A3.3 Barad Cam

JOURNEY/EMBARKATION (Peril 2 for riding across unmarked trails) [Rolled 16 – 2 peril = 14: Favorable Beginnings- gain an Advantage on each of your encounters.]

Each settled into their own saddle (each had a horse) which meant Margo could eat as she rode. And the bag of tart apples from the Wose meant loud crunches to announce their passage. Kyan put an end to that!

The grassland along the river soon turned to a desert environment with shifting sand-dunes. Theo pointed out plants to dig to collect water at their roots to fill their waterbags. They gave up riding abreast as one horse’s steps cascaded down over the adjacent horse’s hoofs that made its walking more exhausting. Single file. Hours until Kyan thought he heard a voice in the wind. Theo attributed it to the howl of the wind but Kyan swore he could barely make out a faint cry.

With Margo holding the horse reins, the others dismounted. Kyan crawled on his belly to the dune lip from where he spotted a sinkhole about 30ft wide about 50ft from the base of the dune. Sandy prints led toward the sinkhole. Again, a weak “he….elp” came from the direction of the hole. Signaling the others forward, Kyan tied a rope about his waist, threw the other rope-end towards Theo, and began to crawl towards the hole. He saw the poor emaciated man plastered against the inside of the sloped wall: his lips sunburned and parched, his face swollen with blisters, his legs red with dried blood. The man ignored Kyan’s announced arrival as if he was delirious or unconscious.

scene from the movie "Enemy Mine"

Pit-Trap: Thran rushed forward to also lay prone to grab Kyan’s legs as Theo came forward to pick up the rope and tied it around his waist for better leverage. And that’s when an 8ft long stalk protruded from the bottom of the sinkhole and rose into the air with a huge palm-sized frond appendage that rotated and pointed towards Kyan! Suddenly, it whipped downward and latched onto the man and fought Kyan for possession. The man screamed in pain as apparently the frond end was lined with suckers that held tight.

Still holding onto the man with one hand, Kyan grabbed his dagger and plunged it into the base of the rubbery stalk. Theo desperately tried to pull Kyan out of the sinkhole but was losing his own perch as the sand shifted under his belly. With a tight grip on the rope, Theo began to back up in his attempt to pull the dwarf to freedom. He succeeded: as Kyan slid upwards towards the rim, Kyan’s dagger cut across the stalk almost cleaving it (the frond dangled from only half the stalk). Did Theo also pull out the sand-dweller?! The carapace-armored creature emerged from his pit-trap, which caused the sand to shift knocking Theo from his feet.

A real Ant-Lion: about an inch long

the Ankheg dweller, about 10ft long!

Kyan couldn’t afford to stand so close to the creature; so, he continued trying to pull the man to freedom. Thran stood and notched an arrow that sank into the creature that he recognized as an Ankheg [my version of an ant lion]. He quickly fired again. With the rope still around his waist, Theo stood and notched a numenorean-arrow [causes DisAdvantage to foe’s action] that penetrated the carapace. The Ankheg swiped at Kyan but missed as it continued to climb further out.

Kyan let go of the injured man as he fought for his own life wielding Ring Rist: the blade flared with light as it skipped off of the carapace. [Action Surge] He swung again but missed as his feet shifted in the sand. Realizing the creature was not affected by the light (no eyes and thus tremor-sense), Kyan yelled out, “Margo, stampede the horses to confuse the Ankheg!” Thran and Theo each sank an arrow into the creature before it finally bit Kyan (damage and poison). With a firm grapple, the Ankheg wrapped its long tendril appendage around the dwarf’s waist (and an arm) and held tight. Kyan’s natural resistance to poison staved some of the damage but he was still hurting from the bit.

With his free hand, Kyan found his own poisoned dart and plunged it into the creature. Luck that such creature wasn’t immune to all poisons. Thran pulled his bow taunt and fired: [fumble] the sand shifted under his feet, tumbling the elf off the ridgeline. Theo closed with his axes and swung: the first missed but the 2^nd hit. Enough damage to convince the Ankheg to retreat back towards its sink-pit… with Kyan in its grasp!

A Sandy Grave: Kyan freed his other hand and raised his sword to strike: a weak hit at best. Thran stood once more and fired an arrow: [fumble] again the sand shifted under his feet, causing the arrow to strike Kyan in his shoulder! With the rope tied around his own waist, Theo was pulled toward the pit: he braced himself to oppose the creature. His feet must have found bedrock because the rope went taunt and momentarily stopped the Ankheg. With a sandy burial threat looming, Kyan swung his blade in one final attack: he plunged it deep and the Ankheg went limp.

Healing: The elf knelt beside the man and laid his hands on him to restore some health. Enough for Maxin to wake and report his case, “I was working the lighthouse on the coast when pirates attacked. I was the only one to escape, until I fell into that pit. I lay there for almost 2 days before you came along.”

Thran’s Thurl medicine bundle cured most of Kyan’s poison but the dwarf [failed CONsave DC12] still took exhaustion from the recovery. Until Theo fed him a slice of Cram bread [cures 1 exhaustion]. Kyan wanted to stay longer to fully rest until Margo reported other sinkholes, “Another Ankheg climbed out and took a swipe at the horses. We best leave the area.”

Onward: Maxin rode with Kyan as they crossed the desert landscape. With the Blue Mountains before them, sunset came early. Kyan called for no fire per his concern for enemies about. It was a cold night! Theo woke exhausted from shivering, until he ate a slice of his Cram bread. They rode onward towards the mountains and stopped near noon when Kyan noticed blood on the haunch of his horse: Maxin’s wound had opened. They dismounted so Thran could treat [Hands of Healing] the man once more.

