SPEAKER_01 0:06

This is the Fellowship of the North, an actual play of the One Ring from Stories with Dice. If you're enjoying our actual plays, please subscribe to Stories with Dice so you never miss an episode. Don't forget to rate and review us. It really helps others discover the podcast. Follow us on social media to stay updated. You'll find the relevant links in the description of each episode. Hello, Ed, waving at me from your lovely home. How are you today?

unknown 0:45

Good.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

I was trying to get my own back on all the times I start the podcast, but you know, you've got your shit more together than I ever do.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

So we're playing the One Ring today, second edition, which I have not run before, but I ran the first edition a lot many years ago. So this will be fun. I'll probably mix up some old first edition rules with second edition rules in my head, and Ed will probably correct me because he's a rules lawyer. Nice. Just kidding. So Ed, tell us who you're playing today.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

I am playing Halbaron, or Ashclerk, as other people know me. I am playing a Ranger of the North. Hello, Charlotte.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Hello, Merkel. So who are you playing today? I am playing Baranwin the Red Hand, who is A B Yorning. Yorning. From the Anduin Vales. That is correct. Just on the edge of the forest.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

And we have Pete with us. Pete played with us in Pandragon for those who have been keeping score. Pete, how are you doing today? I'm fine, thanks. And who are you playing? Playing Assel, who is another Ranger of the North. Another Ranger of the North. We have two Rangers of the North and we have a Bayorning. We're down one player today, because Tony, the sexy Spanish person, is out with his wife. He forgot that we were supposed to be playing the One Ring today, so he will be severely punished. Really got a question as priorities. Exactly. Okay, so it was in the early summer of the year 2965 of the Third Age that strange tidings first began to stir in the north. Twenty-four years before, an alliance of elves, men, and dwarves had defeated a horde of orcs and wild wolves at the foot of the lonely mountain, and the free peoples entered a season of calm. Yet more than twenty years is a long time for peace to endure, and in many corners of Middle Earth a shadow was lengthening once again. Amid this uneasy quiet, four travelers found their roads leading to Bree. Some were drawn by purpose, others by doubt, and some by signs which could not yet be understood. But fate had numbered them fewer than they knew, for one would never come to the Bree land. Yet the road is long and the world has a way of drawing kindred paths together. So it was that only three passed beneath the west gate when the days grew dark, and the winds bore strange tidings out of the wild. Long had they lingered in the crooked lanes and firelit halls of that old village, seeking counsel, yet finding only whispers and tales of strange happenings, dismissed by most as fireside stories. Many times they had each considered venturing forth in pursuits of these rumors, yet some unseen hand delayed their departure, and a hush fell upon their waiting, like the held breath of the world before a great change. At length one of the three, a ranger of grim countenance, grey with the weariness of many roads, made his way to each in turn and brought them together at the prancing pony. There he delivered a letter, sealed with the device of Gilrain the Fair. Its script was strong and flowing, and the message bore the weight of foresight, though its full meaning was scarcely perceived at the time. Thus were these travelers drawn together to answer the peril of their time. Yet each would go only as far as their own heart carried them. So, Pete, so you had been entrusted with delivering this letter to Halberin, who's a ranger of the north that you've probably had some dealings with before, a Bjornning woman from the Anduin Vale, and an elf of Linden, but there has been no elf in Brie these past few weeks that that that you have that the three of you have have been in Brie. So our story begins in the prancing pony on an early summer night. The first in days without rain. A fire crackles bright and deep within the hearth, its light spilling across stone and timber in the bustling common room. The place hums with warmth and life. Firelight dances over rough hewn beams and well-worn tables, and the air is thick with the scent of bread, ale, and pipe smoke. Around the tables travelers and villagers talk and laugh, though here and there voices drop to hushed whispers of trouble beyond the Breelands. In a corner booth, Halburn, a ranger of the north, and Berenwin, a Biorning from across the misty mountains, share a simple meal of warm bread and hard cheese and dark ale. Across from them sits another ranger known to Halburn as Assel, the messenger. His hooded cloak hides much of his face, shadows lending him a grim, watchful air, as each of you in turn reads the letter he delivered. Dear friends and kindred spirits, you may deem your coming to Bree a matter of chance, but it is not so. For the world is wider and more wakeful than you know, and seldom do so many paths cross without design. Each of you is as a candle kindled against the night, but together your flame becomes a lamp of hope that may yet hold the darkness at bay. This I have foreseen, as I have foreseen the peril that now draws near to us all. Therefore I call upon you now, you who would stand against the enemy. Come swiftly to Amansul at the first quarter moon. There I shall meet you. But be warned, from the moment you set out upon the road, eyes both foul and fair have been upon you, for a shadow stirs in the north, and I fear its reach grows long.

