Iron & Gold
Lost in the Borderlands is based on the module Borderlands of Adventure, by J (who I presume is Walter J. Jones Jr., the copyright holder) and published by New Realms Publishing as NRP 31001.
It was written for Labyrinth Lord and I have converted to Iron & Gold by Precis Intermedia Games. It follows a few other adventures with these characters.
Ironwood Gorge —::— Curse of Strahd
Next Chapter By The Marsh
Lost in the Borderlands
1. Berserkers
Felewin, Ninefingers, Hrelgi, and Uthrilir were searching for shelter from the oncoming rain; they had been driven off their intended path by weather and animals, when Ninefingers spotted a fire in the distance. Ninefingers crept close, and Felewin was not far behind him, although not so stealthy.
There were men, dressed in shaggy hides and huddled around a fire. Beyond were six tents. Ninefingers whispered, “Six, maybe eight people.”
Felewin whispered back, “I wish there were a way to tell if they were friendly. Dusk is coming on.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” said Ninefingers. “Land’s too flat to set up camp and not be noticed. Trees don’t provide enough cover for our fire.”
“Eight people is two to one in case of trouble,” said Felewin.
Ninefingers chewed his lip thoughtfully. “We need a surprise held back. Those are humans, so I’m not welcome. You three approach the humans; if there’s a problem, I’m in reserve.”
Felewin shook his head. “It’s going to rain. You need shelter.”
“Then bring me in after we know if they’re good. I’m your servant who went out to search for food.”
“No; if they do attack, you’ll be too far away…that’s ten to three, maybe worse. You are helpless with a bow or sling, and we really need someone who can hit them from a distance.”
“Then that leaves you to stay back—not a good idea!—or Hrelgi.”
Felewin thought about this. “She could be up in a tree, work all her magic from there.”
“We’ll ask her.”[1]
#
Felewin, Ninefingers, and Uthrilir came within hailing range of the fire. Felewin called, “Yo! Travellers! Can we share your fire? We have only rations but we will share.”
“Have you wine or mead?” called back one.
“Wine.”
“Then you are welcome!” Others laughed, and they talked in low voices until the three came closer. One of them said, “Come and join us. I’m Marlraet. Make yourself comfortable — that gear looks heavy. We can make space for you to lie here.”
“Awfully kind of you,” Felewin said. “We were in the Gorge.”
“Bad luck that,” Marlraet said. “No game in the Gorge.”
“We got some of the game we were after,” Felewin said.
“Orc-killing? The Tower two days south will pay bounty for orc’s ears.” He looked over at Ninefingers. “Goblin ears, too.”
“My companion and associate,” said Felewin. “And the Tower has removed the bounty on goblin ears.”
“Well, there’s a source of money gone.” Marlraet shrugged. “Enough to make a man turn Jack Bandy.” Felewin stared at him, disapprovingly. “I mean, take now, for instance. Here you are, tired from a long day walking and there are only three of you. We, on the other hand outnumber you by a great deal and we are not tired.” He stood up, and the other men around the fire also stood up.
Uthrilir softly said, “Are you threatening us?”
“There’s a hand more of us than there are of you, so I think we’re promising you. Unless you hand over your goods, we’ll give you a world of hurt.”
Uthrilir raised his mace, and Felewin said hastily, “We have nothing of value. We wanted to share your fire peacefully.”
“Everyone says they have nothing of value,” said Marlraet. “We’ll be the judge, so hand it over. Food and drink first.”
“I think I speak for my friends when I say that we will not,” said Felewin. He drew his sword and pulled his shield from his back.[2]
Uthrilir growled.[3] “You will regret this if the blood-lust takes me.” He solidly hit the man nearest him, taking him across the knees. A man[4] at the back screamed because his hide clothes suddenly turned to lava; the man fell to the ground and the others looked startled. Felewin[5] hit Marlraet squarely, wounding the man seriously, and Ninefingers[6] also hit, but not as well.
The others seemed to gain courage from this; Marlraet[7] managed to hit Felewin’s shield but did nothing else; another managed to move around to Ninefingers but failed to hit him. The one who screamed and charged Uthrilir missed as the dwarf stepped out of his way. Ninefingers suddenly found himself facing two opponents, but one missed, though the other did not hit. The men who had already been injured missed, though some by less than others.
