Ironwood Gorge - 15 - Odend

Iron & Gold

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originally) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games. Where necessary, I use Mythic Game Master Emulator by Tana Pigeon, published by Word Mill Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes. The italicized subtitles after the chapter title are prompts from Mythic Game Master Emulator; I try to work the intent into the scene. I am not always successful, but it keeps me a bit more honest.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

---

15 - Odend

Usurp Hope (NPC Positive)

To Felewin’s surprise, Bodkin was still there in the morning. When asked, Bodkin said, “I’m a city guy. Give me a twisty passageway, wet cobblestones, or tall buildings in city walls, I’d escape like that.” He snapped his fingers. “But here? Middle of wilderness and me injured besides? You’re my best bet.”

“You’re not trying to cozy up to us.”

“I’d stab you if I thought I had a chance of surviving, but I don’t have a chance in the wilderness.”

“Can I kill him now?” asked Hrelgi. Uthrilir yawned and put his hand on her arm to stay her.

Ninefingers scratched himself. “I brought some food. Two meals.”

“Goblin-sized meals?” asked Felewin.

“Okay, one meal for you but two for Kagandis and me.”

Ninefingers translated as Kagandis outlined the route. “We’ll follow the stream for a bit, maybe half a day. This one ends in a small waterfall down to the main river. Good fishing there. Rather than follow the river, because it’s already cutting down to the gorge, we’ll head for the sunrise. There’s some difficult terrain, but we’re cutting across a bow in the river. Odend’s cabin is visible from the other side of the bluff.” She shrugged in apology. “I’m sure there’s a shorter way instead of following the stream, but I don’t know the landmarks.”

“You’re doing fine,” said Uthrilir. “One step closer.”

“What are you guys looking for this Odend guy for?” asked Bodkin. “The jester at the tower calls him Formerly Honoured Odend.”

“Huh,” said Felewin. “You know the jester?”

“Halflings,” said Bodkin.

“And?”

“Man notices his own kind.”

“I guess. They need Odend’s advice,” said Felewin, and left it at that.

During the next day’s march, they encountered a boar. Between swords, maces, and magic, they made short work of it, and Felewin insisted on butchering it there — that cost them a day, but when they were done, Felewin felt they were provisioned for a few days. “Pity we can’t send word to the goblins,” he said. “We’re going to be abandoning a lot of meat, meat they could use.”

No one could figure out a way that didn’t involve shooting it as though from a ballista, and Felewin wasn’t sure that wouldn’t turn it into mush — not to mention that aiming was not Hrelgi’s strong suit.

Kagandis kept going ahead and scouting the path. She had checked on her first trip but she had underestimated how big Felewin was, and he couldn’t fit under some of the portions of the trail that she had chosen.

It was on one of those course corrections that they met the orcs: four plus a captain or leader of some kind. The orcs responded with practiced precision, the one with a bow firing an arrow at Kagandis immpediately. Fortunately, he missed, and the noise they made getting into formation notified the others as she melted through the underbrush.

Ninefingers hid, hoping that the orcs would pass him and he could attack from behind.

The orcs approached in a wedge formation, with the archer at the back right. When he passed close by Ninefingers. Ninefingers rose up and chopped hard.^[115], cutting deeply into the archer’s neck.

The other orcs began to turn — but taking advantage of their confusion, Hrelgi had already picked on and turned one’s armour into lava^[116].

The^[117] orc trying to hit Felewin — the leader of the orcs — got parried. Two were occupied with being wounded, and the other froze. The last tried to swing at Ninefingers, but he overextended himself and missed.

Uthrilir^[118] hit the stunned one and hurt him.

Hrelgi^[119] managed to keep one’s armour lava and converted another, killing the first and disabling the second. Uthrilir^[120] capitalized on the screams and hit his foe, but didn’t do enough: the orc managed a mighty blow that injured the dwarf’s torso.

Ninefingers^[121] killed his opponent.

Bodkin screamed, “Can I at least have my armour?”

Felewin^[122] gritted his teeth and killed the captain with a clean blow; another suddenly found his armour turned into lava, and it was too much: he fell down and died.

Ninefingers and Uthrilir advanced on the last orc. “Pray,” said Uthrilir.

“I’ll worship you!” cried the orc, in agony.

Uthrilir stopped, confused, as Ninefingers’ sword rammed into the orc from behind, nearly killing him. That last orc fell to the ground.

Uthrilir said to Hrelgi, “Some day you’re going to do that lava trick while we’re in a dry place, and we’ll be fighting a forest fire instead.”

She smiled happily. “Until then… Are you okay?”

He reached to his belly and it came away red. “No. I must pray for Her help.”

Ten minutes later, his wounds were healed, but Felewin’s were not.

“That’s okay,” said Felewin. “It’s just a bruise.”

“That’s a big bruise,” said Ninefingers.

“But it’s just a bruise,” insisted Felewin.

“Have you offended the Lady?” asked Hrelgi, with a sideways glance at Uthrilir.

Bodkin said, “I was behind you guys all the way. You didn’t have to have me tethered.”

“Oh, I think we did,” said Felewin. “But…I could give you to Hrelgi’s care.”

“Actually, I think am perfectly fine as I am,” said Bodkin.

By late afternoon they reached the hut. It was well-built for a hermit’s residence, and Ninefingers (who had some experience with building) suspected that Odend either had a history with building or had someone else do it for him.

A man who had helped drive orcs from the marches deserved some reward, after all. (Not that the jester seemed to think so.)

Beside the hut was a field of vegetables, halfway to harvest. The field was neatly weeded.

An older man was sitting outside the hut, smoking a pipe and examining a mottled plant. A juvenile war dog sat at his feet, looking expectantly at the group as they approached. “Greetings,” the man said. “You know anything about iron slug infestation? Got’em all through my garden.”

“A bit,” said Hrelgi. Everyone looked at her, surprised. “I lived in a tree,” she explained. “Plant pests are very important when you live in a tree.”

Uthrilir stepped forward. “Honourable Odend? I am Uthrilir, blessed to work for Dilir in this world. I have come for your advice.”

Odend said, “I am Odend. I will advise you for free, but I fear that it is worth what you will pay for it. I can also give you something to drink.” He stood. “There is not enough room inside for all of us, so wait out here and make yourselves comfortable. And I really do want to know about iron slugs, because the way things are going, I will have no vegetables by summer’s end, not even fatroot.” The man made a gesture to the dog, who sat guarding the door, and disappeared into the hut.

“That’s a pretty solid door on that hut,” remarked Bodkin.

“Wild animals around,” said Felewin.

“That’s solid construction,” the halfling said. “Those shutters are repurposed doors. You don’t see a bark shingle roof like that around here, either….usually it’s thatch or sod. You sure he’s a religious hermit?”

“Hush,” said Felewin.

“Just saying…place is ready for an attack. Is it built over a dungeon? Valuables inside?”

“Now I say ‘hush,’” said Hrelgi, and Bodkin fell silent. “This is Uthrilir’s quest.”

Kagandis slipped off her pack and sat down where she could see both the dog and the forest; Ninefingers took the opposite side so they could see most of the forest around them.

Odend came out with a jug in one hand and a bowl of fruit. “Beer and the last of the spring mayberries. I don’t stock much food, and Prophet here gets most of the meat.” At the sound of his name, the dog yawned and laid down.

Odend passed the bowl around. While it was going around he sucked on his pipe and discovered it had gone out. He got up to get a light from the fire inside when Hrelgi said, “May I offer you a light?” Odend nodded. She walked over to him and cupped the bowl of the pipe.^[123] “Here.”

Odend took pipe back and said, “Thank you. I had forgotten what it was like to be in an adventuring group.”

“Oh, we’re not—” started Ninefingers.

Odend raised an eyebrow. “Human, elf, dwarf, goblins and halfling together.” He pointed at each of them, starting with Felewin. “At a guess, fighter of some kind, wizard I’ve seen”—he held up his pipe; Hrelgi smiled—“and you’ve already said you’re a priest, You, I’d guess ranger or constable by the bow, and you don’t have a bow so maybe hunter. The halfling is a thief who has had a falling out with the group.”

Felewin asked Bodkin, “Are you? A thief, I mean.”

“I am a specialist in locks and access, not a thief,” said Bodkin haughtily.

“Thief,” said Ninefingers. He added, “By trade, I’m an antiquarian.”

Odend smiled and corrected himself. “Sorry—two thieves.”

Felewin said to Odend, “The halfling is our prisoner. Sorry for making you suffer his presence.”

Odend waved it off. “But if you’re not an adventuring party, what are you?”

“Ah,” said Ninefingers. He pointed at each of them as he named them. “Uthrilir has a question for you. Hrelgi comes with Uthrilir. Kagandis, Felewin, and I agreed to help them find you, and to get out of the way of the people at the Bleak Tower. Bodkin there is the survivor of a party that attacked us.”

“The Bleak Tower? What’s happening there, that you were in the way?”

“Orcs. They’re back,” said Felewin.

Odend nodded. “I knew they had been in the area; I found Prophet (good boy), and the orcs breed war dogs like him. I guess he was abandoned because he’s a runt.” Prophet was almost as tall as Kagandis. Odend turned on his stool to face Uthrilir. “Do you need privacy to ask this advice?”

Uthrilir started to speak, caught himself, and looked at Bodkin. “I’d prefer it,” said Uthrilir.

