Stories with Dice
Stories with Dice is an actual-play podcast where a fellowship of everyday gamers explores fantastical worlds, distant futures, and parallel realities through tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) from Free League Publishing, Chaosium, Modiphius Entertainment, and more.
Join us at our virtual table as we play Mysteries of the Loop, our Tales from the Loop series; explore the Arthurian mythos in The Sword Campaign, the first part of our Great Pendragon Campaign; chart the stars in Star Trek: Magellan, our Star Trek Adventures series; and sail the seas in Dark Blue Sea, our Mutant: Year Zero campaign. Stories from other worlds are coming soon, including The One Ring, The Electric State, Legend of the Five Rings, Twilight: 2000, and so much more.
We’re not voice actors, professional entertainers, or trained performers—just friends from around the globe sharing virtual dice, stories, and a laugh or two as the game unfolds.
Stories with Dice
The Fellowship of the North S1 E2 The Council of Gilraen: An Actual Play of The One Ring
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After rescuing an Elf of Lindon and a frightened boy, the Company meets Lady Gilraen at Weathertop, where they share dark tidings. A shadow has crept down from the Misty Mountains; a Ranger is missing in the Trollshaws; and in the North Downs, a ring of ancient stones stirs with malice. How these threads are bound to the kidnapping of Elves is yet unknown. Now the Company stands at a crossroads of peril — north toward the standing stones, or east into the Trollshaws — a choice that may decide the fate of the North.
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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. Hey everyone, and welcome back to Stories with Dice. We're playing the One Ring 2nd Edition from Free League. I'm Marco, your lore master for this campaign. Let's meet our players. I'll ask each of you to share your character's name, your culture, your calling, and one of your distinctive features that you think best describes the character. I'm gonna start with Charlotte.
SPEAKER_01Uh alright, so my character is Berenlin. I'm trying to pull up my character sheets. She is a Bjorning, and her calling is Champion. Okay.
SPEAKER_02And what's one distinctive feature that you think best describes her? Tenacious. Tenacious, okay. Tony, what about you? We have Tony with us finally. The sexy Spanish person has arrived. He's throwing us he's throwing us all off our game with his immense sexiness. Of course.
SPEAKER_00Of course. It's always like this, you know. That's why I picked the the elf. I had no choice. I had no choice but to pick the elf. So my character is called a Danyon of Linden. My calling is a scholar, and I would say what could be my distinctive feature besides being very sexy. I don't remember at this moment. I think one thing is that I have a very sharp eyes. If you can kind of remember this, Kenai. Kenai, exactly. Even though, you know, I probably also read a lot of books, and you know, I need you know, I'm big a scholar. That doesn't mean that I'm not good when I'm, you know, in the wild and checking for, you know, enemies or you know, I think it's it's what describes me like Kenai. There you go.
SPEAKER_04And Ed. Me? I'm playing Halbern Ashcloak, a ranger of the north who is a warden, and he is bold of heart.
SPEAKER_02Ooh, I like it. And then lastly, we have Pete.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, playing Assel, the Ranger of the North, a messenger, and fairly anonymous.
SPEAKER_02Alright, so now that we know our now that we know our player heroes, and now that we have Tony with us finally, I'm gonna quickly go over a few of the basics before we get back into the game. Uh so first I'm gonna start with experience. So there are two types of experience points in the one ring, skill points and adventure points. You can spend skill points to improve any of the 18 common skills. You can spend adventure points to improve your combat proficiencies or your valor or wisdom. And Baronwin, Assel, and Halberin each receive three skill points and three adventure points for the previous session that we played, and I've already added those points to your character sheet for you. Experience points can only be spent during a fellowship phase, and we'll get into that when that actually when we actually get there in the game. So the game uses a 12-sided die called the feet die and six and six-sided dice called success dice. So when you roll, you're always rolling one twelve-sided die, the feet die, along with a number of success dice equal to the rank of your skill, your combat proficiency, your wisdom, your valor. As I said, the feet die is a 12-sided die. It's numbered one through ten, with the 11 and 12 replaced by the eye of Sauron and the Gandalf rune. So now the Eye of Sauron will count as a zero, and under some situations it triggers bad events. The Gandalf rune is always an automatic success no matter what you rolled. So no matter the numerical result of your roll, you will always succeed if you roll a Gandalf. The success dice have special icons on the six, on the sixes. So if your roll produces one of those, you have a great success. If it produces two or more, then you have an extraordinary success, and you can spend those extra successes to trigger special results. And you can see the table for that on page 19 of the core rulebook. The dice can be modified essentially in two ways. The first is through favored rolls or ill-favored rolls. A favored roll means that you roll two feet dice and you keep the best result, and then an ill-favored roll is the opposite, you roll two feet dice and keep the worst result. The second way you can modify dice is by adding or removing six-sided dice from your pool. And this happens usually when you gain advantages or suffer complications, most often in combat. Each character also has hope and shadow points. For now, we're just going to focus on talking about hope. You can spend hope before you roll to gain an extra success die. You can help another player hero by spending hope to give that player hero an extra bonus success die. You can invoke one of your distinctive features. So, for example, if Adion is rolling awareness