The characters for this session:

Fennec, L2 wizard (no specialty)

Cauleigh, L2 warrior (background: literate townsman)

Jotunn, Level 5 warrior (background: hunter; talent: tracking)

Welcome back! After a couple of weeks absence we are back with our heroes, as they investigate the Ravenwood for traces of a missing taxman (and more importantly, 10% bounty on the tax). Having survived a Lizardman ambush they head deeper into the woods on the trail of something big with hobnail boots which retreated into the nearby stream.

They find a tunnel by being shot from it

The first burst, so to speak, along the steep-banked and slimy stream takes our heroes deeper into the Ravenwood where the outside world can no longer be seen, though raven cries still sound. Jotunn takes a couple of minutes to charge the arquebus and he, Fennec and Cauleigh hand their packs, cloaks and other spare gear to Crompton, pack pony for the time being.

Jotunn then explores cautiously along the stream [forgets to ask for his hunter bonus, misses L1 INT SR] until he takes a crossbow bolt under his left arm! Cauleigh and Fennec leap to the edge of the stream’s bank and catch a flicker of movement in what appears to be merely shade under an overhanging tree. Cauleigh steps back, and makes a running leap across and down into a wet-floored tunnel mouth! But whatever fired the crossbow has retreated…

Meanwhile Jotunn has the bolt removed [24 off CON!] and after some minute of debate the Dwarves agree to pursue into the tunnel. Gear is tossed across, then Jotunn and Fennec follow, and with torches lit, and Crompton safe up on the opposite bank, they set out.

 

There is a defence!

The first issue to solve is what to defend with, and what to have ready. Jotunn elects to keep his spike shield for offense-defence, with a torch in that hand; and his broadaxe. Behind him Cauleigh follows up with torch and Dwarf Axe, shield on back. Fennec brings up the rear juggling a crossbow and his wizard staff, both two-hand weapons. Luckily he is strong enough to fire the crossbow one-handed.

Jotunn catches a glimpse of a pair of eyes, which withdraw right, so he is ready for an ambush-point. The footing is slimy and the water is knee-deep, so he needs to move carefully. But he probes forward too carefully! The Lizardman tackles his axe, pulling it down, while another rushes him from the front – and he is stuck using his shield alone!

This is a tough combat, but eventually Cauleigh scrambles up tree-roots on the tunnel side and drops around on one flank, evening the match. The two Lizardmen flee, wounded.

 

The Dwarves push forward through fire and iron

Pushing forward in pursuit the Dwarves find themselves on stone footing, but still sloshing water. Jotunn flings himself aside as an iron javelin is hurled from a far passage. Three Lizardmen use the chance to rush forward!

In the ensuing melee it’s a contest between the sturdy Lizardmen, who are able to brace their tails to get better impact, and the canny Dwarves, who use desperate stunts to turn the tables. The unseen commander flings an oil-bomb over his Lizardmen, but it is safely avoided. Finally Fennec lures one Lizardman away [OGA again], Cauleigh ties up an unwounded one in an uneven match, and Jotunn finishes the most-wounded. Once he is free to rescue Cauleigh, that decides the fight – but all three have been hammered to weakness!

 

Up a stairwell without a firing solution

Using the javelin or dart as a probe, the Dwarves explore in search of the leader. A scraping noise alerts them, and they push through a ‘throne’ room where he has dragged something hefty off a ledge, then to a tunnel he must have gone to. Jotunn narrowly avoids a deadfall, then they scramble after the retreating leader.

Distant sounds of hobnail boots lead them down a long tunnel to a wider room with a stone stair leading up. But at the top, the Ogre awaits!

He pushes his heavy chest down, disrupting the advance, then hammers at Jotunn and Cauleigh, breaking more of their armour and forcing them down. As things look desperate, Fennec advances past them, and hurls his trusty OGA again, and the Ogre rushes him, leaping the chest! Fennec runs down the stairwell at full pace and Jotunn and Cauleigh take a free hack at the Ogre’s legs as he emerges. With all three able to fight on good solid stone, they take a few more nicks to armour but slay the Ogre. Cauleigh lops the fearsome Ogre’s head off with venom: those repairs to armour are bound to be expensive!

 

Rescuing Ravensdown’s people

Hoping to find a captive taxman, or at least what happened to him, they wearily explore that top level. They find evidence of the taxman’s death, along with his guards. But they also liberate a small number of Ravensdown folk, including John Johns and his surviving daughter and Boss Hobb, Jenn’s husband.

