Iron Gauntlets
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.
5 - A Villain’s Lair, A Lost Cause
Inquire Evil (PC Positive)
It was still overcast but without threatening to rain. Besides his armour, Felewin was wearing a borrowed leather helm and borrowed gauntlets. The helm was hot and it itched; he was reminded why he kept not wearing his until he had lost it.
Ninefingers was not with him. They didn’t have anything for Ninefingers to wear, so he had reluctantly held back. The reasoning was simple:
War dogs would get there first. They would probably attack the weakest one, and because Ninefingers was smaller, he looked weaker.
Up at the loopholes, Kagandis had her bow out, and two of Brede’s archers were at the other loopholes. They had four loaded crossbows there, and Burl and Losdur to re-load the spent crossbows.
Before he got far from the door, Felewin banged a metal gong, something Daerdun had thrown together from two scraps of metal. It was not musical, but it was loud, and that’s what they wanted: noise to attract the orcs.
He listened, after the ringing had died in his ears. Birdsong. The wind in the trees.
Nothing else.
It was possible the orcs were there, but waiting for him to go farther. After all, if they came out, they would be exposed to the archers.
He took a deep breath and sighed, then walked slowly to a spot between the inn and the tower.
The inn didn’t look too bad, actually. The thatching had burned but the rafters looked okay; it didn’t look like the fire had spread to the actual wood. The reeds of the thatch might not have caught well.
Felewin banged the gong again. A flock of birds that were feeding inside the inn took off, smudging the sky.
Two possibilities: the orcs are watching or they’re not. If they are, maybe they’ll wait until I try to get back in. If they are not, then I’m fine.
Even if they aren’t watching now, they might come back.
He walked to the inn and entered. At least the inside of the inn was brighter without the roof.
The orcs had clearly been in here: stools were broken and pottery was smashed. The barrels for beer had been stove in.
Some things remained. Vegetables still hung from the rafters, though the rough twine holding hunches of onion and garlic had burned through and the roots were trampled on the floor — he could find them by smell, if he wanted to.
He quickly checked the rooms. Apparently the orcs had not been there. Everything was gone from Vengis’ room, but he didn’t know if that was the orcs or if Ubert had taken it as payment.
Ubert and Egren’s room was tidy, with a bed, a table with a bowl for water, and a chest. Egren didn’t seem to like him much; maybe if he brought the chest back with him..?
He tried lifting it. It was heavy but not impossible, so long as he didn’t need his arms free.
Why not, he thought, and lumbered out of the room to the door of the inn.
Then there was a pause: the door opened inward and his arms were full. He set the chest down and as it settled on the ground, he heard a hollering from the tower.
“Get back! Get back!”
Chest forgotten, Felewin tapped the helm to make sure it was there, and then slipped outside.
The yelling was clearer here. He looked left and right to figure out what he had to avoid.[15] He couldn’t see anything, but he decided to trust the people in the tower. He ran as fast as he could without dropping sword or armour, but that wasn’t fast enough.[16] The first war dog[17] leapt right before him and he started, felt the other pass behind him, and he sprinted.[18] He wasn’t fast enough to outpace them, but maybe…[19]
He tried running faster, but the first War Dog was already on him, leaping for his neck[20] but its teeth did not quite grab, though he’d have bruising there tomorrow. The weight tossed him forward, though, so the other dog missed. He slashed at the dog that had attacked him[21]. A crossbow bolt whistled past him and stuck into the hard ground.[22]
The injured dog snapped at him, and Felewin struck it again but he did not wait to see if he had killed it; he swung blindly to try and get the other dog and connected with nothing. This dog nipped at him even as the smell from the injured dog’s bowels rose up.[23]
The healthy dog bounced around and managed to bite him, but again the hauberk stopped its teeth. Now that he saw it, Felewin could hit it and then he pierced the heart of the first dog.
Got to run, he thought.[24] But the dog was too fast, even though it missed: it managed to stymie Felewin’s move, so Felewin took the opportunity to stab it.
Where the dogs go, the orcs are close. He could not see them, the world having closed down to him and the dogs, but he knew they were out there. He spared a moment to finish off this dog, and then looked around.
More arrows fell at his feet, but these didn’t come from the tower.
Now even a man focused on combat could see the dozen orcs running for him.[25]
Felewin would have run to the tower, but then the orcs would be catch him before he got there; they were fast.
He sprinted back to the inn.
The orcs changed course to follow him.
Behind him, one orc tumbled because of an arrow[26] hit his neck; he landed wrong and broke his neck. Other arrows rained down.[27]
Felewin did not notice as he barred the inn door.