Noon, The Well: And that’s when Theo noticed the wolfhound approach and heard its whimpering cry. They followed it towards a clearing where they came upon an old well, rimed with vines growing out of it. The brown, dead-looking grass in the area reeked of Blighted Land [Corruption/Shadow test- Thran took 2 points per his fumble]. The wolfhound rushed towards the well and put its paws on the lip and peered in as it howled. With Maxin holding the horses, the others dismounted and walked towards the well. Thran saw a dead man at the bottom of the well but also noticed his backpack open and books spilled out. Theo saw the man’s lip move as if trying to speak. Kyan saw the dead man but also noticed the glimmer of Kyanite mineral deposits! [natural 20] But having heard the others’ visions, Kyan realized it was illusions, “You see what you want to see! It’s a trap; the poor man was lured to his death.”

Initiative Order (Margo, Vines, Theo, Kyan, Thran): If only someone had told Margo sooner: the hobbit was halfway down the well in pursuit of “a bag of apples!” She heard Kyan’s warning just as the vines came to life! [natural 20] She sprang from one rock outcropping to another as she dodged upwards while avoiding the thorny vines that lashed at her. Above, 2 vines lashed at Kyan: a few thorns found gaps in his armor and drew blood. Theo tied a rope to himself and threw the other end into the well, “Grab it so I can pull you out!” Kyan hacked at one vine and cleaved about 4ft of it. Thran hacked at another vine and likewise cleaved a section.

Margo reached for the rope (failed) but missed as the whipping vine knocked it away. [Lucky Armor] But Margo climbed a little higher and found the rope and held tight. Once he felt weight, Theo pulled for all he was worth until Margo popped up and over the rim. The Beorning grabbed her and ran to get out of reach of the vines. Kyan and Thran also disengaged. But they weren’t clear yet: the wolfhound was still in range, barking at the vines! [Animal Handle] While Thran and Theo pleaded for the dog to come, Kyan’s whistle [natural 20] drew the dog bounding to his side. Once out of range, the vines went limp as if resetting for the next victim. While the elf healed the dwarf, Theo carved a warning onto a cleaved portion of the vine, “Evil. Beware!” and propped it up as warning to others.

[PG page 119: Hound of Mirkwood. Now loyal to Kyan]

Onward: As they rode off, Margo looked over her shoulder to announce, “Don’t look now but the vine knocked down your warning… just kidding.” But then she kept looking as long as she could in hopes her tease didn’t come true. They rode into the foothills of the mountains and came upon a well-worn path around 2pm. To the side, they found a beheaded dwarven statue. (Stonework) Kyan studied the statue and realized the head had recently been broken off. Thran searched and found bare footprints that Theo and Kyan recognized as goblin and orc!

May 7th: They dismounted and led their horses forward. When Theo’s 6^th sense began to tingle, Kyan stopped the group, “Maxin, you hold back with the horses off the path. This will be our rally-point if we have to get out of here in a hurry.” Thran and Theo took the lead as scouts with Margo and Kyan about 30 paces behind. It wasn’t long before the scouts came upon an outcropping bend of the path and stopped: they both saw what looked like a manmade fist reaching skyward. 

It was a dwarven stone watchtower with its upper level crumbled and in ruins. But it was the elf who saw movement in the upper floor archway: a goblin! Thran was ready to stealth forward alone until Theo cautioned him, “We don’t know how many. Besides, we need to tell the others.”

Barad Cam: Kyan crept forward and immediately recognized the watchtower, "Barad Cam! It once stood as an entry-way to the fabled dwarven stronghold Nogrod of the 1st Age. There, Telchar was the greatest blacksmith in history!” Thran remembered the story from his readings, “Among his works were Narsil (the sword of Elendil) used by his son Isildur to cut the Ring from Sauron’s finger.”

If it was up to the dwarf, he would have rushed in hell-bent to purge the tower of foul Orc. But the others counseled patience, “We don’t know how many are in there.” And in that time, Margo (trait: Secrets Gleaned) observed enough to report, “It looks like only one lookout is in the tower. Looks like they just had a shift change. I can see a few forms just inside the base of the tower at the top of the entry ramp.” They strategized: Margo would stealth climb to take out the lone lookout while the others got within charging range of the entryway. If things went bad for the hobbit, they would come to her rescue.

Margo crept along the rocks to the side of the tower before making her way to its base. No orc yells sounded so she must have successfully stealthed (17) forward. In no rush, she slowly climbed (21) to the lookout floor. [Stealth- natural 20] Luck that she timed her climb as the goblin lookout had his back to her as he looked out the far side archway. She notched an arrow and fired:

[We had agreed that to get an immediate kill: use your Inspiration to take a regular shot. On a die-roll of 18-20, you score a Coup de grâce.]

The goblin collapsed dead. Margo drug the body under the table and then edged toward the stairs. She slowly descended halfway down the 25ft to get a view of the interior near the ramp. From her vantage point, she made out 3 Orc patrolling just inside the ramp. As for what was at the back of the room…

Kyan was getting nervous; Margo had been gone TOO long! They couldn’t see the lookout anymore but then they also didn’t see Margo step to the archway to signal all was OK. He was about to lead the others forward when Margo suddenly appeared at his side to report, “I took out the lookout and crept down the stairs to spot orc. Now what?”

NEXT SESSION: https://lotrwjr.blogspot.com/2025/01/a34-cleansing-barad-cam.html