A Beast

We are back to our Pendragon campaign, still in the Boy King era of 515. After being threatened by the Saxons, we are seeking friends to help us in a campaign against them. As part of that, we have decided to head to Cornwall to try and enlist the aid of the King there.

We are going to Cornwall in order to attend the coronation of King Mark. However, we don’t know exactly where he is going to be, since we haven’t actually had an invite. We are planning on just turning up announced.

So we head along the road that should take us to Exeter, which is the largest city in Cornwall. We use various inns and villages for overnight stays, but also do some camping at night and hunting in Modron’s Forest. At one point my colleagues get lost whilst hunting, and it takes a lot of persuasion to persuade them that I knew where the road was. It turns out that I was right, and we catch some rabbits as part of the exercise.

After a few days, we get to Dunovaria.

Leaving Dunovaria, we meet some merchants, who tell us to beware of the beast that prowls the moors once we leave Modron’s Forest. Nobody is sure where King Mark is. He was at Exeter for his coronation, but then possibly went south.

Coming along the road the forest gives way to moorland as we enter into Cornwall. We stay overnight at a village, when we are woken by a strange deep noise coming from outside the village. There is no sign of anything that made the noise, but there is a half eaten cow that has been left for us.

According to an Old Woman, there are barghests out there. When people have gone out to poach late at night, they have seen something huge in the distance – two glowing eyes as big as a plate. They belonged to a big black hound with horns and terrible claws and teeth. If you look into a Barghest’s eyes, it reflects the viewer’s worst fears back at them.

The Barghest isn’t the Beast of Bodmin though, that is something else. Though we are slightly confused as to which description applied to the barghests, and which to the Beast.

We volunteer to go looking for the Beast, since the villagers are upset that it is eating their cows. We are able to follow the blood trail (or at least, Madog is) out onto the moor. Looking at the tracks, Sir Madog thinks that whatever it is, it is bigger than our warhorses.

We wander across the misty moor. We come across some sheep, which looks perfectly innocent. There are a couple of peasants hiding behind a rock. They shout out to us to come and hide with them, because “IT” is out there. I can see that the sheet is definitely there.

Then the mist clears, and there is a Beast. It looks a bit like a lion, larger than any of our horses. We all charge in. Myself and Sir Lupinus strike it with our lances, and we penetrate its flesh. But it is still standing, though we shake it enough so that it can’t run. It lashes out at me, missing with its first claw. However, the second claw impacts heavily against me.

Then we get confused by the combat rules. There is a lot of discussion about how the modifiers work, and we forgot that combat is opposed rolls not independent attacks. So I don’t roll to hit, then they roll to hit, but we both roll and whoever wins (gets the highest successful roll). I think I understand, but my voice stops working at this point, so I mostly stay out of the discussion.

I am knocked off my horse, though the attack doesn’t get through my armour. We attack it on foot, and it manages to keep us at bay for a couple of rounds. I stab it, but it is still there, fighting until death. Finally, it expires.

We get our falconer to skin it and takes its pelt.

The peasants are very happy that we have slain it, since it had been taking their sheep and cattle.

Having done the necessary heroics, we head onwards to Exeter.