Tale of the Black Sword 2 – Come, Take

 August 13th, continued.

Ivy gathers her ragtag new warband together and issues some commands:

• She names Nogi, Heinryk the Hero, and Harg the bugbear as her champions.

• Mothclaw the orc is named a captain, and is to take charge of the orcs, the hobgoblins, Rangrop the goblin, and Keek the kobold.

• Ambrosius, her councillor, is in charge of the humans, the elves, and the dwarf.

Mothclaw is told to haul the bugbear corpses out of the cave and pile them outside. He has to bully the hobgoblins into following orders, as they resent being asked to do manual labor and having an orc placed in charge of them.

Ambrosius is to take inventory of food and supplies. He establishes that Robart and Delgert know how to cook and sets them to preparing a meal. Ambrosius is not thrilled about needing to manage mundane tasks like this, but he is able and charismatic so he has little trouble.

Ivy and her champions take stock of their store of weapons. The great shields and maces of the bugbears are too large for anyone but Harg and Heinryk to use. They find two spears among the dead jailers, and Ivy awards these to the orcs Luggog and Urskrag to help Mothclaw keep order. Delgert is given Ivy’s dagger.

With the work done, the warband feasts. There is a great deal of high-quality food in the bugbears’ larder, and the watered wine isn’t bad either. The former prisoners have not eaten so well in a long time. To everyone’s surprise, Ivy then piles up the bugbears’ treasure and distributes it. She, Ambrosius, and the champions each receive a double share:

• Double shares: 32 gp, 120 sp

• Single shares: 16 gp, 60 sp

Other items are distributed as gifts:

• Ambrosius receives the silver urn

• Harg receives his former chief’s gold earrings

• Nogi, Heinryk, and Mothclaw each receive a gem.

Ambrosius casts Cure Light Wounds on Ivy, restoring her to full HP.

Ivy orders a watch set and retires to the chief’s chamber to rest, while the rest of the band camps in the main guard room, near the fire. For now nobody wants to try sweeping out the bugbear dungeons or claiming any of their other caves. A reaction roll of 11 tells me that at least for the moment the warband is content. They are warm, full, slightly drunk, and have been reassured of fair rewards if they follow their new leader. However, I did write that Keek the kobold would try to escape “at the earliest opportunity” unless carefully watched. Will she have an opportunity? A roll under Wisdom for each of the champions on sentry duty reveals that she sneaks out of the cave while Nogi, Dorben the dwarf, and Drunvir the elf are on watch, taking Nogi’s gem with her. When Nogi discovers the missing gem he blames Rangrop the goblin and comes to blows with Mothclaw over it. They each take 2 damage before Harg breaks up the fight. 

Ivy hears the case in stony silence. Nogi is willing to forget it, but Mothclaw wants to see Nogi punished. Ivy rules that Nogi must pay a fine of 50 gp to Mothclaw and 10 gp to Rangrop for fighting, and says that if he drinks on watch again she’ll put his other eye out. Nogi is ashamed and angry, but believes Ivy would follow through on her threat. For desertion Keek is declared a traitor. Any member of the warband who sees her is welcome to kill her and claim the gem she stole.

Keep on the Borderlands informs me that the day after the bugbear cave is raided two bugbears return from a hunting trip. Bugbears get surprise on a 3-in-6: these two achieved surprise and then failed a morale check on seeing the bodies of their clanmates piled outside the cave and firelight within. They slink away unseen, and a brief consultation with my oracle dice reveals that they head for the Stonelands.

August 14th

The warband eats well while Ivy gives her orders. She means for them to raid the armory in the hobgoblin cave and haul as many supplies as they can from the goblin stores. At present their supplies will last some weeks, but the goblin cave contains a much greater store that she means to secure. To do that they’ll need to cross the gorge, which means fording the Starwater. If any unfriendly eyes are watching, the band will be exposed and vulnerable, so they need to move fast.

Before they leave, Ivy orders Ambrosius to cast Cure Light Wounds on Mothclaw. Reedle the elf reveals that she can also cure wounds, and casts her spell on Nogi (bringing them to 7/8 hp and 13/16 hp respectively). I’ll say that everyone without a weapon is able arm themselves with a knife or a stick for 1d3 damage. They set out for the ford, with Mothclaw and his orcs wincing painfully in the weak morning sunlight.

