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Though I've pretty much switched over to Adventures in Middle-earth (game mechanics-wise), I'm still using many TOR resources, so I think I'll keep my campaign summaries here.

We played on Saturday night, and though I'd planned to roll into the next chapter of Darkening (2969), it was still early in the year, and the PCs decided to do other things.

“Clearing out the Marsh-dwellers”
Spring 2968

As the five travellers make the long journey up and across Mirkwood, they find more spider webs crossing the Elf-path than ever before. They encounter Gandalf the Grey and later King Thranduil, on a royal hunt of white deer, and share information with both; sickness seems to be affecting men both north and south. Eventually they reach the ruins near the Rotting River where they rescued Balin and Óin twenty years earlier. The party clears out the underground chambers of the many Marsh-dwellers within, and finds a great natural cave filled with treasure.

I've been ready to run the next chapter in The Darkening of Mirkwood (which is "Wheels within Wheels", TA 2969) for quite a few sessions, but my group keeps travelling and finding things to do instead. So I've just improvised, using the encounters that have come up on the various charts and rolling with the results. It helps to read ahead, and you can see here that I'm prepping my group for the general Plague that is starting to affect Wilderland.

“A Sickness Spreads”
Spring 2968

After burying much treasure, the five adventurers journey north for days through the Long Marshes. As they near Lake-town, the party comes across a small bedraggled family who have recently left there. They make camp and construct a tent, Me’lereal helping to cure the sick father and daughter. At night the group is surrounded by many Wargs, as well as a few subservient Orcs. Falandor races out to fight, but everyone else stays close to their main campfire, and the wolves hesitate to approach the flames. During the skirmish, a beautiful woman appears, but she soon reveals her true form: a vampiric Secret Shadow in the form of a giant bat! Falandor slays the beast, and together the group kills all of the attackers. After nursing the family back to health, the company travels on to Lake-town, where new construction has begun outside the city.

We played last Friday night, and I've amended my write-up to slightly tweak the description of how the last adventure ended, since we really picked up at that point. The 'behind the scenes' explanation is that they'd hit a Revelation Episode, so I went with the Láthspell, and made the people of Lake-town very cold towards them (which really fit excellently, as right now there's a lot of bad blood between the people of Esgaroth and the Elves).

So first amend the last line of the last adventure to read:

After nursing the family back to health, the company travels on to Lake-town, where they receive an extremely cold welcome.

then...

“Wheels within Wheels”
Spring 2969

Gathering in Dale, the group hears that a quarantine has been ordered in Lake-town as a plague spreads across the North. The companions decide to head into the Heart of Mirkwood to confront whatever evil they can find, so they journey down the River Running. After briefly sensing an unseen power as they move westward across the Old Forest Road, they come upon the aftermath of a battle. A dozen men from Dale appear to have been ambushed by a large number of Orcs and Wargs. They follow prints into the woods, where they rescue Prince Bain, son of King Bard, and his bodyguard Ottarr from a large Spider. The young prince explains how a teen stranger named Girion, who has recently risen to prominence in his city with the backing of many nobles, claims to be the direct descendent of the last king before the Dragon. His outlaw mother’s dying wish was for him to seek his fortune in Dale. When his tale mentions an omen with a talking raven that conveys messages to Mirkwood, it alerts the adventurers that Valdis and her pet Eágbitar are likely involved. Bain’s former “Woodmen” guides and other men arrive and try to capture the prince, but the heroes swiftly defeat them. They interrogate one of the outlaws and learn that they serve Valdis’ ally Elfsigil, who occupies a fortress near the Mountains of Mirkwood; Elfsigil also appears to be in league with the Shadow. As they plan their next move, a bird arrives with word that King Bard has fallen terribly ill. Though Bain also wishes to deal with Elfsigil, he presses to return home; Ottarr counsels him to adopt a new identity and lie low, gathering allies in Mirkwood. The party has a vote, deciding to pursue the outlaws before returning to Dale. They travel north to the Beacon Tower on the Haunted Hills, briefly catching a glimpse of the Messenger of Mordor before the Ringwraith flees on a black steed. Togo challenges Elfsigil, who agrees to a duel with Falandor to save face before his men. Falandor quickly cuts the chieftain down, and the other outlaws pledge themselves to Prince Bain. In Elfsigil’s chambers, letters are found that reveal that Valdis seeks some ‘treasure’ to aid her son, Girion.

Last weekend I ran my players up against the Forest Dragon, though there was lots that happened before that. Of course I'd had the Dragon ready to go for over a month, and once I finally ran it, the 'official' conversion (for AME) came out less than a week later! Oh well, it turns out many things were remarkably similar, so I think I did a decent translation from the TOR adversary.