and he wants to invoke his keen eye distinctive feature, he becomes inspired. And when you're inspired, you can spend hope to gain two bonus success dice instead of one. And so usually you get the one, but if you're invoking a distinctive feature and you spend hope, you get two. And now also during character creation, each of you chose a useful item. And so whenever you make a role outside of combat, using a skill that's linked to your useful item, you gain one bonus success die. And now, so fellowship. Fellowship is another piece of the game. The power of friendship in Middle-earth is represented in the game by the fellowship score and the fellowship focus. The starting fellowship score of the company is equal to the number of player heroes in the group. So we have four player heroes, so your score is four. I've added that to your sheet. You can spend points of fellowship to recover points of hope when you're resting. Page 71 in the core book talks about resting. Since fellowship is a common pool shared by all of you, any expenditure has to be agreed upon by everyone before you spend it. And then fellowship points are fully refreshed at the end of each session. And now fellowship focus, which we didn't really touch on last session. Some of you might share like an additional level of companionship with another member of the company. Maybe someone is an old acquaintance, maybe you share kinship, maybe someone is a family member, or maybe you feel pity for someone because you consider them to be weak or unfit for adventuring. I feel like Barrenwin might have pity on Ashcloak after that combat last session. In game terms, player heroes provide a greater advantage when they help their fellowship focus. So, as mentioned before, if you spend a point of hope to help someone, you give them a bonus. But if that someone is your fellowship focus, they now gain two dice instead of the usual one die bonus. But now the benefit of having a fellowship focus comes at a price. So you will gain a shadow point whenever your fellowship focus is wounded, if they suffer a bout of madness, which is something we'll get to if that happens in the game, or is otherwise seriously harmed. And this shadow gain cannot be prevented by making a shadow test. Now a shadow test is rolling valor, and if you succeed, depending on the quality of your success, you can remove points of shadow that you may potentially have gained. And you can find that on page 137 of the book. And I'm mentioning all these page numbers because there's no official module in Foundry, the virtual tabletop that we're using. So the rules of the game are not in there, so everybody has a book on their table and they're referencing it when they need to. Or they have the PDF. Alright. That's all I have for you in terms of basics. So hopefully that wasn't too much of an information overload.
SPEAKER_04No?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm not sure if you're making those eyes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I need to see it in play, I think. I mean, I've read the rules several times. It's one of these things that I've always read the book several times, and I'm like, how do I do this? Yeah, that's usually it.
SPEAKER_02It's always usually, you know, when the game hits the table is when you kind of figure it out. I don't remember what uh special gear I took. I think it's in your character sheet. Let me see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm trying to find it on there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I have nothing. I thought I saw it on your character sheet. Yeah, it's right there, but I ha I mean in my case I have nothing. Ah no, I have a bow, long sword, and leather shirt. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02Ed, where did you Ed, where did you put your useful item?
SPEAKER_04My useful item uh goes into your kit, and it will on your carrot sheet it'll be under equipment and gear.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I may not have chosen anything.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I don't I don't see it. So just underneath the on the carrot sheet, yeah, just under the war gear. You've got equipment gear, and then it says the dustwater camper set.
SPEAKER_01Maybe I'll wait until we have a need for something and then declare what I took.
SPEAKER_02That's convenient. We like that. Okay, so. Our tale resumes in a small clearing among the Weatherhills. Six days have passed since the company set out from Brie, and the first quarter moon is four days and twelve hours away. Ample time to reach their meeting at Weathertop. The clearing lies strewn with the fallen orcs and wargs the company have only just defeated. Huddled close to a fading fire sit two bound figures, rough burlap sacks cover their heads, one a child, small, trembling, and missing a shoe, the other, an elf by the look of his raiment, tall and slender, his poise unbroken even in captivity. One of our company, the ranger Halburn, known in these parts as Ashcloak, steps forward. First he speaks in Sindarin, saying, Peace be upon you. Then in the common tongue he says we are here to help. Now, Halburn, I imagine you remove the burlap sack from their heads as you speak to them, and then you start to cut the ropes that are binding their hands and feet.
SPEAKER_04Unless the elf is Tony, in which case I'll leave him hand unbound and the burlap sack on. The elf is Tony, yes, yes. Yeah, no, I'll take the um burlap sacks off and just make sure they're okay. And I don't know if I know Tony. I can't remember if I do.
SPEAKER_02No, but Adion and Assel have a sh very sort of a they've crossed paths in Linden.
SPEAKER_04Okay, fine. So I guess I will make sure that the elf is fine and I will comfort the kid. Just ask if she's is it a boy or a girl? Boy. A boy. I'll check to make sure he's okay, he's not hurt, I'll sort of like fuss over him, I'll check sort of like his hairline and just sort of like make sure he's not being bashed on the head or or hurt or anything like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. He's got some, you know, he's dirty, he's got some cuts and bruises and minor things, minor scuffs, you know.
SPEAKER_04And I'll hand him his shoe and say, I think you dropped this.
