A Knightly Adventure Seed

The Tale of Sir Knight and the Enchanted Forest

I am forever fond of knights and stories about their adventures. The legendary King Arthur and the knights of his round table, the fantastic fictional knight's tale Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions, the paladins of Charlemagne's court - all these stories excite my imagination and inspire me to want to game. In hopes of providing my own inspiration for your knightly gaming adventures I offer the following brief synopsis.

The Hanged Man- 

While traveling, perhaps on a "quest" for their king, our knight(s) encounter a group of distraught local peasants who excitedly describe a "hanged man" at the edge of the nearby woods. "Tis the witch's warning, 'tis!", they say. Upon investigation, the knight(s) find a scarecrow of sorts hanged from a sour apple tree. When approached it speaks the following words, "BEWARE, mortal Son(s) of Adam, turn back for these woods are not meant for thee. Do thee not hunt creatures here, nor gather wood for thy fire. And do not steal my mushrooms!" (Any noble knight worth their salt will of course see this as a challenge and immediately proceed into the woods.)

The Dryad-

A love-sick and confused old tree spirit has lost her scarf - a gift it was from a favored paramour (perhaps one of the witch sisters). The pixies have stolen the scarf for their "Forest King" - a giant puppet of sticks and rags who holds court in a nearby enchanted glade.

The Two Sisters-

Sister witches compete for power within the woods. Each has an enchanted castle, or keep, manor, etc., and a following of minions. One is served by dwarfs, the other by goblins. Each sister will "befriend" Sir Knight(s) and if they are willing, will share her bed bestowing gifts and favors on her new gallant! Each in turn will ask a boon - a token of her champion's devotion. The "night witch" will claim her sister has "stolen a favored silver hand mirror" long ago and she would have it returned. She will bestow "low light vision" on her "champion". The other sister desires the iron crown of the "goblin king" who dwells beneath her sister's castle. She will bestow a magic elixir of strength upon her champion. 

The Enchanted Forest may hold many other wonders, such as a grumpy tree who tosses walnuts about, a frog prince(ss), rodents of extraordinary size, the "king under the mound", or whatever "perils" you wish to include. Upon exiting the forest, I fancy the knights have been in a "time warp" and the outside world has changed a bit, just to re-enforce the magical nature of the fairy wood. Getting back to their own time may form the basis of their next "quest".