Ursus

[geeman]

Before I get into this one I just want to note a couple of things. I *am*

going to work on the whole specialty priest thing for BR D20 clerics, as

well as the "Death: The Final Adventure" article I keep mentioning. Time

is, of course, finite (and seems to grow mystically _more finite_ in recent

years--Einstein`s thoughts on time and space didn`t account for the

transtemporal effects of growing older) and the "Death" thing just keeps

getting longer and longer, but more importantly these awn-/ersheghlien keep

popping into my head and I think I should capitalize on that while the iron

is hot as it were. I am getting some work done on those two projects in

dribs and drabs, but when I finish these new character write ups they are

next on my list so I should be able to dedicate more time to them... unless

one or two other items intervene.



Preview of coming attractions: Two more awnsheghlien after this one, the

Vulture of Vosgaard and Khan Tyrannus. There`s one more awnsheghlien in

the back of my mind--I`ve got a theme for him, he just needs a catchy

name--but then it`s right to the other two articles barring, of course, new

character ideas....



--oo0oo--- ---oo0oo--- ---oo0oo---



Ursus



"They slew my siblings, Elke and Jaren, before I knew what it was that had

attacked us. We had been prepared for a fight. Jaren built walls around

the sleighs to protect the family. It slowed us, and uncle Gren complained

that we could not make good time with such a contrivance upon our sleds,

but Jaren insisted it would give some protection from an ambush and we

could fight from behind them for some time if we were attacked. That was

the plan, but it did us little good, for they leapt down from the trees

right into the sleds. We had not expected that, and had put no roofs upon

our sleds. We had underestimated them. Orogs are clever when it comes to

meting out death."



"I escaped with my uncle, Gren. The rest were slain. Or worse. I fear

some were taken as slave. No, no.... They died. They all died. I cannot

bear the thought of them captive...."



"We ran all night, hunted by them. Chased more like, for we could hear

them on our trail the whole night long, never more than a few hundred

strides away. Seems I could feel hot breath on my neck most of that

night. I lost track of the hours. We ran from the death at our heels, or

a fate worse than death. I remembered a time when I and several other

children had been playing in the forest one morning, avoiding our

chores. Our laughter fell silent when we came upon a red and shredded

thing hanging in the trees. We hurried home to tell our elders, and one of

the boys explained that it was the body of a warrior who had been captured

and tortured to death by orogs as a sacrifice to the dark powers they

worship. That memory turned the fear in my belly to dread and the dread

became a blind terror. As the night went on it was that terror kept my

feet in motion, pushing me beyond endurance. The world became an endless

effort of will, the rush of blood in my ears drowned the sounds of the

pursuit. Pain overcame my being, each stride became an agony, but still we

ran."



"When dawn came we were still running and still alive, but Gren could run

no more. Exhaustion overcame him and he fell upon his belly and lay in the

snow gasping. I stopped as well. I could have run for another hour,

perhaps, but it was hopeless. The orogs would have us. I drew my skinning

knife--the only weapon I carried away from the ambush--and prepared to sell

my life for at least a few drops of their blood. It was not long before

they came upon us. The first one had a cracked tusk and yellow teeth. He

was covered in black war paint, and wore bones around his neck as an

ornament. He gave a short, disdainful laugh at my pathetic steel and began

to circle around behind me as more came into view. There were at least a

dozen, each holding a black, cruel weapon ready. They were breathing

heavily but were clearly more ready to fight than I. They could have

killed us with a single charge, but they moved to surround us so I knew

they meant to take us alive. I resolved to turn the small, sharp blade of

my skinning knife upon my uncle and myself. If I cut our throats it would

save us a slow dying and cheat them of their sacrifice."



