A3.4 Cleansing Barad Cam

The Plan: They hunkered behind the cliff where Kyan plotted, “Thran and Margo will return to the tower while Theo and I creep closer to the entry stairs. When you two give the signal (loud noise) that you are attacking from their rear, we’ll charge in from the front.”

Entry Assault: Their hearts were in their throats as the elf and hobbit climbed the outside of the tower to get into position. Thran signaled to the others below by dropping a coin outside the arch lookout. When he turned around, he found Margo putting on the armor of the dead goblin she’d dragged under the table. A little modified plan, “I’ll lead you down the stairs as my prisoner.” 

It almost worked… till one Orc doubted a goblin could subdue an elf. And the look on Thran’s face gave them away! In a loud orcish rage, that orc charged at the elf and swung his mace: Thran was just able to raise his broadsword in defense. Was that the loud noise Kyan was expecting?! The dwarf and Beorning charged up the entry steps; Kyan made it while Theo (fumble) tripped on the stairs.

The goblin outfit proved to be too big: Margo tripped on the longer pant cuffs and stumbled down the stairs. Another orc heard the dwarf and turned just in time to face the killing blow of the dwarf’s mattoch. While Thran was hit by his foe, the elf dealt a killing blow. Kyan quickly subdued the last orc guard and handed him over to Theo for interrogation. But the hated enemy of dwarfs was not about to talk; instead, he bit at Theo who tried to gag him. Knocked unconscious and then gagged, they tied the orc up and shoved him in a corner.

Main Room: At least Margo confirmed the rest of the entry floor was empty. They lined up at another set of stairs that led down 30ft to the Main level. Kyan knew enough about dwarven structures to point out the simple trip-step trap halfway down (one step an inch shorter than the others to cause anyone in a hurry to stumble and fall). As they drew closer to the next floor, they could hear orc barking orders to goblins slaving away at digging. Enough noise to cover their entrance to get into position.

Orc

Goblin

The Swarm: Margo twanged an arrow at one orc as a signal for Kyan to charge in swinging Ring Rist. The dwarven war cry caused all foes to turn toward their attacker. Four of the 7 goblins were temporarily blinded by the flare of the great axe as Kyan cleaved thru the wounded orc, killing him outright with his Action Surge 2^nd attack. Thran got off his first arrow at the other orc and even notched and fired another before the orc could react. But the orc still stood and swung to hit the closer dwarf. Theo closed and swung his hand-axes but missed the smaller/elusive goblins that swarmed over the allies.

Something caught Margo’s attention: she slipped into an adjoining room. For anyone listening, she let out a surprised “Uh Oh!” Above the sound of their own fighting, did anyone hear the twang of her arrow?

4 goblins surrounded the dwarf: partial blindness offset their normal swarm advantage to their attacks but one still hit their hated enemy. At least Kyan killed one of his attackers which gave him an adrenaline rush (Second Wind gain of hit points). 3 other goblins engaged the Beorning, getting in their own hits before Theo killed one of them. That left Thran to face off against the last orc: they each traded solid hits. But the elf’s better weapon proved to be the decisive factor as the orc finally fell. That gave Thran the opportunity to lift his potion vial and drink the Bull-Strength elixir (temporary hit points).

Kyan commanded his wolfhound to attack to help offset the goblin’s swarm advantage. The dog’s snarl and bite earned him a cut from one goblin. Meanwhile, Theo killed another goblin reducing his threat to two. [fumble] Thran felt the warmth of the potion down his throat… distraction that let the brutish Orc Leader surprise him in his charge from the other room.

Those that saw the leader might have considered him a pin-cushion with the 3 arrows sunk into his torso (from Margo); but that didn’t slow him as he hit the elf with a solid mace blow.

From her hiding, Margo sunk another arrow into the leader. [natural 20] Kyan killed another goblin and used the pause to drink his own Bull-Strength potion. Also severely wounded, Theo drank his potion while engaged. [fumble] The pause to drink his potion allowed one goblin to trip him: now prone, his 2 goblin attackers had advantage and took the opportunity to negate the potion affect with hits from their maces. As for Thran: he swung and missed the Orc Leader who grimed widely as he lined up a powerful mace swing. [fumble] As the elf ducked, the spikes of the orc’s mace imbedded in the stone wall just behind Thran’s head.

