Chaosium Digest Volume 7, Number 3 Date: Monday, August 15, 1994 Number: 1 of 2 Contents: The Reluctant Bride, Part One (Shannon Appel) PENDRAGON Editor's Note: Fans of Elric! will be happy to know of _Herald of Doom_, the newsletter of Elric roleplaying. It's published by Malcolm Wolter, and I've heard that it looks excellent. Send queries or four dollars for a sample to: Pale Prince Publishing 2900 Rolido, #168 Houston, TX 77063 Also of note for French Elric! enthusiasts is the fact that the French version of Elric! is now out, published by Oriflam. It's apparently a nice-looking hardcover book. Necronomicon Press recently uploaded two new files to the Cthulhu section of the Chaosium archives (/pub/chaosium/cthulhu/necropress). They are: necronomicon ; info on the second edition of NecronomiCon, _the_ ; Mythos convention update94-2 ; an update to the 1994 Necronomicon Press catalog See you all next week. Shannon Recent Sightings: These are both French sightings, sent my way by Frederic Moll. * Elric! - "Parole de Demon", a ten page scenerio allowing beginning players to choose between Chaos, Law and the Balance, part one, Tatou #19 [June/July, 1994] * Hawkmoon - "L'exorcisme", a six page scenerio, Tatou #19 [June/July, 1994] -------------------- From: Shannon Appel Subject: The Reluctant Bride, Part One System: Pendragon Back in V3.5 of the Digest, Eric Rowe presented an article on "How to Marry Up in Pendragon". Below is a new adventure, intended to help a knight win a bride. It expands on some of the ideas presented in that earlier article. I intended it as a short piece, and planned to finish it yesterday, but somehow it ended up being the longest thing I've ever written for the digest. ** THE ADVENTURE OF THE RELUCTANT BRIDE ** This adventure is set in 531, but could probably be moved to another time period with little trouble. INTRODUCTION "Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Let it be known by all and sundry that the Lord Rantelis, Banneret Knight of Logres, Vassal to Earl Robert of Salisbury, has announced that his only child, the lady Felicity, most beautiful woman in Salisbury, second only to Gwenever in all of England, is now available for courting by any of the Knights of Arthur. A great dowry has been offered, equal to all of the Lord Rantelis' holdings, minus but a tithe which shall be given to the church upon his death." Such is the announcement made in the hall of the player knight's lord, upon one fine Summer day. This announcement represents a tremendous opportunity, for rarely does a banneret knight make his daughters available for courting even by the landless, household knights. The player knights will know that the Lord Rantelis controls some dozens manors, including fiefs given out to four vassal knights. In addition, his daughter is both quite lovely (APP: 24) and said to have a beautiful voice. At once, several knights will set out to visit the castle of Lord Rantelis. This will surely include any player knights currently seeking a bride. Before player knights leave, they may wish to try and learn more of Lord Rantelis and the Lady Felicity [Intrigue. Success = the Lord Rantelis will not allow his daughter to be wed unless a suitor is able to complete three dangerous tasks. Critical = the Lady Felicity is fiercely independent, and may not easily accept a husband decreed by her father.] THE JOURNEY TO THE CASTLE RANTELIS As they travel along the road, the players will encounter several other groups of knights, all heading in the same direction. Many are from nearby locations in Logres, but some have travelled far. This would be a perfect time to reintroduce old rivals or create new ones. All of the knights are travelling to Castle Rantelis to try and seek the hand of the Lady Felicity. By the time the group arrives at Castle Rantelis, it will be some forty knights strong. There will be a sense of comraderie between the knights as they travel towards Castle Rantelis. Many times, they will burst into song [Sing. Success = 10 Glory. Critical = 20 Glory, and many knights suggest that the knight should try and win the Lady with his beautiful voice], brag of their exploits [Orate. Success = 10 Glory. Critical = 20 Glory, and gain the respect of many of the knights present], and speak of the latest gossip. If the players listen closely to what others know of the lord Rantelis and the lady Felicity, they may learn various rumors of interest [Intrigue. Success = player learns a random rumor from the following random table (roll 1D8). Critical = player learns a true rumor from the following table (roll 1D6)]. Rumors of the Lord Rantelis and the Lady Felicity 1. The Lord Rantelis will require three tasks of a suitor before giving him the lady's hand. These tasks will be dangerous, and, perhaps, deadly. (T) 2. An ancient family heirloom, The Blessed Cup of Health and Home, was stolen from Castle Rantelis some thirty years ago. The Lord desperately wishes it returned. (T) 3. A cunning wyrm terrorizes one of the lord's villages. He has sent his knights out to find it many a time, but they have never been able to locate the beast. (T) 4. Once, the Lady Felicity