It's not the name's actual source, just how it looks to me as a modern person fluent in English. Mordred didn't even start out being the traitor. Like most aspects of the conception we have nowadays of Arthur's court, that's a later addition that became 'canon', as it were, because it was cool. The name itself probably comes from old Welsh or Breton, so it's probably Modraet or Medrewt or something like that, morphed over the centuries to become more ominous to the English ear.
edit - After googling 'mordred name' it turns out the original name for Mordred was Medrawd or Medraut (I wasn't far off!), and there are a few things I saw for the name's actual 'meaning,' but 'uncertain' was the most common.
[X] Whisper. When you speak, people listen. Sometimes even reality itself bends to your honeyed words.
[X] A Rogue, Undecided. Camelot was worth protecting, but the Knights of the Round Table had long since fallen to infighting. Your plan had been to destroy both Camelot and the evils that threatened it, and start anew...but your Mother did not take kindly to this treachery.
[X] Whisper. When you speak, people listen. Sometimes even reality itself bends to your honeyed words.
[X] A Rogue, Undecided. Camelot was worth protecting, but the Knights of the Round Table had long since fallen to infighting. Your plan had been to destroy both Camelot and the evils that threatened it, and start anew...but your Mother did not take kindly to this treachery
[X] Soul: You can command life and flesh and mold life,and heal yourself. And you can easily make some fool rot and fade away.
[X] A Rogue, Undecided. Camelot was worth protecting, but the Knights of the Round Table had long since fallen to infighting. Your plan had been to destroy both Camelot and the evils that threatened it, and start anew...but your Mother did not take kindly to this treachery.
All write-ins are good and approved. Since I'll be closing voting in an hour or so it doesn't look like any of them will win, but I'll use them for other characters.
[X] Caledfwlch. A dark reflection of your mother's Excalibur, it cloaks you in shining armor and gifts you your savage blade.
[X] A Rogue, Undecided. Camelot was worth protecting, but the Knights of the Round Table had long since fallen to infighting. Your plan had been to destroy both Camelot and the evils that threatened it, and start anew...but your Mother did not take kindly to this treachery.
So is this Nasuverse or what? Because Morgan didn't really have a notable sword, and Arthur was a guy, so...
[X] A Hero, Trueborn. The power which lives within you, the power of the Round Table, was not meant for men. Though your noble spirit fought valiantly, it was overwhelmed by the darkness clouding your mind and you were turned against your home, your friends, your Mother. But your senses have returned...somehow.
[X] Soul: You can command life and flesh and mold life,and heal yourself. And you can easily make some fool rot and fade away.
From obsidian clutch I draw my blade. Caledfwlch, Caledfwlch CALEDFWLCH.
You had never imagined anything could feel this good. Your power surges out of you, tendrils of purple-black energy engulfing your body, covering you with the armor that was your birthright. Your blade is woven out of thin air and comes to rest in your hand, an extension of your own body. It feels good. It feels right. You want to leap into the fray, feel iron crack against the strength of your armor, feel flesh part before the sharpness of your sword. But now is not the time for the overwhelming chaos of battle. You have questions.
You turn to the girl who shines like your Mother and find yourself even more hopelessly confused. Five girls stand with two boys, none older than yourself. They are cloaked in the power of the round table, and both are and are not the men and women you recognize from your childhood.
Queen Artura. Lady Gawain. Lady Percila. Lady Gala. Lady Bercila. Mage Merlin. King Gwynn.
The girl who both is and is not your Mother stands at the front. The golden light of Excalibur surrounds her. Though her power is but a reflection, it is still stifling, like staring into a bright light. You find you have to remind yourself to breathe.
She stares at you, eyes wide, and you meet her gaze only to find confusion. She does not know you. Does not recognize you.
"What is this?" She asks, the words of a stranger spoken in your Mother's voice. "What is this, Tylwyth?"
She is not speaking to you. She is speaking to Tylwyth.
You turn around so fast that you practically fall over. On the other side of the room stands the King of the Fae himself, Tylwyth Teg. His ageless smile only widens at the attention – he, at least, is exactly how you remember him. How many times had your Mother crushed his armies, sent him fleeing back to the magical realm he calls home? How many times had he returned, angrier and more powerful than ever before?
"I thought it was obvious," he says. "I have brought your son back, Artura. Well, technically you undid the spell yourself. I just…showed you how."
"My name," the girl says, taking a step forward, "is Annabelle. And there's no way in hell-"
"Enough," you say.
