K43 - Beer hall putsch

This session is a continuation of the previous session: "K42 - Much ado about a bride".

Sparks

A group of battle-dwarves from the Mithril-Attack had gathered in the beer hall without drawing too much attention. They were conspicuous: in full armor while everyone else was busy shooting the breeze with friends. 

When another group of Mithril-Attack dwarves burst into the hall, screaming to high murder. Apparently, the witch was real and had killed a few of them a few minutes ago. This sent a wave of panic in the hall. Gror understood right away that the bride was in danger. He had been drinking for a while to gather liquid courage and eventually talk to her. He took off immediately towards Deema's quarters and was followed by a few other dwarves willing to avenge their comrades. 

Thordar read the situation similarly. However, his eyes caught the Mithril dwarves and identified Nair Marbleminer at the other end. He was trying to organize a group of fully kitted dwarves amid the chaos. Thordar sneaked to them and hid behind a pillar. They were getting ready to take advantage of the situation to capture the viceroy.   

Thordar headed to Bain's quarter to warn him of the impending trouble to his reign. 

Interrupted

Bain was at the time debriefed by a Lot leader from the Adarcer-Attack. Apparently, six dwarves from the Silver had crossed the chasm to adventure beyond the defended perimeter. Thordar, entered and explained that the threat of putsch was materializing. 

Bain led Thordar and the lieutenant into the hall. They walked to the mutinous dwarves to confront them. There was five crossbow-dwarves and six battle-guards. The hall grew silent as Bain's voice rose to a spine chilling command to stand down. Nair, the leader, was taken aback and hesitated long enough to kill the momentum. 

Bain demanded to know why they wanted to arrest him. Nair replied that the dwarves has lost confidence in his ability to lead.  The viceroy began to rough up Nair in a brutal but theatrical display which lead to the young officer to fall flat on the floor.

By them the noose had tighten around the pair, the lieutenant from Adarcer had melted away, and so had all of the Adarcer soldiers on duty.  Clearly, this would not end well for someone.

Food fight

The mutinous dwarves moved in to neutralize the pair as anger broke the heavy air in the hall. Dwarves from the Silver-Attack moved in to pull the viceroy out of trouble but were opposed by others. And so began a long brawl with no evident structure at the onset. 

Thordar and Bain didn't leave time for Nair to get back on his feet and had him nailed to the floor with a broken hand and a deep stab wound to the opposing leg. Bain put up a good show, climbed on a table to coordinate the efforts on his side. He absorbed a bolt at the hip which made walking more difficult. Thordar and himself managed to drift across the room, blocking attacks with his cloak. 

Unfortunately for the pair, despite the neutralization of Nair, the Silver dwarves were beaten down to the far corner of the hall and had to withdraw beyond a gate and close it solidly. 

Fallout

With Bain hurt, Thordar still in bad shape from the last beating at the hands of Gror (and earlier the infernals), and the impromptu supporters looking for cold slab of steak to cover their bruises, the situation was taking a turn for the worst. The good news is that it looked like the Silver-Attack dwarves were on the viceroy's side. Hopefully, Roghel would too and take control of the rear to finally cow the rebels. 

And meanwhile, some unspeakable other trouble were being resolved in the Hatchet dwelling where Khazek and Deema were quietly pondering on their next move.

K37 - Stress testing Thordar the fearless fencing dwarf.

The 31st session of Reclaiming Khazad-dum took a turn for the interesting when it became a single combat pitching one dwarf PC against temporarily PC'd orcs. Thordar has an interesting concept, embodied by his daredevil advantage and a selection of cinematic combat technique, machismo, reverse grip antics and overconfidence. Thordar shredded through two large panthers using single strikes to the vitals in the past, greatly simplifying an otherwise difficult encounter.  I wanted to stress test the PC while he ended up isolated and hurt. NPC orcs were given to other players to ensure that the brittle orcs got their very best shot in this fight. 

The background

Thordar was a bit too enthusiastic as a rear guard on the day that the dwarves collapsed the two approaches used by the orcs to assault Erebor's positions. Consequently, he got cut off from the main body, alone in the dark. His only known option was to follow a breakneck footpath on the wall of the unending well up to a small footbridge across. Scouts reported it, but never investigated the location. 