SPEAKER_03 7:17

Well, Arsel, you bring us great tidings as usual. Where have you been these past months? Resting up in the angle. Been travelling far and wide, taking messages around. How's the rest of the community faring? I have been away from the rest of the rangers for some while.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Seems to be uh more activity out there. Many of the rangers are out and about reinforcing camps spread around, especially in the north. People are getting worried. So they should. There is a doctor's definitely coming.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

You each have rumor on your character sheet. Then there's also a couple of rumors that uh things that you've heard since you've been in Brie, and you've been in Brie for a couple of weeks. Maybe some of you have been in Brie a little bit longer than that. So you've heard that wild wolves are hunting further south, killing livestock. Some claim that the packs are larger and meaner, and they're even wandering as far south as the Great East Road. As bad as it was during the Great Winter? Yes. Another rumor is that the they say that bandits are now getting bolder. They hit a merchant at the last bridge just a week ago. They took everything he had and left the poor man tied up as a warning. Orcs have been prowling beyond the Breelands. They took two men from Dale the Dame Free yesterday. And the individual who told you this had warned those men not to go out after dark, not to leave the Breelands. But they were insistent on going to Old Rupert's Standing Stones in the North Downs. And then the last rumor that you heard was that that old hunter Rupert, Rush Light, came back a changed man. Folks say that he's lost his wits. So those are the things that you've learned since you've been in Bree.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

I um I too have heard rumors, rumours of something dark and ancient in the hills of Rudor. An old an old ancient evil that, according to the rumors that I have, unearth is in or around Fort Arlas. It seems that uh every hundred years or so she seems to uh give birth to a terrible brood of creatures, and I've heard rumours that that time is coming soon.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

I've heard a few things, I'm not sure how much they would pertain to us immediately, but sounds like that old King Bard has been secluding himself away for a few years now. It's never a good sign. Heartbroken and grieving. I'm not sure of much more than that. The more interesting thing I have heard is that of a werewolf. Somewhere roughly around Merkwood. Okay, a dangerous place. It is, and a ways away.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

But I've only skirted the outskirts. I have never been in Merkwood.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Probably for the best. If you believe some tales that come out of that region.

SPEAKER_03 10:08

Sure, they all have some part of truth in them?

SPEAKER_00 10:12

As most rumors do. So this letter that we got, who was it that gave us you, asshole?

SPEAKER_02 10:19

The Lady Gilrain.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

I don't think I'm familiar with her.

SPEAKER_03 10:23

She is she is a woman of some renown here amongst the ranges. She's up the line of the old kings, they say.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Interesting. A lot of times information stops at the mountains. We don't always get the most recent or pertinent information.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

It's a long way. For you to have made such a journey is very uh spectacular.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

It was not without its trials and tribulations.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

Now, I guess we need to figure out how how soon well, Marco, when is the next moon? So the next first quarter moon is about a week and a half away.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

I reckon it's about a week's travel to uh it takes it should take you, all things being equal, like six days, maybe five days, depending on, you know, weather and if anything were to trouble you on the way there. So you've got a little bit of wiggle room.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Mostly it's uh it's on the road, so that's always a good sign. I suggest that we leave in the morning. I also don't feel that it's probably safe to travel during the night, given the uh the rumours of the orcs and the bandits.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Sounds reasonable.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Is there anything that you want to do, anyone that you want to speak to, anything like of that nature before turning in for the night?

SPEAKER_03 11:42

I've probably got some chores for local that I've kind of agreed to do, so I'll probably finish off some chores, and then once that's done, I will I will spend a rare night in the Prancing Pony.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Would I have been paid already for uh my trip here, protecting the merchants?

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Okay. So no need to shake anyone down?

SPEAKER_01 12:05

No need to shake anyone down, no, no, no. You have enough to give enough for a room and you know food here at the pony for a couple of days. You've already been, I mean, you've been here for a little while already, so you've been you've been spending down that that currency.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yeah, I would make sure that my stores were topped up for the trip with a little bit of extra just in case. Like just standard, like traveling fare.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Asshole. Is there anything you want to do? Anything anyone you want to speak to?

SPEAKER_02 12:33

I'll just look around the uh common room and the bar and see if there's any new faces that have recently turned up. See if anyone's coming along from the Lone Lands, past the direction we're gonna be heading out. See if there's any more information to be had from them.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

There is in in one corner of the room near near to the hearth is an old man you haven't seen before. He looks frazzled, and he's sort of sitting alone and mumbling to himself over a pint of ale. Side lawn over. Ah, my friend, uh you seem a bit uneasy this evening. He doesn't acknowledge you at first. He seems to be sort of lost in thought, and then he looks up and sees you. Apologies, didn't I know you were there. Please, please sit sit what sit down.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

Like you might have a tale to tell, my friend. Tale? Not a very nice one.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Maybe of interest. And then he he he he uh looks over his shoulder and he says, Shush! Did you see I'm having a conversation with a very nice gentleman?