“Let me look at the garden,” Hrelgi said. “I want to see how bad the iron slug problem is. And I can take everyone else with me.”

Bodkin sighed. “Pass me another mayberry before we go.”

---

Game Mechanics

[115] Ninefingers attacks! He wants a called shot (avoid armour) rolls a 4, which is certainly good enough: margin of 5. The archer gets a 7, so he whirls around but not in time. Since it’s a called shot and it succeeded, we don’t roll for armour, and the archer takes 3 wound levels. An 11 fails his composure roll; that archer ain’t doing nothing this round.

[116] She rolled a 5, which makes her skill of 9 by four; that orc takes 4 wound levels, so he’s maimed.
Felewin rolls 5, his opponent rolls 8: Felewin makes his by 10, his opponent by 2; Felewin wins. Armour rolls are 1,6,3 so 1 gets through.

[117] Orc trying to hit Felewin rolls 11; not good enough. Lava boy and the archer aren’t acting this turn.
One orc fails is composure roll (10); other just barely makes it and swings at Ninefingers. A 10 misses (dueling is 9≥).

[118] Uthrilir hit him with his mace (rolls 7, needs 8) and does 2 levels of damage (4,3,5)
Felewin attacks twice; the orc blocks the first blow, but his second gets through (4,3,6) for two more levels of damage.

[119] Hrelgi maintains one transformation and adds a second one, hitting successfully (rolls a 5) against the one who hadn’t yet been hit.
Uthrilir rolls a 2 (automatic success; margin of 6) versus his opponent’s 4 (margin of 5); he only does 1 (rolls 2,3,4)

[120] One of the three orcs…the one whose armour is now lava failed his Composure roll. The one facing Uthrilir hit for 2 levels of damage. The other one missed (rolled a 8 but with current injuries that’s a fail)

[121] Ninefingers rolls a 7 (margin of 2), Scout rolls a 6 but with injuries that’s a margin of 1. Armour is (4,3,6) and the orc is dead.

[122] Felewin hit this one again;, killing the captain (6,6,4)

[123] It’s a small effect and out of combat; I’m not rolling for it.

Ironwood Gorge - 14 - To Odend's Hut

Iron & Gold

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originally) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games. Where necessary, I use Mythic Game Master Emulator by Tana Pigeon, published by Word Mill Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes. The italicized subtitles after the chapter title are prompts from Mythic Game Master Emulator; I try to work the intent into the scene. I am not always successful, but it keeps me a bit more honest.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

---

14 — To Odend’s Hut

Ruin Elements - NPC Negative

“I don’t want to send the goblins unarmed to the nest,” said Kagandis.

“It’s not our trip, though,” said Felewin, after Ninefingers translated. “It’s up to Uthrilir and Hrelgi, not us.”

The crew — they called themselves “Taliesin’s Raiders” — had been heading to the Sanctuary ruin, lead by Hastwine. They were looking for survivors of the orc raid, unaware that the orc party had been killed off. They had discovered the guard at the Petrified Orc but the guards disappeared before they could catch any of them.

Bodkin remained a problem. Felewin refused to let them kill him now that combat was over. Uthrilir grudginly agreed. Hrelgi objected but then stopped. Kagandis insisted on killing him and then Hrelgi bent down and whispered in Ninefinger’s ear; Ninefingers in turn whispered to Kagandis, who stopped.

Bodkin’s look of satisfaction turned to worry.

Felewin said, “I’d be worried too. They have something in mind, but I’ll try to keep you alive.”

“You’re not the boss?” asked Bodkin.

“No, he’s not,” said Uthrilir. “But I agree that we should not take lives casually.”

Ninefingers said to Bodkin, “Feel free to try to escape by force.”

“I’ll sit still,” Bodkin said.

Felewin said, “Hrelgi. No turning the air in his lungs into water or dirt or lava. I’ll know.”

Hrelgi looked annoyed. “You wouldn’t know.”

“I’ll know,” Felewin insisted to Hrelgi. “Now, I agree that the goblins shouldn’t go untended, but we need Kagandis to lead us to Odend. The only other two who know the way are me and Ninefingers.”

“Well, you should go, then,” said Hrelgi, smiling sweetly.

“And I don’t speak the goblin tongue, so Ninefingers it is,” said Felewin.

“I suppose I can navigate the wilderness,” said Ninefingers doubtfully.

“We’ll blaze a trail for you so you catch up,” said Felewin.

“Thanks so much,” said Ninefingers.

“Don’t let them hear you say that. We’ll go slow. Kagandis will tell you which direction we start in.”

Ninefingers made a rude gesture to him and Felewin laughed.

At sunset, the goblins started out, with Kagandis leading them for a bit; the human, elf, and halfling had to wait for dawn of the next day. Kagandis joined them by midnight; her report was, “Ninefingers is fine. All good.”

Felewin said, “Good. Get some sleep; tomorrow will be a long day for you. Uthrilir has the watch until he wakes me,” and went back to sleep.

#

In the morning, Felewin cheerily fed people with the last of the food taken from Taliesin’s crew. “We’d better hope that Odend has something we can eat. Feeding over a dozen people eats into supplies.”

“How can you be so cheerful?” asked Bodkin.

“Habit and I’m not under threat of death,” replied Felewin. He checked with Kagandis and then made an arrow out of rocks.

“You know,” said Bodkin, “that’s also a sign to anyone looking to follow you.”

“Yes. Unavoidable,” said Felewin. “We’ll stop when he catches up. My guess is he’ll sleep today with the goblins and catch up with us by tomorrow at dawn.”

“What if something happens to him?”

Felewin shrugged. “What if, what if. What if you die before noon?”

Hrelga said hopefully, “I can arrange that.”

“Hush, you,” said Felewin. “We’re going to act as if you’re worth keeping alive.”

“I am,” assured Bodkin.

“So you say. I happen to think you are, but others disagree with me. Ready to march?”

“What if I say no?” asked Bodkin.

“Then we’ll go anyway, with you tied up.”

“Ready,” said Bodkin sullenly.

They followed the stream all day without incident. At one point, a female halfling appeared and summoned Bodkin without words. The group stopped. Felewin blazed a tree, and the woman halfling winced. Felewin looked at Bodkin and said, “If you want to join her, I won’t stop you.”

Bodkin was immediately suspicious. “Why?”

“He think it would kill you,” said Hrelgi. “I utterly think it would not. Go ahead.”

Bodkin looked at the female halfling. “I’ll wait.”

“She’ll be disappointed,” Hrelgi said. “I assume you see a female halfling. For the record, I see a female elf.”

“Female dwarf,” said Uthrilir.

“Male goblin,” said Kagandis.

Felewin asked, “Ready to proceed?”

“I guess.”

They continued.

A couple of hours before nightfall, Felewin said, “This is a good place for camp.” It was a bit off the trail they had made, by a high cliff, leading up to a hilltop; some distance away was the stream they were following. Felewin made another blaze in another tree, and then waited; but no woman appeared. “Dryads,” he explained to Bodkin. “Sometimes you’re unlucky and you mark a tree with a dryad.”

“Is that what I saw?”

“Before? Yes. A kind of dryad.”

Bodkin was quiet and helped set up camp without being asked.

Felewin^[114] looked but found nothing edible. Kagandis had felled a giant rat, but nothing else. The rat did not seem so giant when all of them were sharing the meat.

Ninefingers showed up at dawn. He looked exhausted, and he drew Kagandis to one side to avoid waking the others. “The sanctuary is fine,” he told her. “Nothing has happened to them.”

“There’s a ‘but’ in the way you say that.”

Ninefingers shrugged. “They are getting ready for another attack. Bodkin told us that Hastwine was leading them to a source of goblins for the bounty. Of course, he didn’t tell them that the bounty had been cancelled. He wants revenge.”

“He tried once; he’ll try again. I feel so impotent,” she said.

“Hey, you’re the one who got the bounty lifted. Maybe it was luck that Lady Anwen had associations that helped, but you were the one who made it possible.”

“I just wish…”

“Sure. We all wish our problems could be solved with one arrow strike or sword thrust, but the real world is more complicated than that.”

“You make me suspect that finding Odend will not solve everything for Uthrilir and Hrelgi.”

“He won’t.”

“Now you sound too certain. It does happen, you know.”

“It can, but I don’t think that Uthrilir’s problems can be solved by one person. All Odend can do is point him in a direction.”

“Tell me about the nest.”

“Some people say hi.” He named names. “Gotthid is curious about what Lady Anwen wears, and my answers were not enough. They’re concerned that Hastwine knows where the nest is. He set up some of the defences and he knows them. He might be a magic user with a single trick, but that trick can be potent if used well.”

“I should be there, helping,” Kagaindis said.

“I understand that,” said Ninefingers. “And do what you must. But when you leave us, I’ll miss you.”

She grinned suddenly. “Even though I’m not an Aprak?”

“I am starting to think that the Aprak are bigoted in their own way.”

“You think?”

“Don’t rush me,” he said, and she laughed.

“Get some sleep,” Kagandis said. “You have had a journey, and there is more to come.”

---

Game Mechanics

[114] Felewin rolled an 11 on his survival roll. No dinner tonight. Kagandis manages, with a 7 on 7-; Uthrilir rolls a 7 but he’s 5-. Others are untrained and roll 7, 9, and 6.