Another arrow from Margo dropped the Orc Leader. While Kyan killed another goblin, the loss of their commander caused the other goblins to bolt and disengage. They ran into the adjacent room that served as the Orc Leader’s temporary quarters. At least the end of combat gave time for Thran to heal a lot of patients. Not fully healed. Kyan thought about a short rest for all to heal up but the knowledge of escaped goblins giving warnings to others nixed that idea.

Passage to the Dungeon Below: They stood in the adjacent room and surveyed the collapsed secret door. Not just opened, smashed by something with great strength! Kyan was already thinking about trolls. Honor and duty drove the dwarf to press forward despite the potential threat. They cautiously descended 40ft into the lower dungeon. The passage was dark and damp that forced Theo to use a torch (the others had darkvision).

The Deep: This was no dungeon; it was an honorarium to dwarves as the walls were covered in murals depicting heroic battles and scenes of dwarven life. Well, if you looked hard enough you could see such. What survived eons of water and erosion was defaced by recent orc and goblin actions. Still, Kyan was inspired by what he beheld.

The Inscription: While Theo and Margo kept watch to the south, Tran and Kyan explored the northern room. More defaced murals but also a wall with an inscription in old Cirith (Dwarven) runes. Surprisingly, the wall was not defaced. There were marks as if something tried to mar it, but a magical sheen must have prevented such destruction. Kyan translated the dwarven text for the elf. Both noticed the few raised letters while most letters were chiseled into the wall. Both puzzled over the riddle without success. While Thran took over guard duty, Theo and Margo entered to study the riddle: they noticed the raised letters seemed to be manipulatable (press in). They called Thran back into the room.

Impatient, Kyan began to push a few letters. He tried the capital letters first: O, E. Suddenly, the floor began to collapse in segments! Luckily, Theo and Margo stood on solid ground, but Thran (Acrobatics) had to jump to safety while Kyan (Athletics) barely found a fingerhold from the depressed “E” to gain balance to then step onto solid flooring.

At first Kyan thought this might be the hiding place of another shard. But the honorarium theme didn’t fit the evil taint of a shard. Something more important must be behind the wall. [Riddle/Lore] Long minutes passed before Thran pondered, “Do you think it could be something simple?” With a rope tied around his waist and Theo as his anchor, Kyan stepped forward to try Thran’s idea: he pressed one letter from each stanza to spell out “OpEn”.

With a slight grinding noise, the two panels separated to reveal an inner alcove. The inside was ornately decorated with the metamorphic Kyanite minerals Kyan’s father always sought. An empty ornate wooden cradle occupied the center of the alcove. Kyan quickly realized his great axe Ring Rist fit in the cradle, “How, when did the Haradrium pirates steal the axe from this room?! Are they in league with the orc?” But the others doubted his reasoning, “The floor was intact when we arrived. There is no way Orc or Haradrium figured out this dwarven riddle on their own. Something else is going on.”

The Levers: They pressed on south to the next room. The pair of large oak doors that once barred the room were broken off their hinges. Recently! Something big this way came. And another pair of large oak doors on the opposite wall were also busted open. But in the room itself, they found 4 levers on the eastern wall. The outside levers were already down while the two inside levers were raised. Kyan suggested they leave the levers along for now, “We don’t know their function yet.”

They continued thru the southern collapsed doors and came upon a recently excavated collapsed passage. Large boulders had been moved aside: an opening big enough for even a troll per Kyan’s reasoning.

Catacombs: Beyond the excavation, they came upon a raised portcullis that fronted another corridor. And just beyond the flooded room was another raised portcullis in front of a water inlet. Theo’s 6^th sense began to tingle. Kyan returned to the prior room to test the levers: he confirmed lever #1 lowered the far portcullis while #4 lowered the closest portcullis. As for levers #2 and #3: he tried to lower them, but resistance only allowed him to get halfway before they slowly rose back into the up position. Was there water resistance? Was he pumping water into the far inlet?

Theo tested the flooded room first: only ankle deep for him but knee deep for the hobbit. They cautiously moved north. The murals on these walls reminded them of that first crypt they found oh so long ago, southwest of the White Mountains of Gondor. The murals were scenes of that epic battle with Sauron as he stood on the cliff above the raging battle of men/elves/dwarves/hobbits versus orc and other foul beats. They stepped up into a dry room that repeated the scene of Ilsidur cleaving the ring-finger from Sauron’s hand. All shuddered from the overwhelming evil (WISsave else Shadow corruption). Black rays radiated from the broken amulet: the third ray ended in a long elliptical empty slot. Not like the oval memory stone they found in the crypt.

