Island 008 - the Isle of the Fountain - small isle
This low-lying isle is pleasant, wooded and quite unremarkable, except for an enchanted fountain standing at the island's highest point, in itself a hill that would be insignificant elsewhere. The fountain spills water into a pool, which overflows into a stream that flows to the sea.
The water in the stream is perfectly normal, but the water in the pool has magical properties. Imbibing it on the island (it loses any magical properties once removed from the island) will grant either of the following properties, depending on the result of a Save against spells, and the race/class of the person drinking it.
The point of drinking the water from the pool is to gain access to a specific spell. The PC must name this spell in advance. The ability to cast the spell (once per day, should the PC in question obtain it), will last d6 days.
For Elves, Magic Users and Thieves, a successful Save will allow the PC to cast a named spell from the First Level MU spell list. If the PC throws the actual number that is listed for their Save, they do not gain access to that spell but a random spell from the list. An unsuccessful Save will replicate the effect of the named spell cast against the PC.
For Dwarves, Halflings, Fighters and Clerics, the spell must be from the First Level Clerical Spells list; otherwise, everything about acquiring the spell in the paragraph above applies equally to these classes.
The fountain has a guardian. This is currently Sir Varek, also known as Varek Dragonslayer, the Red Knight of Ilan Veryon (Isle of the Fountain in the local lingo), who spends his time sharpening his sword while sitting by a red-and-gold pavilion pitched by the pool, and will challenge anyone seeking to drink to a single combat.
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| I hate pinterest. Google 'red armour' - this comes up. Yup, I think it looks cool. Even if his armour isn't red. |
Sir Varek is still quite young, perhaps in his late 20s or early 30s, He is handsome and generally pleasant (though somewhat old-fashioned in regards to racial tolerance and sexual equality), issuing challenges in a courteous manner. He is friendly towards Dwarves, Halflings, Fighters and Clerics, but distrustful of, and a little rude to, Magic Users, Thieves and Elves, all of whom he regards as without honour. He will ask the name of his foe, and say that the name will be recorded for posterity; this is true, in his pavilion is a scroll with the names of hundreds of combatants, including, some years ago, Sir Varek the Dragonslayer, who replaced the previous guardian after defeating him in single combat.
His shield (gold with a red dragon, because he really is a Dragonslayer) and sword are perfectly normal; however, he wears the Armour of the Red Knight.
He
is particularly keen to fight the strongest male PC, preferably a
Fighter or Dwarf, but he'll be happy if it's martial Cleric; if his opponent is a woman, a Halfling or an
Elf, he will try to decline but not too much. He isn't a coward, it's
just he thinks that it's less of a challenge to fight a woman, Halfling
or Elf, and will be less interested in doing so as his sense of
self-worth relies on defeating strong opponents. There's no glory in
defeating the weak.
However, he is generally courteous about this, especially to (male) Halflings. He will praise the bravery, resilience, resourcefulness and agility of the Halfling race, but claim his longer reach gives him too much of an advantage. He is being honest, he does admire these qualities of Halflings, but still thinks he's better in a fight. Female Dwarves will leave him in a quandary - does his respect for Dwarf-kind overcome his sense of superiority over females?
He will reluctantly fight a woman, claiming at first that it is not to be considered, but will eventually (d6 rounds +/- CHA adjustment) agree, sighing all the while. Essentially, the prettier Sir Varek thinks the PC is, the more reluctant he is to fight her.
Elves, because he thinks them dishonourable, he will not be happy to fight, but will consent to do so after some barbed comments about how he will be content if his opponent fights honourably (by which he means, without using spells).
He won't be keen to fight a Thief for similar reasons of honour, though he will reluctantly accept, and he really won't want to fight a Magic User of either sex (but then what MU would want to fight a knight in single combat anyway?).
If Sir Varek is in the position where a single successful hit will kill his opponent, he will ask them to yield rather than go on with the fight. If he reaches a point where one hit could kill him, he will ask his opponent for quarter and surrender the field, allowing his foe to drink from the pool. He will also offer to surrender his place as Gatekeeper of the fountain, as well as his armour. If an opponent has acted dishonourably, however, by using magic against him, he will fight to the death, using the powers of the Armour of the Red Knight to assist him.
If the PC is killed (unless magic has been used) Sir Varek will be melancholy - "alas! Such a brave and noble warrior died today... I offered quarter, but noble (insert name of PC) would not yield, and fought to the last. Truly, a great hero is no more" and such like.
If Sir Varek is killed, four Bugbears will emerge from the pavilion and take his body inside. They will not fight the PCs unless prevented from carrying out this duty. If the party sticks around, one of the Bugbears will later emerge and, in broken Common (or whatever other language is understood by the party), offer Sir Varek's armour to the PC who defeated him, and ask them to become the new guardian of the fountain. If the PC accepts, then they can take up this role, but they are free to decline. If this happens and the PCs return to this locale on any subsequent occasion, they will find Sir Varek alive, but forgetful of their previous presence.
BECMI stats for Sir Varek:
Str 13*; Int 9; Wis 9; Dex 13*; Con 13*; Cha 15: 4th level Fighter: hp 24: Att 1 or Special: Dam weapon (N Sword) + STR*: Save Cl 10 (due to effect of Armour of the Red Knight): Mv 40' (120'): AL Lawful (and both charming and irritating at the same time): N Sword, Shield, Armour of the Red Knight
*stats subject to change due to effects of the Armour of the Red Knight
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