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Where where where where are you from? Me, oh originally grew up in the northern Brie Fields, but I move around quite a lot now. Not travelling alone, I hope. Not if I can help it, no.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

How about yourself? After what I saw up in them north downs, I'm never leaving Brie again. North Downs, you say? My my hunting days are behind me. So uh what was it you saw up there then? Don't make me go there again. Them standing stones. Zevil up there. Out hunting I was. Beautiful day and out of nowhere a sudden storm hits. I looked for shelter and stumbled upon this ancient ring of stones and hoping to find a cave or or something. There were these tracks and circling a pit in the center of the standing stones and and then this this thick darkness just enveloped me, and I can't I can't discuss it anymore. He like knocks over his bottle of his pint of beer, and he just puts his head into his hands and and and he starts muttering to himself and sobbing and turning to behind him and and telling someone to get off his back. So, don't mind me asking, who's your companion, my friend, the one you keep talking to? He's no friend, that's for sure. Hasn't left my side since I came back from the North Downs. Will you tell him to go away?

SPEAKER_02 15:11

So uh does he have a name? I hasn't told me. And he's been harassing you since you've got back? Aye, he has. Can I see if I can actually sense anything or whether it just appears to be totally in his own mind?

SPEAKER_01 15:26

You can try an inside well, you don't have any inside skill, but you could try you could roll inside that if since you don't have any ranks in it, you would just be rolling the it would just be rolling the feet die, but you could definitely you could try that if you wanted to. Vegan. That was amazing. He just rolled a Gan Valf. That's an automatic success. Yes, so you you kind of see through the flickering firelight, you can sort of see there's this dark shape on his back. It's almost like a shadow of someone standing behind him. And it's definitely a dark feeling about it. Yeah, your throat starts to constrict and and he he notices like he sees this look in your eye and that that you can see it too, and uh and he leans over closer to you. You s you see it, don't you? I can I can I can tell.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

Carrying a burden, my friend. I'm not sure I can directly help you with it, but if I can find someone who can, I'll direct them in your direction. You're you're a kind soul.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Sometimes it tells me things. Tells you things about what? It wants to know when L's are coming through. Bree. I've told it sometimes I couldn't resist.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

It's alright, my friend. It's these things can be stronger than we can handle on our own.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

And then he he all of a sudden he just like on a dime, his mood shifts. He stands up and he flips the table and he just starts shouting at you, and he storms out of the pony. Making friends again, a hassle? The whole common room all of a sudden gets really quiet, and everyone sort of looks, looks at you guys for a second, and then they see that it was the old hunter, and they kind of shake their head, and they all go back to their conversations and their their drinks and their food.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Well, I guess he didn't like my company. Hopefully I'll I'll be more welcome back at this table.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

I kind of I move the chair in a w into the table so they can't sit down for a second. No, of course. I push it back out. Do you make friends everywhere you go?

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Yeah, I did send something on that chap. A while back I I carried a a dark blade from Rivendell all the way all the way across to the uh the coast. And I was left with a feeling from that that chap carries a similar burden on him. Something dark sitting on his shoulder. Something we should be doing something about? He said that it's making him look for the arrival of elves in the town.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

That does not seem too coincidential that we are waiting on elves. Assel, you also noted after he flipped the table, yelled at you and and took off, that there was a small map that fell off the table, and it marks in the north downs where that's the those standing stones that he was talking about are. From Brie, they're probably about a little over a week away. So I'll I'll definitely make a note of the location. So the rest of your evening goes by uneventfully, you you make your preparations to leave in the morning, if that's still your plan? Is that still your plan? That's still the plan?

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

Unless unless you feel that you that it's strongly we should go north, but that's going to be completely against what the Lady Gil Rain wishes.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

So let me ask you, members of the company. We have four roles to fill during travel. There's only three of you, so one person can double up on some roles, but you can only have one guide. So one of you can be the guide, that person should have a decent travel skill. And then you need a hunter, a scout, and a lookout. Hunter obviously would be hunting, scouts would be explorer, and lookouts would be awareness. So choose which roles you all want to want to fill.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

Hassle, I probably think you're better at the travel. Yeah. I definitely can hunt. I can also keep an eye out and scout. So Baronwin, what about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

I too can help with hunting, but I've never done much on my own in regards to like traveling or scouting.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Well, I guess if you want to do the hunting then, I can do the scouting. Sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

And then you can also double up as the lookout.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Now, in regards to that man I just left, while it would take some time out of our trip, it looks like he might be in need. We'd be doing everybody a favor if we took an interest in that. I agree. And how many days do we have until the first quarter? So we we would be about a week late. Yeah, we're not gonna do that. Unless we sent her a note saying, hey, we have something that we feel is important to take care of.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

Do you not feel I can give her a note saying that we've been summoned, we should go. Especially as it's Gil Rain.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Uh you seem to hold her in reverence, but She is our de facto leader. Like, how much information would we actually know about her before like prior to this? Like being on the other side of the mountains?

