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.
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| 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
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| Miserable camp cooking |