K36 - Cave-ins and squeezes

We are back to our main campaign after an eventful side quest where the Kraken died. The PCs are now free to move forward in any direction that they choose. This session was short as we played a metagame just before to set the stage. 

The initial situation ( a recap )

The viceroy's retinue returned from a venture in the 4th level with the Bride in tow. Deema, the bride, is prophetically bound to marry Durin's heir and produce the next and last incarnation of the mythical King. All dwarves seeing the bride are falling inexorably in love with the woman. The romantic tension is a bit much for everyone. She was farmed out of sight in the "Hatchet Dwelling", a small compound near the East Gate which was inhabited by farmers in the glory days of the old city. 

It was discovered during the delve that a great curse, probably the soul of the Balrog, had invested the bodies of the dwarven ancestors. The lot was now standing in the Hall of Trees, blocking the way forward along Durin's way with more than a thousand aggressive animated corpses. More worrisome is the fact that upon their second death, a shard of the curse is release and makes its way back to the bowels of Khazad-dum. 

Lastly, the curse is driving the dwarves mad. Their Will degrade over time until they turn into a rabble of incoherent, mad warriors that are virtually impossible to command. This is not helping that one orc nation called the "Hunters" is pushing them back from forward positions on the 2nd and 4th level. 

Getting caught on the wrong side of a cave-in (Bain, Thordar)

As first order of business, Bain sends scouts to identify the most effective chokepoint to block the hunters from attacking. They begin caving-in operations along the main road, the aqueduct underneath and a side passage from the Hatchet dwelling. The rear guard action is done by a small group of volunteers from the Silver-Attack. Thordar is also part of the rear guard as he can't pass on an occasion to be reckless. 

In the last moment before the final which is to seal the access to the hunters, Thordar gets carried aways on a pursuit and gets separated from the rear guard. By the time that he realizes that he is alone on the other side, he can hear the last warning of the imminent cave-in. Then comes a huge grinding noise and the underground road fills with dust. He is caught, alone, on the wrong side of the collapsed tunnel. Thordar quickly thinks and remembers a known footbridge discovered by scouts last week. That would be his only chance to escape before the hunters fill the base of Marzabul's stairs.  

Without looking back, Thordar slips west into the darkness in search of a way back to the East Gate. 

Bain had a great idea here and it worked quite well. To their knowledge, there are no alternate ways to reach their position from the stair from where the Hunters lauch raids. Thordar was involved in an abstracted MASS combat. He selected +2 for risks and lucked out. This is why he ended up separated from the main body and onto an adventure of his own.

Down they go: looking for a way to the underdeep (Khazek, Lathmelen)

Khazek was reunited with his rangers when they came back from across the Misty Mountains. The news from there were good and the danger of the watcher had not materialized. Khazek was looking for a way to get to the underdeep, get rid of the curse somehow and marry the bride. A logical first step was to descend through the known passage's to Halin's mine and try to break west from there. He considered taking a Lot (47 battle-guards, Axedwarves and crossbowmen), but decided to travel light with only his rockwalkers. 

The descent took about an hour until they got to a crossroad where all access had been caved-in by Halin some 15 years ago. The only way out was a gold mine to the south. The rangers started to look for alternatives. They found an aqueduct underneath the westward road that didn't get properly caved in. Or at least, Lathmelen's elf magic detected the weakness in the mess. They managed to get a squeeze opened that was large enough for broad-chested dwarves. They all crawled through and headed west. 

Just how big is Khazad-dum?

They spent about 6 hours traveling a well kept east-west road. They encountered multiple crossroads but kept on moving forward until they arrived to a major highway. There, they detected recent orc tracks, as well as cart tracks and fragment of the strangest of gold ore. Lathmelen positively identified it as gold ore, but there was something odd about the metal. She pocketed a few rocks and the ranger returned to the East gate to report on the finding. 

Upon their return, it was decided that a sizeable force would have to support the operation on the 4th deep. Elements of the Mithril and Bronze were ready to go while the Silver-Attack was paralyzed by an epidemic of dysentery. 