disappeared from her father's castle for nearly a week. The Lord was about to declare war upon one of his neighbors, the Lord Argun, who he was sure had stolen her away, when she turned up, refusing to give any explanation for her disappearance. (T) 5. Just a few miles east of the Lord's castle, there is a small hill, covered with strange trees. It is an enchanted place that the peasants all fear. (T) 6. The Lady Felicity and her father fight often. (T) 7. The Lord Rantelis really doesn't wish to give away his daughter. He just wants some knights to accomplish some odious tasks for him. (F) 8. The Lady Felicity already has a suitor, apparently one of the most chivalrous of all the Round Table knights. Even if a knight were to win the lady's hand from her father, he would still have to contend with a knight of the round table before he could make the lady his. (F) Overall, the trip to the Castle Rantelis should be an enjoyable interlude. Knights will be quick to apologize if they inadvertantly give offense, and friendship will reign. When the troupe finally arrives at the Castle, the players should know many of their fellow knights, and probably have befriended a number of them. ARRIVAL AT THE CASTLE RANTELIS When the group arrives at the Castle, the scene will quickly become chaotic. Once let through the gates of the lord's castle, the knights will begin to mill around in an area too small for the pack of them. Fights will break out between knights for space in the already crowded stables [Horsemanship. Failure = the player is unable to find a place to stable his horse. Perhaps he should challenge that other knight who took away the space he was heading for. Success = the player finds a place to stable his horse, but another knight challenges him to a joust for the right. Critical = the player is able to find a place to stable his horse without offending anyone else into challenging him.] One of the players who finds himself a place in the stables will be approached by a knight who is clearly his better. He will demand that the player give up his space in the stable [check Proud or Modest as appropriate]. Some knights may choose to be devious, and steal a stable spot while the owner is off fighting a joust for it [check Honest or Deceitful as appropriate]. As the knights mill around, argue and fight, they will inadvertantly crush many of the gardens of the Castle Rantelis. Servants will run madly about, trying to minimize the destruction. Some players may choose to help them in this task [check Generous]. If so, they will be able to convince some of the knights to move away from the tender gardens with just a few simple words. Other knights will be beligerant, however, and only move if challenged. After chaos has ensued for a while, the Lord Rantelis will appear. A quiet will quickly fall over the crowd and the Lord will speak: "I must apologize for the insufficient accomodations, but I did not expect nearly so many to arrive. Clearly word of my daughter's beauty has spread wide." "And word of your land", quietly interjects a knight near the players. The lord continues, saying, "I bid you all welcome to my Great Hall, where a tremendous feast is being prepared. Do not worry about your horses. My servants will see to them, and I give you my word that they will all be stabled appropriately." The knights will all be escorted into the Lord's Great Hall. It is a bit crowded, but room is found for all. Meanwhile, outside, a team of carpenters goes quickly to work, making sure that accomodations exist for all of the horses. Seating at the feast is very carefully planned. The most Glorious knights sit near to the Lord, while the less Glorious ones sit far away. Only extremely Proud knights will be unhappy with the arrangements. The Lady Felicity is notably absent from the proceedings. The meal is quite good, and the knights will quickly forget the problems associated with their arrival at the Castle. By the time the meal ends, much of the good-natured amiability of the group of knights will be restored. Players should be allowed to interact with the other knights during the meal. Serving wenches may flirt. Lord Rantelis' household knights may tell of the attitude or strange doings of the lady (see THE LADY FELICITY'S SECRET, below). Knights may show their Courtesy or Hospitality. LORD RANTELIS SPEAKS OF THE QUESTS At the end of the meal, Lord Rantelis will rise and speak to the gathered knights: "Good men, I know that you are all here gathered to try and win the hand of my beautiful daughter, Felicity. I am eager to see her wed to a good man, who may rule my lands well after I pass away. To ensure that the man who weds my daughter is a true and trustworthy warrior, I have set forth three tasks. He who can accomplish these tasks shall have my daughter's hand. "First, he must find and return The Blessed Cup of Health and Home, stolen from my house over thirty years ago by a thief in the night. It is a golden tankard, bearing the arms of my house upon the side, and it always brought good luck and good sons to the line of Rantelis. "Second, he must slay the wyrm which terrorizes the village of