing is an explicit choice of treason, not an enchantment that the PCs must dispel.

Other people in combat

Maer, corrupt quartermaster: AC 16; HP 45; Speed 30 ft.; two longsword attacks +4 to hit, each dealing 6 (1d8 + 2) Slashing. Athletics +4, Deception +4. Surrenders when reduced to 15 HP or when his payment is exposed.

Morgan’s dwarf emissary: AC 13; HP 22; Speed 25 ft.; Dagger +4 to hit, 4 (1d4 + 2) Piercing. Deception +4, Stealth +4. His purpose is delivery and escape, never a last stand against four seasoned adventurers.

Hall sentry: AC 17 (chain mail, shield); HP 32; Speed 30 ft.; Spear +4 to hit, 5 (1d6 + 2) Piercing; Light Crossbow +2 to hit, 4 (1d8) Piercing. Most surrender or obey the reeve once the prisoners have lawful protection.

Other principals: Edda, Brynna and Ontzlake are not combat challenges. Damas relies on guards and legal standing. For Arthur, use the established King Arthur entry; reducing his power to give the PCs an easy fight would change the character. Morgan is absent and is not a surprise final boss.

What the Characters Change

The king and Accolon reconcile

When the ruse is exposed before blood is drawn, Arthur orders the twenty knights released and the brothers’ case heard openly. Accolon returns Excalibur. He cannot undo his promise to kill for Morgan, but he can testify and seek the king’s mercy. Arthur remembers who saved both their lives; Morgan learns that the court has witnesses to her betrayal.

Morgan’s servants are captured

Maer’s account, Brynna’s evidence and the dwarf emissary’s parcel prove a coordinated exchange of blades. Morgan’s name alone does not produce a conviction without credible testimony, but Arthur has the sword, the captives are released and the court has a reason to pursue her agents. A future audience with the king is worth more than a sack of anonymous treasure.

The captives are rescued but the duel is fought

The characters may win back the prisoners through stealth or lawful pressure without stopping the champions. The two struggles are separate. Arthur may still face Accolon, and Morgan’s false sword may still reach him. The rescued knights can then act as witnesses at the field or carry the consequences to neighbouring lords.

The tragic duel

If nobody prevents the deception, Arthur defeats Accolon only after the Lady of the Lake intervenes and Excalibur changes hands. Accolon is mortally wounded and dies four days later. Arthur reconciles the brothers, frees the prisoners and begins to understand the breadth of Morgan’s treason. The characters may still save prisoners or seize an agent afterwards, but they cannot undo a death by arriving after it has occurred.

The characters side with Morgan

If the party knowingly protects the exchange or attacks Arthur, allow the consequences to follow. They face a powerful king, a divided court and a claim to the throne that Morgan must still make good. Do not restore Arthur by decree simply to preserve the traditional ending. Equally, Morgan’s favour is not a guaranteed royal title or ownership of Excalibur.

Rewards

If the party releases the twenty prisoners, Edda’s initial 50 gp is theirs and Ontzlake pays the pledged 750 gp. Arthur may also grant a written safe-conduct, a private audience and the public honour of being named defenders of his court. Give special thanks to characters who save Accolon without surrendering the captives. Excalibur and its sheath remain objects of royal allegiance, not ordinary adventure loot.

Player Handouts

Present these when the characters obtain them. Each provides a real lead; none requires a secret passphrase or a single successful skill check to advance the adventure.

Handout 1 — Edda’s petition

To any knight or honest traveller who will hear me: Sir Damas holds my father, Sir Tarin Hurn, together with nineteen men who refused his quarrel. I ask that they be brought into daylight alive. I pledge fifty gold pieces now and seven hundred and fifty more from the household of Sir Ontzlake when they are released. Witness my mark and the broken silver heron of my father’s house. — Edda Hurn

Handout 2 — The prisoners’ roll

Twenty knights held until resolution of the ford pasture: Sir Tarin Hurn, Sir Aldred Vale, Sir Odo Bracken, Sir Kenelm Mere, Sir Wulfric Thorn, Sir Ivo Fen, and fourteen further men whose seals are entered below. Arms and mounts held by order of Sir Damas. No criminal sentence recorded. The steward answers for their keeping.

Handout 3 — Brynna’s maker’s note

Three diagonal cuts under the grip mark the new blade. The old scabbard is not its match. The tang has been thinned until the steel will fail in a hard fight. I worked the false sword under threat and will say so before witnesses. — Brynna Vell

Handout 4 — Morgan’s instruction

Let Accolon bear the sword and scabbard I have sent him. Let the other champion take the likeness in their place. The knight must die before his name is known. Tell Accolon I remember his promise: no mercy. — M.

Arthurian Connections

The people at the centre of the adventure have their own continuing histories: Sir Accolon, King Arthur Pendragon and Morgan le Fay. Their relationships, not a hidden monster, are what make the night dangerous.

Source

The duel, the twenty imprisoned knights, the Silver Well, Morgan’s two swords and the intervention of the Lady of the Lake come from Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, Book IV, chapters VII–XII. Edda, Brynna, Maer, the investigation and the alternative outcomes are adventure material. Read Book IV.