The Adventure of the Bear
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Author: Heidi Kaye
Homepage: http://
System: Pendragon
Type: Hook
Category: Fantasy
Requirements:

The Adventure of the Bear

This is an adventure outline, to be used in any period. It could be fleshed out or the journey could become a frame story for another adventure.

During a meal at court, a woman comes in to ask for help. She says her cart has been upset on the road outside. Any player knights who rush in to volunteer to help at this point may tick Merciful or Modest but will be laughed at, for this is an unknightly job. It is work for some of the squires. The lady also requests help of a larger kind. Her father has been turned into a bear because of a curse put on him and she needs an escort to take him to a sorceress to have the curse removed. Knights who volunteer at this point may tick Generous or Energetic.

The lady is Elana and her father is Sir Melianus. He is locked up in the cart because he is uncontrollable in his bear form. Playing music helps to calm him.

Dangers met en route to the sorceress's forest home should include an attack of bandits and a knight at a crossroads who must joust with passersby. Either of these events may link with other continuing stories in the campaign.

At one point along the route, the cart is again upset on rough ground or crossing a ford and the bear knight escapes. The player knights must fight him, but should rebate their sword strokes to subdue and recapture him, rather than injure him. Sir Melianus will remember the kindness or lack of it later. Use the statistics from the main rules for Sir Melianus in bear form; if the bear takes either a major wound (18) or would be unconscious (11) then he may be considered subdued.

The sorceress, Meroe, will ask a favour from the knights in exchange for removing the curse. They must kill a giant who lives in the forest, Piram, and bring back a lock of his red hair to prove they have done the deed.

Piram the giant is actually a nice fellow; it is Meroe who is not. The knights may either kill him straight out and take their lock of hair or talk to him and discover that he is misunderstood. He will bargain with the knights to provide the needed hair and trick Meroe. Successful Courtesy rolls will be necessary to conduct the bargaining. He will ask that the knights do him a favour he is to big to do himself. Piram wants the egg of a bird in a small nest on a delicate tree. One of the knights must climb the tree and not drop the egg. This will require successful rolls of Dexterity to climb the tree and half Dexterity to return with the egg unbroken. Use either small or ordinary Giant statistics for Piram, depending on the party.

It will take all Meroe's magic power for the day to accomplish the transformation, so player knights are safe from retribution if they do trick her. She will inspect the hair, recognise it as Piram's, then turn the bear back into a knight. Then, she will ask the knights for their story. Fooling her with it will require an opposed Deceitful roll (against Meroe's Deceitful of 15).

Sir Melianus was turned into a bear on an adventure in a strange chapel for being rude to the loathly lady in charge of its sacred spring. He could be convinced by the knights to go out as a knight errant to protect and defend ladies for a year. Successful Courtesy rolls and an opposed Just roll (against Sir Melianus's Arbitrary of 14) will accomplish this.

Alternative ending

Knights wishing to trick Meroe must tell her their story before she does the Spell. If they fail the Deceitful roll, she will turn the lying knight into a dog. Getting him transformed will require another adventure. She will then disappear in a puff of blue smoke. In this case, any knight who succeeds at Faery Lore will realise that by getting the bear to agree to the quest of protecting ladies mentioned above will transform him back into Sir Melianus. As long as he fulfills this oath, he will remain in human form; should he give up before a year or fail to be courteous and protecting toward ladies in that time, he will revert to bear form. To get through to the bear will require a success at playing a musical instrument or singing, followed by successful Courtesy and Just rolls.

Glory

Ordinary awards for bandits, jousts, and killing giant

For getting bear transformed into Sir Melianus 70

For bargaining with Piram and doing his favour 25