The Affairs of Wizards (Campaign Log)

[Scrollreader]

I'm going to be starting up a new campaign this weekend with six players, and I'm going to be logging the campaign here. We've already had a character creation session and a combat tutorial, and people are quite interested.

Here are the current adventurers:
Aurel, an Elven spearmaiden and wanderer in the woods. (Elusive, Keen-Eyed, Elven-Lore, Mirkwood-Lore, Shadow-Lore | Spearman's Shield) She takes the guardianship of others seriously, since her father was slain by orcs, and her mother soon after took Ship west.

Farmann, Son of Farald; a hunter in the lands north of Dale, and occasionally companion of the King. (Patient, Wary, Smith-Craft, Swimming, Shadow-Lore | King's Man). His longsword is always at the ready to defend his people.

Glabum, Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain, torn between the hammer and anvil, and the axe. (Hardened, Wary, Smith-Craft, Tunneling, Dragon-Lore | Fell Greataxe). Upon seeing the vast hoard within the mountain, after the battle of the five armies, a fire long smouldering in his heart ignited, and he would test himself against a dragon, for gold and glory.

The Healer (Grimfast) a Woodsman of Rhosgobel who has heard the tales of other lands, and wonders what it would take for the Woodmen to rise, and proclaim the Kingdom of the North again. (Adventurous, Fair, Beast-Lore, Leechcraft, Folk-Lore | Herbal Remedies). It is said that his soft words to allies should not be taken as a sign that he has no stomach for hewing orcs and Spiders with his axe.

Loranys (Lonnie) Millstone, once a trader on the Long Lake, has taken her sword to Dale, following Bard and his folk. (Adventurous, Clever, Boating, Trading, Burglary | Twin Bladesman) She has found herself in a spot of trouble, as a portion of the Dragon's Hoard caused her to make poor decisions, but fate has given her the chance to make amends.

Roderic, the Bard also hails from Rhosgobel, and was once a student of Radagast. (Cunning, Swift, Anduin-Lore, Mirkwood-Lore, Rhymes of Lore | Hound of Mirkwood). Though he has drifted into his cups, a bit, he still has a good heart, and Grimfast, a friend from Childhood, pulls him to see the world, and the potential for the Woodmen in it.

[Finrod Felagund]

I daresay you probably don't want to spoil too much, but is there anything you can tell us about the campaign itself?

[Falenthal]

Interesting group. Eager to know more about the campaign.

But, what is "Twin Bladesman", the Reward/Virtue of Loranys?

[Glorelendil]

But, what is "Twin Bladesman", the Reward/Virtue of Loranys?

That's what I was going to ask. I smell a house rule for dual wielding.

Nassty, nassty houserulerssssss.

[zedturtle]

But, what is "Twin Bladesman", the Reward/Virtue of Loranys?

That's what I was going to ask. I smell a house rule for dual wielding.

Nassty, nassty houserulerssssss.

I am sure that Glor is just being funny here.

I, too, would love to hear more about your campaign.

[Glorelendil]

Sorry...the issue of dual-wielding has a long and sometimes humorous history here. I forget that newcomers won't know that.

[Scrollreader]

I am well aware of the various discussion, pro and con and whatever, as I've been lurking here for quite some time, even before grabbing this snazzy username. But one of my players, who is big into story, had a concept in her head for her Barding, and didn't really care what mechanical rules it used.

Details are here-> viewtopic.php?f=56&t=6696, but TL;DR it's a virtue that 'hides' a bastard sword and a (reinforced) buckler, behind two Swords.

Several of the characters have been allowed some small bits of personalization, usually swapping a backup weapon for one which is also tied to their culture (I let Farmann swap his Spear 1 for Great Bow 1, for example; and I let some of the PCs swap a shadow weakness to one that they felt was Culturally appropriate). At absolute most, I'm saving my PCs something like 2 XP, and it is a very small price to pay for players who are involved in coming up with interesting backstories, and deep characters.

As a for instance: The player of Lorrie, entirely on her own, came up with an idea that fit so well into 'The Marsh Bell' that I couldn't have written it better myself. She wondered if perhaps, her Treasure Hunter could have found an item for sale, obviously stolen, from Smaug's Hoard; and momentarily given in to Dragon-Sickness.

I could give more examples, but all my players are pretty awesome, and I'm sure you'll see stuff come up as the campaign goes on.

