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.
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