SPEAKER_00 0:05

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 and thanks for listening. We're playing the One Ring from Free League, and this is Episode 11, The Fang of the North. In our last episode, the company endured its first unsettling brush with the Dark Whisper. When I Danyan saw the spirit in its true form, a drowned wood elf, it fled into the east. The company made camp in the woods south of the crowned hill, and at first light returned to search the hilltop once more. There they discovered torn cloaks belonging to rangers, along with the tracks of a lone child heading into the east. Troubled by what these signs suggested, they chose to follow. Their journey brought them to a hillfolk settlement, torn and deserted. The surviving adults had been carried off by goblins serving a queen known as the Fang of the North. Only a half dozen children had survived, hiding in the rafters of the communal hall. They pleaded with the company to rescue their parents, and told them how to find the queen's lair. The episode ended with the company standing before the mouth of a cave. From within came the sound of footsteps and two orc voices. I hear old Hatteron lost his crown, one said. Shame, really, the other replied. Gave good sport, worth every nail, old Tharzag himself told me. Then a dark whisper, like a chill wind, keened through the cave mouth. One of the orcs gasped, his voice trembling. We better get a movin'. More loss has come. Their footsteps carried deeper into the cave, fading into the gloom, leaving only an uneasy silence. And now our tale resumes.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Okay, so what's the plan? So we'll give them sort of like, I don't know, two or three minutes, and then I guess we try and go and see where they're going.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Okay, so the moment you step past the lip of the cave, the sound of the world outside seems to just fall away. The air is still and cold, and it carries the faint scent of damp earth and something older, harder to name. Your flickering torchlight reaches only a short way ahead of you, and beyond that edge the darkness is deep and impenetrable. Now, this cave system appears to be very large. I am going to need an explore roll. I'm gonna spend my my point of uh hype as a success. You push deeper into the sprawling maze of tunnels, the air grows warmer as the sharp scent of burning wood creeps in. Rounding a bend, flickering firelight spills across the stone, and from somewhere ahead you hear the low quick guttural murmur of orc voices. I told you, Gishak, we should cut her up and fry her in a pan. And then the other voice says, You're as dumb as a stone, Jaga. We roast her on a spit until she's blackened and crispy. What do you do?

SPEAKER_02 4:21

I guess kind of stop trying to sneak a little bit closer so we can see them.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Danian, you want to give me an awareness test? Not like that. Oh yeah, the the the something about the perhaps the flickering light or something is creating a glare, and you're you're not able to really to really see much around the bend of that tunnel. Halburn, what are you doing? So there's no way around. I guess we're gonna have to go through, right? Well, you could backtrack and take another take another tunnel. That's absolutely possible.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

I'll walk to the apex of the bend, let off an arrow. If that's grabbed their attention, and then charge in and dispatch him.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

Why don't we see if we can get them to come to us?

SPEAKER_02 5:07

My only concern is that if we do that, what if one comes our way and one runs away and then alerts everybody? Whereas we fall on them, we we kind of stop them from going anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

We also don't know what else is in that area that can see this.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

This is true. I think we'll just have to we'll have to sort of just trust that we'll be able to deal with whatever it is that we find. We need to be quick.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

Fast. If we made a noise that wasn't threatening, like if say one of us started crying quietly, their curiosity might get the better of them and they both might come.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

Okay. That seems like a plan. We can uh set an ambush. Okay, now who's gonna start crying? Healer looks at you. Sees it was your idea. Well, darn. You can be the damsel in distress.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

The things I do for this team. Alright. So I'll probably go back a little bit further than where we were, just give enough room for them to fully get around the bend to be hidden from view from their fire. They'll be able to see a little bit better than what we can in the darkness, but I might I might have the burning torch just beside me on the ground. And then I will I guess kneel down with my head in my hands and just start to like sob loud enough that I feel that would get around the bend to them.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

You're on your knees in this tunnel. Where are the rest of you, by the way? Behind her?

