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Thread: LOTR: The New Shadow - Chapters IV & V

  1. #1
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    LOTR: The New Shadow - Chapters IV & V

    This had originally been posted in another thread, but I decided to post it here so that those who haven't seen it, will know it exists
    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    Okay so we played our second session back tonight and it went very very well

    Tieu Thuy promises to have her Journal of Willow Brandybuck entries soon

    In the mean time here is what I can jot down off the top of my head.

    They arrived in Tharbad under the light of Dawn. As they roade towards the east Gate of the bridge they saw a very intersting ship in the port, not like any other they had seen. Illian, being from Dol Amroth recognized the style as Haradric, but it was not a merchant ship.

    After a bit of trouble at the gate, then crossed the bridge and entered Tharbad proper. Arendan, Illian and Barahir went to the guard compound to get swords for Illian and Seeker (theirs having been lost fighting the Orcs in the Dunland Pass). Belengol, Andunae, Gror, Erynae and Willow all headed to the Greenway Garden, an inn on the westend of town.

    Barahir got a new sword, but the Weapons Master was sure that Illian would get a better sword to replace his Knightly one at the market place. He agreed, and made his way to the Greenway Garden to stowe his gear and head with the ladies (Willow and Erynae) to the market. Meanwhile Belengol, Gror and Andunae stayed behind at the Inn to enjoy some drinks and relaxation.

    Arendan and Seeker went to see the Marshall (Military commander of the forces at Tharbad) to give a report and for Arenden to write a letter home to be sent to his wife and children at Fornost.

    There they learned that the Orc attacks were increasing and word from up the Greenway was that trouble was brewing in Angmar. Whispers of Witch-King circulated, but Marshall Brendis dismissed them. He also made mention of the fact that he had little faith in King Daerion, since he didn't dispatch men with Arendan to re-enforce Fornost.

    Then Brendis left them to see to the morning revue. Seeker took his leave of Arendan as well so he could write his letter home in privacy.

    In the market, Illian found a good sword, in the Numenorian style (but not actual Numenorian steel). The smith asked to see the armour Erynae was wearing, but she refused to show it. The smith took minor offense and the two left.

    Willow spotted a cheese merchant she had bothered last time she was in Tharbad (his name escapes me right now) and the two sat down to dice and discuss news and rumours.

    On his way to the Greenway Garden Seeker came across is fellow Ranger, Walker (Yes... that's right... Walker - Eriador Ranger). The two ducked into a tea-house and in Sindaran exchanged news. Seeker learned of the fact that a new Steward had been appointed over Mordor, Dolomir. He also learned that the Orcs of the Burning Skull had absorbed all the other clans in Angmar, and Walker feared that they had come this far south. He also let Seeker know that a group of Rangers had departed to investigate Mount Gunabad and determine if the Orcs had retaken it as a strong hold. Seeker learned that the name of the Ranger leading the group was called Long-Shanks. Agreeing to meet in Bree at the Prancing Pony, the two old friends parted.

    Meanwhile Arendan, having finished his letter, headed to speak again with Brendis. Inquring about the ship he saw in port, Brendis relayed to him that it was indeed a Haradrim ship of some Prince. The most notable fact to Brendis was that the sails were made of silk.

    Back at the market Willow had become lured to a Chancery and set herself down for some serious gambling. Erynae and Illian left her seemingly happy and returned to the inn.

    Willow proceeded to fleece all the Middle-Men silly enough to sit across for her and then just as it seemed there would be no more takers, a Hobbit fellow walked up and took a seat. He introduced himself as Broca Took and the two began to converse while playing "Hobbit-style". Offering her some of his pipe-weed (Longbottom leaf he claimed) Broca gentley steered the converstation to Willow's adventures, comrades, destination etc. Unknown to Willow, the leaf was druged and she found herself spilling the beans about everything, including Erynae's enchanted armour and Mearas noless. Willow attibuted the light-headedness to her excessive drinking since arriving at the Chancery.

    Arriving back at the Inn, Aredan and Seeker sat with the others and shared their news. Needing to make plans Arendan and Seeker went to fetch willow from the market. After they left, Belengol announced that he needed to make his way to visit Carangul the Red to share what they had learned. The company should make their way to Rivendell and if he didn't not join them by the next full moon, they should head to Bree and wait for him there.

    For some reason I can't remember Erynae and Illian decided to join up with the others at the market.

    Also somwhere in her they learned that another Elf named Celebeth was in town, and Andunae knew of him and did not trust him.

    At the chancery Arendan and Seeker discovered Willow passed out at her table. When they picked her up to leave, they were accosted by the owner who took exception to them hoisting off one of his patrons. The ensuring arguement brought to men of Gondor to them, Menelcar and Tarthalion. As they attempted to mediate the dispute, Illian and Erynae arrived.

    Illian recognized Menelcar as a middle-man from Dol Amroth who had wanted to be a Knight, but wasn't up snuff, so he became a soldier of Gondor. More importantly he recognized Tarthalion as a former Knight of Dol Amroth who had broken his oath when he took the sword of a combatant he had fell.

