Adventuring Phase: The Black Arrow
Late Summer 2951
The fellowship is called to the court in Dale at the request of Bard in order to seek out his most-prized family heirloom, the Black Arrow, that sent Smaug to his ruin and was subsequently lost in the destruction of old Lake-town. Bard has long desired the return of the Black Arrow and with the approach of the second Festival of the Five Armies, word reached him that the arrow had been reclaimed.
The companions are sent to question Holgeir, a pickpocket who was apprehended in the Market Square, and who claims to know the resting place of Lake-town’s old Master and suggests that the Master possessed the Black Arrow. He shares with the fellowship the tale of his time in the company of the old Master, as well as the rough path the old Master took into the Waste. There is also mention of a dwarf who the Master visited on a number of occasions before departing.
The companions visit Trugdel, an old Dwarven smith that met the old Master shortly before he departed into the Waste. Having managed to negotiate their way past his able and protective assistant, Nogo, they discover that the Master had requested information about the whereabouts of an old dwarven outpost named Zirakinbar; Trugdel told him that he believed it lay to the north in the Grey Mountains upon the edge of the Withered Heath but he had never heard of it being reclaimed since the vanquish of Smaug.
Travel through the Upper Marches is relatively easy. Since Dale’s re-founding, many farmers have settled here and the landscape is dotted with their fields and homesteads. This area was never desolated by Smaug and so has remained a rough, but fertile and verdant country. Following the rough map drawn by Holgeir, the companions turn north. Slowly the green grasses and shrubs of the Marches give way to parched, stony soil and dead vegetation. Abruptly, the Waste is upon them and the fellowship endures a punishing journey deep into this desolate wasteland, comprised of ash and sand and whose horizon is dotted with piles of sharp, misshapen stones; a broken land which saps the strength from their hearts as well as the limbs.
Fighting off a pack of craven and desperate Wargs, the companions eventually reach a circle of standing stones; the resting place of the old Master. As they approach, a fierce wind blows out of the Grey Mountains, as if trying to push them away but quickly dies as they step into the ring of stones that marks the Master’s grave; left with just an eerie, deathly silence.
As they approach the Master’s corpse, shrivelled and half-eaten his eyes taken by crows, they spot what can only be the Black Arrow clutched to the Master’s breast. Assailed by the taint which rests on the item, the companions give pause, except for one of their number. Overcome with a greed surpassing all that he has ever felt, Thogrim grasps the arrow from the dead grip of the Master and backs away from his friends, a dark and desperate look in his eyes as he glances about the stone circle. Brand attempts to reason with the dwarf but Thogrim sees such requests as but an attempt of the Daleman to claim the arrow for himself and turns his back on his companions fleeing into the night. Giving chase the rest of the fellowship fail to catch up to the dwarf, who spurred on outdistances them all, and quickly they lose sight of him.
Camping away from the circle of stones Brand, Iwgar and Grimbold pick up Thogrim’s trail in the morning – easier to follow his tracks than at night for the dwarf made no attempt to hide his trail, consumed by madness as he was. Grimbold recognises that perhaps the dwarf had been overcome by something powerful and dark. They travel west and northwards into rockier and craggier terrain, coming across a number of dead orcs before finding Thogrim, asleep but hidden behind an outcrop of stone, his axe discarded at his side but the arrow clutched to his chest; a grim impersonation of the Master.
The companions are successful in bringing the dwarf to his senses, embarrassed but stating the madness had passed, and taking the Black Arrow, Brand wraps it into cloth intent on returning it to his king but fearing its power. Turning south and west to return to the Dalelands to the north of the city the Fellowship discover a camp of orcs. To large to deal with now, and not wishing to risk their prize, they circumvent the area but note it’s rough position and proximity to the lands of Dale.
The fellowship’s spirits steadily rise as they leave the Waste behind and enter the lush, pastoral hills of the Northern Dalelands. The cool, fresh breeze that blows off the Grey Mountains fill their lungs with vigour and the cheery songs of birds lighten their mood. The companions make their way to the nearest settlement, arriving at Standburg in due course. Here Brand presents them to the lordling, Bryni, who graciously welcomes them; however, the thoughts of rest and an end to their troubles are short-lived.
On the evening of the second day since their arrival in Standburg, a baron of Dale presents himself to Bryni. Known to the lordling, Hakon requests that the companions hand over the Black Arrow to him for safe delivery to their king. Brand queries why this should be the case and it is plain that Hakon’s motives are not what they seem. Demanding the Arrow, he orders his six men to take it by force. A brief but bloody battle ensues, the battle-hardened companions quickly making short work of Hakon’s men; however, the miscreant baron escapes, fleeing the town on his horse. Distraught at this outrage of a supposed friend Bryni provides horses to the companions and accompanies them on the rest of their journey to Dale.
The fellowship returns, exhausted from their travels, where they are met to ringing bells – their arrival noticed. Escorted to the king’s court, they report the treachery of Hakon and present the Black Arrow, along with words of caution, to King Bard in front of a full court. Triumphantly he lifts the arrow, welcoming its return and rewarding the companions with gold; something Bard in particular finds uncomfortable and not in keeping with the King and his own station as an emissary within his service.
The companions spend time recuperating at Brand’s family home within the city and decide to stay for the coming festivities, concerned about Bard’s reaction to the Black Arrow they hope to consult with Gandalf should he again attend the celebrations.
LM Notes
I used a fan adventure from someone who posted it here; albeit altered somewhat to fit my timelines with certain bits removed, mostly to fit with the fact that I had yet to run the last two adventures in
Tales from Wilderland and some of the events within it didn't appear to feel quite right with how I want to approach those.
During this adventure we had our first Bout of Madness; Thogrim being overcome by the corruption/taint of the Black Arrow and this was quite desparate as he fled and outran the other PCs, making a stellar roll on his Athletics test - those dwarves really can sprint over short distances.
It resulted in some great roleplaying between the players though as they managed to convince the dwarf and his player acting out his embarassment over his behaviour.
When presenting the Black Arrow to Bard I decided to roll for him as per the adventure's suggestion. Setting his Wisdom at 4 he succeeded at the TN but rolled an Eye of Sauron. I decided that he resisted the taint but would keep the arrow, not recognising its corruption; paying off the PCs was a way of highlighting to them that 'something was wrong' which they picked up on. Another group used to being paid for their endeavours would perhaps need some other action to highlight this!
I ran just a quick Fellowship Phase; no real undertakings but an opportunity to increase Weapon or Common Skills as I wanted to keep the momentum going into the final two adventures out of TfW; the end to this first arc of the campaign in sight.
Next: The Crossings of Celduin
Patiently so, of course. This is such a great read and source of inspiration.