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Chaosium Digest Volume 03 Number 07
Chaosium Digest Volume 3, Number 7
Date: Sunday, August 15, 1993
Number: 3 of 3
Contents:
The Adventure of the Five Ladies (Heidi Kaye) PENDRAGON
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From: Heidi Kaye [via <P.A.Snow@gdr.bath.ac.uk>]
Subject: The Adventure of the Five Ladies
System: Pendragon
INTRODUCTION
This adventure should be set sometime after 515, when the Enchantment
of Britain opens the way to quests which test the qualities of
knighthood, often in mystical and magical ways. Up to five player
knights may take part; if fewer knights are involved, leave out the
appropriate number of ladies.
The player knights will come upon a fountain in the middle of the
woods through which they are travelling. Seated upon the edge of it
are five ladies, a child of 8, a maiden of 16, a lady of 32, a crone
of 64, and a lady armed as a knight, age 24. Each has a mission for a
knight willing to take up her special challenge. Knights will be
asked which lady they would like to accompany; players should choose
amongst themselves when the ladies announce their quests. All they
will initially reveal is the main idea of the quest, given in the
first lines they say.
The Child:
"Mine is a test of piety," chirrups the little girl brightly but
distinctly. She has the palest blond hair and lightest blue eyes
imaginable, and she wears a fine white linen shift embroidered with
roses and lilies. Her glance is childish and playful and yet
strangely serious for such a young girl.
The Maiden:
"I propose a test of love," breathes the maiden in a whispery voice.
Her hair is raven black, piled high on her head, a wreath of
wildflowers twined into a coronet gracing it. Her gown is pink satin,
with pastel ribbons twining down the back, and it makes a gentle
swishing sound as it moves in the breeze. She smiles engagingly at
the handsomest knight.
The Lady:
"I seek vengeance for the wrong done to me," says the lady in a sad
but dignified voice. She wears a deep blue brocaded gown with a tall
yellow wimple. Her green eyes are slightly distant, but her pretty
mouth is set firmly.
The Crone:
"Justice is what I ask, fair young sirs," creaks the crone. Her
dress, now shabby, yet shows signs of former glory. It is made of
once-delicate fabric with an overlay of silver stiching, which now is
torn and faded.
The Lady Warrior:
"My quest will test a knight's valour," announces the lady warrior
with a clear, bold tone. She sits on a fine chestnut destrier which
matches the colour of her hair. Dressed in full armour, she carries
her helmet, which bears a white plume, and bears a shield with strange
arms. (Heraldry: success, her arms are of the kingdom of Lambor;
critical, she is of the family of Sir Walter of Mancetter.)
This adventure will split the knights up, so each encounter must be
fairly short in itself to prevent the other players from becoming
bored. The whole adventure should be inserted into the middle of a
group adventure, while the knights are on their way somewhere but not
in too much of a hurry. It allows for individual roleplaying,
demonstration of appropriate traits and heroism. This follows the
Arthurian tradition of knights meeting a number of adventure guides
and splitting up to take their individual paths, such as the Triple
Questers. The lady chosen by the knight will sit sidesaddle in front
of him on his horse.
THE CHILD'S TEST OF PIETY
This tests the religious virtues of knights, not necessarily only
Christian ones. Exceptions to the tests for non-Christian knights are
noted below.
The child brings the knight to a chapel set in a rock. Like a sprite,
she is full of energy and whimsy, yet she seems to have an old mind in
her young body. She runs in circles around the knight and his horse,
skips, giggles, sings and twirls, yet her eyes remain serious and deep.
Religion:
A vision tests this. The scene which follows is set in a strange
light mist, which makes the images shimmer and seem slightly
translucent. The knight sees a dragon appear in the clearing before
the rock. It is beset by vicious black dogs who tear it apart. The
last bit of the dragon to remain is its forked tail, which becomes
lodged in a tomb in the clearing. Before the knight's eyes, the
forked tail turns into a cross with Christ on it. The knight should
roll against Religion; success allows interpretation, failure means
the knight is mystified. The interpretation should be that the dragon
signifies the High King or Logres, which will be beset with enemies
who will seek to destroy it. The kingdom will be broken up but what
will remain will be its holy character and foundation, which will ever
rise up from destruction to live again. Tick Religion on success.
Mercy:
Next, a real scene. When the mystical mist disperses, the knight can
hear once again the ordinary noises of the woodland creatures
(Awareness: success, the knight realises that an unnatural silence had
accompanied the preceding scene). A hawk appears overhead, chasing a
mouse on the ground. On its first attempt to swoop, the hawk misses
the mouse. The child will look frightened on the mouse's behalf and
applaud enthusiastically when the hawk misses it. If the knight kills
the hawk in order to save the mouse, this is a partial success in this
test. If he saves the mouse without killing the hawk, this is a
success. (He may pick up the mouse and put it into its hole in a
nearby tree, or simply frighten off the hawk.) If the mouse is
allowed to die, he fails. If successful, tick Mercy; if partially
successful, roll Mercy and tick if successful. Exceptions: Pagan and
Wotanic knights should roll Generous rather than Mercy.