Angford, just to the North. It is a cunning creature, and none of my knights have ever been able to find it. Yet, when the knights are away, it eats peasant babies, devours their livestock and destroys their crops. "Third, he must raise the enchantment which lies upon the Cursed Grove, to the East. Long, its shadow has loomed across my land, and now, it may finally be removed! "The Lady Felicity will be presented to you all in morning. Until then, I wish you good night!" When morning comes, several of the knights will already be gone, having determined that the quests are too difficult, and that there are easier dowries to be had elsewhere. However, the rest will be saddling up, and preparing to head out. At the gates stand the Lord Rantelis, the Lady Felicity, and several men-at-arms. As each knight leaves, he will be presented in turn to the Lady. She is as beautiful as the knights have heard, but she shows no emotion as she meets the knights. She will nod her head slightly at each of the the knights, and briefly answer their questions if they have any (her voice is indeed lovely), but little beyond that [At this time, players may generate a 1D6 or 2D6 Amor for Lady Felicity if they wish]. Finally, the knights will be outside the castle, ready to confront the quests that they have been given. The fellowship will split in all different directions, as the players and their rivals try and accomplish the different quests, each in their own fashion. THE LADY FELICITY'S SECRET However, things are never as they seem. The Lady Felicity has a dark secret which she has never revealed to even her closest confidant. The Lady does not wish to sit at home, minding the manor of her husband, for the fire of chivalry burns bright in the Lady Felicity's heart, and it can only be fed by acts of bravery and valor. To the Lady Felicity, marriage would be a fate worse than the darkest death, for it would forever crush her dreams of knighthood. Thus, she has concocted a plan to ensure that no other may succeed at the quests and claim her as their reward. Shortly after the knights leave the Castle Rantelis, the Lady Felicity will slip away. Donning armor, sword and a blank shield, she will secretly ride forth, intending to accomplish the three tasks that her father has set forth herself. NOTES ON THE QUESTS The notes given on the three quests are somewhat brief, since they could each be a full adventure in their own right. All of the following ideas will need to be expanded and modified to fit into your individual campaign. However, the background is provided, and that should be a decent starting point. THE QUEST OF THE BLESSED CUP OF HEALTH AND HOME The Blessed Cup of Health and Home is a large tankard, of the type that one would drink ale or mead from. Emblazoned upon the side of the cup are the arms of the Rantelis family, a golden Maltese cross impaled. Long ago, a curse was placed upon the Blessed Cup of Health and Home, that said that the Rantelis clan would fall if the Blessed Cup ever left the Rantelis' hall. The Lord was frantic at first when it was stolen, but eventually decided the curse was simply an old wives' tale, for nothing dire happened to the family. However, since the Blessed Cup was stolen, only women have been born to the Rantelis line, and never shall another male child be born unless the Blessed Cup is returned. Thirty years ago, the cup was stolen by Sir Dustus, a vassal of Earl Robert who controls a manor half a day to the Northeast. He is vaguelly related to Lord Rantelis through a grandfather's aunt's third cousin's brother, or something of the sort. When he began to despair of ever having a child to pass on his lands to, he consulted with an ancient hag. She told him of the Blessed Cup of Health and Home, saying that it was an ancient talisman of fertility for his family. She bid him steal it away, and he did. A son was born to his wife nearly nine months to the day after his return. Although old and decrepit, Sir Dustus still rules his fief. His son, Dustus the Younger, has proven to be a bitter disappointment, more interested in singing and playing the harp than fighting and horsemanship. The Blessed Cup of Health and Home still sits upon the mantle in Sir Dustus' hall. The players' greatest challenge in The Quest of the Blessed Cup of Health and Home will be in finding exactly what happened to the cup and where to start the search. Here are a few ideas for how to get things rolling: * A seer, sage or witchwoman could tell the players to search for the cup "in the glade where the giant kneels". This refers to a glade in Sir Dustus' land where a particularly gnarled trees rests. It indeed does look like a kneeling giant. Other strange prophecies would, of course, work equally well. * Knights could note the similarity between the arms of Sir Dustus and Lord Rantelis. Sir Dustus' shield is quartered. In the first and fourth sections lie a golden Maltese cross. * A political rival of Sir Dustus could tell the players of seeing the cup in Sir Dustus' hall. Of course, knights following up on such information might inadvertantly find themselves in the middle of political intrigue. * Knights