I’ve already determined that the gnolls will be at the crossing with hostile intent (they didn’t take it too well when Ivy sent one of their prisoners back carrying the other one’s head), but a Morale check of 9 indicates that they won’t attack immediately. I think this means that their plan is to prevent Ivy from crossing, or maybe extort her. I ask the oracle dice if the whole pack is there and a high roll indicates that they are. In a show of strength, the entire gnoll clan has turned out to line the riverbank.

Hyena-men are cool, but I like this Tony DiTerlizzi gnoll

An old grey-furred gnoll steps forward and addresses the warband in the Common Speech. “Greypelt I am. Corpse-Eater this is,” (indicating the hulking gnoll chieftain), “His land this is. One head you give us. Another head give us, to make crossing”.

Ivy draws Blackstar and points the dark blade at Corpse-Eater. “I will give you his”. 

Greypelt translates this, although it hardly seems necessary. Corpse-Eater stirs himself and snorts. After a moment his four wives snort as well. Then the entire pack begins to howl and cackle. One of Corpse-Eater’s sons hands him his battle-axe, the other his shield. The great gnoll steps forward into the shallow water of the ford. He is armored in bands of iron and patchwork mail. Silver armbands encircle his massive biceps, a cloak of black bearskin adorns his shoulders. Strings of teeth and claws rattle around his neck, and a dried stirge’s leathery wing is nailed across his shield. He clashes his axe against his shield and laughs, the sound eerily shrill for such a large body.

Ivy steps forward into the water, silent and grim.

Combat!

The water is almost up to Ivy’s knees, and the current is swift. She is at -1 to AC and initiative rolls. Corpse-Eater is much larger and is comparatively untroubled.

Round 1

Corpse-Eater rushes Ivy, his axe crashing into her mailed shoulder for 8 damage (23/31 hp). She swings and misses.

Round 2

Ivy puts some distance between herself and the gnoll, and neither is able to land a blow. The assembled gnolls laugh and jeer.

Round 3

Corpse-Eater’s axe nearly breaks Ivy’s arm even through her shield (19/31), but she manages to stab the gnoll through the thigh (8/17). The swift-moving stream runs red.

Round 4

The combatants crash together, shield to shield. For a moment it seems like the great gnoll will bear Ivy down with his weight and drown her in the river. Then the onlookers see Blackstar’s tip punching through the bearskin cape. The chieftain has run straight onto Ivy’s sword! 

Ivy shoves Corpse-Eater’s corpse off of her, casts her shield aside, and begins sawing his head off. When the grim work is done she hurls the heavy head at the gnolls. “Anyone else?”

Reaction Roll: 12. The gnolls bark and rattle their spears and axes appreciatively. Greypelt lifts the former chieftain’s head and displays it to the crowd. Then suddenly they all fall silent and turn to go, loping back towards their cave.

Ivy’s band are buoyed by her victory. Harg and Heinryk strip the body and bring Ivy the gnoll’s silver armbands and the bearskin cloak as tokens of her victory. Harg claims the patchwork armor and Heinryk takes up the battle-axe. Luggage, the larger of the two orcs, gets the shield. With no further opposition, they travel to the hobgoblin cave and raid the armory.

• Heinryk: helm, leather mail, dagger

• Urskrag (orc): spear, mace, shield, helm, leather

• Luggog (orc): axe, helm, leather, mail

• Robart (fighter 1): spear, shield, helm, dagger

• Delgert (fighter 1): spear, shield, helm, leather

• Dorben (dwarf 2): sword, spear, helm, mail, shield

• Reedle & Drunvir (elf 1): sword, bow, helm, mail

• Deadbane & Golgob (hobgoblins): spear, mace, helm, leather, shield

• Wolfeye (hobgoblin): bow, mace, helm, leather

• Rangrop (goblin): spear, shield, helm, dagger

After arming themselves, the warband heads to the store room in the goblin caves and takes what little food they can carry along with their weapons. Back at their lair, a Morale roll of 11 indicates that nobody is in a hurry to spend the day hauling supplies back and forth across the valley under threat of gnoll attack, and Ivy decides not to push it. She orders another feast. 

While preparing the meal, Urskrag the orc takes offense at Delgert’s giving him instructions and shirks his duties after insulting her. Delgert does not raise the issue, but Ivy notices and tells Mothclaw to keep his troops in line. A Morale check of 2 indicates enthusiastic approval, and Mothclaw takes the opportunity to throw his weight around. If the boss wants Urskrag to work then he’ll work! He can peel potatoes in this nice comfortable cave, or he can dig pits out there in the full sunlight, but by hellsteeth he’ll follow orders or he’ll feel the flat of Mothclaw’s blade, etc., etc.