“Trouble in Dale”
Summer 2969

The group escorts Prince Bain, now protected by a contingent of former outlaws, back to Dale, where he receives a mixed reception. Some welcome him, but many of the nobles seem to be supporting young Girion. With the King sick, a council of regents rules the realm. The adventurers visit King Bard at the royal palace, where Me’lereal immediately discovers bite marks on the ruler’s neck and determines that the ruler’s illness is caused by his blood being regularly drained. The party persuades First Captain Elstan to secretly move the King, and for two nights they wait in ambush in his room, but the flying creature they hope to entrap never comes close enough. After Bard recuperates some, they travel on to Rivendell, where Ardorwyn introduces his friends to the beautiful and remarkable haven.

"Slaying the Forest Dragon”
Spring 2970

After the Elven defenders at the Forest Gate are quickly devoured by the Forest Dragon, King Thranduil sends a message to Rivendell asking for aid from the heroes. They track the long-worm north from the Elf-path into a clearing, where the great monster strikes from an underwater pond. The battle is ferocious and deadly, but eventually the adventurers defeat the mighty beast.

Slaying a dragon is a mighty feat - are you able to give us more detail on the actual combat and how they were able to defeat it??

And from a LM's POV, how did the combat go?
Robin S.

It was a fairly epic battle that took probably five turns or so. The dragon didn't surprise any of them, but then it's tough to do when you've got characters with Passive Perception in the high 20s.

One of the Mirkwood Elves stayed back and eventually jumped up onto the beast, making it difficult for him to be attacked (the dragon still got him at least once with its tail). The most powerful warrior in the group (the other Mirkwood Elf) challenged it directly, and did a lot of direct damage with his powerful magical sword.

The two High Elves engaged it up close as well, though the Minstrel stayed back a bit (her weapon allowed for reach). The Hobbit Treasure Hunter got up and close, and it was his final blow (with massive Sneak Attack damage) which felled the creature.

From my perspective as LM, the fight was excellent. It was challenging, though not overly so. The terrain made things challenging, as there was lots of cover. One of the High Elves tried to stay back at first, but the foliage provided enough cover that it forced her to engage much closer than she preferred, and this brought her into close enough range that the dragon was able to sweep at her with its tail.

Speaking of the tail, it successfully grabbed Falandor (the most dangerous PC) and held him. He at first would break free, but soon realized that it was taking his entire turn to break free each time. He changed tactics and began attacking while wrapped in the coils of the tail, so the dragon continued using tail sweeps, this time while the Elf was wrapped up within!

An update of our main cast of characters, being as a number of them have multi-classed (AME) now:

Ardorwyn: High Elf Scholar/Wanderer from Rivendell
Falandor: Elven Warrior/Scholar from Mirkwood
Idril: High Elf-maiden Warden/Wanderer from Rivendell
Me’lereal: Elven Scholar from Mirkwood
Togo Proudfoot: Hobbit Treasure-hunter from the Shire

The first part of our adventure last Friday was appended to the summary from last time.

They find a hoard in the creature’s lair, which contains ancient items, relics, and much gold. The company gathers it up and returns to Rivendell, where they spend months identifying the artifacts. They then journey back to Woodmen-town, which has been hit hard by the plague. The High Elves give their share of the treasure to the Woodmen, and the companions do what they can to aid the community as they winter there.

“The Dying of the Light”
Spring 2971

Radagast summons the adventurers to Rhosgobel, which houses many refugees. He shows them a mass grave, victims slaughtered by the Werewolf of Mirkwood. He entreats the company to destroy the beast by using the Lamp of Balthi, hopeful that this would finally end the evil spirit within the monster. The heroes make their way back to Woodmen-town, where Me’lereal and Togo convince their former companion Malaric to lend them the Lamp. They then enter the forest and track down their adversary. Radagast sends a herd of deer to draw most of the Wolves in its pack away, and the five engage the enemy. They swiftly take down the Werewolf and four Wolves, but a dark figure emerges from behind a tree. Falandor, Idril, and Me’lereal engage the Lieutenant of Dol Guldur as Ardorwyn and Togo deal with the Werewolf, who rises again. Togo shines the Lamp of Balthi on the fiend as it is dropped again. The spirit tries to take shelter in Ardorwyn, but he valiantly resists it. When it tries to flee, it is destroyed by the light of the Lamp! The others slay the Ringwraith, but all that remains is a black cloak.

Great reading these, M. Keep up the good work!

Thank you, sir!