The company of dwarves had barged into an obsidian cave. In this cave, a statue of the now dead green wizard towered over an orc's nest. Drolf jumped down and hit an orc hard that the orc expired on the spot. Kalin and Vadek engaged the two other orcs that had once worked by the mud pit. The orcs didn't last for long.
This report is the second part of Session 10 - The Botanical Educations of dwarves. The first part can be found here. This report is incomplete and will conclude during our next session. +Douglas Cole posted some notes about this session here.
Barging in...
The companions caught their breath after the fall of the huorn. The defunct tree straddled from the edge of the cliff down to a small opening leading down deeper under Sarn Goriwig. The dwarves decided to explore the way down in hope to find what the wizard didn't want them to find.
The orc's nest under Sarn Goriwig
The tunnel was winding at a steep angle. It lead some 50 yards below into another large chamber made of obsidian. The dwarves were advancing at a good pace and found themselves on an elevated platform. The platform turned into a wooden bridge. The pavement of the bridge crossed most of the room some 2-3 yards above ground. The front dwarves spotted right away an orc archer on guard beside a rough statue made of wood. To their right, there were at least two more orcs working around a large pit of mud surrounded by pillars.
The dwarves charged ahead at full steam. Donarik stayed behind to take aim while Khazek, Vadek and Drolf rushed through to get to the archer. Uncle Kalin and Gimvar slid down the way to get to the other orcs faster.
Drolf blocked an arrows and overran the archer with a sweep. The orc tumbled to his knees as Donarik's arrow hit its chest. Seeing Khazek and Vadek barging in, he slipped down the way to hide by the base of the statue.
I banked a lot of hope in severing the orb from the roots of the wicked tree. This didn't work. After I chopped it off, the Huorn's full wrath rained down on me with fury. I felt something slip through my armor and sting me on the chest. I dodged the giant whips and found my way back to my men. Donarik was making good progress in attacking the trunk. From up above, Gimvar managed to pull himself from his impaling grip and fell with a thud at my feet. The rattle of heavy armor could be heard behind me, I bent down and watched Kalin's poleaxe slice into the Huorn. The sap sprayed around and left a bitter taste on my lips.
Khazek dots the "i"s
This wizard was so dead from the start. I held him tight with both arms and legs, hard enough to make him gasp. He uttered a few words in an obscure language, which made me nervous. My right hand slipped off and in a flowing motion I drew my knife and sunk it into his heart. The wizard spoke no more. Senseless violence you may say, I though that was pretty cool. Thus died the villain.
Quick glance around, Donarik made a twirl and got off balance. The Huorn slapped him across the chest: that looked like it hurted. I looked up to try to find a face, an eye... anything to strike hard at. I thought that I caught the glimpse of a face high overhead. As the rest of the dwarves had regrouped and were poised to strike again, I fearlessly made for the trunk and started hopping up.
Vadek's recollection (not that he'd share even if you asked)
Garg, why do you care about what I've seen? After I did the orc and snatched the obsidian wand from his armless body, I made my way back up the stairs to find that my lazy colleagues hadn't finished the tree yet. The wizard was dead alright. Khazek has already walked away and was climbing up the tree with his bloodied knife in hand. Gimvar was lying on the ground, covered by his companions as a storm of heavy limbs struck down on them.
Kalin holding on to his dear life while the
huorn takes him for a ride.
A big sweep came from the left. Drolf artfully jumped over and so did Donarik. However, Uncle Kalin and his shiny armor didn't get airborne quickly enough. The root caught his foot and flipped him sideways until his legs were fully dangling off the ledge. Luckily, the drop underneath was only 10 yards... still a painful fall. Poor old Kalin pulled himself back on even footing just in time to be swept once more. This time, he grabbed on to the root and held tight (the other option was to take 3d6 of fall damage).
Once in range, I shot one of my trusty hatchets at the huorn but the tree got out of the way, if that is possible (Note: this may be the only dodge that the huorn made all night). I tried to keep my eyes on the hatchet to find out where it went but Khazek and his antics caught my attention.
Donarik's take on the Huorn's last moments
I think that I was the belle of the ball on that day. I must have hit the bastard more than anyone else combined, and I kept on going. That tree was about to call me uncle! My axe made it passed the sapwood and into the dark heartwood when Khazek-boy stole the show. I could see it as he managed to pull himself about 8 feet over my head. He stabbed at the huorn twice in fast succession. The first strike chipped the trunk but the second strike seemed to meet no resistance. His knife went in like a needle. A tremor traversed the huorn through and through.
The tree started to topple into the chasm on its right. Kalin, passing over the heads of the others and dropped to the ground. He roughly bounced a few times on the way down. Khazek-boy dramatically took a running jump just as the huorn started to tumble down.
Flashes!
Vadek didn't seem stirred by the turn of even, I guess that he expected that to happen. He walked to the wizard's corpse and really really made sure that he was dead. In the process, he recovered his hatchet and a second obsidian wand. Khazek got back on his feet and busied himself at controlling Gimvar's bleeding.
Drolf was particularly interested in the orb. A 2.5' in diameter glassy orb with a satin finish. For a brief moment, he thought that he caught a glimpse of Browek Bridge. The vision was short, but Drolf managed to see his command post and a bunch of dwarves hanging out in the trenches. The vision was then gone and mere flashes of light would show every now and then.
Kalin was tired, Gimvar was reeling. Gimvar pointed out that to get in the tower they had bypassed a thousand orcs "and it'd be uncool if they found out about it". The rest of the companion gave him a glazed look. In Khazad-dum, a thousand orcs will be called "breakfast".
The companions decided to head down the path an find out what the Green Wizard didn't want them to get to.
This session was all combat, it started one that has yet to be finished. Here is the update so we all remember how the last session ended. The session started with this scene:
The orc sarge was excitedly shouting at the Green Wizard.
"Bimbo" the troll gets a hatchet blow in the kidneys and another one in the guts
from an unseen dwarfy thing.
Once that the screaming in our heads stopped, we noticed two large trolls coming out of suspended animation from alcoves in the walls. Khazek-boy and I shot but hit the wall instead. I dropped my bow, drew my axe as I stepped back. I hit the troll really hard in the face and knocked him senseless. As he was teetering, I hit him again on its skull. This seemed to snap him off of his stupor. The troll grabbed me and used me as a projectile on my leader. Khazek dodged, I landed heavily on the ground. Rough day.
Around me, Khazek took over to push the troll back. Drolf and Vadek were about to fell the other troll. A number of orcs were streaming into the hall. Khazek and Vadek covered my flank as I stood up again. Kalin and I pushed the troll back into its alcove and finished him off as the rest of the battle unfolded.
This is a long overdue post about character awards for this campaign. It covers all actions since the beginning of the Ardacer's adventure after splitting from the diplomatic mission near Lake-Town. This includes ten days of overland travel and the action seen in the last two days.
Drolf
Drolf has spent quite a bit of time settling into his command position. He has taken interest in Intelligence Analysis ( 1 cp ). He did take the lead in the battle of Browek Bridge ( 1 cp into Strategy ), but deferred to his subordinates quite a bit as well. His leadership was used during the heroic action of Browek Bridge ( 50% chance of gaining 1 cp, success ). Drolf participated into an heroic action and gets to place 1 cp into any combat skill or technique, or related attribute. I really liked the use of meditation as a way to cope with nightmares ( 1 cp in meditation + 1 free cp ).
As a side note, your men are hoping for a bit of looting. You promised them spoil, and Mirkwood is frankly not that great for it, but Drolf can sense that the concern is bouncing around the mercenaries with increasing frequency.
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.
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 beforeinterrogating 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.