Then[8] Felewin[9] took off Marlraet’s head; another beserker[10] fell down with his furs transformed into lava; and Ninefingers[11] grievously wounded his opponent. Uthrilir[12] hit his foe again.
Felewin hoped they’d give up and run away, but they didn’t; if anything, they redoubled their efforts, attacking in a frenzy.[13] Two of them got in shots against Felewin and Nnefingers, but the wounds were not serious.
Felewin cried out, “You cannot win!”
But they kept attacking. The two unhurt one, facing Uthrilir, growled, “We will not yield!” …and then he burst into flame. The only unhurt one was left facing Uthrilir. With sorrow, Felewin killed the man he was facing, but some other deeply wounded man managed to slice him hard; Felewin tried to block it but broke off his sword, leaving it at half-length. Ninefingers finished one of his foes but opened himself to an attack by the other one on him.
Uthrilir two opponents died by lava, but the lava turned back to hides. Felewin was so exhausted and hurt that he missed his foe. Ninefingers likewise missed, but so did the men. Uthrilir killed one of his opponents.
The healthiest among them was one of the men, who snarled at Ninefingers, “You will meet Vulk today, green skin!” Ninefingers ducked down, under his swing.
Wounds and exhaustion were taking their toll on everyone, but the men in furs were clearly getting the worst of it. There were three still up, and then all three were killed.
Felewin fell to his knees, clutching one of his wounds.[14]
Uthrilir staggered over to him, and asked the Maiden’s blessing. The dwarf laid hands on Felewin, but not all of the man’s wounds were healed; all of Ninefingers’ wounds were healed when Uthrilir got to him.
Hrelgi ran up. “Are you okay? Is everyone fine?”
Felewin held up a bloody hand. “Yes. Of course. We’re fine, thanks to the Maiden.”
“I got three of’em,” said Hrelgi with satisfaction.
“You did, young one,” said Uthrilir. “You did.”
Ninefingers checked Felewin’s remaining wound. “We need to bandage that; you don’t want it opening and bleeding you dry.”
“Of course,” muttered Felewin. “He broke my sword.”
“I hope it wasn’t special.”
“It was just a sword.” Felewin shrugged. “But I am not so good with the long straight blades they were using.”
“You rest; I’ll see what I can fetch from the tents. There might be food and bandages we can use.”
“Mayhap. What good is a fighter without a sword?”
“You’ll be fine in a few days,” said Ninefingers. Behind him, Uthrilir shook his head to disagree.
“Hrm,” said Hrelgi. She started flipping pages in her grimoire, then opened the shutter on the lamp. “I might be able to help.”
More page flipping happened. “I know how to do this on myself, but someone else—someone who isn’t a dwarf—that’s new. I have to change this particle because you’re human….”
Felewin watched her with distant amusement. He wondered if maybe he didn’t feel some kind of shock.[15] She dug through her purse and found a twig—no, it was something dried. “Skink tail,” she explained. “Quiet, please. I’ve never done this before.”
Felewin raised an eyebrow. Hrelgi spake the incantation.
“How do you feel?”
“Fine. I feel better than fine…excellent. Most hale.”
Uthrilir said, “Except for the pointy ears, you’re lovely.”
Felewin’s hands went to his ears, but they were perfectly normal, and Uthrilir laughed at his own joke.
#
Ninefingers checked each of the tents to make sure no one was hiding there. The four of them drank the beer and a quarter of the rations that the men had stored. By then the rain had started, so they each took a tent meant for two. Uthrilir said, “If you find a ring or clothing, please don’t try it on. I have some experience with cursed things, and you would not like being cursed.”[16]
In the morning, they each brought the items the men had stored in their tents. Hrelgi brought out a sword and said, “I don’t know if this would be useful to you, but you’re welcome to it.” She let Felewin take it from her.
It was finely made, with a curve: more a slashing weapon than a stabbing one, and the pommel was chased silver in the shape of a wolf’s head.
“It’s magic,” she said.
“You made it magic?” he asked. He did not want to take it out of its scabbard until Uthrilir pronounced it not-cursed.
“No, it already was magic,” Hrelgi said.
Felewin nodded. “Magic how?”
