Cyning Ælla is the most powerful warlord of the South Saxon tribes (Suthseaxe, “Sussex”). The Scops sing boastful tales about how he came to the southern shores of Britannia in three ships with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing, and Cissa (c. 477). He is a hated man among the Britons, for after his arrival he began to slaughter and enslave them in order to take many hides of their fertile lands. Those refusing to submit to his rule were either driven westward or to the north into The Great Weald. His greatest victory came when he and his son, Cissa, besieged and captured the Romano-British fort-city of Anderidum (c. 491). Those Britons not lucky enough to escape were executed.
Ælla continued his violent expansion for about a decade until a great host of Britons stopped him at the Battle of Mons Badonicus (i.e., the Battle of Badon). This terrible defeat temporarily equalized the two opposing sides and halted the encroachment of the South Saxon warlords. Rumors say that Ælla was badly wounded in the battle and is currently bedbound. His son, Cissa, rules in his stead.