Prat's Challenge
Prat has decided that it is long-past time he had a familiar. For one, he has little time to spend on his arcane studies, and for another, he needs another set of eyes and ears in his duchy. After long, careful deliberation, he has decided that he will take a bear as a familiar. Because Duke Henrik is also a werebear, another 'bear' within the duchy would allay suspicion of his being a werebear, and also sew confusion among his enemies.

Hallis Island houses some of the largest bears in the world -- something that Kalen Hallis the ranger had taken great pride in. Prat recently discovered that one of Kalen's breeding programs had created something the world had never seen before -- a grizzly bear of incredible size: the size of the legendary bear (p137, Monsterous Manual II). He's only scried the bear once before, on Mount Terranon, but his crystal ball suprised him when he was searching for a familiar that looked like him. Kalen's special project looks just like Prat in his bear form.

Burning the midnight oil, Prat discovered an alternative to find familiar, that would allow him to transform an animal into a magical beast -- and thus be eligible to become his familiar. Combined with a number of druidic powers (such as awaken or improved animal companion), Prat thinks that he might have an eligible familiar in the legendary bear.

N'Kara Nightstar, recently knighted into the fuedal government by Prat himself, is also a druid. N'Kara remembers Prat's fondness for making enchanted rings, and needs another ring similar to the Kiriath bracelets that Prat made for Jena and Gunju's wedding presents. Xavien, the newest member of the group needs a similar ring, as well as one of the light rings. If the party can find the prodigal 'son' of Kalen Hallis and mark his cave with something from Prat's treasury as a marker, then Prat will take the time to make the rings -- and take a sabbatical from ruling to work on magical items.

In the meantime, however, word from Kestaria -- the lands Prat awarded his newest knights -- is not good.

Xavien's Ring: This ring is made of white gold, with a single princess-cut diamond embedded along the plane of the ring -- with the embedding filigree in the shape of a skull. The diamond glows with a pure white light, shedding constant light in a 20-foot radius (as a torch). Xavien's ring protects the wearer as though nondetection and invisibility to undead were cast upon him (cl13). The ring allows the wearer to cast disrupt undead at will. Prequisites: Arcane Caster Level 13, Forge Ring, nondetection, invisibility to undead, disrupt undead.

Kestaria
The party's lands surround a small village that borders on a natural deep-water harbor. The small village has an artesian well that flows into its harbor, but has too-rocky soil for decent farming. Some fishing comes out of Kestaria, and a few farmers continue to till the soil, but for the most part, it is just a settlement of fishers and farmers that wanted to get away from Gridolin's prisons and rapid growth.

Kestaria has six major farming families, with about five workers in each. Five major fishing families with four fishermen each till the harbor and sometimes, the deep sea. Seven minor families with three workers in each make up the rest of the farming community, and there are three minor families in the fishing arena with two fishermen each. The rest of the village consists of a baker, carpenter, mason, and a family of foresters that also brings in wood and lumber. The miller, John (War3, Exp2), makes some decent beer, and serves as the village's unofficial mayor; in his youth, he served as a squire, and actually has some martial training.

Kestaria itself has grown up in a small, secluded valley that opens up into the harbor. A number of natural choke-points have allowed the family of foresters (with a son coming into druidic powers) to maintain the forests around Kestaria in the king's name. The Hatchet family lives apart from the rest of the defensive community, but is probably the closest thing to a real guard the village has. Grampa Cain (Exp2, Rng6) is no slouch, and can easily out-distance many younger men. His son William (Exp2, Rng4) is nearly his equal, along with his two sons Malbim (Rng2) and Kellis (Brb2), and his daughter Erial (Rng3). William's wife Adonna (Exp4) is also a decent forester. All of the Hatchet family are empowered by the king (and thus, by Prat) to serve as squires.

Once the rocks are removed from the fields, the land is actually fairly fertile. The native stone is a brown-to-orange kind of granite that looks quite striking in the sunset.

Unfortunately for the people of Kestaria, a large troll has declared it his. The troll came out of the forest one night, and after eating one of the farmers, threatened to kill all their children if they didn't do what he said. The troll and several of his cronies captured all of the village's children, and holds them inside the tavern's cellar. The tavern has become Vapak's throne, from which he rules his tiny kingdom.

Prat dispatched a half-dozen of the Kalen Corps to clear out the trolls, but he fears the worst. Unable to send anyone else, he would have the party clear out the trolls from the village that serves as the focal point for all the lands granted them. What bothers Prat the most is the rumor that the trolls discovered a hidden cache of elven magical items, somewhere in the forests -- and it was those elven items that encouraged the trolls to leave the forests.

Vapak: male troll; Ftr4; CR 9; Size L (9 ft., 5 in. tall); HD 6d8+48 + 4d10+32; hp 135; Init +4 (+4 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 22 (+4 Dex, -1 Size, +7 Natural, +2 Leather); Attack +15/+15/+10 melee (twin battleaxes, 1d8+9, crit20x3), or +13/+8 ranged (anything handy); SV Fort +17, Ref +7, Will +4; AL NE; Str 28, Dex 18, Con 26, Int 9, Wis 9, Cha 8. Languages Spoken: Common, Giant. Skills and feats: Hide +8, Listen +5, Move silently +4, Spot +5; [Alertness], Ambidexterity, [Iron will], Two Weapon Style, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus (battleaxes), Weapon Specialization (battleaxes). Possessions: twin battleaxes (elven), elven crown of autumn-gold leaves (2,100gp).