Piety:
The child takes the knight into the chapel, where three caskets lie on
a table. The first is made of wood, the second of iron, and the third
of gold. They represent, respectively, the True Cross, Soldierly
Glory and Material Wealth. The knight may either choose on his own or
roll Piety. Success will offer the above explanation of the meanings
of the caskets and gain a tick. Choosing the gold casket gains a tick
in Worldly, choosing the iron casket gains a tick in Valourous, but
either is a failure in this test. Exceptions: for Wotanic knights,
the correct choice is the golden one; for Pagan knights, it is the
iron one. For Jewish knights, the wooden one represents the lost ark
of the covenant, and remains the correct choice.
Chastity:
The girl turns into a beautiful maiden, with 26 APP. She flirts with
the knight, praising him for his successes in the tests, or if he has
been failing, for his own good looks, strength, or whatever physical
virtues he may have. She is not overly lascivious, just rather
gushing. She will say he is the bravest, most noble, most honourable,
most pious knight she has ever met. If he flirts back, roll
Chaste/Lustful; success in Chaste, he resists and gets a tick.
Exception: for Pagan and Wotanic knights, the girl becomes a young hag
but behaves similarly. The hag is however, lascivious, promising that
despite her looks, she can offer him sensual delights beyond his
imagination. The Pagan knight ought to flirt back and succeed in a
Lustful roll to win this test and a tick in the trait.
Success Conditions:
If the knight succeeds in all four tests, 100 Glory. Success in any
one is worth 20 Glory.
THE MAIDEN'S TEST OF LOVE
The maiden is delicate and soft-spoken, with sparkling dark eyes and
pouting lips. Her appearance can be taken to be 21. She will hum
softly as the knight rides; the tune is strange and haunting. They
will arrive at a sunny meadow covered in wildflowers. Brightly
coloured butterflies float prettily around and birds sing as they fly
overhead. The maiden will lightly dismount and will only sit on the
grass if the knight puts down his cloak for her. This test deals with
four of the five virtues of love (leaving out Just).
Honest:
The maiden asks the knight if he has a lady love, and if he does, if
he has ever been unfaithful to her or to any of his past loves. If he
does not, she will ask him if he would do anything to win a potential
lady-love's favour if she asked it of him, even if it required
deception. The knight may believe he is being tested as to his
devotion, past or prospective, to love and therefore seek to conceal
past lapses or pledge future fervour. If he lies about his past
behaviour or says that he would do anything to please his love, he
gets a tick in Deceitful. If he tells the truth or refuses to be
deceptive, he gains a tick in Honest.
Trusting:
The maiden asks the knight to close his eyes and follow her, holding
onto one of her ribbons. As soon as he complies, he will feel a drop
in the temperature and a breeze begin to blow up. The ribbons will
become hard to hold because of the wind. Whatever happens, the knight
must keep his eyes closed. First the knight will hear a loud roar
right him, like a fantastical wild beast. The beating of hoofs will
approach, and the screaching roar will be repeated, ever nearer.
Finally, a hot breath will be felt on his neck and a bloodcurdling cry
will come from the unseen beast. The player must decide here how he
behaves. Suddenly, the sensation will vanish.
Next the knight will feel an increase of heat, as if in a desert. As
he walks, he will stumble occasionally on outcroppings of rock. The
ground will feel hard beneath his feet, and he will sense that the
path is rising (Awareness). After a steeper ascent, the knight will
take a step and instantlyl sense that he is falling. The ribbons he
is holding become loose in his hands, as if they were at least three
times as long, or as if the maiden had vanished, and they do not
tighten as he falls. Here, the knight must roll Trusting. Success,
he feels the ground reappear beneath his feet without any pain, in
fact as if it were suddenly slightly cushiony. On failure, he must
roll Suspicious; success means he opens his eyes and lets go the
ribbon in order to try to break his fall. If he fails the Suspicious
roll, he must make an opposed Prudent/Reckless roll; if Prudent wins,
he will try to break his fall, but if Reckless wins, he can choose to
keep his eyes closed. The attempt to break his fall will cause the
only real fall. The knight will take 1D6 falling damage and find
himself once again in the meadow next to the maiden, who will
administer First Aid. This part of the test is over.
The final part of this test may well be the trickiest, for those who
have succeeded so far. Upon recovering his footing, the knight will
continue walking on ordinary ground. He will hear hoofbeats coming
closer and then voices. They are those of his companions. They will
call to him, teasing him that he looks ridiculous if he is a proud
knight, or warning him that the maiden he follows has turned into a
hag with glaring eyes and yellow, fanglike teeth, and that he is in
danger of being tricked. If the knight ignores his fellows' cries, he
has succeeded in the test. The lady will tell him to open his eyes.