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Yeah, so Baron Baron Wynne, you probably don't know anything about her. You you did meet a ranger who visited the lands of the Bay Ornings several seasons ago, but I doubt he would have mentioned Gilrayan. She's she's the mother of the chieftain of the rangers. So Halberin would know of her, obviously, because he's a ranger, and so would Assel.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

I will not fight or debate this much. I will put my hand in Fates, and once we get there, I would hope that we would be able to make a case to go see what's going on up in the north.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

I would agree, once we have met with her, unless there is something of great importance, we should go north and see what we can do. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

So you all have a good night's sleep at the pony. The morning is grey, it's early summer. You pack up your belongings, all of your gear, your traveling gear, and you set out from Brie to Weather Top. The east road stretches ahead. It's slick with mud from all the recent rain. And there's a low mist that's Rising from the ground, curling around your boots. And each step feels heavier than the last as your feet are like getting stuck in the mud. The sun is struggling to sort of pierce this gray cloud cover, and the air feels much colder than early summer should allow. And there are these black crows that are wheeling above you and cawing, and a subtle unease tugs at the back of your mind, and the land itself seems to be watching you. As if the very world were ill-disposed toward your journey. So, Assel, as the guide of the company, you're gonna make a marching test, which is a travel roll. And I'm gonna start you guys off on a bad footing by having you make an ill-favored marching test. And you got a great success. Wow. So that means that we have a journey event that takes place, three hexes plus one for each success, and you got a great success. So that's so you've traveled for four days. Just past the midwater marshes, that's good. Okay, so technically, so technically each of these events is supposed to target one of the roles that you play during the journey. Uh-huh. But sometimes I'm going to throw one in that targets all of you, which is what I'm doing right now. So the the road winds through low stony hills. Uh in the distance, you've so you've traveled now for about four days. In the distance, you can see a solitary stone arch draped in pale green lichen. All around it is just tumble-down stones. Like there used to be some structure here, and the arch is all that remains. And then from the east comes a wind, keen and sorrowful, as though it had wandered too long over empty fields. It passes through the arch with a cry like mourning, and the stones answer with hollow sighs. You can almost hear the ring of mail, the call of horns along ramparts, voices of warriors who once kept watch when the world was young, and then the echo dies, and only the wind remains, cold and whistling and full of longing. So now I need all of you to make a valor test.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

Okay, that's uh kind of nonsense I can roll today. I see how this is going. I succeeded with a automatic success.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

So you so okay, so Halburn succeeded with a Gandalf, Assel succeeded, and Baronwin failed.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

So I think they're cheating. That's gotta be the only way that this is making any sense.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Talk to the talk to the Foundry Gremlins about that. Yeah. So Baredwin, you get a shadow point. Hell yeah. So for you, the chill seeps deeper, and and you feel this sort of this sort of heavy grief just kind of like washes over you, and a melancholy takes hold. You see these this this ruin that's in the distance, and you've seen other ruined structures and the hills as as you've uh traveled along the road, and it just reminds you that all who have walked this earth have long since passed into shadow, their names and deeds buried and forgotten beneath the dust of the ages. And for Halburn and Assel, uh a warmth rises in your chest, and the wind that passed through the arch seems less mournful to you, and for a moment you feel the echo of old glory, not grief, as a light to guide your steps. Though the hills are quiet and the road stretches ahead of you, you move with the courage of those who came before you. And so you also all everyone gains too fatigue so far from the journey.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

This is a forsaken and miserable place. Let's not linger here much longer than we have to, please.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

Making good time. Indeed. This is a road I know well, and I do that thing that I don't know if other people do this on long trips. They kind of like have spots that they go past and they kind of go, Oh, that's that place. They have a name for something, even if it's not the right name. Yeah. So it's uh it's a it's a familiar sight to me.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

So night is starting to fall, and you're sort of scouting around looking for a place to make camp just off the road, when all of a sudden it just starts to rain and rain and rain. Heavy downpour. Thunder starts to shake the air like a war drum, and now you're frantically seeking shelter wherever you can. There's not a huge amount here. There's some forest. Give me an explorer test. Also, remember you have you have hope, so you can spend hope to add dice to your rolls.

