A4E3b: The Dead and Fallen
[Scenario taken from the Eriador Adventures: Concerning Archers]
7pm, June 6th,
The Capstone: They had spent a day exploring the broken,
moss-covered stones that were once the walls and paved streets of the capital
of the kingdom of Arthedain for any signs of Belemir’s passage. They humored
Margo’s insistence that a company of hobbit archers had aided King Arvedui’s
escape from the city those thousand years ago when the forces of Angmar overran
the city. But a midnight attack of their camp from short, shadowy foe and today’s
sneak attack by a goblin Snaga Tracker only convinced them forces of the
new Shadow roamed these city ruins.
That is: until they found broken
blades and bows, and a torn banner, that hinted at the presence of hobbits
during that time. But it was the faded and tattered map drawn on animal skin
(with the initials ‘R.T.’) that led them to this spot within the center of the
city. “We must be within the walls of the king’s castle.” Kyan used his
mirror to catch the last of the setting sun’s rays to peer into the darkness
beneath the capstone, “Worked stone walls and floor. It must be hidden tunnels
beneath the city that provided safe movement of troops.” After corralling their
horses behind some still-standing tall walls, Theo tied a knotted-rope around a
half-buried stone to provide anchor for their descent into the void. Kyan
crafted a harness for his dog as he entered first.
Trail of Bodies: Soon
they all stood within the worked tunnel where they found a coil of rope just
beneath the opening above: one end was frayed while some of the rope and floor had
blood stains. [medicine] Thran inspected the stains, “At least 3 months old
if not doubled that.” They followed blood stains that led further east thru
the tunnels. They soon came upon 3 dead orc, “Sunken eye-sockets and withered
skin: I’d say they died 3-6 months ago. And the same fletching on some of the
arrows that killed them. At least Calanlas was down here. These other long
arrows must have been Belemir’s.” Theo took the time to collect the arrows
to grow his supply.
To appease Margo’s
complaints, they stopped for a late dinner. It wasn’t long before they found
dead goblins within the area they used to rest. Kyan became more on edge as he
realized Orc and goblin once roamed these tunnels. Could more still be around?
They already found one goblin archer! No time to rest, they continued along the
tunnel, having to backtrack when a few side passages proved to be dead-ends. A
trail of dead Orc and goblins gave guidance. They soon found a discarded empty quiver
and longbow. Theo worried, “Out of arrows, things must have been dire for a
ranger to leave his bow behind! Sounds desperate.”
The Throne Room of
Arvedui: Engravings above the grand doorway had been
vandalized (probably the Orc invaders of long ago), but enough remained to
announce this was the king’s throne room. They stepped thru the broken
double-doors and gazed upon the grand room and its timeless beauty despite its
ransacked destruction. Streaks of moonlight illuminated the columns and the
throne standing upon a dais at the far end of the room. But also present were
more dead Orc and goblins! No long arrows fell these foe: deep gashes splayed
open their chests. “Spread out and check the side doors.” Kyan and his
dog took the south wall while Theo and Margo took the northside. Thran walked
alone down the middle, between the tall support pillars. [fumble] The elf was
too preoccupied looking at the floor to realize a stone fell from the roof and
hit him solid on his shoulder. “CRASH!” The noise reverberated thru the room
and into the tunnels they had come from. Knocked unconscious, Theo had to
bandage him and splash water on his face before the elf woke to heal himself.
Theo announced his finding, “The
first side door was blocked (cave-in on the other side) while the second was
just storage. But the archway at the end is engraved with intertwining tree branches
and elvish text.” Thran stepped forward to read the Sindarin script, “This
way rest the Stones of Far Seeing, may their watch be ever-vigilant against the
Shadow.” [Lore] Thran realized the words referenced fabled Palantir stones,
“There were 7 of them, used to communicate over long distances!” But
Kyan wasn’t ready to continue, “Perhaps we should rest here. Finish
exploring this area before exploring another room.”
