DG-SoH: Tales By The Fireside

Sat near the fire in a Freehold inn, Coren made himself comfortable and cleared his throat. Through his bushy white eyebrows, he looked at each of the children in turn, some only young and others only a couple of years from adulthood. With a nod, he began. "In the lands far to the north, past the pine forests, where the snows never melt and days last for months, is where I came upon the great white bear" muttered Coren, his voice getting stronger as he continued. He wasn't much of a storyteller, especially not to children. To be honest, he had never had much patience with youngsters. They always got in the way, made too much noise too early in the morning, and called him names. Today had been the same. They'd pestered him to tell them a story, something about one of his many fights. Coren had tried his best to ignore them. He'd tried not to let them get to him. He'd almost been at his wits end and about to yell at them to go away, when one of the older children had offered a silver piece if he'd tell them his story. Coren being Coren and money being money, he'd accepted the offer. Now he had to do his best to tell the story and live up to the offered payment. "The bear", Coren continued after a brief sip of his ale, "had been ravaging some of the villages in those snowy realms. Perhaps its normal food supply had run out or pickings were slim, I don't know. It had helped itself to stores of fish and had even attacked and killed a couple of men. No one could stop it" "A small group of men, including myself, where heading through those lands when we heard about this bear. We decided to help out". Coren decided to leave out the part about a substantial bounty on the head of this animal. This way, it made him sound more heroic. "For two days we tracked the creature from his last sighting. Eventually, we found it" Coren paused for a moment for dramatic effect and then, suddenly rose out of his chair, spilling a little of his ale in the process. He loomed above the children, his large, broad frame blocking the light from the fire. One of the smaller children yelped. "This bear was huge. Easily twice as large as any other bear I've seen. He was as white as the snow around him and his eyes glowed with a blood red light. Powerful fangs dripped saliva from its jaws and enormous paws, bigger than a man's head, ended in sharp, deadly claws". Pleased with his effect on the children, Coren sat back down and continued. "Some of the nearby villagers had said that the beast had been sent by one of the gods as punishment for their lack of faith. They called it Nodruuk. And perhaps it was one of the god's signs. Who but the priests know? To me, it just looked like a large, ferocious, and hungry bear". Coren snarled, winked and then took another quaff of his ale. He continued. "The creature saw us approaching and gave out an roar to rival Soturo's thunderclaps. Many of the men around me filled their breeches and stumbled backwards in fear. A couple of others readied their weapons and rushed the beast. Because the bear was so big, they expected it to be slow. They thought wrong. Its first swipe took off the face of one man and its next clawed attack felled another. All before they'd had chance to swing their swords". The youngest child in the group was staring at Coren with wide eyes and a trembling bottom lip. Coren carried on regardless. "It soon became clear that many of the men's weapons did no damage to the beast. His furry white hide was so tough that a sharpened short sword could not pierce its skin. Still, that wasn't going to be a problem for old Bonebiter here". Coren lifted up his large, rune-engraved battle-axe and held it before the children. Its keen edge seemed to gleam with a cold, bluish glow in the light from the fire. One child reached out to touch it but Coren pulled it back and frowned. "A gift from General Yngvar, its edge is always sharp and never dulls" he explained. "Anyway, where was I? Aye. Raising my axe in one hand and a shield in the other, I leapt at the bear and hacked at it. The bear in return tried to cut me with its claws but I blocked it with my shield. It tried to bite my throat but I hacked at the beast's shoulders in retaliation" Coren began to swing the axe in imitation of the battle. A few of the nearer children backed away a little, watching the blade carefully. "The battle with the bear continued for many minutes. The beast had cut through my armor and left bloody trails all down my back and arms. It had even gouged a deep cut across my face". And at this, Coren pointed to the hideous scar that could still be seen running down his cheek. Then Coren lowered his voice. "Bloody wounds covered me. My shield was in splinters and my helm had fallen to the ground. My comrades either lay around me or cowered at a distance. Even my mighty strength was ebbing away" He raised his head and looked into the nearest child's eyes. A wicked smile appeared on Coren's face. "But I was not alone. I swear, Verengaard himself was with me, lending me his strength. With an almighty swing, I buried Bonebiter into the white bear's chest, piercing its heart. A shower of dark blood fountained onto me and onto the white, snowy ground. The beast howled one final time and then fell down into the snow, dead". Coren placed his axe back down on the floor and pulled his polar bear skin cloak around him. "Whilst the great bear was still warm, I skinned it and fashioned the pelt into this makeshift cloak. No man nor beast has ever bested me in combat, not even Nodruuk - the White Bear of the North. I still wear its skin to show people my prowess and tell them that I am not to be disturbed. Not by any man, woman… or child!". Coren pulled the top of the cloak down over the front of his face and growled. He smiled and added, "It's also keeps me warm on cold, winter nights". Looking out from under his cloak, he picked up his tankard and took another large gulp. He turned to the children and announced, "Now, begone, y' little rats. Before I skin you. Unless, of course, any of you has another silver piece to tempt me?"