    Nerely coming to blows, Willow and Broca (who arrived on the scene) managed to separate the men and the players headed back to the inn.

    Back at the inn Willow took a turn for the worse and became very sick. Putting her to bed Erynae say watch over her. Seeker, curious as to her sudden illness noted the bag of Longbottom leaf she had and her pipe. Smelling both he noticed the burned leaf in the pipe had an acrid/almondy smell. Worried he made his way with Andunae to an Apocathary.

    There he told them that he had sold some Troll-Root or Black Root to an Elf and a Hobbit that morning. When he was informed that Willow was ill, he realized that what was normally a sedative, if smoked, was a powerful drug that could make one susceptible to suggestion. Givng them a powder of King's Foil, he bade them to return and make Willow drink a tea of it.

    After they left, Andunae told Seeker that Celebeth was not to be trusted. With a more determined and stern face than he expected she then slipped away into the crowds.

    Seeker was able to get the tea mix to Willow, who under the watchful eye of Erynae was made to drink it and then went to sleep.

    In Arendan's room Gror informed them that he needed to also part from them and head to the Blue Mountains so that he could deliver the message from King Daerion to his cousin, the leader of the Blue Mountains colony. The group agreed they would be sad to see him go, but he promised to make the rendezvous in Bree.

    Then there was a crashing from downstairs.

    Cont'd...

  2. #2
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    Rushing downstairs they saw that Andunae had staggered in with a black arrow in her breast. Pulling it out, Gror noted that it's head was made of a metal he did not recognize.

    Erynae noticed the spide-webbing of black blood under the skin near the wound. As she lapsed from conciousness, Andunae whispered to Seeker one word... Quenuhuine.

    As Erynae tended to her in a room upstairs, the others tried to figure out what had happened. Seeker informed them that the word meant "Elf under shadow" but was not sure what she meant. Then as they examined the arrow it passed under moonlight from the open window. They all then saw the silver edge and the silver glowing words in black speech on the head.

    Catching his breath Gror told them that it couldn't be true but it seemed as if the arrow was made from Black Mithril. When asked what that was he explained that the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm had claimed to discover this metal right before they awoke Durin’s Bane.

    Realizing that this was not posion but sorcery, Seeker and Arendan rushed to the Apocathary's again but found it closed. Banging on the door they awoke him and urged him to come with them. He did and there did everything he could to help her, using more of the King's Foil (is there anything it can't do?) to slow the spread of the blackness. But he told them pointedly that there was nothing he could do and her only hope was to get her to Rivendell.

    Agreeing the group decided to split. Erynae and Willow would ride south on Ashwind (the Mearas) and retrive Belengol and return him to Rivendell, while the rest would ride hard for Rivendell. 14 days it would take for either group to ride where they needed to be.

    Illian and Erynae had a touching good bye and then left at top speed. gathering their things the others set out North for Rivendell.

    For 5 days either group had no encounters, though the Northbound group was beset by endless rains that made even Gror suspect foul hands were attempting to hinder their progress.

    Southward was a different story, for sunshine and fair weather accompanied their ride. But on the 5h day they saw a merchant boat (not very big) moored on the river and its' captain fishing. Begging his pardon they told a heavily modified version of their story and beseeched him for a lift to the mouth of a Greywater, which would only take them the better part of a day on the fast waters of the river. He agreed, but they realized that there was no way the horse could come. Eryane whispered to Ashwind to meet them at the mouth and then boarded the boat with Willow.

    Captain Ganes introduced them to his son, Tolness and off they went. Willow cooked fish and sang songs and told stories to make the day pass lighting.

    It was near the edge of Hollin that the Northbound party were forced to stop due to the endless rain. Finding moss-overgrown elven ruins, Seeker got them to shelter where they were able to make a fire and keep Andunae warm.

    Illian, taking a look around at the dark night was surprised when a black arrow came flying out of the dark and nearly parted his scalp. Calling for the others he retreated behind the broken battlements. Seeker decided to sneak out and around to try and outflank their attackers. This action forced their attackers to split up, which allowed Arendan and Illian to get a bead on them. Gror agreed to remain behind and stand guard over Andunae.

    As Seeker tracked around, Celebeth (surprise, surprise) fired off another of his black arrows that struck the ranger but did not pierce his armour. Still Seeker fell prone and played dead waiting for the elf to get closer. Illian had another idea.

    Through the driving rain and slick mud he charged Celebeth, who turned and fired a black arrow at him. It pierced Illian's shield and as he swung out his arm to keep the arrow from continuing through to his chest, he dislocated his shoulder. Still this did not slow him down. Striking hard he seriously injured Celebeth.