Ironwood Gorge - 13 - To The Petrified Orc And Beyond

Iron & Gold

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originally) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games. Where necessary, I use Mythic Game Master Emulator by Tana Pigeon, published by Word Mill Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes. The italicized subtitles after the chapter title are prompts from Mythic Game Master Emulator; I try to work the intent into the scene. I am not always successful, but it keeps me a bit more honest.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

---

13 - To The Petrified Orc And Beyond

Disrupt Tactics (NPC Positive)

The next dawn found them groggy from lack of sleep. Apparently almost all of them had had nightmares. Hrelgi climbed down from the tree, startling the goblin children, and said brusquely, “Magic was afoot last night. The dreams were magical, but not omens.”

One of the goblins spoke up, and Ninefingers translated. “The nightmares are what the medallions protect you from.” He said thoughtfully, “I had the one from the scout and had no nightmares; Uthrilir had the one from the goblins and also had no nightmares.”

“I cast a protective shield about myself that kept most of them out,” said Hrelgi. From the lines around her eyes, Ninefingers doubted that she had prevented most of them.

“I’m sorry there’s no breakfast,” said Felewin, “or even a stream to clean yourselves in. Ninefingers, can you ask some of the refugees to help someone covering the latrine hole? I’ll help; we all helped in my people.”

“I’ll do it,” said Hrelgi. “I like throwing shit around.”

“Are you going to cover it, or…?”

Hrelgi just smiled.

“Go ahead,” Felewin said. Attempting to instill proper camp discipline was going to be hard with these people.

As they marched, Ijalis spoke to Ninefingers, who gave periodic updates to the others. “Things to watch out for, besides the toads, spiders, and cockatrices we already knew about: dryads that seem to have been petrified with their trees—they lost a child to them. They create illusions of what you want or something. The spiders are sometimes accompanied by spider-centaurs: giant spider bodies with a humanoid body above. And just out of their nest, when they were still in the gorge, harpies.”

“Harpies?” asked Felewin.

“Kind of singing beast, but the lion part looks more like a woman, they say. I don’t know if that’s because it really is a woman or they just don’t see a lot of non-goblin women. Foul-tempered and apparently filthy, but a bewitching spell.”

“Huh. Never heard of them.”

Uthrilir said, “Mountain beasts. They entrance like a singing beast but the back half is more bird than lion. They like the heights. They might like this gorge if the walls are steep enough.”

“You’ve heard of these things?”

“Tales, yes. I’d rather face a proper singing beast because they can’t fly.”

“Stay in the shadows of trees to avoid them,” Ninefingers reported. “We’re not going into the gorge itself, so we don’t have to worry.”

With the knowledge from the refugees, and their own experience, they managed to avoid toads, spiders, ettercaps, dryads, and harpies.^[83]

By noon they were nearly at the bridge before the petrified orc. Kagandis stopped.

“We should have encountered a patrol by now.”

“Maybe they’re still cleaning up after the slaving party,” suggested Ninefingers.

“It’s been a week. They can rebuild the bridge in a week.” She moved away from them. “I’m going to check.” Before anyone could speak, she was off into the woods.

Ninefingers said to the other goblins, “She does this.”

Felewin asked Ninefingers what was going on. When Felewin found out, he said, “She’s not wrong, but I wish she had consulted everyone before disappearing.” He thought for a moment and then said, “Best we teach them the rudiments of scavenging for food. It will keep them occupied and serve them profitably in the future. Tell them we’re off to learn.”

In minutes, he had all nine of them, and he led them back, away from the petrified orc and the direction that Kagandis had taken.^[84] They had remarkably good luck, finding several sunberry bushes in early fruiting, a sad-mary plant with edible flowers, and two rabbits that they took from the webs of giant spiders before the spiders retrieved them. “Assuming Kagandis finds no problem, we can feed everyone something.”

Kagandis was not back by the time they returned. Hrelgi’s face lit up at the sight of the brace of hares. “Breakfast!” she said. “I’ll start a fire.”

“No,” said Felewin. “No fire yet. If there’s trouble, the fire will bring the trouble to us.”^[85]

An arrow sank into the ground at his feet. The goblins screamed.

A woman called, “No need for a fire to call us, we’re right here. And I figure you’re surrounded by those miserable green-skinned vermin.” She stepped into the clearing. She was taller than Felewin, who was big, and she was wearing armour. She carried a longbow. “Every one of them is worth a bounty and they don’t look like they’ll put up much fight.”

Felewin heard a familiar hiccup from the bushes. “Hastwine! You come out here!”

His voice came from the bushes. “Not Hastwine at all!” Hic.

“I want my bedroll back!”

“Nope, I’m, uh, Ropey, Ropey Legend. From the Empire of Tanne.”

“Give me my bedroll!” Felewin said. He couldn’t see Ninefingers in his peripheral vision, so he hoped that meant the Aprak had gotten to cover.

“So you’ve met one of our crew. I’ll have to ask him what you were like, after we kill you.”

“You can try,” Felewin said boldly. The woman had said “our crew,”which meant there were at least two of them besides Hastwine. If she was so confident while seeing so many of them, there were probably four or five of them in total.

Still, if the goblins helped, then this “crew” was outnumbered.

If.

An elf stepped out. He was broad, with one scar visible on his face that only served to make him distinguished.

“I am Taliesin,” the woman said. “In the afterlife, know that Taliesin, Ilmir, and Bodkin were your escorts.”

Uthrilir stepped forward. “It looks like a dozen to three. Your confidence seems misplaced.”^[86]

“Them? They won’t help you.”

Felewin drew his sword and charged. He intended to engage her; he hoped she was not as good as he was, but his intent was more to keep her busy fighting defensively.^[87]

Ninefingers began the slow movement to get behind them.^[88]

Uthrilir moved to the elf. “You’ve thrown the dice, tree-born one. Be prepared for the consequences.”^[89] He swung his mace at the elf, who responded as tentatively, both of them testing the other. Taliesin^[90]’s swing went wide.

A rock hit one of the goblins, and they scattered, although none of them actually made it into the safety of the woods.^[91]

And then Felewin cried out, “I cannot see!”

In the bushes they heard a laugh, punctuated by a hiccup.

Taliesin hit the blind Felewin, hurting him seriously, even as he tried to back up.^[92] He managed to back up but she was right with him.

Uthrilir broke away from the elf and hit Taliesin, but her chain mail softened his blow.

In the woods, Ninefingers charged to protect his companion.^[93] He hit Taliesin in her leg, not protected by armour, and she managed to stay standing.^[94]

Ilmir, who suddenly found himself without an opponent, came up behind Uthrilir and said, “You turn your back on an armed foe. I have little to fear from you, earthworm.”^[95]

One goblin ran past Taliesin and tried to hit her, but missed. The other goblins ran for the trees.

From the trees, Hastwine shouted, “Serves you right!” And hiccupped.

Ilmir found himself hit by a dead orc, as Hrelgi impelled one of the orc corpses at him to protect her friend.^[96]

An armoured halfling stepped into the area, drawing a sword almost as long as he was. “Don’t throw dead things at my partners,” he said.^[97].He swung at Hrelgi, who barely dodged out of the way.

Taliesin managed to turn to face Ninefingers. “Another goblin, and this one with pretensions!” She swung at the unarmoured goblin^[98] but missed.

Bodkin said, “You don’t deserve to be alive,” to Hrelgi, and swung — but missed.^[99]

Uthrilir struck at Taliesin and hurt her again,^[100] while Felewin kept moving backwards slowly.

Ilmir’s armour suddenly turned to lava, and Ilmir screamed.^[101]

Ninefingers heard the scream with some satisfaction, but his concern at the moment was Taliesin.^[102] She was still standing there, and he feinted once then hit her and cut off her head.

“One down,” he said.

Felewin’s vision cleared, and there was the sound of someone running away. He looked down at his wound. “Father said not to fight without armour.” He began slowly to ready an arrow to loose at the halfling.

Ninefingers stepped between Bodkin and Hrelgi and swung at the halfling.^[103]; his blow connected, glancing only a little off the halfling’s chain. Uthrilir missed. Bodkin thrust at Ninefingers^[104], who parried.

Ilmir was trying to get out of the armour, but not managing.^[105] The burn from the lava killed him.

Another orc flew from the boulder and landed near Bodkin. “We should probably keep one of you alive for questioning,” Hrelgi said.

Ninefingers swung twice at the halfling, Bodkin.^[106] The halfling parried the first, and the second connected on the halfling’s chain.

Bodkin^[107] decided to stay alert and dodge any attacks.

Felewin was at point blank range, but his arrow grip was adapted to sitting on a horse.^[108] He let the arrow go. He thought it might be too high but it sank into the halfling’s thigh.

Uthrilir found his way to Felewin’s side, and laid hands on his wound.^[109] The terrible wound in the man’s side closed by divine magic.

Hrelgi appeared to miss with her spell.

Ninefingers tried another pair of blows: the first missed, but the second hit and took Bodkin closer to death.^[110]

Felewin reloaded his bow.

Uthrilir took the opportunity ask his goddess to protect everyone.^[111]

Hrelgi took reality, twisted it, and turned the ground around Bodkin to water.^[112] Bodkin sank to the bottom of the sudden pond, which was twice his height.^[113]

“Are you going to let him out?” asked Felewin.

“Maybe,” she replied.

It took a long time, but he went limp. Hrelgi then turned the water into air, and Felewin jumped in to rescue the halfling. He was careful to put the halfling’s sword and knife on one side of the hole before hoisting the halfling to the other side.