SPEAKER_02He takes it from you. So he's like thin as a reed. His hair is black and all messy, and you know, his face is smudged with dirt. I mean, he's got grey green eyes that are just darting everywhere, you know, he's obviously frightened. He has a rough tunic of undyed wool, belted with a strip of plated leather. And you and Assel and probably Adeon see the mark of the old Hillman of Rudar in his features and in the way he's dressed.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Well, I'll I'll kind of give him a blanket, give him some like berries and stuff that I happen to have on me, some nuts, just to kind of give him something to eat. And if the fire is because it was by a fireplace, wasn't he? Like a little fire that was going on. Very small campfire, yeah. I'll just kind of like stoke that and just fuss around that and just fuss around him, and I'll leave the rest to kind of speak with. Adian A Danion? A Danion. A Danion, yep.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we'll Well, what you see is a tall and fair uh elf. De air. My hair is uh pale as the moonlight silver. You see that my eyes are keen and distant, like if I was seeing farther away, and you know, not just right here. And they they impart some wisdom and sorrow when you look at it like somebody who has seen perhaps way too much. But his face is still merry. Um he he smiles as uh you know he doesn't seem like somebody like that could be sad and unbetting you know a bad feeling. He seems to be smiling and looking at you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so Adion, you see two ranges of the north and a woman who is I don't know if you would know the Bay Ornings from across the Misty Mountains. Probably not. Charlotte, how would you just how would you describe Berenwin?
SPEAKER_01Like, is she kind of wild or I wouldn't say wild. Her village is half decent. She spends a lot of time out in the fields and forests. Um say like half wildish. Like she does try and keep her hair from getting too unruly.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so we'll look at this one and I will say I seldom see people from your kind, Rangers of the North. It's very pleasant that I've been safe by you. Know that the elves of Linden have not forgotten the Dunedain, nor the oath that we once bound our people. May your path be straight beneath the stars, Rangers. I makes like a like a bow to you.
SPEAKER_04I'll re re say thank you while I'm kind of fussing with the kid in Sandaran, but I'll kinda leave Ashle to kind of like deal with you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'll pull my hood down so he can now see my face. Forgive me, we were never properly introduced back in Linden, but I saw you there a number of months ago when I was resting.
SPEAKER_00I hope that your steps were short during these months that we haven't seen each other. Much has happened. Please to see a face that I recognize though. Likewise, I can say the same. I was actually coming to Brie to meet you all, and when I was caught, being caught by orcs. I was held in put in prison and covered the whole time, but I could hear them speaking evil things. They were supposed to be taking me to somebody called Sabruk. Sagruk, the boys from beyond. It seems that the boy was to be given to the wargs, perhaps to be eaten, I do not know.
SPEAKER_01At the mention of the wargs, you'd see Branwyn come walking up holding a bunch of uh warg canines that she just took from the fallen, and you see her cleaning the blood and gore off of them.
SPEAKER_02Are you s are you getting their pelts? Is that what you're doing? No, just her teeth for trophies. Just oh their teeth for trophies. Okay, got it. Understood. I mean canine. Sorry, I misheard you. Okay. Yeah, so what are you doing with the bodies, by the way? And where do you so it's it's it's it's coming upon evening. So you'll wanna you'll want to make camp either here or somewhere away from this orc camp. That's up to you guys. You can move the bodies and burn them. You can leave them here and go and you know find a different spot to make camp. It's up to you. Leave them to nature to take care of.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but I couldn't tarry in this location. This is evil this evil estench.
SPEAKER_01I do think we need to burn the bodies. We don't need uh the corrupted the king meat inviting other dark forces to the area.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01Just toss them on the fire that they have going already and be on our way.
SPEAKER_02So, uh just a reminder that Berenwin, or Berenwin, if I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing it, is wounded. Her wound will heal in a day. You can take a short rest here, like I said, here are nearby, and everyone except Branwin will recover endurance equal to your strength rating. So wounded PCs can't recover endurance from a short rest. Once you once you get somewhere safe where you can take a prolonged rest, then everyone can start recovering and lost endurance. So you said you wanted to actually just leave, right? Is that what you said?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we'll we'll leave and then I'll once we've sort of like we won't go very far, maybe an hour. But well, as until it gets really dark, then stop, make camp there, and then I'll I know mechanically it won't really do very much, but I'll I'll heal, use my healing on uh Berenwin just to kind of make sure her wounds are secure and fine, and and she's not gonna get infection or anything like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So the the uh you can roll healing on her, and that will actually prevent the she won't run the risk of like her injury getting worse, essentially.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Let's make a I'll make a roll from that now. Terrible. Or I die with you trying. Hey, I think what we need to do is definitely take the arms off and the legs, and you'll be fine. Yeah, that's terrible.
SPEAKER_02So that just raised the eye awareness. You rolled an eye. You actually rolled two eyes, because you're so your healing skill is favored, right? So you rolled two eyes and took the best result, but unfortunately both results were eyes of Sauron. So that was a terrible terrible, terrible roll. So shit. Essentially, Halbrin is hasn't changed since last session. He's rolling bumpkus. So also when you go to tend to Assel's wound, because you know that he was wounded in the battle, you discover that it is already healed, as though he's been touched by some unseen grace. Amazing. Just a little scar, just a little little blood, a little scar, but the wound itself is already healed.
SPEAKER_04Fair enough. And then I will take a short rest. Um, to heal my heart wounds, say.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Okay, so you can recover endurance equal to your strength, which is six. So you can get six endurance buttons. Handy little button to push short rest. Okay, so you've camped like nearby. Buran Wynn has burned the bodies of the orcs in the ward. She's taken some of their teeth as trophies. I don't know what she's gonna do with them. Maybe she'll hang them around her, maybe she'll make a necklace. I don't know, we'll see.