The Hidden Vault: And
that’s when Kyan realized his dog was sniffing the floor in front of the throne
dais. Thran also took note and saw a moonlit outline of a floor slab. Their
thin dagger blades gave a fingerhold to an edge and enough gap for them to lift
the slab to reveal the insides. A putrid stench drove them back as fetid air
escaped. But the moonlight revealed the contents: a 4x8x4ft coffin sized vault
where a decayed human body lay. Rats had obviously been busy as his body was
gnawed to the bone. They’d also gnawed the leather armor. A family clasp held a
cloak about the shoulders of the skeleton that held a book in his right hand. A
masterwork sword laid to his left that also bore the same family crest as the
clasp. Underneath the body was a masterwork greatbow and a masterwork staff.
Thran recognized the exposed
bones hadn’t turned white from ages of exposure. Another 3–6-month-old body? Kyan
stepped into the vault to retrieve the items: Theo called for the bow which
meant Thran had to settle for the staff. But the dwarf was more interested in
the small book which proved to be the diary of the dead man. Herein laid
Calanlas, brother to Calanhir whom they met in Minas Tirith, and the ranger who
escaped the Misty Mountain Orcs alongside Belemir!
As Kyan took possession of Calanlas' sword and clasp, Margo mused at the treasure
the others possessed, “The longbow and staff must have been part of the king’s
treasure left behind in their escape from the capital.” Theo realized the
bow was of better craftsmanship than his own [Dalish Longbow, PG page 156]. As
Thran studied the fire-hardened ash staff (shod with a single mithril band
around its foot and capped with the head of one of the great eagles of Manwë with beryls for eyes), he felt a sudden
zap of power-drain [1d4 WIS loss] as the staff seemed to flare. [nat 20] It
suddenly dawned on him, “I’d read about the works of the Dunedain. I think this
is the fabled staff called Nebulous!”
Thran tried to remember what
he’d read about the staff but it was a blur. Yet the staff suddenly pulsed. And
Margo commented, “Where did this fog come from?” Thran’s eyes lit with
glee, “It’s a magical staff of spell-casting! Theo, you can keep your meager
bow as I have the real treasure!”
[Once per day, you can cast: Fog Cloud1,
Call Lightning2, Cast Sunlight3 or Control Weather3. To cast, make a WIScheck (DC13 + spell level)
where the number after the spell name is its level. Attempts to cast again on the
same day raises the DC by 2.]
Undead: As they stood in the waist-high fog, Margo asked, “Kyan, why is your axe glowing? And does anyone else hear the faint sound of drumbeats?” And that’s also when Theo felt a malevolent chill upon his senses.
He looked up
to see 4 ghostly forms enter the throne-room from the first caved-in door he’d
past earlier. “Wraiths!” [failed WISsave= Kyan and Theo were Frightened]
The first wraith closed on the elf and struck with its longsword [damage and
Shadow points]. [nat 20] Margo’s non-magical arrow sunk deep inflicting some
wounds to the undead. Theo backed up and hit with a bane arrow that inflicted
full damage. Thran swung with his staff but missed. Kyan jabbed with his spear.
And once again the 1st
wraith struck Thran [damage and Shadow points]. [nat 20] Margo backed up to the
throne chair and fired another arrow that killed Thran’s attacker. Which
allowed Theo to target another undead. Thran backed up while raising his staff high
as he tried to call Lightning: [failed] a weak crack of energy struck Kyan
instead. Still frightened, Kyan could only back up and thus threw one of his
daggers.
By now, separate wraiths
struck Theo and Kyan who both suffered wounds and Corruption. All backed toward
the throne as the closing wraiths cornered them. At least another numenorian
bane arrow killed another wraith. And that’s when Theo saw the gap behind the
throne, “There’s an opening! Go, escape, I’ll cover your retreat!” They
ran down the dark tunnel until Kyan’s axe no longer glowed. Which gave them
pause to catch their breath and heal.
