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Easily
the most boisterous of all the Knightly Orders within
the Empire, the Knights of the Black Bear maintain a
fortress on the borders of Averland as well as a Chapterhouse
in Averheim itself. Close as they are to the haunted
land of Sylvania and the Orc-infested Worlds Edge Mountains,
the Bears of Averland do not lack for opportunities
to prove their martial valor. Even so, the Knights have
often found themselves without a foe and have thus fashioned
a series of martial tournaments to provide an outlet
for their energies (they had previously engaged in the
practice of Halfling coursing — outlawed in 2402).
These tourneys test all facets of what the Black Bear
perceive to be Knightly skills and include such feats
as swordplay, horsemanship, and of course, quaffing.
Where the name of the Order originates is a source
of much debate. The official story, as put forward
by the Bears themselves, speaks of a noble-yet-impoverished
Knight having to wrestle a great bear to save a lady
of noble birth who had become lost in the wilderness.
Recognizing the nobility of his deed and being possessed
of great wealth, she presented her savior with a gift
of monies, which he used to found a Order house in
Averheim. It is in this memory that each of the Order's
tournaments is opened by the Grand Master wrestling
a bear — a practice that can lead to a great
many Grand Masters coming and going in the space of
a year. Other, violently suppressed rumors indicate
that there was no such incident and that the Order
takes its name from a tavern of the same name in Averheim.
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