"When the first orog died I thought it was a great boulder or tree that had

crushed him, so large was the shape that sprang upon him and so crushing

was its attack that the ground shook. Three times the height of a man, it

was. A swipe from its claws ended the life of an orog and felled the tree

he had been standing near. That tree was two feet of solid pine, by my

soul. It snatched up another in its jaws and he was done for in an

instant. Several more fell to the forest floor like hideously broken

dolls. The others fled but it was their turn to be hunted, and it was

faster than they for it bowled over trees in its way like weeds before a

plow. Its roar filled the forest with sound and set the pine needles

trembling. I saw it bring down three more before they and it vanished into

the forest. It was now their turn to be hunted. I am sure none of them

survived."



"I did not follow to be sure of that, of course. I knelt to search the

body--or the torso, at least--of one of the orogs for provisions and found

myself staring at the bloody paw print of the beast in the snow beside the

corpse. It was that of a bear plain enough, but the size of a large

shield. Its claws must have been the length of my forearm. The thought

that this thing might soon return struck me, and I found my strength to run

returning at that prospect."



"I turned to my uncle lying insensible in the snow where he had

fallen. Could that have been only moments ago? When I rolled him over he

gazed up at me calmly."



"`Are we dead?` he asked."



"I gathered him up and we made our way out of the forest."



---oo0oo--- ---oo0oo--- ---oo0oo---



Rumors of the being now called Ursus have been circulating in recent years,

and accounts of the beast`s size, strength, intelligence and purpose have

varied widely. In some stories Ursus is the size of a mountain, in others

he is an avatar of Erik. In one fanciful tale the ershegh is able to

fly. But in truth, Ursus` origins are not known. Monstrous magical

experiments or the influence of demonic forces like that which led to the

creation of Ghuralli are sometimes blamed for the sudden appearance of the

beast and his monstrous size, but there is no evidence to support the

contention that either of these causes led to the creation of the

beast. Most scholars believe Ursus to be akin to the Wolf or the Boar in

that the processes that created those awnsheghlien must be similar, however

no account of a scion felled by a bear in a like manner has been recently

reported in the region of the Giantdowns where Ursus is believed to have

originated. In fact, it is not known for certain that Ursus is the product

of bloodline being transferred to a natural bear, a transformed human,

demi-human or humanoid. [But one might expect some additional information

in an upcoming "Secret Origin of Ursus" post.]



It is also important to note that unlike either of those creatures

divination and investigation by The Watch and associated priests of Erik

has revealed that Ursus` bloodline is derived from Reynir not Azrai. Some

hope is taken by those in a position to know this that Ursus may be more

kindly motivated than would be an awnshegh. Whether this expectation will

be born out by Ursus` future behavior remains to be seen.



In recent months Ursus has begun to defend the unclaimed province of Barrow

Wood in the Giantdowns against encroachment by other predators. For all

intents and purposes Ursus is now the controlling regent of that

province. Some residents of that land have dubbed that province Bear Wood

in recognition of the creature`s presence. Neither the Watch nor Ghuralli

have yet challenged the ershegh`s influence in the Giantdowns and both

appear reluctant to force the issue. The Watch is taking a "wait and see"

attitude towards the situation. They do not yet know all of the

intentions, background or powers of this new ershegh, and are inclined to

hold back until they have more information. Whether they act or not the

strength of Ursus makes it probable that they will have to mobilize much of

their own powers in order to confront him, and that can be a difficult

undertaking for the influential but scattered members of the

Watch. Representatives of the Emerald Spiral have indicated that they

believe Ursus to be the embodiment of a nature spirit, one of Erik`s

Chosen, and therefore a sacred beast, so Hogrun Njalsson is reluctant to

earn the temple`s ire by attacking the ershegh. It is not known why

Ghuralli has not acted, but most likely it is because he does not have the

manpower or enough trust in his subordinates that he can leave them

unsupervised for any period of time in order to confront Ursus directly.



