As chronicled by Dianna of the Silver Shore
Part I
Once, in the earliest days of Aquaterra, there was a young prince by the name of Ursul. As he was the eldest son, he was taught the arts of chivalry and warfare to the point that he became a paragon of the chivalrous knight. Knowing that his knightly skills were more than the average knight’s and that the ladies of Aquaterra had but few champions, Ursul vowed that he would be the Champion of Aquaterra.
Ursul’s fame spread far and near. As he strongly upheld his duties, honor, vows, and morals so well and uncompromisingly, he soon became to be considered a saint by those who met and knew him.
But one day a dark cloud covered the bright sun of Ursul’s life—a cloud in the form of a female stranger with selfish desires for Ursul. She made her desires known to Ursul, but the young knight, unwilling to compromise his vow to the ladies of Aquaterra—one lady in particular—and unwilling to slight his morals, flatly refused the lady’s proposition.
Unfortunately for Ursul, the newcomer was a sorceress of great magic. She returned from whence she came in a dangerous, angry mood.
Upon reaching her land, she vented her anger against the noble Ursul by casting spells nine by nine and turning him into a bear, never to return to his normal form until he renounced his vow as Champion of Aquaterra.
But though his form and manners were changed to those of a bear, Ursul still had his knightly skill, his power of speech, and human thoughts and personality—the latter being slightly clouded by the instincts of the animal he had become. Knowing that he could no longer live in the world of men, Ursul girded his sword around his bear’s waist, slung his shield upon his back, and wandered off to the woods of Aquaterra.
It soon became known that Ursul had disappeared from his manor in a most mysterious way. Everyone searched far and near for him, but he was not to be found.
Upon hearing of the missing Ursul, one of the young men who admired Ursul’s Lady, the foremost Lady of Aquaterra, decided to become her new lord. She, not believing that the saintly and chivalrous Ursul could break his vows to her and the women of Aquaterra, refused the youth saying that Ursul would return.
But the youth was not of great chivalry, and, becoming angry at Ursul’s Lady, he and his men took her prisoner. They were transporting her to the castle of the young man through the woods when they encountered a bear—unusual in the fact that it was awake in late January, and it was brandishing both sword and shield. The bear attacked the small band and sent them running, leaving their prisoner to her fate.
The Lady was surprised by the bear’s behavior. As she watched, it sheathed its sword and removed its shield. It dropped to its four legs and then spoke saying for her to take its shield and climb onto its back. She did as she was told, and the bear carried her back from where she had been taken.
But before reaching the edge of the town, the bear stopped and told her his sad story, for it was Ursul himself. Noting that the sword and shield were that of her champion, she believed the bear, and she said that she would hold a celebration on the anniversary of her rescue until he could return to her as proof of her devotion.
Ursul never renounced his vows to Aquaterra, and he was sainted soon after his disappearance. Even now the armed bear that is Saint Ursul is sometimes seen in Aquaterra while the celebration, now known as the Ursulmas Tourney and Feast of Saint Ursul, is still occurring in the Shire of Aquaterra.
Part II
For ten years Ursul wandered throughout the woods of Aquaterra while rumors of an arms-bearing bear floated about the countryside. Every year Ursul attended the festival the Lady of Aquaterra held in his honor, an invisible observer from the edge of the woods.
It was in the tenth winter of his transformation when his ever-faithful Lady came to him in a dream.
“I have come to give you my final wish,” the vision said, “for I am no longer of the living. It is my wish that you continue as Champion of Aquaterra to protect both the ladies and their possessions until we may meet again.”
Ursul agreed to honor his Lady’s wish and was saddened by her words.
With the death of the Lady of Aquaterra, who had never married or had heirs, the fair land passed to the Lady’s sister who was presently betrothed to a younger son of a nobleman in a neighboring kingdom.
News of the change of heiresses quickly reached the ears of the ruler of the nearby kingdom. For many years his eye had been on the land of Aquaterra, but the former Lady had spurned him, and his knights had been quelling a border revolt. With Aquaterra’s lady now young and unmarried and peace on his border, the knight saw his chance. However, this Lady of Aquaterra also refused the king. Angry and determined, he decided to use force.
One of the king’s knights was the new Lady of Aquaterra’s betrothed. Learning of his lord’s plans, he took to his steed and sped to his betrothed’s castle to warn her of her danger.
After telling her of the invasion—an unexpected move because winter still reigned—the young knight offered to lead what little defense Aquaterra could muster. Unwilling to defend her land with a small force, the Lady began preparations for her household to flee in the night to the lands of her powerful cousin to the south, planning on enlisting her cousin’s help.
But luck was not with the young couple, for the king’s son, knowing of their relationship and eager to discredit the knight, saw the knight leave the royal castle and followed him. Overhearing the couple’s plans at the Lady’s castle, the prince swiftly returned to the royal castle and informed his father. The king quickly organized his army determined to keep the Lady from asking for her cousin’s help.
The king and his invaders arrived at the Lady’s castle at twilight, just as her household was passing through the village near her castle. As her household guard, led by her noble knight, met the invaders, the new Lady of Aquaterra and her ladies fled southward. Seeing her flee, the prince and four knights broke from the fight to pursue her.