    Rising up Seeker launched his Ancris at Celebeth but missed narrowly. Drawing his longsword he closed the distance. For two rounds the three traded shots but parrying and dodging prevented any hits, then Illian landed a mighty blow (Extraordinary success) and managed to gravely wound the elf, allowing for Seeker to also strike a telling blow. Celebeth was down (but not dead). With his last breath he uttered a curse at Seeker, but Seeker's will was so strong the curse (which had been to blind him) was reversed and Seeker could suddenly see in the dark (magic of the land at work)

    Meanwhile Aredan now saw who his opponents were, Menelcar and Tarthalion. Engaing both he managed to drive the Oatbreaker to his knees, but Menelcar got behind him and in a flurry of blows managed to gravely wound Arendan. As he fell Illian and Seeker began to charge to his side.

    From down the hill came a white horse with a strange clad rider who lashed out with a scimitar and lopped Menelcar's head off with a single blow. Tarthalion, realizing he was outnumbered ran for the hills. Seeker gave chase but the Oathbreaker managed to get away.

    Illian, wary of the stranger was surprised when he revealed himself to be Emir Ana'asad ibin Anasakir, the Haradrim prince from Tharbad. He called for his entourage, amoung which was a heeler who managed to save Arendan and stablize him.

    When Seeker revealed that they were headed for Rivendell to get help for Andunae, the Prince revealed that he too was headed for Rivendell. He insisted on taking them with him and hinted that Eru (need a better southern name) worked in mysterious ways.

    Back south the ladies arrived at the mouth (perhaps the tides carried them a bit faster, Middle-Earth is a magical place after all) and discovered that Ashwind stood there on the shore waiting for them. Ganes was stunned that a horse like that could cover such a distance so quickly (again that Middle-Earth magic thing) and bid the ladies farewell.

    Mounted up they road hard for Carangul's tower, and arrived to see a scene that confused them. A feeling dread rolled over them and storm clouds began to form and they saw Belengol surrounded by Orcs of the Burning Skull tribe. On the balcony of his tower, looking down Carangul was chanting and holding his staff up high.

    Riding like the wind down the hillside, Erynae's armour began to glow and broke the morale of the Orcs who fled before her. As she rode past Belengol, he snagged some mane and pulled himself up onto the horse. "Fly North!" he commanded Erynae, who urged Ashwind on more. As they rode from the tower, arrows shot by the Orcs wizzed by their heads and Willow looked back to see lightning strike down at them. But Belengol was ready and managed to counter the spell at the last moment, preventing their doom.

    I then had to call game due to time... the most statisfying part was the players saying "No!" when I did, but I stuck to my guns, leaving them wanting more for the next time

    Sorry that took so long, but I wanted to get it down while it was fresh in my mind

    =-=-=-=-=

    Comments or questions welcome
    Last edited by AslanC; 10-13-2003 at 07:55 PM.

  3. #3
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    Thumbs up

    Sounds like a lot of fun! I appreciate that you split it into a lot of paragraphs, I seem to find that a lot easier to read it that way.

    How well did the rules work for you? Looks like they did well from here. I liked the fight in the rain/mud, and the reverse-curse touch, that was neat.

    Do you have all your plans set for where the characters will be going and what they will be doing? They seem to have a fair amount of enemies on their hands to deal with, so it should be action-packed!

  4. #4
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    Originally posted by ben hur
    Sounds like a lot of fun! I appreciate that you split it into a lot of paragraphs, I seem to find that a lot easier to read it that way.
    I agree It was also fun figuring out the Chapters of each bit we have played and realizing that storywise we have been hitting 2 chapters a session (except the orc one, that was one brutal chapter).

    Originally posted by ben hur
    How well did the rules work for you? Looks like they did well from here. I liked the fight in the rain/mud, and the reverse-curse touch, that was neat.
    The rules work well, but I need a page of charts to reference. I had to slow the game too often with the flipping back and forth. The rain so far seems to be my favorite place to do these fights. But this one was because of Carangul's storm building at his tower at the mouth of the Greyflood.

    The reverse curse was an on the spot inspiration to be sure, the player rolled a double 6 and then two more 6s... I had to give him something

    Originally posted by ben hur
    Do you have all your plans set for where the characters will be going and what they will be doing? They seem to have a fair amount of enemies on their hands to deal with, so it should be action-packed!
    All their enemies are related though. The Orcs work for Carangul who works for Herumor. Tarthalion, Broca and Celebeth (and formerly Menelcar) all work for Saelon who also works for Herumor.

    As for having plans set, I have outlines and ideas, where they go depends on the sessions, keeps it more organic that way I think

  5. #5
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    Not bad for someone who said they weren't a fan of the fantasy genre.

    Looks like you have the epic feel of Tolkien's world down, especially in the timing of the combat scenes.

    Keep the updates coming.

  6. #6
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    Originally posted by Phantom
    Not bad for someone who said they weren't a fan of the fantasy genre.
    Never said I wasn't a fan, said I wasn't a fan of running fantasy games

    Looks like you have the epic feel of Tolkien's world down, especially in the timing of the combat scenes.

    Keep the updates coming.
    Man the combat can get bogged down with chart flipping. Need to get me a MasterScreen

    More updates to come as wel play more

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