SPEAKER_01Maybe she already has one and this is gonna add to it.
SPEAKER_02That'd be cool. That'd be hardcore. I'm not sure if that's a misdeed or not. I'll have to think about that.
SPEAKER_01Wearing the uh body parts of your fallen enemies, yeah. Yeah, your favorite enemy or whatever it's called.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so the night goes by uneventfully at your camp. The boy, by the way, hasn't really said anything other than to tell you his name. His name is Freyek, and that he wants to go home. And home is a place called Cran. And you've in all your wanderings in the north, you've never come across a place or heard of a place called Crane before. So you're about a day away from Weathertop. So in the morning you set off, and Assel guides the company through the rolling slopes of the Weatherhills, under a wide and open sky. The grasses are tall and green with the flush of early summer, stirred by a breeze that smells of distant rain and heather. By day's end, you come at last to Weathertop. Its ruined silhouette rises against the fading light like a broken crown upon the hilltop. As you round the base of the hill toward the hidden path to the summit, the ruins of a once magnificent arch come into view, and in the days of the North Kingdom it spanned the Great East Road beneath this old watchtower. Time and weather have claimed much of the arch's grandeur, yet the last rays of the sun gild the broken pitted stone with a kingly glow, revealing the marks of a Lindil and a Sildur, even after all these long, long years. And at the sight of the marks of the kings of old, the rangers' burdens fall away, and their spirits are lifted. Each of you may regain one hope point. Ooh, cool. I hope I used plenty of it last time. So you climb the hidden path to the summit of Amensul, the sun dips toward the horizon, setting the western clouds aflame with gold and crimson. The first quarter moon is now but three days and twelve hours away. Among the scattered stones and quiet ruins of Weathertop, you'll find a measure of rest as you wait for the Lady Gilrain. Settling upon the wind worn stones, you may camp, let the breeze carry away the dust of the road. The sky clears, and the sun rises and sets over the hills. Nights on Weathertop are cool and still, broken only by the distant howl of wolves echoing across the wild. And each evening the waxing crescent moon grows brighter, edging slowly towards its first quarter. So if you guys want to do anything over these next three days, feel free, let me know. Otherwise, we can just jump in.
SPEAKER_04I guess that's like the equivalent of three prolonged rests, right?
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Weathertop is yeah, a good place for you guys to have a prolonged rest. So, Baronwin, your wound has been healed, so you can mark that.
SPEAKER_01And then I've got all of my endurance back now, yeah?
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes. And since you're resting for these three days at Weathertop, you can also spend your fellowship points if you want to recover hope points that you've spent on the journey so far, if if you all agree to do that. Sure. Do you mind if I take two?
SPEAKER_04Sorry, say it again. Hope points. Can I take two of the fellowship points to turn them into hope points? In one of the prolonged rests.
SPEAKER_01How many hope points are you missing from your max? I've got seven of eleven. Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_02I got nine of eleven. Everybody else alright with that? So you're down to two fellowship points. Does anyone else want to use any fellowship to restore hope?
SPEAKER_00No. I mean, me, the only thing I would do perhaps, because you know, since I'm an scholar, I will probably enjoy just looking at the stones, walking around and kind of reminiscing on what this was before, you know, one of the towers. Watch towers of Arnor, you know, and I will kind of, you know, move around and you know, kind of think about it and and try to find if I there is anything written left or any painting left or anything that brings back the lost knowledge of the past and what used to be the big Northern Kingdom.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's nothing, I mean there's nothing here of that nature, but like the the stones itself, some of the ruins and and the etchings in them all sort of echo the old Kingdom of Arnor. And you know that the what this watchtower used to house one of the lost seeing stones, one of the Palantirs. Yeah. So you don't know where that would have been. You don't know you don't really know what happened to it, but but you do know that, yeah, that one of the lost seeing stones used to be housed in this watchtower. So who else besides Halberin used fellowship points to restore hope? Assel, did you? No. Okay, and Branwyn?
SPEAKER_04No, I think. So you because you you deleted two, but I I put two in the uh in the prolonged rest, so it probably took out all of them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, okay. So yep, so you have two left. Alright.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, during that time I would probably get talking with the boy a little bit, see if I can get him to open up. Teach him a little a little bit about like woodcraft, bushcraft, that kind of thing. Just help pass the time and get his spirits up a little bit more.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah, you notice that he he takes to you, Baranwyn, much better than he does the rangers or the or the elf. When he speaks, his words are in a a sort of rough and twisted form of the common tongue, and it's not unlike the speech of Orc Kind, which the Rangers know it's common among the Hillmen of Rudar. They they sort of spoke a common, corrupted form of the common speech. He tells you, Baronwyn, when when can I go home? I want to see my brother.
SPEAKER_01Once we are done meeting with the person that we're waiting for, we will see about getting you back home. If not by us, maybe she can provide us some assistance for you. He just kind of crosses his arms and pouts in the corner. Honestly, I have no idea where you come from.
SPEAKER_02He points north and he says, Cran!
SPEAKER_01That's a big place up there. Easy to get lost.
SPEAKER_02Anyone else doing anything during these three days?
SPEAKER_04I will try actually with a with with with Frey to try and see how he describes Crane and whereabouts he thinks it might be, how far away it is. I mean it's difficult because he's like, what, ten?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's about like nine or ten, you would guess.
