A week after Mara’s burial, Dagg rides Peppers toward the ruined monastery. The household stands armed behind him, while a strip of Mara’s green dress circles his hat.
The monastery crouches among broken stones and thorn-choked walls. Pike’s trail markers point beyond it, beside trampled ground, cold fire pits, and fresh hoofprints leading deeper into the ruins.
Dagg dismounts Peppers and studies the tracks. The supply camp is recent, and several horses passed toward the inner courtyard after the last rain.
A vast black bear rises behind the shattered cloister, fifteen feet of coarse fur and heavy muscle. Small red eyes fix on Dagg as the demon bear steps between him and Pike’s trail.
Barbaris
This is my hunting ground. The armed men passed through, but none may cross my stones without paying a price.
Peppers tosses her head and stamps once, sensing the immense predator. Beyond Barbaris, a loose shutter knocks against stone, and one fresh hoofprint fills with dark rainwater.
Barbaris
Choose, rider. Speak your purpose, turn back, or learn whether your war matters more than my hunger.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past Barbaris
✓ Quest Accepted
Find Pike’s stronghold
“{Even tho he is a talking bear, it does not matter to Dagg, he sees a big fluffy animal and he is very fond of animals. He notices the bear looks hungry. Dagg without speaking goes into his bags on the side of peppers, and fetches two big meat rations. He walks them up to the bear and holds his hands out carefully so the bear can take the food} {When the bear takes the food, Dagg attempts to pet him, forgetting he is not a wild bear again}”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Dagg sees hunger beneath Barbaris’s immense menace. Animal Lover overrules caution, while superstition warns him that any speaking bear might belong to a darker tale. He dismounts Peppers and searches her side bags.
His fingers find two large meat rations. Dagg carries them forward with open palms, moving slowly across the broken stones while Peppers watches, tense but silent.
Barbaris lowers his head and sniffs. After a long breath, the demon bear takes both rations from Dagg’s hands and tears into them, claiming the food without a threat.
Relief loosens Dagg’s guarded posture. Forgetting the bear is not tame, he reaches up and lays his hand carefully against Barbaris’s coarse fur, stroking the great animal’s shoulder.
Barbaris
You feed me, rider, and then touch me as though I were some gentle beast. Your courage is either kindness or foolishness.
The touch succeeds, but Dagg’s composure costs him. His hand pauses against the fur, and the vengeance he carried down the road falters visibly while the bear eats.
Barbaris
For this meal, I will not bar your passage. Go after your armed men, and leave my stones when your trail is finished.
Barbaris settles back from the path, still chewing. The way toward Pike’s markers stands open, though Dagg leaves behind some of his hard-won fury beside the bear’s hunger.
Quest Complete
Get past Barbaris