I was watching Terry Jones: Medieval Lives and saw a bit about the punishment for poaching on the English king's lands in the Middle Ages. Poachers who drew back the arrows on their bowstrings using their index and middle fingers would lose those same fingers as punishment for their crime. Nice, eh?
Since I'm always on the lookout for adventure hooks, this struck me as a good one. The characters are camping out between cities on their journeys, they get hungry, espy a doe, bring it down with expert bowmanship, and get arrested for poaching. They are quickly tried and found guilty, and the grisly sentence is declared. They are offered a way out: perform a service for the king, perhaps undertake a dangerous mission that they are expected to fail (but of course they won't), and they will be acquitted. The characters thus have a choice to make: accept the perilous quest, or execute a daring escape and become outlaws, fugitives from justice.
Either option leads to fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment