K32 - Insanity and Hatchets

The royal party has freed a mysterious bride from a sarcophagus and pulled her our of her own crypt despite the protest of kleptomaniac wraiths and a hungry hungry black pudding. 

Bain's dream sequence

Bain fell asleep with his body straddling a narrow hallway. They found a safe haven in a side crypt that wasn't defiled like every others that they had run into so far. As Bain drifted to sleep, an aura built around the viceroy. He slipped out of body in the glow if the Eye of Irmo hanging around his neck.  On the other side, he could make out the shapes of his companions. He headed for the Bride, and zoomed into her inner sanctum as he was sucked into a slow vortex. 

He found himself attending a wedding. A large hall, the bride was standing there but there was no groom. She was walking to a sarcophagus. Bain probed the dream, wondering what he could find. He heard the name of the bride uttered: Denma. Bain was wondering whether he could find out whether Denma liked Khazek. His answer came from behind a curtain where Khazek, as a groom, moved forward with a smug smile on his face, and the head of the Balrog in his hand (a tiny version). Bain wondered whether the bride knew about the Balrog. A drop of black shadow dripped from the Balrog's head. The shadow crept along the floor, passing between legs in the crowd and slithering at a dazzling pace until it reached a deep well. Bain felt himself falling and woke up suddenly. 

The conspirators

Khazek was half asleep when he heard the muttering coming from Helg. Helg was on guard duty. He slipped towards the sleeping body of Lathmelen. The elf was, awkwardly enough, wearing on the dowery dress of the bride. By the time Khazek smashed Helg's knee with Oin's staff, Helg had the time to lodge his hatchet between Lathmelen's shoulderblades. 

A lot of dwarves into a small area

Gror was also on guard duty. He ran over his father to wake him up and rammed his forehead into Helg's shoulder. Helg rolled sideways and turned just on time for Gror to smash again through the bridge of his nose. Lathmelen utters an elven word and Helg dropped his hatchet then dropped to the ground. 

In Gror's wake, Nalik followed with his axe over his head. he was responding to the call by Helg to do away with the elf. Bain tripped him. Nalik fell over the bridge and grappled her body. Bain kicked him hard enough to make him snap from his compromising position. 

Rogi moved into the fray, responding to the renewed calls to eliminate the elf. By then, Gror was in a scuffle with Nordan who was trying to save Helg from further harm. Bain let out a loud yell which paralyzed everyone where they stood.

The dwarves of the battleguard were driven nearly mad by the curse by then. Some had convinced themselves that their predicament was the fault of Lathmelen the elf. Many blamed their commanders for associating with her. Thordar, drew a line with his smallsword in the air, Lathmelen said something obnoxious inadvertantly, but in the end Bain explained in no subtle terms that the elf was a mean to an end and was to be used to complete their mission. This seemed to appease the dwarves, but left Lathmelen perplexed. They set out for the known exit of the 4th level before more insanity would set in. 

And thus concludes another Chapter of "Reclaiming Khazad-dum"

The dwarves returned to the towers and made their way back to the Rising hall on the second level. The dwarves of the Bronze Attack had repelled the hunters once without too much trouble. They covered the bride with Thordar's cloak to avoid her curse to ensnare yet more dwarves.  They settled in the dwelling of the Hatchet farmers. 

Gesdrek conjectured that the Balrog's repose must be the seat of the curse. They decided to delve deep into the underdeep to find what is there and deal with it. The little folks won't do: the curse is too powerful. However, the most heroic elements were eager to get going. 

Let's return to Arda's hell: the bowels of middle-earth opened up by those who delved too deep.

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.

K19 - Under new management

It's all about location

Gror lead the assault on the huorn which lasted a mere fifty minutes. The tree fell to its doom from the top of the tower, freeing the path to the terrace where a contraption was mounted on a bronze brace. Lathmelen, the resident elf geek, didn't know anything about the artifact. Gesdrek was eventually pulled away from a book to examine the piece. It was a looking glass capable to terrorize whoever entered its sight. Unfortunately, the operation of the device remained a mystery and its effect a matter of conjecture. 

Goldo reported to Bain that Thalladan's library was a treasure trove of knowledge on dark arts and the underdeep. Most interestingly, Goldo identified a number of papers pointing to an agreement between Thalladan, the green wizard, and a party refered to as the infernals. The contract stated that Sarn Goriwig was to produce 150 orcs per years. The payment was to be made in exotic material, and take place once per calendar year.

Prince Imeptanen was eager to get the dwarves out of Sarn Goriwig. The dwarves delayed as much as they could. Many of them wanted to get back to the lower levels and explore the way beyond the door. The prince was adamant that this would not be possible. Bain managed to sidetrack the prince sufficiently to drag on the negotiation while he was grasping at straws. He saw an opportunity for Gror to shine and asked him to expose the role of the obsidian tower in the wider dwarven strategy. Unfortunately, the prince didn't seem to care at all for the business of the dwarves. Khazek attempted to throw the prince off with his trademark familiarity, but the attempt fell flat. The prince was visibly annoyed and wanted the intruders out of his property. 

Thordar pulled enough well turned sentences from his beard to distract the prince from his predicament. The prince was intrigued, maybe amused by the antics of the dwarf. The prince opened for further negotiations. Bain explained that Erebor was considering using the underdeep as a backdoor to Khazad-dum. This could get the dwarves out of Mirkwood earlier than planned. The prince liked that. After a few more minutes of negociations, the prince agreed to grant Sarn Goriwig for 10 years under two conditions: The first one was that the dwarves would prevent wickedness from deep underground to enter Mirkwood. The second term was that dwarves couldn't enter the orcs' nest until King Thrandhuil had presided over its purification. The deal was to be revisited in 10 years. 

Bain ordered the Bronze attack under Sundtak Orcslayer to take over the guard of the tower. Two herds were assigned to the task. The rest of the unit returned to Browek Bridge to await departure for Khazad-dum. Some hoped to go through Mirkwood such as Farin II, and others begged to go underground such as the commander of the Mithril-Attack, Kiro Rockdigger.

The thespian viceroy

Time flew by as the sun began to shine again on Mirkwood. Farin II, again, began to show disinterest for the whole of the expedition and spent all of his time training Battlegroup West. Thordar went by the command post a week later in search of new agents near Farin. His luck was thin, but he brought back a message from Farin to the viceroy requesting the permission to resume the overland walk. 

Bain obliged and returned to the CP of Battlegroup West. He found a pumped-up Farin who peeled himself from field exercises to meet the viceroy. Bain figured out that if he stroked his ego a little bit, he'd be able to get a clear idea of Farin's motivations (Psychology check). With this in mind, Bain played stupid (Acting check) and convinced Farin that he was really coming to see him to get a lesson in strategy. Farin, boasted his preparedness, and contempt for the troops on Battlegroup East. He exposed to Bain how he planned to take on the watcher in the water by the West gate. The lack of thought about the Eastern approach became evident. Gror suggested that taking on the beast may be a good way to come back to Erebor on a shield, but Farin dismissed the thought as weak. Bain estimated that Farin was probably capable to carry on his glamorous mission, decided that it was time for Gror to take over command, and ordered BG-West to march again. A date was set to begin the assault.

A day later, nothing was left of Battlegroup-West but a few kilometers of despoiled roadside encampments. Gror smiled and turned around to look upon the bustle of Battlegroup-East. Thordar, too was happy as the last of Farin's troop disappeared into the thick of Mirkwood. 

The sound of two shadows when they clash

Thordar had this itch in his hand. An itch that doesn't go away and comes to him when someone must die. He hoped for an orc raid, something fast and violent in which he could release the energy that he kept bottled in for weeks. A way to cast a net into destiny for him was to stroll around the HQ of Battlegroup-West. There was this Eastern dwarf there, Jaheev, which he suspected was responsible for the disappearance of Emerek: his agent in the Gold-Attack.

Thordar wandered around the unit, but didn't find much of a lead for his next agent. He had been drawing blanks for over two weeks and was wondering if he was losing his mojo. This is when he ran into one of the cooks working for the Attack-Lord himself. The guy's name was Kirel "Fanghook": an homely dwarf who feared him enough to pay attention. Thordar chatted a bit with Kirel and figured out that he was amenable to report to him on mundane matters. Kirel wasn't going to be the spymater that he was looking for, but at least he thought that he could count on him for simple stuff.

This is about that time that Farin III himself found Thordar and asked him to pass along the request to resume the march. Thordar scanned for Jaheev, who was nearby and observing him. He smiled, and returned to the viceroy with in his pocket a good excuse to come back with a distraction.

