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.
24 — Dead Ends
Overthrow Evil (PC Positive)
“Felewin, Ninefingers, Emond, Hrelgi…you are not dwarves, and I had hoped to spare you this knowledge. That is the entrance to the Dwarf Roads, and we have killed the creatures keeping the orcs from finding it.”
“You said the Dwarf Roads were fiction,” said Ninefingers.
“Daerdun said that, not me.” He looked back. “We haven’t much time, but we need to close this tunnel and then try to escape.”
“Well, as long as escape is still on the menu,” said Felewin. “We haven’t got much to work with here.”
“We have Hrelgi.”
Felewin cocked an eyebrow.
“Here, Hrelgi. Where the passage widens up.”
“Not water this time,” she said. “In Westport there were walls to gather the water. Here it would flow all over us,” she said. “We don’t want to get our feet wet.”
Uthrilir shrugged. “You’re the expert.” He said to Felewin, “Give her the lantern.”
“What?” asked Felewin.
“She needs to be able to see her grimoire.”
“Fine.” He handed Hrelgi the lantern. She happily hung it around her neck.
“Did you say something?” Emond asked Felewin.
“No,” said Felewin, thinking, I hate wizards.
The group moved back into the previous cavern. They heard Hrelgi make the incantation.[245] There was a tremendous thump as a lot of sand fell to the ground, blocking the tunnel entirely.[246]
Hrelgi waved her hand to indicate she was relaxing the fabric of reality again, and headed to the rest of the group. “Done,” she said.
“Now we just have to make our way to the surface and escape,” said Ninefingers.
“I was hoping,” said Uthrilir, “that we’d try and find the dwarves already here.”
“I was hoping,” said Felewin, “that we’d work on surviving first.”
“You are getting pragmatic,” commented Ninefingers.
“They won‘t knight me if I’m dead. We go back the way we came, because we know a way out.”
“I have some knowledge of the caves from my own entrance,” said Emond.
“If we need it, we’ll use it. Hrelgi, you can keep the lantern while we’re down here, but you go in front of me in marching order; I block too much light if I’m in front of you. Emond, you’re second, behind Ninefingers.”
“A weapon? This is Hrelgi’s knife.”
“It’s got eltadyr eyeball on it. You can keep it until you wash it.”
“Let’s move!”
#
They were past the dead eltadyr when they heard a shuffling that didn’t sound like someone trying to be quiet but it didn’t sound like someone normal, either.
“Manikins, maybe? They found something Heardwhistle had left?” asked Ninefingers.
“We’ll know in a second—” Felewin said. “Ready?” He had an arrow sit in his bow.
Something was moving. Ninefingers, who could see the best, said, “Zombies. It’s zombies.”
Four reanimated orc corpses shuffled out from the tunnel that led to the workshop. Felewin looked at them curiously, trying to figure out if they had been reanimated where they fell or if there were some larger plan.
Hrelgi said some words[247], and the armour of the foremost zombie turned into lava. The additional weight made the zombie stumble, but it kept coming.
Felewin fired and the arrow sank into the second zombie. The arrow sank into the thing’s neck and stayed there.
Ninefingers said, “I really don’t want to fight something dripping lava. I mean, they’re wearing stone.” He slashed at the lead zombie and took a chunk out of its arm[248].
“They don’t smell much. Are they fresh?” asked Emond. He had not dashed forward.
Uthrilir began praying, but it seemed to have no effect.
The zombies kept moving. Felewin unstrung his bow and drew his sword.
Ninefingers managed to take the head off the first zombie, and it fell to the ground. “You could lava the one in the back.”
“Sure,” said Hrelgi.[249] The lava faded back into scale armor.[250] Hrelgi spoke again, and one at the back stumbled and glowed red.
Uthrilir prayed again, with more fervor[251], and this time the zombies stopped and shuffled back into the darkness of the tunnel behind them.
Felewin was tempted to go after them — leaving an enemy behind you was a bad plan — and then realized that they had to move quickly.
“Good work,” he told Uthrilir.
“Thank the Lady,” said Uthrilir.
Felewin pushed as much as they could and soon they were near the top of the tunnel down. Ninefingers made a quiet gesture, and Hrelgi shut the lantern, leaving them in darkness while the goblin moved forward to check.
Uthrilir was confident in the Lady’s protection, so he did not look back to check for zombies, and none came.
Ninefingers returned after some agonizingly long time. “Fast; it’s clear for now. No lights until we get into the latrine tunnel.”