Despite their recent
encounter, Margo was excited, “This must be the tunnel used by the king to
escape the city. Mama always said the hobbit company was his personal guards in
this passage as he rushed to join his army outside the city to do one last
battle.” They walked for hours in the cold and narrow tunnel. Steps led to
another passage cut into the bowels of the earth. Their footsteps seemed to
break the hallowed peace of a tomb that had remained long undisturbed.
Sunrise on June 7th,
The Last Stand: Countless hours later, somewhere
outside the city ruins, they emerged into a small dale cut deep among rising
hillsides. Dark skies fought off the break of dawn: a foreboding that favored
the enemy who would have been weakened by sunlight. Scattered amongst the dale
were the bodies of many creatures: misshaped skulls identified some as Orc,
others were of tall men, while other smaller bones (beyond any doubt) belonged to
almost 2 dozen hobbit archers. And that’s when Theo felt his senses tingle…
that same sense on the first night: not evil. The spirit of a small creature,
barely 3ft high, clad in a simple corslet of green leather and holding a small
bow stood before them. Behind him, a fresh warm breeze carried the whisper of a
song that grew in volume. The melancholy tune rose in the rhythm of a merry marching
song:
|
Rufus Took  |
Marching song  |
Rufus Took explained, “This
is the song we sang in service to the king. We still sing it, lamenting that we
will never see the hills of the Shire. From our passing, we have honored our
oath to protect the city of our king. Yet Shadow has returned and begins to
taint the land in its blight. I fear it is even corrupting our souls. I pray
that YOU can vanquish this new threat to ease our burden. Forgive my men who
mistook you days ago as a threat and fired arrows. If you survive this day,
search for my bow and bring home the words of our song so that we may be
remembered and allowed to rest.” Rufus looked at the map Theo held, “Yes,
that was my map (with the initials R.T.) lost long ago. Fate must have guided
you to this moment.”
The Threat: As
they stood amongst the ruins of a rock wall that surrounded jutting stones,
they heard the distant drumbeat and heard the grunts of closing foe. It wasn’t
long before a large force of 30 goblins, 12 Orcs, 4 Hillmen of Rhudaur, and 3 goblin
Snaga Trackers surrounded them about 90ft away [Just out of shortbow range]. Thran
meekly laughed, “What, no troll?” And that’s when a huge ugly Orc (mis-placed
jaw, clawed-like hand damaged in combat) stepped forward to taunt them, “How
dare you enter the domain of I, Gishak?! I will have your heads for
this, or maybe I’ll spare you and flay the skin off your backs with my whip to
feed to my hungry children.”
Thran looked out upon the
overwhelming force and felt doom. He clutched the whistle tied about his neck, “Randagast
gave this to us with instructions to only use it at the direst time. Should I
blow it now?!” Even the bold Kyan had his doubts, “Keep it ready.”
[Secrets Gleaned] But Margo had been studying the enemy, “Most of the Orc
and goblin are beating their blades against their armor as if working up their confidence.
But there are others that are just standing, frozen. Are they in a trance?”
Kyan pulled out his spyglass and realized almost half of the force was made of
straw or were the dead propped up. But even then, he realized they faced a
large force.
Attack! The shadow threat may have been out of shortbow range, but within Theo’s longbow range: he dropped one of the goblins. Thran had been absentmindedly humming the hobbits’ marching tune. Did that prompt 4 archers to fire at Gishak? The wounded Orc leader knelt behind a large rock then blew into his horn to signal ‘Attack!’ Inbound Snaga arrows caught Theo and Thran in the open; all quickly sought cover behind stones. Thran briefly rose to fire an arrow as he continued to hum the song; soon everyone joined in the song.
And a full flight of Green Company
arrows arched across the dark sky, dropping more goblin or wounding closing
Orc.
Each side was able to get
off 2 rounds of arrows before the forces collided at the stone wall. Most
inbound arrows struck stones or shields. Outbound arrows dropped many goblin or
wounded a few Orc. And even when the forces were joined, the Snaga archers
continued to fire despite the threat to hit their own (which some did). At the
last second, Kyan stood and threw his spear before switching to his axe. [nat
20] Margo killed a Hillman with her surprise melee attack. Suddenly a flock of
ravens swooped down on the battlefield, distracting the fellowship. [Raven
Spirits: when the 1st Hillman dies in combat- rumor has it the ravens
are the spirits of their dead who cause Disadvantage to their enemy.]