Once Felewin was out, Hrelgi said, “Cover your heads; I’m letting the air turn back into dirt.”

Most of the dirt was still in the hole, but some was not, and one of the goblin children started coughing.

“Sorry!” said Hrelgi. “Guess you inhaled some air that wanted to be dirt.”

Uthrilir went over and helped the young goblin. Then he sat for himself, praying. When he got up, there was no sign of his injury.

“Can you help the halfling?” asked Ninefingers.

Uthrilir said, “Do you want me to?” as he checked to make sure the halfling was breathing.

“Not yet. I just want something to offer him during the … negotiation.”

Felewin said, “You do plan for negotiations.”

“Do you have an objection?”

Felewin waved it off and smiled. “I have no skill at negotiation myself, but I used to watch my father at it, and I can appreciate someone who thinks of these things.”

Hrelgi went through their belongings and found rope while Uthrilir undressed the halfling. The dwarf threw all weapons in a pile.

“That’s a thong,” said Hrelgi.

“It’s a sling, and how would you know what a thong is?” said Uthrilir.

“We’re elves. That doesn’t mean we’re ignorant.”

Uthrilir snorted.

“Also I spent time in Westport. You can learn a lot in Westport,” she said as she tied up the halfling.

“Not knots, apparently,” said Uthrilir. He retied the knots and then gently woke the halfling.

Ninefingers looked down and said, “Hello. Your crew is dead or scattered. We have some questions.”

---

Game Mechanics

[83] GM gives everyone a +1 to Survival whenever they’re in the Ironwood.

[84] He rolls a 2 on his Survival roll, which I would suggest gives him the kind of margin that lets him teach the others, who will have 5 experience points if they already have survival, or a score of 1 if they don’t have survival.

[85] He’s going to suggest suiting up. Do they find the party first? (50/50, CF 7) 47% yes

[86] Hastwine rolls a 5, which is pretty good; he needed 7- so margin of 2. Felewin has a vulnerability to crafting magic, so his Awareness is currently 0. Hrelgi rolling a 7 of 9-, which is a margin of 2 for her, so she recognizes his magic but can’t do anything about it for a moment.

Let’s do some reactions.

Felewin: 8+5 13

Hrelgi: 6+4 10

Uthrilir: 7+5 12

Ninefingers: 8+5 13

Taliesin: 8+3 11

Bodkin: 7+3 10

Ilmir: 7+6 12

Hastwine: 4+6 10

Generic goblins: 5+4 0

Mythic: Is Kagandis hidden from them? (She was being stealthy and expecting trouble, so likely, CF 7: 8. That’s an exceptional yes.They don’t know about her specifically.

Felewin, Ninefingers, Uthrilir, Ilmir, Taliestin, Bodkin, Hastwine, Goblins

[87] His attack roll is a 10 on 10-; her response on 9 on 9-: margin of 0 in both cases. Blades cross.

Felewin, Ninefingers, Uthrilir, Ilmir, Taliestin, Bodkin, Hastwine, Goblins

[88] He rolls 8 on 9- for Stealth; margin of 1.

[89] He misses, rolling a 9 when he needs 8-, but Ilmir misses too, rolling a 10 when he needs 9-.

[90] Taliesin rolls a 12, so she misses. Bodkin rolls a 4, so his stone hits a goblin. We’ve done Hastwine and Hrelgi.

The goblins scramble to the woods: they have athletics 2 and fitness 2, so none of them actually make it, but they are spread out.

[91] And reactions again:

Felewin: 8+4 12

Hrelgi: 6+2 8

Uthrilir: 7+5 12

Ninefingers: 8+4 12

Taliesin: 8+6 14

Bodkin: 7+1 8

Ilmir: 7+4 11

Hastwine: 4+5 9

Generic goblins: 5+6 11

[92] Composure: he rolls 8 and needs 10.

[93] We’ll say it’s surprise, so Ninefinger’s margin is 1+2; Taliesin is busy, so she can’t respond, and Ninefingers does 3 levels of damage. (Sadly, Felewin has taken 4.)

[94] Fitness roll of 6.

[95] He rolls a 5, needs 8-. Uthrilir takes three levels of damage.

[96] She makes the spell easily enough (6 and needs 8-). Does she hit him? The orc corpse is big, and just rolled a 6, so I’ll say it did. Two levels of Fatigue damage for Ilmir

[97] He rolls 8 on dueling (margin of 0) but she rolls 8 on athletics to dodge (margin of 0).

[98] She rolls 6. He is undersized, like all goblins, so that +1 Diff, and she’s insured, so that’s +2 Diff more, and he makes his roll with a margin of 3, so he essentially has a margin of 6, and she has a margin of 3. Miss.

[99] Well, he rolled an 8 (margin 0) but she rolled a 3 for athletics (margin more than 0).

[100] He rolled a 7 (turned into an 8 by his injury) for margin 0, but she rolled a 9 (turned into an 11 by her injury). He has margin 0 but she does not succeed. Her armour helped a bit (1 of 2, but now she is maimed as well)

[101] He has suddenly taken 4 levels of damage.

[102] He rolls a 7 to hit her, and she hasn’t got a move left, and another 7 to hit her (with +2 Difficulty) but this one hits too. The first bounces off armour (1,3,1), but the second doesn’t (4, 6, 5).

[103] He rolls 5, it becomes 6 because Bodkin is undersized; Bodkin parries with a roll of 7. Ninefingers has a margin of 3, Bodkin has a margin of 1. Ninefingers succeeds. Armor rolls are 6,3,4, so 2 get through.

[104] On 8-, he rolls 6 that becomes 7 because Ninefingers is also undersized, and 8 because he is injured. That’s margin 0; Ninefingers gets his one defense and gets margin 1. Ninefingers is unhurt.

[105] He rolls a 10, and his athletics roll is 9-.

[106] He rolls 8 and 6, which becomes 9 and 9 (second attack is +2 Diff). Bodkin manages to parry the first (3, becomes 4 for injury, becomes 5 because Ninefingers is also undersized). That’s a margin of 3, so he blocks the first…but not the second. However, his armour does the second.

[107] Bodkin decides to dodge, and gets 6 which turns into 7, for a margin of 1. Because he’s undersized, that’s effectively a margin of 2.

[108] He rolls a 4, which becomes a 7 because of his injuries. He has 10- in archery, so that’s a margin of 3. We’ve established that Bodkin’s margin is 2. It hits. But does it do any damage? Compound bow does 1 inj and he rolls 6 on the armour roll, so it gets through.

[109] He rolls a 7 on 9-, and then a 3 on the effects. Felewin now has only one level of injury.

[110] Two attacks; first missed (11) but second succeeded (6) with a margin of 3; of that, the armour stopped 2 (1,3,4) but one got through.
Bodkin’s response is to dodge again, and he does it brilliantly: 2, -1 for being undersized, +2 for his injuries: 4. That makes his Athletics by a margin of 4. Hoo-hah!

[111] He rolls 8 on 9- but can help only one person. He chooses Hrelgi, who gets +1 to armour.

[112] She rolled a 3, which is a darn fine margin and she did maybe a horse’s depth of water, and halflings in chain mail are not as buoyant as they might be.

[113] Alas, he doesn’t have composure. He rolls a 5, but he’s untrained in this, so he doesn’t roll under his ability -2.

water

Ironwood Gorge - 12 - The Refugees

Iron & Gold

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originally) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games. Where necessary, I use Mythic Game Master Emulator by Tana Pigeon, published by Word Mill Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes. The italicized subtitles after the chapter title are prompts from Mythic Game Master Emulator; I try to work the intent into the scene. I am not always successful, but it keeps me a bit more honest.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

---

12 - The Refugees

As Uthrilir was waking Ninefingers for change of watch, he heard something in the woods. He put his finger to his mouth and moved past the embers of the fire, then looked out.

The dark vision of dwarves is not as keen as that of goblins, but he was able to make out more than a half-dozen goblins: not warriors or scouts, but dressed in the remains of tinkers or carpenters’ clothes: craftsmen dressed in rags. One wore a bandage that covered her head and one eye; two were children.

Uthrilir asked, “Ninefingers? Do you see them?”

Ninefingers had been getting the sleep from his eyes.^[80] He stretched once and nodded. “Cover me. In case.”

He didn’t put on armour because they probably weren’t a trap, but he did strap his sword on. He headed off to one side, then came at them from the side. Didn’t matter; the goblins were fixated on the embers of the fire.

Ninefingers could be stealthy, but once he was to their side, he stopped trying. He kept his hands out and palms open so he obviously didn’t have a weapon ready, and he spoke in a low voice.

He wanted their attention but he didn’t want attention from anything else.

“What’s the deal?” he asked them.

“Slavers, they came to our nest. We’ve been walking for…three days. You have a nest near here?”

“Not really close.” He sized them up. Seven adults, two children. The bandaged one was not the only wounded one, but at least her head wound had been bandaged. Slashes on the forearms, mostly: defensive wounds.

Not a threat.

He hated that he had to judge on that.

“Come with me. We have a priest who might be able to help.”

“We cannot offer much,” said the bandaged one. His good eye fixed on Ninefingers.

“We do not ask much,” said Ninefingers. If these goblins were like Aprak, they were fussy about life-saving. He did not want them bound to the group like he felt bound to Felewin (Felewin’s objections aside). Some kind of payment, no matter how small, might avoid that life-debt.