SPEAKER_03 26:59

I think I might actually.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

You see, you see a familiar landmark and you remember because you're you're fairly close to Weathertop at this point. And you know, you've made this journey between Brie and Weathertop many, many times. And you you're like, ah yes, there's a a rock overhang nearby. So you lead the company to this overhang. It's a jagged natural shelter, it gives you refuge from the rain. And when you get there, you find a crude campfire, blackened logs are hissing from the rain. There's a child's mud-caked shoe half buried in the dirt, and the nearby trees are all gouged and hacked, and you can see a deer carcass nearby, the bones have been gnawed on, and there are some heavy footprints in the mud leading north into the weather hills.

SPEAKER_03 27:53

Ork footprints by some chance? Indeed they are. I touched the fire, is it very recent? It's warm, yeah. They're close. Do you wanna hunt some orc?

SPEAKER_02 28:04

By the look of that child's shoe, I think it's fairly urgent.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

I don't believe we have a luxury of time now. Berenwin, give give me a hunting rule. Well do. You're also gonna make it ill-foured because of the weather, so if you wanna spend hope, you can if you want to.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

And you know what? Hope point, bonus die, yes. I need all the help I can get. Alright.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

And that was a failure. Of course it was. So I'm gonna give you a success, but with woe. So you you know the route that the orcs took through the weather hill into the weather hills. You start leading the company north into the hills, through the dark, and the rain, following these tracks.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

A string of bow.

unknown 28:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

The rain has not been doing us any favors to track these beasts down. I too will start with a bow in hand. Time to pepper out some ork. That sounds like someone's rolled.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

Sounds like a sneaky GM rolled.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

It says sneaky GM roll. Yeah, I'm gonna do it. I do this to you all the time. Now I'm on the other end of it. The shoe is on the other foot. Okay, so Barrenwind has led you north for for two days. You're now north of Weathertop. Something lends speed to these orcs. The tracks now take you through a tangle of game trails that twist through the barren hills. You see, you know, you see around you half-buried ruins, yawning cellars of long-forgotten halls that have collapsed. It's making the way perilous. Ed, please make me a explorer role. You're gonna try to find a safe way forward. I failed. You come upon a narrow way between these jagged outcrops where a single standing stone stands, about as tall as a hobbit. Carved with faint and ancient runes, the air around it feels still and watchful, and an unease settles in your heart. Give me a valor test, Ed. Everyone adds two fatigue points, and Ed has to make a valor test.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

Ed makes a roll and fails.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

You gain one shadow point. So one shadow point and two fatigue, right? Correct. Is there anything you want to do while you are here or just continue on following the tracks?

SPEAKER_03 30:35

I guess we're just trying to keep up with them, right? I can't think there's anything else that we're trying to do. We just need to capture them.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Okay, so this standing stone with these markings on them makes you feel uneasy. You want nothing to do with this place. You you find a safe way through all of those sunken ruins and s you know open cellars and things, and barren wind still has those tracks dead to rights, and you come down from this hill into this little shadowed vale. It's like maybe coming up on evening. The trees are growing a little thin here. You can see there's still an overcast sky, smoke is drifting on the wind, you can smell f the scent of fire and something foul, and then you hear a harsh voice carried on the wind. Took you long enough. Inform Zakrug, we've found him another elf. And then you see three wargs slink into view, their ears are twitching, there's a small clearing, and you can see a fire flickering, and there are two bound figures near the fire. One of them is a whimpering child, the other one is an elf, fair of bearing.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

The enemy is here. Indeed. How close are the wargs to the orcs in the fire where the prisoners are?

SPEAKER_01 31:59

So they're all in a clearing together. The orcs and the wargs are at the edge of the clearing. The fire and the the prisoners are sort of in the center of that clearing. There are a couple of other orcs that are walking back and forth.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

So, like, if you had to put like a radius on where the enemies are in relation to the fire, what would you say?

SPEAKER_01 32:20

They're just a couple of feet from each other.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Okay. We can't risk using our bows. We have to get in close. Do you want to try to do you wanna try to ambush them?

SPEAKER_01 32:29

That would be the plan. Sounds lovely. So, I need you all to make stealth rolls. Hurrah. I'm sorry in advance.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

Remember, you have hope. There is no hope. Yes, there is. Uh, is this still ill-favoured or is this just straight now? Just normal.

unknown 32:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

Point of hope, because you know, we suffer hope, so others don't have to. You know what? Yeah, okay. Like I said.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

It looks like Azel also uh failed. So So Halburn, you have an extraordinary success. Okay, so you can spend one of those successes to cancel a another player's failure. So you can spend one to k to uh cancel Baronwin and then spend the second one to cancel Assol's.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

Okay, I'll use both then in that case. So as we kind of like go closer, I see that we're gonna be going over some kind of terrain that's gonna make a noise, so I kind of take them in a different direction and we kind of surprise them from the east instead of like the south or something.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

Wait, how many of them are there? As we get closer? Okay, so the so the enemies won't be able to make opening volleys, you will, if you wanted to. Yeah. And they will lose one d6 on all of their combat rolls during the first close quarters round. So we all lose an arrow and then charge at them.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

Although, Charlotte, why did you think that we couldn't attack them with our bows?