Answers. You will have answers. You surge forward, every bit of your prodigious speed focused towards the task of getting you close enough to strike this "Annabelle" who carries herself like your Mother. If she is anything like the woman who birthed you then-
Yes. Her sword moves almost without conscious thought, effortlessly parrying your blade. But Caledfwlch was born from Excalibur, and the two powers mingle in their instant of contact. You feel Annabelle's power against your own, and suddenly you can see.
The final battle. The assembled forces of darkness stand outside Camelot's gate, their combined strength more terrifying than anything the Round Table has ever faced before. Tylwyth and his Fae armies, the metal soldiers of the Architects, the Ladies of the Lake, the Simian Hordes, the King of Bones, Morgana Le Fay and a thousand other threats besides.
And you.
You stand at the front of the darkness and you lead it against you home, your kingdom, your Mother. The walls of Camelot shatter beneath your power and though it cuts you like a knife you continue on. You see good men and women fall, see them pay the price for the arrogance of their masters. You march on the castle itself.
She has gathered there, with her few remaining allies. Only six of the Knights of the Round Table still stand, plus the Queen's sorcerous advisor and her adulterous husband. They are all that remains of the old Camelot, the last of the rot that must be purged before something new and better can grow in its place.
You have won. Until it all goes wrong.
Your mother weaves an enchantment so complex that you can barely comprehend its entirety. She traps your body in a crystal cage and banishes your soul to the void between worlds where nothing is or ever will be. She watches her friends fall around her and gathers their power, their souls, and flings them through time.
You see their souls awaken in new bodies, ignorant of their past. You see them awaken their power, fight together, lose, love and live together. You seem them stand up to the very darkness you marshaled to destroy them, time and again, and emerge victorious.
But then you watch them die, valiantly protecting the light. You watch the cycle begin again. And again. And again. You watch them fight the same battles, make the same mistakes, die the same deaths.
You watch the soul of your Mother awaken in Annabelle, and then you are torn from your vision and dragged back to the waking world.
Your legs nearly buckle beneath you, but you are Mordred Pendragon, and so you stand. Annabelle is not so lucky – she collapses before you, Excalibur fading. She is vulnerable.
But not for long. With a crack of thunder she appears, the soul of Lady Gawain in a body you do not recognize. Lightning dances across her skin as she pushes you back, away from Annabelle.
"Matthew!" She shouts to the boy who holds the soul of Merlin. "Don't let Tylwyth get away!"
"As if he could stop me," Tylwyth says. The King raises a hand, and with a snap of his fingers a door appears in the rock beside him. "Coming, Mordred?"
You could go with him. It would be easy. Only Annabelle or the new Lady Gawain could match your speed, and one of them is unconscious while the other is preoccupied. It has been a thousand thousand years since you last drew breath, and Tylwyth was the one to orchestrate your revival. Staying with him, at least for now, would be wise.
Or you could stay. You fought your Mother at the fall of Camelot, but this is not Camelot, and you are not entirely sure that this Annabelle is your Mother. It is at least worth investigation.
Or you could run. Tylwyth is not your ally. These…people are not your allies. The only person you have ever been able to trust is yourself, so why change that now?
What will you do?
[] Go with Tylwyth
[] Stay with Annabelle
[] Run by yourself
These people are acting in a perpetual circle. This circle can't be broken from within as it will follow the same path again. Good and Evil both. So we must show them how to do it the right way. Without their leadership, their guidance, their commands. Because we see a better way. And we shall make it reality for my name is Mordred Pendragon, the Dark Prince of Camelot!
We chose rogue after all so why go back on it now?
These people are acting in a perpetual circle. This circle can't be broken from within as it will follow the same path again. Good and Evil both. So we must show them how to do it the right way. Without their leadership, their guidance, their commands. Because we see a better way. And we shall make it reality for my name is Mordred Pendragon, the Dark Prince of Camelot!
We chose rogue after all so why go back on it now?
Becuase there is chance we can have the option to run later after getting information from someone who is not a Fae or trying to figure out things on our own also the chance we can take any nice stuff they might have or as Kylina said infiltration take over or destroy them
We tried that once, we failed ^^ and if she got her memories back to she will watch out for it. So joining Good to betray them will make them not believe us later. And joining Evil will mean none will trust us afterwards either. Going out on our own, gathering our own power means that new paths open up rather than what we've seen so far, because they are identical to their past selves. So we can pound upon every flaw because we already know those they have.
Becuase there is chance we can have the option to run later after getting information from someone who is not a Fae or trying to figure out things on our own also the chance we can take any nice stuff they might have