The game will start with Lorrie (and Glabum) being tasked by Dain to make right her error, since fate has apparently conspired to grant her a weregild very fitting to the crime. (ie, Retrieve the gift for the Eagles, the item she mortgaged her shop for, and then refused to sell, hoarding it until agents of Bard found her). I'll be winding together most of Darkening and Tales, with some side treks based on Heart of the Wild, and of course, player decisions as things get rolling.

[Scrollreader]

So we started actually playing today, and I think things went quite well.

To begin with, the Barding Treasure Hunter, Lonnie, was brought before King Dain for judgement, having been involved in a failed attempt to fence the Amulet of Dain, which had been stolen. Given that the Amulet was missing, again while she was safely imprisoned beneath the Mountain and awaiting judgement, her weregild, since she did not actively steal the amulet before, was to go forth and recover it. The dwarf warrior, Glabum, was tasked to accompany her, and the two of them were sent off to Laketown, to receive details and reinforcements from Gloin, with a stern warning not to fall again under the spell of the Dragon-touched amulet.

In the meantime, a pair of Woodsmen, having split off from their main travel group in order to chat and hunt, were following the tracks of a fine stag, when they were nearly knocked into a cunningly concealed pit by a dead fall, but their finely honed senses warned them in time. The Healer and the Bard were examining the trap, when a Dalish Huntsman, Farmann approached. After some discussion, they agreed the trap should not have been there, and that it was far too finely made to be the work of orcs (and far too close to Laketown). They blamed the elves, and then set off to finish the hunt, all three together.

After successfully bagging the deer, they returned, marking the area around the pit so no one else would fall prey to it, when Farmann noticed a hint of movement above, and began to speak to the Elf, Aurel. She had also noticed the trap, and divined it was of Elven make, like the ones used for Orcs and Spiders, and could not explain why it would be here. Though the Woodsmen were a bit startled by her appearance, words were civilly exchanged, and they agreed it should be reported to the respective authorities of both Men and Elves.

No sooner had they come to an agreement, than a faint cry for help was heard. They found a boy, Belgo in a panic, and learned his father was in danger. Rushing forward to help, they left the boy in safety and hurried to reveal a tense scene.

Lonnie and Glabum had heard the sounds of a scuffle as they rounded the bend, and saw an older man holding off three grimy sell-swords with a tree branch. Their leader tried to lie to the dwarf (and failed), while the Barding girl snuck closer to the ponies to cause a distraction, for the merchant to escape.

At this point, the Barding Huntsman, the Elf Spearmaiden, a pair of Woodsmen, and a large dog burst into the scene, and immediately sized up the situation. Lonnie gave a valiant effort to leap from hiding and threaten them, but ended up mistakenly menacing a pony. Seeing this, the leader decided to cut his way out, thinking he could just bluff on through. Though a solid enough blow was landed on the dwarf, the response quickly took the starch out of the sell-swords. The dwarf laid a responding blow on his attacker, with extra force, and the others were dazzled by the display of weapon skill and grim aspect of the company. In an extra bit of justice, as the three ruffians almost immediately surrendered, the party insisted they repay Baldor for threats on him and his goods, and emptied the purses of his attackers, before running them off.

Baldor thanked the brave companions for their assistance, and explained his situation to them. After some consultation amongst their number, they suggested he return to town, at least for a time, as several of them had business to conduct in a week or two when the Festival officially began. A few of their number volunteered their services, if by then he had no more luck finding reliable guards.

[zedturtle]

"Man, those guys turned out to be untrustworthy! . . . Hey, you guys look trustworthy, want to guard me through Mirkwood?"

Baldor is a trusting soul.

Sounds like a great start.

[Scrollreader]

As the companions went their separate ways, Baldor invited them to the Dancing Trout, an inn he knew of in Laketown that evening to stand a round for the heroes who rescued his cargo and his life. Aurel made her way to the Elven Quarter, where she conferred with the Elf Prince, Legolas, on the riddle of the Elf trap here, and he promised to look into the matter.

In the meantime, Lonnie, who recalled the Elf maid from when the host of Thranduil had helped the refugees from Laketown, tried to convince Glabum to include her in their quest to recover the amulet. He urged patience, thinking that Gloin might object. However, when the two of them briefly met with Gloin, it appeared he had not yet been able to gather any soldiers to assist with the rescue mission, and upon the recommendation of the two of them, encouraged them to at least meet with him, and he would judge them for himself "even the Elf".