Thordar decided to take advantage of Bain's visit to confront Jaheev. If anything, this would prevent the Easterner from interfering with Bain's engagement. Thordar asked about Emerek, but Jaheev was dismissive. Feeling that this had something to do with his manliness, Thordar explained in no ambiguous terms that whatever happened to Emerk was better never again to happen to any other friends of his. Jaheev didn't need to be an empath to figure out that Thordar was glancing disturbingly at his throat. Jaheev made a veiled admission that he at least knew what had become of Emerk. He then promised to ensure that such dissapearance wouldn't happen again.

Jaheev was elated to hear that Battlegroup-West was leaving at first light. Most importantly, leaving behind Thordar and the disturbing twinkle in his eye.

The long way down

Khazek was a bit unimpressed when he learned that King Thrandhuil had been in Sarn Goriwig for the last few days without him noticing. Thordar also felt a little dejected to be the last to know about it. The King had gone and Prince Imeptanen came to Browek Bridge to inform the viceroy that the dwarven from then on had the duty to keep Mirkwood safe from the dark creatures of the underdeep.

The company comprised among many the viceroy, Bain, and his butler Thordar. The viceroy's son Gror was to lead a guard of axmen (7 of them) while Khazek, a royal family favourite was to take Gimvar and a guard of rangers to the depths. Also included were Gesdrek the Loremaster, Lathmelen the niece of the elf Queen Ildamadhui, Tov the holy dwarf and Goldo, and old friend of the viceroy and resident architect.  All 22 dwarves packed enough supplies to last a week, and headed deep under the mountains of Mirkwood.

The orc's nest was now a crypt for the tortured souls of 5 elves. Right of way to the Mirkwood elves was granted as the place was considered to be sacred to them. The company opened the gate and tip-toed through the rubble beyond.  Khazek identified a number of old tracks of orcs walking in files, and the strange footsteps of bipedal canine creatures, probably carrying whips. They proceeded down in a ricketty set of stairs going down a hastily dug shaft for 200 yds. They then reached a staging camp. There was more tracks there, and evidence of violence in the dust. The descent resumed for another 500 yds of vertical drop. At the foot of the shaft, there was the body of two orcs that didn't came down the slow way, and a squeeze leading into a large underground hall thundering with the noise of a waterfall.

The rangers proceeded to the Eastern end of the hall and waded into the river rushing down into the chasm below. They found the desiccated body of one of these dog-like creatures pushed aside along the wall. The river gushed into the hall through a carved portal of unknown origin. There was about 2 ft of water and a strong current. The water itself was not as cold as the rest of the hall. Khazek peered into the dark tunnel and turned around. The rest of the company was gravitating around the western end of the hall.

That end, unsusually, was walled in. Again, the construction was no more than 10 years old according to Goldo, and no one knew who would have been using this style. There was a steel door at it centre. Clearly, the concern appeared more to keep things from coming in than going out as the door was locked using a large steel bar hung on their side. They lifted the bar and opened the door. Tov's drumming was silenced, only one torch was left alight. 

Beyond the wall

Beyond the wall, the hall kept on heading west. The air was thin, but breathable enough to hike through for a few hours. The silence was deafening once that the roar of the fall were left behind. The door shrank as they proceeded forward.

The ceiling was low and uneven. Often, they needed to crouch to squeeze through to higher vaults in the tunnel. A small brook, mostly frozen, was trickling to the west. They hiked for some 300 yds in difficult terrain and tight squeezes until the rangers motioned to keep still. Something was stirring ahead. Goldo moved forward in hope to shed light. Only some faint motion could be perceived. Khazek swiftly ordered the rangers to spread out. At the edge of the light, they kneeled in a squeeze and readied their bows. Time stood still.

The ambush sprang on them as a countless ghoulish creatures tore from the dark towards their positions. It was dark, the little breathable air was filled with the steam from their breath and the echoes of dozens of screeching roars.

Beyond the wall, in a glance.

051 - The Numarii King

This session began where the last one ended, in the middle of an interrogation of an orc sergeant that had been put to sleep by Kasper's elf twig hoodoo voodoo. 

Thannolf bent down to the orc's face and repeated his question. The orcs smiled but didn't answer. The northerling lost patience and locked his elbow at a very awkward angle. The orc tapped out from pain and told the company that the dwarves should still be loyal to Farathu. Halin kicked him as they decided to let him go. The only way out was back to his bethren (and into certain death).

Gesdrek Delver, Loremaster of Erebor

Lets define Gesdrek by attempting to piece together fragments of his biography. 

