As promised, here’s part one of the synopsis leading up to City of Bears: Series 3. This part will cover the events from “Big Bears on Campus”, and those leading up to “City of Bears – Series One: Bear Boutique”.
Shortly after the beginning of the semester at Bortman University, a small college in an unnamed city, something strange happened in the woods one night. While this event was witnessed by a few, none could remember what happened exactly, and those who did see it transformed into burly, older alter egos of their former selves. No one, it seemed, was safe. The transformations spread rapidly, striking not only students, but also professors, athletic staff, and even the librarians. Rumors flew around as to what might be causing this, but for the most part, no one seemed to notice anything strange happening at all. Entire majors disappeared overnight, replaced by such diverse subjects as truck driving, BDSM Studies, and sexology, new techniques were pioneered in recruiting new students, and students found new, exciting ways to contribute to the well being of the students on campus. The school, suddenly renamed Bearman University, become renowned in particular for it’s spectacular Masters Program, under the direction of Professor Erikson, taking the fiercest bears the campus had to offer and grooming them into domineering slave drivers. Three days later, the campus was unrecognizable, and after a hostile takeover of the board of trustees, a new president was named at the university, a strange, mysterious man by the name of Tristan Newbeary. Finally, the last of the holdouts were converted, and the college settled into a new equilibrium.
However, the college’s new president had his eye on far larger goals than a simple college campus. Bortman had been a target of opportunity–deep in the woods, the borders between two worlds wore thin, allowing him to cross over and begin the process of converting this world into one he, ultimately, would rule over. However, he quickly discovered some obstacles to his plan. First, the source of his power, a small bearclaw pendant, was too weak to extend the conversion past the campus boundaries. If he’d had time and energy to spare, he likely could have found a way around it himself, but two groups were stirring up conflict on campus. The masters program, lead by Erikson, was taking steps towards wresting control away from him, and a smattering of the students on campus retained some or all of the memories from their past lives, leading to pockets of resistance springing up all around. Frustrated, Tristan decided to sidetrack the masters program, giving Erikson the job of indoctrinating the resistant students, letting him focus on extending the conversion to the city at large. However, he knew he would need assistance with this project, and he knew just the bear to summon to help him further his plans.
Tomorrow, onto City of Bears – Series 1: Bear Boutique.
Bracken's Corner 