SPEAKER_01Leading questions like, do you see mountains when you walk out your door? Is there a lake here? But that would have helped us to decide how far north. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he so he tells you that Crane is near the ruins of an old city.
SPEAKER_04The only large city I know of up there that is, I guess, is Four Nost. But there are others, I'm guessing there are ruins. So who knows? But it's in the hills, he says. We could find it there, but depends how big it is and how much space we have, and plus we have other things to do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well he tells you if you take the weather hills north, you'd have to go a little west.
SPEAKER_04That's a good starting point. Hassel, do you know of the place that he might speak of? Have you been in that direction? I know that I've been around a lot.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'll put up that way. But yeah, he could be referring to lots of places up there.
SPEAKER_00No, you've never heard of it, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, I'll have to leave that for another day.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02And also, if you guys so during this three-day period, as you're, you know, getting to know each other more, you can start to figure out maybe who might be your fellowship focus, and you can make those declarations. So if we can move on, at last as the moon climbs to its half lit height, silver light spills across the stones from the thickets among the hidden path that you took to the top, a figure moves with such quiet grace that you did not perceive him until he stands upon the summit. Cloaked in grey and green, he speaks softly. I am Areneth. For those who do not know the Lady Gilrain, hear me. I counseled her to send forth a messenger, but she would not endanger others while she herself abides in secrecy. Such is the heart of the woman you are soon to meet. He then makes a soft bird call, a signal that it is safe to approach. And from the shadows of tumbled stone five cloaked figures step forward and take up watch at the broken parapets. Then a sixth appears. she says, lowering her hood, you have my thanks for bearing my letter. Her gaze lingers upon each of you, not as one who sees strangers, but as one who has long awaited your coming. I am Gilrayan. She pauses for a moment and a breeze stirs her cloak. We are met in a time of gathering peril. Each of us bears but a fragment of what is unfolding. Yet if we speak plainly and listen well, we may glimpse the full design of the enemy, and stand together against it. Since it was I who summoned you, let me begin. Some months past, a shadow took root in my mind, a veiled threat that came down from the misty mountains, drawing dark things to its fell purpose. I sent Failhir and a small company of rangers to learn all they could about this evil. But three seasons have passed, and no word returned. Only days ago, scouts out of Imladrus glimpsed Failhir alone and wounded, yet pursuing a South Ron through the wilderness of Holland into the trollshaws. What errand brings a man of the South into these lands I cannot guess, but it is no errand of peace. She turns from you, her eyes cast out over the lost realm of Arnor, a wild and perilous land. Dark tidings may yet be revealed before this night is spent, but I do not deem your coming here a matter of chance, and for that I take hope. Speak now of what you have seen and heard, that through my counsel we may weigh these matters with care and wisdom. So Assel, you know Gilrayan. I I don't know, Ed, you can you can tell us if you've met her before.
SPEAKER_04I've met her, but just in brief. I've never actually spoken to her myself.
SPEAKER_02Okay, you do know Fail here, and I I might be pronouncing his name wrong, but I I took that name from your character's backstory. Uh so he's the ranger that's missing. I looked at each of your character sheets, and it looks like Asil is the only one that has courtesy. He technically doesn't have any nobody has any ranks in courtesy, but his courtesy is favored, so at least he has a snowball's chance in L. We're not that we're not we're not the happy hello type of group, I it looks like. Right. So since and since Acel knows her and she's her disposition toward him is friendly, I'm gonna give Assel a bonus so you can roll courtesy and give yourself a one success die when you make that roll. Uh so this is basically you introducing the members of the company to her. And feel free to spend hope if you want to. And hope. Yeah, I think might help. Great success. Okay, so that means that in this council you will have five attempts to make roles, or so so five five roles you can make before the sort of the the council is over. And the you'll need a certain amount of successes based on sort of what you're gonna ask her, what you want to achieve as you're having this discussion with her. So, um Assel, why don't you, now that we know that you've had a great success on your role, why don't you introduce the company to Gilray and let us know how you how you approach that.
SPEAKER_03My lady, I've found those you asked me to seek out. Two of them I found in Bree, Halberun, who you most certainly know, and uh Baranwin, with a great axe, a great fighter. And by chance, we seem to have also come across a Danyan, the elf from Linden, who you sent us to find. So the party, by good fortune, is now assembled. We also happen to have picked up another younger companion who was uh captive with the elf. Seems to be from the Hillmen of the North. We haven't decided uh what to do about this yet. Child of the Hillmen, you say.
SPEAKER_02Men of darkness are his kin. Long have they been swayed by the dark powers of the world. For six hundred and seventy-five years they fought beside Engmar against us, an accursed people, whose hearts fell long ago into shadow. Yet I will not judge him by the sins of his fathers. For who among us may claim our hearts untainted or wholly steadfast? You are all well met. Please speak of what you have heard and what you have seen. Ashcloak, you were close with with Fel here?
SPEAKER_04Indeed, he is like a father to me. It is um it is worrying hearing that he has gone missing. I am very keen to find out what is what has befallen him. I have done a lot of wandering since he left, and indeed, this is dark days. I feel a little darkness in my heart that I feel that hope is waning. And I I I I hope that I can reverse that. Along with my fellows. And of course, seeing yourself a kind lady has definitely filled me with some measure of hope.