They moved as quickly as they could, and they were helped by the light from the orcs’ Great Hall, when suddenly there was a cry from ahead.[252]
Ninefingers broke off to the right and the others, still holding on to each other, had to follow him.
They reached the Great Hall, and Ninefingers quietly said an obscenity.
They could all see in the room: it was warmed by fires in three corners and a half-dozen braziers. Six orcs sat there with mugs or asleep and four more stood at the barrel filling mugs.[253]
The standing orcs noticed them come in. Ninefingers started running for the nearest exit from the Great Hall. He would have rather gone for the biggest exit, which he reasoned was the tunnel they had been in, but not against ten orcs in an indefensible position.
Felewin had done the same calculation he had and sprinted for the same tunnel. He was slower than everyone else, so he was last in; he turned to face the oncoming orcs.
It was the four of them; the six at the table were apparently in a drunk stupor.
Beside him, he could sense Uthrilir. He heard a cry from behind them, in orc: the tunnel they had chosen was not empty. It was, however, narrow: when Felewin and Uthrilir stood side by side they blocked the way. The orcs could only stand two abreast.
The air from inside wafted over them. It smelled terrible, like burning hair.
The first orc swung[254] and avoided Felewin’s shield, but his sword banged against Felewin’s chain. Felewin struck[255] well and hurt the orc in the armpit. The other orc struck at Uthrilir and missed.[256] Uthrilir[257] hit the orc but its armor took most of it.
Meanwhile, Ninefingers found himself facing three orc shamans. The flicker of one’s gaze showed him that their spears and swords were resting at the far part of the chamber. Ninefingers dashed forward to the farthest one, the one closest to the spears, and stabbed[258] the orc shaman through the throat.
Hrelgi said one of the spells she had memorized.[259]
Emond expected something to happen but when nothing did, he assumed it was a misfire. Wizards had them, and frankly, Hrelgi had not grown up in a good environment for learning magic.
She was probably only here because she had become attached to the dwarf.
He ducked forward and stabbed[260] the nearest shaman. With luck, Ninefingers would take on the third.
Ninefingers did, in fact, swivel to the third one, standing between him and the weapons.[261] He struck solidly and the orc shaman screamed in pain.
Emond muttered, “Showoff,” but his orc shaman had snatched up a cone of incense and threw it wildly toward Emond, who took another slash[262] that opened the shaaman’s arm.
Meanwhile, Felewin barely hit the orc facing him[263] and thought he had hurt him, but wasn’t sure. The orc riposted[264] but missed. Uthrilir hit[265] and saw the orc weaken, but there was still an orc waiting behind him. That orc[266] suddenly had his armor turn to lava, and he screamed loudly enough that one of the orcs at the table blearily lifted its head. “A fire. Good. Too cold in here,” it muttered to itself and closed its eyes again.
“Thanks, Hrelgi,” said Uthrilir.
Ninefingers thought, Uh, could use a little help, too, but[267] slashed at the orc shaman and brought it close to death. “What is this place? What are you doing here?” he asked in goblin, which was close enough to the orc tongue.
“We are the Split Tongue Tribe, and we will rule![268]” He began a prayer, but it had no effect.
“This one might know more,” said Emond.[269] He slashed again but his blade skittered along the metal rivets in the orc’s hauberk. That orc scrambled for a nearby vial; he managed to get it and drink it.
That’s probably bad, thought Ninefingers.
He stabbed at the orc’s thigh, near where an artery should be, and severed it. The orc died messily. Emond stabbed the orc shaman again, hurting it again.[270]
The orc said, “You fool! The blood unguent restores health to those who are strong enough!” He grimaced in pain and then fell over, dead.
Ninefingers said “I guess he wasn’t strong enough. Something called ‘blood unguent.’”
Felewin was whittling down his opponent[271] and finally killed him. He drew his sword out quickly and adopted a defensive posture…[272]but the orc’s armor turned into lava, and the orc fell screaming to the ground. Both orcs were dead in a moment.
Ninefingers smashed another vial. “Emond, break the vials. I’ll check to see where this leads.” He slipped down the tunnel.
He was back in a moment. “It goes nowhere. I guess it’s where they make the unguent. They had some drying or something; I threw it to the ground.”
Felewin was looking out at the Great Hall. “Anything?” he asked. He handed Emond a shortsword and a shield from the dead orcs.
“No,” said Ninefinger. “Dead end.”
“Across the Great Hall, then. If it’s any benefit, those orcs won’t stop us.” One of the orcs had roused itself enough to get up and then it fell down and stayed there. “We haven’t exactly been quiet.”