The inn provided almost no protection: the roof was burned off here and over the stable-smithy at the other side of the courtyard. But it gave Felewin terrain to work with. Everywhere but the common area was too cramped for him to be surrounded by too many orcs.
The inn was a pair of low buildings connected by walls, creating a courtyard with the inn proper at one end and a stable and smithy at the other. This end had a door that could be barred; the other end probably did, but Felewin had not looked for it.
He sprinted to it and looked now.
There were barn doors; he shut them but couldn’t see a bar. He grabbed a pair of iron rods sitting there — maybe raw material for horseshoes — and put them in the brackets meant for a wooden bar. If the orcs shook the door, they could shake the rods free, but it was what he had.
He ran back to the inn proper. Orcs were already banging at the door, but it seemed solid.
If I were them, I’d split up: one group stays at the front, the rest search for another way in.
Behind him, he heard the stable door shake.
That won’t hold them long.
One of the rooms was best. Single entrance, and he could control their entrance. Best a room on a corner, so two edges had the stone foundation, about waist-high.
He pulled the inn door shut behind him and skipped the first hall, where Vengis’ room had been. The second hall was the one he wanted. The room at the end had most recently been home to Erdwain, the hero who had delivered Culwich the Black to the Margrave and whose body Felewin had found by the wererat lair.
The room might have been dim under normal circumstances, but without a roof it was fine. The straw tick in the center of the room was now filled with ashes, but nothing in the rest of the room had been burned.
Not that there was much in the rest of the room. A pendant of an eye, holy to followers of Jesil, was tossed in the corner. There was a chest — Ubert provided one in every room — and Felewin flipped it open.
Ubert hadn’t gone through it yet. A pair of gloves, clearly inscribed with magical symbols, though whether of luck or something else Felewin didn’t know. A bedroll. A pack, bulging with something.
Felewin listened: the orcs were still pounding at the door.
There are probably a dozen. Four at the front, four at the back, and I’ll bet four climbing over the wall.
He couldn’t have much time. He tucked the gloves in his belt; later he would figure out what they were. If he lived, he’d take the bedroll; Hastwine still had his. The pack was heavy, and tied shut.
He slashed the cord holding it and dumped its contents into the chest.
Gold and gems, and a collection of throwing daggers.
Felewin revised his opinion. Apparently Erdwain had been a successful adventurer. He recognized the shape of a pouch: lockpicks. Interesting.
There was a splintering sound: orcs had made it through the front door.
Huh. He had expected the back entrance.
The hero of an epic poem would jam daggers into the wall to make a ladder for escape, but Felewin didn’t have time, and the daggers wouldn’t hold his weight. All he could do is stand behind the door, ready to stab whomever came through. (Behind the door because several of the orcs had spears, and spears could be thrust through the opening, eviscerating our poor hero.)
He stood, sword drawn.
He heard the orcs coming down the hall. The first door banged; the second banged. The third[28] slammed open and the lead orc stabbed into the room; Felewin knocked the spear from his hands and then tried and failed to dodge. Fortunately, the second orc missed. The rear two orcs tried to get their weapons up, and one of them shouted for the rest.
Felewin[29] nearly finished off the orc before him, but the orc behind one managed to stab him; his stab glanced off Felewin’s hauberk.
Felewin[30] noticed the orc at the back disappear. A last strike killed the one in the front, and he sagged back against his companion, who had to shunt him to the side. Felewin took the opportunity to grab his spear and yank it away. The orc in the back snarled something at the second orc.
Felewin[31] stabbed the now-front orc twice; the first was true but the second hit the orc’s scale. That orc pulled out a dagger and swung wildly, missing.[32] The second orc swung his axe but missed because of the one before him.
Noises behind Felewin hinted that the orc might be heading to the adjacent room to climb the wall.
Felewin[33] managed to avoid the dagger and slew that orc; the orc sagged as he died and spoiled the aim of the third orc.
Felewin said, “You’re next,” to the orc with the ax. Please let the other one be busy.[34] He stabbed once and drew blood; he stabbed again and killed the orc.
Felewin stepped over the corpses and looked down the hallway. Other orcs hadn’t shown up yet but they couldn’t be far away.
You’ve been lucky so far. Don’t push it.
He ran for the splintered halves of the front door. As he reached it, he heard the scream of the orc who had vanished.
Nine of them, one of me. Run!
Then he heard many orcs yelling, as though the other groups of orcs had gathered in the inn and seen him leaving.