Gesdrek according to Throdar, son of Ilkrik

There is more to Gesdrek than the eyes can see. I can't quite pin down anything substantial about his past other than he came from the Gray Mountain at the same time as Balin. Gesdrek made my sword, he is a keen smith and an erudite. Yet, his demeanour is very unassuming. When you talk to him, it does feel like he let you in only on the surface of things. 

Thordar, son of Ilkrik, the Viceroy's invisible hand

TA 2971 ( 63 years ago )

Thordar was the first born of Ilkrik "StoutHearth". Thordar was born in a long lineage of Kings' butlers. He grew in the muffled comfort of Dain II Ironfoot's personal quarters in Erebor.  At this time, Dain was going through a rough patch, and was drinking heavily. His brother, Bain StoneTongue was keeping a close eye on the sovereign to preserve the King's dark secret. Since Thordar could easily walk through the King's personal quarters, Bain took upon himself to train the child as a first line observer. Thordar grew fond of the King and his brother. Most notably, his quick thinking saved Dain II from death after a day of excessive drinking.

049 - One big, elaborate dwarven joke.

The Entrance of the Numarii dwarves.

Walking knowingly into a trap

The gate under the mountain was adorned by two large statues of drakes. The gate itself was made of solid steel. At its center, there was a ring. Two flames shone like bright beacons atop pillars from which the mechanism of a draw bridge was secured. A canal crossed the hall, some 3 meters deep. Dark water was flowing from left to right through a pair of grates.

The company looked around in suspicion. Irina was the first to cross the bridge. She approached the steel gate and kicked it. Her toes absorbed the shock: no sound was heard. This door was in a wholly different league as the last three. Arnadil drew from his past as a fortification engineer to inspect the draw bridge. He noticed that the floor off the far wall was in fact a platform. The platform was made of slates and a steel structure that was bracketed at both ends and off the pillars opposite to him.

While Halin was prompted to inspect the structure, Nilppi got Thannolf to help him fathom the canal. There was only about a foot of water, and the current was marginal. Nilppi lowered himself with the help of a rope. The water was foul smelling and oily on its surface. Nilppi didn't made much sense of the steel structure underneath the floor until Halin got himself down there. The old masterdwarf had carefully removed his armor before taking a dip. It became obvious to him that the brackets holding the platform were moving components of some larger mechanism. Halin noticed that the platform would probably swivel down if the mechanism was triggered.

Nilppi, unable to grok dwarven engineering, headed to the upstream grate. At first, he thought that he heard a noise and stopped. He stretched his neck and drew his torch though the bars to see farther outward. A shockwave of roars rammed into the grate. A wall of claws and bony faces pressed senseless against the bars. Nilppi stepped back, some other members of the company readied their bows.

By the time that they had decided what to make of this. The brawling ghouls had turned against each other and drifted out of sight. The clamor died down. The company turned to the gate. The whole thing smelled bad. The choice left was walking into the trap, or go home.

Waddling in the wading pool

They knew that things would have to get bad before they got better. Two ropes were strung across the hall. They ran between the dragon statues: one on the ground and one at chest level. A third rope was tied to the ring on the door. Kasper, Nilppi and Irina got themselves on the ground-level rope such that they would not fall down if the platform was to collapse. The rest of the company returned to the near side of the canal to tug on the third rope. The pulled on the ring, which slid out smoothly. 

Nilppi jumped in style.

Predictably, the platform swung down into the water and the grates opened at both ends. The gate clicked open. The three company members balanced themselves against the wall. Kasper grabbed the door and slipped beyond. The disappointment was sharp when he realized that the gate lead to a room the size of a closet which housed the trap's mechanism. Nilppi dodged the claws of the ghouls by shoving Kasper into the closet. Irina considered jumping in, but one of the ghoul was in the process of chewing up the rope on which she stood. 

 Nimrodel and Finbert were shooting freely into the pit. Arnadil took a leap and knocked a ghoul off balance on his way down. When the rest of the company realized that he was now in close combat against 6 raving ghouls, they began jumping in as well. Nilppi first, then Kasper dove with his longsword swinging. Thannolf took a flying jump and snapped with his knee the head from one of the ghoul's spine. The ghoul fell in the water, then stood back on its feet. 