SPEAKER_02 6:46

If there's a way to sort of like uh Is this sort of because it's presumably it's like a rough cut kind of tunnel kind of thing, like a cave system. Is there a way to kind of like back into sort of like a little crevice or something so that if they were to come past and get to Buranwin, then one of us can maybe get behind them, and then a couple of them come from the other side, and then we've kind of got them called.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Sure. Okay. So yeah, so she's on her knees in the middle of this tunnel weeping, and then you hear Jagger! Jagger, did you hear that? Don't see what it is! And so then you start you hear some footsteps, and you see this orc coming around the bend. He sort of hunts down, he's got a scimitar out, and he's peering at Boranwin. He's not coming any closer, and he turns back and he says, Gishak, it's a woman. What do you mean it's a woman? And then he he like he you start hearing his footsteps come forward, and the two of them are standing there, and he's and he's like, We don't just stand there. So they they they come forward to grab you, Buranwin.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

I guess we'll wait for Buranwin's signal, whatever that might be.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

The signal will be trying to connect with the jaw of the orc with my ass, which goes between my legs. So, do you wanna f you wanna all forego opening volleys? Yeah. So I guess at this point I would be considered close range.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah, so put yourselves in your stances. Or I guess forward. Okay, so Branwin is forward. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Sure, we'll go forward as well. For the first round. I think that's what we'll do for the first thing, right? We'll just kind of like jump on them. But I'll just kind of wait for Boranwin to go first. Yeah. Gonna be an open. I will be sh shooting my arrows.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Okay, so you're gonna stay in rear room. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

So because we're in like close combat with these things and him shooting arrows, is there any risk of us being hit?

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

But that is a chance that our Danian is willing to take.

SPEAKER_04 9:09

It's one of these things that you never ask the lore master. He's an elf, it's fine, he'll miss us, it's not a problem. My arrows will bend around you. Don't worry about it. Or you just like in the movies, you know, when when they are standing there and you see Eldron like all the arrows shooting through at the start of the movie, and it's like, not even bothering. It's fine, it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Branwin, go ahead and make your attack.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Alright. And attack two-handed. I might use hope, just hope this works. My life depends on it.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Paint us a picture of exactly what just transpired. So these two orcs have like stepped forward. They're about they're about to grab you and haul you away. You've got your axe like on the ground, I imagine.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

And you lose- I was gonna have it like between like essentially between my legs.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:08

My hands that were covering my face would just go down to grab right below the head, and then try and strike up, but I wasn't accounting for the fact of the arc that was needed. So the butt of the axe was dragging against the ground, and I couldn't get enough force up, so like maybe just hits up and just like clips the jaw a little bit, but not doing any kind of damage at all.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Okay. Halgrin. I literally just step out behind the um the little sort of like crevicy bit, and I just go to town. I just rush in to sort of like stab him, which I which is the guy at the top. I'm gonna give that a go. Let's see what happens. Four damage. I probably just push against him into the sort of like the side of the wall. That was my plan. I run him through, but I probably push him, he stands his ground, I kind of like stab him a little bit, and then we're facing face to face.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

And so when when Branwin's when Branwyn tried to strike up with her axe, and then you rushed in, the both of them just are completely taken by surprise, and one and the one that you just pushed up against the wall and struck with your sword, he's like, It's an ambush.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Now they've exclaimed that they're in an ambush, so I'll uh continue the attack would be Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

So you you sort of swing wildly. Maybe even if you were targeting that same orc, that when he got pushed against the wall, that's what sort of caused you to miss your strike as you swung. Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 11:53

Nothing good will happen.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

We we wasted all of our good roles last session. Oh, there we go.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

You did.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Now it's back to normal. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:01

Failure.

SPEAKER_05 12:03

Failure.

SPEAKER_04 12:04

Well, there are only two orcs. How bad can it be? We die.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

Why did you have to say that?

SPEAKER_00 12:13

We have an ambush, we took care of it, boss. It's fine. Branwin, so he strikes you with his scimitar, dealing six damage to you. Heavy blow. Endurance under 21. Why do I feel I'm gonna get a beating now? Failure. Yeah, so he swit he swings his scimitar at you and you you block his blow with your with your sword.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Well, we're just gonna beat the living daylights out with my sword.

SPEAKER_03 12:42

There's nothing does anybody want to change their stances?

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Yes, yes, we do. Does everybody want to change their stances?

SPEAKER_03 12:49

Well then I'm going back to just regularly open. Going back to my one hand with my buckler, and I'm going defensive. Let's whack this guy. That is not how you do it.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Rolling a Sauron. So I should say So I should say that when you roll an eye of Sauron in combat, it does not increase the eye awareness. Okay. Yeah, so it's only it's only nine combat rolls where that happens.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

God. Okay, yeah, I I kind of have messed up. I've lost my ground. He's kind of like fighting back. So I'm kind of like standing a bit more back rather than just pushing into him. I'm realizing it's gonna be a bit more of a stand-up fight. And we're just kind of like hitting each other's weapons, I suppose. I'll take another swing.

SPEAKER_05 13:40

Get him! Not like that!