The meal is a rather subdued affair, but the night passes uneventfully. Everyone recovers 1 HP.

The Spoils

• Ivy gets 174 XP

Miserable camp cooking

Eveningstar: What to Do Next

At the end of my last gaming session, Ivy Blacksword found herself in possession of a new warband and vowed to conquer Eveningstar. I took a long break from the game to stat up Eveningstar’s defenders (Lady Winter, her knights, and the local monks), and to think of what to do next.

All told the warband consists of 27 HD worth of creatures. At present, only the four party members have any equipment. The former prisoners are serving under duress, dressed in rags, and have low morale. They have no food or drink, although the bugbear cave is well-supplied with both. There are also bugbear-sized maces, shields, and blankets available. Against this force are Eveningstar’s 169 HD of defenders (not counting any adventuring parties who may fight in the town’s defense). Lady Winter and her knights all have warhorses, while Ivy’s warband are on foot. Her troops are untested and liable to desert or fight amongst themselves at the first setback. Harg the bugbear is loyal, fortunately, and for the moment at least Heinryk the Hero appears to be. The elves, dwarf, and two other humans can be counted on to obey orders, but not necessarily to fight. For the orcs and goblins, the reverse is true: they’ll happily burn farms and loot the town if they can, but won’t do labor if they can help it.

Ivy may have plans of conquering the town, but I begin to see why none of the monster bands in the caves have managed it so far. With Blackstar in her hand she’s an even match for any one of Lady Winter’s knights in single combat, but her odds in a military campaign seem insurmountable. Still, she has at least three advantages that she knows of, and one that she doesn’t:

1. Eveningstar doesn’t know that she plans to attack.

2. It’s almost harvest season. The militia will take longer to gather, and the thanes will be slower to respond and eager to get their followers back to their fields to bring the harvest in.

3. The Caves are difficult for either horses or the militia to assault.

4. Lady Winter is not a very attentive ruler.

A more immediate problem are the other inhabitants of the Caves of Chaos. There are:

• 2 bugbears (HD 3, returning from a hunting trip tomorrow)

• 14 male gnolls (HD 2)

• 20 female gnolls (HD 1)

• 1 gnoll chief (HD 3)

• 1 minotaur (HD 6)

• 1 owlbear (HD 5)

• 3 slimes, 2d6 giant rats, 13 stirges, and 5 fire beetles

Counting just the active monsters, that’s 61 HD. The gnolls alone outnumber her little band, and are already unhappy with Ivy for sending back one gnoll prisoner carrying another’s severed head. Reactions for the bugbears and minotaur have yet to be rolled (owlbears, naturally, are hostile to everyone). Depending on how things at the Caves shake out the town may never know it was threatened at all. 

Her first moves will need to be to secure her position here in the Caves. I don’t think she can make her recently-freed prisoners move quickly without food and rest, so the gnolls will have plenty of time to respond while she loots the cave, arms and feeds her followers, and so on. After that (and barring an assault by angry gnolls) her plan is to head for the goblin and hobgoblin caves. The bugbear lair only has one exit that she knows about, making it easy to lay siege to. Furthermore, the cleared goblin lairs contain an armory and a cave full of supplies. If she secures those she can arm her followers and feed them for a considerable period. She’ll need to cross the gorge and ford the Starwater in order to reach it, however. The gnolls will likely see them coming, and her followers will be particularly vulnerable during the crossing.

Assuming all goes well, she may be able to make contact with the bandits in the Briarwood through Robart and Delgert. If she can forge an alliance, she’ll add 13 HD of disciplined, well-equipped troops to her cause. She may be able to bargain with the minotaur as well, although "Keep on the Borderlands" informs me that he is “fiendishly clever” and is accustomed to taking payment in live humans, which he eats. The owlbear may have to be killed if she remains camped in the gorge for a long time, although she has the advice of the cave-dwellers to help her avoid it. Rivior’s ghost knows a great deal about the Haunted Halls (having constructed them in life), but they’re even less secure than the Caves. The mad king is surely paranoid about being trapped and starved in there a second time. Still, it’s just possible that she could rally the immortal/undead curst to her banner, and Room 17 holds Rivior’s consort, trapped in a temporal stasis…