“There’s a big idol over there,” said Emond. “We could get that gem that makes its eye and come out with a little profit.”
“If you want to, go ahead,” said Felewin. “But it ends our association. We’re trying to get out with our lives.”
Emond thought for a fraction of a moment and then said, “I’ll stick with you.”
“Good plan.”
They had never been in the Great Hall before. They knew what tunnel they were in, they know what tunnel they had come in by, but there were four other possible exits.
“Not that one; that looks like where they keep the dogs, and just be glad the dogs are out looking for us,” said Ninefingers.
“Pick one,” said Felewin.
They ran across to the next one, and into it. Soon it branched. “Left or right?”
Emond peeked down the tunnels and said, “Right looks like where they marched me to drop me down the chute. I’d pick left.”
Ninefingers led again. The air grew foul with the smell of decay and rot, but the walls were still clean. Finally they burst into a room with three goblins working, and two fury dogs.
Felewin swore this time, but the fury dogs were already on Ninefingers.[273]
The first missed; the second grabbed him but its paws hit armor. Hrelgi started flipping through her grimoire; she hadn’t expected anything like this.
Emond hit one of the fury dogs with his new sword and connected, but the ferocity of the dog showed where its name came from; Felewin hit the same dog, but not cleanly.[274] Uthrilir moved forward to find clear space and hit the top dog as if he were a golfer[275]; the dog flew to the far side of the room and lay there, dead.
The goblins grabbed up stones to defend themselves.
Ninefingers still had a dog on top of him, but he couldn’t get his sword free. Instead he fumbled for his knife and tried to sink its blade into the animal. He managed, but the fury dog kept going. Its sharp teeth just missed his head, and the other head snarled and snapped at Felewin[276] but its teeth closed on mail.
Felewin took the opportunity to slice at the thing’s neck[277]. Uthrilir brought his mace down[278] and killed the animal.
“You okay? I don’t feel proud…it was three-to-one,” said Felewin as he helped up the goblin.
“I feel proud. Those things are nasty,” said Ninefingers.
Hrelgi, who had the light, said, “Um, guys?” She flashed the light up to one of the entrances.
Zombies were entering.
Not just one or two zombies; there were zombies as far back as they could see, though admittedly that wasn’t terribly far. All had weapons and armour, though only some had shields.
“Uthrilir? Pray now,” said Felewin. The group moved to the right and put their backs against the wall, forming a loose cordon around Hrelgi and Uthrilir.
The zombies were not on another mission; they were intent on the group.[279]
One was near enough to swing, and Felewin struck it before it could move[280] — he hacked off an arm, but that wasn’t enough to stop the monster. It swung its remaining hand at Felewin and Felewin batted it away with his shield.[281] Felewin heard Uthrilir praying behind him.
Uthrilir finished, and the zombies wandered away. Any in the chamber moved out into the tunnels; any waiting to come into the chamber backed up.
Slowly the group moved forward. (“I have no idea where this is,” Emond said in a low voice.) Zombies backed up to make room but the tunnel was too narrow to allow the zombies to get away from the group.
Hrelgi in the meantime was flipping pages in her grimoire. “If I can find the magic controlling the zombies…”
They moved slowly, clustered around Uthrilir, heading deeper into the chamber, and giving the zombies time to back up. The zombies who had left returned, staying away from Uthrilir but ordered to find them. Felewin guessed that there were maybe two dozen of them, and he didn’t know if they could succeed against that many.
The tunnel narrows ahead; maybe use that as a choke point, he thought. That relies on them being on one side, though, not both.
The next chamber was hazy and smoky. The zombies were shuffling back; there was another chamber where they were going. There were four exits, actually, but the zombies seemed to be concentrating on one. In the crowd, they became aware of an orc in vestments: Ninefingers recognized them as similar to the ones the shamans had worn, but more elaborate. The—call it a high priest—carried an intricately carved bone staff.
“He’s probably controlling the zombies,” said Ninefingers. “Kill him, and the zombies just wander around.”
“Then we still have two dozen zombies to worry about,” said Emond.
“But they’re not being directed to kill us,” said Felewin, fitting an arrow to his bow. “Better chance. Uthrilir, don’t get too close to him; we need you. Hrelgi, keep the light on him, do what you can, and protect Uthrilir.”
Felewin let the arrow fly.[282] It scraped along the orc’s head.
Ninefingers slashed at the orc but the orc parried with the staff.[283]
Emond didn’t get close enough, so his strike missed. The orc snapped out some vile sounding words[284] and Emond shook his head, then scratched the back of his hand.[285]
Hrelgi said her incantation[286] and the bone staff flew into her hand.
