K18 - Cold rain over Mirkwood

This session introduced our new PCs and se the stage for the next chapter of the campaign. 

The dust is settling over Browek Bridge

At the end of the last session, the Mirkwood elves had learned from the dwarves that there was an orc nest with live elven sacrifice deep underground. Gormiel, the leader of the elves, managed to secure one of the key from Khazek. Four of them entered Sarn Goriwig, four accompanied the dwarves back to Browek Bridge while two other remained at large. After a few hours of grueling hiking, the orb was safe within the dwarf fort. 

On the following day, Drolf appropriated the second key of Sarn Goriwig and handed it to Gror. Drolf announced that the Ardacer was to leave to open the road while Gror would stay behind to hold the bridge. Gror, worried about giant spiders and orcs, ordered the Ledge-Lot to close the perimeter and the rangers to take stock of the surroundings. Gror's hold on the troop was very good (MoS 3), and his defensive plan excellent (MoS 3). The combination of patrols by the rangers and his own axmen allowed him to build a precise mental map of the surroundings (Intelligence Analysis, critical success).  The bulk of the orcs had melted away soon after their expedition within the tower. The reasons of this scattering was unknown, but probably related to the death of the wizard. 

Khazek, now solely at the head of 21 rangers, launched into increasingly far reaching patrols. His command of the troop was adequate (MoS 0), his tracking effort highly effective (MoS 7), which was instrumental in providing Gror with a clear situational awareness. About a few days later, Gormiel linked with the ranger. The tower was sealed, and elven wraiths were haunting it for now. Khazek realized that Gormiel was uncomfortable with the situation. Gormiel told Khazek that Prince Imeptanen was on his way to Browek Bridge to resolve the dispute over the ownership of the orb and the tower.   

K11 - The obsidian tower

Phew, is has been a month since the last session of Reclaiming Khazad-dum. We left our dwarven heroes in the midst of a magic attack on top commanders of the dwarf vanguard.

Diary from a Murik "tumbletorque", war drummer of the Ice Lot

An air of confusion and excitement had overtaken the camp. The rants of the sergeant major were overridden by the Attack-Lord's own monologue. People were digging holes and filing them back in. A bad scene.The victory to take the bridge had been followed by another to the north and vast amount of ale had been seized. The word on the lines was that the ale would be kept as personal loot by the brass. This rumor didn't please the dwarves. Our commander, Kalin "Stronghold", a noble from Aglarond had entertained us all in the afternoon with his antics. As the night fell and the orcs became restless, the commanders were all of a sudden nowhere to be found.

K10 - The orc with the plaid sash

Prelude: What Khazek knows about Sarn Goriwig
The hunters from Thranduil hall reported to the Ark-lot, via Khazek Strongmoss, that the obsidian tower of Sarn Goriwig appeared to be occupied again. Khazek has heard of this tower from the Lore of Mirkwood. He knew that the tower was a large glass construction which was built by Morgoth in the first age. It seved as an outpost in Mirkwood and a gate to the underdeep. When the Necromancer was expelled from Mirkwood, the tower was deserted. However, the presence of "fresh" orcs suggested that Sarn Goriwig was occupied again by a new overlord. 

Act 10, Scene 1 - The ranger's raid over an orcs' forward depot.

The Attack-Lord of the Ardacer sent the Ark-Lot North to move to contact with the orc's main body. Gomar Flameaxe, Herd-lot of the Ark ordered his crack ranger guard to open the march. This guard was lead by an impetuous member of the Royal family called Khazek Strongmoss. Training dwarves to fight like elves was a difficult task, but he was getting better at it. Khazek proceeded North off the path, keeping his 13 rangers under close control.

K09-1 - The Battle of Green Creek

This story summarizes the action seen by the Gate-Lot in Mirkwood. Gate is tasked with the improvement of a ford over a small creek. It can be easily forded on foot, but crossing with the heavy carts is more difficult.

Battlefield preparation

Herd-lot Hillar Granitedigger didn't like the look of this: his lot was now lagging by at least 20km behind the main force, in a trackless forest. His force were bound to the old forest road (-1) or else contact would soon get lost. Instead of setting up a thorough screen (-2), he dispatched a guard along the Northward path that had been previously recon'd by the rangers and order all haste in upgrading the ford. The orcs, moving to contact soon figured out that the path was guarded and approached along the creek instead. The margin of success for the recon contest was +7, enough to achieve surprise, but not an ambush.