The melee was made of an unstructured mix of good and bad guys. Arnadil got clawed on his chest and blood started to drip from his armor. His attempt to retaliate was more spiteful than effective: his sword hit the ground and bent his wrist at a questionable angle (critical fail, crippled hand for 30 minutes). Thannolf, still hot in the collar from his super cool entrance grappled the ghouls from behind and tugged at its head. Halin hit hard but failed to silence the beast which fell only after Thannolf sliced its head with his sacred Lossoth knife. That was the last one still standing.

The company discovered that the ghouls didn't want to stay down. They had to hit them until their bodies were mechanically destroyed. Once that the smallest parts of the ghouls were too small to be articulated, only a floating mess of writhing flesh was left drifting to the right grate with the current. 

The Palantir commission as a novelty act

Climbing out of the pit was a trivial affair, but would lead only back to the entrance. A summary exploration of the upstream hallway lead them to an octogonal room. The room appeared to be the bottom of a chute set at its center. The chute was a mere 1m by 1m, but how far above was its origin couldn't be estimated. Nilppi tried to climb up but slid back down. By tossing a grappling hook, the company figured out that the chute was about 3m long. However, the grappling hook didn't caught on anything near its upper rim. 

The company decided in the most bizarre chain of reasoning to make a human pyramid so that the lighter and more nimble member could climb up to the chute's top. To convince the GM, there was threat to fetch video of cheerleader teams performing said action. The GM finally got swayed when the company threw into the plan the trunks used to make the battering ram. Kasper, Thannolf and Kasper were to make the base, supported by the battering ram's components. Arnadil, towering over his 7 feet made the second layer which took the construct into the chute. Nimrodel, nimble and light elf climbed up, then the hobbits. Irina managed to pull herself to another octogonal room. The beams from the ram were passed upward and Irina secured the ropes. In about 15 minutes, even the stoutest company member had made it up to the top.   

The only way out was a set of stair, running parallel to the stairs that lead to the hall. At the top there was a dead end and two small levers. Irina spotted in the dust many recent tracks of orcs and evidence that the far wall swiveled around a hidden axis. Pulling on the level brought them at the foot of a new set of stairs and to another secret door. Crossing the second door took them back behind the third wooden gate that they had rammed through about an hour ago. Irina tracked a large number of orc tracks in the dirty floor. Evidence of outdoors dirt could also be found. The company headed up the stairs and noticed a cool and fresh draught coming from higher up. 

The subterfuge revealed

The company walked through a storage room turned into an orc barrack. Beyond the door, they found themselves outdoors on the other side of the mountain. A path ran down into a close valley. It went back up at the other end, some 1500m away from the door. A camp of orcs was bustling with activity on the mountainside. Beyond the camp, there was another gate carved into the cliff. Arnadil used his looking glass to scan the area. He estimated the number of orcs to 50 to 70. He also noticed higher up on the cliff side there was an elaborate opening. 

The complex behind them seemed to be a decoy to mislead invaders. Halin shrugged at the Numariis' strange ways (The players are actually thinking that the Numariis could be some kind of duergars). The company was acutely aware that it was just a matter of time before the orcs would notice the death of all of their gatekeepers. Irina and Finbert, the resident hobbits in the company, volunteered to scout along the valley road. Finbert stumbled, lost his cool and came back to the gate right away. Irina kept on climbing, identified a hidden spot on the mountainside, but determined that she would be detected if she dared going further. 

The company pondered whether wait 15 days to get the support of Sir Galdor and his the soldiers of Gondor, or somehow trick the orcs into a winnable battle near the exit of the false Numarii gate. 

047 - A journey up the Lhûn valley

The Gulf of Lhun

The Swan had entered the gulf of Lhun two days earlier and was making good progress against the current. A small elf-made craft approached the large Gondorian hulk as the harbor of Gray Haven got in sight. The elves on deck were neither friendly nor hostile, but made the whole crew uneasy. The ship attached itself and pushed a gangway up to the Swan's deck. An austere looking elf introduced himself as Alumnim, dockmaster of Mithlond, and informed the crew that Gondor was not allowed to sail passed this point.  

There was a pile-up in the leadership of the Swan as Arnadil, Galdor and the ship's captain all felt that they should address this edict. However, Arnadil had the key document: a letter from King Elessar. Arnadil introduced himself the best that he could in Sindarin, and managed to convince Alumnim to let the Swan enter the port under a number of restrictive conditions.

The Swan sailed into the harbor. On both sides were arrayed a number of ships being built to take more elves to the undying land. The Swan moored itself to a pole off the shore and a few of the crew members made it to shore with a rowboat.

