I need help!

I'm creating an NPC (several actually) for next session of Pendragon RPG.

I'm specifically looking for something new. The players are travelling to Aquitaine, a country on the continent and I want to capture the strangeness of this far away land.

Specifically they are visiting King Ban of Benoic (future father of Sir Lancelot and Sir Ector de Maris) and King Bors of Gaul. They need to get the trust and alliance of these Kings to help the new King Arthur against the rebels of the north.

The NPC I'm looking to create is someone that has stolen King Ban's sword Coreiseuse. King Ban's wife is will not allow her husband to travel of to distant lands without it, believing in a curse that is said to fall upon his castle should the sword leave his land without him.

So, long story short:
I need some suggestions for this NPC. Who is he/she? Why steal the sword? How did the sword get stolen? The Ganis are known to be suspicious of the Franks. Could the scoundrel be a Frank? The Ganis are also known to be flirtatious and amorous, could it be jealousy?

Bastard son of Ban's father stole the blade to prove that he is worthy of being recognized as being of the blood.

Only someone of the Line of Benoic (founded by Ban's Father's Father) can wield the blade in battle, and thus prove that he is of the blood line.

Ban has refused to recognize him, saying that if his father would not recognize him, he (Ban) has no reason to do so.

To tie it into the curse, he has decided that if Ban will not recognize him then he will give the blade as a wedding gift to his father in law - a Frank - and thus cause the sword to leave the land and thus cause Ban's castle to receive the curse.

Sounds like fun - keep us posted on how it comes out!

Obviously King Ban has fallen afoul of Nightraven, brother to Dayraven and a mercenary Frank as slippery as he is skilled (and dishonorable).

A bigger question might be: how could he have accomplished the theft? The butler?

--Khanwulf

PS. Dayraven of course is later (527 IIRC) killed by Beowulf in Frisia. Bonus points if the sword Nailer was also stolen, and Dayraven took it.

Mayhaps it was the Merovingians' sorcerous kin, Alberich, that did the deed.

Bastard son of Ban's father stole the blade to prove that he is worthy of being recognized as being of the blood.

Only someone of the Line of Benoic (founded by Ban's Father's Father) can wield the blade in battle, and thus prove that he is of the blood line.

Ban has refused to recognize him, saying that if his father would not recognize him, he (Ban) has no reason to do so.

To tie it into the curse, he has decided that if Ban will not recognize him then he will give the blade as a wedding gift to his father in law - a Frank - and thus cause the sword to leave the land and thus cause Ban's castle to receive the curse.

Sounds like fun - keep us posted on how it comes out!

This sounds good! I'll steal plenty of this, I think it'd go well with my players.

Ofcourse, you can follow the outcome on our campaign page when the adventure is over. :)

Obviously King Ban has fallen afoul of Nightraven, brother to Dayraven and a mercenary Frank as slippery as he is skilled (and dishonorable).

A bigger question might be: how could he have accomplished the theft? The butler?

--Khanwulf

PS. Dayraven of course is later (527 IIRC) killed by Beowulf in Frisia. Bonus points if the sword Nailer was also stolen, and Dayraven took it.

This sounds interesting! But for someone a bit out of the loop, where can I read more about Nightraven and Dayraven?

It could be a part of a far larger conspiracy:
The bastard son has been feeding on the uncertainty of some vassals of the king. They fear Frankish raids into their lands and they may not wish to go to a far away lord when their own lands are in jeopardy. The bastard son claimed to have a way to keep the King in their own kingdom and maybe some of the less reputable accepted it and gave him access to the castle. Maybe one of the vassal's family is a household knight of the King and somehow convinced this household knight that this was the best for the realm.

This sounds interesting! But for someone a bit out of the loop, where can I read more about Nightraven and Dayraven?

Dayraven (Daeghrefn) is mentioned in the epic poem of Beowulf, who crushes his chest during their battle in Frisia after the Frankish mercenary kills the king of the Geats. In Land of Giants Beowulf encounter with him is dated (IIRC) 527, so he's around at your time. His sword is named "Nailer" (Naegling) and Beowulf valued it highly enough to carry it thereafter. That's really all we know about the guy--other than that he was glorious enough for Beowulf to recount his exploits slaying the man during a boast.

I really wish we knew more--he has a great name!

Nightraven is an entirely fictional brother invented for your use, so that your PKs might deal harshly with him without making someone wonder if they just threw off the Beowulf plot....

Cheers!
--Khanwulf

Thank you all for the inspiration, I used plenty of it during this weekends session, and it worked out pretty well.

I'll post the summary when my players post it on the page, but long story short:

* Players travelled to Ganis with Brastias and Ulfius
* They met a knight in a village on the coast who gave them hospitality for the night as long as they did not speak to his daughter. (of course, one player managed to talk to her while out for a walk. A few fumbled and crits later passions are involved, this will really become a great issue in the future.)
* The players rode towards Ban, on the way they had an accounted with a strange plant-creature who almost swallowed them whole, they also met Ban who was on his way to kill the creature.
* Ban said he'd love to help, but that he had promised his wife to not leave unless he had the sword (se above)
* The players decided to go look for the sword, and after some short research realised it had something to do with the strange lady "Vivienne" who lived near a lake.
* The players set of to find her, and after some strange accounters on the way found her handmaid. She said that Vivienne only spoke to knights she considered worthy. One player set out on a test to proove he was, and managed to pass a few impotant chivalry-tests.
* They met Vivienne, and she told them where the sword was. It had been stolen by a frankish warrior called "nightraven". She warned them that "they can defeat him, but he will not die."
* They players located nightraven in a cave not far from the forest, where they confronted him and his ilk.
* After being wounded, Nightraven turned into a bird and flew of into a tower, and they quickly followed.
* After finding the tower, they met three wraits/undead creatures who they had to fight one by one.They managed to defeat them, and nightraven. They took back the sword to Ban, who proptly agreed to come with his brother to Britain and help Arthur.

Behind the scenes:
* Vivienne agreed to help the player "for free", because she saw that they were "already taken" by someone stronger than her. She did not want to intervene in another sorceress business.
* Nightraven did ofcourse not truly die. Each time he is defeated, another wraith spawns and he returns to life in another body. This has happened four times in total now. Each time the players defeat him, he will grow stronger. According to the curse, he can only be killed by his brother dayraven (or, incidentally by Beowulf). He will be back.

Awesome!

And... I really like your supernatural take on the Nightraven/Dayraven idea. I think I'll lift it for my own use, as I'm mixing LOTS of supernatural elements in....

Very cool! Gaul is going to be a scary place for your PCs, eventually.

--Khanwulf

http://w.ikabodo.se/index.php?title=King_Ban%27s_Lost_Sword

This is the adventure that took place during the session (written by a player), thanks you again for the inspiration!