After trading the deer for a place to stay on the festival grounds, the Men made their way to the Inn, and met Baldor there, hearing a little of his sad tale. They were joined soon enough by Aurel, and then Lonnie and Glabum. They agreed to join forces in the attempt to track down the missing dwarves, and Lonnie gambled and won heavily, sliding most of the coin into Baldor's purse when he wasn't paying attention. Most of the losers took it well enough, but one Easterling Merchant, who had perhaps gambled more than he could lose, looked like he was the sort to keep a grudge.

On the morrow, they called on Gloin, and despite his reservations with the Elf, convinced him to share his dream and the map of the planned route with them. So informed, they set out to recover the dwarves treasure, and find the fate of the missing dwarves. Hiring a large skiff, they decided to let Lonnie, who had experience with boats take the helm, while the dwarf joined the pair of Woodsmen as a scout, as they searched for clues. A brief conversation with a dotty old man warned them of the 'Gallows-Weed', though they had no real idea what he was on about, and they made their way South. Some of the party were oppressed by the fetid swamps, but on the whole they persevered.

Several days into their journey, Aurel spotted her kin shadowing them, and halted the boat to speak with Galion, their leader. She was well spoken, and though some of the others were rude, managed to convince him that she would make sure the others would do no harm to Mirkwood, at least. Shortly after the departure of the Elves, the party set up camp, and handily dealt with a previously wounded troll, gone feral in the swamps. A lucky blow from the dwarf's Fell Greataxe finished off the beast, and the fight, almost before it began.

As the party of brave companions explored the dwarven camp, they noticed several things amiss with it, and no trace of the dwarves, or sign that they had ever used their camp, after setting it up. Lonnie did find a hidden dwarven jewelry box, and quickly opened it, before slamming it shut, and handing it over to the dwarf, Glabum; having resisted the Siren Song of the amulet within. So warned, the party elected to keep the box closed, as they set up camp where the dwarves did. Finding the surveillance of the Gorcrows oppressive, Lonnie struck upon a plan to distract them. While Glabum repaired the second boat, the others made up decoys from sticks and straw, and the spare clothes of the missing dwarves, and sent the boat a ways down the river, anchoring it and hoping to divert the attention of the spying eyes of the Gorcrows.

This task done, several of the company began exploring, looking for answers to the fate of the dwarves, and perhaps something tied to Gloin 's foreboding dream. Glabum and the Bard remained at camp, the Woodman falling asleep with a flask of dwarven spirits. Lonnie, the Barding, nearly got strangled to death by a hanging vine, and the explorers cleverly deduced this was the gallows weed. Weary, she headed back to camp, as the others kept looking ... and then the Marsh Bell tolled.

Aurel, the Elf-maid, began to walk towards the water in a daze, but was held back by her companions. Glabum was not so lucky, and worse affected, and set off from the camp at a dead run. Lonnie, torn, decided to wake the Bard, before following after the dwarf. While the others heard the dwarf coming, only The Healer managed to put himself in the path of the onrushing Glabum. With a great deal of luck, and an axe-handle between the ankles, he managed to trip the dwarf, and send him sprawling into the mud, and tackle him. When Lonnie and the Bard arrived, with him still dressed for bed (but Greatbow in hand), they saw the others gathered around a motionless (but snoring) dwarf. Aurel managed to sing a song of joy, and her Elven voice (along with some of her companions) awoke the startled dwarf.

Now almost certain of the fate of the dwarves, and in possession of the amulet, some among the party wanted to turn back, especially with the discovery of Oin's axe. But Glabum was resolute, and eventually they agreed to wait until daylight, and then attempt to recover the remains of the dwarves from their sunken tomb.

In the morning light, they cast about, until they discovered a narrow way leading down into the ruins, and perhaps beneath the lake. Descending into the sodden ruins of an old city of men, they noticed marks upon the floor near a set of doors. While the others were continuing onwards, in order to be sure of their situation, Lonnie, the Barding girl, knocked. And there was a great deal of rejoicing when the missing dwarves answered.
While a quick bit of food and drink was offered, warned by Ori and the growing sense of being watched, and sounds, in the distant, dripping darkness the companions chose discretion and retreated with the dwarves back the way they came.

Leaving a fire of oil behind them to deter pursuit, the heroes then toppled the ruins where they had breached the dank and dreadful sanctuary, sending the bell crashing down with a single final peal. Once the boats and supplies were retrieved, the party made haste away from that dark place and then saw to their newly rescued dwarven friends.
A longer trip upstream than down was lightened by knowing they had successfully rescued the dwarves, and succeeded at their task. Gloin was waiting to feast them as heroes in Esgaroth on their return, and rewarded them handsomely with dwarven gold for returning his kin, and his King's treasure.