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

Making rangers out of dwarves

This post is a playtest for the ideas posted here about reconciling adventure-based advancement and GURPS skill learning. I didn't want all the dwarves to spend 200 hours working and all get a skill point at the same time. 

Here is the setup: Khazek Strongmoss, son of Erek is tasked to bring to operational readiness a guard-size unit of rangers. The quirk you may ask? The recruits are dwarves. The other quirk is that Khazek is a wet-nosed member of the Royal Family with no teaching experience. The timeline mostly impose an on the job training. How can a simulation geek GM should handle this situation? I could narrate and wave hands, or I can roll a bunch of dice. Guess what I chose? Let's specify that all that dice rolling was done using a script, no physical dice were harmed in testing this scenario.

Approximating GURPS Mass Combat Troop Strength (TS) for Dwarven units

In this post, I'm trying to approximate Troop Strength (TS) for dwarves for the purpose of Mass Combat. It should be 2 according to GURPS Mass Combat p.17, but yet again it should also be 2 for orcs if we follow these rules as written (maybe less due to training and equipment). Let's see: this post is both a thinking aloud post, and way to communicate to the campaign's player how dwarves and orcs compare, and a chance to get shot down by my thoughtful readers. The punchline is 6:1 assuming parity of number and an infinite and unrestricted terrain that +Peter V. Dell'Orto doesn't love at all (and neither do I, but that is material for another post). 

The GURPS Middle-Earth Dwarf

Overview

The dwarves in this post refer specifically to Dunrin's folks, or the descendants of the Longbeard clan. During the third age, dwarves were held back by pessimism [-5], which has come to pass in the fourth age. They now have the outlook of a race reborn (overconfidence [-5]). However, most non-dwarf folk still see them as a race in decline (Social Stigma (race in decline) [-1]). 

008 - The fords over the Isen

There shall be no separate stories for the stop-over at Glittering Halls. Lord Gimli welcomed the company and his dear friend Halin. Much role playing happened as the characters tried to established whether good quality wine could be found in a dwarven mountainehome. Arnadil also attempted to snatch magic weapons from Gimli: which didn't worked. 

The company has reached the Isen River.

October 3rd FA 15 - The Edge of civilization

After a stop in the Glittering halls over the holiday of Yaviere, the company resumed their journey to the fords of the Isen. To their left, the peaks of the white mountains while to their left they could see the spire of Orthanc and the extreme south-end of the misty mountains. The journey happened without incident, although at a slower pace since they now had a covered cart that was to limit their overland speed. They were also escorted by four Rohirims who much enjoyed the opportunities to see the inside of the Glittering caves.

The arrived on the banks of the Isen on the third day of October. The temperature was cool and dry. A wind is blowing from the East. What was once a wild area has changed substantially. Since King Elessar has pledged to rebuild Tharbad, more overland traffic is coming through Rohan. The crossing of the Dunland is complicated by the tumultuous history between the Rohirims and the Dunlendings. King Lessar brokered a peace agreement with the Chieftains of the south, but this peace is very fragile. According to the treaty, the Chieftains agree to leave all travellers unmolested for as long as they remain on the road that runs from the fords to the town of Tharbad. It is not unheard, however, that some tribes have collected tolls for the passage of caravans through their lands. This toll is not legal according to the treaty, but there is not a lot that can be done without starting a war with the wildmen.

Because of the tenuous situation through Dunland, a company of mercenaries called the "The red hand" is operating in the area. They are offering an armed escort to the tradesmen willing to travel to Tharbad, and back to Rohan. Much of the transport of goods is done by the sea lane up the Gwathlo river, however. The company is large enough that it deters the wildmen from approaching travelers. The trip to Tharbad is a 100 leagues journey, or some 25 days of slow slug with carts. The company leaves the fords of the Isen approximatively every 50 days.

Because the departure to Tharbad is rare, the Rohan side of the fords has transformed into a small village of temporary dwellers and opportunistic merchants. There is also a small contingent of soldiers of Gondor (Rohirim are not allowed there as part of the treaty). It is thought that there will be another departure overland in something like 20 days or so, and this should be the last for the year.

Across the fords, a small tribe of wildmen has setup camp across the road. They claim that they do not belong to any of the signatory clans and thus are in their right to demand a toll. These wildmen have been deterring travelers from entering Dunland without an escort since the last spring. The rumour in the village is that they may be paid by "The red hand" to convince travelers to pay for their services.

