Adventuring Phase: The Watch on the Heath (Part Two), Raenar and the Gibbet King
Early Winter 2951
There are still dragons in the north...
Raenar the Plunderer
Raenar is a terrifying sight, a vast silver-grey serpent, wingless, with a huge head set upon a thick neck. He advances walking on four short and robust legs, sometimes slithering on his slime-covered belly. From his powerful, saw-toothed jaw emerge wisps of venomous cold vapours. Raenar is one of the greatest calamities that might befall the North, should his wrath be unleashed upon it. Awakened from his slumber by a strange feeling that invaded his dreams and by the scent of gold on the wind, Raenar travelled south and it is before an ancient Dwarven watchtower that he happened upon two men and their pets; a dog and dwarf. Rising to his full height, the dragon addresses the companions:
“I am Raenar greatest of all Cold-drakes! the Dragon-king, the plunderer of a hundred Dwarf-halls! The slayer of Kings and their sons! The Great Worm of the Frozen Waste! The Scourge of the North! Whose breath can melt stone, whose claws can cut steel, whose teeth can crush bone, whose maw can devour man and dwarf alike!
Now tell me, who stands here before me, itinerants all; two grubby looking men and their little mangy dog too. And a lord-less dwarf, whose kind I have not devoured for many a year!”
The company introduce themselves, Brand first who stands proudly and states he is here on behalf of both the King of the Mountain and the King of Dale; slayer of Smaug the Golden, and has an urgent message for the ancient wyrm. Iwgar tells of his homeland far to the west under the eves of Mirkwood and that he has never witnessed such greatness until now, finally gathering his thoughts while the other spoke, Thogrim requests that before he is devoured by such a magnificent creature he at least allows him to introduce himself to which he recites the following riddle:
“Some say my home is lonely, but I don’t find it so,
I am way finder, cliff diver, head carver, arrow runner; the champion with a prize of serpents,
I am the second gate, rider in the air, watcher of the tower,
I travelled from Grey to Brown to White and back,
I have served bear and been served by dog,
I returned unscathed from the greatest bight in Wilderland and abided in shadows even before my father was born.”
Raenar chuckles at Thogrim’s introduction,
“Impressive! Most impressive! So many titles for one so small. One wonders if they are compensation for some shortcoming? No matter, I have never eaten food with so long a name! Now tell me, before I dine, why are you here, trespassing, in my domain?”
Noticing the iron collar about the dragon’s neck and the strange behaviour he already exhibits, the companions tell Raenar of what they believe is a trap set to lure and enslave him by the creature known as the Gibbet King. Impressing the dragon with their courteous words and their wise counsel, Raenar commands them to enter the watchtower – he will attack later to take the spirit by surprise, on condition that they leave the tower and the gold therein to the worm afterwards. The companions agree to this strange alliance, hopeful that Raenar may also be destroyed along with the Gibbet King.
The Watchtower of Zirakinbar
Carefully approaching the tower away from the main concourse, the company spy what could be an outcropping which may lead to the secret entrance into the cellars. Using the climbing equipment they had brought with them, the companions slowly but surely reached this bluff; a small flat area with a pool of still water and room for about a half-dozen people. Remembering the strange key given to him by Saruman, Thogrim takes it out and, recalling the riddle “A gift from the wise, shined thrice”, he shines it in the noon light. Watching him, Brand’s keen eyes spot the reflection of the mountain wall within the pool of water and see that there is a hidden door, carved to resemble rough rock. Working with Thogrim, they search out the keyhole and as they turn the key three times the door slides inwards with the merest of sounds.
