The hermit Saursa is a bit of a loner, not by choice but by circumstance. Actually, he’s quite lonely, but it’s very dangerous for him to get attached with anyone so he lives by himself in the middle of a dense forest.

He’d run off to explore a cave as a teenager and become trapped in a cave-in. There he found an altar to a long-forgotten god, but paid little interest to it since it had long been picked over of valuables. A day and a half later he freed himself and returned to his village only to find every building razed; every crop burned; and every man, woman and child killed. The perpetrators were sloppy, and he easily tracked them down… a few dozen orcs. He desired vengeance greatly, but knew it would be suicide to confront them.

In his despair, Saursa ended up returning to the cave where he’d been trapped, and to the altar he’d found. He prayed to that forgotten god for the strength to exact his vengeance, and his prayers were answered. The next day, he tracked down the orcs as they marched and something amazing happened: he turned into a half-man, half-bear creature, like a werebear. Unlike a lycanthrope, though, his change was controlled not by lunar cycles but by his temper.

He slaughtered the orcs mercilessly, feasting on their carcasses. Though it was an epic fight, and he was quite badly wounded, his anger fueled him and fought off the wounds. He fought not as a man would fight, but as an animal: desperate, ruthless, without compassion. Before long, his grisly task was complete and every orc had been killed.

A few months later, he found himself living in a new village, and even had become engaged to be married. When another man flirted with his fiancée, he grew angry and again found himself changing into the bear-creature. When he regained his human form, he found himself drenched in blood– not just that of the flirt, but of his fiancée, of several children, and of the many men of the village who’d tried to fend him off.

Saursa realized that he would be forever condemned to live alone now, for being too close to other people could only lead to tragedy. Over the years, he’s learned to control himself to some extent even in the bear form, but he is never in complete control and it is always an effort to force himself to back down.

Encounters with The Ursine Hermit

The players stumble across Saursa’s crudely-built cottage deep in the woods. He is alarmed to see them and tries to shoo them off. If they will not relent, he will reluctantly accommodate them but try to hurry them along.

The PCs stumble upon Saursa, in bear form, attacking bandits who were raiding a caravan. Saursa accidentally discovered the commotion and the predatory bandits awoke his instinctual rage, forcing him to fight them off. After defeating the bandits, it’s clear that he’s conflicted and part of him wants to attack the PCs and the caravan itself, while part of him does not.

Ultimately, if the PCs find out his secret and are able to convince him that they can handle themselves around him, he will ask to accompany them in their journeys (avoiding villages and towns, of course), and he will be a staunch, if unpredictable, ally.