SPEAKER_00 13:44

My goodness, this is gonna be another combat episode.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

I I I think you and I, Assel, are probably like getting in each other's way because it's a small corridor and we're trying to like fight this guy.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

Feeling a little embarrassed about missing that uh that moment of glory, I stand up, get my axe in one hand, buckler in the other, and I try to attack him.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

And I do. Ooh, a protection roll. Okay. Nice. Tell us how you've killed him.

SPEAKER_03 14:16

So after failing the attack from below, I stand up, take a step back, he ends up hitting me with his scimitar against the shoulder. I stumble back, swing my shield around to push his scimitar out of the way, and swing my axe in a long arc right into the side of his neck.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

And you've decapitated the orc. His head flies into the air and lands at Idanion's feet. You can always count on Bradwin to kill the kill the enemy.

SPEAKER_04 14:53

I guess I will shoot to the remaining guy.

SPEAKER_05 14:56

Hello.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Surprise.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Now we'll fail again, I know. Roll a feet die for me. Roll a 12-sided dice. If you roll an eye, you hit one of your companions. Six. Nope. Okay, your arrow hits the stone wall of the of the tunnel.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

So I do have a question. Why is the difficulty for Idenion to hit that orc 17?

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Okay, so it's the strength target number is 16, and the orc has a parry of one, seventeen. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

I mean it is Lord of the Rings.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

People are constantly knocking arrows out of the sky with swords and then do extraordinary success and kill somebody.

SPEAKER_04 15:39

Wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

I have two success icons. That's hardcore. Woohoo! This is gonna hurt, Halgrin. Uh, that's server life. Nine damage. That how that yeah, so that that orc, he just slices you in your side. His scimitar slices across the side of your of your armor, penetrating through it into your flesh.

SPEAKER_05 16:06

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

So I don't get any protection for it. There's no you're not wounded or anything. You're just, you know. I'm just being gruesome.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

I like gruesome. Okay. My pain. Give me pain, please. But now that he's kind of like stabbed me or sliced into my side, I'm kind of like holding holding my side, and I'm gonna just give back what he gave me. You're not changing my side. I'm not changing my stance. My stance is gonna stay the same. And I'm gonna lay into him again. Let's give this a go. Go ahead. Okay. Change yours first. So that means Assel goes first. Okay, cool. Go right ahead, Assel. I do like the way it changes from who goes first and stuff. It's quite a good way of kind of like making your uh stances move around.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

It's also like, you know, chaos of combat, you know.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Feeling fairly motivated with this one, so I'll spend a hope.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

I think it's also quite cool because if you're going sort of like forward stance, you know he's attacking me. So that like dice that you give up on protection, you're relatively okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Oh, geez. Thankfully, thankfully not. Wow. He rolled another eye. Okay, yeah. So you're you you step forward and strike at the orc, and your sword just clangs right up against the side of the of the st of the wall of the stone wall of this tunnel. So it's close quarters, so it must be really hard, you know, trying to get a really good swing. Give it a go again. For the love of another eye. Two eyes in the row. Yeah, so your sword also just so Assel's sword hits the s hits the stone over his left shoulder, your sword hits the stone wall over his right shoulder, and he's just kind of like looking at both of you and he sneers.

SPEAKER_03 18:03

Can we go three to one on an enemy? Was there something that it's only like maxed at two or then?

SPEAKER_00 18:10

There is a limitation. I don't remember. I think it's it depends on the size of the creature, but I think you're right, because it's a normal-sized creature, it's only two. It's a two.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Let's see. So it was three for normal and five for big, but I could be wrong. I've read too many systems.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

You could be wrong, you could be right. Let's see. You could be right and wrong.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

I mean, I just picked up the Vasen book thinking it was the one ring, that's not gonna work.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Okay, player heroes can be engaged in close combat by up to three human-sized creatures or two lar. Okay, so three, yep, so you can do it.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

Alright, I am going to move up to this orc. And I should have gone in a forward stance, but That's okay. So be it. And try and shield bash them to get him away from the other two a little bit. Oh.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

We'll just hold them around and keep them busy for you while you get him. So, Buranwin, give us the gruesome details.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

I confidently stroll forward with my shield in front of me, axe to the side, and as I get close to the orc, I draw my shield hand back and hunch him right in the throat with the reinforced brim, the newly reinforced brim of my axe, crushing his windpipe. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

I kind of feel the asshole, and I just like kick him as he's down.