“I am Ijalis.” Her accent was unlike Kagandis’ and she said the first “I” so it was closer to “ee.”

“Call me Ninefingers. Try to be quiet, and come this way. Single-file.”

“There are bad things in these woods,” agreed Ijalis.

Felewin and Kagandis were both awake, but Hrelgi was not in sight. Ninefingers guessed she was watching from above. Uthrilir had traced out a crude temple to help him but it hadn’t helped. “Not enough adherents,” he explained.^[81] “But I’ll do my best to intercede with the Lady on yout behalf.”

“Payment first,” Ninefingers said.

Uthrilir made a scoffing noise, but Ninefingers said, “We cannot guarantee success. For that reason, we settle for less.” This was against all bargaining protocol—telling the other party you were willing to settle? Blasphemy, his father would have said. “Now, what can you offer?”

“We were driven from our home. We have only what you see.”

Uthrilir started to speak, but Kagandis (who had figured out what Ninefingers was doing) shushed him.

“And?”

“Dirontis?”

One of the goblin women sighed, and removed a medallion from her neck. It was about the size of the one they had taken from the orc scout, and had similar markings: the same words but by a different hand. “Dirontis offers a magic medallion that might protect you from the nightmares.”

“It is good for a family huddled together,” she said.

Ninefingers looked at it like a pawnbroker assessing its value. Finally he said, “It is worth the attempt on all of you.”

The goblins looked relieved.

“Ijalis, we will begin with you.” Ninefingers guided him over to Uthrilir.

Felewin had been talking to Kagandis, and she said to them, “Are you hungry?”

The adults lied, but the children said they were hungry. Felewin smiled. “I understand enough goblin for that.” He had nine leaves set out before him. On each one, he set a ninth of the cheese he had been keeping and a ninth share of fowl left from dinner. There were some greens which were edible if tough, and he had pounded them with a rock to soften them.

All of this he had been saving for breakfast, but this seemed more important. Besides, Odend will surely help us.

The goblins ate their meagre portions after approval from Ijalis, who was now healed.^[82] They ate like hungry horses, but there was not enough for them to founder.

“Kagandis, the route we must take is the start of the route to your nest, is it not?” said Felewin. Ninefingers translated.

“I think they must walk with us until we cross the river,” she agreed. “We need to get to the petrified orc before we part ways; we can be there by noon tomorrow, if they’re willing to walk by daylight.”

“I’m happy to have them for a bit,”said Felewin. “If they’re willing.”

“Look at them,” said Ninefingers. “I suspect they’re ready to drop to sleep right now.”

“But,” said Felewin, “we need to warn them about humans.”

“Funny hearing you say that,” said Ninefingers, “but yeah.”

By this time, Ijalis had returned to the group, with the other two who had been injured.

Ninefingers spoke to them, and once Kagandis knew what he was talking about, she joined in. Felewin caught the goblin-ized version of his name, and tried to look non-threatening.

Finally Ijalis came over and put his hand on Felewin’s shoulder.

“It’s a kind of blessing,” explained Ninefingers. “She’s allowing you into the nest as a guest.”

“Tell her I am pleased and I will try not to dishonour her kindness. And then tell them all to sleep. We will guard them until we part ways.”

Ninefingers explained that to them. Kagandis stepped in to say something, which Felewin noted to ask Ninefingers about later; he didn’t want to slow this down by constant translating and re-translating: these people were tired and hurt. One of the children had already fallen asleep against the log.

He donated his bedroll to three of them, and settled in for a series of uncomfortable naps. Ninefingers took his watch, letting Kagandis sleep. Uthrilir helped guide folks to the shallow pit they had designated a latrine.

Felewin’s sleep was uncomfortable, indeed: he had a series of nightmares, similar to the ones he had as a child, but worse.

---

Game Mechanics

[80] He rolls a 5 on investigation, which he has at 9-

[81] Sacraments: rolled 7, needed 6. Blessing: needed 9, rolled 6.

[82] Didn’t do so well on the others, though, with rolls of 11, 9, 8, and 12. So one got healed but the others didn’t.

Ironwood Gorge - Characters in Iron & Gold

Iron & Gold

A brief interlude to show the characters.

Felewin, Ninefingers, and Kagandis are not by the book because they are conversions of Iron Gauntlets characters with experience.

Felewin

Human Huntsman (Plainsfolk)

F	5	A	3	C	3	R	3	I	3	Luck	6
Gimmicks		Slow-stepped, Heavy-Stepped
Skills		Literacy 5- (2); Athletics 9- (4); Dueling 10- (5), Tracking 8- (4), Riding 9- (4), Survival 8- (5); Archery 10- (5), Etiquette 5- (2, but counts as 4 in home court), Composure 5
Wpn		Broad Sword (3 Inj), Bow (1 Inj, 70)
Armour		Gambeson (1 Fat), Chain (3 Inj)
Equip		Fuelless lantern, knife, tinder box, blanket, rations

Hrelgi of Căled

Elf Wizard

F	3	A	3	C	4	R	3	I	2	Luck	1
Gimmicks		Striking Appearance, Sure-footed, Descrying nature, Poor Reputation, Hesitant
Skills		Athletics 7- (4), Composure (4), Dueling 7- (4), Literacy 8- (4), Fabrica Motus, Fabrica Materia, Fabrica Sphaera 9- (5), Fabrica Ge 5- (1)
Wpns		dagger. Tends to use Motus (throw objects or stop projectiles), Materia (cause damage directly), Sphaera (to dampen spells)
Equipment		Spellbook, scroll case, wineskin

Hrelgi is an elven exile from a distant land that persecutes practitioners of magic. Memorized spells: Armor to magma, salubrity to self, protection to dwarf.

Kagandis

Goblin Constable (Cavernfolk)

F	3	A	4	C	3	R	3	I	3	Luck	3
Wpns		Bow (1 Inj), Dagger (1 Inj) Armour: Leather Cuirass (1 Fat)
Gimmicks		Pack Fighter, Night Sight, Ugly, Undersized, Light Sensitivity, Inflexible (+2 Diff)
Skills		Brawling 5- (2); Composure 4; Athletics, Melee, Stealth, Survival 7- (4); Investigation 8- (4); Archery 11- (8)
Equip		Bedroll, amulet of safe passage (honoured by goblins), 1 doz. arrows

Ninefingers

Goblin Bandit (Cavernfolk)

F	4	A	4	C	3	R	3	I	2	Luck	5
Gimmicks		Pack Fighter, Night Sight, Ugly, Undersized, Light Sensitivity, Meek Appearance
Skills		Athletics 8- (4), Subterfuge (5-) 3; Commerce (6- (4), Dueling 10- (5) Streetwise 6- (4); Finesse 9- (5), Investigation 9- (5), Stealth 9- (5)
Wpn		Shortsword (1 Inj), Seftish Dagger (1 Inj); Armor: Scale (2)
Equip		Lockpicks, tinder box, blanket, owl feather earrings

Uthrilir

Dwarven Holy Knight

F	4	A	3	C	3	R	2	I	4	Luck	4
Gimmicks		Blood Feud, Cursed Relic, Dark Sight, Constitution, Poor Reputation, Resistant[Crafting Magic]
Skills		Athletics 9- (5), Blessing, Gospel 10- (6); Composure (5), Consecration 6- (2), Melee 10- (6); Prophecy 8- (4); Masonry 6- (3), Sacraments 6- (2), Survival 5- (3)
Wpn		Mace (2 Inj), Knife (1 Inj)
Armour		Scale Byrnie (2)
Equip		Holy implements, bedroll

Emond

Elven Explorer

F	3	A	3	C	2	R	3	I	2	Luck	2
Gimmicks		Striking Appearance, Meek Appearance, Sure-Footed
Skills		Athletics 9- (6), Stealth 8- (5), Animal Handling 6- (3), Dueling 9- (6), Riding 7- (4), Survival 7- (5), Legends 7- (4), Etiquette 5 (3)
Weapons		Throwing Axe, Short Sword Armour: Scale hauberk, boots, gauntlets, target shield
Equipment		Climbing gear, 5 torches, 10 candles, tinder kit, waterskin, dried foods, bedroll, pack, riding horse, guard dog XP: 3

---

Golem

Monster (construct)

F	5	A	1	C	0	R	0	I	0	Luck	–
Gimmicks		Clumsy, Oversized, Musclebound, Resistant [Crafting]
Skills		Brawling 3
Wpns		Fist (3 Fat)
Armour		Made of marble (4)

The original monster writeup (in OSRIC) requires magical weapons to hurt; I’m making that difficulty +1 to hit; it can reverse gravity once an hour, and the effect lasts 10 seconds or so. The Resistant to Crafting applies to all spells but three: the first is dispel magic effects; the second is stone to flesh, and the third is mud to stone. The first stops it (difficulty 5); the second renders it vulnerable to normal attacks and removes its armour; the third heals it.