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Well, if the prisoners were so close, I would be afraid of missing and hitting them. I guess. Marco, is that a potential?

SPEAKER_03 34:05

Maybe. Okay, in that case, I'm I'm not good. Yeah, I we won't take that chance because, you know, we want to save the people. So I guess we'll just go for a straight hand to hand. I pull my sword, which has a name, Turhill, which roughly translates as forest shadow.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

So I will move you guys onto the battle net here, and then you can choose your stances. I guess for the first round it'll be forward. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

I was gonna say I I was gonna try ranged attack.

SPEAKER_03 34:39

Okay, you wanna do the opening volley?

SPEAKER_02 34:41

I'm so confident, yeah. I'm just confident with my bow.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

Why do I see an eye coming up? Okay, he failed, but he did not get an eye, so you didn't hit any of the prisoners. Yay. Okay, so opening volleys are over.

SPEAKER_03 34:59

We should now be able to pick our stance, which we can't do for some reason.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

You should be able to. If you right-click on your character, you get those all those icons on the left hand side, you'll see the stances. Yeah, I've got them now, that's fine. That's why I'm going forward. Using a bow? Yeah? Okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's probably the best. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

Okay, well, I guess I'm gonna go for this little. So which one of you so the both of you are in forward, so which one of you has a higher width score? Ooh, good question.

SPEAKER_03 35:33

I have a width of 16.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

No, no, no, that's your target number.

SPEAKER_03 35:37

Sorry, width of four.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Sorry. My wits is four as well. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Each of you roll a d6. Got a three. Go on, Charlotte, get a three. How about a two? Baron win, you can go first.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Hell yeah, I'm going to I mean Halburn. Halburn rolled a three. So, using my sword. Did you say that I was I'm not I'm I've got an extra dice to attack?

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Yep, yeah, so you gain one extra d6? Right. So I I got a 13 and fail. So Halbryn, yeah, so you you draw your sword, you engage with this orc soldier, and he just deflects your your attack with his scimitar. Okay, Baronwin.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

I am going to try and use my combat task to intimidate the foe with my awesome. And I'm going after the first warg in the list. Because fuck orgs. Alright, and actually, let's see what this does down here. Combat tasks, intimidate foe. I'm not using anything extra right now, and roll the dice, and I had a great success.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

You've made all of them weary. So tell me exactly what you say or what you do that intimidates them so.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

With my axe in hand, I start to move forward towards my warg of choice, bellowing all my rage and hatred, channeling the shadow presence that I've felt since our trip into the ruins all into a loud bellow, shaking them all to their core.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

Assoles, go ahead and shoot your bow. Ooh, a great success. So you can spend that extra success to inflict on your adversary an additional loss of endurance equal to your strength rating. So the damage rating on your bow is three, and then you would add six to that. So nine total. Nice. Very nice. Yeah, so that that arrow flies through, goes right through his leather armor into his chest, and he just kind of stumbles back, surprised and grunts, and he's bleeding profusely. Not looking good. And now they get to go. Halburn. Indeed. Ooh, he failed with a Gandalf. Yay! This orc steps forward and swings his scimitar at you, and and you just deftly sort of move to the side, and he just he just slices air. Excellent. He is also going to engage in you. Ooh, that is a great success. So you moved out of the way of the other orc and right into the the swing of this other of this orc, and he just slices slices into your arm for six endurance damage. Okay. This wild wolf here is going after Berenwin. And that is a failure. This wolf that you have intimidated is sort of snaps its jaws at you, but does nothing. Yeah, that's right. This orc, on the other hand, knows who the greatest threat is. Exactly. Snomi! Stop not me! Also misses. Swing and a miss. This fella here is gonna spend a hate point to attack Hassel in the rear. He runs around, does he? He does a great leap. Ooh. He rolls an eye of Sauron, which is an automatic success for a heavy blow. Ooh, you need to make a protection test against target number 14. Hassel.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Can you just click it in the uh chat pane where it says protection roll test and have it automatically roll? I think so. Ah, cool. Good eye, Charlotte. If you go into the chat pane in the chat messages, I'll look for the most recent card that's popped up with the uh Wild Wolf 2. And in the piercing blow, there should be an option there to Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Go, yeah. Oh, you have suffered a wound. Ooh. So you have taken six endurance damage and you have a wound. So now I need to roll on the wound table. The wound severity table. This isn't going how I anticipated this fight to go. That's pretty much how I think it was gonna go. So that's a moderate injury. So at the end of combat, you will recover fully in a matter of hours from that wound. One day to recover? A matter of hours. So you can just leave the day at zero. Yeah. Back to the top of the order, which is Halburn.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