SPEAKER_03 19:44

You give him a stomp on the neck to speed up his passing, or do you let him suffer?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

So you hear some footsteps and you hear some orc voices in the distance. So someone has heard this combat. So, right around the bend, you see there's like that fire that they had going, and there's this sack, and sticking out of the sack are a pair of wooden clogs. And there's just it's just kind of like struggling. The person that's inside is just sort of struggling back and forth, and you hear footsteps approaching. So, what do you do? It's gonna rush in and try to untangle them from the sack. She's a woman from one of the Hillmen tribes. As you untie her hands and feet, her eyes flick past you to a scatter of knives and cooking tools nearby. She snatches up an orc carving knife, grips it tight, and says, Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

We've come on behalf of Freak and Hoovern. Freak is my son. Ah. Is he safe? From Orcs, he is currently in the hall hiding out. He wants to make sure that we can come and find you, which is what we're doing. Go, go be for go go back to your son.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Thank you. She runs down the tunnel and presumably she knows the way.

unknown 21:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 21:04

Never to be seen again, because we just made her go four days of travel on her own.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

You'll be fine. She's a hill person, it's not a problem. Okay, I guess do we prepare ourselves to sort of meet whoever's coming this way, or do we push on and That is an excellent question.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

How loud are the voices? Like trying to determine how far away they are.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

It's impossible to tell it's echoing through all these different tunnels.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Get the brink bring that's gonna be tricky. You decapitate one of them. I was gonna say, if we throw the orcs near the fire, it'll look like she got away. But well it's decapitated, so it's gonna be very difficult to like hide that one with like a knife in the We could pose them so that it looks like they attacked each other. Oh yeah, I was but actually we could do, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Okay. Alright, yeah, so you arrange the bodies in a manner where it looks like they fought each other and their prisoner escaped. So give me that explorer. If you fail the roll. You will have not gotten away fast enough before whoever is coming comes. If you fail with an eye, I should say. Why would you have to say that? Ho ho ho ho ho ho. No. Fine. It's a great success. Alright, so you sort of backtrack and then take a different passage, and you you're moving deeper into the cave system, and you hear the sound of drums and the savage chants of goblins echoing through all these different corridors that you're moving through. What do you want to do? Do you want to try to follow that sound?

SPEAKER_02 22:36

I mean, if there's a way of kind of trying to pinpoint which direction the drums are coming from, I suppose it's better than nothing. It'll take us somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Okay, so if you're gonna do that, give yourself an extra d6 bonus die on your next explorer. Okay. Success. You're following the the sounds of the drums and the chanting, and you you enter into the small natural cavern. There's a single ray of light that shines through a crack in the ceiling, and it casts an eerie light across this enormous stone figure. It's a troll wearing a helm with a broken horn, frozen in mid-motion, hand raised as if examining something delicate between its fingers. You can either give me a lore or a song roll. I will do lore. Okay. So you recognize this from ancient stories that you've heard. This troll is Guzar Halfhorn, an infamous robber who terrorized the kingdom of Arthadane centuries ago. He's recognizable by the broken horn of his helm. You've heard him in he appears in several old ballads that you're familiar with. According to those stories and those ballads, he was hunted by the king's men, and he fled into Rudar to hide with his stolen loot, and his tracks were lost. And so it appears that he took refuge in this chamber where sunlight streamed in through a crack in the ceiling and had turned him to stone. So he has something in his hand. What are you doing? Just say, what's he what's he examining? It appears that he's got a golden ring in his between his two fingers. It's the only item that was unaffected by the petrification. So if you want to reach it, you have to climb the massive stone figure, and that's an athletics test. Oh, I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Yeah, I'll I'll take a running leap at it, sort of uh yeah, stoked me sword, run up, uh s bound up onto the thigh, and then try and leap up from that to try and grab it. Not quite.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

No, that's a great success.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Well, it is. Oh no, I did hit the target, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Yeah, so you've you you leap up onto his arm and sort of shimmy over, pry loose the ring from between his fingers, and very artfully get back down onto the ground. So you have a ring. You have a ring.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Put it on.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Yeah, nothing bad ever happens when you put rings on in this game. It's fine. Exactly, right. It's a so it's a golden ring. Let's see, what would you know about it? Give me a laurel. Success. Success. Okay. So you know that this ring can trace its origins back to Numenor. That's about all you know at the moment. You'll have to like take it to your patron or Elrond or someone like that to be able to learn more about it.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

If only I didn't like put down I don't care about anything that's like materialistic.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Money holding on to it because it looks Numenorian, so.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Okay. So on the other side of this cavern where this large troll that had been turned to stone is, you see a tunnel, and there's a flickering glow of fire, and the echoes of those chanting goblins, and there's this heavy foul stench that sort of emanates from that tunnel. Get an idea of the numbers of goblins from the sound. No, because the cave itself is sort of amplifying their voices, so it sounds like there could be, you know, 20, 10, you're not really sure. There's the drumming quite rhythmic, like a doom-doom-doom. It is, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:32