SPEAKER_02And you have you and your companions have filled me with hope. But what if what have you what have you heard? You have been in the wild. You have been to Brie. One second. I did have this written down. Get your notes ready, dammit. God damn it. Calling upon each of you. One second.
SPEAKER_04I did have some actual notes that I wrote.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I'm putting this back into your message in in in Godward. See it? Oh, thank you.
SPEAKER_04Yes, thank you. Yes, we'll get back into that. A foul creature, ancient beyond the memory of men, a creature that has made her lair in a place called Fort Arlas, an old fortress built in the days of the kings. It is rumored that once every hundred years she gives birth to a terrible brood. Some say that time has approached, or others believe that that time has now since passed, and that her monstrous children now roam Eriador to feed their insatial appetite.
SPEAKER_02This is troubling news.
SPEAKER_04Milady, I wish to take leave to investigate this. What a failure. We are to leave him to his fate. I've trust my my adopted father, but no, I I am I am torn between the two.
SPEAKER_02So Ed, give me a role. I'm not sure what skill you can use in Hearten or it sort of depends on your what I want to do. Yeah, it sort of depends on how you're addressing her and the other rangers.
SPEAKER_04You know, I think Inharten is probably the the only skill that I could probably use in that. So yeah, I'm gonna I guess I'm gonna try and to kind of, I guess, fill her with hope, I suppose. But I'm finding it difficult to sort of find the right words because I am upset about hearing what's happened to Fel here. But yeah, let's see if my roles just do just as well. Yeah, pretty much. I'm finding it very difficult to kind of speak to her. I fumble over my words, I'm in her presence, which has made me uneasy. And now just hearing the information about Fel here has just kind of put me into more of a depressive state. My shadow path is the path of despair. So I think that yeah, I'm with a lot of the hope that I've had, and I guess my my failing previously, it's kind of weighing heavy on my heart.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Ranwin, you have come from a great distance across the misty mountains. Surely you must have seen or heard something in your travels. What of the high pass across the mountains?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we lost uh lost a good few people on those past storms and orcs. I do recall one of the things that the merchants of Dale were talking about was King Bard locking himself in his towers and not speaking to anyone, still mourning the death of his wife from years before. But that seems pretty minor and minuscule versus the problems of the real people of Middle-earth, those who bend and break their backs every day for their own meager pittance of survival in life. Apparently, I don't think very highly of Wellborn or Highborn.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so give me a role, sort of judging on how you're how you're approaching the situation, if you're using awe or if you want to like you can use awe to sort of impress her without revealing too much about yourself, or maybe insight. Maybe insight to try to Yeah, to try to observe and sort of evaluate her and her actions and what she's not saying, it's sort of reading between the lines kind of a thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, I I am distrustful of people in power. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Insight we go Almost a Gandalf on that feet die. Not quite, though. Okay, so Berenwin failed. That's two failures.
SPEAKER_01There was one other thing I did hear, but this goes back to when I was at our village. Merkwood's being plagued by a beast that is said to resemble a wolf and a man. Now that is something that we can take care of, if it exists.
SPEAKER_02My foresight spoke of of a dark whisper on the wind in the mountains. Not of a werewolf from the ancient days.
SPEAKER_01Well, I can't speak about that, I just know what I have heard.
SPEAKER_02I fear there is a cloud upon our meeting.
SPEAKER_01She looks up and looks at the cloud looks at the uh cloudless sky.
SPEAKER_02Ediane, you you came late to this company, I understand. Tell us your tale.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I came late because I was captured on the road to Bri. I was taken captive by some orcs on the way. And this worries me, because the reason why I was coming to Bri was to bring the news of white ships waiting in silence with no passengers on them. I don't know in c you know, but elves sometimes we feel the need to take the boats on the Grey Havens and sail westward.
SPEAKER_02I know that the elves have taken the road west. I dwell in Riverdale. Master Elrond has spoken often of the time of the elves waning. I have s I have seen the the elves leaving. You are saying that they have not arrived in the Grey Havens.
SPEAKER_00They are not. And my capture on the way to Brie perhaps speaks of the dangers that now live on the roads, and that we might we might need to be more careful. I'm afraid that you know they've been taking capture like me. I don't know. I'm just trying to understand why they wouldn't come. Something must have befallen to them. And what could it be if not the evil of the orcs?
SPEAKER_02Why would orcs wish to capture elves? Did they give you any did you did you learn of any inclination as to where they were taking you?
SPEAKER_00Yes, I heard them speaking of somebody called Sagruk, the voice from beyond. Voice from beyond.
SPEAKER_02This could This could very well be of the the the dark whisper that that was in my vision. Tony. Yeah, give me a roll. Can I roll for a song? Sure. Might know an appropriate song that speaks of the the elves leaving Middle-earth for the undying lands, perhaps. Or perhaps you wrote a song of the capture of the elves on their way. I will use also hope. Okay. And do I get inspiration because of that? No, you can invoke a distinctive feature if you think that you have a distinctive feature that's appropriate, and that would make you inspired. Rhymes of lore? Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00There you go. So we'll draw all this. Great success! Great success.
SPEAKER_01Oh comes the elf. Some of us see it around here. Sure enough.
SPEAKER_04With a depressing crew. Tony is the happy.
SPEAKER_02Well, and the merry elf.
SPEAKER_00There you go.