Kyan raised RingRist as he yelled
out a dwarven battle cry, “Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!” to rally the fellowship [allies
gained health and overcame the raven fright while close-in foe suffered
frightful disadvantage]. When the axe struck the Orc (who died), RingRist
flared, blinding most foe who happened to be looking in his direction. Which
was a good thing as Theo was surrounded by goblin as he squared off against an
Orc. And that’s when they heard another horn blast from Gishak who finally rose
from his hiding to charge into battle to lead his faltering troops. He could
only watch as the last of his goblin were cut down by Green Company blades.
Gishak realized he’d made a tactical error sending in his troops first instead
of his meat-grinder. But it wouldn’t be long before the Stone Troll joined the
battle. At least some of his Orcs remained.
The fellowship rushed their
attacks once they caught sight of the troll cresting a hill about 200ft away.
Theo killed one Orc while Margo wounded another. With no foe nearby, Thran
raised the staff to call lightning upon Gishak: cloud lightning flashed but
didn’t reach the ground. Gishak gashed the dwarf who swung back: RingRist
glanced off the orc’s metal-armor [AC20]. Kyan called forth his Second Wind
to stay in the fight.
By now the troll was within
range (80ft) of the Green Company who switched back to their bows and fired
another volley that filled the air in the direction of the huge beast. Look
closely and you would have seen a pissed-off charging pincushion. Theo added a
numenorian bane arrow to the volley but the beast only sped up. Once more Thran
raised the staff to the clouds and called forth his spell: a lightning bolt
split the sky and hit Gishak solid (30 pts). But the metal-armored dwarf was
too close such that the lightning jumped from the metal-armored Gishak to Kyan
(also dressed in metal armor, he took half the damage). Margo stood from her
hiding and brandished her own sword, “For the fellowship and Green Company,
stand strong!” [Flame of Hope: all allies within 30ft are no longer
frightened, their Inspiration is restored, and they immediately gain the
benefits of a short rest (to include rolling Hit Die to gain Hit Points).]
A cheer rose amongst the
fellowship when first Gishak dropped dead and then the Troll (who never reached
the stone wall). And that was when they saw the Green Company form ranks to
then march off the field singing their song. Rufus Took appeared before them, “Thank
you for helping us defend the city of our king and rid the land of Shadow taint.
Maybe now animals will return to graze upon the grass and birds roost in the
trees. But before you go, please gather whatever hobbit weapons and armor you
find to give a proper burial so we might rest. And if you find my bow, please
return it to the Shire with words of our deeds.” As a breeze blew in from
the east, the ghostly image of the Green Company faded from view as their song
was carried away by the wind. Except for Margo and Thran who continued to hum
the tune.
Despite their exhaustion
from the long battle, the fellowship scoured the area, gathering hobbit gear.
And it wasn’t long before they found a fine bow with the initials R.T. carved
in its tip. Margo was elated, “Elf, you have work to do updating your stuffy
old records in your library. I think it’s about time I returned to the Shire
with evidence of the Green Company. Maybe my sins will be forgiven.” Theo
looked at his maps, “To get to the Shire, we need to go through Bree. The
diary said Calanlas and Belemir stopped there before coming out her to Fornost.”
Kyan added, “Besides, we’re supposed to meet up with Thorn Halbarad in
Bree. We can compare notes before Margo leads us home.” Margo laid out her
sleeping bag upon the grass, “I don’t know about you, but I could use a long
rest. We haven’t slept for a day. And I’ve missed at least 5 meals. Speaking
of which, Theo, would you might traveling west to get our horses and supplies?”
NEXT SESSION: https://lotrwjr.blogspot.com/2025/02/a4e4-proud-return-to-shire.html
BATTLE STATS OF THE FOE
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