The top level also offers a view over part of the Ravenwood. Crompton is summoned and the rescue proceeds. The burial of remains of villagers and guards killed and left in meat-storage is attended to, as well.

 

Restoring Ravensdown

The evidence suggests that the Ogre, along with his Lizardman minions, had an accomplice in the village. As the Dwarves lead their survivors to the village, the strangely young crone tells them that she has warned Mayor Bolton they would succeed. Amid the joyful reunions and tears for the slain, Mayor Bolton congratulates them fulsomely.

They are too important to be left at the Johns’ shack, so by common consent they stay at the Mayor’s house. They meet Mrs Bolton, an acidulated matron full of everyone’s affairs.

Crompton is detailed off to watch the Mayor to see what he does…

The old mill, and a new twist

The following day, rested and with their boots and clothing dry if not clean, the trio begin the chore of looting. Crompton trails the Mayor, who journeys a short distance to the nearest hill-stream where sits an abandoned mill. After a short time the Mayor emerges and heads back to his village.

Amidst counting over the loot and gifting the less-portable, less-exchangeable items to the village, the trio hear of this development, and head over to the mill.

There’s little to see. Cauleigh checks the millstone and sure enough, in one of the grooves is a rolled twist of paper:

“Adventurers have succeeded. What do I do?”

Cauleigh proposes buying some time by changing the note. With a piece of Fennec’s paper and Crompton’s forging skill, a new note is left reading:

“Adventurers stumped. They will leave soon.”

 

Leads to a change of admin in Ravensdown

Detailing Crompton to keep watch for who the message is intended for, the trio head back and confront the Mayor. It could go horribly wrong but Cauleigh is convincing [L1 CHR] and the gifts and freed prisoners have the village on his side. Mrs Bolton clinches the deal by hissing “I told you you wouldn’t get away with it!” and no-one bothers backing the Mayor [L1 LK all round].

Boss Hobb seems to be the next most senior figure, as leader of the Hobb community.

 

Misfortune leads to a hasty departure

The old temple, if that is what it was, gave up many treasures and a variety of near-useless oddments. Chief among the treasures is the taxman’s takings, along with his authority on behalf of House V’laskas, and his gear and the armour of his guards.

Crompton stumbles miserably in, full of cuts and bruises, to announce that he saw the blackmailing guard from Burchardt’s keep slip into the mill, but the guard also saw him! And he was lucky to get away with his life.

Cauleigh hastily readjusts the original plan, which was to claim the 10%, keep all the rest of the loot, and buy at least one horse from the baron.

“He’ll have worked out that the note is fake, and be off telling the baron some new story blaming us for everything! So let’s leave all of the tax money here and head in a different direction!”

They claim the Mayor’s pony for transport and no-one seems inclined to stop them. Boss Hobb suggests they head south, towards the next demesne, and use the fringes of the woods to avoid leaving tracks. There’s a small village just on the other side of the border named Jake’s Town, they could rest up at.

 

So with pony laden with a couple of nice pieces of armour, and a number of odd items not fitting inside their own kit, they bid farewell to Ravensdown and leave the bastardly baron Burchardt to his own devices.

 

I think everyone racked up quite a lot of AP, because each combat needed stunts to survive. (Remember, monsters aren’t worth anything per se.) Wherever the Lizardmen would get ‘set’ I would add a bonus equivalent to another lizardman. Crompton’s help (or at least share of damage) was sorely missed. Everyone was down to single digit CON by the time the Ogre died.

It’s interesting to speculate what would have happened if I hadn’t allowed Crompton to stay on watch at the mill. It’s one of those gilding the lily cases where putting two overlapping plans into effect goes wrong.

There was time to spare so I announced, as I do here, that there are only two more sessions left before I head off for an extended holiday.

Then we closed play with a short piece establishing Jake’s Town, which is hard against the swamp those Lizardmen came from… and there’s a local knight that needs adventurers doing bounty hunting.

 

Props

The dungeon stock, including Ogre, come from &Magazine’s Wizardawn dungeon generators (I had to use Troglodyte as the monster, removing their spit effect and stench) while the dungeon itself is Return to the Lair of the Frogs, Dyson Logos, 2015 Dodecahedron Cartographic Review. The deserted mill is a random draw from the Rural Locations deck of Concept Cards (Coffey and Hensel). NPCs are my own creation, as is the Vale.