“Let’s see if you can control zombies without it,” she said.
Uthrilir kept praying.[287]
Ninefingers slashed again,[288] Emond was still clutching at the back of his hand, while Felewin fitted another arrow to his bow. The priest said another brief prayer[289] but Ninefingers resisted the urge to scratch the boils that were developing on his hands and face.
Felewin said, “Can you help them, Uthrilir?”
“I can help them or keep the zombies at bay.”
Felewin grunted. That was no choice at all.
Hrelgi tossed the staff behind her; she needed both hands to use the grimoire and point the lantern.
Felewin let go of the arrow.[290] Like the last one, it avoided his clothes and hit the orc in the scalp. Ninefingers wailed in frustration as the itching was so bad, but he managed to hit the orc’s leg, revealing mail under the high priest’s robes.
The high priest dove for the talisman.[291] He fell on the ground, whimpering, before Felewin, before scrambling back.
Ninefingers hacked again, this time at the orc’s head, and hit, beheading the high priest.[292] The orc’s head rolled backward, where a zombie picked it up and began biting at it.
“We’ve still got two dozen zombies here,” said Felewin. “What if we back away into … that corridor, and let them pass?”
In response, Uthrilir began to shuffle back. Hrelgi kicked the bone staff in the direction they were heading; it was probably evil and she didn’t want the orcs to get it.
“Emond. Emond!” said Felewin. “This way.”
Emond whispered something that Felewin couldn’t make out.
Hrelgi said, “Zombies first, then we’ll get you fixed. Big baby.”
They had to retreat quite far into the tunnel before the zombies would pass them. With the high priest’s death, they no longer seemed fixated on the adventurers but still lethal.
Hrelgi impelled hard egg-like rocks from the table to move the last stragglers, and then it was safe for them to re-enter the high priest’s chamber.
Ninefingers quickly checked out each of the exits from the chamber and came back (looking slightly nauseated). “You don’t want to go there, and I have bad news. We’re stuck. We came in the only exit.”
Game Mechanics
[245] And she rolls a 2: automatic success.
[246] And she rolls a 6 on the Reasoning+Composure roll at difficulty -2, so she needed an 8≥.
[247] She rolls a 5 so the spell works. She rolls a 2 for the Reasoning+Composure, so that works too.
[248] He rolls an 8, margin of -1, but the zombie has a margin of -4, so it works.
[249] 8 to cast, 3 to avoid brain-burn.
[250] She rolls an 8 on her 9≥, and the one at the back takes 4 health levels out of 10.
[251] Difficulty is 3 (4-1 for holy object) He has 9≥ so he needs 6≥, and he rolls a 6. Yay.
[252] I’m in story mode, so I’m going to force a sighting here. If they’re sighted anyplace but at an intersection, they have no choice but to fight. At an intersection, they can choose to run.
[253] The adventure suggests that they are easily surprised, but I figure an alert has gone out and the only ones left are either in a stupor (the ones at the tables) or are refueling (the ones at the barrel).
[254] Margin 2, but the orc rolls 7 and has a margin of 3. The shield does not stop the 3 Inj but the chain does (1,3,2).
[255] Felewin rolls 10, a triumph, for double damage: 6 Inj.that does 3 health levels (1,5,6,2,3,4).
[256] Margin 4 for defense, margin 2 for success: he misses.
[257] Uthrilir’s margin of 3 (rolls 6) versus Margin 1. Hits. Armor is 4,3,1, so one gets through.
[258] The orc rolls a 9, which does not make it for a dodge. Ninefingers rolls a 3, which is a triumph. 2,3,3,5,5,4: that’s 5 health levels; that orc is dead.
[259] Her spell works (she rolls a 6) and she adds 6 to Uthrilir’s protection. She rolls a 5 on the Reasoning+Composure roll.
[260] The orc shaman tries a spell but it doesn’t work Rolls 6 but it’s difficulty 2, and he only has 6≥); Emond manages to hit him (with a 7) and it gets through.
[261] Ninefingers has margin 4, orc has margin -3, he hits (4,6,1)
[262] Emond rolls a 5 (margin 4) to hit versus a 6 margin -2; his knife does one health level, but it does it.
[263] Felewin rolls a 6, orc rolls a 7, so it’s margin 4 to 3. 2 Inj get through the shield, one of those gets through the armor.
[264] Orc rolls a 3, but he’s injured and at -3, so that’s Margin 4; Felewin isn’t injured and rolls a 5, margin 5.
