Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice

The Wardens of Gahyrst. Ep10.

Campaign Turn

Village Event: Herbs are blooming.
Pay Upkeep: -1 Gold
Restock Ammunition: Since I fielded 3 Ranged Weapons, -1 Gold.
Healing Up: Rudiger RT, reduced to 0.
Carry Out Activities:
Forage for Herbs: (Roving Wanderer): No herbs found. Just the one from Herbs are blooming. 1 Medicine Herb.
Track: Managed to locate signs of the enemy.
Study (Evie): Dodge Skill.
Where are we going?: Go Adventuring
Sell Unwanted Gear: Selling all damaged items for 4 Gold total.
Trade: War Spear (Bought, Bruno), Rare Item: Fine Full Armor (not bought).
Outfit for Adventure: Ready
Recruit Some Villagers: None

Go Adventuring: Combat Encounter: Outlaws: Desperate Mob: Encounter While Travelling: 7 Mobsters: Enemy Leadership: No Leadership Presence: Personality: Heretic
Deploying Figures: 17″, 3 groups, 6″ apart
Seize the Initiative: Seized
Fight It Out.
Table Theme: Near a Farm House
Battle Objective: Scout
Oddities: Gloom (Still Seized Initiative)

The Wardens, 9 strong, are celebrating the return of Rudiger in action. The hardened veteran is ready to get back to combat. As they empty another flagon of ale, Evie feels a tug to her cloak.
She turns around and sees a young child, fear in her eyes. “Dear lady, we need your help. Some evil men came to our farm. They wanted our belongings. My mother kicked them out, but they returned, more of them. One of them looks crazy. Screaming some unknown rites. My mother is barred inside, can you help us. Please?”
The child needn’t say more. Evie stood up. “Wardens we have work to do. The sun is setting, but these people need our help.”
She heads out, and the rest of the warband follows without hesitation.

The Fight

Swiftly, Evie guides them through the woods, behind the hills, outside of the line of sight of the enemy. They advance quickly. She sees three groups of ragged people coming towards the farm. She splits the warband in three groups as well. Frans and Alida head towards the orchard and the farm house to see if the girl’s mother is still inside.
Evie, Ardus and the Roving Wanderer take the hill towards the pond where one mob is approaching, while Bruno, Rudiger, Wigmar and Gustav head to the side to meet with the other mob.

Under the gloom, the enemy is taken by surprise. Despite the lack of visibility, Evie’s arrows find their target and the first mobster falls.
“There they are! Sacrifice them! Kill them! Smear their blood on you and we shall ascend!” One man shouts as he holds up a severed head. Taking the opportunity, the Roving Wanderer, shoots at the man. The arrow finds him between the eyes, and he drops dead. To the Warden’s surprise the enemy doesn’t disperse at the death of their leader, but instead they push on with renewed vigor!
Joing in melee combat Ardus kicks back one mobster, while Rudiger does the same in the other side of the farm house.
The push back isn’t enough, and soon Ardus is surrounded. One hit after the other, he parries as many blows as he can, but finally, he is overcome, and a blow brings him down.
Alida checks the orchard, it’s empty. Frans checks the farm house, and the door is still locked. Most likely the mob hasn’t managed to get inside yet.

Alida moves further to the fence, to get an opportunity to shoot his crossbow to the enemy, but as he does, he is attacked by a crazy mobster. He manages to push him back, and they both stand behind the orchard fence looking at each other from a small distance.
Rudiger bashes at the mobster with his shield, pushing him back, while Bruno extends his spear, and the enemy holds off. The war spear allows him to take advantage of the situation, and as a second mobster comes for him, Bruno thrusts him, the spearhead coming from the other side. Another mobster is dead.
Alida aims and shoots the mobster looking at him from the other side of the fence, but the crossbow bolt, doesn’t eliminate his enemy, despite finding it’s target.
Evie and the Roving Wanderer shoot a hail of arrows at the gang that surrounded Ardus, and kill the lot of them.
The mobsters behind the farm house try another charge at Rudiger and Bruno, but they’re no match for their skill, and soon the enemy perishes.
The last mobster, wounded by the crossbow bolt, lets off a war cry and jumps over the fence. Alida stuns him with the butt of his crossbow and rebounds with a dagger thrust between the ribs, ending the fight.

Aftermath

Frans: Healing Ardus: Failure
Ardus: Luck: Lose 1 Luck Point: Dead: Medicine Herbs: Serious: 6 RT
Unusual Finds: 33: Prisoner: Friendly Craftsman
Adjust Threat: Outlaws: 0
Experience:
Rudiger Level Up: +1 Will
Wigmar Level Up: +1 Luck
Roving Wanderer: No improvement
Alida Level Up: +1 Agility
Frans Level Up: +1 Combat Skill ***
2 Loot Rolls: Consumables: Medical Herbs, Armor: Light Armor+Helmet

The Wardens close in on their fallen friend. Frans tries his healing touch, but he can’t save Ardus. His luck seems to have run out. The warrior would be dead if it wasn’t for Evie. She brings out her medical herbs from her bag, and quickly stops the bleeding. Ardus is saved. The wound is serious and he will need to stay a long time in the village to recover.
Alida checks the farm house. “Madam? Will you come out please? The threat is no more. Your daughter sent us to save you.”
The door is unbarred, and the woman comes out. “I can’t thank you enough. If there’s ever anything I can do, let me know. I owe you.”
“Thank your daughter. We just did our duty.” Alida says with a smile.
The Wardens gather whatever they can find from the enemy, and return back to Eerfeld.
Everything seems quieter now.

Session Summary

This fight ended quickly. I think that my warband is at such strength that only a strong enemy can be dangerous. I’m on a good roll to clean up the village of Eerfeld.
Writing out these blog reports starts to become repetitive, and I’m afraid that I might become burned out. I really enjoy the game, but writing out every single movement and capturing every single event in a photo is no longer that fun. I will switch to a more high level style of blog posts, and maybe gather them all in a Journal style format. I’ll try doing that, maybe retrospectively, for the previous sessions to see how it works out.