Right, so I've I've changed my stance to being just regular stance. So you're in open stance? I'm in open stance. Okay. And I am going to attack that orc that was attacking me, as I was before. So I will do that this time. I'm gonna spend another point of hope. And let's make a roll. I am terrible at fighting. It's not my thing. Yeah, I kind of like try really hard. There's a lot of like an axe and a sword being whirled around, but it's not really what I do. I give it a good go, but I'm not as skilled as I think I probably am. Yeah. Baron win.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

Yeah, I'm gonna attack that org with my long hafted axe. That's a lot of dice, Charlotte. Six damage, very nice. Okay, so I'll have to figure out how to change that to two hand next time. Or no, wait, no, hold on, hold on a second. Do I have my shield equipped? Yes, I do. Okay, so one hand is what I wanted. We could take these guys out. I can take these guys out, I'm not sure about you.

SPEAKER_03 41:23

Random will take the guys out, and I'll just dance around a lot getting hit.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

That's that's how it works. Over the din of the of of this of this combat, you can hear the child screaming, and the the elf is being very quiet. And uh if any of you sort of glance in their direction momentarily in the middle of the fight, you can see that the elf is trying to free himself. He's like rubbing the ropes against a a stone by the fire. I believe it is now Assel's turn. It looks like he's changed his stance.

SPEAKER_02 41:53

Yeah, well, I'm in melee now, so I think it grabbed me bow, so I've had to draw out my sword now.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

Okay. Ho ho. So that is a great success. And your sword does what now? Four damage? Yeah, four damage. And do you want to add your strength to that? Okay, so that is holy smokes, alright. Tell me how you have ended this warg's miserable existence.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

Well, it's probably still got hold of the sleeve where it bit the arm, so basically I've just tugged back and just shoved the uh sword, short sword into its face.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Right, like right down its throat? Yeah. It whimpers and lets go of your of your arm and its body goes slack and just falls to the ground dead.

SPEAKER_03 42:44

Right, let's see what they do to me then.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Oh dear. That's good. That is a fair. How long does the uh weariness last for your intimidation?

SPEAKER_00 42:55

What did it say in here?

SPEAKER_01 42:57

For the length of the round, okay. So the weariness is over, right? I think so. Yep, okay. That's a failure.

SPEAKER_03 43:05

Okay. More of lights, please. At this rate, Baron Wynn's gonna be the only one standing, going, Well, I don't see your problem. I just killed them all. Well, that's saying that Pete's doing well, too.

SPEAKER_01 43:15

Ooh, I just rolled an eye. This wild wolf has latched onto you, Baron Wynn. You need to make a protection test. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

I'm protected.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

Okay, so you take three endurance damage, but you do not suffer a wound. And then the orc also attacks you. So that orc hits you for three damage. Okay. And we are back to Halberin.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Hey! As I kind of like dance around this thing some more, flicking around trying to hit this thing. Which I shall do again. Again with Terra Heel, which I'm I'm gonna continue to use some more hope because I need it. Let's see what we did. Yes, it hit him at last. Which one did you target? At the one at the top. Okay. For damage. Okay. That's it. That's what we'd done. Just a flesh wound. Yeah, I'm just kind of like dancing around everyone. I'm quite spry and sort of like springy, and I'm swinging my um my sword and my axe, but I'm not really kind of doing a huge amount of them.

SPEAKER_01 44:23

You know what? Berenwin goes first, because she's the one that's in forward. Yep. So that was a mistake. So Berenwin, let's have you go, and then we'll have Assel go, and I'll get it right next time. Okay, Asyl's gone already, hasn't he?

SPEAKER_00 44:35

He killed the one warg already? That was at the end of the last round, I wasn't it. Was it? Yeah. Okay. Alright, well, I'm going to swing at the warg that's I've already done some damage to.

SPEAKER_01 44:48

Okay, and he's gonna spend a point of hate to make that attack ill-favoured.

SPEAKER_00 44:54

Alright, so using my axe, I'll quit that to ill-favored.

SPEAKER_01 44:57

Here we roll. Six damage. Alright, you have killed him. You may describe your kill. Be as graphic and gruesome as you want.

SPEAKER_00 45:07

As I see the warg try and crouch down, which would reflect the ill-favored roll, getting ready to pounce. I take my axe in my one hand and swing down, catching it in the side of the head, with a blade sinking in from its ear to its jaw.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

Blood just sprays the orc next to him, and he's like, ah, and he's like, you know, he seems to have enjoyed it, the little creep. Assel, you are next.

SPEAKER_03 45:37

And how do I add a hope to it? So when it comes up to it, when you go to roll, in the middle there'll be like a little grayed out dice next to hope. If you click on the grade the grayed out dice, it becomes a proper dice, and then you just push roll.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

Right. There we go. For the folks at home, not only are we learning the system, but we are also learning how to use the VTT. Oops. Oh, that is a failure.