[265] Uthrilir’s marin 4 versus margin 1; all 3 get through the shield, and 2 get through the armour.
[266] Hrelgi rolls 6 for the spells, so it works, and and 2 for the Reasoning+Composure roll.
[267] Ninefingers swing is 10, which just makes it (margin 0) but the orc shaman’s dodge is a 6, which is a margin of -2. So he hits. Two get through (1,3,4) and the shaman is down by 4.
[268] The orc tries a prayer but rolls an 11, so there is no intercession by the gods from him.
[269] His slash is a roll of 7 (margin 2) versus an unskilled athletics dodge of 5 (margin -1), so he hits, but the studded leadher stops it.
[270] Ninefingers rolled a 6 to hit versus a 10, so that’s margin 6 versus -8; it does 3 damage (1,4,5) and the orc dies.
Emond rolls a 6 versus a 9 (margin 3 versus margin -6) and does one health level (6). The orc then rolls a 12 on its Fitness+Composre roll and dies instantly.
[271] He rolls a 7 (margin 3) versus 6 (margin 2 after ijuries); his sword gets past the shield and 1 level gets through…which is enough.
[272] Hrelgi rolls a 5 on her spell, and a 3 on the composure test.
[273] Fury dog attacks, 8 margin 2 versus 2 margin 8. Fury dog misses. Second fury dog is 8 margin 2 and it succeeds because Ninefingers used his block. That one misses, too. Ninefingers
[274] Emond: rolls a 9 but both levels go through; Felewin rolls a 5 but only two get through (1,5,4).
[275] Roll 8, all 3 get through (5,3,4).
[276] Margin 5 versus Margin 2, so it hits him. Nothing gets through (1,1)
[277] Felewin rolls 5 to hit (margin 5 vs Margin 0) and does 2 levels of damage (3,4,1).
[278] Rolls a 2! Damage is 3, 3, 1 or two levels
[279] Given the number of zombies, Uthrilir is going to try a prostrated task to change the difficulty of the prayer from 2 to 0. In exchange for a grade of Fatigue, he prays hard and manages, barely: He rolls an 8, which makes it. The group is now protected against most of the zombies in the horde for a range of 16 meters. (4 meters times Uthrilir’s INF of 4.)
[280] Hey, when you roll a 2, good things happen. And it’s a triumph, so the action gets rid of 6 of the zombie’s 10 levels.
[281] Zombie rolls a 9, which is margin -3 (it’s 6≥ on brawling); Felewin has margin 0 with his weapon.
[282] It’s a called shot, difficulty 0+2; Felewin rolls a 10, which is margin 3, which beats 2. The arrow sinks into the orc’s head. The orc rolls a 2 for composure, so he’s fine.
[283] Ninefingers rolls 9 (margin 1) but the orc high priest parries with a 5 (margin 3)
[284] Emond rolls an 11 and the orc rolls a 5, so margin -2 versus 3. The orc prays and rolls a 7, which makes his Curse roll (he’s got a holy symbol and is in a holy place, so difficulty 0).
[285] Nope, Emond doesn’t have composure, so a 9 fails the Fitness+Composure roll.
[286] Hrelgi rolls a 7, which makes her Fabrica Motus roll by 2. Does the orc make his non-existent Athletics roll? With a 5, he does not. She rolls a 7, which makes her R+C roll at difficulty -1.
[287] Mechanically, Uthrilir doesn’t need to but it makes sense in the context of the world.
[288] Ninefingers rolls an 8 (margin 2) for a called shot that avoids clothes (difficulty 2). The orc high priest attempts to dodge but has no athletics skill, so it’s 4 or less: He rolls a 3, and makes it (margin 1) Ninefingers doesn’t beat that combined difficulty.
[289] Priest rolls a 5, which makes the difficulty 2 roll by 3, and the Cursed plague hits Ninefingers. Ninefingers doesn’t have composure either but he does roll a 4, which makes his F+C roll. He does not drop everything to scratch at the sudden boils.
[290] Rolled 8, distance is point blank, so he makes it by 2. The point of damage gets through.
Ninefingers rolls a 8, which just makes it against the orc’s failed dodge. Armor gets most of it, though.
Emond fails his Fit+Composure roll by 2.
[291] It’s behind them and he’s going to have trouble getting closer to Uthrilir: call it difficulty 4 because of Uthrilir’s influence. Awareness+composure: He rolls an 11, and failes
[292] Ninefingers made a called shot, rolled a 7 for a difficulty 2 shot, made it. No armour applied, 3 health levels, done.
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