After several hours riding, late afternoon they reach Pitton and is graciously hosted by Rufus' sister and her husband. They are lavishly fed, then given a place to take cover from the rain and to sleep in the manor. Miles' team sleeps in the great hall.

Next morning the teams starts early. Rufus' sister gives Rufus the urgent request to support their ailing father and his partly crumbling manor of Broughton, where expensive repairs are being made from the latest Saxon attack. Bad harvets doesn't help much either and the Broughton coffers are almost empty.
Rufus replies that it may not be much time left for his father, being wounded and bedridden since the return from Mt. Damen.

The group heads northeast across the moors and reach Tidworth village after lunch time. There they see the village is rather poor and there's not much evidence of people out in the (now lessened) rain. After a while they spot the only building made partly of stone and having a large wooden cross mounted over the door.
They knock on the door there and after a short while Garr opens and invites them into his little cottage.

The stink of a country people cottage is immediately commented on by Miles and Laevinius. Garr is somewhat surprised as he expected real knights, not squires but is quick to accept the help sent. Garr says: "At first I thought the mating season for the boars started early this year as a whole lot of them came running out into our fields in great disarray about one week ago. We managed to scare them away easily though. But not long after, we started hearing the strange howling from within the woods of Harewood. High, long, outdrawn howls, like some great animal, but not wolves. Definately not wolves!

And two days ago we had a bear here, a sow of some greatness. It lumbered out into our northern fields with her young in tow and killed Mother Flora’s son Adwin. We heard the screams and found him slain among the terrified sheep. We managed to coax the bear away to the edge of the woods, but it's still there.
And then we heard the howling again, and it's been continuing to sound louder and closer for each day. I don't have enough men here to hunt the bear as the greater part of the village men is out hunting other quarry in the southern part of Harewood. Can you young men help?"

The PCs/NPCs all agree to help and get their horses tended to in the stables. They gather there and start discussing how to go ahead. About 30 minutes into the discussion, a breathless rider arrives from the south. It's a young friar from a small abbey placed halfway between Tidworth and Broughton manor. He reports the abbey's been attacked by a small Saxon band on foot, about 15 men, who is raiding the small brewery of the abbey.
This new happening makes the whole situation strained, and Gwanon calls for ideas on how to solve this. Then Miles demands he and his men, with Thomas should ride south and attack the raiders head on! With some reluctance Gwanon and the other PC squires give the consent to this idea.

So there goes Miles and his team, and now they're only five squires against the bear. Old Garr summons the village dogs with a handler called Yori and a young shepherd called Simon. They lead the PC squires into the woods and soon enough they find tracks of a great bear with cubs. The silence is broken by the a distant howling from deep in the woods. And then they hear it again. A long, outdrawn howl, with intermediate sounds in between. Also the dogs start barking against sounds of some panting animal can be heard nearby. They follow the trail of tracks, and after nearly an hour corners the bear near a couple of great elms. After a wild fight, with Rufus in the lead, where he finally gives the bear the lethal spearing (crit) it goes down, but not before wounding Coriolenus. They tend to Coriolenus and gives the order for the villagers to flay the bear.

After a short rest and some robust healing by Old Garr's experienced hands, they start again into the woods. Now to locate the source of the howling. The hounds is left astray halfways by Dalan who's unable to restrain them as they get deeper into Harewood.

About 20 minutes in, the suddenly hear the ever increasing howls much closer! The they decide to move stealthy towards it, with Rufus again in the lead. Owain is not far behind and then the others. After several minutes they enter a glade, with a creek running through it and a small pond in the middle.
Around it grows bracken and ferns, so Rufus tries to jump them and fumbles his intended landing, ending with a great splash in the pond! Then the howling is heard directly in front of them, and on the opposite side of the glade a three-eyed giant strides out! He's holding his own jaw in one hand and in the other hangs a living goat. Rufus standing on all fours in the pond doesn't believe his eyes! A six or seven meter high faery being is staring out ahead of him.
(The players all roll their respective characters Valorous - and everyone makes it - even Rufus' player).

They hear the howling is coming from the giant, as he hold his jaw, apparently in great pain. "Mee ooth, ME OOOTH! Aaaooww! 'ant pelief it! Greyt Motherrr Forrest 'elp mee! Oow!" Then he takes the still living goat and picks his aching mouth with its horns, while the animal is bleating. And once again the giant howls! Apparently the self-treatment isn't working.