All told, Ivy’s options in case of a defeat are pretty bad. Eveningstar blocks the way south, so she would likely need to retreat north into the Stonelands, where supplies would become an immediate problem for her ragtag army. It is perhaps just possible that Ivy and Tessaril could work out a peace agreement, with Eveningstar ceding the Starwater Gorge to Ivy and in exchange for outsourcing defense against attacks from the Stonelands. Ivy would want to levy a toll on all wealth looted from the Haunted Halls, however, while Lady Winter would want an oath of fealty that the ghost of King Rivior would not let Ivy swear, so it seems unlikely. Maybe some enterprising young adventurer who is popular with the townsfolk and has a history of improving his land will some day earn the right to settle Starwater Gorge…

Ivy’s Warband

Ok maybe not quite this grand

After the raid on the bugbear cave, Ivy has found herself in charge of a decent-sized - if badly equipped and largely unwilling - warband. Her adventuring party forms the core of it, consisting of:

• Ivy Almyr, Fighter 4

• Ambrosius Blackcloak, Cleric 3

• Nogi of Firedeep, Dwarf 2

• Mothclaw, Orc 1

Added to this are the former prisoners of the bugbears:

• One 4th-level Fighter

• Two 1st-level Fighters

• A 2nd-level Dwarf

• Two 1st-level Elves

• 1 Bugbear

• 3 Hobgoblins

• 2 Orcs

• 1 Goblin

• 1 Kobold

A more detailed write-up for Ivy’s warband follows. To fit with my loose ideas for how the Caves of Chaos interact with the town, none of them are people with connections to Eveningstar. To prevent an angry 9th-level wizard riding down on them with her knights in tow, the bugbears avoided the town and limited their raids to the Stonelands and the Briarwood. All of Eveningstar’s farms constructed close enough to Starwater Gorge to make for easy pickings were destroyed years ago (at least until Trigg bought and started renovating one).

Eveningstar's Defenders 2: Monks & Miscellaneous

In addition to the warriors in my last post, the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar module highlights the temple priests and a smattering of NPCs with class levels.

Monks of Lathander

In the original module Eveningstar has a temple rather than an abbey. I decided to switch it because I think a monastery is cozier (having read lots of Redwall books as a kid), and I have some vague ideas about how to use one in adventure stories (having listened to several of the Brother Cadfael audiobooks as an adult). The module tells me that there are 28 priests (now monks), a Patriarch, and a high level paladin with a magic ring. I’m going to dial that back a little bit. I’ve already established that the Abbot can cast Raise Dead, so he has to be at least 7th level. The paladin can be 5th level, putting him on even footing with Captain Gilbear. I’ll add a prior and a couple other spellcasting clerics, filling out the rest of the brothers with 1st-level clerics and a few novices. While the abbey is supported by townsfolk who rent land and work their fields, there will also be some lay servants who live at the abbey and perform non-spiritual labor there.

Despite their class levels, these guys are not warrior-monks. The Steward is the only monk who has proper weapons and armor. If Eveningstar is attacked, the monks ring their bell to sound the alarm, and people who live close by seek shelter behind the abbey’s walls – the module informs me that most Evenstar buildings are made of fieldstone, but their thatched roofs probably make them more vulnerable than they would be in the abbey. If called upon to defend themselves, the other monks will use staves and clubs. They are of more service in the aftermath of the attack, providing healing, charity, and administrative capacity, although with this many clerics around Eveningstar is pretty well protected against undead (explaining why Ambrosius the evil priest never marched his undead army into town).

Abbey Roster

• The Abbot (cleric 7)

• The Prior (cleric 5)

• The Steward (paladin 5)

• Brother Cellarer (cleric 2)

• Brother Almoner (cleric 2)

• Brother Infermarer (cleric 2)

• 18 monks (cleric 1)

• 6 novices

• 20 lay servants

The Abbot

Cleric 7        HP 24        AC 10        XP: 60,247        Morale 8

Str 10, Dex 9, Con 11, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 10

Wargear: staff

Spells:

1. Cure Light Wounds, Light

2. Bless, Speak with Animals

3. Continual Light, Cure Disease

4. Cure Serious Wounds

5. Commune

Description: Kindly old man. Devout, but understands worldly matters enough to leaven order with mercy. Well-educated, with a weakness for reading. Speaks elvish.

The Prior

Cleric 5        HP 19        AC 11        XP: 12,315        Morale 6

Str 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 11, Cha 6

Wargear: staff

Spells

1. Detect Evil, Protection from Evil

2. Bless, Hold Person

Description: officious, strict, ambitious. Covets the abbot’s position and believes that Eveningstar needs a firmer hand in spiritual matters.