Forgiving:
A knight rides into the clearing; he bears a blank shield. He taunts
the player knight for dawdling like a milksop with a girl and playing
blind man's bluff rather than seeking danger and adventure. The
maiden will ask the knight to remain with her and not fight. The
challenging knight will call the player knight a coward and a fool for
listening to her. Proud knights may need to roll against this trait
to control their hostility. The maiden will offer the knight
sweetmeats and talk about how love conquers all, and that romance is
so much more important than fighting. The challenging knight will
ride up and slap the player knight with a leather gauntlet, stinging
and reddening his face. If this challenge is still not met, he will
slap the maiden as well, then swoop down from his horse and pull her
up onto it with him and begin to ride off.
It is expected at this point that the knight will rise to the
challenge in defense of the maiden. As soon as the player knight
calls out to the challenger, he will turn back to fight. The
challenger will fight with sword from horseback, with appropriate
+5/-5 modifiers to the knights' skills. The player knight may knock
the challenger off of his horse as per the usual knockdown rules, at
which point the maiden will dismount and move out of the way of the
fight; the GM should make a point of saying that she is now safe and
seems unharmed. Should the player knight seek to end the fight at
this point, or even express this to the GM (as in "well, now that the
lady is safe, there does not seem much point in continuing," or "now
I'd like to get this over with quickly"), as opposed to bearing a
grudge and wishing to get even with or damage the challenger, he will
surrender. If the knight continues the fight, let him win eventually.
He will have it in his power to kill the challenger; he may decide
whether or not to be merciful. The challenger will admit his error in
calling the player knight a coward and one to avoid danger; he will
praise the knight's prowess and valour. If the knight slays his
opponent, he fails this test; if he does not, the challenger will
reveal himself to be an old opponent or at least rival. He asks the
player knight to forgive him his past wrongs to himself. If the
knight agrees, he gains a Forgiving tick.
Challenge Knight (or as old enemy or rival)
SIZ 12 Damage 4D6
DEX 14 Heal 3
STR 14 Movement 3
CON 13 Hit Points 25
APP 11 Unconscious 6
Sword 16, Lance 15
Generous:
The final test is a tricky one. The maiden will congratulate the
knight on his successes in the preceding trials and commisserate with
him on any failures. She will lead him to the edge of the meadow,
where the woods begin again, and take him to a large tree, which is
hollow. From within it, she will draw a bright sword, its hilt
decorated with rich carving. She will present the sword to the
knight, saying, "This sword is a very special one. For you will find
that you can not be made to drop it in a fight. For those who are
reknowned in TRAIT X, it offers substantial additional skill, for it
is attuned to be in harmony with such a knight." TRAIT X stands for
any trait (preferably a positive one, but could include Lustful,
Proud, Worldly, or Reckless) which the player knight does not possess
at any high level but which one of the other player knights does have,
preferably at 16 or better. Give the player knight the impression
that it would add as much as +5 to the sword skill of a knight with
this particular high trait. The knight will then be led back to join
his fellows. He has several choices: keep the sword in order to use
its powers of not being able to be fumbled, keep the sword and declare
an intention to develop the appropriate trait to a level at which to
take advantage of the skill bonus, or offer the sword to the player
who could make best use of it.
Full success in Generous, deserving of a tick, is marked by the third
choice. Failure, which includes a tick for Selfish, is indicated by
the second choice; ideally the trait of the weapon should be out of
character for the player, and so requires special manipulation to take
on in such quantity. The first option is comparatively neutral,
marking failure of the test of Generosity, but not necessarily
selfishness. Have the player make an opposed Generous/Selfish roll to
confirm his choice. Only tick either if the success is a critical.
In any case, as soon as the knights ride off, whether the player has
kept or given the sword, its reputed powers wear off; the delicately
carved hilt remains the only sign of its special nature.
Success Conditions:
If the knight succeeds in all four tests, 100 Glory. Success in any
one is worth 20 Glory, with the exception of the test of forgiveness,
which is worth the normal cost of the fight.
THE LADY'S TEST OF VENGEANCE
The lady will lead the knight through the woods toward a manor house.
"This was my home. I inherited it in full when my husband died. Last
year, a robber baron and his brothers came and stole my lands. He
marched in, threatened the peasants in the village, and threw me out
of my own home. I want him to pay for the way he treated me and for
the cruelty he has inflicted upon the peasants."