Nematoad

Monster

F	4	Awareness	2	C	0	R	0	I	0	Luck	–
Gimmicks		Oversized, Night Sight, Tail, Swimming, Natural Protection 3
Weapons		Tongue (ranged: 7 m)+teeth (+1 Inj), Tail (3 Fat)
Skills		Brawling 5, Stealth 6 (for hiding motionless in place), Swimming 4
Armour		Natural protection of 3

Orc [I&G]

Monster. An orc, fer gosh sake

F	4	A	3	C	1	R	3	I	3	Luck	–
Gimmicks		Night Sight, Light Sensitivity, Toughness
Skills		Archery (for scout) 8- (4), Brawling 10- (6), Dueling 9- (5), Melee 10- (6,) Leadership 8- (4), Subterfuge 8- (4), Composure 9- (5)
Armour		Scale (3)
Wpns		Pike (3 Inj, Short Sword (2 Inj), Bow (1 Inj)

Orc Shaman

Like, an orc. Who is a shaman.

F	4	A	3	C	1	R	3	I	4	Luck	–
Gimmicks		Night Sight, Light Sensitivity, Toughness
Skills		Brawling 10- (6), Leadership 8- (4), Blessing 7- (3), Curse 7- (3), Gospel 7- (3), Subterfuge 7- (3), Performance 7- (3), Composure (5)
Armour		Studded Leather+Toughness (2), Shield (Heater) 2
Weapons		Spear (2 Inj)

War Dog

Animal

F	3	A	4	C	0	R	0	I	0	Luck	–
Gimmicks		Undersized, Musclebound
Skills		Athletics, Brawling 5
Wpns		Teeth (1INJ), Claws (+1 INJ)

Think large mastiffs or pit bulls. These fearsome dogs are trained to fight. They are typically armoured in leather. They are loyal unto death.

Wild Boar

Animal

F	4	A	3	C	0	R	0	I	0	Luck	–
Gimmicks		Musclebound, Toughness(1)
Skills		Brawling 5
Wpns		Teeth (1 Inj), Tusks (3 Inj)

Zombies

Undead

F	2	A	2	C	R	0	I	0	Luck	–
2	2	0	0	0	–
Skills		Brawling (6-) 4, Dueling 5- (3), Melee 5- (3)
Gimmicks		Hardened, Slow-stepped, Toughness, Undead

Notes: use the armor and dueling/melee weapons with which they were buried or left to rot.

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originaly) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

A possible premise for a superhero series

Any

I'm not suggesting anything new or even different: this has been used before. But I've done a number of campaigns with a superhero history, and my brain turned to something else.

Heroes have just appeared: there was a calamity — the equivalent of the gene bomb, the white hole, or any of a number of other occurrences. Hundreds of thousands died.

Including our heroes.

I'm aware that The Elementals used the characters' deaths as a portal. In this case, however, I'm imagining that most of the victims are in fact victims and are dead. Some fraction (five per cent, maybe?) come back with super powers.

I'm not interested in a game that's “you with powers” because that turns into murderhoboes too fast. So I'd want some mechanism whereby you have to pick hero or villain. You can switch — i'm not that rigid — but there's something keeping you in the superhero/villain game.

I don't know what that is, yet, but something will occur to me.

Possible rules systems:

• ICONS
• Prowlers & Paragons UE (I don't think I own it)
• Wild Talents though I have bounced off it intellectually every time I've tried
• BASH
• Supers! RED

Games like Champions, Mutants & Masterminds, Cypher - Unmasked, could do it (one could set up a Paragons M&M campaign, for instance) but that's not where my interest lies right now.

Ironwood Gorge - 11 - Kagandis' Solo Journey

Iron & Gold

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originally) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games. Where necessary, I use Mythic Game Master Emulator by Tana Pigeon, published by Word Mill Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes. The italicized subtitles after the chapter title are prompts from Mythic Game Master Emulator; I try to work the intent into the scene. I am not always successful, but it keeps me a bit more honest.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

---

11 - Kagandis’ Solo Journey

Kill Technology - NPC Negative

Kagandis handed Felewin a dead bird, already gutted. “Catched that in afternoon,” she said in common tongue.

Felewin gave her a sign of approval, and added some wood to the fire. Then he started whittling a stick so he could roast it.

Ninefingers said, “How’d you do?”

“I know where his cottage is, but it’s more than an afternoon to get to.”

“Why?”

“On the other side of the river. Close but you have to walk up to where you can cross.”

Ninefingers passed that along to the others.

Hrelgi took the bird and started plucking the primary wing feathers. Felewin saw that she was examining each feather she plucked for its suitability.

“I don’t want to rush you,” he said, “But maybe you check the feathers you need and then give it to me for a faster job.”

She stuck out her tongue. “Here,” she said. “These will do.” She took out her pouch and unfolded her wallet of components. She put three feathers in an empy pouch.

“Do they get used up?” Felewin asked.

“Some do,” she said. “I put those expendable components in the outside, so I can get them.”

Felewin squatted at the edge of the clearing and started deftly pulling out feathers.

“You’re fast,” said Uthrilir.

“Practice,” said Felewin, grinning. “My father hunted three brace of — we call them quails — each week in the season, and the youngest son had to clean them before we moved on.” He paused and opened the bird. “Some birds, there’s a gland you have to cut out or the meat is tough and bitter.”

Kagandis accepted Ninefingers’ flask and drank. “I saw orcs, but they didn’t see me. I also saw another group of humans and a halfling that looked like they had managed to escape something bad. Two humans were archers; the halfling wore light armour and carried a sling. They had empty backpacks, though, and some wounds. One of the archers had taken damage to his arm; the other had a nice shield, but only three or four wouldn’t last long in a fight.”

“We managed to fight six.^[78] We wouldn’t have been able to win but for the wizard. You know that armour-to-lava trick she did back at the tower? Turns out it’s one of her favourites.”

She looked at the clearing. “I smell the dead but I don’t see them.”

“Up on the rock.” Ninefingers gestured.

“No no no no,” Kagandis said. “Off the rock and dispose of them. No, dammit, two of them can’t see in proper light. We need to post a watch.”

“We will. Why?”

“Scavengers, big ones, will come for the bodies. They live down in the gorge but can come up. We had a nest destroyed by them. I hear the orcs tame them but orcs produce more garbage and carrion than goblins do.”

“How big are these scavengers?” asked Ninefingers.

“You know the mule that Odend uses?”

“That’s not so bad.”

“Imagine the size of ten mules bound together. Big armoured head with a kind of frill, poisonous bite. They present the head, and the head is tough. Fortunately, they’re slow, but I wouldn’t want to meet one in a tunnel.”

Ninefingers shared this with the others, who looked at Felewin for a judgement.

“Huh,” he said finally. “I’ve never heard of them.” He shrugged.

“You’re taking this calmly,” said Ninefingers.

“Nothing to do besides post the watch, and we were going to do that anyway.” He lifted the bird to look at it closely, then put it back nearer the fire. “Here’s what we can’t do: we can’t move the bodies to somewhere safer for us, because the goblins just aren’t up to moving six orc bodies. Even if Uthrilir helps, it’s night. Orcs can see in the dark and Hrelgi and I can’t.” He rotated the bird a bit more.

“This doesn’t sound like the man who wants to be a knight,” Ninefingers said.

“Knights are good at pragmatism.”

Hrelgi said, “Oh, big words. Do you know what pragmatism means?”

“It’s not a joke,” said Ninefingers. “Not to him.”

“Sorry,” said Hrelgi.

“There’s more at stake here than me. You’re not my property and I was wrong to think you were, even if you were my prisoner. Kagandis, and by extension all goblins, is a person. These people need to be protected, and that seems more knightly than a quest at this moment.”

Hrelgi said, “And what about orcs?”

“The orcs have not yet proven themselves worthy of personhood.”

“And they won’t,” Uthrilir said.

Hrelgi said nothing.

Ninefingers briefly explained to Kagandis, who replied in the common tongue, “Orcs are people but very very bad people.”

Everyone laughed, and Felewin pulled the stick back to check the bird. Felewin had found nuts and fruit and a few bitter herbs to offset the sweetness of the fruit. He added a bit of salt to the meat and then the meal was sufficient.

“I wouldn’t want to live on it but it will suffice. My thanks for the meat, Kagandis.” He gestured to make his meaning clearer.

“You are welcome,” she said in common tongue.

“Everyone gets some, unless they don’t want it. Hrelgi, I’ve heard that some elves don’t eat meat. Is that true?”

Hrelgi said, “Yes. They do not eat meat, because they are what we call—” and she said a word in Elvish.

“What does that mean?” asked Ninefingers.

“‘Stupid,’” said Hrelgi, and took her portion of the bird.

“She is kinder than she speaks,” Uthrilir said to no one in particular.

There was silence after that, broken only by quiet eating.

Ninefingers said, “Kagandis, you’ve traveled all day; do you need rest?” She yawned and nodded. Ninefingers and Uthrilir gamed to see who would go first; Uthrilir lost.

“If you don’t mind, a brief prayer before most of you rest.”

They held a brief prayer.^[79] and all but Uthrilir went to bed: Hrelgi up in a tree, and the rest near the fire, which they let die down. It was summer; they had little fear of the cold.

---

Game Mechanics

[78] Does she smell the corpses? Rolls a 3 on 8≤: margin 4

[79] He rolls a 4 and he needs 9≤. They all have +1 protection.

Ironwood Gorge - 10 - Healing Touch

Iron & Gold

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originally) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games. Where necessary, I use Mythic Game Master Emulator by Tana Pigeon, published by Word Mill Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes. The italicized subtitles after the chapter title are prompts from Mythic Game Master Emulator; I try to work the intent into the scene. I am not always successful, but it keeps me a bit more honest.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

---

10 - Healing Touch

Healing Touch

Ninefingers was hurt the worst^[77], followed by Uthrillir. His deity allowed them to heal while Felewin found a way down from the boulder. Hrelgi was able to cushion his fall enough to keep him from hurting himself, while Ninefingers held his Seftish dagger to the throat of the orc scout.

