The Monks Honey

Seeing the Baron

Travel to Dene from Shadybrook - a long day's ride – mention passing farms, hamlets, much wild wood, occasional abandoned farm still not resettled. Play up character of Bertram Mona. If he likes a particular character, he may share his dream of marrying the Baron’s daughter, Alyce.

Bertram Mona is Elysa's son and heir. He's a reliable, hard-working young man of about 20. He would like to advance his family's rank and authority in the community, but only in a fair and just way. He has his eye on Baron Denbare's 14 year old daughter as a likely bride, and the girl likes him in return. However, Bertram treads lightly around the baron as he's not sure the man will think him a suitable husband for his only daughter. Bertram spends much of his time either in attendance on Baron Denbare or in the other villages under the Mona family's care.

Bertram Mona - (Noble): Male Human ARI1; CR 1;
Medium Sized Humanoid;
HD 1d8; HP 8; Init +0; Spd 30;
AC 10 (touch 10, flatfooted 10);
Atk +2 (1d4/19-20x2, masterwork dagger)


AL LG; Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +2;
Str 12, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 11.


Skills: 
Appraise +2
Diplomacy +4
Gather Info +6
Handle Animal +2
Knowledge, local +2
Knowledge, nobility +2
Listen +1
Ride +4
Search +2
Sense Motive +4
Spot +2
Survival +1

Feats:
Investigator (+2 gather info and search)
Negotiator (+2 sense motive and diplomacy checks)

Possessions: masterwork dagger, Noble outfit, Common outfit (several), signet ring (5 sp), assorted standard gear and tools

The busy village of Dene.

Dene has a populatin of 2,000, or nearly so. It is busy with many craftsmen, several mills, five inns, a dozen taverns, many loggers and even some miners. A stone quarry, the baron’s goldmine, cheeseries, and other shops are all crowded into the narrow, crowded streets of Dene. The town is formed on the east flank of the Kar river, and there is a long, high bridge the PCs cross to enter the village from the west. It has no walls, but is more tightly build than Shadybrook. 2/3 of the town is clustered around the market square at the east end of the bridge, and the four roads that lead out from it.

The Baron’s Hall:

sitting just back from the market square by a block or two, on a low hill, the baron’s townhouse consists of two stories of building, surrounded by workshops, stables and other structures. The main floor is mostly an open hall, a couple of small offices, and behind is a large kitchen. The baron holds weekly open-court sessions here, and the morning after the party arrives (they’re put up by Bertram Mona at a local inn called the Barrel and Stout) they attend one of these sessions. When they arrive, the court is just beginning. They’ll give their names and business to the Baron’s seneschal, an older man named Sir Alfric (Bertram has gone off on his own to attend on the Baron). Sir Alfric seems competent, compassionate and businesslike.

The PCs are about fifth on the list of folk to see the Baron today, and will listen as various issues are brought before the Baron. The Baron Denbare is a middle-aged man, rather stout but in good condition and healthy. He wears fine clothes, including an ostentatious solid gold signet ring, which he frequently rubs or twists on his thumb.

Eventually, the business of wood-rights, road repair and property boundaries are seen to. The fourth group to come before the Baron is a pair of monks. They are bringing a traditional tax-gift to the Baron, and they beg his pardon for the fact that they are only bringing part of what is due him. The Baron demands to know what the difficulty is, and they remind him of the depredations of a bear last autumn which destroyed many of their bee-hives and those of the local village, Hillsboro. Without sufficient honey, they have been unable to brew their usual quantity of mead, which is their tax-gift to him. They alert him to the fact that the bear has returned this spring, and begun his attacks again. Already four hives have been destroyed.

The Baron grows angry with them, stating that if they cannot manage to handle one lone ravaging bear, they must not be good stewards of their property… he is threatening in so many words to take it away from them. The chief spokesman monk grows angry in return and demands to know why the Baron is refusing to do his job in protecting them from what is obviously an unnatural creature? An argument threatens to break out, but the Baron chokes his temper back, and says he “will look into the matter,” and dismisses the monks.

The PCs are the next petitioners to come forward. The Baron is plainly grumpy and wishes only to finish hearing them and get things over with. When Eric makes his bid to claim property in Shadybrook, the Baron is unimpressed. His attitude is that Eric’s people abandoned the village in time of war, and never returned when the town was resettled. They have made no attempt to help in the rebuilding, the protection of the village, nor the re-establishment of the community and Barony as as whole. So why should they suddenly be given back what they abandoned earlier. Others have put time and money into the rebuilding effort, and their only reward now would be eviction? He is ready to refuse without further ado.

The PCs must think of a way to win the Baron’s support – perhaps by suggesting they deal with his bear problem? If they do, he seems taken aback, and perhaps not entirely pleased, but he eventually responds by saying that he will think more on their request if they are able to show him through their deeds that they can offer the community some benefit. He gives them three tasks to prove themselves:

1) the bear

2) escort his daughter and wife to Cedarknot to wait upon the Countess

3) investigate the ruins known as Castle Green and find out what haunts or dwells in the place

The Bear problem:

The village near the monastery (Hillsboro about 1.5 miles away) is the beekeepers’ locale.

What is really going on: The baron of Denbare wants to get the monks to leave the monastery. He and his wizard have discovered that “a treasure” is hidden in the catacombs under the monastery. Their method of getting rid of the monks is to ensure that they cannot pay the yearly rent of 50 bottles of mead. By destroying the hives, the special local honey is not available.

The wizard used charm person on one of the beekeepers and then had him put on a collar which transformed him into a black bear. The bear’s mind is clouded, and he barely remembers being human. He is under a compulsion to eat honey. Every few nights the wizard releases him and he goes out hunting the beehives. When he finds one he smashes it and devours the honey.

The players will have to go out into the half-cleared woods where the beehives are located, lay an ambush for the hive-killer, and meet the bear. It will be reluctant to attack them, as it dimly remembers being human. Use whatever normal bear stats are suitable to challenge your party. I used a normal black bear for my 2nd level PCs.

If they do NOT kill the bear, but instead notice the collar on it, and try to capture it, they can then use comprehend languages to talk to the bear and realize it is intelligent. It tells them that it doesn’t know WHO – but it is under an enchantment cast by some wizard, and it can help them go back to the lair where it is drawn each morning.

If they DO kill the bear, they will discover the collar and may be able to track its movements back to the lair it came from (If not, this could be the end of the adventure, leaving the PCs never knowing who, if anyone, set the bear on his way).

The lair of the wizard is (if the PCs think to ask) suspiciously close to a manor house owned by Baron Denbare about 2/3 of the way to Dene (12 miles). A small cave leads to a passage into a cellar-like room. Here the bear sleeps in an iron cage all day. A second room (door locked and barred from far side) is some sort of laboratory/study. Maps of the area indicate where the monastery lies, and a series of notes indicates that the scholar, whoever he may be, is very interested in “ the old catacombs” below the monastery. Mention of an ancient order of priests is made, and of the baron of Denbare’s ancestors being important to the monastery in some way. It also seems the monastery was important to the family.

A final door exiting this chamber leads to a passage that would take the party to the Baron’s Manor house, where the wizard can be found. But the door is trapped. As soon as the door is opened without first disarming the trap, a rumbling is heard and then the tunnel collapses. This cuts off any evidence that the Baron and his wizard were involved, but should arouse PC suspicions.