The company considered the options: winter is coming, they have food for about 30 days and they should be making haste if they want to get to Annuminas within a reasonable timeline. They plan to cross the Isen on their own on the following day, talk (or sneer) their way through the wildmen opposite from them, and make for Tharbad on their own.

Halin Mithrilheart, Fatherless.

Biography
Birthday: 4 July

Early Life (age 0 to 50, year TA 2836 - 2886)

Halin was born son of Garad Anvilheart, descendent of a long line of master metallurgists in the mountain home of Iron hills. The gift that was to define the first half of his life was his inordinate physical strength. It must have been that his built and sheer strength overshadowed all of his other attributes because he soon was famous in the craftsmen circles as a the "strong one". This reputation caused a conflict as the guard wanted to recruit him while his family intended to make him their eldest son the new generation of master founder. As a result, a strange agreement was struck between the Captain of the Citadel where Halin would train a a militia member in order to pursue the family's traditional trade. This arrangement was unusual because very few of the dwarven nobility is member of the militia. 

skills:  Metallurgy [4], warhammer [4], brawler [4], Geology [2], tactics [1], first-aid [1], Politics [2], lifting [2], battle-axe [2], spear [2] 

Traits: Status 2 [10]

Life in the Iron hills (age 50 to 105, TA 2886 - 2941 )

Upon his coming of age, Halin had to make a decision as what his trade should be. He took on the extreme decision to break with the family trade and join the Army. He was then accepted as a ward in the royal family of Dain II, King under the Mountain of Iron Hills. To celebrate the adoption into the family, the King commissionned the royal weaponsmith to create a war hammer that only Halin could wield. Thus "Krorden" was created: a 45lb behemoth of masterwork quality which could not be wielded by more than a few of the strongest living dwarf in the land. Halin was then assigned as a private in the kingdom watch deep into the heart of the mountain. This turned out to be a sharp dissapointment as the only warfaring that Halin did for some 20 years was sparing with his peers and drink inordinate quantity of ale. 

Things turned up for the better in TA 2906 when, feeling forsaken by his adoptive family, he requested to be transferred to the royal guard. After the third and more forceful request, he was granted a position in the Keep Watch, still the least prestigious branch of the royal guard. Halin had the chance at this time to reunite with his original family: his brother Kren was now the family heir to the master founder position. Halin's bitterness did not receed.

Skills: soldier [4], tactics [2], leadership [2], cooking [2], singing [4], Musical Instrument (drum) [4], gambling [6], warhammer [4]

Trait:

Battle of the five armies (age 105 to 108, TA 2941 - 2944)

When Thorin Oakenshield begged Dain II for help to protect the lonely mountain, Halin ceased the opportunity to distinguish himself and regain the glamour that his legendary strength strength had gained him in his early life. As Halin was a member of the Royal Family, he was given a small command as a Captain. His unit distinguished themselves well enough during the battle, and he personally performed multiple feats of strength and bravery. After the Death of Thorin Oakenshield, Halin took on a command role as in the Watch of Erebor, where he performed with distinction in structuring the new defensive forces.

Skills: soldier [2], leadership [4], Warhammer [4], brawling [2], singing [2], administration [3], 

The Kingdom Dale ( age 108 to 141, TA 2944 -2977 )

By the time that Bard was crowned King of Dale, Halin was ready for a new challenge: the royal family, although it had adopted him formally some 50 years ago never warmed to him and he found himself on the sideline most of the time. Halin figured out that he stood a better chance to distinguish himself as a dwarf emissary to Dale. He put down his soldier's boots and donned fine fur and fancy robes and moved into Dale as a diplomat and advisor to the court of Dale. There, his knowledge of metallurgy was much sought by the reconstructing city. Halin became the link between the architect and engineers of Dale, and the metalsmith of Erebor. After about 20 years, he started his own small scale foundry where he refined formulae for high grade steel and quality bronze. 

skills: merchant [4], metallurgy [4], diplomacy [4], fast-talk [2], intimidation [2],

At Dain's table in the Kingdom under the Mountain ( age 141 to 182, TA 2977 - 3018 )

A minor plague decimated the royal family in Erebor. Dain II demanded Halin to leave Dale and rejoin his adoptive family in Erebor. Halin, reluctantly, passed the operation of his foundry to a human apprentice, but kept the ownership. Back at the court, Halin was asked to become the royal vice-accountant. He disliked the position with passion, but complied with the royal edict. During this time, Halin made contact with his old family and expanded his foundry in Dale further. His foundry was now the only supplier of steel and bronze for the Kingdom of Dale, a situation that caused tension with the business interest of Erebor. However, Halin masterfully pulled the royal familu card to maintain his monopoly. As the war of the ring was drawing near, the dwarves of Erebor were increasingly focus on building their own defenses.