Meanwhile, in a folder full of parchemins nearby (Bain)

Bain decided to do a little HR work to place the best leader in the best positions. Particularly, in logistic posts where the long-term success of the venture resides.  While the rangers were deep underground and Thordar was lost and no one knew about it, Bain poured over rosters to identify candidates. Using his cunning, he met with sub-commanders to weed out the least competent and promote the best suited for a long underground offense in a terrifying environment (Leadership support check passed).  He identified the key roles, particularly in logistical positions, and matches the two lists (Admin check, supported by leadership).

As a consequence, a bunch of points will be awarded to decrease the dependence of sub-units to more convenient levels. 

K23 - One Thousand bottles of beers on the wall

Interview with a green thing

The victor of the battle for the Marzabul Stairs' lower hall were feasting by finishing off the surviving orcs. Thordar saw this as the bleeding of possible intelligence. He picked an orc with both legs broken and dragged him into the torchlight for an interrogation. Interrogation wasn't his forte, but he managed to improvise with a little help from his smallsword. The orc was talkative but crytpic. He mentioned that the Hunters, lead by Haguk, were the rising nation in Moria. That they thrived on selling food to the other nations. He eventually let out that the hunters were settled in the upper levels, and that they never went to the deeps. Amidst the wailing and the pleas to stop the torture, the orcs also mentioned that there were trolls in the ranks of the hunters. By then, Thordar got bored and finished him off.

Locations for this session.

K21 - The standing ovation

Over a month ran its course since the Emerald-Unit left Sarn Goriwig in the capable hands of Dwar Ogreaxe. Mirkwood was a mess to traverse, but the old road had been improved by the Ardacer. The transit occurred without significant delays. Under the leadership of Bain, Viceroy of Khazad-dum, and his son Gror, millitary leader of the Emerald, the dwarf army arrived in the foothills of the Misty Mountains by the 4th of Ceveth (July). 

Staring at it in the eyes

As the emerald was heading down the Anduin, their elf ambassador went ahead to make contact with Lothlorien. She came back empty-handed, with the bad news that no contact were made and that something was wrong with the Silverlode river. Bain sent her back to seek Celebrant, the elf King, and report when this was done. 

The Ardacer-attack arrived about a week ago. They secured the Dale and blockaded the East Gate through which there was evidence of orc traffic. They bid farewell to the tail elements of Battlegroup-West as they crossed the Redhorn pass. The silver attack (best unit of the four) arrived next and were ordered to stand down in preparation D-day.  The Bronze attack was deployed to the mountains around the Dale to provide area defense. The Bronze-Attack was understrenght because two of the Lot were left behind to guard the gates of the underdeep in Sarn Goriwig. Finally, the Mithril-Attack was sent to rest along the Silverlode river. The morale in this unit was low, discipline problems were common. Thordar suggested to send Mithril first as they were the most eager to go underground. 

Something strange was going on with the watershed in the Dale. The Mirrormere, a sacred pool that is said to reflect no one but Durin himself, was completely lifeless. No one looked into the mere, but rather inferred by the similar state of the Silverlode river. There was no fish, no algae, no insects nearby. Gesdrek suggested that this may be treachery from underground. 

The Viceroy sent Khazek's rangers to comb the Dale. The ranger did relatively well and identified the dynamic of the area with a good perceived level of accuracy. Khazek discovered that the tracks converged to the East Gate and consisted in small orcs hunting parties supported by wargs. The latest sorties dated to just prior the arrival of the Ardacer. 

The Viceroy also sent his right-hand dwarf Thordar, to discreetly get the pulse of the mood in the Ardacer. Thordar concealed his identity with a hood and journeyed through the camp. The mood there was distinct from the ambiance in the other units of the Emerald. The leader, of the unit, Drolf, was a self-made dwarf who had bankrolled the entire units from the Iron Hills until King Thorin III integrated the unit into the Emerald. Thordar found out that the attitude in the Ardacer was that of a mercenary company: there must be good spoils or else there would be a lot of grumbling. Thordar also found that Drolf had a wild streak and profusely promised riches to his soldiers. Thordar left the camp, largely ignored, and reported to the Viceroy.