A Darkness in the Marshes *Spoiler Alert*

[Khamul]

Okay, so I got a little problem and seek some advice. When my Heroes got close to Dwimmerhorn
they sent the elven tracker to take a look at the fortification. He got close and he could tell that
you wont get fighting troops up that narrow path without to many casualties. He also spotted the
goat path which they learned from Walar. He also spotted the temple and the eerie green light from it.
So he goes back to the group and reports it. They then decide it is way to dangerous to face a shadow
of darkness that almost defeated Irimë who is the daughter of Finwë. What they do is they split the group
in two, the elf make haste to Rhosgobel to inform Radagast what they are up against (some kind of mighty wraith and 200-300 orcs). The rest of the group take Walar to his home in Mountain Hall. Ofcause was Magric already there
but the group was so befriended with Hartfast and they had Walar with them so it took mere seconds before
Hartfast turned with rage against Magric. Let say that betraying filth-maggot never got to see the sun again
after the Beorning, the bard-man and the frowning dwarf from Erebor had their saying.

So my question is what shall I do? They have not been to the temple, and they have done what Radagast told them
investigate, which they did 200-300 orc, on the fortification of Dwimmerhorn and from Walar they know that something very evil is inside the temple, this could also Magric confirm when he was confronted with the question.

Shall I just let Radagast be no where to find (as he is travelling around southern Mirkwood insearsh for answeres.
They really need to see the Gibbet King, Lockmand and the chain. Before they head to Dale. Of it will be tough to go on with the Campaign, and I really dont want to end it at this point. I am gifted with very clever players that want their Heroes to stay alive and not dead. They wont - "Act probably stupied" (like in all classic horror movies).

[Ernst-Jan]

I haven't got Tales with me at the moment, and my version of Darkness in the Marshes ended up differing greatly from the book version, but consider the following - The chain still needs to go north, sooner or later, Lockmand has to go to Lake-Town, all NPC's have agendas to fulfill. Try to figure out what course of action they are most likely to take and see if you can construct an adventure around that. Even if you don't, have them end up at the Crossing of the Celduin, surprised by the attack, and give them a reason to put the pieces together retroactively. They find out the Gibbet-King has something to do with the Dwimmerhorn, they may have to return there, the Chain will be missing but perhaps there are tell-tale clues in the empty cask...

Don't be afraid to speculate!

[Heilemann]

I have the exact same problem in my game. The company neared the Dwimmerhorn, one of them broke off to scout further ahead, decided to climb the goat path, but fell. I decided to not have him killed, but in the ensuing chaos they had to flee and wound up in Rhosgobel.

I'm thinking that by the time they come back, it might be emptied out but they find a slave who can tell them what he saw. Or maybe they go with Radagast, and it's mostly emptied out and they find an orc who taunts them with it. I'm not sure.

[Rocmistro]

I say "tough luck" they essentially failed their mission from Radagast. Or at best they had a "partial" success. They should lose some of the the confidence of Radagast; and Crossings/Watchtower, if they do it, should be a complete surprise for them. Perhaps raise the TN's of certain attacks/events to reflect the fact that they are completely ignorant as to the enemy's machinations.

Maybe, for example, the best outcome that they can hope for at the Crossings is one lower. (Bard's Army arrives late after the GK crosses, and they win, but suffer many casualties)

[zedturtle]

I ran into a similar problem. Fortunately I had added some more captured slaves for them to free and one of them told them about the chain and the GK. Maybe you can do something similar?

[Khamul]

What I think they will do is try to get Radagast and or Thranduil to bring warriors to Dwimmerhorn. I think they see no way to fight the wraith, who manage to fight, Irimë, Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir (I changed the story I did not like the Who tarry... episode) and escaped.

[Khamul]

I think I could let the heroes capture an orc or two who could taunt them with the chain and Gibbet King. I think I would get Hartfast to see if the heroes can scout it at a closer range to see if its possible to rescue some or all of the slaves.

[Corvo]

I think that your fellowship interpreted reasonably enough the scope of the mission as related in the book. As written, Radagast is apparently unaware of the existence of the Dwimmerhorn, and unsure about the presence of the shadow in the west bank of the Anduin. Reporting an orcish garrison in the swamps can reasonably be interpreted as their primary objective... and being captured doing some foolishness can be seen as failing Radagast.
My players were worried about that and were likewise thinking about splitting (the fastest runner warn Radagast, the others try to penetrate the fortress), but in the end they resolved to send the prisoner back to warn Radagast and they explored the keep.

Btw, one of the steps I took to avoid this situation was to have Radagast aware of the Dwimmerhorn, and already suspicious that it was occupied by some lieutenant of the Shadow. He sent them specifically to ascertain the nature of that leader: Orc? Man? Or maybe something... worse?
This way, the fellowship was bound to enter the keep and catch a glimpse of the "King".

[bluejay]

Funnily enough my group did something similar. The Dwimmerhorn has certain death written all over it and very few teams consistently excel at Stealth. I just moved some of the vital info to later in the campaign (possibly as part of the Dwarven research but I can't be sure).

[Khamul]

Maybe Gandalf mentioned The Gibbet King and the chain in his notes after he found Thrain at Dol Guldur. And just maybe these notes can be found at Erebor.