Trolls (4): male troll; Bbn1; CR 6; Size L (8 ft., 9 in. tall); HD 6d8+48 + 1d12+8; hp 95; Init +4 (+4 Dex); Spd 40 ft.; AC 20 (+4 Dex, -1 Size, +7 Natural); Attack +15/+10 melee, or +10/+5 ranged; SV Fort +15, Ref +6, Will +3; AL CE; Str 28, Dex 19, Con 27, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 5. Languages Spoken: Common, Giant. Skills and feats: Hide +0, Intimidate +1, Knowledge (nature) +1, Listen +5, Move silently +4, Spot +5, Wilderness lore +3; [Alertness], Dodge, [Iron will].

Most of what the trolls discovered were books -- the last library of Minamir, a lost elven prince from the city of Hiya'hiyithila. Minamir's people were defeated by an orcish hoarde in the early 600's, and fled to found the elven city of Terrace, for which Teras is named. A few of the items in the cache were magical, indeed, but Vapak's rudimentary intelligence lulled him into thinking that because he reads, he can equal anything in the books.

Minamir's Magic: manual of quickness of action (+1) (27,500 gp), manual of quickness of action (+1) (27,500 gp). Arcane Scrolls: Burning Hands (l1, cl1), Tenser's Floating Disk (l1, cl1), Protection from Arrows (l2, cl3), Grease (l1, cl1), Web (l2, cl3), Reduce (l1, cl1), Hurl (l2, cl3), Change Self (l1, cl1), ,Bristle (l2, cl3), Melf's Acid Arrow (l2, cl3), Shieldbearer (l1, cl1), Eagle Eyes (l3, cl5), Lightning Bolt (l3, cl5), Displacement (l3, cl5), Water Breathing (l3, cl5), Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (l3, cl5), Fly (l3, cl5), Magic Circle against Evil (l3, cl5), Detect Scrying (l4, cl7), Displacement (l3, cl5), Summon Monster V (l5, cl9), Haste (l3, cl5). Divine Scrolls: Barkskin (l2, cl3), Delay Poison (l2, cl3), Invisibility to Animals (l1, cl1).

Jena's Mount
Several months ago, Prat had sent for a good warhorse -- a steed to carry him into battle (or more realistically, to carry him back and forth among his borders). Because of his distaste for the Toomaran Tribes, and the atrocities they were willing to commit against the Dragon Nation, Prat contracted out to horsemen on the Shaefa Plains of Baroneth.

The massive warhorse that arrived was about seventeen hands high, and powerfully built. Unfortunately, it was highly intelligent, and ignored all attempts to break it. The horse eagerly fed off of child-offered apples and carrots, but would not be broken by any who rode it. Duke Henrik Kamus himself even tried to break the animal, but it just rolled over on him, and nearly broke his back.

Hobbling for several days, the Duke listened to the rumors about Apple Demon -- rumors that the horse was a representative of a god, a spirit from a shaman, or one of Elinthar's special creatures. After several days bedrest, Prat brought out his spellbooks, and cast detect magic on Apple Demon. The horse turned out to have a faint aura of divine powers about it. Further research only ended with a massive backlash, and a big headache for Prat.

Since that time, Apple Demon has been held in the Hall's stables, and occasionally let out by one of the children (under the watchful eyes of the stablemaster). Unbenknownst to anyone, is that Apple Demon is a unicorn of a different type. He has a rich gray coloration that turns a light azure color in the sun, and the build of a heavy destrier. Weighing in at 2,300 pounds, the massive beast appears as nothing more than a huge Shire war horse, with a white blaze on his forehead, and light gray, almost blue eyes. His horn is usually visible only to animals, beasts, magical beasts, and those with true sight.

Apple Demon: large magical beast; HD 6d10+36; HP 76; Init +3 (Dex); Spd 50ft; AC 18 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural); Atk +13 melee (+2 horn, 1d8+7, crit19-20x2) and +11/+11 melee (hooves, 1d4+5, crit20x2) or +11 melee (bite, 1d4, crit20x2); F/R 5x10/5ft (10ft w/ horn); SQ Magic Circle Against Evil, Spell-like Abilities, Immunities; AL NG; SV Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +7; Str 21, Dex 17, Con 22, Int 10, Wis 21, Cha 24. Skills and Feats: Animal Empathy +11, Escape Artist +2, Listen +11, Move Silently +9, Spot +11, Wilderness Lore +9; Alertness. Magic Circle Against Evil (Su): This ability continuously duplicates the effects of the spell. Apple Demon cannot suppress this ability. Spell-Like Abilities: He can detect evil at will as a free action. Once per day, Apple Demon can blaze brightly as a true unicorn of brightest white, where he casts bless and healing circle as though he were a cleric of 10th-level. Apple Demon can use cure light wounds three times per day and cure moderate wounds once per day, as cast by a 5th-level druid, by touching a wounded creature with its horn. Once per day he can use neutralize poison, as cast by an 8th-level druid, with a touch of his horn. Immunities (Ex): Apple Demon is immune to all poisons and to charm and hold spells or abilities.

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