could speak with all of the acquaintances, scouring the courts of the land until they find someone who knows of the cup. Such a task would be time consuming, but ultimately successful, as Sir Dustus has not tried to hide his stolen cup for decades. With some work, the players will eventually find themself in Sir Dustus' hall, the Blessed Cup of Health and Home before them. Sir Dustus, of course, will refuse to give up the Cup, for he has been told that his House will fall if he does. He will claim that it is his and always has been, begging that his memory fails him in his old age if knights insist that he has stolen it. In the end, players are likely to choose one of three methods to retrieve the Blessed Cup of Health and Home. They may steal it [grant Deceitful checks as appropriate], they may call upon Lord Robert for justice [grant Just checks as appropriate] or they may challenge Sir Dustus for it. If Sir Dustus is challenged, he will fight the battle on his own, despite the fact that he is old and tired. He will refuse to fight for love. Near the climax of the Quest, the Lady Felicity should appear. Disguised by her knightly armor, none will recognise her. If asked her name, she will simply state (in a very deep voice) that she is The Unproven Knight. The Lady Felicity should be half a step ahead of the players. They might see her heading towards the Castle of Sir Dustus, or she might be confronting the steward of the castle about the Blessed Cup of Health and Home when the players arrive. However, the Lady Felicity will be abruptly called away at the last moment, when a peasant woman begs the Lady to help her peasant son, doomed to be executed by an unjust lord. The Lady Felicity will ride off at once, and the players will thus be able to complete the Quest of the Blessed Cup of Health and Home on their own [Lady Felicity is granted a Merciful check, as are any players who might join her]. THE QUEST OF THE CUNNING WYRM In the city of Angford, there dwells a vile wyrm. It is not great beast, not the sort one would write legends of, nor does it belch forth streams of fire or clouds of noxious gas. However, it is mighty enough to scare the townsfolk, eating their livestock and destroying their crops. And, more importantly, it is cunning enough to hide when knights are nearby. Getting to Angford should be easy enough, and the townspeople will be more than happy tell their tales of the ferocious beast which terrorizes their town. After talking with the townspeople, the players should have no doubt that an awful beast does indeed lurk in Angford. However, no matter how long they stay in the the town, the creature will not appear. In order to confront the cunning wyrm, the knights will need to convince it that there are no knights about. First, they will have to discover a way to drive the rivals out, for a half dozen of the knights who came to seek the Lady Felicity's hand are lounging about, waiting for the wyrm to appear. Alternatively, the players might be able to wait the rivals, for they will become bored if the wyrm does not attack within a few weeks. Then, the player knights will need to find a way to hide their horses and armor, and disguise themselves, so that the cunning wyrm will come out of hiding. When it appears that there are no knights in the village, the cunning wyrm will strike. Listening for screams in the knight, the players should be able to corner and kill the beast with ease. However, just as they close in on the beast, Lady Felicity will once more appear, clad in her full armor, disguised as the Unproven Knight. Well before the players, she realized that the wyrm hid from knights, and she has been pretending to be a peasant in the village ever since. For the entirity of the battle, Lady Felicity will fight at the player's side, although the serpent will never attack her. It should be obvious that she is a brave and doughty fughter. When the battle is over, Lady Felicity will shake her head sadly. Counting the player knight's numbers, and pointing towards their wounds, she will say, "I can not take credit for completing this quest, for there were many more of you, and you all bear the wounds of the battle with this snake, while I am untouched. Take the beast's head as your trophy. I shall not contest you in the court when you claim it as your prize." If the player's try to share the quest victory, the Lady will state "I know the Lord well, and he would not allow two to share victory. If I were to claim credit as well, the Lord would declare that none had won the quest, and create a new one to take its place. We would both lose, and I could not do that to you, for you fought bravely and valorously." Unless the players insist that the Unproven Knight take all the credit for completing the quest, Lady Felicity will leap upon her horse and ride quickly away [acrueing a Generous check along the way. if the players insisted that Lady Felicity take credit, they may have that Generous check instead]. [The Adventure of the Reluctant Bride is continued in V7.4] -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's Games. 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