No, no, I think we should be concentrated on finding the prisoners and trying to go around, I guess. Not to go directly with the goblins.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Yeah, I guess I imagine if if we can find out if there are prisoners wherever they may be, then obviously if they if we can't see any prisoners, then we can move on and do something different, I suppose.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

You creep forward as the tunnel slopes downward, then abruptly ends at our rocky ledge. Below you yawns a vast cavern. At its center rises a thick stone pillar, encircled by a deep trench roughly three yards down, its steep walls hemming in about a dozen prisoners. A lone ladder leans against one edge of the trench, beside several buckets of slop used to feed the prisoners. Scattered around the chamber are crude huts and a large crackling fire that throws shadows across the stone. On one side of the cavern stands four hillmen guards. Opposite them are five goblins. A stone staircase climbs to a narrow passage on one wall, and directly across from it gapes a wide, dark tunnel, leading deeper still.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

I'm assuming there's no way to get down from where we are on this ledge. And even if we did, I'm guessing everyone would be able to see us, alright?

SPEAKER_00 28:02

They probably could see you, yes. There there it's it's a steep climb down, but it's it is possible it would require an athletics roll. If the roll fails, you'll make enough noise to alert them. I guess we could try and find another way around. That stone column has numerous like handholds. Okay. That could go all the way up. And then at the very top you can see there's like a ledge there. Right. So like I Danyan, you you know that like that would make an excellent spot for you to to shoot your bow from if you could get to it.

SPEAKER_04 28:37

I mean, to be fair, from this position, it would also be a good position to shoot my arrows. Yeah, be able to shoot stuff. I mean, I don't even think I need to go to this central pillar. I mean what I was you know, what Daniel probably will say is like you know, from here I have an excellent view of the goblins and I could probably distract them with uh my arrows. And if you you the rest of you could manage to sneak into the cavern below somehow through one of these entrances, then I can provide you cover with my arrows from up there.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

What are the acoustics like in here? Is it easy to tell where sound is coming from or not? Everything is it's bouncing all over the place. Wondering if we could do a bit of deception and uh try and set some discord between the two groups below us so they're distracted while we treat down.

SPEAKER_03 29:27

What do you have in mind?

SPEAKER_01 29:29

I don't know. How can we upset the uh the hillmen and uh set them against the goblins?

SPEAKER_04 29:38

Those are not the prisoners? I thought they're the prisoners?

SPEAKER_00 29:41

No, no, no, no. So the prisoners are are in this ditch. Okay, sorry. And they are hillfolk, and then these are also hillfolk, but they appear to be working with the orcs and the goblins. So the goblins are the ones that are they've got some like a couple of them have drums and they're banging their war drums and they're chanting. And now you can hear some of them going, thang! Fang! Fang!

SPEAKER_03 30:08

I mean, try and shoot one of the hell folk on the other side, and as long as the gear yeah, as long as you're not seen, they're automatically going to assume it was one of the goblins.

SPEAKER_04 30:18

Well, my arrows look very elfish.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Kind of gives you one of mine, which does not. Roll it in the dirt. Mine of bug standard, you know. I mean, why not?

SPEAKER_04 30:33

I'm just uh yeah, I'm just afraid that they they will try to kill the prisoners, perhaps.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Well, I think they're in the middle. I don't think they will. I think what what might happen is if you shoot them, because they're further away and you're probably the better shot. Assel could probably shoot one of the goblins. And then then we just hide and see what they do.

SPEAKER_03 30:53

I'm obviously gonna try and sink down to the ground, because I don't have a bow.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

I'm gonna do the same with you because I can't do that either. But I've got like a I don't know, do I have some handy rope I can do? Maybe we can kind of like because I I can see there's windows and stuff like above, what it looks like. Maybe wrap like a rope around and we can just we can climb down, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

So out of this huge gaping cavern that's over here. This might change. You hear a chilling howl echo out of it as they're chanting Fang, Fang, Fang. I look at I look at Buradwin. You see me tighten the grip on my axe.

SPEAKER_02 31:34

Okay, so what's your plan? Let's see if we can distract them first. If they can, then we can climb down. If they can't, well, then I guess I Daniel and Assel can protect us while we get down to the bottom.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

Okay, so how are you gonna distract them? So let's hold on a second, I have a question.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

Theoretically, this goes to plan. They distract how many turns would it be for us to be able to get down to the ground floor? Like if we were to try to find a passageway to walk down and not repel down the side. Right. I would say two turns before you get to the bottom. Two turns in total to try and repel one at a time. Unless we are feeling daring and try and both hop on the rope and never goes to plan, but I'm always give willing to give it a go. What's my athletics like, by the way? Well, it's favored and I got two, so not bad.