K09 - The Battle of Browek Bridge

Act 9, Scene 1 - Mopping up Browek Bridge

By 1500Z, the combined Ice and Slammer Lots poured through the defensive positions of the orcs. Drolf pressed on with the Ice-Herd into the ruins while the orcs opted for a Full Retreat option. The command post got a chance at a beheading operation on the orcs' leader. The setup was simple: catch/neutralize the leader in 6 seconds and grant +1 on the MASS combat resolution contest. Kalin, Herd-Lot of Ice ( +Alex Safatli ), Vadek, Sergent-Major of Ice ( +Arne Jamtgaard ) and Drolf ( +Justin Aquino ) , Attack-Lord of Ardacer had spotted the new  field-pomoted commander atop a ruin wall. They set on a charge through a downpour of arrows and a defensive line of spearorcs. To their right, one of the axdwarf suffered a major wound which weakened the PCs flank. Drolf, after a bit of encouragement, engaged on their left while Kalin and Vadek plowed towards the orc commander. 

Vadek eventually managed to strike the last standing orc in the defensive line. The orc, still standing but stunned got bypassed to be picked up by Kalin on Vadek's rear. Vadek slammed into the commander, who by then had started to recoil. He knocked him over, leaving him lying down and winded. By then, the orc archers had abandoned their high vantage points on the walls and were fleeing. Vadek, with cold determination, started to kick the commander until he croaked. As he applied himself to his craft, he beckoned the last remaining archer who decided to slip away while there was still an opening in the rear [ Intimidation-based influence check, MoS=+4, archer turned away ] [+]. Drolf, wanting the commander for an interrogation, dispatched his opponent with a great blow  [ Pretty cool end for this orc, he got slammed in the torso and sent flying due to a knockback. However, a tree was standing behind and the resulting slam damage on his head knocked him unconscious! ] [+]. Unfortunately, he arrived too late to save the commander. Both dwarves argued over the poor strategic value of killing this orcs before interrogating him [ Vadek has bloodlust, and no interest in strategic matters ] [+]. 

By then, the last of the orcs were scurrying into the woods to the West. Some 5 orcs were dead and about 10 left reeling from heavy wounds. The dwarves didn't pursue them as this would have caused a messy scatter [ Ooops, the GM forgot to check for spontaneous pursuit... ] [+]. By Kalin's estimate, about as many escaped. Drolf encouraged his dwarves to make grim displays with the corpses in an attempt to "dehumanize" the foes (de-orcanize?). Two dwarves had to be put on litters with major wounds (out of about 100 fighters) while 4 others had to be rallied after getting lost in the forest during the assault (and being mocked about it for the rest of the day).

Act 9, Scene 2 - Intelligence Gathering, Drolf Style

Option B for interrogation was not exactly commander-quality. Drolf picked the least dumb looking of the prisoner who still had teeth. He interrogated him forcefully and managed to pull a lot of good information [ Magin of Success of +8] [+].  The orcs called this location Browek Bridge and manned it as an advanced post against giant spider raids. He told Drolf the tale of 7m spiders coming in waves from the South to feed on his kin. He couldn't specify how many more orcs there were (he obviously was not a commander), but placed the number between 300 and 2000. He also specified that his kind were in the service of a terrible wizard living in a glass tower in Mirkwood mountains.

Drolf kept on using enhanced interrogation techniques until the orc could speak no more. He turned to the North and tried to spot the mountains through the trees. He couldn't, but earlier glimpses of them along the old forest road suggested a distance of 10-15 km. He looked south of Browek Bridge: the dwarves from the Ark-Lot had managed to ford in high water and had secured the southern approaches. A forest path to the south had been discovered on the Western bank. Drolf rallied his subordinate commanders for a quick command post chinwag.

Act 9, Scene 3 - Council of Dwarves and FRAGO* to the Ardacer 

Browek Bridge, just after the battle. Click to enlarge.

Drolf gathered the Lot-Herds and senior non-commissioned officers such as Vadek around him. He was in a bit of state of panic, but didn't let on any of it on the surface. There were spiders to the South and maybe up to 2000 orcs to the North. The Bridge would require 3 days of work to bring up to standards and two other sites to the East also required up to 12 hours of work. The Gate-Lot was stationed 25 km behind to make a quick ford over another of Mirkwood's murky streams.  Drolf wanted to reinforce the defensive positions, but Kalin advocated an emphasis on scouting. When asked for advice, Vadek proved rather unable to grasp the operational situation. He muttered grumpily only about what was in front of his eyes.

It was decided in the end that Ledge-Lot was to seek the Fire-Lot to the South, make contact and bring them back to Browek Bridge. Ark-Lot, the scouting unit including Khazek's rangers was to scout Northward until contact was made. Dispositions and numbers were to be reported back ASAP. The other Lots were to prepare defensive position on either side of the former bridge.