Once Felewin had descended, they interrogated the scout.

The scout was of the Split-Tongue clan, which had taken up home in the Ironwood gorge. The orcs planned, of course, to take over the area, and raise their status with the other orcs. (Ninefingers got the impression that they were a small splinter tribe; he had certainly never heard of them. The scout spoke of the madness that the orc high priest could create, but clammed up when asked about a medallion he was wearing. (The other medallions were all burned by armour-turned-lava.)

The scout was reasonable about numbers — made sense, for a scout — but he was close-mouthed about the numbers of the Split-Tongue clan. They recited a few numbers but if the scout responded to one of them, they didn’t detect it.

The other thing that was interesting was that the scout was looking for Odend, as well, but he wouldn’t say why.

Felewin held the scout under the edge of his sword while the other three talked, some distance away.

“Do we kill him?” asked Ninefingers.

“Can we afford to spare him?” asked Hrelgi, looking at Uthrilir.

Uthrilir said, “All deaths are repugnant to her, but some are necessary.” He walked over to the scout and prayed briefly.

Then he killed the orc with his mace.

Felewin made a noise of disgust. “I had hoped we would let him ‘escape’ and follow him back to their lair.”

Ninefingers said, “Wouldn’t work. He could evade us because he knows the area better than we do.”

Felewin accepted that. “We should put all the bodies together and then perhaps Hrelgi could make the ground beneath them lava. Destroy the bodies.”

“Or leave them here as a marker,” said Hrelgi. “The armor has turned back to armour, and they will feed the carrion eaters.”

Felewin rolled his eyes. “We have to wait here for Kagandis. Do you want to be near six orc corpses?”

“Fine,” said Hrelgi. She levitated the six bodies to the top of the boulder, and then sat alone as the first guard.

Felewin set about retrieving and fixing arrows. Two were simply too damaged to fix, but the orc scout had almost a dozen left, and they were usable, if a bit short: like crossbow bolts but too thin.

By sunset, it was Uthrilir’s turn to watch. He came over to Felewin, who was creating dinner with some plants he had found and the small amount of cheese he had taken from the tower. “Kagandis returns.”

“I’ll change it to five portions, then.”

“You seem unconcerned by what she might have been doing,” said Uthrilir.

“I am unconcerned. Kagandis is good people, and we have put her in no conflict.”

Kagandis whistled three times before entering the encampment.

“Hail,” said Ninefingers, in goblin.

“We have a long walk,” Kagandis said. “For those two, we will have to start in the daylight.”

“Come, have food, and tell us all.”

---

Game Mechanics

[77] Blessing: roll 4, amount 2; roll 6, amount 6; roll 7, amount 4.

Iron Gauntlets - 9 - An Encounter While Waiting

Iron & Gold

Credits

This is a solo play-through of the adventure “Ironwood Gorge” by Eric Jones, published by Ludibrium Games.

Because I am not really an old-school guy, things have been converted to (originally) Iron Gauntlets by Precis Intermedia Games and after about chapter 6, Iron & Gold, also by Precis Intermedia Games. Where necessary, I use Mythic Game Master Emulator by Tana Pigeon, published by Word Mill Games.

This is the second Ludibrium Games module I’ve used for these characters, and I enjoy them. (The first was “The Sanctuary Ruin.”)

As usual, rules misunderstandings are mine and I try to present it as (bad) fiction, with game mechanics in footnotes. The italicized subtitles after the chapter title are prompts from Mythic Game Master Emulator; I try to work the intent into the scene. I am not always successful, but it keeps me a bit more honest.

“Ironwood Gorge” is meant to be the basis for a campaign, where the Bleak Tower is a home base for adventures. I have not yet decided whether I will do that; there could be additional Bleak Tower adventures, or they'll wander away until the third adventure in the trilogy is published.

---

9 - An Encounter While Waiting

Spy Power (NPC Positive)

Ninefingers^[65] spotted the orc first, and only barely. He whistled a bit of birdsong, which was a code with Felewin that meant “Trouble, be inobvious.”

Felewin, who barely could manage to be subtle faced with the unexpected, broke into Uthrilir’s discussion of missionary work among the centaurs, to go sit next to Ninefingers.

“Problem?” Felewin murmured, trying to look enraptured.

“Orc watching us. Now he’s slipped away. Expect trouble.”

Uthrilir broke off. “Is there a problem?”

“Maybe,” said Felewin. “We’ll talk about it once you’ve finished your story.”

“You’ve rather ruined the flow,” said Uthrilir.

“Thank goodness,” teased Hrelgi.

“I said you could ignore this because you’ve heard it.” For a few words, his voice was like the grinding of millstones, and that made Hrelgi smile.

“But I love being offered the choice,” she said.

“Pardon me,” said Felewin, “but what Ninefingers saw was an orc.”

“Too big to be a goblin or hobgoblin; too small to be an ogre or troll. Not a man, dwarf, elf, halfling or centaur,” confirmed Ninefingers.

“Kobold?” asked Hrelgi.

Ninefingers said, “No, we’ve met kobolds. Definitely not kobolds.”

Felewin asked, “We can’t leave the area because this is where Kagandis will return. So what can we do against a party of a dozen orcs?”

“Hide?” asked Hrelgi.

“If we didn’t have him,” said Ninefingers, indicating Felewin, “maybe. He’s rubbish at hiding.”

Felewin chose to ignore Ninefingers. “I don’t know your skills really. Hrelgi, maybe you can put items in trees we can pull down on top of the orcs? Uthrilir, can you create, I don’t know, a circle of blessing for us, so long as we fight in it.”

“You have very odd ideas,” said Uthrilir. “Gather together and I’ll ask blessing for us.^[66]” He gathered them together and said to Felewin, “You’re hurt!”

“It’s a scratch.”

“If we fight orcs, it could be the difference for us. Just a moment.” He prayed and then laid hands on Felewin’s leg. Felewin felt better, and the nagging pain went away.

“It’s healed,” he told the dwarf. “My thanks.”

“That’s the past. Let’s see what the lady grants us for the immediate future.” He pulled everyone together and prayed for a moment. “Now we’ll see if that helps. I think it did, but you don’t know until the chisel hits the stone.”

Felewin looked about the small clearing. “I didn’t pick this with defense in mind, but it’s not awful. There’s at least one side that’s safe.”

There wasn’t enough light to attract cockatrices; one side was against a rock about twice the height of a man, and that looked unclimbable. The area was dotted with petrified trees (as was the whole Ironwood) but living spruces were pushing up, some tall enough that their trunks were as thick as Felewin was; some weedy saplings of something like maples were trying to make way in the clearing. The edge of the clearing was dotted with bushes, but beyond that it was mostly ferns. The orc that Ninefingers saw had been by the boulder.

“I’m the only one with a bow,” said Felewin. “Hrelgi, can you put me up on the boulder? I’ll have a clear shot there.”

“You’ll be a clear shot, there,” pointed out Ninefingers. “There’s a reason castle walls have crenelations.”

“True,” admitted Felewin. “But I can loose an arrow from the back of a horse; I’m sure this isn’t much worse. Or… Hrelgi, could you put me and one of the petrified logs up? That would give me cover?”

“A log on a boulder isn’t going to look suspicious?” asked Ninefingers.

“They already know we’re here,” said Felewin. “They are headed here this moment.”

“I would be the logical one to go to the top of the boulder,” pointed out Helgi.

“Okay, fly on up.”

“I cannot make myself fly,” she admitted. “You could lift me?”

An arrow bounced off Felewin’s armour. “Or I could lift you.”^[67] She said three words and Felewin was up and on the top of the boulder. He quickly squatted so he might have some effective cover. The boulder had a slight dip, and he moved to that.

The orcs hadn’t quite got there yet: the archer had loosed the arrow well but early.^[68]

Ninefingers said, “Backs against the boulder! Hrelgi, next, move a log here, give us cover!” He drew his sword.

The orcs arrived, and grinned. They spent a moment arranging themselves to charge.

Uthrilir hefted his mace and prayed.^[69]

Hrelgi said the secret name of the log and commanded it to lay before her. It skidded over between the party and the orcs, tearing up earth and stones as it moved.

Felewin loosed a shot at the orc fitting a new arrow to his bow, and hit him in the thigh.^[70]

The orcs charged, but the fact that Uthrilir had made them tougher for this first exchange saved them; the divine gift stopped all weapons from hurting them (though both Uthrilir and Hrelgi were hit by weapons).^[71]

Neither Uthrilir or Ninefingers could get through an orc’s defenses, but Hrelgi spoke her words of power, and a stone unearthed by the movement of the log flew towards her, hitting an orc from behind.^[72]

The orcs redoubled their efforts but did worse, this time. Felewin managed to lodge another arrow in the scout, and Ninefingers scored first blood against one of his foes. Uthrilir’s blows landed on scale armour, and Hrelgi’s next shot rock did not hurt her opponent but did knock him down.^[73]

Hrelgi scowled and turned her opponent’s armour to lava. He fell to the ground screaming.

Ninefingers missed, but through the grace of Uthrilir’s prayer, both of the orcs missed.