Ursul was wandering along the bank of the frozen river that marked the southern boundary of Aquaterra when the white palfrey bearing the new Lady of Aquaterra burst from the woods with five knights in pursuit. Watching as the Lady, hoping that the ice had frozen solid enough to bear the weight of both herself and her mount, urged the palfrey onto the ice, Ursul heard his Love’s final wish sound once more in his mind as the ice broke plunging horse and rider into the water. The prince and his knights, seeing the Lady drag herself up on a rock in the center of the river, stopped at the bank, then turned and left. She called out promising to submit to the king’s demands if they rescued her, but the five knights did not return. She could just watch helplessly as a bear swam toward her.
When he reached her, Ursul told her to climb up onto his shoulders. Not knowing what else to do, she did as the talking bear suggested. Unable to swim with the Lady on his shoulders, Ursul was forced to walk to the bank on his hind legs, the water up to his chest. The cold waters, the current, the additional weight, and the strain of walking upright combined to steal his strength. He stumbled three times, throwing the Lady from his shoulders the third time. She recovered and waded to the ban k just as her knight and guard appeared. As she was escorted back to her castle, she noted that the bear had not moved.
At first Ursul was aware of nothing, then he gradually saw a figure of a woman in his mind. “Champion of Aquaterra,” she said, “I am the Lady of the River. Your faithfulness to your Love and Aquaterra shall be rewarded, for you have made many sacrifices to uphold your honor. You shall be eternal Champion of Aquaterra, keeping the shape of a bear both as a symbol of your fidelity and as a disguise. Your Lady Love shall always be at your side. Now, Ursul, arise!”
The figure faded replaced by the wintery riverbank. Now, however, his Love stood before him. Together they walked into the woods.
Four days after her rescue, the new Lady of Aquaterra and her noble knight were married in a lavish ceremony attended by two invisible guests—Ursul and his Lady Love.
Part III
Long ago Aquaterra was much as it is today; a quiet, little shire that is evergreen and everwet with friendly lords and ladies who, luckily, do not mind the constant dampness. But Aquaterra has not always been peaceful.
Even longer ago, before the position of the Champion of Aquaterra was again filled following the disappearance of Prince Ursul, stories spread far and near of the Shire’s former champion, the noble Ursul who was turned into a bear by a rather malicious and disappointed sorceress. And with them came many strange whisperings of sightings of a large bear at various tournaments held in the wooded countryside and of how charmed the land seemed year after year.
For Aquaterra, there were no droughts, no bad harvests, no calamities that plagued them through the seasons. The Shire was quite a haven from the harshness of other lands. Others looked on in envy, but all had also heard of a bipedal bear bearing both sword and shield that thwarted the plans of those that would have ravaged the Shire.
There was one, however, that dreamed of either taking the verdant land to the south and west or finding Aquaterra’s secret for such success, and applying it to his own faltering barony. So, in order to find either the secret of a weak spot in their defenses, the baron sent his most trusted spy in the guise of a wandering minstrel.
The minstrel-spy was enthusiastically received by the court of Aquaterra where he helped pass the evening with his songs, and when he found information he needed from a few wine-loosened tongues, rejoicing at the news, the minstrel-spy hastily returned to his lord’s castle.
The baron also rejoiced, for the information showed him that he could obtain both Aquaterra’s success and Aquaterra itself!
Calling his knights together, the baron set out the next day for the green lands of the Shire. He also took with him a man skilled in the acquisition of guarded goods. The party reached the woods outside the manor where the current foremost Lady of Aquaterra held her court at sunset and, under the cover of darkness, the thief sneaked into the chapel between the manor house and the village. Finding no one about, he then opened the compartment behind the altar and removed his prize–the golden box holding the only relic of the Shire’s Saint Ursul, the chain of the office of Champion of Aquaterra, that Ursul has worn so long ago.
Pleased, the thief made a quick retreat. As he left, however, he was spotted by a young peasant woman come to observe some special devotions in the chapel. She recognized the box in has hands glittering in the moonlight.
As the thief went to rejoin the baron, the peasant woman went to tell the current Lady of Aquaterra what she had seen. Curious at the implication of the girl’s words, the Lady immediately sent her great force after the man that would dare rob the Shire of its relic–all two of her knights: Sir Good and the archer, Sir Dark. Though few, the knights were brave. They were bold. They were noble. They were chivalrous. They were dashing. They were surrounded.
Having known of the Shire’s limited force, the baron has set a trap. Unfortunately for the Aquaterrans, they had fallen into it and faced twenty-to-two odds.
Just as it seemed to be the end of the gallant knights, there was a great crash of thunder from the cloudless sky, and, in a burst of light, an armored bear appeared holding a sword and shield most terrible to behold. The baron and his men broke and ran, but the bear outran their swiftest steeds and cut down the thief who still held the relic.
Taking the box, the bear turned to the Aquaterrans. He told them to return to their mistress and tell her that the chain would never have its influence leave the Shire for he would keep it, and he would also take care of the baron. They did as they were bade, and the land accepted the loss of the relic. Of the baron, nothing more was ever heard, and his son took control of those lands which the baron held, leaving Aquaterra alone.