And that’s when Kyan realized the head of his great axe Ring Rist fit into the slot. Did the Haradrium find the axe and know its purpose to fit the slot?! Did they already steal the shard?! Could it possibly still be secured behind the wall? Kyan and the others had to know: Kyan fit the axe head into the slot and pushed. As the entire wall slid down to reveal an alcove, putrid fetid air spilled out to assault their senses. The interior walls were painted in the scene of dwarves carrying their shard into hiding. Centered in the alcove was a pedestal where a metal box might have rested on the pedestal. Nothing. Gone!

Fee-Fie-Foe: And that’s when they all heard the roar of something terrible. Kyan recognized what it was as the others could only guess. Looking south from the room, they saw a cave-troll just stepping into the flooded passage. Theo notched a Numenorian arrow and fired: as the arrow wobbled toward its target, Theo swore he saw the arrow align toward its mark. It flared as it sank into the troll’s chest.

[Only now should Theo realize these are Bane arrows against (at least) Troll. As a bane weapon, they gain +2 attack and deal +1d8 damage.]

Thran got off 2 arrows, one of which struck its target but not as deadly as expected. Margo knelt to steady her aim: [natural 20] her arrow also struck its mark but not as deadly as expected. Kyan held his ground waiting for the troll to get closer. Theo notched and fired another arrow: [natural 20] that sank deep into the troll’s chest up to the fletching. Thran and Margo also hit with their (less-effective) arrows. Kyan didn’t have to wait long as the troll ran thru the toe-deep water. Since the troll had a reach of 10ft, Kyan used that distance to close and attack first. Ring Rist cleaved a good portion of troll hide. The troll tried to grab and slam the dwarf, but swiped and came up empty-handed. At least it was able to take a bite at Kyan.

The battle raged with flying arrows, Thran’s sword, and Kyan’s axe as the huge troll roared in its failed attacks. Margo slipped under the troll to attack its underbelly. Luck that Kyan ducked the huge paws that swiped at him, else the dwarf would have been plastered against a far wall. Luck that another Numenorian arrow sank deep: the troll toppled dead, causing water to ripple outwards from its death fall.

Watcher: Theo was already on the troll to retrieve his arrows. Maybe it was his higher perch that allowed him to see the reflected water ripples that came from the river outlet. Where the reflected ripples from the room were half the height of the ripples sent out by the troll’s fall, these ripples were higher! Thran also noticed the ripples but also saw a goblin leather helmet float out from the river inlet. Something underneath the water snaked its way towards them! He didn’t need to know what it was to yell, “RUN!”

[The two goblins that escaped earlier, came into this area only to be attacked and consumed by…]

A tentacle rose from the water and latched onto the dead troll and actually moved it closer to the river inlet! It moved the huge troll!! Theo jumped from his troll perch onto the passage just beyond the portcullis. Kyan grabbed Margo who was knee-deep in the water and ran sloshing towards Theo. He almost made it: another tentacle lashed out and grabbed his ankle.

Thran didn’t have to be told; he knew what to do. He rushed back into the lever room and pushed/pulled the first lever up. It only got halfway before resistance prevented further movement.

[Lever #1 controlled the portcullis/valve opening to the river inlet. The body of the Watcher occupied that space and thus prevented the portcullis and valve from closing.]

Meanwhile, Theo swung at the tentacle holding Kyan but didn’t cleave it. At least Kyan was able to cleave the tentacle to free himself as Margo jumped to safety. The Watcher swung 6 tentacles at the retreating foe: 3 missed, one hit Theo, one latched onto Kyan, and another [natural 20] grappled the troll to pull itself atop the troll to begin eating.

Escape: And that’s when Thran pulled the 4^th lever: the nearest portcullis came crashing down, pinning the tentacle that held Kyan. Luck that both Theo and Kyan were able to cleave the tentacles holding them. They gasped with relief till they saw 2 tentacles latch onto the bars of the portcullis and begin to pry then open. The metal bars groaned and creaked as they began to bend and break. “RUN!”

Yes, Theo bloodied his nose as he tripped on the simple dwarven step-trap as they rushed up and out of the dwarven keep. It wasn’t till they made it back to Maxin and their horses that they paused to rest and heal. They had time to reflect, “So someone found Ring Rist and the shard already. Then why were the Orc still digging? Arn’t the Dark Queen’s forces working together?”

LEVEL UP to 4^th AND SELECT A CULTURAL VIRTUE (or the Dunedain Guardian Virtue).

NEXT SESSION: https://lotrwjr.blogspot.com/2025/01/a4e1-grey-haven-at-last.html