Uthrilir’s prayer helped protect him as well.^[74]

While Felewin was reloading, an orc against Uthrilir fell, its armor turned to lava. Ninefingers managed to fend off the first but the second orc hit; he cried out in pain.

“You’d better help him, girl; I’ll be fine,” said Uthrilir.^[75]

“Fine,” she said, and one of Ninefinger’s opponent was wearing lava. The other had an arrow sticking from his leg, courtesy of Felewin.

The remaining orcs tried desperately: the one fighting Ninefingers missed, and Ninefingers finally managed to hit him; the one fighting Uthrillir hit—but Uthrillir hit him too.^[76]

Then the orc who had hit Uthrillir burst into lava, and the orc against Ninefingers suddenly realized he was almost alone—he broke off to rejoin the scout, who was painfully fitting an arrow to his bowstring.

Uthrillir hit the orc, and then Ninefingers made it over the log and said, “We need to leave one alive,” when he wearily bashed the orc who had been fighting him. “Just not this one.”

Felewin shot an arrow into the ground at the scout’s feet, which got his attention. The scout looked up at the three immediately in front of him.

In orc, Ninefingers said, “Tell us what we want to know, or die.”

---

Game Mechanics

[65] Rolls a 9 on Survival, just making it (AWR+Surv) and notices the orc scout.

[66] Uthrilir rolls a 5, which is less than he needs for healing, which he does to Felewin, who has his 1 injury level removed.
Uthrilir rolls 4 for blessing in general. Since the margin was high, I’m going to say that they all get 1d6 extra armor for the first turn: 2 extra.

[67] The arrow hits: 5 on 7-; Armour gets 2,1 so nothing gets through.

It’s 9≤ to move a person, and she rolls a 7. He’s up.

[68] And now, Reaction times
Ninefingers: 8+2=10
Felewin: 8+4=12
Uthrilir: 7+1=8
Hrelgi: 6+6=12
Orcs: 7+3=10
So: Felewin, Hrelgi, Ninefingers, Orcs, Uthrilir.
There are 6 orcs, counting the scout; the scout is the only one with archery.

[69] He’s setting up another prayer, like aiming, so the roll will be +1 next turn.

Speaking of which, Reaction times
Felewin: 8+1=9
Ninefingers: 8+2=10
Orcs: 7+1=8
Urthilir: 7+4=11
Hrelgi: 6+5=11
Hrelgi rolls 7 versus 3+5+1-1; she moves the tree.
Uthrilir prays again vs 3+5+1+1 (10) and rolls 7. Felewin gets +1 on next shot.
Ninefingers waits.
Felewin looses an arrow at the scout. Say it’s 15 meters, 1/4 of the compound bow’s 60m range, so it’s short range (no change to difficulty). His archery is 10≤ and he rolls 10. He rolls 6, so the arrow is not affected by armour. The scout now has 1 Injury level.

[70] Composure: Orc scout needs 4+5, or 9≤; rolls 10. He’s helpless for the moment.
Other orcs charge, because they don’t have ranged weapons. House rules: You can do two actions, but the second one is at +2 Diff. They charge as an automatic action, and then attack. Let’s do the defense rolls first; they all do 2 better because of the log: Ninefingers gets a defense roll of 4 (margin of 7), Uthrilir gets a 12 (oof…margin of 0), and Hrelgi gets a 3 (margin of 5).
4 8 6 6 5: attacks skills are all 10, so margin of 6 (misses Ninefingers), margin of 2 (misses Ninefingers), margins of 4 (hits Uthrilir), 4 (hits), and Hrelgi is hit. Damage is 3, 2, 1. So nothing gets through (Hrelgi has toughness 1 from the prayer that Uthrilir used).
Ninefingers rolls: 7 (margin 2) Opponent has 8, margin 2. Nothing.
Uthrilir rolls: 7 (margin 1) Opponent has 8, margin 2. Nothing.
Hrelgi rolls: 7 (margin 1) Her magic roll is 8-, so she makes hers.

[71] Reaction times Felewin is reloading.
Felewin: 10+5=15
Ninefingers: 8+5=13
Uthrilir: 7+5=12
Hrelgi: 6+3=9
Orcs: 9+6=15
Scout Composure: 4+5=9; rolls 8. Composed.
Defenders: 5,5,6: Margins 3, 2, 0.
Orcs attack, with the one vs Hrelgi at -1:
Felewin shoots and hits (margin 2) and damage is a 4, so scout now has 2 injury levels.
Hrelgi rolls a 5 (margin 3) so she hits her target again. His armor protects him but he fails composure to keep his balance.
Orcs vs Ninefingers Margin 3, 1, defense Margin 4; one hits for 1 (nothing) and 4 (1 Injury). Ninefingers hits with 3 (margin 6) defense 7 (margin 2). Damage is 4, 5: Orc with 2 Injury levels (so at -1).
Orcs vs Uthrilir: 10, 11 so both miss. Defense was 2 (margin of 7)
Orc vs Hrelgi: 12, so he misses.

[72] Rock does 2 Injury, and it gets 5 and 6 for damage, so that orc now has 2 levels of injury.
Reaction times
Ninefingers 8+6=14
Uthrilir 7+5=12
Hrelgi 6+5=11
Felewin: 8+4=10
Orcs 9+1=10
Orc Scout 8+2=10
Ninefingers 8+3=11 9+4=13, no hit
Uthrilir rolls 7, under 8, for his prayer. He affects 4 tasks and adds 4,6,5,4 to those tasks. GM says it’s the defense tasks.
Hrelgi rolls 4 on 8≤ (margin 4) and turns his armor into lava. He takes another 4 points of damage, and is out.
Felewin fires at the scout again. 5 and needs 10- (margin 5), orc hasn’t started moving, so hits. Damage roll is 4, which misses armour. Orc fails composure, so he’s stunned for the turn.
Orcs attack; one is down. They roll 9, 10, 8, 4, 9
Vs Ninefingers Margin 0. He rolls 8 to defend (margin 1).
Vs Ninefingers:8, margin is 1, Ninefingers gets 4, margin 4. No hit.
Vs. Uthrilir 10 (misses); 9 (margin 0); He gets 6, margin of 2. No hit.

[73] Reaction times
Felewin: 8+6=14
Orcs: 7+6=13
Ninefingers: 8+2=10
Hrelgi: 6+4=10
Uthrilir: 7+1=8
Hrelgi: rolls 8, margin of 0

[74] Reaction times
Ninefingers: 9+2=11
Orcs: 8+3=11
Uthrilir: 7+3=10
Felewin: 8+1=9
Hrelgi: 6+3=9


Felewin reloads; Hrelgi turns another one’s armour into lava (6 on 8≤, and opposition is 8≤ and margin of 1). (One against Uthrilir.)
Ninefingers rolls a 4 (margin 4), Orc rolls 5 (margin 4), so no damage.
Orcs attack (there are three of them now, I think: one vs Felewin is stunned, one vs Hrelgi is gone, one vs Uthrilir is gone):
Vs. Ninefingers 4,3 8 Margin 5, 3 Margin 5 No effect; Margin 1, Margin 0: 1 hit for two injury, and the armor fails on both counts. Ninefingers is now at -1D.
Vs. Uthrilir 7, 7: margin 2 vs Margin 2, nothing
Uthrilir prays again to no effect this time (12).
Scout fails composure (10) again.

[75] (We'll try a table.)

Reaction Times
Felewin	8+1=9
Hrelgi	6+2=10
Ninefingers	8+4-1=11
Uthrilir	7+1=8
Orcs	7+5=12

Hrelgi and Felewin are using ranged abilities, so Hrelgi manages to turn one of Ninefingers’ opponents armour into Lava, and he falls down.
Felewin fires at the other opponent for Ninefingers, rolling 5 when he needs 10, margin of 5. Orc rolls 8 to defend, margin of 1. Damage roll is 4, so it gets through. One of the orcs against Ninefingers is down, the other has 1 level of injury.
Orcs attack: there are now two of them and the scout trying to make his composure. He rolls 7, and his composure is 4+5-1 or 8, so he makes it.
Vs. Ninefingers, The surviving orc rolls 7 to hit, which is margin 2, and Ninefingers rolls a 3, so that’s margin 4 for all attacks. The orc misses.
Vs. Uthrillir: Orc rolls 7, margin of 1 (he’s injured) but Uthrillir rolls 10, so orc hits. Damages is 5,3,5, so two get through: Uthrillir is now at -1 diff.
Uthrillir rolls 5 to hit his orc (margin 2), who rolls 8 to defend (margin 1), Uthrillir rolls for damage: 4,1,4, so two get through; his orc is is at 2 Diff and has taken 3 injury levels.

[76] Reaction times

Reaction times
Felewin	8+3=11
Hrelgi	6+2=8
Ninefingers	8+1-1=8
Uthrillir	7+4-2=9
Orcs	8+5=12,11,or 10, depending on how hurt they are.

Felewin reloads.
Hrelgi rolls 6 and the orc who just hurt Uthrillir goes down.
Orc tries to back up to scout. Scout trying to reload.
Uthrillir rolls 7 (Margin 0) against Ninefinger’s orc (who rolls 8, margin -) armour is 1, 2, 4 so that’s 1 more injury level, so now he has 3 (-2)
Ninefingers says, “We need one alive….” But hits his orc (6+2: margin 0), and the orc rolls 8+2, failure)