SPEAKER_04 32:26

Do you think your robe would be as long as the central pillar? I mean, I don't know if how far would our robe get to?

SPEAKER_02 32:33

I mean, I'm not sure how we're gonna be able to find out. Didn't we have a with an arrow? You could use an arrow to to to do that. Wouldn't be strong enough though, would it? Uh on the other side to then climb across. Well, I'm an elf.

SPEAKER_04 32:48

I I I was thinking me going through you guys stay here, but I can't go to the central pillar that way.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

And you see, so as you're making this discussion, you see one of these orcs move toward the prisoners. He he points at at one of the prisoners. You get up here! And the prisoner stops halfway up, and then he and and and the orc just grabs him by the collar and yanks him up, and then thrusts him at that large opening.

SPEAKER_03 33:22

I'm gonna tell them to start shooting, and I'm gonna start making my way to find an entrance. We need to move.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

So I didn't, you know, you're gonna make that arrow shot to get to the company.

SPEAKER_04 33:33

I would like to because I think that would be a very nice spot to do. I'm gonna try quickly. I see this and I start tying the knot, and I uh and I I would use one hope to do the this shot.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

You wanna make it a magical success, and it automatically succeeds?

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Okay, then sure. To say before uh before all this kicks off, I suddenly have a bright idea and uh say hold on a moment and rush off up the corridor to try and head back to the chamber where they were cooking the woman, and grab all the knives, stick them in the sack, rush back to the ledge.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Okay, so while you're doing that, uh Danian, you're gonna are you still gonna Okay. So there you are. Okay, so no success icons, so that's just a regular magical success. You loose the arrow. It glides across the cavern with quiet certainty and strikes the stone pillar, burying its head deep into a narrow crack without a sound. The rope tied to its tail snaps tight, the line steady and sure, as if the stone itself has accepted the arrow's claim. It was an impossible shot. No measure of strength or skill should have allowed it, and yet the arrow holds, unmoved, as if the stone had long been waiting for it.

SPEAKER_04 35:06

Okay, and now I will use again my cultural blessing like the Selvenskin Magical to basically run across. I will just jump, I I will tell Halvoran, hold this, and I will just run across. Like an elf, like pff, like running on snow.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

Exactly. The rest of you see, as as as Assel is coming back with the sack and all the knives, you see I Danyan very gracefully walking on the rope, making it all the way to that that stone pillar on that ledge to the other side. You've never seen anything like it before. Like you that's impossible, and yet he has managed to accomplish it.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

And I would not believe it because I was not there to see it. Well shit. You're climbing down, right? I want to find a way down through like the caverns to get into that chamber.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

You're not climbing down, down. You want to move through the tunnel system?

SPEAKER_03 36:04

Yeah, like you said, it would take about two turns.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

Oh, I I was I was confused. I thought you said you wanted to climb down the wall to Hell no. What could possibly go wrong? No, if you're gonna go back through the tunnel system, you'll have to roll explorer and try to find your way. So, Assol, you've come back with a sack and a bunch of knives. What's your plan?

SPEAKER_01 36:28

The plan currently is to the appropriate point throw it across into the pit so that the uh the captive hillmen can uh arm themselves.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

Oh, nice. Okay. Give me an athletics test to throw that bag.

SPEAKER_01 36:48

I think I better spend a hope on this as well.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Okay, so yeah, so you you throw the bag, it flies through the air, hits the column, and then just flops down into that pit, and all the prisoners are and it clanks because you've got it's full of knives, right? And and all the prisoners are kind of like looking around, they're looking up, they're looking down at the at the bag that that you've thrown, and they're a little puzzled. And you see out of this cave mouth where this orc shoved one of the prisoners, the maw of an enormous wolf comes out, grabs the the prisoner, and then slinks back like in his jaws, just and the guy's screaming with terror and pain, and you hear some bones snapping, and then it the wolf just goes back.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Yeah, we can't wait any longer. I um I drop my rope down the side and I'm gonna try and make my way down the rope.