This period of non-interference, however, may be short lived. Ursus`

natural instinct to claim territory is in proportion to the beast`s size,

so the need for additional foraging grounds may lead to an ever broader

radius around Barrow Wood as a territorial claim. Conflict with neighbors

may be inevitable. Though they are content for the moment to warn

travellers and hunters to stay clear of the Barrow Woods, the Watch will be

forced to act if Ursus` territory expands and threatens travellers and

human hunters of the Giantdowns. Ghuralli may back down if Ursus moves

into the mountainous province of Silverheart, but eventually he will have

to confront this new presence in the lands he seeks to control. Just as

likely, however, is conflict with the White Witch who claims (but has not

developed) two forested provinces on the border of the Barrow Woods, and

Ursus has already been reported to have entered into Thur, a province

claimed by orogs of the Blood Skull Barony. So far the orogs have suffered

the brunt of Ursus` expansion, but most suspect that cannot last for

long. Even the elven province of Caer Cwnnar may be ripe for a visit by

the hulking ershegh.



Ursus

Huge Awnsheghlien

Hit Dice: 16d8+112 (184hp)

Initiative: +1 (+1 dex)

Speed: 40 ft.

AC: 17 (+1 dex, -2 size, +8 natural)

Attacks: 2 claws +21 melee, bite +16 melee

Damage: claws 1d12+11, bite 2d10+6

Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft.

Special Attacks: Improved grab

Special Qualities: Scent

Saves: Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +4

Abilities: Str 32, Dex 12, Con 23, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8

Skills: Listen +12, Move Silently +12, Spot +12, Wilderness Lore +15

Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Track

Climate/Terrain: Any forest, hill, mountains, plains and underground

Organization: Solitary

Challenge Rating: 14

Treasure: None

Alignment: Neutral

Advancement: By character class

Bloodline: Reynir, minor, 23

Bloodline in BP Style: Re (6/23) BForm(3) EnSns(2)



Ursus would appear to be a typical bear of extraordinary size. Though a

huge creature Ursus is able to move quietly and with remarkable speed when

necessary.

It appears Ursus goes into a period of hibernation during the winter

months as no sightings of the creature have been reported during that

season. The location of a den has not been discovered.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, Ursus must hit with a claw attack.

Skills: Ursus gets an additional +3 to track targets from Enhanced

Sense-Reynir(2), and +2 to both Listen and Spot checks made while in the

wilderness.

[Osprey]

Nice, Geeman! I love the story - well-written and inspiring.

A question: isn't Ursus ersheghlien rather than awnsheghlien (stats/creature type call him awnsheghlien). Also, do you think a minor bloodline could become ersheighlien? Just curious as to your thinking behind that.

But again, I love the concept - good work!

-Osprey

[geeman]

Osprey writes:



> A question: isn`t Ursus ersheghlien rather than awnsheghlien

> (stats/creature type call him awnsheghlien).



Right-o. That should read "Huge ershegh" not awnshegh. That`s what I get

for copying and pasting from other character write ups....



> Also, do you think a minor bloodline could become ersheighlien?

> Just curious as to your thinking behind that.



They could in the original materials. Blood Trait (and Blood form) being

available as either a major or great ability in the BE:AoC text, and major

abilities start becoming available an 11+ bloodline score, so even scions

with tainted bloodlines (4d4) could become awn- or ershegh.



Of course, there`s not a lot of actual distinction drawn between those two

(major and great, that is) in the rules. Presumably, a scion with a major

ability will not transform as much or as quickly as one with a great

ability, but that`s not really addressed anywhere that I recall.



In the Bloodline Point system that I use to write these characters up it

takes 3BP to get to the awn-/ershegh class, which means most of the ones I

outline wind up having a bloodline score in the 20`s, so if anything the

bloodline system that I use tends to be high in comparison to the original

materials. When I translate that information into the standard BR bloodline

system its pretty much invisible that I used BP to write up the character

other than the fact that the bloodline scores for most of them seem to hover

around 22-8.



In truth, I`m thinking of making the BP required to get access to that class

lower. A lower score requirement makes for a much broader range of

character descriptions and backgrounds. Not every freakishly transformed

person can be a member of the nobility--even with their tendancy to marry

their cousins....



Gary