Black Birds of Uigmuir
by GreenbrierSome local color for one of Glantri's baronies, with thanks to the following for the source material -
Barony of Uigmuir - Micky
Boobrie as Monster of the Day 5 - cab
Boobrie (page 138) in Mystara Monster Manual - Robin
Boobrie legends - Wikipedia
Edgar Beaumarys-Moorkroft - Kit Navarro from GPD (or see here if that link doesn't work for you)
Boobrie image - Aoz via Pinterest
"Dinnae go near the loch when ye hear the bull bellow..."
In the sleepy Glantrian barony of Uigmuir, a mountainous domain of lochs and shepherds, old Kaelic legends speak of a strange beast that locals call the boobrie. Tourists coming north to escape the summer heat find a beautiful valley dotted with lakes around the village of Lochpond, and they also get a warning to steer clear of any large, black creatures they might spot in or near the water.
Anyone who cares to buy a round of drinks for the old timers in the taverns of Kirkwell or Lochpond can get more of the story - the boobries weren't seen until after the first baron Malcolm McAllister and his family were all found mysteriously dead in AC 849. Not that the boobrie is necessarily blamed for their deaths - the locals are divided on whether the boobrie is a maleovolent force or a fey protector and good luck charm for the area, but all agree they are best left alone. Some insist that the boobrie is only seen when Uigmuir is ruled by a Kaelic wizard, but that has been the case during most of the barony's history and continuously since AC 967 now, so it is difficult to know for certain. In any event boobries are rare, but after a few pints most all the old timers will tell you about the time they saw one.
Boobries are often blamed when one of the many local sheep mysteriously vanishes, although in truth they prefer otters and in fact their predations keep the otter population small enough that the trapping & fur industry has never amounted to much in Uigmuir. While a gigantic shore or water bird is the most common form the boobrie takes, it can also appear as a bull or a horse - and from those forms come the best-known boobrie legends.
One old tale tells of a local farmer called Eachann who came upon an enormous black bull beside one of the lochs. The bull seemed weak and near death, and kindly Eachann fed it grain before continuing on his way. Some months later Eachann's fiance Phemie was sitting by the same loch planning for their wedding day when a shadow fell over her...she looked up to see her former lover Murdoch, a local who had recently graduated from the Great School of Magic in Glantri City. With a wave of his hand and a whispered word, Phemie was suddenly unable to move and Murdoch told her that he was taking her away to Glantri City and she would be HIS bride...at which point an enormous black bull sprung from the lake and knocked Murdoch aside. The bull snorted at Phemie and knelt down in front of her, and finding herself able to move again she climbed onto it's broad back. She was instantly transported to the safety of her mother's house, and neither Murdoch nor the bull were ever seen again. This tale is especially beloved by the Followers of the Claymore and other anti-magocracy elements, as it represents a rare Glantrian victory of good-hearted mundaner over wicked arcaner.
In another old legend a farmer named MacCook and his son were plowing a field beside one of the lochs with a team of four horses, when one horse lost a shoe. They noticed a large black stallion grazing nearby and thought he would do nicely, if they could catch him. The stallion allowed them to approach and didn't object when they harnessed him to the plow, and he made a fine replacement...for a time. As the plow moved closer and closer to the lake the stallion became restless and finally balked beside the water, so Farmer MacCook struck him with his whip to encourage him to keep moving. When the whip hit the stallion reared up and bellowed like a bull, transforming before their eyes into a gigantic black bird. Still tangled in the harness, the bird dove into the loch and pulled the plow and horses with him. The poor farmer drowned trying to swim after them to free his horses, leaving only his son to tell the tale. Some say the son made it up to cover the murder of his father, but no trace of the bird, Farmer MacCook, or the plow and horses was ever found.
In recent years a professor from the Great School came to the area one summer to conduct a serious study of the boobrie legends. Edgar Beaumarys-Moorkroft, brother to Archduchess Judith Beaumarys-Moorkroft, suspected the legend sprung from a reclusive clan of local wereravens (a particular interest of his). Unfortunately Edgar found nothing apart from the willingness of the locals to spin boobrie tales if someone from the city was buying rounds. The attention did inspire a local man, Blane MacCook, who now leads tourists on "Boobrie Walks" around the loch on summer evenings for a few sovereigns. He claims to be a descendant of unlucky Farmer MacCook and the highlight of the tour is his dramatic telling of the tale of his ancestor "on the very spot where the auld man was drug inta the loch by the boobrie." So far all has gone smoothly and the tourists are pleased (despite the fact that no boobries have been spotted), but some locals say MacCook is inviting the creature's wrath and will likely suffer the same fate as his ancestor someday.