SPEAKER_00 37:50

Okay, give me a athletics test. You're using the ropes, or I'll say you get a a bonus die.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

And I want to try and cat try and catch a Danian's eye to get him to start shooting to create that distraction. I've got a success.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

I'm halfway. You are halfway down. Okay, so one of the one of the prisoners looks inside the bag. The orcs are like, ooh, what's going on? And the the prisoner opens up the bag. He sees all he sees all these knives, and he just starts grabbing them and handing them out to to the other prisoners. What are what's Berenwin and Assel doing?

SPEAKER_03 38:29

I'm gonna try and stabilize the rope for how brand how Brand get down and then follow him down. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Dull notch and arrow, ready to uh once the Q comes to start firing. Hi, Danian, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 38:45

Waiting for them to be in position to start shooting. Unless I see something dangerous. Is there a way that I I look around, is there a way that I can make a fire?

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Not where you are, but if you you might have something in your pack that could do that.

SPEAKER_04 38:59

Okay, I will uh try to see. My plan would be to try to put on fire the huts to create some chaos.

SPEAKER_03 39:07

Okay. Yeah, because we we need this distraction right now. We're trying to get down this wall pretty much right behind the orcs that are down there. So we need them distracted.

SPEAKER_04 39:19

Yeah, so I'm trying to get this fire for that, if I manage somehow to do it. Yeah, absolutely. Uh I will use it with uh an arrow. I probably probably use yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

Would you have a flint and steel in your bag?

SPEAKER_04 39:32

My guess, yeah. I mean, I don't have the full details of what I have on my bag, but I have this troubler kit, right? Like everyone.

SPEAKER_03 39:40

Yeah, so a little bit of fabric, some flint and steel, get the fire going, and then arrows away.

SPEAKER_04 39:46

Yeah, and just toss several to some of the huts. So whenever I see them that they are descending, I will start shooting, create fire.

SPEAKER_00 39:55

Halburn, you're about halfway down the wall when you see Idanian shooting flaming arrows. One by one, the huts start to catch fire. Go ahead and make your second athletics test. Oh, I bought. That's lucky. Okay, so you're down into the thick of these goblins here. Behind them, drawing my sword.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

Okay, so if he's down, I'm going to start to try and come down as well. And at this point, they know that you're here. How? How do they know that we're here? What fuck him up?

SPEAKER_00 40:35

Clang, clang! Ah freedom. Well, as Ed just described, a lot of things tipped them off. A sack fell into the pit with a clank, and the prisoners are now armed and climbing the ladder, and they're engaging with the guards, and flaming arrows are raining down, and some of the huts are on fire. So go ahead and give me your athletics test.

SPEAKER_03 41:01

Do I get a plus one for the rope? Yes. Okay, so athletics is favored. Plus one for the rope. Fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Ooh, out. Branwin, you have fallen.

SPEAKER_03 41:18

To the surprise of no one.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

Get down here! Not that quick. Roll a D12 for me. No. That's seven damage. Alright. Halfway down the wall you lose your grip on the rope and plunge the rest of the way. Stone rushing up to meet you as you hit the ground hard.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

We'll just gotta make sure Bianolin's room's actually uh okay and kind of like pick her up, ready to face whatever kind of orcs or whatever's gonna be coming our way. I'm pretty battered. Looks like she's weary. Jeez. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

We have that drink. What was that again? What did it do?

SPEAKER_01 42:00

Yes, for traveling though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:02

Damn it.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

I'll uh go on protection duty.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

So the two of them are down. Assel, are you staying up where you are? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So was that the signal for you guys to shoot your bows for them to be down? Uh uh guessing so, yeah. Rather loud signal. Plang! Yeah. Now? Yep. So those of you who are shooting your bows, go right ahead. Bradwin has taken a terrible fall. There's no shame in running away, by the way. I Danyan, you have failed. Ooh, Halbert. Look at that. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

Uh it wasn't me. That was Yeah, for some reason it's killed on the top.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

Alright, so you have killed this goblin. Tell us what happens.

SPEAKER_01 42:57

Nice. Yeah, I've just been waiting. He's looking round to see what's going on in the other direction. He suddenly looks back towards the wall because of the noise there, and an arrow just comes straight in, straight through his eye.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

Nice. Alright. And he just plunk, it goes right into his eye, and he just falls over dead. Halberin.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

Yeah, I'm gonna basically move forward with Baranwin and just be on the defensive, ready to protect the rope area. If Assel's gonna be coming down, if he's not, and I see that he's busy shooting away, then we'll abandon that and then Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Now technically you can't have two people in rearward in this situation, but it narratively makes sense because he's up on that ledge. So I'm gonna I'm gonna fudge that and allow it. So go right ahead, Halgrin, and make your make your attack.

SPEAKER_02 43:52

Yeah, just this one just here, just right in front of me.