Entering the cellars, they avoid the orcs working the furnace and make their way up the stairs to spy upon the main hall where they watch for a short time as the orcs their torment their goblin companions forcing them to fight each other bare-handed. Avoiding this warband they climb the stairs to an antechamber filled with pillars and which leads to a closed door carved with runes and depictions of whirling winds. After some discussion and further exploration of the Raven’s Perch the companions decide that the only option to left to them is to enter the chamber. Gathering themselves, Iwgar opens the door while Thogrim and Brand hide on either side…
The Gibbet King and the Chain
The first thing Iwgar sees amid the carved pillars of the huge chamber is a blazing bonfire with gold and other treasures pile on and around it. Next to this fire, in a cage, stands another mummified corpse like the one he saw at the Dwimmerhorn and faced at the Crossings of Celduin. The Gibbet King is accompanied by eight Black Uruks of Mordor, his bodyguards of choice; the burliest two of them carry the heavy weight of the Chain of Thangorodrim.
Sensing Iwgar, the Gibbet King commands him to approach and bring his friends too. The companions each resist the spirit’s geas but decide to attempt to dupe him and approach anyway. As Iwgar and Thogrim step forward, Brand covers himself in the cloak of Irimë and steps out of his hiding place, unseen; slowly creeping round the perimeter of the chamber he hopes to find advantage in attacking the orcs and Gibbet King from behind.
Sure in his victory, the Gibbet King taunts the companions:
“This is the hour of my triumph. In ages past, the Dragons were weapons of terror, wrought by the Lord of Middle-earth to enslave all the Mortal races. Now, this weapon will once again devour all. No sword nor shield can withstand the fury of the Great Worm! Lay down your weapons and I shall grant you a quick death. Resist, and your souls will be my playthings until the ending of the world!”
Knowing their deception will soon be uncovered, Iwgar and Thogrim defy the spirit; the dwarf shouting the battle cry of his people while Iwgar declares it is the Gibbet King that will face his end and trouble the peoples of Wilderland no more. Battle is joined with Brand still unseen and stealthily approaching the bonfire and the Gibbet King from behind.
The two companions, outnumbered by the black orcs, desperately defend themselves using the pillars to restrict the attacks of the enemy. Reaching the bonfire, Brand recovers a burning piece of wood from it but now uncloaked and seen, the Gibbet King attempts to paralyse and bewilder the Barding. Resisting and shouting his defiance he leaps forward impaling the old corpse with the burning torch.
It is then, that the tower shakes and trembles; crashing through the northern most passage the dragon arrives. With stone sent crashing about him, Raenar looks about him as the two orcs approach with the chain. Brand shouts to the worm: “your foe is before you Raenar! Here is the Gibbet King! He who seeks to enslave you!”
Looking down upon the orcs and the caged corpse, the dragon roars and breaths inward, sucking in the air about him and unable to bring his will to bear upon the dragon, the Gibbet King shrieks in anger. As Raenar breaths upon the cage, Brand throws himself aside avoiding the deadly assault. The orcs scream and the metal cage melts from the dragon’s corrosive attack. A second blast and the companions hear an impotent wail as the Gibbet King is vanquished and the spirit defeated.
The worm surveys the scene of his conquest, killing the remaining orcs and turns to Brand, stating triumphantly: “Leave now and tell your folk, I am coming! The North is mine!”
Following the dragon’s destructive path, as he slays the orcs arriving from the main chamber below, the companions escape the watchtower of Zirakinbar through the cellars and the way they had arrived.
As they climb down the cliff face, the mountain trembles to the exultant roars of the dragon, its final words hanging like a shadow over their great victory…
LM Notes
Again, apologies for the length of this post; many thanks for sticking with me!
The encounter with Raenar was pretty damn cool. The players all aced their Fear tests, a G-rune as well as great or extraordinary successes all round, so I decided that even though such a creature was terrifying and fearsome they were all amazed and excited to witness such a force, for good or ill, describing Raenar as more elemental in nature – potentially an incorrect statement but something I thought was okay to do given the character’s lack of lore regarding these creatures and to justify their amazing test results.