Uthrilir said, “I said, not cursed, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Hrelgi shrugged. “Keen edge, good aim, reaches into the spirit realm. I’m guessing, but those are the usual benefits for a sword.”[17]
Felewin took it in hand.
It fit fine. Not so well that he was spoiled for all other swords forever more, but it was good.
“Thank you,” he said simply, and sheathed the sword.
It took some time to pack everything up, but Felewin insisted on packing up even the tents they were not going to use or take. “We’ll put them in a supply cache[18] over in this tree. With the tree’s permission, we’ll blaze it with a sign, and future travelers will find it. They might have need of the tents and furs.”
Ninefingers shook his head. “There you go, again. Are you keeping any gems or gold you found in your tent?”
“There were a few rings, nothing else,” said Felewin.
Ninefingers nodded. “Nothing else.” He looked like he was going to say something and then decided not to.
Hrelgi held out her hand. “See my bracelet?”
“It’s lovely,” said Ninefingers. He picked up a silver-tipped spear from the pile and reversed it, letting the butt rest on the ground. “Walking stick.”
Felewin shook his head. “Back at the keep we’ll have Daerdun cut that down for you. Can you use a spear?”
Uthrilir said, “I can.”
“I’m not going to argue,” said Felewin. “You’ll find it heavy, though.”
Monsters
Studded leather is a house rule that gives protection 1 to both fat and inj.
Berserkers
| Abilities | F3 A3 C2 R2 I4 |
|---|---|
| Skills | Athletics 5 (≤8), Dueling 5 (≤8), Finesse 2 (≤5), Stealth 3 (≤6), Subterfuge 3 (≤7) |
| Gimmicks | Hardened |
| Arms | Longsword (2 inj), Studded leather (1) |
Game Mechanics
[1] Hrelgi needs to stealthily climb a tree near them. She’s sure-footed, so that helps. I’m going to assign a +2 difficulty to her athletics roll (7-, difficulty 2) for doing it quietly. Rolls a 4, which makes the stealth and the climbing.
[2] Reactions: Hrelgi 10, Felewin 9, Ninefingers 13, Barbarians 8, Uthrilir 7+5, 12 Ninefingers holds back; he’ll wait for Felewin.
[3] Uthrilir just hits the guy nearest him. He rolls a 2, so his opponent takes 2 damage because his armor fails.
[4] Hrelgi has looked up furs-to-lava and is willing to try. She rolls an 8 on a difficulty 0 task, so that works. Does she make composure+reasoning at a -2 difficulty? She rolls 3, so she gets it easily.
[5] Felewin rolls a 2 as well and Marlraet’s armour fails (2, 3, 5), so Marlraet is hit for 3.
[6] Ninefingers rolls a 7, so he hits his opponent, but one point of the armor works, so his opponent only takes 1.
[7] Marlraet rolls 7 (margin -1) vs Felewin’s margin of 1. rolls 8 (margin 2) vs 11 Marlraet (margin -5) does 3.
[8] Reactions: Felewin 9 Hrelgi 11 Ninefingers 11 Uthrilir 9 Marlraet 11 Berserkers 7
[9] Felewin gets margin 7 versus margin 1, so he does 3 and ignores armor. Marlraet gone.
[10] Hrelgi (makes roll with 6, C+R makes it margin 0) 4 damage to B8
[11] Ninefingers rolls 3, and does 2 more damage to B4.
[12] Uthrilir rolls 3 (margin 7) vs B7 margin 1 does 2
[13] First one rolls 7 so margin 0 vs Uthrilir Margin 2 Second rolls a 2 vs Felewin’s 12, so 3 damage, but shields gets 1, chain gets 1, so 1 damage gets through but shield comes loose. B5 is unhurt, but gets a margin of 4 vs Uthrilir’s margin 5
[14] Uthrilir rolls a 7 to help him, which barely does it. Felewin gets back 2 levels of health. On the next turn, Uthrilir rolls a 7 again for Ninefingers, who is completely healed.
[15] Hrelgi casts the spell (Fabrica Materia/Salubrity), and rolls a 6, so Felewin recovers her creativity in injury levels…which gets him to full.
[16] No wandering monsters overnight.
[17] And now Felewin has a +1 magic sword.
[18] Survival roll: 7. I think that gives them a hiding place.
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