Act 9, Scene 4 - SITREP** at twillight

By nightfall, a small party of messengers from the Ark-Lot returned to the command post. Contact with orcs had not been made by the dwarves, but a report from the hunters of Thranduil Halls was passed along. The elves determined that the orcs living in the Mountains were new orcs, rather than orc spawned in the days of  the War of the Ring. This suggested that a new orcs spawning pit was active somewhere. They also reported that Sarn Goriwing, once an outpost of the Dark lord, appeared to be occupied again. The elves specified that the glass tower had been cleared when the Necromancer had been chased from Mirkwood. Its bridge was then taken down.

The messengers from the Ark then returned to the deep shadows of Mirkwood, on their way back to the Ark-Lot. Also, a dispatch from the Gate arrived late into the night to report on an engagement that occurred earlier in the evening. 

*FRAGO: Fragmentary orders

**SITREP : Situation report

K08 - Warmongering into Mirkwood

In this session, we're shifting the campaign to another group of characters. The Ardacer is a military Attack (a kind of unit containing some 350 dwarves). Their task is to open the way and improve the road to Khazad-dum such that the main force will be able to transit when they set out 30 days later. 

The Characters

There are four PCs in the Ardacer storyline. Drolf  ( +Justin Aquino ) is a wealthy dwarf from Iron Hill who has cultivated his personal legend as a hero of war for his whole life. His last feat was to convince the King of Erebor that he was the man to open the march to Khazad-dum at the head of dwarf mercenaries that he himself had bankrolled and outfitted. The first shoe has dropped for Drolf as he got his wish and is now  leading the Ardacer into Mirkwood. Kalin  ( +Alex Safatli ) is an erudite, master crafstman and staunch chauvinist. He has lived his life in the shadows of his brother Gimli and father Gloin. To appease the contingent from Aglarond, Thorin III has granted Kalin the Title of Lot-Herd of Ice: one of the better units of the Ardacer. Khazek Strongmoss is a PC that participated in the previous storyline. Khazek ( +Jason Woollard ) is a young and impetuous dwarf from Aglarond. His demeanor and incredible luck in matter of social interaction has made him a favourite of King Thorin III. As a result, he landed the gig of master trainer for a crack unit of open-sky dwarf rangers (Khazek, unlike Jason, is no teacher yet). Finally, Vadek is +Arne Jamtgaard secondary character in this storyline. Vadek is a straight-laced professional soldier at the head of the Axmens of the Ice Lot, this puts him in charge of 7 guards and overall some 49 dwarves. His main duty is to protect Drolf. Vadek is no politician, he has no sense of humor and functions strictly on a need to know basis.

K07 - Diplomacy 101 with elves

This encounter is a continuation of the previous session.  I was trying to imagine how I'd think if I was a few thousand years old, on a delayed trip to the undying land. I don't think that I'd care either. I kind of dropped the ball as a GM in this session and left unexplained most of what happened underneath. Herion's backstory is funny and related to some of the trouble in this adventure, but maybe this will come back so I'll keep quiet. But that's OK, elves care about the world only on an elective basis. Getting down to the bottom of things of people living idle for millenia is probably worst than fighting the Balrog all over again. 

K05 - Prisoners or visitors?

Old Forest River, April 15th FA 15

Late in the morning of April 15th, the Ardacer arrived in Esgaroth and paused beside the bridge. The Fire Lot spent the night here and by the time the viceroy reached the structure. Goldo was already inspecting it to assess whether it would withstand the passage of the Emerald. 

The viceroy rallied the royal family members: Kalin, Goldo, Khazek, Gror and Drolf were present. The diplomatic objective of the viceroy was Thranduil hall, a forbidden place for all but wood elves. Kalin was opposed from the start in involving the elves and ruled himself out of the expedition. Drolf, while vague, hinted that his presence would hinder the mission rather than help. Gror was on the fence, but Drolf declared that he was needed in command as Lot-Herd of the Ledge. Khazek, reported that the barges heading up the river were small and would accomodate only a few dwarves. He selected four of his best rangers as an escort for the viceroy and made arrangements for their passage on the next trek up the river. Kalin muttered under his breath, Gror roared to rally his warriors, Drolf returned with Goldo to inspect the bridge once more. 

A week in the life of Erebor

Some 10 days have come and gone since King Thorin III decided to retake Khazad-dum. Here is a summary of publicly known event that have taken place since. 

April 4th FA 15

The council of Erebor was called. Thorin III, King under the moutains announced that he planned to lead a large contingent of soldiers and their families to Khazad-dum and reclaim the mountainhome. The King was caught off-guard by the resistance put up by his advisors. Drolf, hero of the Batte of the Five Armies sided with the King but relented. Bain, former chancellor and prime minister managed to convince Thorin III to remain in Khazad-dum while the Emerald Unit was to establish a foothold into the ancient complex.