SPEAKER_02Adeon breaks into s breaks into this really beautiful song about the fading of the elves and perhaps even his experiences being captured, and it's moving to all of you. So you now have one roll left, you've failed four. You have two successes, you need one more success. Assel. I should be having you roll before you speak, but that's okay, we'll just keep going with the way we've been going. Assel, tell us what you have learned, what you have heard on the road.
SPEAKER_03The main thing I've picked up, apart from what my companions have found, is is found a poor wretch in Brie, a hunter, who was on an expedition north, returned with some shadow on his back. The poor wretch was tormented by the shadow, and compelled to uh seek out any elves passing through debris and the surrounding area, and somehow report back to the shadow. His experience happened amongst a ring of stones somewhere up north. And I'll pull out my copy of the map that I made. Maybe maybe this has something to do with the whole plot.
SPEAKER_02This sounds troubling indeed. It is in line with Adeon's experiences. Have I have any of you heard of this Zakruk that Adeon of Linden has spoken of? You actually did at the L the the orcs that you captured, you overheard them saying that they were taking him to Zakruk.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah, yeah, no, but I know more I don't know of him like as it like. Understood. But yeah, other than that, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So, Assel, you want to give me a roll of something?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'll I'll speculate on the Rings of Stones from what little is known by my people. I'll look into the lore, see if there's any links of tales that I know of from that area.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so you're gonna roll lore, is that it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Okay. And maybe if I can use uh hope to invoke folklore as a distinctive feature?
SPEAKER_02Yes, absolutely. There you go. An automatic success with the Gandalf. Okay. You know that the Men of Darkness, the Hillmen, for example, once worshipped Sauron, and before him Morgoth. It is likely then that this Ring of Stones serves as a meeting place for such evil folk. Here perhaps they gathered beneath the stars to offer dark rites and pay homage to the fell powers of the world. So Gilrayan pauses for a moment before speaking. Well, my friends, she says softly, my heart would send you east to seek our lost ranger, yet it seems a darker shadow stirs in the north calling for your aid. I will leave the choice to you, but take this counsel. The fate of your company has always been in your hands. Now, however, you bear more than the fate of one of my rangers. You carry the fate of the elves and of all the free folk of Iriador. The choice lies with you. Which road will you take? And she waits for you to decide. Will you look for the missing ranger, traveling east on the On the Great East Road, or will you go to the Standing Stones where this man encountered some evil shadow that has something to do with elves being kidnapped by orcs, preventing them from reaching the Grey Havens and going to the Undying Lands? We're gonna get this boy home first, unless you have someone that you can offer up to do that for us. We can, yes. Yes, I can do that. I can send I can send three of my trusted men to take this child home, if this child knows in fact where his home is.
SPEAKER_04So north we've got the standing stones and the child. We've got Fort Arlas, and then presumably we've got to go to the trollshores or the area around the trollshores. Dare I say two quests either way.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and this this rumor at Fort Arlas might very well have some connection. I cannot see it, but your journey might take you there at some point.
SPEAKER_04I look at the rest of them, because I've found all my stuff and I have no idea what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_03Well, our elven companion here, his folk, have been disappearing. And it sounds like many of them have disappeared. Maybe we should leave it up to him to decide the priority to find what's happened to his folk or to uh go in search of our missing ranger.
SPEAKER_00Perhaps both our link. I think it's important to find my my missing missing elves. Perhaps finding this ranger will bring us closer to the other one. We head east then.
SPEAKER_02Is that the will of the company to head east instead of to these standing stones? Yeah, I'll go along with what the elf said.
SPEAKER_01As long as the boy is dealt with, I'm I do not have a preference.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah. So she agrees to have some of her men take the boy north.
SPEAKER_04He's sort of you know giving them directions, he's pointing on a map as to where where where he's from, and and I guess I'm gonna ask the lady before before we do that, where exactly was Fellhead last seen?
SPEAKER_02He was last seen crossing the the Loudwater into the Trollshaws. So coming up from Holland, which is this land between the Loudwater and the mountains, south of Rivendell. So he crossed the fords of Brunen into the Trollshaws. He was pursuing a man of the south, and he was wounded. And that was two days ago. Okay, so the night at Weathertop passes uneventfully, and at first light you part ways with Gilrayan and her rangers and the boy, their figures fade among the trees. The Great East Road stretches ahead of you, a wary path of broken stone and overgrown ruts. Between the towering trees that lean over the track, distant hills rise like silent sentinels, dotted with the shattered remnants of watchtowers and crumbling fortifications, standing witness to the glory and sorrow of ages past. Assel, give me a travel test, please. It's a fairly familiar path to the last bridge. That was a great success, correct? Marker rolled some dice. Rolled some dice. Okay, scout. That would be Ashcloak, I think. That'll be me. Yep. Give me an explorer test.
SPEAKER_04Explorer test, okay. Let's see what we got going on. Hey, it's a great success. Great success. Look at that. Okay.