(I like that the randomly rolled stats essentially recreated the abbot/prior relationship from the first Brother Cadfael Mystery, A Morbid Taste for Bones)

The Steward

Paladin 5        HP 12        AC 18        XP: 25,405       Morale 10

Str 15, Dex 15, Con 6, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 16

Wargear: sword, shield, helm, leather, mail

Lay On Hands: 10 hp, cure disease 1/week

Description: an old soldier, became a monk late in life. Loves the peace of the abbey. Takes pleasure in annoying Brother Prior.

Brother Cellarer

Cleric 2        HP 7        AC 10        XP: 1,944        Morale 8

Str 9, Dex 12, Con 9, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 7

Wargear: club

Spells: Purify Food and Water

Description: fiercely protective of the abbey stores (which prior to Lady Winter’s orchard-spells were an important backstop against starvation), and to the quality of the abbey’s beer. Near-sighted, short, and rather mole-like.

Brother Almoner

Cleric 2        HP 4        AC 10        XP: 1,616        Morale 8

Str 10, Dex 9, Con 5, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 13

Wargear: club

Spells: Cure Light Wounds

Description: thin and prematurely frail, with wispy puffs of hair at the edges of his tonsure. Mild-mannered and sympathetic, but not as easy to take advantage of as he appears.

Brother Infirmarer

Cleric 3        HP 14        AC 9        XP: 3,832        Morale 8

Str 13, Dex 8, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8

Wargear: club

Spells: Cure Light Wounds, Cure Light Wounds

Description: tall, fat, with muscular arms. Rather harsh and impatient in the exercise of his duties.

Other NPCs

Maea Ironeye

Magic-User 3        HP 5        AC 10        XP: 5,394        Morale 9

Str 6, Dex 12, Con 6, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 16

Wargear: dagger

Spells: Floating Disc, Sleep, Mirror Image

Description: proprietor of the Blue Star Inn, Eveningstar’s best inn (also dance hall and theater). Small, wispy, pretty. Conceals her magical abilities. Her owl familiar plays the part of a sleepy pet.

Duny Kreegle

Fighter 4        HP 15        AC 10        XP: 8,211        Morale 8

Str 9, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 10

Wargear: dagger +2/+3 vs orcs, goblins, and kobolds

Description: Barman at the Blue Star. Pleasant, jovial, unassuming man with thin brown hair and a nose like a potato. Secretly a Harper.

I don’t actually know what the Harpers’ deal is or why they’re secret. My impression from the Chris Pine D&D movie is that they’re some kind of do-gooder adventuring guild. I gather that they may or may not have a beef with organizations called the Emerald Claw and the Order of the Gauntlet (I think I’ve seen those names in the faction/plot hook section of some 5th edition books). I’ll say that Duny and Maea are retired adventurers who collect maps and information for somebody, but it probably won’t matter who. Maybe they’re in debt or something.

Does Lady Winter know about them? A high/low roll on the oracular d6 says Yes.

Duny and Maea aren't likely to leap to Eveningstar's defense in open battle, but I think they would try to help.

Maethlin, son of Maglor

Thief 3       HP 11        AC 11        XP: 2,661        Morale 6

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 9, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 9

Wargear: dagger, vial of poison

Description: town apothecary. Grew up under a cloud, as his father was executed as a spy for a Stonelands wizard who led an attack on Eveningstar. Left town with a party of adventurers some years back, recently returned to take up the family business. Wants revenge.

Arbold Tethyr

Fighter 2       HP 13        AC 15        XP: 2,054        Morale 6

Str 9, Dex 9, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 6

Wargear: spear, shield, helm, leather

Description: the fat and greedy master harness-maker. A shrewd businessman and landlord, locally rich and important. I’ll say he’s a captain in the militia out of a desire to burnish his reputation, although he’d prefer to avoid any real fighting. Has three fat daughters, one of whom Eldred is smitten with. Sadly for the Enchanter, the Tethyr girls prefer men of substance over weedy wandering scholars.

Syndair Silverthorn

Illusionist 4       HP 8        AC 10        XP: 10,240       Morale 7

Str 10, Dex 10, Con 9, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 11

Wargear: dagger

Spells: Detect Illusion, Glamour, Magic Mouth, Quasimorph

Description: elegant older woman with a grey bun. In the module she’s a dressmaker who uses her magic to entertain guests and enhance her art, which I think is delightful. In OSE, however, a 4th-level magic-user is a much bigger deal than in AD&D. I think I’ll make her the owner of the Silver Branch jewelry store and say that she’s a collector of antiques with an interest in fine fabrics.