SPEAKER_03 46:02

Quite liking the way the combat works, where we generally go first as the as the player characters, and then all the NPCs go. Which is quite nice. But then you have to wait for the whole Oh my god, what's gonna happen to my character?

SPEAKER_01 46:13

So this orc here has missed you once again. It's because I'm running around all over the place. This one is actually targeting Assel.

SPEAKER_02 46:22

Yeah, I've got his attention now.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

Thank you. When you roll the Gandalf, which is an automatic failure for enemies.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

I guess for those listening who don't know it, the D12 that we roll has a 1 and a 12, is replaced by the Eye of Sauron and the Gandalf.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

No, the 11 and the 12. 11 and the 12, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 46:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 46:43

Yeah, sorry, no one and twelve. Baron win, you have to make another protection test. We'll see about this.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

I am wounded. And I need to make an injury roll. Oh, sorry, I made it for you. Sorry about that. Oh no. How rude. Taking away players agency. What kind of GM are you? I don't accept that severe injury. Would you like to roll it again? Go right ahead. I rolled it by mistake. There. Now I have a severe injury for only one day and not the four that you originally rolled.

SPEAKER_01 47:23

Alright. Next round. Baron Wynn.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

What does a severe injury do?

SPEAKER_03 47:29

It has any. Does it actually have any impact in combat? I don't think it does, does it?

SPEAKER_01 47:34

I don't think it does, but I kind of feel like it would make you moderately hindered. So you're gonna lose a die. That's the kind of GM I am, if you're asking.

SPEAKER_00 47:45

Roll in, roll in. Special success usage. What is this? Heavy blow add three damage? Ooh, nice. And deals 11 damage.

SPEAKER_01 47:56

Wow, that's a shed load. Shall we say you've decapitated this orc?

SPEAKER_00 48:03

I think that is pretty fair to say. Outrage that he would even attempt to attack me.

SPEAKER_01 48:10

So after you spray him with that warg blood all over his face, you just swing your bin. Yeah, swing your long-hafted axe at his right at his neck, and it just pops off like a cork on a bottle, and it just flies through the air and lands at the feet of Halburn. Now you're just mocking me.

SPEAKER_00 48:31

There's a souvenir for ya!

SPEAKER_03 48:34

As I spin around this orc trying to hit it some more. Yep. You're up you're up, Mr. Halburn. Alright, well, let's do my best, shall we? More sort of like spinning around, axe and sword clinging together on the orc. We're just kind of trading blows and dancing around each other, really. You got distracted by this head that came flying at you. And d uh Give give Beryl and like a a sort of dirty look as I kind of look around, all the others are sort of on the floor.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

I'll take another swipe.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

Ooh, very nice. Alright. You have killed him. Tell us how.

SPEAKER_02 49:14

Well, I dodged that last blow, and then as it went over the top of me, I ducked underneath it, two hands on my short sword, and just pushed it straight into his guts.

SPEAKER_01 49:25

His eyes just go wide and then glassy as you just take his life.

SPEAKER_02 49:31

Then me and Bered Wynn just look expectantly across our companion as to what's what's taking his time.

SPEAKER_01 49:39

So this this orc here, the last remaining orc standing, looks around, sees that the two of you have made quick work of his companions plus the two wargs, and even though Halburn has not landed a blow, I think. No, no, hit once. You hit him once. Yeah, you okay. You hit him once, yeah, yeah. You you haven't been much of much of a good No. I'd be difficult to get hold of, right? Yeah. He just bolts. He starts to run. If anyone wants to take a shot at him before he leaves, go right ahead.

SPEAKER_02 50:13

Yeah, I'll I'll drop my short sword, dive down for the bow that I dropped, and see if I can uh get him as he runs.

SPEAKER_03 50:20

Try to throw my spear, I suppose. Well no. I'm not gonna bother because it'll take me ages to take it off and then no. I wonder if I could throw my axe. A long hafted axe?

SPEAKER_00 50:31

Probably not. That's it. I need a throwing axe. I mean.

SPEAKER_01 50:42

Let's just say you killed him. That was a hell of a roll. That that arrow goes right into the back of his head, and he just falls down dead.

SPEAKER_03 50:50

I kind of like drop my arms with both my hands both my hands on my weapons, and I looked over at Asshole. And just sort of like shrug.

SPEAKER_01 50:59

And as it gets quiet, you can still hear the kid screaming, but then you can also hear an elf. He's trying to calm the kid down, and he's saying, No, no, I I think it's over. And he said then he said then he says, Hello hello? Who's out there?

SPEAKER_03 51:16

I guess I'll walk towards the firelight and I'll say in I guess some elven but I know peace be with you. And then I'll switch to common. We're here to help you.