Like a lot of big men, Felewin wasn’t very fast, but he tried to be.[35] As he crossed the space he spotted one orc dead from an arrow to the head.
Eight to one. Still bad.
The door at the base of the tower was not opening, which was a bad thing, and then he saw why: one more dog was threatening the door.
In the time it would take him to deal with the dog, the orcs would be on him.
The only thing he could think of was to run around the tower and try to draw the dog and the orcs away from the door.
As he angled away from the door, he barked to get the dog’s attention.
The dog charged at him. The dog was much faster than the orcs, and was more of a threat.[36]
The dead orc flew from the ground and hit the dog. The dog yelped and worked its way from under the dead orc.
Felewin kept running; he could hear the other orcs behind him.
The orc was dead, he thought, so what… Oh. Magic.
Felewin hated magic, but he had to admit this spell had been useful.[37]
Now he could spot who was doing it: a woman and a dwarf down the road, heading this way. The dwarf had on some kind of armour, so the woman was the wizard.
He hoped they would be able to help deal with the orcs.[38]
He might even be able to out-run the orcs.
But[39] he had not counted on the dog, which had wriggled free and caught up with him easily.[40] It leapt past him, trying to get at his throat, but missed.
Felewin slashed at it as he ran past.[41] He hit, but continued to try and get around the palisade.
The wizard, Hrelgi, was closer now, so she tried magic again as she ran[42] … and all of the orcs fell down, as their feet moved from under them[43].
And the dwarf, Uthrilir, sprang amongst them. He hit an orc twice with his mace[44], and did a small amount of damage.
A pair of arrows hit orcs who were lying down.[45] No orcs were felled or seriously hurt by them.
The orcs began to get up. “Whatever you did, do it again!” Uthrilir cried out to Hrelgi.
Felewin saw none of this; he was sprinting around the back of the building, and he heard the dwarf’s cry, though indistinctly.[46]
The dwarf, Uthrilir, hit the orc twice more, doing another small amount of damage.
The orc’s armour had held, and he got to his feet. He swung his axe at Uthrilir and hit him solidly, bruising him but not penetrating the scales. One orc growled something, and stayed with Uthrilir; a pair of orcs ran for the wizard, and the other four headed after Felewin.[47]
The wizard gestured and one orc stumbled; the wizard then headed for the dwarf, avoiding the orcs.
The dwarf, on the other hand, muttered a prayer.[48] It seemed to be effective: one orc missed and the other hit but did no damage.
Felewin managed to make it around the corner but instead of seeing no one and a chance to make the door, he saw four orcs, two people, and a potential for trouble[49].
The dwarf’s chant changed slightly. Having asked his god for the favour, he[50] then hit an orc, thumping him on one thigh.[51]
Screaming, Felewin ran straight for one of the orcs.[52] He hit the other orc in the leg, running his sword right through the thing’s calf, and pulled out his sword. The orc didn’t respond: slow to feel pain.
The wizard gestured again[53] and the orcs who had been following Felewin all fell down on their backs. Felewin heard, “Finally!” from the wizard and she joined them. “Back to back?”
“You in the middle,” Felewin said, and turned to face the orcs following her.[54] Ignoring the orcs facing the dwarf was a mistake: one hid solidly, and the dwarf grunted as the axe bit his arm.[55] “Names when there’s time.”
Arrows fell down on the orcs: one hit one of the orcs who had been against the wizard and two hit one of the orcs against the dwarf.
The group[56] were tense. The wizard said a magic word and all the orcs she was facing — six of the eight — fell down. She said a second word and their armour became hot lava.
The smell and the screams were horrific, but there were still two orcs largely untouched.
The dwarf said, “May Hool have mercy on them. And on you, for you are about to die.”
Of the remaining orcs, one said uncertainly, “We will kill you.”
“You will die, like your compatriots,” said the wizard, turning to face them. She repeated[57] the word she had just used, and their armour became lava.[58] One orc simply died. The other managed to throw off his cuirass, but he had been badly burned.
The dog limped up and sniffed one of the corpses, and then began howling.
Felewin killed the dog. “You were well-trained, dog, and this is a mercy, for your master is dead.”[59]
“I’m still here,” snarled the orc in bad common tongue. “We have you surrounded and there will be reinforcements.”
“You’re badly burned and you will die,” said the dwarf. “Greet Hool for us; tell him his amulet is still causing problems.” He swung at the orc, who managed to limp away; arrows fell beside the orc and then one penetrated his chest.[60]
“Names?” asked Felewin again.
Game Mechanics