All that it will take to complete this test is a challenge to the
robber Baron, Sir Torrence, and his two brothers, Sir Taurin and Sir
Torrel. His sword skill is at 20 and his lance skill at 18. If the
knight defeats them, the lady will ask for their deaths: "They killed
all my family servants when they took the house." If the knight kills
them, he gains a tick in Vengeance and succeeds in the test. If he
allows him to live and forces Sir Torrence et al. to promise the lady
compensation and or to present themselves as captives to an amor of
the knight's or to Queen Guenever, he succeeds in the test but gains
no tick. Success is worth an extra 20 glory, on top of the fights (50
each).
Sir Torrence
SIZ 15 Damage 5D6
DEX 9 Heal 3
STR 15 Movement 2
CON 12 Hit Points 30
APP 9 Unconscious 8
Sword 20, Lance 18
Sir Taurin
SIZ 12 Damage 5D6
DEX 9 Heal 3
STR 15 Movement 2
CON 11 Hit Points 27
APP 11 Unconscious 7
Sword 17, Lance 13
Sir Torrel
SIZ 10 Damage 4D6
DEX 11 Heal 3
STR 12 Movement 2
CON 18 Hit Points 22
APP 12 Unconscious 6
Sword 14, Lance 12
THE CRONE'S TEST OF JUSTICE
"I am a widow. My lord has accused me of killing my husband and has
thrown me off my land. This is untrue. I loved my husband. It was
one of my husband's enemies who killed him. I need a just knight to
prove the truth and champion me in front of my lord." The woman
speaks sadly but with a great deal of energy for one so old. She has
not let her misfortune dampen her sense of truth and right.
She will bring the knight to her former home, a manor house now
untenanted but still run by her old servants. If the knight asks why
she was suspected of murder, he will learn that Sir Maltor was
poisoned. His last meal consisted of roast pheasant, trout pie,
boiled potatoes and apple pie. He drank mead with the meal. Dame
Edith shared the meal with him, apart from the pie. This last she
prepared herself, but she does not like apple pie. The steward will
say that he received a present of apples from a neighbour knight that
day. The neighbour, Sir Herris, will deny giving Sir Maltor any
apples. Inquiry will show that the type of apples sent are not grown
on Sir Herris's estate, but can be traced to one of his enemy's farms.
Sir Petris is the true killer, having poisoned the apples, knowing of
Sir Maltor's love of apple pie.
Having discovered the truth of the matter, the knight must convince
Dame Edith's lord, Sir Bruce, by making an Orate (unopposed) and a
Just roll versus Sir Bruce's arbitrary of 14 to get him to reconsider
the case. Then a judicial challenge fight will be set up against Sir
Petris. His skills are flail 13, lance 16. To succeed in this test,
the knight must make his Just roll and beat Sir Petris in the
challenge. If he fails to convince Sir Bruce, he may still challenge
Sir Petris by accusing him of the murder. If he wins the fight, this
is a partial success, but gets no Just tick. Success is worth an
extra 50 Glory, on top of the 50 for the fight.
Sir Petris
SIZ 19 Damage 5D6
DEX 7 Heal 2
STR 12 Movement 2
CON 12 Hit Points 31
APP 10 Unconscious 8
Flail 13, Lance 16
THE WARRIOR'S TEST OF VALOUR
The warrior lady will ride her own horse in front of the knight who
has accepted her quest. She will explain that she has taken up arms
to defend her family after a wyvern killed her father and two
brothers. She must save her mother and their land from further
depredations by the monster, who keeps carrying off peasants and farm
animals. Her dark green eyes are steady, with only a hint of softness
behind them, and the knight may discern with what effort the warrior
lady maintains her tough demeanour (Awareness).
She will lead the knight through a village which is looking rather
forlorn. Thatched roofs have been pulled off cottages, villagers show
signs of injuries and many little children seem to wander the streets
as urchins. "This was once such a happy place, when I was growing
up," explains the warrior.
She will tell the knight that she knows where the wyvern's lair is,
atop a nearby hill in a cave. Use stats from main rules, p 204. She
will help the knight to fight the creature. Her skills are sword 16,
lance 14. If the knight is amenable, after the fight she will
possibly respond to a flirtation, now that the danger to her people is
over, and may be interested in a marriage, but not before.
Success is worth the glory for killing the wyvern, 100.
Lady Warrior, Delila
SIZ 14 Damage 4D6
DEX 14 Heal 2
STR 10 Movement 2
CON 14 Hit Points 28
APP 19 Unconscious 7
Sword 16, Lance 14
CONCLUSION
When the knights finish their individual adventures, they will be
brought back together at the fountain by the five ladies. They can go
on to tell each other of their deeds en route to their next group
adventure.
ALTERNATIVE APPROACH
You may wish to adapt this adventure to have all the knights
participate in all the challenges. In this case, they do all the
tests together, and each fights a single opponent where appropriate.
I don't recommend this; I think it works best if each knight chooses
the challenge that suits him best.
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