This is your Monster of the Month.
This week we revisit Sir John Mandeville, an entirely fictitious author, whose travel journals in the 14th century gave the Christians great hope that there was a great Christian Emperor in India who was going to rescue the Holy Land.
Mandeville talks about how he goes to Prester John’s Court, and on the way there he stops on the island of Cos, where there are stories of a dragon, and also of great treasure, and the
right to assume the kingship of all the surrounding islands.
Oh, that’s the one that’s meant to be full of vampires, it’s a bit like Santorini. And moving on.
Thanks to Daniel Davison who released this recording into the public domain. Also thanks to his production team.
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And then pass men through the isles of Colcos and of Lango, of the which isles Ypocras was lord of. And some men say, that in the isle of Lango is yet the daughter of Ypocras, in form and likeness of a great dragon, that is a hundred fathom of length, as men say, for I have not seen her. And they of the isles call her Lady of the Land. And she lieth in an old castle, in a cave, and sheweth twice or thrice in the year, and she doth no harm to no man, but if men do her harm. And she was thus changed and transformed, from a fair damosel, into likeness of a dragon, by a goddess that was clept Diana. And men say, that she shall so endure in that form of a dragon, unto [the] time that a knight come, that is so hardy, that dare come to her and kiss her on the mouth; and then shall she turn again to her own kind, and be a woman again, but after that she shall not live long.
And it is not long sithen, that a knight of Rhodes, that was hardy and doughty in arms, said that he would kiss her. And when he was upon his courser, and went to the castle, and entered into the cave, the dragon lift up her head against him. And when the knight saw her in that form so hideous and so horrible he fled away. And the dragon bare the knight upon a rock, maugre his head; and from that rock, she cast him into the sea. And so was lost both horse and man.
And also a young man, that wist not of the dragon, went out of a ship, and went through the isle till that he came to the castle, and came into the cave, and went so long, till that he found a chamber; and there he saw a damosel that combed her head and looked in a mirror; and she had much treasure about her. And he trowed that she had been a common woman, that dwelled there to receive men p. 18to folly. And he abode, till the damosel saw the shadow of him in the mirror. And she turned her toward him, and asked him what he would? And he said, he would be her leman or paramour. And she asked him, if that he were a knight? And he said, nay. And then she said, that he might not be her leman; but she bade him go again unto his fellows, and make him knight, and come again upon the morrow, and she should come out of the cave before him, and then come and kiss her on the mouth and have no dread,—for I shall do thee no manner of harm, albeit that thou see me in likeness of a dragon; for though thou see me hideous and horrible to look on, I do thee to wit that it is made by enchantment; for without doubt, I am none other than thou seest now, a woman, and therefore dread thee nought. And if thou kiss me, thou shalt have all this treasure, and be my lord, and lord also of all the isle.
And he departed from her and went to his fellows to ship, and let make him knight and came again upon the morrow for to kiss this damosel. And when he saw her come out of the cave in form of a dragon, so hideous and so horrible, he had so great dread, that he fled again to the ship, and she followed him. And when she saw that he turned not again, she began to cry, as a thing that had much sorrow; and then she turned again into her cave. And anon the knight died. And sithen hitherward might no knight see her, but that he died anon. But when a knight cometh, that is so hardy to kiss her, he shall not die; but he shall turn the damosel into her right form and kindly shape, and he shall be lord of all the countries and isles abovesaid.
Games From Folktales 
In the interest of making the statistics as low as practicable, I’ve decided here that this dragon isn’t a faerie that switches form, it’s a human woman under a complicated curse where she is possessed by a faerie. She doesn’t age until the faerie leaves her, so she can finish the story with the required happy ending.
Faerie Might: 10 (Animal)
Characteristics: Int 0, Per –2, Pre –6, Com –6, Str +1, Sta +2, Dex +2, Qik 0
This is one of the rare cases where the Presence and Communication of the shapeshifted character do not affect the animal form. The lady of Cos is described as beautiful.
Size: 0
Virtues and Flaws: Faerie Beast; Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Highly Cognizant, Huge, Increased Characteristics, 3 x Increased Might. Monstrous Appearance. Note that this creature does not have the Constant Damaging Effect power usually found in orms, and is Susceptible to Deprivation because it is, at essence a human wrapped in a faerie shell.
Personality Traits: Melancholy +5, Tortured by Hope +3.
Combat:
Bite: Init 0, Attack +17, Defense +8, Damage +2
Constriction (one target maximum): Init 0, Attack +12, Defense +8*, Damage +8
*+6 to Defense against grapple attacks
Size 0
Soak:+6
Fatigue: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1-5), –3 (6-10), –5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Powers:
Constrict:: When successfully struck with a constrict attack, the character is encoiled by the dragon’s tail and unable to use mêlée weapons. The dragon automatically does damage in each subsequent round, without requiring an Attack roll. The victim may still Soak damage. At the end of each round, including the round in which the constriction attack succeeds, the character may attempt to break free by an opposed Strength roll. To do this, the victim rolls Strength + a stress die, and compares it to the orm’s Strength + a stress die. Success indicates the victim is free, and may attack normally in the following round. For each character assisting a victim to break free, add +1 to the Strength roll, but an assistant is unable to attack the orm in that round. A character unable to break free for 30 seconds (6 combat rounds) needs to make deprivation rolls, as described on page 179 of ArM5.
Hideously ugly: A Brave check of 6+ is required to approach this dragon. The creature’s -6 Presence reduces the Brave Roll, but there are ways to mitigate this. A character who can’t see the dragon, for example, doesn’t suffer the penalty, so wearing a blindfold would greatly assist them. This does not stack with the penalty for the Monstrous Appearance flaw.
Involuntary shapeshifting: The Lady of Cos changes into a dragon because of a curse. She does not control when she shifts.
Pretenses: All skills of final human form, plus Area Lore 6 (these islands), Athletics 5 [Swim), Awareness 5 (knights), Brawl 7 (bite), Hunt 7 [fish).
Equipment: Huge amounts of treasure.
Vis: 2 pawns, in a snakeskin.
Appearance: Hideously ugly dragon.
Source: based on the Orm statistics in Realms of Power : Faerie 99-100.
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