The giant is oblivious to the squires, throws away the goat and then in desperation unroots a couple of small trees in his great hands and throws them in the air, howling in frustration and pain! Again Rufus is almost scared out of his wits, but keeps his cool by silently reading prayers over and over.

Owain and Gwanon being pagans both, very carefully edge closer to the giant. Coriolenus also takes a closer look as he's the only one who's had a faerie encounter in his youth, although as an adult is still christian. They start to address the giant, and after a short while make eye contact with the being. Standing on quaking legs Owain says "Can we help you somehow, great being of the forest?", and Gwanon says something similar, feeling awed by Nature's presence in this creature. The giant first doesn't answer them being so immersed in his great pain and then howling again, swaying his great arms in the air above the squires. The others steps backward, but Owain and Gwanon somehow keep their ground. "Thee cannt helf mee, noo. Iss too greyt thiss paynne, little men me think haf nott a thingg in thee wyrld 'o makey it goo afay, noo! Be gonne with yerself!!"

Owain suddenly starts thinking of something happening earlier yesterday, when they met old Sir Cahin in Sarum (by some whispered tips from the GM). Cahin got help for his pain from drinking mead! And there's mead a few kilometers away just now being carried away by enemies! Owain blurts out: "Giant, oh revered being of the forest - we know how you can stop the pain! Listen we know, we do!" Owain gets the impression from reading the face of the giant, that he's talking too fast and too much for the faerie being to understand. Owain slows down his speech and eventually seems to get through to the giant.

Both Gwanon and Owain start pointing westward and almost fall over each other in their tries to convince the giant it should follow them to the mead and a cure to his pain! After several more tries, the giant all of a sudden whips out his great arms and slowly says in his thundering voice: "Me pain bee stupped by sumfing drinkin??!! S'wat ye sayin?? Stop yer jompin aboot!" Alarayt then, alarayt - then Shoooow mee thi way!! NoooooW Slappin strappin fast!!!"

All the squires then move, running back towards the edge of Harewood, the giant in tow - or rather after a while - the squires in tow after the giant as it moves so fast it's almost impossible to keep up. Then after a mad long dash through the woods, they come out south of Tidworth near the road from Broughton.

The river turning into a creek here runs in front of the road, so something absolutely insane happens: the giant ends up helping the smaller squires over the steep sides of the creek. Gwanon and Owain happy, and all the others trying to forget what just happened. Out on the road, they head south.

What can be seen running towards them you think? This: Miles on his horse ahead of his companions and on foot Lutorius, Laevinius, Thomas, and a wounded Tancred limping on as fast as he can. Some 30 meters down the road comes a roaring band of saxon youths, mood lifted by the apparent victory over the squires. In the far back can be seen four of the Saxons leading a cart with two great barrels on top.

"There! There's your mead against the tooth ache!!" Owain goes into falsetto in his eager attempts at directing the giant towards his salvation.
There's a sudden glint in all three of the giant's eyes, as he understands what he sees ahead of him. With a great otherworldly smile spreading over the giant's face he strides towards the opposing Saxons, shouting: "Giviteer, giviteer! I's mine meed, oonli mine meed!!" And with a "come-to-papa" attitude he moves towards the mead cart at the suddenly terrified Saxons who start shouting: "FeorgeniÐla! Feond! Jotun!". This inspires the PC squires to rally against the Saxons, but Miles horse is out of control and his friends is as terrified as the Wotan worshippers.

As the Saxons scatter and flee from the giant, the towering faerie grab one of the two barrels and uncorking it start drinking it right there. Then he corks the barrel again, and takes both of them under his arms. Striding on he wanders back to the woods without warning and is soon seen only as the trees move along his forest path.

The squires stop pursuing the Saxons, and gather together, heading back to Tidworth with a bleeding Tancred and not so fast Coriolenus. They make good use of the cart. Returning in Tidworth they get treatment from Garr and start planning their way back to Sarum. This was the first part of the adventure.

Next session is planned on friday the 20th of July. I intend to run the rest of the Bear of Imber-scenario just as it is written.