SPEAKER_02It's about time. So, a flock of noisy crows has been following you for days now. So you've traveled for like four days down the Great East Road, and these crows have been following you. Their harsh paws are rising and falling in uneven bursts. A restless, watchful chorus that seems to mark your passage. As evening approaches on the fourth day, you range ahead of the company looking for a suitable spot to make your camp. The crows follow and gather atop a nearby tree and suddenly fall completely silent. And it gives you this, like you have this eerie feeling that, like, okay, we're not going to camp here where these elves have sudden, where these elves, I'm sorry, where these crows have suddenly fallen silent after being noisy for the last four days. So you press on down the road and find a a better site to make camp where the crows don't follow you as far away from that spot that you can that you can see. So everyone gains two fatigue points for the journey so far. When we rested, our fatigue get Yes. So actually, that's one thing I did forget. So everyone right now make a travel test, because this should have happened when you were at Weathertop for four days.
SPEAKER_01Travel test. It's just our standard skill travel?
SPEAKER_02Yes. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Everyone except for Pete.
SPEAKER_02So ASL succeeded? You can reduce. What did you succeed by? Just a regular success or great success. Great success. Okay, so you can reduce, you can remove two fatigue points that you've incurred so far. Yeah, so when your fatigue goes up, load is essentially your encumbrance. So when when you add fatigue, it increases your encumbrance. It makes everything heavier that you're carrying. So as long as your load stays below your endurance, you're fine. Once it reaches your endurance or higher, you become weary. And then when you roll the dice, you ignore the one, two, and three results on all the six-sided dice. Okay. Assel, give me another travel test for the next next couple of days here.
SPEAKER_03Just an ordinary success.
SPEAKER_02Alright, so you're approaching the last bridge. You're just about a day away from the last bridge at this point. Adeon, give me an awareness test, please.
SPEAKER_00Can I use my keen eye thingy? I know that's only if I use my hope, right?
SPEAKER_02Correct.
SPEAKER_00So I will use hope and I will you use my keen eye to be inspired. And I will roll. Right. Some super extraordinary success. Yes. Like looking with my keen eye. Just jumping around. You see me going up the tree, looking around, and then descending and moving around. From brush to brush. Nobody sees me, but I'm looking everywhere. And you're not making a sound as you do it.
SPEAKER_02So you're you're you guys are moving along the road for about two days when Adanyan, you spot movement beneath the trees off to the side of the road. It's a small group keeping pace with you, just beyond the northern reach of the edge of the road. They move quietly, deliberately, always near the shadowed verge, tracking your steps. At first you catch only glimpses, the soft glint of mail beneath a cloak, the graceful motion of a bow drawn and lowered, but with your keen sight, you recognize the bearing of the elves, the fair folk of Imladrus, watchful and wary in these wild lands. I am Galahir of Imladrus is I am Idanion of Lond of Linden. It is good to see another of our kin. You have travelled far from Linden. I am surprised have you have you been have you encountered any difficulties on your path?
SPEAKER_00I have indeed. A little band of orcs captured me on my way to Brie. Is this why you are vigilant on the road?
SPEAKER_02Yes. We have heard of our kin being waylaid on their on the way to the Grey Haven, so we have doubled our efforts in patrolling these lands. But we we have tracked a pack of wargs out of the weather hills and drew them away from the Lady Gilrayan, that her passage might be untroubled. I bid you stray not from this road when night falls, for these lands grow dark and restless, and should you come to a place where even the crows fall silent, linger not there. Move swiftly, for a shadow follows when the wind is still. Where are you going? Well, now that the Lady Gilrayan is safely passed on into the angle we are hunting that warg pack. We're gonna ensure that they trouble no other travelers in these parts. You require assistance. We do not, but we appreciate the offer.
SPEAKER_00Where are you headed? We are headed east, sir, in the search of a lost stranger, known of the stranger here.
SPEAKER_02Yes, you are you are Gilrain's company. Well met indeed. We will not keep you from your task. May fortune follow you. Fortune follow you, Namadia. Assel, on your next travel test, give yourself a bonus die. And everyone gains to me. Thanks to you, exactly. And everyone gains everyone gains one fatigue for the these next two days. Can't be taking too much more than it.
SPEAKER_04Oh, dare me. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02For more I shall be weary. Right, success. You've arrived at the last bridge, some 100 miles east of Weathertop. The ancient span crosses the deep gorge of the Horwell in three stone arches. Below the river roars with snow melt and spring rain. Mist clings to the banks, curling like ghosts through the pines. On the far side of the bridge, a lone figure is slumped against the stone. His cloak is torn, his chest is peppered with arrows.
SPEAKER_04I guess, yeah, well, I guess run towards him, I suppose. Or more coarsenly towards him. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Okay, so you Halburn, you you move toward him, and you as the as you get closer to him on the other side of the bridge, you're now sort of ahead of the rest of the company. You recognize him. It's fail here. His shirt is soaked with blood. His eyes find yours, though his voice is failing, his words come urgent and clear. Follow the Horwell into the foothills. Look for a star above the mists of the river. And then he dies. And not far from him lies the twisted body of a fallen orc. Now, Halbrin, I need you to make a valor test, please. Oh dear. This is not gonna go well. Right then. He had to failure. You gain two shadow points. And what are you what are you what are your parting words, Halburn, before we end the episode?
SPEAKER_04I basically uh I grab his hand in mine. He's the one that kind of taught me everything I needed to know about being a Ranger of the North. He was like a second father to me, and I punch the bridge above his above his head. I really hurt my knuckles, and I just look up into the sky and just and look northwards and just scream, massively unintelligible. The darkness that's deep inside of me just kind of comes out and I just let out this horrible scream of finding the family member dead.