SPEAKER_00 43:57

I'm gonna attack him. You've got some of the huts on fire thanks to Idanian. So give yourself a bonus die. Okay. Because also you've got the hillmen in the pit who are now distracting the all the different the hill the all the different soldiers and and goblins. Sure. Okay. Ah it's a fail. T Tony just put his head in his hands like oh yeah. This is the worst Ranger of the North ever. Branwin, you are weary.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

I'm gonna move up with Halbrin and take the one that's in front of me. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Yep, you're all getting a bonus die on all of your rolls. In addition to whatever bonus you're getting from your stance.

SPEAKER_03 44:41

So that just negates my weariness? No, it doesn't negate your weariness no no no I had negative I had a penalty assigned onto the sheet whenever it negates your penalty.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

That's because your defense Yeah I guess I don't think I've ever seen that on there before that.

SPEAKER_00 44:58

Yeah if you're in defensive you lose one die. Failure you swing your axe you're weary you're so tired you've just fallen you're bruised your ego is also bruised and your axe just swings wide what are you doing way up there asshole? It's another arrow clatters off a stone. Yep that one goes wide and clatters off a stone. Uh Danyon had one extra lie you have a bonus tie. Oh yeah I didn't add it did I but never mind well roll an extra d6 and let's see what happens. Need a five or more It was a four that's just that's a that's a success. Is it? Oh right. Yep so what's the damage on your bow? On my bow it's three.

SPEAKER_04 45:46

Alright so your arrow funkks into his side I Danyon Okay and we'll shoot the one in front of uh well in front of Alvoran Great success You lean over the edge and fire down at the goblin.

SPEAKER_00 46:05

The arrow drives in beneath his collarbone, bursting a spray of blood. He reels backward, choking, falls to one knee, slick red spilling down his chest as he claws at the arrow shaft. Snarling through blood, the goblin snaps the arrow shaft in half and drops it to the ground. He staggers back to his feet, swaying and draws a jagged knife. With a weak, furious cry he slashes the air toward Halberin, the blade cutting nothing but smoke and shadow. His strength falters and he teeters, bleeding heavily through the smoke and flames of the burning huts, the freed prisoners clash with the hillmen guards as a snarling orc barrels through the haze scimitar whistling past Baranwin and a goblin archer shoots an arrow at Asl on the ledge. First chance we get we're out of here Asl make a protection test. So just click on that protection roll test in the chat. Nosel is wounded and needs to make an injury roll so you've taken six damage click on that injury roll in the chat and let's see what your injury says you fall from the window and you break your head ouch that's a severe injury it'll take four days to heal. Let's use Tony's suggestion the arrow tears into your shoulder and you tumble off the ledge agony shooting through you with every second of the fall you grab the rope just in time it slows you enough that the impact isn't as bad as it could have been stance then.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

I'm gonna go into open stance and I'm going to attack the um the one that's sort of like all over the place.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

Easy target.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

Remember the bonus die.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Ooh alright great success I'm going to yeah do a heavy blow. So I guess I kind of I mean he's easy target. I I kind of kick him as he's as he as he's not weaving all over the place um and then I just stick my I stick my sword straight through him as he hits the floor and then I move on forward I guess.

SPEAKER_00 48:35

Asshole so you've taken a a a pretty pretty bad fall what are you doing this round I'm gonna because of that fall you're sort of if you're gonna make an actual attack you're gonna be at a penalty but it it just negates the bonus that you had so yeah I've I've basically I've gone down I've I've damaged my uh my bow arm my left arm so the bow has been dropped as I kind of like roll on the ground I managed to pull my sword out and just look up to see the orc in front of me and just take a swing at it. Yeah and so yeah you're just barely getting to your feet and sort of swinging wildly and not not making a connection. Just makes room for me to get to my feet. Alright still targeting the same orc as I was before nope yeah I'm having a hard time mustering the strength to do any kind of anything Berenwin has failed to strike a blow against her foe my Danyon to to the one in front of to the orc in front of Berenguin to help her a little bit and and ease her time. That's a failure your arrow tears through the smoke and shatters against the stony ground at the orc's feet the orc looks up at you by Danyon and smirks before swinging his scimitar at Asel but his curved blade strikes the edge of Asl's sword. And then the enormous warg returns, lumbering from the maw of the tunnel a beast the size of a war horse. Half of the prisoner it had dragged away dangles from its jaws. With a vicious snort it spits the corpse to the ground and unleashes an earth shattering howl goblins, orcs, and hillmen alike cower from it, frozen in terrorists