I really chewed up the scenery playing Raenar and enjoyed it immensely; I did over do it though, giving myself a very sore throat with all the growling and nastiness! Describing him as moving around the characters when they were talking to him and at times moving his head right to their level to regard them and test their valour at key times. The players all really got into the RPing and felt that their characters could be eaten at any time, especially Thogrim! I’m guessing this is the feel that Gareth was aiming for when he wrote the adventure and the encounter and it was great fun.
Knowing a dragon was coming, I’d dropped a less than subtle hint after the previous game session (actually, I think it was more on the lines of “there’s a dragon in the next session”!) the player who I told created a poem/riddle as his introduction. We had a lot of fun trying to guess his references so he’s okay with me sharing the explanation here:
Thogrim’s Riddle
Some say my home is lonely, but I don’t find it so,
I am way finder, cliff diver, head carver, arrow runner; the champion with a prize of serpents,
I am the second gate, rider in the air, watcher of the tower,
I travelled from Grey to Brown to White and back,
I have served bear and been served by dog,
I returned unscathed from the greatest bight in Wilderland and abided in shadows even before my father was born.
And now a break down by line:
- Some say my home is lonely, but I don’t find it so - Thogrim is a dwarf of the Lonely Mountain
- I am wayfinder, cliff diver, head carver, arrow runner, the champion with a prize of serpents - Thogrim is the guide for the group. He dove off of a cliff at the siege of Mountain Hall, taking a great orc with him. He carved his family history and his adventures into his axe head. He ran off with the black arrow in a fit of madness. He won the Grand Melee, but his chest of gold was instead filled with snakes
- I am the second gate, rider in the air, watcher of the tower - Thogrim held the breach in the gate at the battle of Hitherd. He has flown with eagles and stood sentry over Dol Guldur
- I travelled from Grey to Brown to White and back - The fellowship was sent by Gandalf to Radagast, who sent him to Saruman. They then returned to Radagast, and eventually met Gandalf again
- I have served bear and been served by dogs - They undertook tasks for Beorn, and at his house were served food and drink by his dogs
- I came away unscathed from the greatest bight in Wilderland and abided in shadows even before my father was born - They travelled to the East Bight and left unharmed. In the dream of Dol Guldur in the past, they endured the dungeons of DG
Massively inspired by Bilbo in The Hobbit but I was absolutely fine with this both out and in-game. After all, Bilbo’s encounter with Smaug must be a well-known tale and Thogrim has actually met him, during the first Festival of the Five Armies and during a riddle contest so I don’t think its any stretch to say what he did. Even if it was I’d have still thought it was pretty damn cool – love it when players go that extra mile and do some ‘homework’ for the game.
The players nailed their various encounter tests using their traits to good effect as well as their bonus preliminary dice. They ended up getting over 5 successes in total so it really couldn’t have gone better for them; Raenar would attack the tower at some opportune and appropriately suspenseful time!
Onto the watchtower, the players made some really good decisions...
I allowed them to successfully climb the mountainside to the outcropping without making tests as I felt having the foresight to bring climbing equipment, and paying the extra price in fatigue, should have a measurable reward.
Finding the secret door was also a lot of fun. I altered slightly from the adventure as written so it fitted in with the previous encounter with Saruman.
The players were very cautious in scouting/exploring the watchtower so I cut a lot of this out from the write-up above. I was okay with this but it did lose a bit of pacing here and there as they deliberated. Not a big problem; three wearied or wounded or low on Hope characters versus a warband of orcs and the Gibbet King means its to be expected that they are more than a little prudent! It was worth the wait though as the final battle played out amazingly well. Being able to use Irimë's cloak, spending a point Hope for a magical effect, really put them in a great position and the final encounter with the Gibbet King and Raenar was certainly one to remember! At one point the player of Brand deliberated whether to attack the dragon when he stated he was coming.
Awesome fun stuff and a great climax to the first arc of the campaign. I'll post a final Fellowship Phase separately just to finish things off along with a pdf of all these posts...
Next: The Final Fellowship Phase