Skills: Administration [2], accounting [3], merchant [3], warhammer [1], weaponsmithing [2], Politics [3]

War of the Ring (age 182 to 183, TA 3018 - 3019)

By the time that the Easterlings were drawing near Dale, Halin had shutdown his foundry and either moved or destroyed its infrastructure. He joined the King's personal guard as a family member and revive the legends of his notable strength. He was nearby when Dain II died in battle, but could not intervene. Thorin III, heir to the throne, rapidly takes over. A prophecy stipulates that Thorin III's eldest son will be the reincanation of Durin. The consequence of this prophecy is that Thorin III moves to "clean up" the family roll and push aside all relative not related by blood to the royal line. Halin is for the last time sidelined and is ordered to leave the family. 

skill: warhammer [1], tactics [1], brawl [1], siege engine [2], solider [1], 

The Quest for Mithril in Moria (age 183 to 185, year 3019 - 3021)

Abandoned, Halin volunteer for a folly of a quest where some 130 dwarves vow to bring back some mithril from the dept of Moria. Halin, returns to Krorden and his own steel boots. Once in Moria, the dwarves conduct a masterfully planned operation to force their way to the lower levels of the fortress and causing cave-ins to cut the pursuit by the orcs. They manage to reach the Mithril vein and extract a few kilogram over a period of a few months. When the ammunition and food stores ran low, they mined a series of shafts, exited Moria by a new exit and returned to Erebor. Thorin III rewarded each of the returning 88 dwarves with 1000 large silver pieces (equivalent of a Gondorian silver lord). Halin took the money and turned his back to Erebor, and has yet to set foot in the kingdom under the mountain yet.

skills: warhammer [2], engineering (mining) [3], singing [1], leadership [2]

Rebuilding Esgaroth (age 185 to 188, year TA 3021 - FA 3)

With lots of silver in his pocket, Halin decided to leave Erebor and try his chance in Esgaroth. The lake-city was then still in shamble from the war with the Easterlings. Unfortunately, Esgaroth by virtue of being on stilts was not a very good location to establish a foundry. With the wilderness around still teeming with brigands and Mirkwood creature, Halin decided nonetheless to spend a few years in Esgaroth, importing dwarven ware and selling them in bulk to to either importers from Gondor, or other commercial interest in lake-city. Halin vision also suddently plummeted: a genetic inheritance from a family that he has long forsaken. He now has to wear spectacles to cirrect his vision. All of the money got spent one way or another. These few years were a low point in Halin's life. 

Skills: merchant [4], Area Knowledge (Rhovanon) [2], Survival (prairies) [2], brawling [2], gambling [3],  streetwise [2]

Trait : Bad sight, Nearsighted [-25] (corrected with spectacles).

The Glittering Halls year (age 188 to 195, year FA 3 - 10 )

Gimli, son of Gloin and newly appointed Lord of Glittering Hall, was looking for companions to revive the lost Glittering Halls, located behind the Hornburg of Helm's deep. Gimli personally paid visit to Halin to ask him to join him in his quest. Halin accepted gladly and left Esgaroth. In the Glittering Hall, Halin took on the role of Captain of the Night watch of the deep halls, a position which called for more engineering than soldiering. Halin became enthralled with lore and history, which becoming a skilled architect and mining engineer. 

Skills: Geology [2], Engineering (fortifications) [6], engineering (mining) [4], leadership [3], History (Gondor) [2], research [2], literature [1], tactics [1] 

The Gate of Mina's Tirith (age 195 to 200, year FA 10 - 15 ) 

In FA 3, Halin was sent to Minas Tirith to contribute his fortification engineering skills to the reconstruction of the city defenses. Halin found in Minas Tirith an unlikely soulmate. He rapidly took on the beat of the city and made lots of new relations. One of which was with Arnadil Erwoen, an important Captain of the watch. Arnadil introduced him to the other members of the Palantiri Commission and encouraged Halin to participate as a "dwarven erudite".  Halin also deal in gemstones that he imports from the Glittering halls and for which he keeps a healthy percentage. 

Skills: Merchant [2], Engineering (fortifications) [4], History (Gondor) [4], research [4],